sayd Otho the emperour being not a little displeased for displacing of Leo, whom he had before promoted, and for the chusing also of Benedict: came with his armye, & layd siege to Rome, MarginaliaPope Leo. 8.and so set vp Pope Leo agayne, the. viij. of that name. Which Leo to gratifie his benefactor agayne, crowned Otho for emperour and intituled hym to be called Augustus. Also the power which Carolus Magnus had geuen before to the Clergy and people of Rome: MarginaliaThe election of the Byshop of Rome geuen to the Emperour.this Leo by a synodall decree graunted to the emperour and hys successors: that is, touchyng the electiō of the byshop of Rome. MarginaliaThe donations of Carolus Magnus, & Otho to Rome.The emperour agayn restored to the sea of Rome, all such donations and possessions, which either Constantinus (as they falsely pretend) or which Carolus Magnus tooke frō the Lombardes, and gaue to them.

MarginaliaPope Iohn xiiii.After Pope Leo had raigned a yeare and. iij. monethes, succeded pope Iohn the, xiiij. agaynst whom (for holdyng with the Emperour) Petrus the head captaine of the Citie, with two Consuls. xij. Aldermen, and diuers other nobles: gatheryng their power together, layd handes vpō him, in the Church of Laterene, MarginaliaPope Iohn 14. cast in prison.and clapt the Pope in prison xj. monethes. The Emperour hearing this, with all speede returned with his armye agayne to Rome, who after execution done vpon the authors and chief doers of that fact: among other he committed the foresayd Petrus, to the Popes arbitrement. MarginaliaThe cruel reuenge of the Pope.Whom he caused first to be stript naked, then his beard beyng shauen, to be hanged by the heare a whole day together: after that to be set vpon an Asse (his face turned backward, and his handes bound vnder the asses tayle) and so to be led through the Citie, that all men might see him: that done, to be scourged with rods, and so banished the Citie. Thus ye see, how the holy father followeth the iniunctiō of the Gospell: Diligite inimicos vestros: loue your enemies. Luc. 6. &c. MarginaliaChristening of bells first beganne.From this Pope proceded first the Christenyng of bels. an. 971.

MarginaliaPope Bendictus. 6.
Pope Benedict slayne in prison.
Pope Donus. 2.
Pope Bonifacius. 7.After him followed Pope Benedictus the sixt, who in like maner was apprehended by Cynthius a Captaine of Rome, & cast in prison, where he was strangled, or as some say, famished to death.

Then came pope Donus the ij. After whom Bonifacius the. vij. was Pope: who likewise seyng the Citizens of Rome to conspire agaynst him, was constrained to hyde himselfe. And seyng no place there for hym to tarye, tooke the treasure of S. Peters church, and so priuely stale to Constantinople. MarginaliaTwo Popes together.
Pope Iohn. xv.In whose steede the Romanes set vp pope Iohn the. xv. Not long after, Boniface returnyng agayne from Constantinople, by his money and treasure procured a garrison or company to take his part: By whose meanes the foresayd Pope Iohn was taken, his eyes put out, and so throwne in prison, MarginaliaPope Iohn slayne.where he was as some say famished: some say he was slayne by Ferrucius. Neither did Boniface raigne many dayes after, but sodainly dyed: MarginaliaPope Boniface drawen through the streetes of Rome.whose carkase after his death was drawen by the feete through the streetes of Rome, after the most despitefull maner of the people shrikyng and exclamyng agaynst him. an. 976.

MarginaliaPope Benedictus. 7.
Otho second, Emperour.Next Pope after him was Benedictus. vij, by the consent of the Emperour Otho the 2. and raigned ix. yeares. In the tyme of this Pope: Hughe Cappet the Frēch kyng, tooke Charles (the right heyre to the crowne) by the treason of the bishop of Laon: & when he had imprisoned him, he also cōmitted to prison Arnoldus Archbishop of Rayns, MarginaliaGilbertus a necromanser, made Archb.and placed in his rowme Gilbertus a monke of Floriake (a Necromāser) who was scholemaister to Duke Robert the kynges sonne. But this Pope Benedictus, callng a Coūcell at Remis, restored the sayd Arnoldus agayne, and displaced Gilbertus: which after by the helpe of Otho was made Archbishop of Rauenna, and at length was Pope, as in processe hereafter (Christ graūting) shalbe declared.

