Brief Chronicle Concerning Examination and Death of John Oldcastle, Part 5
The latter examynacyon of the lorde Cobham.Ex vetusto exemplari …on dinensium.
THan sayd the Archebysshop vntounto him: lorde Cobham / ye be aduysed (I am sure) of the wordes and processe which we had vntounto you vponupon saturdaye last past in the chaptre howse of Paules. VvhichWhich processe were now no longe to be rehersed agayne. I sayd vntounto you than that ye were a cursed for youre contumacye and dysobedyence to holye Churche / The curse of Antichrist.thynkynge that ye shuld with mekenesse hauehave desyred youre absolucyon.
Than spake the lorde Cobham with a most cherefull countenaunce / & sayd: God sayth by his holye Prophete / Malac. 2.Maledicam benedictionꝰ vestris / which is as moche to saye / as I shall curse where as you blesse.
The Archebysshop made than as though he had contynued forth his tale and not hearde him / sayinge:A woluyshe offre of gentylnesse. Syr at that tyme I gentyllye profered to hauehave assoyled yow / yf ye wolde hauehave asked yt. And yet I do the same / yf ye will humblye desyre yt in dewe forme and maner as holye churche hath ordayned.
Than sayd the lorde Cobham. Naye forsoth will I not for I neuer yet trespased agaynst you / & therfore I will not do yt. And with that he kneled downe on the pauement / holdynge vp his handes towardes heauen / & sayd.He confesseth himselfe vntounto God. I shryue me here vntounto the / my eternall lyuynge God / that in my frayle youthe I offended the (lorde) most greuouslye in pryde / wrathe / and glottonye / in couetousnesse and in lechere. Manye menne hauehave I hurt in myne anger / and done manye other horryble synnes / good Lorde I aske the mercye. And therwith wepynglye he stode vp agayne and sayd with a myghtye voyce.O Christēknyght Lo good people lo. For the breakynge of Gods lawe and his great commaundementes / they neuer yet cursed me. But for theyr owne lawes and tradycyons most cruellye do they handle both me and other menne. And therfore both they and theyr lawes by the promes of God shall vtterlye be destroyed.Hiere. 51. Apoc. 1….
At this the Archebysshop and his cō panye were not a lytle blemyshed. Notwithstandynge he toke stomake vntounto him agayne after certen wordes had in excuse of theyr tyrannye / and examyned the lorde Cobham of his Christen beleue.
Vvher vntounto the lorde Cobham made this godly answere.The christē beleue of Cobhā I beleue (sayth he) fullye and faythfullye the vniuersall lawes of God. I beleue that all is true wc is contayned in ye holye sacred scripturs of the Byble / fynallye I beleue all that my lorde God wolde I shuld beleue.
Than demaunded the Archebisshop an answere of the byll which he and the clergye had sent him into the tower the daye afore in maner of a determinacyon of the churche concernynge the .iiii. artycles wherof he was accused / specyallye for the sacrament of the aultre / how he beleued therin?A blasphemouse determynacyon of antichrist
Vvherunto the lorde Cobham sayd / that with that byll he had nothynge to do. But this was his beleue (he sayd) concernynge the sacrament.Mat. 26. Mar. 14. Luc. 22. 1. Cor. 11. That his lorde and sauer Iesus Christ / syttynge at his last supper with his most dere disciples / the nyght before he shulde suffre / toke breade in his hande. And ge…ynge thankes to his eternall father / blessed yt / brake yt / and so gaue yt vntounto them sayinge. Take yt vntounto ye / and eate therof all. This is my bodye which shall be betrayed for you.antichrist alloweth not this fayth. Do this here after in my remembraunce. This do I throughlye beleue (sayth he) for this faythe am I taught of the Gospell in Matthew / in Marke / and in Luke / and also in the fyrst Epistle of saynct Paule to the Corintheanes.
Than asked the Archebysshop yf he beleued that yt were breade after the consecracyon or sacramentall wordes spoken …uer yt.
