you leaue to choose a sufficient and discreete Priest for your Confessor who so often as to you it shall be thought conuenient your confessions being attentiuely heard may giue to each of you due absolution for your delinquencies committed And appoint you sauing and comfortable penance vnlesse the offences be of that nature for which the Apostolicall chaire is to be sought to for remission Therefore let it not be lawfull for any man in any wise to infringe or in a kind of foole-hardinesse rashly to contradict this Cartulary of our Concession which indeed if any one presume to attempt let him know for certaine that he shall incurre the indignation of Almighty God and of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul Giuen c. Then followes a forme of Absolution made in the Apostolicall Consistory with plenary Indulgence to be pronounced by the Priest to any one of these Merchants whensoeuer they shall bee dangerously sicke in these words Ego authoritate Dei omnipotentis beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum eius et Domini nostri Martini Pape Quinti mihi in hac parte specialiter commissa secundum quod potestas mihi tradita se extendit et quantum debeo et possum si ista vice moriaris te absolvo ab omnibus penis Purgatorii que tibi in Purgatorio debentur propter culpas et offensas quas contra Deum commisisti et te restituo illi innocentie in qua eras tempore quo baptizatus fuisti In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti Amen I by the authority of Almighty God and of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and of our Lord and Master Martin the fift Pope to me especially committed in this behalfe according and in so much as the power to me giuen will extend it selfe and how much of duty I owe and how much I may or can I absolue thee from all the paines of Purgatory which are due to be inflicted vpon thee in Purgatory for those sinnes and offences which thou hast committed against God and I restore thee to that innocencie in which thou liuedst the same day when thou hadst newly receiued Baptisme In the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Amen A word or two of these two words Merchant Staple or Staple Merchant He is properly called a Marchant qui mare traijcit who passeth ouer the Seas et merces inde avehit and from thence transports merchandise or wares into his owne warehouse either bought for ready money or had in exchange for other commodities which hee brings with him out of his owne Country The diligence and industry of these Marchants is accuratly expressed by Horace Epist. lib. 1. Ep. 1. Impiger extremos curret Mercator ad Indos Per mare pauperiem fugiens per saxa per ignes The ready Merchant runs to th' utmost Inde with speed By Sea by rocks by fire to shun outragious need There are a company of notable Skanderouns which greatly desire to be stiled Merchants and these are such as runne from house to house from Market to Market such as haunt Faires and all publicke meetings with packs and Fardels vpon their backes filled with counterfeit and adulterate wares with which they cheat deceiue and cosin the poore countrey-people and these are called Pedlers Quod pedes iter conficiunt because they go on foot Stapula inquit Lud. Guiccia est locus publicus quo principis auctoritate et priuilegio lanae vina coria frumenta aliaeque merces exotica vendendi causa conuchuntur Staple is a publicke place saith Lud. Guiccia to which by the Prince his authoritie and priuiledge wooll wine Hides of beasts corne or graine and other exoticke or forraine merchandise are transferred carried or conueyed there to be sold or set to sale Or Staple signifieth this or that Towne or Citie whither the Merchants of England by common order or commandement did carry their woolls wooll-fels clothes lead and Tinne and such like commodities of our Land for the vtterance of them by the great The word saith Mins let 5. may probably bee taken two wayes one from Stapel which in the Saxon or old English language signifieth the stay or hold of any thing Or from the French word Estape id est forum Vinarium because to those places whither our English Merchants brought their commodities the French would also meete them with theirs which most of all consisteth in wines Now howsoeuer we most commonly finde the Staple to bee kept and thereupon as in this place the Merchants thereof were stiled Mercatores Stapulae villae Calistiae yet you may read of many other places appointed for the Staple in the Statutes of the Land according as the Prince by his counsell thought good to alter them from the second yeare of Edward the third cap 9. to the fifth of Edward the sixth Officers belonging to these Staples were Maiors Constables Manipernors correctours Porters packers winders workers and other labourers of woolls The Fees of the Maiors and Constables of the Staples in England leuied out of 4. d. a Sacke of wooll comming to euery Staple were as followeth The Maior of the Staple of Westminster had yearly one hundred pounds and euery of the Constables there ten markes The Maiors of the Staples of Yorke Kingstone vpon Hull Norwich and Winchester euery of them twenty pounds and euery of the Constables of the same places one hundred shillings The Maiors of Newcastle vpon Tine Chichester and of Exceter ten pounds and euery of the Constables of those places fiue markes And if any of the Maiors and Constables aboue named refused the Office hee was to pay to the company as much as his Fee should amount to Of all which you may reade the Statute Ann. 27. Ed. 3. The Maior and Constables of the Staple had power to record Recognisances of debt taken before them by vertue of a Statute made the tenth of Henry the sixth Chetham And here giue me leaue curteous Reader to turne backe to this Church situate neare Rochester onely to set downe a strange buriall in this Church-yard thus related by Lambard in his perambulation of Kent Although saith he I haue not hitherto at any time reade any memorable thing recorded in History touching Chetham it selfe yet for so much as I haue often heard and that constantly reported a Popish illusion done at that place and for that also it is as profitable to the keeping vnder of fained and superstitious religion to renew to minde the Priestly practises of old time which are declining to obliuion as it is pleasant to retaine in memory the monuments and Antiquities of whatsoeuer of other kinde I thinke it not amisse to commit faithfully to writing what I haue receiued credibly by hearing concerning the Idols sometime knowne 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
