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A42548 The history of the Church of Great Britain from the birth of Our Saviour, untill the year of Our Lord, 1667 : with an exact succession of the bishops, and the memorable acts of many of them : together with an addition of all the English cardinals, and the several orders of English monks, friars, and nuns, in former ages. Gearing, William.; Geaves, William.; Geaves, George. 1674 (1674) Wing G435B; ESTC R40443 404,773 476

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no Sacramentary be admitted to Benefice 4. That all Bishops do labour to suppress Heresies especially in the Clergy 5. That they should suppress all unlawfull Books and writings 6. The next Article was against Priests Marriages and that such as would depart from their Wives should be admitted to the same function 7. That for want of Priests one Priest should serve two places 8. That Processions be used 9. That Holy-days and Fasts be frequented 10. That the Ceremonies be used and Confirmation of Children be put in practice In the same moneth of March the Lord Courtney whom the Queen at her first entry delivered out of the Tower and the Lady Elizabeth also the Queen's Sister were both by the suggestion of Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester suspected to have been of Wyat's Conspiracy and for the same were apprehended and sent to the Tower although Wyat at his death cleared them both as unacquainted with the matter Many trains were laid to ensnare the Lady Elizabeth And being on a time asked what she thought of the swords of Christ This is my Body whether she thought it is the true Body of Christ it is said that after some pausing she thus Answered Christ was the Word that spake it Sir Richard Bakers Chron. He took the Bread and brake it And what the Word did make it That I Believe and take it One Elizabeth Crofts about eighteen years old was by practice put into a Wall and therefore called The Spirit in the Wall who with a whistle made for that purpose whistled out many Seditious words against the Queen the Prince of Spain the Mass Confession c. for which she did Penance standing upon a Scaffold at Pauls Cross all the Sermon-time where she made open Confession of her fault Queen Mary altereth her stile leaving out the latter part of her Title which is Supreme Head of the Church of England and Ireland because in this Parliament holden at Westminster in April the Supremacy being given away from the Crown of England to the Pope thereupon this Parcel of the Title was also taken away Then followed a communication between Bishop Ridley and Secretary Bourn Mr. Fecknam and others at the Lieutenants Table in the Tower described at large by Mr. Fox touching the Sacrament On April 10. Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Ridley and Latimer were sent down to Oxford by the Lord Williams of Thame there to dispute with the Divines of both Universities about the presence substance and sacrifice of the Sacrament Of Oxford Dr. Weston prolocutor Dr. Tresham Dr. Cole Dr. Oglethorp Doctor Pie Doctor Harpsfield Mr. Fecknam Of Cambridge Dr. Young Vice-Chancellor Doctor Glyn Dr. Seaton Dr. Watson Dr. Sedgwick Dr. Atkinson The Questions whereon they should Dispute were these 1. Whether the natural body of Christ be really in the Sacrament after the words of Consecration be spoken by the Priest 2. Whither any substance do remain after the words saving the body and blood 3. Whither the mass be a sacrifice propitiatory The order and manner of the disputation against these three worthy Martyrs the disordered usage of the University men the rude tumult of the multitude the fierceness and interruption of the Doctors the full pith and ground of all their Arguments the Censure of the Judges the railing Language of the Prolocutor with his blast of triumph in the latter end is set forth fully by Mr. Fox The disputation being ended on April 20. they were again brought upon the stage and then demanded whether they would persist in their opinion or else recant And affirming that they would persist they were all Three adjudged Hereticks and condemned to the fire but their execution was respited to a longer time May 19. the Lady Elizabeth was brought out of the Tower and committed to the custody of the Lord of Thame who gently entreated her afterwards she was had to Woodstock and there committed to the keeping of Sir Henry Bennefield who dealt hardly with her Prince Philip arriveth at Southampton July 20. 1554. and on the twenty third came to Winchester where the Queen met him and on the twenty fifth day the marriage between them there was openly Solemnized At which time the Emperour's Ambassadour presented to the King a donation of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily which the Emperour his Father had resigned unto him Which presently was signified and the Titles of the King and Queen Proclaimed by sound of Trumpet in this following Style Philip and Mary by the Grace of God King and Queen of England France Naples Jerusalem Ireland Defenders of the Faith Princes of Spain and Sicily Archdukes of Austria Dukes of Milan Burgundy and Brabant Counts of Auspurg Flanders and Tirrol c. At the Proclaiming of which Style which was performed in French Latine and English the King and Queen shewed themselves hand in hand with two Swords born before them for the greater State or in regard of their distinct capacity in the Publick Government From Winchester they removed to Basing and so to Windsor where Philip on August the fifth was Installed Knight of the Garter On the eleventh of the same Moneth they made a Magnificent Passage through the Principal Streets of the City of London The King prevailed with the Queen for discharge of such Prisoners as stood committed in the Tower either for matter of Religion or on the account of Wyat's Rebellion or for engaging in the practice of the Duke of Northumberland which was done accordingly among which were the Arcbishop of York ten Knights and many other persons of name and quality He also procured the enlargement of the Lady Elizabeth and of the Earl of Devonshire who travelled through France into Italy and died at Padua Anno 1556. the eleventh and last Earl of Devonshire of that Noble Family of the Courtneys Marriage and Heresie were the crimes of Holgate Archbishop of York for which being deprived during his imprisonment in the Tower Dr. Nicholas Heath succeeded him in the See of York and leaves the Bishoprick of Worcester to Doctor Richard Pates who had been nominated by King Henry VIII Anno 1534. and having spent the intervening twenty years in the Court of Rome returned a true servant to the Pope Goodrick of Ely died April 10. leaving that Bishoprick to Dr. Thomas Thurlby Bishop of Norwich And Dr. John Hopton is made Bishop of Norwich Doctor Gilbert Bourn Heylin's Hist of Q. Mary Archdeacon of London is made Bishop of Wells Harley of Hereford is succeeded by Purefay of S. Asaph Old Bush of Bristol and Bird of Chester the two first Bishops of those Sees were deprived also The first succeeded to by Holiman once a Monk of Reading the last by Coles Master of Baliol Colledge in Oxford Dr. Randolph Bayn who had been Hebrew Reader in Paris in the time of King Francis was Consecrated Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield The Parliament began Novemb. 12. where a way was opened for Cardinal Poole's Reception by preparing a Bill
their gratitude gave to the English Divines two hundred pounds at their departure to bear their charges in their return besides a Golden Medal of good value was given to every one of them wherein the sitting of the Synod was artificially represented When their work was ended they viewed the most eminent Cities in the Low Countries and at all places were bountifully received Fuller Church Hist Ad. An. 1618. Leiden onely excepted for the Great ones of that University at this time being Remonstrants were disaffected to the decisions of the Synod This gave occasion to that passage in the speech of Sir Dudley Carleton the English Ambassador when in the name of his Master he tendred publick thanks to the States for their Great respects to the English Divines using words to this effect That they had been entertained at Amsterdam welcommed at the Hague cheerfully received at Rotterdam kindly embraced at Utrecht c. and that they had seen Leiden How high an esteem the STATES GENERAL had of our English Divines will appear by their Letters which they sent to King James written in Latin With which Letters they came over into England and presented themselves to the King at Court where after courteous entertaining of them he favourably dismissed them Removing Bishop Carleton to Chichester preferring Dr. Davenant to the Bishoprick of Salisbury and bestowing the Mastership of the Savoy upon Balcanqual The decisions of this Synod have been since approved applauded Joh. Goodwin in his Redemption Redeemed c. 15. parag 24. magnified by some vilified condemned by others Of such as dislike the Synod none falls heavier upon it than Mr. John Goodwin charging the Synodians to have taken a previous Oath to condemn the opposite party on what termes soever Mr. Fuller desirous to be rightly informed herein wrote a Letter to Bishop Hall who was pleased to return him this answer Whereas you desire from me a just relation of the carriage of the business of the Synod of Dort and the conditions required of our Divines there at or before their Admission to that Grave and Learned Assembly I whom God was pleased to employ as an unworthy Agent in that great work and to reserve still upon Earth after all my Reverend and Worthy Associates do as in the presence of that God to whom I am now daily expecting to yield up my account testifie to you and if you will to the World that I cannot without just indignation read that slaunderous Imputation which Mr Goodwin in his Redemption Redeemed reports to have been raised and cast upon those Divines eminent both for Learning and Piety That they suffered themselves to be bound with an Oath at or before their Admission into that Synod to vote down the Remonstrants howsoever so as they came deeply preingaged to the decision of those unhappy differences All th●●ath that was required of us was this After that the Moderator Assistents and Scribes were chosen and the Synod formed and the several members allowed there was a solemn Oath required to be taken by every one of that Assembly which was publickly done in a grave manner by every person in their order standing up and laying his Hand upon his heart calling the great God of Heaven to witness that he would unpartially proceed in the judgement of these Controversies which should be laid before him onely out of and according to the written Word of God and no otherwise so determining of them as he should find in his Conscience most agreeable to the holy Scriptures Which Oath was punctually agreed to be thus taken by the Articles of the States concerning the Indiction and ordering of the Synod as plainly appeareth in their tenth Article and this was all the Oath that was either taken or required c. The same year died Dr. James Mountague the worthy Bishop of Winchester son to Sir Edward Mountague of Boughton in Northamptonshire highly favoured by King James preferring him to the Bishoprick first of Bath and Wells then to Winchester In Bath he lies buried under a fair Tomb though the whole Church be his Monument which his Bounty repaired Anno 1619. died John Overal Bishop of Norwich accounted one of the most Learned Controversial Divines of those days Anno 1620. the Protestant States of the Upper and Lower Austria upon the approach of the Bavarian Army seeing nothing but manifest ruin renounce their Confederacy with the Bohemians and submit to the Emperor Rushworth Histor Collections saving to themselves their Rights and Priviledges in Religion And the Elector of Saxony assists the Emperor and executes the Ban against the Palatine King James soon after receives the news of the Palsgrave's overthrow After the Assembly at Segenbergh the Palatine and his Princess took their journey into Holland where they found a refuge and noble entertainment with the Prince of Orange The Ambassage of Weston and Conway prevailed little More Princes of the union reconcile themselves to the Emperor The Imperial Protestant Towns Strasburgh Worms and Norembergh subscribe to conditions of Peace The reconciled Princes and States intercede for the Elector Palatine but in vain In England the Parliament petition the King for the due execution of Laws against Jesuites Seminary Priests and Popish Recusants On July 10. 1621. John Williams D. D. and Dean of Westminster was sworn Keeper of the Great Seal of England Then the King was sollicited from Spain and Rome to enlarge his favours to Popish Recusants The House of Commons presented to the King a petition and Remonstrance which laid open the distempers of those times with their Causes and Cures They Represented to Him I. The Vigilancy and Ambition of the Pope of Rome and his dearest Son the one aiming at as large a Temporal Monarchy as the other at a Spiritual Monarchy II. The devilish Doctrines whereon Popery is built and taught with Authority to their followers for advancement of their Temporal ends III. The miserable estate of the professors of true Religion in forreign parts IV. The disastrous accidents to his Majestie 's children abroad c. V. The strange confederacy of Popish Princes c. VI. The interposing of forreign Princes and their Agents in the behalf of Popish Recusants c. VII Their usual resort to the Houses and Chappels of forreign Ambassadors VIII Their more than usual concourse to the City and their frequent Conventicles and conferences there IX The education of their Children in several Seminaries and Houses of their Religion in forreign parts appropriated to the English fugitives X. The licentious Printing and dispersing of Popish and Seditious Books even in the time of Parliament XI The swarms of Priests and Jesuites dispersed in all parts of the Kingdom From these Causes they offered to his Majesty what dangerous Effects they foresaw would follow I. The Popish Religion is incompatible with ours in respect of their positions II. It draws with it an unavoidable dependancy on forreign Princes III. If once it get but a
Oxford wherein was agreed that English men and Danes should hold the Laws made by King Edgar as most just and reasonable He established Laws Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Canutus went on pilgrimage to Rome and there founded an Hospital for English Pilgrims He shrined the body of Bernius and gave great Lands to the Cathedral Church of Winchester He builded St. Bennet's in Norfolk which was before an Hermitage Also St. Edmond's-bury which King Athelstane ordained before for a Colledge of Priests he turned to an Abbey of Monks of Saint Bennet's Order Two of his Sons succeeded him first his base Son called from his swiftness Harold Harefoot a man of a cowardly disposition He reigned but four years and the Kingdom fell to Hardiknout King of Denmark his Brother who when he had reigned two years being drunk at Lambeth suddenly was stricken dumb and fell down to the ground and within eight dayes after died without issue of his Body Thus ended the Danish Kings which Danes had vexed and wasted the Land two hundred fifty five years When England was freed from the Danes they sent into Normandy inviting over Edward the Confessor and brother to King Edmond He was crowned Anno 1045. In his time was the Law made which concerned the King's Oath at Coronation Mathew Paris describes the Manners of the Countrey at his coming thus The Nobles were given to gluttony and leachery they went not to Church in the morning but only had a Priest which made haste with the Mass and Mattens in their chambers and they heard a little with their ears The Clergy were so ignorant that if any knew the Grammar he was admired by them most men spent nights and dayes in carousing In his dayes England injoyed Halcion dayes free from Danish invasions The Ecclesiastical Laws made by this King in his reign were I. That every Clerk and Scholar should quietly enjoy their goods and possessions II. What solemn Festivals people may come and go of without any Law-suits to disturb them III. That in all Courts where the Bishop's Proctor doth appear his case is first to be heard and determined IV. That guilty folk flying to the Church should there have protection not to be reproved by any but the Bishop and his Ministers V. That Tithes be paid to the Church of Sheep Pigs Bees and the like VI. How the Ordal was to be ordered for the trial of guilty persons by fire and water VII That Peter-pence or Rome-scot be faithfully paid to the Pope This King is reported to have entailed by Heaven's Consort an hereditary vertue on his Successors the Kings of England only with this condition that they continue constant in Christianity to cure the King 's Evil. In this King's reign lived Marianus Scotus that wrote much of the deeds of the Kings of England King Edward died childless Harold the Son of Earl Godwin succeeded him Indeed the undoubted right lay in Edgar Atheling Son to Edward the Outlaw Grandchild to Edmond Iron-side King of England But he being young and tender and of a soft temper and Harold being rich and strong in Knights the Nobles chose Harold to be their King As soon as he was crowned he established many good Laws especially such as were for the good of the Church and for the punishment of evil-doers Harold was slain in a battel near Hastings in Sussex and William Duke of Normandy obtained the Crown of England by conquest within a few years he made a great alteration in England the most part of his Knights and Bishops were Normans and many English with Edgar fled into Scotland where King Malcolm had married Edgar's Sister Margaret They incited Malcolm to invade England and he entred into the North part At last a peace was concluded and a Mark-stone was set up in Stanmoor as the mark of both Kingdoms with the Pourtraict of both Kings on the sides of the Stone Although then corruptions crept into the Church by degrees and divine worship began then to be clogged with superstitious Ceremonies yet that the Doctrine remained still entire in most material points will appear by an Induction of the dominative Controversies wherein we differ from the Church of Rome as Fuller in his Church-History of Britain hath observed I. Scripture generally read Bed Eccl. hist lib. 3. ca. 5. For such as were with the holy Bishop Aidan either Clergy or Laity were tyed to exercise themselves in reading the holy Word and in singing of Psalms II. The Original preferred Caradoc in Chron. of Cambridge For Ricemath a Britain a right learned and godly Clerk Son to Sulgen Bishop of St. David's flourishing in this Age made this Epigram on those who translated the Psalter out of the Greek so taking it at the second hand and not drawing it immediately from the first vessel Ebreis nablam custodit litera signis Pro captu quam quisque suo sermone latino Edidit innumeros lingua variante libellos Ebreumque jubar suffuscat nube latina c. This Harp the holy Hebrew Text doth tender Which to their power whil'st every one doth render In Latine tongue with many variations He clouds the Hebrew rays with his translation Thus liquors when twice shifted out and pour'd In a third vessel are both cool'd and sowr'd But holy Jerome Truth to light doth bring Briefer and fuller fetcht from the Hebrew Spring III. No Prayers for the dead in the modern notion of Papists For though we find prayers for the dead yet they were not in the nature of propitiation for their sins or to procure relaxation from their torments but were only an honourable commemoration of their memories and a Sacrifice of thanksgiving for their salvation IV. Purgatory then not perfected though newly invented For although there are frequent Visions and Revelations in this Age pretended thereon to build Purgatory which had no ground in Scripture yet it stood not then as now it stands in the Romish belief V. Communion under both kinds For Bede relateth that one Hildmer an Officer of Egfride King of Northumberland entreated our Cuthbert to send a Priest that might minister the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood unto his Wife that then lay a dying And Cuthbert himself immediately before his own departure out of this life received the communion of the Lord's Body and Blood So that the Eucharist was then administred entire and not maimed as it is by the Papists at this day And though the word Mass was frequent in that Age yet was it not known to be offered as a propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and dead King William to testifie his thankfulness to God for his Victory founded in that place Battel-Abbey endowing it with Revenues and large immunities The Abbot whereof being a Baron of Parliament carried a pardon in his presence who casually coming to the place of execution had power to save any Malefactor The Abby-Church was a place of safety for any Fellon or Murtherer Here the Monks
who had entertained Thomas at Sens passed over into England to Worship him and made his Devotions to his Relicks Then Richard Prior of Dover who divided Kent into three Archdeaconries was made Archbishop of Canterbury Fabian saith Fabian in Henry 2. He was a man of evil living and wasted the goods of the Church inordinately A Synod was called at Westminster the Pope's Legat being present thereat where was a great Contention between the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York for Precedency words begat blowes and the Archbishop of Canterbury's party pulled York from his Seat to the ground and tore his Casule Chimer and Rochet from his Back and put the Legat in such fear that he ran away The next day after York Appealeth to Rome Here the Pope interposed and to end old divisions made a new distinction Entitling Canterbury Primate of all England and York Primate of England King Henry died at Chinon in Normandy and was buried with very great Solemnity in the Nunnery of Font-Everard in the same Countrey a Religious House of his own Foundation and Endowment At that time were many Married Priests in Britain His Son Richard the first sirnamed Coeur de Lyon succeeded him and on September 3. was crowned at Westminster of Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury Then this King ordained the City of London to be ruled by two Bailiffs The two first Bailiffs were Henry Chornhil and Richard Fitz-River In the time of the Coronation of the King multitudes of the Jews in this Land were destroyed The King in part of satisfaction for his trespass against his Father for Queen Elianor and his Sons had sided with the King of France against him agreed with Philip the French King to take upon them the recovery of the Holy Land Fabian Chron. King Richard gave over the Castles of Barwick and Roxburgh to the Scottish King for the sum of ten thousand pounds He passed away the Earldom of Northumberland unto Hugh Pudsey Bishop of Durham for a great sum of Money for term of life scoffing that he had made a young Earl of an old Bishop Besides by the commandment of Pope Clement the third a tenth was exacted of the whole Realm Fox Acts and Monuments The King set over the Realm as principal in his absence the Bishop of Ely his Chancellor and the Bishop of Durham whom he ordained to be Chief Justice of England Ely to have custody of the Tower with the oversight of all other parts of the Land on this side Humber and Durham to have charge over all other his Dominions beyond Humber The Pope also made William Bishop of Ely his Legate through all England and Scotland As for Men and Souldiers the Prelates Friars and other Preachers had stirred up innumerable by their manifold exhortations the Archbishop of Canterbury having travelled through Wales in Person for that purpose in Pulpits and private Conferences Then King Richard with some of our English Nobility who adventured their Persons in the Holy War crossed the Seas into France to Philip King thereof After some necessary stayes having passed the River Rhene at Lions they parted company Philip marching over the Alpes into Italy and King Richard to the Sea-side at Marsilia there to meet with his Navy King Richard's Fleet of Ships being not come he embarked himself in twenty hired Galleys and ten great Busses a kind of Shipping then peculiar to the Mediterranean Seas and set Sayl toward Messana in Sicily the Rendezvouz of both the Kings and their Armies In which passage King Richard lying at Anchor on occasion in the mouth of the River Tiber not far from Rome Octavianus the Bishop of Hostia repaired unto him desiring him in the Pope's name that he would visit his Holiness which the King denied to do alleadging that the Pope and his Officers had taken 700 Marks for Consecration of the Bishop of Mains 1500 Marks for the Legative power of William Bishop of Ely but of the Archbishop of Burdeaux an infinite sum of Money whereupon he refused to see Rome King Richard studying to fit himself for the great attempt he had in hand called before him his Archbishops and Bishops that accompanied him into a Chappel at the House where he was lodged where he made a penitent confession of his sins humbly Praying to God for Mercy and them as his subordinate Ministers for Absolution and God saith R. Hoveden respected him with the eyes of Mercy so that from thence-forth he feared God eschewing evil and doing good King Richard sent for Joachim Abbot of Calabria a Man of great Learning and Understanding in the Scriptures who at his coming he heard expounding the Apocalypse of St. John touching the afflictions of the Church and the state of Antichrist which saith he was then born and in the City of Rome of whom the Apostle said He should exalt himself above all that is called God Afterwards at the siege of Acres or Ptolemais in Palestine Radulphus de alta ripa Archdeacon of Colchester ended his Life there also died Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury and Hubert Walter Bishop of Sarisbury afterward Archbishop of Canterbury was a most active Commander there besides many more of the eminent Clergy engaged in that service William Bishop of Ely playd Rex in the King's absence abusing the Royal Authority committed to him Acres was delivered to the King 's of England and France who divided the spoil of that City betwixt them King Richard after this and many other notable Atchievements in Palestine at his return from thence was taken Prisoner by Leopald Duke of Austria and detained by him with hard and Unprince-like usage whil'st the English Clergy endeavoured the utmost for his enlargement His fine was an hundred and fifty thousand Marks to be paid part to the Duke of Austria part to Henry VI. Emperor of Germany Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury with much diligence perfected the work and on his ransom paid King Richard returned into England Hubert Walter Archbishop of Canterbury had almost finished a fair Covent for Monks at Lambeth began by Baldwin his Predecessor but upon the petitions of the Monks of Canterbury to the Pope contrary to the King 's and Archbishop's desire the Covent at Lambeth was utterly demolished As this Richard was the first of the English Kings who bare Armes on his Seals so was he the first who carried in his shield Three Lions Passant born ever after for the Regal Armes of England This King 's daily exercise after his return was to rise early and not to depart from the Church till Divine Service were finished Moreover he bountifully relieved every day much Poor both in his Court and Towns about and restored Gold and Silver to such Churches from which to pay his ransom they had been taken away The Bishop of Beavois being also an Earl of the Royal Blood and the eleventh Peer of France valiantly fighting against John the King's Brother was taken Armed at all points and bravely
were given to any man by the Archbishop Stephen or by the Priors of Canterbury from the time of the election of the Archbishop England remained under the Interdict six years three months and an half whereby not only the King and his Court but also all the people of England who had nothing to do with that Quarrel were Excommunicated In that long time how many thousands of men died in England who by the Rules of the Roman Church and by the Pope's Judgment are eternally damned and that but for a Quarrel between the King and the Pope about some Investitures of Churches and Collations of Benefices and Money-matters Then saith Mathew Paris Matth. Paris who was an eye-witness of all that disorder All the Sacraments of the Church ceased in England saving only the Confession and the Communion of the Host in the last necessity and the Baptism of Infants The dead bodies were carried out of the Towns as if they had been the bodies of Dogs and buried by the High-wayes and in Ditches without Prayers and without service of Priests By the same Interdict all Masses Vespers all publick Service and ringing of Bells was forbidden and the Kingdom was exposed to rapine and prey and given to any that would conquer it Only the King was not excommunicated by name but that was done the next year after Next Pope Innocent deposed King John from the Kingdom of England and absolved the English from the Oath of their Allegiance and commanded Philip August King of France that for the remission of his sins he should invade the Kingdom of England with force of Arms giving to those that should follow the King in that Conquest the pardon of all their sins and the same Graces and Pardons as to them that visit the holy Sepulchre Whereupon the said King Philip partly to obtain the remission of his sins partly to make himself Master of England raised a mighty Army whilst Innocent was stirring up the English to rise against their King This moved King John to humble himself under the Pope and to receive such Conditions as liked him best The Conditions were That the King should yield unto the Pope the whole right of Patronage of all the Benefices of his Kingdom That to obtain Absolution of his sins he should pay to the Clergy of Canterbury and to other Prelates the sum of eight thousand pounds Sterling That he should satisfie for the damages done to the Church according to the Judgment of the Pope's Legat. That the said King should resign his Crown into the Pope's hand with his Kingdoms of England and Ireland for which Letters were formed and given to Pandulphus the Pope's Legat. King John being informed that his Archbishops Bishops and Clergy intended to hold a Council at St. Albans by the command of Pope Innocent the Third about the payment of Rome-scot against custom and sundry other unusual Exactions to the great destruction of the whole Realm upon complaint thereof by his Nobles and People issued out a Prohibition to them expresly forbidding them upon their Allegiance not to hold any Council there by the Popes or any other Authority nor to consult or treat of those things nor to act or ordain any thing against the custom of the Realm as they tendered his Honour or the tranquillity of the Kingdom until he conferred with the general Council of his Realms about it Thomas Sprot Speed 's History p. 571. During this Interdict Alexander Cementarius Abbot of the Benedictines at Canterbury Vir corpore Elegantissimus facie Venerabilis literarum plenitudine imbutus ita ut Parisiis celebris haberetur Magister et Rector et Lector in Theologia was sent by King John unto Rome where he openly pleaded and fomented the King's Cause against the Pope He maintained there That there is no Power under God higher than a King and That the Clergy should not have Temporal government He proved these two Articles by Scripture and Reason and by testimony of Gregory the First in an Epistle to Augustine Bishop of Canterbury Anno 1209. in the tenth year of King John Henry Fitz-Alan was sworn first Mayor of London and Peter Duke with Thomus Neal sworn for Sheriffs And London-bridge began to be built with Stone and St. Saviours in Southwark the same year He wrote three Books against the Popes Usurpations and Power viz. De Cessione Papali De Ecclesiae potestate De potestate Vicaria in defence of his Sovereign King John for which his Loyalty he was afterwards by the Pope's Power deprived of all his Benefices by Pandulphus the Pope's Legat after King John's surrender of his Crown and enforced to beg his Bread King John having seized and detained in his hands the Temporalties of the Archbishoprick of Armach in Ireland for that the Bishop was elected without his License against his Will and Appeal two Monks coming to him proffering him three hundred Marks in Silver and three Marks a year in Gold for to have the Lands Liberties and Rights thereof he by his Writ returned them to his Chief Justice there to do what was fitting in it John Reumond coming from Rome to lay claim to a Prebendary in Hastings sued to the King for his License and safe conduct to come into and return from England which he granted upon this condition that upon his arrival he should give security that he came hither for no ill to the King nor for any other business but that Prebendary The like License he granted to Simon Langton the Archbishop's Brother upon the same and stricter conditions King John sent a memorable Letter to the Pope by special Messengers to claim and justifie this ancient and undoubted Right which He and his Royal Ancestors enjoyed to provide and prefer Archbishops and Bishops to the See of Canterbury and all other Cathedrals attested by the Letters of the Bishops of England and other credible persons desiring him to preserve the rights of the Church and Realm of England entire and inviolable by his Fatherly provision Then the King entred into a League with Otho the Emperour Mat. Westminst and forced John King of Scots who received his fugitive Subjects and harboured them in his Kingdom to send to him for peace to pay him eleven thousand Marks to purchase his peace with him and to put in Hostages for his fidelity without any Fight between them Yea the the Welch-men themselves formerly rebellious soon after his return from Scotland voluntarily repaired to him at Woodstock and there did homage to him After which Anno 1211. he entring into Wales with a great Army as far as Snowdown Reges omnes Nobiles sine contradictione subjugavit de subjectione in posterum obsides viginti octo suscepit inde cum prosperitate ad Albani Monasterium remeavit Lewellin Prince of North-Wales being enforced to render himself to mercy without any Battel at all When the Pope's Absolution of the Nobles and all other Subjects from the
the Pope's protection who thereupon vacated the Charters Then the Archbishop to demonstrate his gratitude to King John for the Patronage and Royalty of the Bishoprick of Rochester newly conferred on him and his Successors delivered up Rochester Castle with all the Ammunition therein to the Barons King John after three months siege took it by force out of the Barons hands who proceeding in their Rebellions against the King the Pope excommunicated them The Pope's Agents gave the Archbishop a personal command to execute the Excommunication which he delayed to do whereupon they suspended him King John complained to the Pope of the Barons obstinacy and how the Archbishop refused to Excommunicate them Soon after there was a General Council held at Rome to which the Archbishop was summoned and there suspended from his Archbishoprick upon the King's complaints against him When this suspension of the Archbishop was executed the Pope commanded all his Suffragans and Subjects to disobey him till by his humiliation and giving sufficient caution for his future deportment he should demerit it A just retaliation inflicted by God's providence on this Arch-enemy to King John The Archbishoprick of York becoming void the King by his Letters Patents granted the Chapter of York a License to elect a new Archbishop in the presence of five Commissioners therein specially named and with their consents to prevent the Election of Simon Langton the Archbishop's Brother this being the first License after his forecited Charter to the Archbishop and Bishops for the freedom of Elections After which the King sent his Patent of Appeal to the Chapter of York in general termes not to Elect any Person for their Archbishop suspected to be an enemy to him to avoid all misconstructions of his former Charter for freedom of Elections He also secretly prohibited them to Elect Simon Langton by name to whom he would never give his Royal Assent This Chapter notwithstanding the King 's and Pope's Inhibition likewise to gratifie Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury Elected Simon Langton his Brother Archbishop of York And the Canons of York appearing in the Council at Rome justified their Election and presented Simon Langton to the Pope for their Archbishop Elect and pressed his Confirmation of him The Covent and Monks of Durham affronted King John in the Election of their Bishop whereupon he was enforced to make use of the Pope's and Legate's power and yet could not effect his ends But the Pope obtains His to dispose of all Elections and Bishopricks at his pleasure The same year the King with some strugling procured R. de Marisco to be Bishop of Winchester Yet we find not in any of our Historians that he was ever Consecrated Bishop of Winchester notwithstanding his Election and the King's approbation and Letters to the Pope's Legate on his behalf so that he miscarried in this design as he did in that of Hugh Foliot to St. Davids Neither did he succeed in his recommendation of three several Persons to the Prior and Covent of Ramsey Then the Monk's of Glastonbury prevailed with Money to have their Abbey severed from the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells and to be governed by an Abbot as formerly parting with ●o less than four Manors and the Patronage of six Benefices to Joceline Bishop of Bath and Wells and his Successors by way of composition to obtain this disunion Then the Pope exempted King John's Chappels from Episcopal Excommunication and Jurisdiction without the Pope's special command which by the Lawes of the Realm were exempted from them long before The Barons and the Londoners slighted the Pope's Excommunication and so doth Lewis of France the Ini●ition of the Pope and his Legate not to invade England In the mean time Lewis his Proctors at Rome pleaded that King John had no good Title to the Crown of England shewing Lewis his Title thereunto which put Pope Innocent to a great dilemma But the Pope himself became King John's Advocate as well as Judge not as King of England but onely because he was his Vassal Then was England miserably wasted by Lewis and his Army in the East and South and by King John in the West and North whereupon forty of the Barons became sensible of their error in rejecting King John and in calling in and Crowning Lewis for their King and being likewise informed by Viscount Melun on his death-bed upon his Salvation That Lewis and XVI others of his chief Barons and Earls whereof himself was one had taken an Oath That if ever the Crown of England were quietly setled on his Head he would condemn to perpetual Exile all the English who now adhered to him against King John as Traitors to their Lawful Sovereign and would actually extirpate all their kindred advising them timely to prevent their miseries and lock up his words under the Seal of secrecy thereupon addressed themselves with their Letters of submission to King John but before these Letters were delivered or any Answer returned the King was poisoned by one Simon a Monk of Swinshed-Abbey in Lincoln-shire of which poison he died When he saw his Death approaching he with penitent Confession of his sins and great Devotion received the holy Eucharist having the Abbot of Croxton both for his Bodily and Ghostly Phisitian and then not onely forgave all his Mortal Enemies but also sent Command to Henry his Son to do the like to whom he caused all present to Swear Fealty and sent Letters to all his Officers abroad to assist him After which he commended his Soul to God and his Body to be interred in the Church of Worcester Where he was afterwards solemnly buried near the Body of Bishop Wolston In this year 1216. flourished Walter Mapez Archdeacon of Oxford a very Witty Man who in his Verses painted forth in lively Colours the Life of the Pope the Affections and Rape of the Court of Rome the Excess and Pride of the Popish Prelates as may be Read in his Book Entitled Diverse Poems of the corrupt state of the Church He composed a Treatise Entitled Apocalypsis Pontificis Goliath by which name he signified that Antichrist was revealed in the Pope Also Praedicationem Goliath and other Treatises against the Pope and his Court and of the dayes of the Court of Rome Giraldus Cambrensis mentioneth him in his Mirror of the Church and saith That he was a Man in that Age in great estimation His Poetical description of the City Popes and Court of Rome I shall here set down Roma caput mundi sed nil caput mundum Quod pendet a Capite totum est immundum Trahit enim vitium primum secundum Et de fundo redolet quod est juxta fundum Roma capit singulos res singulorum Romanorum Curia non est nisi forum Ibi sunt venalia jura Senatorum Et solvit contraria copia numm●rum In hoc consistorio si quis causam regat Suam vel alterius hic inprimis legat Nisi det pecuniam
his Wife erecting a Chappel and Chauntry to the Virgin Mary in their Manor of Lasingby consisting of one Master and six Chaplains to sing Mass for their Souls and the Souls of their Ancestors and of King Edward and his Heirs of the present Bishop of Durham and his Successors and of all faithful Souls deceased prescribing an Oath to them of perpetual Residence and discharge of the particular Divine Services and trusts reposed in them procured the King to ratifie this his Charter Chart. 20 Ed. 1. n. 5. by his Royal Charter enrolled in the Tower King Edward the First in the twenty one year of his Reign as Superiour Lord of Scotland in that Age exercised a Soveraign Authority in and over the King Clergy and Kingdom of Scotland in Causes and Inheritances which concerned the Church Clergy or Religious Persons as well as in Secular mens cases notwithstanding any Pretences or Appeals to Rome where Justice was delayed or refused to them by the King of Scots whereof there are sundry Presidents in the Patent and Plea-Rolls of Scotland in this and succeeding years Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury was no sooner consecrated at Rome Vid. Godw. Catal. p. 427. but he procured a Bull from Pope Celestine the Fifth by his Papal provision to confer the Bishoprick of Landaff which had been void for nine years space and thereby devolved to the Pope by lapse as he pretended on any Person he should think meet for that employment Whereupon without the King 's previous Authority he conferred it by way of provision upon John de Monmouth Yet the King was not forward to restore the Temporalties of the Archbishoprick of Canterbury to this Archbishop or of Landaff to John de Monmouth thus intruded into it against his Prerogative but detained them near two years after in his hands as vacant receiving the profits and presenting to the Benefices belonging to them Upon the death of Robert Burnel Bishop of Bath and Wells the King's Chancellor William de Marchia then Treasurer of England was elected to succeed him in that Bishoprick This year John de Langton succeeded Robert Burnel in the Chancellors Office of England The King in the twenty two year of his Reign notwithstanding a Subsidy granted to him Matth. Westm wanting Moneys searched all the Monasteries and Churches throughout England where any Moneys were deposited by Religious persons or others and forcibly carried it away to supply his occasions by the advice of his Treasurer William de Marchia Bishop of Bath and Wells The same year the King granted Protections to divers Abbots and Clergy-men who aided him with their Contributions against the French He also desired the assistance of their devout Prayers unto God for a blessing upon him and his Military Forces in defence of his Inheritance against their armed Powers as appears by his Writs under his Privy Seal issued to his Bishops and other Religious persons John Duke of Brabant the King 's dear Friend and Kinsman dying this year the King issued Writs to all his Bishops and sundry Abbots and Priors to make Prayers and chaunt Masses for him according to the superstition of that Age. Then the Roman See through the Cardinals divisions continuing void about three years and three months after the decease of Pope Nicholas the Fourth the Cardinals at last elected Peter de Murone an Hermite and Monk of the Order of St. Benedict whom they named Celestine the Fifth He during his short continuance in the Papacy granted our King Edward the First a Disme for seven years from all the Clergy of England out of zeal to the relief of the Holy Land But his Wars with the French Welch-men and Scots wasted all these Dismes Pope Celestine in the month of September created twelve Cardinals among whom were two Hermits But the Cardinals being weary of this precise reforming Pope perswaded him to resign his Papacy as being unfit to manage it without the Churches ruine and his own destruction So after he had sate five months and seven dayes he resigned the Papacy Then Benedict Cajetan his grand Counsellor was chosen Pope and called by the name of Boniface How unsutable yea contradictory his actions were to both his good names he immediately discovered which occasioned this Distich to be made of and applied to him Audi tace lege bene dic bene fac Benedicte Aut haec perverte male dic male fac Maledicte Celestine returned to his Cell from whence Boniface drew him forth and cast him into a close Prison where he abode till his death whence it is reported that Celestine prophecied of him Ascendisti ut Vulpes Regnabis ut Leo Morieris ut Canis Thou hast ascended into the Papacy like a Fox thou shalt reign like a Lion and die like a Dog and so it came to pass This Pope Boniface by his Bull having appropriated the Church of Wermington to the Abby of Peterburgh whereof they had the Patronage the King authorized them accordingly to appropriate it to them and their Successors against him and his Heirs notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmain This Pope sent two Cardinal Legats a latere first to the King of France and from him to the King of England then engaged in Wars against each other under a specious pretext of mediating a Truce between England and France but instead thereof these Cardinals did twice prey upon the English and Irish Churches and Clergy and transported their Treasure into France to enrich themselves and the King's Enemies there Then King Edward sent Writs to his Archbishops Bishops Abbots and others to make Prayers sing Masses and do other Works of Piety for the Soul of his Brother Edmond and after that of Margaret Queen of France according to the superstition of that Age. Tho. Walsingh Hist Angl. p. 34. In the twenty fourth year of King Edward's Reign there arose a great Sedition and Combat between the Scholars and Townsmen in the University of Oxford wherein many were slain on both sides and the Goods of the Scholars plundered and carried away upon complaint whereof to the King by the Scholars he sent his Justices thither to punish the Malefactors and repair the Scholars damages King Edward strenuously opposed Pope Boniface's Anti-monarchical Constitution against demanding or imposing Subsidies on the Clergy Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury was stout in the prosecution of the Popes Bull which he had procured for it for which all his Tempoporalties were seized and he being forced to hide his head and reduced to great extremities was restored to the King's favour by the earnest mediation of his Suffragan Bishops on his behalf Whereupon the King issued out Writs to restore his Temporalties with all his Oxen Goods and Chattels formerly seized in the state now they were In the twenty fifth year of this King's Reign Henry de Newark being elected Archbishop of York and his election approved by the King his Proctors sent to Rome procured the Pope's
suffered in the flames for the Gospel in this Queens dayes sixty four more were persecuted for their Faith and Profession whereof seven were whipped Fuller Church History sixteen perished in prison and were buried in dunghils many lay in captivity condemned but were released by the happy entrance of Queen Elizabeth and many fled the Land in those dayes of distress among whom were many persons of Quality as Katharine Dutchess of Suffolk last Wife of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk with her Husband Richard Berty Esquire Sir John Cheeke Sir Richard Morison of Caishobury in Hertford-shire Sir Francis Knollys afterwards Privy Counsellor to Queen Elizabeth Sir Anthony Cook Father-in-law to Cecil after Lord Burghley and famous for his learned Daughters Sir Peter Carew renowned for his Valour in Ireland where he died Anno 1576. Sir Thomas Wroth of Middlesex the Lady Dorothy Stafford afterwards of the Bed-chamber to Queen Elizabeth and the Lady Elizabeth Berkley Some of the English Exiles seated themselves at Emden in East-Frizland a Staple Town of English Merchants John Scory late Bishop of Chichester was Superintendent of the English Congregation in Emden Some setled themselves at Weasel then in the Dominions of the Duke of Cleve but bordering on the Low Countries in the King of Spain's possession but they quickly left this place some of them went to Arrow a small City in Switzerland on the banks of the River Arrola belonging to Bern. The most eminent English seated themselves at Strasburgh as James Haddon Edwyn Sandys Edmond Grindal John Huntington Guido Eaton John Geoffry John Peader Thomas Eaton Michael Raymuger Augustine Bradbridge Arthur Saule Thomas Steward Christopher Goodman Thomas Lakin Humfrey Alcocson Thomas Crafton Some went to Zuric stiled the Students at Zuric viz. Robert Horn Richard Chambers Thomas Leaver Nicholas Carvil John Mullings Thomas Spencer Thomas Bentham William Cole John Parkhurst Roger Kelk Robert Beaumont Laurence Humfrey Henry Cockcraft John Pretio At Franckford on the Meine was the most conspicuous English Church beyond the Seas consisting of John Bale Edmond Sutton John Makebray William Whittingham Thomas Cole William Williams George Chidley William Hammon Thomas Steward Thomas Wood John Staunton William Walton Jasper Swift John Geoffry John Gray Michael Gill John Fox Laurence Kent William Kethe John Hollingham John Samford John Wood Thomas Sorby Anthony Carier Hugh Alford George Whetnal Thomas Whetnal Edward Sutton Besides these the first Founders of these Congregations many additional persons coming afterward out of England joyned themselves thereunto Now followed the sad troubles of Frankford rending these Exiles into divers Factions The English had a Church granted unto them in coparcenie with the French Protestants they one day and the English another Which was granted them with this proviso That they should not dissent from the French in Doctrine or Ceremony lest thereby they should minister occasion of offence The English constituted their new Church chusing a Minister and Deacons for a time and out of conformity to the French abrogated many things formerly used by them in the Church of England 1. They concluded there should be no answering aloud after the Minister 2. That the Litany Surplice c. should be omitted 3. Instead of the English Confession they used another framed according to the state and time 4. The same ended the people sang a Psalm in metre in a plain tune 5. That done the Minister prayed for the assistance of God's Spirit and so proceeded to the Sermon 6. After Sermon a general Prayer for all States and particularly for England was devised 7. Then followed a Rehearsal of the Articles of Belief which ended the people sang another Psalm 8. Lastly The Minister pronounced the Blessing and so the people departed Thus setled in their Church they write Letters to all the English Congregations at Strasburgh Zuric Emden c. to invite them with all convenient speed to joyn with them at Franckford This occasioned several reiterated Letters from Franckford requiring those of Zurich to weigh the necessity of joyning themselves in one Congregation Those of Zurich by many dilatory Letters excused themselves from coming thither But the main reason was those of Zurich were resolved to recede no whit from the Liturgy used in England under King Edward the sixth and unless coming thither they might be assured they should have the full and free use thereof they utterly refused any Communion with their Congregation Then came Mr. John Knox from Geneva and was chosen by the Congregation at Frankford for their Pastor At which time Mr. Chambers and Mr. Edmond Grindal came thither as Agents with a Letter from the Congregation of Strasburgh Troubles of Frankford p. 24. These made a motion that they might have the substance of the Common-prayer-book though such Ceremonies and things which the Country could not bear might well be omitted But Knox and Whittingham were as much bent against the substance of the Book as against any of the Circumstantials which belonged to it Hereupon Grindal and Chambers return back again to Strasburgh Knox and others in Frankford drew up in Latin a platform of the English Liturgy and sent it to Geneva tendring it to the judgment of Mr. John Calvin who answereth that in the English Liturgy he had observed multas tolerabiles ineptias many tolerable fooleries adding that there wanted that purity which was to be desired in it that it contained many Relicks of Popish dregs that seeing there was no manifest impiety in it it had been tolerated for a season because at first it could not otherwise be admitted But howsoever though it was lawful to begin with such beggarly rudiments yet it behoved the learned grave and godly Ministers of Christ to endeavour further and set forth something more refined from filth and rustiness This being sent unto Knox and Whittingham those who formerly approved did afterwards dislike the English Liturgy But in the end it was agreed on that a mixt form consisting partly of the order of Geneva and partly of the Book of England should be digested and received till the first of April In this condition of affairs Doctor Richard Cox the late Dean of Christ-church and Westminster first School-master and afterward Almoner to King Edward the Sixth putteth himself into Frankford March 13. accompanied with many English Exiles Being a man of great learning of great authority in the Church and one that had a principal hand in drawing up the Liturgy by Law established he could not patiently bear these innovations in it He thereupon first begins to answer the Minister contrary to the order there agreed on and the next Lord's-day after causeth one of his company to go into the Pulpit and read the Litany Against which doings of his Knox in a Sermon the same day inveigheth most bitterly affirming many things in the English book to be imperfect and superstitious for which he is both rebuked by Cox and forbidden to preach Hereupon Whittingham procureth an Order from
it would be to the King and Queen how gainful to himself in regard both of his foul and of his temporal being putting him in good hope that he should not only have his life but be restored again to his ancient Dignity c. if he would but subscribe his name to a piece of Paper which was made ready for his hand By these and the like alluring temptations he was prevailed upon to sign the Writing in which were briefly comprehended the chief points of Doctrine defended in the Church of Rome and by him formerly condemned both in publick and in private But all this could not save him from being made a Sacrifice to revenge and avarice The Queen had still a vindicative spirit against him for the injury which she conceived had been done to her Mother and the Cardinal who hitherto had enjoyed the profits of the See of Canterbury as an Usufructuary was altogether as solicitous for getting a right and title to them as sole proprietary No way to pacifie one and to satisfie the desires of the other but by bringing him when he least looked for it to the fatal Stake And thither they brought him and first he retracts his retraction and after punisheth that hand which had subscribed it by holding it forth into the flame and suffering it to be consumed before the rest of his body had felt the fire The residue of his body being burnt to ashes his heart was found entire and untouched in the midst of the cinders which possibly may serve as a witness for him that his heart stood fast unto the Truth though with his hand he had subscribed some Popish errors Cardinal Pool received Consecration to the See of Canterbury the very next Sunday after Cranmer's death No fewer than two hundred are reported to have been burnt by bloody Bonner the most eminent of all which number was Mr. John Philpot Archdeacon of Winchester who though of Gardiner's Diocess was condemned by Bonner Gardiner being well enough contented to find out the Game and leave it to be followed by that bloody Hunter Dr. John Christopherson Bishop of Chichester is recorded to have burnt ten in one fire at Lewis and seventeen others at several times in sundry places among which was Richard Woodman of Warbleton in Sussex that notable Martyr and four at Mayfield viz. John Hart Thomas Ravensdal a Shoomaker and a Collier Harpfield Archdeacon of London and Thornton the Suffragan of Dover are said to have poured out blood like water The same is said of Griffin of Rochester and Downing Chancellor of Norwich The same character is given of Bishop Bayn of Coventry and Litchfield who burned many faithful Ministers and others In all the Province of York I find none brought to the Stake but George Marsh of Chester condemned thereto by Bishop Coles Besides the burning of Bishop Farrar at Carmarthen by Bishop Morgan and of Rawlins and White at Cardiff by Bishop Kitching No great cruelty seems to have been acted in the four Welsh Diocesses In the Diocess of Exeter Wells Peterborough and Lincoln though this last the greatest in the Kingdom I find mention but of one a piece of two in that of Ely and of no more than three apiece in that of Bristol and Sarisbury for at Newbury were burnt that famous Julius Palmer with two others Doctor Tunstal Bishop of Durham was in Queen Maries time no great persecutor his Bishoprick had dayes of quiet under him When Mr. Russel a Preacher was brought before him and Doctor Himner his Chancellor would have had him examined more strictly the Bishop stayed him saying Hitherto we have had a good report among our Neighbours I pray you bring not this mans blood upon my Head The Bishop of Carlisle also was a man of a moderate temper The Pope had published a Bull in print Anno 1556. in which he threatened excommunication to all persons that kept any Church-lands unto themselves as also all Princes and Magistrates that did not put the same in execution Which though it did not edifie much in the Realm of England yet it found more obedience in that of Ireland in which a Parliament being called in June 1557. there passed an Act for repealing of Statutes Articles and Provisions made against the See of Rome since the twentieth year of King Henry the Eighth and for abolishing of several Ecclesiastical possessions conveyed to the Laity as also for the extinguishment of First-fruits and Twentieth parts no more than the yearly payment of the Twentieth part having been laid by Act of Parliament upon the Clergy of Ireland in the first and last clause whereof as they followed the example of the Realm of England so possibly they might have given a dangerous example to it in the other point if by the Queens death which followed shortly after King Philip and the Popes had not lost all their power and influence on the English Nation by means whereof there was no farther progress in the Restitution of the Abbey-lands no more re-edifying the old Religious houses and no intention for the founding any new Cardinal Poole having visited his own Diocess and given out divers printed Articles to shew his great care for the suppressing the growth of Heresie sent his Commissioners to Cambridge who interdicted the two Churches wherein Martin Bucer and Paulus Fagius had been interred and the Writ being taken out de comburendo Haeretico and being come down and sent to the Mayor of Cambridge on February 6. the two dead Bodies were taken out of their Graves and being laid in their Coffins on mens shoulders were carried to the Market-place with a guard of men well armed and weaponed chained unto several posts as if still alive the wood and fire put to them and their Bodies burned together with so many of their Books as could be gotten which were cast into the same flames also Queen Mary now engageth in her Husband's quarrel and King Philip having made up an Army of thirty five thousand Foot and twelve thousand Horse besides a thousand Horsemen four thousand Footment and two thousand Pioners sent out of England under the command of the Earl of Pembrook sate down before St. Quintin the chief Town of Piccardy On August the tenth the Battels joyn in which the French were vanquished and their Army routed the Constable of France the Prince of Mantua the Duke of Montpensier and Longueville with six others of the prime Nobility and many others of less note being taken prisoners The Duke of Anguien the Viscount Turin most of the Foot-Captains and the common Souldiers to the number of two thousand five hundred were slain upon the place King Philip stormed St. Quintin on the eighteenth day After which service the English finding some neglect from King Philip desired to be dismissed into their Country which was indulged unto them By whose dismission King Philip could do no action of importance in the rest of the War But the Queen shall pay dearly
lodging in the Charter-house where she staid some dayes till all things in the Tower might be fitted for her reception Attended by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen with a stately Train of Lords and Ladies she entreth by Cripple-gate into the City passeth along the Wall till she came to Bishops-gate where all the Companies of the City in their several Liveries waited her coming in their proper and distinct ranks reaching from thence until the further end of Mark-lane where she was entertained with a peal of great Ordinance from the Tower At her entrance into which place she rendred her most humble thanks to Almighty God for the great and wondrous change of her condition in bringing her from being a prisoner in that place to be the Ruler of her people and now to take possession of it as a Royal Palace Here she emained till December the fifth then next following and from thence removed by water to Sommerset-house In each remove she found such infinite throngs of people which flocked from all parts to see her both by land and water and testified their publick joy by such loud acclamations as much rejoyced her heart to hear and could not but express it in her words and countenance As she passed through London the Bible was presented to her at the little Conduit in Cheapside which she received with both her hands and kissing it laid it to her breast saying That the same had ever been her delight and should be the rule by which she meant to frame her Government She was crowned by Owen Oglethorp Bishop of Carlisle Camden's Hist of Q. Elizab. on January the fourteenth for that the Archbishop of York and the rest of the Bishops refused to perform that office suspecting her Religion who had been first bred in the Protestants Religion and also for that she had very lately forbidden the Bishop in saying Mass to lift up the Host to be adored and permitted the Li●any with the Epistle and Gospel to be read in the vulgar tongue For the first six weeks things stood in their former state without the least alteration She being now twenty five years of age and taught by Experience and Adversity had gathered wisdom above age the proof whereof she gave in chusing her Counsellors which were as follow Nicholas Heath Archbishop of York William Pawlet Marquess of Winchester Lord Treasurer Henry Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel Francis Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury Edward Stanley Earl of Darby William Herbert Earl of Pembrook Edward Lord Clinton Lord Admiral of the Sea William Lord Howard of Effingham Lord Chamberlain Sir Thomas Cheiney Sir William Peter Sir John Mason Sir Richard Sackvill Nicholas Wotton Dean of Canterbury All these were Papists and of Queen Maries Council To these she joyned of her own William Par Marquess of Northampton Francis Russel Earl of Bedford Edward Rogers Ambrose Cave Francis Knollys William Cecil who had been Secretary to King Edward the Sixth and soon after Nicholas Bacon whom she made Lord Keeper of the Great Seal All these were of the Protestants Religion and had been in no place under Queen Mary Proclamations came forth that Preachers should abstain from questions controverted in Religion Then care was taken for sending new Commissions unto such Ambassadors as resided in the Courts of several Princes both to acquaint them with the change and to assure those Princes of the Queen's desire to maintain all former leagues between them and the Crown of England To her Agent in the Court of Spain it was given in charge to represent to the King the dear remembrance which she kept of those many Humanities received from him in the time of her Troubles Instructions are sent also to Sir Edward Karn the late Queen's Agent with the Pope and now confirmed by her in the same employment to make the Pope acquainted with the death of Queen Mary and her succession to the Crown not without some desire that all good Offices might be reciprocally exchanged between them But the Pope answered Heylin Hist of Q. Elizab. An. Reg. 1. That the Kingdom of England was held in Fee of the Apostolick See That she could not succeed being Illegitimate That He could not contradict the declaration of Clement the Seventh and Paul the Third That it was a great boldness to assume the Name and Government of it without him yet being desirous to shew a Fatherly affection if she would renounce her pretensions and refer her self wholly to his free disposition He will do whatsoever may be done with the Honour of the Apostolick See The new Queen having performed this office of Civility to him as she did to others expected no answer nor took much thought of it when she heard it Many who were imprisoned for Religion she restored to liberty at her first coming to the Crown which occasioned Rainsford a Gentleman of the Court to make a sute to her in the behalf of Matthew Mark Luke and John who had been long imprisoned in a Latin Translation that they also might walk abroad as formerly in the English Tongue To whom she made answer That he should first endeavour to know the minds of the prisoners who perhaps desired no such liberty as he demanded King Philip fearing least he should lose the strength and title of the Kingdom of England and that the Kingdom of England Scotland and Ireland would by Mary Queen of Scots be annexed unto France dealt seriously with Queen Elizabeth about a Marriage to be contracted with her promising to procure a special dispensation from the Bishop of Rome The Queen weighing in her mind the unlawfulness of such a Marriage puts off King Philip by little and little with a modest answer but indeed out of scruple of Conscience And now she thought nothing more pleasing to God than that Religion should be forthwith be altered Thereupon the care of correcting the Liturgy was committed to Doctor Matthew Parker Bill May Grindal Whitehead and Pilkinton Learned and moderate Divines and to Sir Thomas Smith Knight the matter being imparted to no man but the Marquess of Northampton the Earl of Bedford Sir John Grey of Pyrgo and Sir William Cecil A Parliament was summoned to begin on January 25. which opened with an Eloquent and Learned Sermon Preached by Dr. Cox In the House of Commons there were some furious Spirits who eagerly opposed all propositions which seemed to tend unto the prejudice of the Church of Rome Of which number none so violent as Scory Doctor of the Laws and a Great Instrument of Bonner's Butcheries in Queen Mary's Reign who being questioned for the cruelty of his Executions declared himself to be sorry for nothing more That instead of lopping off some few boughes and branches he did not lay his Ax to the Root of the Tree Yet passed He unpunished for the present though Divine Vengeance brought him in the end to his just reward In this Parliament passed an Act for recognizing the Queen's just Title to the
of Bavaria was invested in the upper Palatinate Anno 1624. The match with France was concluded and in November the Articles were sworn unto by King James Prince Charles and the French King The Articles for Religion were not much short of those for Spanish match Count Mansfield was at this time in England and the Forces raised in the several parts of the Kingdom for the recovery of the Palatinate were put under his command Dover was the place assigned for their Rendezvous where the Colonels and Captains were to receive their several Regiments and Companies from the Conductors employed by those several Counties where the men were raised These being long pent up in their Ships suffered the want of all necessaries by which means a Pestilence devoured many of them so that scarce a Third part of the men were landed the which also afterwards mouldred away and the design came to nothing At this time upon the death of William Titular Bishop of Calcedon most of the English Secular Priests did petition the Pope that another Bishop might be sent over into England there to ordain Priests give Confirmation and exercise Episcopal jurisdiction Among others Matthew Kellison and Richard Smith were presented Not long after Pope Vrban the Eighth created Richard Smith Bishop of Calcedon and sent him into England with Episcopal Authority over the Priests within the English Dominions King James after he had been troubled with a Tertian Fever four weeks at Theobalds called unto him his onely Son Prince Charles to whom he recommended the protection of the Church of England c. and died on the seven and twentieth day of March He Reigned twenty two years and three days The sad news of King James his death was brought to White-hall when Dr. Laud Bishop of St. David's was Preaching therein This caused him to break off his Sermon in the midst thereof out of civil compliance with the sadness of the Congregation And the same day was King Charles Proclaimed at Whitehall Shortly after King James his death Bishop Land delivered to the hands of the Duke of Buckingham brief memorables of the Life and Death of King James On May fourteenth following King James his Funerals were performed very solemnly in the Collegiate-church at Westminster King Charles in his own person mournfully attended the Funerals of his Father Dr. Williams Lord Keeper and Bishop of Lincoln Preached the Sermon taking for his Text 2 Chron. 9.29 30 and part of vers 31. containing the happy Reign quiet Death and stately Burial of King Solomon In this Sermon he made a parallel between two peaceable Princes King Solomon and King James adding that Solomon's vices could be no blemish to King James who resembled him onely in his choycest vertues Doctor Preston still continued and increased in the favour of the King and the Duke of Buckingham Then a Book came forth called Apello Caesarem made by Mr. Mountague then Fellow of Eaton upon this occasion He had lately written Satyrically enough against the Papists in confutation of The Gagger of the Protestants Now two Divines of Norwich Diocese Mr. Yates and Mr. Ward inform against him for deserting our Cause instead of defending it Mr. Mountague in his own Vindication writes a second Book licensed by Francis White Dean of Carlile finished and partly Printed in the Reign of King James Many bitter passages in this his Book gave great exception At that time a Schedule was delivered to the Duke wherein the names of Ecclesiastical persons were written under the letters of O and P Rushw Collect An. 1625. O standing for Orthodox and P. for Puritans for the Duke commanded that the names of eminent persons to be presented unto the King should be thus digested under that partition On Sunday June 12. Queen Mary landed at Dover Next day the King coming from Canterbury met her at Dover Thence his Majesty conducted the Queen to Canterbury and the same Evening the Marriage was there consummated On June 16. the King and Queen came both to London A Chappel at Sommerset-house was built for the Queen and her Family with conveniences thereto adjoyning for Capuchin Friers who were therein placed and had permission to walk abroad in their Religious habits Then began a Parliament at London wherein the first Statute agreed upon was for the more strict observation of the Lord's day Sir Edward Coke went to the House of Peers with a message from the Commons desiring their concurrence in a petition concerning Religion and against Recusants which being agreed to and presented to the King his Majesty answered That he was glad that the Parliament was so forward in matters of Religion and assured them they should find him as forward Mr. Richard Mountague was brought to the Bar of the Commons House for his Book fore-mentioned which was Printed and dedicated to King Charles But the King rescued him from the House of Commons by taking Mr. Mountague's business into his own hand The Plague increasing in London the Parliament removed to Oxford where Doctor Chalenor died of that infection The Parliament to prevent the growth of Popery presented a petition to his Majesty containing sixteen particulars to which they received a satisfactory answer from the King Mr. Mountagues cause was recommended to the Duke of Buckingham by the Bishops of Rochester Oxford and St. Davids as the cause of the Church of England They affirm boldly that they cannot conceive what use there can be of Civil Government in the Common-wealth or of external Ministry in the Church if such fatal Opinions as some are which are opposite to those of Mr. Mountague be publickly taught and maintained But other Learned men were of a different judgement At Oxford in a late Divinity disputation held upon this Question Whether a Regenerate man may fall away totally and finally from Grace The Opponent u ging the Appeal to Caesar the Doctor of the Chair handled the Appellator very roughly saying That he was a man that studied phrases more than matter That he understood neither Articles nor Homilies or at least perverted both That he attributed he knew not what vertue to the sign of the Cross and concluded with an Admonition to the Juniors That they should be wary of reading that and the like Books The King according to his late answer to the Parliament at Oxford issued out a Commission to the Judges to see the Law against Recusants put in Execution This was read in all the Courts of Judicature at Reading where Michaelmas Term was kept and a letter directed to the Archbishop of Canterbury to take special care for the discovery of Jesuites Seminary Priests c. within his Province In this and the next year many Books from persons of several abilities and professions were written against Mr. Mountague by Dr. Sutcliff Dean of Exeter Mr. Henry Burton Mr. Yates a Minister of Norfolk his Book he entitled Ad Caesarem ibis Dr. Carleton Bishop of Chichester Anthony Wotton Divinity-professor
Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel were executed March 9. but the Earl of Norwich and Sir John Owen were pardoned The Commons set forth a Declaration to justifie their proceedings They promise the establishment of a firm and safe Peace the advancement of the true Protestant Religion the liberal maintenance of a godly Ministry c. They pass an Act for propagating the Gospel in Ireland March 8. April 10. 1649. An Act was passed by the Commons for the sale of Deans and Chapters Lands and for the abolishing of Deans Deans and Chapters Canons Prebends c. and Tithes of or belonging to any Cathedral or Collegiate Church in England and Wales but it was provided That this should not extend to the Colledge of St. Mary in Winchester nor to the Colledge of Eaton nor to any of the Mannors Lands Tenements and Hereditaments to them belonging June 2. 1649 An Act was passed for the better maintenance of Preaching Ministers and School-masters out of the Lands of Deans and Chapters throughout England and Wales in such places where maintenance is wanting and for other good uses to the advancement of true Religion Piety and Learning And the Commissioners of the Great-Seal of England issued forth Commissions under the Great Seal into all the Counties of England and Wales to such persons as by the Parliament were nominated giving them power by the Oathes of good and lawful men c. to find out the true value of all Parsonages and Vicarages presentative and all other Ecclesiastical Livings with care of Souls within such Cities and Counties and to certifie into the Chancery what each of them were really worth per Annum the names of the Incumbents Proprietors and Possessors thereof and of such as receive the profits who supplies the Cure what he hath for his Sallary how many Chappels are belonging to one Parish and how situate and fit to be united and how the Churches and Chappels are supplied by Preaching Ministers that so a course be taken for the providing both for Preaching and maintenance where the same should be found to be needful About this time some Dissenters in the Army called Levellers drew together five thousand Horse and Foot at Burford Colonel Reinolds fell in upon them with a greater Body than they had and routed them taking nine hundred Horse and four hundred Foot prisoners whereof one Thomson and two more principal Leaders were immediately shot to death who died resolutely Cornet Den an Army-preacher Flageilum or the life and death of O. C. p. 83. expressing his grief and sorrow was reprieved at the Instant of execution which their Fellows beheld from the leads of the Church The Rest by Cromwells mediation were all pardoned and sent home to their own houses This proved the utter suppression of that faction and rendred the Army entirely at his Command so that they presently submitted to the lot which Regiments should be sent to Ireland then almost reduced to the King's obedience by the Marquess of Ormond Cromwell was ordained Commander in chief of the Forces appointed for Ireland and tituladoed with the style of Lord Governour of Ireland while the Lord Fairfax was left here to attend the Parliament He with a potent Army landed at Dublin The Marquess of Ormond had besieged Dublin but the siege was raised by Colonel Michael Jones Governour of Dublin with the utter defeat of the Marquesses Army And the siege of London-derry was raised by Sir Charles Coot sallying out of the Town Cromwel takes Drogheda by Storm and puts all in it to the Sword After this in less than a year most of the Cities and Towns in Ireland were taken and that whole Kingdom in a manner subdued to the power of the Common-Wealth of England and the Marquess of Ormond and all that oppose their Authority withdrew themselves But a little before Colonel Rich received a Brush from my Lord Broghil in the County of Cork where the Bishop of Rosse being taken was hanged July 19. 1649. An Act was passed by the Parliament of the Common-wealth of England for the promoting and propagating the Gospel of Christ in New England And a general Collection was made in and through all the Counties Cities Towns and Parishes of England and Wales as the foundation for so pious an undertaking c. King Charles the Second being now at Jersey part of the English Fleet was sent to attacque that Island which put the King upon a speedy remove from thence into France where he resided till the time appointed for the Treaty at Breda which drew near and then he repaired thither The Committee of the Estates of Scotland having concluded with the King at Breda all correspondence with the English was by Proclamation forbidden and all manner of provision stopped from being carryed into England though the Juncto at Westminster had used all Artifices to keep the Scots from closing with the King 1650. During the Treaty at Breda the Marquess of Montrosse landed in the Isles of Orkney with fifteen hundred Armes and five hundred German Souldiers and after he had gathered more strength he was defeated by Colonal Straughan taken and brought to Edinburgh where he is brought to his Trial condemned and executed The rigorous prosecution of the Marquess of Montrosse in that violent manner was chiefly from the instigation of the Kirk by which long before he had been Excommunicated Concerning which he spake to the people in this manner upon the Scaffold What I did in this Kingdom was in obedience to the most just Commands of my Sovereign for his defence in the day of his distress against those that rose up against him I fear God and honour the King according to the Commandments of God and the Law of Nature and Nations c. It is objected against me by many even good people that I am under the censure of the Church this is not my fault since it is onely for doing my duty by obeying my Prince's most just Commands for Religion his Person and Authority yet am I sorry they did Excommunicate me and in that which is according to God's Laws without wronging my Conscience or Allegiance I desire to be relaxed If they will not I appeal to God who is the Righteous Judge of the World and who must and will I hope be my Judge and Saviour The King was much troubled at the Scots severity against this Noble Marquess After this the King lands in Scotland and is Proclaimed King at Edinburgh Cross But his Majesty had not been long among the Scots but they began according to their usual manner of Kirk Authority and Discipline to obtrude upon the King such curbing conditions as but ill-suited with Regal dignity Then the Common-wealth of England sent an Army against Scotland and Cromwel is made General of the Parliament's Forces instead of Lord Fairfax and about the end of June he marched towards Berwick in order to his advance into Scotland The Scots raise an Army
and in the mean-time send many Expostulatory Letters to Sir Arthur Haslerigg then at Newcastle urging the breach of Covenant and the union between the two Nations which availed nothing The Scots having been routed at Muscleburgh they came to a Battel at Dunbar where the whole Army was defeated by Cromwel of the Scots there were slain in the Battel four thousand and nine thousand were taken prisoners with all their Ammunition bag and baggage and ten thousand Armes The Scots after this loss quitted Leith and Edinburgh whereof the next day Cromwel took possession and the King retired to St. Johnstons where the Committee of Estates were assembled The Scots ascribed this overthrow of the Army to their admitting the King into Scotland before he had given full satisfaction to the Kirk in what they required of him and began very much to impose upon him and remove from his Person the most Faithful and Loyal of his Servants The King departs secretly from St. Johnstons in discontent to the Lord Dedup's house near Dundee The Estates at St. Johnstons send Major General Montgomery to fetch the King back the King returns with him to St. Johnstons where a grand Convention is held and divers of the Royal Nobility are received into the favour of this Assembly Cromwel fortifieth Lieth and lays close siege to Edinburgh Castle Mr. John Guthry Mr. Patrick Gelespy Mr. Samuel Rutherford with many other Ministers withdrew from the Assembly at St. Johnstons and in print remonstrated in the name of themselves and the Western Churches against the present proceedings and with these Colonel Ker Straughan the Laird of Warreston Sir John Chiesly and Sir James Stuart and others Confederated By this division Cromwel's Conquest was made very easie and his fomenting that Rent in their Church made their subjection to his Authority more lasting than otherwise it would have been The King was desirous to compose this disorder or at least to prevent the dividing so great a Force as was under Ker and Straughan from his Service and to that end the Earl of Cassels the Lord Broody and Mr. Robert Douglas the Minister were sent to treat with them but they were somewhat averse to a composure yet they declared against any conjunction with Cromwel professing equally against Malignants as they called the King 's Loyal Subjects and Sectaries Soon after Colonel Ker being defeated was taken prisoner by Major General Lambert Mr. Rutherford wrote divers consolatory Letters to him during his imprisonment both in Scotland and in England Edinburgh Castle was surrendered by Dundasse the Governor Son in Law to old Leven upon conditions unto Cromwel on December 24. 1650. Shortly after all the Forts on this side of Sterling were taken by the English The King was solemnly Crowned at Scoone near unto St. Johnstons the accustomed place of the Coronation of the Kings of Scotland his Coronation being celebrated with loud Acclamations Bonfires shooting off of Guns and with as much pomp and Ceremony as the present State of things would permit About the beginning of June the Parliament of Scotland ended Addition to Sir Ric. Baker● Chron. having before their dissolution given large Commissions and Instructions for the pressing of men in all parts of the Kingdom beyond Fife and in the Western parts for a new Army which was to consist of 15000 Foot and 3000 Horse and Dragoons Then was the intended rising in Lancashire unfortunately disapointed Anno 1651 by the taking of a Ship at Ayx in Scotland which had been bound to the Earl of Darby in the Isle of Man and the seizing of Mr. Berkinhead an Agent in the business by whose Letters all was detected and thereupon were apprehended Mr. Thomas Cook of Grays-Inn Mr. Gibbons a Tailor and Mr. Potter an Apothecary together with Mr. Christopher Love Mr. William Jenkin Mr. Thomas Case Dr. Roger Drake and some other Presbyterial Ministers who were brought before a High Court of Justice and tried for their lives and about the latter end of July Potter Gibbons and Mr. Love were sentenced to death and a while after Gibbons and Love were executed After the defeat of Sir John Brown by Lambert and the taking of Brunt-Island and Inchgarvy-Castle by the English Cromwel resolved to set upon St. Johnstons which after one days siege he gained Hereupon the King leaves Scotland and enters England with his Army by the way of Carlile on August 6. 1651. At his first entrance upon English ground he was Proclaimed King of G●eat Britain at the Head of the Army with great Acclamations and shooting off the Canons on August 22. he came to Worcester The Earl of Darby coming with Forces to the King was routed by Colonel Lilburn Cromwel having with the conjunction of the Militia of divers Counties drawn together an Army of fifty thousand men surroundeth the City of Worcester Duke Hamilton who behaved himself with undaunted courage received a shot on his thigh whereof presently after he died The King's Army being over-powred they were forced to retreat into the City and many of Cromwel's Army got in with them About seven at night the Cromwellians gained the Fort Royal at which time his Majesty left the City passing out at St. Martin's gate accompanied with about Sixty Horse of the chiefest of his Retinue The Town was taken and miserably plundered There were slain in the Field in the Town and in Pursuit some two thousand and about eight thousand were taken prisoners in several places most of the English common men escaping by their Shibboleth But at Newport there were taken in the pursuit the Earls of Lauderdale Rothes Carnworth Darby Cleveland Shrewsbury the Lord Spyne Sir John Pakington Sir Ralph Clare Sir Charles Cunningham Colonel Graves Mr. Richard Fanshaw Secretary to the King and many others Six Colonels of Horse eight Lieutennant Colonels of Foot six Majors of Horse thirteen Majors of Foot thirty seven Captains of Horse seventy two Captains of Foot fifty five Quarter-masters eighty nine Lieutenants There were taken also some general Officers with seventy six Cornets of Horse ninety nine Ensignes of Foot ninety Quarter-masters eighty of the King's Servants with the King's Standard which he had set up when he summoned the Countrey the King's Coach and Horses and Collar of S S. but the King's person God wonderfully preserved delivering him from the Hand of all his Enemies and after many difficulties he is safely transported from Bright-helmston in Sussex into France by Tattersall Cromwel comes with his prisoners to London and having left Lieutennant General Monk in Scotland Sterling with the Castle was surrendred unto him and Dundee was taken by Storm and soon after St. Andrews Aberdeen with other Towns Castles and Strong places either voluntarily submitted or rendred upon summons The Earl of Darby was beheaded at Bolton in Lancashire The Isles of Man and Jersey c. are surrendred to the Parliament The Isle of Barbadoes is yielded up to Sir George Ascough Now the Parliament of England
to pay for his entertainment On a sudden all the Templars in France are clapt in prison damnable sins are laid to their charge and they most cruelly burned to death at a stake with James the Grand Master of their Order All Europe followed the Copy that France had set them Here in England King Edward the Second of that name suppressed the Order and put them to death So by vertue of a Writ sent from him to Sir John Wogan Lord Chief Justice in Ireland were they served there and such was the secrecy of the contrivance of the business that the storm fell upon them ere they were aware of it In England their possessions were by Authority of Parliament assigned to the Hospitaller-Knights of St. John of Jerusalem least that such Lands given to good and pious uses against the Donour's will should be given to other uses At the North-side of the City of London John Briset a rich and devout man built an House for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem which in time grew so great that it resembled a Palace and had in it a very fair Church and a Tower-steeple raised to so great height with so fine workmanship that while it stood it was a singular beauty and ornament to the City These Knights Hospitallers at their first Institution about the year 1124. and long after were so lowly all the while they continued poor that their Governor was stiled servant to the poor servitors of the Hospital of Jerusalem like as the Master of the Templars who shortly after arose was termed The Humble Minister of the poor Knights of the Temple The Hospitallers ware a white Cross upon their upper black Garment and by solemn profession were bound to serve Pilgrims and poor people in the Hospital of St. John at Jerusalem and to secure the passages thither they charitably buried the dead they were assiduous in prayer mortified themselves with watchings and fastings they were courteous and kind to the poor Camd. descrip of London whom they called their Masters and fed with white bred while themselves lived with brown and carried themselves with great austerity whereby they purchased to themselves the love and liking of all sorts and through the bounty of good Princes and private persons admiring their piety and prowess they rose from this low degree to so high an Estate and great riches that they did after a sort wallow in wealth and riches For about the year of our Lord 1240. they had within Christendom nineteen thousand Lordships or Mannors like as the Templars nine thousand And this estate of theirs grown to so great an height made way for them to as great Honours so as their Prior in England was reputed the prime Baron of the Land called the Lord of St. Johns and able with fulness and abundance of all things to maintain an honourable Port untill that King Henry the Eighth gat their Lands and livings into his own hands like as he did of the Monasteries also They out lived all other Orders yet at last they fell into a Praemunire for they still continued their obedience to the Pope contrary to their Allegiance whose Usurped authority was banished out of the Land They were forced to resign all into the King's hands He allowed to Sir William Weston Weavers Monum p. 114. Lord Prior of the Order an annual pension of One thousand pounds But he never received a penny thereof but died instantly struck to the heart when he first heard of the dissolution of his Priory and lyeth buried in the Chauncel of Clarkenwell with the pourtraiture of a dead man lying on his shroud most artificially cut in Stone others had rent assigned them of two hundred pound one hundred pound sixty pound fifty pound twenty pound ten pound according to their several qualities and deserts Queen Mary sets up the Hospitallers again and Sir Thomas Tresham of Rushton in Northampton-shire was the first and last Lord Prior after their Restitution for their nests were plucked down before they were warm in them by the coming in of Queen Elizabeth Of the English Nuns I Come now to Nuns almost as numerous in England as Monks and Friers as having though not so many Orders yet more of the same Order The weaker sex hath ever equalled men in their Devotion often exceeded them in their Superstition At Liming in Kent the Daughter of King Ethelbert took the veile and became the first English Nun. There was an Hermophrodite Order as is aforesaid admitting both Men and Women under the same roof and during the life of Gilbert their first founder for seven hundred Brethren there were one thousand one hundred Sisters entred into that Order Doctor Fuller divides the Nuns into three sorts First The Antientest Secondly The Poorest Thirdly The latest Nuns in England 1. Of the first sort he accounteth the She Benedictines commonly called black Nuns Bennet the Monk after he had placed himself and his Monkish Brethren in a certain Noble and Famous Cloyster upon the Mount Cassinus raised up also an Order of Nuns and made his Sister Scholastica Abbess over them The apparrel of these black Nuns is a black coat cloak coule and veyl and least the Scripture should deceive her and hers it was commanded that none of that Order should read the Holy Scripture without consent or permission of their Superior 2. The poorest follow being the strict Order of St. Clare a Lady living at the same time and in the same Town with St. Francis she assembled and gathered together a Congregation of poor Women and gave them an Order of life like unto the rule that Frier Francis gave his Covent Their garment is gray their Order admitteth none but women-kind except it be to say Mass 3. The Nuns of St. Bridget were the latest in England first setled here in the second year of King Henry the Fifth Anno Domini 1415. dissolved with the rest Anno 1538. so that they continued here onely one hundred twenty three years Bridget Queen of Sweden gave them their name and Institution Men and Women living under the same roof the VVomen above the Men beneath They were seated at Sion in Middlesex which King Henry the Fifth having expelled from thence the Monks Aliens built for Religious Virgins to the Honour of our Saviour the Virgin Mary and St. Bridget of Sion In this Sion he appointed so many Nuns Priests and Lay-brethren divided apart within their several VValls as were in number forsooth equal to Christ's Apostles and Disciples viz. eighty five I. Sisters Sixty II. Priests Thirteen III. Deacons Four IV. Lay-brethren Eight Having bestowed sufficient maintenance upon them King Henry provided by a Law that contenting themselves therewith they should take no more of any man but what overplus soever remained of their yearly Revenue they should bestow it upon the poor Thomas Walsingham saith Walsingh in Henric. V. if afterwards the whole VVorld should proffer them Farmes and possessions
Finan converted the East-Saxons 16 Focariae Concubines to the Canons they are imprisoned in the Tower Iohn Frith a learned man burnt in Smith-field 148 First-fruits Office when set up in London 150 Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester beheaded 148 Mr. Iohn Fox with some others settle themselves at Basil in Queen Maries days 200 His death 250 Fifth Monarchy-men apprehended 360 Iohn Ficknam made Abbot of Westminster 196 The troubles of Franckford 197 198 Robert Farrars Bishop of St. Davids imprisoned in King Edward's days and burnt in Queen Maries days 175 Florentius first Bishop of Argentine or Strausburg 17 G. GAsper Haywood the first Jesuite that ever set foot in England 246 Gospel first planted in Britain 1 Britain first received the Gospel by publick Authority 2 Germanus Bishop of Auxerre is sent for into Britain to suppress Pelagianism 7 Gospel first planted by Augustine among the Saxons 12 Five Grammar Schools erected in London 129 Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester he fell sick the same day that Bishop Ridley and Latimer were burnt his sad end 194 A Gun shot at Dr. Pendleton preaching at Pauls cross 193 Lady Jane Gray proclaimed Queen of England 179 She and her husband the Lord Guilford Dudley and her Father the Duke of Suffolk are beheaded 188 Guthlake the first Saxon Eremite in England 21 Robert Grosthed Bishop of Lincoln 80. 81 The Gun-powder plot 270. 271 Archbishop Grindal a patron of prophecyings and how they were modelled 241 Godfrey Goodman Bishop of Glocester committed to the Gate-house for refusing to subscribe the Canons made Anno 1640. 320 He dies a Papist ibid. H. HArold the Son of Earl Godwyn King of England he is slain at Battel in Sussex 36 Hardiknout the last of the Danish Kings in England 35 Alexander Hales an English-man Master to Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure 107 Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury divided England into Parishes 16 Helvetia converted by Gallus ib. Hengist Captain of the Saxons invadeth Britain 8 He is King of Kent 9 An Heptarchy established in Britain 9 Swallowed up in the West Saxons Monarchy 10 Robert Holcot a learned English man 112 Duke Hamilton Earl of Holland and Lord Capel beheaded 348 Hubba the Dane killeth Hedda the Abbot of Peterborough and eighty four Monks with his own hand 25 King Henry the Third his story from 68. ad 86 Henry the Fourth his story from 118. ad 123 Henry the Fifth his story from 123. ad 127 Henry the Seventh his story from 135. ad 140 Henry the Eighth his story from 141. ad 157 Sir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Huet beheaded 361 Hospital at Greenwich founded by William Lambert 250 Hospitals of Christ-church in London and St. Thomas in Southwark founded 176. 177 The Statute made Pro Haenetico comburendo 119 Death of Prince Henry 280 John Hooper and Iohn Rogers founders of Non-conformity 169 Bishop Hall's Book in defence of the divine right of Episcopacy 317 Dr. Iohn Hacket defendeth Deans and Chapters 325 A sad contest between Mr. Rich. Hooker and Mr. Walter Travers 255 King Charles the First his Dispute with Mr. Alexander Henderson 342 I. KIng James his birth page 230 His story from 261. ad 293 Impropriations bought in to maintain a preaching Ministry 301 The Impostures of Hacket Arthington and Coppinger 253 Ilfutus a profound Scholar 11 Ina King of the West Saxon sets forth his Saxon Laws 20 He first granted Peter-pence to the Pope out of this Kingdom 22 Iohannes Scotus Erigena murthered in the Abbey of Malmesbury 30 Iohn King of England his story from 51. ad 68 Jews crucifie a Child at Oxford their punishment 85 Their banishment out of England ibid. Ioachim Abbot of Calabria 49 Ida King of Northumberland 10 Images taken away in most places of England 160 Inquisitors appointed to search out for Hereticks with all Wickliffs Books 123 Many Italians held the best Livings in England a Statute made against it Four Italians followed each other in the See of Worcester 137 Iohn Iewel chosen to pen the first gratulatory letter to Queen Mary by his enemies page 184 He subscribeth the Popish Tenets 187 He bewails his fall in the Congregation at Franckford he is made Bishop of Sarum 187 His chalenge 218 His Apology 226 Such Irish Impropriations as were in the Crown restored to the Church 304 Dr. William Juxon Lord Treasurer ib. K. COlonel Ker taken prisoner by Lambert 351 Kingdom of the South Saxons comprehending Sussex and Surrey when it began 9 The beginning of the Kingdom of Kent 9 Kentigern Bishop of Elwy in North Wales 11 John Kemp Archbishop of Canterbury built the Divinity School in Oxford and Pauls Cross 132 Kenulphus King of the West Saxons conferreth large priviledges on the Monastery of Abingdon 169 Kings of England of old sent their Crowns to St. Edmond's shrine 34 Kimbeline King of Britain at the birth of our Saviour 1 Kyngils King of the West Saxons is baptized by Birinus 16 Order of the Knights-Templars abolished throughout Christendom 106 Their Lands in England conferred on the Knights of St. John of Ierusalem ibid. Iohn Knox at Franckford preacheth against the English Liturgy as imperfect and superstitious He is rebuked by Dr. R. Cox He is accused to the State for High Treason against the Emperor Knox departeth the City 199 And setleth himself at Geneva 200 Kets Rebellion 166 Kilian the first Bish of Wortsburg first instructed the people of East France in the Christian Faith 17 The Bishop of Wortsburg carried a Sword and a Priest's Gown in his Badge ibid. L. HVgh Latimer resigneth his Bishoprick of Worcester rather than he would yield to the passing of the six Articles 169 Iohn Lambert his Martyrdom 153 Divers Liturgies in use in England till King William the Conqueror's time 39 Lollards after Abjuration forced to wear the fashion of a Faggot wrought in thread on their sleeves 141 The Scottish Liturgy translated into the Latin Tongue 317 An Apology for vindicating the Liturgy commended to the Kirk of Scotland 317 A publick Liturgy framed in King Edward his days 164 Iohn a Lasco with his Congregation of Germans setled at London the West part of the Church of Austin-friars allotted them p. 170 His Congregation dissolved 184 Iohn Lewis an Arrian burnt at Norwich 246 Levellers routed by Colonel Reinolds at Burford 349 Latimer and Ridley burnt at Oxford 194 Adam Loftus Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland 255 Matthew Lenox made Regent of Scotland 236 Earl of Leicester goes over into the Low-countries with a great Army 248 Mr. Love and Gibbons beheaded 352 Bartholomew Legatt an Arrian burnt 279 London burnt 381 The Commissioners of the High Commission at St. Pauls violently assaulted by Lilburn and the London Apprentices 321 Archbishop Laud impeached and sent to the Tower 323 And beheaded on Tower-hill ib. Lucius the first Christian King of Britain 2 His story 3. 4 Lupus Bishop of Troys cometh into Britain and refuteth the Heresie of Pelagius 7 English Liturgy translated into
as well as in the Modern doth signifie narrow strait or a nook And a Portugal alluding thereunto hath this verse Anglia terra ferax fertilis Angulus Orbis Insula praedives quae toto vix eget orbe A fruitful Angle England Thou Another world art said An Island rich and hast no need of other Countrie 's aid And although after this many errours in Doctrine and corruptions in Worship crept in more and more into our Church and the Pope encroaching by degrees the Churches of God in this Land did much degenerate as they did in other Nations so that in Process of time the whole world wondered after the Beast and they Worshipped the Beast saying who is like unto the Beast Revel 13.3 4. Yet even in the darkest times when our Church suffered the greatest Ecclipse when her Silver was become Dross and her Wine was mixed with Water it pleased God then to raise up some eminent Persons to stand up for the Defence of the Truth in this Nation and to discover the impostures of the Church of Rome Yea how many were there that suffered Martyrdom for the Gospel here in England who detested Image-worship and other abominations in the dayes of King Henry the fourth King Henry the fift and others afterward long before Luther was born These and the like in other Nations may be called the forlorn Hope who did obequitare Antichristi castra ad pugnam elicere advance up to and ride round about the camp of Antichrist and provoke him to the main-fight What wonderfull deliverances hath God wrought for this Church and Nation in several ways When King Henry the eighth did renounce the Pope's Supremacy what plots were framed by diverse Princes against this Land to ruine it and how gratiously did the Lord protect his people here from such a storm though then he had but a very little flock in this place When Queen Mary matched with Philip of Spain in what apparent danger was this Land to fall into miserable servitude and bondage under the Iron-yoak of the Spainard's which diverse nations that have been subject to them have found intolerable The blind and bloody zeal of Queen Mary was likely to have rooted out all the plants of God's right hand in this Land and so have banished hence the true Church and Gospel of Christ and so to have shut this Kingdom out of the bounds of the Church There was great expectation of Issue by that Marriage between the Spanish Prince and Queen Mary who Her self also was a Spaniard by the Mother's side and Solemn Forms of Thanksgiving and Prayer were made for Her Conception and safe delivery and besides an Act passed in Parliament that if Queen Mary died in Child-bed King Philip should have the Government of this Land during the Child's Nonage and if these things had succeeded into what misery might this Land have fallen And besides had an Issue of that Marriage lived to Reign over England together with other Dominions of the Spaniard what had England been but an Inferiour Tributary Province to be Governed as it pleased the Spanish Nation even as was attempted in the Low-Countreys with Devilish cruelties to say nothing of their horrible Massacres in the West-Indies But here see the wonderful goodness of God who dwelt in the midst of this Church as a Refuge All this was prevented Queen Marie's supposed Conception vanished She was soon taken away by death and King Philip of Spain had no longer any Interest in England Queen Elizabeth a Noursing-mother to this Church Succeeded She was born September the seventh 1533. One calleth Her Angliae Delitias Mason consecr Epis Angl. Europae Sydus Mundi Phoenicem c. the joy of England the Star of Europe the Phoenix of the World a Glass of God's Providence and the Mirrour of His Mercy And as if the Devil had presaged what a scourge She would prove to the Roman greatness and suggested it to Pope Clement the seventh he is said to have made a Peremptory Decree against Her whilst She was in Her Mother's belly This Pope himself being the Bastard of Julian de Medicis a Florentine he avowed to make Her illegitimate and uncapable of the Crown The like did Pope Paul the third attempt viz. To make that Royal Princess illegitimate when She was but two years Old But as the Lord blessed Her then so he did wonderfully preserve her all her Sister's Reign when many plots were laid to take away her life But as Seneca told Nero it was impossible for him to kill that man that must be his heir so it was impossible for the malice of hell to accomplish the death of the Lady Elizabeth whom the only-wise God had appointed to be her Sister's Heir Ecclesiae Anglicanae reformationem desperasset aetas praeterita admiratur praesens obstupescet futura Scultet Annal. So great a Reformation She wrought in England that one saith of it The Gospel had a swift passage here by diligent Preaching by Printing good Books by translating the holy Scriptures into the Vulgar Tongue by Catechizing youth by publick disputations by recording the Martyrs such a thing as even the former age had even despaired of the present age admireth and the future shall stand amazed at It is evident that the Almighty God who delighteth to shew his power in Weakness was pleased in this Renowed Queen and her brother King Edward to let the world see what great things he was able to effect by a Child and a Woman But what a multitude of plots were contrived for the destruction of Queen Elizabeth when the next heir to the Crown was a Papist and an enemy to the truth of Christianity and married to the Prince of France so that had these plots succeeded England in all probability had been subjected to France in point of Civil Government and to the Roman power in matters of Religion Admire again the singular goodness of God in protecting Queen Elizabeth and whilst the enemies of the Church were seeking ruine in the destruction of Her Royal Person the French King that had Married the next heir to the English Crown dieth and leaveth her a Widow without Issue and she not many years after became a prisoner So eminent was Queen Elizabeth that Thuanus a professed Roman Catholick but very ingenious said he heard the old Dutchess of Guise whose sons were of the greatest Enemies that Queen Elizabeth had to say that she was faelicissima gloriosissima faemina a most happy and a most glorious Woman We know who made her to differ and that she had not any thing which she had not received from above therefore let us give the praise of all to God who appointed her I am perswaded to build the old wast places to raise up the foundations of many generations she found the Kingdom weak she left it strong she found it poor she left it rich they that were enemies to her and the Gospel which they professed and
life Iltutus followed him a profound Scholar Fullers Church Hist who at Llaniltut in Glamorgan shire Preached God's Word and set up a Colledge of Scholars himself leading a single life Sampson Scholar to Iltutus succeedeth made Bishop at large sine titulo In that Age all Bishops were not fixed to the Chair of a peculiar Church but some might sit down in any vacant place for their Cathedral and there exercise their Episcopal Authority provided it were without prejudice to other Bishops This Sampson being afterwards made Archbishop of Dole in French-Britain Baleus saith That he caried away with him the Monuments of British Antiquity Patern for three and twenty years was a constant Preacher at Llanpatern in Cardigan shire St. Petrock comes next one of great Piety and painfulness in that Age Captain of the Cornish Saints Then lived St. Teliau who was Scholar to Dubritius and succeeded him in the Bishoprick of Landaff a pious Preacher and zealous reprover of the Vices of that time About the year 560 flourished Congel Abbot of Bangor who much altered the discipline of that Monastery Kentigern the famous Bishop of Elwy in North Wales St. Asaph was his successor in the same place in whose mouth this sentence was frequent Such who are against the Preaching of God's Word do envy the salvation of mankind About the year 596. Pope Gregory I. sent Augustine a Benedictine Monck a subtil and industrious Man into this Land to work two ends the one to reduce the Christians of this Isle to the Form and Service of the Romish Church the other to draw if he could some of those Pagan Kings to the Christian Religion Augustine with Mellitus and forty more of his Companions sent to Preach the Gospel in Britain landeth at Thanet in Kent Ethelbert was then King of Kent and a Pagan yet had he Married Bertha Daughter to the King of France a Christian Woman to whom he permitted the free use of her Religion allowing her both Luidhard a Bishop for her Chaplain and an old Church in Canterbury formerly dedicated by the Romans to St. Martin to exercise her Devotion therein Augustine with his followers having obtained leave from King Ethelbert advanced unto Canterbury to the foresaid Church of St. Martin Here they lived so Piously Prayed so fervently Fasted fo frequently Preached so constantly and wrought Miracles as it is said so commonly that Ethelbert was perswaded by Queen Bertha to embrace the Christian Religion and was Baptized whose example multitudes of Pagans followed There were in one day about ten thousand Men Baptized besides Women and Children in a River The Water being hallowed by Augustine he commanded the People to go in by couples and one to Baptize the other in the name of the Trinity Thus Augustine carieth away the credit of all that came after him because the Primitive planter of the Gospel among the Saxons and Kent was converted to Christianity yet far more than half of the Land lay some years after in the darkness of Paganism which others afterwards illightened with the beams of the Gospel Mean time the poor Christian Britains living peaceably at home there enjoyed God the Gospel and their Mountains not caring for the Ceremonies A la mode brought over by Augustine CENT VII ABout the year 601. Pope Gregory I. sent two Archbishops Palls into England the one for London the other for York The former of these Cities had been honoured with an Archbishop's See some hundred years since King Lucius but at the Instance of Augustine and by a new order of the foresaid Gregory this Pall sent to London was removed thence to Canterbury whereof Augustine was made Archbishop and there fixed and confirmed Canterbury was the place wherein Christianity was first received by the Saxons and is therefore honoured to perpetuate the memory thereof and London must hereafter be contented with the plain-seat of a Bishop Then Augustine by the aid of Ethelbert King of Kent called a Council of Saxon and British Bishops to meet in the confines of the Mercians and West Saxons in the borders of Wo●●●ster and Hereford-shires under an Oak knowing that the Pagan Britains performed their superstition under an Oak in some imitation and yet a correction of their Idolatry as Sir Henry Spelman Sir H. Spelm. in Conciliis Geoffry of Monmouth calling the Britains the Lord's flock saith Grex Domini rectum ordinem tenebat Galf. Monum lib. 11 c. 12. sheweth But this Synod proved ineffectual the British Bishops and many very Learned Men far differing from Romish Priests rejected his Traditions which he brought from Rome and would not admit thereof detested his Pride renounced his Authority and would not accept of him for their Archbishop as he desired to be and for the space of an hundred years at least refused to communicate with those that had received the same And then the Bishops and Churches of Scotland joyned with the Britains against those new observations which the same Augustine brought from Rome At that time there were 1200. Monks at the Monastery of Bangor in Wales not Popish Monks and idle Belly-gods but all living with the labour of their hands and bestowing the time of rest from their labours in Prayer and Meditation on the Scriptures Over that Church at Austin's coming was Dinochus a Learned Man who when Austin required the British Bishops to be subject to his Romish Authority convinced them by diverse Arguments that they did not owe him any such subjection whereat Augustine being highly offended is said to have spoken these words Quod si pacem cum fratribus accipere nollent bellum ab hostibus forent accepturi si Nationi Anglorum noluissent viam vitae praedicare per horum manus ultionem essent mortis passuri that if they would not accept of peace with their Brethren they should receive War from their Enemies and seeing they would not joyn with him in Preaching the way of life to the Saxons they should feel the force of their Enemies Sword And some Writers say that he stirred up Ethelfred King of Northumberland against them who with an Army of Infidels cruelly and unmercifully slew them who came forth to him in their shirts to entreat for mercy fifty onely escaping But their innocent blood went not long unrevenged for we read how three British Princes viz. Blederick Duke of Cornwall Margaduc Duke of South Wales and Cadwan Duke of North Wales Nicol. Trivet gave Battel to the Northumberlanders as they were invading Wales and not onely dangerously wounded the foresaid Ethelfred their King but also discomfited his Army and slew ten thousand and sixty of his Souldiers forcing him at last to Articles of composition that he should confine himself within his own Countrey North of Trent and leave all Wales to be entirely and peaceably enjoyed by the Britains the true owners thereof Here we are to take our farewell of the British Church for some hundreds of years wanting instructions concerning
the remarkable particulars thereof saith Dr. Fuller in his Church History of Britain Let us now return to our Augustine who all this while was very industrious and no less successful in converting the Saxons to the Christian Faith insomuch that a certain Author reporteth how in the River Swale near Richmond in York-shire Augustine in one day Baptized above ten thousand but Bede makes no mention at all hereof and ascribeth this numerous baptizing to Paulinus Bishop of York many years after In that age nothing was used with Baptism but Baptism the word and the water made the Sacrament At Corn in Dorset-shire Austin destroyed the Idol of Heale or Aesculapius which the Saxons formerly adored Sebert King of Essex Nephew to Ethelbert King of Kent by Ricula his sister embraced the Faith with all his Kingdome by the Ministry of Mellitus whom Augustine ordained Bishop of London making also one Justus a Roman Bishop of Rochester Bed Eccl. Hist li● 2. ca. 3. Augustine died and was buried in the Northern part of the new Church in Canterbury dedicated to Peter and Paul Bede saith this inscription was written upon his Monument Here resteth Lord Augustine the first Archbishop of Canterbury who being in times past sent hither by blessed Gregory Bishop of the Roman City and supported by God with the working of Miracles brought King Ethelbert and his Country from the Worshiping of Idols to the faith of Christ and the daies of his Office being finished in peace he died the seventh of the Calends of June the same King reigning But in this Epitaph one thing is wanting and that mainly material namely the year that he did After the death of Augustine Laurentius a Roman succeeded him whom Augustine in his life-time ordained in that place King Ethelbert having reigned fifty Six and been a Christian one and twenty years died and was buried nigh to Queen Bertha who died a little before him in the Porch of St. Martins Church in Canterbury which fabrick with some other Churches by him were beautifully built and bountifully endowed After the death of Ethelbert Anno 616. Eadbald his son and the sons of Sebert King of the East Saxons succeeding them refused to be baptized or imbrace the Christian faith professed and set up Idolatry expelled their Bishops driving them out of this land into France til at last King Eadbald being converted to Christianity by Laurentius Archbishop of Canterbury presently began to take care of the affaires of the Church and at the desire of Laurentius Justus and Mellitus returned again into England Rochester readily received their Bishop but London refused to entertain good Mellitus who led a private life in London til that after the death of Laurentius he succeeded him in the Church of Canterbury Five years sate Mellitus in Canterbury after whose death Justus Bishop of Rochester succeeded him and had his Pall solemnly sent him by Pope Boniface Ethelfred being slain by the Britains Edwin succeedeth him and was setled in the general government of the Saxons who by the perswasion of Paulinus embraced and professed the Christian Religion destroyed the Temples Altars and Images of their Idol-Gods and was with all his Nobles and much people baptized in the City of York by Paulinus Anno 627. About this time Pope Boniface V. directed diverse Epistles to England wherein were many passages fighting against Christ's satisfaction A few years after the conversion of the East Angles was advanced by King Sigebert and after the death of Earpwald his successor in the Kingdome Bede give 's him this character that he became vir Christianissimus Doctissimus being assisted by the preaching of Felix a Monk of Burgundy he converted his Subjects to Christianity This Felix was made the first Bishop of Dunwich in Suffolk a place formerly furnished with fifty and two Churches and hath scarce two now remaining the rest being swallowed up by the Sea This Sigebert is generally reputed the founder of the University of Cambridge Edwin fell out with Cadwallan King of the Britains and slew many thousand Christian Britains in battle putting him and the rest to flight Anno 633. After the victory Edwin led his Army through the Provinc● of Britain burning their Cities and wasting their Colonies and brought those Provinces under his subjection chasing Cadwallan into Ireland But Cadwallan returning from thence with ten thousand men assisted by Penda King of Mercia wasted the Countrey of King Edwin Both these Kings at last met in a field called Heath-field where Edwin was slaine and his whole Army overthrown Cadwallan slew both the Sons of King Edwin and for a whole year ●●stroyed the Provinces of the Northumbrians After the death of Edwin his whole Kingdome ●el apsed to Paganism and Paulinus Arch-Bishop of York taking with him Queen Ethelburga sister to Eadbald King of Kent returned into Kent and there became Bishop of Rochester After the death of King Edwin his Kingdome of Northumberland was divided into two parts both petty Kingdomes Osrich Cousin-German of King Edwin was King of Deira and Eanfrith the eldest son of Ethelfred was King of Bernicia They were both Christians but became Apostates and were slain by Cadwallan in the first year Oswald the second son of Ethelfred succeeded unto them and overthrew Cadwallan Bishop Aidan converted Oswald Usher's Religion of the antient Irish p. 115. which King disdained not to preach and expound to his Subjects and Nobles in the English tongue that which Aidan preached to the Saxons in the Scottish tongue By the Ministry of Aidan the first Bishop of Linsfarn was the Kingdome of Northumberland recovered from Paganism Petry Church hist Cent. 7. Aidan parted all that was given him by the King or Potent men among the poor and ceased not to go from town to town and from house to house not on hors-back but on foot always catechizing whether he met with rich or poor if they were Pagans he instructed them if they were Christians he confirmed them in the faith and exhorted unto the works of Pie●y and Charity especially to read the Scriptures diligently he died Anno 651. From Northumberland the word of God was spread among many others of the Saxon Kingdomes The Scotch that professed no subjection to the Church of Rome were they that sent preachers to the conversion of these Countries Ephr. Pagit Religion of the antient Britains and ordained Bishops to govern them as Aidan forementioned Finan and Colman for the East Saxons Cedd and for the Mercians Diuma for the paucity of Priests saith Beda constrained one Bishop to be appointed over two people Finan converted the Kingdomes of the East Saxons and Mercia Pope Honorius sent Birinus unto the West Saxons who by his preaching converteth many and among the rest Kyngils the West Saxon King whom he Baptized Oswald King of Northumberland was present at that time and was first God-father then father in law to King Kyngils to whom he gave his Daughter to Wife Dorchester
an old City in Oxford-shire was made the seate of Birinus his Bishoprick Sussex and the Isle of Wight also were converted About this time Honorius Arch-Bishop of Canterbury divided England so much thereof as was Christian into Parishes Anno 64● the first lent began in those parts of England which obeyed the Roman celebration of Easter Oswald King of Northumberland fighting at Maserfield since Oswastrey in Shrop-shire against Penda the Pagan Prince of Mercia Fabian Chronic part 5. was overthrown slain and his Bodie most barbarously abused and chopped in pieces Oswy his younge● brother recovered his Kingdome after one year and buried his head in the Church-yard of Lyndesar Sigebert was perswaded by his Monks to enter into a Cloister his end was lamentable for when he had given over his Kingdome to his Cousin Egrick the forenamed Penda entred his Kingdome with an Army his subjects forced him to go into the field where both he and Egrick were slain Others say he was murdered by two Villains Penda Prince of Mercia having married Alfreda Daughter of Oswy King of Northumberland renounced Paganism embraced Christianity and propogated it in his Dominions Indeed Penda his father that persecutor of piety was yet alive and survived two years after persisting an Heathen till death but mollified to permit a toleration of Christianity in his Subjects From Colmkil as a most famous Seminary of learning at that time sprang forth those who not onely did resist the beginnings of Anti-Christian pride at home and in our neighbour-Country but they sowed the seed of the Gospel in other Nations Such was that famous Rumold who was called Mechlinensis Apostolus Pappas in histor convers Gent. Gallus brought Helvetia from Paganism as Pappas witnesseth built sundry Monasteries there Calumban a man of excellent holiness and learning lived sometime in Bangor and thence went into Burgundy where he began the Monasterie Luxovien and taught the Monks of his own Country especially to live by the works of their own hands Platina in Bonifacio quarto Also because he rebuked Theodorick for his leacherous life he was forced to flie and visited sundry parts of Germany thence he went into Italy and began another Abby on the Appennine Hills beside Bobium in Tuscany Levin also tur nd many to the faith about Ghent and Esca Furseus and his brother Fullan with two Presbyters Gobban and Dicul obtained land from Sigebert King of Essex and built the Abby of Cnobsherburg and passing into France he began the Abby at Latiniac where he died Diuma was ordained first Bishop of Mercia where he converted many to the Faith in the reign of the Christian Penda and for his rare gifts the Bishoprick of Middlesex was committed to his charge unto whom succeeded Cella a Scot. Also Florentius went to Argentine or Strausburg and was the first Bishop thereof he opened the first School in Alsatia about the year 669. Kilian the first Bishop of Wortsburg did first instruct the people of East France in the Christian Faith Anno. 668. Colonat a Priest and Thomas a Deacon followed him in all his Travels Burcard succeeded to whom King Pippin gave a Dukedome and from thence among all the Bishops of Germany onely the Bishop of Wortsburg carieth a Sword and Priests Gown in his badge Unto these Scots John Pappas joyneth some Britans as Willibrod Reformer of Frisia and two brethren Evaldi the one Sirnamed the Black the other the White John Pappas saith they converted the West-phalians to the Christian Faith and suffered Martyrdome near Bremen John Bale sheweth their Death Pope Agatho sent John the Arch-chaunter of St. Peters in Rome into England to compose the difference betwixt Honoricus and Wilfrid the two Archbishops and withal to deliver them the Acts of Pope Martin the first and to teach them to sing the Liturgy according to the custom of Rome Benedictus Biscopius a Nobleman of England went to Rome in the service of the Church and brought many Books into the Monasteries of Tinmouth and Wirmouth The first Glass in this Island is said to be his gift Mark what Beda saith of the custom in those dayes Then they never came into a Church but onely for hearing the Word and Prayer no word of the Mass the King would come with five or six and he stayed till the Prayer was ended All the care of these Doctors was to serve God not the World to feed Souls not their own Bodies wherefore in those dayes wheresoever a Clerk or Monk did come he was received as a Servant of God If he were seen journeying they were glad to be signed with his Hand or blessed with his Mouth and they gave good heed unto the words of his Exhortation And on the Lord's day they came in Flocks to the Church or Monasteries not to refresh their Bodies nor to hear Masses but to hear the Word and if any Priest entred into a Village incontinently all the People would assemble being desirous to hear the Word of Life for neither did the Priests go into Villages upon any other occasion except to Preach or visit the Sick or to feed Souls At that time the Clergy and Monks in England had liberty to Marry Then Theodorus who succeeded Deus-dedit Bishop of Canterbury brought many Books thither erecting a well-furnished Library and teaching his Clergy how to make use thereof He rigorously pressed Conformity to Rome in the observation of Easter and to that purpose a Council was called at Hartford here Easter was setled according to the Romish Rite In this Synod nine other Articles were concluded of as Stapleton hath thus Translated them out of Bede Lib. 4. c. 5. I. That no Bishop should have ought to do in another's Diocess but be contented with the charge of the people committed unto him II. That no Bishop should any-wise trouble such Monasteries as were Consecrated and given to God nor violently take from them ought was theirs III. That Monks should not go from one Monastery to another unless by the leave of their own Abbot but should continue in the obedience which they promised at the time of their conversion and entrance into Religion IV. That none of the Clergy forsaking his own Bishop should run up and down where he lists nor when he came any whither should be received without Letters of Commendation from his Diocesan c. V. That such Bishops and Clerks as are strangers be content with such Hospitality as is given them and that it be lawful for none of them to execute any Office of a Priest without the permission of the Bishop in whose Diocess they are known to be VI. It hath seemed good to us all that a Synod and Convocation should be Assembled once a year on the first day of August at the place called Clofeshooh VII That no Bishop should ambitiously prefer himself above another but should all acknowledge the time and order of their consecration VIII That the number of the Bishops should be
encreased the number of Christian folk daily waxing greater IX That no man commit Advoutry nor Fornication that no man forsake his own Wife but for onely Fornication as the holy Gospel teacheth And if any Man put away his Wife being lawfully married unto him if he will be a right Christian Man let him be joyned to none other but let him so continue still sole or else be reconciled again to his own Wife This Synod Stapleton calleth the first of the English Nation that is whose Canons are completely extant Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury envyed Wilfrid Bishop of York and endeavoured that the Diocess of York might be divided whereat Wilfrid being offended goes to Rome and in his passage thither by a Tempest he is cast on the Shoar of Freezland in Belgia where the Inhabitants as yet Pagans were by his Preaching converted to Christianity Returning into England he returned not unto York but stayed in the Pagan Kingdom of the South Saxons who also by God's blessing on his endeavours were perswaded to embrace the Christian Faith These South Saxons of all the seven Kingdomes were the last that were converted to Christ and yet their Countrey was next in situation unto Kent where the Gospel was first planted Indeed Edilwalck their King was a little before Christened by the perswasion of Wolpher King of Mercia who was his God-father and at his Baptizing gave him for a gift the Isle of Wight Provinciam Meanvarorum in Gente occidentalium Saxonum but his Countrey still remained in Paganism And although Dicul a Scot with six others had a small Monastery at Bosenham in Sussex yet they were more careful of their own safety than of their Neighbours conversion Wilfrid builded an Abbey in Selsey in Sussex he taught the South Saxons the craft of fishing Cedda the Bishop of West Saxons died and his Deacon Wenfrede was his successor Soon after this time died Wina Bishop of London after whom was Bishop Erkenwald who founded the Monasteries of Chertsey in Surrey and Barking in Essex But that of Chertsey was thrown down by the Danes and re-edified by Edgar King of England Then Theodorus kept a Synod or Council of Bishops at Hatfield by authority of which Council he divided the Province of Mercia that Sexwolphus then ruled alone into five Bishopricks that is one to Chester the second to Worcester the third to Lichfield the fourth to Cedema in Lindsey and the fifth to Dorchester Cadwallader the last King of Wales wearied out with Wars Famine and Pestilence left his own Land and with some small treasure fled to Alan King of Little Britain He was the last King of the stock of Britains After he had reigned three years he went to Rome and there died and was buried in the Church of St. Peter with this Epitaph upon his Tomb. Culmen opus sobolem pollentia regna triumphos Eximias proceros moenia castra lares Quaeque patrum virtus quae congesserat ipse Cadwald armipotens linquit amore Dei The which verses are thus Englished by Fabian Fabian's Chr. part 5. Abounding riches kinred triumph assured Plenteous wealth with clothes richly dyght Houses Castles and Towns strongly mured And other honours which by his Parents Might And his own this Martial vertuous Knight Cadwald the strong descended of Knight's blood For Christ's love renounced all his good About the year 692. Ina King of the West Saxons set forth his Saxon Laws translated into English by Mr. Lambert he enacted many Laws viz. De regula vivendi Ministrorum Dei de Infantibus baptizandis de censu Ecclesiae c. Anno 694. a great Council was held at Becanceld by Withred King of Kent and Bertuald Archbishop of Britain wherein many things were concluded in favour of the Church Five Kentish Abbesses namely Mildred Ethelred Aete Wilnolde and Hereswide were not onely present but subscribed their names and crosses to the Constitutions concluded therein And we may observe that their subscriptions are placed not onely before and above all Presbyters but also above Botred a Bishop present in this Council There was likewise a Council held at Berghamsteed by Withred King of Kent Then Bishop Wilfrid was removed to York again where he continued not long and being thence expelled again he was for a time made Bishop of Leicester CENT VIII WIlfrid was troubled by the Archbishop of Canterbury he appealeth to Rome and is acquitted he is at last restored and died in peace in the LXXVI year of his age having been 45. years a Bishop and was buried in his Monastery at Rippon Camden's Brit. in Wiltshire The Bishoprick of Sherborn having been taken out of the Bishoprick of Winchester by King Ina Adelme his Kinsman was made first Bishop thereof This Adelme was the first of our English Nation who wrote in Latine and the first that taught our English Nation to make Latine verse according to his promise Primus ego in patriam mecum modo vita supersit Aonio rediens deducam vertice Musas If life me last that I do see That native soil of mine From Aon top I 'l first with me Bring down the Muses nine He wrote many Books one of Virginity another of the Celebration of Easter And about this time the Libraries of Monasteries began to be replenished with Books many being written in that Age. In this age there were many Saints such as they were of Royal or Noble extraction of these Noble Saints St. Guthlake a Benedictine Monk was the first Saxon that professed an Eremetical life in England he was a Monk in the Abbey of Repyndon and the third year after he went to Crowland that is the raw or crude Land a fenny place in Lincoln-shire and there led for a while an Anchoret's life and there finally was buried in which Isle and place of his burying was built a fair Abbey About the year 709. a Synod was assembled at Alncester in Worcester-shire to promote the building of Evesham Abbey which was done accordingly and the same was bountifully endowed by Offa and other Mercian Kings with large revenues And not long after another Synod was called at London to introduce into England the doctrine of Image-worship now first beginning to appear in the publick practice of it Now also flourished another Noble-born Saint viz. John of Beverley Archbishop of York a Learned Man and who gave the education to one more Learned than himself I mean Venerable Bede who acknowledgeth that he received the order of Priesthood from him About this time it was fashionable for Kings and Queens in England to renounce the World and turn Monks and Nuns commonly in Convents of their own Foundation but they had an high opinion to merit Heaven thereby Among the Saxon Princes who thus renounced the World in this and the next Century these nine following were the principal 1. Kinigilsus King of West Saxons 2. Ina King of West Saxons 3. Ceololfus King of Northumberland 3. Edbertus King of
Northumberland 5. Ethelred King of Mercia 6. Kenred King of Mercia 7. Offa King of East Saxons 8. Sebbi King of East Saxons 9. Sigebert King of East Angles Ina builded the Abbey at Glastonbury in the 32 year of his Reign Sir H. Spe●m in conciliis besides his bounty to other Churches he bestowed on the Church of Glastonbury two thousand six hundred pounds weight in the Utensils thereof of massy Gold and Silver He was the first King of this Land that granted a penny out of every fire-house in England to be paid to the Court of Rome which was called long after Rome-scot or Peter-pence and was to be paid on St. Peters day After this he went to Rome in Pilgrimage in the fellowship of poor Men and there built a School for the English and a Church adjoyning to it to bury their dead But Winnifrid an English Man about this time converted to Christ the Provinces of Franconia and Hassia in Germany About the same time flourished Bede a Presbyter in the Monastery of Weremouth near Durham he was born at Girwy now in the Bishoprick of Durham brought up by St. Cuthbert and was the profoundest Scholar of his Age for Latine Greek Philosophy History Divinity Mathematicks Musick and what not Homilies of his making were read in his life-time in the Christian Churches a dignity afforded to him alone He wrote the Ecclesiastical History and dedicated it to Ceolwolfus King of Northumberland He is generally sirnamed Venerable and is still accounted worthy of that Title He was credulous in believing of false Miracles and slipped into some corruptions of the times as Chrism and Confession yet even in these he differed from the latter times In the Articles of positive Doctrine he was clear He did observe and deplore the growing corruptions of the Church for in an Epistle to Ecbert he did not approve the specious and spacious buildings of Monasteries and else-where he saith Let the Reader behold with tears a thing worthy of tears how far the Church slideth daily into a worse or to speak moderately into a weaker estate He wrote many Books as John Bale testifieth He lived 72 years and died Anno 734. At that time began the general viciousness of the Saxons occasioned by the uncleanness of Ethelbald King of Mercia whose unlawful lust made no difference of Places or Persons Castles or Cloisters Then Boniface an English Man having boldly reproved Ethelbald for Adultery and Tyranny was forced by that King who sought his life to fly to Rome from whence Gregory the second Bishop of Rome sent him into Germany to convert the Saxons He caused the Monastery of Eulda to be built in favour of the English and was slain at Borna being Bishop of Mentz Afterwards Ethelbald reformed himself and not onely so but with Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury called a Council at Cliffe in Kent the Acts of this Synod were 31 Canons four whereof I shall set down as being the chief I. That the Priests learn and teach to know the Creed Lord's Prayer and words of Consecration in the Eucharist in the English Tongue II. That the Lord's day be honourably observed III. That the sin of drunkenness be avoyded especially in the Clergy IV. That Prayers be publikely made for Kings and Princes King Ethelbald and Offa were present and they two with many Dukes and Counts confirm the Decrees with their subscriptions About the year 755 Kenulphus King of West Saxons conferred large priviledges on the Monastery of Abbingdon in Bark-shire Anno 758. Bodies were first brought to be buried in Churches which by degrees brought in much superstition In the year 789. the Danes first invaded England Danes their first arrival in England with a considerable Army The landing of these Danes in England was ushered with many sad Prognosticks Stars were seen strangely falling from Heaven and sundry terrible flames appeared in the Skies Serpents were seen in Sussex and blood reigned in some parts of this Land Lindesfern or Holy Island was the first that felt the fury of these Pagans but soon after no place was secure from their cruelty At this time the Archbishoprick of Canterbury was in part removed to Lichfield by reason of the Puissance and Ambition of Offa King of Mercia commanding in chief over England Ethelbert King of the East Saxons went to Marry the Daughter of Offa and Offa perfidiously caused him to be murdered After which he gave the tenth part of all that he had unto the Church and several Lands to the Church of Hereford and then he went to Rome and there confirmed and enlarged to Pope Adrian the gift of Peter-pence Then was the corps of St. Alban in pompous manner taken up enshrined and adored by the spectators Offa being at Rome procured the Canonization of St. Alban the absolution of his own sins and many murders and visited and endowed the English Colledge there and then returning home he Founded the Monastery of St. Albans bestowing great Lands and liberties upon it as freeing it from the payment of Peter-pence Episcopal jurisdiction and the like Next year Offa died and was buried at Bedford Then flourished Alcuinus or Albinus Scholar to Venerable Bede and Tutor to Charles the Great who in an Epistle written to him calleth him Master of whom Trithemius give 's this character R. Hoveden Annal. part 1. Vir in divinis Scripturis eruditissimus in secularium literarum peritia nulli suo tempore secundus He opposed the Canons of the second Nicene Council wherein the Superstitious adoration of Images was enjoyned He wrote divers Books against the Errors of Felix and Eliphant Felix in reading them wrote a Recantation to the Presbyters and Deacons of his Church His Books de Trinitate are written so clearly that Sixtus Senensis saith they were written by John Calvin and published in the name of Alcuinus but Dr. James saith that ancient Copies thereof were in the Prince's library at St. James and they were Printed at Lions Anno 1525. when Calvin had not begun to write Egbert King of the West Saxons in the year 800. having vanquished Tho. Cooper Mercia Kent Essex and Northumberland made himself sole Monarch of England and fixed the supreme Sovereignty in himself and posterity For though afterward there continued some petty Kings as Kenulph King of Mercia c. yet they shined but dimly and in the next Age were utterly extinguished Egbert commanded this Land to be called Anglia and the Inhabitants Angles or English Men. CENT IX ANno 801. the Archbishoprick was restored to Canterbury at the instance of Kenulph King of Mercia Then Ethelard the Archbishop called a Synod at Clivesho in Kent where by power from the Pope he riveted the Archbishoprick into the City of Canterbury The subscriptions in this Council were the most formal and solemn of any so Antient. There was likewise at Celichyth an eminent Council under Wolphred who succeeded Ethelard Archbishop of Canterbury King Egbert was now
in the exaltation of his greatness but the Danes beat the English in a Naval fight at Carmouth in Dorset-shire which proved fatal to our Nation Hence forward these Pagans setled themselves in some part of the Land Anno 837. Ethelwolph his Son succeeded his Father Egbert in the Throne a valiant and devout Prince though much molested by the Danes all his life-time About the year 855. Ethelwolph King of the West Saxons summoned a Parlament of his Princes Nobles and Bishops at Winchester in the midst of the Danish Wars and Invasions to consult with them how he might pacifie God's wrath against him and his Realm And by their advise and assent granted the Tithes or tenth part of all his Lands to God and his Ministers free from all secular services and exactions great and small that they might the more freely pour out their prayers to God for him and his Realm He subjected the whole Kingdom to the payment of Tithes he was the first-born Monarch of England Indeed before his time there were Monarchs of the Saxon Heptarchy but not successive and fixed in a Family but fluctuating from one Kingdom to another Egbert Father to this Ethelwolph atchieved and left this Monarchy to this his Son not Monarcha factus but natus and so in unquestionable Power to make this Act obligatory over all the Land saith Fuller King Ethelwolph the next year went in Pilgrimage to Rome and confirmed unto the Pope his Predecessors grant of Peter-pence and besides bestowed upon him the yearly Revenue of three hundred Marks thus to be expended 1. To maintain Candles for St. Peter one hundred Marks 2. To maintain Candles for St. Paul one hundred Marks 3. For a free Largess to the Pope one hundred Marks After the Death of King Ethelwolph and his two Sons Ethelbald and Ethelbert succeeding him this Land was in a sad condition though in a worse estate under the reign of his third Son being harassed by the Danes About sixty years since the West Saxons had subdued the other six Kings of this Nation yet so that they still continued Kings but Homagers to the West Saxon Monarchy They beholding Ethelred the West Saxon King embroiled with the invasion of the Danes they not onely lazily looked on but secretly smiled at this sight Thus the height of the Saxon pride and envy caused the breadth of the Danish power and cruelty Anno 870. the Danes made an inrode into Lincoln-shire where they met with stout resistance The Christians had the better the first day wherein the Danes lost three of their Kings buried in a place thence called Trekingham so had they the second day till at night breaking their Ranks to pursue the Danes in their dissembled flight they were utterly overthrown Theodore Abbot of Crowland hearing of the Danes approach Shipped away most of his Monks with the choycest Relicks and Treasures of his Convent and cast his most pretious Vessels into a Well in the Cloister The rest remaining were at their morning praiers when the Danes entring Slew Theodore the Abbot on the high Altar Asher the Prior in the Vestiary Lethwin the Sub-prior in the Refectory Pauline and Herbert in the Quire Wolride the Torch-bearer in the same place Grimketule Agamund each of them an 100 years old in the Cloisters Then the Danes marched to Medamstead since called Peterbrough where finding the Abby-gates locked against them they resolved to force their entrance in effecting whereof Tulba Brother to Count Hubba was wounded almost to death with a stone cast at him Hubba enraged hereat killed Abbot Hedda and all the Monks being fourscore and four with his own hand Then was the Abby set on fire which burned fifteen daies together wherein an excellent Library was consumed Having pillaged the Abby and broke the Tombs and Coffins of many Saints there enterred these Pagans marched forward into Camdridge-shire and passing the river Nine two of their waggons fell into the water wherein the cattle which drew them were drowned much of their rich plunder lost and more impared The Danes spared no Age Sex condition of people They wasted Cambridge burnt the then City of Thetford forced Edmond King of the East-Angles into his Castle of Framlingham They took him and because he would not deny Christ they tyed him unto a Tree and shot at him til he died Then they cut of his head and cast it among the bushes His own Subjects buried him both head and body at Hatsedon which from thence was called St. Edmonds-bury There after-ages shrined sainted and adored his Reliques King Ethelbert behaved himself bravely in nine Battles with various success against the Danes and the more he slew the more they grew which went neer his heart therefore he withered away in the flower of his age desiring rather to encounter death than the Danes Guliel Malmesbur de Gestis Regum Anglor lib. 2. according to the observation of the English Historian that the Saxon Kings in this age magis optabant honestum exitum quam acerbum Imperium In this sad condition God sent England a deliverer namely King Alfred or Alured fourth son of Ethelwolph by the Lady Ogburgh He was born in England bred in Rome where by a Prolepsis saith Fuller he was anointed King by Pope Leo though then but a private Prince and his three elder brothers alive in auspicium futuri regni in hope that hereafter he should come to the Crown The Danes at his coming to the Crown had London many of the in-land more of the maritime Towns and Alfred onely three effectual Shires Sommerset Wiltes and Dorset yet by God's blessing on his endeavours he got to be Monarch of all England Anno 872. In the beginning of his reign he was sorely distressed by the Danes and one of his greatest Courts for residence was an Island now known by the name of Athelney in the County of Sommerset in the Saxon tongue called Aethelingarg that is Nobilium Insula so termed by reason of the Kings abode and the concourse of his Nobles unto him in this place he lived poorly disguised in a Cow-herds house Being excellent In Musick and Songs he oftentimes in the habit and posture of a common Minstril did insinuate himself in the Danist Camp where his plausible cariage and skill gained a freedome of access and passage in the company of their Princes at banquets and other meetings and thereby he discovered their conditions and all their martial counsels and designes He returneth to his comfortless company and unmasking himself and the Danish designes cheereth them up and with a refreshed Power and strength suddenly issued forth and gave a fierce assault upon the secure Danes he slew multitudes of them and enforced the remainder to a shameful flight for the safe-guard of their lives In this Isle Alfred had built a kind of Castle or Fortress to receive him and his Nobles upon return from their Sallies and Encounters during his Wars in those parts
Alfred dedit probitasque laborem Perpetuumque labor nomen immixta dolori Gaudia semper erant spes semper mixta timori c. Englished by Mr. Flemming Nobility by birth to thee O Alfred strong in Armes Of goodness hath thy honour given And honour toilsome harmes And toilsome harmes an endless name Whose joyes ere alwayes mixt With sorrow and whose hope with fear Was evermore perplext If this day thou wast Conqueror The next day's War thou dread'st If this day thou wast Conquered To next day's War thou spread'st Whose cloathing wet with a daily swet Whose blade with bloody stain Do prove how great a burden 't is In Royalty to reign There hath not been in any part Of all the World so wide One that was able breath to take And troubles such abide And yet with Weapons weary would Not Weapons lay aside Or with the Sword the toilsomness Of Life by Death divide Now after labours past of Realm And Life which he did spend Christ is to him true quietness And Scepter voyd of end In this King's reign flourished Johannes Scotus Erigena with addition sometimes of Sophista born in Ireland for distinction from a former born at Melrose and another in the XIII Century born in Duns otherwise called Subtilis he was a man of pregnant Judgement wondrous Eloquence and in those days rare knowledge of the Greek Chaldean and Arabian Languages He wrote a Book De corpore sanguine Domini against the Opinion of Carnal presence which was condemned at the Synod of Vercelles Bellarmine Bellarm. de Euch. lib. 1. c. 1. saith This man was the first who wrote doubtingly of this matter He was the Counsellor to King Alfred and Teacher of his Children afterwards he retired to the Abbey at Malmesbury Z●pper de Calum haer●s Berengar where his disciples Murthered him with their Pen-knives being enticed thereunto by the Monks because he spake against the carnal presence and was accounted a Martyr as was recorded by William of Malmesbury de gest Reg. Ang. lib. 2. cap. 4. CENT X. AT this time there was no Bishop in all the West parts of England Pope Formosus being offended hereat interdicted King and Kingdom But Pleigmund Archbishop of Canterbury posted to Rome informing the Pope that Edward called the Elder the Son of King Alfred had in a late summoned Synod founded some new and supplied all old vacant Bishoprickes and carying with him honorifica munera the Pope turned his curse into a blessing and ratified their election The names of the seven Bishops which Pleigmund consecrated in one day were Fridstan Bishop of Winchester Werstan of Shireburn Kenulph of Dorchester Beornege of Selsey Athelme of Wells Eadulfe of Crediton in Devon and Athelstan in Cornwall of St. Petrocks These three last Western Bishops were in this Council newly erected A Synod was called at Intingford where Edward the elder and Guthurn King of the Danes in that part of England which formerly belonged to the East Angles onely confirmed the same Ecclesiastical constitutions which King Alured had made before King Edward remembring the Pious example of his Father Alfred in founding of Oxford began to repair and restore the University of Cambridge Joh. Rossius in lib. de Regib for the Danes who kept the Kingdom of the East Angles for their home had banished all Learning from that place This King Edward the elder expelled the Danes out of Essex Mercia and Northumberland At that time the authority of investing Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Benefices as also of prescribing Lawes unto Church-men as well as unto the Laity was in the power of the King not of the Pope but the Pope would be medling in such matters by way of Confirmation Athelstan his Son succeeded King Edward being much devoted to St. John of Beverley on whose Church he bestowed large priviledges Many Councils were kept in this King's Reign at Excester Feversham Thunderfield and London But one held at Greatlea is of greatest account for the Lawes therein enacted especially that concerning the payment of Tithes which is thus Written I Athelstan King Spelman in Concil p. 405. by advice of Viselm my Archbishop and of other Bishops command all the Prelates of my Kingdom in the name of our Lord and of all the Saints that first of all they out of my own things pay the Tithes unto God as well of the living Beasts as of the Corn of the ground and the Bishops to do the like in their property and the Presbyters This I will that Bishops and other Head-men declare the same unto such as be under their subjection c. He ordained that in every Burrough all measures and weights should be confirmed by the Bishop's advice and testimony About that time Hoel King of Wales made a Law That no Church-man should be a Judge in Civil affairs Now St. Dunstan appeareth in Court born at Glastonbury of Noble Parentage yea Kinsman remote to Athelstane himself His eminencies were Painting and Graving an excellent Musician and an admirable worker in Brass and Iron After a while he is accused for a Magician and banished the Court But after the Death of King Athelstane he was re-called to Court in the Reign of King Edmond Athelstan's brother and flourished for a time in great favour but his old crime of being a Magician and a wanton with Women being laid to his charge he is re-banished the Court. But King Edmond being slain by one Leoff a Thief Edred his Brother succeeding to the Crown Dunstan is made the King's Treasurer Chancellor Councellor Confessor Secular Priests were thrust out of their Convents and Monks substituted in their rooms But after Edred's death Dunstan falls into disgrace with King Edwin his Successor and being expelled the Kingdom flieth into Flanders Mean-time all the Monks in England of Dunstan's plantation are rooted up and Secular Priests set in their places Soon after many commotions happened in England especially in Mercia and Northumberland King Edwin died in the flower of his age Edgar succeedeth him and recalls Dunstan home Fuller Church History who hath two Bishopricks given him Worcester and London King Edgar gave over his Soul Body and Estate to be ordered by Dunstan and two more then the Triumvirate who ruled England viz. Ethelwald Bishop of Winchester and Oswald afterward Bishop of Worcester This Oswald was the man who procured by the Kings Authority the ejection of all secular Priests out of Worcester which Act was called Oswald's Law In that Age Dunstan being made Archbishop of Canterbury Antonin hist lit 19. part 3. ca. 3. Secular Priests were thrown out and Monks every where fixed in their rooms Many did dispute and preach against Dunstan And Alfred Prince of Mercia took part with the Priests Fuller makes mention of a fair and authentick guilded Manuscript wherein he stileth himself God's Vicar in England for the ordering Ecclesiastical matters a Title which at this day the Pope will hardly vouchsafe to
