unto the King that there were many Robberies and Rapes and Murthers to the number of an hundred committed within the Realm by Church-men Thomas Becket Doctor of Canon-law was by the King made Lord Chancellor of England Four years after upon the Death of Theobald Becket was made by the King Archbishop of Canterbury Anno 1160. Thirty Teachers come from Germany into England and taught the right use of Baptism and the Lord's Supper c. and were put to Death Then John of Sarum and others taught that the Roman Church was the Whore of Babylon Some were burnt with an hot Iron at Oxford that dissented from the Roman Church The King Commanded that Justice should be executed upon all Men alike in his Courts but Thomas Becket would have the Clergy so offending judged in the Ecclesiastical Court and by Men of their own Coat This Incensed the King against him To retrench these enormities of the Clergy the King called a Parliament at Clarendon near Sarisbury to confirm the Antient Laws and Customs to which Becket with the rest of the Bishops consented and subscribed them but afterwards recanting his own Act renounced the same The same year the King required to have punishment of some misdoings among the Clergy The Archbishop would not permit and when he saw in his judgement the Liberties of the Church trodden under Foot he without the King's knowledge took Ship and intended toward Rome but by a contrary Wind he was brought back Then he was called to account for his Receipts that came to his hand while he was High-Chancellor He appealeth to the See of Rome and under pain of Excommunication forbad both Bishops and Nobles to give Sentence against him seeing he was both their Father and their Judge Nevertheless they without his consent gave Sentence against him Then he seeing himself forsaken of all the other Bishops lifted the Cross which he held in his Hand aloft and went away from the Court and the next day got him over into Flanders and so to the Pope Matthew Paris hath many Letters betwixt the Pope and this King and the King of France and sundry Bishops of France and England for reconciliation betwixt the King and the Archbishop who abode seven years in exile Thomas Becket quarrelled with Roger Archbishop of York for presuming to Crown Henry the King's Son made joint-King in the Life of his Father a priviledge which Becket claimed as proper to him alone He solemnly resigned his Archbishoprick to the Pope as troubled in Conscience that he had formerly took it as illegally from the King and the Pope again restored it to him whereby all scruples in his mind were fully satisfied But afterward by the Mediation of the French King Becket had leave given him to return into England howsoever the King still retained his Temporals in his Hand on weighty considerations namely to shew their distinct Nature from the Spirituals of the Archbishoprick to which alone they Pope could restore him Thomas returning into England Excommunicateth all the Bishops which had been at the Coronation of the young King The King sent and required him to absolve them seeing what was done to them was done for his Cause but Thomas refuseth The next year after he Excommunicated solemnly the Lord Sackvill appointed by the King Vicar of the Church at Canterbury because he did derogate from the rights of the Church to please the King He also Excommunicated one Robert Brook for cutting off an Horses tail that carried Victuals to the Archbishops House The King being then in Normandy grieved very sore before his Servants at the insolent cariage of Thomas Becket This moved Sir Richard Breton Sir Hugh Morvil Sir William Tracey Sir Reginald Fitz-Vrse to return into England and coming to Canterbury they found the Archbishop in Cathedral Church at three a Clock in the After-noon and calling him Traytor to the King they slew him and dashed his Brains upon the floor His last words when he died were I commend my self and God's Cause unto God and to the blessed Mary and to the Saints Patrons of this Church and to St. Denis Here see the lightness of the People for the same Men that detested the pride of that Thomas began to Worship him after his Death Thus they sang of Thomas Becket Tu per Thomae sanguinem quem pro te impendit Fac nos Christe scandere quo Thomas ascendit By the Blood of Thomas which for Thee he did spend Make us O Christ to climb whither Thomas did ascend Multitudes of People flocked to Canterbury yearly especially on his Jubile or each fifty years after his enshrining an hundred thousand of English and Forreigners repaired thither The Revenues of peoples Offerings amounted to more than six hundred pounds a year Before Becket's Death the Cathedral in Canterbury was called Christ-Church it was afterward called the Church of St. Thomas though since by the demolishing of Becket's shrine the Church hath recovered it's Antient name King Henry protested himself innocent from the Death of Thomas Becket yet was he willing to undergo such a penance as the Pope would impose The Pope made him buy his Absolution at a dear rate He enjoyned him to suffer Appeals from England to Rome to quit his Rights and Claim to the Investitures to keep two hundred Men of Armes in pay for the Holy War of which pay the Popes Assignes were to be the Receivers and that in England they should celebrate the Feast of that glorious Martyr St. Thomas of Canterbury The words of the Bull are these We strictly charge you that you solemnly Celebrate every year the Birth-day of the glorious Martyr Thomas sometime Archbishop of Canterbury that is the day of his passion and that by devout Prayers to him you endeavour to merit the remission of your sins To make the satisfaction compleat King Henry passeth from Normandy into England stayeth at Canterbury strippeth himself naked and is whipped by diverse Monks of whom some gave him five lashes some three Concerning which penance Machiavel speaks thus in the first Book of the Hostory of Florence These things were accepted by Henry Le quali cose furono da Enrico accettare et sotto-Messe si à quel giudicio un tanto Reche hoggi un huomo privato si vergognarebbe sottomersi c. Tanto le cose che paiono sono piu da discosto che d'appresse temute and so great a King submitted himself to that judgement to which a private man in our dayes would be ashamed to submit himself Then he exclaimeth So much things that have some shew are more dreaded afar off than near hand Which he saith Because at the same time the Citizens of Rome expelled the Pope out of the City with disgrace scorning his Excommunication This was done in the year of our Lord 1170. as appeareth by these Verses Anno Milleno Centeno Septuageno Anglorum primas corruit ense Thomas In the year 1179. Lewis King of France
the Virgin Mary with Christ in her Armes on the other side curiously and decently guilt and the cause thereof engraven on it in the place where the offence was committed calling the Major of the Town and Cofferers of the Jews to his assistance and till they made and delivered to the Proctors of the University another portable Cross of Silver handsomly guilded with a Spear as large as that carried before the Archbishop to be carryed before the Masters and Scholars of the University in their future processions And because diverse Jewes to prevent it had secretly convayed away their goods to others to enquire diligently after such goods and sell them that the work might be speedily effected before St. Edwards Feast The Money hereupon being levyed of the Jews to make these Crosses and the King being informed that the Marble-cross could not be erected in the place prescribed without damage and prejudice to some Burgesses of Oxford whereupon they purposed to erect it just over against the Jews Synagogue there The King and his Council conceiving that place inconvenient ordered it to be set up within the place of Merton Colledge near the Church and the other portable Cross to be delivered to the Scholars thereof to be kept in their House and carried in Processions of the University as aforesaid Of the Dismes granted to the King by the Pope Parker Antiqu Eccles Britan. p. 194. the King had usually the least share the Pope the Cardinals and Legates swallowing up the greatest part of them as the Learned Archbishop Matthew Parker hath observed Boniface the Military Archbishop of Canterbury died beyond the Seas Anno Dom. 1271. when he had reaped the profits of that See and pillaged that Province twenty six years six moneths and sixteen dayes most of which he spent in Wars and negotiations beyond the Seas and never Preached one Sermon all that time for ought we find That year there was so great an inundation of Rain at Canterbury such Lightening and Tempest as had not been seen nor heard for a long time The Thunder was dreadful and continued a whole day and night and such an inundation of Water followed that it overthrew Stones Vines and Trees Cattel were drowned and much Corn spoiled and the City was so over-flown that Men nor Horses could pass After this Flood there followed a great Famine and the Plague swept away many in the City and Countrey round about Mr. Fox relates That a little before King Henry's death there fell out a controversie between the Monks and Citizens of Norwich about certain Tallages and Liberties that after much altercation and wrangling words the furious rage of the Citizens so much encreased that they set upon the Abbey and Priory and burned both the Church and Bishop's Palace At the last King Henry calling for certain of his Lords and Barons sent them to Norwich that they might punish and see Execution done on the chiefest Malefactors some of them were condemned and burnt and some were drawn by the heeles with Horses through the Streets of the City and so in much misery ended their lives King Henry having in his company the Bishop of Roâ—hester and the Earl of Glocester followed his Justice Thomas Trivet to Norwich The Bishop having Excommunicated all who consented to this wickedness and the Judge Executed the nocent the King condemned the Town in three thousand Marks of Silver to be paid by a day toward the repairing of the Church so burnt and also to pay one hundred pounds in Silver toward the repair of a Cup arising to twenty pounds in Gold He returning thence towards London fell grievously sick at the Abbey of St. Edmonds in Suffolk where after he had in a Religious manner acknowledged his sins he rendered up the same to his Redeemer when he had reigned fifty six years and twenty dayes A Prince writes Speed whose devotion was greater than his discretion as we see in permitting the depredation of himself and his whole Kingdom by Papal overswayings After the Death and Funeral of King Henry who was Buried at Westminster Church Founded and almost finished by him Prince Edward his Son being at that time in the holy Land where he obtained many notable Victories against the Saracens Who thereupon suborned an Assassinate to kill him under pretext of delivering a Message to him from the Soldan of Babylon who stabbed him into the Body with a poisoned Knife Thomas Walsingham Matth. Westm to the hazard of his Life his Nobles notwithstanding his remote absence were so Loyal as to Proclaim him King and Swear Fealty and Allegiance to him as their Sovereign Lord. They sent out Writs whereby they Proclaimed the King's peace They first of them were directed to all the Sheriffs of England to Proclaim in their respective Counâ—ies the other to the King 's chief Justice of Ireland to be there Proclaimed who with others was authorized likewise to receive the Fealty as well of all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Clergy as Nobles and other Lay-subjects in Ireland due unto him as their King and Sovereign Lord. In the third year of this King's Reign Walter de Merton Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of England finished the Colledge of his own Name in Oxford This Walter de Merton was one of the Guardians of the Realm in the King's absence A Writ was issued to Lewellin Prince of Wales requiring an Oath of Fealty from him to King Edward as his Sovereign Lord and two Abbots thereby made Commissioners to receive his Oath who refused to appear or give any answer to them The Abbots made a special return of their proceedings therein to the Lord Chancellor The first thing this King and his Council did was to make a publick Declaration and Protestation against Pope Clement the fifth his late Usurpation who a little before King Henry his death had by his Papal Provisions conferred the Bishoprick of Winton on John dâ— Pontissera and the Archbishoprick of Canterbury upon Robert Kilwardby without the King 's precedent License or Monks Election rejecting William de Chilenden duly Elected by the Monks of Canterbury by King Henry's License that so he might Usurp the disposal of all other Bishopricks by these and other former like Presidents After the death of Pope Clement the fourth the See of Rome continuing void for two years and ten moneths by reason of the Cardinals discord about a Successor at last they Elected Theobald Archdeacon of Leige Pope who was with King Edward the first in the holy Land of him these two Verses were made Papatum munus tenet Archidiaconus unus Quem Patrem Patrum fecit discordia fratrum Prince Edward in his return from the holy Land repaired to this new Pope's Court his late Chaplain and fellow-souldier who at his request Excommunicated the Murderers of his kinsman Henry Son and heir to the King of Germany at Viterbium and disinherited some of them by his Imperious Decree till they should come personally to
King Witness the Sermon preached by him at Oxford before the Queen then in hostile pursuit against her Husband taking for his Text the words of the Son of the sick Shunamite my Head my Head Thence he urged That a bad King the distempered Head of a State is past cure His writing was worse than his preaching for when such Agents set to keep King Edward in Berkley-castle were by secret order from Roger Mortimer commanded to kill him they by Letters addressed themselves for advice to this Bishop then not far off at Hereford craving his counsel what they should do in so difficult and dangerous a matter He returned unto them a ridling Answer unpointed which carried in it Life and Death yea Life or Death as variously construed Life and Death To kill King Edward you need not to fear it is good Life To kill King Edward you need not to fear it is good Death To kill King Edward you need not to fear it is good The Body of King Edward without any Funeral Pomp was buried among the Benedictines in their Abbey at Glocester Edward of Windsor called King Edward the Third being scarce fifteen years of age took the beginning of his Reign on January the twentieth his Throne was established upon his Fathers ruine Anno 1327. Upon Candlemas-day he received the Order of Knighthood by the hands of the Earl of Lancaster while his deposed Father lived and within five dayes after he was Crowned at Westminster by Walter Archbishop of Canterbury Twelve men were appointed to manage the Affairs of the Kingdom during the King's minority the Archbishop's of Canterbury and York the Bishops of Winchester Hereford and Worcester Thomas Brotherton Earl Marshal Edmond Earl of Kent John Earl Warren Thomas Lord Wake Henry Lord Piercy Oliver Lord Ingham and John Lord Ross but the Queen and Roger Lord Mortimer usurped this charge Adam Tarlton was accused of Treason in the beginning of the Reign of this King and arraigned by the King's Officers when in the presence of the King he thus boldly uttered himself My Lord the King with all due respect unto your Majesty I Adam an humble Minister and Member of the Church of God and a consecrated Bishop though unworthy neither can nor ought to answer unto so hard Questions without the connivance and consent of my Lord Archbishop of Canterbury my immediate Judge under the Pope and without the consent of other Bishops who are my Peers Three Archbishops were there present in the place Canterbury York and Dublin by whose Intercession Tarlton escaped at that time Not long after he was arraigned again at the King's Bench whereupon the foresaid Archbishops set up their Crosses and with ten Bishops more attended with a numerous Train of well-weaponed Servants advanced to the place of Judicature The King's Officers frighted at the sight fled away leaving Bishop Tarlton the prisoner alone at the Bar whom the Archbishops took home into their own custody denouncing a Curse upon all such who should presume to lay violent hands upon him The King offended hereat caused a jury of Lay-men to be impannelled and to enquire according to form of Law into the Actions of the Bishop of Hereford This was the first time that ever Lay-men passed their verdict upon a Clergy-man These Jurors found the Bishop guilty whereupon the King seized his Temporalties proscribed the the Bishop and despoiled him of all his moveables But afterwards he was reconciled to the King and by the Pope made Bishop of Winchester where he died The former part of this King's Reign affordeth but little Church-history as wholly taken up with his Atchievements in France and Scotland where his success by Sea and Land was to admiration He had both the Kings he fought against viz. John de Valois of France and David King of Scotland his prisoners at one time taken by fair Fight in open Field There was granted to the King of England for these Wars a Fifteenth of the Temporalty a Twelfth of Cities and Boroughs and a Tenth of the Clergy in a Parliament holden at London And afterwards in a Parliament at Northampton there was granted him a Tenth peny of Towns and Boroughs a Fifteenth of others and a Tenth of the Clergy All such Treasure as was committed to Churches throughout England for the holy War was taken out for the King's use in this The next year after all the Goods of three Orders of Monks Lombards Cluniacks and Cicestercians are likewise seized into the King's hands and the like Subsidy as before granted at Nottingham Now the Cavrsines or Lombards did not drive so full a trade as before whereupon they betook themselves to other Merchandise and began to store England with Forreign Commodities but at unreasonable rates whilst England it self had as yet but little and bad Shipping and those less employed About this time the Clergy were very bountiful in contributing to the King's necessities in proportion to their Benefices Hereupon a Survay was exactly taken of all their Glebeland Fuller Church History and the same fairly engrossed in Parchment was returned into the Exchequer where it remaineth at this day and is the most useful Record for Clergy-men and also for Impropriators as under their claim to recover their right It was now complained of as a grand grievance that the Clergy engrossed all places of Judicature in the Land Nothing was left to Lay-men but either Military commands as General Admiral c. or such Judges places as concerned onely the very letter of the Common Law and those also scarcely reserved to the Students thereof As for Ambassies into Forreign parts Noblemen were employed therein when Expence not Experience was required thereunto and Ceremony the substance of the Service otherwise when any difficulty in Civil Law then Clergy-men were ever entertained The Lord Chancellor was ever a Bishop yea that Court generally appeared as a Synod of Divines where the Clerks were Clerks as generally in Orders The same was also true of the Lord Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer Robert Eglesfield Chaplain to Queen Philippa Wife to King Edward the third founded a Colledge on his own ground in Oxford by the name of Queens Colledge and diverse Queens have been nursing Mothers to this Foundation as Queen Philippa Wife to King Edward the third Queen Elizabeth Wife to King Edward the fourth Queen Mary Wife to King Charles and our Virgin Queen Elizabeth In the mean time the Pope bestirred him in England while the King was busied about his Wars in France so that before Livings were actually void he pre-provided Incumbents for them But at last the King looking into it this Statute of Provision was made whereby such forestalling of Livings to Forreigners was forbidden Another cause of the King's displeasure with the Pope was that when the Pope created twelve Cardinals at the request of the King of France he denied to make one at the desire of the King of England The Papal party
notwithstanding this Law of Provision strugled for a time till the King's Power overswayed them Indeed this grievance continued all this and most of the next King's Reign till the Statute of praemunire was made and afterward the Land was cleared from the encumbrance of such provisions Three years after the Statute against the Pope's Provisions was made the King presented unto the Pope Thomas Hatlif to be Bishop of Durham one who was the King's Secretary but one void of all other Episcopal qualifications However the Pope confirmed him and being demanded why he consented to the preferment of so worthless a person he answered that rebus sic stantibus if the King of England had presented an Ass unto him he would have confirmed him in the Bishoprick In this King's Reign were diverse Learned Men in England John Baconthorp a Man of a very low stature of whom one saith Baleus in ejus vita Ingenio magnus Corpore parvus erat His wit was Tall in Body small Coming to Rome he was hissed at in a publick Disputation for the badness forsooth of his Latin and pronunciation but indeed because he opposed the Pope's power in dispensing with Marriages contrary to the Law of God He wrote on the Sentences where he followeth the truth in many things especially he refuteth the subtilties of John Scotus as Baptist Mantuan hath marked Iste tenebrosi damnat vestigia Scoti Et per sacra novis it documenta viis Hunc habeant quibus est sapientia grata redundat Istius in sacris fontibus omne sophos Joh. Bale Cent. 4. Sect. 82. He wrote De dominio Christi where he proveth that the highest Bishop in every Kingdom should be in subjection to Princes Richard Primate of Ireland alias Armachanus was his Disciple and taught the same Doctrine he Translated the Bible into Irish He discovered the hypocrisie of Friers in that though they professed poverty yet they had stately Houses like the Palaces of Princes and more costly Churches than any Cathedral richer Ornaments than all the Princes c. William Ockham an English Man sided with Lewis of Bavaria against the Pope maintaining the Temporal Power above the Spiritual He was forced to fly to the Emperor for his safety He was a Disciple of John Scotus but became Adversary of his Doctrine He was the Author of the Sect of Nominales He was a follower of Pope Nicholas the fourth and therefore was Excommunicated by Pope John This Ockham was Luther's chief School-man who had his Works at his finger's end Robert Holcot was not the meanest among them who died of the Plague at Northampton just as he was reading his Lectures on the seventh of Ecclesiasticus About that time a Book was written in English called The complaint and prayer of a Plough-man The Author of it is said to have been Robert Langland a Priest After a general complaint of the Iniquity of the time the Author wrote zealously against Auricular Confession as contrary to Scripture and profit of the publick and as a device of man against the Simony of selling Pardons against the Pope as the Adversary of Christ He complaineth of the unmarried Priests committing wickedness and by bad example provoking others of Images in Churches as Idolatry of false Pastors which feed upon their flocks and feed them not nor suffer others to feed them He wrote also against Purgatory In this King's Reign were diverse Archbishops of Canterbury I will begin with Simon Mepham made Archbishop in the first year of his Reign John Stratford was the second Consecrated first Bishop of Winchester The third was Thomas Bradwardine Fellow of Merton Colledge in Oxford and afterwards Chancellor of London and commonly called The profound Doctor He had many disputes with the School-men against the errors of Pelagius and reduced all his Lectures into three Books which he entitled De causa Dei He was Confessor to King Edward the third He died a few Months after his Consecration Simon Islip was the fourth he founded Canterbury Colledge in Oxford This Colledge is now swallowed up in Christ-Church Simon Langham is the fifth much meriting by his Munificence to Westminster-Abbey William Witlesee succeeded him famous for freeing the University of Oxford from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln formerly the Diocesan thereof Simon Sudbury was the last Archbishop of Canterbury in this King's Reign In his Reign also flourished Nicholas Trivet a black Frier born in Norfolk who wrote two Histories and a Book of Annals Richard Stradley born in the Marches of Wales a Monk and a Divine who wrote diverse excellent Treatises of the Scriptures William Herbert a Welchman who wrote many good Treatises in Divinity Thomas Wallis Sir Rich. Baker's Chron. a Dominican Frier and a writer of many excellent Books Walter Burley a Doctor in Divinity who wrote many choise Treatises in Natural and Moral Philosophy Roger a Monk of Chester and an Historiographer John Burgh a Monk who wrote an History and also diverse Homilies Richard Aungervil Bishop of Durham and Lord Chancellor of England Richard Chichester a Monk of Westminster who wrote a good Chronicle from the year 449. to the year 1348. Matthew Westminster who wrote the Book called Flores Historiarum Henry Knighton who wrote an History entitled De gestis Anglorum John Mandevil Knight Doctor of Physick a great Traveller and Sir Geoffry Chaucer the Homer of our Nation About the fortieth year of his Reign there was a Priest in England called William Wickham who was great with King Edward so that all things were done by him who was made Bishop of Winchester Towards the latter end of this King's Reign arose John Wickliff a Learned Divine of Oxford who did great service to the Church in promoting Reformation and in opposing Papal power for he wrote sharply against the Pope's authority the Church of Rome and diverse of their Religious Orders Certain Divines and Masters of the University entertained his Doctrine viz. Robert Rigges Chancellor of the University together with the two Proctors and many others He not onely Preached this Doctrine in Oxford but also more publickly in London At the Court before the King himself the Prince of Wales his Son John Duke of Lancaster the Lord Clifford the Lord Latimer and others likewise the Lord Montacute who defaced Images throughout all his Jurisdiction and John Earl of Sarum who at the point of death refused the Popish Sacrament with diverse others of the chiefest Nobility the Major of London with diverse other worthy Citizens who many times disturbed the Bishop's Officers who were called for the suppressing of Wickliff This Man being much encouraged by the Duke of Lancaster and Sir Henry Piercy Marshall went from Church to Church Preaching his Opinions and spreading his Doctrine whereupon he is cited to answer before the Archbishop the Bishop of London and others in St. Paul's London At the day appointed the Duke of Lancaster and the Lord Marshall go to conduct
of one John Wraw a lewd Priest These destroyed the Houses of the Lawyers they beheaded Sir John Cavendish the Lord Chief Justice of England and set his Head upon the Pillory in St. Edmunds-bury Then Henry Spencer the valiant â—ishop of Norwich gathered together a great number of Men Armed with which he set upon the Rebels discomfited them and took John Littester and their other Chieftaines whom he caused all to be Executed and by this means the Countrey was quieted Jack Straw John Kirkby Alane Tredder and John Sterling lost their Heads Wat Tyler was slain by William Walworth Lord Mayor of London These had to their Chaplain a wicked Priest called John Ball Stowes Chro. in Rich. 2. who counselled them to destroy all the Nobility and Clergy so that there should be no Bishop in England but one Archbishop which should be himself and that there should nor be above two Religious persons in one house and their possessions should be divided among the Lay-men for the which Doctrine they held him as a Prophet But he was executed at St. Albans William Wickham about this time finished his beautiful Colledge in Oxford called new Colledge which giveth the Armes of Wickham viz. two Cheverons betwixt three Roses each Cheveron alluding to two beams fastned together called couples in building to speak his skill in Architecture There is maintained therein a Warden seventy Fellows and Scholars ten Chaplains three Clerks one Organist sixteen Choristers besides Officers and Servants of the Foundation with other Students being in all one hundred thirty five Within few years after the same Bishop finished the Colledge at Winchester wherein he established one Warden ten Fellows two Schoolmasters and seventy Scholars with Officers and Servants which are all maintained at his charge out of which School he ordained should be chosen the best Scholars always to supply the vacant places of the Fellows of this Colledge Anno 1391. There was a Synod in England which because many were vexed for causes which could not be known at Rome ordained That the authority of the Pope of Rome should stretch no farther than to the Ocean Sea and that who so Appealed to Rome besides Excommunication should be punished with loss of all their goods and with perpetual imprisonment Then came the Parliament wherein was Enacted the Statute called the Statute of Praemunire The Statute of Praemunire which gave such a blow to the Church of Rome that it never recovered it self in this Land The Statute of Mortmain put the Pope into a sweat but this put him into a Fever That concerned him onely in the Abbies his darlings this touched him in his person About this time died that faithful Learned and aged Servant of God John de Trevisa born at Crocadon in Cornwal a Secular Priest and Vicar of Berkley painful in Translating the Old and New Testament into English with other great Books The History of William Swinderby Priest in the Diocess of Lincoln whereunto he was forced by the Friars the Process of John Tresnant Bishop of Hereford into whose Diocess he removed had against him in the cause of Heretical pravity as the Papists call it the Articles that were exhibited against him with his protestation and answer to the same The Process against William Swinderby with his answer and declaration to certain Conclusions the Bishop's sentence against him and his Appeal from the Bishop to the King with the causes thereof together with Swinderby's letter to the Parliament may be read at large in Mr. Fox his Acts and Monuments of the Church Then were there Articles exhibited against Walter Brute of the Diocess of Hereford a Lay-man and Learned touching the cause of Heresie as they called it unto the Bishop of Hereford his examination and answer is also largely described by Mr. Fox Fox in Ric. 2. Then were there two Bulls sent out by Pope Boniface the ninth one against the Lollards another to King Richard the second Queen Anne Wife to King Richard at the same time had the Gospels in English with four Doctors upon the same King Richard wrote a notable Letter to the Pope wherein he sheweth That the election of the Pope was not as before comparing the Popes to the Souldiers that crucified Christ That Secular Princes are to bridle the outrages of the Pope and seemeth to Prophecy of the desolation of the Roman Pope King Richard was not long after deposed and barbarously murdered at Pomfret-castle In the time of the conspiracy against King Richard among all the Bishops onely Thomas Merks Bishop of Carlisle was for him For when the Lords in Parliament nor coâ—â—â—nt to depose King Richard were devising more mischief against him up steps the foresaid Bishop and thus expresseth himself There is no man here worthy to pass his sentence on so great a King as to whom they have obeyed as their lawful Prince full two and twenty years This is the part of Traitors Cut-throats and Thieves None is so wicked none so vile who though he be charged with a manifest crime we should think to condemn before we heard him And you do ye think it equal to pass sentence on a King anointed and Crowned giving him no leave to defend himself How unjust is this But let us consider the matter it self I say nay openly affirm that Henry Duke of Lancaster whom you are pleased to call your King hath most unjustly spoiled Richard as well his Sovereign as ours of his Kingdom More would he have spoken but the Lord Marshal enjoyned him silence and the other Bishops said he discovered having been a Monk more Covent-devotion than Court-discretion in dissenting from his Brethren yet at that time no punishment was imposed upon him But the next year 1400. when some discontented Lord 's arose against King Henry the fourth this Bishop was taken prisoner and judicially arraigned for high Treason for which he was condemned and sent to St. Albans The Pope gave unto him another Bishoprick in Samos a Greek Island But before his translation he died CENT XV. KIng Henry Trassel in vit Henrici IV. the fourth held a Parliament at Westminster during which Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury had convocated a Synod which was held in St. Paul s Church to whom the King sent the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland who declared to the Clergy That they were from the King to acquaint them that the King resolved to confirm all their Priviledges unto them and to joyn with them as they should desire him in the punishment of all Hereticks and opposites to their Religion received for which so doing he craved but their supplications to God for him and his posterity and prosperity of the Kingdom which was by all there present religiously promised In the second year of his Reign King Henry ordained That if any person should obtain from the Bishop of Rome any provision to be exempt from obedience Regular or Ordinary or to have any Office perpetual in
any House of Religion he should incur the pains of Praemunire He also gave authority unto Bishops and their Ordinaries to imprison and fine all Subjects who refuse the Oath ex Officio The Statute made pro Haeretico comburendo In the same Parliament it was ordained That all Lollards that is those who professed the doctrine which Wickliff had taught should be apprehended and if they should remain obstinate they should be delivered to the Bishop of the Diocess and by him unto the secular Magistrate to be burnt This Act was the first in this Island for burning in case of Religion and began to be put in execution Anno 1401. The first on whom his cruel Law was hanselled was William Sautre formerly Parish-priest of St. Margaret in the Town of Lyn but since of St. Osith in the City of London It seemeth he had formerly abjured those Articles for which he suffered death before the Bishop of Norwich Therefore he was first adjudged to be degraded and deposed which was in order as followeth From the Order of 1. Priest 2. Deacon 3. Subdeacon 4. Acolyte 5. Exorcist 6. Reader 7. Sexton by taking from him 1. The Patin Chalice and plucking the Chasule from his Back 2. The New Testament and the Stole 3. The Alb and the Maniple 4. The Candlestick Taper Vrceolum 5. The Book of Constitutions 6. The Book of Church-Legends 7. The Key of the Church-door and Surplice How many steps are required to climb up to the top of Popish Priesthood how many trinkets must be had to compleat a Priest and here we behold them solemnly taken asunder in Sautres degradation And now he no longer Priest but plain Lay-man with the Tonsure on his crown rased away was delivered to the Secular Power with this complement worth the noting Beseeching the Secular Court that they would receive favourably the said William unto them thus recommitted But see their hypocrisie The Popish Bishops at the same time for all their fair language called upon the King to bring him to speedy execution Hereupon the King in Parliament issued out his Warrant to the Mayor and Sheriff of London that the said William being in their custody should be brought forth into some publick place within the liberty of the City and there really to be burnt to the great horrour of his offence and manifest example of other Christians which was done accordingly After this Richard Scroop Archbishop of York with the Lord Moubray Marshall of England gathered together a great company against King Henry in the North Countrey to whom was adjoyned the ayd of the Lord Bardolf and Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland They drew up ten Articles against the said King and fastened them upon the doors of Churches and Monasteries to be read of all men in English The Earl of Northumberland and the Lord Bardolf were slain in the field fighting against the Kings part Anno 1408. But the Archbishop of York and the Lord Moubray were taken and beheaded Anno 1409. Thomas Badby a Tailor was by Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury condemned for the Testimony of the truth He was brought into Smithfield and there being put into an empty barrel was bound with Iron bars fast to a stake and dry wood put to him and so burned Some Professors of the Gospel at that time did shrink back as John Purvey who wrote many Books in defence of Wickliff's Doctrine and among others a Commentary upon the Apocalypse wherein he declareth the Pope of Rome to be that great Antichrist He recanted at Paul's Cross John Edwards Priest revoked at the Green-yard at Norwich Richard Herbert and Emmot Willy of London and John Beck also at London John Seynons of Lincoln-shire revoked at Canterbury Then was William Thorp examined before the Archbishop of Canterbury who rehearsed his belief before the Archbishop afterwards he was committed to close Prison where he was so straitly kept that either he was secretly made away or else there he died by sickness John Ashton also another follower of Wickliff who for the same Doctrine of the Sacrament held by Thorp was committed to close Prison after he was condemned where he continued till his death Philip Rippington was made Bishop of Lincoln who of a Professor became a cruel Persecutor of the Gospel Synods of the Clergy were very frequent in this King's Reign but most of these were but Ecclesiastical meetings for secular Money Sir John Tiptoff made afterwards Earl of Worcester put up a Petition to the Parliament touching Lollards which so wrought on the Lords that they joyned in a Petition to the King that they and every of them be taken and put in Prison without being delivered in Bail or otherwise except by good and sufficient mainprise to be taken before the Chancellor of England c. The Popish Clergy had gained Prince Henry set as a Transcendent by himself in the Petition to their Side entring his youth against the poor Wickliffists and this earnest engaged him to the greater Antipathy against them when possessed of the Crown A Petition was put up in the Parliament That the King might enjoy half of the profits of any Parson's Benefice not resident thereon whereunto the King answered That Ordinaries should do their duties therein or else he would provide further remedy or stay their pluralities The ninth year of the King's Reign the Commons desired of the King That none presented be received by any Ordinary to have any Benefice of any Incumbent for any cause of privation or inhabitation whereof the Process is not founded upon Citation made within the Realm and also that such Incumbents may remain in all their Benefices untill it be proved by due Inquest in the Court of the King that the Citations whereupon such privations and inhabitations are granted were made within the Realm and if such Ordinaries do or have presented or others do present to the contrary that then they and their Procurators c. incur the pain contained in the Statute made against Provisoe's Anno 13. Ric. 2. Also that no Pope's Collector should from thence-forth levy any Money within the Realm for first Fruits of any Ecclesiastical dignity under pain of incurring the Statute of Provisoe's The Commons in the same Parliament put up a Bill to the King to take the Temporalties out of the Hands of the Spiritualty which amounted to three hundred and two and twenty thousand Marks by the year Then came the Cardinal of Burges into England being sent from the Colledge of Cardinals to inform the King and Clergy of the unconstant dealing of Pope Gregory Anno 1409. 〈◊〉 Chro. 〈◊〉 4. After the Feast of the Epiphany the Archbishop of Canterbury Convocated an Assembly of the Clergy at London to chuse meet persons to go to the General Council holden at Pisa whereunto were chosen Robert Holam Bishop of Salisbury Henry Chisely Bishop of St. Davids and Thomas Chillindon Prior of Christ-Church in Canterbury and the King had
my Soul no more than Satan could do to the Soul of Job And as concerning these Articles I will stand to them to the very death by the grace of my eternal God And after a short instruction to the people he fell down upon his Knees holding up his Hands and Eyes to Heaven And prayed God to forgive his Prosecutors The Lord Cobham was condemned to dye being led back to the Tower he escaped out of the Tower and fled into Wales where he continued by the space of four years In January 1414. Sir Roger Acton Knight Mr. John Brown and John Beverley a Minister suffered Martyrdom in the Fields of St. Giles with thirty six more Some say that Sir Roger Acton was hanged naked at Tyburn saving that certain parts of him were covered and after certain dayes a Trumpetter of the King 's called Thomas Cliffe galeave of the King to take him down and bury him The next Month after the Execution of these Men died Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury famished to Death not for want of Food but of a Throat to swallow it such the swelling therein that he could neither speak nor eat for some days After him succeeded Henry Chichely Godwin's Catal of Bish whose mean birth interrupted the chain of Noble Archbishops his two Predecessors and Successors being Earls Sons by Extraction Although many Laws had been made against the Pope's usurped Authority in bestowing Ecclesiastical preferments by way of Provision yet durst not this man consent unto his election made by the Covent of Canterbury but committed the matter unto the Pope's determination who first pronounced the election of the Monks void and then bestowed the Archbishoprick upon him The same year the King began the Foundation of two Monasteries one of the Friars observants on the one side of Thames and the other on the other side of the same River called Shene and Sion dedicated unto the Charter-house Monks with certain Nuns of St. Briget to the number of sixty dwelling within the same precinct so that the whole number of these with Priests Monks Deacons and Nuns should equal the number of thirteen Apostles and seventy two Disciples These were to eat no Flesh to touch no Money to wear no Linnen The King held a Parliament at Leicester in which the Commons put up their Bill again which was put up Anno 11. Henry the fourth that the Temporalties wasted so disorderly by the Clergy might be converted to the use of the King and of his Earls and Knights c. In fear of which Bill the Clergy put him upon a long War with the French offering to him in behalf of the Clergy great and notable sums by reason whereof the Bill was put off again The Archbishop Henry Chichley condemned John Claydon's Books and condemned him and shortly after he was burnt in Smithfield with Richard Turning Baker Anno 1415. The next year the said Archbishop in his Convocation holden at London made sharper Constitutions than were before against the Lollards There two Priests noted for Hereticks were brought before the Bishops the one John Barton the other Robert Chappel Barton was committed to Philip Bishop of Lincoln to be kept in prison till otherwise it were determined Chappel submitted himself and with much ado received pardon and was in stead of penance enjoyned certain Articles to publish at Paul's Cross Then divers persons were forced to abjure as John Tailer of the Parish of St. Maries at Quern William James Physitian who had long lain in prison John Gourdley of Lincoln-shire a learned man John Duerser Katherine Dertford the Parson of Higley in Lincoln-shire named Mr. Robert William Henry of Tenterden John Gaul a Priest of London Richard Monk Vicar of Chesham in Lincoln-shire with divers others During the time of the Provincial Convocation Pope Martin had sent to the Clergy of England for a Subsidy to maintain the Pope's Wars against the Lollards of Bohemia Another Subsidy was demanded to persecute William Clerk Master of Arts in Oxford who sailing out of England was at the Council of Basil disputing on the Bohemians side A third Subsidy was also required to persecute William Russel Warden of the Grey-Friers in London who was fled having escaped out of prison Ralph Mungin Priest refusing to abjure was condemned to perpetual prison The recantation of Thomas Granter and Richard Monk Priests was read openly at Paul s Cross after which Granter was put to seven years imprisonment under the custody of the Bishop of London Edmond Frith recanted who was Butler to Sir John Oldcastle Besides these many other Wicklivites were sore vexed in Kent in the Towns of Romney Tenterden Woodchurch Cranbrook Staplehurst Bennenden and Rolvenden where Men and their Wives and whole Families were driven to forsake their Houses and Towns for fear of persecution Among whom were William White and Thomas Greensted Priests Bartholomew Chronemonger Joan Waddon Joan his Wife Thomas Evernden Stephen Robins William Chineling John Tame John Eacolin William Somer Marian his Wife John Abraham Robert Munden Laurence Cook which persons because they appeared not were excommunicated by the Archbishop The Lord Cobham having lived four years in Wales and being at last discovered was taken by the Lord Powis yet so that it cost some blows and blood to apprehend him till a Woman at last with a stool broke the Lord Cobham's legs whereby being lame he was brought up to London in an Horse-litter At last he was drawn upon an Hurdle to the Gallows and there was hanged and burnt In the ninth year of King Henry the Fifth he suppressed the French Houses of Religious Monks and Friars and such like in England Stow's Chron in Hen. 8. because they spake ill of the King's Conquest over France Their Lands were given by him and King Henry the Sixth to Monasteries and Colledges of learned men King Henry died in France and was brought over and buried at Westminster This King ordained the King of Heraulds over the English which is called Garter In this King's Reign Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincoln founded a Colledge named Lincoln-colledge in Oxford King Henry the sixth an Infant of eight months old succeeded his Father in the Kingdom of England Anno 1422. In the eighth year of his Age he was crowned at Westminster and in the tenth year crowned King at Paris Cardinal Henry Bishop of Winchester being present at them both The Clergy had then a strong party in the Privy Council viz. 1. Henry Chicheley Archbishop of Canterbury 2. John Kemp Bishop of London 3. Henry Beauford Bishop of Winchester lately made Cardinal 4. John Wackaring Bishop of Norwich Privy-seal 5. Philip Morgan Bishop of Worcester 6. Nicholas Bubwith Bishop of Bath and Wells Lord Treasurer In the first year of this King's Reign was burned a faithful Witness of God's Truth William Tailor a Priest under Henry Chichcley Archbishop of Canterbury March 1. Anno 1423. In the year 1424. John Florence a Turner appeared before Will.
Archdeacon of Leicester was also of the same judgment To this also agreed the whole Clergy of the Church of England and subscribed with the hands of the Bishops and other learned Men to the number of forty six Doctors of Divinity and of both Laws Polydor Virgil who being sent into England had been the Pope's Collector General of the Peter-pence exacting them in the notion of a Rent and Tribute due to the Pope his Master was made Archdeacon of Taunton and Dignitary of the Cathedral Church of Wells on the Quire whereof he bestowed Hangings flourished with the Lawrel-tree and wrote upon them Sunt Polydori munera Virgilii He wrote a Latin History of Britain until the year of our Lord 1533. out of many rare Manuscripts which he had collected together Anno 1535. John Fisher Bishop of Rochester was beheaded soon after the Pope had made him Cardinal of St. Vitalis He was Chaplain and Confessor to the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond at whose Instance and by whose advice she founded and endowed Christ's and St. John's Colledge in Cambridge He died in the seventy seventh year of his Age on June 22. Sir Thomas Moor was beheaded the next month after Bishop Fisher and was buried at Chelsey He was a great Enemy to the Protestants On June the eighth began a Parliament which was dissolved on July the eighteenth following A parallel Convocation began the day after wherein the Lord Cromwel Prime Secretary sate in State above all the Bishops as the King's Vicar or Vicegerent General in all Spiritual matters Deformi satis spectaculo saith Bishop Godwin Godwin â— Annals Anno 1536. indocto Laico caetui Praesidente Sacratorum Antistitum omnium quos ante haec tempora Anglia unquam habuisset doctissimorum But the Lord Cromwel had in Power and Policy what he wanted in Learning In that Convocation the said Lord tendered unto them an Instrument to be publickly signed by all the Convocation concerning the nullity of the King's Marriage with the Lady Anna Bolen Some ten dayes before Archbishop Cranmer had pronounced it invalid frustrate and of none effect at Lambeth No particular cause is specified in that sentence Sure I am there is no dashing on the credit of the Lady nor any the least insinuation of unchastity in that Instrument Praeclara Domina Serenissima Regina being the worst Titles that are given her therein King Henry got her Divorce confirmed both by Convocation and Parliament She was beheaded May 19. 1536. The King on the next day was married to the Lady Iane Seymour Soon after by little and little began the ruine of the Abbeys and Religious Houses for all Religious Houses whose possessions in yearly revenue exceeded not the sum of two hundred pounds were suppressed and dissolved and all their Sites and Possessions whatsoever were given for ever to the King The Clergy also at the same time of their own accord and to insinuate themselves into grace and favour with the King composed and published in printed Books certain Articles for the ordering and governing of the Church in which mention was made of three Sacraments only and the rest of them which former times did superstitiously receive and maintain were left out of the said Books These proceedings of the King and Clergy against the Pope and Holy Church were so generally disliked by the rude and ignorant people that they openly affirmed that the King's Council irreligiously directed him amiss and that the temporizing Clergy of the Land practised by all means possible to extinguish all Devotion and utterly to subvert all the ancient Rites Ceremonies and commendable Government of the Church And the unruly people in Lincoln-shire to the number of twenty thousand assembled themselves in Arms taking upon themselves to frame better Orders for the governing of the Church and Common-wealth But the King approaching near them with an Army they ran away and Doctor Mackarel their Ring-leader with some others were shortly after apprehended and executed Then there arose another Insurrection in the Noâ—â—â— and the number of those Rebels exceeded the number of forty thousand men who termed themselves The holy Pilgrims who intended nothing but the establishing of true Religion and the reformation of great abuses which defaced the Government of the Church The King's Army drawing near upon the faithful promise of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk that commanded his Army that the King should pardon them the Rebels left the field and quietly departed to their own houses Now the King waxed more absolute in his Government especially concerning his Clergy and the ordering of the Church William Tindal who translated the New Testament in English and the five Books of Moses with many other godly Works was burned at the Town of Filford in Flaunders by vertue of the Emperors Decree made in the Assembly at Ausburgh He was first strangled and after consumed with fire At the Stake he cried with a loud voice Lord open the King of England 's eyes The King began with a little Book of Articles for the instruction of the people bearing this Title Articles devised by the King's Highness to establish Christian quiet and unity among the people It contained the Creed three Sacramenâ—s Baptism the Eucharist and Penance how Images might safely be worshipped and how Saints departed ought to be reverenced that the Parsons should teach their people that Christ is their only Mediator and how the Ceremonies of holy Water holy Bread Candles c. should without superstition be used It took away also the abuses which arose upon the imagination of Purgatory as Masses for Souls departed Pardons c. Not long after these Articles certain other Injunctions were also given out about the same year whereby a number of Holy-dayes were abrogated especially such as fell in Harvest-time Other Injunctions were also given out by the King concerning Images Relicks and blind Miracles for abrogating of Pilgrimages Also for the Lord's Prayer Creed and ten Commandements and the Bible to be done into English Anno 1538 the Parsons of Churches and the Parishes together were bound to provide in every Parish Church a Bible in English Also for every Parishioner to be taught by the Minister to understand and say the Lord's Prayer and Creed in their own vulgar tongue with other necessary Injunctions as for the free preaching of the Word of God against Images Pilgrimages Avies Suffrages of Saints c. and for a Register-book to be kept in every Church This year was Friar Forrest burned quick hanging in Chains in Smithfield for denying the King's Supremacy with this Forrest was Darvel Gatheren an abominable Idol of Wales burned Great was the King's profit at this time from the Office for the receipt of Tenths and First-fruits The First-fruits Office first set up in London which was now first set up in London Such moneys were formerly paid to the Pope who had his Collectors in every Diocess which sometimes by Bills of Exchange
other Popes did not only forbid the marriage of Cousin-Germans but other degrees farther off thereby to get money for Dispensations This Law came seasonably to comply with King Henry's occasions who had the first-fruits thereof and presently after married Katherine Howard Cousin-german to Anna Bolen his second Wife which by the Canon-law formerly was forbidden without a special Dispensation first obtained In the third Session of the Convocation at St. Paul's several Bishops were assigned to peruse several Books of the Translation of the new Testament Cranmer stickleth for the Universities approbation The Parliament Anno 1544. mitigated the six Articles for it was required that all Offenders should first be found guilty by a Jury of twelve men before they should suffer Anno 1545. began the last Parliament in this King's Reign wherein many things of consequence were enacted 1. Against Usury 2. For Tithes in London 3. For an exchange of Lands betwixt the King's Majesty and Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Holgate Archbishop of York and Edmond Bonner Bishop of London which the King annexed to the Dutchy of Lancaster 4. An Act for union of Churches not exceeding the value of six pounds 5. That Doctors of the Civil Law might exercise Ecclesiastical jurisdiction At this time also by the King's command were the Stews suppressed The Favourers of the truth among the Noblemen were Fox Acts and Monuments the Earl of Suffolk Viscount Beauchamp Viscount Lisle Lord Russel Treasurer Lord Awdley Chancellor Lord Paget and Sadler and Thomas Cranmar Archbishop of Canterhury The Patrons of Popery were the Bishop of Winchester and Durham the Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Southampton Anthony Brown William Pawlet John Baker Richard Chancellor of the Augmentation Winckfield Vice-chancellor Four and twenty were Executed for Traitors in the time of King Henry for the cause of Supremacy Adam Damlip who before had escaped and lay hid in the West-countrey teaching a School about a year or two by the miserable Inquisition of the six Articles was again taken and brought up to London where he was by Stephen Gardiner commanded to the Marshal-sea and after two years space he was Condemned and Executed for Treason One Henry was burnt at Colchester and one Kerby at Ipswich for the Testimony of the Truth In the year 1546. in June Anne Ashcough aliàs Kyme Daughter of Sir William Ashcough of Kelsey in Lincoln-shire of the age of 25. years whose Wit Beauty Learning and Religion procured her much esteem on the Queens side of the Court and as much hatred from the Popish Bishops was burned for the profession of the Truth in Smithfield with three men Nicholas Belevian Priest of Shrop-shire John Lacels Gentleman of the houshold of King Henry the Eighth and John Adams a poor Tailor of London Her several examinations penned by her self are extant in Mr. Fox Then began the troubles of Queen Katherine Parr whom the King had married some two years since She was one of great piety beauty and discretion next to the Bible she studied the King's disposition observing him to her utmost yet sometimes she would presume to discourse with the King about points of Religion defending the Protestant Tenets by Scripture and sometimes would hold up the King very close hard at it This displeased him who loved looseness and liberty in his Clothes Arguments and Actions and was quickly observed by Gardiner and others the Queen's enemies Hereupon Gardiner drew up Articles against her and got them subscribed with the King 's own hand to send her to the Tower But Chancellor Wriothesley put the paper of those Articles in his own bosom which casually fell out was taken up by one of the Queen's Servants and brought to the Queen who on her sickness and submission to the King obtained his Pardon Signed and Sealed unto her with many kisses and embraces And her enemies that came to attach her were sent back with the Taunts and Threats of the enraged King against them King Henry made his Will and died a moneth after and was buried at Windsor After the Death of King Henry succeeded King Edward Sir John Hayward's Hist of K. Edw. 6. his Son being scarce ten years old full of as much Worth as the model of his Age could hold He attained not onely commendable Knowledge but speech in the Greek Spanish and Italian Languages having always great Judgment in measuring his Words by his Matter his Speech being alike both fluent and weighty such as best beseemed a Prince As for Natural Philosophy Logick Musick Astronomy and other Liberal Sciences his perfections were such that the great Italian Philosopher Cardan having tasted him by many Conferences seemed to be astonished between admiration and delight and divulged his abilities to be miraculous These his acquirements by industry were very much enriched and enlarged by many excellent Endowments of nature for in disposition he was mild gratious and pleasant of an heavenly wit in Body beautiful but especially in his Eyes which seemed to have a Starry liveliness and lustre in them Generally he seemed to be as Cardan reported of him A Miracle of Nature Because he was young he was committed to sixteen Governours the Lord Edward Seimour Duke of Sommerset his Unckle was assigned unto him Protector by whose endeavour the six bloody Articles forementioned were abolished This King restored the holy Scriptures in the English Tongue he abolished Masses and such as were banished were received home as John Hooper Miles Coverdale c. He changed most part of the Bishops of Diocesses and compelled dumb Priests to give place to those that would Preach he suppressed Idolatry restored the Gospel and worship of God encouraged Godly Preachers sent for Eminent Men both for Learning and Piety from beyond the Seas to Teach in both Universities viz. Peter Martyr in Oxford and Martin Bucer and Paulus Fagius in Cambridge and was a Refuge to all the Godly that fled for Religion out of other Countries and therefore is called by Melchior Adam Melch. Adam in vit Germ. Theolog. Summae spei Princeps qui omnibus piis doctis Polanis Germanis Gallis Scotis Italis Hispanis hospitium patrocinium dederat A Prince of singular hope who gave protection and entertainment to all Godly and Learned Men Polonians Germans French Scots Italians Spaniards In consideration whereof an eminent Martyr in Queen Maries days in an effectionate Speech of His before a Popish Persecutor cried out Blessed be God for King Edward This King was much enclined to Clemency especially in matters of Blood and most especially if it were for Religion insomuch that albeit he was greatly affected to that Religion wherein he had been brought up yet none were executed in his time for other Religion but onely two blasphemous Hereticks Joan Butcher and George a Dutch-man And when Joan Butcher was to be burned all the Council could not procure him to set his hand to the Warrant wherefore they employed Thomas Cranmer
Commission whence it took the name of the Bishops Bible and by the Queens sole commandment Reprinted Then diverse Proclamations were issued out in the King's name relating to Ecclesiastical matters in the four first years of his Reign among which there was a Proclamation inhibiting Preachers Anno secundo Edwardi sexti whereof this was the occasion Certain Popish Preachers disaffected to the King's Government in their Sermons declared That the King intended to lay strange exactions upon the people To prevent further mischief the King ordered by Proclamation That none should Preach except Licensed under the Seals of the Lord Protector or Archbishop of Canterbury At this time many Popish Pulpits founded the Alarum to Kets Rebellion and the Devon-shire Commotion There was also a Proclamation for the payment of the late Incumbents of Colledges and Chanteries lately dissolved Anno 3. Edwardi sexti A Proclamation also for the Inhibition of Players Aug. 6. The Parliament not long before passed an Act for Election of Bishops and what Seals and styles should be used by Spiritual persons in which it was Ordained That Bishops should be made by the King's Letters Patents and not by the election of the Deans and Chapters That all their Processes and Writings should be made in the King's name onely with the Bishops Teste added to it and sealed with no other Seal but the King 's or such as should be authorized and appointed by him The Intent of the Contrivers of this Act saith Dr. Heylin Hâ—ylin Hist Edw. 6. was to weaken the authority of the Episcopal Order by forcing them from their strong-hold of Divine Institution and making them no other than the King's Ministers onely And of this Act such use was made that the Bishops of those times were not in a capacity of conferring Orders but as they were thereunto impowered by special License The Tenour whereof was if Sanders may be believed in these words following viz. The King to such a Bishop Greeting Where as all and all manner of Jurisdiction as well Ecclesiastical as Civil flows from the King as from the Supreme Head of all the Body c. We therefore give and grant to Thee full Power and License to continue during our good pleasure for holding Ordination within thy Diocess of N. and for promoting fit persons unto holy Orders even to that of the Priesthood Queen Mary caused this Act to be repealed in the first year of her Reign leaving the Bishops to depend on their former Claim and to Act all things which belonged to their Jurisdiction in their own Names and under their own Seals as in former times In which estate they have continued without any legal interruption from that time to this Doctor Nicholas Ridley was promoted to the See of Rochester to which he had been nominated by King Henry the Eighth a man of great Learning and well-studied in the Fathers and an excellent Preacher Doctor Barlow was preferred to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells The Commissioners authorized to take away Images out of Churches were in many places entertained with contempt and railing and the farther they went from London the worse they were handled one of them called Body as he was pulling down Images in Cornwal was stabbed in the body by a Priest Many there were that then cried down all the observations of Days and Times and particularly of keeping Lent complaint whereof being made by Bishop Gardiner in a Letter to the Lord Protector a Proclamation was sent out commanding all people to abstain from Flesh in the time of Lent and the King 's Lenten dyet was set out and served as in former times Hugh Latimer having by the power of Cromwel and his favour with the King been made Bishop of Worcester Anno 1535. continued in that See till on the first of July 1539. he chose rather to resign the same than to have any hand in passing the six Articles then agitated in the Convocation and confirmed by Parliament full eight years he betook himself to the retiredness of a private life On New-years day he Preached his first Sermon at Pauls Cross the first I mean after his re-admission to his former Ministry and two Lords-days after again in the same place and on January 25. such multitudes flocked to hear his Sermon that being to Preach before the King the first Friday in Lent a pulpit was placed in the King 's privy Garden where he might be heard of four times as many Auditors as could have thronged into the Chappel Which as it was the first Sermon that was Preached in that place so afterward a fixed and standing Pulpit was erected for the like occasions especially for Lent-sermons on the Sundays in the Afternoon and hath so continued ever since till these latter times At the return of the King's Commissioners dispatched throughout the Realm to take a Survay of all Colledges Free-chappels Chanteries and Brotherhoods in the first place as lying nearest came in the free Chappel of St. Stephen originally founded in the Palace at Westminster and reckoned for the Chappel Royal of the Court of England The whole Foundation consisted of thirty eight persons viz. one Dean twelve Canons thirteen Vicars four Clerks six Choristers besides a Verger and one that had the charge of the Chappel This Chappel hath been since fitted and employed for an house of Commons in all times of Parliament At the same time also fell the Colledge commonly called St. Martins le Grand near Aldersgate in London the King gave the same with the Liberties and precincts thereof to the Church of Westminster These two St. Stephen's and St. Martin's were the richest of all the rest Then the Lord Protector being unfurnished of a Palace proportionable to his Greatness doubted not to find room enough upon the dissolution of the Bishoprick of Westminster lately erected to raise a Palace equal to his vast designs Which coming to the ears of Benson the last Abbot and first Dean of Westminster he was willing to preserve the whole by parting for the present with more than half of the estate belonging to it And thereupon a Lease is made of seventeen Mannors and good Farmes lying almost altogether in the County of Glocester for the Term of ninety nine years which was presented to the Lord Thomas Seymor to serve as an addition to his Mannor of Sudley Another present of almost as many Mannors lying in the Counties of Glocester Worcester and Hereford was made for the like Term to Sir John Mason for the use of the Lord Protector which after the Duke's fall came to Sir John Bourn principal Secretary of Estate in the time of Queen Mary The Mannor of Islip was also put into the sâ—ale conferred upon that Church by King Edward the Confessor to which two hundred Tenants owed their soile and service and being one of the best wooded things in those parts of the Realm was to be granted also without impeachment of waste as it was
it was Preached at Paul's Cross by one Steven Curate of Katherine Cree-Church That it was fit the names of Churches should be altered and the names of the dayes in the Week changed that Fish-dayes should be altered and the Lent kept at any other time except onely between Shrovetide and Easter John Stow Stow's Chro. Edw. vi saith that he had seen the said Steven to leave the Pulpit and Preach to the People out of an high Elm which stood in the midst of the Church-yard and that being done to return into the Church again The wings of Episcopal Authority had been so clipped that it was scarce able to fly abroad the sentence of Excommunication had not been in use since the first year of this King which occasioned not onely these disorders among the Ministers of the Church but also tended to the great encrease of vitiousness in all sorts of men So that it was not without cause that it was called for so earnestly by Bishop Latimer in a Sermon Preached before the King Bring into the Church of England saith he the open Discipline of Excommunication that open sinners may be stricken withal Then upon the Complaint of Calvin to Archbishop Cranmer and Peter Martyr's bemoaning the miserable condition of the Church for want of Preachers it was ordained by the advice of the Lords of the Council that of the King 's six Chaplains which attended in Ordinary two of them should be always about the Court and the other four should travel in Preaching abroad About this time Sermons at Court were encreased also Then followed the taking down of Altars by publick Authority This being resolved on a Letter cometh to Bishop Ridley in the name of the King subscribed by Sommerset and other of the Lords of the Council concerning the taking down of Altars and setting up Tables in the stead thereof He appointed the form of a right Table to be used in his Diocess and caused the wall standing on the back-side of the Altar in the Church of S. Paul's to be broken down for an example to the rest No universal change of Altars was there into Tables in all parts of the Realm till the repealing of the first Liturgy in which the Priest is appointed to stand before the midst of the Altar in the Celebration and the establishing of the second in which it is required that the Priest shall stand on the North-side of the Table had put an end to the Dispute About this time David's Psalms were Translated into English metre by Thomas Sternhold Esq and of the Privy Chamber to King Edward the sixth John Hopkins Robert Wisdom c. and generally permitted to be Sung in all Churches Bishop Gardiner having been a Prisoner in the Tower almost two years the Lord Treasurer the Earl of Warwick and some others are sent with certain Articles Signed by the King and Lords of the Council unto him According to the tenour hereof he is not only to testifie his consent to the establishing the Holy-dayes and Fasting-days by the King's Authority the allowance of the publick Liturgy and the abrogating of the Statute for the six Articles but to subscribe the confession of his fault in his former obstinacy after such form and manner as was there required To which Articles he subscribed but refused to put his hand to the said Confession Then a Book of Articles is drawn up containing all the alteration made by the King and his Father as well by Act of Parliament as their own injunctions of all which doings he is required to signifie his approbation to make Confession of his fault with an acknowledgment that he had deserved the punishment which was laid upon upon him but no such submission and acknowledgment being made as was required on Feb. 14. 1550. he was deprived and so remitted to the Tower Notwithstanding this severity yet some of the Bishops were so stiff in their old opinions that neither terrour nor perswasions could prevail upon them either to approve of the King's proceedings or otherwise to advance the King's commands And some complyed so coldly with the King's commands as that they were laid open to the spoil though not to the loss of their Bishopricks of which last sort were Kitching Bishop of Landaff Salcot Bishop of Salisbury and Sampson of Coventry and Lichfield Heylin Hist Edw. vi Heath of Worcester Voysie of Exeter Day of Chichester and Tonstal of Durham would not any way comply Voisy made such havock of his Lands before he was brought under a deprivation that he left but seven or eight of the worst mannours and those let out into long Leases and those charged with pensions and not above two houses both bare and naked He was deprived a few moneths after Gardiner but lived to be restored again as Gardiner also was in the time of Queen Mary Day and Heath were both deprived October 10. and were both restored in Queen Maries Reign Tunstal was cast into the Tower December 20. and was there kept until the dissolution of his Bishoprick by Act of Parliament To Gardiner in the See of Winchester succeeded Doctor John Poynet Bishop of Rochester To Voisy in the See of Exeter succeeded Doctor Miles Coverdale one who had formerly assisted Tyndal in translating the Bible into English and for the most part lived at Tubing an University belonging to the Duke of Saxony where he received the degree of Doctor Scory being Consecrated Bishop of Rochester in the place of Poynet on the thirtieth of August in the next year following succeeded Day of Chichester Of which Bishoprick he was deprived in the time of Queen Mary and afterwards preferred by Queen Elizabeth to the See of Hereford in which place he died The Bishoprick of Worcester was given in Commendam to Bishop Hooper The Princess Mary having been bred up in the Romish Religion would not change her mind And although the King and the Lords of his Council wrote many Letters to her to take off those affections which she bear to the Church of Rome yet she keeps up her Mass with all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging to it and suffers divers persons besides her own domestick Servants to be present at it By the Emperor's mediation her Chaplains were permitted to celebrate the Mass but with this Restriction that they should do it in her presence only For the transgression of which bounds Mallet and Barkley her two Chaplains were imprisoned Then a Plot is laid to convey the Princess Mary out of the Realm by stealth but the King being secretly advertised of the design puts a stop thereunto She is brought to the King and appointed to remain with him but none of her Chaplains permitted to have any access unto her And notwithstanding the mediation of the Emperor in her behalf and his threatening War in case she were not permitted the free exercise of her Religion and although the Lords of the Council generally seemed very inclinable thereunto yet the
Farmingham consisting of fourteen thousand men and prepared for her journey toward London Being met on the way by the Princess Elizabeth her Sister attended with a thousand Horse she entred London on the third of August Taking possession of the Tower she was first welcommed thither by Thomas the old Duke of Norfolk Anne Dutchess of Sommerset Edward Lord Courtney eldest Son to the late Marquess of Exceter and Dr. Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester all which she lifted from the ground called them her Prisoners gratiously kissing them and restoring them shortly after to their former liberty Taking the Great Seal from Dr. Goodrick Bishop of Ely within two days after she gave it for the present to Sir Nicholas Hare whom she made Master of the Rolls and afterwards committed it together with the Title of Lord Chancellor to the said Bishop of Winchester then actually restored to that See Having performed the obsequies of her Brother on the ninth and tenth she removes her Court to Whitehal on September she passeth thence to the Tower by Water attended by her Sister and a great Train of Noble Ladies and made her return through the principal Streets of the same City on the last of the same moneth in a most stately manner and the next day proceeded in like pomp to the Abbey-Church at Westminster where she was met by the Silver Crosses Dr. P. Heylins History of Queen Mary and eighty Singing-men all in rich Coaps so sudden a recruit was made of these sacred Vestments among whom went the new Dean of Westminster Dr. Weston and diverse Chaplains of her own each of them bearing in their hand some ensign or other After them marched ten Bishops which were all as remained of her perswasion with their Miters rich Coaps and Crosier-staves The Sermon was preached by Doctor Day whom she had restored to the See of Chichester The solemnity of the Coronation was performed by the Bishop of Winchester the new Lord Chancellor Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury being then committed to the Tower Till this time none was more dear to her than her Sister the Lady Elizabeth but after her Coronation she estranged her self from her She preferred Henry Ratcliff Earl of Sussex to the society of the Garter which honour she conferred on his Son Thomas after his decease and to be covered in her presence at all times and places according to the custom of the Grandees in the Realm of Spain She also advanced the Earl of Arundel to the Office of Lord Steward She made Sir Edward Hastings Master of the Horse and Knight of the Carter and afterwards Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold and Lord Hastings of Loughborough She honoured Sir John Williams with the Title of Lord Williams of Thame She preferred Sir Henry Jerningham to be Captain of her Guard and afterwards Sir Thomas Tresham was created Lord Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem She preferred her old Servants Hopton her old Chaplain to the See of Norwich Rochester to be Comptroller of her Houshold Inglefield to be Master of the Wards and Walgrave to be Master of the Wardrobe Sir John Gage a zealous Papist was made Lord Chamberlain of her Houshold when she came first to the Tower Bishop Bonner was discharged of the Marshalsey and Bishop Tunstal from the King's Bench within two days after Bonner is restored to his See of London and Tunstal to Durham and an Act of Parliament procured for the restoring of the Church of Durham to all its Lands and Jurisdictions of which it stood divested by the late Act of Dissolution made in the last year of the deceased King Coverdale was displaced from the See of Exeter Scory from that of Chichester and Hooper from the Commendatory of the See of Worcester to which Sees Voisy Day and Heath were again restored The like course also followed for the depriving of all Deans Dignitaries and Parochial Ministers who had succeeded into any of those preferments during the Reign of the two last Kings Doctor Cox was on August 5. brought to the Marshalsey and spoiled of his Deaneries of Christ-church and Westminster to make room for Doctor Richard Marshal in the one and Doctor Hugh Weston in the other Peter Martyr coming from Oxford to London where for a time he was commanded to keep his House but was soon after suffered to return into his own Countrey A Letter was sent at the same time to the Mayor of Coventry to set at liberty Hugh Simons if he would recant his Sermon or else to stay him A little before Mr. Bradford Mr. Vernon and Mr. Beacon Preachers were committed to the Tower A Letter was sent to the Sheriffs of Buckingham and Bedford for the apprehending Mr. Fisher Parson of Amersham Another Letter was sent to the Bishop of Norwich not to suffer any to Preach or Expound openly the Scriptures without special License from the Queen Mr. John Rogers Preacher was confined to his own house Hooper and Coverdale being cited to appear before the Lords of the Council did appear Hooper was committed to the Fleet and Coverdale commanded to attend the pleasure of the Lords Fisher of Amersham and Hugh Sanders Vicar of St. Michaels in Coventry appeared also before the Council Hugh Latimer appeared also and was committed to the Tower Doctor Bourn Archdeacon of London Preaching at Pauls Cross in favour of Bishop Bonner there present at the Sermon inveighed against some proceedings in the time of the late King Edward which so incensed the people that a great tumult arose upon it some pelting with Stones others crying aloud Pull him down and one who could never be known flinging a Dagger at his Head which after was found sticking in a post of the Pulpit The Preacher with difficulty was secured in a School adjoyning By reason of which tumult the Lords of the Council with the Lord Mayor and Aldermen took order that every Housholder should cause their Children and Apprentices to keep their own Parish-churches upon Holidays order was taken for preventing the like Tumult on the Sunday following A Sermon was Preached at the Cross by Doctor Watson who afterwards was Bishop of Lincoln for whose security many Lords of the Council were there present and Jerningham Captain of the Guard with two hundred of his Yeomen standing round about the Pulpit with their Halberts Then care was taken that nothing should be Preached in private Churches contrary to the Doctrine which was and should be Taught at the Cross by them which were appointed to it It was further ordered that every Alderman in his Ward should send for the Curates of every Church within their Liberties and warn them not onely to forbear Preaching themselves but also not to suffer any other to Preach or make any open reading of Scripture in their Churches unless the said Preachers were severally Licensed by the Queen For eight weeks after the Proclaiming of Mary Queen Protestantism and Popery were together set on foot the former
connivency it will press for a Toleration c. Then they propounded Remedies against these some whereof were That for securing the peace at home his Majesty would be pleased to review the parts of their petition formerly delivered to him and to put in execution by the eare of choice Commissioners to be thereunto appointed the Laws already and hereafter to be made for preventing of dangers by Popish Recusants That the Children of the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom and of others suspected in their Religion now beyond the Seas may be forthwith called home That the Children of Popish Recusants c. be brought up during their minority with Protestant School-masters That his Majesty will be pleased to revoke all former Licenses for such Children to travel beyond the Seas and not grant any such License hereafter c. The House had sufficient Cause to set forth the danger of true Religion when besides the great wound made in Germany and the cruelties of the prevailing House of Austria the Protestants in France were almost ruined by Lewis the Thirteenth being now besieged in Montauban by the King and in Rochel by Count Soisons and the Duke of Guise And for their Relief the King of England prevailed nothing by sending of Sir Edward Herbert since Baron of Cherbury and after him the Viscount Doncaster Ambassador for Mediation About this time a sad misfortune befel George Abbot Lord Archbishop of Canterbury for shooting at a Deer with a Cross-bow in Bramshil Park belonging to the Lord Zouch he casually killed the Keeper The King made choice of the Lord Keeper the Bishop of London Winton Rochester St. Davids and Exeter Sir Henry Hobart Justice Dolleridge Sir Henry Martin and Doctor Stuart to inform him of the nature of this cause and the scandal that might arise thereupon whether to an Irregularity or otherwise However this consultation was managed the Archbishop was not deprived In this business Bishop Andrews proved the Archbishop's great friend The Archbishop gave twenty pound a year to the man's Widow He kept a monethly fast on a Tuesday as the day whereon this casualty befell About this time young Merick Casaubon set for t a Book in defence of his deceased Father against Herbert Roswed a Jesuite and Andrew Schoppius a notorious railer Julius Caesar Bullinger and Andrew Eudemono Joannes He thought it his duty to assert his Father's memory and to give a brief account of his life and conversation Upon the remove of Richard Milborn to Carlile Doctor William Laud President of St. John's Colledge in Oxford was made Bishop of St. David's He founded in Oxford a Professor in the Arabick Tongue This year died John King Bishop of London He was sworn first Chaplain to King James who commonly called him The King of Preachers And Sir Edward Coke said of him He was the best speaker in Star-chamber in his time When Bishop of London unless hindred by sickness he omitted no Lord's day wherein he did not visit some Pulpit in London or near it The Papists raised a false aspersion upon him That at his death he was reconciled to the Church of Rome but this was sufficiently confuted by those eye and ear-witnesses present at his pious departure George Mountain Bishop of Lincoln succeeded him in his See The same year died William Cotton Bishop of Exeter whom Valentine Carew Dean of St. Paul's succeedeth Robert Townson Bishop of Sarisbury dieth whom John Davenant succeedeth Therein also expired Dr. Andrew Willet a man of great judgement and Industry one that had a large soul in a narrow estate The same year died also Richard Parry Bishop of St. Asaph We will conclude this year with the death of Mr. Francis Mason who wrote that worthy Book De Ministerio Anglicano Anno 1622. Multitudes of Priests and Popish Recusants then imprisoned Rushw Hist Collect. were released which the Spaniards professed to be a great demonstration of the King 's sincere affection to confirm the amity between the Crowns But a General offence was taken at this Indulgence to Papists The next year began with the end of that arrant Apostata in this Land M. Antonius de Dominis Anno 1622. Archbishop of Spalato and his fair riddance out of it He had fourteen years been Archbishop of Spalato in Dalmatia under the State of Venice and had now been five years in England Conscience in shew and Covetousness indeed caused his coming hither He wrote sharply against the Pope Fuller Church Hist An. 1622. out of a particular grudge against Pope Paul who had ordered him to pay a yearly pension of five hundred Crowns out of his Bishoprick to one Audrentius a Suffragan Bishop which this Archbishop refused to do The matter was brought to the Court of Rome where the Archbishop angry that he was cast in his Cause posts out of Italy through Germany into the Low Countries and thence came over into England Here multitudes of people flocked to behold this old Archbishop now a new Convert Prelates and Peers presented him with gifts of high valuation He was Feasted wheresoever he came and both the Universities when he visited them highly honoured him But above all King James was most munificent to him The King consigned him to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his present entertainment and as an earnest of his bounty sent him to Lambeth a fair Bason and Boll of Silver Misit mihi Rex Magnae Britanniae polubrum argenteum ad abstergendas sordes Romanae Ecclesiae poculum argenteum ad imbibendam Evangelii puritatem which Spalato received with this complement The King of Great Britain hath sent me a Silver Bason to wash from me the filth of the Roman Church and a Silver Cup to mind me to drink the purity of the Gospel Preferment is quickly conferred upon him as the Deanery of Windsor and the Master-ship of the Hospital of the Savoy with a good Parsonage at West-Ilsey in Berk-shire being a peculiar belonging to the Episcopal jurisdiction of the Dean of Windsor which Parsonage he collated on himself He improved the profits of his place to the utmost and had a design to question all his Predecessors Leases at the Savoy and began to be vexatious to his Tenants for which he was gravely and sharply reproved by Dr. King then Bishop of London Spalato complained to King James who in some choler said Extraneus extraneus es relinque res sicut eas invenisti You are a Stranger you are a stranger leave things as you found them He would passionately perswade others unto bounty to the poor though he would give nothing himself He now perfects his Books the Collections whereof were made by him at Spalato His works being three fair Folio's De Republica Ecclesiastica give ample testimony of his abilities He delighted in jeering one of his Sarcasms he unhappily bestowed on Count Gondomar the Spanish Ambassador telling him That three turns at Tyburn was the onely way to cure his