Friers and Nunnes in such veneration and liking that they thought no Citie in case to flourish no house likely to haue long continuance no Castle sufficiently defended where was not an Abbey Priory or Nunnery either placed within the walls or situate at hand and neare adioyning And surely omitting the residue of the Realme hereof onely it came to passe that Douer had Saint Martins Canterbury Christ-Church Rochester Saint Andrews Tunbridge the Friers Maidstone the Chanons Greenwich the Obseruants and this our Leedes her Priory of Chanons at hand About two hundred yeares since the Prior of this House with three of his Chanons and others layed violent hands vpon the body of a Monke of Saint Albans whereupon many more quarrels would haue ensued if that Boniface the ninth Pope of Rome hearing thereof had not by his Bull authorised the Abbot of Saint Edmundsbury to heare examine and determine all controuersies betwixt the two Houses and to absolute the delinquents after competent satisfaction made to the wronged parties Thus goes the Bull. Bonifacius Episcopus seruus seruorum Dei Dilecto filio Abbati Monasterij de Sancto Edmundo Norwicen dioc Salutem et Apostolic ben Conquesti sunt nobis Abbas et Conuentus de Sancto Albano Ordinis Sancti Benedicti Lincoln Dioc. Quod Wilhelmus de verduno Prior Monasterij de Ledes ordinis Sancti Augustini Thomas de Maydenston Nicholaas Shirton Iohannes de Reuham dicti Monasterij de Ledes Canonici Magistrum Hugo de Forsham clericus Antonius Messager Iohannes Frere et Iohannes Linne laici Cantuar. Dioc. in Fratrem Iohannem de Stopeleya Monachum dicti Monasterii de Sancto Albano manus iniecerunt Dei timore postposito temere violentas Ideoque discretioni tue per Apostolica scripta mandamus quatenus si est ita dictos sacrilegos tandiu appellatione remota excōmunicatos publice nunties et facias ab omnibus arctius euitari donec super hiis satisfecerint competenter et iidem Clericus et Laici cum tuarum testimonio litterarum ad sedem venerint Apostolicam absoluendi Canonici vero debite absolutionis beneficium assequantur Dat. Lateran xii Kalend. Nouemb. Pontificatur nostri Anno octauo I haue the rather inserted this Bull for that it may bee the more plainly vnderstood how the most of all causes in those times concerning the Clergie were arbitrated not alwayes by the authority of the learned Bishops of this land but by Commissions purchased from the Bishops of Rome This Priory was valued in the Records of the late suppression at three hundred fourescore and two pounds of yearely reuenue Mottenden or Motindene Lambard speaking of Motindene which name hee deriues from two Saxon words Moo and Dene which is the proud valley a name imposed as he thinkes for the fertilitie thereof saith That hee hath not heard nor hitherto found any thing touching the Religious House of Motindene in Hetcorne saue onely that the head thereof was called Minister and that the House it selfe was of the yearely value of sixty pounds Neither would I saith he haue affoorded it so much as paper or place here but onely that you might vnderstand with what number of buildings variety of sects and plenty of possessions Popery was in old time prouided for and furnished No corner almost without some Religious house or other Their sects and orders were hardly to be numbred and as for their lands and reuenues it was a world to behold them I finde that the yearely extent of the cleare value of the Religious liuings within this Shire amounted to fiue thousand pounds Bishoprickes Benefices Friaries Chaunteries and Saints-offerings not accounted Which thing also I do the rather note to the end that you may see how iust cause is giuen vs both to wonder at the hote zeale of our ancestours in their spirituall fornication and to lament the coldnesse of our owne charity towards the maintenance of the true Spouse of Iesus Christ. For if euer now most truly is that verified which the Poet long since said Probitas laudatur et alget Boxley William de Ipre a Towne in Flanders the base sonne of Philip Viscount de Ipre Lieutenant to king Stephen in the warres against Maud the Empresse for which seruice the king created him Earle of Kent founded this Abbey Ann. 1146. which he consecrated to the blessed Virgine Mary and planted it with a Couent of white Monkes of Saint Barnards order which he translated hither from Claravall in Burgundie which as good children were to follow and obey the rules and ordinances of the Abbey of Claravall in all things These are the words in the institution Anno 1146. fundata est Boxleia in Cancia filia Claravallis propria And further Quod ipsa Abbathia sit subdita Abbathie de Claravalle c. It was ordinarie both beyond Sea and here in England for one religious house to beget another as will appeare by the sequele for not many yeares after her first foundation this Abbey it selfe was the mother of Robertsbridge in Sussex The yearely value of this house was esteemed at the suppression to be worth 218. l. 19. s. 10. d. This Monastery in former times was famous for a woodden Roode by which the Priests for a long while deluded the common people vntill their fraud and Legierdemain was detected Bocton Malherb At Bocton Malherb saith learned Clarentieux hath dwelt a long time the familie of the Wottons out of which in our remembrance flourished both Nicholas Wotton Doctor of the Lawes who being of the priuie Councell to king Henry the eighth King Edward the sixth Queene Mary and Queene Elizabeth sent in Embassage nine times to forraine Princes and thrice chosen Committee about Peace betweene the English French and Scottish liued a goodly time and ranne a long race in this life with great commendation of pietie and wisedome and also Sir Edward Wotton whom for his approued wisedome in weightie affaires Queene Elizabeth made Controller of her house and King Iames created Baron Wotton of Merley If you would know any more reade Hollinshead who hath written a Treatise of this family from Richard Wotton who flourished in the raigne of King Edward the first vnto these Wottons who yet do liue in our memory This Church is honoured with the sepulture of many of this noble progenie but I haue no inscription nor Epitaph for any saue onely for him who was twice Lord Maior of London The first time in the third yeare of king Henry the fifth the second in the ninth of king Henry the sixth Here lyeth Nicholas Wotton Esquire ... twice Lord Maior of London .... who was borne the 26. of October 1372. and dyed Septem 14. 1448. .... being 76. yeares of age Newenden This Towne harboured the first Carmelite Friars that euer were in this kingdome for about the midst of the raigne of king Henry the third this order came ouer the Sea arriued in this land
