1576 Edition | Book 11 | Page 1607 
Marginalia1555. Iuly.Now about the. xxviij. daye of Iune I came to maister Commissary, to shewe hym of my returne, and offered my selfe to satisfie the lawe, if it were proceeded against me, before M. Cockes of Sturray, and Markes the Apparitor:
CloseA summoner; i.e., a minor episcopal official in charge of collecting fines levied in ecclesiastical courts and ensuring that those summoned before these tribunals actually appeared.
And Syr Iohn Baker said: MarginaliaSyr Iohn Bakers talke wyth M. Bland.Bland, ye are as we heare say, a Scot: where were ye borne and brought vp? And I said, I was borne in Englande. And he saide, Where? And I said, in Sedber, and MarginaliaM Bland brought vp by D. Lupton Prouost of Eaton Colledge.brought vp by one Doct. Lupton Prouost of Eton Colledge. Wel, said he, I know him well. Remaine in your bond tyl after noone.
[Back to Top]Thē said sir Thomas Moyle, MarginaliaSyr Thomas Moyles wordes.Ah Bland, thou art a stiffe harted felowe. Thou wylt not obey the lawe, nor answere when thou art called. No wyl, quoth sir Iohn Baker? Maister Sheriffe, take hym to your warde: and the Bayliffe set me in the stockes, with other, and woulde not heare me speake one word: and so we remayned in the gayle of Maidston,MarginaliaM. Bland layd in Maydstone Gayle. tyl a fourtnight before Michaelmas, or therabout: and thē we were caried to Rochester to Assise holdē there,MarginaliaM. Bland caryed to the Assise at Rochester. where we were among the prisoners two dayes: and whē we were called, & the Iudges of Assise asked our causes, when my cause was rehearsed, M. Barrow Clarke of the peace said, that I was an excommunicate person.
[Back to Top]Then master. Roper of Linsted talked with the Iudges, but what, I am not able to say. But the Iudge of Assyse saide: Take them to Maidstone againe, and bryng them to the Session that shalbe holden next at the town of Maldin: howbeit, the Sheriffe dyd not send for vs, MarginaliaM. Bland caried againe to Maydstone Castle.so that we taryed at Maidstone tyl the Sessions holden at GrenwichMarginaliaM. Bland appeareth at Sessions in Grenewich. the. xviij. and xix of Februarye. I and other beyng within the Barre amongst the felons, and yrons vpon our armes, were called out the latter day by the Gayler & Bayliffes, and eased
CloseI.e., released from.
CloseWhat follows is still part of Bland's letter to his father; this heading was only added by Foxe in the 1570 edition.
BAker. Bland, wherfore were ye cast into prison?
Bland. I cannot well tell. Your Maistership caste me in.
Baker. Yea, but wherfore were ye in before that tyme?
Bland. For an vniust complaint put vpon me.
Baker. What was the complaint?
Bland. I told hym as truely and briefly as I could.
Baker. Let me see thy booke: and I tooke hym a Latine Testament.
CloseBland had apparently been holding a Latin New Testament during his examination.
Baker. Wyll ye go to the Churche, and obey and folowe the Queenes proceedyngs, and do as an honest man should doo?
Bland. I trust to God to do no otherwise but as an honest man should do.
Baker. Wyl ye doo as I said?
Bland. Wyl it please your maistership to geue me leaue to aske you a question?
Baker. Yea.
MarginaliaA question propounded to Syr Iohn Baker.Bland. Sir, may a man doo any thing, that his conscience is not satisfied in to be good?
Baker. Awaye, awaye, and threwe downe the booke, and said: It is no Testament. And I said, yes. And maister Webbe tooke it vp, and sayde vnto me maruaylous gently: Maister Bland, I knewe you when ye were not of this opinion. I would to God ye would reforme your selfe: with better wordes then I wyll write. And I said: if ye haue knowen me of an other opinion, then I am of nowe, it was for lacke of knowledge.
[Back to Top]Baker. Yea, sayest thou so? MarginaliaHasty iudgement of a Iustyce.by saint Mary, and thou hold thee there, I wyll geue sixe fagots to burne thee withall, or thou shouldest be vnburned. Hence knaue, hence. And so were we repriued into our place againe, within the Barre. And at night when iudgement of felons, and all was done, we were called, and the Iudge saide to the Gayler, MarginaliaM. Bland and his fellowes sent to the Ordinary by Syr I. Baker.Take them with you, and deliuer them to the Ordinarye, & if they wyll not be reformed, let them be deliuered to vs againe, and they shal haue iudgement & execution. And one of our companye saide: My Lorde, if we be killed at your handes for Christes sake, we shal liue with hym for euer.
