passed a Statute in the firmest manner could bee deuised that this kingdome should remaine intire as before without any violation of the rights it had Prouident he was in all his actions neuer vnder-taking any thing before he had first furnished himselfe with meanes to performe it For his gifts we finde them not such as either his owne fame and reputation or any way distasted the State To be short hee was a Prince who knew his worke and did it and therefore was he better obeyed better respected and serued then any of his Predecessours His workes of Pietie were great and many as the founding of East-minster an Abbey of the Cisteux order neare the Tower An Abbey for Nunnes at Dartford in Kent of both which I haue already written The Kings Hall in Cambridge for poore Schollers An Hospitall for the poore at Calais The building of Saint Stephens Chappell at Westminster with the endowment of three hundred pound per annum to that Church His augmenting the Chappell at Windsore and prouisions there for Church-men and twenty foure poore knights c. These were his publique works the best Monuments and most lasting to glorifie the memory of Princes Besides these his priuate buildings are great and many as the Castle of Windsore which he re-edified and enlarged His magnificence was shewed in Triumphs and Feasts which were sumptuously celebrated with all due rites and ceremonies the preseruers of Reuerence and Maiestie To conclude he was a Prince whose nature agreed with his office as onely made for it On this manner as he was in the strength of his yeares and in the height of his vigorous actions his character is exprest by many Authors Now may it please you in this place to take a view of this the mighty great Monarch of England France and Ireland as he was wrinkled with age weakened with a sore lingring disease and laid downe vpon his Deaths-bed When he had attained to the age of threescore and fiue yeares or thereabouts and wrastled with a sicknesse which gaue him the ouerthrow lying in the bed and at the point of death his eyes darkened his speech altered and his naturall heate almost extinguished one whom of all other he most entirely affected tooke the rings from his fingers which for the royaltie of his Maiestie he was wont to weare so bad him adiew and withdrew herselfe into another roome a woman she was inuerecunda pâ—llex as Walsingham calls her whose name was Alice Piers neither was hee left onely of her the said Alice but of other the knights and Esquires who had serued him allured more with his gifts then his loue Amongst many there was onely present at that time a certaine Priest other of his seruants applying the spoile of what they could lay hands on who lamenting the kings miserie and inwardly touched with griefe of heart for that amongst so many Councellers which hee had there was none that would minister vnto him the word of life came boldly vnto him and admonished him to lift vp the eyes as well of his body as of his heart vnto God and with sighes to aske mercy of him whose Maiestie he well knew he had grieuously offended Whereupon the king listened to the words of the Priest and although a little before he had wanted the vse of his tongue yet then taking strength to him hee seemed to speake what was in his minde And then what for weaknesse of his body contrition of his heart and sobbing for his sinnes his voice and speech failed him and scarce halfe pronouncing this word Iesu he gaue vp the Ghost at his Mannour of Sheene now Richmount as aforesaid If you will heare any more of this Martiall king you must haue the patience to trouble your selues in the reading of these obsolete old rimes Aftur hym reguyd hys son ful ryght The iii Edward that dowtie knyght U. sones he hadde truly here That wer to hym leef and dere Furst yis kyng dude a grete maistry Atte Scluce he brend a gret Naby Atte Tresse he faught ayain The kyng of Beme ther was slayn And the kyng of France putte to flyght Non longor than durst he fyght A sege atte Calice he lede byfor That last xii months and mor And or he thens wold goo He wan Calice and touns moo Atte Batail of Poyters by ordynance Was taken Iohn the kyng of France Atte Westmynstre he lyth ther He regnyd almoost li yer Byfor hym deyed Prynce Edward Whych hadde a son that hight Rychard Philippa of whom I haue spoken before Queene of England wife of Edward the third daughter of William of Bauaria Earle of Henault and Holland by Ioane sister of Philip of Valoys king of France lyeth entombed at her husbands feet She was a Lady of great vertue and a constant true louer of our Nation who when shee had beene king Edwards wife fourty two yeares she died August 15. 1369. These verses are annexed to her Monument Gulielmi Hannonis sobeles postrema Philippa Hic roseo quondam pulchra decore iacet Tertius Edwardus Rex ista coninge letus Materno suasu nobiliumque fuit Frater Iohannes Comes Mauortius heros Huic illam voluit consociare viro Hec iunxit Flandros coniunctio sanguinis Anglis In Francos venit hinc Gallica dira lues Dotibus hec raris viguit Regina Philippa Forma prestanti Religione fide Fecunda nata est proles numerosa parenti Insignes peperit magnanimosque duces Oxonij posuit studiosis optima nutrix Regineas Edes Palladiam scholam Coniux Edwardi iacet hic Regina Philippa Disce viuere Thus there Englished Faire Philip William Hennaldes childe and youngest daughter deere Of roseat hue and beautie bright in tombe lies hilled heere Edward the third through mothers will and Nobles good consent Tooke her to wife and ioyfully with her his time he spent His brother Iohn a Martiall man and eke a valiant knight Did linke this woman to this king in bonds of marriage right This match and marriage thus in bloud did binde the Flemings sure To Englishmen by which they did the Frenchmens wracke procure This Philip flowr'd in gifts full rare and treasures of the minde In beauty bright Religion Faith to all and each most kinde A fruitfull Mother Philip was full many a sonne she bred And brought forth many a worthy knight hardy and full of dred A carefull Nurse to Students all at Oxford she did found Queenes Colledge and Dame Pallas Schoole that did her fame resound The wife of Edward deere Queene Philip lieth here Learne to liue She was the youngest of the fiue daughters of William Earle of Henault aforesaid especially chosen before any of her Sisters for king Edwards wife by a Bishop of what See I am vncertaine and other Lords temporall sent thither were sent as Embassadours to treate of the marriage Of which thus much out of Harding cap. 178. as followeth He sent furth
l. 10. s. 8. d. per annum Pleshy This Collegiate Church was founded by Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester for Canons regular which was valued in the Kings bookes to be yearely worth one hundred thirty nine pounds three shillings ten pence The vpper part of which Church within these few yeares was taken downe and as I was told in the Towne the Parishioners being either vnwilling or vnable to repaire the decayes carried away the materials which were employed to other vses This part of the Church was adorned and beautified with diuers rich funerall Monuments which were hammered a peeces bestowed and diuided according to the discretion of the Inhabitants Vpon one of the parts of a dismembred Monument carelesly cast here and there in the body of the Church I found these words Here lyeth Iohn Holland Erle of Exceter Erle of Huntington and Chamberleyne of England Who dyed ....... This Iohn was halfe brother to King Richard the second and Duke of Exceter From which dignitie he was deposed by Act of Parliament in the first yeare of King Henry the fourth whose sister he had married and in the same yeare beheaded in this Towne for a seditious conspiracie saith Camden and in the very place where the Duke of Glocester was arrested by King Richard which was in the base court of the Castle of Pleshie now quite ruined that he might seeme saith he to haue beene iustly punished by way of satisfaction for the foresaid Duke of Glocester of whose death he was thought to be the principall procurer He was beheaded the third day after the Epiphanie 1399. 1. Hen. 4. Vpon a broken peece of a faire marble stone reared to the side of a pillar whereupon were the pictures in brasse of an armed knight and his Lady this ensuing disticke was engrauen Militis o miserere tui miserere Parentum Alme deus regnis gaudeat ille tuis Vnder this stone if Tradition may go for truth Sir Edward Holland Earle of Mortaigne sonne of the foresaid Iohn Holland beheaded with his Lady were entombed Orate pro anima Iohannis Scot primi Magistri huius Collegij qui obijt primo die Ianuar. M. cccc.x Qui me psalmasti miserere mei Qui me pretioso tuo sanguine redimisti miserere mei Qui me ad Christianitatem vocasti miserere mei Here lyeth Robert Frevyt a man letterd sowndyt For hys sowl and for all christine sey a Pater Noster and an Ave. But I shall forget the Founder Thomas of Woodstocke the sixth sonne of King Edward the third and Vncle to King Richard who was taken by force from this his Castle of Plessy by Thomas Mowbray Earle Marshall and conuayed to Callis where he was smothered vnder a Featherbed 1397. His body was afterwards conueyed with all funerall pompe into England and buried here in this Church of his owne foundation in a goodly sepulchre prouided by himselfe in his life time Whose reliques were afterwards remoued and laid vnder a marble inlaid with brasse in the Kings Chappell at Westminster In which Church Elianor his wife of whom I haue spoken before lieth entombed with this French inscription who after the death of her husband became a Nunne in the Abbey of Barking within this County Cy gist Aleonore de Bohun aysue fille et vn des heirs l'hounrable seignour Mons. Humfrey de Bohun Counte de Hereford d'Essex et de Northampton et Constable d'Engleterre Femme a puissant et noble prince Tho. de Woodstock Fitz a tresexcellent et tre puisant seignour Edward Roi d'Engleterre puis le Conquest tiers Duc de Glocestre Counte d'Essexie et de Buchingham et Constable d'Engleterre quemorust le tierz iour a'October ban du grace 1399. de gi aisme Dieux face mercy Amen But againe to returne to the Duke her husband touching whose life and death with the manner thereof thus writeth Gower in his booke called Vox clamantis O quam Fortuna stabilis non permanet una Exemplum cujus stat in ordine carminis hujus Rex agit et Cygnus patitur de Corde benignus Ille prostratus non est de Rege levatus Ad Plessye captus tunc est velut Hostia raptus Rex jubet arma geri nec eo voluit misereri Cum Sponsa nati lugent quasi morti gravati Plusque Lupo sevit Rex dummodo Femina flevit Nil pietas munit quem tunc manus invida punit Rex stetit obliquus nec erat tunc unus amicus O Regale genus Princeps quasi pauper egenus Turpiter attractus jacet et sine iure subactus Sunt ibi Fautores Regis de sorte Priores Qui Cygnum pendent vbi captum ducere tendent Sic ducendo ducem perdit sine lumine lucem Anglia que tota tenebrescit luce remota Trans mare natavit regnum qui semper amavit Flent centum mille quia Cygnus preterit ille Calisij portus petit unde dolus latet ortus Error quem Regis genuit putredine legis Carcere conclusus subito fuit ille reclusus Nescit quo fine sit vite sive ruine Tunc Rex elatum sumpsit quasi Falco volatum Vnde suas gentes perdit Custode carentes A little after follow these verses touching the deniall of buriall to bee granted vnto him among the rest of his honourable and royall Ancestors Sic nece devictum sic corpus ab hoste relictum Clam de conclavi susceperat Anglia navi Per mare regreditur corpus nec adhuc sepelitur Namque sepulturam defendit Rex sibi puram Desuper a latere patris loca justa tenere Dummodo quesivit vix bassa sepulchra subivit Of the manner of his death these three verses following Hen quam tortorum quidam de sorte malorum Sic Ducis electi plumarum pondere lecti Corpus quassatum jugulant que necant jugulatum Such was the end of this royall Prince sonne to a King and vncle to a King who by our writers is discommended in this that he was euer repining against the King in all things whatsoeuer he wished to haue forward Erat enim vir ferocissimus precipitis ingenij as Polidor censures him a most fierce man and of an headlong wit who thinking still that those times wherein he had mastred the King were nothing changed though the King was aboue thirty yeeares old forbare not roughlie not so much to admonish as to check and schoole his Soueraigne Hatfield Peuerell So denominated of one Randolph Peuerell the owner thereof to whom Edward the Confessor was very munificent for that hee had married his kinswoman the daughter of Ingelrick a man of great Nobilitie among the English Saxons A Lady of that admirable beautie that with her lookes she conquered the Conquerour William who desired nothing more then to be her prisoner in Armes which to effect hee begins to expresse a kinde of loue to the remembrance of
Nottingham Yorke and Northumberland where without respect of age or sexe they laid all wast and left the Land whence they departed like to a desolate wildernesse From thence they came with the like furie into Edmunds territories and sacked Thetford a frequent citie in those daies but hee not able to withstand their violence fled into â—his Castle at Framingham wherein he was of them besieged and lastly taken in a village then called Heglisdune of a wood bearing the same name or rather yeelded himselfe to their torments to saue more christian bloud for it is recorded that because of his most constant Faith and profession those Pagans first beat him with bats then scourged him with whips he still calling vpon the name of Iesus for rage whereof they bound to a stake and with their arrowes shot him to death and cutting off his head contemptuously threw it into a bush after he had raigned ouer the East Angles the space of sixteene yeares Camden out of Abbo Floriacensis saith that the bloudy Danes hauing bound this most christian King to a tree for that he would not renounce christianity shot him with sharpe arrowes all his body ouer augmenting the paines of his torment with continuall piercing him with arrow after arrow and thus inflicted wound vpon wound so long as one arrow could stand by another as a Poet of midle time versified of him I am loca vulneribus desunt nec dum furiofis Tela sed hyberna grandine plura volant Though now no place was left for wound yet arrowes did not faile These surious wretches still they flie thicker then winter haile His body and head after the Danes were departed were buried at the same royall Towne as Abbo termes it where Sigebert the East Anglean King and one of his predecessors at his establishing of Christianity built a Church and where afterwards in honour of him was built another most spatious and of a wonderfull frame of Timber and the name of the Towne vpon that occasion of his buriall called vnto this day Saint Edmundsbury This Church and place to speake more fully to that which I haue written before Suenus the Pagan Danish King in impiety and fury burned to ashes But when his sonne Canute or Knute had made conquest of this Land and gotten possession of the English Crowne terrified and afrighted as saith the Legend with a vision of the seeming Saint Edmund in a religious deuotion to expiate his Fathers sacriledge built it anew most sumptuously enriched this place with Charters and Gifts and offered his owne Crowne vpon the Martyrs Tombe of whom for a conclusion take these verses following Vtque cruore suo Gallos Dionisius ornat Grecos Demetrius gloria quisque suiâ— Sic nos Edmundus nulli virtute secundus Lux patet patrie gloria magna sue Sceptra manum Diadema capud sua purpura corpus Ornat ei sed plus vincula mucro cruor The 20. day of Nouember in our Calender was kept holy in remembrance of this King and Martyr Puer Robertus apud Sanctum Edmundum a Iudeis fuit Martirazatus 4. Id. Iunij An. 1179. et illic sepultus Alanus Comes Britannie obijt An. 1093. his iacet ad hostium australe Sancti Edmundi ex eod lib. de chateris This Allan here buried or as some will haue it in the monastery of Rhedon sirnamed the Red or Fergaunt was the sonne of Eudo Earle of Britaine and entred England with William the Conquerour his Father in Law To whom the said Conquerour gaue the honour and County of Edwyn within the County and Prouince of Yorke by his Charter in these words I William sirnamed Bastard King of England giue and grant to thee my Nephew Allan Earle of Britaine and to thy heyres for euer all those Villages Townes and Lands which were late in possession of Earle Edwin in Yorkeshire with knights fees Churches and other liberties and customes as freely and honourably as the said Edwyn held them Giuen at the siege before Yorke Alban being a man of an high spirit and desirous to gouerne the Prouince entirely which he had receiued built a strong Castle by Gillingham a village which he possessed by which he might defend himselfe not onely against the English who were spoiled of their goods and lands but also against the fury and inuasions of the Danes When the worke was finished he gaue it the name of Richmond of purpose either for the greatnesse and magnificence of the place or for some Castle in little Britaine of the same name Here sometimes vnder a goodly Monument in the Quire of this Abbey Church lay interred the body of Thomas surnamed of Brotherton the place of his birth the fifth sonne of Edward the first after the Conquest king of England by Margaret his second wife the eldest daughter of Philip king of France surnamed the Hardy He was created Earle of Norfolke and made Earle Marshall of England by his halfe brother King Edward the second which Earledomes Roger Bigod the last of that surname Earle of Norfolke and Earle Marshall leauing no issue left to the disposition of the king his Father This Earle died in the yeare of our redemption 1338. Here lay buried the body of Thomas Beauford sonne of Iohn of Gaunt begotten of the Lady Katherine Swyneford his third wife who by King Henry the fourth was made Admirall then Captaine of Calis and afterwards Lord Chancellour of England He was created by the said King Earle of Perch in Normandy and Earle of Dorlet in England And lastly in the fourth yeare of King Henry the fifth he was created Duke of Exceter and made knight of the order of the Garter He had the leading of the Rereward at the battell of Agincourt and the gouernment of king Henry the sixth appointed to that office by the foresaid Henry the fifth on his death-bed He valiantly defended Harflew in Normandy whereof he was gouernour against the Frenchmen and in a pitched field encountring the Earle of Armiguar put him to flight He died at his House of East Greenwich in Kent vpon Newyeares day the fifth of Henry the sixth for whom all England mourned saith Milles The body of Mary Queene of France widow of Lewis the twelfth daughâ—er of King Henry the 7. and sister to king Henry the eight was here in this Abbey Church entombed After the death of Lewis with whom she liued not long shee married that Martiall and pompous Gentleman Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke She died on Midsomer Eeue 1533. Iohn Boon Abbot of this Monasterie had his tombe and interrement here in this Church who died in the beginning of February in the ninth yeare of the raigne of king Edward the fourth as appeares by the said kings Conged'eslire or permission royall to the Prior and Couent of this House to make choise of another Abbot as followeth Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Anglie Francie
erexit ... Transit sicut Fulmerston gloria mundi Propitietur Deus animabus Mortuorum Saint Peters Hic iacet Willelmus Knighton ... M. cccc.lxix .... Peter Larke and Elisabeth his wyff on whos souls sweet Iesu haue pite Saint Cuthberts ...... Iohannes Bernard et Elis ..... M. ccccc.xi Here in this towne was a Religious house of Friers Preachers dedicated to the holy Trinitie and Saint Mary which Arfast Bishop of the East-Angles made his Episcopall chaire Afterwards Henry Duke of Lancaster made it a societie of Friers Preachers it was valued at thirty nine pounds sixe shillings nine pence Arfast who died circa annum 1092. was herein buried with this Epitaph vpon his monument Hic Arfaste pie pater optime et Arca Sophie Viuis per merita virtutum laude perita Vos qui transitis hic omnes atque reditis Dicite quod Christi pietas sit promptior isti 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ers Augustines in this I owne was founded by Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Blanch his wife others say by Henry Earle of Lancaster and Leicester It was valued at three hundred twelue pounds foureteene shillings foure pence Here lye buried Dame Margery Todenham Dame Elisabeth wife of Sir Thomas Hâ—ngraue daughter of Sir Iohn Harling with many other you may imagine whose names I haue not The blacke Friers here was founded by Sir Edmond Gonvile Lord of â—irâ—ingford in this County Parson of Terington and Steward with Iohn Eâ—â—e Warren and with Henry Duke of Lancaster It was dedicated to S. Sepulchre The value I haue not learned Buried in the Church of this monâ—sterâ— were Sir Iohn Bretâ— knight Dame Agnes Honell Dame Maud Talâ—â—e wife of Peter Lord of Rickinghill Dame Anastisia wife of Sir Richard Walsingham A Priory of blacke Canons dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Iohn was here founded by one of the Bigods or Bigots Earle of Norfolke Valued at fourty nine pounds eighteene shillings and a penny Surrendred the 16. of February 31. Hen. 8. Here was a religious structure for blacke Nunnes consecrated to the honour of God and Saint Gregory but by whom sounded I do not know It was valued in the Exchequer at fifty pound nine shillings eight pence Here sometimes stood a Colledge or gild dedicated to the blessed Virgine Mary valued at the suppression to be yearely worth one hundred nine pounds seuen shillings Hugh Bigod or Bigot Steward of the House to King Henry the first built and endowed a religious House here for blacke Monkes Benedictines or Cluniacks These words following are in the Instrument of his Foundation I Hugh Bigod Steward to King Henry by his grant and by the aduice of Heâ—bert Bishop of Norwich haue ordained Monkes of the Order of Cluny in the Church of S. Mary which was the Episcopall seate of Thetford which I gaue vnto them and afterwards founded another more meet for their vse without the Towne This Monastery was found at the suppression to be in the Kings bookes foure hundred eighteene pounds sixe shillings three pence halfe penny of yearely reuenues This Hugh the Founder was created Earle of Norfolke by King Stephen in the first yeare of his raigne He died very aged in the 24. yeare of King Henry the second and was buried in this Priory of his owne foundation to whose memory this Inscription was engrauen vpon his Funerall Monument Orate pro anima religiosissimi viri Hugonis Bigod Fundatoris huius Monasterij Seneschalli Hospitij prepotentissimo Principi Henrico Conquestoris filio Anglie Regi et Comitis Norfolcie qui quidem Hugo obiit pridie Kalend. Martii anno milesimo centesimo septuagesimo octauo Propter miserecordiam Iesu requiescat in pace Anno 1107. Optimates Angliae Richardus de Radvarijs Rogerius cognomento Bigotus mortui sunt in Monasteriis Monachorum sepulti sunt quae in propriis possessionibus ipsi condiderunt Rogerius autem apud Thetfordum in Anglia Richardus vero tumulatus apud Montisburgum in Normannia Super Rogerium Cluniacenses Alonax di tale scripserunt Epitaphium Clauderis exiguo Rogere Bigote sepulchro Et rerum cedit portio parva tibi Diuitiae sanguis facundia gratia Regum Intereunt mortem fallere nemo potest Diuitiae mentes subuertunt erigat ergo Te pietas virtus consiliumque Dei Soli moerebat virgo ter noctibus octo Cùm soluis morti debita morte tua It should seeme by the premisses that this Roger Bigot who was Sewer to King Henry the first and Father of the foresaid Hugh was the first founder of this religious Edifice or at least wise of some other in this Towne for Monkes of the order of Cluny And Stow in his Annalls agrees with my Author Ordericus This yeare saith he Maurice Bishop of London Robert Fitzhamon Roger Bigot founder of the Monastery of Monkes at Thetford Richard Redvers Councellours to the King Milo Crispen and many other Noblemen of England deceased Roger Bigot the second of that surname Earle of the East Angles or Norfolke He died about the yeare 1218. and was here interred Hugh Bigot sonne of the foresaid Roger Earle of Norfolke lay here buried who died the ninth of Henry the third 1225 Roger Bigot sonne and heire of Hugh aforesaid Earle of Norfolke and first Marshall of England of that Family was here entombed if his last will and Testament was performed Of which so much as tends to that purpose In Nomine Patris et Filij et Spiritus Sancti Amen Ego Rogerus Bigot Comes Norfolcie et Mareschallus Anglie in bona prosperitate constitutus condo Testamentum meum sub hac forma Inprimis commendo animam meam Christo c. et corpus meum in Ecclesia beate Marie Thetfordie sepeliendum Postea lego c. Huius Testamenti Executores constituo Dominum Symonem de Monteforti Com. Lecestren Dominum Richardum de Clara Com. Glouern Hertford Dominum Willelmum Malberbe Dominum Thomam Denebanke Dominum Hugonem de Tudeham c. Dat. apud Cestreford die Mercurij proximo ante festum Sancti Barnabe Apostoli anno Domini M.cclviii He died about eleuen yeares after the making of his will without issue of a bruise running at Tilt anno 1269. Roger Bigot the last of that Familie Earle of Norfolke and Marshall of England was here buried together with his first wife Alina Alyva or Adeliza daughter of Philip Lord Basset and widow of Hugh de Spenser Iustice of England she died in Aprill in the ninth yeare of Edward the first and he in the 35. of the said Kings raigne Iohn Lord Mowbray Duke of Norfolke Earle Marshall of England Earle of Nottingham Lord and Baron of Segraue and of Gower sonne and successour of Iohn the first Duke of Norfolke in the dignities aforesaid was here entombed with his wife Elianor daughter of William Lord Bourchier and sister of Henry Bourchier Earle of
in their Pontificals with Tapers burning denounced the senâ—tence of Excommunication in this forme By the authoritie of Almighty God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost and of the glorious mother of God and perpetuall Virgin Mary of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and of all Apostles and of all Martyrs of blessed Edward king of England and of all the Saints of heauen we excommunicate accurse and from the benefits of our holy mother the Church we sequester all those that hereafter willingly and maliciously depraue or spoile the Church of her right And all those that by any craâ—t or wilinesse do violate breake diminish or change the Church liberties and free customes contained in the Charters of the common liberties c. But I speake here of such sacrilegious persons as do rob and bereaue the Church of her treasure and sacred ornaments a sinne of such onely which do misprise and contemne Religion a sinne which hath beene by the very Pagans obserued neuer to escape vnpunished Cum oppidum Tolosanum in terra Gallia Quintus Cepio Consul diripuâ—sset multumque auri in eius oppidi templis furisset quisquis ex ea direptione aurum attigit misero cruciabilique exitu perijt Quintus Cepio with his company hauing taken and spoiled the Towne or Citie of Tholouse in France entred forcibly into the holy Temples out of which sacrilegiously hee tooke to the quantitie of one hundred and ten thousand markes in gold and fiue hundred millions of marks in siluer but euery man of them which were guilty of that robbery with all their kindred and families died within that yeare and not aboue one of them did carry so much as one piece thereof home to his owne house This treasure of Tholouse was a part of the Delphian riches For Brennus the brother of Belinus king of great Britaine Captaine of the Gaules brake open the Temple of Apollo at Delphos for the riches and the gold therein which had beene offered to the Gods which hee committed to publike spoile The most part whereof was conuaid by the Tectosages a people of the West part of Narbon to this city of Tholouse but presently vpon this sacriledge and contempt of the Gods the most of his armie which consisted of one hundred and fifty thousand footmen and fifteene thousand horsemen were discomfited and slaine and hee so furiously possessed that hee slue himselfe with his owne hands quis enim laesos impune putaret Esse deos For who could thinke the Gods thus wronged Their punishment would be prolonged Virgil makes these Church-robbers these contemners of Religion to bee more miserably then others tormented in hell Phlegyas miserrimus omnes Admonet magna testatur voce per vmbras Discite iustitiam moniti non temnere Diuos Phlegyas most of misers all Amongst those caytiues darke and loud with voice to them doth rore Learne Iustice now by this and Gods aboue despise no more This Phlegyas king of the Lapithes a people dwelling in a part of Thessalie hauing done infinite dammages in Greece surprizing many Townes and Cities became in the end so ouer weening and foolish bold that hee sacked the foresaid Temple of Apollo in Delphos and slue Philamon that cunning Harper the sonne of Apollo who brought an armed power to rescue his fathers oracle Vpon which sacriledge and contempt of the gods all the countrey of the Phlegyans was vtterly ruinated with an earthquake and flaming arrowes shot from heauen which killed most of the people and the few that remained died of the plague and for this high handed offence their foresaid king is still plagued in hell Which verses of Virgil to that purpose thus paraphrastically translated will it please you to reade ouer againe Phlegias king most wretched in that place Forewarneth all of his great misery And as sad witnesse of his pitious case In those dimme shades he cries out wofully Learne to doe Iustice and by my contempt Of the high Gods do you like fate preuent Histories affoard infinite examples of this kinde in all sorts of Religions yea Christian kings and other Potentates in all ages haue misprised the true onely all-sauing God by the sacrilegious taking away of the rights riches and ornaments of holy Church yet it hath beene obserued that they seldome or neuer escaped scotfree as the sequele of this worke will shew Seuere punishments haue formerly beene inflicted vpon Church robbers of the meaner ranke by the strictnesse of our Lawes here in England For an instance in the twentieth yeare of Edward the fourth on the 22. day of February fiue notable malefactors were put to death at London for robbing of Churches and other places especially the collegiate Church of Saint Martins le grand in London for the which three of them were drawne to the Tower-hill and there hanged and burnt the other two were pressed to death Wee haue not heard of the hanging of any such Church robbers in these our dayes for Sublata causa tollitur effectus the cause taken or if you will stolne away the effect will consequently cease For what man will venture a turne at the Gallows for a little small siluer chalice a beaten-out pulpit cushion an ore-worne Communion-cloth and a course Surplisse these are all the riches and ornaments of the most of our Churches and these are more by the Surplisse then by some of the Parishioners may bee thought perhaps fitting to be allowed such is now the sleight regard we haue of the decent setting forth of sacred Religion Of which a late writer Sacred Religion mother of forme and feare How gorgeously sometimes dost thou sit deckt What pompous vestments do we make thee weare What stately piles we prodigall erect How sweet perfum'd thou art how shining cleare How solemnly obseru'd with what respect Another time all plaine and quite threed-bare Thou must haue all within and nought without Sit poorely without light disrobd no care Of outward grace to amuze the poore deuout Powerlesse vnfollowed scarcely men can spare Three necessarie rites to set thee out Either truth goodnesse vertue are not still The selfe same which they are and alwayes one But alter to the proiect of our will Or we our actions make them wait vpon Putting them in the liuery of our skill And cast them off againe when we haue done CHAP. X. Of the rooting vp taking away erazing and defacing of Funerall Monuments in the reignes of King Henry the eighth and Edward the sixth Of the care Queene Elizabeth of famous memory had for the preseruation of the same Her Proclamation in the second of her raigne against defacing of Monuments TOward the latter end of the raigne of Henry the eight and throughout the whole raigne of Edward the sixth and in the beginning of Queene Elizabeth certaine persons of euery County were put in authority to pull downe and cast out of all Churches Roodes grauen Images Shrines with their
fiue thousand pounds and one Herbert Prior of Fiscane in Normandy bought for his father whose name was Losinge the Abbacie of Winchester and for himselfe the Bishopricke of Norwich Whereupon a versiâ—ier of that age made these rythmes Surgit in Ecclesia monstrum genitore Losinga Symonidum secta Canonum virtute resecta Petre nimis tardas nam Symon ad ardua tentat Si praesens esses non Symon ad alta volaret Proh dolor Ecclesiae nummis venduntur aere Filius est Praesul pater Abbas Symon vterque Quid non speremus si nummos possideamus Omnia nummus habet quid vult facit addit aufert Res nimis iniusta nummis sit Praesul Abba Thus translated by Bale in his Votaries A monster is vp the sonne of Losinga Whiles the law seeketh Simony to flea Peter thou sleepest whiles Simon taketh time If thou wert present Simon should not clime Churches are prised for syluer and gold The sonne a Bishop the father an Abbot old What is not gotten if we haue richesse Money obteineth in euery businesse In Herberts way yet it is a foule blot That he by Simony is Bishop and Abbot But Simonie was not so common now as other sinnes for the Clergie in generall gaue themselues strangely to worldly pleasures and pompous vanities they wore gay rich garments gilt spurres embroidered girdles and bushie locks The Monkes of Canterbury as well nigh all other Monkes in England were not vnlike to secular men they vsed hawking and hunting playing at dice and great drinking thou wouldest haue taken them to haue beene great Magnificoes rather then Monkes they had so many seruants and attendance of goodly aray and dignity Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury by the permission of King Henry the first assembled a great Councell of the Clergie at Westminster wherein he depriued many great Prelates of their promotions for their seuerall offences and many Abbots for other enormities forbidding the farming out of Church dignities In the raigne of King Henry the second the abuses of Church-men were growne to a dangerous height saith well the Monke of Newborough lib. 2. cap. 16. for it was declared saith he in the Kings presence that Clergie men had committed aboue an hundred murthers in his raigne Of which nine yeares were as then scarcely expired And in the 23 of his raigne the Nunnes of Amesbury were thrust out of their house because of their incontinent liuing Rog. Houed Richard Cordelion king of England being told by a certaine Priest called Fulco a Frenchman that he kept with him three daughters namely pride couetousnesse and lechery which would procure him the wrath of God if he did not shortly rid himselfe of them answered That he would presently bestow his three daughters in marriage the Knights Templers said he shall haue my eldest daughter Pride the white Monkes of the Cisâ—â—ux order Couetousnesse and my third daughter Lechery I commit to the Prelates of the Church who therein take most pleasure and felicitie And there you haue my daughters bestowed among you In the raigne of Henry the third the Templars in London being in great glory entertained the Nobilitie forraine Embassadours and the Prince himselfe very often insomuch that Matthew Paris Monke of Saint Albans who liued in those dayes cried out vpon them for their pride who being at the first so poore as they had but one horse to serue two of them in token whereof they gaue in their seales two men vpon one horsebacke yet suddenly they waxed so insolent that they disdained other orders and sorted themselues with Noblemen But this their insulting pride had a quicke period for shortly after to wit in the beginning of King Edward the seconds raigne in the Councell at Vienna this their so highly esteemed order was vpon cleare proofe of their generall odious abhominable sins and incredible Atheisticall impieties by them practised vtterly abolished throughout all Christendome And by the consent of all Christian Kings depoâ—ed all in one day taken all and committed to safe custody And thus being politâ—kely apprehended their lands and goods were seised vpon the heires of the Donours here in England and such as had endowed these Templars with lands entred vpon those parts of their ancient patrimonies after this dissolution and detained them vntill not long after they were by Parliament wholly transferred vnto the Knights of the Rhodes or of S. Iohn of Ierusalem A littâ—e before the vniuersall extinguishment of this order of the Templars Philip the French King caused 54. of that Order with their great Master to be burnt at Paris for their hainous vngodlinesse In the raigne of Edward the third the Clergie of England exceeded all other Nations in the heaping vp together of many Benefices and other spirituall promotions besides at that time they held the principall places both of trust and command in the kingdome Some of them had twenty Benefices with cure and some more and some of them had twenty Prebends besides other great dignities William Wickham at the death of William Edington Bishop of Winchester was made generall Administratour of spirituall and temporall things pertaining to that Bishopricke and the next yeare was made Bishop of Winchester This Wickham besides the Archdeaconry of Lincolne and Prouostship of Welles and the Parsonage of Manihant in Deuonshire had twelue Prebends Simon Langham was Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancelour of England Iohn Barnet Bishop of Bath and Treasurer of England The foresaid Wickham Keeper of the priuie Seale Master of the Wards and Treasurer of the Kings reuenues in France Dauid Wellar Parson of Somersham Master of the Rolles seruing King Edward in the Chancery fortie yeares and more Ten beneficed Priests Ciuilians and Masters of the Chancery William Muâ—se Deane of S. Martins le Grand chiefe Chamberlaine of the Exchequer Receiuer and Keeper of the Kings Treasure and Iewels William Ashby Archdeacon of Northampton Chancellour of the Exchequer William Dighton Prebendary of Saint Martins Clerke of the priuie Seale Richard Chesterfield Prebendary of S. Stephens Treasurer of the Kings house Henry Snatch Parson of Oundall Master of the Kings Wardrobe Iohn Newenham Parson of Fenistanton one of the Chamberlaines of the Exchequer and keeper of the Kings Treasurie and Iewels Iohn Rouceby Parson of Hardwicke Surueior and Controuler of the Kings works Thomas Britingham Parson of Ashby Treasurer to the King for the parts of Guisnes and the marches of Caleis Iohn Troys Treasurer of Ireland diuers wayes beneficed in Ireland Pope Vrban the first made a decree against the heaping together of many Benefices or spirituall promotions by one man for the execution whereof he sent commandement to the Archbishop of Canterbury and by him to all his Suffragans to certifie in writing the names number and qualities of euery Clerke Benefices or liuings within their seuerall Diocesse Whereupon this or the like certificate was brought in I finde inter Breuiâ—
