speake of the fall you shall heare out of William Thorne one that made an appendix to the hystorie of Thomas Spot both Monkes of Saint Augustines the occasion of the first fabulous beginning of this Abbay Certain seruaunts or officers saith he of Egbright the third King of Kent after Ethelbert had done great iniurie to a noble woman called Domneua the mother of Saint Mildred in recompence of whiche wrongs the King made an Herodian othe and promised vpon his honour to giue her whatsoeuer she would aske him The woman instructed belike by some Menkishe counselour begged of him so muche ground to build an Abbay vpon as a tame déere that she nourished would runne ouer at a breathe Hereto the King had consented forthwith sauing that one Tymor a counseler of his standing by blamed him of great inconsideration for that he woulde vpon the vncertaine course of a Deare departe to his certaine losse with any part of so good a soyle but the earth sayth William Thorne immediatly opened and swalowed him aliue in memorie whereof the place till his time was called Tymor sleape Well the King and this Gentlewoman procéeded in their bargaine the Hynde was put foorth and it ranne the quantitie of fourtie and eight ploughlands before it returned And thus Domneua by the help of the King builded at Mynster within that precinct a Monasterie of Nonnes vpon suche like discretion you may be sure as Ramsey Abbay was pitched euen where a Bull by chaunce scraped with his foote and as Rome it selfe for whose fauour these follies be deuised was edified where the she Woulfe gaue Romulus and Remus sucke Ouer this Abbay Mildred of whome we spake the daughter of Meruaile that was sonne to Penda King of midle England became the Lady and Abbasse who bicause she was of noble linage and had gotten together seuentie women all whiche Theodorus the seuenth Bishop veiled for Nonnes she easily obteyned to be registred in our Englishe Kalender to be worshipped for a Saint both at Tanet while her body lay there and at S. Augustines after that it was translated And no maruell at all for if you will beléeue the authour of the worke called Noua Legenda Angliae your self wil easily vouchsafe her the honour This woman sayth he was so mightily defended with diuine power that lying in a hote ouē thrée houres together she suffered not of the flame She was also endued with suche godlyke vertue that comming out of Fraunce the very stone whereon she first stepped at Ippedsflete in this Isle receiued the impression of her foote and reteined it for euer hauing besides this propertie that whether so euer you remoued the same it woulde within short time and without helpe of mans hande returne to the former place againe And finally she was so diligently garded with Gods Angel attending vpon her that when the diuell finding her at prayers had put out the candel that was before her the Angel forthwith lighted it for her againe And this no doubte was the cause that the Religious persons of S. Augustines and of S. Gregories at Cāterbury fell at great dissention for her eche affirming that after the spoyle of Tanet her bones were remoued to their Monasterie the one clayming by King Canutus as we sayd before and the other deriuing from Archebishop Lanfranc who as they affirmed at the dotation of their house bestowed vpon it amongest other things of great price the translated reliques of Mildred and Edburgaes bodyes Howsoeuer that were they bothe made marchandize of her myracles and the Monkes of S Augustines perceiuing that by the dissolution of the Monasterie and the absence of the Saintes their towne of Minster in Tanet was falne to decay of verie conscience and for pities sake by the meane of Hughe their Abbat procured at the handes of King Henrie the first the graunt of a Market to be holden there whiche I wote not whether it inioyeth to this day or no. Thus much of the Isle and Mynster Abbay Now a worde or two touching Ippedsflete wherof I spake before and of Stonor another place within the Isle and then I will leaue Tanet and procéede in my iourney This Ippedsflete is the place wher Hengist and Hors◠the Saxon captaines came first on lande and it is of diuers Chronicles diuersly termed some calling it Ippinesflete others Heoppinesflete and others Wippedsflete These of the last sorte write that it tooke the name of one Wipped a noble man amongest the Saxons who onely was slaine on that parte when Aurel. Ambrose the leader of the Britons lost twelue of his principall chiefteins in one conflict In déede the name soundeth the place where Wipped or Ipped swymmed whiche I coulde haue agréed to be the same that is at this day called Wapflete in Essex the rather for that Ralph Higdē writeth that the Britons neuer inuaded Kent after the battayle at Craforde whiche was before this ouerthrowe that I last spake of Howbeit since the writer of our holy Legend layeth it in Tanet I am contented to subscribe In this Isle lyeth Stonor sometime a hauen towne also for in the reigne of William Rufus there arose a suite in lawe betwéene the