Contents of the fikst volume

the house, to wit in the raign of K. Edward the VI. Henry Gray then Duke of Suffolke there keeping house, I have

beene showed the same body (as was affirmed) so lapped in lead, thrown into an olde wast roome amongst olde timber,

stone, lead, and other rubble." (Annals, 1614, p. 495.) 29 Nov. 1513, Leo X. wrote to Henry VIII. authorising the

body of James IV. to be carried to London, and buried in St. Paul's, notwithstanding that he had incurred the sentence

of excommunication. Brewer, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. vol. i. p. 705.]
3 MS. pen. Auct.

* I hare never seen this book.

BOOK II. CHAP. II. ]

THE ABBEY.

107

The Injunctions also of the Visitors, if indeed they gave any particular injunctions,

are lost, 1 but the tenor of them may be guessed at from the following articles of relaxation -

yet extant. (Dodsworth's MSS. at Oxford, vol. Ixi. f. 25.)
The relaxacyon of certayne particles of y c Injunctyons given of late in y e monasterie of Whalley, in the

countie of Lancastre, by the Visitors for y c Kynges highness there.

Imprimis, That y e Abbot, havyng one or two discrete brethren of y e said monasterie with hym, may

go and ride abrode for y e necessarie business of y c same howse and anie other honest cause, so that they

resort not to anie suspecte place or suspecte companie.
Item. That it maie be permitted to two discrete brethren of y e saide howse with lycens of y c abbot to go

and ride abrode for y e necessarie business of y e same or for anie other honest cawse, so that they tarie no

longer abrode than y e busyness shall necessarilie require, and alsoe y e companie with suspecte and infamed

persons be utterlie avoided.

Item. That it maie be permitted to certayne brethren of y e foresaide monasterie with lycense of the

abbot to walke for ther bodilie heilth forthe of y e precinct of y c saide monasterie into y c fekls adjoyning to y e

saide howse thre tymes in a moneth, and ther use honest recreacyon, so that they be at the least foure together,

and all suspicious resortes to be avoided, wher

Item. That it maie be permitted to certayne discrete seniors, being officers of y e said howse, with lycens

of the abbot, to lye in y c chambers heretofore for them assigned, so that all suspicious resortes be avoyded.

Item. That a lecture of divinitie redcle in y c saide monasterie thre tymes wycklie may suffice, soe that

yt bee done diligentlie, purclie, and sjnccrelie. (Signed) THOM. CRUMWELL.

How far the following instrument contributed to this relaxation, or whether it does

not refer to a subsequent transaction, the reader will judge for himself :

1 [" General Injunctions to be given on the King's Highness behalf in all Monasteries and other Houses of what-

ever order or religion they may be," are printed by Burnet, Hist, of the Reformation, from Cotton MS. Cleop. E. iv.]

2 [These articles of relaxation may be illustrated by comparison with the following extracts from similar articles

granted by Cromwell to the Monastery of St. Mary of York (Lansd. MS. 973, p. 101) :

I. Inprimis, that the Abbot may goo foorth of his monastery as well unto his manors and to other places, as also

for any other honest cause, and that he beinge foorth may there tarie for like causes, and to take with him three

or more of his brethren at his discretion, so that they resort not to any suspecte places or infamyd company.
III. Item, that brethren being offycers of the said monasterye, with lycense of the Abbot, go abrood for the execu-

tyons of their offyces at such times as it shall be thought convenient by the discretion of the Abbott, so that they

avoyde the companye of suspecte and infamyd persons.
IV. Item, that the Abbot may lycense certaine brethren of the said house or monasterye to walk furth intoe

gardyns or feilds adjoyninge to the said monasterie, and ther to use honest recreation at such times as it shall be thought

convenient by the discretion of the Abbot. So that they be at least foure all times in company, and returne to their

monasterye againe in due hours, avoydinge also the conversation w th all suspecte and infamyd persons.

VII. Item, that a lecture in Scripture, syncerelye and diligently read three tymes weekeley, may suffice, and that

the brethren beinge of the graduats and learned in Scripture, and approved by the Bysshop of the Diocese, may, with

Hcepse of the Abbot, goe abroad and preache y c worde of God, so that they doo the same purely and syncerely. And

also that it may be permitted to such brethren to lye in chambers, to be assigned by the discretion of the Abbot, for

their more quiet studie. And also for as much some of the brethren of the said monasterye be well instructed in the

Latine, so they may preach the word, so that it be diligently and syncerely taught and expounded.