in you exciteth and serueth you till the vsurped poure of that man of Rome be clene abolished and put out of the hartes of the kyngs subiects And I shall with all my diligence applie my self to thaccomplishment of this his so godly commandement by Goddes grace And for as moche as I haue taken my leue of the Kyng and Quene and tarry for noothing now but only for the instrument called Custodias temporalium I eftsones beseche your mastirship to haue that in your remembraunce whan ye shall next repaire vnto the Court together with a discharge for takyng of any othe of the residentiaries of Sarum which suyrly they will exact of me oneles I bryng some thyng outher from the Kyng his highnes or elles from you his chefe Counsellor for to stopp their mouthes And as for seallyng of new obligacions if itt like you to commande your servaunt to send me them to morow by this brynger I shall seale them and send them to you without any tariaunce by the grace of God who preserue you and prosper you in all your godly purposes and interprises Murtelack the iiii daye of Iuin Yorn owne to comaunde Nic. Sarum But howsoeuer the honour of this act as also of the dissolution of Abbeys be principally attributed to Cromwell and his complotments yet at the same time there was others of the priuie Councell as forward and as able for their singular endowments to conclude a matter of that consequence as euer was Cromwell I meane Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury whose zeale and abilities are generally knowne to all that euer heard of the booke of Martyrs Sir Thomas Audley Knight speaker of the Parliament for his demerits created by Henry the eighth Baron Audley of Walden and also aduanced to the honour of the Chancellorship of England Sir William Pawlet Knight Comptroller of the Kings house who for his wisedome the said King created Lord S. Iohn of Basing and Knight of the Garter whom Edward the sixt made great Master of his houshold President of his Councell and Lord Treasurer of England whom he created Earle of Wiltshire and Marquesse of Winchester to whom Queene Elizabeth committed the keeping of the great Seale Who liued to see one hundred and three persons issue out of his loynes who died at Basing in Hampshire the tenth of March 1571. where hee was honourablie buried when he had liued eightie seuen yeares Another pillar of the State at that time was that wise and iudicious gentleman Sir Richard Rich Lord Chancellour of England vnder King Edward the sixth who in the first yeare of his raigne aduanced him to this office and created him Baron Rich of Leez in Essex These and other more of the Nobilitie had both their hands and heads in this businesse yet Cromwell Audley and Rich were thought to be the onely men who for their religious paines ranne into great obloquie with the common people insomuch that the Commons of Lincolnshire finding themselues fore troubled with this strange alteration and rising in rebellion presented diuers articles of aggrieuances to the Kings Maiestie Amongst the said Articles and demands of Robert Askâ— and his rebellious crew the Commons of Yorkeshire Cumberland Westmerland Northumberland and the countries adiacent at the conference holden at Doncaster betwixt Thomas Duke of Norfolke Generall of the Kings Armie and certaine Commissioners on the partie of the said Captaine Aske and his fellow rebels Thus it was propounded by their Speaker Sir Thomas Hylton Knight The fowrt that Thomas Cromwell nor any of his bande or secte be not at our metinge at Doncastre but abcent themselfe from the Councell Also to haue the Lord Cromwell the Lord Chancellor and Sir Ryc Rich to haue condigne punyshment as subuerters of the gud lawes of the â—eame and ouetemers of the slese secte of theys fals Heretykes first inuenters and brengers of them Likewise Doctor Leyton and Doctor Leâ— who had bene loyned in commission with Cromwell for the visitation of religious Foundations of which hereafter were maliciouslye detracted by this demand of the Commons in the foresaid conference Also that Doctor Lee and Doctor Leyton may haue condigne punyshment for theyr extortions in time of visitation in brybes of some religyous houses x. lib. xx lib. and for other summes besyde horsys vowsens leases vndre Couent Seallys by them taken and other abomynable acts by them committed and done I might haue occasion here to speake of the abrogation of the Popes authoritie of the subuersion of religious foundations of the suppression of religious Votaries and of the reformation of Religion in that neuer-conquered Nation of Scotland where at this time Religion is double refined pure and spotlesse without ceremonie and plaine as a pike staffe without a surplise But I will reserue this narration till I come to speake of the conuersion of Scotland to the Christian faith As also of the Funerall Monuments which are there to be found which will be but a few if Sir Robert Cottons Librarie do not helpe me for by my owne obseruation in the famous maiden-citie of Edenborough and in the Parish Churches of other Townes the Sepulchres of the dead are shamefully abused or quite taken away yea and the Churches themselues with religious houses and other holy places violated demolished or defaced CHAP. XV. The policie vsed by the King and his Councell for the dissolution and extirpation of Religious Foundations and Religious Orders within this Realme of England and Wales The reformation of Religion of Inscriptions in Churches The Kings warrant of the surrender of Religious Houses An information made to Queene Elizabeth of the seuerall abuses done vnto the State generall and Crowne by the corruption of such as were imployed by her Father vpon the suppression of Abbeyes HEnry the eighth hauing as ye haue heard thus setled the Supremacy where he would haue it either by the aduise of politick Cromwell or by the example of proud Wolsey or else of himselfe hee being nothing so scrupulous in conscience nor so stayed in sacred resolutions as was Henry the fourth vpon a greedie desire to enrich his coffers began now to lay plots deuises and proiects for the vtter subuersion of all Abbeyes Priories Nunneries and other religious foundations within this his kingdome of England and Wales and first for an induction to the businesse He put in Commission his seruant Cromwell Thomas Lee and Richard Laiton Doctors of the Ciuill Law Thomas Bedell Deane of Cornwall Thomas Bartlet publike Notarie and others to visit all the foresaid religious Houses and to make inquirie of their Orders Founders values debenters reliques pilgrimages and other Queres but most especially they were to make diligent scrutinie and to learne vijs modis omnibus by all manner of meanes the wicked abuses of those times practised amongst the Fraternitie and Sisterhood of each seuerall Couent Which with their Commission they returned making a shamefull discoueriâ— of the bestiall sensualitie of Monasticke profession This
raised vpon small occasions thought his way would bee much easier if he went onward with the Popes good fauour which he easily obtained for a fee viz. a penny yearely to bee payed to Saint Peter of euerie house in Ireland Edward the third in the 39. yeare of his raigne saith Treuisa the Continuer of Polychronicon ordained that this Tribute of Peter pence should not be from thenceforth any more gathered within this Realme nor any such payment made at Rome But howsoeuer saith Hollinshed in the said yeare this payment was abrogated at this time by King Edward it was after reneâ—ed againe by the Pope and the money was gathered in certaine Shires of this Realme vntill the dayes of king Henry the eighth Parsons and Impropriators of Churches at this day in many places of England are payed this pennie vnder the name of a Smoke pennie This Chapter is growne much longer then I expected Of which an end CHAP. XVIII Of Parishes Bishoprickes Of the power and sanctitie of Bishops and Priests Of Sanctuaries and of the Ecclesâ—asticall state of England and Wales PArochia dicitâ—r locus in quo degit populus alicui Ecclesiae baptismali deputatus certis finibus limitatus A Parish is said to bee a place in which people doe hue assigned to some Christian Church and limited by certaine bounds Euaristus the first Bishop of Rome who suffered martyrdome vnder Traian the Emperour about the yeare of our redemption one hundred and ten ordained Curates and disposed of them to certaine places that they might administer the Sacraments to such people as were committed to their charge and withall he ordained that these Curates should bee nourished and maintained by those people of whose soules they had the cure whereupon they were called Parochi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à prebenco vel à mutua alimentorum praebitione Parochians or Parishioners of the mutuall exhibition and giuing of nourishment one to another the Priest for the soules of his people and the people for the maintenance of their Priest Dionisius that blessed Martyr Bishop of Rome circa ann 266. did attempt to doe the like throughout the whole Christian world appointing by distribution certaine places to which he assigned Ecclesiasticall persons there to administer the Sacraments pray and preach the word and to receiue the tenths of the possessions contained within the limits of the foresaid places Honorius Archiepiscopus Cantuar circa annum à salute reparata 636. Angliam primus in Parochias distribuere cepit Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury about the yeare of our saluation 636. began first to diuide England into Parishes But this opinion is controuerted by a late learned Antiquary and by him plainly approued that Honorius was not the first that made this diuision here in England but that Parishes were diuided and Parish-Churches built long before his time euen in the Primitiue Hierarchie of the Britaineâ— And that in the time of King Arthur about the yeare of our Lord 490 when Dubritius was made Archbishop of South Wales diuers Churches with their endowments of Tithes oblations and other profits were appropriated to him the said Dubritius and his successours And that in those times Churches were built here no doubt can bee made Neither is it to be conceiued how Christianitie could be in any nation saith my Author much ancienter if generally receiued or by any number then Churches or some conuenient houses or other places in the nature of Churches appointed for the exercise of deuotion And expresse mention is made of a Church of which I haue spoken before built in Canterbury in the time of the Romanes to the honour of Saint Martin in which Augustine and his followers when they came first from Rome made their holy assemblies After that the stormes of Diocletians persecution were ouerblowen saith Bede which was circa Ann. 290. the faithfull Christians who in time of danger lay hid in dennes and deserts came forth and shewed themselues abroad renewed their Churches which before were ouerthrowne flat to the ground founded builded and perfited new Temples in honour of the holy Martyrs celebrated holy dayes consecrated the holy mysteries with pure mouth and heart and euery where as it were displayed their ensignes in signe of Conquest Aliquindo Parochia dicitur totus Episcopatus saith one and Parochia etiam Dioecesis Episcopalis dicitur saith another Sometime a Parish is said to be the whole Bishopricke and sometime the Episcopall Diocesse Kenwalch King of the West-Saxons diuided In duas Parochias Praâ—â—nciam the Prouince into two Parishes or Diocesses when as he erected a new Bishopricke at Winchester taken out of the Diocesse of Dorchester a ruinous Towne now in Oxfordshire In the yeare 680. Merciorum Prouincia in quinque Parochias est diuisa The Prouince of Mercia was diuided into fiue Parishes that is into fiue Bishopricks and thus Honorius may be said properly to haue beene the first vnder whom his Prouince was diuided into such Parishes or Bishoprickes Anno Dom. 747. in the raigne of Ethelbald king of the Mercians in a Synod holden at Clouesho it was decreed Vt singuli Episcopi omni anno Parochias suas circumirent That euery Bishop should go about or visit his Parishes once euery yeare And in the first Synod or Conuocation of the English Church holden at Hereford Ann. 670 it was determined Vt nullus Episcoporum Parochiam alterius inuadat sed contentus sit gubernatione creditae sihi plebis That no Bishop should haue ought to do in anothers Parish but bee contented with the charge of the people committed vnto him Kenulph King of the Mercians in his Epistle to Leo the third Bishop of Rome writes Quod contra Canones à Patre Gregorio constitut as auctoritas Dorobernensis Metropolitani in duas scinditur Parochias cuius ditioni duo decim subiacere debent Episcopi That contrary to the Canons of Saint Gregory the iurisdiction of the Metropoliticall See of Canterbury was diuided into two Parishes to whose authoritie twelue Bishops ought to be subiect To which point of his Epistle Leo makes this answer In sacro scrinio nostro reperimus sanctum Gregorium Predecessorem nostrum in integro ipsam Parochiam numero duodecim beato Augustino Archiepiscopo tradidisse Epis copos consecrandos We finde in our sacred Cabinet our Predecessour Saint Gregory to haue giuen and deliuered that Parish to blessed Augustine entire and whole with the number of twelue Bishops by him to bee consecrated These great Parishes or Bishoprickes were not made Diocesses or Iurisdictions together straight from the first budding of Christianitie but in succession of time as the number of Christians did increase and as the true faith was spread abroad For some Churches were vnder the charge of Curates other some of Abbots and of these were made these great Parishes or Bishopricks The dignitie and gouernment of which was appointed to learned and religious
are curiously engrauen these words Credo quod redemptor meus viuit And vpon the basis of the same Crosse these obsolete Latine rimes Es test is Christe quod non iacet hic lapis iste Corpus vt ornetur sed Spiritus vt memoretur Hem tu qui transis magnus medius puer an sis Pro me funde preces quia sic mihi fit venie spes Hic iacet Matilda nuper vxer Willelmi Laken Seruiens ad Legem qui ob 2. die Decemb. 1408. iuxta eam ex parte australi Iohanna filia sepelitur que obijt 3. die Octob. anno supradicto O mercifull Iesew Haue mercy on the sowl of Sir Iohn Dew Here lye interred diuers of the Chapmans who were sometime owners of Stone-castle Hic Christi versus Payname iacet ecce Rogerus Pauperibus multum dedit hic pecunia cultum ........ M. C. quater deca ...... In Maij vicena rapit hunc mors .... Here lies William Banknot and Anne his wyff Swete Iesew grant to them and vs euerlastyng lyff Pray yow hertely for cheritie Say a Pater Noster and an Aue. 1400. Here lyeth the bodyes of Sir Iohn Wilshyre knight and of Dame Margaret his wife Which Sir Iohn dyed 28. Decemb. 1526. And Margaret dyed ... of .... This knight is entombed in a faire Chappell of his owne foundation he was Controller of the Towne and Marches of Calleis Ann. 21. Hen. 7. 1506. He had onely one daughter and heire named Bridget married to Sir Richard Wingfield As I haue it in these words out of the Visitation booke of Huntingtonshire by Nicholas Charles Lancaster Herald Sir Richard Wingfield knight of the Garter Chancellour of the Duchie of Lancaster and of the Bed-chamber to King Henry the eight by his wife Bridget who was daughter and heire to Sir Iohn Wilshyre knight had Stone house or Stone-castle in Kent neare Grauesend To whom the king gaue Kimboulton Castle he was of the priuie Councell and died Embassadour in Spaine and was buried at Toledo Dartford Hic iacet Iohannes Hornley Theologie Baccal qui obijt 1477. Si fterent Artes Hornley tacuisse Iohannem Non possent ista qui tumulatur humo In septem fuerat liberalibus ille magister Prudens castus maximus atque fide Doctrine sacre tunc Baccalareus ingens Oxonie cunctis semper amandus erat Consilio valuit sermones pandere sacros Nouerat et doctos semper amare viros Pauperibus largus fuerat quos nouerat aptos In studijs patiens sobrius atque fuit Moribus insignis cunctis virtute refulgens Pro tantis meritis spiritus astra petit O pytefull Creater concerning erthly sepulter Of Katryn Burlton at x day wythin Iun. Thousand IIII C. LXXXXVI yer Occurrent wyth Rychard Burlton Iantlman Spows to the Katryn ..... Expired thousand ..... Throu the prayor of thes twein Sal he be savyd fro endlysse pein King Edward the third founded here a goodly faire Monastery about the yeare of his raigne of England the thirtieth and of France the seuenteenth In which he placed women religious Votaries or white Nunnes Which Nunnery at the generall dissolution was found to bee well worth three hundred and eightie pounds by yeare This Priory for so it was called by the Founder was taken as all the rest into the hands of king Henry the eight of which he made a fit dwelling place for himselfe and his Successours which remaines to this day howsoeuer somewhat ruinous But will it please you peruse this Memorandum not impertinent to this matter in the visitation of Kent and Sussex made by Clarentieux Beuolt the 21. yeare of king Henry the eight Dame Elizabeth Cresner being Lady Prioresse of Dartford at that time Memorand that the said Lady doth witnesse that king Edward the third was first Founder of the said place and the second Founder was king Richard the second And in the said place lieth buried the Lady Bridget daughter to king Edward the fourth a religious women in the same place Also Dame Ioane daughter to the Lord Scrope of Bolton and Prioresse of the same place and Dame Margaret daughter of the Lord Beaumont also sometime Prioresse of the same place And also there lyeth daughter and wife to Sir Maurice Berkeley This Lady Bridget here interred was the fourth daughter of Edward the fourth by his wife Queene Elizabeth she was borne at Eltham here by the tenth of Nouember 1480. She tooke the habite of Religion when she was young and so spent her life in contemplation vnto the day of her death which happened about the yeare 1517. the eight of King Henry the eight Crayford Orate pro animabus Roberti Woodford Iohanne vxoris eius qui Robertus obijt .... 1489. Hic iacent Rogerus Apleton vnus Auditorum serenissimorum Regum Hen. quinti Hen. sexti ac Iohanne vxoris Hen. quarti Katherine vxoris Hen. sexti Reginarum Anglie Principatus totius Wallie Ducatus Cornubie Com. Cestrie qui ob .... 1400. Agnes vxor eius Domina de Holbury que ob 1437. Cum venerit dies Domini in miserecordia eius egrediemur Hic iacet Henricus Elham vnus Auditorum .... et Elisabetha vxor eius filia Rogeri Apleton ... ob ... 1479. Hic iacet Iohannes Elham vnus Auditorum ... 1481. Vite probitas mortis despectio Erith In the vpper end of the South Isle of this Church stands a faire tombe with this Inscription left at the first imperfect Elisabeth second wife to George late Earle of Shrewsbury Lord Steward to king Henry the seuenth and to king Henry the eight his Houshold by whom she had issue Iohn and Lady Anne wife to William Earle of Penbroke Lord Steward of Queene Elizabeths Houshold which Lady Anne had beene married before to M. Peter Compton Esquire by whom she had issue Sir Henry Compton knight now liuing This Elizabeth Countesse of Shrewsbury was daughter and one of the heires of Sir Richard Walden knight Lord of the Towne of Erith whose body lyeth here likewise entombed Pray for the sowl of Syr Richard Walden knight and Lady Margerie his wife which Syr Richard decessyd 25 of March 1536. And Margery decessyd the sixth of May 1528. whos sowls god pardon Orate pro anima Richardi Walden Armig. Elisabethe vxoris eius que ob 25. Octob. 1496. et Richardus obiit ... die ... mens ... Ann. miles quorum animabus Ellin Atticor gist icy Dieu de sa alme eit mercy Orate pro anima Domini Iohannis Stone quondam vicarij Ecclesie parochialis de Lesnes alias Erith qui ob 13. April 1475. O vos omnes qui hic transitis prome orate Precibus vestris qui fratres estis meque iurate Hic iacet Radulphus Criel Ar. qui obiit 6. Decemb. 1447. Cuius anime propitietur altissimus Hic iacet Rogerus Sentcler quondam
seruiens Abbati et Conuentui de Lesnes qui obiit primo die mensis Ianuarij 1425. Cuius anime Lesnes Abbey In the yeare of our Lord 1178. the third of the Ides of Iune Richard Lucie a Councellour of State and chiefe Iustice of the Realme began the foundation of an Abbey at Lesnes or Westwood neare vnto this Towne of Eâ—â—th The extent of whose yearely reuenue as it was prized by the Commissioners at the suppression amounted to one hundred eighty sixe pounds and nine shillings When this his goodly fabricke was in all parts finished he presently forsooke and surrendred into the kings hands all both his offices and honours And betooke himselfe to the habite and profession of a Canon Regular in this house of his owne foundation where within a short while after euen in the same yeare to wit the fourteenth of Iuly 1479. he exchanged his Conuentuall blacke coole for a glorious bright heauenly crowne And here in the Quire of his Church hee was sumptuously entombed vpon whose Monument this Epitaph was engrauen Rapitur in tenebras Richardus lux Luciorum Iusticie pacis dilector vrbis honorum Christe sibi requies tecum sit sede piorum Iulia tunc orbi lux bis septena nitebat Mille annos C. nouem et septuaginta mouebat Now giue me leaue to go a little further with him and his heires as I finde the words in the Collection of Englands Protectours by Francis Thinne Lancaster Herald Sir Richard Lucie knight chiefe Iustice of England saith he was Protectour of England in the twelfth yeare of the raigne of king Henry the second in the absence of the king when hee was in Normandie and in the parts beyond the Seas Which Lucie in the thirteenth yeare of the same King did valiantly resist and politikely driue backe the Earle of Bolloigne inuading this kingdome He built the Abbey of Leosnes or Westwood in the Parish of Erith in Kent and not in Southfleet as some haue written in the yeare of Christ 1178. and the Castle of Chipping Augre in Essex He had issue Godfrey Bishop of Winchester and three daughters who after the death of Godfrey their brother were his heires Maude the eldest daughter was married to Robert the first called Fitzwater Aueline the second daughter was married to Richard Riuers of Stanford Riuers in Essex Rose the third daughter was married to Richard de Warren the naturall sonne of king Iohn as appeareth by a deed belonging to my selfe who had the Rectory of Leosnes beginning thus Rosa de Douer quondam vxor venerabilis viri Richardi filij Regis de Chillam And king Iohn by his Charter grants to another Rose her grandfathers lands in these words Rex reddidit Roesie de Douerita totam terram suam cum pertenenc qua eam contingit de heredit Richardi de Lucy avi sui tenend sibi hered c. Cart. 24. Reg. Iohannis numero 37. in Archi. Turris London The foresaid Godfrey de Lucy was consecrated Bishop of Winchester the first of Nouember 1189. And died Ann. 1204 hauing gouerned that See fifteene yeares He purchased of king Richard the first the Mannors of Wergraue and Menes which in times past had belonged to his Bishopricke he was a great Benefactour to this Religious house of Leosnes founded by his father wherein according to his will hee was enterred To whose memory this Epitaph was engrauen vpon his Tombe Lux mea lux Christi si terre ventre quiesco Attamen in celo sanctorum luce lucesco Presul de Winton fueram quondam Cathedratus Multum resplendens alto sanguine natus Nunc id sum quod eris puluis rota non retinenda Voluitur inuigila prudens nec differ agenda M. C. bis quatuorque annos his insuper addas Carnis vincla dies soluit secunda Decembris Vos qui transitis ancillam poscite Christi Sit Dominus mitis pulso purgamine tristi Wolwich Orate pro anima Iohannis Colin et Mathilde vxoris eius qui Iohannes obiit 27. Ianuar ..... Mathilda 25. Octob. 1397. Hic tacet Dominus Will. Prene quondam Rector huius Ecclesie viz. tempore Regis Edwardi quarti et postea Rector Ecclesie de Lymming qui fieri fecit istam Capellam et Campanile huius Ecclesie et in uita sua multa alia bona .... ob I. die Decemb. 1464. Willelmus Prene me fecit in honorem sancte Trinitatis Eltham Pray for the sowl of Dame Margerie Roper late wyff of Iohn Roper Suier daughter and one of the heires of Iohn Tattersall Suier who dyed 2. Februar 1518 Roper a name of eminent respect in this County honoured with the title of Baron Roper of Tenham by our Soueraigne Lord Iames late King of England giuen to Iohn Lord Roper now liuing Pray for the sowl of Iohn Morton sonne and heire of Margaret Morton of Asheby de la Zouch in the County of Leicester late wife to Tho. Squier who dyed 23. Aug. Prier pur l'alme Thomas Pierle qi morust le primer iour de Iuyl l'an de Grace Mil. ccc.lxix ..... Here lyeth Iohn Pasley yeoman Porter to king Henry the eighth and Agnes his wife which Iohn dyed .... 1509. Hen. 8.1 West Peckham Iohn Culpeper one of the Iustices of the Common Pleas in the raigne of king Henry the fourth founded here a Preceptorie or free-Schoole which he endowed with threescore and three pounds sixe shillings eight pence of yearely allowance Bromley In the Church wall lyeth the pourtraiture as I learne by tradition of Richard Wendouer Bishop of Rochester and Parson of this Towne He was consecrated 1238. and dyed 1250. yet it is said that his body was buried in Westminster by the kings speciall commandement for that he was accounted a very holy and vertuous man which I cannot much contradict Icy gist Mestre Water de Henche Qi fut Persone de Bromleghe 1360. Lewsham Hic iacet Georgius Hatecliffe Ar. Thesaurarius Domini Regis in Hibernia ac vnus clericorum compoti Hospitii regis obiit 1. Aug. 1514. Iohn Norbury founded a Priory in this Towne of Lewsham which hee replenished with blacke Monkes Aliens belonging to the Abbey of Gaunt in Flanders and thereupon called Aliens because they were Celles to some Monastery or other beyond the Seas The first foundation of these houses I do not finde but in the raigne of king Edward the third they were encreased to the number of one hundred and ten in England besides them in Ireland Aquitane and Normandy The goods of all which Priories the said king Ann. Reg. 12. because of his warres with France caused to be confiscated to his owne vse letting out their houses to farme with all their lands and tenements for the space of three and twenty yeares At the end of which Terme Peace being concluded betweene the two Nations he restored to the Priors Aliens their
houses lands and tenements Ann. Reg. 35. as by his patents may appeare in effect as followeth Edward by the grace of God King of England Lord of Ireland and of Aquitaine to all by these presents c. Although the Priory of Montacute in the County of Somerset by reason of the warres betweene vs and France with all the lands tenements fees aduowsons together with the goods and cattels belonging to the same hath beene of late taken into our hands and by vs farmed and rented forth as appeareth by diuers patents Now therefore since peace is betwixt vs and the noble Prince our most deare brother the king of France we for the honour of God and holy Church restore to the said Prior the Priory with all the lands tenements fees aduowsons and whatsoeuer else belonging to the same to hold the same in as free manner as they held it before And withall forgiue and release all arrerages of Rents which might bee due vnto vs by reason of any former grants In witnesse c. the sixth of February the 35. yeare of our raigne The like letters of restitution all the rest of the houses of Aliens had through England all which were cleane suppressed and vtterly dissolued by king Henry the fifth and their lands giuen by him and his sonne Henry the sixth to Colledges of learned men and to other Monasteries Greenwich This Parish Church is consecrated to the honour of Saint Aelphege sometime Archbishop of Canterbury who suffered martyrdome much-what about the same place where it now standeth Which Aelpâ—ege boâ—ne of great parentage brought vp in good learning preferred first to the Bishopricke of Winchester then to this of Canterbury a man admired for his strict manner of life and holy exhortations by both which hee conâ—uerted many vnto Christ was cruelly put to death by the Danish Pagans with many exquisite torments in the yeare of our Lord a thousand and twelue Of which in William Malmesbury Camden and the Catalogue of Bishops you may reade more at large It was long before these bloudy executioners would suffer his bodie to bee committed to the earth after the manner of Christian decencie yet at length that fauour was obtained and his body here first buried from whence within a short time after his reliques were remoued to Saint Pauls London and from thence at the commandement of king Knute to Canterbury He was canonized and the 19. day of Aprill allowed for celebration of his memory Some write that like another Stephen he was stoned to death that like him he prayed for his enemies and that Turkill generall of those Danes was conuerted to the faith at the sight of his constant martyrdome Here sometime stood an house of obseruant Friers which came hither about the latter end of the raigne of King Edward the fourth at whose hands they obtained a Chantrie with a little Chappell of the holy Crosse a place yet extant in the Towne and king Henry the seuenth builded for them an house adioyning to the Pallace which is there yet to be seene Here in this Towne was another Monastery of Friers Minorites and Aliens founded by King Edward the third and the foresaid Iohn Norbury which as Lewsham did belonged to the Abbot of Gaunt in Flaunders vntill such time as King Henry the fifth seising into his hands by occasion of warre all the lands of the Priors Aliens as I haue touched before bestowed this together with the Mannor of Lewsham and many other lands also vpon the Priory of Chartrehouse Monkes of Shene which hee had then newly erected to which it remayned vntill the time of the raigne of king Henry the eight who annexed it to the Crowne Depeford Orate pro anima ..... Weuer ..... Mercatoris et Maioris Stapul ville Calcis qui ob ..... Februar ... et pro .... Ioanne vx eius qui ob .... Martin the fifth Bishop of Rome granted by this Bull to these Staple Merchants in this Weeuers Maioralty at their earnest request an itinerarie or portable Aulter which they were to take with them to what place soeuer they trauelled to make any time of aboad and withall gaue them licence to elect a Priest to say Masse administer the Sacraments to heare their confessions to enioyne them penance and to giue them absolution as the cause should require The forme of which I hold it not much amisse here to set downe as I found it in an old Manuscript without name or date in the Earle of Exceters Librarie Martinus Episcopus Seruus Seruorum Dei dilectis filijs Maiori et eius locum tenenti ac Constabulario ceterisque Principalibus Societatis Mercatorum lanarum Stapule Anglie Salutem et Apostolicam benedictionem Sincere deuotionis affectus quem ad nos et Romanam geritis Ecclesiam non indigne meretur vt petitionibus vestris illis presertim quos ex deuotionis feruore prodire conspicimus quantum cum Deo possumus fauorabiliter animamus Hinc est quod nos vestris deuotis supplicationibus inclinati vt liceat vobis et posteris vestris Maiori et eius locum tenenti ac Constabulario nec non Principalibus societatis Mercatorum lanarum Stapule Anglie ac vestrum ac eorundem posterorum cuilibet habere Altare portatile cum debita reuerentia et honore Super quo in villa Calestie seu alibi etiam in transmarinis seu cismarinis partibus vbi pro tempore vos vel aliquem vestrum esse vel declinare et huiusmodi Stapulum lanarum teneri contigerit in locis ad hoc congruâ—ntibus et honestis positis per proprium vel alium Sacerdotem ydoneum Missas et alia diuina officia sine iuris alieni preiudicio in vestra et ipsorum ac aliorum Mercatorum dicte Societatis ibidem pro tempore presentium Nec non vestrorum et eorundem Posterorum ac Mercatorum familiarium presentia facere celebrari vobis et predictis posteris tenore presentium indulgemus Nulli ergo omnino homini liceat hanc paginam nostre concessionis infringere vel ei ausu temerario contraire Si quis autem hoc attemptare presumpserit indignationem omnipotentis Dei et beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum eius se nouerit incursurum Dat. Mant. 3. Non. Nouemb. Pontificatus nostri Ann. primo By another Bull dated the same yeare and his Apostolicall authoritie he giues them free election of their Confessour the Priest The words are Aliquem ydoneum et discretum presbyterum eligere confessorem indulgemus qui quotiens vobis fuerit oportunum confessionibus vestris diligenter auditis pro commissis debitam vobis absolutionem impendat et iniungat penitentiam salutarem nisi forsan talia fuerint c. propter que sedes Apostolica c. Nulli ergo omnino hominum c. Dat. c. In English We fauourably yeeld to your deuout and pious supplications and we giue
Amen This Thomas Kempe was Nephew to Iohn Kempe Archbishop of Canterbury at whose hands hee receiued Consecration at Yorke place now called White hall Ann. 1449. Febr. 8. his Vnkle being as then Archbishop of Yorke This Bishop and not Duke Vmphrey as it is commonly beleeued by report built for the most part the Diuinitie Schooles in Oxford as they stood before Bodleyes foundation with walls Arches Vaults doores towers and pinnacles all of square smooth polisht stone and artificially depainted the Doctors Chaire to the liuely representation of the glorious frame of the celestiall globle He built also Pauls Crosse in forme as as it now standeth Here lieth Iohn Stokesley Bishop of this Church brought vp at Magdelene Colledge in Oxford and here enthronized Iuly 19. 1530. Who died Septemb. 8. 1539. A part of his Epitaph as yet remaines inlaid in brasse which approues him to haue beene a good Linguist and a great Schollar Huius in obscuro tumuli interiore recessit Stokesley cineres ossaque tecta iacent Cuius fama patens vite decus ingenijque Dexteritas ..... luce tamen Iste Deo Regique suo populoque fideli Viueret vt charus perpetuo studuit Exterius siquidem potuit regionibus .... .................... Qui Latias lustrauit opes intrauit hebreas Huic grecorum palma parata fuit Artes quid memorem vanas ad quas penetrauit Quum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auctus honore fuit .............. Virginis matris cultori certa supremum Natalem Marie fata dedere diem I reade in the Catalogue of Bishops and other writers for all the Inscriptions of any Antiquitie made to the memory of other Bishops here interred are altogether erazed or stolne away that William a Norman who enioyed this Bishopricke in the Conquerours time lieth here interred in the body of the Church Vnto whom the City of London acknowledgeth it selfe greatly beholding for that the king by his meanes and instant suite granted vnto them all kinde of liberties in as ample manner as they enioyed them in the time of his predecessour Ed. the Confessour These are the words of the Conquerours grant written in the Saxon tongue and sealed with greene waxe Williem king grets Williem Bisceop and Godfred Porterefan and ealle ya Burghwarn binnen London Frencisce and Englise frendlice and ickiden eoy yeet ic wille yeet git ben ealra weera lagay weore ye get weeran on Eadwards daege kings And ic will yeet aelc child by his fader yrfnume aefter his faders daege And i◠nelle ge wolian yeet aenig man coy aenis wrang beode God coy heald Which in English is to this effect following William king greetes William Bishop and Godfrey Portgraue and all the Burrow of London French and English friendly And I make knowne to you that ye be worthy to enioy all that Law and priuiledge which ye did in the dayes of King Edward And I will that euery childe bee his fathers heire after his fathers decease And I will not suffer that any man doe vnto you any iniurie God you keepe In thankfulnesse hereof the Citizens caused to bee engrauen an Epitaph vpon his Tombe in Latine thus Englished by Iohn Stow. To William a man famous in wisedome and holinesse of life who first with Saint Edward the king and Confessour being familiar of late preferred to be Bishop of London and not long after for his prudencie and sincere fidelitie admitted to be of Councell with the most victorious Prince William king of England of that name the first who obtained of the same great and large priuiledges to this famous City The Senate and Citizens of London to him hauing well deserued haue made this Hee continued Bishop twenty yeares and dyed in the yeare after Christ his natiuitie 1070. These marble Monuments to thee thy Citizens assigne Rewards O father farre vnfit to those deserts of thine Thee vnto them a faithfull friend thy London people found And to this Towne of no small weight a stay both sure and sound Their liberties restorde to them by meanes of thee haue beene Their publike weale by meanes of thee large gifts haue felt and seene Thy riches stocke and beauty braue one houre hath them supprest Yet these thy vertues and good deeds with vs for euer rest But this Tombe was long since either destroyed by time or taken away vpon some occasion yet howsoeuer the Lord Maior of London and the Aldermen his brethren vpon those solemne dayes of their resort to Pauls do still vse to walke to the grauestone where this Bishop lyeth buried in remembrance of their priuiledges by him obtained And now of late yeares an Inscription fastened to the pillar next adioyning to his graue called The reuiuall of a most worthy Prelates remembrance erected at the sole cost and charges of the right honourable and nobly affected Sir Edward Barkham knight Lord Maior of the Citie of London Ann. 1622. thus speakes to the walkers in Pauls Walkers whosoere you be If it proue your chance to see Vpon a solemnes skarlet day The Citie Senate passe this way Their gratefull memory for to show Which they the reuerend ashes owe Of Bishop Norman here inhum'd By whom this Citie hath assum'd Large priuiledges Those obtain'd By him when Conquerour William raign'd This being by thankfull Barkhams mynd renewd Call it the Monument of Gratitude Here lieth buried Fulk Basset Bishop of this Church preferred hither from the Deanrie of Yorke a Gentleman of an ancient great family second brother of that Gilbert Basset who through the stumbling of his horse fell in a certaine wood as hee went a hunting in the haruest time Ann. 1241. and brake so his bones and sinewes that within a few dayes after he dyed and shortly after euen in the same moneth the onely sonne of this Gilbert being a childe died whereby that lordlie inheritance came to this Fulk Basset who as he was a man of great linage and also of ample both temporall and Ecclesiasticall possessions so was hee a Prelate of an inuincible high spirit stout and couragious to resist those insupportable exactions which the Popes Legate Rustandus went about to lay vpon the Clergie and at such a time when the Pope and the king like the Shepheard and the Woolfe ioyned both together to destroy the Sheepfold Much what about which time to the same effect certaine rimes were scattered abroad as I haue before set downe in the Diocesse of Canterbury Such were the Popes rapines and enormous proceedings in those dayes all which this stout Bishop withstood to the vttermost of his power Hee died of the plague here in London Ann. 1258. hauing gouerned this See 14. yeares odde moneths A Monument was made to his eternall memory whereupon this Distich was inlaid in brasse Prudens fortis iacet hac Episcopus arca Bone Iesu. Bassettis ortus cui parcas summe Hierarcha Bone Iesu. Here lieth entombed in the
