1570 Edition | Book 6 | Page 863 
preferred generall Councels before the pope, now being Pope, he did decree that no man shoulde appeale from the hygh Byshop of Rome, to any generall Councell.
MarginaliaÆneas Syluius now puffed vp with worldlye pompe and glory, impugneth the truth which he did before, both know and professe.And likewise for priestes mariage, wheras before he thought it best to haue their wyues restored, yet afterward he altered his minde otherwise: In so much that in his booke intreatyng of Germany, and there speaking of þe noble Citie of August, by occasion he inueyed agaynst a certaine Epistle of Hulderike, once Byshop of the sayd Citie, written agaynst the constitution of the single lyfe of Priestes. Wherby it appeareth how þe mynde of this Pius was altered frō that it was before. This Epistle of Hulderike is before expressed at large in the pag. 183.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaDiscorde betwen Pope Pius and the Archb. of Mentz.Here also might I touch something concerning the discord betwixt this Aeneas Syluius and Diotherus archbishop of Mentz, and what discorde was styrred vp in Germany vpon the same, betwene Fredericke the Palatine, and Duke of VVyrtenberge, with others, by the occasion whereof, besides the slaughter of many, the Citye of Mentz, which was free before, lost their freedome, and became seruile.
[Back to Top]The causes of the discord betwixt Pope Pius and Diotherus, were these. First, because that Diotherus would not cōsent vnto him in þe imposition of certayn tallages and taxes, within hys countrey. Secondly for that Diotherus would not be bound vnto him, requiring that the sayd Diotherus, being prince Elector, should not call the other Electors together, wythout hys licence: that is, without þe licence of þe B. of Rome. And thirdly, because Diotherus would not permit to þe popes Legates, to cōuocate his Clergy together after their owne luste. Marginalia1458.
Pope Paulus 2.This Pope Pius began his sea, about þe yere of our lord. 1458.
After thys, Pius secundus, succeded Paulus secundus, a pope wholy set vpon his belly & ambition, & not so much voyde of al learning, as þe hater of all learned mē. This Paulus had a daughter begotten in fornication, whych because he saw her to be had in reproch, for that she was gotten in fornication, beganne (as the stories reporte) to repent hym of the lawe of the single lyfe of priestes, and went about to reforme the same, had not death preuented hym. MarginaliaEx Stanislao Rutheno. Vide Cent. 8. Bal.Ex Stanislao Rutheno.
[Back to Top]After this Paulus, came Sixtus the fourth, which builded vp in Rome a stewes of both kindes, getting therby no small reuenues and rentes vnto the church of Rome. This Pope amongest hys other actes, reduced the yere of Iubely from the. 50. vnto the. 25. MarginaliaThe feast of the Conceptiō & presentation of oru Ladye.He also instituted the feast of the Conception, and of the presentation of Mary and of Anna her mother, and Ioseph. Also he canonised Bonauenture, and S. Fraunces for Sayntes.MarginaliaBeades brought in.By this Sixtus also, beades were brought in, and instituted to make our Ladyes Psalter, thorow the occasion of one Alanus and his order, whom Baptista maketh mention of in this verse. Hi filo insertis numerant sua murmura baccis. That is, these men puttyng theyr beades vpon a stryng, noumber their prayers. This Sixtus the Pope made. xxxij. Cardinals in his tyme, of whō Petrus Ruerius was the firste, who for the time þt he was Cardinall, which was but. ij. yeares, spent in luxurious riot, wasted & cōsumed. CC. M. Floreines, and was left lx. M. in debt. MarginaliaVesellus Groningensis.VVesellus Groningensis, in a certaine treatise of his, de Indulgentiis papalibus, writing of this pope Sixtus, reporteth this, that at the request of the foresayd Peter Cardinall, & of Ierome his brother, MarginaliaThe pope licenseth the whole familie of a certayne Cardinall, to play the Sodomites three monethes in the yeare.the sayd pope Sixtus permitted and graunted vnto the whole family of the Cardinall of S Lucy, in the. iij. hote monethes of sommer, Iune, Iuly, and August (a horrible thyng to be spoken) free leaue and libertie to vse Sodomitry, with this clause, Fiat vt petitur: That is, bee it as it is asked.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaPope innocentius. viii.Next after this Sixtus, came Iunocentius the. viij. as rude and as farre from all learning, as his predecessour was before him. Amongest the noble factes of this pope, thys was one, that in the towne of Polus apud Aequico-los, he caused. viij. men and. vi. wemen, with the Lord of the place, to be apprehended and taken, and iudged for heretickes, because they said that none of them was the true Vicar of Christ which came after Peter, but they which followed onely the pouerty of Christ. MarginaliaGeorge kyng of Boheme, cōdemned of heresie.Also he condemned of heresy, George þe king of Boheme, & depriued him of his dignitye, & also of his kingdome, & procured his whole stocke to be vtterly reiected and put down, geuing hys kyngdome to Mathias kyng of Panonia.