any Christian Princes Hoel-Dha then held a National Council for all Wales at Ty-quin or the White House The Canons therein were wholly in favour of the Clergy enacting this amongst the rest That the presence of a Priest and a Judge constitute a legal Court as the two persons only in the Quorum thereof There were then seven Episcopal Seats in Wales 1. S. Davids 2. Ismael 3. Degenian 4. Vsyl 5. Teylaw 6. Teuledauc 7. Kenew King Edgar died peaceably leaving his Crown to Edward his Son whom being under Age he committed to the tuition of Dunstan In this King's reign three Councils were successively called to determine the difference between Monks and Secular Priests The first was at Winchester where the Priests being outed of their Convents earnestly pressed for restitution Polydor Virgil writes that in the Synod it was concluded that the Priests should be restored But a voice was immediately heard from the wall as coming from a Crucifix behind Dunstan saying They think amiss that favour the Priests That was received as a Divine Oracle and the Priests were secluded from their Benefices and Monasteries A second Council was called at Kirtlington now Catlage in Cambridge-shire but to little effect The same year a third Council was called at Caln in Wilt-shire hither came Priests and Monks in great numbers Beornelm a Scottish Bishop defended the cause of the Priests with Scripture and Reason But on a sudden Dunstan by his Art caused the Beams or Joists of the Room where they were assembled to break and fall Catal. test verit many were wounded most of the Secular Priests were slain and buried under the ruines thereof only Dunstan was safe with his Chair that was fixed on a Pillar So the controversie was ended with devilish cruelty It appears not what provision was made for these Priests when ejected King Edward went to Corff-Castle where at that time his Mother-in-Law with her Son Egelred lay and by her contrivance he was barbarously murthered as he was drinking on Horse-back and was buried at Wareham and Ethelred Edward's half-brother succeeded him in the Throne Dunstan died and was buried on the South-side of the high Altar in the Church of Canterbury After his death the Monks were cast out of the Convent of Canterbury by reason of their misdemeanours Siricius the next Archbishop of Canterbury endeavoured the re-expulsion of the Priests which by Elfrick his Successor was effected By him a Sermon was appointed to be read publickly on Easter-day before the Communion The same Author hath two other Treatises one directed to Wolfsin Bishop of Shirburn and another to Wulfstan Bishop of York about the Sacrament Soon after the Danes by a firm Ejection outed the Monks before they were well warm in their Nests Their fury fell more on Convents than Castles England for these last sixty years had been freed from their cruelty which now returned more dreadful than ever before These Danes were also advantaged by the unactiveness of King Ethelred who with ten thousand pounds purchased a present Peace with the Danes The multitude of Monasteries invited the Invasion and facilitated the Conquest of the Danes over England Holy Island was forsaken by the fearful Monks affrighted with the approach of the Danes and Alhunus the Bishop thereof removed his Cathedral and Convent to Durham an Inland place of more safety The Danes having received and spent their Money invaded England afresh according to all Wise mens expectation CENT XI IN the beginning of this Century certain Danes fled into a Church at Oxford hoping the Sanctity thereof according to the devout Principles of that Age would secure them But by command from King Ethelred they were all burned in the place whose blood remained not long unrevenged The Danish fury fell fiercest on the City of Canterbury with fire and sword destroying eight thousand people therein Swanus the Dane tithed the Monks of S. Augustine's Abbey killing nine by cruel torment and keeping the tenth alive for slaves They slew there of Religious men to the number of nine hundred And when they had kept the Bishop Elphege in strait prison the space of eight months because he would not agree to give them three thousand pounds after many villanies done unto him at Greenwich they stoned him to death Next year a nameless Bishop of London was slain by them and a great part of the City of London was wasted with fire The Danes burnt Cambridge to ashes and harassed the Country round about King Ethelred sent his Wife Emma with his two Sons Alfred and Edward to Richard Duke of Normandy which was Brother to the said Emma with whom also he sent the Bishop of London whither also himself went after he had spent a great part of the Winter in the Isle of Wight whither he was chased of the Danes Swanus hearing that Egelred was departed out of the Land imposed great Exactions upon the people and among other he required a great sum of money of S. Edmond's Lands which the people there claiming to be free of all King's tribute denied to pay Hereupon Swanus entred the Territory of St. Edmond and wasted the Countrey threatening to spoil the place of his burial The men of the Countrey fell to fasting and prayer and soon after Swanus died suddenly crying and yelling among his Knights In fear whereof Canutus his Son and Successor ditched the Land of St. Edmond with a deep Ditch and granted to the Inhabitants thereof great Immunities quitting them from all Tribute and after builded a Church over the place of his Sepulture ordained there an House of Monks and endowed them with rich possessions After that time the Kings of England when they were crowned sent their Crowns for an offering to St. Edmond's Shrine and redeemed them afterward with a condign price After the death of Egelred great contention was in England for the Crown some were for Edmond Ironside the Son of Egelred and some for Canutus After many bloody Fights both parties agree to try the quarrel betwixt them two only in sight of both Armies they make the Essay with Swords and sharp strokes in the end upon the motion of Canutus they agree and kiss one another to the joy of both Armies and they covenant for parting the Land during their lives and they lived as Brethren Within a few years a Son of Edrik Duke of Mercia killed Edmond traiterously and brought his two Sons unto Canutus who sent them to his Brother Swanus King of Denmark willing him to dispatch them But he abhorring such a fact sent them to Solomon King of Hungary who married Edwyn to his Daughter and soon after died Edward married Agatha the Daughter of the Emperour Henry the Third Swanus King of Denmark died and that Land fell to Canutus who anon after sailed thither and took the possession and returned into England and married Emma late Wife of Egelred and by her had a Son called Hardiknout He assembled a Parliament at
flourished in all abundance till the dayes of Henry the Eighth Then Dooms-day Book was made containing an exact survay of the Houses and Lands in the Kingdom which took up some years before it was compleated King William called a Council of his Bishops at Winchester wherein he was personally present with two Cardinals sent from Rome Here Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury was deposed and Lanfrank a Lombard substituted in his room Sir John Davys in his Irish report A learned Lawyer hath observed that the first encroachment of the Pope upon the Liberties of the Crown of England was made in the time of King William the Conqueror For the Conqueror came in with the Pope's Banner and under it won the battel which got him the Garland and therefore the Pope presumed he might boldly pluck some flowers from it being partly gained by his countenance and blessing Although this politick Prince was complementally courteous to the See of Rome yet 1. He retained the ancient custom of the Saxon Kings investing Bishops and Abbots by delivering them a Ring and a Staff whereby without more ado they were put into plenary possession of the power and profit of their place He said He would keep all Pastoral Staves in his own hand 2. Being demanded to do Fealty for his Crown of England unto Pope Gregory the Seventh he wrote thus unto him That he would not do Fealty unto the Pope because neither had he promised it nor did he find his Predecessors had performed it 3. This King would in no wise suffer any one in his Dominion to acknowledge the Bishop of Rome for Apostolical without his command or to receive the Pope's Letters except first they had been shewed unto him And although the Archbishop of Canterbury by his own Authority might congregate Councils and sit as President therein yet the King permitted him to appoint or prohibit nothing but what was according to his own will and what the King had ordained before 4. The King suffered no Bishop to excommunicate any of his Barons or Officers for Adultery Incest or any such hainous crime except by the King's command first made acquainted with the same This King gave unto the Bishops an entire Jurisdiction by themselves to judge all causes relating to Religion for before that time the Sheriff and Bishop kept their Court together He granted the Clergy throughout England Tithes of Calves Colts Lambs Milk Butter Cheese Woods Meadows Mills c. Then Thomas a Norman was preferred to the Archbishoprick of York Betwixt Lanfrank Archbishop of Canterbury and this Thomas there grew great contention for the Oath of Obedience but in the end Thomas subscribed obedience to the other Then it was decreed that York for that time should be subject to Canterbury in matters appertaining to the Church so that wheresoever within England the Archbishop of Canterbury would hold his Council the Bishops of York should resort thither with their Bishops and be obedient to his Decrees Canonical Then were divers Bishops Seats altered from Villages to great Cities as of Sealsey to Chichester out of Cornwall to Exeter from Wells to Bath from Shirburn to Salisbury from Dorchester in Oxford-shire to Lincoln from Lichfield to Chester which Bishoprick of Chester Robert then Bishop reduced from Chester to Coventry At this time several Liturgies were used in England which caused confusion and much disturbed mens devotions A brawl happened betwixt the English Monks of Glastonbury and Thurstan their Norman Abbot in their very Church obtruding a Service upon them which they disliked eight Monks were wounded and two slain near the steps of the high Altar This ill accident occasioned a settlement and uniformity of Liturgy all over England An uniformity of Liturgy all over England for hereupon Osmund Bishop of Salisbury devised that form of Service which hereafter was observed in the whole Realm Henceforward the most ignorant Parish-Priest in England understood the meaning of Secundum usum Sarum that all Service must be ordered According to the course and custom of Salisbury Church King William brought many Jews into England for before his reign I find none in this Land from Roan in Normandy and setled them in London Norwich Cambridge Northampton In the dayes of Lanfrank Waltelm Bishop of Winchester had placed about forty Canons instead of Monks but it held not for Lanfrank cast out secular Priests and substituted Monks in their rooms He also contested with Odo Bishop of Bayeux though half-Brother to King William and Earl of Kent and in a legal Trial regained many Lordships which Odo had unjustly invaded Although in this King's time there was almost no English-man that bare Office of honour or rule yet he favoured the City of London and granted them the first Charter that ever they had written in the Saxon tongue and sealed with green Wax expressed in eight or nine lines King William died in Normandy and William Rufus his second Son Anno 1088. was crowned King of England He began very bountifully to some Churches he gave ten Marks to others six to every Countrey-Village five shillings besides an hundred pounds to every County to be distributed among the poor But afterward he proved very parcimonious though no man more prodigal of never performed Promises This year died Lanfrank Archbishop of Canterbury after whose death the King seized the profits of that See into his own hand and kept the Church vacant for some years He kept at the same time the Archbishoprick of Canterbury the Bishopricks of Winchester and Durham and thirteen Abbies in his hand and brought a mass of Money into his Exchequer All places which he parted with was upon present payment He quarrelled with Remigius Bishop of Lincoln about the founding of his Cathedral and forced him to buy his peace And without a sum of Money paid to the King John Bishop of Wells could not remove his Seat to Bath King Rufus coming to Glocester fell very sick hereupon he made Anselm the Abbot of Beck in Normandy one of eminent learning and strictness of life Archbishop of Canterbury The King soon after sent to him for a thousand pounds which Anselm refused to pay Then Herbert Bishop of Thetford removed his Episcopal Seat from Thetford to Norwich where he first founded the Cathedral Herbert Bishop of Thetford founded the Cathedral at Norwich Then died Wolstan Bishop of Worcester an English-man born a mortified man Near this time began the holy War Robert Duke of Normandy to fit himself for that Voyage sold his Dukedome to King William Rufus for ten thousand Marks To pay this money King Rufus laid a grievous Tax over all the Realm extorting it with such severity that the Monks were fain to sell the Church-plate and very Chalices for discharging thereof And when the Clergy desired to be eased of their burdens I beseech you said he have ye not Coffins of gold and Silver for dead mens bones intimating that the same Treasure might
otherwise be better employed At this time there was contention at Rome between two Popes Vrban and Clement the Third Rufus took part with Clement but Anselm stuck to Vrban and required of the King leave to fetch his Pall of Vrban All the rest of the Bishops were against him Mean-while the King had sent two Messengers to the Pope for the Pall who returned and brought with them Gualter Bishop of Alban the Pope's Legate with the Pall to be given to Anselm Which Legate so perswaded the King that Vrban was received Pope through the whole Land But afterwards grew great displeasure betwixt them so that Anselm went to appear to Rome where he remained in exile and the King seized all his Goods and Lands into his own Coffers Vrban gave unto Anselm the Archbishops Pall thereby voiding the Investiture which he received from King William and obliging him there-after to depend on him as also he did whereat the King incensed interdicted to Anselm his entry into England confiscated the Lands of the Archbishoprick and declared that his Bishops held their Places and Estates merely from him and were not subject unto the Pope for the same To which all the Bishops of England subscribed neither did any of them contradict it but the onely Bishop of Rochester as a Suffragan to the Archbishop of Canterbury By the intervention of Friends Anselm made his peace But being returned into England he soon after began to disswade the Clergy from receiving Investitures from the King wherefore he was forced again to fly out of the Kingdom and his estate was again seized upon and confiscated of which he had obteined restitution at his return King William the Conqueror had made the new-forrest in Hant-shire with a great devastation of Towns and Churches the place as Fuller saith being turned into a Wilderness for Men and a Paradise for Deer King Ruffus hunting in this Forrest was here slain by the glancing of an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tirrell and was buried at Winchester He gave to the Monks called De Charitate the great new Church of S. Saviours in Bermondsey with the Manor thereof as also of Charleton in Kent Henry Beaucleark his Brother succeeded him in the throne being one of the profoundest Scholars and most politick Princes in his generation To ingratiate himself to the English he instantly and actually repealed the cruel Norman Lawes the good and gentle Laws of King Edward the Confessor he reduced with correction of them Anselm from exile was speedily recalled and to his Church Lands and Goods was fully restored The late King 's extorting Publicanes whereof Ranulph Flambard Bishop of Durham the principal were imprisoned the Court-corruption reformed Adultery then grown common severely punished CENT XII KIng Henry was Married to Mawd Daughter to Malcolm King of Scots who lived sometime as a Nun under the tuition of Christian her Aunt Abbess of Wilton She was Sister to Edgar Atheling and Grand-child of Edmond Iron-side whereby his Issue might merely be both of the English Blood and of the Ancient Saxon Kings Anselm summoneth a Council at Westminster where first he Excommunicated all Married Priests half the Clergy at that time being Married or the Sons of Married Priests he also inhibited all Lay-men to hear their Masses He also deprived many great Prelates of their promotions because they had accepted their Investitures from the King which was done by receiving of a Pastoral Staffe and a Ring an Ancient rite testifying that their Donation was from their Sovereign in which number were the Abbots of Ely of Romsey of Pershore of St. Edmonds of Tavestock Peterborough Burch Bodiac Stoke and Middleton for which his boldness and for refusing to Consecrate certain Bishops advanced by the King great contention fell betwixt them and Anselm appealed to Pope Paschal and soon after fled to Rome Hereupon the King enjoyned Gerard Archbishop of York to Consecrate William of Winchester Roger of Hereford c. But William Bishop of Winchester refused Consecration from the Archbishop of York and resigned his Staff and Ring back again to the King as illegally from him This discomposed all the rest But not long after by the mediation of Friends the King and Anselm are reconciled the King disclaiming his right of Investiture And now Anselm who formerly refused consecrated all the Bishops of vacant Sees Then did Anselm forbid the Priests Marriage But Anselm died before he could finish his project of Priests divorces His two next Successors Rodulphus and William Corbel went on vigorously with the design but met with many and great obstructions Other Bishops found the like opposition but chiefly the Bishop of Norwich whose obstinate Clergy would keep their Wives in defiance of his endeavours against them But they were forced to forgo their Wives Among those Married Priests there was one Ealphegus flourishing for Learning and Piety he resided at Plymouth in Devon-shire To order the refractory Married Clergy the Bishops were fain to call in the aid of the Pope John Bishop of Cremona an Italian Cardinal did urge the single Life of the Clergy and said It is a vile crime that a Man rising from the side of his Concubine should consecrate the Body of Christ. The same Night he was taken in bed with a Whore after he had spoken those words in a Synod at London The thing was so notorious that it could not be denied saith Matthew Paris This much advantaged the reputation of Married Priests The King taking a fine of Married Priests permitted them to enjoy their Wives About this time the old Abbey of Ely was advanced into a new Bishoprick and Cambridge-shire assigned for it's Diocess taken from the Bishoprick of Lincoln Spaldwick Manor in Huntington-shire was given to Lincoln in reparation of the jurisdiction taken from it and bestowed on Ely One Hervey who had been banished by the Welch from the poor Bishoprick of Bangor was made the first Bishop of Ely Hervey the first Bishop of Ely King Henry bestowed great Priviledges upon that Bishoprick Then Bernard Chaplain to the King and Chancellor to the Queen was the first Norman made Bishop of St. Davids who soon denied subjection to Canterbury and would be an absolute Archbishop of himself But William Archbishop of Canterbury aided by the Pope at last forced the Bishop of St. Davids to a submission King Henry died at the Town of St. Denys in Normandy of a surfeit by eating of Lampreys He was buried at Reading in Bark-shire in the Abbey that himself had there founded and endowed with large possessions Stephen Earl of Bologn hearing of King Henrie's Death hasteth over into England and seizeth on the Crown He was Son to Adela Daughter to King William the Conqueror but Mawd first Married to Henry the Emperor of Germany was the undoubted heir of the Crown She was constantly called the Empress after the Death of the Emperor though Married to Geoffery Plantagenet her second Husband Unto her all the Clergy and
Nobility had sworn fealty in her Father's life-time William Archbishop of Canterbury notwithstanding his Oath to Mawd solemnly Crowned Stephen shewing himself thereby perjured to his God disloyal to his Princess and ingrateful to his Patroness by whose special favour he had been preserved The rest of the Bishops to their shame followed his example hoping to obtain from an Usurper what they could not get from a Lawful King traiterously avowing That it was baseness for so many and so great Peers to be subject to a Woman King Stephen sealed a Charter at Oxford Anno 1136. the Tenor whereof is That all Liberties Customs Speeds Chron. and Possessions granted to the Church should be firm and in force That all Persons and Causes Ecclesiastical should appertain onely to Ecclesiastical Judicature That none but Clergy-men should ever intermeddle with the Vacancies of Churches or any Church-mens goods That all bad usages in the Land touching Forrests Exactions c. should be utterly extirpate the antient Laws restored c. The Clergy perceiving that King Stephen performed little of his large promises to them were not formerly so forward in setting him up but now more ready to pluck him down and sided effectually with Mawd against him Stephen fell violently on the Bishops who then were most powerful in the Land He imprisoned Roger Bishop of Sarisbury till he had surrendered unto him the two Castles of Shirburn and the Devizes for the which Roger took such thought that he died shortly after and left in ready Coin forty thousand Marks which after his Death came to the King's Coffers he also uncastled Alexander of Lincoln and Nigellus of Ely taking a great Mass of Treasure from them The Dean and Canons of Pauls for crossing him in the choice of their Bishop tasted of his fury for he took their Focariaes and cast them into the Tower of London where they continued many dayes till at last their liberty was purchased by the Canons at a great price Roger Hoveden tells us plainly that these Focariae were those Canons Concubines See here the fruit of forbidding Marriage to the Clergy against the Law of God and Nature Albericus Bishop of Hostia was sent by Pope Innocent into England called a Synod at Westminster where 18 Bishops and thirty Abbots met together Here was concluded That no Priest Deacon Fuller Church History or-sub-deacon should hold a Wife or Woman within his House under pain of degrading from his Christendom and plain sending to Hell That no Priest's Son should claim any Spiritual Living by heritage That none should take a Benefice of any Lay-man That none should be admitted to Cure which had not the letters of his Orders That Priests should do no bodily labour And that their Transubstantiated God should dwell but eight dayes in the Box for fear of worm-eating moulding or stinking In this Synod Theobald Abbot of Becco was chosen Archbishop of Canterbury in the place of William lately Deceased The most considerable Clergy-man of England in this Age for Birth Wealth and Learning was Henry of Blois Bishop of Winchester and Brother to King Stephen He was made by the Pope his Legat for Britain In this Council where William of Malmesbury was present there were three parties assembled with their attendance 1. Roger of Sarisbury with the rest of the Bishops grievously complaining of their Castles taken from them 2. Henry Bishop of Winchester the Pope's Legat and President of the Council with Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury pretending to Umpire matters moderately 3. Hugh Archbishop of Roan and Aubery de Vere Ancestor to the Earl of Oxford as Advocate for King Stephen This Aubery de Vere was Learned in the Laws being charactered by my Author Homo causarum varietatibus exercitatus a man well versed in the windings of Causes This Synod brake up without any extraordinary matter effected For soon after Queen Mawd came with her Navy and Army out of Normandy which turned Debates into Deeds and Consultations into Actions There were many Religious Foundations built and endowed in the troublesom Reign of King Stephen not to speak of the Monastery of St. Mary de Pratis founded by Robert Earl of Leicester and many others of this time the goodly Hospital of St. Katherines nigh London was founded by Mawd Wife to King Stephen So stately was the Quire of this Hospital that it was not much inferior to that of St. Pauls in London when taken down in the dayes of Queen Elizabeth by Doctor Thomas Wilson the Master thereof and Secretary of State Yea King Stephen himself erected St. Stephen's Chappel in Westminster He built also the Cistertians Monastery in Feversham with an Hospital near the West-gate in York The King earnestly urged Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury to Crown his Son Eustace But Theobald stoutly refused though proscribed for the same and forced to fly the Land till after some time he was reconciled to the King Eustace the King's Son died of a Frenzy as going to plunder the Lands of Bury-Abbey Hereupon an agreement was made between King Stephen and Henry Duke of Normandy Son of Mawd the Empress the former holding the Crown during his Life and after his Death setling the same on Henry his adopted Son and Successor Platina in Adriano IV. At this time Nicholas Breakspear an English-man born near Vxbridge came to be Pope called Adrian the fourth he was not inferior to Hildebrand in Pride Shortly after he had Excomunicated the Emperor he walked with his Cardinals to refresh himself in the Fields of Anagnia and coming to a Spring of Water he would taste of it and with the Water a Fly entreth into his Throat and choaketh him In the latter end of his Dayes he was wont to say There is not a more wretched Life than to be Pope To come into the seat of St. Peter by Ambition Matth. Par●● is not to succeed Peter in Feeding the Flock but unto Romulus in Paracide seeing that Seat is never obtained without some Brother's Blood King Stephen died and was buried with his Son and Wife at Feversham in Kent in a Monastery which himself had Erected At the Demolishing whereof some to gain the Lead wherein he was wrapped cast his Corpse into the Sea King Henry the second succeeded him a Prince Wise Valiant and generally Fortunate He presently chose a Privy-Counsel of Clergy and Temporalty and refined the Common Laws yea toward the latter end of his Reign began the use of our Itinerant Judges He parcelled England into six divisions and appointed three Judges to every Circuit He razed most of the Castles of England to the ground the Bishops being then the greatest Traders in those Fortifications He disclaimed all the Authority of the Pope refused to pay Peter-pence and interdicted all Appeals to Rome At that time Phil●p de Brok a Canon of Bedford was questioned for Murther he used reproachful speeches to the King's Justices for which he was Censured and the Judges complained
unto the King that there were many Robberies and Rapes and Murthers to the number of an hundred committed within the Realm by Church-men Thomas Becket Doctor of Canon-law was by the King made Lord Chancellor of England Four years after upon the Death of Theobald Becket was made by the King Archbishop of Canterbury Anno 1160. Thirty Teachers come from Germany into England and taught the right use of Baptism and the Lord's Supper c. and were put to Death Then John of Sarum and others taught that the Roman Church was the Whore of Babylon Some were burnt with an hot Iron at Oxford that dissented from the Roman Church The King Commanded that Justice should be executed upon all Men alike in his Courts but Thomas Becket would have the Clergy so offending judged in the Ecclesiastical Court and by Men of their own Coat This Incensed the King against him To retrench these enormities of the Clergy the King called a Parliament at Clarendon near Sarisbury to confirm the Antient Laws and Customs to which Becket with the rest of the Bishops consented and subscribed them but afterwards recanting his own Act renounced the same The same year the King required to have punishment of some misdoings among the Clergy The Archbishop would not permit and when he saw in his judgement the Liberties of the Church trodden under Foot he without the King's knowledge took Ship and intended toward Rome but by a contrary Wind he was brought back Then he was called to account for his Receipts that came to his hand while he was High-Chancellor He appealeth to the See of Rome and under pain of Excommunication forbad both Bishops and Nobles to give Sentence against him seeing he was both their Father and their Judge Nevertheless they without his consent gave Sentence against him Then he seeing himself forsaken of all the other Bishops lifted the Cross which he held in his Hand aloft and went away from the Court and the next day got him over into Flanders and so to the Pope Matthew Paris hath many Letters betwixt the Pope and this King and the King of France and sundry Bishops of France and England for reconciliation betwixt the King and the Archbishop who abode seven years in exile Thomas Becket quarrelled with Roger Archbishop of York for presuming to Crown Henry the King's Son made joint-King in the Life of his Father a priviledge which Becket claimed as proper to him alone He solemnly resigned his Archbishoprick to the Pope as troubled in Conscience that he had formerly took it as illegally from the King and the Pope again restored it to him whereby all scruples in his mind were fully satisfied But afterward by the Mediation of the French King Becket had leave given him to return into England howsoever the King still retained his Temporals in his Hand on weighty considerations namely to shew their distinct Nature from the Spirituals of the Archbishoprick to which alone they Pope could restore him Thomas returning into England Excommunicateth all the Bishops which had been at the Coronation of the young King The King sent and required him to absolve them seeing what was done to them was done for his Cause but Thomas refuseth The next year after he Excommunicated solemnly the Lord Sackvill appointed by the King Vicar of the Church at Canterbury because he did derogate from the rights of the Church to please the King He also Excommunicated one Robert Brook for cutting off an Horses tail that carried Victuals to the Archbishops House The King being then in Normandy grieved very sore before his Servants at the insolent cariage of Thomas Becket This moved Sir Richard Breton Sir Hugh Morvil Sir William Tracey Sir Reginald Fitz-Vrse to return into England and coming to Canterbury they found the Archbishop in Cathedral Church at three a Clock in the After-noon and calling him Traytor to the King they slew him and dashed his Brains upon the floor His last words when he died were I commend my self and God's Cause unto God and to the blessed Mary and to the Saints Patrons of this Church and to St. Denis Here see the lightness of the People for the same Men that detested the pride of that Thomas began to Worship him after his Death Thus they sang of Thomas Becket Tu per Thomae sanguinem quem pro te impendit Fac nos Christe scandere quo Thomas ascendit By the Blood of Thomas which for Thee he did spend Make us O Christ to climb whither Thomas did ascend Multitudes of People flocked to Canterbury yearly especially on his Jubile or each fifty years after his enshrining an hundred thousand of English and Forreigners repaired thither The Revenues of peoples Offerings amounted to more than six hundred pounds a year Before Becket's Death the Cathedral in Canterbury was called Christ-Church it was afterward called the Church of St. Thomas though since by the demolishing of Becket's shrine the Church hath recovered it's Antient name King Henry protested himself innocent from the Death of Thomas Becket yet was he willing to undergo such a penance as the Pope would impose The Pope made him buy his Absolution at a dear rate He enjoyned him to suffer Appeals from England to Rome to quit his Rights and Claim to the Investitures to keep two hundred Men of Armes in pay for the Holy War of which pay the Popes Assignes were to be the Receivers and that in England they should celebrate the Feast of that glorious Martyr St. Thomas of Canterbury The words of the Bull are these We strictly charge you that you solemnly Celebrate every year the Birth-day of the glorious Martyr Thomas sometime Archbishop of Canterbury that is the day of his passion and that by devout Prayers to him you endeavour to merit the remission of your sins To make the satisfaction compleat King Henry passeth from Normandy into England stayeth at Canterbury strippeth himself naked and is whipped by diverse Monks of whom some gave him five lashes some three Concerning which penance Machiavel speaks thus in the first Book of the Hostory of Florence These things were accepted by Henry Le quali cose furono da Enrico accettare et sotto-Messe si à quel giudicio un tanto Reche hoggi un huomo privato si vergognarebbe sottomersi c. Tanto le cose che paiono sono piu da discosto che d'appresse temute and so great a King submitted himself to that judgement to which a private man in our dayes would be ashamed to submit himself Then he exclaimeth So much things that have some shew are more dreaded afar off than near hand Which he saith Because at the same time the Citizens of Rome expelled the Pope out of the City with disgrace scorning his Excommunication This was done in the year of our Lord 1170. as appeareth by these Verses Anno Milleno Centeno Septuageno Anglorum primas corruit ense Thomas In the year 1179. Lewis King of France
mounted on whose behalf the Pope upon the Bishop's humble suit pleading the Clergy's immunity wrote somewhat earnestly to King Richard to set his very dear Son for so he called the Bishop at liberty The King in a pleasant manner caused the Habergeon and Curasses of the Bishop to be presented to the Pope with this question alluding to that of Jacob's Children to their Father concerning Joseph's Garment Vide an haec sit filii tui tunica an non See whether this be thy Son's coat or not Whereupon the Pope replied That he was neither his Son nor the Son of the Church and therefore should be Ransomed at the King's will because he was rather judged to be a servitor of Mars than a Souldier of Christ Whom the King of England handled sharply Anno 1199. One Thurical an English-man was in a rapture carried in the night to Purgatory of which S. Nicholas is Governor where also he saw the mouth of Hell whence a stinking smoak issued out which as it was revealed to him came out of Tithes detained or ill paid because there those Men were horribly punished who had ill-paid the Tithes due to the Church This is related by Mat. Paris a Monk of St. Albans superstitious according to the Age that he lived in Then also came the Minorite Friars into England When the Minorite Friars came into England their Order being but lately instituted King Richard laying Siege to a Castle called Chaluz belonging to the Viscount of Limoges was shot into the Arm by a poisoned Arrow whereupon the Iron remaining and festering in the wound the King within nine dayes after died having first forgiven the Souldier before his Death King John was Crowned in Westminster-Abbey June 9. 1199. and was Sworn by Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury Quod sanctam Ecclesiam ejus ordinatos diligeret eam ob incursione malignantium indemnem conservaret dignitates illius bona fide sine malo ingenio servaret illasas as Roger Hoveden expresseth it This Archbishop with all the Bishops Abbots Nobles present at and consenting to this Oath and doing Homage and Fealty to him The 13th of June following he was solemnly Divorced in Normandy in the presence of three of his Norman Bishops from the Duke of Gloucester's Daughter Vnde magnam summi Pontificis Innocentii tertii Curiae Romanae indignationem prasumens temere contra leges canones dissolvere quod eorum fuerat authoritate colligatum as Radulphus de Diceta informs us But he soon after was Married to Isabel sole Daughter and Heir of the Earl of Angolesme who was Crowned Queen Octob. 8. by Archbishop Hubert this Pope and Cardinals not daring to question or null his Marriage CENT XIII KIng John being no sooner possessed of the Realm of England but in the very first year of his Reign evidenced to all the World his Ecclesiastical Sovereignty both by ratifying protecting enlarging the Ecclesiastical as well as Temporal Liberties Privledges Churches Chappels Tithes Lands Possessions granted by his Ancestors to several Archbishopricks Bishopricks Monasteries in England Ireland Normandy by sundry Charters using this expression in the Prologue of Confirmation to the Monastery of Cirencester Johannes Dei gratia c. Prynne's history of Popes Usurpations lib. 5. ch 1. Quoniam Honori nostro condecens saluti nostrae necessarium loca sancta religiosa quae ab Avo patris nostri Rege H. primo sunt fundata a Rege H. secundo patre nostro confirmata defendere custodire amplificare Inde est quod Deo Sancta Mariae de Cirencest Canonitis Regularibus ibidem Deo servientibus damus concedimus Dat. per manum H. Cant. Archiep. Cancel nostri apud sag 7. die Aug. An. Regni nostri 10. Which prologue he likewise used in other of his Charters K. John also authorized Hubert Archbishop of Canter to make a Will which he could not then Legally do without his Royal License In the year 1177. no less then 30 Nuns of the Abby of Ambresbury were accused and convicted at one time for their incontinency to the dissolution and infamy of their Order whereof they had been publikely defamed whereupon King Henry the 2d Expulsis sanctimonialibus be Abbatia de Ambresbury propter incontinentiam per alios domos Religiosos distributis expelling the Nuns from this Abbey for their incontinency distributed them throughout other Religious Houses in stricter custody by way of penance and gave it to the Abbess and Nuns of Font-Everoit for a perpetual possession who sending a Covent of Nuns thither from Font-Everoit Richard then Archbishop of Canterbury inducted them into the Abbey of Ambresbury on the first of June King Hen. 2. Bartholomew Bishop of Excester John Bishop of Norwich and many other of the Clergy and People being then present And by his Charter Anno 1179. confirmed the Lands of this Abbey to them with many liberties and that by the advice and consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury and many other Bishops Great Men and Barons of the Realm King John in the first year of his Reign by his Charter reciting all the premises in the Prologue confirmed this Charter of his Father ratified these Nuns deprivations and imprisonments in other Monasteries for their incontinency with consent of his Bishops Nobles and request of Pope Alexander transferring this Abbey and all Lands thereto belonging from one rank of Nuns to another takes both these Nuns Persons Lands into his Royal protection as if they were his own Demesnes grants them several Tithes Churches large Priviledges and prohibits that none of his Officers or Subjects should disturb them therein nor implead them but in the presence of himself and his heirs The same first year of King John's Reign the Abbot of Westminster dying the Monks by the King's License elected Ralph Arundel Prior of Harle for their Abbot unto which the King gave his Assent Whereupon he was consecrated Abbot no Bishops Abbots Priors or other Ecclesiastical Persons being elected to any Dignities but by the King 's previous License and subsequent Assent to the Person elected who might approve or reject him at his Royal Pleasure This King ratified the Charter of K. Richard touching the exchange between Archbishop Hubert and the Bishop and Monks of Rochester of the Manor of Lambeth for other Lands and the Clause therein authorizing the Pope Archbishop of Canterbury Bishops and Clergy of England to Excommunicate the infringers thereof Chart. 1. Johan Regis part 2. n. 147. n. 25. Besides he appropriated several Parochial Churches in perpetuity to the Bishoprick of Coventry and Litchfield converted other Parochial Churches into Prebendaries and ratified the Orders made by Bishop Hugh for the better regulation of that Church by two Charters The like Charter of confirmation of Churches Tithes and Liberties he made to the Bishop of Exeter and his Successors the same year In the second year of his Reign the Dean and Chapter of Lexoven
within this King 's hereditary Dominions in France presuming to elect a Bishop without his consent sent a Prohibition to them to preserve this Antient right of the Crown descended to him from his Ancestors The same year this King by his Charter commanded all Clerks then Imprisoned for offences throughout England to be delivered to Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury upon his demand of them Likewise he granted a Charter to the Bish of Norwich to recover all Lands and Tenements belonging to that Bishoprick unjustly alienated by his Predecessors The same year Geoffery Plantaginet Archbishop of York King John's base Brother obstructed the Levying of Carvage demanded and granted to the King by common consent paid by all others on the Demesn Lands of his Church or Tenants beating the Sheriff of York's servants excommunicating the Sheriff himself by name with all his Aiders and interdicted his whole Province of York for attempting to levy it Whereupon the King much incensed summoned him to answer these high contempts his not going over with him into Normandy when summoned and also to pay him three thousand Marks due to his Brother King Richard and by his Writs commanded all the Archbishop's servants where-ever they were found to be imprisoned as they were for beating the Sheriff's Officers and denying to give the King of the Archbishops Wine passing through York summoned Geoffery into his Court to answer all these contempts and issued Writs to the Sheriff of York-shire to seize all his Goods Temporalties and to return them into the Exchequer which was executed accordingly The King and Queen repairing to York the next Mid-lent the Archbishop made his peace with the King submitting to pay such a Fine for his offences as four Bishops and four Barons elected by them should adjudge and absolved William de Stutvil the Sheriff and James de Poterna whom he had excommunicated and recalled his former Interdict The same year there fell out a great difference between this Archbishop the Dean and Chapter of York and the Archdeacon of Richmond R. Hoveden Annal. part poster p. 817. The Praecentor's place at York falling void the Dean and Chapter would not suffer him to present Ralph de Kyme his Official to it but themselves gave it to Hugh Murdac Archdeacon of Cleveland the day after he had given it to Kyme And when the Achbishop would have put him into the Praecentor's Stall the Dean told him It belonged not unto him to put any man into a Stall neither shall you therein place him because we have given it by Authority of the Council of Lateran Whereupon when the Archbishop could not have his will he excommunicated Murdac he likewise injured Honorius Archdeacon of Richmond by challenging to himself the Institutions of Churches and Synodals against the ancient Dignities and Customs of the Archdeaconry which the Archbishop pretended Honorius had resigned and confirmed to him by his Charter which he denied The Dean and Chapter and Honorius severally complained of these injuries to the King who thereupon issued two Writs for their relief This Honorius Archdeacon of Richmond complained to the Pope as well as the King of the injurious encroachments of this Archbishop who suspended some of his Clerks interdicted some Churches within his Archdeaconry and excommunicated the Archdeacon all which the Pope in a special Letter requires him to retract as null and void He also sent three Epistles more the first to the Dean and Chapter of York the second to the Bishop of Ely and Archdeacon of Northampton the third to King John himself to defend Honorius his rights against the Archbishop's injuries and encroachments The Pope wrote a menacing Letter to the Archbishop but he was no way daunted at it but proceeded still against Honorius till restrained by the King's Writs Appeals being but then in their infancy and that not as to a supreme judicature but only by way of complaint as a voluntary perswading Arbitrator and that by the King's licence first obtained An Historical Vindication of the Church of England in point of Schism as learned Sir Roger Twisden truly observes The same year Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury intending to celebrate a Council at Westminster without the King 's special Writ thereupon the King being then in Normandy Geoffery Fitz-Peter Earl of Sussex being then Chief Justice of England sent a Prohibition to inhibit it yet the Archbishop held the Council wherein he made and promulged several Decrees Statuens ea a suis subditis inviolabiliter observari But those Decrees made concerning Procurations Fees for Orders Institutions Inductions Licences of Ministers c. were not esteemed obligatory nor were they regarded Lyndwood Aton and most Histories take no notice of them because made against the King's Prohibition The third year of King John Gilardus Archdeacon of Brecknock pretending himself to be elected Bishop of St. Davids in Wales with the King's consent by provision from Pope Innocent the Third intruded himself into the possession of the Temporalties thereof and likewise endeavoured to make it an Archbishoprick About that time a certain number of Greeks came from Athens into England and asserted that the Latins had erred from the way of Truth in the Articles of Christian Faith and they would shew the right way by invincible Arguments which all should receive if they will be saved This was reported unto King John He answered Our Faith is grounded upon the Authority of Christ and the Saints and I will not suffer that it be tossed with disputes and janglings of men nor will we change the certainty for uncertainty let me hear no more of you So they departed Gilardus had procured Pope Innocent's Procuration and Provision to elect him Bishop of St. Davids at which King John though then in Normandy with his Queen was much incensed and sent out four successive Writs and Proclamations directed to all the Clergy and Laity both of England and Wales in general and the Chapter of St. Davids in special strictly enjoyning them all to oppose and resist Gilardus his rash attempts and innovations against Him to their power according to their Allegiance and no wayes to aid or countenance him therein by advice or otherwise it being unjust to do it Giraldus notwithstanding all his pretended submission to the Archbishop proceeding afresh in the Court of Rome to obtain his ends thereupon the King issued out a severe Proclamation against him as a publick Enemy and disturber of the Peace of his Kingdom In the same year Pope Innocent takes upon him upon pretext of necessity for relief of the holy Land only to advise and recommend to all the Prelates of the holy Church the levying of the fortieth part of their Estates and Benefices and in what manner to levy it not absolutely to impose it to their prejudice Whence Matthew Westminster thus expresseth it Ad instantiam Innocentii Papae data est quadragesima pars redditum omnium Ecclesiarum ad subsidium terrae promissionis Therefore a
free Gift not an imposed Tax Neither would the King of England or France suffer it to to be levyed in their Realms by the Pope's Authority but only by their Royal Order Grant and Assent thereto But no Archbishop or Bishop did put this in execution The same year the King licensed Peter Builler by Charter to enter into what Religion he pleased Rex c. Omnibus c. Sciatis nos dedisse licentiam Petro Builler transferendi se ad quam voluerit Religionem inde has literas nostras patentes ei rei relinquimus in testimonium Teste meipso apud Barnevil 29 die Octobris The French King perfidiously breaking his Truce with King John made in the first year of his reign to carry on that War he not only demanded a supply of Moneys from his Nobility and Clergy but likewise from the Cistercian Abbots The same year the Church and City of Rhoan being consumed with fire King John granted them his Letters Patents for a liberal contribution throughout all England toward the repair of that Church principally for the Virgin Maries sake to whom it was dedicated then adored more than God himself This is the first Patent of such a Collection that we have yet met with Pious this King was in offering one ounce of Gold to God every Lord's-day and Holy-day which the Archbishop of Canterbury then offered and disbursed for him or claimed as his Fee being allowed it in the Exchequer upon his account In the fourth year of King John some Irish Bishops and Archdeacons Suffragans to the Archbishop of Dublin endeavoured without this King 's precedent License and Assent to elect an Archbishop and get him confirmed at Rome by the Pope against the King's Right and Dignity Whereupon he entred an Appeal against them before himself to Preserve his Right and Dignity therein The same year there being many contests between the Dean and Canons and Geoffry Archbishop of York who by his Archiepiscopal authority and violence did much oppress them the King upon their complaint by his Authority and Letters Patents granted them a Protection against Him and his Instruments In the fifth year of King John Godfrid Bishop of Winchester deceasing Petrus de Rupibus a Knight and great Souldier Vir equestris ordinis in rebus bellicis eruditus procurante Rege Johanne being chosen to the Bishoprick succeeded him who going to Rome Vbi magnis zeniis liberaliter collatis ad Ecclesiam Wintoniensem maturavit Episcopus consecrari This year the Men of Holderness refusing to pay their Traves due to St. John of Beverly out of their Ploughed-lands to the Farmer of them as they did to the Provost and Chapter before the King issued out a Writ to the Sheriffs of York to seize the Persons and Goods of those the Provost and Chapter should excommunicate and detain them till payment since He and his Tenants duly paid them out of his and their Demesnes In the sixth year of King John the Bishop Dean and Chapter of Durham the Dean and Chapter of York with sundry other Deans and Chapters Abbots and Priors within the Province of York to prevent the unjust arbitrary Excommunications Suspensions and Interdicts of Geoffry Archbishop of York against their own Tenants Lands and Possessions by reason of some differences between them concerning their Jurisdictions and Ecclesiastical Priviledges which they complained the Archbishop invaded appearing before the King at York did there in the King 's own presence appeal him before the See of Rome prefixing a certain day to which the King by his Letters Patents gave his Royal Testimony and Assent they not daring to appeal without his License About two years after King John and his Nobles meeting at Winchester placing his hope and strength in his Treasures required and received through all England the thirteenth part of all Movables and other things as well of the Laity as of all other Ecclesiastical Persons and Prelats all of them murmuring at it and wishing an ill event to such rapines but not daring to contradict it Only Geoffry Archbishop of York openly contradicting it privily departed from England and in his recess Anathematis sententia innodavit actually excommunicated all Men especially within his Archbishoprick making this rapine and levying this Tax and in general all Invaders of the Church or Ecclesiastical things for non-payment of this Tax wherewith this King was so highly offended that he seized his Temporalities and banished him the Realm till his death about seven years after Anno 1205. died Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury Before his body was yet committed to the earth the younger sort of the Monks elected Reginald their Superiour and placed him in the Metropolitan See without the King's License and knowledge who being sent unto by the elder sort of Monks requiring his gracious License to chuse their Archbishop consented thereunto requiring them also instantly at his request that they would elect John Grey Bishop of Norwich into that See which they also did And the King sent to the Pope to confirm it The two Suffragans of Canterbury not being made acquainted with the matter sent speedily to Rome to have both the Elections stopped whereupon arose a great tumult for the Pope condemning both their Elections created Stephen Langton with his own hand in the high Church of Viterbo Upon which occasion the King banished sixty four of the Clergy and Monks of Canterbury out of the Land Fox Acts and Monuments and sharply expostulated with the Pope for that he had chosen Stephen Langton a Man brought up long among his Enemies in France besides the derogation to the Liberties of his Crown threatening except he would favour the King 's liking of the Bishop of Norwich he would cut off the trade to Rome and the profits that came thither from the Land The Pope writeth in the behalf of Stephen Langton a froward and arrogant Letter and not long after sendeth a commandment and charge into England to certain Bishops that if the King would not yield they should Interdict his Realm For the execution whereof four Bishops were appointed viz. William Bishop of London Eustace Bishop of Ely Mauger Bishop of Worcester and Giles Bishop of Hereford who pronounced the general Interdiction through the Realm of all Ecclesiastical service saving Baptism of Children Confession and the Eucharist to the dying in case of necessity No sooner had they interdicted the Kingdom but they with Joceline Bishop of Bath as speedily as secretly fled out of the Land And the King took all the possessions of those Bishops into his hands He also proclaimed that all those that had Church-living and went over the Sea should return at a certain day or else lose their Livings for ever and charged all Sheriffs to enquire if any Church-man received any Commandment that came from the Pope that they should apprehend them and bring them before him and also take into their hands for the King's use all the Church-lands that
King's Allegiance would not shake his magnanimous resolution nor his Peoples loyalty P●ynne's History Book 3. ch 3. the Pope's Legats Pandulphus and Durance forged new devises to effect their designs by fraud and terror to which purpose they procured sundry Letters from divers Quarters to be brought unto him whilst he sate at dinner at Nottingham intending to set upon the Welch-men with a potent Army whom they had stirred up to rebel against him and invade England to divert him from his design all to this effect That there was a secret Plot laid to destroy him He marched to Chester where he met with new Letters to the like effect which caused him to dismiss his Army and design against the Welch-men Besides the Popish Priests set up one Peter an Hermite a counterfeit Prophet to terrifie the King and alienate the peoples hearts from him by his false Prophesies This counterfeit Sooth-sayer prophesied That King John should reign no longer than the Ascension-day within the year of our Lord 1213. which was the fourteenth from his Coronation and this he said he had by Revelation When the Ascension-day was come the King commanded his Regal Tent to be spread abroad in the open field passing that day with his noble Council and Men of Honour in the greatest solemnity that ever he did before solacing himself with musical Songs and Instruments most in sight of his trusty Friends This day being past in all prosperity and mirth the King commanded that Peter the Hermite that false Prophet should be drawn and hanged like a Traitor Now behold the misery of King John perplexed with the French King 's daily preparation to invade England assisted by many English male-contents and all the exil'd Bishops Hereupon he sunk on a sudden beneath himself to an act of unworthy submission and subjection to the Pope For on Ascension-Eve May 15. being in the Town of Dover standing as it were on tiptoes on the utmost edge brink and label of that Land which now he was about to surrender King John by an Instrument or Charter sealed and solemnly delivered in the presence of many Prelats and Nobles to Pandulphus the Pope's Legat granted to God and the Church of Rome the Apostles Peter and Paul and to Pope Innocent the Third and his Successors the whole Kingdom of England and Ireland Fuller's Church History Book 3. And took an Estate thereof back again yielding and paying yearly to the Church of Rome over and above the Peter-pence a thousand Marks Sterling viz. seven hundred for England and three hundred for Ireland In the passing hereof the King's Instrument to the Pope was sealed with a Seal of Gold and the Pope's to the King was sealed with a Seal of Lead This being done the King took the Crown off his Head and set it upon Pandulphus his Knees at whose feet he also laid his Scepter Robe Sword and Ring his Royal Ensigns as John de Serres relates and these words said he in hearing of all the great Lords of England Here I resign up the Crown and the Realm of England into the hands of Pope Innocentius the Third and put me wholly in his mercy and in his ordinance Then Pandulph received the Crown of King John and kept it five dayes in his hands and confirmed all things by his Charter Now the Pope's next design was how to take off and pacifie the French King from his intended Invasions and so sent the Archbishop and his Confederates into England there to insult over King John as they had done abroad Next year the Interdict was taken off the Kingdom and a general joy was over the Land The seventeenth of August following the exiled Bishops landed at Dover and were conducted in State to the King at Winchester the King 's extraordinary humbling to and begging pardon of them prostrating himself to the ground at their feet and their insolent carriage toward him is related by Matthew Paris The next day after their coming to Winchester the King issued out Writs to all the Sheriffs of England to enquire of their damages There were other Writs sent to the Kings Judges to proceed in the said Inquisition After this general compliance with them the King conceiving he had given them full content and setled all things in peace resolved to pass with an Army into Picardy whither the Nobles refused to follow him In the mean time the Archbishop Bishop Nobles meeting at St. Albans about the damages to be restored by the King to the Prelates during their exile fell to demand the confirmation of their Liberties granted by his Grandfather King Henry the first which the King condescended unto Soon after the Archbishop caused all the Bishops Abbots Priors Deans and Nobles of the Realm to meet together at London upon pretext of satisfying his and the exiled Bishops damages but in verity to engage in a new Rebellion against the Crown and confer it on Lewis the French King's Son as they did in the conclusion under pretence of demanding the confirming the Charter and Liberties granted by King Henry the first there produced by the Archbishop which the King had but newly ratified at St. Albans Pandulphus besides his former insolencies endeavoured to wrest out of the King's hand the power of imprisoning Clerks for Fellonies that so they might be at his own disposal and act any villanies with impunity King John being thus distressed sent a base and unchristian-like Ambassage to Admiralius Murmelius a Mahometan King of Morocco then very potent and possessing a great part of Spain offering him if he would send him succour to hold the Kingdom of England as a Vassal from him and to receive the Law of Mahomet saith Matthew Paris The Moor offended at his offer told the Ambassadours That he lately had read Paul's Epistles Modò inspexi l●brum in Graeco scriptum cuju●dam Graeci sapientis Christiani nomine Pauli cujus actus veroa mihi maximè complacent accepto Vnum tamen de ipso mihi displicet quod in lege sub quâ natus est non stetit sed ad alia tāquam transfuga inconstans avolvit which for the matter liked him well save only that Paul had renounced that Faith wherein he was born and the Jewish profession Wherefore he slighted King John as one devoid both of piety and policy who would love his liberty and disclaim his Religion A strange tender if true But Mr. Prynne proveth it to be a most scandalous malitious forgery of this Monk of St. Albans against the King for sequestring that Abbey Philip King of France together with his Son Lewis and his Proctor and all the Nobles of France Anno 1216. with his own mouth protested against this Charter and resignation to Walo the Pope's own Legat when purposely sent to them by Pope Innocent to disswade them from invading England as being then St. Peter's Patrimony not only as null void in it self for several Reasons but of
most pernitious example King John out of his piety to prevent profanations of the Lord's-day removed the Market of the City of Exeter from the Lord's-day whereon it was formerly kept to the Monday This King to ingratiate himself with the Romish Cardinals and Court granted them annual Pensions out of his Exchequer the Arrears whereof he ordered to be satisfied in the first place and likewise gave Benefices or Prebends to their Nephews and Creatures Moreover to gratifie Stephen Langton his great Enemy he granted the Patronage of the Bishoprick of Rochester to him and his Successors and to the Bishop of Ely he granted the Patronage of the Abbey of Torney Mr. Prynne who kept the Records of the Tower tells us that upon strictest search he could find no payment of the foresaid Annuity or Oblation to Pope Innocent by King John himself who granted it but only for one year before hand when he sealed his Charter who dying about three years after during which time his Kingdom was infested with Civil Wars between him and his Barons invaded by Lewis of France who was made King by the Barons in his stead his Lands Rents seized his Treasure exhausted and the People every where miserably plundered it is probable that ●here neither was nor could be expected any other punctual payment of it The Pope and his Legat Nicholas having in a manner bereaved King John of his Regal Dignity and Authority began forthwith to play Rex they usurped the Sovereign Authority both in Church and State presenting to all Bishopricks Matth. Paris Hist Anglic. p. 237 238. Abbies Spiritual promotions and Benefices then void without the Patrons consent by way of Provision and Collation to the prejudice of the Crown and enthralling of the Church of England not vouchsafing to consult either with the King himself the Archbishop or Bishops concerning their disposal This was the very original of Pope's Provisions and disposals of Bishopricks Abbies with all sorts of Spiritual promotions and Benefices in England no Pope presuming to confer any Bishoprick Benefice or Prebendary in France or England Vsque ad tempora Domini Innocentii tertii qui primus assumpsit sibi jus istud in tempore suo as the French Agent remonstrated to Pope Innocent the Fourth These Provisions soon overflowed the Church of England and France too for many succeeding Ages notwithstanding all oppositions and complaints against them Which the Archbishop and Bishops foreseeing perceiving withall the Legat more ready to gratifie the King and his Clerks in the disposal of Bishopricks and Ecclesiastical preferments than themselves meeting together at Dunstaple drew up an Appeal against his proceedings which he slighting and sending to Rome by Pandulphus together with King John's Charter so highly magnified the King and made such complaints to the Pope against the Archbishop and Bishops as frustrated their Appeal King John having satisfied and secured the damages of the Exiled Bishops and Monks before the Interdict released according to his agreement other Abbots Priors Clergy-men and Lay-men repaired to the Legat craving full satisfaction also for their damages sustained by the King's proceedings during the Interdict though never insisted on before The King issued out two Writs on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Lincoln to restore them to the possession of their Temporalties in the Cinque-ports and other places Yet on the contrary all the Bishops and Clergy-men who faithfully adhered to the King and communicated with him or any other excommunicated person or received any Benefices from them during the Interdict were by these Prelates now made their Judges and Pope's censures ordered to be suspended from all their Ecclesiastical Offices Benefices Preferments and ordered to appear personally at Rome before the Pope to be examined ere their Suspensions released except only such as had given satisfaction to the Church for this offence The turbulent Archbishop stirred up the Barons to a new Insurrection against the King about their Liberties who coming all to the King after Christmas Anno 1215. demanded the confirmation of their Charter who craved time to advise thereon till after Easter the Archbishop and two more becoming his Sureties that then he should give satisfaction to all of them The Barons against the time rather preparing themselves for a Battel than Conference with the King assembled together at Stamford with a mighty Army having Archbishop Stephen their principal Abettor who yet seemed to side with the King and was most assiduous about him The Barons marching as far as Brackley the King sent the Archbishp to treat with them who brought back a Schedule of their claimed Liberties with this Message That if he presently confirmed them not to them by his Charter they would force him to it by seizing all his Castles and Provisions Whereupon the King replied Why do they not also demand the Kingdom swearing never to enslave himself to such a concession The Archbishop returning with this peremptory Answer the Barons forthwith seized Bedford-Castle and were admitted into London the Citizens siding with them Whereupon the King appointed to treat with them at Running-mead whither the Barons came with armed multitudes from all parts of the Realm whereafter some parley the King granted them their desires not only for their Liberties specified in Magna Charta and Charta Forrestae which he then sealed and by his Writs commanded to be put in due execution but also that twenty five Peers elected by them to whom all were sworn to obey should force the King to observe these Charters if ever he receded from them by seizing all his Castles Juratum est a parte Regis Quod Anglicana Ecclesia libera sit c. It was sworn on the Kings part that the Church of England is free and all men of our Kingdom have and do hold all the foresaid Liberties Rights and Customs well and peaceably freely and quietly fully and wholly to themselves and their Heirs c. All the Barons and Commons of the Realm then and afterwards taking the same Oath The Archbishop and Barons thrust into this new Charter many Articles and Clauses for their own the Churches and Pope's advantage not extant in the Charter of King Henry the First as may be seen in Matthew Paris his History This Charter though it saved a great part of the King's Prerogative to petition him and his Heirs for Licenses to elect and for his Assent gave a great wound to his Ecclesiastical Supremacy and made all Chapters Covents Bishops Monks yea Popes and their Agents to slight his Regal Authority and Licenses too insomuch that he could prefer no person to any Bishoprick Monastery or elective Dignity but whom the Electors pleased to make choice of King John withdrawing and obscuring himself from his Bishops and Barons in the Isle of Wight sent Messengers secretly to Rome to complain and appeal to the Pope against their Treasons Rebellions and the Charters forcibly extorted from him whilst under
Roma totum negat Qui plus dat pecunia melius allegat Romani capitulum habent in decretis Vt potentes audiant manibus repletis Dabis aut non dabitur potunt quando petis Qua mensura seminas eadem tu metis Munus petitio currunt passu pari Opereris munere si vis operari Tullium nec timeas si velit causari Munus Eloquentia gaudet singulari Nummis in hac Curia non est qui non vacet Crux placet Rotunditas placet totum placet Et cum ita placeat Romanis placet Vbi munus loquitur lex omnis tacet Cum ad Papam veneris habe pro constanti Non est bonus Pauperi soli favet danti Et si munus praestitum non sit aliquanti Respondet hic tibi sic non est mihi tanti Papa quaerit Chartula quaerit Bulla quaerit P●rta quaerit Cardinal quaerit Cursor quaerit Sed si dares omnibus at uni deerit Totum mare salsum est tota causa perit About that time Nigellus Vireker a Learned Monk at Canterbury wrote a Book De abusu rerum Ecclesiae and sent it to William Bishop of Ely Chancellor of England In this Book he not onely rebuked him but all Teachers under the Pope's Tyranny because they committed the Cure of Souls unto Children Belly-gods and despisers of the Sacred Word Henry the third of that name succeeded his Father King John being about ten years old and was Crowned at Glocester by a part of the Nobility and Clergy upon the perswasion of William Earl Mareshall Earl of Pembrook a Nobleman of great Authority the rest siding with the French Lewis within little more than a twelve Moneth he recovered the entire possession of his Kingdom In Whitsun-week the Pope's Legate encouraged the King's Army to fight the French King's Forces at Lincoln and after a sharp conflict they routed the Barons and Lewis's Forces slew and took many of them Prisoners with the loss onely of three Men and took the City of Lincoln with all the Treasure and baggage of the Enemy The King's Ships watching the French Fleet at Sea transporting Souldiers and supplies unto Lewis took Eustachius a Monk their Admiral Prisoner whose Head the King's Brother Richard cut off with his Sword despising the great sum of Money which he proffered for his Ransom Soon after which defeats by Land and Sea both Parties had a conference at Stanes and came to an Agreement Septemb. 3. and Lewis shamefully departed this Realm But notwithstanding this Agreement with the Barons yet the Pope's Legate exempted all the Bishops Abbots and Clergy out of this Act of pacification for their contempt of the Pope's Authority that he might dispose of their Ecclesiastical promotions and Benefices to his Instruments and put them to excessive fines at the present to fill the Pope's and his own Coffers Claus Anno 1. H. 3. m. 21. Pat. 1. H. 3. m. 16. intus This Legate Gualo did bear chief sway in the King's Council and the King sealed some Letters Patents Sigillis venerabilium Patrum Domini Gualonis Sancti Martini Presbyteri Cardinalis Apostolicae sedis Legati Domini Petri Wintoniensis Episcopi and sent them abroad under their Seals in the first year of his Reign because as yet he had no Seal The Canons of Carlisle contemning both the Pope's and his Legates Authority and Censures contumaciously celebrating Divine Service and Sacraments notwithstanding their Interdicts adhering and Swearing Fealty to the King of Scots King Henrie's and the Pope's declared enemy yea electing an interdicted Clerk for their Bishop against the King's and Legate's Wills and dividing the Revenues of the Bishoprick among themselves The King's Council thereupon sent an Epistle to Pope Honorius the third who succeeded Innocent the third that year in the King's name totally to remove these Schismatical Canons and place Prebends in their rooms to augment the Bishop's Revenues which were small and displace the intruded Bishop Upon which Letter the Pope ordered Gualo his Legate by the King 's Royal assent to constitute Hugh Abbot of Beaulieu Bishop of Carlisle In the second year of King Henry III. the Archbishop of Dublin in Ireland and other Bishops there Usurping upon the King's Crown and Temporal Courts presumed to hold pleas in their Courts Christian of Lay fee whereupon there issuing Prohibitions from the King's Court to stay these Suits they proceeded contemptuously notwithstanding upon which ●here issued out a Writ of Attachment against them to appear before the chief Justice of Ireland to answer the contempt In the third year of King Henry the third the Bishoprick of Leismore united formerly to the Bishoprick of Waterford by the Pope's Legate in Ireland while the Bishop was in England at the Consecration of the Bishop of Carlisle Macrobius a Canon of Leismore procuring an election from the rest of the Canons pretending the See to be then void obtained the Legate's and King 's Royal assent to the Election and Restitution of the Temporalties whereof the Bishop of Waterford complaining to the King the King nulled that election and commanded the Bishop to be put in possession of his Temporalties The Bishop of Ely going into France after Lewis his return thither reported King Henry to be dead and laboured to stir up a new War against him whereupon the King wrote to the Pope to deprive him and bestow his Bishoprick by provision upon some other in which Letter the King acknowledgeth the Pope's great favours and assistance to him during his Infancy puts himself and his Realms under the protection of his wings and by way of Complement stiles them the Patrimony of the Church of Rome to gain the Pope's readier protection and assistance in his Suits and Wars In the fourth year of his Reign King Henry taking notice of diverse Usurpations upon the right of his Crown in Ireland by Covents Deanes and Chapters electing Abbots and Bishops as they became void and the chief Justices approving them without his Privity License or Royal assent he issued out a Writ to his chief Justice of Ireland to reform and prevent this dangerous Usurpation for the future This year the Earl of Albemarle refusing to deliver up to the King some of his Castles and Lands committed to his custody for which he was Excommunicated by the Bishop of Norwich and the Pope's Legate thereupon the King issued out a prohibition to all his Barons and Subjects in Lancashire and five Counties more not to Aid him or his complices but to avoid them as Excommunicated Persons till they had submitted to the King Ecclesiastical Censures were then commonly inflicted in that Age for Temporal Offences and Rebellions to reduce Men to obedience to the King as well as to the Church and Pope At last the Earl came to the King under the conduct of Walter Archbishop of York and by the mediation of Pandulphus the Legate was reconciled to him Anno Domini 1221.