Londoners and the Abbat of S Augustines then owner of the place as touching the right of the hauen of Stonor wherein by the fauourable aide of the Prince the Monkes as Thomas Spot their own Chronicler reporteth preuayled and the Citizens had the ouerthrowe Not long after whiche time they obteined of King Henrie the first a fayre to be holden yerely at this towne fiue dayes together before and after the feast of the translation of S. Augustine Nowe woulde I foorthwith leade you from the Isle of Tanet to the ruines of Richeborow sauing that the Goodwine is before myne eye whereof I pray you first hearken what I haue to say The Goodwine or Goodvvine Sandes THere liued in the time of King Edwarde commonly called the Confessour a noble mā named Godwine whose daughter Edgithe the same King by great instance of his nobilitie being otherwise of him selfe disposed to haue liued sole tooke vnto his wife By reason whereof not onely this Godwine him selfe being at the first but a Cowheards sonne and afterward aduaunced to honour by King Canutus whose sister by fraude he obteined to wife became of great power and authoritie within this Realme but his sonnes also being fiue in nomber were by the kings gyfte aduaunced to large liuelyhoodes and honourable possessions For Goodwine was Earle of Kent Sussex Hamshire Dorsetshire Deuonshire and Cornwal His eldest sonne Swane had Oxfordshire Barkeshire Gloucestershire Herefordshire and Somerset Harold helde Essex Norfolk Suffolke Cambridgeshire Huntingdonshire Tosti had Northumberland And Gurte Leoswine possessed other places c. But as it is hard in great prosperitie to kéepe due temperance for Superbia est vitium rebus solenne secundis So this man and his sonnes being puffed vp with the pryde of
at the Kings handes The King hearing the complaint ment to make correction of the fault but the Townesmen also had complained themselues to Godwine who determining vnaduisedly to defend his clients and seruauntes opposed himselfe violently against the King his Leige Lord and Maister To bee short the matter waxed within a while so hote betwéene them that either side for maintenance of their cause arraied and conducted a great armie into the field Godwine demaunded of the King that Eustace might be deliuered vnto him the King cōmaunded Godwine that armes laide aside hee would answere his disobedience by order of the Lawe and in the ende Godwine was banished the Realme by the sentence of the King and Nobilitie wherevpon hee and his Sonnes fled ouer the Sea and neuer ceassed to vnquiet the King and spoyle his subiects til they were reconciled to his fauour and restored to their auncient estate and dignitie This towne was so sore wasted with fire soone after the comming in of King William the Conquerour that it was wholly saue onely nine and twentie dwelling houses consumed and brought to ashes And in the time of King Edward the first also whiles two of the Popes Cardinales were here in the treatie of an attonement to be made betwéene England and Fraunce the Frenchemen landed at Douer in a right and burned a great part of the towne and some of the religious buildings So that in those times it was muche empayred by those misfortunes But nowe in our memorie what by decay of the hauen whiche King Henrie the eight to his great charge but that all in vayne sought to restore and what by the ouerthrowe of the religious houses and losse of Calaice it is brought in maner to miserable nakednesse and decaye whiche thing were the lesse to be pitied if it were not accompanyed with the ruine of the Castell it selfe the decay whereof is so much the more grieuous as the fame therof is with our ancient stories aboue al other most blasing glorious The Castell of Douer sayth Lidgate and Rosse was firste builded by Iulius Caesar the Romane Emperour in memorie of whome they of the Castell kept till this day certeine vessels of olde wine and salte whiche they affirme to be the remayne of suche prouision as he brought into it As touching the whiche if they be natural and not sophisticate I suppose them more likely to haue béene of that store whiche Hubert de Burghe layde in there of whome I shall haue cause to say more hereafter But as concerning the building bycause I finde not in Caesar his owne Commentaries mention of any fortification that he made within the Realme I thinke that the more credible reporte whiche ascribeth the foundation to Aruiragus a King of the Britons of whome Iuuenal the Poet hath mention saying to the Emperour Nero in this wise Regem aliquem capies aut de temone Britanno Excidet Aruiragus c. Some King thou shalt a captaine take or els from Bryttishe wayne Shall Aruiragus tumble downe And of whome others write that he founde suche fauour in the eye of Claudius the Emperour that he obtained his daughter to wife But whosoeuer were the authour of this Castell Mathewe Parise writeth that it was accounted in his time which was vnder the reigne of King Henry the third Clauis Repagulum totius Regni the very locke and key of the whole Realme of England