THE Historie of the REFORMATION of the CHURCH of ENGLAND LONDON Printed for Ric Chiswell Whitehall May 23. 1679. THis Book entituled The History of the Reformation of the Church of ENGLAND having been perused and approved by Persons of eminent Quality and several Divines of great Piety and Learning who have recommended it as a Work very fit to be made publick as well for the Usefulness of the Matter as for the Industry and Integrity the Author hath used in compiling of it the Honourable Mr. SECRETARY COVENTRY doth therefore allow it to be Printed and Published IO. COOKE THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England The First Part OF THE Progress made in it during the Reign OF K. Henry the VIII By GILBERT BVRNET LONDON Printed by T. H. for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXIX TO THE KING SIR THE first step that was made in the Reformation of this Church was the restoring to your Royal Ancestors the Rights of the Crown and an entire Dominion over all their Subjects of which they had been disseised by the craft and violence of an unjust Pretender to whom the Clergy though your Majesties Progenitors had enriched them by a bounty no less profuse than ill-managed did not only adhere but drew with them the Laity over whose Consciences they had gained so absolute an Authority that our Kings were to expect no Obedience from their people but what the Popes were pleased to allow It is true the Nobler part of the Nation did frequently in Parliament assert the Regal Prerogatives against those Papal invasions yet these were but faint endeavours for an ill-executed Law is but an unequal match to a Principle strongly infused into the Consciences of the people But how different was this from the teaching of Christ and his Apostles They forbad men to use all those Arts by which the Papacy grew up and yet subsists They exhorted them to obey Magistrates when they knew it would cost them their Lives They were for setting up a Kingdom not of this World nor to be attained but by a holy and peaceable Religion If this might every-where take place Princes would find Government both easie and secure It would raise in their Subjects the truest courage and unite them with the firmest charity It would draw from them Obedience to the Laws and Reverence to the persons of their Kings If the Standards of Justice and Charity which the Gospel gives of doing as we would be done by and loving our Neighbours as our selves were made the measures of mens actions how steadily would Societies be governed and how exactly would Princes be obeyed The design of the Reformation was to restore Christianity to what it was at first and to purge it of those Corruptions with which it was over-run in the later and darker Ages GREAT SIR This work was carryed on by a slow and unsteady Progress under King Henry the VIII it advanced in a fuller and freer course under the short but blessed Reign of King Edward was Sealed with the blood of many Martyrs under Queen Mary was brought to a full settlement in the happy and glorious days of Queen Elizabeth was defended by the learned Pen of King Iames but the established frame of it under which it had so long flourished was overthrown with your Majesties blessed Father who fell with it and honoured it by his unexempled Suffering for it and was again restored to its former beauty and order by your Majesties happy Return What remains to compleat and perpetuate this Blessing the composing of our differences at home the establishing a closer correspondence with the Reformed Churches abroad the securing us from the restless and wicked practices of that Party who hoped so lately to have been at the end of their designs and that which can only entitle us to a Blessing from God the Reforming of our manners and lives as our Ancestors did our Doctrine and Worship All this is reserved for your Majesty that it may appear that your Royal Title of Defender of the Faith is no empty sound but the real strength and Glory of your Crown For attaining these ends it will be of great use to trace the steps of our first Reformers for if the land-marks they set be observed we can hardly go out of the way This was my chief design in the following sheets which I now most humbly offer to your Majesty hoping that as you were graciously pleased to command that I should have free access to all Records for composing them so you will not deny your Royal Patronage to the History of that Work which God grant your Majesty may live to raise to its perfection and to compleat in your Reign the Glory of all your Titles This is a part of the most earnest as well as the daily Prayers of May it please Your Sacred Majesty Your Majesties most Loyal most Faithful and most devoted Subject and Servant G. BVRNET THE CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME BOOK I. A Summary View of King Henry the Eighths Reign till the Process of his Divorce was begun in which the State of England chiefly as it related to Religion is opened Page 1. BOOK II. Of the Process of Divorce between King Henry and Queen Katherine and of what passed from the 19th to the 25th year of his Reign in which he was declared Supream Head of the Church of England Page 34. BOOK III. Of the other Transactions about Religion and Reformation during the rest of the Reign of King Henry the 8th Page 179. COLLECTION OF RECORDS c. Ad Librum Primum Page 3. Ad Librum Secundum Page 9. Ad Librum Tertium Page 131. An Appendix concerning the Errors and Falsehoods in Sanders's Book of the English Schism Page 273. ADDENDA Page 305. ERRATA in the Historical part PAge 12. Line 6. Margent for 15. read 1st p. 49. l. 19. for chiefly r. clearly p. 54. l. 15. for 10. r. 13. p. 103. l. 32. Abisha r. Abishag p. 109. l. 47. had r. has p. 115. l. 10. having r. had p. 126. l. 9. before officiate r. did p. 151. l. 31. speak r. spake p. 173. l. 31. dele a. p. 186. l. 25. Pachon r. Pachom p. 198. l. 8. co r. to p. 203. l. 41. then r. that p. 205. l. 20. being her last words r. her last words being p. 235. l. 44. that so r. so that p. 239. l. 33. was r. is p. 259. l. 42. As r. All. p. 264. l. 15. down r. out p. 275. l. 5. no r. on p. 283. l. 49. in that r. that in l. 51. the great charges of r. of the great charges p. 284. l. 21. person r. prison p. 327. l. 31. desertion r. discovery p. 333. Marginal Note resentments r. preâ—erments Informers r. Reformers p. 344. l. 22. before he r. that p. 369. l. 5. utrumque r. utcumque Some Literal faults and mistakes in the Punctuation the Reader will more easily Correct THE
the Proceedings in the Kings Bench since there was no justice done and all thought the King seemed more careful to maintain his Prerogative than to do Justice This I have related the more fully because it seems to have had great Influence on peoples minds and to have disposed them much to the Changes that followed afterwards How these things were entred in the Books of Convocation cannot be now known For among the other sad losses sustained in the late burning of London this was one that almost all the Registers of the Spiritual Courts were burnt some few of the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and Bishops of London's Registers being only preserved But having compared Fox his Account of this and some other matters and finding it exactly according to the Registers that are preserved I shall the more confidently build on what he published from those Records that are now lost This was the only thing in the first 18 years of the Kings Reign that seemed to lessen the Greatness of the Clergy but in all other matters he was a most faithful Son of the See of Rome Pope Iulius soon after his coming to the Crown sent him a Golden Rose with a Letter to Arch-Bishop Warham to deliver it and though such Presents might seem fitter for young Children than for men of discretion yet the King was much delighted with it and to shew his Gratitude there was a Treaty concluded the year following between the King and Ferdinand of Arragon for the Defence of the Papacy against the French King And when in opposition to the Council that the French King and some other Princes and Cardinals had called first to Pisa which was afterwards translated to Milan and then to Lions that summoned the Pope to appear before them and suspended his Authority Pope Iulius called another Council to be held in the Lateran the King sent the Bishops of Worcester and Rochester the Prior of St. Iohns and the Abbot of Winchelcomb to sit in that Council in which there was such a Representative of the Catholick Church as had been for several of the latter Ages in the Western Church in which a few Bishops packt out of several Kingdoms and many Italian Bishops with a vast number of Abbots Priors and other Inferiour Digniâ—â—ed Clergy-men were brought to Confirm together whatever the Popes had a mind to Enact which passing easily among them was sent over the world with a stamp of Sacred Authority as the Decrees and Decisions of the Holy Universal Church assembled in a General Council Nor was there a worse understanding between this King and Pope Leo the 10 th that succeeded Iulius who did also complement him with those Papal Presents of Roses and at his desire made Wolsey a Cardinal and above all other things obliged him by conferring on him the Title of Defender of the Faith upon the presenting to the Pope his Book against Luther in a pompous Letter Signed by the Pope and 27 Cardinals in which the King took great pleasure affecting it always beyond all his other Titles though several of the former Kings of England had carried the same Title as Spelman informs us So easie a thing it was for Popes to oblige Princes in those days when a Title or a Rose was thought a sufficient Recompence for the greatest Services The Cardinal Governing all Temporal Affairs as he did it is not to be doubted but his Authority was absolute in Ecclesiastical Matters which seemed naturally to lie within his Province yet Warham made some opposition to him and complained to the King of his encroaching too much in his Legantine Courts upon his Jurisdiction and the things being clearly made out the King chid the Cardinal sharply for it who ever after that hated Warham in his heart yet he proceeded more warily for the future But the Cardinal drew the hatred of the Clergy upon himself chiefly by a Bull which he obtained from Rome giving him Authority to visit all Monasteries and all the Clergy of England and to dispence with all the Laws of the Church for one whole year after the date of the Bull. The power that was lodged in him by this Bull was not more invidious than the words in which it was conceived were offensive for the Preamble of it was full of severe Reflections against the Manners and Ignorance of the Clergy who are said in it to have been delivered over to a Reprobate mind This as it was a publick Deâ—aming them so how true soever it might be all thought it did not become the Cardinal whose Vices were notorious and scandalous to tax others whose faults were neither so great nor so eminent as his were He did also affect a Magnificence and Greatness not only in his Habit being the first Clergy-man in England that wore Silks but in his Family his Train and other pieces of State equal to that of Kings And even in performing Divine Offices and saying Mass he did it with the same Ceremonies that the Popes use who judg themselves so nearly related to God that those humble acts of Adoration which are Devotions in other persons would abase them too much He had not only Bishops and Abbots to serve him but even Dukes and Earls to give him the Water and the Towel He had certainly a vast mind and he saw the corruptions of the Clergy gave so great Scandal and their Ignorance was so profound that unless some effectual ways were taken for correcting these they must needs fall into great disesteem with the People For though he took great liberties himself and perhaps according to the Maxime of the Canonists he judged Cardinals as Princes of the Church were not comprehended within ordinary Ecclesiastical Laws yet he seemed to have designed the Reformation of the Inferiour Clergy by all the means he could think of except the giving them a good Example Therefore he intended to visit all the Monasteries of England that so discovering their corruptions he might the better justifie the design he had to suppress most of them and convert them into Bishopricks Cathedrals Collegiate Churches and Colledges For which end he procured the Bull from Rome but he was diverted from making any use of it by some who advised him rather to suppress Monasteries by the Popes Authority than proceed in a Method which would raise great hatred against himself cast foul aspersions on Religious Orders and give the Enemies of the Church great advantages against it Yet he had communicated his design to the King and his Secretary Cromwell understanding it was thereby instructed how to proceed afterwards when they went about the total suppression of the Monasteries The Summoning of Convocations he assumed by vertue of his Legantine Power Of these there were two sorts the first were called by the King for with the Writs for a Parliament there went out always a Summons to the Two Arch-Bishops for calling a Convocation of
sometimes made by the Emperors and sometimes confirmed by them Pope Hadrian in a Synod decreed that the Emperor should choose the Pope And it was a late and unheard of thing before the dayes of Gregory the 7th for Popes to pretend to depose Princes and give away their Dominions This they compared to the pride of Anti-Christ and Lucifer They also argued from Reason that there must be but one Supream and that the King being Supream over all his Subjects Clergy-men must be included for they are still Subjects Nor can their being in Orders change that former relation founded upon the Law of Nature and Nations no more than Wives or Servants by becoming Christians were not according to the Doctrine of the Apostles discharged from the Duties of their former Relations For the great Objection from those Offices that are peculiar to their Functions It was answered that these notwithstanding the King might well be Supream Head for in the Natural body there were many vital motions that proceeded not from the Head but from the Heart and the other inward parts and vessels and yet the Head was still the chief seat and root of Life So though there be peculiar functions appropriated to Church-men yet the King is still Head having Authority over them and a Power to direct and coerce them in these From that they proceeded to show that in England the Kings have allwayes assumed a Supremacy in Ecclesiastical matters They began with the most Ancient Writing that relates to the Christian Religion in England then extant Pope Elentherius Letter to King Lucius in which he is twice called by him Gods Vicar in his Kingdom and he writ in it that it belong'd to his Office to bring his Subjects to the Holy Church and to maintain protect and govern them in it Many Laws were cited which Canutus Ethelred Edgar Edmond Athelstan and Ina had Enacted concerning Church-men many more Laws since the Conquest were also made both against appeals to Rome and Bishops going out of the Kingdom without the Kings leave The whole business of the Articles of Clarendon and the Contests that followed between King Henry the 2d and Thomas Becket were also opened And though a Bishops Pastoral care be of Divine Institution yet as the Kings of England had divided Bishopricks as they pleased so they also converted Benefices from the Institution of the Founders and gave them to Cloisters and Monasteries as King Edgar did all which was done by the Consent of their Clergy and Nobility without dependance on Rome They had also granted these Houses Exemption from Episcopal Jurisdiction so Ina exempted Glastenbury and Offa St. Albans from their Bishops visitation and this continued even till the dayes of William the Conqueror for he to perpetuate the Memory of the Victory he obtained over Harald and to endear himself to the Clergy founded an Abbey in the Field where the Battel was fought and called it Battel-Abbey and in the Charter he granted them these words are to be found It shall be also free and quiet for ever from all subjection to Bishops or the Dominion of any other persons as Christs Church in Canterbury is Many other things were brought out of King Alfreds Laws and a speech of King Edgars with several Letters written to the Popes from the Kings the Parliaments and the Clergy of England to show that their Kings did always make Laws about Sacred matters and that their Power reach't to that and to the persons of Church-men as well as to their other Subjects But at the same time that they pleaded so much for the Kings Supremacy and Power of making Laws for restraining and Coercing his Subjects it appeared that they were far from vesting him with such an absolute Power as the Popes had pretended to for they thus defined the extent of the Kings Power To them specially and principally it pertaineth to defend the Faith of Christ and his Religion to conserve and maintain the true Doctrine of Christ and all such as be true Preachers and setters forth thereof and to abolish Abuses Heresies and Idolatries and to punish with corporal pains such as of malice be the occasion of the same And finally to oversee and cause that the said Bishops and Priests do execute their pastoral office truly and faithfully and specially in these points which by Christ and his Apostles was given and Committed to them and in case they shall be negligent in any part thereof or would not diligently execute the same to cause them to redouble and supply their lack and if they obstinately withstand their Princes kind monition and will not amend their faults then and in such case to put others in their rooms and places And God hath also commanded the said Bishops and Priests to obey with all humbleness and Reverence both Kings and Princes and Governors and all their Laws not being contrary to the Laws of God whatsoever they be and that not only propter Iram but also propter Conscientiam that is to say not only for fear of punishment but also for Discharge of Conscience Thus it appears that they both limited obedience to the Kings Laws with the due Caution of their not being contrary to the Law of God and acknowledged the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the discharge of the Pastoral Office committed to the Pastors of the Church by Christ and his Apostles and that the Supremacy then pretended to was no such Extravagant Power as some imagine Upon the whole matter it was Concluded that the Popes Power in England had no good Foundation and had been managed with as much Tyranny as it had begun with Usurpation the Exactions of their Courts were every-where heavy but in no place so intolerable as in England and though many complaints were made of them in these last 300 years yet they got no ease and all the Laws about Provisors were still defeated and made ineffectual Therefore they saw it was impossible to moderate their proceedings so that there was no other Remedy but to extirpate their pretended Authority and thenceforth to acknowledge the Pope only Bishop of Rome with the jurisdiction about it defined by the Ancient Canons and for the King to re-assume his own Authority and the Prerogatives of his Crown from which the Kings of England had never formally departed though they had for this last Hundred years connived at an Invasion and Usurpation upon them which was no longer to be endured These were the Grounds of casting off the Pope's Power that had been for two or three years studied and enquired into by all the Learned men in England and had been debated both in Convocation and Parliament and except Fisher Bishop of Rochester I do not find that any Bishop appeared for the Popes Power and for the Abbots and Priors as they were generally very ignorant so what the Cardinal had done in suppressing some Monasteries and what they now heard that the
it there was no reason to apprehend any opposition from the Temporal Lords The Session was now near an end so they made haste and read it twice that day and the third time the next day and passed it The Contents of it were The Clergy acknowledged that all Convocations had been and ought to be assembled by the Kings Writ and promised in verbo Sacerdotii that they would never make nor execute any new Canons or Constitutions without the Royal assent to them and since many Canons had been received that were found prejudicial to the Kings Prerogative contrary to the Laws of the Land and heavy to the Subjects That therefore there should be a Committee of thirty two Persons sixteen of the two Houses of Parliament and as many of the Clergy to be named by the King who should have full power to abrogate or confirm Canons as they found it expedient the Kings assent being obtained This was confirmed by Act of Parliament and by the same Act all appeals to Rome were again condemned If any party found themselves agrieved in the Arch-Bishops Courts an appeal might be made to the King in the Court of Chancery and the Lord-Chancellor was to grant a Commission under the Great-Seal for some Delegates in whose determination all must acquiesce All exempted Abbots were also to appeal to the King and it concluded with a Proviso that till such Correction of the Canons was made all those which were then received should still remain in force except such as were contrary to the Laws and Customs of the Realms or were to the damage or hurt of the Kings Prerogative This Proviso seemed to have a fair colour that there might still be some Canons in force to govern the Church by but since there was no day prefixed to the Determination of the Commission this Proviso made that the Act never took effect for now it lay in the Prerogative and in the Judges breast to declare what Canons were contrary to the Laws or the Rights of the Crown and it was judged more for the Kings Greatness to keep the matter undetermined than to make such a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws as should be fixed and unmoveable The last of the publick Acts of this Session that related to the Church was about the Election and Consecration of Bishops On the 4th of February the Commons sent up a Bill to the Lords about the Consecration of Bishops it lay on the Table till the 27th of February and was then cast out and a new one drawn On what reason it was cast out is not mentioned and the Journal does not so much as say that it was once read The new Bill had its second reading the 3d of March and on the 5th it was ordered to be Engross'd and on the 9th it was read the third time and agreed to and sent down to the Commons who returned it to the Lords on the 16th of March. The first part of it is a confirmation of their former Act against Annates to which they added that Bishops should not be any more presented to the Bishop of Rome or sue out any Bulls there but that all Bishops should be presented to the Arch-Bishop and Arch-Bishops to any Arch-Bishop in the Kings Dominions or to any four Bishops whom the King should name and that when any See was vacant the King was to grant a Licence for a new Election with a Letter missive bearing the name of the Person that was to be chosen and twelve days after these were delivered an Election was to be returned by the Dean and Chapter or Prior and Convent under their Seals Then the Person Elected was to swear Fealty to the King upon which a Commission was to be issued out for Consecrating and Investing him with the usual Ceremonies after which he was to do Homage to the King and be restored both to the Spiritualities and Temporalities of his See for which the King granted Commissions during the vacancy and whosoever refused to obey the Contents of the Act or acted contrary to it were declared within the Statute of Premunire There passed a private Act for depriving the Bishops of Salisbury and Worcester who were Cardinal Campegio and Ierome de Ghinuccii the former deserved greatter severities at the Kings hand but the latter seems to have served him faithfully and was recommended both by the King and the French King about a year before to a Cardinals Hat The Preamble of the Act bears that persons promoted to Ecclesiastical Benefices ought to reside within the Kingdom for preaching the Laws of Almighty God and for keeping Hospitality and since these Prelates did not that but lived at the Court of Rome and neglected their Diocesses and made the Revenues of them be carried out of the Kingdoms contrary to the intentions of the Founders and to the prejudice of the Realm 3000 l. being at least carried yearly out of the Kingdom therefore their Diocesses were declared vacant But now I come to the Act of the Attainder of Elizabeth Barton and her Complices which I shall open fully since it was the first step that was made to Rebellion and the first occasion of putting any to death upon this quarrel and from it one will clearly see the Genius of that part of the Clergy that adhered to the Interests of the Court of Rome On the 21th of February the Bill was sent up to the Lords and read the first time on the 26th it was read the second time and committed then the Witnesses and other Evidences were brought before them but chiefly she with all her Complices who confessed the Crimes charged on her It was reported and read the 6th of March the third time and then the Lords addressed to the King to know his pleasure whether Sir Thomas More and others mentioned in the Act as Complices or at least Concealers might not be heard to speak for themselves in the Star-Chamber As for the Bishop of Rochester he was sick but he had written to the House all that he had to say for his own excuse What presumptions lay against Sir Thomas More I have not been able to find out only that he wrote a Letter to the Nun at which the King took great exceptions yet it appears he had a mean opinion of her for in discourse with his beloved Daughter Mistress Roper he called her commonly the silly Nun. But for justifying himself he wrote a full account of all the entercourse he had with the Nun and her Complices to Cromwell but tho by his other printed Letters both to Cromwell and the King it seems some ill impressions remained in the Kings mind about it he still continued to justifie not only his intentions but his actions in that particular One thing is not unworthy of observation that Rastall who published his Works in Queen Maries time printed the second Letter he wrote to Cromwell yet did not publish that account which
to which it related which was also shewed him having considered of them he said he would neither blame these that made the Act nor those that Swore the Oath but for his part though he was willing to Swear to the Succession if he might be suffered to draw an Oath concerning it yet for the Oath that was offered him his Conscience so moved him that he could not without hazarding his Soul take it Upon this the Lord Chancellour told him that he was the first who had refused to Swear it and that the King would be highly offended with him for denying it and so he was desired to withdraw and consider better of it Several others were called upon and did all take the Oath except the Bishop of Rochester who answered upon the matter as More had done When the Lords had dispatched all the rest More was again brought before them they shewed him how many had taken it he answered he judged no man for doing it only he could not do it himself Then they asked the reasons why he refused it He answered he feared it might provoke the King more against him if he should offer reasons which would be called a disputing against Law but when he was further pressed to give his reasons he said if the King would command him to do it he would put them in Writing The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury urged him with this Argument that since he said he blamed no other person for taking it it seemed he was not perswaded it was a Sin but was doubtful in the matter but he did certainly know he ought to obey the King and the Law so there was a certainty on the one hand and only a doubt on the other therefore he was obliged to do that about which he was certain notwithstanding these his doubtings This did shake him a little especially as himself writes coming out of so Noble a Prelates mouth but he answered that though he had examined the matter very carefully yet his Conscience leaned positively to the other side and he offered to purge himself by his Oath that it was purely out of a Principle of Conscience and out of no light Fantasie or Obstinacy that he thus refused it The Abbot of Westminster pressed him that however the matter appeared to him he might see his Conscience was Erroneous since the great Council of the Realm was of another mind and therefore he ought to change his Conscience A Reasoning very fit for so rich an Abbot which discovers of what temper his Conscience was But to this More answered that if he were alone against the whole Parliament he had reason to suspect his own understanding but he thought he had the whole Council of Christendome on his side as well as the great Council of England was against him Secretary Cromwell who as More writes tenderly favoured him seeing his ruin was now inevitable was much affected at it and protested with an Oath he had rather his own only Son had lost his head than that he should have refused the Oath Thus both he and the Bishop of Rochester refused it but both offered to Swear another Oath for the Succession of the Crown to the issue of the Kings present Marriage because that was in the Power of the Parliament to determine it Cranmer who was a moderate and wise man and foresaw well the ill effects that would follow on contending so much with persons so highly esteemed over the World and of such a temper that severity would bend them to nothing did by an earnest Letter to Cromwell dated the 27th of April move that what they offered might be accepted for if they once Swore to the Succession it would quiet the Kingdom for they acknowledging it all other persons would acquiesce and submit to their Judgments But this sage advice was not accepted The King was much irritated against them and resolved to proceed with them according to Law and therefore they were both indicted upon the Statute and Committed Prisoners to the Tower And it being apprehended that if they had Books and Paper given them they would write against the Kings Marriage or his Supremacy these were denyed them The Old Bishop was hardly used his Bishoprick was seized on and all his goods taken from him only some old rags were left to cover him and he was neither supplyed well in diet nor other necessaries of which he made sad complaints to Cromwell But the remander of this Tragical business which left one of the greatest blots on this Kings proceedings falling within the limits of the next Book I haste on to the Conclusion of this The Separation from Rome was made in the former Session of Parliament but the Kings Supremacy was not yet fully setled This was reserved for the next Session that sate in November from the 3d of that month to the 18th of December about which we can have no light from the Journals they being lost The first Act Confirmed what had been already acknowledged by the Clergy that the King was the Supream Head in Earth of the Church of England which was to be annexed to his other Titles it was also enacted that the King and his heirs and Successors should have Power to visit and reform all Heresies Errors and other Abuses which in the Spiritual jurisdiction ought to be reform'd By the Second Act they Confirmed the Oath about the Succession concerning which some doubts had been made because there was no Oath specified in the former Act though both Houses had taken it it was now Enacted that all the Subjects were obliged to take it when offered to them under the pains contained in the Act pass'd in the former Session By the Third Act the first Fruits and Tenths of all Ecclesiastical Benefices were given to the King as the Supream Head of the Church The Clergy were easily prevailed on to consent to the putting down of the Annates pay'd to the Court of Rome for all men readily concur to take off any Imposition but at that time it had perhaps abated much of their heartiness if they had imagined that these duties should have been still payed therefore that was kept up till they had done all that was to be done against Rome And now as the Commons and the Secular Lords would no doubt easily agree to lay a taxe on the Clergy so the others having no forreign support were not in a condition to wrestle against it In the Thirteenth Act among other things that were made Treason one was the denying the King the Dignity Title or name of his Estate Royal or the calling the King Heretick Schismatick Tyrant Infidel or Usurper of the Crown This was done to restrain the Insolencies of some Friars and all such offenders were to be denyed the Priviledge of Sanctuaries By the Fourteenth Act provision was made for Suffragan Bishops which as is said had been accustomed to be had within this Realm for the
the fault was in her humor or in the Provocations she met with the Reader may conjecture The King received the news of her death with some regrett But he would not give leave to bury her as she had ordered but made her body be laid in the Abbey Church of Peterborough which he afterwards Converted to an Episcopal Cathedral But Queen Anne did not carry her death so decently for she express'd too much joy at it both in her Carriage and dress On the 4th of February the Parliament sate upon a Prorogation of 14th Months for in the Record there is no mention of any intermedial Prorogation where a great many Laws relating to Civil concerns were passed By the 15th Act the Power that had been given by a former Act to the King for naming thirty two Persons to make a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws was again confirmed for nothing had been done upon the former Act. But there was no limitation of time in this Act and so there was nothing done in pursuance of it The great business of this Session of Parliament was the suppressing the lesser Monasteries How this went thorough the two Houses we cannot know from the Journals for they are lost But all the Historians of that time tell us that the report which the Visitors made to the King was read in Parliament which represented the manners of these Houses so odiously that the Act was easily carried The Preamble bears That small Religious Houses under the number of twelve Persons had been long and notoriously guilty of vicious and abominable Living and did much consume and waste their Churches Lands and other things belonging to them and that for above two hundred years there had been many Visitations for reforming these Abuses but with no success their vicious living encreasing daily So that except small Houses were dissolved and the Religious put into greater Monasteries there could no Reformation be expected in that matter Whereupon the King having received a full information of these Abuses both by his Visitors and other credible ways and considering that there were divers great Monasteries in which Religion was well kept and observed which had not the full number in them that they might and ought to receive had made a full Declaration of the Premisses in Parliament Whereupon it was Enacted That all Houses which might spend yearly 200 l. or within it should be suppressed and their Revenues converted to better uses and they compelled to reform their Lives The Lord Herbert thinks it strange that the Statute in the printed Book has no Preamble but begins bluntly Fuller tell us that he wonders that Lord did not see the Record and he sets down the Preamble and says The rest follow as in the printed Statute Chap. 27th by a mistake for the 28th This shews that neither the one nor the other ever look'd on the Record For there is a particular Statute of Dissolution distinct from the 28th Chap. And the Preamble which Fuller sets down belongs not to the 28th Chapter as he says but to the 18th Chapter which was never printed and the 28th relates in the Preamble to that other Statute which had given these Monasteries to the King The reasons that were pretended for dissolving these Houses were That whereas there was but a small number of persons in them they entred into Confederacies together and their Poverty set them on to use many ill arts to grow Rich. They were also much abroad and kept no manner of Discipline in their Houses But those Houses were generally much richer than they seemed to be For the Abbots raising great Fines out of them held the Leases still low and by that means they were not obliged to entertain a greater number in their House and so enriched themselves and their Brethren by the Fines that were raised For many Houses then rented at two hundred pounds were worth many thousands as will appear to any that compares what they were then valued at which is Collected by Speed with what their Estates are truely worth When this was passing in Parliament Stokeslâ—y Bishop of London said These lesser Houses were as Thorns soon pluck't up but the great Abbots were like putrified old Oaks yet they must needs follow and so would others do in Christendom before many years were passed By another Act all these Houses their Churches Lands and all their Goods were given to the King and his Heirs and Successors together with all other Houses which within a year before the making of the Act had been dissolved or suppressed And for the gathering the Revenues that belonged to them a new Court was Erected called the Court of the Augmentations of the Kings Revenue which was to consist of a Chancellor a Treasurer an Attourney and Sollicitor and ten Auditors seventeen Receivers a Clerk an Usher and a Messenger This Court was to bring in the Revenues of such Houses as were now dissolved excepting only such as the King by his Letters-Patents continued in their former state appointing a Seal for the Court with full Power and Authority to dispose of these Lands so as might be most for the Kings Service Thus â—ell the lesser Abbeys to the number of 376 and soon after this Parliament which had done the King such eminent Service and had now sate six years was dissolved on the 14th of April In the Convocation a motion was made of great consequence That there should be a Translation of the Bible in English to be set up in all the Churches of England The Clergy when they procured Tindalls Translation to be condemned and suppressed it gave out that they intended to make a Translation into the Vulgar-Tongue Yet it was afterwards upon a long Consultation Resolved that it was free for the Church to give the Bible in a Vulgar-Tongue or not as they pleased and that the King was not obliged to it and that at that time it was not at all expedient to do it Upon which those that promoted the Reformation made great complaints and said it was visible the Clergy knew there was an opposition between the Scriptures and their Doctrine That they had first condemned Wickliffs Translation and then Tindalls and though they ought to teach men the Word of God yet they did all they could to suppress it In the times of the Old Testament the Scriptures were writ in the Vulgar-Tongue and all were charged to read and remember the Law The Apostles wrote in Greek which was then the most common Language in the World Christ did also appeal to the Scriptures and sent the people to them And by what St. Paul says of Timothy it appears that children were then early trained up in that study In the Primitive Church as Nations were converted to the Faith the Bible was Translated into their Tongue The Latine Translation was very Ancient the Bible was afterwards put into the Scythian Dalmatian and Gothick Tongues It continued thus for
recovered the Lands which their Ancestors had superstitiously given away and the Surrenders which Religious persons made to the Crown could not have cut off their Title But this Act did that effectually It is true many of the greatest of them were of Royal Foundation and these would have returned to the Crown without Dispute On the 23 of May in this Session of Parliament a Bill was brought in by Cromwel for giving the King Power to Erect new Bishopricks by his Letters Patents It was read that day for the first second and third time and sent down to the Commons The Preamble of it was That it was known what slothful and ungodly Life had been led by those who were called Religious But that these Houses might be converted to better uses that Gods word might be better set forth Children brought up in Learning Clarks nourished in the Universities and that old decayed Servants might have Livings poor people might have Alms-Houses to maintain them Readers of Greek Hebrew and Latine might have good Stipend daily Alms might be Ministred and Allowance might be made for mending of the high-ways and Exhibition for Ministers of the Church for these ends if the King thought fit to have more Bishopricks or Cathedral Churches erected out of the Reat of these Houses full Power was given to him to erect and found them and to make Rules and Statutes for them and such Translations of Sees or divisions of them as he thought fit But on this Act I must adde a singular Remark The Preamble and material parts of it were drawn by the King himself and the first draught of it under his hand is yet extant which shows his extraordinary application and understanding of business But in the same Paper there is a List of the Sees which he intended to found of which what was done afterwards came so far short that I know nothing to which it can be so reasonably imputed as the declining of Cranmers Interest at Court who had proposed the Erecting of new Cathedrals and Sees with other things mentioned in the Preamble of the Statute as a great mean for Reforming the Church The Sees which the King then designed with the Abbies out of which they were to be Erected follow as it is in the Paper under the Kings own hand Essex Waltham Hartford St. Albans Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire Dunstable Newenham Clowstown Oxford and Berkshire Osnay and Tame Northampton and Huntington Peterborough Middlesex Westminster Leicester and Rutland Leicester Glocestershire St. Peters Lancashire Fountaines and the Arch-deaconry of Richmond Suffolk Edmonds-bury Stafford and Salop. Shrewsbury Nottingham and Derby Welbeck Werksop Thurgarton Cornwall Lanceston Bedmynne Wardreth Over these is written The Bishopricks to be made In another corner of the Page he writes as follows Christ's Church in Canterbury St. Swithins Ely Duresm Rochester with a part of Leeds Worcester and all others having the same Then a little below Places to be altered into Colledges and Schools Burton super Trent More is not written in that Paper But I wonder much that in this List Chester was forgotten Yet it was Erected before any of them For I have seen a Commission under the Privy Seal to the Bishop of Chester to take the Surrender of the Monastery of Hamond in Shropshire bearing date the 24th of August this year So it seems the See of Chester was Erected and endowed before the Act passed though there is among the Rolls a Charter for Endowing and founding of it afterwards Bristow is not mentioned in this Paper though a See was afterwards Erected there It was not before the end of the next year that these Sees were founded and there was in that Interval so great a Change made both of the Counsels and Ministers that no wonder the things now designed were never accomplished Another Act passed in this Parliament concerning the obedience due to the Kings Proclamations There had been great exceptions made to the Legality of the Kings proceedings in the Articles about Religion and other Injunctions published by his authority which were complained of as contrary to Law since by these the King had without consent of Parliament altered some Laws and had laid Taxes on his Spiritual Subjects Upon which an Act passed which sets forth in the preamble the contempt and disobedience of the Kings Proclamations by some who did not consider what a King by his Royal power might do which if it continued would tend to the disobedience of the Laws of God and the dishonour of the Kings Majesty who may full ill bear it Considering also that many occasions might require speedy Remedies and that delaying these till a Parliament met might occasion great prejudices to the Realm and that the King by his Royal power given of God might do many things in such cases Therefore it is Enacted That the King for the time being with advice of his Council might set forth Proclamations with pains and penalties in them which were to be obeyed as if they were made by an Act of Parliament But this was not to be so extended that any of the Kings Subjects should suffer in their Estates Liberties or Persons by vertue of it Nor that by any of the Kings Proclamations Laws or Customs were to be broken and subverted Then follow some Clauses about the publishing of Proclamations and the way of prosecuting those who contemned and disobeyed them It is also added That if any offended against them and in further contempt went out of the Realm he was to be adjudged a Traitor This also gave power to the Counsellours of the Kings Successor if he were under age to set forth Proclamations in his name which were to be obeyed in the same manner with these set forth by the King himself This Act gave great power to the Judges since there were such Restrictions in some branches of it which seemed to lessen the great extent of the other parts of it so that the Expositors of the Law had much referred to them upon this Act were the great changes of Religion in the Non-age of Edward the 6th grounded There is another Act which but collaterally belongs to Ecclesiastical affairs and therefore shall be but slightly touched It is the Act of the Precedency of the Officers of State by which the Lord Vice-gerent has the Precedence of all persons in the Kingdom next the Royal Family and on this I must make one Remark which may seem very improper for one of my profession especially when it is an animadversion on one of the greatest men that any age has produced the most Learned Mr. Selden He in his Titles of Honour sayes That this Statute was never printed in the Statute-Book and but incorrectly by another and that therefore he infers it Literally as is in the Record In which there are two mistakes For it is Printed in the Statute-Book that was set down in that Kings Reign though left out in some latter Statute-Books
to effect any other way they advised the King to beware of such Counsels They also proposed that there might be a Conference agreed on between such Divines as the King would name and such as they should depute to meet either in Gueldres Hamburgh Bremen or any other place that should be appointed by the King to examine the Lawfulness of private Masses of denying the Chalice and the Prohibiting the Marriage of the Clergy On these things they continued treating till the Divorce of Anne of Cleve and Cromwells fall after which I find little Correspondence between the King and them Ad Page 256. line 4. When I mentioned the Kings Letters directing the Bishops how to proceed in a Reformation I had not seen them but I have since seen an Original of them subscribed by the Kings hand In these he challenged the Clergy as guilty of great Indiscretions that the late Rebellion had been occasioned by them therefore he required the Bishops to take care that the Articles formerly published should be exactly obeyed and to go over their Dioceses in person and preach Obedience to the Laws and the good ends of those Ceremonies that were then retained that the people might neither despise them nor put too much trust in them and to silence all disputes and contentions concerning things indifferent and to signifie to the Kings Council if there were any Priests in their Diocesses that were Marryed and yet did discharge any part of the Priestly Office All which will be better understood by the Letter it self that I have put into the Collection Ad Page 258. line 8. I do there acknowledg that I knew not what Arguments were used against the necessity of Auricular Confession But I have made since that time a Considerable discovery in this particular from an Original Letter written all with the Kings own hand to Tonstal by which it appears there had been conferences in the House and that the Arch-Bishop of York the Bishop of Winchester and Duresm had pleaded much for it as necessary by a Divine Institution and that both the King and the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had maintained that though it was good and profitable yet it was not necessary by any precept of the Gospel and that though the Bishops brought several texts out of Scripture and Ancient Doctors yet these were so clearly answered by the King and the Arch-Bishop that the whole House was satisfied with it Yet Tonstall drew up in a writing all the reasons he had made use of in that debate and brought them to the King which will be found in the Collection with the Anotations and reflections which the King wrote on the Margent with his own hand taken from the Original together with the Kings Letter written in answer to them By this it will appear that the King did set himself much to study points of Divinity and examined matters with a scrupulous exactness The issue of the debate was that though the Popish party endeavoured to have got Auricular Confession declared to be Commanded by Christ as a part of the Sacrament of Pennance yet the King overruled that so it was enacted that Auricular Confession was necessary and expedient to be retained in the Church of God These debates were in the House of Lords which appears not only by the Kings Letter that speaks of the House but by the Act of Parliament in the Preamble of which it is said that the King had come himself to the Parliament and had opened several points of high Learning to them Ad Page 262. line 23. There I mention the Kings diligence in drawing an Act of Parliament with his own hand but since that was Printed I have seen many other Acts and Papers if not Originally Penned by the King yet so much altered by his Corrections that in some sort they may be esteemed his draughts There are two draughts of the Act of the six Articles both corrected in many places by the King and in some of these the Correction is three lines long There is another Act concerning Precontracts of Marriage likewise Corrected very much by his Pen. Many draughts of Proclamations particularly these about the use of the Bible in English are yet extant interlined and altered with his Pen. There is a large Paper written by Tonstall of arguments for Purgatory with Copious Animadversions on it likewise written by the King which shew that then he did not believe there was a Purgatory I have also seen the draught of that part of the Necessary Erudition for a Christian man which explains the Creed full of Corrections with the Kings own Pen as also the Queries concerning the Sacraments mentioned page 289. with large Annotations written with his hand on the Margent likewise an Extract all written with his own hand of passages out of the Fathers against the Marriage of the Clergy and to conclude there is a Paper with which the Collection ends containing the true Notion of the Catholick Church which has large Emendations added with the Kings hand those I have set by themselves on the Margent of the Paper A TABLE OF THE CONTENTS OF THE HISTORY BOOK I. A Summary View of King Henry the Eighth's Reign till the Process of his Divorce was begun in which the State of England chiefly as it related to Religion is opened KING Henry's Succession to the Crown pag. 1 He proceeds against Dudley and Empson ibid He holds a Parliament p. 2 His great Expence ibid Affairs beyond Sea p. 3 A Peace and Match with France ibid He offers his Daughter to the Dolphin ibid The King of Spain chosen Emperor ib He comes to England p. 4 A second War with France ibid Vpon Leo the 10th's death Hadrian chosen Pope ibid He dies and Clement the 7th succeeds ib Charles the 5th at Windsor contracted to the Kings Daughter p. 5 But breaks his Faith ibid The Clementine League ibid Rome taken and sackt p. 6 The Pope is made a Prisoner ibid. The Kings success against Scotland ibid. A Facâ—ion in his Counsels p. 7 Cardinal Wolseys rising ibid. His Preferments p. 8 The Character of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk p. 9 Cardinal Wolsey against Parliaments p. 10 The Kings breeding in Learning ibid. He is flattered by Scollars p. 11 The Kings Prerogative in Ecclesiastical affairs ibid. It was still kept up by him p. 12 A Contest concerning Immunities ibid. A Publick debate about them p. 13. Hunne Murdered in Prison p. 14 The Proceedings upon that p. 15 The King much courted by Popes p. 18 And declared Defender of the Faith p. 19 The Cardinal absolute in England ibid. He designed to Reform the Clergy ibid. And to Suppress Monasteries p. 20 The several kinds of Convocations ibid. The Clergy grant a Subsidy to the King p. 21 Of the State of Monasteries ibid. The Cardinal founds two Colledges p. 22 The first beginning of Reformation in England p. 23 The Cruelties of the Church of Rome ibid.
