1576 Edition | Book 4 | Page 286 
MarginaliaAn. 1218.1218. which was the third of this kings raigne, the Archbishop, S. Langhton and the bishops, Erles & Barons, resorted to London vnto the kyng at Michaelmas next followyng: and there held a great parliament, MarginaliaK. Henry confirmed the liberties graunted by king Iohn.wherein were confirmed and graunted by the king all the frāchisies, which were made & geuē by K. Iohn his father at Ronemedow: and them he confirmed and ratified by his charter, whiche long tyme after, saith my author, vnto hys dayes did continue and were holden in England. For the which cause, by the nobles andMarginaliaTwo shillings of euery plough land graunted to K. Henry. Tho. Becket shryned.the commons was geuen & graunted againe vnto þe king ij. shillings for euery plow land through England. And Hubert of Burgh was made chiefe iustice of England, of whose troubles more is to be sayde hereafter. And this was the 3. yeare of K. Henry, and 50. yere after the death of Tho. Becket: wherfore the said Becket the same yere or next followyng was taken vp and shrined for a new saint made of an old rebel. Thether came such resort of people of England and of Fraunce, that the countrey of Kent was not sufficient to susteine them. Ex histor. D. Scales. MarginaliaEx historia D. Scales.About the same tyme Isabell the Kings mother was maried to the Erle of March. MarginaliaW. Marshall dieth and was buried at the Temple.And William Mershall þe good erle died, which was the gouernour of the King and the realme, not without great lamentation of the people of England. Then was the Kyng committed to the gouernement of Peter B. of Winchester. This noble Erle left behynd hym v. sonnes, and v. daughters.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaAn. 1219.
Aliens commaunded out of England.The yere next insuyng. an. 1219. It was ordeined and proclaimed through all the land, that all aliens and foreners should depart the realme, and not to return to the same agayne: onely such excepted, as vsed traficke or trade of merchandise, vnder the kings safe conduct. MarginaliaFaukes de Breute rebelleth agaynst king Henry.This proclamatiō was thought chiefly to be set forth for the cause to auoyde out of the land Faukes de Breute, Philippe de Markes, Engelardus de Ciconia, William Erle Albemarke, Robert de veteri ponte, Brihene de insula, Hugo de Bailluel, Robert de Gaugi, with diuers other straūgers mo, whiche kept castles and holdes of the kinges against his wil. Of whom the foresayd Faukes was þe principall, who had fortified & held þe castle of Bedford, which he had by þe gift of King Ihon, wt myght and strength agaynst the K. and hys power, nere the space of 3. monethes. Moreouer he went about to apprehende the kings iustices at Dunstable, but they being warned thereof, escaped all saue Henry Braibrocke, whom he imprisoned in the sayd castle. The K. hearing therof, & consulting with his clergy and nobles, made his power agaynst the same. Which after long siege and some slaughter at length he obteyned, and hanged almost all that were within, to the nūber of. 97. which was (as Parisiens. writeth) about the 7. or 8. yere of his reigne. Faukes the same tyme was in Wales, who hearyng of the takyng of the castle, conueyed him selfe to the church of Couentry. At length submitting him selfe to the Kinges mercy, vpon consideration of his seruice done before to the kings father, was committed to the custody of Eustace bishop of London, and afterward beyng depriued of all hys goods possessions and tenementes within the realme, was forced to perpetuall banishment, neuer to returne to England agayne. MarginaliaEx Parisiens.¶ Here (by the way) I finde it noted in Parisiens. that after this foresayd Faukes, had spoyled and rased þe church of S. Paule in Bedford, for the buildyng vp of his Castle: the Abbase of Heluestue hearyng therof, caused the sworde to be taken from the Image of S. Paule standyng in the Church, so long as he remayned vnpunished. Afterward, she hearing him to be committed to the custody of S. Paule in London, caused the sword to be put in the handes of the image againe. Mat. Parisiens. in vita. Henr. 3.
MarginaliaAn. 1220.
K. Hēry crowned the second tyme at Westminster.About this yeare the young king the second tyme was crowned agayne at Westminster, about which tyme began the newe buildyng of our Lady Church at Westminster. Shortly after Gualo the Legate was called home againe to Rome. For the holy father (as Math. Pariens. reporteth) beyng sicke of a spiritual dropsy, thought this Gualo (hauyng so large occupying in England) to be able somewhat to cure his disease. And so that Legate returned with all his bagges well stuffed, leauyng Pandulphe behynde hym to supply that Bayllywike of hys great graundfather the Pope.
