Search York

as for the town of Lyn, and all the gentlemen there, he

wished them all on fire. And whereas there was one man

among them, he wished there were ten. And all this was

deposed against Chaundeler afterward, Aug. 7, by Brown

and others that supped with him then at Colchester, be-

fore Benjamin Clere and Robert Flyngant, bailiffs of Col-

chester.

Pardons to After these dangerous tumults were dispersed and van-

counties! quished, and the heads punished, the King granted a special

pardon to the inhabitants of Norfolk for the rebelhon there ;

which bore date Sept. 4. And the like was bestowed upon

the inhabitants of Suffolk and Essex.

The Lady These rebellions touched upon the Lady Mary's reputa-

her^ser"^ tion. For the Lord Protector and Council had information

vants brought them, that several of her servants were chief stir-
c large . ^^^^^ procurers, and doers in those commotions. As namely,

a priest and chaplain of hers of Sampford Courtney in De-

von ; and Pooly, one of her receivers, and one Lyone]. Con-

cerning these reports they thought fit to send her word by

letter, da^ted July 17, wherein they likewise charged her, to

give countenance herself to these disturbances by her ob-

stinate incompliance with the religion, and persistance in

the use of the old mass. She was now at her house at Ken-

ninghall in High Suffolk, not far off of the rebels ; which

might give some umbrage to these jealousies against her.

But she presently vindicated herself and her servants, and

declared her dislike of these practices by an earnest letter

OF KING EDWARD VI. 277

writ July 20, being the same day she received the Councirs. CHAP.

For first, as to her servants, she shewed, " how she had not ___ll_l_

" one chaplain in those parts; that Pooly remained conti- ^""0 1549.

" nually in her house, and was never doer among the com- ^^^ p^^^^.
" mons, nor came into their company. It is true, she hadD.Johan.
" another servant of that name dwelling in Suffolk ; and EUen!^*
" whether the commons had taken him or no, she could not
" tell : but by report they had taken by force many gentle-
" men in those quarters, and used them very cruelly, and
" perhaps so he might be seiVed. That as for the third,
" she could not but marvel at the bruit of him ; especially
" because he dwelt within two miles of London, and was
" not acquainted with the shires of Suffolk or Norfolk, nor
" at any time came into those parts, but when he waited
" upon her at her house ; and was then at London about
" her business ; being also a man not at all apt or meet for
" such purposes, but given to as much quietness as any
" within her house. She added, it troubled her to hear
" such reports of any of hers; and especially where no
" cause was given : trusting, that her household should try
" themselves true subjects to the King's Majesty, and ho-
" nest, quiet persons, or else she would be loath.
" And as for herself, she assured the Protector, that

" these stirs did not less offend her than him and the rest

" of the Council. And for Devonshire, no indifferent per-

" son could lay their doings to her charge, for she had

" neither land nor acquaintance in that country. And

" whereas they charged her, that her proceedings in mat-

" ters of religion should have given no small courage to

" many of those men to require and to do as they did ;

" that, she said, appeared to b6 most untrue, for that all

" the rising about the parts where she was, was touching

'^ no part of religion. But even as they ungently and with-

" out desert charged her, so she omitted so fully to answer

" it as the cause required, and would pray God that their 178

" new alterations and unlawful liberties were not rather

" the occasions of these assemblies than her doings, who

" was, God she took to witness, inquieted therewith.""

T 3

278 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL

BOOK Besides all this that I have already writ on this subject,

^- I reckon it will not be unworthy any man's pains that is

Anno 1549. studious of the history of these times, to read three letters

State letters ^Qj^(.gj,j^jj^g these intestine disturbances. The one written

thlf rebel- from the Lord Privy Seal to the Lords of the Council, and

^i?": bv his son, Sir Francis Russel, brought to them, Aug. 22.

Galba, -J i -r» tt i
B. 12. Another writ, Aug. 24, from the Protector to Hoby, am-

bassador abroad. The third from the same to the same,

DD. EE. dated Sept. 1. For these consult the Repository ; taken

^ ' from the Cotton library.

The charges But this rebellion in Norfolk, in Devon, and Cornwall, cost

beUion.'''' the King a vast sum ; which rendered him the more neces-

otho, E. 1 1 . sitous of money all the time of his reign after. The charges

are set down in one of the Cotton volumes ; viz.

