of faythfull christians, iudicially conuinced: and the same articles and conclusions dyd he (inforced, by necessitie of law) reuoke & abiure, some as hereticall, & other as erroneous & false: & for such dyd he aduouch thē euer afterward promising so to take & beleue thē that frō thence forth he would opēly or priuely preach, teach, or affirme none of them: nor that he should make sermō nor preach within your dioces without licence demaunded and obtayned. And incase he should to the contrary presume, by preaching or aduouching: that then he should be subiect to the seueritie of the Canons, euē as he iudicially sware accordingly as the lawe inforced. Also the conclusions abiured by the sayd William do followe, and are such.

Marginalia1. conclusiōIn primis, that mē by the rule of charitie, may demaūd debts, but by no meanes imprison any mā for debts: and that the partie so imprisoning a bodye, is excommunicated, before pag. 556.

Marginalia2Item, that if the parishioners shall know their curate to be incontinent and naughtie: they ought to withdraw from hym their tythes, &c. Pag. 556.

Marginalia3Item, that tythes are meere almosies, and in case that the curates shall be ill, they may be lawfullye bestowed vpon others by the temporall owners, &c. pag. 556.

Marginalia4Item, that an euill curate to excommunicate any vnder hys iurisdiction for withholding of tithes, is nought els, &c. pag. 556

Marginalia5Item, that no man may excommunicate any body, except that fyrst he know him excommunicate of God: Neither do those that communicate with such a one, incurre the sentence of excommunicacion by anye manner of meanes. Ibid.

Marginalia6Item, that euery priest may absolue euery sinner being contrite, and is bound to preach the gospell vnto the people, notwithstanding the prohibition of the bishops, page. 557.

Marginalia7Item, that a priest receauing by bargaine any thyng of yearely annuitie, is in so doing a schismaticke, and excommunicate. pag. 557.

Marginalia8Item, he doth assuredly beleue (as he aduoucheth) that euery priest being in deadly sinne, if he dispose himself to make the body of Christ, doth rather committe idolatry then make Christes body. pag. 557.

Marginalia9Item, that no priest doth enter into any house, but to handle ill the wife, the daughter, or the mayde, and therfore, &c. pag. 557.

Marginalia10Item, that the childe is not ryghtlye baptised, if the priest, &c. Ibid.

Marginalia11Item, that no maner of person, if he liue against gods law, &c. Ibid.

Marginalia12Item, the same William agaynst the things premised, and his reuocation and abiuration (not to hys hart conuerting, but from euill to worse peruerting) dyd turne asyde into our dioces: where running to and fro in diuerse places, hath of his owne rashe head presumed to preach or rather to peruert, &c. pag. 557. col. 2.

Marginalia13Item, after that we had heard diuerse rumours, and slaunders of very many, we directed diuers monitions, and commaundementes cōminatorie, to be sent abroad by our Commissaries to sondry places of our dioces: that no person, of what estate, degree, or condition soeuer he were of, shoulde presume to preach or to teach the sacred scripture to the people in places holy or prophane, within our dioces, &c. pag. 555. col. 1.

Marginalia14Item, that the same sorte of monicions, inhibicions, & preceptes cōfirmed by our seale, came to the true and vndoubted knowledge of the sayd William.

Marginalia15
Infandum facinus scilicet.Itē, the same W. vnmindful of his own saluatiō hath sithens & against those monicions, inhibitions, & precepts (and, that which is more abhominable to be spokē, in cōtempt of the high byshops dignitie, and to the slaunder & offēse of many people) presumed, in diuers places of our sayd dioces, to preache or rather to peruert and to teache the foremencioned, and other hereticall, erroneous, and schismaticall deuises.

Marginalia16Item, the same Williā in preachyng to the people: on monday, to wite, the first of August, in the yeare of our Lord. 1390. in the churche of Whitney in our dioces, helde and affirmed: that no prelate of the worlde, of what state preeminence, or degree soeuer he were of, hauyng cure of soule and beyng in deadly sinne. &c. pag. 558. col. 1.

Marginalia17
A parlous doore to open.Item, the same William in many placees said, and affirmed in the presence of many faythfull Christian people, after the Sacramentall wordes vttered by the priest, hauyng the intent to consecrate, there is not made the verybody of Christ in the Sacramente of the Eucharist. pag. 558. col. 1.

