pope allowed. And then, would he, or nild he', the archbishop should be his judge. Thus was there nothing allowed that the lord Cobham had lawfully afore required. But forsomuch as hee would not bee sworne in all things to submit himself to the church, and so take what penance the archbishop would enjoyne him, hee was arested againe at the kings commandement, and so led forth to the Tower of London, to keepe his day (so was it then spoken) that the archbishop had appointed him afore in the kings chamber.

Then caused hee the aforesaid confession of his faith to bee copied againe, and the answere also (which hee had made to the foure articles propounded against him) to be written in maner of an indenture in two sheets of paper; that when hee should come to his answer, he might give the one copie unto the archbishop, and reserve the other to himselfe.

As the day of examination was come, which was the 23. day of September, the Saterday before the feast of S. Matthew, Thomas Arundel the archbishop, sitting in Cayphas rowme' in the chapter-house of Paules, with Richard Clifford bishop of London, and Henry Bolingbroke bishop of Winchester; sir Robert Worley knight and liefetenant of the Tower, brought personnallie before him the said L. Cobham, and there left him for the time: unto whom the archbishop said these words.

The first Examination of the Lord Cobham.

4

"Sir John, in the last generall convocation of the clergie of this our province, yee were detected of certaine heresies, and by sufficient witnesses found culpable. Whereupon yee were by forme of spirituall lawe cited, and would in no case appeare. In conclusion, upon your rebellious contumacie3, ye were both pri

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1 Or nild he.] Or would he not. The negative "ne" was combined anciently with many other words. Nild" is contracted from "ne willed;" which in the Ploughman's Prayer occurs without any contraction. "God that is endlesse in mercy saith, that he ne will not a sinfull mans death, but that he be turned from his sin, and liven." In Wimbledon's Sermon we have nis for ne is. "What sinne I pray you will the fiend have sowen on men, that nis now yused?" P. 504, Fox's Acts. And nought for ne ought, never for ne ever, &c. &c. still continue in use.

2 i. e. As high priest.

3 Bolingbroke.] Henry Beaufort, third son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He was afterwards better known as Cardinal Beaufort.

4 In the last generall convocation.] See above, p. 356.

5 Your rebellious contumacie.] See above, Thorpe's Examination, note on p. 272.

vately and openly excommunicated. Notwithstanding wee neither yet shewed our selves unreadie to have given you absolution (nor yet doe not to this houre) would ye have meekly asked it." Unto this the L. Cobham shewed, as though he had given no eare, having his minde otherwise occupied, and so desired no absolution. But said he would gladly before him and his brethren make rehearsall of that faith which he held and intended alwaies to stand to, if it would please them to licence him thereunto. And then he tooke out of his bosome a certaine writing indented, concerning the articles whereof he was accused, and so openly read it before them, giving it unto the archbishop as hee had made thereof an end. Whereof this is the copie.

"I John Oldcastle knight, L. of Cobham, will that all Christian men weet and understand; that I clepe Almighty God into witnesse, that it hath been, now is, and ever with the help of God, shall be mine intent and my will, to beleeve faithfully and fully all the sacraments that ever God ordained to bee done in holy church: and moreover, to declare me in these foure points,-I beleeve that the most worshipfull sacrament of the aultar is Christes body in forme of bread, the same body that was borne of the blessed virgin our Lady Saint Mary, done on the crosse, dead and buried, the third day rose from death to life, the which body is now glorified in heaven.

"Also as for the sacrament of penance I beleeve, that it is needefull to every man that shall be saved to forsake sinne, and doe due penance for sinne before done, with true confession, very contrition, and due satisfaction, as Gods lawe limitteth and teacheth, and els may hee not bee saved: which penance I desire all men to doe.

"And as of images, I understand, that they be not of beleeve, but that they were ordained sith the beleeve was given of Christ, by sufferance of the church, to be calenders to lewd men', to represent and bring to minde the passion of our Lord

6 John Oldcastle.] See Wilkins, vol. iii. p. 354, 5.

7 Calenders to lewd men.] Wickliffe and his followers did not oppose the setting up of images in churches, as laymen's books. One of them may be taken as expressing sufficiently the general judgment of the lawful and unlawful use of images. "Nevertheless to those men bene images good to whom they have bene but kalendars; and through the sight of hem they knowen the better and worshippen of God and his Saints. And to such men they done harme that setten her hope and trust in hem, or done any

Jesu Christ, and martyrdome and good living of other saints: and that who so it be, that doth the worship to dead images that is due to God, or putteth such hope or trust in helpe of them, as hee should doe to GOD, or hath affection in one more than in another, he doth in that the greatest sinne of maumetrie ".

"Also I suppose this fully, that every man in this earth is a pilgrime toward blisse, or toward paine: and that he that knoweth not, ne will not know ne keepe the holy commandementes of God in his living here (albeit that he go on pilgrimages to all the world, and die so) hee shall be damned. He that knoweth the holy commandements of God, and keepeth them to his end, hee shal be saved though hee never in this life go on pilgrimage, as men now use to Canterbury, or to Rome, or to any other place." worship to hem against Gods law and his hest." William Swinderby in Fox's Acts, p. 433.

We have before (see p. 173) noticed the use of the term lewd men for lay men. It occurs very often in that sense: and accordingly it is met with as opposed to "learned," to "clerk," "priest," "deacon," &c. 66 Clarkys" (says the author of the Prologue to the Bible) "dispisin and stoppen holy writ as much as they moune (may), yet the lewde people cryethe after holye wryt to kun (con, know) it, and kepe it, with grete cost and perile of here lyfe." Signat. R 1.

