1583 Edition | Book 10 | Page 1443 
Close(Lord Cobham) (1527 - 1597)
9th Lord Cobham (Complete Peerage)
Signatory to a letter from the Privy Council to Princess Mary, dated 9 July 1553, stating that she was illegitimate and that Jane Grey was Edward VI's true heir (1570, p. 1567; 1576, p. 1337; 1583, pp. 1406-7).
He accompanied Mary to Westminster Abbey for her coronation on 1 October 1553 (1570, p. 1635; 1576, p. 1395; 1583, p. 1466).
He was committed to the Tower in February 1554 (1570, p. 1580; 1576, p. 1348; 1583, p. 1419).
He was released from the Tower on 24 March 1554 (1570, p. 1635; 1576, p 1395; 1583, p. 1466).
Close(1537 - 1554) (DNB)
Jane Grey was named by Edward VI as his heir and proclaimed Queen (1563, p. 901; 1570, p. 1567; 1576, p. 1336; 1583, p. 1406).
She was compared favorably to Edward VI in learning; she was also compared to Aspasia, Sempronia and the mother of the Gracchi (1563, p. 901; 1570, p. 1576; 1576, p. 1336; and 1583, p. 1406).
She was imprisoned in the Tower for nearly five months after Mary became Queen (1563, p. 902; 1570, p. 1569; 1576, p. 1338; 1583, p. 1407).
Jane Grey's writings and letters (1563, pp. 917-22; 1570, pp. 1580-84; 1576, pp. 1348-52; 1583, pp. 1420-22).
Jane Grey's words at her execution and a description of her execution are in 1563, p. 919; 1570, p. 1584; 1576, p. 1352; and 1583, p. 1422.
Latin verses written by Jane Grey are in 1563, p. 922; 1570, p. 1584; 1576, p. 1352; and 1583, pp. 1422-23).
Latin verses commemorating Jane Grey (by John Parkhust, John Foxe and Laurence Humphrey) are in 1563, pp. 923; 1570, pp. 1584-85; 1576, p. 1352; and 1583, p. 1423.
Jane was executed 12 February 1554 (1563, p 823; 1570, p. 1584; 1576, p. 1352; 1583, p. 1422).
Also referred to as 'Jane Dudley'
Close(1518? - 1585)
Dean of St Paul's. Last abbot of Westminster. [DNB]
Feckenham was made dean of St Paul's on Midsummer's Day, 1554. 1563, p. 1151; 1570, pp. 1636 and 1760; 1576, pp. 1396 and 1551 [recte 1503]; 1583, pp. 1467 and 1587
He conversed with Thomas Hawkes in June 1554 trying to persuade him to recant. 1563, pp. 1153-54; 1570, p. 1762; 1576, p. 1505; 1583, pp. 1588-89
In the letter exhibited by Bonner about Bartlett Green, reference was made to John Dee and Feckenham. 1563, pp. 1444-45, 1570, p. 1999, 1576, pp. 1721-22, 1583, p. 1828.
Feckenham traveled to Colchester with Bishop Bonner to try to win Thomas Causton and Thomas Higbed back to catholicism. 1563, p. 1104; 1570, p. 1716; 1576, p. 1465; 1583, p. 1539.
He tried to persuade Hooper to recant after he was condemned on 29 January 1555. The effort was unsuccessful but false rumors spread that Hooper had recanted. 1563, p. 1057; 1570, p. 1680; 1576, p. 1434; 1583, p. 1507.
Feckenham was one of those who presided over an examination of Thomas Tomkins on 9 February 1555. 1570, p. 1712; 1576, p. 1461; 1583, p. 1535.
He was one of those who examined first Thomas Causton, and then Thomas Higbed, in Bonner's palace on 8 March 1555. 1563, p. 1105; 1570, p. 1718; 1576, p. 1466; 1583, p. 1540.
He wrote a ballad, Caveat emptor , on the subject of the restoration of monastic lands. 1570, p. 1729; 1576, p. 1497; 1583, p. 1559.
Feckenham received a letter from William Paulet. 1563, p. 1239, 1570, p. 1860, 1576, p. 1592, 1583, p. 1680.
He discussed eucharistic doctrine with Bartlett Green. 1563, pp. 1463-64, 1570, pp. 2025-26, 1576, p. 1746, 1583, p. 1854.
Feckenham claimed that Green was converted by Peter Martyr's lectures and that Zwingli, Luther, Oecolampadius and Carolostadius could never agree doctrine. 1563, pp. 1463-64, 1570, pp. 2025-26,, 1576, p. 1746, 1583, p. 1854.