The Laws made in England against Hereticks p. 25. Vnder Richard the 2d ibid. Vnder Henry the 4th ibid. And Henry the 5th p. 26 Heresie declared by the Kings Iudges p. 27 Warhams proceeding against Hereticks ib. The Bishop of London's proceedings against them p. 29 The Progress of Luthers Doctrine p. 30 His Books were Translated into English p. 31 The King wrote against him ibid. He replyed ibid. Endeavours to suppress the New Testament p. 32 Sir Thomas More writes against Luther ibid. Bilney and others proceeded against for Heresie ibid. BOOK II. Of the Process of Divorce between King Henry and Queen Katherine and of what passed from the 19th to the 25th year of his Reign in which he was declared Supream Head of the Church of England THe beginning of the Sute of Divorce p. 34 Prince Arthur Marryed the Infanta ibid. And died soon after p. 35 A Marriage proposed between Henry and her ibid. It is allowed by the Pope ibid. Henry Protested against it p. 36 His Father disswaded it ibid. Being come to the Crown he Marries her ibid. Shâ— bore some Children but only the Lady Mary lived ibid. Several Matches proposed for her p. 37 The Kings Marriage is questioned by Forreigners ibid. Anno 1527. He himself has Scruples concerning it ib. The Grounds of these p. 38 All his Bishops except Fisher condemn it ibid. The reasons of State against it p. 39. Wolsey goes into France ibid. The Kings fears and hopes ibid. Arguments against the Bull p. 40 Calumnies cast on Anne Boleyn p. 41 They are false and ill-contrived p. 42 Her Birth and Education p. 43 She was contrâ—cted to the Lord Piercy p. 44 The Divorce moved for at Rome ibid. The first Dispatch concerning it ibid. Anno 1528. The Pope granted it p. 47 And gave a Bull of dispensation p. 48 The Popes craft and policy ibid. A subtile method proposed by the Pope p. 49 Staphileus sent from England p. 50 The Cardinals Letters to the Pope p. 57 A fuller Bull is desired by the King ibid. Gardiner and Fox are sent to Rome p. 52 The Bull desired by them ibid. Wolsey's earnestness to procure it p. 53 Campegio declared Legate p. 54 He delaies his Iourney ibid. The Pope grants the Decretal Bull p. 55 Two Letters from Anne Boleyn to Wolsey ibid. Wolsey desires the Bull may be seen by some of the Kings Council p. 56 The Emperor opposes the Kings business p. 57 A Breve is found in Spain ibid. It was thought to be forged ibid. Campegio comes to England p. 58 And lets the King see the Bull ibid. But refuses to shew it to others ibid. Wolsey moves the Pope that some might see it ibid. But in vain p. 59 Campana is sent by the Pope to Engl. p. 60 The King offers the Pope a Guard ibid. The Pope inclines to the Emperor ibid. Threatnings used to him p. 61 Anno 1529. HE repents the sending over a Bull ibid. But feeds the King with Promises p. 62 The Popes sickness p. 63 Wolsey aspires to the Papacy Ibid. Instructions for promoting him p. 64 New motions for the Divorce p. 65 The Pope Relapses dangerously ibid. A new Dispatch to Rome p. 66 Wolseys Bulls for the Bishoprick of Winton p. 67 The Emperor Protests against the Legates ib. Yet the Pope promises not to recal it ibid. The Legates write to the Pope p. 68 Campegio led an ill life p. 69 The Emperor moves for an Avocation ibid. The Popes Dissimulation p. 70 Great contests about the Avocation ibid. The Legates begin the Process p. 72 A severe charge against the Queen ibid. The King and Queen appear in Court ibid. The Queens speech p. 73. The King declares his scruples ibid. The Queen Appeals to the Pope p. 74 Articles framed and witnesses examined ib. An Avocation prest at Rome ibid. The Pope joyns with the Emperor p. 75 Yet is in great perplexities ibid. The Avocation is granted p. 76 The Proceedings of the Legates ibid. Campegio adjourns the Court p. 77 Which gave great offence ibid. Wolseys danger ibid. Anne Boleyn returns to Court p. 78 Cranmers Opinion about the Divorce p. 79 Approved by the King p. 80 Cardinal Wolsey's fall ibid. The meanness of his temper p. 81 He is Attached of Treason ibid. He dies his Character p. 82. A Parliament called ibid. Complaints against the Clergy p. 83 The Kings debts are discharged ibid. The Pope and the Emperor unite p. 84 The Womens peace ibid. Anno 1530. The Emperor is Crowned at Bononia ib. The Vniversities consulted in the Kings sute of Divorce p. 85 The answers from Oxford and Cambridge p. 86. D. Crook Imployed in Venice p. 87 Many in Italy wrote for the Divorce p. 88 It was opposed by the Pope and the Emperor p. 89 No Money given by the Kings Agents ibid. Great Rewards given by the Emperor p. 90 It is determined for the King at Bononia Padua Ferrara and Orleance p. 91 At Paris Bourges and Tholose p. 92 The Opinions of some Reformers ibid. And of the Lutherans p. 94 The King will not appear at Rome ibid. Cranmer offers to defend the Divorce p. 95 The Clergy Nobility and Gentry write to the Pope for the Divorce ibid. The Popes answer to them p. 96 A Proclamation against Bulls ibid. Books written for the Divorce p. 97 Reasons out of the Old and New Testament ibid. The Authorities of Popes and Councils p. 98 And the Greek and Latine Fathers p. 99 And Canonists p. 100 Marriage is Compleat by Consent ibid. Violent Presumptions of the Consummation of the former Marriage ibid. The Popes Dispensation of no force p. 101. Bishops are not to obey his Decrees p. 102 The Authority of Tradition ibid. The Reasons against the Divorce p. 103 Answers made to these p. 104 The Queen is intractable p. 105 Anno 1531. A Session of Parliament ibid. The Clergy found in a Premunire p. 106 The Prerogatives of the Kings of England in Ecclesiastical affairs ibid. The Encroachments of Popes ibid. Statutes made against them p. 107 The Popes endeavoured to have those repealed p. 109 But with no effect p. 111 The Clergy excused themselves p. 112 Yet they submit and acknowledg the King Supream Head of the Church ibid. The King Pardons them p. 113 And with some difficulty the Laity ibid. One Attainted for Poysoning ibid. The King leaves the Queen p. 114 A disorder among the Clergy ibid. The Pope turns to the French p. 115 And offers his Niece to the Duke of Orleance ibid. The Turk invades the Empire p. 116 Anno 1532. THe Parliament complains of the Spiritual Courts ibid. They reject a Bill concerning Wards p. 117 An Act against Annates ibid. The Pope writes to the King p. 118 The Kings answer ibid. Sir Edward Car sent to Rome p. 119 His Negotiation there p. 120 He corrupts the Cardinal of Ravenna ibid. The Process against the King at Rome p. 121 A Bull for new Bishopricks ibid. The Pope desires
the King would submit to him p. 122 A new Session of Parliament ibid. A Subsidy is voted p. 123 The Oaths the Clergy swore to the Pope and to the King ibid. Chancellor More delivers up his Office p. 124 The King meets with the French King ibid. Eliot sent to Rome p. 125 The King Marries Anne Boleyn p. 126 New Overtures for the Divorce ibid. Anno 1533. A Session of Parliament ibid. An Act against Appeals to Rome ibid. Arch-Bishop Warham dies p. 127 Cranmer succeeds him ibid. His Bulls from Rome p. 128 His Consecration ibid. The Iudgment of the Convocation concerning the Divorce p. 129 Endeavours to make the Queen Submit p. 130 But in vain ibid. Cranmer gives Iudgment p. 131 Censures that pass upon it ibid. The Pope united to the French King p. 133 A Sentence against the Kings proceedings ibid. Queen Elizabeth is born p. 134 An Enterview between the Pope and the French King ibid. The King submits to the Pope ibid. The Imperialists oppose the agreement p. 135 And procure a definitive Sentence p. 136 The King resolves to abolish the Popes Power in England ibid. It was long disputed ibid. Arguments against it from Scripture p. 137 And the Primitive Church p. 138 Arguments for the Kings Supremacy p. 140 From Scripture and the Laws of England p. 141 The Supremacy explained p. 142 Pains taken to satisfie Fisher p. 143 Anno 1534. A Session of Parliament ibid. An Act for taking away the Popes Power p. 144 About the Succession to the Crown p. 145 For punishing Hereticks p. 147 The Submission of the Clergy ibid. About the Election of Bishops p. 148 And the Maid of Kent p. 149 The Insolence of some Friers p. 151 The Nuns speech at her death p. 152 Fisher is dealt with Gently p. 153 The Oath for the Succession taken by many p. 154 More and Fisher refuse it p. 155 And are proceeded against p. 156 Another Session of Parliament p. 157 The Kings Supremacy is Enacted ibid. An Act for Suffragan Bishops ibid. A Subsidy is granted p. 158 More and Fisher are Attainted ibid. The Progress of the Reformation p. 159 Tindal and others at Antwerp send over Books and the New Testament ibid. The Supplication of the Beggars p. 160 More answers and Frith replyes p. 161 Cruel proceeding against Reformers p. 162 Bilney's Sufferings p. 163 The Sufferings of Byfield p. 164 And Bainham p. 165 Articles abjured by some ibid. Tracy's Testament p. 166 Frith's Sufferings p. 167 His Arguments against the Corporal presence in the Sacrament ibid. His Opinion of the Sacrament and Purgatory for which he was condemned p. 169 His Constancy at his death p. 170 A stop put to Cruel proceedings p. 171 The Queen favoured the Reformers ibid. Cranmer Promoted it ibid. And was Assisted by Cromwell p. 172. A strong party against it ibid. Reasons used against it ibid. And for it p. 173. The Iudgment of some Bishops concerning a General Council p. 174 A speech of Cranmers of it ibid. BOOK III. Of the other Transactions about Religion and Reformation during the rest of the Reign of King Henry the 8th Anno 1535. THe rest of the Kings Reign was troublesome p. 179 By the practises of the Clergy p. 180 Which provoked the King much ibid. The Bishops swear the Kings Supremacy p. 181. The Franciscans only refuse it p. 182 A Visitation of Monasteries ibid. The Instructions of the Visitors p. 184 Injunctions sent by them p. 185 The State of the Monasteries in England and their Exemptions p. 186 They were deserted but again set up by King Edgar p. 187 Arts used by the Monks ibid. They were generally corrupt p. 188 And so grew the Friers p. 189 The Kings other reasons for suppressing Monasteries ibid. Cranmers design in it p. 190 The Proceedings of the Visitors ibid. Some Houses resigned to the King p. 191 Anno 1536. QVeen Katherine dies ibid. A Session of Parliament in which the lesser Monasteries were suppressed p. 193 The reasons for doing it ibid. The Translation of the Bible in English designed p. 194 The reasons for it ibid. The opposition made to it p. 195 Queen Anns fall driven on by the Popish party p. 196 The King became jealous p. 197 She is put in the Tower p. 198 She confessed some Indiscreet words p. 199 Cranmers Letters concerning her p. 200 She is brought to a Tryal p. 201 And Condemned p. 202 And also Divorced p. 203 She prepares for Death p. 204 The Lieutenant of the Tower's Letters about her ibid. Her Execution p. 205 The Censures made on this ibid. Lady Mary is reconciled to her Father and makes a full Submission p. 207 Lady Elizabeth is well used by the King p. 208 A Letter of hers to the Queen p. 209 A New Parliament is called ibid. An Act of the Succession p. 210 The Pope endeavours a reconciliation p. 211 But in vain ibid. The Proceedings of the Convocation p. 213 Articles agreed on about Religion p. 215 Published by the Kings Authority p. 217 But variously censured p. 218 The Convocation declared against the Council Summoned by the Pope p. 219 The King publishes his reasons against it p. 220 Cardinal Pool writes against the King ibid. Many Books are written for the King p. 221 Instructions for the dissolution of Monasteries p. 222 Great discontents among all sorts p. 223 Endeavours to qualifie these ibid. The people were disposed to Rebel p. 224 The Kings Injunctions about Religion p. 225 They were much censured p. 226 A Rising in Lincoln-shire p. 227 Their Demands and the Kings Answer ibid. It was quieted by the Duke of Suffolk p. 228 A great Rebellion in the North ibid. The Duke of Norfolk was sent against them p. 230 They advance to Doncaster ibid. Their Demands p. 231 The Kings Answer to them p. 232 Anno 1537. THe Rebellion is quieted p. 233 New risings soon dispersed p. 234 The chief Rebels Executed ibid. A New Visitation of Monasteries p. 235 Some great Abbots resign ibid. Confessions of horrid crimes are made p. 237 Some are Attainted p. 238 And their Abbies Suppressed p. 240 The Superstition and Cheats of these Houses discovered p. 242 Anno 1538. SOme Images publickly broken ibid. Thomas Beckets shrine broken p. 243 New Injunctions about Religion p. 245 Inâ—ectives against the King at Rome ibid. The Popes Bulls against the King ibid. The Clergy in England declared against these p. 248 The Bible is Printed in English p. 249 New Injunctions ibid. Prince Edward is born p. 250 The Complyance of the Popish party p. 251 Lambert appealed to the King p. 252 And is publickly tryed ibid. Many Arguments brought against him p. 253 He is condemned and burnt p. 254 The Popish party gain ground ibid. A Treaty with the German Princes p. 255 Bonners dissimulation ibid. Anno 1539. A Parliament is called p. 256 The six Articles are proposed ibid. Arguments against them p. 257 An Act passed for them p. 258 Which is variously
Iohannes Ab. de Bello Willielmus Ab. S. Petri Glocest. Richardus Ab. Winchelcombens Ioannes Ab. de Croyland Robertus Ab. de Thorney Robertus Ab. de Waltham Ioannes Ab. Cirencest Ioannes Ab. Teuxburen Thomas Prior Coventr Ioannes Ab. de Osney B Henricus Ab. de Anthonius Ab. de Eyntham Robertus Prior Elien Robertus Magister ordinis de Semper-ingham Richardus Ab. de Notley Hugo Prior de Huntingtoun Willielmus Ab. de Stratford Gabriel Ab. de Buckfestia Henricus Ab. de Wardenor Ioannes Prior de Merton Richardus Pr. de Walsingham B Thomas Ab. de Thomas Ab. de Stanley Richardus Ab. de Bytlesden Richardus Pr. de Lanthony Robertus Ab. de Thame B Ioannes Prior de Radulphus Prior de Kymme B Richardus Ab. de Robertus Ab. de Welhows Bartholamaus Pr. de Overhey Willielmus Pr. de Burgaveny Thomas Ab. de Abendon Inferior Domus C R. Gwent Archidiaconus London Breck Robertus Alridge Archid. Colecestr Thomas Bedyl Archid. Cornub. Richardus Street Archid. Derbiae David Pole Ar. Salop. Procurator Archid. Cleri Covent Lichfield Richardus Doke Archid. Sarum Edmundus Bonner Archid. Leycestriae Thomas Baghe Archid. Surr. Richardus Rawson Archid. Essex Edmundus Cranmer Archid. Cant. Polidorus Virgilius Archid. Wellen. Richardus Coren Archid. Oxon. Henricus Morgan Procurator cleri Lincoln Petrus Vannes Archid. Wygornen Georgius Hennage Decanus Lincoln Nilo Spencer Procurator Cleri Norwicen Guilielmus Knight Archid. Cestriae GamalielClyfton Decanus Hereford Proc. Capit. Ioannes London Decanus Wallingford Richardus Layton Archid. Bucks Hugo Coren Proâ— Cleri Hereford Richardus Sparaheford Proc. Cleri Hereford Mauritius Griffith Proc. Cleri Roffen Gulielmus Buckmastr Procurator Cleri London Richardus Shelton Mag. Colleg. de Melyngham Per me Willielmum Glyn. Archi. An-glessen Robertus Evans Decan Bangoren Walterus Cretying Ar. Bathonien Thomas Bagard Procurator Cleri Wygornen Ioannes Nase Proc. Cleri Bathon Wellen. Georgius Wyndham Archid Norwicen Nicolaus Metcalfe Archid. Roffen Gulielmus Hedge Procurator Cleri Norwicen Adam Traves Archid. Exon. Ricardus Woleman Dec. Wellen. Tho. Brerewood Archidiacan Har. Procur Capituli Cleri Exon. Georgius Carew Archid. Totten Proc. Capituli Cleri Exon. Thomas Bennet Psoc Cleri Capit Sarum Richardus Arch Proc. Cleri Capit Sarum Petrus Lighman Proc. Cleri Cant. Edmundus Stewart Proc. Cleri Winton Ioannes Rayne Proc. Cleri Lincoln Leonardus Samill Proc. Cleri Archid Lewen Simon Matthew Proc. Cleri London Linfrid Ogle Archid Salop. Gulielmus Maye Proc. Cleri Elien Rol. Philips Proc. Eccles. St. Pauli London Ioannes Bell Ar. Glocest. Ioannes Chambers Dec. St. Stephani Archid Bedford Nicolaus Wilson Some Observations on the former Subscriptions A The Abbots of Glossenbury and Reading Subscribe with the rest by which it appears that they complyed in the changes that were made as readily as others did B The Abbots writ generally so ill that it is very hard to read their Subscriptions Some of them I could by no means know what to make of C There are of 50 of the lower house of Convocation of those there are 25 Archdeacons 4 Deans of Cathedrals 3 Deans of Collegial Churches 17 Procurators for the Clergy and one Master of a Colledge II. Some Queries put by Cranmer in Order to the Correcting of several Abuses FIrst What causes reasons or considerations hath or might move any man to desire to have the Bishop of Rome restored in any point to his pretended Monarchy or to repugn against the Laws and Statutes of this Realm made for the setting forth of the Kings Title of Supream Head Item Whether a man offending-deadly after he is Baptized may obtain remission of his Sins by any other way than by Contrition through grace Item If the Clergy know that the common sort of men have them in a higher estimation because they are perswaded that it lyeth in the will and Power of Priests to remit or not remit sins at their pleasure whether in such case the said Clergy offend if they wink at this and voluntarily suffer the people to continue in this Opinion Item Whether a sinner being sorry and contrite for his sins and forthwith dying shall have as high a place in Heaven as if he had never offended Item Whether any and what difference may be Assigned betwixt two men whereof the one being very sorry and contrite for his sins dieth without Absolution of the Priest and the other which being contrite is also absolved by the Priest and so dieth Item If it may appear that the common people have a greater affiance or trust in outward Rites or Ceremonies than they ought to have and that they esteem more vertue in Images and adorning of them kissing their feet or offering Candles unto them than they should esteem and that yet the Curates knowing the same and fearing the loss of their offerings and such other temporal commodities do rather encourage the people to continue after this sort than teach them the truth in the premisses according to Scripture what the Kings Highness and his Parliament may do and what they are bound in conscience to do in such case Item Whether now in time of the new Law the Tithes or tenth be due to Curates by the Laws of God or of man and if the same be due by the Laws of man what mans Laws they be Item Whether the Clergy only and none but they ought to have voices in general Councils Item Whether the 19th Canon in the Council of Calcedon wherein is contained that one Clerk may not sue an other before any secular Judge but only before his Bishop and such other Canons of like effect have been generally received or not and whether the same be contrary to the Kings Prerogative and Laws of this Realm and whether it be expedient that it were declared by the Parliament that the said Canons being at no time received especially within this Realm be void and of none effect Item Of the 24th Canon of the said Council wherein is contained that Monasteries once consecrate by the Bishop may not after be made dwelling houses for Say-men whether that Canon have been received and observed and whether the same be against the Power of the King and Authority of his Parliament Item If it may appear that the Bishops have not ne yet do maturely examine and diligently inquire of the Conversation and Learning of such as be ordered or admitted to Cures by them but rather without examination or inquisition indistinctly admit persons unable whereof ensueth great peril of Souls and innumerable inconveniences otherways what the Kings Highness or his Parliament ought to do or may do for reformation in the premisses Item If such as have Deanries Arch-Deaconries Chanterships and other Offices or promotions of the Clergy use not themselves in their own persons after such sort as the primary institution of these Offices or Promotions require and according to the Wills of them that endowed the same what the King and his Parliament may do
18. v. 16. Lev. 20.21 And in the New Mat. 14.4 1 Cor. 5. â— Lib. 4 to cont Marcionâ—â— The Authorities of Popes a ad omnes Galâ—iâ—e Episcopos b 30. Quaest. 3. cap. Pitanâ—m c De Pres. cap. cum in juventutem and Counciâ—s Can. 2. Chap. 5. 〈◊〉 61. Chap. 5. a And the Greek In 20. Levit. b Homil. 71. on 22. Mat. c Epist. ad Diodor. On Levit. 18. and 20. And the Latine Fathers a Lib. 8. Ep. 66. b Cont. Hâ—â—vidium c Cont. Faâ—st chap. 8 9 10. Quaest. 64. in Lev. Ad Bonifac Lib. 3. chap. 4. Lib. 15. de Civ Dâ—i chap. 16. And of the Modern Writers In Epist. ad Pium Fratâ—em e On 18. Lev. g Epist. ad Arch. Rotomag Epis. Sag. f Lib. 2. de Sacram. p. 2. chap. 5. Art 2. h Epist. 240. The Schoolmen 2 dâ— 2 dae Quaest. 154. art 9. In Tertiam Quaest. 54. art 3. In 4tam. dist 40. Q. 3. and 4. And Canonists Marriage compleated by Consent Violent presumptions of the Consummation of Prince Artâ—â—r's Marriage The Popes Dispensation of no force In Quodiâ— Lib. 4. Art 13. in 4 tam dist 15. Q. 3. art 2. Sâ—p Cap. Conjunctioniâ— 35. Q. 2. 3. Sup. Cap. Literas de Rest. Spons Cap. ad Audien Spousal Several Bishops refuse to submit to the Popes Decrees The Authority of Tradition The Arguments for the Marriage 1529. The Anwers made to h ese 1531. The Queen still intractable Hall A Session of Parliament Morâ— Convocation The whole Clergy sued in a Premâ—nire The Prerogative of the Kings of England in Ecclesiastical affairs The Encroachment of the Papacy Mat. Paris The Laws made against them 25 Edw. 1st repeated in the Stat. of Provisors 25. Edw. 3d. 25. Edward 3d. Statute of Provisors 27. Edward 3d. cap. 1st 38. Edward 3d. cap. 1st 3. Richard 2d cap. 3d. 12 Richard 2d cap. 15. 16. Richard 2d cap. 5. 2. Hen. 4. cap. 4. 6. Henry 4. cap. 1st 7. Hen. 4. cap. 6.8 17. Hen. 4. cap. 8. 4. Hen. 5. cap. 4. Ex MSS. D Petyt 1530. Reg. Chicâ—el Fol. 39. Collect. Numb 37. 1531. And to the King and Parliament Collect. Numb 38. Collect. Numb 39. But to no purpose Collect. Numb 40. The Clergy excuse themselves Yet they Compound And acknowledge the King Supreme Head of the Church of England Lord Heâ—bert Antiquit. Britanniae in vita Warham Printed in the Cabala The Commons desire to be included in the King's Pardon Hall Which thâ— King afterwards grants One Attainâ—â—ed for Poisoning 22. Hen. 8 Act. 16. Lord Herbert The King leaves the Queen A disorder among the Clergy of London about the Subsidy Hall The Pope falls off to the French Faction A Match projected between the Pope's Neece and the Duke of Orleance The Emperor is engaged in a War with â—he Turk 1532. The Parliament complains of the Ecclesiastical Courts Hall But reject a Bill about Wards The Commons Petition that they may be Dissolved 1532. The King's Answer An Act against Annates Collect. Numb 41. Parl. Rolls The Pope writes to the King about the Queens Appeal L. Herbert Collect. Numb 42. A Dispatch of the King to the Pope Sir Edward Karne sent to Rome His Negotiation there taken from the Original Letters Cott. lib. Viteli B. 13. The Cardinal of Ravenna corrupted by Bribes Collect. Numb 43. Collect. Numb 44. Collect. Numb 45. A Bull for erecting new Bishopricks The Pope desires the King would submit to him Collect. Numb 46. A Session of Parl. One moves for bringing the Queen to Court At which the King is offended A Subsidy is voted The King remits the Oaths which the Clergy swore to be considered by the Commons Their Oath to the Pope Their Oath to the King More laid down his Office An Enterveiw with the French King Eliot sent to Rome with Instructions Cott. Lib. Vil. B. 13. The King Married Anne Boâ—eyn Nov. 14. Cowper Holinsâ—ies and Sanders An enterview between Pope and Emperor Some overtures about the Divorce Lord Herbert 1533. A Session of Parliament An Act against Appeals to Rome 24. Hen. 8. Act 22. 1533. Warhams Death Aug. 23. The King resolves to promote Cranmer Fox Cranmers Bulls from Rome His Protestation about his Oath to the Pope Antiq. Brit. iâ— vita Cranmâ—â— 1532. New Endeavours to make the Queen submit But in vain 1533. Cranmer proceeds to a Sentence of Divorce taken from the Originals Cott. lib. Otho C. 1â— Collect. Numb 47. The Censures past at that time Cott. lib. Otho C. 10. The Pope unites himself to the French King And condemns the Kings proceedings in England Queen Elizabeth Born Sâ—p 7. An Interview between the Pope and Frâ—nch King at Marsâ—illâ—s The Pope promises to give Sentence for the King of England's Divorce Fidel. serv. Infidâ— subdit Responsio Bzovius The French King prevails with the King of England to submit to the Pope Which was well received at Rome Hist. Council of Trent by Padre Paule But the Imperialists opposed it 1531. And with great preparation procure a sentence against the King The King resolves to abolish the Popes Power in England Which had been much disputed there 1532. â—elerine Inglese Hall The Arguments upon which it was rejected 1533. 1534. The Arguments for the Kings Supremacy From the old Testament 1533. And the New And the Practises of the primitive Church And from Reason And from the Laws of England 1534. The Qualification of that Supremacy Necessary Erudition upon the Sacrament of Orders The necessity of extirpating the Popes Power Pains taken to satisfie Fisher about it The Origiâ—nal is in the Cott. lib. 〈◊〉 C. 10. Journal Procer The Act for taking away the Popes Power It is the Act 21 in the Statute Book 27 in the Record and 8 in the Journal The judgments past on that Act. Act about the Succession to the Crown 22 in the Statute Books 34 in the Reâ—ord 26 in the Journal The Oath about the Succesâ—ion Journal Procer Act about punishing Hereticks 14 in the Stâ—tute Book 33 in the Record 31 in the Journal The submission made by the Clergy to the King 19 in the Statute Book 25 in the Record Journal Procâ—r 〈…〉 26 in the Record Collect. â—umb 48. The Act about the Maid of Kâ—nt and her Complices 12 in Statute Book 31 in the Record 7 in the Journâ—â— See his Works paâ— 1435. The 〈…〉 of the 〈◊〉 Sâ—ow Stow. The Nuns speech at her death Hall Stow Fisher gently dealt with But is obstinate and intractable Collect. Numb 49. Cott. Lib. Cleopatâ—e E. 4. The Oath for the Succession generally sworn Orig. Cott. Lib. Otho C. â—â— Collect. Numb 50. Rot. Claus. Those last clausâ—◠〈◊〉 not in the other Writing More and Fisher refuse the Oath See his works p. 1428. Weavers Monuments page 504 and 506. And are proceeded against Another Session of Parliament The Kings Supremacy declared The Oath about the Succession conâ—iâ—med The first Fruits of Benefices given to the King Sundry
things in which if these excuses do not wholly clear them yet they very much lessen their Guilt And after all this it must be Confessed they were men and had mixtures of fear and human infirmities with their other excellent Qualities And indeed Cranmer was in all other points so extraordinary a person that it was perhaps fit there should be some ingredients in his Temper to lessen the Veneration which his great worth might have raised too high if it had not been for these feeblenesses which upon some occasions appeared in him But if we examine the failings of some of the greatest of the Primitive Fathers as Athanasius Cyril and others who were the most zealous asserters of the Faith we must conclude them to have been nothing inferiour to any that can be charged on Cranmer whom if we consider narrowly we shall find as eminent vertues and as few faults in him as in any Prelate that has been in the Christian Church for many Ages And if he was prevailed on to deny his Master through fear he did wash off that stain by a sincere Repentance and a patient Martyrdome in which he expressed an eminent resentment of his former frailty with a pitch of Constancy of mind above the rate of modern Examples But their vertues as well as their faults are set before us for our instruction and how frail soever the vessels were they have conveyed to us a treasure of great value The pure Gospel of our Lord and Saviour which if we follow and govern our lives and hearts by it we may hope in easier and plainer paths to attain that Blessedness which they could not reach but through scorching flames and if we do not improve the Advantages which this light affords we may either look for some of those trials which were sent for the exercise of their Faith and Patience and perhaps for the punishment of their former Compliance or if we escape these we have cause to fear worse in the Conclusion EFFIGIES HENRICI VIII D. G ANGLIAE GALL. ET HIB REGIS DEFENSORIS FIDEI HHolbein pinxit Natus 1491 Iun 28. Patri Successit in Regno 1509 Apr. 22. Obijt 1547 8 Ian 28. Anno Aetat 57. pag. 1. Printed for Ricâ— Chiswell at the Rose and Crowne in St. Pauls Church yard THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England BOOK I. A Summary View of King Henry the Eighth's Reign till the Process of his Divorce was begun in which the State of England chiefly as it related to Religion is opened ENGLAND had for a whole Age felt the Miseries of a long and cruel War between the Two Houses of York and Lancaster during which time as the Crown had lost great Dominions beyond Sea so the Nation was much impoverished many Noble Families extinguisht much Blood shed great Animosities every-where raised with all the other Miseries of a lasting Civil War But they now saw all these happily composed when the Two Families did unite in King Henry the Eighth In his Fathers Reign they were rather cemented and joyned than united whose great Partiality to the House of Lancaster from which he was Descended and Severity to the Branches of the House of York in which even his own Queen had a large share together with the Impostors that were set up to disturb his Reign kept these heats alive which were now all buried in his grave and this made the Succession of his Son so universally acceptable to the whole Nation who now hoped to revive their former pretensions in France and to have again a large share in all the Affairs of Europe from which their Domestick Broils had so long excluded them There was another thing which made his first coming to the Crown no less acceptable which was that the same day that his Father died he ordered Dudley and Empson to be committed to the Tower His Father whether out of Policy or Inclination or both was all his life much set on the gathering of Treasure so that those Ministers were most acceptable who could fill his Coffers best and though this occasioned some Tumults and disposed the People to all those Commotions which fell out in his Reign yet he being successful in them all continued in his course of heaping up Money Towards the end of his Life he found out those Two Instruments who out-did all that went before them and what by vexatious Suits upon Penal but obsolete Laws what by unjust Imprisonments and other violent and illegal proceedings raised a general odium upon the Government and this grew upon him with his years and was come to so great a height towards the end of his Life that he died in good time for his own quiet For as he used all possible endeavours to get Money so what he got he as carefully kept and distributed very little of it among those about him so that he had many Enemies and but few Friends This being well considered by his Son he began his Government with the disgrace of those Two Ministers against whom he proceeded according to Law all the other inferiour Officers whom they had made use of were also Imprisoned When they had thus fallen many and great Complaints came in from all parts against them they also apprehending the danger they were like to be in upon their Masters Death had been practising with their Partners to gather about them all the Power they could bring together whether to secure themselves from popular Rage or to make themselves seem considerable or formidable to the new King This and other Crimes being brought in against them they were found guilty of Treason in a legal Trial. But the King judged this was neither a sufficient Reparation to his Oppressed People nor Satisfaction to Justice Therefore he went further and both ordered Restitution to be made by his Fathers Executors of great Sums of Money which had been unjustly extorted from his Subjects and in his first Parliament which he Summoned to the Twenty first of Ianuary following he not only delivered up Empson and Dudley with their Complices to the Justice of the Two Houses who attainted them by Act of Parliament and a little after gave order for their Execution but did also give his Royal assent to those other Laws by which the Subject was secured from the like Oppressions for the future and that he might not at all be suspected of any such Inclinations as his Father had to amass Treasure he was the most magnificent in his Expence of any Prince in Christendom and very bountiful to all about him and as one extreme commonly produces another so his Fathers Covetousness led him to be Prodigal and the vast Wealth which was left him being reckoned no less then 1800000 l. was in Three years dissipated as if the Son in his expence had vied Industry with his Father in all his Thrift Thomas Earl of Surrey afterwards Duke of Norfolk to shew how compliant he
the discovery of the Indies having brought great wealth into Europe Princes began to deal more in that trade than before so that both France and England had their Instruments in Scotland and gave considerable yearly Pensions to the chief heads of Parties and Families In the search I have made I have found several Warrants for Sums of Money to be sent into Scotland and divided there among the Favourers of the English Interest and 't is not to be doubted but France traded in the same manner which continued till a happier way was found out for extinguishing these Quarrels both the Crowns being set on one head Having thus shewed the State of this Kings Government as to forreign Matters I shall next give an account of the Administration of Affairs at home both as to Civil and Spiritual Matters The King upon his first coming to the Crown did choose a wise Council partly out of those whom his Father had trusted partly out of those that were recommended to him by his Grand-Mother the Countess of Richmond and Derby in whom was the Right of the House of Lancaster though she willingly devolved her pretensions on her Son claiming nothing to her self but the Satisfaction of being Mother to a King She was a wise and Religious Woman and died soon after her Grand-Son came to the Crown There was a Faction in the Council between Fox Bishop of Winchester and the Lord Treasurer which could never be well made up though they were oft reconciled Fox always complaining of the Lord Treasurer for squandring away so soon that vast Mass of Treasure left by the Kings Father in which the other justified himself that what he did was by the Kings Warrants which he could not disobey but Fox objected that he was too easie to answer if not to procure these Warrants and that he ought to have given the King better advice In the Kings first Parliament things went as he desired upon his delivering up Empson and Dudley in which his preventing the severity of the Houses and proceeding against them at the Common Law as it secured his Ministers from an unwelcome President so the whole honour of it fell on the Kings justice His next Parliament was in the Third year of his Reign and there was considered the Brief from Pope Iulius the Second to the King complaining of the Indignities and Injuries done to the Apostolick See and the Pope by the French King and entreating the Kings assistance with such cajoling words as are always to be expected from Popes on the like occasions It was first read by the Master of the Rolls in the House of Lords and then the Lord Chancellour Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Lord Treasurer with other Lords went down to the House of Commons and read it there Upon this and other reasons they gave the King subsidies towards the War with France At this time Fox to strengthen his Party against the Lord Treasurer finding Thomas Wolsey to be a likely man to get into the Kings favour used all his endeavours to raise him who was at that time neither unknown nor inconsiderable being Lord Almoner he was at first made a Privy Counsellour and frequently admitted to the Kings presence and waited on him over to France The King liked him well which he so managed that he quickly engrossed the Kings favour to himself and for 15 years together was the most absolute Favourite that had ever been seen in England all forreign Treaties and Places of Trust at home were at his Ordering he did what he pleased and his Ascendant over the King was such that there never appeared any Party against him all that while The great Artifice by which he insinuated himself so much on the King is set down very plainly by one that knew him well in these words In him the King conceived such a loving fancy especially for that he was most earnest and readiest in all the Counsel to advance the Kings only will and pleasure having no respect to the case and whereas the Ancient Counsellors would according to the Office of good Counsellors divers times perswade the King to have some time a recourse unto the Council there to hear what was done in weighty Matters the King was nothing at all pleased therewith for he loved nothing worse than to be constrained to do any thing contrary to his pleasure and that knew the Almoner very well having secret Insinuations of the Kings Intentions and so fast as the others Counselled the King to leave his pleasures and to attend to his Affairs so busily did the Almoner perswade him to the contrary which delighted him much and caused him to have the greater affection and love to the Almoner Having got into such Power he observed the Kings Inclinations exactly and followed his Interests closely for though he made other Princes retain him with great Presents and Pensions yet he never engaged the King into any Alliance but what was for his Advantage For affairs at home after he was established in his Greatness he affected to Govern without Parliaments there being from the Seventh year of his Reign after which he got the great Seal but one Parliament in the 14th and 15th year and no more till the One and Twentieth when matters were turning about But he raised great Sums of Money by Loans and Benevolences And indeed if we look on him as a Minister of State he was a very extraordinary Person but as he was a Church-man he was the disgrace of his Profession He not only served the King in all his secret pleasures but was lewd and vicious himself so that his having the French Pox which in those days was a matter of no small infamy was so publick that it was brought against him in Parliament when he fell in disgrace he was a man of most extravagant vanity as appears by the great State he lived in and to feed that his Ambition and Covetousness were proportionable He was first made Bishop of Tourney when that Town was taken from the French then he was made Bishop of Lincoln which was the first Bishoprick that fell void in this Kingdom after that upon Cardinal Bembridge his death he parted with Lincoln and was made Arch-Bishop of York then Hadrian that was a Cardinal and Bishop of Bath and Wells being deprived that See was given to him then the Abbey of St Albans was given to him in Comendam he next parted with Bath and Wells and got the Bishoprick of Duresm which he afterwards exchanged for the Bishoprick of Winchester But besides all that he had in his own hands the King granted him a full Power of disposing of all the Ecclesiastical benefices in England which brought him in as much money as all the Places he held for having so vast a Power committed to him both from the King and the Pope as to Church-preferments it may be easily gathered what
advantages a man of his temper would draw from it Warham was Lord Chancellour the first seven years of the Kings Reign but retired to give place to this aspiring favourite who had a mind to the great Seal that there might be no interfering between the Legantine and Chancery Courts And perhaps it wrought somewhat on his vanity that even after he was Cardinal Warham as Lord Chancellour took place of him as appears from the Entries made in the Journals of the House of Peers in the Parliament held the 7th year of the Kings Reign and afterwards gave him place as appears on many occasions particularly in the Letter written to the Pope 1530 set down by the Lord Herbert which the Cardinal subscribed before Warham We have nothing on record to shew what a Speaker he was for all the Journals of Parliament from the 7th to the 25th year of this King are lost but it is like he spoke as his Predecessor in that Office Warham did whose speeches as they are entred in the Journals are Sermons begun with a Text of Scripture which he expounded and applyed to the business they were to go upon stuffing them with the most fulsome flattery of the King that was possible The next in favour and Power was the Lord Treasurer restored to his Fathers honour of Duke of Norfolk to whom his Son succeeded in that Office as well as in his hereditary honours and managed his Interest with the King so dexterously that he stood in all the Changes that followed and continued Lord Treasurer during the Reign of this King till near the end of it when he fell through Jealousie rather than guilt this shewed how dexterous a man he was that could stand so long in that imployment under such a King But the chief Favourite in the Kings pleasures was Charles Brandon a Gallant graceful Person one of the strongest men of the Age and so a fit match for the King at his Justs and Tiltings which was the manly diversion of that time and the King taking much pleasure in it being of a robust Body and singularly expert at it he who was so able to second him in these Courses grew mightily in his favour so that he made him first Viscount Lisle and some Months after Duke of Suffolk Nor was he less in the Ladies favours than the Kings for his Sister the Lady Mary liked him and being but so long Married to King Lewis of France as to make her Queen Dowager of France she resolved to choose her second Husband her self and cast her eye on the Duke of Suffolk who was then sent over to the Court of France Her Brother had designed the Marriage between them yet would not openly give his Consent to it but she by a strange kind of Wooing prefixed him the Term of four days to gain her Consent in which she told him if he did not prevail he should for ever lose all his hopes of having her though after such a Declaration he was like to meet with no great difficulty from her So they were Married and the King was easily pacified and received them into favour neither did his favour die with her for it continued all his life but he never medled much in business and by all that appears was a better Courtier than States-Man Little needs be said of any other Person more than will afterwards occur The King loved to raise mean Persons and upon the least distaste to throw them down and falling into disgrace he spared not to sacrifice them to publick discontents His Court was magnificent and his Expence vast he indulged himself in his pleasures and the hopes of Children besides the Lady Mary failing by the Queen he who of all things desired issue most kept one Elizabeth Blunt by whom he had Henry Fitzroy whom in the 17th year of his Reign he created Earl of Nottingham and the same day made him Duke of Richmond and Sommerset and intended afterwards to have put him in the Succession of the Crown after his other Children but his death prevented it As for his Parliaments he took great care to keep a good understanding with them and chiefly with the House of Commons by which means he seldom failed to carry Matters as he pleased among them only in the Parliament held in the 14th and 15th of his Reign the Demand of the Subsidy towards the War with France being so high as 800000 lib. the 5th of mens goods and lands to be paid in Four years and the Cardinal being much hated there was great Opposition made to it for which the Cardinal blamed Sir Thomas More much who was then Speaker of the House of Commons and finding that which was offered was not above the half of what was asked went himself to the House of Commons and desired to hear the reasons of those who opposed his Demands that he might answer them but he was told the Order of their House was to reason only among themselves and so went away much dissatisfied It was with great difficulty that they obtained a Subsidy of 3 s. in the lib. to be paid in four years This disappointment it seems did so offend the Cardinal that as no Parliament had been called for Seven years before so there was none summoned for Seven years after And thus stood the Civil Government of England in the 19th year of the Kings Reign when the Matter of the Divorce was first moved But I shall next open the State of Affairs in Reference to Religious and Spiritual Concerns King Henry was bred with more care than had been usually bestowed on the Education of Princes for many Ages who had been only trained up to those Exercises that prepared them to War and if they could read and write more was not expected of them But learning began now to flourish and as the House of Medici in Florence had great honour by the Protection it gave to learned men so other Princes every-where cherished the Muses King Henry the 7th though illiterate himself yet took care to have his Children instructed in good letters And it generally passes current that he bred his second Son a Scholar having designed him to be Arch-Bishop of Canterbury but that has no foundation for the Writers of that time tell that his Elder Brother Prince Arthur was also bred a Scholar And all the Instruction King Henry had in Learning must have been after his Brother was dead when that Design had vanished with his life For he being born the 18th of Iune 1491. and Prince Arthur dying the Second of April 1502. he was not full eleven years of Age when he became Prince of Wales at which Age Princes have seldom made any great progress in Learning But King Henry the 7th judging either that it would make his Sons Greater Princes and fitter for the Management of their Affairs or being jealous of their looking too early into business or their pretending to the Crown
upon their Mothers Title which might have been a dangerous competition to him that was so little beloved by his Subjects took this Method for amusing them with other things thence it was that his Son was the most learned Prince that had been in the World for many Ages and deserved the Title Beau-Clerke on a better account than his Predecessor that long before had carried it The Learning then in credit was either that of the Schools about abstruse Questions of Divinity which from the days of Lombard were debated and descanted on with much subtlety and nicety and exercised all Speculative Divines or the Study of the Canon-Law which was the way to Business and Preferment To the former of these the King was much addicted and delighted to read often in Thomas 〈◊〉 and this made Cardinal Wolsey more acceptable to him who was 〈◊〉 conversant in that sort of Learning He loved the purity of the 〈◊〉 tongue which made him be so kind to Erasmus that was the great Resâ—â—â—er of it and to Polidore Virgil though neither of these made their Court dextrously with the Cardinal which did much intercept the Kingâ— favour to them so that the one left England and the other was but coâ—rsly used in it who has sufficiently revenged himself upon the Cardinal's Memory The Philosophy then in fashion was so intermixed with their Divinity that the King understood it too and was also a good Musician as appears by two whole Masses which he composed He never wrote well but scrawled so that his hand was scarce legible Being thus inclined to Learning he was much courted by all hungry Scholars who generally over Europe dedicated their Books to him with such flattering Epistles that it very much lessens him to see how he delighted in such stuffe For if he had not taken pleasure in it and rewarded them it is not likely that others should have been every year writing after such ill Copies Of all things in the World Flattery wrought most on him and no sort of Flattery pleased him better than to have his great Learning and Wisdom commended And in this his Parliaments his Courtiers his Chaplains Forreigners and Natives all seemed to vie who should exceed most and came to speak to him in a Stile which was scarce fit to be used to any Creature But he designed to entail these praises on his Memory cherishing Church-men more than any King in England had ever done he also Courted the Pope with a constant submission and upon all occasions made the Popes Interests his own and made War and Peace as they desired him So that had he dyed any time before the 19th year of his Reign he could scarce have scaped being Canonized notwithstanding all his faults for he abounded in those vertues which had given Saintship to Kings for near 1000 years together and had done more than they all did by writing a Book for the Roman Faith England had for above 300 years been the tamest part of Christendome to the Papal Authority and had been accordingly dealt with But though the Parliaments and two or three high-spirited Kings had given some interruption to the cruel exactions and other illegal proceedings of the Court of Rome yet that Court always gained their designs in the end But even in this Kings days the Crown was not quite stript of all its Authority over Spiritual persons The Investitures of Bishops and Abbots which had been originally given by the delivery of the Pastoral Ring and Staffe by the Kings of England were after some opposition wrung out of their hands yet I find they retained another thing which upon the matter was the same When any See was vacant a Writ was issued out of the Chancery for seizing on all the Temporalties of the Bishoprick and then the King recommended one to the Pope upon which his Bulls were expeded at Rome and so by a Warrant from the Pope he was consecrated and invested in the Spiritualties of the See but was to appear before the King either in Person or by Proxie and renounce every clause in his Letters and Bulls that were or might be prejudicial to the Prerogative of the Crown or contrary to the Laws of the Land and was to swear Fealty and Allegiance to the King And after this a new Writ was issued out of the Chancery bearing that this was done and that thereupon the Temporalties should be restored Of this there are so many Precedents in the Records that every one that has searched them must needs find them in every year but when this began I leave to the more Learned in the Law to discover And for proof of it the Reader will find in the Collection the fullest Record which I met with concerning it in Henry the 7th his Reign of Cardinal Adrian's being Invested in the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells So that upon the matter the Kings then disposed of all Bishopricks keeping that still in their own hands which made them most desired in those Ages and so had the Bishops much at their Dovotion But King Henry in a great degree parted with this by the above-mentioned power granted to Cardinal Wolsey who being Legate as well as Lord Chancellour it was thought a great errour in Government to lodge such a trust with him which might have past into a Precedent for other Legates pretending to the same Power since the Papal greatness had thus risen and oft upon weaker grounds to the height it was then at Yet the King had no mind to suffer the Laws made against the suing out of Bulls in the Court of Rome without his leave to be neglected for I find several Licenses granted to sue Bulls in that Court bearing for their Preamble the Statute of the 16 of Richard the Second against the Popes pretended Power in England But the immunity of Ecclesiastical persons was a thing that occasioned great complaints And good cause there was for them For it was ordinary for persons after the greatest Crimes to get into Orders and then not only what was past must be forgiven them but they were not to be questioned for any Crime after holy Orders given till they were first degraded and till that was done they were the Bishops Prisoners Whereupon there rose a great dispute in the beginning of this Kings Reign of which none of our Historians having taken any Notice I shall give a full account of it King Henry the Seventh in his Fourth Parliament did a little lessen the Priviledges of the Clergy enacting that Clerks convicted should be burnt in the hand But this not proving a sufficient restraint it was Enacted in Parliament in the Fourth year of this King that all Murderers and Robbers should be denyed the benefit of their Clergy But though this seemed a very Just Law yet to make it pass through the House of Lords they added two Proviso's to it the one for excepting all such as were within
the Holy Orders of Bishop Priest or Deacon the other that the Act should only be in force till the next Parliament With these Proviso's it was unanimously assented to by the Lords on the 26 Ian. 1513. and being agreed to by the Commons the Royal Assent made it a Law Pursuant to which many Murderers and Felons were denyed their Clergy and the Law passed on them to the great Satisfaction of the whole Nation But this gave great offence to the Clergy who had no mind to suffer their Immunities to be touched or lessened And judging that if the laity made bold with Inferiour Orders they would proceed further even against Sacred Orders therefore as their Opposition was such that the Act not being continued did determine at the next Parliament that was in the 5th year of the King so they not satisfied with that resolved to fix a censure on that Act as contrary to the Franchises of the Holy Church And the Abbot of Winchelcomb being more forward than the rest during the session of Parliament in the 7 year of this King's Reign in a Sermon at Pauls Cross said openly That that Act was contrary to the Law of God and to the Liberties of the Holy Church and that all who assented to it as well Spiritual as Temporal Persons had by so doing incur'd the Censures of the Church And for Confirmation of his Opinion he published a Book to prove That all Clerks whether of the greater or lower Orders were Sacred and exempted from all Temporal Punishment by the Secular Judge even in Criminal cases This made great noise and all the Temporal Lords with the concurrence of the House of Commons desired the King to suppress the growing Insolence of the Clergy So there was a hearing of the Matter before the King with all the Judges and the Kings Temporal Council Doctor Standish Guardian of the Mendicant Friers in London afterwards Bishop of Saint Asaph the chief of the Kings Spiritual Council argued That by the Law Clerks had been still convened and judged in the Kings Court for Civil Crimes and that there was nothing either in the Laws of God or the Church inconsistent with it and that the publick good of the Society which was chiefly driven at by all Laws and ought to be preferred to all other things required that Crimes should be punished But the Abbot of Winchelcomb being Counsel for the Clergy excepted to this and said There was a Decree made by the Church expresly to the contrary to which all ought to pay Obedience under the pain of Mortal sin and that therefore the trying of Clerks in the Civil Courts was a sin in it self Standish upon this turned to the King and said God forbid that all the Decrees of the Church should bind It seems the Bishops think not so for though there is a Decree that they should reside at their Cathedrals all the Festivals of the year yet the greater part of them do it not Adding That no Decree could have any force in England till it was received there and That this Decree was never received in England but that as well since the making of it as before Clerks had been tryed for Crimes in the Civil Courts To this the Abbot made no answer but brought a place of Scripture to prove this Exemption to have come from our Saviours words Nolite tangere Christos meos Touch not mine Anointed and therefore Princes ordering Clerks to be arrested and brought before their Courts was contrary to Scripture against which no custome can take place Standish replyed these words were never said by our Saviour but were put by David in his Psalter 1000 years before Christ and he said these words had no relation to the Civil Judicatories but because the greatest part of the World was then wicked and but a small number believed the Law they were a Charge to the Rest of the World not to do them harm But though the Abbot had been very violent and confident of his being able to confound all that held the contrary opinion yet he made no answer to this The Laity that were present being confirmed in their former opinion by hearing the Matter thus argued moved the Bishops to order the Abbot to renounce his former opinion and recant his Sermon at Pauls Cross. But they flatly refused to do it and said they were bound by the Laws of the Holy Church to maintain the Abbots opinion in every point of it Great heats followed upon this during the sitting of the Parliament of which there is a very partial Entry made in the Journal of the Lords House and no wonder the Clerk of the Parliament Doctor Tylor Doctor of the Canon-Law being at the same time Speaker of the Lower House of Convocation The Entrie is in these words In this Parliament and Convocation there were most dangerous contentions between the Clergy and the Secular Power about the Ecclesiastical liberties one Standish a Minor Frier being the Instrument and Promoter of all that mischief But a passage â—ell out that made this matter be more fully prosecuted in the Michaelmas-Term One Richard Hunne a Merchant-Taylor in London was questioned by a Clerk in Middlesex for a Mortuary pretended to be due for a Child of his that died 5 weeks old The Clerk claiming the beering sheet and Hunne refusing to give it upon that he was sued but his Counsel advised him to sue the Clerk in a Premunire for bringing the Kings Subjects before a forreign Court the Spiritual Court sitting by Authority from the Legate This touched the Clergy so in the quick that they used all the Arts they could to fasten Heresie on him and understanding that he had Wickliff's Bible upon that he was attached of Heresie and put in the Lollards Tower at Pauls and examined upon some Articles objected to him by Fitz-Iames then Bishop of London He denied them as they were chargeâ— against him but acknowledged he had said some words sounding that way for which he was sorry and asked Gods mercy and submitted himself to the Bishops Correction upon which he ought to have been enjoyned Penance and set at Liberty but he persisting still in his Sute in the Kings Courts they used him most cruelly On the Fourth of December he was found hanged in the Chamber where he was kept Prisoner And Doctor Horsey Chancellour to the â—iâ—hop of London with the other Officers who had the Charge of the Prison gave it out that he had hang'd himself But the Coroner of London coming to hold an Inquest on the dead body they found him hanging so loose and in a silk girdle that they clearly perceived he was killed they also found his Neck had been broken as they judged with an Iron chain for the Skin was all fretted and cut they saw some streams of blood about his body besides several other evidences which made it clear he had not murdered himself whereupon they did acquit the dead body and
laid the Murder on the Officers that had the charge of that Prison and by other proofs they found the Bishops Sumner and the Bell-ringer guilty of it and by the deposition of the Sumner himself it did appear that the Chancellour and he and the Bell-ringer did Murder him and then hang him up But as the Inquest proceeded in this Trial the Bishop began a new Process against the dead body of Richard Hunne for other points of Heresie and several Articles were gathered out of Wickliff's Preface to the Bible with which he was charged And his having the Book in his Possession being taken for good evidence he was judged an Heretick and his body delivered to the Secular Power When judgment was given the Bishops of Duresme and Lincoln with many Doctors both of Divinity and the Canon-Law sate with the Bishop of London so that it was lookt on as an Act of the whole Clergy and done by common consent On the 20th of December his body was burnt at Smithfield But this produced an effect very different from what was expected for it was hoped that he being found an Heretick no body should appear for him any more whereas on the contrary it occasioned a great out-cry the man having lived in very good reputation among his Neighbours so that after that day the City of London was never well affected to the Popish Clergy but inclined to follow any body who spoke against them and every one lookt on it as a Cause of common concern All exclaimed against the Cruelty of their Clergy that for a mans suing a Clerke according to law he should be long and hardly used in a severe imprisonment and at last cruelly murdered and all this laid on himself to defame him and ruin his family And then to burn that body which they had so handled was thought such a complication of Cruelties as few Barbarians had ever been guilty of The Bishop finding that the Inquest went on and the whole matter was discovered used all possible endeavours to stop their proceedings and they were often brought before the Kings Council where it was pretended that all proceeded from Malice and Heresie The Cardinal laboured to procure an order to forbid their going any further but the thing was both so foul and so evident that it could not be done and that opposition made it more generally believed In the Parliament there was a Bill sent up to the Lords by the Commons for restoring Hunne's Children which was passed and had the Royal assent to it but another Bill being brought in about this Murther it occasioned great heats among them The Bishop of London said that Hunne had hanged himself that the Inquest were false perjured Caitiffs and if they proceeded further he could not keep his house for Hereticks so that the Bill which was sent up by the Commons was but once read in the House of Lords for the power of the Clergy was great there But the Trial went on and both the Bishops Chancellour and the Summer were endicted as Principals in the Murder The Convocation that was then sitting finding so great a stir made and that all their liberties were now struck at resolved to call Doctor Standish to an Account for what he had said and argued in that matter so he being summoned before them some Articles were objected to him by word of mouth concerning the judging of Clerks in Civil Courts and the day following they being put in writing the Bill was delivered to him and a day assigned for him to make answer The Doctor perceiving their intention and judging it would go hard with him if he were tryed before them went and claimed the Kings Protection from this trouble that he was now brought in for discharging his duty as the Kings Spiritual Counsel But the Clergy made their excuse to the King that they were not to question him for any thing he had said as the Kings Counsel but for some Lectures he read at St Pauls and elswhere contrary to the Law of God and Liberties of the holy Church which they were bound to maintain and desired the Kings Assistance according to his Coronation Oath and as he would not incur the Censures of the holy Church On the other hand the Temporal Lords and Judges with the concurrence of the House of Commons addressed to the King to maintain the Temporal Jurisdiction according to his Coronation Oath and to protect Standish from the Malice of his enemies This put the King in great perplexity for he had no mind to lose any part of his Temporal Jurisdiction and on the other hand was no less apprehensive of the dangerous effects that might follow on a breach with the Clergy So he called for Doctor Veysey then Dean of his Chappel and afterwards Bishop of Exeter and charged him upon his Allegiance to declare the truth to him in that matter which after some study he did and said upon his Faith Conscience and Allegiance he did think that the convening of Clerks before the secular Judg which had been always practised in England might well consist with the Law of God and the true Liberties of the holy Church This gave the King great satisfaction so he commanded all the Judges and his Council both Spiritual and Temporal and some of both Houses to meet at Black-Friers and to hear the matter argued The Bill against Doctor Standish was read which consisted of Six Articles that were objected to him First That he had said that the lower Orders were not sacred Secondly That the Exemption of Clerks was not founded on a divine Right Thirdly That the Laity might coerce Clerks when the Prelates did not their duty Fourthly That no positive Ecclesiastical Law binds any but those who receive it Fifthly That the Study of the Canon-Law was needless Sixthly That of the whole Volume of the Decretum so much as a man could hold in his fist and no more did oblige Christians To these Doctor Standish answered that for those things exprest in the Third the Fifth and the Sixth Articles he had never taught them as for his asserting them at any time in discourse as he did not remember it so he did not much care whether he had done it or not To the First he said Lesser Orders in one sense are sacred and in another they are not sacred For the Second and Fourth he confessed he had taught them and was ready to justifie them It was objected by the Clergy that as by the Law of God no man could judge his Father it being contrary to that Commandment Honour thy Father So Church-men being Spiritual Fathers they could not be judged by the Laity who were their Children To which he answered that as that only concluded in favour of Priests those in Inferiour Orders not being Fathers so it was a mistake to say a Judge might not sit upon his Natural Father for the Judge was by another Relation above his Natural Father and though
This as it was fatal to the Counts of Tholouse who were great Princes in the South of France and first fell under the Censures so it was terrible to all other Princes who thereupon to save themselves delivered up their Subjects to the Mercy of the Ecclesiastical Courts Burning was the death they made choice of because Witches Vizards and Sodomites had been so executed Therefore to make Heresie appear a terrible thing this was thought the most proper punishment of it It had also a resemblance of everlasting Burning to which they adjudged their Souls as well as their bodies were condemned to the â—ire but with this signal difference that they could find no such effectual way to oblige God to execute their sentence as they contrived against the Civil Magistrate But however they confidently gave it out that by vertue of that Promise of our Saviours Whose sins ye bind on Earth they are bound in Heaven their Decrees were ratified in Heaven And it not being easie to disprove what they said people believed the one as they saw the other Sentence executed So that whatever they condemned as Heresie was looked on as the worst thing in in the world There was no occasion for the execution of this Law in England till the days of Wickliffe And the favour he had from some great men stopt the Proceedings against him But in the 5th year of King Richard the Second a Bill passed in the House of Lords and was assented to by the King and published for an Act of Parliament though the Bill was never sent to the House of Commons By this pretended Law it appears Wickliff's followers were then very numerous that they had a certain habit and did Preach in many places both in Churches Church-yards and Markets without Licence from the Ordinary and did preach several Doctrines both against the Faith and the Laws of the Land as had been proved before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the other Bishops Prelats Doctors of Divinity and of the Civil and Canon-Law and others of the Clergy That they would not submit to the admonitions nor Censures of the Church but by their subtile ingenious words did draw the people to follow them and defend them by strong hand and in great routs Therefore it was Ordained that upon the Bishops certifying into the Chancery the names of such Preachers and their Abettors the Chancellour should issue forth Commissions to the Sheriffs and others the Kings Ministers to hold them in Arrest and strong Prison till they should justify them according to the Law and reason of Holy Church From the gentleness of which law it may appear that England was not then so tame as to bear the severity of those cruel laws which were setled and put in execution in other Kingdoms The Custome at that time was to engross Copies of all the Acts of Parliament and to send them with a Writ under the great Seal to the Sheriffs to make them be proclaimed within their jurisdictions And Iohn Braibrook Bishop of London then Lord Chancellour sent this with the other Acts of that Parliament to be proclaimed The Writ bears date the 26th of May 5 to Reg. But in the next Parliament that was held in the 6th year of that Kings Reign the Commons preferred a Bill reciting the former Act and constantly affirmed that they had never assented to it and therefore desired it might be declared to be void for they Protested it was never their intent to be Iustified and to bind themselves and their Successors to the Prelats more than their Ancestors had done in times past To which the King gave the Royal Assent as it is in the Records of Parliament But in the Proclamation of the Acts of that Parliament this Act was suppressed so that the former Act was still looked on as a good law and is Printed in the Book of Statutes Such pious frauds were always practised by the Popish Clergy and were indeed necessary for the supporting the Credit of that Church When Richard the 2d was deposed and the Crown usurped by Henry the 4th then he in gratitude to the Clergy that assisted him in his coming to the Crown granted them a law to their hearts content in the 2 d. year of his Reign The Preamble bears That some had a new Faith about the Sacraments of the Church and the Authority of the same and did Preach without Authority gathered Conventicles taught Schools wrote Books against the Catholick Faith with many other heinous aggravations Upon which the Prelats and Clergy and the Commons of the Realm prayed the King to provide a sufficient remedy to so great an evil Therefore the King by the assent of the States and other discreet men of the Realm being in the said Parliament did Ordain That none should Preach without Licence except persons Priviledged That none should Preach any Doctrine contrary to the Catholick Faith or the Determination of the Holy Church and that none should favour and abett them nor keep their Books but deliver them to the Diocesan of the place within 40 days after the Proclamation of that Statute And that if any Persons were defamed or suspected of doing against that Ordinance then the Ordinary might Arrest them and keep them in his Prison till they were Canonically purged of the Articles laid against them or did abjure them according to the Laws of the Church Provided always that the proceedings against them were publickly and judicially done and ended within three Months after they had been so Arrested and if they were Convict the Diocesan or his Commissaries might keep them in Prison as long as to his discretion shall seem expedient and might Fine them as should seem competent to him certifying the Fine into the Kings Exchequer and if any being Convict did refuse to abjure or after Abjuration did fall into Relapse then he was to be left to the Secular Court according to the Holy Canons And the Majors Sheriffs or Bayliffs were to be personally present at the passing the Sentence when they should be required by the Diocesan or his Commissaries and after the Sentence they were to receive them and them before the People in a high place do to be Brent By this Statute the Sheriffs or other Officers were immediatly to proceed to the Burning of Hereticks without any Writ or Warrant from the King But it seems the Kings Learned Council advised him to issue out a Writ De Haeretico comburendo upon what grounds of Law I cannot tell For in the same year when William Sartre who was the first that was put to death upon the account of Heresie was judged Relapse by Thomas Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in a Convocation of his Province and thereupon was degraded from Priesthood and left to Secular Power a Writ was issued out to Burn him which in the Writ is called The Customary Punishment relating it as like to the Customs that were beyond
