Add MS 48023

This volume from the Yelverton Manuscripts was largely in the possession of Robert Beale, administrator and diplomat (1541-1601), at the time of his death. It is probable that the volume was bound after his death, as there is one item dated as late as 1601 ('The Viewe of Fraunce or The Method of Travaile', ff. 280r, 281v-318r), which may well be a post-Beale addition.

Much of the material is in the hand of Thomas Norton, Beale's friend, like-minded in religion and politics. A number of documents written or owned by Norton were acquired by Beale after the former's death and have been linked to the official inventory taken at his death in 1584 (Mark Taviner, 'Robert Beale and the Elizabethan Polity, St Andrews Ph.D. dissertation, 2000, pp. 271-79, compares the 1584 inventory and the manuscripts in Add MS 48023 and elsewhere in Beale's papers. However, some of the most significant Norton material came to Beale by another route: ff. 26r-58v are Norton's own copies of correspondence relating to his imprisonment in the Tower of London and what he wrote there in late 1581 and early 1582. Particularly significant are his own drafts of the position papers on political and religious reformation that he wrote at the behest of Sir Francis Walsingham whilst in the Tower (his 'Devices', though the name is not used here, which also came into the archive of the Lord Treasurer, Lord Burghley).

Contents:

(f. [i]) recto: Letter of Augustus Jessopp to Lord Calthorpe, the then owner, Norwich, 13 Apr 1874. Pasted in.

ff. 1r-3r: Anonymous political tract, beginning 'Monseig[neu]r encores que la bonne fortune conionte avec vostre diligence . . . ', advising against the introduction of the Inquisition into France, etc.; n.d. [c. 1580-1590?]. In French. Copy, possibly an extract.

f. 5: Anonymous political tract, beginning, 'Il nous fault vivre en ce monde mortelle que nous som[m]es . . . ':. This is possibly part of the same work as ff. 1r-3r, urging caution in implementing policies; n.d. [c. 1580-1590?]. In French. Copy. There is a reference to Machiavelli (line 21).

ff11r-11v: Tract beginning 'L'establissemente de la Saincte Inquisition nous alienera le coeur des Roys . . . ', n.d. [c. 1588]. In French. Copy. Imperfect, lacking the end.

ff. 15r-20r. 'Statuta Edita per Illustrissimum Principem Henricum Sextum [sic] angliae et ffrancie Regem in suo excercitu observanda translatae de anglico in Latinam'. 15th-century copy of Nicholas Upton's Latin paraphrase of Henry V's ordinances of Mantes (1419). For other copies see Add. MS. 48005, ff. 100r-103v and Add MS 48079, ff. 130r-137v.

ff. 22r-25v. Writ to the sheriffs to proclaim the Treaty of Troyes, with the text of the treaty in English, 14 Jun (recte Jun) 1420. 15th-century copy. For other copies, see Add. MSS. 48005, ff. 105-107v and 48079, ff.126r-129r.

6. ff. 26r-58v: Papers of or relating to Thomas Norton, written during his imprisonment in the Tower, Dec. 1581-Feb. 1582. These are copies, but mainly in Norton's own hand and a number bear his monogram:

• f. 26r: Religious reflections or quotations. In Latin.
• ff. 26v-27r: Letter from Thomas Norton to [?]William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, n.d. [c. 5 Dec 1581?]. Asking to be released from the Tower and placed under house arrest; n.d.
• f. 27v: Letter from Thomas Norton to his wife, Alice, on domestic matters, 17[?] Dec 1581. The day of the month is unclear. With Norton's monogram.
• ff. 28r-31r: Paper addressed to Sir Owern Hopton, Lieutenant of the Tower, n.d.
• f. 32r: Letter from Thomas Norton to his wife Alice, 29 Dec. [1581]. Relating to domestic matters and his situation. With Norton's monogram.
• ff. 32v-33r: Letter from Thomas Norton to his wife Alice, n.d. (before 25 Dec 1581). Relating to domestic matters and his situation. With Norton's monogram.
• f. 33r: Letter of Thomas Norton to his son, 22 Dec [1581]. Possibly Robert Norton (the eldest brother Henry is mentioned in the letter.
• f. 33v: Letter of Thomas Norton to [?] Sir Francis Walsingham, 28 [or 23] Dec 1581. Seeking information about his position and how he could serve the Queen.
• f. 33v: Letter of Thomas Norton to William Fleetwood, Recorder of London, 28 [or 23] Dec 1581.
• f. 33v: Letter of Thomas Norton to his wife Alice, 28 Dec 1581.
• f. 33v: Letter of Thomas Norton to his son Thomas Norton, n.d. Asking him for religious books.
• ff. 34r-39v: Notes relating to English translations of the First Psalm, possibly for Norton's own version, n.d.
• f. 41v: Letter of Sir Francis Walsingham to Sir Owen Hopton, Lieutenant of the Tower, Whitehall, 31 Dec 1581. Directing him to obtain Norton's opinion on four points 'as are mete to be considered of, for the stay of the present corruption in religion'.
• ff.42r-43v: Letter from Thomas Norton to Sir Francis Walsingham, 1 Jan 1582. A paper in response to Walsingham's letter of 31 Dec 158, with thoughts on the Queen's safety and his desire to be released into house arrest. with Norton's monogram.
• f. 43v: Letter from Thomas Norton to unnamed recipient, 6 Jan 1582. Letter from Norton to seeking his support concerning future house arrest, etc.; 6 Jan. 1582.
• f. 44r: Letter to unnamed Lord, 6 Jan 1582. With Norton monogram.
• f. 44v: Letter of Sir Francis Walsingham to Sir Owen Hopton, Lieutenant of the Tower, the Court, 4 Jan 1582. A letter with a further task for Norton when he has completed what he has in hand on the state of the church: certain points to be gathered out of the English chronicles.
• ff. 45r-48r: Notes by Thomas Norton relating to the Universities, with letter at f. 48r to Sir Francis Walsingham (or to Sir Owen Hopton), the Tower of London, 6 Jan 1582. The notes are in response to one of Walsingham's queries, f. 41v. The letter, with Norton monogram, is on his plight and conditions of request, with a request for books, The text, excluding the letter, is largely as Lansdowne MS. 155, ff. 87r-94v (part of Norton's 'Devices' relating to universities, ff. 87v-96r).
• f. 48v: Letter of Thomas Norton to [?] Sir Francis Walsingham, the Tower of London, 7 Jan 1582. Advising that a form of oath be administered to Papists, to ensure the Queen's safety. With Norton monogram.
• f. 49r: Letter of Thomas Norton to William Fleetwood, Recorder of London, 8 Jan 1582.
• ff. 49v-51r: Notes by Thomas Norton, 'Scholes and Schelem[aste]rs', with covering letter text largely as 'Devices', Lansdowne MS. 155, ff. 101b-105, but with minor variations, and with covering letter (f. 51r), presumably to Sir Francis Walsingham, the Tower of London, 9 Jan 1582. This is in reply to Walsingham's queries, f. 41v. In the letter Norton urges that he needs books for the last and greatest work. on rebellions and civil wars (this refers back to Walsingham's queries, f. 45v). The text on schoolmasters (but not the letter) is largely as 'Devices', Lansdowne MS 155, ff. 101v-105r.
• ff. 51v-52v: Notes, corresponding to five sections of the 'Devices'; 'for establishing true religion in the Innes of Court and Justice'; 'For proceeding upon the Lawes of religion'; 'For courtes and offices of Law'; 'For Justice in the contrey touching religion'; 'For all soules day'. The present text varies slightly from that in Lansdowne 155, ff. 105r-107v. There is an additional annotation to the final section on All Souls' Day (f. 52v): 'scandalus to rude people that come out of the untaught contrey'; n.d. [9-11? Jan 1582]. With covering letter (f. 53r) to [?] Sir Francis Walsingham, the Tower of London, 11 Jan 1582. With Norton's monogram.
• ff. 53v-56v: Notes corresponding to nine further sections of the 'Devices'; from 'For keeping out of the Jesuits' to 'For dispersing of doctrine throughout the realme' (Lansdowne 155, ff. 96-101). Grouped in the present MS. under the heading 'The chirch and Ministerie'. Text generally as in Lansdowne 155, but with some variations and some additional notes and text, most noticeably two additional paragraphs at the beginning of the subsection 'Impediments touching the ministrie of the Church . . . ' (f. 53v). With (f. 56v) a covering letter from Thomas Norton to [?] Sir Francis Walsingham, the Tower of London, 12 Jan 1582. With Norton's monogram.
• ff. 57r-v: Note by Norton, 'An abridgement of the former discourse touching the universities' (not in Lansdowne 155). With covering letter to [?] Sir Francis Walsingham, 13 Jan 1582, which refers to his writing ff. 58r-v. With Norton monogram.
• f. 58r: Letter from Thomas Norton to unnamed Lord (?William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley), Tower of London, 13 Jan 1582. He encloses a tear-stained Latin exercise by his eldest son (not in the present MS.). With Norton monogram.
• ff. 58r-v: A tract described (f. 57v) as 'a short paper in zele for the Quenes safetie against dangerous subiectes'; and enjoining the examination of suspected papists under oath as to their loyalty; n.d. [c. 13-14 Jan. 1582].

