IN THE KING’S SERVICE
The decade which followed Cromwell’s appointment as counsellor to Henry
VIII. witnessed some of the most striking changes that have ever taken
place in England. The question which must obviously occur to every
student of the period, is whether the King himself, or his new minister,
was the real cause of the secular and religious revolution of the years
1530 to 1540. The difficulty of the problem is increased by the fact
that Henry and Cromwell made every effort to conceal their traces;
scarcely any information can be gleaned from their correspondence. We
are therefore forced to draw our conclusions for the most part from
external evidence and the reports of contemporary writers.
It may be justly said that in general the probabilities point to
Cromwell as the true originator of the startling changes which occurred
soon after his accession to power. The fact that the ultimate object of
all these changes was the concentration of power in the hands of the
Crown is not in itself of great value in determining the identity of
their originator; for the strengthening of the monarchy was an end which
both King and minister always kept in view: in the methods by which this
object was attained, however, we have a most valuable clue to aid us in
the solution of our problem. These methods were all intensely
Cromwellian: their directness and efficiency are essentially and
distinctively characteristic of the King’s new minister. In the contrast
between the dawdling ineffectiveness of Wolsey’s device for solving the
problem of the King’s divorce, and the summary, revolutionary process by
which it was finally secured after the Cardinal’s fall, lies our
strongest ground for supposing that it was at Cromwell’s instance that
the decisive step was taken. It seems almost impossible that Henry,
after having suffered himself to be guided so long by Wolsey, in the
management of his ‘grete matier’ should have adopted at the Cardinal’s
death a plan to secure his wishes, so thoroughly repugnant to the
principles of his old adviser, unless the idea had been put into his
head by another. When the King had once determined to break with Rome,
it followed as a matter of course that the advice of the minister who
had suggested the first step, should be adopted in devising measures to
secure the King in the new position which he had assumed. The means
employed to attain this end--the intimidation of the clergy and the
suppression of the monasteries, the attacks on the independence of
Parliament, the ruthless execution of those who opposed the late
innovations--all bear the stamp of the sinister genius of Cromwell as
unmistakably as the great revolution that rendered them necessary.
Documentary evidence too comes in to help us here; scarcely an important
Act was passed in Parliament between the years 1533 and 1540, of which
there is not some previous mention in Cromwell’s papers and memoranda.
Against these reasons it may be urged that none of the foreign
ambassadors at the English Court mentions Cromwell as an important
factor in the government until three years after he entered the King’s
service, and that the country in general certainly regarded the events
of the years 1530 to 1533 as the work of Henry alone; and that these
facts are strong testimony that the King’s new minister did not attain
any high degree of prominence until the crucial period of the struggle
with Rome had passed. But this paucity of contemporary information
concerning Cromwell’s earlier years in the King’s service may be better
explained in another way. If Henry’s new minister was the true author of
all the revolutionary measures of this period, it was certainly most
unlikely that he should be paraded before the eyes of the people as
such; it was, on the contrary, to his own interest, and also to the
King’s, that he should be kept in the background. By permitting the
people to think that Henry was the real originator of all the new
schemes for establishing the Royal Supremacy in Church and State, the
suddenness of the transition between Wolsey’s ministry and that of his
successor was disguised. Moreover, had the people known that Cromwell
was at the bottom of these changes, which were universally unpopular,
nothing would have saved him from their revenge. As long as the new
measures were attributed to the King, respect for the royal name was
enough to prevent a revolt. Cromwell, on the contrary, who was not even
of noble birth, could not have struck a blow in his own defence, had the
people fastened upon him as the cause of the hated innovations. It was
necessary to keep him concealed until his position was so secure that
the popular odium could not shake him from it. When, in 1533, the mask
was finally thrown off, Chapuys and the other foreign ambassadors
realized all at once that Cromwell’s sudden burst into prominence would
have been quite impossible, had not the ground been thoroughly prepared
for it by important services rendered during the first years of his
ministry.
Such, then, are the general reasons for thinking that Cromwell was the
man who planned out and carried through the various measures which have
rendered famous the period of his ministry. In examining separately the
different events which took place, we shall meet with other evidence
which points to the same conclusion. Most important is the account
contained in Pole’s Apologia ad Carolum Quintum, which describes at
length Cromwell’s first measure, his plan to secure Henry’s divorce from
Katherine of Aragon; a scheme by which he won the confidence of the King
and irrevocably committed himself and his master to the policy which he
followed to the end of his days. Henry, it seems from Pole’s story, had
become utterly discouraged at the time of Wolsey’s death concerning the
prospect of ever obtaining a separation from his first wife. He had
vainly attempted to get an encouraging reply from the English clergy,
and his failure in this added to his despondency; his council, which
lacked all initiative, could only rejoice that he intended to abandon
his efforts. At this juncture the _Satanae Nuncius_, as Pole names
Cromwell, solicited and obtained an audience with the King, and proposed
a plan by which Henry could free himself from Papal restrictions, marry
Anne, divorce Katherine, and yet ostensibly remain true to the Catholic
Faith.