and established by the kings Highnesse our most gratious souereigne Lord and by the whole consent of the high Court of Parliament for the extirpation abolition and extinguishment out of this Realme and other his graces dominions seigniories and countries of the pretended power and vsurped authoritie of the Bishop of Rome by some called the Pope vsed within the same or elsewhere concerning the same realme dominions segniories or countries whiâ—h did obfuscat and wrest Gods holy word and Testament a long season from the spirituall and true meaning thereof to his worldly and carnall affections as pompe glory auarice ambition and tyrannie couering and shadowing the same with his humane and politike deuises traditions and inuentions set forth to promote and stablish his onely dominion both vpon the soules and also the bodies and goods of all Christian people excluding Christ out of his kingdome and rule of mans soule as much as hee may and all other temporall Kings and Princes out of their dominions which they ought to haue by Gods law vpon the bodies and goods of their subiects whereby he did not onely rob the Kings Maiestie being onely the supreme head of this his Realme of England immediately vnder God of his honour right and preheminence due vnto him by the law of God but spoiled his Realme yearely of innumerable treasure and with the losse of the same deceiued the Kings louing and obedient subiects perswading to them by his lawes buls and other his deceiuable meanes such dreames vanities and fantasies as by the same many of them were seduced and conâ—ueied vnto superstitious and erroneous opinions So that the Kings Maiestie the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and the Commons in this Realme being ouer-wearied and fatigated with the experience of the infinite abhominations and mischiefes proceeding of his impostures and craftily colouring of his deceits to the great dammages of soules bodies and goods were forced of necessitie for the publike weale of this Realme to exclude that forraine pretended iurisdiction and authoritie vsed and vsurped within this Realme and to deuise such remedies for their reliefe in the same as doth not onely redound to the honour of God the high praise and aduancement of the Kings Maiestie and of his Realme but also to the great and inestimable vtilitie of the same And notwithstanding the said wholesome lawes so made and heretofore established yet it is common to the knowledge of the Kings highnesse and also to diuerse and many his loâ—uing faithfull and obedient subiects how that diuers seditious and contentious persons being imps of the said Bishop of Rome and his See and in heart members of his pretended Monarchie doe in corners and elsewhere as they dare whisper inculke preach and perswade and from time to time instill into the eares and heads of the poore simple and vnlettered people the aduancement and continuance of the said Bishops feined and pretended authoritie pretending the same to haue his ground and originall of Gods law whereby the opinions of many bee suspended their iudgements corrupted and deceiued and diuersitie in opinions augmented and increased to the great displeasure of almighty God the high discontentation of our said most dread soueraigne Lord and the interruption of the vnitie loue charitie concord and agreement that ought to bee in a Christian Region and congregation For auoiding whereof and repression of the follies of such seditious persons as be the meanes and authours of such inconueniences Be it enacted ordained and established by the King our soueraigne Lord and the Lords spirituall and temporall and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the authoritie of the same that if any person or persons dwelling demurring inhabiting or resiant within this Realme or within any other the Kings dominions seigniories or countries or the marches of the same or elsewhere within or vnder his obeizance and power of what estate dignitie preheminence order degree or condition soeuer hee or they bee after the last day of Iuly which shall bee in the yeare of our Lord God 1536. shall by writiâ—g ciâ—ering printing preachâ—ing or teaching deed or act obstinately or maliciously hold or stâ—nd with to extoll set foorth maintaine or defend the authoritie iurisdiction or power of the Bishop of Rome or of his See heretofore claimed vsed or vsurped within this Realme or in any dominion or countrey being or within or vnder the Kings power or obeisance or by any presence obstinately or maliciously inuent any thing for the extolling aduancement setting forth maintenance or defence of the same or any part thereof or by any pretence obstinately or maliciously attribute any manner of iurisdiction authoritie or preheminence to the said See of Rome or to any Bishop of the same See for the time being within this Realme or in any the Kings dominions and countries That then euery such person or persons so doing or offending their aiders assistants comfortors abettors procurers maintainers fautors counsellours conceilours and euery of them being thereof lawfully conuicted according to the Lawes of this Realme for euery such default and offence shall incurre and runne into the dangers penalties paines and forfeitures ordeined and prouided by the statute of Prouision and Premunire made in the sixteenth yeare of the reigne of the noble and valiant Prince King Richard the second against such as attempt procure or make prouision to the See of Rome or elsewhere for any thing or things to the derogation or contrarie to the Prerogatiue royall or iurisdiction of the Crowne and dignitie of this Realme King Henry still hearing of the murmuring of his Subiects vpon the enacting of this Statute writes againe to his principall magistrates in euery countrey in this manner following Henry R. By the King TRusty and welbeloued we grete yow well And wheras heretofore as ye know both vpon most iust and vertuouse fowndacions grownded vpon the lawes of Almighty God and holy Scripture And also by the deliberate aduice consultacion consent and agreement aswell of the Bishops and Clergie as by the Nobles and Commons temporall of this owr realme assembled in owr high Court of Parliament and by auctorite of the same the abuses of the Bisshop of Rome his auctorite and iurisdiction of long time vsurped against vs haue been not onely vtterly extirped abolished and secluded but also the same owr Nobles and Commons both of the Clergie and Temporalty by an other seuerall Acte and vpon like fundacion for the publike weale of this our realme haue vnited knytte and annexed to vs and the Crowne imperiall of this our realme the title dignitie and stile of Supreme hed in erthe immediatly vndre God of the Church of England as vndoubtedly euermore we haue ben which thing also the said Bisshops and Clergie particularly in their Conuocacions haue holly and entyrely consented recognised ratifyed confirmed and approued authentiquely in wryting both by their speciall othes profession and wryting vnder their Signes and Seales so vtterly reuouncyng all other othes
