many Townes and Cities the bodies of the Christians haue wanted the rites and ceremonies of buriall it was neither fault in the liuing that could not performe them nor hurt to the dead that could not feele them Yet notwithstanding all this which I haue spoken the bodies of the dead are not to be contemned and cast away especially of the righteous and faithfull which the holy Ghost hath vsed as Organs and instruments vnto all good works for if the garment or ring of ones father be so much the more esteemed of his posterity by how much they held him dearer in their affection then are not our bodies to bee despised being wee weare them more neare vnto our selues then any attire whatsoeuer CHAP. VII Of Cenotaphs Honorarie and religious Of the reuerence attributed to these emptie Monuments A Cenotaph is an emptie Funerall Monument or Tombe erected for the honour of the dead wherein neither the corps nor reliques of any defunct are deposited in imitation of which our Hearses here in England are set vp in Churches during the continuance of a yeare or for the space of certaine moneths Octauia the sister of Augustus buried her sonne young Marcellus that should haue beene heire in the Empire with sixe hundred Cenotaphs or hearses and gaue to Virgil more then fiue thousand French crownes in reward for the writing of sixe and twentie Hexameters in her sonnes commendation all which you may haue for nothing in the latter end of the sixth booke of his Aeneidos These Cenotaphs were of two sorts they were made either to the memory of such as were buried in some other remote funerall monument or to such which had no buriall at all The first kinde of these Cenotaphs are called by Suetonius in the life of Claudius Honorarie tombes erected Honoris vel memoriae gratia Such as the souldiers made to the memorie of Drusus neare vpon the riuer of Rhine howsoeuer his body was carried to Rome and there interred in Campo Martio Alexander Seuerus slaine by the treacherie of certaine seditious French souldiers about the yeare of grace 238 An Emperour saith Sir Thomas Eliot who translated his story out of Greeke whose death all Rome lamented all good men bewailed all the world repented whom the Senate deified noble fame renowned all wise men honoured noble writers commended had his Cenotaph erected in France neare vnto the place where he was slaine but his body was carried to Rome and there interred vnder a most rich magnificent sepulchre as Lampridius affirmes Septimius Seuerus the Romane Emperour died in Yorke in the yeare of mans saluation 212. out of which Citie his corps were carried forth to the funerall fire by the sixth Legion of his souldiers called Victrix after the militarie fashion committed to the flames and honoured with iusts and Turneaments in a place neare beneath the Citie Westward where is to be seene a great mount of earth raised vp as for his Cenotaph But his ashes being bestowed in a little golden pot or vessell of the Porpherite-stone were carried to Rome and shrined there in the Monument of the Antonines Constantine or Constantius the younger sonne to Constantine the Great who is supposed to be the builder of Silcester in Hampshire died at Mopsuestia in Cilicia and was interred in Constantinople in the Sepulchre of his Ancestours Yet he had a Cenotaph or emptie monument built to his memory in the said now-ruined Citie of Silcester And many there were that in honour and remembrance of them had such monuments built about which the souldiers were wont yearely to iust and keepe solemne Turneaments in honour of the dead The second kinde of Cenotaphs were made Religionis causa to the memory of such whose carcases or dispersed reliques were in no wise to bee found for example of such as perished by shipwracke of such as were slaine cut mangled and hew'd apeeces in battell or of such that died in forraine nations whose burials were vnknowne For in ancient times it was thought that the Ghost of the defunct could not rest in any place quietly before the body had decent buriall or the performance thereof in as ample manner as could possibly be imagined Aeneas as it is fained by the helpe of Sibylla Cumea descending into hell found Palinurus his shipmaster drownd not long before among many more wandring about the lake of Styx because his body was vnburied which kinde of punishment is thus related by the Prophetesse Phaers translation This prease that here thou seest beene people dead not laid in graue A pitious rable poore that no reliefe nor comfort haue This Boate-man Charon is And those whom now this water beares Are bodies put in ground with worship due of weeping teares Nor from these fearfull bankes nor riuers hoarce they passage get Till vnder earth in graues their bodies bones at rest are set An hundred yeares they walke and round about these shores they houe And then at last full glad to further pooles they do remoue Then after this she puts him in comfort with hope of Exequies and honorable buriall thus Since whan O Palinure both all this madnesse come on thee Wouldst thou the Limbo-lake and dolefull flouds vntombed see Vnbidden from this banke doest thou indeed to scape intend Seeke neuer Gods eternall doome with speech to thinke to bend Yet take with thee Aeneas word and comfort thus thy fall For they that border next vnto that mount and Cities all By tâ—kens great from heauen shall be compelld thy bones to take And tombe they shall thee build and solemne seruice shall thee make And Palinurus name for euermore the place shall keepe This spoken from his heauy heart his cares abating creepe And sorrowes partly shranke and glad on earth his name he knew Vlysses at the commandement of Circes went downe into the lower shades where he met with his companion or fellow-traueller Elpenor who desired of him buriall with the ceremonies thereof as also a Sepulchre which Vlysses granted and erected to his memory a Cenotaph Doe not depart from hence and leaue me thus Vnmournd vnburied lest neglected I Bring on thy selfe th incensed Deitie I know that saiâ—d from hence thy ship must touch On th' Isle Aeaea where vouchsafe thus much Good King that landed thou wilt instantly Bestow on me thy royall memory And on the foamie shore a Sepulchre Erect to me that after times may heare Of one so haplesse Let me these implore And fixe vpon my Sepulchre the Ore With which aliue I shooke the aged Seas And had of friends the deare societies To these inania busta or vacua Sepulchra the friends of the defunct would yearely repaire and there offer sacrifice vpon Altars erected neare to the Cenotaph for that purpose calling vpon the spirit ghost or Manes of him to whose memory the Cenotaph was made by which ceremony they imagined that the body of the party deceased would lie some where or other at reâ—â— and his
fiue thousand pounds and one Herbert Prior of Fiscane in Normandy bought for his father whose name was Losinge the Abbacie of Winchester and for himselfe the Bishopricke of Norwich Whereupon a versiâ—ier of that age made these rythmes Surgit in Ecclesia monstrum genitore Losinga Symonidum secta Canonum virtute resecta Petre nimis tardas nam Symon ad ardua tentat Si praesens esses non Symon ad alta volaret Proh dolor Ecclesiae nummis venduntur aere Filius est Praesul pater Abbas Symon vterque Quid non speremus si nummos possideamus Omnia nummus habet quid vult facit addit aufert Res nimis iniusta nummis sit Praesul Abba Thus translated by Bale in his Votaries A monster is vp the sonne of Losinga Whiles the law seeketh Simony to flea Peter thou sleepest whiles Simon taketh time If thou wert present Simon should not clime Churches are prised for syluer and gold The sonne a Bishop the father an Abbot old What is not gotten if we haue richesse Money obteineth in euery businesse In Herberts way yet it is a foule blot That he by Simony is Bishop and Abbot But Simonie was not so common now as other sinnes for the Clergie in generall gaue themselues strangely to worldly pleasures and pompous vanities they wore gay rich garments gilt spurres embroidered girdles and bushie locks The Monkes of Canterbury as well nigh all other Monkes in England were not vnlike to secular men they vsed hawking and hunting playing at dice and great drinking thou wouldest haue taken them to haue beene great Magnificoes rather then Monkes they had so many seruants and attendance of goodly aray and dignity Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury by the permission of King Henry the first assembled a great Councell of the Clergie at Westminster wherein he depriued many great Prelates of their promotions for their seuerall offences and many Abbots for other enormities forbidding the farming out of Church dignities In the raigne of King Henry the second the abuses of Church-men were growne to a dangerous height saith well the Monke of Newborough lib. 2. cap. 16. for it was declared saith he in the Kings presence that Clergie men had committed aboue an hundred murthers in his raigne Of which nine yeares were as then scarcely expired And in the 23 of his raigne the Nunnes of Amesbury were thrust out of their house because of their incontinent liuing Rog. Houed Richard Cordelion king of