North wall Iohn de Chishull who sometimes had beene Deane of Pauls Archdeacon and Bishop of London Lord Treasurer of England and twice Keeper of the great Seale He was consecrated Aprill 29. 1274 and died the tenth 1279. Vpon the Monument of Richard Newport Bishop of this Church here buried a little inscription not long since was to be read expressing the day and yeare of his consecration which was March 26. 1317. And the like of his death which happened August 24. 1318. the yeare following Raph Baldocke Deane of this Church was chosen Bishop vpon Saint Mathias day 1303. but was not consecrated till the yeare 1305. Ianuary 30. which he receiued at the hands of one Petrus Hispanus a Cardinall Bishop of Alba at Lions in France He was a man very well learned and amongst other things writ an History or Chronicle of England in the Latine tongue In his life time he gaue two hundred Markes toward the building of the Chappell on the East end of this Church now called The Lady Chappell wherein he lieth buried and in his Will bequeathed much toward the finishing of the same And here by the way saith mine Author it shall not bee amisse to note that in digging the foundation of this building there were found more then an hundred heads of cattell as oxen kine stagges c. which seeme to confirme the opinion of those that thinke the Temple of Iupiter was scituate in that place before the planting of Christian Religion tooke away those idolatrous sacrifices This Bishop was chosen Lord Chancellour by king Edward the first Vpon whose death he sent the great Seale to king Edward the second as then lying at Carliell This Raph is mistaken by some writers for Robert Baldock Bishop of Norwich yet I finde no such Bishop of that See in the Catalogue sometime Archdeacon of Midlesex and Chancellour of England Much what about that time a man that liued in the hatred of most people whom the old English Chronicle calleth a false peeld Priest these are the words Robart Baldok his false pilide Chanceler being as then Chancellour to Edward the second and in another place Ye pilide clerk Robart Baldok ye fals Chanceler Yet this pilide fals clerk was euer trew to the King his Lord and Master for which he was taken and imprisoned in Newgate London wherein he miserably ended his dayes Of which thus writeth the Author of the booke of Durham Robertus de Baldock Cancellarius 1325. captus cum Hugonibus de despensers quia Clericus fuit Sacerdos in nona porta Londiniarum poni fecit Edwardus Princeps et Isabella mater eius vbi pro nimia miseria mortuus fuit infra breue But to returne to Raph for I haue somewhat digressed from the matter Bishop of this Diocesse who when from his first confirmation by Robert of Winchelsey Bishop of Canterbury he had sate about eight yeares died on S. Iames his Eue 1313. at Stell Here lyeth buried Michaell Northbrooke Bishop of this See Doctor of Law who had his election confirmed Iuly 7. 1355. and died of the plague Septemb. 9. 1361. at Copford This Bishop gaue a chest with a thousand Markes which money was to bee lent to the poore vpon securitie as appeares by his will Michael de Northburghe nuper Episcopus Lond. legauit in testamento suo sic Item lego ad faciend vnam cistam que stabit in Thesauria Sancti Pauli mille Marcas in eadem includend de quibus possit quilibet pauper plebeus sub bona excedenti pignore mutuo recipere decem libras 1. Pars. Pat. Ann. 49. Ed. 3. M. 30. Here lieth interred vnder a marble stone neare to the Monument of Sir Christopher Hatton the body of Richard Clifford Archdeacon of Canterbury from which dignitie he was preferred to the Bishopricke of Worcester which he enioyed about six yeares and from thence translated to this See of London which hee laudably gouerned thirteene yeares and some moneths and died August 20. 1421. This Bishop in the yeare 1414. trauelled to the Councell of Constance and preached in Latine before the Emperour and other Estates there assembled In this Councell the long schisme was ended and Martin the fifth called before Otho Columna Cardinall of Saint George was chosen the sole Pope The Councell thinking it meete that thirtie persons should be added to the Cardinals in this election this our Richard Clifford was one of that number In which also there were some that named him to the Papacie Himselfe was the first that named the Cardinall Columna who thereupon the rest consenting was immediately elected Betweene the two pillars next vnto the Steeple on the North side of the body of the Church vnder a marble stone ouer which was built a kind of Tombe or Chappell of wood that by the burning of the steeple was consumed and quite defaced the body of Rich. Fitz-Iames lieth interred A gentleman of an ancient house learned and vertuous Doctor of Law brought vp in Merton Colledge in Oxford and sometimes Warden of the same from whence hee was aduanced to the Bishopricke of Rochester from thence translated to Chichester and from Chichester to London He bestowed much money in repairing the Church of S. Martins in Oxford as also in adorning and beautifying this his owne Cathedrall Church He died in the yeare 1521. Hic in Domino obdormiuit Iohannes Gandauensis vulgo de Gaunt à Gandauo Flandrie vrbe loco natali ita denominatus Edwardi tercij Regis Anglie filius à Patre comitis Richmondie titulo ornatus Tres sibi vxores in matrimonio duxit primam Blancham filiam heredem Henrici Ducis Lancastrie per quam amplissimam adijt hereditatem Nec solum Dux Lancastrie sed etiam Leicestrie Lincolnie Derbie comes effectus E cuius sobole Imperatores Reges Principes proceres propagati sunt plurimi Alteram habuit vxorem Constantiam que hic contumulatur filiam heredem Petri Regis Castillie et Legionis cuius iure optimo titulo Regis Castillie et Legionis vsus est Haec vnicam illi peperit filiam Catharinam ex qua ab Henrico Reges Hispanie sunt propagati Tertiam vero vxorem duxit Catharinam ex Equestri familia eximia pulchritudine feminam ex qua numero sam suscepit prolem Vnde genus ex matre duxit Henricus 7. Rex Anglie prudentissimus Cuius felicissimo coniugio cum Elisabetha Edw. 4. Regis filia e stirpe Eboracensi Regie ille Lancastriensium et Eboracensium familie ad exoptatissimam Anglie pacem coaluerunt Illustrissimus hic princeps Iohannes cognomento Plantagenet Rex Castillie Legionis Dux Lancastrie comes Richmondie Leicestrie Lincolnie Derbie locum tenens Aquitanie Magnus Seneschallus Anglie obijt Ann. 22. Regni Regis Ricardi 2. Annoque Domini 1399. His first wife Blanch here buried died of the plague saith
Io. Stow Ann. 1369. She ordained for her husband and her selfe a solemne Obit to bee kept yearely in this Church where the Maior being present at the Masse with the Sheriffes Chamberlaine and Swordbearer should offer each of them a pennie and the Maior to take vp twentie shillings the Sheriffes either of them a Marke the Chamberlaine ten shillings and the Sword-bearer sixe shillings eight pence and euery other of the Maiors officers there present two and twenty pence a peece the which Obyte saith Fabian to this day is holden She also founded foure Chantrees in this Church for the soules of her selfe and her husband and was greatly beneficiall vnto the Deane and Canons His second wife Constance died in the yeare 1395. whom hee solemnly and Princely interred by his first wife Blanch. She was saith Walsingham mulier super feminas innocens deuota A Lady aboue Ladies innocent deuout and zealous Of his third wife Katherine when I come to Lincolne Minster where she lieth entombed Henry Lacy Earle of Lincolne lieth here entombed in the new worke which was of his owne foundation vnder a goodly Monument with his armed pourtraiture crosse-legged as one that had professed his vttermost endeauour for defence of the holy Land Hee was stiled Earle of Lincolne Baron of Halton Constable of Chester Lord of Pomfret Blackburnshire Ros in Wales and Rowennocke Hee was Protectour of England whilest King Edward the second was in Scotland and Viceroy sometime in the Duchie of Aquitaine Vir illustris in consilio strenuus in omni guerra prelio Princeps militie in Anglia in omni regno ornatissimus saith the booke of Dunmow By his first wife Margaret daughter and heire of William Longspee grandchilde of William Longspee Earle of Salisbury he had two sonnes Edmund drowned in a Well in Denbeigh Castle and Iohn who died young both of them dead before their father And one daughter named Alice married to Thomas Plantaginet Earle of Lancaster He died at his house now called Lincolnes Inne in Chancerie-lane London Feb. the fifth 1310. being threescore yeares of age as I haue it out of the booke of Whalley in these words Iste Henricus Comes Lincol. obijt Anno etat is lx Ann. Domini M. CCC X. in festo Sancte Agathe Martyris circa gallicinium In the same Chappell dedicated to S. Dunstan lieth Laurence Allerthorp sometimes Canon of this Church and Lord Treasurer of England with this Inscription Hic iacet Laurentius Allerthorp quondam Thesaurarius Anglie Canonicus Stagiarius istius Ecclesie qui migrauit ex hoc seculo mens Iulij die 21. 1406. This Allerthorp being a man of no more eminencie in the Church then a Canon resident was neuer thought of or not beleeued by the Collector of the Lord Treasurers to haue ascended to such an honour so that he lies here in a darksome roome as a sacrifice to obliuion small notice taken of him except by some few of the Churchmen Now giue mee leaue to tell you by way of digression that howsoeuer this Allerthorp was but one of the Canons resident yet he was solely the one and had most or all the reuenues of the rest in his hands for as the Records of this Church doe approue those thirtie Canons vpon the primarie institution called Canons Regular because they led a regular life and were perpetually resident and afterwards liuing abroad and neglecting the businesse of their Church became to be called Canons secular contenting themselues with the title of Canon and some prebend assigned vnto them Which annexing of lands to the Prebendarie was not till a long time after the first foundation whereupon Pope Lucius by his Bull ordained that the Canons non-resident should not partake of the profits of the lands assigned to the common affaires of the Church but onely such as were resident the diuision of the Churches lands hauing beene made before in the time of the Conquerour and this Laurence Allerthorp at and before the time of his Treasurship was solus residentiarius and had the whole reuenue of the rest at his owne disposing by way of Option as it is called in the Lieger booke But of this enough if not too much Then to conclude howsoeuer this Allerthorp be altogether excluded out of the Treatise of the Treasurers and Sir Iohn Northberie knight keeper of the priuie Garderobe in the Tower said to be Lord Treasurer in the first second and third of king Henry the fourth in which time the said Allerthorp should enioy that office or not at all Yet these words in his Patent together with this Epitaph do approue him to haue beene adorned with the honourable Office of a solicitous Lord Treasurer Laurentius de Allerthorp Clericus habet officium Thesaurarij Anglie quamdiu T.R. apud W. 31. Maij. 9. pars pat 2. Hen. 4. membrana 14. Hic requiescit Simon Burly Banerettus quinque Portuum prefectus Ordinis Garterij Miles Ricardo 2. Consiliarius longe charissimus connubio sibi coniunctas habuit ex amplissimis familijs duas vxores alteram Staffordie alteram Baronis de Roos filiam Verum difficillimo illo tempore cum inter Anglie Proceres omnia sub iuuene Principe simultatibus agitarentur in tantum nonnullorum odium incurrit vt Parlamentaria authoritate capite plecteretur Anno Dom. 1388. Posteri autem eadem postea authoritate sub Rege Henrico quarto sunt restituti Edward the blacke Prince tooke such affection to this Sir Simon Burley for his valour wisedome and true seruice that he committed to his gouernance his onely sonne then liuing Richard of Burdeux who being afterwards king of England by the name of Richard the second aduanced him to high honours offices and promotions and nothing was done in matters of State without his appointment and direction Thus hee continued alwayes loyall to his Soueraigne Lord the king yet liued in the hatred of the Peeres of the Land as also of the common people for that he leaned to the partie of Robert de Veere Earle of Oxford Duke of Ireland and the kings fauorite and was an oppressour of the poore Commons insomuch that by the sentence of that Parliament which wrought wonders An. 11. Ric. secundi hee was condemned of treason and beheaded on the Tower hill as in the Inscription He was first Vicechamberlaine to king Richard who made him Constable of Douer Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports deliuering the keyes of the said Castle to the said Simon in signe of possession so much would he grace him with his presence thus recorded Simon de Burley Miles subcamerarius Regis haebt officium Constabularij Castri Douer custodie 5. Portuum ad totam vitam suam sicut Robertus de Assheton Chr. iam defunctus nuper habuit Rex super hoc ipso Simoni in dicto Castro in presenti existens claues tradidit in signum possessionis earundem
by King Henry the second remoued into Ireland who supposed that he should disburden himselfe of the worlds hatred for that fact in case hee aduanced the Kinsfolke and Allies of the said Thomas to rich reuenues and high honours The first Earle of Ormond saith he in this familie was Iames sonne to Edmund Earle of Caricke who wedded the daughter of Humphrey Bohun Earle of Hereford whom he had by a daughter of King Edward the first And here was his first step vnto this honour hereupon Iames his sonne by this marriage came to be commonly named among the people The noble Earle The fifth Earle of these named Iames that I may not stand particularly vpon euere one receiued at the hands of King Henry the sixth the title and honour of Earle of Wiltshire to him and to the heires of his body who being Lord Deputie of Ireland as diuers others of this race and Lord Treasurer of England standing attainted by King Edward the fourth was streight waies apprehended and beheaded but his brethren Iohn and Thomas likewise proclaimed Traitors kept themselues close out of the way Iohn died at Ierusalem without issue Thomas here entombed through the speciall fauour of King Henry the seuenth was in the end restored to his bloud who departed this life as before in his Epitaph An. 1515. leauing behinde him two daughters Anne married to Sir Iames de Sancto Leodegario called commonly Sellenger and Margaret vnto Sir William Bullein who bare vnto him Sir Thomas Bollein whom King Henry the eight created first Viscount Rochford afterwards Earle of Wiltshire and Ormund the father of Anne Bollein as I haue written before Here lyeth ..... Iohn Riche .... the sonne of Richard Riche Sheriffe .... 1469. Respice quid prodest presentis temporis euum Omne quod est nihil est preter amare deum Richard Rich one of the Sheriffes of London Anno 1442. and the father of this Iohn founded certaine Almes-houses at Hodsdon in Hertfordshire He lieth buried in Saint Laurence Church old Iewrie with the like Distich vpon his monument Vndyr this ston lyeth in the holy plas Ambros Cressacre ...... he was Late of Dedington in Huntington shyre Passyd fro this world worshcipfull Esquyre The yere of our Lord God M. cccc.lxxvii it is Iesu for his mercy grant his sowl bliss Iohn Peris and Margaret his wyf The whych late departyd fro this present lyf Here beryed and ther sonn vndyr this ston And ther soulys to God ben passyd and gon To thee for help of mercy thou blessyd Saint Ion And to Saint Margarite also I mak my mon. Here lieth Raph Tilney Grocer sometyme Alderman and Sheriffe of this City and Ioan his wyff who dyed 1503 and Ioan died 1500 .... on whos soulys Clausa sub bac fossa pacis hic Yerford pronus ossa ............... Prudens pacificus in omnes pacis amicus Vixit Mercerus in promissis cuique verus Mors properata nimis dum floruit impia primis Annis vanescit et à nobis sicque recessit Anno milleno quater cccc octuagenâ— Migrat ab hac vita sua spes succurre Maria. Siste precorque legas Alleyneia et eâ—ce Iohannes Londini quondam Pretor erat celebris Confilio Regis summa probitate probatus Inclytus et miles nobilitate valens Quem Deus omnipotens secum dignetur Olympo Et precor eternam donet ei requiem obijt An. 1544. This Lord Maior who for his singular wisedome was made a Priuie Councellour to King Henry the eight built a beautifull Chappell here wherein he was first buried but since his Tombe is remoued thence into the body of the Hospitall Church and his Chappell diuided into Shops He gaue to the city a rich coller of gold to be worne by the Maior he gaue a stocke of 500 markes to be employed for the vse of the poore of London besides the rents of certaine lands by him purchased of the King To Prisons Hospitals and Lazer houses within and two miles without the Citie he was abundantly charitable Saint Mary Bow Magnificus sed iustificus misâ—ris et amicus Vir speciosus vir generosus virque pudicus Et peramabilis et venerabilis atque piarum Vis dux lex lampas flos Maior Londoniarum In terre ventre iacet hic Iohn rite Couentre Dictus quem necuit veluti decuit lue plenus Bis septingenus tricenus citra his et vnus Martius in sole triceno si trahis vnum Virginis a partu carnis modo mortuus artu Viuus erit celis tuba clanxerit vt Gabrielis Amen This Iohn was the sonne of William Couentrie of the Citie of Couentrie in Warwickshire He was Lord Maior of this Citie An. 1425 a man much commended he is in our English Chronicles for his discreet carriage in the debate betwixt Humphrey Duke of Glocester and Henry Beaufort that wealthy Bishop of Winchester One William Copeland Church-warden gaue the great Bell which is rung nightly at nine of the clocke which had this inscription cast in the mettall An. 1515. Dudum fundabar Bowbel campana vocabar Sexta sonat bis sexta sonat ter tertia pulsat No maruaile death in childhood tooke from men This roiall Prince he was a father then Three Hospitalls erected this rate gem And ended praising God for ending them Saint Anthonies commonly called Saint Antlins Here lyth grauyn vndyr this ston Thomas Knowles both flesh and bon Grocer and Alderman yeres fortye Sheriff and twis Maior truly And for he shold not ly alone Here lyth wyth him his good wyff Ione They weren togeder sixty yere And nineteen chyldren they had in feer Now ben they gon wee them miss Christ haue here sowlys to heuen bliss Amen ob Ann. 14 ...... This Lord Maior with the Aldermen his brethren began to new build the Guild Hall he reedified this Church gaue to the Grocers his house neare vnto the same for reliefe of the poore for euer and caused water to be conuayed to the gate of Newgate and Ludgate for reliefe of the prisoners He was Lord Maior Ann. 1. of Hen. the fourth and againe An. 12. eiusdem Regis Thomas Knowles sonne of the foresaid Thomas a great benefactour to this Church was buried here in the North Isle by his father vnder a faire marble stone thus sometimes engrauen but now quite taken away for the gaine of the brasse Thomas Knolles lyeth vndre this ston And his wyff Isabell flesh and bon They weren togeder nyntene yere And x. chyldren they had in fere His Fader and he to this Chyrch Many good dedys they did wyrch Example by him ye may see That this world is but vanitie For wheder he be smal or gret All sall turne to wormys mete This seyd Thomas was leyd on Bere The eighth dey the moneth Fevrer The date of Iesu Crist truly An. M. CCCC fiue and forty Wee mey not prey hertely
of Canterbury writing of the Antiquitie and famous renowne of this Monastery hath these words Vt Albanense propter protomartyris nostri Albani nobile eo loci martyrium sacrasque etiam ibi reconditas reliquias coenobium reliquorum semper princeps habitum est ita posterioribus seculis Westmonasteriense post illud maxime eminebat It is likewise of especiall note and reuerend regard by reason of the consecration the inauguration and vnction of our kings of England of which two riming Hexameters are wrought in the cloth of Arras which adorne the Quire Hanc Regum sedem sibi Petrus consecrat Edem Quam tu Papa regis insignit vnctio Regis This Church is also greatly honoured by the glorious Monuments of kings Queenes grand Peeres and others of eminent place and qualitie here interred And first of all Sebert the first founder the sonne of Sledda and Queene Ricula the sister of Ethelbert king of Kent with his wife Ethelgoda lie here entombed who died the last day of Iuly Ann. Dom. 616. hauing raigned 13. yeares Som 692. yeares after their bodies were translated from their first place of buriall to the South side of the Communion Table where they rest within a Tombe of lead with this Epitaph Labilitas breuitas mundane prosperitatis Celica premia gloria gaudia danda beatis Sebertum certum iure dedere satis Hic Rex Christicola verâ—x fuit hac regione Qui nunc celicola gaudet mercede corone Rex humilis docilis scius pius inclytus iste Sollicite nitide tacite placide bone christe Vult servire tibi perficiendo sibi Ornat mores spernit flores lucis auare Gliscens multum christi cultum letificare Ecclesiam nimiam nimio studio fabricauit Hec illesa manus que fundamenta locauit Hic septingentis annisterra cumulatus Christi clementis instinctibus inde leuatus Isto sub lapide nunc iacet ipse vide Atque domum Christo quia mundo fecit in isto Nunc pro mercede celi requiescit in ede Respice mortalis promissio sit tibi talis Accipies si des nil capies nisi des Es Christo qualis Christus erit tibi talis Dapsilis esto sibi largus eritque tibi Effectus non affectus si reddere possis Debet censeri si nihil reddere possis Tunc bonus affectus pro facto debet haberi Sicut de lignis per aquam depellitur ignis Sic malo commissa fiunt donando remissa Reddet ad vsuram quod quis dat nomine Christi Nam vitam puram pro parvo dat Deus isti His wife Aethelgoda died the 13. of September Ann. Dom. 615 Vpon the wall by this Tombe the image of Saint Peter is depicted speaking to king Sebert in these verses Hic Rex Seberte pausas mihi condita per te Hec loca lustraui demum lustrando dicaui Here lieth honourably interred in a marble Tombe checquered with variety of stones of beautifull colours the body of Edward king of England who for his singular pietie was numbred among the Confessors a principall Founder of this Church Thus commended by a late writer Religious chast wise fortunate stout franke and milde was hee And from all taxes wrongs and foes did set his kingdome free His Epitaph here inscribed consists of these three Hexameters Omnibus insignis virtutum landibus Heros Sanctus Edwardus Confessor Rex venerandus Quinto die Iani moriens super Ethera scandit Sursum corda Moritur Ann. Dom. 1065. Serlo of Paris hath another Epitaph to his memory in these words Edwardus probitate potens pietate verendus Seque suosque regens rexerat egregius Formosam faciem procerum corpus habebat Leticiam vultus moribus exuperans Hic bello sic pace suos exterruit hostes Presumpsit pacem rumpere nemo suam Quinque dies anui reserebat ianua Iani Cum Rex egrediens carnea templa finit My old Author Robert of Glocester goes more punctually to the period of his life the yeares moneths weekes and dayes of his raigne and time of his buriall When Seynt Edward hadde thus told he ganne to clos hys eyghe The iiii dey of Ianuar then gan he deye In the yer of owr Lord M.lxvi. ryght Aftur that owr swete Lord in hys moder alyght Kyng he was xxiiii yer and ii monyethes therto And three wekes and vi deyes â—r his lyf was ido Al the Franchyse of Engelond and al the ioy and blis Wyth hym faste i beryd was thulke tym I wis And that men fonde sone aftyrward wyth meny delful cas Atte Westmynster a twelfth dey this Godeman beryed was He was for his simplenesse saith the same Author i callyd Edward Simple yet sothe our Lord noryshede hys symplenes and yaf hym grete grase that men shold be adradde of hym that courhe natte be wrothe and though men trowed hym to be slow and simâ—le he hadde such subiects vndyr hym that atte his hesâ— dauntyd his enemyes as Syward Erle of Northumbyrlonde and Leofricus Erle of Hereforde that defendyd the kyng euer mor wyth ther manhode and fauor ayenst the mantenors of Duc Godwyâ—â—e Questionleâ—â—â— for sanctitie of life and sweete conuersation he did farre excell all other Princes and kings of that disposition are for the most part too soft and piiant an imperfection in supreme authoritie to command the turbulent spirits of an vnsetled kingdome and their vnderstanding too shallow to dâ—ue into the depth of their enemies designes This Edward was the seuenth sonne of King Etheldred by Emma his second wife daughter of Richard the second Duke of Normandy he was borne at Islip in the County of Oxford he was about fourty yeares of age when he was enthroned in the seat Imperiall He was the first king of England that healed the disease since called the kings Euill His wife Editha lieth buried at the North siâ—e of his Tombe who was the daughter of Godwin that treacherous Earle of Kent a virgine most chast whose breast was a schoolehouse of all liberall sciences milde modest faithfull innocent and vnfainedly holy no way sauouring of her fathers barbarousnesse being neuer hurtfull to any Whereupon this verse was applied vnto her and her father Sicut Spina Rosam genuit Godwinus Editham From pricked stalke as sweetest Rose So Edith faire from Godwin growes Of which another writeth thus Godwyne Erle a dawghtyr he hadde that was of grete fame And of clene lyf also Edithe was her name And as the Roos of a brere spryngeth that kene is Also sprunge this holy mayd of liche kynd I wis She died in December 1074. in the eight yeare of her widowhood and in the eight yeare of the Conquerours raigne Professing vpon her death-bed that notwithstanding she had beene king Edwards wife the space of eighteene yeares yet she died a pure Virgine For this king Edward not without reason is taxed in that he vnder a godly pretext of Religion
and vowed virginitie cast off all care of hauing issue and exposed the kingdome to the prey of ambitious humours Yet some that would excuse him in this affirme that this holy king was not willing to beget any heires that should succeed him out of a treacherous race Here lieth without any Tombe Maude daughter to Malcolm Camoir king of Scots and wife to king Henry the first who brought vnto him children William Richard and Mary which perished by shipwracke and Maud Empresse who was wise to Henry the fift Emperour She died the first day of May Maij prima dies nostrorum nocte dierum raptam perpetua fecit inesse die 1118. She had an excellent Epigram made to her commendation whereof these foure verses onely remaine Prospera non laetam fecere nec aspera tristem Aspera risus erant prospera terror erant Non decor effecit fragilem non sceptra superbam Sola potens humilis sola pudica decens Thus paraphrastically translated No prosperous state did make her glad Nor aduerse chances made her sad If Fortune frown'd she then did smile If Fortune smil'd she fear'd the while If Beauty tempted she said nay No pride she tooke in Scepters sway She onely high her selfe debast A Lady onely faire and chast She went euery day in the Lent time to this Church bare-foot and bare-legd wearing a garment of haire she would wash and kisse the feet of the poorest people and giue them bountifull Almes For which being reprehended by a Courtier shee gaue him a short answer which I haue out of Robert of Glocester Madame for Goddes love is this wel i doo To handle sich vnclene â—ymmes and to kisse so Foule wolde the kyng thynk if that hit he wiste And ryght wel abyse hym er he your mouth kiste Sur sur qd the Quene be stille why sayste thow so Owr Lord hymself ensample yaf so for to do She founded as I haue said before the Priory of Christ-church within Aldgate and the Hospitall of S. Giles in the Fields She builded the Bridges ouer the Riuer of Lea at Stratford Bow and ouer the little Brooke called Chanelsebridge shee gaue much likewise to the repairing of high-wayes But I will take my leaue of her with these words of Paris Obijt eodem anno Matildis Regina Anglorum cuius corpus apud Westmonasterium quietem sepulturae accepit anima eius se coelum possidere evidentibus signis et miraculis crebris ostendit Here lieth vnder a rich Monument of Porphery adorned with precious stones the body of Henry the third king of England In the fifth yeare of whose raigne and the Saturday next before his second time of Coronation the New worke the old being ruinous and pulled downe of this Church of Westminster was begun To which sacred Edifice this king was a perswader he was the Founder and laid the first stone in the ground-worke of the building The Newerke atte Westmynstre ye kyng tho ganne anone Aftyr hys coronyng and leyde the fyrst stone As if he meant the world should know his intention was to consecrate his future actions to the glory of God He gaue to this Church royall gifts of Copes Iewels and rich vessels and for the holy Reliques of Edward the Confessor he caused a coffin to be made of pure gold and pretious stones and so artificially by the most cunning Goldsmiths that could be gotten that although the matter it was made of was of an inestimable valew tamen Materiam superabat opus yet the workmanship excelled the matter saith Mathew Paris A Prince he was as our histories affirme of greater deuotion then discretion in permitting the depredation of himselfe and his subiects by papall ouerswayings This King saith Robert of Glocester as in worldlich doyng was not hald ful wyse but mor deuout to spiritual things he was euery dey woned to here thre Masses by note Quante innocentie quante patientie quanteque deuotionis et quanti meriti in vita sua erat apud Deum testantur post ipsius mortem miracula subsecuta Of how much integrity of how much patience of how much deuotion and of how much merite he was in his life time before God the miracles which followed after his death doe testifie saith the compendious chronicle of Canterbury He died the 16 of Nouember 1273. when he liued sixty fiue yeares and raigned fiftie sixe yeares and eighteene daies this Epitaph following is annexed to his Tombe Tertius Henricus iacet hic pietatis amicus Ecclesiam strauit istam quam post renouauit Reddet ei munus qui regnat trinus et vnus Tertius Henricus est Templi conditor huius Dulce bellum inexpertis Which is thus Englished by Robert Fabian The frende of pyte and of almesse dede Henry the thyrde whylome of Englande Kyng Who thys Church brake and after hys mede Agayn renewed into this fayre buylding Now resteth in here whiche did so great a thinge He yelde his mede that Lord in Deyite That as one God reygneth in persones thre Henry the thyrde is the buylder of thys Temple War is pleasant to those that haue not tryed it In the additions to Robert of Glocester a Manuscript in the Heralds Office these rimes are written to his remembrance Aftur hym regnyd the thurd Harry A good man and eke an hely In hys tym werrys were full strong And eke mickle stryf in Englond The Batayl of Lewys was than And alsoo the Batayl of Euesham And that tym alsoo ther was The Translacyon of Sent Thomas In hys tym as I vndyrstond Come Freres Menores into thys lond He regnyd Kyng lvi yere And to Westmynstre men hym bere At the head of the foresaid King Henry his sonne Edward surnamed Long-Shanks lieth entombed King of England the first of that Christian name since the Conquest and as he was the first of his name so was he the first that setled the law and state deseruing the stile of Englands Iustinian and freed this kingdome from the wardship of the Peeres shewing himselfe in all his actions after capable to command not the Realme onely but the whole world At the time of his Fathers death he was abroad in Palestine pursuing his high desires for the Holy Warres and after sixe yeares from his first setting out he returnes into England receiues the Crowne without which he had beene a King almost three yeares at the hands of Robert Archbishop of Canterbury and with him is Eleanor his vertuous Queene likewise crowned at Westminster To the which their magnificent pompous Coronations the presence of Alexander King of Scotland who had married Margaret his eldest sister was required as appeares by this Record following Rex dilectis et fidelibus suis Iohanni Louetot et Galfrido de Newbald Custodibus Episcopatus Deunelm Salutem Mandamus vobis quod de primis denarijs prouenientibus de exitibus Episcopatus predicti habere faciatis Alexandro
Regi Scotie centum sexaginta et quindecim libras pro expensis suis per quinque Septimanas viz. singulis diebus centum solidos in veniendo ad nos vsque Westmonaster ad mandatum nostrum et inde ad partes suas redeundo Et nosea vobis ad Scaccarium nostrum saciemus allocari Teste meipso apud Windesore 26 die Augusti Anno Regni nostri 2. Claus. An. 2. Ed 1. Memb. 44. The said King Alexander comes accordingly to his Brothers Coronation which was in September 1275 guarded with a goodly troupe of Knights and Gentlemen at which solemnity also were present Iohn Duke of Britaine who had married Beatrice his second sister Eleanor his mother with multitudes of Peeres and others and for the more royall celebration of this great Feast and honour of so martiall a King there were fiue hundreth great horses let loose euery one to take them for his owne who could Of which out of an old oreworne Manuscript a piece as followeth King Edward was coronyd and anoyntyd as ryghte heyre of Engelond withe moche honor and worsschyp And aftur Masse the Kyng went to hys Paleys for to holde a ryall feste amonges them that hym had doon seruyse and worsschyp And whanne he was set at hys mete Kyng Alexandre of Scotland come to doo hym seruyse and worsschyp wyth a queyntyse and an hondryd knyghtes with hym horsed and arayd And whanne they weren lyght of theyr horse they let theyr horse goon whether they wolde and they that wolde take them hadde them to their owne behofe wythoute any chalange And aftyr that come Syr Edmond King Edwardes Broder a curtayse Knyght and a gentyll of renâ—on and the Erle of Cornwayle and the Erle of Glowcesire And aftyr theym come the Erle of Penbroke and the Erle of Warren and eche of them ledde on theyr hondes be them selfe an hordryd knights disgyse in their armes And whan they weren alyght of their horse they lete them goo whedyr they wolde and they that cowde them take hadde them stylle at theyr owne lyking And whanne all this was doon Kyng Edward dyd hys dyligens and hys myght to amende the Relme and redresse the wronges in the best maner to the honor of God and profyte to the crowne and to holy cherche and to amende the anoyance of the comon peple The worthiest knyght he was of alle the world of honor and worsschyp for the grace of God was in hym and euer hadde the vyctory of hys enemyes Expugnauit Saracenos Francos Scotos Wallenses et perfidos christianos et quicquid regale glorie et honori tam in actibus quam in moribus competit in ipso potuit reperiri He vanquished the Sarasines the French the Scots the Welsh and perfidious Christians and whatsoeuer appertained to Regall glory and honour as well in actions as in condition state and princely deportment was in him to be found Dum viâ—it Rex et valuit sua magna potestas Fraus latuit pax magna fuit regnauit honestas Saith an old Latin Rimer of this King which is thus translated into the like English While lyued thys Kynge By hys powre all thynge Was in good plyghte For gyle was hydde Great peace was kydde And honeste had myghte Scotos Edward dum vixit suppeditauit Tenuit afflixit depressit dilaniauit Whilst Edward liu'd the Scots he still kept vnder Bridled deprest debased rent asunder Yet here giue me leaue to tell my Reader maugre this our English Rimer that the valiant Scots did not alwaies suffer King Edward to scape scotfree for hee laying siege to the strong Towne of Berwicke they defended it manfully bet the English men backe and burnt some of the English Ships vpon which their fortunate enterprise in derision of our King they made this mockish rime doggerell Wenyth kyng Edward with the long shankys To haue goten Berwyk all oure vnthankys Goos Pyke hym And aftyr that Gas dyke him This scornefull dittie came no sooner to king Edwards eares then that through his mighty strength he passed dikes assailed the Towne and wan it with the death of fifteene thousand Scots our writers report more but nothing is more vncertaine then the number of the slaine in battaile and after that the Castles of Dunbarre Roxborough Edenborough Sterling and Saint Iohns Towne wonne or yeelded vnto him vpon the winning of the Castle of Dunbarre by a fierce and cruell battaile some Ballad maker or other in the Armie made these meeters in reproach of the Scots These scaterynge Scottes We holde for sottes Of wrenkes vnware Erly in a morwenynge In an euyll tymynge Went they from Dunbarre Another bloudy battaile he had with the Scots at Foukirke wherein are reported to be slaine two hundred knights and forty thousand foote of the Scots Some haue threescore and ten thousand some threescore thousand the scottish footmen valorously fighting as it were to the last man Vpon these victories king Edward endeauours to extinguish if it were possible the very memory of the Nation abolishing all their ancient lawes traducing their Ecclesiasticall rites to the custome of England dispoiling them of their Histories their instruments of State their antique monuments left either by the Romanes or erected by themselues transporting all their Bookes and Bookemen into England Sending to Westminster the marble stone wherein as the vulgar were perswaded the Fate of the kingdome consisted of which will you please to take this Stanza out of Harding And as he came homewarde by Skone awaye The Regall thereof Scotlande then he brought And sent it forth to Westmynster for aye To be there in a cheire clenely wrought For a masse preast to sytte in when he ought Whiche there was standyng besyde the shryne In a cheire of olde time made full fyne A litle more of this marble stone out of Robert of Glocester Scottes ycâ—upyd wer Aftur a woman that Scote hyghte the dawter of Pharaon Yat broghte into Scotlond a whyte marble ston Yat was ordeyned for hure kyng whan he coroned wer And for a grete Iewyll long hit was yholde ther Kyng Edward wyth the lang Shankes fro Scotland hit fette Besyde the Shryne of Seynt Edward at Westminstre 〈◊〉 hâ—â—te sâ—tte Vpon the Chaire wherein the stone is inclosed this famous propheticall Distichon is inscribed Ni fallat vatum Scoti hunc quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem If Fates goe right where ere this stone is pight The Regall race of Scots shall rule that place Which by whomsoeuer it was written we who now liue finde it happily accomplished Of the worthinesse of this our matchlesse King will it please you heare a little from a late Writer namely M. Drayton in the seuenteenth Song of Polyolbion This long-liu'd Prince expyr'd the next succeeded he Of vs that for a God might well related be Our Longshanks Scotlands scourge who to the Orcads taught His Scepter and with him from