The sacramēt of ye aultre.The lorde Cobham sayd. I beleue that in the sacrament of the aultre is Christes verye bodye in fourme of breade / the same that was borne of the virgyne Marye / done on the crosse / dead / and buryed / and that the thyrde daye arose from death to lyfe / which now is gloryfyed in heauen.
Than sayd one of the doctours of lawe.A membre of sathan. After the sacramentall wordes be vttered / there remayneth no breade / but the onlye bodye of Christ.
The lorde Cobham sayd than to one mastre Iohan Vvhyght head.All this wolde not helpe. you sayd ones vntounto me in the castell of Cowlynge / that the sacred oost was not Christes bodye. But I helde than agaynst you / and proued that therin was his bodye / though the seculars and fryers coude not therin agre / but helde yche one agaynst other in that opynyon. These were my wordes thā / yf ye remembre it.
A blasphemouse brode.Than showted a sort of them togyther and cryed with great noyse. Vve saye all that yt is Gods bodye.
And dyuerse of them asked him in great angre / whether it were materyall breade after the consecracyon / or not?
Than loked the lorde Cobham ernestlye vponupon the Archebysshop / & sayd.That is not ynough. I beleue surelye that yt is Christes bodye in fourme of breade. Syr beleue not you thus?
And the Archebysshop sayd / yes marry do I.
Than asked him the doctours / whether yt were onlye Christes bodye after the consecracyon of a Prest and no bread or not?
And he sayd vntounto them / It is both Christes bodye and breade.Neyther will scripture nor reason serue. I shall proue yt as thus. For lyke as Christ dwellynge here vponupon the earth / had in him both Godhede and manhede. And had the inuisyble …odhede couered vndre that manhede which was onlye visyble and seane in him. So in the sacrament of the aultre is Christes verye bodye and verye breade also / as I beleue. The breade is the thynge that we se with oure eyes.This opynyon hath saynct Augustyn.) The bodye of Christ / (which is his fleshe and his bloude) is there vndre hydde and not seane / but in fayth.
Than smyled they yche one vponupon other / that the people shuld iudge him taken in a great heresye. And with a great bragge dyuerse of them sayd. It is a fowle heresye.
The po…s diuynyte.Thā asked the archebysshopp / what breade yt was. And the doctours also inquyred of hym whether it were materyall or not?
The lorde Cobham sayd vntounto them.Materyall. The scripturs maketh no mencyon of thys worde materyall / and therfor my faythe hath nothynge to do therwith. But thys I saye and beleue yt / that yt ys Christes bodye & breade.Ioan. 6. For Christ sayd in the sixt of Iohās gospell / Ego sum panis viu…s qui de celo descendi. I whych came downe from heauen am the lyuynge and not the dead breade. Therfor I saye now ageyne / lyke as I sayd afore. As our lorde Iesus Christ is verye god and verye manne / so in the most blessed sacrament of the aultre / is Christes verye bodye and breade.☞ Marke.
Than sayd they all with one voyce. It is an heresye.
One of the bysshoppes stode vp by & by / and sayd.An heresye / after the papystes. Vvhat yt is an heresye manyfest / to saye that yt is breade after the sacramētall wordes be ones spokē / but Christes bodye onlye.
The lorde Cobham sayd. Saynt paule ye apostle was (I am sure) as wyse as yow be now / and more godlye lerned.1. Co. 10 And he call… yt breade / writynge to the Corintheanes. The breade that we breake (sayth he) is yt not the partakynge of the body of Christ? Lo / he casteth yt breade and not Christes bodye / but a menne wherby we receyue Christes bodye.
Than sayd they ageyne.O ignoraunt beastes. Paule must be otherwyse vnderstanded. For yt is surelye an heresye to saye that yt is breade after the consecration / but onlye Christes bodye.
The lorde Cobham asked how they coude make Good that sentēce of thers.
They answered hym thus.Blynde babylonyanes. For yt is ageynst the determynacyon of holye churche.
Than sayd the Archebysshopp vntounto hym. Sir Iohan / we sent yow a writynge concernynge the faythe of thys blessed sacrament / clerelye determyned by the churche of Rome our mother and by the holye doctours.