a fuller Commission might be sent to himself with all possible haste since delays might produce great inconveniences If a Legate were named then care must be taken that he should be one who were Learned Indifferent and Tractable and if Campegius could be the man he was the fittest person And when one was named he should make him a decent present and assure him that the King would most liberally recompence all his labour and expence He also required him to press his speedy Dispatch and that the Commission should be full to try and determine wiâ—hout any reservation of the Sentence to be given by the Pope This Dispatch is interlined and amended with the Cardinals own hand But upon the Arrival of the Messenger whom the Secretary had sent with the Commission and Dispensation and the other Packets before mentioned It was debated in the Kings Council whether he should go on in his Process or continue to solicite new Bulls from Rome On the one hand they saw how tedious dangerous and expensive a Process at Rome was like to prove and therefore it seemed the easiest and most expedite way to proceed before the Cardinal in his Legantine Court who should ex officio and in the Summary way of their Court bring it to a speedy Conclusion But on the other hand if the Cardinal gave Sentence and the King should Marry then they were not sure but before that time the Pope might either change his mind or his Interest might turn him another way And the Popes Power was so absolute by the Canon Law that no general Clauses in Commissions to Legates could bind him to confirm their Sentences and if upon the Kings Marrying another Wife the Pope should refuse to confirm it then the King would be in a worse case than he was now in and his Marriage and Issue by it should be still disputable Therefore they thought this was by no means to be adventured on but they should make new Addresses to the Court of Rome In the debate some sharp words fell either from the King or some of his Secular Counsellors Intimating that if the Pope continued under such fears the King must find some other way to set him at ease So it was resolved that Stephen Gardiner commonly called Doctor Stevens the Cardinals chief Secretary and Edward Fox the Kings Almoner should be sent to Rome the one being esteemed the ablest Canonist in England the other one of the best Divines they were Dispatched the 10th of February By them the King wrote to the Pope thanking him that he had expressed such forward and earnest willingness to give him ease and had so kindly promised to gratifie his desires of which he expected now to see the effects He wrote also to the Cardinals his thanks for the chearfulness with which they had in Consistory promised to promote his Sute for which he assured them they should never have cause to Repent But the Cardinal wrote in a strain that shews he was in some fear that if he could not bring about the Kings desires he was like to lose his favour He besought the Pope as lying at his feet that if he thought him a Christian a good Cardinal and not unworthy of that Dignity an useful member of the Apostolick See a Promoter of Justice and Equity or thought him his faithful Creature or that he desired his own eternal Salvation that he would now so far consider his Intercession as to grant kindly and speedily that which the King earnestly desired which if he did not know to be Holy Right and Just he would undergo any hazard or punishment whatsoever rather than promote it but he did aprehend if the King found that the Pope was so overawed by the Emperor as not to grant that which all Christendom judged was grounded both on the Divine and Human Laws both he and other Christian Princes would from thence take occasion to provide themselves of other Remedies and lessen and despise the Authority of the Apostolick See In his Letters to Cassali he expressed a great sense of the Services which the Cardinal Sanctorum Quatuor had done the King and bid him enquire what were the things in which he delighted most whether Furniture Gold plate or Horses that they might make him acceptable presents and assure him that the King would contribute largely towards the carrying on the building of St. Peters in the Vatican The most Important thing about which they were employed was to procure the expediting of a Bull which was formed in England with all the strongest Clauses that could be imagined In the Preamble of which all the Reasons against the validity of the Bull of P. Iulius the 2d were recited and it was also hinted that it was against the Law of God but to lessen that it was added at least where there was not a sufficient Dispensation obtained therefore the Pope to reward the great Services by which the King had obliged the Apostolick See and having regard to the Distractions that might follow on a Disputable Title upon a full Consultation with the Cardinals having also heard the Opinions of Divines and Canonists Deputed for his Legate to concur with the Cardinal of York either together or the one being hindred or unwilling severally And if they found those things that were suggested against the Bull of P. Iulius or any of them well or sufficiently proved then to declare it void and null as surreptitiously procured upon false grounds and thereupon to Annul the Marriage that had followed upon it And to give both Parties full leave to Marry again notwithstanding any Appellation or Protestation the Pope making them his Vicars with full and absolute Power and Authority empowering them also to declare the Issue begotten in the former Marriage good and legitimate if they saw cause for it The Pope binding himself to confirm whatever they should do in that process and never to revoke or repeal what they should Pronounce Declaring also that this Bull should remain in force till the Process were ended and that by no Revocation or Inhibition it should be recalled and if any such were obtained these are all declared void and null and the Legats were to proceed notwithstanding and all ended with a full Non obstante This was judged the uttermost force that could be in a Bull Though the Civilians would scarce allow any validity at all in these extravagant Clauses but the most material thing in this Bull is that it seems the King was not fully resolved to declare his Daughter illegitimate Whether he pretended this to mitigate the Queens or the Emperors opposition or did really intend it is not clear But what he did afterwards in Parliament shews he had this deep in his thoughts though the Queens Carriage did soon after provoke him to pursue his resentments against her Daughter The French King did also joyn a most earnest Letter of his to the Pope
at Rome to see it fall on him So in Easter-week he was ordered to go North though he had a great mind to have stayed at Richmond which the King had given him in Exchange for Hampton-Court that he had also built But that was too near the Court and his enemies had a mind to send him further from it Accordingly he went to Cawood in York-shire in which journey it appears that the ruins of his state were considerable for he travelled thither with an 160 horse in his train and 72 Carts following him with his houshold stuff To Conclude his story all at once he was in November the next year seized on by the Earl of Northumberland who attached him for high Treason and committed him to the keeping of the Lieutenant of the Tower who was ordered to bring him up to London And even â—hen he had gracious messages from the King but these did not work much on him for whether it was that he knew himself guilty of some secret Practises with the Pope or with the Emperor which yet he denyed to the last or whether he could no longer stand under the Kings displeasure and that change of condition he was so cast down that on his way to London he sickened at Sheffield Park in the Earl of Shrewsburies house from whence by slow journeys he went as far as Leicester where after some days languishing he dyed and at the last made great Protestations of his having served the King faithfully and that he had little regarded the service of God to do him pleasure but if he had served God as he had done him he would not have given him over so as he did in his gray hairs And he desired the King to reflect on all his past services and in particular in his weighty matter for by that phrase they usually spoke of the Kings Divorce and then he would find in his Conscience whether he had offended him or not He dyed the 28 of November 1530. and was the greatest Instance that several Ages had shown of the Variety and Inconstancy of Humane things both in his rise and fall and by his temper in both it appears he was unworthy of his greatness and deserved what he suffered But to conclude all that is to be said of him I shall add what the writer of his life ends it with Here is the end and fall of Pride and Arrogance for I assure you in his time he was the haughtiest man in all his proceedings alive having more respect to the honour of his Person than he had to his Spiritual Profession wherein should be shewed all meekness and charity But now with the change of this great Minister there followed a change of Counsels and therefore the King resolved to hold a Parliament that he might meet his people and establish such a good understanding between himself and them that he might have all secured at home and then he resolved to proceed more confidently abroad There had been no Parliament for seven years but the blame of that and of every other miscarriage falling naturally on the disgraced Minister he did not doubt that he should be able to give his people full satisfaction in that and in every thing else So a Parliament was summoned to meet the 3d of November And there among several other Laws that were made for the publick good of the Kingdom there were Bills sent up by the House of Commons against some of the most exorbitant abuses of the Clergy one was against the Exactions for the Probates of Wills another was for the Regulating of Mortuaries a third was about the Plurality of Benefices and non-residence and Churchmens being Farmers of Lands In the passing of these Bills there were severe reflections made on the vices and corruptions of the Clergy of that time which were believed to flow from men that favoured Luthers Doctrine in their hearts When these Bills were brought up to the House of Lords the Bishop of Rochester speaking to them did reflect on the House of Commons saying that they were resolved to bring down the Church and he desired they would consider the miserable state of the Kingdom of Bohemia to which it was reduced by Heresie and ended that all this was for lack of Faith But this being afterwards known to the House of Commons they sent their speaker Sr. Thomas Audley with 30 of their members to complain to the King of the Bishop of Rochester for saying that their Acts flowed from the want of Faith which was an high Imputation on the whole Nation when the Representative of the Commons was so charged as if they had been Infidels and Heathens This was set on by the Court to mortifie that Bishop who was unacceptable to them for his adhering so firmly to the Queens cause The King sent for the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and six other Bishops and before them told the complaint of the Commons But the Bishop of Rochester excused himself and said he only meant of the Kingdom of Bohemia when he said all flowed from the want of Faith and did not at all intend the House of Commons This Explanation the King sent by the Treasurer of his houshold Sr. Will. Fitz-Williams But though the matter was passed over yet they were not at all satisfied with it so that they went on laying open the abuses of the Clergy In the House of Peers great opposition was made to the Bills and the Clergy both within and without doors did defame them and said these were the ordinary beginnings of Heresie to complain of Abuses and pretend Reformation on purpose to disgrace the Clergy from which Heresie took it's chief strength And the Spiritual Lords did generally oppose them the Temporal Lords being no less earnest to have them passed The Cardinal was admitted to sit in the House where he showed himself as submissive in his fauning as he had formerly done in his scorn and contempt of all who durst oppose him But the King set the Bills forward and in the end they were agreed to by the Lords and had the Royal Assent The King intended by this to let the Pope see what he could do if he went on to offend him and how willingly his Parliament would concur with him if it went to extremities He did also endear himself much to the People by relieving them from the oppressions of the Clergy But the Clergy lost much by this means for these Acts did not only lessen their present profits but did open the way for other things that were more to their detriment afterward Their opposing of this and all other motions for Reformation did very much encrease the prejudices that were conceived against them whereas if such motions had either risen from themselves or had at least been cherished by them their Adversaries had not perhaps been so favourably heard so fatally did they mistake their true Interest when they thought they were concerned
to link with it all abuses and corruptions But there past another Bill in this Parliament which because of its singular nature and that it was not printed with the other Statutes shall be found in the Collection of Instruments at the end The Bill bore in a Preamble the highest flattery that could be put in Paper of the great things the King had done for the Church and Nation in which he had been at vast Charges and that divers of the Supjects had lent great Sums of Money which had been all well employed in the publick Service and whereas they had Security for their Payment the Parliament did offer all these Sums so lent to the King and discharged him of all the obligations or assignations made for their payment and of all Suits that might arise thereupon This was brought into the House by the Kings Servants who enlarged much on the wealth and peace of the Nation notwithstanding the wars the King always making his enemies Countrey the scene of them and shew'd that for fourteen years the King had but one Subsidy from his people that now he asked nothing for any other purpose but only to be discharged of a Debt contracted for the publick the accounts whereof were shown by which they might see to what uses the Money so raised had been applyed But there were several ends in passing this Bill those of the Court did not only intend to deliver the King from a charge by it but also to ruin all the Cardinals friends and creatures whom he had caused every-where to advance great Sums for an Example to others Others in the house that were convinced that the Act was unjust in it self yet did easily give way to it that they might effectually for the future discredit that way of raising Money by Loans as judging it to be the publick Interest of the Kingdom that no sums of Money should be raised but by Parliament So this Act passed and occasioned great Murmuring among all them that suffered by it But to qualify the general discontent the King gave a free pardon to his Subjects for all offences some Capital ones only excepted as is usual in such cases and to keep the Clergy under the Lash all transgressions against the Statutes of Provisors and Premunire were excepted in which they were all involved as will afterwards appear There are two other exceptions in this Pardon not fit to be omitted the one is of the pulling or digging down Crosses on the high wayes which shews what a Spirit was then stirring among the people the other is of the Forfeitures that accrued to the King by the Prosecution against Cardinal Wolsey that is the Cardinals Colledge in Oxford with the Lands belonging to it which are excepted upon which the Dean and Canons resigned their Lands to the King the Original of which is yet extant But the King founded the Colledge a-new soon after All this was done both to keep the Clergy quiet and to engage them to use what Interest they had in the Court of Rome to dispose the Pope to use the King better in his great Suit After those Acts were passed on the 17 of December the Parliament was prorogued till April following yet it did not sit till Ianuary after that being continued by several Prorogations There had been great industry used in carrying Elections for the Parliament and they were so successful that the King was resolved to continue it for some time This great business being happily over the Kings thoughts turned next to affairs beyond Sea The whole world was not at peace The Pope and the Emperor as was said before had made an Alliance on terms of such advantage to the Pope that as the Emperor did fully repair all past injuries so he laid new and great obligations on him for he engaged that he would assist him in the recovery of his Towns and that he would restore his Family to the Government of Florence and invest his Nephew in it with the Title of Duke to whose Son he would Marry his own natural Daughter and that he would hold the Kingdom of Naples of the Papacy These were the Motives that directed the Popes conscience so infallibly in the Kings business Not long after that in August an other Peace was made in Cambray between the Emperor and the French King and Lady Margaret the Emperors Aunt and Regent of Flanders where the King first found the hollowness of the French friendship and alliance for he was not so much considered in it as he expected and he clearly perceived that Francis would not embroyl his own affairs to carry on his Divorce The Emperor went over into Italy and met the Pope at Bononia where he was Crowned with great Magnificence The Pope and he lodged together in the same Palace and there appeared such signs of a familiar friendship between them that the Kings Ambassadors did now clearly perceive that they were firmly united The Emperor did also by a rare mixture of Generosity and Prudence restore the Dutchie of Milan to Francis Sforza By this he setled the Peace of Italy nothing holding out but Florence which he knew would be soon reduced when there was no hope of succour from France and accordingly after eleven Months Siege it was taken and within a year after Alexander de Medici was made Duke of it About the time that the Emperor came to Bononia news was brought that the Turk was forced to raise the Siege of Vienna so that all things concurred to raise his glory very high At Bononia he would needs receive the two Crowns of the Roman Empire that of Milan and that of Rome which was done with all the Magnificence possible the Pope himself saying Mass both in Latine and Greek There is one ceremony of the Coronation fit to be taken notice of in this work that the Emperor was first put in the habit of a Canon of Sancta Maria de la Torre in Rome and after that in the habit of a Deacon to make him be look't on as an Ecclesiastical person This had risen out of an Extravagant vanity of the Court of Rome who devised such rites to raise their reputation so high that on the greatest solemnity the Emperor should appear in the habit of the lowest of the Sacred orders by which he must know that Priests and Bishops are above him When the Pope and he first met the ceremony of kissing the Popes foot was much look't for and the Emperor very gently kneel'd to pay that submission but the Pope whether it was that he thought it was no more seasonable to expect such Complements or more signally to oblige the Emperor did humble himself so far as to draw in his foot and kiss his cheek But now the Divorce was to be managed in another method and therefore Cranmer after he had discoursed with the King about that Proposition which was formerly mentioned was commanded by him to write
the Father Son Uncle and other such Relations there is no ground to disjoynt this so much from the rest as to make it only extend to a Marriage before the Husbands death And for any Presidents that were brought they were all in the latter Ages and were never Confirmed by any publick Authority Nor must the Practices of later Popes be laid in the Ballance against the Decisions of former Popes and the Doctrine of the whole Church and as to the Power that was ascribed to the Pope that began now to be enquired into with great Freedom as shall appear afterwards These Reasons on both sides being thus opened the Censures of them it is like will be as different now as they were then for they prevailed very little on the Queen who still persisted to justifie her Marriage and to stand to her Appeal And though the King carryed it very kindly to her in all outward appearance and employed every body that had credit with her to bring her to submit to him and to pass from her Appeal remitting the Decision of the matter to any Four Prelates and Four Secular men in England she was still unmovable and would hearken to no Proposition In the judgments that people passed the Sexes were divided the Men generally approved the Kings cause and the Women favoured the Queen But now the Session of Parliament came on the Sixteenth of Ianuary and there the King first brought in to the House of Lords the Determination of the Universities and the Books that were written for his cause by Forreigners After they were read and Considered there the Lord Chancellor did on the 20th of March with Twelve Lords both of the Spiritualty and Temporalty goe down to the House of Commons and shewed them what the Universities and Learned men beyond Sea had written for the Divorce and produced Twelve Original Papers with the Seals of the Universities to them which Sr. Brian Tuke took out of his hand and read openly in the House Translating the Latine into English Then about an Hundred Books written by Forreign Divines for the Divorce were also showed them none of which were read but put off to another time it being late When that was done the Lord Chancellor desired they would report in their Countries what they had heard and seen and then all men should clearly perceive that the King hath not attempted this matter of Will and Pleasure as strangers say but only for the Discharge of his Conscience and the Security of the Succession to the Crown Having said that he left the House The matter was also brought before the Convocation and they having weighed all that was said on both sides seemed satisfied that the Marriage was unlawful and that the Bull was of no force more not being required at that time But it is not strange that this matter went so easily in the Convocation when another of far greater consequence passed there which will require a â—ull and distinct account Cardinal Wolsey by exercising his Legantine Authority had fallen into a Premunire as hath been already shewn and now those who had appeared in his Courts and had sutes there were found to be likewise in the same guilt by the Law and this matter being excepted out of the Pardon that was granted in the former Parliament was at this time set on foot Therefore an Indictment was brought into the Kings Bench against all the Clergy of England for breaking the Statutes against Provisions or Provisors But to open this more clearly It is to be Considered that the Kings of England having claimed in all Ages a Power in Ecclesiastical Matters equal to what the Roman Emperors had in that Empire they exercised this Authority both over the Clergy and Laity and did at first erect Bishopricks grant Investitures in them call Synods make Laws about Sacred as well as Civil Concerns and in a word they Governed their whole Kingdom Yet when the Bishops of Rome did stretch their Power beyond either the limits of it in the Primitive Church or what was afterward granted them by the Roman Emperors and came to assume an Authority in all the Churches of Europe as they found some Resistance every where so they met with a great deal in this Kingdom and it was with much Difficulty that they gained the Power of giving Investitures Receiving Appeals to Rome and of sending Legates to England with several other things which were long contested but were delivered up at length either by feeble Princes or when Kings were so engaged at home or abroad that it was not safe for them to offend the Clergy For in the first Contest between the Kings and the Popes the Clergy were generally on the Popes side because of the Immunity and Protection they enjoyed from that See but when Popes became ambitious and warlike Princes then new Projects and Taxes were every where set on foot to raise a great Treasure The Pall with many Bulls and high Compositions for them Annates or first Fruits and Tenths were the standing Taxes of the Clergy besides many new ones upon emergent occasions So that they finding themselves thus oppressed by the Popes fled again back to the Crown for Protection which their Predecessors had abandoned From the days of Edward the 1st many Statutes were made to restrain the Exactions of Rome For then the Popes not satisfied with their other oppressions which a Monk of that time lays open fully and from a deep sense of them did by Provisions Bulls and other Arts of that See dispose of Bishopricks Abbeys and lesser Benefices to Forreigners Cardinals and others that did not live in England Upon which the Commonalty of the Realm did represent to the King in Parliament That the Bishopricks Abbeys and other Benefices were founded by the Kings and people of England To inform the people of the Law of God and to make Hospitality Alms and other works of Charity for which end they were endowed by the King and people of England and that the King and his other Subjects who endowed them had upon Voidances the Presentment and Collations of them which now the Pope had Usurped and given to Aliens by which the Crown would be disinherited and the ends of their endowments destroyed with other great Inconveniences Therefore it was ordained that these Oppressions should not be suffered in any manner But notwithstanding this the abuse went on and there was no effectual way laid down in the Act to punish these Transgressions The Court of Rome was not so easily driven out of any thing that either encreased their Power or their Profits Therefore by another Act in his Grand-Child Edward the 3ds time the Commons complained that these abuses did abound and that the Pope did daily reserve to his Collation Church-Preferments in England and raised the first-Fruits with other great Profits by which the Treasure of the Realm was carried out of it
necessity of making another Law in the Reign of Henry 5th against Provisors that the Incumbents Lawfully Invested in their Livings should not be molested by them though they had the Kings Pardon and both Bulls and Licences were declared void and of no value and those who did upon such grounds molest them should incur the pains of the Statutes against Provisors Our Kings took the best opportunity that ever could have been found to depress the Papal Power for from the beginning of Richard the Second's Reign till the Fourth year of Henry the Fiâ—th the Popedome was broken by a long and great Schism and the Kinâ—doms of Europe were divided in their Obedience Some holding for those that sate at Rome and others for the Popes of Avignon England in opposition to France that chiefly supported the Avignon-Popes did adhere to the Roman Popes The Papacy being thus divided the Popes were as much at the mercy of Kings for their Protection as Kings had formerly been at theirs so that they durst not Thunder as they were wont to do otherwise this Kingdom had certainly been put under Excommunications and Interdicts for these Statutes as had been done formerly upon less Provocations But now that the Schism was healed Pope Martin the Fifth began to reassume the Spirit of his Predecessors and sent over threatning messages to England in the beginning of Henry the Sixths Reign None of our Books have taken any notice of this piece of our History The Manuscript out of which I draw it had been written near that time and contains many of the Letters that passed between Rome and England upon this occasion The first Letter is to Henry Chichely then Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who had been promoted to that See by the Pope but had made no opposition to the Statute against Provisions in the Fourth year of Henry the Fifth and afterwards in the Eighth year of his Reign when the Pope had granted a Provision of the Arch-Bishoprick of York to the Bishop of Lincoln the Chapter of York rejected it and pursuant to the former Statute made a Canonical Election Henry the Fifth being then the greatest King in Christendome the Pope durst not offend him So the Law took place without any further contradiction till the Sixth year of his Sons Reign that England was both under an Infant King and had fallen from its former greatness Therefore the Pope who waited for a good conjuncture laid hold on this and first expostulated severely with the Arch-Bishop for his remisness that he had not stood up more for the Right of St. Peter and the See of Rome that had bestowed on him the Primaâ—y of England and then says many things against the Statute of Premunire and exhorts him to imitate the Example of his Predecessor St. Thomas of Canterbury the Martyr in asserting the Rights of the Church requiring him under the pain of Excommunication to declare at the next Parliament to both Houses the unlawfulness of that Statute and that all were under Excommunication who obeyed it But to make sure work among the people he also commands him to give orders under the same pains that all the Clergy of England should preach the same Doctrine to the people This bears date the 5th day of December 1426. and will be found in the Collection of Papers But it seems the Pope was not satisfied with his Answer for the next Letter in that MSS. is yet more severe and in it his Legantine Power is suspended It has no date added to it but the Paper that follows bearing date the 6th of April 1427. leads us pretty near the date of it It contains an Appeal of the Arch-Bishops from the Popes Sentence to the next general Council or if none met to the Tribunal of God and Jesus Christ. There is also another Letter dated the 6th of May directed to the Arch-Bishop and makes mention of Letters written to the whole Clergie to the same purpose Requiring him to use all his Endeavors for repealing the Statute and chides him severely because he had said that the Popes zeal in this matter was only that he might raise much Money out of England which he resents as an high Injury and Protests that he designed only to maintain these Rights that Christ himself had granted to his See which the Holy Fathers the Councils and the Catholick Church has always acknowledged If this does not look like Teaching ex Cathedra it is left to the Readers Judgment But the next Letter is of an higher strain It is directed to the two Arch-Bishops only and it seems in despite to Chichely the Arch-Bishop of York is named before Canterbury By it the Pope annuls the Statutes made by Edward the Third and Richard the Second and commands them to do no Act in pursuance of them and declares if they or any other gave obedience to them they were ipso facto Excommunicated and not to be relaxed unless at the point of death by any but the Pope He charges them also to intimate that his Monitory Letter to the whole nation and cause it to be affixed in the several places where there might be occasion for it This is dated the 8th of Decemb. the tenth year of his Popedom Then follow Letters from the University of Oxford the Arch-Bishop of York the Bishops of London Duresm and Lincoln to the Pope all to mitigate his displeasure against the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in which they gave him the highest testimony possible bearing date the 10th and the 25th day of Iuly These the Arch-Bishop sent by an Express to Rome and wrote the humblest submission possible to the Pope Protesting that he had done and would do all that was in his Power for repealing these Statutes One thing in this Letter is remarkable he says he hears the Pope had proceeded to a Sentence against him which had never been done from the days of St. Austin to that time but he knew that only by report for he had not opened much less read the Bulls in which it was contained being commanded by the King to bring them with the Seals entire and lay them up in the Paper-Office till the Parliament was brought together There are two other Letters to the King and one to the Parliament for the Repeal of the Statute In those to the King the Pope writes that he had often pressed both King and Parliament to it and that the King had answered that he could not repeal it without the Parliament But he excepts to that as a delaying the business and shews it is of it self unlawful and that the King was under Excommunication as long as he kept it therefore he expects that at the furthest in the next Parliament it should be repealed It bears date the 13th of October in the 10th year of his Popedom In his Letter to the Parliament he tells them that no Man can be saved who is for the observation of that Statute
they were not included and therefore prayed the King that they might be comprehended within it But the King answered them That they must not restrain his Mercy nor yet force it it was free to him either to execute or mitigate the Severity of the Law That he might well grant his Pardon by his Great-Seal without their assent but he would be well advised before he pardoned them because he would not seem to be compelled to it So they went away and the House was in some trouble many blamed Cromwell who was growing in favour for this rough answer yet the King's Pardon was passed But his other concerns made him judge it very unfit to send away his Parliament discontented and since he was so easie to them as to ask no Subsidy he had no mind to offend them and therefore when the thing was over and they out of hopes of it he of his own accord sent another Pardon to all his Temporal Subjects of their Transgressons of the Statutes of Provisors and Premunire which they received with great joy and acknowledged there was a just Temperature of Majesty and Clemency in the Kings proceedings During this Session of Parliament an unheard-of Crime was committed by one Richard Rouse a Cook who on the 16th of February Poisoned a Vessell of Yest that was to be used in Porridge in the Bishop of Rochester's Kitchin with which 17 Persons of his Family were mortally infected and one of the Gentlemen died of it and some poor People that were Charitably fed with the remainder of it were also infected one woman dying The Person was Apprehended and by Act of Parliament Poisoning was declared Treason and Rouse was attainted and Sentenced to be Boyled to death which was to be the punishment of Poisoning for all times to come That the Terror of this unheard-of Punishment might strike a Horror in all Persons at such an unexampled Crime And the Sentence was Executed in Smithfield soon after Of this I take Notice the rather because of Sander's Malice who says this Rouse was set on by Anne Boleyn to make away the Bishop of Rochester of which there is nothing on Record nor does any Writer of that time so much as insinuate it But persons that are set on â—o commit such Crimes are usually either conveighed out of the way or secretly dispatched that they may not be brought to an open Trial. And it is not to be imagined That a man that was employed by them that might have preferred him and found himself given up and adjudged to such a death would not have published their names who set him on to have lessened his own Guilt by casting the load upon them that had both employed and deserted him But this must pass among the many other vile Calumnies of which Sanders has been the inventer or publisher and for which he had already answered to his Judg. When the Session of Parliament was over the King continued to ply the Queen with all the applications he could think of to depart from her Appeal He grew very Melancholy and used no sort of Diversion but was observed to be very pensive Yet nothing could prevail with the Queen She answered the Lords of the Council when they pressed her much to it That she prayed God to send the King a quiet Conscience but that she was his lawful Wife and would abide by it till the Court of Rome declared the contrary Upon which the King forbore to see her or to receive any Tokens from her and sent her word to choose where she had a mind to live in any of his Mannours She answered that to which place soever she were removed nothing could remove her from being his Wife Upon this answer the King left her at Windsor the 14th of Iuly and never saw her more She removed first to Moor then to Easthamstead and at last to Ampthill where she stayed longer The Clergy went now about the raising of the 100000 l. which they were to pay in five years and to make it easier to themselves the Prelates had a great mind to draw in the Inferiour Clergy to bear a part of the burden The Bishop of London called a meeting of some Priests about London on the 1st of September to the Chapter-House at St. Pauls He designed to have had at first only a small number among whom he hoped it would easily pass and that being done by a few others would more willingly follow But the matter was not so secretly carried but that all the Clergy about the City hearing of it went thither They were not a little encouraged by many of the Laity who thought it no unpleasant diversion to see the Clergy fall out among themselves So when they came to the Chapter-House on the day appointed the Bishop's Officers would only admit some few to enter but the rest forced the door and rushed in and the Bishop's Servants were beaten and ill used But the Bishop seeing the tumult was such that it could not be easily quieted told them all That as the State of men in this life was frail so the Clergy through frailty and want of wisdom had misdemeaned themselves towards the King and had fallen in a Premunire for which the King of his great Clemency was pleased to Pardon them and to accept of a little in stead of the whole of their Benefices which by the Law had fallen into his hand Therefore he desired they would patiently bear their share in this burden But they answered They had never medled with any of the Cardinals Faculties and so had not fallen in the P remunire and that their Livings were so small that they could hardly subsist by them Therefore since the Bishops and Abbots were only Guilty and had good Preferments they only ought to be punished and pay the Tax but that for themselves they needed not the Kings Pardon and so would pay nothing for it Upon which the Bishop's Officers threatned them but they on the other hand being encouraged by some Lay-men that came along with them persisted in their denyal to pay any thing so that from high words the matter came to blows and several of the Bishop's Servants were ill handled by them But he to prevent a further Tumult apprehending it might end upon himself gave them good words and dismissed the meeting with his blessing and promised that nothing should be brought in Question that was then done Yet he was not so good as his word for he complained of it to the Lord Chancellor who was always a great Favourer of the Clergy by whose order fifteen Priests and five Lay-men were committed to several Prisons but whether the Inferiour Clergy pay'd their proportion of the Tax or not I have not been able to discover This year the State of Affairs beyond-Sea changed very considerably The Pope expected not only to recover Florence to his Family by the Emperors means but also to wrest
Modena and Reggio from the Duke of Ferrara to which he pretended as being Fiefs of the Papacy and the Emperor having engaged by the former Treatyto restore them to him But now that the Popes pretensions were appointed to be examined by some Judges delegated by the Emperor they determined against the Pope for the Duke of Ferrara which so disgusted the Pope that he fell totally from the Emperor and did unite with the King of France a Match being also projected between the Duke of Orleance afterwards Henry the 2d and his Neece Catharine de Medici which did work much on the Popes ambition to have his Family Allied to so mighty a Monarch So that now he became wholly French The French King was also on account of this Marriage to resigne all the pretensions he had to any Territory in Italy to his younger Son which as it would give less-Umbrage to the other Princes of Italy who liked rather to have a King 's younger Son among them than either the Emperor or the French King so the Pope was wonderfully pleased to raise another great Prince in Italy out of his own Family On these grounds was the Match at this time designed which afterwards took effect but with this difference that by the Dolphin's death the Duke of Orleance became King of France and his Queen made the greatest Figure that any Queen of France had done for many Ages This change in the Popes mind might have produced another in the Kings Affairs if he had not already gone so far that he was less in fear of the Pope than formerly He found the Credit of his Clergy was so low that to preserve themselves from the contempt and fury of the people they were forced to depend wholly on the Crown For Lutheranisme was then making a great progress in England of which I shall say nothing here being resolved at the end of this Book to give an account of the whole Course of it in those years that fall within this time But what by the means of the new Preachers what by the scandals cast on the Clergy they were all at the Kings Mercy so he did not fear much from them especially in the Southern parts which were the richest and best peopled Therefore the King went on resolutely The Pope on the other hand was in great perplexity he saw England ready to be lost and knew not what to do to rescue or preserve it If he gave way to what was lately done in the business of the Premunire he must thereby lose the greatest advantages he drew from that Nation and it was not likely that after the King had gone so far he would undo what was done The Emperor was more remiss in prosecuting the Queens Appeal at Rome for at that time the Turk with a most numerous and powerful Army was making an impression on Hungary which to the great scandal of the most Christian King was imputed to his Councils and Presents at the Port and all the Emperor's thoughts were taken up with this Therefore as he gave the Protestant Princes of Germany some present satisfaction in Religion and other matters so he sent over to England and desired the Kings assistance against that vast Army of 300000 men that was falling in upon Christendom To this the King made a general answer that gave some hopes of assisting him But at the same time the Protestant Princes resolving to draw some advantage from that conjuncture of Affairs and being courted by the French King entred into a League with him for the defence of the Rights of the Empire And to make this firmer the King was invited by the French King to joyn in it to which he consented and sent over to France a sum of Money to be employed â—or the safety of the Empire And this provoked the Emperor to renew his endeavours in the Court of Rome for prosecuting the Queens Appeal The French King encouraged the King to go on with his Divorce that he might totally Alienate him from the Emperor The French Writers also add another Consideration which seems unworthy of so great a King that he himself being at that time so publick a Courtier of Ladies was not ill pleased to set forward a thing of that nature But though Princes allow themselves their pleasures yet they seldom Govern their Affairs by such Maximes In the beginning of the next year a new Session of Parliament was held in which the House of Commons went on to complain of many other grievances they lay under from the Clergy which they put in a writing and Presented it to the King In it they complained of the proceedings in the Spiritual Courts and especially their calling men before them ex officio and laying Articles to their charge without any Accuser and then admitting no Purgation but causing the Party Accused either to abjure or to be burnt which they found very grievous and intollerable This was occasioned by some violent proceeding against some reputed Hereticks of which an account shall be given afterwards But those complaints were stifled and great misunderstandings arose between the King and the House of Commons upon this following occasion There was a common practice in England of mens making such Setlements of their Estates by their Last Wills or other Deeds that the King and some great Lords were thereby defrauded of the advantages they made by Wards Marriages and Primer Season For regulating which a Bill was brought in to the House of Peers and assented to there but when it was sent down to the House of Commons it was rejected by them and they would neither pass the Bill nor any other Qualification of that Abuse This gave the King great offence and the House when they addressed to him about the proceedings of the Clergy also prayed That he would consider what Cost Charge and Pains they had been at since the beginning of the Parliament and that it would please his Grace of his Princely Benignity to Dissolve his Court of Parliament and that his Subjects might return into their Countries To which the King answered That for their complaints of the Clergy he must hear them also before he could give Judgment since in Justice he ought to hear both Parties but that their desiring the Redress of such Abuses was contrary to the other part of their Petition for if the Parliament were Dissolved how could those things they complained of be amended And as they complained of their long attendance so the King had stayed as long as they had done and yet he had still patience and so they must have otherwise their grievances would be without Redress But he did expostulate severely upon their rejecting the Bill about Deeds in prejudice of the Rights of the Crown He â—aid he had offered them a great mitigation of what by the rigour of the Law he might pretend to and if they would not accept of it he would
try the outmost severity that the Law allowed and would not offer them such a favour again Yet all this did not prevail for the Act was rejected and their complaint against the Clergy was also laid aside and the Parliament was Prorogued till April next In this Parliament the Foundation of the Breach that afterwards followed with Rome was laid by an Act for restraining the payment of Annates to that Court which since it is not Printed with the other Statutes shall be found in the end of this Volume The substance of it is as follows That great Sums of Money had been conveyed out of the Kingdom under the Title of Annates or first Fruits to the Court of Rome which they extorted by restraint of Bulls and other writs that it happened often by the frequent deaths of Arch-Bishops and Bishops to turn to the utter undoing of their Friends who had advanced those Sums for them These Annates were founded on no Law for they had no other way of obliging the Incumbents of Sees to pay them but by restraining their Bulls The Parliament therefore considering that these were first begun to be payed to defend Christendome against Infidels but were now turned to a duty claimed by that Court against all Right and Conscience and that vast Sums were carryed away upon that account which from the Second year of King Henry the 7th to that present time amounted to 800000 Ducats besides many other heavy Exactions of that Court did declare that the King was bound by his Duty to Almighty God as a good Christian Prince to hinder these oppressions And that the rather because many of the Prelates were then very Aged and like to die in a short time whereby vast Sums of Money should be carryed out of England to the great Impoverishing of the Kingdom And therefore all payments of first Fruits to the Court of Rome were put down and for ever restrained under the pains of the forfeiture of the Lands Goods and Chattels of him that should pay them any more together with the Profits of his See during the time that he was vested with it And in case Bulls were restrained in the Court of Rome any person presented to a Bishoprick should be notwithstanding Consecrated by the Arch-Bishop of the Province or if he were presented to an Arch-Bishoprick by any two Bishops in the Kingdom whom the King should appoint for that end and that being so Consecrated they should be Invested and enjoy all the Rights of their Sees in full and ample manner yet that the Pope and Court of Rome might have no just cause of Complaint the persons presented to Bishopricks are allowed to pay them 5 lib. for the Hundred of the clear Profits and Revenues of their several Sees But the Parliament not willing to go to extremities Remitted the final ordering of that Act to the King that if the Pope would either charitably and reasonably put down the payment of Annates or so moderate them that they might be a tolerable burden the King might at any time before Easter 1533. or before the next Session of Parliament declare by his Letters Patents whether the premises or any part of them should be observed or not which should give them the full force and Authority of a Law And that if upon this Act the Pope should vex the King or any of his Subjects by E xommunications or other Censures these notwithstanding the King should cause the Sacraments and other Rites of the Church to be administred and that none of these Censures might be published or Executed This Bill began in the House of Lords from them it was sent to the Commons and being agreed to by them received the Royal Assent but had not that final Confirmation mentioned in the Act before the 9th of Iuly 1533. and then by Letters Patents in which the Act is at length recited it was confirmed But now I come to open the final Conclusion of the Kings Suit at Rome On the 25th of Ianuary the Pope wrote to the King that he heard reports which he very unwillingly believed that he had put away his Queen and kept one Anne about him as his Wife which as it gave much Scandal so it was an high Contempt of the Apostolick See to do such a thing while his Suit was still depending notwithstanding a Prohibition to the contrary Therefore the Pope remembring his former merits which were now like to be clouded with his present Carriage did exhort him to take home his Queen and to put Anne away and not to continue to provoke the Emperor and his Brother by so high an Indignity nor to break the General peace of Christendome which was its only security against the Power of the Turk What answer the King made to this I do not find but instead of that I shall set down the Substance of a Dispatch which the King sent to Rome about this time drawn from a Copy of it to which the date is not added But it being an answer to a Letter he received from the Pope the 7th of October it seems to have been written about this time and it concluding with a Credence to an Ambassador I judge it was sent by Doctor Bennet who was dispatched to Rome in Ianuary 1532. to shew the Pope the Opinions of Learned men and of the Universities with their Reasons The Letter will be found in the end of this Volume the Contents of it are to this purpose The Pope had writ to the King in order to the clearing all his scruples and to give him quiet in his Conscience of which the King takes notice and is sorry that both the Pope and himself were so deceived in that matter the Pope by trusting to the judgments of others and writing whatever they suggested and the King by depending so much on the Pope and in vain expecting remedy from him so long He imputes the mistakes that were in the Popes Letters which he says had things in them contrary both to Gods Law and Mans Law to the Ignorance and rashness of his Councellors for which himself was much to be blamed since he rested on their advice and that he had not carryed himself as became Christs Vicar but had dealt both unconstantly and deceitfully for when the Kings cause was first opened to him and all things that Related to it were explained he had Granted a Commission with a promise not to recall it but to confirm the Sentence which the Legates should give and a Decretal was sent over defining the cause If these were justly granted it was unjustice to revoke them but if they were justly revoked it was unjust to grant them So he presses the Pope that either he could grant these things or he could not If he could do it where was the Faith which became a Friend much more a Pope since he had broke these promises But if he said he could not do them had he
not then just cause to distrust all that came from him when at one time he condemned what he had allowed at another So that the King saw clearly he did not Consider the ease of his Conscience but other worldly respects that had put him on Consulting so many Learned men whose judgments differed much from those few that were about the Pope who thought the Prohibition of such Marriages was onely positive and might be dispensed with by the Pope whereas all other Learned men thought the Law was Moral and indispensable He perceived the Apostolick See was destitute of that Learning by which it should be directed and the Pope had oft professed his own Ignorance and that he spake by other mens mouths but many Universities in England France and Italy had declared the Marriage unlawful and the Dispensation null None honoured the Apostolick See more than he had done and therefore he was sorry to write such things if he could have been silent If he should obey the Popes Letters he would offend God and his own Conscience and give scandal to those who condemned his Marriage he did not willingly dissent from him without a very urgent cause that he might not seem to despise the Apostolick See therefore he desired the Pope would forgive the freedom that he used since it was the Truth that drew it from him And he added that he intended not to Impugn the Popes Authority further except he compelled him and what he did was only to bring it within its first and Ancient Limits to which it was better to reduce it than to let it always run on headlong and do amiss therefore he desired the Pope would Conform himself to the opinions of so many Learned men and do his Duty and Office The Letter ends with a Credence to the Ambassador The Pope seeing his Authority was declining in England resolved now to do all he could to recover it either by force or Treaty and so ordered a Citation to be made of the King to appear in Person or by Proxie at Rome to answer to the Queens appeal upon which Sir Edward Karne was sent to Rome with a new Character of Excusatour His Instructions were to take the best Counsel for pleading an Excuse of the Kings appearance at Rome First upon the grounds that might be found in the Canon Law and these not being sufficient he was to Insist on the Prerogatives of the Crown of England Doctor Bonner went with him who had expressed much zeal in the Kings cause though his great zeal was for Preferment which by the most servile ways he always Courted He was a forward bold man and since there were many Threatnings to be used to the Pope and Cardinals he was thought fittest for the employment but was neither Learned nor discreet They came to Rome in March where they found great heats in the Consistory about the Kings business The Imperialists pressed the Pope to proceed but all the wise and indifferent Cardinals were of another mind And when they understood what an Act was passed about Annates they saw clearly that the Parliament was resolved to adhere to the King in every thing he intended to do against their Interests The Pope expostulated with the Ambassadors about it but they told him the Act was still in the Kings Power and except he provoked him he did not intend to put it in execution The Ambassadors finding the Cardinal of Ravenna of so great reputation both for Learning and Vertue that in all matters of that kind his opinion was heard as an Oracle and gave Law to the whole Consistory they resolved to gain him by all means possible And Doctor Bennet made a secret address to him and offered him what Bishoprick either in France or England he would desire if he would bring the Kings matter to a good issue He was at first very shie at length he said he had been oft deceived by many Princes who had made him great Promises but when their business was ended never thought of performing them therefore he would be sure and so drave a Bargain and got under Doctor Bennets hand a promise of which a Copy being sent to the King written by Bennet himself will be found at the end of this Volume Bearing that he having Powers from the King for that effect dated the 29th of December last did promise the Cardinal for his help in the Kings affair Monasteries or other Benefices in France to the value of 6000 Ducates a year and the first Bishoprick that fell vacant in England and if it were not Ely that when ever that See was vacant upon his resigning the other he should be provided with the Bishoprick of Ely dated at Rome the 7th of February 1532. This I set down as one of the most Considerable Arguments that could be used to satisfie the Cardinals Conscience about the justice of the Kings cause This Cardinal was the fittest to work secretly for the King for he had appeared visible against him I find also by other Letters that both the Cardinals of Anâ—ona and Monte afterwards Pope Iulius the 3d were prevailed with by arguments of the same nature though I cannot find cut what the Bargains were Providellus that was accounted the greatest Canonist in Italy was brought from Bononia and entertained by the Ambassadors to give Counsel in the Kings cause and to plead his Excuse from appearing at Rome The plea was summed up in 28 Articles which were offered to the Pope and he admitted them to be examined in the Consistory appointing three of them to be opened at a Session But the Imperialists opposed that and after fifteen of them had been heard procured a new order that they should be heard in a Congregation of Cardinals before the Pope pretending that a Consistory sitting but once a week and having a great deal of other Business it would be long before the matter could be brought to any issue So Karne was served with a new order to appear in the Congregation the 3d. of April with this Certification That if he appeared not they would proceed Upon which he protested that he would adhere to the former Order yet being warned the second time he went first and protested against it which he got entered in the Datary This being considered in the Congregation they renewed the Order ofhearing it in the Consistory on the 10th of April and then Providellus opened three Conclusions Two of them related to Karne's Powers the third was concerning the Safety of the place to both parties But the Imperialists and the Queens Council being dissatisfied with this Order would not appear Upon which Karne complained of their Contumacy and said By that it was visible they were distrustful of their Cause On the 14th of April a new intimation was made to Karne to appear on the 17th with his Advocates to open all the rest of the Conclusions but he according to the first Order would onely plead
to three of them and selected the 19 20 and 21 what these related to I find not Upon which Providellus pleaded and answered the Objections that did seem to militate against them but neither would the Imperiallists appear that Session In Iune news were brought to Rome which gave the Pope great offence A Priest had preached for the Popes Authority in England and was for that cast into prison And another Priest being put in prison by the Archbishop of Canterbury upon suspition of Heresie had appealed to the King as the Supreme Lord upon which he was taken out of the Archbishops hands and being examined in the Kings Courts was set at liberty This the Pope resented much but the Embassadors said all such things might have been prevented if the King had got Justice at the Popes hands The King also at this time desired a Bull for a Commission to erect six new Bishopricks to be endowed by Monasteries that were to be suppressed This was expedited and sent away at this time And the old Cardinal of Ravenna was so jealous that the Embassadors were forced to promise him the Bishoprick of Chester one of the new Bishopricks with which he was well satisfied having seen by a particular state of the Endowment that was designed for it what advantage it would yield him But he had declared himself so openly before against the Reasons for the Excuse that he could not serve the King in that matter but in the main Cause he undertook to do great service and so did the Cardinals De Monte and Ancona Upon the 27th of Iune the Debate was brought to a Conclusion about the Plea Excusatory and when it was expected that the Pope should have given sentence against the Articles he admitted them all Si prout de jure Upon which the Imperiallists made great Complaints The Cardinals grew weary of the length of the Debate since it took up all their time but it was told them the matter was of great importance and it had been better for them not to have proceeded so precipitately at first which had now brought them into this trouble and that the King had been at much pains and trouble on their account therefore it was unreasonable for them to complain who were put to no other trouble but to sit in their Chairs two or three hours in a week to hear the Kings Defences The Imperiallists had also occasioned the Delays though they complained of them by their Cavils and Allegations ofLaws and Decisions that never were made by which much time was spent But it was objected That the Kings Excuse for not coming to Rome because it was too remote from his Kingdom and not safe was of no force since the place was safe to his Proxy And the Cardinal of Ravenna pressed the Embassadors much to move the King instead of the Excusatory Process to send a Proxy for examining and discussing the Merits of the Cause in which it would be much easier to advance the Kings matter and that he having appeared against the King in this Process would be the less suspected in the other The business being further considered in three Sessions of the Consistory it was resolved that since the Vacation was coming on they would neither allow of nor reject the Kings Excusatory Plea but the Pope and College of Cardinals would write to the King intreating him to send a Proxy for judging the Cause against the Winter And with this Bonner was sent over with Instructions from the Cardinals that were gained to the King to represent to him that his Excusatory Plea could not be admitted for since the Debate was to be whether the Pope could grant the Dispensation or not it could not be committed to Legats but must be judged by the Pope and the Consistory He was also ordered to assure the King that the Pope did now lean so much to the French Faction that he needed not fear to refer the matter to him But while these things were in debate at Rome there was another Session of Parliament in April and then the King sent for the Speaker of the House of Commons and gave him the Answer which the Clergy had drawn to the Addresses they made in the former Session about their Courts The King himself seemed not at all pleased with it but what the House did in it does not appear further than that they were no way satisfied with it But there happened another thing that offended the King much One Temse of the House of Commons moved that they should address to the King to bring the Queen back to the Court and ran out upon the Inconveniences that were like to follow if the Queen were put away particularly the ill consequence of the Illegitimation of the Princess Upon this the King took occasion when he gave them the Clergies Answer to tell them that he wondered at that motion made in their House for the matter was not to be determined there It touched his Soul he wished his Marriage were good but the Doctors and Learned men had determined it to be null and detestable and therefore he was obliged in Conscience to abstain from her which he assured them flowed from no Lust nor foolish Appetite He was then 41 years old and at that Age those Heats abate But except in Spain or Portugal it had not been heard of that a man married two Sisters and that he never heard that any Christian man before himself had married his Brothers Wife Therefore he assured them his Conscience was troubled which he desired them to report to the House In this Session the Lord Chancellour came down to the Commons with many of the Nobility about him and told them the King had considered the Marches between England and Scotland which were uninhabited on the English side but well peopled on the Scottish and that laid England open to the Incursion of the Scots therefore the King intended to build Houses there for planting the English side This the Lords liked very well and thought it convenient to give the King some Aids for the Charges of so necessary a Work and therefore desired the Commons to consult about it Upon which the House voted a Subsidy of a Fifteenth But before the Bill could be finished the Plague broke out in London and the Parliament was prorogued till February following On the 11th of May three days before the Prorogation the King sent for the Speaker of the House of Commons and told him That he found upon Inquiry that all the Prelats whom he had looked on as wholly his Subjects were but half-Subjects for at their Consecration they swore an Oath quite contrary to the Oath they swore to the Crown so that it seemed they were the Popes Subjects rather than his Which he referred to their care that such order might be taken in it that the King might not be deluded Upon which the two Oaths that the
final Determination was to be made without any further Process and in every Process concerning the King or his Heirs and Successors an Appeal should lie to the upper House of Convocation where it should be finally Determined never to be again called in question As this Bill passed the sense of both Houses of Parliament about the Kings Marriage did clearly appear but in the Convocation the business was more fully debated The Convocation of the Province of Canterbury was at this time destitute of its Head and principal Member For Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was dead since August last year He was a great Canonist an able States-man a dextrous Courtier and a favourer of Learned men He always hated Cardinal Wolsey and would never stoop to him esteeming it below the Dignity of his See He was not so peevishly engaged to the Learning of the Schools as others were but set up and encouraged a more generous way of Knowledge yet he was a severe persecutor of them whom he thought Hereticks and enclined to believe idle and Fanatical people as will afterwards appear when the Impostures of the Maid of Kent shall be related The King saw well of how great importance it was to the designes he was then forming to fill that See with a Learned Prudent and resolute man but finding none in the Episcopal Order that was qualified to his mind and having observed a native simplicity joyned with much courage and tempered with a great deal of wisdom in Dr. Cranmer who was then Negotiating his business among the Learned men of Germany he of his own accord without any adresses from Cranmer designed to raise him to that Dignity and gave him notice of it that he might make hast and come home to enjoy that reward which the King had appointed for him But Cranmer having received this did all he could to excuse himself from the burden which was coming upon him and therefore he returned very slowly to England hoping that the Kings thoughts cooling some other person might step in between him and a Dignity of which having a just and primitive sense he did look on it with fear and apprehension rather than joy and desire This was so far from setting him back that the King who had known well what it was to be importuned by ambitious and aspiring Churchmen but had not found it usual that they should decline and fly from Preferment was thereby confirmed in his high opinion of him and neither the delays of his Journey nor his Intreaties to be delivered from a Burden which his Humility made him imagine himself unable to bear could divert the King So that though six moneths elapsed before the thing was settled yet the King persisted in his Opinion and the other was forced to yield In the end of Ianuary the King sent to the Pope for the Bulls for Cranmers Promotion and though the Statutes were passed against procuring more Bulls from Rome yet the King resolved not to begin the breach till he was forced to it by the Pope It may be easily imagined that the Pope was not hearty in this Promotion and that he apprehended ill consequences from the Advancement of a Man who had gone over many Courts of Christendom disputing against his Power of Dispensing and had lived in much Familiarity with Osiander and the Lutherans in Germany Yet on the other hand he had no mind to precipitate a Rupture with England therefore he consented to it and the Bulls were expedited though instead of Annates there was onely 900 Ducats paid for them They were the last Bulls that were received in England in this Kings Reign and therefore I shall give an account of them as they are set down in the beginning of Cranmers Register By one Bull he is upon the Kings Nomination promoted to be Archbishop of Canterbury which is directed to the King By a second directed to himself he is made Archbishop By a third he is absolved from all Censures A fourth is to the Suffragans A fifth to the Dean and Chapter A sixth to the Clergy of Canterbury A seventh to all the Laity in his See An eighth to all that held Lands of it requiring them to receive and acknowledge him as Archbishop All these bear Date the 21th of February 1533. By a ninth Bull dated the 22th of February he was ordained to be consecrated taking the Oath that was in the Pontifical By a tenth Bull dated the second of March the Pall was sent him And by an eleventh of the same Date the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London were required to put it on him These were the several Artifices to make Compositions high and to enrich the Apostolick Chamber for now that about which S. Peter gloried that he had none of it neither silver nor gold was the thing in the world for which his Successors were most careful When these Bulls were brought into England Thomas Cranmer was on the 13th of March consecrated by the Bishops of Lincoln Exeter and S. Asaph But here a great Scruple was moved by him concerning the Oath that he was to swear to the Pope which he had no mind to take and Writers near that time say the dislike of that Oath was one of the motives that made him so unwillingly accept of that Dignity He declared that he thought there were many things settled by the Laws of the Popes which ought to be reformed and that the Obligation which that Oath brought upon him would bind him up from doing his Duty both to God the King and the Church But this being communicated to some of the Canonists and Casuists they found a temper that agreed better with their Maxims than Cranmers sincerity which was that before he should take the Oath he should make a good and formal Protestation That he did not intend thereby to restrain himself from any thing that he was bound to either by his Duty to God or the King or the Countrey and that he renounced every thing in it that was contrary to any of these This Protestation he made in S. Stephens Chapel at Westminster in the hands of some Doctors of the Canon Law before he was consecrated and he afterwards repeated it when he took the Oath to the Pope by which if he did not wholly save his Integrity yet it was plain he intended no Cheat but to act fairly and above board As soon as he was consecrated and had performed every thing that was necessary for his Investiture he came and sate in the Upper House of Convocation There were there at that time hot and earnest Debates upon these two Questions Whether it was against the Law of God and Indispensable by the Pope for a man to marry his Brothers Wife he being dead without Issue but having consummated the Marriage And whether Prince Arthur had consummated his Marriage with the Queen As for the first it was brought first into the Lower