The General Injunctions mentioned in the preceding note had provided that every day by the space of one hour

a lesson of Holy Scripture should be kept, to which all in the convent should resort.]

p2

108

HISTORY OF WHALLEY.

[BOOK II. CHAP. II

To all estates due honour and reverence, and to all other commcndacioun in our Lord everlastyng.

Know ye that we John, abbot of y e monasterie of our blessed Ladie of Whalley, in coin. Lane, by y e assente

and consente of y c convente have freely granted untoe y e right honourable Mr. Tho. Crumwell, secretaric-

general, visitor and principal official to oure most sovereign Lord Kyng Henry VIII. an annual rent or fee

of YI U . xiii". iv d . yerelie, to be paide at y c Nativitie of St. John Baptist unto y e saido Maistcr Tho. Cruni-

\vell. Wee y c saide abbot and convent have put to y e same our handes and common scale. Yeven at

Whalley 1st Jan. 28 Hen. VIII. [1537]. (Townley MSS. G. 16.)

I was once inclined to think that the above relaxation of the visitors' injunctions was

purchased by this poor bribe of ten marks per ann. ; but an unwillingness to load the

memory of Cromwell, who was an open and generous man, with the imputation of

accepting money from those whom he had previously determined to ruin, led me to a more

exact investigation of the case, which terminated in a different conclusion. 1
General injunctions to the religious houses, which, by restoring at once the rigour of

ancient discipline, at a time when the virtues of monks were probably less acceptable to

Government than their vices, seemed rather calculated to irritate than to reform, were

issued in the year 1535, and a relaxation would naturally be applied for as early as possible.

But the date of this grant to Cromwell is Jan. 1st, 1537, at a time when the monks of

"Whalley had little leisure to attend to. their own accommodations. For the rashness and

intemperate zeal of Paslew had now pushed him into the foremost ranks of rebellion ; and,

as the Pilgrimage of Grace had ended in the confusion of its authors, every art of sub-

mission and of corruption was to be employed in order to ward off the impending blow.

That the grant before us was intended for that purpose there can be little doubt ; yet there

is no evidence to prove that Cromwell had any knowledge of the transaction, and nolenti

non fit Icncficium : nay, it is more than probable that, though sealed, it was never ten-

dered ; and it is almost certain that, if tendered, he durst not have accepted it. But I

suppose that at this time the house was in great consternation : they had committed many

overt acts of rebellion, and the abbot was just returned from his unblest pilgrimage, at full

leisure to reflect on the consequences of bis own conduct. What other expedients were

suggested in this hour of distress, to avert the impending blow, we know not ; but the

charter before us was almost certainly one.

The chronology of the Pilgrimage of Grace 2 will confirm this hypothesis :
[On Oct. 12, Robert Aske returned from Lincoln into Yorkshire and found the whole

North rising from the Humbcr to the Cheviot Hills. Oct. 10, York received the rebels,

and Oct. 20 Pomfret castle and Hull surrendered to them.] On that day Aske and his

associates received the King's herald in Pontefract castle. [Oct. 25, the Duke of Norfolk,

sent by the King, joined the Earl of Shrewsbury at Doncaster.] Oct. 26, they summoned

the Earl of Cumberland to surrender his castle of Skipton. On the same day another

1 I have since, however, discovered (West's History of Furness, App. No. x.) that Cromwell was actually in the

receipt of a pension from the abbey of Furness, and was promised an increase of stipend on condition of his standing

their good friend against the Earl of Cumberland, who was desirous to lay his hands upon their manor of Winterburu

in Craven. (Note by Dr. Whitaker in Corrigenda to Third Edition, p. 552.)

5 [The Editors correct and somewhat amplify this chronology on the authority of the historian Froude.]

BOOK II. CHAP. II.]

THE ABBEY.

