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1431 [1431]

K. Hen. 8. Persecution in Windsore. Testwood, Filmer, Person, Marbecke, Bennet.

MarginaliaWinchesters gentleman returneth the third time to Marbecke.downe þe chamber. How now, quoth he, hast thou written nothyng? yes Syr, quoth hee, as much as I know. Well said, quoth the gentlemā, and tooke vp the paper. Which whē hee had read, he cast it from him in a great fume, swearyng by our Lordes bodye, MarginaliaWell sworne and like a right Papist.that hee would not for xx. l. cary it to his Lord and master. Therefore, quoth he, go to it agayne, and aduise thy selfe better, or els thou wilt set my Lord agaynst thee, and then art thou vtterly vndone. By my trouth Syr, quoth Marbecke, if his Lordship shall keepe me here these vij. yeares, I can say no more then I haue sayd. Thē wilt thou repent it, quoth the gentleman, and so putting vp his penner and ynke horne, departed with the paper in his hand.

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¶ The thyrd examination of Marbecke, before the Byshop of Wynchester hym selfe in his owne house.

MarginaliaThe thyrd examination of Marbecke.THe next day, which was Wednesday, by viij. of the clocke in the mornyng, the Byshop sent for Marbecke to his house at S. Marie Ouers  

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I.e., the bishop of Winchester's London residence, next to the church of St. Mary Ovaries in Southwark.

, and as hee was entryng into the Bishops Hall, he saw the Bishop hym selfe commyng out at a doore in þe vpper end therof, with a rolle in hys hand, & goyng toward the great window, he called the poore man vnto him & said: Marbecke, wilt thou cast away thy self? No my Lord, quoth he, I trust. Yes, quoth the Byshop, thou goest about it, for thou wilt vtter nothyng. MarginaliaChrist sayth, scrutamini Scripturas: And Winchester sayth, the deuill maketh men to medle with the scriptures.What a deuill made thee to medle with the Scriptures? Thy vocation was an other way, wherin thou hast a goodly gift, if thou didest esteme it? yes my Lord, quoth he, I do esteme it & haue done my part therin, according to that litle knowledge that God hath geuē me. And why the deuill, quoth the Byshop, diddest thou not hold thee there? and with that he flange away from the wyndowe out of the Hall, the poore man folowyng him from place to place, till he had brought hym into a long gallery, and beyng there, the Byshop began on this wise: A sirha, quoth he, þe nest of you is broken I trow. And vnfoldyng his rolle (whiche was about an elne long) hee said: behold, here be your Captaines, both Hobby & Haynes, with all the whole pacte of thy secte about Wyndsore, and yet wilt thou vtter none of them. Alas my lord, quoth he, how should I accuse them, by whom I know nothing? Wel, quoth the Byshop, if thou wilt nedes cast away thy selfe, who can let thee? MarginaliaMarbecke charged for setting forth the Cōcordance.What helpers hadest thou in settyng forth thy boke? Forsoth my lord, quoth he, none. None, quoth the Bishop? how cā that be? It is not possible that thou shouldest do it without helpe. Truly my lord, quoth he, I can not tell in what part your Lordshyp doth take it, but how soeuer it be, I wil not deny but I dyd it without the helpe of any mā saue God alone. Nay, quoth þe Byshop, I do not discommed thy diligence, but what shouldest thou medle with that thyng whiche perteyned not to thee?

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And in speakyng these woordes, one of hys chaplaynes (called M. Medow) came vp and stayd him selfe at a wyndow, to whom the Byshop sayd: here is a merueylous thyng. This felow hath taken vpon him to set out the Concordance in English, whiche booke when it was set out in Latin, was not done without þe helpe and diligence of a dosen learned men at the least, & yet will he beare me in hād that he hath done it alone. But say what thou wilt, quoth the Byshop, except God hym selfe would come downe from heauen and tell me so, I will not beleue it: and so goyng forth to a wyndow, where two great Bibles lay vpon a cusshyon, the one in Latin and the other in English, he called Marbecke vnto him, and pointyng his finger to a place in the Latin Bible, said: Canst thou Englishe this sentēce? Nay my lord, quoth he, I trow I be not so cunning to geue it a perfite English, but I can fet out the English therof in the Englishe Bible. Let see, quoth þe Byshop. Thē Marbecke turnyng the Englishe Bible, found out the place by and by, and read it to the Byshop. So he tryed hym a three or foure tymes, till one of his men came vp and told him the Priest was ready to go to Masse.