vehemency nor could they silence him till the King himself commanded him to hold his peace And yet all that was done either to him or Peto was that being called before the Privie Council they were rebuked for their insolence by which it appears that King Henry was not very easily inflamed against them when a crime of so high a Nature was so slightly passed over Nor was this all but the Fathers that were in the Conspiracy had confederated to publish these Revelations in their Sermons up and down the Kingdom They had also given Notice of them to the Popes Ambassadors and had brought the Maid to declare her Revelations to them they had also sent an account to Queen Katharine for encouraging her to stand out and not submit to the Laws of which Confederacy Thomas Abel was likewise one The thing that was in so many hands could not be a secret therefore the King who had despised it long ordered that in Nouember the former year the Maid and her Complices Richard Master Doctor Bocking Richard Deering Henry Gold a Parson in London Hugh Rich an observant Frier Richard Risby Thomas Gold and Edward Twaites Gentlemen and Thomas Laurence should be brought into the Star-Chamber where there was a great appearance of many Lords they were examined upon the premises and did all without any rack or torture confess the whole Conspiracy and were adjudged to stand in Pauls all the Sermon time and after Sermon the Kings Officers were to give every one of them his Bill of Confession to be openly read before the people which was done next Sunday the Bishop of Bangor preaching they being all set in a Scaffold before him This publick manner was thought upon good grounds to be the best way to satisfie the people of the Imposture of the whole matter and it did very much convince them that the cause must needs be bad where such methods were used to support it From thence they were carryed to the Tower where they lay till the Session of Parliament but when they lay there some of their Complices sent messages to the Nun to encourage her to deny all that she had said and it is very probable that the reports that went abroad of her being forced or cheated into a Confession made the King think it necessary to proceed more severely against her The thing being considered in Parliament it was judged a Conspiracy against the Kings Life and Crown So the Nun and Master Bocking Deering Rich Risby and Henry Gold were Attainted of high Treason And the Bishop of Rochester Thomas Gold Thomas Laurence Edward Twaites Iohn Adeson and Thomas Abell were judged guilty of misprision of Treason and to forfeit their goods and Chattels to the King and to be imprisoned during his pleasure and all the Books that were written of her Revelations were ordered to be sent in to some of the chief Officers of State under the pains of Fine and Imprisonment It had been also found that the Letter which she pretended to have got from Mary Magdalen e was written by one Hankherst of Canterbury and that the door of the Dormitorie which was given out to be made open by miracle that she might go into the Chappel for Converse with God was opened by some of her Complices for beastly and carnal ends But in the Conclusion of the Act all others who had been corrupted in their Allegiance by these impostures except the persons before named were at the earnest intercession of Queen Anne pardoned The two Houses of Parliament having ended their business were prorogued on the 29th of March to the 3d of November and before they broke up all the Members of both Houses that they might give a good example to the Kings other Subjects swore the Oath of Succession as appears from the Act made about it in the next Session of Parliament The Execution of these persons was delayed for some time it is like till the King had a return from Rome of the Messenger he had sent thither with his Submission Soon after that on the 20 of April the Nun and Bocking Master Deering Risby and Gold Rich is not named being perhaps either dead or pardoned were brought to Tiburn The Nun spake these words Hither I am come to die and I have not been only the cause of mine own death which most justly I have deserved but also I am the cause of the death of all those persons which at this time here suffer And yet to say the truth I am not so much to be blamed considering that it was well known to these learned men that I was a poor wench without Learning and therefore they might easily have perceived that the things that were done by me could not proceed in no such sort but their capacities and Learning could right well judge from whence they proceeded and that they were altogether feigned but because the thing which I feigned was profitable to them therefore they much praised me and bore me in hand that it was the Holy-Ghost and not I that did them and then I being pussed up with their praises fell into a certain pride and foolish fantasie with my self and thought I might feign what I would which thing hath brought me to this case and for the which now I cry God and the Kings Highness most heartily Mercy and desire you all good people to pray to God to have mercy on me and on all them that here suffer with me On all this I have dwelt the longer both because these are all called Martyrs by Sanders and that this did first provoke the King against the Regular Clergy and drew after it all the severities that were done in the rest of his Reign The foulness and the wicked designs of this Imposture did much alienate people from the Interest of Rome and made the other Acts both pass more easily and be better received by the people It was also generally believed that what was now discovered was no new practice but that many of the Visions and Miracles by which Religious Orders had raised their Credit so high were of the same Nature and it made way for the destroying of all the Monasteries in England though all the severity which at this time followed on it was that the Observant Friers of Richmont Greenwich Canterbury Newark and Newcastle were removed out of their Houses and put with the other Gray-Friers and Augustin-Friers were put in their Houses But because of the great name of Fisher Bishop of Rochester and since this was the first step to his ruin it is necessary to give a fuller account of his carriage in this matter When the cheat was first discovered Cromwell then Secretary of State sent the Bishops Brother to him with a sharp reproof for his carriage in that business but withal advised him to write to the King and acknowledge his offence and desire his pardon which he knew the King considering his Age and sickness
would grant But he wrote back excusing himself that all he did was only to try whether her Revelations were true He confessed he conceived a great opinion of her Holiness both from common Fame and her entring into Religion from the report of her Ghostly Father whom he esteemed Learned and Religious and of many other Learned and Vertuous Priests from the good opinion the late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury had of her and from what is in the Prophet Amos That God will do nothing without revealing it to his Servants That upon these grounds he was induced to have a good opinion of her and that to try the truth about her he had sometimes spoken with her and sent his Chaplains to her but never discovered any falsehood in her And for his concealing what she had told him about the King which was laid to his charge he thought it needless for him to speak of it to the King since she had said to him that she had told it to the King her self She had named no person who should kill the King which by being known might have been prevented And as in Spiritual things every Church-man was not bound to denounce judgments against those that could not bear it so in temporal things the case might be the same and the King had on other occasions spoken so sharply to him that he had reason to think the King would have been offended with him for speaking of it and would have suspected that he had a hand in it therefore he desired for the passion of Christ to be no more troubled about that matter otherwise he would speak his Conscience freely To all which Cromwell wrote a long Letter which the Reader will find in the Collection copied from the rude draught of it written with his own hand In which he charges the Matter upon him heavily and shews him that he had not proceeded as a grave Prelate ought to have done for he had taken all that he had heard of her upon trust and had examined nothing that if every person that pretends to Revelations were believed on their own words all Government would be thereby destroyed He had no reason to conclude from the Prophecie of Amos that every thing that is to fall out must be revealed to some Prophet since many notable things had fallen out of which there was no Revelation made before hand But he told him the true reason that made him give credit to her was the matter of her Prophecies to which he was so addicted as he was to every other thing in which he once entred that nothing could come amiss that served to that end And he appealed to his Conscience whether if she had prophecied for the King he would have given such easie credit to her and not have examined the matter further Then he showes how guilty he was in not revealing what concerned the Kings Life and how frivolous all his excuses were And after all tells him that though his excusing the matter had provoked the King and that if it came to a Tryal he would certainly be found guilty yet again he advises him to beg the Kings pardon for his Negligence and offence in that matter and undertakes that the King would receive him into his favour and that all matters of displeasure pass'd before that time should be forgiven and forgotten This shows that though Fisher had in the progress of the Kings cause given him great offence yet he was ready to pass it all over and not to take the advantage which he now had against him But Fisher was still obstinate and made no submission and so was included within the Act for misprision of Treason and yet I do not find that the King proceeded against him upon this Act till by new provocations he drew a heavier storm of indignation upon himself When the Session of Parliament was at an end Commissioners were sent every-where to offer the Oath of the Succession to the Crown to all according to the Act of Parliament which was universally taken by all sorts of persons Gardiner wrote from Winchester the 6th of May to Cromwell that in the presence of the Lord Chamberlain the Lord Audley and many other Gentlemen all Abbots Priors Wardens with the Curates of all Parishes and Chappels within the Shire had appeared and taken the Oath very obediently and had given in a list of all the Religious persons in their Houses of 14 years of Age and above for taking whose Oaths some Commissioners were appointed The forms in which they took the Oath are not known and it is no wonder for though they were enrolled yet in Queen Maries time there was a Commission given to Bonner and others to examine the Records and raze out of them all things that were done either in contempt of the See of Rome or to the defamation of Religious Houses pursuant to which there are many things taken out of the Rolls which I shall sometimes have occasion afterwards to take notice of yet some Writings have escaped their diligence so there remains but two of the Subscriptions of Religious Orders both bearing date the 4th of May 1534. One is by the Prior and Convent of Langley Regis that were Dominicans the Franciscans of Ailesbury the Dominicans of Dunstable the Franciscans of Bedford the Carmelites of Hecking and the Franciscans de Mare The other is by the Prioress and Convent of the Dominican Nuns at Deptford In these besides the renewing their allegiance to the King they swear the Lawfulness of his Marriage with Queen Anne and that they shall be true to the Issue begotten in it that they shall always acknowledge the King Head of the Church of England and that the Bishop of Rome has no more Power than any other Bishop has in his own Diocess and that they should submit to all the Kings Laws notwithstanding the Popes censures to the contrary That in their Sermons they should not pervert the Scriptures but preach Christ and his Gospel sincerely according to the Scriptures and the Tradition of Orthodox and Catholick Doctors and in their Prayers that they should pray first for the King as Supreme Head of the Church of England then for the Queen and her issue and then for the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the other ranks of the Clergy To this these Six Priors set their hands with the Seals of their Convents and in their Subscriptions declared that they did it freely and uncompelled and in the name of all the Brethren in the Convent But Sir Thomas More and the Bishop of Rochester refused to take the Oath as it was conceived Whose Fall being so remarkable I shall shew the steps of it There was a meeting of the Privy Council at Lambeth to which many were cited to appear and take the Oath Sr. Thomas More was first called and the Oath was tendred to him under the great Seal then he called for the Act of Succession
which it will appear in the sequel of this work that he neither Copied form Forreign Writers nor proceeded rashly in the Reformation He was a man of great temper and as I have seen in some of his Letters to Osiander and some of Osiander's answers to him he very much disliked the violence of the German Divines He was gentle in his whole behaviour and though he was a man of too great candour and simplicity to be refined in the Arts of Policy yet he managed his Affairs with great prudence which did so much recommend him to the King that no ill Offices were ever able to hurt him It is true he had some singular opinions about Ecclesiastical Functions and Offices which he seemed to make wholly dependent on the Magistrate as much as the Civil were but as he never studied to get his opinion in that made a part of the Doctrine of the Church reserving only to himself the freedom of his own thoughts which I have reason to think he did afterwards either change or at least was content to be over-ruled in it So it is clear that he held not that opinion to get the Kings favour by it for in many other things as in the business of the six Articles he boldly and freely argued both in the Convocation and the House of Peers against that which he knew was the Kings mind and took his life in his hands which had certainly been offered at a stake if the Kings esteem of him had not been proof against all attempts Next him or rather above him was Cromwell who was made the Kings Vice-gerent in Ecclesiastical matters A man of mean Birth but Noble Qualities as appeared in two signal Instances the one being his Pleading in Parliament so zealously and successfully for the fallen and disgrac'd Cardinal whose Secretary he was when Gardiner though more obliged by him had basely forsaken him This was thought so just and generous in him that it did not at all hinder his Preferment but raised his Credit higher Such a Demonstration of gratitude and friendship in misfortune being so rare a thing in a Court The other was his remembring the Merchant of Lucca that had pitied and relieved him when he was a poor stranger there and expressing most extraordinary acknowledgements and gratitude when he was afterwards in the top of his Greatness and the other did not so much as know him much less pretend to any returns for passed favours which shew'd that he had a noble and generous temper only he made too much haste to be great and rich He joyned himself in a firm friendship to Cranmer and did promote the Reformation very vigorously But there was another Party in the Court that wrestled much against it the head of it was the Duke of Norfolk who though he was the Queens Uncle yet was her mortal enemy He was a dextrous Courtier and complied with the King both in his Divorce and Separation from Rome yet did upon all occasions perswade the King to innovate nothing in Religion His great friend that joyned all along with him in those Counsels was Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who was a crafty and politick man and understood the King well and complied with his temper in every thing he despised Cranmer and hated all Reformation Longland that had been the Kings Confessor was also managed by them and they had a great Party in the Court and almost all the Church-men were on their side That which prevailed most with the King was that himself had writ a Book in Defence of the Faith and they said would he now retract that which all Learned men admired so much or would he encourage Luther and his Party who had treated him with so little respect If he went to change the Doctrines that were formerly received all the world would say he did it in spite to the Pope which would cast a great dishonour on him as if his passion govern'd his Religion Forreign Princes who in their hearts did not much blame him for what he had hitherto done but rather wished for a good opportunity to do the like would now condemn him if he medled with the Faith And his own Subjects who complied with that which he had done and were glad to be delivered from Forreign Jurisdiction and the Exactions of the Court of Rome would not bear a change of the Religion but might be thereby easily set on by the Emissaries of the Pope or Emperor to break out in Rebellion These things being managed skilfully and agreeing with his own private opinion wrought much on him and particularly what was said about his own Book which had been so much commended to him that he was almost made believe it was written by a special Inspiration of the Holy Ghost But on the other side Cranmer represented to him that since he had put down the Popes Authority it was not fit to let those Doctrines be still taught which had no other Foundation but the Decrees of Popes And he offered upon the greatest hazard to prove that many things then received as Articles of Faith were no better grounded therefore he pressed the King to give order to hear and examine things freely that when the Popes power was rejected the people might not be obliged to believe Doctrines which had no better warrant And for Political Counsels he was to do the duty of a good Christian Prince and leave the event to God and things might be carried on with that due care that the justice and reasonableness of the Kings proceedings should appear to all the world And whereas it was objected that the Doctrines of the Catholick Church ought not to be examined by any particular Church It was answered that when all Christendom were under one Emperor it was easie for him to call general Councils and in such circumstances it was fit to stay for a one and yet even then particular Churches did in their National Synods condemn Heresies and reform Abuses But the State of Christendom was now altered it was under many Princes who had different Interests and therefore they thought it a vain expectation to look for any such Council The Protestants of Germany had now for above ten years desired the Emperor to procure one but to no effect for sometimes the Pope would not grant it and at other times the French King protested against it The former year the Pope had sent to the King to offer a general Council to be held at Mantua this year but the King found that was but an illusion for the Marquess of Mantua protested he would not admit such a number of strangers as a Council would draw together into his Town yet the King promised to send his Ambassadors thither when the Council met But now the King consulting his Prelates whether the Emperor might by his Authority summon a general Council as the Roman Emperors had done some of them gave the following answer Copied from
Preheminence of the See of Rome flowed only from the Laws of men so there was now good cause to repeal these for the Pope as was said in the Council of Basil was only Vicar of the Church and not of Christ so he was accountable to the Church The Council of Constance and the Divines of Paris had according to the Doctrine of the Ancient Church declared the Pope to be subject to a General Council which many Popes in former Ages had confessed And all that the Pope can claim even by the Canon-Law is only to call and preside in a General Council but not to overrule it or have a Negative vote in it The Power of Councils did not extend to Princes Dominions or Secular Matters but only to points of Faith which they were to declare and to Condemn Hereticks nor were their Decrees Laws till they were Enacted by Princes Upon this he enlarged much to show that though a Council did proceed against a King with which they then Threatned the King that their Sentence was of no force as being without their Sphere The determination of Councils ought to be well considered and examined by the Scriptures and in matters indifferent men ought to be left to their freedom he taxed the severity of Victors Proceedings against the Churches of the East about the day of Easter And concluded that as a Member of the Body is not cut off except a Gangrene comes in it so no part of the Church ought to be cut off but upon a great and inevitable cause And he very largely showed with what moderation and charity the Church should proceed even against those that held errors And the Standard of the Councils definitions should only be taken from the Scriptures and not from mens Traditions He said some General Councils had been rejected by others and it was a tender point how much ought to be deferred to a Council some Decrees of Councils were not at all obeyed The Divines of Paris held that a Council could not make a new Article of Faith that was not in the Scriptures And as all Gods Promises to the people of Israel had this condition implyed within them If they kept his Commandments so he thought the Promises to the Christian Church had this condition in them If they kept the Faith Therefore he had much doubting in himself as to General Councils and he thought that only the word of God was the Rule of Faith which ought to take place in all Controversies of Religion The Scriptures were called Canonical as being the only Rules of the Faith of Christians and these by appointment of the Ancient Councils were only to be read in the Churches The Fathers SS Ambrose Ierome and Austin did in many things differ from one another but always appealed to the Scriptures as the common and certain standard And he cited some remarkable passage out of St. Austin to show what difference he put between the Scriptures and all the other Writings even of the best and holiest Fathers But when all the Fathers agreed in the Exposition of any place of Scripture he acknowledged he looked on that as flowing from the Spirit of God and it was a most dangerous thing to be wise in our own Conceit Therefore he thought Councils ought to found their decisions on the word of God and those expositions of it that had been agreed on by the Doctors of the Church Then he discoursed very largely what a person a Judge ought to be he must not be Partial nor a Judge in his own Cause nor so much as sit on the Bench when it is tryed lest his presence should over-awe others Things also done upon a common error cannot bind when the error upon which they were done comes to be discovered and all human Laws ought to be changed when a publick visible inconvenience follows them From which he concluded that the Pope being a Party and having already passed his Sentence in things which ought to be examined by a General Council could not be a Judge nor sit in it Princes also who upon a common mistake thinking the Pope Head of the Church had sworn to him finding that this was done upon a false ground may pull their Neck out of his Yoke as every man may make his escape out of the hands of a Robber And the Court of Rome was so corrupt that a Pope though he mean't well as Hadrian did yet could never bring any good design to an issue the Cardinals and the rest of that Court being so engaged to maintain their Corruptions These were the Heads of that Discourse which it seems he gave them in writing after he had delivered it but he promised to entertain them with another Discourse of the Power the Bishops of the Christian Church have in their Sees and of the Power of a Christian Prince to make them do their duty but that I could never see and I am afraid it is lost All this I thought necessary to open to show the State of the Court and the Principles that the several Parties in it went upon when the Reformation was first brought under Consideration in the third Period of this Kings Reign to which I am now advanced The end of the Second Book EFFIGIES VERA REVERENDISSIMI D. THOMAE CRANMERI ARCHIEPISCOPI CANTUARIâ—NSIS HHolbein pinxit Natus 1489 Iuly 2. Consecratus 1533 Mar. 30. Martyrio Coronatus 1556 Mar. 21. 〈…〉 THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION OF THE Church of England BOOK III. Of the other Transactions about Religion and Reformation during the rest of the Reign of King Henry the 8th THe King having passed through the Traverses and tossings of his Sute of Divorce and having with the concurrence both of his Clergy and Parliament brought about what he had projected seem'd now at ease in his own Dominions But though matters were carryed in Publick Assemblies smoothly and successfully yet there were many secret discontents which being fomented both by the Pope and the Emperors Agents wrought him great trouble so that the rest of his life was full of vexation and disquiet All that were zealously addicted to that which they called the Old Religion did conclude that what-ever firmness the King expressed to it now was either pretended out of Policy for avoiding the Inconveniences which the fears of a Change might produce or though he really intended to perform what he professed yet the Interests in which he must embarque with the Princess of Germany against the Pope and the Emperor together with the Power that the Queen had over him and the credit Cranmer and Cromâ—ell had with him would prevail on him to change some things in Religion And they look'd on these things as so complicated together that the change of any one must needs make way for change in more since that struck at the Authority of the Church and left people at liberty to dispute the Articles of Faith This they thought was a Gate opened to Heresie
Relicks without number were every-where discovered and most wonderful relations of the Martyrdome and other miracles of the Saints were made and read in all places to the people and new Improvements were daily made in a Trade that through the craft of the Monks and the simplicity of the people brought in great advantages And though there was enough got to enrich them all yet there was strange rivalling not only among the several Orders but the Houses of the same Order The Monks especially of Glassenbury St. Albans and St. Edmundsbury vied one with another who could tell the most extravagant stories for the honour of their House and of the Relicks in it The Monks in these Houses abounding in wealth and living at â—ase and in idleness did so degenerate that from the Twelfth Century downward their reputation abated much and the Priviledges of Sanctuaries were a general Grievance and oft complained of in Parliaments For they received all that fled to them which put a great stop to Justice and did encourage the most criminal offenders They became lewd and dissolute and so impudent in it that some of their farms were let for bringing in a yearly tribute to their Lusts nor did they keep Hospitality and relieve the poor but rather encouraged Vagabonds and Beggars against whom Laws were made both in Edward the 3d King Henry the 7th and this Kings Reign But from the Twelfth Century the Orders of Begging Friers were set up and they by the appearance of Severity and Mortification gained great esteem At first they would have nothing no real estates but the ground on which their House stood But afterwards distinctions were found for satisfying their Consciences in larger Possessions They were not so idle and lazy as the Monks but went about and Preached and heard Confessions and carryed about Indulgences with many other pretty little things Del's Rosaries and Pebles which they made the World believe had great vertue in them And they had the esteem of the people wholly engrossed to themselves They were also more formidable to Princes than the Monks because they were poorer and by consequence more hardy and bold There was also a firmer union of their whole Order they having a General at Rome and being divided into many Provinces subject to their Provincials They had likewise the Schooll-Learning wholly in their hands and were great Preachers so that many things concurred to raise their esteem with the people very high yet great Complaints lay against them for they went more abroad than the Monks did and were believed guilty of Corrupting Families The Scandals that went on them upon their relaxing the primitive strictness of their Orders were a little rectified by some Reformations of these Orders But that lasted not long for they became liable to much Censure and many visitations had been made but to little purpose This Concurring with their secret practices against the King both in the matter of his Divorce and Supremacy made him more willing to examine the truth of these reports that if they were found guilty of such scandals they might lose their credit with the people and occasions be ministred to the King to justifie the Suppression of them There were also two other Motives that enclined the King to this Counsel The one was that he apprehended a War from the Emperor who was then the only Prince in the World that had any considerable force at Sea having both great Fleets in the Indies and being Prince of the Netherlands where the greatest trade of these parts was driven Therefore the King judged it necessary to fortifie his Ports and seeing the great advantages of Trade which began then to rise much was resolved to encourage it For which end he intended to build many Havens and Harbors This was a matter of great charge and as his own revenue could not defray it so he had no mind to lay heavie Taxes on his Subjects therefore the Suppression of Monasteries was thought the easiest way of raising Money He also intended to erect many more Bishopricks to which Cranmer advised him much that the vastness of some Diocesses being reduced to a narrower compass Bishops might better discharge their duties and oversee their Flocks according to the Scriptures and the Primitive Rules But Cranmer did on another reason press the Suppression of Monasteries He found that their Foundations and whole State was inconsistent with a full and true Reformation For among the things to be reform'd were these Abuses which were essential to their Constitution such as the Belief of Purgatory of Redeeming Souls by Masses the worship of Saints and Images and Pilgrimages and the like And therefore those Societies whose interest it was to oppose the Reformation were once to be suppressed and then he hoped upon new Endowments and Foundations new Houses should have been erected at every Cathedral to be Nurseries for that whole Diocess which he thought would be more suitable to the primitive use of Monasteries and more profitable to the Church This was his Scheme as will afterwards appear which was in some measure effected though not so fully as he projected for Reasons to be told in their proper place There had been a Bull sent from Rome for dissolving some Monasteries and Erecting Bishopricks out of them as was related in the former Book in the year 1532. And it seems it was upon that Authority that in the year 1533. the Priory of Christs Church near Algate in London was dissolved and given to the Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Audley not to make him speak shriller for his Master in the House of Commons as Fuller mistakes it for he had been Lord Chancellor a year before this was given him The Popes Authority not being at that time put down nor the Kings Supremacy set up I conjecture it was done pursuant to the Bull for the Dissolution of some Religious Houses but I never saw the Dissolution and so can only guess on what ground it was made But in the Parliament held the former year in which the Kings Grant of that House to the Lord Chancellor was confirmed it is said in the Preamble That the Prior and Convent had resigned that House to the King the 24th of February 23d Regni and had left their House but no mention is made upon what Reason they did it But now I come to Consider how the Visitors carryed on their Visitations Many severe things are said of their Proceedings nor is it any wonder that men who had traded so long in lies as the Monks had done should load those whom they esteemed the Instruments of their Ruin with many Calumnies By their Letters to Cromwell it appears that in most Houses they found Monstrous disorders That many fell down on their knees and prayed they might be discharged since they had been forced to make vows against their wills with these the Visitors dispensed and set them at liberty They found great
Northumberland to confess a Contract between him and her But he took his Oath before the Two Arch-Bishops that there was no Contract nor promise of Marriage ever between them and received the Sacrament upon it before the Duke of Norfolk and others of the Kings Privy Council wishing it might be to his Damnation if there was any such thing concerning which I have seen the Original Declaration under his own hand Nor could they draw any Confession from the Queen before the Sentence for certainly if they could have done that the Divorce had gone before the Tryal and then she must have been tryed only as Marchioness of Pembroke But now she lying under so terrible a Sentence it is most probable that either some hopes of Life were given her or at least she was wrought on by the Assurances of mitigating that cruel part of her judgment of being Burnt into the milder part of the Sentence of Having her head cut off so that she confessed a Pre-contract and on the 17th of May was brought to Lambeth and in Court the afflicted Arch-Bishop sitting Judge some persons of Quality being present she confessed some just and lawful impediments by which it was evident that her Marriage with the King was not valid Upon which Confession the Marriage between the King and her was judged to have been null and void The Record of the Sentence is burnt but these particulars are repeated in the Act that passed in the next Parliament touching the Succession to the Crown It seems this was secretly done for Spelman writes of it thus It was said there was a Divorce made between the King and her upon her confessing a Precontract with another before her Marriage with the King so then it was then only talkt of but not generally known The two Sentences that were past upon the Queen the one of Attaindor for Adultery the other of Divorce because of a Precontract did so contradict one another that it was apparent one if not both of them must be unjust for if the Marriage between the King and her was null from the beginning then since she was not the Kings wedded Wife there could be no Adultery and her Marriage to the King was either a true Marriage or not if it was true then the annulling of it was unjust and if it was no true Marriage then the Attainder was unjust for there could be no breach of that Faith which was never 〈…〉 So that it is plain the King was resolved to be rid of her and 〈…〉 her Daughter and in that transport of his fury did not 〈◊〉 that the very method he took discovered the unjustice of his â—â—â—â—eedings against her Two days after this she was ordered to be Executed in the Green on Tower-Hill How she received these tidings and how stedfast she continued in the protestations of her Innocence will best appear by the following circumstances The day before she suffered upon a strict search of her past Life she called to mind that she had played the Step-Mother too severely to Lady Mary and had done her many injuries Upon which she made the Lieutenant of the Tower's Lady sit down in the Chair of State which the other after some Ceremony doing she fell down on her knees and with many tears charged the Lady as she would answer it to God to go in her name and do as she had done to the Lady Mary and ask her forgiveness for the wrongs she had done her And she said she had no quiet in her Conscience till she had done that But though she did in this what became a Christian the Lady Mary could not so easily pardon these injuries but retained the resentments of them her whole life This ingenuity and tenderness of Conscience about lesser matters is a great presumption that if she had been guilty of more eminent faults she had not continued to the last denying them and making protestations of her Innocency For that same night she sent her last message to the King and acknowledged her self much obliged to him that had continued still to advance her She said he had from a private Gentlewoman first made her a Marchioness and then a Queen and now since he could raise her no higher was sending her to be a Saint in Heaven She protested her Innocence and recommended her Daughter to his care And her carriage that day she died will appear from the following Letter writ by the Lieutenant of the Tower copied from the Original which I insert because the Copier imployed by the Lord Herbert has not writ it out faithfully for I cannot think that any part of it was left out on design Sir These shall be to advertise you I have received your Letter wherein you would have strangers conveyed out of the Tower and so they be by the means of Richard Gressum and William Cooke and Wytspoll But the number of strangers past not thirty and not many of those and the Ambassador of the Emperor had a Servant there and honestly put out Sir If we have not an hour certain as it may be known in London I think here will be but few and I think a reasonable number were best for I suppose she will declare her self to be a good woman for all men but for the King at the hour of her death For this morning she sent for me that I might be with her at such time as she received the Good Lord to the intent I should hear her speak as touching her Innocency alway to be clear And in the writing of this she sent for me and at my coming she said Mr. Kingston I hear say I shall not die aforenoon and I am very sorry therefore for I thought to be dead by this time and past my pain I told her it should be no pain it was so sottel And then she said I heard say the Executioner was very good and I have a little Neck ANNA BVLLEN REGINA ANGLIAE ELIZABETHAE REGINAE MATER Nata Ano. 1507 Nupsit An o 1532 Nov 14 Elix Filian peperit An o 1533 Sept. 7 Capite plexa Ano. 1536 May 19. Printed for Rich Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church yard and put her hands about it laughing heartily I have seen many men and also women Executed and that they have been in great sorrow and to my knowledge this Lady has much joy and pleasure in death Sir her Almoner is continually with her and had been since two a Clock after midnight This is the effect of any thing that is here at this time and thus Fare you well Yours William Kingston A little before Noon being the 19th of May she was brought to the Scaffold where she made a short Speech to a great company that came to look on the last Scene of this fatal Tragedy The chief of whom were the Dukes of Suffolk and Richmond the Lord Chancellor and Secretary Cromwell with the Lord Mayor the Sheriffs
If full Forty days be necessary for a Summons then the Writs must have been issued forth the day before the late Queens disgrace so that it was designed before the Justs at Greenwich and did not flow from any thing that then appeared When the Parliament met the Lord Chancellor Audley in his speech told them That when the former Parliament was dissolved the King had no thoughts of Summoning a new one so soon But for two reasons he had now called them The one was that he finding himself subject to so many infirmities and considering that he was Mortal a rare thought in a Prince he desired to settle an apparent heir to the Crown in case he should die without Children lawfully begotten The other was to repeal an Act of the former Parliament concerning the Succession of the Crown to the issue of the King by Queen Anne Boleyn He desired them to reflect on the great troubles and vexation the King was involved in by his first unlawful Marriage and the dangers he was in by his second which might well have frighted any body from a third Marriage But Anne and her Conspirators being put to death as they well deserved the King at the humble request of the Nobility and not out of any Carnal concupiscence was pleased to Marry again a Queen by whom there were very probable hopes of his having children Therefore he recommended to them to provide an heir to the Crown by the Kings direction who if the King dyed without children lawfully begotten might Rule over them He desired they would pray God earnestly that he would grant the King issue of his own body and return thanks to Almighty God that preserved such a King to them out of so many eminent dangers who imployed all his care and endeavours that he might keep his whole people in quiet peace and perfect charity and leave them so to those that should succeed him But though this was the chief cause of calling the Parliament it seems the Ministers met with great difficulties and therefore spent much time in preparing mens minds For the Bill about the Succession to the Crown was not brought into the House of Lords before the 30th day of Iune that the Lord Chancellor offered it to the House It went through both Houses without any Opposition It contained first a repeal of the former Act of Succession and a Confirmation of the two Sentences of Divorce the issue of both the Kings former Marriages being declared illegitimate and for ever excluded from claiming the inheritance of the Crown as the Kings Lawful heirs by lineal descent The Attainder of Queen Anne and her Complices is confirmed Quen Anne is said to have been inflamed with pride and Carnal desires of her body and having confederated her self with her complices to have committed divers Treasons to the danger of the Kings Royal person with other aggravating words for which she had justly suffered death and is now attainted by Act of Parliament And all things that had been said or done against her or her Daughter being contrary to an Act of Parliament then in force are pardoned and the inheritance of the Crown is established on the issue of Queen Iane whether Male or Female or the Kings issue by any other Wife whom he might Marry afterwards But since it was not fit to declare to whom the Succession of the Crown belonged after the Kings death lest the person so designed might be thereby enabled to raise trouble and Commotions therefore they considering the Kings wise and excellent Government and confiding in the love and affection which he bore to his Subjects did give him full Power to declare the Succession to the Crown either by his Letters Patents under the great Seal or by his last will Signed with his hand and promised all faithful obedience to the persons named by him And if any so designed to succeed in default of others should endeavor to usurp upon those before them or to exclude them they are declared Traytors and were to forfeit all the Right they might thereafter claim to the Crown And if any should maintain the Lawfulness of the former Marriages or that the issue by them was legitimate or refused to swear to the Kings issue by Queen Iane they were also declared Traytors By this Act it may appear how absolutely this King Reigned in England Many question'd much the validity of it and as shall afterwards appear the Scots said that the Succession to the Crown was not within the Parliaments Power to determine aboutit but must go by inheritance to their King in default of issue by this King Yet by this the King was enabled to settle the Crown on his Children whom he had now declared Illegitimate by which he brought them more absolutely to depend upon himself He neither made them desperate nor gave them any further Right than what they were to derive purely from his own good pleasure This did also much pacifie the Emperor since his Kinswoman was though not restored in blood yet put in a capacity to succeed to the Crown At this time there came a new Proposition from Rome to try if the King would accommodate matters with the Pope Pope Clement the Seventh dyed two years before this in the year 1534. and Cardinal Farnese succeeded him called Pope Paul the Third He had before this made one unsuccessful attempt upon the King but upon the beheading of the Bishop and declared Cardinal of Rochester he had Thundered a most terrible Sentence of Deposition against the King and designed to commit the Execution of it to the Emperor Yet now when Queen Katharine and Queen Anne who were the occasions of the Rupture were both out of the way he thought it was a proper conjuncture to try if a Reconciliation could be effected This he proposed to Sir Gregory Cassali who was no more the Kings Ambassador at Rome but was still his Correspondent there The Pope desired he would move the King in it and let him know that he had ever favoured his Cause in the former Popes time and though he was forced to give out a Sentence against him yet he had never any intention to proceed upon it to further Extremities But the King was now so entirely alienated from the Court of Rome that to cut off all hopes of reconciliation he procured two Acts to be passed in this Parliament The one was for the utter extinguishing the Authority of the Bishop of Rome It was brought into the House of Lords on the 4th of Iuly And was read the first time the 5th and the second time on the 6th of Iuly and lay at the Committee till the 12th And on the 14th it was sent down to the Commons who if there be no mistake in the Journal sent it up that same day They certainly made great haste for the Parliament was dissolved within Four days The Preamble of this first Act contains severe Reflections on
the Bishop of Rome whom some called the Pope who had long darkned Gods word that it might serve his Pomp Glory Avarice Ambition and Tyranny both upon the Souls Bodies and Goods of all Christians excluding Christ out of the Rule of mans Soul and Princes out of their Dominions And had exacted in England great Sums by dreams and vanities and other Superstitious ways â—pon these reasons his Usurpations had been by Law put down in this Nation yet many of his Emissaries were still practising up and down the Kingdom and perswading people to acknowledg his pretended Authority Therefore every person so offending after the last of Iâ—ly next to come was to incur the pains of a Premunire and all Officers both Civil and Ecclesiastical were commanded to make enquiry about such offences under several penalties On the 12th of Iuly a Bill was brought in concerning Priviledges obtained from the See of Rome and was read the First time And on the 17th it was agreed to and sent down to the Commons who sent it up again the next day It bears that the Popes had during their Usurpation granted many Immunities to several Bodies and Societies in England which upon that Grant had been now long in use Therefore all these Bulls Breves and every thing depending on or flowing from them were declared void and of no force Yet all Marriages celebrated by vertue of them that were not otherwise contrary to the Law of God were declared good in Law and all Consecrations of Bishops by vertue of them were confirmed And for the future all who enjoyed any Priviledges by Bulls were to bring them in to the Chancery or to such persons as the King should appoint for that end And the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was Lawfully to grant anew the effects contained in them which â—rant was to pass under the great Seal and to be of full force in Law This struck at the Abbots Rights But they were glad to bear a Diminution of their Greatness so they might save the whole which now lay at stake By the Thirteenth Act they corrected an Abuse which had come in to evade the force of a Statute made in the Twenty First year of this King about the Residence of all Ecclesiastical persons in their Livings One qualification that did excuse from Residence was their staying at the University for the compleating of their Studies Now it was found that many dissolute Clergymen went and lived at the Universities not for their Studies but to be excused from serving their Cures So it was Enacted that none above the Age of Forty that were not either Heads of Houses or Publick Readers should have any Exemption from their Residence by vertue of that Clause in the former Act. And those under that Age should not have the Benefit of it except they were present at the Lectures and perform'd their Exercises in the Schools By another Act there was Provision made against the prejudice the Kings Heirs might receive before they were of Age by Parliaments held in their Non-Age That whatsoever Acts were made before they were Twenty Four years of Age they might at any time of their lives after that Repeal and Annul by their Letters Patents which should have equal force with a Repeal by Act of Parliament From these Acts it appears that the King was absolute Master both of the affections and fears of his Subjects when in a new Parliament called on a sudden and in a Session of six weeks from the 8th of Iune to the 18th of Iuly Acts of this Importance were passed without any Protest or publick Opposition But having now opened the business of the Parliament as it relates to the State I must next give an account of the Convocation which sate at this time and was very busie as appears by the Journal of the House of Lords in which this is given for a reason of many Adjournments because the Spiritual Lords were busie in the Convocation It sate down on the 9th of Iune according to Fullers Extract it being the Custom of all this Reign for that Court to meet two or three days after the Parliament Hither Cromwell came as the Kings Vicar-General But he was not yet Vice-Gerent For he sate next the Arch-Bishop but when he had that Dignity he sate above him Nor do I find him Stiled in any Writing Vice-gerent for some time after this though the Lord Herbert says he was made Vice-gerent the 18th of Iuly this year the same day in which the Parliament was Dissolved Latimer Bishop of Worcester preached the Latine Sermon on these words The Children of this World are wiser in their Generation than the Children of Light He was the most Celebrated Preacher of that time The simplicity and plainness of his matter with a serious and fervent Action that accompanied it being preferred to more learned and elaborate Composures On the 21st of Iune Cromwell moved that they would Confirm the Sentence of the Invalidity of the Kings Marriage with Queen Anne which was accordingly done by both Houses of Convocation But certainly Fuller was asleep when he wrote That Ten days before that the Arch-Bishop had passed the Sentence of Divorce on the day before the Queen was beheaded Whereas if he had considered this more fully he must have seen that the Queen was put to death a Month before this and was Divorced two days before she dyed Yet with this animadversion I must give him my thanks for his pains in copying out of the Journals of Convocation many remarkable things which had been otherwise irrecoverably lost On the 23d of Iune the lower House of Convocation sent to the upper House a Collection of many opinions that were then in the Realm which as they thought were abuses and errors worthy of special Reformation But they began this Representation with a Protestation That they intended not to do or speak any thing which might be unpleasant to the King whom they acknowledged their Supream Head and were resolved to obey his Commands renouncing the Popes usurp'd Authority with all his Laws and Inventions now extinguisht and abolisht and did addict themselves to Almighty God and his Laws and unto the King and the Laws made within this Kingdom There are Sixty Seven opinions set down and are either the Tenets of the Old Lollards or the New Reformers together with the Anabaptists opinions Besides all which they complained of many unsavory and indiscreet expressions which were either feigned on design to disgrace the New Preachers or were perhaps the extravagant Reflexions of some illiterate and injudicious persons who are apt upon all occasions by their heat and folly rather to prejudice than advance their party and affect some petulant jeers which they think witty and are perhaps well entertained by some others who though they are more judicious themselves yet imagining that such jests on the contrary opinions will take with the people do give them too much Encouragement Many of these
jests about Confession praying to Saints Holy Water and the other Ceremonies of the Church were complained of And the last Articles contained sharp reflexions on some of the Bishops as if they had been wanting in their Duty to suppress such things This was clearly levelled at Cranmer Latimer and Shaxton who were noted as the great Promoters of these opinions The first did it prudently and solidly The second zealously and simply And the third with much indiscreet pride and vanity But now that the Queen was gone who had either raised or supported them their Enemies hoped to have advantages against them and to lay the growth of these opinions to their charge But this whole Project failed and Cranmer had as much of the Kings favour as ever for in stead of that which they had projected Cromwell by the Kings order coming to the Convocation Declared to them that it was the Kings pleasure that the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church should be Reformed by the Rules of Scripture and that nothing was to be maintained which did not rest on that Authority for it was absurd since that was acknowledged to contain the Laws of Religion that recourse should rather be had to Glosses or the Decrees of Popes than to these There was at that time one Alexander Alesse a Scotch-man much esteemed for his Learning and Piety whom Cranmer entertained at Lambeth Him Cromwell brought with him to the Convocation and desired him to deliver his opinion about the Sacraments He enlarged himself much to Convince them that only Baptism and the Lords Supper were Instituted by Christ. Stokesley Bishop of London answered him in a long Discourse in which he shewed he was better acquainted with the Learning of the Schools and the Canon-Law than with the Gospel He was Seconded by the Arch-Bishop of York and others of that Party But Cranmer in a long and learned Speech shewed how useless these niceties of the Schools were and of how little Authority they ought to be and discoursed largely of the Authority of the Scriptures of the use of the Sacraments of the uncertainty of Tradition and of the Corruption which the Monks and Friars had brought into the Christian Doctrine He was vigorously seconded by the Bishop of Hereford who told them the world would be no longer deceived with such Sophisticated stuff as the Clergy had formerly vented The Laity were now in all Nations studying the Scriptures and that not only in the vulgar Translations but in the original Tongues and therefore it was a vain imagination to think they would be any longer governed by those arts which in the former Ages of Ignorance had been so effectual Not many days after this there were several Articles brought in to the upper House of Convocation devised by the King himself about which there were great debates among them The two Arch-Bishops heading two Parties Cranmer was for a Reformation and with him joyned Thomas Goodrich Bishop of Ely Shaxton of Sarum Latimer of Worcester Fox of Hereford Hilsey of Rochester and Barlow of St. Davids But Lee Arch-Bishop of York was a known favourer of the Popes Interests which as it first appeared in his scrupling so much with the whole Convocation of York the acknowledging the King to be Supreme Head of the Church of England so he had since discovered it on all occasions in which he durst do it without the fear of losing the Kings favour So he and Stokesley Bishop of London Tonstâ—ll of Duresm Gardiner of Winchester Longland of Lincoln Sherburn of Chichester Nix of Norwich and Kite of Carlisle had been still against all changes But the King discovered that those did in their hearts love the Papal Authority though Gardiner dissembled it most artificially Sherburn Bishop of Chichester upon what inducement I cannot understand resigned his Bishoprick which was given to Richard Sampson Dean of the Chappel a Pension of 400 l. being reserved to Sherburn for his Life which was confirmed by an Act of this Parliament Nix of Norwich had also offended the King signally by some correspondence with Rome and was kept long in the Marshalsea and was convicted and found in a Premunire The King considering his great Age had upon his humble submission discharged him out of Prison and pardon'd him But he died the former year though Fuller in his slight way makes him fit in this Convocation For by the 17th Act of the last Parliament it appears that the Bishoprick of Norwich being vacant the King had recommended William Abbot of St. Bennets to it but took into his own hands all the Lands and Manours of the Bishoprick and gave the Bishop several of the Priories in Norfolk in exchange which was confirmed in Parliament I shall next give a short abstract of the Articles about Religion which were after much consultation and long debating agreed to First All Bishops and Preachers must instruct the people to believe the whole Bible and the three Creeds that made by the Apostles the Nicene and the Athanasian and interpret all things according to them and in the very same words and condemn all Heresies contrary to them particularly those condemned by the first four general Councils Secondly Of Baptism the people must be instructed That it is a Sacrament instituted by Christ for the Remission of sins without which none could attain Everlasting Life And that not only those of full Age but Infants may and must be Baptized for the pardon of Original sin and obtaining the gift of the Holy Ghost by which they became the Sons of God That none Baptized ought to be Baptized again That the opinions of the Anabaptists and Pelagians were detestable Heresies And that those of ripe Age who desired Baptism must with it joyn Repentance and Contrition for their sins with a firm Belief of the Articles of the Faith Thirdly Concerning Penance they were to instruct the people that it was instituted by Christ and was absolutely necessary to Salvation That it consisted of Contrition Confession and Amendment of Life with exterior works of Charity which were the worthy Fruits of Pennance For Contrition it was an inward shame and sorrow for sin because it is an offence of God which provokes his displeasure To this must be joyned a Faith of the mercy and goodness of God whereby the penitent must hope that God will forgive him and repute him justified and of the number of his Elect Children not for the worthiness of any merit or work done by him but for the only Merits of the Blood and Passion of our Saviour Jesus Christ. That this Faith is got and confirmed by the Applicatition of the Promises of the Gospel and the use of the Sacraments And for that end Confession to a Priest is necessary if it may be had whose Absolution was instituted by Christ to apply the promises of Gods Grace to the penitent Therefore the people were to be taught That the Absolution is spoken by an Authority
Conjuncture of affairs knowing that few would come to it and so they might carry things as they pleased But the World was now awake the Scriptures were again in mens hands and people would not be so tamely couzen'd as they had been Then he shewes how unsafe it was for any English man to go to Mantua how little regard was to be had to the Popes safe Conduct they having so oft broken their Oaths and Promises He also shew's how little reason he had to trust himself to the Pope how kind he had been to that See formerly and how basely they had requited it And that now these Three years past they had been stirring up all Christian Princes against him and using all possible means to create him trouble Therefore he declared he would not go to any Council called by the Bishop of Rome but when there was a General peace among Christian Princes he would most gladly hearken to the motion of a true General Council and in the mean-while he would preserve all the Articles of the Faith in his Kingdom and sooner lose his Life and his Crown than suffer any of them to be put down And so he protested against any Council to be held at Mantua or any where else by the Bishop of Romes Authority That he would not acknowledg it nor receive any of their Decrees At this time Reginald Pool who was of the Royal Blood being by his Mother descended from the Duke of Clarence Brother to King Edward the Fourth and in the same degree of kindred with the King by his Fathers side was in great esteem for his Learning and other Excellent vertues It seems the King had determined to breed him up to the greatest dignity in the Church and to make him as Eminent in Learning and other acquired parts as he was for Quality and a Natural Sweetness and Nobleness of temper Therefore the King had given him the Deanery of Excester with several other dignities towards his maintenance beyond Sea and sent him to Paris where he stayed several years There he first incurred the Kings displeasure For being desired by him to concur with his Agents in procuring the Subscriptions and Seals of the French Universities he excused himself yet it was in such terms that he did not openly declare himself against the King After that he came over to England and as he writes himself was present when the Clergy made their Submission and acknowledged the King Supream Head In which since he was then Dean of Exeter and kept his Deanry several years after that it is not to be doubted but that as he was by his place obliged to sit in the Convocation so he concurred with the rest in making that Submission From thence he went to Padua where he lived long and was received into the Friendship and Society of some celebrated persons who gave themselves much to the Study of Eloquence and of the Roman Authors These were Centareno Bembo Caraffa Sadoletti with a great many more that became afterwards well known over the World But all those gave Pool the Preheminence and that justly too for he was accounted one of the most Eloquent men of his time The King called him oft home to assist him in his affairs but he still declined it at length finding delays could prevail no longer he wrote the King word that he did not approve of what he had done neither in the matter of his Divorce nor his separation from the Apostolick See To this the King answered desiring his reasons why he disagreed from him and sent him over a Book which Doctor Sampson had writ in defence of the Proceedings in England Upon which he wrote his Book De unione Ecclesiastica and sent it over to the King and soon after Printed it this year In which Book he condemned the Kings Actions and pressed him to return to the obedience he owed the See of Rome with many sharp reflections but the Book was more considered for the Author and the Wit and Eloquence of it than for any great Learning or deep reasoning in it He did also very much depress the Royal and exalt the Papal Authority He compared the King to Nebuchadonosor and addressed himself in the Conclusion to the Emperor whom he conjured to turn his Arms rather against the King than the Turk And indeed the indecencies of his expressions against the King not to mention the scurrilous Language he bestows on Sampson whose Book he undertakes to answer are such that it appears how much the Italian Air had changed him and that his Converse at Padua had for some time defac'd that generous temper of mind which was otherwise so natural to him Upon this the King desired him at first to come over and explain some passages in his Book But when he could not thus draw him into his toyles he proceeded severely against him and devested him of all his Dignities but these were plentifully made up to him by the Popes bounty and the Emperors He was afterwards rewarded with a Cardinals hat but he did not rise above the degree of a Deacon Some believe that the Spring of this opposition he made to the King was a secret affection he had for the Lady Mary The publishing of this Book made the King set the Bishops on work to write Vindications of his Actions which Stokesley and Tonstal did in a long and Learned Letter that they wrote to Pool And Gardiner published his Book of true obedience To which Bonner who was hot on the scent of Preferment added a Preface But the King designed sharper tools for Pool's punishment Yet an Attaindor in absence was all he câ—uld do against himself But his Family and kindred felt the weight of the Kings displeasure very sensibly But now I must give an account of the dissolution of the Monasteries pursuant to the Act of Parliament though I cannot fix the exact time in which it was done I have seen the Original Instructions with the Commission given to those who were to visit the Monasteries in and about Bristol All the rest were of the same kind They bear date the 28th of April after the Session of Parliament was over and the report was to be made in the Octaves of St. Michael the Arch-Angel But I am inclined to think that the great concussion and disorder things were in by the Queens death made the Commissioners unwilling to proceed in so invidious a matter till they saw the Issue of the new-Parliament Therefore I have delayed giving any account of the Proceedings in that matter till this place The Instructions will be found in the Collection The Substance of them was as follows The Auditors of the Court of Augmentations were the persons that were employed Four or any Three of them were Commissioned to execute the Instructions in every particular Visitation One Auditor or Receiver and one of the Clerks of the former Visitation were to call for Three discreet persons in