The King being under the Wardship of Peter Bishop of Winchester was on Whitsunday Crowned the second time at Winchester by Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury Soon after which there being a difference concerning the Bishoprick of Ely between Galfridus de Burgo Archdeacon of Norwich and Robert of York the Pope at last nulled both their Elections and ●onferred the Bishoprick upon John Abbot of Fontain who was Consecrated at Westminster The same year and day Hugh Bishop of Lincoln was Canonized a Saint by the procurement of the Archbishop He likewise caused his Predecessor Thomas Becket to be Translated Enshrined and Adored with great Solemnity Most of the English many of the French Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Clergy and of other Countries were by the Archbishop's invitation present at Thomas Becket's Translation The translation and enshrining of Thomas Becket The King by the Legat's and his Council's advice changed the Heathenish and long-continued Trials in criminal Causes by Fire and Water into other ways of Trial and Punishments by Imprisonment or abjuring the Realm Benedict Bishop of Rochester Richard Bishop of Sarum Hugh Bishop of Lincoln William Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury Richard Bishop of Durham Henry Abbot of Ramsey and other Clergy-men were all made Justices Itinerants this year Henry Bishop of Landaff dying thereupon Pandulphus the Pope's Legate conferred it upon William Prior of Goldcliff William de Marisco Bishop of London of his own accord resigning his Bishoprick Eustachius de Faucumberge then Treasurer of the Exchequer was chosen Bishop of London whose Election was confirmed by the Legate Pandulphus This Legate sent a Letter to Peter Bishop of Winton and Hugh de Burgh to prohibit and suppress the Usury of the Jews taken from Christians and to stay a Suite brought by a Jew against the Abbot and Covent of Westminster before the Justices of the Jews wherein he exacted usury from them to the great scandal of Christianity and the King's dishonour and to joyn some discreet Persons with the Sheriff in each County for the collection of Amerciaments to prevent their Malice and Extortions About this time was taken an Impostor at Oxford having five wounds in his Body and Members sc in his Side Hands and Feet who counterfeited himself to be Christ with two Women his followers counterfeiting themselves to be the Virgin Mary the Mother of Christ and Mary Magdalen They were immured together with him without any Victuals and starved to Death Then was a Council held at Oxford under Archbishop Stephen where many Constitutions were made most of them being very useful to reform Extortions Abuses Procurations in Visitations the taking of any Fees for Letters of Order Funerals or Administring any Sacrament as also against Pluralities Non-residence and other abuses of Clergy-men Soon after this the Archbishop and the Bishop of Lincoln commanded by their Injunctions That none should sell any victuals to the Jews nor have any communion with them of which the Jews complaining the King issued a Writ to the Majors of Canterbury Oxford and Norwich to countermand the Bishop's Injunctions that all should sell victuals and other necessaries to them and that they should imprison every one refusing to do it till further order Then the Prior of St. Patrick of Dune in Jreland sent a Petition to the King to grant him and others some small Cell to reside in in England their Houses in Ireland being frequently burnt in the Wars for St. Patrick's and other Irish Saints sake whose Relikes he then sent to the King for a present The King to satisfie the Archbishop wrote a Letter to the Pope to give way for the return of his Brother Simon Langton into England out of which he was formerly banished as well as Excommunicated and deprived of all his Ecclesiastical Benefices for adhering to Lewis and contemning the Pope's Excommunications But we find not that the Pope consented to this request Our Kings by reason of their manifold Affairs in the Court of Rome relating to the Pope and other Forreign States usually constituted sometimes general otherwise special Proctors by their Letters Patents to implead and defend in their Names and Rights all matters there depending for or against them of which there are many different Formes in our Records King Henry standing in need of a subsidy from the Bishops and Clergy Pope Honorius thereupon sent his Bull to the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors and Clergy entreating them to grant him a competent subsidy to be disposed of by common consent onely for publick benefit of the Realm leaving the grant free to the Bishops and Clergy to impose and proportion it This year sc 1225. the Archbishop of Canterbury and his Suffragans instead of granting the King a subsidy or punishing leacherous Clearks passed severe Decrees against their Concubines onely principally intended against the Wives of Clergy men whom they stiled Concubines in that Age. The Bishop of Cork in Ireland having obtained the King's Royal assent at the Pope's request to be Archbishop of Cassel taking a journey to Rome to procure it received his Writ for the restitution of his Temporalties after his return Then the Pope dispatched Otto his Legate into England with Letters to the King for his own filthy lucre The King assembling a Parliamentary Council of his Nobles and Prelates Otto read the Pope's Letters and Proposals wherein the detestable Avarice Extortion and Rapine of the Pope and Court of Rome were clearly discovered related by Matthew Paris Matth. Paris Hist Angl. Otto pursuing his Rapines in England by exacting Procurations from the Clergy was by the Archbishop's means suddenly recalled thence by the Pope to his great discontent and the prosecuting the Pope's former proposals committed to the Archbishop This year Pope Honorius the third sent his Bull to Geoffry de Lizimaco the King 's sworn Vassal absolutely subverting all Papal dispensations with Subjects just Oaths to their Sovereignes The Pope also sent prohibitory Letters to the King of England to stop his intended Military Voyage into France to recover his just Rights Then the King paid ten thousand Marks being all the Arrears of the sum granted by King John to the Pope by his Charter Godwin Catal of Bish p. 515.516 Richard de Marisco Bishop of Durham dying suddenly at Peter-borough-Abbey as he was posting to London with a great troop of Lawyers to prosecute his Suits against the Monks of Durham thereupon they bestowed this Epitaph upon him Culmina qui cupi tis Est sedata si tis Qui populos regi tis Quod mors immi tis Vobis praeposi tis Quod sum vos eri tis Laudes pompasque siti tis Si me pensare veli tis Memores super omnia si tis Non parcit honore poti tis Similis fueram bene sci tis Ad me currendo veni tis Upon his Death there grew a great difference between King Henry the third and the Monks of Durham about the election of a Successor
There was an Appeal about this Election pending before the Archbishop of York before whom the King constituted his Proctor by Patent But after two years expensive contests the Monks election of William Archdeacon of Worcester a Man Learned and honest saith Matthew Paris was cancelled at Rome Luke the King's Chaplain put by and Richard Bishop of Salisbury Elected Bishop by the Pope's favour the Pope onely gaining by such contests The Emperor Frederick the third being justly incensed with the publication of divers Libellous and Scandalous Excommunications of Pope Gregory IX against him in England and all other Kingdoms and Churches endeavoured to vindicate himself and his innocency against the Pope's calumnies by dispatching Letters into all parts and particularly into England These proceedings of the Pope against the Emperor so exasperated the Citizens of Rome that they expelled the Pope from the City and chased him to Perusium Anno 1228. died Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury after whose death there grew a new contest between the King and Monks of Canterbury about the Election of a new Archbishop The Monks chose Walter de Hevesham a Monk whom the King refused to allow of resolving to make Richard his Chancellor Archbishop Walter posting to Rome to get Confirmation and Consecration from the Pope and the King's Proctors there excepting against him pressing the vacating of his Election and making Richard Archbishop with much importunity they could not prevail with the Pope or Cardinals to stop Walter 's Confirmation or promote Richard till they had promised in the behalf of the King unto the Pope the tenths of all things moveable from both his Kingdomes of England and Ireland Whereupon the Pope and Cardinals forthwith vacated Walter 's Election for his insufficiency and made Richard Archbishop So the Pope got two years payment of his annual pension granted by King John and a Tenth in promise Yet where the King gave his Royal assent to Bishops duly Elected by his License where there was no competition the Pope interposed not This Archbishop Richard going to Rome to complain against the King that all affairs of his Kingdom were disposed by the counsel of his chief Justice Hubert when he had there accomplished his designes against the King was presently taken away by sudden Death Then the King issued out a prohibition to the Monks of Canterbury not to do any thing prejudicial to the rights of his Crown nor to elect any Person Archbishop without his special License nor to send any Monks to Rome by the Pope's command to Elect an Archbishop there The Monks in pursuance of this Prohibition by the King's License elected John their Prior Archbishop whom the King by his Letters Patents approved desiring the Pope to confirm him and likewise made new Proctors in the Court of Rome concerning this Election And the King to promote his Affairs the better in the Court of Rome granted Annuities to some Cardinals to obtain that justice from them by such Pensions which he could not procure without them But yet the Pope vacated this second election as well as the first Hereupon the Monks proceed to a third election but this third Person was also cashiered by the Pope This See continued three years after Richard's death and Edmond _____ being nominated Archbishop by the Pope who sent him a Pall was consecrated by Roger Bishop of London in April Anno 1234. the King being present with thirteen Bishops in Christ-Church Canterbury Fuller Church-Histor lib. 3. In the year 1232. the Cavrsines first came into England proving the bane of the Land These were Italians by birth terming themselves the Pope's Merchants driving no other Trade than letting out of Money great Banks whereof they brought into England differing little from the Jews save that they were more merciless to their Debtors Now because the Pope's Legat was altogether for ready Money when any Tax by Levy Commutation of Vows Tenths Dispensations c. were due to the Pope from Prelates Convents Priests or Lay-persons these Cavrsines instantly furnished them with present Coin upon their solemn Bonds and Obligations These Cavrsines were generally hated for their Extortions Roger Black that learned and pious Bishop of London once excommunicated these Cavrssnes for their oppression but they appealing to the Pope their good friend forced him after much molestation to desist These Cavrsines were commonly known by the name of Lombards from Lombardy the place of their nativity in Italy And although they deserted England on the decaying of the Pope's power and profit therein yet a double memorial remaineth of them one of their Habitation in Lombard-street in London the other of their Employment a Lombard unto this day signifies a Bank for Usury or Pawns still continued in the Low-countries and elsewhere See here the Pope's hypocrisie forbidding Usury as a sin so detestable under such heavy penalties in his Canon Law whilst his own Instruments were the most unconscionable practisers thereof without any controul Elius Rubeas in Semidali Lib. 2. c. 3. 4. Elias Rubeus an English-man wrote a Book wherein he said That the Monks had converted Religion into superstition making salvation to consist in things of themselves vain and indifferent that there was no kind of men more blind in concupiscence or infamous for uncleanness than the Popish Clergy c. Certain years after one Laurence an English-man in a Sermon of his admonished the Church That a great danger hung over her head by the Monks that they were seducers and the Ministers of Anti-christ Matthew Paris informs us That Hubert de Burgo Anno 1232. being chief Justice of England the King 's principal faithful Counsellor the greatest opposer of the Pope's Usurpations and Extortions was by the power of the Pope and of Peter Bishop of Winchester suddenly removed from all his Offices and impeached of several Crimes some of them amounting to high Treason Hubert to prevent the rage of his Enemies fled to the Church of Merton and there took Sanctuary Whence the King commanded the Mayor of London by his Letters the Londoners being his mortal Enemies to pull him out forcibly and bring him to him alive or dead Which the Mayor and Citizens readily undertaking and marching thither with great Forces the King by the advice of the Earl of Chester suddenly countermanded them thence to their great discontent After which Godfry of Cranecumb whom the King sent to apprehend him in Essex with three hundred men armed finding the Chappel doors shut violently brake them open apprehended Hubert and carried him thence bound with cords a prisoner to the Tower of London This breach of Sanctuary being made known to Roger Bishop of London whose Diocess it was he tells the King that if the Earl were not restored to the Chappel he would excommunicate all the Authors of that outrage The Earl is accordingly restored but the Sheriffs of Essex and Hertford at the King's command with the Powers of their Countreys besiege the Chappel
so long that at last the Earl was compelled to come forth and render himself bearing his affliction patiently Hubert is again imprisoned in the Tower Nothing could appease the King's Ire but that Mass of Gold and other Riches which the Knights Templers had in their custody upon trust which Hubert willingly yielded up This mollified the King's mind toward him Hereupon he had all such Lands granted unto him as either King John had given or himself had purchased There undertook for him as Sureties the Earls of Cornwall and Warren Marshal and Ferrars and himself was committed to the Castle of Devizes Speed's Histor in H. 3. there to abide in free Prison under the custody of four Knights belonging each of them to one of these four Earls Afterwards though he was restored to the King's favour yet upon new accusations of his Enemies he was condemned to give to the King Blanch Castle Grosmount in Wales Skenefrith and Hafield and then also was deprived of Title of Earl of Kent King Henry erected a special Church House and form of Government for the Jews converted to the Christian Religion The Bishops meeting together at Glocester Anno 1234. the King being jealous that they intended to consult of some other things prejudicial to his Crown State and Dignity sent a Writ of Prohibition to them not to treat of any thing of this nature After this the King and Bishops meeting at a Conference at Westminster the King charged some of the Bishops with a design to deprive him of his Crown which they denied whereupon one of them in a great rage excommunicated all those who raised such a report of them Claus 18. H. 3. Memb. 16. Then the King commanded all common Whores and Concubines of Priests to be imprisoned and banished out of the University of Oxford by his temporal Officers unless they had Lands therein and by Oath and other security have good assurance for their chast and honest demeanour for the future and not to resort to Clerks Lodgings If a Clerk or Beneficed person were indebted to the King or incurred his just displeasure the King commanded the Bishop of the Diocess to sequester all his Ecclesiastical Benefices till his debt was satisfied his displeasure remitted and the sequestration discharged by special Writ The Pope was grown so proud in this Age by his Usurpations that he would not vouchsafe to hear and admit the King's Proctors and Agents sent to Rome upon his urgent Affairs without most humble suits and supplications in his Letters of credence and procurations The King made a Remonstrance to the Pope of the several injuries done to him by the Earl of Britain in seizing on his Castles and revolting to the King of France desiring the Pope by his Ecclesiastical censures to compel him to restore his Castles to him The Pope instead of excommunicating this treacherous Earl sent for him to Rome and made him General of the Crossadoes by Sea and Land against the Grecians The Pope commanded Peter Bishop of Winchester to assist him both with his purse and advice in his Military affairs against the Grecians and Romans The Pope as he encroached upon the election and confirmation of the Archbishops and Bishops of England so did he likewise upon the election and confirmation of Abbots who must go to Rome to attend his pleasure for their approbation and confirmation as in the case of the Abbot of St. Albans doth appear The Pope condescended to the Abbot's election but upon this condition that he should take an express Oath of Fealty to the Pope and Church of Rome and his Successors prescribed in his Bull directed to the Bishops which Oath suddenly tendered to him by way of surprise he took publickly before the Covent and all the Clergy and People at his Consecration and Instalment related by Matthew Paris Matth. Paris p. 399. a Monk of this Monastery This new Oath of Allegeance to the Pope and See of Rome being the highest encroachment upon the King 's Rights and Prerogative making all who take it the Pope's Subject and Vassals not the King 's was concealed both from the King and Abbot till the very nick of his Consecration and Benediction for fear it should be opposed and refused The Prior of the preaching Friers presuming to arrest and imprison some persons in York-shire pretended to be Heretical when he had no legal power to arrest or imprison such the King thereupon issued a Mandate to the Sheriff of York-shire to arrest and imprison all Heretical persons till his further order therein Anno 1236. the Archbishop of Canterbury being sued by the Prior and Monks of Canterbury for certain Advousons of Churches Possessions Rents and Services in the Ecclesiastical Court Pryn. claus 20. H. 3. m. 12. dorso by authority of the Pope's Letters despising the remedy of the King's Court where they ought to sue for them thereupon the King issued forth his prohibition to the Archbishop prohibiting him in his Faith and Allegeance to him not to answer them in that Court it being prejudicial to his Crown and Dignity c. The King by several Writs of Prohibition countermanded the Pope's own Bulls and Delegates as contrary to the Rights and Dignities of his Crown and prohibited their proceedings which gave some check to his Usurpations of this Kind The King's Clerks and Houshold Chaplains in those dayes wearing long Hair and Peruwigs Pat. 21. H. 3. m. 3. dorso Long Hair and Peruwigs forbidden in the Clergy thereupon the King to reform this abuse issued out a Writ to William de Perecat authorizing and strictly commanding him to cut their Hair and pull off their yellow Peruwigs under pain of being shaven and polled himself The Monks and Converts of the Cistercian Order contrary to their Vows and Rules becoming common Merchants buying and selling again Wools and Skins to the prejudice of other Merchants and scandal of their Profession the King for redress thereof issued out a Writ of Prohibition to all the Sheriffs of England to seize the Goods and Moneys of those Monks and Converts to his use who should offend therein There being a great difference between the Bishop of Clochor in Ireland and the Archbishop of Armagh and their Tennants concerning injuries and grievances touching their Churches the Archbishop of Armagh procuring the King's Letters to his Chief Justice by misinformation whilst he was excommunicated the King thereupon revoked his former Letters and commanded his Chief Justice in Ireland to hear and determine the Controversies between them Upon the death of Richard Bishop of Durham the King upon the Petition of the Prior and Convent granted his License to elect a new Bishop The Bishop of Norwich dying this year the Monks elected Simon their Prior for their Bishop whom the King disapproving made a special Proctor against him before the Archbishop to hinder his confirmation and to appeal against him to the See of Rome if it were expedient where
he likewise constituted his Proctor Then the Pope upon the King's request under a pretext to rectifie some of those abuses against which there was an universal complaint sent Ottobone his Legat into England who soon proclaimed himself a ravening Wolf as well as his Predecessors Then was a Council called by the Pope's Legat unto St. Paul's Church in London where most of the Prelates Abbots and Priors assembled together The Canons that were made and promulged in this Council who so please may peruse at leisure in Matthew Paris and in Johannes de Aton his Constitutiones legitimae Ecclesiae totiusque Ecclesiae Anglicanae ab Legatis a latere summorum Pontificum collectio fol. 1. ad 121. with his Gloss upon them The first Canon was for the Dedication and Consecration of Churches many Cathedral as well as Parish-churches being then unconsecrated The second and third concerning Ecclesiastical Sacraments and Baptism Others concerning the covetousness of Priests their hearing Confessions the qualities of such as were to be ordained their Farmers and Vicars Presentations to Churches not dividing one Church into more the Residence of Bishops and Priests Pluralities the Habit of Clerks clandestine marriage of Priests Priests Concubines their Sons succession in their Benefices their Judges Procurations undue unjust Citations Exactions by Procurations Registers abuses by Proctors and Ecclesiastical Judges and an Oath to be prescribed to them to prevent the like abuses for the future In this Council this Legat introduced the use of Oaths in Ecclesiastical Courts The first use of Oaths in Ecclesiastical Courts in England and Causes never formerly used in England by colour whereof other Oaths were introduced by the Popish Prelates against the Laws and Customs of the Realm till the King by his Prohibition restrained these Usurpations Then was a private Letter sent from Rome to the Pope's Legat in England advising him to moderation to prevent a total rejection of the Pope and See of Rome In the 22th year of Henry the Third the Greek Churches renounced all obedience to and communion with the Church of Rome which made the Pope and his Court fear the like Schism and revolt in England occasioned by the Legat's violent Extortions and advancement of Strangers to Benefices whereupon he intended to recal him thence to prevent these ill consequences but the Legat loth to depart prevailed with the King and others to sollicit the Pope for his continuance in England upon pretence of publick good This year there happening a difference between the King and Monks of Durham about their Bishop elect whom the King would not approve he thereupon issued his Letters Patents to the Archbishop of York appointing his Proctors to appeal to the See of Rome against this election only for delay to preserve his right After the death of Henry de Sandford Bishop of Rochester the Monks of Rochester elected Richard Windeley a learned Man for their Bishop who being presented by the Monks to Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury for his confirmation he refused to admit him Vnde Monachi Domini Papae presentiam appellarunt Upon this Appeal the Pope gave Judgment for the Monks against the Archbishop and condemned him in costs of suit confirming their election in despite of the Archbishop with whom the Pope was very angry for opposing his intolerable exactions in England whereupon this Bishop Elect was consecrated at Canterbury in St. Gregory's Church by the Archbishop the Bishop of London and other Bishops Then the Monks of Coventry chose Nicholas de Fernham for their Bishop who refused to accept thereof whereupon at last they chose Simon de Pateshul who accepted it The Pope having excommunicated the Emperour Frederick Otto the Pope's Legat was very diligent to see the Pope's scandalous Excommunications and Bulls against him published throughout all England In the twenty fourth year of the Reign of King Henry the Third the Monks of Cambridge having apprehended an Heretick as he was called the King thereupon issued forth a Precept to the Sheriff of Cambridge to bring this Heretick before him at Westminster to be examined and disposed of as he should direct Who he was and what his Heresies were Matthew Paris tells us saying He was a man of an honest and severe life and that he openly asserted that Pope Gregory was not the Head of the Church but there was another Head of the Church that the Church was profaned the Devil was let loose the Pope was an Heretick that Gregory who was called Pope had defiled the Church and the world too This and divers other things of like nature he spake before the Pope's Legat in the hearing of many Pope Gregory before his death to carry on his Wars against the Emperor Frederick Anno 1240. intended by way of provision to confer all the Benefices in England especially of the Clergy on the Sons of Romans and other Forreigners upon condition to assist him against the Emperour sending his Bull to three Bishops to confer no less than three hundred of the next Benefices that fell void within their Diocess on these Aliens Anno 1241. Otto the Pope's Legat having long pillaged the Realm and Church of England was sent for the third time by the Pope And the King to oblige the Legat as well to promote his Affairs at Rome as in England before his departure hence Knighted and conferred an Annual pension on his Nephew feasted the Legat publickly at Westminster and placed him at the feast in his own Royal Throne to the great offence of his Nobles and Subjects Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury deceasing the King commended Boniface his Queen's Uncle a Forreigner and every way unfit for such a trust to the Monks of Canterbury to succeed him whom they accordingly elected There being a great contest between the King and the Prior and Monks of Winchester about the election of their Bishop they electing first William de Raley Bishop of Norwich whom the King and Pope opposing thereupon they Elected Ralph Nevil whose election was likewise vacated After which they Elected the Bishop of Norwich again whose election was suddenly made and quickly confirmed at Rome Yet the King commanded the Major of Winchester to forbid the new Bishop entrance into the City Matth. Westin which he did who thereupon Excommunicated him for his labour and interdicted the whole City The King thereupon so persecuted the Monks that he imprisoned diverse of them and forced the Bishop to fly the Realm and pass into France for a season Then there arose a new contest between the Archbishop and Monks of Canterbury about Jurisdiction and Visitation wherein they Excommunicated one the other and yet slighted these their mutual Anathemae's as ridiculous nullities The King being in France sent his Writ to the Archbishop of York then Custos Regni to confer Benefices that should fall void on such Clerks of His who to their great danger and expence continued with him and incurred many various casualties in his services beyond
the Seas commanding them all in general and one of them onely in special by Name to be first provided for in this kind Anno 1246. Boniface Archbishop of Canterbury upon a feigned pretext that his Church of Canterbury was involved in very great debts by his Predecessor but in truth by himself to carry on Forreign Wars and gratifie the Pope procured from Pope Innocent a grant of the first years Fruits of all Benefices that should fall void within his Diocess for seven years space till he should raise out of them the sum of ten thousand Marks besides two thousand Marks yearly out of the Bishoprick N. B. This Grant of first-fruits of Benefices to Boniface made way for Popes appropriating first-fruits and Annats to themselves soon after About this time was Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury Canonized for a Saint by the Pope to gratifie the King and facilitate the imposing and levying of his Papal exactions upon the Clergy and Realm The Bishops and Clergy of the Province of Canterbury to avoid the turbulent visitation and exactions of Archbishop Boniface made a Tax and Collection to defray the expenses of their Appeals and oppositions against him in the Court of Rome Some Abbots and Convents perceiving that Robert Grosthed and other Bishops intended to vex and oppress them by their new powers to visit them derived from the Pope combined together to make a common purse to oppose and withstand them by Appeals to the Pope whom they hoped would back them for Money as the Bishops combibined together to withstand the Archbishop's Visitation in his Province Notwithstanding this combination the Bishop of Lincoln proceeded to Visit both the Monasteries and Nunneries in his Diocess with great severity and Tyranny But although Robert Grosthed at first was a great stickler for the Pope and an oppressor of the Nobility and Laity of his Diocess with his Visitations appeals to Rome and Excommunications yet afterwards he opposed the Pope's Provisions directed to him for which the Pope suspended him from his Bishoprick Whereupon he sent a notable Letter to Pope Innocent rendring him the reasons why he was not bound to obey his unjust Letters and Provisions as most contrary to the Doctrine and Practice of Christ and his Apostles tending to the ruine of Peoples Souls and that no Bishop or other Person was bound to obey any of the Pope's Mandates as Apostolical but what were warranted by the Doctrine and Practice of Christ and his Apostles The Letter is to be seen at large in Mr. Prynne's late History of Pope's Usurpations c. Tom. 2. A little before his death this Robert Grosthed called some of his Clergy to him and by strong reasons and arguments informed them That the Pope was Antichrist because he was a destroyer of Souls c. Matthew Paris gives this character of him Migravit ab hujusmode mundi quem nunquam dilexit exilio sanctus Lincolniensis Episcopus Robertus secundus apud Bugedonam manerium suum in nocte sancti Dionysii Papae Regis Redargutor manifestus Praelatorum correptor Monarchorum corrector Presbyterorum director Clericorum instructor Scholarium sustentator Populi praedicator Incontinentium persecutor Scripturarum sedulus perscrutator diversarum Romanorum malleus contemptor in mensa refectionis corporalis dapsilis copiosus civilis hilaris affabilis in mensa vero spirituali devotus lacrymosus contritus in officio Pontificali sedulus venerabilis indefatigabilis He died Anno 1253. Vide Ranulph Cestrens Polychron lib. 7. ca. 36. Heur de Knighton de eventib Angliae Lib. 2. ca. 36. Of which year Matthew Paris gives this Character Transiit igitur annus ille Papae Papalibus augurialis The Pope being much incensed against Grosthed wrote a Letter to the King of England to cause his bones to be digged up and to be cast out of the Church whereupon the Bishop's ghost appeared unto him that night expostulated with him pricked him in the side and haunted him till his death The Canons of Lincoln chose Henry of Lexinton to succeed him who was then Dean of the Church of Lincoln the King approved of his Election being Consecrated soon after by Bishop Boniface beyond the Seas Then the King issued out a Writ to the Bishop of Chichester to publish throughout his Diocess the priviledges he had granted to all such who should cross themselves for the holy Land being the same in termes with those the year before sent to the Archbishop of York to publish the Writ running in the same forme In the 38th year of King Henry the third the Archbishops and Bishops having agreed to grant the King a Disme toward the relief of the holy Land by advice of the King's Council in Parliament appointed it to be collected by the Bishops of Norwich and Chichester and Abbot of Westminster for which they assigned them an annual stipend In August following the King issued forth Patents to the Archbishops Bishops Abbots c. in Ireland specially to promote this Croysado and Disme in Ireland and to assist those sent thither to promote it whereof one was the Pope's Subdeacon The King being in France issued his precept to the Barons of the Exchequer to issue Moneys for the repair of the Church of Westminster which he intended to have consecrated before his voyage to the holy Land Prynne's Hist Tom. 2. He issued Writs to enquire of the real values of the Manors Lands Rents and Revenues of Religious persons in nature of Dooms-day Book that he might the better improve them when they fell into his hand by vacancies or deaths of Abbots and Priors towards the debts he contracted by his forreign Wars Matth. Paris Hist Angl. p. 835. Matthew Paris tells us of strange forgeries and devices set on foot by the Pope and his Agents to oppress the Clergy of England and involue them in bonds and debts to the Pope and King who served each others turns and that by the treachery of the Bishop of Hereford and and others to ingratiate themselves with both And the Bishop of Hereford and Rustand the Pope's Legate oppressed the Clergy of England that year 1254. and great complaints were made against them The King being unable by his absence to be personally present at the Feast of St. Edward at Westminster which he annually consecrated constituted several persons to solemnize this Feast and make Offerings Processions and give almes in his stead and commanded the Parishoners of St. Margaret and the Londoners to go to Westminster in Procession with Wax Tapers and other formalities for the honour of this Saint and holy-day The King in the 39th year of his Reign sent a pious Writ to the Cistercians and other Abbots in their general Assembly to make a special devout Prayer unto God for him his Queen and Children The Bishop Elect of Winton having forcibly and unjustly by his power deprived the Prior of Winton and thrust another into his place without his
due Election the deprived Prior thereupon Appealed to the Pope and Court of Rome where he expected to be restored with great confidence but to shew how much more prevalent Money then was in that corrupt Court than Justice this intruder was confirmed and he returned after great expence frustrate of his expectation having some Manors assigned him for his support during life out of which the Pope had an annual pension of 365. Marks to support his Table The Jews of Lincoln having crucified a Christian Child to the great dishonour and disgrace of Jesus Christ the King appointed special Justices diligently to enquire of and severely to punish this grand offence by his Patent and Commission The King this year fearing some designs against him from Rome issued a Writ to the Barons and Bailiffs of Dover and to the Wardens of the Cinque-ports not to permit any Clerks to pass out of their respective Ports beyond the Seas unless he would first take an Oath that if he went to the Court of Rome he should demand nor require nothing against the King's Crown and Dignity nor the Pope's grant or Ordinance concerning the Realm of Sicily And the King by his Letters Patents constituted two distinct Proctors in the Court of Rome concerning the affairs of the Kingdom of Sicily and other occasions there to be transacted The Pope had a greater share in the Disme than the King who could dispose of none of it but by His and Rustand's consents He likewise issued his Mandate to the Sheriff of Kent to provide a speedy passage at Dover for Rustand the Pope's Agent and to defray the charges of it which should be allowed him The King understanding the Archbishop's and Bishops designes intended to be prosecuted in a Council of the Bishops of his Province which Archbishop Boniface had convocated against his Crown Dignity Courts Judges c. Prohibited him and them to meet therein under pain of forfeiting their Temporalties The Archbishop and Bishops notwithstanding these Writs met and proceeded in their Convocation in a very presumptuous manner as those fifty Articles then drawn up and tendered to the King and their Papal decrees in pursuit of them will most evidently demonstrate They were tendered to the King by the Archbishops and Bishops for which they resolved to contend to the uttermost These Constitutions are collected and Printed in John de Aton quoting Lindewood who cites and glosseth upon most of them under several Titles in the Margin of every one of them where you may peruse them with his Canonical gloss These were made Anno Dom. 1261. What Procurations the Archbishop of Messana arrived in England this year as the Pope's Legate exacted and extorted from the Bishops and Abbots with great violence and what injuries the Archbishop of Canterbury did to the Bishop of Rochester you may read in Matthew Paris The King and his Council resolving to banish the Poictovin Clergy-men out of the Nation and not to imprison them in England issued a Writ to the Constables of the Castles of Winton and Dover of the banishment and transportation of the Archdeacon of Winton out of the Realm and to see he carried away no Moneys with him In the 42 year of this King the Friers Minorites sent a Petition to King Henry to confirm their intrusion into St. Edmonds by his second Charter not deeming the Pope's Bull they had got sufficient which the Abbots and Monks contemned and set at naught The King to satisfie the Pope's demands and the easier to get in the Dismes the Pope had granted him to gain Sicily which the Archbishop Bishops and Religious Persons in England refused to pay assigned thirty thousand Marks thereof to the Pope Godfry de Kimeton Dean of York was elected Archbishop of that See and forced to travel to Rome for his Confirmation Fulco Bishop of London died of the Plague and Wengham then Chancellor of England notwithstanding his insufficiency and want of learning and Knowledge in Divinity procured Letters Patents from King Henry by advice of his Council in imitation of the Pope's Commendae's then grown very common to hold and retain all his former Ecclesiastical Dignities and Benefices whereof the King was Patron together with his Bishoprick for so long time as the Pope should please to grant him a dispensation whose dispensation alone would not bar the King to present to those Dignities and Benefices being all void in Law by making him a Bishop He had the like Patent to retain his Benefices and Ecclesiastical preferments in Ireland This is the first Patent of a Commenda retinere granted by the King to any Bishop Elect The first Patent of a Commenda retinere granted by the King to any Bishop elect saith Mr. Prynne being made by the advice of his Lords and Judges which makes it more considerable The King in the 44th year of his Reign issued a Writ to the Barons of Dover and other Ports to search for and apprehend all Italian Clerks and Lay-men and all others that should bring any Bulls from Rome prejudicial to him and his Realm and not to permit any to arrive with Horse and Armes in the Realm without his special License and to arrest all such as should there Land till they received further order from him The Bishop of St. David's and his Clerks complaining to the King how much the priviledges of their Churches Monasteries Houses Goods and Persons were violated in Wales in an hostile manner throughout his Diocess issued out a Writ and Prohibition to his Officers for their future protection and indemnity against such injuries and oppressions Boniface Archbishop of Canterbury being an Alien and forced to fly out of the Kingdom by the Barons was upon a Treaty between the King and his Barons permitted to return into England upon certain conditions The King and the Barons having by common consent entred into Articles of Agreements under their hands and referred themselves therein to the determination of the French King or the Pope's Legate the King thereupon constituted three Proctors to conclude and consent on his behalf to whatever should be therein agreed submitting himself to the Legate's Ecclesiastical Censures and Excommunication to compell him to the performance thereof During the Wars between the King and his Barrons diverse Vicars and Parsons desirous to reside upon their Cures so as they might be protected from violence therein the King thereupon granted protections to those who desired them An Oxford Jew having in contempt of Christ and Christian Religion in a solemn Procession there held by the University cast down and broken the Crucifix carried before them and escaping and the Jews not producing his Body as the King ordered them the King thereupon commanded the Sheriff of Oxford by several Writs to seize the Bodies and Goods of all the Jews in Oxford till they gave sufficient security at their proper costs to erect a beautifull high Marble Cross with the Images of Christ on the one side and
the Virgin Mary with Christ in her Armes on the other side curiously and decently guilt and the cause thereof engraven on it in the place where the offence was committed calling the Major of the Town and Cofferers of the Jews to his assistance and till they made and delivered to the Proctors of the University another portable Cross of Silver handsomly guilded with a Spear as large as that carried before the Archbishop to be carryed before the Masters and Scholars of the University in their future processions And because diverse Jewes to prevent it had secretly convayed away their goods to others to enquire diligently after such goods and sell them that the work might be speedily effected before St. Edwards Feast The Money hereupon being levyed of the Jews to make these Crosses and the King being informed that the Marble-cross could not be erected in the place prescribed without damage and prejudice to some Burgesses of Oxford whereupon they purposed to erect it just over against the Jews Synagogue there The King and his Council conceiving that place inconvenient ordered it to be set up within the place of Merton Colledge near the Church and the other portable Cross to be delivered to the Scholars thereof to be kept in their House and carried in Processions of the University as aforesaid Of the Dismes granted to the King by the Pope Parker Antiqu Eccles Britan. p. 194. the King had usually the least share the Pope the Cardinals and Legates swallowing up the greatest part of them as the Learned Archbishop Matthew Parker hath observed Boniface the Military Archbishop of Canterbury died beyond the Seas Anno Dom. 1271. when he had reaped the profits of that See and pillaged that Province twenty six years six moneths and sixteen dayes most of which he spent in Wars and negotiations beyond the Seas and never Preached one Sermon all that time for ought we find That year there was so great an inundation of Rain at Canterbury such Lightening and Tempest as had not been seen nor heard for a long time The Thunder was dreadful and continued a whole day and night and such an inundation of Water followed that it overthrew Stones Vines and Trees Cattel were drowned and much Corn spoiled and the City was so over-flown that Men nor Horses could pass After this Flood there followed a great Famine and the Plague swept away many in the City and Countrey round about Mr. Fox relates That a little before King Henry's death there fell out a controversie between the Monks and Citizens of Norwich about certain Tallages and Liberties that after much altercation and wrangling words the furious rage of the Citizens so much encreased that they set upon the Abbey and Priory and burned both the Church and Bishop's Palace At the last King Henry calling for certain of his Lords and Barons sent them to Norwich that they might punish and see Execution done on the chiefest Malefactors some of them were condemned and burnt and some were drawn by the heeles with Horses through the Streets of the City and so in much misery ended their lives King Henry having in his company the Bishop of Ro●hester and the Earl of Glocester followed his Justice Thomas Trivet to Norwich The Bishop having Excommunicated all who consented to this wickedness and the Judge Executed the nocent the King condemned the Town in three thousand Marks of Silver to be paid by a day toward the repairing of the Church so burnt and also to pay one hundred pounds in Silver toward the repair of a Cup arising to twenty pounds in Gold He returning thence towards London fell grievously sick at the Abbey of St. Edmonds in Suffolk where after he had in a Religious manner acknowledged his sins he rendered up the same to his Redeemer when he had reigned fifty six years and twenty dayes A Prince writes Speed whose devotion was greater than his discretion as we see in permitting the depredation of himself and his whole Kingdom by Papal overswayings After the Death and Funeral of King Henry who was Buried at Westminster Church Founded and almost finished by him Prince Edward his Son being at that time in the holy Land where he obtained many notable Victories against the Saracens Who thereupon suborned an Assassinate to kill him under pretext of delivering a Message to him from the Soldan of Babylon who stabbed him into the Body with a poisoned Knife Thomas Walsingham Matth. Westm to the hazard of his Life his Nobles notwithstanding his remote absence were so Loyal as to Proclaim him King and Swear Fealty and Allegiance to him as their Sovereign Lord. They sent out Writs whereby they Proclaimed the King's peace They first of them were directed to all the Sheriffs of England to Proclaim in their respective Coun●ies the other to the King 's chief Justice of Ireland to be there Proclaimed who with others was authorized likewise to receive the Fealty as well of all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Clergy as Nobles and other Lay-subjects in Ireland due unto him as their King and Sovereign Lord. In the third year of this King's Reign Walter de Merton Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of England finished the Colledge of his own Name in Oxford This Walter de Merton was one of the Guardians of the Realm in the King's absence A Writ was issued to Lewellin Prince of Wales requiring an Oath of Fealty from him to King Edward as his Sovereign Lord and two Abbots thereby made Commissioners to receive his Oath who refused to appear or give any answer to them The Abbots made a special return of their proceedings therein to the Lord Chancellor The first thing this King and his Council did was to make a publick Declaration and Protestation against Pope Clement the fifth his late Usurpation who a little before King Henry his death had by his Papal Provisions conferred the Bishoprick of Winton on John d● Pontissera and the Archbishoprick of Canterbury upon Robert Kilwardby without the King 's precedent License or Monks Election rejecting William de Chilenden duly Elected by the Monks of Canterbury by King Henry's License that so he might Usurp the disposal of all other Bishopricks by these and other former like Presidents After the death of Pope Clement the fourth the See of Rome continuing void for two years and ten moneths by reason of the Cardinals discord about a Successor at last they Elected Theobald Archdeacon of Leige Pope who was with King Edward the first in the holy Land of him these two Verses were made Papatum munus tenet Archidiaconus unus Quem Patrem Patrum fecit discordia fratrum Prince Edward in his return from the holy Land repaired to this new Pope's Court his late Chaplain and fellow-souldier who at his request Excommunicated the Murderers of his kinsman Henry Son and heir to the King of Germany at Viterbium and disinherited some of them by his Imperious Decree till they should come personally to
Rome to purge themselves or submit to his absolute order in all things This new Pope Gregory sent a special Nuncio into England under pretext to compel all Ecclesiastical Persons to pay two years Dismes of their Temporalties and Ecclesiastical Livings to the King and his Brother but in truth to himself who converted most of it to his own use whereupon sundry of the Abbots and Clergy of the Realm refused to pay the premised Disme notwithstanding the Pope's Nuncio's Excommunications denounced against them contemning his Ecclesiastical Censures whereupon the Nuncio wrote to the Chancellor to command the Sheriffs to assist the Collectors of it by their secular power and levy it by force where there was need Hereupon the Chauncellor issued Writs to all the Sheriffs of England and some others to assist the Collectors accordingly It seems the Bishop of Winton compounded and paid a fine of five hundred Marks for his two years Dismes to the Pope's Collector At the same time the King wanting Moneys appointed special Collectors of the Arrears due upon the Dismes granted to his Father by the Pope towards the relief of the holy Land A new Archbishop of Dublin being elected the second year of this King's Reign who resided with the Queen of Scots in Scotland the King at her special request granted him this priviledge to make Attorneys to appear for him in all his Courts and to exempt him from all Amercements for not appearing personally in them Pope Gregory the tenth usurping the Emperor's Sovereign authority of Summoning general Councils sent forth general Letters through every Nation concerning the gathering together a Council on May the first at Lyons Whence it was said of him Gregorius denus Colligit omne genus Claus 2. Ed. 1. m. 13. dorso What Archbishops Bishops Abbots and Clergy-men repaired to this Council by the King 's special License who constituted Attorneys and Proxies for them in the King's Courts to sue and be sued during their absence may be seen in the Records mentioned by Mr. Prynne King Edward the first himself sent four special Proctors to this General Council to propound assent or dissent unto in his Name and behalf whatever they or either of them should deem fit or expedient A clear evidence that He and his Proxies had an affirmative and negative voice in General Councils Matthew Westminster renders us an account of the proceedings in this Council and of the Greek Emperors Patriarcks and Bishops acknowledgement of the Supremacy of the Pope and Church of Rome over all other Prelates and Churches as an Article of their Faith which they never before assented to The Executors of John Maunsel Treasurer of York having by his last Will assigned to the Vicars of St. Peter's in York a Messuage of His in York to maintain an Anniversary for his Soul of which they were afterwards dispossessed by others the King upon complaint thereof issued a Writ of Inquisition to examine the truth thereof and restore the said Messuage to the Vicars to maintain the Anniversary for the salvation of John Maunsel's soul The next year the King issued Commissions for the apprehending some vagrant and Apostate Friers of the Order of St. Augustine who had deseted their Houses and Order to the prejudice of their Souls and scandal of their Order King Edward the first made at Westminster at his first Parliament General after his Coronation Vide Cokes 2. Instit p. 156. 157. on Easter-Monday in the third year of his Reign many exeellent useful Statutes some of them relating to the Priviledges and Jurisdiction of the Clergy controlling some Canons of the Pope formerly used to the obstruction of publick Justice Soon after the Council of Lions Pope Gregory the tenth sent Reymund de Nogeriis his Chaplain as his Nuncio into England Wales Scotland and Ireland for certain affairs of the Church especially to demand and receive from the King eight years Arrears of the annual Tribute and Peter-pence then due to the Church of Rome The Abbot and Covent of Feversham being greatly indebted to Merchants and others by their expences at Rome and Papal exactions the King to preserve Them and their House from ruine took them and all their Lands Moneys Goods into his Protection and committed them to the management of certain persons for discharge of their debts and necessary support The like Protections were granted in the same form to the Abbot and Covents of Bordesley and Byndon the same year and to the Prior and Covent of Thornholm but the custody of them their Lands and Goods to other Persons The Chalices Books Ornaments Goods and Lands of the Hermitage near Cripple-gate London being usually imbezilled for want of good Government and Regulation the King being Patron thereof committed it to the care and Government of the Lord Major of London for the time being The Chancellor and University of Oxford having at their proper costs founded a Chappelry in the Church of St. Maries in the midst of the Town to pray for the safety of the King his Queen and Children Ancestors and all their Benefactors the King highly commending their Piety therein and endeavouring to promote it wrote to all the Archbishops and Bishops of England and Ireland to grant some special Indulgences to all who should resort to this Chappelry to hear Mass or Prayers The King upon the Petition of the Prior and Covent of Bath and of the Dean and Chapter of Wells granted his License to them to elect a new Bishop that See being then void Upon this License they Elected Robert Burnel This Bishop soon after his Consecration to end the frequent Controversies between the King Abbots of Glastonbury and Bishops of this See by consent of the Dean and Chapter of Wells and of the Prior and Covent of Bath exchanged the Patronage of the Abbey of Glastonbury and some other rights therein granted to him by former Kings Patents for the City of Bath In pursuit and execution of which exchange the King issued two Parents to the Citizens of Bath and others to make Livery and Seisin thereof to the Bishop The King gave License upon the Petition of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford to Elect a new Bishop in the place of John Breton after his Decease and confirmed their Election of Thomas de Cantilupo and restored the Temporalties to him after his Confirmation by the Archbishop of Canterbury Pat. 3. Edw. 1. without the Pope's approbation or privity This King in the fourth year of his Reign to prevent the ruine of the Abbey of Redding issued Patents of protection and regulation of the expences of it and of the Cell belonging to it founded by his Ancestors committing it's Revenues to certain persons to defray the Debts thereof In the fifth year of his Reign he issued a Commission to enquire of all Christians who used usury in London and else-where and punish them according to Law by seizing their Goods as a thing unbeseeming Christians and Christianity
About the same time Walter Bronescomb Bishop of Exeter and his Officials cited sundry of the King's Subjects and Officers into his Ecclesiastical Courts for Debts and Chattels that concerned not Matrimony or Testament Godwin Catal of Bish p. 326.327 and for Trespasses Free-holds and other things of which they had no legal jurisdiction Excommunicating and putting them to pecuniary Redemptions and grievous penalties and withall exacted illegal Oathes and obligations from them the King upon the complaints of Edmond Earl of Cornwall and his Officers and of the whole County of Cornwall of these his exorbitances issued a speedy Commission in the sixth year of his Reign to some Judges to enquire of hear and determine these his Exorbitancies and Usurpations before whom he was Prosecuted at the King's Suite to his dammages of 10000 l. which the Bishop denying in some sort appealed to the King Pope and Court of Rome from the King's Justices for which his high affront to the King's Crown and Dignity he was adjudged undefended ordered to satisfie the King his ten thousand pound dammages and likewise to answer his contempt for this his enormous Appeal to the Pope in affront of the King's Crown and Dignity before the King and his Council In the nineth year of King Edward the first John Peckham Frater Johan Peckham Cantuariensis Episcopus ne nihil fecisse videretur convocat Concilium apud Lambeth in quo non Evangelii Regni Dei praedicationem imposuit sed Constitutiones Othonis Ottobonis quondam Legatorum in Angliâ innovans jussit eas ab omnibas servari c. Thomas Walsingham in Edw. 1. Archbishop of Canterbury held a Council at Lambeth with his Suffragans of which Thomas Walsingham and others render us this account Frier John Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury least he might seem to have done nothing calleth a Council at Lambeth in which he imposed not the Preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God but innovating the Constitutions of Otto and Ottobon sometimes Legates in England commanded them to be observed of all Moreover he made sixteen Ecclesiastical Laws which are contained among the Provincial Constitutions The King suspecting the Archbishops and Bishops Loyalty and proceedings in this their Council sent a Writ to them strictly commanding them upon their Oaths of Fealty they had all taken to be faithful to him and defend his Crown and Royal Dignity in all things to their Power to observe this their Oath therein with all diligence and not to act agitate or assent to any thing against him or the ancient Rights of the Crown enjoyed by his Progenitors under pain of losing all their Temporalties But how far this Archbishop and his Suffragans were from obeying this Royal Mandate will appear by the Prologue to their Canons and Constitutions made therein wherein they highly extol Thomas Becket as a most glorious Martyr for opposing the antient Rights of the Crown as inconsistent with the Churches pretended Liberties and revived and confirmed the Constitutions of Archbishop Boniface and his Suffragans against which the King had solemnly Appealed to the Pope as prejudicial to the Rights Priviledges Customs Liberties of his Crown by several Canons made therein and the Excommunications re-published in it Vide Pryn. in Edw. 1. but more especially by the Archbishop's insolent Epistle to the King in answer to this his Royal Inhibition and Mandate sent unto them Archbishop Peckham Magnus robustus Antichristi satelles as John Bale not improperly stiles him in his Epistle to the King justifies what they had done wherein he advanceth the Ecclesiastical and Papal Jurisdiction Power Laws Canons far above the Regal to which all Princes and Temporal Laws ought to submit Sundry Canons and Converts of the Order of Sempingham this year turning Apostates and deserting their Houses in diverse Priories of that Order to the scandal of their Profession the King upon complaint issued a Writ to apprehend and punish them for it and to deliver such of them who were then apprehended to those of that Order to be chastised The King to prevent the imbezilling of the Rents Chalices Books Pat. 9. Edw. 1. Vestments Images Relikes Charters and Bulls of the Hermitage by Criple-gate granted the custody thereof in his Name to the Constable of the Tower for the time being This year the King recited and confirmed the antient Charter of King John to the Nuns of Ambresbury The King to advance Learning and for the good of the Church Priesthood and Common-wealth gave his Royal assent for translating the Friers of the Hospital of St. John in Cambridge into a Colledge of Scholars after the pattern and Rules of Merton Colledge in Oxford The Archbishop this year to supply his occasions entred into several recognizances to the Bishops of Bath and of Coventry and Litchfield two wealthy Prelates and great Usurers Pope Nicholas the third deceasing Anno 1280. and Pope Martin the fourth succeeding he in the first year of his Papacy sent two Friers into England intending by his Agents and Forreign Merchants to export or return out of England the six years Dismes therein collected and retained for Aid of the holy Land granted in the general Council of Lyons and convert them to his own or other uses King Edward upon notice hereof to reserve the Moneys for his Brother's expedition to the holy Land and supply the present exigences for defence of the Kingdom issued out a Writ to prohibit Merchants or others under pain of loss of Life and Member and all their Goods and Chattels to export or convay the said Dismes or any part thereof out of the Realm and to imprison all such who did the contrary to the Pope's great disappointment In the tenth year of King Edward the first Pope Martin sent a Bull to the King to require his Favour to and Protection of the Monks of the Order of Cluny whose piety he highly extolled The King now and then during the vacancy of Bishopricks disposed of some of their Stocks to others The Bishoprick of Durham becoming void by the death of Robert de Insula Anthony Beck being elected Bishop by the King's License and Confirmed and Consecrated Bishop thereof by Wickwane Archbishop of York Pat. 11. Ed. 1. in St. Peter's Church of York the King Queen and most of the Nobles of England being present the King issued out Writs for the restitution of his Temporalties and the stock thereon which he bought of the King Richard Swinsled being elected and Confirmed Bishop of Hereford by the King's License and assent he issued a Writ to restore his Temporalties John Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury resolved to visit all his Provinces more accurately and punish offenders more severely than in former times to prevent all obstructions by Appeals to Rome In this Visitation saith Mr. Prynne he domineered over his whole Province and subjugated it to his arbitrary Power which none of his Predecessors had attempted Vide Spelm. Concil Tom. 2. p.
343. much less effected till then Having visited England he passed by Chester into Wales Anno 1284. to reform the state of the Church In this Visitation he made and published a Decree what Ornaments of Churches the Parishoners should provide and pay for and what the Priests or Incumbents King Edward in the twelfth year of his Reign issued Warrants for the payment of two years Arrears of 1000 Marks for England and Ireland granted by King John then due and demanded by the Pope as likewise for payment of seveal arrears of pensions he had granted to Cardinals and others The Archbishop of Canterbury having interdicted some of the Tenants belonging to the Abbey of Fiscan in England the Abbot thereupon Appealed to Rome against him and likewise to the King against this oppression desiring his favour that no Process might issue out of his Court against them and that he might constitute Attorneys in this Case since he could not come into England without great damage to his house The King this year constituted a special Proctor for three years by Patent to defend the Rights and Liberties of his free Chappels and Crown against all Papal and Episcopal invaders and opposers of them The King seizing the Advousons of several Churches in Wales as forfeited by their Patrons Rebellions against him gave them to the Bishop of St. David's with power to appropriate them to his Church of St. David's and Lekadeken Lancaden and make or annex them to Prebendaries there Hereupon the Bishop of St. Davids by his Charter with consent and approbation of the King and his Dean and Chapter made and erected a new Collegiate Church of Canons in Lan Caden in Wales constituted several Canons and Prebendaries therein annexing and appropriating the forecited Churches thereunto the Patronages whereof were granted him by the King who set his Seal to the Bishop's Charter and ratified it with his own Charter to make it valid in Law In the year 1285. a Parliament at Westminster laid down the limits and fixed the boundaries betwixt the Spiritual and Temporal jurisdictions The King having totally subdued the Welsh the Archbishoprick of York becomming void by the death of William Wickwane Archbishop thereof the King applied the profits thereof during the vacancy towards the building of Castles in Wales to secure it This year Stephen Bishop of Waterford was made chief Justice of Ireland In the fifteenth year of this King Henry de Branceston was elected and confirmed Bishop of Sarum The King granted and confirmed to the Bishop of Bangor and his Successors all the Rights Liberties Possessions and Customes they had formerly used and enjoyed In the sixteenth year of this King's Reign Gilbert de Sancto Leofardo was elected and confirmed Bishop of Chichester by the King 's Royal assent This year there was a great contest between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Abbot of St. Augustines about the carrying up his cross First The Abbot opposed the bearing up his own Cross before him in the Monastery of St. Augustines even within his own Metropolis and See of Canterbury when specially sent for thither to dine with the King Secondly Observe the Archbishop's pride and obstinacy in refusing to subscribe such a Letter as the King directed to reconcile this difference and preserve the Abbot's Privildges or repair to the King without his Cross carried before him together with his malice against the Abbot and Covent for not admitting him to carry up his Cross within their Monastery Pat. 17. Ed. 1. Bishop Godwin observes That from the year 1284. the See of Salisbury had five Bishops within the space of five years whereof William de Comer as he stiles him was the fourth But Mr. William de Corner was his name as the King 's Writ for restoring of his Temporalties together with the Patent of the King 's Royal assent to his election assure us The King having Conquered Wales confirmed all the antient Rights Liberties Possessions and Customes of the Church of Asaph to the present Bishop and his Successors which they formerly used and enjoyed and that he might freely make his Testament Pope Nicholas the fourth being setled in his Pontifical Chair in the first year of his Papacy sent a Bull to King Edward the first to demand five years Arrears of the Annual pension of one thousand Marks granted by King John The King hereupon the better to promote his cousin Charles to the Realm of Sicily and expedite his own affairs in the Court of Rome concerning a dispensation for his Son to Marry the heir of the Crown of Scotland and other business touching Gascoign and France for which he had then sent special Ambassadors to Rome with Letters both to the Pope and Cardinals issued a Writ for the payment of these five years Arrears accordingly Mr. Prynne saith That this was the last payment made by King Edward the first of this Annual pension The Pope upon receipt hereof granted a dispensation to the King's Son Prince Edward to Marry with the heir of the Crown of Scotland thereby to unite these two Crowns and Kingdomes and prevent the long bloody Wars between them though within the prohibited degrees of Consanguinity King Edward upon the receipt of this Dispensation sent Letters and Proxies to Ericus King of Norway and likewise to the Guardians of the Realm of Scotland to consummate this Marriage upon diverse Articles and agreements King Edward likewise to perfect the Marriage between his Son Prince Edward and Margaret Queen of Scots with the general approbation of the Keepers Nobles and Natives of that Realm granted and ratified to the Nobles and People of Scotland diverse Articles agreed on by special Commissioners sent on both sides and approved by him by Letters under his great Seal which he took an Oath to observe under the penalty of forfeiting one hundred thousand pounds to the Church of Rome towards the holy Wars Pat. 8. Edw. 1. m. 8. and subjecting himself to the Pope's Excommunication and his Kingdom to an Interdict in case of Violation or Non-performance as the Patent attesteth enrolled both in French and Latine The King after this appointed the Bishop of Durham to be this Queen Margaret's and his Son Prince Edward's Lieutennant in Scotland for the preservation of the Peace and Government thereof At which time he and his Son likewise constituted Proctors to Treat with the King of Norway in his and his Son Edward's Name concerning his Sons Marriage and Espousals with his Daughter Margaret Queen of Scotland To facilitate this Marriage the Bishop of Durham at the King's request obliged himself to pay four hundred pounds by the year to certain persons in Norway to discharge which annuity the King granted him several Manors amounting to a greater value But the sickness and death of this Queen in her voyage toward Scotland and England frustrated this much desired Marriage between Prince Edward and her and raised new questions between the Competitors for the Crown
Thomas Walsingham saith That about this time the Pope requiring it the Churches of England were taxed according to their true value to raise his Dismes and exactions higher In the same year 1290. the King out of his zeal to Christian Religion banished all the Jews out of England by a publick Act in Parliament The Jews banished out of England by Act of Parliament and Confiscated all their Houses and Lands for their Infidelity Blasphemy Crucifying of Children in contempt of Christ Crucified and clipping of his Coyn. In August they were commanded to depart the Land with their Wives and Children between that time and the Feast of all Saints with their moveable Goods Their number was said to be sixteen thousand five hundred and eleven they were banished never to return again into England There hapning many contests between the Bishop of Lincoln and the Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford concerning the Presentation and Confirmation of their Chancellor whether he ought to come out of the University in Person to the Bishop or to be admitted by his Proxies the King by his Prerogative to advance Learning and settle Peace between them made a friendly accord for the future Pope Nicholas preferring his own lucre and favour of King Edward and his Chaplains before God's Service or Peoples Souls against sundry Canons Licensed twenty of the King's Clerks imployed in his service which he should nominate to be Non-residents from their Ecclesiastical Benefices for ten years space This year the King confirmed the grant of several Tithes Churches and Advousons formerly made by Robert de Candos to the Monastery of Bek and Goldclive Then Peter de Divion Abbot of Rewley an Alien born in France and most Abbots and Priors that were Aliens took an Oath and gave sufficient Pledges for their Fidelity and true Allegeance to the King in that Age especially in time of War and not to send the Goods of their Monasteries out of the Realm which they frequently did to the Kingdoms prejudice The King issuing a Dedimus potestatem to the Abbot of Thame to take this Oath of Peter de Divion the Abbot endorsed this return thereon Ego Frater Johannes Abbas de Thame virtute istius Mandati recepi Sacramentum Dom. Petri de Divione Abbatis de Regali loco juxta Oxon. apud Oxon. Dominica in festo Apostolorum Simonis Judae etiam recepi Manucaptores ipsius Domini Petri Abbatis de Regali loco viz. Johannem de Doclynton Majorem Villae Oxon. Johannem de Crokesford Juniorem Ricardum Cary Johannem de Fallee Johannem le Peyntour Burgensis dictae Villae Oxon. Qui conjunctim divisim manuceperunt dictum Dom. Petrum Abbatem de Regali loco quod idem Abbas bene fideliter erga dominum Regem se habebit omnia alia in Brevi isto contenta perficiet observabit The King granted two hundred pounds to the Pope's Chaplain in Scotland for his expences pains and labour therein taken in the service of Queen Margaret deceased The same year William de Luda was elected and confirmed Bishop of Ely This year the King gave several sums of Money to buy Books and Ornaments for Religious Houses that were burnt in Gascoign and England The King converted the Profits of the Archbishoprick of York then void to the repairing and building the Castle of Carnarvan in Wales after his Conquest thereof Parker de Antiqu Eccles Anglic. f. 205. Anno 1290. Matthew Parker Archbishop of Canterbury storieth that John Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury this year after the visitation and subjugation of his whole Province summoned a Council of his Clergy at Reding wherein he propounded the drawing of all causes concerning Advousons meerly belonging to the King 's Temporal to their Ecclesiastical Courts and to cut off all Prohibitions to them from the King's Courts in personal Causes Which the King hearing of expresly commanded them by special Messengers to desist from it whereupon this Council was dissolved In the nineteenth year of King Edward the First Queen Eleanor deceasing in December the King thereupon out of his devotion according to the practice of that blind Age on January the fourth issued a Writ to all the Religious Houses and Monks of Cluny in England to sing Masses and Prayers for her Soul to purge it from all the remaining spots of sin and to certifie him the number of the Masses they would say for her that proportionably he might thank them William Thorn saith that the Prior of Christ-church in Canterbury granted to the King in the Feast of the Translation of St. Edward fifty Hymns and two thousand three hundred and fifty Masses for the Souls of his Progenitors and Queens of England as a great extraordinary Liberality and Spiritual Alms. The Abbot of Condam also sent a Letter to the King to inform him what Prayers Masses and Anniversaries He and his Monastery had ordered for the Queens speedy translation to Heavenly Joyes Anno 1292. died John Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Nicholas also died who sate four years one month and eighteen dayes after whose death one delivered this Verse for an Epitaph Gloria laus speculum fratrum Nicolae Minorum Te vivente vigent te moriente cadunt The Frier Minors pride insolency and avarice was great while they lived who were both of their Order Archbishop Peckham's death this year put a period to the Contests between him and the Abbot of St. Augustines King Edward in the twentieth year of his Reign out of his blind devotion and love to his late deceased Consort Queen Eleanor instituted a solemn Anniversary to be kept for her every year Issuing sums of Money and granting several Manors and Lands to the Abbot and Covent of Westminster for that end Claus 20. Edw. 1. wherein he prescribed how many Tapers and of what weight they should find how many and what Masses Dirges Pater-nosters Ave-Maries they should sing and what Alms they should distribute to the poor for her Soul obliging the Abbot Prior and Monks by a solemn Oath duly to perform the same under pain of forfeiting all their Goods Chattels and the Lands thus given to them for this end Anthony Bishop of Durham erecting the Parish-Churches of Chester and Langechester which were very rich and large into a Deanary and seven Prebendaries for the advancing of God's Service and the good of the peoples Souls and obliging the Dean and Prebends by Oath to personal Residence thereon and discharge of their duties and God's Service therein according as he had prescribed by his Ordinances and Charters The King to promote God's Service and the good of his Peoples Souls ratified the Bishop's Ordinances by two Charters which recite them warranting the division of great and rich Parishes and Bishopricks into many and obliging the Dean Prebends Ministers Chaplains thereof by Oath to personal Residence and discharge of their Duties and Divine offices therein John Lythgraines and Alice
confirmation of his election together with a License to be consecrated in his own Church at York by the Bishop of Durham The King upon the receipt of the Pope's Bull issued a Writ for the restitution of his Temporalties Pope Boniface having confirmed the election of David Martyn to the Bishoprick of St. Davids in Wales the King upon notice given accepted thereof The Bishoprick of Ely becoming void by the death of William Luda the minor part of the Chapter elected John their Prior but the better John de Langten the King's Chancellor The King confirmed the election of his Chancellor The King by his Prerogative having granted a License to the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Anno Reg. 26. to hold the Hospital of St. Leonards in York in Commenda with his Bishoprick during his life out of his free Gift and special Grace confirmed it by his Patents so as this Dispensation should not prove prejudicial to him or his Heirs The Monks of Battel-Abbey by ancient Charters having the custody of the Abby and Lands during the vacancy upon their Abbot's death the King issued a Writ to restore them to their custody Mr. Prynne observeth and relateth diverse things of this year 1. That the Contests between the Archbishop Prynne's Hist of Popes Usurpations Tom. 3. Abbots and Monks of Canterbury about Exemptions Priviledges and Jurisdictions was a great cause of advancing the Pope's usurped Jurisdiction over them both and over the Rights Prerogative of the Crown and Church of England 2. The Pope's Insolency in exempting the Abbots and Monks of Canterbury and all their Lands Hospitals Churches Impropriations Priests Tenants from all Archiepiscopal and other Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and subjecting them solely to the See of Rome as likewise in subjecting the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishops of London and Rochester to the commands and censures of the Abbots of Westminster Waltham and St. Edmond 3. The pride of the Abbots in erecting Deanaries Officials Ecclesiastical Consistories and in prescribing Oaths of Canonical obedience upon the Priests and Curats of their Churches belonging to their Monastery 4. The strange injustice and contradiction of Popes Bulls nulling repealing each other by Non obstantes with all former Priviledges granted by themselves and Contracts made or ratified by others through bribery and corruption CENT XIV IN the beginning of this Century King Edward the First waged cruel Wars against the Scots Then Pope Boniface the Eighth sent his Letters to the King to quit his claim to Scotland to cease his Wars Fox Acts and Monum lib. 1. p. 444 445. and release his Prisoners of the Scotch Nation as a people exempt and properly belonging to his own Chappel He grounded his Title thereunto because it was said Scotland was first converted by the Relicks of S. Peter to the unity of the Christian Faith Hereupon King Edward called a Council of his Lords at Lincoln where he returned a large Answer to the Pope's Letter endeavouring by evident Reasons and ancient Precedents to prove his propriety in the Kingdom of Scotland This was seconded by another from the English Peerage subscribed with all their hands declaring that the King ought by no means to answer in judgment in any case or should bring his Rights into doubt and ought not to send any Proctors or Messengers to the Pope c. The Pope foreseeing the Verdict would go against him wisely non-suited himself Then Pope Boniface sent forth a Declaration in favour of the Archbishop and proceeded so violently against the Abbots Monks Chron. Will. Thorn col 1997. ad 2003. and their Adherents by Excommunications Interdicts c. that he enforced them to submit and sue unto him for Absolution and a friendly agreement between them After the death of Henry de Newark Thomas Corbridge being elected Archbishop of York repaired to Rome for his Confirmation where he was forced to resign his right of Election into the Pope's hands and to receive the Archbishoprick from him by way of provision who thereupon not only confirmed but consecrated him Archbishop at Rome and gave him his Pall and the King restored his Temporalties upon receipt of the Pope's Bull. Thomas Stubs tells us of an high Contest that happened soon after betwixt the King and him about the Chappel of St. Sepulchres in York for which the King seized his Temporalties and detained some of them till his death for obeying the Pope's Provision and Commands before the King 's Writ in refusing to admit his Clerk to this Chappel and to remove the Pope's Clerk whom he had placed therein by his Papal Provision This Archbishop's Liberties in Beverley were seized into the King's hands Anno 29. of his Reign for a contempt committed by him in the King's presence The King's Daughter Mary being a Nun professed at Ambresbury the King granted her forty Oaks each year twenty tun of Wines and several Manors of above the value of two hundred pounds a year for her maintenance In the thirtieth year of the Reign of King Edward the French King Philip with all the Peers Earls Barons Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Clergy University of Paris and the Cities and Commonalty of France did Appeal and Article against Pope Boniface the Eighth his Person Crimes Interdicts Excommunications to the next General Council in the ruffe of his Papal pride as a most detestable Heretick Simoniack Adulterer Sorcerer and Monster of Impiety and soon after seized imprisoned and brought him to a shameful Tragical end The particular Articles are recorded by Mr. Fox Fox Acts and Monuments Vol. 1. p. 450 451. Of this Pope a certain Versifier wrote thus Ingreditur Vulpes Regnat Leo sed Canis exit Re tandem vera si sic fuit ecce chimera Alter vero sic Vulpes intravit tanquam Leo Pontificavit Exiit utque Canis de divite factus inanis Then was the Bishop of Ostia created Pope and called Benedict the Eleventh Of whom one saith A te nomen habe bene dic bene fac Benedicte Aut rem perverte maledic malefac Maledicte The Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Winchelsey having plotted Treason with some others of the Nobility against the King projecting to depose him and set up his Son Edward in his Room lurked in a Covent at Canterbury till fourscore Monks were by the King's Command thrust out of their places for relieving him out of their Charity and were not restored till the Archbishop was banished the Kingdom In the year 1305. the King sent a Letter to the Pope for the Canonizing of Thomas de Cantelupe late Bishop of Hereford deceased famous for sundry Miracles as was suggested that so he and his Realm might enjoy the benefit of his Intercession for them in Heaven according to the Superstition of that blind Age. After the death of Pope Benedict Pope Clement was no sooner elected and enthroned in France but he began to exercise his new Rapines in England by complying with King Edward in granting
him a two years Disme from his Clergy for his own use though pretended for the aid of the Holy Land that himself might more easily exact the First-fruits of vacant Ecclesiastical Benefices to fill his own Coffers though out of his Dominions Which occasioned these Satyrical Verses to be made of him and the King this year Ecclesia navis titubat Regni quia navis Errat Rex Papa facti sunt unica Capa Hoc faciunt do des Pilatus hic Alter Herodes This is the first president of any Pope's reserving or exacting Annates or First-fruits When First-fruits were first brought into England of all Ecclesiastical Dignities and Benefices throughout England extant in our Histories which though reserved but for two years by this Pope at first grew afterwards into custom by degrees both in England and elsewhere As this Pope thus introduced these First-fruits into England so he likewise frequently sent abroad his Bulls of Provisions for Ecclesiastical Benefices and Promotions therein for his Favourites and Clerks which were then void or should afterwards fall void by death or otherwise Manifold were the Cautions inserted into Pope's Provisions for poor Clerks though Learned and Honest which must be confined to an Archbishop's Living in one Diocess of small value and those not formerly granted to any others and they bound to personal residence thereon when as others that were rich and more able to pay great sums for them were not clogged with so many Cautions Many Instruments under the hands of publick Notaries these poor Clerks must procure with vast sollicitation travel and expence before they get the least hopes of enjoying any small Prebend or Benefice by Popes Bulls and yet in fine not enjoy actual possession of them Many of the Pope's Provisions to every small as well as great Prebendary nor Benefice were granted to several persons in possession or expectacy by sundry Bulls at once contradicting repealing each other by Non obstantes engendring infinite Suits and Appeals in the Pope's Court to the great vexation of the Patrons Provisors and other Competitors and neglect of the Peoples souls during su●h Contests concerning them The King granted the Tithes and Appropriations of all his new Assarts within his Forrest of Deane which were extraparochial to the Bishop of Landeff to augment his small Bishoprick and maintain a Chauntry in the Church of Newland The like Grant the King made this year of extraparochial Tithes within the Forrest of Sherwood to the Prior of Felley The King likewise ordered the Tithes of all his Mills in Holderness to be paid to the Parsons of all Parish-churches wherein they were as the Nobles and others there used to pay them Then the King according to the manner of that Age commanded Prayers and Masses to be made for the Soul of Joan late Queen of France and for Blanch late Dutchess of Austria deceased In Scotland there arose a great Rebellion through the treachery of the perjured Archbishop of St. Andrews the Bishop of Glasgo and Abbot of Schone who confederating with Robert Brus Earl of Carrick and others of the Scottish Nobility resolved to make and Crown Robert King of Scotland who being opposed therein by John Comyn his Cousin-German a man of great power in Scotland he set upon and murdered the said John Comyn in the Church of Dunfrees and was soon after crowned King by the premised Bishops and Abbot Pope Clement the Sixth being informed of this murder of John Comyn by King Robert ordered the Archbishop of York and Bishop of Carlisle to excommunicate him and his Complices with sound of Bells and Candles in all places of England Scotland Ireland Wales and elsewhere though without their Diocess and to Interdict all their Lands and Castles till they should submit themselves This Bull was executed accordingly King Edward sent a great and strong Army into Scotland against Robert Brus. And Aymery de Valence Earl of Pembrook put to flight King Robert took his Wife his Brother Nigellus and others but himself escaped into the utmost Isles of Scotland The Earl of Athol was put to death at London and Nigellus at Barwick The Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgo and the Abbot of Scone were put in Iron chains and kept close prisoners in Porchester-castle King Robert was brought to such misery that he was sometime naked and hungry without meat or drink save only water and roots of Herbs and his life alwayes in danger Robert Brus came forth at length out of the Scottish Islands with such forces as he had gotten together taking the Castles of Carrick Innerness and many other To put an end to all which trouble King Edward Daniel's Chron. in Edw. 1 appointed a great Host to attend him at Carlisle three weeks after Midsummer-day There he held his last Parliament wherein the State got many Ordinances to pass for reformation of the abuses of the Pope's Ministers and his own former exactions wringing from the elect Archbishop of York in one year nine thousand five hundred Marks And Anthony Bishop of Durham to be made Patriarch of Jerusalem gave the Pope and his Cardinals mighty sums The Pope required the Fruits of one years revenue of every Benefice that should fall void in England Wales and Ireland and the like of Abbies Priories and Monasteries King Edward in July enters Scotland with a fresh Army and dyes at Burgh upon Sands having reigned thirty four years seven months aged sixty eight This King had founded the Abbey of Val-royal in Cheshire for the Cistercians and by Will bequeathed thirty two thousand pounds to the Holy Land He was obedient not servile to the See of Rome Edward the Second his Son called of Caernarvan succeeded in the Kingdom in July 1307. He soon caused Walter de Langton Bishop of Chester Treasurer of England and principal Executor of the last Will of the deceased King to be arrested by Sir John Felton Constable of the Tower and imprisoned in Wallingford-castle seizing upon all his Temporalties till afterwards by means of the Papal authority he was restored and they were seemingly reconciled The Bishop's crime was a good freedom which he used in the late King's dayes in gravely reproving this Prince for his misdemeanours and shortening his wast of coin by a frugal moderation All the Bishop's Goods he gave to Piers Gaveston makes a new Treasurer of his own removes most of his Father's Officers and all without the advice and consent of his Council The King was married to Isabel Daughter of Philip the fair King of France which was performed magnificently at Boleign Piers Gaveston was the King's great Favourite who filled the Court with Buffoons Parasites Minstrels Stage-players and all kind of dissolute persons King Edward the Second by Letters to the Pope requested that Robert Winchelsey might be restored to his Archbishoprick which was done accordingly though he returned too late to Crown the King which solemnity was performed by Henry Woodlock Bishop of Winchester Shortly after
his Coronation all the Knights Templers The Order of the Knights Templars abolished throughout Christendom throughout England were at once arrested and committed to prison In the General Council of Vienna this Order was utterly abolished through Christendom The French King caused fifty four of that Order together with their great Master to be burnt at Paris And the Pope and Council annexed their possessions to the Order of the Knights Hospitallers called commonly Knights of the Rhodes But in England the Heirs of the Donors and such as had endowed the Templars here with Lands entred upon those parts of the ancient Patrimonies after the dissolution of the Order and detained them until not long after they were by Parliament wholly transferred unto the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem Guy Guy Earl of Warwick surpriseth Piers Gaveston and causeth him to be beheaded Earl of Warwick surprised Gaveston carried him to his Castle of Warwick wherein a place called Blacklow afterwards Gaveshead his head was stricken off at the commandment and in the presence of the Earls of Lancaster Warwick and Hereford A great Battel was fought between the English and Scots at Bannocks-borough There perished in this Battel Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester Robert Lord Clifford the Lord Tiptoft the Lord Marshal the Lord Giles de Argenton the Lord Edmond de Maule and seven hundred Knights Esquires and Gentlemen of Quality of common Souldiers ten thousand There were taken prisoners Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford Ralph de Monthelmere who married Joan de Acres Countess Dowager of Oxford with many others The Earl of Hereford was exchanged for King Robert's Wife who was all this while detained in England This disaster was attended with Inundations which brought forth Dearth Dearth Famine Famine Pestilence all which exceeded any that ever before had been known Anno 1313. died Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury in whose room Robert Cobham was elected by the King and Church of Canterbury But the Pope did frustrate that election and placed Walter Reynold Bishop of Worcester About this time died Pope Clement and John XXII succeeded who sent two Legats from Rome under pretence to make agreement between the King of England and the Scots They for their charges required of every Spiritual person four pence in every Mark but all in vain for the Legats as they were in the North parts about Derlington with their whole Family and Train were robbed and spoiled of their Horses Treasure Apparel and whatsoever else they had and so retired back again to Durham thence they returned to London where they first excommunicated all those Robbers Then for supply of those losses they received they exacted of the Clergy to be given unto them eight pence in every Mark But the Clergy would only give them four pence in every Mark So they departed to the Pope's Court again This King Edward refused to pay the Peter-pence In the time of this King the Colledge in Cambridge called Michael-house was founded by Sir Henry Staunton Knight King Edward the Second builded two Houses in Oxford for good Letters Orial Colledge and St. Mary Hall England may dare all Christendom besides to shew so many eminent School-Divines bred within the compass of so few years And a forreign Writer saith Scholastica Theologia ab Anglis in Anglia sumpsit exordium fecit incrementum pervenit ad perfectionem Of these School-men Alexander Hales leads the way Master to Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure He was in the time of Henry the Third At the command of Pope Innocent the Fourth he wrote the Body of all School-Divinity in four Volumes Roger Bacon succeeded him who lived in the time of King Edward the First he was excellently skilled in the Mathematicks The next was Richard Middleton entitled Doctor Fundatissimus Then flourished John Duns Scotus in the time of Edward the Second he was Fellow of Merton-colledge in Oxford He was called Duns by abbreviation for Dunensis that is born at Doun an Episcopal See in Ireland In this King's Reign Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter founded and endowed Exeter-colledge in Oxford It is charged on this King Edward the Second that he suffered the Pope to encroach on the Dignity of the Crown His Father had recovered some of his Priviledges from the Papal usurpation which since his Son had lost back again About that time an English Hermite preached at Paul's in London That some Sacraments that were then in use in the Church were not of Christ's Institution therefore he was committed to prison King Edward went into Scotland with another great Army King Robert thought so great an Army could not long continue therefore he retired into the High-lands King Edward wandred from place to place till many died for hunger and the rest returning home half starved James Douglas followed the English and slew many of them and King Edward himself hardly escaped Then a Peace was concluded at Northampton Anno 1327. That the Scots should abide in the same estate as in the dayes of King Alexander the Third the English should render all subscriptions and tokens of bondage and have no Land in Scotland unless they shall dwell in it In England the two Spencers ruled all things till the Queen and her Son who politickly had got leave to go beyond the Seas returned into England with a Navy and Army landing in Suffolk She denounced open war against her Husband unless he would presently conform to her desires The young Spencer was taken with the King at the Abby of Neath and is hanged on a Gallows fifty foot high Many Persons of Quality were sent down to the Parliament then sitting to King Edward to Kenelworth-castle to move him to resign the Crown which at last he sadly surrendered and Prince Edward his Son is crowned King The late King is removed from Kenelworth unto Barkley-castle where he was barbarously butchered being struck into the Postern of his Body with an hot Spit as it is commonly reported Among the Clergy besides Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter whose head the Londoners caused to be smitten off at the Standart in Cheapside only John Stratford Bishop of Winchester heartily adhered to him Robert de Baldock though no Bishop yet as a Priest and Chancellor of England may be ranked with these who attended the King and was taken with him in Wales Hence he was brought up to London and committed to Adam Tarlton Bishop of Hereford Many of the Bishops ungratefully sided with the Queen against her Husband and their Sovereign Walter Reynolds Archbishop of Canterbury led their Van preferred to that See at the King 's great Importunity and by the Pope's power of Provision Henry Burwash Bishop of Lincoln lately restored to the favour of King Edward yet no sooner did the Queen appear in the field with an Army against him but this Bishop was the first who publickly repaired to her Adam Tarlton Bishop of Hereford was the grand contriver of all mischief against the
King Witness the Sermon preached by him at Oxford before the Queen then in hostile pursuit against her Husband taking for his Text the words of the Son of the sick Shunamite my Head my Head Thence he urged That a bad King the distempered Head of a State is past cure His writing was worse than his preaching for when such Agents set to keep King Edward in Berkley-castle were by secret order from Roger Mortimer commanded to kill him they by Letters addressed themselves for advice to this Bishop then not far off at Hereford craving his counsel what they should do in so difficult and dangerous a matter He returned unto them a ridling Answer unpointed which carried in it Life and Death yea Life or Death as variously construed Life and Death To kill King Edward you need not to fear it is good Life To kill King Edward you need not to fear it is good Death To kill King Edward you need not to fear it is good The Body of King Edward without any Funeral Pomp was buried among the Benedictines in their Abbey at Glocester Edward of Windsor called King Edward the Third being scarce fifteen years of age took the beginning of his Reign on January the twentieth his Throne was established upon his Fathers ruine Anno 1327. Upon Candlemas-day he received the Order of Knighthood by the hands of the Earl of Lancaster while his deposed Father lived and within five dayes after he was Crowned at Westminster by Walter Archbishop of Canterbury Twelve men were appointed to manage the Affairs of the Kingdom during the King's minority the Archbishop's of Canterbury and York the Bishops of Winchester Hereford and Worcester Thomas Brotherton Earl Marshal Edmond Earl of Kent John Earl Warren Thomas Lord Wake Henry Lord Piercy Oliver Lord Ingham and John Lord Ross but the Queen and Roger Lord Mortimer usurped this charge Adam Tarlton was accused of Treason in the beginning of the Reign of this King and arraigned by the King's Officers when in the presence of the King he thus boldly uttered himself My Lord the King with all due respect unto your Majesty I Adam an humble Minister and Member of the Church of God and a consecrated Bishop though unworthy neither can nor ought to answer unto so hard Questions without the connivance and consent of my Lord Archbishop of Canterbury my immediate Judge under the Pope and without the consent of other Bishops who are my Peers Three Archbishops were there present in the place Canterbury York and Dublin by whose Intercession Tarlton escaped at that time Not long after he was arraigned again at the King's Bench whereupon the foresaid Archbishops set up their Crosses and with ten Bishops more attended with a numerous Train of well-weaponed Servants advanced to the place of Judicature The King's Officers frighted at the sight fled away leaving Bishop Tarlton the prisoner alone at the Bar whom the Archbishops took home into their own custody denouncing a Curse upon all such who should presume to lay violent hands upon him The King offended hereat caused a jury of Lay-men to be impannelled and to enquire according to form of Law into the Actions of the Bishop of Hereford This was the first time that ever Lay-men passed their verdict upon a Clergy-man These Jurors found the Bishop guilty whereupon the King seized his Temporalties proscribed the the Bishop and despoiled him of all his moveables But afterwards he was reconciled to the King and by the Pope made Bishop of Winchester where he died The former part of this King's Reign affordeth but little Church-history as wholly taken up with his Atchievements in France and Scotland where his success by Sea and Land was to admiration He had both the Kings he fought against viz. John de Valois of France and David King of Scotland his prisoners at one time taken by fair Fight in open Field There was granted to the King of England for these Wars a Fifteenth of the Temporalty a Twelfth of Cities and Boroughs and a Tenth of the Clergy in a Parliament holden at London And afterwards in a Parliament at Northampton there was granted him a Tenth peny of Towns and Boroughs a Fifteenth of others and a Tenth of the Clergy All such Treasure as was committed to Churches throughout England for the holy War was taken out for the King's use in this The next year after all the Goods of three Orders of Monks Lombards Cluniacks and Cicestercians are likewise seized into the King's hands and the like Subsidy as before granted at Nottingham Now the Cavrsines or Lombards did not drive so full a trade as before whereupon they betook themselves to other Merchandise and began to store England with Forreign Commodities but at unreasonable rates whilst England it self had as yet but little and bad Shipping and those less employed About this time the Clergy were very bountiful in contributing to the King's necessities in proportion to their Benefices Hereupon a Survay was exactly taken of all their Glebeland Fuller Church History and the same fairly engrossed in Parchment was returned into the Exchequer where it remaineth at this day and is the most useful Record for Clergy-men and also for Impropriators as under their claim to recover their right It was now complained of as a grand grievance that the Clergy engrossed all places of Judicature in the Land Nothing was left to Lay-men but either Military commands as General Admiral c. or such Judges places as concerned onely the very letter of the Common Law and those also scarcely reserved to the Students thereof As for Ambassies into Forreign parts Noblemen were employed therein when Expence not Experience was required thereunto and Ceremony the substance of the Service otherwise when any difficulty in Civil Law then Clergy-men were ever entertained The Lord Chancellor was ever a Bishop yea that Court generally appeared as a Synod of Divines where the Clerks were Clerks as generally in Orders The same was also true of the Lord Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer Robert Eglesfield Chaplain to Queen Philippa Wife to King Edward the third founded a Colledge on his own ground in Oxford by the name of Queens Colledge and diverse Queens have been nursing Mothers to this Foundation as Queen Philippa Wife to King Edward the third Queen Elizabeth Wife to King Edward the fourth Queen Mary Wife to King Charles and our Virgin Queen Elizabeth In the mean time the Pope bestirred him in England while the King was busied about his Wars in France so that before Livings were actually void he pre-provided Incumbents for them But at last the King looking into it this Statute of Provision was made whereby such forestalling of Livings to Forreigners was forbidden Another cause of the King's displeasure with the Pope was that when the Pope created twelve Cardinals at the request of the King of France he denied to make one at the desire of the King of England The Papal party
notwithstanding this Law of Provision strugled for a time till the King's Power overswayed them Indeed this grievance continued all this and most of the next King's Reign till the Statute of praemunire was made and afterward the Land was cleared from the encumbrance of such provisions Three years after the Statute against the Pope's Provisions was made the King presented unto the Pope Thomas Hatlif to be Bishop of Durham one who was the King's Secretary but one void of all other Episcopal qualifications However the Pope confirmed him and being demanded why he consented to the preferment of so worthless a person he answered that rebus sic stantibus if the King of England had presented an Ass unto him he would have confirmed him in the Bishoprick In this King's Reign were diverse Learned Men in England John Baconthorp a Man of a very low stature of whom one saith Baleus in ejus vita Ingenio magnus Corpore parvus erat His wit was Tall in Body small Coming to Rome he was hissed at in a publick Disputation for the badness forsooth of his Latin and pronunciation but indeed because he opposed the Pope's power in dispensing with Marriages contrary to the Law of God He wrote on the Sentences where he followeth the truth in many things especially he refuteth the subtilties of John Scotus as Baptist Mantuan hath marked Iste tenebrosi damnat vestigia Scoti Et per sacra novis it documenta viis Hunc habeant quibus est sapientia grata redundat Istius in sacris fontibus omne sophos Joh. Bale Cent. 4. Sect. 82. He wrote De dominio Christi where he proveth that the highest Bishop in every Kingdom should be in subjection to Princes Richard Primate of Ireland alias Armachanus was his Disciple and taught the same Doctrine he Translated the Bible into Irish He discovered the hypocrisie of Friers in that though they professed poverty yet they had stately Houses like the Palaces of Princes and more costly Churches than any Cathedral richer Ornaments than all the Princes c. William Ockham an English Man sided with Lewis of Bavaria against the Pope maintaining the Temporal Power above the Spiritual He was forced to fly to the Emperor for his safety He was a Disciple of John Scotus but became Adversary of his Doctrine He was the Author of the Sect of Nominales He was a follower of Pope Nicholas the fourth and therefore was Excommunicated by Pope John This Ockham was Luther's chief School-man who had his Works at his finger's end Robert Holcot was not the meanest among them who died of the Plague at Northampton just as he was reading his Lectures on the seventh of Ecclesiasticus About that time a Book was written in English called The complaint and prayer of a Plough-man The Author of it is said to have been Robert Langland a Priest After a general complaint of the Iniquity of the time the Author wrote zealously against Auricular Confession as contrary to Scripture and profit of the publick and as a device of man against the Simony of selling Pardons against the Pope as the Adversary of Christ He complaineth of the unmarried Priests committing wickedness and by bad example provoking others of Images in Churches as Idolatry of false Pastors which feed upon their flocks and feed them not nor suffer others to feed them He wrote also against Purgatory In this King's Reign were diverse Archbishops of Canterbury I will begin with Simon Mepham made Archbishop in the first year of his Reign John Stratford was the second Consecrated first Bishop of Winchester The third was Thomas Bradwardine Fellow of Merton Colledge in Oxford and afterwards Chancellor of London and commonly called The profound Doctor He had many disputes with the School-men against the errors of Pelagius and reduced all his Lectures into three Books which he entitled De causa Dei He was Confessor to King Edward the third He died a few Months after his Consecration Simon Islip was the fourth he founded Canterbury Colledge in Oxford This Colledge is now swallowed up in Christ-Church Simon Langham is the fifth much meriting by his Munificence to Westminster-Abbey William Witlesee succeeded him famous for freeing the University of Oxford from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln formerly the Diocesan thereof Simon Sudbury was the last Archbishop of Canterbury in this King's Reign In his Reign also flourished Nicholas Trivet a black Frier born in Norfolk who wrote two Histories and a Book of Annals Richard Stradley born in the Marches of Wales a Monk and a Divine who wrote diverse excellent Treatises of the Scriptures William Herbert a Welchman who wrote many good Treatises in Divinity Thomas Wallis Sir Rich. Baker's Chron. a Dominican Frier and a writer of many excellent Books Walter Burley a Doctor in Divinity who wrote many choise Treatises in Natural and Moral Philosophy Roger a Monk of Chester and an Historiographer John Burgh a Monk who wrote an History and also diverse Homilies Richard Aungervil Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor of England Richard Chichester a Monk of Westminster who wrote a good Chronicle from the year 449. to the year 1348. Matthew Westminster who wrote the Book called Flores Historiarum Henry Knighton who wrote an History entitled De gestis Anglorum John Mandevil Knight Doctor of Physick a great Traveller and Sir Geoffry Chaucer the Homer of our Nation About the fortieth year of his Reign there was a Priest in England called William Wickham who was great with King Edward so that all things were done by him who was made Bishop of Winchester Towards the latter end of this King's Reign arose John Wickliff a Learned Divine of Oxford who did great service to the Church in promoting Reformation and in opposing Papal power for he wrote sharply against the Pope's authority the Church of Rome and diverse of their Religious Orders Certain Divines and Masters of the University entertained his Doctrine viz. Robert Rigges Chancellor of the University together with the two Proctors and many others He not onely Preached this Doctrine in Oxford but also more publickly in London At the Court before the King himself the Prince of Wales his Son John Duke of Lancaster the Lord Clifford the Lord Latimer and others likewise the Lord Montacute who defaced Images throughout all his Jurisdiction and John Earl of Sarum who at the point of death refused the Popish Sacrament with diverse others of the chiefest Nobility the Major of London with diverse other worthy Citizens who many times disturbed the Bishop's Officers who were called for the suppressing of Wickliff This Man being much encouraged by the Duke of Lancaster and Sir Henry Piercy Marshall went from Church to Church Preaching his Opinions and spreading his Doctrine whereupon he is cited to answer before the Archbishop the Bishop of London and others in St. Paul's London At the day appointed the Duke of Lancaster and the Lord Marshall go to conduct
any House of Religion he should incur the pains of Praemunire He also gave authority unto Bishops and their Ordinaries to imprison and fine all Subjects who refuse the Oath ex Officio The Statute made pro Haeretico comburendo In the same Parliament it was ordained That all Lollards that is those who professed the doctrine which Wickliff had taught should be apprehended and if they should remain obstinate they should be delivered to the Bishop of the Diocess and by him unto the secular Magistrate to be burnt This Act was the first in this Island for burning in case of Religion and began to be put in execution Anno 1401. The first on whom his cruel Law was hanselled was William Sautre formerly Parish-priest of St. Margaret in the Town of Lyn but since of St. Osith in the City of London It seemeth he had formerly abjured those Articles for which he suffered death before the Bishop of Norwich Therefore he was first adjudged to be degraded and deposed which was in order as followeth From the Order of 1. Priest 2. Deacon 3. Subdeacon 4. Acolyte 5. Exorcist 6. Reader 7. Sexton by taking from him 1. The Patin Chalice and plucking the Chasule from his Back 2. The New Testament and the Stole 3. The Alb and the Maniple 4. The Candlestick Taper Vrceolum 5. The Book of Constitutions 6. The Book of Church-Legends 7. The Key of the Church-door and Surplice How many steps are required to climb up to the top of Popish Priesthood how many trinkets must be had to compleat a Priest and here we behold them solemnly taken asunder in Sautres degradation And now he no longer Priest but plain Lay-man with the Tonsure on his crown rased away was delivered to the Secular Power with this complement worth the noting Beseeching the Secular Court that they would receive favourably the said William unto them thus recommitted But see their hypocrisie The Popish Bishops at the same time for all their fair language called upon the King to bring him to speedy execution Hereupon the King in Parliament issued out his Warrant to the Mayor and Sheriff of London that the said William being in their custody should be brought forth into some publick place within the liberty of the City and there really to be burnt to the great horrour of his offence and manifest example of other Christians which was done accordingly After this Richard Scroop Archbishop of York with the Lord Moubray Marshall of England gathered together a great company against King Henry in the North Countrey to whom was adjoyned the ayd of the Lord Bardolf and Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland They drew up ten Articles against the said King and fastened them upon the doors of Churches and Monasteries to be read of all men in English The Earl of Northumberland and the Lord Bardolf were slain in the field fighting against the Kings part Anno 1408. But the Archbishop of York and the Lord Moubray were taken and beheaded Anno 1409. Thomas Badby a Tailor was by Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury condemned for the Testimony of the truth He was brought into Smithfield and there being put into an empty barrel was bound with Iron bars fast to a stake and dry wood put to him and so burned Some Professors of the Gospel at that time did shrink back as John Purvey who wrote many Books in defence of Wickliff's Doctrine and among others a Commentary upon the Apocalypse wherein he declareth the Pope of Rome to be that great Antichrist He recanted at Paul's Cross John Edwards Priest revoked at the Green-yard at Norwich Richard Herbert and Emmot Willy of London and John Beck also at London John Seynons of Lincoln-shire revoked at Canterbury Then was William Thorp examined before the Archbishop of Canterbury who rehearsed his belief before the Archbishop afterwards he was committed to close Prison where he was so straitly kept that either he was secretly made away or else there he died by sickness John Ashton also another follower of Wickliff who for the same Doctrine of the Sacrament held by Thorp was committed to close Prison after he was condemned where he continued till his death Philip Rippington was made Bishop of Lincoln who of a Professor became a cruel Persecutor of the Gospel Synods of the Clergy were very frequent in this King's Reign but most of these were but Ecclesiastical meetings for secular Money Sir John Tiptoff made afterwards Earl of Worcester put up a Petition to the Parliament touching Lollards which so wrought on the Lords that they joyned in a Petition to the King that they and every of them be taken and put in Prison without being delivered in Bail or otherwise except by good and sufficient mainprise to be taken before the Chancellor of England c. The Popish Clergy had gained Prince Henry set as a Transcendent by himself in the Petition to their Side entring his youth against the poor Wickliffists and this earnest engaged him to the greater Antipathy against them when possessed of the Crown A Petition was put up in the Parliament That the King might enjoy half of the profits of any Parson's Benefice not resident thereon whereunto the King answered That Ordinaries should do their duties therein or else he would provide further remedy or stay their pluralities The ninth year of the King's Reign the Commons desired of the King That none presented be received by any Ordinary to have any Benefice of any Incumbent for any cause of privation or inhabitation whereof the Process is not founded upon Citation made within the Realm and also that such Incumbents may remain in all their Benefices untill it be proved by due Inquest in the Court of the King that the Citations whereupon such privations and inhabitations are granted were made within the Realm and if such Ordinaries do or have presented or others do present to the contrary that then they and their Procurators c. incur the pain contained in the Statute made against Provisoe's Anno 13. Ric. 2. Also that no Pope's Collector should from thence-forth levy any Money within the Realm for first Fruits of any Ecclesiastical dignity under pain of incurring the Statute of Provisoe's The Commons in the same Parliament put up a Bill to the King to take the Temporalties out of the Hands of the Spiritualty which amounted to three hundred and two and twenty thousand Marks by the year Then came the Cardinal of Burges into England being sent from the Colledge of Cardinals to inform the King and Clergy of the unconstant dealing of Pope Gregory Anno 1409. 〈◊〉 Chro. 〈◊〉 4. After the Feast of the Epiphany the Archbishop of Canterbury Convocated an Assembly of the Clergy at London to chuse meet persons to go to the General Council holden at Pisa whereunto were chosen Robert Holam Bishop of Salisbury Henry Chisely Bishop of St. Davids and Thomas Chillindon Prior of Christ-Church in Canterbury and the King had
my Soul no more than Satan could do to the Soul of Job And as concerning these Articles I will stand to them to the very death by the grace of my eternal God And after a short instruction to the people he fell down upon his Knees holding up his Hands and Eyes to Heaven And prayed God to forgive his Prosecutors The Lord Cobham was condemned to dye being led back to the Tower he escaped out of the Tower and fled into Wales where he continued by the space of four years In January 1414. Sir Roger Acton Knight Mr. John Brown and John Beverley a Minister suffered Martyrdom in the Fields of St. Giles with thirty six more Some say that Sir Roger Acton was hanged naked at Tyburn saving that certain parts of him were covered and after certain dayes a Trumpetter of the King 's called Thomas Cliffe galeave of the King to take him down and bury him The next Month after the Execution of these Men died Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury famished to Death not for want of Food but of a Throat to swallow it such the swelling therein that he could neither speak nor eat for some days After him succeeded Henry Chichely Godwin's Catal of Bish whose mean birth interrupted the chain of Noble Archbishops his two Predecessors and Successors being Earls Sons by Extraction Although many Laws had been made against the Pope's usurped Authority in bestowing Ecclesiastical preferments by way of Provision yet durst not this man consent unto his election made by the Covent of Canterbury but committed the matter unto the Pope's determination who first pronounced the election of the Monks void and then bestowed the Archbishoprick upon him The same year the King began the Foundation of two Monasteries one of the Friars observants on the one side of Thames and the other on the other side of the same River called Shene and Sion dedicated unto the Charter-house Monks with certain Nuns of St. Briget to the number of sixty dwelling within the same precinct so that the whole number of these with Priests Monks Deacons and Nuns should equal the number of thirteen Apostles and seventy two Disciples These were to eat no Flesh to touch no Money to wear no Linnen The King held a Parliament at Leicester in which the Commons put up their Bill again which was put up Anno 11. Henry the fourth that the Temporalties wasted so disorderly by the Clergy might be converted to the use of the King and of his Earls and Knights c. In fear of which Bill the Clergy put him upon a long War with the French offering to him in behalf of the Clergy great and notable sums by reason whereof the Bill was put off again The Archbishop Henry Chichley condemned John Claydon's Books and condemned him and shortly after he was burnt in Smithfield with Richard Turning Baker Anno 1415. The next year the said Archbishop in his Convocation holden at London made sharper Constitutions than were before against the Lollards There two Priests noted for Hereticks were brought before the Bishops the one John Barton the other Robert Chappel Barton was committed to Philip Bishop of Lincoln to be kept in prison till otherwise it were determined Chappel submitted himself and with much ado received pardon and was in stead of penance enjoyned certain Articles to publish at Paul's Cross Then divers persons were forced to abjure as John Tailer of the Parish of St. Maries at Quern William James Physitian who had long lain in prison John Gourdley of Lincoln-shire a learned man John Duerser Katherine Dertford the Parson of Higley in Lincoln-shire named Mr. Robert William Henry of Tenterden John Gaul a Priest of London Richard Monk Vicar of Chesham in Lincoln-shire with divers others During the time of the Provincial Convocation Pope Martin had sent to the Clergy of England for a Subsidy to maintain the Pope's Wars against the Lollards of Bohemia Another Subsidy was demanded to persecute William Clerk Master of Arts in Oxford who sailing out of England was at the Council of Basil disputing on the Bohemians side A third Subsidy was also required to persecute William Russel Warden of the Grey-Friers in London who was fled having escaped out of prison Ralph Mungin Priest refusing to abjure was condemned to perpetual prison The recantation of Thomas Granter and Richard Monk Priests was read openly at Paul s Cross after which Granter was put to seven years imprisonment under the custody of the Bishop of London Edmond Frith recanted who was Butler to Sir John Oldcastle Besides these many other Wicklivites were sore vexed in Kent in the Towns of Romney Tenterden Woodchurch Cranbrook Staplehurst Bennenden and Rolvenden where Men and their Wives and whole Families were driven to forsake their Houses and Towns for fear of persecution Among whom were William White and Thomas Greensted Priests Bartholomew Chronemonger Joan Waddon Joan his Wife Thomas Evernden Stephen Robins William Chineling John Tame John Eacolin William Somer Marian his Wife John Abraham Robert Munden Laurence Cook which persons because they appeared not were excommunicated by the Archbishop The Lord Cobham having lived four years in Wales and being at last discovered was taken by the Lord Powis yet so that it cost some blows and blood to apprehend him till a Woman at last with a stool broke the Lord Cobham's legs whereby being lame he was brought up to London in an Horse-litter At last he was drawn upon an Hurdle to the Gallows and there was hanged and burnt In the ninth year of King Henry the Fifth he suppressed the French Houses of Religious Monks and Friars and such like in England Stow's Chron in Hen. 8. because they spake ill of the King's Conquest over France Their Lands were given by him and King Henry the Sixth to Monasteries and Colledges of learned men King Henry died in France and was brought over and buried at Westminster This King ordained the King of Heraulds over the English which is called Garter In this King's Reign Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincoln founded a Colledge named Lincoln-colledge in Oxford King Henry the sixth an Infant of eight months old succeeded his Father in the Kingdom of England Anno 1422. In the eighth year of his Age he was crowned at Westminster and in the tenth year crowned King at Paris Cardinal Henry Bishop of Winchester being present at them both The Clergy had then a strong party in the Privy Council viz. 1. Henry Chicheley Archbishop of Canterbury 2. John Kemp Bishop of London 3. Henry Beauford Bishop of Winchester lately made Cardinal 4. John Wackaring Bishop of Norwich Privy-seal 5. Philip Morgan Bishop of Worcester 6. Nicholas Bubwith Bishop of Bath and Wells Lord Treasurer In the first year of this King's Reign was burned a faithful Witness of God's Truth William Tailor a Priest under Henry Chichcley Archbishop of Canterbury March 1. Anno 1423. In the year 1424. John Florence a Turner appeared before Will.