wilde Albania brought The reliques of her Crowne by him first placed here The seate on which her Kings inaugurated were He tam'd the desperate Welsh that out so long had stood And made them take a Prince sprong of the English blood This Isle from Sea to Sea he generally controld And made the other parts of England both to hold The learned Antiquarie and Lawyer Iohn Selden in his Illustrations vpon the said Song giues vs this Glosse following vpon the Verse The seate on which our Kings inaugurated were This seate saith he is the Chaire and Stone at Westminster whereon our Soueraignes are inaugurated The Scottish Stories affirme that the Stone was first in Gallicia of Spaine at Brigantia whether that be Compostella as Francis Tarapha wills or Coronna as Florian del Campo coniectures or Betansos according to Mariana I cannot determine where Gathel king of Scots there sate on it as his Throne Thence was it brought into Ireland by Simon Brech first king of Scots transplanted into that Isle about seuen hundred yeares before Christ. Out of Ireland King Ferguze in him by some is the beginning of the now continuing Scottish raigne about three hundred and seuenty yeares afterward brought it into Scotland King Kenneth some eight hundred and fifty of the Incarnation placed it at the Abbey of Scone in the Shrifdome of Perth where the Coronation of his Successours was vsuall as of our Monarchs now at Westminster and in the Saxon times at Kingston vpon Thames This Kenneth some say caused the Distich Ni fallat vatum as before to be engrauen vpon it Whereupon it is called Fatale Marmor in Hector Boetius and inclosed it in a wodden Chaire It is now at Westminster and on it are the Coronations of our Soueraignes Thither first brought as the Author here speakes among other spoiles by Edward Longshanks after his warres and victories against King Iohn Balliol Ann. 1297. Reg. Regis Ed. 1.24 Thus much of this potent king out of Polyolbion But to returne these high spirited Scots then which no people in the world are more valiant not minding to endure the tyranny of King Edward entred into England at seuerall times and in Northumberland and Cumberland slew the aged and impotent women in childbed and young children spoiled the Abbey Church at Hexham and got a great number of the Clergie as well Monkes Priests as Schollers whom they thrust into the Schoolehouse there and closing vp the doores set fire on the Schoole and burned all them to ashes that were within it They burned Churches they forced women without respect of order condition or qualitie as well the maids widowes and wiues as Nunnes that were reputed in those dayes consecrated to God when they had beene so abused many of them were after murthered So that the cruell and bloudy desolation whereof Lucan speaketh in his second booke of the Pharsalian warres may aptly be inferred here as fitly describing the mercilesse murther of all states and sexes without partiality vnder the hand of the enemy For saith he Nobilitas cum plebe perit lateque vagatur Ensis a nullo revocatum est pectore ferrum Stat cruor in templis multaque rubentia caede Lubrica saxa madent nulli iam prosuit aetas Non senis extremum piguit vergentibus annis Praecipitasse diem non primo in limine vitae Infantis miseri nascentia rumpere fata Thus exquisitely translated into English Senatours with Plebeians lost their breath The sword rag'd vncontrold no brest was free The Temples stainde with bloud and slippery Were the red stones with slaughter no age then Was free the neere spent time of aged men They hastened on nor sham'de with bloudy knife To cut the Infants new spunne thread of life Bloud worthy to haue beene shed on both sides against another kinde of enemy then Christians the deformity of which effusions may iustly represent vnto vs the blessed estate of our now setled Vnion Ranulph the Monke of Chester speakes somewhat more succinctly of the warlike passages in those times betwixt the puissant braue English and the terrible neuer-tamed Scot on this manner I will vse the old language of his Translatour Treuisa who flourished in the raigne of king Henry the sixth Iohn de Baillol saith he that was made kyng of Scotlond aroos ayenst the kynge of Englonde and ayenste his owne othe and by the counseylle of some men of Scotland and namely of thabbot of Mâ—â—ros 〈◊〉 was taken and dysheryted Then the yere after Williâ—m 〈…〉 of Scottes arayed werre ayenste kynge Edwarde but he was 〈…〉 second yere after Kynge Edwarde slewâ—â—x 〈◊〉 and Scottes 〈…〉 on a Mary Mawdelyn day But the Scottes wâ—xâ—d stronger and stronger 〈◊〉 ty yeres togyder vnto kyng Edwardes tyme the thyrd after the 〈◊〉 and bete down Englyshemen ofâ— and Englysh places that were 〈…〉 her Marches Some sayd that that myshappe fell for soâ—â—nesse of the Englyshe men And some said that it was goddis owne werâ—he as the 〈…〉 That Englyshe men sholde be destroyed by Danes by Frenâ—he men 〈◊〉 by Scottes Of this propheticall prediction I haue spoken elsewhere which 〈◊〉 that of the marble stone vpon the inauguration of our late Souerâ—â—â—â—â— Lord King Iames of happie memory in his Regall Chaire of Impeâ—â—â—â—â— gouernment had full accomplishment The period of the dayes as also the character of this magnificent Monarch Edward are thus deliuered by a late Writer In Iuly 1307 although he found himselfe not well he enter Scotland with a fresh Army which he led not â—arre for falling into a Dissenterie he dies at Borough vpon the sandâ— as if to show on what foundation 〈◊〉 hâ—d built all his glory in this world hauing raigned thirty foure yeares seuen moneths aged sixty eight A Prince of a generous spirit wherein the fire held out euen to the very last borne and bred for action and militarie afâ—faires which he mannaged with great iudgement euer warie and prouident for his owne businesse watchfull and eager to enlarge his power and was more for the greatnesse of England then the quiet thereof And this we may iustly say of him that neuer king before or since shed so much Christian bloud within this Isle of Britaine as this Câ—ristian warrior did 〈◊〉 his time and was the cause of much more in that following By our great and iudicious Antiquary Camden he is thus 〈◊〉 as followeth For no one thing was this little Burgh vpon Sands more famous than that King Edward the first that triumphant Conquerour of his enemies was here taken out of the world by vntimely death A â—ight noble and worthy Prince to whom God proportioned a most princely presence and personage as a right worthy seat to entertaine so heroicall a minde For he not onely in regard of fortitude and wisedome but also for a beautifull and personall presence was in all points answerable to the height of Royall Maiestie whom fortune also in
the very Prime and flower of his age inured to many a warre and exercised in most dangerous troubles of the state whiles she framed and fitted him for the Empire of Britaine which he being once crowned King mannaged and gouerned in such wise that hauing subdued the Welsh and vanquished the Scots hee may most iustly bee counted a chiefe ornament and honour of Britaine Amongst other admonitions and precepts which he gaue to his sonne Edward after him king of England vpon his death bed he charged him that he should carry his Fathers bones about with him in some Coffin till he had marched through all Scotland and subdued all his enemies for that none should bee able to ouercome him while his Skeleton marched with him thinking belike that the care to preserue them from enemies would make a Sonne fight nobly Moreouer he commanded the said Prince That whereas himselfe by the continuall new attempts of Bruce king of Scotland could not in person according to his vow make warre in the Holy-land therefore he should send his Heart thither accompanied with seuenscore knights and their retinues for whose support he had prouided thirty and two thousand pounds of siluer That his Heart being so by them conuayed he did hope in God that all things there would prosper with them Lastly That vpon paine of eternall damnation the said money should not be expended vpon any other vses Sed filius immorigerus patris mandata negligit But the disobedient Sonne little regarded the commandement of his Father He died the seuenth of Iuly the yeare aforesaid his body was conuayed to this Abbey and accompanied most of the way with the Popes Legate the reuerend Bishops and most of the English Nobilitie where it was interred with that state as became the person of so potent a Prince And such was the care of his Successours to keepe his body from corruption as that the Searecloth wherein his embalmed body was enwrapt was often renewed as doth appeare vpon Record thus Rex Thesaurario Camerarijs suis Salutem Mandamus vobis quod Ceram existentem circa corpus celebris memorie Domini Edwardi nuper Regis Anglie progenitoris nostri filij Regis Henrici in Ecclesia beati Petri Westm. humatum de denarijs nostris renovari facietis prout hactenus fieri constituit Teste Rege apud Westm. xi die Iulij Claus. 1. Ric. 2. Memb. 41 Certaine rimes or verses are annexed to his Tombe as followeth Mors est inesta nimis magnos que iungit in imis Maxima mors minimis coniungens vltima primis Nullus in orbe fuit homo viuens nec valet esse Qui non morte ruit est hinc exire necesse Nobilis fortis tibi tu considere noli Omnia sunt mortis sibi subdit singula soli De mundi medio magnum mors impia mouit Anglia pre tedio satis anxia plangere novit Corruit Edwardus vario veneratus honore Rex nuper vt Nardus fragrans virtutis odore Corde Leopardus invictus absque pauore Ad rixam tardus discretus eucharis ore Viribus armorum quasi Gigas ardua gessit Colla superborum prudens per prelia pressit Inter Flandrenses fortuna sibi bene fauit Vt quoque Wallenses Scotos suppeditauit Rex bonus absque pari strenue sua regna regebat Quod natura dari potuit bonitatis habebat Actio iustitie pax regni sanctio legis Et fuga nequitie premunt precordia Regis Gloria tota ruit Regem capit hec modo fossa Rex quandoque fuit nunc nil nisi puluis et ossa Filius ipse Dei quem corde colebat et ore Gaudia fecit ei nullo permista dolore The which verses saith Fabian to the entent that they should be had in minde and also that the reader might haue the more desire to ouer-reade them I haue therefore set them out in Baladde Royall after my rude making as followeth This sorrowfull deth which bryngeth great full low And moost and leest he ioyneth into one Thys man to whome his pere was not y knowe Hath now subdued nat sparyng hym alone Whyche of all order thys world to ouergone None was to be spared of so great equyte As he yf any for noblesse spared shuld be Therfore thou noble or myghty trust none oder grace But thou shalt pay to deth thy naturall dette And lyke as he from thys world did chace Thys mighty Prynce and from his frendys fette For whome all Englond loude mourned and grette So shalt thou and oder in deths snare fall None shall escape to reckyn kyndes all Edward wyth many and dyuers graces endowed And like as Nardus most sweetest of odoure In smellynge passyth and moost he is allowed Of all swete odours so dyd this knyghtly floure By vertuous artes surmounte in honoure All oder Prynces whose hert was Lybar delyke And without fere were he hole or syke Thys Prynce was slowe to all maner of stryfe Discrete and wise and trewe of his worde In armys a Geaunt terme of all his lyfe Excelling actes doing by dynte of the sworde Subduyd the proud of prudence he bore the horde Of Flaunders by fate he had great amyte And Walshe and Scottes by strength subduyd he This good King perelesse his landes firmly gyded What nature might giue he failed in nothynge No parte of bounte from his was discided He was iustice and peace and of lawe stablishyng And chaser of iniquyte by his vertuous liuyng In whome these graces with innumerable mo Fermly were roted that deth hath tane vs fro That whylom was a Kyng now is but duste and bone All glory is fallen and this pitte kepeth the kynge But he that yeldeth all thing by his one The Sonne of God to whom aboue all thynge With herte and mouth he did all worsshyppyng That Lord of his ioy perdurable to laste Graunt him sorrowlesse euermore to taste All Kings haue long hands alluding to the extensure of their Regall gouernement of which Ouid in one of his Epistles thus An nescis longas Regibus esse manus This King had also long legges and a longis tibijs surnamed hee was Longshankes But I stray beyond my limits his vertues haue taken me prisoner and detained me much longer then I expected let me take liberty to conclude with these verses in commendation of his valour out of the fore-remembred additions to Robert of Glocester Edward the furst reguyd than truly The son he was of Kyng Harry He conquered than all Scotlond Ano toke Irlond into hys hond And was callyd that tym Conqueror God yiue hys soul mych honor In hys tym he made subiecte Alwalys and put them vndre yecke He behedyd thilke sam tym The Prynce of UUalys Lewellyn Iewes that tym withouten doute Of this lond wer clere put oute Atte Westmynstre he had hy burying xxxv yere he reguyd kyng Here lieth entombed Eleanor his first wife Queene
Chappell and for the Sepulchre the body of Henry the seuenth King of England the first begotten Sonne of Edmund Earle of Richmond by Margaret daughter and heire to Iohn Duke of Somerset This glorious rich Tombe is compassed about with verses penned by that Poet Laureat as he stiles himselfe and Kings Orator Iohn Skelton I will take onely the shortest of his Epitaphs or Eulogiums and most to the purpose Septimus hic situs est Henricus gloria Regum Cunctorum ipsius qui tempestate fuerunt Ingenio atque opibus gestarum nomine rerum Accessere quibus nature dona benigne Frontis honos facies augusta heroica forma Iunctaque ei suanis coniux perpulchra pudica Et secunda fuit felices prole parentes Henricum quibus octauum terra Anglia debes He deceased at Richmond the 22. of Aprill 1509. when hee had raigned 23. yeares and somewhat more then seuen moneths and liued fifty two yeares Whosoeuer would know further of this king let him reade his History wherein hee is delineated to the life by the matchlesse and neuer enough admired penne of that famous learned and eloquent knight Sir Francis Bacon not long since deceased Lord Verulam and Viscount Saint Alban Here lieth entombed by her Husband Henry the seuenth Elizabeth the first childe legitimate and eldest daughter of king Edward the fourth to whom she was married the eighteenth of Ianuary 1488. whereby was vnited the long contending Families of Lancaster and Yorke and the Roses red and white ioyned into one to the great ioy of the English Subiects She was his wife eighteene yeares and twenty foure dayes and died in child-bed in the Tower of London the eleuenth of February euen the day of her owne Natiuitie the eighteenth of her Husbands raigne and yeare of our Saluation 1503. I haue an Epitaph of this good Queene borne for Englands happinesse which I transcribed out of a Manuscript in Sir Robert Cottons Library Extinctum iacet hic genus a Plantagine ductum Et Rosa purpureis candida nupta Rosis Elisabet claris Anglorum Regibus orta Regina Patrij gloria rara soli Edwardi soboles quarti tibi septime coniux Henrice heu populi cura benigna tui Exemplex vite qua nec prestantior altra Moribus ingenio nec probitate fuit Reginam Deus eterno dignetur honore Et Regem hic annos viuere Nestoreos Here lieth magnificently entombed Margaret Countesse of Richmond and Darby daughter and onely heire to Iohn Duke of Somerset by Margaret daughter to the Lord Beauchampe of Powicke first married to Edmund the sonne of Owen Tedder who begat Henry the seuenth King of England and afterwards to Thomas Stanley Earle of Derby Two Colledges namely of Christ and Saint Iohn Baptist she erected for Students in Cambridge Shee instituted also two Diuinitie Lectures one at Cambridge and the other at Oxenford who hauing liued so long to see her Grandchilde Henry the eight crowned King died the twelfth of Iuly 1509. in the first yeare of his raigne Here is a long Elegie made to her memorie by the foresaid Skelton with this terrible curse to all those that shall tread spoile or take it away Qui lacerat violatue rapit presens Epitoma Hunc laceretque voret cerberus absque mora Hanc tecum statuas Dominam precor O Sator orbis Quo regnas rutilans Rex sine fine manens Here lieth Margaret one of the daughters of King Edward the fourth by Elizabeth his royall Queene and wife She died an Infant the eleuenth of December 1472. Nobilitas forma decorque tenella inuentus Insimul hic ista mortis sunt condita cista Vt genus nomen sexum tempus quoque mortis Noseas cuncta tibi manifestat margo Sepulchri Here lieth Elizabeth the second daughter of King Henry the seuenth by his louing consort and Queene Elizabeth who was borne the second day of Iuly 1492. and died the 14. day of Nouember 1495. Vpon her Tombe this Epitaph Hic post sata iacet proles regalis in isto Sarcophago inuenis nobilis Elizabeth Princeps illustris Hen. Sept. filia Regis Qui bini regni florida sceptra tenet Atropos hanc rapuit seuissima nuntia mortis Sit super in celo vita perhennis ei Here lieth interred without any Monument Anne the second daughter and coheire to Richard Nevil the stout Earle of Warwicke and Salisbury who was first married to Edward Prince of Wales the sonne and onely childe of king Henry the sixth and after remarried to Richard Duke of Gloucester who at the battell of Tewxbury had stabbed her husband into the heart with his dagger afterwards by vsurpation king of England surnamed Crook-backe She died not without suspition of being poysoned the 16. of March 1485. Here lieth entombed Edmund the second sonne of King Henry the third Earle of Lancaster Leicester and Darby surnamed Crouch-backe of his bowing in his backe because he is neuer found saith Vincent in his discouery of Brookes errours title Lancaster with any other addition and indeed with no other Epithite then Gibbosus which signifieth crooked crump-shouldred or Camell-backed But others say he was so denominated of wearing the signe of the Crosse anciently called a Crouch vpon his backe which was vsually worne of such as vowed voyages to Ierusalem as he had done Further confirming their opinions from the name of Crouched-Friers that wore a Crosse vpon their garments And Io. Harding speaking of him and his elder Brother Edward afterwards king of England and of their voyage to Ierusalem hath these verses to the same effect His brother Edward and he associate To Ierusalem their voyage them avowed Two semely Princes together adioynate In all the world was none them like alowed So large and faire thei were eche man he bowed Edward aboue his menne was largely seen By his shulders more hie and made full clene Edmond next hym the comeliest Prince aliue Not croke backed ne in no wyse disfigured As some menne wrote the right lyne to depriue Through great falsehed made it to be scriptured For cause it should alwaye bee refigured And mentioned well his yssue to prevaile Vnto the Crowne by such a gouernaile I cannot let passe although I do somewhat digresse the cunning sleights and deuises the Popes of Rome vsed in these times to empouerish this kingdome and enrich their owne coffers First they combine and confederate with the king to the vtter vndoing of all his loyall Subiects And now Pope Alexander the fourth puts a tricke vpon the king himselfe a Prince more pious then prudent which exhausts his Treasure and leaues him for a laughing-stocke to all other Nations This Pope forsooth inuested this Edmund his sonne into the kingdomes of Sicilia and Apulia Conradus king thereof still liuing by a ring conditionally that hee should sustaine the charges and maintaine the warres that should happen thereupon In which regard he suckt
septimi nec non Thesaurarius Hospitij reuerendissimi Patris domini huius regni Cancellarij titulo Sancte Cecilie trans Tiberim sacro sancte Romane Ecclesie Presbyteri Cardinalis ordinati Qui quidem Willelmus ob 3. Iulij 1518. Here is an Epitaph cut in Brasse vpon a marble stone now almost worne out which was made to the memory of one Robert Haule Esquire murdered in this Church the manner whereof our Chronicles doe thus briefely relate In the battell of Nazers in Spaine this Robert Haule or Hawley and Iohn Schakell Esquires tooke the Earle of Dene prisoner who deliuered vnto them his sonne and heire as a pledge for assurance of performances Not long after this their Hostage was demanded by Iohn Duke of Lancaster in the Kings name whom they denyed to deliuer for which they were clapt in the Tower from whence escaping here they tooke Sanctuary to whom Sir Raph Ferreis and Sir Alan Buxhull with fifty armed men were secretly sent to doe this mischiefe who finding them at high Masse first drew Schakell by a wile out of the priuiledge of the Church then offering to lay hands on Hawley he manfully resisting with his short sword made them all flie off But in the end he was slaine in the Chancell commending himselfe in his last words to God the reuenger of such iniuries and to the liberty of our holy mother the Church With him was slaine a seruant of his thrust into the backe with a Iauelin and a Monke who intreated for him in respect of the holinesse of the place This wicked act was perpetrated the 11. of August 1378. the second of Richard the second These words following now onely remaining vpon his Monument Me dolus ira furor multorum militis atque ................... ..... in hoc gladijs celebri pietatis asylo Dum leuita Dei sermonis legit ad aram Proh dolor ipse meo Monachorum sanguine vultus Aspersi moriens chorus est mihi testis in evum Et me nunc retinet sacer is locus Haule Robertum Hic quia pestiferos male sensi primitus enses .................. Hic iacet Thomas Ruthal Episcopus Dunelmensis Regis Henrici septimi Secretarius qui obijt 1524. To this short Inscription Godwin in his Catalogue addeth a long story of the life and death of this Bishop Who was borne in Cicester saith he in the County of Glocester and brought vp in Cambridge where he proceeded Doctor of Law He was preferred to the Bishopricke of Durham by King Henry the seuenth after whose death hee was made one of the priuie Councell vnto the young King Henry the eight who esteemed greatly of him for his wisedome and learning and imployed him often in ambassages and other businesses of importance Amongst the rest it pleased the king one time to require him to set downe his iudgement in writing concerning the estate of his kingdome in generall and particularly to enforme him in certaine things by him specified This discourse the Bishop writ very carefully and caused it to be bound in Velime gilt and otherwise adorned in the best manner Now you shall vnderstand that it chanced himselfe about the same time to set downe a note of his owne priuate estate which in goods and ready money amounted to the summe of one hundred thousand pounds This account was written in a paper booke of the same fashion and binding that the other was which was prouided for the king Whereby it happened that the king sending Cardinall Wolsey for the other draught which he had so long before required of him the Bishop mistaking deliuered that which contained an estimate of his owne infinite Treasure This the Cardinall soone espying and willing to doe the Bishop a displeasure deliuered it as he had receiued it vnto the King shewing withall how the Bishop had very happily mistaken himselfe for now quoth he you see where you may at any time command a great masse of money if you need it As soone as the Bishop vnderstood his errour the conceit thereof touched him so neare that within a short spaâ—â— after hee died at his house here in the Strand His intention was to haue repaired the Church of Cicester to haue built Bridges as he had begun that ouer the Riuer of Tyne and to haue done many other deeds of charitie if hee had not beene preuented by death Here lieth the body of Sir William Trussell knight and speaker of that Parliament wherein Edward the second king of England resigned his Diadâ—me and all ensignes of Maiestie to Edward his eldest Sonne This Trussell saith an ancient Author was a Iudge who could fit the house with quirks of Law to colour so lawlesse and treasonable an act as the deposing of a lawfull king And thereupon was chosen in the behalfe of the whole Realme to renounce all homage and obedience to the Lord Edward of Carnarvon his Soueraigne Lord and King The forme of which renunciation was by him the said Trussell pronounced at Kenelworth Castle the 20. of Ianuary 1326. in these disgracefull words which you may finde in Polychronicon I William Trussel in the name of al men of the lond of Engelond and of the Parliament Prolocutor resigne to the Edward the homage that was made to the somtym and from this tym forward now folowyng I defye the and priue the of al royal Powyr and shal neuer be tendant to the as for Kyng aftyr this tyme. The time of this Trussels death I cannot learne Here lieth interred before the Communion Table the body of Richard de Ware or Warren Abbot of this Monastery and sometime Lord Treasurer of England Who going to Rome for his consecration brought from thence certaine workmen and rich Porphery stones whereof and by whom hee made that curious singular rare pauement before the high Altar in which are circulary written in letters of brasse these ten verses following containing a discourse as one saith of the worlds continuance Si Lector posita prudenter cuncta reuoluat Hic finem primi mobilis inveniet Sepes trina canes equos homines super addas Ceruos coruos aquilas immania cete Mundi quodque sequens pereuntis triplicat annos Sphericus Archetypum globus hic monstrat Macrocosmum Christi milleno bis centeno duodeno Cum sexageno subductis quatuor anno Tertius Henricus Rex vrbs Odoricus Abbas Hos compegere Porphyreos lapides With these stones and workmen he did also frame the Shrine of Edward the Confessor with these verses Anno milleno Domini cum septuageno Et bis centeno cum completo quasi deno Hoc opus est factum quod Petrus duxit in actum Romanus ciuis Homo causam noscere si vis Rex fuit Henricus Sancti presentis amicus This Abbot died the second day of December 1283. after he had gouerned this Monastery three and twenty yeares and more Vpon whose grauestone this briefe
whencesoeuer he come or for what offence or cause it be either for his refuge into the said holy place he be assured of his life liberty and limbes And ouer this I forbid vnder the paine of euerlasting damnation that no Minister of mine or of my Successours intermeddle them with any the goods lands or possessions of the said persons taking the said Sanctuary for I haue taken their goods and liuelode into my speciall protection and therefore I grant to euery each of them in as much as my terrestriall power may suffice all manner freedome of ioyous liberty and whosoeuer presumes or doth contrary to this my Grant I will he lose his name worship dignitie and power And that with the great traytor Iudas that betrayed our Sauiour he be in the euerlasting fire of hell And I will and ordaine that this my grant endure as long as there remaineth in England either loue or dread of Christian name King Edward the third built in the little Sanctuarie a Clochard of stone and timber and placed therein three bells for the vse of Saint Stephens Chappell About the biggest Bell was engrauen or cast in the mettall these words King Edward made mee thirtie thousand weight and three Take mee downe and wey mee and more you shall fynd mee But these Bells being to be taken downe in the raigne of King Henry the eight one writes vnderneath with a coale But Henry the eight will bait me of my weight In the Steeple of the great Church in the Citie of Roane in Normandy is one great Bell with the like Inscription Ie suis George de Ambios Qui trente cinque mille pois Mes lui qui me pesera Trente six mill me trouera I am George of Ambois Thirtie five thousand in pois But he that shall weigh me Thirtie six thousand shall find mee One lately hauing taken view of the Sepulchres of so many Kings Nobles and other eminent persons interred in this Abbey of Westminster made these rimes following which he called A Memento for Mortalitie Mortalitie behold and feare What a change of flesh is here Thinke how many royall bones Sleepe within this heape of stones Hence remou'd from beds of ease Daintie â—are and what might please Fretted roofes and costlie showes To a roofe that flats the nose Which proclaimes all flesh is grasse How the worlds faire Glories passe That there is no trust in Health In youth in age in Greatnesse wealth For if such could haue repriu'd Those had beene immortall liu'd Know from this the worlds a snare How that greatnesse is but care How all pleasures are but paine And how short they do remaine For here they lye had Realmes and Lands That now want strength to stirre their hands Where from their pulpits seel'd with dust They preach In Greatnesse is no trust Here 's an Aker sowne indeed With the richest royall seed That the earth did ere sucke in Since the first man dy'd for sin Here the bones of birth haue cry'd Though Gods they were as men haue dy'd Here are sands ignoble things Dropt from the ruin'd sides of Kings With whom the poore mans earth being showne The difference is not easily knowne Her 's a world of pompe and state Forgotten dead disconsolate Thinke then this Sithe that mowes downe kings Exempts no meaner mortall things Then bid the wanton Lady tread Amid these mazes of the dead And these truly vnderstood More shall coole and quench the blood Then her many sports a day And her nightly wanton play Bid her paint till day of doome To this fauour she must come Bid the Merchant gather wealth The vsurer exact by stealth The proud man beate it from his thought Yet to this shape all must be brought Chappell of our Lady in the Piew Neare vnto the Chappell of Saint Stephen was sometime a smaller Chappell called our Lady of the Piew but by whom first founded I cannot finde To this Lady great offerings were vsed to be made Richard the second after the ouerthrow of Wat. Tilar as I haue read and other the Rebels in the fourth of his raigne went to Westminster and there giuing thankes to God for his victory made his offering in this Chappell By the negligence of a Scholler forgetting to put forth the Lights of this Chappell the Image of our Lady richly decked with Iewels precious stones Pearles and Rings more then any Ieweller saith he could iudge the price was with all the apparell and ornaments belonging thereunto as also the Chappell it selfe burnt to ashes It was againe reedified by Antony Widâ—uile Earle Riuers Lord Scales Vncle and Gouernour to the Prince of Wales that should haue beene King Edward the fifth Who was vniustly beheaded at Pomfret by the procurement of Richard Crook-backe Duke of Glocester then Lord Protectour the 13. of Iune 1483. Saint Margaret in Westminster Adioyning on the North side of the Abbey standeth Saint Margarets the Parish Church of the Citie of Westminster reedified for the most in the raigne of King Edward the fourth especially the South Isle from the piety of the Lady Marye Billing and her second husband Sir Thomas Billing chief Iustice of England in that Kings time Whose Monument with that to the memorie of her first husband William Cotton Esquire I haue here expressed Here lieth Dame Mary Bylling late wife to Sir Thomas Bylling Knight chiefe Iustice of England and to William Coton and Thomas Lacy which Mary died the 14 day of March in the yeare of our Lord God 1499. Blessed Lady c. haue mercy c. Ant Mary gratia plena on me haue mercy on me haue mercy Ecce ancila dom Fiat 〈…〉 secund uerbu tuuÌ„ 〈…〉 〈…〉 The inheritance of this Lady was the Lordship of Connington in Huntingtonshire The seate once of Turketell the Dane Earle of the East Angles who inuited ouer Swain King of Denmarke to inuade this kingdome He exiâ—'d with most of his Nation by Saint Edmond the Confessor This his seate with other his large possessions were giuen by the same King to Walthâ—oâ— Earle of Northumberland and Huntington to whom the first William gaue in marriage the Lady Iudithe his sisters daughter This Lordship with the Earledome of Huntington by the marriage of Mary that Earles daughter to Dauid the sonne of the first Malcolme King of Scots and the holy Margaret his wife Neece to Edward the King Confessor Grandchilde to Edmond surnamed Ironside King of the English Saxons and sister and heire to Edgar surnamed Ethelinge by which marriage the Stemme Royall of the Saxons became vnited into the bloud Royall of the Scottish Kings in whose male lyne that Earldome and this Lordship continued vntill Isabell the daughter and heire of Dauid Earle of Huntington and brother to Malcome William and Alexander successiue Kings of that kingdome brought them both by her marriage to Robert de Brus into that family She leauing the iust clayme of the Crowne of Scotland to Robert her eldest sonne whose sonne
Martyr of the English Nation so the â—bbot of his Monasterie should at all times among other Abbots of Engâ—â—nd in degree of dignitie be reputed first and principall The Abbot and 〈◊〉 of this house were acquitted of all Toll through England They made Iustices ad audiendum terminandum within themselues and no other Iustice could call them for any matter out of their libertie They made Bayliffes and Coroners They had the execution and returne of all Writs 〈◊〉 goods of all out-lawes with Gaole and Gaole deliuerie within themselues And receiued to their owne proper vse the Rom-scot before spoken of throughout all the County of Hertford This Abbey was surrendred vp by the Abbot and Monkes there by deliuering the Couent seale into the hands of â— Pope D. Peter Master Cauendish and other the Kings visitors the fifth day of December 1539. It was valued at a farre vnder â—ate to bee worth of yearely reuenue two thousand fiue hundred and ten pound sixe shillings penny halfe penny q Saint Peters Church in Saint Albans This Church and Churchyard was stuft full with the bodies of such as were slaine in the two battells fought here at Saint Albans In which I finde a funerall Monument for my valiant countreyman Sir Bertin Entwisell who fighting on the Kings partie died of a wound receiued in the first battell Vpon whose Tombe this Inscription inlayd in brasse is yet to be read Here lyth Syr Bertin Entwisel knyght which was borne in Lancaster Shyre and was Vicound and Baron of Brykbeke in Normandy and Baliffe of Constantin Who died the xxviii of May M. cccc.lv on whos sowl Iesu have mercy Of which Sir Bertin thus speaketh Leland in his Commentaries Ther is a Viscownt of Brykbek in Normandy saith he callyd Bertyne or Berframe Cnitwesell that cam into England and was much on the factyon of kyng Henry the sixth and slayn at on of the Battels at Saint Albons and beryed in the Peroche Chyrch of Seynt Peter vnder the plase of the Lectorium in the Quyre wheras a memoriall of hym ther yet remeyneth Ther was a dawghter of this Viscount callyd Lucy of whom Master Bradene of Northamptonshyre is descendyd and in the same Shyre is a mean gentylman of that name These Entwisells were gentlemen of good respect in our countrey in our fathers dayes whose mansion house retaines the name of Entwisell to this houre The last heire of which house as I haue it out of the collections of M. Dalton alias Norroy king of Armes was one Wilfred Entwisell who sold the land that was left him and serued as a Lance at Muselborrowfield in the second yeare of the raigne of king Edward the sixth after that he serued the Guyes in defence of Meth. After that he was one of the foure Captaines of the Fort of Newhauen where being infected with the plague and shipped for England was landed about Portsmouth and being vncertaine of any house died vnder a hedge in September Ann. 1549. Raph Bapthorpe the father and Raphe the sonne of Bapthorpe in the East-riding of Yorkeshire which for many descents hath yeelded both name and habitation to that knightly familie fighting in this Towne vnder the banner of King Henry the sixth lost their liues and here lye buried together with this Epitaph Cum Patre Radulpho Babthorp iacet ecce Radulphus Filius bot duro marmore pressus humo Henrici sexti Dapifer Pater Armiger eius Mors satis id docuit fidus vterque fuit C. Domini quater M. semel L. semel V. semel anno Hos necat haud solos mors truculenta duos Lux hijs postrema Maij vicena secunda Det Deus hijs lucem des sine fine diem Behold where two Raulph Babthorps both the sonne and father lie Vnder a stone of marble hard interr'd in this mould drie To Henry sixth the Father Squire the sonne he Sewer was Both true to Prince and for his sake they both their life did passe The yeare one thousand and foure hundred fiftie five Grimme death yet not alone did them of breath depriue The last day of their light was th'twentith two of May God grant them light in heau'n and without end a day In the yere of Crist on thowsand fowr hundryd ful trew wyth fowr and sixteen Rychard Skipwith gentylman in birth late felow of new Inne In my age twenti on my sowl partyd from the body in August the sixtenth day And now I ly her abyding Gods mercy vndyr this ston in clay Desyring yow that this fal see vnto the Meyden prey for mee That bare both God and man Like as ye wold that oder for yee shold When ye ne may nor can Hic duo consortes Skipwith que Ioanna Ioannes Compaâ—sant vna generosus vnus et alter Vt pariter pausant in pace precare quiescant Tu qui metra legis fic quod requiescere possis Hic iacet Georgius Sâ—ipwith Ar. In this Church are others of this familie interred whose Monuments are quite defaâ—ed of which name Gentlemen of ancient descent faire possessions and knightly degree do at this day flourish at Cotes in the County of Leicester Iunior ense rui fueram tunc Ensiser vni 〈◊〉 Borca comiti dicto cognomine Percy 〈◊〉 Perij periit sibi proh dolor ensis ademit Transâ—ur sum stadij pax sit eique mihi Ipse Thomas dictus Pakington eramque vocatus Hic iacet Edwardus Beulled Ar. quondam Magister Ludi venatici in 〈…〉 Abbatis de Sancto Albano Alicia vxor eius qui Edwardus 〈…〉 M.ccc.lxxv William Wittor and his wyff Grase Vndyr this ston ben buryed her In hevyn good Lord grant them a plase As thow them boght with thy blood so der Which William as her hit doth apper The ninth dey of March past this present lyff On thowsand fowr hundryd and six yer Of Crist whos grase be ther preservatyff Hic iacet Edmundus Westby quondam Hundredarius Sancti Albani 〈◊〉 vxor eius silia heres Ade Stonham et consanguinea et heres Alicie 〈◊〉 .... ob vltimo diâ— Iulii M. cccc.xlvii Hic iacet Cecilia Westby vxor Bartholomei Westby que obiit 2. Iulii Ann. M. cccc.lxxxxv Hic iacet Willelmus Westby quondam Hundredarius et Baliuus Libertatis ......... Hic iacet Edmundus Westby Armiger Iusticiar pacis in Com. Hert. et Hundredarius ac Baliuus de Franchesia Sancti Albani et Margareta vxor eius qui Ed. obiit xviii Septemb. M. cccc.lxxv Henry the sixth was in this Edmunds house Hundreder of S. Albans during the time of the first battell in the Towne Hic iacet Thomas Astry gener filius Radulphi Astry militis et Elisabetha vxor eius â—ilia Willelmi Skipwith Armigeri qui quidem Willel ob ..... M. ccccc.vii Hic iacet Richardus Raynshaw Armig. seruiens ad arma Regis Henrici octaui ......... Here lyth Thomas Blake gentl.