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MarginaliaM. Clawbacke commeth agayne to Marbecke.And as the Byshop was goyng, sayd the gentlemā which had examined Marbecke in the Marshalsey the day before: Shall this felow write nothyng while your Lordshyp is at Masse? for he paseth not on it. It maketh no matter, quoth þe Bishop, for he wil tel nothyng, and so went down to heare Masse, leauyng Marbecke alone in the gallery. The Byshop was no sooner down, but the gentleman came vp agayne with inke and paper. Come Syrha quod he, my Lord will haue you occupyed till Masse be done, MarginaliaMarbecke pressed agayne to vtter hys fellowes.persuadyng hym with fayre wordes, that he should be soone dispatched out of trouble, if he would vse truth and plainnes. Alas Sir, quoth he, what will my Lord haue me to do? for more then I wrote to his Lordship yesterday, I cā not? Well, well goe to, quoth the gentleman, and make speede, and so went his way. There was no remedy but Marbecke must now write somethyng: wherefore hee callyng to God agayne in his minde, wrote a few wordes as nye as he could frame them, to those he had written the day before. When the Byshop was come from Masse, & had looked on the writyng, he pusht it from hym, saying: what shall this doe? It hath neither head not foote. There is a meruelous secte of them (quoth þe Byshop to his men) for þe deuill can not make one of them to bewray an other. Then was there nothyng amōg the Bishops gentlemen, as they were makyng hym ready to go the Court, but crucifige vpon the poore man. And when the Byshops white rachet was on hym and all: wel Marbecke, quoth he, I am now going to þe Court, & was purposed, if I had founde thee tractable, to haue spoken to the kynges Maiestie for thee, and to haue geuen thee thy meate, drinke, and lodgyng here in myne owne house: but seyng thou art so wilfull and so stubburne, thou shalt go to the deuill for me.

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MarginaliaMarbecke brought agayne from Winchesters house to the Marshalsey.Then was he caryed down by þe Byshops mē with many railyng wordes. And cōmyng through the great chamber, there stode D. London, with two mo of hys felowes, wayting the Byshops commyng: and passing by thē into the Hall, he was there receiued of his keper and caryed to prison agayn. It was not halfe an houre after, ere that the Bishop sent one of his gentlemen, to the vnder keper called Stokes, commaundyng hym to put yrons vpon Marbecke, and to keepe him fast shut in a chāber alone, & when he should bryng him down to dyner or supper, to see that he spake to no man nor no man to him: and furthermore, that he should suffer no maner of person (not his owne wife) to come and see him or minister any thyng vnto him. MarginaliaA cruell porter of the Marshalsey, but yet good to Marbecke.When the porter (who was the cruelest man that might bee, to all such as were layd in for any matter of Religion, and yet as God would fauourable to this poore man) had receiued this commaundement from the Byshop, he clapt yrons vpon hym and shut him vp, geuing warnyng to all the house, that no mā should speake or talke to Marbecke, when soeuer he was brought downe: and so hee continued for the space of three weekes and more, till his wife was suffred to come vnto him.

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¶ The sute of Marbecke wife to the Bish. of Winchester.

MarginaliaMarbeckes wife sueth to Winchester for her husband.MArbeckes wife, at the tyme of her husbādes apprehension, had a yong child of a quarter old, suckyng vpon her brest: and whē her husband was taken from her, and had away to the Coūsaile, not knowyng what should be come of hym, she lefte the childe and all, and gat her vp to London, and hearyng her husband to be in the Marshalsey, goeth thether. But when she came there, she could in no wise be suffred to see hym, whiche greatly augmented her sorow. Then by counsaile of frendes, she gat her to the B. of Wynchester (for other helpe was there none to be had at that tyme) makyng great sute to haue his licence to goe & see her husband, and to helpe him with such thynges as he lacked. Nay, quoht the Byshop, thy husband is acquaynted with all the heretickes that be in the Realme, both on this syde

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