Cromwell introduced himself with his usual tact and skill. In a few
modest and carefully selected sentences he excused himself for daring to
offer an opinion on a subject of which he felt himself to be so very
ignorant--but, he continued, his loyalty to the King would not permit
him to be silent when there was the smallest chance of his being able to
serve his sovereign at this momentous crisis. He was certain, he said,
that the King’s troubles were solely due to the weakness of his
advisers, who listened to the opinions of the common herd, and did not
dare to act upon their own responsibility. All the wise and learned were
in favour of the divorce; the only thing lacking was the Papal sanction;
was the King to hesitate because this could not be obtained? It would be
better to follow the example of the Lutherans, who had renounced the
authority of Rome. Let the King, with the consent of Parliament, declare
himself Head of the Church in England, and all his difficulties would
vanish. England was at present a monster with two heads. If the King
should take to himself the supreme power, religious as well as secular,
every incongruity would cease; the clergy would immediately realize that
they were responsible to the King and not to the Pope, and would
forthwith become subservient to the royal will. Henry may have been
surprised by the audacity of Cromwell’s scheme, but he was also much
pleased, as it promised to satisfy all his dearest wishes. The _Satanae
Nuncius_ received his hearty thanks, and was further rewarded by a seat
in the Privy Council[189].
Cromwell must have realized from the first, that the adoption of his
scheme to throw off the Papal authority in England would encounter the
greatest opposition from the clergy, but he had already devised a plan
by which every objection could be silenced and the refractory
ecclesiastics overawed. His whole policy in this crisis was based on the
knowledge that the position of the clergy since Wolsey’s fall was
completely altered. They were no longer in any sense popular. The State
Papers of the period contain many lists of the grievances of the Commons
against them[190]. They had received a severe lesson from the Parliament
of 1529; they were now isolated, timid and demoralized. Cromwell was the
first to perceive and make use of their changed condition. At the same
time he realized how completely the House of Austria had possessed
itself of the Papacy; the failure of Wiltshire’s embassy to the Emperor
in Bologna, in 1530[191], assured him, if he needed any assurance, that
the day of compromise with the Pope was passed, and that no divorce
would ever come from the Vatican; he saw that if a separation of Henry
and Katherine was to be secured at all, the battle-ground on which it
was to be won was not the Papal Curia at Rome, but the Houses of
Convocation and Parliament.
So it was conveniently discovered that Wolsey’s guilt was shared by
Convocation, the Privy Council and the Lords and Commons, and indirectly
by the nation itself; as all these had recognized the Cardinal in his
capacity of legate, and so had become, by language of the statute, his
‘fautors and abettors.’ Again conveniently, but also most unreasonably,
while the laity, who had eagerly availed themselves of the Cardinal’s
jurisdiction, were tacitly passed over, the clergy who had been the only
ones to make a stand in opposition to the legatine authority, were
included in the Praemunire. So in December, 1530, as Holinshed quaintly
puts it, ‘the kings learned councell said plainlie’ that the ‘whole
cleargie of England ... were all in the premunire[192],’ and the
Attorney-General was instructed to file a brief against the entire body
in the Court of King’s Bench. The clergy then assembled in Convocation,
‘and offered the King 100,000 pounds to be their good lord, and also to
give them a pardon of all offences touching the Praemunire, by act of
Parliament.’ To their surprise and dismay, however, Henry refused the
bribe, unless, in the preamble to the grant, a clause were introduced
making him ‘to be the Protector and only Supreme Head of the Church and
clergy of England[193].’ The whole plot on the part of the King and the
Privy Council was conducted with the greatest possible secrecy, and
their real motives were probably not guessed at by the world outside.
Even the astute Chapuys was completely deceived respecting the King’s
actual intention. In his letters of the 23rd and 31st of January, 1531,
he informs the Emperor that ‘when the King has bled the clergy, he will
restore to them their liberties, and take them back into his favour,’
and later declares that ‘the whole thing was done to bring about a union
between the clergy and the nobles[194].’ It was not until the 14th of
February, when the entire affair had been carried through, that the
Spanish ambassador really understood what was happening, and discovered
that it was all something more than a striking exhibition of Tudor
avarice[195].
In the meantime a number of Latin manifestoes appeared favouring the
King’s divorce, and inveighing against the Papal Supremacy[196]. But in
spite of all these intimidations, the clergy though weak did not intend
to surrender without a struggle. We are told that ‘ille de suprematu
regis conceptus haud bene placuit praelatis et clero, inde eum
modificari voluerunt. Per tres itaque sessiones cum consiliariis regiis
(among whom Cromwell doubtless was most prominent) ratio inita fuit
quomodo regis animum flectere possent ad mollioribus verbis exprimendum
articulum illum[197].’ At first Henry announced to the clergy through
Rochford that the only alteration he would accept would be the insertion
of the words ‘post Deum.’ In the end, however, he yielded in this
point, and consented to an amendment moved by Archbishop Warham, so that
in its final form the clause read ‘Ecclesiae et cleri Anglicani, cujus
singularem protectorem, unicum et supremum dominicum, et quantum per
Christi legem licet etiam supremum caput ipsius majestatem
recognoscimus.’ Both the Canterbury and York Convocations hastened to
accept this compromise, and the latter voted an additional grant of
£18,000. The only bishop who raised the slightest objection to the royal
demand was Cuthbert Tunstall, of Durham. It is obvious that if the
famous ‘quantum per Christi legem licet’ was really enforced, the
victory which the King’s party had gained was but an empty one: the
amendment has been characterized as ‘a clause by which all practical
value was taken out of the act[198].’ But Henry certainly had no idea of
permitting a restriction as vague as this seriously to interfere with
his schemes; if the qualification became really troublesome he was quite
prepared to have it expunged. For the moment he had been willing tacitly
to acknowledge that there was some force in the clause in order to
overcome the obstinacy of his opponents, but Chapuys was certainly not
far wrong in saying that it was ‘all the same as far as the King is
concerned as if they had made no reservation, for no one will now be so
bold as to contest with his lord the importance of this
reservation[199].’ The long-deferred pardon was at last granted: though
when it was first sent down from the Lords, the Commons discovered that
the laity were not mentioned and so were still in the Praemunire: a
deputation from the Lower House, however, waited upon the King and
expressed their doubts, and though at first Henry treated them harshly,
he finally succumbed, and the laity were included in the pardon[200].