the Prior and Couent of the White Friers Carmelites in Stanford the â—bboâ— and Couent of our blessed Lady of Bidlesden the Warden and brethren of the grey Friers of Couentrie Bedford and Alesbury surrendred vp them houses into the kings hands Battaile Abbey in Sussex Martine Abbey in Surrey Straâ—ford Abbey in Essex Lewis in Suffex Saint Austines in Canterbury the new Abbey at the Tower hill the Minories without Aldgate the Nunnery at Clerken well The Hospitall of Saint Thomas Akers the Blacke-Friers the White-Friers the grey Friers and the Charterhouse Monks in London with the most or all other were surrendred after the same manner In September the same yeare Viz. An. 30. Hen. 8. by the speciall motion of great Cromwell all the notable images vnto the which were made any especiall pilgrimages and offerings as the images of our Lady of Walsingham Ipswich Worcester the Lady of Wilsdon the rood of Grace of our Ladie of Boxley and the image of the rood of Saint Sauiour at Bermondsey with all the rest were brought vp to London and burnt at Chelsey at the commandement of the foresaid Cromwell all the Iewels and other rich offerings to these and to the Shrines which were all likewise taken away or beaten to peeces of other Saints throughout both England and Wales were brought into the Kings Treasurie In the same yeare also the Abbey of Westminster was surrendred being valued to dispend by the yeare three thousand foure hundred and seuenty pound or by some 3977. l. 6. s. 4. d. ob q. as in the Catalogue of religious houses the Monkes being expelled King Henry placed therein a Deane and Prebendaries and made the last Abbot whose name was Benson the first Deane in the time of Edward the sixth it was made a Bishops See shortly after the benefits of the Church being abridged it came againe to a Deane and Prebends Againe Queene Marie ordained there an Abbot and his Monkes who continued not many yeares but were againe cut off by Act of Parliament And lastly Queene Elizabeth that wonder of the world made it a collegiate Church or rather a Nursery for the Church saith Norden for there she ordained to the glory of God the propagation of true Religion and good literature a Deane twelue Prebendaries an vpper master and an Vsher for the Schoole fourtie Schollers called the Queenes or Kings Schollers who as they become worthie are preferred to the Vniuersities besides Ministers Singers and Organists ten Quiristers and twelue well deseruing Souldiers Thus you see the interchangeable vicissitude of her foundacion and if it had not beene for the reuerend regard they had of the Sepulchres inauguration and vnction here of their famous Ancestors these forenamed Kings if I may ground my reason vpon the passages of those times had taken her commings in to haue inrichâ— their owne coffers despoiled her oâ— her vnualuable wealth and ornaments and battered downe to the ground her sacred Edâ—fice The fifth of December â—n the soresaid yeare the Abbey of Saint Albaâ—s was surrendred by the Abbot and Monkes there by deliuering the Couent Seale into the hands of Tho. Pope D. Peter Master Canendish and others the Kings visiters Now all or the most of all the religious houses in England and Wales being thus surrendred the King summoned another Parliament at Westâ—minster for howsoeuer these forenamed religious orders and other more of their owne free and voluntary mindes good wills and assents without constraâ—â—t â—oactâ—on or compulsion as are the words in the Statute of any manner of person or persons by due order of law and by their sufficient writings of Record vnder their Couent and common Seales had alreadie gâ—uen granted and confirmed renounced left and forsaken all their religious hâ—uâ—â—s with their lands and all other the appurtenances to the same belongingâ— vnto the King his heires and successors for euer Yet it was thought necessarie by the King and his Councell that these their â—o uâ—taâ—ic donations should bee further ratified by authoritie of that high 〈◊〉 whereupon it was enacted that all Monasteries with their Scites circuits and precincts laâ—ds Lordships and all othâ—r franchises not onely those which were surrendred or dissolued before the session of this Parliament but also such as were to bee surrendred or dissolued hereafter shouâ—d bee vested deemed and adiudged to be in the very actuall and reall season and possession of the King his heires and successors for euer The religious Order of Saint Iohns of Ierusalem whose chiefe mansion house was in the precincts of Clerkenwell Parish within the Country of Middlesex consisting of gentlemen and souldiers of ancient families and high spirits could by no means be brought in to present to his Maiestie any of these puling petitions and publike recognitions of their errors thereby like the rest to giue a loafe and beg a shiue to turne themselues out of actuall possession and lie at the Kings mercie for some poore yearely pension But like stoâ—â—â— fellowes stood out against any that thought to enrich themselues with their ample reuenues vntill they were cast out of their glorious structures and all other their estates for these causes following alledged aâ—gainst them in open Parliament as appeares by the statute beginning thus The Lords Spirituall and Temporall and the Commons of this present Parliament assembled hauing credible knowledge that diuers and sundrie the kings subiects called the Knights of the Rhodes otherwise called Knights of Saint Iohns otherwise called Friers of the religion of S. Iohn of Ierusalem in England and of a like house being in Ireland abiding in the parties of beyond the sea and hauing aswell out of this Realme as out of Ireland and other the Kings dominions yearely great summes of money for maintenance of their liuings Haue vnnaturally and contrary to the dutie of their alleageances sustained and maintained 〈…〉 power and authoritie of the Bishop of Rome lately vsed and 〈◊〉 within this Realme and other the Kings dominions and haue not onely adhered themselues to the said Bishop being common enemy to the King our soueraigne Lord and to this his Realme vntruely vpholding knowledging and affirming maliciously and traiterously the same Bishop to bee supreme and chiefe head of Christs Church by Gods holy word Entending thereby to subuert and ouerthrow the good and godly laws and statutes of this realme for the abolishing expulsing and vtter extincting of the said vsurped power and authoritie but also haue defamed and slandered as well the Kings Maiestie as the Noblemen Prelates and other the Kings true and louing subiects of this Realme for their good and godly proceeding in that behalfe Vpon these causes and other considerations it was enacted That the Corporation of the said Religion as well within this Realme as within the Kings dominion and Land of Ireland should be vtterly dissolued and void to all entents and purposes And that Sir William Weston Knight as then Prior of the said Religion of this Realme of
