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| had been seduced with naughty books, contrary to the true CHAP,
doctrine of Christ. And in this doing, he said, he was not ______ compelled so to say, neither for fear, nor by ally other Anno 1553 - means, but only of his free and voluntary will. And this recantation, which was made June 27, was home indeed. Persecutions grew hot at this time: and he saw nothing but burning before him, unless he complied. Boner took care to preserve his recantation in his register, where it still re- mains.
cers'' chapel, take this account of from a manuscript. In the 33d [it should be 38th] of the King, Dr. Crome Crome's preached at Paul's Cross, May the 9th, being Sunday, upon p ™J>° n a this Gospel, / am a good shepherd, &c. John ix. Cross, anno
" chiefly in two points : one was, in teaching a doctrin not " reprovable ; the other was, in that he gave his life for his " sheep, or to save his sheep from the wolf. Then did he " compare the good shepheard and the evil together, and " thus he said. The evil shepheard, who is not the owner " of the sheep, seeth the wolf coming, leaveth the sheep, " and flyeth, because he is a hireling, and the sheep not his. " But I am a good shepheard, saith Christ, &c. Then he " noted the evil shepheard, therfore to be called, as appear- " eth in the same chapter, a hireling, a thief, a murderer. " Then, said he, we ought to give thanks to our good shep- " heard, which gave his life for his sheep, making to his " Father one everlasting sacrifice : which sacrifice once " offered, hath satisfyed for the sins of al that are, were, or " shall be saved until the end of the world. And then he " gave God thanks, which hath layd aside many strange " voices. For my sheep, saith Christ, hear my voice; and " the voice of a stranger they know not. Then he declared " the Bishop of Rome his usurped power to be a strange " voice, his pardons, pilgrimages, purgatory, Peterpence, " faigned religion, foundations of monasteries and chaun- " tries, to be strange voices. And in this uttering, said he, " I have found my brethren the priests wondrously of- VOL. III. M 162 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL CHAP. " fended with me, and that for two causes. One was, they " say, because I speak against their living: the other cause Anno 1553." is, for because that I have spoken of late mych ayenst the tn * The " Bishop of Rome, calling him beggar, occasioned so to offended the" do by the Gospel that then I was in hand with, which is priests. u in the lgth chap of gt Luke Answer to " To the first thus I answer ; I for my part would my " brethren to have a living, even as I would myself to have " a living ; but I would not have them to abuse the blessed " sacrament for a living, but that they should have it after " the truth, as God's word appointed it to them. The Pope " Now to the second, saith he, thus I answer; The Bishop a°begga e r dt ° " of Rome begging by his primacy, pardons, purgatory, " Peterpence, pilgrimages, faigned religion, foundation of " monasteries, and chauntries, is a bold, valiant, sturdy " beggar. Wei, the beggar is now gon, said he ; yea, the " King's Majesty, with his high court of Parlament, have " taken this beggar by the head, and whorled him quite out This beg- « f tne r ealm, like an idle beggar. But, alack ! this bold " beggar's staf hath this beggar of Rome left here behind " him : which staf beateth both the bodies and souls of " men. Now, saith he, the Bishop of Rome, that bold " bragging beggar being thus cast out, laud be to God and 105 " our Prince, his staf would I wish to be with him ; yea, I " would wish himself to have it in his own hand. For " many poor men are dayly beaten with it. And I my self " have been beaten with it. For, as I understand, men of " worship appointed thereunto of late, have preached, and " in their sermons have beaten me with the staf of the beg- " gar ; and that even for saying, that the sacrifice of the " mas doth not take nor put away sin. But I put it to " your judgment, to judge what he would say, if he durst, " to our sovereign Lord the King ; considering that he in- " deed doth alter their fond foundations, and put them to " other, considering the error therein. That the Bishop of " Rome hath the conditions of an angry beggar, we may " prove it thus. The angry beggar threatneth, curseth, and " fighteth ; the Bishop of Rome threatneth, first, with in- UNDER QUEEN MARY I. 163 " terdiction al such as will not obey his froward wil; se- CHAP. " cond, he curseth with excommunication al such as aid or " counsil those which regard not his interdiction, as the An n°i553. " chronicles of England, and of other countries, make " mention. Thirdly, he fighteth by setting princes toge- " ther by the ears against him which regardeth not his in- " terdiction and great curse ; promising great indulgence u for their so defending holy Church. " Then turned he to the text again, desiring men to pray Falsely re- " for the good shepheard ; and, according to the custom, P orted to " prayed. - The prayers done, he stood up, and said these canted. " words : Worshipful audience, I come not hither to recant, winch he " nor yet am I commanded to recant, nor, God willing, I flJettoras* " wil not recant. Yet notwithstanding, divers and many " have sent letters abroad informing their friends that I " should recant, to the great slaunder of God's word, and " of me being a poor preacher of the same, admitted within " this realm of England. But as for me, I care not; but " yet I would wish them that they would send half so " many letters, informing their friends that I have not re- " canted. Wei, God forgive them ; and yet, wil they nil " they, I will pray for them, wil them good, and wish them " good. And then he shewed them, that in a sermon made " at the Mercers chappel on Passion Sunday upon the ixth " chap, to the Hebrews, he declared with the text, that " Christ our high Shepheard, entring into the holy place " once for al, not with strange bloud, but with his own pre- " cious bloud, hath found plentiful and eternal redemp- " tion. Upon the which occasion, said he, I said, and say " again, that the Bishop of Rome hath wrongly applied the " sacrifice of the mas, making it a satisfaction for sins of " the quick and dead, as he hath don the bloud of martyrs " oftentimes. And then he shewed, that to cal it a sacrifice " he would not stick, for a sacrifice it is of thanksgiving to " our only Shepheard for his once offered offering; which " hath made a ful satisfaction of al the sins of them which " believe and cleave to him by faith. Yea, it is eucharistia, " which is to say sacrificium laudis ; yea, and it is to us a m 2 164 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL CHAP. " commemoration of Christ's death and passion, according XL « to his own words, Hoc facite in meant commemoratio- Anno 1553." nem? Cronie not- I n King Edward's days he still flourished in fame and Naming 5 reputation for his preaching and piety, and noted for his and charity c haritv and patronage of learning and learned men. I find in King Ed- , J „ r n , b . .. . °. , . - rr^ ward's days, a letter of address in this reign to him from one 1 nomas Mannyng, a poor scholar, for his relief: who having studied for divers years in Oxford, maintained at his pa- rents 1 charge, they being now dead, and he eighteen years old, could, for want of maintenance, follow his studies no longer there : which necessity brought him to London ; 106 where he set up his poor condition upon Paul's church doors: but no relief followed. Then he was advised to apply himself to Dr. Crome ; which he did by a letter in Latin, superscribed thus ; Viro non minus eruditione, quam sapientia et autlioritate claro, Magistro Doctori Crome. Wherein he laid open his poor condition to him in good elegant style, and that he fled to him tanquam sacram an- choram : " That the public fame that went of him, that he " was a favourer and patron of all candidates of good lite- " rature, put him in great hopes of finding success; it being " generally reported, that he both could and would afford " succour unto such.'" He was, I suppose, one of those di- vines in London, into whose hands the wealthy and well- disposed citizens deposited their charitable monies, for the exhibiting to ingenious men at the Universities: whereof, for the honour of that city, there were many in those days there.
Whether he In the beginning of Queen Mary's reign, he was, with [mdeTq other di vmes °f tne greatest fame, taken up: and some Mary. report that he recanted : of which I make a doubt. For, to trace him as near as we can, Jan. 13, he was laid in the Fleet for preaching on Christmas-day without licence, since the Queen by proclamation had forbidden all preaching. Jan. 30, he, with Taylor, Bradford, and some others, ap- peared before the Bishop of Winchester, and other bishops, sitting in commission from Cardinal Pole, the Pope's legate,
UNDER QUEEN MARY I. 165 in St. Mary Overy's church : when Crome desired two months' CHAP. respite for the giving in his answer: and it was granted. him, saith Fox, by a mistake; for one month only was Ann °i553. granted him : within which space, nor at the expiration of it, it is certain he did not recant, but remained firm. For toward the latter end of April, there was a purpose, that he with Rogers and Bradford should be conveyed to Cam- bridge, to dispute there, as Cranmer, Ridley, and Latymer had done at Oxford. And May 8, I find his name, with Hooper, Ferrar, Bradford, Philpot, and other eminent di- vines then in prison, subscribed to a declaration, that they would not dispute but before the Queen or Parliament, or else by writing, because of the foul play their fellows lately met with at Oxford. And I find in a letter from Ridley to Martyrs* Hooper, he desired, in his name, to salute that reverend Letters - father, his fellow prisoner, Dr. Crome. " By whom," said Ridley, " since the first day that I heard of his most godly " and fatherly constancy in confessing the truth of the Gos- " pel, I have conceived great consolation and joy in the " Lord. For the integrity and uprightness, the gravity . •
" known long ago. Blessed be God therefore, which in H such abundance of iniquity, and decay of all godliness, " hath given unto us, in this reverend old age, such a wit- " ness for the truth of his Gospel. Miserable and hard- " hearted is he, whom the godliness and constant confession " of so grave and innocent a man will not move to acknow- " ledge and confess the truth of God !" And in the margin are these words : "Of this good father's godly end and con- " stant confession of the truth, you shall read the next " edition of the Book of Martyrs." This is inserted by Co- verdale, who put forth this book of the Martyrs' Letters, anno 1563. But we do not find any account of Crome in the after-editions of the Book of Martyrs, which makes me leave this matter under doubt.
