Persecuters. | Persecuted. | The Causes. |
To William Wingraue moreouer, it was obiected that hee should say, that there was no Purgatorie: and if there were any Purgatory, and euery Masse, that is said should deliuer a soule out of Purgatory, there should be neuer a soule there: for there bee moe Masses sayd in a day, then there be bodyes buryed in a moneth. |
MarginaliaSimon Wisedome, abiured.Ihon Lõg- land By- shop of Lincolne. | Symon Wisedom of Burford | Simon Wisedome of Burford was charged In 1538 a Simon Wisdom of Burford was collector of the lay subsidy for the hundreds of Bampton and Chedington (R.H. Gretton, The Burford Records: A Study in Minor Town Government (Oxford, 1920), p. 200). A man named Wisdom fled to the Continent in 1546, saying that he had feared for his life at the hands of the persecuting bishops (L&P, 21(1), pp. 748-9). This may have been Simon Wisdom, not the better known evangelical, Robert Wisdom. Simon Wisdom was a clothier and a mercer who purchased enough land to attain the status of a yeoman. He was elected bailiff of Burford seven times in the years 1545-67 and was an alderman of the town nine times in the years 1559-81. Wisdom was steward of the town in 1553. He died around 1585 (Gretton, Burford, pp. 97, 103 and 199-201). For persuasive arguments that Simon Wisdom the clothier and Burford official was the same Simon Wisdom who was accused of heresy in 1530 see Gretton, Burford, pp. 199-200). [Back to Top]for hauyng three bookes in En glishe: one was the Gospels in Englishe, an other was the Psalter, the third was the Summe of the holy Scripture in Englishe. |
MarginaliaIames Algar, abiured.Doctour Prinne, Commis- sarie to the By- shop of Lincolne. | Iames Al- gar, or Ayger. an. 1530. | It was articulated There is no independent corroboration of this account. cted to Iames Ayger, first that he speaking to a certeine Doc- tour of Diuinitie, named A- glonby, sayd that euery true Christen man lyuing after the lawes of God, and obseruyng his Commaundementes, is a Priest as well as he. &c. Item, that he sayd, that hee would not hys executours to deale any penny for hys soule, after his death, for he would do it with his own handes while he was alyue: and that his cõ- science gaue hym, that the soule, so soone as it departeth out of the body, goeth streight eyther to heauen, or to hell. Item, when Doctor Aglon- by aforesaid had alleged to him the place of S. Mat. 16. Thou art Peter. &c. hee aunswered him agayn with that which fo- loweth in the Gospell after: Get thee after me Sathan. &c. Item, the sayd Iames hea- ryng of a certeine Churche to be robbed, said openly, it made no great force, for the Churche hath enough already. |
MarginaliaIohn French, abiured. | Iohn Frenche of Long- witam. At Long- witam. an. 1530. | Agaynst Iohn Frenche lyke- wise This may the same John French who was charged as a sacramentary in the diocese of Canterbury in 1543 (L&P 18(2), p. 306). obiected. 1. That he beleued not the bo- dy of Christ, fleshe, bloud, and bone to be in the Sacrament. 2. That he was not confessed to any priest of long tyme. 3. That Priestes had not power to absolue from sinnes. &c. For the which hee likewise, with the other, was troubled, & at length cõpelled also with them to knele down, & to aske hys holy Catholicke fathers and mothers blessing of Rome. |
¶ But what stand I here numberyng the sand? For if all the Register bookes were sought, it would be an infinite thyng to recite all them, whiche throughe all the other Diocesses of the realme in these dayes, before, and since, were troubled and pursued for these and such lyke matters. But these I thought for example sake, here to specifie, that it might appeare what doctrine it is, and long hath bene in the Churche, for the whiche the Prelates and Clergie of Rome, haue iudged men heretickes, and so wrongfully haue molested poore simple Christians.
[Back to Top]Now, passyng from the abiurations of those poore men, we will some thyng speake (God willyng) of the lyfe and doynges of the contrary part, who were their persecutours, and chief Rulers then of the Churche, to þe entent that by those Rulers, it may better be discerned, & iudged, what maner of Church that was, which then so persecuted the true doctrine of Christ, and mēbers of his Churche.
