Thither was brought also to the king from Couentrie, Iohn Ball preest,
whom the citizens of Couentrie had taken, and now here at saint Albons
they presented him to the kings presence, wherevpon he was arreigned
and condemned, to be drawne, hanged, and headed for such notable
treasons as he was there conuicted of. He receiued iudgement vpon the
saturdaie the first daie that the said sir Robert Trisilian sat in
iudgement, but he was not executed till the mondaie following. This
man had beene a preacher the space of twentie yeares, and bicause
his doctrine was not according to the religion then by the bishops
mainteined, he was first prohibited to preach in anie church or
chappell; and when he ceassed not for all that, but set foorth his
doctrine in the streets & fields where he might |749| haue audience,
at length he was committed to prison, out of the which he prophesied
that he should be deliuered with the force of twentie thousand men, and
euen so it came to passe in time of the rebellion of the commons.
[Sidenote: Iohn Ball his sermon to the rebels.]
When all the prisons were broken vp, and the prisoners set at libertie,
he being therefore so deliuered, followed them, & at Blackeheath when
the greatest multitude was there got togither (as some write) he made a
sermon, taking this saieng or common prouerbe for his theame, wherevpon
to intreat,
When Adam delu’d, and Eue span,
Who was then a gentleman?
and so continuing his sermon, went about to prooue by the words of
that prouerbe, that from the beginning, all men by nature were created
alike, and that bondage or seruitude came in by iniust oppression
of naughtie men. For if God would haue had anie bondmen from the
beginning, he would haue appointed who should be bond & who free. And
therefore he exhorted them to consider, that now the time was come
appointed to them by God, in which they might (if they would) cast off
the yoke of bondage, & recouer libertie. He counselled them therefore
to remember themselues, and to take good hearts vnto them, that after
the manner of a good husband that tilleth his ground, and riddeth out
thereof such euill wéeds as choke and destroie the good corne, they
might destroie first the great lords of the realme, and after the
iudges and lawiers, questmoongers, and all other whom they vndertooke
to be against the commons, for so might they procure peace and suertie
to themselues in time to come, if dispatching out of the waie the great
men, there should be an equalitie in libertie, no difference in degrées
of nobilitie, but a like dignitie and equall authoritie in all things
brought in among them.
When he had preached and set foorth such kind of doctrine, and other
the like fond and foolish toies vnto the people, they extolled him
to the starres, affirming that he ought to be archbishop and lord
chancellour, where he that then enioied that roome, meaning sir Simon
de Sudburie that then was aliue, was a traitor to the king and realme,
and worthie to lose his head, wheresoeuer he might be apprehended.
Manie other things are reported by writers of this Iohn Ball, as the
letter, which vnder a kind of darke riddle he wrote to the capteine of
the Essex rebels, the copie whereof was found in one of their pursses
that was executed at London.
The tenor of the said seditious preests letter.
IOHN Scheepe S. Marie preest of Yorke, and now of Colchester, greeteth
well Iohn namelesse, and Iohn the Miller, and Iohn Carter, & biddeth
them that they beware of guile in Bourrough, & stand togither in Gods
name, & biddeth Piers ploughman go to his worke, and chastise well Hob
the robber, & take with you Iohn Trewman and all his fellowes, and no
mo. Iohn the Miller Y ground small, small small, the kings sonne of
heauen shall paie for all. Beware or yee be wo, know your freend from
your fo, haue inough and saie ho, and doo well and better, flee sinne
and seeke peace, and hold you therein, and so biddeth Iohn Trewman and
all his fellowes.
[Sidenote: Iohn Ball executed at S. Albons.]
This letter he confessed himselfe to haue written, as Thomas Walsingham
affirmeth, with manie other things which he had doone and committed,
to the disquieting of the realme, for the which he was drawne, hanged,
and beheaded at saint Albons, the fiftéenth of Iulie, being monday, in
this fifth yeare of king Richards reigne. On the same daie, the kings
iustice sir Robert Trisilian sat vpon the rebels of saint Albons,
and other of the countrie of Hertford, afore whome, by such policie
as he vsed, there were a great number indicted, and diuerse being
arreigned, were found guiltie, as William Grindecob, William Cadindon,
Iohn Barbor, and certeine others, which were hanged and drawne, to the
|750| number of fifteene persons in all; diuerse chéefe men of the
towne were committed to prison, as Richard Wallingford, Iohn Garleeke,
William Berewill, Thomas Putor and others of the countrie about. There
were committed to prison to the number of fourscore persons, the which
neuerthelesse, by the kings pardon, were released and dismissed.
[Sidenote: The king calleth in by proclamation all such letters of
manumission, as the abbat of saint Albons had granted to his bondmen.]
