What Wesley Left Out

~148 words

to  minister  the  sacraments. 

These  be  the  principal  articles  of  the  Waldenscs,  albeit  some  there 
be  that  add  more  to  them  ;  some,  again,  divide  the  same  into  more 
parts  :   but  these  be  the  principal,  to  which  the  rest  be  reduced. 

The  same  Waldenscs,  at  length  exiled,  were  dispersed  in  divers 

(0  "  Siilis  sacris  Uteris  credendum  esse  in  lis,  riurc  ad  salutem,"  &c. 

(2)  This  article  seemetb  to  be  given  of  them  in  Bohemia,  long  after,  for  indulgences  came 
not  in  before  Boniface  VI II. 


266 


DISPUTE    CONCERNING    TK  ANSUBSTANTIATION. 


JfewpII. 

A.D. 

118!). 


Thomas 

Aquinas 
first 

finder  of 
purga- 
tory. 


The  sa- 
cramen- 
tal bread 
ought  not 
to  be  kept 
or  re- 
served. 

Part  of 

the  dis- 
putation 
between 
Dr.  Aus- 
tin and 
the  Wal- 
ilcnses. 
A  dilem- 
ma ;   that 
is,  a  cap- 
tious 
question, 
confer- 
ring on 
both  sides 
an  incon- 
venience. 
The  an- 
swer of 
the  Wal- 
denses. , 
What  it 
is  to  re- 
ceive 
after  a 
sacra- 
mental 
manner. 


and  sundry

~919 words

use  of  the  primitive 
church,  when  they  used  to  communicate  sitting.2  And  this  they 
prove,  both  by  an  old  chronicle,  called  '  Chronica  Gestorum,1  as  also 
by  ancient  Origen,  upon  the  third  book  of  Moses,  bringing  in  his 
words,  which  be  these,  proving  that  this  sacramental  bread  ought  not 
to  be  reserved:  —  "Whosoever  receiveth  this  bread  of  the  supper 
of  Christ  upon  the  second  or  third  day  after,  his  soul  shall  not 
be  blessed,  but  polluted.  Therefore  the  Gibeonites,  because  they 
brought  old  bread  to  the  children  of  Israel,  it  was  enjoined  them  to 
carry  wood  and  water,1''  &c.3 

Dr.  Austin,  of  whom  mention  is  made  before,  disputing  against 
them  about  this  matter  of  the  holy  eucharist,  urgeth  them  with  this 
interrogation  :  "  Whether  it  be  the  same  Christ  present  in  the  sacra- 
ment who  is  present  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  ?  If  it  be  not 
the  same  Christ,  how  is  it  true  in  the  Scripture,  '  Una  fides,  unus 
Dominus  noster,  Jesus  Christus' —  'One  faith,  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  P1  If  it  be  the  same  Christ,  then  how  is  he  not  to  be  honoured 
and  worshipped  here  as  well  as  there  ?" 

To  this  the  Waldenses  answer  again,  and  grant  that  Christ  is  one 
and  the  same  with  his  natural  body,  in  the  sacrament,  which  he  is  at 
the  right  hand  of  his  Father,  but  not  after  the  same  existence  of  his 
body  :  for  the  existence  of  his  body  in  heaven  is  personal  and  local, 
to  be  apprehended  by  the  faith  and  spirit  of  men.  In  the  sacrament 
the  existence  of  the  body  is  not  personal  or  local,  to  be  apprehended 
or  received  of  our  bodies,  after  a  personal  or  corporal  manner,  but 
after  a  sacramental  manner ;  that  is,  where  our  bodies  receive  the 
sign,  and  our  spirit  the  thing  signified.  Moreover,  in  heaven  the 
existence  of  his  body  is  dimensive  and  complete,  with  the  full  pro- 
portion and  quantity  of  the  same  body  wherewith  he  ascended. 
Here,  the  existence  of  his  complete  body,  with  the  full  proportion, 
measure,  and  stature  thereof,  doth  not,  neither  can,  stand  in  the 
sacrament.     Briefly,  the  existence  of  his  body  in  heaven  is  natural, 

(1)  "Bohemia."  Our  author  ishere  anticipating  the  chronological  order  of  history,  and  rambling 
into  an  account  of  the  Bohemian  brethren.  Properly  speaking,  the  religious  community  of  the 
Alpine  valleys  of  Piedmont  are  the  only  people  who  should  be  called  Waldenses.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eleventh  century  many  Anti-Romanists  came  into  notice  in  different  parts  of  Europe, 
especially  in  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain;  but  it  confuses  ecclesiastical  history  to  call  them 
Waldenses,  or  Albigenses.  The  two  latter  might  hold  some  opinions  in  common,  but  they  were 
essentially  distinct  communities. — Ed. 

(2)  Ex  Orthuino  Gratio. 

(3)  "Ouicunque  hunc  panem  cccna  Christ!  secunda  vel  tertia  die  sumpserit,  non  benedicitur 
amma  ejus,  sed  inquinabltur.  Propterea  Gabaonitae,  quia  antiquos  panes,"  lStc— Chronica  Gesto- 
rum.    Origen,  super  tertium  iibrum  Mosis. 


DOCTRINES    OF    THE    WALDENSES.  £87 

not  sacramental ;  that  is,  to  be  seen,  and  not  remembered :  here  it  is  Bmryir. 
sacramental,  not  natural ;  that  is,  to  be  remembered,  not  to  be  seen.   ~T~rT 
This  answer  being  made  to  the  captious  proposition  of  Dr.  Austin,    \is9. 

the  Waldenses,  retorting  the  like  interrogation  to  him  again,  demand  ~ 

of  him  to  answer  them  in  the  like  objection  :    Whether  it  be  all  one  mental. 
Christ  substantially  and  naturally,  who  sitteth  in  heaven,  and  who  is  aiiemnia 
under  the  forms  of  bread  and  wine,  and  in  the  receivers  of  the  sacra-  tfansub- 
ment  ?    If  he  grant  it  to  be,  then  they  bid  him  say,  seeing  Christ  is  "tanti* 
as  well  in  the  sacrament  as  in  heaven,  and  as  well  in  the  receiver  as 
in  the  sacrament,  and  all  one  Christ  in  substance  and  nature ;  why 
then  is  not  the  same  Christ  as  well  in  the  breast  of  the  receiver  to  be 
worshipped,  as  under  the  forms  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  sacrament, 
seeing  he  is  there  after  a  more  perfect  manner  in  man,  than  in  the 
sacrament  ?  for  in  the  sacrament  he  is  but  for  a  time,  and  not  for  the 
sacrament's  sake,  but  for  the  man's  cause :  in  man  he  is  not  for  the 
sacrament's  cause,  but  for  his  own ;  and  that  not  for  a  season,  but  for 
ever,  as  it  is  written,  "Qui  manducat  hunc  panem  vivet  in  ceternum  ;" 
that  is,  "  He  that  cateth  this  bread  shall  live  for  ever,"  &c. 

