thyrd parte of the said benefice so bestowed. And by thys meanes, the sayd statute is the destruction of the ryght of S. Peter the church of Rome and England, the clergy and vniuersities, the mayntenaunce of warres, and the whole common wealth. &c.

Marginalia9
K. Henry charged with oppression & periury.Ninthly we say and depose. &c. agaynst the sayd Lord Henrye, that after he had tyrannously taken vpon hym the gouernemēt of the realme: England neuer florished since, nor prospered, by reason of his continuall exactions of money and oppressions, yearely of the clergy and comminaltie: neither is it knowen how this money so extorted is bestowed, when as neither his souldiers, nor hys gentlemē are payed as yet their wages and fees for their charges and wonderful toyle and labour, neither yet the poore countrey people are satisfied for the victuall taken of them: And neuertheles, the miserable clergy, and more miserable comminaltie, are forced stil to pay, by menaces and sharpe threatnynges. Notwithstandyng, he sware when hee firste vsurped the crowne, that hereafter there should be no such exactions nor vexations neither of the clergy nor layty. Wherefore, as afore, we pronounce hym periured. &c.

Marginalia10
Thre causes declared.In the x. and last article we depose, say, and openly protest by these presents, for our selues and all our assistētes in the cause of the churche of Rome and England, and in the cause of king Richard, his heyres, the clergy, and communaltie of the whole realm: that neither our entention is, was, nor shalbe, in word nor dede to offend any state, either of the prelates spirituall, Lordes temporal, or commons of the realme: but rather foreseyng the perdicion and destruction of this realme to approche, we haue here brought before you certayne articles concernyng the destruction of the same, to be circumspectly cōsidered of the whole assembly, aswell of the Lordes spirituall as temporall, and the faithfull commons of England: besechyng you all in the bowels of Iesus Christ, the ryghteous iudge, and for merites of our blessed Lady the mother of God, and of S. George our defender vnder whose displayed banner we wish to lyue and dye, and vnder payne of damnation, that ye wil be fauourable to vs and our causes whiche are three in number. Whereof the first is, that we exalte vnto the kyngdome the true and lawful heyre, and hym to crown in kyngly throne with the diademe of England. And secondly that we reuoke the Welshe men, the Irishe men, and all other our enemyes vnto perpetuall peace and amitie. Thirdly and finally, that we deliuer and make free our natiue countrey from all exactiōs extortions, and vniust payments: Besechyng our Lorde Iesus Christ to graūt his blessyng, the remission of theyr sinnes, and lyfe euerlastyng to all that assiste vs to theyr power in this godly and meritorious woorke: and vnto all those that are agaynst vs, we threaten the curse of almighty GOD by the auctoritie committed vnto vs by Christ and his holy Churche, and by these presentes wee pronounce them excommunicate.

These Articles beyng seen and read, much concourse of people dayly resorted more and more to the Archbyshop. MarginaliaErle of Westmerland against the Archb.The earle of Westmerlād beyng then not farre of, with Iohn the kynges sonne (hearyng of this) mustered his souldiours with all the power he was able to make, and bent towarde the Archbyshop: but seyng his part to weake to encounter with hym, vseth practise of policie, where strength woulde not serue. And first commyng to hym vnder colour of frendshyp dissembled, laboureth to seke out the causes of that great stirre: To whom the Archbishop agayne aunsweryng, no hurt to be entended therby, but profite rather to the king & common wealth, and maintenaunce of publicke peace: but for so much as he stoude in great feare and daūger of the kyng, he was therefore compelled so to do: MarginaliaFalsehoode in fellowship.And withall shewed vnto him the contentes of the articles aforesayd, which when the Earle had read, settyng a fayre face vpon it, semed hyghly to commend the purpose and doynges of the Bishop: promising moreouer that he would helpe also forward in that quarell, to the vttermost of his power. And required vpon the same, a day to be set, when they with equall nūber of men, might mete together, in some place apointed to haue farther talke of þ^e matter. The Archbishop easely persuaded, was content, although much agaynst the counsaile of the Earle Marshall, and came.Where the Articles beyng openly published and read, the Earle of Westmerland with hys company, pretended wel to lyke vpon the same, and to ioyne their assents together. Whiche done, he exhorted the Archbishop, þ^t for somuch as hys garrison had been now long in armour, and from home, he would therfore discharge the nedeles multitude of his souldiours, and dimisse them home to their woorke and busines, & they would together drinke and ioyne handes in the sight of the whole company. MarginaliaThe Archb. of Yorke craftely circumuented.Thus they shaking handes together, the Archbishop sendeth away hys souldiours in peace, not knowyng hym selfe to be circumuented, before he was immediatly arested by the handes of the foresayd Erle of Westmerlād, and shortly after the kyng commyng with his power to Yorke, MarginaliaThe archbish. of Yorke, L Tho. Moubray with manye Yorkeshire mē executed.was there beheaded the Monday in Whitsonweke, and with him also Lord Thomas Mombray Marshall, with diuers other moreouer of the Citie of Yorke, whiche had take their partes. After whose slaughter, the kyng procedeth farther to persecute þ^e Earle of Northūberland, & Lord Thomas Bardolfe. Who then dyd flye to Barwicke. From thence they remoued to Wales. MarginaliaThe earle of Northumberland, L Tho. Bardolfe slaine.
1408.At length within ij. yeares after, fighting against the kyngs parte, were slayne in the fielde. an. 1408. In the whiche yeare, diuers other also in the Northpartes, for fauouryng the foresayd Lordes, were lykewise condemned by the kyng and put to death. MarginaliaAbbot of Hales hanged.Among whom the Abbot of Hales, for the lyke treason was hanged.