MarginaliaPope Iohn the. xvi.
Pope Iohn the xvii.
Pope Gregory the v.After Benedictus succeded in the sea of Rome Pope Iohn the. xvi. & dyed the. viij. moneth of his Papacy. Next to whom came Iohn the. xvij. And after him Gregory the. v. in the yeare of our Lord. 995. This Gregory (called before Bruno) was a Germane borne, and therefore the more malaced of the Clergy & people of Rome. Wherupon, Crescentius with the people and Clergy, conuenting agaynst the sayd Gregory: MarginaliaAnd Pope Iohn the xviii.
Two Popes together in Rome.set vp Pope Iohn the xviij. Gregory vpon the same, sped him selfe in all conuenient hast to the Emperour Otho the iij. in Germany. Who hearyng the complaint of Gregory, and vnderstandyng his wronges: set forward with his army well appointed, to Italy: gat the Citie, and there tooke both Crescentius the Consull, and Iohn the Pope. MarginaliaPope Iohn had his eyes put out, & so put to death.Which Iohn first hauyng his eyes put out, was depriued after of his life. Crescentius the Consul was set vpon a vyle horse, hauyng his nose and eares cut of, and so was led through the Citie, his face beyng turned to the horsetayle, and afterward hauyng his members cut of, was hanged vpon a gibbet.

MarginaliaPope Gregory restored.Pope Gregory thus beyng restored to his former state reigned iiij. yeares in his Papacie (although Marianus Scotus and Martinus say, that he sat but ij. yeres) &c. Duryng the which tyme he assembled a Coūcell in Rome: where, he to stablish the Empire in his owne countrey (by the consent and counsaile of Otho) ordeined vij. Princes of Germany to be electors of the Emperour: which order, yet to this day remayneth. MarginaliaVii. electors of themperour ordayned in Germany, and who they be.What be the names of these vij. electours, and what is their office, thus I finde in these verses expressed.

MarginaliaEx Chronico. Martini.Maguntinensis, Treuerensis, Coloniensis.
Quilibet Imperij sit cancellarius horum.
Et Palatinus Dapifer. Dux portitor ensis.
Marchio præpositus cameræ, Princerna Bohemus.
 

Latin/Greek Translations     Close

Verses from the Chronicle of Martin

Foxe text Latin

Maguntinensis ... Princerna Bohemus.

Translation

J. Barrie Hall

Of Mainz, of Trier, of Cologne - let anyone in the empire who pleases be chancellor of these. And Palatine steward. The duke who bears the sword. The marquis chamberlain. The Bohemian butler.

These vij. he ordeined to be electors 3. byshops. 3. princes (to wyt) the Palatine, the duke of Saxonie, the marques Brandenburgh. To whom was added also the kyng of Boheme, to geue the odde voyce, if the euen voyces could not agree. This constitutiō being first begun an. 997. was after established in Germanie by Otho the Emperour, the yeare of the Lord. 1002. And thus much by the way or rather by digression, cōcernyng the rages and tumultes of the Romish Church. Now to our matter agayne.

¶ Kyng Egelred, or Elred.  

Commentary     Close

Foxe's account of Ethelred's life begins in a straightforward way with material taken from William of Malmesbury's Gesta Regum (J. S. Brewer, and C. T. Martin, 'William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum.' In Reigistrum Malmesburiense. The Registor of Malmesbury Abbey, ed. by J.S. Brewer and C.T. Martin [London: Rolls Series, 1869-1880], book 2, ch. 164). For the death of Dunstan and his successors, Foxe pieced together as best he could the differing accounts of John Brompton's Chronicle (J. Brompton, 'Chronicon Johannis Brompton Abbatis Jornalensis.' In Historiæ Anglicanæ Scriptores X. [....], ed. by Roger Twysden [London, 1652], col. 879), William of Malmesbury's Gesta Pontificium (book 1, ch. 26) and Polydore Vergil's Historia Anglia (Basel, 1534), p. 263. For the translation of St Cuthbert's relics from Chester to Durham, his source is Roger Howden (W. Stubbs, ed. Chronica magistri Rogeri de Houdene 4 vols, Rolls Series [London, 1868], 1, p. 68), confirmed by Ranulph Higden's Polychronicon (J. R. Lumby, ed. Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden monachi Cestrensis: together with the English translations of John Trevisa and of an unknown writer of the fifteenth century (London: Rolls Series, 1879), book 6, ch. 14). For the Danish incursions and their impact, Foxe took his account verbatim from Fabian's Chronicle (R. Fabyan, The Chronicle of Fabian (London, 1559), book 6, ch. 197-8 or Brompton (cols. 879; 885). For Ethelred's marriage to Richard Duke of Normandy, he followed Fabian, or possibly Henry Huntingdon (T. Arnold, ed. Henry of Huntingdon. Henrici Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum, the History of the English, by Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon, from B. C. 55 to A. D. 1154 [London: Rolls Series, 1879], book 6, ch. 1). For the king's retreat, foundation of the abbey at Bury St Edmunds, and his eventual death, Foxe followed Ranulph Higden's Polychronicon (book 6, chs 16-17). The long Latin citation concerning judges and the dispensation of right justice was taken verbatim from Brompton's Chronicle (p. 903).