Marginalia18Item, that accidencies cannot be in the Sacrament of the altar without their subiect: and that there remaineth material bread Concomitantet, with the body of Christ in the Sacrament. Vide supra pag. 558.

Marginalia19Item, that a priest beyng in deadly sinne cannot by the power of the Sacramentall woordes, make the body of Christ, &c. pag. 558.

Marginalia20Item, that all priestes are of like power in all pointes, notwithstandyng that some of them are in this worlde of hygher dignitie, degree, or preeminence. page. 558. col. 2.

Marginalia21Item, that contrition onely, putteth away sinne. if a man shalbe duely contrite: and that all vocall confession and exercise, is supersitious, and not requisite of necessitie to saluation. Ibidem.

Marginalia22Item, that inferiour curates haue not their power of byndyng and loosing mediatlye from the pope or Byshop, but immediatly of Christ. &c. pag. 558. col. 2.

Marginalia23Item, that the pope cannot graunt such kynd of annuall pardons, because there shall not be so many yeares to the day of iudgement as is conteined in the popes bulles or pardons. Wherby it foloweth, that pardons are not so much worth as they are noised and praised to be. Ibidē.

Marginalia24Item, that it is not in the popes power to graunt vnto any penitent body, forgeuenes of the payne or of the trespas. pag. 559.

Marginalia25Item, that one giuyng his almes to any body whiche as he iudgeth hath no neede thereof, doth sinne in so geuing it. pag. 559. col. 1.

Marginalia26Item, that it standes not in the power of any prelate of what priuate religion so euer he be, to geue by letters benefites of their order. Neither do such kynde of benefites geuen, profite them to whō they be geuen for the saluacion of soules. Vide supra. pag. 559. col. 1.

Marginalia27
A foule faulte forsoothe.Item, that the same William vnmindfull of his owne saluacion, hath many times and oftē resorted to a certein desert wood called Derwalswood of our dioces: & there, in a certeyne vnhallowed chappell (nay a prophane cottage) hath presumed of his owne proper rashnes, to celebrate. &c. pag. 559.

Marginalia28Item, the same Williā hath also presumed to do the like thynges in a certeine prophane chappell, situate in the parke of Newton nygh to the town of Leyntwardyn, in the same our dioces. pag. 559.

MarginaliaWalter Pryde promoter, or rather a proude promoter.¶ Whiche thynges beyng done, the same faithfull Christen people, and specially, sir Walter Pride the penitenciary of our cathedrall churche of Hereford, personally appearing before vs, sitting on oure iudgemente seat in the parishe churche of Whiteborne of our dioces: brought forth and exhibited, two publicque instruments against the same Walter Brute, in the case of cursed heresie aforesayd, of which instrumentes here foloweth the tenours, and Articles in this sorte.  

Commentary     Close

The 'instruments' which follow are affadavits by witnesses to various heretical words or actions of Brut; they are copied from Registrum Johannis Trefnant, Episcopi Herefordensis, ed. W. W. Capes, Canterbury and York Society(London, 1916), pp. 283-5.

MarginaliaThe first instrument exhibited by certain Chanons of Hereford, against W. Brute.In the name of God Amen. Be it euidently knowen to all persons by this present publike instrument: that in the yeare from the incarnation, after the course and computation of the church of England. 1391. the indiction. xv. of the pontificall office of our most holye father and lord in Christ, Lord Boniface the. ix. by Gods wysedome Pope, the second yeare, the. xv. daye of the moneth of October, in the dwelling house of the worshipful man maister Iohn Godemoston, Channon of the cathedrall church of Hereford, in the presence of me the publike notary vnder written, and of wytnesses subscribed: Walter Brute lay man learned, of Hereford dioces, personally appearing, sayd, auouched, and styflye maintayned: that the sayd bishop of Hereford and his assistants, which were with him the third day of the foresayde moneth of October, the yeare of our Lord afore saide, in the church of Hereford: MarginaliaB of Hereford vniustly condēned the articles of syr W. Swinderby.did noughtely, wickedly, peruersly, and vniustly condemne the answers of syr W. Swinderby Chaplen, geuē by the same syr William to the same lord bishop in writing, and also the articles ministred by the same sir William.

And furthermore he sayd, held, and aduouched, that the same conclusions geuen by the same sir William,