England being told by a certaine Priest called Fulco a Frenchman that he kept with him three daughters namely pride couetousnesse and lechery which would procure him the wrath of God if he did not shortly rid himselfe of them answered That he would presently bestow his three daughters in marriage the Knights Templers said he shall haue my eldest daughter Pride the white Monkes of the Cisâ—â—ux order Couetousnesse and my third daughter Lechery I commit to the Prelates of the Church who therein take most pleasure and felicitie And there you haue my daughters bestowed among you In the raigne of Henry the third the Templars in London being in great glory entertained the Nobilitie forraine Embassadours and the Prince himselfe very often insomuch that Matthew Paris Monke of Saint Albans who liued in those dayes cried out vpon them for their pride who being at the first so poore as they had but one horse to serue two of them in token whereof they gaue in their seales two men vpon one horsebacke yet suddenly they waxed so insolent that they disdained other orders and sorted themselues with Noblemen But this their insulting pride had a quicke period for shortly after to wit in the beginning of King Edward the seconds raigne in the Councell at Vienna this their so highly esteemed order was vpon cleare proofe of their generall odious abhominable sins and incredible Atheisticall impieties by them practised vtterly abolished throughout all Christendome And by the consent of all Christian Kings depoâ—ed all in one day taken all and committed to safe custody And thus being politâ—kely apprehended their lands and goods were seised vpon the heires of the Donours here in England and such as had endowed these Templars with lands entred vpon those parts of their ancient patrimonies after this dissolution and detained them vntill not long after they were by Parliament wholly transferred vnto the Knights of the Rhodes or of S. Iohn of Ierusalem A littâ—e before the vniuersall extinguishment of this order of the Templars Philip the French King caused 54. of that Order with their great Master to be burnt at Paris for their hainous vngodlinesse In the raigne of Edward the third the Clergie of England exceeded all other Nations in the heaping vp together of many Benefices and other spirituall promotions besides at that time they held the principall places both of trust and command in the kingdome Some of them had twenty Benefices with cure and some more and some of them had twenty Prebends besides other great dignities William Wickham at the death of William Edington Bishop of Winchester was made generall Administratour of spirituall and temporall things pertaining to that Bishopricke and the next yeare was made Bishop of Winchester This Wickham besides the Archdeaconry of Lincolne and Prouostship of Welles and the Parsonage of Manihant in Deuonshire had twelue Prebends Simon Langham was Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancelour of England Iohn Barnet Bishop of Bath and Treasurer of England The foresaid Wickham Keeper of the priuie Seale Master of the Wards and Treasurer of the Kings reuenues in France Dauid Wellar Parson of Somersham Master of the Rolles seruing King Edward in the Chancery fortie yeares and more Ten beneficed Priests Ciuilians and Masters of the Chancery William Muâ—se Deane of S. Martins le Grand chiefe Chamberlaine of the Exchequer Receiuer and Keeper of the Kings Treasure and Iewels William Ashby Archdeacon of Northampton Chancellour of the Exchequer William Dighton Prebendary of Saint Martins Clerke of the priuie Seale Richard Chesterfield Prebendary of S. Stephens Treasurer of the Kings house Henry Snatch Parson of Oundall Master of the Kings Wardrobe Iohn Newenham Parson of Fenistanton one of the Chamberlaines of the Exchequer and keeper of the Kings Treasurie and Iewels Iohn Rouceby Parson of Hardwicke Surueior and Controuler of the Kings works Thomas Britingham Parson of Ashby Treasurer to the King for the parts of Guisnes and the marches of Caleis Iohn Troys Treasurer of Ireland diuers wayes beneficed in Ireland Pope Vrban the first made a decree against the heaping together of many Benefices or spirituall promotions by one man for the execution whereof he sent commandement to the Archbishop of Canterbury and by him to all his Suffragans to certifie in writing the names number and qualities of euery Clerke Benefices or liuings within their seuerall Diocesse Whereupon this or the like certificate was brought in I finde inter Breuiâ—
in you exciteth and serueth you till the vsurped poure of that man of Rome be clene abolished and put out of the hartes of the kyngs subiects And I shall with all my diligence applie my self to thaccomplishment of this his so godly commandement by Goddes grace And for as moche as I haue taken my leue of the Kyng and Quene and tarry for noothing now but only for the instrument called Custodias temporalium I eftsones beseche your mastirship to haue that in your remembraunce whan ye shall next repaire vnto the Court together with a discharge for takyng of any othe of the residentiaries of Sarum which suyrly they will exact of me oneles I bryng some thyng outher from the Kyng his highnes or elles from you his chefe Counsellor for to stopp their mouthes And as for seallyng of new obligacions if itt like you to commande your servaunt to send me them to morow by this brynger I shall seale them and send them to you without any tariaunce by the grace of God who preserue you and prosper you in all your godly purposes and interprises Murtelack the iiii daye of Iuin Yorn owne to comaunde Nic. Sarum But howsoeuer the honour of this act as also of the dissolution of Abbeys be principally attributed to Cromwell and his complotments yet at the same time there was others of the priuie Councell as forward and as able for their singular endowments to conclude a matter of that consequence as euer was Cromwell I meane Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury whose zeale and abilities are generally knowne to all that euer heard of the booke of Martyrs Sir Thomas Audley Knight speaker of the Parliament for his demerits created by Henry the eighth Baron Audley of Walden and also aduanced to the honour of the Chancellorship of England Sir William Pawlet Knight Comptroller of the Kings house who for his wisedome the said King created Lord S. Iohn of Basing and Knight of the Garter whom Edward the sixt made great Master of his houshold President of his Councell and Lord Treasurer of England whom he created Earle of Wiltshire and Marquesse of Winchester to whom Queene Elizabeth committed the keeping of the great Seale Who liued to see one hundred and three persons issue out of his loynes who died at Basing in Hampshire the tenth of March 1571. where hee was honourablie buried when he had liued eightie seuen yeares Another pillar of the State at that time was that wise and iudicious gentleman Sir Richard Rich Lord Chancellour of England vnder King Edward the sixth who in the first yeare of his raigne aduanced him to this office and created him Baron Rich of Leez in Essex These and other more of the Nobilitie had both their hands and heads in this businesse yet Cromwell Audley and Rich were thought to be the onely men who for their religious paines ranne into great obloquie with the common people insomuch that the Commons of Lincolnshire finding themselues fore troubled with this strange alteration and rising in rebellion presented diuers articles of aggrieuances to the Kings Maiestie Amongst the said Articles and demands of Robert Askâ— and his rebellious crew the Commons of Yorkeshire Cumberland Westmerland Northumberland and the countries adiacent at the conference holden at Doncaster betwixt Thomas Duke of Norfolke Generall of the Kings Armie and certaine Commissioners on the partie of the said Captaine Aske and his fellow rebels Thus it was propounded by their Speaker Sir Thomas Hylton Knight The fowrt that Thomas Cromwell nor any of his bande or secte be not at our metinge at Doncastre but abcent themselfe from the Councell Also to haue the Lord Cromwell the Lord Chancellor and Sir Ryc Rich to haue condigne punyshment as subuerters of the gud lawes of the â—eame and ouetemers of the slese secte of theys fals Heretykes first inuenters and brengers of them Likewise Doctor Leyton and Doctor Leâ— who had bene loyned in commission with Cromwell for the visitation of religious Foundations of which hereafter were maliciouslye detracted by this demand of the Commons in the foresaid conference Also that Doctor Lee and Doctor Leyton may haue condigne punyshment for theyr extortions in time of visitation in brybes of some religyous houses x. lib. xx lib. and for other summes besyde horsys vowsens leases vndre Couent Seallys by them taken and other abomynable acts by them committed and done I might haue occasion here to speake of the abrogation of the Popes authoritie of the subuersion of religious foundations of the suppression of religious Votaries and of the reformation of Religion in that neuer-conquered Nation of Scotland where at this time Religion is double refined pure and spotlesse without ceremonie