was found an Altar ready furnished with many Plates Jewels rich Pictures and Manuscripts Wax-candles c. with many Books in a Study In another Study of his many curious Tools and Engines three Rapiers one Pistol and a Fowling piece the pictures of Queen Elizabeth King James Queen Anne and King Charles He had also in his custody all the Keeper's Warrants for committing of his prisoners which were found in his Chamber together with some store of Plate which he said he kept for the Keeper's wife In Warrington's Chamber were found Books Beads Boxes of Oyl for extreme Unction c. But the wall thereof was broken down into another house adjoyning to the Prison through which it is conceived the rest of Warrington's stuffe was convaied away in the Interim of the search made in the two former Chambers Prator was first committed to Glocester Gaol but a Warrant was procured by the Papists for his remove to the Clink where he was found a prisoner But a countermand was brought from the Archbishop and Mr. Atturney whereby the proceeding of that business was staid and the Marshal prohibited to remove or take any thing so much as a paper The Keeper and his Wife and the Priests did grievously threaten the Marshall and all his Assistants with very high terms especially wi h Arrests and Imprisonments for this action The Marshall also informed the Committee that upon the twenty second of March last by a like Warrant from the Lord Conway he searched the Bishop's prison called the New prison in Maidâ—n-lane in London where he found six several Priests in several Chambers an Altar with all furniture thereto belonging c. as much as three Porters could carry away it being in the hands of the Lord Conway The House of Commons agreed upon a petition to his Majesty concerning Recusants That he would give order to remove from all places of Authority and Government all such persons as are either Popish Recusants or justly to be suspected Here they named many Lords Knights and Esquires in divers Counties of England But this Parliament was soon after dissolved A generalâ— Fast was observed July 5. in the Cities of London and Westminster and places adjacent and on the second of August throughout the Kingdom to implore a blessing upon the endeavours of the State and the diverting of those judgments which the sins of the Land deserved and threatned Divers Lords of the Council were appointed to repair into their several Countries for the advancement of a Loan to the King This business occasioned a complaint to the Lords of the Council against the Bishop of Lincoln for publickly speaking words concerning it which was conceived to be against the King and Government Whereupon Sir John Lamb and Dr. Sibthorp informed the Council to this purpose That many were grieved to see the Bishop of Lincoln give place to unconformable Ministers when he turned his back to those that were conformable and how the Puritans ruled all with him c. The Informations given against the Bishop of Lincoln being transmitted to the Council-Table were ordered to be sealed up and committed to the custody of Mr. Trumbal one of the Clerks of the Council nevertheless the Bishop of Lincoln got a copy of them Dr. Sibthorp published a Sermon in Print Preached by him at Northampton February 22. 1626. at Lent Assizes entitled Apostolick Obedience This Book was Licensed by the Bishop of London who approved thereof It was dedicated to the King it was brought forth upon his Majesties Commission for raising of moneys by way of Loan Dr. Roger Manwaring promoted the same business in two Sermons Preached before the King and Court at Whitehall The Papists at this time were very liberal on this occasion that it was then said That in the point of Allegiance then in hand the Papists were exceeding Orthodox and the Puritans were the onely Recusants 1627. Archbishop Abbot having been long slighted at Court now fell under the King 's high displeasure for refusing to License Dr. Sibthorp's Sermon forementioned and not long after was suspended from his Office and confined to his House at Ford in Kent and a Commission was granted to the Bishops of London Durham Rochester Oxford and Doctor Laud Bishop of Bath and Wells to execute Archiepiscopal Jurisdiction The occasion of this Commission was not discovered otherwise than by what was expressed in the Commission it self viz. That the said Archbishop could not at that present in his own person attend those services which were otherwise proper for his cognisance and jurisdiction and which as Archbishop of Canterbury he might and ought in his own Person have performed and Executed The Archbishop for a memorial of these proceedings left to posterity a Narrative penned with his own hand The City of London was filled with the report of his Confining and divers men spake diversly of it The Papists in Ireland proffer to pay five thousand men if they might but enjoy a toleration But that motion was crushed by Bishop Downham's Sermon in Dublin on Luke 1.74 After this the King being resolved upon the calling of a Parliament Archbishop Abbot the Earl of Bristol and the Bishop of Lincoln notwithstanding the cloud they are under are had in consideration by the King and Council and Writs are Ordered to be sent unto them to sit in the House as Peers in the ensuing Parliament A little before the Parliament assembled a Society of Recusants was taken in Clarkenwel Divers of them were found to be Jesuites and the house wherein they were taken was designed to be a Colledge of that Order Vid. Rushw Collects Ad Anno 1627. Among their Papers was found a Copy of a Letter written to their Father Rector at Bruxels discovering their designs upon this State and their judgement of the temper thereof with a conjecture of the success of the ensuing Parliament A Parliament assembleth March 17. which proveth full of troubles Money came from them heavily to the supply of the King's necessities the rather because they complained of Doctrines destructive to their Propriety Preached at Court For towards the end of the Session of this Parliament Mr. Rouse brought in a charge against Dr. Manwaring which some days after was seconded with a Declaration He was severely censured for two Sermons he had Preached and Printed about the power of the King's Prerogative Four days after it was ordered by the House of Lords against him I. To be imprisoned during the pleasure of the House II. To be fined a thousand pounds III. To make his submission at the Bar in this House IV. To be suspended from his Ministerial function three years V. To be disabled for ever hereafter from Preaching at Court VI. To be uncapable of any Secular Office VII That his Books are worthy to be burnt and His Majesty to be moved that it may be so in London But much of this Censure was remitted in Consideration of the performance of his humble submission at
they alone were sent to the custody of the Black Rod. Now was the Bill against the Bishops sitting in Parliament brought up into the House of the Lords and the matter agitated so eagerly on both sides The Lord Viscount Newark afterwards Earl of Kingston made two notable speeches in the House in defence of Episcopacy which confirmed those of the Episcopal party making the Lords very zealous in Bishops behalf There were in the House many other defenders of Episcopacy as William Lord Marquis of Hartford the Earl of South-hampton the Earl of Bristol and the Lord Digby his Son and that learned Lord William Earl of Bath and many other Lords voted for them About this time died Richard Mountague Bishop of Norwich and Doctor Joseph Hall succeeded him in his See Doctor John Prideaux Regius Professor in Oxford was made Bishop of Worcester Doctor Thomas Winniff Dean of St. Pauls was made Bishop of Lincoln Doctor Ralph Brownrigg made Bishop of Exeter Doctor Henry King made Bishop of Chichester Doctor John Westfield made Bishop of Bristol he died not long after These were as likely persons to have kept up Episcopacy if God's providence had so appointed as any could have been culled out of England The Bill was again brought in against Bishops Votes in Parliament and it was clearly carried in the Negative that Bishops never more should Vote as Peers in Parliament The King was very unwilling to consent to it but at last with much importunity he signed the Bill as he was in St. Augustines in Canterbury passing with the Queen towards Dover then undertaking her voyage into the Low Countries Ten of the eleven Bishops formerly subscribing their Protestation to the Parliament were after some moneths durance upon good bale given released These now at liberty severally disposed themselves Some went home to their own Diocess as the Bishops of Norwich Oxford c. The Bishop of Durham continued in London Some withdrew themselves into the King's quarters as Archbishop Williams c. Bishop Wren within few moneths after he was discharged from the Tower was seized on by a party of Souldiers at his house at Downham and brought back again to the Tower where he continued till the end of the year 1659. As for the Archbishop of Canterbury as he first took possession of that fatal lodging before any of the rest came to him so he continued there after their dismission without hope of finding his passage out of it by any other door than the door of death which as he did not look for before it came so when it came he did not fear it saith Doctor Heylin On October 23. in the year foregoing the House of Peers sequestred his Jurisdiction from him conferring it on Sir Nathanael Brent and others of his under-officers and ordered That He should bestow none of the Benefices within his Gift without acquainting them with the name and quality of the party whom he intended to prefer leaving to them the approbation if they saw cause for it And on October 15. 1642. for so long he remained without further disturbance it was resolved upon the Question That the Fines Rents and Profits of Archbishops and Bishops should be Sequestred for the use and service of the Common-wealth On the ninth of November following the Archbishops house at Lambeth was forcibly possessed by a party of Souldiers to keep it for the Publick service and seventy eight pounds of his Rents as forcibly taken from some of his Officers by an order under the hands of some of the Lords But upon his petition shortly after Heylin Hist of Archbish Laud. he had an order for securing of his Books and Goods Another order-came to bar him from any conference with any of the other prisoners or speaking with any other but in the presence of the Warder who was appointed to attend him and from having the liberty of the Tower or from sending any of his servants into the City but on occasion of providing victuals and other necessaries The Souldiers brake open the doors of his Chappel in Lambeth house and began to spoil the Organs there but their Captain put a stop to their fury On December 21. his saddle-horse was seized on by order from some members in the House of Common and on the 23. Dr. Leighton who had before been sentenced in the Star-chamber for his libellous Pamphlets came with an order from that House to dispossess the Souldiers of their quarters there and turn his House into a Prison his Wood and Coals seized on without any permission to make any use of them for himself In the beginning of May the windows in his Chappel were defaced and the steps torn up his Books and Goods seized on by Leighton and some others And on the sixteenth of the same moneth he was served with an order of both Houses debarring him from bestowing any of his Benefices which either were or should be vacant for the time to come And on the thirty first an order was directed unto Prynne and others to seize on all his Letters and Papers to be perused by such as should be Authorized to that end and purpose The entertaining of many petitions by the Houses of Parliament visibly tending to the abolition of Episcopal government made it appear most necessary in the eyes of those who wisht well to it to hasten the publishing of such petitions as had been presented to the King in behalf thereof and by his Majesty had been ordered to be published accordingly Among which none did plead the cause with greater fervency than that which was tendred in the name of the Gentry and Clergy of the Diocess of Canterbury To which petition there subscribed no fewer than twenty four Knights and Baronets Esquires and Gentlemen of note above three hundred Divines one hundred and eight Freeholders and Subsidy men eight hundred Many petitions of like nature came from other Counties where the people were at any liberty to speak their own sence All which with some of those which had led the way unto the rest were published by order from his Majesty bearing date May 20. 1642. under the Title of A collection of the petitions of divers Countries c. Which petitions being drawn together besides many which were presented after this Collection amounted to nineteen in all that is to say two from the County of Chester two from Cornwall one from the University of Oxford and another from the University of Cambridge one from the Heads of Colledges and Halls This from the Diocess of Canterbury another from the Diocess of Exeter one from the six Counties of North-wales and one a piece from the Counties of Nottingham Hereford Huntington Somerset Rutland Stafford Kent Oxford and Lancaster These petitions came from thousands of the most eminent subjects of the Realm But nothwithstanding the importunity of the Petitioners on the one side and the moderation of the King's answer on the other the prevailing party in both Houses
died the Church was again defaced with fire 5. John de Gray After the death of John de Gray the See was void for seven years 6. Pandulsus the Pope's Legat. After his death the See was void three years 7. Thomas de Blundevil 8. Radulphus 9. William de Raleigh The Bishoprick was then void by the space almost of three years 10. Walter de Suffield He founded the Hospital of St. Giles in Norwich endowing it with Lands and great Possessions He built also the Chappel of our Lady in the Cathedral Church and in the same Chappel was also buried 11. Simon de Wanton 12. Roger de Skyrwing In his time was a dangerous Sedition between the Citizens of Norwich and the Monks of the Cathedral Church 13. William Middleton 14. Ralph de Walpool 15. John Salmon 16. William Armyn 17. Anthony de Beck He used his Monks too rigorously and was poysoned by his own Servants 18. William Bateman He forced the Lord Morley to carry a burning Taper in his hand through the streets of Norwich unto the High Altar for killing certain Deer in one of his Parks and beating his Keepers In his time happened a great Plague in England In Norwich then there died besides Religious men to the number of 57104. persons between the first of January and the first of July 1348. 19. Thomas Piercy 20. Henry Spencer 21. Alexander 22. Richard Courtney 23. John Wakering 24. William Alnwick 25. Thomas Brown 26. Gualter Hart 27. James Goldwel 28. Thomas Jan 29. Richard Nyx 30. William Reps 31. Thomas Thirlby 32. John Hopton 33. John Parkhurst 34. Edmond Freak 35. Edmond Scambler 36. William Redman 37. John Jegon 38. John Overal 39. Samuel Harsnet 40. Francis White 41. Richard Corbet 42. Matthew Wren 43. Richard Mountague 44. Joseph Hall 45. Edward Reinolds Bishops of Worcester Ethelred divided Mercia into five Diocesses whereof one was Worcester For the first Bishop of Worcester choice was made of one Tarfrith a learned man who died before he could be consecrated After his decease 1. Boselus succeeded 2. Ostforus 3. S. Egwyn This man went to Rome with Offa King of Mercia He built the Abbey of Evesham 4. Wilfridus 5. Milredus 6. Weremundus 7. Tilherus 8. Eathoredus 9. Devebertus 10. Hubert 11. Alwin 12. Werebertus 13. Wilfreth 14. Ethelhune Abbot of Berkley 15. Wilserth 16. Kinewold 17. S. Dunstan 18. S. Oswald 19. Aldulf 20. Wulstan 21. Leofsius 22. Briteagus Abbot of Parshor 23. Living 24. Aldred 25. S. Wulstan 26. Sampson 27. Theulphus 28. Simon 29. Alured 30. John Pagham 31. Roger Son to the Earl of Glocester 32. Baldwyn Abbot of Ford. 33. William de Northale 34. Robert a Canon of Lincoln Son unto William Fitz. Ralph Seneschal of Normandy 35. Henry Abbot of Glastonbury 36. John de Constantiis 37. Mauger He was one of them that excommunicated King John and interdicted the Realm and thereupon fled the Realm 38. Walter Gray 39. Sylvester 40. William de Bleyes 41. Walter Cantilupe Son of William Lord Cantilupe 42. Nicholas Archdeacon of Ely and Chancellor of England 43. Godfry Giffard Archdeacon of Wells and Chancellor of England 44. William de Gainsborough 45. Walter Reynolds sometime School-master to King Edward the Second first Treasurer then Chancellor of England became Bishop of Worcester 46. Walter Maidstone 47. Thomas Cobham 48. Adam Tarlton 49. Simon Montacute 50. Thomas Henibal 51. William de Bransford 52. John Thorsby 53. Reginald Brian 54. John Barnet 55. William Wittlesey 56. William de Lynne 57. Henry Wakefield 58. Tideman de Winchcomb 59. Richard Clifford 60. Thomas Peverel 61. Philip Morgan 62. Thomas Poulton 63. Thomas Bourchier 64. John Carpenter 65. John Alcock 66. Robert Morton 67. John Gyglis 68. Sylvester Gyglis 69. Iulius Medices 70. Hieronymus de Nugutiis 71. Hugh Latimer 72. Iohn Bell 73. Nicholas Heath 74. Iohn Hooper 75. Richard Pates 76. Edwyn Sandys 77. Nicholas Bullingham 78. Iohn Whitgift 79. Edmond Freak 80. Richard Fletcher 81. Thomas Bilson 82. Gervase Babington 83. Henry Parry 84. Iohn Thornborow 85. Iohn Prideaux 86. George Morley 87. Iohn Gauden 88. Robert Skinner 89. Walter Blandford Bishops of Hereford An Episcopal Seat being established at Hereford 1. Putta was made the first Bishop thereof 2. Tirhtellus 3. Torteras 4. Walstodus 5. Cuthbert 6. Podda 7. Ecca 8. Ceadda 9. Albertus 10. Esna 11. Ceolmundus 12. Utellus 13. Wulfhardus 14. Benna 15. Edulf 16. Cuthwulf 17. Mucel 18. Deorlaf 19. Cunemund 20. Edgar 21. Tidhelm 22. Wulfhelm 23 Afrike 24. Athulf 25. Ethelstan He builded the Cathedral Church from the ground He was a holy man and blind thirteen years before his death 26. Leovegar Chaplain to Duke Harold Matthew Westminster gives this testimony of him that he was undoubtedly Dei famulus in omni Religione perfectus Ecclesiarum amator viduarum orphanorum defensor oppressorum subversor virginitatis possessor Griffin King of Wales assaulted the City took it slew the Bishop and seven of the Canons of the Church spoiled it of all the portable Relicks and Ornaments and then fired both Church and City 27. Walter 28. Robert Lozing An excellent Mathematician 29. Gerard 30. Roger the Queens Chancellor 31. Geoffry de Glyve Chaplain to King Henry the First 32. Robert Bertune Prior of Lanthony a man much employed by the Pope in all his businesses within the Realm 33. Gilbert Foliot Abbot of Glocester 34. Robert de Melun 35. Robert Foliot 36. William le Vere a great Builder 37. Giles de Bruse Son of William Bruse Lord of Brecknock 38. Hugh de Mapenor 39. Hugh Foliot 40. Ralph de Maidstone He resigned his Bishoprick and became a Franciscan Frier Anno 1239. 41. Peter Equeblank He caused King Henry the Third to lay such Taxes on the Clergy as almost beggared them An. 1255. The Barons arrested him in his own Cathedral seized on his goods divided his Treasure unto their Souldiers before his face and long kept him in prison in the Castle of Ordeley 42. Iohn Breton a great Lawyer 43. Thomas Cantilupe Of an ancient House He was by the Pope Sainted after his death All the Bishops of Hereford since his time do bear his Coat of Arms as the Goat of their Sea G. three Leopards heads jeasant three Flower de luces O. 44. Richard de Swinfield 45. Adam Tarlton 46. Thomas Charlton He was Lord Chancellor and chief Justice of Ireland 47. Iohn Trilleck 48. Lewis Charlton 49. William Courtney 50. Iohn Gilbert 51. Iohn Tresnant He was sent to Rome to inform the Pope of the Title of King Henry the Fourth to the Crown 52. Robert Mascal He was Confessor to Henry the Fourth He built the Quire Presbytery and Steeple of the White-Friers in London gave many rich Ornaments to that House died and was buried there He was often Ambassador to many Forreign Princes He with two other Bishops was sent to the Council of Constance 53. Edmond Lacy 54. Thomas Polton 55. Thomas Spofford 56. Richard Beauchamp 57. Reynold
Monks of Rochester of all their moveable Goods all the Ornaments of their Church Writings Evidences yea and of great part of their Lands Possessions and Priviledges He built the Hospital at Stroud near Rochester and endowed it with fifty two pounds yearly revenue 38. Benedictus 39. Henry de Sandford This man preaching at Sittingburn before a great Audience declared openly That God had revealed unto him now three several times how that on such a day the Souls of King Richard the First Stephen Langton late Archbishop and another Priest were delivered out of Purgatory 40. Richard de Wendover 41. Laurence of St. Martin 42. Walter de Merton Lord Chancellor of England Before he was a Bishop he built Merton-colledge in Oxford 43. John de Bradfield 44. Thomas Inglethorp 45. Thomas de Woldham 46. Haymo Confessor to King Edward the Second 47. John de Sheppey 48. William Wittlesey 49. Thomas Trillick 50. Thomas Brenton 51. William Boltsham 52. John Boltsham 53. Richard Young 54. John Kemp 55 Iohn Langdon 56. Thomas Brown 57. Iohn Wells 58. Iohn White 59. Thomas Rotheram 60. Iohn Alcock 61. Iohn Russel 62. Edmond Awdley 63. Thomas Savage 64. Richard Fitz-Iames 65. Iohn Fisher 66. Iohn Hilsey 67. Nicholas Heath 68. Nicholas Ridley 69. Iohn Poynet 70. Iohn Scory 71 Maurice Griffin 72. Edmond Guest 73. Edmond Freak 74. Iohn Piers 75. Iohn Young 76. William Barlow 77. Richard Neile 78. Iohn Buckeridge 79. Walter Curle 80. Iohn Bowles 81. Iohn Warner 82. Iohn Dolben Bishops of Oxford About the year 730. Didan Duke of Oxford by the request of his Daughter built a Monastery there for Nuns and appointed her the Abbess Anno 847. in the time of King Ethelred certain Danes flying into this Monastery to save their lives from the cruelty of the English pursuing them the Monastery was burnt and they all burnt in the same but it was shortly after re-edified by the said King and further enriched with divers Possessions This Monastery was neglected but Anno 1110. Guimundus Chaplain to King Henry the First became Prior of this renewed Monastery repaired its ruines and by the favour of the King recovered unto it what Lands soever had been given heretofore unto the Nuns In this state it continued until Cardinal Wolsey got license to convert it into a Colledge Anno 1524. calling it Cardinals-colledge He leaving it unperfect King Henry the Eighth gave it a foundation the stile whereof he first appointed to be Collegium Regis Henrici Octavi but afterwards he entitled the Church Ecclesia B. Mariae de Osney He translated that See to the foresaid Colledge placing in it a Bishop a Dean eight Prebendaries a Quire and other Officers and finally stiled it Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxon ex fundatione Regis Henrici Octavi The Bishops were 1. Robert King 2. Hugh Curwyn 3. Iohn Underhill 4. Iohn Bridges 5. Iohn Howson 6. Richard Corbet 7. Iohn Bancroft 8. Robert Skinner 9. William Paul 10. Walter Blandford 11. Nathanael Crew Son to the Lord Crew Bishops of Glocester Osrike King of Northumberland founded a Nunnery in the City of Glocester in the year 700. Kineburg Eadburg and Eva Queens of Mercia were Abbesses of this Monastery one after another it was destroyed by the Danes and lay waste until Aldred Archbishop of York re-edified the same Anno 1060. and replenished it with Monks and erected from the very foundation that goodly Church which is now the Cathedral See of that Diocess Being given into the hands of King Henry the Eighth by Parliament he allotted the Revenues of it unto the maintenance of a Bishop a Dean six Prebendaries and other Ministers The Bishops were 1. John Wakeman Abbot of Tewksbury he was consecrated the first Bishop of this new erection September 7. 1541. 2. John Hooper He was burnt at Glocester for the profession of the Gospel in Queen Maries dayes 3. James Brooks 4. Richard Cheiney 5. John Bullingham 6. Godfry Gouldsborough 7. Thomas Ravis 8. Henry Parry 9. Giles Thomson 10. Miles Smith 11. Godfry Goodman 12. William Nicholson 13. _____ Prichard Bishops of Peterborough Penda the Son of Penda the first King of Mercia that was a Christian began the foundation of a Monastery there Anno 656. but was taken away by Treachery before he could finish the work But this Monastery was afterward built up in stately manner by his Brother Wolpher This Monastery he dedicated to St. Peter and appointed one Saxulf to be the first Abbot thereof Two hundred years after it was destroyed by the Danes and having lain desolate one hundred and nine years Ethelwold Bishop of Winchester a great Patron of Monkery re-edefied it King Edgar assisted the Bishop much in this foundation and Adulf Chancellor to the said King who became Abbot there After him Kenulph another Abbot compassed this Monastery with a strong wall about the year of our Lord 1000. through the liberality of divers Benefactors it grew to that greatness of wealth as that all the Countrey round about belonged to it King Henry the Eighth converted it into a Cathedral Church and the Revenues upon the maintenance of a Bishop a Dean six Prebendaries and other Ministers The Bishops were 1. Iohn Chambers Doctor of Physick he was last Abbot of Peterborough and first Bishop thereof Anno 1541. 2. David Pool Doctor of Law 3. Edmond Scambler 4. Richard Howland 5. Thomas Dove 6. William Peirs 7. Augustine Lindsel 8. Iohn 9. Benjamin Laney 10. Ioseph Henshaw Bishops of Bristol Robert Sirnamed Fitz-Harding because his Father that was Son unto the King of Denmark was called Harding this Robert I say being a Citizen of Bristol founded the Monastery of St. Augustines and placed Canons in the same Anno 1148. This Foundation was afterwards confirmed and augmented by King Henry the Second who preferred the Author of the same to the marriage of the sole Heir of the Lord Berkley Of them are descended all the Lords Berkley In that place King Henry the Eighth erected an Episcopal See and converted the Revenues of the same unto the maintenance of a Bishop a Dean six Prebendaries and other Officers 1. Paul Bush was the first Bishop of Bristol 2. Iohn Holyman 3. Richard Cheiney 4. Iohn Bullingham 5. Richard Fletcher 6. Iohn Thornborough 7. Nicholas Felton 8. Rowland Searchfield 9. Robert Wright 10. George Cook 11. Robert Skinner 12. Iohn Westfield 13. Gilbert Ironside 14. _____ Carlton Bishops of Chester King Henry the Eighth converted the Monastery the Church whereof there first built by that famous Earl Leofricus and dedicated unto St. Wergburg into a Cathedral Church erected a new Bishoprick there The Bishops were 1. Iohn Bird He was deprived in Queen Maries dayes 2. Iohn Coates 3. Cuthbert Scot 4. VVilliam Downham 5. VVilliam Chadderton 6. Hugh Bellot 7. Richard Vaughan 8. George Lloyd 9. Thomas Morton 10. Iohn Bridgeman 11. Iohn VValton 12. Henry Fern 13. George Hall 14. Iohn VVilkins 15. Iohn Pearson Bishops of S. Davids 1. David Vnkle
212 M. Bucer his coming into England he takes the Chair at Cambridge his death 169 Buckingham-shire Martyrs many before Luther's time 139 Benedictus Biscopius the first Glass in England was his Gift 17 The Fatal Vespers at Black-friers 291 A Bill Signed against Bishops Voting as Peers in Parliament 229 Walter Burley a Great Philosopher 113 C. CAursines what they were when they first came into England page 74 The Book of Canons made 269 Cadwallader the last King of the stock of Britans 19 Caerleon in Wales the Court of King Arthur the See of an Archbishop a Colledge of two hundred Philosophers 11 Cadocus Abbot of Llancanvan in Glamorgan-shire his charity and liberality 11 Caransius made a League with the Britains and expelled the Romans and made himself King 5 Congel Abbot of Bangor 11 Colmkil a famous Seminary of learning 16 Mr. Thomas Cartwright Articles tendred to him his imprisonment 253 Col. Edward Ashton and John Betley executed 361 Colledges erected beyond the Seas for English youth to be educated therein 234 235 Cridda first King of Mercia 9 Cerdicus first King of the West Saxons 10 Constantius Chlorus Emperor of France Spain and Britain he died and was buried at York 5 Constantine the Great born made King and Emperor first in Britain 6 A Council called at Hartford 18 A Council called at Cliffe in Kent by King Ethelbald and Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury 22 A Council at Hatfield 19 A Council at Bâ—canceld Another held at Berghamsteed by Withred King of Kent 20 A Council held by Wolphred Archbishop of Canterbury at Celichyth 24 A Council assembled at Alncester to promote the building of Evesham-abbey 2â— A Council of Saxon and British Bishops assembled under an Oak in the borders of Worcester and Hereford-shires 12 A Council at Intingford 30 Divers Councils kept in the Reign of King Athelston viz. at Exceter Feversham Thunderfield and London and at Great Lea 31 Three Councils held in the time of Dunstan viz. at Winchester Cartlage in Cambridge-shire and Caln in Wilt-shire 32 Chelsey-colledge founded 277 A National Council held by Hoel Dha for all Wales at Tyquin 32 A Council of Bishops called by King William the First at Winton 37 A Council against Appeals to Rome 117 A Conference held at St. Albans 7 The University of Cambridge founded by King Sigebert 15 Cambridge wasted by the Danes 25 Conference between Dr. White and Dr. Featly Protestants and Fisher and White Jesuites 291 Isaac Causabon his Exercitations and death 280 281 Constellation of Cassiopeia 238 Conference at Hampton-Court 261 ad 269 A Convocation wherein the Lord Thomas Cromwel sate in State above all the Bishops 149 King Charles the First his story from 292 ad 347 A Council summoned by Archbishop Anselm at Westminster where all married Priests were excommunicated 41 A Council called at Westminster by Albericus Bishop of Hostia 43 A Council at Westminster in the Reign of King Henry the Second 48 A Council held at Oxford 71 A Council held at Lambeth by Iohn Peckham Archbishop of Canterbury 90 He summoneth another Council at Reading 96 A Council called by Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury at St. Pauls London 119 A Convocation in London 126 A Council called by Archbishop Morton to redress the luxury of the London Clergy in Cloathes and frequenting Taverns 137 King Charles the Second his story from 347 ad 385 Sir Iohn Old-castle Lord Cobâ—am his story from 123 ad 127 The persecution of the Lady Eleanor Cobbam 129 Christ-church Colledge in Oxford founded by Cardinal Wolsey 143 Miles Coverdale Bishop of Exeter 172 Iohn Colet a learned Englishman the founder of the Free-School of St. Pauls London 142 Canons and Converts of the Order of Sempingham turn Apostates 91 Contention between the two Archbishops of Canterbury and York 48 Alexander Cementarius his story 58 59 Sir Geoffry Chaucer when he flourished 113 Archbishop Cranmer his subscription to Popery for fear of death he retracteth his retractation he is burnt to ashes 202 Lord Thomas Cromwel his story from 149 ad 155 The Canons made by the Convocation Anno 1640 318 D. DAvid Unckle to King Arthur kept a Synod against the Pelagian error he removed his Archiepiscopal seat from Caerleon to Meneva now called St. Davids page 11 Danes when they first invaded England 23 Earl of Darby beheaded at Bolton 353 Iohn Duns Scotus or Dunensis 107 Dubitrius his Academy near the River Wye in Monmouth-shire 9 Diuma first Bishop of Mâ—rcia 17 Dioclesian and Maximian resign their Ensignes of Command 59 Davids Psalms when and by whom first translated into English metre 172 Lord Darby married to the Queen of Scots his death 230 232 Disputation between the Protestants and Papists 211 The Synod of Dort 283 284 University at Dublin founded 254 Dorchester in Oxford-shire the seat of Birinus his Bishoprick 16 Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury his story 31 32 Dooms-day Book when made 37 Battel of Dunbar 350 E. ELvanus built a library near St. Peter's Church in Cornhil page 3 Eleutherius Bishop of Rome his letter to King Lucius ib. Ella first King of the South-Saxons 9 Kingdom of the East-Saxons what it contained and when it began Exchenwin first King thereof 9 Kingdom of the East-Angles what it contained when it began their conversion advanced by King Sigebert 15 Edmond King of the East-Angles murdered by the Danes 26 Ethelbert King of Kent embraceth Christianity 12 Ethelfred King of Northumberland killeth one thousand two hundred Monks of Bangor he is slain by the Britains 13 Egbert King of the West-Saxons made himself sole Monarch of England 23 Erkenwald a Bishop founder of the Monasteries of Chertsey in Surrey and Barking in Essex 19 Edilwalch King of the South-Saxons is baptized 19 Edwyn the son of Ethelfred becometh a Christian 14 Ethelwolph King of the West-Saxons granteth the Tenth of all his Lands to God and his Ministers c. his story 24 Kind Edward the Elder restoreth the University of Cambridge expells the Danes c. 30 Elphege Bishop of Canterbury stoned by the Danes 33 Eaton Colledge founded by King Henry the Sixth 131 Edward the Confessor his Ecclesiastical Laws his hereditary vertue left to his successors to cure the Kings Evil 35 England freed from the Danes 35 England interdicteded for six years in the Reign of King Iohn 57 Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury Canonized 80 King Edward the First his story from 86. ad 105 Edward the Second his story from 105. ad 109 Edward the Third his story from 109. ad 114 Edward the Sixth his story from 154. ad 179 Queen Elizabeth her troubles during her Sister's Reign 190 The story of her Reign from 206. ad 261 Edinburgh Castle surrendred to O. Cromwel by Colonel Dundasse 351 F. PAulus Fagius and M. Bucer their bodies taken out of their Graves and burnt 203 The Sect of the Family of Love 239 Flamines and Archflamines their places turned into Bishopricks and Archbishopriks by King Lucius 3
Finan converted the East-Saxons 16 Focariae Concubines to the Canons they are imprisoned in the Tower Iohn Frith a learned man burnt in Smith-field 148 First-fruits Office when set up in London 150 Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester beheaded 148 Mr. Iohn Fox with some others settle themselves at Basil in Queen Maries days 200 His death 250 Fifth Monarchy-men apprehended 360 Iohn Ficknam made Abbot of Westminster 196 The troubles of Franckford 197 198 Robert Farrars Bishop of St. Davids imprisoned in King Edward's days and burnt in Queen Maries days 175 Florentius first Bishop of Argentine or Strausburg 17 G. GAsper Haywood the first Jesuite that ever set foot in England 246 Gospel first planted in Britain 1 Britain first received the Gospel by publick Authority 2 Germanus Bishop of Auxerre is sent for into Britain to suppress Pelagianism 7 Gospel first planted by Augustine among the Saxons 12 Five Grammar Schools erected in London 129 Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester he fell sick the same day that Bishop Ridley and Latimer were burnt his sad end 194 A Gun shot at Dr. Pendleton preaching at Pauls cross 193 Lady Jane Gray proclaimed Queen of England 179 She and her husband the Lord Guilford Dudley and her Father the Duke of Suffolk are beheaded 188 Guthlake the first Saxon Eremite in England 21 Robert Grosthed Bishop of Lincoln 80. 81 The Gun-powder plot 270. 271 Archbishop Grindal a patron of prophecyings and how they were modelled 241 Godfrey Goodman Bishop of Glocester committed to the Gate-house for refusing to subscribe the Canons made Anno 1640. 320 He dies a Papist ibid. H. HArold the Son of Earl Godwyn King of England he is slain at Battel in Sussex 36 Hardiknout the last of the Danish Kings in England 35 Alexander Hales an English-man Master to Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure 107 Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury divided England into Parishes 16 Helvetia converted by Gallus ib. Hengist Captain of the Saxons invadeth Britain 8 He is King of Kent 9 An Heptarchy established in Britain 9 Swallowed up in the West Saxons Monarchy 10 Robert Holcot a learned English man 112 Duke Hamilton Earl of Holland and Lord Capel beheaded 348 Hubba the Dane killeth Hedda the Abbot of Peterborough and eighty four Monks with his own hand 25 King Henry the Third his story from 68. ad 86 Henry the Fourth his story from 118. ad 123 Henry the Fifth his story from 123. ad 127 Henry the Seventh his story from 135. ad 140 Henry the Eighth his story from 141. ad 157 Sir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Huet beheaded 361 Hospital at Greenwich founded by William Lambert 250 Hospitals of Christ-church in London and St. Thomas in Southwark founded 176. 177 The Statute made Pro Haenetico comburendo 119 Death of Prince Henry 280 John Hooper and Iohn Rogers founders of Non-conformity 169 Bishop Hall's Book in defence of the divine right of Episcopacy 317 Dr. Iohn Hacket defendeth Deans and Chapters 325 A sad contest between Mr. Rich. Hooker and Mr. Walter Travers 255 King Charles the First his Dispute with Mr. Alexander Henderson 342 I. KIng James his birth page 230 His story from 261. ad 293 Impropriations bought in to maintain a preaching Ministry 301 The Impostures of Hacket Arthington and Coppinger 253 Ilfutus a profound Scholar 11 Ina King of the West Saxon sets forth his Saxon Laws 20 He first granted Peter-pence to the Pope out of this Kingdom 22 Iohannes Scotus Erigena murthered in the Abbey of Malmesbury 30 Iohn King of England his story from 51. ad 68 Jews crucifie a Child at Oxford their punishment 85 Their banishment out of England ibid. Ioachim Abbot of Calabria 49 Ida King of Northumberland 10 Images taken away in most places of England 160 Inquisitors appointed to search out for Hereticks with all Wickliffs Books 123 Many Italians held the best Livings in England a Statute made against it Four Italians followed each other in the See of Worcester 137 Iohn Iewel chosen to pen the first gratulatory letter to Queen Mary by his enemies page 184 He subscribeth the Popish Tenets 187 He bewails his fall in the Congregation at Franckford he is made Bishop of Sarum 187 His chalenge 218 His Apology 226 Such Irish Impropriations as were in the Crown restored to the Church 304 Dr. William Juxon Lord Treasurer ib. K. COlonel Ker taken prisoner by Lambert 351 Kingdom of the South Saxons comprehending Sussex and Surrey when it began 9 The beginning of the Kingdom of Kent 9 Kentigern Bishop of Elwy in North Wales 11 John Kemp Archbishop of Canterbury built the Divinity School in Oxford and Pauls Cross 132 Kenulphus King of the West Saxons conferreth large priviledges on the Monastery of Abingdon 169 Kings of England of old sent their Crowns to St. Edmond's shrine 34 Kimbeline King of Britain at the birth of our Saviour 1 Kyngils King of the West Saxons is baptized by Birinus 16 Order of the Knights-Templars abolished throughout Christendom 106 Their Lands in England conferred on the Knights of St. John of Ierusalem ibid. Iohn Knox at Franckford preacheth against the English Liturgy as imperfect and superstitious He is rebuked by Dr. R. Cox He is accused to the State for High Treason against the Emperor Knox departeth the City 199 And setleth himself at Geneva 200 Kets Rebellion 166 Kilian the first Bish of Wortsburg first instructed the people of East France in the Christian Faith 17 The Bishop of Wortsburg carried a Sword and a Priest's Gown in his Badge ibid. L. HVgh Latimer resigneth his Bishoprick of Worcester rather than he would yield to the passing of the six Articles 169 Iohn Lambert his Martyrdom 153 Divers Liturgies in use in England till King William the Conqueror's time 39 Lollards after Abjuration forced to wear the fashion of a Faggot wrought in thread on their sleeves 141 The Scottish Liturgy translated into the Latin Tongue 317 An Apology for vindicating the Liturgy commended to the Kirk of Scotland 317 A publick Liturgy framed in King Edward his days 164 Iohn a Lasco with his Congregation of Germans setled at London the West part of the Church of Austin-friars allotted them p. 170 His Congregation dissolved 184 Iohn Lewis an Arrian burnt at Norwich 246 Levellers routed by Colonel Reinolds at Burford 349 Latimer and Ridley burnt at Oxford 194 Adam Loftus Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland 255 Matthew Lenox made Regent of Scotland 236 Earl of Leicester goes over into the Low-countries with a great Army 248 Mr. Love and Gibbons beheaded 352 Bartholomew Legatt an Arrian burnt 279 London burnt 381 The Commissioners of the High Commission at St. Pauls violently assaulted by Lilburn and the London Apprentices 321 Archbishop Laud impeached and sent to the Tower 323 And beheaded on Tower-hill ib. Lucius the first Christian King of Britain 2 His story 3. 4 Lupus Bishop of Troys cometh into Britain and refuteth the Heresie of Pelagius 7 English Liturgy translated into
the remarkable particulars thereof saith Dr. Fuller in his Church History of Britain Let us now return to our Augustine who all this while was very industrious and no less successful in converting the Saxons to the Christian Faith insomuch that a certain Author reporteth how in the River Swale near Richmond in York-shire Augustine in one day Baptized above ten thousand but Bede makes no mention at all hereof and ascribeth this numerous baptizing to Paulinus Bishop of York many years after In that age nothing was used with Baptism but Baptism the word and the water made the Sacrament At Corn in Dorset-shire Austin destroyed the Idol of Heale or Aesculapius which the Saxons formerly adored Sebert King of Essex Nephew to Ethelbert King of Kent by Ricula his sister embraced the Faith with all his Kingdome by the Ministry of Mellitus whom Augustine ordained Bishop of London making also one Justus a Roman Bishop of Rochester Bed Eccl. Hist liâ— 2. ca. 3. Augustine died and was buried in the Northern part of the new Church in Canterbury dedicated to Peter and Paul Bede saith this inscription was written upon his Monument Here resteth Lord Augustine the first Archbishop of Canterbury who being in times past sent hither by blessed Gregory Bishop of the Roman City and supported by God with the working of Miracles brought King Ethelbert and his Country from the Worshiping of Idols to the faith of Christ and the daies of his Office being finished in peace he died the seventh of the Calends of June the same King reigning But in this Epitaph one thing is wanting and that mainly material namely the year that he did After the death of Augustine Laurentius a Roman succeeded him whom Augustine in his life-time ordained in that place King Ethelbert having reigned fifty Six and been a Christian one and twenty years died and was buried nigh to Queen Bertha who died a little before him in the Porch of St. Martins Church in Canterbury which fabrick with some other Churches by him were beautifully built and bountifully endowed After the death of Ethelbert Anno 616. Eadbald his son and the sons of Sebert King of the East Saxons succeeding them refused to be baptized or imbrace the Christian faith professed and set up Idolatry expelled their Bishops driving them out of this land into France til at last King Eadbald being converted to Christianity by Laurentius Archbishop of Canterbury presently began to take care of the affaires of the Church and at the desire of Laurentius Justus and Mellitus returned again into England Rochester readily received their Bishop but London refused to entertain good Mellitus who led a private life in London til that after the death of Laurentius he succeeded him in the Church of Canterbury Five years sate Mellitus in Canterbury after whose death Justus Bishop of Rochester succeeded him and had his Pall solemnly sent him by Pope Boniface Ethelfred being slain by the Britains Edwin succeedeth him and was setled in the general government of the Saxons who by the perswasion of Paulinus embraced and professed the Christian Religion destroyed the Temples Altars and Images of their Idol-Gods and was with all his Nobles and much people baptized in the City of York by Paulinus Anno 627. About this time Pope Boniface V. directed diverse Epistles to England wherein were many passages fighting against Christ's satisfaction A few years after the conversion of the East Angles was advanced by King Sigebert and after the death of Earpwald his successor in the Kingdome Bede give 's him this character that he became vir Christianissimus Doctissimus being assisted by the preaching of Felix a Monk of Burgundy he converted his Subjects to Christianity This Felix was made the first Bishop of Dunwich in Suffolk a place formerly furnished with fifty and two Churches and hath scarce two now remaining the rest being swallowed up by the Sea This Sigebert is generally reputed the founder of the University of Cambridge Edwin fell out with Cadwallan King of the Britains and slew many thousand Christian Britains in battle putting him and the rest to flight Anno 633. After the victory Edwin led his Army through the Provincâ— of Britain burning their Cities and wasting their Colonies and brought those Provinces under his subjection chasing Cadwallan into Ireland But Cadwallan returning from thence with ten thousand men assisted by Penda King of Mercia wasted the Countrey of King Edwin Both these Kings at last met in a field called Heath-field where Edwin was slaine and his whole Army overthrown Cadwallan slew both the Sons of King Edwin and for a whole year â—â—stroyed the Provinces of the Northumbrians After the death of Edwin his whole Kingdome â—el apsed to Paganism and Paulinus Arch-Bishop of York taking with him Queen Ethelburga sister to Eadbald King of Kent returned into Kent and there became Bishop of Rochester After the death of King Edwin his Kingdome of Northumberland was divided into two parts both petty Kingdomes Osrich Cousin-German of King Edwin was King of Deira and Eanfrith the eldest son of Ethelfred was King of Bernicia They were both Christians but became Apostates and were slain by Cadwallan in the first year Oswald the second son of Ethelfred succeeded unto them and overthrew Cadwallan Bishop Aidan converted Oswald Usher's Religion of the antient Irish p. 115. which King disdained not to preach and expound to his Subjects and Nobles in the English tongue that which Aidan preached to the Saxons in the Scottish tongue By the Ministry of Aidan the first Bishop of Linsfarn was the Kingdome of Northumberland recovered from Paganism Petry Church hist Cent. 7. Aidan parted all that was given him by the King or Potent men among the poor and ceased not to go from town to town and from house to house not on hors-back but on foot always catechizing whether he met with rich or poor if they were Pagans he instructed them if they were Christians he confirmed them in the faith and exhorted unto the works of Pieâ—y and Charity especially to read the Scriptures diligently he died Anno 651. From Northumberland the word of God was spread among many others of the Saxon Kingdomes The Scotch that professed no subjection to the Church of Rome were they that sent preachers to the conversion of these Countries Ephr. Pagit Religion of the antient Britains and ordained Bishops to govern them as Aidan forementioned Finan and Colman for the East Saxons Cedd and for the Mercians Diuma for the paucity of Priests saith Beda constrained one Bishop to be appointed over two people Finan converted the Kingdomes of the East Saxons and Mercia Pope Honorius sent Birinus unto the West Saxons who by his preaching converteth many and among the rest Kyngils the West Saxon King whom he Baptized Oswald King of Northumberland was present at that time and was first God-father then father in law to King Kyngils to whom he gave his Daughter to Wife Dorchester
King's Allegiance would not shake his magnanimous resolution nor his Peoples loyalty Pâ—ynne's History Book 3. ch 3. the Pope's Legats Pandulphus and Durance forged new devises to effect their designs by fraud and terror to which purpose they procured sundry Letters from divers Quarters to be brought unto him whilst he sate at dinner at Nottingham intending to set upon the Welch-men with a potent Army whom they had stirred up to rebel against him and invade England to divert him from his design all to this effect That there was a secret Plot laid to destroy him He marched to Chester where he met with new Letters to the like effect which caused him to dismiss his Army and design against the Welch-men Besides the Popish Priests set up one Peter an Hermite a counterfeit Prophet to terrifie the King and alienate the peoples hearts from him by his false Prophesies This counterfeit Sooth-sayer prophesied That King John should reign no longer than the Ascension-day within the year of our Lord 1213. which was the fourteenth from his Coronation and this he said he had by Revelation When the Ascension-day was come the King commanded his Regal Tent to be spread abroad in the open field passing that day with his noble Council and Men of Honour in the greatest solemnity that ever he did before solacing himself with musical Songs and Instruments most in sight of his trusty Friends This day being past in all prosperity and mirth the King commanded that Peter the Hermite that false Prophet should be drawn and hanged like a Traitor Now behold the misery of King John perplexed with the French King 's daily preparation to invade England assisted by many English male-contents and all the exil'd Bishops Hereupon he sunk on a sudden beneath himself to an act of unworthy submission and subjection to the Pope For on Ascension-Eve May 15. being in the Town of Dover standing as it were on tiptoes on the utmost edge brink and label of that Land which now he was about to surrender King John by an Instrument or Charter sealed and solemnly delivered in the presence of many Prelats and Nobles to Pandulphus the Pope's Legat granted to God and the Church of Rome the Apostles Peter and Paul and to Pope Innocent the Third and his Successors the whole Kingdom of England and Ireland Fuller's Church History Book 3. And took an Estate thereof back again yielding and paying yearly to the Church of Rome over and above the Peter-pence a thousand Marks Sterling viz. seven hundred for England and three hundred for Ireland In the passing hereof the King's Instrument to the Pope was sealed with a Seal of Gold and the Pope's to the King was sealed with a Seal of Lead This being done the King took the Crown off his Head and set it upon Pandulphus his Knees at whose feet he also laid his Scepter Robe Sword and Ring his Royal Ensigns as John de Serres relates and these words said he in hearing of all the great Lords of England Here I resign up the Crown and the Realm of England into the hands of Pope Innocentius the Third and put me wholly in his mercy and in his ordinance Then Pandulph received the Crown of King John and kept it five dayes in his hands and confirmed all things by his Charter Now the Pope's next design was how to take off and pacifie the French King from his intended Invasions and so sent the Archbishop and his Confederates into England there to insult over King John as they had done abroad Next year the Interdict was taken off the Kingdom and a general joy was over the Land The seventeenth of August following the exiled Bishops landed at Dover and were conducted in State to the King at Winchester the King 's extraordinary humbling to and begging pardon of them prostrating himself to the ground at their feet and their insolent carriage toward him is related by Matthew Paris The next day after their coming to Winchester the King issued out Writs to all the Sheriffs of England to enquire of their damages There were other Writs sent to the Kings Judges to proceed in the said Inquisition After this general compliance with them the King conceiving he had given them full content and setled all things in peace resolved to pass with an Army into Picardy whither the Nobles refused to follow him In the mean time the Archbishop Bishop Nobles meeting at St. Albans about the damages to be restored by the King to the Prelates during their exile fell to demand the confirmation of their Liberties granted by his Grandfather King Henry the first which the King condescended unto Soon after the Archbishop caused all the Bishops Abbots Priors Deans and Nobles of the Realm to meet together at London upon pretext of satisfying his and the exiled Bishops damages but in verity to engage in a new Rebellion against the Crown and confer it on Lewis the French King's Son as they did in the conclusion under pretence of demanding the confirming the Charter and Liberties granted by King Henry the first there produced by the Archbishop which the King had but newly ratified at St. Albans Pandulphus besides his former insolencies endeavoured to wrest out of the King's hand the power of imprisoning Clerks for Fellonies that so they might be at his own disposal and act any villanies with impunity King John being thus distressed sent a base and unchristian-like Ambassage to Admiralius Murmelius a Mahometan King of Morocco then very potent and possessing a great part of Spain offering him if he would send him succour to hold the Kingdom of England as a Vassal from him and to receive the Law of Mahomet saith Matthew Paris The Moor offended at his offer told the Ambassadours That he lately had read Paul's Epistles Modò inspexi lâ—brum in Graeco scriptum cujuâ—dam Graeci sapientis Christiani nomine Pauli cujus actus veroa mihi maximè complacent accepto Vnum tamen de ipso mihi displicet quod in lege sub quâ natus est non stetit sed ad alia taÌ„quam transfuga inconstans avolvit which for the matter liked him well save only that Paul had renounced that Faith wherein he was born and the Jewish profession Wherefore he slighted King John as one devoid both of piety and policy who would love his liberty and disclaim his Religion A strange tender if true But Mr. Prynne proveth it to be a most scandalous malitious forgery of this Monk of St. Albans against the King for sequestring that Abbey Philip King of France together with his Son Lewis and his Proctor and all the Nobles of France Anno 1216. with his own mouth protested against this Charter and resignation to Walo the Pope's own Legat when purposely sent to them by Pope Innocent to disswade them from invading England as being then St. Peter's Patrimony not only as null void in it self for several Reasons but of
due Election the deprived Prior thereupon Appealed to the Pope and Court of Rome where he expected to be restored with great confidence but to shew how much more prevalent Money then was in that corrupt Court than Justice this intruder was confirmed and he returned after great expence frustrate of his expectation having some Manors assigned him for his support during life out of which the Pope had an annual pension of 365. Marks to support his Table The Jews of Lincoln having crucified a Christian Child to the great dishonour and disgrace of Jesus Christ the King appointed special Justices diligently to enquire of and severely to punish this grand offence by his Patent and Commission The King this year fearing some designs against him from Rome issued a Writ to the Barons and Bailiffs of Dover and to the Wardens of the Cinque-ports not to permit any Clerks to pass out of their respective Ports beyond the Seas unless he would first take an Oath that if he went to the Court of Rome he should demand nor require nothing against the King's Crown and Dignity nor the Pope's grant or Ordinance concerning the Realm of Sicily And the King by his Letters Patents constituted two distinct Proctors in the Court of Rome concerning the affairs of the Kingdom of Sicily and other occasions there to be transacted The Pope had a greater share in the Disme than the King who could dispose of none of it but by His and Rustand's consents He likewise issued his Mandate to the Sheriff of Kent to provide a speedy passage at Dover for Rustand the Pope's Agent and to defray the charges of it which should be allowed him The King understanding the Archbishop's and Bishops designes intended to be prosecuted in a Council of the Bishops of his Province which Archbishop Boniface had convocated against his Crown Dignity Courts Judges c. Prohibited him and them to meet therein under pain of forfeiting their Temporalties The Archbishop and Bishops notwithstanding these Writs met and proceeded in their Convocation in a very presumptuous manner as those fifty Articles then drawn up and tendered to the King and their Papal decrees in pursuit of them will most evidently demonstrate They were tendered to the King by the Archbishops and Bishops for which they resolved to contend to the uttermost These Constitutions are collected and Printed in John de Aton quoting Lindewood who cites and glosseth upon most of them under several Titles in the Margin of every one of them where you may peruse them with his Canonical gloss These were made Anno Dom. 1261. What Procurations the Archbishop of Messana arrived in England this year as the Pope's Legate exacted and extorted from the Bishops and Abbots with great violence and what injuries the Archbishop of Canterbury did to the Bishop of Rochester you may read in Matthew Paris The King and his Council resolving to banish the Poictovin Clergy-men out of the Nation and not to imprison them in England issued a Writ to the Constables of the Castles of Winton and Dover of the banishment and transportation of the Archdeacon of Winton out of the Realm and to see he carried away no Moneys with him In the 42 year of this King the Friers Minorites sent a Petition to King Henry to confirm their intrusion into St. Edmonds by his second Charter not deeming the Pope's Bull they had got sufficient which the Abbots and Monks contemned and set at naught The King to satisfie the Pope's demands and the easier to get in the Dismes the Pope had granted him to gain Sicily which the Archbishop Bishops and Religious Persons in England refused to pay assigned thirty thousand Marks thereof to the Pope Godfry de Kimeton Dean of York was elected Archbishop of that See and forced to travel to Rome for his Confirmation Fulco Bishop of London died of the Plague and Wengham then Chancellor of England notwithstanding his insufficiency and want of learning and Knowledge in Divinity procured Letters Patents from King Henry by advice of his Council in imitation of the Pope's Commendae's then grown very common to hold and retain all his former Ecclesiastical Dignities and Benefices whereof the King was Patron together with his Bishoprick for so long time as the Pope should please to grant him a dispensation whose dispensation alone would not bar the King to present to those Dignities and Benefices being all void in Law by making him a Bishop He had the like Patent to retain his Benefices and Ecclesiastical preferments in Ireland This is the first Patent of a Commenda retinere granted by the King to any Bishop Elect The first Patent of a Commenda retinere granted by the King to any Bishop elect saith Mr. Prynne being made by the advice of his Lords and Judges which makes it more considerable The King in the 44th year of his Reign issued a Writ to the Barons of Dover and other Ports to search for and apprehend all Italian Clerks and Lay-men and all others that should bring any Bulls from Rome prejudicial to him and his Realm and not to permit any to arrive with Horse and Armes in the Realm without his special License and to arrest all such as should there Land till they received further order from him The Bishop of St. David's and his Clerks complaining to the King how much the priviledges of their Churches Monasteries Houses Goods and Persons were violated in Wales in an hostile manner throughout his Diocess issued out a Writ and Prohibition to his Officers for their future protection and indemnity against such injuries and oppressions Boniface Archbishop of Canterbury being an Alien and forced to fly out of the Kingdom by the Barons was upon a Treaty between the King and his Barons permitted to return into England upon certain conditions The King and the Barons having by common consent entred into Articles of Agreements under their hands and referred themselves therein to the determination of the French King or the Pope's Legate the King thereupon constituted three Proctors to conclude and consent on his behalf to whatever should be therein agreed submitting himself to the Legate's Ecclesiastical Censures and Excommunication to compell him to the performance thereof During the Wars between the King and his Barrons diverse Vicars and Parsons desirous to reside upon their Cures so as they might be protected from violence therein the King thereupon granted protections to those who desired them An Oxford Jew having in contempt of Christ and Christian Religion in a solemn Procession there held by the University cast down and broken the Crucifix carried before them and escaping and the Jews not producing his Body as the King ordered them the King thereupon commanded the Sheriff of Oxford by several Writs to seize the Bodies and Goods of all the Jews in Oxford till they gave sufficient security at their proper costs to erect a beautifull high Marble Cross with the Images of Christ on the one side and
in ure any new Canons unless the King 's most Royal assent might be had unto them and soon after the same was ratified by Act of Parliament After the Statute of Praemunire was made which did much restrain the Papal power and subject it to the Laws of the Land Archbishops called no more Convocations by their sole and absolute command but at the pleasure of the King as oft as his necessities and occasions with the distresses of the Church did require it Yea now their meetings were by vertue of a Writ or Precept from the King For it was Enacted in the Parliament of the twenty fifth of Henry the Eight L. Herbert's Hist of Hen. 8. That all Convocations shall be thenceforth called by the King 's Writ and that in them nothing shall be promulged or executed without his Highness Licence under pain of imprisonment of the Authors and Mulct at the King's will And that his Highness shall at his pleasure appoint thirty two men to survay the said Canons or Constitutions for the Confirmation or Abolition of the same And as concerning Appeals they shall be made from inferiour Courts to the Archbishop's and for lack of Justice there to the King's Majesty in his Court of Chancery Bishop Fisher was Arraigned of high Treason I will insert the Sting of the indictment out of the Original Diversis Domini Regis veris subditis false malitiose proditorie loquebatur propalabat viz. The King owre Sovereign Lord is not Supreme Hed yn erthe of the Cherche of England In dicti Domini Regis immund despect vilipendium manifest Of this he was found Guilty had Judgement and was remanded to the Tower The King by the advice and consent of the Clergy in Convocation and Great Council in Parliament resolved to reform the Church under his inspection from gross abuses crept into it Thomas Hitten a Preacher at Maidstone for the Testimony of the Truth after long Torments and sundry imprisonments by William Warham Bishop of Canterbury and John Fisher Bishop of Rochester was burned at Maidstone for the Testimony of the Truth Anno 1530. In the year 1531. Thomas Bilney of Cambridge Professor of both Laws converted Thomas Arthur and Mr. Hugh Latimer then Cross-bearer at Cambridge on procession days Afterwards Bilney recanted but for the space of two years after his abjuration Bilney lived in great anguish of mind and repenting Preached publickly the Doctrine which he before abjured He was afterwards taken condemned and burned without Bishops-gate in a low Valley called the Lollards pit under St. Leonard's Hill Going to Execution one of his friends wished him to stand sure and constant to whom he answered That whatsoever storms he passed in this venture yet shortly after my Ship saith he shall be in the Haven There came forth in print a Book called The Supplication of Beggars made by Simon Fish which Book the Lady Anna Bolen delivered to the King who gave him his protection Sir Thomas Moor wrote an Answer to that Book under the Title of Poor silly Souls pewling out of Purgatory to which John Frith made a pithy and effectual Reply Tindal's Translation of the New Testament came forth in English Richard Bayfield suffered for the truth and was burned in Smithfield He was sometime a Monk of Surrey and converted by Doctor Barnes After him John Tewksbury was burned in Smithfield Valentine Freese and his Wife gave their Lives at one Stake for the testimony of the Truth Afterwards the Bishops which had burned Tindal's Testaments were enjoyned by the King to cause a new Translation to be made but they did nothing at all And on the contrary the Bishop of London caused all the translations of Tindal and many other Books which he had bought to be burnt in Paul's Church-yard James Bainham a Gentleman of the Middle-Temple was put in a Prison in Sir Thomas Moore 's House and whipped at a Tree in his Garden called The tree of Truth and was by him afterward sent to the Tower to be racked by racking he was lamed because he would not accuse the Gentlemen of the Temple of his acquaintance nor shew where his Books lay He abjured had his liberty but he asked God and the world forgiveness before the Congregation in those dayes in a Ware-house in Bow-lane And immediately the next Sunday after he came to St. Austin's with the New Testament in his hand in English and the obedience of a Christian-man in his bosom and there with tears declared before the people that he had denied God and prayed the people to forgive and beware of his weakness He was shortly after apprehended Fox Acts and Monuments and committed to the Tower of London and after three appearances he was condemned and burnt in Smithfield About this time John Benet a Tailor was burnt at the Devizes in Wilt-shire for denying the Sacrament of the Altar In the year 1532. Robert King Nicholas Marsh and Robert Gardiner men of Dedham and one Robert Debnam had overthrown and burned the Rood of Dover-court ten miles from Dedham for which fact half a year after they were hanged in Chains King at Burchet in Dedham Debnam at Cattaway-causey Marsh at Dover-court Gardiner escaped and fled Many Images were cast down and destroyed in many places As the Crucifix by Coggeshal in the High-way St. Petronel in the Church of Great Horksleigh St. Christopher by Sudbury St. Petronel in a Chappel by Ipswich Also John Seward of Dedham overthrew a Cross in Stokepark and took two Images out of a Chappel in the same Park and cast them into the water John Frith who was first a Student in Cambridge and afteward one of those whom Cardinal Wolsey gathered together to furnish his new Colledge was condemned by the Bishop of London and was burnt in Smithfield Great was his learning gravity and constancy though but six and twenty years of age With Frith was Andrew Hewet burned after he had given testimony to the truth Thomas Benet a Schoolmaster of fifty years of age born in Cambridge was burned at Exeter Divers others were condemned to perpetual prison During the time of Queen Anne no great persecution nor abjuration was in the Church of England Sir Thomas Moore Doctor Nicholas Wilson and Bishop Fisher refused the Oath to the Act of Succession made Anno 1534. and Sir Thomas Moor and Doctor Wilson were also sent to the Tower The Doctor dissembled the matter and so escaped but the other two remained obstinate On November the third this Parliament was again assembled in which the Pope and Cardinals with his Pardons and Indulgences were wholly abolished to the abolition of which and to the ratifying of the King's Title of Supreme Head Stephen Gardiner gave his Oath so did John Stokesley Bishop of London Edward Lee Archbishop of York Cuthbert Bishop of Durham and all the rest of the Bishops in like sort to this Title also agreed the sentence of the University of Cambridge Edmond Bonner then
most horrible torments before he expired The King after the burning of many Images caused the bones of Thomas Becket Archbishop in the time of Henry the Second to be burned He also seized on that immense Treasure and Jewels that were offered to his Shrine there being few since the time of Henry the Second that passed to Canterbury that did not both visit his Tomb and bring rich Presents to it Among which there being one Stone eminent which it was said Lewis the Seventh coming hither on Pilgrimage from France Anno Dom. 1179. bestowed Our King wore it in a Ring afterwards The number of Monasteries first and last suppressed in England and Wales were as Mr. Camden Camd. Erit accounts them six hundred forty five whereof these had voices among the Peers The Abbot of St. Albans declared the first Abbey of England St Peters in Westminster St. Bennet of Holm Berdsey Shrewsbury Crowland Abingdon Evesham Glocester Ramsey St. Maries in York Tewksbury Reading Battel Winchcomb Hide by Winchester Cirencester Waltham Malmesbury Thorney St. Augustine in Canterbury Selby Peterborough St John's in Colchester Coventry Tavestock Of Colledges were demolished in divers Shires ninety Of Chauntries and Fire-chappels two thousand three hundred seventy four and Hospitals one hundred and ten the yearly value of all which were one hundred sixty one thousand one hundred pounds being above a third part of all our spiritual Revenues besides the money made of the present stock of Cattle and Corn of the Timber Lead Bells c. and lastly but chiefly of the Plate and Ornaments which was not valued but may be conjectured by that one Monastery of St. Edmond's-bury whence was taken five thousand Marks of Gold and Silver besides Stones of great value But the King not only augmented the number of the Colledges and Professors in his Universities L. Herbert's Hist of Hen. 8. but erected out of the Revenues gotten hereby divers new Bishopricks whereof one at Westminster one at Oxford one at Peterborough one at Bristol one at Chester and one at Glocester all remaining at this day save that at Westminster which being revoked to its first Institution by Queen Mary and Benedictines placed in it was by Queen Elizabeth afterward converted to a Collegiate-church and a School for the teaching and maintenance of young Scholars Besides many of the ancient Cathedral-churches formerly possessed by Monks only were now supplied with Canons and some new ones erected and endowed the Revenues allotted by the King to those new Bishopricks and Cathedrals amounting to about eight thousand pounds per Annum Besides the King in demolishing the Abbies did not only prefer divers Learned men which he found there but took special care to preserve the choicest Books of their well-furnished Libraries wherein John Leland a curious searcher of Antiquities was employed Martin's Chronic. in Hen. 8. These Houses Sites Possessions were by the Parliament setled on the King who to prevent the future restoring of them back again to their former uses exchanged them liberally for other Lands with the Nobles and Gentry of his Realm many of whose Estates at this day do wholly consist of Possessions of that nature or else are greatly advanced by those Lands A Match being made up betwixt King Henry and the Lady Anne of Cleeve by the Lord Cromwel's contrivance many Dutch-men flocked into England whose heads were busied about points of Divinity whilst their hands were busied about their Manufactures Soon after they broached their strange Opinions being branded with the general name of Anabaptists This year 1539. their name first appears in our English Chronicles Stow's Chron. p. 576. for I read that four Anabaptists three Men and one Woman all Dutch bear Faggots at Paul's Cross and three dayes after a Man and Woman of their Sect were burnt in Smithfield The King liked not Anne of Cleeve who was a very vertuous Lady but in her countenance not well composed fair nor lovely Some feminine impotency was objected against her though only her precontract with the Son of the Duke of Lorrain was publickly insisted on for which by Act of Parliament now sitting she was solemnly divorced And the Bishops and Clergy of this Land in their solemn Convocation published an authentical Instrument in writing under the Seals of the two Archbishops That the King's Marriage with the said Lady Anne of Cleve was void and of none effect From thenc forth the King frowneth upon the Lord Cromwel Then the six Articles called by some The bloody Statute by others The Whip with six strings by the perswasion of Bishop Gardiner in defiance of Archbishop Cranmer and the Lord Cromwel opposing it was enacted being I. That in the Sacrament of the Altar after Consecration no substance of Bread or Wine remaineth but the natural Body and Blood of Christ II. That the Communion in both kinds is not necessary ad salutem by the Law of God to all persons III. That Priests after Orders received may not marry by the Law of God IV. That Vows of Castity ought to be observed V. That it is meet and necessary that private Masses be admitted and continued in Churches VI. That Auricular confession must be frequented by people as necessary to Salvation The Lord Cromwel was soon after arrested and ten dayes after his Arrest he was attainted of High-treason in Parliament and he with the Lord Hongerford the next week after was beheaded on Tower-hill After the execution of the Lord Cromwel the Parliament still sitting a motly Execution happened in Smithfield three Papists hanged by the Statute for denying the King's Supremacy viz. Edward Powel Thomas Abley Richard Fetherston And as many Protestants burned at the same time and place by vertue of the six Articles viz. Robert Barnes Doctor of Divinity Thomas Gerard Batchelors of Divinity William Jerom Batchelors of Divinity This was caused by the difference of Religions in the King 's Privy Council wherein the Popish party called for the execution of these Protestants whilst the Protestant Lords in the Council cried as fast that the Laws might take effect upon the Papists In the Parliament a Statute was made A Statute made for the recovery of Tithes 32 Hen. 8. c. 7. commanding every man Fully truly and effectually to divide set out yield or pay all and singular Tithes and Offerings according to the lawful customs and usages of the Parishes and places where such Tithes or Duties shall grow arise come or be due And remedy is given for Ecclesiastick persons before the Ordinary and for Lay-men that claimed appropriated Tithes by grant from the Crown in the secular Courts by such Actions as usually Lay-possessions had been subject to This Statute in favour of Lay impropriators was beneficial to the Clergy to recover their Predial Tithes at Common Law A Statute also was made That it was lawful for all persons to contract marriage who are not prohibited by the Law of God for after the time of Pope Gregory
accordingly Thus Benson saved the Deanery but fell into great disquiet of mind and died a few moneths after To whom succeeded Doctor Cox being then Almoner to the King Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Dean of Christ-Church Bishop Latimer Latimer Ser. p. 38. 71 91 114. in his printed Sermons complaineth That the Gentry at that time invaded the profits of the Church leaving the Title onely to the Incumbent and that Chantery Priests were put by them into several Cures to save their pensions that many Benefices were laid out in Fee-farmes and for making of Gardens and finally that the poor Clergy being kept to some sorry pittances were forced to put themselves into Gentlemens houses and there to serve as Clerks of the Kitchin Surveyours Receivers c. All which Enormities were generally connived at by the Lords and others who onely had the power to reform the same because they could not question those who had so miserably invaded the Churches patrimony without condemning of themselves Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester having long lain Prisoner in the Fleet was enlarged and permitted to return to his Diocess where contrary to the promise made at his enlargement he shewed himself cross to the King's proceedings in case of Images and other things that he was sent Prisoner to the Tower where he abode till he was set at liberty by Queen Mary Notwithstanding the King's great care to set forth one uniform order of Administring the holy Communion in both kinds yet among the inferior Priests and Ministers of Cathedral and other Churches in this Realm there arose variety of Factions in Celebrating the Communion Service and Administraâ—ion of the Sacraments and other Rites of the Church Some followed the Order of the King's proceedings others patchingly used some part of them onely but many causelesly contemning them all would still continue in their former Popery Moreover many of those who had been licensed appeared as active in Preaching against the King's proceedings as any of the unlicensed Preachers had been found to be Which being made known to the King and the Lords of the Council it was advised that a publick Liturgy should be drawn and confirmed by Parliament which was done An. 1548. and in the next year a penalty was imposed by Act of Parliament on such who should deprave or neglect the use thereof The King caused those Godly Bishops and other Learned Divines whom he had formerly imployed in drawing up the order for the holy Communion to frame a publick Liturgy containing the order of Morning and Evening Prayer together with a Form of Ministring the Sacraments and for the celebrating of all publick Offices in the Churches This was done acccordingly Some exception being taken at it by Mr. Calvin abroad and some zealots at home the Book was brought under a review and by Statute in Parliament it was appointed it should be faithfully perused explained and made fully perfect And here take notice that those who had the chief stroke in this Affair were before-hand resolved that none but English Heads or hands should be used therein Calvin offered his assistance to Archbishop Cranmer as himself confesseth but he refused the offer And though it was thought necessary for the better seasoning of both Universities in the Protestant Reformed Religion that Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr two eminent Divines of Forreign Churches should be invited to come over yet had the Liturgy passed the approbation of the King and Council if not both Houses of Parliament before their coming Which being finished they all subscribed it except Doctor Day Bishop of Chichester Then in Parliament it was enacted that all such positive Lawes and Ordinances as prohibited the marriages of Priests and pains and forfeitures therein contained should be repealed In this Parliament also it was enacted that no person should from thence-forth take or carry away any Tithe or Tithes which had been received or paid within the space of fourty years next before the date thereof c. under the pain or forfeiture of the Treble value of the Tithes so taken or carried away To which a clause was also added enabling the said Parsons Vicars c. to enter upon any man's Land for the due setting out of his Tithes and carrying away the same without molestation There also passed another Act for Abstinence from flesh upon all such days as had been formerly taken and reputed for fasting-dayes viz. fall Fridays and Saturdays in the year the time of Lent the Ember-days the Eves or Vigils of such Saints as had been anciently used for Fasts by the Rules of the Church On Septemb. 5. 1548. Doctor Farrar's was consecrated Bishop of S. Davids as Doctor Heylin noteth and not in the year 1547. as Mr. Fox makes it nor in 1549. as Bishop Godwin saith The Lord Protector pulled down two Churches two Chappels and three Episcopal Houses for the materials of the building of his new intended Palace called Sommerset-house About this time there arose a sort of men who were termed Gospellers against whom Bishop Hooper inveigheth in the Preface to his Exposition on the ten Commandments Some Anabaptists also discovered themselves Some of the Chiefs of them were convented before the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Westminster Doctor Cox Almoner to the King and others and being convicted of their errours some of them were dismissed only with an Admonition some sentenced to a Recantation and others among which I find one Champney's condemned to bear their Faggots at S. Paul's Cross Then brake forth two dangerous Rebellions one in Devonshire the other in Norfolk That of Devonshire was found to be chiefly raised in maintenance of their old Religion On Whitsun Munday being next day after the first exercising of the publick Liturgy some few of the Parishioners of the Parish of Sampford-Courtney compelled their Parish-Priest who is supposed to have invited them to that compulsion to let them have the Latine Mass as in former-times These being seconded with many others Henry Arundel Esquire Governour of the Mount in Cornwal Winslade and Coffin Gentlemen headed them The seditious exceeding the number of ten thousand march in a full body to Exeter They send their demands to the King among which one more specially concerned the Liturgy It was demanded by the Rebels That forasmuch as we constantly believe that after the words of Consecration spoken by the Priest being at Mass there is very really the Body and Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ God and man and that no substance of Bread and Wine remaineth after but the very self-same body that was born of the Virgin Mary and was given upon the Cross for our Redemption Therefore we will have Mass-Celebrated as it was in times past without any man Communicating with the Priests forasmuch as many presuming unworthily to receive the same put no difference between the Lord's body and other kind of meat c. To which demand of theirs the King thus answered viz.