For coat and conduct - - - ^^^^ 1^ ^
In debts and wages - - - 18827 19 6
Emptions of necessaries - - 47 11 8
Divers and sundry necessary charges and

expenses, as breaking down of bridges,

carriages, and rewards - - 2800 4 3
Sum total 27330 7 7

But the whole charges of King Edward's wars and forti-

fications to the year 1549, amounted to 1356687 18 5|-

First insti- This year began the making of the Lord Lieutenants

LordLiliu- of the counties : whose commissions bare date July 24,

tenants of 3 ^^ y\ as I find it in a clerk of the crown's book in the

Cotton library : whose oflnice undoubtedly was first insti-

tuted upon occasion of these routs and uproars in most of

the counties of England. They were called the King's Jus-

tices in their commissions, as well as his Lieutenants. Which

commissions ran to inquire of all treasons, misprisions of

treason, insurrections, rebellions, unlawful assemblies and

conventicles, unlawful speaking of words, confederacies,

conspiracies, false allegations, contempts, falsehoods, negli-

gences, concealments, oppressions, riots, routs, murders, fe-

lonies, and other ill deeds whatsoever, and also all acces-

saries of the same. And to appoint certain days and places

OF KING EDWARD VI. 279

for the inquiry thereof. And to be the King's Lieutenants CHAP.

within the respective counties for levying of men, and to

fight against the King's enemies and rebels, and to execute Anno 1549.

upon them martial law ; and to subdue all invasions, insur-

rections, &c. These commissions were renewed yearly.

CHAP. XXII. 179

The French'' s success against the English in Boloigiiois.

Execution of the rebels. Somersefs troubles. The causes

thereof. His Court of Requests. A sessions of Parlia-

mejit. The Acts.

J- HESE at length were the successes against the seditions A piece

at home; but from the other side of the seas came not so j^^^^^g^^ j^^s^

good news. For the French King, taking now his time, *» the

and laying hold of this rebellion within the realm, came in

August unto Boloignois with a great number of horse and

foot, himself in person ; and on the 24th of the said month

the Almain camp, or Almain hill, a piece appertaining to

Ambleture or Newhaven, was delivered to the French by

traitorous consent of the captain of the camp there, variance

falling or feigned between the captain and his soldiers. So

that now they were besieged very near, and in manner

round. Howbeit the English at this very time wrote thence

to the King and Council, that they trusted the piece itself

\yiz. Newhaven] would be well enough defended, God as-

sisting them, who were in as good and stout a courage as

any men might be, and as desirous to win honour, and give

a good account of their charge.
But soon after, by treachery, the main fort of Newhaven Newhaven

was also lost, and another strong place called Blackness;^

and the French proceeded to lay siege to Boloign itself.

And all this loss caused by the mutinies at home ; the sup-

pressing of which hindered the sending sufficient aid thi-

ther. This the Protector unfolded to Hoby the ambassador

with the Emperor, in his letter, dated September 1, in these

words :
T 4

MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL

" We cannot omit to advertise you, that the French

' King, by means of this dangerous business at home, hath

' taken courage to invade the King'*s Majesty ''s possessions

' on the other side of the seas. And albeit it was so fore-

' seen, as order was taken for his encountering in the field,

' yet the outrageousness of the people was such within our-

' selves, as, attending first to the pacifying things at home

' as reason required, we could not in time provide for

' things abroad. Which the French King perceiving, and

* having before corrupted two of the King's Majesty's
* ministers, taking also advantage of our seditions and tu-

' mults at home, descended in person with an army royal,

' and by treason of the captain and master governor of a
* little fortress, which stood upon a hill, named the Almain

' Camp, near the main fort of Newhaven, and was a key

' to the same, abandoned it. After the getting whereof by

' means of the same, and of such secret intelligence as they

' had with the said traitors, did after in short time win the

' main fort of Newhaven : which by these corrupt and

' false means they now possess. And beside the fort of

' Newhaven, one other small piece of his Majesty's, named

' Blackness, and mindeth to do the uttermost he may

' against Boloign. And because we doubt not but the

' Frenchmen, according to their accustomed fashion, will

' brave much of this their sudden enterprize, though it be

' not great, we have thought good to write the whole of
* these matters unto you, to be used as ye shall see cause.

' And considering how dishonourably the French King

* hath begun these wars, whereof we have more at large

' heretofore written unto you, we trust in the end he shall

' have small cause to boast himself of any gain."
We lescve the French besieging Boloign ; which never-

theless with all their strength they were not able to prevail

against, so bravely did the English acquit themselves, till

afterwards it was delivered up for money; the keeping

whereof being not thought worth the expense. And turn

we again to home matters.