109

party appeared before Doncaster, and began to treat with the Duke. Nov. 14, the King

sent a safe-conduct for 300 persons to come to Doncaster. Nov. 26, they were still

together ; and, though they had laid down their arms, agreed to resume them upon firing

of the beacons. [Dec. 2, an agreement was made at Doncaster, whereupon Aske pulled off

his badge of the Five Wounds of Christ. 1 A pardon and Northern parliament was pro-

mised.] Dec. 9, a general pardon was issued, on condition of future obedience ; " not-

withstanding which, the clergy of the North still kept the rebellion on foot." 2 [Feb. 3, the

Duke of Norfolk arrived at Pontefract with an army composed of men who would do his

bidding and ask few questions. Feb. 12. The rebels from Kendal, Richmond, Hexhani,

Appleby, and Penrith, under one of the Musgraves, attacked Carlisle, but were repulsed

and put to flight. On inquiry, this last explosion, like the rest, was traced to the monks ;

those of Salley, Hexham, Lanercost, Newminster, and St. Agatha being the most guilty.]

Nothing more is known of this melancholy interval till the time of the spring assizes

at Lancaster; when John, Abbot of "Whalley, 3 was arraigned and convicted of high

treason, and sent to his own town for execution, which was performed March 10, 153G-7,

upon a gallows erected on a gentle elevation in the field called the Ilolehouses, and

immediately facing the house of his birth. 4 The ignominious part of his sentence seems

1 [See an article by W. H. D. Longstaffe on the Heraldry of Durham in The Herald and Genealogist, vol. vii.

1871.]
2 Lord Herbert's Life of Henry VIII. p. 480, &c.
3 It is highly probable that the judge who tried him was the famous Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, as I find him at

Furness Abbey within a few days after this event, along with the Earl of Sussex. I had been assured that the indict-

ment of Abbot Paslew was among the records at Lancaster; but, upon a very diligent search, I have not been able to

meet with it. There are multitudes of others, for riots, &c. at the same assizes, which prove the disturbances in Lan-

cashire, at that time, to have been very general.
4 According to the constant tradition of the place. (Third edit. p. 140.) An oaken post, which was part of the

fatal apparatus, is said to have remained within the memory of aged persons.

[Dr. Whitaker (Third edit. pp. 82, 140, apparently on the authority of a Latin memorandum quoted ibid. p. 87

note, but without reference to its original.) gave the date of Paslew's execution as March 1'2. We now follow the

following memoranda in Cotton. MS. Vespasian D. xvn. f. 1C.
153C. G idus Martii obiit dominus Johannes Paslew in theologia baccalaureus, 25 abbas et ultimus domus de

Whalley.

4 idus Martii eodem anno suspensus fuit Willielmus Ilaydocke monachus abbatia; de Whalley. (Marginal note,)

In campo vocato parvo Imps.

Eicardus Eastgate monachus de Sauley suspensus fuit apud (the rest wanting).
Stowe says that Paslew was executed at Lancaster on the 10th, " and the same day with him was hanged, drawn,

and quartered John Eastgate, a monk of the same house, whose quarters were set up at divers townes in that shire."

Dr. Whitaker (p. 140) understands the latter clause as applying to Eastgate only, and that " Paslew was not dis-

membered." I think it most probable that it applies to both Paslew and Eastgate. Stowe continues, " And on the

13th (which should be 12th) of March AVilliam Haydocke, a monk of Whalley, was hanged at Whalley in a field

called Pedimii Guies, and there hanged long time after." Haydocke's body (that is to say) was allowed to continue

suspended for some time entire, whilst those of Paslew and Eastgate were quartered and distributed to other towns.

As to the scene of Haydocke's execution, Dr. Whitaker (p. 140) interpreted it to mean " Padiham Green or Padiham

Eases, either of which is five miles from Whalley :" but Le Impe-yard adjoining the abbey, i.e. a nursery for young

110 HISTOEY OF WHALLEY. [Boon II. CHAP. II.

to have been remitted out of respect to his order ; and he is supposed to have been interred

in the north aile of the parish church, under a stone yet remaining. John Eastgate,

one of his monks, appears to have suffered with him, 1 and another, named William Hay-

docke, two days after.