was kept three years captive in St. Angelo Against Mendicants 1. Thomas Wilson Doctor of both Laws and say some Dean of S. Paul's a zealous Preacher and Disputant 2. William Ivy Canon of S. Paul's who wrote in the Defence of Richard Hill Bishop of London who Imprisoned two Mendicants for their proud Preaching But after Pope Paul the second had interposed herein concluding that this ought to be declared in all places for a dangerous Doctrine and worthy to be trodden down under all mens feet the controversie ceased At this time George Nevil brother to Richard Nevil the Great Earl of Warwick that set up and pulled down Kings at his pleasure was Archbishop of York He was famous for a prodigious feast made at his Installation unto which he invited as Guests all the Nobility most of the prime Clergy many of the Great Gentry of the Land The Bill of Fare may be read in Bishop Godwins Catalogue of Bishops Seven years after King Edward seized on all his Estate to the value of twenty thousand pounds among which he found so rich a Mitre that he made himself a Crown thereof The Archbishop he sent over prisoner to Callis where he was kept bound in extreme poverty justice punishing his former prodigality He was afterwards restored to his Liberty and Archbishoprick but went drooping till the day of his death It added to his sorrow that the Kingdom of Scotland Scotland freed from the See of York with twelve Suffragan Bishops therein formerly subjected to his See was now by Pope Sixtus freed from any further dependance thereon S. Andrews being advanced to an Archbishoprick and that Kingdom in Ecclesiastical matters made entire within it self whose Bishops formerly repaired to York for their consecration Anno 1473. in August John Goose sole Martyr in this King's Reign was condemned and burned at Tower-hill This man when ready to suffer desired meat from the Sheriff which Ordered his Execution and had it granted unto him I will eat saith he a good competent dinner for I shall pass a sharp shower ere I come to Supper King Edward IV. died April 9. 1483. In his Reign flourished Thomas Littleton a Reverend Judge of the Common-pleas who brought a great part of the Law into method which lay before confusedly dispersed and his book called Littletons Tenures Then John Harding Esquire wrote a Chronicle in English verse John Fortescue a Judge and Chancellor of England wrote divers Treatises concerning the Law and Politick Government Rochus a Charter-house Monk born in London wrote divers Epigrams William Caxton also wrote a Chronicle Miserable King Edward V. ought to have succeeded his Father but he by the wicked practice of his Unckle Richard Duke of Glocester chosen Protector was quickly made away The Protection of the young King's Person was by the last King appointed to Earl Rivers the Queen's brother and by the mother's side Unckle to the said Prince who kept his Residence and Court at Ludlow The Queen with the Earl Rivers her brother and with her Son Richard Lord Gray and other Friends being guarded with a strong power of Armed men and Souldiers intended to bring the Young King from Ludlow to London to be Crowned But the Duke of Glocester wrought so cunningly with the Queen that she dispatched messengers to her Brother and Son who though unwilling upon her request were perswaded to Disband and Cashier all their Souldiers and attended only with their own Menial Servants they set forward with the Young King towards the Queen They came to Northampton and soon after the Dukes of Glocester and Buckingham dismounted themselves in the Earls Inn being accompanied with great store of resolute attendants There they surprized the Earl Rivers and committed him to safe Custody Mart. Chron. in Edw. V. Then the two Dukes rode to Stonystratford where the King then was There they seized on Richard Lord Grey the King's half-brother and on Sir Richard Vaugham and some others all which they sent under a strong guard to Pomfret-castle where without any judicial sentence or legal trial they were beheaded upon the same day that the Lord Hastings who conspired in that action with the two Dukes lost his head The Queen with the rest of her Children enters the Sanctuary at Westminster The young King is brought to London and the Duke of Glocester by the contrivement of the Duke of Buckingham is made Protector of the King and Kingdom by the Decree of the Councel-Table and now he wickedly plotteth to make away the young King and his Brother and in order thereunto he laboureth first to get into his hands the Duke of York the King's brother And to that end the Archbishop of Canterbury was employed with instructions to procure the Queen to part with her younger son to accompany the elder The Protector having gotten both the brothers into his hand causeth them within few days in great pomp and State to be convayed through London to the Tower The Sunday following he caused Doctor Shaa at Paul's cross to blazon the Honourable birth and parentage of the Protector to relate his vertues to commend his valour to weaken the Fame and Honour of the deceased King Edward by reason of his lascivious wantonness with Shore's wife and others to bastardize all his Children because the King was in the person of Richard Earl of Warwick before his said marriage affianced unto the Lady Bona sister to the wife of the French King He also accused the Protector 's own mother of great incontinency When King Edward and George Duke of Clarence were begotten Then setting forth the worthiness of the Protector he supposed that the people could not chuse but receive him for their King Pynkney the Provincial of the Augustinian Friars who in the same place used so loud adulation lost his credit conscience and voice altogether These two were all of the Clergy who engaged actively on his party His Coronation was performed with more pomp than any of his Predecessors Soon after followed the murther of King Edward and his Brother Richard Duke of York After this bloody act having visited his Town of Glocester which he endowed with ample Liberties and Priviledges he took his journey towards York At a certain day appointed the whole Clergy assembled in Copes richly vested and so went about the City in Procession after whom followed the King with his Crown and Scepter apparrelled in his Circot Robe Royal accompanyed with many of the Nobility of the Realm after whom marched in order Queen Anne his wife Crowned leading in her left hand Prince Edward her Son Sir Th. Moores History of King Rich. 3. having on his head a demy-crown appointed for the degree of a Prince The Northern people hereupon extolled and praised him far above the Stars After this glorious pomp and a solemn feast having done all things discreet●y he returned by Nottingham and afterwards came to London whom the Citizens more for fear than love received in
great Companies Now King Richard made good Laws in that sole Parliament kept in his time He began to found a Colledge of an hundred Priests which foundation with the founder shortly had end He built a Monastery at Middleham in the North and a Colledge at Alhallows Barking hard by the Tower and endowed Queens-Colledge in Cambridge with five hundred marks of yearly revenue Soon after the Duke of Buckingham requireth the Earldom of Hereford and the Hereditary Constableship of England laying title to them by discent The King rejected the Duke's request with many spiteful and minatory words Buckingham storms thereat and withdraws to Brecknock in Wales with his Prisoner John Morton Bishop of Ely committed to him by the King on some distast who tampered with him about the marriage of Henry Earl of Richmond with the eldest daughter of King Edward IV. But the Duke was surprized by King Richard and beheaded before this marriage was compleated More cunning was Bishop Morton to get himself over into France there to contrive the union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster In the year 1485. Henry Earl of Richmond landeth with small Force at Milford-Haven From Milford he marcheth North-East through the bowels of Wales and both his Army and the fame thereof encreased by marching Into Leicester-shire he came and in the navel thereof is met by King Richard The next day the Armies joyned in battel The scales of Victory seemed for a long time so equal that none could discern on which side the beam did break At length the coming in of the Lord Stanley with three thousand fresh men decided the controversie on the Earl's side King Richard fighting valiantly in the midst of his enemies was slain and his Corps were disgracefully carried to Leicester without a rag to cover his nakedness The Crown ornamental being found on his head was removed to the Earl's and he Crowned in the field and Te Deum was solemnly sung by the whole Army The body of King Richard lay for a spectacle of hate and scorn by the space of two days bare and uninterred At last without solemn funeral pomp scarce with ordinary solemnity by the charity of the Gray-friers he was inhumed in their Monastery there King Henry Lord Verul Histor of Henr. VII VII coming to London the Mayor and Companies received him at Shored●tch whence with great Honourable attendance and Troops of Noblemen and persons of quality he entred the City himself not being on horseback or in any open Chair or Throne but in a close Chariot as one that chose rather to keep State and strike a reverence into the people than to fawn upon them He went first into S. Paul's Church where he made offertory of his Standards and had Orizon and Te Deum again sung and went to his lodging prepared in the Bishops palace Thomas Bourchier Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury Crowned the King on the last of October At which day for the better security of his person the King did institute a band of fifty Archers under a Captain to attend him by the Name of Yeomen of his Guard The Archbishop also Married King Henry to the Lady Elizabeth eldest daughter to King Edward the fourth And then having sate in a short Synod at London wherein the Clergy presented their new King with a tenth died having sate in his See two and thirty years He gave to the University of Cambridge an hundred and twenty pounds which was joyned with another hundred pound which Mr. Billingforth Master of Bennet-Colledge had some years before given to the said University John Morton born at S. Andrews Milbourn in Dorset-shire succeeded him in the See at Canterbury He was formerly Bishop of Ely and appointed by King Edward IV. one of the Executors of his will and on that account hated of King Richard the third the Executioner thereof He was as aforesaid imprisoned because he would not betray his trust fled into France and returned and was justly advanced by King Henry first to be Chancellor of England and then to be Archbishop of Canterbury He was also created Cardinal of S. Anastasius Now began the Pope to be very busie by his Officers to collect vast summs of money in England presuming at the King's connivance thereat whom he had lately gratified with a needless dispensation to legitimate his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth his Cousin so far off that it would half pose a Herauld to recover their kindred The Pope in favour of the King and indeed of equity it self ordered concerning Sanctuaries 1. That if any Sanctuary man did by might or otherwise Lord Verul in Henry VII get out of Sanctuary privily and commit mischief and trespass and then come in again he should lose the benefit of Sanctuary for ever after 2. That howsoever the Person of the Sanctuary-man was protected from his Creditors yet should not his goods out of Sanctuary 3. That if any took Sanctuary for cause of treason the King might appoint him keepers to look to him in Sanctuary The King Confined the Queen Dowager his wives mother to a Religious house in Bermondsey because three years since she had surrendered her two daughters out of the Sanctuary at Westminster to King Richard A Synod was holden by Archbishop Morton at London Antiq. Brit. pag. 298. wherein the Luxury of the London Clergy in Cloathes with their frequenting of Taverns was forbidden Such Preachers also were punished who inveighed against Bishops in their absence John Giglis an Italian about this time employed by the Pope got an infinite mass of money having power from the Pope to absolve people from all crimes whatsoever saving smiting of the Clergy and conspiring against the Pope This Giglis gat for himself the rich Bishoprick of Worcester Yea in that See four Italians followed each other 1. John Giglis 2. Silvester Giglis 3. Julius Medices afterwards Pope Clement VII 4. Hieronymus de Negutiis The Pope gave power to Archbishop Morton to visit all places formerly exempt from Archiepiscopal jurisdiction and to dispence his pardons where he saw just cause Hereupon Rochester-bridge being broken down the Archbishop bestowed Remission from Purgatory for all sins whatsoever committed within the compass of fourty dayes to such as should bountifully contribute to the building thereof King Henry VII desired much that King Henry VI. Camd. Brit. in Surry might be Canonized But Pope Alexander III. delayed and in effect denyed the King's desire herein The reason given by Mr. Camden was the Pope's Covetousness who demanded more than thirsty King Henry would allow This King removed the Corps of Henry VI. from Chertsey in Surrey where it was obscurely interred to a place of greater note viz. Windsor Chappel But the Saintship of Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury was procured by Archbishop Morton on cheaper terms King Henry was submissive to Pope for his own ends never servile The deserving Clergy he employed in State affairs more than his Nobility To the
money which was sent last thither came soon enough to be received there This payment was the last in this kind which Rome did generally receive out of England Meantime the King did share with the Pope to connive at the rest he had a part allowed to him Sir Rich. Baker's Chron. King Henry VII died of a Consumption at his palace of Richmond April 22. 1508. Of our own Country there lived in his time George Ripley a Carmelite Friar of Boston who wrote divers Treatises in the Mathematiques John Rouse born in Warwick-shire a diligent searcher of Antiquities Thomas Scroop entred into diverse Orders of Religion and after withdrew himself to his house where for twenty years he lived the life of an Anchoret and after coming abroad again was made a Bishop in Ireland and went to Rhodes in Ambassage from whence being returned he went barefooted up and down in Norfolk teaching the ten Commandments and lived till near an hundred years old Now also lived Robert Fabian a Sheriff of London and Historiographer Edmond Dudley who wrote a book Entitled Arbor Reipublicae John Bockingham an Excellent School-man And William Blackney D.D. a Carmelite Friar and a Necromancer Henry VIII succeeded his Father On June 3. He was Married to the Lady Katherine Dowager formerly wife to his brother Prince Arthur deceased Pope Julius by his dispensation removed all obstructions against the Laws of God or man hindering or opposing the said Match Cruelty still increased on the poor Lollards as they were called after abjuration forced to wear the fashion of a Faggot wrought in thread or painted on their sleeves as long as they lived it being death to put on their clothes without that cognizance Their case was sad if they put it off they must be burned if they put it on they must be starved for none generally would set them on work that wore that badge On this account were William Sweeting and James Brewster re-imprisoned In vain did Brewster plead that he was commanded to leave off his badge by the Controller of the Earl of Oxford's house And as little did Sweeting's plea prevail that the Parson of Mary Magdalen's in Colchester caused him to lay his faggot aside Soon after they were both burnt together in Smithfield Anno 1511. One John Brown who had born a faggot before in the days of King Henry the Seventh was burned at Ashford in Kent for the Profession of the Truth condemned by Archbishop Warham first having had his Feet burned to the Bones to compel him to deny the Truth Richard Hunn a wealthy Citizen of London imprisoned in Lollards Tower for adhering to Wickliff's Doctrine had his neck therein secretly broken To cover their cruelty they gave it out that he hanged himself on December 20. 1514. the dead Body of the said Richard Hunn was burnt in Smithfield Sixteen days after he was murdered But the matter having been fully examined by the Council and Judges and Justices of the Realm it was evidently proved that Dr. Horsey the Chancellor Charles Joseph the Sumner and John Spalding the Bel-ringer had committed the Murder Thomas Man and John Stileman were also burned in Smithfield Thomas Man confessed he had converted Seven hundred from Popery to the Truth Robert Cosin was also condemned and burned at Buckingham for holding against Pilgrimages Confession to Priests and Worshipping of Image Christopher Shoomaker was burned at Newbery upon the like account Cardinal Bainbrigg Archbishop of York being then at Rome was so highly offended with Rivaldus de Modena an Italian his Steward that he cudgelled him but being soon after poisoned his Body was buried in the English Hospital at Rome Fuller Church Hist Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester Founded and Endowed Corpus Christi-Colledge in Oxford bestowing thereon Lands to the yearly value of Four hundred and one pounds eight shillings and two pence There are maintained in it a President Twenty Fellows Twenty Scholars Two Chaplains Two Clerks and Two Choristers besides Officers and Servants of the Foundation with other Students Hugh Oldham Bishop of Exeter was a great Benefactor to this Colledge Petrits Chur. Hist Anno 1519. died John Colet at Shene in Surrey he had learned humane Sciences at home and travelled into France and Italy when he returned be studied the Scriptures and expounded St. Paul's Epistles publickly at Oxford Henry the Seventh promoted him to the Deanry of Pauls He professed to distast many things that he had heard in Sorbon He called the Scotists men without judgement and the Thomists arrogant He said He reaped more fruit by the Books which the Doctors of Sorbon called Heretical than by their Books that were full of divisions and definitions and were most approved of them He never married and yet regarded not Monks without Learning In his Sermons he said Images should not be Worshipped and Clerks should not be Covetous Two Friars viz. Bricot and Standish accused him for Heresie unto Richard Fitz-James Bishop of London and He unto the Archbishop first and then unto King Henry the Eighth But both the King and the Archbishop became his Patrons He was the eldest and sole surviving child of Sir Henry Collet Mercer twice Lord Mayor of London who with his ten Sons and as many Daughters Stow's Survay p. 265. were depicted in a Glass-window on the North-side of St. Anthonie's corruptly St. Antlin's to which Church he was a great Benefactor His Son John Founded the Free-school of St. Pauls in it are One hundred fifty and three Scholars whereof every year some appearing most pregnant have salaries allowed them for Seven years or untill they get better preferment in the University or in the Church William Lily was the first School-master thereof by Colet's own appointment An excellent Scholar born at Odiam in Hamp-shire and afterward he went on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem In his return through Italy he applyed himself to his Studies His Teachers and Instructers were John Sulpitius and Pomponius Sabinus two eminent Criticks Returning home into his native Countrey well accomplished with Latin Greek and all Arts and Sciences he set forth a Grammar which still goes under his Name and is generally taught over all England Anno 1517. Luther wrote against Popish Indulgences shewing the abuses of them King Henry the Eighth set forth a Book against Luther endeavouring the Confutation of his Opinions as novel and unsound To require his pains the Pope honoured him and his Successors with a specious Title Defender of the Faith Luther sharply answered that Book Cardinal Wolsey was now the Pope's Legat de latere by vertue whereof he visited all Churches and Religious houses even the Friars observants themselves notwithstanding their stoutness and stubbornness that first opposed him Papal and Royal power met in him being the Chancellor of the Land and keeping so many Bishopricks in Commendam his yearly income is said to equal if not exceed the Revenues of the Crown Being to found two Colledges he seized on
forty small Monasteries turning their Inhabitants out of House and home and converting their means principally to a Colledge in Oxford This alienation was confirmed by Pope Clement the Seventh so that in some sort the Pope may thank himself for the demolishing of Religious houses in England His Colledge in Oxford did thrice change it's name in seven years first called Cardinals Colledge then King's Colledge and at last Christ-church which it retaineth at this day King Henry took just offence that the Cardinal set his own Arms above the King 's on thy Gate-house at the entrance into the Colledge There have been maintained in this Colledge one Dean eight Canons three publick Professors of Divinity Hebrew and Greek sixty Students eight Chaplains eight Singing-men an Organist eight Choristers twenty four Almes-men at this present Students of all sorts with Officers and Servants of the Foundation to the number of two hundred twenty three John Higdon first Dean of this Colledge was a great Persecutor of Protestants viz. John Clark John Frith Henry Sumner Baley † John Fryer Goodman † Nicholas Harmar † Michael Drumme William Betts Such whose names are noted with a Cross did afterwards turn zealous Papists Lawney Richard Cox Richard Taverner All these were for their Religion imprisoned in a deep Cave under ground where the Salt-fish of the Colledge was kept Some of them died soon after with the stench thereof and others escaped with great difficulty Taverner was well-skilled in Musick on which account he escaped though vehemently accused the Cardinal pleading for him that he was but a Musitian though afterward he repented to have set Tunes to so many Popish ditties The example of Wolsey's haughtiness Martin's Chr. in Henry 8. made the English Clergy so proud and insolent that their labours formerly applyed to the studies of moral vertues and of Divinity were now employed to devise curious fashions in their behaviour in their apparrel and in their diet In the fifteenth sixteenth and seventeenth year of King Henries Reign this proud Cardinal under colour of the King 's partaking with the Emperor in his Wars against the French King of his own authority and wi●hout the King's commandement granted forth Commissions under the Great Seal of England into every Shire and Province of the Kingdome and directed them unto the chiefest men And therein every man was required to depose the true value of their Estates and then of every fifty pounds there was demanded four shillings in the pound And in London he made himself the chief Commissioner The like Commissions he granted forth against all the Clergy of the Land of whom he demanded four shillings in the pound of all their livings These things grieved the Clergy and Common People at the heart The Cardinal perceiving this recalled those Commissions and sent forth others which also being not endured the King by his Letters directed into every County commanded a present cessation of all executions of the said Commissions and protested they were granted forth without his knowledge or consent But if they would by way of a Benevolence of their own accord enlarge themselves towards him he would take it as an infallible proof of their love toward him The Cardinal now resolved to revenge himself on the Emperor Charles the Fifth for not doing him right and improving his power in preferring him to the Papacy according to his promises and intends to smite Charles through the sides of his Aunt Katharine Queen of England endeavouring to alienate the King's affections from her Wolsey now put this scruple into the head of Bishop Longlands the King's Confessor and he insinuated the same into the King's Conscience King Henry greedily resented the motion and principles of pure Conscience puts him upon endeavours of a divorce The business is brought into the Court of Rome there to be decided by Pope Clement the Seventh But the Pope at this time was a prisoner to the Emperor who constantly kept a guard about him Yet after some delay the Pope dispatched a Commission to two Cardinals Wolsey and Campegius an Italian to hear and determine the matter at London The Pope draws back the cause unto himself and the King being impatient having the consent of both Universities as also of that of Paris he forsaketh Katharine and Marrieth Anna Bolen Anno 1533. And in the year 1534. he denieth obedience to the Pope and chargeth all his Subjects that they send no Money unto Rome nor pay Peter-pence unto any of the Collectors which vexeth the Roman Court. Then he published an Edict whereby he declares himself under Christ The supreme Head of the Church of England and chargeth upon pain of Death that no man ascribe any Power to the Pope within England and commandeth all the Collectors of Peter-pence to be gone These things were confirmed by the Parliament who also enacted That the Archbishop of Canterbury should invest all the Bishops of England and that the Church-men shall pay to the King yearly one hundred and fifty thousand pounds for defence of the Kingdom Wolsey was accused in Parliament for exercising his power Legantine without leave to the prejudice of the King's Crown and dignity Mr. Cromwel Servant to the Cardinal being a Burgess defendeth his Master yet were all his goods of inestimable value confiscated to the King and he outed of most of his Ecclesiastical promotions His enemies get the King to command him away to York leaving him the whole revenues of York-Archbishoprick then worth little less than four thousand pounds yearly besides a large pension paid him out of the Bishoprick of Winchester As he was preparing there in a Princely Equipage for his Installation he is Arrested by the Earl of Northumberland by Commission from the King in his own Chamber at Cawood By slow and short Journeys he setteth forward toward London and coming to Leicester he died where he was obscurely buried Then John Fisher Bishop of Rochester was imprisoned for refusing the Oath of Supremacy The Clergy in the Province of York did a long time deny the King's Supremacy Edward Lee Archbishop of York fomented this difference He was a virulent Papist one that wrote against Erasmus and a persecutor of Protestants witness John Bale Convented before him for suspition of Heresie who in vain pleaded Scripture in his own defence till at last he casually made use of a distinction out of Scotus which the Archbishop more valued than all which he had before more pertinently alledged out the Old and New Testament The King wrote a fair and large Letter to the Convocation of York claiming nothing more than what Christian Princes in the Primitive times assumed to themselves in their own Dominions so that it seems he wrought so far on their affections that at last they consented thereunto Soon after the Clergy in the Convocation so submitted themselves to the King that each one severally promised in verbo Sacerdotis never henceforth to presume to Alledge Claim or put
in ure any new Canons unless the King 's most Royal assent might be had unto them and soon after the same was ratified by Act of Parliament After the Statute of Praemunire was made which did much restrain the Papal power and subject it to the Laws of the Land Archbishops called no more Convocations by their sole and absolute command but at the pleasure of the King as oft as his necessities and occasions with the distresses of the Church did require it Yea now their meetings were by vertue of a Writ or Precept from the King For it was Enacted in the Parliament of the twenty fifth of Henry the Eight L. Herbert's Hist of Hen. 8. That all Convocations shall be thenceforth called by the King 's Writ and that in them nothing shall be promulged or executed without his Highness Licence under pain of imprisonment of the Authors and Mulct at the King's will And that his Highness shall at his pleasure appoint thirty two men to survay the said Canons or Constitutions for the Confirmation or Abolition of the same And as concerning Appeals they shall be made from inferiour Courts to the Archbishop's and for lack of Justice there to the King's Majesty in his Court of Chancery Bishop Fisher was Arraigned of high Treason I will insert the Sting of the indictment out of the Original Diversis Domini Regis veris subditis false malitiose proditorie loquebatur propalabat viz. The King owre Sovereign Lord is not Supreme Hed yn erthe of the Cherche of England In dicti Domini Regis immund despect vilipendium manifest Of this he was found Guilty had Judgement and was remanded to the Tower The King by the advice and consent of the Clergy in Convocation and Great Council in Parliament resolved to reform the Church under his inspection from gross abuses crept into it Thomas Hitten a Preacher at Maidstone for the Testimony of the Truth after long Torments and sundry imprisonments by William Warham Bishop of Canterbury and John Fisher Bishop of Rochester was burned at Maidstone for the Testimony of the Truth Anno 1530. In the year 1531. Thomas Bilney of Cambridge Professor of both Laws converted Thomas Arthur and Mr. Hugh Latimer then Cross-bearer at Cambridge on procession days Afterwards Bilney recanted but for the space of two years after his abjuration Bilney lived in great anguish of mind and repenting Preached publickly the Doctrine which he before abjured He was afterwards taken condemned and burned without Bishops-gate in a low Valley called the Lollards pit under St. Leonard's Hill Going to Execution one of his friends wished him to stand sure and constant to whom he answered That whatsoever storms he passed in this venture yet shortly after my Ship saith he shall be in the Haven There came forth in print a Book called The Supplication of Beggars made by Simon Fish which Book the Lady Anna Bolen delivered to the King who gave him his protection Sir Thomas Moor wrote an Answer to that Book under the Title of Poor silly Souls pewling out of Purgatory to which John Frith made a pithy and effectual Reply Tindal's Translation of the New Testament came forth in English Richard Bayfield suffered for the truth and was burned in Smithfield He was sometime a Monk of Surrey and converted by Doctor Barnes After him John Tewksbury was burned in Smithfield Valentine Freese and his Wife gave their Lives at one Stake for the testimony of the Truth Afterwards the Bishops which had burned Tindal's Testaments were enjoyned by the King to cause a new Translation to be made but they did nothing at all And on the contrary the Bishop of London caused all the translations of Tindal and many other Books which he had bought to be burnt in Paul's Church-yard James Bainham a Gentleman of the Middle-Temple was put in a Prison in Sir Thomas Moore 's House and whipped at a Tree in his Garden called The tree of Truth and was by him afterward sent to the Tower to be racked by racking he was lamed because he would not accuse the Gentlemen of the Temple of his acquaintance nor shew where his Books lay He abjured had his liberty but he asked God and the world forgiveness before the Congregation in those dayes in a Ware-house in Bow-lane And immediately the next Sunday after he came to St. Austin's with the New Testament in his hand in English and the obedience of a Christian-man in his bosom and there with tears declared before the people that he had denied God and prayed the people to forgive and beware of his weakness He was shortly after apprehended Fox Acts and Monuments and committed to the Tower of London and after three appearances he was condemned and burnt in Smithfield About this time John Benet a Tailor was burnt at the Devizes in Wilt-shire for denying the Sacrament of the Altar In the year 1532. Robert King Nicholas Marsh and Robert Gardiner men of Dedham and one Robert Debnam had overthrown and burned the Rood of Dover-court ten miles from Dedham for which fact half a year after they were hanged in Chains King at Burchet in Dedham Debnam at Cattaway-causey Marsh at Dover-court Gardiner escaped and fled Many Images were cast down and destroyed in many places As the Crucifix by Coggeshal in the High-way St. Petronel in the Church of Great Horksleigh St. Christopher by Sudbury St. Petronel in a Chappel by Ipswich Also John Seward of Dedham overthrew a Cross in Stokepark and took two Images out of a Chappel in the same Park and cast them into the water John Frith who was first a Student in Cambridge and afteward one of those whom Cardinal Wolsey gathered together to furnish his new Colledge was condemned by the Bishop of London and was burnt in Smithfield Great was his learning gravity and constancy though but six and twenty years of age With Frith was Andrew Hewet burned after he had given testimony to the truth Thomas Benet a Schoolmaster of fifty years of age born in Cambridge was burned at Exeter Divers others were condemned to perpetual prison During the time of Queen Anne no great persecution nor abjuration was in the Church of England Sir Thomas Moore Doctor Nicholas Wilson and Bishop Fisher refused the Oath to the Act of Succession made Anno 1534. and Sir Thomas Moor and Doctor Wilson were also sent to the Tower The Doctor dissembled the matter and so escaped but the other two remained obstinate On November the third this Parliament was again assembled in which the Pope and Cardinals with his Pardons and Indulgences were wholly abolished to the abolition of which and to the ratifying of the King's Title of Supreme Head Stephen Gardiner gave his Oath so did John Stokesley Bishop of London Edward Lee Archbishop of York Cuthbert Bishop of Durham and all the rest of the Bishops in like sort to this Title also agreed the sentence of the University of Cambridge Edmond Bonner then
Archdeacon of Leicester was also of the same judgment To this also agreed the whole Clergy of the Church of England and subscribed with the hands of the Bishops and other learned Men to the number of forty six Doctors of Divinity and of both Laws Polydor Virgil who being sent into England had been the Pope's Collector General of the Peter-pence exacting them in the notion of a Rent and Tribute due to the Pope his Master was made Archdeacon of Taunton and Dignitary of the Cathedral Church of Wells on the Quire whereof he bestowed Hangings flourished with the Lawrel-tree and wrote upon them Sunt Polydori munera Virgilii He wrote a Latin History of Britain until the year of our Lord 1533. out of many rare Manuscripts which he had collected together Anno 1535. John Fisher Bishop of Rochester was beheaded soon after the Pope had made him Cardinal of St. Vitalis He was Chaplain and Confessor to the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond at whose Instance and by whose advice she founded and endowed Christ's and St. John's Colledge in Cambridge He died in the seventy seventh year of his Age on June 22. Sir Thomas Moor was beheaded the next month after Bishop Fisher and was buried at Chelsey He was a great Enemy to the Protestants On June the eighth began a Parliament which was dissolved on July the eighteenth following A parallel Convocation began the day after wherein the Lord Cromwel Prime Secretary sate in State above all the Bishops as the King's Vicar or Vicegerent General in all Spiritual matters Deformi satis spectaculo saith Bishop Godwin Godwin ● Annals Anno 1536. indocto Laico caetui Praesidente Sacratorum Antistitum omnium quos ante haec tempora Anglia unquam habuisset doctissimorum But the Lord Cromwel had in Power and Policy what he wanted in Learning In that Convocation the said Lord tendered unto them an Instrument to be publickly signed by all the Convocation concerning the nullity of the King's Marriage with the Lady Anna Bolen Some ten dayes before Archbishop Cranmer had pronounced it invalid frustrate and of none effect at Lambeth No particular cause is specified in that sentence Sure I am there is no dashing on the credit of the Lady nor any the least insinuation of unchastity in that Instrument Praeclara Domina Serenissima Regina being the worst Titles that are given her therein King Henry got her Divorce confirmed both by Convocation and Parliament She was beheaded May 19. 1536. The King on the next day was married to the Lady Iane Seymour Soon after by little and little began the ruine of the Abbeys and Religious Houses for all Religious Houses whose possessions in yearly revenue exceeded not the sum of two hundred pounds were suppressed and dissolved and all their Sites and Possessions whatsoever were given for ever to the King The Clergy also at the same time of their own accord and to insinuate themselves into grace and favour with the King composed and published in printed Books certain Articles for the ordering and governing of the Church in which mention was made of three Sacraments only and the rest of them which former times did superstitiously receive and maintain were left out of the said Books These proceedings of the King and Clergy against the Pope and Holy Church were so generally disliked by the rude and ignorant people that they openly affirmed that the King's Council irreligiously directed him amiss and that the temporizing Clergy of the Land practised by all means possible to extinguish all Devotion and utterly to subvert all the ancient Rites Ceremonies and commendable Government of the Church And the unruly people in Lincoln-shire to the number of twenty thousand assembled themselves in Arms taking upon themselves to frame better Orders for the governing of the Church and Common-wealth But the King approaching near them with an Army they ran away and Doctor Mackarel their Ring-leader with some others were shortly after apprehended and executed Then there arose another Insurrection in the No●●● and the number of those Rebels exceeded the number of forty thousand men who termed themselves The holy Pilgrims who intended nothing but the establishing of true Religion and the reformation of great abuses which defaced the Government of the Church The King's Army drawing near upon the faithful promise of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk that commanded his Army that the King should pardon them the Rebels left the field and quietly departed to their own houses Now the King waxed more absolute in his Government especially concerning his Clergy and the ordering of the Church William Tindal who translated the New Testament in English and the five Books of Moses with many other godly Works was burned at the Town of Filford in Flaunders by vertue of the Emperors Decree made in the Assembly at Ausburgh He was first strangled and after consumed with fire At the Stake he cried with a loud voice Lord open the King of England 's eyes The King began with a little Book of Articles for the instruction of the people bearing this Title Articles devised by the King's Highness to establish Christian quiet and unity among the people It contained the Creed three Sacramen●s Baptism the Eucharist and Penance how Images might safely be worshipped and how Saints departed ought to be reverenced that the Parsons should teach their people that Christ is their only Mediator and how the Ceremonies of holy Water holy Bread Candles c. should without superstition be used It took away also the abuses which arose upon the imagination of Purgatory as Masses for Souls departed Pardons c. Not long after these Articles certain other Injunctions were also given out about the same year whereby a number of Holy-dayes were abrogated especially such as fell in Harvest-time Other Injunctions were also given out by the King concerning Images Relicks and blind Miracles for abrogating of Pilgrimages Also for the Lord's Prayer Creed and ten Commandements and the Bible to be done into English Anno 1538 the Parsons of Churches and the Parishes together were bound to provide in every Parish Church a Bible in English Also for every Parishioner to be taught by the Minister to understand and say the Lord's Prayer and Creed in their own vulgar tongue with other necessary Injunctions as for the free preaching of the Word of God against Images Pilgrimages Avies Suffrages of Saints c. and for a Register-book to be kept in every Church This year was Friar Forrest burned quick hanging in Chains in Smithfield for denying the King's Supremacy with this Forrest was Darvel Gatheren an abominable Idol of Wales burned Great was the King's profit at this time from the Office for the receipt of Tenths and First-fruits The First-fruits Office first set up in London which was now first set up in London Such moneys were formerly paid to the Pope who had his Collectors in every Diocess which sometimes by Bills of Exchange
but generally in specie to the great impoverishing of the Land yearly returned the Tenths and First-fruits of the English Clergy to Rome The Pope being now dead in England the King was found his Heir at Common Law as to most of the power and profit the other had usurped But now as the Clergy had changed their Landlord so their Rents were new rated Commissioners being employed in all Counties the Bishop of the Diocess being alwayes one of them to value their yearly Revenue that so their Tenths and First-fruits may be proportioned accordingly These Raters were the chiefest in all Counties under the degrees of Barons These Commissioners were impowred by the King to send for the Scribes and Notaries of all Bishops and Archdeacons to swear the Receivers and Auditors of Incumbents to view their Register-books Fuller Church history Easter-books and all other Writings and to use all other wayes to know the full value of Ecclesiastical preferments with the number and names of persons enjoying the same They were to divide themselves by Three and Three allotting to every number so many Deaneries and to enquire the number and names of all Abbies Monasteries Priories Brotherships Sisterships Fellowships c. Houses Religious and Conventual as well CHARTER-HOVSE as others these Carthusians being specified by name because pretending priviledge of Papal exemption and meeting together to certifie into the Exchequer at the time limited in their Commission the true value of such places or preferments This work took up some years in the effecting thereof Devon-shire and Sommerset were done in the twenty seventh Stafford-shire and many other Counties in the thirty fourth year of King Henry the Eighth and most of Wales not till the Reign of King Edward the Sixth In Ireland the Commissioners found the work so troublesome that they never came into the County of Kerrey the South-West extremity of that Island so that the Clergy thereof are put into their Benefices without any payments But in England all were unpartially rated and Vicaridges valued very high according to their present Revenue by personal Requisites Idem ibid. In that Age he generally was the richest Shepherd that had the greatest Flock where Oblations from the living and Obits for the dead as certainly paid as predial Tithes much advanced their Income In consideration whereof Vicaridges mostly lyinig in Market-Towns and populous Parishes were set very high though soon after those obventions sunk with superstition And the Vicars in vain desired a proportionable abatement in the King's Books which once drawn up were no more to be altered Now Queen Mary did by Act of Parliament exonerate acquit and discharge the Clergy from all First-fruits As for Tenths the same Statute ordered them to be paid to Cardinal Pool who from the same was to pay the Pensions allowed to Monks and Nuns by her Father at the dissolution of Abbeys yet so that when such persons who were but few and aged all named in a Deed indented should decease all such payments of the Clergy reserved Nomine Decimae should cease and be extinct for ever But her Sister Queen Elizabeth Vide Statut. 1 Eliz. cap. 4. succeeding her was exact to have her Dues from the Clergy Sir Christopher Hatton who was Master of this First-fruits Office was much indebted to her for Moneys received All which Arrears her Majesty required so severely and suddenly from him that the grief thereof cost him his life I say this Queen in the first of her Reign resumed First-fruits and Tenths only with this case to Parsonages not exceeding ten Marks and Vicaridges ten pounds that they should be freed from First-fruits In the months of October and November Anno 1538. the Abbeys and Monasteries in England were dissolved Cromwel being made General Visitor employed Richard Layton Thomas Lee William Detre Doctors of the Law Doctor John London Dean of Wallingford with others giving them instruction in eighty six Articles for visiting Monasteries every where by which they were to enquire into the government behaviour and education of the persons of both Sexes to find out all their offences and to this purpose give them encouragements to accuse both their Governors and each other To command them to exhibit their Mortmains Lord Herbert in vit Henr. 8. Evidences and Conveyances of their Lands to produce their Plate and Money and give an Inventory thereof The King also gave forth Injunctions to be observed some tending to the establishing of his Supremacy Some touching the good Government of the Houses As that no Brother go out of the Precinct That there be but one entrance That no Woman frequent the Monks nor any Man the Nuns c. And some for Education As that a Divinity-lecture be every where read and frequented That the Abbot daily expound some part of the Rule of their Order shewing yet that these Ceremonies are but Introductions to Religion which consisteth not in Apparel shaven Heads c. but in purity of mind That none shall profess or wear the Habit till twenty four years of age That no feigned Relicks or Miracles be shewed no Offerings to Images c. Lee and the rest at their return gave that account of their feigned Miracles and Relicks as well as sinful and sluggish life of the Religious Orders as not only Cromwel said their Houses should be thrown down to the foundation but the whole Body of the Kingdom when it was published to them became so scandalized thereat as they resolve if the King ever put it into their hands to give remedy thereunto Yet were not all alike criminal for some Societies behaved themselves so well as their life being not only exempt from notorious faults but their spare times bestowed in writing Books Painting Carving Graving and the like Exercises their Visitors became Intercessors for them But these being not many were at last involved in the common fate Not long after this the King caused all Colledges Chantries and Hospitals to be visited not omitting to take a particular survey of all the Revenues and Dignities Ecclesiastical within his Kingdom which was returned to him in a Book to be kept in the Exchequer Then King Henry sent Fox Bishop of Hereford to the Protestant Princes in Germany assembled at Smalcald to exhort them to an unity in Doctrine wherein he offered his assistance by conference with their Divines Immediately after the ruine of Monasteries in the Month of November followed the condemnation of John Lambert that faithful Servant of Christ On a set day Lambert was brought forth where he had not only the King 's fierce countenance against him but also ten Disputers against him from twelve of the clock till five at night among which were the Archbishop Stephen Gardiner C. Tunstal Bishop of Durham and J. Stokesley Bishop of London Through Winchester's perswasion to gratifie the people the King himself condemned Lambert and commanded Cromwel to read the Sentence He was burned in Smithfield where he suffered
party during the rest of the King's Reign But then there started up another faction as opposite to the publick Liturgy as were those of Rome The Archbishop and the rest of Prelates which co-operated with him in the work of Reformation were resolved now to go forwards with a Reformation in point of Doctrine And therefore Letters were directed by Archbishop Cramner to Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr two eminent Divines Heylin s Hist Edw. vi Martyr came over in the end of November and having spent sometime with the Archbishop in his house at Lambeth was dispatched to Oxford where he was made the King's Professour for Divinity and about two years after made Canon of Christ-Church His readings were so much disliked by some of that University that a publick disputation was shortly had betwixt him and some of those that disliked his doings about some points in the Sacrament Doctor Cox Chancellour of the University assisted by Mr. Morrison a right learned man being Moderators declared that Martyr had sufficiently answered all Arguments which were brought against him by Chadsey the chief of the opponents and the rest of those who disputed with him Bucer came not over till June and being here receives letters from Calvin Mediis consiliis vel Authorem esse vel Approbatorem Calvin Epist. ad Bucer by which he was advised to take heed of his old fault for a fault he thought it which was to run a moderate course in his Reformations The first thing that Bucer did after his coming hither was to acquaint himself with the English Liturgy translated for him into Latine by Alexander Alesius a Learned Scot and generally well approved of by him as to the main Frame and Body of it Of this he gives an ac●ount to Calvin Having received a courteous entertainment from the Lord Protector and being heartily well-commed by Archbishop Cranmer he is sent to take the Chair at Cambridge But he had not held that place long when he left this life deceasing on January 19. Anno 1550. to the great loss and grief of that University Calvin writes to the Protector to this effect That the Papists would grow more insolent every day than other unless the difference were composed about the Ceremonies But how not by reducing the Opponents to Conformity but by encouraging them rather in their opposition John Rogers Lecturer in S. Paul's and John Hooper Vicar of S. Sepulchres were founders of Non-conformity The Founders of Non-conformity This John Hooper was bred in Oxford well-skilled in Latine Greek and Hebrew and afterwards travelled over into Switzerland He was preferred to be Bishop of Glocester by the favour of his Patron John Earl of Warwick afterwards Duke of Northumberland But when Hooper came to be consecrated Bishop of Glocester he scrupled the wearing of certain Episcopal Ornaments Rochet Chimere Square Cap c. producing a letter from the Earl of Warwick that he might be favourably dispensed with therein The King also thirteen dayes after wrote to Archbishop Cranmer to the same effect All would not do Resolute Bishop Ridley stood stiffly to his tackling and here was bandying of the business betwixt them and arguments urged on both sides The Earl of Warwick deserted his Chaplain and Hooper was sent to prison and kept sometime in durance till he condescended to conform himself in his habit and so was consecrated Bishop of Glocester After this Hooper bare a great grudge against Ridley who enforced him thereunto but God's providence sanctified their sufferings afterwards into an agreement We must not forget that this earnest contest was not about the vocation but about the vestments of Bishops Thus we have the first beginning of that opposition which hath continued ever since against the Liturgy c. and other Rites and Usages of the Church of England About this time John a Lasco free Baron of Lasco in Poland with his Congregation of Germans and other strangers took Sanctuary this year in England hoping that here they might enjoy that liberty of conscience and safety for their goods and persons which their own Countrey had denyed them The King gratiously vouchsafed to give them both entertainment and protection assigned them the west part of the Church belonging to the late dissolved house of Augustine-friars for the exercise of Religious Worship made them a Corporation consisting of a Superintendent and four other Ministers with power to fill the vacant places by a new Succession whensoever any of them should be voyd by death or otherwise the parties by them chosen to be approved by the King and Council He commanded the Lord Mayor of London the Aldermen and Sheriff thereof as also the Archbishop of Canterbury and all other Bishops of this Realm not to distrub them in the free exercise of their Religion and Ecclesiastical Government although they differed from the government and forms of Worship established in the Church of England All which he granted by his Letters Patents This John a Lasco quickly publisheth a book Entitled Forma Ratio totius Ecclesiastici Ministerii wherein he maintains the use of sitting at the Holy Communion contrary to the custom of the Church of England to the encouragement of those who impugned her Orders A controversie moved by Bishop Hooper touching the Episcopal Habit was presently propagated among the rest of the Clergy touching Caps and Surplices And in this quarrel John a Lasco engageth countenancing those that refused to wear them Heylin's Hist Edw. vi and Writing to Martin Bucer to declare against them But that Moderate and Learned Man severely reprehended him and solidly answered all his Objections Which being sent to him in the way of letter was afterward Printed and dispersed for keeping down that opposite humour This controversie was countenanced by Peter Martyr for besides his judgement which he gives of these things in some of his Epistles about things of this nature he hath told us of his own practice in one of his Epistles Dated at Zurick Novemb. 4. 1559. being more than five years after he had left this Kingdom That he had never used the Surplice when he lived in Oxford though he were then a Canon of Christ-church and frequently present in the Quire While this controversie was on foot between the Bishops and the Clergy John Rogers one of the Prebends of S. Paul's and Divinity Reader of that Church then newly return'd from beyond the Seas could never be perswaded to wear any other than the round cap when he went abroad And being further pressed unto it he thus declared himself That he would never agree to that point of Conformity but on this condition that if the Bishops did require the Cap and Tippet c. then it should also be declared that all Popish Priests for a distinction between them and others should be constrained to wear upon their sleeves a Chalice with an Host upon it Nay such peccancy of humour began then to break out that
all or most part to themselves The King grew Sick and weak in B●●y in which Estate Duke Dudley so prevailed upon him that he consented to a transposition of the Crown from his natural Sisters to the Children of the Dutchess of Suffolk His dying Prayer as is was taken from his mouth was in these words following Lord God deliver me out of the miseries of this wretched and sinful life and take me among thy chosen Howbeit not my will but thy will be done Lord I commit my Spirit to Thee O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with Thee yet for thy chosens sake send me life and health that I may truly serve Thee O my Lord God bless thy people and save thine inheritance O Lord God save thy chosen people of England O my Lo●d God defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my people may truly praise thy Name for Jesus Christ his sake Thus endeth the Reign of that good King Edward the Sixth sufficiently remarkable for the progress of Reformation but so distracted unto Sides and Factions that in the end the King himself became a prey to the strongest party which saith Dr. Heylin could not otherwise be safe but in his destruction contrived on purpose as it was generally supposed to smooth the way to the advancement of the Lady Jane Gray newly married to Guilford Dudley fourth Son to Duke Dudley to the Royal Throne King Edward being dead the Princess Mary hearing of her Brothers death and knowing her own right writeth to the Lords of the Council ●nd challengeth them for their doing making her claim to the Crown To whom the Council writeth again as to a Subject requiring her to rest so contented The Lady Jane was on the same day that these Letters were dispatched brought by Water to the Tower attended by a Noble Train of both Sexes from Durham-house in the Strand where she had been entertained as part of Dudley's Family ever since her Marriage When she came into the presence of the two Dukes her Father and Father in Law it was signified to Her by the Duke of Northumberland that the King was dead and that he had declared her for his next Successor in the Crown After a pithy speech the poor Lady found her self in a great perplexity But being wearied at last with their importunities and overcome by the entreaties of her Husband whom she dearly loved she submitted unto that necessity which she could not vanquish Hereupon the two Dukes with all the rest of the Lords of the Council swore Allegiance to he● And on the same day about five a Clock in the afternoon they solemnly caused her to be Proclaimed Queen of England France and Ireland c. in many of the principal Streets of London and after by degrees in most of the chief Cities Towns and places of greatest concourse In which Proclamation it was signified That by the Letters Patents of the late King Edward the Lady Jane Gray eldest Daughter to the Dutchess of Suffolk had been declared to be his true and lawful Successor to the Crown of England the same to be enjoyed after her decease by the heirs of her Body c. Which Proclamation though it was published in the City with all due solemnities and that the concourse of the people was great yet their acclamations were few The next day the Lords were advertised that many persons of quality were drawn together at Kenning-hall Castle in Norfolk to offer their service and assistance to the Princess Mary as the Earl of Bath Sir Thomas Wharton Son of the Lord Wharton Sir John Mordant Son of the Lord Mordant Sir William Drury Sir John Shelton Sir Henry Beddingfield Sir Henry Jerningham Sir John Sulierd Mr. Richard Higham of Lincolns-Inne It was advertised also that the Earl of Sussex and his Son were coming towards her with their Forces Therefore they perswade Duke Dudley to take the conduct of some Forces that might scatter those small companies before they grew unto an Head Swelled with vain-glory he suffered himself to be entreated to an action of such fame and merit as that which they presented to him So the Duke with the Marquess of Northampton the Lord Gray and divers others of note on July 14. 1553. set forward with eighth thousand Foot and two thousand Horse The Duke's March was slow In the mean time Edward Hastings the Earl of Huntingdon's Brother having an Army of four thousand Foot committed to him by the Duke of Northumberland left his party and went to the Lady Mary And six great ●hips which lay before Yarmouth to intercept her if she should attempt to fly now at the perswasion of Mr Jerningham came to her aid Upon news hereof the Lords themselves assembled at Baynards Castle first the Earl of Arundel then the Earl of Pembrook fell to Invectives against Northumberland and then all the Lords consenting with them they called for the Lord Mayor and in London Proclaimed the Lady Mary Queen She was also Proclaimed by divers other Lords and Knights in divers other Counties which the Duke being then at Bury hearing of he returneth to Cambridge and there himself Proclaimeth the Lady Mary Queen but the next morning he was arrested by Henry Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel by Order from Queen Mary Together with the Duke his three Sons John Ambrose and Henry the Earl of Huntingdon Sir Andrew Dudley the two Gates Sir Thomas Palmer and Doctor Sands were committed to the Tower and the next day the Marquess of Northampton the Lord Robert Dudley and Sir Robert Corbet Before which time the Duke of Suffolk entring his Daughter the Lady Janes Chamber told her she must now put off her Royal robes which she willingly did Doctor Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London was also sent to the Tower on July 27. Sir Roger Cholmley Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Sir Edward Mountague Chief Justice of the Common Pleas the Duke of Suffolk were sent also to the Tower Sir John Cheek on the morrow after bringing up the Reer But the Duke of Suffolk Father to the Lady Jane was released within three days after The Duke of Northumberland together with John Earl of Warwick his eldest Son and William Marquess of Northampton were brought to their Trial on August 8. before Thomas Duke of Norfolk then sitting as Lord High Steward in Westminster Hall they all confessed the Indictment and received Judgment in the usual form The like Judgement passed on the morrow after on Sir John Gates Sir Henry Gates Sir Andrew Dudley and Sir Thomas Palmer The Duke was on August 22. beheaded and professed himself a Papist at his death whose Recantation the Papists published abroad with great rejoycing with him died also Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer which Palmer confessed the Faith he learned in the Gospel and lamented that he had not lived more as became the Gospel The Queen had dissolved her Camp at
hoping to be continued the latter labouring to be restored Seeing by the fidelity of the Norfolk and Suffolk Protestant Gentry the Queen was much advantaged for the speedy recovering of her Right they conceived that as she by them had regained the Crown so they under her should enjoy their Consciences The Papists put their Ceremonies in execution presuming on the Queens private practice and publick countenance The Queen on August 18. puts forth a Proclamation declaring her self for the Popish Religion which she resolves to observe for her self wishing her Subjects to follow her example yet that she mindeth not to compel any thereunto until such time as further order by common Assent may be taken therein forbidding all her Subjects to move Seditions at their perils and the Printing of any Book Rhyme Enterlude or Treatise without her special License for the same and likewise to Preach or by way of reading in Churches or other publick or private places except in Schools of the Universities to Interpret or Teach any Scripture or any points of Doctrine concerning Religion Hereupon many of the people in divers places received their old Religion erected again their Altars and used the Mass and Latin Service as was wont to be in King Henrie's time In Cambridge the Vice-chancellor chalenged one Peirson on Octob. 3. for officiating the Communion in his own Parish Church in the English Tongue and on the 26. displaced Doctor Madew Master of Clare-hall for being Married In like manner some of the Popish party in King's Colledge on the 28th of the same moneth officiated the Divine Service in the Latin Tongue At Oxford John Jewel was chosen to pen the first gratulatory Letter to the Queen in the name of the University an Office imposed on him by his Enemies Doctor Tresham a Van-currier before authority repaired the great Bell in Christ-church and named it Mary Harley Bishop of Hereford and Taylor of Lincoln two of the last of King Edward's Bishops were present at the opening of the Parliament Octob. 10. But no sooner was the Mass begun though not then restored by any Law than they left the Church For which the Bishop of Lincoln being first examined and making profession of his Faith prevented the malice of his enemies by a timely Death And Harley upon information of his Marriage was presently excluded from the Parliament-house and not long after from his Bishoprick also Hereupon Bishop Barlow of Wells and Scory of Chichester passed beyond the Seas followed not long after by Bishop Poinet of Winchester On November 3. Archbishop Cranmer was arraigned at the Guild-hall in London with the Lord Guilford Dudley the late Queen Jane his Wife and others all of them being attainted and condemned of Treason After Peter Martyr had quit the Realm his Wive's Body having been buried in the Church of St. Frideswid was afterward by publick order taken out of the Grave and buried in a common dunghill John a Lasco was forced to dissolve his Congregation and He with his Strangers to quit the Countrey The like hast made the French Protestants also At which time many of the English as well Students as others departed also The principal of those were Katherine the last Wife of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk Robert Berty Esq Husband to the Dutchess the Bishops of Winchester and Wells as before was said Sir Richard Morison Sir Anthany Cook and Sir John Cheek Doctor Cox Doctor Sands and Doctor Grindal The News of Queen Maries succeeding her Brother to the Crown of England posted to Rome and was very welcome to Pope Julius the Third because it gave him some assurance of his re-admission into the Power and Jurisdiction of his Predecessors in the Realm of England in pursuance of which hopes it was resolved that Cardinal Pool should be sent Legate into England who being of the Blood-royl and a man of eminent Learning and of exemplary life was looked on as the fittest Instrument to reduce that Kingdom The Parliaments first Act was to take away all Statutes passed by the two last Kings wherein certain Offences had been made High Treason and others brought within the compass of a Pramunire This was done especially for Pool's security that neither He by exercising his authority nor the Clergy by submitting to it might be entangled in the like snares as Cardinal Wolsey and the whole Clergy of his time had before been caught Then an Act was passed for repealing certain Statutes of King Edward thereby they took away all former Statutes for administring the Sacraments in both kinds for establishing the first and second Liturgy c. In a word by this one blow the Queen cut down all that had been done in the Reformation in seven years before And then for want of Canonical Ordination on the one side and under colour of Uncanonical Marriages on the other there was presently such a remove among the Bishops and Clergy as it is not any where to be paralelled in so short a time An Act was passed likewise Entitled An Act against offenders of Preachers c which two Acts were seconded by the Queen with two Proclamations December 5. By one of which it was declared that all Statutes made in the time of the late King Edward which concerned Religion were repealed by Parliament and therefore that the Mass should be said as formerly to begin on the twentieth of that moneth And by the other it was commanded that no person should dare from thenceforth to disturb any Priests in saying Mass or executing any other Divine Office Accordingly the Mass was publickly officiated in all parts of the Kingdom and so continued during the Reign of the Queen without interruption Another Act was passed wherein it was Enacted That the Marriage between King Henry the Eighth and Queen Katherine his first Wife was lawful and to stand with God's Laws and his Holy Word c. That the Decree of Divorce heretofore passed between the said King Henry and the said Queen by Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury should be reputed to be void and null with a Repeal of all such Statutes wherein the Queen had been declared to be Illegitimate There also past another Act in which there was a clause for the invalidating of all such Commissions as had been granted in the time of the late Queen Jane and one in confirming the Attainders of the late Duke of Northumberland Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury c. Together with this Parliament the Queen summoned a Convocation that all matters of Religion might first be debated and concluded in a Synodical way before they were offered to the Parliament In the Writs of which Summons Heylin Hist of Q. Mary she retained the Title of Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England c. the want whereof in those of the present Parliament occasioned dispute among some of the Members Whether they might lawfully proceed or not in such publick business as were to be propounded to them in
Crown but without any Act for the validity of her Mother's Marriage on which her Title most depended There passed an Act also for restoring the Tenths and first Fruits to the Crown first setled thereon in the time of King Henry the Eighth and afterwards given back by Queen Mary to the Pope They passed an Act also for the dissolution of all such Monasteries Convents and Religious Orders as had been Founded and established by Queen Mary By vertue of which Act Queen Elizabeth was repossessed of all those Lands which had been granted by her Sister to the Monks of Westminster and Shen the Knights Hospitallers the Nuns of Sion together with the Mansion houses re-edified for the Observants of Greenwich and the Black-friers in Smithfield In passing the Act of the Supremacy there was some trouble it seemed to be a thing even abhorrent in Nature and Polity that a Woman should be declared to be the Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England But the Queen declined the Title of Head and assumed the name of Governor of the Church of England This Act having easily passed the House of Commons found none of the Temporal Lords in the House of Lords to oppose it save onely the Earl of Shrewsbury and Anthony Brown Viscount Montacute As for the Bishops there were but fourteen and the Abbot of Westminster then alive of whom four being absent the rest could not make any considerable opposition In the Convocation of the Clergy there passed certain Articles of Religion which they tendered to the Parliament which were these I. That in the Sacrament of the Altar by the vertue of Christ assisting after the word is duly pronounced by the Priest the natural Body of Christ conceived by the Virgin Mary is really present under the Species of Bread and Wine also his natural Blood II. That after the Consecration there remains not the substance of Bread and Wine nor any other substance save the substance of God and Man III. That the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is offered a propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and dead IV. That the supreme power of feeding and governing the Militant Church of Christ and of confirming their Brethren is given to Peter the Apostle and to his lawful Successors in the See Apostolick as unto the Vicars of Christ. V. That the Authority to handle and define such things which belong to Faith the Sacraments and Discipline Ecclesiastical hath hitherto ever belonged and onely ought to belong unto the Pastors of the Church whom the Holy Spirit hath placed in the Church of God and not unto Lay-men This Remonstrance exhibited by the lower house of Convocation to the Bishops was according to their Requests presented by Edmond Bonner Bishop of London to the Lord Keeper of the Broad-seal of England in the Parliament Both Universities did concur to the truth of the foresaid Articles the last onely excepted This Declaration of the Popish Clergy hastened the disputation appointed on the last of March in the Church of Westminster wherein these Questions were debated I. Whether Service and Sacraments ought to be celebrated in the vulgar Tongue II. Whether the Church hath not power to alter Ceremonies III. Whether the Mass be a propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead Popish Disputants White Bishop of Winchester Watson Bishop of Lincoln Baynes Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Scot Bishop of CHESTER Protestant Disputants John Scory late Bishop of Chichester David Whitehead Robert Horn. Edmond Gwest Edwyn Sandys John Elmer Edmond Grindal John Juel Moderators Nicholas Heath Archbishop of York Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Besides the Disputants there were present many of the Lords of the Queens Council with other of the Nobility as also many of the lower House of Parliament For the manner of their conference it was agreed it should be performed in writing and that the Bishops should deliver their Reasons in writing first Many differences arose between them so that the conference broke off and nothing was determined The Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester thought meet that the Queen and the Authors of this defection from the Church of Rome should be Excommunicated who for this cause were imprisoned Then a Peace being made was Proclaimed over all England betwixt the Queen of England the King of France the Daulphin and the Queen of Scots The Parliament being dissolved by Authority of the same the Liturgy was forthwith brought into the Churches in the Vulgar Tongue the Oath of Supremacy offered to the Popish Bishops and others of the Ecclesiastical profession which most of them had sworn unto in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth All the Bishops refused except Anthony Bishop of Landaff As many as refused were turned out of their Livings Dignities Bishopricks In the Sees of the Prelates removed were placed Protestant Bishops Matthew Parker was made Archbishop of Canterbury who was Consecrated by three that formerly had been Bishops namely William Barlow of Bath and Wells John Scory of Chichester and Miles Coverdale of Exeter And being Consecrated himself he afterward Consecrated Edmond Grindal Bishop of London Richard Cox Bishop of Ely Edwyn Sandys Bishop of Worcester Rowland Merick Bishop of Bangor Thomas Young Bishop of St. David's Nicholas Bullingham Bishop of Lincoln John Juel Bishop of Salisbury Richard Davis Bishop of St. Asaph Edward Guest Bishop of Rochester Gilbert Barkley Bishop of Bath and Wells Thomas Bentham Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield William Alley Bishop of Exeter John Parkhurst Bishop of Norwich Robert Horn Bishop of Winchester Richard Cheiney Bishop of Glocester Edmond Scambler Bishop of Peterborough William Barlow Bishop of Chichester John Scory Bishop of Hereford Thomas Young Archbishop of York James Pilkinton Bishop of Durham John Best Bishop of Carlile and William Dounham Bishop of Chester Nicholas Health Archbishop of York lived privately many years in his Mannor of Chobham in Surrey never restrained to any one place and died in great favour with the Queen who bestowed many gratious visits upon him during his retirement Tonstal of Durham spent the remainder of his time with Archbishop Parker by whom he was kindly entertained and honourably buried The like civility was afforded to Thurlby Bishop of Ely in the same house and unto Bourn of Wells by the Dean of Exon in which two houses they both died about ten years after White though at first imprisoned for his faults after some cooling himself in the Tower of London was suffered to enjoy his liberty and to retire himself to what friend he pleased Which favour was vouchsafed unto Turbervil also who being a Gentleman by extraction wanted not friends to give him good entertainment Watson of Lincoln after a short restraint spent the remainder of his time with the Bishops of Rochester and Ely till having practised against the State he was shut up in the Castle of VVisbich where at last he died Oglethorp died soon after his deprivation of an Apoplexy
Bayn of the Stone and Morgan in December following Pool enjoyed the like freedom and died in a good old age Christopherson lived on his Estate Bonner alone was doomed to a perpetual imprisonment the prison proving to that wretch saith Dr. Heylin his greatest Sanctuary whose horrid Butcheries had otherwise exposed him to the popular fury We find no more to have been deprived of their preferments than fourteen Bishops six Abbots Priors and Governors of Religious Orders twelve Deans and as many Archdeacons fifteen Presidents or Masters of Colledges fifty Prebendaries of Cathedral Churches and about eighty Parsons or Vicars The whole number not amounting to two hundred men which in a Realm consisting of nine thousand Parishes and twenty six Cathedral Churches could be no great matter But there was not a sufficient number of Learned men to supply the Cures which filled the Church with an Ignorant Clergy Dr. P. Heylins History of Queen Eliz. whose Learning went no further than the Liturgy or the Book of Homilies but otherwise conformable which was no small felicity to the Rules of the Church And on the other side many were raised to great preferments who having spent their time of exile in such Forreign Churches as followed the platform of Geneva returned so disaffected to Episcopal Government unto the Rites here by Law established as not long after filled the Church with most sad disorders On which account we find the Queens Professor in Oxford among the Non-conformists and Cartwright the Lady Margaret's in Cambridge VVhittingham the Ring-leader of the Franckfort dividers was preferred to the Deanery of Durham Sampson to the Deanery of Christ-church and within few years after turned out for a rigid Non-conformist Hardiman one of the first twelve Prebendaries of the Church of VVestminster deprived soon after for throwing down the Altar and defacing the Vestments of the Church Whether it were by the Pope's instigation or by by the ambition of the Daulphin who had then Married the Queen of Scots the Scottish Queen assumeth unto her self the Style and Title of Queen of England quartereth the Armes thereof upon all her Plate and in all Armories and Eschutcheons as she had occasion A folly that Queen Elizabeth could never forget nor forgive and this engaged her the more resolutely in that Reformation so happily begun And to that purpose she sets out by advice of her Council a certain Body of Injunctions accommodated to the temper of the present time wherein severe course was taken about Ministers Marriages the use of Singing and the Reverence in Divine Worship to be kept in Churches the posture of the Communion-table and the Form of Prayers in the Congregation By the Injunctions she made way to her Visitation Executed by Commissioners in their several Circuits and regulated by a Book of Articles printed and published for that purpose Proceeding by which Articles the Commissioners removed all carved Images out of the Church which had been abused to Superstition defacing also all such Pictures Paintings as served for the setting forth feigned Miracles They enquired also into the life and doctrine of Ministers their diligence in attending their several Cures the decency of their apparel the respect of the Parishioners toward them Heylin's Hist of Q. Elizab. the reverent behaviour of all manner of persons in God's Worship c. by means whereof the Church was setled and confirmed in so good an Order that the work was made more easie to the Bishops when they came to Govern than otherwise it could have been In London the Visitors were Sir Richard Sackvil Father to Thomas Earl of Dorset Robert Horn soon after Bishop of VVinchester Doctor Huick a Civilian and one Salvage a Common Lawyer who calling before them divers Persons of every Parish gave them an Oath to enquire and present upon such Articles and Injunctions as were given unto them In pursuance whereof they burnt in St. Paul's Church-yard Cheapside and other places of the City all the Roods and other Images which had been taken out of the Churches And in some places the Copes Vestments Altar-cloathes Books Banners Sepulchres and Rood-lofts were burned altogether A Peace being concluded betwixt England and France although Queen Elizabeth had just cause to be offended with the young King Francis the Second for causing the Queen of Scots his Wise to take upon her self the Title and Armes of England yet she resolved to bestow a Royal obsequy upon the King deceased which was performed in St. Paul's Church on the eighth and nineth of September in most solemn manner Kellison the Jesuite and Parsons from him slaunderously affirmed That Archbishop Parker was consecrated at the Nags-head Tavern in Cheapside This slaunder was raised on this occasion In order to his Consecration the first thing to be done after the passing the Royal Assent for ratifying the election of the Dean and Chapter was the confirming it in the Court of the Arches according to the usual form in that behalf Mason's Consecration of Bishops in the Church of England lib. 3. cap. 4. Which being accordingly done the Vicar General the Dean of the Arches the Proctors and Officers of the Court whose presence was required at this Solemnity were entertained at a Dinner provided for them at the Nags-head Tavern in Cheapside for which though Archbishop Parker paid the shot yet shall the Church be called to an after-reckoning But the Records of the Archbishoprick declare that he was Consecrated in the Chappel within his Mannor of Lambeth These slaunderers knew right well that nothing did more justifie the Church of England in the eye of the World than that it did preserve a Succession of Bishops and consequently of all other sacred Orders in the Ministration without which as they would not grant it to be a Church so could they prove it to be none by no stronger Argument than that the Bishops or the pretended Bishops rather in their Opinion were either not Consecrate at all or not Canonically Consecrated as they ought to be And now we may behold the face of the Church of England as it was first setled and established under Queen Elizabeth The Government of the Church by Archbishops and Bishops These Bishops nominated and elected according to the Statute in the twenty sixth of King Henry the Eighth and Consecrated by the Ordinal confirmed by Parliament in the fifth and sixth year of King Edward the Sixth never appearing publickly but in their Rotchets nor Officiating otherwise than in Copes of the Altar the Priests not stirring out of doors in their square Caps Cowns or Canonical Coats nor Executing any Divine Service but in their Surplice Heylin Hist of Q. Elizab. The Doctrine of the Church reduced unto it's antient purity according to the Articles agreed upon in Convocation Anno 1552. The Liturgy conform to the Primitive paterns The Festivals preserved in their former dignity observed with their distinct Offices peculiar to them the weekly Fasts the time of
