ordinaunce and desyre of the noble auncyent knyght Syr Johan Fastolf, of
the countee of Norfolk banerette, lyvyng' the age of four score yere,
excercisyng' the warrys in the Royame of Fraunce and other countrees for
the diffence and universal welfare of bothe royames of Englond' and'
Fraunce, by fourty yeres enduryng', the fayte of armes haunting, and in
admynystryng Justice and polytique governaunce under thre kynges, that is
to wete, Henry the fourth, Henry the fyfthe, Henry the syxthe, And was
governour of the duchye of Angeou and the countee of Mayne, Capytayn of
many townys, castellys, and fortressys in the said Royame of Fraunce,
havyng' the charge and saufgarde of them dyverse yeres, ocupyeng' and
rewlynge thre honderd' speres and' the bowes acustomed thenne, And yeldyng'
good' acompt of the foresaid townes, castellys, and fortresses to the seyd'
kynges and to theyr lyeutenauntes, Prynces of noble recomendacion, as Johan
regent of Fraunce Duc of Bedforde, Thomas duc of Excestre, Thomas duc of
Clarence, and other lyeutenauntes." This may be considered as a grateful
tribute from William of Worcestre, when himself advanced in years (he died
in or about 1484), to the memory of his ancient master, sir John Fastolfe,
who had died in 1460. The biography of William of Worcestre was written by
the Rev. James Dallaway in the Retrospective Review, vol. xvi. p. 451; and
reprinted in 4to. 1823, in his volume entitled "William Wyrcestre
redivivus: Notices of Ancient Church Architecture, particularly in
Bristol," &c.; but the latest and most agreeable sketch of Worcestre's life
is that given by Mr. G. Poulett Scrope in his History of Castle Combe,
1852, 4to.
[74] He has recorded that in 1473 he presented a copy of his translation to
bishop Waynflete,--"but received no reward!" His version was not made from
the original, but from the French of Laurentius de Primo Facto, or du
Premier-Faict: an industrious French translator, who flourished from 1380
to 1420.
[75] Bale, in his list of the works of Worcestre, whom he notices under his
_alias_ of Botoner, mentions _Acta Domini Joannis Fastolf_, lib. I,
(commencing) "Anno Christi 1421, et anno regni--"
Oldys (in the Biographia Britannica, 1750, p. 1907) attributes to Worcestre
"a particular treatise, gratefully preserving the life and deeds of his
master, under the title of _Acta Domini Johannis Fastolff_, which we hear
is still in being, and has been promised the publick;" but in the second
edition of Oldys's life of Fastolfe (Biographia Britannica, 1793, v. 706),
we find merely this note substituted: "This is mentioned in the Paston
Letters, iv. p. 78." The letter there printed is one addressed by John Davy
to his master John Paston esquire after sir John Fastolfe's death. It
relates to inquiries made of one "Bussard" for evidences relative to
Fastolfe's estate; and it thus concludes: "he seyth the last tyme that he
wrot on to William Wusseter it was beffor myssomyr, and thanne he wrote a
Cronekyl of Jerewsalem and the Jornes that my mayster dede whyl he was in
Fraunce, that God on his sowle have mercy, and he seyth that this drew more
than xx whazerys (quires) off paper, and this wrytyng delyvered onto
Wursseter, and non other, ne knowyth not off non other be is feyth." It
appears, I think, very clearly that this passage was misunderstood by
Oldys, or his informant, and that the historian of the "journeys" and
valiant acts of sir John Fastolfe was not Worcestre, but the person called
Bussard. It is not impossible that the person whom John Davy meant by that
name was Peter Basset, who is noticed in the next page.
Mr. Benjamin Williams, in the Preface to "Henrici Quinti Gesta," (printed
for the English Historical Society, 1850,) says of Worcestre that "he wrote
the _Acts of Sir John Fastolfe_, contained in the volume from which this
chronicle is extracted," _i.e._ the Arundel MS. XLVIII. in the College of
Arms; but that statement appears to have been carelessly made, without
ascertaining that the volume contained any such "Acts." "Also (Mr. Williams
adds) the _Acts of John Duke of Bedford_ (MS. Lambeth);" but those "Acts"
again are not an historical or biographical memoir, but a collection of
state papers and documents relating to the English occupation of France,
which will be found described in Archdeacon Todd's Catalogue of the Lambeth
Manuscripts as No. 506. Its contents are nearly identical with those of a
volume in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, MSS. No. 41, as will
be found on comparison with Sir Henry Ellis's Catalogue of that collection,
p. 17. The latter is the volume which Oldys, in his life of sir John
Fastolfe, in the Biographia Britannica 1750, has described at p. 1907 as a
"quarto book some time in the custody of the late Brian Fairfax esquire,
one of the Commissioners of the Customs," and of which Oldys attributes the
collection to the son of William of Worcestre, because a dedicatory letter
from that person to king Edward the Fourth is prefixed to the volume.