And truly it séemeth to me by that which I haue read of King William the Conquerour that he also thought no lesse of it For at suche time as Harold being in Normandie with him whether of purpose or against his will I leaue as I finde it at large made a corporall othe to put him in possession of the Crowne after the death of King Edwarde It was one parcell of his othe that he should deliuer vnto him this castell and the Well within it The same King had no soner ouerthrowne Harolde in the fielde and reduced the Londoners to obedience but foorthwith he marched with his armie towarde Douer as to a place of greatest importaunce and spéede in that iourney as is already declared Not long after whiche time also when he had in his owne opinion peaceably established the gouernment of this Realme and was departed ouer into Normandie of purpose to commit the order of that countrie to Robert his sonne diuers of the shyre of Kent knowing right well howe muche it might annoy him to lose Douer conspired with Eustace the Earle of Boloine for the recouerie and surprise of the same And for the better atchieuing of their desire it was agréed that the Earle should crosse the seas in a night by them appointed at whiche time they woulde not faile with all their force to méete him and so ioyning handes soudainly assayle and enter it They met accordingly and marched by darke night toward the Castell well furnished with scaling ladders but by reason that the watch had discried them they not only fayled of that whiche they intended but also fell into that whiche they neuer feared for the Souldiours within the Castell to whome Odo the Bishop of Borieux and Hughe Mountfort which then were with the King in Normandie had committed the charge thereof kept them selues close and suffered the assaylants to approche the wall and then whiles they disorderly attempted to scale it they set wide open their gates and made a soudaine salie out of the péece and set vpon them with suche furie that they compelled Eustace with a fewe others to returne to his Shippe the reste of his companie béeing eyther slayne by the sworde destroyed by fall from the Clyffe or deuoured by the Sea. The same King also béeing worthely offended with the disobedience auarice and ambition of Odo his bastarde brother whome he had promoted to the Bishopricke of Borieux and to the Earldome of Kent for that he had not onely by rauine and extortion raked together greate masses of Golde and treasure whiche he caused to be grounde into fine pouder and filling therewith dyuers pottes and crockes had sounk them in the bottomes of Riuers intending therwithall to haue purchased the Papacie of Rome But also bycause he refused to render vnto him the Countie of Kent and was suspected for aspiring to the Crowne of this Realme consulted with Lanfranc the Archebishop of Canterburye and a professed enemie to Odo howe hée might safely and without offence to the Ecclesiasticall estate for that hée was a Bishoppe bothe conteyne that treasure within the Realme and also deteyne hys person from going into Italie whether warde he bothe addressed him selfe with all speede and gathered for his trayne great troupes of valiaunt and seruiceable men out of euerie quarter Lanfranc counseled the King to commit him to safe custodie and for his defence armed him with this pretie shift If it be layde to your charge quoth he that you haue layde violent handes vpon a sacred Bishop Say that you
of this gallant brought to shame and confusion his Pecockes feathers pulled his black féete bewraied his fraude vnfoulded his might abated and him selfe in the ende suffered to sayle ouer with sorowe and ignominie Besides this Pryorie of S. Martines which was valued at a hundreth fourscore and eight poundes by yeare there was lately in Douer also an Hospitall rated at fiftie nyne poundes An other house of the same sorte called Domus Dei or Maison Dieu reputed worth one hundreth and twentie pounds And long since a house of Templers as they call it the which together with al other of the same kind throughout the Realme was suppressed in the reigne of King Edwarde the seconde The foundation of any of these I haue not hitherto founde out and therefore can not deliuer therof any certaintie at all Onely as touching this Temple I dare affirme that it was erected after the time of Conquest for as muche as I am sure that the order it selfe was inuented after that Godfrey of Bolein had wonne Ierusalem whiche was after the cōming in of the Conquerour To these also may be added for neighbourhoode sake if you will the Monasterie of S. Radegundes on the hyll two myles off valued at fourescore and eightéene pounds by yeare And here hauing perused the Towne Castle and religious buildings I woulde make an ende of Douer saue that Mathewe Parise putteth me in mynde of one thing not vnworthy rehearsall that was done in this Temple I meane the sealing of that submission whiche King Iohn made to Pandulphe the Popes Legate wherin he yealded his Realme tributarie and him selfe an obedienciarie