Treasurer The Lord Michael de Pole Earl of Suffolk was with much disgrace turn'd out of the Office of Chancelor and Thomas de Arundel Bishop of Ely by Consent of Parliament put in his stead And sometime afterward the said Michael de Pole was Impeached of several High Crimes and Misdemeâ—â—ors by the Commons as follows The Impeachment or Articles made by the Commons in full Parliament against Michael de Pole Earl of Suffolk late Chancellor of England in the Term of S. Michael in the Tenth Year of the King and the Judgment upon them following from Point to Point IMprimis That the said Earl being Chancellor and Sworn to Act for the just Profit of the King hath Purchased of Our Lord the King Lands Tenements and Rents to a great Value as appears by the Record-Rolls of the Chancery And against his Oath not regarding the great Necessity of the King and Realm being Chancellor at the time of such Purchase made did cause the said Lands and Tenements to be Extended at a much smaller value than really they were worth by the year and thereby deceiv'd the King And for that he purchased the said Lands when he was Chancellor against his Oath the King shall have the said Lands again intirely and the said Earl shall make Fine and Ransom to the King with all Profits received since the Purchase 2. Item Whereas Nine Lords were Assigned by the last Parliament to View and Examine the Estate of the King and Realm and to deliver their Advice how the same might be Improved Amended and put into better Order Governance and thereupon such Examination to be delivered to the King as well by Word of Mouth as in Writing The said late Chancellor did say in full Parliament That the said Advice and Ordinance should be put in due Execution which yet was not done and that by the default of him who was the principal Officer To this Article and the Third and the Seventh the said Earl shall answer if he have any thing to say against the same in special 3. Item Whereas a Tax was granted by the Commons in the last Parliament to be laid out in a certain Form demanded by the Commons and assented to by the King and Lords and not otherwise yet the Moneys thence arising were expended in another manner so that the Sea was not Guarded as it was ordered to have been whence many Mischiefs already have happen'd and more are like to ensue to the Realm and all this by the default of the said late Chancellor 4. Item Whereas the Tydeman of Limbergh having to him and his Heirs of the Gift of the King's Grandfather Fifty pounds per annum out of the Customs of Kingstone upon Hull which the said Tydeman forfeited to the King and also the payment of the said Fifty pounds per annum was discontinued for Five and thirty years and upwards The said Chancellor knowing the Premisses purchased to him and his Heirs of the said Tydeman the said Fifty pounds per annum and prevailed with the King to confirm the said Purchase whereas the King ought to have had the whole Profit For this Purchase the said Earl was adjudged to Fine and Ranson and the said Fifty pounds to go to the King and his Heirs with the Mannor of Flaxâ—â—ete and Ten Marks of Rent which were exchang'd c. with the Issues c. 5. Whereas the high Master of S. Antony is a Schismatick and for that Cause the King ought to have the Profits which appertain to him in England the said late Chancellor who ought to advance and procure the Profit of the King took to Farm the said Profits of the King at Twenty Marks per annum and so got to his own use above a Thousand Marks And afterwards when the said Master in England which now is ought to have had the Possession and Livery of the said Profits he could not obtain the same till he and two persons with him became bound by Recognizance in Chancery of Three thousand pounds to pay yearly to the said Chancellor and his Son John One hundred pounds for the term of their two Lives For which it is adjudged That the King shall have all the Profits belonging to the said S. Anthony's at the time of the Purchase and that for the Recognizance so made the said Earl shall be Awarded to Prison and Fined and Ransom'd at the pleasure of the King 6. Item That in the time of the latâ— Chancellor there were granted and madâ— divers Charters and Patents of Pardoâ— for Murders Treasons Felonies c. against the Laws and before the Commencement of this present Parliament there was made and sealed a Charter of certain Franchises granted to the Castle of Dover in Disinherison of the Crown and to the subversion of the Pleas and Courts of the King and of his Laws The King Awards that those Charters be Repealed 7. Whereas by an Ordinance made in the last Parliament that Ten thousand Marks should be raised for the Relief of the City of Gaunt by the default of the said late Chancellor the said City of Gaunt was lost and also a Thousand Marks of the said Money Vpon all which Articles the Commons demand the Judgment of Parliament WAlsingham tells us That all these Articles were so fully proved that de Pole could not deny them insomuch that when he stood upon his Answer and had nothing to say for himself the King Blushing for him shook his Head and said Alas alas Michael see what thou hast done And when the King desired a Supply the Commons answered That he did not need the Tallage of his Subjects who might so easily furnish himself of so