the Cure and Charge both in Preaching and other duties And so many hundred Pounds as any had so many Students he was to breed up Tenthly Where Parsonage or Vicarage-Houses were in great decay the Incumbent was every year to give a fifth part of his profits to the repairing of them till they were finished and then to maintain them in the State they were in Eleventhly All these Injunctions were to be observed under pain of suspension and sequestration of the mean profits till they were observed These were equally ingrateful to the Corrupt Clergy and to the Laity that adhered to the old Doctrine The very same opinions about Pilgrimages Images and Saints departed and instructing the people in the Principles of Christian Religion in the Vulgar tongue for which the Lollards were not long ago either burnt or forced to abjure them were now set up by the Kings Authority From whence they concluded that whatsoever the King said of his maintaining the old Doctrine yet he was now changing it The Clergy also were much troubled at this Precedent of the Kings giving such Injunctions to them without the consent of the Convocation From which they concluded they were now to be slaves to the Lord Vice-gerent The matter of these Injunctions was also very uneasie to them The great profits they made by their Images and Relicks and the Pilgrimages to them were now taken away and yet severe Impositions and heavy Taxes were laid on them a fifth part for Repairs a tenth at least for an Exhibitioner and a fortieth for Charity which were cryed out on as intolerable burdens Their Labour was also increased and they were bound up to many severities of Life All these things touched the Secular Clergy to the quick and made them concur with the Regular Clergy in disposing the people to Rebel This was secretly fomented by the great Abbots For though they were not yet struck at yet the way was prepared to it and their Houses were oppressed with crouds of those who were sent to them from the suppressed Houses There was some pains taken to remove their fears For a Letter was sent to them all in the Kings name to silence the reports that were spread abroad as if all Monasteries were to be quite suppressed This they were required not to believe but to serve God according to their Order to obey the Kings Injunctions to keep Hospitality and make no wastes nor dilapidations Yet this gave them small comfort and as all such things do rather encreased than quieted their jealousies and fears So many secret causes concurring no wonder the people fell into mutinous and seditious practices The first rising was in Lincolnshire in the beginning of October where a Church-man disguised into a Cobler and directed by a Monk drew a great body of men after him About 20000 were gathered together They swore to be true to God the King and the Common-wealth and digested their Grievances into a few Articles which they sent to the King desiring a redress of them They complained of some things that related to secular concerns and some Acts of Parliament that were uneasie to them They also complained of the suppression of so many Religious Houses that the King had mean persons in high places about him who were ill Councellors They also complained of some Bishops who had subverted the Faith and they apprehended the Jewels and Plate of their Churches should be taken away Therefore they desired the King would call to him the Nobility of the Realm and by their advice redress their Grievances Concluding with an acknowledgment of the Kings being their Supream Head and that the Tenthes and first Fruits of all Livings belonged to him of Right When the King heard of this Insurrection he presently sent the Duke of Suffolk with a Commission to raise forces for dispersing them But with him he sent an answer to their Petition He began with that about his Councellors and said It was never before heard of that the Rabble presumed to Dictate to their Prince what Councellors he should choose That was the Princes work and not theirs The Suppression of Religious Houses was done pursuant to an Act of Parliament and was not set forth by any of his Counsellors The Heads of these Religious Houses had under their own hands confessed those horrid scandals which made them a reproach to the Nation And in many Houses there were not above Four or Five Religious persons So it seemed they were better pleased that such dissolute persons should consume their Rents in riotous and idle living than that their Prince should have them for the Common good of the whole Kingdom He also answered their other Demands in the same high and commanding strain and required them to submit themselves to his mercy and to deliver their Captains and Lieutenants into the hands of his Lieutenants and to disperse and carry themselves as became good and obedient Subjects and to put an hundred of their number into the hands of his Lieutenants to be ordered as they had deserved When this answer was brought to them it raised their Spirits higher The practising Clergy-men continued to inflame them They perswaded them that the Christian Religion would be very soon defaced and taken away quite if they did not vigorously defend it That it would come to that that no man should marry a Wife receive any of the Sacraments nor eat a piece of rost meat but he should pay for it That it were better to live under the Turk than under such oppression Therefore there was no cause in which they could with more honour and a better conscience hazard their Lives than for the Holy Faith This encouraged and kept them together a little longer They had forced many of the Gentry of the Countrey to go along with them These sent a secret Message to the Duke of Suffolk letting him know what ill effects the Kings rough answer had produced That they had joyned with the people only to moderate them a little and they knew nothing that would be so effectual as the offer of a general pardon So the Duke of Suffolk as he moved towards them with the forces which he had drawn together sent to the King to know his pleasure and earnestly advised a gentle composing of the matter without blood At that same time the King was advertised from the North that there was a general and formidable Rising there Of which he had the greater apprehensions because of their neighbourhood to Scotland whose King being the Kings Nephew was the Heir presumptive of the Crown since the King had Illegitimated both his Daughters And though the Kings firm Alliance with France made him less apprehensive of trouble from Scotland and their King was at this time in France to marry the Daughter of Francis yet he did not know how far a general Rising might invite that King to send orders to head and assist the Rebels in
them to spoyl the Countrey and they were no longer able to subsist without doing that The Duke of Norfolk directed some that were secretly gained or had been sent over to them as Deserters to spread reports among them that their Leaders were making Terms for themselves and would leave the rest to be undone This joyned to their necessities made many fall off every day The Duke of Norfolk finding his Arts had so good an operation offered to go to Court with any whom they would send with their demands and to intercede for them This he knew would take up some time and most of them would be dispersed before he could return So they sent two Gentlemen whom they had forced to go with them to the King to Windsor Upon this the King discharged the Rendezvous at Northampton and delayed the sending an answer as much as could be But at last hearing that though most of them were dispersed yet they had engaged to return upon warning and that they took it ill that no answer came he sent the Duke of Norfolk to them with a general pardon six only excepted by name and four others that were not named But in this the Kings Counsels were generally censured for every one was now in fear and so the Rebels rejected the Proposition The King also sent them word by their own Messenger That he took it very ill at their hands that they had chosen rather to rise in Arms against him than to Petition him about these things which were uneasie to them And to appease them a little the King by new Injunctions commanded the Clergy to continue the use of all the Ceremonies of the Church This it is like was intended for keeping up the four Sacraments which had not been mentioned in the former Articles The Clergy that were with the Rebels met at Pomfret to draw up Articles to be offered at the Treaty that was to be at Doncaster where three hundred were ordered to come from the Rebels to treat with the Kings Commissioners So great a number was called in hopes that they would disagree about their Demands and so fall out among themselves On the 6th of December they met to treat and it seems had so laid their matter before that they agreed upon these following Demands A general Pardon to be granted a Parliament to be held at York and Courts of justice to be there that none on the North of Trent might be brought to London upon any Law-sute They desired a Repeal of some Acts of Parliament Those for the last Subsidy for uses for making words misprision of Treason and for the Clergies paying their Tenthes and first Fruits to the King They desired the Princess Mary might be restored to her right of Succession the Pope to his wonted Jurisdiction and the Monks to their Houses again that the Lutherans might be punished that Audley the Lord Chancellor and Cromwell the Lord Privy-Seal might be excluded from the next Parliament and Lee and Leighton that had visited the Monasteries might be imprisoned for Bribery and Extortion But the Lords who knew that the King would by no means agree to these Propositions rejected them Upon which the Rebels took heart again and were growing more enraged and desperate so that the Duke of Norfolk wrote to the King that if some content were not given them it might end very ill for they were much stronger than his Forces were And both he and the other Commanders of the Kings Forces in their hearts wished that most of their Demands were granted being persons who though they complied with the King and were against that Rebellion yet were great Enemies to Lutheranism and wished a Reconciliation with Rome of which the Duke of Norfolk was afterwards accused by the Lord Darcy as if he had secretly encouraged them to insist on these Demands The King seeing the humour was so obstinate resolved to use gentler Remedies and so sent to the Duke of Norfolk a general Pardon with a promise of a Parliament ordering him not to make use of these except in extremity This was no easie thing to that Duke since he might be afterwards made to answer for it whether the extremity was really such as to justifie his granting these things But the Rebels were become again as numerous as ever and had resolved to cross the River and to force the Kings Camp which was still much inferiour to theirs in number But Rains falling the second time made the Foords again unpassable This was spoken of by the Kings Party as little less than a a Miracle that Gods Providence had twice so opportunely interposed for the stopping of the progress of the Rebels And it is very probable that on the other side it made great impression on the Superstitious multitude and both discouraged them and disposed them to accept of the offer of Pardon and a Parliament to be soon called for considering their other Demands The King signed the Pardon at Richmond the 9th of December by which all their Treasons and Rebellion to that day were pardoned provided they made their submission to the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Shrewsbury and lived in all due obedience for the future The King sent likewise a long answer to their Demands as to what they complained about the subversion of the Faith He protested his zeal for the true Christian Faith and that he would live and die in the defence and preservation of it But the ignorant multitude were not to instruct him what the true Faith was nor to presume to correct what he and the whole Convocation had agreed on That as he had preserved the Church of England in her true Liberties so he would do still and that he had done nothing that was so oppressive as many of his Progenitours had done upon lesser grounds But that he took it very ill of them who had rather one Churl or two should enjoy the Profits of their Monasteries to support them in their dissolute and abominable course of living than that their King should have them for defraying the great Charge he was at for their defence against Forreign Enemies For the Laws it was high presumption in a rude multitude to take on them to judge what Laws were good and what not They had more reason to think that he after twenty eight years Reign should know it better than they could And for his Government he had so long preserved his Subjects in Peace and Justice had so defended them from their Enemies had so secured his Frontier had granted so many general Pardons had been so unwilling to punish his Subjects and so ready to receive them into mercy that they could shew no paralel to his Government among all their former Kings And whereas it was said That he had many of the Nobility of his Council in the beginning of his Reign and few now he shewed them in that one instance how they were abused by the lying slanders
of some disaffected Persons For when he came to the Crown there were none that were born Noble of his Council but only the Earl of Surrey and the Earl of Shrewsbury whereas now the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk the Marquess of Exeter the Lord Steward the Earls of Oxford and Sussex and the Lord Sands were of the Privy-Council And for the Spirituality the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Winchester Hereford and Chichester were also of it And he and his whole Council judging it necessary to have some at the board who understood the Law of England and the Treaties with Forreign Princes he had by their Unanimous advice brought in his Chancellor and the Lord Privy-Seal He thought it strange that they who were but brutes should think they could better judg who should be his Counsellors than himself and his whole Council Therefore he would bear no such thing at their hands it being inconsistent with the duty of good Subjects to meddle in such matters But if they or any of his other Subjects could bring any just complaint against any about him he was ready to hear it and if it were proved he would punish it according to Law As for the complaints against some of the Prelates for preaching against the Faith they could know none of these things but by the report of others since they lived at such a distance that they themselves had not heard any of them preach Therefore he required them not to give credit to Lies nor be misled by those who spread such Calumnies and ill reports And he concluded all with a severe Expostulation adding that such was his love to his Subjects that imputing this Insurrection rather to their folly and lightness than to any malice or rancour he was willing to pass it over more gently as they would perceive by his Proclamation Now the people were come to themselves again and glad to get off so easily and they all chearfully accepted the Kings offers and went home again to their several dwellings Yet the Clergy were no way satisfied but continued still to practise amongst them and kept the Rebellion still on foot so that it broke out soon after The Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Shrewsbury were ordered to lie still in the Country with their Forces till all things were more fully composed They made them all come to a full submission and first to revoke all Oaths and Promises made during the Rebellion for which they asked the Kings Pardon on their knees 2ly To swear to be true to the King and his Heirs and Successors 3ly To obey and maintain all the Acts of Parliament made during the Kings Reign 4ly Not to take Arms again but by the Kings Authority 5ly To apprehend all Seditious persons 6ly To remove all the Monks Nuns and Friars whom they had placed again in the dissolved Monasteries There were also Orders given to send Ask their Captain and the Lord Darcy to Court Ask was kindly received and well used by the King He had shewed great conduct in Commanding the Rebels and it seems the King had a mind either to gain him to his service or which I suspect was the true Cause to draw from him a discovery of all those who in the other parts of the Kingdom had favoured or relieved them For he suspected not without cause that some of the great Abbots had given secret supplies of Money to the Rebels For which many of them were afterwards tryed and attainted The Lord Darcy was under great apprehensions and studied to purge himself that he was forced to a Compliance with them but pleaded that the long and important services he had done the Crown for fifty years he being then fourscore together with his great Age and Infirmity might mitigate the Kings displeasure But he was made Prisoner Whether this gave those who had been in Arms new jealousies that the Kings Pardon would not be inviolably observed or whether the Clergy had of new prevailed on them to rise in Arms I cannot determine But it broke out again though not so dangerously as before Two Gentlemen of the North Musgrave and Tilby raised a body of 8000 men and thought to have surprised Carlisle but were repulsed by those within And in their return the Duke of Norfolk fell upon them and routed them He took many prisoners and by Martial Law hanged up all their Captains and Seventy other Prisoners on the Walls of Carlisle Others at that same time thought to have surprised Hull but it was prevented and the leaders of that Party were also taken and Executed Many other Risings were in several places of the Countrey which were all soon repressed the ground of them all was that the Parliament which was promised was not called But the King said they had not kept conditions with him nor would he call a Parliament till all things were quieted But the Duke of Norfolks vigilance every-where prevented their gathering together in any great Body And after several un-succesful attempts at length the Countrey was absolutely quieted in Ianuary following And then the Duke of Norfolk proceeded according to the Martial Law against many whom he had taken Ask had also left the Court without leave and had gone amongst them but was quickly taken So he and many others were sent to several places to be made publick Examples He suffered at York others at Hull and in other Towns in Yorkshire But the Lord Darcy and the Lord Hussy were arraigned at Westminster and attainted of Treason The former for the Northern and the other for the Lincolnshire Insurrection The Lord Darcy was beheaded at Towerhill and was much lamented Every body thought that considering his Merits his Age and former services he had hard measure The Lord Hussy was beheaded at Lincoln The Lord Darcy in his Tryal accused the Duke of Norfolk that in the Treaty at Doncaster he had encouraged the Rebels to continue in their demands This the Duke denyed and desired a Tryal by Combate and gave some presumptions to shew that the Lord Darcy bore him ill-will and said this out of Malice The King either did not believe this or would not seem to believe it And the Dukes great diligence in the Suppression of these Commotions set him beyond all jealousies But after those Executions the King wrote to the Duke in Iuly next to Proclaim an absolute Amnesty over all the North which was received with great joy every body being in fear of himself and so this threatning storm was dissipated without the effusion of much blood save what the sword of justice drew At the same time the King of Scotland returning from France with his Queen and touching on the Coast of England many of the people fell down at his feet praying him to assist them and he should have all But he was it seems bound up by the French King and so went home without giving them any encouragement And thus ended
this Rebellion which was chiefly carryed on by the Clergy under pretence of Religion And now the King was delivered of all his apprehensions that he had been in for some years in fear of Stirs at home But they being now happily composed as he knew it would so overawe the rest of his discontented Subjects that he needed fear nothing from them for a great while so it encouraged him to go on in his other designs of suppressing the rest of the Monasteries and reforming some other Points of Religion Therefore there was a new Visitation appointed for all the Monasteries of England And the Visiters were ordered to Examine all things that related either to their Conversation to their affection to the King and the Supremacy or to their Superstition in their several Houses To discover what Cheats and Impostures there were either in their Images Relicks or other miraculous things by which they had drawn people to their Houses on Pilgrimages and gotten from them any great Presents Also to try how they were affected during the late Commotions and to discover every thing that was amiss in them and report it to the Lord Vice-gerent In the Records of the whole Twenty Eighth year of the Kings Reign I find but one Original Surrender of any Religious House The Abbot of Furnese in Lincolnshire valued at 960 lib. with Thirty Monks resigning up that House to the King on the 9th of April which was very near the end of the year of the Kings Reign for it commenced on the 22d of April Two other Surrenders are enrolled that year The one was of Bermondsey in Surrey the first of Iune in the twenty eighth of the Kings Reign The Preamble was that they Surrendred in hopes of greater Benevolence from the King But this was the effect of some secret practice and not of the Act of Parliament For it was valued at 548 lib. and so fell not within the Act. The other was of Bushlisham or Bishtam in Berkshire made by Barlow Bishop of St. Davids that was Commendator of it and a great Promoter of the Reformation It was valued at 327 lib. But in the following year they made a quicker Progress and found strange Enormities in the greater Houses It seems all the Houses under 200 lib. of Rent were not yet suppressed For I find many within that value afterwards resigning their Houses So that I am enclined to believe that the first visitation being made towards the Suppression of the lesser Monasteries and that as appears by their Instructions being not to be finished till they had made a report of what they had done to the Court of Augmentations who were after the report made to determine what pensions were to be reserved to the Abbot and other Officers which report was to be made in the Octaves of St. Michael and after that a new Commission was to be given for their Suppression when that was done they went no further at that time that so I cannot think there were many Houses Suppressed when these Stirres began and after their first rising it is not likely that great Progress would be made in a business that was like to inflame the people more and encrease the number of the Rebels Neither do I find any Houses suppressed by vertue of the former Act of Parliament till the twenty ninth year of the Kings Reign And yet they made no great hast this year For there are but twenty one Surrenders all this year either in the Rolls or Augmentation-Office And now not only small Abbeys but greater ones were surrendred to the King The Abbots were brought to do it upon several Motives Some had been faulty during the late Rebellion and were liable to the Kings displeasure and these to redeem themselves compounded the matter by a Resignation of their House Others began to like the Reformation and that made them the more willing to surrender their Houses such as Barlow Bishop of St. Davids who not only surrendered up his own House of Bushlisham but prevailed on many others to do the like Others were convicted of great disorders in their Conversation and these not daring to stand a Tryal were glad to accept of a Pension for life and deliver up their House Others were guilty of making great wastes and Dilapidations For they all saw the Dissolution of their Houses approaching and so every one was induced to take all the care he could to provide for himself and his kindred so that the Visitors found in some of the Richest Abbies of England as St. Albans and Battell such depredations made that at St. Albans an Abbot could not subsist any longer the rents were so low and in Battell as all their furniture was old and torn not worth an 100 lib. so both in House and Chappel they had not 400 Marks worth of Plate In other Houses they found not above twelve or fifteen Ounces of Plate and no furniture at all but only such things as they could not embezel as the Walls and Windows Bells and Lead In other Houses the Abbot and Monks were glad to accept of a Pension for themselves during life and so being only concerned for their own particular interest resigned their House to the King Generally the Monks had eight Marks a year Pension till they were provided for The Abbots Pensions were proportioned to the Value of their House and to their Innocence The Abbots of St. Albans and Tewksbury had 400 Marks a year a piece The Abbot of St. Edmundsbury was more Innocent for the Visitors wrote from thence that they could find no scandals in that House So he it seems was not easily brought to Resign his House and had 500 Marks Pension reserved to him And for their inferior Officers some had 30. some 10. or 8. and the lowest 6 lib. Pension In other places upon a vacancy either by death or deprivation they did put in an Abbot only to resign up the House For after the Kings Supremacy was established all those Abbots that had been formerly confirmed by the Pope were placed in this manner The King granted a Conge d'elire to the Prior and Convent with a Missive Letter declaring the name of the person whom they should choose then they returned an election to the King who upon that gave his assent to it by a Warrant under the great Seal which was certified to the Lord Vice-gerent who thereupon Confirmed the Election and returned him back to the King to take the Oaths upon which the Temporalities were restored Thus all the Abbots were now placed by the King and were generally pickt out to serve this turn Others in hope of advancement to Bishopricks or to be Suffragan Bishops as the inferior sort of them were made generally were glad to recommend themselves to the Kings favour by a quick and cheerful Surrender of their Monasterie Upon some of these inducements it was that the greatest number of the Religious Houses were resigned to the King
before there was any Act of Parliament made for their Suppression In several Houses the Visitors who were generally either Masters of Chancery or Auditors of the Court of Augmentations studied not only to bring them to resign their Houses but to Sign Confessions of their passed lewd and dissolute lives Of these there is only one now extant which it is like escaped the general rasure and destruction of all Papers of that kind in Queen Maries time But from the Letters that I have seen I perceive there were such Confessions made by many other Houses That Confession of the Prior and Benedictins of St. Andrews in Northampton is to be seen in the Records of the Court of Augmentations In which with the most aggravating expressions that could be devised they acknowledged their past ill life for which the Pitt of Hell was ready to swallow them up They confessed that they had neglected the Worship of God lived in Idleness Gluttony and Sensuality with many other woful expressions to that purpose Other Houses as the Monastery of Betlesden resigned with this Preamble That they did profoundly consider that the manner and trade of living which they and others of their pretended Religion had for a long time followed consisted in some dumb ceremonies and other Constitutions of the Bishops of Rome and other forreign Potentates as the Abbot of Cisteaux by which they were blindly led having no true knowledg of Gods Laws procuring exemptions from their Ordinary and Diocesan by the Power of the Bishop of Rome and submitting themselves wholly to a forreign Power who never came hither to reform their abuses which were now found among them But that now knowing the most perfect way of living is sufficiently declared by Christ and his Apostles and that it was most fit for them to be Governed by the King who was their Supream Head on earth they Submitted themselves to his Mercy and surrendered up their Monastery to him on the 25th of September in the 30th year of his Reign This writing was signed by the Abbot the Sub-prior and nine Monks There are five other Surrenders to the same purpose by the Gray and White Friars of Stamford the Gray-Friars of Coventry Bedford and Ailesbury yet to be seen Some are resigned upon this Preamble That they hoped the King would of new found their House which was otherwise like to be ruined both in Spirituals and Temporals So did the Abbot of Chertsey in Surrey with fourteen Monks on the 14th of Iuly in the 29th year of this Reign whose House was valued at 744 lib. I have some reason to think that this Abbot was for the Reformation and intended to have had his House new founded to be a House of true and well regulated devotion And so I find the Prior of great Malverine in Worcestershire offered such a Resignation He was recommended by Bishop Latimer to Cromwell with an earnest desire that his House might stand not in Monkery but so as to be converted to Preaching Study and Prayer And the good Prior was willing to compound for his House by a Present of 500 Marks to the King and of 200 to Cromwell He is commended for being an old worthy man a good Housekeeper and one that daily fed many poor people To this Latimer adds Alas my good Lord Shall we not see Two or Three in every shire changed to such remedy But the Resolution was taken once to extirpate all And therefore though the Visitors interceded earnestly for one Nunnery in Oxfordshire Godstow where there was great strictness of life and to which were most of the young Gentlewomen of the County were sent to be bred so that the Gentrey of the Country desired the King would spare the House yet all was uneffectual The General Form in which most of these Resignations begins is That the Abbot and Brethren upon full deliberation certain knowledg of their own proper motion for certain just and reasonable causes specially moving them in their Souls and Consciences did freely and of their own accord give and grant their Houses to the King Others it seems did not so well like this preamble and therefore did without any reason or preamble give away their Houses to the Visitors as Feofees in trust for the Kings use And thus they went on procuring daily more surrenders So that in the thirtieth year of the Kings Reign there were 159 Resignations enrolled of which the Originals of 155 do yet remain And for the Readers further satisfaction he shall find in the Collection at the end of this Book the names of all these Houses so surrendred with other particulars relating to them which would too much weary him if inserted in the thread of this Work But there was no Law to force any to make such Resignations So that many of the great Abbots would not comply with the King in this matter and stood it out till after the following Parliament that was in the 31th year of his Reign It was questioned by many whether these surrenders could be good in Law since the Abbots were but Trustees and Tenants for Life It was thought they could not absolutely alienate and give away their House for ever But the Parliament afterwards declared the Resignations were good in Law For by their Foundations all was trusted to the Abbot and the Senior Brethren of the House who putting the Covent-Seal to any Deed it was of force in Law It was also said that they thus surrendering had forfeited their Charters and Foundations and so the King might seize and possess them with a good Title if not upon the Resignation yet upon Forfeiture But others thought that whatsoever the Nicety of Law might give the King yet there was no sort of equity in it that a few Trustees who were either bribed or frighted should pass away that which was none of theirs but only given them in Trust and for Life Other Abbots were more roughly handled The Prior of Wooburn was suspected of favouring the Rebels of being against the Kings Supremacy and for the Popes and of being for the General Council then summoned to Mantua And he was dealt with to make a submission and acknowledgment In an account of a long Conference which he had with a Privy Counsellor under his own hand I find that the great thing which he took offence at was That Latimer and some other Bishops preached against the Veneration of the Blessed Virgin and the other Saints and that the English Bible then set out differed in many things from the Latin with several lesser matters So that they looked on their Religion as changed and wondered that the Judgments of God upon Queen Anne had not terrified others from going on to subvert the Faith yet he was prevailed with and did again submit to the King and acknowledg his Supremacy but he afterwards joyned himself to the Rebels and was taken with them together with the Abbot of Whaley and two
brought with them then they afforded them the favour of turning the clear side outward who upon that went home very well-satisfied with their journey and the expence they had been at There was brought out of Wales a huge Image of wood called Darvel Gatheren of which one Ellis Price Visitor of the Diocess of St. Asaph gave this account On the 6th of April 1537. That the people of the Countrey had a great Superstition for it and many Pilgrimages were made to it so that the day before he wrote there were reckoned to be above five or six hundred Pilgrims there Some brought Oxen and Cattel and some brought Money and it was generally believed that if any offered to that Image he had Power to deliver his Soul from Hell So it was ordered to be brought to London where it served for fewel to burn Friar Forrest There was an huge Image of our Lady at Worcester that was had in great reverence which when it was stript of some veils that covered it was found to be the Statue of a Bishop Barlow Bishop of St. Davids did also give many advertisements of the Superstition of his Countrey and of the Clergy and Monks of that Diocess who were guilty of Heathenish Idolatry gross Impiety and Ignorance and of abusing the people with many evident forgeries about which he said he had good evidence when it should be called for But that which drew most Pilgrims and presents in those parts was an Image of our Lady with a Taper in her hand which was believed to have burnt nine years till one forswearing himself upon it it went out and was then much Reverenced and Worshipped He found all about the Cathedral so full of Superstitious conceits that there was no hope of working on them therefore he proposed the Translating the Episcopal Seat from St. Davids to Caermaerden which he pressed by many Arguments and in several Letters but with no success Then many rich Shrines of our Lady of Walsingham of Ipswich and Islington with a great many more were brought up to London and burnt by Cromwels Orders But the richest Shrine of England was that of Thomas Becket called St. Thomas of Canterbury the Martyr who being raised up by King Henry the ad to the Arch-Bishoprick of Canterbury did afterwards give that King much trouble by opposing his Authority and exalting the Popes And though he once consented to the Articles agreed on at Clarendon for bearing down the Papal and securing the Regal Power yet he soon after repented of that only piece of Loyalty of which he was guilty all the while he was Arch-Bishop He fled to the Pope who received him as a Confessor for the dearest Article of the Roman Belief The King and Kingdoms were Excommunicated and put under an Interdict upon his Account But afterwards upon the Intercession of the French King King Henry and he were reconciled and the Interdict was taken off Yet his unquiet Spirit could take no rest for he was no sooner at Canterbury than he began to Embroyl the Kingdom again and was proceeding by Censures against the Arch-Bishop of York and some other Bishops for Crowning the Kings Son in his Absence Upon the news of that the King being then in Normandy said If he had faithful Servants he would not be so troubled with such a Priest whereupon some zealous or officious Courtiers came over and killed him For which as the King was made to undergoe a severe pennance so the Monks were not wanting in their ordinary Arts to give out many miraculous stories concerning his Blood This soon drew a Canonization from Rome and he being a Martyr for the Papacy was more extolled than all the Apostles or Primitive Saints had ever been So that for 300 years he was accounted one of the greatest Saints in Heaven as may appear from the accounts in the leger-Books of the offerings made to the three greatest Altars in Christs Church in Canterbury The one was to Christ the other to the Virgin and the third to St. Thomas In one year there was offered at Christ's Altar 3 lib. 2 s. 6 d. To the Virgins Altar 63 lib. 5 s. 6 d. But to St. Thomas's Altar 832 lib. 12 s. 3 d. But the next year the odds grew greater for there was not a penny offered at Christs Altar and at the Virgins only 4 lib. 1 s. 8 d. But at St. Thomas's 954 lib. 6 s. 3 d. By such offerings it came that his Shrine was of inestimable value There was one Stone offered there by Lewis the 7th of France who came over to visit it in a Pilgrimage that was believed the Richest in Europe Nor did they think it enough to give him one day in the Calendar the 29th of December but unusual honours were devised for this Martyr of the liberties of the Church greater than any that had been given to the Martyrs for Christianity The day of raising his body or as they called it of his Translation being the 7th of Iuly was not only a holy-day but every 50th year there was a Jubilee for 15 days together and Indulgence was granted to all that came to visit his shrine as appears from the Record of the sixth Jubilee after his Translation Anno. 1420 which bears that there were then about an hundred thousand strangers come to visit his Tomb. The Jubilee began at twelve a clock on the Vigil of the feast and lasted 15 days by such Arts they drew an incredible deal of wealth to his shrine The Riches of that together with his disloyal practices made the King resolve both to un-shrine and un-Saint him at once And then his skull which had been much worshipped was found an Imposture For the true skull was lying with the rest of his bones in his grave The shrine was broken down and carryed away the Gold that was about it filling two Chests which were so heavy that they were a load to Eight strong men to carry them out of the Church And his bones were as some say burnt so it was understood at Rome but others say they were so mixed with other dead bones that it would have been a Miracle indeed to have distinguished them afterwards The King also ordered his name to be struck out of the Kalendar and the office for his Festivity to be dasht out of all Breviaries And thus was the Superstition of England to Images and Relicks extirpated Yet the King took care to qualifie the distaste which the Articles published the former year had given And though there was no Parliament in the year 1537. yet there was a Convocation upon the Conclusion of which there was Printed an Explanation of the chief points of Religion Signed by nineteen Bishops eight Arch-Deacons and seventeen Doctors of Divinity and Law In which there was an Exposition of the Creed the seven Sacraments the ten Commandments the Lords Prayer and the Salutation of the Virgin with an Account of Justification and Purgatory
filled when they had got Bonner to be his Successor yet they found afterwards what a fatal mistake they committed in raising him now to Hereford and translating him within a few months to London vacant by Stokesleys death But during the vacancy of the See of Hereford Cranmer held a Visitation in it where he left some Injunctions to be found in the Collection which chiefly related to the encouraging of reading the Scriptures and giving all due obedience to the Kings Injunctions For the other Bishops that adhered to Cranmer they were rather clogs than helps to him Latimers simplicity and weakness made him be despised Shaxtons proud and litigious humour drew hatred on him Barlow was not very discreet and many of the Preachers whom they cherished whether out of an unbridled forwardness of temper or a true zeal that would not be managed and governed by politick and prudent measures were flying at many things that were not yet abolished Many complaints were brought of these to the King Upon which letters were sent to all the Bishops in the Kings name to take care that as the People should be instructed in the truth so they should not be unwarily charged with too many novelties since the publishing these if it was not tempered with great discretion would raise much contention and other inconveniencies that might be of dangerous consequence But it seems this Caveat did not produce what was designed by it or at least the opposite party were still bringing in new Complaints for I have seen an original Letter of Cromwels to the Bishop of Landaffe bearing date the 6th of Ianuary In which he makes mention of the Kings Letters sent to that purpose and requires him to look to the Execution of them both against the violence of the new Preachers and against those that secretly carried on the pretended authority of the Bishop of Rome otherwise he threatens to proceed against him in an other manner All these things concurred to lessen Cranmers interest in the Court nor had he any firm friend there but Cromwel who was also careful to preserve himself There was not a Queen now in the Kings bosome to favour their motions Queen Iane had been their friend though she came in Anne Bolleyns room that had supported them most The King was observed to be much guided by his Wives as long as they kept their interest with him Therefore Cromwel thought the only way to retrieve a design that was almost lost was to engage the King in an Alliance with some of the Princes of Germany from whence he had heard much of the Beauty of the Lady Anne of Cleve the Duke of Cleve's Sister whose elder sister was married to the Duke of Saxony But while he was setting this on foot a Parliament was summoned to meet the 28th of April To which all the Parliamentary Abbots had their Writs The Abbots of Westminster St. Albans St. Edmundsbury St Mary York Glassenbury Glocester Ramsey Evesham Peterborrough Reading Malmesbury Croyland Selby Thorny Winchelcomb Waltham Cirencester Teukesbury Colchester and Tavestoke sate in it On the 5th of May the Lord Chancellour acquainted them that the King being most desirous to have all his Subjects of one mind in Religion and to quiet all Controversies about it had commanded him to move to them that a Committee might be appointed for examining these different opinions and drawing up Articles for an agreement which might be reported and considered by the House To this the Lords agreed and named for a Committee Cromwel the Vice-gerent the two Arch-Bishops the Bishops of Duresme Bath and Wells Ely Bangor Carlisle and Worcester Who were ordered to go about it with all haste and were dispenced with for their attendance in the House till they had ended their business But they could come to no agreement for the Arch-bishop of Canterbury having the Bishops of Ely and Worcester to second him and being favoured by Cromwel the other five could carry nothing against them Nor would either party yeeld to the other so that 11 dayes passed in these debates On the 16th of May the Duke of Norfolk told the Lords That the Committee that was named had made no progress for they were not of one mind which some of the Lords had objected when they were first named Therefore he offered some Articles to the Lords consideration that they might be examined by the whole House and that there might be a perpetual Law made for the observation of them after the Lords had freely delivered their minds about them The Articles were First Whether in the Eucharist Christs real Body was present without any Transubstantiation so it is in the Journal absque Transubstantiatione it seems so the Corporal Presence had been established they would have left the manner of it indefinite Secondly Whether that Sacrament was to be given to the Laity in both kinds Thirdly Whether the Vows of Chastity made either by Men or Women ought to be observed by the Law of God Fourthly Whether by the Law of God private Masses ought to be celebrated Fifthly Whether Priests by the Law of God might marry Sixthly Whether Auricular Confession were necessary by the Law of God Against these the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury argued long For the first he was then in his opinion a Lutheran so he was not like to say much against it But certainly he opposed the second much since there was not any thing for which those with whom he held correspondence were more earnest and seemed to have greater advantages both from Christs own words in the Institution and the constant practice of the Church for 12 ages For the Third It seemed very hard to suppress so many Monasteries and set the Religious persons at liberty and yet bind them up to Chastity That same Parliament by another Act absolved them from their vow of Poverty giving them Power to purchase Lands now it was not reasonable to bind them up to some parts of their Vow when they absolved them from the rest And it was no ways prudent to bind them up from Marriage since as long as they continued in that State they were still capable to re-enter into their Monasteries when a fair occasion should offer whereas they upon their Marrying did effectually lay down all possible pretentions to their former Houses For the Fourth The Asserting the Necessity of private Masses was a plain Condemnation of the Kings proceedings in the Suppression of so many Religious Houses which were Societies chiefly dedicated to that purpose For if these Masses did profit the Souls departed the destroying so many Foundations could not be justified And for the living these private Masses were clearly contrary to the first Institution by which that which was blessed and consecrated was to be distributed And it was to be a Communion and so held by the Primitive Church which admitted none so much as to see the Celebration of that Sacrament but those who
received it Laying Censures upon such as were present at the rest of that office and did not stay and Communicate For the Fifth it touched Cranmer to the quick for he was then Marryed The Scripture did in no place enjoyn the Celibate of the Clergy On the contrary Scripture speaks of their Wives and gives the Rules of their living with them And St. Paul in express words condemns all mens leaving their Wives without exception saying That the man hath not Power over his own body but the Wife In the Primitive Church though those that were in orders did not Marry yet such as were Marryed before Orders kept their Wives of which there were many Instances and when some moved in the Council of Nice that all that had been Marryed when they entred into Orders should put away their Wives it was rejected and ever since the Greek Churches have allowed their Priests to keep their Wives Nor was it ever commanded in the Western Church till the Popes began their Usurpation Therefore the prohibition of it being only grounded on the Papal Constitutions it was not reasonable to keep it up since that Authority on which it was built was now overthrown What was said concerning Auricular Confession I cannot so easily recover For though Cranmer argued three days against these Articles I can only gather the substance of his Arguments from what himself wrote on some of these Heads afterwards For nothing remains of what passed there but what is conveyed to us in the Journal which is short and defective On the 24th of May the Parliament was Prorogued to the 30th upon what reason it does not appear It was not to set any of the Bills backward for it was agreed that the Bills should continue in the State in which they were then till their next meeting When they met again on the 30th of May being Friday the Lord Chancellor intimated to them that not only the Spiritual Lords but the King himself had taken much pains to bring things to an agreement which was effected Therefore he moved in the Kings name that a Bill might be brought in for punishing such as offended against these Articles So the Lords appointed the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Ely and St. Davids and Doctor Petre a master of Chancery afterwards Secretary of State to draw one Bill and the Arch-Bishop of York the Bishop of Duresin and Winchester and Doctor Tregonnel another Master of Chancery to draw another Bill about it and to have them both ready and to offer them to the King by Sunday next But the Bill that was drawn by the Arch-Bishop of York and those with him was best liked yet it seems the Matter was long contested for it was not brought to the House before the 7th of Iune and then the Lord Chancellor offered it and it was read the first time On the 9th of Iune it had the second reading and on the 10th it was engrossed and read the third time But when it passed the King desired the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to go out of the House since he could not give his consent to it but he humbly excused himself for he thought he was bound in conscience to stay and vote against it It was sent down to the House of Commons where it met with no great opposition for on the 14th it was agreed to and sent up again And on the 28th it had the force of a Law by the Royal Assent The Title of it was an Act for abolishing Diversity of opinions in certain Articles concerning Christian Religion It is said in the Preamble that the King considering the blessed effects of union and the mischiefs of discord since there were many different opinions both among the Clergy and Laity about some points of Religion had called this Parliament and a Synod at the same time for removing these differences where six Articles were proposed and long debated by the Clergy And the King himself had come in person to the Parliament and Council and opened many things of high Learning and great knowledg about them And that he with the Assent of both Houses of Parliament had agreed on the following Articles First That in the Sacrament of the Altar after the Consecration there remained no Substance of Bread and Wine but under these forms the Natural Body and Blood of Christ were present Secondly That Communion in both kinds was not necessary to Salvation to all persons by the Law of God but that both the Flesh and Blood of Christ were together in each of the kinds Thirdly That Priests after the order of Priesthood might not Marry by the Law of God Fourthly That vows of Chastity ought to be observed by the Law of God Fifthly That the use of private Masses ought to be continued which as it was agreeable to Gods Law so men received great benefit by them Sixthly That Auricular Confession was expedient and necessary and ought to be retained in the Church The Parliament thanked the King for the pains he had taken in these Articles And Enacted that if any after the 12th of Iuly did speak preach or write against the first Article they were to be judged Hereticks and to be burnt without any abjuration and to forfeit their real and personal Estates to the King And those who preached or obstinately disputed against the other Articles were to be judged Felons and to suffer death as Felons without benefit of Clergy And those who either in word or writing spake against them were to be Prisoners during the Kings pleasure and forfeit their goods and Chattels to the King for the first time And if they offended so the second time they were to suffer as Felons All the Marriages of Priests are declared void and if any Priest did still keep any such woman whom he had so Marryed and lived familiarly with her as with his Wife he was to be judged a Felon And if a Priest lived carnally with any other woman he was upon the first Conviction to forfeit his Benefices Goods and Chattels and to be Imprisoned during the Kings pleasure and upon the second Conviction was to suffer as a Felon The women so offending were also to be punished in the same manner as the Priests and those who contemned or abstained from Confession or the Sacrament at the accustomed times for the first offence were to forfeit their Goods and Chattels and be Imprisoned and for the second were to be adjudged of Felony And for the Execution of this Act Commissions were to be issued out to all Arch-Bishops and Bishops and their Chancellors and Commissaries and such others in the several shires as the King should name to hold their Sessions quarterly or oftner and they were to proceed upon presentments and by a Jury Those Commissioners were to swear that they should execute their Commission indifferently without favour affection corruption or malice As Ecclesiastical Incumbents were to read this Act in their Churches once a
Secretaries name went and opened the matter to Cromwel the next day Cromwel was then going to Court and he expected to find the Bearward there looking to deliver the Book to some of Cranmers Enemies he therefore ordered Morice to go along with him Where as they had expected they found the fellow with the Book about him upon whom Cromwel called and took the Book out of his hands threatning him severely for his presumption in medling with a Privy Councellors Book But though Cranmer escaped this hazard yet in London the storm of the late act was falling heavily on them that were obnoxious Shaxton and Latimer the Bishops of Salisbury and Worcester within a week after the Session of Parliament as it appears resigned their Bishopricks For on the 7th of Iuly the Chapters of these Churches Petitioned the King for his leave to fill those Sees they being then vacant by the free Resignation of the former Bishops Upon which the Conge d'Elire for both was granted Nor was this all but they being presented as having spoken against the six Articles were put in Prison where the one lay till the King died and the other till a little before his death as shall be shewn in its proper place There were also Commissions issued out for proceeding upon that Statute and those who were Commissioned for London were all secret favourers of Popery so they proceeded most severely and examined many Witnesses against all who were presented whom they Interrogated not only upon the express words of the Statute but upon all such collateral or presumptive circumstances as might entangle them or conclude them guilty So that in a very little while 500 persons were put in prison and involved in the breach of the Statute Upon this not only Cranmer and Cromwel but the Duke of Suffolk and Audley the Chancellour represented to the King how hard it would be and of what ill consequence to execute the Law upon so many persons So the King was prevailed with to pardon them all and I find no further proceeding upon this Statute till Cromwel fell But the opposite Party used all the Arts possible to insinnuate themselves into the King And therefore to shew how far their compliance would go Bonner took a strange commission from the King on the 12th of November this year It has been certainly Enrolled but it is not there now so that I judge it was razed in that suppression of Records which was in Queen Maries time But as men are commonly more careless at home Bonner has left it on Record in his own Register Whether the other Bishops took such Commissions from this King I know not But I am certain there is none such in Cranmers Register and it is not likely if any such had been taken out by him that ever it would have been razed The Commission it self will be found in the Collection of Papers at the end The substance of it is That since all Jurisdictions both Ecclesiastical and Civil flowed from the King as Supream Head and he was the foundation of all power it became those who exercised it only Precario at the Kings courtesie gratefully to acknowledge that they had it only of his bounty and to declare that they would deliver it up again when it should please him to call for it And since the King had constituted the Lord Cromwel his Vice-gerent in Ecclesiastical affairs yet because he could not look into all those Matters therefore the King upon Bonners petition did Empower him in his own stead to ordain such as he found worthy to present and give institution with all the other parts of Episcopal Authority for which he is duely Commissionated and this to last during the Kings pleasure only And all the parts of the Episcopal Function being reckoned up it concluded with a strict Charge to the Bishop to Ordain none but such of whose Integrity good life and learning he had very good assurance For as the Corruptions of the Christian Doctrine and of mens manners had chiefly proceeded from ill Pastours so it was not to be doubted but good Pastours well-chosen would again reform the Christian Doctrine and the Lives of Christians After he had taken this Commission Bonner might have been well called one of the Kings Bishops The true reason of this profound Compliance was That the Popish party apprehended that Cranmers great interest with the King was chiefly grounded on some opinions he had of the Ecclesiastical Officers being as much subject to the Kings power as all other Civil Officers were And this having endeared him so much to the King therefore they resolved to out-do him in that point But there was this difference that Cranmer was once of that opinion and if he followed it at all it was out of Conscience but Bonner against his Conscience if he had any complied with it Now followed the final dissolution of the Abbeys there are 57 Surrenders upon Record this year The originals of about 30 of these are yet to be seen Thirty seven of them were Abbies or Priories and 20 Nunneries The good House of Godstow now fell with the rest though among the last of them Now the great Parliament Abbots surrendred apace as those of Westminster St. Albans St. Edmundsbury Canterbury St. Mary in York Selby St. Peters in Glocester Cirencester Waltham Winchcombe Malmsbury and Battel Three others were attainted Glassenbury Reading and Colchester The Deeds of the rest are lost Here it will not be unacceptable to the Reader to know who were the Parliamentary Abbots There were in all 28 as they were commonly given Fuller has given a Catalogue of them in three places of his History of Abbies but as every one of these differs from the others so none of them are according to the Journals of Parliliament The Lord Herbert is also mistaken in his account I shall not rise higher in my enquiry than this Reign for anciently many more Abbots and Priors sate in Parliament beside other Clergy that had likewise their Writs and of whose right to sit in the House of Commons there was a question moved in Edward the sixths Reign as shall be opened in its proper place Much less will I presume to determine so great a point in Law whether they sate in the House of Lords as being a part of the Ecclesiastical State or as holding their Lands of the King by Baronage I am only to observe the matter of fact which is That in the Journals of Parliament in this Reign these 28 Abbots had their writs Abington St. Albans St. Austins Canterbury Battel St. Bennets in the Holm Berdeny Cirencester Colchester Coventry Croyland St. Edmundsbury Evesham Glassenbury Glocester Hide Malmsbury St. Maries in York Peterborough Ramsey Reading Selby Shrewsbury Tavenstock Teâ—kesbury Thorney Waltham Westminster and Winchelcomh to whom also the Prior of St. Iohns may be added But besides all these I find that in the 28 year of this King the Abbot
of Iuly a Bill was brought in for moderating the Statute of the six Articles in the Clauses that related to the marriage of the Priests or their Incontinency with other Women On the 17th it was agreed by the whole House without a contradictory vote and sent down to the Commons who on the 21th sent it up again By it the pains of Death were turned to forfeitures of their Goods and Chattels and the rents of their Ecclesiastical promotions to the King On the 20th of Iuly a Bill was brought in concerning a Declaration of the Christian Religion and was then read the first 2d and 3d time and passed without any opposition and sent down to the Commons who agreeing to it sent it up again the next day It contained that the King as Supream Head of the Church was taking much pains for an Union among all his Subjects in matters of Religion and for preventing the further progress of Heresie had appointed many of the Bishops and the most learned Divines to declare the principal Articles of the Christian Belief with the Ceremonies and way of Gods service to be observed That therefore a thing of that weight might not be rashly done or hasted through in this Session of Parliament but be done with that care which was requisite Therefore it was Enacted that whatsoever was determined by the Arch-Bishops Bishops and the other Divines now Commissionated for that effect or by any others appointed by the King or by the whole Clergy of England and published by the Kings Authority concerning the Christian Faith or the Ceremonies of the Church should be believed and obeyed by all the Kings Subjects as well as if the particulars so set forth had been ennumerated in this Act any Custom or Law to the Contrary notwithstanding To this a strange Proviso was added which destroyed the former Clause That nothing should be done or determined by the Authority of this Act which was contrary to the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdom But whether this Proviso was added by the House of Commons or originally put into the Bill does not appear It was more likely it was put in at the first by the Kings Council for these contradictory Clauses raised the Prerogative higher and left it in the Judges power to determine which of the two should be followed by which all Ecclesiastical matters were to be brought under Tryals at Common Law for it was one of the great designs both of the Ministers and Lawyers at this time to bring all Ecclesiastical Matters to thâ— Cognizance of the Secular Judge But another Bill passed which seems a little odd concerning the circumstances of that time That whereas many Marriages had been annulled in the time of Popery upon the pretence of Precontracts or other degrees of kindred than those that were prohibited by the Law of God Therefore after a Marriage was consummated no pretence of any pre-contract or any degrees of kindred or alliance but those mentioned in the Law of God should be brought or made use of to annull it since these things had been oft pretended only to dissolve a Marriage when the parties grew weary of each other which was contrary to Gods Law Therefore it was Enacted that no pretence of precontract not consummated should be made use of to annull a Marriage duly solemnized and consummated and that no degrees of kindred not mentioned by the Law of God should be pleaded to annull a Marriage This Act gave great occasion of censuring the Kings former proceedings against Queen Anne Boleyn since that which was now condemned had been the pretence for dissolving his Marriage with her Others thought the King did it on design to remove that Impediment out of the way of the Lady Elizabeth's succeeding to the Crown since that judgment upon which she was Illegitimated was now indirectly censured And that other branch of the Act for taking away all prohibitions of Marriages within any degrees but those forbidden in Scripture was to make way for the Kings Marriage with Katherine Howard who was Cousin German to Queen Anne Boleyn for that was one of the prohibited degrees by the Canon Law The Province of Canterbury offered a Subsidy of four shillings in the pound of all Ecclesiastical preferments to be payed in two years and in that acknowledgment of the great liberty they enjoyed by being delivered from the Usurpations of the Bishops of Rome and in recompencâ— the great charges of the King had been at and was still to be at in building Havens Bullwarks and other Forts for the defence of his Coasts and the security of his Subjects This was confirmed in Parliament But that did not satisfie the King who had husbanded the money that came in by the sale of Abbey Lands so ill that now he wanted money and was forced to aske a subsidy for his Marriage of the Parliament this was obtained with great difficulty For it was said That if the King was already in want after so vast an income especially being engaged in no Warr there would be no end of his necessities nor could it be possible for them to supply them But it was answered that the King had laid out a great Treasure in fortifying the Coast and though he was then in no visible Warr yet the charge he was at in keeping up the Warr beyond Sea was equal to the expence of a Warr and much more to the advantage of his people who were kept in peace and plenty This obtained a Tenth and four 15ths After the passing of all these Bills and many others that concerned the publick with several other Bills of Attaindor of some that favoured the Popes Interests or Corresponded with Cardinal Pool which shall be mentioned in another place the King sent in a General Pardon with the Ordinary Exceptions and in particular excepted Cromwel the Countess of Sarum with many others then in person Some of them were put in for opposing the Kings Supremacy and others for transgressing the Statute of the six Articles On the 24th of Iuly the Parliament was dissolved And now Cromwel who had been six weeks a Prisoner was brought to his Execution He had used all the endeavours he could for his own preservation Once he wrote to the King in such melting terms that he made the Letter to be thrice read and seemed touched with it But the charms of Katharine Howard and the endeavours of the Duke of Norfolk and the Bishop of Winchester at length prevailed So a Warrant was sent to cut off his Head on the 28th of Iuly at Tower-hill When he was brought to the Scaffold his kindness to his Son made him very cautious in what he said he declined the purging of himself but said he was by Law condemned to die and thanked God for bringing him to that death for his offences He acknowledged his Sins against God and his offences against his Prince who had raised him from a base degree
He declared that he died in the Catholick Faith not doubting of any Article of Faith or of any Sacrament of the Church and denied that he had been a Supporter of those who believed ill opinions He confessed he had been seduced but now died in the Catholick Faith and desired them to pray for the King and for the Prince and for himself and then prayed very fervently for the remission of his past sins and admittance into Eternal Glory and having given the Sign the Executioner cut off his Head very barbarously Thus fell that great Minister that was raised meerly upon the strength of his natural parts For as his Extraction was mean so his Education was low All the learning he had was that he had got the new-Testament in Latine by heart His great wisdom and dexterity in business raised him up through several steps till he was become as great as a Subject could be He carryed his greatness with wonderful temper and moderation and fell under the weight of popular Odium rather than Guilt The disorders in the Suppression of Abbeys were generally charged on him Yet when he fell no Bribery nor cheating of the King could be fastned on him though such things came out in swarms on a disgraced Favourite when there is any ground for them By what he spoke at his death he left it much doubted of what Religion he dyed But it is certain he was a Lutheran The term Catholick-Faith used by him in his last speech seemed to make it doubtful but that was then used in England in its true sense in Opposition to the Novelties of the See of Rome as will afterwards appear on another occasion So that his Profession of the Catholich-Faith was strangely perverted when some from thence Concluded that he dyed in the Communion of the Church of Rome But his praying in English and that only to God through Christ without any of these tricks that were used when those of that Church died shewed he was none of theirs With him the Office of the Kings Vice-gerent in Ecclesiastical affairs died as it rose first in his person and as all the Clergy opposed the seting up a new Officer whose Interest should oblige him to oppose a Reconciliation with Rome so it seems none were fond to succeed in an Office that proved so fatal to him that had first carryed it The King was said to have lamented his death after it was too late but the fall of the new Queen that followed not long after and the miseries which fell also on the Duke of Norfolk and his Family some years after were looked on as the Scourges of Heaven for their cruel prosecution of this unfortunate Minister With his fall the progress of the Reformation which had been by his endeavours so far advanced was quite stopt For all that Cranmer could do after this was to keep the ground they had gained But he could never advance much further And indeed every one expected to see him go next For as one Gostwick Knight for Bedfordshire had named him in the House of Commons as the Supporter and Promoter of all the Heresie that was in England so the Popish party reckoned they had but half done their work by destroying Cromwel and that it was not finished till Cranmer followed him Therefore all possible endeavors were used to make discoveries of the Encouragement which as was believed he gave to the Preachers of the condemned Doctrines And it is very probable that had not the Incontinence of Katherine Howard whom the King declared Queen on the 8th of August broken out not long after he had been Sacrificed the next Session of Parliament But now I return to my proper business to give an account of Church-matters for this year with which these great Changes in Court had so great a Relation that the Reader will excuse the digression about them Upon Cromwels fall Gardiner and those that followed him made no doubt but they should quickly recover what they had lost of late years So their greatest attempt was upon the Translation of the Scriptures The Convocation Books as I have been forced often to lament are lost so that here I cannot stir but as Fuller leads me who assures the World that he Copied out of the Records with his own Pen what he published And yet I doubt he has mistaken himself in the year and that which he calls the Convocation of this year was the Convocation of the year 1542. For he tells us that their 7th Session was the 10th of March. Now in this year the Convocation did not sit down till the 13th of April but that year it sate all March So likewise he tells us of the Bishops of Westminster Glocester and Peterborough bearing a share in this Convocation whereas these were not Consecrated before Winter and could not sit as Bishops in this Synod And besides Thirleby sate at this time in the lower House as was formerly shewn in the Process about Anne of Cleves Marriage So that their attempt against the new Testament belongs to the year 1542. But they were now much better employed though not in the way of Convocation For a select number of them sate by vertue of a Commission from the King confirmed in Parliament Their first work was to draw up a Declaration of the Christian Doctrine for the necessary erudition of a Christian man They thought that to speak of Faith in general ought naturally to go before an Exposition of the Christian Belief and therefore with that they began The Church of Rome that designed to keep her Children in ignorance had made no great account of Faith which they generally taught consisted chiefly in an Implicite Believing whatever the Church proposed without any explicite knowledg of particulars So that a Christian Faith as they had explained it was a Submission to the Church The Reformers finding that this was the Spring of all their other errors and that which gave them colour and Authority did on the other hand set up the strength of their whole Cause on an Explicite believing the truth of the Scriptures because of the Authority of God who had revealed them And said that as the great Subject of the Apostles Preaching was Faith so that which they every-where taught was to read and believe the Scriptures Upon which followed nice Disputing what was that saving Faith by which the Scriptures say we are Iustified They could not say it was barely crediting the Divine Revelation since in that sense the Devils believed Therefore they generally placed it at first in their being assured that they should be saved by Christs dying for them In which their design was to make Holiness and all other Graces necessary requisites in the Composition of Faith though they would not make them formally parts of it For since Christs death has its full vertue and effect upon none but those who are regenerate and live according to his Gospel none