[In a letter that was never delivered] Bartlett Green told John Philpot of his presentment on 17 November before Bonner and two bishops, Master Dean, Roper, Welch, John Harpsfield, and two or three others. 1563, p. 1460, 1570, p. 2023, 1576, p. 1744, 1583, p. 1852.
A letter by the thirteen prisoners reproaching Feckenham for his slander dated Feckenham's sermon as 14 June 1556. 1563, pp. 1526-27, 1570, p. 2097, 1576, pp. 1809-10, 1583, p. 1916.
Feckenham spoke up in defence of John Cheke. 1570, p. 2141, 1576, p. 1862, 1583, p. 1955.
MarginaliaAnno 1553. the high benefit & cōmoditie of all the whole Realme, then I wil abstaine from Mariage while I liue. MarginaliaThe promise of Queene Mary touching her Maryage.
And now good Subiects, plucke vp your hearts, and like true men, stande fast against these rebels, both our enemies and yours, and feare them not: for I assure you I feare them nothing at all, And I will leaue with you my Lord Haward, & my Lord Treasoror, who shalbe assistants with the Mayor for your defence.
[Back to Top]¶ Here is to be noted, that at the comming of Queene Mary to the Guild hall, being bruted before that shee was comming wt harnessed men, such a feare came among them that a number of the Londiners fearing least they shoulde be there intrapped & put to death, made out of the gate before her entring in. Furthermore note, that when shee had ended her Oration (which she semed to haue perfectly conned without booke) Winchester standing by her, when the Oration was done, with great admiration cried to þe people: O how happy are we, to whom God hath geuen such a wise and learned Prince. &c.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaFebruary 3. M. Wyat in southwarke.Two dayes after, whiche was the 3. of Februarie, the L. Cobham was committed to the Tower, and M. Wyat entred into Southwarke. Who, for so muche as he coulde not enter þt way
CloseThe reason for this alteration of march is thus explained by Stowe: "Certaine both men and women came to Wyat in most lamentable wise, saying, Sir, wee are all like to bee utterly undone, and destroyed for your sake; our houses shall by and by bee throwne downe upon our heads, to the utter spoyle of this borough, with the shot of the Tower, all ready bent and charged towards us; for the love of God therefore take pittie upon us - And so in most speedie manner hee marched away" (pp. 619, 620).
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CloseAlthough Foxe promises an account of the theft of Wyatt's head (1563, p. 917; 1570, p. 1580; 1576, p. 1348; 1583, p. 1419), such an account does not appear in the Actes and Monuments. This is because the passage is taken, word for word, from Crowley (cf. Crowley, Epitome, sig. Ffff4r), who did not give this account himself.
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CloseThe glosses here help to fashion Jane as a martyr or pseudo-martyr. As a sufferer for the truth and a letter-writer, her efforts are characterised in ways which ally them with those of later martyrs; thus ('Lady Iane comfortably taketh her trouble'), and feels bold enough to offer reproof to a priest who has fallen from the faith ('A sharpe letter or exhortation of the Lady Iane to M. Harding') as well as spiritual encouragement to her father and sister ('This Parenthesis includeth with a praier, a priuy admonition to her father that he fall not from his religion' and 'So liue to dye, that by death you may liue'). The glosses also support her spirited defence of faith against Fecknam, mainly by simply pointing to the matters affirmed ('Faith onely iustifieth', 'Good workes necessary in a christian, yet do they not profite to saluation', etc.), but on one occasion Foxe does offer a more logically focussed summary of what she says than is directly warranted by the content ('Christ had power to turne the bread into his body, is no argumēt to proue that he did so'). Also relevant is a gloss which points to her steady and devout conduct in the face of death ('The wordes and behauiour of the Lady Iane vppon the Scaffold'). The gloss 'A wonderfull example vpon Morgan the Iudge who gaue sentence agaynst the Lady Iane' adds to the implicit sense of injustice by highlighting the providential visitation of a judge who convicted Jane.
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CloseTo paraphrase Voltaire, if Jane Grey had not existed, Foxe would have invented her. Her constancy and articulate championing of her evangelical convictions did a great deal to counteract the recantation of her father-in-law and some of his closest adherents. And, unlike her father and Wyatt, who also died 'good deaths', she was regarded as being innocent of treason. Yet at the same time, Foxe's account of her is more than merely the narrative of a martyrdom. Jane Grey's conference with Feckenham and her letter to Harding also form an important part of the arguments against the mass and the eucharist which are the overriding themes of Book 10. Moreover, her connections with the Marian exiles (particularly James Haddon and John Aylmer, who had been her tutor), and continental reformers with whom she had corresponded (notably Bullinger), ensured that Foxe had ample information about her even when he was in exile.
