the byshope of Londonis aparitor, came and raylid on thother byshope, and saide that he nor no suche as he is shall have jurisdiccion within his lordes precincte. Then was the byshope of London sent for on Thursday to make aunswer to it, but he was sike and myght nott com. Then on Fryday the clergye sate on it in the convocation howse at after-non a long tyme, and lafte of till anodre daye, and the meane tyme all men that have takyn any hurt, losse, or wrong at his hande, must bryng in their byllis and shall have recompence.

On Sondaye last the byshope of Worcetre preched at Paulis Crosse, and he saide that byshopis, abbatis, prioris, parsonis, cannonis resident, pristis, and all, were stronge thevis, ye dukis, lordis, and all; the kyng, quod he, made a marvelles good acte of parliament that certayne men sholde sowe every of theym ij. acres of hempe, but it were all to litle, were it so moche more, to hange the thevis that be in England. (Byshopis, abbatis, with soche other, shold not have so many servauntes, nor so many dysshes, but to goo to their first foundacion, and kepe hospitalytie to fede the nedye people, not jolye felowis with goldyn chaynes and velvet gownys, ne let theym not onis come into the howsis of religioun for repaste; let theym call, knave byshope, knave abbat, knave prior, yet fede non of theym all, nor their horses, nor their doggis, nor ye[t] sett men at lybertye; also to ete fleshe and whit mete in Lent, so that it be don without hurtyng of weke consciences, and without sedition, and lykewise on Frydaye and all dayes. The byshope of Canterbury seythe that the kinges grace is at a full poynte for fryers and chauntry pristis, that they shall awaye all that, savyng tho that can preche. Than one saide to the byshope that they had good trust that they shold serve fforthe there lyffe tymes, and he saide they shulde serve it out at cart then, for other service they shold have bye that.

any

On Saterdaye in the Ymbre weke the kinges grace came in amonge the burgesis of the parliament, and de'yvered theym a bille, and bade theym loke upon it and waye it in conscience, for he wold nott, he saide, have theym passe on it nor on any other

thyng because his grace gevith in the bill, but they to see yf it be for a comyn wele to his subjectis, and have an eye thetherwarde. And on Wedynsdaye next he will be there agayne to here their myndes. Ther shalbe a proviso made for poore people. The gaylis shalbe ryde, the faultye shall dye, and the odre shalbe acquyte bye proclamacion or bye jure, and shalbe sett at libertie, and paye no fees; and sturdye beggaris and suche prisonars as can nott be sett a worke, shalbe sett a worke at the kynges charge, somme at Dover, and somme at the place where the water hathe broken in on the londe, and other mo placis. Then yf they fall to idelnes, tho idelers shalbe had before a justice of peace and his fawte writen ; then yf he be takyn idle agayne in another place, he shalbe knowne where his dwellyng is, and so at the second menycion he shalbe burnyd in the hande; and yf he fayle the iijde tyme, he shall dye for it. This saide burgis of the parliament. Men sayd that the sayntuary shall, aftre this settyng of the parliament, hold no man for dett, morder, nor felenye, nor for none other cause, nor Westmester, nor S. Martyns, nor seint Kateryns, nor none other saintuary. Other newis knowe I none, as knowith our Lord, who ever kepe us all. Writen in haste, the xiijth day of Marche, by your owne to his litle power.

It has been already stated that the Charter-house in London and the religious houses at Richmond, Syon, and Greenwich had been involved in the affair of the Maid of Kent, and had distinguished themselves by their opposition to the measures of the King. They thus became the first of the religious houses that were subjected to a reforming visitation, and some of the monks and nuns were treated with great harshness and severity. The following five letters, all written apparently in the year 1535, relate to these visitations. Thomas Bedyll and Richard Layton were both of them afterwards very active visitors of the monasteries, as we shall see a little further on.

The Charter-house (a name known at present by the celebrated school established on its site) was founded in the reign of Edward III. by the famous soldier Sir Walter Manny; its site was selected by him originally to serve for a burial place in the fearful plague of 1349-50, and about 50,000 bodies are said to have been interred there during

its continuance. It afterwards became a monastery of Carthusians. A considerable number of the Charter-house monks refused obstinately to acknowledge the king's supremacy: John Houghton, the prior, was executed on the 27th April, 1535; two others, William Exmewe and Sebastian Newdigate, suffered on the 18th of June following; and Richard Bere, John Davy, Thomas Johnson, Thomas Green, Thomas Shryne, Walter Pierson, Robert Salt, Thomas Redyng, and William Horn, were executed on the 4th of August.

XIV.

BEDYLL TO CROMWELL.

[From MS. Cotton. Cleop. E. vi. fol. 252.]