rest of the commissioners, seemed not to be with that bold- P r ° ceedin s s ness and resolution, as appeared in some of his other fellow-
166 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL CHAP, prisoners : which yet he might do out of a prudent wari- ness, to avoid the extreme danger he saw now impending, Anno 1553. if he should shew himself immovable, seeing them resolv- 107ing to make quick work, and Hooper and Rogers by them sentenced to death the same day he appeared before them. For the judiciary process against him stood thus, as I col- Fox's MSS. lect from the Acts themselves. On the 29th and 30th days of January, when the commissioners sat in great formality and state at the church of St. Mary Overy's, alias St. Sa- viour's, on which days Hooper, Rogers, Bradford, Tayler, Saunders, and Cardmaker, were summoned, and all of them, but the last, condemned ; then also Crome appeared. To whom Bishop Gardiner, the chief commissioner and spokes- man of the rest, repeated his exhortation, which he before now made him, which was, to reconcile himself to the unity of the Catholic Church, and confess his faith in the sacra- ment of the altar, according to the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Here the reverend man entering into a dispute, did not shew himself resolved, but in multis hcesitabat, that is, hesitated in many things, say the Acts. So he was ap- pointed the next day, viz. Jan. 30, to come before them again, between eight and ten in the morning. When that day came, Dr. Crome was called; he is said, " with an hum- " ble spirit and supplication, to request further time to be " granted him to deliberate with himself, and to consult " with learned men for the information of his conscience in " this his cause ;" saying, " that he intended not pertina- " ciously to adhere to his private opinion ; but if he could " be persuaded by the word of God, he should willingly " alter his conceived judgment." And so praying for two months to be granted him, my Lord Bishop understanding and seeing his humility, allowed him the space of a month then next ensuing for the effect abovesaid. But Crome, by all this, seems to me rather to have intended the gaining of time, than that he meant to comply. But let this lie at the readers conjecture. I shall add but this more of Crome, that the Archbishop of York, and Bishop of Chichester, after a disputation held with Bradford, at parting, willed
UNDER QUEEN MARY I. 167 him to read a book, that, as they said, did Dr. Crome good : CHAP, which leaves the matter dubious. Among the rest now cast into prison, and there detained, Anno 15 53. for the profession of the Gospel, I must not forget one who in prison^" was noble, and the more truly noble, in that he most sin- t} ie prot'es- cerely adhered to the true religion in the midst of these dan- Gospel, gers. His name I cannot certainly assign ; but I suspect him to have been the Lord Russel ; who was now, I am sure, a prisoner. Divers letters were now wrote to him, to comfort and establish him : which was the way used then by the preachers, when they had not the liberty of free ac- cess. It had been this lord's desire, that letters of this sort might be writ to him ; declaring in what good part he took them. One of these letters, addressed to him by some pious divine unknown, (probably Lever,) I have seen, and thought worthy preserving in the Catalogue. He commend- Numb. XI. ed him, " for his incredible stoutness in Christ his master's " cause, and added, that it was not altogether in vain, that " God's word had been taught and read unto the nobles ; " that all of them were not jeerers and mockers, [it seems " most of them were,] covetous and ambitious, fleshly and " riotous. He wished that a few more were of that earnest " zeal and boldness in Christ, that this lord had declared " himself to be. He exhorted him to weigh what a good " master his heavenly Father was, that made him so good " a scholar, to find in his heart to despise all things in com- 108 " parison of him and his word, as favour and fair words " of men, honour, riches, pleasure, lands, possessions, pa- " rents, and friends, wife and children. This was the Lord's " working in him. He advised him to be strong, and esta- " blish his conscience upon the Lord's word. And, finally, " by no means to consent to or receive the mass : but to " compare the mass that was of man's making, with the sup- " per that was of Christ's institution." But I betake the reader to the letter itself. m 4
168 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL
CHAP. XII. The deprivation of the married priests. The injustice and severity thereof. The Romish clergy now in place. Their unclean lives. Their character.