laid very close and managed with great dexterity chiefly by the Duke of Norfolk and Gardinâ—r pursued the ruine of those whom they called Hereticks knowing well that if the King was once set against them and they provoked against the Government he would be not only alienated from them but forced for securing himself against them to gain the hearts of his other Subjects by a Conjunction with the Emperor and by his means with the Pope The first on whom this design took effect were Doctor Barnes Mr. Gerard and Mr. Ierome all Priests who had been among the earliest Converts to Luther's Doctrine Barnes had in a Sermon at Cambridg during the Cardinals greatness reflected on the Pomp and State in which he lived so plainly that every body understood of whom he meant So he was carried up to London but by the interposition of Gardiner and Fox who were his friends he was saved at that time having abjured some opinions that were objected to him But other accusations being afterwards brought against him he was again Imprisoned and it was believed that he would have been burnt But he made his escape and went to Germany where he gave himself to the study of the Scriptures and Divinity In which he became so considerable that not only the German Divines but their Princes took great notice of him and the King of Denmark sending over Ambassâ—dors to the King he was sent with them though perhaps Fox was ill informed when he says he was one of them Fox Bishop of Hereford being at Smalcald in the year 1536. sent him over to England where he was received and kindly entertained by Cromwel and well used by the King And by his means the correspondence with the Germans was chiefly kept up For he was often sent over to the Courts of the several Princes But in particular he had the misfortune to be first employed in the project of the Kings Marriage with the Lady Anne of Cleves for that giving the King so little satisfaction all who were the main promoters of it fell in disgrace upon it But other things concurred to destroy Barnes In Lent this year Bonner had appointed him and Gerrard and Ierome turns in the Course of Sermons at St. Pauls Cross they being in favour with Cromwel on whom Bonner depended wholly But Gardiner sent Bonner word that he intended himself to preach on Sunday at St. Pauls Cross and in his Sermon he treated of Justification and other points with many reflections on the Lutherans Barnes when it came to his Turn made use of the same Text but preached contrary Doctrine not without some unhandsome reflections on Gardiners person and he played on his name alluding to a Gardiners setting ill Plants in a Garden The other two preached the same Doctrine but made no reflections on any person Gardiner seemed to bear it with a great appearance of neglect and indifferency But his friends complained to the King of the unsufferable insolencies of these Preachers who did not spare so great a Prelate especially he being a Privy Councellor So Barnes was questioned for it and commanded to go and give the Bishop of Winchester satisfaction And the Bishop carried the matter with a great shew of moderation and acted ouâ—wardly in it as became his Function though it was believed the matter stuck deeper in his heart which the effects that followed seemed to demonstrate The King concerned himself in the matter and did argue with Barnes about the points in difference But whether he was truly convinced or overcome rather with the fear of the King than with the force of his reasonings he and his two Friends William Ierome and Tho. Gerrard signed a paper which will be found in the Collection in which he acknowledged That having been brought before the King for things preached by him His Highness being assisted by some of the Clergy had so disputed with him that he was convinced of his rashness and oversight and promised to abstain from such indiscretions for the future and to submit to any orders the King should give for what was past The Articles were First That though we are Redeemed only by the death of Christ in which we participate by Faith and Baptism yet by not following the Commandments of Christ we lose the benefits of it which we cannot recover but by Pennance Secondly That God is not the Author of Sin or evil which he only permits Thirdly That we ought to reconcile our selves to our neighbours and forgive before we can be forgiven Fourthly That good works done sincerely according to the Scriptures are profitable and helpful to Salvation Fifthly That Laws made by Christian Rulers ought to be obeyed by their Subjects for conscience sake and that whosoever breaks them breaks Gods Commandments It 's not likely that Barnes could say any thing directly contrary to these Articles though having brought much of Luthers heat over with him he might have said some things that sounded ill upon these heads There were other points in difference between Gardiner and him about Justification but it seems the King thought these were of so subtile a nature that no Article of Faith was controverted in them and therefore left the Bishop and him to agree these among themselves which they in a great measure did So the King commanded Barnes and his friends to preach at the Spittle in the Easter-week and openly to recant what they had formerly said And Barnes was in particular to ask the Bishop of Winchester's pardon which he did and Gardiner being twice desired by him to give some signe that he forgave him did lift up his Finger But in their Sermons it was said they justified in one part what they recanted in another Of which complaints being brought to the King he without hearing them sent them all to the Tower And Cromwels interest at Court was then declining so fast that either he could not protect them or else would not prejudice himself by interposing in a matter which gave the King so great offence They lay in the Tower till the Parliament met and then they were attained of Heresie without ever being brought to make their answer And it seems for the Extraordinariness of the thing they resolved to mix attaindors for things that were very different from one Another For four others were by the same Act attainted of Treason who were Gregory Buttolph Adam Damplip Edmund Brindholme and Clement Philpot for assisting Reginald Pool adhering to the Bishop of Rome denying the King to be the Supream Head on earth of the Church of England and designing to surprize the Town of Callice One Derby Gunnings was also attainted of Treason for assisting one Fitz-Girald a Traitor in Ireland And after all these Barnes Gerard and Ierome are attainted of Heresie being as the Act sayes Detestable Hereticks who had conspired together to set forth many Heresies and taking themselves to be men of learning had expounded the Scriptures perverting
them to their Heresies the number of which was too long to be repeated that having formerly abjured they were now incorrigible Hereticks and so were condemned to be burned or suffer any other death as should please the King And two dayes after Cromwels death being the 30th of Iuly They were brought to Smithfield where in their Execution there was as odd a mixture as had been in their Attaindors For Abel Fetherston and Powel that were attainted by another Act of the same Parliament for owning the Popes Supremacy and denying the Kings were carried to the place of Execution and coupled with the other three So that one of each was put into a Hurdle and carried together which every body condemned as an Extravagant affectation of the shew of Impartial Justice When they were brought to the Stake Barnes spake thus to the People Since he was to be burned as an Heretick he would declare what opinions he held So he enlarged on all the Articles of the Creed to shew he believed them all He expressed a particular abhorrence of an opinion which some Anabaptists held That the Blessed Virgin was as a Saffron Bagg by which indecent Simile they meant that our Saviour took no substance of her He explained his opinion of Good works that they must of necessity be done since without them none should ever enter into the Kingdom of God They were commanded of God to shew forth our profession by them but he believed as they were not pure nor perfect so they did not avail to our Justification nor merit any thing at the hands of God for that was to be ascribed to the Merits of the Death and Passion of Christ. He professed great Reverence to the Blessed Virgin and Saints But said he saw no warrant in Scriptures for praying to them nor was it certain whether they prayed for us or not but if the Saints did pray for those on Earth he trusted within half an hour to be praying for them all Then he asked the Sheriff if he had any Articles against them for which they were condemned who answered he had none He next asked the people if they knew wherefore he died or if they had been led into any Errours by his Preaching but none made answer Then he said he heard he was condemned to die by an Act of Parliament and it seemed it was for Heresie since they were to be burnt He prayed God to forgive those who had been the occasions of it And in particular for the Bishop of Winchester if he had sought or procured his death he prayed God heartily to forgive him as Christ forgave his Murtherers He prayed earnestly for the King and the Prince and exhorted the people to pray for them He said some had reported that he had been a Preacher of Sedition and Disobedience But he declared to the peopâ—e that they were bound by the Law of God to obey their Kings Laws with all humility not only for fear but for Conscience adding that if the King commanded any thing against Gods Law though it were in their Power to resist him yet they might not do it Then he desired the Sheriff to carry five requests from him to the King First That since he had taken the Abbey-Lands into his hands for which he did not blame him as the Sheriff fancied he was about to do and thereupon stopped him but was glad that Superstition was taken away and that the King was then a compleat King obeyed by all his Subjects which had been done through the Preaching of them and such wretches as they were yet he wished the King would bestow these goods or some of them to the comfort of his poor Subjects who had great need of them Secondly That Marriage might be had in greater esteem and that men might not upon light pretences cast off their Wives and that those who were unmarried might not be suffered to live in Whoredome Thirdly That Abominable Swearers might be punished Fourthly That since the King had begun to set forth Christian Religion he would go forward in it and make an end for though he had done a great deal yet many things remained to be done and he wished that the King might not be deceived with false Teachers The fifth desire he said he had forgot Then he begged that they all would forgive him if at any time he had said or done evil unadvisedly and so turned about and prepared himself for his death Ierome spake next and declared his Faith upon every Article of the Creed and said that he believed all that was in the Holy Scriptures He also prayed for the King and the Prince And concluded with a very Pathetical Exhortation to mutual Love and Charity that they would propose to themselves the pattern of Christs wonderful Love through whom only he hoped to be saved and desired all their Prayers for himself and his Brethren Then Gerard declared his Faith and said That if through ignorance or negligence he had taught any error he was sorry for it and asked God pardon and them whom he had thereby offended But he protested that according to his Learning and Knowledg he had always set forth the honour of God and the obedience of the Kings Laws Then they all prayed for the pardon of their Sins and constancie and patience in their sufferings And so they embraced and kissed one another and then the Executioners tyed them to the Stake and set fire to them Their death did rather encourage than dishearten their followers who seeing such an extraordinary measure of patience in them were the more confirmed in their resolutions of suffering for a good conscience and for his name who did not forsake his Servants in these cruel Agonies One difference between their Sufferings and the other three who were hanged for asserting the Popes Supremacy was remarkable that though the others demeaned themselves toward them with the most uncharitable and spiteful malice that was possible so that their own Historian sayes That their being carryed with them to their Execution was bitterer to them than death it self yet they declared their hearty forgiving of their Enemies and of Gardiner in particular who was generally looked on as the person that procured their death which Imputation stuck fast to him though by a Printed Apologie he studyed to clear himself of any other concernment in it than by giving his vote for the Act of their Attaindor Now Bonner began to shew his nature Hitherto he had acted another part For being most extreamly desirous of Preferment he had so complyed with Cromwel and Cranmer that they had great confidence in him and he being a blustering and forward man they thought he might do the Reformation good service and therefore he was advanced so high by their means But as soon as ever Cromwel fell the very next day he shewed his Ingratitude and how nimbly he turned with the Wind. For Grafton the Printer whom Cromwel favoured much
often reproved him boldly for it he grew weary of him The Clergy perceiving this were resolved to fall upon him So he withdrew to Berwick but wrote to the King that if he would hear him make his defence he would return and justifie all that he had taught He taxed the cruelty of the Clergy and desired the King would restrain their Tyranny and consider that he was obliged to protect his Subjects from their severity and malice But receiving no satisfactory answer he lived in England where he was entertain'd by the Duke of Suffolk as his Chaplain Not long after this one Forrest a simple Benedictin Monk was accused for having said that Patrick Hamilton had died a Martyr yet since there was no sufficient proof to convict him a Frier one Walter Lainge was sent to confess him to whom in Confession he acknowledged he thought Hamilton was a good man and that the Articles for which he was condemned might be defended This being revealed by the Frier was taken for good evidence So the poor man was condemned to be burnt as an Heretick As he was led out to his Execution he said Fie on falshood fie on Friers revealers of Confession Let never man trust them after me they are despisers of God and deceivers of men When they were considering in what place to burn him a simple man that attended the Arch-bishop advised to burn him in some low Cellar for said he the smoak of Mr. Patrick Hamilton has infected all those on whom it blew Soon after this Abbot Hamiltons Brother and Sister were brought into the Bishops Courts but the King who favoured this Brother perswaded him to absent himself His Sister and six others being brought before the Bishop of Ross who was deputed by the Arch-Bishop to proceed against them the King himself dealt with the Woman to abjure which she and the other six did Two others were more resolute The one was Normand Gowrlay who was charged with denying the Popes Authority in Scotland and saying there was no Purgatory The other was David Straiton He was charged with the same Opinions They also alledged that he had denied that Tithes were due to Church-men and that when the Vicar came to take the Tith out of some Fish-boats that belonged to him he alledged the Tith was to be taken where the stock grew and therefore ordered the tenth fish to be cast into the Sea and bade the Vicar to seek them there They were both judged obstinate Hereticks and burnt at one Stake the 27th of August 1534. Upon this persecution some others who were cited to appear fled into England Those were Alexander Alesse Iohn Fife Iohn Mackbee and one Mackdowgall The first of these was received by Cromwel into his Family and grew into great favour with King Henry and was commonly called his Scholar of whom see what was said Page 214. But after Cromwels death he took Fife with him and they went into Saxony and were both Professors in Leipsick Mackbee was at first entertained by Shaxton Bishop of Salisbury but he went afterwards into Denmark where he was known by the name of Doctor Maccabeus and was Chaplain to King Christian the second But all these violent proceedings were not effectual enough to quench that light which was then shining there Many by searching the Scriptures came to the knowledg of the Truth and the noise of what was then doing in England awakned others to make further enquiries into matters of Religion Pope Clement the 7th apprehending that King Henry might prevail on his Nephew to follow his example wrote Letters full of earnest exhortations to him to continue in the Catholick Faith Upon which King Iames called a Parliament and there in the presence of the Popes Nuncio declared his zeal for that Faith and the Apostolick See The Parliament also concurred with him in it and made acts against Hereticks and for maintaining the Popes authority That same Pope did afterwards send to desire him to assist him in making war against the King of England for he was resolved to divide that Kingdom among those who would assist him in driving out King Henry But the firm peace at that time between the King of England and the French King kept him quiet from any trouble which otherwise the King of Scotland might have given him Yet King Henry sent the Bishop of St. Davids with the Duke of Norfolks Brother Lord William Howard to him so unexpectedly that they came to him at Sterlin before he had heard of their being sent The Bishop brought with him some of the Books that had been writ for the justifying King Henry's proceeding and desired that King would impartially examine them But he put them into the hands of some about him that were addicted to the interests of Rome who without ever reading them told him they were full of pestilent Doctrine and Heresie The secret business they came for was to perswade that King to concur with his Uncle and to agree an Interview between them and they offered him in their Masters name the Lady Mary in Marriage and that he should be made Duke of York and Lord Lieutenant of all England But the Clergy diverted him from it and perswaded him rather to go on in his design of a match with France And their Counsels did so prevail that he resolved to go in person and fetch a Queen from thence On the first of Ianuary 1537. he was married to Magdalen daughter to Francis the First But she being then gone far in a Consumption died soon after he had brought her home on the 28th of May. She was much lamented by all persons the Clergy only excepted for she had been bred in the Queen of Navarres Court and so they apprehended she might incline the King to a Reformation But he had seen another Lady in France Mary of Guise whom he then liked so well that after his Queens death he sent Cardinal Beaton into France to treat for a match with her This gave the Clergy as much joy as the former marriage had raised fear for no Family in Christendome was more devoted to the interests of the Papacy than that was And now the King though he had freer thoughts himself yet was so engaged to the pretended old Religion that he became a violent persecutor of all who differed from it The King grew very expensive he indulged himself much in his pleasures he built four noble Palaces which considering that Kingdom and that Age were very extraordinary Buildings he had also many natural Children All which things concurred to make him very desirous of Money There were two different parties in the Court The Nobility on the one hand represented to him the great wealth that the Abbots had gathered and that if he would do as his Uncle had done he would thereby raise his Revenue to the triple of what it was and provide plentifully for his Children The Clergy on
to be her Witnesses upon the Salvation of her Soul that she was guiltless of that Act of defiling her Soveraigns bed for which she was condemned Yet the Lasciviousness of her former Life made people incline to believe any ill thing that could be reported of her But for the Lady Rochford every body observed Gods Justice on her who had the chief hand both in Queen Anne Boleyns and her own Husbands death and it now appearing so evidently what sort of Woman she was it tended much to raise their Reputations again in whose Fall her spite and other Artifices had so great a hand She had been a Lady of the Bed-Chamber to the last four Queens But now it was found how unworthy she was of that Trust. It was thought extream cruelty to be so severe to the Queens kindred for not discovering her former ill life Since the making such a discovery had been inconsistent with the Rules of Justice or Decency The old Dutchess of Norfolk being her Grandmother had bred her of a Child and it was said for her to have gone and told the King That she was a Whore when he intended to marry her as it was an unheard-of thing so the not-doing of it could not have drawn so severe a punishment from any but a Prince of that Kings temper But the King pardoned her and most of the rest tho some continued in Prison after the rest were discharged But for the other part of this Act obliging a Woman to reveal her own former Incontinence if the King intended to marry her which by a mistake the Lord Herbert sayes was passed in another Act taking it from Hall and not looking into the Record It was thought a piece of grievous Tyranny since if a King especially one of so imperious a temper as this was should design such an honour to any of his Subjects who had failed in their former life they must either defame themselves by publishing so disgraceful a secret or run the hazard of being afterwards attainted of Treason Upon this those that took an indiscreet liberty to rally that Sex injustly and severely said the King could induce none that was reputed a Maid to Marry him so that not so much choice as necessity put him on Marrying a Widow about two years after this But this part of the Act was afterwards repealed in the first Parliament of King Edward the 6th There passed another Act in this Parliament that made way for the dissolution of Colledges Hospitals and other Foundations of that nature The Courtiers had been practising with the Presidents and Governors of some of these to make Resignations of them to the King which were conceived in the same stile that most of the surrenders of Monasteries did run in Eight of these were all really procured which are enrolled But they could not make any great progress because it was provided by the Local Statutes of most of them that no President or any other Fellows could make any such Deed without the Consent of all the Fellows in the House and this could not be so easily obtained Therefore all such Statutes were annulled and none were any more to be sworn to the observation of them In the Convocation that sate at that time which as was formerly observed Fuller mistakes for the Convocation in the 31st year of this King the Translation of the Bible was brought under examination and many of the Bishops were appointed to peruse it For it seems complaints were brought against it It was certainly the greatest eye-sore of the Popish party and that which they knew would most effectually beat down all their projects But there was no opposing it directly for the King was fully resolved to go through with it Therefore the way they took was once to load the Translation then set out with as many faults as they could and so to get it first condemned and then to promise a new one in the making and publishing of which it would be easie to breed many delays But Gardiner had another singular conceit He fancied there were many words in the New Testament of such Majesty that they were not to be Translated but must stand in the English Bible as they were in the Latine A hundred of these he put into a Writing which was read in Convocation His design in this was visible That if a Translation must be made it should be so daubed all through with Latine words that the people should not understand it much the better for its being in English A taste of this the Reader may have by the first twenty of them Ecclâ—sia Penitentia Pontifex Ancilla Contritus Olocausta Iusâ—itia Iustiâ—icatio Idiota Elâ—menta Baptizare Martyr Adorare Sandalium Simplex Tetrarcha Sacramentum Simulachrum Gloria The design he had of keeping some of these particularly the last save one is plain enough that the People might not discover that visible opposition which was between the Scriptures and the Roman Church in the matter of Images This could not be better palliated than by disguising these places with words that the People understood not How this was received Fullâ—r has not told us But it seems Cranmer found that the Bishops were resolved either to condemn the Translation of the Bible or to proceed so slowly in it that it should come to nothing Therefore he moved the King to refer the perusing of it to the two Universities The Bishops took this very ill when Cranmer intimated it to them in the Kings name and objected that the Learning of the Universities was much decayed of late and that the two Houses of Convocation were the more proper Judges of that where the Learning of the Land was chiefly gathered together But the Arch-Bishop said he would stick close to the Kings pleasure and that the Universities should examine it Upon which all the Bishops of his Province except Ely and St. Davids protested against it and soon after the Convocation was dissolved Not long after this I find Bonner made some Injunctions for his Clergy which have a strain in them so far different from the rest of his Life that it 's more probable they were drawn by another Pen and imposed on Bonner by an Order from the King They were set out in the 34th year of the Kings Reign but the time of the year is not exprest The Reader will find them in the Collection at their full length The Substance of them is First That all should observe the Kings Injunctions Secondly That every Clergy-man should read and study a Chapter of the Bible every day with the exposition of the Gloss or some approved Doctor which having once studied they should retain it in their memories and be ready to give an account of it to him or any whom he should appoint Thirdly That they should study the Book set forth by the Bishops of the Institution of a Christian man Fourthly That such as did not reside in their
the Army was ill advised so his giving a Commissâ—on to Oliver Sinclar â—hat was his Minion to command in Chief did extreamly disgust the Nobility They loved not to be commanded by any but their King and were already weary of the insolence of that Favourite who being but of ordinary birth was despised by them so that they were beginning to separate And when they were upon that occasion in great disorder a small body of English not above 500 Horse appeared But they apprehending it was the Duke of Norfolks Army refused to fight and fell in confusion Many Prisoners were taken the chief of whom were the Earls of Glencairn and Cassillis the Lords Maxwell Sommervell Oliphant Gray and Oliver Sinclar and about 200 Gentlemen and 800 souldiers and all the Ordnance and Baggage was also taken The news of this being brought to the King of Scotland encreased his former disorders and some few days after he dyed leaving an infant Daughter but newly born to succeed him The Lords that were taken Prisoners were brought to London where after they had been charged in Council how unkindly they had used the King they were put in the keeping of some of the greatest quality about Court But the Earl of Cassillis had the best luck of them all For being sent to Lambâ—th where he was a Prisoner upon his parole Cranmer studied to free him from the darkness and fetters of Popery in which he was so successful that the other was afterwards a great Promoter of the Reformation in Scotland The Scots had been hitherto possessed with most extraordinary prejudices against the Changes that had been made in England which concurring with the ancient Animosities between the two Nations had raised a wonderful ill opinion of the Kings proceedings And though the Bishop of St. Davids Barlow had been sent into Scotland with the Book of the Institution of a Christian Man to clear these ill impressions yet his endeavours were unsuccessful The Pope at the instance of the French King and to make that Kingdom sure made David Beaton Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews a Cardinal which gave him great Authority in the Kingdom so he with the rest of the Clergy diverted the King from any correspondence with England and assured him of Victory if he would make War on such an Heretical Prince The Clergy also offered the King 50000 Crowns a-year towards a War with England and possessed all the Nation with very ill thoughts of the Court and Clergy there But the Lords that were now Prisoners chiefly the Earl of Cassillis who was best instructed by his Religious Host conceived a better opinion of the Reformation and carried home with them those seeds of knowledg which produced afterwards a very fruitful Harvest On all these things I have dwelt the longer that it might appear whence the inclination of the Scotish Nobility to Reform did take its first rise though there was afterwards in the Methods by which it was advanced too great a mixture of the heat and forwardness that is natural to the Genius of that Countrey When the news of the King of Scotlands death and of the young Queens birth that succeeded him came to the Court the King thought this a very favourable conjuncture to unite and settle the whole Island But that unfortunate Princess was not born under such happy Stars though she was Mother to him in whom this long-desired Union took effect The Lords that were then Prisoners began the motion and that being told the King he called for them to Hampton-Court in the Christmas-time and said now an opportunity was put in their hands to quiet all troubles that had been between these two Crowns by the Marriage of the Prince of Wales to their young Queen In which he desired their assistance and gave them their Liberty they leaving hostages for the performance of what was then offered by them They all promised their Concurrence and seemed much taken with the greatness of the English Court which the King always kept up not without affectation they also said they thought God was better served there than in their own Countrey So on New-years-day they took their journey towards Scotland but the sequel of this will appear afterwards A Parliament was summoned to meet the two and twentieth of Ianuary which sate to the 12th of May. So the Session begun in the 34th and ended in the 35th year of the Kings Reign from whence it is called in the Records the Parliament of the 34th and 35th year Here both the Temporality and Spirituality gave great Subsidies to the King of six shillings in the Pound to be paid in three years They set forth in their Preambles The expence the King had been at in his War with Scotland and for his other great and urgent occasions by which was meant a War with France which broke out the following Summer But with these there passed other two Acts of great importance to Religion The Title of the first was An Act for the advancement of True Religion and abolishment of the contrary The King was now entring upon a War so it seemed reasonable to qualifie the severity of the late Acts about Religion that all might be quiet at home Cranmer moved it first and was faintly seconded by the Bishops of Worcester Hereford Chichester and Rochester who had promised to stick to him in it At this time a League was almost finished between the King and the Emperour which did again raise the Spirits of the Popish Faction They had been much cast down ever since the last Queens fall But now that the Emperor was like to have an Interest in English Councils they took heart again and Gardiner opposed the Arch-Bishops motion with all possible earnestness And that whole Faction fell so upon it that the timorous Bishops not only forsook Cranmer but Heath of Rochester and Skip of Hereford were very earnest with him to stay for a better opportunity But he generously preferred his Conscience to those arts of Policy which he would never practise and said he would push it as far as it would go So he plied the King and the other Lords so earnestly that at length the Bill passed though clogg'd with many Provisoes and very much short of what he had designed The Preamble set forth that there being many dissensions about Religion the Scriptures which the King had put into the hands of his People were abused by many seditious persons in their Sermons Books Playes Rithmes and Songs from which great Inconveniences were like to arise For preventing these it was necessary to establish a Form of sincere Doctrine conformable to that which was taught by the Apostles Therefore all the Books of the Old and New Testament of Tindals Translation which is called Crafty False and Vntrue are forbidden to be kept oâ— used in the Kings Dominions with all other Books contrary to the Doctrine set forth in the year 1540. with
Punishments and Fines and Imprisonment upon such as sold or kept such Books But Bibles that were not of Tindals Translation were still to be kept only the Annotations or Preambles that were in any of them were to be cut out or dashed and the Kings Proclamations and Injunctions with the Primmers and other Books Printed in English for the instruction of the people before the year 1540 were still to be in force and among these Chancers Books are by name mentioned No Books were to be Printed about Religion without the Kings Allowance In no Playes nor Enterludes they might make any Expositions of Scripture but only reproach Vice and set forth virtue in them None might read the Scripture in any open Assembly or expound it but he who was Licensed by the King or his Ordinary with a Proviso that the Chancellors in Parliament Judges Recorders or any others who were wont in publick occasions to make Speeches and commonly took a place of Scripture for their Text might still do as they had done formerly Every Noble-man or Gentle-man might cause the Bible to be read to him in or about his House quietly and without disturbance Every Merchant that was a Housholder might also read it But no Woman nor Artificers Apprentices Journeymen Serving-men under the degree of Yeomen nor no Husbandmen or Labourers might read it Yet every Noble Woman or Gentlewoman might read it for her self and so might all other persons but those who were excepted Every person might read and teach in their Houses the Book set out in the year 1540. with the Psalter Primmer Paternoster the Ave and the Creed in English All Spiritual persons who preached or taught contrary to the Doctrine set forth in that Book were to be admitted for the first conviction to renounce their errors for the second to abjure and carry a Faggot which if they refused to do or fell into a third offence they were to be burnt But the Laity for the third offence were only to forfeit their Goods and Chattels and be liable to perpetual Imprisonment But these offences were to be objected to them within a year after they were committed And whereas before the Party accused was not allowed to bring Witnesses for his own Purgation this was now granted him But to this a severe Proviso was added which seemed to overthrow all the former favour that the Act of the six Articles was still in the same force in which it was before the making of this Act. Yet that was moderated by the next Proviso That the King might at any time hereafter at his pleasure change this Act or any Provision in it This last Proviso was made stronger by another Act made for the due execution of Proclamations in pursuance of a former Act to the same effect of which mention was made in the 31st year of the Kings Reign By that former Act there was so great a number of Officers of State and of the Kings Houshold of Judges and other persons to sit on these Trials that those not being easily brought together the Act had never taken any effect Therefore it was now appointed that nine Counsellors should be a sufficient number for these Trials At the passing of that Act the Lord Montjoy protested against it which is the single Instance of a Protestation against any publick Bill through this Kings whole Reign The Act about Religion freed the Subjects from the fears under which they were before For now the Laity were delivered from the hazard of burning and the Spirituality were not in danger but upon the third Conviction They might also bring their own witnesses which was a great favour to them Yet that high power which was given the King of altering the Act or any parts of it made that they were not absolutely secured from their fears of which some instances afterwards appeared But as this Act was some mitigation of former severities so it brought the Reformers to depend wholly on the Kings Mercy for their Lives since he could now chain up or let loose the Act of the six Articles upon them at his pleasure Soon after the end of this Parliament a League was sworn between the King and the Emperour on Trinity Sunday Offensive and Defensive for England Calais and the places about it and for all Flanders with many other particulars to be found in the Treaty set down at large by the Lord Herbert There is no mention made of the Legitimation of the Lady Mary but it seems it was promised that she should be declared next in the Succession of the Crown to Prince Edward if the King had no other Children which was done in the next Parliament without any reflections on her Birth and the Emperor was content to accept of that there being no other terms to be obtained The Popish party who had set up their rest on bringing the King and Emperour to a League and putting the Lady Mary into the Succession no doubt prest the Emperor much to accept of this which we may reasonably believe was vigorously driven on by Bonner who was sent to Spain an Ambassador for concluding this Peace by which also the Emperor gained much for having engaged the Crowns of England and France in a War and drawn off the King of England from his League with the Princes of Germany he was now at more leisure to prosecute his designs in Germany But the negotiation in Scotland succeeded not to the Kings mind though at first there were very good appearances The Cardinal by forging a Will for the dead King got himself and some of his party to be put into the Government But the Earl of Arran Hamilton being the nearest in blood to the young Queen and being generally beloved for his Probity was invited to assume the Government which he managed with great moderation and an universal applause He summoned a Parliament which confirmed him in his Power during the Minority of the Queen The King sent Sir Ralph Sadler to him to agree the Marriage and to desire him to send the young Queen into England And if private ends wrought much on him Sadler was empowered to offer another Marriage of the Kings second Daughter the Lady Elizabeth to his Son The Earl of Arran was himself inclinable to Reformation and very much hated the Cardinal So he was easily brought to consent to a Treaty for the Match which was concluded in August By which the young Queen was to be bred in Scotland till she was ten years of age but the King might send a Nobleman and his Wife with other persons not exceeding 20 to wait on her And for performance of this six Noblemen were to be sent from Scotland for Hostages The Earl of Arran being then Governor kept the Cardinal under restraint till this Treaty was Concluded But he corrupting his Keepers made his escape and joyning with the Queen Mother they made a strong faction against the Governor all the Clergy joyned with the
rest And he asked the Arch-Bishops opinion about it Who answered him That it was a good resolution but entreated the King to consider well what Heresie was and not to condemn those as Hereticks who stood for the Word of God against humane Inventions But after some discourse the King told him he was the man who as he was informed was the chief Encourager of Heresie and then gave him the Articles that were brought against him and his Chaplains both by some Prebendaries of Cantâ—rbâ—ry and the Justices of Peace in Kent When he read them he kneeled down and desired the King would put the matter to a Tryal He acknowledged he was still of the same mind he was of when he opposed the Six Articles but that he had done nothing against them Then the King asked him about his Wife He frankly confessed he had a Wife but said That he had sent her to Germany upon the passing the Act against Priests having Wives His candor and simplicity wrought so on the King that he discovered to him the whole Plot that was laid against him and said That instead of bringing him to any Tryal about it he would have him try it out and proceed against those his Accusers But he excused himself and said it would not be decent for him to sit Judge in his own Cause But the King said to him he was resolved none other should Judge it but those he should name So he named his Chancellor and his Register to whom the King added another And a Commission being given them they went into Kent and sate three weeks to find out the first Contrivers of this Accusation And now every one disowned it since they saw he was still firmly rooted in the Kings esteem and favour But it being observed that the Commissioners proceeded faintly Cranmers friends moved that some man of Courage and Authority might be sent thither to canvass this Accusation more carefully So Doctor Lee Dean of York was brought up about All-hallâ—â—tid and sent into Kent And he who had been well acquainted with the Arts of discovering secrets when he was one of the visitors of the Abbeys managed it more vigorously He ordered a search to be made of all suspected persons among whose Papers Letters were found both from the Bishop of Winchester and Doctor Lonâ—â—â— and some of those whom Cranmer had treated with the greatest freedom and kindness in which the whole Plot against him was discovered But it was now near the Session of Parliament and the King was satisfied with the discovery but thought it not fit to make much noise of it And he received no addresses from the Arch-Bishop to prosecute it further who was so noted for his Clemency and following our Saviours Rule of Doing good for evil that it was commonly said The way to get his favour was to do him an injury These were the only Instances in which he expressed his resentments Two of the Conspirators against him had been persons signally obliged by him The one was the Bishop Suffragan of Dover the other was a Civilian whom he had imployed much in his business But all the notice he took of it was to shew them their Letters and to admonish them to be more faithful and honest for the future Upon which he freely forgave them and carryed it so to them afterwards as if he had absolutely forgotten what they had contrived against him And a person of Quality coming to him about that time to obtain his favour and assistance in a Sute in which he was to move the King he went about it and had almost procured it but the King calling to mind that he had been one of his secret accusers asked him whether he took him for his friend he answered that he did so Then the King said the other was a Knave and was his mortal Enemy and bid him when he should see him next call him a Knave to his Face Cranmer answered that such Language did not become a Bishop But the King sullenly commanded him to do it yet his modesty was such that he could not obey so harsh a Command And so he passed the matter over When these things came to be known all persons that were not unjustly prejudiced against him acknowledged that his behaviour was sutable to the Example and Doctrine of the meek and lowly Saviour of the World And very well became so great a Bishop and such a Reformer of the Christian Religion who in those sublime and extraordinary Instances practised that which he taught others to do The year in which this fell out is not exprest by those who have recorded it but by the concurring circumstances I judge it likeliest to have been done this year Soon after this the Parliament met that was Summoned to meet the 14th of Ianuary in the 35th year of the Kings Reign in which the Act of the Succession of the Crown passed Which contains That the King being now to pass the Seas to make War upon his Ancient Enemy the French King and being desirous to settle the Succession to the Crown It is Enacted that in default of Heirs of Prince Edwards body or of Heirs by the Kings present Marriage the Crown shall go to the Lady Mary the Kings Eldest Daughter and in default of Heirs of her body or if she do not observe such limitations or conditions as shall be declared by the Kings Letters Patents under his great Seal or by his last Will under his hand it shall next fall to the Lady Elizabeth and her heirs or if she have none or shall not keep the conditions declared by the King it shall fall to any other that shall be declared by the Kings Letters Patents or his last Will Signed with his hand There was also an Oath devised instead of those formerly sworn both against the Popes Supremacy and for maintaining the Succession in all points according to this Act which whosoever refused to take was to be adjudged a Traitor and whosoever should either in words or by writing say any thing contrary to this Act or to the peril and slander of the Kings heirs limited in the Act was to be adjudged a Traitor This was done no doubt upon a secret Article of the Treaty with the Emperor and did put new life into the Popish party all whose hopes depended on the Lady Mary But how much this lessened the Prerogative and the Right of Succession will be easily discerned the King in this affecting an unusual extent of his own Power though with the diminution of the Rights of his â—uccessors There was another Bill about the qualifying of the Act of the six Articles that was sent divers times from the one House to the other It was brought to the Lords the 1st of March and read the first time and stuck till the 4th when it was read the second time on the 5th it was read the third time and passed and was sent down
to the Commons with words to be put in or put out of it On the 6th the Commons sent it up with some alterations And on the 8th the Lords sent it down again to the Commons where it lay till the 17th and then it was sent up with their agreement And the Kings Assent was given by his Letters Patents on the 29th of March. The Preamble was That whereas untrue accusations and presentments might be maliciously contrived against the Kings Subjects and kept secret till a time were espied to have them by malice convicted Therefore it was Enacted That none should be Endited but upon a presentment by the Oaths of twelve men to at least three of the Commissioners appointed by the King and that none should be Imprisoned but upon an Enditement except by a special Warrant from the King and that all Presentments should be made within one year after the Offences were committed and if words were uttered in a Sermon contrary to the Statute they must be complained of within forty dayes unless a just cause were given why it could not be so soon Admittiâ—g also the parties Endited to all such Challenges as they might have in any other case of Felony This Act has clearly a Relation to the Conspiracies mentioned the former year both against the Arch-Bishop and some of the Kings Servants Another Act passed continuing some former Acts for revising the Canon-Law and for drawing up such a body of Ecclesiastical Laws as should have Authority in England This Cranmer pressed often with great vehemence and to shew the necessity of it drew out a short Extract of some passages in the Canon-Law which the Reader will find in the Collection to shew how undecent a thing it was to let a Volume in which such Laws were be studyed or considered any longer in England Therefore he was earnest to have such a Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws made as might regulate the Spiritual Courts But it was found more for the greatness of the Prerogative and the Authority of the Civil Courts to keep that undetermined so he could never obtain his desire during this Kings Reign Another Act passed in this Parliament for the remission of a Loan of Money which the King had raised This is almost copied out of an Act to the same effect that passed in the twenty first year of the Kings Reign with this addition That by this Act those who had got payment either in whole or in part of the Sums so lent the King were to repay it back to the Exchequer All business being finished and a general pardon passed with the ordinary exceptions of some Crimes among which Heresie is one the Parliament was Prorogued on the 29th of March to the 4th of November The King had now a War both with France and Scotland upon him And therefore to prepare for it he both enhanced the value of Money and embased it for which he that writes his vindication gives this for the reason That the Coin being generally embased all over Europe he was forced to do it lest otherwise all the Money should have gone out of the Kingdom He resolved to begin the War with Scotland and sent an Army by Sea thither under the command of the Earl of Hartford afterwards Duke of Somerset who landing at Grantham a little above Leith burnt and spoiled Leith and Edenburgh in which they found more riches than they thought could possibly have been there and they went through the Countrey burning and spoiling it every-where till they came to Berwick But they did too much if they intended to gain the hearts of that people and too little if they intended to subdue them For as they besieged not the Castle of Edinburgh which would have cost them more time and trouble so they did not fortifie Leith nor leave a Garrison in it which was such an inexcusable Omission that it seems their Counsels were very weak and ill laid For Leith being fortified and a Fleet kept going between it and Berwick or Tinmouth the Trade of the Kingdom must have been quite stopt Edinburgh ruined the Intercourse between France and them cut off and the whole Kingdom forced to submit to the King But the spoils this Army made had no other effect but to enrage the Kingdom and unite them so entirely to the French Interests that when the Eaâ—l of Lâ—nnâ—x was sent down by the King to the Western parts of Scotland where his Power lay he could get none to follow him And the Governor of Dunbritton Castle though his own Lieutenant would not deliver that Castle to him when he understood he was to put it in the King of Englands hands but drove him out others say he â—â—ed away of himself else he had been taken Prisoner The King was now to cross the Seas but before he went he studied to settle the matters of Religion so that both Parties might have some content Audley the Chancellor dying he made the Lord Wriothesley that had been Secretary and was of the Popish Party Lord Chancellor but made Sir William Petre that was Cranmers great friend Secretary of State He also committed the Government of the Kingdom in his absence to the Queen to whom he joyned the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor the Earl of Hartford and Secretary Petre. And if there was need of any Force to be raised he appointed the Earl of Hartford his Lieutenant under whose Government the Reformers needed not fear any thing But he did another Act that did wonderfully please that whole Party which was the Translating of the Prayers for the Processions and Litaâ—ies into the English tongue This was sent to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury on the 11th of Iune with an Order that it should be used over all his Province as the Reader will find in the Collection This was not only very acceptable to that Party because of the thing it self but it gave them hope that the King was again opening his ears to motions for Reformation to which they had been shut now about six years And therefore they looked that more things of that nature would quickly follow And as these Prayers werâ— now set out in English so they doubted not but there being the same reason to put all the other Offices in the vulgar tongue they would prevail for that too Things being thus setled at home the King having sent his Forces over before him crossed the Seas with much pomp the Sails of his Ship being of Cloth of Gold He Landed at Calais the 14th of Iuly The Emperor pressed his marching straight to Paris But he thought it of more importance to take Bulloign and after two months Siege it was surrendred to him into which he made his Entry with great Triumph on the 18th of September But the Emperor having thus engaged those two Crowns in a War and designing while they should fight it out to make himself Master of Gâ—rmanâ— concluded a Treaty
with to make resignations And four and twenty of them had surrendred to the King It was found also that many of the Founders of these Houses had taken them into their own hands and that the Master Wardens and Governors of them had made agreements for them and given Leases of them Therefore now a Subsidy being demanded all these were given to the King by Act of Parliament which also confirmed the Deeds that any had made to the King Empowering him in any time of his life to issue out Commissions for seizing on these Foundations and taking them into his own possession which being so seized on should belong to the King and his successors for ever They also granted another Subsidy for the War When all their business was done the King came to the House and made a long Speech of which I cannot sufficiently wonder that no Entry is made in the Journals of the House of Lords Yet it is not to be doubted but he made it for it was published by Hall soon after When the Speaker of the House of Commons had presented the Bills with a Speech full of respect and complement as is usual upon these occasions The King answered Thanking them for the Subsidie and the Bill about the Colledges and Chanteries and assured them that he should take care both for supplying the Ministers for encouraging Learning and relieving the Poor and they should quickly perceive that in these things their expectations should be answered beyond what they either wished or desired And after he had expressed his affection to them and the assurance he had of their duty and fidelity to him he advised them to amend one thing which was that in stead of Charity and Concord Discord and Division ruled every where He cited St. Pauls words That Charity was gentle and not envious nor proud But when one called another Heretick and the other called him Papist and Pharisee were these the signs of Charity The fault of this he charged chiefly on the Fathers and Teachers of the Spiritualty who preached one against another without Charity or Discretion some being too stiff in their old Mâ—mpsimus others too busie and curious in their new Sumpsimus and few Preached the Word of God truly and sincerely And how could the poor people live in concord when they sowed debate among them Therefore he exhorted them to set forth Gods word by true Preaching and giving a good Example or else he as Gods Vicar and high Minister would see these Enormities corrected which if he did not do he was an unprofitable Servant and an untrue Officer He next reproved them of the Temporality who railed at their Bishops and Priests whereas if they had any thing to lay to their charge they ought to declare it to the King or his Council and not take upon them to judge such high points For tho they had the Scriptures given them in their Mother-Tongue yet that was only to inform their own consciences and instruct their Children and Families but not to dispute nor from thence to rail against Priests and Preachers as some vain persons did He was sorry that such a Jewel as the Word of God was so ill used that Rithmes and Songs were taken out of it but much more sorry that men followed it so little for Charity was neverfainter a godly life never less appeared and God was never less reverenced and worshipped Therefore he exhorted them to live as Brethren in Charity together to love dread and serve God and then the love and union between Him and them should never be dissolved And so exhorting them to look to the Execution of the Laws which themselves had desired he gave his Royal Assent to the Bills and dismissed the Parliament The King gave at this time a Commission to the Bishops of Westminster Worcester and Chichester and the Chancellor of the Court of Augmentation Sir Edward North conteining That whereas the King had founded many Cathedrals in which he had given large allowances both to be distributed to the poor and to be laid out for the mending of high ways To Canterbury 100 pounds for the poor and 40 pounds for the high ways To Rochester 20 pounds for the poor and 20 pounds for the High-ways To Westminster 100 pounds for the poor and 40 pounds for the High-ways To Winchester 100 Marks for the poor and 50 for the High-ways To Bristol Glocester Chester Burton upon Trent Thornton Peterborough and Ely 20 pounds a piece for the poor and as much for the High-ways To Worcester 40 pounds for the poor and 40 pounds for the High-ways To Duresm 100 Marks for the poor and 40 pounds for the High-ways And to Carlile 15 pounds for the poor and as much for the High-ways In all about 550 pounds a year to the poor and about 400 pounds a year for the High-ways They were to enquire how this money was distributed and if they saw cause they might order it to be applied to any other use which they should judge more charitable and convenient But what followed upon this does not appear by the Records After the Parliament was dissolved the Universities made their applications to the King that they might not be included within the general words in the Act of Dissolution of Colledges and Fraternities And Dr. Cox Tutor to the Prince wrote to Secretary Paget to represent to the King the great want of Schools Preachers and Houses for Orphans that Beggery would drive the Clergy to Flattery Superstition and the old Idolatry There were ravenous Wolves about the King that would devour Universities Cathedrals and Chantries and a thousand times as much Posterity would wonder at such things Therefore he desired the Universities might be secured from their Spoyls But the King did quickly free them from these fears Now I enter into the last year of this Kings Reign The War in France was managed with doubtful success yet the losses were greater on the English side And the Forces being commanded by the Earl of Surrâ—â— who was brave but unsuccessful he was not only blamed but recalled and the Earl of Hertford sent to Command in his room But he being a man of an high Spirit and disdaining the Earl of Hertford who was now preferred before him let fall some words of high resentment and bitter contempt which not long after wrought his ruine The King was now alone in the War which was very chargeable to him and observing the Progress that the Council of Treâ—t was making where Cardinal Pole being one of the Legates he had reason to look for some severe Decree to be made against himself since none of the Hereticks of Germany were so much hated by the Court of Roâ—e as he was Therefore he listned to the Counsels of peace And tho he was not old yet he felt such decays in his strength that being extremely corpulent he had no reason to think he could live very long Therefore that he
Father were committed to the Tower That which was most insisted on was their giving the Arms of Edward the Confessor which were only to be given by the Kings of England This the Earl of Surrey justified and said they gave their Arms according to the opinion of the Kings Heraulds But all excuses availed nothing for his Father and he were designed to be destroyed upon reasons of State for which some colours were to be found out The Earl of Surrey being but a Commoner was brought to his Tryal at Guildhall and put upon an Inquest of Commoners consisting of nine Knights and three Esquires by whom he was found guilty of Treason and had Sentence of death passed upon him which was executed on the 19th of Ianuary at Tower-Hill It was generally condemned as an Act of high injustice and severity which loaded the Seimours with a popular Odium that they could never overcome He was much pitied being a man of great parts and high courage with many other Noble Qualities But the King who never hated nor ruined any body by halves resolved to compleat the misfortunes of that Family by the Attaindor of the Father And as all his Eminent Services were now forgotten so the Submissions he made could not allay a displeasure that was only to be satisfied with his Life and Fortune He wrote to the King Protesting his Innocency That he had never a thought to his prejudice and could not imagine what could be laid to his Charge He had spent his whole Life in his Service and did not know that ever he had offended any person or that any were displeased with him except for prosecuting the breakers of the Act about the Sacrament of the Altar But in that and in every thing else as he had been always obedient to the Kings Laws so he was resolved still to obey any Laws he should make He desired he might be examined with his Accusers face to face before the King or at least before his Council and if it did not appear that he was wrongfully accused let him be punished as he deserved In Conclusion he begged the King would have pity on him and restore him to his favour taking all his Lands or Goods from him or as much of them as he pleased Yet all this had no effect on the King So he was desired to make a more formal Submission which he did on the 12th of Ianuary under his hand ten Privy Councellors being Witnesses In it he confessed First his discovering the Secrets of the Kings Council Secondly his concealing his Sons Treason in using to give the Arms of St. Edward the Confessor which did only belong to the King and to which his Son had no Right Thirdly That he had ever since his Fathers death born in the first quarter of his Arms the Arms of England with a difference of the Labells of Silver that are the proper Arms of the Prince which was done in prejudice of the King and the Prince and gave occasion for disturbing or interrupting the Succession to the Crown of the Realm This he acknowledged was high Treason he confessed he deserved to be attainted of high Treason and humbly begged the Kings Mercy and Compassion He yielded to all this hoping by such a Submission and Compliance to have overcome the Kings displeasure but his Expectations failed him A Parliament was called the reason whereof was pretended to be the Coronation of the Prince of Wales But it was thought the true cause of calling it was to Attaint the Duke of Norfolk for which they had not colour enough to do it in a Tryal by his Peers Therefore an Attaindor by Act of Parliament was thought the better way So it was moved that the King intending to Crown his Son Prince of Wales desired they would go on with all possible haste in the Attaindor of the Duke of Norfolk that so these Places which he held by Patent might be disposed of by the King to such as he thought fit who should Assist at the Coronation And upon this slight pretence since a better could not be found The Bill of Attaindor was read the first time on the 18th of Ianuary And on the 19th and 20th it was read the second and third time And so passed in the House of Lords and was sent down to the Commons Who on the 24th sent it up also passed On the 27th the Lords were ordered to be in their Robes That the Royal assent might be given to it which the Lord Chancellor with some others joyned in Commission did give by vertue of the Kings Letters Patents And it had been executed the next Morning if the Kings death had not prevented it Upon what grounds this Attaindor was founded I can only give this Account from the 34th Act of the first Parliament of Queen Mary in which this Act is declared null and void by the Common Law of the Land for I cannot find the Act it self upon Record In the Act of Repeal it is said That there was no special matter in the Act of Attaindor but only general words of Treasons and Conspiracies and that out of their care of the preservation of the King and the Prince they passed it But the Act of Repeal says also That the only thing with which he was charged was For bearing of Arms which he and his Ancestors had born both within and without the Kingdom both in the Kings presence and in the sight of his Progenitors which they might Lawfully bear and give as by good and substantial matter of Record it did appear It is also added That the King dyed after the date of the Commission That the King only empowered them to give his Assent but did not give it himself And that it did not appear by any Record that they gave it That the King did not Sign the Commission with his own hand his Stamp being only set to it and that not to the upper but the nether part of it contrary to the Kings custom All these particulars though cleared afterwards I mention now because they give light to this matter As soon as the Act was passed a Warrant was sent to the Lieutenant of the Tower to cut off his head the next Morning but the King dying in the night the Lieutenant could do nothing on that Warrant And it seems it was not thought advisable to begin the new Kings Reign with such an Odious Execution And thus the Duke of Norfolk escaped very narrowly Both Parties descanted on this differently The Conscientious Papists said it was Gods just Judgment on him who had in all things followed the Kings pleasure oftentimes against his own Conscience That he should smart under that Power which himself had helped so considerably to make it be raised so high The Protestants could not but observe an hand of God in measuring out such a hard measure to him that was so heavy on all those poor people that were
Hospital and he order'd the Church of the Franciscans a little within Newgate to be opened which he gave to the Hospital This was done the 3d of Ianuary Another was of Trinity Colledg in Cambridg one of the Noblest Foundations in Christendom He continued in a decay till the 27 of the moneth and then many signs of his approaching end appearing few would adventure on so unwelcom a thing as to put him in mind of his change then imminent but Sir Anthony Denny had the honesty and courage to do it and desired him to prepare for death and remember his former life and to call on God for mercy through Jesus Christ. Upon which the King expressed his grief for the Sins of his past Life yet he said he trusted in the mercies of Christ which were greater than they were Then Denny asked him if any Churchman should be sent for and he said if any it should be Arch-Bishop Cranmer and after he had rested a little finding his Spirits decay apace he ordered him to be sent for to Croydon where he was then But before he could come the King was Speechless So Cranmer desired him to give some sign of his dying in the Faith of Christ upon which he squeezed his hand and soon after died after he had Reigned 37 years and 9 months in the six and fiftieth year of his age His death was kept up three dayes for the Journals of the House of Lords shew that they continued reading Bills and going on in business till the 31st and no sooner did the Lord Chancellor signify to them that the King was dead and that the Parliament was thereby dissolved It is certain the Parliament had no being after the Kings breath was out so their sitting till the 31st shews that the Kings death was not generally known all those three dayes The reasons of concealing it so long might either be that they were considering what to do with the Duke of Norfolk or that the Seymours were laying their matters so as to be secure in the Government before they published the Kings Death I shall not adventure on adding any further Character of him to that which is done with so much Wit and Judgment by the Lord Hâ—rbert but shall refer the Reader wholly to him only adding an account of the blackest part of it the Attaindors that passed the last 13 years of his life which are comprehended within this Book of which I have cast over the Relation to the Conclusion of it In the latter part of his Reign there were many things that seem great severities especially as they are represented by the Writers of the Roman party whose relations are not a little strengthned by the faint excuses and the mistaken accounts that most of the Protestant Historians have made The King was naturally impetuous and could not bear provocation the times were very ticklish his Subjects were generally addicted to the old Superstition especially in the Northern parts the Monks and Friers were both numerous and wealthy the Pope was his implacable Enemy the Emperor was a formidable Prince and being then Master of all the Netherlands had many advantages for the War he designed against Enâ—land Cardinal Pole his kinsman was going over all the Courts of Christendom to perswade a League against England as being a thing of greater necessity and merit than a War against the Turk This being without the least aggravation the state of affairs at that time it must be confessed he was sore put to it A Superstition that was so blind and headstrong and Enemies that were both so powerful so spiteful and so industrious made rigour necessary nor is any General of an Army more concerned to deal severely with Spies and Intelligencers than he was to proceed against all the Popes adherents or such as kept correspondence with Pole He had observed in History that upon much less provocation than himself had given not only several Emperors and forreign Princes had been dispossessed of their Dominions but two of his own Ancestors Henry the 2d and King Iohn had been driven to great extremities and forced to unusual and most indecent submissions by the means of the Popes and their Clergy The Popes power over the Clergy was so absolute and their dependence and obedience to him was so implicite and the Popish Clergy had so great an interest in the superstitious multitude whose consciences they governed that nothing but a stronger passion could either tame the Clergy or quiet the People If there had been the least hope of impunity the last part of his Reign would have been one continued Rebellion therefore to prevent a more profuse effusion of blood it seemed necessary to execute Laws severely in some particular instances There is one calumny that runs in a thread through all the Historians of the Popish side which not a few of our own have ignorantly taken up That many were put to death for not swearing the Kings Supremacy It is an impudent falshood for not so much as one person suffered on that account nor was there any Law for any such Oath before the Parliament in the 28th year of the Kings Reign when the unsufferable Bull of Pope Paul the 3d engaged him to look a little more to his own safety Then indeed in the Oath for maintaining the successiono f the Crown the Subjects were required under the pains of Treason to swear that the King was supream head of the Church of England but that was not mentioned in the former Oath that was made in the 25th and enacted in the 26 year of his Reign It cannot but be confessed that to enact under pain of death that none should deny the Kings Titles and to proceed upon that against offenders is a very different thing from forcing them to swear the King to be the Supream Head of the Church The first instance of these Capital proceedings was in Easter-Term in the beginning of the 27th year of his reign Three Priors and a Monk of the Carthusian Order were then endited of Treason for saying that the King was not Supream head under Christ of the Church of England These were Iohn Houghton Prior of the Charter-house near London Augustin Webster Prior of Axholme Robert Laurence Prior of Bâ—vâ—ll and Richard Reynolds a Monk of Sion this last was esteemed a learned man for that time and that Order They were tried in Westminster-Hall by a Commission of Oyer and Terminer they pleaded not guilty but the Jury found them guilty and judgment was given that they should suffer as Traitors The Record mentions no other particulars but the writers of the Popish side make a splendid recital of the courage and constancy they expressed both in their Tryal and at their Death It was no difficult thing for men so used to the Legend and the making of fine stories for the Saints and Martyrs of their Orders to dress up such Narratives with much pomp But as their pleading Not