great a sum of Money from him who was his just Debtor But at last upon his Majesties yielding to have him turn'd out of the Chancellorship and admitting the Articles which he was very unwilling to suffer they freely gave him half a Tenth and half a Fifteenth only providing that it might be necessarily Expended To which purpose it was to be deposited in the hands of the Earl of Arundel who was then going to Sea with a Fleet to secure the Coasts They likewise gave the King on every Pipe of Wine Imported or Exported Three shillings and on every Twenty shillings worth of all sorts of Merchandize Foreign or Domestick brought in or carried out one shilling Wool Hides and Pelts onely excepted And also at the King's Instance granted that the Heirs of Charles de Bloys should for Thirty thousand Marks be permitted to sell Bretaigne in France to the French and that Robert de Vere the new Duke of Ireland the Kings most dangerous Favourite should have the said Thirty thousand Marks a prodigious sum of Money in those days wholly to his own use provided he would be gone before next Easter into Ireland and there make use of it to recover the Dominions that the King hath given him in that Kingdom so passionately did both Lords and
pretence of seeing him take Shipping but in truth that being there remote they might more securely consult how to circumvent and destroy the Duke of Gloucester the Earls of Arundel Warwick Derby Nottingham and other faithful Subjects of the Kingdom For there were with the King Michael de la Pole Tresylian the Chief Justice and many others that were conscious of their own Deserts and feared to be brought to Justice as well as the said Duke of Ireland and therefore readily conspired with him against the Lords Having thus laid their Plot and agreed the manner of putting it in execution back comes the King to Nottingham and as if Ireland's Voyage had been quite forgot brings him and the rest of the Cabal with him Thither they summon divers Citizens of London the Sheriffs of the several Counties and all the Judges of England The Londoners because several of them having lately confessed themselves guilty of Treason had been pardoned by the King were call'd that in return of that Favour they might accuse the Lords of such Crimes as the King with his Counsellors in Wales and contrived against them The Sheriffs were advised with what Forces they could raise for the Kings Service against the Barons and also commanded that they should not permit any to be returned as Knights of the Shire or Burgesses for the next Parliament but such as the King and his Council should direct or nominate To which the Sheriffs reply'd That the Commons generally favoured the said Lords so that it was not in their power to raise an Army in this Case and as for Parliament-men the People would hold their ancient Customs which require that they be freely chosen by the Commons Nor could the same be hindered These Answers were not very agreeable to the Court-designes But the Judges were more compliant for not onely Tresylian the Chief Justice had about the same time indicted two thousand persons at Coventry and he and John Blake an Apprentice of the Law perused and approved under their Seals the Indictment against the Lords but also the better to colour Proceedings with a Form of Law several Questions were propounded to them touching the late Act of Parliament giving the fourteen Lords power to inspect and punish miscarriages of the Kings Ministers as aforesaid To the end as modern Author observes That what the Duke of Ireland and the rest thought fit might pass for Law out of the Judges mouths the Questions being so fram'd and propos'd as it was easier to understand what the King would have to be Law than what in truth was so For it seems they proceeded against their Consciences in that several of them and particularly Belknapp Chief Justice of the Common Pleas did as Knyghton Col. 2694. assures us very earnestly refuse to signe the Resolutions till Ireland and de Pole forced him to it by threatning him to kill him if he refused Whereupon having put to his Seal he burst forth into these words before them Now want I nothing but a Ship or a nimble Horse or an Halter to bring me to that death I deserve If I had not done this I should have been kill'd by your hands and now I have gratified the Kings pleasure and yours in doing it I have well deserv'd to die for Treason against the Nobles of the Land Which last words were like to have prov'd fatally Prophetick for not long after in the next Parliament he was indeed condemned to die though not executed for the same Some Authors say That all the Judges of England except William Skipwith absent by reason of sickness joyn'd in answering these Questions which seems probable because they were afterwards all question'd and punish'd for the same yet in the Record there are but five named possibly the others might consent though only these set their Seals to it The Questions so proposed to the Judges and their Answers were as follow BE it remembered That on the 25th day of August in the 11th year of the Reign of King Richard the Second at the Castle of Nottingham before our said Lord the King Robert Tresylian Chief Justice of England and Robert Belknappe Chief Justice of the Common Bench of our said Lord the King John Holt