[Robert Radcliffe, Earl of Sussex, then Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, was the prin-

cipal person entrusted with the pacification of the country at this period, and on the 17th

of March the royal satisfaction in his proceedings was expressed to him and his fellow-

counsellors in the following terms :

From a paper written by Wriothesley, in a Miscellaneous Bundle in the Chapter-House, indorsed
" The mynute of the 1'res to my Lord of Sussex, 17 Marcij." (State Papers, 4to. 1830, i. 540.)
Right trusty and welbiloved cousins, and trusty and \velbiloved, we grete you well. And have received

your letters the lltli daye of this monethc, by the contynue wherof we doo right well perceyve the great

dexteritie, circumspection, and diligence which youe have used, as wel in the receyving of the submission of

our good subgettes of those parties, as in the punishment of suche personnes as, being themselfes inwardly

corrupted, labored and travailed sundry wayes, most traitorously, howe to infecte others ; bothe by the

sowing of sedition and devisyon amonges our people, and by the mayntenance and receipting of suche

traitours as contynuelly devised uppon the same ; for the whiche we give unto you our right harty thankes,

assuring you that you have thcrin preceded moche to our contentation.

And wheras upon th'cxecution of th' Abbot of Whalley, ye have taken ordre for the good direction of

the house, and the sanf kcping of the goodes, without embeselement, til further knowlcadge of our pleasure,

approving moche your good forsight therof, we have thought it convenient to signifie unto you that, for as

mochc as it apperethe that the house of Whalley hathe been so sore corrupt, amonges other, that it shuld

seme there remaynethe very fewe therm that were mete to remayn and contynue in suche an incorporation,

we thinke it shalbc mete that some ordre be taken for the remotion of the monkes nowe being in the same,

and that we shuld take the hole house in to our oune handes, as by our lawes we be justely, by th'attaindour

of the said late Abbot, entiteled unto it ; and soo devise for such a newe establishement therof as shalbe

thought mete for th'oimour of God, our surctye, and the benefite of the cuntrey. "Wherfor our pleasure is,

that you shall, with good dexteritie, layc unto the charges of all the monkes there their grevous offences

towardes us, and our commune wealthe, and therwith assaye their myndes, whither they will conforme them-

selfes gladly, for the redubbing of their former trespaccs, to goo to other houses of their cote, where they

shalbe wcl entreated or elles wither they woll rather take capacities, 2 and soo receyve seculer habite. Albeit
trees, was probably the spot, coinciding with " the field called the little Imps" above named. It is- mentioned in the

Coucher Book, pp. 1176 and 1210.]

1 [As stated by Stowe (see the previous note). There were two Eastgates, brothers, who both suffered capitally:

Richard being a monk of Sallcy, who had fled to Whalley for refuge and was harboured there, as thus stated by

Sanders: " Et quia horum Monachorum unus, qni fratrem Whaliensi in Monasterio habebat, et> confugerat, ingressusque

fuerat inscio Abbate qui camobio prseerat, ille etiani Abbas laqueo sublatus est, variaque strages in alios edita." Z>

Sclnsmate Anylicano, lib. i. p. 121. Richard Trafford the abbot of Salley, together with his prior, suffered at Lan-

caster, apparently on the 10th March, the same day as Paskw : see Dr. Whitaker's History of Craven, p. 83. The

same fate attended four other abbats, those of Fountains, Jervaulx, Rievaulx, and Barlings, the Prior of Bridlington,

many monks, and five priests of the diocese of Lincoln, besides the better known names of the lay leaders of the

Rebellion. J. G. N.]
2 [A capacity must have been a licence to relinquish their religious vows.]

BOOK II. CHAP. II.]

THE ABBEY.

Ill

wo require you soo to move them to entre into other houses, that they may chuse the same ; for we thinks

it cannot be holsom for our comen wealthe to permyt them to wander abrocle ; and therfore we require you

to frame them to that pointe, that they maye entre in to other places, as is aforesaid ; wherin you shall do

unto us good service ; desireng you to advertise us of this matier with all diligence.