But the struggle was not yet over. The following year witnessed a
continuation of the attacks on the independence of the clergy. This
time, however, Henry and Cromwell had determined that the brunt of the
battle should be borne by Parliament, which responded to the mandates
of the King and his minister with gratifying celerity. Shortly after the
opening of the session, in January, 1532, there appeared in the Lower
House that famous document, which is usually known as the ‘Supplication
of the Commons against the Ordinaries[201].’ The designation is
certainly misleading: so preponderant was the part played by one of the
Commons in the preparation of this memorable petition, that it cannot be
fairly regarded as the work of them all. The nature of the charges of
which the ‘Supplication’ was composed, its phraseology and the
handwritings in the various drafts of it which are preserved to us
to-day[202] leave little doubt that it was originally devised by the
genius of Cromwell. It was in fact the first of a number of measures
ostensibly emanating from Parliament, but in reality prepared by the
King’s minister and forced by him upon the very tractable Lords and
Commons. The purport of the supplication was, in brief, to accuse the
clergy of making laws and ordinances without the assent of the King or
his lay subjects, of demanding excessive fees, of dealing corruptly and
unfairly, especially with cases of heresy, and to request the King to
take measures for the remedy of these abuses. The Ordinaries, to whom
the petition was delivered from the King on April 12, at once composed a
temperate and dignified reply, in which the injustice and
unreasonableness of the charges preferred against them were courteously
but plainly pointed out[203]. Parliament in the meantime had been
prorogued for three months, but as soon as it had reassembled it was
forced to take up the cudgels again[204]. The clergy had stated their
case so well that Henry, in dread lest the faint-hearted Commons should
abandon too soon a quarrel into which his minister had led them, thought
it advisable to intervene himself in the dispute. A short interview
between the King and the Speaker was enough to reanimate the drooping
spirits of the House: Henry was even spared the trouble of a frank
avowal of his attitude in words--a gracious promise to be ‘indifferent’
between the disputants was quite sufficient to ensure the continuance of
the struggle. The Ordinaries were not slow to discover that their first
reply had been totally ineffectual, and hastened to compose a second
which, though maintaining in general the position which had originally
been assumed, contained a concession that no new laws should be
published without the royal consent[205]. A good deal more haggling,
however, was necessary before the final compromise was reached[206]. In
fact matters moved so slowly that the King was obliged to make (or let
Cromwell make for him) another of his suspiciously timely discoveries to
the effect that his sovereign rights as Supreme Head were not clear,
because every bishop at his consecration had made an oath of allegiance
to the Pope. The Commons were asked to rectify this, and were about to
pass severe censure on the bishops, when they were prorogued once more
on account of the ragings of the plague. Before he let them go, however,
the King had probably ascertained that the clergy intended to submit.
Threatened on all sides, Convocation on the 16th of May finally agreed
not to pass any more new regulations without the King’s licence, and to
examine and revise, according to the royal wishes, the canons already
made[207]. The most important result of the controversy for us to notice
is that the King, acting (as he evidently did) on the advice of
Cromwell, had succeeded in reducing Convocation to complete subjugation,
and in making Parliament pliant to his will, as it had never been
before. The scheme of controlling the clergy is doubly significant,
first, as the cause of a great change in itself; second, as the first
step of the dominant policy of the next ten years, for establishing the
Royal Supremacy in Church and State. It must not be forgotten however
that Cromwell’s action, in defiance of Papal authority at this juncture,
arose from no hate of the Romish dogmas nor from any love of the new
religion. He carried out all his schemes solely from political motives;
the religious, the emotional side left him absolutely untouched; the
practical, the politically serviceable aspect of the case, alone
appealed to him.
Popular as Henry doubtless was, Cromwell must have realized, when he
thus threw himself heart and soul on the King’s side in the divorce
case, that he had staked everything on the continuance of the royal
favour. The best of the clergy were strongly against the cause of Anne
Boleyn, and there were but few who disagreed with them. The general
sympathy of the nation for Katherine was greater than ever. Chapuys
tells us that Henry was urged by the crowd in the streets to take back
the Queen, and that Anne Boleyn was not infrequently publicly
insulted[208]. The mob, and still more the friars, spoke of her openly
as a common prostitute, who ‘ruled the King and beggared spiritualty and
temporalty also.’ A letter of the imperial ambassador tells us that the
provincial of the Friars Observants at Greenwich (better known as Friar
Peto) preached before the King, and told him that ‘the unbounded
affection of princes and their false counsellors deprived them of their
knowledge of the truth, and that Henry was endangering his crown by his
marriage, for great and little were murmuring at it.’ The King concealed
his vexation as best he could, but later ordered one of his chaplains to
preach there in his presence, and contradict all that Peto had said. At
the end of this sermon the warden arose, and answering for his minister
in his absence, dared to say in Henry’s presence that the royal chaplain
had lied. The King was very angry and had the warden and preacher both
arrested[209]. Most of the Greenwich friars were eager to stand by their
brethren, but some proved less incorruptible, and gave secret
information against the steadfast ones.