Roger Fulthorp and William de Burgh Knights Justices and Associates of the said Rob. Belknappe and John de Lokton the Kings Serjeant at Law in the presence of the Lords and other Witnesses under written were personally required by our said Lord the King on the Faith and Allegiance wherein to him the said King they are bound to answer faithfully unto certain Questions here-under specified and to them then and there truly recited and upon the same to declare the Law according to their discretion Viz. 1. Imprimis It was demanded of them Whether that new Statute and Ordination and Commission made and published in the last Parliament held at Westminster be not derogatory to the Royalty and Prerogative of our said Lord the King To which they unanimously answered That the same are derogatory thereunto especially because they were against his will 2. Quaery of them How those are to be punished who procured that Statute and Commission To which they unanimously answered That they were to be punished with Death except the King would pardon them 3. Quaery of them How those are to be punished who moved the King to consent to the making of the said Statute Whereunto they answered with one accord That they ought to lose their Lives unless his Majesty would pardon them 4. It was askt them What punishment they deserved who compell'd streightned or necessitated the King to consent to the making of the said Statute and Commission To which they all answered That they ought to suffer as Traytors 5. Quaery of them How those are to be punished who hindered the King from exercising those things which appertain to his Royalty and Prerogative To which Question they unanimously answered That they are to be punished as Traytors 6. Quaery of them Whether after in a Parliament assembled the Affairs of the Kingdom and the cause of calling that Parliament are by the Kings Command declared and certain Articles limited by the King upon which the Lords and Commons in that Parliament ought to proceed if yet the said Lords and Commons will proceed altogether upon other Articles and Affairs and not at all upon those limited and proposed to them by the King until the King shall have first answered them upon the Articles and Matters so by them started and express'd although the Kings Command be to the contrary whether in such case the King ought not to have the Governance of the Parliament and effectually over-rule them so as that they ought to proceed first on the Matters proposed by the King or whether on the contrary the Lords and Commons ought first to have the Kings Answer upon their Proposals before they proceeded further To which Question they answered unanimously that the King in that behalf his
again in England The Appeal or Charge exhibited against them in Parliament tho' long is yet remarkable and not being extant in English I shall so far presume on the Reader 's Patience as to insert it Translated from the Original as we find it in Knyghton de Eventibus Angliae Col. 2713. as follows viz. TO our Most Excellent and redoubted Lord the King and his Council in this present Parliament do shew Tho. Duke of Glocester Constable of England Henry Earl of Derby Richard Earl of Arundel and Surry Thomas Earl of Warwick and Tho. Earl Marshal That whereas they the said Duke and Earls as Loyal Subjects of our Lord the King for the profit of the King and Realm on the Fourteenth day of November last past at Waltham-Cross in the County of Hertford did before the most Reverend Fathers in God William Bishop of Winchâ—ster Thomas Bishop of Ely late Chancellour of England John Waltham then Lord Privy Seal John Lord Cobham the Lords Richard le Scrope and John Denross then Commissioners of our Lord the King Ordain'd and made in the last Parliament Appeal Accuse or Charge Alexander Archbishop of York Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland Michael de Pole Earl of Suffok Robert Tresylian the false Justice and Nicholas Brember the false Knight of London of several High Treasons by them committed against the King and his Realm and did offer to prosecute and maintain the same and sufficient Sureties to find praying the said Lords to certifie the same to their said Soveraign Lord which the same day the said Commissioners did accordingly certifie to the King at Westminster where most of the said persons so Appealed being present were fully informed and certified of such Appeal And whereas shortly after by the Assent of the King and his Council the said Thomas Duke of Glocester c. coming to Westminster in presence of the King and of his Council there for the profit of the King and his Realm did again Appeal the said Arch-bishop of York and other false Traytors his Companions appealed of High Treasons by them committed against the King and his Realm as Traytors and Enemies to the King and Realm in affirmance of their former Appeal offering to pursue and maintain it as aforesaid Which Appeal our Lord the King did accept and thereupon assigned a day to the said Parties at his first Parliament which should be holden on the Morrow after Candlemass next insuing then to have receive full Justice upon the said Appeal and in the mean time took into his safe and most special protection the said Parties with all their people Goods and Chattels and caused the same to be then proclaimed and