and vassall to the Bishop of Rome And bycause this was almost the last acte of the whole Tragedie and can not well be vnderstoode without some recourse to the former parts and beginning and for that some men of late time haue taken great holde of this matter to aduaunce the Popes authoritie withall I will shortly after my manner recount the thing as it was done and leaue the iudgement to the indifferent Reader After the death of Hubert the Archebishop of Canterbury the Monkes of Christes Church agréed among them selues to chose for their Bishop Reginald the Subpryor of their house King Iohn hauing no notice of this election wherein no doubt he receiued greate wrong since they ought to haue of him their Conge deslier recommended vnto them Iohn Graye the Bishop of Norwiche a man that for his wisedome and learning he fauoured muche Some part of the Monkes taking soudaine offence at Reginalde for that he had disclosed a secrete out of their house and being glad to satisfie the Kings desire elected this Graye for their Bishop also Hereof grewe a great suite at Rome betwéen the more part of the Monkes on the one side and the Suffraganes of Canterbury and the lesse number of the Monkes on the other side The Pope vpon the hearing of the cause at the first ratifieth the election of Iohn Graye Howbeit afterwarde he refuseth bothe the electes and preferreth Stephan Langton whom the Monkes bycause the matter was not before litigious enough elected also Nowe King Iohn hearing that not only the election of Graye contrarie to the Popes owne former determination was made frustrate but that there was also thruste into his place a man familiarly entertained by the Frenche King his great enemie disliked much of the choice forbad Stephan the elect to enter the Realme The Pope againe who as Mathewe Parise writeth sought chiefly in this his choice Virum strenuum a stoute man that is in plaine speache a man that could exact of the Clergie kéep in awe the Laitie and encounter the King and Nobilitie séeing his champion thus reiected beginneth to startle for anger first therefore he moueth the King by minacing letters to admitte Stephan not so preuailing he enterditeth him his whole Realme And finally bothe prouoketh al Potentates to make open warre vpon him and also promiseth to the King of Fraunce full and frée remission of all his sinnes and the kingdome of England it self to inuade him this done he solliciteth to rebellion the Bishops nobilitie and cōmōs of the Realme loosing thē by the plenitude of his Apos to like power from al duetie of allegiaunce toward their Prince By this meanes diuine seruice ceassed the King of Fraunce armed the Bishops conspired the nobilitie made defection and the common people wauered vncertaine to what part to incline To be short King Iohn was so pressed with suspition feare of domesticall forreigne enemies on al sides that notwithstāding he was of great and noble courage and séemed to haue forces sufficient for resistance also if he might haue trusted his souldiers yet he was in the end compelled to set his seale to a Chartre of submissiō wherby he acknowleged himselfe to holde the Crowne of England of the Popes Mitre promised to pay yerely for the same and for Ireland 1000. Markes to the holy father his successours for euer this Chartre because it was afterward with great insultation and triumph closed in Golde was then commonly called Aurea Bulla the Bull of Golde Thus omitting the residue of this storie no lesse tragical and troublesome then that which I haue alreadie recited I report me to all indifferent men what cause Paulus Iouius or any other popishe parasite hathe by colour of this Bull to claime for the Pope superioritie Dominion ouer the King of this Realme since Iohn without the assent of the estates I meane his nobilitie and commons could not in such a gifte either binde his successours or charge the kingdome And for plaine declaration that his submission proceaded not with their consent I read in a treatise of one Simon de Boraston a Frier Preacher in the time of King Edward the third the which he wrote concerning the Kings right to the Crowne of Ireland that in the reigne of Henrie the third whiche next of all succeaded King Iohn there were sent from the King the nobilitie and the commons of England these Noble men Hughe Bigod Iohn Fitz Geffray William Cantlowe Phillip Basset and a Lawier named William Powicke to the generall Counsel then assembled at Lions in Fraunce of purpose and with commission to require that the saide Bull sealed by King Iohn might be cancelled for as muche as it passed not by the assent of the Counsel of the Realme and the same Authour writeth that the Pope for that tyme did put them of by colour of more waightie affaires whiche the Counsel had then in hand I know that it may wel be thought néedlesse to labour further in confuting a litle so weightles for it is true that Aristotle saith Stultum est absurdas opiniones accuratius refellere It is but a follie to labour ouer curiously in refelling of absurdities And therefore I will here conclude the treatise of Douer and procéede particularly to the rest of the places that lye on