[Back to Top]
CloseWhat follows is still part of Bland's letter to his father; this heading was only added in the 1570 edition.
THen came we to the Castle of Canterbury, and there we
remayned tyll the seconde day of March,MarginaliaM. Bland brought agayne to the castle of Canterbury. at whiche daye we were brought vnto the Chapterhouse of Crechurch where wer set the Suffragan of Canterbury, master Collins, maister Mylles, with other:
CloseThe heresy laws were re-enacted in January 1555 and now this is an official examination of Bland for heresy.
Bland. And I saide: Maister Webbe, ye haue no cause to suspect me of heresie. I haue bene a prisoner this whole yeare, and no matter proued against me. I pray you wherfore haue I bene so long kept in prison?
Webbe. Leaue your arrogant asking of questions, & answeare to that that is laid to your charge.
MarginaliaThe aunsweres of M. Bland first to the Iustices.Bland. I do so: for I say you haue no cause to suspect me of heresie.
Webbe. Yes: ye denyed to sir Iohn Baker to be conformable to the Queenes proceedinges.
Bland. Is it a iust cause to suspect me of heresie, for askyng a question with leaue? So we had moe words there, then I well remember.
Then stood vp maister Petit, and saide: Ye were caste into prison, because ye fled away from your Ordinary.
CloseThe ordinary was the bishop of the diocese in which an offender in an ecclesiatical trial resided. He alone had jurisdiction over the offender. In this case, Cardinal Pole, in his capacity as archbishop of Canterbury, was the ordinary of Bland.
CloseBland is saying that he is being unjustly accused of attempting to flee.
CloseFoxe's marginal note, saying that Cornwall was secretly 'dispatched' in prison, implies that Cornwall was mysteriously killed. All Bland is saying is that he does not know how Cornwall's case was resolved.
And thus hytherto passed the talke betweene Bland and the Iustices, and certayne Gentlemen of the shyre. Now foloweth the order of the reasonyng betwene him and the Clergie men, before whom he was examined. But for as muche as the chiefest doer and Iudge against hym was the bishop of Douer or Suffragan of Cāterbury called D. Richard Thornton, to the intent it may appeare what litle truth or constancie is in these catholike persecuters, I thought here to exhibite by the way a certaine popish letter, written of a Papist vnto hym.
CloseThis paragraph and the following letter were inserted by Foxe in the 1570 edition, interrupting Bland's account of his ordeals in his letter to his father. Foxe's reason for doing so was to embarrass Thornden by showing how Pole and his officials did not trust the suffragan because of his changes of religious allegiance.
[Back to Top]
CloseThis letter was a response to Thornden's request to Pole for the power to grant absolution to those who sought it for religious offences committed during the previous reigns. Thornden received this power, but it was accompanied by a stinging reprimand for Thornden's own conduct during Edward VI's reign. (Humiliatingly, Thornden was also informed that Nicholas Harpsfield, merely an archdeacon, had greater authority to give absolution than he did). Goldwell, later bishop of St Asaph, was a confidant of Cardinal Pole. How Foxe got this letter - this is the only known copy - is a mystery.
[Back to Top]RIght reuerende and my good Lorde, after my hartye thanks for your good cheare at my last being with your Lordship, this shalbe to certifie you, that as soone as I arriued with my Lords Grace,MarginaliaHe meaneth of the ariuall of Cardinall Poole. I gaue hym your letters, but I had muche woorke to obtaine any thing of hym for you. For there hath bene geuen very euyll informations of you, and it hath bene saide, that you haue concurred with all maner of euyl procedings, the which hath these yeares past bene in England, as well against the holy sacrament of the aultar, and against the supreme authoritie of Christs vicar in earth, as with the vse of the abominable late Communion, and with the mariage of priestes, as wel religious as secular:MarginaliaThornton B. of Douer, a great doer agaynst the Pope and Sacrament of the altar, in King Edwardes tyme. and that you haue geuen orders to (I can not tell how many) base, vnlearned, and euyl disposed people, by reason of the whiche they haue taken vppon them to preache, and to doo muche hurt in Kent. So that men thinke that yet if any newe mutation (the which God forbyd) shoulde chaunce, you woulde be as readye to chaunge as any other. And in deede it maketh me to feare the same, by reason that notwithstanding it pleased almighty God to prouide, that your absolution was sent vnto you (not looking, I dare say, for any such thing) of all maner of matters past, yet your Lordship (more regarding the vanitie of the worlde, then the offence of God, the which he onely knoweth how much it greeues me, for the due loue I beare vnto you,) presumed to sing Masse in Pontificalibus, the holy dayes immediately folowing, and also to ministrate to children the sacrament of Confirmation, because that one (beyng a member of the deuyll,) dyd somewhat comfort you so to doo.
[Back to Top]