King would not be perswaded thereunto And when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London sent by the Lords to the King used divers Arguments to perswade him he declared a Resolution rather to venture life and all things else that were dear unto him than to give way to any thing which he knew to be against the Truth Then the King burst forth into a flood of tears and the Bishops on sight thereof wept as fast as He. The Bishops thereupon withdrew admiring at such great Abilities in so young a King and blessed God for giving them a Prince of such eminent piety Then the reviewing the Liturgy and the composing of a Book of Articles were brought under consideration This last for the avoiding diversities of Opinions and for the establishing consent touching true Religion the other for removing such offences as had been taken by Calvin and his followers at some parts thereof The Liturgy so reviewed was ratified by Act of Parliament in the year following By the learned Writings of Erasmus and Melancthon together with the Augustan Confession a Book of Articles being thought necessary to be composed the Composers of those Articles were much directed using them as subservient Helps to promote the service Now followed the fatal Tragedy of the Duke of Sommerset and we must recoyl a little to fetch forward the cause thereof Thomas Seymour Baron of Sudely and Lord Admiral the Protector 's younger Brother had married the Lady Katherine Par the Relict of King Henry the Eighth A contest arose between their Wives about place The Women's discords derived themselves into their Husbands hearts whereupon not long after followed the death of the Lord Thomas Seymour arraigned for designing to translate the Crown to himself Soon after the Lords of the Council accuse the Protector of many high offences his greatest Enemy and Accuser was John Dudley Earl of Warwick Hereupon he was imprisoned at Windsor yet he was acquitted though outed his Protectorship restored and continued Privy Counsellor But after two years and two months his Enemies assault him afresh He was indicted of Treason and Felony he was condemned for Felony by a new made Statute for plotting the death of a Privy Counsellor namely the Earl of Warwick Here a strange oversight was committed that he craved not the benefit of the Clergy which could not legally be denied him Not long after he was beheaded on Tower-hill with no less praise for his piety and patience than pity and grief of the beholders In the beginning of the year 1551. happened a terrible Earthquake at Croydon and some other Villages thereabouts in the County of Surrey Afterwards six Dolphins were taken up in the Thames three at Queenborough and three near Greenwich the least as big as any Horse Their coming up so far beheld by States-men as a presage of those storms and Tempests which afterwards befel this Nation in the death of King Edward and the tempestuous Reign of Queen Mary But the saddest presage of all was the breaking out of a Disease called the Sweating-sickness appearing first at Shrewsbury on April 15. and afterwards spreading by degrees over the Kingdom wherewith if any man were attacqued he died or escaped within nine or ten hours if he slept as most persons desired to do he died within six hours if he took cold he died within three hours Sir Michael Stanhop Sir Thomas Arundel Sir Ralph Vane and Sir Miles Partridge were arraigned and condemned to dye The two first were beheaded and the two last hanged at what time they solemnly protested taking God to witness that they never practised Treason against the King c. Vane adding after all the rest that his Blood would make the pillow of the Earl of Warwick lately made Duke of Northumberland uneasie to him Then fifty six Articles are drawn up against Robert Farrars Bishop of St. Davids and a Commission issued March 9. to enquire into the merit of those Articles charged against him on the return whereof he is indicted of a Praemunire at the Assizes at Carmarthen committed thereupon to prison where he remained all the rest of King Edward's time never restored to liberty till he came to the Stake in Queen Maries Reign On the twenty ninth of January 1552. The Bishoprick of Westminster was dissolved by the King's Letters Patents by which the County of Middlesex which had before been laid unto it was restored unto the See of London The Book of Articles made in the Synod at London may be truly said to be the work of that Convocation though many Members of it never saw the same till the Book was published in regard as Mr. Philpot saith that they had a Synodical Authority to make such spiritual Laws Fox Acts and Monuments fol. 1282. as to them seemed to be necessary or convenient for the use of the Church Moreover the Church of England for the first five years of Queen Elizabeth retained these Articles and no other as the publick Tenents of the Church in point of Doctrine which she had not done had they been commended to her by a less Authority than a Convocation These Articles were confirmed and published for such by the King's Authority Regiâ authoritate in lucem editi as appears further by the Title in due form of Law And so it is resolved by Philpot in behalf of the Catechism which came out Anno 1553. with the approbation of the said Bishops and learned Men. The Liturgy being setled and confirmed in Parliament was by the King's command translated into French for the use of the Isles of Guernsey and Jersey and such as lived within the Marches and command of Calais But no such care was taken for Wales till the fifth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth nor of the Realm of Ireland from that time to this as Doctor Heylin observeth Then that which concerns as well the nature as the number of such Feasts and Fasts as were thought fit to be retained were determined and concluded on by an Act of Parliament Which Statute though repealed in the first of Queen Mary and not revived till the first year of the Reign of King James yet in effect it stood in force and was more punctually observed in the time of Queen Elizabeth's Reign than after the reviving of it The next care was that Consecrated places should not be profaned by fighting and quarrelling as they had been lately since the Episcopal Jurisdiction and the ancient Censures of the Church were lessened in Authority and reputation This Parliament ending on April 15. the Book of Common-prayer was printed and published which had been therein authorized And the time being come which was set for the officiating it there appeared much alteration in the outward solemnities of Divine service to which the people had formerly been so long accustomed For by the Rubrick of that Book no Copes or other Vestures were required but the Surplice only whereby the Bishops must forbear
their Crosses and the Prebends of St. Paul's leave off their Hoods To give a beginning hereunto Bishop Ridley then Bishop of London did the same day officiate the Divine service of the Morning in his Rochet only without Cope or Vestment he preached also at St. Paul's in the afternoon the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Companies in their best Liveries in their Companies being present at it the Sermon tending for the most part to the setting forth the said Book of Common-prayer and to acquaint them with the Reasons of such alterations as were made therein On the same day the new Liturgy was executed also in all the Churches of London Not long after the upper Quire in St. Paul's Church where the high Altar stood was broken down and all the Quire thereabout and the Communion-table was placed in the lower part of the Quire where the Minister sang the daily Service Then publick care was had for the founding and establishing of the new Hospital in the late dissolved House of Gray-Friers near Newgate in London and that of St. Thomas in the Borough of Southwark of which ye are to know that the Church belonging to the said House together with the Cloysters and almost all the publick building which stood within the liberties and precincts thereof had the good hap to escape that ruine which generally befell all other Houses of that nature And standing undemolished till the last times of King Henry it was given by him not many dayes before his death to the City of London together with the late dissolved Priory called Little St. Bartholomews In which Donation there was reference had to a double end The one for the relieving the poor out of the Rents of such Messuages and Tenements as in the Grants thereof are contained and specified The other for constituting a Parish-church in the Church of the said dissolved Grey-friers not only for the use of such as lived within the precincts of the said two Houses but for the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Nicholas in the Shambles and of St. Edwin's situate in Warwick-lane near Newgate-market Which Churches with all the Rents and profits belonging to them were given to the City at the same time also and for advancing the same ends together with five hundred Marks per annum for ever The Church of the Gray-friers to be from thence-forth called Christ-church founded by King Henry the Eight All which was signified to the City in a Sermon Preached at Paul's Cross by the Bishop of Rochester on January 13. being but a fortnight before his death Mass was said in this Church by the Parishoners that resorted to it according to the King's donation After which in the first year of King Edward followed the taking down of the said two Churches and building several Tenements on the ground of the Churches and Church-yards the Rents thereof to be employed about the further maintenance and relief of the Poor Living and Loytering in and about the City But these things being not sufficient to carry on the work to the end desired it hapned that Bishop Rialey Preaching before King Edward insisted much upon some constant course for relief of the poor which Sermon wrought so far upon him that having sent for the Bishop he gave him great thanks for his good Exhortation whose advice was that Letters should be written to the Lord Mayor and Alderman By whom it was agreed that ageneral contribution should be made by all rich and well-affected Citizens toward the advancement of a work so necessary for the publick good Every man subscribed according to his ability and Books were drawn in every ward of the City containing the sum of that Relief which they had contributed Which being delivered to Sir Richard Dobbs Lord Mayor of London were by him tendred to the King's Commissioners February 17. The buildings in the Gray-friers were forthwith repaired The like reparation was also made of the ruinous buildings belonging to the late dissolved Priory of St. Thomas in Southwark which the Citizens had then newly bought of the King to serve for an Hospital for such Sick Wounded and Impotent persons as were not fit to be intermingled with the sound on November 23. the Sick and Maimed people were taken into the Hospital of St. Thomas and into Christ-church Hospital to the number of four hundred Children all of them to have Meat Drink Lodging and Clothes at the charge of the City till other means could be provided for their maintenance On April 10. this King gave for ever to the City his Palace of Bridewel erected by King Henry the Eighth to be employed for such Vagabonds and thriftless poor as should be sent thither to receive chastisement and be forced to labour He caused the Master and Brethren of the Hospital in the Savoy founded by King Henry the Seventh to resign the same into his hands with all the Lands and Goods thereunto belonging out of which he presently bestowed the yearly rent of seven hundred Marks with all the Beds Bedding and other Furniture found therein toward the maintenance of the said Work-house and the Hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark The Grant whereof he confirmed by his Letters Patents adding thereunto a Mortmain for enabling the City to purchase Lands to the value of four thousand Marks per annum for the better maintenance of those and the other Hospitals Thus he was entitled to the Foundation of Bridewel St. Bartholomews and St. Thomas without any charge to himself Nothing else memorable about this time but the coming of Cardan the death of Leland and the preferment of Doctor John Tailor to the See of Lincoln Then for raising Money a Commission was speeded into all parts of the Kingdom under pretence of selling such of the Lands and Goods of Chanteries as remained unsould but in plain truth saith Dr. Heylin to seize upon all Hangings Altar-clothes Fronts Parafronts Copes of all sorrs with all manner of Plate which was to be found in any Cathedral or Parochial Church Certain Instructions were likewise given to the Commissioners by which they were to regulate themselves in their proceedings This was done generally in all parts of the Realm into which the Commissioners began their Circuits in the moneth of April which general seizure being made they were to leave one Chalice with certain Table-clothes for the use of the Communion-table as the said Commissioners should think fit the Jewels Plate and ready Money to be delivered to the Master of the King's Jewels in the Tower of London the Copes of cloth of Gold and Tissue to be brought into the King's Wardrobe the rest to be turned into ready Money and that Money to be paid to Sir William Peckham the King's Cofferer for the defraying the charges of his Majesties houshold But some there were who were as much before hand with the Kings Commissioners in embezeling the Plate Jewels and other Furnitures as the Commissioners did intend to be with the King in keeping
whereby he was to be discharged of the Attainder which had passed upon him Anno 1539. restored in Blood and rendred Capable of all those Rights and Priviledges of which he had stood possessed in this Kingdom This Bill was quickly passed into an Act and on Novemb. 24. the Cardinal came first to London Then it was concluded by both Houses of Parliament that a petition should be made in the name of the Kingdom wherein should be declared how sorry they were that they had withdrawn their obedience from the Apostolick See and consenting to the Statutes made against it promising to endeavour hereafter that the said Lawes and Statutes should be repealed beseeching the King and Queen to intercede with his Holiness for their Absolution Then the Cardinal having read his Authority given him from the Pope they all kneeled upon their knees and imploring the mercy of God received Absolution for themselves and the rest of the Kingdom Which Absolution was pronounced in these words Our Lord Jesus Christ which with his most pretious blood hath redeemed us from all our sins c. and whom the Father hath appointed Head over all his Church absolve you And we by Apostolick Authority given unto us by the most holy Lord Pope Julius the third His Vicegerent here on earth do absolve and deliver you and every of you with the whole Realm and the Dominions thereof from all heresie and schism and from every judgement censure and pain for that cause incurred And also we do restore you again unto the unity of Our Mother the Holy Church In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Which words of His being seconded with a loud Amen by such as were present he concluded the dayes work with a solemn Procession to the Chappel for rendring thanks to God Then did the Cardinal dispence with much irregularity in several persons confirming the Institution of Clergy-men in their Benefices legitimating the Chiâ—dren of forbidden Marriages ratifying the processes and sentences in matters Ecclesiastical and his dispensations were confirmed by Acts of Parliament Then was Anthony Brown Viscount Montacute Thursby Bishop of Ely and Sir Edward Carn sent on a gratulatory Embassie to Pope Paul IV. to tender England's thanks for the favours conferr'd thereon The Convocation that then was held knew that the Cardinal was to be entreated not to insist upon the restoring of Church-lands rather to confirm the Lords and Gentry in their present possessions And to that end a Petition is presented to both their Majesties Heylin Hist of Q. Mary that they would be pleased to intercede with the Cardinal concerning it Which Petition was offered to the Legate in the name of the whole Convocation by the Lord Chancellor the Prolocutor and six others of the Lower House Concerning which the Legate was not ignorant that a Message had been sent to the Pope in the name of the Parliament to desire a confirmation of the Sale of all the Lands belonging to Abbies Chanteries c. or otherwise to let him know that nothing could be granted on his behalf And it is likely they received some fair promises to that effect in regard that on New-years day next following the Act for restoring the Pope's Supremacy was passed in both Houses of Parliament The whole matter being transacted to the content of all parties the poor Protestants excepted only on January 25. there was a solemn procession throughout London to praise God for their Conversion to the Catholick Church wherein were ninety Crosses an hundred and Sixty Priests and Clerks each of them attired in his Cope and after them eight Bishops in their Pontificalibus followed by Bonner carrying the Popish Pix under a Canopy and attended by the Lord Mayor and Companies in their several Liveries Which Procession being ended they all returned to S. Paul's Church where the King and Cardinal together with all the rest heard Mass and the next day the Parliament and Convocation were dissolved The English Ambassadours came to Rome on the first day of the Papacy of Pope Paul IV. and in the first consistory after his Inauguration they were brought before him who granted the pardon desired and lovingly embraced the Ambassadours and as an over plus the Pope conferred the Title of King 's of Ireland on their Majesties In his private discourses with the Ambassadours he said that the Church-goods ought to be wholly restored saying also that his Authority was not such as to profane things dedicated unto God He also told them that the Peter-pence ought to be paid as soon as might be and that according to the custom he would send a collector for that purpose He closed his discourse with this that they could not hope that S. Peter would open to them the Gates of Heaven as long as they usurped his goods on earth A rumour was spread of the Queen's being with Child and that she was quick and thereupon Letters were sent from the Lords of the Council to Bonner Bishop of London that prayers and thanksgivings should be made in all Churches The Parliament also while it was sitting passed an Act desiring the King that if the Queen should fail he would be pleased to take upon him the Education of the Child Set forms of prayer were also made for her safe delivery Great preparations were also made of all things necessary against the time of her delivery And upon a sudden rumour of her being delivered the Bells were rung and Bonfires made in most parts of London But it proved in fine that the Queen neither was with Childe for the present nor had any hopes of being so for the time to come A Gun was shot at one Doctor Pendleton as He Preached at Paul's Cross June 10. 1554 the pellet whereof went very neer him but the Gunner was not to be heard of Upon which the Queen published a Proclamation prohibiting the shooting with hand-guns and the bearing of weapons A little before this some had caused a Cat to be hanged upon the Gallows near the Cross in Cheapside with her head shorn the likeness of a vestment cast upon her and her two feet tyed together holding between them a piece of Paper in form of a Wafer tending to the disgrace of the Popish Religion Then were some Antient Statutes revived that were made in the time of King Richard the second Henry the fourth and Henry the fifth for the severe punishment of obstinate Hereticks even to death it self and an Act was passed for that purpose Hereupon followed that Inquisition for Blood which raged in London and more or less was exercised in most parts of the Kingdom Mr. John Rogers a Learned man and a great companion of that Tyndal by whom the Bible was translated into English in the time of King Henry after whose Martyrdom he retired to Wittenberg in the Dukedome of Saxony where he abode till King Edward's coming to the Crown and was by Bishop Ridley presented to the Lecture of
Crown but without any Act for the validity of her Mother's Marriage on which her Title most depended There passed an Act also for restoring the Tenths and first Fruits to the Crown first setled thereon in the time of King Henry the Eighth and afterwards given back by Queen Mary to the Pope They passed an Act also for the dissolution of all such Monasteries Convents and Religious Orders as had been Founded and established by Queen Mary By vertue of which Act Queen Elizabeth was repossessed of all those Lands which had been granted by her Sister to the Monks of Westminster and Shen the Knights Hospitallers the Nuns of Sion together with the Mansion houses re-edified for the Observants of Greenwich and the Black-friers in Smithfield In passing the Act of the Supremacy there was some trouble it seemed to be a thing even abhorrent in Nature and Polity that a Woman should be declared to be the Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England But the Queen declined the Title of Head and assumed the name of Governor of the Church of England This Act having easily passed the House of Commons found none of the Temporal Lords in the House of Lords to oppose it save onely the Earl of Shrewsbury and Anthony Brown Viscount Montacute As for the Bishops there were but fourteen and the Abbot of Westminster then alive of whom four being absent the rest could not make any considerable opposition In the Convocation of the Clergy there passed certain Articles of Religion which they tendered to the Parliament which were these I. That in the Sacrament of the Altar by the vertue of Christ assisting after the word is duly pronounced by the Priest the natural Body of Christ conceived by the Virgin Mary is really present under the Species of Bread and Wine also his natural Blood II. That after the Consecration there remains not the substance of Bread and Wine nor any other substance save the substance of God and Man III. That the true Body of Christ and his true Blood is offered a propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and dead IV. That the supreme power of feeding and governing the Militant Church of Christ and of confirming their Brethren is given to Peter the Apostle and to his lawful Successors in the See Apostolick as unto the Vicars of Christ. V. That the Authority to handle and define such things which belong to Faith the Sacraments and Discipline Ecclesiastical hath hitherto ever belonged and onely ought to belong unto the Pastors of the Church whom the Holy Spirit hath placed in the Church of God and not unto Lay-men This Remonstrance exhibited by the lower house of Convocation to the Bishops was according to their Requests presented by Edmond Bonner Bishop of London to the Lord Keeper of the Broad-seal of England in the Parliament Both Universities did concur to the truth of the foresaid Articles the last onely excepted This Declaration of the Popish Clergy hastened the disputation appointed on the last of March in the Church of Westminster wherein these Questions were debated I. Whether Service and Sacraments ought to be celebrated in the vulgar Tongue II. Whether the Church hath not power to alter Ceremonies III. Whether the Mass be a propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead Popish Disputants White Bishop of Winchester Watson Bishop of Lincoln Baynes Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Scot Bishop of CHESTER Protestant Disputants John Scory late Bishop of Chichester David Whitehead Robert Horn. Edmond Gwest Edwyn Sandys John Elmer Edmond Grindal John Juel Moderators Nicholas Heath Archbishop of York Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Besides the Disputants there were present many of the Lords of the Queens Council with other of the Nobility as also many of the lower House of Parliament For the manner of their conference it was agreed it should be performed in writing and that the Bishops should deliver their Reasons in writing first Many differences arose between them so that the conference broke off and nothing was determined The Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester thought meet that the Queen and the Authors of this defection from the Church of Rome should be Excommunicated who for this cause were imprisoned Then a Peace being made was Proclaimed over all England betwixt the Queen of England the King of France the Daulphin and the Queen of Scots The Parliament being dissolved by Authority of the same the Liturgy was forthwith brought into the Churches in the Vulgar Tongue the Oath of Supremacy offered to the Popish Bishops and others of the Ecclesiastical profession which most of them had sworn unto in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth All the Bishops refused except Anthony Bishop of Landaff As many as refused were turned out of their Livings Dignities Bishopricks In the Sees of the Prelates removed were placed Protestant Bishops Matthew Parker was made Archbishop of Canterbury who was Consecrated by three that formerly had been Bishops namely William Barlow of Bath and Wells John Scory of Chichester and Miles Coverdale of Exeter And being Consecrated himself he afterward Consecrated Edmond Grindal Bishop of London Richard Cox Bishop of Ely Edwyn Sandys Bishop of Worcester Rowland Merick Bishop of Bangor Thomas Young Bishop of St. David's Nicholas Bullingham Bishop of Lincoln John Juel Bishop of Salisbury Richard Davis Bishop of St. Asaph Edward Guest Bishop of Rochester Gilbert Barkley Bishop of Bath and Wells Thomas Bentham Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield William Alley Bishop of Exeter John Parkhurst Bishop of Norwich Robert Horn Bishop of Winchester Richard Cheiney Bishop of Glocester Edmond Scambler Bishop of Peterborough William Barlow Bishop of Chichester John Scory Bishop of Hereford Thomas Young Archbishop of York James Pilkinton Bishop of Durham John Best Bishop of Carlile and William Dounham Bishop of Chester Nicholas Health Archbishop of York lived privately many years in his Mannor of Chobham in Surrey never restrained to any one place and died in great favour with the Queen who bestowed many gratious visits upon him during his retirement Tonstal of Durham spent the remainder of his time with Archbishop Parker by whom he was kindly entertained and honourably buried The like civility was afforded to Thurlby Bishop of Ely in the same house and unto Bourn of Wells by the Dean of Exon in which two houses they both died about ten years after White though at first imprisoned for his faults after some cooling himself in the Tower of London was suffered to enjoy his liberty and to retire himself to what friend he pleased Which favour was vouchsafed unto Turbervil also who being a Gentleman by extraction wanted not friends to give him good entertainment Watson of Lincoln after a short restraint spent the remainder of his time with the Bishops of Rochester and Ely till having practised against the State he was shut up in the Castle of VVisbich where at last he died Oglethorp died soon after his deprivation of an Apoplexy
St. John's-colledge in Oxford Tutor to Philip Earl of Arundel eldest Son to Thomas Duke of Norfolk Afterwards he went over beyond Sea and became Divinity Professor in the Colledge of Rhemes and died there Now as touching the Controversie of Church-government the Ministers of Kent having been called to subscribe to certain Articles propounded to them by the Archbishop of Canterbury seâ—d their Petition to the Privy Council Subscribed thus Your Honours daily and faithful Orators the Ministers of Kent which are suspended from the execution of their Ministry The Lords of the Council sent this Petition with another Bill of complaint exhibited unto them against Edmond Freak Bishop of Norwich unto the Archbishop of Canterbury What his Answer was thereunto may be seen at large in Fuller's Church History Doctor John Whitgift was now Archbishop of Canterbury Anno 1583. who wrote a Letter to the Lord Treasurer complaining of Mr. Beal Clerk of the Council who brought these Letters to him his insolent carriage towards him Now that the Presbyterian party were befriended at the Council-board who endeavoured to mittigate the Archbishop's proceeding against them appeareth also from the Privy Counsellors Letter to the Archbishop in favour of the Non-conformists Signed W. Burleigh G. Shrewsbury A Warwick R. Leicester C. Howard J. Croft Ch. Hatton Fr. Walsingham But albeit Sir Chr. Hatton subscribed among the Privy Counsellors for moderation to Non-conformists yet that he was a great countenancer of Whitgift's proceedings against them appeareth in an immediate Address of the Archbishop unto him As for the Lord Burghleigh he was neither so rigid as to have Conformity prest to the height nor so remiss as to leave Ministers at their own liberty He would argue the case both in Dâ—scourse and Letters with the Archbishop and one Letter he wrote to the Archbishop for some Indulgence to the Ministers Mr. Travers seems to have an hand in all this who being the Lord Burghleigh's Chaplain by him much respected and highly affected to the Geneva Discipline was made the mouth of the Ministers to mediate to his Lord in their behalf But the Archbishop's unmoveableness appeared by his Letter sent to the Lord Treasurer at some passages whereof he took exception and sends a smart Letter to the Archbishop That which concerneth the Non-conformists therein is this I deny nothing that your Grace thinketh meet to proceed in with those whom you call factious and therefore there is no controversie between you and me expressed in your Letter the controversie is passed in your Graces Letter in silence and so I do satisfie Your Grace promised me to deal I say only with such as violated Order and to charge them therewith which I allow well of But your Grace not charging them with such faults seeketh by examination to urge them to accuse themselves and then I think you will punish them I think your Grace's proceeding is I will not say rigorous or captious but I think it is scant charitable c. If I had known the fault of Brown I might be blamed for writing for him but when by examination only it is to sift him with twenty four Articles I have cause to pity the poor man Your Grace's as friendly as any W. Burghleigh The Archbishop writes a calm Letter in answer to the Lord Treasurer's Letter sending him enclosed therein certain Reasons to justifie the manner of his proceedings praying his Lordship not to be carried away either from the cause or from the Archbishop himself upon unjust surmises and clamours lest he be the occasion of that confusion which hereafter he would be sorry for Professing that in these things he desired no further defence neither of his Lordship nor of any other than Justice and Law would yield unto him Sir Francis Walsingham was a good Friend to Non-conformists he wrote a Letter to the Archbishop to qualifie him for a Semi-Non-conformist one Mr. Leverwood Grindal being sensible of the Queens displeasure had desired to resign his place and confine himself to a yearly Pension This place was proffered to Whitgift but he in the presence of the Queen refused it yet what he would not snatch suddenly fell into his hands by Grindal's death who out of his contempt of the world left not much wealth behind him That little he had as it was well gotten was well bestowed in pious uses in Oxford and Cambridge with the building and endowing of a School at St. Bees in Cumberland where he was born yea he may be held as a Benefactor to this Nation by bringing in Tamarix first over into England that Plant being very excellent in mollifying the hardness of the Spleen Now Robert Brown a Cambridge-man and young Student in Divinity of whom the Separatists in those dayes and long after were called Brownists born in Rutland-shire of an ancient Family near allied to the Lord Treasurer Cecil began with one Richard Harison a Schoolmaster to vent their Opinions They set forth Books in Zealand whither they travelled Brown returning home disperseth these Books all over England But their Books were suppressed by the Queens Authority confuted by Learned men and two of his followers were executed one after another at St. Edmonds-bury Brown coming to Norwich there infected both Dutch and English for which he was confined The Lord Treasurer writes a Letter to the Bishop of Norwich in his behalf Brown being thus brought up to London was wrought to some tolerable compliance and being discharged by the Archbishop was by the Lord Treasurer sent home to his Father Anthony Brown at Tolethorp in Rutland Esquire But it seems Brown's errors were so inlaid in him no conference with Divines could convince him to the contrary whose incorrigibleness made his own Father weary of his company He and Harison inveighed against Bishops Ecclesiastical Courts Ceremonies Ordination of Ministers fancying here on earth a platform of a perfect Church Doctor Fulk learnedly proveth that the Brownists were in effect the same with the ancient Donatists Nicholas Saunders more truly Slanders died this year 1583. being starved to death among the Bogs and Mountains in Ireland Near the same time one John Lewis was burnt at Norwich for denying the Godhead of Christ and holding other detestable Heresies At this time the Jesuites set forth many slaunderous libels against her Majesty one of their principal Pamphlets was a Treatise of Schism William Carter the Stationer was executed at Tyburn for publishing it Soon after five Seminaries John Fen George Haddock John Munden John Nutter and Tho. Hemmerford were hanged bowelled and quartered for Treason at Tyburn and many others about the same time executed in other places Yet at the same time the Queen by one Act of Grace pardoned seventy Priests some of them actually condemned to die all legally deserving death Among these were 1. Gasper Haywood Son to that eminent Epigrammatist the first Jesuite that ever set foot in England 2. James Bosgrave 3. John Hart a zealous disputant 4. Edward
appear by the heavy censures inflicted on such as were but accessary thereunto To pass by John Vdal and John Penry Ministers accused for making some of them together with the Printers and Humfry Newman a Cobler chief disperser of them The Star-chamber deeply fined Sir Richard Knightly and Sir _____ Wigston for entertaining and receiving the press Gentlemen But upon their submission they had their liberty and were eased of their fines A Synod of the Presbyterians of the Warwick-shire Classis was called at Coventry wherein the questions brought the last year from the Brethren of Cambridge-Synod were thus resolved Bp. Bancroft's Book called Englands Scotizing for Discipline by practice I. That private Baptism was unlawful II. That it is not lawful to read Homiles in the Church III. That the sign of the cross is not to be used in Baptism IV. That the faithful ought not to communicate with unlearned Ministers although they may be present at their service c. V. That the calling of Bishops is unlawful VI. That as they deal in Causes Ecclesiastical there is no duty belonging unto nor any publickly to be given them VII That it is not lawful to be Ordained Ministers by them or to denounce either Suspensions or Excommunications sent from them VIII That it is not lawful to rest in the Bishop's deprivation of any from the Ministry c. IX That it is not lawful to appear in a Bishop's Court but with protestation of their unlawfulness X. That Bishops are not to be acknowledged either for Doctors Elders or Deacons as having no ordinary calling XI That touching the restauration of their Ecclesiastical Discipline it ought to be taught to the people as occasion shall serve XII That as yet the people are not to be solicited publickly to the practice of the Discipline till they be better instructed in the knowledge of it XIII That men of better understanding are to be allured privately to the present embracing of the discipline and practice of it as far as they shall be well able with the peace of the Church Likewise in the same Assembly the aforesaid Book of Discipline was approved to be a draught essential and necessary for all times And certain Articles devised in approbation and for the manner of the use thereof were brought forth treated of and subscribed unto by Master Cartwright and others and afterwards tendred far and near to the several Classes for a general ratification of all the brethren After a solemn humiliation of the Ministers at Northampton one Mr. Johnson formerly a Non-conformist but afterwards falling from that side discovered many passages to their disadvantage in the High-commission Court Watson Quodâ—ibus This year also the Popish Clergy set forth a Book called the Admonition dâ—spersed among the Papists and much cried up But the Spanish Navy presently miscarying after it's publishing Parsons procured the whole impression to be burnt save some few sent abroad aforehand to his friends that it might not remain a monument of their falshood This year died Edwyn Sandys Archbishop of York an excellent Preacher and of a pious Life and Dr. Laurence Humfrey President of Magdalen Colledge On September 1. 1596. Mr. Cartwright was brought before the Queen's Commissioners there to take his Oath and give in his positive answer to divers Articles objected against him The Articles were tendred to him in the Consistory of St. Paul's before John Elmar Bishop of London the two Lord Chief Justices Justice Gawdy Serjeant Puckering afterward Lord Keeper and Attorney General Popham The Commissioners assured him on their credits that by the Laws of the Realm he was to take his Oath and to answer as he was required But Mr. Cartwright pleaded That he thought he was not bound by the Laws of God so to do Hereupon he was sent to the Fleet unto the rest of his Brethren Now the main pillars of the Presbyterian party being some in Prison more in Trouble all in Fear applied themselves by their secret solicitors to James King of Scotland and procured his Letter to the Queen in their behalf But this Letter prevailed little But Archbishop Whitgift on Mr. Cartwright's general promise to be quiet procured his dismission out of the Star-chamber and prison wherein he was confined And henceforward Mr. Cartwright became very peaceable Then one Hacket born at Owndle in Northampton-shire undertook to be a discoverer of and Informer against Recusants a confident Fellow one that was great with Wigginton and that Faction Always Inculcating that some extraordinary course must be presently taken with the obstructors of the Genevian discipline Once he desperatley took his dagger and violently struck it into the picture of the Queen He pretended also Revelations Immediate Raptures and Discourses with God as also to Buffetings of Satan attesting the truth thereof with most direful Oathes and Execrations He raised also against Archbishop Whitgift and Chancellor Hatton with other privy Counsellors pretending himself sent from Heaven to reform Church and State He gave it out that the principal Spirit of the Messias rested in him and had two Attendants Edmond Coppinger the Queen's Servant and one of good descent for his Prophet of Mercy And Henry Arthington a York-shire Gentleman for his Prophet of Judgment These Proclaimed in Cheap-side That Christ was come in Hacket with his fan in his hand to purge the godly from the wicked c. They cried Repent Repent c. The next day all three were sent to Bridewel Hacket was arraigned drawn hanged and quartered continuing even at his death his blasphemous assertions Coppinger starved himself to death in prison Arthington made his Recantation in a publick writing and became the object of the Queen's mercy This accident was unhappily improved against the Non-conformists and rendred them so hated at Court that for many months together no favourite durst present a petition in their behalf to the Queen being loth to lose himself to save others Fuller Church Hist Cent. 16. l. 9. The same day wherein Hacket was executed Mr. Stone Parson of Warkton in Northampton-shire by vertue of an Oath tendred him the day before by the Queen's Attorney and solemnly taken by him was examined by the Examiner for the Star-chamber in Grays Inn from six a clock in the morning untill seven at night to answer unto thirty three Articles but could onely effectually depose to some of them but by his confession he discovereth the meetings of the Brethren with the circumstances thereof the Classes more formally setled in Northampton-shire than any where else in England When the news of Mr. Stone 's answer was brought abroad he was generally censured by most of his party So that he found it necessary in his own vindication to impart the reasons of his Confession to such as condemned him if not for a Traitor at least for a coward in the cause What satisfaction this gave to his party I know not Certainly the Bishop till his dying day
Anno 1600. died two eminent Roman Catholicks John Saunderson born in Lancaster bred in Trinity Colledge in Cambridge from whence he fled to Cambray in Artois The other Thomas Case of St. Johns in Oxford Doctor of Physick always a Papist in heart but never expressing the same till a little before his Death CENTURY XVII THe difference betwixt the Seculars and the Jesuites still continuing and encreasing Bishop Bancroft afforded the Seculars countenance and maintenance in London-house furnishing them with necessaries to write against their Adversaries hoping the Protestants might assault the Romish cause with the greater advantage by the breach made to their hands by the others own dissentions Archbishop Whitgift founded and endowed an Hospital at Croydon in Surrey for a Warden and twenty eight Brethren as also a free School with liberal maintenance for the training up of Youth Sir Rich. Bakers Chron. The Queen and Her Council finding both the Jesuites and the Secular Priests dangerous to this Common Wealth both the one and the other commandeth them to depart out of the Kingdom presently The last Parliament in this Queen's Reign was now begun at Westminster and dissolved the Moneth next following In this Parliament it was Enacted That overseers of the poor should be nominated yearly in Easter-week under the Hand and Seal of two Justices of peace and that these with the Church-wardens should take care of the poor binding out of Apprentices c. As also That the Lord Chancellor should award Commissions under the great Seal into any part of the Realm as cause should require to the Bishop of every Diocess and his Chancellor c. to enquire by oathes of twelve men into the misemployment of any lands or goods given to pious uses Francis Godwin D. D. Subdean of Exeter son of Thomas Godwin Bishop of Bath and Wells was made Bishop of Landaff He was born in the fourth year of Queen Elizabeth and was made a Bishop within Her Reign Anno 1601. Now came forth a notable book against the Jesuites written Scholastically by Watson a secular Priest consisting of ten Quodlibets each whereof is subdivided into as many Articles which discovereth the Jesuites in their Colours Anno 1602. died Herbert Westphaling Bishop of Hereford being the first Bishop of that foundation a man very pious and of such gravity that he was scarce ever seen to laugh There died also Alexander Nowel D. D. and Dean of S. Paul's in London He fled into Germany in the Reign of Queen Mary and was the first of English exiles that returned in the days of Queen Elizabeth an holy and Learned Man He bestowed two hundred pound a year rent on Brazen-nose Colledge wherein he was educated for the maintenance of thirteen Students He died at ninety years of age a single man fresh in his youthful Learning his eyes were not dim nor did he ever make use of Spectacles Mr. William Perkins who was born in the first died also in the last year of Queen Elizabeth Gregory Sayer also and William Harris two Popish Writers bred the one at Cambridge the other at Oxford died this year beyond the Seas At this time the City of Geneva was in a low estate for the Duke of Savoy addicted to the Spanish faction had banished all Protestants of his Dominions By the Liberal example of Archbishop Whitgift large summes of Money were Collected and seasonably sent over for the Relief of Geneva Queen Elizabeth the mirrour of her Sex and Age died having Reigned over this Kingdom above fourty years Her Corps were Solemnly interred under a fair Tomb in Westminster Abbey Now the Defenders both of Episcopacy and Presbitery with equal hopes of success make besides private and particular Addresses publick and visible Applications to King James the first to continue the last to set up their Government Dr. Thomas Nevil Dean of Canterbury sent by Archbishop Whitgift to his Majesty in the name of the Bishops and Clergy of England brought back a well-come answer which was to uphold the Government of the Late Queen as she left it setled Then Watson a Secular Priest with William Cleark another of his Profession having fancied a notional Treason impart it to George Brook These break it to Brook's brother the Lord Cobham to the Lord Gray of Wilton and Sir Walter Rawleigh besides some other discontented Knights Watson devised an Oath of secrecy for them all The ends they propounded to themselves were to kill the King raise Rebellion alter Religion and procure a Forreign invasion c. The treason was discovered The two Priests alone with G. Brook were executed the rest were pardoned No sooner was King James setled on the English throne but Mr. Cartwright presented unto him his Latine Comment on Ecclesiastes and died soon after Mr. Dod Preached his funeral Sermon Now there being a general expectation of a Parliament to succeed the Presbterian party went about to get hands of the Ministers to a petition which they intended seasonably to present to the King and Parliament A conference was appointed at Hampton-Court which began on January 14. 1603. The names of the Persons which were employed therein are as follow For Conformity Archbishop of Canterbury Whitgift Bishops of London Durham Winchester Worcester S. David's Chichester Carlile Peterborow Bancroft Mathew Bilson Babington Rudd Watson Robinson Dove Deans of The Chappel Christ-Church Worcester Westminster S. Paul's Chester Sarisbury Windsor Doctor Field King Against Conformity Doctor Reinolds Sparks Master Knewstubs Chadderton Moderator Spectators King James All the Lords of the Privy Council On the first dayes Conference the Bishops and five of the Deans were called in severally by themselves then the King reduceth some special points wherein he desireth to be satisfied to three Heads 1. Concerning the Book of Common Prayer c. used in the Church 2. Excommunication in Ecclesiastical Courts 3. The providing of fit and able Ministers for Ireland In the Common-prayer-book he required satisfaction about three things 1. About Confirmation 2. Absolution 3. Private Baptism Touching Confirmation he said he abhorred the abuse wherein it was made a Sacrament or Corroboration to Baptism As for Absolution he said he had heard it likened to Pope's Pardons And Concerning Private Baptism he would be satisfied if called private from the place or if so termed that any besides a Lawful Minister may Baptize which he disliked Concerning excommunication he offered two things to be considered of 1. The Matter 2. The Persons For the first whether it were executed in light Cases which causeth the undervaluing thereof For the persons he would be resolved why Chancellors and Commissaries being lay men should do it and not rather the Bishops themselves c. As for providing Ministers for Ireland he said he would refer it in the last dayes Conference to a Consultation The Archbishop of Canterbury answered that Confirmation hath been used in the Catholick Church ever since the Apostles The Bishop of London That it is an Apostolical
thereof Then Dr. Rainolds came to Subscription as a great impeachment to a Learned Ministry and therefore entreated it might not be exacted as heretofore for which many good men are kept out though otherwise willing to subscribe to the Statutes of the Realm Articles of Religion and the King's Supremacy He objected against the enjoyning of the Apocrypha Books to be read in the Church some Chapters therein containing manifest errours repugnant to Scripture His Majesty said he would not have all Canonical books read in the Church nor any Chapter out of the Apocrypha wherein any errour is contained The next scruple against Subscription was because it was twice set down in the Common-prayer-book Jesus said to his Disciples when by the Text in the Original it is plain that he spake to the Pharisees His Majesty answered let the word Disciples be omitted and the words Jesus said be Printed in a different Character Mr. Knewstubs took exceptions at the Cross in baptism and said it is questionable whether the Church hath power to institute an outward significant sign The Bishop of London answered The Cross in Baptism is not used otherwise than a Ceremony His Majesty desired to be acquainted about the Antiquity of the use of Cross Dr. Rainolds said it hath been used ever since the Apostles time but the question is how Ancient the use thereof hath been in Baptism The Bishop of Winchester said in Constantine's time it was used in Baptism His Majesty replied if so I see no reason but we may continue it Mr. Knewstubs said put case the Church may add significant signs it may not add them where Christ hath already ordained them which is as Derogatory to Christ's Institution as if one should add to the great Seal of England His Majesty answered the case is not alike seeing the Sacrament is fully finished before the use of the Cross Mr. Knewstubs demanded then how far the Ordinance of the Church bindeth without impeaching Christian Liberty The King answered I will have one Doctrine one Discipline one Religion in substance and in Ceremony Never speak more to that point how far ye are bound to obey Doctor Rainolds wished that the Cross being Superstitiously abused in Popery were abandoned as the Brazen-serpent was stamped to powder by Hezekiah because abused to Idolatry His Majesty answered Inasmuch as the Cross was abused to Superstition in time of Propery it doth plainly imply that it was well used before He said he detested their courses who peremptorily disallow of all things which have been abused in Popery and know not how to answer the Objections of the Papists when they charge us with Novelties but by telling them we retain the Primitive use of things and onely forsake their Novel corruptions Secondly no resemblance between the Brazen-Serpent a material visible thing and the sign of the Cross made in the Air. Thirdly Papists did never ascribe any spiritual grace to the Cross in Baptism Lastly material Crosses to which people fell down in time of Popery as the Idolatrous Jews to the Brazen-serpent are already demolished as you desire Mr. Knewstubs proceeded excepting at the wearing of the Surplice a kind of garment said he used by the Priests of Isis His Majesty answered he did not think till of late it had been borrowed from the Heathen because commonly called a Rag of Popery And seeing we border not upon Heathens c. I see no reason said he but for comeliness sake it may be continued Dr. Rainolds said I take exception at these words in Marriage With my body I thee worship His Majesty answered I find it an usual English Term A Gentleman of Worship and it agreeth with the Scriptures Giving honour to the wife The Dean of Sarum said some take exception at the Ring in Marriage Dr. Rainolds said he approved it well enough Then said he some take exceptions at the Churching of women by the name of Purification His Majesty said I allow it very well Unto Doctor Rainolds his last exception against committing Ecclesiastical censures to Lay-chancellors His Majesty answered that he had conferred with the Bishops about that point and such order should be taken therein as was Convenient Doctor Rainolds desired That according to certain Provinâ—ial Constituions the Clergy may have meetings every three weeks 1. In Rural Deaneries therein to have prophecying as Archbishop Grindal and other Bishops desired of her late Majesty 2. That such things as could not be resolved on there might be referred to the Archdeacons Visitations 3. And so to the Episcopal Synod to determine such points before not decided His Majesty answered If you aim at a Scottish Presbytery it agreeth as well with Monarchy as God and the Devil Then Jack and Tom c. shall meet and censure me and my Council Then the King asked the Doctor whether they had any thing else to say He answered No more if it please your Majesty If this be all your party have to say said the King I will make them conform or else I will harry them out of the Land or do worse Thus ended the second dayes Conference The third began on the Wednesday following many Knights Civilians and Doctors of the Law being admitted thereunto because the High-commission was the principal matter in debate His Majesty thus began I understand that the parties named in the High-commission are too many and too mean and the matters they deal with base such as Ordinaries might censure in their Courts at home Archbishop of Canterbury Were not their number many I should oftentimes sit alone I have often complained of the meanness of matters handled therein but cannot remedy it for though the offence be small that the Ordinary may yet the Offender oft-times is so great that the Ordinary is forced to crave help at the High-commission to punish him A nameless Lord said The proceedings in that Court are like the Spanish Inquisition wherein men are urged to subscribe more than Law requireth and by the Oath Ex officio forced to accuse themselves being examined upon many Articles on a sudden and for the most part against themselves The Lord Chancellor said There is necessity and use of the Oath Ex officio in divers Courts and Causes His Majesty said That it is requisite that same and scandals be looked unto in Courts Ecclesiastical and yet great moderation is to be used therein And here he soundly described the Oath Ex officio for the ground thereof the wisdom of the Law therein the manner of proceeding thereby and profitable effect from the same After much discourse between the King the Bishops and the Lords about the quality of the Persons and Causes in the High-Commission rectifying Excommunications in matters of less moment punishing Recusants providing Divines for Ireland Wales and the Northern borders the four Preachers were called in and such alterations in the Liturgy were read unto them which the Bishops by the King's advice had made unto which by their
in Gresham Colledge and Mr. Francis Rowse a Lay-man His Majesty sensible of his Subjects great distast at Mr. Mountague's Book resolved to leave him to stand or fall according to the justness of his Cause The Duke imparted as much to the Bishop of St. David's who conceived it of such ominous concernment that he entred the same in his Diary viz. I seem to see a cloud arising and threatning the Church of England God for his mercy dissipate it The King issued forth a Proclamation Whereby he commanded the return within limited time of all such Children of Noble-men and other his natural Subjects who were now breeding up in Schools and Seminaries and other Houses of the Popish Religion beyond the Seas That their Parents Tutors and Governors take present order to recal them home and to provide that they return by the day prefixt at the utmost severity of his Majestie 's Justice He commanded further That no Bishop Priest or any other person having taken Orders under any Authority derived from the See of Rome do presume to confer Ecclesiastical Orders or exercise Ecclesiastical Function or Jurisdiction toward any of his Natural Subjects in any of his Dominions c. On Candlemas-day King Charles was Crowned Bishop Laud had the chief hand in compiling the form of the Coronation and had the honour to perform this Solemnity instead of the late Lord Keeper Williams who through the King's diâ—favour was sequestred from this service which belonged to his place as he was Dean of Westminster Dr. Senhouse Bishop of Carlile Preached at the Coronation The Coronation Oath was tendred to the King by the Archbishop of Canterbury The Ceremonies of the Coronation being ended the Regalia were offered at the Altar by Bishop Laud in the King's Name and then reposited Bishop Williams fallen into disgrace by the displeasure of the Duke of Buckingham besought his Majesty That he would mitigate the Duke's causeless anger towards him and that in his absence in the Parliament no use might be made of his Majestie 's sacred Name to wound the Reputation of a poor Bishop c. On Monday February the sixth began the second Parliament of the King's Reign The House of Commons began where they left at Oxford with matters of Religion and publick grievances They made strict enquiry into what abuses had been of the King's grace since that time and who were the Authors and Abbertors thereof for they had been informed of many Pardons and Reprieves to Priests and Jesuites An Act was tendred against scandalous Ministers It was moved that some provision might be made against scandalous Livings as well as against scandalous Ministers A Committee was named concerning Religion and the Growth of Popery and Mr. Mountague's Appeal to Caesar was again brought in question This Book the Commons referred to the Committee for Religion the contents whereof were reported from Mr. Pym to the House and the House passed their Votes thereupon That Mr. Mountague endeavoured to reconcile England to Rome and to alienate the King's affections from his well-affected Subjects Divers Articles were exhibited by the Commons against Mr. Mountague They prayed That the said Mr. Mountague might be punished according to his Demerits and that the Book aforesaid might be suppressed and burnt Many resorting to hear Mass at Durham house in the Lodgings of a Forreign Ambassador the Bishop of Durham was required to apprehend such of the King's Subjects as should be present at the Mass and to commit them to prison There was also a Letter sent from the Attorney General to the Judges of the circuits to direct their proceedings against Recusants Fuller Church Hist An. 1626. During the sitting of this Parliament at the procurement of Robert Rich Earl of Warwich a conference was kept in York house before the Duke of Buckingham and other Lords betwixt Dr. Buckeridge Bishop of Rochester and Dr. White Dean of Carlile on the one side and Dr. Morton Bishop of Coventry and Dr. Preston on the other chiefly About the possibility of one elected to fall from grace The passages of which conference are variously reported Soon after a second conference was in the same place on the same points before the same persons betwixt Dr. White Dean of Carlile and Mr. Mountague on the one side and Dr. Morton Bishop of Litchfield and Dr. Preston on the other But these conferences rather increased the differences than abated them An old Hall in Oxford formerly called Broad-gates-Hall was this year turned into a new Colledge and called Pembrook Colledge partly in respect to William Earl of Pembrook then Chancellor of the University This Colledge consisteth of a Master ten Fellows and ten Scholars with other Students and Officers to the number of one hundred sixty nine Now Dr. Preston decline's in the Duke's favour and the Duke betakes himself to the opposit Interest This year died Arthur Lake Bishop of Bath and Wells and Lancelot Andrews who had been Dean of Westminster Bishop of Chichester Ely and at last of Winchester Doctor Nicholas Felton Bishop of Ely died some days after Bishop Andrews About this time the Marshal of Middlesex petitioned to the Committee of the House of Commons touching his resistance in seizing of Priests goods A Warrant was made by Mr Attorney-General to John Tendring Marshal of Middlesex and all other therein named to search the prison of the Clink and to seize all Popish and superstitious matters there found A Letter also was directed to Sir George Paul a Justice of Peace in Surrey to pray him to take care in expediting that service Upon search four several Priests were found in the Clink viz. Preston Candon Warrington Prator Preston was committed to the Clink about sixteen years since and discharged of his imprisonment about seven years ago yet remained there in the Prison still attended with two Women servants and one Man servant who as it was suspected had continued with him ever since the Gunpowder-Treason Rushw Collec Anno 1626. Anno 1605. He kept there by himself apart from the Keeper of the prison and had for his lodging part of the Bishop of Winchester's house into which there was a passage made through the prison-yard There were found in his Chamber five or six Cart-loads of Books set up with shelves as in a Library or Book-seller's shop supposed to be worth two thousand pounds at least besides which it was affirmed by the Keeper of the prison that he had a greater Library abroad There were also found two Altars ready furnished for Mass one more publick in an upper Chamber the other more private in a Study many rich Copes Surplices Wax-candles Crosses Crucifixes very rich Beads Jewels Chaines Chalices of Silver and of Gold five or six bags of money which were not opened and loose money to the quantity of an hundred pound thrown up and down in his Desk abundance of Manuscripts and a pacquet of Letters bound up together with a thread In Candon's Chamber
use aforesaid to be illegal and so dissolved the same confiscating their money to the King's use About this time died Samuel Harsenet Archbishop of York He lies buried at Chigwel Church in Essex where he built a School Now the Sabbatarian controversie began to be revived Theophilus Bradburn a Minister of Suffolk had five years before set forth a book Entitled A defence of the most ancient and Sacred Ordinance of God the Sabbath-day Francis White now Bishop of Ely was employed by his Majesty to confute Mr. Bradburn's erroneous opinion In the writing whereof many strict people were offended at some expressions dropping from his pen. Hereupon many Books were wrote and controversies on this subject were multiplied These were distinguished into three several opinions Sabbatarians Moderate men Anti-sabbatarians In Sommerset-shire some of the Justices were offended at the keeping of Wakes Church-ales c. on the Lord's day which occasioned many disorders to be committed They moved the Lord Chief-justice Richardson and Baron Denham then in their circuit in the Lent-vacation to make some order therein These in compliance with their desire make an Order to suppress such Revels in regard of the manifold inconveniences daily arising thereby Sir Rich. Baker's Chro. enjoyning the Constables to deliver a Copy thereof to the Minister of every Parish who on the first Sunday in Feburary and likewise the two first Sundays before Easter was to pub ish the same every year This was looked upon by the Bishops as an Usurpation of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction and they therefore procured a Commission directed to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and other Divines and to enquire into the manner of publishing this Order and the carriage of the Judges in the Business Notwithstanding which the Chief-justice at the next Assizes gave strict charge against the Revels requiring an account of the pub ication and execution of the former order punishing some persons for the breach thereof This Order was af erward revoked And hereupon the Justices of that County made an humble supplication to the King for suppressing the foresaid Assemblies In this juncture of time a Declaration for sports on the Lord's day published in the Reign of King James was revived and enlarged This gave great distast to many and some Ministers were suspended and some deprived ab officio beneficio and more vexed in the High-commission All Bishops urged not the reading of the Book with rigour alike nor punished the refusal with equal severity The thickest complaints came from the Diocess of Norwich and of Bath and Wells Much was the Archbishop's moderation in his own Diocese silencing but three in whom also a concurrence of other Non-conformities through the whole extent thereof Here it is much to be lamented that such who at the time of the Sabbatarian controversie were the strictect observers of the Lord's day are now become in another extreme the greatest neglecters yea contemners thereof Now such Irish Impropriations as were in the Crown were by the King restored to the Church to the great Diminishing of the Royal Revenue And Archbishop Laud was a worthy Instrument in moving the King to so pious a work A Convocation concurrent with a Parliament was called and held at Dublin in Ireland wherein the Nine and thirty Articles of the Church of England were received in Ireland for all to subscribe to Dr. William Juxon Bishop of London was made Lord Treasurer of England whose carriage was so discreet in that place that it procured a general love to him Anno 1635. Archbishop Laud kept his Metropolitical Visitation and hence-forward Conformity was more vigorously pressed than before Now many differences about Divine Worship began to arise and many Books were written pro and con One controversie was about the Holyness of our Churches Another about Adoration towards the Altar A Controversie was also started about the posture of the Lord's Boord Communion-table or Altar This last controversie was prosecuted with much needless animosity Indeed if moderate men had had the managing of these matters the accommodation had been easie In June Anno 1636. Mr. Prynne Dr. Bastwick and Mr. Burton were sentenced in the High-commission-court Some three years since Mr. Pyrnne set forth a Book called Histrio-mastrix for which he was censured to lose his ears on the Pillory and for a long-time after two removals to the fleet Imprisoned in the Tower whence he dispersed New Pamphlets against the established Discipline of the Church of England for which he was indited in the Star-chamber Dr. John Bastwick set forth a Book Entitled Flagellum Pontificis Episcoporum latialium in a fluent Latine Style He was accused in the High-commission committed to the Gate-house where he wrote a second Book taxing the injustice of the proceedings of the High-commission for which he was indited in the Star-chamber Mr. Burton Preached a Sermon on the last fifth of November On Prov. 24.21 My son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are subject to change This Sermon was afterwards Printed charging the Prelats for Introducing several Innovations in Divine Worship for which as a Libel he was indited in the Star-chamber Mr. Pâ—ynne's Plea is rejected and his answer refused so is Dr. Bastwick's and Mr. Burton's is cast out for imperfect The Censure of the Court was that they should lose their ears in the Palace-yard at Westminster fining them also five thousand pounds a man to his Majesty and perpetual Imprisonment in three remote places The Lord Finch added to Mr. Prynne's Censure that he should be branded in each Cheek with S. L. for a slanderous Libeller to which the whole Court agreed Two days after three Pillories were set up in Palace-yard or one double one and a single one at some distance for Mr. Prynne as the chief offender Mr. Burton first suffered making a long speech in the Pillory not entire but interrupted with occasional expressions His ears were cut so close that the Head-artery being cut the blood abundantly streamed down upon the Scaffold at which he did not shrink at all Dr. Bastwick succeeded him His friends highly commended the erection of his mind over pain and shame Others conceived that anger in him acted the part of patience as to the stout undergoing of his sufferings The Censure was with all rigour executed on Mr. Prynne commended more for his kindly patience than either of his Predecessors in that place Not long after they were removed Mr. Prynne to Carnarvan-castle in Wales Dr. Bastwick and Mr. Burton the one to Lancaster-castle the other to Lanceston in Cornwal The two latter again were removed one to the Isle of Scilly the other to the Isle of Gernezey and Mr. Prynne to Mount-orguile-castle in Jersey Next came the Bishop of Lincoln to be Censured in the Star-chamber The Bishop of Lincoln censured After the great Seal some ten years since taken from him he retired himself to Bugden in Huntington-shire where he lived
of such Prohibitions as formerly had been granted by the Courts in Westminster-hall to stop the proceedings of the Court-Christian and specially of the High-Commission and in the next place to deny the Authority of the Commission it self as before was noted Hereupon the Archbishop informs his Majesty both of the Man and of his design how far he had gone in justifying the proceedings of the Scottish Covenanters in decrying the temporal power of Church-men and the undoubted right of Bishops to their place in Parliament his Majesty hereupon gives order to Finch the new Lord Keeper to interdict all further Reading on those points Hereupon it was soon found that nothing could be done therein without leave from the King and no such leave to be obtained without the consent of the Archbishop To Lambeth therefore goes the Reader where he found no admittance till the third Address and was then told That he was fallen upon a Subject neither safe nor seasonable which should stick closer to him then he was aware of Whereupon Bagshaw hasteneth out of Town Short view of the life and reign of King Charles p. 77. The Parliament came together on April 13. 1640. instead of acting any thing for his Majesties service they were at the point of passing a Vote for blasting his War against the Scots To prevent which his Majesty was forced to dissolve them on May 5. the Convocation still continuing who granted him a Benevolence of four shillings in the pound for all their Ecclesiastical promotions to be paid six years together then next ensuing The Convocation sate after the breaking up of the Parliament A new Commission was brought from his Majesty by vertue whereof they were warranted to sit still not in the capacity of a Convocation but of a Synod to prepare their Canons for the Royal assent thereunto But Doctor Brewnrigg Doctor Hacket Doctor Holdsworth Mr. Warmstrey with others to the number of thirty six the whole House consisting of about sixscore protested against the continuance of the Convocation To satisfie these an Instrument was brought into the Synod signed with the hands of the Lord Privy-seal the two chief Justices and other Judges justifying their so fitting in the nature of a Synod to be legal according to the Laws of the Realm Now their disjoynted meeting being set together again they consulted about new Canons I shall set down the number and titles of the several Canons 1. Concerning the Regal power 2. For the better keeping of the day of his Majesties Inauguration 3. For suppressing of the growth of Popery 4. Against Socinianism 5. Against Sectaries 6. An Oath enjoyned for the preventing of all Innovations in Doctrine and Government 7. A Declaration concerning some Rites and Ceremonies 8. Of preaching for Conformity 9. One Book of Articles of enquiry to be used at all Parochial visitations 10. Concerning the Conversation of the Clergy 11. Chancellors Patents 12. Chancellors alone not not to censure any of the Clergy in sundry cases 13. Excommunication and Absolution not to be pronounced but by a Priest 14. Concerning the Commutations and the disposing of them 15. Concerning some Concurrent Jurisdictions 16. Concerning Licenses to marry 17. Against vexatious Citations The Oath it self I shall set down as I find it in the Life of Archbishop Laud written by Doctor Heylin in this form following viz. I A. B. do swear That I do approve the Doctrine and Discipline or Government established in the Church of England as containing all things necessary to salvation And that I will not endeavour by my self or any other directly or indirectly to bring in any Popish doctrine contrary to that which is so established Nor will I ever give my consent to alter the Government of this Church by Archbishops Bishops Deans and Archdeacons c. As it stands now established and as by right it ought to stand nor yet ever subject it to the usurpations and superstitions of the See of Rome And all these things I do plainly and seriously acknowledge and swear according to the plain and common sence and understanding of the same words without any equivocation or mental evasion or secret reservation whatsoever And this I do heartily willingly and truly upon the faith of a Christian So help me God in Jesus Christ Toward the close of the Convocation Doctor Griffith made a motion that there might be a new Edition of the Welsh Church-bible some sixty years first translated into Welsh by the endeavours of Bishop Morgan but not without many mistakes and omissions of the Printer The matter was committed to the care of the Welsh Bishops but nothing was effected therein Near the ending of the Synod Godfrey Goodman Bishop of Glocester privately acquainted the Archbishop of Canterbury that he could not in his Conscience subscribe the new Canons The Archbishop being present with the Synod in King Henry the Seventh his Chappel said unto him My Lord of Glocester I admonish you to subscribe and presently after My Lord of Glocester I admonish you the second time to subscribe and immediately after I admonish you to subscribe To all which the Bishop pleaded Conscience and returned a denial Some dayes after he was committed to the Gate-house Soon after the same Canons were subscribed at York and on the last of June following the said Canons were publickly printed with the Royal assent affixed thereunto Fuller Church History ad An. 1640. Various were mens censures upon these Canons But most took exception against that clause in the Oath We will never give any consent to alter this Church-governmet as if the same were intended to abridge the liberty of King and State in future Parliaments and Convocations if hereafter they saw cause to change any thing therein Yet others with a favourable sence endeavoured to qualifie this suspitious clause whereby the taker of this Oath was tied up from consenting to any alteration saying that these words We will never give any consent to alter are intended here to be meant only of a voluntary and pragmatical alteration when men conspire and endeavour to change the present Government of the Church in such particulars as they do dislike without the consent of their Superiors Bishop Goodman on July the tenth made acknowledgment of his fault before the Lords of the Council and took the Oath enjoyned in the sixth Canon for preserving the Doctrines and Discipline of the Church of England against all Popish doctrines which were thereunto repugnant Upon the doing whereof he was restored by his Majesty to his former liberty Yet in the time of his last sickness it is said that he declared himself to be a Member of the Church of Rome and caused it so to be expressed in his last Will and Testament On December 27. 1639. at night and the night following there was such a violent Tempest that many of the Boats which were drawn to Land at Lambeth were dashed one against the other and were broke to pieces