MarginaliaPope Innocentus the third.The lyfe and Actes of Pope Innocentius the 3. are partly described before, how he intruded Stephan Langthō agaynst the kings will into the Archbishoprike of Canterbury, stirring vp also 64. Monkes of the same Church of Canterbury, priuily to worke agaynst the king. Moreouer howe he dyd excommunicate the sayd King as a publike ennemy of the Church, so long as the sayd Kyng withstoode his tirannicall doings: putting hym and his whole kingdome vnder interdiction, for the space of 6. yeres and 3. monethes. MarginaliaThe deedes and decrees of pope Innoocent.3.And at length deposed and depriued hym from hys scepter, kepyng it in hys owne handes for v. dayes. How he absolued all hys subiectes from their due obedience and subiectiō vnto hym. How he gaue away his kingdomes and possessions vnto Lewes the French kings sonne, commaunding þe said Lewys to spoyle hym, both of landes and lyfe. Wherupon, the king (beyng forsaken of hys nobles, prelates, and commons) was inforced against his will to submit himself, & sware obedience vnto þe pope: paying vnto hym a yearly tribute of a M. markes by yeare, for receiuyng his kingdome agayne, wherby both he and his successors after hym were vassals afterward vnto þe Pope. MarginaliaAlmericus condemned.And these were þe Apostolical acts of this holy Vicar in þe realme of Englād. Moreouer he condemned Almericus a worthy learned man and a bishop, for an heretike, for teaching & holding against images. MarginaliaIoachim Abbas condemned.
Priuate tithes brought in.Also he condemned the doctrine of Ioachim Abbas (whō we spake of before) for heretical. This pope brought first into the church the paying of priuate tithes. He ordeyned the receiuyng once a yere at Easter. Vnto the papal decretals he added the decree, Omnis vtriusq; sexus, &c. MarginaliaBell & cādle before the sacrament.Also the reseruation of the sacrament, and the goyng wyth the Bell, and light before the Sacrament was by hym appoynted. MarginaliaCanon of the masse authorised.
TransubstantiationIn the sayd Councel of Laterane, he also ordayned that the Canon of the Masse should be receyued with equall authoritie as though it had proceeded from the Apostles themselues. He brought in trāsubstantiatiō, looke in the decretals. Titulo I. De summa Trinit. & fide Catholica, cap. firmiter credimus.
MarginaliaMariage in the 3. degree forbidden.Item, the sayd Innocentius the 3. ordeyned that none should mary in the third degree, but onely in the fourth degre, and so vnder.
MarginaliaThe pope setteth kinges & Emperours together by the eares.The sayd pope stirred vp Otho against Phillip the Emperor, because the sayd Philip was elected Emperour against his will. Vpon the occasion wherof followed much warre and slaughter in Germany. MarginaliaPhilip the Emperour deposedAnd afterward agaynst the sayd Otho, whome he had made Emperour, he set vp Frederick K. of Cicile, and caused the Archb. of Mayence to pronounce hym excommunicate in all his titles, and be to deposed of his Empire. For the which cause the princes of Germany did inuade hys bishopricke, spoyling & burnyng his possessions. MarginaliaOtho the Emperour deposed.The cause why the Pope so dyd accurse and depose hym, was for that the sayd Otho did take and occupy Cities, townes, and castles, which the pope said pertained to hym.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe counsell of Lateran.Item, the sayd pope ordeined that if any prince offended one another, the correction should appertayne vnto þe Pope. In this Councell of Laterane were Archbishops & Primates 61. Bishops 400. Abbots 12. Priors and conuētuals 800. besides other Embassadors, Legates, Doctors, and Lawyers an innumerable sort. &c.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaMartyrs of Alsatia, to the number of an. 100. burned in one day.
Ex Herm. Mutio.In the history of Hermannus Mutius, we read how in the yere of our Lord. 1212. in this popes tyme diuers noble men, and other in the country of Alsatia, contrary to the tradition of the Romish Popes did hold, that euery day was free for eating of flesh, so it be done soberly. Also, that they did wickedly which restreined priestes and ministers frō their lawfull wyues, for the which cause (as is in the foresayd author) by this pope Innocent the third, and hys bishopps, an hundreth of them in one day were burned and Martyred.
MarginaliaCollectes sent from the brethren of Millane, to them of. Alsatia.Some other histories (as Nauclerus) recordeth also, that at the same tyme many were in the citie of Millane of the sayd doctrine, which vsed to send collects, vnto the foresayd saintes of Alsatia. Ex Nauclero.