ff. 60r-71r, 77v. 'An oration to her Ma[jes]ty in Latine touching religion' (title from f. 77v): an appeal to the Queen to defend Protestantism. In Latin.

8. ff. 77*-93r. Anon. tract, beg. 'Accusatio criminalis contra Rebelles . . . ': indictment by Michael Friedewald, representative of the King of Poland, against rebels in Elbing and Gdansk, particularly against Nicolas Scholtz and George Clefeldt, 13 March 1569. In Latin. A copy of King Sigismund Augustus's grant of full powers to Friedewald, 18 Oct. 1568, is f. 77**v. In Latin. Beale notes in Latin (ff. 77*v, 93r) that he has omitted two or three pages at the end, that the original bore a stamp or heraldic device depicting the royal emblem, and that the original was printed in Cracow in 1569.

ff. 94r-109v: Tract: 'A generall discourse of the popes holinesse devices . . .': This is a diary of the author's reports and meetings in Rome, up to his return to England, 5 Jul 1579-18 Mar 1581. The author is probably the spy Charles Sledd. Book 2 of a tract in two books, of which a complete copy is Add. 48029, ff. 121r-142v.The present MS. includes a draft preface, probably addressed to Walsingham, lacking in 48029 and the two texts differ somewhat.

ff. 110r-111r: 'The names and dwelling place of all such papists at whose houses I have ben since my coming into England w[hi]ch was at Midsomer last past': by Robert Woodward (name and monogram, f. 111r), servant to Robert Eare, Steward to the Earl of Shrewsbury. Dated c. 1581 by G. Anstruther, The Seminary Priests, 1977, i, p. 152.

ff. 114r-115r: 'The practices of the Kings of Fraunce and Spaine reveled by the ducke of Guise to doctor Allin & here written as doctor Allin declared it to his speciall freindes at Rome', n.d. An account of a plot to weaken the English monarchy and state by seizing the Isle of Wight and capturing English seamen and shipping; n.d. William Allen is alleged to have related the plot in Rome on 14 Dec 1579.

f. 116r: A set of headings, possibly a sort of title-page to what follows (but only two of the three headings are encompassed in the folios which follow, ff. 117r-164v): '3 Lres and submissions to her Maty by the Duk of Norffolk'; '2 To proceede against the Scott: Q.; '1 A discourse against the King of Spay'.

ff. 117r-164v: These items are in the autograph of Thomas Norton and also have a separate, original, foliation (1-54):