restored to all his former honours and withall created Earle of Oxford He died in the yeare 1194. the sixth of king Richard the first and was here buried by his father His wife Agnes or Adeliza lieth buried by him who was the daughter of Henry of Essex Baron of Ralegh the Kings Constable Such was the Epitaph or inscription vpon his Tombe as it is in the book of Colne Priory Hic iacet Albericus de Vere silius Alberici de Veer Comes de Guisney primus Comes Oxonie magnus Camerarius Anglie qui propter summam audatiam effrenatam prauitatem Grymme Aubrey vocabatur obiit 26. die Decembris anno Christi 1194. Richardi â— sexto Aubrey de Vere the sonne of the foresaid Aubrey succeeded his father in all his dignities I finde little written of him in our Histories saue that out of his Christian pietie he did confirme the gift of septem librat terre which Aubrey his father gaue to the Chanons of Saint O sith here in Essex adding thereto something of his owne He dyed in the yeare of our Lord 1214. and sleepeth now in the same Bed with three other Aubreyes his Ancestors To whom this Epitaph vpon Conrad the Emperour at Spires in Germany may be fitly applied Filius hic Pater hic Auus hic Proauus iacet istie The great Belsire the Grandsire Sire and Sonne Lie here interred vnder this Grauestone Hugh de Vere the sonne of Robert the first of that Christian name Earle of Oxford and Lord great Chamberlaine of England was here entombed with his Ancestors who died in the yeare 1263. He had the title of Lord Bolebeck which came by his mother Isabell de Bolebeck daughter and heire of Hugh de Bolebeck a Baron who was Lord of Bolebeck Castle in Whitechurch within Buckinghamshire and of Swaffam Bolebeck in Cambridgeshire Hee had to wife Hawisia the daughter of Saier de Quincy Earle of Winchester as appeares by this Inscription sometime insculpt vpon their Tombe Hic iacent Hugo de Veer eius nominis primus Comes Oxonie quartus magnus Camerarius Anglie filius heres Roberti Comitis Hawisua vxor cius filia Saeri de Quincy comitis Wintonie qui quidem Hugo obiit 1263. Quorum animabus propitietur altissimus Robert de Vere the sonne of Hugh aforesaid Earle of Oxford who enioyed his fathers inheritances and honours the space of thirtie and two yeares lieth here entombed with his ancestours who died in the yeare 1295. Alice his wife the daughter and heire of Gilbert Lord Samford Lord of Hormead in Hertfordshire was interred by him who died at Caufeld house neare Dunmow the ninth day of September 1312. Here lieth buried the body of Robert de Vere sonne and successour to the foresaid Robert whose gouernment both in peace and warre was so prudent his hospitalitie and other workes of charitie so wisely abundant and his Temperance with a religious zeale so admirablie conioyned that he was of all surnamed the good Earle of Oxford and the vulgar esteemed him as a Saint He died the 19. of Aprill 1331. Here lyeth entombed Robert de Vere Richard the seconds Mignion who to adde to his honours created him Marquesse of Dublin a title not knowne before that time in England and in the yeare following Duke of Ireland with commission to execute most inseparable prerogatiues royall These Stiles were of too high a nature and therefore infinitely subiected to enuy Whereupon like a second Gaueston he was hated of the Nobilitie especially for that he was a man nec prudentia caeteris proceribus nec armis valentior as Walsingham saith 9. R. 2. But it was not long before he was banished England by the Barons for abusing the Kings eare to the hurt of the State He had to wife a young faire and noble Lady and the Kings neare kinswoman for she was grandchilde to King Edward by his daughter Isabell he put her away and tooke one of Queene Annes women a Bohemian of base birth Sellarij filia saith Walsingham a Sadlers daughter some say a Ioyners an act full of wickednesse and indignitie Yet this intollerable villanie offered to the bloud-royall King Richard did not encounter neither had the power some say who deemed that by witchcrafts and forceries practised vpon him by one of the Dukes followers his iudgement was so seduced and captiuated that he could not see what was honest or siâ— to doe But where Princes are wilfull or slothfull and their Fauorites flatterers or time-seruers there needs no other enchantments to infatuate yea and ruinate the greatest Monarch Vpon his banishment he went into France where he liued about fiue yeares and there being a hunting he was slaine by a wilde Boare in the yeare 1392. King Richard hearing thereof out of his loue caused his body to be brought into England and to be apparrelled in Princely ornaments and robes and put about his neck a chaine of gold and Rings vpon his fingers and so was buried in this Priory the King being there present and wearing blackes After the death of Robert Duke of Ireland who died without issue his Nephew Aubrey de Vere succeeded him in the Earledome of Oxford he enioyed his honours not passing eight yeares but dyed die Veneris in festo Sancti Georgij Ann. primo Hen. quarti 1400. and lieth here entombed with his worthie Ancestors Here lieth buried in this Priorie Iohn de Vere the third of that Christian name and the thirteenth Earle of Oxford Lord Bolebecke Samford and Scales great Chamberlaine and Lord high Admirall of England Who died the fourth of Henry the eight 1512. hauing beene Earle of Oxford full fifty yeares a long time to tugge out in the troublesome raignes of so many kings especially for men of eminent places and high spirits euer apt to take any occasion to shew their manly prowesse which fire of honour flamed in this Earles breast at Barnet field where in a mist the great Earle of Warwickes men not able to distinguish betwixt the Sun with streames vpon King Edwards liuery and the Starre with streames on this Earles liuery shot at this Earles followers and by that misprision the battell was lost After which he fled into Cornwall and seized vpon Saint Michaels Mount But Edward the fourth got him in his power and committed him prisoner to the Castle of Hames beyond the Seas where he remained for the space of twelue yeares vntill the first of King Henry the seuenth with whom he came into England and by whom he was made Captaine of the Archers at Bosworth-field where after a short resistance hee discomfited the Foreward of King Richard whereof a great number were slaine in the chase and no small number fell vnder the victors sword This Earle gaue a great contribution to the finishing of Saint Maries Church in Cambridge His hospitalitie and the great port he carried here in his country may be gathered out of a
vestimentorum asperitate disciplinarum que assiduitate corpus suum extenuauit vt fere simul cum Iob sanctissimo pelli sue consumptis carnibus os suum adhereret Et hec talis tantaque sublata est et hec omnia simul Migrauit autem ad illum qui sibi fructuum decimas persolui voluit qui etiam Decalogum constituit mandatorum Miseremini igitur nostri miseremini nostri saltem vos amici nostri et vobis miseris compatiamini fluentes lacrimas per orationum suffragia desiccantes quia pium est saluberrimum pro defunctis exorare vt à peccatis solvantur Subuenite igitur benigni Monachi subuenite venerabiles Canonici vos sancte virgines in conspectu Altissimi preces bostias offerentes vt ipsius pie misercatur qui abstergit omnem lacrimam ab oculis Sanctorum quatenus que ei macule de terrenis contagijs adheserunt remissionis eius remedio deleantur Amen To this Supplication the religious of all houses answer in this forme Titulus Ecclesie Apostolorum Petri Pauli sancte Osithe Virginis Matris de Chich. Anima Domine Lucie Priorisse de Hengeham et anime omnium sidelium defunctorum per Dei miserecordiam requiescant in pace Amen Concedimus ei commune beneficium Ecclesie nostre Oranimus pro vestris orate pro nostris Some againe do answer thus Preter autem commune beneficium et orationes communes Ecclesie nostre concedimus ei ab vnoquoque Sacerdote vnam Missam inferioris ordinis vnum Psalterium et diem ipsius obitus in Martyrilogio nostro annotari fecimus All concluding euer with Oranimus pro vestris orate pro nostris Vnder the picture of the Crucifix the blessed Virgine and vpon her portraiture drawne vpon her Tombe these nicking nice allusiue verses were cut and engrauen Crux bona crux digna lignum super omnia ligna Me tibi consigna redimens a peste maligna Stella Maris candoris ebur speculum Paradysi Fons venie vite ianua Virgo vale Hec Virgo vite mitis super astra locatur Et sic Lucie lux sine fine datur Transijt ad superos venerabilis hec Monialis Vix succedit ei virtutum munere talis Luci lucie prece lux mediente Marie Luceat eterna quia floruit vt rosa verna Ad lucem Lucia venit sine fine manentem Et sic quem coluit patrem videt omnipotentem Tres tibi gemmate lucent Lucia coronâ— Insuper aurate dic lector qua rationâ— Mater virgo tamen Martir fuit ergo inu Amen Cernat ad examen districti Iudicis Amen Subueniant anime Lucie celica queque Ad quorum laudes dapsilis vrna fâ—it Sible Heueningham In this Parish Church sometime stood a Tombe arched ouer and engrauen to the likenesse of Hawkes flying in a wood which was raised to the remembrance of Sir Iohn Hawkewood knight borne in this village the sonne of Gilbert Hawkewood Tanner bound an apprentice to a Tailor in the Citie of London from whence he was prest in the seruice of King Edward the third in the warres of France Of whom for his admired valour he was honoured with the order of knighthood and in the like regard of his notable demerits Barnabie the warlicke brother of Galeasius Lord of Millaine father to Iohn the first Duke of Millaine gaue him his daughter Domnia in marriage by whom he had a sonne named Iohn borne in Italie made knight and naturalized in the seuenth yeare of King Hon. the fourth as I haue it out of a Manuscript in these words Iohannes silius Iohannis Haukewood Miles natus in partibus Italie factus indigena Ann. viii Hen. iiij mater eius nata in partibus transmarinis The Florentines in testimony of his surpassing valour and singular faithfull seruice to their state adorned him with the statue of a man of armes and a sumptuous Monument wherein his ashes remaine honoured at this present day The Italian writers both Historians and Poets resound his worthie acts with full mouth But for my part to vse M. Camdens words it may suffice to adde vnto the rest these foure verses of Iulius Feroldus Hawkwood Anglorum decus et decus addite genti Italicae Italico praesidiumque solo Vt tumuli quondam Florentia sic simulacri Virtutem Iouius donat honore tuam The glorie prime of Englishmen then of Italians bold O Hawkwood and to Italie a sure defensiue hold Thy vertue Florence honored sometime with costly Graue And Iouius adornes the same now with a Statue braue He died an aged man in the yeare of our redemption 1394. and in the eighteenth of King Richard the second His friends here in England who erected for him the foresaid Monument in this Church which were Robert Rokeden senior Robert Rokeden iunior and Iohn Coe founded here also for him a Chantrie and another in the Priorie of Heningham Castle to pray for his soule and the soules of Iohn Oliuer and Thomas Newenton Esquires his militarie companions Chesterford Here ly the bodyes of William Holden and Agnes his wyf whych William dyed ... 1532. on whos sowlys and al Christian sowlys ... Here ly William Holden and Katherin his wyf ...... 1524. This familie as I was told is now extinct here is an old ruinous house still remaining called Holdens Saffron Walden So called of the great plentie of Saffron growing in the fields round about the Towne a commoditie brought into England in the time of King Edward the third But I digresse and am quite off my Subiect being out of the Parish Church wherein Sir Thomas Audley knight of the Garter Baron Audley of this Towne sometime Sergeant at Law Attourney of the Duchie of Lancaster and Lord Chancellour of England lieth entombed with this seeli Epitaph The stroke of deaths ineuitable dart Hath now alas of life bereft the hart Of Sir Thomas Audley of the Garter knight Later Chancellor of England vnder our Prince of might Henry the eight worthie of high renowne And made by him Lord Audley of this Towne Obijt vltimo Aprilu Ann. Dom. 1544. Henrici 36. Cancelleriatus sui 13. aetatis 56. Haue mercy good Lord on the soul of Thomas Holden That hit may rest wyth God good neyghbors say Amen He gave the new Organs wheron hys name is set For bycause only yee shold not hym forget In yowr good preyers to God he took hys wey On thowsand fyve hundryd and eleuin in Nouembyr the fourth dey Hic iacet his stratus West Matheus tumulatus Qui fuit hic gratus vicarius ciueque natus M. Dominiter C .... terris sit remeatus Huic ...... existit propiciatus Of yowr cherite prey for the soulys of Ion Nichols Alys Ione Alys and Ione his wyfs Iohannes Pater Noster miserere nobis Alisia Fili redemptor mundi miserere nobis Ioanna Spiritus sancte miserere nobis Alisia Sancta
reuenues Richard Cordelion his sonne confirmes the gift and exchange of the Canons made by his father by his Charter to be read in the Tower in these words Richardus Dei gratia c. Inde est quod sicut Pater noster mutationem Canonicorum secularium institutionem Canonicorum regularium fecit in Ecclesia de Waltham eis quasdam non as possessiones et veteres concessit confirmauit Sic nos laudabiliter virorum commutationem in prefata Ecclesia factam nostra autem approbamus Et pro salute predicti Patris nostri et Matris nostre et Fratrum nostrorum et pro salute omnium fidelium constitutionem Canonicorum Regularium in eadem Ecclesia factam donationes possessiones nouas que a Patre nostro eis facte sunt presenti carta nostra confirmamus Dat. c. Henry the third encreased much their reuenues with Faires and Markets a Faire here for seuen dayes and at Epping a Market euery Monday and a Faire for three dayes So by the munificence of these Kings their Successours and Subiects this Abbey at the generall suruey and surrender was valued at Robin Hoods pennieworths to dispend yearely 900. pounds foure shillings and foure pence The Catalogue of religious houses saith 1079. l. 12. s. and a pennie The Church of this Monastery hath escaped the hammers of destruction and with a venerable aspect sheweth vnto vs the magnitude of the rest of this religious Structure Herein Harold made his vowes and prayers for victorie when hee marched against the Norman Conquerour In which battell by the shot of an arrow through the left eye into his braines he was slaine the 14. of October being Saturday 1066. hauing raigned nine moneths and odde dayes whose body by the mediation of his mother Githa and two religious men of this Abbey being obtained of the Conquerour howsoeuer at the first by him denyed affirming that buriall was not fit for him whose ambition had beene the cause of so many funeralls was conueyed with great lamentation by his said mother Githa and a small deiected remainder of the English Nobilitie to this his owne Church and herein solemnly interred vpon whose Monument this Epitaph was engrauen Heu cadis hosle sero Rex a Duce Rege sutaro Par paris gladio milite valido Firmini iusti lux est tibi luce Calixti Pronior hinc superas hinc superatus eras Ergo tibi requiem deposcat vtrumque perennem Sicque precetur eum quod colit omne Deum A fierce foe thee slew thou a King he king in view Both Peeres both Peerelesse both fear'd and both fearlesse That sad day was mixt by Firmin and Calixt Th' one helpt thee to vanquish t'other made thee languish Both now for thee pray and thy Requiem say So let good men all to God for the call Girth and Leofwin his two brethren lost their liues likewise vnder Harolds Banner which was brondet saith Robert of Glocester with sygur of a man fyghtyng biset al about wyth gold and preciosse stons which Baner aftur the Bataile Duc William sent to the Pope in tokne of the victory Whose bodyes were in like manner brought to this Church and here entombed It is said that Girthe not holding it best to hazard the Kindome of England at one cast signified to the King that the successe of warre was doubtfull that victory was rather swayed by fortune then by valour that aduised delay was most important in martiall affaires and if so bee brother said hee you haue plighted your faith to the Duke retire your selfe for no force can serue against a mans owne conscience God will reuenge the violation of an oath you may reserue your selfe to giue them a new encounter which will be more to their terrour As for me if you will commit the charge to me I will performe both the part of a kinde brother and a couragious Leader For being cleare in conscience I shall sell my life or discomfit your enemy with more felicitie But the King not liking his speech answered I will neuer turne my back with dishonour to the Norman neither can I in any sort digest the reproach of a base minde well then be it so said some discontented of the company let him beare the brunt that hath giuen the occasion This Harold is much commended for his courteous affabilitie gentle deportment Iustice and warlike prowesse in nothing blame worthy saue that in the opinion of his owne valour he addicted himselfe wholly to his owne resolutions neglecting the wise deliberations of his best friends and Councellors And that his courage could neuer stoope to be lower then a King For which he is taxed to be an impious man falsely aspiring to the Crowne by vsurpation Of which my old Author with whom I will conclude hath these rimes Harold the falls Erle tho Sent Edward ded ley Hym selue let corone King thulk self dey Falsliche Richard the first king of England for his matchlesse valour surnamed Cordelion or Lions-heart is by some of our old English writers said to haue slaine a Lion and by the pulling out of his heart to haue gained that attribute or denomination the truth is that Hugh Nevill a gentleman of noble linage one of King Richards speciall familiars is recorded to haue slaine a Lion in the holy Land driuing first an arrow into his breast and then running him thorow with his sword whereupon this Hexameter was made Viribus Hugonis vires periere Leonis The strength of Hugh a Lion slue Which atchiuement belike was transferred from the man to the master and the story applied to the by-name of K. Richard This Hugh was high Iustice Gardian or Prothoforester of England He died about the sixt of King Henry the third being full of yeeres corpus eius saith Paris in Ecclesia de Waltam nobili Sarchophago marmoreo et in sculpto traditur sepulturae and his body was buried in this Church of Waltham vnder a noble engrauen marble Sepulchre Iohn Nevill his sonne non ultimus inter Angliae nobiles patris sui pedetentim sequens vestigia and the sonne and heire as well of his vertues as reuenues and offices being accused by one Robert Passelew a man of eminent authoritie vnder King Henry the third of diuers transgressions or omissions in the Forrest Lawes committed by him by his conniuencie or sufferance in this Forrest of Waltham and other the Kings Forrests Parks and Chaces was adiudged to pay a Fine of two thousand markes and ignominiouslie to be cast out of his offices which he tooke so to heart that not long after languishing away with sorrow he breathed out his afflicted spirit in Iuly 1245. at his Mannor of Whelperfield from whence he was conueyed to this Abbey and here honourably entombed by his father I finde in Registro Cartarum Abbatie de Waltam that these two Nevils were great benefactors to
and goodly Thames so farre as ere he could With kingly houses crownd of more then earthly pride Vpon his either Bankes as he along doth glide With wonderfull delight doth his long course pursue Where Otlands Hampton Court and Richmond he doth view Then Westminster the next great Tames doth entertaine That vaunts her Pallace large and her most sumptuous Fane The Lands tribunall seate that challengeth for hers The crowning of our kings their famous Sepulchres Then goes he on along by that more beautious Strand Expressing both the wealth and brauery of the Land So many sumptuous Bowres within so little space The All-beholding Sunne scarse sees in all his race And on by London leads which like a Crescent lies Whose windowes seeme to mocke the Star-befreckled skies Besides her rising Spyres so thicke themselues that show As doe the bristling reedes within her bankes that grow There sees his crouded Wharfes and people-pestred shores His bosome ouerspread with shoales of labouring ores With that most costly Bridge that doth him most renowne By which he cleerely puts all other Riuers downe Midlesex saith Camden is for aire passing temperate and for soile fertile with sumptuous houses and prety Townes on all sides pleasantly beautified and euery where offereth to the view many things memorable Whereupon a Germane Poet thus versified Tot campos syluas tot regia tecta tot hortos Artifici dextrâ excultos tot vidimus arces Vt nunc Ansonio Tamisis cum Tibride certet So many fields and pleasant woods so many Princely Bowres And Pallaces we saw besides so many stately towres So many Gardens trimly drest by curious hand which are That now with Romane Tiberis the Tames may well compare This County is comprised within short bounds being in length where it is the longest not passing twenty miles and in the narrowest place not passing twelue miles The length thereof saith Speed extended from Stratford in the East to Morehall vpon Colne in the West is by measure nineteene English miles and from South Mims in the North to his Maiesties Mannour of Hampton Court in the South are little aboue sixteene miles the whole circumference extending to ninety In forme it is almost square for aire passing temperate for soile abundantly fertile and for pasturage and graine of all kindes yeelding the best so that the wheat of this County hath serued a long time for the Manchet to our Princes table It lieth seated in a vale most wholsome and rich hauing some hills also and them of good ascent from whose tops the prospect of the whole is seene like vnto Zoar in Egypt or rather like a Paradise and Garden of God Fiue Princely houses inheritable to the English Crowne are seated in this Shire which are Enfield Hanworth Whitehall S Iames and Hampton Court a City rather in shew then the Pallace of a Prince and for stately port and gorgeous building not inferiour to any in Europe A worke of admirable magnificence saith Camden built out of the ground by Thomas Wolsey Cardinall in ostentation of his riches when for very pride being otherwise a most prudent man he was not able to manage his minde But it was made an Honor enlarged and finished by king Henry the eight so amply as it containeth within it fiue seuerall inner Courts passing large enuironed with very faire buildings wrought right curiously and goodly to behold Of which Leyland writeth thus Est locus insolito rerum splendore superbus Alluiturque vaga Tamisini fluminis vnda Nomine ab antiquo iam tempore dictus Avona Hic Rex Henricus taleis Octauius aedes Erexit qualeis toto Sol aureus orbe Non vidit A stately place for rare and glorious shew There is which Tames with wandring streame doth dowsse Times past by name of Avon men it knew Heere Henry th' Eight of that name built an house So sumptuous as that on such an one Seeke through the world the bright Sunne neuer shone And another in the Nuptiall Poeme of Tame and Isis. Alluit Hamptonum celebrem quae laxior vrbis Mentitur formam spacijs hanc condidit Aulam Purpureus pater ille grauis grauis ille Sacerdos Wolsaeus fortuna sauos cui felle repletos Obtulit heu tandem fortunae dona dolores He runs by Hampton which for spatious seat Seemes Citie-like Of this faire courtly Hall First founder was a Priest and Prelate great Wolsey that graue and glorious Cardinall Fortune on him had pour'd her gifts full fast But Fortunes Blisse Alas prou'd Bale at last The ancient Inhabitants of Middlesex as also of Essex were called by Caesar the Trinobantes whom hee nameth to be the most puissant in the Land with whom he and his armie had many bloudie bickerings nere and vpon the bankes of the riuer of Tames wherein many were slaine on either side which lie interred in the fields twixt Shepperton and Stanes Some affirme Stanes saith Norden to be so called of the Stakes called Goway Stakes which were fixed in the Thames by the Britons to preuent Iulius Caesar of passing his armie through the riuer Of which and of the conflicts and skirmishes betwixt the Britaines and Romanes thus venerable Bede writes Caesars Horsemen at the first encounter were ouerthrowne of the Britaines and Labienus one of his Colonels slaine At the second encounter with great losse of his Army he put the Britaine 's to flight From thence he went vnto the riuer of Tames which men say cannot bee waded ouer but in one place where on the farther side a great number of the Britaine 's warded the bankes vnder Cassibelan their Captaine who had stucke the bottome of the riuer and the bankes also thicke of great stakes whereof certaine remnants vnto this day are to be seene of Piles of the bignesse of a mans thigh couered with lead sticking fast in the bottome of the riuer which when the Romanes had espied and escaped the Britaines not able to withstand the violence of the Roman Legions hid themselues in the woods out of the which they often breaking forth greatly endamaged the Army of the Romanes In and about Brainford or Brentford the bodies of many a warlike Commander and expert Souldier lie inhumed which were slaine in that fierce and terrible battaile betwixt Edmund Ironside and the Danes which he had driuen from the siege of London at a place now called Turnham Greene thereunto adioyning in which battaile he gaue the Danes a bloudy ouerthrow losing few of his armie saue such as were drowned in the riner of Tames as they passed ouer In the yeare 7141. and the day being the Paschall whereon Christ rose from death which with due reuerence is celebrated in all the Christian world vpon Gladmore heath halfe a mile from Barnet was foughten a most fierce and cruell Battaile betwixt King Edward the fourth and Richard Neuill the great Earle of Warwicke the Mars and make-Make-King of England contending
Citizens to pay them three thousand Markes after fiue hundred Markes a yeare toward the reparation of their Church besides they were adiudged to giue to the vse of the Church Vnam cuppam de pondere decem librarum auri valore centum librarum argenti A Cuppe weighing ten pounds in gold and worth an hundred pounds of money Whereby you may note saith Speed the proportion then betweene the value of gold and siluer This end was made by King Edward the first his Father being now dead at the request and solicitation of this Bishop His next successour William Midleton was also interred in this Church He reedified the same being so destroyed and profaned as you haue heard before and hallowed or consecrated the whole Fabricke anew in the presence of King Edward the first and many of his Nobles He departed this life the last of August Ann. 1288. in the eleuenth yeare of his Consecration Iohn Salmon placed in this See of Norwich by the Pope was here entombed he was Lord Chancellour of England for the space of foure yeares This Bishop built the great Hall and the Chappell in the Bishops pallace and a Chappell at the West end of the Church in which he ordained foure Priests to sing Masse continually He died Iuly the sixth 1325. William Ayermin likewise by the Popes authority was preferred to this Bishopricke as appeares by the sequele Cum summus Pontifex nuper Willelmum tunc Canonicum London in Episcopum Norwicens prefecisset sicut per literas bullatas ipsius summi Pontisicis Regi inde directas satis constabat ac Rex nono die Nouembris prox preteriâ—o per literas suas patentes sub Testimonio Edwardi filij sui primogeniti tunc custodis Regni Anglie Rege extra Regnum existente prefectionem ipsam gratiose acceptans cepit fidelitatemipsius Episcopi restituit ei temporalia Nunc Rex ratificans prefectionem receptionem predict mandat restituere ei Temporalia Teste Rege apud Kenelworth 13. Decemb. Pat. 20. Eâ—â— 2. In the yeare 1319. saith F. Thinne in his Catalogue of Englands Chancellours and out of an old anonimall Latine Chronicler this Will. Ayremin was keeper of the great Seale and that he was taken prisoner by the Scots the words of his Author are in effect thus in English The Countie of Yorke and the countrie adiacent hauing receiued inestimable damages by the Scots William de Melton Archbishop of Yorke Iohn Hotham Bishop of Ely and Treasurer the Abbot of Saint Maries Yorke Sir William Ayremin Priest Chancellour of England Deane of Yorke the Abbot of Selbie and Sir Iohn Pabeham knight assembled together an armie of eight thousand to represse the violence of the enemie this armie consisted of Clerkes Monkes Canons and other spirituall men of the Church with Citizens and Husbandmen and such other vnapt people for the warres With these the Archbishop came forth against the Scots and incountred with them at a place called Mitton a little village vpon the Riuer of Swale Ouer which Riuer the Englishmen were no sooner passed but that the expert warlike Scots came vpon them with a wing in good order of battell in fashion like to a Shield eagerly assayling their enemies who for lacke of good gouernment were easily beaten downe and discomfited without shewing any great resistance Corruerunt ex nostris tam in ore gladij quam aquarum scopulis suffocati plusquam quatuor mille hominum there were slaine by the sword and drowned in the Riuer of our partie aboue foure thousand persons saith the Manuscript and the residue shamefully put to flight The Archbishop the Bishop of Ely the Abbot of Selbie and diuers other with helpe of their swift horses escaped The Mayor of Yorke named Nicholas Fleming was slaine Et capti sunt Domini Iohannes de Pabâ—ham miles Dominus Willelmus de Airemin Canc. and Sir Iohn de Pabeham and Sir William Ayremin Priest were taken prisoners Iohn Harding who seldome giues condigne praise to the valiant doughtie Scot thus writes of this battell ...... in Myton medowe nere To Swale water lay then with great power Walter Warren among the haycockes bushed Vpon the byshop sodenly with Scots yssued And xv hundreth Englyshe there he slewe And home he went with kyng Robart full glad With prisoners many mo then men knewe The Byshop fled fro the felde full woo bestad With his Clerkes that then were full mad This was called the white Battell for that it consisted of so many Clergie men This Bishop died March the 17. hauing sate almost eleuen yeares at Sharing neare London whose body was conueyed for buriall to this his owne Church He gaue two hundred pound for order to be taken that two Monkes the Cellerers of the Couent should alwayes sing Masse for his soule Thomas Piercy was here interred a gentleman howsoeuer right honorably descended and highly befriended yet constrayned to admit of this Bishopricke by the Popes Prouisorie Bull as followeth Cum summus Pontifex nuper vacante Ecclesia Norwicen per mortem Willelmi vltimi Episcopi ibidem qui apud sedem Apostolicam diem clausit extremum eidem Ecclesie de venerabili viro Thoma Percy prouiderit ipsum Thomam in Episcopum loci illius presecerat Rex cepit sidelitatem ipsius Thome Temporalia ei restituit Teste Rege apud West 14. April Pat. Ann. 29. Ed. 3. Memb. 14. This Bishop gaue vnto the repairing of this Church which in his time was greatly defaced with a violent tempest the summe of foure hundred markes and obtained of the rest of the Clergie a great summe to the same purpose He bequeathed to the Chaunter of this his Church an house and certaine lands lying within the Lordship of Kimerle Gaeriton Fowrhow Granthorpe and Wychelwood vpon condition he should procure Masse daily to be said for his soule He died at Blofield not farre off the eight of August 1369. Vpon the death of Bishop Percy one Henry Despenser Canon of Salisbury was preferred by the Pope to this Bishopricke as I finde it thus recorded in the Tower Henricus Despenser Canonicus Saresburien per Papam ad Episcopatum Norwicen vacantem per mortem Thome vltimi Episcopi ibidem prefectus fecit regi fidelitate habuit restitutioneÌ„ Temporalium T.R. apud Clarendon 14. Aug. 2. Par. Pat. Anno 44. Ed. 3. Memb. 6. This man was called the warlike Bishop of Norwich for that in his youth he had beene a Souldier with a brother of his one Spenser a gentleman greatly esteemed for his valour being a chiefe Commander in the Popes warres by whose meanes this Henry obtained this dignitie and hauing changed his vesture but not his conditions in what manner of life he spent his youth in the same he most delighted euen in his waxing yeares For in the yeare 1381. most memorable was the seruice of this stout Bishop against the rebellious bondmen and Pesants of Norfolke whom he draue
dwarfe to death saith my foresaid Author Much more might bee said of this little-great man but I am called for my selfe to the Presse and to speake more then I haue done in the praise of little men I may be thought to flatter my selfe He died in the yeare 1346. in the twentieth of the raigne of King Edward the third I read in a booke of the order of Carmelites of which Fraternitie he was one as also Prouinciall of them all throughout all England penned by Iohn Bale before his conuersion a part of an Eulogium composed to the memory of this Baconthorpe which may serue for an Epitaph Thus. Iohannes de Bachonethorpe Doctor resolutus Carmelita Hic Bachone fuit Iohannes natus in vrbe Anglica quo felix terra priore fuit Parisio dulces hausit de fonte liquores Post tamenin patrio claruit ipse solo Exposuit libros Petri sed sanccius esse Est ratus in quartum peruigilare librum Fecit Aristotelem clarum inclitumque legenti Dans Testamentum clarius omne navum .......... Vpon a faire marble stone in the Quire this Inscription following is engrauen in brasse Hic iaces corpus Willelmi Boleyn militis qui obijt x. Octobris Anno Dom. M. ccccc.v Cuius anime propitietur Deus Amen Let it be the greatest honour to this noble deceased Knight for that he was great Grandfather to the most renowned and victorious Princesse Elizabeth late Queene of England which will best appeare by the Light of Great Britaine learned Camden in his Introduction to the History which he writ of her long and prosperous raigne beginning as followeth The Linage and descent of Elizabeth Queene of England saith he was by her Fathers side truly Royall for daughter she was to King Henry the eight grand daughter to Henry the seuenth and great grand-daughter to Ed the fourth By the Mothers side her descent was not so high howbeit noble it was and spread abroad by many and great Alliances throughout England and Ireland Her great grand-fathers father was Ieffrey Bolen a man of Noble birth in Norfolke Lord Maior of the Citie of London in the yeare 1457. and at the same time honoured with the dignitie of Knighthood An vpright honest man of such estimation that Thomas Lord Hoo and Hastings Knight of the Order of Saint George gaue him his daughter and one of his heires to wife and of such wealth as he matched his daughters into the Noble houses of the Cheineys Heydons and Fortescues left his sonne a goodly inheritance and bequeathed a thousand pounds of English money to bee bestowed vpon the poore in the Citie of London and two hundred in Norfolke This mans sonne William Bolen was chosen amongst eighteene most choice Knights of the Bath at the Coronation of King Richard the third to whom Thomas Earle of Ormond who was in such fauour with the Kings of England that hee alone of all the Nobleman of Ireland had his place and voice in the Parliaments of England and aboue the Barons of England also gaue his daughter and one of his heires in marriage By her besides daughters married to Shelton Calthorp Clere and Sackvill men of great wealth and noble descent and other children hee begat Thomas Bolen whom being a young man Thomas Howard Earle of Surry who was afterward Duke of Norfolke a man much renowned for his worthie seruice and atchiuements in the warres chose to be his sonne in law giuing vnto him his daughter Elizabeth in marriage and Henry the eight after he had performed one or two very honourable Embasies made him first Treasurer of his Houshold Knight of the Order of Saint George and Viscount Rochford and afterwards Earle of Wiltshire and Ormond and made him Lord Keeper of the priuie Seale This Thomas among other children begat Anne Bolen who in her tender yeares being sent into France attended on Mary of England wife to Lewis the twelfth and then on Claudia of Britaine wife to Francis the first and after she was dead on Margaret of Alencon who with the first fauoured the Protestants Religion springing vp in France Being returned into England and admitted amongst the Queenes Maides of Honour and being twenty two yeares of age King Henry in the thirtie eight yeare of his age did for her modestie â—empered with French pleasantnesse fall deeply in loue with and tooke her to wife by whom he had issue Elizabeth aforesaid Queene of England Thome Presbyteri ..... lapis iste retentum Funus habet .... qui sumptu dedit hoc pauimentum Anno milleno quater et C septuageno Octauo Stephani liquit terrestria festo Vt celi detur requies sibi quisque precetur En iacet hic stratus Helby Thomas vocitatus Saluet eum Christus tribuens sibi gaudia lucis Vnder this ston Ligs Iohn Knapton Who died iust The twenty eight of August M. ... xc and on Of thys Chyrch Peti-Canon Vnder the picture of Saint Peter is portraied the Sea a Ship Nets and Fishes with this distichon Ecclesiam pro naue rego mihi climata mundi Sunt mare Scripture Retia piscis homo The figures of the Sunne and Moone are painted here vpon the Frontispiece of the Clocke to whom the Clocke comparatiuely seemes to speake in this Hexastich vpon the same place likewise depicted Horas significo cunctas quas Phebe diebus Quas solet atque tua pallida nocte Soror Nec magis errarem Rector mihi si foret idem Vos qui et queque regit motibus astra suis. Tempora nam recte designo si mihi doctus Custos assiduam conferat artis opem In English Phoebus I tell all th' houres and all as right As thou or thy pale Sister day and night Nor I no more then you in ought should erre If he ruld mee who guides you and each starre For times I rightly tell to me of 's Art If my learnd keeper will his helpe impart In imitation of this it may bee that Thomas Scot in his Philomythie makes a Clocke to compare with a Diall and the difference to be partly decided by the Wethercocke of which a little although not much to the purpose I confesse Vpon a Church or steeples side neere hand A goodly Clocke of curious worke did stand Which ouerpaysde with lead or out of frame Did time miscall and euery houre misname The Diall hearing this aloud gan crye Kind neighbour Clocke your glib tongue tels a lye Reforme your errour for my Gnomon saith You gad too fast and misse an houres faith Foole quoth the Clocke reforme thy selfe by me The fault may rather in thy Gnomon be Had'st thou told euer truth to what end then Was I plac'd here by th' art of cunning men The Weathercocke vpon the steeple standing And with his sharpe eye all about commanding Heard their contention wild them to appeale To him the chiefe of all that common weale Told them that he was