Guilty to the Endictment shews no extraordinary resolution so the account that is given by them of one Hall a Secular Priest that died with them is so false that there is good reason to suspect all He is said to have suffered on the same account but the Record of his Attaindor gives a very different relation of it He and Robert Feron were endited at the same time for having said many spiteful and Treasonable things as that the King was a Tyrant an Heretick a Robber and an Adulterer that they hoped he should die such a death as King Iohn and Richard the 3d died that they looked when those in Ireland and Wales should invade England and they were assured that three parts of four in England would be against the King they also said that they should never live merrily till the King and the Rulers were plucked by the Pates and brought to the Pot and that it would never be well with the Church till that was done Hall had not only said this but had also written it to Feron the 10th of March that year When they were brought to the Bar they at first pleaded Not Guilty but full proof being brought they themselves confessed the Enditement before the Jury went aside and put themselves on the Kings mercy upon which this being an imagining and contriving both War against the King and the Kings death judgment was given as in cases of Treason but no mention being made of Ferons death it seems he had his pardon Hall suffered with the four Carthusians who were hanged in their habits They proceeded no further in Easter-Term but in Trinity-Term there was another Commission of Oyer and Terminer by which Humphrey Middlemore William Exmew and Sebastian Nudigate three Monks of the Charter-house near London were Endited of Treason for having said on the 25 of May that they neither could nor would consent to be obedient to the Kings Highness as true lawful and obedient Subjects to take him to be Supream Head on Earth of the Church of England They all pleaded not-Guilty but were found Guilty by the Jury and Judgment was given When they were condemned they desired that they might receive the body of Christ before their death But as Judge Spelman writ the Court would not grant it since that was never done in such cases but by Order from the King Two dayes after that they were Executed Two other Monks of that same Order Iohn Rochester and Iames Wolver suffered on the same account at York in May this year Ten other Carthusian Monks were shut up within their Cells where nine of them dyed the tenth was hanged in the beginning of August Concerning those persons I find this said in some Original Letters that they had brought over into England and vented in it some Books that were written beyond Sea against the Kings Marriage and his other proceedings which being found in their house they were pressed to peruse the Books that were written for the King but obstinately refused to do it they had also been involved in the business of the Maid of Kent for which though all the Complices in it except those whom suffered for it were pardoned by Act of Parliament yet such as had been concerned in it were still under jealousie and it is no wonder that upon new provocations they met with the uttermost rigor of the Law These Tryals made way for two others that were more Signal of the Bishop of Rochester and Sir Thomas More The first of these had been a Prisoner above a year and was very severely used he complained in his Letters to Cromwell that he had neither Cloaths nor fire being then about fourscore This was understood at Rome and upon it Pope Clement by an Officious kindness to him or rather in spite to King Henry declared him a Cardinal and sent him a Red-hat When the King knew this he sent to Examine him about it but he protested he had used no endeavours to procure it and valued it so little that if the Hat were lying at his feet he would not take it up It never came nearer him than Picardy yet this did precipitate his ruin But if he had kept his opinion of the Kings Supremacy to himself they could not have proceeded further He would not do that but did upon several occasions speak against it so he was brought to his Tryal on the 17th of Iune The Lord Chancellor the Duke of Suffolk and some other Lords together with the Judges sate upon him by a Commission of Oyer and Terminer He pleaded not-Guilty but being found Guilty Judgment was passed on him to die as a Traitor but he was by a Warrant from the King beheaded Upon the 22d of Iune being the day of his Execution he dressed himself with more than ordinary care and when his man took notice of it he told him he was to be that day a Bridegroom As he was led to the place of Execution being stopt in the way by the croud he opened his new Testament and prayed to this purpose that as that Book had been his companion and chief comfort in his imprisonment so then some place might turn up to him that might comfort him in his last passage This being said he opened the Book at a venture in which these words of St. Iohns Gospel turned up This is Life eternal to know thâ—e the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent So he shut the Book with much saisfaction and all the way was repeating and meditating on them When he came to the Scaffold he pronounced the Te Deum and after some other devotions his head was cut off Thus dyed Iohn Fisher Bishop of Rochester in the 80th year of his Age. He was a Learned and devout man but much addicted to the superstitions in which he had been bred up And that led him to great severities against all that opposed them He had been for many years Confessor to the Kings Grand-Mother the Countess of Richmonâ— and it was believed that he perswaded her to these Noble designs for the advancement of Learning of Founding two Colledges in Cambridge St. Iohns and Christs Colledge and Divinity Professors in both Universities And in acknowledgment of this he was chosen Chancellor of the University of Cambridge Henry the 7th gave him the Bishoprick of Rochester which he following the rule of the Primitive Church would never change for a better he used to say his Church was his Wife and he would never part with her because she was poor He continued in great favour with the King till the business of the Divorce was set on foot and then he adhered so firmly to the Queens cause and the Popes Supremacy that he was carryed by that headlong into great Errors as appears by the business of the Maid of Kent Many thought the King ought to have proceeded against him rather upon that which was a point of State than upon
Hereticks in a little time Bird said doest thou marvel at that I tell thee it is no marvel for the great Master of all is an Heretick and such a one as there is not his like in the World By the same Act the Lord Hungerford was likewise Attainted The Crimes specified are that he knowing Bird to be a Traitor did entertain him in his house as his Chaplain that he ordered another of his Chaplains Sir Hugh Wood and one Doctor Maudlin to use Conjuring that they might know how long the King should live and whether he should be victorious over his Enemies or not and that these three years last past he had frequently committed the detestable sin of Sodomy with several of his Servants All these were Attainted by that Parliament The Lord Hungerford was Executed the same day with Cromwell he dyed in such disorder that some thought he was frenetick for he called often to the Executioner to dispatch him and said he was weary of Life and longed to be dead which seemed strange in a man that had so little cause to hope in his death For Powel Fetherstoun and Abell they suffered the same day with Barnes and his friends as hath been already shewn This year Sampson Bishop of Chichester and one Doctor Wilson were put in the Toâ—er upon suspition of correspondence with the Pope But upon their submission they had their pardon and liberty In the year 1541 five Priests and ten secular persons some of them being Gentlemen of Quality were raising a new Rebellion in Yorkshire which was suppressed in time and the Promoters of it being apprehended were Attainted and Executed and this occasioned the death of the Countess of Sarum after the Execution of the Sentence had been delayed almost two years The last instance of the Kings severity was in the year 1543 in which one Gardiner that was the Bishop of Winchesters kinsman and Secretary and three other Priests were tryed for denying the Kings Supremacy and soon after Executed But what special matter was laid to their charge cannot be known for the Record of their Attaindor is lost These were the proceedings of this King against those that adhered to the interests of Rome in which though there is great ground for just censure for as the Laws were rigorous so the Execution of them was raised to the highest that the Law could admit yet there is nothing in them to justifie all the clamors which that party have raised against King Henry and by which they pursue his memory to this day and are far short both in number and degrees of the cruelties of Queen Maries Reign which yet they endeavour all that is possible to extenuate or deny To Conclude we have now gone through the Reign of King Henry the 8th who is rather to be reckoned among the Great than the Good Princes He exercised so much severity on men of both perswasions that the writers of both sides have laid open his faults and taxed his cruelty But as neither of them were much obliged to him so none have taken so much care to set forth his good qualities as his Enemies have done to enlarge on his Vices I do not deny that he is to be numbered among the ill Princes yet I cannot rank him with the worst The End of the third Book and of the first Part. ADDENDA After some of the sheets of this History were wrought off I met with Manuscripts of great Authority out of which I have Collected several particulars that give a clear light to the proceedings in those times which since they came too late to my knowledg to be put in their proper places I shall here add them with refâ—râ—nces to the places to which they belong Ad Page 202. line 13. THere it is said that the Earl of Wiltshire Father to Queen Anne Boleyn was one of the Peers that Judged her In this I too Implicitly followed Doctor Heylin he seeming to write with more than ordinary care for the Vindication of that Queen and with such assurance as if he had seen the Records concerning her so that I took this upon trust from him The reason of it was that in the search I made of Attaindors I did not find the Record of her Tryal so I concluded that either it was destroyed by Order during her Daughters Reign or was accidentally lost since that time And thus having no Record to direct me I too easily followed the Printed Books in that particular But after that part of this History was wrought off I by chance met with it in another place where it was mislaid and there I discovered the error I had committed The Earl of Wiltshire was not one of her Judges these by whom she was tryed were the Duke of Suffolk the Marquis of Exceter the Earls of Arundell Oxford Northumberland Westmoreland Derby Worcester Rutland Sussex and Huntington and the Lords Audley Delaware Mountague Morley Dacres Cobham Maltravers Powis Mounteagle Clinton Sands Windsor Wentworth Burgh and Mordant in all twenty six and not twenty Eight as I reckoned them upon a Vulgar Error The Record mentions one particular concerning the Earl of Northumberland that he was taken with a sudden fit of sickness and was forced to leave the Court before the Lord Rochford was Tryed This might have been only Casual but since he was once in Love with the Queen and had designed to Marry her see Page 44 it is no wonder if so sad a change in her Condition did raise an unusual disorder in him When I had discovered the mistake I had made as I resolved to publish this free Confession of it so I set my self not without some Indignation to examine upon what Authority Doctor Heylin had led me into it I could find no Author that went before him in it but Sanders the chief design of whose writing was to defame Queen Elizabeth and to blast her Title to the Crown To that end it was no ill piece of his skill to perswade the World of her Mother lewdness to say that her own Father was convinced of it and condemned her for it And Doctor Heylin took this as he has done many other things too easily upon Sanders Testimony Ad Page 217. line 37. The Articles of Religion of which an abstract is there set down are indeed published by Fullâ—r but he saw not the Original with all the Subscriptions to it which I have had in my hands and therefore I have put it in the Collection with three other Papers which were soon after offered to the King by Cranmer The one is in the form of fifteen queries concerning some abuses by which the people had been deceived as namely by these Doctrines that without Contrition sinners may be reconciled to God that it is in the Power of the Priest to pardon or not to pardon sin at his pleasure and that Gods pardon cannot be obtained without Priestly Absolution Also he complained that the people
the Imposition of hands so they raised their Order or Office so high as to make it equal with the Order of a Bishop But as they designed to extol the Order of Priesthood so the Canonists had as great a mind to depress the Episcopal Order They generally wrote for preferment and the way to it was to exalt the Papacy Nothing could do that so effectually as to bring down the Power of Bishops This only could justifie the Exemptions of the Monks and Friers the Popes setting up Legantine Courts and receiving at first Appeals and then Original causes before them together with many other Encroachments on their Jurisdiction All which were unlawful if the Bishops had by Divine right Jurisdiction in their Dioceses Therefore it was necessary to lay them as low as could be and to make them think that the Power they held was rather as Delegates of the Apostolick See than by a Commission from Christ or his Apostles So that they looked on the declaring Episcopal Authority to be of Divine right as a blow that would be fatal to the Court of Rome and therefore they did after this at Trent use all possible endeavours to hinder any such Decision It having been then the Common stile of that Age to reckon Bishops and Priests as the same Office it is no wonder if at this time the Clergy of this Church the greatest part of them being still leavened with the old superstition and the rest of them not having enough of spare-time to examine lesser matters retained still the former phrases in this particular On this I have insisted the more that it may appear how little they have considered things who are so far carryed with their zeal against the established Government of this Church as to make much use of some passages of the Schoolmen and Canonists that deny them to be distinct Offices for these are the very dregs of Popery the one raising the Priests higher for the sake of Transubstantiation the other pulling the Bishops lower for the sake of the Popes Supremacy and by such means bringing them almost to an equality So partial are some men to their particular conceits that they make use of the most mischievous Topicks when they can serve their turnâ—punc not considering how much further these Arguments will run if they ever admit them Ad Page 255. line 28. The Princes of Germany did always press the King to enter into a Religious League with them the first League that was made in the year 1536 was conceived in general terms against the Pope as the Common Enemy and for setting up true Religion according to the Gospel But they did afterwards send over Ambassadors to treat about particulars and they having presented a Memorial of these there were Conferences appointed between them and some Bishops and Divines of this Church I find no Divines was sent over hither but Frederick Miconius Minister of Gotha by whom Melanthon who could not be spared out of Germany sent several Letters to the King the fullest and longest of them will be found in the Collection It is all to this purpose to perswade the King to go on vigorously in the Reforming of Abuses according to the word of God The King sent over the particulars which they proposed in order to a perfect agreement to Gardiner who was then at Paris Upon which he sent back his Opinion touching them all the Original of which under his own hand I have seen but it relates so much to the other Paper that was sent him which I never saw that without it his meaning can hardly be understood and therefore I have not put it in the Collection The main thing in it at which it chiefly drives is to press the King to finish first a Civil League with them and to leave those particulars concerning Religion to be afterwards treated of The King followed his advice so far as to write to the German Princes to that effect But when the King declared his resolution to have the six Articles established all that favoured the Reformation were much alarmed at it and pressed their friends in Germany to interpose with the King for preventing it I have seen an Original Letter of Hains Dean of Exeter in which he laments the sad effects that would follow on that Act which was then preparing that all the Corruptions in the Church rose from the establishing some points without clear proofs from Scripture he wished the Germans would consider of it for if the King and Parliament should make such a Law this was a President for the Emperor to make the like in the Diet of the Empire Neither were the German Ambassadors backward in doing their friends in England all the service they could for after they had held several conferences with these that were appointed by the King to treat with them they finding they could not prevail with them wrote a long and Learned Letter to the King against the taking away the Chalice in the Sacrament and against private Masses and the Celibate of the Clergy with some other abuses which the Reader will find in the Collection as it is Copied from the Original which I have seen To this I have added the Answer which the King wrote to it He employed Tonstall Bishop of Duresm to draw it for I have seen a rude draught of a great part of it written with his hand By both these compared together every indifferent Reader will clearly see the force and simplicity of the Arguments on the one hand and the art and shuffling that was used on the other side As soon as the Act was past notwithstanding all their endeavours to the contrary they in an Audience before the King represented the great concern their Masters would have when the King on whom they had relyed so much as the Defender of the Faith should proceed with the severity expressed in that Act against those that agreed with them in Doctrine and pressed the King earnestly to put a stop to the Execution of it The King promised he would see to it and that though he judged the Act necessary to restrain the Insolence of some of his Subjects yet it should not be Executed but upon great provocation he also proposed the renewing a Civil League with them without mentioning matters of Religion To this the Princes made answer that the League as it was at first projected was chiefly upon a design of Religion and therefore without a common consent of all that were in their League they could not alter it they lamented this passing of the late Act but writ their thanks to the King for stopping the Execution of it and warn'd him that some of his Bishops who set him on to these courses were in their hearts still for all the old Abuses and for the Popes Supremacy and were pressing on the King to be severe against his best Subjects that they might thereby bring on a design which they could not hope
censured p. 259 An Act about the Suppression of all Monasteries p. 260 Another for erecting New Bishopricks p. 262 The Kings design about these ibid. An Act for Obedience to the Kings Proclamations p. 263 An Act concerning Precedence p. 264 Some Acts of Attaindor ibid. The Kings care of Cranmer p. 265 Who wrote against the six Articles ibid. Proceedings upon that Act p. 266 Bonners Commission for holding his Bishoprick of the King p. 267 The total Dissolution of Abbeys ibid. Which were sold or given away p. 268 A Project of a seminary for Ministers of State p. 269 A Proclamation for the use of the Bible p. 270 The King designs to Marry Anne of Cleve ibid. Who comes over but is disliked by the King p. 271 Anno 1540. BVt he Marries her yet could never love her p. 273 A Parliament is called p. 274 Where Cromwel speaks as Lord Vice-gerent ibid. The Suppression of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem p. 275 Cromwells fall p. 276 The King is in love with Katherine Howard ibid. Cranmers friendship to Cromwell p. 277 Cromwels Attaindor p. 278 Censures past upon it p. 279 The Kings Divorce is proposed p. 280 And referred to the Convocation ibid. Reasons pretended for it ibid. The Convocation agree to it p. 281 Which was much censured ibid. It is Confirmed in Parliament p. 282 The Queen consents to it ibid. An Act about the Incontinence of Priests ibid. Another Act about Religion ibid. Another concerning Precontracts p. 283 Subsidies granted by Clergy and Laity ibid. Cromwell's Death p. 284 His Character Ibid. Designs against Cranmer p. 285 Some Bishops and Divines consult about Religion p. 286 An Explanation of Faith ibid. Cranmers Opinion about it p. 288 They Explain the Apostles Creed ibid. And the Seven Sacraments with great care p. 289 As also the Ten Commandments p. 290 The Lords Prayer the Ave Maria and free-will p. 291 And Iustification and Good works p. 292 Published by the King but much censured p. 293 A Correction of the Missalls p. 294 The Sufferings of Barnes and others p. 295 They are Condemned unheard p. 297 Their Speeches at their Death ibid. Bonners Cruelty p. 299 New Bishopricks Founded p. 300 Cranmers design is defeated p. 301 These Foundations are censured ibid. The State of the Court p. 302 The Bible is set up in Churches ibid. An Order for Churchmens house-keeping p. 303 The King goes to York p. 304 The State of Scotland ibid. The beginning of the Reformation p. 305 Patrick Hamiltons Sufferings ibid. A further Prosecution p. 308 The Kings was wholly quieted by the Clergy p. 309 Some put to death others escaped p. 310 The Queens ill life is discovered p. 312 Anno 1542. A Parliament called ibid. An Act about the Queen much censured p. 313 A design to suppress the English Bible p. 314 The Bible ordered to be revised by the Vniversities p. 315. B. Bonners Injunctions ibid. The way of Preaching at that time p. 316 Plaies and Enterludes then Acted p. 318 War between England and Scotland ibid. The Scots are defeated and their King dies p. 320 Anno 1543. CRanmer Promotes a Reformation p. 321 An Act of Parliament for it ibid. Another about the Kings Proclamations p. 322 A League between the King and the Emperor p. 323 A Match designed with Scotland ibid. But the French party prevailed there p. 324 A War with France p. 325 A Persecution of the Reformers Ibid. Marbecks great Ingeniousness p. 326 Three burnt at Windsor p. 327 Their Persecutors are Perjured ibid. A design against Cranmer ibid. It came to nothing p. 328 His Christian behaviour ibid. Anno 1544. A New Parliament ibid. An Act about the Succession ibid. An Act against Conspiracies p. 330 An Act for revising the Canon-Law ibid. A discharge of the Kings debts ibid. The War against Scotland p. 331 Audley the Chancellor dies ibid. The Prayers are put in English ibid. Bulloign is taken p. 332 Anno. 1545. THe Germans Mediate a peace between England and France ibid. Some great Church-Preferments p. 333 Wisharts Sufferings in Scotland ibid. Cardinal Beaton is killed p. 336 Anno 1546. A New Parliament p. 338. Chappels and Chanteries given to the King ibid. The Kings Speech to the Parliament ibid. The King confirms the Rights of Vniversities p. 334 A Peace with France p. 340 Designs of a further Reformation ibid. Shaxtons Apostacy ibid. The troubles of Anne Askew p. 341 She endures the Rack p. 342 And is burnt with some others ibid. A design against Cranmer ibid. The King takes care of him p. 343 A design against the Queen p. 344 The cause of the Duke of Norfolks Disgrace p. 345 Anno 1547. THe Earl of Surrey is Executed p. 346 The Duke of Norfolks Submission ibid. A Parliament meets p. 347 The Duke of Norfolk is Attainted ibid. His Death prevented by the Kings p. 348 The Emperors designs against the Protestants ibid. The Kings sickness ibid. His Latter will a Forgery p. 349 The Kings severities against the Popish Party p. 351 Some Carthusians Executed for denying the Kings Supremacy p. 352 And a Priest for Treason ibid. Three Monks Executed ibid. Fishers Tryal and Death p. 353 His Character p. 354 Mores Tryal and Death ibid. His Character p. 355 Attaindâ—rs after the Rebellion was quieted p. 356 Censures past upon it p. 357 F. Forrests Equivocation and Heresie ibid. The Proceedings against Cardinal Pole's friends p. 358 Attaindors without hearing the Parties p. 359 The Conclusion p. 362 Addenda p. 363 A COLLECTION OF RECORDS AND Original Papers With other INSTRUMENTS Referred to in the Former History I. The Record of Card. Adrian's Oath of Fidelity to Henry the 7th for the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells HEnricus Rex c. Reverend in Christo Patri Domino Sylvestro Episcop Wigorn. venerabili viro Domino Roberto Sherbourn Ecclesiae Sancti Pauli London decano nostris in Romana curia oratoribus ac Magistro Hugoni Yowng Sacrae Theologiae Professori salutem Cum omnes singuli Archiepiscopi Episcopi hujus nostri Inclyti Regni quorum omnium nominationes promotiones ad ipsas supremas dignitates nobis attinent ex regali peculiari quadam Praerogativa jureque municipali ac inveterata consuetudine hactenus in hoc nostro Regno inconcusse inviolabiliter observata teneantur astringantur statim immediate post impetratas Bullas Apostolicas super eorundem promotione ad ipsam nostram nominationem coram nobis in praesentia nostra si in hoc Regno nostro fuerunt vel coram Commissarijs nostris ad hoc sufficienter legittime deputatis si alibi moram traxerunt non solum palam publice expresse totaliter cedere in manus nostras renunciare omnibus quibusâ—unque verbis clausulis sententiis in ipsis Bullis Apostolicis contentis descriptis quae sunt vel quovis modo in futurumesse poterunt praejudicialia sive damnosa nobis haeredibusque de
in case the Cause should be known here where he should have the King's Highness on one part and the Emperor on the other side daily calling upon his Holiness To this his Holiness most heavily and with tears answered and said That now he saw the destruction of Christendom and lamented that his fortune was such to live to this day and not to be able to remedy it saying these words For God is my Judg I would do as gladly for the King as I would for my self and to that I knowledg my self most bounden but in this case I cannot satisfy his desire but that I should do manifestly against Justice to the charge of my Conscience to my rebuke and to the dishonour of the See Apostolick affirming that his Counsel shews him that seeing the Caesareans have a Mandate or Proxie of the Queen to ask the Avocations in her Name he cannot of Justice deny it and the whole Signature be in that same opinion so that though he would most gladly do that thing that might be to the King's pleasure yet he cannot do it seeing that Signature would be against him whensoever the Supplication should be up there And so being late we took our leave of his Holiness and departed seeing that we could obtain nothing of the Pope for stopping the Avocation we consulted and devised for the deferring of it till such time as your Grace might make an end in the Cause there And so concluded upon a new Device which at length we have written in our common Letter wherein I promise your Grace Mr. Gregory has used great diligence and taken great labours at this time we can do no more for our lives And if your Grace saw the importune labour of the Ambassadors of the Emperor's and Ferdinandoes you would marvel I promise your Grace they never cease wherefore in staying hitherto as we have done it is marvel as God knoweth whom I pray to preserve your Grace in health and prosperity ad multos annos I beseech your Grace most humbly to commend me to the King's Highness and likewise I beseech your Grace to pardon my ill writing At Rome the 9 th day of Iuly Your daily Beadman and Servant W. Benet XXX A Letter of the Pope's to the Cardinal concerning the Avocation An Original 19 Iulii 1529. DIlecte Fili noster salutem Apostolicam Benedictionem Difficile est nobis explicare literis qua nostra molestia seu potius dolore fuerimus coacti ad Avocationem Causae istic commissae concedendam nam etsi res ita fuit justa ut tanto tempore differri non debuerit tamen nos qui isti Serenissimo Regi pro ejus singularibus erga nos Apostolicam sedem meritis placere in omnibus cupimus sicut consuevimus aegre nunc adducti sumus ut quamquam justitia cogente quicquid contra ejus voluntatem concederemus Nec vero minus Fili doluimus tua causa cui rem hanc tantae curae esse perspeximus quantum tua erga dictum Regem fides amor postulat sed tamen quod datur justitiae minus esse molestum debet cum praesertim id fuerit tam dilatum a nobis omniaque antea pertentata ne ad hoc descenderemus Itaque optamus in hoc adhiberi a te illam tuam singularem prudentiam aequitatem persuadereque te tibi id quod est nos qui semper vobis placere quantum nobis licuit studuimus id quod vestro maximo merito fecimus semper facturi sumus nunc non nisi invitos justitia coactos quod fecimus fecisse Teque omni studio amore hortamur ut dictum regem in solita erga nos benevolentia retinere velis eique persuadere nihil ex hoc apud nos de benevolentia erga se veteri imminutum unquam fore quod recipiemus a Circumspectione tua longe gratissimum Quemadmodum plenius dilectus Filius noster Cardinalis Campegius haec circumspectioni tuae explicabit Dat. Romae apud Sanctum Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris die 19 Julii 1529. Pont. nostri anno sexto Blosius Act 26. Anno Regni 21. Henr. 8. XXXI An Act for the releasing unto the King his Highness of suck Sums of Mony as was to be required of him by any his Subjects for any Manner of Loan by his Letters Missives or other ways or manner whatsoever ITem quaedam alia billa formam cujusdam actus in se continens exhibita est praefato Domino Regi in Parliamento praedicto cujus quidem billae tenor sequiturin haec verba The King 's humble faithful and loving Subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament assembled considering and calling to their remembrances the inestimable Costs Charges and Expences which the King's Highness necessarily hath been compelled to support and sustain since his assumption to his Crown Estate and Dignity Royal as well first for the extinction of a right dangerous and damnable Schism sprung and risen in the Church which by the providence of the Almighty God and the high prudence and provision and assistance of the King's Highness was to the great honour laud and glory of his Majesty repressed the Enemies then being of the Church reformed returned and restored to the unity of the same and peace over all componed and concluded as also for the modifying of the insatiable and inordinate ambition of those which do aspire unto the Monarchy of Christendom did put universal trouble divisions in the same intending if they might not only to have subdued this Realm but also all the rest unto their Power and Subjection For the resistance whereof the King's Highness was compelled after the Universal Peace by the great study labour and travel of his Grace conduced and the same by some of the Contrahents newly violate and infringed in shewing the form of the Treaties thereupon made again and take Armour And over and besides the notable and excessive treasure and substance which his Highness in his first Wars had emploied for the defence of the Church the Faith Catholick and this his Realm and of the People and Subjects of the same was eft-soons brought of necessity to new excellent and marvellous Charges both for the supportation of sundry Armies by Sea and by Land and also for divers and manifold Contributions outward to serve keep and contain his own Subjects at home in rest and repose which hath been so politickly handled and conduced that when the most part of all religious Christians have been infested with cruel Wars Discords Divisions and Dissensions the great Heads and Princes of the World brought unto Captivity Cities Towns and Places by force and sedition taken spoiled burnt and sacked Men Women and Children found in the same slain and destroyed Virgins Wives Widows and Religious Women ravished and defloured Holy Churches and Temples polluted and turned unto prophane use the Reliques of the Holy Saints irreverently treated Hunger
Dearth and Famine by mean thereof in the said outward Regions insuing and gentily over all was depopulation destruction and confusion the King 's said Subjects in all this time were by the high providence and politick means of his Grace nevertheless preserved defended and maintained from all these inconveniences and dangers and such provisions taken by one way or other so as reasonable commodity was always given unto them to exercise their Traffiques of Merchandise and other their Crafts Mysteries and Occupations for their living which could not possibly have been brought about unless then the King's Highness with continual studies travels and pains and with his infinite Charges and Expences had converted the peril and danger of the Enterprises and Exploits set forth for the reduction of the Enemies unto Peace from his own Subjects unto Strangers Whereof finally such Fruit and Effect is ensued as by the King's policy puissance and means general and universal Peace is established amongst all Christian Princes and this Realm now thanked be God constitute in free better and more assured and profitable Amity with all outward Parties than hath been at any time whereof is memory or remembrance Considering furthermore That his Highness in and about the Premisses hath been fain to employ not only such sums of Mony as hath risen and grown by any manner of contribution made unto his Grace by his said loving Subjects but also over and above the same sundry other notable and excellent Sums of his own Treasure and yearly Revenues which else his Grace might have kept and reserved to his own use amongst which manifold great Sums so employed his Highness also as is notoriously known and as doth evidently appear by the accompts of the same hath to that use and none other converted all such Mony as by any his Subjects and People Spiritual and Temporal hath been advanced unto his Grace by way of Prest and Loan either particularly or by any Taxation made of the same being a thing so well collocate and bestowed seeing the said high and great Fruits and Effects thereof ensued to the honour surety well perfect commodity and perpetual tranquillity of this said Realm as nothing could better nor more to the comfort of his said Subjects be desired studied or imagined Of one mind consent and assent and by Authority of this present Parliament do for themselves and all the whole Body of the Realm whom they do represent freely liberally and absolutely give and grant unto the King's Highness by Authority of this present Parliament all and every Sum and Sums of Mony which to them and every of them is ought or might be due by reason of any Mony or any other thing to his Grace at any time heretofore advanced or payed by way of Prest or Loan either upon any Letter or Letters under the King 's Privy Seal general or particular Letter Missive Promise Bond or Obligation of payment or by any Taxation or other Assessing by virtue of any Commission or Commissions or by any other mean or means whatsoever it be heretofore passed for that purpose and utterly frankly liberally and most willingly and benevolently for them their Heirs Executors and Successors do remit release and quit claim unto his Highness his Heirs and Successors for ever all and every the same Sums of Mony and every parcel thereof and all and singular Suits Petitions and Demands which they or any of them their Heirs Successors or Executors or the Heirs Executors or Successors of any of them have had or may have for the same or any parcel thereof most humbly and lovingly beseeching his Highness for the more clear discharge for the same that it may be ordained and enacted by the King our said Sovereign Lord the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of this present Parliament assembled and by authority of the same that all Promises Bonds Writings Obligatory Letters under the King 's Privy Seal Signet Sign Manual or Great Seal passed and other Bonds or Promises whatsoever they be had or made to any Person or Persons Spiritual or Temporal Shire City Burrough Waxentale Tranship Hamlet Village Monastry Church Cathedral or Collegiat or to any Guild Fraternity or Body Corporate Fellowship or Company or other whatsoever having capacity to take any Bond especially and generally jointly or severally touching or concerning the same Prest or Loan or every of them or the repaiment of any Sum or Sums of Mony for the same be from henceforth void and of none effect Cui quidem billae probe ad plenum intellectae per dictum Dominum Regem ex assensu Authoritate Parliamenti praedicti taliter est responsum Le Roy remercie Les Seigneurs ses communes de leur bonne cueurs en faifant cest graunt icelle se Majeste accepte tout le contenu cest escriture a graunt aprove avecques tous les articles en ceste escripture specifies XXXII A Letter from Gardiner and Fox about their Proceedings at Cambridg An Original Feb. 1530. from Cambridg by Stephen Gardiner To the King's Highness PLeaseth it your Highness to be advertised That arriving here at Cambridg upon Saturday last past at noon that same night and Sunday in the Morning we devised with the Vice-chancellour and such other as favoureth your Grace's Cause how and in what sort to compass and attain your Grace's Purpose and Intent wherein we assure your Grace we found much towardness good will and diligence in the Vice-Chancellour and Dr. Edmunds being as studious to serve your Grace as we could wish or desire Nevertheless there was not so much care labour study and diligence employed on our Party by them our self and other for attaining your Grace's Purpose but there was as much done by others for the lett and empeachment of the same and as we assembled they assembled as we made Friends they made Friends to lett that nothing should pass as in the Universities Name wherein the first day they were Superiors for they had put in the ears of them by whose Voices such things do pass multas fabulas too tedious to write unto your Grace Upon Sunday at afternoon were assembled after the manner of the University all the Doctors Batchellors of Divinity and Masters of Art being in number almost two hundred In that Congregation we delivered your Grace's Letters which were read openly by the Vice-Chancellor And for answer to be made unto them first the Vice-Chancellor calling apart the Doctors asked their Advice and Opinion whereunto they answered severally as their Affections led them res erat in multa confusione Tandem they were content Answer should be made to the Questions by indifferent Men But then they came to Exceptions against the Abbot of St. Benets who seemed to come for that purpose and likewise against Dr. Reppes and Dr. Crome and also generally against all such as had allowed Dr. Cranmer's Book inasmuch as they had already declared their Opinion We said
within this Realm other or otherwise than hereafter in this present Act is declared And that no manner Person nor Persons hereafter to be named elected presented or postulated to any Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick within this Realm shall pay the said Annates or First-Fruits for the said Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick nor any other manner of Sum or Sums of Mony Pensions or Annates for the same or for any other like exaction or cause upon pain to forfeit to our said Sovereign Lord the King his Heirs and Successors all manner his Goods and Chattels for ever and all the Temporal Lands and Possessions of the same Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick during the time that he or they which shall offend contrary to this present Act shall have possess or enjoy the Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick wherefore he shall so offend contrary to the form aforesaid And furthermore it is enacted by Authority of this present Parliament That if any Person hereafter named and presented to the Court of Rome by the King or any of his Heirs or Successors to be Bishop of any See or Diocess within this Realm hereafter shall be letted deferred or delayed at the Court of Rome from any such Bishoprick whereunto he shall be so represented by means of restraint of Bulls Apostolick and other things requisite to the same or shall be denied at the Court of Rome upon convenient suit made any manner Bulls requisite for any of the Causes aforesaid any such Person or Persons so presented may be and shall be consecrated here in England by the Arch-Bishop in whose Province the said Bishoprick shall be so alway that the same Person shall be named and presented by the King for the time being to the same Arch-Bishoprick And if any Persons being named and presented as aforesaid to any Arch-Bishoprick of this Realm making convenient suit as is aforesaid shall happen to be letted deferred delayed or otherwise disturbed from the same Arch-Bishoprick for lack of Pall Bulls or other to him requisite to be obtained in the Court of Rome in that behalf that then every such Person named and presented to be Arch-Bishop may be and shall be consecrated and invested after presentation made as is aforesaid by any other two Bishops within this Realm whom the King's Highness or any of his Heirs or Successors Kings of England for the time being will assign and appoint for the same according and in like manner as divers other Arch-Bishops Bishops have been heretofore in ancient time by sundry the King 's most noble Progenitors made consecrated and invested within this Realm And that every Arch-Bishop and Bishop hereafter being named and presented by the King's Highness his Heirs or Successors Kings of England and being consecrated and invested as is aforesaid shall be installed accordingly and shall be accepted taken reputed used and obeyed as an Arch-Bishop or Bishop of the Dignity See or Place whereunto he so shall be named presented and consecrated requireth and as other like Prelates of that Province See or Diocess have been used accepted taken and obeyed which have had and obtained compleatly their Bulls and other things requisite in that behalf from the Court of Rome And also shall fully and entirely have and enjoy all the Spiritualities and Temporalities of the said Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick in as large ample and beneficial manner as any of his or their Predecessors had or enjoyed in the said Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick satisfying and yielding unto the King our Sovereign Lord and to his Heirs and Successors Kings of England all such Duties Rights and Interests as before this time had been accustomed to be paid for any such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick according to the Ancient Laws and Customs of this Realm and the King's Prerogative Royal. And to the intent our said Holy Father the Pope and the Court of Rome shall not think that the pains and labours taken and hereafter to be taken about the writing sealing obtaining and other businesses sustained and hereafter to be sustained by the Offices of the said Court of Rome for and about the Expedition of any Bulls hereafter to be obtained or had for any such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick shall be irremunerated or shall not be sufficiently and condignly recompensed in that behalf And for their more ready expedition to be had therein it is therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid That every Spiritual Person of this Realm hereafter to be named presented or postulated to any Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick of this Realm shall and may lawfully pay for the writing and obtaining of his or their said Bulls at the Court of Rome and ensealing the same with Lead to be had without payment of any Annates or First-Fruits or other charge or exaction by him or them to be made yielden or paied for the same five pounds Sterling for and after the rate of the clear and whole yearly value of every hundreth pounds Sterling above all charges of any such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick or other mony to the value of the said five pounds for the clear yearly value of every hundreth pounds of every such Arch-Bishoprick or Bishoprick and not above nor in any other wise any things in this present Act before written notwithstanding And forasmuch as the King's Highness and this his High Court of Parliament neither have nor do intend to use in this or any other like cause any manner of extremity or violence before gentle courtesie or friendship ways and means first approved and attempted and without a very great urgent cause and occasion given to the contrary but principally coveting to disburden this Realm of the said great exactions and intolerable charges of Annates and First-Fruits have therefore thought convenient to commit the final order and determination of the Premisses in all things unto the King's Highness So that if it may seem to his high wisdom and most prudent discretion meet to move the Pope's Holiness and the Court of Rome amicably charitably and reasonably to compound other to extinct and make frustrate the payments of the said Annates or First-Fruits or else by some friendly loving and tolerable composition to moderate the same in such wise as may be by this Realm easily born and sustained That then those ways and compositions once taken concluded and agreed between the Pope's Holiness and the King's Highness shall stand in strength force and effect of Law inviolably to be observed And it is also further ordained and enacted by the Authority of this present Parliament That the King's Highness at any time or times on this side the Feast of Easter which shall be in the Year of our Lord God a thousand five hundred and three and thirty or at any time on this side the beginning of the next Parliament by his Letters Pattents under his Great Seal to be made and to be entred of Record in the Roll of this present Parliament may and shall have full power and liberty to declare by the said Letters
Mary the French Queen younger Daughter of Hen. 7. and of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk so as it is thought the Queen my Soveraign and all others by course of Inheritance be by these Circumstances excluded and fore-closed So as it does well become all Subjects such as I am so my liking is to speak of Princes of their Reigns and Proceedings modestly and with respect yet I cannot abstain to say that the Chronicles and Histories of that Age and your own printed Statutes being extant do contaminate and disgrace greatly the Reign of that King in that time But to come to our purpose what equity and justice was that to disinherit a Race of Forreign Princes of their possibility and maternal right by a municipal Law or Statute made in that which some would term abrupt time and say that that would rule the Roast yea and to exclude the right Heirs from their Title without calling them to answer or any for them well it may be said that â—he injury of the time and the indirect dealing is not to be allowed â—ut since it is done it cannot be avoided unless some Circumstances material do annihilate the said limitation and disposition of the Crown Now let us examine the manner and circumstances how King Hen. 8. was by Statute inabled to dispose the Crown There is a form in two sorts prescribed him which he may not transgress that is to say either by his Letters Patents sealed with his Great Seal or by his last Will signed with his hand for in this extraordinary case he was held to an ordinary and precise form which being not observed the Letters Patents or Will cannot work the intent or effect supposed And to disprove that the Will was signed with his own hand You know that long before his death he never used his own signing with his own hand and in the time of his Sickness being divers times pressed to put his hand to the Will written he refused to do it And it seemed God would not suffer him to proceed in an Act so injurious and prejudicial to the right Heir of the Crown being his Niece Then his death approaching some as well known to you as to me caused William Clarke sometimes Servant to Thomas Henneage to sign the supposed Will with a stamp for otherwise signed it was never and yet notwithstanding some respecting more the satisfaction of their ambition and others their private commodity than just and upright dealing procured divers honest Gentlemen attending in divers several Rooms about the King's Person to testifie with their hand-writings the Contents of the said pretended Will surmised to be signed with the King 's own hand To prove this dissembled and forged signed Testament I do refer you to such Trials as be yet left First The Attestation of the late Lord Paget published in the Parliament in Queen Mary's time for the restitution of the Duke of Norfolk Next I pray you on my Sovereigns behalf that the Depositions may be taken in this Matter of the Marquess of Winchester Lord Treasurer of England the Marquess of Northampton the Earl of Pembroke Sir William Petre then one of King Henry's Secretaries Sir Henry Nevill Sir Maurice Barkley Doctor Buts Edmond Harman Baker Iohn Osborn Groom of the Chamber Sir Anthony Dennis if he be living Terris the Chirurgion and such as have heard David Vincent and others speak in this case and that their Attestations may be enrolled in the Chancery and in the Arches In perpetuam rei memoriam Thirdly I do refer you to the Original Will surmised to be signed with the King 's own hand that thereby it may most clearly and evidently appear by some differences how the same was not signed with the King's hand but stamped as aforesaid And albeit it is used both as an Argument and Calumniation against my Sovereign to some that the said Original hath been embezelled in Queen Mary's time I trust God will and hath reserved the same to be an Instrument to relieve the Truth and to confound false Surmises that thereby the Right may take place notwithstanding the many Exemplifications and Transcripts which being sealed with the great Seal do run abroad in England and do carry away many Mens minds as great presumptions of great variety and validity But Sir you know in cases of less importance that the whole Realm of England Transcripts and Exemplifications be not of so great force in Law to serve for the recovery of any thing either real or personal And in as much as my Soveraign's Title in this case shall be little advanced by taking exceptions to others pretended and crased Titles considering her precedency I will leave it to such as are to claim after the issue of Hen. the 7 th to lay in Bar the Poligamy of Charles Brandon the Duke of Suffolk and also the vitiated and clandestine Contract if it may be so called having no witness nor solemnization of Christian Matrimony nor any lawful matching of the Earl of Hertford and the Lady Katharine Lastly The semblably compelling of Mr. Key and the Lady Mary Sister to the Lady Katherine And now Sir I have to answer your desire said somewhat briefly to the Matter which indeed is very little where so much may be said for to speak truly the Cause speaketh for it self I have so long forborn to deal in this matter that I have almost forgotten many things which may be said for Roboration of her Right which I can shortly reduce to my Remembrance being at Edinburgh where my Notes are So that if you be not by this satisfied upon knowledg from you of any other Objection I hope to satisfy you unto all things may be said against her In the mean time I pray you so counsel the Queen your Soveraign as some effectual reparation may follow without delay of the many and sundry traverses and dis-favorings committed against the Queen my Sovereign as the publishing of so many exemplifications of King Henry's supposed Will the secret embracing of Iohn Halles Books the Books printed and not avowed the last Summer one of the which my Mistris hath sent by Henry Killigrew to the Queen your Soveraign The Disputes and Proceedings of Lincolns-Inn where the Case was ruled against the Queen my Soveraign The Speeches of sundry in this last Session of Parliament tending all to my Soveraigns derision and nothing said to the contrary by any Man but the Matter shut up with silence most to her prejudice and by so much the more as every Man is gone home setled and confirmed in his Error And Lastly The Queen your Soveraign's resolution to defend now by Proclamations all Books and Writings containing any discussion of Titles when the whole Realm hath engendred by these fond proceedings and other favoured practisâ—s a setled opinion against my Soveraigns to the advancement of my Lady Katherines Title I might also speak of an other Book lately printed and set abroad in this last Session containing
upon which he tells a long formal Story for two pages That it was resolved to draw Fisher into it to swear Obedience to the King in all Ecclesiastical Causes with that exception as far as is lawful according to the Word of God which he did and perswaded others to do it and upon this Cranmer taking the New Oath went and pronounced judgment for Divorce There is not one tittle of this true for there was no Oath sworn about the King's Supremacy at this time The Story of Fisher is that which was done by the Convocation two years before Cranmers preferment nor was there any Oath taken then or at this time It is true two years after this Gardiner Stokesley and many other Bishops did of their own accord take such an Oath but there was no Law for it till the 28 th year of the King's Reign 57. He says One Richard Risey or Rouse according to the Records was hired by Ann Boleyn to poison Fisher. Rouse was boiled alive for poisoning the Bishop's Family but did not discover any that set him on it Which none can think but he would have done if the Queen had hired him to it and had then deserted him to perish in so horrid a manner 58. He says Cranmer being by Authority of Parliament freed from his Oath to the Pope and bound by a new one to the King went now confidently to pronounce Sentence The Parliament did not put down the Pope's Authority for eight months after this and appointed no new Oath till three years after For Cranmer sat in Judgment as Primate of England and Legate of the Apostolick See 59. He says Cranmer carried some Bishops with him and having cited the Queen without hearing her he gave sentence against the Marriage Gardiner Stokesly Clark and Longland the Bishops of Winchester London Bath and Lincoln went with him He could not hear the Queen when she would not appear but he examined all the Instruments and Evidences that had been brought in the whole Process 60. He says The Pope would not proceed against the King till he met with the French King at Marseilles but that the English Ambassadors did there carry so insolently that Francis was ashamed of their behaviour and desired the Pope to proceed against the King as he thought fit and that he should never defend him more but should be against him Here the Romance goes on too grosly for the Pope and the French King agreed at Marseilles to bring this matter to an issue the Pope declared he thought the King's Cause was just and right and promised if the King would send a full submission to Rome he would give sentence in his favours Upon which the French King sent over the Bishop of Paris who prevailed with the King to do it tho this afterwards came to nothing It is true Bonner who was always officious and forward when there was any thing to be got by it being sent to Marseilles by the King to deliver an Appeal in the King's Name to the Pope to the next General Council and perhaps knowing nothing of the private Transactions between the Pope and the French King it being a Secret of too great importance to be communicated to such a hot-brain'd Man did deliver his Message to the Pope in such provoking language that the Pope talked of throwing him into a boiling Cauldron and he was fain to fly for it 61. He says The Pope returning to Italy after he had again most carefully reviewed the whole Cause gave sentence This was so precipitated that they would not stay six days beyond the time which they prefixed for the return of the Messenger that was sent to England but dispatched that which by the forms of their Court should have been done in three Consistories all in one day 62. He says Upon this Sentence the King being enraged did command Queen Katharine to be only called Princess and declared her Daughter the Lady Mary a Bastard Both these were done five months before the Pope's Sentence and soon after the Sentence was pronounced by Cranmer And these were the natural consequences of it for the Marriage being annulled neither could she be longer a Queen nor her Daughter Princess any more 63. He says The King imprisoned F. Forest a Franciscan Observant a most holy and learned Man for contradicting Latimer when he was enveighing against the Pope's Authority Concerning this Forest I have seen an Original Letter of one List a Frier of the same House a year after this that says Forest was a great scandal to their House and was very ignorant and that tho he had been much against the King in his Marriage yet he had then insinuated himself into his favour of which many of the House who were for the King's Cause had great apprehensions In the same Letter he writes how cruel they were against any of their Brethren who they thought discovered any thing that was done among them and that one Rainscroft a Brother whom they suspected to have informed what passed among them was cruelly used and kept in Prison till he died which he chiefly imputes to Forest. This Friar swore the King's Supremacy and yet at the same time was perswading others not to do it and being questioned upon it said He took the Oath only with his Outward but not with his Inward Man and for that and his denying the Gospel he was burnt as an obstinate Heretick 64. He says Abell Powel and Fetherston were put in Prison because they consulted with the Maid of Kent This is only charged upon the former of these but the two latter are not accused of any such thing 65. He says Elizabeth being born the 8 th of September but five months after the King had publickly married her Mother could not be the lawful issue of that Marriage This is a malacious Lye for himself confessed that the King was married to her Mother the 14 th of November the former year between which and the 8 th of September there were ten months nor was the King ever after that married publickly to the Queen For what he calls a publick Marriage was only the shewing her openly as Queen But the design of this Lye is so visible that it needs not be opened 66. He says The King's Daughter Mary who was then present could never be induced to think she was the King's Child In the former page he said Mary was sent to her Mother and now forgetting himself too soon he says she was present when Elizabeth was born What Mary's thoughts were none can tell but she publickly acknowledged Her to be her Sister tho she did not use her as one 67. He says Elizabeth Barton who was famed for her sanctity and six with her who thought she was inspired by the Holy Ghost were accused in Parliament Those six knew that she was not inspired and that all that was given out about her was a
contrivance of theirs who had instructed her to play such tricks as was proved by their own Confessions and other Evidences 68. He says They all died very constantly and on the Margent calls them seven Martyrs The Nun her self acknowledged the Imposture at her death and laid the heaviest weight of it on the Priests that suffered with her who had taught her the Cheat so that they died both for Treason and Imposture And this being Sander's Faith as appeared by his Works they were indeed Martyrs for it 69. He says More and Fisher having examined her could see no ground to think she was acted by a Fanatical Spirit as it was given out It was not given out that she was acted by a Fanatical Spirit for that had been more honest but her Spirit was cheating and knavery More cleared himself and looked on her as a weak Woman and commonly called her the Silly Maid But Fisher did disown her when the Cheat was discovered though he had given her too much encouragement before 70. He says The thing she prophesied came to pass which was that Mary should be Queen of England The thing for which She and her Complices were attainted of Treason was that she said If the King married Ann Boleyn he should not be a King a month longer and not an hour longer in the sight of God and should die a Villains death But it did not serve Sander's ends to tell this 71. He says The day she suffered many of the Nobility came and swore to the Succession of the Issue of the King's marriage with Queen Ann before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor and Cromwel Both Houses of Parliament did in the House of Lords take that Oath on the day of their Prorogation which was the 30 th of March as appears by the second Act of the next Session and the Nun with her Complices did not suffer till the 21 of April after 72. He says The Franciscans of the Observance chiefly two Fathers in London Elston and Payton did both in their Sermons and publick Disputes justifie the King's marriage with Q. Katharine Elston and Payton were not of London but of Greenwich They compared the King to Achab and said in the Pulpit to his face The Dogs should lick his Blood with many other such virulent Expressions But to rail at a Prince with the most spiteful reproaches that could be was a part of Sanders's Faith and so no wonder those pass for Confessors when Elizabeth Barton and her Complices are reckoned Martyrs 73. He says Tonstal Bishop of Duresme was ordered by the King's Messengers not to come to the Session of Parliament 26 Regni in which the King's Supremacy was established In this he is safer than in some other Stories for the Journals of that Session are lost so the falshood of this cannot be demonstrated yet it is not at all likely that he who justified all that was done in the former Session in which the Pope's Power was put down the nomination of Bishops annexed to the Crown a Reformation of Ecclesiastical Laws appointed to be made in defence of all which he wrote afterwards was now so scrupulous as to be ordered to stay at home But Tonstal suffering imprisonment in Edward the Sixth's time it was fit to use some art to shew that he was unwillingly brought to comply with the King 74. He to shew God's Judgments on the chief Instruments that served the King says That the Duke of Norfolk was by the King condemned to perpetual imprisonment This bewrays palpable ignorance since he was attainted of High Treason the very day before the King's death and should have suffered the next day if the King's death had not prevented it But since he will descant on the Providence of God he should rather have concluded that his escaping so narrowly was a sign of God's great care of him 75. In the Session of Parliament that met the third of November as he describes it which was the 26 th year of the King's Reign he says Mary the King's Daughter was illegitimated and all her honours were transferred on Elizabeth and the Pope's Power put down This shews he never looked on our publick Statutes otherwise he had seen that these Acts passed in the former Session 76. He says When the King sent his Ambassadours to the French Court Francis would not so much as hear them give a justification of the King's proceedings How true this can be the World may judg since these two Kings continued in a firm Alliance eight years after this And Francis did often treat both with him and the Princes of Germany about these things and was inclined to do almost all that he did 77. He says The Lutherans did so abominate the grounds of his separation from Rome that they could never be induced to approve it for which he cites Cochleus an Author of his own kidney They did condemn the King's first marriage as unlawful and thought the Pope's Dispensation had no force and so far they approved it But they had this singular Opinion that he should have continued unmarried as long as Q. Katharine lived Yet in that they were so modest that they only desired to be excused as to the second Marriage which considering that Queen Ann favoured their Doctrine and that by an absolute compliance with what the King had done they might have secured his Protection to themselves whom otherwise they provoked highly is an evidence of a strict adhering to what their Consciences dictated that cannot be sufficiently commended 78. He says The King made many write Apologies for what he did which some did willingly being tainted with Heresie others unwillingly and for fear as Gardiner and Tonstall In this he shews how little judgment he had of the nature of things when he thinks to excuse their writing for the King as extorted by force To have done it thorough Error and Mistake was much the softer excuse but to make them Men of such prostituted Consciences as not only to subscribe and swear but to write with Learning and Zeal and yet against their Consciences represents them guilty of unexpressible baseness Indeed Gardiner was a Man like enough to write any thing that might please the King but Tonstall was a Man of greater probity than to have done so unworthy a thing upon any account whatsoever But since he mentioned Writers he should have named Longland Bishop of Lincoln Stokeley Bishop of London and above all Bonner who did officiously thrust himself into the debate by writing a Preface to Gardiner's Book with the greatest vehemence that could be But the Blood he shed afterwards did so endear him to this Author that all past Faults were forgiven and to be clean forgotten 79. He says Five Martyrs suffered because they would not swear the King's Supremacy according to the Law that was then passed There was no such Law made at that time nor