The result of all these murmurings among commons and friars was that
Cromwell was kept very busy in finding out and extirpating ‘sedycyous
opynyons’ as they were termed. In order to clinch the advantages that
were to accrue to Henry as a result of his newly-assumed ecclesiastical
position, it was as necessary to discover and either destroy or convert
the laymen opposed to it, as it was to keep in submission the clergy
from whose hands it had been snatched. Henry could have probably found
no abler man in the realm to accomplish this purpose than his new
minister. Early in 1532 Cromwell began to create a system of espionage,
the most effective that England had ever seen, that in a short time was
to render unsafe the most guarded expression of dissent in politics or
religion. The success which this organized method of reporting treason
later obtained, is one of the most striking proofs of the relentless
energy of its originator. But Cromwell’s efforts to extirpate sedition,
and to encourage the new ecclesiastical system, were not confined to
England alone during these first years of his ministry. The years 1531
and 1532 must not be passed over without some slight reference to his
connexion with William Tyndale. There was no counsellor about the King,
upon whom Cromwell could rely as an intelligent and consistent ally, to
help him carry out his schemes of ‘political Protestantism.’ In this
dilemma he turned to William Tyndale, who was at that time in the Low
Countries. The theory of ‘one King, one law in the realm; no class of
men exempt from the temporal sword, no law except the law of the land’
advocated in ‘The Obedience of a Christian Man,’ doubtless struck
Cromwell, if he read the book. It was perhaps the nearest approach he
had yet found in writing to the policy he was steadily pursuing; he
immediately desired to induce the reformer to return to England and to
enlist him in the defence of his great cause. The fact that Cromwell was
able to persuade the King to permit him to attempt this is a good proof
of his influence with Henry. In May, 1530, Tyndale had been denounced as
a perverter of God’s word[210]; but so great was the change which the
new minister’s accession to power had wrought in the royal policy, that
Henry now allowed Cromwell to write to his old friend Stephen Vaughan in
the Netherlands[211], and commission him to try and discover where
Tyndale was, and induce him to return to England. To this request
Vaughan sent a double reply to Henry and Cromwell, informing them that
he had written to the reformer (three separate letters to different
places, not knowing where he was) and had received his answer, in which
Tyndale said that the news of what had lately happened in England made
him afraid to go there[212]. In a confidential postscript to the letter
to Cromwell, Vaughan writes in most glowing terms about the reformer,
saying that he was of far greater knowledge than the King’s Highness
took him for, as plainly appeared by his works. ‘Would God he were in
England.’ As usual Vaughan’s enthusiasm had run away with his
discretion. He was the exact opposite of Cromwell in this respect; he
was ever full of emotion and feeling, while his master was to the last
degree practical and calculating.
In spite of his first rebuff, Vaughan persevered in his attempts, and on
the 25th of March sent Cromwell another letter, in which he expressed a
little more hope of getting Tyndale to go to England[213]. Three weeks
later his efforts received some more substantial reward, for on the 18th
of April he wrote to Henry[214], that he had at last obtained an
interview with the reformer, and that though the latter still refused to
comply with his request, his words had been such as to arouse the
enthusiasm of Cromwell’s agent more than ever. With this letter Vaughan
sent to Henry the manuscript of Tyndale’s new book against Sir Thomas
More, called the Answer, which the reformer did not wish to put in print
till Henry had seen it, because the latter had been displeased at the
hasty and unlicensed printing of his former work, The Practise of
Prelates. The letter and the book were not destined, however, to have
the desired effect on the King. The Answer was sufficiently plain to
indicate that Tyndale’s religious beliefs were not of the sort that
would ever be serviceable to Henry; the reformer was altogether too full
of Protestantism for its own sake, to suit either the King or his
counsellor. For once Cromwell had mistaken his man. To say that the King
was thoroughly vexed and annoyed, when he had perused Vaughan’s letter,
and the enclosed work, is a mild statement of the facts. The original
letter which Vaughan wrote is not extant, but there is a copy of it in
the British Museum which ends most abruptly with the words ‘To declar_e_
to yo_ur_ Magyste what In my pore Judgement I thynke of the man, I
ass_er_teyne yo_ur_ grace I haue not co_m_munyd w_i_t_h_ A man[215]’; a
fact which suggests the possibility that the irritable King vented his
anger on the unoffending sheet of paper, and tore it in two. The letter
with which Cromwell, at the King’s direction, replied to Vaughan, is a
still surer index to the impression which the latter’s report had
produced on the King. What with the precipitation of his emotional,
enthusiastic, and unpractical friend, Cromwell must have been placed in
a very awkward position. The many corrections and interlineations in the
draft of the letter he wrote in reply to Vaughan, sufficiently reveal
his great perplexity and bewilderment[216]. The subject-matter of the
letter will speak for itself. The rage of the King is vividly described,
and Vaughan is repeatedly warned to abandon the reformer: but in spite
of everything he continued to attempt to persuade Tyndale to return. He
had two more fruitless interviews with the latter, described in his
letters to Henry of the 20th of May, and to Cromwell on the 19th of
June[217], and after that came back to England for the summer. In
November he returned to the Netherlands, and wrote again to Cromwell
warmly on Tyndale’s behalf, but not a word did he receive in reply[218].
In the meantime Henry and Cromwell had dispatched Sir Thomas Elyot to
arrest the reformer and bring him home[219]. Vaughan finally saw the
danger he ran in advocating the cause of the author of the ‘venemous and
pestif_er_ous work_es_,’ and dared say no more. The rest of his letters
during these two years do not even once mention him. The whole Tyndale
episode is noteworthy as the nearest approach to a mistake in
Cromwell’s internal policy. Henry’s anger probably gave him a clear
warning that many more such would bring him to certain ruin. He was
saved from serious consequences in this case, only because he had amply
atoned for it by his brilliant success in obtaining the submission of
the clergy.