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MarginaliaKyng Egelred
An. 979.KYng Edward thus being murthered as is aforesaid: the crowne fell next to Egelrede his yoūger brother, and sonne to kyng Edgar by the foresayd Queene Alfrith, as we haue declared. This Egelred had a long reigne geuē of God, which dured the terme of xxxviij yeres: but very vnfortunate, & full of great miseries. And he himselfe (by the histories) semeth to be a prince not of the greatest courage to gouerne a cōmon wealth. Our English stories writyng of him, thus report of his reigne: that in the beginnyng, it was vngracious: wretched in the middle: and hatefull in the latter end. MarginaliaThe life of Egelred.Of this Egelrede it is read, when Dunstane the Archbishop should Christen him: as he dyd hold him ouer the fonte, somthing there happened, that pleased not Dunstan: wherupon he sware: per sanctam Mariam ise ignauus homo erit.i. By the mother of Christ, he wyll be a Prince vntoward & courwardlike. Chron. de Croulād. I finde in Williā of Malmesbery, Lib. 2. de Regib. that this Egelred being of þ^e age of x. yeares, whē he heard his brother Edward to be slayne, made such sorow & weapyng for him: that his mother fallyng therew^h in a rage, tooke waxe candels (hauing nothyng els at hād) wherewith she scourged him so sore (wel nere till he soūded) that after the same, he could neuer abyde any waxe candels to burne before him. MarginaliaAn .981.After this, about the yeare of our Lord .981. (the day of his coronation beyng appointed by the Queene the mother & the nobles) MarginaliaThe coronation of K. EgelredDunstan the Archb. of Cant. (who first refused so to do) with Oswald Archbyshop of Yorke: were inforced to crowne the kyng. And so they did at Kyngston. In doyng wherof, the report of stories go: that the sayd Dunstan should say, thus prophecyeng vnto the kyng: MarginaliaThe prophecie of Dunstaneas monkishe stories geue it.that for somuch as he came to the kyngdome, by the death of his brother and through the conspiracie of the wicked conspiratours and other Englishmen: They should not be without bloudshedyng and sword, till there came a people of an vnknowen toung, and should bryng them into thraldome: Neither should that trespasse be clensed without long vengeaunce. &c.

In the Chronicles of Crouland, I finde these wordes, Quoniam ascendisti ad thronum tuum, per mortem fratris tui, quem occidit mater tua, propterea audi verbum Domini, hoc dicit Dominus. Nō deficiet gladius de domo tua, sæuiens in te omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ, & interficiens de semine tuo, & de gente tua, vsq. dium regnum tuum transferatur in regnum alienum: Cuius ritum & linguam gens tua non nouit, nec expiabitur, nisi longa vindicta, & multa sanguinis effusione peccatum matris tuæ, & peccatum virorum pessimorum, qui consenserūt consilio eius neq¯, vt mitterent manum in Christum Domini, ad effundendum sanguinem innocentem. Chron. de Crouland.

Not lōg after the coronatiō of this kyng, a cloude was sene throughout the land which appeared, the one halfe like bloud, and the other halfe like fire. And chaunged after into sondry colours and vanished at the last in the mornyng. Shortly after the apperaūce of this cloud, in the iij. yeare of his reigne, MarginaliaThe Danes recourse to England.the Danes ariuyng in sondry places of the land, first spoyled Southampton: either slaying the inhabitance, or leadyng them captiue away. From thence they went to the Isle of Thanet: then they inuaded Chester: from thence they proceded to Cornwale and Deauenshyre, and so to Sussex: where, in those coastes they did much harme, and so retired to their shyppes agayne. Roger Ho