The heads and captains of the rebellion in the west

OF KING EDWARD VI. 281

were, some few of them, gentlemen inflamed with an ig- CHAP,

norant zeal to the old religion, but the most of them the ^^^^-

dregs of the people, and not a few of them priests. But Anno 1549.

bellion

the west.

these, or most of them, when their herds by the valour and !'^'^*^'^'«'^

conduct of the Lord Russel were routed, suffered the pains

of death. Their names were Arundel, Pomeroy, Coffin,

Winslade, Rosogan, Holmes, Bury, Underhil, Soleman, Se-

gar, Boyer, Lee, two Mayors, Pain, Maunder, Ashridge,

Thompson, Baret, Bocham, Wolcock, Alsa, Morton, Welsh,

Barrow, Benet : which last recited nine were priests. There

was another which our histories make no mention of, named

Paget, whether he was captain, or some other great assist- Paget one

ant in this disobedience ; who as it seems might be related

unto Sir William Paget. Upon which account, or some

other reason, the Lord Privy Seal was not so forward to

put him to death. But being a person of such note in

these broils, the Protector and the Lords sent down a par-

ticular letter for his execution. And execution being still

deferred, it was seconded with another from the Protector

alone; and that because people began to clamour against

him, as though he were the cause of the delay of it, and

that it reflected upon his honour, as though he were not now

such an impartial distributor of justice upon malefactors as

he was before, now to wink at Paget, when formerly he had

consented to the death even of his own brother. But I must

crave leave to insert his letter.

" After our very hearty commendations unto your good The Protec-

" Lordship : Whereas we, with divers others of the King's x^ord Rus-

" Majesty's Council, heretofore addressed our letters to you ^^^ ^^^ ^^^'

., o ^ • 11 111 T^ /. cution of
" tor due execution to be done and had upon Paget for Paget.

" his worthy deserts ; which as we be informed is not done, ^'^^: ^' ^'

" but respected [respited] upon what occasion we know

" not, whereat we cannot a little marvel, the thing so much

" touching our honour ; for, as we have been credibly in-

" formed, divers have not left unspoken, that we should

'' consent to the death of our own brother, and now would

" wink at him ! Wherefore we heartily pray you, as you

282 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL

BOOK "

I.

tender our honour, to see him suffer that he hath de-

served, according to the tenor of our former letters;
Anno 154.9. u ^nd that without delay. Thus fare ye well. From Syon,
" 18. Sept. 1549.
" Your loving friend,
" E. Somerset."

181 But while the Duke of Somerset was thus diligent in

The Protec- quelling and punishing this conspiracy against the King

into^trou- and kingdom, a plot was hatching against himself, and al-

bies. j^Qgt ripe. For no longer than the beginning of the next
month it brake out and took eifect; when he was taken

from the King at Windsor, and carried openly through the

city of London to the Tower. Seeing the storm approach-

iniT him, he endeavoured to make all the friends he could

by messages and applications. And the Lord Privy Seal

being now strong in the west, he wrote a letter to him,

October 6, giving him account of the conspiracy made

against him, beginning, " Here hatli of late risen such a con-

" spiracy," &c. And by the postscript may be seen, what ca-

lumnies were now bruited abroad to blacken him, and make

him odious among the people. " They are not ashamed,"

writes he, " to send posts abroad to tell, that we are already

" committed to the Tower : that we would deliver the Bi-

" shops of Winchester and London out of prison, and bring

" in again the old mass." And in the letter it appears,

they gave out that he had sold Boloign, and withheld the

soldiers^ wages. But I refer the reader to our historians, to

know more of these troubles that befel that Duke, under

which at last he sunk. The foresaid letter of the Duke, but

without the postscript, together with the Lord RussePs an-

Pag. 1244. swer, maybe found in Fox.
Yet to inform ourselves a little in this place concerning

the occasions of his misfortunes. It must be reckoned

among his failures, and a thing whereby he procured ene-

mies to himself, the havoc he made of sacred edifices, and

whatsoever was contained in them. It was too barbarous

indeed, what was practised by him, namely, the defacing

The occa-

sions there

of.

OF KING EDWARD VI. 283
ancient monuments, and rooting out hereby the memory of CHAP,

men of note and quahty in former times, of which posterity ^^^*-

is wont to be very tender. For he pulled down in PauPs Anno 1549.

church-yard, and other places, many churches and religi-

ous fabrics, for the building of Somerset-house. And not

only were the tombs of the dead razed, but their bones car-

ried away in cartloads, and buried in Blomesbury. Yet this

notice of former superstitions was gained by this barbarity,

used by him and others under the reigns of King Henry

and King Edward, that among a great number of rotten

carcases were found caskets full of pardons safely folded

and lapped together in the bottom of their graves : which

Dr. Haddon himself had observed, when they digged dead

men out of their graves, and carried away their bones, occa-

sioned by pulling down many churches and convents, as he

wrote in his answer to Osorius. But this was but a little part

of what created the Duke''s misfortunes.

