1583 Edition | Book 5 | Page 488 
CloseNorthamptonshire
OS grid ref: SP 495 485
CloseOS grid ref: SP 515 065
County town of Oxfordshire; university town
CloseBohemia, Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50° 5' 0" N, 14° 25' 0" E
CloseThis decree is taken from Ortwin Gratius, Fasciculis rerum expetendarum et fugiendarum (Cologne, 1535), fos. 150v-151r. It was reprinted in the Rerum (pp. 22-23) and translated in all editions of the Acts and Monuments.
MarginaliaThe decree of the councell for the burning of Wickliffes dead liones.FOr somuch as by the authoritie of the sentence & decree of the Councell of Rome, and by the cōmaundement of the Church and the Apostolical see after due delayes being geuen, they proceeded unto the condemnatiō of the said I. Wickliffe, and his memory: hauing first made proclamation, & geuen cōmaundement to cal forth whosoeuer would defend the said Wickliffe, or his memory MarginaliaEx Actis concilq Constant.(if there were any such) but there did none appeare, which would either deēd him or his memory. And moreouer witnesses being examined by Commissioners appoynted by Pope Iohn & thys Councell, vpon the impenitencie and finall obstinancie and stubburnes of þe said Iohn Wickliffe (reseruing that which is to be reserved, as in such busines, the order of the lawe requireth) and his impenitencie and obstinacy euen vntohis end, being sufficiently proued by euident signes and tokens, and also by lawfull witnesses at the instaunce of þe steward of the treasury, proclamation being made to heare & vnderstand the sentence agaynst this day: the sacred Synode declareth, determineth and geueth sentence, that the said Iohn Wickliffe was a notorious obstinate hereticke, and that he died in his heresie, cursing and condemning both him and his memory.
[Back to Top]This Sinode also decreeth and ordeineth, that the body & bones of the said Iohn Wicklife, if it might be decerned and knowne from the bodyes of other faithfull people to be taken out of the ground, & throwne away farre from the buriall of any church, according vnto the canon lawes & decrees. Which determination and sentēce definitive being red & pronounced, the lord president, & the forewaid presidentes of the 4. nations, being demaunded & asked whether it did please them or no? They all answered (and first Hostiensis the president, and after him the other presidents fo teh nations) that it pleased them very well, and so they alowed and confirmed all the premisses. &c.
[Back to Top]¶ What Heraclitus would not laugh, or what Democritus would not weep, to see these so age & reuerend Catos, to occupy their heads to take vp a poore mans body, so long dead and buryed before by þe space of 41. yeares? & yet peraduenture were not able to finde his rights bones, but took vp some other body, & so of a catholick made an hereticke. Albeit, herein Wickliffe had some cause to geue them thankes that they woulde at least spare him so long till he was dead, and also to geue him so long respite after hys death 41. yeares to rest in his sepulchre befor ethey vngraued him, and turned him from earth to ashe: which ashes also, they took & threw into the riuer. And so was he reolued into 3. elements, earth, fire, and water, thinking therby vtterly to extinct and abolishe both the name and doctrine of Wickliffe for euer. Not much vnlike to the example fo þe old Phariseis & sepulcher knightes, which when they had brought the Lord vnto þe graue, thoght to make him sure neuer to rise againe. But these and all other must knowe, that as there is no coūsaile against the Lord: so there is no keeping down of veritie, but it wil spring and come out of dust and ashes, as appeared right well in this man. For though they digged vp his body, burnt his bones, & drowned his ashes, yet þe word of God and truth of his doctrine with the fruit & successe therof they could not burne: which yet to this day for the most part of his articles do remaine. Notwithstāding, the transitory body and bones of þeman was thus consumed and dispersed, as by this picture here aboue set forth to thine eyes (gentle reader may appeare.
[Back to Top]These things thus finished and accomplished, whiche pertayne to the story and time of Wickliffe: let vs now (by the supportation of the Lord) proceede to entreate & write of the rest, which either in his time or after his time, springing out of the same vniuersitie, and raysed vp (as ye wold say) out of his ashes were pertakers of the same persecution. MarginaliaEx Th. Walden. lib. de sacrament. Of whom speaketh thomas Walden in his book, De sacramentis & sacramentalibus. cap. 53. Where he saith, that after Wickliffe many suffered most cruell death, and many mo did forsake the realme.
[Back to Top]In the number of whome was William Swinderby, MarginaliaLaurence Redman, Dauid Sawtre, Iohn Aschwerbe. Walter Brute: Iohn Puruey: Richard White: William Thorpe: Raynold Pecock B. of S/ Assaph, and afterward of Chichester
CloseThis list of Wiclif's followers is taken from notes John Bale made in the Fasciculi Zizianorum (see Bodley Library MS Musaeo e 86, fos. 61v-63v). This list first appears in Commentarii, fo. 44r-v. It was reprinted in Rerum, pp. 20-21 and was subsequently in each edition of the Acts and Monuments.
[Back to Top]to this Catalogue also pertayneth (mentioned in ancient writers) Laurence Redman
CloseLaurence Bedeman or Beadman, not Readman.