had long since resolved upon the Question which afterwards they declared by their publick Votes for on the eleventh of September the Vote passed in the House of Commons for abolishing Bishops Deans and Chapters celebrated by the Citizens with Bells and Bonfires the Lords not coming in till the end of January when it past there also The War now begins to open The Parliament had their Guards already and the affront which Hotham had put upon the King at Hull prompted the York-shire Gentlemen to become a guard to his Person Both Houses presently Vote this to be a levying War against the Parliament for whose defence not onely the Trained bands of London must be in a readiness and the Good people of the Countrey required to put themselves into a posture of Armes but Regiments of Horse and Foot are listed a General appointed great sums of money raised Hereupon the King hastens from York to Nottingham where he sets up his Standard inviting all his good Subjects to repair unto him for defence of their King the Laws and Religion of their Countrey And marching with great Forces he was encountred at Edge-hill by the Parliaments Forces where five thousand men on both sides were slain on the place among which was the King's General Yet the King kept the field and made his way open forced Banbury Castle and entred triumphantly into Oxford with an hundred and twenty Colours taken in the Fight The King resolves on his advance towards London and goes forward as far as Brainford out of which he beats two of their best Regiments takes five hundred prisoners and sinks their Ordnance But understanding that the Earl of Essex joyning with the London-Auxiliaries lay in way before him at Turnham-Green near Chiswick he retreated toward Oxford where he receives Propositions of Peace from the Houses of Parliament Among which I find this for one That his Majesty would be pleased to give his Royal Assent for taking away superstitious Innovations and to the Bill for the utter abolishing and taking away all Archbishops Bishops their Chancellors Commissaries Deans Subdeans Deans and Chapters Archdeacons Deacons Canons and Prebandaries and all Chantors Chancellors Treasurers Sub-treasurers Succentors and Sacrists and all Vicars Choral and Choristers old Vicars or new Vicars of any Cathedral or Collegiate Church and all other their under-officers out of the Church of England To the Bill against scandalous Ministers To the Bill against pluralities And to the Bill for consultation to be had with Godly Religious and Learned Divines That his Majesty would be pleased to pass such other Bills for setling of Church-government as upon consultation with the Assembly of the said Divines shall be resolved on by both Houses of Parliament and by them to be presented to his Majesty Which Proposition with the rest being presented to him on Candlemas-day he referred to the following Treaty to be held at Oxford but the Commissioners were so tyed to their Instructions that nothing could be yielded by them Heylin Hist of Archbishop Laud. But the Parliament had now entred on the Rents and profits of all the Episcopal Sees and Capitular Bodies which were within the power of their Armies and sequestred the Benefices of many under the common notion of scandalous Ministers who if they had transgressed the Laws of the Realm by the same Laws were to have been proceeded against that so being legally deprived the vacant Churches might be left to be filled by the Patrons with more deserving Incumbents But this consisted not with the present design Most of the silenced Lecturers and Ministers which within ten years past had left the Kingdom for Inconformity were put into these sequestred Benefices with which his Majesty being made acquainted he presently signified his dislike of it by his Royal Proclamation bearing date May 15. 1643. In which he complains That divers of the Pious and Learned Clergy were forced from their Cures and Habitations or otherwise silenced c. for no other reason but because contrary to the Laws of the Land and their own Consciences they would not pray against Him and his Assistants or refused to publish any Illegal orders for fomenting the War raised against him but conformed themselves according to the Book of Comon-Prayers and preached God's Word according to the purity thereof without any mixture of Sedition Next That many Factious and Schismatical persons were intruded into them to sow Sedition and seduce his good Subjects from their Obedience contrary to the Word of God and the Laws of the Land amp c. And thereupon he straitly commandeth all his good Subjects to pay their Tythes to the several and respective Incumbents or their Assignes without guile or fraud notwithstanding any Sequestration pretended Orders or Ordinances whatsoever from one or both Houses of Parliament c. Requiring all Church-wardens and Sides-men to be assistant in gathering and receiving their Tythes Rents and Profits and to resist all such persons as much as in them lay which were intruded into any of the Benefices or Cures aforesaid But this rather served to declare his Majesties piety than to stop the course of those proceedings Then an infamous Pamphlet is dispersed Licensed by John White Chair-man of the Committee for Religion called The Committee for plundred Ministers under the Title of The first Century of Scandalous and Malignant Priests c. Their Commissioners were no sooner returned from Oxford but they called an Assembly of Divines by their own Authority who met at Westminster in King Henry the Seventh his Chappel These were of four several natures First Men of Episcopal perswasion as the most Reverend James Vsher Archbishop of Armagh Doctor Ralph Brownrigg Bishop of Exeter Doctor Westfield Bishop of Bristol Doctor Daniel Featly Doctor Richard Holdsworth c. Secondly Such who in their judgements favoured the Presbyterian Discipline c. among whom we take special notice of these Doctor Hoyle Divinity Professor in Ireland Cambridge Dr. William Gouge in Black-friers Dr. Peter Smith Mr. Oliver Bowles Mr. Thomas Gataker Mr. Henry Scudder Mr. Anthony Tuckney Mr. Stephen Marshall Mr. John Arrow-Smith Mr. Herbert Palmer Mr. Thomas Thorowgood Mr. Thomas Hill Mr. Nathanael Hodges Mr. John Gibbon Mr. Timothy Young Mr. Richard Vines Mr. Thomas Coleman Mr. Matthew Newcomen Mr. Jeremiah Whitaker Mr. John Lightfoot c. Oxford Dr. William Twisse Dr. Cornelius Burgesse Dr. Edmond Stanton Mr. John White of Dorchester Mr. Harris of Hanwel Mr. Edward Reynolds Mr. John Maynard Mr. Charles Herle Mr. Corbert of Merton Colledge Mr. Conant Mr. Francis Cheynel Mr. Obadiah Sedgewick Mr. Cartar Senior Mr. Cartar Junior Mr. Joseph Caryl Mr. Strickland Mr. Thomas Baily c. Thirdly Some who formerly disliking Conformity removed themselves beyond the Seas now returned home at the beginning of this Parliament These afterward proved dissenting Brethren to some transactions in the Assembly as Thomas Goodwin Philip Nye Sidrach Symson Jeremiah Burronghes William Bridge Fourthly Some Members of the Lords and Commons were
and in the mean-time send many Expostulatory Letters to Sir Arthur Haslerigg then at Newcastle urging the breach of Covenant and the union between the two Nations which availed nothing The Scots having been routed at Muscleburgh they came to a Battel at Dunbar where the whole Army was defeated by Cromwel of the Scots there were slain in the Battel four thousand and nine thousand were taken prisoners with all their Ammunition bag and baggage and ten thousand Armes The Scots after this loss quitted Leith and Edinburgh whereof the next day Cromwel took possession and the King retired to St. Johnstons where the Committee of Estates were assembled The Scots ascribed this overthrow of the Army to their admitting the King into Scotland before he had given full satisfaction to the Kirk in what they required of him and began very much to impose upon him and remove from his Person the most Faithful and Loyal of his Servants The King departs secretly from St. Johnstons in discontent to the Lord Dedup's house near Dundee The Estates at St. Johnstons send Major General Montgomery to fetch the King back the King returns with him to St. Johnstons where a grand Convention is held and divers of the Royal Nobility are received into the favour of this Assembly Cromwel fortifieth Lieth and lays close siege to Edinburgh Castle Mr. John Guthry Mr. Patrick Gelespy Mr. Samuel Rutherford with many other Ministers withdrew from the Assembly at St. Johnstons and in print remonstrated in the name of themselves and the Western Churches against the present proceedings and with these Colonel Ker Straughan the Laird of Warreston Sir John Chiesly and Sir James Stuart and others Confederated By this division Cromwel's Conquest was made very easie and his fomenting that Rent in their Church made their subjection to his Authority more lasting than otherwise it would have been The King was desirous to compose this disorder or at least to prevent the dividing so great a Force as was under Ker and Straughan from his Service and to that end the Earl of Cassels the Lord Broody and Mr. Robert Douglas the Minister were sent to treat with them but they were somewhat averse to a composure yet they declared against any conjunction with Cromwel professing equally against Malignants as they called the King 's Loyal Subjects and Sectaries Soon after Colonel Ker being defeated was taken prisoner by Major General Lambert Mr. Rutherford wrote divers consolatory Letters to him during his imprisonment both in Scotland and in England Edinburgh Castle was surrendered by Dundasse the Governor Son in Law to old Leven upon conditions unto Cromwel on December 24. 1650. Shortly after all the Forts on this side of Sterling were taken by the English The King was solemnly Crowned at Scoone near unto St. Johnstons the accustomed place of the Coronation of the Kings of Scotland his Coronation being celebrated with loud Acclamations Bonfires shooting off of Guns and with as much pomp and Ceremony as the present State of things would permit About the beginning of June the Parliament of Scotland ended Addition to Sir Ric. Bakerâ— Chron. having before their dissolution given large Commissions and Instructions for the pressing of men in all parts of the Kingdom beyond Fife and in the Western parts for a new Army which was to consist of 15000 Foot and 3000 Horse and Dragoons Then was the intended rising in Lancashire unfortunately disapointed Anno 1651 by the taking of a Ship at Ayx in Scotland which had been bound to the Earl of Darby in the Isle of Man and the seizing of Mr. Berkinhead an Agent in the business by whose Letters all was detected and thereupon were apprehended Mr. Thomas Cook of Grays-Inn Mr. Gibbons a Tailor and Mr. Potter an Apothecary together with Mr. Christopher Love Mr. William Jenkin Mr. Thomas Case Dr. Roger Drake and some other Presbyterial Ministers who were brought before a High Court of Justice and tried for their lives and about the latter end of July Potter Gibbons and Mr. Love were sentenced to death and a while after Gibbons and Love were executed After the defeat of Sir John Brown by Lambert and the taking of Brunt-Island and Inchgarvy-Castle by the English Cromwel resolved to set upon St. Johnstons which after one days siege he gained Hereupon the King leaves Scotland and enters England with his Army by the way of Carlile on August 6. 1651. At his first entrance upon English ground he was Proclaimed King of Gâ—eat Britain at the Head of the Army with great Acclamations and shooting off the Canons on August 22. he came to Worcester The Earl of Darby coming with Forces to the King was routed by Colonel Lilburn Cromwel having with the conjunction of the Militia of divers Counties drawn together an Army of fifty thousand men surroundeth the City of Worcester Duke Hamilton who behaved himself with undaunted courage received a shot on his thigh whereof presently after he died The King's Army being over-powred they were forced to retreat into the City and many of Cromwel's Army got in with them About seven at night the Cromwellians gained the Fort Royal at which time his Majesty left the City passing out at St. Martin's gate accompanied with about Sixty Horse of the chiefest of his Retinue The Town was taken and miserably plundered There were slain in the Field in the Town and in Pursuit some two thousand and about eight thousand were taken prisoners in several places most of the English common men escaping by their Shibboleth But at Newport there were taken in the pursuit the Earls of Lauderdale Rothes Carnworth Darby Cleveland Shrewsbury the Lord Spyne Sir John Pakington Sir Ralph Clare Sir Charles Cunningham Colonel Graves Mr. Richard Fanshaw Secretary to the King and many others Six Colonels of Horse eight Lieutennant Colonels of Foot six Majors of Horse thirteen Majors of Foot thirty seven Captains of Horse seventy two Captains of Foot fifty five Quarter-masters eighty nine Lieutenants There were taken also some general Officers with seventy six Cornets of Horse ninety nine Ensignes of Foot ninety Quarter-masters eighty of the King's Servants with the King's Standard which he had set up when he summoned the Countrey the King's Coach and Horses and Collar of S S. but the King's person God wonderfully preserved delivering him from the Hand of all his Enemies and after many difficulties he is safely transported from Bright-helmston in Sussex into France by Tattersall Cromwel comes with his prisoners to London and having left Lieutennant General Monk in Scotland Sterling with the Castle was surrendred unto him and Dundee was taken by Storm and soon after St. Andrews Aberdeen with other Towns Castles and Strong places either voluntarily submitted or rendred upon summons The Earl of Darby was beheaded at Bolton in Lancashire The Isles of Man and Jersey c. are surrendred to the Parliament The Isle of Barbadoes is yielded up to Sir George Ascough Now the Parliament of England
Ecclesiastical Person formerly Sequestred or ejected after Lawful presentation and reception of the profits that hath not subscribed any petition to bring the late King to Trial or by any Act endeavoured or justified the murther of the said King or declared his judgement against Infant-baptism by Preaching Writing Printing or constant refusal to Baptize shall be restored to the possession thereof at or before the twenty fifth day of December next ensuing and every Ecclesiastical person to be removed may enjoy the profits to that day On December 29. following on which day the Parliament was dissolved 32 Acts more were passed by the King Among which one was an Act for Confirmation of Marriages during the time of the late Usurpations Another was for making the Precinct of Covent-garden Parochial And an Act for the disappropriating of the Rectory appropriate of Preston and uniting and consolidating of the said Rectory and of the Vicarage of the Church of Preston and for the assuring of the Advouson and right of Patronage of the same unto the Master Fellows and Scholars of Immanuel-colledge in Cambridge And an Act for Confirmation of Grants and Leases from Colledges and Hospitals Now some sixty Fifth-monarchy men under the conduct of one Thomas Venner a Cooper broke forth into Rebellion This Venner was a Preacher to a Conventicle of that opinion in Coleman-street in London Such was the madness of these men that they believed that They and the rest of their judgement were called by God to reform the world and make all the earthly powers which they called Babylon subservient to the Kingdom of Jesus and in Order thereunto never to sheath their swords till the carnal powers of the world were subdued They were taught and believed that one of them should subdue a Thousand making account when they had done their work in England to go into France Spain Germany and other parts of the world there to prosecute their pretended holy design The place where they plotted and continued their conspiracy was the meeting-place for their devotion and thither they had at several times convayed arms On Sunday January 6. which was the day before their excursion they were very late at their Assembly which made one Martin the Landlord of the House inquisitive after their doings He peeping through a chink in their door saw them arming themselves with Back breast and head-piece and thereupon immediately gave notice to the next Officers Half an hour after they came down and first marched to S. Thomas the Apostle to call some of their party from thence to Bishops-gate and after to White-cross-street They escaped to S. John's Wood and from thence to Cane-wood betwixt High-gate and Hampsted On Wednesday morning the Rebels came again into London and divided themselves into two parties one whereof about five or six in the morning appeared about Leaden-hall and from thence marched to little East-cheap where they fought desperately but were dispersed by the trained bands Venner and another party came to my Lord Mayor's house thinking to have taken him Prisoner but missing him they marched into Woodstreet where Colonel Corbet and nine of his party charged through the Rebels and broke them They fought with admirable courage and if they had not been hindred from encreasing their numbers a Thousand men so resolved might have done much mischief Venner himself was much wounded before he was taken and about five or six were killed that refused quarter About eight or ten dayes after Venner with about sixteen or seventeen of the most notorious were arraigned at Justice-hall in the old Baily found guilty and executed in several parts of London About this time there was a conference at the Savoy between divers Episcopal and Presbyterian Divines about the Church discipline but to little effect A new Parliament was called which assembled at Westminster May 8. 1661. In the first Session whereof an Act was passed Entitled An Act for disenabling all Persons in Holy Orders to exercise any temporal jurisdiction or Authority Repealed The Bishops were brought to sit again as Peers in the House of Lords and their Ecclesiastical jurisdiction restored to them The Parliament explained a clause contained in an Act of Parliament made in the seventeenth year of King Charles the first Entitled An Act for Repeal of a branch of a Statute Primo Elizabethae concerning Commissioners for causes Ecclesiastical At the second Session of this Parliament an Act was made against Quakers and others denying to take a Lawful Oath with several penalties to be inflicted on them for several offences An Act was also passed for Uniformity of publick Prayers and Administration of Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies and of ordering and consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons in the Church of England The King's Majesty according to his Declaration of the 25th of October 1660. had granted his Commission under the Great Seal of England to several Bishops and other Divines to review the Book of Common-Prayer and to prepare such additions and alterations as they thought fit to offer And afterwards the Convocations of both the Provinces of Canterbury and York being by His Majesty called and assembled His Majesty was pleased to Authorize and require the Presidents of the said Congregation and other the Bishops and Clergy of the same to review the said Book of Common-Prayer and the Book of the Form and manner of making and Consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons c. Since which time upon full and mature deliberation they the said Presidents Bishops and Clergy of both Provinces having accordingly reviewed the same Books and made some alterations which they thought fit to be inserted to the same and some additional Prayers to be used upon proper and emergent occasions and having presented the same unto His Majesty in Writing in one Book entitled The Book of Common-Prayer and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England together with the Psalter or Psalms of David pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches and the form and manner of making Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons All which His Majesty having duly considered fully approved and allowed the same and recommended to this present Parliament then sitting and yet continuing to sit that the said Book of Common-Prayer c. be the Book which shall be appointed to be used by all that officiate in all Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and Chappels and in all Chappels or Colledges and Halls in both the Universities and the Colledges of Eaton and Winchester and in all Parish-Churches and Chappels within the Kingdom of England Dominion of Wales and Town of Berwick upon Tweed and by all that make or consecrate Bishops Priests or Deacons in any of the said places under such sanctions and penalties as the Houses of Parliament shall think fit And accordingly it was Enacted by the King's Majesty and both Houses of Parliament That Morning and Evening Prayers in the
direct and appoint And that one moyety of all the moneys which from and after the said 24th day of June 1677. shall be raised or payable upon the Imposition of three shillings the Chaldron or Tun of Coales or in case of concealment thereof as aforesaid shall be employed for and by such order and direction c. It was also Enacted That it shall and may be lawful for the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Bishop of London and the Lord Mayor for time being c. to employ or dispose for and towards the building repairing the Cathedral Church of St. Paul one fourth part of the money by this Act given and appointed for the building erecting or repairing the Parish-Churches The profits of the impositions may be engaged to raise a present stock of money to any persons that will advance any sums of money upon that security All which moneys so to be borrowed shall be employed for and towards the rebuilding and erecting or repairing of the said Cathedral and Parish-Churches respectively according to the true intent and meaning of this Act. It was also further Enacted That the number of Parishes to be setled and of Parish-Churches to be rebuilded within the said City of London shall be fifty one The foresaid Act or any thing therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding The same Parish-Churches shall be rebuilt according to the modules appointed by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Bishop and Lord Mayor of London with the King's approbation The Parishes of Alhallows Lumbard-street St. Bartholomew-Exchange St. Brides Bennet-Fink St. Michaels Crooked-lane St. Christophers St. Dionis Back-Church St. Dunstans in the East St. James Garlick-hithe St. Michael Cornhil St. Bassishaw St. Margaret Loathbury St. Mary Aldermanbury St. Martin Ludgate St. Peter's Cornhil St. Stephens Coleman-street and St. Sepulchers shall remain and continue as heretofore they were And the respective Parish-Churches to each of the said Parishes belonging shall be rebuilded and continued for the use of the said Parishes and the other Parishes shall be respectively united two Parishes into one that is to say the Parishes of Alhallows Bred-street and St. John Evangelist shall be united into one Parish and the Church heretofore belonging to the Parish of Alhallows Bred-street shall be rebuilded and shall be the Parish-Church of the Parishes so united The Parishes of St. Albans Wood-street and St. Olaves Silver-street shall be united into one Parish and the Church heretofore belonging to St. Albans Wood-street shall be the Parish-Church of the said Parishes so united The Parishes of St. Austin's and St. Faiths shall be united into one Parish and the Church of St. Austins shall be the Parish-Church of the said Parishes so united The like order is to be observed in all the rest of the Parish-Churches that are to be united It was further Enacted That any Plate and Goods heretofore belonging to any of the Church-Wardens of any of the Parishes burnt down which are not to be rebuilt shall be enjoyed by the Church-Wardens of those and their successors of the respective Parishes of such Churches to be rebuilded whereunto the said other Churches burnt down are united by this Act. Provided That the Sites of the Churches to be demolished and the Church-yards belonging to the same shall be enclosed with Brick or Stone-walls for burial for the Parishes formerly belonging to the same and the Parishes to which they are united 〈◊〉 aforesaid and not used or employed to any other purpose whatsoever excepting such of the Sites and Church-yards or parts of Sites and Church-yards of the said Parish-Churches so demolished as aforesaid as are already laid into the Streets and Market-places set out for that purpose c. Notwithstanding the union yet the Parishes to all Rates Charges and Priviledges are to remain distinct The present Incumbents of Churches not to be rebuilded shall not be deprived of the Tithes or other profits heretofore belonging to their respective Churches so long as they shall assist in serving the Cure and other offices belonging to their duty in the Parish-Church whereunto their respective Parishes shall be united and annexed by this Act according direction of the Ordinary c. saving to the King's Majesty his heirs to the and successors the Tenths and First-fruits of all such Parish-Churishes as by force of this present Act shall be united and consolidated c. Yet the said Parsons and Vicars are hereby indemnified from the payment of all First-fruits Tenths and Pensions due and which shall be due to his Majesty and from all dues to the Ordinary and Archdeacon and all other dues whatsoever chargeable upon them respectively untill such time as they shall receive the profits arising from the same as formerly And no Process shall be issued out of any Court whatsoever against the persons aforesaid for their non-payment of First-fruits Tenths Pensions or any other the dues aforesaid c. They are indemnified for not reading the 39. Articles or not doing other things enjoyned by Law untill such time as the said Churches be re-edified or made fit for publick worship The said Parsons and Vicars are impowered to let Leases of their Glebe-lands with the consent of the Patron and Ordinary for any Term not exceeding forty years and at such yearly rents without fine as can be obtained for the same and that no lapses incurred upon any non-presentation in due time of any of the Patrons of the said livings since the said fire shall any ways prejudice or make void the Presentations that the said Patrons have since made whereupon any Incumbent is since instituted and inducted any Law or Statute to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding A Catalogue of the Bishops of ENGLAND and WALES The Archbishops of Canterbury 1. AUgustine 2. Laurence 3. Mellitus 4. Justus 5. Honorius 6. Deus Dedit 7. Theodorus 8. Brethwald 9. Tatwyn 10. Nothelmus 11. Cuthbert 12. Bregwyn 13. Lambert alias Jambert 14. Athelard 15. Wifred 16. Theologild 17. Celnoth 18. Athelred 19. Plegmond 20. Athelmus 21. Wilfelm 22. Odo Severus 23. Dunstan 24. Ethelgar 25. Siricius 26. Alfâ—icus 27. Elphege 28. Liunig 29. Agelnoth 30. Eadsin 31. Robert Gemeticensis 32. Stigand 33. Lanfrank 34. Anselm 35. Rodolphus 36. William Corbel 37. Theobald 38. Thomas Becket 39. Richard 40. Baldwyn 41. Reginald Fitz-joceline 42 Hubert Walter 43. Stephen Langton 44. Richard Wethershed 45. Saint Edmond 46. Boniface 47. Robert Kilwarby 48. John Peckham 49. Robert Winchelsey 50. Walter Reinolds 51. Simon Mepham 52. John Stratford 53. Thomas Bradwardine 54. Simon Islip 55. Simon Langham 56. W. Wittlesey 57. Simon Sudbury 58. William Courtney 59. Thomas Arundel 60 Henry Chichley 61. John Stafford 62. John Kemp. 63. Thomas Bourchier 64. John Morton 65. Henry Deane 66. William Warham 67. Thomas Cranmer 68. Reginald Pool 69. Matthew Parker 70. Edmond Grindal 71. John Whitgift 72. Richard Bancroft 73. George Abbot 74. William Laud. 75. William Juxon 76. Gilbert Sheldon Archbishops of York 1. Paulinus 2.
to pay for his entertainment On a sudden all the Templars in France are clapt in prison damnable sins are laid to their charge and they most cruelly burned to death at a stake with James the Grand Master of their Order All Europe followed the Copy that France had set them Here in England King Edward the Second of that name suppressed the Order and put them to death So by vertue of a Writ sent from him to Sir John Wogan Lord Chief Justice in Ireland were they served there and such was the secrecy of the contrivance of the business that the storm fell upon them ere they were aware of it In England their possessions were by Authority of Parliament assigned to the Hospitaller-Knights of St. John of Jerusalem least that such Lands given to good and pious uses against the Donour's will should be given to other uses At the North-side of the City of London John Briset a rich and devout man built an House for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem which in time grew so great that it resembled a Palace and had in it a very fair Church and a Tower-steeple raised to so great height with so fine workmanship that while it stood it was a singular beauty and ornament to the City These Knights Hospitallers at their first Institution about the year 1124. and long after were so lowly all the while they continued poor that their Governor was stiled servant to the poor servitors of the Hospital of Jerusalem like as the Master of the Templars who shortly after arose was termed The Humble Minister of the poor Knights of the Temple The Hospitallers ware a white Cross upon their upper black Garment and by solemn profession were bound to serve Pilgrims and poor people in the Hospital of St. John at Jerusalem and to secure the passages thither they charitably buried the dead they were assiduous in prayer mortified themselves with watchings and fastings they were courteous and kind to the poor Camd. descrip of London whom they called their Masters and fed with white bred while themselves lived with brown and carried themselves with great austerity whereby they purchased to themselves the love and liking of all sorts and through the bounty of good Princes and private persons admiring their piety and prowess they rose from this low degree to so high an Estate and great riches that they did after a sort wallow in wealth and riches For about the year of our Lord 1240. they had within Christendom nineteen thousand Lordships or Mannors like as the Templars nine thousand And this estate of theirs grown to so great an height made way for them to as great Honours so as their Prior in England was reputed the prime Baron of the Land called the Lord of St. Johns and able with fulness and abundance of all things to maintain an honourable Port untill that King Henry the Eighth gat their Lands and livings into his own hands like as he did of the Monasteries also They out lived all other Orders yet at last they fell into a Praemunire for they still continued their obedience to the Pope contrary to their Allegiance whose Usurped authority was banished out of the Land They were forced to resign all into the King's hands He allowed to Sir William Weston Weavers Monum p. 114. Lord Prior of the Order an annual pension of One thousand pounds But he never received a penny thereof but died instantly struck to the heart when he first heard of the dissolution of his Priory and lyeth buried in the Chauncel of Clarkenwell with the pourtraiture of a dead man lying on his shroud most artificially cut in Stone others had rent assigned them of two hundred pound one hundred pound sixty pound fifty pound twenty pound ten pound according to their several qualities and deserts Queen Mary sets up the Hospitallers again and Sir Thomas Tresham of Rushton in Northampton-shire was the first and last Lord Prior after their Restitution for their nests were plucked down before they were warm in them by the coming in of Queen Elizabeth Of the English Nuns I Come now to Nuns almost as numerous in England as Monks and Friers as having though not so many Orders yet more of the same Order The weaker sex hath ever equalled men in their Devotion often exceeded them in their Superstition At Liming in Kent the Daughter of King Ethelbert took the veile and became the first English Nun. There was an Hermophrodite Order as is aforesaid admitting both Men and Women under the same roof and during the life of Gilbert their first founder for seven hundred Brethren there were one thousand one hundred Sisters entred into that Order Doctor Fuller divides the Nuns into three sorts First The Antientest Secondly The Poorest Thirdly The latest Nuns in England 1. Of the first sort he accounteth the She Benedictines commonly called black Nuns Bennet the Monk after he had placed himself and his Monkish Brethren in a certain Noble and Famous Cloyster upon the Mount Cassinus raised up also an Order of Nuns and made his Sister Scholastica Abbess over them The apparrel of these black Nuns is a black coat cloak coule and veyl and least the Scripture should deceive her and hers it was commanded that none of that Order should read the Holy Scripture without consent or permission of their Superior 2. The poorest follow being the strict Order of St. Clare a Lady living at the same time and in the same Town with St. Francis she assembled and gathered together a Congregation of poor Women and gave them an Order of life like unto the rule that Frier Francis gave his Covent Their garment is gray their Order admitteth none but women-kind except it be to say Mass 3. The Nuns of St. Bridget were the latest in England first setled here in the second year of King Henry the Fifth Anno Domini 1415. dissolved with the rest Anno 1538. so that they continued here onely one hundred twenty three years Bridget Queen of Sweden gave them their name and Institution Men and Women living under the same roof the VVomen above the Men beneath They were seated at Sion in Middlesex which King Henry the Fifth having expelled from thence the Monks Aliens built for Religious Virgins to the Honour of our Saviour the Virgin Mary and St. Bridget of Sion In this Sion he appointed so many Nuns Priests and Lay-brethren divided apart within their several VValls as were in number forsooth equal to Christ's Apostles and Disciples viz. eighty five I. Sisters Sixty II. Priests Thirteen III. Deacons Four IV. Lay-brethren Eight Having bestowed sufficient maintenance upon them King Henry provided by a Law that contenting themselves therewith they should take no more of any man but what overplus soever remained of their yearly Revenue they should bestow it upon the poor Thomas Walsingham saith Walsingh in Henric. V. if afterwards the whole VVorld should proffer them Farmes and possessions
119 120 See of Sarum had five Bishops in five years space 94 Scotland when freed from the See of York 133 Secular Priests ejected 31 A Survay taken of all the Glebe-land of the Clergy 110 Severus cometh into Britain and assisteth in condemning Pelagianism 8 Sampson Scholar to Iltutus being made Archbishop of Dole he carrieth away the Monuments of British Antiquity 11 Sebert King of Essex embraceth Christianity by the Ministry of Mellitus 14 Sigebert King of East-Angles enters into a Monastery 21 Saxons invade Britain 8 South-saxons converted to Christianity the last of the seven Kingdoms 19 A Survay taken of all the Revenues and Dignities Ecclesiastical in England returned in a Book to be kept in the Exchequer 152 John Spottiswood Archbishop of S. Andrews his death 314 John Story a great persecutor executed 234 A Statute made that all Convocations should be called by the King's Writ 146 The bloody Statute for the six Popish Articles enacted 155 A Statute made for the recovery of Tithes 156 Edward Seymour Duke of Sommerset Lord Protector of the Realm in the Reign of King Edward the sixth his story from 159 ad 174 Sommerset-house how and when erected 165 The Sweating-sickness 174 Richard Sutton the Founder of Charter-house Hospital 280 M. Antonius de Dominis Archbishop of Spalato his Story 281 288 289 290 Stubs and Page their right hands cut off with a Cleaver 242 The Scots erect a New Government for themselves consisting of four Tables for the four Orders of the State viz. the Noble-men Barons Burgesses and Ministers they enter into Covenant 308 They enter England in an Hostile manner 321 The first settlement of the Church under Queen Elizabeth 215 Seminaries beyond the Seas erected for English youth 234 Stone 's discovery of the Presbyterian meetings 254 Lord Wentworth made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford 315 He is impeached of High Treason 223 Many under the notion of scandalous Ministers Sequestred 332 Many Silenced Ministers and Lecturers put into Sequestred Benefices 332 Sherwin Kirby and Briant Priests and Campian the Jesuite Executed for Treason 242 T MErchant-Tailors School in London when founded 224 S. Teliau a Scholar to Dubritus 11 Thetford burnt by the Danes 25 Adam Tarlton Bishop of Hereford the Grand contriver of all mischief against King Edward the second his Story 108 109 110 Tindals Translation of the New Testament burnt in Pauls Church-yard 147 Iohn de Trevisa a learned English-man 117 Mr. Walter Travers his story 255 256 Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury erected a well-furnished Library 18 Theodore Abbot of Crowland murdered by the Danes 25 Iohn Thrask his errours and censure 283 The Treaty at Vxbridge 337 The Treaty and Dispute in the Isle of VVight 343 344 VVilliam Tindal strangled and burnt at Filford in Flaunders 150 Nicholas Trivet a Black Friar wrote two Histories and a Book of Annals 113 William Tailor Priest burnt 127 V. KIng Vortigern sendeth for Germanus and Lupus into Britain to refute the Heresie of Pelagius He afterward marrieth with a Pagan woman and is deserted of his Nobles page 8 Vortimer the son of Vortigern chosen King of Britain he is poisoned ibid. Vodinus Archbishop of London put to death by the command of Vortigern ib. Vssa first King of the East Angles 9 Polyder Virgil the Popes collector General of the Peter-pence in England He wrote a Latin History of Britain 148 Vter-Pendrâ—â—â—â— King of Britain 10 Aubery de Vere a learned Lawyer Advocate for King Stephen 44 An Act for Uniformity of publick prayers c. 375 An Act for uniting Churches in Cities and Towns corporate 381 W. WIllibrod Reformer of Frisia 17 Bishop Williams censured and imprisoned 305 Wilfrid Archbishop of York converteth the men of Freezland in Belgia to Christianity 19 After his expulsion from York he is for a time made Bishop of Leicester at last he is restored to York and was buried in his Monastery at Rippon 20 King William the First gave unto the Bishops an entire jurisdiction to judge all causes relating to Religion before that time the Bishop and the Sheriff kept their Court together 38 This King laid wast thirty Parish Churches in the New Forrest to make a Paradise for his Deer 40 William Witlesee Archbishop of Canterbury freed the University of Oxford from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln formerly the Diocesan thereof 113 Iohn Wickliff his story 113 114 115 His bones burnt and the ashes cast into the River 128 William Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester founder of Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxford 131 The miserable death of Dr. Whittington a great Persecutor at Sadbury 140 William Wickham founded New Colledge in Oxford and the Colledge at Winchester 117 Thomas Wallis a Dominican Friar a writer of many choice Books 113 Cardinal Wolsey his story 143 144 145 Dr. William VVhitacre his Answer to Campian's Chalenge 241 His death 259 VVilliam VVhite Priest burnt Who was a Scholar of Iohn VVickliff with him were burnt Iohn VVaddon Priest and Father Abraham of Colchester 128 Y. WHen and by whom the Yeomen of the King's guard were Instituted 136 Z. BAltazar Zanchez a Spaniard founded an Almes-house at Totnam-high-cross in Middlesex 259 ERRATA PAge 3. line 33. read names p. 7. l. 7. r. Franks l. 13. r. Virtutem p. 8. l. 5. r. Britain p. 9. in marg r. Tinmuthens p. 9. l. 15. f. at r. and l. 23. r. remain p. 15. l. 4. r. Cern l. 20. r. died p. 16. l. 32. r. propagated p. 26. l. 3. r. Halesdon l. 29. r. Danish p. 46. l. 21. r. the Pope l. 35. r. the Cathedral p. 47. l. 30. r. history p. 49. l. 28. r. whom p. 55. l. 7. r. reddituum p. 81. l. 22. r. monachorum l. 30. r. Papae papalibus p. 84. l. 35. r. the King issued p 86. l. penult r. the first p. 103. l. 24. r. Ecclesiae p. 104. l. 7. r. or Benefice l. 8. r. Expectancy p. 131. l 4. r. Regalis l. 16. r. fellows l. 32. dele out p. 137. l. penult r. thrifty p. 138. l. 5. r. the Pope p. 140. l. 14. they to cover p. 143. l. 18. r. the Gatehouse p. 165. l. 28. r. all Fridays p. 168. l. 39. r. was signified p. 172. l. 41. r. who would not p. 173. l. 21. r. she bare p. 176. l. 16. dele in their companies p. 180. l. 11. r. eight thousand p. 181. l. 9. r. Framingham p. 182. l. 32. dele but p. 186. l. 16. r. convocation l. 40 r. days p. 188. l. 7. r. to be examined p. 200. l. 15. r. the reformation p. 204. l. 20. r. turned p. 207. l. 24. r. her age p. 215. l. 9. r. gowns p. 229. l. 20. r. was required l. 38. r. VVyat p. 232. l. 20. dele was p. 237. l 6. r. which made many p. 239. l. 39. r. Bentham p. 241. l. 35. r. the old continued p. 242. l. 20. r. Gulphs p. 248. l. 40. r. discoverer p. 253. l. 41. r. Scory p. 256. l. 16. r. privately l. 30. r. Greenwood p. 257. in marg r. Pitzeus l. 31. 1596. p. 260. r. first Protestant Bishop p. 261. l. 25. r. Brother to the Lord Cobham p. 263. l. 25. r. Lordships p. 270. l. 1. r. 1604. p. 300. l. 9. r. were restrained p. 321. l. 14. r. it was p. 322. l. 2. r. of their p. 326. l. 26. r. tremenda p. 333. l. 21. r. Corbet p. 335. l. 33. r. enjoyning p. 370. l. 22. r. suppositious
year of the Reign of Kymbeline King of Britain Divers Writers of note do tell us Baron Annal. Tom. 1. An. 61. Usser de Brit. Eccles primord c. 1. p. 7. Parker de vetust Eccl. Britan. p. 2 3. Fox Act. Monum vol. 1. Sir H. Spelm. Concil Tom. 1. Per Josephum Evangelii lucerna primum in Britania accensa est Georg. Major that the Gospel was preached and received in this Land even in the days of the Apostles Baronius and the Learned Archbishop Vsher tell us that St. Peter came into Britain in the twelfth year of the Emperour Nero and staid a long time here many being by him illightned Nicephorus saith that Simon Zelotes carried the Doctrine of the Gospel unto the Western Sea and to the Britannick Islands The Learned Archbishop Matthew Parker Bishop Godwin Mr. Camden and others do assert that St. Paul himself that great Apostle of the Gentiles Preached the Gospel to this Island after his enlargement from his first captivity at Rome where some say he continued Preaching five years And this say they he did at the instigation of Claudia a Noble British Woman Gildas our own Countrey-man Polydor Virgil Mr. Fox Sir Henry Spelman and many others tell us that Joseph of Arimathea that Holy Man after he had buried the body of Christ in his own Tomb came into this Island and Preached the Gospel here being sent hither by Philip and James the Apostles That he was in this Land is confirmed not onely by divers Histories but also by Antient Monuments Baleus alledgeth many other witnesses It doth not appear that the first Preachers of the Gospel in Britain did so much as touch at Rome much less that they received any command or commission thence to convert Britain which should lay an Eternal obligation of gratitude on this Island to the Sea of Rome Insomuch that Parsons himself flyes at last to this slight and slender shift That albeit St. Joseph came not immediately from Rome yet he taught in this Island the Roman Faith whereof St. Paul hath written to the Romans themselves that your Faith is spoken of through the whole World Rom. 1.8 Hereby the Jesuite hopes to keep on foot the engagement of this Island to Rome Fuller Church Histor lib. 1. for her first conversion But why should he call the Christian Religion the Roman Faith rather than the Faith of Jerusalem or the Faith of Antioch seeing it issued from the former and was received and first named in the latter City before any spark of Christianity was kindled at Rome as Dr. Fuller well observeth CENT II. WE read that the Gospel in our Land had the countenance of publick Authority through the gratious providence of God very early Omnium Provinciarum prima Britannia publicitus Christi nomen recipit Sabellic Enn. 7. l. 5. A Learned Writer speaking of the dignity of this Nation saith That of all the Provinces of the Roman Empire yea it seemeth of the whole World this Island of Great Britain did first receive the Gospel by publick Authority Lucius King of Britain was the first Christian King we read of in Ecclesiastical Stories He embraced the Faith about an hundred and fifty years after the death of Christ It is said of this King Lucius that at first he shewed himself an enemy to the Christians but observing the holiness of their lives he was enclined to embrace the Christian Faith but was held off for a time partly by the Heathenish superstition of his Ancestors wherein he had been bred up and partly because he found the Christians reputed infamous by the Romans then the Lords of a great part of the World under whom it seemeth he was a tributary King but being afterward informed that many of the Nobles or Senators of the Romans had embraced the Christian Religion he made an open profession of it and made a notable reformation in his Dominions Moreover he being much taken with the Miracles which he beheld truly wrought by pious Christians was the more drawn to embrace their Religion and sent Elvanus and Meduinus men of known Piety and Learning in the Scriptures to Eleutherius Bishop of Rome with a Letter requesting several things of him but principally that he might be instructed in the Christian Faith Eleutherius returneth him this Answer That having recâ—â—ved in his Kingdom the Law and Faith of Christ Holinsh descr of Brit. c. 7. Annals of England by John Stow. and having now the Old and New Testaments he should by a Council of his Realm take Laws from thence to govern thereby That he was the Vicar of God in his Kingdomes That the People and Nations of the Kingdom of Britain were His even His children That such as were divided he should gather them together unto the Law of Christ his holy Church unto peace and concord and should cherish maintain protect govern and defend them c. When Christian Religion first was publickly received and established in this Land by King Lucius here were then of Heathen institution eight and twenty Flamines and three Archflamines The places of the Flamines the King turned to so many Bishopricks the places of the Archflamines to so many Archbishopricks the one at London translated afterward to Canterbury the other at York the third at Caerleon in Wales where seaven of those Bishopricks with this Archbishoprick were remaining when Austin the Monk came into England Here were Temples also builded for the worship of Paynim-gods of which he made Churches for the service of Jesus Christ Thomas Rudbourn a Moâ—â—â—â— Winchester Moratus an old British Writer and others testifie that 〈◊〉 was Bishop of Winchester and all the possessions of the â—gaâ— â—es there were conferred upon him and his Clergy which were â—o ample that even about the City all the Lands within twelve miles of it on all sides were belonging unto it containing in number 32 Villages And thus the Britains had for their greatest glory the happiness to see and enjoy the first Christian Prince in the World It is reported that King Lucius was the Founder of St. Peter's Church at Cornhil in London placing therein one Thean an Archbishop and that the Metropolitan See continued in a succession of Archbishops there about 400 years until the coming of Austin the Monk who translated the Archbishop's seat from London to Canterbury In that Church was a Table wherein is written that King Lucius founded the same Church to be an Archbishop's See and that it so endured the space of 400 years There are the name of these Archbishops of London Thean Elvanus Cadar Obinus Conan Paladius Stephen Iltut Theodwyn or Dedwin Thedrid Hilary Restitutus Guertelinus or Guitelinus Fastidius Vodinus Theonus c. Elvanus built a Library near St. Peter's Church in Cornhil he was a Godly Learned and Grave Man brought up in the School of Joseph of Arimathea and Converted many of the Druydes to the Christian Faith Bishop Godwin saith That the Archbishoprick
of York was founded Anno 180. by King Lucius also who placed Sampson there King Lucius also founded the Academy of Bangor in the favour of good Arâ—s and Learned Men. He built the chief Cathedral Church in Glocester The Church dedicated to St. Mary in Glastonbury A Chappel in honour of Christ in Dover Castle A Church in Canterbury afterwards dedicated to St. Martin King Lucius died and was buried at Gloucester CENT III. BUT Christianity in Britain was not buried in the grave of King Lucius Witness Gildas whose words are a clear evidence of the constant continuing of the Christian Faith in Britain from the first Preaching thereof Gildas in Epist de excid Britan. Christs precepts saith he though they were received but lukewarmly of the Inhabitants yet they remained entirely with some less sincerely with others even untill the nine years of Persecution under Dioclesian To the Authority of Gildas we may add the Testimony of two Fathers both flourishing in this Century Tertul. advers Judaeos c. 7. Tertullian and Origen Tertullian saith Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo verò subdita There are places of the Britains which were unaccessible to the Romans but yet subdued to â—hrist Origen in Luc. c. 1. Homil. 6. Origen in like manner Virtus Domini Salvatoris cum his est qui ab orbe nostro in Britannia dividuntur The power of God our Saviour is even with them which in Britain are divided from our World Cent. 3. c. 2. col 6. The Magdeburgenses compilers of the General Ecclesiastical History speaking of the Churches through Europe in this Age thus express themselves Then follow the Isles of the Ocean where we first meet with Britain Manfisse hac aetate ejus Insulae Ecclesias affirmare non dubitamus We doubt not to affirm that the Churches of that Island did also remain in that Age. Gildas modestly renders the reason why so little is extant of the British History of this Age. Scripta patriae Scriptorum monumenta siquae fuerint aut ignibus hostium exusta aut civium exulum classe longius deportata non comparent The Monuments saith he of our Countrey or Writers if there were any appear not as either burnt by the fire of enemies or transported far off by our banished Countreymen The Christians of Britain celebrated the Passover upon the fourteenth day of the Moon of March precisely contrary to the constitutions of the Roman Church which sheweth they were not brought to Christian Religion by the Roman Church Gild. Epist f. 63. And Gildas saith That the Britains used great solemnity in their Ordination of Ministers and had other Prayers Lessons and Chapters than are used in the Roman Church Britain remained under the Domination of the Romans Pagans as their supream Lords till the year of Christ 286. in Dioclesian's time when the Roman Senate sent Caransius to repress the incursions of Barbarous Nations But Caransius made a League with the Britains expelled the Romans and made himself King And from that time sometimes the Romans prevailing sometimes the Natives Britain was but weakly posâ—â—ssed by the Roman Empire CENT IV. SO the Gospel flourished in this Land and they that professed it escaped the Persecutions raised by the Heathen Emperours of Rome all except the last under Dioclesian which extended to Britain and St. Alban is noted to be the Proto-Martyr of Britain who suffered death for Christ's sake with invincible Courage and Resolution about the year of Christ 305. He was a wealthy Inhabitant of Verolamcester and a Citizen of Rome for so Alexander Neccham reports him Neccham in his Poem on Verulam Hic est Martyrii roseo decoratus honore Albanus Cives Inclyta Roma tuus Here Alban Rome thy Citizen renown'd With rosie grace of Martyrdom was crown'd Alban was a Britain by Parentage a Roman by Priviledge naturally a Britain naturalized a Roman Immediately followed the Martyrdom of Amphibalus a Preacher of Caer-leon in Wales who not long before was fain to fly from Persecution into the Eastern parts of this Island and was entertained by Alban at his house in Verulam who was instructed by Amphibalus in the Christian Faith he was cruelly put to death by the Pagans in a Village called Redburn three miles from Verulam Besides Amphibalus suffered Aaron and Julius two substantial Citizens of Caer-leon and then Socrates and Stephen and Augulius Bishop of London then called Augusta with multitudes both of Men and Women in sundry places saith Beda as shortly after no less than a thousand Saints suffered death at Litchfield whereupon the place was called another Golgotha or field of blood In memory whereof the City beareth for Armes to this day a field surcharged with dead bodies Afterwards it pleased God to put a period to his Servants sufferings and to the rage of their Enemies for when Dioclesian and Maximian had layed down the Ensignes of Command Constantius Chlorus was chosen Emperour in these Western Provinces of France Spain and Britain whose cariage towards Christians Eusebius thus describeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he preserved such Religious people as were under his command without any hurt or harm So that under him the Church in these parts had a breathing-time from Persecution Constantius died and was buried at York who bequeathed the Empire to Constantine his eldest Son by Hestâ—n his formâ— Wife That Constantine was a Britain is shewn by Eumenius Rhetor Eumen. Rheor Panegyr 9. who in his Oration made to Constantine himself makes therein an Apostâ—â—phe to Brâ—â—â—in O fortunata nunc omnibus beatior terris Britannia quae Constantinum Coesarem prima vidisti O happy Britain and blessed above all other Lands which didst first behold Constantine Cesar There is another Testimony of His of like nature Panegyr 5. Liberavit Pater Constantius Britannias servitute Tu etiam Nobiles illic oriendo fecisti Your Father Constantius did free the British Provinces from slavery and you have Ennobled them by taking thence your original It is said of him that he was born made King and Emperor first in Britain Constantine being now peaceably setled in the Imperial Throne there followed a sudden and great alteration in the World Persecutors turning Patrons of Religion The Gospel formerly a Forrester now became a Citizen and leaving the Woods wherein it wandered Hills and holes where it hid it self before dwelt quietly in populous places The stumps of ruined Churches lately destroyed by Dioclesian grew up into beautiful buildings Oratories were furnished with pious Ministers and they provided of plentiful maintenance through the liberality of Constantine The most avouchable evidence of Christianity flourishing in this Island in this Age is produced from the Bishops representing Britain in the Councils 1. Of Arles in France called to take cognizance of the cause of the Donatists where appeared for the Britains Eborius Bishop of York Restitutus Bishop of London Adelfius Bishop of the City called
the Colony of London which some count Colchester and others Maldon in Essex Sacerdos a Priest both by his proper Name and Office Arminius a Deacon Anno. 313. In the Synod of Nice held in Bithynia Anno 325. British Bishops were present being summoned to suppress Arianism and to establish an uniformity of the observation of Easter as Athanasius and Hilary Bishop of Poictiers do testify At the Council of Sardis in Thracia called by Constantius and Constans Sons to Constantine the Great were present the Bishops of Britain who concurred with the rest to condemn the Arrians and acquit Athanasius The British Bishops were also present at the Council of Ariminum assembled in Italy Theodoret Eccles Hist l. 1. c. 10. Theodoret tells us that he wrote an Epistle to all Churches concerning the Council of Nice wherein he saith there were then many Churches in Britain c. About the year 360. Hilary Bishop of Poictiers among diverse others dedicated his Book Socrat. Scholast l. 2. c. 6. 7. De Synodis fidei Catholicae contra Arianos to the Bishops of the Provinces of Britain during his exile for the Orthodox Faith commending them for their constancy in the profession of that Faith Sozom. l. 3. c. 11. 12. And by the testimony of Athanasius it appeareth that the Britains then had not onely Churches professing the Orthodox Faith but Bishops famous for their Piety and Learning summoned to forreign Councils in remore parts for debating and deciding the highest Articles of the Christian Faith In the year 383. Maximus a Christian Du Moul. resp ad Card-du Perron lib. 7 ca. 5. and Orthodox Prince governed Britain for then all that part of the Island which was subject to the Romans was Christian Not long after the Empire being fallen in the West and torn by the Gothes Francs Vandals and Burgundians the Romans forsook the Isle of Britain which moved the Natives to commit the Kingdome to one Constantine a Britain as one descended from their Nation and a Christian vertuous man About the year 400. Chrysostome gives this testimony concerning the Britains Embracing of the Gospel Nam et Britaniae Chrysost oper tom 5. Insulae extra hoc mare fitae et qua in ipso oceano sunt vertutem verbi senserunt sunt etiam illic fundatae Ecclesiae c. Illius inquam verbi quod tunc dictum quod et in omnium animabus inque omnium labiis plantatum Which he seconded in another Sermon of the Feast of Pentecost CENT V. ABout the year 412 Pelagius born in Britain began to broach his Heresies publickly The same day whereon Pelagius was born in Britain St. Augustine was also born in Africk divine providence so ordering it that the poison and the Antidote should be Twins in a manner in respect of the same time as Dr. Fuller well observeth In the year 446. the Pelagian Heresie spread over Britain and the British Churches being defiled thereby King Vortigern for the maintaining the truth sent for German Bishop of Auxerre and Lupus Bishop of Troys in Champagne out of France men famous for their doctrine and counsel who refusing this Heresie gained unto themselves a reverent esteem among the Britains but chiefly German who in a Chappel neer unto St. Albans did openly out of the pulpit preach God's word sincerely to the people This conference was held at St. Albans even where at this day a small Chappel is extant to the honour of St. German Gemanus having baptized multitudes of Pagan converts in the river Alen marched with an Army of them against the Pagans whom he found in the North-East of Wales Usser de Erit Eccles primord p. 333. Here he chose an hollow dale surrounded with hills near the Village called at this day by the English Mold by the British Guidcrue in Flintshire where the field at this day retains the name of Mees Garmon or German's field Here Germanus placed his men in ambush with instructions that a Signal given they should all shout Hallelujah three times with their might which all was done accordingly Hereat the Pagans without striking a stroak confusedly ran away and many were drowned for speed in the river Alen. After this victory Germanus prepared for his return After Germanus and Lupus were returned home into their native countrey Pelagianism began to sprout again in Britain and after three years Germanus came again with Severus into Britain and the Pelagian Heresie was again condemned in a second Synod having been before condemned in a Synod at London Germanus having setled Baitain in good order returned to his own countrey where he presently died after his return and by God's blessing on his endeavours that Heresie was so cut down in Britain that it never generally grew up again About the year 453. Hengist Captain of the Saxons who came to help the Britans against the Scots and Picts who having married his own daughter to Vortigern had murthered his sovereign Lord Constans and invaded his Crown being called in for his help came with diverse ships of stout Saxon Souldiers who under pretence of protecting them from the Picts intended to plant themselves in the North part of Britain which when the Britans saw and fearing their own ruin they desired the King that he would drive them out of his Kingdome The Nobles also of his Realm did inveigh much against the King's marriage with a Pagan Woman Whereupon Anno 454. they utterly deserted King Vortigern and unanimously chose Vortimer his son to be their King who following their counsel began to expell the Barbarians and chasing them as far as the Derwent he slew many of them Vortigern also fled with them But in the year 460 Prince Vortimer died being poisoned by Rowen his Mother in law with whom the hope of the Britains was extinguished Hereupon Hengist returning into Britain with new forces treacherously slew most of the British Nobles at a pretended Treaty for peace between both Nations And the Saxons being enemies to Christian Religion and bent upon the possession of such a fruitful Countrey exercised great cruelty upon the Inhabitants destroyed Churches and all Ecclesiastical things burnt the holy Scriptures slew the Ministers in the Churches endeavouring to supplant Christian Religion Henr. Huntingdâ— Lib. 2. Vortigern had before caused Vodinus Arch-Bishop of London to be put to death because he reproved him for calling in the Saxons and marrying a Pagan Woman and now Theanus Bishop of London Gâ—lsr monum lib. 12. and Thaodiceus Bishop of York with others were forced to fly into remote places for the preservation of their lives Thus God sent down his heavie judgements upon the Britains for their Sins as Gildas writeth Britones propter avaritiam rapinam Principum propter iniquitatem injustitiam Judicum propter desidiam praedicationis Episcoporum propter luxuriam malos mores populi perdidisse patriam that is the Britans for the covetousness and oppression of the Princes for
Northumberland 5. Ethelred King of Mercia 6. Kenred King of Mercia 7. Offa King of East Saxons 8. Sebbi King of East Saxons 9. Sigebert King of East Angles Ina builded the Abbey at Glastonbury in the 32 year of his Reign Sir H. Speâ—m in conciliis besides his bounty to other Churches he bestowed on the Church of Glastonbury two thousand six hundred pounds weight in the Utensils thereof of massy Gold and Silver He was the first King of this Land that granted a penny out of every fire-house in England to be paid to the Court of Rome which was called long after Rome-scot or Peter-pence and was to be paid on St. Peters day After this he went to Rome in Pilgrimage in the fellowship of poor Men and there built a School for the English and a Church adjoyning to it to bury their dead But Winnifrid an English Man about this time converted to Christ the Provinces of Franconia and Hassia in Germany About the same time flourished Bede a Presbyter in the Monastery of Weremouth near Durham he was born at Girwy now in the Bishoprick of Durham brought up by St. Cuthbert and was the profoundest Scholar of his Age for Latine Greek Philosophy History Divinity Mathematicks Musick and what not Homilies of his making were read in his life-time in the Christian Churches a dignity afforded to him alone He wrote the Ecclesiastical History and dedicated it to Ceolwolfus King of Northumberland He is generally sirnamed Venerable and is still accounted worthy of that Title He was credulous in believing of false Miracles and slipped into some corruptions of the times as Chrism and Confession yet even in these he differed from the latter times In the Articles of positive Doctrine he was clear He did observe and deplore the growing corruptions of the Church for in an Epistle to Ecbert he did not approve the specious and spacious buildings of Monasteries and else-where he saith Let the Reader behold with tears a thing worthy of tears how far the Church slideth daily into a worse or to speak moderately into a weaker estate He wrote many Books as John Bale testifieth He lived 72 years and died Anno 734. At that time began the general viciousness of the Saxons occasioned by the uncleanness of Ethelbald King of Mercia whose unlawful lust made no difference of Places or Persons Castles or Cloisters Then Boniface an English Man having boldly reproved Ethelbald for Adultery and Tyranny was forced by that King who sought his life to fly to Rome from whence Gregory the second Bishop of Rome sent him into Germany to convert the Saxons He caused the Monastery of Eulda to be built in favour of the English and was slain at Borna being Bishop of Mentz Afterwards Ethelbald reformed himself and not onely so but with Cuthbert Archbishop of Canterbury called a Council at Cliffe in Kent the Acts of this Synod were 31 Canons four whereof I shall set down as being the chief I. That the Priests learn and teach to know the Creed Lord's Prayer and words of Consecration in the Eucharist in the English Tongue II. That the Lord's day be honourably observed III. That the sin of drunkenness be avoyded especially in the Clergy IV. That Prayers be publikely made for Kings and Princes King Ethelbald and Offa were present and they two with many Dukes and Counts confirm the Decrees with their subscriptions About the year 755 Kenulphus King of West Saxons conferred large priviledges on the Monastery of Abbingdon in Bark-shire Anno 758. Bodies were first brought to be buried in Churches which by degrees brought in much superstition In the year 789. the Danes first invaded England Danes their first arrival in England with a considerable Army The landing of these Danes in England was ushered with many sad Prognosticks Stars were seen strangely falling from Heaven and sundry terrible flames appeared in the Skies Serpents were seen in Sussex and blood reigned in some parts of this Land Lindesfern or Holy Island was the first that felt the fury of these Pagans but soon after no place was secure from their cruelty At this time the Archbishoprick of Canterbury was in part removed to Lichfield by reason of the Puissance and Ambition of Offa King of Mercia commanding in chief over England Ethelbert King of the East Saxons went to Marry the Daughter of Offa and Offa perfidiously caused him to be murdered After which he gave the tenth part of all that he had unto the Church and several Lands to the Church of Hereford and then he went to Rome and there confirmed and enlarged to Pope Adrian the gift of Peter-pence Then was the corps of St. Alban in pompous manner taken up enshrined and adored by the spectators Offa being at Rome procured the Canonization of St. Alban the absolution of his own sins and many murders and visited and endowed the English Colledge there and then returning home he Founded the Monastery of St. Albans bestowing great Lands and liberties upon it as freeing it from the payment of Peter-pence Episcopal jurisdiction and the like Next year Offa died and was buried at Bedford Then flourished Alcuinus or Albinus Scholar to Venerable Bede and Tutor to Charles the Great who in an Epistle written to him calleth him Master of whom Trithemius give 's this character R. Hoveden Annal. part 1. Vir in divinis Scripturis eruditissimus in secularium literarum peritia nulli suo tempore secundus He opposed the Canons of the second Nicene Council wherein the Superstitious adoration of Images was enjoyned He wrote divers Books against the Errors of Felix and Eliphant Felix in reading them wrote a Recantation to the Presbyters and Deacons of his Church His Books de Trinitate are written so clearly that Sixtus Senensis saith they were written by John Calvin and published in the name of Alcuinus but Dr. James saith that ancient Copies thereof were in the Prince's library at St. James and they were Printed at Lions Anno 1525. when Calvin had not begun to write Egbert King of the West Saxons in the year 800. having vanquished Tho. Cooper Mercia Kent Essex and Northumberland made himself sole Monarch of England and fixed the supreme Sovereignty in himself and posterity For though afterward there continued some petty Kings as Kenulph King of Mercia c. yet they shined but dimly and in the next Age were utterly extinguished Egbert commanded this Land to be called Anglia and the Inhabitants Angles or English Men. CENT IX ANno 801. the Archbishoprick was restored to Canterbury at the instance of Kenulph King of Mercia Then Ethelard the Archbishop called a Synod at Clivesho in Kent where by power from the Pope he riveted the Archbishoprick into the City of Canterbury The subscriptions in this Council were the most formal and solemn of any so Antient. There was likewise at Celichyth an eminent Council under Wolphred who succeeded Ethelard Archbishop of Canterbury King Egbert was now
Alfred dedit probitasque laborem Perpetuumque labor nomen immixta dolori Gaudia semper erant spes semper mixta timori c. Englished by Mr. Flemming Nobility by birth to thee O Alfred strong in Armes Of goodness hath thy honour given And honour toilsome harmes And toilsome harmes an endless name Whose joyes ere alwayes mixt With sorrow and whose hope with fear Was evermore perplext If this day thou wast Conqueror The next day's War thou dread'st If this day thou wast Conquered To next day's War thou spread'st Whose cloathing wet with a daily swet Whose blade with bloody stain Do prove how great a burden 't is In Royalty to reign There hath not been in any part Of all the World so wide One that was able breath to take And troubles such abide And yet with Weapons weary would Not Weapons lay aside Or with the Sword the toilsomness Of Life by Death divide Now after labours past of Realm And Life which he did spend Christ is to him true quietness And Scepter voyd of end In this King's reign flourished Johannes Scotus Erigena with addition sometimes of Sophista born in Ireland for distinction from a former born at Melrose and another in the XIII Century born in Duns otherwise called Subtilis he was a man of pregnant Judgement wondrous Eloquence and in those days rare knowledge of the Greek Chaldean and Arabian Languages He wrote a Book De corpore sanguine Domini against the Opinion of Carnal presence which was condemned at the Synod of Vercelles Bellarmine Bellarm. de Euch. lib. 1. c. 1. saith This man was the first who wrote doubtingly of this matter He was the Counsellor to King Alfred and Teacher of his Children afterwards he retired to the Abbey at Malmesbury Zâ—pper de Calum haerâ—s Berengar where his disciples Murthered him with their Pen-knives being enticed thereunto by the Monks because he spake against the carnal presence and was accounted a Martyr as was recorded by William of Malmesbury de gest Reg. Ang. lib. 2. cap. 4. CENT X. AT this time there was no Bishop in all the West parts of England Pope Formosus being offended hereat interdicted King and Kingdom But Pleigmund Archbishop of Canterbury posted to Rome informing the Pope that Edward called the Elder the Son of King Alfred had in a late summoned Synod founded some new and supplied all old vacant Bishoprickes and carying with him honorifica munera the Pope turned his curse into a blessing and ratified their election The names of the seven Bishops which Pleigmund consecrated in one day were Fridstan Bishop of Winchester Werstan of Shireburn Kenulph of Dorchester Beornege of Selsey Athelme of Wells Eadulfe of Crediton in Devon and Athelstan in Cornwall of St. Petrocks These three last Western Bishops were in this Council newly erected A Synod was called at Intingford where Edward the elder and Guthurn King of the Danes in that part of England which formerly belonged to the East Angles onely confirmed the same Ecclesiastical constitutions which King Alured had made before King Edward remembring the Pious example of his Father Alfred in founding of Oxford began to repair and restore the University of Cambridge Joh. Rossius in lib. de Regib for the Danes who kept the Kingdom of the East Angles for their home had banished all Learning from that place This King Edward the elder expelled the Danes out of Essex Mercia and Northumberland At that time the authority of investing Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Benefices as also of prescribing Lawes unto Church-men as well as unto the Laity was in the power of the King not of the Pope but the Pope would be medling in such matters by way of Confirmation Athelstan his Son succeeded King Edward being much devoted to St. John of Beverley on whose Church he bestowed large priviledges Many Councils were kept in this King's Reign at Excester Feversham Thunderfield and London But one held at Greatlea is of greatest account for the Lawes therein enacted especially that concerning the payment of Tithes which is thus Written I Athelstan King Spelman in Concil p. 405. by advice of Viselm my Archbishop and of other Bishops command all the Prelates of my Kingdom in the name of our Lord and of all the Saints that first of all they out of my own things pay the Tithes unto God as well of the living Beasts as of the Corn of the ground and the Bishops to do the like in their property and the Presbyters This I will that Bishops and other Head-men declare the same unto such as be under their subjection c. He ordained that in every Burrough all measures and weights should be confirmed by the Bishop's advice and testimony About that time Hoel King of Wales made a Law That no Church-man should be a Judge in Civil affairs Now St. Dunstan appeareth in Court born at Glastonbury of Noble Parentage yea Kinsman remote to Athelstane himself His eminencies were Painting and Graving an excellent Musician and an admirable worker in Brass and Iron After a while he is accused for a Magician and banished the Court But after the Death of King Athelstane he was re-called to Court in the Reign of King Edmond Athelstan's brother and flourished for a time in great favour but his old crime of being a Magician and a wanton with Women being laid to his charge he is re-banished the Court. But King Edmond being slain by one Leoff a Thief Edred his Brother succeeding to the Crown Dunstan is made the King's Treasurer Chancellor Councellor Confessor Secular Priests were thrust out of their Convents and Monks substituted in their rooms But after Edred's death Dunstan falls into disgrace with King Edwin his Successor and being expelled the Kingdom flieth into Flanders Mean-time all the Monks in England of Dunstan's plantation are rooted up and Secular Priests set in their places Soon after many commotions happened in England especially in Mercia and Northumberland King Edwin died in the flower of his age Edgar succeedeth him and recalls Dunstan home Fuller Church History who hath two Bishopricks given him Worcester and London King Edgar gave over his Soul Body and Estate to be ordered by Dunstan and two more then the Triumvirate who ruled England viz. Ethelwald Bishop of Winchester and Oswald afterward Bishop of Worcester This Oswald was the man who procured by the Kings Authority the ejection of all secular Priests out of Worcester which Act was called Oswald's Law In that Age Dunstan being made Archbishop of Canterbury Antonin hist lit 19. part 3. ca. 3. Secular Priests were thrown out and Monks every where fixed in their rooms Many did dispute and preach against Dunstan And Alfred Prince of Mercia took part with the Priests Fuller makes mention of a fair and authentick guilded Manuscript wherein he stileth himself God's Vicar in England for the ordering Ecclesiastical matters a Title which at this day the Pope will hardly vouchsafe to