and plaine as a pike staffe without a surplise But I will reserue this narration till I come to speake of the conuersion of Scotland to the Christian faith As also of the Funerall Monuments which are there to be found which will be but a few if Sir Robert Cottons Librarie do not helpe me for by my owne obseruation in the famous maiden-citie of Edenborough and in the Parish Churches of other Townes the Sepulchres of the dead are shamefully abused or quite taken away yea and the Churches themselues with religious houses and other holy places violated demolished or defaced CHAP. XV. The policie vsed by the King and his Councell for the dissolution and extirpation of Religious Foundations and Religious Orders within this Realme of England and Wales The reformation of Religion of Inscriptions in Churches The Kings warrant of the surrender of Religious Houses An information made to Queene Elizabeth of the seuerall abuses done vnto the State generall and Crowne by the corruption of such as were imployed by her Father vpon the suppression of Abbeyes HEnry the eighth hauing as ye haue heard thus setled the Supremacy where he would haue it either by the aduise of politick Cromwell or by the example of proud Wolsey or else of himselfe hee being nothing so scrupulous in conscience nor so stayed in sacred resolutions as was Henry the fourth vpon a greedie desire to enrich his coffers began now to lay plots deuises and proiects for the vtter subuersion of all Abbeyes Priories Nunneries and other religious foundations within this his kingdome of England and Wales and first for an induction to the businesse He put in Commission his seruant Cromwell Thomas Lee and Richard Laiton Doctors of the Ciuill Law Thomas Bedell Deane of Cornwall Thomas Bartlet publike Notarie and others to visit all the foresaid religious Houses and to make inquirie of their Orders Founders values debenters reliques pilgrimages and other Queres but most especially they were to make diligent scrutinie and to learne vijs modis omnibus by all manner of meanes the wicked abuses of those times practised amongst the Fraternitie and Sisterhood of each seuerall Couent Which with their Commission they returned making a shamefull discoueriâ— of the bestiall sensualitie of Monasticke profession This
his Master he entred into orders yet before he came to bee a Clergie man he serued in the warres which is not vnlikely saith mine Authour for after he was Bishop he was thrice in the field and did his Prince notable seruice He was first preferred to the Bishopricke of Wilshire whose See was then seated at Ramsbury by the speciall fauour of King Athelstan who being dead his brother Edmund who succeeded him in his kingdome louing him no lesse procured him to be chosen Archbishop In which pastorall charge hee continued many yeares in great fauour and authoritie vnder diuers Princes till towards the latter end of his time that Edwin a young King was sore exasperated against him for that this Bishop had caused him to be diuorced from his Queene for consanguinitie or some other reasons and excommunicated his Concubines causing one of them whom the king doted vpon to be fetcht out of the court by violence to bee burnt in the forehead with an hote iron and banished into Ireland But not long after he was taken away by death from the Kings displeasure in the yeare of our redemption 958. hauing sate Archbishop 25. yeares or thereabouts He writ diuers Tractates both in verse and prose mentioned by Bale and Capgraue will haue him in the Kalender of our English Saints and Confessours But to conclude such was his Epitaph Stemmate serenus iacet hic sacer Odo Seuerus Moribus excellens acriter peccata refellens Presul at indulgens omni pictate refulgens Ecclesie Christi Pugil inuictissimus isti O bone nunc Christe quia sic tibi seruijt iste Celi solamen sibi des te deprecor Amen The life and death of this Archbishop Lanfranck is set downe at large by William Malmsbury Io. Capgraue Nicholas Harpsfeild Archdeacon of Canterbury Mathew Parker Archbishop with others and out of them all by Francis Godwin now Bishop of Hereford Yet for method sake thus much because I find his body by a Table inscribed which hangs vpon his Tombe to be here interred He was borne in Italy at Pauia some twenty miles from Myllaine brought vp in the Monasterie of Becco in Normandie vnder Herlewin the learned Abbot of that house of which he became Prior from whence in regard of his singular wisedome and great knowledge in all good literature he was called by William the Duke of Normandie to be Abbot of Saint Stephens in Cane a Monasterie that the said Duke had founded And in the fifth yeare after his conquest of England he promoted him to this Archbishopricke which he laudablie gouerned the space of eighteene yeares It is said an action which much obscured all his former praises that he perswaded the Conquerour to leaue the kingdome of England to his younger sonne William Rufus which they said William thus requited the Bishop as the King thought being somewhat too busie in reprehending his manifold vices and exhorting him to godlinesse and vertue he so bitterly fell out with him that he banished him the Realme the poore old bishop trauelled to Rome and wandred vp and downe many countries till by intercession of friends hee was suffered to returne home and soone after died of an ague according to his owne desire Solebat enim Deum rogare vt velex dissenteria vel ex febri diem suum obiret propterea quod hi morbi nec memoriam nec loquelam auferant He would often desire God that he might take his end either by a fluxe or an ague for that in those kinde of infirmities men are wont to haue the vse both of speech and memorie to the last cast His death happened the 24. of May Ann. Dom. 1089. He bestowed much vpon the fabricke of this Church and the housing of the Monkes he built in a manner all the Archbishops pallace hee founded two Hospitals adioyning to this Citie hee gaue great summes of money and also a Mannor toward the building of the Cathedrall Church of Rochester and did much for the Abbey of Saint Albons Hee encreased the number of the Monkes of this Church from thirty to fourty restored the dignities and offices of old belonging to the Monasterie and recouered vnto the same 25. Manors that had beene taken from it wrongfully in times past by Odo Bishop of Bayon and Earle of Kent Hee was a profound Scholler for those times he writ the noble acts of the Conquerour he made learned Comments and Expositions of many parts of the Bible and tooke great paines in reforming the same the copies whereof were much corrupted throughout all England by the negligent ouer-sight of the writers To his memorie this Epitaph was composed Vixisti venerande Pater sapienter egens Vixisti vivens mors quoque vita tibi Inter diuitias pauper Lanfrance fuisti Diuitijs manans pauperum amator eras Per te florentes artes valuere latine Grecia sis nobis ecce triumphat ouans Tu Laios ortu Gallosque docendo leuasti Te sibi Primatem cardo Britannus habet In terra degens celestia regna petebas Exemptus terra sider a liber adis Sol geminos denis obsiderat igne diebus Promsit Luna diem nocte solutus abis Here is the Tombe of Archbishop Anselme borne in Augusta a Citie of Burgundie who followed his predecessours steps almost foot by foot First he came to Becco vpon the like errand as Lanfrank had done which was to obtaine knowledge in all good learning Lanfrancke being called away to Cane he was made Prior of Becco in his place and afterwards Abbot in which he continued 15. yeares vntill at the request of Hugh Earle of Chester he came ouer into England and had this Bishopricke bestowed vpon him some foure yeares after the decease of Lanfrancke for so long the king pursed vp the profits thereof by William Rufus who presently after his consecration fell out with his new Bishop and banished him the kingdome in which he trauelled vp and downe as an exile during the Kings life vntill by his brother King Henry the first he was called home and restored to all his former dignities But not long after he was likewise banished the Realme by the said Henry falling out with him concerning the disposing of Bishoprickes at the Kings pleasure giuing inuestiture and possession of them by the staffe and the ring within three yeares by the meanes and mediation of Adela or Alice Countesse of Blois the Kings sister he was restored not onely to his place but to all his goods and fruits gathered in the time of his absence Some two yeares after this his last returne falling sicke of a languishing disease hee died Aprill 21. Ann. Dom. 1109. in the sixteenth yeare of his gouernment Some 400. yeares after by the procurement of Iohn Morton one of his Successours he was canonized a Saint and one as worthy that honour as any that euer since his 〈◊〉 was canonized by the Pope for as his life