Moreover,  seeing  transubstantiation  is  the  going  of  one  substance 
into  another,  they  question  again  with  him,  whether  the  forms  of 
bread  and  wine  remaining,  the  substance  thereof  be  changed  into  the 
whole  person  of  our  Lord  Christ  Jesus,  that  is,  both  into  his  body, 
soul,  and  divinity;  or  not  into  the  whole  Christ  ?  If  he  grant  the 
whole  ;  then,  say  they,  that  is  impossible,  concerning  the  divinity, 
both  to  nature  and  to  our  faith,  that  any  creature  can  be  changed  into 
the  Creator.  If  he  say,  the  bread  is  changed  into  the  body  and  so  id 
of  Christ,  not  to  his  divinity,  then  he  separateth  the  natures  in  Christ. 
If  he  say,  into  the  body  alone,  and  not  the  soul,  then  he  separateth 
the  natures  of  the  true  manhood,  &c,  and  so  it  cannot  be  the  same 
Christ  that  was  betrayed  for  us ;  for  that  he  had  both  body  and  soul. 
To  conclude,  to  what  part  soever  he  would  answer,  this  doctrine  of 
transubstantiation  cannot  be  defended  without  great  inconvenience  on 
all  sides.  Over  and  besides,  Eneas  Sylvius,1  writing  of  their  doctrine 
and  assertions  (perchance  as  he  found  them,  perchance  making  worse 
of  them  than  they  taught  or  meant),  reporteth  them  after  this  manner, 
which  I  thought  here  to  set  out  as  it  is  in  the  Latin.2 

The  English  of  the  Same

~235 words

recordeth,  suffered  no  little  trouble.     But 

never  persecution  was  stirred  up  against  them,  or  any  other  people 

more  terrible  than  was  in  these  latter  years  in  France  by  the  French 

king,  a.d.  1545,  which  lamentable  story  is  described  in  Slcidan, 

and  hereafter,  in  the  process  of  this  book,  as  we  come  to  the  order  of 

years,  shall  be  set  forth,  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  more  at  large ;   in 

the  which  persecution  is  declared,  in  one  town,  Cabriera,  to  be  slain 

Ahorribie  by  the  captain  of  Satan,  Reinerius,  eight  hundred  persons  at  once, 

oi  Christ's  without  respect  of  women  or  children  of  any  age ;  of  whom  forty 

hoi>  mar-  women,  and  most  of  them  creat  with  child,  thrust  into  a  barn,  and 

the  windows  kept  with  pikes,    and   so   fire    set  to  them,  were  all 

consumed.     Besides,  in  a   cave  not  far  from  the  town   Mussium, 

to  the  number  of  five  and  twenty  persons  with  smoke  and  fire  were 

Keinerms  at  the  same  time  destroyed.     At  Merindolum  the  same  tyrant,  seeing 

perTe"'  e  all  the  rest  were  fled  away,  and  finding  one  young  man,  caused  him 

cutor'       to  be  tied  to  an  olive-tree,  and  to  be  destroyed  with  torments  most 

cruelly ;  with  much  other  persecution,  as  shall  appear  hereafter  in  the 

history  translated  out  of  Sleidan  into  English. 

a  glover       But  to  return  acrain  to  hio-her  times,  from  whence  we  digressed. 

martyr-.    Besides  that,  Reinerius  (above  mentioned

~278 words

and  force  of  his  reasons,"  &c.     And  thus  much  wickiifl-. 
out  of  Walden.     It  appearcth  by  such  as  have  observed  the  order 
and    course    of    times,    that   this    Wickliff    flourished   a.d.    1371,  Thetime 
Edward   111.   reigning  in   England;    for   thus   we   do  find  in  the  fl0u- 
Chronieles  olTaxlon  :   "In  the  year  of  our   Lord  lSTl,"  saith  he,  risl,ed- 
"  Edward  III.,  king  of  England,  in  his  parliament  was  against  the    ' 
pope's  clergy:   he  willingly  hearkened  and  gave  ear  to  the  voices  and 
tales  of  heretics,  with  certain  of  his  council,  conceiving  and  following 
sinister  opinions  against  the  clergy  ;   wherefore,  afterwards,  he  tasted 

(1)  "Divers  others:"    Robert    Crosthend,    bishop  of  Lincoln;    Aimachanus,   archbishop    of 
Armagh;   Nicholas  Orem  ;   the  author  of  the  Ploughman's  Complaint,  and  Others.     Sec  also  p.  712  . 

and  the  beginning  of  Book  V.  p  727. — Ed. 

(2)  "  In  arcnam  prosiliit,"  in  the  Latin  edition  only,  p.  I. — En. 


792  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    GOSPEL 

Edward  and  suffered  much  adversity  and  trouble.    And  not  long  after,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord,"    saith  he,  "  1372,  he  wrote  unto  the  bishop  of 


A.  D.    Home,  that  he  should  not  by  any  means  intermeddle  any  more  within 
'    his  kingdom,  as  touching  the  reservation  or  distribution  of  benefices  ; 


and  that  all  such  bishops  as  were  under  his  dominion  should  enjoy 
their  former  and  ancient  liberty,  and  be  confirmed  of  their  metro- 
politans, as  hath  been  accustomed  in  times  past,"  &c.     Thus  much 
writeth  Caxton.     But,  as  touching  the  just  number  of  the  year  and 
time,  we  will  not  be  very  curious  or  careful  about  it  at  present :  this 
a  de-       is  out  of  all  doubt,  that  at  what  time  all  the  world  was  in  most 
of-'wick"  desperate  and  vile  estate,  and  that  the  lamentable  ignorance  and 
lis-stime.  darkness  of  God's  truth

~2,547 words

temple  and  church  of  God  "  [chap.  1.  v.  6.] 