Oxford wherein was agreed that English men and Danes should hold the Laws made by King Edgar as most just and reasonable He established Laws Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Canutus went on pilgrimage to Rome and there founded an Hospital for English Pilgrims He shrined the body of Bernius and gave great Lands to the Cathedral Church of Winchester He builded St. Bennet's in Norfolk which was before an Hermitage Also St. Edmond's-bury which King Athelstane ordained before for a Colledge of Priests he turned to an Abbey of Monks of Saint Bennet's Order Two of his Sons succeeded him first his base Son called from his swiftness Harold Harefoot a man of a cowardly disposition He reigned but four years and the Kingdom fell to Hardiknout King of Denmark his Brother who when he had reigned two years being drunk at Lambeth suddenly was stricken dumb and fell down to the ground and within eight dayes after died without issue of his Body Thus ended the Danish Kings which Danes had vexed and wasted the Land two hundred fifty five years When England was freed from the Danes they sent into Normandy inviting over Edward the Confessor and brother to King Edmond He was crowned Anno 1045. In his time was the Law made which concerned the King's Oath at Coronation Mathew Paris describes the Manners of the Countrey at his coming thus The Nobles were given to gluttony and leachery they went not to Church in the morning but only had a Priest which made haste with the Mass and Mattens in their chambers and they heard a little with their ears The Clergy were so ignorant that if any knew the Grammar he was admired by them most men spent nights and dayes in carousing In his dayes England injoyed Halcion dayes free from Danish invasions The Ecclesiastical Laws made by this King in his reign were I. That every Clerk and Scholar should quietly enjoy their goods and possessions II. What solemn Festivals people may come and go of without any Law-suits to disturb them III. That in all Courts where the Bishop's Proctor doth appear his case is first to be heard and determined IV. That guilty folk flying to the Church should there have protection not to be reproved by any but the Bishop and his Ministers V. That Tithes be paid to the Church of Sheep Pigs Bees and the like VI. How the Ordal was to be ordered for the trial of guilty persons by fire and water VII That Peter-pence or Rome-scot be faithfully paid to the Pope This King is reported to have entailed by Heaven's Consort an hereditary vertue on his Successors the Kings of England only with this condition that they continue constant in Christianity to cure the King 's Evil. In this King's reign lived Marianus Scotus that wrote much of the deeds of the Kings of England King Edward died childless Harold the Son of Earl Godwin succeeded him Indeed the undoubted right lay in Edgar Atheling Son to Edward the Outlaw Grandchild to Edmond Iron-side King of England But he being young and tender and of a soft temper and Harold being rich and strong in Knights the Nobles chose Harold to be their King As soon as he was crowned he established many good Laws especially such as were for the good of the Church and for the punishment of evil-doers Harold was slain in a battel near Hastings in Sussex and William Duke of Normandy obtained the Crown of England by conquest within a few years he made a great alteration in England the most part of his Knights and Bishops were Normans and many English with Edgar fled into Scotland where King Malcolm had married Edgar's Sister Margaret They incited Malcolm to invade England and he entred into the North part At last a peace was concluded and a Mark-stone was set up in Stanmoor as the mark of both Kingdoms with the Pourtraict of both Kings on the sides of the Stone Although then corruptions crept into the Church by degrees and divine worship began then to be clogged with superstitious Ceremonies yet that the Doctrine remained still entire in most material points will appear by an Induction of the dominative Controversies wherein we differ from the Church of Rome as Fuller in his Church-History of Britain hath observed I. Scripture generally read Bed Eccl. hist lib. 3. ca. 5. For such as were with the holy Bishop Aidan either Clergy or Laity were tyed to exercise themselves in reading the holy Word and in singing of Psalms II. The Original preferred Caradoc in Chron. of Cambridge For Ricemath a Britain a right learned and godly Clerk Son to Sulgen Bishop of St. David's flourishing in this Age made this Epigram on those who translated the Psalter out of the Greek so taking it at the second hand and not drawing it immediately from the first vessel Ebreis nablam custodit litera signis Pro captu quam quisque suo sermone latino Edidit innumeros lingua variante libellos Ebreumque jubar suffuscat nube latina c. This Harp the holy Hebrew Text doth tender Which to their power whil'st every one doth render In Latine tongue with many variations He clouds the Hebrew rays with his translation Thus liquors when twice shifted out and pour'd In a third vessel are both cool'd and sowr'd But holy Jerome Truth to light doth bring Briefer and fuller fetcht from the Hebrew Spring III. No Prayers for the dead in the modern notion of Papists For though we find prayers for the dead yet they were not in the nature of propitiation for their sins or to procure relaxation from their torments but were only an honourable commemoration of their memories and a Sacrifice of thanksgiving for their salvation IV. Purgatory then not perfected though newly invented For although there are frequent Visions and Revelations in this Age pretended thereon to build Purgatory which had no ground in Scripture yet it stood not then as now it stands in the Romish belief V. Communion under both kinds For Bede relateth that one Hildmer an Officer of Egfride King of Northumberland entreated our Cuthbert to send a Priest that might minister the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood unto his Wife that then lay a dying And Cuthbert himself immediately before his own departure out of this life received the communion of the Lord's Body and Blood So that the Eucharist was then administred entire and not maimed as it is by the Papists at this day And though the word Mass was frequent in that Age yet was it not known to be offered as a propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and dead King William to testifie his thankfulness to God for his Victory founded in that place Battel-Abbey endowing it with Revenues and large immunities The Abbot whereof being a Baron of Parliament carried a pardon in his presence who casually coming to the place of execution had power to save any Malefactor The Abby-Church was a place of safety for any Fellon or Murtherer Here the Monks
Rome to purge themselves or submit to his absolute order in all things This new Pope Gregory sent a special Nuncio into England under pretext to compel all Ecclesiastical Persons to pay two years Dismes of their Temporalties and Ecclesiastical Livings to the King and his Brother but in truth to himself who converted most of it to his own use whereupon sundry of the Abbots and Clergy of the Realm refused to pay the premised Disme notwithstanding the Pope's Nuncio's Excommunications denounced against them contemning his Ecclesiastical Censures whereupon the Nuncio wrote to the Chancellor to command the Sheriffs to assist the Collectors of it by their secular power and levy it by force where there was need Hereupon the Chauncellor issued Writs to all the Sheriffs of England and some others to assist the Collectors accordingly It seems the Bishop of Winton compounded and paid a fine of five hundred Marks for his two years Dismes to the Pope's Collector At the same time the King wanting Moneys appointed special Collectors of the Arrears due upon the Dismes granted to his Father by the Pope towards the relief of the holy Land A new Archbishop of Dublin being elected the second year of this King's Reign who resided with the Queen of Scots in Scotland the King at her special request granted him this priviledge to make Attorneys to appear for him in all his Courts and to exempt him from all Amercements for not appearing personally in them Pope Gregory the tenth usurping the Emperor's Sovereign authority of Summoning general Councils sent forth general Letters through every Nation concerning the gathering together a Council on May the first at Lyons Whence it was said of him Gregorius denus Colligit omne genus Claus 2. Ed. 1. m. 13. dorso What Archbishops Bishops Abbots and Clergy-men repaired to this Council by the King 's special License who constituted Attorneys and Proxies for them in the King's Courts to sue and be sued during their absence may be seen in the Records mentioned by Mr. Prynne King Edward the first himself sent four special Proctors to this General Council to propound assent or dissent unto in his Name and behalf whatever they or either of them should deem fit or expedient A clear evidence that He and his Proxies had an affirmative and negative voice in General Councils Matthew Westminster renders us an account of the proceedings in this Council and of the Greek Emperors Patriarcks and Bishops acknowledgement of the Supremacy of the Pope and Church of Rome over all other Prelates and Churches as an Article of their Faith which they never before assented to The Executors of John Maunsel Treasurer of York having by his last Will assigned to the Vicars of St. Peter's in York a Messuage of His in York to maintain an Anniversary for his Soul of which they were afterwards dispossessed by others the King upon complaint thereof issued a Writ of Inquisition to examine the truth thereof and restore the said Messuage to the Vicars to maintain the Anniversary for the salvation of John Maunsel's soul The next year the King issued Commissions for the apprehending some vagrant and Apostate Friers of the Order of St. Augustine who had deseted their Houses and Order to the prejudice of their Souls and scandal of their Order King Edward the first made at Westminster at his first Parliament General after his Coronation Vide Cokes 2. Instit p. 156. 157. on Easter-Monday in the third year of his Reign many exeellent useful Statutes some of them relating to the Priviledges and Jurisdiction of the Clergy controlling some Canons of the Pope formerly used to the obstruction of publick Justice Soon after the Council of Lions Pope Gregory the tenth sent Reymund de Nogeriis his Chaplain as his Nuncio into England Wales Scotland and Ireland for certain affairs of the Church especially to demand and receive from the King eight years Arrears of the annual Tribute and Peter-pence then due to the Church of Rome The Abbot and Covent of Feversham being greatly indebted to Merchants and others by their expences at Rome and Papal exactions the King to preserve Them and their House from ruine took them and all their Lands Moneys Goods into his Protection and committed them to the management of certain persons for discharge of their debts and necessary support The like Protections were granted in the same form to the Abbot and Covents of Bordesley and Byndon the same year and to the Prior and Covent of Thornholm but the custody of them their Lands and Goods to other Persons The Chalices Books Ornaments Goods and Lands of the Hermitage near Cripple-gate London being usually imbezilled for want of good Government and Regulation the King being Patron thereof committed it to the care and Government of the Lord Major of London for the time being The Chancellor and University of Oxford having at their proper costs founded a Chappelry in the Church of St. Maries in the midst of the Town to pray for the safety of the King his Queen and Children Ancestors and all their Benefactors the King highly commending their Piety therein and endeavouring to promote it wrote to all the Archbishops and Bishops of England and Ireland to grant some special Indulgences to all who should resort to this Chappelry to hear Mass or Prayers The King upon the Petition of the Prior and Covent of Bath and of the Dean and Chapter of Wells granted his License to them to elect a new Bishop that See being then void Upon this License they Elected Robert Burnel This Bishop soon after his Consecration to end the frequent Controversies between the King Abbots of Glastonbury and Bishops of this See by consent of the Dean and Chapter of Wells and of the Prior and Covent of Bath exchanged the Patronage of the Abbey of Glastonbury and some other rights therein granted to him by former Kings Patents for the City of Bath In pursuit and execution of which exchange the King issued two Parents to the Citizens of Bath and others to make Livery and Seisin thereof to the Bishop The King gave License upon the Petition of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford to Elect a new Bishop in the place of John Breton after his Decease and confirmed their Election of Thomas de Cantilupo and restored the Temporalties to him after his Confirmation by the Archbishop of Canterbury Pat. 3. Edw. 1. without the Pope's approbation or privity This King in the fourth year of his Reign to prevent the ruine of the Abbey of Redding issued Patents of protection and regulation of the expences of it and of the Cell belonging to it founded by his Ancestors committing it's Revenues to certain persons to defray the Debts thereof In the fifth year of his Reign he issued a Commission to enquire of all Christians who used usury in London and else-where and punish them according to Law by seizing their Goods as a thing unbeseeming Christians and Christianity
his Wife erecting a Chappel and Chauntry to the Virgin Mary in their Manor of Lasingby consisting of one Master and six Chaplains to sing Mass for their Souls and the Souls of their Ancestors and of King Edward and his Heirs of the present Bishop of Durham and his Successors and of all faithful Souls deceased prescribing an Oath to them of perpetual Residence and discharge of the particular Divine Services and trusts reposed in them procured the King to ratifie this his Charter Chart. 20 Ed. 1. n. 5. by his Royal Charter enrolled in the Tower King Edward the First in the twenty one year of his Reign as Superiour Lord of Scotland in that Age exercised a Soveraign Authority in and over the King Clergy and Kingdom of Scotland in Causes and Inheritances which concerned the Church Clergy or Religious Persons as well as in Secular mens cases notwithstanding any Pretences or Appeals to Rome where Justice was delayed or refused to them by the King of Scots whereof there are sundry Presidents in the Patent and Plea-Rolls of Scotland in this and succeeding years Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury was no sooner consecrated at Rome Vid. Godw. Catal. p. 427. but he procured a Bull from Pope Celestine the Fifth by his Papal provision to confer the Bishoprick of Landaff which had been void for nine years space and thereby devolved to the Pope by lapse as he pretended on any Person he should think meet for that employment Whereupon without the King 's previous Authority he conferred it by way of provision upon John de Monmouth Yet the King was not forward to restore the Temporalties of the Archbishoprick of Canterbury to this Archbishop or of Landaff to John de Monmouth thus intruded into it against his Prerogative but detained them near two years after in his hands as vacant receiving the profits and presenting to the Benefices belonging to them Upon the death of Robert Burnel Bishop of Bath and Wells the King's Chancellor William de Marchia then Treasurer of England was elected to succeed him in that Bishoprick This year John de Langton succeeded Robert Burnel in the Chancellors Office of England The King in the twenty two year of his Reign notwithstanding a Subsidy granted to him Matth. Westm wanting Moneys searched all the Monasteries and Churches throughout England where any Moneys were deposited by Religious persons or others and forcibly carried it away to supply his occasions by the advice of his Treasurer William de Marchia Bishop of Bath and Wells The same year the King granted Protections to divers Abbots and Clergy-men who aided him with their Contributions against the French He also desired the assistance of their devout Prayers unto God for a blessing upon him and his Military Forces in defence of his Inheritance against their armed Powers as appears by his Writs under his Privy Seal issued to his Bishops and other Religious persons John Duke of Brabant the King 's dear Friend and Kinsman dying this year the King issued Writs to all his Bishops and sundry Abbots and Priors to make Prayers and chaunt Masses for him according to the superstition of that Age. Then the Roman See through the Cardinals divisions continuing void about three years and three months after the decease of Pope Nicholas the Fourth the Cardinals at last elected Peter de Murone an Hermite and Monk of the Order of St. Benedict whom they named Celestine the Fifth He during his short continuance in the Papacy granted our King Edward the First a Disme for seven years from all the Clergy of England out of zeal to the relief of the Holy Land But his Wars with the French Welch-men and Scots wasted all these Dismes Pope Celestine in the month of September created twelve Cardinals among whom were two Hermits But the Cardinals being weary of this precise reforming Pope perswaded him to resign his Papacy as being unfit to manage it without the Churches ruine and his own destruction So after he had sate five months and seven dayes he resigned the Papacy Then Benedict Cajetan his grand Counsellor was chosen Pope and called by the name of Boniface How unsutable yea contradictory his actions were to both his good names he immediately discovered which occasioned this Distich to be made of and applied to him Audi tace lege bene dic bene fac Benedicte Aut haec perverte male dic male fac Maledicte Celestine returned to his Cell from whence Boniface drew him forth and cast him into a close Prison where he abode till his death whence it is reported that Celestine prophecied of him Ascendisti ut Vulpes Regnabis ut Leo Morieris ut Canis Thou hast ascended into the Papacy like a Fox thou shalt reign like a Lion and die like a Dog and so it came to pass This Pope Boniface by his Bull having appropriated the Church of Wermington to the Abby of Peterburgh whereof they had the Patronage the King authorized them accordingly to appropriate it to them and their Successors against him and his Heirs notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmain This Pope sent two Cardinal Legats a latere first to the King of France and from him to the King of England then engaged in Wars against each other under a specious pretext of mediating a Truce between England and France but instead thereof these Cardinals did twice prey upon the English and Irish Churches and Clergy and transported their Treasure into France to enrich themselves and the King's Enemies there Then King Edward sent Writs to his Archbishops Bishops Abbots and others to make Prayers sing Masses and do other Works of Piety for the Soul of his Brother Edmond and after that of Margaret Queen of France according to the superstition of that Age. Tho. Walsingh Hist Angl. p. 34. In the twenty fourth year of King Edward's Reign there arose a great Sedition and Combat between the Scholars and Townsmen in the University of Oxford wherein many were slain on both sides and the Goods of the Scholars plundered and carried away upon complaint whereof to the King by the Scholars he sent his Justices thither to punish the Malefactors and repair the Scholars damages King Edward strenuously opposed Pope Boniface's Anti-monarchical Constitution against demanding or imposing Subsidies on the Clergy Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury was stout in the prosecution of the Popes Bull which he had procured for it for which all his Tempoporalties were seized and he being forced to hide his head and reduced to great extremities was restored to the King's favour by the earnest mediation of his Suffragan Bishops on his behalf Whereupon the King issued out Writs to restore his Temporalties with all his Oxen Goods and Chattels formerly seized in the state now they were In the twenty fifth year of this King's Reign Henry de Newark being elected Archbishop of York and his election approved by the King his Proctors sent to Rome procured the Pope's
confirmation of his election together with a License to be consecrated in his own Church at York by the Bishop of Durham The King upon the receipt of the Pope's Bull issued a Writ for the restitution of his Temporalties Pope Boniface having confirmed the election of David Martyn to the Bishoprick of St. Davids in Wales the King upon notice given accepted thereof The Bishoprick of Ely becoming void by the death of William Luda the minor part of the Chapter elected John their Prior but the better John de Langten the King's Chancellor The King confirmed the election of his Chancellor The King by his Prerogative having granted a License to the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Anno Reg. 26. to hold the Hospital of St. Leonards in York in Commenda with his Bishoprick during his life out of his free Gift and special Grace confirmed it by his Patents so as this Dispensation should not prove prejudicial to him or his Heirs The Monks of Battel-Abbey by ancient Charters having the custody of the Abby and Lands during the vacancy upon their Abbot's death the King issued a Writ to restore them to their custody Mr. Prynne observeth and relateth diverse things of this year 1. That the Contests between the Archbishop Prynne's Hist of Popes Usurpations Tom. 3. Abbots and Monks of Canterbury about Exemptions Priviledges and Jurisdictions was a great cause of advancing the Pope's usurped Jurisdiction over them both and over the Rights Prerogative of the Crown and Church of England 2. The Pope's Insolency in exempting the Abbots and Monks of Canterbury and all their Lands Hospitals Churches Impropriations Priests Tenants from all Archiepiscopal and other Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and subjecting them solely to the See of Rome as likewise in subjecting the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishops of London and Rochester to the commands and censures of the Abbots of Westminster Waltham and St. Edmond 3. The pride of the Abbots in erecting Deanaries Officials Ecclesiastical Consistories and in prescribing Oaths of Canonical obedience upon the Priests and Curats of their Churches belonging to their Monastery 4. The strange injustice and contradiction of Popes Bulls nulling repealing each other by Non obstantes with all former Priviledges granted by themselves and Contracts made or ratified by others through bribery and corruption CENT XIV IN the beginning of this Century King Edward the First waged cruel Wars against the Scots Then Pope Boniface the Eighth sent his Letters to the King to quit his claim to Scotland to cease his Wars Fox Acts and Monum lib. 1. p. 444 445. and release his Prisoners of the Scotch Nation as a people exempt and properly belonging to his own Chappel He grounded his Title thereunto because it was said Scotland was first converted by the Relicks of S. Peter to the unity of the Christian Faith Hereupon King Edward called a Council of his Lords at Lincoln where he returned a large Answer to the Pope's Letter endeavouring by evident Reasons and ancient Precedents to prove his propriety in the Kingdom of Scotland This was seconded by another from the English Peerage subscribed with all their hands declaring that the King ought by no means to answer in judgment in any case or should bring his Rights into doubt and ought not to send any Proctors or Messengers to the Pope c. The Pope foreseeing the Verdict would go against him wisely non-suited himself Then Pope Boniface sent forth a Declaration in favour of the Archbishop and proceeded so violently against the Abbots Monks Chron. Will. Thorn col 1997. ad 2003. and their Adherents by Excommunications Interdicts c. that he enforced them to submit and sue unto him for Absolution and a friendly agreement between them After the death of Henry de Newark Thomas Corbridge being elected Archbishop of York repaired to Rome for his Confirmation where he was forced to resign his right of Election into the Pope's hands and to receive the Archbishoprick from him by way of provision who thereupon not only confirmed but consecrated him Archbishop at Rome and gave him his Pall and the King restored his Temporalties upon receipt of the Pope's Bull. Thomas Stubs tells us of an high Contest that happened soon after betwixt the King and him about the Chappel of St. Sepulchres in York for which the King seized his Temporalties and detained some of them till his death for obeying the Pope's Provision and Commands before the King 's Writ in refusing to admit his Clerk to this Chappel and to remove the Pope's Clerk whom he had placed therein by his Papal Provision This Archbishop's Liberties in Beverley were seized into the King's hands Anno 29. of his Reign for a contempt committed by him in the King's presence The King's Daughter Mary being a Nun professed at Ambresbury the King granted her forty Oaks each year twenty tun of Wines and several Manors of above the value of two hundred pounds a year for her maintenance In the thirtieth year of the Reign of King Edward the French King Philip with all the Peers Earls Barons Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Clergy University of Paris and the Cities and Commonalty of France did Appeal and Article against Pope Boniface the Eighth his Person Crimes Interdicts Excommunications to the next General Council in the ruffe of his Papal pride as a most detestable Heretick Simoniack Adulterer Sorcerer and Monster of Impiety and soon after seized imprisoned and brought him to a shameful Tragical end The particular Articles are recorded by Mr. Fox Fox Acts and Monuments Vol. 1. p. 450 451. Of this Pope a certain Versifier wrote thus Ingreditur Vulpes Regnat Leo sed Canis exit Re tandem vera si sic fuit ecce chimera Alter vero sic Vulpes intravit tanquam Leo Pontificavit Exiit utque Canis de divite factus inanis Then was the Bishop of Ostia created Pope and called Benedict the Eleventh Of whom one saith A te nomen habe bene dic bene fac Benedicte Aut rem perverte maledic malefac Maledicte The Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Winchelsey having plotted Treason with some others of the Nobility against the King projecting to depose him and set up his Son Edward in his Room lurked in a Covent at Canterbury till fourscore Monks were by the King's Command thrust out of their places for relieving him out of their Charity and were not restored till the Archbishop was banished the Kingdom In the year 1305. the King sent a Letter to the Pope for the Canonizing of Thomas de Cantelupe late Bishop of Hereford deceased famous for sundry Miracles as was suggested that so he and his Realm might enjoy the benefit of his Intercession for them in Heaven according to the Superstition of that blind Age. After the death of Pope Benedict Pope Clement was no sooner elected and enthroned in France but he began to exercise his new Rapines in England by complying with King Edward in granting
his Coronation all the Knights Templers The Order of the Knights Templars abolished throughout Christendom throughout England were at once arrested and committed to prison In the General Council of Vienna this Order was utterly abolished through Christendom The French King caused fifty four of that Order together with their great Master to be burnt at Paris And the Pope and Council annexed their possessions to the Order of the Knights Hospitallers called commonly Knights of the Rhodes But in England the Heirs of the Donors and such as had endowed the Templars here with Lands entred upon those parts of the ancient Patrimonies after the dissolution of the Order and detained them until not long after they were by Parliament wholly transferred unto the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem Guy Guy Earl of Warwick surpriseth Piers Gaveston and causeth him to be beheaded Earl of Warwick surprised Gaveston carried him to his Castle of Warwick wherein a place called Blacklow afterwards Gaveshead his head was stricken off at the commandment and in the presence of the Earls of Lancaster Warwick and Hereford A great Battel was fought between the English and Scots at Bannocks-borough There perished in this Battel Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester Robert Lord Clifford the Lord Tiptoft the Lord Marshal the Lord Giles de Argenton the Lord Edmond de Maule and seven hundred Knights Esquires and Gentlemen of Quality of common Souldiers ten thousand There were taken prisoners Humphry Bohun Earl of Hereford Ralph de Monthelmere who married Joan de Acres Countess Dowager of Oxford with many others The Earl of Hereford was exchanged for King Robert's Wife who was all this while detained in England This disaster was attended with Inundations which brought forth Dearth Dearth Famine Famine Pestilence all which exceeded any that ever before had been known Anno 1313. died Robert Winchelsey Archbishop of Canterbury in whose room Robert Cobham was elected by the King and Church of Canterbury But the Pope did frustrate that election and placed Walter Reynold Bishop of Worcester About this time died Pope Clement and John XXII succeeded who sent two Legats from Rome under pretence to make agreement between the King of England and the Scots They for their charges required of every Spiritual person four pence in every Mark but all in vain for the Legats as they were in the North parts about Derlington with their whole Family and Train were robbed and spoiled of their Horses Treasure Apparel and whatsoever else they had and so retired back again to Durham thence they returned to London where they first excommunicated all those Robbers Then for supply of those losses they received they exacted of the Clergy to be given unto them eight pence in every Mark But the Clergy would only give them four pence in every Mark So they departed to the Pope's Court again This King Edward refused to pay the Peter-pence In the time of this King the Colledge in Cambridge called Michael-house was founded by Sir Henry Staunton Knight King Edward the Second builded two Houses in Oxford for good Letters Orial Colledge and St. Mary Hall England may dare all Christendom besides to shew so many eminent School-Divines bred within the compass of so few years And a forreign Writer saith Scholastica Theologia ab Anglis in Anglia sumpsit exordium fecit incrementum pervenit ad perfectionem Of these School-men Alexander Hales leads the way Master to Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure He was in the time of Henry the Third At the command of Pope Innocent the Fourth he wrote the Body of all School-Divinity in four Volumes Roger Bacon succeeded him who lived in the time of King Edward the First he was excellently skilled in the Mathematicks The next was Richard Middleton entitled Doctor Fundatissimus Then flourished John Duns Scotus in the time of Edward the Second he was Fellow of Merton-colledge in Oxford He was called Duns by abbreviation for Dunensis that is born at Doun an Episcopal See in Ireland In this King's Reign Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter founded and endowed Exeter-colledge in Oxford It is charged on this King Edward the Second that he suffered the Pope to encroach on the Dignity of the Crown His Father had recovered some of his Priviledges from the Papal usurpation which since his Son had lost back again About that time an English Hermite preached at Paul's in London That some Sacraments that were then in use in the Church were not of Christ's Institution therefore he was committed to prison King Edward went into Scotland with another great Army King Robert thought so great an Army could not long continue therefore he retired into the High-lands King Edward wandred from place to place till many died for hunger and the rest returning home half starved James Douglas followed the English and slew many of them and King Edward himself hardly escaped Then a Peace was concluded at Northampton Anno 1327. That the Scots should abide in the same estate as in the dayes of King Alexander the Third the English should render all subscriptions and tokens of bondage and have no Land in Scotland unless they shall dwell in it In England the two Spencers ruled all things till the Queen and her Son who politickly had got leave to go beyond the Seas returned into England with a Navy and Army landing in Suffolk She denounced open war against her Husband unless he would presently conform to her desires The young Spencer was taken with the King at the Abby of Neath and is hanged on a Gallows fifty foot high Many Persons of Quality were sent down to the Parliament then sitting to King Edward to Kenelworth-castle to move him to resign the Crown which at last he sadly surrendered and Prince Edward his Son is crowned King The late King is removed from Kenelworth unto Barkley-castle where he was barbarously butchered being struck into the Postern of his Body with an hot Spit as it is commonly reported Among the Clergy besides Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter whose head the Londoners caused to be smitten off at the Standart in Cheapside only John Stratford Bishop of Winchester heartily adhered to him Robert de Baldock though no Bishop yet as a Priest and Chancellor of England may be ranked with these who attended the King and was taken with him in Wales Hence he was brought up to London and committed to Adam Tarlton Bishop of Hereford Many of the Bishops ungratefully sided with the Queen against her Husband and their Sovereign Walter Reynolds Archbishop of Canterbury led their Van preferred to that See at the King 's great Importunity and by the Pope's power of Provision Henry Burwash Bishop of Lincoln lately restored to the favour of King Edward yet no sooner did the Queen appear in the field with an Army against him but this Bishop was the first who publickly repaired to her Adam Tarlton Bishop of Hereford was the grand contriver of all mischief against the
sent before Sir John Colvil Knight and Nicholas Rixton Clerk with letters to be given to them A letter also was sent unto the Pope wherein the King chargeth him with Perjury At Pisa there assembled a great number of Cardinals Archbishops Bishops and Mitred Prelates who elected a new Pope viz. Alexander the fifth a man trained up at Oxford rejectiâ—â— the two 〈◊〉 Schismatical Popes Gregory and Benedict Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury came with a Pompous train to Oxford His intent was Juridically to visit the University expecting to be solemnly met and sumptuously entertained according to his place and dignity But Richard Courtney the Chancellor of Oxford with Benedict Brent and John Birch the two Proctors denied the Archbishop entrance into the University under the notion of a Visitor The Archbishop angry at the affront fairly retreated re infecta to London King Henry at the joynt instances of both parties summoned them to Lambâ—th to hear and determine the Controversie where the King pronounced sentence on the Archbishop's side Afterward the King confirmed the same with the consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament as in the Tower-Rolls doth plainly appear The King though courteous was not servile to the Pope and the Clergy terrified with the wavering doubtfulness of the King granted him a tenth every year for diverse years Fuller Church Hist of Brit. King Henry the fourth is not observed as all English Kings before and after him to have erected and endowed any one entire house of Religion as first or sole-founder thereof though a great Benefactor to the Abby of Leicester and Colledge of Fothringhay in Northamptonshire His picture is not so well known by his Head as his Hood which he weareth upon it in an odd fashion peculiar to himself He died Anno 1413. Henry the fifth his Son succeeded in the Kingdom An universal Synod of all the Bishops and Clergy was called at London where among other weighty matters it was determined That the day of St. George and also of St. Dunstan should be a double Feast in holy Church At the Petition of the Commons in Parliament to the King Rotul in Turri Lond. all Irish begging Priests called Chamberdakyns were ordered to depart the Realm by Michaelmas following upon pain of loss of goods and imprisonment during the King's pleasure In the beginning of this King's Reign arose Sir John Oldcastle Camd. Brit. in Kent who Married Joan de la Pole Baroness of Cobham the Lord whereof he became a Man saith one Regi propter probitatem charus acceptus in great favour with King Henry the fifth for his honesty and likewise renouned for his valour and great skill iâ—â—â—aâ—s of Armes who sent into the Diocesses of London Rochesâ—â— and Hereford some to publish the truth of the Gospel without the leave and License of the Ordinaries who were especially in their Sermons to confute the Doctrine of Transubsâ—anâ—iation the Popish â—â—crament of Penance Peregrinations worshipping of Images the Keys usurped by the Church of Rome At that time there resorted to the Synod in London twelve Inquisitors for Heresie whom they appointed at Oxford the year before to search out for Hereticks withall Wickliff's Books who brought two hundred forty six Conclusions which they had collected as Heresies out of the said Books The Names of the Inquisitors were these John Witnam a Master in New Colledge John Langdon Monk of Christ-church in Canterbury William Vfford Regent of the Carmalites Thomas Clayton Regent of the Dominicks Robert Gilbert Richard Enthisdale John Luck Richard Sindisham Richard Fleming Thomas Rotborn Robert Rouberry Richard Grafdale who all concluded that the chief favourers of Wickliff's Doctrine were to be first dealt against The Lord Cobham was complained of by the General Proctors to be the chief principal abettor of suspected Preachers contrary to the mind of the Ordinaries and to have assisted them by force of Armes The King sent for the Lord Cobham and when he was come he admonished him secretly to submit himself to his Mother the holy Church Unto whom he made this Answer You most Worthy Prince saith he I am always ready to obey forasmuch as I know you a Christian Prince and the Minister of God bearing the Sword to the punishment of evil doers and safeguard of them that do well Vnto you next unto my eternal God owe I most reverence and submit thereunto as I have done ever all that I have either of Nature or Fortune ready at all times to fulfill whatsoever You in the Lord command me But as touching the Pope and his Spiritualty I owe them neither Suit nor Service forasmuch as I know him by the Scriptures to be the Great Antichrist the Son of Perdition the open Adversary of God The King having heard this would talk no longer with him but utterly left him And the Archbishop resorting to the King he gave him authority to Cite him Examine and Punish him according to their Decrees The Archbishop Cited him to appear before him at the Castle of Leeds in Kent and because he appeared not he Excommunicated him Then the Lord Cobham wrote a draught of the Confession of his Faith and Sealed it with his own Hand in which he answered the four chiefest Articles that the Archbishop laid against him and that done he took the Copy with him and went therewith to the King who would not receive it but commanded it to be delivered to those who should be his Judges Then he desired in the King's presence that an hundred Knights and Esquires might be suffered to come as upon his Purgation which he knew would clear him of all Heresies Moreover he offered himself after the Law of Armes to fight for Life or Death with any man living Christian or Heathen in the quarrel of his Faith the King's Majesty and the Lords of his Council excepted and furthermore protested That he would obey all manner of Laws agreeable to the Word of God yet for all this the King suffered him to be summoned personally in his own Privy-chamber He appeared before the Archbishop sitting in the Chapter-house of Pauls Joh. Caepgrave lib. 2. de nobi lib. Henricis with Richard Clifford Bishop of London Henry Bullinbrook Bishop of Winchester He professed That the Pope was true Antichrist That he is his Head and that the Popish Bishops were his Members the Friars his Tayl. And as touching the other Points saith he they are Ordinances of the Church of Rome made against the Scriptures after it grew rich and the poison had dispersed it self therein and not before Another Annalist saith That he had openly said in Parliament that it would never be well in England till the Pope's power were banished beyond the Seas The Archbishop read a Bill of Condemnation against him after which Bill read the Lord Cobham said with a cheerful countenance Though you judge my Body which is but a wretched thing yet I am sure ye can do no harm to
was kept three years captive in St. Angelo Against Mendicants 1. Thomas Wilson Doctor of both Laws and say some Dean of S. Paul's a zealous Preacher and Disputant 2. William Ivy Canon of S. Paul's who wrote in the Defence of Richard Hill Bishop of London who Imprisoned two Mendicants for their proud Preaching But after Pope Paul the second had interposed herein concluding that this ought to be declared in all places for a dangerous Doctrine and worthy to be trodden down under all mens feet the controversie ceased At this time George Nevil brother to Richard Nevil the Great Earl of Warwick that set up and pulled down Kings at his pleasure was Archbishop of York He was famous for a prodigious feast made at his Installation unto which he invited as Guests all the Nobility most of the prime Clergy many of the Great Gentry of the Land The Bill of Fare may be read in Bishop Godwins Catalogue of Bishops Seven years after King Edward seized on all his Estate to the value of twenty thousand pounds among which he found so rich a Mitre that he made himself a Crown thereof The Archbishop he sent over prisoner to Callis where he was kept bound in extreme poverty justice punishing his former prodigality He was afterwards restored to his Liberty and Archbishoprick but went drooping till the day of his death It added to his sorrow that the Kingdom of Scotland Scotland freed from the See of York with twelve Suffragan Bishops therein formerly subjected to his See was now by Pope Sixtus freed from any further dependance thereon S. Andrews being advanced to an Archbishoprick and that Kingdom in Ecclesiastical matters made entire within it self whose Bishops formerly repaired to York for their consecration Anno 1473. in August John Goose sole Martyr in this King's Reign was condemned and burned at Tower-hill This man when ready to suffer desired meat from the Sheriff which Ordered his Execution and had it granted unto him I will eat saith he a good competent dinner for I shall pass a sharp shower ere I come to Supper King Edward IV. died April 9. 1483. In his Reign flourished Thomas Littleton a Reverend Judge of the Common-pleas who brought a great part of the Law into method which lay before confusedly dispersed and his book called Littletons Tenures Then John Harding Esquire wrote a Chronicle in English verse John Fortescue a Judge and Chancellor of England wrote divers Treatises concerning the Law and Politick Government Rochus a Charter-house Monk born in London wrote divers Epigrams William Caxton also wrote a Chronicle Miserable King Edward V. ought to have succeeded his Father but he by the wicked practice of his Unckle Richard Duke of Glocester chosen Protector was quickly made away The Protection of the young King's Person was by the last King appointed to Earl Rivers the Queen's brother and by the mother's side Unckle to the said Prince who kept his Residence and Court at Ludlow The Queen with the Earl Rivers her brother and with her Son Richard Lord Gray and other Friends being guarded with a strong power of Armed men and Souldiers intended to bring the Young King from Ludlow to London to be Crowned But the Duke of Glocester wrought so cunningly with the Queen that she dispatched messengers to her Brother and Son who though unwilling upon her request were perswaded to Disband and Cashier all their Souldiers and attended only with their own Menial Servants they set forward with the Young King towards the Queen They came to Northampton and soon after the Dukes of Glocester and Buckingham dismounted themselves in the Earls Inn being accompanied with great store of resolute attendants There they surprized the Earl Rivers and committed him to safe Custody Mart. Chron. in Edw. V. Then the two Dukes rode to Stonystratford where the King then was There they seized on Richard Lord Grey the King's half-brother and on Sir Richard Vaugham and some others all which they sent under a strong guard to Pomfret-castle where without any judicial sentence or legal trial they were beheaded upon the same day that the Lord Hastings who conspired in that action with the two Dukes lost his head The Queen with the rest of her Children enters the Sanctuary at Westminster The young King is brought to London and the Duke of Glocester by the contrivement of the Duke of Buckingham is made Protector of the King and Kingdom by the Decree of the Councel-Table and now he wickedly plotteth to make away the young King and his Brother and in order thereunto he laboureth first to get into his hands the Duke of York the King's brother And to that end the Archbishop of Canterbury was employed with instructions to procure the Queen to part with her younger son to accompany the elder The Protector having gotten both the brothers into his hand causeth them within few days in great pomp and State to be convayed through London to the Tower The Sunday following he caused Doctor Shaa at Paul's cross to blazon the Honourable birth and parentage of the Protector to relate his vertues to commend his valour to weaken the Fame and Honour of the deceased King Edward by reason of his lascivious wantonness with Shore's wife and others to bastardize all his Children because the King was in the person of Richard Earl of Warwick before his said marriage affianced unto the Lady Bona sister to the wife of the French King He also accused the Protector 's own mother of great incontinency When King Edward and George Duke of Clarence were begotten Then setting forth the worthiness of the Protector he supposed that the people could not chuse but receive him for their King Pynkney the Provincial of the Augustinian Friars who in the same place used so loud adulation lost his credit conscience and voice altogether These two were all of the Clergy who engaged actively on his party His Coronation was performed with more pomp than any of his Predecessors Soon after followed the murther of King Edward and his Brother Richard Duke of York After this bloody act having visited his Town of Glocester which he endowed with ample Liberties and Priviledges he took his journey towards York At a certain day appointed the whole Clergy assembled in Copes richly vested and so went about the City in Procession after whom followed the King with his Crown and Scepter apparrelled in his Circot Robe Royal accompanyed with many of the Nobility of the Realm after whom marched in order Queen Anne his wife Crowned leading in her left hand Prince Edward her Son Sir Th. Moores History of King Rich. 3. having on his head a demy-crown appointed for the degree of a Prince The Northern people hereupon extolled and praised him far above the Stars After this glorious pomp and a solemn feast having done all things discreetâ—y he returned by Nottingham and afterwards came to London whom the Citizens more for fear than love received in
great Companies Now King Richard made good Laws in that sole Parliament kept in his time He began to found a Colledge of an hundred Priests which foundation with the founder shortly had end He built a Monastery at Middleham in the North and a Colledge at Alhallows Barking hard by the Tower and endowed Queens-Colledge in Cambridge with five hundred marks of yearly revenue Soon after the Duke of Buckingham requireth the Earldom of Hereford and the Hereditary Constableship of England laying title to them by discent The King rejected the Duke's request with many spiteful and minatory words Buckingham storms thereat and withdraws to Brecknock in Wales with his Prisoner John Morton Bishop of Ely committed to him by the King on some distast who tampered with him about the marriage of Henry Earl of Richmond with the eldest daughter of King Edward IV. But the Duke was surprized by King Richard and beheaded before this marriage was compleated More cunning was Bishop Morton to get himself over into France there to contrive the union of the two Houses of York and Lancaster In the year 1485. Henry Earl of Richmond landeth with small Force at Milford-Haven From Milford he marcheth North-East through the bowels of Wales and both his Army and the fame thereof encreased by marching Into Leicester-shire he came and in the navel thereof is met by King Richard The next day the Armies joyned in battel The scales of Victory seemed for a long time so equal that none could discern on which side the beam did break At length the coming in of the Lord Stanley with three thousand fresh men decided the controversie on the Earl's side King Richard fighting valiantly in the midst of his enemies was slain and his Corps were disgracefully carried to Leicester without a rag to cover his nakedness The Crown ornamental being found on his head was removed to the Earl's and he Crowned in the field and Te Deum was solemnly sung by the whole Army The body of King Richard lay for a spectacle of hate and scorn by the space of two days bare and uninterred At last without solemn funeral pomp scarce with ordinary solemnity by the charity of the Gray-friers he was inhumed in their Monastery there King Henry Lord Verul Histor of Henr. VII VII coming to London the Mayor and Companies received him at Shoredâ—tch whence with great Honourable attendance and Troops of Noblemen and persons of quality he entred the City himself not being on horseback or in any open Chair or Throne but in a close Chariot as one that chose rather to keep State and strike a reverence into the people than to fawn upon them He went first into S. Paul's Church where he made offertory of his Standards and had Orizon and Te Deum again sung and went to his lodging prepared in the Bishops palace Thomas Bourchier Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury Crowned the King on the last of October At which day for the better security of his person the King did institute a band of fifty Archers under a Captain to attend him by the Name of Yeomen of his Guard The Archbishop also Married King Henry to the Lady Elizabeth eldest daughter to King Edward the fourth And then having sate in a short Synod at London wherein the Clergy presented their new King with a tenth died having sate in his See two and thirty years He gave to the University of Cambridge an hundred and twenty pounds which was joyned with another hundred pound which Mr. Billingforth Master of Bennet-Colledge had some years before given to the said University John Morton born at S. Andrews Milbourn in Dorset-shire succeeded him in the See at Canterbury He was formerly Bishop of Ely and appointed by King Edward IV. one of the Executors of his will and on that account hated of King Richard the third the Executioner thereof He was as aforesaid imprisoned because he would not betray his trust fled into France and returned and was justly advanced by King Henry first to be Chancellor of England and then to be Archbishop of Canterbury He was also created Cardinal of S. Anastasius Now began the Pope to be very busie by his Officers to collect vast summs of money in England presuming at the King's connivance thereat whom he had lately gratified with a needless dispensation to legitimate his marriage with the Lady Elizabeth his Cousin so far off that it would half pose a Herauld to recover their kindred The Pope in favour of the King and indeed of equity it self ordered concerning Sanctuaries 1. That if any Sanctuary man did by might or otherwise Lord Verul in Henry VII get out of Sanctuary privily and commit mischief and trespass and then come in again he should lose the benefit of Sanctuary for ever after 2. That howsoever the Person of the Sanctuary-man was protected from his Creditors yet should not his goods out of Sanctuary 3. That if any took Sanctuary for cause of treason the King might appoint him keepers to look to him in Sanctuary The King Confined the Queen Dowager his wives mother to a Religious house in Bermondsey because three years since she had surrendered her two daughters out of the Sanctuary at Westminster to King Richard A Synod was holden by Archbishop Morton at London Antiq. Brit. pag. 298. wherein the Luxury of the London Clergy in Cloathes with their frequenting of Taverns was forbidden Such Preachers also were punished who inveighed against Bishops in their absence John Giglis an Italian about this time employed by the Pope got an infinite mass of money having power from the Pope to absolve people from all crimes whatsoever saving smiting of the Clergy and conspiring against the Pope This Giglis gat for himself the rich Bishoprick of Worcester Yea in that See four Italians followed each other 1. John Giglis 2. Silvester Giglis 3. Julius Medices afterwards Pope Clement VII 4. Hieronymus de Negutiis The Pope gave power to Archbishop Morton to visit all places formerly exempt from Archiepiscopal jurisdiction and to dispence his pardons where he saw just cause Hereupon Rochester-bridge being broken down the Archbishop bestowed Remission from Purgatory for all sins whatsoever committed within the compass of fourty dayes to such as should bountifully contribute to the building thereof King Henry VII desired much that King Henry VI. Camd. Brit. in Surry might be Canonized But Pope Alexander III. delayed and in effect denyed the King's desire herein The reason given by Mr. Camden was the Pope's Covetousness who demanded more than thirsty King Henry would allow This King removed the Corps of Henry VI. from Chertsey in Surrey where it was obscurely interred to a place of greater note viz. Windsor Chappel But the Saintship of Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury was procured by Archbishop Morton on cheaper terms King Henry was submissive to Pope for his own ends never servile The deserving Clergy he employed in State affairs more than his Nobility To the
money which was sent last thither came soon enough to be received there This payment was the last in this kind which Rome did generally receive out of England Meantime the King did share with the Pope to connive at the rest he had a part allowed to him Sir Rich. Baker's Chron. King Henry VII died of a Consumption at his palace of Richmond April 22. 1508. Of our own Country there lived in his time George Ripley a Carmelite Friar of Boston who wrote divers Treatises in the Mathematiques John Rouse born in Warwick-shire a diligent searcher of Antiquities Thomas Scroop entred into diverse Orders of Religion and after withdrew himself to his house where for twenty years he lived the life of an Anchoret and after coming abroad again was made a Bishop in Ireland and went to Rhodes in Ambassage from whence being returned he went barefooted up and down in Norfolk teaching the ten Commandments and lived till near an hundred years old Now also lived Robert Fabian a Sheriff of London and Historiographer Edmond Dudley who wrote a book Entitled Arbor Reipublicae John Bockingham an Excellent School-man And William Blackney D.D. a Carmelite Friar and a Necromancer Henry VIII succeeded his Father On June 3. He was Married to the Lady Katherine Dowager formerly wife to his brother Prince Arthur deceased Pope Julius by his dispensation removed all obstructions against the Laws of God or man hindering or opposing the said Match Cruelty still increased on the poor Lollards as they were called after abjuration forced to wear the fashion of a Faggot wrought in thread or painted on their sleeves as long as they lived it being death to put on their clothes without that cognizance Their case was sad if they put it off they must be burned if they put it on they must be starved for none generally would set them on work that wore that badge On this account were William Sweeting and James Brewster re-imprisoned In vain did Brewster plead that he was commanded to leave off his badge by the Controller of the Earl of Oxford's house And as little did Sweeting's plea prevail that the Parson of Mary Magdalen's in Colchester caused him to lay his faggot aside Soon after they were both burnt together in Smithfield Anno 1511. One John Brown who had born a faggot before in the days of King Henry the Seventh was burned at Ashford in Kent for the Profession of the Truth condemned by Archbishop Warham first having had his Feet burned to the Bones to compel him to deny the Truth Richard Hunn a wealthy Citizen of London imprisoned in Lollards Tower for adhering to Wickliff's Doctrine had his neck therein secretly broken To cover their cruelty they gave it out that he hanged himself on December 20. 1514. the dead Body of the said Richard Hunn was burnt in Smithfield Sixteen days after he was murdered But the matter having been fully examined by the Council and Judges and Justices of the Realm it was evidently proved that Dr. Horsey the Chancellor Charles Joseph the Sumner and John Spalding the Bel-ringer had committed the Murder Thomas Man and John Stileman were also burned in Smithfield Thomas Man confessed he had converted Seven hundred from Popery to the Truth Robert Cosin was also condemned and burned at Buckingham for holding against Pilgrimages Confession to Priests and Worshipping of Image Christopher Shoomaker was burned at Newbery upon the like account Cardinal Bainbrigg Archbishop of York being then at Rome was so highly offended with Rivaldus de Modena an Italian his Steward that he cudgelled him but being soon after poisoned his Body was buried in the English Hospital at Rome Fuller Church Hist Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester Founded and Endowed Corpus Christi-Colledge in Oxford bestowing thereon Lands to the yearly value of Four hundred and one pounds eight shillings and two pence There are maintained in it a President Twenty Fellows Twenty Scholars Two Chaplains Two Clerks and Two Choristers besides Officers and Servants of the Foundation with other Students Hugh Oldham Bishop of Exeter was a great Benefactor to this Colledge Petrits Chur. Hist Anno 1519. died John Colet at Shene in Surrey he had learned humane Sciences at home and travelled into France and Italy when he returned be studied the Scriptures and expounded St. Paul's Epistles publickly at Oxford Henry the Seventh promoted him to the Deanry of Pauls He professed to distast many things that he had heard in Sorbon He called the Scotists men without judgement and the Thomists arrogant He said He reaped more fruit by the Books which the Doctors of Sorbon called Heretical than by their Books that were full of divisions and definitions and were most approved of them He never married and yet regarded not Monks without Learning In his Sermons he said Images should not be Worshipped and Clerks should not be Covetous Two Friars viz. Bricot and Standish accused him for Heresie unto Richard Fitz-James Bishop of London and He unto the Archbishop first and then unto King Henry the Eighth But both the King and the Archbishop became his Patrons He was the eldest and sole surviving child of Sir Henry Collet Mercer twice Lord Mayor of London who with his ten Sons and as many Daughters Stow's Survay p. 265. were depicted in a Glass-window on the North-side of St. Anthonie's corruptly St. Antlin's to which Church he was a great Benefactor His Son John Founded the Free-school of St. Pauls in it are One hundred fifty and three Scholars whereof every year some appearing most pregnant have salaries allowed them for Seven years or untill they get better preferment in the University or in the Church William Lily was the first School-master thereof by Colet's own appointment An excellent Scholar born at Odiam in Hamp-shire and afterward he went on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem In his return through Italy he applyed himself to his Studies His Teachers and Instructers were John Sulpitius and Pomponius Sabinus two eminent Criticks Returning home into his native Countrey well accomplished with Latin Greek and all Arts and Sciences he set forth a Grammar which still goes under his Name and is generally taught over all England Anno 1517. Luther wrote against Popish Indulgences shewing the abuses of them King Henry the Eighth set forth a Book against Luther endeavouring the Confutation of his Opinions as novel and unsound To require his pains the Pope honoured him and his Successors with a specious Title Defender of the Faith Luther sharply answered that Book Cardinal Wolsey was now the Pope's Legat de latere by vertue whereof he visited all Churches and Religious houses even the Friars observants themselves notwithstanding their stoutness and stubbornness that first opposed him Papal and Royal power met in him being the Chancellor of the Land and keeping so many Bishopricks in Commendam his yearly income is said to equal if not exceed the Revenues of the Crown Being to found two Colledges he seized on
but generally in specie to the great impoverishing of the Land yearly returned the Tenths and First-fruits of the English Clergy to Rome The Pope being now dead in England the King was found his Heir at Common Law as to most of the power and profit the other had usurped But now as the Clergy had changed their Landlord so their Rents were new rated Commissioners being employed in all Counties the Bishop of the Diocess being alwayes one of them to value their yearly Revenue that so their Tenths and First-fruits may be proportioned accordingly These Raters were the chiefest in all Counties under the degrees of Barons These Commissioners were impowred by the King to send for the Scribes and Notaries of all Bishops and Archdeacons to swear the Receivers and Auditors of Incumbents to view their Register-books Fuller Church history Easter-books and all other Writings and to use all other wayes to know the full value of Ecclesiastical preferments with the number and names of persons enjoying the same They were to divide themselves by Three and Three allotting to every number so many Deaneries and to enquire the number and names of all Abbies Monasteries Priories Brotherships Sisterships Fellowships c. Houses Religious and Conventual as well CHARTER-HOVSE as others these Carthusians being specified by name because pretending priviledge of Papal exemption and meeting together to certifie into the Exchequer at the time limited in their Commission the true value of such places or preferments This work took up some years in the effecting thereof Devon-shire and Sommerset were done in the twenty seventh Stafford-shire and many other Counties in the thirty fourth year of King Henry the Eighth and most of Wales not till the Reign of King Edward the Sixth In Ireland the Commissioners found the work so troublesome that they never came into the County of Kerrey the South-West extremity of that Island so that the Clergy thereof are put into their Benefices without any payments But in England all were unpartially rated and Vicaridges valued very high according to their present Revenue by personal Requisites Idem ibid. In that Age he generally was the richest Shepherd that had the greatest Flock where Oblations from the living and Obits for the dead as certainly paid as predial Tithes much advanced their Income In consideration whereof Vicaridges mostly lyinig in Market-Towns and populous Parishes were set very high though soon after those obventions sunk with superstition And the Vicars in vain desired a proportionable abatement in the King's Books which once drawn up were no more to be altered Now Queen Mary did by Act of Parliament exonerate acquit and discharge the Clergy from all First-fruits As for Tenths the same Statute ordered them to be paid to Cardinal Pool who from the same was to pay the Pensions allowed to Monks and Nuns by her Father at the dissolution of Abbeys yet so that when such persons who were but few and aged all named in a Deed indented should decease all such payments of the Clergy reserved Nomine Decimae should cease and be extinct for ever But her Sister Queen Elizabeth Vide Statut. 1 Eliz. cap. 4. succeeding her was exact to have her Dues from the Clergy Sir Christopher Hatton who was Master of this First-fruits Office was much indebted to her for Moneys received All which Arrears her Majesty required so severely and suddenly from him that the grief thereof cost him his life I say this Queen in the first of her Reign resumed First-fruits and Tenths only with this case to Parsonages not exceeding ten Marks and Vicaridges ten pounds that they should be freed from First-fruits In the months of October and November Anno 1538. the Abbeys and Monasteries in England were dissolved Cromwel being made General Visitor employed Richard Layton Thomas Lee William Detre Doctors of the Law Doctor John London Dean of Wallingford with others giving them instruction in eighty six Articles for visiting Monasteries every where by which they were to enquire into the government behaviour and education of the persons of both Sexes to find out all their offences and to this purpose give them encouragements to accuse both their Governors and each other To command them to exhibit their Mortmains Lord Herbert in vit Henr. 8. Evidences and Conveyances of their Lands to produce their Plate and Money and give an Inventory thereof The King also gave forth Injunctions to be observed some tending to the establishing of his Supremacy Some touching the good Government of the Houses As that no Brother go out of the Precinct That there be but one entrance That no Woman frequent the Monks nor any Man the Nuns c. And some for Education As that a Divinity-lecture be every where read and frequented That the Abbot daily expound some part of the Rule of their Order shewing yet that these Ceremonies are but Introductions to Religion which consisteth not in Apparel shaven Heads c. but in purity of mind That none shall profess or wear the Habit till twenty four years of age That no feigned Relicks or Miracles be shewed no Offerings to Images c. Lee and the rest at their return gave that account of their feigned Miracles and Relicks as well as sinful and sluggish life of the Religious Orders as not only Cromwel said their Houses should be thrown down to the foundation but the whole Body of the Kingdom when it was published to them became so scandalized thereat as they resolve if the King ever put it into their hands to give remedy thereunto Yet were not all alike criminal for some Societies behaved themselves so well as their life being not only exempt from notorious faults but their spare times bestowed in writing Books Painting Carving Graving and the like Exercises their Visitors became Intercessors for them But these being not many were at last involved in the common fate Not long after this the King caused all Colledges Chantries and Hospitals to be visited not omitting to take a particular survey of all the Revenues and Dignities Ecclesiastical within his Kingdom which was returned to him in a Book to be kept in the Exchequer Then King Henry sent Fox Bishop of Hereford to the Protestant Princes in Germany assembled at Smalcald to exhort them to an unity in Doctrine wherein he offered his assistance by conference with their Divines Immediately after the ruine of Monasteries in the Month of November followed the condemnation of John Lambert that faithful Servant of Christ On a set day Lambert was brought forth where he had not only the King 's fierce countenance against him but also ten Disputers against him from twelve of the clock till five at night among which were the Archbishop Stephen Gardiner C. Tunstal Bishop of Durham and J. Stokesley Bishop of London Through Winchester's perswasion to gratifie the people the King himself condemned Lambert and commanded Cromwel to read the Sentence He was burned in Smithfield where he suffered