The Monkes lothe to loose so beneficiall a stray at the first make some denyal but afterwarde being assured by all signes that he was the very Proprietarie they graunt him to take it with him The carpenter then taketh the horse by the heade and first assayeth to leade him out of the Churche but he woulde not stirre for him Then beateth he and striketh him but the Iade was so restie and fast nayled that he would not once remoue his foote from the piller At the laste he taketh off the Image thinking to haue carried it out by it self and then to haue led the horse after but that also cleaued so fast to the place that notwithstanding all that euer he and the Monkes also which at the length were contented for pities sake to helpe him coulde doe it woulde not be moued one inche from it So that in the ende partely of wearinesse in wrestling with it and partely by persuasion of the Monkes whiche were in loue with the Picture and made him beléeue that it was by God him selfe destinate to their house the Carpenter was contented for a péece of money to go his way and leaue the Roode behinde him Thus you sée the generation of this the great God of Boxley comparable I warrant you to the creation of that olde beastly Idol Priapus of whiche the Poet sayth Olim truncus eram ficulnus inutile lignum Cum faber incertus SCAMNVM FACERETNE PRIAPVM MALVIT ESSE DEVM Deus inde ego furum c. A Figtree blocke sometime I was A log vnmeete for vse Til Caruer doubting with him selfe WER T BEST MAKE PRIAPVS OR ELSE A BENCHE resolude at last To make a God of me Thencefoorth a God I am of birdes And theeues most drad you see But what I shall not néede to report howe leudely these Monkes to their owne enriching and the spoyle of Gods people abused this wooden God after they had thus gotten him bycause a great sorte be yet on liue that sawe the fraude openly detected at Paules Crosse and others maye reade it disclosed in bookes extant and commonly abroade Neyther will I labour to compare it throughout with the Troian Palladium whiche was a picture of woode that coulde shake a speare and rolle the eyes as liuely as this Roode did and whiche falling from heauen chose it self a place in the Temple as wisely as this Carpenters horse did and had otherwise so greate conuenience and agréement with this our Image that a man woulde easily beléeue the deuice had béene taken from thence But I will onely note for my purpose and the places sake that euen as they fansied that Troy was vpholden by that Image and that the taking of it awaye by Diomedes and Vlysses brought destruction by sentence of the Oracle vpon their Citie So the towne of Boxley whiche stoode chiefly by the Abbay was through the discouerie and defacing of this Idol and another wrought by Cranmer and Cromwel according to the iust iudgement of God hastened to vtter decay and beggerie And nowe since I am falne into mention of that other Image whiche was honoured at this place I will not sticke to bestowe a fewe wordes for the detection thereof also as well for that it was as very an illusion as the former as also for that the vse of them was so lincked together that the one can not throughly be vnderstoode without the other for this was the order If you minded to haue benefit by the Roode of Grace you ought firste to be shryuen of one of the Monkes Then by lifting at this other Image whiche was vntruly of the common sorte called Sainct Grumbald for Sainct Rumwald you shoulde make proofe whether you were in cleane life as they called it or no and if you so founde your selfe then was your waye prepared and your offering acceptable before the Roode if not then it behoued you to be confessed of newe for it was to be thought that you had concealed somewhat from your ghostly Dad and therefore not yet worthy to be admitted Ad Sacra Eleusina Nowe that you may knowe howe this examination was to be made you must vnderstande that this Sainct Rumwald was a preatie shorte picture of a Boy Sainct standing in the same Churche of it selfe so small hollow and light that a childe of seuen yeares of age might easily lift it and therefore of no moment at all in the hands of suche persons as had offered frankly But by meane of a pyn of wood stricken through it into a poste whiche a false knaue standing behinde coulde put in and pull out at his pleasure it was to suche as offered faintly so fast and vnmoueable that no force of hande coulde once stirre it In so muche as many times it moued more laughter then deuotion to beholde a great lubber to lift at that in vayne whiche a young boy or wenche had easily taken vp before him I omit that chaste Virgines and honest marryed matrones went oftentimes away with blushing faces leauing without cause in the myndes of the lookers on suspicion of vncleane life and wanton behauiour for feare of whiche note and villanie women of all other stretched their purse strings and sought by liberall offering to make