therefore expresly willeth and commandeth that no manner of person being either the head or member of any Colledge or Cathedrall Church within this 〈◊〉 shall from the time of the notification hereof in the same Colledge haue or be permitted to haue within the precinct of any such Colledge his wife or other woman to abide and dwell in the same or to frequent haunt any lodging within the said Colledge vpon paint that whosoeuer shall do to the contrary shall forfeite all Ecclesiasticall promotions in any Cathedrall or Collegiate Church within this Realme And for continuance of this order her Maiestie willeth that the Transcript hereof shall be written in the booke of the Statutes of euery such Colledge and shall be reputed as parcell of the Statutes of the same Yeuen vnder our Signet at â—ur Towne of ipswiche the ninth of August in the third yeare of our reigne Now Reader if thou wouldest know more particularly the Ecclesiasticall State of England will it please thee reade the declaration following A briefe declaration of the nomber of all promocions Ecclesiasticall of what nam or title soeuer at the Taxacion of the first fruites and tenthes with the yearlie value of eiche Bishopricke Deanrie and Archdeaconrie and the tenth of the Clargie in euery Diocesse Valoris Epatuum Comitatus Archnatus valores Dignit Preb. Beneficia Assauen 187. l. 11. s. 6. d. Derâ—igh Flinte Montgomery Merioneth Saloppe Assaphen 74. l. 15.7 d. 14. 128. 1. 1. Bangoren 131. l. 16. s. 4. d. Cairnarvan Anglesey Denbighe Merioneth Mountgonery Bangoren 48. l. 6. s. 1. d. ob q. Anglesey 58. l. 10. s. 6. d. Merioneth 13. l. 3. s. 4. d. 8. 96. 3. 1. 1. 0. Bristollen 383. l. 8. s. 4. d. Dorset Dorset 82. l. 17. s. 7. d. ob q.  252. 7. 3. 3. 2. Bathon Wellen. 1843. l. 14. s. 5. d. q. 533 l. 15. d. Somerset Wellen. 144. l. 2. s. 11. d. ob Bathon 25. l. 15. s. Taunton 83 s. 7. s. 8. d. 55. 380. 14. 5. 6. 1. Cantuarien 3233. l. 18. s. 8. d. ob q. 2816. l. 17. s. 9. d. London Midl Suff. Essex Lanc. Buck. Surr. Sussex Cantuarien 163. l. 21. d.  282. 18. 9. 3. 1. Cicestren 677. l. 15. d. Sussex Cicestr 38. l. 3. s. 4. d. Lewen 39. l. 14. s. 10. d. 35. 285. 1. 2. 0. 1. Couentrey et Lichefield 703. l. 5. s. 2. d. ob q. 559. l. 18. s. 2. d. ob q. Staffordshir Derby Warwicke Salop. Stafford 30. l. 16. s. 11. d. Derby 26. l. 13. s. 4. d. Couen 45. l. 9. s. Salop. 19. l. 32. 351. 3. 5. 0. 1. Cestren 420. l. 20.0 Cestren Lanca Flinte Comberland Westmerland Ebor. Richmond 50. l. Cestren 50. l.  202. 11. 18. 4. 2. Carliolen 530. l. 4. s. 11. d. ob Comberland Westmerland Null  77. 2. 5. 1. 2. Domus Religios Hospital Collegia Cantarie Libe Capelle Valores Decanatum Decima Cleri 8. nul nul 5. 65. l. 11. s 4. d. 186. l. 19. s. 7. d. ob q. 4. nul 2. 6. 22. l. 17. s. 2. d. 151.14 s 3. d. q. 10. 4. 1. 68. 100. 353. l. 18 d. ob q. 22. 2. 1. 96. 117. l. 7. s. 4. d. 600. l. 15. s. 8. d. ob 17. 8. 5. 89. 200. l. 651. l. 18 s. 2. d. q. Cum. 281. l. 13. s. 19. d. q 〈◊〉 Archiepatus iuxta valoâ—â—m 11. 4. 2. 44. 58. l. 9. s. 4. d. 287. l. 2. s. 1. ob q. 38. 5. 16. 128. 40. 590.16.12 q. 26. 6. 4. 145. 100. l. 435. l. 12. d. 5. 1. 1. 26. 120. l. 7. s. 6. d. 161. l. 19. d. ob Valoris Epatuum Comitatus Archinatus valores Dignit Preb. Beneficia Dunelm 2821. l. 17. d. q. 1821. l. 17. d. q. Dunelme Northumber Dunel 100. l. Northumb. 36. l. 13. s. 4. d. Null 107. 6. 9. 2. 2. Elien 2134. l. 18. s. 5. d. ob q. tertia pars q. Cantabridg Elien 177. l. 5. s. 2. d. ob nul 137. 2. 0. Eborum 2035. l. 3. s. 7. d. 1069. l. 19. s. 2. d. q. Eborum Notingham Eborum 90. l. 3 s Cliueland 36. l. s. d. Estriding 62. l. 14. s. 2. d. ob Notingham 61. l. 8. d. ob 36. 137. 12. 7. 3. 1. Exonicum 1566. l. 14. s. 6. d. 500. l. q. Deuon Cornwall Exon 60. l. 15 s. 10. d. Cornub. 50. l 6. s. 3 d. ob Taunton 37. l. 10. s. 3. d. ob Barnestaple 48 l. 19. s. 8. d. 29. 546. 49. 27. 11. 8. Glocestre 315. l. 7. s. 2. d. Gloucesters Gloucest 75. l. 4. s. ob 4. d. nul 240. 7. 3. 3. 1. Hereford 768. l. 10. s. 10. d. ob q. Radnar Heref Salop. Mongomery Wigorn. Hereford 41. l. 17. 11. d. Salop. 32. l. 10. s. 9. d. 32. 277. 3. 1. 0. 0. London 1119. l. 8. s. 4. d. London Midl Essex Herteford Buck. London 23. l 14. s. 4. d. Midl 60. l. Essex 52. l. Colchester 50. S. Albani in hill 34. 573. 19. 6. 7. 0. Lincolne â—962 l. 17. s. 4. d. ob 894. l. 18. s. 1. d. ob Lincolne Leicestre Bedford Bucking Herteford Huntington Lincoln 179. l. 19. s. Sâ—ow 14. l. 2 s. 8. d. ob Bedf 57. l. 2. s. 3. d. Buck 8â— l 14. s. 5. d. Hunting 57. l. 14. s. 2. d. Leicester 80. l. 12. s. 3. d. 59. l. 1219. 31 12 4. 2. Landauen 154. l. 14. s. 1. d. Monboth Glamorgan Landaven 38. l. 12. s. 8. d. 13. 153. 0. 0. Domus Religios Hospital Collegia Cantarie Libe Capelle Valores Decanatum Decima Cleri 18. 8. 5. 96. 266. l. 12. s. 1. d. 385. l. 5. s. 6. d. ob 10. 1. nul 29. 120. l. 384. 14. s 9. d. q. 77. 12. 13. 488. 308. l. 10. s. 7. d. 1113. l. 17. s. 9. d ob q. 22. 1. 6. 47. 158. 1240. l. 15. s. 2. d. ob 11. 4. 1. 46. 100. l. 358. l. 15 s. 11. 3. nul 77. 38. l. 6. s. 1. d. ob 340. l. 5. s. 2. d. ob 50. 6. 6. 366. 210. l. 12. s. 1. d. 821. l. 15. s. 1. d. 94. 14. 4. 262. 196. l. 10. s. 8. d. 1751. l. 14. s. 6. 11. nul nul 17. nul 155. l. 5. s. 4. d. Valoris Epatuum Comitatus Archinatus valores Dignit Preb. Beneficia Meneuen 457. l. 22. d. ob q. Radnor Cairmarthen Cardigan Pembroke Bâ—echon Hereford Glamorgan Monmouth Mongomery Meneven 56. l. 8. s. 6. d. Cairmarthen 35. l. 9. s. 6. d. Cardigan 18. l. Brechon 40. l. 11. 291. 1. 2. 0. 0. Norwicen 568. l. 19. s. 4. d. ob 899. l. 18. s. 7. d. q. Suff. Norfolke Cantab. Norwicen 71. l. 13. d. ob Norfolk â—43 l. 8. s. 2. d ob Suff. 89. l. 23. d. Sudbury 76. l 9. s. 4. d. ob nul 1094. 16. 2. 2. 0. Oxonicum 358. l. 16. s. 4. d. q. 354. Oxon. Oxon. 71. l. 6. s. nul 167. 2. 1. 1. 0. Petriburgh 414. l. 19. s. 11 d.