Than sayd he ageyne vntounto hym.A most Christen answere. I knowe non holyar than is Christ and hys Apostle. And as for that determynacyō I wote… yt is non of thers / for yt stādeth not with the scripturs / but manyfestlye ageynst thē. If yt be the churches (as ye saye it is) it hath bene hers onlye sens she receyued the great poysonPoyson. of worldlye possessyons / & not afore
Than asked they him to stoppe his mouthe therewith. If he beleued not in the determynacyon of the churche.
And he sayd vntounto them. No forsoth / for yt is no God. In all oure crede is in but thryse mencyoned concernynge beleue.In / but thryse in all the crede. In God the father / in God the sonne / in God the holy ghost. The byrthe / the death / the buryall / the resurreccyon and ascensyon of Christ hath non in for beleue but in him. Neyther yet hath the churche / the sacramentes / the forgeuenesse of synne / the latter resurreccyon / nor yet the lyfe euerlastynge anye other in than in the holye ghost.
Confounded in theyr owne lernynge.Than sayd one of the lawers. Tushe / that was but a worde of offyce. But what is youre beleue concernynge holye churche?
The lorde Cobham answered. My beleue is (as I sayd afore) that all the scripturs of the sacred Byble are true. All that is grounded vponupon them I beleue throughlye. For (I knowe) yt is Gods pleasure that I shuld so do. But in your lordelye lawes and ydell determynacyons hauehave I no beleue.He beleueth not in the Pope. For ye be no part of Christes holye churche / as youre open dedes doth shewe. But ye are verye Antichristes / obstynatlye set agaynst his holye lawe and will. The lawes that you hauehave made are nothynge to his glorye / but onlye for youre vayne glorye and abhomynable couetuousnesse.
This they sayd was an exceadynge heresye (and that in a gr…a… f…me) not to beleue the determynacyon of holye churche.An heresye after the Papystes.
Than the Archebysshop asked him / what he thought holye churche?
He sayd vntounto him: My beleue is that holye Churche is the nombre of them / which shall be saued / of whom Christ is the head.Consydre him to be than in shrewed handelynge. Of this churche one part is in heauen with Christ / an other in purgatorye (you saye and the thyrde is here in earthe. This latter part standeth in thre degrees / in kynghthode / prest hode / and the commynnalte / as I sayd afore playnelye in the confessyon of my beleue.
Than sayd the archebisshop vntounto him Can ye tell me / who is of this churche?
The lorde Cobham answered.Vvalden. cōtr. Vvicleuistas / lib. 2. ar. 3. Cap. 67. yea trulye can I.
Than sayd doctor Vvalden the prior of the Carmelytes. It is doubt vntounto you / who is therof. For Christ sayth in Math. Nolite iudicare. Presinne to iudge no māne. If ye here beforbyddē ye iudgement of youre neyber or brother / moche more ye iudgemēt of your superyour.
The lorde Cobham made him this answere. Christ sayth also in the same selfe chaptre of Matthew. That lyke as the ys…'tre is knowen by his yll frute / Mat. 7.so is a false Prophete by his workes / a…ere they neuer so gloryouse. But that ye left behynde ye. And in Iohan he hath this text.Ioan. 10. Ioan. 7. Deut. 1. Operibus credite. Beleue you the outwarde doynges. And in an other place of Iohan. Iustum iudicium indicate. Vvhan we knowe the thynge to be true / we maye so iudge yt and not offende. For Dauid sayth also. Recte iudicate filii hominum. Iudge ryghtlye alwayes ye chyldren of menne And as for youre superyorte.Psal. 56. Vvere ye of Christ ye shuld be meke mynysters / and no proude superyours.
Than sayd doctor Vvalden vntounto him. ye make here no difference of iudgemē tes. ye put no diuerfyte betwyne the yll iudgemētes / Diuersyte of iud…emētes.which Christ hath forbydden / and the good iudgementes which he hath cūmaunded vsus to hauehave. Rashe iudgement and ryght iudgement / all is one with you. So is iudgemēt presumed and iudgement of offyce. So swyst iudges alwayes / are the lerned scolers of Vvycleue.