Thus  doth  Almighty  God  continually  succour  and  help,  when  all 
things  are  in  despair  :  being  always,  according  to  the  prophecy  of 
the  Psalm  [Ps.  lx.  v.  9.],  "  a  helper  in  time  of  need  ; "  which  thing 
never  more  plainly  appeared,  than  in  these  latter  days  and  extreme 
age  of  the  church,  when  the  whole  state  and  condition,  not  only  of 
worldly  things,  but  also  of  religion,  was  depraved  and  corrupted  : 
that,  like  the  disease  named  lethargy  amongst  the  physicians,  even  so 
the  state  of  religion  amongst  the  divines,  was  past  all  man's  help  and 
remedy.  The  name  only  of  Christ  remained  amongst  Christians,  but 
his  true  and  lively  doctrine  was  as  far  unknown  to  the  most  part,  as 
his  name  was  common  to  all  men.  As  touching  faith,  consolation, 
the  end  and  use  of  the  law,  the  office  of  Christ,  our  impotency  and 
weakness,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  greatness  and  strength  of  sin,  true 
works,  grace  and  free  justification  by  faith,  the  liberty  of  a  christian 
man,  wherein  consisteth  and  resteth  the  sum  and  matter  of  our  pro- 
fession, there  was  almost  no  mention,  nor  any  word  spoken.  Scrip- 
ture, learning,  and  divinity,  were  known  but  to  a  few,  and  that  in  the 
schools  only ;  and  there  also  they  turned  and  converted  almost  all  into 
sophistry.  Instead  of  Peter  and  Paul,  men  occupied  their  time  in 
studying  Aquinas  and  Scotus,  and  the  Master  of  Sentences.  The 
Avorld,  leaving  and  forsaking  the  lively  power  of  God's  spiritual  word 
and  doctrine,  was  altogether  led  and  blinded  with  outward  ceremonies 
and  human  traditions,  wherein  the  whole  scope,  in  a  manner,  of  all 
christian  perfection,  did  consist  and  depend.  In  these  was  all  the 
hope  of  obtaining  salvation  fully  fixed  ;  hereunto  all  things  were 
attributed  ;  insomuch  that  scarcely  any  other  thing  was  seen  in  the 
temples  or  churches,  taught  or  spoken  of  in  sermons,  or  finally 
intended  or  gone  about  in  their  whole  life,  but  only  heaping  up  of 
certain  shadowy  ceremonies  upon  ceremonies;  neither  was  there  any 
end  of  their  heaping. 

The  people  were  taught  to  worship  no  other  thing  but  that  which 
they  did  see  ;  and  did  see  almost  nothing  which  they  did  not 
worship. 

The  church,  being  degenerated  from  the  true  apostolic  institution 


CROSSLY    EXPOUNDED    BY    THE    ROMANISTS.  793 

above  all  measure,  reserving  only  the  name  of  the  apostolic  church,  Edward 

but  far  from  the  truth  thereof  in  very  deed,  did  fall  into  all  kind  of — 

extreme  tyranny  ;  whereas  the  poverty  and  simplicity  of  Christ  was    AP« 

changed  into  cruelty  and  abomination  of  life.     Instead  of  the  apo- _L 

stolic  gifts  and  continual  labours  and  travails,  slothfulness  and 
ambition  had  crept  in  amongst  the  priests.  Beside  all  this,  there 
arose  and  sprang  up  a  thousand  sorts  and  fashions  of  strange 
religions ;  being  only  the  root  and  well-head  of  all  superstition.  How 
great  abuses  and  depravations  were  crept  into  the  sacraments,  at  the 
time  they  were  compelled  to  worship  similitudes  and  signs  of  things 
for  the  very  things  themselves  ;  and  to  adore  such  things  as  were  ah  good 
instituted  and  ordained  only  for  memorials  !  Finally,  what  thing  j^ed 
was  there  in  the  whole  state  of  christian  religion  so  sincere,  so  sound,  f "'  8?.°** 

o  t  *  t  '  ted  witU 

and  so  pure,  which  was  not  defiled  and  spotted  with  some  kind  of  supersu 
superstition  ?  Besides  this,  with  how  many  bonds  and  snares  of 
daily  new-fangled  ceremonies  were  the  silly  consciences  of  men, 
redeemed  by  Christ  to  liberty,  ensnared  and  snarled ;  insomuch  that 
there  could  be  no  great  difference  perceived  between  Christianity 
and  Jewishness,  save  only  the  name  of  Christ :  so  that  the  state  and 
condition  of  the  Jews  might  seem  somewhat  more  tolerable  than 
ours  !  There  was  nothing  sought  for  out  of  the  true  fountains,  but 
out  of  the  dirty  puddles  of  the  Philistines  ;  the  christian  people  were 
wholly  carried  away  as  it  were  by  the  nose,  with  mere  decrees  and 
constitutions  of  men,  even  whither  it  pleased  the  bishops  to  lead 
them,  and  not  as  Christ's  will  did  direct  them.  All  the  whole  world 
was  filled  and  overwhelmed  with  error  and  darkness  ;  and  no  great 
marvel :  for  why,  the  simple  and  unlearned  people,  being  far  from  all 
knowledge  of  the  holy  Scripture,  thought  it  quite  enough  for  them 
to  know  only  those  things  which  were  delivered  them  by  their  pastors 
and  shepherds,  and  they,  on  the  other  part,  taught  in  a  manner 
nothing  else  but  such  things  as  came  forth  of  the  court  of  Rome  ; 
whereof  the  most  part  tended  to  the  profit  of  their  order,  more  than 
to  the  glory  of  Christ. 

The  christian  faith  was  esteemed  or  accounted  none  other  thing 
then,  but  that  every  man  should  know  that  Christ  once  suffered ;  that 
is  to  say,  that  all  men  should  know  and  understand  that  thing  which 
the    devils  themselves  also    knew.      Hypocrisy  was  accounted   for 
wonderful  holiness.     All  men  were  so  addicted  unto  outward  shows, 
that  even  they  themselves,   who  professed  the  most  absolute  and 
singular  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  scarcely  did  understand  or  know 
any  other  thing.     And  this  did  evidently  appear,   not  only  in  the 
common  sort  of  doctors  and  teachers,  but  also  in  the  very  heads  and  The  cap- 
captains  of  the  church,  whose  whole  religion  and  holiness  consisted,  the 
in  a  manner,  in  the  observing  of  days,  meats,  and  garments,  and  such  ^fauxi, 
like  rhetorical  circumstances,  as  of  place,  time,  person,  &c.     Hereof  •■••<  ".'''' ;,s 

'  f  '  'I  tlic  mfe- 

sprang  so  many  sorts  and  fashions  oi  vestures  and  garments;  so  many  nor  sort. 
differences  of  colours  and  meats,  with  so  many  pilgrimages  to  several 
places,  as  though  St.  .lames  ;it  Compostella1  could  do  that,   which 

(1)  "  St.  James  at  Compostella."  This  refers  to  a  famous  but  most  wearisome  pilgrimage, 
much  esteemed  in  former  times,  to  the  tomb  <>f  St.  James  at  Compostella,  in  the  province  of 
Gallicia  in  Spain,  The  distance  from  Rome  was  about  twelve  hundred  English  miles,  anil  yet 
from  thence,  as  also  limn  the  most  distant  parts  of  Europe,  have  millions  of  Christians,  to  their 
Own  cost  .mil  misery, traversed  rocks  ami  mountains  to  visit  that  tomb.— See  Dr.  Michael  Geddea' 
Miscellaneous  Tracts,  vol,  ii. — Ed. 


