owne sonne or naturall child to perishe before her face. And for that that you all may be the better assured therof, I came hether at this present to declare vnto you howe for the auoydinge of bloudshed among my subiectes, I sent twoo of my priuie counsel with my pardon to the ranke traytor and rebell Wiat, who as ye do al know, hath with his false perswasions at this present allured many of my true subiectes, to make an vproare and insurrection vnder the pretence of the mariage betwixt me and the king of Spain, who in deede doth entende nothing lesse, as ye shall well vnderstand, but vnder that pretence to robbe and spoyle this citie, and to bryng you all my louing subiectes into extreme miserye. I sent I say, two of my priuie counsell, wyllinge thē to vnderstāde of him what his request was: who being demaunded thereof, sayd that his request was forasmuch as he would not his coūtrie to be subiect to a forrain prince, that the Q. hyghnes shoulde not be maried to the kynge of Spayne. Whē they had thus heard his request, they sayde that the quenes highnes for the auoidyng of bloudshed amonges her subiectes, had there sent him his pardō, willing him with the residue of his bande euery man to departe peaceably to the place whence they came, certifiyng them also that the quenes highnes, as touching the mariage, neither would or did entend to do any thing without the aduise and counsaile of her commons, for the whiche cause her grace doth entende shortlye to call a generall parliament, there to heare the aduise of her commons therein. Well sayde Wiat. That you saye is reasonable. But for the better assuraunce of the Quenes highnes, I would her grace would go into the Tower, and there to remayne: and for the better assuraunce of my selfe, her grace to geue me the custody of the tower. Then sayde syr Edward Hastinges, my Legate: Can you fynde none other meanes for your assuraunce then this? He aunswered no, and sayde he had rather be trusted then to trust. Neither shal this suffise me said he. But I wil also haue iii. or iiii. of the Counsayle, whome I will name, delyuered vp vnto me. Nowe therfore you may well perceiue that his purpose is not so much for the mariage, as for the deposing of me from the possession of the crowne, to the which, as right inheritour, I am of you all with one consent chosen, and for the destroying of my nobilitie, and last of all for the robbynge and spoyling of you my faythfull subiectes. Wherefore euen as ye haue all with one voyce chosen me to bee youre quene and gouernour: so also I wyll desire you that I may haue your asistence for the subduing of this ranke Traytor and rebel, for the preseruation of my persone, thassurance of my nobilite, and safetie of myne own goodes and possessions: and that ye may doe thinges in good & due order, I haue here appointed ii. of my welbeloued frēdes, and of my priuie Counsaile for to be your guydes: þt is, my L. of Penbroke, & my L. Williā Haward, to whō (I doe not mistrust) but that on this behalf ye will with glad minds geue your assistaunce. Then they all with one voice cried, yea, yea, yea. Now therfore to make an end, I desire you all to be in a readines, for I neither can tell whē or how sone he wil be here, and he hath also saide, that whensoeuer he shall come, iii. parties of the citie he is sure will take his parte. Then they al cried again: that it wer better that he were hanged.
[Back to Top]Mary the Q.
RIght trustie and right entierly beloued Cosin, we grete you well, and hauing by the assistance of God and our louing subiects discōfited wiat & thother rebels of our coūty of Kēt, who hauing passed the riuer of Kingstone, cam back again towardes London, and were encoūtred aboue Chayring crosse, and ther were ouer throwen, and the most part of them were there slayne, Wiat and thre of the Cobhams, Brette, Kneuet, Rudstone, Iseley, and other the chief Captaines taken prysoners: We haue thought good as well to geue you knowlege hereof to thende ye may with vs & the rest of our louing subiects reioyce & geue god thākes for this our victory, as also further to signifie vnto you, that where the said rebel did alway pretend the matter of our mariage to be the cause of this vnlawfull stirre, now plainly appereth by good & substantial examinations of diuers of the sayd traytours, that whatsoeuer they pretended the final meaning was to haue depriued vs from our estate and dignitie royall, and cōsequētly to haue destroyed our persone, which thing as we do ascertaine you of our honor to be matter of truth, so we pray you to cause the same to be published in al places of that our countries of Norfolke & Suffolk, to thintēt our good & louing subiectes thereof be no more abused with such false pretēses or other vntrue rumors or tales, by whome so euer the same shalbe sette foorth. And nowe things being in this sort quieted, we can not but geue you thākes for the readines that you haue ben in with the force of our said coūtrey, to haue serued vs if nede had ben, praying you to do the like on our behalf to al the gentlemē and others with you, with whom neuerthelesse we require you to take such orders, as the force of our sayd countrie may be still in like readines, to be employed vnder good and substantial Captaines, to be chosen of the gentlemen inheritours with in the said shire for our further seruice, vpō one houres warning, whensoeuer we shall requyre the same. And in the meane tyme our pleasure is that yee haue good regarde to the quietnes and good order of the countrey, specially to the apprehension of spreaders of false and vntrue tales and rumors, whereby ye shall bothe deserue wel of your whole countrey, and also doe acceptable seruice, which we wil not faile to remember accordingly. Yeuen vnder our signe at our palace of westminster the 8. of February, the first yeare of our reigne. In hast.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe erecting vp of the Rode in Paules. MarginaliaRefer this to the pag. 1005.Anñ 1. Mariæ Boner in his royaltie, & al his prebēdaries about him in Paules quier: ther roode laid alōg vpō the pauemēt, & also al the dores of Paules being shut, the B. with other said, & sōg diuers prayers by the rode: that being don, they anoynted the rode with oyle in diuers places, and after the anointing, crept vnto it & kissed it. After that they toke the said rode & weyed him vp and set him in his old accustomed place, and al the while they wer a doing therof, the whole quere sang Te Deum. And when that was ended they rang the bels, not only for ioy, but also for the notable & great fact they had done therin.
[Back to Top]Not long after this, a mery fellow came into Paules, and spied the rode with Mary & Iohn new set vp, wherto (among a great sort of people) he made low curtesy & said. sir, your mastershippe is welcome to towne. I had thought to haue talked further with your maistershsyppe,