As touching th'ordre of the house, in the meane tyme, we desire and pray you to have special regarde

that no thing be embeseled, and to lye in a good awayte of the monkes, that they conspire not to the brewing

of any inconvenience.
Concernyng th'old man whom you wrote you have respited, uppon the lamentation he made at the

barre, and th'allegation of his service thries hertofor against the Scottes and otherwise doou unto us ; albeit

we cannot but take yoiir steye of him in good parte, yet, considering he bathe soo often receyved our wages,

and wold, nevertheles, at the last be thus corrupted against us, we thinke him for an example more worthye

to suffer thenne the rest, that before had non experience of our princely puissance, ne had receyved any

benefite of us ; and soo remytt him unto you to be executed, according to his judgement geven for his

offences commytted agains us.
The Eaii of Sussex was possibly already occupying tlic mansion of the late abbot

when this letter arrived, and an inventory of the goods belonging to the monastery, taken

by his order, is dated on the 24th of March (as will be seen in a subsequent page).
It was here that, on Thursday the 5th of April, 1537, the Earl of Sussex and others of

the King's Commissioners received the surrender ' of Roger Pyle, the abbot of Fur-ness,

he " knowing (as he was constrained to admit) the mysorder and evyll liff both unto

God and our Prince of the bredren of the said monasterie." This "byll " was signed Per

me Rogerum abbatcm Fiirnesii, in the presence of the Earl of Sussex, " and also in the

presence of Sir Thomas Butler, Sir William Leyland, Johan Cladon clerk, Sir Johan

Beron, and Sir Anthony Fit/Herbert one of the Kynges justices, bcying of the Kynges

counsell within the said countie;" who, on the day following, addressed a remarkable

letter 2 to the King detailing their mode of procedure with the trembling abbot, and stating

that they had committed to ward in Lancaster Castle " twoo of the same monks, which

was all we could fyndc faultye." Then (referring to a former letter not now extant) thcy

proceed thus in regard to Whalley :

And wher in our said lettres we wrote unto your Majestye touching the Pryour here, 3 whichc is im-

potent and aged, his peticion nowe is, that, where the house is boundene to kepe twoo prestos within the

parishc churche of Whalley, the parishioners wherof is aboue M u M u M u people, it may pleas your Highncs

that hee may bee oone of those twoo prestes, and to haue 61. or 11. a yere for his stipend ; whichc if it may

so like your Highnes to graunt unto hym, we think it shuld be a good and charitable dede, seeing that he

hath beene a monk in this house above fyfty yeres, and is almost iiij* x yeres of age, not like long to contynue.

The letter is signed by Robert Sussex, Anthony Fitzherbert, William Leyland, Henry

Farryngton K., John Claydon prest ; and there is a subsequent letter of the Earl to the

Lord Privy Seal, dated " At Whalley, the xth day of Aprill."]
The attainder of an abbot was understood, how rightly soever, by the Crown lawyers
1 Printed in Letters relating to the Suppression of the Monasteries, (Camden Society 1843,) p. 153.
2 [Printed in Annales Fwnesienses. History of the Abbey of Furness. By Thomas Alcock Beck, esq. 1844.]
3 Christopher Smith : see p. 134.

112

HISTORY OF WHALLEY.

[BOOK II. CHAP. II.

of that time, to infer a forfeiture of the house ; and accordingly, without the form of a

surrender, and without any provision, so far as can be discovered, for the remaining monks,

many of whom were probably innocent, the abbey of Whalley, with all its appurtenances,

was instantly seized into the King's hands ; and thus fell this ancient and opulent found-

ation.
More caution and less zeal might have prolonged its existence about three years,

mi^ht have secured a splendid establishment for the abbot, and competent stipends for his

subordinate brethren ; but the fate of Paslew was not unmerited : it was his duty to suffer

for conscience' sake, but nothing can justify his rebellion.
Ilavin ' thus closed the annals of the monastery, nothing remains but that we record

the names of the monks, the extent and value of their possessions, the particulars of their

expenditure, their successors in the site and demesnes, and the present state of their
mansion.
The following catalogue, beginning with Abbot Topcliffc, whom I suppose to have

been the first monk admitted at Whalley, is taken from an imperfect transcript out of one

of the abbey registers, which appears to terminate before the year 1500, for it exhibits

only four admissions after Paslew, who became abbot in 1500, when it is scarcely to be

supposed that he was of less than ten years' standing; and the register itself will shew

that nearly one admission took place every year.