794  THE    KNOWLEDGE    OF    THE    GOSPEL 

Edward   Christ  could  not  do  at  Canterbury ;  or  else  that  God  were  not  of 

r—  like  power  and  strength  in  every  place,  or  could  not  be  found  but 

137?     ^y  being  sought  for  by  running  gadding  hither  and  thither.     Thus 
the  holiness  of  the  whole  year  was  transported  and  put  off  unto  the 


Palestine  Lent  season.      No  country  or   land   was  counted  holy,  but  only 
hoiyfor    Palestine,  where  Christ  had  walked  himself  with  his  corporal  feet. 
waikfng    Such  was  the  blindness  of  that  time,  that  men  did  strive  and  fight 
there.       for  the  cross  at  Jerusalem,  as  it  had  been  for  the  chief  and  only  force 
and  strength  of  our  faith.      It  is  a  wonder  to  read  the  monuments 
of  the  former  times,  to  see  and  understand  what  great  troubles  and 
calamities  this  cross  hath  caused  almost  in  every  christian  common- 
wealth ,  for  the  Romish  champions  never  ceased,  by  writing,  admo- 
nishing, and  counselling,  yea,  and  by  quarrelling,  to  move  and  stir 
up  princes  to  mind  war  and  battle,  even  as  though  the  faith  and 
belief  of  the  gospel  were  of  small  force,  or  little  effect  without  that 
wooden  cross.     This  was  the  cause  of  the  expedition  of  the  most 
Richard    noble  prince  king  Richard  unto  Jerusalem  ;  who  being  taken  in  the 
England,  same  journey,  and  delivered  unto  the  emperor,  could  scarcely  be 
ransomed  home   again  for    thirty    thousand  marks.      In    the  same 
Frederic,  enterprise  or  journey,  Frederic,  the  emperor  of  Rome,  a  man  of 
perorof    most   excellent    virtue,    was    much    endamaged,    a.d.   1179 ;     and 
Phiif      a^s0  PhihP'  the  king   of  France,  scarcely  returned  home  again  in 
king  of     safety,  and  not  without  great  losses :  so  much  did  they  esteem  the 
ranee.     recovery  of  the  holy  city  and  cross. 

Upon  this  alone  all  men's  eyes,  minds,  and  devotions  were  so  set 
and  bent,  as  though  either  there  were  no  other  cross  but  that,  or  that 
the  cross  of  Christ  were  in  no  other  place  but  only  at  Jerusalem. 
Such  was  the  blindness  and  superstition  of  those  days,  which  under- 
stood or  knew  nothing  but  such  things  as  were  outwardly  seen ;  whereas 
the  profession  of  our  religion  standeth  in  much  other  higher  matters  and 
greater  mysteries.   What  was  the  cause  why  Urban  did  so  vex  and  tor- 
ment himself?    Because  Antioch,  with  the  holy  cross,  was  lost  out  of 
the  hands  of  the  Christians ;  for  so  we  do  find  it  in  the  Chronicles, 
that  at  the  time  Jerusalem  with  king  Guido  and  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  was  taken,  and  under  the  power  of  the  sultan,  Urban  took  the 
matter  so  grievously,  that  for  very  sorrow  he  died.     In  his  place  suc- 
ceeded Lambert,  who  was  called  Gregory  VIII.,  by  whose  motion  it 
was  decreed  by  the  cardinals,  that  (setting  apart  all  riches  and  voluptu- 
ousness) "they  should  preach  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  by  their  poverty 
and  humility  first  of  all  should  take  the  cross  upon  them,  and  go  be- 
The         fore  others  into  the  land  of  Jerusalem."11     These  are  the  words  of  the 
ledge  of    history ;  whereby  it  is  evident  unto  the  vigilant  reader,  unto  what 
gros^yPel  grossness  the  true  knowledge  of  the  spiritual  doctrine  of  the  gospel 
expound-  had  degenerated  and  arown  in  those  days ;  how  exeat  blindness  and 

ed  by  the     11°  -it  ■        i       /•  • 

Roman-  darkness  were  in  those  days,  even  in  the  first  primacy  and  supremacy 
of  the  bishop  of  Rome :  as  though  the  outward  succession  of  Peter 
and  the  apostles  had  been  of  greater  force  and  effect  to  that  matter. 
What  doth  it  signify  in  what  place  Peter  did  rule  or  not  rule  ?  It 
is  much  more  to  be  regarded  that  every  man  should  labour  and  study 
Avith  all  his  endeavour  to  follow  the  life  and  confession  of  Peter ;  and 
that  man  secmcth  unto  me  to  be  the  true  successor  of  Peter  against 
whom  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail.     For  if  Peter  in  the  Gospel 


GROSSLY    EXPOUNDED    UV    THE    110MAXISTS.  795 

ilo  boar  tlic  type  and  figure  of  the  christian  church  (as  all  men,  in  a  Edward 

manner,  do  affirm),  what  more  foolish  or  vain  thing  can  there  be,  than 1_ 

through  private  usurpation,  to  restrain  and  to  bind  that  unto  one  A-  Io- 
nian, which,  by  the  appointment  of  the  Lord,  is  of  itself  free  and  open  lo<~' 
to  so  many  ? 

*  But '  let  it  be  so  that  Peter  did  establish  his  chair  and  scat  at 
Rome,  and  admit  that  he  did  the  like  at  Antioch :  what  doth  this 
place  of  Peter  make,  or  help,  to  the  remission  of  sins,  to  the  inter- 
pretation of  Scriptures,  or  to  have  the  authority  or  keys  of  binding 
and  loosing?  The  which  things,  if  they  be  the  works  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  of  christian  faith,  and  not  of  the  place,  surely  very  foolishly 
do  we  then  refer  them  unto  the  sec  of  Rome ;  including,  and  hedg- 
ing them  in,  as  it  were,  within  certain  borders  and  limits,  as  though 
there  was  no  faith,  or  that  the  Holy  Ghost  had  no  operation  or 
power,  in  any  other  place  but  only  at  Rome.  What  doth  it  make 
matter,  where  Peter  served  the  Lord  ?  We  ought  rather  to  seek  and 
know  wherein  Peter  was  acceptable  unto  his  Lord,  or  wherefore  ? 
that  we  likewise,  with  all  our  whole  power  and  endeavour,  may  go 
about  by  the  same  means  and  way,  to  do  the  like. 