[Back to Top]Now from the Popes to descende to other estates, it remaineth lykewise somewhat to write of the Emperours incident to this time, with matters & greuaunces of the Germaines, as also of other princes, first begynnyng with our troubles and mutations here at home, perteining to the ouerthrow of this king Henry & of his seate now folowing, to be shewed.
CloseWith two minor exceptions, Foxe's account of Richard of York's bid for the throne, death and his son Edward's seizure of it, is based on an anonymous chronicle in a manuscript that he owned, which is now College of Arms MS Arundel 5. The chronicle (Arundel 5, fos. 121r-172v) is entitled 'Compilatio brittanorum et anglorum' but Foxe refers to it as 'Scala mundi' (from a chronology at the beginning of the manuscript tracing the history of the world from Adam and Eve to 1469). The concluding section of the 'Compilatio' covering the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV was printed as 'A Brief Latin Chronicle' in Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles, ed. James Gardiner, Camden Society, Second series 28 (London, 1880), pp. 164-85. The unknown author of this chronicle almost certainly lived in London during the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV and was probably a cleric. (Apart from the chronicle being written in Latin, it pays close attention to church affairs). There is no ready answer to the question of why Foxe used this chronicle when he had more detailed accounts at hand in the histories of Polydore Vergil and Edward Hall. Perhaps Foxe was demonstrating that he had other sources than the readily available Vergil and Hall; perhaps Foxe desired to be as independent as possible from these works, which he criticized in his account of Sir John Oldcastle.
[Back to Top]One of the two items in this section not contained in the 'Compilatio' is Parliament's rejection of papal bulls authorizing Louis of Luxembourg, the arch-bishop of Rouen, to hold the bishopric of Ely in commendam (This comes from Rotuli Parliamentorum, ed. J. Strachey et al., 6 vols. {London, 1783], IV, pp. 304-5 ). Both Foxe and Parliament were concerned to demonstrate that the Crown would not concede papal jurisdiction over English episcopal appointments. But in reality, the wealthy bishopric of Ely was Henry VI's reward to Louis, a key ally in the Hundred Year's War. The account of the Breton (the reader should not be confused by Foxe calling him a 'Briton') who murdered a widow is taken from Robert Fabian, Fabyan's cronicle (London, 1559), STC 10664, p. 418. Foxe's interest in the case comes from the fact that the culprit was able to claim sanctuary and abjure the realm without further punishment; to Foxe, these were clerical abuses.
[Back to Top]Finally, it is worth noting Foxe's emphasis throughout this account that the disasters which overwhelmed Henry VI came about because he no longer had the advice and protection of his uncle, Humphrey of Gloucester, to rely upon. (For Foxe's praise of Humphrey of Gloucester see 1570, pp. 832-7; 1576, pp. 678-81 and 1583, pp. 703-7. For the reasons for Foxe's favourable view of Duke Humphrey see the commentary to these pages).
[Back to Top]Thomas S. Freeman
University of Sheffield
MarginaliaThe Northren men intended the subuersion of London.After this victory obteined, the Northren men aduaūced not a litle in pride and courage, began to take vpon them greate attemptes, not onely to spoyle and robbe Churches, and religious houses, and villages, but also were fully entēded, partly by them selues, partly by the inducement of their Lordes and Captaines, to sacke, waste, and vtterly to subuert the Citie of London, and to take the spoyle therof: and no doubt (sayth my history) MarginaliaEx historia manuscripta, cui titulus: Scala Mundi.would haue proceded in their conceaued gredy intēt, had not þe oportune fauour of God prouided a spedy remedy. MarginaliaLondon rescued by prince Edward.For as these mischieues were in bruing, sodeinly cōmeth þe noble Prince Edward vnto London, with a mighty army, the. xxvij. day of February, who was the sonne and heyre to the duke of Yorke aboue mēcioned, accōpanied with þe Earle of Warwicke, & diuers moe. Kyng Henry in the meane tyme, with his victorie, went vp to Yorke: when as Edward beyng at London, cau-
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