Another very valuable assemblage of papers of the like character, and which
may also be regarded as part of the papers of sir John Fastolfe, is
preserved in the College of Arms, MS. Arundel XLVIII., and is fully
described by Mr. W. H. Black in his Catalogue of that collection, 8vo.
1829. This is the volume from which Hearne derived the Annals of William of
Worcestre, and Mr. Benjamin Williams one of his chronicles of the reign of
Henry the Fifth.
It is probable that the Lambeth MS. was formerly in the Royal Library, for
abstracts of some of its more important documents, in the autograph of King
Edward the Sixth, are preserved in the MS. Cotton. Nero C. x. These have
been printed in the Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth, pp. 555-560.
[76] From the authority of Tanner and Oldys, we gather that there was
formerly a volume in the library of the College of Arms, bearing the
following title: "Liber de Actis Armorum et Conquestus Regni Franciae,
ducatus Normanniae, ducatus Alenconiae, ducatus Andegaviae et Cenomanniae, &c.
Compilatus fuit ad nobilem virum Johannem Fastolff, baronem de Cyllye
guillem vel Cylly quotem, &c. 1459, per Pet. Basset armig." (Tanner,
Bibliotheca Britannica, 1748, p. 79; Oldys, Biographia Britannica, 1750,
iii. 1903, again, p. 1906; and 2nd edit. 1793, v. 701.) Both Tanner and
Oldys describe this book as being in the Heralds' Office at London, but it
is not now to be found there; and is certainly not a part of the Arundel
MS. XLVIII. the contents of which curious and valuable volume are minutely
described in the Catalogue of the collection by Mr. W. H. Black, F.S.A.
[77] Bale (Scriptores Brytanniae, vii. 80, Folio, 1557, p. 568,) describes
Peter Basset as an esquire of noble family, and an attendant upon Henry the
Fifth in his bedchamber throughout that monarch's career. Bale states that
this faithful esquire wrote the memoirs of his royal master, very fully,
from his cradle to his grave, in the English language; and we find that the
work was known to the chronicler Hall, who quotes Basset in regard to the
disease of which the king died. It is remarkable, however, that this work,
like that formerly in the College of Arms, mentioned in the preceding note
(if it were not the same), has now disappeared; and the name of Basset has
been unknown to Mr. Benjamin Williams and Mr. Charles Augustus Cole, the
editors of recent collections on the reign of Henry the Fifth for the
English Historical Society and the series of the present Master of the
Rolls, (1850 and 1858,) as also to Sir N. Harris Nicolas, the historian of
the Battle of Agincourt, and the Rev. J. Endell Tyler, the biographer of
King Henry of Monmouth (2 vols. 8vo. 1838).
[78] Its real author is supposed to have been AEgidius Romanus, or De
Columna, who was bishop of Berri, and died in 1316. See Les Manuscrits
Francois de la Bibliotheque du Roi, par M. Paulin Paris, 1836, i. 224. It
was printed at Rome in 1482, and at Venice in 1598: see Cave, Historia
Literaria, vol. ii. p. 340. Thomas Occleve, the contemporary of Chaucer,
wrote a poem _De Regimine Principum_, founded, to a certain extent, upon
the work of AEgidius, but applied to the events of his own time, and
specially directed to the instruction of the prince of Wales, afterwards
King Henry V. The Roxburghe Club has recently committed the editorship of
this work to Mr. Thomas Wright, F.S.A.
[79] Preface to The Buke of the Order of Knyghthede (Abbotsford Club,
1847,) p. xxiii.
[80] Ames's Typographical Antiquities, by Dibdin, iii. 198. Moule
(Bibliotheca Heraldica, 1822, p. 12,) conjectures that this may have been
the same with "A Treatise of Nobility," by John Clerke, mentioned by Wood,
in his Athenae Oxonienses, as being also a translation from the French; this
was printed in 12mo, 1543. (Ath. Oxon. edit. Bliss, i. 205.) In that case
the name of _Larke_ is an error of Ames.
[81] Wyer also printed "The Boke of Knowledge," a work on prognostics in
physic, and on astronomy (Dibdin's Ames, iii. 199, 200), and "The Book of
Wysdome, spekyng of vyces and vertues, 1532." (ibid. p. 175.)
[82] Typographical Antiquities, first edition, iii. 1527.