Cromwell was also occupied, during these two years, in re-establishing
Wolsey’s foundation at Oxford, under the new name of King Henry the
Eighth’s College. He was appointed receiver-general and supervisor of
all the lands belonging to it; and the adjustment of claims, transfer of
property, new foundation and charter kept him very busy, and gave him an
excellent opportunity to display his legal talent. He also superintended
the building of a new palace at Westminster, regulated the wages of the
men working on the fortifications at Calais, and was also busy with
minor duties in the King’s own household--the care of the royal plate
and jewels, and even the drawing of patterns for Henry’s robes of
state[220]. From the close of the year 1529 until his fall, the best
index to the various occupations in which he was engaged is afforded by
his famous ‘remembrances.’ These consist largely of short and usually
incomplete sentences, sometimes even single words, jotted down at odd
moments by Cromwell or his chief clerk, on loose sheets of paper--often
on the backs of letters and drafts of important documents. They are for
the most part absolutely disjointed and unconnected in matter, form, and
handwriting. Sandwiched in between apparently careless phrases which
later expand into the most drastic of parliamentary enactments, we find
minute details concerning the wages of labourers, the cost of New Year’s
presents at the Court, or even matters of a private nature: next to a
memorandum for the signing of a letter for some Spaniards occur the
significant words, ‘To Remembre the Auncyent Cronycle of magna Carta and
how _libera sit_ Cam into the Statute[221].’ The less important items
are of course by far the more numerous, especially in the first six
years when the King loaded his new minister with details of the greatest
variety and complexity. Towards the last the ‘remembrances’ are fewer in
number, and deal less extensively with minor matters; but even up to the
very end we find ample evidence that the King’s minister carried in his
head an amount of detail of a comparatively unimportant nature, which
would have been quite impossible for a man like his predecessor. The
Cardinal, absorbed in studying the great diplomatic combinations of
continental Europe, had shamefully neglected minor affairs at home.
Cromwell, in his ten years of power, not only atoned for the errors of
Wolsey, but also familiarized himself with every detail of domestic
administration to an extent that no King or minister had ever done in
England before. It would have been almost impossible to carry through
the tremendous changes which had followed the divorce, without the aid
of a counsellor of the peculiar talents of Thomas Cromwell.
The thread of our narrative now becomes so complicated, when the new
minister is at last fully installed in the King’s service, that it will
be necessary to depart from the chronological order of events hitherto
followed, and to treat separately each phase of Cromwell’s policy, up to
the reaction of 1539. The Internal and Foreign Administration,
Suppression of the Monasteries, of the Pilgrimage of Grace, &c., all
move on hand in hand, and in order to understand their bearing on one
another, it is only needful to remember that they were all the work of
one man, and were proceeding in general at the same time.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI
THE SUPPLICATION OF THE COMMONS AGAINST THE ORDINARIES.
Four drafts of this petition exist to-day in the Public Record Office.
One of them is written in a hand which may be recognized in the greater
part of Cromwell’s correspondence of the time, and which is probably
that of his chief clerk; it is corrected and revised by Cromwell
himself. Of the other three, one, which is uncorrected and probably a
final draft, is also written by the clerk--and the other two, chiefly in
a strange handwriting, are filled with interlineations by Cromwell. The
following copy was made from the first of these drafts (Cal. v, 1016
(4)). The words in brackets are crossed out in the original manuscript:
the words in italics are inserted between the lines. All the corrections
are in Cromwell’s hand.
‘To the King our Sovereigne Lorde
In most humble Wise Shewen vnto yo_ur_ excellent highnes and most
prudent wisedom your faithfull louyng and most humble and obedient
Subiect_es_ The Co_m_mons in this your p_re_sente parliament assembled
That where of late aswell thorough new fantasticall and erronyous
opynyons growen by occasion of Frantike sedycious and ou_er_thwartly
Framed bokes compiled imprynted publisshed and made in the englishe tong
contrarie and ayenst the veray trew catholique and Cristen Faith as also
by the {vnreasonable and} extreme {rygour vndiscrete} _and vncharytable_
behaueour and dealing of dyuers ordynaries _Ther Co_m_myssaryes and
Substytuttes_ which haue heretofore had and yet have thexamynacion in
and vppon the saide errours and hereticall opynyons moche discorde
varyaunce and debate hathe rysen and more and more daylie is like to
encrease and insue emonges the vniu_er_sall sorte of your saide
Subiect_es_ aswell sp_iri_tuall as temporall either ayenst other in most
vncharitable man_er_ to the grete inquietacion vexacion and breche of
your peax w_i_t_h_in this your most catholik realme. The speciall
perticuler greues whereof which most principally concerne your saide
Co_m_mons and lay Subiect_es_ and whiche ar (as they vndoubtedlie
suppose) the veray chief Founteyns occasions and causes that daylie
bredeth Fostereth Norissheth and maynteneth the saide sedycions
factyons dedelie hatered and most vncharitable parte taking_es_ either
parte and sorte of your saide Subiect_es_ spirituall and temporall
ayenst thother hereafter Folowinglye Do ensue.
