MarginaliaPayton the first accuser.The first of these three was a yonge gentleman lately brought vp vnder the sayd Broke in the office of custome, whose name was Edmund Payton.
The following comments on Peyton's motives were dropped from the second edition of the A&M; cf. 1563, p. pp. 663-4. During Broke's disgrace and imprisonment, Peyton temporarily succeeded him in his office as a customs deputy at Calais.
MarginaliaR. Poole the second accuser.The other was one Robert Poole, a mā (as it was commōly reported) both base borne, and also such a one as in his youth for murtheryng a man with a clubbe in Bow lane in London, was fayne by obtainyng the kynges pardon, to saue his necke.
The following comment on Poole's ingratitude was dropped from the second edition of the A&M; cf. 1563, p. 664.
MarginaliaTh. Boyse the thyrd accuser.The third was one Tho. Boyse, who shewyng more honestie then þe rest, affirmed not that he him self heard the sayd Broke speake any thyng of that which was obiected agaynst him, but iustified that either of the other two had stedfastly affirmed to hym, þt Broke had spoken vnto thē those things here vnder obiected agaynst him.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe depositiō of the first witnes against T. Broke.The yong man first obiected against the sayd Broke, that hee should say that the thyng whiche the Priest vseth to hold vp ouer his head at Masse, is not the naturall body of Iesu Christ: for if that were so, who so would, might haue their belly ful of Gods, their guttes full of Gods, & he that had lately receiued þe Sacramēt before he went to the sea, might haply vomet God vp agayne on shypboorde. And thus much hee brought ouer in writing with him from Calyce, and added therto, as it should seeme, to exasperate the Commissioners and the rest of the Clergie agaynst him, certeine other heynous wordes spoken agaynst Byshops & Priestes. Whiche woordes the sayd Broke there denyed, MarginaliaThe priuate talke of Thomas Broke and Payton, touching the Sacrament.confessing neuerthelesse that certaine priuate talke hee had with him touchyng the Sacrament, wherin he shewed to the young mā the right vse of the same, concluding, that albeit with our mouthes we receiued very materiall bread and wine, yet by faith, all Christian men do receiue, eate, and drinke, to their great comfort and benefite, the very naturall body and bloud of Christ, whiche was both borne of the virgine Mary, and suffred death on the Crosse for þe remissiō of their sinnes: whiche most holy Sacrament, who so came vnworthely vnto, the same was so farre from the eatyng of Christes body and bloud, that all such (without harty repentaunce) do eate their owne damnation. And to conclude with him in that priuate talke, hee told hym that if the grosse and vnlearned errour of transubstantiation, were in dede matter of truth and sincere doctrine, then not onely this should folow of it, that euery man who would, might haue euerlasting lyfe (for they might when they would receiue the outward Sacrament, seene with our eyes, whiche the Priestes call Christes naturall body, and who so eateth Christes body and drinketh his bloud, hath euerlastyng lyfe, sayth Christ) but also there should great absurdities followe therby, as when a mā hapneth to go to þe Sea, hauing lately receiued the Sacrament, hee should put it ouer boorde, or do it on the hatches, and therfore exhorted the sayd Payton to leaue that grosse errour.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaPooles acusation agaynst Broke.The secōd accuser was Poole, who obiected against him, that about ij. yeares past, he him selfe dinyng with the sayd Broke, with xv. or xvj. other honest men, heard him thus say at þe table, that þt thyng whiche þe Priestes vse to hold vp ouer their heades, was not the very body and bloud of Christ, but a Sacrament to put vs in remembraunce therof. Vnto whose obiections the sayd Broke aunswered, that a man in myrth might well enough with charitie beshrewe such a gest, as when he had dyned with a man, could so long after remember to say him such a grace: & required of Poole, of whence the rest of the gestes were. Hee aūswered they were of the towne all. Thē inferred he, that he was sure Poole could as well remember some of their names whiche then were present, as freshly to keepe in minde (for so by oth vpon a booke he had affirmed) euery word of the whole matter which he obiected: but for that þe matter was vtterly vntrue. Wherupō the sayd Broke desired their honours to consider the slendernes of his tale.
[Back to Top]To be short, he with þe rest of his felowes, to witte, Rafe Hare, Coppen, and Iames the Barber, were for that tyme dismissed.
MarginaliaThe trouble and examination of Syr W. Smith, & Iohn Butler Commissary.Duryng the tyme
In the spring of 1539, the earl of Hertford (later the duke of Somerset) had visited Calais to inspect the town's defences. Lisle and the conservatives in Calais seized the opportunity to denounce Butler and other evangelicals. The importance of this was that the conservative complaints reached Henry VIII without going through Cromwell. All that Cromwell could do was to launch another investigation, this time, however, it was not to be directed to Lambeth, where Cranmer could apply a coat of whitewash. In May 1539, Butler and the others were arrested, despite Cromwell's best efforts to stall the proceedings. In July Butler was replaced as commissary to Calais and banished from the town.
[Back to Top]Butler was sent to the Fleet prison on 10 August 1539; thus his heresy examination, described in the next paragraph, took place on 11 August.
The next day being Friday, after dynner, Butler & Smyth were sent for to come to Bathe place
i.e., Bath House, the London home of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. This was an informal examination of Butler on charges of heresy, by a commission appointed by Cromwell.
The heresy charges against Butler ground to a halt, probably Henry VIII made it clear that he did not want them to proceed. (For one thing, Henry was already proceeding with his plans to marry the sister of the Duke of Cleves and the trial of a high-profile evangelical would not have facilitated it). Butler was returned to prison for nine months, but then in 1540 was sent on an embassy to Cleves. This also helps to explain why Smith and the others with recantations, and in the case of Smith, nominal recantations at that.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe trouble and examination of Syr W. Smith Curate.THen after Butler, was Sir Williā Smith Curate of our Lady parish in Calice, called before them,
The following passages were replaced in the second edition with a terser account of the same events.
Where as þe truth is, that the said Syr W. Smith duryng all the Lent, came neuer once within the sayd Brokes house. And it is as true also that the sayd Rich. Long, vppon a displeasure taken with his wife, went shortly after out of his owne house, to the Iuttie end of the Hauen at Calyce, where desperatly hee drowned
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