Sainct Rumwalds man their good friend and Maister But marke here I beséeche you their prettie policie in picking playne folkes purses It was in vaine as they persuaded to presume to the Roode without shrifte yea and money lost there also if you offer before you were in cleane life And therefore the matter was so handled that without trebble oblation that is to say first to the Confessour then to Sainct Rumwald and lastly to the Gracious Roode the poore Pilgrimes coulde not assure them selues of any good gayned by all their laboure No more then suche as goe to Parisgardein the Bell Sauage◠or some other suche common place to beholde Beare bayting Enterludes or Fence playe can account of any pleasant spectacle vnlesse they first paye one penny at the gate another at the entrie of the Scaffolde and the thirde for a quiet standing I my selfe can not coniecture what reason shoulde moue them to make this Sainct Rumwald the Touchstone of cleane life and innocencie vnlesse it be vpon occasion of a myracle that he did in making two holy Priestes to lift a greate stone easily whiche before diuers laye persons coulde not stirre with all their strength and abilitie Whiche thing as also his whole life and death to the ende that the tale shall want no part of due credite I will shortly recite as in the worke called Noua Legenda Angliae I finde reported A Pagan or vnchristened King of Northumberland had married a Christian woman daughter to Penda the King of Midle Englande who woulde not by any meanes be known carnally of her husband til such time as he had condescended to forsake Idolatrie and to become a Christian with her The husband with much to doe consented to
people to forsake it which if they will not God in time either graunt vs the lawe of the Heluetians whiche prouided that no man shoulde prouoke other in drinking or else if that may for courtesie be permitted bycause as the prouerbe is Sacra haec non aliter constant yet God I say styrre vp some Edgar to strike nayles in our cuppes or else giue vs the Gréekishe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Potandi arbitros Cup Censors as I may call them that at the leaste we maye be dryuen to drinke in some manner of measure For it is not sufferable in a Christian Countrie that men shoulde thus labour with great contention and striue for the maistrie as it were to offende God in so wilfull waste of his gratious benefits In this Hystorie is couched also as I haue already tolde you the firste cause of the displeasure receyued by the Normanes against this Realme and consequently the cause of their inuasion succéeding the same For whereas after this crueltie executed by the instigation of Godwine it happened Harolde his sonne to arryue at Pountion against his will by occasion of a soudaine perry or contrarie winde that arose while he was on seaboorde whether for his owne disporte onely as some write or for the execution of the Kings message as others say or of purpose to visite Wilnote and Hacun his brother and kinseman as a thirde sorte affirme or for what so euer other cause I will not dispute But vpon his arriuall taken he was by Guy the Earle of Pountion and sente to William the Duke of Normandie where being charged with his fathers faulte and fearing that the whole reuenge shoulde haue lighted vpon his owne heade he was dryuen to deuise a shifte for his deliueraunce He put the Duke in remembraunce therefore of his neare kinred with Edwarde the King of Englande And fed him with greate hope and expectation that Edwarde shoulde dye without issue of his body by reason that he had no conuersation with his wife So that if the matter were well and in season séene vnto there was no doubte as he persuaded but that the Duke through his owne power and the ayde of some of the Englishe Nobilitie might easily after the Kings deathe obtaine the Crowne For the atchieuing wherof he both vowed the vttermost of his owne help and vndertooke that his brethren his friends and allies also should do the best of their indeuour The wise Duke knowing wel Quam malus sit custos diuturnitatis metus How euil a keper of cōtinuance feare is And therfore reposing much more suretie in a frendly knot of alliance thē in a fearful offer procéeding but onely of a countenaunce accepted Haroldes othe for some assuraunce of his promise but yet withall for more safetie affied him to his daughter to be taken in marriage And so after many princely gifts and much honorable enterteinement bestowed vpon him he gaue him licence to depart But Harolde being nowe returned into England forgetteth cleane that euer he was in Normandie and therefore so soone as King Edward was deade he violating both the one promise and the other reiecteth Duke Williams daughter and setteth the Crowne vpon his owne heade Hereof followed the battaile at Battel in Sussex and consequently the Conquest of this whole Realme and Countrie In contemplation whereof we haue likewise to accuse the olde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inueterate fiercenesse and cancred