fashion in former times fetched from the French which they call rebus or name-deuises examples of the same are frequent Neare to this Church sometime stood that goodly Abbey founded by Stephen king of England grandchilde to the Conquerour dedicated to Saint Sauiour replenished with blacke Monkes of Cluni valued at the suppression to be well worth according to the fauourable rate of such endowments in those dayes 286. l. 12. s. 6. d. ob yearely such was the charter of his donation Stephanus Rex c. Archiepiscopis Episcopis c. salutem Sciatis me pro salute anime mee Matildis Regine vxoris mee Eustachij filij mei aliorum puerorum meorum antecessorum Regum Anglie dedisse c. Manerium meum de Fauresham ad fundand Abbatiam vnam ibidem ae ordine Monachorum Cluniacensium c. Sciatis etiam quod dedimus ego et Matildis Regina mea Willelmo de Ipra in Escambium pro eodem Manerio de Fauresham Lillechire cum pertinencijs suis de hereditate Regine Teste H. Episcopo Winton fratre meo Rogero Episcopo de London Richardo de Lucy Hen. de Essex c. This king died at Douer of an Iliack passion mixed with his old disease the Emrods Octob. 25. 1154. hauing raigned 18. yeares ten moneths and odde dayes and was buried in this Church of his owne foundation Of which heare these ancient rimes Aftur king Harry euyn Then regnyd king Stevyn The Erlys son Bloys he was truly He wedded Mold the doghter of Mary A good man he was bedeme I trow king Harry was his Eme He regnyd here XUIII yere And to Feuersham in Kent men him bere He deyed without issue truly Then regnyd his cosin Harry Stephen was a most worthy Souldier saith one and wanted nothing to haue made him an excellent king but a iust title but that was wanting The whiche he found whyles he was liuing so And reigned here in much trouble and wo. And had this Realme without any ryght Fro th'emprise Maude that faire Lady bryght And this was the cause that he was driuen perforce to defend his vsurâ—ped authoritie by the sword which must needs procure him the hatred of many who thus speake of him in old English King Stephen his luthenesse withdrew yers a fewe But er Uyer were goo he ganne to wex a shrewe For he wende aboute and robbyd the lond and to grownd broght Then the toune of Wyrcester he brent all to noght But to conclude with the words of a late writer This Stephen was a man so continually in motion saith he that we cannot take his dimension but onely in passing and that but on one side which was warre on the other we neuer saw but a glaunce on him which yet for the most part was such as shewed him to be a very worthy Prince for the gouernment Hee kept his word with the State concerning the relieuement of Tributes and neuer had Subsidy that we finde But which is more remarkable hauing his sword continually out and so many defections and rebellions against him hee neuer put any great man to death Besides it is noted that notwithstanding all these miseries of war there were more Abbeyes built in his raigne then in an 100. yeares before which shewes though the times were bad they were not impious the king himselfe being mente piissimus as he was miles egregius His body rested here in quietnesse vntill the dissolution when for the gaine of the lead wherein it was encoffined it was taken vp and throwne into the next water So vncertaine is man yea greatest Princes of any rest in this world euen after buriall Here sometime likewise lay interred Maud his wife the daughter of Eustace Earle of Bulloigne the brother of Godfrey and Baldwin of Bulloigne kings of Ierusalem by her mother Mary sister to Maud Queene of England wife of Henry her predecessour who dyed at Heueningham Castle in Essex the third of May 1151. Whose Epitaph I found in a namelesse Manuscript Anno milleno C. quinquagenoque primo Quo sua non minuit sed sibi nostra tulit Mâ—thildis selix coniux Stephani quoque Regis Occidit insignis moribus et titulis Cultrix vera Dei cultrix et pauperiei Hic subnixa Deo quo frueretur eo Femina si qua Polos conscendere queque meretur Angelicis manibus diua hec Regina tenetur Eustace the sonne and heire apparant of Stephen and Queene Maud liued not long after his mother for being highly displeased with the agreement betwixt his father and Henry Fitzempresse afterwards king of England by which he was made hopelesse euer to haue the Crowne as his fathers Successour in a fury he departed the Court purposing to raise himselfe by his owne meanes and so marched along destroying the countrey alwayes as he went vntill he came to Saint Edmundsbury where he was honourably receiued of the Monkes of that Monastery But hee came not for meat but money and thereupon vngratefully vrged them for a great summe to set forward his heady designes yet the wiser amongst them vnwilling to be wagers of new warres which though ill for all sorts yet proued euer worst for the Clargie mens possessions denyed his request Wherewith eâ—raged be commanded his owne men to carry their corne and other prouision into his owne Castle situated hard by But being set at dinner the very first morsell he put into his mouth draue him into a Frensie whereof shortly after he dyed His body was brought to this Abbey and here interred by his mother His death happened the tenth day of August 1152. He was married to Constance sister of Lewis the seuenth king of France daughter of king Lewis the Grosse by whom he had no issue In this Abbey saith Robert of Glocester is a pece of ye hely croys which Godfrey Boylon forkyndred had sent to king Stephene Tunstall Hic iacet Margareta filia Iacobi Cromer militis vxor Iohannis Rycils heredis de Elsingham .... qui obiit ... 1496. Sittingborne Here lyeth Iohn Crowmer Esquire and Ione his wife who died Ann. Dom. 1539 .... on whose soules A family of knightly descent and ample reuenues one of which house called William Crowmer Esquire sonne of Sir William Lord Maior of London high Shiriffe of Kent in the fury of Iack Cade and the Kentish and Essex rebells was sacrificed at Mile-end and cut shorter by the head like as the day before they had serued Sir Iames Fienes Lord Say and Sele and Treasurer of England in Cheape-side whose onely daughter this Crowmer had married Whose heads giue me leaue to go a little further pitched vpon high poles were carried by the villaines through the Citie of London who caused their trunklesse faces in spight and mockerie to kisse one the other at euery street-corner as they marched along in this their damnable triumph and