of the pot There hath also beene found in the same field diuers coffins of stone containing the bones of men these I suppose to be the burials of some speciall persons in time of the Brittaines or Saxons Moreouer there were also found the sculls and bones of men without coffins or rather whose coffines being of great timber were consumed Diuers great Nailes of Iron were there found such as are vsed in the wheeles of shod carts being each of them as bigge as a mans finger and a quarter of a yard the heads two inches ouer Those Nailes were more wondred at then the rest of the things there found and many opinions of men were there vttered of them namely that the men there buried were murthered by driuing those Nailes into their heads a thing vnlikely for a smaller Naile would more aptly serue to so bad a purpose and a more secret place would lightly be imployed for such buriall But to set downe what I obserued concerning this matter I there beheld the bones of a man lying as I noted the head North the feet South and round about him as thwart his head along both his sides and thwart his feet such Nailes were found Wherefore I coniectured them to be Nailes of his coffin Which had beene a trough cut out of some great tree and the same couered with a planke of a great thicknesse fastened with such Nailes and therefore I caused some of the Nailes to be reached vp to 〈◊〉 found vnder the broad heads of them the old wood â—eane turned into earth but still retaining both the graine and proper colour Of these Nailes with the wood vnder the head thereof I reserued one as also the 〈◊〉 bone of the man the teeth being great sound and fixed which amongst many other Monuments there found I haue yet to shew but the nayle lying dry is by scaling greatly wasted And thus much of ancient Funerall Monuments in the fields Certaine Burials of British Kings in and about London the places of their interments vncertaine And first to begin with Guentoline the sonne of Gurgunstus King of Britaine who flourished about the yeare of the world 3614. Who was a wise Prince graue in counsell and sober in behauiour and studied with great care and diligence to reforme anew and to adorne with iustice lawes and good orders the British commonwealth by other Kings not so framed as stood with the greatnesse thereof But as he was busie in hand herewith death tooke him away from these worldly employments when hee had raigned 27. yeares He had a wife named Martia Proba a woman of perfect beautie and wisedome incomparable as by her prudent gouernment and equall administration of iustice after her husbands decease during her sonnes minoritie it most manifestly appeared She was a woman expert and skilfull in diuers sciences but chiefely being admitted to the gouernment of the Realme she studied to preserue the common wealth in good quiet and decent order and therefore deuised established and writ a booke in the British tongue of profitable and conuenient Lawes the which after her name were called Martian Lawes These Lawes afterwards Gildas Cambrius the Historicall Welch Poet translated into Latine and a long time after him Alured King of the West Saxons holding these lawes necessarie for the preseruation of the common wealth put them into English Saxon speech and then they were called after that translation Marchenclagh that is to meane the Lawes of Martia adding thereunto a Booke of his owne writing of the Lawes of England which he called A certaine Breuiarie extracted out of diuers Lawes of the Troians Grecians Britaines Saxons and Danes She flourished before the birth of our Lord and Sauiour 348. yeares or thereabouts Her sonnes name was Sicilius who vpon the death of his Father was but young for I reade that Martia his mother deliuered vp the gouernment of the kingdome to her sonne when he came to lawfull age which she had right politiquely guided and highly for her perpetuall renowne and commendation the space of fourteene yeares He died when hee had raigned seuen yeares some say fifteene yeares Of Bladud king of Britaine the sonne of Lud hurdibras many incredible passages are deliuered by our old British writers and followed by sundrie Authors of succeeding ages which say that he was so well seene in the Sciences of Astronomie and Necromancie that thereby hee made the hote springs in the Citie of Bathe that he built the Citie of Bathe that he went to Athens and brought with him foure Philosophers and by them instituted an Vniuersitie at Stanford in Lincolnshire And further to shew his Art and cunning that he tooke vpon him to flie into the aire and that hee broke his necke by a fall from the Temple of Apollo in Troynouant before the incarnation of Christ 852. yeares in the twentieth yeare of his raigne Geffrey of Monmouth and Mathew of Westminster would approue as much as here is spoken of him And learned Selden in his Illustrations vpon Draytons Polyolbion sets downe an ancient fragment of rimes wherein these strange things of him are exprest But of him here in this place will it please you take a peece out of Harding and you shall haue more hereafter Bladud his sonne after him did succede And reigned after then full xx yere Cair Bladud so that now is Bath I rede He made anone the hote bathes there infere When at Athens he had studied clere He brought with hym iiii Philosophers wise Schole to hold in Brytaine and exercyse Stanforde he made that Stanforde hight this daye In which he made an Vniuersitee His Philosophers as Merlin doth saye Had scholers fele of grete habilitee Studyng euer alwaye in vnitee In all the seuen liberall science For to purchase wysedome and sapience In Cair Bladim he made a temple right And sette a Flamyne therein to gouerne And afterward a Fetherham he dight To flye with winges as he could best discerne Aboue the aire nothyng him to werne He flyed on high to the temple Apoline And ther brake his necke for all his grete doctrine Likewise the vncertaine buriall of Vortimer that victorious British king was in some part of this Citie he was the eldest sonne of Vortigern king of the Britaines and raigned as king in his fathers dayes who demeaned himselfe towards his sonne then his Soueraigne in all dutifull obedience and faithfull counsell for the space of foure yeares euen vntill Vortimer was poysoned by the subtiltie of Rowena the heathen daughter of Hengist the Saxon the wife or concubine of his Brother and the mother of the Britaines mischiefe which happened about the yeare of Grace 464. This Vortimer was a man of great valour which altogether he employed for the redresse of his countrey according to the testimonie of William Malmesbury whose words are these Vortimer saith he thinking not good to dissemble the matter for that he saw himselfe and countrey daily
most of his yearely reuenues he euer bestowed in almes-deeds and liberall house keeping he gaue to this Church of Canterbury who lâ—st to know more of his life may reade the Catalogue of Bishops and the perambulation of Kent He died at Otford his Mannor house May 〈…〉 1313. Here lieth entombed Walter Reynolds a man but of meane learning brought vp a Courtier preferred to the Bishopricke of Worcester to the offices of Lord Chancellour and Treasurer of England and to this Metropolitane honour of Canterbury by King Edward the second all which he most disloyally and like a Traitour requited aiding vnderhand the Queene Mortimer and their complices with great summes of money and forsaking his lawfull Soueraigne his Master his Patron that had aduanced him by so many degrees vnto an estate so gratiously honourable but it pleased God that vnthankfull timerousnesse should be his destruction for being by the said Queene of whom he stood so greatly in awe commanded to consecrate one Iames Berkley Bishop of Exceter and performing the same he was so reuiled taunted and threatned by the Pope that for griefe and anger together he died when he had sate Archbishop thirteene yeares nine moneths and three weekes the 16. of Nouember Ann. 1327. as appeares by this inscription vpon his Tombe in the South wall now hardly to be read Hic requiescit Dominus Walterus Reynolds prius Episcopus Wigorniensis Anglie Cancellarius deinde Archiepiscopus istius Ecclesie qui obijt 16. die mens Nouembris Ann. gratie 1327. Vpon the North side of Saint Anselmes Chappell in a marble Tombe lieth Simon Mepham Archbishop of this See borne in this countrey Doctor of Diuinitie and very well learned as learning went in those dayes of whom I finde little worthy of relation for all the time hee sate which was but fiue yeare and somewhat more he was euer a wrangling with his Monkes of this Church and with Io. Graundison Bishop of Exceter and getting the worse by both he fell sicke and died October 12. 