crueltie of this our English nation against foreignes and straungers which ioyning in this butcherly sacrifice with bloudie Busyris deserued worthely the reuenging club of heauenly Hercules whiche fearing without cause great harme that these fewe might bring vnto them did by their barbarous immanitie giue iust cause to a great armie to ouerrunne them And whiche dreading that by the arriuall of this small troupe of Norman Nobilitie some of them might lose their honorable roomes and offices prouoked the wrath of God to sende in amongst them the whole rable of the Norman slauerie to possesse their goods inheritances It were worthy the consideration to call to memorie what great Tragedies haue béene stirred in this Realme by this our naturall inhospitalitie and disdaine of straungers both in the time of King Iohn Henrie his sonne King Edward the seconde Henrie the sixte and in the dayes of later memorie But since that matter is parergon and therefore the discourse woulde proue tedious and wearisome and I also haue beene too long already at Gillingham I will rather abruptly end it onely wishing that whatsoeuer note of infamie wee haue heretofore contracted amongst Forreigne wryters by this our ferocitie against Aliens that now at the least hauing the Light of Gods Gospell before our eyes and the persecuted partes of his afflicted Church as Guestes and Straungers in our Countrie wée so behaue our selues towards them as we may both vtterly rubbe out the olde blemishe and from hencefoorth staye the heauie hand of the iuste Iupiter Hospitalis whiche otherwise must néedes light vpon such stubburne and vncharitable churlishnesse Chetham ALthoughe I haue not hytherto at any time read any memorable thing recorded in hystorie touching Chetham it self yet for so muche as I haue often heard and that constātly reported a Popish illusion done at the place for that also it is as profitable to the keping vnder of fained superstitious religiō to renew to minde the Priestly practises of olde time which are declining to obliuiō as it is pleasāt to reteine in memorie the Monuments antiquities of whatsoeuer other kinde I thinke it not amisse to commit faithfully to writing what I haue receiued credibly by hearing concerning the Idols sometime knowen by the names of our Lady and the Roode of Chetham and Gillingham It happened say they that the dead Corps of a man lost through shipwracke belike was cast on land in the Parishe of Chetham and being there taken vp was by some charitable persons committed to honest burial within their Churchyard which thing was no sooner done but our Lady of Chetham finding her selfe offended therewith arose by night and went in person to the house of the Parishe Clearke whiche then was in the Stréete a good distance from the Churche and making a noyse at his window awaked him This man at the first as commonly it fareth with men disturbed in their rest demaunded somewhat roughly who was there But when he vnderstoode by her owne aunswere that it was the Lady of Chetham he chaunged his note and moste mildely asked the cause of her comming She tolde him that there was lately buryed neere to the place where she was honoured a sinfull person whiche so offended her eye with his gastly grinning that vnles he were remoued she could not but to the great griefe of good people withdrawe her selfe from that place and ceasse her wonted miraculous working amongst them And therefore she willed him to go with her to the
the condition and she not long after waxed great with chylde and as vpon a time they were ryding towarde their Father Kyng Penda she fell into trauayle of chylde byrthe and was deliuered by the waye in a faire medowe at Sutton of a man childe whiche so soone as he was come out of his mothers belly cried with a loude voice thrée seueral times Christianus sum Christianus sum Christianus sum I am a Christian I am a Christian I am a Christian And not ceassing thus made foorthwith plaine profession of his faith desired to be baptised chose his Godfathers named himselfe Rumwald and with his finger directed the standers by to fetche him a great hollowe stone that he would haue to be vsed for the Fonte herevpon sondrie of the Kings seruaunts assayed to haue brought the stone but it was so farre aboue al their strengthes that they could not once moue it when the Childe perceaued that he commaūded the two Priestes his appointed Godfathers to goe and bring it whiche they did foorthwith moste easily This done he was Baptised and within thrée dayes after hauing in the meane while discoursed cunningly sundrie misteries of Popishe religion and bequeathing his bodie to remaine at Sutton one yeare at Brackley two and at Buckingham for euer after his Spirit departed out of his bodie was by the hands of the Aungels conueied into heauen Mylton in Saxon Midetun so called of the situation for it lyeth in the midst betweene two places the termination of whose names be in tun also that is to say Newentun and Marstun EVen at suche time as King Alfred diuided this Shyre into Lathes