By certain secret letters of Sir William Paget, Secretary

of State, wrote to the Protector, we learn, that he was

somewhat elated Avith his prosperity, and affected to be ar-He is arbi-

bitrary in the Court, and to have his own will take place, ^^^^'

and would seldom follow advice : whereby he procured to

himself ill-will among the nobility and gentry ; with whom

also he would sometimes be very sharp in words. Nay,

even the Privy Counsellors did not escape him, when they

chanced in council to speak contrary to his will or judg-

ment. A knight once having some business with him, was

so nipped by him and rebuked, and that for no great mat-

ter, that he could not forbear repairing to Paget's chamber,

there complaining to him with tears, how he had been used

a little before by the Protector. Nay, and his great friend

Paget himself escaped not, but was often by him taken up 182

very short at the Council-board, where he used to speak

freely : insomuch that he told the Protector that he had

been discouraged at his Grace's hands in open council to

say his opinion, as much as ever man was. Which usage

made, that neither he nor others of the Council cared to

speak much afterwards. These matters provoked the said

284 MEMORIALS ECCLESIASTICAL

BOOK Paget (who loved to speak his mind freely to his friend,

and perhaps had liberty given him by the Protector so to

Anno 1549. do towards him) to write a letter to him, May 8, wherein he

by hT^"^ took the liberty to tell him, " that unless his Grace would

friend Pa- " more quietly shew his pleasure in things wherein he de-

^^ * " bated with other men, and would hear them again graci-
" ously, to say their opinions, what would ensue thereof he

" would be right sorry for, and his Grace would have cause

" to repent. For no man would dare to speak to him what

" he thought, though it were never so necessary. And that

" would be dangerous for himself in the end. And that a

" king, that should give occasion of discouragement to his

" counsellors to say their opinions frankly, received thereby

" great hurt and peril to his realm. But a subject in great

" authority, as his Grace was, using such choleric fashion,

" was like to fall into great danger and peril of his own

" person, besides that of the commonwealth." The Duke

seemed but lately to have taken up this passionate way, per-

haps in imitation of, or too much converse with his master

King Henry, who did use in very hasty manner to treat

those that were about him.

Courts the And as this roughness to the gentry was one of the Duke's

popu acy. g^.j.Qj.g^ gQ j^ ^^g thought another, that he so much courted

the populacy, and used himself with so much condescension

towards them, that they stood in no fear of him. For this

the said Secretary blamed him in a letter wrote to him in

July, when the rebellion was now broke out, and men

. opened their mouths broadly against the government. It

was a long expostulatory letter, full of freedom and as great

wisdom. He protested that he wrote it in such perplexity

as he knew not what to do, and that his heart bled, and his

eyes distilled down with weeping. For he saw at hand that

coming, as he said, which he feared of long time, viz. the

destruction of that good young child his sovereign Lord,

the subversion of his noble realm, and the ruin of his Grace.

And hence he took occasion to tell him at large of his im-

perfections in government, and particularly his too much

gentleness and his too good nature, and his kindness to the

OF KING EDWARD VI. 285

common sort, which had animated them to disobedience: CHAP.
... VXTT
" his lenity, his softness, his opinion to be good to the

" poor, and affectation of the good word of the commons, ^""o ^549.

" who cried out, Oh Sir ! there was never a man had the ^^'Jl^ ^^^^'

" hearts of the commons as you have. The commons pray I'im for

" for you, and say, God save your hfe.'' To which Paget

subjoins, " that he knew right well the Duke^s gentle heart,

" and that his meaning was good and godly. Though some

" there were, he said, that prated otherwise, and that he

" had some greater enterprize in his head, who leaned so

" much to the multitude. But he knew his Grace's mean-

" ing an honest virtue. But still he insisted, that that evil

" then happening in the land, had been occasioned by his

" too much gentleness to the vulgar."*"*
And then as to his disobliging behaviour towards the Would op-

Counsellors, he shewed him, how he would sometimes op-^,i,^oie

pose himself to the whole Council; and when they joined c^"n*=''«

all in a matter, he would out-reason them, and think by his ^ °'^

authority to make them bow to his opinion. And again,

how he would first deliver his opinion in a matter, and then

ask theirs: which the awe they had of him would make

them incline to allow of, however inwardly they disliked it.

The Protector also raised against himself much hard His Court

speech for that Court of Requests he set up within his own disliked.

house ; the good intent whereof was to hear poor men"*s pe-

titions and suits. And here oftentimes upon examination of

their cases, and upon the compassion he took of their op-

pressions, if he ended not their businesses, he would send

his letters to the Chancery in their favour : which some

judged to be a stopping the course of the courts, and en-

deavouring to warp the Judges, with whom his letters, they

said, would be apt to weigh much. In the Cotton library Titus, F. 3,

there be two letters of Paget, whence these things above

related are taken : wherein much of the true state of affairs

at this juncture may be seen, and the slips of the Protector,

and likewise the temper, wisdom, and great abilities of that