_Honorabili viro Johanni Paston armigero ac confratri suo Willelmo
germano uterino._[95.2]
[Sidenote: 1456(?) / [JUNE 29]]
Ryte reverent Syre, &c. I am informyd credybily of a secrete frend that
S. T. T. [_Sir Thomas Tuddenham_] and J. H. [_John Heydon_], with J. A.
[_John Andrews ?_] and other of cursyd covy, wyl bryng with hem many
gentylmen of here bende to compleyn upon me at the next chapitle, &c.
And there fore, by the grace of God, I dispose me, with help of zour
good maysterschip and my Mayster Willyam, zour brother. Where fore, at
the reverens of God, that ze do speke with the clerk men clepyn Brayn,
that kepyth the bokys of here inditementes at the _oyer determyner_,
anno xxixº regni Regis; and that an extret or a copy myte schortly be
wrytyn owt of as many namys as dedyn indyte T. T. and J. H. for trespas,
extorsyones, and oppressyonys done to other men, as wele as to my
Mayster Fastolff, etc., that I may be redy to schew to my ordre, lyk a
kalender, a legende of here lyvys and here rewlyng of the cuntre, in
destruccyon and gret myschef of the cuntre in here dayes. At the
reverens of Jesu, forzet not this mater, ne the mater of Dedham, etc.
I wolde ze askyd my good lord and mayster, Yelverton, yf I sent hym ony
letter in the same mater, &c. Dicente Davitico Psalmo:[96.1] _Ne
obliviscaris voces inimicorum tuorum, nam superbia eorum ascendit
semper_ in psalmo; qui et si nunquam ascendant in cœlos, utinam nunquam
desendant ab [_ad_] abissos, &c., etsi anima eorum in malis tabescebat,
&c. Scriptum festinacione (?) feria 3^a post festum Natalis Sancti
Johannis Baptistæ.[96.2] Recommendetis me magistro meo W. Paston,
confratri vestro, et Thomæ Playter cognato meo, cui dicite quod faciat
Willelmum Geneye sibi benivolum quia Sampson filius et heres J. Sampson
olim mariti Katerinæ Fastolff apud Owlton mortuus, et ibi sunt duæ
viduæ, major et minor, senior et junior. Eligatur quæ sibi melius
placet.
Magister Thomas Howys vobis amantissimus se cordialissime recommendat
vobis, etc. Item, Willelmus Wigorniensis recommendat se vobis ex toto
corde. Scribo vobis, utinam ad placitum.
Vester ad vota,
F. J. B., _Minorum minimus_.
I hafe a rolle redy of the inditements, that they were indityd for
trespase and extorsyon and oppressyon done to my Mayster Fastolff, in
the keping of W. Worceter, &c.
Visa frangatur et in ignem post jaciatur. Si dignemini loqui cum effectu
magistro Ricardo Fysscher, secretario domini mei comitis Warwicensis,
pro cujus nomine et amore promptissimus sum adhuc plura pati, ut
mittatur pro me litera magistro provinciali et diffinitoribus.
[Footnote 95.1: [From Paston MSS., B.M.] Dr. John Brackley, the
writer of this letter, was a Grey Friar of Norwich, of
considerable celebrity as a preacher. Several letters of his are
found in this collection, written in the years 1459 and 1460.
This, however, must be a few years earlier, as in 1459 Brackley
writes of William Worcester in very different terms. The
handwriting also is not so close as that of his later letters.
We cannot, however, carry the date further back than 1455, as it
seems that Worcester and Howes were at this time together, which
must have been at Caister. Nor will the year 1455 itself suit
all the circumstances of the letter, for it is evident that John
and William Paston were also together, and as the writer asks
John Paston to speak to Yelverton, it may be presumed they were
in London. Now, John Paston was certainly not in London within a
week after St. John the Baptist’s Day in 1455. We have therefore
placed the letter in 1456. It will be observed that, on the 1st
of June in that year, John Russe advised Paston to go up to
London.]
[Footnote 95.2: This address is in William Worcester’s hand. The
letter itself is in Brackley’s own.]
[Footnote 96.1: _See_ Psalm lxxiii. (or lxxiv.) 23.]
[Footnote 96.2: St. John the Baptist’s Day is the 24th June.
_Feria tertia_ means Tuesday.]
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