1333. Here in a goody Tombe of Alabaster on the South side of the high Altar lieth the body of Iohn Stratford Archbishop of this Diocesse borne at Stratford vpon Avon a man famous for his learning and good gouernment of his iurisdiction He was called from the See of Winchester to this place he was Lord Chancellour of England and protector of the Realme in the absence of Edward the third in France but neuer man enioyed such great honours with lesse comfort It is written that hee was consecrated vpon the Sonday called then Multae tribulationes iustorum which hee thought boaded or foretold vnto him how in the whole course of his life he should finde nothing but trouble which sell out according to his ominous conceit For neuer any Archbishop either before or after him giuing so little cause and doing his endeuour to please was more encombred with vndeserued and often crosses The story is ouer-long here to relate I must referre my Reader to the Catalogue of Bishops Yet before his end which happened Anno 1348. hauing beene Archbishop 15. yeares he had made an end of all his troublesome crosses and liued certaine yeares quietly they writ of him that he was a very gentle and mercifull man rather too remisse then any way rigorous to offenders and a pitifull man to the poore He founded a Colledge at Stratford vpon Avon and endowed the same largely Here lieth obscurely buried Iohn Vfford brother to that illustrious Knight of the Garter Robert de Vfford Earle of Suffolke brought vp in Cambridge and made Doctor of Law promoted first vnto the Deanrie of Lincolne then to the Chancellourship of England and lastly to this Archbishopricke Which he neuer enioyed being cut off by that plague which consumed nine parts of the men in England before hee receiued either his pall or consecration Iune the seuenth Ann. 1348. His next successour Thomas Bradwardin lieth buried in the South wall somewhat darkly preferred to his grace and dignitie without his owne seeking or any of his friends endeuours which he likewise enioye but a very little time For within fiue weekes and foure dayes after his consecration he died at Lambeth being neuer enthronised at all Ann. 1349 This man was borne at Heathfeild in Sussex and brought vp in the Vniuersitie of Oxford where he proceeded Doctor of Diuinitie and so exquisite a Diuine he was that he was commonly enstiled Doctor Profundus He was a good Mathematician a great Philosopher and a generall Scholler in all the liberall Sciences as his workes not yet perished do testifie In whole praise thus Chaucer speakes in the Nunnes Priests tale But I ne cannot boult it to the bren As can the holy Doctor Saynt Austin Or Boece or the Bishop Bradwardin But aboue all he is especially commended for his sinceritie of life and conuersation He was Confessour to Edward the third and in all his warres of France was neuer from him and though he might haue had many preferments of the King yet he was so farre from ambitious desire of promotion as it was long before he could be perswaded to take a Prebend of Lincolne when it was offered him Well we will leaue him to his rest onely remembred with this Epitaph Doctor Doctorum Bradwardin hac iacet vrna Norma Pastorum laudabilis diuturna Qui inuidia caruit vitam sine crimine duxit Et ex ore suo quicquid sit scibile fluxit Nullus sub sole est cui sic fuere omnia nota Cantia nunc dole tristeris Anglia tota Vos qui et transitis hic omnes atque reditis Dicite quod Christi pietas sit promptior isti Simon Islip brought vp in Merton Colledge in Oxford being Doctor of Law became Canon of Paules then Deane of the Arches after that was chosen to be of the priuie Councell to King Edward the third first in the place of Secretarie and then Keeper of the priuie Seale And lastly by the Monkes election the Popes approbation and the Kings good liking hee was aduanced to this grace and dignitie Wherein hee continued sixteene yeares foure moneths and twelue dayes and died April 26. 1366. he lieth buried in the middle of the Church vnder a marble Tombe inlaid with brasse whereon is engrauen this Epitaph Simon Islip oriens vir bina lege probatus Vt nascens moriens sic nunc iacet arcte locatus Arcem qui tenuit hic quondam Pontificatus Clero quique fuit regno toti quoque gratus Princeps Pastorum fac Simon Apostolorum Simon vt iste chorum per eos pertingat eorum Mil. trecenteno sexageno modo seno Eius septeno pastoratus quoque deno Hic Kal. Maij seno rupto carnis nece freno Flos cadit e feno celo peto qui sit ameno O spes sanctorum decus et pie Christe tuorum Cetibus ipsorum preâ—e tungas hunc
lieth buried He died Ann. Dom. 1450. Here lieth Giles Dewes who sometime was seruant to king Henry the 7. and king Hen. the 8. Clerke of their Libraries and Schoolemaster for the French tongue to Prince Arthur and to the Lady Mary Who died 1535. Saint Michael Bassishaw or Bassingshall Iohn Burton lyeth vnder here Sometimes of London Citizen and Mercer And Ienet his wife with their progeny Been turned to erth as ye may see Frends free what so yee bee Prey for vs we you prey As you see vs in this degree So shall you be another dey He deceased in the yeere 1460. he was a great benefactor to the building of this Church as appeareth by his marke placed throughout the whole roofe of the Quire and middle Isle of the Church Huc ades atque tuis metire viator ocellis Quam breuis inclusos illigat vrna duos Vt modo tu vir fuit hic hec femina quondam Nunc gelidi pars est huius vterque soli Nomen Abel More erat cognomen Exoniensum Cesarij Doctor iuris in vrbe fuit Agnes alterius nomen coniuxque Iohannis More fuit huius Abel qui modo frater erat Vt cupis ergo tibi faciant post funera viui Has modo tute breues quisquis es ede preces Hic Abel primo hic Agnes releuetur ab Agno Qui prius agnino sanguine lauit oues Obijt Abel 1486. Agnes 1499. quorum animabus Saint Lawrence in the Iewrie Hic incineratur corpus quondam Gaulfridi Bulleyn ciuis merceri Maioris London qui ab hac luce migrauit An. Dom. 1463. cuius anime pax sit perpetua This Sir Geffray or Godfrey Bullen Lord Maior of London was the Sonne of Geffrey Bullen of Salle or Saull in Norfolke Esquire Hee married Anne the eldest daughter and coheire of Thomas Lord Hoo and Hastings by whom he had issue Sir William Bullen of Blickling in Norfolke Knight fâ—ther to Thomas Bullen Viscount Rochford Earle of Wilshire who was father to Anne Bullen Marchionesse of Penbroke the second wife of King Henry the eight and the happy mother of our late Soueraigne Elizabeth Queene of England with all thankefulnesse euer to bee remembred This Lord Maior gaue to poore house holders in London 1000 l and 200 l to the like vse in Norfolke besides many liberall gifts to Prisons Hospitals and lazar houses Hic iacet Thomas Bulleyn de comitatu Norfolcie Armiger qui obijt vltimo die mensis Aprilis An. Dom. 147â— cuius The honorable Merchant Ion Pickering And Elisabyth lie vndyr this ston Of the English merchant Venturers vndyr the kyng In the Martis beyond See gouernor was this Ion Thirty yeere and more that roome he did manteyn To his honor and worschip and died in Nouembyr The xxix day Mcccc fourty and eyght certeyn Who 's soul and al Christians for cherite remembyr Hic Thomas Cressey London mercerus humatur Et Agnes Coniux sua postea suppeditatur M. Domini C quater his x. annoque secundo Sexta luce Iunij iâ—it hic de .... mundo Guild Hall Chappell This Chappell or Colledge of our Lady Mary Magdalen and of all Saints was founded about the yeere 1299. by Peter Fanclore saith Stow Adam Francis and Henry Frowike whose reuenew was much augmented by K. Richard the second K. Henry the sixt and diuers citizens of London so that at the suppression it was endowed with sufficient maintenance for a Custos seauen Chaplaines three Clarkes and foure Quiristers at which time it was valued at xii l xviij s ix d per an Here haue beene many Tombes and marble stones inlaid with brasse whose inscriptions and portraitures are all either worne out with time torne out or quite defaced onely this Epitaph remaining En Thomas Frances pius hic qui lustra per octo Custos extiterat iacet semper requiescat ob Mar. 4. 1488. Ouer the doore of the Councell Chamber in Guild hall was and yet is as I thinke this Distich Carolus Henricus Viuant Defensor vterque Henricus Fidei Carolus Ecclesie Long prosperity To Charles and Henry Princes most puissant The one of the Faith The other of the Church Chosen defendant These verses were depicted here and in other places about this Citie the yeare 1514. when Charles the fift Emperour was here in England to shew in what golden bands of loue these two potent Monarches were enlinked for that amongst other couenants then concluded and confirmed betwixt them by corporall Oathes one was that the Emperour promised to stay for and take to wife the young Princesse Lady Mary King Henries then onely daughter afterwards Queene of England Why the Titles defender of the Church and Faith were attributed vnto these two Princes is vulgarlie knowne because Charles chosen Emperour to purchase the Popes fauour directed forth a solemne Writ of Outlawry against Martin Luther who then had giuen a great blow to the Papall Crowne And King Henry likewise was renowned in Rome for writing a booke against the said Luther vnderpropping the tottering or downe-cast countenance of the Popes Pardons which Luther shrewdly had shaken The Pope therefore to shew himselfe a kinde Father vnto these his sonnes gaue them these Titles which were in truth none other then the same which they sware vnto when the Crownes of their Empires were first set vpon their heads The Hospitall of Saint Tho. of Acars or Mercers Chappell This Hospitall was founded by Thomas Fitz-theobald de Heili and Agnes his wife Sister to Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury in the raigne of Henry the second and dedicated to Saint Thomas of Acon or Acars in the holy land They gaue to the Master and Brethren of this house the lands with the appurtenances that sometimes were Gilbert Beckets father to the said Thomas in the which he was born there to make a Church This Hospitall was valued at the suppression to dispend yeerely 277 l. 3 s. 4 d. it was surrendred the 30 of Henry the 8. the 21 of October and was since purchased by the Mercers by meanes of Sir Richard Gresham Here lyeth entombed Iames Butler Earle of Ormond and Dame Ioane his wife he died Anno Dom. 1428. and she 1430. Hic iacet Thomas filius Iacobi comitis Ormundie ac fratris Iacobi comitis Wilts Ormundie qui quidem Thomas obijt secundo die 1515 anno regni Regis Henrici Octaui 37. cuius The Ancestors of these Earles saith learned Camden were in old time the Butlers an honourable office in Ireland and from thence came this Surname Le Boteler or Butler imposed vpon them and certaine it is that they were linked in most neere alliance vnto Saint Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury as who deriue their descent from his sister which was a great motiue to make them choose this place for their buriall and that after he was murdered they were