and hundrethes the Towne of Midleton or Milton as we now call it by our common manner of contraction was in his owne hands therefore set foorth in our auncient Hystories by the name and title of Regia Villa de Midleton In whiche respect of like he gaue to the hundreth the name of the same Towne as of a place more eminent then any other within that precincte Kemsley Towne in the Parishe of this Midleton is the verie place wherein the time and reigne of the same King Alfred Hasten the Dane that so muche annoyed Fraunce arriued and fortified as we haue at ful disclosed in Apledore before This Towne continued of good estimation vntill the Reigne of King Edward the Confessour in whose dayes and during the displeasure betwéene him and Earle Godwine suche as were of the deuotion of the Earle at home burned the Kinges house at Midleton while he and his Sonnes abroad ransacked herried and spoiled the skirts and out sides of the whole shyre besides after whiche time I haue not read neither is it likely that the place was of any price or estimation Sedingbourne in Saxon Saetungburna that is the Hamlet along the Bourne or small Riuer One interpreteth it as if it were Seethingbourne Riuus Feruiens aut Bulliens but howe likely let others see FOr want of pertinent matter touching either the beginning increase or present estate of this place I am driuen to furnishe the roome with an impertinent Sermon that a Mytred Father of Rochester long since bestowed vpon his auditorie there In the time of King Henrie the third and after the death of Richard the Archebishop of Canterbury surnamed the great The Monkes of Christes Churche were determined to haue chosen for their Archebishop Ralfe Nouille the Bishop of Chichester and Chancellour to the King but Gregorie the Pope fearing that Ralfe would haue trauailed earnestly for release of the tribute whiche his innocent predecessour had gained by King Iohns submission for the storie sayeth that Nouille was a good man and true harted in his Countrie bare the Monkes in hand that he was rashe in woorde and presumptious in acte and therefore muche vnworthie of suche a dignitie Neuerthelesse bicause he would not séeme vtterly to infringe the libertie of their election he gaue them frée licence to take any other man besides him Wherevpon the Monkes agréed and chose one Iohn the Pryor of their owne house Now when this man should go to Rome as the manner was for to buie his confirmation Henrie then Bishop of Rochester addressed himselfe to accompanie him to his Ship and when they were come to this Towne the Bishop of Rochester stept into the Pulpit like a pretie man and gaue the Auditorie a clerkly collation and Preachement after many other thinges he braste foorth into great ioye as a man that had béene rapt into the third Heuen and said Reioice in the Lord my brethren all and knowe ye assuredly that now of late in one day there departed out of purgatorie Richard sometime King of England Stephan Langton the Archebishop of Canterbury and a Chaplein of his to goe to to the diuine Maiestie And in that day thereissued no moe but these three out of the place of paines and feare not to giue full and assured faith to these my woordes for this thing hathe beene now the third time reuealed vnto me and to another man that so plainly as from mine owne minde all suspicion of doubt is farre remoued These fewe words I haue in manner translated out of Thomas Rudburne and Mathewe of Westminster to the end that you might sée with what wholesome and comfortable bread the preaching Prelates of that time fedde their Auditories and that you might hereby consider that Si lux sit tenebrae If the Bishops the great torches of that time were thus dimme Ipsae tenebrae quantae What light was to be looked for at the litle candels the soule Priestes and séely Syr Iohns Beléeue me if his Fatherhood had not plainly confessed that he came to the knowledge of this matter by reuelatiō I would easily haue beléeued that he had béene with Anchises in Hell as Aeneas sometime was where he learned what soules should come next to life and where he hard the liuelyest description of Poetical or Popish Purgatorie for all is one that is any where to be found Whiche to the end that you may sée what agréement there is betwéene the olde and the newe Romanes touching this article of religion I will shewe it you in a fewe of Virgils owne verses Quin supremo cum lumine vita reliquit Non tamen omne malum miseris nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes penitusque necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris Ergo exercentur paenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos alijs sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni Quisque suos patimur manes Exinde per amplum Mittimur Elysium pauci laeta arua tenemus Donec longa dies perfecto temporis orbe Concretam exemit labem purumque reliquit Aetherium sensum atque aurai simplicis ignem Whiche Thomas Phaer translated after this manner Moreouer when their end of life and light doth them forsake Yet