The hatred which the townesmen had conceiued against the abbat and
conuent of S. Albons, was suerlie great, and manie deuises they had to
haue saued those that were executed. And where as well the townesmen,
as other of the abbats and conuents tenants, both of Hertfordshire,
and Buckinghamshire, had gotten of the abbat and conuent letters of
discharge, from dooing anie bound seruice, the king directed his
letters vnto certeine commissioners, as to Iohn Ludowicke, Iohn
Westwicombe, Iohn Kenting, Richard Perers, Walter Saunford, Richard
Gifford, Thomas Eidon, and William Eccleshall, commanding them to
cause proclamation to be made in all such townes and places as were
thought necessarie, through the whole countries of Buckingham and
Hertford, that all and euerie person and persons that ought and had
beene accustomed to doo or yeeld anie manner of seruices, customes,
or duties, whether they were bondmen or free, vnto the said abbat and
couent of S. Albons, should doo and yéeld the same seruices, customes,
and duties, in such like forme & manner, as they had beene vsed to doo,
before the time of the late troubles, & not to chalenge or claime any
libertie or priuilege which they inioied not before the same troubles,
vpon their faith & allegiance in which they stood bound to him, and
vpon paine to forfeit all that they might forfeit: and in case anie
were found to doo contrarie thervnto, the same commissioners had
authoritie, and were commanded to arrest and imprison them, till for
their further punishment, order might be taken and agreed vpon in that
behalfe accordinglie.
[Sidenote: The commōs of Hertfordshire sworne to the king.]
On saint Margarets daie, the king being readie to take his iournie to
Berkhamstéed, in the great court of the abbeie of S. Albons had all
the commons of the countie of Hertford before him, that had summons
there to appeare, all that were betwixt fiftéene and thréescore yéeres
of age, where they tooke an oth togither from thencefoorth, to be
faithfull subiects vnto him, and neuer to rise or make anie commotion,
to the disturbance of his peace; and rather to die, than to consent
vnto anie rebellious persons, whome they should to the vttermost of
their powers do their best, to apprehend and deliuer them to the kings
prison, that they might be foorth comming. After they had receiued this
oth, they were licenced to depart, and the king rode to Berkhamsteed,
where he remained for a time, and went to Esthamstéed to recreate
himselfe with hunting, where he was informed, that those which were
hanged at S. Albons, were taken from the gallowes, and remooued a good
waie from the same: with which presumption he was so stirred, that he
sent foorthwith his letters to the bailiffes of the towne of S. Albons,
commanding them vpon the sight of the same, to cause cheines to be
made, and to bring the said bodies backe vnto the gallowes, and to hang
them in those chaines vpon the same gallowes, there to remaine, so long
as one peece might sticke to another, according to the forme of the
iudgement giuen. The test of this writ thus directed to the bailiffes
of saint Albons, was at Esthamstéed the third of August, in the fift
yeare of this kings reigne, and in the yeare of our lord a thousand
three hundred foure score and one.
The townesmen of S. Albons durst not disobeie the kings commandement,
and so hanged vp againe in chaines the dead bodies of their neighbors,
greatlie to their shame and reproch, when they could get none other for
anie wages to come néere the stinking carcasses, but that they were
constreined themselues to take in hand so vile an office. And such
was the end of the tumults at S. Albons, where as well as in other
places, the vnrulie commons had plaied their parts. To conclude and
make an end of these diuelish troubles, to the end it may appeare, in
what danger as well the K. as the whole state of the realme stood, by
the mischéefous attempts of the vnrulie people, I haue thought good to
declare the confession of Iacke Straw one of their chéefe capteins (and
next in reputation |751| amongst them vnto Wat Tiler) when he came to
be executed in London, according to iudiciall sentence passed against
him.
[Sidenote: The confession of Iacke Straw at the time of his death.]
¶ “At the same time (said he) that we were assembled vpon Blackeheath,
and had sent to the king to come vnto vs, our purpose was to haue
slaine all such knights, esquiers, and gentlemen, as should haue giuen
their attendance thither vpon him: and as for the king, we would haue
kept him amongst vs, to the end that the people might more boldlie
haue repaired to vs, sith they should haue thought, that whatsoeuer
we did, the same had béene doone by his authoritie. Finally, when we
had gotten power inough, that we needed not to feare anie force that
might be made against vs, we would haue slaine all such noble men, as
might either haue giuen counsell, or made anie resistance against vs,
speciallie the knights of the Rhodes; and lastlie we would haue killed
the king and all men of possessions, with bishops, moonks, chanons, and
parsons of churches, onelie friers Mendicants we would haue spared,
that might haue sufficed for ministration of the sacraments. And when
we had made a riddance of all those, we would haue deuised lawes,
according to the which the subiects of this realme should haue liued,
for we would haue created kings, as Wat Tiler in Kent, and other in
other countries. But bicause this our purpose was disappointed by the
archbishop of Canturburie, that would not permit the king to come to
vs, we sought by all meanes to dispatch him out of the waie, as at
length we did. Morouer, the same euening that Wat Tiler was killed, we
were determined, hauing the greatest part of the commons of the citie
bent to ioine with vs, to haue set fire in foure corners of the citie,
and so to haue diuided amongst vs the spoile of the cheefest riches
that might haue beene found at our pleasure. And this (said he) was our
purpose, as God may helpe me now at my last end.”
Thus you may see, after what sort they were conspired to the
destruction of the realme, and to haue aduanced and inriched
themselues; not considering or foreséeing the euill successe of their
tumultuous broile, and that it would tend but little to their profit in
the end, by a common spoile to amend their state, and to become mightie
and rich with goods euill gotten, which though for a time (if lucke had
serued them to haue possessed) they had enioied, yet could they not
long prosper nor bring good vnto the possessors: for
Non habet euentus sordida præda bonos.
[Sidenote: The cause of the late tumults.