Se m y d tne c ^ el 'Sy throughout England, that favoured King Ed- ward^ proceedings ; that they might no longer officiate in their churches, but be thrown out, to let in others that were of the Popish sort. The taking advantage of their wed- lock was thought a good expedient for this purpose. For the Parliament, in the last reign, having by two several acts allowed priests to marry wives, great numbers of the clergy in all parts had joyfully taken this liberty. But this only thing was now made matter of deprivation, by the Queen's order and letter to all the Bishops in the beginning of March; influenced so to do by Gardiner, and some other violent Pa- pists about her ; notwithstanding the laws were yet in force that allowed their marriage. But, however, upon this order, officers were presently appointed in every diocese to make inquiry, and to turn out of their livings and livelihoods all priests that had taken wives, and to divorce them asunder. In the dio- And thus it was in the diocese of Litchfield and Coventry, Litchfield. R- Sampson, the Bishop there, speedily sending out his com- Int. Fox. missaries so to do. Thus I find in the original papers of this inquisition, that D. Pole, LL.D. vicar-general, and principal Priests do- official to the Bishop, articled and deprived divers of the clergy f° r this cause; namely, H.Williams, dean of the church of Litchfield, who married Eliz. King, widow of Alan King, of London. Also Nic. Cotton, vicar of Great Over in Darbyshire, who married Joan Cooper, widow. J. Prynne, curate of Quatford in Shropshire, who married Tho- masine Holt, widow : and J. Garleke, chaplain, who mar- ried Ann Ore ton, single woman.
a commissary to the said Bishop, at this time, and on this UNDER QUEEN MARY I. 169 occasion, articled divers other priests for their marriage, and CHAP, deprived them : namely, William Wain, vicar of Marston ; John Dawson, vicar of Melburn; Tho. Gossenel, rector of Anno 1553. Trussely ; Peter Hart, rector of Matlock ; Bernard Bran- don, chaplain of Pentridge ; George Davye, chaplain, curate of Scropton ; Sir Thomas chaplain of Cod nor. Also Henry Holgreve, vicar-choral of the prebend of Longdon, in the cathedral church of Litchfield ; Richard Hewer, clerk, vicar-choral of the prebend of Hondesacre in the said church.
aforesaid did article and deprive several other beneficed priests for the same grievous crime of marriage : as, Nicolas Morrey, rector of the church of Rolleston; Tho. Eyns- worth, vicar of the church of Uttoxater; Rob. Baslowe, vicar of Burton upon Trent and Stapenhul ; Ro. Ash ton, rector of Moccleston, and vicar of Sondon ; Rich. Slany, vicar of Penne ; Jeffrey Bagshaw, vicar of Colwich ; Edm. Crockel, Edw. Hawes, and Rich. Brooks, chaplains; and John Garlyke, and Henry Thecka, clerks. In the archdeaconry of Coventry, Rich. Walker, canon resident of the church of Litchfield, and the Bishop's spe- cial commissary in this behalf, did article and deprive these persons following for having wives : Hugh Symonds, vicar of the church of St. Michael Coventry ; Will. Benet, vicar of Trinity church, Coventry; Rich. Baldewyn, rector of Allesley; Simon Pope, rector of Warmington ; John Boole, rector of Southam; .Tho. Wyrley, rector of Bourton upon Dunsmore ; William Warner, rector of Radwey ; John Vernam, vicar of Stotteswel ; Edw. Hopkinson, vicar of Hilmoi-eton ; Will. Forster, vicar of Corley ; John Alcock, vicar of Kynnesbury ; John Cruer, vicar of Pakewood ; Will. Bond, of Upper Whittacre ; John Sendal, chaplain of Byrmyncham ; Tho. Hewes, chaplain of Manceter ; Henry Farryngton, chaplain of Shelton ; Harte- wel, chaplain of Kirkeby Monachorum ; Edward Bolevaunt, rector of Witnasshe, and Will. Masshender, chaplain, late canon regular of the order of the Premonstre.
170 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL CHAP, and forty in number, (besides God knows how many more in this single diocese,) that some of them were professed of Anno 1553. the rule of St. Benedict, or St. Augustin, or St. Francis, or St. Dominick, or of the Cistertian, or Premonstratensian, or Carthusian order; or that they had taken holy orders; whereby, according to the holy canons, and constitutions, and ordinations, and laudable ecclesiastical customs used in the Church, especially the western or Latin Church, they had all vowed chastity and continency. The form of the Numb. XII. articles against them may be seen in the Catalogue. One ap- And in this business these deprivers were so quick, and P eaIs - went so roundly to work, that they stayed not for the ap- pearances of the priests to answer for themselves, nor some- times so much as cited them to answer, but deprived them to rights, without any more ado : which caused one of them so served, being more brisk than the rest, and know- ing he had law of his side, to appeal to the Queen and the Parliament, for the wrong and injury done him. His name was Pope, rector of Warmington. He set forth, that he was a man of unspotted life and conversation ; that com- missary Walker had pronounced against him a definitive Yüklə 12,09 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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