Peter Payne, who flying from Oxford into Boheme, did stoutly contend agaynst the Sophisters, as touchyng both kindes of the sacrament of the last supper. Who afterward among the rest of the Oratours was one of the 14. that was sent into the councell at Basill: whereas by the space of 3. daies, he disputed vpon the 4. article, which was as touching the ciuill dominion of the clergy, an. 1438. Also the Lorde Cobham. &c. with diuers others besides whose names are mencioned in the kinges writte sent to the Sheriffe of Northampton which writ of the king, followeth in this Tenor. Rex viceomiti Northamptoniæ salutem. &c. For so much as Iohn Attyate of Chepingwarden: Iohn Warryner. Ro. Brewoode &c. be Recetttours & fauroures of heretickes and especially of one Iohn Woodward priest publiquely diffamed and condemned of heresy will not be iustified by the censures of the Churche as the reuerend father I. Bish. of Lincolne hath certified vs. We therefore willing to withstand all defenders and faurours of such heresies doe will and commaunde aswell the forenamed as namely the foresaid Iohn Woodward to be apprehended straightly charging the same to be emprisoned by theyr bodyes or otherwise punished as shall seeme good to the Justices, vntill they and euery of them shall submit them selues to the obedience of the foresayd Bishop in this behalfe, accordingly. Whereof fayle you not vnder payne of C.li. witnesse our selues, yeaven at our Mannor of Langley the viij. day of Marche, the 12, yeare of our Reigne.
[Back to Top]To these aboue rehearsed and other fauourers of Wickliffe within this our countrey of Englande we may adde also the Boheminans: forsomuch as the propagation of the said doctrine of Wickliffe, in that Countrey also take roote, comming from England to Boheme, by thys occasion as in story here followeth.
[Back to Top]These chaunced at that time a certayne student of the coūtry Bohemia to be at Oxford, one of a welthy house and also of a noble stocke. MarginaliaThe occasion how the doctrine of Wickliffe came to Boheme.Who returning home from the vniversitie of Oxford, to the vniversitie of Prage: caryed with him certayne bookes of Wickliffe, De realibus Vniuersalibus, De ciuili iure, & Diuino; De ecclesia, De quesionibus varijs contra clerum &c. It chaunced the same time, a certayne noble man in the Citty of Prage, had founded and builded a great Church of Mathias and Matheus, which Church wass called Bethleem: geuing to it great landes, & finding in it two preachers euery day, to preach both holy day and working day to the people. Of the whiche two preachers, this Iohn Hus was one, a man of great knowledge, or a pregnant wit, and excellently fauoured for his worthy life amongst them. This Iohn Hus hauing familiaritie wyth this yong man, in reading and perusing these bookes of Wickliffe, MarginaliaWickleuus vir bonus, sanctus cœlo dignus. The great affection of I. Hus to I. Wickliffe.tooke such pleasure and fruit in reading therof, that not onely he began to defend this author opēly in the schooles, but also in his sermons: commending him for a good man, an holy man and heauenly man, wishing himselfe when he should dye, to be there placed, where as the soule of Wickliffe should be. And thus for the spreading of Wickliffes doctrine enough.
[Back to Top]And thus much briefly concerning the fauourers & adherentes of Iohn Wickliffe, in generall. Now particularly & in order let vs (by Christes grace) prosecute the stories and persecutions of the said parties aforenamed, as the course of their times shall require, first beginning with the valiant champions Wil. Swinderby and Walter Brute.
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CloseIn the Commentarii (fos. 60v-61r), Foxe wrote that he had read an account in a 'vetustae historiae' [old history] of an elderly priest burned in Smithfield in 1401. (The 'vetustae historiae' was, in fact, College of Arms MS Arundel 7, a version of Thomas of Walsingham's Chronica Majora). Foxe speculated that this elderly priest was William Swinderby and reprinted the reference to the 'vetustae historiae' and his opinion that it referred to Swinderby in the Rerum (pp. 59-60) and in all of the editions of the Acts and Monuments. But in the 1570 edition, Foxe added a great deal more material about Swinderby. His account of Swinderby's trial and abjuration in Lincoln is taken from the Fasciculi Zizianniorum. The remaining material, concerning Swinderby's 1391 appearances before Bishop John Trefnant of Hereford come from Bishop Trefnant's register. Comments by Foxe indicate that he consulted the actual register and made a copy from it, and furthermore, that he had borrowed the register and had to return it. It seems likely that Bishop John Scory of Hereford, who had been bishop of Chichester under Edward VI, and who went into exile under Mary, procured the register for Foxe. The 1570 account of Swinderby was reprinted faithfully, without change, in all subsequent unabridged editions of the Acts and Monuments. Foxe concluded his account with his persistently held, but erroneous belief that Swinderby was executed. In fact, Swinderby was condemned by Trefnant in 1391, escaped from custody, appealed to Richard II, and by March 1392 was being sought in Wales. He eluded his pursuers and later researchers, and vanished from the historical record.
[Back to Top]Thomas S. Freeman
University of Sheffield
MarginaliaAnno. 1389. IN the yeare 1389.
CloseActually this trial took place in 1382. Foxe's account of it was entirely derived from the Fasciculi Zizanniorum (see Bodley Library MS Musaeo e 86, fos. 81v-82v).
CloseI.e., John Buckingham, bishop of Lincoln.
W. Swinderby first examined. Denouncem of W. Swinderby. 3. Friers, Fresby, Hinkby, Blaxton.after the forme and order of the popes law, according to theyr vsuall rite obserued, his denouncers were these: Fryer Frisby obseruant, Frier Hincely Augustine: & Tho. Blaxton Dominican. The articles wherewith they charged him, although in forme of wordes as they put thē vp, might seeme something straunge here to be recited: yet to the entent that all men may see the spitefull malice of these spider fryers, in sucking al things to poyson,
CloseFoxe is alluding to to the early modern belief that spiders ingested ordinary liquids and turned them into venom.
CloseSwinderby was charged with sixteen articles (reproduced in Registrum Johannis Trefnant, Episcopi Herefordensis, ed. W. W. Capes, Canterbury and York Society 20 {London, 1916], pp. 365-6). What Foxe is listing are the six errors and five heresies Swinderby abjured. Foxe presents them accurately - at least as they were presented in the Fasciculi Zizanniorum - but he re-arranges the order in which they are given.
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