[Back to Top]The reason for Campeggio's mission in 1518 (not 1517, as Foxe states) was to persuade Henry VIII to support Pope Leo X's project for a crusade. Legates a latere were only exceptionally admitted to England (or to several other states), but this intention gave Cardinal Wolsey the opportunity to seek the same status for himself. Henry VIII therefore wrote on 11 April 1518, agreeing to the request on the condition that Wolsey was accorded the same rank. The Bull conferring this on the English cardinal was issued on 17 May, over a month before Campeggio reached Calais, so the sequence of events proposed by Foxe is in error. The real reason for the delay in the latter's proceeding to England was that Wolsey had another request. Cardinal Adriano Castelli, who held the English see of Bath and Wells, had been marginally involved in a plot against Leo, and Wolsey was anxious to secure his deprivation in order to possess the see himself. His campaign against Castelli was aided by another cardinal, Sylvestro Gigli, and it appears to have been Gigli's idea to keep Campeggio waiting until their demand was met. Campeggio reached Calais about 21 June and Wolsey sent an escort to bring him into England on around 10 July (Peter Gwyn, The King's Cardinal: the Rise and Fall of Thomas Wolsey [1990], pp. 102-3). An authentic account of Wolsey's pomp is contained in George Cavendish, The Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey, ed. Richard S. Sylvester, Early English Text Society No. 243. (London: Oxford University Press, 1959). Cavendish wrote between 1556 and 1558, but his work remained in manuscript, and there is no reason to believe that Foxe ever saw it. This account is taken from Edward Hall, The Union of the two noble and illustre families of Lancastre and Yorke (London, 1550), 'The triumphant reign of K. Henrie the eight', p. 64r-v [STC (2nd ed.) 12723a]. An additional source may be found in BL Harley MS 433 fo. 293, calendared in the Letters and Papers…of the Reign of Henry VIII. ed. J. Gairdner et al. (London, 1862-1910), 2, No. 4333. This manuscript originally belonged to John Foxe.
[Back to Top]The main source for Foxe's story of Campeggio's second visit in 1529 is Edward Hall's chronicle, referred to above, pp. 161-3, 170r-171v, and 184v. This is in the regnal year 21 Henry VIII, not, as stated, 19 Henry VIII. The pope in question was Clement VII, not Clement VIII. This appears to have been simply a mistake (if he had been counting the anti-popes, he should have been Clement IX, since 'Clement VII' reigned at Avignon from 1378 to 1394, and 'Clement VIII' from 1423 to 1429). The occasion for this second visit was, of course, the resolution of the 'King's Great Matter' - the annulment of his marriage to Catherine. The story of the sack of Rome, which helped to frustrate the king's efforts, is also taken from Hall's Chronicle (pp. 159-61). The story of Wolsey's malice against Richard Pace, dean of St Paul's (and dean of Exeter and dean of Salisbury), however, does not come from Hall, and although the fact of his collapse can be confirmed from letters calendared in the Letters and Papers, there is no likelihood that Foxe would have known about these. It no doubt derived from the letter of Erasmus to Thomas Lupsett of 4 October 1525, in which he hoped that 'our friend Pace has recovered by now' from 'the love disease' [syphilis] which afflicted him (Erasmus, Collected Works ed. Alexander Dalzell [1994], No. 1624 [p. 305]). This had already been published in the Opus epistolarum Des. Erasmi Roterodami (Basel: Froben, 1529). There is no reason to suppose that the cardinal was deliberately responsible for Pace's insanity, which caused him to be recalled from Rome in November 1525, although it is possible that the pressures put upon him may have been a contributory factor. Pace was relieved of his duties as king's secretary in 1526, and consigned to the care of the Brigittine monks at Syon. Pace was in and out of care for the rest of his life, pursuing his scholarly interests as best he could. For a while, he lived normally in London, but later he returned (apparently voluntarily) to Syon. On the whole, Wolsey's treatment of him was patient and considerate, and Foxe was taking at face value hostile stories that had become part of the cardinal's 'Black Legend'. The former diplomat never, however, completely recovered, and died eight years later. On Pace, see Jervis Wegg, Richard Pace, A Tudor Diplomat (London, 1932), pp. 273-288. The original of the 'ambitious letter', written by Wolsey to Gardiner, is to be found in BL Cotton MS B.XI, fo. 57, although how Foxe obtained a copy of it is not known. The source of the 'Instructions' is similarly unknown, but the stories about Barnes and the Legatine Congregation are to be found in Hall's Chronicle, pp. 146-7, 166, and 169. Wolsey's arrest, the summoning of Parliament, and More's appointment as chancellor, are similarly taken from Hall, as are the 'Greuvances against the Clergie' (p. 188) and the articles against Wolsey (p. 189). The petition of Humphrey Monmouth to Wolsey and the Council, dated 19 May 1528, from which most of the story his 'trouble' is taken, came from a manuscript in Foxe's possession (BL Harley MS 421). It was printed by Strype (Ecclesiastical Memorials, 1, ii, p. 89) and taken from Strype by the Letters and Papers (4, ii, No 4282). The proceedings against Arthur, Bilney, and others are taken from the registers of John Tunstal, bishop of Durham (not Stokesley), bishop of London (London Guildhall Library, Guildhall MS 9531/10 (fos.131r-36r)), whilst the story of Thomas Hytten probably comes from John Fisher's Rochester register, now missing. The substance of these blocks was repeated with very little alteration in 1583.