Wherefore  if  we  do  think  or  judge  that  Christ  had  given  unto 
Peter  any  singular  or  particular  privilege,  which  was  not  also  granted 
unto  the  residue  of  the  apostles,  more  for  any  private  affection  or  love 
of  the  man  (such  as  many  times  reigncth  amongst  us  now-a-days), 
avc  are  far  deceived.  But  if  that  he,  for  the  most  high,  divine,  and 
ready  confession,  which  not  he  alone,  but  for,  and  in  the  name  of 
them  all,  did  pronounce  and  express,  obtained  any  singular  privilege; 
then  he  who  doth  succeed  in  the  place  and  chair  of  Peter,  doth  not, 
by  and  by,  show  forth  Peter's  faith ;  but  whosoever  doth  nearest 
follow  Peter  in  faith  (in  what  chair  or  see  soever  he  do  sit),  is  wor- 
thily to  be  counted  the  successor  of  Peter,  and  is  his  successor  in- 
deed ;  in  such  sort  and  wise  that  he  getteth  thereby  no  kind  of 
worldly  honour.  For  the  apostleship  is  an  office,  and  no  degree  of 
honour ;  a  ministry  or  service,  and  no  mastership  or  rule ;  for  as 
amongst  the  apostles  themselves  there  was  no  pre-eminence  of  place 
or  dignity,  but  that  they  altogether,  with  one  mind,  spirit,  and  accord, 
went  about  and  did  the  work  of  their  Master,  and  not  their  own 
business,  so  he  who  was  the  least  amongst  them  was  most  set  by, 
before  Christ  their  witness.2  Whereby  their  succession  deserved 
praise  before  God,  but  neither  dignity  nor  promotion  in  the  world. 
For,  as  Polycarp  answered  very  well  in  Euscbius,  unto  the  under- 
consul,  "  How  doth  the  profession  of  them  (said  he,)  who  have 
forsaken  all  things  for  Christ's  sake,  accord  or  agree  with  these  worldly 
riches  and  earthly  promotions?11 

But  the  bishops  in  these  days3  (I  know  not  by  what  means  of 
ambition,  or  desire  of  promotion),  have  altered  and  changed  the  eccle- 
siastical ministration  into  a  worldly  policy,  that  even  as  prince  suc- 
ceedeth  prince,  so  one  bishop  doth  succeed  another  in  the  see,  as  by 
right  and  title  of  inheritance,  flowing  and  abounding  moreover  in  all 

(1)  These  three  paragraphs,  with  the  few  words  at  the  close  of  the  succeeding  one,  are  reprinted, 
with  the  aid  of  the  Latin,  from  the  edition  of  1503,  p.  87.  See  also  the  Latin  edition  of  15511, 
pp.  ;i.".,  84. — Ed. 

(2)  ••  Before  Christ,  witness  to  himself."— Edition'  1568,  p.  H7.  "Sic  ut  qui  minor  inter  ipoos 
fofct,  pluris  haheretur  apud  Christum  bestem." — Lat.  Edition  1559,  p.  4. — Ed. 

(3)  Edition  1563.— "  Their  days."     Edition  155'J.— "  lloium  teniporuni." — Er. 


796  THE    STORY    OF    JOHN   WICKLIFF    CONTINUED. 

Edward  kind  of  wealth  and  riches  here  in  earth  ;  being  also  guarded,  after  the 

TTT  O  O 


///. 


fashion  and  manner  of  the  world,  with  routs  and  bands  of  men,  chal- 
A'P-  lenging  unto  himself  rule  and  lordship,  in  such  manner  that  the  whole 
'6'  governance  and  rule  of  all  things  fully  did  rest  and  remain  in  his 
power  and  hands.  All  other  pastors  and  shepherds  of  other  churches 
had  no  power  or  authority,  more  than  Avas  permitted  and  granted  unto 
them  by  him.  He  alone  did  not  only  rule  and  govern  over  all 
churches,  but  also  reigned  over  all  kingdoms ;  he  alone  was  feared  of 
all  men  ;  the  other  ministers  of  Christ  were  little  or  nothing  regarded  ; 
all  things  were  in  his  power,  and  at  his  hands  only,  all  things  were 
sought  for.  There  was  no  power  to  excommunicate,  no  authority  to 
release,  neither  any  knowledge  of  understanding  or  interpreting  the 
Scriptures,  in  any  other  place,  but  only  in  the  cloister  at  Rome.* 
The  ris-  Thus,  in  these  so  great  and  troublous  times  and  horrible  darkness 
wfckHff"  °f  ignorance,  what  time

~264 words

govern  the  affairs  of  the  realm.  Wherefore,  a  parliament  being  called 
the  year  before  his  death,  it  was  there  put  up,  by  the  knights  and  other 
the  burgesses  of  the  parliament,  because  of  the  misgovernment  of  the 
realm  (by  certain  greedy  persons  about  the  king,  raking  all  to  them- 
selves, without  seeing  any  justice  done),  that  twelve  sage  and  discreet 
lords  and  peers,  such  as  were  free  from  note  of  all  avarice,  should  be 
placed  as  tutors  about  the  king,  to  have  the  doing  and  disposing  under 
him  (six  at  one  time,  and  in  their  absence,  six  at  another)  of  matters 
pertaining  to  the  public  regiment.     Here,  by  the  way,  I  omit  to  speak 
of  Alice  Perris,  the  wicked  harlot,  who,  as  the  story  rcporteth,  had  be-  Alice  Per- 
witched  the  king's  heart,  and  governed  all,  and  sat  upon  causes  herself,  j^g6 
through  the  devilish  help  of  a  friar  Dominic  ;  who,  by  the  duke  of  £?™;u" 
Lancaster,  was  caused  to  be  taken,    and  was  convicted,  and  would  The  ting 
have  suffered  for  the  same,  had  not  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  eTi>yka 
the  friars,  more  regarding  the  liberty  of  their  church  than  the  punish-  woman 
ment   of  vice,  reclaimed  him   for  their  own  prisoner.     This  Alice  theheipof 
Perris,  notwithstanding  she  was  banished  by  this  parliament  from  thcafnar" 
king,  yet  afterwards    she  came  again,  and  left   him    not,  till  at  his 
death  she  took  all  his  rings  upon  his  fingers  and  otherjewels  from 
him,  and  so  fled  away  like  a  harlot.     But  this  of  her  by  the  way. 