Furst where the prelat_es_ and sp_iri_tuall Ordynaries of this your most
excellent Realme of Englonde and the clergie of the same haue in their
conuocac_i_ons heretofore made and caused to be made and also daylie do
make dyuers and manye _Facyons of_ lawes constytuc_i_ons and
orden_au_unc_es_ w_i_t_h_out your knowlege or most royall assente and
w_i_t_h_out the assent and consent of any your lay Subiect_es_ vnto the
whiche lawes your saide lay Subiect_es_ haue not onelie heretofore and
daylie be {boundene} _constraynyd to obbeye_ aswell in their bodies
goodes and possessions But also ben compelled daylie to incurre into the
censures of the same and ben contynuallie put to importable charges and
expens_es_ ayenst all equytee right and good conscience. And yet your
saide humble subiect_es_ ne their predecessours coulde eu_er_ be pryuey
to the saide lawes Ne any of the saide lawes haue ben declared vnto them
in thinglisshe tong or otherwise _publysshed_ By knowlege whereof they
might haue extued the daungiers censures and penaltees of the same Which
lawes so made yo_ur_ saide most humble and obedyent subiect_es_ vnder
the supportacion of your Maiestee Suppose to be not onelie to the
dymynucyon and derogacion of your imperyall iurisdiction and prerogatif
royall But also to the grete preiudice inquietacion and damage of all
your saide Subiect_es_ And also where now of late there hathe ben
deuysed by the most Reuerende father in god Wyllyam Archebusshop of
Caunterburie that in the Court_es_ whiche he callith his Courtes of the
Arches and Audience shalbe but onelie Ten proctours at his deputacion
which be sworn to p_re_ferre and promote the onelie iurisdiction {and
preferrement} of the saide Court_es_. By reason whereof if any of your
lay Subiect_es_ shoulde haue any lawfull cause ayenst the Judge of the
saide Court_es_ or ayenst any docto_ur_ or proctour of the same or any
of their Frend_es_ or adherent_es_ they can ne may in any wise haue
indifferent counsaill. And also all the causes depending in any of the
saide court_es_ may by the confederacie of the saide Few proctours be in
suche wise tracted and delayed as your Subiect_es_ suing in the same
shalbe put to importable charges costes and expenc_es_. And in case that
any matiers there being p_re_ferred shoulde touche Your Crowne Regallie
Jurisdiction and p_re_rogatif royall yet the same shall not be disclosed
by any of the saide procto_ur_s for fere of losse of their offices.
Wherefore your saide most obedient Subiect_es_ vnder the protexion of
yo_ur_ maiestee Suppose that your highnes should haue the nomynacion of
som conuenyent nombre of proctours to be alwayes attendaunt in the saide
court_es_ of tharches and audience there to be sworne aswell to the
preferrement of your iurisdiction and prerogatif royall as to
thexpedyc_i_on of all the causes of your Lay Subiectes repayring and
suing to the same.
And Where also many of your saide most humble and obedient subiect_es_
and specyallie those that be of the pourest sorte w_i_t_h_in this your
Realme ben daylie conuented and called before the saide sp_iri_tuall
Ordynaries their Co_m_missaries and Substytut_es_ ex officio somtyme at
the pleasures of the saide Ordynaries and Substytut_es_ for malice
w_i_t_h_out any cause and sumtyme at the onelie p_ro_mocyon and
accusement of their {false} Somoners and apparitours being veray light
and vndiscrete persons w_i_t_h_out any lawfull cause of accusacion or
credible fame proued ayenst them and w_i_t_h_out any presentement in the
vysitacion ben inquieted disto_ur_bed vexed troubeled and put to
excessiue and importable charges for them to bere and many tymes be
suspended and exco_m_munycate for small and light causes vppon thonelie
certificat of the proctours of the adu_er_saries made vnder a fayned
Seale which eu_er_y procto_ur_ hathe in his keping where as the partie
suspended and exco_m_munycate many tymes neu_er_ had any warning and yet
when he shalbe absolued if it be out of the courte he shalbe compelled
to pay to his owne procto_ur_ xxd and to the procto_ur_ which is ayenst
him other xxd and xxd to the Scribe besid_es_ a pryuey rewarde that the
Judge shall haue to the grete impouerysshing of your saide poure Lay
Subiect_es_.
Also Your saide most humble and obedient subiect_es_ Fynde them greued
w_i_t_h_ the grete and excessyue Fees taken in the said sp_iri_tuall
court_es_ and in especiall in the saide Court_es_ of tharches and
audience where they take for euery Cytacyon ii^s vi^d for eu_er_y
Inhibycyon vj^s viij^{d}, for euerie proxie xvj^d for eu_er_y certificat
xvj^{d}, for eu_er_y Libell iij^{s}. iiij^{d}., for eu_er_y answer to
any Lybell iij^s iiij^{d}, for eu_er_y acte if it be but two woord_es_
to the Register iiij^_d_, for eu_er_y personall Cytacion or decree iij^s
iiij^{d}. for euery sentence or iudgement to the Judge xxvi^{s}.
viij^{d}, for eu_er_y testi_m_onyall vppon any suche sentence or
iudgement xxvj^{s}. viii^d for eu_er_y significauit xij^_s_. for eu_er_y
co_m_myssion to examyn wytnes xij^s Which is thought to be importable to
be borne by your saide Subiect_es_ and veray necessarie to be
refo_ur_med.
And Furthermore Where the saide spyrytuall Ordynaries {many tymes
purposedlie to revenge their inwarde greves and displeasures and to put
their saide lawes in execucion} _theyr Co_m_myssaryes & Substytuttes_
sumtyme _for thayr own pleasures Su_m_tyme_ by the Synister procurement
of other sp_iri_tuall p_er_sons vse to make out proces ayenst dyu_er_s
of your saide Subiect_es_ and thereby compell them to appere before
themselff_es_ to answer at a certen day and place to suche articles as
by them shalbe of office afore themselff_es_ then purposed _and that
Secretlye and not in oppen places_ and fourthw_i_t_h_ vppon their
apparaunce w_i_t_h_out cause or any declaracion then made or shewed
co_m_mytt and sende them to warde Where they remayne w_i_t_h_out bayle
or mayneprise sumtyme half a yere and somtyme a hole yere and more or
they may in any wise knowe either the cause of their imprysonement or
any name of their accuser and fynallie their grete cost_es_ charges and
expenc_es_ therin when all is examyned and nothing can be proued ayenst
them but they clerelie Innocente for any Faute or cryme that can be
layed vnto them in that parte ben set ayen at large w_i_t_h_out any
recompence or amend_es_ in that behalf to be toward_es_ them adiudged.
