"In the short period of a year, 'tis said, Ten thousand Temples in the dust were laid!" Vid. Fuller's Ch. Hist. Book vi. p. 309, and the Mr. Fuller is of opinion it was Christchurch Priory, (of Canon Regulars) near Aldgate, London, that led the dismal dance. "As for the manner of dissolving thereof, whereas all Abbies afterwards were stormed by violence, (whatever is plausibly pretended to the contrary) this only was fairly taken by composition. For the Prior thereof was sent for by the King, commended for his hospitality, promised preferment, as a man worthy of greater dignity.Whereupon he surrendered the same to the King's use.-What might move the King to single this Priory out of all the rest, to lead this sad dance, is variously conjectured. Indeed, this was the ancientest of all England, of that order, since the Conquest, I mean of Canon Regulars, as our Author [Ston] tells us, And therefore it was but reasonable that the oldest should go first, and that the first born should be first buried. But surely no such consideration moved King Henry to this choice, who was not so methodical in his deeds of undoing.' Some kind of method, however, was constantly pursued in conducting these acts of desolation, or deeds of undoing, as Mr. Fuller further observes. And it was this. "+King Henry sent a large instrument," saith Sanders, "to every monastery, fairly ingrossed in parchment, enjoining them all to subscribe, sign, and seal the same with their seal conventual, upon the pain of his displeasure.Most certain it is (which amounts almost to as much in effect) a general intimation was given to all houses, how acceptable such an act would be to the King. It was also pressed upon the said Monks, Friars, and Nuns, that by being obnoxious to the King's anger, this [i. e. the stripping them of their temporals] might and would be done without their consent; so that it was better, rebus sic stantibus, to make a virtue of necessity." Add to this, that the very instruments the religious were obliged, at this juncture, to sign and seal, required their throwing themselves upon (what they never found) the King's mercy. I shall gratify the reader with a sight of *Fuller's Ch. Hist. B. vi. p. 307. + Ibid. p. 319. one of these curiosities in puris naturalibus, and without altering the least tittle of its ancient and venerable pseudography. Such is the following Copy of an Instrument or Act of Surrender. 'Whereas yowr Hyghnes being Supreme Hedde immeadiately aftre Christ, of his Church in this yowr royalme of England, so consequently generall and only Reformator of all Religious Persons there, have full authority to correct and dyssolve at your Graces pleasure and libertye, all Covents and Religious Companyes, abusing the rewles of their profession. Wherefore minded hereaftre to folowe the same, conformyng owr selffes unto the will and pleasure of owr Supreme Hedde undre God in Erthe, the Kinges Majestye, withe mutuall assent and consent doo submytt owr selffes unto the mereye of our said Soveraygne Lorde. And with like mutuall assent and consent doo surrender and yelde upe unto the handes of the same, all owr saide howse of comenly callyd withe all landes, tenements, gardens, medowes, waters, pond-yards, feedings, pastures, comens, rentes or tythes aperteyning unto the same; mooste humbly besechyng his mooste Noble Grace to disspose of us, and of the same, as best schall stonde withe his mooste gracious pleasure. And farther, freely to graunt unto every one of us Licens undre Writyng and Sceall, to chaunge our Abites into seculer fasshion, and to receive such maner of livyngs as other Seculer Priestes comenly be preferryd unto. And we all faythfully schall pray unto Almighty God, long to preserve his mooste Noble Grace wythe encrease of moche felicitie and honor. in And in witnes of all and singuler the pre- N. B. All Abbots, Priors, and other heads of Religious Houses, (and all their subjects) were expressly and peremptorily injoined to sign, seal, and subscribe their names to this, or some such like instrument. Thus the Religious being compelled to surrender their Properties without further ceremony, became an easy prey to the greedy Visitors; whereof such as were vested with extensive commissions and a discretionary power*, proceeded directly to ejectment. And in order to preclude the return of the religious inhabitants for the future, their houses (after having been severely ransacked and plundered) were utterly ruined and defaced. And this woful sentence (pronounced by the Commissary General) was executed with such relentless rigour, and in so barbarous a manner, that not so much as the dead walls were spared. In short, the dreadful havoc and the sacrilegious depredations committed in and about these ancient monuments of devotion, (as my Lord Herbert styles them) by Cromwel and his fellow-plunderers, are, we think, too shocking to be repeated; and, for this reason, we forbear the recital of them. However, we hope our Reader will not be displeased with one instance out of the many that might be produced, if the vile conduct of these devouring locusts (the visitors we mean) in the person of Richard Bellasise; who, it seems, had been appointed by Cromwel to destroy Jervaux Abbey and Burlington Priory [of Can. Reg.]: that from the behaviour of this incendiary alone, he may learn how significantly the rest of the visitors were employed. And thus does our pious sub-deputy give an account to Lord Cromwel in what manner he had performed part of his commission, and how he intended