These  twelve  governors,  by  parliament  aforesaid  being  appointed  Twelve 
to  have  the  tuition  of  the  king,  and

~841 words

displeasure  against  the  popish  clergy ;    whether  for  corrupt 

A.  D.    and  impure  doctrine,  joined  with  like  abominable  excess  of  life,  or 
''•    for  what  other  cause,  it  is  not  precisely  expressed  ;  only  by  story  the 

cause  thereof  may  be  guessed  to  arise  by  William  Wickham,  bishop 

of  Winchester.1     The  matter  is  this  : 
a  prac-        The  bishop  of  Winchester,  as  the  saying  went  then,  was  reported 
prelate     to  affirm,  that  the  aforesaid  John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster,  was 
t'heduke  no^  *ne  son  °f k"1©  Edward,  nor  of  the  queen  ;  who,  being  in  travail 
ofLan-     at  Gaunt,  had  no  son,  as  he  said,  but  a  daughter,  which,  the  same 

Ctistcr 

time,  by  lying  upon  of  the  mother  in  the  bed,  was  there  smothered. 
Whereupon  the  queen,  fearing  the  king's  displeasure,  caused  a  certain 
man-child  of  a  woman  of  Flanders,  born  the  very  same  time,  to  be 
conveyed,  and  brought  unto  her  instead  of  her  daughter  afore- 
said ;  and  so  she  brought  up  the  child  whom  she  bare  not,  who  now 
is  called  duke  of  Lancaster.  And  this,  said  the  bishop,  did  the 
queen  tell  him,  lying  in  extremity  on  her  death-bed,  under  seal  of 
confession  ;  charging  him  if  the  said  duke  should  ever  aspire  to  get 
the  crown,  or  if  the  kingdom  by  any  means  should  fall  unto  him,  he 
then  should  manifest  the  same,  and  declare  it  to  the  world,  that  the 
said  duke  of  Lancaster  was  no  part  of  the  king's  blood,  but  a  false 
heir  of  the  king.  This  slanderous  report  of  the  wicked  bishop,  as  it 
savoureth  of  a  contumelious  lie,  so  seemeth  it  to  proceed  of  a  subtle 
zeal  towards  the  pope's  religion,  meaning  falsehood  :  for  the  aforesaid 
duke,  by  favouring  of  Wickliff,  declared  himself  to  be  a  professed 
enemy  against  the  pope's  profession ;  which  thing  was  then  not 
unknown,  neither  unmarked  of  the  prelates  and  bishops  then  in  Eng- 
land.    But  the  sequel  of  the  story  thus  followed  : 

"  This  slanderous  villany  of  the  bishop's  report  being  blazed  abroad, 
and  coming  to  the  duke's  ear ;  he,  therewith  being  not  a  little  discon- 
tented, as  no  marvel  was,  sought  again,  by  what  means  he  could,  to 
be  revenged  of  the  bishop.     In  conclusion  the  duke,  having  now  all 
the  government  of  the  realm,  under  the  king  his  father,  in  his  own 
William    hands,  so  pursued  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  that  by  act  of  parliament 
ham,  bi-   he  was  condemned  and  deprived  of  all  his  temporal  goods ;  which 
winches-  g°°ds  were  assigned  to  prince  Richard,  of  Bourdeaux,  the  next  in 
ter  de-     heritor  of  the  crown  after  the  king  ;  and,  furthermore,  he  inhibited  the 
said  bishop  from  approaching  nearer  to  the  court  than  twenty  miles." 
Further  as  touching  this  bishop,  the  story  thus  proceedeth :  "  Not 
long  after  (a.d.  1377),  a  parliament  was  called  by  means  of  the  duke 
of  Lancaster,  upon  certain  causes  and  respects  ;  in  which  parliament 
great  request  and  suit  was  made  by  the  clergy,  for  the  deliverance  of 
the  bishop  of  Winchester.    At  length,  when  a  subsidy  was  asked  in  the 
king's  name  of  the  clergy,  and  request  also  made,  in  the  king's  behalf, 
for  speedy  expedition  to  be  made  for  the  dissolving  of  the  parliament, 
the  archbishop  therefore  accordingly  convented  the  bishops  for  the 
tractation  thereof.     To  whom  the  bishops  with  great  lamentation 
of  theties  complained  for  lack  of  their  fellow  and  brother,  the  bishop  of  Win- 
cimrch  a  chester,  whose  iniurv,  said  thev,  did  derogate  from  the  liberties  of  the 
matter,     whole  church ;    and  therefore  they  refused  to  join  themselves   in 

(1)  ExChron.  Monastciii  Alliani. 


WICKI.IFF    BENT    FOR    BY    THE    DUKE    OF    LANCASTER.  799 

tractation  of  any  such  matters,  before  all  the  members  together  were  Edward 
united  with  the  head;  and,  seeing  the  matter  touched  them  altogether 


for  to  tile 
convoca- 


in  common,  as  well  him  as  them,  they  would  not  otherwise  do.  And    A-^- 

they  seemed,  moreover,  to  be  moved  against  the  archbishop  because 111. 

he  was  not  more  stout  in  the  cause,  but  suffered  himself  so  to  be  cited 
of  the  duke.11 

The  archbishop,  although  he  had  sufficient  cause  to  excuse  himself,  Bishop  of 
wherefore  not  to  send  for  him,  (as  also  he  did,)  because  of  the  perils  tereent8 
which  might  ensue  thereof,  yet  being  forced  and  persuaded  thereto 
by  the  importunity  of  the  bishops,  directed  down  his  letters  to  the  tion 
aforesaid  bishop  of  Winchester,  willing  him  to  resort  unto  the  convo- 
cation of  the  clergy;  who,  being  glad  to  obey  the  same,  was  received 
with  great  joy  by  the  other  bishops ;  and,  at  length,  by  means  of 
Alice  Ferris,  the  king's  paramour,  above  mentioned,  having  given 
her  a  good  quantity  of  money,  the  said  Winchester  was  restored  to 
his  temporalities  again. 

As  the  bishops  had  thus  sent  for  Winchester,  the  duke  in  the  mean  John 
time  had  sent  for  John  Wickliff,  who,   as   is  said,  was   then   the  semfo!1 
divinity  reader  in  Oxford,  and  had  commenced,  in  sundry  acts  and  •>>'  *he 
disputations,  contrary  to  the  form  and  teaching  of  the  pope's  church  Lancas- 
in  many  things ;  who  also,  for  the  same

~773 words

any  perpetuity  to  the  church,  or  to  any  ecclesiastical  person;  for  that 
when  such  ecclesiastical  persons  do  sin,  '  habitualiter,1  continuing  in 
the  same  still,  the  temporal  powers  ought  and  may  meritoriously  take 
away  from  them  what  before  hath  been  bestowed  upon  them.     And 
that  he  proved  to  have  been  practised  before  here  in  England  by 
William  llnfus  ;  "  which  thing,""  said  he,  "  if  he  did  lawfully,  why  may  Example 
not  the  same  also  be  practised  now?11  "  If  he  did  it  unlaWfuIIy,  I?  WiL~ 

i  J  '  nam  hu 

then  doth  the  church  err,  saith  he,  "and  doth  unlawfully  in  praying  fi»s. 
for  him/1  But  of  his  assertions  more  shall  follow,  Christ  willing, 
hereafter.  The  story  which  ascribed  to  him  these  assertions,  being 
taken  out,  as  I  take  it,  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Alban's,  addeth 
withal :  That  in  his  teaching  and  preaching  he  was  very  eloquent, 
"but  a  dissembler,11  saith  he,  "and  a  hypocrite.11  The  cause  why 
he  surmiscth  him  to  be  a  hypocrite,  was  this  : 

First,  Because  he   resorted   much  to  the  orders  of  the  begging 
friars,  frequenting  and  extolling  the  perfection  of  their  poverty. 