And also if percase vppon the saide proces and apparaunce any p_ar_tie
be vppon the saide matier cause or examynacion brought Fourth and named
either as p_ar_tie or wytnes and then vppon the proffe and tryall
thereof not able to prove and verefie his saide accusacion or testymonye
ayenst the p_ar_tie so accused to be trew then the person so causeles
accused is {clerely} _for the more parte_ w_i_t_h_out any remedie for
his charges and wrongful vexacyon to be {in that parte} toward_es_ him
adiuged and recouered.
Also vppon thexamynacion of the saide accusacion if heresie be
ordynarylie layed vnto the charge of the p_ar_tie so accused then the
saide ordynaries or their ministres vse to put to them suche subtile
interrogatories concerning the high misteries of our feith as ar able
quyckelye to trappe a simple vnlerned or yet a well wytted lay man
w_i_t_h_out lerning and bryng them by suche sinyster introduction sone
to his owne confusion And Fourthw_i_t_h_ if there chaunce any heresie to
be by suche subtill polycie by him confessed in wo_ur_d_es_ and yet
neu_er_ co_m_mytted nor thought in dede, then put they _with_out ferther
fauour the saide person either to make his purgacion and so thereby to
lose his honestie and credence for eu_er_ orell_es_ as som simple sely
Sowle precyselie stonding to the clere testymonye of his owne well
knowen conscience rather then to confesse his innocent trouth to abyde
{thextreme examynacion of deth by the Fyer} _thextremyte in that behalf_
and so is vtterly distroyed.
And if it fortune the saide partie so accused to denye the saide
accusacion and so put his aduersarie to proue the {false} same vntrewlie
forged and ymagened ayenst him then for the more parte suche wytnesses
as ben brought fourth for the same be they but ij in nombre neuer so
sore diffamed of litle trouth or credence adu_er_saries or enemies to
the p_ar_tie yet they shalbe allowed and enabeled _onlye by Discrecyon
of the sayd ordenaryes ther Co_m_myssaryes & Substytuttes_ and
therevppon sufficient cause to procede to iudgement to delyu_er_ the
p_ar_tie so accused either to the seculer hand_es_ {and so to be burned}
after abiuracion w_i_t_h_out remedie and afore if he Submytte himself to
compell him when best happeneth to make his purgacion and bere a Fagotte
to his extreme shame and vtter vndoing.
In Consideracyon whereof most gracious Souereigne Lorde And Forasmoche
as there is at this present tyme and by a Few yeres past hathe ben
outrageous vyolens on thone p_ar_te and moche defaulte and lacke of
pacyent sufferaunce charitee and good will on thother p_ar_te, A
meruelous Disorder of the godlie quyet peax and tranquillyte that this
your realme heretofore eu_er_ hitherto hathe ben in thorough your
poletique wisedom in most hono_ur_able fame and catholik feith
invyolablye p_re_serued. It may therefore most benigne Souereigne lorde
lyke your excellent goodnes for the tender and vnyuersallye indyfferent
zele benigne loue and fauour that your highnes berith towarde both the
saide p_ar_ties, the saide articles if they shalbe by your most clere
and p_er_fite iudgement thought any instrument_es_ or causes of the
saide variaunce and disorder or those and all other occasions
whatsoeu_er_ accompted by your highnes to make toward_es_ the saide
factions depelie and weightylie after your accustomed weyes and man_er_
serched weyed and considered graciouslie to prouyde all vyolence on both
sides vtterlye and clerelie set a parte some suche necessarie and
behofull remedies as may effectuallie reconsile and bryng in perpetuall
vnytee your saide Subiect_es_ sp_iri_tuall and temporall. And for
thestablisshing thereof to make and ordeyn on both sid_es_ suche straite
lawes ayenst the brekers transgressours and offendours as shalbe to
hevye daungerous and weightie for them or any of them to bere suffer and
susteyne. Whereunto Your saide Comons most humblie hertelie and
entierlie beseche your grace as the onely hed Sou_er_eigne lorde
protectour and Defendour of bothe the saide p_ar_ties in whom and by
whom the onelie and sole redresse reformacion and remedie herein
absolutely restith and remayneth. By occasion whereof all your saide
Comons in their conscience surelye accompt that beside the meruelous
Feruent loue that yo_ur_ highnes shall thereby ‹gain› and engendre in
their hart_es_ toward_es_ Your grace Ye shall do the most pryncelie
Feate and shew the most honourable and charitable president and Mirrour
that eu_er_ did Souereigne lorde vppon his subiect_es_ and
therew_i_t_h_all merite and deserue of our mercyfull lorde eternall
blisse Whose goodnes graunt your grace in most godlie pryncelie and
honourable astate long to reigne prosper and contynew as the Souereigne
lorde ou_er_ all your saide most humble and most obedyent Subiect_es_.