Among the Harl. MSS. (No. 45) in the British Museum is a " Mirrour to Lewde Men and Wymmen; in whiche they may see God thorgh stedfast byleve and hemself thorgh mekenes, and what is vertu and what is synne."

8 Sinne of maumetrie.] "We charge the prelatical clergy with popery, to make them odious, though we know they are guilty of no such thing; just as heretofore they called images mammets, and the adoration of images mammetry, that is, Mahomets and Mahometry; odious names, when all the world knows that Turks are forbidden images by their religion." Selden's Table Talk, Article Popery.

• To Canterbury.] The pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, in the Abbey at Canterbury, was one of the most celebrated in England. Somner in his Antiquities tells us that his altar there was visited in one year by one hundred thousand votaries. The story of the comparative value of the offerings at his shrine, at that of the Virgin, and of Christ, in the same Cathedral, has been often told. They were as follows, for one year,

But in another year the preference shown to the saint was still more decided.

Thus :

This answer to his articles thus ended and read, he delivered it to the bishops as is said afore. Then counselled the archbishop with the other two bishops, and with divers of the doctors, what was to be done in this matter; commanding him for the time to stand aside. In conclusion by their assent and information, hee said thus unto him, "Come hither, sir John. In this your writing are many good things contained, and right catholicke also, we deny it not but yee must consider that this day was appointed you to answer to other points concerning those articles, whereof as yet no mention is made in this your bill. And therefore yee must declare yet your minde more plainely.

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And thus; whether that ye hold, affirme, and beleeve, that in the sacrament of the aultar, after the consecration rightly done by a priest, remaineth materiall bread", or not: moreover, whether ye do hold, affirme, and beleeve, that as concerning the sacrament of penance (where a competent number of priests are) every Christian man is necessarily bound to be confessed of his sinnes to a priest ordained by the church, or not."

Yet others, besides the Wickliffites, as we are told, were guilty of heresy against the established rights of this saint. "In the year 1381 (says the monkish writer of Speculum Parvulorum), in the fourth jubilee of the most famous martyr St. Thomas, the people from every place flocked in great multitudes to Canterbury. At the same time it happened that the venerable father, the Lord Simon de Suthberi (Sudbury), then bishop of London (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), was travelling towards Canterbury, who being misled by the spirit of error, positively assured the people that were going on pilgrimage thither, that the plenary indulgence, which they hoped for at Canterbury, was of no profit or value; on which many of the croud, with their eyes cast down to the ground, stood amazed at the sayings of so great a father; some went back again; others with loud voices cursed the bishop to his face, saying, and wishing, that he might die a base and shameful death, who was not afraid to do so great an injury to so glorious a martyr. A Kentish knight also, whose name the writer thinks was Sir Thomas de Aldoun, being moved with anger, came up to the bishop, and said to him, My lord bishop, because you have raised such a sedition among the people against St. Thomas, at the peril of my soul, you shall die a shameful death; to which all the people cried, amen, amen. Accordingly, in the reign of Richard 2d, he was beheaded by the mob that rose under Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, that the voice of the people, saith the writer of this story, i. e. the voice of God, as it was foretold, might in due time be fulfilled." Wharton's Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 49, 50, according to the translation of Mr. Lewis, in his Life of Bishop Pecock, p. 56, &c.

10 Remaineth materiall bread.] See above, Thorpe's Examination, note on p. 294. B b

VOL. I.

doe.

After certaine other communication, this was the answer of the good lord Cobham. That none otherwise would hee declare his minde, nor yet answere unto his articles, than was expressly in his writing there contained. Then said the archbishop againe unto him, "Sir John, beware what yee For if yee answer not clearely to those thinges that are here objected against you, (especially at the time appointed you only for that purpose,) the law of holy church is ", that compelled once by a judge, we may openly proclaime you an heretick." Unto whom hee gave this answer: "Doe as yee shall thinke best, for I am at a point'. Whatsoever hee or the other bishops did aske him after that, he bad them resort to his bill; for thereby would he stand to the verie death. Other answere would hee not give that day, wherewith the bishops and prelates were in a manner amased and wonderfully disquieted.

At the last the archbishop counselled againe with his other bishops and doctors; and in the end thereof declared unto him, what the holy church of Rome (following the saying of S. Augustine, S. Hierome, S. Ambrose, and of other holy doctors) had determined in these matters, no manner of mention once made of Christ. Which determination (saith he) ought all Christian men both to beleeve and to follow.

2

Then said the lord Cobham unto him, "that he would gladly both beleeve and observe whatsoever holy church of Christes institution had determined, or yet whatsoever God had willed him either to beleeve or to do. But that the pope of Rome with his cardinals, archbishops, bishops and other prelates of that church had lawfull power to determine such matter as stood not with God's word throughly; that would he not (he said) at the time affirme." With this the archbishop bad him to take good advisement till the Munday next following (which was the 25. day of September) and then justly to answere, specially unto this point: "whether there remained matteriall bread in the sacrament of the aultar, after the words of consecration or not." He promised him also, to send unto him in writing those matters

11 The law of holy church is.] See above, Thorpe's Examination, note on p. 272, 3.

1 At a point.] Compare above, in the account of Thorpe (p. 301): "Do with me, God, what thou wilt!"

2 Had lawfull power.] Here is clearly asserted the grand cardinal point of the 20th art. of the church of England.