released to the Monkes of Castell-acre the lands granted by his Ancestours in the three and thirtieth of King Henry the third and of his owne good will to the increasing of it he gaue the Sand pits and for the confirmation of the same grant he put to the Seale of his armes hanging at the parchment by a silke string which manner of sealing was vsuall in those dayes Castell-acre In the raigne of King William Rufus William Warren the second Earle of Surrey founded here a Monastery of blacke Monkes Cluniakes to the honour of God and our blessed Lady Saint Mary of Acre and the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and for the Monkes of Saint Pancrace there seruing Which Abbey afterwards his sonne and his sonnes sonne both named Williams and Earles of Surrey confirmed ratified and augmented Witnesses to the first Charter Will. Braunch Waukelin de Rosew Robert de Mortuo mare or Mortimer c. To the second Charter Raph de Pauliaco c. To the third William Bishop of Norwich who dedicated the Church and many others Of which Charters take a little touch out of authenticall Records 〈…〉 am presentibus quam futuris quod ego Willelmus comes de 〈…〉 pro salute anime mee et patris mei et matris mee et heredum meâ—â—â— dedi et presenti Charta confirmaui deo et Sancte Marie de Acra et Moâ—â—â—â—is ibidem Deo seruientibus Ecclesiam de Acra Nouerint c. concedo Deo et sancte Marie de Acra et sanctis Apostolis Peâ—â—o et Paulo et Monachis de sancto Pancratio ibidem deo seruientibus in ipsa Accra duas carucatas terre quas eidem Ecclesie pater meus et mater mea dederunt c. Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Willelmus c. quando feci dedicare Ecclesiam Sancte Marie de Acra dedi Monachis ibidem c. omnes donatioâ—es quas antecessores mei scilicet Auus meus et pater meus et Barones sui eidem Ecclesie dederunt c. et duas solidatas terre c. Hijs Tesâ—ibus Will. Norwicen Episcopo qui eandem Ecclesiam dedicauit c. This foundation was valued at the suppression at three hundred twenty foure pounds seuenteene shillings fiue pence halfe penny qua surrendred the 2â— of Nouember 29 Hen. 8. West-acre Radulphe de Torneio founded the Monastery of Canons in Westacre which did professe to lead a godly life after the example of the Apostles as 〈◊〉 mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles where it is said that the number of â—heâ—â—hat did beleeue were all of one heart and one minde and none of them said that any thing which he had was his owne but they had all things in common and because as in the Charter of his gift he declareth that the holy Fathers did call this the canonicall rule affirming that whosoeuer did leade such a life was thereby made a companion and Citizen with the Apostles Therefore hee pronounceth in his said Charter that whosoeuer did infringe this his donation or alter or change it into Monkes or into any other Order or Rule should be held accursed c. Oliuet Sacerdos de Acra Galterusque suus filius cum magna sanctitate 〈◊〉 Wâ—slacram huic canonice norme cum omnibus â—uis rebus se tradiderunt 〈◊〉 territorio Radulphi de Torneio Ego Radulphus de Torneio cum vxore mea Aclit omnibus que meis pueris Rogerio Radulpho pro nobis et animabus anâ—â—cessorum nostrorum concedimus et confirmamus Ecclesie omnium Sanctorum de Acra et Oliueti Sacerdoti et Gualterio suo filio omnibus canonicis ibi manenâ—ibus suisque posteris deo ibidem seruientibus Feodum quod Oliuet Saceâ—dos sub me tenuit c. Huius confirmationis sunt testes Gislebertus Blondus Willel de Portis Willel de Lira Rogerus Gros. Galterus Capellanus c. The valuation of this religious structure at the suppression was three hundred eight pounds nineteene shillings eleuen pence halfe penny qua Catton Pray for the soul of Iohn Bronde and Agnes his wyffe which Iohn dyeâ— 26 Ianuary 1542. Orate pro anima Agnet is Wrongey .... Reuerendus in Christo Pater Robertus Bronde Prior Norwicen Ecclesie me vitriari fecit anno Christi 1538. Frettenham or Frekenham Hic iacet Margareta filia Iohannes White filij secundi Iohannis White militis vxor Egidij Seyntlowe aâ—mig domini de Mayston filij Alicie filie et heredis Roberti Burnham de Lynne et vxoris Iohannis White secundi predicti Que obijt in vigilia Natalis Domini anno Dom. M.D.xxxii O Crist Iesu pity and mercy haue On Alis Burnham that whylom was the wyff Of Gyles Thorndon which lyeth here in graue And her defend from wars of Fendish stryff Make her pertaker of eternall lyff By the merits of thy passioun Whych with thy blood madest our redemptioun Snitterton or Snisterton Orate pro anima Iohannis Bokenham Armigeri nuper filij Hugonis Bokenham de Lyuermer magna nec non Nepotis et heredis Edmundi Bokenham de Snisterton qui obijt xv die Mensis octobris anno Domini M. cccc.lxxxiiii et pro animabus Anne et Iohanne .... quorum animabus .... Orate pro anima Georgij Bokenham armigeri de Snisterton filii et heredis Iohannis Bokenham qui obiit xxi die octobris anno M.D.xxiii Cuius anime ... Ingham or Hyngham Vnder a faire Tombe of free-stone very curiously wrought lieth the body of Sir Oliuer Ingham with his resemblance in his coate Armour his belt gilt spurs and the blew Garter about his leg his Creast the Owle out of the Iuie bush with a crowne on the head thereof He being a great trauailer lyeth vpon a Rocke beholding the Sunne and Moone and starres all very siueâ—y set forth in mettall beholding the face of the earth about the Tombe twenty and foure mourneâ—s Sir Oliuer Ingham knight whom the yong Duke Edward had made keeper of Aquitaine gathered a great army and inuaded the Prince of Aniou which the French King contrary to couenants did with hold and brought it wholly to the dominion of England anno Reg. Regis Ed. secundi 19. Burdeaux the capitall citie of Aquitaine and then English gaue an excellent testimony of her loyalty nor lesse of martiall wit and valour For the French Army comming before her she to abuse their hope set open her gates and displayed vpon her Powers the golden Lillies as if shee were theirs but the French which securely entred found little good hospitality Sir Oliuer de Ingham was Captaine and Lord Warden there for King Edward who with his Garrison-Souldiers and aide of the Inhabitants slew of them great multitudes and preserued Burdeaux anno Reg. Regis Ed. 3.13 Hickeling The buriall place of the worthy familie of the Woodhouses wherein a monument remaineth to the memory of Sir William Woodhouse knight Here sometime
Raph Astry Iohn Grey Tho. Cornwallis Henry Gisors 〈◊〉 Lions The Foundation of Whittinâ—â—on Câ—lledge â—nd Hospitall Stow Suruey Richard Whitâ—ing thrice buried William Lichfield Doctor of Diuinity Io. Brickles and Isabell his wife In Chamberlaiâ—e Agnes and Ioan his wiues William Greene. Robert Chichley Lord Maior The Colledge of S. Michael founded by W. Walworth Io Loâ—ekin of Losken Lord Maior founder of this Church William Wray The foundation of Corpus Christi Colledge in Candlewickestreet Rob. Radcliffe and his sonne Henry Earles of Sussex Gilbert Melits and Christian his wife The fraternity of S. Katherine The foundation of our Ladies Chappell of Barking Sir Io. Arundell knight Vincent Catal. Simon Eyre Lord Maior The Foundation of Leaden Hall and the Chappell Stow Suruay Ric. Payne and Elisabeth his wife Sixteene children Ric. Nordell Margorie his wife * that * this * they * the holy Communion * thinke of this An Inscription vpon a table sometime chained in this Church Malmes lib 1. de Pont. 1. Selden Rob Glocest. 3 Cadar 4 Oâ—iâ—us 5 Conan 6 Palladius 7 Stephanus 8 Ilâ—ut 9 Dedwin 10 Thedred 11 Hillary 12 Restitutus Harpsfeeld Sex prim secul c. 16. 13 Gwitelin or Guitelnius Scots euer valiant Rob. Glocest. Fastidius Priscus 4. cent 1. Ternckine 15. Lib. in bib Cott. Mss. Vedinus 16. Godwin de praeful Ang. Theon the last Archbishop Robert Fabian Sheriffe Hugh Dauset Doctor of Diuinity Robert Barnes Iohn Bootes Henry Denne and Ioane his wife Tho. Pike Alsâ—rman Sir William Capell Lord Maior Water Knyght The foundation of Saint Anthonies Hospitall Io. Breux The foundation of the Augustine Friers Riâ—hard Earle of Aâ—undell Iohn Vere Earle of Oxford and Aubrey his sonne 〈…〉 his wife Mss. 〈…〉 Duke 〈…〉 Edward the eldest sonne of Edward the black Prince Cardina Shoder and Ioan her daughter Io. Redman Rector Nennius Helius Duke of Loegria â—lores Hist. aetal s. ca. 26. Cui nomen erat Crâ—â—â—a Mors quia nullâ—s ab eo vulneratus vinus eâ—adebaâ— Id. eod Rob. Glocest. Io. Harding c 44 Bale Câ—nt prima Will. Pratt The foundation of the Nunnery of S. Helen Sir Io. Crosby Maior of the Staple Mss. in bib Cot The Foundaâ—ion of a Brotherhood of 〈◊〉 Priests in â—eâ—den-Hall Chappell The foundation of the Priory of Christ-Church Aldgate Will. Payne Clement Towne The foundation of the Câ—oucâ—â—d Friers Ex quibusel Collect in sepe dict bib Cot. The Priore of Crouched Friers found in bed with hiâ— wench Foundation of S. Katherines Hospitall Iohn Holland Duke of Excester Caâ—al of honour â—tow Annal. Harding Anne the first wife of Iohn Duke of Exceter Anne the second wife of Iohn Duke of Exceter Constance Dutchesse of Norfolke Catal. of Hon. Vincent The foundation of East-minster to the honour of God and our Lady of Grace Stow Suruay The foundation of the Abbey of S. Clare Nunnes called the Minories The buriall place of sâ—me of the honourable family of the Darcies Stow. Annal. Cardinall Poole Io Clerke Bishop of Bath and Welles Godwin Catal. of Bishops The foundation of a Knightengild or Confrery without Aldgate The foundation of S. Mary Bethlem The foundation of S. Mary Spiâ—le Sir Io. Sordich Lord of Sordich Ex Mss. in â—ib Cott. Sir Humphrey Starky knight and Isabell his wife Sir Iohn Erlington and Margaret his wife The foundation of Holywell Sir Thomas Louelâ— Knight In â—ib Cott. Lib in lib. Câ—ll Isabell Sackvile Prioresse of S. Maries Clerkenwell Iordan Briset Muriell his wife Mss. in bib Cot. In bib Cott. Camd. in Aâ—dl Robertus Botill Prior Hospitaâ—u Sancti Iohanâ—â— Ierusalem in Anglia primus Baro regni Angliae consiliarius Rogâ—◠〈◊〉 Arch Turris London secundâ— parspat Aâ—â—o 10. Ed 4 â— 13. The foundation of â—he Charterhouse Stow Suruay Ex Mss. in bib Cot. The death of the Founder Margaret Lady Many and Duâ—chesse of Norfolke Suruay 〈◊〉 Vinâ—eâ—t Câ—tâ—l Norf. Philip Morgan Bishop of Ely Suttons Hospitall The foundation of great Saint Bartholomewes 〈◊〉 Arch Tuvrâ— London Caâ—t Ant. hier â— l. â—illiam Bolton the last Prior of S Bartholomewes Roger Walden Bishop of London Godwin de praesulibus Angl. Vpodigma Neustricae 2. Pars. Pat. An. 6 H. 4. M. 20. The foundation of Saint Bartl Hospital Sir Tho Malilant or Neufant Margaret his wiâ—e Sir Will. Knight Priest Sir Rob. Greuil Priest Philip Lewis Agnes his wife Io. Stafford 〈◊〉 Annal. â—â— Goodfâ—llowes 〈◊〉 Will. â—euer and Elizabeth his wife The foundation of the white Friers Carmelites Stow Sâ—â—â—uay Lamb peramb. Lamb. peramb. Rob Mascall Bishop of Hereford Will. Montagâ—â— Earle of Salisbury Ypodâ—g 〈◊〉 Penes 〈◊〉 Tâ—â—swell Stephen Patrington Bishop of S. Dauids Nich. Kenton Io. Miluerton Iohn Loney Pits de illust Aug. Scriptoribus Hubert de Burgo Earle of Kent Iohn Gyles Clerke of the petit Bagge Cowell lit c. Lawrence Bartelet Vnder the picture of Saint Michael The first Sanctuary The death and buriall of Muâ—muâ—â—us Donwallo The Foundation of the Temple Church Cant. in Midlesex London William Marshall Earle of Penbroke William Marshall the yonger Earle of Penbroke Gâ—lbeâ—â— Maâ—â—shall Earle of Penbroke Paris 1â—4â— Hastiludium Paris Sir Rob. Rosse knight Will. Plantaginet Iames Bayle Rob. Thorne Ric. Wye Will. Langham Master of the Temple Will. Burgh Harold king of England Stow Annal. Io. Arundel Bishop of Exceter Io. Booth Bishop of Exceter Sir Will. Booth knight Ed. Arnold Parson The foundation of the Hospitall of Sauoy Ex Mss. in bib Cot. The second foundation of Sauoy Hospitall Tho. Halsal Gowin Douglase Bishops Hist. of Scot. Ann. 1521. Humphrey Gosling Sir 〈…〉 Tho. 〈…〉 The Hospitall of Saint Mary Rounciuall Hospitall of Saint Iames. In Archiuis Turrâ—s London â—â—desâ—s Caâ—al Cancell per Franâ—iscum â—hin collect Iohn Yong Master of the Rolles The foundation of S. Stephens Chappell Charta Regis Ed. tetijs ex Record turrâ—s London The foundati 〈…〉 Westâ—inster Abbey In Arch. turris London Iohn Harding ca. 88. Rob. Glocest. Hist. Ecclesiast Angl. vndeâ— â—aecul ca. 16. Sebert king of the East SaxoÌ„s with his Queene Aethelgoda Edward king of England surnamed the Confessor 〈◊〉 â—arnâ—r â—lb Engl. Mss. in bib Cot. Rob. Glocest. The first â—oure of the â—iâ—gs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 king Edwards wife Rob. Glocest. Maud wife to king Henry the first Ex Mss. in bib Cot. The Courtiers speech The Queenes answer Mat. Paris ad Ann. 1118. King Henry the third Mat. West Rob. Glocest. Mss. in bib Cot King Edward the 〈◊〉 Sir Rob. 〈◊〉 Ex. Arch. Turr. Lond. King Ed. Coronation Chron. Compend Cant. Mss. in bib Cot. Fabian * Kept Caâ—ton Fabian S. Daniel The battaile of Dunbarre The battaile of Foukirke Munster Vniuers Cosm. lib. 2. Walsing Ypodig Hard. cap. 162. * Henry the third * Henry the third The fatall Marble The cruelty of the Scots Rich Southwell Hoâ—â—inshead â—ro May. Polychron l. 7. cap. 40. 〈◊〉 of â—aâ—singham Walsing The dead bodies of our English kings anciently preserued from corruption Ex Arch.
Turr. Lond. Fabians Ballad Royall * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Queen of England Edward the third King of England Remaines Fauine in the orders of England * Alluding to the â—eopardâ— in the 〈…〉 Cron. Compend Cant. in bib Col. His Character Sam. Daniel His Iustice. His regard of Order His loue to his people His Prouidence His works of Pietie His buildings Walsing in vit Ed. 3. Add. Rob. Glocest * Bohemia Philip Queene of England Richard the second King of England Ranulph Monke of Chester Lib. vltimo Folio 166. 〈…〉 * Bohemia * Anne Queene of England Stow. Annal. Henry the fift King of England Add to Robert of Glocester Katherine the wife of Henry the fifth Henry the seuenth king of England Elizabeth the wife of king Hen. the seuenth Margaret CouÌ„tesse of Richmond Margaret the daughter of King Ed. 4. Elizab. the daughter of king Hen. 7. Anne Queene of England Edmund Earle of Lancaster Harding c. 147. Mat. Paris Pageant of Popes Aueline Countesse of Lancaster William de Valence Earle of Penbroke Stow Annal. Harding ca. â—56 Simon Langham Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Waldby Archbishop of Yorke Ex Mss. in bib Cot. * Sodorensis B. of Man In bib Cot. Iohn Waltham Bishop of Salisbury Caâ—al of Bishops In vita R 2. Richard Wendouer Bishop of Râ—châ—ster Sir Humphrey Bourchier Lord Cromwell Sir Humphrey Bourchier * Cup. bearer Tho. Milling Bishop of Hereford Godwin Hugolin Chamberlaine to S. Edward king and Confessor Remaines William Bedell and Cicely his wife Rob. Haule 〈◊〉 vit R. 2 Tho. Ruthall Bishop of Durham Sir William Trussell knight Tho. dela More Lib. 7. cap. 43. Rich. de Ware Abbot Francis Thinne in Catal. Thes. Aug. Walter Wenlocke Abbot The Abbots of this house were Barons of the Parliament Ric. de Barking Abbot Gervaise de Bloys Abbot Vitalis Abbot Laurence the first mâ—â—erd Abbot of West Gislebert Crispin Abbot Edmund Kirton Abbot Iohn Islip Abbot Remaines In bib Cot. Raph Selby Io Windsore Geffrey Chaucer Ex Mss. in bib Cot. Iohn Bedel Walter Garden Ioan Pymichum Io. Den and Agnes his wife * Eijcitâ— Io. Skelton Poet Laureat Specul Brit. 2. King 1.14 Ioh. â— 2 Stow Suruay S. Giles Bowle The Bishop of Rochesterâ— letter to 〈◊〉 S. amongst the letters 〈…〉 In bib Cotton Cromwell principalâ— Secretary * â—il Warbam In part Anno 2â— Hen. 8. ca. 10. Ex lit in Bib. Cotton Robert Fisher. Ex Mss. in bib Cot. The Tenor of Bishop Fishers Indictment Ex Mss. in bib Cotton Eras. Vid. Bal. cent 5. Oputer opus Cronog orbis Vniuersi pag. 477. Sir Tho. Moore In parl Anno 26 Hen. 8. ca. 2. Ex lit in Bib. Cotton Scrip. Bâ—â—t Cent. 5. De Iâ—ust Angie Scriptoribus In Epist. ad Vldric Huttenum de vita Mori Io. Lelandi Moriades siue charitaea corâ—na Camd. Remaines in wise speeches Ex lit in bib Cott. Nich. Grudius Tho. Cromwell Earle of Essex Ex Mss. in bib Cotton M. Drayton in the Legend of great Cromwell M. Drayton M. Drayton Some say no such Act was deuised by him to cause his owne death Speed chap. 21. Iohn Fox M. Drayton Sir Tho. Moore to Master Cromwell Ex lit in bib Cot Stow. Annal. Queene Anne Bullein Speed cap. 21. George Bullein Lord Rochford Speed cap. 21. Sleidan com l. 10. Queene Katherine Howard Ed. and Iohn Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland Hen. Southworth Geff. Hewet Ioane his wife In Miâ—lesex Suruay in Bishopsgateward Sicilius king of Britaine Song 3. Cap 25. * a man decked in feâ—hers Voâ—tâ—mer king of Britaine Speed Hist. cap. 12. Sigibert I Speed Hist. ca. xi Rob Glocest. * men taken * they * commanded Ca. 68. Videsis Speed Hist. ca. 17. and Vincent Catal. Chestâ—r Mill. Catal. Yorke Speed Hist. â— â—â— * Vncle. The Continuer of Hardings Chronicle The guilty conscience of King Richard Pers. Sat. 3. trans by â—erten Holyday Sir Thomas Moore Lord Chancelor Sir Iohn More the father of Sir Thomas his death Ioan and Alice the wiues of Sir Tho. Morâ— in bib Cot. Edmund Lord Bray Mawd Berford Philip Meawtis Ric. Scardebrugh and Elis. his wife Adwin Lauerocke Tho. Essex The office of Remembrancers D. Cowell lic R. The Kings Remembrancer The Treasurers Remembrancer Remembrancer of the first-fruits Io. Fisher. Sir Raph Butâ— knight Iohn Long Katherin Alice his wiues Io. Sherburne Sir Sampson Norton and Elis. his wife Master of the Ordnance Io. Thorley Will. Harvey George Chauncy Mar. Suanden * Arcuarij the Kings Bowyer Anne Sturton Lora Blunt Mawde Lady Salueyne Will. Boydale Christopher Carhill king at Armes Hen. Redman Ione his wife Ric. Parker and Marg. his wife William Clauell The foundation of Sion Nuns and Priests Augustines Ex lit in Bib. S. Dewes Ecclesia omnium Angetorum Antony Sutton Henâ—y Archer Io Robinson Katherine and Ioane his wiues Clement Câ—lyns Io. Holt Margery and Elizabâ—th his wiues Audrie Aundesham Io. Sampoll Sir Io. Payne Priest The Friery of Hounslow George Windsore William Iacob Stanes Priory Ex Lib. Abbat de Croxden in Bib Cotton Iohn Lord Sâ—â—ange Camd. in Shrop. George Lord Strange Iames Lord Strange Io. Flambard Edmund Flambard and Elis. his wife Io. Birkhed Sir Thomas Cornwall Camden in Shropshire Io. Bird Priest Io. Brent Specul Brit. Fowke de Brent Mat Westminst Mat. Pariâ— Tho. Iacob and Ioan his wife Io. Downmeer Ioan his wife Peter Goldesbrough Tho. Sanny Sir Tho. Frowicke knight Tho. Frowicke Ioane his wife Tho. Aldenham Io. Goodyere Ioane his wife Remaines 〈◊〉 Lady 〈◊〉 Hist of Wales â— â—â—ord Specul Britan. Norden Io. Skeuington Peter Fabell the merâ—y deuil of Edmunton Tho. Carleton Elis. his wife 〈◊〉 and Anne his wife Io. Innocent oâ— Incent vnder Treasurer of England Nic. Borne and Elis. his wife Io. Daniel Ioan and Alice his wiues Mawd Ekington Tho. Heningham George Heningham Elis. Turnant Margaret Compton Tho. Billington Grand Seargeantâ—e Kilborne Nunnery Hen. Lord Percy Earle of Northumberland Camd. in Surfex Alexander a Sergeant at Law Ioan Only Alice Ryder a Milke-maid Heron the founder of Hackeney Tho Hert Vicar Ione Curteys Roger Ford. Io. Butterfield Tho. Symonds Io. Catcher Hen. Therket Will. Henneage D. Cowell lit â— Io. Iennings Io. Elrington Cowell lit F. Will. Lowthe Rob. Walsingham Chr. Vrswicke the K. Almoner of Amuer Io Fowler Alice Fowler Tho. Sauill 〈…〉 Robert Middleton and his wife Katherine Mistelbrooke .... Grey and his wife Suruay Lond. Rob. Eve and Laurence his sister Hosp. of S. Giles founded S. Giles Bowle Hen. Steward Lord Darle Io. Kitt or Kite Bishop of Carlell Sir Hen. Câ—lleâ— Lord Maâ—â—r Rich. Paâ—e Deaâ—e of Sâ— Pauls Stow Annal. Cent. â— Nic. Gibson Sheriffe of London Iohn â—â—â—le oâ— Hereford Sir Io Chappalaine Priest Isabell Newmarche Camd. in Somerset Lewis Bâ—ysbury Wiâ—l Waâ—e and Ioâ—ne his wife Iohn Preâ—st Alice 〈◊〉 Io. Chandry Io Ingleby Foundation of the Priory in Hert. Raph Lord Limsey here buâ—â—ed Robert Saddington Mat Paris Francis Thinne Sir
many Townes and Cities the bodies of the Christians haue wanted the rites and ceremonies of buriall it was neither fault in the liuing that could not performe them nor hurt to the dead that could not feele them Yet notwithstanding all this which I haue spoken the bodies of the dead are not to be contemned and cast away especially of the righteous and faithfull which the holy Ghost hath vsed as Organs and instruments vnto all good works for if the garment or ring of ones father be so much the more esteemed of his posterity by how much they held him dearer in their affection then are not our bodies to bee despised being wee weare them more neare vnto our selues then any attire whatsoeuer CHAP. VII Of Cenotaphs Honorarie and religious Of the reuerence attributed to these emptie Monuments A Cenotaph is an emptie Funerall Monument or Tombe erected for the honour of the dead wherein neither the corps nor reliques of any defunct are deposited in imitation of which our Hearses here in England are set vp in Churches during the continuance of a yeare or for the space of certaine moneths Octauia the sister of Augustus buried her sonne young Marcellus that should haue beene heire in the Empire with sixe hundred Cenotaphs or hearses and gaue to Virgil more then fiue thousand French crownes in reward for the writing of sixe and twentie Hexameters in her sonnes commendation all which you may haue for nothing in the latter end of the sixth booke of his Aeneidos These Cenotaphs were of two sorts they were made either to the memory of such as were buried in some other remote funerall monument or to such which had no buriall at all The first kinde of these Cenotaphs are called by Suetonius in the life of Claudius Honorarie tombes erected Honoris vel memoriae gratia Such as the souldiers made to the memorie of Drusus neare vpon the riuer of Rhine howsoeuer his body was carried to Rome and there interred in Campo Martio Alexander Seuerus slaine by the treacherie of certaine seditious French souldiers about the yeare of grace 238 An Emperour saith Sir Thomas Eliot who translated his story out of Greeke whose death all Rome lamented all good men bewailed all the world repented whom the Senate deified noble fame renowned all wise men honoured noble writers commended had his Cenotaph erected in France neare vnto the place where he was slaine but his body was carried to Rome and there interred vnder a most rich magnificent sepulchre as Lampridius affirmes Septimius Seuerus the Romane Emperour died in Yorke in the yeare of mans saluation 212. out of which Citie his corps were carried forth to the funerall fire by the sixth Legion of his souldiers called Victrix after the militarie fashion committed to the flames and honoured with iusts and Turneaments in a place neare beneath the Citie Westward where is to be seene a great mount of earth raised vp as for his Cenotaph But his ashes being bestowed in a little golden pot or vessell of the Porpherite-stone were carried to Rome and shrined there in the Monument of the Antonines Constantine or Constantius the younger sonne to Constantine the Great who is supposed to be the builder of Silcester in Hampshire died at Mopsuestia in Cilicia and was interred in Constantinople in the Sepulchre of his Ancestours Yet he had a Cenotaph or emptie monument built to his memory in the said now-ruined Citie of Silcester And many there were that in honour and remembrance of them had such monuments built about which the souldiers were wont yearely to iust and keepe solemne Turneaments in honour of the dead The second kinde of Cenotaphs were made Religionis causa to the memory of such whose carcases or dispersed reliques were in no wise to bee found for example of such as perished by shipwracke of such as were slaine cut mangled and hew'd apeeces in battell or of such that died in forraine nations whose burials were vnknowne For in ancient times it was thought that the Ghost of the defunct could not rest in any place quietly before the body had decent buriall or the performance thereof in as ample manner as could possibly be imagined Aeneas as it is fained by the helpe of Sibylla Cumea descending into hell found Palinurus his shipmaster drownd not long before among many more wandring about the lake of Styx because his body was vnburied which kinde of punishment is thus related by the Prophetesse Phaers translation This prease that here thou seest beene people dead not laid in graue A pitious rable poore that no reliefe nor comfort haue This Boate-man Charon is And those whom now this water beares Are bodies put in ground with worship due of weeping teares Nor from these fearfull bankes nor riuers hoarce they passage get Till vnder earth in graues their bodies bones at rest are set An hundred yeares they walke and round about these shores they houe And then at last full glad to further pooles they do remoue Then after this she puts him in comfort with hope of Exequies and honorable buriall thus Since whan O Palinure both all this madnesse come on thee Wouldst thou the Limbo-lake and dolefull flouds vntombed see Vnbidden from this banke doest thou indeed to scape intend Seeke neuer Gods eternall doome with speech to thinke to bend Yet take with thee Aeneas word and comfort thus thy fall For they that border next vnto that mount and Cities all By tâ—kens great from heauen shall be compelld thy bones to take And tombe they shall thee build and solemne seruice shall thee make And Palinurus name for euermore the place shall keepe This spoken from his heauy heart his cares abating creepe And sorrowes partly shranke and glad on earth his name he knew Vlysses at the commandement of Circes went downe into the lower shades where he met with his companion or fellow-traueller Elpenor who desired of him buriall with the ceremonies thereof as also a Sepulchre which Vlysses granted and erected to his memory a Cenotaph Doe not depart from hence and leaue me thus Vnmournd vnburied lest neglected I Bring on thy selfe th incensed Deitie I know that saiâ—d from hence thy ship must touch On th' Isle Aeaea where vouchsafe thus much Good King that landed thou wilt instantly Bestow on me thy royall memory And on the foamie shore a Sepulchre Erect to me that after times may heare Of one so haplesse Let me these implore And fixe vpon my Sepulchre the Ore With which aliue I shooke the aged Seas And had of friends the deare societies To these inania busta or vacua Sepulchra the friends of the defunct would yearely repaire and there offer sacrifice vpon Altars erected neare to the Cenotaph for that purpose calling vpon the spirit ghost or Manes of him to whose memory the Cenotaph was made by which ceremony they imagined that the body of the party deceased would lie some where or other at reâ—â— and his
you leaue to choose a sufficient and discreete Priest for your Confessor who so often as to you it shall be thought conuenient your confessions being attentiuely heard may giue to each of you due absolution for your delinquencies committed And appoint you sauing and comfortable penance vnlesse the offences be of that nature for which the Apostolicall chaire is to be sought to for remission Therefore let it not be lawfull for any man in any wise to infringe or in a kind of foole-hardinesse rashly to contradict this Cartulary of our Concession which indeed if any one presume to attempt let him know for certaine that he shall incurre the indignation of Almighty God and of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul Giuen c. Then followes a forme of Absolution made in the Apostolicall Consistory with plenary Indulgence to be pronounced by the Priest to any one of these Merchants whensoeuer they shall bee dangerously sicke in these words Ego authoritate Dei omnipotentis beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum eius et Domini nostri Martini Pape Quinti mihi in hac parte specialiter commissa secundum quod potestas mihi tradita se extendit et quantum debeo et possum si ista vice moriaris te absolvo ab omnibus penis Purgatorii que tibi in Purgatorio debentur propter culpas et offensas quas contra Deum commisisti et te restituo illi innocentie in qua eras tempore quo baptizatus fuisti In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti Amen I by the authority of Almighty God and of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and of our Lord and Master Martin the fift Pope to me especially committed in this behalfe according and in so much as the power to me giuen will extend it selfe and how much of duty I owe and how much I may or can I absolue thee from all the paines of Purgatory which are due to be inflicted vpon thee in Purgatory for those sinnes and offences which thou hast committed against God and I restore thee to that innocencie in which thou liuedst the same day when thou hadst newly receiued Baptisme In the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Amen A word or two of these two words Merchant Staple or Staple Merchant He is properly called a Marchant qui mare traijcit who passeth ouer the Seas et merces inde avehit and from thence transports merchandise or wares into his owne warehouse either bought for ready money or had in exchange for other commodities which hee brings with him out of his owne Country The diligence and industry of these Marchants is accuratly expressed by Horace Epist. lib. 1. Ep. 1. Impiger extremos curret Mercator ad Indos Per mare pauperiem fugiens per saxa per ignes The ready Merchant runs to th' utmost Inde with speed By Sea by rocks by fire to shun outragious need There are a company of notable Skanderouns which greatly desire to be stiled Merchants and these are such as runne from house to house from Market to Market such as haunt Faires and all publicke meetings with packs and Fardels vpon their backes filled with counterfeit and adulterate wares with which they cheat deceiue and cosin the poore countrey-people and these are called Pedlers Quod pedes iter conficiunt because they go on foot Stapula inquit Lud. Guiccia est locus publicus quo principis auctoritate et priuilegio lanae vina coria frumenta aliaeque merces exotica vendendi causa conuchuntur Staple is a publicke place saith Lud. Guiccia to which by the Prince his authoritie and priuiledge wooll wine Hides of beasts corne or graine and other exoticke or forraine merchandise are transferred carried or conueyed there to be sold or set to sale Or Staple signifieth this or that Towne or Citie whither the Merchants of England by common order or commandement did carry their woolls wooll-fels clothes lead and Tinne and such like commodities of our Land for the vtterance of them by the great The word saith Mins let 5. may probably bee taken two wayes one from Stapel which in the Saxon or old English language signifieth the stay or hold of any thing Or from the French word Estape id est forum Vinarium because to those places whither our English Merchants brought their commodities the French would also meete them with theirs which most of all consisteth in wines Now howsoeuer we most commonly finde the Staple to bee kept and thereupon as in this place the Merchants thereof were stiled Mercatores Stapulae villae Calistiae yet you may read of many other places appointed for the Staple in the Statutes of the Land according as the Prince by his counsell thought good to alter them from the second yeare of Edward the third cap 9. to the fifth of Edward the sixth Officers belonging to these Staples were Maiors Constables Manipernors correctours Porters packers winders workers and other labourers of woolls The Fees of the Maiors and Constables of the Staples in England leuied out of 4. d. a Sacke of wooll comming to euery Staple were as followeth The Maior of the Staple of Westminster had yearly one hundred pounds and euery of the Constables there ten markes The Maiors of the Staples of Yorke Kingstone vpon Hull Norwich and Winchester euery of them twenty pounds and euery of the Constables of the same places one hundred shillings The Maiors of Newcastle vpon Tine Chichester and of Exceter ten pounds and euery of the Constables of those places fiue markes And if any of the Maiors and Constables aboue named refused the Office hee was to pay to the company as much as his Fee should amount to Of all which you may reade the Statute Ann. 27. Ed. 3. The Maior and Constables of the Staple had power to record Recognisances of debt taken before them by vertue of a Statute made the tenth of Henry the sixth Chetham And here giue me leaue curteous Reader to turne backe to this Church situate neare Rochester onely to set downe a strange buriall in this Church-yard thus related by Lambard in his perambulation of Kent Although saith he I haue not hitherto at any time reade any memorable thing recorded in History touching Chetham it selfe yet for so much as I haue often heard and that constantly reported a Popish illusion done at that place and for that also it is as profitable to the keeping vnder of fained and superstitious religion to renew to minde the Priestly practises of old time which are declining to obliuion as it is pleasant to retaine in memory the monuments and Antiquities of whatsoeuer of other kinde I thinke it not amisse to commit faithfully to writing what I haue receiued credibly by hearing concerning the Idols sometime knowne by the names of our Lady and the Roode of Chetham and Gillingham It happened say they that the dead corps of a man lost through