Cap the Episcopal Habit the Churche's Patrimony the manner of proceeding to be held against Papists the Perambulation used in the Rogation week c. in which his judgement was desired But these helps being too far off another project was set on foot Gryndal the new Bishop of London was known to have a great respect to Calvin the business therefore is so ordered that by Calvin's Letters to Gryndal and the friends they had about the Queen way should be given to such of the French Nation as had repaired hither to enjoy the freedom of their own Religion to have a Church unto themselves and in that Church not onely to erect the Genevian Discipline but to set up a Form of Prayer saith Dr. Heylin which should hold no conformity with the English Liturgy This was effected And now there is another Church in London as different from the Church of England in Government and Forms of worship as that of John Alasco was in the Augustine Friars Upon the news of which success divers both French and Dutch came into England planted themselves in the Sea-Towns and openly professed the Reformed Religion But some of them proved to be Anabaptists and others infected with corrupt Opinions of as ill a nature which being made known to the Queen she commands them all by Proclamation to depart the Kingdom whether they were Aliens or natural-born English within twenty days upon pain of imprisonment and loss of all their goods yet notwithstanding many of them lurked in England without fear of discovery especially after the erecting of so many French and Dutch Churches in the Maritime parts The French and Dutch Churches in London were infected with their frenzies and such disputes were among them on that account that Peter Martyr interposed his Authority with them to the composing of those differences which had grown among them for which see his Letter bearing date at Zurich on February 15. next following after the date of the said Proclamation which seemeth to have been about September 16. and superscribed Vnto the Church of Strangers in the City of London By another Proclamation she labours to restrain a sacrilegious kind of people which under pretence of abolishing Superstition demolished antient Tomb●s razed the Epitaphs and Coat-armors of most Noble Familes and other Monuments of venerable Antiquity took the Bells out of Churches and pluckt off the Lead from the Church-roofs The Abbey of Westminster most renouned for the Inauguration of the Kings of England their Sepulture and the keeping of the Regal Ensignes she converted to a Collegiat Church and there she instituted a Dean twelve Prebendaries a School-master an Usher forty Scholars called the Queen's Scholars whereof six or more are preferred every year to the Vniversities Petit Canons and others of the Quire to the number of thirty ten Officers belonging to the Church and as many Servants belonging to the Colledge-diet and twelve Almes-men besides many Officers Stewards and Collectors for keeping Courts and bringing in of their Revenue The principal of which called the High Steward of Westminster hath ever since been one of the prime Nobility The Dean intrusted with keeping the Regalia honoured with a place of necessary service at all Coronations and a Commissioner for the peace within the City of Westminster and the liberties of it by Act of Parliament The S holars annually preferred by election either to Christ-church in Oxford or Trinity Colledge in Cambridge Since this new Foundation of it it hath given breeding and preferment to four Archbishops two Lord Keepers of the Great Seal of England twenty two Bishops and thirteen Deans of Cathedral-churches besides Archdeacons Prebendaries and other Dignitaries in the Church to a proportionable number The death of Francis the second the young King of France who had married Mary Queen of Scots encouraged the Scots to proceed boldly with their Reformation The Duke of Guise laboured with the Pope to fulminate his Excommunications against Queen Elizabeth as one that had renounced his authority apostatized from the Catholick Religion and utterly exterminated the profession of it out of her Dominions But the Duke sped no better in his negotiation than the Count of Feria did before About this time one Geoffrys was committed Prisoner to the Marshalsey in Southwark and More to the house of Mad-men commonly called Bethlem without Bishop's-g●● in London More professed himself to be Christ Geoffrys believed him to be such and reported him so Having remained a whole year in prison without shewing any sign of their repentance Geoffrys was whipt on April 10. 1561. from the said Marshalsey to Bethlem with a paper bound about his head which signified That this was William Geoffrys a most blasphemous Heretick who denied Christ to be in Heaven At Bethlem he was whipt again in the presence of More till the lash had extorted from him a confession of his damnable error After which More was stript and whipt in the open Streets till he had made the like acknowledgment confessing Christ to be in Heaven and Himself to be a vile sinful man Which being done they were again remitted to their several prisons for their further cure On June the fourth a lamentable fire about four a Clock in the afternoon first shewed it self near the top of the Steeple of St. Paul's Church in London and from thence burnt down the Spire to the Stone-work and Bells and raged so terribly that within the space of four hours the Timber and Lead of the whole Church and whatsoever else was combustible in it was miserably consumed to the great terror of all Beholders Which Church said to be the largest in all the Christian World for all dimensions contains in length seven hundred and twenty foot in breadth one hundred and thirty foot and in height from the pavement to the top of the roof one hundred and fifty foot The Steeple from the ground to the Cross or Weather-cock contained in height five hundred and twenty foot of which the square Tower onely amounted to two hundred and sixty the Pyramide or Spire to as many more which Spire being raised of massy Timber and covered over with sheets of Lead as it was the more apt to be enflamed so was the mischief more incapable of a present remedy The Queen hereupon directed her Letters to the Lord Mayor and City of London to take care therein In obedience to whose Royal Pleasure the Citizens granted a Benevolence and three Fifteens to be speedily paid besides the great bounty of particular persons c. The Queen also sent in a thousand Marks in ready money and Warrants for one thousand load of Timber to be served out of Her Majesties Woods The Clergy of the Province of Canterbury contributing to this work the fortieth part of their Benefices which stood charged with first-fruits and the thirtieth part of those which had paid the same The Clergy of the Diocess of London bestowed the thirtieth part of such of their livings as were
under the burden of that payment and the twentieth part of those which were not To which the Bishop added at several times the sum of nine hundred pound one shilling eleven pence the Dean and Chapter one hundred thirty six pound thirteen shillings four pence By all which and some other little helps the work was carried on so fast that before the end of April 1566. the Timber-work of the Roof was not onely fitted but compleatly covered And now the Pope's Nuncio being advanced already in his way to England as far as Flanders expecteth the Queen's pleasure touching his admittance for the Pope could not be taken off from sending his Nuncio to the Queen with whom he conceived himself to stand upon termes of Amity But the Queen persevered in her first intent affirming she could not treat with the Bishop of Rome whose authority was excluded out of England by consent of Parliament The greatest obstacle to the Nuncio's coming was partly laid by the indiscretion of some Papists in England and partly by the precipitancy of the Pope's Ministers in Ireland for sundry ill-disposed persons upon the noise of the Nuncio's coming not onely brake the Laws made against the Pope and his Authority but spread abroad slaunderous reports that the Queen was at the point to change her Religion and alter the government of the Realm Some also had practised with the Devil by Conjurations Charms and casting of Figures to be informed in the length of her Majesties Reign And on the other side the Pope's Legate being at the same time in Ireland joyned himself to some desperate Traitors who stirred up rebellion there and as much as in him was had deprived the Queen of all Right and Title to that Kingdom Upon which grounds it was carried clearly at the Council-boord against the Nuncio notwithstanding the Intercession of the French the Spaniard or the Duke of Alva Yet notwithstanding the Emperor Ferdinand sends to perswade the Queen to return to the old Religion at least that she would set apart some Churches to the use of the Catholicks To whom she answered That she had setled her Religion on so sure a Bottom that she could not easily be changed And for granting Churches to the Papists it did not consist with the Polity and good Laws of the Land Then divers abuses arising in the Church Archbishop Parker found it necessary to have recourse unto the power which was given to him by the Queen's Commission and by a clause of the Act of Parliament For the Vniformity of Common-Prayer and service in the Church c. As one of the Commissioners for causes Ecclesiastical he was authorized with the rest of his Associates To reform redress order correct and amend all such Errors Heresies Schismes Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever as might from time to time arise in the Church of England And in the passage of the Act forementioned it was provided That all such Ornaments of the Church and the Ministers thereof should be retained as were in the Church of England by Authority of Parliament in the second year of King Edward the Sixth untill further order should be taken therein from the Queen's Majesty c. And also if there shall happen any contempt or irreverence to be used in the Rites of the Church by the misusing of the Orders of the said Book of Common-Prayer the Queen might by the advise of the Commissioners or Metropolitan ordain or publish such further Ceremonies or Rites as should be most for the advance of God's glory the edifying the Church c. Hereupon the Archbishop by the Queen's consent and the advice of some of the Bishops sets forth a certain Book of Orders to be diligently observed and executed by all persons whom it might concern Heylin Hist of Q. Elizab. An. Reg. 3. In which it was provided That no Parson Vicar or Curate of any exempt Church should from thenceforth attempt to conjoyn by solemnization of Matrimony any not being of his or their Parish-church without good Testimony of the Bains being ask'd in the several Churches where they dwell or otherwise were sufficiently Licensed That no other days should be observed as Holy-days and Fasting-days but onely such as be expressed in the Calendar lately set forth by the Queen's Authority That neither the Curates or Parents of Children which are brought to Baptism should answer for them at the Font but that the antient use of Godfathers and Godmothers should still be retained and that in all such Churches in which the steps to the Altar were not taken down the said steps should remain as before they did That the Communion-Table should be set in the said place where the steps then were or had formerly stood and that the Table of the Decalogue should be fixed upon the wall over the said Communion-Table This year the Merchants Tailors School in London was founded first by the Master Wardens and Assistants of the Company of Merchants Tailors whence it had the name and by them founded for a Seminary to St. John's in Oxford built and endowed at the sole costs of one of their Livery But of a far more private nature was the Foundation of another Grammar School in the Town of Sandwich built at the charge of Sir Roger Manwood and endowed with forty pound per annum The Council of Trent being now opened it was said in that Council that i● was good to let the Protestants alone and not name them alledging the danger of moving ill humors in a Body which was then quiet To give a safe conduct to the English-men which neither They nor any of them did require were a great indignity They were content it should be given to the Scots because their Queen would demand it but so as that the demand should first be made But the English Protestant Bishops would not venture themselves into that Council on such weak assurance considering how ill the safe conduct had been formerly kept to John Hus and Jerom of Prague at the Council of Constance And the Queen kept the Papal party safe from gadding thither Then Scipio a Venetian Gentleman formerly acquainted with Master Jewel whil'st he was a Student at Padua wrote now an expostulating Letter unto him being lately made Bishop of Sarisbury in which he much admireth that England should send no Ambassador nor Letter nor Message to excuse their Nation 's absence from the General Appearance of Christianity in that Council c. Bishop Jewel returned him such an Answer that neither Scipio himself nor any other of that party durst reply upon him The Answer is to be found at large at the end of the History of this Council Translated by Sir Nathanael Brent At this time it was advised by Lewis Prince of Conde the Cardinal Chastilion and other principal leaders of the Protestant party in France that they should put themselves under the protection of the Queen of England who had not long before so seasonably relieved
the holy Sacraments and partly for the Apparel of all Persons Ecclesiastical by vertue of the Queen's Majestie 's Letters Commanding the same January fifteenth c. In this year 1564. died the Emperour Ferdinand and Mr. John Calvin What Peter Lombard was esteemed to be in the Schools at Rome the same was Calvin reckoned to be in all those Churches which were Reformed according to the Zuinglian Doctrine in the point of the Sacrament Heylin's Hist of Q. Elizab. Yet the Royal and Prelatical Divines conceived otherwise of him saith Dr. Heylin and the learned Adrian Seravia though by birth a Dutchman Yet being once preferred in the Church of England could not endure to be called Calvinian About the middle of February the Lord Darly came to the Court of Scotland who being not fully twenty years old of lovely person sweet behaviour and a most ingenuous disposition exceedingly prevailed in short time on the Queen's affections About the middle of July the Marriage-Rites were celebrated in the Royal Chappel by the Dean of Restalrig and the next day the Queen having made him before Earl of Rosse and Duke of Rothsay the new Duke was proclaimed King by sound of Trumpet and declared to be associated with the Queen in the publick government The news whereof being brought unto Queen Elizabeth she seemed more offended than indeed she was But never was marriage more calamitous to the parties themselves or more dishonourable to that nation or finally more scandalous to both Religions in nothing fortunate but in the birth of James the sixth born in the Palace of Edenburgh on July 19. Anno 1566. Solemnly Crowned King of the Scots on the same day of the Month Anno 1567. and joyfully received to the Crown of England on March 14. 1602. Of such a temper were the devotions of the Church of England at this time that generally the English Papists L. Coke's charg given at Norwich Assizes 1606. and the Ambassadours of Forreign Princes still resorted to them For the first ten years of Her Majestie 's Reign the Papists in general came to our Churches In the beginning of the eleventh year of her Reign Cornwallis Beddingfield and Selyard were the first Recusants Now we are come to the setling the Episcopal Government by as good Authority as could be given to it by the Lawes of the Land By a Statute made in the last Parliament for keeping Her Majestie 's Subjects in their due obedience a power was given unto the Bishops to tender and receive the Oath of Supremacy of all manner of persons residing and dwelling in their several Diocesses Bonner was then Prisoner in the Marshalsey which being within the Borough of Southwark brought him within the Jurisdiction of Horn Bishop of Winchester by whose Chancellor the Oath was tendred to him On the refusal of which Oath he i● Indicted at the King's Bench upon the Stature to which he appeared in some Term in the year foregoing and desires that Council be assigned to plead his cause The Court assigns him Christopher Wray afterwards Chief-justice of the Common-Pleas that famous Lawyer Edmond Ploydon and one Mr. Lovelace But the business came under consideration in the following Parliament which began on September thirty where the Legality of Horn's Episcopacy which was objected against in the behalf of Bonner was cleered by Statute by which the Parliament did only publish notifie and declare the Legal Authority of the English Bishops whose call and Consecration to their place was formerly performed In the year 1566. Queen Elizabeth came to Oxford Honourably attended with Robert Dudley lately made Earl of Leicester and Chancellor of Oxford the Marquess of Northampton the Lord Burleigh and the Spanish Ambassadour She was lodged in Christ-Church where many Comedies were acted before Her Many Acts were kept before Her in Philosophy and one most eminent in Divinity She concluded all with a Latine Oration which you may read in Fuller's Church History as it was taken by Dr. Laurence Humfrey and by him Printed in the Life of Bishop Jewel Having stayed seven dayes she took Her leave of the University Anno 1567. Another Generation of Active Non-conformists succeeded the former Of these Coleman Button Benson and Halingham were the chief inveighing against the established Church-discipline endeavouring to conform the English Church in all things to that of Geneva To these three more may be added viz. William White Thomas Rowland Robert Hawkins all Beneficed within the Diocese of London This year these three were cited to appear before Edmond Grindal Bishop of London one who was not very forward to press Conformity The Bishop asked them this question Have we not a godly Prince speak is she evil To which they made their several answers in manner following William White What a question is that the fruits do shew Thomas Rowland No but the servants of God are persecuted under Her Robert Hawkins Why this question the Prophet answereth in the Psalms How can they have understanding that work iniquity spoiling my people and that extol vanity The Queen proceeded severely against some of them commanding them to be put in prison though still their party daily encreased And now to strengthen the Romish party two most Active fugitive Papists Thomas Harding and Nicholas Saunders return into England Very earnest they were in advancing the Catholick Cause and perverted very many to their own erroneous opinions A moneth or two after the Prince of Scotland's baptizing the King her Husband in the one and twentieth year of his age was in the dead time of the night by bloody barbarous hands was strangled in his bed and thrown forth into an Orchyard the house being blown up with Gun-powder The Queen afterwards marrieth Earl Bothwel but he is forced to fly out of Scotland And the Queen is thrust in prison at Loch-levin But what should be done with Her the Conspirators could not agree among themselves At length they extort from her a resignation of her Kingdom to her Son who was scarce thirteen moneths old But she being ill-used at home by her own Subjects made an escape into England and landed at Wirkington in Comberland and the same day wrote a letter in French to Queen Elizabeth The Countess of Lenox complaineth against her to Queen Elizabeth 〈…〉 ●list Cent. 〈◊〉 and besought her that she might be brought to her trial for the murther of her Son The Queen of Scots wrote a letter to the Pope to manifest her devotion to the See of Rome written from Castle Boulton Novemb. 30. 1568. Then Thomas Piercy Earl of Northumberland and Charles Nevil Earl of Westmorland brake out into open Rebellion against the Queen Their first valour was to fight against the English Bible and Service-book in Durham tearing them to pieces They set up Mass in most places where they came Richard Norton an aged Gentleman carrying the Cross before them and others bearing in their banners the five wounds of Christ or a Chalice
according to their different devices But the Earl of Sussex advancing out of the South with an Army to oppose them they fled Northwards and mouldered away to nothing Northumberland fled into Scotland lurked there awhile was betrayed to Earl Murrey sent back into England and beheaded at York Westmorland fled into Flanders where he long lived very poor on a small pension Many were executed by Sir Seorge Bowes Knight Marshal in every Market-town betwixt New-castle and Witherby Leonard Dacres the next year laboured to raise a New Rebellion but by the valour and vigilancy of the Lord Hunsdon his de●●● was seasonably defeated Commissioners were appointed by Queen Elizabeth to take cognizance of the cause of the Queen of Scots Murrey cometh to York being the City appointed for that purpose and with him seven of his Inwardest friends as Delegates for the Infant-King and for the Queen of Scots Delegates also appeared After Lidington's admonition to the Scots and the Scots Protestation the Delegates for the Queen delivered a Declaration in Writing Some few dayes after Murrey the Regent and the Delegates for the Infant-King gave in their Answer To this the Queen of Scots Delegates renewing again their former Protestation opposed their Replication Murrey refuseth to yield reasons for deposing the Queen Then were the English Commissioners Revoked and their Authority abrogated to the great rejoycing of the Duke of Norfolk who had ever favoured the Queen of Scots Title to the Succession to the Crown of England New Commissioners were appointed to hear and examine the matter but the matter cometh to nothing Murrey propoundeth to Norfolk a Marriage with the Queen of Scots yet spreadeth rumours against her The Queen of Scots was committed to the Earl of Shrewsbury Camden's Hist of Q. Elizab. Queen Elizabeth relieveth the Protestants in France Edicts being published there whereby the exercise of the Reformed Religion was utterly forbidden the Professors thereof removed from Publick Offices and the Ministers of the word commanded to depart the Realm within a prefixed time She also gratiously received the Netherlanders of whom a great multitude had withdrawn themselves into England as into a Sanctuary from the cruelty of the Duke of Alva John Story Doctor of the Lawes a great persecutor in Queen Mary's dayes being allured by a wile into a Ship which was reported to have brought over English Merchandises and Heretical Books the Master of the Ship presently set Sail and brought him into England where afterwards he was executed as a Traytor to his Countrey at Tyburn Then were the English Merchants in the Netherlands and Spain drawn into the Inquisition and condemned to the Galleys and their goods confiscate The old store of Papists in England began now much to diminish prisons consumed many Age more of their Priests and they had no place in England whence to recruit themselves Hereupon they resolved to erect Colledges beyond the Seas for English youth to have their education therein This project begun Anno 1569. was so effectually prosecuted that within the compass of fifty years nine Colledges were by them founded and furnished with Students and they with maintenance Doway-colledge in Flanders was founded 1569. by Philip the second King of Spain all the Recusants in E●gland were Benefactors to it The first Rec●●r was William Allen afterwards Cardinal He died Anno 1594. The second Thomas Worthington Rector Anno 1609. The third Matthew Kellison Rector 1624. Whereas the government of all other English Colledges belongs to Jesuites this onely is ruled by Secular Priests The second Colledge was at Rome founded Anno 1579. Pope Gregory the thirteenth exhibited maintenance first to six then to fourteen at last to threescore Scholars therein to the yearly value of four thousand Crowns The Welch Hospital in Rome founded and endowed many hundred years since by Cadwallader King of Wales for Welch Pilgrims with the Rich Lands thereof were conferred by the said Pope on this Colledge Now whereas Anno 1576. there were but thirty old Priests remaining in this Realm these two Colledges alone within two years sent above three hundred Priests into England The first Rector was Dr. Maurice The second Ferdinando a Neapolitan Jesuite The third Robert Parsons The fourth Thomas Fitz-herbert 1623. The third Colledge was founded by Philip the second King of Spain at Valladolit in old Castile Donna Luysa de Caravaial a rich Widow Lady in Spain gave all her estate being very great to this Colledge and came over into England where she died Father Walpool by pretending to have gained Mr. Pickering Wotton Son and Heir to the Lord Wotton to the Romish Church got above five hundred pounds to this Colledge Sir Francis Inglefield Privy Counsellor to Queen Mary forsaking his fair estate in Berk-shire in the first year of Queen Elizabeth was a bountiful Benefactor to this Colledge The fourth Colledge was of Sivil founded by Philip the second King of Spain Anno 1593. The fifth was at S. Omers in Artois founded 1596. by Philip the second who gave them a good Annuity for whose soul they say every day a Mass and every year an Obitum Their Rector generally is a Fleming though this Colledge be of English only The sixth Colledge is at Madrid in new Castile founded 1606. Joseph Creswel the Jesuite with money of the two Colledges of Valladolit and Sivil bought an House here and built a Colledge thereon The seventh a Colledge of Lovain in Brabant founded 1606. by Philip the third King of Spain who gave a Castle with a Pension to the English Jesuits to build them a Colledge therewith The eighth Colledge was at Liege in Lukeland founded 1616. The Archbishop of Collen being at this time also Bishop of Liege gave them a Pension to live on and leave to build a fair Colledge here Many of the English Nobility and Gentry under pretence of passing to the Spaw to recover their healths dropped here much of their Gold by the way The ninth Colledge was of Gaunt in Flanders founded 1624. by Philip the Fourth who gave them a Pension The Colledge of St. Omers generally is for Boyes to be taught in Grammar Rome for Youths studying the Arts All the rest for Men Novices or professed Jesuits save that Doway is for any of what age or parts soever It is incredible what a mass of money was yearly made over out of England for the maintenance of these Colledges having here their Provincials Sub-provincials Assistants Agents Coadjutors Familiars c. who collected vast sums for them The solemn Oath which each Student arrived at man's estate ceremoniously sweareth when admitted into one of these Colledges is as followeth I A. B. one bred in this English Colledge Continuation of Sanders de Schismat Anglicano p. 116. considering how great benefits God hath bestowed upon me but then especially when he brought me out of my own Countrey so much infected with Heresie and made me a member of the Catholick Church as also desiring
Charles after long and grievous pains died of exceeding bleeding Now begin the Anabaptists to encrease in England On Easter-day was disclosed a Congregation of Dutch Anabaptists without Aldgate in London whereof twenty seven were taken and imprisoned and four bearing Faggots at Paul's-cross solemnly recanted their Opinions In the next month one Dutch-man and ten Women were condemned of whom one Woman renounced her errors eight were banished the Land Two more so obstinate that command was issued out for their burning in Smithfield where they died in great horror with crying and roaring Anno 1573. one Peter Burchet who had perswaded himself that it was lawful to kill any that had opposed the truth of the Gospel drew his Dagger upon Hawkins that famous Navigator in the open street and wounded him supposing him to be Hatton who was then in great favour with the Queen whom he had heard to be one of the Innovators Being cast into the Tower of London he slew one of his Keepers with a Billet which be snatched up out of the Chimney for which he was condemned of murther had his right hand cut off and nailed to the Gallows and then he was hanged In the year 1574. certain Ministers of London were deluded by a Maid which counterfeited her self to be possessed of the Devil So powerful was the party of the Non-conformists grown at this time that Doctor Humfrey then President of Maudlins and Mr. John Fox himself both which scrupled subscription in some particulars were deserted by them as luke-warm and remiss in the cause Coleman Burton Hallingham Benson out-did all of their own Opinions Then died Matthew Parker Archbishop of Canterbury an excellent Antiquary a great Benefactor to Bennet-colledge in Cambridge on which he bestowed many Manuscripts Edmond Grindal succeeded him in his place Not long after died James Pilkinton Bishop of Durham He was as appeareth by many of his Letters a great conniver at Non-conformity The same year died Edward Deering an eminent Divine born of an ancient Family in Kent bred Fellow of Christ's-colledge in Cambridge a pious and painful Preacher but disaffected to Bishops and Ceremonies Rowland Jenkes a Popish Bookseller was indicted at the Summer-Assizes in Oxford for dispersing of scandalous Pamphlets defamatory to the Queen and State Then the Queen laboureth to compound the Netherland differences but it had little effect She relieveth the Estates and the Prince of Orange with twenty thousand pounds of English money upon condition they should neither change their Religion nor their Prince nor receive the French into the Netherlands Then one Cuthbert Mayn a Priest was drawn hanged and quartered at Launston in Cornwal for his obstinate maintaining of the Papal power and Trugion a Gentleman of that Countrey which had harboured him was turned out of his Estate and condem ed to perpetual imprisonment In this year 1577. died Nicholas Bullingham Bishop of Worcester And the same year died William Bradbridge Bishop of Exeter and Edmond Guest Bishop of Salisbury Anno 1579. died Richard Cheiney Bishop of Bristol Robert Horn Bishop of Winchester succeeded Thomas Centham Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield followed him And not long after died Richard Cox Bishop of Ely Now the Sect called The Family of Love began to grow so numerous that the Privy Council thought fit to endeavour their suppression They perswaded their followers That those only were elected and to be saved which were admitted into that Family and all the rest Reprobates and to be damned and that it was lawful for them to deny upon their Oath before a Magistrate whatsoever they list Of this Fanatical vanity they dispersed Books among their followers translated out of the Dutch Tongue into English which they entitled The Gospel of the Kingdom Documental Sentences The Prophesy of the Spirit of Love The publishing of Peace upon Earth The Author was Henry Nicholas of Leyden who blasphemously said That he did partake of God and God of his Humanity This Man came over into England in the Reign of King Edward the Sixth joyned himself to the Dutch Congregation in London where he seduced many Artificers and silly Women among whom two Daughters of one Warwick to whom he dedicated an Epistle were his principal Perverts The Abjuration may be read in Fu●ler church Hist ad An. 1580. Mr. Martin Micronius and Mr. Nicholas Charineus then the Ministers of the Dutch Congregation zealously confuted his errors but it seems their Antidotes pierced not so deep as his Poysons The Privy Council now tendred unto them an Abjuration but with what success we find not The Queen commanded by Proclamation That the Civil Magistrate should be assistant to the Ecclesiastical for the timely suppressing of them and that their Books should be burnt Then divers Seminary Priests were sent forth into several parts of England and Ireland to administer as they pretended the Sacraments of the Romish Religion and to preach But the Queen and her Council found that they were sent under-hand to withdraw the Subjects from their Allegiance and Obedience due to their Prince to bind them by Reconciliation to perform the Pope's Commandements to raise intestine Rebellion under the Seal of Confession and flatly to execute the Sentence of Pope Pius the Fifth against the Queen To these Seminaries for as much as there were sent daily out of England from the Papists very many Boys and young Men of all sorts and admitted into the same making a Vow to return and others from thence crept secretly into England there came forth a Proclamation in the month of June That whosoever had Children Pupils Kinsmen or others in the parts beyond the Seas should after ten dayes deliver their names to the Ordinary and to those which returned not they should not directly or indirectly supply any money That no Man should entertain in his house or lodge Priests sent forth of the Seminaries and Jesuits or cherish and relieve them And whosoever did the contrary should be accounted a favourer of Rebels c. Camden's Hist of Queen Eli. Anno 1580. But Robert Parsons and Edmond Campian Jesuits living at Rome obteined of the Pope license to come over into England Parsons was born in Sommerset-shire of Baliol-colledge in Oxford a man of a fierce nature and rude behaviour he professed openly the Protestants Religion until he was for his dishonesty expelled the University then fled he to the Papists Campian was born in London and bred in St. John's-colledge in Oxford one of a sweet nature and fluent tongue These two notably advanced the Roman cause travelling up and down the Countrey secretly and to Popish Gentlemens houses in disguised habit sometimes of Souldiers sometimes of Gentlemen sometimes of Ministers of the Word sometimes of Apparitors Campian by a Writing set forth challenged the Ministers of the English Church to a Disputation and published a Book in Latin of ten Reasons for maintenance of the Doctrine of the Church of Rome and Parsons another virulent Book
Rushton an ungrateful wretch who afterwards railed on the Queen in Print who gave him his life In the year 1584. Two conferences were kept at Lambeth about the Discipline and Ceremonies of the Church For the same were the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Cooper Bishop of Winchester Unconforming Ministers against it The Lords of the Privy Council and some other Honorable persons Auditors thereof This conference effected nothing on the Disputants as to the altering their Opinions Some of the Lords afterwards secretly acted against the Archbishop in favour of the other party The Archbishop now take's another course enjoyning all admitted to the Ecclesiastical Orders and Benefices the subscription of the following Articles I. That the Queen had supreme Authority over all persons born within her Dominions of what condition soever they were And that no other Prince Prelate or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Civil or Ecclesiastical within her Realms or Dominions II. That the Book of Common-Prayer and the Ordination of Bishops Priests and Deacons containeth nothing contrary to the Word of God but may lawfully be used and that they will use that and none other III. That the Articles of Religion agreed in the Synod holden at London Anno 1562. and published by the Queens Authority they did allow of and did believe them to be consonant to the word of God Now came forth the Rhemish Translation of the New Testament every where bespeckled with hard words which transcend common capacities taxed by our Divines as full of abominable errors Secretary Walsingham soliciteth Mr. Thomas Cartwright to undertake to refute this Rhemish Translation and sent him an hundred pounds out of his own purse the better to enable him for the work Walsingham's Letters to Cartwright were seconded by another from the Doctors and Heads of Houses and Dr. Fulk among the rest at Cambridge besides the importunity of the Ministers of London and Suffolk to the same purpose Cartwright prepares for the work But Archbishop Whitgift having notice thereof prohibiteth his further proceeding therein Cartwright hereupon desisted But some years after encouraged by an honourable Lord he resumed the work but prevented by death he perfected no further than the fifteenth Chapter of the Revelation Many years lay this worthy work neglected and the Copy thereof Mouse-eaten in part at last came forth though late Anno 1618. a Book to which the Rhemists never durst return the least answer But whilst Cartwrights work lay retarded Dr. William Fulk Master of Pembrook-hall in Cambridge entred the list against the Rhemists and Judiciously and Learnedly performed his undertaking therein This year came forth the Exposition of Mr. Thomas Rogers on the Articles of the Church of England not onely the two extremes Papists and Schismaticks but many Protestants of a middle temper were offended thereat Mr. Rogers his restrictive Comment shut out such from their concurrence with the Church of England which the discreet laxity of the Text admitted thereunto On November 23. 1585. The Parliament was begun and holden at Westminster wherein the Statute against Jesuites and Priests their departing out of England and not returning thither was made with penalty for relieving them A Convocation was kept in St. Pauls Church in London and from hence removed to St. Peter's in Westminster where William Redman D. D. was chosen and presented Prolocutor An Assembly of Ministers met at the same time but the certain place of their meeting not known being Clandestine Arbitrary and changeable as advised by their Conveniences Some Agents for them were all day at the door of the Parliament-house and some part of the night in the Chambers of Parliament-men effectually solliciting their business with them What impression was made by the Agents of the Ministers may appear by an ensuing Letter sent to her Majesty by Archbishop Whitgift wherein he complaineth of several Bills that had the day before the dating of his Letter passed in the House of Commons in favour of the Non-conformists about Marrying at all times in the year concerning Ecclesiastical Courts and Episcopal Visitations which saith he may reach to the overthrow of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and study of the Civil Law But the Queen would alter nothing material to Church-government The Parliament being dissolved the Convocation ended the next day after having effected nothing of moment save that in the ninth Session thereof John Hilton Priest made a solemn Abjuration of his blasphemous Heresies The Non-conformists now missing their mark abated much of their former Activity insomuch as that Mr. Cartwright began to make by the mediation of the Earl of Leicester who now design'd to make him Master of his new-built Hospital in Warwick compliance with the Archbishop though he not over-fond of his friendship warily kept him at distance as appears by the Earl of Leicester's Letter to the Archbishop in Cartwright's behalf and the Archbishop's answer thereto Now the Earl of Leicester went over into the Low Countries commanding a great Army with the Title of General of the Auxiliaries of the Queen of England and the Non-conformists lost their best friend in Court And afterwards the Archbishop being sworn one of the Privy Council it fared worse with them Three Protestant Bishops died this year viz. Richard Curteys Bishop of Chichester Nicholas Robinson Bishop of Bangor and John Scory Bishop of Hereford The same year also died John Fecknam late Abbot of Westminster The Jesuites began now to possess their English Proselites with high Opinions of the Spanish power as the Nation designed by God's providence to work their restitution in England and they sent into England as Pasquier saith one Samier a man of their Society to draw Noblemen and Gentlemen to the Spaniards party and to thrust forward the Queen of Scots to dangerous practices by telling her That if she were refractory neither She nor her Son should Reign and by exciting the Guises her kinsmen to new stirs against the King of Navar and the Prince of Conde that they might not be able to ayd her In the year 1586. a firm League of Amity was concluded and ratified betwixt the Queen of England and James King of Scotland A dangerous conspiracy against the Queen of England begun by John Savage but prosecuted by Anthony Babington and others was discovered The chief discover of this Conspiracy was one Gifford a Gentleman of a good house at Chellington in Stafford-shire not far from Chartley where the Queen of Scots was kept prisoner He was sent by the English fugitives in France under the counterfit name of Luson to put Savage in mind of the vow which he had made to kill Queen Elizabeth and to convey Letters between them and the Queen of Scots Gifford revealed the plot to Secretary Walsingham who sent him down into Stafford-shire to do the work he had undertaken Here Gifford bribing the Brewer of the house where the Queen of Scots lay so contrived the matter with him that by a hole in the
John Elmar Bishop of London He was one of a low stature but stout spirit a witty man a stiff-champion of the Church-discipline on which account none was more mocked by Ma tin-mar-prelat or hated by Non-conformists Of the Papists died Anno 1594. two principal pillars beyond the Seas first William Rose bred in Winchester-school then in New-colledge in Oxford He went to Rome and there solemnly abjured the Protestant Religion from Rome he removed to Rhemes in France where he became Professor of Divinity and Hebrew in the English Colledge He died at Antwerp in the fiftieth year of his Age as he was making a Book called Calvino-Turcismus which after by his dear friend William Gifford was finished set forth and dedicated to Albert Duke of Austria Cardinal William Allen died also the same year The King of Spain bestowed on him an Abbey in the Kingdom of Naples and nominated him to be Archbishop of Machlin but he died Pitraeus de illustr Angl. script p. 793. and was buried in the Church of the English Colledge at Rome His loss was much lamented by the Catholicks for he had done many good offices in composing the grudgings which began to grow between the Secular Priests and Jesuites Untill this time the prime Catholicks in Wisbich Castle had lived there in restraint with great concord And the Papists do brag that then and there the English Church was most visible untill one Father Weston a Jesuite coming thither erected a Government among them making certain Sanctions and Orders which all were bound to observe claiming a superiority over all the Catholicks there Besides those of his own society many of the Secular Priests submitted unto him though the greatest number and Learned sort of the Secular Priests resisted his superiority If any Order might pretend to this Priority it was most proper for the Benedictines extant in England above a thousand years ago one might admire why Father Weston should so earnestly desire so silly a Dominion having his power as well as his own person confined within the walls of Wisbich Castle Anno 1595. Began throughout England the more solem and strict observation of the Lord's day occasioned by a Book then set forth by P. bound D. D. and enlarged with additions Anno 1606. Hereupon the Lord's day especially in Corporations began to be precisely kept people forbearing such sports as yet by Statute permitted yet Learned men were much divided in their Judgments about the Sabbatarian Doctrines The first that publickly opposed Dr. Bounds Opinions was Mr. Thomas Rogers of Horninger in Suffolk in his Preface to the Book of Articles yet notwithstanding were these Sabbatarian Doctrines published more generally than before The price of the Doctor 's Book began to be doubled as commonly Books are then most called on when called in Yea six years after Bounds book came forth with enlargements publickly sould Now also began some Opinions about Predestination Free-will Perseverance which much troubled the Schools and Pulpit Wherein Archbishop Whitgift caused a solemn meeting of many Learned Divines at Lambeth where besides the Archbishop Richard Bancroft Bishop of London Richard Vaughan Bishop of Bangor Humfrey Tyndal Bishop of Ely Dr. Whitaker Queen's Professor in Cambridge and others were assembled These after a serious debate resolved on the now following Articles Fuller Church Hist An. 1595. I. God from eternity hath Predestinated certain men unto life c. II. The moving cause of Predestination unto life is not Faith and good Works foreseen c. but onely the good will and pleasure of God III. There is predetermined a certain number of the predestinate c. IV. Those who are not predestinated to Salvation shall be necessarily damned for their sins V. A true living justifying Faith c. is not extinguished vanisheth not away in the elect either finally or totally VI. A man truly faithful i. e. such a one who is endued with justifying Faith is certain with the full assurance of Faith of the Remission of his sins and of his everlasting Salvation by Christ. VII Saving Grace is not given granted communicated to all men by which they may be saved if they will VIII No man can come unto Christ Vnless it shall be givenll unto him and unless the Father shall draw him And as men are not drawn by the Father that they may come to the Son IX It is not in the will or power of every one to be saved Matthew Hutton Archbishop of York did also fully and freely in his judgement concur with those Divines as appeareth by a Letter of his sent to a most Reverend Prelate Mountague in his Appeal p. 55.56 71 72. When these Articles came abroad into the World some had an high Opinion of them others valued them at a low rate Some flatly condemned both the Articles and the Authors of them One affirmeth that these Articles were forbidden by publick Authority but when where and by whom he saith nothing Forreign Divines raised or decryed the esteem of these Articles just as they were biassed in judgment Some Printed set forth and cited them as the sence of the Church of England others as fast slighted them as the narrow positions of a few private and partial persons Although those Learned Divines be not acknowledged as competent Judges to pass definitive sentence in those points yet their testimony is an infallible evidence what was the general and received Doctrine of England in that Age about the forenamed Controversies This year died first Dr. William Wickham bred in King's Colledge in Cambridge first Bishop of Lincoln after of Winchester Secondly Worthy Dr. William Whitaker And among the Romanists Daniel Halesworth More infamous was the death of Robert Southwel a Jesuite who was executed for a Traitor at London In the year 1596. died Bishop Fletcher of London who died suddenly and John Coldwel Bishop of Sarisbury About this time also died Doctor Laurence Humfrey a moderate Non-conformist Dean of Winchester and Master of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford Master Baltazar Zanchez a Spaniard born in Estremadura founded an Almes-house at Totnam-Highcross in Middlesex for eight single people allowing them competent maintenance Thomas Stapleton this year ended his life at Lovain he was born at Henfield in Sussex and was a Learned assertor of the Romish Religion This year also died Richard Cosins Doctor of the Law and Dean of Arches one of the greatest Civilians which our Nation hath produced The death of Robert Turner was now much lamented by the Papists He was born at Barstable in Devonshire bred for awhile in Oxford whence flying beyond the Seas he became Canon of Breslaw in Silesia and at the same time Privy Councellor to the Duke of Bavaria Ferdinand of Gratz afterwards Emperor took him from the Duke to be his own Secretary in the Latin Tongue He lieth buried at Gratz under a handsom Monument In the year 1599. died Richard Hooker of whom largely before He was much lamented by Protestants
Institution named in express words Heb. 6.2 The Bishop of Carlile Learnedly urged the s●me And the Bishop of Durham urged something out of S. Mathew for the Imposition of hands on Children The Conclusion was this for the fuller explanation that we make Confirmation neither a Sacrament nor a Corroboration thereof their Lordship should consider whether it might not without alteration be entitled an Examination with a Confirmation As for Absolution the Archbishop told His Majesty that it is clear from all Superstition as it is used in the Church of England as will appear on the Reading both of the Confession and Absolution following it in the beginning of the Communion-book Here the King perused both liked and approved them The Particular and Personal Absolution in the Visitation of the sick was also Read by the Dean of the Chappel and approved by the King The Conclusion was this That the Bishops should Consult whether unto the Rubrick of the General Absolution these words Remission of sins might not be added for explanation-sake To the point of Private Baptism the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Administration thereof by women and Lay-persons is not allowed in the Practice of the Church c. The King answered the words of the Book cannot but intend a permission of such persons to Baptise The Bishop of Worcester said that the Compilers of the book did not so intend them as appeareth by their contrary practice The Bishop of London said those men intended a permission of private persons to baptise but in case of necessity Here he spake much of the necessity of Baptism The King answered this necessity of Baptism I so understand that it is necessary to be had if lawfully to be had i. e. Ministred by lawful M●nisters by whom alone and no private person in any case it may be administred The result was this To consult whether in the Rubrick of Private baptism ●●ese words Curate or lawful Minister may not be inserted For the point of Excommunication His Majesty propounded whether in causes of lesser moment the name might not be altered and the same censure retained Secondly whether in place thereof another coertion equivalent thereunto might not be invented Which all sides yielded unto and so was an end of the first dayes conference On Monday January 16. they all met in the same place with all the Deans and Doctors aforementioned Patrick Galloway Minister of Perth in Scotland admitted also to be there and Prince Henry sate on a Stool by his Father After the King had made a pithy speech to the four opposers of conformity He willed them to begin Then Dr. Rainolds said All things disliked or questioned may be reduced to these four heads I. That the Doctrine of the Church might be preserved in purity according to God's word II. That good Pastors might be planted in all Churches to preach the same III. That the Church-government might be sincerely Ministred according to God's word IV. That the book of Common-prayer might be fitted to more encrease of Piety For the first he desired that the book of Articles of Religion concluded on 1562. might be explained where obscure enlarged where defective viz. Art 16. where it is said After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from Grace Those words may be explained with this addition yet neither totally nor finally He propounded also that the nine Assertions concluded on at Lambeth might be inserted into the Book of Articles Some other things also he added The Bishop of London speaks passionately against Dr. Rainolds for which the King reproveth him As for Private Baptism His Majesty said he had already with the Bishops taken order for the same Then came they to Confirmation And after some debate thereon betwixt Dr. Rainolds and the Bishops of London and Winchester his Majesty said he intended not to take confirmation from the Bishops which they had so long enjoyed seeing as great reason that none should confirm as none should Preach without the Bishop's License Dr. Rainolds said It were well if this proposition might be added to the book of Articles The Intention of the Minister is not of the Essence of the Sacrament He urged again that the nine Orthodoxal Assertions concluded at Lambeth may be generally received The King thought it unfit to thrust into the book of Articles every position Negative which would swell the book into too great a volume And as to the nine Assertions his Majesty said he knew not what they were The Bishop of London told the King the occasion of them He answered the better course would be to punish the broachers of false Doctrine than to multiply Articles Then Dr. Rainolds requested that one Uniform Catechism may be made and none other generally received His Majesty thought the Doctor 's request very reasonable yet so that the Catechism may be made in the fewest and plainest affirmative terms that may be And herein said he I would have two Rules to be observed 1. That curious and deep questions be avoided in the fundamen●al instruction of a people 2. That there should not be so general a departure from the Papists that every thing should be accounted an errour wherein we agree with them Dr. Rainolds said Great is the profanation of the Sabbath day and contempt of your Majestie 's Proclamation which I earnestly desire may be Reformed This motion found an unanimous consent Then the Doctor desired that the Bible be New Translated c. His Majesty answered that he never yet saw a Bible well-translated in English and he wished some special pains were taken for an Uniform Translation which should be done by the best Learned in both Universities then reviewed by the Bishops presented to the Privy Council lastly ratified by Royal Authority to be read in the Church and none other Dr. Rainolds moved also that unlawful and Seditious Books be suppressed The Lord Cecil that these had done much mischief but especially one called Speculum Tragicum His Majesty said that was a dangerous book indeed Concerning the planting of Learned Ministers in every Parish His Majesty said he had consulted with his Bishops about it whom he found willing and ready herein The Bishop of London moved that there might be a praying Ministry among us saying that men now thought it is the onely duty of Ministers to spend their time in the Pulpit His Majesty well liked his motion His second motion was that until Learned men may be planted in every Congregation Godly Homilies may be read therein The King liked this motion especially where the living is not sufficient to maintain a Learned Preacher Also where were multitudes of Sermons he would have Homilies read divers times The Plaintiffs confessed A Preaching Ministry is best but where it may not be had Godly Prayers and exhortations do much good The Bishop's last motion was that Pulpits may not be made pasquils wherein every discontented person may traduce his Superiors His Majesty approved
thereof Then Dr. Rainolds came to Subscription as a great impeachment to a Learned Ministry and therefore entreated it might not be exacted as heretofore for which many good men are kept out though otherwise willing to subscribe to the Statutes of the Realm Articles of Religion and the King's Supremacy He objected against the enjoyning of the Apocrypha Books to be read in the Church some Chapters therein containing manifest errours repugnant to Scripture His Majesty said he would not have all Canonical books read in the Church nor any Chapter out of the Apocrypha wherein any errour is contained The next scruple against Subscription was because it was twice set down in the Common-prayer-book Jesus said to his Disciples when by the Text in the Original it is plain that he spake to the Pharisees His Majesty answered let the word Disciples be omitted and the words Jesus said be Printed in a different Character Mr. Knewstubs took exceptions at the Cross in baptism and said it is questionable whether the Church hath power to institute an outward significant sign The Bishop of London answered The Cross in Baptism is not used otherwise than a Ceremony His Majesty desired to be acquainted about the Antiquity of the use of Cross Dr. Rainolds said it hath been used ever since the Apostles time but the question is how Ancient the use thereof hath been in Baptism The Bishop of Winchester said in Constantine's time it was used in Baptism His Majesty replied if so I see no reason but we may continue it Mr. Knewstubs said put case the Church may add significant signs it may not add them where Christ hath already ordained them which is as Derogatory to Christ's Institution as if one should add to the great Seal of England His Majesty answered the case is not alike seeing the Sacrament is fully finished before the use of the Cross Mr. Knewstubs demanded then how far the Ordinance of the Church bindeth without impeaching Christian Liberty The King answered I will have one Doctrine one Discipline one Religion in substance and in Ceremony Never speak more to that point how far ye are bound to obey Doctor Rainolds wished that the Cross being Superstitiously abused in Popery were abandoned as the Brazen-serpent was stamped to powder by Hezekiah because abused to Idolatry His Majesty answered Inasmuch as the Cross was abused to Superstition in time of Propery it doth plainly imply that it was well used before He said he detested their courses who peremptorily disallow of all things which have been abused in Popery and know not how to answer the Objections of the Papists when they charge us with Novelties but by telling them we retain the Primitive use of things and onely forsake their Novel corruptions Secondly no resemblance between the Brazen-Serpent a material visible thing and the sign of the Cross made in the Air. Thirdly Papists did never ascribe any spiritual grace to the Cross in Baptism Lastly material Crosses to which people fell down in time of Popery as the Idolatrous Jews to the Brazen-serpent are already demolished as you desire Mr. Knewstubs proceeded excepting at the wearing of the Surplice a kind of garment said he used by the Priests of Isis His Majesty answered he did not think till of late it had been borrowed from the Heathen because commonly called a Rag of Popery And seeing we border not upon Heathens c. I see no reason said he but for comeliness sake it may be continued Dr. Rainolds said I take exception at these words in Marriage With my body I thee worship His Majesty answered I find it an usual English Term A Gentleman of Worship and it agreeth with the Scriptures Giving honour to the wife The Dean of Sarum said some take exception at the Ring in Marriage Dr. Rainolds said he approved it well enough Then said he some take exceptions at the Churching of women by the name of Purification His Majesty said I allow it very well Unto Doctor Rainolds his last exception against committing Ecclesiastical censures to Lay-chancellors His Majesty answered that he had conferred with the Bishops about that point and such order should be taken therein as was Convenient Doctor Rainolds desired That according to certain Provin●ial Constituions the Clergy may have meetings every three weeks 1. In Rural Deaneries therein to have prophecying as Archbishop Grindal and other Bishops desired of her late Majesty 2. That such things as could not be resolved on there might be referred to the Archdeacons Visitations 3. And so to the Episcopal Synod to determine such points before not decided His Majesty answered If you aim at a Scottish Presbytery it agreeth as well with Monarchy as God and the Devil Then Jack and Tom c. shall meet and censure me and my Council Then the King asked the Doctor whether they had any thing else to say He answered No more if it please your Majesty If this be all your party have to say said the King I will make them conform or else I will harry them out of the Land or do worse Thus ended the second dayes Conference The third began on the Wednesday following many Knights Civilians and Doctors of the Law being admitted thereunto because the High-commission was the principal matter in debate His Majesty thus began I understand that the parties named in the High-commission are too many and too mean and the matters they deal with base such as Ordinaries might censure in their Courts at home Archbishop of Canterbury Were not their number many I should oftentimes sit alone I have often complained of the meanness of matters handled therein but cannot remedy it for though the offence be small that the Ordinary may yet the Offender oft-times is so great that the Ordinary is forced to crave help at the High-commission to punish him A nameless Lord said The proceedings in that Court are like the Spanish Inquisition wherein men are urged to subscribe more than Law requireth and by the Oath Ex officio forced to accuse themselves being examined upon many Articles on a sudden and for the most part against themselves The Lord Chancellor said There is necessity and use of the Oath Ex officio in divers Courts and Causes His Majesty said That it is requisite that same and scandals be looked unto in Courts Ecclesiastical and yet great moderation is to be used therein And here he soundly described the Oath Ex officio for the ground thereof the wisdom of the Law therein the manner of proceeding thereby and profitable effect from the same After much discourse between the King the Bishops and the Lords about the quality of the Persons and Causes in the High-Commission rectifying Excommunications in matters of less moment punishing Recusants providing Divines for Ireland Wales and the Northern borders the four Preachers were called in and such alterations in the Liturgy were read unto them which the Bishops by the King's advice had made unto which by their
fitted to this new Edition of the Bible And as some perchance over-valued the Geneva Notes out of that special love they bear to the Authors and place whence it proceeded so on the other side some without cause did slight or rather uncharitably did slander the same for about this time Anno 1611. Fuller Church History Anno 1611. a Doctor in Oxford publickly in his Sermon at St. Maries accused them as guilty of misinterpretation touching the Divinity of Christ and his Messias-ship as if symbolizing with Arrians and Jews against them both for which he was afterwards suspended by Doctor Robert Abbot Propter conciones publicas minus orthodoxas offensionis plenas This year King James was careful for the seasonable suppression of the dangerous Doctrines of Conradus Vorstius This Doctor had lived about fifteen years a Minister at Steinford within the Territories of the Counts of TECLENBVRG BENTHAM c. the Counts whereof were the first in casting off the Romish yoke and ever since continuing Protestants This Vorstius had written to and received Letters from certain Samosatenian Hereticks in Poland and became infected therewith Hereupon he set forth two Books the one entitled IRACTATVS THEOLOGICVS DE DEO dedicated to the Land-grave of HESSEN the other EXEGESIS APOLOGETICA dedicated to the States both of them stuffed with many dangerous Positions concerning the Deity This Wretch debased the Purity of God assigning him a material body confining his Immensity as not being every where shaking his Immutability as if his Will were subject to change darkening his Omnisciency as uncertain in future contingents with many more monstrous Opinions Notwithstanding all this the said Vorstius was chosen by the Curators of the University of Leyden to be their publick Divinity-Professor in the place of Arminius lately deceased and to that end the States General by their Letters sent and sued to the Count of TECKLENBOVRGH and obtained of him that Vorstius should come from Steinford and become publick Professor in Leyden King James being this Autumn in his hunting Progress did light upon and perused the aforesaid Books of Vorstius he observed the dangerous Positions therein determining speedily to oppose them Hereupon he presently dispatched a Letter to Sir Ralph Winwood his Ambassador Resident with the States requiring him to let them understand how highly he should be displeased if such a Monster as Vorstius should be advanced in their Church This was seconded with a large Letter of his Majesties to the States dated October the sixth to the same effect But the States entertain not the motion of King James against Vorstius according to expectation They said That if Vorstius had formerly been faulty in offensive expressions he had since cleared himself in a new Declaration For lately he set forth a Book entitled A Christan and modest Answer but he gave no satisfaction in his new Declaration King James therefore gave Instructions to his Ambassador to make publick protestation against their proceedings which Sir Ralph Winwood most solemnly performed And after his Majesties Request Letter and Protestation had missed their desired effect he wrote in French a Declaration against Vorstius which since by his leave hath been translated into English among his other Works Vorstius his Books were also by the King's Command publickly burnt at St. Paul's-cross in London and in both Universities The same year in March Bartholomew Legate an Arrian was burnt in Smithfield for denying the Deity of the Son of God and holding that there are no Persons in the Godhead with many other damnable Tenets In the next month Edward Wightman of Burton upon Trent was burnt at Litchfield for holding ten several Heresies viz. those of Ebion Cerinthus Valentinian Arrius Macedonius Simon Magus Manes Manicheus Photinus and of the Anabaptists Only a Spanish Arrian who was condemned to die was notwithstanding suffered to linger out his Life in Newgate where he ended the same This year died Richard Sutton the Founder of Charter-house Hospital Esquire The Manors which in several Counties he setled for the maintenance of this Hospital were these 1. Balsham Mannor in Cambridge-shire 2. Blastingthorp Mannor in Lincoln-shire 3. Black-grove Mannor in Wilt-shire 4. Broad-Hinton Land in Wilt-shire 5. Castle-Camps Mannor in Cambridge-shire 6. Chilton Mannor in Wilt-shire 7. Dunby Mannor in Lincoln-shire 8. Elcomb Mannor and Park in Wilt-shire 9. Hackney Land in Middlesex 10. Hallingbury-Bouchers Mannor in Essex 11. Missunden Mannor in Wilt-shire 12. Much-Stanbridge Mannor in Essex 13. Norton Mannor in Essex 14. Salthrop Mannor in Wilt-shire 15. South-minster Mannor in Essex 16. Tottenham Land in Middlesex 17. Vfford Mannor in Wilt-shire 18. Watelscot Mannor in Wilt-shire 19. Westcot Mannor in Wilt-shire 20. Wroughton Mannor in Wilt-shire Anno 1612. On November the sixth died Prince Henry of a burning Fever He was generally lamented of the whole Land both Universities publishing their Verses in print Prince Henry's Funerals are followed with the Prince Palatine's Nuptials solemnized with great state Anno 1613. Nicholas Wadham Esquire of Merrifield in the County of Sommerset bequeathed by his Will four hundred pounds per annum and six thousand pounds in Money to the building of a Colledge in Oxford leaving the care of the Whole to Dorothy his Wife This year the same was finished built in a place where formerly stood a Monastery of the Augustine Friars This year Anthony Rudd Bishop of St. Davids ended his Life Some three years since on the death of King Henry the Fourth Isaac Causabon that learned Critick was fetcht out of France by King James and preferred Prebendary of Canterbury Presently he wrote First to Fronto Duraeus his learned Friend then to Cardinal Perron in the just vindication of our English Church After these he began his Exercitations on Baronius his Ecclesiastical Annals which more truly may be termed The Annals of the Church of Rome He died and was buried in the South-Isle of Westminster-Abby His Monument was erected at the cost of Thomas Morton Bishop of Durham Anno 1614. Mr. John Selden set forth his Book of Tithes wherein he Historically proveth that they were payable jure humano and not otherwise Many wrote in answer to his Book Anno 1616. Mr. Andrew Melvin was freed from his imprisonment in the Tower whither he had been committed for writing some Satyrical Verses against the Ornaments on the Altar in the King's Chappel He afterwards became a Professor at Sedan in the Duke of Bovillon's Country Here he traduced the Church of England against which he wrote a Scroll of Saphicks entitled TAMI-CHAMI-CATEGERPA When first brought into the Tower he first found Sir William Seymour afterwards Marquess of Hertford and Duke of Sommerset there imprisoned for marrying the Lady Arabella so nearly allyed to the Crown without the King's consent To whom Melvin sent this Distick Causa mihi tecum communis carceris Ara Regia Bella tibi Regia sacra mihi Anno 1615. died Thomas Bilson Bishop of Winchester a profound Scholar well read
in the Fathers Anno 1616. Marcus Antonius de Dominis Archbishop of Spalato came over into England The same year King James went into Scotland with a Princely Train to visit his native Country This year died Doctor William James Bishop of Durham Two other prime Prelats also followed him viz. Doctor Henry Robinson Bishop of Carlisle and Robert Bennet Bishop of Hereford termed saith Mr. Fuller Eruditus Benedictus Doctor Mocket Warden of All-Souls in Oxford set forth a Book in pure Latin containing The Apology of the Church of England The greater and lesser Catechism The nine and thirty Articles The Common-prayer The Ordination of Bishops Priests and Deacons The Polity or Government of the Church of England He epitomized the Homilies into certain Propositions faithfully extracted The Book fared the worse for the Author the Author had for his Patron the Archbishop against whom many Bishops began then to combine Dr. Mocket's Book was censured to be burnt which was done accordingly soon after he ended his life Anno 1617. died Robert Abbot Bishop of Salisbury he died of the Stone and was much lamented by the University of Oxford About this time William Perry a Boy dweling at Bilson in Stafford-shire not full fifteen years of Age was practised on by some Jesuites repairing to the House of Mr. Gifford in that County to dissemble himself possessed But the Boy having gotten a habit of counterfeiting leading a lazy life thereby to his own ease and Parents profit would not be undeviled by all their Exorcismes so that the Priests raised up a Spirit which they could not allay At last by the Industry of Dr. Morton then Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield the jugling was laid open to the World by the Boys own confession and repentance All this King's Reign was scattered over with Cheaters in this kind Some Papists some Sectaries some neither Papists Sarah Williams Grace Sourbuts of Salmisbury in Lancashire Mary and Amy two Maids of Westminster Edward Hance a Popish Priest No Papists Richard Heydock Fellow of New Colledge in Oxford Preached in his dreams Latin Sermons against the Hierarchy He recanted and lived long after in Sarum practising Physick being also a good Poet Limner and Engraver Anne Gunt●r a Maid of Windsor had strange exratick phrensies and gave out she was possessed of a Devil A Maid at Standon in Hertford-shire so personated a Demoniack that she deceived many The King having the last year in his progress into Scotland through Lancashire observed that by the strictness of some Magistrates and Ministers in several places people were hindered from their recreations on the Sunday the Papists being thereby perswaded that no recreation was tolerable in our Religion whereupon the Court being at Greenwich he set forth a Declaration for liberty on the Lord's day When this Declaration came abroad many were offended at it But no Minister was enjoyned to read the Book in his Parish wherewith they had so affrighted themselves Yet many conceived that the Declaration came forth seasonably to suppress the endeavour of such who now began to broach the dregs of Judaism whereof John Thrask was a principal who asserted That the Lord's day was to be observed with the same strictness by Christians as it was by Jews and that all meats drinks forbidden in the Levitical Law bound Christians to the same observance thereby opening the door to led in the rabble of all Ceremonies He seduced many souls with his Tenets and his own wife among many others For these he was censured in the Star-chamber but afterwards recanted his Opinions He afterwards relapsed not into the same but other Opinions Sclater Exposit in 1 Thes ch 1. v. 4. He asserted That one may know Another's Election or That one that is the child of God may infallibly know the Election and Regeneration of Another Dr. William Sclater saith That for his outragious behaviour he received publick stigmatical punishment At this time began the troubles in the Low Countries about matters of Religion heightned between two opposit parties Remonstrants and Contra-remonstrants Their controversies being chiefly reducible to five points Of Predestination and Reprobation of the latitude of Christ's death of the power of Man's free-will both before and after his conversion and of the Elect's perseverance in Grace To decide these difficulties The States of the Vnited Provinces resolved to call a National Synod at Dort desiring some forreign Princes to send them the aid of their Divines for so pious a Work Especially they requested our King of Great Britain to contribute his assistance thereunto who out of his Princely wisdom made choice of George Carleton D. D. then Bishop of Landaff and afterwards Bishop of Chichester Joseph Hall D. D. then Dean of Worcester and after Bishop of Exeter and Norwich John Davenant D. D. then Margaret-Professor and Master of Queens Colledge in Cambridge Samuel Ward D. D. then Master of Sidney Colledge in Cambridge and Archdeacon of Taunton These repairing to his Majesty at New-market received Instructions from him concerning their behaviour in the Synod on October 27. they came to the Hague where they kissed the hand of his Excellency Grave Maurice to whom the Bishop made a short speech and by whom they were all courteously entertained Hence they removed to Dort where November 3. the Synod began Every one at his first entrance taking an admission Oath These four Divines had allowed them by the week threescore and ten pounds weekly Intelligence was communicated to the King from his Divines On December to Walter Dalcanqual B. D. and Fellow of Pembrook-hall came into the Synod being added to the four English Colleagues in the name of the Church of Scotland Dr. Hall finding that Air not agreeing with his health on his humble request obtained his Majestie 's leaue to returne whereupon with a Latin speech gravely delivered he publickly took his solemn farewell of the Synod and returned into his own Countrey On January 7. Dr. Thomas Goad Chaplain to George Archbishop of Canterbury came into the Synod sent thither by his Majesty of Great Britain April the twentieth the Belgick Confession was brought into the Synod containing matter both of Doctrine and Discipline and the publick consent thereunto was required Here Bishop Carleton in the name of the rest approved all the points of Doctrine But as for matter of Discipline that his own Order and his Mother-church might not suffer therein and he seem by silence to betray the cause thereof a Protest was entred by him as mouth for the rest to preserve the same These things he professed himself to have hinted not to offend those Churches therewith but to defend their own Church of England To this Interpellation of the British Divines nothing at all was answered And such as desire further satisfaction herein may peruse the joynt Attestation which those English Divines did set forth Anno 1626. to justifie their proceedings therein On April 29. the Synod ended The States to express