Iordan Briset hauing first founded the Priory of Nunnes here by Clerkenwell as aforesaid bought of the said Nunnes ten Acres of ground giuing them for the said ten Acres twenty Acres of land in his Lordship of Willinghale or Wellinghall in Kent Vpon which ground lying neare vnto the said Priory hee laid the foundation of a religious structure for the knights Hospitalers of S. Iohn of Ierusalem These following are the words out of the Register booke of the Deedes of the said house written by one Iohn Stilling-fleete a brother of the house circa ann 1434. to the end that their benefactors names being knowne they may be daily remembred in their prayers Iordanus Briset Baro tempore regis Hen. primi circa an Dom. 110. fundauit domum ac Hospitale S. Iohns de Clerkenwel Hic etiam erat Fundator domus Monialium de Clerkenwel ac ab eis emit decem acras terre super quas dictum Hospitale ac domum fundauit pro illis decem acris terre dedit illis Monialibus viginti acras terre in Dominico suo de Willinghale in com Cant. c. In ye yere of Criste as I haue the words out of an old Mss 1185. ye vj. Ides of Merche ye dominical lettre being F ye Chyrche of ye Hospitall of S Iohns Ierusalem was dedicatyd to ye honor of S. Iohn Baptiste by ye worschypfull fader Araclius Patriarke of ye resurrection of Christe ye sam dey was dedycatyd ye hygh Altrâ— and ye Altre of S. Iohn Euangelist by ye sam Patryarke The said Heraclius in the same yeare dedicated the Church of the new Temple as hereafter is spoken Within a short time this Hospitall began to flourish for infinite were the donations of all sorts of people to this Fraternitie as in the Beadroul of their benefactors is specified but aboue all their Benefactors they held themselues most bound to Roger de Mowbray whose liberalitie to their order was so great that by a common consent in their chapiter they made a decree that himselfe might remit and pardon any of the Brotherhood whomsoeuer in case he had trespassed against any of the statutes and ordinances of their order confessing and acknowledging withall his offence and errour And also the knights of this order granted in token of thankefulnesse to Iohn de Mowbray Lord of the Isle of Axholme the successour of the foresaid Roger that himselfe and his successours in euery of their couents assemblies as well in England as beyond seas should be receiued entertained alwaies in the second place next to the King Thus through the bounty both of Princes priuate persons they rose to so high an estate and great riches that after a sort saith Camden they wallowed in wealth for they had about the yeere of our Lord 1240. within christendome nineteene thousand Lordships or Manours like as the Templars nine thousand the reuenewes and rents whereof fell afterwards also to these Hospitallers And this estate of theirs growne to so great an height made way for them to as great honours so as the Priore of this house was reputed the prime Baron of the land being able with fulnesse abundance of all things to maintaine an honourable port And thus they flourished for many yeeres in Lordly pompe vntill a Parliament begun the 18. of April 1540. Anno 32. Henry 8. their corporation was vtterly dissolued the King allowing to euery one of them onely a certaine annuall pension during their liues as you may reade in the Annals of England The value of this foundation in the Kings bookes was 3385 l. 19 s. 8 d. of ancient yeerely rent This Priory Church and house was preserued from spoile or downe pulling so long as Henry the 8 raigned but in the 3 of King Ed. the sixt the Church for the most part with the great Bell-tower a most curious piece of workemanship grauen gilt and enameld to the great beautifying of the Citie saith Stow was vndermined and blowne vp with Gun-powder the stone whereof was imployed in building of the Lord Protectors house in in the Strand The Charter-house Sir Walter Manny Knight of the Garter Lord of the towne of Manny in the Dioces of Cambrey beyond the seas in that raging pestilence in the 23 of King Ed. the 3. when Churches Church-yards in London might not suffice to bury the dead purchased a piece of ground in this place called Spitle croft containing 13 acres and a Rodd and caused the same to bee enclosed for burials and dedicated by Raph Stratford Bishop of London in which place and in the same yeere more then 50000 persons were buried in regard of such a multitude here interred he caused a Chappell here to be builded wherein Offerings were made and Masses said for the soules of so many Christians departed And afterwards about the yeere 1371. he caused here to be founded an house of Carthusian Monkes which he called the Salutation which house at the dissolution was valued to be yeerely worth sixe hundred forty two pounds foure pence halfe penny Iohn Stow saith that he had read this Inscription following fixed on a stone crosse sometime standing in the Charter-house Church yard Anno Domini M. ccc.xl.ix Regnante magna pestilentia consecratum fuit hoc Cemiterium in quo infra septa presentis Monasterij sepulta fuerunt mortuorum Corpora plusquam quinquaginta millia preter alia multa abhinc vsque ad presens quorum animabus propitietur Deus Amen This inscription vpon the foresaid Stone Crosse as also the relation before was taken out from the words of his charter the substance whereof followeth Walterus Dns. de Many c. cum nuper pestilentia esset tam grandis viâ—lenta in ciuitate London quod Cemiteria Ecclesiae ciuitatis non possunt sufficere pro sepultura a personarum in eadem pestilentia discedentia nos moti pietate habentes respectum c. Purchased 13. acres of land without Smithfield Barres in a place called Spitle croft and now called new Church-Haw for the buriall of the persons aforesaid and haue caused the place to be blessed by Raph then Bishop of London in which place plus quam Quinquaginta millia personarum de dicta pestilentia morientium sepulti fuere And there for our Ladies sake wee founded a Chappel of the holy order of the Cartusians made there a Monastery by consent of the Prior or Cartuse Maior in Sauoy c. for the health of King Edward the third and Dame Margaret his wife Hijs Testibus Iohn Hastings of Penbroke Humfrey Bohun of Hereford Edmund Mortymer of Marâ—h and William de Monteacuto of Sarum Earles Iohn de Barnes Maior of London William de Walworth and Robert de Gayton Sheriffes Dat apud London 20 Martij Anno Regni Reg. Ed. 3.45 Sir Walter Manny or de Manie the foresaid Founder was buried here in his owne Church who deceased in the same yeere that he