I found it in the Collections of Master Camden Hagnes hic iaceo coniux olim Gulielmi Lilia cognomen cui tribuere fui Septem ter denos aetas mea viderat annos Bis septem vixi tres quoque iuncta viro Mater eram foelix ter quinque prole puellae Sex fuerant numero caetera turba mares Me luce octaua mensis Sextilis adorta est Me luce vndecima sustulit atra lues Aeterne vs pateat Lector mihi lumina lucis Authorem lucis supplice mente roga Thomas Linacrus Regis Henrici viii Medicus vir et Grecè et Latine atque in re medica longe eruditissimus multos aetate sua languentes et qui iam animam desponderant vitae restituit Multa Galeni opera Latina lingua mira et singulari facundia vertit Egregium opus de emendata structura Latini sermonis amicorum rogatu paulo ante mortem edidit Medicine studiosis Oxoniae publicas lectiones duas Cantabrigiae vnam in perpetuum stabiliuit In hac vrbe Collegium Medicorum sua industria fieri curauit Cuius et Praesidens primus electus est Fraudes dolosque mirè perosus fidus amicis omnibus ordinibus iuxta charus aliquot annos antequam obierit Presbiter factus plenus annis ex hac vita migrauit multum desideratus Ann. Dom. 1524. die 7. Octob. Somewhat aboue the Tombe in the wall vnder the picture or pourtraiture of the Phoenix this Inscription Viuit post funera virtus Thomae Linacro clarissimo medico Iohannes Caius posuit ann 1557. This old Physitian and young Priest Tho. Linaker borne in the towne of Darby was like William Lilie for none of his works so famous as for his rudiments or instructions to the better vnderstanding of the Latine tongue Hic infra iacet corpus magistri Thome de Eure Legum Doctoris istius Ecclesie S. Pauli quondam Decani qui die nono mens Octobris Ann. Dom. millesimo quadringentesimo sui Decanatus anno duodecimo diem suum clausit extremum Cuius anime propitietur Deus Amen Hic iacet Magister Thomas Wynterburne Legum Doctor dum vixit Decanus huius Ecclesie S. Pauli qui obijt 7. die mens Decemb. An. Dom. 1478. Anime cuius sis Deus propitius Amen Hic iacet Magister Reymundus Pelegrim Canonicus huius Ecclesie Capellanus Commissalis Domini Pape qui obijt xi die mens Aug. Cuius anime propitietur Deus Amen Hic iacet Magister Richardus Plessys quondam Can ......... ob M. CCC LX.I Gulielmus Harington Iurisconsultus Protonotarius Apostolicus D. Pauli Canonicus ex illis quos Residentiarios dicunt Patria Eboracensis natus in Pago qui Estryngton vocitatur Patre Gulielmo Haringtono viro claro genere orto in pago commerlandie non ignobili qui Neubyging nuncupatur Matre Iohanna filia Gulielmi Haske aliter Baliui dicti viri generosi in eodem pago Estryngton nata Memor exitus vite qui omnibus horis impendet hoc sibi sepulchrum posuit Anno salutis humane 1523. Here lieth buried in a Chappell built by himselfe wherein he founded three Chaplaines Sir Iohn Poultney foure times Lord Maior of London who founded also a Colledge in the Parish Church of S. Laurence called Poultney He built also the parish Church called little Alhallows in Thames street and the Carmelite Friers Church in Couentrie hee gaue reliefe to the prisoners in Newgate and in the Fleet and ten shillings the yeare to S. Giles Hospitall by Oldborne now Houlborne for euer and other Legacies too long to rehearse And died in the yeare 1348. Here lieth Hamond Chickwell Pepperer who had beene Lord Maior of this Citie sixe times within nine yeares And died about the yeare 1328. Here lieth the body of Anne daughter of Iohn Duke of Burgundie the wife of Iohn Plantaginet third sonne of king Henry the fourth Duke of Bedford Protector of the Realme of England and head of the common weale Who died the yeare 1433. Here in a Monument broken all a peeces lieth entombed the body of Iohn Neuill Lord Latimer whose widow Katherine Parre daughter of Sir Thomas Parre of Kendall and sister to William Lord Parre Marquesse of Northampton was the sixth and last wife to king Henry the eight He died in the yeare 1542. Sir Iohn Beauchampe Constable of Douer Castle Warden of the Cinque Ports knight of the Garter and Lord Admirall of England the second sonne of Guy Beauchampe Earle of Warwicke lieth buried here in the body of the Church within a little Chappell He died Ann. 1360. 34. Ed. 3. He was also Constable of the Tower of London as appeares by ancient Records Cum Rex nuper concesserit Iohanni Darcy de Knayth custodiam Turris London ad vitam suam et idem Iohannes propter alia negotia intendere non possit eidem custodire ex Regis assensu concessit custodiam predictam Iohanni de Bellocampo de Warwic ad totam vitam predicti Iohannis Darcy c. T. R. apud Mortelake 15. Marcij Ann. 26. Ed. 3.1 Pars. pat M. 17. Vpon some displeasure vpon false suggestions which the King had taken against him he was put by this office and to the same the truth being tried restored againe a little before his death For proofe Cum Iohan. Darcy cui nuper Rex custodiaÌ„ Turris London ad totaÌ„ vita suaÌ„ concesserit ob affectioneÌ„ quam habuit ad personaÌ„ Ioh. de Bellocampo de Warwick statuÌ„ quem idem Ioh. Darcy in custodia Turris predicte habuit prefato Ioh. de Bellocampo concesserit et Rex illaÌ„ concessioneÌ„ confirmauit post moduÌ„que ob quendaÌ„ rancoreÌ„ quem Rex erga ipsuÌ„ Ioh. de Bellocampo ex sinistra suggestione ipsi Regi facta concepisset ipsum de custodia illa amoueri fecit et â—andem custodiam primo Bartholomeo de Burghesse postmodum Roberto de Morle concessisset Iamque ijdem Bartholomeus et Robertus viam vniuerse carnis ingressi sunt Rex ad gratum et laudabile obsequium siâ—i per dictum Iohannem diuersimodo impensum et ad hoc quod suggestio predicta minus vera existit sicut plenius Regi constat consideracionem habens ac volens ipsius proinde honori commodo prospicere in hac parte â—undem Iohannem ad dictam custodiam restituit habendam ad totam vitam suam Dat. apud Villam Sancti Georgij iuxta Castrum de Beauford in Francia An. 34. Ed. 3. This deceased Nobleman saith Stow by ignorant people hath beene erroniously mistearmed and said to bee Duke Humphrey the good Duke of Glocester who lieth honourably buried at S. Albans in Hertfordshire In Idle and friuolous opinion of whom some men of late times saith hee haue made a solemne meeting at his Tombe vpon Saint Andrewes day in the morning and concluded on a breakfast or dinner as assuming themselues to be seruants and to hold diuersitie
and lastly put out the Almesmen from their houses appointing them xii d. the weeke to each person The Church of this Hospitall is now a preaching place for the French Nation Saint Martins Outwich Ecclesie Rector huius Iohn Breux tumulatus Artibus doctor vermibus esca datus Prebendam quondam cicestrensem retinebat Quem Petronille lux tulit e medio M. C. quater quinquageno nono sociato Sic predotatus vertitur in cinerem Augustine Fryers This religious house was founded in the well meaning deuotion of former times by Humphrey Bohun the fift of that name Earle of Hereford and Essex 1253. and was afterward reedified by Humphrey Bohun the ninth of that name Earle of Hereford and Essex Lord of Brecknocke and Constable of England who died Anno 1361. and was buried in the Quire of this Church This Frierie dedicated to the honour of Saint Augustine was valued vpon the surrender to King Henry the eight to 57 l. 4 s. per annum Here sometime did lie entombed the body of Richard Fitz-Alan the fourth of that name Earle of Arundell and Surrey who with Thomas Duke of Glocester Thomas Earle of Warwicke Henry Earle of Derby afterwards King of England and others combined and sware each to other against Robert Vere Duke of Ireland and Michael de la Pole Duke of Suffolke for abusing and misleading the King for which and some other causes which Richard the second obiected against them some of them were banished others condemned to perpetuall imprisonment and this Richard beheaded on the Tower hill Septemb. Anno 1397. the constancie of whose carriage at his arraignement passage and execution in all which he did not once discolour the honour of his bloud with any degenerous word looke or action encreased the enuy of his death vpon his prosecutors Here likewise lay sumptuously interred Iohn Vere the xii Earle of Oxford and Aubrey his eldest sonne who with Sir Thomas Tudensa knight who was also here buried and others their Councellors either through malice of their enemies or some offence conceiued by King Edward the fourth were attainted by Act of Parliament anno primo Edward 4 and put to Execution vpon the Tower hill the 26 of February 1461. William Lord Berkeley of Berkeley Castle honoured with the tâ—tâ—es of Viscount and Marquesse Berkely Earle of Nottingham and Earle Marshall of England was here inhumed who died Ann. 1492. This William as I had it from my deceased friend Aug. Vincent by his deed dated the third of Nouember Ann. 6. Hen. 7 gaue one hundreâ— pounds to the Prior of this house for two Masses to be said presently and for euer at the Altar of our Lady and Saint Iames. Betweene which Altars the body of his wife Ioan who liued but a few dayes with him and is not at all mentioned in the Catalogues of Honour was buried who was the widow of Sir William Willoughbie before the marriage with the Marquesse And to pray for the prosperous estate of the said Marquesse and of Anne his then wife and of Edward Willoughby Richard Willoughby Anne Beauchampe and Elisabeth Willoughbie with all the issue of the said William and Ioane and especially for the soules health of the said Ioane and of Katherine her mother Duchesse of Norfolke Here sometime lay sumptuously entombed the body of Edward Stafford Duke of Buckingham who by the sleights and practises of Cardinall Wolsey fell into displeasure with king Henry the eight and being condemned of high Treason for that among other matters hee had consulted with a Monke or wizard about succession of the Crowne was beheaded on the Tower hill May the 17. 1521. He was a noble Gentleman exceedingly much lamented of good men Of whose death when the Emperour Charles the fifth heard he said that a Butchers dogge meaning the Cardinall a Butchers sonne had deuoured the fairest Buck alluding to the name of Buckingham in all England Here was interred the bodie of Edward the eldest sonne of Edward the blacke Prince by Ioan his wife surnamed the faire Maide of Kent who was borne at Angolesme Ann. 1375. and died at 7. yeares of age Many of the Barons slaine at Barnet-field vpon Easterday 1471. were buried here in the bodie of the Church but now their bodies with these before remembred and the bodies of an hundred more mentioned by Stow of exemplarie note and knights degree are not onely despoiled of all outward funerall ornaments but digged vp out of their Requietories and dwelling houses raised in the place which was appointed for their eternall rest Some part of this Church is at this day yet standing but in that no monument of this kinde is remaining for it is conuerted into a Church for the Duch-Inhabitants of this Citie who in that kinde can hardly brooke any reuerend Antiquitie Saint Botolphs Bishopsgate Hic iacet Cardina vxor Richardi Shoder militis Iohanna filia eorundem ...... 14. April 1471. Sub hoc marmore iacet corpus Iohannis Redman quondam huius Ecclesie Rectoris benemerentissimi qui ab hac luce migrauit tertio die Iulij Ann. Dom. 1523. Neare to this gate if wee giue credit to our owne ancient Chronicles Nennius the sonne of Hely and brother of Lud and Cassibelane kings ouer the warlike Britaines was interred A man of a magnanimous spirit heroicall and valiant Who in the warres betweene Iulius Cesar and the Britaines sought couragiously in defence of his countrey causing Cesar to flie backe with the losse of his sword which Nennius tooke from him in single encounter and with which he slew Labienus Tribune of the Romane Nobilitie But the fifteenth day after this single opposition hee died of a wound receiued at the hands of Cesar in the same conflict the yeare of the worlds creation 3913. before the birth of our alone Sauiour 51. And here as I haue said was entombed with all funerall state and solemnitie and with him the sword which he tooke from Cesar the Emperour as he himselfe commanded Which sword was called Reddeath or rather Readie-death wherewith if any one had beene neuer so little wounded he could neuer escape with life Which you shall haue in such old verse as came to my hands At the north yate of London hii buriede this gud knyght And buriede in hys chest the swerd that was so bryght That he wan of the Emperor wythe grete honor enough That Reddedeth was ycluped whar with he hym slough I buriede wyth hym hit was as in tokneyinge Of hys Proesse that he hit wan of on so heigh a kyng I haue some other of the same subiect but of later times if you will reade them But Neminus brother of Cassybalayne Full manly fought on Iulius tymes twayne With strokes sore ayther on other bette But at the last this Prince syr Iulius Crosea mors his swerde in shelde sette Of the manly worthy Sir Neminus Whiche of manly
house of Conuerts in Chancerie lane anciently called New-streete now knowne by the name of the Rolles Henry the third about the twentieth yeare of his raigne built this house for the Iewes conuerted to be conuerted to the faith of Christ these are the words in his grant Rex Archiepiscopis c. Sciatis nos intuitu Dei et pro salute anime nostre et animarum antecessorum et heredum meorum concessisse et hac charia nostra consirmasse pro nobis et heredibus nostris domum quam fundari fecimus in vico qui vocatur New-streete inter vetus Templum et nouum London ad sustentationem Fratrum conuersorum et conuertendorum de Iudaismo ad fidem catholicam c. hijs Testibus venerabilibus patribus W. Kaerl et W. exon episcopis H. de Burgo Comite Kantiâ— Radulpho filio Nicholai Godfrido de Crancumbe Iohanne filio Philip Amaurico de sancto Aumundo Willielmo de Picheford Galfrido de Cauz et alijs dat per manum ve P. R cicestrens Cancellar nostri apud Westminst 19. die April But this Foundation did not continue long for Edward the first his sonne in the eighteenth yeare of his raigne banished all the Iewes out of England confiscating all their goods and leauing them nothing but money barely to beare their charges King Edward the third appointed this house for the custody of the Rolles and Records of the Chancerie giuing the same by his charter to one William Burstall as then master of that Office and his Successors In the Chappell of this house Iohn Yong Doctor of both Lawes and master of the Rolles lieth entombed with this Inscription Io. Yong. LL. Doctori sacror scrinior ac hius Domus custodi Decano olin Ebor vita defuncto xxv Aprilis sui fideles Executores hoc posuerunt M.D.xvj. Besides which vpon an old table hanging by are written in text hand these verses following Dominus firmamentum meum Hic iacet ille Iohannes Yong cognomine dignus Tali quod nunquam marcesceret vtpote charus Omnibus apprime summo testante dolore Quem neque celabant neque dissimulare valebant Dum sternit iuuenem mors immatura labentem Quis non defleret iuuenis miserabile fatum Ex quo multorum pendebat vita salusque Horum inquam inprimis quos ille benignus alebat Impensis donec vitales carperet auras Nec satis illi erat hoc priuatis consuluisse Rebus quinetiam prudenter publica gessit Munia siue forensia siue etiam extera summa Cum laude illa quidem dum sacris presuit olim Scrinijs haec vero Legati functus honore Saint Stephens Chappell This was a religious Structure first begun by King Stephen and afterwards finished and her reuenewes greatly augmented by King Edward the third in which he placed a Deane twelue Canons secular as many Vicars and other Ministers who had their lodgings in Canon Row now the habitations of diuers Noblemen and Gentlemen These are the words of King Edwards Grant In dei nomine Amen Edwardus dei gratia c. Salutem Capellam quandam speciosam in Palatio nostro apud Westmonasterium situatam in honorem beati Stephani Prothomartyris per progenitores nostros nobiliter inchoatam nostris sumptibus regijs fecimus consummari in qua ad honorem omnipotentis dei et specialiter beatissime Genetricis eius Marie et dicti Martyris ordinamus volumus constituimus et aucthoritate nostra regia perpeiou stabilimus Quod sint exeuntes Decanus vnus et duodecim canonici seculares cum tuum Hospitium nostrum magnum in strata de Lumbard-street ciuitatis nostre London situatum vna cum Patronatibus et aduocationibus Ecclesiarum Perochialium de Dewesburie et Wakefeeld Ebor. Dioces assignamus donemus c. Teste meipso apud VVestmonaster sexto die Augusti An. Regni nostri vicesimo secundo Regni vero nostri Francie nono The reuenewes wherewith King Edward endowed this couent amounted to the value of fiue hundred pounds by yeare and at the suppression the whole foundation was rated to be yeerely worth as I haue it in the catalogue of Religious houses one thousand fourescore and fiue pound ten shillings fiue pence This Chappell serueth now for the lower house of Parliament Westminster Abbey CAmden out of Sulcardus reporteth that here sometime stood an Idoll Temple dedicated to Apollo ouerthrowne by an earthquake about the yeare of grace 153. Of the ruines of which Sebert King of the East Saxons erected another Temple for the seruice of the liuing God and consecrated the same to Saint Peter about the yeare 610. neere about the time of the building of Paules Mellitus as then being Bishop of London and Austin of Canterbury which agrees with these words in the charter of Edward the Confessor Basilica sancti Petri VVestmon edificata fuit antiquitus sub Mellito Londonie primo Episcopo socio et contemporaneo Sancti Augustini primi Cantuar Archiepiscopi et per ipsum beatum Petrum Angelico famulante seruicio sancte crucis impressione et sacre Trinitatis perunctione dedicata to which effect will it please you peruse these verses following King Ethelbert Sainct Poules edefied And King Sebert Westminster founded Mellito theim both halowed and blessified Austin then made Clerke full well grounded Afterwards this Church being destroyed by the Danes Dunstan Bishop of London reedified it about the yeare of Christ 960. and made here a monastery for twelue Monkes After him Edward the confessor with the tenth penny of all his reuenewes built it new for to be his owne Sepulture and a Monastery for Benedictin Monkes endowing it with liuings and â—ands lying disperst in diuers parts of England But after an hundred and threescore yeeres King Henry the third subuerted this Fabricke of King Edwards and built from the very Foundation a new Church of very faire workemanship supported with sundry rowes of Pillars The new erke atte UUestmynster the Kyng tho gauune anon Aftur his coronyng and leyd the ferst ston which the Abbots enlarged very much toward the west end and King Henry the seauenth for the buriall onely of himselfe his children and their posterity adioyned thereunto a Chappell which in regard of the beauty and curious contriued worke thereof is called of Leland Orbis miraculum the wonder of the world The first stone of this admirable Structure consecrated to the honour of the blessed Virgine was laid by the hands of Iohn Islip Abbot of this monastery Sir Reginald Bray Knight of the Garter and others in the 18 yeare of his raigne the 24 day of Ianuary vpon which stone this Inscription was engrauen Illustrissimus Henricus Septimus Rex Anglie et Francie et Dominus Hibernie posuit hanc Petram in honore beate virginis Marie xxiiij die Ianâ—aarij anno Domini M. ccccc 11 et anno dicti Regis Henrici septimi decimo octauo Harpsfeeld sometime Archdeacon
For whiche Commons him hated both free and bond Iohn Gower concludes his cronica tripartita annexed to his booke entituled Vox Clamantis with these riming verses concerning the said King Cronica Richardi qui sceptra tulit Leopardi Vt patet est dicta populo sed non benedicta Vt speculum mundi quo lux nequit vlla resundi Sic vacuus transit sibi nil nisi culpa remansit Vnde superbus erat modo si preconia querat Eius honor sordet laus culpat gloria mordet Hoc concernentes caueant qui sunt sapientes Nam male viuentes Deus odit in orbe regentes Est qui peccator non esse potest dominator Ricardo teste finis probat hoc manifeste Post sua demerita perijt sua pompa sopita Qualis erat vita cronica stabit ita He was murdered at Pomfret Castle in the bloudie Tower so called from that time vpon that bloudie act to this day on Saint Valentines day 1399. the first of Henry the fourth when hee had raigned 22 yeares That beautifull picture of a King sighing crowned in a chaire of estate at the vpper end of the Quire in this Church is said to be of him which witnesseth how goodly a creature he was in outward lineaments but I will conclude with these rimes out of my old Manuscript the Addition to Robert of Glocester This Rychard than regnyd sone Aftur his Belsire as was to done Atte x yere of age crownyd was he He was a man of grett beute In hys tym the Comynte of Kent Up arysin and to London went And Sauoy the brent that ilke plas The whych the Dukes of Lancastre was Thurgh euel councel was slayn ful suel The Duke of Glocestre and the erle of Arundel He regnyd xxii yer and mor And to Longeley was he bor But in the v King Herry is tym He was leyde at VVestmynstre by Anne the Quene Anne his first wife here entombed with him was the daughter of Wenceslaus King of Bohemia and Emperour of the Germanes she died in Anno 1394. the seuenth of Iune at Sheene in Surrey whom her husband so feruently loued yea vsque ad amentiam euen to a kinde of madnesse that for very griefe and anger besides cursing the place wherein shee died hee ouerthrew the whole house Her Epitaph Sub petra lata nunc Annaiacet tumulata Dum vixit mundo Richardo nupta secundo Christo deuota fuit hec facilis bene nota Pauperibus prona semper sua reddere dona Iurgia sedauit et pregnantes releuauit Corpore formosa vultu mitis speciosa Prebens solamen viduis egris medicamen Anno milleno ter cent quarto nonageno Iulij septeno mensis migrauit ameno forma Fragilis Henry the fift sonne of Henry the fourth King of England and conquerour of France died at Boyes de Viscenna not farre from Paris the last of August 1422. hauing raigned 9 yeares 5 moneths and odde daies from thence his body was conuaied to this Abbey vpon whose Tombe Katherine his wife caused a royall picture to be layed couered all ouer with siluer plate gilded the head whereof was all of massie siluer all which at the suppression when the battering hammers of destruction as Master Speed saith did sound almost in euery Church were sacrilegiously broken off and by purloyning transferred to farre prophaner vses where at this day the headlesse monument is to be seene and these verses written vpon his Tombe Dux Normanorum verus Conquestor eorum Heres Francorum decessit et Hector eorum Here Normans Duke so stil'd by conquest iust True heire of France Great Hector lies in dust Gallorum mastix iacet hic Henricus in vrna Domat omnia virtus So many vertues are attributed by all writers to this heroicall King Henry the renowne of England and glory of Wales that where to begin or when to make an end in his deserued praise I know not so I will leaue him amongst the many Monarchs of this most famous Empire none more complete relating onely a few rimes which in some sort doth particularize his memorable exploits Aftur hym regnyd his son than The v Herry truly a gracious man Atte his begynnyng verament He stroyd Loliers and thei wer brent Aftur he made Relygyous at Shene Sion Ierusalem and eke Bedlem The thurd yer he went truly And gat Hartlett in Normandy Atte Egyncourt he hadde a batayle ywis Hamwardys and ther had the prys He tooke ther the Duc of Orleaunce The Duc of Burbon and meny of Fraunce And aftur that he wan Lane toun Rone and al Normandy as was to don Also he wan Parys worschypfully And meny mo tounes wyth Meaux in Bry. Ther he took to hys Quene Katterin the kyng dawghtyr shene He hadde a Son of hur y bore That ys callyd Herry of Wyndsore In Fraunce he departyd goodly thurgh Goddâ—s grase And was broght into Engelond in short spase Then was his Son Herry of age suerly But only viii monyths wyth odde deyes truly His Eme Iohn Duc of Bedford as yow see Is now Regent of Fraunce sykerly He regnyd x yer in hevyn he hath reward Lith at Westmynstre noght fer fro Seynt Edward Here lieth Katherine Queene of England wife to the foresaid King Henry the fifth in a chest or coffin with a loose couer to be seene and handled of any that will much desire it and that by her owne appointment as he that sheweth the Tombes will tell you by tradition in regard of her disobedience to her husband for being deliuered of her Sonne Henry the sixth at Windsore the place which he forbad But the truth is that she being first buried in our Ladies Chappell here in this Church her corps were taken vp when as Henry the seuenth laid the foundation of that admirable structure his Chappell royall which haue euer since so remained and neuer reburied She was the daughter to Charles the sixth king of France she died at Bermondsey in Southwarke the second of Ianuary Ann. Dom. 1437. Her Epitaph Hic Katherina iacet Francorum filia Regis Heres Regni Carole Sexte tui Henrici quinti thalamo bis leta iugali Nam sic vir duplici clarus honore fuit Iure suo Anglorum Katherine iure triumphans Francorum obtinuit ius decus imperij Grata venit letis felix Regina Britannis Perque dies celebrant quatuor ore Deum Edidit Henricum gemebunda puerpera Regem Cuius in imperio Francus Anglus erat Non sibi sed Regno felici sidere natum Sed Patri Matri Religione parem Post ex Owino Tiddero tertia proles Nobilis Edmundus te Katherina beat Septimus Henricus quo non prestantior alter Filius Edmundi gemma Britanna fuit Felix ergo vxor mater ter filia felix Ast Auia hec felix terque quater que fuit Here lieth buried in one of the stateliest Monuments of Europe both for the
imports was seruant to Katherine Swinford the third wife of Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster Hic iacet Iohannes de Chandry quondam Nolettus Domini Ducis Lankastrie .... This mans office vnder the Duke of Lancaster was to ring as I take it the Sance or sacring Bell. Hic iacet Richardus Pynere quondam Botelere cum Regina Anglie qui obitt xxii Ianuar. M. cccc xix A Flagon and a cuppe cut in brasse vpon his graue stone Hic iacet venerabilis Armiger Iohannes Ingylby qui obiit festo Mathei Apostoli et Euangeliste 1457. This Iohn was in especiall fauour and did wonderfully flourish in the seruice of King Henry the sixt A familie of great antiquity in the Countie of Yorke By these Funerall Monuments it appeares that diuers Princes of this Land haue often made their residence in this Towne by which meanes it hath beene in former times of great state estimation and beautie but now for want of that generall conuention the Castle built before the Conquest by Edward the Elder is greatly decayed these Parish Churches much ruined and the Towne neither greatly inhabited nor much frequented Here in this Towne was a Priory of blacke Monkes valued in the Exchequer to be yeerely worth fourescore and sixe pounds fourteene shillings eight pence A Cell it was to Saint Albans founded by Raph Limsey a Nobleman and dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the raigne of the Conquerour I haue my authority out of the Collections of Thomas Talbot sometime keeper of the Records in the Tower a great Genealogist these are his words Raph Lord Limsey buried in the Priorie of Hertford which he founded he came into England with the Conquerour and was his sisters sonne as the Monkes of the same house report Port Or three Eagles heads gules One Robert Sotingdon or Sadington a man in great fauour with Henry the third and vnder him in honourable office fell sicke in his iourney being Iustice Itinerant in this towne in the yeare 1257. and was here interred One Sir Robert Sadington Knight was Lord Chancelour of England Anno 1345. and Sir Richard Sadinton Lord Treasurer much what about the same time as in the Catalogue of both you may read Ware Hic iacet Thomas Bourchier miles filius Henrici comitis Essex ac Isabella vxor eius nuper comitissa Deuon filia et heres Iohannis Barry militis qui obijt .... 1491 .... et Isabella ob 1 die Marcij 1488. quorum animabus This Thomas Bourchier was the first sonne saith Vincent of Henry Bourchier the first of that surname Earle of Essex and this Isabell the daughter and heire of Sir Iohn Barry Knight was when the said Thomas married her the widow of Humfrey Lord Stafford of Southwike sonne of William Stafford of Hooke Esquire created Earle of Deuon by King Edward the fourth to whom the said King gaue all the Honours Mannors Castles c. which were Thomas Courtneys the fourteenth Earle of Deuon who neuerthelesse grew ingratefull to King Edward his aduancer in reuolting from him at the battaile of Banbury for which cowardise hee being apprehended was without processe executed at Bridgewater the seuenteenth of August anno 1469. hauing beene Earle but three moneths Hic iacent Rogerus Damory Baro tempore Edwardi secundi et Elizabetha tertia silia Gilberti Clare comitis Glocestrie et Iohanne vxoris eius filie Edwardi primi v. cate Iohann de Acris ..... This Roger Damory was Baron of Armoye in Ireland and Elizabeth his wife the Founder of Clare Hall in the Vniuersitie of Cambridge of which more hereafter Iean Lucas gist icy Dieu de salme eit mercy This is an ancient monument so is the familie At the north end of this Towne was a Frierie whose ruines not altogether beaten downe are to be seene at this day founded by Baron Wake Lord of this Towne about the raigne of King Iohn dedicated to Saint Francis and surrendred the 9 of May 26 Henry 8. Here lieth Thomas Heton Ione his wife which Thomas died xix Aug. M. cccc.ix and Ioyce ... ... Will. Litlebury and Elizabeth his wife he died xxii of Iuly M. cccc Watton Hic iacet corpus domini Philippi Butler militis quondam Domini de Woodhall et hutus Ecclesie Patroni qui obijt in festo Sancti Leonardi Anno Domini M. cccc.xxi et Regis Henrici quinti post conquestum vltimo Cuius anime propitietur Deus Amen Camden saith that these Butlers are branched from Sir Raph Butler Baron of Wem in Shropshire and his wife heire to William Pantulfe Lord of Wem soone after the first entrie of the Normans Hunsdon In this Church are the right ancient and honourable familie of the Caryes enterred to whose memory I finde no monument saue one vnder which Iohn Cary Baron of Hunsdon lieth entombed father to the right honourable Lord Henry Cary Lord Hunsdon Viscount Rochford and Earle of Douer now liuing Grandchild to Henry Baron of Hunsdon Lord Chamberlaine and Cosin german to Queene Elizabeth and descended from the royall familie of the Dukes of Somerset Francisco Poyno Equiti literis prudentia armis fauore sui Principis et pietate insigni Domina Iohanna pia et amans vxor Charo marito posuit 1520. This name is ancient and honourable Sir Hugh Poynes being one of the ranke of Parliamentarie Barons in the raigne of King Edward the first Eppalets or Hippolites vulgarly Pallets This Church was dedicated saith Norden in his description of Hertfordshire to a supposed Saint called Eppalet whose reliques lie buried about the high Altar This man in his life time was a good tamer of Colts and as good a Horse-leach And for these qualities so deuoutly honoured after his death that all passengers by that way on Horse-backe thought themselues bound to bring their Steedes into the Church euen vp to the high Altar where this holy Horseman was shrined and where a Priest continually attended to bestow such fragments of Eppalets miracles as would either tame yong horses cure lame iades or refresh old wearied and forworne Hackneyes which did auaile so much the more or lesse as the passengers were bountifull or hard-handed Baldock Here is an ancient Monument and an old Inscription which I often meete with Farwel my frendys the tydabidyth no man I am departed hens and so sal ye But in this pasage the best song I can Is Requiem Eternam now Iesu grant it me When I haue ended all myn aduersity Grant me in Paradys to hav a mansion That shedst thy bloud for my redemption Prey for the sowlys of William Crane Ioane and Margaret his wyffs ... which William died ... 1483. ... on whos Orate pro ... Wilielmi Vynter generosi et Margarete consortis sue qui quidem Wilielmus obijâ— 2 Iunii 1416. et Margareta ob ... Octob. 1411. eorum animabus parentum amicorum bene factorum