published And whereas also on Monday next after the day of the Nativity of our Lord Christ next after the said Duke of Gloucester c. in the presence of the King in the Tower of London as Loyal Subjects of the King and his Realm did appeal the said Archbishop of York c. as false Traytors c. Whereupon the King assign'd them a day in the next Parliament to pursue and declare their Appeal and by the advice of his Council did cause Proclamation to be made in all the Counties of England by Writs under his great Seal That all the said persons so Appealed should be at the said Parliament to answer thereunto Which Appeal the said Duke of Gloucester c. the Appealors are now ready to pursue maintain and declare and do by these Presents as loyal Subjects of our Lord the King for the profit of the King and Realm Appeal the said Archbishop c. of High Treasons by them committed against our Lord the King and his Realm as Traytors and Enemies of both King and Kingdom which Treasons are declared and fully specified in certain Schedules hereunto annexed and they do pray that the said persons Appealed may be called and Right and Justice done in this present Parliament Imprimis Thomas Duke of Gloucester Constable of England Henry Earl of Derby c. do Appeal and say that Alexander Archbishop of York Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland and Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk false Traytors to the King and Realm seeing the tender Age of our said Lord the King and the Innocency of his Royal Person have by many false Contrivances by them without Loyalty or Good Faith imagined and suggested endeavoured wholly to Ingross his Majesties Affection and to make him intirely give Faith and Credence to what they should say though never so pernicious to himself and his Realm and to hate his Loyal Lords and People by whom he would more faithfully have been served Encroaching and assuming to themselves a power to the endefranchising our Lord the King of his Soveraignty and imparing his Royal Prerogative and Dignity making him so far obey them that he hath been sworn to be govern'd and counsel'd only by them by means of which Oath and the power they have so trayterously usurped great inconveniencies mischiefs and destructions have hapned as by the subsequent Articles will appear 2. Item Whereas the King is not bound to make any Oath to any of his Subjects but on the day of his Câ—ronation or for the common profit of him and his Realm the said Bishop Duke and Earl false Traytors to the King and Realm have made him swear and assent to them that he will maintain and defend them and live and die with them And so whereas the King ought to be of a free condition above any other in his Realm they have brought him more into Servitude and Bondage against his Honour Estate and Royalty contrary to their Allegiance and as Traytors unto him 3. Item The said Traytors by the Assent and Councel of Robert Tresylian the false Justice and Nicholas Brember the false Knight of London by their false Covin would not at all suffer the great Persons of the Realm nor the good Subjects of the King to speak to or approach the King to give him wholsome advice nor the King to speak to them unless in the presence and hearing of them the said Duke of Ireland c. or two of them at their will and pleasure or about such things as they thought fit to the great disgrace of the Nobles and good Counsellors of the King and to the preventing of their good will and service towards the King thereby encroaching to themselves the Royal power and a Lordship and Soveraignty over the person of the King to the great dishonour and peril of the King his Crown and Realm 4. Item The said Archbishop c. by such their false devices and pernicious Councels have diverted the King from shewing due countenance to his great Lords and Liege People so that they could not be answered in their Suits and Rights without the leave of them the said Archbishop c. Thereby putting the King besides his Devoir contrary to his Oath contriving to alienate the Heart of our Lord the King from
the most part subdu'd and dispers'd by the active valour of Hugh Spenser Bishop of Norwich who gathering an Army together set upon the Rebels with incredible fury pursuing them from place to place and giving no Quarter to any of them It is to be noted That these Rebels in several Shires held correspondence and their Leaders sent abroad their Epistles of Advice and encouragement some of which as they were afterwards taken and own'd I shall insert for the Readers diversion that he may admire the style of these popular Orators and observe what strength of perswasion there was in Non-sense A LETTER of John Ball to the COMNONS in Essex IOhn Sheep sometime S. Mary Priest of York and now of Colchester Greeteth well John Nameless and John the Miller and John Charter and biddeth them beware of Guil in Borough and stand together in Gods Name and biddeth Piers Plowman go to his werk and Chastise well Hob the Robber and take with you John Trewman and all his Fellows and no mo John the Miller hath yground small small small The Kings Son of heven shall pay for all Beware or ye be wo know your Frende fro your Foe have ynough and say No and do well and better and flee sinne and seek peace and hold you therein And so biddeth John Trewman and