[Back to Top]David Loades
MarginaliaCardinall Wolsey.ALthough it be not greatly pertinent vnto thys our historye, nor greatly requisite in these so waightie matters, entreating of Christes holy Martyrs, to discourse much of Thomas Wolsey Cardinall of Yorke: notwithstanding, forsomuch as there be many whiche being caried away with a wronge opinion, and estimation of that false glittering church of Rome, doe thinke that holines to be in it, which in deede is not: to the entent therfore that þe vaine pompe & pride of that ambitious church, so farre differing from all pure Christianitie, and godlines, more notoriouslye may appeare to all men, and partlye also to refreshe the reader with some varietie of matter, I thought compendiouslye to expresse the ridiculous and pompous qualities, and demaner of thys foresayd Thomas Wolsey, Cardinall and Legate of Rome, in whom alone, the image and life of all other such like followers and professors of the same church, may be seene and obserued. MarginaliaExample of the Lacedemonians.For lyke as the Lacedemonians in times past, were accustomed to shewe and demonstrate dronken men vnto their children, to beholde and looke vpon, that through the foulnes of that vice, they might inflame them the more to the studie and desire of sobrietie: euen so it shall not be hurtfull sometimes to set forth the examples which are not honest, that others might therby gather the instructions of better and more vnright liuing.
[Back to Top]Wherfore thou shalt note here (good reader) in thys historie, with all iudgement, the great difference of life and Christian conuersation, betwene thys church, and the other true humble Martyrs and seruantes of God, whom they haue, and doe yet persecute. And first to beginne, with the first meeting and comming in of thys Cardinall, and hys fellowe Cardinall Campeius into England: it was about the time, when Pope Leo intending to make warre agaynst the Turkes, sent three Legates together from Rome, wherof one went into Germanie, an other into Fraunce, MarginaliaCampeius sent into England.Laurentius Campeius was appoynted to come into England. When he was come to Callis, and that þe Cardinall of Yorke had vnderstanding therof, he sent certaine Byshops and Doctors, with as much speede as he could, to meete the Legate, and to shewe him that if he would haue his Ambassade take effecte, hee shoulde send in poste to Rome, to haue the sayd Cardinall of Yorke, made Legate, and to be ioyned with him in commission. Which thyng he much affected, misdoubting lest hys authoritie therby myght perhappes bee diminished, through the commyng of the Legate, MarginaliaCardinall Wolsey seketh to be ioyned in equall commissiõ with Campeius.and therfore required to bee ioyned with hym in lyke degree of þt Ambassade. Campeius being a man light of beliefe, and suspecting no such matter, gaue credite vnto hys wordes, & sent vnto Rome with such speede, that within xxx. dayes after, the Bull was brought to Callis, wherin they were both equally ioyned in commission: during which tyme, the Cardinall of Yorke, sent to the Legate at Callis, red cloth to clothe hys seruauntes withall, MarginaliaNote the state and pride of the popes clergie.which at theyr comming to Callis, were but meanly apparelled.
[Back to Top]Whē all things were ready, Cãpeius passed the seas & landed at Douer, & so kept forth his iourney toward London. MarginaliaThe receauing of the Popes Legate into England.At euery good towne as they passed, he was receaued with procession, accompanied with all the Lordes and Gentlemen of Kent. And when he came to blacke Heath, there mette hym the Duke of Northfolke, with a great number of Prelates, Knightes, and
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