VntoUnto whom the lorde Cobham thus answered. It is wele sophistryed of you forsoth.A perfyght answere. Esa. 5. Esa. 55. Preposterouse are youre iudgementes euermore. For as the Prophete Esaye sayth / ye iudge yll good and good yll. And therfore the same Prophete cō cludeth / that youre wayes are not gods wayes / nor Gods wayes youre wayes. And as for that vertuouse manne Vvyclene / whose iudgemētes ye so hyghlye dysdayne / I shall saye here for my part both before God and manne. That before I knewe that despysed doctryne of his / I neuer abstayned from synne.Vvhalden▪ in prefatione. doctrina. 7. But sens I lerned therin to feare my Lorde God / yt hath otherwyse (I trust) bene with me. So moch grace coude I neuer fynde in all your gloryouse instruccyōs.
Than sayd doctour Vvalden agayne yet vntounto him.A most ranke papist. It were not wele with me / so manye vertuouse menne lyuyng / and so manye lerned menne teachyng / the scripturs beynge also so open / & the examples of fathers so plentuouse / yf I than had no grace to amende my lyfe tyll I hearde the deuyll preache. Saynt Hierom sayth / that he which seketh soche suspected masters / shall not fynde the myd daye lyght but the myd daye deuyll.Hierony. …ario minori.
The lorde Cobham sayd / youre fathers the olde Pharysees ascrybed Christes myracles to Belzebub / and his doctryne to the deuyll.Luc. II. Ioan. 10. And you as theyr naturall chyldren / hauehave styll the same selfe iudgement concernynge his faythfull folowers. They that rebuke youre vicyouse lyuynge must neades be heretyques / and that must youre doctours proue whan ye hauehave no scripturs to do yt.Doctours whan the scripturs fayle. Than sayd he to them all. To iudge you as ye be / we nede no farder go than youre owne propre actes. Vvhere do ye fynde in all Gods lawe / that ye shulde thus syt in iudgement of anye Christen man / or yet sentens anye other manne vntounto death as ye do here daylye? No grounde hauehave ye in all the scripturs so lordelye to take yt vponupon ye / but in Annas and in Cayphas which sate thus vponupon Christ and vponupon his Apostels after his ascencyon.folowers of Cayphas. Of them onlye hauehave ye taken yt to iudge Christes members / as ye do / & neyther of Peter nor Iohan.
O most blynde beastes.Than sayd some of the lawers. yes forsoth syr for Christ iudged Iudas.
The lorde Cobham sayd. No / Christ iudged him not. But he iudged himselfe / and thervpon went forth and so ded hange himselfe. But in dede Christ sayd wo vntounto him for that couetuouse acte of his / as he doth yet styll vntounto manye of you.Geraldꝰ Cambrensis dist. 1. cap. 17. For sens the venyme was shedde into ye churche / ye neuer folowed Christ neyther yet hauehave ye stande in the perfeccyon of Gods lawe.
Than asked him the Archebysshop / what he ment by that venyme?
The lorde Cobham sayd / youre possessyons and lordeshyppes.Ranulphꝰ Cestrensis in Po…ychro. li. 4. cap. 26. For than cryed an angell in the ayre (as youre owne chronycles mencyoneth) wo / wo / wo / this daye is venyme shedde into ye churche of God. Before that tyme all the Bysshoppes of Rome were martyrs in a maner. And sens that tyme we reade of verye fewe. But in dede sens that same tyme one hath put downe an other one hath poysened an other / one hath cursed an other / and one hath slayne an other / and done moche more myschefe besydes / as all the chronycles telleth.Antithesis of Christ and the Pope. And lete all menne consydre wele this. That Christ was meke and mercyfull. The Pope is proude & a tyraunt Christ was poore and forgaue. The Pope is ryche and a most cruell manslayer / as his daylye actes doth proue him. Rome is the verye nest of Antichrist.Rome is antichristes nest And out of that nest cometh all his disciples. Of whom Prelates / Prestes / and Monkes are the bodye / and these pylde fryers are the …ayle which couereth his most fylthye part.