wilde Albania brought The reliques of her Crowne by him first placed here The seate on which her Kings inaugurated were He tam'd the desperate Welsh that out so long had stood And made them take a Prince sprong of the English blood This Isle from Sea to Sea he generally controld And made the other parts of England both to hold The learned Antiquarie and Lawyer Iohn Selden in his Illustrations vpon the said Song giues vs this Glosse following vpon the Verse The seate on which our Kings inaugurated were This seate saith he is the Chaire and Stone at Westminster whereon our Soueraignes are inaugurated The Scottish Stories affirme that the Stone was first in Gallicia of Spaine at Brigantia whether that be Compostella as Francis Tarapha wills or Coronna as Florian del Campo coniectures or Betansos according to Mariana I cannot determine where Gathel king of Scots there sate on it as his Throne Thence was it brought into Ireland by Simon Brech first king of Scots transplanted into that Isle about seuen hundred yeares before Christ. Out of Ireland King Ferguze in him by some is the beginning of the now continuing Scottish raigne about three hundred and seuenty yeares afterward brought it into Scotland King Kenneth some eight hundred and fifty of the Incarnation placed it at the Abbey of Scone in the Shrifdome of Perth where the Coronation of his Successours was vsuall as of our Monarchs now at Westminster and in the Saxon times at Kingston vpon Thames This Kenneth some say caused the Distich Ni fallat vatum as before to be engrauen vpon it Whereupon it is called Fatale Marmor in Hector Boetius and inclosed it in a wodden Chaire It is now at Westminster and on it are the Coronations of our Soueraignes Thither first brought as the Author here speakes among other spoiles by Edward Longshanks after his warres and victories against King Iohn Balliol Ann. 1297. Reg. Regis Ed. 1.24 Thus much of this potent king out of Polyolbion But to returne these high spirited Scots then which no people in the world are more valiant not minding to endure the tyranny of King Edward entred into England at seuerall times and in Northumberland and Cumberland slew the aged and impotent women in childbed and young children spoiled the Abbey Church at Hexham and got a great number of the Clergie as well Monkes Priests as Schollers whom they thrust into the Schoolehouse there and closing vp the doores set fire on the Schoole and burned all them to ashes that were within it They burned Churches they forced women without respect of order condition or qualitie as well the maids widowes and wiues as Nunnes that were reputed in those dayes consecrated to God when they had beene so abused many of them were after murthered So that the cruell and bloudy desolation whereof Lucan speaketh in his second booke of the Pharsalian warres may aptly be inferred here as fitly describing the mercilesse murther of all states and sexes without partiality vnder the hand of the enemy For saith he Nobilitas cum plebe perit lateque vagatur Ensis a nullo revocatum est pectore ferrum Stat cruor in templis multaque rubentia caede Lubrica saxa madent nulli iam prosuit aetas Non senis extremum piguit vergentibus annis Praecipitasse diem non primo in limine vitae Infantis miseri nascentia rumpere fata Thus exquisitely translated into English Senatours with Plebeians lost their breath The sword rag'd vncontrold no brest was free The Temples stainde with bloud and slippery Were the red stones with slaughter no age then Was free the neere spent time of aged men They hastened on nor sham'de with bloudy knife To cut the Infants new spunne thread of life Bloud worthy to haue beene shed on both sides against another kinde of enemy then Christians the deformity of which effusions may iustly represent vnto vs the blessed estate of our now setled Vnion Ranulph the Monke of Chester speakes somewhat more succinctly of the warlike passages in those times betwixt the puissant braue English and the terrible neuer-tamed Scot on this manner I will vse the old language of his Translatour Treuisa who flourished in the raigne of king Henry the sixth Iohn de Baillol saith he that was made kyng of Scotlond aroos ayenst the kynge of Englonde and ayenste his owne othe and by the counseylle of some men of Scotland and namely of thabbot of Mâ—â—ros 〈◊〉 was taken and dysheryted Then the yere after Williâ—m 〈…〉 of Scottes arayed werre ayenste kynge Edwarde but he was 〈…〉 second yere after Kynge Edwarde slewâ—â—x 〈◊〉 and Scottes 〈…〉 on a Mary Mawdelyn day But the Scottes wâ—xâ—d stronger and stronger 〈◊〉 ty yeres togyder vnto kyng Edwardes tyme the thyrd after the 〈◊〉 and bete down Englyshemen ofâ— and Englysh places that were 〈…〉 her Marches Some sayd that that myshappe fell for soâ—â—nesse of the Englyshe men And some said that it was goddis owne werâ—he as the 〈…〉 That Englyshe men sholde be destroyed by Danes by Frenâ—he men 〈◊〉 by Scottes Of this propheticall prediction I haue spoken elsewhere which 〈◊〉 that of the marble stone vpon the inauguration of our late Souerâ—â—â—â—â— Lord King Iames of happie memory in his Regall Chaire of Impeâ—â—â—â—â— gouernment had full accomplishment The period of the dayes as also the character of this magnificent Monarch Edward are thus deliuered by a late Writer In Iuly 1307 although he found himselfe not well he enter Scotland with a fresh Army which he led not â—arre for falling into a Dissenterie he dies at Borough vpon the sandâ— as if to show on what foundation 〈◊〉 hâ—d built all his glory in this world hauing raigned thirty foure yeares seuen moneths aged sixty eight A Prince of a generous spirit wherein the fire held out euen to the very last borne and bred for action and militarie afâ—faires which he mannaged with great iudgement euer warie and prouident for his owne businesse watchfull and eager to enlarge his power and was more for the greatnesse of England then the quiet thereof And this we may iustly say of him that neuer king before or since shed so much Christian bloud within this Isle of Britaine as this Câ—ristian warrior did 〈◊〉 his time and was the cause of much more in that following By our great and iudicious Antiquary Camden he is thus 〈◊〉 as followeth For no one thing was this little Burgh vpon Sands more famous than that King Edward the first that triumphant Conquerour of his enemies was here taken out of the world by vntimely death A â—ight noble and worthy Prince to whom God proportioned a most princely presence and personage as a right worthy seat to entertaine so heroicall a minde For he not onely in regard of fortitude and wisedome but also for a beautifull and personall presence was in all points answerable to the height of Royall Maiestie whom fortune also in