suorum Deus omnipotens pro sua magna miserecordia propitietur Amen This French Epitaph following was not long since to be read engraued vpon the monument of one of the Argentons Reignauld de Argentein ci gist Que câ—st Chappell feire fist Fu't cheualier sainct Mairie Chescinipardon pour l'alme prie Englished Regnald de Argentyne here is laid That caused this Chappell to be made He was a Knight of Seynt Mary the Virgin Therfor prey pardon for his sin The foundation of the Priory of Wymley or Wymondley Within this ancient and famous Lordship of Wymley held by the most honourable tenure with vs saith Camden which our Lawiers terme Grand Seargeanty namely that the Lord thereof should serue vnto the Kings of England vpon their Coronation day the first cup one Richard de Argâ—nton descended from Dauid de Argenton a Norman and a martiall Knight who vnder King William the Conquerour serued in the warres Lord of this Mannor diuolued now by marriage to the Alingtons Founded a Priorie for Canons regular valued at the suppression to to be yeerely worth thirtie seuen pounds ten shillings sixe halfe penny Within the Towne of Hitching was a little Priorie called New-bigging valued to bee worth fifteene pounds one shilling eleuen pence of yeerely reuenue Ashwell Of yowr cheritie sey for the soul of Elizabeth Annstell a Pater Noster and an Aue .... 1511. Presbiter egregius prostratus morte Radulphus Howel Grammaticus iacet hic sub marmore pressus Tullius ore fuit Prisciani dicta resoluens Multos instruxit in Christo vota reuoluens Erat in Ecclesia pianumina semper honorans Mane sero Bacchi sugiens loca crimina plorans Dulcia frustrauit fercula plena fugauit Sepe ieiunauit Christo mentem reperauit Mundum despexit sic multa volumina scripsit Que regit rexit saluet Deus hunc rogo sic sit Anno Mil. C quater octogeno quoque sumpto Monsis Aprilis decessit ille secundo Here in the north Isle Iohn Hinxworth and Martina his wife lie buried vnder a monument defaced which seemeth to be of great antiquitie Perpetuis annis memores estote Iohannis Henrici dictus proles hic â—acet arbore strictus Bursa non strictus hoc Templo gessit amicus Et meritis morum fuerat ... sociorum Sic prece verborum scandet precor alta polorum M. C quater septenis ter tres minor vno Prima luce Iunij nunc vermibus hic requiescit Hic iacet magister Thomas Colby in Decretis Bachalarius istius Ecclesie nuper vicarius qui ob 19. die mens Septemb. Ann. 1489. Cuius Orate pro .... Walteri Summoner ..... I reade that one Walter Sumner whether this here interred or no I know not held the Mannor of Ashwell of the King by pettie Sergeantie viz. to finde the King Spits to rost his meate vpon the day of his Coronation And Iohn Sumner his Sonne held the same Mannor by Seruice to turne a Spit in the Kings Kitchin vpon the day of his Coronation Ann. 6. Ed. 2. Ann. 35. Ed. tertij Hinxworth Orate pro animabus Iohannis Lambard ciuis et Merceri ac Aldermanni London qui obiit 1487. et Anne vxoris sue que obiit ..... 1400 quorum anime per miserecordiam dei in pace eterna requiescant Amen Orate pro ... Symonis Ward Elene vxoris sue Qui quidem Symon ob xi Decemb. 1453. Elena obiit 21. Augusti 1483. Quorum .... Orate pro anima Iohannis Ward Maioris London qui istam fenestram .... This Ward was Lord Maior in the second of Richard the third in which yeare were three Lord Maiors and three Sheriffes of London by reason of a sweating sicknesse whereof they dyed This Iohn Ward was sonne to Richard Ward of Holden in the Countie of Yorke Barley Edward Chamberleine Clerk gist icy Dieu de salme eit mercy Amen Qi morust en August le xxii Ior M.ccc.lxxv de nostre Seignor Orate pro salubri statu Domini Willelmi Warham Legum Doctoris Pauli London Canonici magistri Rotulorum Cancellarii Regis ac Rectoris de Barley This Warham remembred here in the glasse window was sometime Archbishop of Canterbury Of whom I haue spoken before in Christ-church Canterbury the place of his buriall Sum Rosa pulsata mundi Maria vocata Roiston Rohesia the daughter of Aubrey de Vere chiefe Iustice of England vnder Henry the first sister to Aubrey de Vere the first Earle of Oxford and wife to Geffrey Magna-ville or Mandevill the first Earle of Essex erected where now this Towne of Roiston standeth a Crosse in the high-way which was thought in that age a pious worke to put passengers in minde of Christs passion whereupon it was called Crux Rohesiae before there was either Church or Towne But afterwards saith Vincent out of the Records in the Tower when Eustach de Merch knight Lord of Nauells in this tract had adioyned thereunto a little Monasterie of Canons regular in honor of S. Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury then were Innes built here So that in processe of time by little little it grew to be a Towne which in stead of Rohesiaes Crosse was called Rohesiaes Towne and now contracted into Roiston This Priory was augmented in her reuenues and renewed by Radulphus de Runcester and others Richard the first giues and confirmes Monasterio Sancti Thome Martyris apud crucem Rohesie Canonicis ibidem locum ipsum in quo idem Monasterium fundatum est cum pertinentiis suis que Eustachius de Merc fundator ipsius Monasterii Radulphus de Roucester et alii fideles rationabiliter dedere eis Anno Reg. 1. In Arch. Turris London Cart. antiq R. So that at the suppression the same was valued at eightie nine pounds sixteene shillings The Catalogue of Religious houses saith one hundred sixe pound three shillings and a pennie In a ruinous wall of this decayed Priory lies the proportion of a man cut in stone which say the Inhabitants was made to the memorie of one of the Founders who lieth thereby interred Here in this Towne was also an Hospitall by whom founded I cannot learne dedicated to the honour of Saint Iohn and Saint Iames Apostles suppressed and valued but at 5. l. sixe shillings and ten pence by yeare Pelham Furnix Vpon an old Tombe wherein a Priest lieth interred Hic iacet elatum corpus maris fore reatum Indignus Flamen Christi matris posco leuamen Of yowr cherite pray for the sowl of Iohn Daniell of Felsted Esquoyr and Margery his wife Which Iohn died the vii of October M. ccccc.xix Orate pro anima Iohannis Newport Armig. heredis Roberti Newport Ar. Marie vxoris eius vnius filiarum Iohannis Alington de Horsheth in Com. Cantab. Ar. qui quidem Iohannes Newport obiit primo
fortuna valete Nil mihi vobiscum ludite nunc alios Here are to be seene the ruines of the first Nunnery in England built in the infancie of the Saxons conuersion to Christianitie by Erkenwald Bishop of London which he dedicated to the honour of Christ and the blessed Virgine Mary his mother in which he placed blacke Nunnes and made his Sister Ethelburgh the first gouernesse or Abbesse ouer the rest Wherein she deuoutly spent her dayes and died the 5. of the Ides of October about the yeare 678. Her next successor was Hildetha who gouerned her charge with great austeritie and strictnesse of life for many yeares till being ouerladen with deâ—â—epit old age she laid aside the burthen of mortality and entred into the ioyes of heauen the Ides of December about the yeare 721. Many miracles saith venerable Bede were wrought here in this Church famous for the Sepulture of these and other Saints at the Shrynes of these holy handmaidens of God much confirming the doctrine of those dayes for which in that most pregnant and fruitfull age of Saints they were canonized and their dayes kept holy This house was valued at the suppression to be worth 1084. l. 6. s 2. d. ob q. In nomine Dei nostri et Saluatoris Iesu Christi Ego Erkenwaldus Episcopus Prouincie Est Saxonum seruorum Dei seruus Dilectissimis in Christo sororibus in Monasterio quod appellatur Berecing habitantibus quod deo auxiliante construxi Concedo vt tam vos quam posteri vestri in perpetuum vt constructum est ita possideatis Et ne quis Presul â—uiuslibet sit ordinis vel qui in meum locum successerit vllam in eodem Monasterio exerceat potestatem Nec sui iuris ditione contra canonum decreta inquietudines aliquas facere presumat Ea vero tantum faciat in predicto Monasterio que ad vtilitatem animarum pertinent ordinationes Sacerdotum vel consecrationes Ancillarum Dei. Ipsa vero sancta congregatio que propter dei amorem ibidem deo laudes exhibet moriente Abbatissa ex seipsa sibi aliam eligat cum dei timore Omnes terras que michi ex deuotionibus Regum sunt concesse ad nomen eiusdem Monasterij quemadmodum donate sunt ex integro et quieto iure possideant sicut chartule donationum continent quas in presenti vobis tradidi Et ne quis sorte improbus negator huius donationis erumpat ideo sigillatim has terras in hac chartula enumerandas et nominandas optimum duxi Quarum prima c. Here he reckons vp all the Mannors Lordships and other donations to this his Monasterie in particular concluding thus Si quis autem Episcoporum cuiuslibet dignitaris fuerit velsi quis omnium secularium potestatum contra hanc chartulam canonice et regulariter a me constitutam contendere presumpserit vel aliquid ex inde subtrahere sit seperatus a consortio Sanctorum in hoc seculo omnium et in futuro celestis Regni portas clausas contra se vndique inveniat a Sancto Petro clauiculario celestis Regni a quo michi licentia huius Priuilegij data et permissa fuerat per os beatissimi Agathonis Apostolice sedis Presulis cum Romam adij ante an xviii Ann. ab incarnatione Domini DC lxxvij Chartula autem hec a medictata confirmata in sua stabilitate nichilominus maneat ✚ Ego Erkenwaldus Episcopus Donator pro confirmatione subscripsi ✚ Ego Wilfridus Episcopus consensi et subscripsi ✚ Ego Hedda Episcopus consensi et subscripsi ✚ Ego Guda Presbyter et Abbas consentiens subscripsi ✚ Ego Eghaldus Presbyter et Abbas consentiens subscripsi ✚ Ego Hagona Presbyter et Abbas consentiens subscripsi ✚ Ego Hooc Presbyter et Abbas consentiens subscripsi Sig. ✚ num manus Sebbi Regis Est saxonum Sig. ✚ num manus Sigihardi Regis Sig. ✚ num manus Suebred Regis Ex Registro regio Dagenham Hic iacet Richardus Treswel filius Iohaunis Treswel generosi qui obijt 18 Iulij 1509. Here lieth Anne Barentine wyf to Syr William Barentine who dyed 27 Decem. 1522. on whos Here lieth Sir Thomas Vrswicke Knight ..... Recorder of London who died ..... By the meanes of this Recorder Vrswick whose perswasions were forcible with the Citizens King Edward the fourth was receiued into London with generall applause Anno regni sui vndecimo who entring into the Bishop of London his Palace by a Posterne gate there tooke King Henry the sixt and the Archbishop of Yorke George Neuill Prisoners and sent them both to the Tower on Maundy Thursday Here lieth Elizabeth Fitz-Lewis wyfe of Sir Richard Fitz-Lewis daughter of Sir Raph Sheldon she dyed the second of Ianuary M. ccccc.xxii vpon whos sowl Thorndon not farre off where now the Lord Petre hath a goodly faire house was in times past saith Camden the dwelling place of this worshipfull Familie of Fitz-Lewis the last of which name if wee may beleeue the common report by occasion that the house happened to be set on fire in the time of his wedding feast was piteously himselfe therein burnt to death Wennington In the Church of this little Parish which as I am told containes but twelue Mansion houses are three ancient monuments shamefully defaced howsoeuer some fragments of their inscriptions remaining ...... Gilderburgh .... l' an de grace ... Mil. ccc.lxxxix ..... Ioanna Ioanna Enfants Iohan et Mariore de Gildesburgh gisent icy Dieu de lour almes eit Mercy Amen ..... Mariori qe fust la seme Iohan de Gildesburgh gist icy Dieu des'alme eit mercy Amen Aueloy Hic iacet Radulphus de Kneuynton obitus eius die Iouis ante sestum sancti Nicholai Anno Dom. M.ccc.lxxiii Reg. Regis Ed. tertij xlvii litera Dominicalis F. Hic iacet Editha Pert vxor Willelmi Pert que in vita sua prudens fuit et fidelis ob xxviii Septemb. M. cccc.l.vii cuius anime South Okenden Hic iacet Ingstramus Bruin miles quondam Dominus istius Ville et huius Ecclesie Patronus qui obijt 12. Aug. 1400. One of the Ancestors of this Bruin as I haue it out of a booke of the visitation of Essex in the Heralds office was Chamberlaine to King Edward the first who gaue him the Mannor of Bekingham in Kent who married â—sold the sole heire of this Mannor of south Okenden who serued Q. Elianor wife to the said King Edward which gaue to them diuers Lordships in Hampshire This Familie of Bruin saith Camden was in former ages as famous as any one in this tract Out of the two heires female whereof being many times married to sundry husbands Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke the Tirels Berners Harlestons Heueninghams are descended and of that house there be males yet remaining in Southamptonshire Coringham The Monuments in this Church which haue beene many
at dinner vpon the day of his coronation and whether this be she here buried or not I know not Richard Lions held the said Mannor after her by the seruice of making Wafers vpon the day of the Kings Coronation and of seruing the King with the same Wafers as he sits at dinner the same day Leez Abbey This Abbey of old time was founded by the Gernons now it is the seate of the Right Honourable and one right worthy of all his due honours Robert Lord Rich Baron Leez and Earle of Warwicke now liuing An. 1631. This Abbey or Priory was valued at the time of the suppression as it is in the catalogue of Religious houses to be yearely worth one hundred forty one pound fourteene shillings eight pence Rickling Humfrey Waldene le premer gist icy Dieu de salme eit mercy Amen Hic iacet Henricus Langley Armig. qui obijt xx Sept. M. cccc.lviii et Margareta vxor cius vna filiarum et heredum Iohannis Waldene Armigeri que obijt v. Martii M. cccc.liii Hic tacet Thomas Langley Ar. qui obijt 1 Mar. M. cccc.lii Here lyth Henry Langley Esquyr and Dame Katherin his wyff whych Henry departyd this lyff 11 April M. cccc lxxx viii and Dame Katherine died ..... the yere of our Lord God M. ..... on whos Vpon this last marble stone are the portraitures in brasse of the three daughters of Henry Langley amongst whom his inheritance was diuided as I haue it by tradition as Waldens was before whose chiefe seate was at Langley Wilbores in this parish Thaxted This Church is spatious beautifull and built Cathedrall-like but neither in this Church in Braintrie nor scarcely in any other Church seated within a Market Towne shall you finde either Monument or Inscription onely some two or three Inscriptions are here remaining Her lyth Rychard Dammary and Alys his wyff and Rychard Dammary his sonn Ione Elizabyth and Ann on whos soulys God hau mercy Which Rychard the yongyrgawe a Meide callyd Abel Meide for a perpetual mynd yerly to be kept for ther soulys and al christen soulys Syr Walter Clerk gist icy Dieu de s'alme eit mercy Orate pro animabus Richardi Large et Alicie vxoris eius qui quidem Richardus obijt 27. Martij 1458. The Inhabitants say that this Richard Large was brother to a certaine Lord Maior of London named Large who at his death bestowed wondrous largely vpon the poore and the repairing of high waies which I take to haue beene Robert Large Maior of London Anno 1440. who gaue 120. l. to poore prisoners and euery yeare for fiue yeare 403. Shirts and Smockes 40. paire of Sheetes and one hundred and fifty Gownes of good Frize to poore people To poore Maids marriages one hundred markes to repairing high waies one hundred markes to fiue hundred poore people in London euery one sixe shillings viii d the rest of his bountifull charitie you may reade in Stow Suruay Little Easton Here is a goodly Tombe of marble on the north side of the Chancell â—nder which saith Brooke in his Catalogue of Nobility William Bourchier Earle of Ewe in Normandy lyeth interred but Vincent whom I rather beleeue in his discouery of Brookes Errors approues this Earle as also his wife Anne the daughter of Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester to be buried in the Abbey of Lanthonie by Gloucester If this monument could speake like others by her inscription it might haply decide the controuersie but all the words vpon it are Fili Dei miserere mei Mater Dei miserere mei Which seemingly commeth by a labell from a man and a woman thereupon pourtraied Of this Earle more when I come to Lanthony Betweene the Chancell and the Bowsers Isle or Chappell is a very costly arched Tombe of polished marble inlaid with brasse the picture of a man and a woman and in diuers places of the foresaid Arch on the womans side is the Fetter lock and Bowsers knot but without inscription By supposition made to the memorie of Henry Bourchier sonne of William Bourchier aforesaid Earle of Essex and Ewe and Isabell his wife daughter of Richard Earle of Cambridge and sister of Richard Duke of Yorke Which Henry died quarto Aprilis 1483. a valiant and worthie Nobleman he was fortunate in Martiall enterprises and in matters of peace so learned wise and politicke that he was thought fit by Edward the fourth to be Lord Chancellour of England In the same Chappell on the North side remaineth a very faire Altar Tombe of marble within the which lyeth the body of Henry Lord Bourchier and Louaine and Earle of Essex Sonne and heire of William Bourchier that died before his father and grandchilde to Henry Earle of Essex next before mentioned ouer his Tombe hangeth as yet part of his achieuements as the cote of his Armes Helme Crest and sword This Earle brake his necke by a fall from his horse the twelfth day of March in the one and thirtieth yeare of the raigne of King Henry the eight 1539. His horse was young saith Stow and he the oldest Earle in England for if you will reckon the yeares from the death of his Grandfather who liued after his sonne the father of this Henry as I haue said before vntill the yeare of this his fatall misfortune you shall finde them to be fifty sixe and what age he was at his Grandfathers death you may imagine In the Hall of the Mannor house of Newton in the Parish of little Dunmowe remaineth in old painting two postures the one for an ancestor of the Bourchiers combatant with another being a Pagan king for the truth of Christ whom the said Englishman ouercame and in memory thereof his descendants haue euer since borne the head of the said Infidell as also vsed the surname of Bourchier or Bowser Here are foure wondrous ancient Monuments of the Louaines all the Inscriptions of them are worne out these few words excepted Sire Thomas Louaine ici gist Margarie la file Moun .... This noble familie of the Lovaines in former ages did here inhabite by the name of Fitz-Gilbert one of which house namely Maurice Fitz-Gilbert was surnamed de Louaine as descended from Godfrey of Louaine brother to Henry the sixth of that name Duke of Brabant Who being sent hither to keepe the honor of Eye his posterity flourished among the Peeres of this Realme to the time of Edward the third when the heire generall was married to the house of Bourchier This Bowsers Chappell for it is so commonly called is now the buriall place for the noble familie of the Maynards In Northburne natus Robertus sum vocitatus De terra factus in terram sumque redactus Intercedendo spiritum tibi Christe comendo Propitietur Deus Benefactoribus omnibus Ecclesie pauperis huius The treble Bell in the steeple of this Church is called the Bowsers
Orat ... Tho. Wyndham militis et Elisabethe vxoris eius ... vnus constabul ... Domini Regis Hen. 8. ac vn ... militum pro corpore ... This Knight with others went with Sir Edward Howard Admirall into Biâ—cay the fourth of King Henry the eight Here lieth Dame Elisabeth Calthrop wife of Sir Francis Calthrop and after of Iohn Culpeper Esquire ... Calâ—hrops sometime a familie of great account in these parts Here lieth buried the body of Ione the wise of Sir Thomas Erpingham Knight of the Garter as appeareth by her Will made by licence of her husband the last of May 1404 and proued 14 of Iuly next following Orate pro animabus Thome Windham militis Eleanore et domine Elisabethe vxorum eius Qui quidem Thomas fuit unus consiliariorum Domini Regis Heâ—rici octauâ— ac vnus militum pro corpore eiusdem Domini Regis 〈◊〉 non vice admirallus ........... ............... This Knight lieth buried in the Chapter house vnder a goodly faire monument if it were not so much defaced He receiued the order of knighthood from the hands of Sir Edward Howard Lord Admirall of England the fourth of King Henry the eight at Croiton Bay in France He did good seruice at the winning of Turney and Turwin as also in other places this hath beene a name of exemplarie note and knights degree at Cowtherke in this Tract for many descent Hic iacet Richardus Brome Armiger cuius anime propitietur Deus On the wall by him is a monument with his atchieuement cut with helme coate mantle and creast his Creast is a bonch of broome greene with golden flowers on a wreath Next him lies vnder an arched monument the body of one Bosuile or Boswell sometime Prior of this Church with this Inscription on the vpper part of the Arch. O tu qui transis vir aut mulier puer an sis Respice picturas apices lege cerne figuras Et memor esto tui sic bene disce mori Vnder it are three pictures of dead mens skuls one with teeth another without an vpper chappe and onely two teeth in the nether and the third without either chaps or teeth betweene each of which is written O morieris O morieris O morieris The Familie of Bosvile is very ancient farre branched and of knightly degree as it will appeare in many places of these my ensuing labours of which in this place and vpon this occasion I will onely giue a little touch In the Church of Seuenoke within the County of Kent remaine the achiuements and Funerall rights of Raphe Bosvile of Bradburne in the said Parish of Seuenok Esquire Clerk of her late Maiesties Court of Wards and Liueries Grandsier of Sir Raphe Bosvile now of Bradburne and Sir Henry Bosvile of Eynsford in the foresaid County Knights descended lineally from the Bosviles of Erdsley and Newhall in the County of Yorke The inhabitants of Seuenoke say that whilst the said Raph Boswell liued being employed vpon many occasions for the publique hee deserued and had the reputation of a most worthie Patriot and out of his particular to their Towne hee procured of Queene Elizabeth a Charter of Incorporation for the setling and gouernment of Lands formerly giuen for the maintenance of a Free-schoole and thirteene Almes-people in the said Parish For the more entire establishment whereof Sir Raph his Grand-childe cooperating with other noble friends in so charitable a suite obtained an Act of Parliament in the 39. of Queene Elizabeth besides other benefites procured by him in behalfe of this Corporation and Parish Whereupon a well wishing versifier alluding to the Creste of this Familie which is an Oxe comming out of a Groue of Oakes tooke occasion to expresse his affection in this Distich Dij tibi dent Bosville boues villasque Radulphe Nec Villâ careat Bosue vel Illa boùe Here lieth vnder a faire marble stone one of the ancient Familie of the Cleres and his wife as appeares by their Armes thereupon engrauen for the brasse is quite taken away Of which worthy Familie I speake hereafter Pray for the soule of Elisabeth Waters and Iohn Waters Alderman and for the soule of Iohn Waminge Alderman and Maior of Norwich and husbands vnto the said Elisabeth .... Vpon the wall of a Chappell next to the Chapter house this Inscription In honore beate Marie Virginis omnium Sanctorum Willelmus Beauchampe Capellam hanc ordinauit ex proprijs sumptibus construxit Herein he lies buried vnder the Arch in the wall richly gilt as also the roofe Orate pro anima Fratris Symonis Folkard nuper Prioris Lenne .... qui obijt ... M. ccccci Vnder a monument in the South Crosse Isle lieth one Baconthorp a Prior of this Church the Inscription is worne or torne out of the stone I will not say that this Prior was Iohn Baconthorp the Resolute Doctor who flourished in the raigne of King Edward the third For I finde that he was buried amongst the Carmelites at London howsoeuer he was borne at Blackney in this County brought vp at Oxford and Paris in France and so exceeding deeply learned he was as well in Diuinitie as in both the Ciuill and Canon Lawes that he proceeded Doctor in either faculty in both the said Vniuersities and got the surname Doctoris resoluti or Resolute or Resoluing Doctor Nemo doctius consundebat Iudaos nemo neruosius consutabat Turcos vel quoscunque infideles nemo falicius ex pugnabat haereticos nemo solidiùs Christi veritatem dilucidabat nemo manifestius Antichrists falsitatem imposturas detegebat suisque coloribus depingâ—bat nemo subtiliùs difficiles nodos soluebat nemo clariùs obscura sacrae scripturae loca explanabat sensus reconditos arcana mysteria dilucidius apperiebat No man more learnedly confounded the Iewes no man more pithilie confuted the Turkes or any other Infidels no man more prosperously conuinced the Heretickes no man more solidly declared the truth of Christ no man more manifestly discouered the deceits and iuglings of Antichrist nor so painted him out in his proper colours No man more subtilly resolued hard questions and neuer any man more clearly expounded explaned or laid more apertly open the hidden sense the secret mysteries and the obscure places of the sacred Scripture saith Pitseus He was like another Zacheus little of stature but immense in wit and vnderstanding insomuch as it was a wonder to know so many vertues inhabite together in so small a mansion He writ so many exact learned Volumes that his bodie could not beare what his wit brought forth Nam si moles librorum cius composita sarcina auctoris humeris imposita fuisset homulum sine dubio comprimere suffecisset For if the bulke or pile of the bookes which he writ had beene put into a bagge and laid vpon his shoulders questionlesse it would haue prest the slender short
Essex He died in the first yeare of King Edward the fourth Iohn Mowbray sonne of Iohn aforesaid who in his Fathers dayes was created Earle Warren and Surrey and hauing enioyed these and his fathers Honours for the space dyed without issue at his Castle of Framingham in Suffolke in the fifteenth yeare of King Edward the fourth and was here entombed Sir Iohn Howard knight sonne of Sir Robert Howard knight and of Margaret his wife daughter and coheire of Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolke first made Baron by king Edward the fourth 1461. Quia postea constituit eum Capitaneum Armate potentie super mare Test. Rege apud West Pat. anno 10. Ed. 4. M. 13. was here interred as I finde in the Collections of Francis Thinne Lancaster Herald In the yeare 1483. he was created Duke of Norfolke by King Richard the third in whose aide he was slaine at Bosworth field on Monday the two and twentieth of Aug. 1485. He was warned by diuers to refraine from the field insomuch that the night before he should set forward toward the King one wrote this rime vpon his gate Iack of Norffolk be not too bold For Dikon thy Master is boght and sold. Yet all this notwithstanding he regarding more his oath his honour and promise made to King Richard like a gentleman and as a faithfull subiect to his Prince absented not himselfe from his master but as he faithfully liued vnder him so he manfully died with him to his great fame and laud. And therefore though his seruice was ill employed in aide of a Tyrant whom it had beene more honourable to haue suppressed then supported yet because he had vpon his fealtie vndertaken to fight in his quarrell he thought it lesse losse of life and liuing then of glory and honour so that he might haue said in respect of his loyaltie and promised truth testified with constancie to the death Est mihi supplicium causa fuisse pium This passage is wondrously well deliuered to vs in verse by an honourable late writer thus Long since the King had thought it time to send For trustie Norfolke his vndaunted friend Who hasting from the place of his abode Found at the doore a world of papers strow'd Some would affright him from the Tyrants aide Affirming that his Master was betraide Some laid before him all those bloudy deeds From which a line of sharpe reuenge proceeds With much compassion that so braue a Knight Should serue a Lord against whom Angels fight And others put suspitions in his minde That Richard most obseru'd was most vnkinde The Duke a while these cautious words reuolues With serious thoughts and thus at last resolues If all the Campe proue traytors to my Lord Shall spotlesse Norfolke falsifie his word Mine oath is past I swore t'vphold his Crowne And that shall swimme or I with it will drowne It is too late now to dispute the right Dare any tongue since Yorke spread forth his light Nortâ—umberland or Buckingham defame Two valiant Cliffords Roos or Beaumonts name Because they in the weaker quarrell die They had the King with them and so haue I. But euery eye the face of Richard shunnes For that foule murder of his brothers sonnes Yet lawes of Knighthood gaue me not a sword To strike at him whom all with ioynt accord Haue made my Prince to whom I tribute bring I hate his vices but adore the King Victorious Edward if thy soule can heare Thy seruant Howard I deuoutly sweare That to haue sau'd thy children from that day My hopes on earth should willingly decay Would Glouster then my perfect faith had tried And made two graues when Noble Hastings died This said his troopes he into order brings A little after he giues vs a touch of the Dukes valour and deciphers the manner of his death in these matchlesse numbers which follow Here valiant Oxford and fierce Norfolke meete And with their speares each other rudely greete About the aire the shiuer'd peeces play Then on their swords their Noble hands they lay And Norfolke first a blow directly guides To Oxfords head which from his helmet slides Vpon his arme and biting through the steele Inflicts a wound which Vere disdaines to feele He lifts his Fauchion with a threatning grace And hewes the Beuer off from Howards face This being done he with compassion charm'd Retires asham'd to strike a man disarm'd But straight a deadly shaft sent from a bow Whose master though far off the Duke could know Vntimely brought this combat to an end And pierc'd the braine of Richards constant friend When Oxford saw him sinke his noble soule Was full of griefe which made him thus condole Farewell true Knight to whom no costly graue Can giue due honour would my teares might saue Those streames of blood deseruing to be spilt In better seruice had not Richards guilt Such heauie weight vpon his fortune laid Thy glorious vertues had his sinnes outwaighd Sir Thomas Howard Knight of the Garter Earle of Surrey and Duke of Norfolke sonne and heire of the foresaid Iohn thus slaine was here likewise entombed who died in the sixteenth yeare of the raigne of King Henry the eight 1524. This Thomas was with his father in the forefront of the foresaid Battell where he had the leading of the Archers which King Richard so placed as a bulwarke to defend the rest The martiall prowesse of this Earle in the pight field and his resolute braue carriage being taken prisoner are delineated to the life by my said Author Sir Iohn Beaumont the particulars wherof if they may seeme as pleasing to you in the reading as they were to me in the writing cannot be any way tedious here to set downe for they are sinnewy strong liues and will draw you no doubt with them along Couragious Talbot had with Surrey met And after many blowes begins to fret That one so yong in Armes should thus vnmoou'd Resist his strength so oft in warre approou'd And now the Earle beholds his fathers fall Whose death like horrid darkenesse frighted all Some giue themselues as captiues others flie But this yong Lion casts his gen'rous eye On Mowbrayes Lion painted in his shield And with that King of beasts repines to yeeld The field saith he in which the Lyon stands Is blood and blood I offer to the hands Of daring foes but neuer shall my flight Dye blacke my Lyon which as yet is white His enemies like cunning Huntsmen striue In binding snares to take their prey aliue While he desires t' expose his naked brest And thinkes the sword that deepest strikes is best Yong Howard single with an Army fights When mou'd with pitie two renowned knights Strong Clarindon and valiant Coniers trye To rescue him in which attempt they dye Now Surrey fainting scarse his sword can hold Which made a common souldier grow so bold To lay rude hands vpon that noble flower Which he disdaining anger giues him power Erects his
to reestablish that holy and yet vnfortunate King Henry the sixt in his regall authoritie In this battaile vpon King Edwards part were slaine Humfrey Bourchier Lord Cromwell Henry Bourchier sonne and heire to the Lord Barners both buried at Westminster In the quarrell of King Henry were slaine the foresaid Richard Neuill Earle of Warwicke and Iohn Neuill Marquesse Montacute his brother both buried at Bisham Abbey in Barkeshire the bodies of many others of the Nobilitie and Gentrie on both parties which perished in this vnnaturall conflict had Christian buriall in the Frier Augustines Church London The common Souldiers as also many Commanders were buried vpon the same Plaine where the foresaid battaile was strucken to whose memory a Chappell was built vpon the said Plaine and a Priest appointed to say Masse for their soules as the doctrine went in those daies Vpon both sides of common Souldiers there died that holy Easter day as then the 14. of Aprill saith Ed. Hall ten thousand foure thousand saith Io. Stow and Rob. Fabian saith farre lesse fifteene hundred so vncertaine as I haue said before is the number of the dead slaine in battaile Howsoeuer a part onely of Hertfordshire is comprised within this Diocesse yet giue me leaue to say somewhat in this place of the whole County A rich Countrie saith Clarencieux in corne Fields Pastures Medowes Woods Groues and cleere riuerets And for ancient townes it may contend with the neighbours euen for the best For there is scarcely another in all England that can shew more good townes in so small a compasse the whole circumference of the Shire being but about an hundred and thirtie miles In this County and in the towne of S. Albans two mortall and bloudy battels of Englands ciuill dissentions haue beene fought The first whereof chanced the 24. of May Anno 1455. by Richard Duke of Yorke with his associates the Earles of Warwicke and Salisbury and Lords of Fawconbridge and Cobham against King Henry the sixt In whose defence Edmund Duke of Somerset Henry Earle of Northumberland and Iohn Lord Clifford with fiue thousand more lost their liues the King himselfe was wounded in the necke with an arrow the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Sudley in their faces Humfrey Earle Stafford in his right hand and the Earle Dorset almost slaine On the Dukes part onely sixe hundred were slaine Of which battell and of the timerous flight of the Souldiers on the Kings partie the learned Abbot of Saint Albans Iohn Wheathamstead who liued in those daies writes thus Marcia splendiferum regerent cum sydera celum Aspicerentque feros toruis aspectibus Anglâ—s Albani Villam tranquilla pace vigentem Fedarunt multo violenter sanguine fuso Rex aderat presens secumque cohors satis ingent De Dominis Regni contrarius hijs Eboraci Dux que duo comites Warwici et Sarsburiensis Venerunt media fit grandis pugna platea In qua corruerant qui nobilitate vigebant De patria Boree comes insignis Dominusque Corruit ac ipse qui belli causa fuisse Fertur Dux magnus de Somercethe vocitatus Ac alij plures satis asperasors fuit ipsis Multi fugerunt aliter se non properarunt Quin faciunt trepide visum fugiendo Columbe Insultum ve Canis Damus Lepus ac fera queuis Dum fugiunt nemora pecierunt siue Frutecta In quibus vt pueri virgam metuendo magistri Se pudet id ferre vecorditer occoluere Qui fuerant nostra proprius penetralia tecta Ad nos fugerunt sub Stallis et latuerunt Aut infra latebras timor ingens duxerat ipsos Sic imbecillis tergum dedit hostibus hostis Non sine dedecore nec nominis absque rubore Mors est non vita sub turpi viuere fama Et patet in paucis sors belli que fuit huius Qualis euentus Domini Ducis et comitatus Ter deno trino Domini Regis fuit anno Henrici sexti facies hec obuia celi In Maio mense bis dena bis quoque luce M. semel x quino C quater fuit I quoque quino In Maio mense bis dena bis quoque luce Hic strages procerum conflatus hic populorum The second battell fought in this towne of Saint Albans was by Queene Margaret against the Dukes of Norfolke and Suffolke the Earles of Warwicke and Arundell that by force kept with them the King her husband with whom by constraint he held and on their side fought vntill the field was lost and Lords fled when with great ioy he was receiued by his Queene and yong sonne Prince Edward This battell sell the 17. of February being Shrouesunday Of this towne and of these two battels thus Camden writes in a more succinct and serious stile As Antiquity consecrated this place saith he to be an Altar of Religion so Mars also may seeme to haue destined it for the very plot of bloudy battaile For to let other particulars goe by when England vnder the two houses of Lancaster and Yorke bereft as it were of vitall breath was ready through a ciuill warre to sinke downe and fall in a swoune the chiefe Captaines on both sides ioyned battaile twise with reciprocall varietie of fortune in the very towne First Richard Duke of Yorke gaue the Lancastrians here a sore ouerthrow tooke King Henry the sixt captiue and slew many honourable personages Foure yeares after the Lancastrians vnder the conduct of Queene Margaret wonne here the field put the house of Yorke to flight and restored the King to his former liberty The bodies of such of the Nobility and others of eminent ranke and qualitie which lost their liues in these mortall contentions were buried in the Abbey Church as I haue partly touched before in Saint Peters and in other religious Structures accordingly as they were befriended the common Souldiers were buried in Church-yards and vpon a little greene at the Townes end called No mans land which lies betwixt the two waies as I take it leading to Luton and Sandridge Nere vnto the roade high way saith Camden in this tract betweene Stenenhaugh and Knebworth the seat of the worshipfull house of the Littons descended from Litton in Darbishire I saw certaine round hils cast vp by mans hands such as the old Romans were wont to reare for Souldiâ—ers slaine in the wars of which the Captaine himselfe laid the first turse and now for Essex Essex is a country large in compasse the circumference thereof being one hundred forty sixe miles fruitfull of woods plentifull of Saffron and very wealthy A late writer hauing reckoned vp the commodities which this County doth affoard concludes on this manner If you esteeme not these as things aboue the ground Looke vnder where the Vrnes of ancient times are found The Roman Empâ—rours Coynes oft digd out of the dust And warlike weapons now consum'd with cankring rust And huge and massy bones of mighty fearefull