Than sayd the prior of the fryre Anguilynes. …lac syr / whye do ye saye so? That is vncharytablye spoken.
And the lorde Cobham sayd. Not onlye is yt my sayinge / but also the Prophete Esayes / longe afore my tyme.Esa. 9. Antichristes tayle The Prophete (sayth he) which preacheth lyes / is the tayle behynde. As you fryers and monkes be lyke Pharysees dyuyded in youre outwarde aparell and vsages / so make ye dyuysyon amonge the people. And thus yow with soche other / are the verye naturall members of Antichrist.
Than sayd he vntounto them all. Christ sayth in his Gospell. Vvo to you Scribes and Pharysees hypocrytes. Fo…e close vp the kyngedom of heauen befor… menne.Mat. 23. Nether entre ye in your selues / nor yet suffre anye other that wolde entre into yt. But ye stoppe vp the wayes thervnto with youre owne tradicyons / and therfore are ye the howsholde of Antichrist.The relygyon of Bysshoppes. ye will not permytt Gods veryte to hauehave passage / nor yet to be taught of his true mynysters / fearynge to hauehave youre wyckednesse reproued. But by soche vayne flatterers as vpholde ye in youre myscheues / ye suffre the common people most myserablye to be seduced.
Than sayd the Archebysshop.A wyse Prelate. By oure ladye syr there shall no soche preache within my dyocese (and God will) nor yet in my iurisdiccyon (yf I maye knowe yt) as eyther maketh dyuysyon or yet dyssensyon amonge the poore cōmons.
The lorde Cobham sayd. Both Christ and his Apostles were accused of sedycyon makynge / yet were they most peceable menne.Luc. 25. Ioan. 16. Danie. 12. Mat. 24. Both Daniel and Christ prophecyed / that soche a troublouse tyme shulde come / as hath not bene yet sens the worldes begynnyng. And this prophecye is partlye fulfylled in youre dayes and doynges. For manye hauehave ye slayne alredye / and more will ye slee here after yf God fulfyll not his promes.Prophecye. Christ sayth also / yf those dayes of yours were not shortened / scarslye shuld anye fleshe be saued.Prophecye. Prestes. Therfore loke for yt iustlye / for God will shorten youre dayes. Moreouer though Prestes Deaconsand Deacons for preachynge of Gods worde and for mynystrynge the sacramentes with prouysyon for the poore / be grounded in Gods lawe / yet hauehave these other sectes no maner of grounde therof / so farre as I hauehave redde.
Marke this workynge of sathāThan a doctour of lawe called mastre Iohan hempe / plucked out of his bosome a copye of that byll which they had afore sent him into the tower / by ye Archebysshoppes counsell / thynkynge therby to make shorter worke with him. For they were so amased with his answers (not all vnlyke to them which dysputed with Steuen) that they knewe Act. 6.not wele how to occupye ye tyme / theyr wyttes and sophistrye (as God wolde) so fayled them that daye.
My lorde Cobham (sayth this doctor) we must breuelye knowe youre mynde concernynge these .iiii. poyntes here folowynge.The fyrst artycle. The fyrst of them is this. And than he redde vponupon the byll. The fayth and the determynacyon of holye churche / towchynge the blessed sacrament of the aultre / is this. That after the sacramentall wordes be ones spoken by a Prest in his masse / the materyall breade that was before breade / is turned into Christes verye bodye. And ye materyall wyne / that was before wyne / is turned into Christes verye bloude.O beastlye beggerye. And so there remayneth in the sacrament of the aultre from thens forth no materyall breade nor materyall wyne / which were there before the sacramentall wordes were spoken. Syr beleue ye not this?
The lorde Cobham sayd.O Christē knyght. This is not my beleue. But my fayth is (as I sayd to yow afore) that in the worshypfull sacrament of the aultre is verye Christes bodye in fourme of breade.