connivency it will press for a Toleration c. Then they propounded Remedies against these some whereof were That for securing the peace at home his Majesty would be pleased to review the parts of their petition formerly delivered to him and to put in execution by the eare of choice Commissioners to be thereunto appointed the Laws already and hereafter to be made for preventing of dangers by Popish Recusants That the Children of the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom and of others suspected in their Religion now beyond the Seas may be forthwith called home That the Children of Popish Recusants c. be brought up during their minority with Protestant School-masters That his Majesty will be pleased to revoke all former Licenses for such Children to travel beyond the Seas and not grant any such License hereafter c. The House had sufficient Cause to set forth the danger of true Religion when besides the great wound made in Germany and the cruelties of the prevailing House of Austria the Protestants in France were almost ruined by Lewis the Thirteenth being now besieged in Montauban by the King and in Rochel by Count Soisons and the Duke of Guise And for their Relief the King of England prevailed nothing by sending of Sir Edward Herbert since Baron of Cherbury and after him the Viscount Doncaster Ambassador for Mediation About this time a sad misfortune befel George Abbot Lord Archbishop of Canterbury for shooting at a Deer with a Cross-bow in Bramshil Park belonging to the Lord Zouch he casually killed the Keeper The King made choice of the Lord Keeper the Bishop of London Winton Rochester St. Davids and Exeter Sir Henry Hobart Justice Dolleridge Sir Henry Martin and Doctor Stuart to inform him of the nature of this cause and the scandal that might arise thereupon whether to an Irregularity or otherwise However this consultation was managed the Archbishop was not deprived In this business Bishop Andrews proved the Archbishop's great friend The Archbishop gave twenty pound a year to the man's Widow He kept a monethly fast on a Tuesday as the day whereon this casualty befell About this time young Merick Casaubon set for t a Book in defence of his deceased Father against Herbert Roswed a Jesuite and Andrew Schoppius a notorious railer Julius Caesar Bullinger and Andrew Eudemono Joannes He thought it his duty to assert his Father's memory and to give a brief account of his life and conversation Upon the remove of Richard Milborn to Carlile Doctor William Laud President of St. John's Colledge in Oxford was made Bishop of St. David's He founded in Oxford a Professor in the Arabick Tongue This year died John King Bishop of London He was sworn first Chaplain to King James who commonly called him The King of Preachers And Sir Edward Coke said of him He was the best speaker in Star-chamber in his time When Bishop of London unless hindred by sickness he omitted no Lord's day wherein he did not visit some Pulpit in London or near it The Papists raised a false aspersion upon him That at his death he was reconciled to the Church of Rome but this was sufficiently confuted by those eye and ear-witnesses present at his pious departure George Mountain Bishop of Lincoln succeeded him in his See The same year died William Cotton Bishop of Exeter whom Valentine Carew Dean of St. Paul's succeedeth Robert Townson Bishop of Sarisbury dieth whom John Davenant succeedeth Therein also expired Dr. Andrew Willet a man of great judgement and Industry one that had a large soul in a narrow estate The same year died also Richard Parry Bishop of St. Asaph We will conclude this year with the death of Mr. Francis Mason who wrote that worthy Book De Ministerio Anglicano Anno 1622. Multitudes of Priests and Popish Recusants then imprisoned Rushw Hist Collect. were released which the Spaniards professed to be a great demonstration of the King 's sincere affection to confirm the amity between the Crowns But a General offence was taken at this Indulgence to Papists The next year began with the end of that arrant Apostata in this Land M. Antonius de Dominis Anno 1622. Archbishop of Spalato and his fair riddance out of it He had fourteen years been Archbishop of Spalato in Dalmatia under the State of Venice and had now been five years in England Conscience in shew and Covetousness indeed caused his coming hither He wrote sharply against the Pope Fuller Church Hist An. 1622. out of a particular grudge against Pope Paul who had ordered him to pay a yearly pension of five hundred Crowns out of his Bishoprick to one Audrentius a Suffragan Bishop which this Archbishop refused to do The matter was brought to the Court of Rome where the Archbishop angry that he was cast in his Cause posts out of Italy through Germany into the Low Countries and thence came over into England Here multitudes of people flocked to behold this old Archbishop now a new Convert Prelates and Peers presented him with gifts of high valuation He was Feasted wheresoever he came and both the Universities when he visited them highly honoured him But above all King James was most munificent to him The King consigned him to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his present entertainment and as an earnest of his bounty sent him to Lambeth a fair Bason and Boll of Silver Misit mihi Rex Magnae Britanniae polubrum argenteum ad abstergendas sordes Romanae Ecclesiae poculum argenteum ad imbibendam Evangelii puritatem which Spalato received with this complement The King of Great Britain hath sent me a Silver Bason to wash from me the filth of the Roman Church and a Silver Cup to mind me to drink the purity of the Gospel Preferment is quickly conferred upon him as the Deanery of Windsor and the Master-ship of the Hospital of the Savoy with a good Parsonage at West-Ilsey in Berk-shire being a peculiar belonging to the Episcopal jurisdiction of the Dean of Windsor which Parsonage he collated on himself He improved the profits of his place to the utmost and had a design to question all his Predecessors Leases at the Savoy and began to be vexatious to his Tenants for which he was gravely and sharply reproved by Dr. King then Bishop of London Spalato complained to King James who in some choler said Extraneus extraneus es relinque res sicut eas invenisti You are a Stranger you are a stranger leave things as you found them He would passionately perswade others unto bounty to the poor though he would give nothing himself He now perfects his Books the Collections whereof were made by him at Spalato His works being three fair Folio's De Republica Ecclesiastica give ample testimony of his abilities He delighted in jeering one of his Sarcasms he unhappily bestowed on Count Gondomar the Spanish Ambassador telling him That three turns at Tyburn was the onely way to cure his
in Gresham Colledge and Mr. Francis Rowse a Lay-man His Majesty sensible of his Subjects great distast at Mr. Mountague's Book resolved to leave him to stand or fall according to the justness of his Cause The Duke imparted as much to the Bishop of St. David's who conceived it of such ominous concernment that he entred the same in his Diary viz. I seem to see a cloud arising and threatning the Church of England God for his mercy dissipate it The King issued forth a Proclamation Whereby he commanded the return within limited time of all such Children of Noble-men and other his natural Subjects who were now breeding up in Schools and Seminaries and other Houses of the Popish Religion beyond the Seas That their Parents Tutors and Governors take present order to recal them home and to provide that they return by the day prefixt at the utmost severity of his Majestie 's Justice He commanded further That no Bishop Priest or any other person having taken Orders under any Authority derived from the See of Rome do presume to confer Ecclesiastical Orders or exercise Ecclesiastical Function or Jurisdiction toward any of his Natural Subjects in any of his Dominions c. On Candlemas-day King Charles was Crowned Bishop Laud had the chief hand in compiling the form of the Coronation and had the honour to perform this Solemnity instead of the late Lord Keeper Williams who through the King's di●favour was sequestred from this service which belonged to his place as he was Dean of Westminster Dr. Senhouse Bishop of Carlile Preached at the Coronation The Coronation Oath was tendred to the King by the Archbishop of Canterbury The Ceremonies of the Coronation being ended the Regalia were offered at the Altar by Bishop Laud in the King's Name and then reposited Bishop Williams fallen into disgrace by the displeasure of the Duke of Buckingham besought his Majesty That he would mitigate the Duke's causeless anger towards him and that in his absence in the Parliament no use might be made of his Majestie 's sacred Name to wound the Reputation of a poor Bishop c. On Monday February the sixth began the second Parliament of the King's Reign The House of Commons began where they left at Oxford with matters of Religion and publick grievances They made strict enquiry into what abuses had been of the King's grace since that time and who were the Authors and Abbertors thereof for they had been informed of many Pardons and Reprieves to Priests and Jesuites An Act was tendred against scandalous Ministers It was moved that some provision might be made against scandalous Livings as well as against scandalous Ministers A Committee was named concerning Religion and the Growth of Popery and Mr. Mountague's Appeal to Caesar was again brought in question This Book the Commons referred to the Committee for Religion the contents whereof were reported from Mr. Pym to the House and the House passed their Votes thereupon That Mr. Mountague endeavoured to reconcile England to Rome and to alienate the King's affections from his well-affected Subjects Divers Articles were exhibited by the Commons against Mr. Mountague They prayed That the said Mr. Mountague might be punished according to his Demerits and that the Book aforesaid might be suppressed and burnt Many resorting to hear Mass at Durham house in the Lodgings of a Forreign Ambassador the Bishop of Durham was required to apprehend such of the King's Subjects as should be present at the Mass and to commit them to prison There was also a Letter sent from the Attorney General to the Judges of the circuits to direct their proceedings against Recusants Fuller Church Hist An. 1626. During the sitting of this Parliament at the procurement of Robert Rich Earl of Warwich a conference was kept in York house before the Duke of Buckingham and other Lords betwixt Dr. Buckeridge Bishop of Rochester and Dr. White Dean of Carlile on the one side and Dr. Morton Bishop of Coventry and Dr. Preston on the other chiefly About the possibility of one elected to fall from grace The passages of which conference are variously reported Soon after a second conference was in the same place on the same points before the same persons betwixt Dr. White Dean of Carlile and Mr. Mountague on the one side and Dr. Morton Bishop of Litchfield and Dr. Preston on the other But these conferences rather increased the differences than abated them An old Hall in Oxford formerly called Broad-gates-Hall was this year turned into a new Colledge and called Pembrook Colledge partly in respect to William Earl of Pembrook then Chancellor of the University This Colledge consisteth of a Master ten Fellows and ten Scholars with other Students and Officers to the number of one hundred sixty nine Now Dr. Preston decline's in the Duke's favour and the Duke betakes himself to the opposit Interest This year died Arthur Lake Bishop of Bath and Wells and Lancelot Andrews who had been Dean of Westminster Bishop of Chichester Ely and at last of Winchester Doctor Nicholas Felton Bishop of Ely died some days after Bishop Andrews About this time the Marshal of Middlesex petitioned to the Committee of the House of Commons touching his resistance in seizing of Priests goods A Warrant was made by Mr Attorney-General to John Tendring Marshal of Middlesex and all other therein named to search the prison of the Clink and to seize all Popish and superstitious matters there found A Letter also was directed to Sir George Paul a Justice of Peace in Surrey to pray him to take care in expediting that service Upon search four several Priests were found in the Clink viz. Preston Candon Warrington Prator Preston was committed to the Clink about sixteen years since and discharged of his imprisonment about seven years ago yet remained there in the Prison still attended with two Women servants and one Man servant who as it was suspected had continued with him ever since the Gunpowder-Treason Rushw Collec Anno 1626. Anno 1605. He kept there by himself apart from the Keeper of the prison and had for his lodging part of the Bishop of Winchester's house into which there was a passage made through the prison-yard There were found in his Chamber five or six Cart-loads of Books set up with shelves as in a Library or Book-seller's shop supposed to be worth two thousand pounds at least besides which it was affirmed by the Keeper of the prison that he had a greater Library abroad There were also found two Altars ready furnished for Mass one more publick in an upper Chamber the other more private in a Study many rich Copes Surplices Wax-candles Crosses Crucifixes very rich Beads Jewels Chaines Chalices of Silver and of Gold five or six bags of money which were not opened and loose money to the quantity of an hundred pound thrown up and down in his Desk abundance of Manuscripts and a pacquet of Letters bound up together with a thread In Candon's Chamber
very hospitably and had great concourse Among others Sir John Lamb Dean of the Arches formerly a favourite of the Bishop of Lincoln fetcht off from being prosecuted in Parliament and Knighted by his means with Dr. Sibthorp Allen and Burden two Proctors came to visit him and being at dinner with him there was much discourse about Non-conformists The Bishop knowing these to be busie men in the prosecution of such advised them to take off their heavy hand from them informing them that the King intended to use them hereafter with more mildness c. adding that He had communicated this unto him by his own mouth A few years after Sir John Lamb upon some difference with the Bishop informed against him for revealing the King's secrets whereupon an Information was put in against him in the Star-chamber unto which Bishop Williams by good advice of Counsel did plead and demurre as containing no matter fit for the Cognisance of that Court as concerning words spoken of matters done in Parliament and secrets pretended to be revealed by him a Privy-counsellour and Peer of Parliament and therefore not to be heard but in that high Court The Demurrer being rendred useless in the Bishop's Defence he put in a strong plea which likewise being argued and debated in open Court came at last to the same fate with the demurrer as referred to Judge Richardson and smothered by him in a Chamber This plea thus over-ruled the Bishop put in a special answer to the Information declaring how all was grounded by a Combination of the persons named in the Bill out of an intent to advance themselves c. To this special answer Attourney Noy rejoyned in issue admitting the Bishop to prove his special matters by his Witnesses After a while the Attorney being somewhat remiss in the prosecution one Richard Kilvert became the Bishop's Prosecutor who had found out that one John Prigion a Register of Lincoln and Leicester was a most material Witness in the Bishop's defence the credit of whose testimony he desired to invalidate by charging him with getting a Bastard on one Elizabeth Hodson This Bastard was by the Sessions at Lincoln ordered to be kept by Prigion as the reputed Father thereof but at a Sessions following the order was reversed and the Child fathered on one Bourn and Prigion acquitted and at a third Sessions it is returned upon Prigion again This last Order of Sessions was again dissolved as illegal by the Judges of the King's Bench and Prigion cleared from the Child charged on him in the doing whereof it was said that Powel and Owen two Agents of the Bishops did menace and tamper with the Witnesses Hence-forward Kilvert let fall his first information in the Star-chamber and employed all his power on the proof of Subornation and therein he succeeded The Bishop was fined eight thousand pounds and a thousand marks to Sir John Munson with Suspension ab Officio Beneficio and to be imprisoned during the King's pleasure All his Preferments in the Church were sequestred to the use of the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury as Archbishop of the Province exercised all kind of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction throughout the Diocess of Lincoln not only as an Ordinary of that Diocess but as Visitor of all those Colledges which had any dependance on that See At the same time were fined with the Bishop George Walker his Secretary Cadwallader Powel his Steward at three hundred pounds a piece and Thomas Lund the Bishop's Servant at a thousand marks all as Defendants in the same Cause yet none of them was imprisoned save Lund for a few weeks and their fine never called upon to this day About four years after viz. 1640. when this Bishop was fetcht out of the Tower and restored a Peer in Parliament he therein presented several grievances concerning the prosecution of this Cause against him And the Parliament ordered all the Records of that Suit in the Star-chamber to be obliterated Sir Rich. Baker s Chron. In the year 1616. King James had obtained an Act of the General Assembly at Aberdeen for the compiling a Liturgy which was to be first presented to the King and after his approbation universally received throughout the Kingdom This Book was framed and sent up to the King who himself perused revised it referring it also to the consideration of others in whom he much confided And after his own and their Observation Additions Expunctions Mutations c. he returned it to Scotland to be commended to that Church but before a period was put to that business the King died King Charles understanding his Father's intention in composing a Liturgy for the Church of Scotland ordereth the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishop of Ely together with divers other Bishops of both Nations to revise and correct as they should think meet the Liturgy compiled in his Father's life-time which very little differeth from that of England ordereth it to be sent to the Council in Scotland to be made use of there On July twenty three 1637. as the Dean of Edenborough began to read the Book in St. Giles his Church Lambert Wood of the Life and Reign of King Charles a sudden uproar began by the women and baser sort of people The Bishop appointed to preach goes into the Pulpit hoping to convince them of their irreverent carriage which nothing prevailed for they were the more insolent flinging stools stones and whatever else came next to hand at him so that he hardly escaped with life Divers other Churches were infested with the like fury but by the Industry of the Archbishop of St. Andrews Lord Chancellor and other Magistrates the tumult was appeased some were afterwards apprehended and endeavours made to find out the first beginner But not long after a great concourse of people from all parts of that Kingdom came to Edinborough which occasioned the Lords of the Council to put forth several Proclamations to prevent the like disorders but they nothing prevailed For the next day the Bishop of Galloway going to the Council was followed by a great multitude reviling him until he came to the Council-door where he was no sooner entred but they beset the House with very great numbers threatening destruction to all that were within The Council require aid of the Provost and other Magistrates of the City who return answer that they were in the like danger The tumult still increasing they of the City were forced for the safeguard of their own lives to subscribe as followeth 1. To joyn in opposition to the Service-book and to petition against it 2. To restore Ramsey and Rollock two silenced Ministers 3. To receive in Mr. Henderson formerly silenced Which being signed the Council thought was a good step to suppress the tumult But entring into the High-street the Lord Treasurer and other Lords were fresh assaulted trodden underfoot and brought back by violence to the Council-house where being in great danger they require aid of divers
about him but more at the great noise not long after raised about the seduceing of the Countess of Newport to the Church of Rome effected by the practices of Walter Mountague a younger Son of the Earl of Manchester and the importunities of Toby Mathews an undeserving Son of a worthy Father Con interposing in it as he found occasion Wherefore he passionately besought the King that they might be barred either from coming into the Court at all or to give no offence and scandal to their misbehaviours Hereupon Mountague and Mathews were discharged the Court the one betaking himself to his Countrey-practice the other for a time to his former Travels in France and Italy The next year he moved for a Proclamation for the calling in of a Popish Book written in French by Francis Sales Bishop of Geneva translated into English entitled an Introduction to a holy life The Printer was thereupon apprehended and the Translator diligently sought for to be brought to Justice His Majesty caused the said Book to be called in and as many as could be seized on to be publickly burned But that which did most generally vindicate the Archbishop's reputation was the enlarging and re-printing of his Conference with Fisher the Jesuite even then when the Libellers were most fierce against him to which he had been moved by some private friends and afterwards advised to it by the King himself at the Council-Table Now as he laboured by these means to preserve the Church of England from the growth of Popery so he took care for preventing the subversion of it by the spreading of Socinian Heresies He also procured a Decree to pass in Star-chamber to regulate the Trade of Printing and prevent all abuses of that Excellent Art to the disturbance of the Church Many Lecturers who had been super-inducted into other Men's Cures had deserted their Stations Heylin's Hist of Archbish Laud. because they would not read the Common-prayer in their Hoods and Surplices And as for the position of the Communion-Table it was no longer left to private Instructions as it was at the first It now began to be more openly avowed in the Visitation Articles of several Bishops and Archdeacons The people in many trading Towns which were near the Sea having been long discharged of the bond of Ceremonies no sooner came to hear of the least noise of a Conformity but they spurn at it And finding that they had lost the comfort of their Lecturers and that their Ministers began to shrink at the name of a Visitation it was no hard matter for those Ministers and Lecturers to perswade them to remove their dwellings and transport their Trades Among the first which separated upon this account were Goodwyn Nye Burroughs Bridge and Symson who taking some of their followers with them betook themselves unto Holland Goodwyn and Nye retired to Arnheim a Town of Gelderland Symson and Bridge fixed at Rotterdam where Burroughs placed himself I am yet to seek These men embraced Robinson's moddel of Church-government in their Congregations consisting of a co-ordination of several Churches for their mutual comfort not a subordination of one to the other in the way of direction or command Hence came that name of Independents continued unto those among us who neither associate themselves with the Pre●byterians nor embrace the frenzies of the Anabaptists But Rotterdam grew too narrow a place for Bridge and Symson and Symson was forced to leave it and Ward who succeeded him tarried not long More unity there was at Arnheim But the Brethren of the Separation in England desiring elbow-room cast their eye chiefly on new-New-England a Countrey first discovered to any purpose by Captain Gosnold Anno 1602. and in the next year surveyed more perfectly by some of Bristol afterwards granted by King James Anno 1606. unto a Corporation of Knights Gentlemen and Merchants to be planted and disposed of for the Publick under the direction of Chief Justice Popham by whom a Colony was sent thither in the year next following at what time they built St. George's Fort to secure their Haven It never setled into form till the building of New-Plinmouth Anno 1620. New-Bristol New-Boston and New-Barnstable being quickly added to the other De Laet lib. 3. ca. 8. De Laet a good Chorographer informeth us in his Description of America that the first Planters and those which followed after them were altogether of that Sect which in England were called Brownists many of which had formerly betaken themselves to Holland but afterwards departed thence to joyn with their Brethren in New-England In this estate they stood Anno 1633. when John de Laet gave that character of them Whatsoever were the causes of their separation Doctor Heylin saith the crime was laid on the Archbishop of Canterbury and among the Articles of his Impeachment by the House of Commons we find this for one viz. That in his own person and his Suffragans Visitors Chancellors c. he had caused divers learned pious and orthodox Preachers of God's Word to be silenced susppended deprived excommunicated or otherwise grieved and vexed without any just cause c. and caused divers of his Majesties Subjects to forsake the Kingdom Hereupon saith Doctor Heylin so is the Judge to be accused for all those mischiefs which the condemned Malefactors when they once break prison may design and execute And saith my Author further the principal Bell-weathers of these Flocks were Cotton Chauncy Wells Hooker and perhaps Hugh Peters It was once under consultation to send a Bishop over to them for their better government and back him with some Forces to compel if he he were not otherwise able to perswade obedience But this design was strangled in the first conception by the violent breakings out of the Troubles in Scotland where the Covenanters now began to raise Arms levy Souldiers invite home their Commanders abroad impose Taxes upon the people seize some of the King's Castles raise Fortifications prepare for a War and chose old David Lesley for their General Saunderson of the Reign of King Charles To pacifie these distempers Hamilton is designed for the King's High-Commissioner into Scotland The Bishops and others advised the King to have delegated the Marquiss of Huntley for his High-Commissioner to manage the Affairs of Scotland Hamilton trifleth away the time from July 32. 1637. until June 6. 1638. with Declarations Proclamations Messages Letters while the Scots raised Officers Arms Ammunition from abroad four months more in vain Disputes and three Journeys to the King and back again with the expence of so much money as might have reduced them by reward or power On May 26. he sets forward for Scotland and coming to Edenborough puts himself into Holy-Rood-house where the first thing he did was the waving of his attendance at the reading of the English Liturgy Then he published the King's gratious Proclamation for the nulling of Service-book and High-Commission promising an Assembly to be held at
Glascow November 21. 1638. and a Parliament at Edenborough May 15. 1639. But nothing satisfied But before the Assembly at Glascow was indicted the Covenanters had so laid the plot that none but those of their own party should have suffrage in it not suffering the Archbishops and Bishops to sit as Moderators in their Presbyteries where the Elections were to pass and citing them to appear as Criminal persons at the said Assembly The Archbishops and Bishops in the name of themselves and of all their Adherents prepared their declinator or protestation against the said General Assembly and all the Acts and Conclusions of it as being void and null in Law to all intents and purposes whatsoever The day being come Hamilton marcheth to the place appointed for the Session in the equipage of an High-Commissioner the Sword and Seal being carried before him c. The reading of his Commission the putting in and rejecting of the declinator the chusing of Henderson to be Moderator of the Assembly the constituting of the Members of it and some debates touching Votes and Suffrages challenged by Hamilton for such as were Assessors to him took up all their time betwixt their first meeting and their dissolution which was by proclamation solemnly declared on the twenty ninth of the same month But notwithstanding the said dissolution the Members of the said Assembly continued their Session and therein passed many Acts for the utter overthrow of the Polity and Government of the Church They not only excommunicated the Bishops and their Adherents but condemned the very Function it self to be Antichristian and utterly to be abolished out of the Church The like censure also they passed on the Service-book and the Canons with the five Articles of Perth and all the Arminian Tenets in case of Predestination and declared all men subject to excommunication and all other censures of the Church who should refuse to yield obedience to all their determinations And albeit his Majesty by the same Proclamation had commanded all his Subjects not to yield obedience to any of their Acts and Ordinances yet those of the Assembly were resolved to maintain their Authority and not only the Bishops and Clergy but also as many of the Laity as had refused to subscribe to the Acts thereof were deprived of their Offices and Preferments banished their Country and forced to fly into England or other places the King being unable to protect them from the power and malice of their Adversaries The King now thinks of raising an Army against the Scots Sir Rich. Baker's Chron. and a Loan for the King's assistance against the Scots is subscribed by many Lords of the Council and Bishops c. Cardinal Richlieu was no small Incendiary in this business betwixt the King and Scots who sent his Chaplain and Almoner Mr. Thomas Chamberlain a Scotch-man to assist the Confederates in advancing the business and to attempt all wayes of exasperation and not to depart from them till he might return with good news in this project About the latter end of this year died John Spottiswood Archbishop of St. Andrews at London and was buried near unto King James in the Abbey-church of Westminster The King began his journey towards the North on March twenty seven his Army being advanced before the chief command whereof was committed to the Earl of Arundel The Scots presented a Petition to the King at his Camp near Berwick And Commissioners being on both sides appointed they came at last to this conclusion on June 17. viz. first That his Majesty should confirm whatsoever his Commissioner hath already granted in his Majesties name and that from thenceforth all matters Ecclesiastical should be determined by the Assemblies of the Kirk and all matters civil by the Parliament and to that end a General Assembly to be indicted on the sixth of August and a Parliament on the twentieth of the same month in which Parliament an Act of Oblivion was to pass for the common peace and satisfaction of all parties that the Scots upon the publication of the accord should within forty eight hours disband all their Forces discharge all pretended Tables and Conventicles restore unto the King all his Castles Forts and Ammunition of all sorts the like restitution to be made to all his good Subjects of their liberties lands goods c. taken and detained from them since the late pretended General Assembly at Glascow that thereupon the King should presently recal his Fleet and retire his Land-forces and cause restitution to be made to all persons of their goods detained and arrested since the first of February But as for the proceedings of the Assembly at Glascow they seem to have been left in the same condition in which they stood before his Majesties taking Arms. And the King doing nothing to the abrogating of them when he was in the Head of a powerful Army he could not expect that the Scots could yield to any such abrogation when he had no such Army to compel obedience And this immediately appeared on his Majesties signing the Agreement and discharging his Army thereupon For the Covenanters upon the declaration of this accord produced a Protestation First Of adhering to their late General Assembly at Glascow and to all the proceedings there especially the sentences of Deprivation and Excommunication of the sometimes pretended Bishops of that Kingdom as they were termed Secondly Of adhering to their solemn Covenant and declaration of the Assembly whereby the Office of Bishops is abjured Thirdly That the Bishops have been malitious Incendiaries of his Majesty against this Kingdom by their wicked calumnies and that if they return to this Kingdom they be esteemed and used as accursed c. Fourthly That all the entertainers of the excommunicated Bishops should be orderly proceeded against with Excommunication conform to the Acts and Constitutions of this Kirk They continued their Meetings and Consultations as before they did maintained their Fortifications at Leith the Port-town to Edenborough and kept their Officers and Commanders in continual pay His Majesty hereupon sent for some of the Chiefs of them to come unto him to Berwick but was refused in his Commands The Earls of Kinnoul and Traquair Chief Justice Elphinston and Sir James Hamilton all Privy Counsellors were pulled violently out of their Coach on a suspition that some Bishops were disguised among them that the King might have some cause to suspect that there could be no safety for him in such a place and among people so enraged notwithstanding his great clemency toward them in the pacification In this condition of Affairs his Majesty returned toward London in the end of July 1639. Heylin's Hist of Archbish Laud. part 2. leaving the Scots to play their own game as they listed having first nominated Traquair as his High-Commissioner for managing both the Assembly and the following Parliament In the first meeting of the two they acted over all the parts they had plaid at Glascow to the utter
abolition of Episcopacy and the ruine of all that adhered to it their actings in it being confirmed in his name by the High-Commission The news whereof caused the King to send for the Lord Wentworth out of Ireland who was presently made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and not long after with great solemnity created Earl of Strafford in the County of York As Lord Lieutenant he had power to appoint a Deputy that he might the better attend the service here without any prejudice to that Kingdom which Office he committed to Wansford a York-shire Gentleman whom he had took along with him into Ireland at his first going thither His Majesty was pleased to commit the conduct of the Scottish Affairs to a Juncto of three namely the Archbishop of Canterbury the Earl of Strafford and the Marquiss of Hammilton These three move his Majesty to call a Parliament and it was concluded that a Parliament should be called on April 13. 1640. In the mean time the Lord Lieutenant held a Parliament in Ireland and so governed the affair that an Army of eight thousand Horse and Foot was speedily raised and money granted by the Parliament to keep them in pay to furnish them with Ammunition Arms and all other necessaries And the Lords of the Council here subscribed largely for the carrying on of the War until such time as the Parliament should convene The Scots being informed of the King's preparation for a War sent the Earl of Dumferling the Lord London Sir William Douglas and Mr. Barkham to represent the Affairs of their transactions which were received by the King in a friendly manner Some dayes being unprofitably spent in these debates the Archbishop and the rest of the Committee delegated for this business made a report of the whole business to the rest of the Council who came to this result That since the Scots could not be reclaimed to their obedience by other means they were to be reduced by force Therefore the Scots as much bestirred themselves on the other side Part of the walls of Edenborough-castle with all the Ordnance upon it had fallen down on the nineteenth of November last being the Anniversary day of his Majesties birth for the repair whereof they would neither suffer Timber nor other Materials to be carried to it but on the contrary they began to raise Fortifications against it with an intent to block it up and render it unuseful to his Majesties service Neither would they suffer the Souldiers to come into the Market to recruit their victuals They made provisions of great quantity of Artillery Munition and Arms from forreign parts laid Taxes of ten Marks in the hundred upon all the Subjects scattered abroad many seditious Pamphlets for justifying themselves and seducing others some of which were burnt in England by the hand of the Hangman fortified Inchgarvy and other places imprisoned the Earl of Southesk and other Persons of Quality for their fidelity to the King took to themselves the government of Edenborough and employed their Emissaries in England to sollicit them to aid them in maintaining the War against their Sovereign But their chief corespondence was with France and Ireland In France they had made sure of Cardinal Richlieu who governed all Affairs in that Kingdom In Ireland they had a strong party of natural Scots planted in Vlster by King James upon the forfeited Estates of Tir-Owen Tir-Connel Odighirty c. But Wentworth crushed them in the beginning of the combination seizing upon such Ships and Men as came thither from Scotland imprisoning some fining others and putting an Oath upon the rest By which Oath they were bound to abjure the Covenant not to aid the Covenanters against the King nor to protest against any of his royal Edicts as their Brethren in Scotland use to do for the refusing of which Oath he fined one Sir Henry Steward and his Wife at no less than five thousand pound apiece two of their Daughters and one James Gray of the fame confederacy at the sum of three thousand pound apiece committing them to prison for not paying the fines imposed on them Some Scots having endeavoured to betray the Town and Castle of Carick fergus to a Noble-man of that Countrey the principal Conspirator was executed Finally The Lord Lieutenant gave a power to the Bishop of Down and Connor and other Bishops of that Kingdom and their several Chancellors to attach the bodies of all such of the meaner sort who either should refuse to appear before them upon citation or to perform all lawful Decrees and Orders made by the said Bishops c. and to commit them to the next Gaol till they should conform or answer the contempt at the Council-Table By means whereof the poorer sort became very obedient to their several Bishops In the mean time the Archbishop of Canterbury is intent on the preservation of the Hierarchy and the Church of England against the practices of the Scots and Scotizing English and no less busied in digesting an Apology for vindicating the Liturgy commended to the Kirk of Scotland He took order for translating the Scottish Liturgy into the Latin Tongue that being published with the Apology which he had designed it might give satisfaction to the world of his Majesties Piety and his own great care the orthodoxy and simplicity of the Book it self and the perverseness of the Scots in refusing all of it Which Work was finished and left with him the present distemper of the times and the troubles which fell heavily on him putting an end to it in the first beginning He recommended to Doctor Hall then Bishop of Exon the writing of a Book in defence of the Divine right of Episcopacy in opposition to the Scots and their Adherents Exeter having undertaken it sent the first delineations of the Pourtracture to Lambeth in the end of October which were generally well approved of by the Metropolitan who having made some alterations sent them back with many kind expressions of a fair acceptance And such was the freedom he used in declaring his judgment in the case and such the Authority which his Reasons carried along with them that the Bishop of Exon found good cause to correct his Opinon according to the Rules of these Animadversions agreeable unto which the Book was writ and published not long after under the name of Episcopacy by Divine right c. Whilst the Archbishop laboured to support Episcopacy on the one side some of the adverse party laboured as much to suppress it by lopping off the branches first and afterwards by laying the Axe to the root of the Tree Bagshaw a Lawyer of some standing of the Middle-Temple began to question the Bishop's place and vote in Parliament their Temporal power and the authority of the Commission For being chosen Reader by that House for the Lent-vacation he first selected for the Argument of his discoursings the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. cap. 7. His main design was intended chiefly for the defence
Sabbath the other The Christian Alter Not many days after the Earl of Strafford was impeached of High Treason by Mr. Pym in fourteen Articles The Earl was forthwith Sequestred the House and committed to the Black Rod and sent not long after to the Tower December 18. Archbishop Laud and Bishop Wren were voted by the Commons Guilty of High Treason and a charge was immediately brought in against Bishop Laud upon the Reading of which on March 1. he was sent to the Tower The same moneth Alderman Pennington with a great multitude out of London petitioned the House against Episcopal Government and the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church A Committee was appointed to consider of matters of Religion setled in the Upper House of Parliament Ten Earls ten Bishops ten Barons At the same time the Lords appointed a Sub-committee to prepare matters fit for their cognizance the Bishop of Lincoln having the Chair in both authorized to call together divers Bishops and Divines to consult together for correcting what was amiss and to settle peace viz. The Archbishop of Armagh The Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Exeter Dr. Samuel Ward Dr. William Twisse Dr. Robert Sanderson Dr. Daniel Featley Dr. Ralph Brownrigg Dr. Richard Holdsworth Dr. John Hacket Dr. Cornelius Burgesse Mr. John White Mr. Stephen Marshall Mr. Edmond Calamy Mr. Thomas Hill The place of their meeting was Jerusalem-chamber in the Dean of Westminster's house where they had solemn debates six several days First they consult on innovations in Doctrine Then they enquire into Preter-canonical conformity and innovations in Discipline and concerning the Common-Prayer Lastly they entred on the Regulating of Ecclesiastical Government which was not brought in because the Bishop of Lincoln had undertaken the draught thereof but not finished it as employed at the same time in many weighty matters of State This consultation continued till the middle of May. But the B●ll against Deans and Chapters put such a distance between the foresaid Divines that never their Judgments and scarce their persons met after together The Canons made in the late Convocation were condemned in the House of Commons as being against the King's Prerogative the Fundamental Laws of the Realm the Liberty and Property of the Subject and containing divers other things tending to Sedition and of dangerous consequence Many things were charged against the Archbishop by the Scots Commissioners viz. That he had pressed upon that Kirk many Innovations in Religion contained in the Liturgy and Book of Canons contrary to the Liberties and Laws thereof That he had required Ballentine Bishop of Dumblane and the rest of the Bishops to be present at the Divine Service in their Whites and blamed the said Bishop for his negligence in it c. That he gave order for the taking down Stone-walls and Galleries in the Churches of Edenborough to no other end but for the setting up of Altars and Adoration toward the East That for their Supplicating against these Novations they were declared Rebels in all the Parish-Churches of England and a War kindled against them by his Arts and Practices That their Covenant by him was called ungodly and that divers Oathes were imposed upon their Countrey-men to abjure the same That he in the presence of the King spared not to rail against the General Assembly held at Glascow and put his hand to a Warrant for imprisoning some of those Commissioners sent from the Parliament of Scotland for the Peace of both Nations That when the late Parliament could not be moved to assist in the War against them he had caused the same to be dissolved and continued the Convocation to make Canons against them and their Doctrines c. Such was the charge exhibited by the Scots Commissioners in which many thought there was nothing criminal enough to deserve Imprisonment much less to menace him with death The Bishop of Ely was impeached for many reputed misdemeanours in the See of Norwich That he deprived or banished within the space of two years fifty Godly Learned Painful Ministers His placing the Communion-Table Altar-wise and causing a Rayl to be set before it The practising of Superstition in his own person his bowing toward it Consecrating the Bread and Wine at the West-side of the Table with his back toward the people and elevating the same above his Head that the people might see it causing the seats in all places to be so contrived that the people must of necessity kneel towards the East Appointing no Prayers to be used by Preachers before their Sermons but that prescribed by the Canon c. In the midst of these troublesom times died Dr. John Davenant Bishop of Salisbury A little before his death he prayed emphatically for half a quarter of an hour Among many heavenly passages therein He thanked God for this his fatherly correction because in all his life-time he never had any one heavy affliction which made him often much suspect with himself whether he was a true child of God or no. Deans and Chapters being now opposed by Parliament the Cathedral-men endeavour to preserve their Foundations and by their friends obtain leave to be admitted into the House of Commons and to be heard what they could alledge in their own behalf They made choice of Doctor John Hacket Prebendary of St. Pauls to be the mouth for all the rest He shewed Fuller Church Hist Cent. 17. lib. 11. that to supply the defects of Prayer committed by private men the publick duty thereof should be constantly performed in some principal place in imitation of the Primitive practice and this is done in Cathedrals He spake much also in praise of Church-musick when moderated to Edification He took occasion to resell that slaunder which some cast on Lecture-preachers as an upstart Co●poration alledging that the local Statutes of most or all Cathedral Churches do require Lectures on the week-days And in the name of his Brethren he requested that Honourable House that godly and profitable Preaching might be the more exacted Then he insisted on the advancement of Learning as the proper use and convenience of Cathedrals each of them being a small Academy for the Champions of Christ's cause against the Adversaries by their Learned pens Here he proffered to prove by a Catalogue of their Names and Works which he could produce that most excellent labours in this kind excepting some few have preceeded from persons preferred in Cathedrals Now what a disheartning would it be to young Students if such promotions were taken away He alledged also that the antient and genuine use of Deans and Chapters was as Senatus Episcopi to assist the Bishop in his jurisdiction He said that Cathedral-Churches were the first Monuments of Christianity in England From things he passed to persons and began with the multitude of such members as had maintenance from Cathedrals the total amounting to many thousands All which by the dissolution of Deans and Chapters must be exposed to poverty Next he instanced
they alone were sent to the custody of the Black Rod. Now was the Bill against the Bishops sitting in Parliament brought up into the House of the Lords and the matter agitated so eagerly on both sides The Lord Viscount Newark afterwards Earl of Kingston made two notable speeches in the House in defence of Episcopacy which confirmed those of the Episcopal party making the Lords very zealous in Bishops behalf There were in the House many other defenders of Episcopacy as William Lord Marquis of Hartford the Earl of South-hampton the Earl of Bristol and the Lord Digby his Son and that learned Lord William Earl of Bath and many other Lords voted for them About this time died Richard Mountague Bishop of Norwich and Doctor Joseph Hall succeeded him in his See Doctor John Prideaux Regius Professor in Oxford was made Bishop of Worcester Doctor Thomas Winniff Dean of St. Pauls was made Bishop of Lincoln Doctor Ralph Brownrigg made Bishop of Exeter Doctor Henry King made Bishop of Chichester Doctor John Westfield made Bishop of Bristol he died not long after These were as likely persons to have kept up Episcopacy if God's providence had so appointed as any could have been culled out of England The Bill was again brought in against Bishops Votes in Parliament and it was clearly carried in the Negative that Bishops never more should Vote as Peers in Parliament The King was very unwilling to consent to it but at last with much importunity he signed the Bill as he was in St. Augustines in Canterbury passing with the Queen towards Dover then undertaking her voyage into the Low Countries Ten of the eleven Bishops formerly subscribing their Protestation to the Parliament were after some moneths durance upon good bale given released These now at liberty severally disposed themselves Some went home to their own Diocess as the Bishops of Norwich Oxford c. The Bishop of Durham continued in London Some withdrew themselves into the King's quarters as Archbishop Williams c. Bishop Wren within few moneths after he was discharged from the Tower was seized on by a party of Souldiers at his house at Downham and brought back again to the Tower where he continued till the end of the year 1659. As for the Archbishop of Canterbury as he first took possession of that fatal lodging before any of the rest came to him so he continued there after their dismission without hope of finding his passage out of it by any other door than the door of death which as he did not look for before it came so when it came he did not fear it saith Doctor Heylin On October 23. in the year foregoing the House of Peers sequestred his Jurisdiction from him conferring it on Sir Nathanael Brent and others of his under-officers and ordered That He should bestow none of the Benefices within his Gift without acquainting them with the name and quality of the party whom he intended to prefer leaving to them the approbation if they saw cause for it And on October 15. 1642. for so long he remained without further disturbance it was resolved upon the Question That the Fines Rents and Profits of Archbishops and Bishops should be Sequestred for the use and service of the Common-wealth On the ninth of November following the Archbishops house at Lambeth was forcibly possessed by a party of Souldiers to keep it for the Publick service and seventy eight pounds of his Rents as forcibly taken from some of his Officers by an order under the hands of some of the Lords But upon his petition shortly after Heylin Hist of Archbish Laud. he had an order for securing of his Books and Goods Another order-came to bar him from any conference with any of the other prisoners or speaking with any other but in the presence of the Warder who was appointed to attend him and from having the liberty of the Tower or from sending any of his servants into the City but on occasion of providing victuals and other necessaries The Souldiers brake open the doors of his Chappel in Lambeth house and began to spoil the Organs there but their Captain put a stop to their fury On December 21. his saddle-horse was seized on by order from some members in the House of Common and on the 23. Dr. Leighton who had before been sentenced in the Star-chamber for his libellous Pamphlets came with an order from that House to dispossess the Souldiers of their quarters there and turn his House into a Prison his Wood and Coals seized on without any permission to make any use of them for himself In the beginning of May the windows in his Chappel were defaced and the steps torn up his Books and Goods seized on by Leighton and some others And on the sixteenth of the same moneth he was served with an order of both Houses debarring him from bestowing any of his Benefices which either were or should be vacant for the time to come And on the thirty first an order was directed unto Prynne and others to seize on all his Letters and Papers to be perused by such as should be Authorized to that end and purpose The entertaining of many petitions by the Houses of Parliament visibly tending to the abolition of Episcopal government made it appear most necessary in the eyes of those who wisht well to it to hasten the publishing of such petitions as had been presented to the King in behalf thereof and by his Majesty had been ordered to be published accordingly Among which none did plead the cause with greater fervency than that which was tendred in the name of the Gentry and Clergy of the Diocess of Canterbury To which petition there subscribed no fewer than twenty four Knights and Baronets Esquires and Gentlemen of note above three hundred Divines one hundred and eight Freeholders and Subsidy men eight hundred Many petitions of like nature came from other Counties where the people were at any liberty to speak their own sence All which with some of those which had led the way unto the rest were published by order from his Majesty bearing date May 20. 1642. under the Title of A collection of the petitions of divers Countries c. Which petitions being drawn together besides many which were presented after this Collection amounted to nineteen in all that is to say two from the County of Chester two from Cornwall one from the University of Oxford and another from the University of Cambridge one from the Heads of Colledges and Halls This from the Diocess of Canterbury another from the Diocess of Exeter one from the six Counties of North-wales and one a piece from the Counties of Nottingham Hereford Huntington Somerset Rutland Stafford Kent Oxford and Lancaster These petitions came from thousands of the most eminent subjects of the Realm But nothwithstanding the importunity of the Petitioners on the one side and the moderation of the King's answer on the other the prevailing party in both Houses
kept in custody by the General 's command in the Queen's Court and Court of Wards These were removed to the King's-Head Inn near Charing-Cross and to the Swan Inn in the Strand under Guards of Souldiers The Army put forth a new Representative called The Agreement of the People The King is brought up to London arraigned before a select Committee for that purpose called An High Court of Justice indicted and upon his refusal● to own their Authority finally condemned Having received the sentence of death Dr. Juxon Bishop of London Preached privately before him at St. James's on the Sunday following his Text Romans 2.16 Next Tuesday being the day of his dissolution in the morning alone he received the Communion from the hands of the said Bishop At which time he read for the second Lesson the 27th chapter of St. Matthew containing the History of the death and passion of our Saviour Sermon ended the King heartily thanked the Bishop for selecting so seasonable and comfortable a portion of Scripture seeing all Humane hope and happiness is founded on the sufferings of our Saviour The Bishop answered He had done it meerly following the direction of the Church of England whose Rubrick appointeth that Chapter the second Morning-lesson for the thirtieth of January At ten of the Clock in the forenoon he is brought on Foot from St. James's Palace over the Park to Whitehall guarded with a Regiment of Foot-souldiers part before and the rest behind him with Colours flying and Drums beating his private Guard of Partizans about him and Doctor Juxon Bishop of London next to him on one side and Colonel Tomlinson on the other He bid them go faster saying That he now went before them to strive for an Heavenly Crowns with less sollicitude than he had oftentimes bid his Souldiers to fight for an earthly Diadem Then passeth he to the Scaffold where he defendeth his Innocency howbeit he acknowledgeth God's justice pardons his enemies takes pity on the Kingdom He shews the Souldiers how much they are out of the way and tells them They would never go right till they give God his due the King his due and the people their due You must said he give God his due by restoring his worship and Church rightly regulated which is now out of order according to his Word And a National Synod freely called freely debating among themselves must settle this when every Opinion is freely and clearly heard For the King said he that is my Successor Indeed I will not the Laws of the Land will clearly instruct you for that For the People I must tel you That their liberty and freedom consists in having Government under those Laws by which their Lives and Goods may be most their own It is not in having a share in the Government that pertains not to them A Sovereign and a Subject are two different things He prayed God they might take those courses that are best for the good of the Kingdom and their own Salvation Then having declared That he died a Christian according to the profession of the Church of England as the same was left him by his Father He said I have a good Cause and a gracious God and gave his George to the Bishop bidding him Remember to give it to the Prince Then said He I go from a Corruptible to an Incorruptible Crown where no disturbance can be but peace and joy for evermore Then lifting up his eyes and hands to Heaven having prayed secretly stooping down to the block he received the fatal stroak On the Wednesday sennight after his Corps embalmed and Coffined in Lead was delivered to the care of some of his Servants to be buried at Windsor That night they brought the Corps to Windsor The Vault being prepared a scarff of Lead was provided some two foot long and five inches broad therein to make an Inscription which was KING CHARLES 1648. The Plummer souldred it to the Coffin about the Breast of the Corpse Then was the Corpse brought to the Vault being born by the Souldiers of the Garrison Over it a black Velvet Herse-cloth the four Labels whereof the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hertford the Earls of South-hampton and Lindsey did support The Bishop of London stood weeping by Then was it deposited in silence and sorrow in the vacant place in the Vault near to the Coffin as it was thought which contained the Corps of King Henry the Eighth the Herse-cloth being cast in after it about three of the Clock in the afternoon and the Lords that night though late returned to London Prince Charles eldest Son to King Charles the first by unquestionable right succeeded to the Crowns of England Scotland and Ireland in the eighteenth year of his age Proclamation and Coronation could not now have their due course The Ruling part of the House of Commons who usurped the Government with violence on the person of the late King immediately published an Act even against Kingly Government Yet this Inhibition did not deter many Loyal Subjects from doing their duty and on February 2. a Proclamation in the name of the Noblemen Judges Knights Lawyers Gentlemen Free-holders Merchants Citizens Yeomen Seamen and other Freemen of England did Proclaim Prince Charles King of England The Proclamation was Printed and scattered about the Streets of London The House of Peers continued yet sitting and in regard the Commissions of the Judges were determined by the death of the King they send to the Commons for a Conference about it and other matters relating to the setling of the Government But Monarchy and the House of Lords are declared useless by the Commons The Peers in general resent these indignities put upon them by a small part of the House of Commons they assert their own Priviledges and the Fundamental Laws of the Nation and disclaim and protest against all Acts Votes Orders or Ordinances of the said Members of the Commons House for erecting of new Courts of Justice to try or execute the King or any Peer or Subject of the Realm for altering the Government Laws Great Seal c. Hereupon the Army set a Guard upon the door of the House of Lords and in further prosecution of the late Votes of Commons against Monarchy An Act was passed by that House for the Exhaeredation of the Royal Line the Abolishment of Monarchy in this Kingdom and the setting up of a Common-wealth which they ordered to be published and Proclaimed in all parts of the Kingdom But Alderman Reinoldson then Lord Mayor of London refused to publish this Act in London and He with three of the Aldermen of his Judgment were sent prisoners to the Tower But on February 3. the King was Proclaimed at the Cross at Edinburgh In the beginning of March the Duke of Hamilton the Earls of Holland and Norwich the Lord Capel and Sir John Owen were tried and condemned by an High Court of Justice erected for that purpose of which the Duke of Hamilton the
presented an humble Address to the Remnant Parliament on May 12. 1659. by Lambert and others Richard the late Protector sends his submission to the Parliament All Commissions to the Officers of the Army are ordered to be signed by the Speaker and Henry Cromwell is called from the Government of Ireland Fleetwood Lambert and others receive their Commissions in the House from the Speaker The Governour of Dunkirk submits also to the change of our Government General Monk likes not the Juncto's designs of modelling his Army and useth his utmost industry to obstruct it Commissioners are appointed for the Goverment of Ireland In the mean time Captain Titus and others sent as Commissioners from the King are active for his Majesties service in London and in the Countrey Sir George Booth with several others appear in a considerable Body they take possession of Chester City but the Castle holds out against them Chirk-Castle is delivered to them by Sir Thomas Middleton Collonel Ireland and several others at the same time declare for them at Leverpool and Mr. Brooks one of the Members of the House of Commons Lambert is sent against Sir George Booth Mr. Nicholas Monk a Minister and the only Brother to General Monk is sent into Scotland from Sir Hugh Pollard Sir Thomas Stukeley and other of his Majesties Friends in the West of England He sollicits his Brother to embrace his Majesties Interest The King wrote a Letter to General Monk and another to Sir John Greenvill concerning the owning his Cause Major General Massey was active in Glocester-shire and the Lord Herbert Son to the Marquess of Worcester and others The Lord Herbert was taken so was Major General Massey with others but all the rest of the Prisoners except the Lord Herbert and Massey's Servant make an escape Lambert marcheth against Sir George Booth and Sir George is defeated by Lambert and soon after was seized at Newport-pannel in a disguise as he was riding to London After this defeat General Monk sends a Letter to the House signifying his willingness to be dismissed from his Command The Army begin to contrive the recovery and advancement of their power The Officers of the Army promoted by Lambert dislike some proceedings of the Juncto They conclude to draw up their desires in a Petition Sir Arthur Haslerig vehemently opposeth the Armies proceedings and incenseth the House against them and Lambert Fleetwood endeavours to justifie the Officers of the Army but in vain Ashfield Cobbet and Duckenfield presented the Petition of the Army to the House thus dirrected To the Supreme Authority of these Nations the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England c. The humble Petition and Proposals of the Officers under the Command of the Right Honourable the Lord Lambert in the late Northern Expedition The House signifie their displeasure and vote against the effect of the Petition Then the Officers resolve upon more moderate Proposals Another Petition is brought into the Council of Officers more high than the former General Monk writes his sence of it in a Letter to Fleetwood and offers himself to march into England to the assistance of the Parliaments Party October the fifth Colonel Desborow with many other Officers of the Army present a Representation and Petition of the Officers of the Army to the Parliament who at first dissemble their distaste of these proceedings of the Army The Council of Officers perceiving that the Parliament labour to alter the Constitution of the Army labour to get Subscriptions to their Representation and Petition They send a Letter to General Monk concerning their Representation He resolves to admit of no Subscriptions in Scotland General Monk is courted by the Parliament and complemented by Letters with gratulatory Expressions for his good service The House takes the Armies debates into consideration and answers them one by one Mr. Nicholas Monk arrives from Scotland with private Orders from the General to Mr. Clarges The house ordereth That the Commissions of Lambert and others be made void They appoint Commissioners for governing the Army and remove Fleetwood from the chief command thereof Colonel Morley and Mosse are ordered with their Regiments to guard the House But Lambert with the Regiments that adhere to him stop the passages to the Parliament House and having enforced the Speaker to return they dissolve the Remnant Parliament by hindring the Members from coming into the House The next day divers of the chief Officers of the Army met at Whitehall and chose ten Army-Officers to be managers of the State Affairs pro tempore They agree that Fleetwood should be Commander in chief of all the Armies and that Lambert should be the next chief Officer under him and Colonel Desborow Commissary General of the Horse and that all the Officers to be constituted in the Army should be nominated by Sir Henry Vane Fleetwood Lambert Desborow Ludlow and Berry They dispatch Colonel Cobbet to General Monk with a large Narrative of the Reasons of their proceedings Now was Mr. Armoror sent by the Lord Mordant to the King to inform him how matters went in England The Council of Officers consult about a frame of Government They nominate twenty three persons to take upon them the Government under the Title of The Committee of Safety and they invite them to sit giving them Powers and Instructions General Monk writes to Fleetwood and Lambert complaining of their violation of Faith to the Parliament declaring his resolution to endeavuor to restore them to their power against all opposition whatsoever Mr. Clarges is dispatched away into Scotland by the Grandees of the Army together with Colonel Talbot to sollicit General Monk to a Treaty Monk keeps in all the displaced Officers in their respective Commands which causeth them to adhere unto him and removes those whom himself distrusteth He signifies his resolution to several of his Officers to march into England to re-establish the Parliament and hath their consent and encouragement He marcheth to Edinborough and there orders all things to his best advantage Captain Johnston secures Berwick Captain Witter takes possession for the General of the Cittadel of St. Johnstons and is made Major of the Regiment Robson gets possession of the Cittadel at Ayre and is made Colonel of the Regiment Smith's Regiment at Innerness is given to Colonel Man The General marcheth to Leith to settle the Cittadel and Regiment there Captain Hatt and Dennis bring off Cobbet's Regiment to the General and Cobbet was detained prisoner at Berwick as he was coming into Scotland with his Regiment he was brought with a Guard to Edenborough Castle and kept there At Linlithgow at a Council of Officers it was advised that some way should be used to draw off the Independent Churches in England from favouring the English Army which would have much weakened that party if it had succeeded for most of the Inferiour Officers were of that perswasion For the effecting of this a Declaration was framed agreed to published and dispersed all
Parliament House and Order seven Commissioners for the management of the Army Colonel Morley upon this change had his Regiment restored and with it the Government of the Tower conferred on him The Irish Brigade was brought off to General Monk by Redman and Bret. Dublin-castle is surprized and Sir Charles Coot reduceth all Connaught to a compliance with the present Design The Lord Fairfax and several of Monk's party joyning with him rise in York-shire Now General Monk begins his march into England By that time he came to Morpeth he was informed that Lambert's whole party was of themselves dispersed into several quarters in submission to the Parliament's Orders There he receive's an Address from the City of London by Mr. William Man their Sword-bearer as likewise from the Gentry of the Countrey in all parts as he marched along The new restored Members on January 2. name 31. Counsellors of State passing an Act for their Constitution and several Instructions for them to Act by among which it was provided that ●one should sit but such as should take an Oath of Abjuration of the King His family and Government The Oath was opposed by divers of the House Scot and Robinson are sent from the House to complement and attend General Monk upon his journey Mr. Clarges gives him an account how affairs stand at London he sends a letter by Mr. Clarges to the House from St. Albans Several addresses are made to him in his March pleading for a free Parliament He marcheth with his forces into the City of London Being come to the Council of State the Oath of Abjuration was tendred to him which he refuseth to take He is conducted with much Ceremony into the House where he receives the gratulations of the House The City continued malecontent whereupon the General is Ordered by the Council of State to march into the City and pull down the Gates and Percullices of the City which he unwillingly caused to be done The same day a Factious party of Citizens presented a Petition to the House by one Praise-God Barebone to countenance the Action The General sends a letter to the House signed by Himself and several Officers complaining against the admission of Ludlow and others into the House that had been by Sir Charles Coot accused of high Treason and that they had countenanced too much a late Petition to exclude the most sober and conscientious both Ministers and others by Oaths from all employment and maintenance he requested them that by Friday next they should Issue out Writs to fill up their House and when filled should rise in some short time to give place to a full and free Paliament Scot and Robinson are sent from the House to the General with their answer to his letter The General excuseth his late proceedings in the City before the Lord Mayor and Common Council of the City He tells them what he had written to the House touching a free Parliament The City joyfully receives the news of a free Parliament The Council of State write to him to desire his presence with them but he excuseth his stay in the City for some longer time till the minds of the Citizens were more composed The City and Chief Officers of his Army disswade him from going to White-hall The General is sollicited from all parts to admit the secluded Members He admits of a conference before him of the sitting with some of the secluded Members The Officers of the Army consent to the admission of the secluded Members upon certain conditions The General and the Officers at length agree upon their admission and on the Tuesday morning following they were guarded to the House and took their places in the Parliament Then was a letter signed by the General and his Chief Officers drawn up and Copies of it sent to all the Regiments and Garrisons in England and to the Commanders in Chief of the Armies in England Scotland and Ireland to acquaint them with what he had done The Parliament repealed the Act for the Council of State and the Oath of Abjuration and passed an Act for another Council consisting of one and thirty persons most of them men of integrity and well-affected to Kingly-government Then the General sends Colonel Fairfax to take possession of Hull and Colonel Overton submits to his Orders The Army in Scotland were well-satisfied with the General 's Actions About the thirteenth of March the Parliament abrogated the Engagement appointed formerly to be taken by each Member of Parliament in these words viz. I do declare and promise That I will be true and faithful to the Common Wealth of England as the same is now established without King or House of Lords and appointed it should be taken off the file and made Null The Common Wealth Faction desire the General rather to take the Government upon himself than to bring in the King and treat with him about it The General refuseth their offer Then the Republicans attempt to make a mutiny in the Army The long Parliament was now dissolved The King removes to Breda The Council of State appointed by the late Parliament set forth a Proclamation for the preventing of tumults Lambert escape's out of the Tower Colonel Ingoldsby and Colonel Streater march against Lambert defeat his party and take him prisoner Colonel Lambert Colonel Cobbet and Major Creed are sent prisoners to the Tower Hereupon several seditious Pamphlets were published in Print and dispersed to deprave the mindes of the people and Tickets were thrown into the Courts of Guard in the night to divide the Souldiers But none of them was penned with more virulency and malice than that suppositious paper carrying in it's Frontispiece A letter from Bruxels c. Several letters were also sent to the General from unknown hands Then came forth a Declaration of the Nobility and Gentry that adhered to the late King residing in and about the City of London A new Parliament met at Westminster April 25. 1660. The Lords chose the Earl of Manchester to be their Speaker and the House of Commons Sir Harbottle Grimston On April 27. Sir John Greenvil presents the General with a Commission from His Majesty to Constitute him Captain General of all the Armies of England Scotland and Ireland and a letter for the Council of State The Letter had a Declaration in it which were both read in the House After the reading thereof the House of Lords voted That according to the Antient and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom the Government is and ought to be by King Lords and Commons The Officers of the Army present an Address to the General in compliance with His Majestie 's Letter and Declaration it is read by the Commons and approved Commissary Clarges is appointed by the General to wait upon the King with this Address Six of the Lords and of the Commons and divers Aldermen and divers Episcopal and Presbyterial Divines and some other eminent Citizens are sent to attend on his Majesty
Ecclesiastical Person formerly Sequestred or ejected after Lawful presentation and reception of the profits that hath not subscribed any petition to bring the late King to Trial or by any Act endeavoured or justified the murther of the said King or declared his judgement against Infant-baptism by Preaching Writing Printing or constant refusal to Baptize shall be restored to the possession thereof at or before the twenty fifth day of December next ensuing and every Ecclesiastical person to be removed may enjoy the profits to that day On December 29. following on which day the Parliament was dissolved 32 Acts more were passed by the King Among which one was an Act for Confirmation of Marriages during the time of the late Usurpations Another was for making the Precinct of Covent-garden Parochial And an Act for the disappropriating of the Rectory appropriate of Preston and uniting and consolidating of the said Rectory and of the Vicarage of the Church of Preston and for the assuring of the Advouson and right of Patronage of the same unto the Master Fellows and Scholars of Immanuel-colledge in Cambridge And an Act for Confirmation of Grants and Leases from Colledges and Hospitals Now some sixty Fifth-monarchy men under the conduct of one Thomas Venner a Cooper broke forth into Rebellion This Venner was a Preacher to a Conventicle of that opinion in Coleman-street in London Such was the madness of these men that they believed that They and the rest of their judgement were called by God to reform the world and make all the earthly powers which they called Babylon subservient to the Kingdom of Jesus and in Order thereunto never to sheath their swords till the carnal powers of the world were subdued They were taught and believed that one of them should subdue a Thousand making account when they had done their work in England to go into France Spain Germany and other parts of the world there to prosecute their pretended holy design The place where they plotted and continued their conspiracy was the meeting-place for their devotion and thither they had at several times convayed arms On Sunday January 6. which was the day before their excursion they were very late at their Assembly which made one Martin the Landlord of the House inquisitive after their doings He peeping through a chink in their door saw them arming themselves with Back breast and head-piece and thereupon immediately gave notice to the next Officers Half an hour after they came down and first marched to S. Thomas the Apostle to call some of their party from thence to Bishops-gate and after to White-cross-street They escaped to S. John's Wood and from thence to Cane-wood betwixt High-gate and Hampsted On Wednesday morning the Rebels came again into London and divided themselves into two parties one whereof about five or six in the morning appeared about Leaden-hall and from thence marched to little East-cheap where they fought desperately but were dispersed by the trained bands Venner and another party came to my Lord Mayor's house thinking to have taken him Prisoner but missing him they marched into Woodstreet where Colonel Corbet and nine of his party charged through the Rebels and broke them They fought with admirable courage and if they had not been hindred from encreasing their numbers a Thousand men so resolved might have done much mischief Venner himself was much wounded before he was taken and about five or six were killed that refused quarter About eight or ten dayes after Venner with about sixteen or seventeen of the most notorious were arraigned at Justice-hall in the old Baily found guilty and executed in several parts of London About this time there was a conference at the Savoy between divers Episcopal and Presbyterian Divines about the Church discipline but to little effect A new Parliament was called which assembled at Westminster May 8. 1661. In the first Session whereof an Act was passed Entitled An Act for disenabling all Persons in Holy Orders to exercise any temporal jurisdiction or Authority Repealed The Bishops were brought to sit again as Peers in the House of Lords and their Ecclesiastical jurisdiction restored to them The Parliament explained a clause contained in an Act of Parliament made in the seventeenth year of King Charles the first Entitled An Act for Repeal of a branch of a Statute Primo Elizabethae concerning Commissioners for causes Ecclesiastical At the second Session of this Parliament an Act was made against Quakers and others denying to take a Lawful Oath with several penalties to be inflicted on them for several offences An Act was also passed for Uniformity of publick Prayers and Administration of Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies and of ordering and consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons in the Church of England The King's Majesty according to his Declaration of the 25th of October 1660. had granted his Commission under the Great Seal of England to several Bishops and other Divines to review the Book of Common-Prayer and to prepare such additions and alterations as they thought fit to offer And afterwards the Convocations of both the Provinces of Canterbury and York being by His Majesty called and assembled His Majesty was pleased to Authorize and require the Presidents of the said Congregation and other the Bishops and Clergy of the same to review the said Book of Common-Prayer and the Book of the Form and manner of making and Consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons c. Since which time upon full and mature deliberation they the said Presidents Bishops and Clergy of both Provinces having accordingly reviewed the same Books and made some alterations which they thought fit to be inserted to the same and some additional Prayers to be used upon proper and emergent occasions and having presented the same unto His Majesty in Writing in one Book entitled The Book of Common-Prayer and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England together with the Psalter or Psalms of David pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches and the form and manner of making Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons All which His Majesty having duly considered fully approved and allowed the same and recommended to this present Parliament then sitting and yet continuing to sit that the said Book of Common-Prayer c. be the Book which shall be appointed to be used by all that officiate in all Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and Chappels and in all Chappels or Colledges and Halls in both the Universities and the Colledges of Eaton and Winchester and in all Parish-Churches and Chappels within the Kingdom of England Dominion of Wales and Town of Berwick upon Tweed and by all that make or consecrate Bishops Priests or Deacons in any of the said places under such sanctions and penalties as the Houses of Parliament shall think fit And accordingly it was Enacted by the King's Majesty and both Houses of Parliament That Morning and Evening Prayers in the