correspondence with the King fell to the ground with her but he may well cite Cochleus an Author of the same honesty with himself from whose writings we may with the like security make a judgment of Forreign Matters as we may upon Sanders's testimony believe the account he gives of English Affairs 90. He tells us among other things done by the King and picks it out as the only instance he mentions of the King's Injunctions that the People should be taught in Churches the Lord's Prayer the Ave the Creed and the Ten Commandments in English It seems this Author thought the giving these Elements of Religion to the People in the vulgar Tongue a very heinous Crime when this is singled out from all the rest 91. That being done he says there was next a Book published called Articles appointed by the King's Majesty which were the six Articles This shews that he either had no information of English Affairs or was sleeping when he wrote this for the Six Articles were not published soon after the Injunctions as he makes it by the same Parliament and Convocation but three years after by another Parliament They were never put in a Book nor published in the King's Name they were Enacted in Parliament and are neither more nor less than 25 lines in the first Impression of that Act so far short come they of a Book 92. He reckons up very defectively the differences between the Church of Rome and the Doctrine set forth by the King's Authority but in one point he shews his ordinary wit for in the sixth particular he says He retained the Sacrament of Order but appointed a new Form of Consecrating of Bishops This he put in out of malice that he might annul the Ordinations of that time but the thing is false for except that the Bishops instead of their Oaths of Obedience to the Pope which they formerly swore did not swear to the King there was no other change made and that to be sure is no part of the Form of Consecration 93. He resolved once to speak what he thought was Truth tho it be treasonable and impious and says Upon these changes many in Lincolnshire and the Northern parts did rise for Religion and the Faith of Christ. This was indeed the motive by which their Seditious Priests misled them yet he is mistaken in the time for it was not after the six Articles were published but almost three years before it Nor was it for the Faith of Christ which teaches us to be humble subject and obedient but because the King was removing some of the corruptions of that Faith which their false Teachers did impiously call the Faith of Christ. 94. He says The King did promise most faithfully that all these things of which they complained should be amended This is so evidently false that it is plain Sanders resolved dextrously to avoid the speaking of any sort of Truth for the King did fully and formally tell them he would not be directed nor counselled by them in these Points they complained of and did only offer them an Amnesty for what was past 95. Then he reckons up 32 that died for the defence of the Faith They were attainted of Treason for being in actual Rebellion against the King and thus it appears that Rebellion was the Faith in his sense and himself died for it or rather in it having been starved to death in a Wood to which he fled after one of his rebellious Attempts on his Soveraign in which he was the Pope's Nuncio 96. He says The King killed the Earl of Kildare and five of his Uncles By this strange way of expressing a legal Attainder and the execution of a Sentence for manifest Treason and Rebellion he would insinuate on the Reader a fancy that one of Bonner's cruel fits had taken the King and that he had killed those with his own hand The Lord Herbert has fully opened that part of the History from the Records that he saw and shews that a more resolved Rebellion could not be than that was of which the Earl of Kildare and his Uncles were guilty But because they sent to the Pope and Emperor for assistance the Earl desiring to hold the Kingdom of Ireland of the Pope since the King by his Heresie had fallen from his Right to it Sanders must needs have a great kindness for their memory who thus suffered for his Faith 97. He says Queen Iane Seimour being in hard labour of Prince Edward the King ordered her Body to be so opened by Surgeons that she died soon after All this is false for she had a good Delivery as many Original Letters written by her Council that have been since printed do shew but she died two days after of a distemper incident to her Sex 98. He sets down some Passages of Cardinal Pole's Heroical Constancy which being proved by no Evidence and not being told by any other Writer whom I ever saw are to be lookt on as the flourishes of the Poet to set off his Hero 99. He would perswade the World that the Marquess of Exceter the Lord Montacute and the rest that suffered at that time died because they were believed to dislike the King 's wicked Proceedings and that the Countess of Sarum was beheaded on this single account that she was the Mother of such a Son and was sincerely addicted to the Catholick Faith and that she was condemned because she wrote to her Son and for wearing in her Breast the Picture of the five Wounds of Christ. The Marquess of Exceter pretended he was well satisfied with the King's Proceedings and was Lord Stewart when the Lords Darcy and Hussie were tried and he gave judgment against them But it being discovered that he and other Persons approved of Cardinal Pole's proceedings who endeavoured to engage all Christian Princes in a League against the King pursuant to which they had expressed themselves on several occasions resolved when a fit opportunity offered it self to rebel it was no wonder if the King proceeded against them according to Law And for the Countess of Sarum tho the legality of that Sentence passed against her cannot be defended yet she had given great offence not only by her correspondence with her Son but by the Bulls she had received from Rome and by her opposing the King's Injunctions hindring all her Tenants to read the New Testament or any other Books set out by the King's order And for the Picture which was found among her Cloaths it having been the Standard of the Rebellion and the Arms of England being found on the other side of it there was just ground to suspect an ill design in it 100. He says The Images which the King destroyed were by many wonderful Works of God recommended to the Devotion of the Nation All the wonder in these Works was the knavery of some jugling Impostors and the simplicity of a credulous multitude of
which see page 224. which being so openly discovered nothing that had shame in it could speak of them as our Author does 101. He says Six and twenty Carts drawn with Oxen were loaded with the Riches taken from Becket's Shrine whom he makes a most glorious Martyr that died for the defence of the Faith and was honoured by many Miracles after his death Other Writers have sufficiently shewed what a perfidious ingrateful and turbulent Priest he was All these were Vertues in our Author's Opinion and Ingredients in his Faith But he has in this accompt of the Riches of that Shrine gone beyond himself having by a figure of speech very familiar to him called Lying increased two Chests see page 224. to 26 Cart Loads 102. He says The Sentence which P. Paul gave out against the King was affixed in some Towns both in France Flanders and Scotland from which he infers that both the Emperor the French and the Scotch King did consent to that Sentence In this he designed an eminent piece of service to the Apostolick See to leave on Record an Evidence that three Sovereign Princes had acknowledged the Pope's Power of deposing Kings But he did ill to name the proofs of his Assertion and had done better to have said simply that it was so than to have founded it on so ill grounds as if the affixing Papal Bulls in a place were an evidence that the Princes in whose Dominions it was done consented to it He might with the same reason have concluded that Q. Elizabeth consented to the Sentence against her self which it is very like will not be easily believed tho the Bull was affixed in London But all those very Princes whom he names continuing to keep up their correspondence with the King as well after as before this Sentence is a much clearer demonstration that they despised the Pope's Sentence 103. He says The King by his own Authority threw all the â—egging Orders out of their Houses The falshood of this has appeared already for they resigned their Houses to the King and of these Resignations tho many were destroyed yet near an hundred are still extant 104. He says The Parliament in the year 1539 gave the King all the great Monasteries The Parliament passed no such Act all that they did was only to confirm the Grants made or to be made by these Houses to the King It was their Surrenders that cloathed the King with the Right to them All the Tragical Stories he tells us that followed upon this are founded on a false Foundation 105. He sets down a Form of a Resignation which he says All the Abbots and many Religious Persons were made to Sign and set their Seals to it Among all the Resignations which are yet extant there is not one in this Form for which see page 238. 106. He says The King's Commissioners who went about getting Hands to that Form made them believe in every House that all the rest had signed it and so by that and other persuasions prevailed with many to set their Hands to it If all the Subscriptions had been procured about the same time such Arts might be suspected but in a thing that was three years a-doing these tricks could not have served their turn 107. He says They told the Monks that tho the King might by virtue of the Act of Parliament seize on their Houses and Rents yet he desired rather to do it with their good-will In this there are two Errors First Most of these Houses were resigned to the King before the Act of Parliament see page 235. and next the Act of Parliament only confirmed their Deeds but did not give their Houses to the King 108. He says The Abbots of Glassenbury Colchester and Reading suffered Martyrdom because they refused to set their hands to that Writing There was no such Writing ever offered to them nor was there any Law to force them to resign so they could not suffer on that account but they were Martyrs for Sander's Faith for they were attainted by a legal Trial of High Treason 109. He tells a long Story of Whitting Abbot of Glassenbury's being brought up to London to be prevailed with to set his hand to the Surrender Which he still refusing to do was sent back and tho a Book against the King's Divorce was found among his Papers which was laid there by those who searched for it yet that was past over in a chiding but as he went home hearing there was a meeting of the County at Wells he went thither and as he was going up to his place on the Bench he was called to the Bar to answer some things that were to be objected to him He was amazed at it and asked what the matter was but one told him he needed fear nothing for some-what was only to be done for form to terrify others Upon which he was condemned and sent away to his Abbey little thinking he was so near his end but when he came near it a Priest was sent to him to take his Confession for they told him he must die immediately he beg'd a day or two's respite but in vain so they hanged him up in his Habit on the top of the Hill near his Abbey and quartered him and all this was done in one day This Book came out in Forreign Parts and was printed at Rome in the Reign of Sixtus the Fifth who took great pleasure in such Executions as he describes this to have been which may fall oft out where the lives of the Subjects are wholly at the Prince's Mercy But to tell such tales of England which is so famed over the World for the safety and security the Subjects enjoy and for the regular and legal proceedings in all Trials especially of Life and Death was a great Error in the Poet for the decorum of the Laws and Customs of a place must be observed when any Nation is made the Scene of a Fable But as nothing like this can be done by the Law of England so there was nothing of it in this Case The Jury that sate on him were Men of great credit in the Country when he died he acknowledged his Offences and with appearance of repentance begged God's Pardon and the King 's see page 239. 110. After many bitter Invectives against Cromwel for which I could never see good evidence tho I cannot disprove them by any convincing Arguments he says That he advised the King to make a Law that Persons might be Convented and Condemned in absence and without being heard and that this Law first of all fell upon himself There was no such Law ever made only the Parliament by their Supream Authority did Attaint some in that manner but no other Court might do it Nor was this first applied to Cromwel for an year before his Attainder the Countess of Sarum with a great many more were so attainted tho she did not Suffer till a year
after him 111. He tells many Reasons why the King had a mind to put away Ann of Cleve But in this as in other things he betrays a profound ignorance of that time for every Body knew that the King from the first time he saw her disliked her and that he never consummated the Marriage This is a Subject not fit to be long dwelt on but if any will compare the account I give of this Matter from the Records with Sander's Tale they will see that he wrote at random and did not so much as know publick Transactions 112. He says The King had promised to the Emperor That he would no longer continue in the Smalcaldick League but Cromwel counterfeited the King's Hand to a new confirmation of it which coming to the Emperor's knowledg he challenged the King of it and sent him over a Copy of it upon which the King disowned it and cast it on Cromwel and that this was the cause of his fall This I believe is one of Sander's dreams there is not one word of it in Cromwel's Attainder nor do I find the least shadow of this in some Original Letters which he wrote to the King for his Pardon in which he answers many of the things laid to his Charge Nor is it likely he would adventure on so bold a thing with such a King nor could the Emperor have that Writing in his power as long as the King lived for it is not to be imagined how he could come by it till he had taken the Duke of Saxony Prisoner which was after this King's death 113. He says When Cromwel was put to death the King proceeded to the Divorce of Ann of Cleve The Divorce was judged by the Convocation eight days before Cromwel's death and confirmed in Parliament which was dissolved before he suffered 114. He says The King sent to her to tell her he had a mind to be separated from her and tho he could proceed more severely against her since he knew she was an Heretick yet for her Families sake he left it to her self to devise any reason for their Divorce upon which she came next day to the Senate which may be either the King's Council or the Parliament and confessed she had been married to another before she was married to the King and thereupon by the Authority of Parliament he was divorced and within eight days married Katharine Howard There are but six gross Errors in this Period 1. The King sent not any message to her nor came there any answer from her till the Sentence of Divorce was quite passed 2. In the Original Letter which those he sent to her wrote to him from Richmond it appears that they used no threatnings to her but barely told her what was done to which she acquiesced 3. She never came from Richmond in all that Process and so made no such declaration in the Senate 4. She did not say that she was married to another but only that she had been contracted to the Prince of Lorrain when she was under Age. 5. The Parliament did not dissolve the Marriage but only confirmed the Sentence of the Convocation 6. The King did not marry Katharine Howard before the 8 th of August and the Divorce was judged the 10 th of Iuly a month wanting two days 115. He says The King had consummated the Marriage for seven months together There were but six months between his Marriage and the Divorce and in all that while as they bedded but seldom so there were very clear Evidences brought that it was not consummated 116. He says The King sent the Bishop of Winchester and Sir Henry Knevet to the Diet of the Empire who were ordered to propose to the Emperor That the King might be again reconciled to the See of Rome to which he adds his Conscience did drive him but since the King would not confess his past Crimes nor do penance for them nor restore the Goods of the Church it came to nothing This is another Ornament of the Fable to shew the Poet's wit but is as void of Truth as any passage in Plantus or Terence is For the King was all his life so intractable in that Point that the Popish Party had no other way to maintain their Interest with him but to comply not without affectation in that Matter and when an Information was given against Gardiner for his holding some correspondence with the Pope's Legate at the Diet he got the Man who had innocently discovered it to be put in Prison and said it was a Plot against him to ruin him which he needed not be so sollicitous about if his Instructions from the King had allowed him to enter on such a Treaty 117. He runs out in a long digression upon the King 's assuming the Title of King of Ireland to shew that the Kings of England only hold Ireland by the Pope's Donation In this Sanders shews his Art he being to carry the Standard of Rebellion in that Kingdom to blast the King 's Right to it He acknowledges the Crown of England had the Dominion of Ireland with the Title of Lord of Ireland about 400 years And certainly if so long a possession does not give a good Title and a prescription against all other Pretenders most of the Royal Families in Christendom will be to seek for their Rights But he says It was given by the Pope to King Henry the Second and yet he confesses that he had conquered some parts of it before that Grant was sent him by Hadrian the Fourth Certainly King Henry the Second had as good a right to take it as Pope Hadrian had to give it nor was the King's accepting the Pope's Donation any prejudice to his Title for things extorted or allowed upon a publick Error can have no force when that is openly discovered If then the Superstition of those Ages made that the Pope's Donation was a great help to any Pretender it was no wonder that Kings made use of it but it were a wonder indeed if they should acknowledg it after the Trick is known and seen by all 118. After this and a Satyr against Queen Elizabeth for assuming the Title Defender of the Faith and a long enumeration of the exactions in the last years of this Reign in which tho there is Matter enough for severe complaints yet many of the Particulars he mentions are without any proof and must rest on the Author's credit which by this time the Reader will acknowledg is not very great Another long discourse of some length follows of the misfortunes of the Duke of Norfolk and of all that served the King in his Divorce and in the following Actions of his Life from which he infers that these were effects of a Curâ—e from Heaven upon all that he did and on all those that assisted him But as the Inference is bad so he forgot to mention those Noble Families that were raised in
his time and have continued since in great honour as the Seimours from whom the Dukes of Somerset are descended the Paulets from whom the Marquess of Winchester derives the Russels Wriothslies Herberts Riches and Cromwells from whom the Earls of Bedford Southampton Pembroke Essex and Ardglass have descended and the Browns the Petres the Pagets the Norths and the Mountagues from whom the Vice-Count Mountague the Barons Petre Paget North and Mountague are descended These Families have now flourished in great Wealth and Honour an Age and a half and only one of them has and that but very lately determined in the Male Line but the Illustrious Female Branches of it are intermixed with other Noble Families So that the Observation is false and the Inference is weak 119. He says When the King found his strength declining he had again some thoughts of reconciling himself to the Church of Rome which when it was proposed to one of the Bishops he made a flattering answer But Gardiner moved that a Parliament might be called for doing it and that the King for the quiet of his own Conscience would vow to do it of which God would accept in that extremity when more was not possible to be done But some of his Courtiers coming about him who were very apprehensive of such a Reconciliation lest they should have been made restore the Goods of the Church diverted the King from it And from this our Author infers that what the King had done was against his Conscience and that so he sinned the Sin against the Holy Ghost I shall not examine this Theological definition of the Sin against the Holy Ghost for my quarrel is not at present with his Divinity but with his History tho it were easy to shew that he is alike at both But for this story it is a pure dream for not only there is no evidence for it nor did Gardiner in the Reign of Queen Mary ever own any such thing tho it had been then much for the credit of their Cause especially he being often upbraided with his compliances to this King for which the mention of his repentance had furnished him with a good answer But as the Tale is told the Fiction appears too plainly for a Parliament was actually sitting during the King's sickness which was dissolved by his Death and no such Proposition was made in it The King on the contrary destroyed the chief hopes of the Popish Party which were founded on the Duke of Norfolk's greatness by the Attainder which was passed a day before he died And yet Sanders makes this discourse to have been between the King and Gardiner after his fall and his Sons death between which and the King's Death there were only nine days but besides all this Gardiner had lost the King's favour a considerable time before his death 120. He says The King that he might not seem never to have done any good Work in his whole life as he was dying founded Christ's Church Hospital in London which was all the restitution he ever made for the Monasteries and Churches he had robbed and spoiled If it had not already appeared in many Instances that our Author had as little shame as honesty here is a sufficient proof of it I will not undertake to justify the King as if he had done what he ought to have done in his new Foundations But it is the height of impudence to deny things that all England knows He founded six Bishopricks he endowed Deans and Prebendaries with all the other Offices belonging to a Cathedral in fourteen several Sees Canterbury Winchester Duresme Ely Norwich Rochester Worcester and Carlisle together with Westminster Chester Oxford Glocester Peterborough and Bristol where he endowed Bishopricks likewise He founded many Grammar-Schools as Burton Canterbury Coventry Worcester c. He founded and endowed Trinity Colledg in Cambridg which is one of the noblest Foundations in Christendom He also founded Professors in both Universities for Greek Hebrew Law Physick and Divinity What censure then deserves our Author for saying that the Hospital of Christ's-Church was all the restitution he ever made of the Church-Lands 121. He gives a Character of the King which sutes very well with his History his malice in it being extravagantly ridiculous Among other things he says The King promoted always learned Bishops Cranmer only being excepted whom he advanced to serve his Lusts. Cranmer was a Man of greater Learning than any that ever sate in that See before him as appears in every thing that he writ Tonstal was a learned Man and Gardiner was much esteemed for Learning yet if any will compare Cranmer's Books of the Sacrament with those the other two writ on the same Subject there is so great a difference between the learning and solidity of the one and the other that no Man of common ingenuity can read them but he must confess it 122. He says When the King found himself expiring he called for a Boul of White Wine and said to one that was near him We have lost all and was often heard repeating Monks Monks and so he died This was to make the Fable end as it had gone on and it is forged without any authority or appearance of truth The manner of his death was already told so it needs not be repeated 123. He says The King by his Will appointed the Crown to go to his righteous Heirs after his three Children and commanded his Son to be bred a true Catholick but his Will was changed and another was forged by which the Line of Scotland was excluded and they bred his Son an Heretick There was no such Will ever heard of and in all the Debates that were managed in Queen Elizabeth's Reign about the Succession those that pleaded for the Scotish Line never alleadged this which had it been true did put an end to the whole Controversie It was indeed said that the Will which was given out as the King's Will was not signed by his Hand nor sealed by his Order but it was never pretended that there was any other Will so this is one of our Author's Forgeries The Conclusion THus I have traced him in this History and hope I have said much more than was necessary to prove him a Writer of no credit and that his Book ought to have no Authority since he was not only a stranger to the Publick Transactions Printed Statutes and the other Authentick Registers of that time but was a bold and impudent Asserter of the grossest and most malicious Lies that ever were contrived I have not examined all the Errors of his Chronology for there is scarce any thing told in its right order and due place nor have I insisted on all the passages he tells without any proof or appearance of truth for as I could only deny these without any other evidence but what was negative so there are so many of them that I must have transcribed the greatest part of
or ought to do in this case Item For what causes and to what ends and purposes such Offices and promotions of the Clergy were first instituted Item If Curates having Benefices with cure for their more bodily ease refuge to dwell upon any of their said Cures and remain in idleness continually in Cathedral or Collegial Churches upon their Prebends whether it be in this case expedient that the Kings Highness or his Parliament take any Order for the redress of the same Item Of the Sacraments of Confirmation Order Matrimony and extream Unction what the external signs and inward graces be in every of the said Sacraments what promises be made to the receivors of them by God and of what efficacy they be of and energy of themselves III. Some Queries concerning Confirmation with the answers which were given to them by Cranmer and Stokesley Bishop of London AN ORIGINAL WHether Confirmation be Instituted by Christ Respon There is no place in Scripture that declareth this Sacrament to be instituted of Christ. First For the places alledged for the same be no Institutions but Acts and deeds of the Apostles Secondly These Acts were done by a special gift given to the Apostles for the confirmation of Gods Word at that time Thirdly The said special gift doth not now remain with the Successors of the Apostles What is the External Sign The Church useth Chrisma for the exterior sign but the Scriptur maketh no mention thereof What is the Efficacy of this Sacramint The Bishop in the name of the Church doth invocate the Holy Ghost to give strength and constancy with other spiritual gifts unto the person confirmed so that the efficacy of this Sacrament is of such value as is the Prayer of the Bishop made in the name of the Church Haec respondeo salvo semper eruditiorum Ecclesiae ortho doxae judicio Stokesley's Paper The first Question Whether the Sacrament of Confirmation be a Sacrament of the New Testament institute by Christ To this I answer That it is The second Question What is the outward sign and the invisible graces which be conferaed in the same To this I Answer That the Words Signo te Signo Sanctae crucis confirmo te c. With the consignation with the Creame imposition of hands of the Prelates be the Signs and the increase of the gifts of the Holy Ghost and especially of fortitude to speak shew and defend the Faith and to suffer for the same in case need be The third Question What promises be made of the said graces I Answer That the facts and deeds that be expressed in the Books of the Apostles with the effects ensuing by the imposition of their hands upon them that before had received Remission of their sins joyned with the promises of Christ made to his Church and the continual belief of the university of the same Catholick Church from the time of the Apostles hitherto without contradiction of any man ignorants and suspects of Heresie only excepted maketh us and in my opinion without prejudice of other mens opinions ought to suffice to make all men that hath promised to believe the Catholick Church assuredly to think that God hath made the promises of the said grace Ego Joannes London sic respondeo fretus autoritate Testimonio antiquissimorum eorumque Doctissimorum pariter ac Sanctissimorum virorum praecipue Sanctae matris nostrae Ecclesiae Catholicae cui etiam in non expressis in sacra Scriptura non multo minus quam scriptis fides adhibenda est nisi tam de baptismo parvulorum quam de perpetua Deiparae virginis integritate id genus compluribus quibus sine salutis periculo nemo discrepat licebit salva fide contradicere IV. Some Considerations offered to the King by Cranmer to Induce him to proceed to a further Reformation PLeaseth it your Highness graciously to consider deeply to ponder and weigh by your high wisdom these Considerations following First How no great thing is to be determined principally matters of Christs Religion without long great and mature deliberation Secondly How evil it hath succeeded when in Provincial yea or yet in General Councils men have gone about to set forth any thing as in the force of Gods Law without the manifest Word of God or else without apparent reasons infallibly deduced out of the Word of God Thirdly How all Christened Regions are now full of Learned men in the Scripture which can well espie out and judge how things that be or shall be set forth are agreeable with Scripture or not Fourthly Of what Audacity men be of now adays which will not spare to write against high Princes as well as against private persons without any respect to their high Estates only weighing the equity or the iniquity of the cause Fifthly How not only men of the New Learning as they be called but also the very Papistical Authors do allow that by the Word of God Priests be not forbidden to Marry although they were not ignorant that many expounders of Scripture were of the contrary judgment Sixthly How that it is not possible that all Learned men should be of one mind sentence and opinion as long as the cockle is mingled with the wheat the Godly with the ungodly which certainly shall be as long as the World endureth Seventhly How variety of Opinions have been occasion of the opening of many verities heretofore taken for Heresie yea and yet so esteemed and taken of many in other Regions as namely the usurped Authority of the Bishop of Rome hath by that occasion come into Light with the effusion of the blood not of a few such as were the first stirrers up thereof Lastly There be also other opinions not spoken of which have made and yet will make as much variance in your Graces Realm as any of them treated of namely Whether the Holy Scripture teacheth any Purgatory to us after this Life or not whether the same Scripture teacheth the Invocation of dead Saints Whether there be any unwritten verities necessary to be believed not written in Scripture nor deducted by infallible Arguments out of the open places of Scripture Whether there be any satisfactions beside the satisfaction of Christ Whether free will by its own strength may dispose it self to grace of a conveniency as it is said de congruo Whether it be against Scripture to kiss the Image of Christ in the Honour of him And generally whether Images may be used any other way than your Grace setteth forth in your Injunctions Wherefore in consideration of the premisses it may please your Highness to suspend your judgment for a time and not to determine the Marriage of Priests to be against Scripture but rather to put both parts to silence commanding them neither to preach dispute nor openly to talk thereof under pain of c. And in case these premisses do not move your Highness to stay that then it may please the same to
Bishops and Divines concerning the Functions and Divine Institution of Bishops and Priests 321 365 6. A Letter of Melanthons to perswade the King to a further Reformation 329 367 7. A Letter written by the German Ambassadors to the King against the taking away of the Chalice and against private Masses and the Celibate of the Clergie 332 ibid 8. The King's Answer to the former Letter 396 ibid 9. A Letter written by the King to his Bishops directing them how to instruct the People 360 368 10. Arguments given by Tonstal to the King to prove Auricular Confession to be of a Divine Institution with some Notes on the Margent written with the King 's own hand 363 369 11. A Letter of the King 's to Tonstall in Answer to the former Paper 366 ibid 12. A Definition of the Catholick Church corrected with the King 's own hand 367 370 FINIS Errata in the Collection of Records PAge 21. Line 4. compendio read Compendio P. 19. l. 32. huic r. hic P. 21. l. 23. datum r. datam P. 65. l. 30. before to r. than P. 38. l. 5. and take r. to take l. 22. gentily r. generally P. 111. the Marginal Note should stand 6 lines higher P. 1 4. l. 14. for r. her l. 15. Word r. were P. 128. l. 12 13 14 15 the Comma's are all wrong placed P. 137. l. 42. other r. Oath P. 154. l. 19. as if dele as P. 157. l. 12. here r. have P. 190. l. 18. our r. your P. 220. l. 5. Quest. 3. r. Quest. 9. P. 269. l. 47. Variety r. Verity P. 285. l. 19 28 r. 18. P. 305. l. 30. in any r. many P. 311. l. 41. and r. that P. 317. l. 26. say-men r. Lay-men l. 45. refuge r. refuse P. 322. l. 30. only r. every P. 335. l. 35 36. fides lis r. fidelis Literal Faults or escapes in the Punctuation are left to the Reader 's Correction King Henry's Succession to the Crown Apr. 22. 1509. He proceeds against Dudley and Empson * Hall says the same day L. Herbert says the day following Hall He holds a Parliament Ian. 21. 1510. Aug. 18. His great Expence His Affairs beyond Sea A War with France Aug. 24. Octob. 2. 1513. Aug. 7. 1514. A Peace and a Match with France Oct. 9. Lewis dies Ian. 1. 1515. Lady Mary Betrothed to the Dolphin Octob. 8. 1518. Emperour dies Ian. 12. 1519. Charles Elected Iune 28. 1520. The Emperor comes to England May. 26. Iune 7. Iuly 10. A second War with France Leo. 10. dies Dec. 1. 1521. Adrian chosen Pope Ian. 9. 1522. He dyed Septemb. 14. 1523. Clement the 7th chosen Novemb. 19. 1522. Emperor Landed at Dover May. 26. The Emperor contracted to the Kings Daughter Iune 19. May 6. 15â—7 Mar. 18. 1526. The Clementine League May. 22. 1526. September 20 1527. Rome taken and sack't May 16. Iuly 11. Decemb. 9. The Kings success against Scotland Sept. 9. 1513. His Counsels at home 1509. Ian. 21. 1510. Feb. 4. 1512. Cardinal Wolseys rising Cavendish life of Wolsey MSS. in Biblioth Nob. D.G. Pierpoint Octob. 1513. a Rest. temp 4. March 5 Regni 1 part Rot pat b Novemb. 6 Regni 1. part R. P. c Aug. 28.10 Regni 1 part R. P. d Decemb. 7.13 Regni 3 part R. P. e April 30.15 Reg. 2 part R. P. f May 4.20 Reg. 1. part R. P. May 15 5â—â— Reg. 1. Part. Rot. pat April 1515. Lady Mary died Iun. 23. 1533. Iâ—n 17.18 Reg. Rot. Paâ— Duke Rich. died Iâ—n 22. â—536 He was bred a Scâ—olar The Kings Prerogative in Ecclesiastical matters Cusâ—odia Temporalitatis Râ—stitutâ—o Temporalitatis Collect Numb 15. License to the Prior of Peterburg Novemb 3.1 Part. 5 â—â— Reg. Rot. Pat. A Contest about the EcclesiasticalImmunity Killways Reports Made Clerke Octob. 29. 1. Reg. Rot. Pat. Part. 1o. Iournal Procerum 7 Hâ—n 8. Parliamentumâ—2 â—2 Dâ—â—e 1515. Iohanne Tylor Iâ—râ—s Pontificii Doct. Clerico Parliamentorum Domini Râ—gis â—â—dem tempore Prolocutore Convocationis Cleri quod raro accidit Iâ— hoc Parliamento Convocatione periculosi â—imâ— seditiones exortâ—â—â—ent inter Clâ—â—um Secâ—lâ—râ—m pâ—tâ—â—tatem â—â—per libertatiâ—â—s Ecclesiasticis quodam Fratre Minore nomine Standish omniam malorum miniâ—â—ro ac stimulatore Hali. and Fox * Hunne hanged in Prison And his body burned Dec. 20. 1514. April 3. The King obliged the Popes highly and was much courâ—ed by them Collect. Numb 2 d. Treaty-Rolls 3 Reg. 19 April 1512. 1521. October 11. L. Herbert A Bull for Reforming the Clergy 10 Iune 1519. L. Herbert and Article 29. of his Impeachment The Cardinal's Pride Polydore Virgil He designs a Reformation And a Suppression of Monasteries The Calling of Convocations Collect. Numb 3 d. Collect. Numb 4 th Regist. Tonst Fol. 33 34. Collect. Numb 5th Of the State of the Monasteries Rot. Pat. 11. Hen. 8. Part. 1. The Cardinal's Colledges The Bull and Royal Assent 14. Reg. 2. Part. Rot. Pat. The Firsâ— beginning of Reformation in England The Cruelties of the Church of Rome Fitz-Herbert de Nat. Breviâ—â— The Laws of England against Hereticks Under Rich. the 2d Cook 's Institutes 3. part chap. 5. of Heresie 6 to Rich. 2. 1 Part. Numb 52. Rot. parl Another Law under King Henry the 4th Herbert's Natura Brevium Hall 5th year of Edw. 4th Warham's Proceedings against Hereticks Regist. Warham Fol. 164. Fitz-Iames Bishop of London his proceeding against Hereticks Fol. 4. The Progress of Luther's Doctrin Fox The King writes against Luther 1522. October 23. Reg. Tonstall Fol. 45. with which that in Fox agrees exactly Collect. numb 6th The beginning of the Suit of Divorce The Marriage of Prince Arthur to the Infanta of Spain 1501. See the Depositâ—ons of Witnesses in L. Herbert Prince Arth. his Death Apr 2. 1502. Bacons Henry the 7th Consultations about a second Marriage of the Infanta to his Brother Warham's Deposition in L Herbert It is allowed by the Pope Collections Numb first Upon political reasons L. Herbert Henry Protests against it Iun. 27. 1505. Collect. Num. 2d Morison His Father also disswaded it Apr. 22. 1509 K. Henry VII dies Henry being come to the Crown Marries her Iun. 3 They are Crowned Iune 24. Son born Ian. 1. 1511. dies Feb. 22. another born and dies Nov. 1514. Lady Mary born Feb. 19. 1516. 1â—27 1518. Treaty Rolls 10. Reg. His Daughter Mary Contracted to the Dolphin October 11. Afterwards to the Emperor Iun. 22. 1522. Offer'd to Scotland Sept. 1524. again to France April 30. 1527. For K. Francis himself or for his Son the Duke of Orleance The Kings Marriage questioned by Forreigners The King himself Scruples it Sanderus de Schism Angl. In his Letter to Bucer Sept. 10. 1531. in MSS. R. Smith The grounds of his Scruples All his Bishops except Fisher declare it unlawful Cavendish his liâ—e of Wolsey The dangers that were like to follow from it Wolsâ—y went into France 1527. Iuly 11. The Kings fears hopes about it L.
Herbert The Arguments against the Bull. Wolsey's advice to the King 1527. Aug. 1. Sanders his story about Anne Bolâ—yn examined For this he ciâ—es Rastal's life of Sir Tho. Moor a Book that was never seen by any body else Anti-Sanderus 1501. March 10. 1509. Feb. 12. 1511 1514. Septemb. 23 6 to Regn. 1515. Cambd. Iâ— apparatâ— ad Hiâ—t Eliz. Reg. 1528. Her Birth 1514. and Breeding Her coming to England L. Herbert Title and Duplex Cavendish says she was very young Camden She is contracted to the Lord Piercy Cavendish Life of Wolsey 1527. L. Herbert 1527. The King moved for his Divorce at Rome The first dispatch about it Collect. Numb 3 d. The Pope grants it when he was in Prison Collect. Numb 4th Pope escaped Decemb. 9. And being at liberty gives a Bull for it The Pope's craft policy And the measures that governed them 1528. Collect. Numb 5th The method proposed by the Pope Collect. Numb 6th Staphileus sent from England His Instructions Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 10. Ian. 8. Duplicates corrected by the Cardinal's Hand The Cardinals Letterâ— by him A Larger Bull desired by the King Gardiner and Fox sent to Rome With Letters from the King Collect. Numb 7th and the Cardinal Collect. Numb 8th Collect. Numb 9th The substance of the Bull desired by them Collect. Numb 10th 1527. Rot. Paâ— 2 dâ— Pars. Regn. 10. The Cardinals Earnestness in this matter Collect. Numb 11th Collect. Numb 12. Campegio declared Legate Collect. Numb 10. Wolsey writes to him to haste over May 7. May 23. The Pope grants a Decretal Bull Anti-Sanderus L. Herbert Two Letters of Anne Boleyn's to Wolsey A Postscript of the Kings to him 1528. Collect. Numb 14th The Cardinal's Colledges finished Octob. 30. More Monasteries were to be suppressed The Emperor opposâ—s the Kings suit A Breve found out in Spain Collect. Numb 15th Presumptions of its being forged Campegio comes into England And showes the King the Bull But refuses to let it be seen to the Council * Collect. Numb 16th Collect. Numb 17th Wolsey's endeavour at Rome that it might be showed But all in vain The Pope sends Campana to England Collect. Numb 18th New Ambassadors sent to Rome With other overtures Collect. Numb 19th A Guard of 2000 men offered to the Pope The Pope resolved to unite himself to the Emperor Being frightned with the threats of the Imperialists 1529. Ian. 3. Repents his granting the Decretal Kings Letter to the Cardinal Ian. 8th Ian. 9. 1529. Ian. 15. But feeds the King with high promises The Pope sickens Ian. 27. Cardinal Wolsey's intrigues for the Papacy Feb. 6th Collect. Numb 20. The Kings Instructions for the Election Numb Feb. 20. New propositions about the Divorce Collect. Numb 21. The Popes relapse April 6. another Dispatch to Rome Collect. Numb 2.2 1528. 1529. The Cardinals Bulls for the Bishoprick of Winchester The Pope inclines to joyn with the Emperor Who protests against the Legates Commission May 15. Collect Numb 23. The Pope promised not to recal but to confirm it The Legates write to the Pope Collect. Numb 24. Campegio's ill life Pelerin In glese April 6. The Emperor presses for an Avocation Which the Kings Ambassadors oppose much The Popes deep dissimulation Collect. Numb 25th Collect. Numb 26th The Pope complains of the Florentines Iune 5. Iune 13. Great Contests about the Avocation Iune 23. Collect. Numb 27. Iune 28. The Legateâ— sit in England Orig. Iourn Cott. Libr. Vitel B. 12. A severe charge against the Queen Quod stulte facit si contendit cum Rege quod â—ale illi successit in faetibus de Brevi acsuspicione falsitatis The King and Queen appear in Court * Fidelis servi insideli subdito Responsio Collect. Numb 28. The Queen's Speech The King gives the account of his Scruples The Queens Appeal Articles drawn by the 〈◊〉 Upon which witnesses are examined The proâ—eâ—dings at 〈…〉 〈◊〉 this is 〈◊〉 from 〈…〉 Iune 2â— and 30. Iuly 8 and 9. The Pope agrees with the Emperor Collect. Numb 29th Yet is in great perplexities Iuly 26. The Avocation is granted Collect. Numb 30th The proceedings of the Legates All things are ready foâ— a Sentence Campegio Adjourned the Court. Which gives great offence Wolsey's danger Aug. 4. Sept. 23 in a Letter from the Cardinal Secetary to Cromwell Anne Boleyn returns to Court Cranmers proposition about the Kings Divorce Approved by the King The meanness of his Temper The King still â—avoured him He is afterwards attached for Treasoâ— And dies His Character A Parliament called Hall The House of Commons complains of the Bishop of Rochester Some Bills past reforming the abuses of the Clergy One Act discharging the King of his debts Collect. Numb 31. The Pope and the Emperor firmly united Iâ—n 20. The womens peace Aug. 5. 1530. The Emperors Coronation at Bononia Florence taken Aug. 9. Popes Nephew made Duke of it Iuly 17. 1531. Siege of Vienna rais'd Octob. 13. 1529. Emperor Crown'd King of Lombardy Feb. 22. 1530. Rom. Emp. Feb. 2. The King consults his Universities about his Divorce Lord Herbert out of the Record April 4. 1530. v. Wood. p. 8.257 Lib. 1 0. p. 225. Collect. Numb 32. And at Cambridge Feb. Though with great difficulty Crooke employed in Venice Crooks Negotiation taken from many of his Original Letters Cott. Libr. Vitel B. 13. Many â—n Italy write for the Kings cause Feb. 18. Though the Pope and Emperor discourâ—ged them Iuly 4. Aug. 7. Septemb. 16. Iuly 28. Aug. 5. No Money nor bribes given for subscriptions 〈◊〉 7. Fâ—b 8. Only some small acknowledgments Feb. 22. Feb. 9. Septemb. 16. But great Rewards given by the Emperor Septemb. 29. Feb. 18. March 29. 1530. May 26. Iâ—nâ— 2â— They Determined for the King at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1â—th At Padua Iuly 1st Collect. Numb 33. And Ferrara Sept. 29th And in Orleance April 7. At Paris of the Canonists May 25th Of the Soâ—bon Iâ—ly 2d At Angiers May 7th At Bourges Iune 10th And Tâ—â—lose Octob. 1st Collect. Numb 34. Ian. 28th his Orig. Let. Cott. Libr. Otho C. 10. Pelerine Iâ—glise Grineus employed amongst the Reformed in Switzerland Whose Letters are in a MSS. in R. Smiths Libr. The Opinions of Oâ—colompadius Bâ—cer Phrygion Zuinglius And Calvin Epist. 384. Lord Herb. from an Orig. Let. Sept. 18. 1530. The opinion of the Lutheran Divines Instructions sent by Dr. Barns to Cromwel Cott. Lib. Vâ—tel B. 13. They condemn the Kings first Marriage but are against a second Collect. Numb 35. Fox The King refuses to appear at Rome Cranmer offers to maintain the Kings cause The Nobility Clergy and Commons of England write to the Pope In the life of Wolseâ— This Letter and the answer are Printed by the Lord Herbert The Popes answer A Proclamation against Bulls from Rome Lord Herb. Books written for the Kings cause Otho C. â—0 ibidem Visp B. 5. Coâ—lect Numb 36. The grounds of it in the old Testament Lev. 18 20· Lev. 18.2 4.5.6.21 v. 17.24.26 v. 24.25 Lâ—v.
things are declared Treason An Act for Suffragan Bishops Collect. Numb 51. Act 26. Roâ— Parl. A Subsidy granted More and Fisher attainted Act. 3. and 4. Rot. Parl. The Proceedings against them variously censured The progress of the Reformation Fox Tindal and others at Antwerp Hall The New Tâ—stament burnt The last Paper in Sr. Henry Spâ—lmans 2d vol. Supplication of the Beggars Morâ— answerâ— it Frith replieâ— The cruel proceedings against the Reformers More Tindal Bilneys Tryal Latimers Sermons The things objected to him Fox It is given out that he abjured The falshood of which afterwards appeared Fox The manner of his Suffering Byfield's Sufferings And Tewksburies Bainham's Sufferings Fox Regist. Tonst Articles which some abjured 〈◊〉 Testament Regist Fitz 〈◊〉 Regist. Stokâ—s Fol. 72. Harding's Sufferings Fox 1533. Friths Sufferings His Arguments against the Corporal presence Register Stokâ—s Fol. 71. and a Letter of his in Fox His Opinioâ— of the Sacrament And of Purgatory He is Condemned His Constancy in his Sufferings Pâ—ilâ—ip's Sufferings A stop is puâ— to these crueâ— proceedings The Queen favoured the Reformers Cranmer promoted the Reformation Assisted by Cromwell The Duke of Norfolk and Gardiner Opposed it Reasons against the Reformation Reasons for it Hall A resolution of some Bishops about the calling of a general Council Ex MSS. D.D Sâ—â—llingfleet A Speech of Cranmers abouâ—â— Geneâ—al Council Ex MSS. D.D Stillingfleet 1535. Thâ— râ—â—â— of the Kingâ— Reign 〈◊〉 troublesome By the practises of the Monks and Friars Which provoked the King to great severities The Bishops swear the Kings supremacie Antiâ— Oxon. Lib. 1. Pag. 258 The Original Letter is in Cutt. Lib. Clâ—â— E. 4. Fâ—b 15. The Francis can Friars refuse it A General visitation of Monasteries is designed Orig. Cott. Lib. E. 4. Cranmer makeâ— his Metropolitical visitation Rot. Pat. Regn. 26. Part. 1st Regist. Stoks Folio 44. The Kings Visitation begun In MSS. D G. Pierpoint Cott. Lib. Câ—â—op E. 4. Instructions for the Visitation See Collect. Nâ—â—b 1st Injunctions for all Religious Houses See Collect. Numb 2 d. An account of the Progress of the Monastical state in England The Exemptions of Monasteries See Monasticon Monasteries generally wasted and deserted Antiquit. Britan But are again set up by King Edgar Arts used by the Monks for enriching their Houses They became generally corrupted Upon which the Begging Friars grew much in credit The Kings secret motives for dissolving these Houses Câ—anmers design in it First Monastery that was dissolved Act. 10. Rot. Parl. Regn. 25. The Proceedings of the Visitors Cott. Lib. Cleop. E. 4. Ibid. Some Houseâ— resigned up to the King Collect. Numb 3. Sect. 1. The Original of these Resignations are in the Augmentation Office and enrolled Rot. Claus. Part. â—st Regn. 27. 1536. The death of Queen Katharine Originals Otho C. 10. Cott. Lib. 1536. A new Session of Parliament The lesser Monasteries are suppressed Reasons for doing it The Translation of the Bible in English designed The reasons for it The Opposition made to it The fall of Queen Anne The whole Popish party drove it on 1535. The Kings jealousie of her The Letters about this Cott. Lib. Otho C. 10. She is put in the Tower and pleads her Innocency But confessed some indiscreet words 1536. Cranmers Letter to the King about her Cott. Lib. She is brought to a Tryal Upon an extorted Confession is divorced Her Prâ—paration for Death The Lieutenant of the Towers Letter Her Execution The several Censures that were then passed on those proceedings Collect. Numb 4 th The Lady Mary endeavours a reconciliation with her Father Her submission under her own hand Cott. Lib. Otho C. 10. She is restored to his favour The Lady Elizabeth well used by the King and Queen Her Letter to the Queen when not Four years of Age. A new Parliament called Iournal Procerum The Act of Succession The Pope endeavoured a reconciliation with the King But in vain The Proceedings in the Convocation Fuller Antiq. Britt in vita Cranm. Act 17.27 Regni Articles agreed on about Religion Printed by Fuller Published by the Kings Authority And variously censured The Convocation declares against the Council called by the Pope Collect Numb 5. The King publishes his reasons against it Fox Cardinal Pool opposes the Kings proceedings And writes his Book against him Many Books are written for the King Collect 〈◊〉 6. Instâ—uctions about the disâ—â—â—tion of Monasteries Great discontents among all sorts of people Endeavors are used to quiet these Collect Numb 3. sect 2. Yet people generally encline to Rebel The Kings injunctions about Religion Collect Numb 7. Which were much censured A Rebellion in Lincolnshire Their Demands The Kings answer It 's quieted by the Duke of Suffolk â— new Reâ—â—on in the 〈◊〉 Which grew very formidable The Duke of Norfolk and others sent against them They advance to Doncaster The 〈…〉 them by delays Their Demands The Kings answer to them 1537. The Rebellion is quieted 1537. New risings but soon dispersed The chief of the Rebels executed A new Visitation of Monasteries Some of the great Abbots surrender their Houses 1538. Confessions of horrid Crimes made in several Houses Collect Numb 3. sect 4. The form of most surrenders Collâ—ct Numb 3. Sect. 1. Collect. Numb 3. Sect. 3. Divers opinions about these Some Abbots attainted of Treason 1537. Collect. Numb 8. 1536. The Superstition and cheats of these Houses discovered Images publickly broken 1538. Pelerine â—â—glese Thomas Beckâ—t's shrine broken Soâ—meâ—s Antiquities of Canterbury New Articles about Religion published Invectives against the King Printed at Rome Collect. Numb 9. The Popes Bulls against the King Lesley Hist. Scot. The Clergy in England declared against these Collect. Numb 10. The Bible Printed in English New injunctions set out by the King Collect. Numb 11. Prince Edward born Great Compliances by the Popish party Gardiner stirs up the King against those called Sacramentaries And Lambâ—rt in particular Who had appealed to the King And was publickly tryed at Westminster Arguments brought against him He is condemned And Burned The Popish party gain ground at Court The Kings correspondence with the German Princes Bonners dissimulation Coll. Numb â—2 Coll. Numb 13. A new Parliament The 6 Articles are proposed 1539. Reasons against them An Act past for them which is variously censured An Act about the Suppression of the greater Monasteries Another about the Erecting new Bishopricks The Kings design about these An Act about the Kings Proclamations An Act about Precedence Some Acts of Attainders The Kings care of Cranmer Antiq. Brit. in vita Cran. Cranmer writes his reasons against the six Articles 1538. Proceedings upon that Act. 1539. Collect. Numb 1â— Dissolution of the great Abbies Collect. Numb 3. Sect. 5. Some Hospitals surrendred The Abbeys sold or given away A project of a Semminarâ— for Ministers of State 〈…〉 D. D. 〈…〉 A Proclamation about the free use of the Scriptures Collect. Numb 15. The King designs to Mary Anne of Cleve 1538. Who comes
over to England But is much disliked by the King 1539. 1540. But yet Marries her And could never love her A Parliament called Where Cromwel speaks as Lord vice-gerent 1540. He is made Earl of Essex The Suppression of the Knights of St. Iohn at Ierusalem Cromwel◠〈◊〉 The King in love with Mistress Katharine Howard 1539. Cranmers friendship to Cromwel Journal Procâ—â— Parag. 58. Item Billa attincâ—â—rae Tâ—â—me Cromwel Comitis Essex de crimine Herisis Laesae Majestatis per Communes de novo concepta Allâ—nsa 〈◊〉 cum praâ—isione eidem annexa Quae quidem Billa 1º 2 do 3 â—io lecta est provisio ejusdem concernens Dâ—canatum Wellensem â—er lecta est communi omnium Procâ—rum consensu nemine discrepante expedita simul cum ea referebatur Billa Attiâ—cturae quae prius missa erat in Doâ—â—â— Communium Cromwels attaindor Collect. Numb 16. Censures past upon it The King designs a divorce from his Queen It 's referred to the convocation Collect. Numb 17. Collect. Numb 18. Reasons pretended for it 1540. Convocation agreed to it Collect. Numb 19. It is censured Collect. Numb 17. 1529. Report made to the Parl. The Queen consents to it Collect. Numb 20. An Act about the Incontinence of Priests Another about Religion 1540. Subsidies granted by thâ— Clergy And Laiety Cromweâ—s Death His Character Designs against Cranmer A Commission sits about Religion An Explanation of Faith 1539. Cranmers Opinion about it They explain the Apostles Creed 1540. The seven Sacraments With greaâ— maturity Collect. Numb 21. 1539. The ten Commandments 1540. The Lords Prayer The Ave Maria Free-will Justification Good Works All this set forth in a Book And published by the Kings Authority It is variously censured Corrections of the Mass-Book and other Offices Ex M S S. D.D. Stillingflâ—â—t A Persecution of Protestants Of Barnes and others Collect. Numb 22. Who were condemned in Parliament Their Speeches at the Stake Bonners cruelty New Bishopricks â—ounded Collect. Nâ—mb 23. Cranmer's design miscarries These Foundations censured 1541. The State of the Court at this time The Bible in English set up in all Churches Collect. Numb 24. Collect. Nuâ—b 25. 1541. Aâ—tiq Brit. in Râ—g Pâ—lo A Rule about Churchmens housekeeping * Bellaria The King goes to â—ork An account of the State of Scotland The beginings of Learning there And of the Reformation Arch-Bishop Spotswood Lesley Spotswood The Clergy were both ignorant and cruel Hamilton's sufferings The Kings Conâ—essor favâ—urs the Reâ—ormation Forrest's sufferings A further persecution in Sâ—otland The progress of the Reâ—ormation Lesley Buchanan * Regni Angliâ—i Vicarius The King wholly guided by the Clergy Two other Martyrs The Queens ill life is discovered And confessed by her self and others 1542. A new Parliament called 1542. The Act about the Queen Censures pasâ— uponit Act about Hospitals c. The Papists design to suppress the English Bible 〈◊〉 Injuâ—ctions Coll. Numâ— 26. The manner of Preaching at that time Plays and Erâ—erludes then actâ—d War between England and Scotland Duke of 〈◊〉 inroad into Scotlanâ— The Scotish Army defeated Many Prisoners taken 1543. 1543. A new Parliament Cranmer promotes a Reformation An Act â—bout it A League between the King and Emperor A Treaty for a match with the Queen of Scotland The different Interests there The French party prevails A War with France A new persecution of Protestants 〈◊〉 great ingeniousness Three burnt at Windsor Their Persecuters are perjured A Conspiracy against Cranmer 〈…〉 His Christian â—emper of wind 1544. 1544. A new Parliament Act about the Successioâ— 1542. Act against Conspiracies Collect. Numb 27. 1544. The Wars against Sâ—otlanâ— succesfulâ— Colâ—ect Numb 2â— 1545. 〈…〉 1545. The German 〈…〉 peace Church resentments given to Informers 〈◊〉 suffâ—rings in Sâ—â—â—land Spotswood A Parliament sits Chapters and Chanteries given to the King The Kings speech to the Houses The King confirms the Rights of the Universities 1546. Peace with France A new design for Reformation Shaxtons Apostacy Collect. Numb 23. The troubles of Anne Askew She endures the Râ—ck And is burnt with some others A new design against Crâ—nmâ—â— The Kâ—ngs great â—aâ—e of him Antiqu. Brit. in vita Cranmer Another design against the Queen The causes of the Duke of Norfolks disgrace 1547. The Earl of Surrey Executed The Dukes submission to the King 1547. The Parliament meets The Duke of Norfolk Attainted His death prevented by the Kings Fox The Emperors designs against the Protestants The Kings sickness Collect. Numb 30. His latter will a Forgery 1542. 1547. An account of the Kings severities against the Popish Party Some 〈◊〉 executed for denying the Kings Supremacy And Hall a Priest for conspiring against the King Three other Monks Exeâ—â—â—d 1535. Fishers Tryal and death His Character His Character A â—aindors afâ—â—â— the Rebâ—llâ—on was quâ—â—â—d 1537. Hall Censures past upon it 1538. Forrests equivocation and Heresie Hall 1538. The proceedings against Cardinal Pools friends 1539. Some Attaindors without hearing the parties 1539. 4 Instit. 37.38 1540. 1535. The Conclusion Câ—llect Aâ—denda 〈◊〉 1. Colâ—ect Addenda Nâ—mb 2. Collect. Addenda Nâ—mb 3. Collect. Addenda Numb 4. Collect. Addenda Numb 5. Collect. Addenda Numb 6. Collect. Addenda Numb 7. Collect. Addenda Numb 8. Collect. Addenda Numb 9. Collect. Addenda Numb 10. Collect. Addenda Numb 11. Collect. Addenda Numb 12. Treat Rolls Registrum Warhami Fol. 26. Tonst Regist. Fol. 33. Regist. Fitz-Williams Anno Dom. 1523. Regist. Cuthberti Tonstall Folio 40 Regist. Tonst Fol. 138. Cott. libr. Vitel. B. 12. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 12. Cotton libr. Vitellius B. 9. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 10 Cotton Libr. Vâ—â—el B. 10. Cotton libr. Vitel. â— 10. Cotton libr. Vitel. B. 10. Câ—tt libr. Vitel. B. 10. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 10. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 12. Cott. libr. Vitel. B. 10. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 10. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 10. Cotton libr. Vitel. B. 10. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 12. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 10. Cotton libr. Vitel. B. 10. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 10 Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 10. Cotton libr. Vitel. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 11 Cotton libr. Vitel. B. 11. Cotton libr. Vitel. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 11. Cotton Libr. Vitell. B. 13. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 13. Cotton Libr. Vesp. B. 5. Ex M S. D. Petyt Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 13. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 13. This is all written with his own hand and was sent over by him to the King Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 13. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 13. Cotton Libr. Vitel. B. 13. In an Inspeximus Rot. Pat. 25. Reg. 2 d. Paâ—t Cotton Libr. Cleopat E. 4. Cott. Libr. Cleop. E. 4. Cott. Libr. Cleop. E. 4. Anno Regni 28. Regni 27. Regni 28. Regni 29. Regni 30. * In the Houses of this Order there were Cloisters for both Sexes St. Gilbert L. of Semperingham founded it
of Burton upon Trent sate in Parliament Generally Coventry and Burton were held by the same man as one Bishop held both Coventry and Litchfield though two different Bishopricks but in that year they were held by two different persons and both had their Writts to that Parliament The method used in the suppression of these Houses will appear by one compleat Report made of the Suppression of the Abbey of Tewksbury which out of many I copyed and is in the Collection From it the Reader will see what provision was made for the Abbot the Prior the other Officers and the Monks and other servants of the House and what Buildings they ordered to be defaced and what to remain and how they did estimate the Jewels Plate and other Ornaments But Monasteries were not sufficient to stop the appetite of some that were about the King for Hospitals were next lookt after One of these was this year surrendred by Thomas Thirleby with two other Priests he was Master of St. Thomas Hospital in Southwark and was designed Bishop of Westminster to which he made his way by that Resignation He was a learned and modest man but of so fickle or cowardly a temper that he turned alwayes with the Stream in every change that was made till Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown but then being ashamed of so many turns he resolved to shew he could once be firm to somewhat Now were all the Monasteries of England suppressed and the King had then in his hand the greatest opportunity of making Royal and Noble Foundations that ever King of England had But whether out of policy to give a general Content to the Gentry by selling to them at low rates or out of easiness to his Courtiers or out of an unmeasured lavishness in his expence it came far short of what he had given out he would do and what himself seemed once to have designed The clear yeerly value of all the Suppressed Houses is cast up in an account then stated to be viz. 131607. lib. 6. s. 4. d. as the Rents were then rated but was at least ten times so much in true value Of which he designed to convert 18000. lib. into a Revenue for eighteen Bishopricks and Cathedrals But of these he only erected six as shall be afterwards shewn Great sums were indeed laid out on building and fortifying many Ports in the Channel and other parts of England which were raised by the Sale of Abbey-Lands At this time many were offering projects for Noble Foundations on which the King seemed very earnest But it is very likely that before he was aware of it he had so out-run himself in his Bounty that it was not possible for him to bring these to any effect Yet I shall set down one of the projects which shews the greatness of his mind that designed it that is of Sir Nicholas Bacon who was afterwards one of the wisest Ministers that ever this Nation bred The King designed to found a House for the Study of the Civil Law and the purity of the Latine and French Tongues So he ordered Sir Nicolas Bacon and two others Thomas Deâ—ton and Robert Cary to make a full project of the nature and orders of such a House who brought it to him in a writing the original whereof is yet exâ—ant The design of it was that there should be frequent pleadings and other exercises in the Latine and French tongues and when the Kings Students were brought to some ripeness they should be sent with his Embassadors to Forreign parts and trained up in the knowledg of forreign affairs and so the House should be the Nursery for Ambassadors Some were also to be appointed to write the History of all Embassies Treaties and other foreign Transactions as also of all Arraignments and publick Tryals at home But before any of them might write on these Subjects the Lord Chancellour was to give them an Oath that they should do it truly without respect of persons or any other corrupt affection This noble Design miscarried But if it had been well laid and regulated it is easie to gather what great and publick advantages might have flowed from it Among which it is not inconsiderable that we should have been delivered from a Rabble of ill-Writers of History who have without due care or enquiry delivered to us the Transactions of that time so imperfectly that there is still need of enquiring into Registers and Papers for these matters Which in such a House had been more certainly and clearly conveighed to posterity than can be now expected at such a distance of time and after such a rasure of Records and other confusions in which many of these Papers have been lost And this help was the more necessary after the suppression of Religious Houses in most of which a Chronicle of the times was kept and still filled up as new Transactions came to their knowledg It is true most of these were written by men of weak Judgments who were more punctual in delivering Fables and Trifles than in opening observable Transactions Yet some of them were men of better understandings and it is like were directed by their Abbots who being Lords of Parliament understood aâ—fairs well only an invincible humor of lying when it might raise the credit of their Religion or Order or House runs through all their Manuscripts One thing was very remarkable which was this year granted at Cranmers Intercession There was nothing could so much recover Reformation that was declining so fast as the free use of the Scriptures and though these had been set up in the Churches a year ago yet he pressed and now procured leave for private persons to buy Bibles and keep them in their Houses So this was granted by Letters Patents directed to Cromwel bearing date the 13th of November The Substance of which was That the King was desirous to have his Subjects attain the knowledg of Gods word which could not be effected by any means so well as by granting them the free and liberal use of the Bible in the English tongue which to avoid dissension he intended should pass among them only by one Translation Therefore Cromwel was charged to take care that for the space of five years there should be no Impression of the Bible or any part of it but only by such as should be assigned by him But Gardiner opposed this all he could and one day in a Conference before the King he provoked Cranmer to shew any difference between the Authority of the Scriptures and of the Apostolical Canons which he pretended were equal to the other writings of the Apostles Upon which they disputed for some time But the King perceived solid Learning tempered with great Modesty in what Cranmer said and nothing but vanity and affectation in Gardiner's reasonings So he took him up sharply and told him that Cranmer was an old and experienced Captain and was not to be troubled by
could any such Oath be then put to them The only Oath which the Parliament had enacted was the Oath of the Succession and the refusing it was only misprision of Treason and was not punishable by death But it was for denying the King's Supremacy and for writing and speaking both against it and his marriage that they suffered according to Law 80. He says Cromwel threatned the Jury in the King's name with certain death if they did not bring them in guilty Every Body that knows the Law of England will soon conclude this to be a Lye for no such threatnings were ever made in Trials in this Nation Nor was there any need at this time for the Law was so plain and their Facts so clearly proved that the Jury could not refuse to bring them in guilty 81. He says The three Carthusians that suffered were made stand upright and in one place fourteen days together with Irons about their Necks Arms and Legs before they died and then with great pomp he describes their Death in all its parts as if it had been a new-devised cruelty it being the Death which the Law appoints for Traitors He tells that Cromwel lamented that others of them had died in their Cells and so prevented his cruelty He also adds a long story of the severities against the Franciscans All this he drew from his learning in the Legend The English Nation knows none of these Cruelties in which the Spanish Inquisitors are very expert I find by some Original Letters that the Carthusians who were shut up in their Cells lived about a year after this so if Cromwel had designed to take away their lives he wanted not opportunities but it appears from what More writ in his Imprisonment that Cromwel was not a cruel Man but on the contrary merciful and gentle And for the Franciscans tho they had offended the King highly two of them railing spitefully at him to his Face in his Chappel at Greenwich Yet that was passed over with a Reproof from which it appears that he was not easily provoked against them So all that Relation which he gives being without any Authority must pass for a part of the Poem 82. He says The Bishop of Rochester was condemned because he would not acknowledg the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters He was never pressed to acknowledg it but was condemned for denying it and speaking against it for had he kept his Opinion to himself he could not have been questioned But the denying the King's Titles of which his being Supream Head was one was by the Law Treason so he was tried for speaking against it and not for his not acknowledging it 83. He runs out in an high commendation of Fisher and among other things mentions his Episcopal and Apostolical Charity His Charity was burning indeed He was a merciless Prosecutor of Hereticks so that the rigor of the Law under which he fell was the same measure that he had measured out to others 84. Sanders will let the World see how carefully he had read the Legend and how skilfully he could write after that Copy in a prety Fabulous Story concerning More 's death to whom I will deny none of the Praises due to his memory for his great learning and singular probity nor had he any blemish but what flowed from the Leaven of that cruel Religion which carried him to great severities against those that preached for a Reformation His Daughter Roper was a Woman of great Vertue and worthy of such a Father who needed none of Sanders's Art to represent her well to the World His Story is That the morning her Father died she went about distributing all the Mony she had in Alms to the Poor and at last was at her Prayers in a Church when of a sudden she remembred that she had forgot to provide a Winding-sheet for his Body but having no more Mony left and not being well known in that place she apprehended they would not give her credit Yet she went to a Linnen-Drapers Shop and calling for so much Cloth she put her hand in her Pocket knowing she had nothing in it but intending to make an excuse and try if they would trust her But by a Miracle she found the price of the Sheet and neither more nor less was conveighed into her Pocket This is such a lively essay of the Man's Spirit that invented it that I leave it without any further Commentary 58. He says Lee that was not in Orders was sent to visit the Monasteries who sollicited the chastity of the Nunns He does not mention Leighton and London the two chief Visitors for Leighton brought in Lee but they were of the Popish Party and Lee was Cranmer's Friend therefore all must be laid on him He was in Orders and soon after was made Dean of York I have seen complaints of Dr. London's solliciting the Nuns yet I do not find Lee complained of But since London was a Persecutor of Hereticks such a small kindness as the concealing his Name and the turning the blame over on Lee was not to be stood on among Friends especially by a Man of Sander's ingenuity 86. For the correspondence between Q. Katharine and Father Forest and the Letters that past since Sanders tells us not a word how he came by them we are to look on them as a piece of the Romance 87. He says Ann Boleyn bore a monstrous and a mishaped lump of Flesh when the time of her bearing another Child came She bore a dead Child before the time says Hall but there was no great reproach in that unless made up by Sanders's wit 88. He lays out the business of Ann Boleyn with so much spite and malice that we may easily see against whom he chiefly designed this part of his Work He says She was found guilty of Adultery and Incest There was no Evidence against her but only a hear-say from the Lady Wingfield we neither know the credit of that Lady nor of the Person who related it in her name It is true Mark Smeton did confess his Adultery with the Queen but it was generally thought he was drawn into it by some promises that were made to him and so cheated out of his Life but for the Queen and the other four they attested their innocency to the last nor would any of those unfortunate Persons redeem their lives at so ignominious a rate as to charge the Queen whom they declared they knew to be innocent so that all the Evidence against her was an hear-say of a Woman that was dead the Confession of a poor Musician and some idle words her self spake of the Discourses that had passed between her and some of those Gentlemen 89. He says Foreigners did generally rejoice at her fall and to prove this he cites Cochleus's words that only shew that Author's ill opinion of her The Germans had so great a value of her that all their