Prynces in pease most amate In Grece Archbyshop elected worthely And last of Carlyel rulyng pastorally Kepyng nobyl Houshold wyth grete Hospitality On thowsand fyve hundryd thirty and sevyn Invyterate wyth pastoral carys consumyd wyth age The nintenth of Iun reckonyd ful evyn Passyd to hevyn from worldly pylgrâ—mage Of whos soul good pepul of cherite Prey as ye wold be preyd for for thus must ye lie Iesu mercy Lady help Here lieth Sir Henry Collet knight twise Maior of London who died in the yere of our redemption 1510. This Hâ—nry was sonne to Robert Collet of Wendouer in Buckinghamshire and father to Iohn Collet Deane of Pauls in the first time of his Maioraltie the Crosse in Cheape-side was new builded in that beautifull manner as it now standeth Richardus iacet hic venerabilis ille Decanus Qui fuit etatis doctus Apollo sue Eloquio forma ingenio virtutibus arte Nobilis eternum viuere dignus erat Consilio bonus ingenio fuit vtilis acri Facunda eloquij dexteritate potens Non rigidus non ore minax affabilis omni Tempore seu puero seu loquerere sexi Nulli vnquam nocuit multos adiuvit omnes Officij studuit demeruisse bonos Tantus hic et talis ne non deleatur ademptus Flent Muse et laceris mesta Minerua comis Obijt anno 1532. etat circiter 40. This Pace succeeded Collet in the Deanrie of Pauls a man highlie in fauour with king Henry the eight by whom he was employed as Embassadour to Maximilian the Germane Emperour as also to Rome in the behalfe of Cardinall Wolâ—ey who stood in election for the Popedome Hee writ diuers learned treatises yet extant Nam vir erat saith Bale viriusque literaturae peritia praeditus Nemo ingenio candidior aut humanitate amicitior He was a right worthie man and one that gaue in counsell faithfull aduâ—ce learned he was also and indued with many excellent good gifts of nature curteous pleasâ—nt and delighting in Musicke highlie in the Kingsfauour and well heard in matters of weight Here was I borne and here I make myne end Though I was Citizen and Grocer of London And to the office of Schrevalty did ascend But things transitorie passe and vanische sone To God be geeuen thanks if that I haue ought done That to his honowre and to the bringing vp of youth And to the succowre of the Age for sewerly this is soth By Avise my wyff children were left me non Which we both did take as God had it sent And fixed our myndes that ioyntly in on To releue the poore by mutuall consent Now mercifull Iesu which hast assystyd owre intent Have mercy on owre sowles and as for the residew If it be thy will thou mayst owre Act continew Vpon the same marble these verses following The fyve and twentyth day of this monyth of Septembyr And of owre Lord God the fifteenth hundryd and fowrty yeere Master Nicholas Gibson dyde as this tombe doth remembyr Whose wyff aftyr maryed the worschypful Esquier Master William Kneuet on of the kings privy chamber Much for his time also did he endeuer To make this Act to continew for euer This pious act here mentioned in this Epitaph is a free-Schoole founded at Radcliffe in this Parish by the said Nicholas and Avise for the instruction of threescore poore mens children by a Schoolemaster and an Vsher with an Almeshouse for fourteene poore aged persons and this Foundation continues to this day Saint Leonards in Stratford Bow This religious structure was sometime a Monasterie replenished with white Monkes dedicated to the honour of our alone Sauiour Iesus Christ and Saint Leonard founded by King Henry the second in the 23. yeare of his raigne And valued at the suppression to be yearely worth an hundred one and twenty pounds sixteene shillings In this Abbey Church sometime lay entombed the body of Iohn de Bohun eldest sonne and heire of Humfrey de Bohun Earle of Hereford and Essex Which Iohn de Bohun to vse the words of Milles in his Catalogue of Hereford Earles after the death of his father Humfrey was fifth Earle of Hereford Constable of England and Patron of the Abbey of Lanthony fourth Earle of Essex of that Surname and fifth Lord of Brecknock Because this Earle Iohn in regard of his weaknesse of body by a continuall sicknesse was not able to performe this office of the Constableship of England Edward the third at this Earles intreatie did substitute Edward Bohun the Earles younger brother Vice-Constable vnder him for the tearme of his life But Earle Iohn died at Kirby Thore the 20. of Ianuary vpon Saint Fabian and Sebastians day 1136. the tenth of Edward the third leauing no issue and was buried at Stratford Abbey not farre from London This Iohn married first Alice the daughter of Edmund Fitz-alan Earle of Arundell who died in childbed and was buried at Walden with her Infant sonne after it was christened His second wife was Margaret daughter of Raphe Lord Basset of Drâ—yton a Baron of the best ranke in those dayes by whom hee had no issue Hertfordshire For Ecclesiasticall gouernment onely some part of this Shire belongeth to the Diocesse of London the rest to the Bishopricke of Lincolne Now because the Bishop of Lincolne hath so large a Territorie vnder his iurisdiction I wâ—ll be so bold as to borrow a few Funerall Inscriptions which I haue collected in this County and within his charge and imprint them with those which are properly for London Diocesse Alhallowes in the Towne of Hertford Off yowr cherity prayeth to God and Alhalwin hertely For Ser Ion Chappilaine somtym of yis plas Vicary Almighty Iesu resseve his sowl to grase and mercy Icy gist Isabele Newmarche iadis Damosele a tresâ—oble Dame Isabele Roigne d' Engletere This Isabell Newmarch or de nouo Mercatu a name of great reputation in the raigne of King Henry the third was Maide of Honour to that Isabell Queene of England who was second wife to Richard the second daughter of Charles the sixth King of France Hic iacet Lodouicus Baysbury Capell Henrici sexti ac Prebend Ecclesie Cathedral Lincoln .... M. ccccxxviii Here lyeth vndyr this ston William Wake And by him Ione his wyff and Make Somtym yeman of Iohn Duc of Bedfords hors And lat Survayor wyth king Henry the sixt he was Gentylman mad he was at the holy Grav On qwos sowls Almyghty God mercy hav Hic iacet Iohannes Prest quondam Ianitor Hospitii Katherine nuper Regine Anglie ....... This Priest was Porter to that Katherine Queene of England who was the onely wife of that inuincible Conquerour of France Henry the fifth and daughter of Charles the sonne of Charles aforesaid King of France Saint Nicholas Hic iacet Alicia Tymyslow quondam Dominella Domine Ducisse Lankastrie que obiit 17 Septemb. 1396. This faire yong waiting Chamber-maid for so much the word
restored to all his former honours and withall created Earle of Oxford He died in the yeare 1194. the sixth of king Richard the first and was here buried by his father His wife Agnes or Adeliza lieth buried by him who was the daughter of Henry of Essex Baron of Ralegh the Kings Constable Such was the Epitaph or inscription vpon his Tombe as it is in the book of Colne Priory Hic iacet Albericus de Vere silius Alberici de Veer Comes de Guisney primus Comes Oxonie magnus Camerarius Anglie qui propter summam audatiam effrenatam prauitatem Grymme Aubrey vocabatur obiit 26. die Decembris anno Christi 1194. Richardi â— sexto Aubrey de Vere the sonne of the foresaid Aubrey succeeded his father in all his dignities I finde little written of him in our Histories saue that out of his Christian pietie he did confirme the gift of septem librat terre which Aubrey his father gaue to the Chanons of Saint O sith here in Essex adding thereto something of his owne He dyed in the yeare of our Lord 1214. and sleepeth now in the same Bed with three other Aubreyes his Ancestors To whom this Epitaph vpon Conrad the Emperour at Spires in Germany may be fitly applied Filius hic Pater hic Auus hic Proauus iacet istie The great Belsire the Grandsire Sire and Sonne Lie here interred vnder this Grauestone Hugh de Vere the sonne of Robert the first of that Christian name Earle of Oxford and Lord great Chamberlaine of England was here entombed with his Ancestors who died in the yeare 1263. He had the title of Lord Bolebeck which came by his mother Isabell de Bolebeck daughter and heire of Hugh de Bolebeck a Baron who was Lord of Bolebeck Castle in Whitechurch within Buckinghamshire and of Swaffam Bolebeck in Cambridgeshire Hee had to wife Hawisia the daughter of Saier de Quincy Earle of Winchester as appeares by this Inscription sometime insculpt vpon their Tombe Hic iacent Hugo de Veer eius nominis primus Comes Oxonie quartus magnus Camerarius Anglie filius heres Roberti Comitis Hawisua vxor cius filia Saeri de Quincy comitis Wintonie qui quidem Hugo obiit 1263. Quorum animabus propitietur altissimus Robert de Vere the sonne of Hugh aforesaid Earle of Oxford who enioyed his fathers inheritances and honours the space of thirtie and two yeares lieth here entombed with his ancestours who died in the yeare 1295. Alice his wife the daughter and heire of Gilbert Lord Samford Lord of Hormead in Hertfordshire was interred by him who died at Caufeld house neare Dunmow the ninth day of September 1312. Here lieth buried the body of Robert de Vere sonne and successour to the foresaid Robert whose gouernment both in peace and warre was so prudent his hospitalitie and other workes of charitie so wisely abundant and his Temperance with a religious zeale so admirablie conioyned that he was of all surnamed the good Earle of Oxford and the vulgar esteemed him as a Saint He died the 19. of Aprill 1331. Here lyeth entombed Robert de Vere Richard the seconds Mignion who to adde to his honours created him Marquesse of Dublin a title not knowne before that time in England and in the yeare following Duke of Ireland with commission to execute most inseparable prerogatiues royall These Stiles were of too high a nature and therefore infinitely subiected to enuy Whereupon like a second Gaueston he was hated of the Nobilitie especially for that he was a man nec prudentia caeteris proceribus nec armis valentior as Walsingham saith 9. R. 2. But it was not long before he was banished England by the Barons for abusing the Kings eare to the hurt of the State He had to wife a young faire and noble Lady and the Kings neare kinswoman for she was grandchilde to King Edward by his daughter Isabell he put her away and tooke one of Queene Annes women a Bohemian of base birth Sellarij filia saith Walsingham a Sadlers daughter some say a Ioyners an act full of wickednesse and indignitie Yet this intollerable villanie offered to the