Secondly,  Because  he  and  his  fellows  usually  accustomed  in  their 
preaching  to  go  barefoot,  and  in  simple  russet  gowns. 

By  this,   1  suppose,  may  sufficiently  appear  to  the  indifferent,  the 
nature  and  condition  of  Wielding  how  far  it  was  from  the  ambition 
and  pride,  which  the  slanderous  pen    of  Folydore  Virgil    reporteth  me  dra- 
in  his  nineteenth   book  of  him,  namely,  that  because  he  was   not  ^J" 
preferred  to  higher  honours  and  dignities  of  the  church,  (conceiving  rolydore. 
therefore    indignation   against  the  clergy,)  he  became  their  mortal 


800  WICKLIFF  FALSELY  CHARGED  WITH  AMBITION. 

Edward  enemy.     How  true  was  this,  He  only  knoweth  best,  that  rightly  shall 

'■ —  judge  both  the  one  and  the  other. 

A'R'        In  the  mean  time,  by  other  circumstances  and  parts  of  his  life,  we 
— l—l-  may  also  partly  conjecture  what  is  to  be  thought  of  the  man.     But 

however  it  was  in  him,  whether  true  or  false,  yet  it  had  been 
wkkiiff  Polydore's  part,  either  not  so  intemperately  to  have  abused  his  pen, 
barged  or  at  least  to  have  showed  some  greater  authority  and  ground  of  that 
wtumby  ms  rePor^ :  f°r  to  follow  nothing  else  but  flying  fame,  so  rashly  to 
PoLydore.  defame  a  man  whose  life  he  knoweth  not,  is  not  the  part  of  a  faithful 

story-writer. 
wickiiff        But  to  return  from  whence  we  digressed.     Beside  these  his  opi- 
1*0  Touch"1  ni°ns  ancl  assertions  above  recited,  with  others  which  are  hereafter  to 
the  mat-   be  brought  forward  in  order,  he  began  then  something  nearly  to  touch 

tcr  of  tlic  ' 

sa«a-      the  matter  of  the  sacrament,  proving  that  in  the  said  sacrament  the 

ment'      accidents  of  bread  remained  not  without  the  subject,  or  substance ; 

and  this,  both  by  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  also  by  the  authority  of  the 

doctors,  but  especially  by  such  as  were  most  ancient.     As  for  the 

later  writers,  that  is  to  say,  such  as  have  written  upon  that  argument 

under  the  thousand  years  since  Christ's  time,  he  utterly  refused  them, 

saying,  That  after  these  years  Satan  was  loosed  and  set  at  liberty ; 

and  that  since  that  time  the  life  of  man  hath  been  most  subject  to,  and 

in  danger  of,  errors  ;  and  that  the  simple  and  plain  truth  doth  appear 

and  consist    in    the  Scriptures,    whereunto  all    human    traditions, 

whatsoever  they  be,  must  be  referred,  and  especially  such  as  are  set 

Theiat-    forth  and  published  now  of  late  years.     This  was  the  cause  why  he 

tersWofthe  refused  the  later  writers  of  decretals,  leaning  only  to  the  Scriptures 

church     an(j  ancient  doctors  ;  most  stoutly  affirming  out  of  them,  that  in  the 

to  he  iiiis~  »t  cj 

doubted,   sacrament  of  the  body,  which  is  celebrated  with  bread,  the  accidents 

dentsnot  &re  not    present  without  the  substance  ;    that  is   to  say,    that  the 

thebsacra-  b°dy  of  Christ  is  not  present  without  the  bread,  as  the  common  sort 

ment        of  priests  in  those,  days  did  dream.     As   for  his  arguments,  what 

the  sub-    they  were,  we  will  shortly,  at  more  opportunity,  by  God's  grace, 

stance,      declare  them  in  another  place,  lest  that  with  so  long  a  digression  we 

seem  to  defer  and  put  off  the  reader.     But  herein  the  truth,  as  the 

poet  speaketh  very  truly,  had  gotten  John  Wickiiff  great  displeasure 

and  hatred  at  many  men's  hands ;  and  especially  of  the  monks  and 

richest  sort  of  priests. 

Albeit  through  the  favour  and  supportation  of  the  duke  of  Lan- 
caster and  lord  Henry  Percy,  he  persisted,  hitherto,  in  some  mean 
quiet  against  their"  wolfish  violence  and  cruelty  :  till  at  last,  about 
a.d.  1377,  the  bishops,  still  urging  and  inciting  their  archbishop 
Simon  Sudbury,  who  before  had  deprived  him,  and  afterward  pro- 
hibited him  also  not  to  stir  any  more  in  those  sorts  of  matters,  had 
obtained,  by  process  and

~158 words

all  the  prelacy  of  England.     And 
speaking,  moreover,  unto  him:   "Thou,"  said  he,  "bearest  thyself  so 
brag  upon  thy  parents,  who  shall  not  be  able  to  help  thee;  they  shall 

(1)  Ex  Hist.  Monaco)  D.  Albaniex  accommodate  D.  Matth.  Arclm-pis.  Cant.    , 
VOL.   II.  8  I 


802 


RIOTOUS    CONDUCT    OF    THE    LONDONERS. 


Edward  ]laVe  enough  to  do  to  help  themselves ;"  for  his  parents  were  the  earl 

and  countess  of  Devonshire.1     To  whom  the  bishop  again  answered, 

A.  D.    that  to  be  bold  to  tell  truth,  his  confidence  was  not  in  his  parents, 

"•   nor  in  any  man  else,  but  only  in  God  in  whom  he  trusted.     Then 

The  duke  the  duke  softly  whispering  in  the  ear  of  him  next  by  him,  said,  That 

eth  to      he  would  rather  pluck  the  bishop  by  the  hair  of  his  head  out  of  the 

tl,eir       church,  than  he  would  take  this  at  his  hand.    This  was  not  spoken 

thehhair3f  so  secretly,  but  that  the   Londoners  overheard  him.     Whereupon, 

out  of  the

~335 words

also,  concerning  the 

injuries  done  the  day  before  to  their  bishop. 