died the Church was again defaced with fire 5. John de Gray After the death of John de Gray the See was void for seven years 6. Pandulsus the Pope's Legat. After his death the See was void three years 7. Thomas de Blundevil 8. Radulphus 9. William de Raleigh The Bishoprick was then void by the space almost of three years 10. Walter de Suffield He founded the Hospital of St. Giles in Norwich endowing it with Lands and great Possessions He built also the Chappel of our Lady in the Cathedral Church and in the same Chappel was also buried 11. Simon de Wanton 12. Roger de Skyrwing In his time was a dangerous Sedition between the Citizens of Norwich and the Monks of the Cathedral Church 13. William Middleton 14. Ralph de Walpool 15. John Salmon 16. William Armyn 17. Anthony de Beck He used his Monks too rigorously and was poysoned by his own Servants 18. William Bateman He forced the Lord Morley to carry a burning Taper in his hand through the streets of Norwich unto the High Altar for killing certain Deer in one of his Parks and beating his Keepers In his time happened a great Plague in England In Norwich then there died besides Religious men to the number of 57104. persons between the first of January and the first of July 1348. 19. Thomas Piercy 20. Henry Spencer 21. Alexander 22. Richard Courtney 23. John Wakering 24. William Alnwick 25. Thomas Brown 26. Gualter Hart 27. James Goldwel 28. Thomas Jan 29. Richard Nyx 30. William Reps 31. Thomas Thirlby 32. John Hopton 33. John Parkhurst 34. Edmond Freak 35. Edmond Scambler 36. William Redman 37. John Jegon 38. John Overal 39. Samuel Harsnet 40. Francis White 41. Richard Corbet 42. Matthew Wren 43. Richard Mountague 44. Joseph Hall 45. Edward Reinolds Bishops of Worcester Ethelred divided Mercia into five Diocesses whereof one was Worcester For the first Bishop of Worcester choice was made of one Tarfrith a learned man who died before he could be consecrated After his decease 1. Boselus succeeded 2. Ostforus 3. S. Egwyn This man went to Rome with Offa King of Mercia He built the Abbey of Evesham 4. Wilfridus 5. Milredus 6. Weremundus 7. Tilherus 8. Eathoredus 9. Devebertus 10. Hubert 11. Alwin 12. Werebertus 13. Wilfreth 14. Ethelhune Abbot of Berkley 15. Wilserth 16. Kinewold 17. S. Dunstan 18. S. Oswald 19. Aldulf 20. Wulstan 21. Leofsius 22. Briteagus Abbot of Parshor 23. Living 24. Aldred 25. S. Wulstan 26. Sampson 27. Theulphus 28. Simon 29. Alured 30. John Pagham 31. Roger Son to the Earl of Glocester 32. Baldwyn Abbot of Ford. 33. William de Northale 34. Robert a Canon of Lincoln Son unto William Fitz. Ralph Seneschal of Normandy 35. Henry Abbot of Glastonbury 36. John de Constantiis 37. Mauger He was one of them that excommunicated King John and interdicted the Realm and thereupon fled the Realm 38. Walter Gray 39. Sylvester 40. William de Bleyes 41. Walter Cantilupe Son of William Lord Cantilupe 42. Nicholas Archdeacon of Ely and Chancellor of England 43. Godfry Giffard Archdeacon of Wells and Chancellor of England 44. William de Gainsborough 45. Walter Reynolds sometime School-master to King Edward the Second first Treasurer then Chancellor of England became Bishop of Worcester 46. Walter Maidstone 47. Thomas Cobham 48. Adam Tarlton 49. Simon Montacute 50. Thomas Henibal 51. William de Bransford 52. John Thorsby 53. Reginald Brian 54. John Barnet 55. William Wittlesey 56. William de Lynne 57. Henry Wakefield 58. Tideman de Winchcomb 59. Richard Clifford 60. Thomas Peverel 61. Philip Morgan 62. Thomas Poulton 63. Thomas Bourchier 64. John Carpenter 65. John Alcock 66. Robert Morton 67. John Gyglis 68. Sylvester Gyglis 69. Iulius Medices 70. Hieronymus de Nugutiis 71. Hugh Latimer 72. Iohn Bell 73. Nicholas Heath 74. Iohn Hooper 75. Richard Pates 76. Edwyn Sandys 77. Nicholas Bullingham 78. Iohn Whitgift 79. Edmond Freak 80. Richard Fletcher 81. Thomas Bilson 82. Gervase Babington 83. Henry Parry 84. Iohn Thornborow 85. Iohn Prideaux 86. George Morley 87. Iohn Gauden 88. Robert Skinner 89. Walter Blandford Bishops of Hereford An Episcopal Seat being established at Hereford 1. Putta was made the first Bishop thereof 2. Tirhtellus 3. Torteras 4. Walstodus 5. Cuthbert 6. Podda 7. Ecca 8. Ceadda 9. Albertus 10. Esna 11. Ceolmundus 12. Utellus 13. Wulfhardus 14. Benna 15. Edulf 16. Cuthwulf 17. Mucel 18. Deorlaf 19. Cunemund 20. Edgar 21. Tidhelm 22. Wulfhelm 23 Afrike 24. Athulf 25. Ethelstan He builded the Cathedral Church from the ground He was a holy man and blind thirteen years before his death 26. Leovegar Chaplain to Duke Harold Matthew Westminster gives this testimony of him that he was undoubtedly Dei famulus in omni Religione perfectus Ecclesiarum amator viduarum orphanorum defensor oppressorum subversor virginitatis possessor Griffin King of Wales assaulted the City took it slew the Bishop and seven of the Canons of the Church spoiled it of all the portable Relicks and Ornaments and then fired both Church and City 27. Walter 28. Robert Lozing An excellent Mathematician 29. Gerard 30. Roger the Queens Chancellor 31. Geoffry de Glyve Chaplain to King Henry the First 32. Robert Bertune Prior of Lanthony a man much employed by the Pope in all his businesses within the Realm 33. Gilbert Foliot Abbot of Glocester 34. Robert de Melun 35. Robert Foliot 36. William le Vere a great Builder 37. Giles de Bruse Son of William Bruse Lord of Brecknock 38. Hugh de Mapenor 39. Hugh Foliot 40. Ralph de Maidstone He resigned his Bishoprick and became a Franciscan Frier Anno 1239. 41. Peter Equeblank He caused King Henry the Third to lay such Taxes on the Clergy as almost beggared them An. 1255. The Barons arrested him in his own Cathedral seized on his goods divided his Treasure unto their Souldiers before his face and long kept him in prison in the Castle of Ordeley 42. Iohn Breton a great Lawyer 43. Thomas Cantilupe Of an ancient House He was by the Pope Sainted after his death All the Bishops of Hereford since his time do bear his Coat of Arms as the Goat of their Sea G. three Leopards heads jeasant three Flower de luces O. 44. Richard de Swinfield 45. Adam Tarlton 46. Thomas Charlton He was Lord Chancellor and chief Justice of Ireland 47. Iohn Trilleck 48. Lewis Charlton 49. William Courtney 50. Iohn Gilbert 51. Iohn Tresnant He was sent to Rome to inform the Pope of the Title of King Henry the Fourth to the Crown 52. Robert Mascal He was Confessor to Henry the Fourth He built the Quire Presbytery and Steeple of the White-Friers in London gave many rich Ornaments to that House died and was buried there He was often Ambassador to many Forreign Princes He with two other Bishops was sent to the Council of Constance 53. Edmond Lacy 54. Thomas Polton 55. Thomas Spofford 56. Richard Beauchamp 57. Reynold
Monks of Rochester of all their moveable Goods all the Ornaments of their Church Writings Evidences yea and of great part of their Lands Possessions and Priviledges He built the Hospital at Stroud near Rochester and endowed it with fifty two pounds yearly revenue 38. Benedictus 39. Henry de Sandford This man preaching at Sittingburn before a great Audience declared openly That God had revealed unto him now three several times how that on such a day the Souls of King Richard the First Stephen Langton late Archbishop and another Priest were delivered out of Purgatory 40. Richard de Wendover 41. Laurence of St. Martin 42. Walter de Merton Lord Chancellor of England Before he was a Bishop he built Merton-colledge in Oxford 43. John de Bradfield 44. Thomas Inglethorp 45. Thomas de Woldham 46. Haymo Confessor to King Edward the Second 47. John de Sheppey 48. William Wittlesey 49. Thomas Trillick 50. Thomas Brenton 51. William Boltsham 52. John Boltsham 53. Richard Young 54. John Kemp 55 Iohn Langdon 56. Thomas Brown 57. Iohn Wells 58. Iohn White 59. Thomas Rotheram 60. Iohn Alcock 61. Iohn Russel 62. Edmond Awdley 63. Thomas Savage 64. Richard Fitz-Iames 65. Iohn Fisher 66. Iohn Hilsey 67. Nicholas Heath 68. Nicholas Ridley 69. Iohn Poynet 70. Iohn Scory 71 Maurice Griffin 72. Edmond Guest 73. Edmond Freak 74. Iohn Piers 75. Iohn Young 76. William Barlow 77. Richard Neile 78. Iohn Buckeridge 79. Walter Curle 80. Iohn Bowles 81. Iohn Warner 82. Iohn Dolben Bishops of Oxford About the year 730. Didan Duke of Oxford by the request of his Daughter built a Monastery there for Nuns and appointed her the Abbess Anno 847. in the time of King Ethelred certain Danes flying into this Monastery to save their lives from the cruelty of the English pursuing them the Monastery was burnt and they all burnt in the same but it was shortly after re-edified by the said King and further enriched with divers Possessions This Monastery was neglected but Anno 1110. Guimundus Chaplain to King Henry the First became Prior of this renewed Monastery repaired its ruines and by the favour of the King recovered unto it what Lands soever had been given heretofore unto the Nuns In this state it continued until Cardinal Wolsey got license to convert it into a Colledge Anno 1524. calling it Cardinals-colledge He leaving it unperfect King Henry the Eighth gave it a foundation the stile whereof he first appointed to be Collegium Regis Henrici Octavi but afterwards he entitled the Church Ecclesia B. Mariae de Osney He translated that See to the foresaid Colledge placing in it a Bishop a Dean eight Prebendaries a Quire and other Officers and finally stiled it Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxon ex fundatione Regis Henrici Octavi The Bishops were 1. Robert King 2. Hugh Curwyn 3. Iohn Underhill 4. Iohn Bridges 5. Iohn Howson 6. Richard Corbet 7. Iohn Bancroft 8. Robert Skinner 9. William Paul 10. Walter Blandford 11. Nathanael Crew Son to the Lord Crew Bishops of Glocester Osrike King of Northumberland founded a Nunnery in the City of Glocester in the year 700. Kineburg Eadburg and Eva Queens of Mercia were Abbesses of this Monastery one after another it was destroyed by the Danes and lay waste until Aldred Archbishop of York re-edified the same Anno 1060. and replenished it with Monks and erected from the very foundation that goodly Church which is now the Cathedral See of that Diocess Being given into the hands of King Henry the Eighth by Parliament he allotted the Revenues of it unto the maintenance of a Bishop a Dean six Prebendaries and other Ministers The Bishops were 1. John Wakeman Abbot of Tewksbury he was consecrated the first Bishop of this new erection September 7. 1541. 2. John Hooper He was burnt at Glocester for the profession of the Gospel in Queen Maries dayes 3. James Brooks 4. Richard Cheiney 5. John Bullingham 6. Godfry Gouldsborough 7. Thomas Ravis 8. Henry Parry 9. Giles Thomson 10. Miles Smith 11. Godfry Goodman 12. William Nicholson 13. _____ Prichard Bishops of Peterborough Penda the Son of Penda the first King of Mercia that was a Christian began the foundation of a Monastery there Anno 656. but was taken away by Treachery before he could finish the work But this Monastery was afterward built up in stately manner by his Brother Wolpher This Monastery he dedicated to St. Peter and appointed one Saxulf to be the first Abbot thereof Two hundred years after it was destroyed by the Danes and having lain desolate one hundred and nine years Ethelwold Bishop of Winchester a great Patron of Monkery re-edefied it King Edgar assisted the Bishop much in this foundation and Adulf Chancellor to the said King who became Abbot there After him Kenulph another Abbot compassed this Monastery with a strong wall about the year of our Lord 1000. through the liberality of divers Benefactors it grew to that greatness of wealth as that all the Countrey round about belonged to it King Henry the Eighth converted it into a Cathedral Church and the Revenues upon the maintenance of a Bishop a Dean six Prebendaries and other Ministers The Bishops were 1. Iohn Chambers Doctor of Physick he was last Abbot of Peterborough and first Bishop thereof Anno 1541. 2. David Pool Doctor of Law 3. Edmond Scambler 4. Richard Howland 5. Thomas Dove 6. William Peirs 7. Augustine Lindsel 8. Iohn 9. Benjamin Laney 10. Ioseph Henshaw Bishops of Bristol Robert Sirnamed Fitz-Harding because his Father that was Son unto the King of Denmark was called Harding this Robert I say being a Citizen of Bristol founded the Monastery of St. Augustines and placed Canons in the same Anno 1148. This Foundation was afterwards confirmed and augmented by King Henry the Second who preferred the Author of the same to the marriage of the sole Heir of the Lord Berkley Of them are descended all the Lords Berkley In that place King Henry the Eighth erected an Episcopal See and converted the Revenues of the same unto the maintenance of a Bishop a Dean six Prebendaries and other Officers 1. Paul Bush was the first Bishop of Bristol 2. Iohn Holyman 3. Richard Cheiney 4. Iohn Bullingham 5. Richard Fletcher 6. Iohn Thornborough 7. Nicholas Felton 8. Rowland Searchfield 9. Robert Wright 10. George Cook 11. Robert Skinner 12. Iohn Westfield 13. Gilbert Ironside 14. _____ Carlton Bishops of Chester King Henry the Eighth converted the Monastery the Church whereof there first built by that famous Earl Leofricus and dedicated unto St. Wergburg into a Cathedral Church erected a new Bishoprick there The Bishops were 1. Iohn Bird He was deprived in Queen Maries dayes 2. Iohn Coates 3. Cuthbert Scot 4. VVilliam Downham 5. VVilliam Chadderton 6. Hugh Bellot 7. Richard Vaughan 8. George Lloyd 9. Thomas Morton 10. Iohn Bridgeman 11. Iohn VValton 12. Henry Fern 13. George Hall 14. Iohn VVilkins 15. Iohn Pearson Bishops of S. Davids 1. David Vnkle
his called Asaph In the time of King Edward the Second there were five Mansion-houses belonging to it in which the Bishops used to reside scil Lanelwy Altmaliden Landeglia Nauverg and St. Martins of all which there now remaineth to them Lanelwy only Great havock was made of this Church in the reign of King Henry the Fourth by Owen Glendover since which time the Canons Houses were never repaired 2. St. Asaph Of him the Cathedral Church was ever after even unto this day called Ecclesia Asaphensis He was a man of great learning and vertue Who succeeded him for some hundreds of years after we find not 3. The next that is mentioned is Geoffry of Monmouth the Historian Of a Benedictine Monk he became Bishop of St. Asaph Anno 1151. 4. Adam a Welch-man 5 Reynerus 6 Abraham He gave half the Tithes of Wrexham to this Church 7 Howel Ednevit 8. Anianus the First 9 Anianus the Second a Dominican Confessor to Edward the First Iohn Earl of Arundel gave much Land to him and his Successors and after him Iohn his Son added more 10 Lewellin de Bromfield 11 David ap Blethin 12 Ephraim 13 Henry 14 Iohn Trevor 15 Llewelin ap Madoc ap Elis 16 William de Spridlington 17 Laurence Child a Monk of the Abbey of Battel 18 Alexander Bach 19 Iohn Trevor 20. Robert 21. John Low 22 Reginald Peacock 23. Thomas 24. Richard Redman 25. David ap Owen 26. Edmond Birkhead 27. Henry Standish 28. William Barlow 29. Robert Warton 30. Thomas Goldwel 31. Richard Davies 32. Thomas Davies 33. William Hughes 34 William Morgan 35. Richard Parry 36. John Hanmer 37. John Owen 38. George Griffith 39. Henry Glemham 40. Isaac Barrow Bishops of Lindisfarn 1. Aidan who chose for his See a little Island called Lindisfarn now called Holy Island where he and divers of his Successors led their lives He travelled up and down the Countrey on foot to preach the Gospel giving whatsoever he could get unto the poor He died August 31. Anno 651. for grief of the death of King Oswald who was traiterously slain twelve dayes before 2. Finan He first built a Church for his See in the Island all of timber and covered it with reed 3. Colman He gave over his Bishoprick and returned into Scotland 4. Tuda 5. Eata 6. St. Cuthbert Bishop of Lindisfarn he is famed for his Sanctity 7. Wilfrid 8. Eadbert He covereth the Church with Lead 9. Egfrid 10. Ethelwold 11. Kenulfus 12. Higbald In his time the Danes spoiled the Church and Monastery and the Monks forced to leave it 13. Egbert 14. Eanbert 15. Eardulph In the mean time the Bishops of Hagustald were 1. Aca 2. Fritherbert 3. Athmund 4. Titherus 5. Ethelbert 6. Heanred 7. Eanberthus 8. Tidferthus Bishops of Chester on the Street 1. Eardulph Vpon the burning of Lindisfarn removed his See to Chester on the Street anciently called Cunecestre And by Elfred and Guthred Kings of Northumberland all the Countrey between Tine and Tisean were given to the same See 2. Cuthardus 3. Milred 4. Withred 5. Ughtred 6. Sexhelm He being covetous was so terrified with a Vision of St. Cuthbert that he was forced to leave the See 7. Alssius or Elssig He was the last Bishop of Lindisfern or Chester on the Street Bishops of Durham 1. Aldhunus or Aldvinus was consecr●ted Bishop Anno 995. He with his Monks came to Durham or rather Dunholm which is compounded of two Saxon words Dun signifying an Hill and Holm an Island in a River a place full of Woods He with the help of Uthred Earl of Northumberland caused the Woods to be cut down cleansed the place and in short time made it habitable A Church was finished there in the time of this Bishop He was School-master unto the Children of King Ethelred Elfred and Edward that afteward reigned and is called Edward the Confessor 2. Edmond The Monks and Priests contending about a Successor to Aldhunus this Edmond came among them and ●castingly offered himself to be their Bishop and they chose him against his will he having a better mind to a Tennis-court than a Monks Hood Malmsb. lib. 3. de Pont. He much adorned his Church and the City with buildings 3. Eadred 4. Egelrick He builded a Church at Cuneagecestre in digging the foundation of this Church he found so much money that he cared not for the Bishoprick but resigned it unto Egelwyn his Brother and returned to the Monastery of Peterborough whence he came He made the Cawsey from Deeping to Spalding He was afterward accused to the Conqueror of Treason and taken out of his Monastery and imprisoned at Westminster where he died 5. Egelwyn He was Bishop at the coming in of the Conqueror he forsook Durham and carried his Clergy with him unto the Church of Landisfarn but he was not long before they returned again 6. Walcher or Walter He was so rich that he bought the Earldom of Northumberland of the King He and many of his Retinue were slain in the Church of Durham May 14. 1080. and the Church burnt with fire because two of his Servants had murdered Leulfus one of the Ancestors to the now Lord Lumley R. Hoved. 7. William Kairlipho Abbot of St. Vincent He was consecrate at Glocester in the presence of the King and divers of his Nobles He procured license of Pope Gregory to translate the Monks of Yarrow to Durham He expelled divers married Priests out of his Church and suffered only Monks to dwell there He pulled down the Church of Durham that Aldhunus had built there and began to erect another far more magnificent but lived not to finish it 8. Ranulph Flambard 9. Geoffry Rufus Chancellor of England He built the Castle of Alnerton 10. William de Sta. Barbara 11. Hugh Pudsey He built a fair House at Derlington as also the Church there He founded the Priory of Finchal He bought S●dbury of King Richard the First and gave it unto his See He built the Bridge of Elvet and the Gallery at the West-end of his Cathedral Church in which he placed the bones of Venerable Bede He built two Hospitals one at Allerton another called Sherborn Vnto Sherborn he gave liberal maintenance for sixty five poor Lazers and a certain number of Priests For a great sum of money King Richard made him Earl of Northumberland 12. Philip de Poictiers This Bishop by the license of King Richard the First set up a Mint at Durham and began to coyn money there Anno 1196. 13. William de Marisco 14. Richard Poor 15. Nicholas de Fernham 16. Walter de Kirkham 17. Robert Stitchel 18. Robert de Insula 19. Anthony Beake 20. Richard de Bury He was soon after Lord Chancellor and within two years after that Lord Treasurer of England He was often employed in Ambassages of great importance What time of leisure he had he spent either in Prayer or conference with his Chaplains whereof he had many about him and those very learned men or
else in study His Study was so well furnished with Books ehat it is thought he had more Books than all the Bishops in England Many Letters passed between him and Francis Petrarch and other learned men in those dayes Thomas Bradwardine was then one of his Chaplains afterward Archbishop of Canterbury Richard Fitz-Ralph Ralph afterward Archbishop of Armagh W Burley J. Mandut R. Holcot R. Killington Doctors of Divinity Richard Bintworth and W. Seagrove the one afterward Bishop of London the other of Chichester He was very liberal to the poor 21. Thomas Halfield He built Durham colledge in Oxford now called Trinity-colledge 22. John Fordham 23. Robert Nevil 24. Laurence Booth 25. William Dudley 26. John Sherwood 27. Richard Fox 28. William Severus 29. Christopher Bambridge 30. Thomas Ruthal 31. Thomas Wolsey Cardinal 32. Cuthbert Tonstal 33. James Pilkinton 34. Richard Barnes 35. Matthew Hutton 36. Tobias Matthew 37. William James 38. Richard Neile 39. John Howson 40. Thomas Morton 41. John Cozens Bishops of Carlile Carlile being destroyed by the Danes in the year 900. it happened King William Rufus passing that way Anno 1090. re-edified it and built a strong Castle in the same City The Government of this new erected City was committed to a certain Norman Priest named Walter that came into England with the Conqueror This man being very rich began to build there a Church to the honour of the blessed Virgin but he died before he could perfect the work Adelwald the first Prior of St. Oswald and Confessor to King Henry the First perswaded the said King to employ the Revenues that Walter left behind him in the foundation of a Colledge of Regular Canons to be annexed unto the Church forementioned He did so and moreover bestowed upon the said Colledge six Churches with their Chappels to be impropriated to the same use The Bishops of Carlile were 1. Adelwald the Prior forementioned 2. Barnard 3. Hugh Abbot of Battell 4. Walter Malcleck 5. Sylvester de Everdon 6. Thomas Vipont 7. Robert de Chause 8. Ralph de Ireton 9. John de Halton 10. John de Rosse 11. John de Kirkby 12. Gilbert de Welton 13. Thomas de Appleby 14. Robert Read 15. Thomas Merkes 16. William Strickland 17. Roger Whelpdale 18. William Barrow 19. Marmaduke Lumley 20. Nicholas Close 21. William Piercy 22. John Kingscot 23. Richard Scroop 24. Edward Story 25. Richard Prior of Durham 26. William Sever 27. Roger Laburn 28. John Penny 29. John Kite 30. Robert Aldrich 31. Owen Oglethorp that crowned Queen Elizabeth 32. John Best 33. Richard Barnes 34. John May 35. Henry Robinson 36. Robert Snowdon 37. Richard Milborn 38. Richard Senhouse 39. Francis White 40. Barnaby Potter 41. Richard Stern 42. Edward Rainbow Of the manner of Installation of Bishops herein England in former times THe Installation of Bishops was a Ceremony of great solemnity in former Ages the particularity whereof we find in Walter Stapleton Bishop of Excester in the beginning of the Reign of King Edward the Second who was Consecrated March 18. 1307. When he came to Excester to be Installed at the East-gate he alighted from his Horse and went on foot to St. Peter's Church All the way where he should pass being laid and covered with black Cloath on each hand he was conducted by a Gentleman of great worship Sir Hugh Courtney who claimed to be Steward of his Feast going next before him At Broad-gate he was received by his Chapter and Quire in their Ornaments with Te Deum and so carried into the Church The usual Ceremonies being performed there at his Palace a great Feast was prepared for the entertainment of such Noble-men and other Persons of account as repaired thither at that time It is incredible how many Oxen Tuns of Ale and Wine are said to have been usually spent at this kind of Solemnity even so much as the whole yearly Revenue at this time would not suffice to pay for Of those Englishmen that have been Cardinals of the Church of Rome 1. THE first Leader of this Band is Pope Joan called by Sabellicus Bish Godwyn and some others John the Seventh but by Platina and other Writers John the Eighth who being but a Woman became not onely Cardinal but Pope of Rome She was born at Mentz in Germany the Daughter of an English Priest who having a Wife whose Parents dwelt at Mentz bringing his said Wife to see her friends stayed there so long till she was delivered of this Feminine Prelate named in her Baptism Joan as most say Gilberta as others or as Fulgosus delivereth Agnes In her youth she fell acquainted with an English Monk of the Abbey of Fulda with whom travelling in Man's apparel to diverse Universities and Monasteries as well Greek as Latin she setled in the end at Athens where she became Famous for Learning and continued there with him untill the death of her said Paramour Then coming to Rome and by Reading Disputing and other Exercises having purchased to her self the reputation of a great Clerk upon the death of Leo the Fourth she was chosen Pope Anno 855. and held that place two years five moneths and three days in which mean time she was gotten with child by a certain Cardinal and going in Procession hapned to be delivered of her burden in the open Street in which place she instantly died viz. between the Colisco and St. Clement's Church the shame and turpitude of which disgrace unto that holy See hath moved all the Bishops of Rome since that time to lengthen a little the walk of their Procession and to go a way much farther about rather than they will endure to pass by that place And to prevent the like inconvenience in time to come they have ordained every Pope after his election to be searched by the Junior Deacon in a Marble-chair made hollow for the same purpose Spectatur adhuc saith Sabellicus in Pontificia domo marmorea sella circa medium inanis qua nobis Pontifex continuo ab ejus creatione residat ut sedentalis Genetalia ab ultimo Diacono attrectentur This History howsoever impugned of late by the Papists is delivered by Marianus Scotus and Martin of Poland who lived Anno 1320. Sabellicus Fasciculus Temporum Petrarch and divers others And Platina recounting this Story saith Quod omnes fere affirmant that it is observed almost by all Writers 2. The next in time is one Vlricus an English-man who being Cardinal came into England as the Pope's Legate Anno 1109. and brought the Archiepiscopal Pall unto Thomas the younger Archbishop of York and caused him to consecrate Turgod Prior of Durham unto the Bishoprick of St. Andrews in Scotland 3. Robert Bullen of Puley a very Learned Man in his time unto him the University of Oxford is much beholden for whereas in the Reign of King Harold it had been so wasted as that for many years it lay desolate and forsaken of Scholars he was a means to draw them thither
at Civita Vecchia Anno 1282. in the time of the vacancy 16 Robert Kilwarby being Archbishop of Canterbury resigned his said Archbishoprick to be Bishop Cardinal of Portus whereunto he was appointed by Pope Nicholas the Third 17. Hugh de Evesham being a Physitian of the greatest renown of any then living in the Christian World as also well seen in the Mathematicks especially in Astrology was sent for to Rome by Pope Martin the Fourth to give his opinion in certain doubts and questions of Physick which he performed so learnedly and readily as gave great satisfaction He was created Cardinal of St. Laurence in Lucina Anno 1280. and was poisoned 18. John Bale reporteth of one Theobaldus an English man that as he saith was created Cardinal S. Sabinae in Aventino by Pope Martin the Fourth Anno 1289. 19. A Catalogue of English Cardinals in the History of Archbishop Parker mentioneth one Bernard de Auguiscello that being Archbishop of Arles was made Bishop Cardinal of Portua Anno 1281. and died 1●90 20. In the said Catalogue we find also one Berardus made Bishop Cardinal of Praeneste Anno 1268 he was sometime Canon of York he died in June 1291. 21. The Register of Ralph Baldock containing a Catalogue of the Deans of St. Paul's reporteth that one Arnoldus de Cantilupo Dean of Pauls was a Priest Cardinal Anno 1306. 22. One Leonardus Guercinus is likewise mentioned in the same Catalogue he was made a Priest Cardinal by Pope Clement the Fifth Anno 1310. 23. Pope Benedict the Eleventh who himself had been a Friar-preacher and General of that order made William Macklesfield a Friar-preacher a Batchelour of Divinity at Paris and Doctor at Oxford a Cardinal S. Sabinae Anno 1303. whereas he had been dead then four moneths before His Cardinals hat notwithstanding was carried to London where he was buried and with great solemnity set upon his hearse He was born near Coventry 24. Upon the news of Macklesfield's death the Pope ordained in his place and to the same title one Walter Winterburn born in Sarum a Friar-preacher as was the other a Doctor of Divinity Confessor to King Edward the Third and Provincial of his Order He enjoyed his honour not past fifteen moneths died in the eightieth year of his Age Anno 1305. and was buried at London A man of great learning whereof he left some Monuments in writing not yet perished 25. Thomas Joyce the next Provincial of the Friars-preachers in England succeeded Winterburn not onely in the place but in his Cardinalship too being likewise Doctor of Divinity and Confessor to the King being employed in an Ambassage to the Emperor he died on the way Anno 1307. and was buried in the Church of the Friars-preachers in Oxford where he had been brought up He had six brethren Preachers by the same Mother whereof one named Walter became Archbishop of Armagh Diverse of his works are remembred by John Bale 26. Sextorius a Britan that in his youth became a Franciscan Friar of which Order he was chosen the nineteenth General Anno 1339. Then by Pope Innocent he was appointed first Bishop of Marsilia after that Archbishop of Ravenna then Patriarch of Grado and lastly Cardinal September 17. 1361. but he died the same moneth He wrote a Commentary upon S. Augustine de Civitate Dei Expositions upon divers parts of the Bible Sermons Lectures and divers other discourses 27. Pope Vrban the Fifth named William Grisant was as Thomas Walsingham affirmeth an English-man he was the Son of a famous English Physitian named also William Grisant brought up in Merton-colledge He died December 19. Anno 1370. 28. The first Cardinal created by the said Vrban was one Anglicus Grimaldi de Grisacco who was supposed to have been an English man but all acknowledge that he was the Pope's brother's son and so English by descent He was Cardinal S. Petri ad Vincula at first and afterwards Bishop Cardinal of Alba he died at Avignon Anno 1387. having held in Commendam many years the Deanary of York 29. Bale supposeth John Thoresby Archbishop of York to have been created a Priest-cardinal S. Sabinae 30. Simon Langham Archbishop of Canterbury was created a Priest-cardinal by the aforesaid Vrban in September 1368. and afterward presented to be Bishop Cardinal of Praeneste by Gregory the Eleventh 31. Adam Easton a Benedictine Monk of Norwich born in Hereford-shire proceeded Doctor of Divinity in Oxford wrote much a man of great wisdom and learning he was created Cardinal S. Caeciliae Pope Vrban apprehended at one time no less than seven Cardinals this Cardinal being one and after long imprisonment caused five of them to be sowed up into sacks and with barbarous cruelty to be thrown into the Sea But this man whose good fortune it was to escape he committed to close prison till by the earnest entreaty of King Richard the Second he was allowed some more liberty all his Livings being taken from him In that poor estate he continued five years even untill the death of Vrban His next successor Boniface the Ninth set him quite at liberty and restored him to all his preferments again which thing was solemnly declared to the Estates assembled in Parliament at Westminster Anno 1390. after which time he lived seven years in great prosperity and died September 19. 1397. and was buried in his own title where he hath a Monument of Marble with his Armes and Picture and this rude Epitaph Artibus iste pater famosus in omnibus Adam Theologus summus cardique nalis erat Anglia cui patriam Titulum dedit ista Beatae Coeciliaeque morsque suprema polum Anno 1397. mens Septemb. He left in writing above twenty several Volumes whereof the greatest part were either written in Hebrew or Translations out of Hebrew or at least some discourses concerning the Hebrew Tongue Among the rest it is said that he Translated all the Old Testament out of Hebrew into Latin 32. William Courtney then Bishop of London was also made Cardinal by the same Vrban 33. Philip Repingdon sometime Abbot of Leicester consecrated Bishop of Lincoln March 29. 1405. having been heretofore a great defender of the Doctrine of John Wickliff was created Cardinal S S. Nevei Achillei September 18. 1408. by Pope Gregory the Twelfth who before had taken a solemn Oath to make no more Cardinals till the controversie concerning the Papacy was ended but being forsaken by all his Cardinals except onely five the better to strengthen himself he created ten in one day whereof this man was one 34. Thomas Langley Bishop of Durham was created a Priest-cardinal June 6. 1411. by Pope John the Twenty second He died Anno 1437. 35. Robert Halam Bishop of Sarum was also created a Priest-cardinal the same day he died in the Castle of Gotlieb near Constance being at the General Council there September 4. 1417. having sate Bishop of that Church nine years 36. Henry Beaufort brother to King Edward the Fourth
and Bishop of Winchester was created Cardinal of S. Eusebius by Pope Martin the Eighth June 23. 1426. He died April 11. 1447. and was buried in his own Church 37. Henry Chichely was created Cardinal Anno 1428. saith the Author of Antiquit. Britan. 38. John Kemp Archbishop of York was ordained Cardinal of S. Eusebius August 9. 1439. long after being Archbishop of Canterbury he was removed to the Title of S. Ruffinus 39. Thomas Bourchier Archbishop of Canterbury was created by Pope Paul the Second Cardinal S. Syriaci in Thermis Anno 1464. He died March 30. 1486. 40. John Morton Archbishop of Canterbury was by Pope Alexander the Fifth created Cardinal S. Anastasii Anno 1493. He died Anno 1500. 41. Christopher Bainbrigg Archbishop of York was made a Cardinal S. Praxedis Anno 1511. 42. Thomas Wolsey Archbishop of York was created Cardinal S. Coeciliae September 7. He died November 29. 1530. 43. John Fisher D●ctor of Divinity and Bishop of Rochester was made Cardinal S. Vitalis for refusing the King's supremacy and dissallowing his marriage wi●h the Lady Anne Bolen he was beheaded on the Tower-hill 1535. 44. Reginald Pool afterward Archbishop of Canterbury was created Cardinal by Pope Paul the Third May 22. 1536. and had three several Titles the first S. Nerei Achillei then S. Mariae in Cosmedin and lastly S. Pris●ae He died November 7. 1558. 45. Peter Petow a Friar was made Cardinal by Pope Paul the Fourth June 13. 1557. and also nominated by him unto the Bishoprick of Sarum and all to cross and disgrace Cardinal Pool He died in France within the compass of the same year and might never set Foot in England to make shew of his red Hat as doubtless he greatly desired to have done 46. William Allen born in England He raised a great combustion in our Church This fugitive was born in Lancashire and brought up in Orial Colledge he ran away beyond the Seas for his treasonable practices against his Countrey he was by the Pope and other Enemies of the same promoted to divers Ecclesiastical preferments and lastly had a Cardinal's hat bestowed upon him in August 1587. He died a Priest-cardinal S. Martini in Montibus 1594. and was buried in the Church of the English Colledge at Rome Of the several Orders and Monks that have been in England Ex Fuleri Eccles Hist 1. MAthew Paris tells us that in his time Tot jam apparuerunt ordines in Anglia ut ordinum confusio videretur inordinata there then appeared so many Orders in England that there seemed to be an inordinate confusion of Orders 1. The Benedictines or black Monks the primitive Monks in England so called from St. Benedict or Bennet an Italian first Father and founder of that Order Augustine the Monk first brought them ov●r into England and these black Monks first nested in Canterbury whence they have flown out into all the parts of the Kingdom For as Clement Reyner observeth rightly all the Abbies of England before King William the Conqueror and some while after were filled with this Order and though the Augustinians were their Seniors in Europe yet they were their Juniors in England The same Order was afterwards set forth in a new edition corrected and amended under the names of First Cluniacks These were Benedictines refined with some additionals invented and imposed upon them by Odo the Fourth of Clugny in Normandy who lived Anno 913. But these Cluniacks came not into England till after the Norman Conquest and had their richest Covents at Barnstable in Devon-shire Pontefract and Meaux in York-shire c. Secondly Sistercians so called from one Robert living in Cistercium in Burgundy He the second time refined the drossie Benedictines and Walter Espick first established their Order in England at Rival in York-shire besides which they have had many other pleasant and plentiful habitations at Warden and Woburn in Bedford-shire Buckland and Ford in Devon-shire Bindon in Dorset-shire c. The Bernardine Monks were of a younger house or under-branch of the Cistercians King John built an Abbey of the Cistercian Order at Beaulieu in Hant-shire Thirdly Of Grandmont which observed St. Bennet's rule These were brought into England Anno 1233. and were principally fixed at Abberbury in Shrop-shire These Benedictines with their several branches were so numerous and so richly endowed that in their revenues they did match all the Orders in England especially if the foundations of Benedictine Nuns be joyned in the same reckoning 2. The Augustinian Monks succeed it is conceived that Eudo the Dapifer or Sewer to King Henry the First first brought them into England Anno 1105. and that St. Johns at Colchester was the prime place of their residence Doctor Fuller saith that Waltham Abbey for Benedictines at the first had it's Copy altered and bestowed on Augustinians These Augustinians were also called Canons Regular This Order in England brought forth seventy eminent Writers and one in Germany worth them all in effect I mean Martin Luther who gave a mortal wound to all these Orders yea to the root of the Romish Religion 3. Gilbertine Monks a mongrel Order observing some select rules Camden in Lincoln-shire partly of St. Bennet partly of St. Augustine so named from Gilbert son to Joceline a Knight Lord of Sempringham in Lincoln-shire Being backed with the Authority of Pope Eugenius the Third he ordained a Sect consisting of men and women which so grew and encreased that himself laid the foundations of thirteen Religious houses of this Order 4. Carthusian Monks much famed for their mortified lives and abstinence from all flesh Bruno first founded them in the Dolphinate in France Anno 1080. and some sixty years after they were first brought over into England William de long a Spata Earl of Salisbury founded the first house of Carthusian Monks at Heltrop whose wife Ela after his death founded the house of Nuns at Lacock in Wilt-shire and there continued her self Abbess of the place The Books of the English Carthusians were many there being no less than eleven hundred Authors of them their writings tend much to mortification and out of them Parsons the Jesuite hath collected a good part of his resolutions Of the Benedictine Monks there is reported to have been of that Order twenty four Popes of Rome one hundred eighty two Cardinals one thousand four hundred sixty four Archbishops and Bishops fifteen thousand and seventy Abbots of renown Pope John the Twenty second saith there have been of this Order five thousand six hundred fifty six Monks Canonized and made Saints The cloathing and rule of the Cluniacks was according to the appointment of St. Benedicts rule The Cestercians wear red shooes and white rochets on a black coat they are all sho●● sa●e a little circle The Order of those of Grandmont is to lead a strait life as Monks use to do to give themselves to Watching Fasting and Prayer to wear a coat of Males upon their bodies and a black
cloak thereupon The Augustinians or Regular Canons their cloathing by their first foundation was a white coat and a linnen rotchet under a black cope with a scapular to cover their head and shoulders The Gilbertines may boast that whereas Benedictines are by original Italians Augustinians African Carthusians French Dominicans Spanish c. they are pure English by the extraction of their Order The life of the Carthusians was outwardly full of painted holiness in forbearing flesh in fasting from bread and water every Friday in wearing hair-clothes next their body they were addicted to much silence and solitariness never going abroad refusing all women's company with other like ceremonies Of the several sorts of Friars that have been in England HEre it will be necessary to premise what was the distinction between the Monks and Friars The most essential difference is this Monks had nothing in propriety nor in common but being Mendicants begged all their subsistence from the charity of others Indeed they had houses or cells to dwell in or rather to hide themselves in but they had no means thereunto belonging But it may be Objected That many Convents of Friars had large and ample Revenues amounting to some hundreds though never thousands by the year I Answer That from the beginning of the Institution of Friars it was not so These additions of Lands unto them was of latter date not of their seeking but of their Benefactors casting upon them We begin with their four elemental Orders Wickliff commonly inveigheth against Friars under the name of C. A. J. M. C. Carmelites A. Augustinians J. Jacobines M. Minorites or Dominicans Franciscans An uncharitable Rythmer thus le ts fly at them Per decies binos Sathanas capiat Jacoboinas Propter errores Jesu confunde Minores Augustienses pater inclyte sterne per enses Et Carmelitas tanquam falsos Heremitas Sunt Confessores Dominorum seu Dominarum Et seductores ipsraum sunt animarum 1. Of these Anno 1221 the Dominicans were the first Friars which came over into England being but twelve in number with Gilbert de Fraxineto their Prior first landed at Canterbury fixed at Oxford but richly endowed at London They were commonly called Black Friars Preaching Friars and Jacobine Friars They took their name from St. Dominick born at Calogora in Spain and Hubert de Burgo Earl of Kent was their chief Patron bestowing his Palace in the Suburbs of London upon them which afterwards they sold to the Archbishops of York residing therein till by some transactions between King Henry the Eighth and Cardinal Wolsey it became the Royal Court now known by the name of Whitehall Afterwards by the bounty of Gregory Rocksley Lord Mayor of London and Robert Kilwarby Archbishop of Canterbury they were more conveniently lodged in two Lanes on the bank of Thames and still retaining the name of Black Friars no fewer than eighty English writers are accounted of this Order at this day As beyond the Seas they are much condemned for being the sole active managers of the cruel Spanish Inquisition so they deserve due commendation for their Orthodox Judgements in maintaining some controversies in Divinity of importance against the Jesuites 2. Franciscans follow commonly called Gray Friers or Minorites either in allusion to Jacob's words sum minor omnibus beneficiis tuis or from some other humble expressions in the New Testament They received their name from St. Francis born in the Dutchy of Spoletum in Italy Canonized by Pope Gregory the Ninth about two years after whose death the Franciscans came over into England and one Diggs Ancestor to Sir Dudley Diggs bought for them their first seat in Canterbury who afteward were diffused all over England They were well-skilled in School-divinity and had a curious Library in London built by Richard Whittington in that age costing five hundred and fifty pounds One Bernard of Siena about the year 1400. refined the Franciscans into Observants King Edward the Fourth first brought them into England where they had six famous Cloysters since which time there have been a new Order of Minims begun beyond the Seas Recollects Penitentaries Capuchins c. seeing they had their rise since the fall of Abbies in England they belong not to our present enquiry c. This Order afforded in England a hundred and ten Learned Writers 3. Carmelites or White Friars come next so named from Mount Carmel brought over into England in the Reign of King Richard the First by Ralph Freeborn and placed at Alnwick in Northumberland in a wilderness most like unto Carmel in Syria whose Convent at their dissolution in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth was at low rates in that cheap County valued at one hundred ninety and four pound and seven shillings per Annum Speeds Catal. p. 795. Reyner de Apostolatu Benedictinorum p. 164 Vide the Catalog in Fullers Church Hist l. 6. p. 272 by which we may see that even Mendicant Friars had houses endowed even with Revenues Hi cum primis Monachis Britonum Scororum ex Aegypto Palestina in Britanicas Insulas Monachatum intulerunt It is said in the praise of our Carmelites that they were most careful in keeping the Records of their Order Let them thank John Bale herein once of them who in his youth made the Catalogue out of love to his Order and in his old age preserved it out of his affection to Antiquity This Order was vertical and in the highest exaltation thereof in the Reign of King Edward the Fourth under Nicholas Kenton their twenty fifth Provincial They reckoned no fewer than one thousand five hundred of their Order But when John Milverton his successor began in favour of Friary furiously to ingage against Bishops and the Secular Clergy the Carmelites good Masters and Dames began to forsake them and they never recovered their credit till they were utterly dissolved John Bird the one and thirtieth Provincial of this Order zealously impugned the Pope's Supremacy in his Sermons for which he was made the first Bishop of Chester and was ejected that See in the Reign of Queen Mary because he was married The Carmelites boast very much of one Simon Stock of their Order Stow's Survay of London p. 821. a Kentish boy which being but twelve years old went out into the Woods and there fed on roots and wild fruit living in the trunk of an hollow Tree whence he got the Sirname of Stock Having a revelation that soon after Some should come out of Syria and confirm his Order which came to pass when the Carmelites came hither he afterwards became Master General of their Order to whom the respective Provincials are accountable and is said to be famous for his miracles 4. Augustinian Eremites they entred England Anno 1252. and had their first habitation at St. Peters in the Poor in London These probably taking the denomination of poverty otherwise at this day a very rich Parish in the City because the said Augustinian
Eremites went under the notion of begging Friars Mean time what a mockery was this as Doctor Fuller observeth that these should pretend to be Eremites who instead of a wide Wilderness lived in Broad-street London where their Church now belongeth to the Dutch Congregation These Augustine Friars were good Disputants Peacon's Relicks of Rome The Order of the Dominicans is without all shame to beg and forsake little by wilful poverty that they may obtain much and to wax rich of other mens labours they themselves being idle lazy and unprofitable drones of the Earth Their coat is white their cope and coule is black The new guise of their vesture made Pope Innocent to wonder But Pope Honorius the Third by his Bull honourably admitted the black Order of the Black Friars The Gray Friars or Franciscans go barefooted as Francis their founder did and gird themselves with a cord wearing a little coule whence some think they are called Minorites Some of them be called Friars Observants and are counted of more holiness than the common sort of Gray Friars are which are called Minorites At first the colour of their cope was russet but afterward was turned into white by Pope Honorius the Third This Order saith the Dutch Chronicle is to begg to take of every man and to do nothing again for it They lye dissemble and beguile the people with flattering words under the pretence of long prayer William Duke of Aquitain and Count of Lectavia invented or rather renued the Order of the Augustine Friars which had been before long decayed This William first dwelt in the Wilderness with his Brethren chastised his flesh and subdued it with a coat of male on his bare Body Praying VVatching and Fasting night and day so that he was called a Father and Restorer of that Order Thus much for the four principal sorts of Friers The following Orders were but additional Descants upon the former with some variations of their Founders among whom were 1. THE Trinitarians for whom Robert Rooksley built first an house at Mottingden in Kent they were called also de Redemptione Captivorum whose work was to beg money of well-disposed people for the ransoming of Christians in captivity with the Pagans 2. The Crouched Friars who came over into England 1244. with the Pope's Authentick and this unusual priviledge that none should reprove their Order or upbraid them or command them under pain of excommunication Some say they carried a cross on their staves others on their backs called in French a Crouch the place of Crouched Friars in London still retaineth the Name 3. The Bonhomes or good men being also Eremites brought over into England by Richard Earl of Cornwal in the Reign of his Brother King Henry the Third so stiled because of their signal goodness These Bonhomes though begging Friars the poorest of Orders and Eremites the most sequestred of begging Friars had two and it is believed no more Covents in all England Monks onely excepted the one at Asheridge in Buckingham-shire now the mansion of the Right Honourable the Earl of Bridgewater it was valued at the dissolution yearly at four hundred forty seven pound eight shillings half-penny The other at Eddingdon in Wilt-shire the late habitation of the Lady Beauchamp valued when dissolved at five hundred twenty one pound twelve shillings half-penny In the year 1257. arose two new Orders both of them were fixed in Cambridge the first the brethren De paenitentia Jesu otherwise Fratres Saccati brethren of the Sack whose Cell is since turned into Peter-house Matthew Paris gives this account of them at their first coming into England Eodem tempore quidam novus ordo fratrum Londini apparuit incognitus Papale tamen autenticum palam ostendens ita ut tot ordinum confusio videretur qui quia saccis incedebant induti Fratres Saccati vocabantur It is most likely that this avaritious Pope Alexander instituted this new Order to help fill his bag and Sachel by these Fratres Saccati employed to promote his rapines and revenues as the Friars Minorites and Predicants were The other were the Bethlemites dwelling somewhere in Trompington-street and wearing a Star with five raies on their backs I will conclude with the Robertines who owe their original to one Robert Flower who had been twice Mayor of York who forsaking the fair Lands left him by his Father betook himself to a solitary life about the rocks in Nidsdale in York-shire and it seemeth at Knaresborough the first and last house was erected for his Order Of the Templars and Hospitallers THE Inner Temple and Middle Temple in London do now stand in the very place where in times past in the Reign of King Henry the Second Heraclius Patriarch of Jerusalem Consecrated a Church for Knights Templars which they had newly built according to the form of the Temple near unto the Sepulchre of our Lord at Jerusalem For at their first institution about the year of our Lord 1113. they dwelt in part of the Temple hard by the Sepulchre whereof they were so named they vowed Poverty Chastity and Obedience to defend Christian Religion the holy Land and Pilgrims going to visit the Lord's Sepulchre against all Mahometans and Infidels whereupon all men most willingly and most cordially embraced them so that through the boun●eous liberality of Princes and devout people having gotten in all places very fair possessions and exceeding great wealth they flourished in great reputation for Piety and Devotion yea and in the opinion Gamdens description of London both of the holiness of the men and of the place King Henry the Third and many Noble men desired much to be buried in their Church among them some of whose Images are there to be seen with their leggs across for so they were buried in that age That had taken upon them the Cross as they then termed it to serve in the holy Land or had vowed the same But in process of time when with unsatiable greediness they had hoorded up great wealth by withdrawing Tithes from Churches appropriating spiritual livings to themselves and other hard means from Almes-men they turned Lords and though very Valiant at the first for they were sworn rather to die than to fly afterwards they grew lazy they laughed at the Rules of their first Institution as at the swadling-clothes of their Infancy neglecting the Patriarch at length partly their vitiousness and partly their wealth caused their final extirpation Pope Clement having long sojourned in France Fullers Supplement of the Hist of the Holy War l. 5. c. 1. had received many real Courtesies from King Philip the Fair At last Philip requested of the Pope all the Lands of the Knights Templars through France forfeited as was pretended by reason of their horrible Heresies and licentious living The Pope was willing to gratifie him in some good proportion for his favours received and therefore being thus long the King's Guest he gave him the Templars Lands and Goods
it was utterly unlawful for them to accept any thing thereof This Order had but this one Covent in England and so wealthy it was that at the dissolution it was valued yearly worth one thousand nine hundred forty four pounds eleven shillings eight pence farthing This Order constantly kept their Audit on All Saints Eve October 31. and the day after All Souls being the third of November No Covents of England more carefully kept their Records than the Priory of Clarkenwel Speeds Catal. of Religious Houses p. 793. to whose credit it is registred There is a perfect Catalogue from their first foundation to their dissolution of all their Prioresses defective in all other houses Sir Thomas Chaloner not long ago built a spatious house within the close of that Priory upon the frontispiece whereof these Verses were inscribed Casta fides superest velatae tuta sorores Ista relegatae deseruere licet Nam venerandus Hymen hic vota jugalia servat Vestalemque focum mente fovere studet Chast Faith still stay 's behind though hence be flown Those veiled Nuns who here before did nest For reverend Mariage wedlock-vowes doth own And sacred flames keep 's here in Loyal breast Here I shall say little of the Houses for Leprous people though indeed they deserved more charity than all the rest Burton-lazars of Leicester-shire was the best endowed house for that purpose for so they used to tearm people infected with the Leprosie Camden in Leicester-shire Here was a rich Spittle-house or Hospital under the Master whereof were in some sort all other Spittle-houses or Lazar-houses in England like as himself also was under the Master of the Lazars in Jerusalem It was founded in the first age of the Normans by a common contribution over all England and the Mowbraies especially did set to their helping hands But as that Disease came into England by the holy VVar so it ended with the end thereof FINIS THE TABLE A ABbey of Battel founded by K. William the Conqueror Page 37 Abbey of Cnobsherburg by whom founded 17 Abbey of Crowland founded 21 Abbey of Peterborough burnt by the Danes with an excellent Library therein 25 Abbey at Glastonbury founded by King Ina 21 Abbey of St. Edmond founded and endowed by King Canutus 34 Abbeys and Religious Houses dissolved 149 Adelme the first English-man who wrote in Latine 20 Pope Adrian the fourth an English-man 44 Pope Agatho composeth the differences betwixt the two Archbishops 17 Alcuinus Scholar to Venerable Bede and Tutor to Charles the Great 23 S. Alban the Proto-martyr of Britain pag. 5. he is Canonized 23 Altars taken down by publick Authority 171 King Alfred England's deliverer from the Danish Tyranny his Story from pag. 26. ad pag. 30 Abbey of Val-royal in Cheshire founded by King Edward the first 105 All-souls Colledge in Oxford by whom founded 130 King Athelstan a great Benefactour to the Church of S. John of Beverley pag. 31. he commands the payment of Tithes Ib. Anne Ascough her Martyrdom 157 An Act passed for restoring the Tenths and First-fruits to the Crown 209 An Act for the Dissolution of all such Monasteries Covents c. as had been founded by Queen Mary 209 Articles passed in the Convocation in the first year of Queen Elizabeth 210 Abbey of Westminster converted to a Collegiate Church 221 The thirty nine Articles composed 227 Arthur King of Britain 10 St. Asaph 11 Aurelius Ambrosius King of Britain 10 Duke of Anjou cometh into England 242 Alanus Copus 243 Annates or First-fruits when brought into England 103 Richard Armachanus Primate of Ireland 112 Anabaptists Convicted and Censured 171 172 Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury his lamentable end 125 Augustine the Monk sent into England Thousands Baptized by him in one day 12 He is the first Archbishop of Canterbury his death 14 Archbishop Abbot Confined 299 Abbey of Evesham founded and endowed by King Offa 21 The Assembly at Glaschow pass Acts for the overthrow of Episcopacy the Service-book and the Canons c. 313 Alhunus Bishop of Holy-Island removeth his See and Covent to Durham 33 A new Representative called the Agreement of the people 345 Alexander Alesius a Learned Scot. 169 B BAbington's Conspiracy page 248 Bacon a good School-man and Mathematician 107 Bertha wife to King Ethelbert 12 John Baconthorp a Learned English-man 111 Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury his story 45 46 47 His translation and enshrining 70 John of Beverley who gave Education to Bede 21 Bede Sirnamed Venerable his Birth Learning Writings and Death 22 Birth of our Saviour 1 Birinus converteth the West-Saxons 16 Bodies when first brought to be buried in Churches 23 Bernard Bishop of S. David's denies subjection to the Archbishop of Canterbury 42 Hubert de Burgo Earl of Kent his story 75 Brazen-nose Colledge in Oxford when and by whom founded 138 Biddle a Socinian 359 Thomas Bradwardine Archbishop of Canterbury his story and writings 33 Christian Britan's Celebrated the Passover contrary to the Constitutions of the Romane Church 4 How long the Britans remained under the Romane yoke 4 Britans driven into Britain in France Wales and Cornwal 9 Britans escaped all the persecutions of the Heathen Roman Emperours except the last under Dioclesian 5 British Bishops in the Councils of Arbes Nice Sardis and Ariminum 6 When Bishops Seats were altered from Villages to great Cities 38 Bishops Imprisoned by King Stephen 43 Robert Brus King of Scotland 105 The Battel at Bannocks-borough 106 Beginning of the Broyls between the two Houses of Lancaster and York 131 Bainham a Martyr 147 Bilney burnt 146 Henry Beauford and Cardinal the Founder of S. Crosses Hospital 131 The Popes Bulls of Provision for Ecclesiastical promotions 103 Archbishop Boniface his making way for Popes Appropriating First-fruits unto themselves 80 The Bishoprickes of Westminster Oxford Peterborough Bristol and Chester erected by Henry the eight 154 Bishoprick of Westminster dissolved 221 Protestant Bishops placed in the Sees of the Popish Prelates 212 Bernard Gilpin refuseth the Bishoprike of Carlila 215 Bishops with other Divines met at Lambeth resolved on divers Articles 258 Earl Bothwel married to the Queen of Scots fleeth out of Scotland 232 Twelve Bishops Impeached and sent to the Tower 238 The Counterfeit Boy of Bilson 282 Dr. Bastwick Prynne and Burton Censured 305 Brown and Harrison inveigh against Bishops c. 245 Bishops of S. Andrews and Glasscow and Abbot of Scone put in Iron-chains and Imprisoned in Port-chester Castle 104 105 The King's Palace of Bridewel given to the City of London for a work-house 177 The Bible Translated in the Reign of King Henry the eighth King Edward the sixth and Queen Elizabeth 161 Bible Translated in King James his Reign 273 ad 276 D. Bound's Book about the Sabbath 257 The first Bailiffs of London 348 Every Parish when bound to provide a Bible in English and a Register-book to be kept there 150 Bishop Bonner a cruel Persecutor doomed to perpetual Imprisonment
212 M. Bucer his coming into England he takes the Chair at Cambridge his death 169 Buckingham-shire Martyrs many before Luther's time 139 Benedictus Biscopius the first Glass in England was his Gift 17 The Fatal Vespers at Black-friers 291 A Bill Signed against Bishops Voting as Peers in Parliament 229 Walter Burley a Great Philosopher 113 C. CAursines what they were when they first came into England page 74 The Book of Canons made 269 Cadwallader the last King of the stock of Britans 19 Caerleon in Wales the Court of King Arthur the See of an Archbishop a Colledge of two hundred Philosophers 11 Cadocus Abbot of Llancanvan in Glamorgan-shire his charity and liberality 11 Caransius made a League with the Britains and expelled the Romans and made himself King 5 Congel Abbot of Bangor 11 Colmkil a famous Seminary of learning 16 Mr. Thomas Cartwright Articles tendred to him his imprisonment 253 Col. Edward Ashton and John Betley executed 361 Colledges erected beyond the Seas for English youth to be educated therein 234 235 Cridda first King of Mercia 9 Cerdicus first King of the West Saxons 10 Constantius Chlorus Emperor of France Spain and Britain he died and was buried at York 5 Constantine the Great born made King and Emperor first in Britain 6 A Council called at Hartford 18 A Council called at Cliffe in Kent by King Ethelbald and Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury 22 A Council at Hatfield 19 A Council at B●canceld Another held at Berghamsteed by Withred King of Kent 20 A Council held by Wolphred Archbishop of Canterbury at Celichyth 24 A Council assembled at Alncester to promote the building of Evesham-abbey 2● A Council of Saxon and British Bishops assembled under an Oak in the borders of Worcester and Hereford-shires 12 A Council at Intingford 30 Divers Councils kept in the Reign of King Athelston viz. at Exceter Feversham Thunderfield and London and at Great Lea 31 Three Councils held in the time of Dunstan viz. at Winchester Cartlage in Cambridge-shire and Caln in Wilt-shire 32 Chelsey-colledge founded 277 A National Council held by Hoel Dha for all Wales at Tyquin 32 A Council of Bishops called by King William the First at Winton 37 A Council against Appeals to Rome 117 A Conference held at St. Albans 7 The University of Cambridge founded by King Sigebert 15 Cambridge wasted by the Danes 25 Conference between Dr. White and Dr. Featly Protestants and Fisher and White Jesuites 291 Isaac Causabon his Exercitations and death 280 281 Constellation of Cassiopeia 238 Conference at Hampton-Court 261 ad 269 A Convocation wherein the Lord Thomas Cromwel sate in State above all the Bishops 149 King Charles the First his story from 292 ad 347 A Council summoned by Archbishop Anselm at Westminster where all married Priests were excommunicated 41 A Council called at Westminster by Albericus Bishop of Hostia 43 A Council at Westminster in the Reign of King Henry the Second 48 A Council held at Oxford 71 A Council held at Lambeth by Iohn Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury 90 He summoneth another Council at Reading 96 A Council called by Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury at St. Pauls London 119 A Convocation in London 126 A Council called by Archbishop Morton to redress the luxury of the London Clergy in Cloathes and frequenting Taverns 137 King Charles the Second his story from 347 ad 385 Sir Iohn Old-castle Lord Cob●am his story from 123 ad 127 The persecution of the Lady Eleanor Cobbam 129 Christ-church Colledge in Oxford founded by Cardinal Wolsey 143 Miles Coverdale Bishop of Exeter 172 Iohn Colet a learned Englishman the founder of the Free-School of St. Pauls London 142 Canons and Converts of the Order of Sempingham turn Apostates 91 Contention between the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York 48 Alexander Cementarius his story 58 59 Sir Geoffry Chaucer when he flourished 113 Archbishop Cranmer his subscription to Popery for fear of death he retracteth his retractation he is burnt to ashes 202 Lord Thomas Cromwel his story from 149 ad 155 The Canons made by the Convocation Anno 1640 318 D. DAvid Unckle to King Arthur kept a Synod against the Pelagian error he removed his Archiepiscopal seat from Caerleon to Meneva now called St. Davids page 11 Danes when they first invaded England 23 Earl of Darby beheaded at Bolton 353 Iohn Duns Scotus or Dunensis 107 Dubitrius his Academy near the River Wye in Monmouth-shire 9 Diuma first Bishop of M●rcia 17 Dioclesian and Maximian resign their Ensignes of Command 59 Davids Psalms when and by whom first translated into English metre 172 Lord Darby married to the Queen of Scots his death 230 232 Disputation between the Protestants and Papists 211 The Synod of Dort 283 284 University at Dublin founded 254 Dorchester in Oxford-shire the seat of Birinus his Bishoprick 16 Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury his story 31 32 Dooms-day Book when made 37 Battel of Dunbar 350 E. ELvanus built a library near St. Peter's Church in Cornhil page 3 Eleutherius Bishop of Rome his letter to King Lucius ib. Ella first King of the South-Saxons 9 Kingdom of the East-Saxons what it contained and when it began Exchenwin first King thereof 9 Kingdom of the East-Angles what it contained when it began their conversion advanced by King Sigebert 15 Edmond King of the East-Angles murdered by the Danes 26 Ethelbert King of Kent embraceth Christianity 12 Ethelfred King of Northumberland killeth one thousand two hundred Monks of Bangor he is slain by the Britains 13 Egbert King of the West-Saxons made himself sole Monarch of England 23 Erkenwald a Bishop founder of the Monasteries of Chertsey in Surrey and Barking in Essex 19 Edilwalch King of the South-Saxons is baptized 19 Edwyn the son of Ethelfred becometh a Christian 14 Ethelwolph King of the West-Saxons granteth the Tenth of all his Lands to God and his Ministers c. his story 24 Kind Edward the Elder restoreth the University of Cambridge expells the Danes c. 30 Elphege Bishop of Canterbury stoned by the Danes 33 Eaton Colledge founded by King Henry the Sixth 131 Edward the Confessor his Ecclesiastical Laws his hereditary vertue left to his successors to cure the Kings Evil 35 England freed from the Danes 35 England interdicteded for six years in the Reign of King Iohn 57 Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury Canonized 80 King Edward the First his story from 86. ad 105 Edward the Second his story from 105. ad 109 Edward the Third his story from 109. ad 114 Edward the Sixth his story from 154. ad 179 Queen Elizabeth her troubles during her Sister's Reign 190 The story of her Reign from 206. ad 261 Edinburgh Castle surrendred to O. Cromwel by Colonel Dundasse 351 F. PAulus Fagius and M. Bucer their bodies taken out of their Graves and burnt 203 The Sect of the Family of Love 239 Flamines and Archflamines their places turned into Bishopricks and Archbishopriks by King Lucius 3
French for the Isles of Iersey and Guernsey 309 The Liturgy translated into Welch 175 Luther when he arose 142 M. GEneral Monk his story from page 363. ad 371 Marquess of Montrosse defeated condemned and executed 350 Queen Mary her Reign from 180. ad 206 Maximus a Christian Prince Governor of Britain 9 Marianus Scotus 35 Walter Mapez his verses setting forth the Church of Rome in her colours 67 Thomas Merks Bishop of Carlile faithful to King Richard the Second 108 Medvinus sent to Rome 2 Kingdom of Mercia why so called and what Counties it contained 9 Mercia divided into five Bishopricks 19 The Goods of three Orders of Monks seized into the hands of King Edward the Third 110 The number of Monasteries suppressed in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth 153 The number of those that suffered Martyrdom for the Gospel in Queen Maries days 194 Peter Martyr sent for into England made Canon of Christ-church in Oxford 169. Quits the Realm in Queen Maries days 184 His Letters to Queen Elizabeth 220 His Wives body taken out of her grave and burnt after his departure 184 Bishop Morton contrives the Union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster 135 Nine hundred Monks slain in S. Augustines Abbey in Canterbury 33 Murrey Regent of Scotland 233 His Death 236 The French Massacre 238 The Millenary Petition 269 Richard Middleton entitled Doctor Fundatissimus 107 Sir Thomas Moor a Great enemy to the Protestants he was beheaded the next moneth after Bishop Fisher 149 Moratus an old British writer 3 N THe Names of those that were Archbishops of Lo●don 3 Numbers of the Bishops Abbots Priors c. that were deprived in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign 213 George Nevil Archbishop of York his Prodigious Feast his Estate seized and his person Imprisoned 133 The Numbers of Colledges and Chaunteries Demolished in the Reign of King Henry the eighth 154 Kingdom of Northumberland subdivided into two Kingdoms viz. of Bernicia and Deira 10 Nuns of the Abbey of Ambresbury Convicted for Incontinency 51 Non-conformists in Queen Elizabeth's time of two sorts 229 231 James Nailor the Ring-leader of the Quakers publickly whipped pillored and Stigmatized 359 O OFfa King of Mercia founder of the Monastery of S. Albans bestoweth great lands upon it he was buried at Bedford 23 Osmond Bishop of Sarum deviser of that Service which after was observed in the whole Realm all Service Ordered to be secundum usum Sarum 39 Oswald second son of King Ethelfred converted by Aidan he disdained not to Preach to his Subjects and Nobles in the English Tongue 15 Oswald Bishop of Worcester Oswalds Law 31 William Occham the Author of the Sect called Nominales 112 The first use of Oaths in Ecclesiastical Courts in England 78 Oath of the King's Supremacy established 145 Writers for and against the Oath of Allegiance 272 The form of the Oath framed in the Convocation Anno 1640 319 The form of the Oath taken by every Student admitted into the Popish Seminaries 235 Oak of Reformation 167 Oliver Cromwel his Sory from 350 ad 361 The form of the Oath taken unto the Pope by every Popish Bishop at the taking of his Pall 139 Ordal for the trial of guilty persons 35 P PAtern Preacher at Lanpatern in Cardigan-shire 11 Pelagius born in Britain broacheth his Heresies publickly 7 Pelagianism condemned in Brittain in two Synods 8 S. Petrock Captain of the Cornish Saints 11 Paulinus baptizeth King Edwyn with all his Nobles and much people at York 15 Penda King of Mercia embraceth Christianity 16 Pleigmund Consecrateth seven Bishops in one day Mathew Parker Consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury Divers Bishops Consecrated him 212 Kellison's and Parson's slandering him to be Consecrated at the Nag's Head-tavern in Cheap-side 214 His Story 223 S. Paul's Church and Steeple in London burnt 222 Pope Pius Excommunicates Q. Elizabeth 235 The first setled Presbytery in England at Wandsworth in Surrey 237 Popish Priests and Jesuites executed 242 The Little Parliament 353 The Humble Petition and Advice Framed 358 Statute of Praemunire when enacted 117 Players forbidden by Proclamation in King Edward the sixth his time 161 Piers Gaveston surprized by Guy Earl of Warwick who caused him to be beheaded 106 The first Patent of a Commendu Retinere granted by the King to any Bishop Elect 84 Geoffry Plantaginet Archbishop of York his Story 52 53 Peruwigs and long hair forbidden in the Clergy 77 Priests forced to forgo their wives 42 When the Pope made his first encroachment on the Liberties of the English Crown 38 Cardinal Poole s reception into England 191 He absolveth the Parliament and whole Kingdom for withdrawing their obedience to the Church of Rome 192 Consecrated to the See of Canterbury next Sunday after Cranmer's death 202 English Ambassadours sent to Rome arrived there on the first day of the Papacy of Pope Paul the fourth Pembrock-colledge in Oxford founded 296 Pinckney the Provincial of the Augustine-friars and Dr. Shaa onely of all the Clergy engage for King Richard the third 134 135 Parsonages not exceeding ten Marks and Vicaridges ten pounds freed from First-fruits 152 King Philip Married to Queen Mary 190 A Great Plague in London 381 Hugh Pudsey Bishop of Durham made Earl of Northumberland by King Richard the first 48 Penry Barrow and ●●enwood condemned and executed 256 John Piers Archbishop of York derided by Martin Mar-prelate 256 Q QVeen's-colledge in Oxford when and by whom founded 111 Queen of Scots assumeth to her self the Style and Title of Queen of England 213 She flies into England and endeth her doleful life at Fatheringhay Castle She is buried in the Quire at Peterborough and twenty years after removed to Westminster 249 Queen Eleanor a solemn Anniversary instituted to be kept for her by King Edward the first her Husband 97 R ROmans forsake the Isle of of Britain 7 Rumold called Mechlinensis Apostolus 16 King Richard the first his Story 48 49 50 George Ripley a great Mathematitian 140 John Rouse a great Antiquary 140 King Richard the second his Story from 114 ad 118 Philip Rippinton of a Professour became a cruel persecutor of the Gospel He is made Bishop of Lincoln 121 Master John Rogers burnt in Smithfield the first Martyr in Queen Marie's 194 Cardinal Richlieu an Incendiary between King Charles the first and the Scots 313 When the word Recusant first came up 236 Reformed Religion advanced in Ireland 217 The Rites of the Church of England for a time remained the onely form of Worship for the Kirk of Scotland 216 Thomas Rudbourn a Monk of Winchester an old Writer 3 The Remish Translation cometh forth 247 Rogers his exposition on the thirty nine Articles of the Church of England 247 Roger a Monk of Chester and an Historiographer 113 Doctor Fulk and M. Cartwright their answer to the Rhemish Translation 247 Richard Cromwel his Story 361 362 S THat cruel Statute pro Haeretico comburendo first hanselled on William Sautre Priest
119 120 See of Sarum had five Bishops in five years space 94 Scotland when freed from the See of York 133 Secular Priests ejected 31 A Survay taken of all the Glebe-land of the Clergy 110 Severus cometh into Britain and assisteth in condemning Pelagianism 8 Sampson Scholar to Iltutus being made Archbishop of Dole he carrieth away the Monuments of British Antiquity 11 Sebert King of Essex embraceth Christianity by the Ministry of Mellitus 14 Sigebert King of East-Angles enters into a Monastery 21 Saxons invade Britain 8 South-saxons converted to Christianity the last of the seven Kingdoms 19 A Survay taken of all the Revenues and Dignities Ecclesiastical in England returned in a Book to be kept in the Exchequer 152 John Spottiswood Archbishop of S. Andrews his death 314 John Story a great persecutor executed 234 A Statute made that all Convocations should be called by the King's Writ 146 The bloody Statute for the six Popish Articles enacted 155 A Statute made for the recovery of Tithes 156 Edward Seymour Duke of Sommerset Lord Protector of the Realm in the Reign of King Edward the sixth his story from 159 ad 174 Sommerset-house how and when erected 165 The Sweating-sickness 174 Richard Sutton the Founder of Charter-house Hospital 280 M. Antonius de Dominis Archbishop of Spalato his Story 281 288 289 290 Stubs and Page their right hands cut off with a Cleaver 242 The Scots erect a New Government for themselves consisting of four Tables for the four Orders of the State viz. the Noble-men Barons Burgesses and Ministers they enter into Covenant 308 They enter England in an Hostile manner 321 The first settlement of the Church under Queen Elizabeth 215 Seminaries beyond the Seas erected for English youth 234 Stone 's discovery of the Presbyterian meetings 254 Lord Wentworth made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford 315 He is impeached of High Treason 223 Many under the notion of scandalous Ministers Sequestred 332 Many Silenced Ministers and Lecturers put into Sequestred Benefices 332 Sherwin Kirby and Briant Priests and Campian the Jesuite Executed for Treason 242 T MErchant-Tailors School in London when founded 224 S. Teliau a Scholar to Dubritus 11 Thetford burnt by the Danes 25 Adam Tarlton Bishop of Hereford the Grand contriver of all mischief against King Edward the second his Story 108 109 110 Tindals Translation of the New Testament burnt in Pauls Church-yard 147 Iohn de Trevisa a learned English-man 117 Mr. Walter Travers his story 255 256 Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury erected a well-furnished Library 18 Theodore Abbot of Crowland murdered by the Danes 25 Iohn Thrask his errours and censure 283 The Treaty at Vxbridge 337 The Treaty and Dispute in the Isle of VVight 343 344 VVilliam Tindal strangled and burnt at Filford in Flaunders 150 Nicholas Trivet a Black Friar wrote two Histories and a Book of Annals 113 William Tailor Priest burnt 127 V. KIng Vortigern sendeth for Germanus and Lupus into Britain to refute the Heresie of Pelagius He afterward marrieth with a Pagan woman and is deserted of his Nobles page 8 Vortimer the son of Vortigern chosen King of Britain he is poisoned ibid. Vodinus Archbishop of London put to death by the command of Vortigern ib. Vssa first King of the East Angles 9 Polyder Virgil the Popes collector General of the Peter-pence in England He wrote a Latin History of Britain 148 Vter-Pendr●●●● King of Britain 10 Aubery de Vere a learned Lawyer Advocate for King Stephen 44 An Act for Uniformity of publick prayers c. 375 An Act for uniting Churches in Cities and Towns corporate 381 W. WIllibrod Reformer of Frisia 17 Bishop Williams censured and imprisoned 305 Wilfrid Archbishop of York converteth the men of Freezland in Belgia to Christianity 19 After his expulsion from York he is for a time made Bishop of Leicester at last he is restored to York and was buried in his Monastery at Rippon 20 King William the First gave unto the Bishops an entire jurisdiction to judge all causes relating to Religion before that time the Bishop and the Sheriff kept their Court together 38 This King laid wast thirty Parish Churches in the New Forrest to make a Paradise for his Deer 40 William Witlesee Archbishop of Canterbury freed the University of Oxford from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln formerly the Diocesan thereof 113 Iohn Wickliff his story 113 114 115 His bones burnt and the ashes cast into the River 128 William Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester founder of Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxford 131 The miserable death of Dr. Whittington a great Persecutor at Sadbury 140 William Wickham founded New Colledge in Oxford and the Colledge at Winchester 117 Thomas Wallis a Dominican Friar a writer of many choice Books 113 Cardinal Wolsey his story 143 144 145 Dr. William VVhitacre his Answer to Campian's Chalenge 241 His death 259 VVilliam VVhite Priest burnt Who was a Scholar of Iohn VVickliff with him were burnt Iohn VVaddon Priest and Father Abraham of Colchester 128 Y. WHen and by whom the Yeomen of the King's guard were Instituted 136 Z. BAltazar Zanchez a Spaniard founded an Almes-house at Totnam-high-cross in Middlesex 259 ERRATA PAge 3. line 33. read names p. 7. l. 7. r. Franks l. 13. r. Virtutem p. 8. l. 5. r. Britain p. 9. in marg r. Tinmuthens p. 9. l. 15. f. at r. and l. 23. r. remain p. 15. l. 4. r. Cern l. 20. r. died p. 16. l. 32. r. propagated p. 26. l. 3. r. Halesdon l. 29. r. Danish p. 46. l. 21. r. the Pope l. 35. r. the Cathedral p. 47. l. 30. r. history p. 49. l. 28. r. whom p. 55. l. 7. r. reddituum p. 81. l. 22. r. monachorum l. 30. r. Papae papalibus p. 84. l. 35. r. the King issued p 86. l. penult r. the first p. 103. l. 24. r. Ecclesiae p. 104. l. 7. r. or Benefice l. 8. r. Expectancy p. 131. l 4. r. 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