all his Fellows Another IOhn Ball gretyth you wele All and doth you to understand he hath rungen the Bell Now ryght andâ—myght wyll and skyll God spede every yee dele Now is time Lady help to Ihesu the Sone and thid Sone to his Fadur to make a gode end in the name of the Trinity of that is begun Amen Amen pur Charite Amen Another IOhn Bell S. Mary Prist gretes wele all manner men and byddes them in the Name of the Trinity Fadur and Son and Holy Ghost stond manlyche togedyr in trewthe and helps trewthe and trewthe shall helpe yowe Now regneth Pride in prise and Covetous is hold wise and Lechery without en shame and Glotony without en blame Envie regneth with treason and slouthe is take in grete sesone God do bote for now is the time Amen in Esex Southfolc aud Northfolc Jack the Millers Epistle JAKK Mylner asket help to turn his Mylne aright He hath Grounden small small The Kings Son of Heven he shall pay for all Look thy Mylne do a right with the four Sailes and the Post stand in stedfastnesse With right and with might with skill and with will lat might help right and skill go before will and right before might than goeth our Mylne aright And if might go before right and will before skill than is our Mylne mysadyght Jack the Carter's JAKK Carter pryes yow all that yee make a gode end of that yee have begunnen and doth wele and ay bettur and bettur for at the even men heryth the day for if the end be wele than is all we le Lat Peres the Plowman my Brother duele at home and dyght us Corn and I will so with yow and help that yee may so dyght your mete and your drynk that yee none fayle Lokke that Hobb Robbyoure be wele chastised for lesing of your Grace for yee have grete nede to take God with yow in all yowr dedes for now is time to beware Jack Trewman's Scroll JAkk Trewman doth yow to understand that falseness and gile havith regned to long and trewth hath been sett under a Lokke and falsneth and gile regneth in everylk Flokke No man may come trewth to both syng Si dedero Speke spend and speed quoth John of Bathon and therefore sinn fareth as wilde flode trew love is a way that was so gode and Clerks for welth worth hem wo. God do bote for nowze is time The Storm being thus happily over-blown the Rebels suddenly master'd and a competent Force raised to secure the Peace of the Kingdom it was quickly thought fit to revenge such an Affront and bring the Delinquents to justice In order to which the King as soon as he could do it with safety to Himself and the Publick revokes his former Charters of Manumission and Pardon by a Proclamation under His Great Seal in these Terms RICHARD by the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland To all to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Although in the late detestable Disturbance horribly made by divers of Our Liege People and Subjects rising up against Our Peace certain Letters Patent of Ours were made at the importunate Instance of the Rebels containing That We have freed all Our Leige People Common Subjects and others of the several Counties of Our Realm of England and them and every of them discharged and acquitted from all Bondage and Service And also That we have pardoned them all manner of Insurrections by them against Us made and all manner of Treasons Felonies Transgressions and Extortions by them or any of them committed As also all Outlawries Publisht against them or any of them on those Occasions Or that we have granted to them and every of them Our firm Peace And that Our Will was That Our said Liege People and Subjects should be free to buy and Sell in all Cities Burroughs Towns Markets and other Places within the Kingdom of England and that no Acre of Land which holds in Bondage or Villenage should be accounted higher than at Four Pence And if any were before held for less that it should not be raised for the future Yet for that such Our Letters did Issue without Mature Deliberation and unduly We well weighing that the Grant of the said Letters doth manifestly tend to the very great prejudice of Us and Our Crown and to the Disinherison as well of us and the Prelates and Nobility of Our said Realms as of the Holy Anglicane Church and also the the Damage and Incommodity of the Commonwealth Therefore by the Advice of Our Council We have Revoked made void and do utterly annul the said Letters and whatever hath been done or follow'd thereupon willing that none of what state or condition soever he be shall any way have or reap or enjoy any liberty or benefit whatsoever of or by the said Letters For We will and 't is our intention by the Advice of Our sound Council for the future to impart such Grace and Favour to all and singular although they have grievously forfeited their Allegiance as shall be well-pleasing and profitable to Our Realm and with which Our faithful Subjects may reasonably hold themselves contented And this we do notifie to all persons concern'd by these Presents Commanding the same to be Proclaimed in all Cities and Towns Villages c. And further We strictly require and command That all and singular as well Free as Bond-men shall without any contradiction murmuring resistance or difficulty do and perform the Works Customs and Services which to us or any other their Lords they ought to do and which before the said Disturbance were used to be done