Pleace it you to understand, that on Tuesday furthwith upon my departure from you I repaired to the Charter-house, and had with me diverse bokes and annotations bothe of myne owne and others against the primacy of the bisshope of Rome, and also of sainct Peter, declaring evidently the equalite of the apostelles by the law of God. And after long communication more than on howre and a half with the vicar and procurater of the house, I left thoes bokes and annotations with thaim, that they shuld se the holy scriptures and doctors thereupon concernyng the said maters, and thereupon reforme theim selves acordingly. And yesterday they sent me the said bokes and annotations againe home to my house by a servant of thairs, without any word or writing. Wherfor I sent to the procurater to com and speke with me, seing I kept my bed bi reason of siknes, and could not com to him. And at his commyng, I demaunded of him whether he and the vicar and other of the sennors had seen or herd the said annotations, or perused the titles of the bokes making moost for the said maters. And he aunswerd that the vicar and he and Nudigat had spent the tyme upon thaim tyl ix. or x. of the clok at nyght, and that they saw nothing in thaim wherby they wer moved to alter thair opinion. I than declared to him the daingor of his opinion, whiche was like to be the destruction of thaim and thair house for ever; and as far as I could perceyve by my com

munication with the vicar and procurator on Tuesday, and with the procurater yesterday, they be obstinatly determined to suffer al extremites rather than to alter thair opinion, regarding no more the dethe of thair father in word or countenaunce than he wer leving and conversant among thaim. I also demaunded of the procurater whether the residue of his bretheren wer of like opinion, and he aunswerd he was not suer, but he thought the wer al of one mynd. I shewed him that I thought that the spirit whiche appered affor God, and seyed he wold be a fals spirite in the mouthes of al the prophetes of Acab, had inspired thaim and sowed thys obstinacy in thaim. Finally I suppose it to be the wyl of God, that as thair religion had a simple begynnyng, so in this realme it shal have a strainge ende, procured by thaim selfes and by none others. And albeit they pretend holines in this behalf, suerly the ground of thair said opinion is hypocrisy, vayne glory, confederacy, obstinacy, to thentent they may be seen to the worle, or specially to suche as have confidence in thaim, more feythful and more constant than any other. From Aldergate strete, this mornyng of Ascention day. I am so trobyld with the fever, that I am fayne to kepe my house.

By your owne,

THOMAS BEDYLL.

XV.

ROLAND LEE * AND BEDYLL TO CROMWELL.

[From MS. Cotton. Cleopat. E. iv. fol. 10.]

Please it yow to understande, that on Saterday laste aboute vj. of the clock we receyved your lettres by the provynciall of the

Roland Lee had been one of the King's chaplains, and performed the marriage ceremony between the King and Anne Boleyn: in 1534 he had been made Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and the King also conferred upon him the presidency of the council of Wales.

CAMD. SOC.

G

Augustyn ffriers, according to the which lettres we tooke our journey ffurthwithe towardes Richemount, and came thither betwixte x. and xj. at night, and in the mornyng ffolowing we had ffirst comunication with the warden and oon of the seniors named Sebastian, and after with the hole convent, and moved them by all the meanes and policies that we coulde devise to consent to the articles delyvered unto us by the saide provynciall, and requyred the confirmation of them by their convent seale; which warden and convent shewed them selfes very untowarde in that behalfe, and theruppon we were fforced to move the convent to putt the matter holly in the arbitrement of theire senyours, otherwise named distrettes, which were but iiij. in nomber, and that they iiij. havyng ffull auctoritie to consent or dissent ffor them all, and in the name of them all, shulde meate us at Grenewiche this day in the mornyng, and bring their convent seale with them; and so they did. And when we came to Grenewich we exhorted the convent likewise to putt the hole mattier in the handes of their seniors, or distrettes, to thentent to avoide superfluouse woordes and idle reasonyng, and specially to thentent that if the distrettes shulde refuse to consent, it were better after our myndes to strayne a ffewe then a multytude. But at Grenewiche we coulde in no wise obteyne to have the mattier put in the distrettes handes and arbitrement, but the convent stiffely affyrmed that wher the mattier concerned perticulerly every oone of their soules, they wolde aunswere perticulerly every man ffor hym self. And when, after muche reasonyng and debating, we requyred to have their ffinall and determynatt aunswer, which we demaunded of every oone of them perticulerly, we ffounde them in oone mynde of contradiction and dissent ffrom the saide articles, but specially agaynst this artycle, Quod episcopus Romanus nihilo majoris neque auctoritatis aut jurisdictionis habendus sit quam ceteri quivis episcopi in Anglia vel alibi gentium in sua quisque diocesi. And the cause of their dissent, as they saide, was by reason that that article was clerely agaynst their professyon and the rules of sayncte Frauncis, in