of England who went with him into the holy land in which voyage her husband was stabbed with a poysoned dagger by a Sarazen the rankled wound whereof was iudged incurable by his Physitians yet shee daily and nightly sucked out the ranke poison and so by aduenturing her owne saued her husbands life She was the onely daughter of Ferdinando the third King of Castile and Leons she died at Herdby in Lincolnshire 29 Nouember 1290. hauing beene King Edwards wife 36 yeares who erected to her honour those Crosses as Statues at Lincolne Grantham Stanford Geddington Northampton Stony Stratford Dunstable now destroyed Saint Albans Waltham and Westminster called Charing-Crosse all adorned with the armes of Castile Leon and the Earldome or Countie of Ponthieu which by her right was annexed to the Crowne of England Moreouer the said King Edward so ardent was his affection to the memory of his deceased Eleanor gaue twelue Mannors Lordships and Hamlets to Walter then Abbot of Westminster and his successors for euer for the keeping of yeerely Obits for his said Queene and for money that should be geeuen to the poore that came to the solemnization of the same Her Epitaph Nobilis Hispani iacet hic soror inclita Regis Eximij consors Eleanora thori Edwardi primi Wallorum principis vxor Cui pater Henricus tertius Anglus erat Hanc ille vxorem gnato petit omine princeps Legati munus suscipit ipse bono Alfonso Fratri placuit felix Hymeneus Germanam Edwardo nec sine dote dedit Dos preclara fuit nec tali indigna marito Pontino Princeps munere diues erat Femina consilio prudens pia prole beata Auxit amicitijs auxit honore virum Disce mori Here lieth gloriously entombed the most mighty Monarch that euer ware the Crowne of England who conquered Calis recouered Aquitaine and Normandy tooke Iohn King of France and Dauid King of Scots prisoners added the armes and title of France to his owne declaring his claime in this kind of verse thus Rex sum regnorum bina ratione duorum Anglorum Regno sum Rex ego iure paterno Matris iure quidem Francorum nuncupor idem Hinc est Armorum variatio facta meorum To which the French answered scornefully in verses to the same temper but some what touching Edward with ill grounded vanitie pretending right to the Crown of France by Queen Isabell his mother before whom if Daughters should succeed in the sacred Lillies of France her eldest Sister must march Madam Margaret of France wife to Ferdinand fourth of that name King of Castille Praedo Regnorum qui diceris esse duorum Francorum Regno priuaberis atque Paterno Matris vbique nullum Ius Broles non habet vllum Iure Mariti carens alia est Mulier prior illa Succedunt Mares huic Regno non Mulieres Hinc est Armorum variatio stulta tuorum He excelled his Ancestors also in the victorious valour of his children in their obedience to him and loue among themselues and one of his greatest felicities was that he had a Lady to his wife the fruitfull mother of a faire issue of such excellent vertue and gouernement as that then King Edwards Fortunes seemed to fall into Eclipse when she was hidden in her Sepulchre He was the sonne of Edward the second by Isabel daughter to Philip the Faire King of France his father being amoued from the kingdomes gouernement against whom he had no guilty thought he was by publike Sanction thereupon established in the royall Throne being of the age of fourteene yeeres and when he had raigned 50 yeeres died at his Manor of Shine Iune 21. 1377. these verses are annexed to his monument Hic decus Anglorum flos Regum preteritorum Forma futurorum Rex clemens pax populorum Tertius Edwardus regni complens Iubileum Inuictus Pardus pollens bellis Machabeum Tertius Edwardus Fama super ethera notus pugna pro patria Foure of these verses are thus translated by Speed in his History of the said King where vpon the words Pollens bellis Machabeum he giues this marginall note as followeth He meanes saith he more able in battaile then Machabeus you must beare with the breaking of Priscians head for it is written of a King that vsed to breake many Here Englands grace the flower of Princes past Patterne of future Edward the third is plaste Milde Monarch Subiects peace warres Machabee Victorious Pard his raigne a Iubilee Take with you if you please another translation of these Meters by one who liued neerer to those times Of English kynges here lyth the beauteous floure Of all before passed and myrrour to them shall sue A mercifull kynge of peace conseruatour The third Edward The deth of whom may rue Alle Englyssh men for he by knyghtehode due Was Lyberd inuict and by feate Marciall To worthy Machabe in vertu peregall Hic erat saith an old Mss. speaking of this King flos mundane militie sub quo militare erat regnare proficisci proficere confligere triumphare Cui iure maternali linea recta descendente Regnum cum corona Francie debetur Pro cuius regni adipiscenda corona que maris euasit pericula quos bellorum deuicit impetus quas Belligerorum struit audacias scriptor enarrare desistit sue relationis veritatem adulationis timens obumbrari velamine Hic vero Edwardus quamuis in hostes terribilis extiterat in subditos tamen mitissimus fuerat et gratiosus pietate et miserecordia omnes pene suos precellens antecessores A late writer saith hee was a Prince the soonest a man and the longest that held so of any we reade he was of personage comely of an euen stature gracefull respectiuely affable and well expressing himselfe A Prince who loued Iustice Order and his people the supreme vertues of a Soueraigne First his loue of Iustice was seene by the many Statutes hee made for the due execution thereof and the most straight-binding oath hee ordained to be ministred vnto his Iudges and Iusticiars the punishment inflicted on them for corruption in their offices causing some to be thrust out and others grieuously fined He bettered also that forme of publique Iustice which his Grandfather first began and which remaines to this day making also excellent Lawes for the same His regard to the obseruation of Order among his people so many Lawes do witnesse as were made to restraine them from Excesses in all kinds His loue to his Subiects was exprest in the often easing of their grieuances and his willingnesse to giue them all faire satisfaction as appeares by the continuall granting of the due obseruation of their Charters in most of his Parliaments And when Ann. Reg. 14. they were iealous vpon his assuming the title of the kingdome of France lest England should thereby come to bee vnder the subiection of that Crowne as being the greater he to cleare them of that doubt