Archbishop of Canterbury to deal privately with him for his subscription But the King remained firm in resolution affirming That he would not drive her headlong to the Devil The Archbishop was violent both by perswasions and entreaties and when with meer importunity he had prevaled the King in subscribing his name said That he would lay all the charge thereof upon the Archbishop before God Then the Professors of the Gospel were in all places relieved and many Prisoners appointed to die were enlarged and preserved Onely Thomas Dobby Fellow of St. John's in Cambridge committed to the Counter in Bred-street and condemned for speaking against the Masse died of a natural death in Prison his speedy death prevented the pardon which the Lord Protector intended to send him The Lord Protector ordered all in Church and State The King in his protection took speedy order for Reformation of Religion and having chosen Wise and Learned Men to be his Commissioners in that behalf divided them into several Diocesses to be visited appointing likewise unto every company one or two Godly Learned Preachers to instruct the people at every Session in the true Doctrine of the Gospel To those Commissioners were delivered thirty six Injunctions and Ecclesiastical Laws which they should enquire of and also command in his Majesties name and behalf all tending to the abolishing of Popish superstition and establishing the Truth of the Gospel Besides which general Injunctions for the estate of the whole Realm there were also certain others particularly appointed for the Bishops onely whereby they were enjoyned to see the other put in Execution besides others which did more particulary confirm them These Injunctions may be seen at large in the first Edition of the Acts and Monuments fol. 684. Fuller Church History p. 372 373. and you may read them in a smoother Abstract in Fuller's Church History Some Homiles were left with the Parish-Priests which the Archbishop had composed not onely for the help of unpreaching Ministers Dr. P. Helyns History of K. Edw. 6. but for the regulating and instructing even of the Learned Preachers Besides the points contained in the said Injunctions the Preachers above mentioned were more particulary instructed to perswade the people from Praying to the Saints from making Prayer for the Dead from Adoring of Images from the use of Beads Ashes and Processions from Mass Diriges Praying in unknown Languages and from other such like things whereunto long custom had brought a Religious observation All which was done to this intent That the people in all places being prepared by little and little might with more ease and less opposition admit the total alteration in the face of the Church which was intended in due time to be introduced While these Commissioners were occupied abroad the King desirng a Reformation appointed a Parliament Novemb. 4. in the first year of his Reign Anno 1547. wherein all Acts made before against the Professors of the Truth were Abrogated In the same Parliament also it was Decreed That the Sacrament should be ministred to all under both kinds Then also were Candles on Candlemas-day forbidden and Ashes on Ash-wednesday according to the Popish custom About the saâ— e time also all Images were taken away in most places of the Kingdom The first who declared his aversness to the King's proceedings was Dr. Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who stomaching his being left out of the list of the Council appeared more Cross to all their doings than others of his Order for which being brought before their Lordships they sent him Prisoner to the Fleet. Albeit Edmond Bonner Bishop of London at first seemed to comply yet at length he bewraied himself by suffring daily to be Sung the Apostles Mass and our Ladies Mass c. in diverse of his Chappels in Pauls cloaking them with the name of the Apostles and our Ladies Communions whereof the Council being informed caused him to reform the abuse Sir Anthony Cook and Sir John Goodsale Knights John Goodsal and Christopher Nevinson Doctors of the Laws and John Madew Doctor of Divinity the King's Commissioners called before them the said Edmond Bonner John Royston Polydor Virgil and many others of the Dignitaries of the said Cathedral to whom the Sermon being done and their Commission openly read they ministred the Oath of the King's Supremacy according to the Statute of thirty one of King Henry the eighth requiring them withal to present such things as needed to be reformed Which done they delivered to Bishop Bonner a Copy of the Injunctions forementioned together with the Homilies set forth by the King's authority received by him with protestation That he would observe them if they were not contrary to the Law of God and the Ordinances of the Church But afterwards he revoked his protestation and humbly submitted himself to his Majesties pleasure Yet for a Terror to others Bishop Bonner was committed to the Fleet. During the short time of his restraint viz. Septemb. 18. the Litany was Sung in the English Tongue in St. Paul's Church between the Quire and the High Altar the Singers kneeling half on the one side and half on the other And the same day the Epistle and Gospel was also read at the High Mass in the English Tongue And in November next following Bishop Bonner being then restored to his former liberty the Image of Christ then called the Rood and all other Images in that Church as also in all the other Churches of London were taken down And in speeding of this work as Bishop Bonner together with the Dean and Chapter did perform their part in the Cathedral of St. Paul so Bellassere Archdeacon of Colchester and Doctor Gilbert Bourn being at that time Archdeacon both of London and Essex were no less diligent in doing the like in all the Churches of their respective Jurisdictions according to the charge imposed upon them by his Majestie 's Visitors The first Translation of the Bible was set forth in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth Anno 1541. with a Grave and Pious preface of Archbishop Cranmer and Authorized by the King's Proclamation Dated May 6. Seconded also with Instructions from the King It was called the Bible of the greater Volume Few Countrey-parishes could go to the cost of them though Bishop Bonner caused six of them to be chained in the Church of St. Pauls in convenient places The second Translation of the Bible was set forth in the Reign of King Edward the Sixth and not onely suffered to be read by particular persons but ordered to be read over yearly in the Congregation as a principal part of Divine Service Two Editions there were thereof one set forth 1549. the other 1541. but neither of them divided into verses The third Translation of the Bible was set forth in the second year of Queen Elizabeth Extant in Sir Tho. Colton Library The last Translation was again reviewed by some of the most Learned Bishops appointed thereunto by the Queen's
that for the Mass I assure you no small study nor Travel hath been spent by all the Learned Clergy therein and to avoyd all contention it is brought even to the use that Christ left it as the Apostles used it as the Holy Fathers delivered it indeed somewhat altered from that to which the Popes of Rome for their lucre had brought it And although saith he you may hear the contrary from some Popish evil men Yet we on our Honour assure you that they deceive abuse you and blow these opinions into your Heads to finish their own purposes But this answer satisfying not they marched with all their forces to the siege of Exeter carrying before them in their march the Pix or Consecrated Host under a Canopy with Crosses Banners Candlesticks Holy-bread and Holy-water c. But the Lord Gray and the Lord Russel with forces conjoyned so strongly charged the Rebels that they beat them out of their works and then forced them with great slaughter to raise their siege After the like success in some following fights the Lord Russel enters that City on August 6. where he was joyfully received by the half-starved Citizens Miles Coverdale gave publick thanks to God for the Victory in the view of Exeter and soon after was made the Bishop thereof Arundel Berry Winslade and Coffin were sent to London and there executed Six Popish Priests were hanged and the Vicar of S. Thomas one of the Grand Incendiaries hanged on the top of his own Steeple apparrelled in his Popish Weeds with his Beads at his Girdle The Norfolk Rebellion brake forth on June 20. and that especially for a grievance about Enclosures The Rebels had gotten one Robert Ket a rich Tanner of Wimondham for their Leader and were grown to a Body of twenty thousand seating themselves at Moushold near Mount Surrey where they carried a face as it were of Justice and Religion for they had one Coniers an idle fellow to be their Chaplain who read solemn Prayers to them Morning and Evening Sermons also they had often And as for Justice they had a bench under a Tree which Tree was called by them and so hath ever since been called the Tree of Reformation where Ket usually sate and with him two Companies of every Hundred whence their Companies had been raised to hear complaints and give judgement They sent certain complaints to the King requiring he would send a Herrald to them to give them satisfaction The King returned this answer that in October following he would call a Parliament wherein their complaints should be heard and their grievances should be redressed requiring them in the mean time to lay down Arms and return to their houses and thereupon granting them a general pardon But this not satisfying the seditious hereupon they first assaulted the City of Norwich took it and made Thomas Cod the Mayor of Norwich attend them as their servant At length He and others of the Gentry detained Prisoners in Ket's Camp were admitted to the Counsels of the Rebels for the better credit thereof Doctor Matthew Parker afterward Archbishop of Canterbury getting up into the Oak of Reformation Preached to the Rebels of their Duty and Obedience where his life was in danger many Arrows being Shot at him Conyers set the Te Deum during the singing whereof the Doctor withdrew and went to his own house William Par Marquess of Northampton with the Lords Sheffield and Wentworth Sir Anthony Denny Sir Ralph Sadler and other persons of Honour is sent to quell this Rebellion But success failed them the Lord Sheffield was barbarously butchered Sir Thomas Cornwallis taken prisoner and the City fired by the Rebels but the clouds melting into tears pittying the Cities calamity quenched the flames and the Marquess quitting the service returned to London Then was John Dudley Earl of Warwick sent to undertake the task and was attended by the Marquess of Northampton Coming to Norwich he easily entred the City and entertained the Rebels with many Sallies with various success but generally the Earl of Warwick came off with the better The Rebels deserted Moushold-hill and came down into Dussing-dale Here their superstition fancied themselves sufficiently fenced by the vertue of an old prophecy Hob Dick and Hick with Clubs and Clouted Shun Sall fill uy Dussindale with blood of slaughtred bodies soon In this place was a bloody battel two thousand of the Rebels were slain in the fight and chase the Residue of them scattered all over the Countrey the Principals of them taken and Executed Robert Ket hanged on Norwich-Castle William his brother on the Top of Wimondham steeple nine of his followers on as many boughs of the Oak where Ket held his Courts On August xxix a solemn thanksgiving was made to God for their deliverance in the City of Norwich and is Annually observed As for the Rebellion at the same time in York-shire it was soon quelled on the Execution of Omler and Dale the chief promoters thereof These things quickned the Lords of the Council to a sharper course against all those whom they suspected not to advance the publick Liturgy Among whom none was more distrusted than Bishop Bonner of London who is commanded to attend the Lords of the Council on Aug. 11. by whom he was told that by his negligence not only many people within his Diocess forgat their duty to God in frequenting the Divine Service than by Law established but divers others despising the same did in secret places often frequent the Popish Mass Therefore he is commanded to Preach against the Rebels at Paul's Cross on Septemb. 1. and there to shew the unlawfulness of taking Arms on pretence of Religion But on the Contrary he spent most part of his Sermon in maintenance of the Cross Carnal and Papistical presence of Christ's body and bloud in the Sacrament of the Eucharist complaints whereof being made a Commission is Issued out to the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Rochester and Peterborough Sir Thomas Smith and Doctor May before whom he was convented at Lambeth where after many shifts on his part and much patience on theirs he is taken pro confesso and in the beginning of October deprived of his Bishoprick To whom succeeded Doctor Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rochester There passed an Act of Parliament in the following Session which took beginning Novemb. 4. for taking down of such Images as were still remaining in the Churches as also for the bringing in of all Antiphonaries Missals Breviaries Offices Horaries Primars and Processionals with other Books of false and superstitious worship The Tenour of which Act signified to the Subject by the King's Proclamations and seconded by the Missives of Archbishop Cranmer to the Suffragan Bishops requiring them to see it diligently put in execution Also the Bishops were required to punish all those that refused to give to the charge of bread and wine for the Communion Now was there no further opposition against the Liturgy by the Romish
all or most part to themselves The King grew Sick and weak in Bâ—â—y in which Estate Duke Dudley so prevailed upon him that he consented to a transposition of the Crown from his natural Sisters to the Children of the Dutchess of Suffolk His dying Prayer as is was taken from his mouth was in these words following Lord God deliver me out of the miseries of this wretched and sinful life and take me among thy chosen Howbeit not my will but thy will be done Lord I commit my Spirit to Thee O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with Thee yet for thy chosens sake send me life and health that I may truly serve Thee O my Lord God bless thy people and save thine inheritance O Lord God save thy chosen people of England O my Loâ—d God defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my people may truly praise thy Name for Jesus Christ his sake Thus endeth the Reign of that good King Edward the Sixth sufficiently remarkable for the progress of Reformation but so distracted unto Sides and Factions that in the end the King himself became a prey to the strongest party which saith Dr. Heylin could not otherwise be safe but in his destruction contrived on purpose as it was generally supposed to smooth the way to the advancement of the Lady Jane Gray newly married to Guilford Dudley fourth Son to Duke Dudley to the Royal Throne King Edward being dead the Princess Mary hearing of her Brothers death and knowing her own right writeth to the Lords of the Council â—nd challengeth them for their doing making her claim to the Crown To whom the Council writeth again as to a Subject requiring her to rest so contented The Lady Jane was on the same day that these Letters were dispatched brought by Water to the Tower attended by a Noble Train of both Sexes from Durham-house in the Strand where she had been entertained as part of Dudley's Family ever since her Marriage When she came into the presence of the two Dukes her Father and Father in Law it was signified to Her by the Duke of Northumberland that the King was dead and that he had declared her for his next Successor in the Crown After a pithy speech the poor Lady found her self in a great perplexity But being wearied at last with their importunities and overcome by the entreaties of her Husband whom she dearly loved she submitted unto that necessity which she could not vanquish Hereupon the two Dukes with all the rest of the Lords of the Council swore Allegiance to heâ— And on the same day about five a Clock in the afternoon they solemnly caused her to be Proclaimed Queen of England France and Ireland c. in many of the principal Streets of London and after by degrees in most of the chief Cities Towns and places of greatest concourse In which Proclamation it was signified That by the Letters Patents of the late King Edward the Lady Jane Gray eldest Daughter to the Dutchess of Suffolk had been declared to be his true and lawful Successor to the Crown of England the same to be enjoyed after her decease by the heirs of her Body c. Which Proclamation though it was published in the City with all due solemnities and that the concourse of the people was great yet their acclamations were few The next day the Lords were advertised that many persons of quality were drawn together at Kenning-hall Castle in Norfolk to offer their service and assistance to the Princess Mary as the Earl of Bath Sir Thomas Wharton Son of the Lord Wharton Sir John Mordant Son of the Lord Mordant Sir William Drury Sir John Shelton Sir Henry Beddingfield Sir Henry Jerningham Sir John Sulierd Mr. Richard Higham of Lincolns-Inne It was advertised also that the Earl of Sussex and his Son were coming towards her with their Forces Therefore they perswade Duke Dudley to take the conduct of some Forces that might scatter those small companies before they grew unto an Head Swelled with vain-glory he suffered himself to be entreated to an action of such fame and merit as that which they presented to him So the Duke with the Marquess of Northampton the Lord Gray and divers others of note on July 14. 1553. set forward with eighth thousand Foot and two thousand Horse The Duke's March was slow In the mean time Edward Hastings the Earl of Huntingdon's Brother having an Army of four thousand Foot committed to him by the Duke of Northumberland left his party and went to the Lady Mary And six great â—hips which lay before Yarmouth to intercept her if she should attempt to fly now at the perswasion of Mr Jerningham came to her aid Upon news hereof the Lords themselves assembled at Baynards Castle first the Earl of Arundel then the Earl of Pembrook fell to Invectives against Northumberland and then all the Lords consenting with them they called for the Lord Mayor and in London Proclaimed the Lady Mary Queen She was also Proclaimed by divers other Lords and Knights in divers other Counties which the Duke being then at Bury hearing of he returneth to Cambridge and there himself Proclaimeth the Lady Mary Queen but the next morning he was arrested by Henry Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel by Order from Queen Mary Together with the Duke his three Sons John Ambrose and Henry the Earl of Huntingdon Sir Andrew Dudley the two Gates Sir Thomas Palmer and Doctor Sands were committed to the Tower and the next day the Marquess of Northampton the Lord Robert Dudley and Sir Robert Corbet Before which time the Duke of Suffolk entring his Daughter the Lady Janes Chamber told her she must now put off her Royal robes which she willingly did Doctor Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London was also sent to the Tower on July 27. Sir Roger Cholmley Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Sir Edward Mountague Chief Justice of the Common Pleas the Duke of Suffolk were sent also to the Tower Sir John Cheek on the morrow after bringing up the Reer But the Duke of Suffolk Father to the Lady Jane was released within three days after The Duke of Northumberland together with John Earl of Warwick his eldest Son and William Marquess of Northampton were brought to their Trial on August 8. before Thomas Duke of Norfolk then sitting as Lord High Steward in Westminster Hall they all confessed the Indictment and received Judgment in the usual form The like Judgement passed on the morrow after on Sir John Gates Sir Henry Gates Sir Andrew Dudley and Sir Thomas Palmer The Duke was on August 22. beheaded and professed himself a Papist at his death whose Recantation the Papists published abroad with great rejoycing with him died also Sir John Gates and Sir Thomas Palmer which Palmer confessed the Faith he learned in the Gospel and lamented that he had not lived more as became the Gospel The Queen had dissolved her Camp at
hoping to be continued the latter labouring to be restored Seeing by the fidelity of the Norfolk and Suffolk Protestant Gentry the Queen was much advantaged for the speedy recovering of her Right they conceived that as she by them had regained the Crown so they under her should enjoy their Consciences The Papists put their Ceremonies in execution presuming on the Queens private practice and publick countenance The Queen on August 18. puts forth a Proclamation declaring her self for the Popish Religion which she resolves to observe for her self wishing her Subjects to follow her example yet that she mindeth not to compel any thereunto until such time as further order by common Assent may be taken therein forbidding all her Subjects to move Seditions at their perils and the Printing of any Book Rhyme Enterlude or Treatise without her special License for the same and likewise to Preach or by way of reading in Churches or other publick or private places except in Schools of the Universities to Interpret or Teach any Scripture or any points of Doctrine concerning Religion Hereupon many of the people in divers places received their old Religion erected again their Altars and used the Mass and Latin Service as was wont to be in King Henrie's time In Cambridge the Vice-chancellor chalenged one Peirson on Octob. 3. for officiating the Communion in his own Parish Church in the English Tongue and on the 26. displaced Doctor Madew Master of Clare-hall for being Married In like manner some of the Popish party in King's Colledge on the 28th of the same moneth officiated the Divine Service in the Latin Tongue At Oxford John Jewel was chosen to pen the first gratulatory Letter to the Queen in the name of the University an Office imposed on him by his Enemies Doctor Tresham a Van-currier before authority repaired the great Bell in Christ-church and named it Mary Harley Bishop of Hereford and Taylor of Lincoln two of the last of King Edward's Bishops were present at the opening of the Parliament Octob. 10. But no sooner was the Mass begun though not then restored by any Law than they left the Church For which the Bishop of Lincoln being first examined and making profession of his Faith prevented the malice of his enemies by a timely Death And Harley upon information of his Marriage was presently excluded from the Parliament-house and not long after from his Bishoprick also Hereupon Bishop Barlow of Wells and Scory of Chichester passed beyond the Seas followed not long after by Bishop Poinet of Winchester On November 3. Archbishop Cranmer was arraigned at the Guild-hall in London with the Lord Guilford Dudley the late Queen Jane his Wife and others all of them being attainted and condemned of Treason After Peter Martyr had quit the Realm his Wive's Body having been buried in the Church of St. Frideswid was afterward by publick order taken out of the Grave and buried in a common dunghill John a Lasco was forced to dissolve his Congregation and He with his Strangers to quit the Countrey The like hast made the French Protestants also At which time many of the English as well Students as others departed also The principal of those were Katherine the last Wife of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk Robert Berty Esq Husband to the Dutchess the Bishops of Winchester and Wells as before was said Sir Richard Morison Sir Anthany Cook and Sir John Cheek Doctor Cox Doctor Sands and Doctor Grindal The News of Queen Maries succeeding her Brother to the Crown of England posted to Rome and was very welcome to Pope Julius the Third because it gave him some assurance of his re-admission into the Power and Jurisdiction of his Predecessors in the Realm of England in pursuance of which hopes it was resolved that Cardinal Pool should be sent Legate into England who being of the Blood-royl and a man of eminent Learning and of exemplary life was looked on as the fittest Instrument to reduce that Kingdom The Parliaments first Act was to take away all Statutes passed by the two last Kings wherein certain Offences had been made High Treason and others brought within the compass of a Pramunire This was done especially for Pool's security that neither He by exercising his authority nor the Clergy by submitting to it might be entangled in the like snares as Cardinal Wolsey and the whole Clergy of his time had before been caught Then an Act was passed for repealing certain Statutes of King Edward thereby they took away all former Statutes for administring the Sacraments in both kinds for establishing the first and second Liturgy c. In a word by this one blow the Queen cut down all that had been done in the Reformation in seven years before And then for want of Canonical Ordination on the one side and under colour of Uncanonical Marriages on the other there was presently such a remove among the Bishops and Clergy as it is not any where to be paralelled in so short a time An Act was passed likewise Entitled An Act against offenders of Preachers c which two Acts were seconded by the Queen with two Proclamations December 5. By one of which it was declared that all Statutes made in the time of the late King Edward which concerned Religion were repealed by Parliament and therefore that the Mass should be said as formerly to begin on the twentieth of that moneth And by the other it was commanded that no person should dare from thenceforth to disturb any Priests in saying Mass or executing any other Divine Office Accordingly the Mass was publickly officiated in all parts of the Kingdom and so continued during the Reign of the Queen without interruption Another Act was passed wherein it was Enacted That the Marriage between King Henry the Eighth and Queen Katherine his first Wife was lawful and to stand with God's Laws and his Holy Word c. That the Decree of Divorce heretofore passed between the said King Henry and the said Queen by Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury should be reputed to be void and null with a Repeal of all such Statutes wherein the Queen had been declared to be Illegitimate There also past another Act in which there was a clause for the invalidating of all such Commissions as had been granted in the time of the late Queen Jane and one in confirming the Attainders of the late Duke of Northumberland Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury c. Together with this Parliament the Queen summoned a Convocation that all matters of Religion might first be debated and concluded in a Synodical way before they were offered to the Parliament In the Writs of which Summons Heylin Hist of Q. Mary she retained the Title of Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England c. the want whereof in those of the present Parliament occasioned dispute among some of the Members Whether they might lawfully proceed or not in such publick business as were to be propounded to them in
no Sacramentary be admitted to Benefice 4. That all Bishops do labour to suppress Heresies especially in the Clergy 5. That they should suppress all unlawfull Books and writings 6. The next Article was against Priests Marriages and that such as would depart from their Wives should be admitted to the same function 7. That for want of Priests one Priest should serve two places 8. That Processions be used 9. That Holy-days and Fasts be frequented 10. That the Ceremonies be used and Confirmation of Children be put in practice In the same moneth of March the Lord Courtney whom the Queen at her first entry delivered out of the Tower and the Lady Elizabeth also the Queen's Sister were both by the suggestion of Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester suspected to have been of Wyat's Conspiracy and for the same were apprehended and sent to the Tower although Wyat at his death cleared them both as unacquainted with the matter Many trains were laid to ensnare the Lady Elizabeth And being on a time asked what she thought of the swords of Christ This is my Body whether she thought it is the true Body of Christ it is said that after some pausing she thus Answered Christ was the Word that spake it Sir Richard Bakers Chron. He took the Bread and brake it And what the Word did make it That I Believe and take it One Elizabeth Crofts about eighteen years old was by practice put into a Wall and therefore called The Spirit in the Wall who with a whistle made for that purpose whistled out many Seditious words against the Queen the Prince of Spain the Mass Confession c. for which she did Penance standing upon a Scaffold at Pauls Cross all the Sermon-time where she made open Confession of her fault Queen Mary altereth her stile leaving out the latter part of her Title which is Supreme Head of the Church of England and Ireland because in this Parliament holden at Westminster in April the Supremacy being given away from the Crown of England to the Pope thereupon this Parcel of the Title was also taken away Then followed a communication between Bishop Ridley and Secretary Bourn Mr. Fecknam and others at the Lieutenants Table in the Tower described at large by Mr. Fox touching the Sacrament On April 10. Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Ridley and Latimer were sent down to Oxford by the Lord Williams of Thame there to dispute with the Divines of both Universities about the presence substance and sacrifice of the Sacrament Of Oxford Dr. Weston prolocutor Dr. Tresham Dr. Cole Dr. Oglethorp Doctor Pie Doctor Harpsfield Mr. Fecknam Of Cambridge Dr. Young Vice-Chancellor Doctor Glyn Dr. Seaton Dr. Watson Dr. Sedgwick Dr. Atkinson The Questions whereon they should Dispute were these 1. Whether the natural body of Christ be really in the Sacrament after the words of Consecration be spoken by the Priest 2. Whither any substance do remain after the words saving the body and blood 3. Whither the mass be a sacrifice propitiatory The order and manner of the disputation against these three worthy Martyrs the disordered usage of the University men the rude tumult of the multitude the fierceness and interruption of the Doctors the full pith and ground of all their Arguments the Censure of the Judges the railing Language of the Prolocutor with his blast of triumph in the latter end is set forth fully by Mr. Fox The disputation being ended on April 20. they were again brought upon the stage and then demanded whether they would persist in their opinion or else recant And affirming that they would persist they were all Three adjudged Hereticks and condemned to the fire but their execution was respited to a longer time May 19. the Lady Elizabeth was brought out of the Tower and committed to the custody of the Lord of Thame who gently entreated her afterwards she was had to Woodstock and there committed to the keeping of Sir Henry Bennefield who dealt hardly with her Prince Philip arriveth at Southampton July 20. 1554. and on the twenty third came to Winchester where the Queen met him and on the twenty fifth day the marriage between them there was openly Solemnized At which time the Emperour's Ambassadour presented to the King a donation of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily which the Emperour his Father had resigned unto him Which presently was signified and the Titles of the King and Queen Proclaimed by sound of Trumpet in this following Style Philip and Mary by the Grace of God King and Queen of England France Naples Jerusalem Ireland Defenders of the Faith Princes of Spain and Sicily Archdukes of Austria Dukes of Milan Burgundy and Brabant Counts of Auspurg Flanders and Tirrol c. At the Proclaiming of which Style which was performed in French Latine and English the King and Queen shewed themselves hand in hand with two Swords born before them for the greater State or in regard of their distinct capacity in the Publick Government From Winchester they removed to Basing and so to Windsor where Philip on August the fifth was Installed Knight of the Garter On the eleventh of the same Moneth they made a Magnificent Passage through the Principal Streets of the City of London The King prevailed with the Queen for discharge of such Prisoners as stood committed in the Tower either for matter of Religion or on the account of Wyat's Rebellion or for engaging in the practice of the Duke of Northumberland which was done accordingly among which were the Arcbishop of York ten Knights and many other persons of name and quality He also procured the enlargement of the Lady Elizabeth and of the Earl of Devonshire who travelled through France into Italy and died at Padua Anno 1556. the eleventh and last Earl of Devonshire of that Noble Family of the Courtneys Marriage and Heresie were the crimes of Holgate Archbishop of York for which being deprived during his imprisonment in the Tower Dr. Nicholas Heath succeeded him in the See of York and leaves the Bishoprick of Worcester to Doctor Richard Pates who had been nominated by King Henry VIII Anno 1534. and having spent the intervening twenty years in the Court of Rome returned a true servant to the Pope Goodrick of Ely died April 10. leaving that Bishoprick to Dr. Thomas Thurlby Bishop of Norwich And Dr. John Hopton is made Bishop of Norwich Doctor Gilbert Bourn Heylin's Hist of Q. Mary Archdeacon of London is made Bishop of Wells Harley of Hereford is succeeded by Purefay of S. Asaph Old Bush of Bristol and Bird of Chester the two first Bishops of those Sees were deprived also The first succeeded to by Holiman once a Monk of Reading the last by Coles Master of Baliol Colledge in Oxford Dr. Randolph Bayn who had been Hebrew Reader in Paris in the time of King Francis was Consecrated Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield The Parliament began Novemb. 12. where a way was opened for Cardinal Poole's Reception by preparing a Bill
Lent the Embring weeks and Rogation severely kept not now by vertue of the Statute as in the time of King Edward but as appointed by the Church in her publick Calendar before the Book of Common-Prayer The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper celebrated in a Reverend manner the Table seated in the place of the Altar In the Court the Liturgy was officiated every day both Morning and Evening not onely in the publick Chappel but the private Closet celebrated in the Chappel with Organs and other Musical Instruments and the most excellent voices both of men and children that could be got in all the Kingdom The Gentlemen and Children in their Surplices and the Priests in Copes as oft as they attended the Divine Service at the Altar The Altar furnished with rich Plate two fair gilt Candlesticks with Tapers in them and a Massy Crucifix in midst thereof Which last remained there for some years The antient Ceremonies customably observed by the Knights of the Garter in their Adoration toward the Altar were by this Queen retained as formerly in her Father's time The solemn Sermons Preached upon each Wednesday Friday and Lords-day in the time of Lent Preached by the choycest of the Clergy she devoutly heard attired in black according to the custom of her Predecessors The Bishoprick of Carlile was first profered to Bernard Gilpin Fuller Church History of Britain Rector of Houghton in the North but Mr. Gilpin refused the offer not that he had any disaffection to the Office but because he had so much kinred about Carlile at whom He must either connive in many things not without hurt to himself or else deny them not without offence to them It was afterward given to Dr. John Best as was shewed before As for Miles Coverdale formerly Bishop of Exeter he hever returned to his See but remained a private Minister to the day of his death Such of the Scots as desired a Reformation of Religion taking advantage by the Queen's abscence and want of power in the Queen Regent to suppress their practices had put themselves into a Body Headed by some of the Nobility they take unto themselves the name of the Congregation managing their own Affairs apart from the rest of the Kingdom They petition the Queen Regent and the Lords of the Council that the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper might be administred in both kinds That divine Offices might be celebrated in the vulgar Tongue and that they might have the choice of their own Ministers The chief of the party well backed by the common people put themselves into Perth the news whereof occasioneth Mr. Knox to leave Geneva and joyn himself to the Lords of the Congregation At Perth he Preacheth against Images Idolatry and other Superstitions of the Church of Rome so bitterly that the people in a popular fury deface all the Images in that Church and presently demolish all Religious Houses in that City Those of Couper hearing of it forthwith destroyed all Images and pulled down the Altars in that Church also The like was done after his Preaching at Craile and St. Andrews in those places They burnt down the rich Monastery of Scone and ruined that of Cambuskenneth demolished all the Altars Images and Covents of Religious persons in Sterling Lithgow Glascough Edenburgh which last they possess and put up their own Preachers into all the Pulpits of that City not suffering the Queen Regent to have the use of one Church onely for her own devotions They alse deprive the Queen Regent of all place and power in the publick Government But she gathering Forces recovereth Edenborough and the chief key of all that Kingdom garisoned by the French In their extremity Maitland and Melvin being dispatched to the Court of England imploring aid from Queen Elizabeth And an Army is sent into Scotland of six thousand Foot and three thousand Horse commanded by the Lord Gray Some Ships were also sent to block up the haven and hinder all Relief which might come by Sea to the Town of Leith At length after divers Articles signed and confirmed for both Kingdoms the French take their leave of Scotland and the English Army was disbanded at Berwick As the Congregation was by the Queen put upon a present confidence of going vigorously on in their Reformation so it concern'd them to proceed so carefully in pursuance of it as might comply with the dependance which they had upon her First Therefore they bound themselves by their subscription to embrace the Liturgy with all the Rites of the Church of England which for a time remained the onely form of Worship for the Kirk of Scotland In the next place They cause a Parliament to be called in the moneth of August for the Boroughs there appeared the accustomed number but of the Lords Spiritual no more than six Bishops of thirteen with thirteen Abbots and Priors and the Temporal Lords to the number of ten Earls and as many Barons Three Acts were passed to the advantage of the Reformation The first was for the abolishing the Pope's Jurisdiction and Authority within the Realm The second for annulling all Statutes made in former times for maintenance of Idolatry and Superstition The third for the punishing the Sayers and Hearers of the Mass To this Parliament also some of the Ministers presented a Confession of the Faith and Doctrine to be believed and professed by the Protestants of the Kirk of Scotland which being put to the Vote was opposed but by three of the Temporal Lords The Popish Prelates were silent in it which being observed by the Earl Marshal he broke out into these words Seeing saith He that my Lords the Bishops who by their Learning can and for the zeal they should have to the Truth ought as I suppose to gainsay any thing repugnant to it say nothing against the Confession we have heard I cannot think but that it is the very Truth of God and that the contrary of it is false Doctrine The Queen was now as active in advancing the Reformed Religion in Ireland as she had been in either of the other Kingdoms A Parliament is therefore held on January 12. where past an Act restoring to the Crown the ancient Jurisdiction over all Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Persons By which Statute were established both the Oath of Supremacy and the High Commission as before in England There past also an Act for the Uniformity of Common-Prayer Heylin's Hist of Q. Elizab. c. with a permission for saying the same in Latin in those Churches where the Minister had not the knowledge of the English Tongue The people by that Statute are required under several penalties to frequent their Churches and to be frequent at the reading the English Liturgy which they understand as little as the Mass by which means the Irish were kept in ignorance as to the Doctrines and Devotions of the Church of England There also past another Statute for restoring to the Crown the first-fruits and twenty
parts of all Ecclesiastical promotions within that Realm as also of all Impropriate Parsonages The like Act passed for restoring all such Lands belonging to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem An Act was also past for the recognition of the Queen 's just Title to the Crown as before in England The Queen left the prosecution of the work to her Bishops and Clergy But they so dissipated the Revenues of their several Bishopricks by long Leases Fee-farmes and plain Alienations that to some of their Sees they left no more than a Rent of five Marks per annum to others a bare yearly Rent of forty shillings to the great dishonour of God disservice of the Church and the perpetual Ignominy of themselves Now Return we again to England where we find Reverend Jewel newly consecrated Bishop of Salisbury to have Preached a Sermon at Paul's Cross on 1 Cor. 11.23 That which I delivered to you I received of the Lord c. on March 30. 1560. There he published that memorable Challenge which so much exercised the Pens and Studies of the Romish Clergy Bishop Jewel's Chalenge If any Learned man of our Adversaries or all the Learned men that be alive be able to bring any one sufficient sentence out of any old Catholick Doctor or Father or General Council or Holy Scripture or any one Example in the Primitive Church whereby it may be clearly and plainly proved during the first six hundred years I. That there was at that time any private Mass in the World II. Or that there was then any Communion ministred unto the people in one kind III. Or that the People had their Common-Prayer in a strange Tongue IV. Or that the Bishop of Rome was then called the Head of the Vniversal Church V. Or that the People were then taught to believe that Christ's Body is really Substantially Carnally Corporally or Naturally in the Sacrament VI. Or that his Body is or may be in a thousand places or more at one time VII Or that the Priest did then hold up the Sacrament over his head VIII Or that the People did then fall down and Worship it with godly honour IX Or that the Sacrament was then and now ought to be hanged up under a Canopy X. Or that in the Sacrament after the words of Consecration there remained onely the accidents and shews without the substance of Bread and Wine XI Or that then the Priests divided the Sacrament into three parts and afterwards received Himself all alone XII Or that whosoever had said the Sacrament is a Figure a Pledge a Token or a Remembrance of Christ's Body had therefore been judged for an Heretick XIII Or that it was lawful then to have thirty twenty c. Masses said in one day XIV Or that Images were then set up in the Churches to the intent the people should worship them XV. Or that the Lay-people were then forbid to read the Word of God in their own Tongue XVI Or that it was then lawful for the Priest to pronounce the words of Consecration closely or in private to Himself XVII Or that the Priest had then authority to offer up Christ unto his Father XVIII Or to receive the Sacrament for another as they do XIX Or to apply the vertue of Christ's death to any man by the means of the Mass XX. Or that it was then thought a sound Doctrine to teach the People that Mass Ex opere operato is able to remove any part of our sin XXI Or that any Christian man called the Sacrament of the Lord his God XXII Or that the People were then taught to believe that the Body of Christ remaineth in the Sacrament as long as the Accidents of Bread and Wine remain there without corruption XXIII Or that a Mouse or any other Worm or Beast may eat the Body of Christ. XXIV Or that when Christ said Hoc est corpus meum the word Hoc pointed not the Bread but Individuum Vagum as some of them say XXV Or that the Accidents Formes or Shews of Bread and Wine be the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood and not rather the very Bread and Wine it self XXVI Or that the Sacrament is a Token or sign of the Body of Christ that lieth underneath it XXVII Or that Ignorance is the Mother and Cause of true devotion The Conclusion is That then I shall be content to yield and subscribe This Chalenge being published in so great an Auditory startled the English Papists both at home and abroad The business was first agitated by the-exchange of friendly Letters betwixt Bishop Jewel and Dr. Henry Cole the late Dean of St. Pauls more violently followed in a Book of Rastals followed therein by Dorman and Marshal Dorman was well answered and foiled by Nowel and the other by Calfhil But the main encounter was between the Chalenger himself and Dr. John Harding who had the better of the day will easily appear to any that consults their Writings But these Discourses came not out till some years after Pope Paul the Fourth dying Pope Pius the Fourth succeedeth him who being moved to Excommunicate Queen Elizabeth by the Count of Feria takes a more moderate course by sending Vincent Parpalia Abbot of St. Saviour's with courteous Letters unto her Parpalia was instructed to offer in the Name of the Pope That the English Liturgy should be confirmed the use of the Communion in both kinds allowed of And that all sentences passed in the Court of Rome against her Mother should be rescinded upon condition she would own the Pope's Primacy and cordially unite her self to the Catholick Church yea some thousands of Crowns but all in vain were promised to the effecters thereof But for all this the Abbot came no nearer than Bruxels with his Bulls and Faculties not being suffered to set Foot on English ground Now another Enemy quarrels at the Rites and Extrinsecals of the Church Those that for Religion fled to Frankford in Queen Marie's days after her death hastened into England followed not long after by the Brethren of the Separation which retired from thence unto Geneva Some Friends they had about the Queen and Calvin make 's use of all his power and credit both with the Queen and Cecil as appears by his Letters unto both to advance their ends And he was seconded therein by Peter Martyr But the Queen resolved to keep up the Church in such outward splendor as might make it every way considerable in the eye of the World when therefore they saw the Liturgy imposed by Act of Parliament and so many Episcopal Sees supplied with able Pastors they began to revive the quarrels raised in King Edward's time about Caps and Surplices c. saith Dr. Heylin And herein they were seconded as before in King Edward's time by the same Peter Martyr as appears by his Letters to a nameless friend bearing date at Zurich November 5. 1560. to which he added his dislike in another of his Letters touching the
Cap the Episcopal Habit the Churche's Patrimony the manner of proceeding to be held against Papists the Perambulation used in the Rogation week c. in which his judgement was desired But these helps being too far off another project was set on foot Gryndal the new Bishop of London was known to have a great respect to Calvin the business therefore is so ordered that by Calvin's Letters to Gryndal and the friends they had about the Queen way should be given to such of the French Nation as had repaired hither to enjoy the freedom of their own Religion to have a Church unto themselves and in that Church not onely to erect the Genevian Discipline but to set up a Form of Prayer saith Dr. Heylin which should hold no conformity with the English Liturgy This was effected And now there is another Church in London as different from the Church of England in Government and Forms of worship as that of John Alasco was in the Augustine Friars Upon the news of which success divers both French and Dutch came into England planted themselves in the Sea-Towns and openly professed the Reformed Religion But some of them proved to be Anabaptists and others infected with corrupt Opinions of as ill a nature which being made known to the Queen she commands them all by Proclamation to depart the Kingdom whether they were Aliens or natural-born English within twenty days upon pain of imprisonment and loss of all their goods yet notwithstanding many of them lurked in England without fear of discovery especially after the erecting of so many French and Dutch Churches in the Maritime parts The French and Dutch Churches in London were infected with their frenzies and such disputes were among them on that account that Peter Martyr interposed his Authority with them to the composing of those differences which had grown among them for which see his Letter bearing date at Zurich on February 15. next following after the date of the said Proclamation which seemeth to have been about September 16. and superscribed Vnto the Church of Strangers in the City of London By another Proclamation she labours to restrain a sacrilegious kind of people which under pretence of abolishing Superstition demolished antient Tombâ—s razed the Epitaphs and Coat-armors of most Noble Familes and other Monuments of venerable Antiquity took the Bells out of Churches and pluckt off the Lead from the Church-roofs The Abbey of Westminster most renouned for the Inauguration of the Kings of England their Sepulture and the keeping of the Regal Ensignes she converted to a Collegiat Church and there she instituted a Dean twelve Prebendaries a School-master an Usher forty Scholars called the Queen's Scholars whereof six or more are preferred every year to the Vniversities Petit Canons and others of the Quire to the number of thirty ten Officers belonging to the Church and as many Servants belonging to the Colledge-diet and twelve Almes-men besides many Officers Stewards and Collectors for keeping Courts and bringing in of their Revenue The principal of which called the High Steward of Westminster hath ever since been one of the prime Nobility The Dean intrusted with keeping the Regalia honoured with a place of necessary service at all Coronations and a Commissioner for the peace within the City of Westminster and the liberties of it by Act of Parliament The S holars annually preferred by election either to Christ-church in Oxford or Trinity Colledge in Cambridge Since this new Foundation of it it hath given breeding and preferment to four Archbishops two Lord Keepers of the Great Seal of England twenty two Bishops and thirteen Deans of Cathedral-churches besides Archdeacons Prebendaries and other Dignitaries in the Church to a proportionable number The death of Francis the second the young King of France who had married Mary Queen of Scots encouraged the Scots to proceed boldly with their Reformation The Duke of Guise laboured with the Pope to fulminate his Excommunications against Queen Elizabeth as one that had renounced his authority apostatized from the Catholick Religion and utterly exterminated the profession of it out of her Dominions But the Duke sped no better in his negotiation than the Count of Feria did before About this time one Geoffrys was committed Prisoner to the Marshalsey in Southwark and More to the house of Mad-men commonly called Bethlem without Bishop's-gâ—â— in London More professed himself to be Christ Geoffrys believed him to be such and reported him so Having remained a whole year in prison without shewing any sign of their repentance Geoffrys was whipt on April 10. 1561. from the said Marshalsey to Bethlem with a paper bound about his head which signified That this was William Geoffrys a most blasphemous Heretick who denied Christ to be in Heaven At Bethlem he was whipt again in the presence of More till the lash had extorted from him a confession of his damnable error After which More was stript and whipt in the open Streets till he had made the like acknowledgment confessing Christ to be in Heaven and Himself to be a vile sinful man Which being done they were again remitted to their several prisons for their further cure On June the fourth a lamentable fire about four a Clock in the afternoon first shewed it self near the top of the Steeple of St. Paul's Church in London and from thence burnt down the Spire to the Stone-work and Bells and raged so terribly that within the space of four hours the Timber and Lead of the whole Church and whatsoever else was combustible in it was miserably consumed to the great terror of all Beholders Which Church said to be the largest in all the Christian World for all dimensions contains in length seven hundred and twenty foot in breadth one hundred and thirty foot and in height from the pavement to the top of the roof one hundred and fifty foot The Steeple from the ground to the Cross or Weather-cock contained in height five hundred and twenty foot of which the square Tower onely amounted to two hundred and sixty the Pyramide or Spire to as many more which Spire being raised of massy Timber and covered over with sheets of Lead as it was the more apt to be enflamed so was the mischief more incapable of a present remedy The Queen hereupon directed her Letters to the Lord Mayor and City of London to take care therein In obedience to whose Royal Pleasure the Citizens granted a Benevolence and three Fifteens to be speedily paid besides the great bounty of particular persons c. The Queen also sent in a thousand Marks in ready money and Warrants for one thousand load of Timber to be served out of Her Majesties Woods The Clergy of the Province of Canterbury contributing to this work the fortieth part of their Benefices which stood charged with first-fruits and the thirtieth part of those which had paid the same The Clergy of the Diocess of London bestowed the thirtieth part of such of their livings as were
the holy Sacraments and partly for the Apparel of all Persons Ecclesiastical by vertue of the Queen's Majestie 's Letters Commanding the same January fifteenth c. In this year 1564. died the Emperour Ferdinand and Mr. John Calvin What Peter Lombard was esteemed to be in the Schools at Rome the same was Calvin reckoned to be in all those Churches which were Reformed according to the Zuinglian Doctrine in the point of the Sacrament Heylin's Hist of Q. Elizab. Yet the Royal and Prelatical Divines conceived otherwise of him saith Dr. Heylin and the learned Adrian Seravia though by birth a Dutchman Yet being once preferred in the Church of England could not endure to be called Calvinian About the middle of February the Lord Darly came to the Court of Scotland who being not fully twenty years old of lovely person sweet behaviour and a most ingenuous disposition exceedingly prevailed in short time on the Queen's affections About the middle of July the Marriage-Rites were celebrated in the Royal Chappel by the Dean of Restalrig and the next day the Queen having made him before Earl of Rosse and Duke of Rothsay the new Duke was proclaimed King by sound of Trumpet and declared to be associated with the Queen in the publick government The news whereof being brought unto Queen Elizabeth she seemed more offended than indeed she was But never was marriage more calamitous to the parties themselves or more dishonourable to that nation or finally more scandalous to both Religions in nothing fortunate but in the birth of James the sixth born in the Palace of Edenburgh on July 19. Anno 1566. Solemnly Crowned King of the Scots on the same day of the Month Anno 1567. and joyfully received to the Crown of England on March 14. 1602. Of such a temper were the devotions of the Church of England at this time that generally the English Papists L. Coke's charg given at Norwich Assizes 1606. and the Ambassadours of Forreign Princes still resorted to them For the first ten years of Her Majestie 's Reign the Papists in general came to our Churches In the beginning of the eleventh year of her Reign Cornwallis Beddingfield and Selyard were the first Recusants Now we are come to the setling the Episcopal Government by as good Authority as could be given to it by the Lawes of the Land By a Statute made in the last Parliament for keeping Her Majestie 's Subjects in their due obedience a power was given unto the Bishops to tender and receive the Oath of Supremacy of all manner of persons residing and dwelling in their several Diocesses Bonner was then Prisoner in the Marshalsey which being within the Borough of Southwark brought him within the Jurisdiction of Horn Bishop of Winchester by whose Chancellor the Oath was tendred to him On the refusal of which Oath he iâ— Indicted at the King's Bench upon the Stature to which he appeared in some Term in the year foregoing and desires that Council be assigned to plead his cause The Court assigns him Christopher Wray afterwards Chief-justice of the Common-Pleas that famous Lawyer Edmond Ploydon and one Mr. Lovelace But the business came under consideration in the following Parliament which began on September thirty where the Legality of Horn's Episcopacy which was objected against in the behalf of Bonner was cleered by Statute by which the Parliament did only publish notifie and declare the Legal Authority of the English Bishops whose call and Consecration to their place was formerly performed In the year 1566. Queen Elizabeth came to Oxford Honourably attended with Robert Dudley lately made Earl of Leicester and Chancellor of Oxford the Marquess of Northampton the Lord Burleigh and the Spanish Ambassadour She was lodged in Christ-Church where many Comedies were acted before Her Many Acts were kept before Her in Philosophy and one most eminent in Divinity She concluded all with a Latine Oration which you may read in Fuller's Church History as it was taken by Dr. Laurence Humfrey and by him Printed in the Life of Bishop Jewel Having stayed seven dayes she took Her leave of the University Anno 1567. Another Generation of Active Non-conformists succeeded the former Of these Coleman Button Benson and Halingham were the chief inveighing against the established Church-discipline endeavouring to conform the English Church in all things to that of Geneva To these three more may be added viz. William White Thomas Rowland Robert Hawkins all Beneficed within the Diocese of London This year these three were cited to appear before Edmond Grindal Bishop of London one who was not very forward to press Conformity The Bishop asked them this question Have we not a godly Prince speak is she evil To which they made their several answers in manner following William White What a question is that the fruits do shew Thomas Rowland No but the servants of God are persecuted under Her Robert Hawkins Why this question the Prophet answereth in the Psalms How can they have understanding that work iniquity spoiling my people and that extol vanity The Queen proceeded severely against some of them commanding them to be put in prison though still their party daily encreased And now to strengthen the Romish party two most Active fugitive Papists Thomas Harding and Nicholas Saunders return into England Very earnest they were in advancing the Catholick Cause and perverted very many to their own erroneous opinions A moneth or two after the Prince of Scotland's baptizing the King her Husband in the one and twentieth year of his age was in the dead time of the night by bloody barbarous hands was strangled in his bed and thrown forth into an Orchyard the house being blown up with Gun-powder The Queen afterwards marrieth Earl Bothwel but he is forced to fly out of Scotland And the Queen is thrust in prison at Loch-levin But what should be done with Her the Conspirators could not agree among themselves At length they extort from her a resignation of her Kingdom to her Son who was scarce thirteen moneths old But she being ill-used at home by her own Subjects made an escape into England and landed at Wirkington in Comberland and the same day wrote a letter in French to Queen Elizabeth The Countess of Lenox complaineth against her to Queen Elizabeth 〈…〉 â—list Cent. 〈◊〉 and besought her that she might be brought to her trial for the murther of her Son The Queen of Scots wrote a letter to the Pope to manifest her devotion to the See of Rome written from Castle Boulton Novemb. 30. 1568. Then Thomas Piercy Earl of Northumberland and Charles Nevil Earl of Westmorland brake out into open Rebellion against the Queen Their first valour was to fight against the English Bible and Service-book in Durham tearing them to pieces They set up Mass in most places where they came Richard Norton an aged Gentleman carrying the Cross before them and others bearing in their banners the five wounds of Christ or a Chalice
according to their different devices But the Earl of Sussex advancing out of the South with an Army to oppose them they fled Northwards and mouldered away to nothing Northumberland fled into Scotland lurked there awhile was betrayed to Earl Murrey sent back into England and beheaded at York Westmorland fled into Flanders where he long lived very poor on a small pension Many were executed by Sir Seorge Bowes Knight Marshal in every Market-town betwixt New-castle and Witherby Leonard Dacres the next year laboured to raise a New Rebellion but by the valour and vigilancy of the Lord Hunsdon his deâ—â—â— was seasonably defeated Commissioners were appointed by Queen Elizabeth to take cognizance of the cause of the Queen of Scots Murrey cometh to York being the City appointed for that purpose and with him seven of his Inwardest friends as Delegates for the infant-Infant-King and for the Queen of Scots Delegates also appeared After Lidington's admonition to the Scots and the Scots Protestation the Delegates for the Queen delivered a Declaration in Writing Some few dayes after Murrey the Regent and the Delegates for the Infant-King gave in their Answer To this the Queen of Scots Delegates renewing again their former Protestation opposed their Replication Murrey refuseth to yield reasons for deposing the Queen Then were the English Commissioners Revoked and their Authority abrogated to the great rejoycing of the Duke of Norfolk who had ever favoured the Queen of Scots Title to the Succession to the Crown of England New Commissioners were appointed to hear and examine the matter but the matter cometh to nothing Murrey propoundeth to Norfolk a Marriage with the Queen of Scots yet spreadeth rumours against her The Queen of Scots was committed to the Earl of Shrewsbury Camden's Hist of Q. Elizab. Queen Elizabeth relieveth the Protestants in France Edicts being published there whereby the exercise of the Reformed Religion was utterly forbidden the Professors thereof removed from Publick Offices and the Ministers of the word commanded to depart the Realm within a prefixed time She also gratiously received the Netherlanders of whom a great multitude had withdrawn themselves into England as into a Sanctuary from the cruelty of the Duke of Alva John Story Doctor of the Lawes a great persecutor in Queen Mary's dayes being allured by a wile into a Ship which was reported to have brought over English Merchandises and Heretical Books the Master of the Ship presently set Sail and brought him into England where afterwards he was executed as a Traytor to his Countrey at Tyburn Then were the English Merchants in the Netherlands and Spain drawn into the Inquisition and condemned to the Galleys and their goods confiscate The old store of Papists in England began now much to diminish prisons consumed many Age more of their Priests and they had no place in England whence to recruit themselves Hereupon they resolved to erect Colledges beyond the Seas for English youth to have their education therein This project begun Anno 1569. was so effectually prosecuted that within the compass of fifty years nine Colledges were by them founded and furnished with Students and they with maintenance Doway-colledge in Flanders was founded 1569. by Philip the second King of Spain all the Recusants in Eâ—gland were Benefactors to it The first Recâ—â—r was William Allen afterwards Cardinal He died Anno 1594. The second Thomas Worthington Rector Anno 1609. The third Matthew Kellison Rector 1624. Whereas the government of all other English Colledges belongs to Jesuites this onely is ruled by Secular Priests The second Colledge was at Rome founded Anno 1579. Pope Gregory the thirteenth exhibited maintenance first to six then to fourteen at last to threescore Scholars therein to the yearly value of four thousand Crowns The Welch Hospital in Rome founded and endowed many hundred years since by Cadwallader King of Wales for Welch Pilgrims with the Rich Lands thereof were conferred by the said Pope on this Colledge Now whereas Anno 1576. there were but thirty old Priests remaining in this Realm these two Colledges alone within two years sent above three hundred Priests into England The first Rector was Dr. Maurice The second Ferdinando a Neapolitan Jesuite The third Robert Parsons The fourth Thomas Fitz-herbert 1623. The third Colledge was founded by Philip the second King of Spain at Valladolit in old Castile Donna Luysa de Caravaial a rich Widow Lady in Spain gave all her estate being very great to this Colledge and came over into England where she died Father Walpool by pretending to have gained Mr. Pickering Wotton Son and Heir to the Lord Wotton to the Romish Church got above five hundred pounds to this Colledge Sir Francis Inglefield Privy Counsellor to Queen Mary forsaking his fair estate in Berk-shire in the first year of Queen Elizabeth was a bountiful Benefactor to this Colledge The fourth Colledge was of Sivil founded by Philip the second King of Spain Anno 1593. The fifth was at S. Omers in Artois founded 1596. by Philip the second who gave them a good Annuity for whose soul they say every day a Mass and every year an Obitum Their Rector generally is a Fleming though this Colledge be of English only The sixth Colledge is at Madrid in new Castile founded 1606. Joseph Creswel the Jesuite with money of the two Colledges of Valladolit and Sivil bought an House here and built a Colledge thereon The seventh a Colledge of Lovain in Brabant founded 1606. by Philip the third King of Spain who gave a Castle with a Pension to the English Jesuits to build them a Colledge therewith The eighth Colledge was at Liege in Lukeland founded 1616. The Archbishop of Collen being at this time also Bishop of Liege gave them a Pension to live on and leave to build a fair Colledge here Many of the English Nobility and Gentry under pretence of passing to the Spaw to recover their healths dropped here much of their Gold by the way The ninth Colledge was of Gaunt in Flanders founded 1624. by Philip the Fourth who gave them a Pension The Colledge of St. Omers generally is for Boyes to be taught in Grammar Rome for Youths studying the Arts All the rest for Men Novices or professed Jesuits save that Doway is for any of what age or parts soever It is incredible what a mass of money was yearly made over out of England for the maintenance of these Colledges having here their Provincials Sub-provincials Assistants Agents Coadjutors Familiars c. who collected vast sums for them The solemn Oath which each Student arrived at man's estate ceremoniously sweareth when admitted into one of these Colledges is as followeth I A. B. one bred in this English Colledge Continuation of Sanders de Schismat Anglicano p. 116. considering how great benefits God hath bestowed upon me but then especially when he brought me out of my own Countrey so much infected with Heresie and made me a member of the Catholick Church as also desiring
Rushton an ungrateful wretch who afterwards railed on the Queen in Print who gave him his life In the year 1584. Two conferences were kept at Lambeth about the Discipline and Ceremonies of the Church For the same were the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Cooper Bishop of Winchester Unconforming Ministers against it The Lords of the Privy Council and some other Honorable persons Auditors thereof This conference effected nothing on the Disputants as to the altering their Opinions Some of the Lords afterwards secretly acted against the Archbishop in favour of the other party The Archbishop now take's another course enjoyning all admitted to the Ecclesiastical Orders and Benefices the subscription of the following Articles I. That the Queen had supreme Authority over all persons born within her Dominions of what condition soever they were And that no other Prince Prelate or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Civil or Ecclesiastical within her Realms or Dominions II. That the Book of Common-Prayer and the Ordination of Bishops Priests and Deacons containeth nothing contrary to the Word of God but may lawfully be used and that they will use that and none other III. That the Articles of Religion agreed in the Synod holden at London Anno 1562. and published by the Queens Authority they did allow of and did believe them to be consonant to the word of God Now came forth the Rhemish Translation of the New Testament every where bespeckled with hard words which transcend common capacities taxed by our Divines as full of abominable errors Secretary Walsingham soliciteth Mr. Thomas Cartwright to undertake to refute this Rhemish Translation and sent him an hundred pounds out of his own purse the better to enable him for the work Walsingham's Letters to Cartwright were seconded by another from the Doctors and Heads of Houses and Dr. Fulk among the rest at Cambridge besides the importunity of the Ministers of London and Suffolk to the same purpose Cartwright prepares for the work But Archbishop Whitgift having notice thereof prohibiteth his further proceeding therein Cartwright hereupon desisted But some years after encouraged by an honourable Lord he resumed the work but prevented by death he perfected no further than the fifteenth Chapter of the Revelation Many years lay this worthy work neglected and the Copy thereof Mouse-eaten in part at last came forth though late Anno 1618. a Book to which the Rhemists never durst return the least answer But whilst Cartwrights work lay retarded Dr. William Fulk Master of Pembrook-hall in Cambridge entred the list against the Rhemists and Judiciously and Learnedly performed his undertaking therein This year came forth the Exposition of Mr. Thomas Rogers on the Articles of the Church of England not onely the two extremes Papists and Schismaticks but many Protestants of a middle temper were offended thereat Mr. Rogers his restrictive Comment shut out such from their concurrence with the Church of England which the discreet laxity of the Text admitted thereunto On November 23. 1585. The Parliament was begun and holden at Westminster wherein the Statute against Jesuites and Priests their departing out of England and not returning thither was made with penalty for relieving them A Convocation was kept in St. Pauls Church in London and from hence removed to St. Peter's in Westminster where William Redman D. D. was chosen and presented Prolocutor An Assembly of Ministers met at the same time but the certain place of their meeting not known being Clandestine Arbitrary and changeable as advised by their Conveniences Some Agents for them were all day at the door of the Parliament-house and some part of the night in the Chambers of Parliament-men effectually solliciting their business with them What impression was made by the Agents of the Ministers may appear by an ensuing Letter sent to her Majesty by Archbishop Whitgift wherein he complaineth of several Bills that had the day before the dating of his Letter passed in the House of Commons in favour of the Non-conformists about Marrying at all times in the year concerning Ecclesiastical Courts and Episcopal Visitations which saith he may reach to the overthrow of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and study of the Civil Law But the Queen would alter nothing material to Church-government The Parliament being dissolved the Convocation ended the next day after having effected nothing of moment save that in the ninth Session thereof John Hilton Priest made a solemn Abjuration of his blasphemous Heresies The Non-conformists now missing their mark abated much of their former Activity insomuch as that Mr. Cartwright began to make by the mediation of the Earl of Leicester who now design'd to make him Master of his new-built Hospital in Warwick compliance with the Archbishop though he not over-fond of his friendship warily kept him at distance as appears by the Earl of Leicester's Letter to the Archbishop in Cartwright's behalf and the Archbishop's answer thereto Now the Earl of Leicester went over into the Low Countries commanding a great Army with the Title of General of the Auxiliaries of the Queen of England and the Non-conformists lost their best friend in Court And afterwards the Archbishop being sworn one of the Privy Council it fared worse with them Three Protestant Bishops died this year viz. Richard Curteys Bishop of Chichester Nicholas Robinson Bishop of Bangor and John Scory Bishop of Hereford The same year also died John Fecknam late Abbot of Westminster The Jesuites began now to possess their English Proselites with high Opinions of the Spanish power as the Nation designed by God's providence to work their restitution in England and they sent into England as Pasquier saith one Samier a man of their Society to draw Noblemen and Gentlemen to the Spaniards party and to thrust forward the Queen of Scots to dangerous practices by telling her That if she were refractory neither She nor her Son should Reign and by exciting the Guises her kinsmen to new stirs against the King of Navar and the Prince of Conde that they might not be able to ayd her In the year 1586. a firm League of Amity was concluded and ratified betwixt the Queen of England and James King of Scotland A dangerous conspiracy against the Queen of England begun by John Savage but prosecuted by Anthony Babington and others was discovered The chief discover of this Conspiracy was one Gifford a Gentleman of a good house at Chellington in Stafford-shire not far from Chartley where the Queen of Scots was kept prisoner He was sent by the English fugitives in France under the counterfit name of Luson to put Savage in mind of the vow which he had made to kill Queen Elizabeth and to convey Letters between them and the Queen of Scots Gifford revealed the plot to Secretary Walsingham who sent him down into Stafford-shire to do the work he had undertaken Here Gifford bribing the Brewer of the house where the Queen of Scots lay so contrived the matter with him that by a hole in the