The king after the shedding of so much blood, seing himselfe so hardlye beloued of his subiectes, thought to keepe in yet with the Clergye, and wyth the byshop of Rome, seeking alwayes his chiefest stay at their hands. And therfore was compelled in all things, to serue their humour, as did appeare as well in condēning W. Sawtre before, as also in other, which consequently we haue now to intreate of. In the number of whom, commeth now by the course of time to write of one Iohn Badbye  

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John Badby

John Badby has the melancholy distinction of being the first person in England to be burned under the statute De heretico comburendo (1401), which established heresy as a capital crime. (William Sawtre, executed, in 1401, had to be executed by royal command as the statute had not come into force). Foxe's account of Badby is a little confusing (because Foxe had access only to one set of records), so a word of background is in order. John Badby was a craftsman of the diocese of Worcester who came to the attention of the authorities through his outspoken denial of the doctrine of transubstantiation. Badby was summoned before the bishop of Worcester in 1409 and ultimately convicted of heresy. At another time, matters might have been resolved at a local level, probably with a less lethal denouement. Unfortunately for Badby, the prince of Wales (the future Henry V) had become the dominant political figure in the kingdom and he was anxious to dispel rumours and expectations (fostered by his friendship with Sir John Oldcastle and other 'Lollard knights') that he might further the Lollard cause. He sought a means to demonstrate his orthodoxy, and the prosecution of a notorious Lollard provided one. Badby was summoned before a convocation of clergy on 1 March 1410 (not 1409, as in Foxe) and subjected to a show trial. He was condemned and on 5 March 1410 he was executed, after refusing a royal pardon.

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Foxe first mentioned an unnamed 'faber' (craftsman) being burned in 1410 and also the refusal by the condemned man to accept a pardon offered by the prince of Wales, in the Commentarii (fos. 61r-62r). Foxe's source for this was College of Arms MS Arundel 7, a version of Thomas of Walsingham's Chronica majora (see Thomas of Walsingham, Historia Anglicana, ed. H. T. Riley, 2 vols., Rolls Series 28 {London, 1863-4), II, p. 282). This account was reprinted in the Rerum (p. 60) and translated in the 1563 edition. In the 1570 edition, Foxe added details taken from Archbishop Arundel's register: the articles charged against Badby at Lambeth, his answers to them, his examination by Arundel, his condemnation and even a few details about his execution - i.e., that the chancellor of Oxford presided over it and that the prior of St Batholomew the Great brought the Host to Badby at the stake. (Cf. Lambeth Palace Library, Arundel Register, II, fos.126v-127v). No further changes were made to the account of Badby in subsequent editions.

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Thomas S. Freeman
University of Sheffield

MarginaliaIohn Badby Martir.
Ex Regist. Tho. ArundelIN the yeare of our Lorde. 1409, on sonday beyng the first day of March, in the after none: The excōmunication followyng of one Iohn Badby taylor, beyng a lay mā, was made in a certeine house or haull within the precinct of the preaching Friers of Londō, in an vtter cloyster: vpon the crime of heresie and other articles, repugnant to the determination of the erroneous churche of Rome, before Thomas Arundell Archbishop of Canterbury and other his assistāce, as the Archbishop of Yorke of London, of Winchester, of Oxford, of Norwich, of Salisbury, of Bath, of Bangor, et meneuēsis Episcopi, & also Edmōd duke of Yorke, Thomas Beuford, the chaūcelor of England, Lord de Roos, the clerke of the rolles, and a great nomber of other Lordes, both spirituall and temporal beyng then at the selfe same time present: Maister Morgan read the articles of his opiniōs to þ^e hearers, according as it is conteined in the instrument read by the foresayd maister Morgan, the tenour whereof followeth and in effect is such.

MarginaliaThe articles redde.In the name of God Amen: Be it manifest to all men by this present publike instrument, that in the yeare after the incarnation of our Lord, according to the course and computation of the church of England, otherwyse in the yeare. 1409. in the seconde indiction, in the thyrde yeare of the Popedome of the most holy father in Christ and Lord, Lord Gregorye. xj. by the deuine permission Pope, the second day of Ianuary, in the chappel Caruariæ of S. Thomas Martyr, nygh vnto the cathedral churche of Worcester, being situate in the said dioces, in the presence of me the publike Notary, and of the witnesses vn