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Pope C?lestinus 4. crowning the Emperour Henricus 6. with his feete.

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CUL copy: gold detail is added to clothing in this illustration also. Some additional detail is added in black ink also; see, for example, the keys in the pope's left hand. WREN copy: this copy has none of the detail of the detail of the CUL copy.

place kyng Philip aforesayd, and to possesse Albertus kyng of Romanes in his rowme.

MarginaliaThe tyrānous iniuries of Bishops of Rome against kinges of England.And thus hetherto of foreine stories. Now touchyng our countrey Princes here in Englād to speake somewhat likewise of thē: MarginaliaPope Alexander 3. against K. Henry. 2.did not Pope Alexander the iij. presumptuously takyng vppon hym where he had nothyng to do, to intermedle with the kynges subiectes, for the death of Becket the rebell, albeit the kyng sufficiently cleared him self therof, yet notwithstanding did he not wrongfully bring the sayd king Henry 2. to such penaunce as it pleased hym to enioyne, and also violētly constrayne hym to sweare obedience to the Sea of Rome? pag. 290. MarginaliaPope Innocent 3. against K. Iohn,The lyke also was shewed before in this story to happen to K. Iohn his sonne. For whē the sayd kyng like a valiant Prince had held out þe tyranny of those Byshops vij. yeares together, were not all the Churches in England barred vp, & hys inheritaunce with all his dominions giuē away by Pope Innocent 3. to Ludouicns the French kyng, and he afterward compelled to submit both him selfe & to make his whole Realme fedotary to the Byshops of Rome: and moreouer the kyng hym selfe driuen also to surrender hys crowne to Pādulphus the Popes Legate, and so continued as a priuate person v. dayes, stādyng at the popes curtesie whether to receaue it agayne at his handes or no? And when the nobles of the realme rose afterward agaynst the kyng for the same, was not he then fayne to seeke and sue to the foresayd Pope for succour, as by this hys owne letter, taken out of the publicke roles, may appeare?  

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This letter comes from the Patent Rolls and was probably copied forFoxe by William Bowyer, the Keeper of the Tower Records. Foxe abridges the letter, but his version is essentially accurate (cf. Thomas Rymer and Robert Sanderson, Foedera (20 vols., London, 1726-1735), I, p. 69).

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¶ Kyng Iohns Supplication to Pope Innocent 3.

MarginaliaEx Rotulo patent. De anno Regni Reg. Ioannis. 18.REuerendis. Domino suo & patri sanctis. Innocentio Dei gratia Ioan. eadem gratia R. Angliæ &c. Cum Comites & Barones Angliæ nobis deuoti essent anteq̃ nos & nostrā terram Dominio vestro subiacere curassemus, ex tūc in nos specialiter ob hoc, sicut publice dicunt, violenter insurgunt. Nos verò præter Deum, vos specialem Dominum & patronū habentes, defensionem nostram & totius Regni, quod vestrumMarginaliaK. Iohns supplication to Pope Innocent. 3.esse credimus, vestræ paternitati commissam, & nos, quātum in nobis est, curam & solicitudinem istam vestræ resignamus dominationi, deuotius supplicātes quatenus in negocijs nostris, quæ vestia sunt, consilium & auxilium efficax apponatis, prout melius videritis expedire, latores præsētium &c. Teste meipso apud Dour. 18. Septemb. 6.

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And yet all this notwithstandyng that the sayd kyng Iohn did so yeld to the Pope, he was both pursued by his nobles, and also in the end was poysoned by a subiect of the Popes owne Religion, a Monke of Swynshed:  

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Although Foxe does not say so, he is listing sources that (inaccurately)maintained that John was poisioned in response to attacks on the credibility of this story - recited by Foxe in the first edition of the Acts and Monuments - which were made by the Catholic controversialists Thomas Harding (A confutation of…An apologie of the church of England [London, 1565], STC 12762, fo. 184r-v) and Thomas Stapleton, A Counterblast to M. Hornes vayne blast [Louvain, 1567],STC 23231, fos. 312v-314r). For this, and for arguments that Matthew Parkercompiled the following list of sources, see Thomas Freeman, 'John Bale's Book ofMartyrs? The Account of King John in Acts and Monuments', Reformation 3 (1998),pp. 206-10.

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MarginaliaW. Caxton.As I haue sufficiently to proue, not onely by William Caxton aboue in my story alledged. pag. 335. but also haue testimonie of the most part of Chroniclers for the same (a few onely excepted) MarginaliaTho. Gray.as of Tho. Gray in his French Chronicle.  
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I.e., the Scalachronicon.

MarginaliaFrench Chronicle in meter.  
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This description is too vague to permit identification.


Ranulp. Cestrensis.
Also of an other French Chronicle in Meter, of Ranulphus Cestrensis.  
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I.e., the Polychronicon.

MarginaliaTho. Rudburn.Tho. Rudburne
also doth wytnes the same.  
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This is either Thomas Rudborne's Epitome historia maioris or hishistoria minor.

MarginaliaRich. Redus.So doth Richard Rede in nouo. Chronico ad tempora Henr. 6.  
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This is now Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 311.

MarginaliaEulogium.The lyke also doth the Chronicle called Eulogium Monachi Cant:  
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See Thomas Freeman, 'John Bale's Book of Martyrs? The Account ofKing John in Acts and Monuments', Reformation 3 (1998), p. 10 for the suggestion that Foxe consulted an extract copied from the Eulogium, which is now in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 101, pp. 316-17.

MarginaliaWalderus Gisburne.The wordes of Walter Gisborne an auncient historiographer, be playne.  
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I.e., the chronicle of Walter of Guisborough.

MarginaliaIoan. Maior.No lesse is to bee found in Ioan. Maior, De gestis Scotorum. Libr. 4. cap. 3. fol. 56. where he not onely maketh mention of the Monke and of the poyson, but also of the Abbat, of his absolution, and of the 3. Monkes euery day singyng for the sayd Monkes soule. MarginaliaWriters in Englishe and Latin without name.To these I could also annexe diuers other writers both English and Latin, without name, which wytnes that kyng Iohn was poysoned, one begynnyng thus: Here beginneth a booke in the English tounge, called Brute. &c.  
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This is probably Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 182.

an other begynneth: Because this booke is made to tell what tyme any thyng notable, &c.  
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I have not been able to identify this work.

The thyrd in English begynneth: The reigne of Britaine that now is called England &c.  
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I have not been able to identify this work.

Of Latin bookes which haue no name, one begynneth thus: Britannia, quæ & Anglia dicitur, a Bruto nomē est sortita &c.  
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This could be any one of anumber of Latin versions of the Brutchronicle.

an other hath this begynnyng: Adam pater generis humani. &c.  
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This is Trinity College, Cambridge, MS R.7.13.

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Besides this kyng Henry 2. & kyng Iohn his sonne, what kynges haue here reigned in England since their

tyme,
NN.i.