wall in which a loose stone was put he should give in and receive forth Letters the which by Messengers purposely laid by the way came ever to Walsingham's hands who broke them open copied them out and by the cunning of Thomas Philips found out the meaning of the private Cyphers and by the Art of Arthur Gregory sealed them up again so neatly that no man could have imagined them to be opened and ever sent them to the parties to whom the superscription directed them In like manner were the former Letters from the Queen of Scots to Babington intercepted as also other Letters written at the same time to Mendoza the Spanish Ambassador Charles Paget the Lord Paget the Archbishop of Glasco and Francis Englefied Then Ballard was apprehended Babington seeks to escape and is taken The Queen of Scots hath her Closets broken open and her Boxes searched Fourteen of the Conspirators were Arraigned Condemned of High-treason and executed Afterwards in the Star-chamber sentence was pronounced against the Queen of Scots And in a Parliament presently following the Lords petition the Queen that the sentence passed against her may presently be promulged The King of Scots and the King of France sollicit for her life But when this would not prevail L' Aubespine the French Ambassador thinks no way so effectual for saving the Queen of Scots life as to take away the life of Queen Elizabeth The plot was discovered And at length the Sentence against the Queen of Scots was put in execution and she ended her doleful life at Fothringhay Castle She was buried in the Quire of Peterborough and Doctor Wickham Bishop of Lincoln Preached her Funeral-sermon Some twenty yaars after King James caused her Corps to be solemnly removed from Peterborough to Westminster where in the South-side of the Chappel of King Henry the Seventh he erected a stately Monument to her Memory The Earl of Leicester having raised great offence is called home again into England by the Queen giveth over his Government and the free Administation of his Government is left to the States Now Conformity was pressed to the height Fuller Church Hist in An. 1587. The power of the High Commission began to extend far and penalties to fall heavy on offenders whereupon the favourers of Non-conformists much opposed it in their Printed Books some questioning the Court as not warranted by Law others taxing their proceedings as exceeding their Commission But the most general exception against the High Commission was this That proceeding Ex Officio mero by way of enquiry against such whom they suspected they tendred unto them an Oath which was conceived unjust that in cases criminal a party should be forced to discover what might be penal to himself The lawfulness of which Oath was learnedly canvassed with arguments on both sides Because many did question the Legality and Authority of the High Commission Archbishop Whitgift so contrived the matter that the most sturdy Non-conformists especially if they had any visible Estates were brought into the Star-chamber the power whereof was above dispute where some of them besides imprisonment had very heavy fines imposed on them And because most of the Queens Council were present at the Censures this took off the odium from the Archbishop This year died Mr. John Fox the Industrious compiler of the Acts and Monuments of the Church and was buried at St. Giles near Cripplegate in London It is said he foretold the destruction of the Invincible so called Spanish Armado in the year 1588. which came so to pass though he survived not to see the performance of his own prediction Camd Brit. in Kent About this time Mr. William Lambert finished his Hospital at Greenwich founded and endowed by him for poor people He was the first Protestant who erected a charitable house of that nature saith Camden But King Edward the Sixth founded Christ-church and St. Thomas Hospital Now the sticklers against the Hierarchy appeared more vigorous though for a time they had concealed themselves The Parliament now sitting at Westminster the House of Commons presented to the Lords a petition complaining how many Parishes especially in the North of England and Wales were destitute of Preachers and no care taken to supply them Sixteen were the particulars whereof the six first were against in sufficient Ministers Of all the particulars the House fell most fiercely on the debate of pluralities and Non-residents The Arch-bishop pleads for Non-residency in divers cases He affirmed whatever was pretended to the contrary that England then flourished with able Ministers more than ever before yea had more than all Christendom besides The Lord Grey rejoyned to this Assertion saying That England had more able Ministers than all the Churches in Christendom was onely to be attributed to God who now opened the hearts of many to see into the truth and that the Schools were better observed The Lord Treasurer seemed to moderate betwixt them Matters flying thus high the Archbishop with the rest of the Clergy Petition the Queen To the Petition were annexed a Catalogue of those inconveniences to the State present State to come Cathedral Churches Universities to her Majesty to Religion in case pluralities were taken away Nothing was effected in relation to this matter but things left in statu quo prius at the dissolution of this Parliament This year died Richard Barnes Bishop of Durham In the year 1588. when there was a Treaty of Peace between England and Spain out cometh their Invincible Navy and Army perfectly appointed for both Elements Land and Water to Sayl and March compleat in all Warlike Equipage but that great Fleet was wonderfully defeated by the English and dissipated by stormy Winds and many of the Spaniards were Barbarously butchered by the Irish For the happy success of this action Queen Elizabeth appointed Prayers and Thanksgivings over all the Churches in England and she with a great Train of the Nobility came into St. Pauls Church where the Banners taken from the Enemy were placed in view and there in most humble manner gave thanks to Almighty God the giver of all Victory About this time many Papists were committed to custody in Wisbych Castle At this time many Libels flew abroad thus named 1. The Epitome 2. The Demonstration of Discipline 3. The Supplication 4. Diotrephes 5. The Minerals 6. Have ye any work for the Cooper 7. More work for the Cooper 8. Martin Senior Mar-prelate 9. Martin Junior Mar-prelate The main drift of these Pamphlets was to defame the English Prelates scoffing at them for their Garb Gate Apparel Vanities of their Youth natural Defects and personal Infirmities It is strange how secretly they were Printed how speedily Dispersed how generally Bought how greedily Read how firmly Believed especially of the Common sort Some precise men of that side thought these jeering pens well employed but these Books were disclaimed by the more descreet and devoutsort of men And how highly the State distasted these Books will
beheld him as an ingenuous man carrying his conscience with the reason thereof in his own breast He was permitted peaceably to possess his Parsonage being none of the meanest though he continued a stiff Non-conformist onely quietly enjoying his own opinion He died an old man at Warkton Anno 1617. Stone 's discovery marred for the future all their formal meetings as Classically or Synodically methodized Then began the foundation of an University in Dublin in Ireland Henry Vsher then Archdeacon of Dublin afterwards Archbishop of Armagh and Unckle to James Vsher late Archbishop thereof took a journey into England and procured the Mortmain from Queen Elizabeth who graciously granted it naming the corporation Collegium Sanctae ac Individuae Trinitatis ex fundatione Reginae Elizibethae juxta Dublin The Lord Burgley is appointed first Chancellor of the University Sir William Fitz-Williams Lord Debuty of Ireland issued out his Letters to all the Counties in Ireland to advance so good a design The Irish Papists were very bountiful thereunto The Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin Sir Warham St. Leger Sir Francis Shane Robert D'eureux Earl of Essex afterwards Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and second Chancellor of this University were Benefactors to it King James confirmed the revenues of this Colledge in perpetuum endowing it with good Lands in the Province of Vlster Adam Loftus Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland was the first Master of the Colledge Mr. Luke Chaloner received and disbursed the moneys had the oversight of the Fabrick which he faithfully procured to be finished The first stone in this foundation was laid March 13. 1591. and in the year 1593. Scholars were first admitted and the first of them James Vsher since Bishop of Armagh that mirrour of Learning and Religion Now began a sad contest betwixt Mr. Richard Hooker Master and Mr. Walter Travers Lecturer of the Temple Hooker was born in Devonshire bred in Oxford Fellow of Corpus Christi Colledge one of a solid Judgment and great Reading A great defender both by Preaching and Writing of the Discipline of the Church of England yet never got nor cared to get any eminent dignity therein Mr. Travers was bred up in Trinity Colledge in Cambridge Travers travelling to Geneva contracted familiarity with Beza and other forreign Divines Then returned He and commenced Batchelor of Divinity in Cambridge and after that went beyond Sea again and at Antwerp was ordained Minister by the Presbytery there where he continued some years and Preached with Mr. Cartwright unto the English Factory of Merchants untill at last he came over into England and for seven years together became Lecturer in the Temple refusing all presentative preferment to decline subscription and lived Domestick Chaplain in the house of the Lord Treasurer Cecil being Tutor for a time to Robert his Son afterwards Earl of Sarisbury Yea now so great grew the credit of Mr. Travers that by the advice of Mr. Andrew Melvin he and Mr. Cartwright were solemnly sent for to be Divinity-professors in the University of St. Andrews This proffer being joyntly refused Travers quietly continued Lecturer in the Temple till Mr. Hooker became the Master thereof Mr. Hooker's voice was low stature little gesture none at all standing still in the Pulpit His stile was long and pithy so that when the copiousness of his stile met not with proportionable capacity in his Auditors it was unjustly censured for tedious and obscure His Sermons were for the most part on Controversies and deep points of School-divinity Mr. Travers his utterance was graceful gesture plausible matter profitable and method plain But these two Preachers acted with different Principles and clashed one against another so that what Mr. Hooker delivered in the Fore-noon Mr. Travers confuted in the After-noon Here Archbishop Whitgift interposed his power and silenced Travers from Preaching in the Temple or any where else Travers Petitions the Lords of the Council his Petition is publickly extant in Print with Master Hoooker's answer thereunto But Mr. Travers notwithstanding his friends at Court was over-born by the Archbishop Adam Loftus Archbishop of Dublin and Chancellor of Ireland invited him over to be Provost of Trinity Colledge in Dublin Embracing the motion he accepted the place and continued some years therein till for fear of their Civil Wars he returned into England and lived here many years after very obscurely In the year 1592. In London more than ten thousand died of the Plague and among them Reverend Mr. Richard Greenham He was one that always bitterly inveighed against Non-residents he ended his days at Christ Church in London Mr. Vdal was indicted and arraigned at Croidon for defaming the Queen her Government in a Book by him written and entitled A Demonstration of the Discipline which Christ hath prescribed in his Word for the Government of his Church in all times and places unto the World's end But the mortal words as they may be termed are in the Preface of the Book written To the supposed Governours of the Church of England Archbishops Bishops c. and are inserted in the Body of his indictment To this Indictment he pleaded Not guilty denying himself to be the Author of the Book Next day he was cast by the Jury but was remanded to the Marshalsey March following he was brought again to the bar before the Judges to whom he had privatelp presented a Petition with all advantage but it found no entertainment insomuch that in this moneth of March he at the Assizes held in Southwark was there condemned to be executed for a Felon Various were mens Censures on these proceedings against him The proof was not pregnant saith Mr. Fuller and it is generally believed that he made onely the Preface out of which his indictment was chiefly framed and not the body of the Book laid to his charge But without any other sickness save heart-broken with sorrow he died peaceably in his bed The Ministers of London flocked to his Funeral and he was decently interred in the Church-yard of St. George in Southwark not far from Bishop Bonner's grave He was Father to Ephraim Vdal a pious and solid Divine but in point of Discipline differing in Opinion from his Father Anno 1593. Henry Barrow Gentleman and John Greemood Clerk were condemned and executed at Tyburn for writing certain Seditious Pamphlets And not long after John Penry a Welch-man was arraigned and condemned of Felony at the King's Bench Bar for being a principal penner and publisher of a Libellous Book called Martin-mar-prelate and executed at St. Thomas Waterings Sir John Haringt addit supply to Bish Godwin p. 134. This year Queen Elizabeth took her last farewel of Oxford where a Divinity-Act was kept for her Next day her Highness made a Latin Oration to the Heads of Houses in which she gave a check to Dr. Rainolds for his Non-conformity The same year died John Piers Archbishop of York highly esteemed by Queen Elizabeth whose Almoner he was many years and
Institution named in express words Heb. 6.2 The Bishop of Carlile Learnedly urged the sâ—me And the Bishop of Durham urged something out of S. Mathew for the Imposition of hands on Children The Conclusion was this for the fuller explanation that we make Confirmation neither a Sacrament nor a Corroboration thereof their Lordship should consider whether it might not without alteration be entitled an Examination with a Confirmation As for Absolution the Archbishop told His Majesty that it is clear from all Superstition as it is used in the Church of England as will appear on the Reading both of the Confession and Absolution following it in the beginning of the Communion-book Here the King perused both liked and approved them The Particular and Personal Absolution in the Visitation of the sick was also Read by the Dean of the Chappel and approved by the King The Conclusion was this That the Bishops should Consult whether unto the Rubrick of the General Absolution these words Remission of sins might not be added for explanation-sake To the point of Private Baptism the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Administration thereof by women and Lay-persons is not allowed in the Practice of the Church c. The King answered the words of the Book cannot but intend a permission of such persons to Baptise The Bishop of Worcester said that the Compilers of the book did not so intend them as appeareth by their contrary practice The Bishop of London said those men intended a permission of private persons to baptise but in case of necessity Here he spake much of the necessity of Baptism The King answered this necessity of Baptism I so understand that it is necessary to be had if lawfully to be had i. e. Ministred by lawful Mâ—nisters by whom alone and no private person in any case it may be administred The result was this To consult whether in the Rubrick of Private baptism â—â—ese words Curate or lawful Minister may not be inserted For the point of Excommunication His Majesty propounded whether in causes of lesser moment the name might not be altered and the same censure retained Secondly whether in place thereof another coertion equivalent thereunto might not be invented Which all sides yielded unto and so was an end of the first dayes conference On Monday January 16. they all met in the same place with all the Deans and Doctors aforementioned Patrick Galloway Minister of Perth in Scotland admitted also to be there and Prince Henry sate on a Stool by his Father After the King had made a pithy speech to the four opposers of conformity He willed them to begin Then Dr. Rainolds said All things disliked or questioned may be reduced to these four heads I. That the Doctrine of the Church might be preserved in purity according to God's word II. That good Pastors might be planted in all Churches to preach the same III. That the Church-government might be sincerely Ministred according to God's word IV. That the book of Common-prayer might be fitted to more encrease of Piety For the first he desired that the book of Articles of Religion concluded on 1562. might be explained where obscure enlarged where defective viz. Art 16. where it is said After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from Grace Those words may be explained with this addition yet neither totally nor finally He propounded also that the nine Assertions concluded on at Lambeth might be inserted into the Book of Articles Some other things also he added The Bishop of London speaks passionately against Dr. Rainolds for which the King reproveth him As for Private Baptism His Majesty said he had already with the Bishops taken order for the same Then came they to Confirmation And after some debate thereon betwixt Dr. Rainolds and the Bishops of London and Winchester his Majesty said he intended not to take confirmation from the Bishops which they had so long enjoyed seeing as great reason that none should confirm as none should Preach without the Bishop's License Dr. Rainolds said It were well if this proposition might be added to the book of Articles The Intention of the Minister is not of the Essence of the Sacrament He urged again that the nine Orthodoxal Assertions concluded at Lambeth may be generally received The King thought it unfit to thrust into the book of Articles every position Negative which would swell the book into too great a volume And as to the nine Assertions his Majesty said he knew not what they were The Bishop of London told the King the occasion of them He answered the better course would be to punish the broachers of false Doctrine than to multiply Articles Then Dr. Rainolds requested that one Uniform Catechism may be made and none other generally received His Majesty thought the Doctor 's request very reasonable yet so that the Catechism may be made in the fewest and plainest affirmative terms that may be And herein said he I would have two Rules to be observed 1. That curious and deep questions be avoided in the fundamenâ—al instruction of a people 2. That there should not be so general a departure from the Papists that every thing should be accounted an errour wherein we agree with them Dr. Rainolds said Great is the profanation of the Sabbath day and contempt of your Majestie 's Proclamation which I earnestly desire may be Reformed This motion found an unanimous consent Then the Doctor desired that the Bible be New Translated c. His Majesty answered that he never yet saw a Bible well-translated in English and he wished some special pains were taken for an Uniform Translation which should be done by the best Learned in both Universities then reviewed by the Bishops presented to the Privy Council lastly ratified by Royal Authority to be read in the Church and none other Dr. Rainolds moved also that unlawful and Seditious Books be suppressed The Lord Cecil that these had done much mischief but especially one called Speculum Tragicum His Majesty said that was a dangerous book indeed Concerning the planting of Learned Ministers in every Parish His Majesty said he had consulted with his Bishops about it whom he found willing and ready herein The Bishop of London moved that there might be a praying Ministry among us saying that men now thought it is the onely duty of Ministers to spend their time in the Pulpit His Majesty well liked his motion His second motion was that until Learned men may be planted in every Congregation Godly Homilies may be read therein The King liked this motion especially where the living is not sufficient to maintain a Learned Preacher Also where were multitudes of Sermons he would have Homilies read divers times The Plaintiffs confessed A Preaching Ministry is best but where it may not be had Godly Prayers and exhortations do much good The Bishop's last motion was that Pulpits may not be made pasquils wherein every discontented person may traduce his Superiors His Majesty approved
silence they seemed to consent Then the King said to Doctor Rainolds and his Associates I expect obedience and humility from you the marks of honest and good men and that you would perswade others abroad by your example Doctor Rainolds answered We here do promise to perform all duties to Bishops as Reverend Fathers and to joyn with them against the common Adversary for the peace of the Church Thus ended the three dayes Conference Doctor Sparks soon after set forth a Treatise of Unity and Uniformity This Conference produced some alterations in the Liturgy Womens baptising formerly frequent hereafter forbidden in the Rubrick of Absolution Remission of sins inserted Confirmation termed also an Examination of Children and some words altered in the Dominical Gospels with a resolution for a new translation of the Bible Henceforward many that wavered before for the future quietly digested the Ceremonies of the Church About this time a Petition called the Millenary Petition for Reformation was solemnly presented to his Majesty in the name of the Ministers of the Church of England desiring Reformation of certain Ceremonies and abuses of the Church Subscribed Your Majesties most humble Subjects the Ministers of the Gospel that desire not a disorderly Innovation but a due and godly Reformation The Episcopal party gave this Petition a lash some with their Pens more with their Tongues The Universities were justly netled thereat Cambridge passed a Grâ—ce in their Congregation That whosoever in their Vniversity should by word or writing oppose the received Doctrine and Discipline of England or any part thereof should be suspended from their former and excluded from all future Degrees Oxford followed making a sharp and strong confutation of the Petition After his Majesty had discountenanced it some of the opposite party maintained That now the property thereof was altered from a Petition to a Libel Soon after died Archbishop Whitgift of the Palsey and was buried at Croidon the Earl of Worcester and Lord Zouch his Pupils attending his Herse and Bishop Babington his Pupil also made his Funeral Sermon Richard Bancroft Bishop of London brought up in Jesus colledge succeeded him in the Archbishoprick Now a Parliament was assembled in which it was enacted That neither the King himself nor his Successors should be capable of any Church-land to be conveyed unto them otherwise than for three lives or twenty one years Thus the King was pleased to bind himself for the liberty of the Church and hereby he eased himself of many troublesome Suitors In the Convocation many Canons were made A Book of Canons was compiled not only being the sum of the late Queens Articles Orders of her Commissioners Canons of 1571. and 1597. which were in use before but also many more were added the whole number amounting unto 141 An explanation was made in one of the Canons of the use of the Cross in Baptism Bishop Rudd of St. Davids opposed the Oath of Simony Anno 1664. the Family of Love presented a tedious Petition to King James wherein by fawning expressions they seek to insinuate themselves into his Majesties good opinion We find not what effect this Petition produced This year died two Romanists beyond Sea much lamented one Richard Hall bred in Christ's-colledge in Cambridge whence he ran over to Rome and after died Canon and Official at St. Omers Cathedral The other Humfrey Ely born in Hereford-shire Fellow of St. John's-colledge in Oxford whence going beyond Sea at Rome he commenced Doctor of Law and afterwards died Professor thereof in the University of Ponta Mousan in the Dutchy of Lorrain Now the Romish Cotholicks despairing of getting any free and publick exercise of their Religion some of them entred into a devilish Conspiracy to blow up the Parliament House with Gunpowder In this Plot were engaged Robert Catesby Thomas Piercy Sir Everard Digby Francis Tresham Thomas Winter John Wright Christopher Wright Ambrose Rookwood Robert Keys Robert Winter John Grant Thomas Bates Catesbies man Guido Faux The principal Contriver of this Plot was Robert Catesby a Gentleman of good account in Northampton-shire who drew in many other Papists to assist him Gerard tyeth them together with an Oath of secrecy Garnet and Tismond encourage the design But here an important scruple was injected how to part their Friends from their Foes in the Parliament Here Garnet instead of untying cut this knot asunder That in such a case as this it was lawful to kill Friend and Foe together Now though these Plotters intended at last with honour to own the Action when success had secured all things yet they purposed when the blow was first given to father the fact upon those that were called Puritans But for the discovery of this Plot God's Providence so ordered it that a Letter was framed and sent to the Lord Mounteagle brought him by one of his Footmen which he received from an unknown man in the street in manner following My Lord out of the love I bear to some of your Friends I have a care of your preservation Therefore I would advise you as you tender your life to forbear your attendance at this Parliament for God and man have concurred to punish the wickedness of this time And think not slightly of this advertisement but retire your self into your Countrey where you may expect the event in safety for though there be no appearance of any stir yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow this Parliament and yet they shall not see who hurts them This counsel is not to be contemned because it may do you good and can do you no harm for the danger is past as soon as you have burnt the Letter And I hope God will give you the grace to make use of it to whose holy protection I commend you The Lord Mounteagâ—e communicates the Letter to the Earl of Sarisbury He to the King who on the second perusal expounded the mystical blow meant therein must be by Gunpowder and gives order for searching the Rooms under the Parliament House The first search about evening discovered nothing but Percie 's Cellar full of Wood and Johnson his man under that name was Faux disguised attending therein At midnight a more strict and secret search was made by Sir Thomas Knevet Gentleman of his Majesty's Privy Chamber and others Fuller Church Hist in the Vault under the Parliament House There was quickly discovered a pile of fewel faced over with Billets lined under with thirty six Barrels of Powder besides Iron bars to make the force of the fire more effectual Guido Faux was apprehended in the outward room with a dark Lanthorn in his hand and three Matches ready to give fire to the Train Mean-time Catesby Percy Rookwood both the Wrights and Thomas Winter were hovering about London to attend the issue of the matter They and their Servants post down into the Countrey through Warwick-shire Worcester-shire into Stafford-shire Sir Richard Verney High Sheriff of Warwick-shire chased them from thence and
Fistula Gondomar hereupon meditates revenge and tells King James That his charity abused his Judgment in conceiving Spalato a true Convert who still in heart remained a Roman Catholick The Ambassador writes to the King of Spain He to Pope Gregory the Fifteenth that Spalato might be pardoned and preferred in the Church of Rome which was easily obtained Letters are sent from Rome to Count Gondomar written by the Cardinal Millin to impart them to Spalato informing him of his pardon at Rome and that upon his return the Pope would prefer him to the Bishoprick of Salerno in Naples worth twelve thousands pounds by the year and also that a Cardinal's Hat should be bestowed upon him And if Spalato with his hand subscribed to this Letter would renounce what formerly he had Printed an Apostolical Breve with pardon should solemnly be sent him to Bruxels Spalato embraceth the motion recanteth his Opinions largely subscribes solemnly and thanketh the Pope affectionately for his favour Gondomar carrieth his subscription to King James who is glad to behold the Hypocrite unmasked Now died Toby Mathew Archbishop of York presently posts Spalato to Theobalds becomes an Earnest Petitioner to the King for the vacant Archbishoprick and is as flatly denied Spalato offended at this repulse requests his Majesty by his Letter to grant him his good leave to depart the Kingdom Five days after the Bishops of London and Durham with the Dean of Westminster by his Majestie 's direction repaired to Spalato propounding unto Him sixteen Queries all arising out of his own Letter and requiring him to give the explanation of five of the most material under his hand for his Majestie 's greater satisfaction which he did accordingly yet not so clearly but that it occasioned a second meeting wherein more interrogatories were propounded unto him to all which he gave his answers He pretended many reasons for his return In pursuance of which his desire he wrote a second Letter to King James At length Spalato appears before the Archbishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Lincoln London Durham Winchester at Lambeth where the Archbishop of Canterbury in a long Latin Speech recapitulated the many misdemeanors of Spalato principally insisting on his changing of Religion as appeared by his purpose of returning to Rome and that contrary to the Laws of this Realm he had held correspondency with the Pope without the privity of the King's Majesty To which charge when Spalato had made a shuffling excuse rather than a just defence the Archbishop in his Majestie 's name commanded him to depart the Kingdom within twenty days and never to return again To this he promised obedience protesting he would ever justifie the Church of England for Orthodox in Fundamentals even in the presence of the Pope or whomsoever though with the loss of his life However he was loth to depart and secretly deals with his Friends in the English Court that his Majesty would permit him to stay But in vain and therefore within the time appointed he went over in the fame Ship with Count Swartenzburgh the Emperor's Ambassador rerurning hence into Flanders Being come to Bruxels he recants his Religion and rails bitterly on the English Church Here he stayed six moneths for the Pope's Breve which at last was utterly denied him Now he desperately adventures to Rome barely presuming on promises and the Friendship of Pope Gregory the Fifteenth then Pope formerly his Colleague and Chamber-fellow He lived at Rome not loved and died unlamented He was clapt into prison his study seized on wherein many papers were found speaking Heresie enough his Adversaries being admitted sole Interpreters thereof He died some moneths after and after his death his Excommunicated Corps were put to publick shame and solemnly proceeded against in the Inquisition for relapsing into Heresie since his return to Rome Fuller Church Hist Ad. Ar. 1622. Several Articles of Heresie are charged upon him and he found convict thereof is condemned to have his body burnt by the publick Executioner in the Field of Flora which was performed accordingly The Spanish Match was now the Discourse general but at last it brake off Heaven forbidding the Banes saith Mr. Fuller even at the third and last asking thereof King James falls off and for a condition of the Marriage demands the Restitution of the Palatinate The Prince returns from Spain Then was there a conference entertained between Dr. White and Dr. Featly Protestants Father Fisher and Father White Jesuites Now hapned the fatal Vespers at Black-friers in London Father Drury a Jesuite of excellent Morals Preached there in a great upper-room next to the House of the French Ambassador where three hundred persons were assembled His Text Matth. 18.32 O thou ungratious servant I forgave thee all the debt because thou desiredst me shouldst not Thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant In application whereof he bitterly inveighed against the Protestants About the middle of his Sermon and the day declining on a sudden the Floor fell down where they were assembled many were killed more bruised all frightted Ninety five persons were slain among whom Mr. Drury Mr. Rodiat Priests with the Lady Webb were of the chiefest note Twenty of the poorer sort were buried hard by in one Grave and the rest bestowed by-their friends in several places of Sepulture Yet notwithstanding this sad Accident The Letter may be read at large in Rushworth's Collect. and Fuller Church History the Papists were very insolent towards all true English men the rather because it was generally reported That his Majesty intended a Toleration of Religion which made the Archbishop of Canterbury in a serious Letter to present the King with his apprehensions beseeching the King to consider Lest by this Toleration and discountenancing of the true profession of the Gospel wherewith God hath blessed us and this Kingdom hath so long flourished under it God's heavy wrâ—th be not drawn upon this Kingdom c. What effect this Letter took is unknown sure it is all mens mouths were filled with a discourse of a Toleration for or against it yea the Pulpits are loud against Toleration Now because the peoples mouths were open and some Preachers were two busie the King gave directions for the regulation of the Ministry in his Letters directed to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury for many shallow Preachers handled the profound points of Predestination c. Sermons were turned into Satyrs against Papists and Non-conformists The King revived the primitive and profitable order of Catechizing in the after-noon Various censures were passed on the King's Letters But these Instructions from his Majesty were not pressed with equal rigour in all places Both the Palatinates were now lost the Vpper seized on by the Emperor the Nether by the King of Spain the City of Heidelberg taken and plundered and the inestimable Library of Books therein carried over the Alpes on Mules backs to Rome Now those Books are placed in the Pope's Vatican The Duke
of Bavaria was invested in the upper Palatinate Anno 1624. The match with France was concluded and in November the Articles were sworn unto by King James Prince Charles and the French King The Articles for Religion were not much short of those for Spanish match Count Mansfield was at this time in England and the Forces raised in the several parts of the Kingdom for the recovery of the Palatinate were put under his command Dover was the place assigned for their Rendezvous where the Colonels and Captains were to receive their several Regiments and Companies from the Conductors employed by those several Counties where the men were raised These being long pent up in their Ships suffered the want of all necessaries by which means a Pestilence devoured many of them so that scarce a Third part of the men were landed the which also afterwards mouldred away and the design came to nothing At this time upon the death of William Titular Bishop of Calcedon most of the English Secular Priests did petition the Pope that another Bishop might be sent over into England there to ordain Priests give Confirmation and exercise Episcopal jurisdiction Among others Matthew Kellison and Richard Smith were presented Not long after Pope Vrban the Eighth created Richard Smith Bishop of Calcedon and sent him into England with Episcopal Authority over the Priests within the English Dominions King James after he had been troubled with a Tertian Fever four weeks at Theobalds called unto him his onely Son Prince Charles to whom he recommended the protection of the Church of England c. and died on the seven and twentieth day of March He Reigned twenty two years and three days The sad news of King James his death was brought to White-hall when Dr. Laud Bishop of St. David's was Preaching therein This caused him to break off his Sermon in the midst thereof out of civil compliance with the sadness of the Congregation And the same day was King Charles Proclaimed at Whitehall Shortly after King James his death Bishop Land delivered to the hands of the Duke of Buckingham brief memorables of the Life and Death of King James On May fourteenth following King James his Funerals were performed very solemnly in the Collegiate-church at Westminster King Charles in his own person mournfully attended the Funerals of his Father Dr. Williams Lord Keeper and Bishop of Lincoln Preached the Sermon taking for his Text 2 Chron. 9.29 30 and part of vers 31. containing the happy Reign quiet Death and stately Burial of King Solomon In this Sermon he made a parallel between two peaceable Princes King Solomon and King James adding that Solomon's vices could be no blemish to King James who resembled him onely in his choycest vertues Doctor Preston still continued and increased in the favour of the King and the Duke of Buckingham Then a Book came forth called Apello Caesarem made by Mr. Mountague then Fellow of Eaton upon this occasion He had lately written Satyrically enough against the Papists in confutation of The Gagger of the Protestants Now two Divines of Norwich Diocese Mr. Yates and Mr. Ward inform against him for deserting our Cause instead of defending it Mr. Mountague in his own Vindication writes a second Book licensed by Francis White Dean of Carlile finished and partly Printed in the Reign of King James Many bitter passages in this his Book gave great exception At that time a Schedule was delivered to the Duke wherein the names of Ecclesiastical persons were written under the letters of O and P Rushw Collect An. 1625. O standing for Orthodox and P. for Puritans for the Duke commanded that the names of eminent persons to be presented unto the King should be thus digested under that partition On Sunday June 12. Queen Mary landed at Dover Next day the King coming from Canterbury met her at Dover Thence his Majesty conducted the Queen to Canterbury and the same Evening the Marriage was there consummated On June 16. the King and Queen came both to London A Chappel at Sommerset-house was built for the Queen and her Family with conveniences thereto adjoyning for Capuchin Friers who were therein placed and had permission to walk abroad in their Religious habits Then began a Parliament at London wherein the first Statute agreed upon was for the more strict observation of the Lord's day Sir Edward Coke went to the House of Peers with a message from the Commons desiring their concurrence in a petition concerning Religion and against Recusants which being agreed to and presented to the King his Majesty answered That he was glad that the Parliament was so forward in matters of Religion and assured them they should find him as forward Mr. Richard Mountague was brought to the Bar of the Commons House for his Book fore-mentioned which was Printed and dedicated to King Charles But the King rescued him from the House of Commons by taking Mr. Mountague's business into his own hand The Plague increasing in London the Parliament removed to Oxford where Doctor Chalenor died of that infection The Parliament to prevent the growth of Popery presented a petition to his Majesty containing sixteen particulars to which they received a satisfactory answer from the King Mr. Mountagues cause was recommended to the Duke of Buckingham by the Bishops of Rochester Oxford and St. Davids as the cause of the Church of England They affirm boldly that they cannot conceive what use there can be of Civil Government in the Common-wealth or of external Ministry in the Church if such fatal Opinions as some are which are opposite to those of Mr. Mountague be publickly taught and maintained But other Learned men were of a different judgement At Oxford in a late Divinity disputation held upon this Question Whether a Regenerate man may fall away totally and finally from Grace The Opponent u ging the Appeal to Caesar the Doctor of the Chair handled the Appellator very roughly saying That he was a man that studied phrases more than matter That he understood neither Articles nor Homilies or at least perverted both That he attributed he knew not what vertue to the sign of the Cross and concluded with an Admonition to the Juniors That they should be wary of reading that and the like Books The King according to his late answer to the Parliament at Oxford issued out a Commission to the Judges to see the Law against Recusants put in Execution This was read in all the Courts of Judicature at Reading where Michaelmas Term was kept and a letter directed to the Archbishop of Canterbury to take special care for the discovery of Jesuites Seminary Priests c. within his Province In this and the next year many Books from persons of several abilities and professions were written against Mr. Mountague by Dr. Sutcliff Dean of Exeter Mr. Henry Burton Mr. Yates a Minister of Norfolk his Book he entitled Ad Caesarem ibis Dr. Carleton Bishop of Chichester Anthony Wotton Divinity-professor
Noble-men disaffected to the Common-prayer-book who promised what aid they possibly could and in the end returned home safe In the afternoon Proclamation was made at the Cross at Ebenborough to prevent the like disorders but to small effect some Citizens demanding the Restitution of the Ministers and the performance of what was subscribed Suddenly two Petitions were presented against the Common-prayer-book and the Composers and Abettors of it which Petitions were sent to the King with the narrative of the whole who immediately sent Instructions for adjourning the Term to Sterling Lamb. Wood. History King Charles a strong place and to make Proclamation of severe penalties to be inflicted on the breakers of the peace which was no sooner proclaimed but the Lord Hume Lindsey and divers others protest against it and in contempt of Authority compell'd the Heraulds to hear the Protest or Covenant read These troublesome beginnings did afterward occasion the solemn League and Covenant whereby the greatest part of the Nation united themselves to defend their Priviledges as was pretended and which laid the foundation of a long and woful War in both Kingdoms They erected a new Government among themselves which consisted of four Tables for the four Orders of the State Heylin on the life of Archbishop Laud part 2. viz. the Noblemen Barons Burgesses and Ministers These fixed themselves in Edenborough leaving the Lords of Council and Session to make merry at Sterling where they had little else to do than to follow their pleasures The Tables being formed they resolved upon renewing the ancient Confession of that Kirk with a Band thereunto subjoyned but accommodated to the present occasion which had been signed by King James on January 28. Anno 1580. And by this Band they entred Covenant for maintenance of their Religion then professed and his Majesty's person but aiming at the contrary And to this Covenant they required an Oath of all the Subjects which was as great an Usurpation of the Regal power as they could take upon themselves for confirming their own authority and the peoples obedience in any project whatsoever which should afterwards issue from those Tables Return we now to England where we shall find things in a better condition at least to outward appearance And now the Metropolitical visitation having been carried into all parts of the Realm of England and Dominion of Wales the Archbishop of Canterbury began to cast his eye upon the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey two Islands lying on the Coast of Normandy to the Dukedom whereof they once belonged and in the Right of that Dukedom to the Crown of England As parts of Normandy they were subject in Ecclesiastical matters to the Bishops of Constance in that Dukedom Heylin's Hist of Archbishop Laud. Ad An. 1637. and so continued till the Reformation of Religion here in England and were then added to the Diocess and Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Winchester But the Genevian Discipline being more agreeable to such Preachers as came to them from France they obtained the exercise thereof in the eighth year of Queen Elizabeth Anno 1565. The whole Goverment distinguished into two Classes both meeting in a Synod every second or third year according to the order of their Book of Discipline digested by Snape and Cartwright in a Synod held at Guernsey June 28. 1576. In this manner they continued till King James his time when the Churches in the Isle of Jersey falling into some disorder and being under an immediate Governor who was no great friend to Calvin's Platform they were necessitated for avoiding a great mischief to cast themselves into the Arms of the Church of England The principal Ecclesiastical Officer whilst they were under the Bishops of Constance had the Title of Dean for each Island one the several powers both of the Chancellor and Archdeacon being united in his Person This Office is restored again his Jurisdiction marked out his Fees appointed his Revenue setled but made accountable for his Administration to the Bishop's of Winchester The English Liturgy is translated also into French to be read in their Churches Instructions first and afterwards a Body of Canons framed for regulating both Ministers and people in their several duties Now it was resolved that the Metropolitical visitation should be held in each of them at the next opening of the Spring And the Archbishop had designed a Person for his principal Visitor who had spent some time in either Island and was well acquainted with the Bailiffs Ministers and Men of special note among them But the Affairs of Scotland growing worse this Council was laid by But these Islands were not out of his mind The Islanders used to breed such of their Sons as they designed for the Ministry either at Saumur or Geneva from whence they returned well-seasoned with Calvinism Therefore to allure the people to send their Children to Oxon or Cambridge he thought of providing some preferment for them in our Universities It now happened that one Hubbard the Heir of Sir Miles Hubbard Citizen and Alderman of London died to whom upon an Inquisition taken after his death in due form of Law no Heir was found which could lay claim to his Estate Which so unexpectedly fallen to the Crown and being a fair Estate withall the Archbishop perswaded his Majesty to bestow some small part thereof upon pious uses And so much was allotted out of it as for the present served sufficiently to endow three Fellowships for the perpetual education of so many of the Natives of Guernsey and Jersey These Fellowships to be founded in Exeter Jesus and Pembrook Colledges that being disperst into several Houses there might be an increase both of Fellows and Revenues of the said Foundations By means whereof he did as Doctor Heylin observeth both piously and prudently provide for those Islands and the advancement of Conformity among them for the future It is not to be thought that the Papists were all this while asleep Pancani arriving in England An. 1636. brought with him many pretended Relicks of Saints Medals and pieces of Gold with the Pope's Picture stamped upon on them to be distributed among those of the Party but chiefly to the Ladies of the Court and Countrey to whom he made the greatest part of his Applications Then he practised upon some of the principal Lords and used his best endeavours to be brought into the acquaintance of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury But his Grace neither liked the Man nor the Message he came about and admitted him neither to complement nor communication However the Popish faction multiplying in some numbers about the Court resorted more openly to the Masses at Sommerset-house where the Capuchins had obtained both a Chappel and Convent Of this none bears the blame but the Archbishop who is traduced in Libels and common talk for the principal Architect in the plot and the contriver of the mischief Awakened by so many Alarms he had good cause to look
Glascow November 21. 1638. and a Parliament at Edenborough May 15. 1639. But nothing satisfied But before the Assembly at Glascow was indicted the Covenanters had so laid the plot that none but those of their own party should have suffrage in it not suffering the Archbishops and Bishops to sit as Moderators in their Presbyteries where the Elections were to pass and citing them to appear as Criminal persons at the said Assembly The Archbishops and Bishops in the name of themselves and of all their Adherents prepared their declinator or protestation against the said General Assembly and all the Acts and Conclusions of it as being void and null in Law to all intents and purposes whatsoever The day being come Hamilton marcheth to the place appointed for the Session in the equipage of an High-Commissioner the Sword and Seal being carried before him c. The reading of his Commission the putting in and rejecting of the declinator the chusing of Henderson to be Moderator of the Assembly the constituting of the Members of it and some debates touching Votes and Suffrages challenged by Hamilton for such as were Assessors to him took up all their time betwixt their first meeting and their dissolution which was by proclamation solemnly declared on the twenty ninth of the same month But notwithstanding the said dissolution the Members of the said Assembly continued their Session and therein passed many Acts for the utter overthrow of the Polity and Government of the Church They not only excommunicated the Bishops and their Adherents but condemned the very Function it self to be Antichristian and utterly to be abolished out of the Church The like censure also they passed on the Service-book and the Canons with the five Articles of Perth and all the Arminian Tenets in case of Predestination and declared all men subject to excommunication and all other censures of the Church who should refuse to yield obedience to all their determinations And albeit his Majesty by the same Proclamation had commanded all his Subjects not to yield obedience to any of their Acts and Ordinances yet those of the Assembly were resolved to maintain their Authority and not only the Bishops and Clergy but also as many of the Laity as had refused to subscribe to the Acts thereof were deprived of their Offices and Preferments banished their Country and forced to fly into England or other places the King being unable to protect them from the power and malice of their Adversaries The King now thinks of raising an Army against the Scots Sir Rich. Baker's Chron. and a Loan for the King's assistance against the Scots is subscribed by many Lords of the Council and Bishops c. Cardinal Richlieu was no small Incendiary in this business betwixt the King and Scots who sent his Chaplain and Almoner Mr. Thomas Chamberlain a Scotch-man to assist the Confederates in advancing the business and to attempt all wayes of exasperation and not to depart from them till he might return with good news in this project About the latter end of this year died John Spottiswood Archbishop of St. Andrews at London and was buried near unto King James in the Abbey-church of Westminster The King began his journey towards the North on March twenty seven his Army being advanced before the chief command whereof was committed to the Earl of Arundel The Scots presented a Petition to the King at his Camp near Berwick And Commissioners being on both sides appointed they came at last to this conclusion on June 17. viz. first That his Majesty should confirm whatsoever his Commissioner hath already granted in his Majesties name and that from thenceforth all matters Ecclesiastical should be determined by the Assemblies of the Kirk and all matters civil by the Parliament and to that end a General Assembly to be indicted on the sixth of August and a Parliament on the twentieth of the same month in which Parliament an Act of Oblivion was to pass for the common peace and satisfaction of all parties that the Scots upon the publication of the accord should within forty eight hours disband all their Forces discharge all pretended Tables and Conventicles restore unto the King all his Castles Forts and Ammunition of all sorts the like restitution to be made to all his good Subjects of their liberties lands goods c. taken and detained from them since the late pretended General Assembly at Glascow that thereupon the King should presently recal his Fleet and retire his Land-forces and cause restitution to be made to all persons of their goods detained and arrested since the first of February But as for the proceedings of the Assembly at Glascow they seem to have been left in the same condition in which they stood before his Majesties taking Arms. And the King doing nothing to the abrogating of them when he was in the Head of a powerful Army he could not expect that the Scots could yield to any such abrogation when he had no such Army to compel obedience And this immediately appeared on his Majesties signing the Agreement and discharging his Army thereupon For the Covenanters upon the declaration of this accord produced a Protestation First Of adhering to their late General Assembly at Glascow and to all the proceedings there especially the sentences of Deprivation and Excommunication of the sometimes pretended Bishops of that Kingdom as they were termed Secondly Of adhering to their solemn Covenant and declaration of the Assembly whereby the Office of Bishops is abjured Thirdly That the Bishops have been malitious Incendiaries of his Majesty against this Kingdom by their wicked calumnies and that if they return to this Kingdom they be esteemed and used as accursed c. Fourthly That all the entertainers of the excommunicated Bishops should be orderly proceeded against with Excommunication conform to the Acts and Constitutions of this Kirk They continued their Meetings and Consultations as before they did maintained their Fortifications at Leith the Port-town to Edenborough and kept their Officers and Commanders in continual pay His Majesty hereupon sent for some of the Chiefs of them to come unto him to Berwick but was refused in his Commands The Earls of Kinnoul and Traquair Chief Justice Elphinston and Sir James Hamilton all Privy Counsellors were pulled violently out of their Coach on a suspition that some Bishops were disguised among them that the King might have some cause to suspect that there could be no safety for him in such a place and among people so enraged notwithstanding his great clemency toward them in the pacification In this condition of Affairs his Majesty returned toward London in the end of July 1639. Heylin's Hist of Archbish Laud. part 2. leaving the Scots to play their own game as they listed having first nominated Traquair as his High-Commissioner for managing both the Assembly and the following Parliament In the first meeting of the two they acted over all the parts they had plaid at Glascow to the utter
abolition of Episcopacy and the ruine of all that adhered to it their actings in it being confirmed in his name by the High-Commission The news whereof caused the King to send for the Lord Wentworth out of Ireland who was presently made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and not long after with great solemnity created Earl of Strafford in the County of York As Lord Lieutenant he had power to appoint a Deputy that he might the better attend the service here without any prejudice to that Kingdom which Office he committed to Wansford a York-shire Gentleman whom he had took along with him into Ireland at his first going thither His Majesty was pleased to commit the conduct of the Scottish Affairs to a Juncto of three namely the Archbishop of Canterbury the Earl of Strafford and the Marquiss of Hammilton These three move his Majesty to call a Parliament and it was concluded that a Parliament should be called on April 13. 1640. In the mean time the Lord Lieutenant held a Parliament in Ireland and so governed the affair that an Army of eight thousand Horse and Foot was speedily raised and money granted by the Parliament to keep them in pay to furnish them with Ammunition Arms and all other necessaries And the Lords of the Council here subscribed largely for the carrying on of the War until such time as the Parliament should convene The Scots being informed of the King's preparation for a War sent the Earl of Dumferling the Lord London Sir William Douglas and Mr. Barkham to represent the Affairs of their transactions which were received by the King in a friendly manner Some dayes being unprofitably spent in these debates the Archbishop and the rest of the Committee delegated for this business made a report of the whole business to the rest of the Council who came to this result That since the Scots could not be reclaimed to their obedience by other means they were to be reduced by force Therefore the Scots as much bestirred themselves on the other side Part of the walls of Edenborough-castle with all the Ordnance upon it had fallen down on the nineteenth of November last being the Anniversary day of his Majesties birth for the repair whereof they would neither suffer Timber nor other Materials to be carried to it but on the contrary they began to raise Fortifications against it with an intent to block it up and render it unuseful to his Majesties service Neither would they suffer the Souldiers to come into the Market to recruit their victuals They made provisions of great quantity of Artillery Munition and Arms from forreign parts laid Taxes of ten Marks in the hundred upon all the Subjects scattered abroad many seditious Pamphlets for justifying themselves and seducing others some of which were burnt in England by the hand of the Hangman fortified Inchgarvy and other places imprisoned the Earl of Southesk and other Persons of Quality for their fidelity to the King took to themselves the government of Edenborough and employed their Emissaries in England to sollicit them to aid them in maintaining the War against their Sovereign But their chief corespondence was with France and Ireland In France they had made sure of Cardinal Richlieu who governed all Affairs in that Kingdom In Ireland they had a strong party of natural Scots planted in Vlster by King James upon the forfeited Estates of Tir-Owen Tir-Connel Odighirty c. But Wentworth crushed them in the beginning of the combination seizing upon such Ships and Men as came thither from Scotland imprisoning some fining others and putting an Oath upon the rest By which Oath they were bound to abjure the Covenant not to aid the Covenanters against the King nor to protest against any of his royal Edicts as their Brethren in Scotland use to do for the refusing of which Oath he fined one Sir Henry Steward and his Wife at no less than five thousand pound apiece two of their Daughters and one James Gray of the fame confederacy at the sum of three thousand pound apiece committing them to prison for not paying the fines imposed on them Some Scots having endeavoured to betray the Town and Castle of Carick fergus to a Noble-man of that Countrey the principal Conspirator was executed Finally The Lord Lieutenant gave a power to the Bishop of Down and Connor and other Bishops of that Kingdom and their several Chancellors to attach the bodies of all such of the meaner sort who either should refuse to appear before them upon citation or to perform all lawful Decrees and Orders made by the said Bishops c. and to commit them to the next Gaol till they should conform or answer the contempt at the Council-Table By means whereof the poorer sort became very obedient to their several Bishops In the mean time the Archbishop of Canterbury is intent on the preservation of the Hierarchy and the Church of England against the practices of the Scots and Scotizing English and no less busied in digesting an Apology for vindicating the Liturgy commended to the Kirk of Scotland He took order for translating the Scottish Liturgy into the Latin Tongue that being published with the Apology which he had designed it might give satisfaction to the world of his Majesties Piety and his own great care the orthodoxy and simplicity of the Book it self and the perverseness of the Scots in refusing all of it Which Work was finished and left with him the present distemper of the times and the troubles which fell heavily on him putting an end to it in the first beginning He recommended to Doctor Hall then Bishop of Exon the writing of a Book in defence of the Divine right of Episcopacy in opposition to the Scots and their Adherents Exeter having undertaken it sent the first delineations of the Pourtracture to Lambeth in the end of October which were generally well approved of by the Metropolitan who having made some alterations sent them back with many kind expressions of a fair acceptance And such was the freedom he used in declaring his judgment in the case and such the Authority which his Reasons carried along with them that the Bishop of Exon found good cause to correct his Opinon according to the Rules of these Animadversions agreeable unto which the Book was writ and published not long after under the name of Episcopacy by Divine right c. Whilst the Archbishop laboured to support Episcopacy on the one side some of the adverse party laboured as much to suppress it by lopping off the branches first and afterwards by laying the Axe to the root of the Tree Bagshaw a Lawyer of some standing of the Middle-Temple began to question the Bishop's place and vote in Parliament their Temporal power and the authority of the Commission For being chosen Reader by that House for the Lent-vacation he first selected for the Argument of his discoursings the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. cap. 7. His main design was intended chiefly for the defence
Heylin's Hist of Archbishop Laud. ad An. 1640. and that the shafts of two Chimneys were blown down upon the roof of the Archbishop's Chamber and beat down both the Lead and Rafters upon his Bed in which ruine he must needs have perished if the roughness of the Water had not forced him to keep his Chamber at White-hall A like mischance happened the same night at Croydon a retiring place belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury where one of the Pinacles fell from the Steeple beat down the Lead and Roof of the Church above twenty foot square But that which was more remarkable than either of these was that which happened the same night at Canterbury in the Metropolitical Church where one of the Pinacles upon the top of the Belfrey-Tower which carried a Vane with this Archbishop's Arms upon it was violently struck down but born a good distance from the Steeple to fall upon the Roof of the Cloyster where the Armes of the Archiepiscopal See it self were ingraven in Stone which Armes being broke to pieces by the fall of the other on Friday night January 24. 1639. he dreamed that his Father who died 46. years before came to him being to his thinking seemingly well and cheerful that his Father asked him what he did there that after some speech he demanded of his Father how long he would stay there and that his Father made this answer he would stay till he had him along with him Which made such an impression on him that he thought fit to remember this in his Breviate A brute being spread abroad That the late Parliament had been dissolved by his procurement a paper was pasted up at the Exchange by John Lilburn animating the Apprentices to sack his House at Lambeth on the Monday following and that night we was assaulted by five hundred of the Rabble who strove to force an entrance but were repulsed And having fortified his House with some pieces of Canon he with-drew to his Chamber at Whitehall till the Rage of the people was blown over Some of the principal Actors in this Sedition being apprehended and committed to the Goal in Southwark were forcibly delivered by others of their Accomplices who brake open that and all other Prisons in that precinct for which one Benstead one of the Ring leaders was retaken arraigned condemned hanged drawn and quartered on May 21. Yet for all this Libels were scattered against the Archbishop in most parts of the City And his Majesty being then newly gone in person with an Army against the Scots about the end of August a paper was dropt in Covent-garden encouraging the Souldiers and Apprentices to fall upon him yet was there no tumult raised upon it Then he gave order that the High-commission should be kept at St. Paul's and the Commissioners sitting there on October 22. were violently assaulted by a mixt multitude of Sectaries to the number of two thousand crying out They would have no Bishops nor High Commission In which tumult having frighted away the Judges Advocates and Officers of the Court they brake down all the seats and benches which they found in the Consistory so that a guard was set upon that Church as before at Westminster not onely at the next sitting of the said Commissioners but at the first meeting of the Convocation which soon after followed The Scots were now entred the Realm in hostile manner and having put by his Majesties Forces at a place called Newbourn they passed over the Tine and presently made themselves Masters of the strong Town of New-castle his Majesties Forces not very far distant Many of the King 's own Souldiers in their marchings through the Countrey brake into Churches pulled up the Rayles threw down the Communion Tables defaced the Common-Prayer Books tore the Surplices c. The Scots set forth a Remonstance wherein it was declared That their Propositions and desires could find no access unto the ears of the Gratious King by reason of the powerful Diversion of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Deputy of Ireland c. who did onely side in all matters of Temporal and Spiritual Affairs c. This Remonstrance was seconded with another Pamphlet called The Intention of the Army They signified therein that they had no design to wast the goods of the People of England or spoil their Countrey but onely to become petitioners to his Majesty to call a Parliament and to bring the said Archbishop and Lord Lieutenant to their condign punishments And that the English might the better see whom they chiefly aimed at a Book was published by the name of Laudensium Autocatacrisis or the Canterburians self-conviction Heylin Hist of Archbish Laud. Upon this his Majesty was assaulted by a Petition from some Lords in the South wherein complaint was made of the many inconveniences which had been drawn on this Kingdom by the King's ingagings against the Scots as also of the growth of Popery of the pressing of the present payment of Ship-money the dissolving of former Parliaments Monopolies Innovations and some other grievances among which the Canons which were made in the late Convocation could not be omitted For remedy whereof His Majesty is desired to call a Parliament c. Subscribed by divers of the Nobility presented to the King at York on September 3. and seconded by another from the City of London to the same effect The King therefore resolves to hold a Parliament and on November 3. 1640. that long lasting Parliament began A Letter was writ to the Aâ—chbishop of Canterbury advertising That the Parliament of the twentieth year of King Henry the Eighth which began in the fall of Cardinal Wolsey continued in the Diminution of the Power and Priviledges of the Clergy and ended in the dissolution of the Abbies and Religious Houses was begun on the third day of November and therefore that for good-luck-sake he would move the King to respite the first siâ—ting of it for a day or two longer But the Archbishop hearkned not to this advertisement and the Parliament began at the time appointed On the morrow after began the Convocation at St. Paul's Church hand selled at their first meeting by the news of the Decease of Dr. Neile Archbishop of York But litle was done in this Convocation but that a motion was made by Mr. Warmstrey a Clerk for Worcester That they should endeavour according to the Levitical Law to cover the pit which they had opened and to prevent their Adversaries intention by condemning such offensive Canons as were made the last Convocation But they were loth to confess themselves guilty before they were accused Soon after Mr. Prynne Dr. Bastwick and Mr. Burton were discharged out of prison and brought with great Triumph into London Bishop Williams and Mr. Osbaston being remitted their fines were restored to their Livings and Liberty Doctor Pocklington and Doctor Bray were censured the former for Preaching and Printing the latter for Licensing two Books one called Sunday no
Sabbath the other The Christian Alter Not many days after the Earl of Strafford was impeached of High Treason by Mr. Pym in fourteen Articles The Earl was forthwith Sequestred the House and committed to the Black Rod and sent not long after to the Tower December 18. Archbishop Laud and Bishop Wren were voted by the Commons Guilty of High Treason and a charge was immediately brought in against Bishop Laud upon the Reading of which on March 1. he was sent to the Tower The same moneth Alderman Pennington with a great multitude out of London petitioned the House against Episcopal Government and the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church A Committee was appointed to consider of matters of Religion setled in the Upper House of Parliament Ten Earls ten Bishops ten Barons At the same time the Lords appointed a Sub-committee to prepare matters fit for their cognizance the Bishop of Lincoln having the Chair in both authorized to call together divers Bishops and Divines to consult together for correcting what was amiss and to settle peace viz. The Archbishop of Armagh The Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Exeter Dr. Samuel Ward Dr. William Twisse Dr. Robert Sanderson Dr. Daniel Featley Dr. Ralph Brownrigg Dr. Richard Holdsworth Dr. John Hacket Dr. Cornelius Burgesse Mr. John White Mr. Stephen Marshall Mr. Edmond Calamy Mr. Thomas Hill The place of their meeting was Jerusalem-chamber in the Dean of Westminster's house where they had solemn debates six several days First they consult on innovations in Doctrine Then they enquire into Preter-canonical conformity and innovations in Discipline and concerning the Common-Prayer Lastly they entred on the Regulating of Ecclesiastical Government which was not brought in because the Bishop of Lincoln had undertaken the draught thereof but not finished it as employed at the same time in many weighty matters of State This consultation continued till the middle of May. But the Bâ—ll against Deans and Chapters put such a distance between the foresaid Divines that never their Judgments and scarce their persons met after together The Canons made in the late Convocation were condemned in the House of Commons as being against the King's Prerogative the Fundamental Laws of the Realm the Liberty and Property of the Subject and containing divers other things tending to Sedition and of dangerous consequence Many things were charged against the Archbishop by the Scots Commissioners viz. That he had pressed upon that Kirk many Innovations in Religion contained in the Liturgy and Book of Canons contrary to the Liberties and Laws thereof That he had required Ballentine Bishop of Dumblane and the rest of the Bishops to be present at the Divine Service in their Whites and blamed the said Bishop for his negligence in it c. That he gave order for the taking down Stone-walls and Galleries in the Churches of Edenborough to no other end but for the setting up of Altars and Adoration toward the East That for their Supplicating against these Novations they were declared Rebels in all the Parish-Churches of England and a War kindled against them by his Arts and Practices That their Covenant by him was called ungodly and that divers Oathes were imposed upon their Countrey-men to abjure the same That he in the presence of the King spared not to rail against the General Assembly held at Glascow and put his hand to a Warrant for imprisoning some of those Commissioners sent from the Parliament of Scotland for the Peace of both Nations That when the late Parliament could not be moved to assist in the War against them he had caused the same to be dissolved and continued the Convocation to make Canons against them and their Doctrines c. Such was the charge exhibited by the Scots Commissioners in which many thought there was nothing criminal enough to deserve Imprisonment much less to menace him with death The Bishop of Ely was impeached for many reputed misdemeanours in the See of Norwich That he deprived or banished within the space of two years fifty Godly Learned Painful Ministers His placing the Communion-Table Altar-wise and causing a Rayl to be set before it The practising of Superstition in his own person his bowing toward it Consecrating the Bread and Wine at the West-side of the Table with his back toward the people and elevating the same above his Head that the people might see it causing the seats in all places to be so contrived that the people must of necessity kneel towards the East Appointing no Prayers to be used by Preachers before their Sermons but that prescribed by the Canon c. In the midst of these troublesom times died Dr. John Davenant Bishop of Salisbury A little before his death he prayed emphatically for half a quarter of an hour Among many heavenly passages therein He thanked God for this his fatherly correction because in all his life-time he never had any one heavy affliction which made him often much suspect with himself whether he was a true child of God or no. Deans and Chapters being now opposed by Parliament the Cathedral-men endeavour to preserve their Foundations and by their friends obtain leave to be admitted into the House of Commons and to be heard what they could alledge in their own behalf They made choice of Doctor John Hacket Prebendary of St. Pauls to be the mouth for all the rest He shewed Fuller Church Hist Cent. 17. lib. 11. that to supply the defects of Prayer committed by private men the publick duty thereof should be constantly performed in some principal place in imitation of the Primitive practice and this is done in Cathedrals He spake much also in praise of Church-musick when moderated to Edification He took occasion to resell that slaunder which some cast on Lecture-preachers as an upstart Coâ—poration alledging that the local Statutes of most or all Cathedral Churches do require Lectures on the week-days And in the name of his Brethren he requested that Honourable House that godly and profitable Preaching might be the more exacted Then he insisted on the advancement of Learning as the proper use and convenience of Cathedrals each of them being a small Academy for the Champions of Christ's cause against the Adversaries by their Learned pens Here he proffered to prove by a Catalogue of their Names and Works which he could produce that most excellent labours in this kind excepting some few have preceeded from persons preferred in Cathedrals Now what a disheartning would it be to young Students if such promotions were taken away He alledged also that the antient and genuine use of Deans and Chapters was as Senatus Episcopi to assist the Bishop in his jurisdiction He said that Cathedral-Churches were the first Monuments of Christianity in England From things he passed to persons and began with the multitude of such members as had maintenance from Cathedrals the total amounting to many thousands All which by the dissolution of Deans and Chapters must be exposed to poverty Next he instanced