[83] Mr. B. B. Woodward, F.S.A. the author of a History of Hampshire now in
progress, kindly undertook for me to search the records of the city of
Winchester in order to discover, if possible, any information in
elucidation of this document; but he found them in so great confusion, that
at present it is impossible to pursue such an inquiry with any hope of
success.
[84] _Here is written above the line, in a later hand_, yn yo^r most noble
persone and
[85] _In MS._ whiche whan
[86] _MS._ of
[87] _These words are inserted by a second hand._
[88] _Inserted above the line by a second hand._
[89] _sc._ weight
[90] _MS._ infinitee
[91] _MS._ to
[92] _MS._ if it
[93] _MS._ defoule
[94] _MS._ be that
[95] _MS._ they
[96] _MS._ it is
[97] _The words_ thowsands and _are inserted above the line._
[98] _Added by second hand._
[99] _Altered by second hand to_ youre
[100] _Inserted above the line by a second hand._
[101] _qu._? yet
[102] _Inserted by second hand._
[103] _Added by second hand._
[104] _This passage is inserted by the second hand._
[105] _Added by second hand._
[106] _The Hague._
[107] _So the MS._
[108] _Inserted by second hand._
[109] _Inserted by second hand._
[110] _MS._ cons.
[111] _Inserted by the second hand._
[112] _The word_ king _has been erased, and altered to_ prince.
[113] _The insertion occupying the ensuing page is written by the second
hand in the margin._
[114] _Inserted by the second hand._
[115] overthrow _in MS._
[116] _Inserted by second hand._
[117] _Inserted by second hand._
[118] _Inserted by second hand._
[119] _Added in the margin by second hand._
[120] _Added by second hand in the margin._
[121] _Inserted by second hand._
[122] _Inserted by second hand._
[123] _Inserted by second hand._
[124] _So in MS._
[125] _Inserted by third hand._
[126] _Inserted by second hand._
[127] _Inserted by the second hand._
[128] _Inserted by second hand._
[129] ? all.
[130] _Inserted by second hand._
[131] _Inserted by second hand._
[132] _The word_ innocent _is written by some Lancastrian over an erasure_.
[133] _Inserted by second hand._
[134] _Added by second hand._
[135] _Inserted by second hand._
[136] _So in the MS._
[137] _Inserted by second hand._
[138] _So in MS._
[139] _Inserted by second hand._
[140] _Inserted by second hand._
[141] _Inserted by second hand._
[142] _Inserted by second hand._
[143] _So in the MS._
[144] _MS._ youre.
[145] _MS._ of.
[146] _MS._ they owre.
[147] of _in MS._
[148] _Added by second hand._
[149] _Inserted by second hand._
[150] _Inserted by second hand._
[151] _In the margin is here placed the following note respecting Dame
Christina of Passy:--_ "Notandum est quod Cristina [fuit] domina praeclara
natu et moribus, et manebat in domo religiosarum dominarum apud Passye
prope Parys; et ita virtuosa fuit quod ipsa exhibuit plures clericos
studentes in universitate Parisiensi, et compilare fecit plures libros
virtuosos, utpote _Liber Arboris Bellorum_, et doctores racione eorum
exhibicionis attribuerunt nomen autoris Christinae, sed aliquando nomen
autoris clerici studentis imponitur in diversis libris; et vixit circa
annum Christi 1430, sed floruit ab anno Christi 1400."
[152] _Inserted by second hand in the margin._
[153] _Inserted by second hand._
[154] _MS._ goodis.
[155] _Inserted by second hand._
[156] _MS._ startees.
[157] _So in MS._
[158] Sir John Fastolfe.
[159] _This word has been in the MS. by error altered to_ stode, _which
belongs to the next line_.
[160] _So. in MS._
[161] _MS._ wounding.
[162] _This word is written on an erasure._
[163] _So in the MS._
[164] _Inserted by second hand._
[165] _Inserted by second hand._
[166] _Written over an erasure._
[167] _MS._ nede or of.
[168] _Written on an erasure._
[169] _Inserted by second hand._
[170] _So in the MS._
[171] _Inserted by second hand._
[172] _Inserted by second hand._
[173] _MS._ youre.
[174] _Inserted by second hand._
[175] _MS._ Gentiles.
[176] _Written on an erasure._
[177] _Inserted by second hand._
[178] _Written on an erasure._
[179] _Inserted by second hand._
[180] _MS._ excersing.
[181] _Inserted by second hand._
[182] _Inserted by second hand._
[183] _So in MS. sc._ stir?
[184] _So in MS._
[185] _MS._ where.
* * * * *
Corrections made to printed original.
Page xxxvi. "the gate should be delivered up": 'he delivered' in original.
Page 38. "the seneschalcie of Pierregort": 'of of' (across line break) in
original.