[_Two blank pages here._]
And Where _also_ the said prelatis and ordinaries daily do p_er_mytte
and suffer the parsons vicars Curates p_ar_ishe prest_es_ and other
sp_iri_tuall parsons hauing Cure of soule w_i_t_h_in this your Realme
Ministring {vnto yo_ur_ said loving subgiett_es_} _to exact and take of
yo_ur _humble & obedyent Subiect_es _dyuers Su_m_mys of money for_ the
Sacrament_es_ & sacramentall_es_ of holy churche {as the holy sacrament
of the Aulter Baptyme, Matrimonye Confession, buriall weddyng
churching_es_ and suche other} _Sumtyme denying the same w_i_t_h_out
they Fyrst be payd the sayd Su_m_mys of money_ {& _to take_ for the
ministracion of the same of yo_ur_ said Subiect_es_ diuers and certen
so_m_mes of money allegging the same to be their dueties.} Whiche
sacrament_es_ and sacramentall_es_ yo_ur_ saide most humble & obedient
subiectes vnder the protection of yo_ur_ highnes doo suppose & think
ought to be in most Reuerent charitable & goodlie wise freely mynystred
vnto them at all tymes requisite w_i_t_h_oute denyall or {any maner
so_m_me or} _exaccyon of any man_er so_m_mes of money {or other duetie
or contribucion to be asked demaunded or required for the same} _to be
demaundyd or askyd for the same_ And also where in the sp_iri_tuall
court_es_ of the said Prelatis & ordinaries ben lymyted and appoynted
for many Judges Scribes Apparito_ur_s Som_on_ers praysours and other
ministres for the approbacion of testament_es_ Whiche coveting somoche
theire owne priuate Lucres and satisfaccion of the appetit_es_ of the
said prelat_es_ and Ordinaries that when any of your said loving
subiect_es_ do Repaire to any of the said Courtis for the probate of any
testamentes they do in suche wise {extorte and} _make long delays or_
excessively take of theym so large fees and Reward_es_ for the same as
is Importible for theym to beare directly against all Justice lawe
equite and goode conscience
{And also where most gracious soueraigne the Judges Constituted and
appoynted by the said sp_iri_tuall Ordinaries in their said Court_es_
to here and determyne causes there, do in likewise daily take many grete
and excessive fees and rewardes of your said pore subiect_es_ having any
cause or matier depending before theym as is aforsaid And ou_er_ that
when any Judgement or sentence by the said Judge shalbe yeven before
them wille also have grete so_m_mes of money for the same. So that no
thing is or can be obteyned in any of the said Court_es_ w_i_t_h_oute
money.}
_Wherfor_ Your said most humble and obedient subiect_es_ do therfore
vnder yo_ur_ gracious correction and supportacion suppose it were veray
necessary that the said ordinaries in the deputacion of suche Judges
shulde be bounde to appoynte and assigne suche discrete gravous and
honest p_er_sons having sufficient Lernyng witte discrecion &
vnderstonding and also being indewed w_i_t_h_ such sp_iri_tuall
promocions stipend and salarye as they being Judges in their said
Court_es_ myght and may mynystre to eu_er_y parson repairing to the same
Justice w_i_t_h_oute taking any man_er_ fee or Rewarde for any maner
sentence or Judgement to be yoven before theym. And also where as
diu_er_se sp_iri_tuall p_er_sons being p_re_sented aswell by yo_ur_
highnes and by other patrons w_i_t_h_in this yo_ur_ Realme to {any}
_dyuers_ benefices or other sp_iri_tuall promocion. The said ordinaries
and there mynystres do not onely take of theym for theyr L_ette_res of
Institucion and Induction many grete and {excessive} _large_ so_m_mes of
money & Reward_es_ But also do pact and couen_au_nte w_i_t_h_ the same,
taking sure bond_e_s for their indempnite to aunswer to the said
ordinaries the first frutes of the said benefices after their
Institucion so as they being ones p_re_sented or promoted as is
aforesaid ben by the said ordinaries veray {extremely} _vncharytablye_
handled to their no litle hynderaunce & impou_er_isshement whiche yo_ur_
said subgiett_es_ suppose not onely to be against all lawes right & good
consciens but also to be Symony and contrary to the Lawes of god.
And also where as the said sp_iri_tuall Ordinaries do daily conferre and
geve sundry benefices vnto certen yong folkes calling them their Nephews
_or Kynsfolkes_ being in their mynorite and w_i_t_h_in age not apt ne
able to S_er_ue the Cure of any suche benefice Wherby the said
ordinaries do kepe and deteyn the frutes & p_ro_fittes of the same
benefices in their owne handes and therby accumulate to themselff_es_
right grete and large so_m_mes of money & yerely p_ro_fittes to the most
p_er_nicious exsample of all yo_ur_ said lay subiect_es_ and so the
Cures & other promocions youen vnto suche Infant_es_ ben onely {youen
but} _Imployed_ to {enriche} _thenryching of_ the said ordinaries & the
pore sely soules of yo_ur_ people and subiect_es_ whiche shulde be
taught in the paroches yoven as aforsaid for lak of good curates do
perisshe w_i_t_h_oute doctrine or any good teaching.
And also where a grete nombre of holy daies whiche nowe at this
p_re_sent tyme w_i_t_h_ veray smalle Devocion be solempnised and kept
thorough oute this yo_ur_ Realme vppon the whiche many grete abhomynable
and execrable vices idle and wanton sportes ben vsed and ex_er_cised
whiche holy daies if it may stond w_i_t_h_ yo_ur_ gracious pleasure _and
specyall suche as Fall in the heruest_ myght by yo_ur_ maiestie by
thadvice of yo_ur_ most honourable counseill prelates and ordinaries be
made fewer in nombre and those that shall herafter be ordeyned to stond
& contynue myght and may be the more Devoutely religiously &
reu_er_ently obs_er_ued to the Laude of almyghty god and to thencrease
of your high hono_ur_ & fame.’
_Endd._ ‘A boke ayenst the clergy for takyng excessyve Fees’