[Back to Top]In fact, most of the material Foxe printed regarding Jane Grey had already been printed in the Rerum and this material was largely unchanged in the Actes and Monuments. The items in the Rerum include the dialogue with Feckenham (pp. 234-36), Jane's letter to Catherine Grey (pp. 236-38) and Jane's speech at her execution (pp. 237-38). Jane's prayer 'in time of trouble' and her letter to Harding are not in the Rerum, but appear in the 1563 and all subsequent editions. These items were rearranged in the 1570 edition (see textual transpositions 1 to 4 inclusive), apparently to bring them into chronological order. (Jane's letter to Catherine Grey was reprinted from the 1563 edition in Bull's LM, pp. 662-63). Also reprinted from the Rerum are Latin verses by Foxe, Laurence Humphrey and John Parkhurst, praising Jane Grey for her learning, emphasising the pathos of her death and acclaiming her as a martyr.
[Back to Top]There are, however, some passages about Jane Grey in the Rerum which were never reprinted in the Actes and Monuments. One set of passages states that Jane Grey was no more than seventeen when she died but that she was very gifted, especially in her mastery of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and that she died through no fault of her own, but for the sins of her parents and of the family into which she had married (Rerum, p. 238). The last comments explain why this passage was not reprinted. Not only did it attack the very powerful Dudley family, but it also attacked the Duke of Suffolk, whom Foxe would portray as very nearly a martyr in the Actes and Monuments.
[Back to Top]Another set of passages which only appeared in the Rerum described 'D. Ioanne Brugius' (i.e., Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the Tower), asking Jane Grey to write some verses in a book of his. These verses are printed in the Rerum and form a conventionally pious exhortation which ends with a rather lugubrious but apt quote from Ecclesiastes: 'Tempus est nascendi, tempus moriendi: meliorque est dies mortis dies nativitatis' (Rerum, p. 238.) (A prayer book, now BL Harley MS 2342, is traditionally supposed to have been the book Jane Grey gave to Brydges, [J. G. Nichols, (ed.), The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of two years of Queen Mary, Camden Society Original Series 48, (London, 1850) pp. 57-58]. The verses printed in the Rerum match the verses printed in Harley 2342).
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CloseThe genuineness of this narrative of the conference with Fecknam is asserted by James Haddon in a letter to Bullinger. (Zurich Letters, Parker Society, 1846, No. 134.)
MarginaliaTalke betweene the Lady Iane and Fecknam. FEcknam. Madam, I lament your heauy case, and yet I doubt not, but that you beare out this sorow of youres wyth a constant and patient minde.
Iane. You are welcome vnto me sir, if your comming be to geue Christian exhortation. And as for my heauye case (I thanke God) I do so litle lament it, that rather I accompt the same for a more manifest declaration of Gods fauor towarde me, then euer he shewed me at any time before: MarginaliaLady Iane comfortably taketh her trouble.And therefore there is no cause why either you, or other, whych beare me good wil, should lament or be grieued wyth thys my case, being a thing so profitable for my soule health.
[Back to Top]Feck. I am heere come to you at this present sent from the Queene and her counsaile, to instructe you in the true doctrine of þe right faith: although I haue so great confidence in you, that I shall haue (I trust) little neede to trauaile wyth you much therein.
Iane. Forsooth I heartely thanke the Queenes highnesse, which is not vnmindful of her humble subiect: and I hope likewise that you no lesse will doe your duety therein both truely and faithfully according to that you were sent for.
Feck. What is then required of a Christian?
Iane. That he should beleue in God the Father, þe Sonne, and the holy Ghost, three persons and one God.
Feck. What? is there nothing els to be required or looked for in a Christian, but to beleeue in him?
Iane. Yes, we must also loue him with all our heart, with all our soule, and with all our minde, and our neighbor as our selfe.
Feck. Why? then faith iustifieth not, nor saueth not.
Iane. Yes verely, MarginaliaFaith onely iustifieth.faith (as Paule sayth) only iustifieth.
Feck. Why? S. Paul sayeth: If I haue all faith without loue it is nothing.
Iane. True it is: for how cā I loue him whom I trust not? or how can I trust him whome I loue not? Faith and loue go both together, and yet loue is comprehended in faith.
Feck. How shall we loue our neighbour?
Iane. To loue our neighbor is to feede the hungry, to cloth the naked, and geue drinke to the thirsty, and to doe to him, as we would doe to our selues.
Feck. Why? then it is necessary vnto saluation, to doe good workes also, and it is not sufficient only to beleeue.
Iane. I denye that, and I affirme that faith onely saueth: but it is meete for a Christian, in token that hee followeth his Maister Christe, to doe good workes: yet may wee not say that they profit to our saluation. MarginaliaGood workes necessary in a christian, yet do they not profite to saluation.For whē we haue done all, yet we be vnprofitable seruāts, and faith only in Christes bloud saueth vs.