MarginaliaObseruant Friers begā.In the chronicle of Gualter Hemingford otherwise called Gisburnensis, it is recorded þt in þe dayes of this K. Iohn, and Pope Innocent, beganne the two sectes and orders of Friers
CloseFoxe moved the short tract on the life and acts of Innocent III from the end of the section on King John in the 1563 edition to the beginning of the section on Henry III's early reign in the 1570 edition. The account is almost entirely extracted out of John Bale, Scriptorum Illustrium maioris Brytanniae …Catalogus (Basel, 1557), pp. 234-5 but also supplemented with evidence from Innocent III's papal decretails, commonly called Corpus Juris Canonici. There were various manuscript versions in existence making it difficult to know which version is used here.
[Back to Top]From this summary Foxe indulges in anti-papal polemics from the thirteenth century as a framework for his rewriting of the Cathar heresy into agents of Christ's church. First Foxe attacked the increase of Monastic Orders as a sign that the Roman Church could not even agree from within itself. The text is largely lifted from John Bale's Catalogus pp. 234-5 and The Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough, ed. Harry Rothewell, Camden Society, 3rd Series, 89 (London, Camden Society, 1957), pp. 150-1. The list of 101 Orders is interesting. Martin Luther did not produce any such list despite Foxe's reference to him. The unidentified English book that Foxe refers to is also unknown. It is possible that Foxe was relying on an unprinted list compiled by John Bale.
[Back to Top]Next follows the prophecy of the nun, Hildegard written down in her Scivias, Liber vitae meritorum and Liber divionorum operum, which represented a popular prophecy about the Antichrist from the early thirteenth century that had transmitted to the fourteenth-century primarily through Gebeno, Prior of Eberbach's Speculum Temporum Futurorum (1220). This text had attempted to link Hildegard's prophecy to the growing Cathar heresies. Hildegard was the abbess of Disibodenberg and Rupertsberg. In the 1563 edition Foxe took this account from Matthias Flacius, Catalogus testium veritatis (Strasbourg, 1556), pp. 650-655. However, in the 1570 edition Foxe has corrected the date of the prophecy from 1170 to 1146 and rearranged the prophecy itself. This suggests that he had either consulted Flacius' source, the Chronica Martini Poloni from Matthew Parker's collection (probably CCCC MS 372 or CCCC MS 59) or alternatively from a composite manuscript (CCCC MS 404) containing various prophesies including Hildegard.
[Back to Top]Once this prophecy is outlined Foxe begins his discussion of the Cathars (Albigenses). Foxe publishes a letter by the Pope's legate concerning the Cathars setting up of a rival Pope. This account was first printed in the 1563 edition but from the 1570 edition onwards would be followed by a larger account of the Albigensian crusade (1209-1229) after further discussion of England's financial plight. The inclusion of the 1563 account without change even though Foxe had discovered more details reveals something of Foxe's working practise for the second edition. The account is extracted from either Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, ed. Henry Richards Luard, Rolls Series (7 vols., London, 1872-1884), vol. 3, pp. 78-9 or Roger of Wendover, Flores Historiarum, ed. Henry G. Hewlett, Rolls Series (3 vols., London, 1886-9) vol. 2, pp. 272-3.
[Back to Top]This section is then completed by a full reproduction of a post-Wyclif Lollard tract attacking the practises and corruption of friars probably written in the early fifteenth century. Jack Upland was either mistaken as a work of Chaucer or for political and religious reasons attributed to the famous author of the fourteenth century to by-pass the ban on Lollard writings under the Six Articles. The popularity of Chaucer also made the association a powerful propaganda tool. In 1550 Robert Crawley had published a similar tract for reformist purposes entitled Piers Plowman, which had proved successful. See John N. King, 'Robert Crawley's editions of "Piers Plowman": A Tudor Apocalypse', Modern Philology, 73:4 (1976), pp. 342-352. If the reformists could show that Chaucer was a 'proto-Protestant' then this would help to popularise acceptance of the Elizabethan Church. P.L. Heyworth, 'The Earliest Black-letter editions of "Jack Upland"', The Huntingdon Library Quarterly, 30:4 (1967), pp. 307-314 has suggested that its original publication in the 1530s by John Gough and then again by John Day was to support the Henrician break from Rome and the subsequent dissolution of the monasteries. Jack Upland allowed Foxe to trace, through the association of Chaucer with Wyclif as 'faithful witnesses', the apostolic church at a time when the Antichrist was in full control of the church. The decision must also be, in part, related to John Day's earlier publication of the tract in the 1540s, which made its inclusion in the Acts and Monuments an easy addition to print. Its publication in the midst of Henry III's reign was to demonstrate the corruption of monkish orders, which Foxe had listed two pages earlier.
[Back to Top]Matthew Phillpott
University of Sheffield