bloud-royall King Richard did not encounter neither had the power some say who deemed that by witchcrafts and forceries practised vpon him by one of the Dukes followers his iudgement was so seduced and captiuated that he could not see what was honest or siâ— to doe But where Princes are wilfull or slothfull and their Fauorites flatterers or time-seruers there needs no other enchantments to infatuate yea and ruinate the greatest Monarch Vpon his banishment he went into France where he liued about fiue yeares and there being a hunting he was slaine by a wilde Boare in the yeare 1392. King Richard hearing thereof out of his loue caused his body to be brought into England and to be apparrelled in Princely ornaments and robes and put about his neck a chaine of gold and Rings vpon his fingers and so was buried in this Priory the King being there present and wearing blackes After the death of Robert Duke of Ireland who died without issue his Nephew Aubrey de Vere succeeded him in the Earledome of Oxford he enioyed his honours not passing eight yeares but dyed die Veneris in festo Sancti Georgij Ann. primo Hen. quarti 1400. and lieth here entombed with his worthie Ancestors Here lieth buried in this Priorie Iohn de Vere the third of that Christian name and the thirteenth Earle of Oxford Lord Bolebecke Samford and Scales great Chamberlaine and Lord high Admirall of England Who died the fourth of Henry the eight 1512. hauing beene Earle of Oxford full fifty yeares a long time to tugge out in the troublesome raignes of so many kings especially for men of eminent places and high spirits euer apt to take any occasion to shew their manly prowesse which fire of honour flamed in this Earles breast at Barnet field where in a mist the great Earle of Warwickes men not able to distinguish betwixt the Sun with streames vpon King Edwards liuery and the Starre with streames on this Earles liuery shot at this Earles followers and by that misprision the battell was lost After which he fled into Cornwall and seized vpon Saint Michaels Mount But Edward the fourth got him in his power and committed him prisoner to the Castle of Hames beyond the Seas where he remained for the space of twelue yeares vntill the first of King Henry the seuenth with whom he came into England and by whom he was made Captaine of the Archers at Bosworth-field where after a short resistance hee discomfited the Foreward of King Richard whereof a great number were slaine in the chase and no small number fell vnder the victors sword This Earle gaue a great contribution to the finishing of Saint Maries Church in Cambridge His hospitalitie and the great port he carried here in his country may be gathered out of a
dwarfe to death saith my foresaid Author Much more might bee said of this little-great man but I am called for my selfe to the Presse and to speake more then I haue done in the praise of little men I may be thought to flatter my selfe He died in the yeare 1346. in the twentieth of the raigne of King Edward the third I read in a booke of the order of Carmelites of which Fraternitie he was one as also Prouinciall of them all throughout all England penned by Iohn Bale before his conuersion a part of an Eulogium composed to the memory of this Baconthorpe which may serue for an Epitaph Thus. Iohannes de Bachonethorpe Doctor resolutus Carmelita Hic Bachone fuit Iohannes natus in vrbe Anglica quo felix terra priore fuit Parisio dulces hausit de fonte liquores Post tamenin patrio claruit ipse solo Exposuit libros Petri sed sanccius esse Est ratus in quartum peruigilare librum Fecit Aristotelem clarum inclitumque legenti Dans Testamentum clarius omne navum .......... Vpon a faire marble stone in the Quire this Inscription following is engrauen in brasse Hic iaces corpus Willelmi Boleyn militis qui obijt x. Octobris Anno Dom. M. ccccc.v Cuius anime propitietur Deus Amen Let it be the greatest honour to this noble deceased Knight for that he was great Grandfather to the most renowned and victorious Princesse Elizabeth late Queene of England which will best appeare by the Light of Great Britaine learned Camden in his Introduction to the History which he writ of her long and prosperous raigne beginning as followeth The Linage and descent of Elizabeth Queene of England saith he was by her Fathers side truly Royall for daughter she was to King Henry the eight grand daughter to Henry the seuenth and great grand-daughter to Ed the fourth By the Mothers side her descent was not so high howbeit noble it was and spread abroad by many and great Alliances throughout England and Ireland Her great grand-fathers father was Ieffrey Bolen a man of Noble birth in Norfolke Lord Maior of the Citie of London in the yeare 1457. and at the same time honoured with the dignitie of Knighthood An vpright honest man of such estimation that Thomas Lord Hoo and Hastings Knight of the Order of Saint George gaue him his daughter and one of his heires to wife and of such wealth as he matched his daughters into the Noble houses of the Cheineys Heydons and Fortescues left his sonne a goodly inheritance and bequeathed a thousand pounds of English money to bee bestowed vpon the poore in the Citie of London and two hundred in Norfolke This mans sonne William Bolen was chosen amongst eighteene most choice Knights of the Bath at the Coronation of King Richard the third to whom Thomas Earle of Ormond who was in such fauour with the Kings of England that hee alone of all the Nobleman of Ireland had his place and voice in the Parliaments of England and aboue the Barons of England also gaue his daughter and one of his heires in marriage By her besides daughters married to Shelton Calthorp Clere and Sackvill men of great wealth and noble descent and other children hee begat Thomas Bolen whom being a young man Thomas Howard Earle of Surry who was afterward Duke of Norfolke a man much renowned for his worthie seruice and atchiuements in the warres chose to be his sonne in law giuing vnto him his daughter Elizabeth in marriage and Henry the eight after he had performed one or two very honourable Embasies made him first Treasurer of his Houshold Knight of the Order of Saint George and Viscount Rochford and afterwards Earle of Wiltshire and Ormond and made him Lord Keeper of the priuie Seale This Thomas among other children begat Anne Bolen who in her tender yeares being sent into France attended on Mary of England wife to Lewis the twelfth and then on Claudia of Britaine wife to Francis the first and after she was dead on Margaret of Alencon who with the first fauoured the Protestants Religion springing vp in France Being returned into England and admitted amongst the Queenes Maides of Honour and being twenty two yeares of age King Henry in the thirtie eight yeare of his age did for her modestie â—empered with French pleasantnesse fall deeply in loue with and tooke her to wife by whom he had issue Elizabeth aforesaid Queene of England Thome Presbyteri ..... lapis iste retentum Funus habet .... qui sumptu dedit hoc pauimentum Anno milleno quater et C septuageno Octauo Stephani liquit terrestria festo Vt celi detur requies sibi quisque precetur En iacet hic stratus Helby Thomas vocitatus Saluet eum Christus tribuens sibi gaudia lucis Vnder this ston Ligs Iohn Knapton Who died iust The twenty eight of August M. ... xc and on Of thys Chyrch Peti-Canon Vnder the picture of Saint Peter is portraied the Sea a Ship Nets and Fishes with this distichon Ecclesiam pro naue rego mihi climata mundi Sunt mare Scripture Retia piscis homo The figures of the Sunne and Moone are painted here vpon the Frontispiece of the Clocke to whom the Clocke comparatiuely seemes to speake in this Hexastich vpon the same place likewise depicted Horas significo cunctas quas Phebe diebus Quas solet atque tua pallida nocte Soror Nec magis errarem Rector mihi si foret idem Vos qui et queque regit motibus astra suis. Tempora nam recte designo si mihi doctus Custos assiduam conferat artis opem In English Phoebus I tell all th' houres and all as right As thou or thy pale Sister day and night Nor I no more then you in ought should erre If he ruld mee who guides you and each starre For times I rightly tell to me of 's Art If my learnd keeper will his helpe impart In imitation of this it may bee that Thomas Scot in his Philomythie makes a Clocke to compare with a Diall and the difference to be partly decided by the Wethercocke of which a little although not much to the purpose I confesse Vpon a Church or steeples side neere hand A goodly Clocke of curious worke did stand Which ouerpaysde with lead or out of frame Did time miscall and euery houre misname The Diall hearing this aloud gan crye Kind neighbour Clocke your glib tongue tels a lye Reforme your errour for my Gnomon saith You gad too fast and misse an houres faith Foole quoth the Clocke reforme thy selfe by me The fault may rather in thy Gnomon be Had'st thou told euer truth to what end then Was I plac'd here by th' art of cunning men The Weathercocke vpon the steeple standing And with his sharpe eye all about commanding Heard their contention wild them to appeale To him the chiefe of all that common weale Told them that he was