to execute the rest, in a remarkable letter to his Lordship as follows. "Plesyth your good Lordshipp to be advertysed, I have taken down all the leade of Jervase, and made itt in pecys of half foders, which leade amountyth to the number of 18 score and five foders, with thirty and five foders that were there before; and the said leade cannot be conveit nor caryed untill the next sombre, for the ways in this contre are so foull and deep, that no caryage can pass in wyntre; and as concernyng the rasing and taking downe of the house, iffitt be your Lordshipp's pleasure, I am mindeth to lett itt stand to the spring of the year, by reason of the days are now so short, itt would be double charges to do itt now; and as concernyng the selling of the bells, I cannot sell + The generality of the Visitors were furnished with a plenitude of power, to visit, deprive, or suspend Archbishops, Bishops, and the rest of the inferior Clergy. And with regard to the Monasteries, they had an absolute and illimited authority.---See a full account of these powers in Mr. Collier's Eccl. Hist. Vol. H. B. ii. p. 105, and his Collection of Records, No. XXX. U them above 15 shillings the hundreth, wherein I wolde gladly know your Lordshipp's pleasure, whether I shall sell them after that price, or send them up to London; and iff they be sent up, surely the caryage will be costly from that place to the water; and as for Brydlington, I have doyn nothing there, but spareth itt to March, because the days are now so short; and from such time as I begyn, I trust shortly to dispatche itt, after such fashion, that when all is finished, I trust your Lordshipp shall think that I have been no evil hows bound in all such things as your Lordshipp appointed me to do; and thus the Holy Ghost ever preserve your Lordshipp in honour. "At York this 14 day of Nov. by your most bounden beadman, "RICHARD BELLYCYS." Thus fell the great solemn Monasteries of this realm, to the number of 645! and with the demolition of religious houses, churches, &c. ended (to his immortal honour) King Henry's Reformation! For, as the noble Author of this Prince's Life observes, Henry promoted no other Reformation but only that which would turn the penny and increase the exchequer. § 5.-Of the six Bishoprics erected by K. Henry VIH. The Erection is confirmed by Cardinal Pole in the Reign of Queen Mary... The Changes at Westminster. AND ND now our great Monarch seemed to be placed in the happy circumstances of the famous King of Lydia. Riches, with a full spring tide, came rolling in upon him from every quarter! insomuch that he soon found himself obliged to institute a new court, with proper officers, to collect and manage to advantage his extraordinary royal intrado. It was called The Court of Augmentation. But it proved to be an unprosperous establishment; for, in seven years time, it came to nothing! However, out of this prodigious mass of wealth, which must needs accrue from the seizure of all the houses, lands, and revenues (besides the jewels, plate, and ready money, of all the Religious Orders in England, Henry, with much ado, was persuaded to restore some inconsiderable scraps to the Church. And with this view, he is said to have set apart eight thousand pounds per annum, to support the six Bishoprics which he afterwards erected at Oxford, Peterborough, Bristol, Gloucester, Chester, and Westminster. The five first remain Episcopal Sees to this day. But of the last place, as a Bishop's seat, we have but little to say, further than that it was soon up, and soon_down again; once a Bishopric, now a Deanry. That D. Thirlby (or Thurlby) was both the first and the last Bishop of Westminster; and that, in the next reign, it was dissolved by the King's Letters Patents, as D. Heylin informs us. And here, perhaps, it may not be improper to observe, that the erection of the above-mentioned Episcopal Sees, with some other alterations of a similar nature, that had been made by King Henry VIII. towards the conclusion of his reign, were first dispensed with, to remain in statu quo, and afterwards confirmed by Cardinal Pole in the reign of Queen Mary: yet so, that the new erected Cathedrals, Hospitals, &c. are declared, in the Cardinal's Bull of Dispensation, to have obtained no sanction or validity from their first irregular establishment by the King; and that therefore it was thought necessary they should be grounded upon and supported by Apostolical Authority; in virtue whereof, the above changes and alterations are said to be and to remain firm and inviolable for ever.-See as much of this Bull as makes for our purpose, in the Appendix, No. X. But of all the changes that happened at this time to particular churches, those that befel Westminster Abbey Church are, perhaps, none of the least remarkable and, as such, we beg leave to lay them before the Reader in D. Heylin's own words. *The Abbey of Westminster," says he, "had been founded for a Convent of Benedictin Monks by King Edward the Confessor, valued, at the suppression by King Henry the Eighth, at the yearly sum of 3977 pounds in good old rents, anno 1539. At which time, having taken to himself the best and greatest part of the lands thereof, he founded with the rest a Collegiate Church, consisting of a Dean and Secular Canons; and afterwards erected it into an Episcopal See." But its too near vicinity to the court, exposed it to the depredations of the nobility, by whom it was so unmercifulfuly fleeced, that Bp. Thirlby was hard put to it to sup + Heylin's Hist. Ref. p.56, |