In  the  mean  time,  they,  being  busy  in  long  consultation  of  this 
matter,  suddenly  and  unawares  entered  into  the  place  two  certain 
lords,  whether  come  to  spy,  or  for  what  other  cause,  the  author 
leaveth  it  uncertain ;  the  one  called  lord  Fitz- Walter,  the  other 
lord  Guy  Bryan.  At  the  first  coming  in  of  them  the  vulgar  sort  was 
ready  forthwith  to  fly  upon  them  as  spies,  had  not  they  made  their 
protestation  with  an  oath,  declaring  that  their  coming  in  was  for  no 
harm  toward  them.  And  so  they  were  compelled  by  the  citizens  to 
swear  to  the  city  their  truth  and  fidelity :  contrary  to  the  which  oath, 
if  they  should  rebel,  contented  they  would  be  to  forfeit  whatsoever 
goods  and  possessions  they  had  within  the  city. 
The  ora-  This  done,  then  began  the  Lord  Fitz- Walter,  in  this  wise,  to  per- 
ioral °Fitz-  suade  and  exhort  the  citizens ;  first  declaring  how  he  was  bound  and 
uleL^i-0  OD%ed  t0  them  and  to  their  city,  not  only  on  account  of  the  oath 
doners,  now  newly  received,  but  of  old  and  ancient  good  will  from  his  great 
grandfather's  time.  Besides  other  divers  duties,  for  the  which  he  Avas 
chiefly  bound  to  be  one  of  their  principal  fautors ;  forasmuch  as 
whatsoever  tendeth  to  their  damage  and  detriment  redounded  also  no 
less  unto  his  own  :  for  which  cause  he  could  not  otherwise  choose, 
but  that  what  he  did  understand  to  be  attempted  against  the  public 
profit  and  liberties  of  the  city,  he  must  needs  communicate  the  same 
to  them ;  who,  unless  they,  with  speedy  circumspection,  do  occur,  and 

(1)  This  bishop  of  London  was  William  Courtney,  son  to  the  earl  of  Devonshire. 


THE    LONDONERS*    HASTY    COUNSEL.  803 

prevent  perils  that  may  and  are  like  to  ensue,  it  would  turn,  in  the  Edward 

end,  to  their  no  small  incommodity.     And  as  there  were  many  other L_ 

things  which  required  their  vigilant  care  and  diligence,  so  one  thing  A.D. 
there  was,  which  he  could  in  no  wise  but  admonish  them  of;  which  L"  '• 
was  this,  necessary  to  be  considered  of  them  all :  how

~189 words

as  should  be  to  his  satisfaction.    At  the  time  the  commons  of  London 
thus,  as  is  said,  were  about  the  duke's  house  at  Savoy,  there  meeteth 
with  them  a  certain  priest,  who,  marvelling  at  the  sudden  rage  and 
concourse,  asked  what  they  sought.     To   whom   answer  was  given  a  priest 
again  by  some,  that  they  sought  for  the  duke  and  the  lord  marshal,  a^/of 
to  have  of  them  the  lord  Peter  de  la  Marc,  whom  they  wrongfully  tT^."cas" 
had  detained  in  prison.     To  this  the  priest  answered  again  more  house 
boldly  than  opportunely  :   "  That  Peter,"  said  he,  "  is  a  false  traitor  fcjSId. 
to  the  king,  and  worthy  long  since  to  be  hanged.1-'    At  the  hearing  of 
these  words,  the  furious  people,  with  a  terrible  shout,  cried  out  upon 
him,  that  he  was  a  traitor,  and  one  that  took  the  duke's  part,  and  so 
falling  upon  him  with  their   weapons,   strove  who  might  first  strike 
him  ;  and  after  they  had  wounded  him  very  sore,   they  had  him, 
so  wounded,  to  prison  ;  where,  within  few  days,  for  the  soreness  of  his 
wounds,  he  died. 


804  THE  DUKE  REVENGED  OF  THE  LONDONERS. 

Edward

~158 words

them  in  remembrance  of  the  blessed  time,  as  they  term 
it,  of  Lent,  had  persuaded  them  to  cease  and  to  be  quiet. 

The  Londoners,  seeing  they  could  get  no  advantage  against  the 
duke,  who  was  without  their  reach,  to  wreak  their  anger,  took  his 
arms,  which  in  most  despiteful  ways  they  hanged  up  in  the  open 
places  of  the  city,  in  sign  of  reproach,  as  for  a  traitor.     Insomuch 
that  when  one  of  his  gentlemen  came  through  the  city,  with  a  plate 
containing  the  duke's  arms,  hanging  by  a  lace  about  his  neck,  the 
citizens,  not  abiding  the  sight  thereof,  cast  him  from  his  horse,  and 
plucked  his  escutcheon  from  him,  and  were  about  to  work  the  ex- 
tremity against  him,  had  not  the  mayor  rescued  him  out  of  their 
hands,  and  sent  him  home  safe  unto  the  duke  his  master.     In  such 
hatred  then  was  the  duke  among  the  vulgar  people  of  London. 
The  mes-      After  this  the  princess,  understanding  the  hearts  and  broil  of  the 
theprfn-   Londoners,  set  against  the  aforesaid  duke,  sent  to  London  three 
thlV

~161 words

princess,  would 
obey  and  do  with  all  reverence,  what  she  would  require  ;  but  this 
they  required  and  enjoined  the  messengers  to  say  to  the  duke  by 
word  of  mouth  :  that  he  should  suffer  the  bishop  of  Winchester, 
before-mentioned,  and  also  the  lord  Peter  de  la  Mare,  to  come  to  their 
answer,  and  to  be  judged  by  their  peers ;   whereby  they  might  either 
be  quit,  if  they  were  guiltless  ;  or  otherwise,  if  they  be  found  cul- 
pable, they  might  receive,  according  to  their  deserts  after  the  laws 
of  the  realm,  what  grief  and  displeasure  the  duke  conceived  and  re- 
tained in  his  mind  hereof.     Again,  what  means  and  suit  the  Lon- 
doners on  their  part  made  to  the  old  king  for  their  liberties  ;  what 
rhymes  and  songs  in  London  were  made  against  the  duke;  how  the 
bishops,  at  the  duke's  request,  were  moved  to  excommunicate  those 
The  duke  malicious  slanderers ;  and,  moreover,  how  the  duke  at  last  was  revenged 
oftiuf6    °f  those  contumelies  and  injuries ;  how  he  caused  them  to  be  brought 
London-    uefore  the  king;  how  sharply   they   were  rebuked   for  their  mis- 
demeanour by  the  worthy  oration  of  the  lord  chamberlain,  Robert 
Aston,  in  the