Than sayd the Archebysshop. Syr Iohan / ye must saye otherwyse.
The lorde Cobham sayd.His constauncy. Naye that I shall not / yf God be vponupon my syde (as I trust he is) but that there is Christes bodye in fourme of breade / as the common beleue is▪
Than redde the Doctour agayne. The seconde poynt is this.The second artycle. Holye churche hath determyned / that eueryevery Christen manne lyuynge here bodylye vponupon earth / ought to be shryuen to a Prest ordayned by the churche / yf he maye come to him. Syr what saye ye to this?
The lorde Cobham answered & sayd. A dyseased or sore wounded manne had nede to hauehave a sure wyse surgeon and a true / Confessyon of synne to God onlye.knowynge both the grounde and the daunger of the same. Most necessarye were yt therfore / to be fyrst shryuen vntounto God / which onlye knoweth oure dyseases and can helpe vsus. I denye not in this the goynge to a Prest / yf he be a manne of good lyfe and lernynge. For the lawes of God are to be requyred of the prest which is godlye lerned.Mala. …. Prestes. But yf he be an ydyote or a manne of vicyouse lyuynge that is my curate / I ought rather to flee from him than to seke vntounto him. For sonner myght I catche yll of him that is nought / than anye goodnesse towardes my sowle helthe.
The .iii. artycle.Than redde the doctour agayne. The thyrde poynt is this. Christ ordayned saynct Peter the Apostle / to be his vycar here in earth / whose see is ye churche of Rome. And he graunted that the same power which he gaue vntounto Peter / shuld succede to all Peters successours which we call now Popes of Rome. By whose specyall power in churches partycular be ordayned Prelates / as Archebyshoppes / Persones / Curates / and other degrees more.Antichristes kyngedome. VntoUnto whom Christen menne ought to obeye after the lawes of the churche of Rome. This is the determynacyon of holye Churche. Syr beleue ye not this?
To this he answered and sayd.Vvho is next vntounto Peter. He that foloweth Peter most nyghest in pure lyuynge / is next vntounto him in successyon. But youre lordelye ordre estemeth not greatlye the lowlye behauer of poore Peter / what so euer ye prate of him. Neyther care ye greatlye for the humble maners of them that succeded him▪ tyll the tyme of Syluestre / which for the more part were martyrs / as I tolde ye afore.No successyon here. ye can lete all theyr good condycyōs go by you / and not hurt your selues with them at all. All the worlde knoweth this wele ynough by you / and yet ye canne make boast of Peter.
Vvith that / one of the other doctours axed him.Doctour deuyll. Than what do ye saye of the Pope?
The lorde Cobham answered. As I sayd before.Antichristes bodye He and yow togyther maketh whole the great Antichrist. Of whom he is the great head / yow Bysshoppes / Prestes / Prelates / and monkes are the bodye / and the beggynge fryers are the tayle / for they couer the fylthynesse of you both / with theyr subtyle sophistrye. Neuer will I in consciē ce obeye anye of yow all / tyll I se yow wt Peter folowe Christ in cōuersacyon.
The .iiii. artycle.Than redde the doctour agayne. The forth poynt is this. Holye churche hath determyned that yt is merytoryouse to a Christen manne to go on pylgrymage to holye places. And there specyallye to worshyp holye relyques and ymages of saynctes / Apostles / Martyrs / Confessours / and all other saynctes besydes approued by the churche of Rome.Abhomynable knaues. Syr what saye ye to this?
Vvherunto he answered. I owe them no seruyce by anye commaundement of God / and therfore I mynde not to seke them for youre couetuousnesse. It were best ye swept them fayre from copwebbes and dust / and so layed them vp for catchynge of scathe. Or els to burye them fayre in ye grounde / as ye do other aged people which are Gods ymages.Vvhat is to be done wt ymages It is a wonderfull thynge that sayntes now beynge dead / shuld become so couetuouse and nedye / and thervpon so bytterlye begge / which all theyr lyfe tyme hated all couetuousnesse and beggynge But this I saye vntounto you / and I wolde all the worlde shuld marke yt.Sayntes are couetouse beggers. That wt youre shryues and ydols / youre fayned absolucyons and pardons / ye drawe vntounto yow the substaunce / welthe / and chefe pleasure of all Christen realmes.