[Back to Top]Feck. How many Sacraments are there?
Iane. Two. The one the Sacrament of Baptisme, and the other the Sacrament of the Lordes Supper.Marginalia2. Sacramentes.
Feck. No, there are seuen.
Iane. By what Scripture finde you that?
Feck. Well, we will talke of that heereafter. But what is signified by your two Sacramentes?
Iane. MarginaliaThe Sacrament of Baptisme what it signifieth.By the Sacramente of Baptisme I am washed wyth water, and regenerated by the spirite, and that washing is a token to mee that I am the childe of God. MarginaliaThe Sacrament of the Lordes Supper what it signifieth.The Sacrament of the Lordes Supper offered vnto mee, is a sure seale and testimonie that I am by the bloude of Christ, which he shedde for me on the Crosse, made partaker of the euerlasting kingdome.
[Back to Top]Feck. Why? what doe you receiue in that Sacrament? Doe you not receiue the very body and bloud of Christ?
Iane. No surely, I doe not so beleeue. I thinke that at the Supper I neyther receiue flesh nor bloude, but bread and wine: Which bread when it is broken, and the wine when it is dronken, putteth mee in remembraunce howe that for my sinnes the body of Christ was broken, & his bloudshed on the Crosse, MarginaliaWhat we receaue with the sacrament.and with that breade and wine I receiue the benefites that come by the breaking of his body, & sheding of his bloud for our sinnes on the Crosse.
[Back to Top]Feck. Why? doeth not Christ speake these woordes: Take eate, this is my body? Require you any plainer words? doeth he not say it is his body?
Iane. I graunt hee sayeth so: and so he sayth, I am the vine, I am the doore, but hee is neuer the more for that the dore nor the vine. Doth not S. Paul say, He calleth things that are not as though they were? MarginaliaRom. 4. God forbid that I should say that I eat the very naturall body and bloud of Christ: for then eyther I should plucke away my redēption, either els there were two bodies, or two Christes. One body was tormēted on the Crosse. And if they did eate another body, then had hee two bodies: either els if his body were eaten, than was it not broken vpon the Crosse: or if it were broken vpon the Crosse, it was not eaten of his Disciples.
[Back to Top]Feck. Why? is it not possible that Christe by hys power coulde make his body both to be eaten and broken, as to be borne of a woman wythout seede of man, and as to walke vppon the sea hauing a body, and other suche like myracles as he wrought by his power onely?
Iane. Yes verely: if God would haue done at his Supper any myracle, he myght haue done so: MarginaliaChrist had power to turne the bread into his body, is no argumēt to proue that he did so.but I say that then he minded no worke nor myracle, but onely to breake his body, and shed his bloud on the Crosse for our sinnes. But I pray you to answere me to thys one question: where was Christ when he sayd: Take, eate, this is my body? Was hee not at the table when he sayde so? Hee was at that time alyue, and suffered not till the next day. What tooke he but bread? What brake he but breade? and what gaue hee but breade? Looke what he tooke, he brake: and looke what hee brake, he gaue: and looke what he gaue, they did eate: and yet all this while he himselfe was aliue, and at Supper before his disciples, or else they were deceiued.
[Back to Top]Feck. MarginaliaFecknam goeth from the word to the churche.You ground your faith vppon such authours as say and vnsay both with a breath, and not vpon the Church, to whom ye ought to geue credite.
Iane. MarginaliaFayth to be grounded vppon the word and not vpon the church.No, I grounde my faith on Gods woorde, and not vpon the Churche. For if the Churche be a good Churche, the faith of the Churche must be tried by Gods worde, and not Goddes woorde by the Churche, either yet my Faithe. Shall I beleeue the Churche because of antiquitye? or shal I geue credite to the Churche that taketh away from mee the halfe parte of the Lordes Supper, and will not lette any man receiue it in both kindes? MarginaliaA note of the false Church.Whych thing if they denie to vs, then denie they to vs part of our saluation. And I saye that it is an euill Churche, and not the Spouse of Christ, but the Spouse of the Deuill that altereth the Lordes Supper, and both taketh from it, and addeth to it. To that Church (say I) God will adde plagues, and from that Church will he take their parte out of the booke of life. Doe they learne that of S. Paule, when he ministred to the Corinthians in both kindes? Shall I beleeue this Churche? God forbid.
[Back to Top]Feck. That was done for a good intent of the Churche, to auoide an heresie that sprong on it.
Iane. MarginaliaGods word not to be altered for good ententes.Why? shal the church alter Gods wil & ordinance for a good intēt? How did king Saul? The Lord God defend.
With these and such like persuasions he would haue had her leane to the Church, but it woulde not be. There were