in their Tenants who holding Leases from Deans and Chapters are sensible of their own happiness as enjoying six parts of seven in pure gain and therefore have petitioned the House to continue their Antient Landlords Moreover such Cities wherein Cathedrals stand if Maritime being very poor in Trade are enriched by the hospitality of the Clergy and the frequent resort of Strangers unto them Then he shewed that divers of low degree but generous Spirits would labour by qualifying themselves by Industry and Vertue to attain a share of Cathedral endowments as the common possession of the Realm c. He trusted their Honours would account it reasonable that the Clergy had in some sort a better maintenance than in neighbouring reformed Churches and not with Jeroboam's Priests to be the basest of the people Then he instanced in some famous forreign Protestants who had found relief by being installed Prebendaries in our Cathedral and Collegiate Churches as Dr. Saravia preferred by Queen Elizabeth Dr. Casaubon Father and Son by King James Dr. Primrose Mr. Vossius in the reign of King Charles and Dr. Peter Du-Moulin And to destroy Deans and Chapters would highly gratifie Rome for Sanders himself seemeth to complain that Queen Elizabeth had left Provosts Deans Canons and Prebendaries in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches because he foresaw such Foundations would conduce to the stability of Religion He went forward to shew how such Lands paid greater sums to the Exchequer for First-fruits tenths and subsidies according to the proportion than any other Estates and Corporations in the Kingdom He implored to find the antient and honourable Justice of the House unto his Brethren who were not charged much less convicted of any Scandalous faults justly for the same to forfeit their estates At last he set before them the Honour of God to whose worship and service such Fabricks and Lands were dedicated and barred all alienations with which he said is termenda vox curses and imprecations He minded them of the censures of Korah and his Complices pronounced hallowed because pretended to do God service therewith He added that of Solomon Prov. 20.25 It is a snare to a man that devoureth that which is holy He added also that smart question of St. Paul Thou that abhorrest idols dost thou commit Sacriledge and concluded that on the ruines of the rewards of Learning no structure can be raised but ignorance and upon the Chaos of ignorance nothing can be built but Profaneness and Confusion This speech was generally well-resented and wrought much on the House for the present In the afternoon Dr. Cornelius Burgesse made a vehement Invective against Deans and Chapters c. He aggravated the debauchedness of Singing men not onely useless but hurtful by their Vicious conversation Yet he concluded with the utter unlawfulness to convert such endowments to any private person's profit Then was a Bill brought up from the Commons to the Lords against Bishops and Clergy-men and it was Voted I. That they should have no Votes in Parliament II. That they should not be in the Commission of the Peace nor be Judges in Temporal Courts III. Nor sit in the Star-chamber nor be Privy Counsellors The last branches of this Bill passed by general consent not above two dissenting But the first branch was Voted by the Lords in the negative But at last it was wholly cast out The Archbishop advised the drawing of a Petition to both Houses of Parliament in the name of the University of Oxford not onely for the preservation of Episcopal Government but of those Foundations as being both the encouragements and rewards of Learning In which petition having spoken in few words of the Antiquity and Succession of Bishops from the Apostles themselves they insist more at large upon such suggestions as might best justifie and endear the cause of Cathedral Churches The like petition came from Cambridge as much concern'd in this common cause as Oxon. At a solemn Fast not long after the Temporal Lords took precedence of the Bishops contrary to the custom of their Predecessors in all times foregoing which being observed by the Lord Spencer Is this said he a day of humiliation wherein we shew so great a pride in taking place of those to whom it was allowed by all our Ancestors The Bill against the High-commission Court was the third time read in the House of Lords and passed which some days after was confirmed by his Majesty The Bishop of Lincoln brought up a Bill to regulate Bishops and their jurisdiction This Bill was but once read in the House and no great matter made thereof The Bishops that were impeached for making Canons craved time till Michaelmas Term. This was vehemently opposed by some Lords and two questions were put I. Whether the Bishops should fit still in the House though without voting to which themselves consented whilst the circumstance of time for their answer was in debate II. What time they should have for their answer The first of these was carried for them by one present voice and four Proxies and for the second time was allowed them till the tenth of November and Councel was permitted unto them Bishop Warner of Rochester is chosen by joynt consent to solicit the cause sparing neither care nor cost therein Mr. Chute drew up a Demurrer in their behalf that their offence in making Canons could not amount to a Praemunire and now the cause sunck in silence But the main matter was that the Bishops were denied all medling even in the Commission of preparatory examinations concerning the Earl of Strafford Causa sanguinis and they as men of mercy not to deal in the condemning of any person The Bishops against the perswasions of the Lord Kimbolton and the Earl of Essex resolved to keep possession of their Votes till a prevalent power outed them thereof No day passed wherein some petition was not presented to the Parliament against the Bishops who durst not come to the Parliament by Land for fear of the Apprentices who were gathered together in great numbers to Westminster The Bishops therefore intended to come to Parliament by water in Barges but as they thought to come to Land they were so pelted with Stones and frighted at the sight of such a company of them that they were rowed back and went away to their places The next day twelve of the Bishops repaired to Jerusalem Chamber in the Dean's lodgings and drew up a Protestation directed thus To the King 's most excellent Majesty and the Lords and Peers now assembled in Parliament This Instrument they delivered to Bishop Williams now Archbishop of York who at the next opportunity presented it to his Majesty who wholly remitted the matter to the Parliament The next morning a Privy Counsellor brought this Protestation into the House and the twelve subscribers are impeached of High Treason and Voted to be committed to the Tower save that Bishop Morton of Durham and Bishop Hall of Norwich found some favour so that
William Twisse their Prolocutor died and Mr. Charles Herle Fellow of Exeter-colledge succeeded him in his place The Assembly met with many difficulties some complained that Mr. Selden that Great Antiquary advantaged by his skill in Antiquity and the Oriental Tongues studied rather to perplex than inform the Members thereof as appeared by the fourteen Queries he propounded whose intent was to give a check to the design of those who held Presbytery to be Jure Divino More trouble was caused to the Assembly by the opinions of the Erastians And divers Parliament men hearing their own power enlarged thereby made use of the Erastians for a check to such who pressed Conformity to the Scotch Kirk in all particulars Indeed the Major part of the Assembly endeavoured the setling the Scotch Government in all particulars and this was laboured by the Scotch Commissioners with all Industry and probable means to obtein the same But it could not be effected nor was it ever setled by Act of Parliament who kept the coercive power in their own hands so that the power of Excommunication was not intrusted with them but ultimately resolved into a Committee of eminent persons of Parliament On January 10. 1644. William Laud Lord Archbishop of Canterbury was beheaded on Tower-hill after he had been kept four years a prisoner in the Tower His charge was a constructive treason under several Heads reducible into two particulars I. For endeavouring of the subversion of the Laws of the Land II. And a like endeavour to overthrow the Protestant Religion His trial was at the Lords bar and Mr. William Prynne was his Prosecutor but notwithstanding all that could be said nothing that did amount to Treason could be proved against him But the Scots who were at that time very prevalent would not be satisfied unless he were put to death Heylin's Hist of the life of K. Charles 1. pag. 113. to manifest thereby their zeal against the Episcopal Hierarchy to usher in the Presbyterian Government at the approaching Treaty so that by an Ordinance of Lords and Commons he was adjudged guilty of High Treason though at the passing thereof in the House of Peers there were but seven present In pursuance of several messages from the King for a Treaty it was assented to by the Parliament and at Vxbridge Commissioners met for the King on one part and for the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland on the other Master Christopher Love waiting on the Parliaments Commissioners in a general Relation gave great offence to the Royalists in his Sermon shewing the impossibility of an agreement With the Commissioners on both sides certain Clergy-men were sent in their presence to debate the point of Church-government For the King Doctor Sheldon Doctor Steward Doctor Benjamin Laney Doctor Henry Hammond Doctor Henry Ferne. For the Parliament Master Stephen Marshal Master Richard Vines These when the Commissioners were at leasure from Civil affairs were called to a conference before them But this Treaty proved ineffectual The King complained of what came to pass the fruitless end of this Treaty that his Commissioners offered full-measured reasons and the other Commissioners have stuck rigidly to their demâ—nds c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 18 The Treaty at Vxbridge saith he gave the fairest hopes of an happy composure had others applyed themselves to it with the same moderation as he did he was confident the war had been ended To return to the Assembly the Monuments which they have left to posterity of their meeting are a new form of worship by the name of a Directory Articles of Religion drawn up by them and a double Catechism one the lesser the other the greater This Assembly dwindled away by degrees though never legally dissolved Many of them after the taking of Oxford returning to their own Cures and others living in London absented themselves as disliking the managing of matters Anno 1645. died Mr. John Dod a passive Non-conformist as Mr. Fuller calleth him a man much esteemed among men of his own perswasion one that loved not any one the worse for difference in judgement about Ceremonies but all the better for their unity of affections in grace and goodness He used to retrench some hot spirits when inveighing against Bishops telling them how God under that Government had given a marvellous encrease to the Gospel and that Godly men might comfortably comport therewith under which Learning and Religion had so manifest an Improvement He was an excellent Scholar and an exquisite Hebrician who with his Society and directions in one Vacation taught that Tongue unto Mr. John Gregory that rare Linguist and Chaplain of Christ-Church who survived him but one year Mr. Dod was buried at Fausly in Northampton-shire Saunderson's Hist of King Charles Now comes strange news Dr. Williams Archbishop of York is no less suddenly than strangely Metamorphosed from a zealous Royalist into an active Parliamentarian and desirous to make his peace with the Parliament he betakes himself to his house at Purin neer Aberconway in Wales put a garrison therein and fortified the same protesting against the King's party and disswading the County from paying Contribution to the King And wrote to Colonel Mitton of the Parliament's party to assist him against the Lord Byron who understanding of his Revolt had sent a party from Aber-conway to besiege him At length he lays siege to the Town and Castle of Aber-conway reduceth them to the Service of the Parliament much of the Town to his own possession Hereby he saved his estate from Sequestration But by his last complyance he lost his old friends at Oxford and in Lieu of them finding few new ones at London He expended much on the repair of Westminster Abby-church And when pressed by Archbishop Laud to a larger contribution to S. Paul's he answered he would not rob Peter to pay Paul The Library of Westminster was the effect of his bounty and so was a Chappel in Lincoln-Colledge in Oxford At S. John's in Cambridge he founded two fellowships built a fair Library and furnished it with Books To a grave Minister coming to him for Institution in a living be thus expressed himself I have saith he passed through many places of honour and trust both in Church and State more than any of my Order in England these seventy years before But were I but assured that by my preaching I had but converted one soul to God I should take therein more spiritual joy and comfort than in all the Honours and Offices which have been bestowed upon me He died on March 25. 1649. Now I will present the Reader with a list of the Principal Ordinances of the Lords and Commons which respected Church-matters and to make this History the more entire must go a little backward in time November 8. 1644. An Ordinance of the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the payment of Tythes by every person within the Realm of England and Wales December
On August 7. the General and the Army march in Triumph through the City Sir Thomas Fairfax is made Constable of the Tower and Titchburn is made Lieutenant of the Tower The King is brought first to Oatelands and afterward to Hampton court and his Children Ordered to be with him September 28. 1647. The Commons considered of several Propositions to send to His Majesty That about Religion being the main thing They also Vote that His Majesty be desired to give His consent to such Act or Acts of Parliament as shall be presented for setling of Presbyterian Government according to the matter of several Ordinances of Parliament for the Directory or Church-government to continue for the space of three years from the time that the King shall give his consent to such Acts. They likewise voted the Common-prayer book shall not be used in Private November 11. 1647. the King escaped from Hampton-court and lest on the Table three Papers one to the Parliament one to the Commissioners a third to Colonel Whaley On October 15. Information was brought to the House that His Majesty was safe at the Isle of Wight and had put himself into the Protection of Colonel Hammond then Governour of the Island Come we now to the Church-part of the Treaty in the Isle of Wight Here appeared of the Divines chosen by the King James Vsher Archbishop of Armagh Brian Duppa Bishop of Sarum Dr. Sheldon Dr. Sanderson Dr. Fern. On the other side Mr. Stephen Marshall M. Richard Vines Mr. Lazarus Seaman and Mr. Joseph Caryl were there present by appointment of the Pa liament All things were transacted in scriptis His Majesty consulted with his Chaplains when he pleased The King's writings were publickly read before all by Mr. Philip Warwick and Mr Vines read the Papers of his Fellow-divines As for the difference between Primitive Episcopacy and present Hierarchy urged by the Parliament Divines his Majesty did not conceive that the Additions granted by the favour of His Royal Progenitors for the enlarging the power and priviledges of Bishops did make the Government substantially to differ from what it was no more than Arms and Ornaments make a Body really different from it self when it was naked and devested of the same Whereas they besought His Majesty to look rather to the Original than to the succession of Bishops he thought it needful to look at both the latter being the best Clue in such intrinsick cases to find out the former Lastly he professed himself unsatisfied in their answer concerning the perpetual and unalterable substantials of Church-government as expecting from them a more particular Resolution therein than what he had received Eleven days after the Parliament Divines put in their answer to his Majesties last paper Herein they affirmed they saw not by what warrant the Writ of Partition of the Apostles Office was taken forth that the Governing part should be in the hands of the Bishops the Teaching and Sacramentizing in the Presbyters They also said that some Fathers acknowledged that Bishops were different from Presbyters onely in matter of Ordination They also returned that His Majestie 's Definition of Episcopal Government is extracted out of the Bishops of later date than Scriptuâ—e-time The darkness of the History of the Church in the times succeeding the Apostles said they had an influence on the Catalogue makers Fuller's Chur. Hist who derived the Series of succession of Bishops taken much from Tradition and Reports And it is a great blemish of their evidence that the nearer they come to the Apostles times wherein this should be most clear to establish the succession at the first they are most doubtful and contradictory one to the other They granted that a succession of men to feed and govern those Churches by Ecclesiastical writers in compliance with the Language of their own times were called Bishops but not distinct from Presbyters So that if such a succession from the Primitive times Seriatim were proved they would either be found more than Bishops as Apostles and extraordinary persons or less as meerly first Presbyters not having the three Essentials of Episcopal government insisted on by His Majesty They humbly moved His Majesty that the Regiments of Humane testimonies on both sides might be discharged the field and the point of dispute tried alone by dint of holy Scripture They affirmed also that the power of Episcopacy under Christian and Pagan Princes is one and the same though the exercise be not but acknowledging the subordination thereof to the Sovereign Power with their accountableness to the Laws of the Land They conclude with thanks to His Majestie 's Condescension in vouchsafing them the Liberty and Honour in examining his Learned Reply praying God that a Pen in the Hand of such Abilities might ever be employ'd in a subject worthy thereof Some dayes after His Majesty returned His last paper wherein he not onely acknowledgeth the great pains of these Divines to inform his judgement according to their perswasions but also took special notice of their Civilities of the Application both in the Beginning and Body of their supply However he told them they mistook his meaning about a Writ of Partition as if His Majesty had Cantoned out the Episcopal Government one part to the Bishops another to the Presbyterians alone whereas his meaning was that the Office of Teaching is common to both alike but the other of Governing peculiar to Bishops alone The Lords and Commons vote their Commissioners return from the Treaty The Commons debate of his Majesties Propositions and agree I. That he be in Honour Safety and Freedom according to the Lawes II. That he have his Revenue as before excepting the Dedications of such Forts and Garrisons as were of old accustomed to be allowed maintenance III. That he have compensation for the Court of Wards IV. That an Act of Oblivion be past The King having granted the Parliament to dispose of all great Offices for ten years they vote it satisfactory On November 26. was presented a Declaration of the Army to the House of Commons which was the day before subscribed by the General it contained twenty six sheets of paper shewing as they termed it the misgoings of King and Parliament severally also in all Treaties betwixt them especially that they are now in They desire that the Parliament would reject those demands of the King especially concerning his Restitution and coming to London with Freedom Honour and Safety and that they proceed against the King in way of Justice c. The Army on December 2. enter the lines of Communication and at Whitehall quartereth the General and the rest of the Army at the Mews St. James's York-house and divers other places about the City The King is taken from Newport convay'd to Hurst-castle on December 6. the Trained bands are discharged the Guard to the Parliament and and Pride's and Riche's Regiments take it upon them Many of the Members coming to the House are seized and
kept in custody by the General 's command in the Queen's Court and Court of Wards These were removed to the King's-Head Inn near Charing-Cross and to the Swan Inn in the Strand under Guards of Souldiers The Army put forth a new Representative called The Agreement of the People The King is brought up to London arraigned before a select Committee for that purpose called An High Court of Justice indicted and upon his refusalâ— to own their Authority finally condemned Having received the sentence of death Dr. Juxon Bishop of London Preached privately before him at St. James's on the Sunday following his Text Romans 2.16 Next Tuesday being the day of his dissolution in the morning alone he received the Communion from the hands of the said Bishop At which time he read for the second Lesson the 27th chapter of St. Matthew containing the History of the death and passion of our Saviour Sermon ended the King heartily thanked the Bishop for selecting so seasonable and comfortable a portion of Scripture seeing all Humane hope and happiness is founded on the sufferings of our Saviour The Bishop answered He had done it meerly following the direction of the Church of England whose Rubrick appointeth that Chapter the second Morning-lesson for the thirtieth of January At ten of the Clock in the forenoon he is brought on Foot from St. James's Palace over the Park to Whitehall guarded with a Regiment of Foot-souldiers part before and the rest behind him with Colours flying and Drums beating his private Guard of Partizans about him and Doctor Juxon Bishop of London next to him on one side and Colonel Tomlinson on the other He bid them go faster saying That he now went before them to strive for an Heavenly Crowns with less sollicitude than he had oftentimes bid his Souldiers to fight for an earthly Diadem Then passeth he to the Scaffold where he defendeth his Innocency howbeit he acknowledgeth God's justice pardons his enemies takes pity on the Kingdom He shews the Souldiers how much they are out of the way and tells them They would never go right till they give God his due the King his due and the people their due You must said he give God his due by restoring his worship and Church rightly regulated which is now out of order according to his Word And a National Synod freely called freely debating among themselves must settle this when every Opinion is freely and clearly heard For the King said he that is my Successor Indeed I will not the Laws of the Land will clearly instruct you for that For the People I must tel you That their liberty and freedom consists in having Government under those Laws by which their Lives and Goods may be most their own It is not in having a share in the Government that pertains not to them A Sovereign and a Subject are two different things He prayed God they might take those courses that are best for the good of the Kingdom and their own Salvation Then having declared That he died a Christian according to the profession of the Church of England as the same was left him by his Father He said I have a good Cause and a gracious God and gave his George to the Bishop bidding him Remember to give it to the Prince Then said He I go from a Corruptible to an Incorruptible Crown where no disturbance can be but peace and joy for evermore Then lifting up his eyes and hands to Heaven having prayed secretly stooping down to the block he received the fatal stroak On the Wednesday sennight after his Corps embalmed and Coffined in Lead was delivered to the care of some of his Servants to be buried at Windsor That night they brought the Corps to Windsor The Vault being prepared a scarff of Lead was provided some two foot long and five inches broad therein to make an Inscription which was KING CHARLES 1648. The Plummer souldred it to the Coffin about the Breast of the Corpse Then was the Corpse brought to the Vault being born by the Souldiers of the Garrison Over it a black Velvet Herse-cloth the four Labels whereof the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hertford the Earls of South-hampton and Lindsey did support The Bishop of London stood weeping by Then was it deposited in silence and sorrow in the vacant place in the Vault near to the Coffin as it was thought which contained the Corps of King Henry the Eighth the Herse-cloth being cast in after it about three of the Clock in the afternoon and the Lords that night though late returned to London Prince Charles eldest Son to King Charles the first by unquestionable right succeeded to the Crowns of England Scotland and Ireland in the eighteenth year of his age Proclamation and Coronation could not now have their due course The Ruling part of the House of Commons who usurped the Government with violence on the person of the late King immediately published an Act even against Kingly Government Yet this Inhibition did not deter many Loyal Subjects from doing their duty and on February 2. a Proclamation in the name of the Noblemen Judges Knights Lawyers Gentlemen Free-holders Merchants Citizens Yeomen Seamen and other Freemen of England did Proclaim Prince Charles King of England The Proclamation was Printed and scattered about the Streets of London The House of Peers continued yet sitting and in regard the Commissions of the Judges were determined by the death of the King they send to the Commons for a Conference about it and other matters relating to the setling of the Government But Monarchy and the House of Lords are declared useless by the Commons The Peers in general resent these indignities put upon them by a small part of the House of Commons they assert their own Priviledges and the Fundamental Laws of the Nation and disclaim and protest against all Acts Votes Orders or Ordinances of the said Members of the Commons House for erecting of new Courts of Justice to try or execute the King or any Peer or Subject of the Realm for altering the Government Laws Great Seal c. Hereupon the Army set a Guard upon the door of the House of Lords and in further prosecution of the late Votes of Commons against Monarchy An Act was passed by that House for the Exhaeredation of the Royal Line the Abolishment of Monarchy in this Kingdom and the setting up of a Common-wealth which they ordered to be published and Proclaimed in all parts of the Kingdom But Alderman Reinoldson then Lord Mayor of London refused to publish this Act in London and He with three of the Aldermen of his Judgment were sent prisoners to the Tower But on February 3. the King was Proclaimed at the Cross at Edinburgh In the beginning of March the Duke of Hamilton the Earls of Holland and Norwich the Lord Capel and Sir John Owen were tried and condemned by an High Court of Justice erected for that purpose of which the Duke of Hamilton the
presented an humble Address to the Remnant Parliament on May 12. 1659. by Lambert and others Richard the late Protector sends his submission to the Parliament All Commissions to the Officers of the Army are ordered to be signed by the Speaker and Henry Cromwell is called from the Government of Ireland Fleetwood Lambert and others receive their Commissions in the House from the Speaker The Governour of Dunkirk submits also to the change of our Government General Monk likes not the Juncto's designs of modelling his Army and useth his utmost industry to obstruct it Commissioners are appointed for the Goverment of Ireland In the mean time Captain Titus and others sent as Commissioners from the King are active for his Majesties service in London and in the Countrey Sir George Booth with several others appear in a considerable Body they take possession of Chester City but the Castle holds out against them Chirk-Castle is delivered to them by Sir Thomas Middleton Collonel Ireland and several others at the same time declare for them at Leverpool and Mr. Brooks one of the Members of the House of Commons Lambert is sent against Sir George Booth Mr. Nicholas Monk a Minister and the only Brother to General Monk is sent into Scotland from Sir Hugh Pollard Sir Thomas Stukeley and other of his Majesties Friends in the West of England He sollicits his Brother to embrace his Majesties Interest The King wrote a Letter to General Monk and another to Sir John Greenvill concerning the owning his Cause Major General Massey was active in Glocester-shire and the Lord Herbert Son to the Marquess of Worcester and others The Lord Herbert was taken so was Major General Massey with others but all the rest of the Prisoners except the Lord Herbert and Massey's Servant make an escape Lambert marcheth against Sir George Booth and Sir George is defeated by Lambert and soon after was seized at Newport-pannel in a disguise as he was riding to London After this defeat General Monk sends a Letter to the House signifying his willingness to be dismissed from his Command The Army begin to contrive the recovery and advancement of their power The Officers of the Army promoted by Lambert dislike some proceedings of the Juncto They conclude to draw up their desires in a Petition Sir Arthur Haslerig vehemently opposeth the Armies proceedings and incenseth the House against them and Lambert Fleetwood endeavours to justifie the Officers of the Army but in vain Ashfield Cobbet and Duckenfield presented the Petition of the Army to the House thus dirrected To the Supreme Authority of these Nations the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England c. The humble Petition and Proposals of the Officers under the Command of the Right Honourable the Lord Lambert in the late Northern Expedition The House signifie their displeasure and vote against the effect of the Petition Then the Officers resolve upon more moderate Proposals Another Petition is brought into the Council of Officers more high than the former General Monk writes his sence of it in a Letter to Fleetwood and offers himself to march into England to the assistance of the Parliaments Party October the fifth Colonel Desborow with many other Officers of the Army present a Representation and Petition of the Officers of the Army to the Parliament who at first dissemble their distaste of these proceedings of the Army The Council of Officers perceiving that the Parliament labour to alter the Constitution of the Army labour to get Subscriptions to their Representation and Petition They send a Letter to General Monk concerning their Representation He resolves to admit of no Subscriptions in Scotland General Monk is courted by the Parliament and complemented by Letters with gratulatory Expressions for his good service The House takes the Armies debates into consideration and answers them one by one Mr. Nicholas Monk arrives from Scotland with private Orders from the General to Mr. Clarges The house ordereth That the Commissions of Lambert and others be made void They appoint Commissioners for governing the Army and remove Fleetwood from the chief command thereof Colonel Morley and Mosse are ordered with their Regiments to guard the House But Lambert with the Regiments that adhere to him stop the passages to the Parliament House and having enforced the Speaker to return they dissolve the Remnant Parliament by hindring the Members from coming into the House The next day divers of the chief Officers of the Army met at Whitehall and chose ten Army-Officers to be managers of the State Affairs pro tempore They agree that Fleetwood should be Commander in chief of all the Armies and that Lambert should be the next chief Officer under him and Colonel Desborow Commissary General of the Horse and that all the Officers to be constituted in the Army should be nominated by Sir Henry Vane Fleetwood Lambert Desborow Ludlow and Berry They dispatch Colonel Cobbet to General Monk with a large Narrative of the Reasons of their proceedings Now was Mr. Armoror sent by the Lord Mordant to the King to inform him how matters went in England The Council of Officers consult about a frame of Government They nominate twenty three persons to take upon them the Government under the Title of The Committee of Safety and they invite them to sit giving them Powers and Instructions General Monk writes to Fleetwood and Lambert complaining of their violation of Faith to the Parliament declaring his resolution to endeavuor to restore them to their power against all opposition whatsoever Mr. Clarges is dispatched away into Scotland by the Grandees of the Army together with Colonel Talbot to sollicit General Monk to a Treaty Monk keeps in all the displaced Officers in their respective Commands which causeth them to adhere unto him and removes those whom himself distrusteth He signifies his resolution to several of his Officers to march into England to re-establish the Parliament and hath their consent and encouragement He marcheth to Edinborough and there orders all things to his best advantage Captain Johnston secures Berwick Captain Witter takes possession for the General of the Cittadel of St. Johnstons and is made Major of the Regiment Robson gets possession of the Cittadel at Ayre and is made Colonel of the Regiment Smith's Regiment at Innerness is given to Colonel Man The General marcheth to Leith to settle the Cittadel and Regiment there Captain Hatt and Dennis bring off Cobbet's Regiment to the General and Cobbet was detained prisoner at Berwick as he was coming into Scotland with his Regiment he was brought with a Guard to Edenborough Castle and kept there At Linlithgow at a Council of Officers it was advised that some way should be used to draw off the Independent Churches in England from favouring the English Army which would have much weakened that party if it had succeeded for most of the Inferiour Officers were of that perswasion For the effecting of this a Declaration was framed agreed to published and dispersed all
Parliament House and Order seven Commissioners for the management of the Army Colonel Morley upon this change had his Regiment restored and with it the Government of the Tower conferred on him The Irish Brigade was brought off to General Monk by Redman and Bret. Dublin-castle is surprized and Sir Charles Coot reduceth all Connaught to a compliance with the present Design The Lord Fairfax and several of Monk's party joyning with him rise in York-shire Now General Monk begins his march into England By that time he came to Morpeth he was informed that Lambert's whole party was of themselves dispersed into several quarters in submission to the Parliament's Orders There he receive's an Address from the City of London by Mr. William Man their Sword-bearer as likewise from the Gentry of the Countrey in all parts as he marched along The new restored Members on January 2. name 31. Counsellors of State passing an Act for their Constitution and several Instructions for them to Act by among which it was provided that â—one should sit but such as should take an Oath of Abjuration of the King His family and Government The Oath was opposed by divers of the House Scot and Robinson are sent from the House to complement and attend General Monk upon his journey Mr. Clarges gives him an account how affairs stand at London he sends a letter by Mr. Clarges to the House from St. Albans Several addresses are made to him in his March pleading for a free Parliament He marcheth with his forces into the City of London Being come to the Council of State the Oath of Abjuration was tendred to him which he refuseth to take He is conducted with much Ceremony into the House where he receives the gratulations of the House The City continued malecontent whereupon the General is Ordered by the Council of State to march into the City and pull down the Gates and Percullices of the City which he unwillingly caused to be done The same day a Factious party of Citizens presented a Petition to the House by one Praise-God Barebone to countenance the Action The General sends a letter to the House signed by Himself and several Officers complaining against the admission of Ludlow and others into the House that had been by Sir Charles Coot accused of high Treason and that they had countenanced too much a late Petition to exclude the most sober and conscientious both Ministers and others by Oaths from all employment and maintenance he requested them that by Friday next they should Issue out Writs to fill up their House and when filled should rise in some short time to give place to a full and free Paliament Scot and Robinson are sent from the House to the General with their answer to his letter The General excuseth his late proceedings in the City before the Lord Mayor and Common Council of the City He tells them what he had written to the House touching a free Parliament The City joyfully receives the news of a free Parliament The Council of State write to him to desire his presence with them but he excuseth his stay in the City for some longer time till the minds of the Citizens were more composed The City and Chief Officers of his Army disswade him from going to White-hall The General is sollicited from all parts to admit the secluded Members He admits of a conference before him of the sitting with some of the secluded Members The Officers of the Army consent to the admission of the secluded Members upon certain conditions The General and the Officers at length agree upon their admission and on the Tuesday morning following they were guarded to the House and took their places in the Parliament Then was a letter signed by the General and his Chief Officers drawn up and Copies of it sent to all the Regiments and Garrisons in England and to the Commanders in Chief of the Armies in England Scotland and Ireland to acquaint them with what he had done The Parliament repealed the Act for the Council of State and the Oath of Abjuration and passed an Act for another Council consisting of one and thirty persons most of them men of integrity and well-affected to Kingly-government Then the General sends Colonel Fairfax to take possession of Hull and Colonel Overton submits to his Orders The Army in Scotland were well-satisfied with the General 's Actions About the thirteenth of March the Parliament abrogated the Engagement appointed formerly to be taken by each Member of Parliament in these words viz. I do declare and promise That I will be true and faithful to the Common Wealth of England as the same is now established without King or House of Lords and appointed it should be taken off the file and made Null The Common Wealth Faction desire the General rather to take the Government upon himself than to bring in the King and treat with him about it The General refuseth their offer Then the Republicans attempt to make a mutiny in the Army The long Parliament was now dissolved The King removes to Breda The Council of State appointed by the late Parliament set forth a Proclamation for the preventing of tumults Lambert escape's out of the Tower Colonel Ingoldsby and Colonel Streater march against Lambert defeat his party and take him prisoner Colonel Lambert Colonel Cobbet and Major Creed are sent prisoners to the Tower Hereupon several seditious Pamphlets were published in Print and dispersed to deprave the mindes of the people and Tickets were thrown into the Courts of Guard in the night to divide the Souldiers But none of them was penned with more virulency and malice than that suppositious paper carrying in it's Frontispiece A letter from Bruxels c. Several letters were also sent to the General from unknown hands Then came forth a Declaration of the Nobility and Gentry that adhered to the late King residing in and about the City of London A new Parliament met at Westminster April 25. 1660. The Lords chose the Earl of Manchester to be their Speaker and the House of Commons Sir Harbottle Grimston On April 27. Sir John Greenvil presents the General with a Commission from His Majesty to Constitute him Captain General of all the Armies of England Scotland and Ireland and a letter for the Council of State The Letter had a Declaration in it which were both read in the House After the reading thereof the House of Lords voted That according to the Antient and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom the Government is and ought to be by King Lords and Commons The Officers of the Army present an Address to the General in compliance with His Majestie 's Letter and Declaration it is read by the Commons and approved Commissary Clarges is appointed by the General to wait upon the King with this Address Six of the Lords and of the Commons and divers Aldermen and divers Episcopal and Presbyterial Divines and some other eminent Citizens are sent to attend on his Majesty
at Breda His Majestie 's Letter and Declaration to the Fleet by the diligence of General Mountague had the same success there as that in the Army being gratefully received by all the Commanders in the Fleet. Three days after the Lords and Commons having agreed upon a Proclamation to that purpose His Majesty was Proclaimed with great solemnity in the Cities of London and Westminster the Lords and Commons and the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London being present Mr. Clarges carrieth the happy tidings hereof with a Letter from the General to His Majesty at Breda Thereupon M. Clarges is Knighted by His Majesty The Parliament's and Cities Commissioners have their audience from His Majesty at the Hague The King afterwards landed at Dover with the Dukes of York and of Glocester and many Noblemen and Gentlemen There the General met him upon whose motion for His going to Canterbury the King hastned to His Coach in His passage to which he was met by the Mayor and Aldermen of the Town with Mr. Reading the Minister who presented His Majesty with a large Bible with Golden Clasps At His entrance into Canterbury he was met by the Mayor and Aldermen and Mr. Lovelace the Recorder who made an eloquent speech to Him the Mayor also presented Him with a Tankard of Massie Gold and then conducted Him to the Palace where He remained till Monday From Canterbury He marcheth magnificently attended to London When he came to S. George's fields the Lord Mayor and Aldermen on their Knees Reverenced His Majesty and the Lord Mayor presented His Sword unto Him which His Majesty gave back to him from thence He was in a Triumphant and Glorious manner attended and conducted through the City of London to White-hall On May 29. 1660. being His birth-day The Lord Mayor having taken leave of Him He went to the Lords where He was entertained with a grave and eloquent speech of the Earl of Manchester and from thence to the Banquetting-house where the whole House of Commons attending Him the Speaker in their names expressed the joyful sence they all had to behold His Majesty return'd in safety and thereby an end was put to that Tyranny and Slavery His good people had endured His Majesty in brief expresseth his gracious intentions to them Then His Majesty gave thanks to God in His Presence chamber for all His deliverances and mercies toward him May 31. He sets forth a Proclamation against debauchery and profaneness The Chief Officers of State and of the King's Houshold and the Lords of His Majestie 's Privy Council are constituted The Commons set upon the Act of General Pardon On June 4. the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance were taken by both Houses of Parliament the King's Servants and Officers of His Houshold His Majestie 's arrival is congratulated by the People from all parts of the Nation and by several of the Nobility and Gentry both of Scotland and Ireland The King on July 5. is magnificently entertained with the Dukes of York and Glocester the Lords of the Privy-council the two Houses of Parliament and the Chief-officers of State by the Lord Mayor and the Grandees of the City General Monk was created Duke of Albemarle General Mountague made Earl of Sandwich and the Marquess of Ormond made Duke of Ormond The Chief Ministers of State are constituted in Scotland Notwithstanding the late unanimous concurrence of the people at Edinborough as well as other places in the publick Proclaiming of His Majesty yet soon after there began to discover it self a spirit of discontent among many Scotch Ministers some of the principal sticklers of the Kirk-party as appeared by their meeting together at a place appointed for the drawing up a Remonstrance concerning things wherein they thought themselves aggrieved which the Committee of Estates having notice of sent forthwith to apprehend them and clapt them up in Prison and for the prevention of the like disturbances for the future set forth a Proclamation against all unlawful meetings and seditious Papers The Marquess of Argyle notwithstanding he came to Court with others of the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland under pretence of tendring his service to His Majesty yet was he charged with high Treason and sent prisoner to the Tower and together with him were committed the Marquess of Antrim Sir Henry Vane and Sir Arthur Hazlerig with several others that followed Sir Arthur died soon after of a Fever in the Tower Argyle was sent back into Scotland and their tried condemned and beheaded On August 19. among other Acts an Act was passed by the King and Parliament for a perpetual Anniversary Thanksgiving on May 29. the day of His Majestie 's Nativity and Restauration An Act also was passed for a general Pardon Indempnity and Oblivion in which among other things that were excepted all accounts of the Revenues of Churches in Wales and Monmouth-shire and all Judgements of discharge or Quietus est thereupon had This Exception as to the Churches in Wales was inserted by the Parliament in this Act upon information that some factious people had in the time of the late usurpation procured to themselves an Authority to Sequester all those Revenues upon pretence to employ them more equally to illiterate Preachers for the better propagation of the Gospel in those parts but kept the greatest part to their own use leaving most of the Churches unsupplied All offences also done by any Popish Priest Seminary or Jesuite contrary to the Statute of the 27 Eliz. were excepted Many of the late King's judges were excepted from pardon All Trustees in a pretended Act made Anno 1649. concerning Tithes appropriate Fee-farm rents and First-fruits c. and their heirs were to be accomptable for such of the same as had not been employed according to the said Act nevertheless no Minister or School-master or other person for whose benefit the said Act was made were to be accomptable The King on September 13. 1660. came to the House of Lords and signed fourteen private and eight publick Acts among which one was an Act for the Confirming and Restoring of Ministers This Act stopt the clamours of many Ecclesiastical Persons that had defective titles to their Cures and the goodness of His Majesty was very much celebrated by His consent to it It enacts That every Ecclesiastical Person or Minister ordained by any Ecclesiastical Persons before the twenty fifth of December last past and was then in possession and received the profits being in the King's gift or of His Father or of any Archbishop Bishop Dean and Chapter Prebend Archdeacon Body Politick or Corporate or other Person other than such hereby restored is declared lawful Incumbent Every Voluntary Resignation of a Benefice to the Patron or any Pretended Power since the said first day of January to be good as if made to the Competent Ordinary No presentation is to be construed to be an usurpation in Law to the prejudice of any that shall have right to present Every
said Book contained should upon every Lord's day and upon all other days and occasions and at the times therein appointed be openly and solemnly read by all and every Minister and Curate in every Church Chappel or other place of publick worship within this Realm of England and places aforesaid It was also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That every Parson Vicar or other Minister whatsoever who then had and enjoyed any Ecclesiastical Benefice or Promottion within this Realm of England c. should in the Church Chappel or place of publick worship belonging to his said Benefice or Promotion upon some Lord's day before the Feast of St. Bartholomew which should be in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hundred sixty two openly publickly and solemnly read the Morning and Evening Prayer appointed to be read by and according to the said Book of Common-Prayer at the times thereby appointed and after such reading thereof openly and publickly before the Congregation there assembled declare his unfeigned Assent and Consent to the use of all things in the said Book contained and prescribed in these words and no other I A. B. do here declare my unfeigned Assent and Consent to all and every thing contained and prescribed in and by the Book entitled The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England together with the Psalter or Psalmes of David pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches and the form or manner of making Ordaining and Consecrating of Bishops Priests and Deacons And that all and every such Person who should without some lawful impediment to be allowed and approved of by the Ordinary of the place neglect or refuse to do the same within the time aforesaid c. should within one moneth be deprived ipso facto of his spiritual promotions and that thenceforth it should be lawful to and for all Patrons and Donors of all and singular the said spiritual Promotions or of any of them according to their respective Rights and Titles to present or collate to the same as though the person or persons so offending were dead And it was further Enacted That every Person henceforth to be promoted to any Ecclesiastical Benefice should read the Common-Prayer and declare his Assent and Consent thereto within two moneths next after that he shall be in actual possession of the said Ecclesiastical Benefice or Promotion and upon neglect or refusal to be deprived as aforesaid And that Incumbents of Livings keeping Curates shall read the same once every moneth upon pain to forfeit the sum of five pounds to the use of the poor of the Parish for every offence It was also Enacted That every Dean Canon and Prebendary of every Cathedral or Collegiate Church and all Masters and other Heads Fellows Chaplains and Tutors of or in any Colledge Hall Hospital and every publick Professor and Reader in either of the Universities and in every Colledge else-where and every Parson Vicar Curate Lecturer c. and every School-master keeping any publick or private School and every person instructing or teaching any youth in any House or private family as a Tutor or School-master c. should before the Feast of St. Bartholomew in the year aforesaid subscribe the Declaration following scilicet I A. B. do declare that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take up Arms against the King and that I do abhor that traiterous position of taking Arms by his Authority against his person or against those that are Commissioned by him and that I will conform to the Liturgy of the Church of England as it is now by Law established and I do declare that there lies no obligation upon me or on any other person from the Oath commonly called the Solemn League and Covenant to endeavour any change or alteration of Government either in Church or State and that the same was in it self an unlawful Oath and imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm against the known Laws and liberties of this Kingdom The penalty for failing in subscribing was for Deans Vicars School-masters to be deprived of their Ecclesiastical promotions Schools and Lectures to be void as if such person so failing were naturally dead Provided always That from and after the 25th day of March which shall be in the year of our Lord God 1682. there shall be omitted in the said declaration so to be subscribed and read it being enjoyned to be openly and publickly read by every Minister c. upon some Lords day within three moneths after his subscription in the presence of the Congregation there assembled these words following scil And I do declare that I do hold there lies no obligation upon me or on any other person from the Oath commonly called the Solemn League and Covenant to endeavour any change or alteration of Government either in Church or State and that the same was in it self an unlawful Oath and imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm against the known Laws and liberties thereof So as none of the persons aforesaid shall from thenceforth be at all obliged to subscribe or read any part of the said declaration or acknowledgement It was further Enacted That persons not ordained Priests or Deacons according to Episcopal ordination shall not hold any Ecclesiastical promotion nor shall consecrate and administer the holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper upon pain to forfeit for every offence the sum of one hundred pounds one moyety thereof to the King the other moyety thereof to be equally divided between the poor of the Parish where the offence shall be committed It was also Enacted That no other Form or Order of Common-Prayers Administration of Sacraments Rites or Ceremonies should be used openly in any Church Chappel or publick place And it was further Enacted That if any person who is by this Act disabled to Preach any Lecture or Sermon shall during the time that he shall continue and remain so disabled Preach any Sermon or Lecture that then for every such offence the Person and Persons so offending shall suffer three moneths imprisonment in the common Goal without Bayl or Mainprize It was also Provided That at all and every time and times when any Sermon or Lecture is to be Preached the Common-Prayers and Service in and by the said Book appointed to be read for that time of the day shall be openly publickly and solemnly read by some Priest or Deacon in the Church Chappel or place of publick worship where the said Sermon or Lecture is to be Preached and that the Lecturer then to Preach shall be present at the reading thereof It was further Enacted That the Laws and Statutes formerly made for Uniformity of Common-Prayer should continue to be in force and to be executed for punishing offendors against this Law Hereupon many hundred Ministers with divers Lecturers and School-masters left their places refusing to
or persons restrained from coming to any City Town Corporate Borough c. or for any other person or persons as shall not first take and subscribe the said Oath and as shall not frequent Divine Service established by the Laws of this Kingdom and carry him or her self reverently decently and orderly there to teach any publick or private School or take any Boarders or Tablers that are taught or instructed by him or her self or any other upon pain for every such offence to forfeit the sum of forty pounds to be recovered and distributed as aforesaid The offender also to be committed for six moneths to prison by two Justices of the Peace of the respective County without Bayl or Mainprize unless upon or before such commitment he shall before the said Justices of the Peace swear and subscribe the aforesaid Oath and Declaration An Act was also passed for uniting Churches in Cities and Towns Corporate which was judged necessary by reason of the great ruine of many Churches and Parishes in the late ill times and otherwise The Parishes to remain distinct as to all Rates Taxes Parochial rights charges and duties and all other Priviledges Liberties and respects whatsoever notwithstanding any such union to be made by vertue hereof It was Enacted That the Patrons of such Churches and Chappels so united shall present by turns onely to that Church which shall remain and be presentative from time to time c. Provided That Parishes having an hundred pounds maintenance per Annum may not be united Incumbents of such united Parishes must be Graduates in some University Owners of Impropriations may bestow and annex maintenance to the Churches where they lye and settle it in trust for the benefit of the said Parsonage or Vicarage without any license of Mortmain It was further Enacted That if the setled maintenance of such Parsonage Vicarage Churches and Chappels so united c. shall not amount to the full sum of one hundred pounds per Annum clear and above all charges and reprizes that then it shall be lawful for the Parson Vicar and Incumbent of the same and his Successors to take receive and purchase to him and his Successors Lands Tenements Rents Tithes or other Hereditaments without any license of Mortmain any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding This year 1665. was a great Plague in London and in the Suburbs thereof of which there died above an hundred thousand persons Anno 1666. On September 2d a Great â—ire arose in London which consumed a great part of the City whereby her beauty was defaced and her glory stained yea the Houses of God themselves became a heap of ruines and a sad spectacle of desolation The Citizens had not been long returned to their Houses which the late devouring Plague had driven them from but now the fire swalloweth up all their habitations and they that had so lately escaped the grave do now see the City it self as it were buried in it's own ruines In October 1667. a Judicature was erected for determination of differences touching Houses burned or demolished by reason of the late fire which hapned in London An Act was passed for Re-building the City of London And that the said Citizens and their Successors for all the time to come may retain the memorial of so sad a desolation and reflect seriously upon their manifold iniquities which are the unhappy causes of such Judgments It was Enacted That the second of September unless the same happen to be the Lord's day and it so then the next day following be yearly for ever hereafter observed as a day of publick Fasting and Humiliation within the said City and Liberties thereof to implore the mercies of Almighty God upon the said City to make devout Prayer and Supplication unto him to divert the like calamity for the time to come And the better to preserve the memory of this dreadful visitation It was further Enacted That a Column or Pillar of Brass or Stone be erected on or as near unto the place where the said Fire so unhappily began as conveniently may be in perpetual remembrance thereof with such Inscription thereon as hereafter by the Mayor and Court of Aldermen be directed It was also further Enacted That the Parish-churches to be Re-builded within the said City of London in lieu of those which were demolished by the late fire should not exceed the number of thirty nine to be set out and appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London for the time being It was also Provided That the Sites and Materials of such Churches as by this Bill are not to be rebuilt together with the Church-yards belonging to such Churches shall be and are hereby vested in the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London for the time being to the end so much of the said ground as shall not upon the re-building of the said City be laid into the Streets be sold and disposed of by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen or the Major part of them with the consent of the said Archbishop and Bishop of London for the time being and the money raised by such sale shall be by the said Mayor and Aldermen or the major part of them with the consent of the said Archbishop and Bishop disposed of and employed for and towards the rebuilding of such Parish-Churches as by this Act are intended to be rebuilt and for no other use or purpose whatsoever Provided always That any thing in this Act contained shall not extend or be taken to vest or settle the Church of St. Pauls and St. Faiths or any part thereof or the Church of St. Gregory by St. Pauls or any of them or the Church-yards to any of them belonging or appertaining in the Mayor Aldermen and Commons of the City of London or any of them any thing in this Act notwithstanding An additional Act was also made for the rebuilding the City of London uniting of Parishes and rebuilding of the Cathedral and Parochial Churches within the said City An Imposition was charged upon every Tun or Chaldron of Coales and it was provided That three fourth parts of all the moneys which from and after the first day of May 1670. and before the 24th day of June 1677. shall be raised or payable upon the receipt of the said imposition of two shillings for every Chaldron or Tun of Coals or in case of concealment thereof shall be employed and disposed for and towards the rebuilding erecting or repairing of the said Parish-Churches respectively according to such order and direction as by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Bishop and Lord Mayor of London for the time being or any two of them shall be given in that behalf and the same shall from time to time be issued out and paid accordingly unto such person and persons as they or any two of them shall by Warrant under their hands and seals for that purpose
his called Asaph In the time of King Edward the Second there were five Mansion-houses belonging to it in which the Bishops used to reside scil Lanelwy Altmaliden Landeglia Nauverg and St. Martins of all which there now remaineth to them Lanelwy only Great havock was made of this Church in the reign of King Henry the Fourth by Owen Glendover since which time the Canons Houses were never repaired 2. St. Asaph Of him the Cathedral Church was ever after even unto this day called Ecclesia Asaphensis He was a man of great learning and vertue Who succeeded him for some hundreds of years after we find not 3. The next that is mentioned is Geoffry of Monmouth the Historian Of a Benedictine Monk he became Bishop of St. Asaph Anno 1151. 4. Adam a Welch-man 5 Reynerus 6 Abraham He gave half the Tithes of Wrexham to this Church 7 Howel Ednevit 8. Anianus the First 9 Anianus the Second a Dominican Confessor to Edward the First Iohn Earl of Arundel gave much Land to him and his Successors and after him Iohn his Son added more 10 Lewellin de Bromfield 11 David ap Blethin 12 Ephraim 13 Henry 14 Iohn Trevor 15 Llewelin ap Madoc ap Elis 16 William de Spridlington 17 Laurence Child a Monk of the Abbey of Battel 18 Alexander Bach 19 Iohn Trevor 20. Robert 21. John Low 22 Reginald Peacock 23. Thomas 24. Richard Redman 25. David ap Owen 26. Edmond Birkhead 27. Henry Standish 28. William Barlow 29. Robert Warton 30. Thomas Goldwel 31. Richard Davies 32. Thomas Davies 33. William Hughes 34 William Morgan 35. Richard Parry 36. John Hanmer 37. John Owen 38. George Griffith 39. Henry Glemham 40. Isaac Barrow Bishops of Lindisfarn 1. Aidan who chose for his See a little Island called Lindisfarn now called Holy Island where he and divers of his Successors led their lives He travelled up and down the Countrey on foot to preach the Gospel giving whatsoever he could get unto the poor He died August 31. Anno 651. for grief of the death of King Oswald who was traiterously slain twelve dayes before 2. Finan He first built a Church for his See in the Island all of timber and covered it with reed 3. Colman He gave over his Bishoprick and returned into Scotland 4. Tuda 5. Eata 6. St. Cuthbert Bishop of Lindisfarn he is famed for his Sanctity 7. Wilfrid 8. Eadbert He covereth the Church with Lead 9. Egfrid 10. Ethelwold 11. Kenulfus 12. Higbald In his time the Danes spoiled the Church and Monastery and the Monks forced to leave it 13. Egbert 14. Eanbert 15. Eardulph In the mean time the Bishops of Hagustald were 1. Aca 2. Fritherbert 3. Athmund 4. Titherus 5. Ethelbert 6. Heanred 7. Eanberthus 8. Tidferthus Bishops of Chester on the Street 1. Eardulph Vpon the burning of Lindisfarn removed his See to Chester on the Street anciently called Cunecestre And by Elfred and Guthred Kings of Northumberland all the Countrey between Tine and Tisean were given to the same See 2. Cuthardus 3. Milred 4. Withred 5. Ughtred 6. Sexhelm He being covetous was so terrified with a Vision of St. Cuthbert that he was forced to leave the See 7. Alssius or Elssig He was the last Bishop of Lindisfern or Chester on the Street Bishops of Durham 1. Aldhunus or Aldvinus was consecrâ—ted Bishop Anno 995. He with his Monks came to Durham or rather Dunholm which is compounded of two Saxon words Dun signifying an Hill and Holm an Island in a River a place full of Woods He with the help of Uthred Earl of Northumberland caused the Woods to be cut down cleansed the place and in short time made it habitable A Church was finished there in the time of this Bishop He was School-master unto the Children of King Ethelred Elfred and Edward that afteward reigned and is called Edward the Confessor 2. Edmond The Monks and Priests contending about a Successor to Aldhunus this Edmond came among them and â—castingly offered himself to be their Bishop and they chose him against his will he having a better mind to a Tennis-court than a Monks Hood Malmsb. lib. 3. de Pont. He much adorned his Church and the City with buildings 3. Eadred 4. Egelrick He builded a Church at Cuneagecestre in digging the foundation of this Church he found so much money that he cared not for the Bishoprick but resigned it unto Egelwyn his Brother and returned to the Monastery of Peterborough whence he came He made the Cawsey from Deeping to Spalding He was afterward accused to the Conqueror of Treason and taken out of his Monastery and imprisoned at Westminster where he died 5. Egelwyn He was Bishop at the coming in of the Conqueror he forsook Durham and carried his Clergy with him unto the Church of Landisfarn but he was not long before they returned again 6. Walcher or Walter He was so rich that he bought the Earldom of Northumberland of the King He and many of his Retinue were slain in the Church of Durham May 14. 1080. and the Church burnt with fire because two of his Servants had murdered Leulfus one of the Ancestors to the now Lord Lumley R. Hoved. 7. William Kairlipho Abbot of St. Vincent He was consecrate at Glocester in the presence of the King and divers of his Nobles He procured license of Pope Gregory to translate the Monks of Yarrow to Durham He expelled divers married Priests out of his Church and suffered only Monks to dwell there He pulled down the Church of Durham that Aldhunus had built there and began to erect another far more magnificent but lived not to finish it 8. Ranulph Flambard 9. Geoffry Rufus Chancellor of England He built the Castle of Alnerton 10. William de Sta. Barbara 11. Hugh Pudsey He built a fair House at Derlington as also the Church there He founded the Priory of Finchal He bought Sâ—dbury of King Richard the First and gave it unto his See He built the Bridge of Elvet and the Gallery at the West-end of his Cathedral Church in which he placed the bones of Venerable Bede He built two Hospitals one at Allerton another called Sherborn Vnto Sherborn he gave liberal maintenance for sixty five poor Lazers and a certain number of Priests For a great sum of money King Richard made him Earl of Northumberland 12. Philip de Poictiers This Bishop by the license of King Richard the First set up a Mint at Durham and began to coyn money there Anno 1196. 13. William de Marisco 14. Richard Poor 15. Nicholas de Fernham 16. Walter de Kirkham 17. Robert Stitchel 18. Robert de Insula 19. Anthony Beake 20. Richard de Bury He was soon after Lord Chancellor and within two years after that Lord Treasurer of England He was often employed in Ambassages of great importance What time of leisure he had he spent either in Prayer or conference with his Chaplains whereof he had many about him and those very learned men or
Bernam Chancellor to the Bishop of Norwich being accused for holding and teaching divers Heresies But being threatened he submitted himself and abjured and for his penance he was whipped three Sundayes in a solemn procession in the Cathedral Church of Norwich before all the people The like also was done about his Parish-church of Shelton three other several Sundayes he being bare-headed bare-footed and bare-necked after the manner of a publick Penitentiary his body being covered with a canvass shirt and breeches carrying in his hand a Taper of a pound weight In the same year John Goddesel of Dichingham Parchment maker abjured and was set at liberty till the year 1428. Richard Belward of Erisam sware that he would neither teach nor assist any against the Church of Rome and was dismissed The like happened to Hugh Pie Chaplain of Ludney In the year 1428. King Henry the Sixth sent down Letters of Commission to John Exeter and Ja olet Germain keeper of the Castle of Colchester for the apprehending of William White Priest and others suspected of Heresie John Exeter attached six persons in the Town of Bungay in the Diocess of Norwich and three of them were committed to the Castle of Fremingham belonging to the Duke of Norfolk namely John Waddon of Tenterden in Kent Bartholomew Monk of Ersham and William Skutt In the Towns of Bâ—ckles Ersham and Ludney a great number both of Men and Women were cast into prison and after their abjuration brought to open shame in Churches and Markets by the Bishop of Norwich and his Chancellor William Bernham John Exeter being Register so that within the space of three or four years about one hundred and twenty Men and Women were examined and suffered great vexation for the profession of Christian Faith Some taken upon suspition only more easily escaped as Robert Skirring of Harlstone William Skirring and some others Some were burned among whom special mention is made of these three Father Abraham of Colchester William White and John Waddon Priests The residue abjured and suffered penance as John Beverley J. Wardon John Capper Vicar of Tunstal with more than threescore others They had their Doctrine from William White who was a Scholar and follower of John Wickliff Anno 1428. Such was the Spleen of the Council of Sienna as they not only cursed the memory of John Wickliff as dying an obstinate Heretick but ordered that his bones should be taken out of the ground and thrown far off from any Christian burial In obedience hereunto Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincoln Diocesan of Lutterworth sent his Officers to ungrave him accordingly who took his bones out of the grave and burnt them to ashes and cast them into Swift a neighbouring Brook running hard by Anno 1430. R. Hovedon a Wool-winder and Citizen of London was burnt at the Tower-hill for the Doctrine of Wickliff The year following Thomas Bagley a Priest Vicar of Monenden besides Malden was condemned of Heresie at London about the midst of Lent degraded and burned in Smithfield At St. Andrews in Scotland Anno 1431. Paul Craw was burnt for denying that the substance of the Bread and Wine are changed in the Eucharist Petries Church History or that Confession is necessary to be made unto Priests or Prayers unto Saints departed At his condemnation they put a Bull of Brass in his mouth to the end he should not speak unto the people nor tell for what he was burnt Henry Beauford Bishop of Winchester Cardinal Sancti Eusebii Ex Archivâ—â— Turris Lond. was by consent of Parliament made one of the King's Council with this condition that he should make a protestation to absent himself from the Council when any matters were to be treated betwixt the King and Pope The Cardinal took the Protestation and promised to perform it The Clergy complained to the King in Parliament that their Servants which came with them to Convocations were often arrested and they prayed that they might have the same Priviledge which the Peers and Commons of the Kingdom have which are called to Parliament which was granted accordingly Great at this time was the want of Grammar-schools and the abuse of them that were even in London it self it being paenal for any to prevent the growth of Wicklivism to put their Children to private Teachers Hence it was that some hundreds were compelled to go to the same School where to use the words of the Records The Masters waxen rich in money and Learners poor in cunning Whereupon this grievance was complained of by four eminent Ministers in London viz. Mr. William Lichfield Parson of Alhallowes the Great Mr. Gilbert Parson of St. Andrew's Holborn Mr. John Cote Parson of St. Peter's Cornhil Mr. John Neele Master of the House of St. Thomas Acre 's and Parson of Colchirch To these it was granted by the advice of the Ordinary or Archbishop of Canterbury to erect five Schools Neele having a double License for two places in their respective Parishes Know that the House of St. Thomas Acre 's was where Mercers Chappel standeth at this day Then was the Lady Eleanor Cobham so called from the Lord Cobham her Father otherwise Eleanor Plantagenet by her Husband Humfry Duke of Glocester and Roger Only Priest her Chaplain condemned the Dutchess after solemn penance and carrying a Taper barefoot at Paul's Cross to perpetual banishment for plotting with Only say Hall and Fabian in their Chronicles an abominable Necromancer with three others by Witchcraft to destroy the King so to derive the Crown to her Husband who was next Heir in the line of Lancaster And Roger Only was burned But the main cause of their condemnation was for the profession of the Truth although Treason was pretended against them Polydor Virgil makes no mention thereof otherwise quick-lighted enough in matters of this nature At this time William Heiworth sate Bishop of Coventry and Dichfield being translated thither from being Abbot of St. Albans Fuller's Chur. History of Britain At this time William Lynwood finished his industrious and useful Work of his Constitutions He was bred in Cambridge first Scholar of Gonvil then Fellow of Pembrook-hall His younger years he spent in the Law afterwards he became Keeper of the Privy-seal unto King Henry the Fifth who employed him in an Embassie into Spain and Portugal which he exactly performed After the King's death he re-assumed his Official's place of Canterbury and then at spare hours collected and digested the Constitutions of the fourteen latter Archbishops of Canterbury from Stephen Langton unto Henry Chichley unto whom he dedicated the Work a worthy Work highly esteemed by forreign Lawyers his Comment thereon is a Magazine of the Canon Law It was printed at Paris Anno 1505. but at the cost and charges of William Bretton an honest Merchant of London revised by the care of Wolfangus Hippolius and prefaced unto by Iodocus Badius This Linwood was afterwards made Bishop of St. Davids Anno 1434. began the active Council