Vvhye syr (sayd one of the clarkes) will ye not worshyp good ymages?A whelpe of sathan.
Vvhat worshyp shulde I geue vntounto them? sayd the lorde Cobham?
Than sayd fryre Palmer vntounto him.Hypocresye for his part. Syr ye will worshyp ye crosse of Christ / that he dyed vponupon?
Vvhere is yt / sayd the lorde Cobham?
The fryre sayd. I put ye the case syr / that yit were here euen now before you?
The lorde Cobham answered.Idyotysh beggerye. This is a great wyse manne / to put me an ernest questyon of a thyng / and yet he his selfe knoweth not were the thynge selfe is. yet ones agayne aske I you / what worshyp I shuld do vntounto yt?
A clarke sayd vntounto him. Soche worshyp as Paule speaketh of / and that is this.Gal. 6. God forbydde that I shulde ioye but onlye in the crosse of Iesus Christ.
Than sayd the lorde Cobham / and spredde his armes a brode.A christen knyght. This is a verye crosse / yea / and so moche better than youre crosse of wode / in that yt was created of God. yet will not I seke to hauehave yt worshypped.
Than sayd the Bysshop of London.A brntysh Bysshop. Syr ye wote wele that he dyed on a materyall crosse.
The lorde Cobham sayd. yea / and I wote also that oure saluacyon came not in by that materyall crosse / but alone by him / which dyed thervpon.A very manne of God. And wele I wote that holye saynct Paule reioysed in non other crosse / but in Christes passyon and death onlye / and in his owne sufferynges of lyke persecucyon with him for the same selfe veryte that he had suffred for afore.
An other clarke yet asked him. Vvill ye than do non honour to the holye crosse?O deuyls incarnate
He answered him▪ yes / yf he were myne I wolde saye him vp honestlye / and se vntounto him that he shulde take no more scathes a broode / nor be robbed of his goodes / as he is now a dayes.
Than sayd the Archebysshop vntounto him:Slaundered with ye truthe. Syr Iohan / ye hauehave spoken here manye wonderfull wordes to the slaunderouse rebuke of all the whole spiritualte / geuynge a greaty… example vntounto the common sort here / to hauehave vsus in the more dysdayne.The serpent sheweth his nature. Moche tyme hauehave we spent here abought yow / and all in vayne so farre as I can se. Vvell / we must be now at this short poynt with you / for the daye passeth awaye / ye must eyther submytt youre selfe to the ordynaunce of holye churche / or els throwe youre selfe (no remedye) into most depe daunger. Se to yt in tyme / for anon yt will be els to late.
The lorde Cobham sayd:Non offence done. I knowe not to what purpose I shuld otherwyse submytme. Moche more hauehave you offended me than euer I offended yow / in thus troublynge me before this multytude.
Than sayd the Archebysshop agayne vntounto him.A woluish offre of gē tylnesse. Vve ones agayne requyre you to remembre youre selfe wele / and to hauehave non other opynyon in these matters than the vnyuersall fayth and beleue of the holye Churche of Rome is. And so lyke an obedyent chylde to returne to ye vnyte of youre mother. Se to yt (I saye in tyme / for yet ye maye hauehave remedye / where as anon yt will be to late
The lorde Cobham sayd expreslye before them all.O con…aunt Christyane. I will non otherwyse beleue in these poyntes / than I hauehave tolde ye hereafore. Do with me what ye will.
Fynallye than the Archebysshop sayd Vvell than I se non other / Abhomynable theues and mourtherers.but we must neades do the lawe / we must procede forth to the sentence diffynytyue / and both iudge ye and condemne ye for an heretyque.
And with that the Archebysshop stode vp / and redde there a byll of his condemnacyon / all the clergye and layte auaylynge theyr bonettes. And this was therof the tenour.