• ff. 117r-120v: Anonymous tract: 'Whether it may stand w[i]th good policie for her Ma[jes]tie to ioyne w[i]th [symbol] in the enterprise of [symbol], Feb 1572. the second symbol is for the Low Countries, the first less certain. The copy in Harley MS 1582, which dates the tract to Nov 1580 (and ascribes it to Walsingham) identifies the first symbol as the Duke of Anjou, but this fits better with the ascribed date. The content generally makes more sense in some of its comments on France's politics if it is, as dated here, Feb 1572, and the question as to whether England should join with France against the Spanish in the Netherlands. The symbol may actually originally mean France, or the King of France. Further copies of the text are: Cotton MS Galba C VII, ff. 98r-101r; Add. MSS. 46366, ff. 122r-125v and 12511, ff. 32r-37r; Trinity College Dublin MSS. MG 32.26 and E.1.34. The last three copies ascribe the tract to William Cecil, 1st Viscount Burghley. The Harley and Cotton copies are dated 1581 and 1580 respectively, and the other texts have been dated 1570-1571/2.
• ff. 123r-126v: Letter from William Herle to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, 18 Dec 1571. An agent's report. The date at the end is clearly 18 Dec 1571. At the head the date has been changed from Jan 1571 to Dec 1571. ff. 127r-132v: Anonymous memorial relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, beginning 'Whereas upon the arrival of the Quene, mother to the King our soueraine Lord, in this realme of England . . . '. (Another copy, annotated and endorsed by William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, is Cotton MS Caligula C II, ff. 520r-526v; there dated 28 Feb. 1571, and described as being 'delyvered by the Erle Morto[n]', Regent of Scotland, then on an embassy to Elizabeth I).
• ff. 133r-136v: Memorandum: 'Reasons to move the King of France to aide the cause of the Quene of Scotland: with the answers to the same'. n.d. [c. March 1572]. Other copies are Cotton MS Caligula C III, ff. 412r-414r (dated 1572) and Harley MS 398, ff. 38r-41v (dated c. March 1572 and ascribed to the Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon). The work is probably connected with similar notes by Burghley dated 28 March 1572 (Calendar of State Papers France, 1572-1574, p. 64; Calendar of State Papers Scotland, 1571-1574, pp. 182-184.
• ff. 137r-145v: Anonymous tract relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, beginning: . 'Nostre aage a produict en la plusp[ar]t des estats de Chrestiente des accidens et desastres plus etranges et violens . . . ', n.d. [c. Jun 1572]. In French.Slightly different versions of this text are Add. 48043, ff. 226r-235v and Cotton MS. Caligula C III, ff. 371r-381v. Most of the work was recast as a dialogue in Eusebe Philadelphe Cosmopolite (Nicholas Barnaud?), Le Reveille-Matin des François . . . , 1574, Dialogue II, pp. 12-49; see also S. Goulart, Mémoires de l'Estat de France sous Charles IX, 2nd edn., 1578, i, pp. 181-199. The Cotton text is dated 1572, and a reference (f. 137) to 'l'infortuné Duc de Norfort' suggests a date of not long after June 1572.
• f. 147: The submission by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to Queen Elizabeth I, 23 June 1570. Copy, after late 1571. For the original, see The Duke of Norfolk's First Submission. vol. 157, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1570. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858019359?accountid=9735. [accessed 18 Oct 2019].
• ff. 148r-v: Letter of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, then in the Tower of London, to the Privy Council, after the signing of his submission, 15 July 1570. For original, see Duke, of N. The Duke of Norfolk to the Lords of The Privy Council. vol. 157, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1570. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858021690?accountid=9735 [accessed 18 Oct 2019].
• ff. 149r-v: Extract 'Out of a letter written among other thinges, concerning the s[ai]d submission', 2 Aug. 1570. Other copies are Add. 48027, ff. 99r-v (the catalogue there suggests the author me be Sir Francis Walsingham), and The National Archives, SP15/19, f. 1.
• ff. 150r-v: Letter of submission written by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to Elizabeth I 'after his last comitting to the toure'; 10 Sept. 1571. For another copy see Add. 48027, ff. 100r-v and for the original, Submission of the Duke of Norfolk. the Tower. vol. 6, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1571. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858019343?accountid=9735 [accessed 18 Oct 2019].
• ff. 151r-152r: Letter written by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to Elizabeth I after his attainder; 21 Jan 1572. For another copy see Add. 48027, ff. 101r-102r, and for the original, Duke, of N. The Duke of Norfolk to the Queen. vol. 5, The Marquess of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, 1571. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1858018150?accountid=9735 [assessed 18 Oct 2019].
• ff. 153r-156v: Letter from Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk to his children, 26 Jan. 1572. Amongst other copies is Add MS 48027, ff,. 103r-107v.
• ff. 159r-v: 'Reasons prouided by Th[omas] Digges to be exhibited in the parlament. . . for the execution of the Duke of Norfolk . . . '. [May 1572]. In the Parliament of 1572. For another copy see Add. 48027, ff. 108r-v.
• ff. 160r-162r: 'Reasons prouided to the same purpose, by [Thomas] Dannet', [May 1572]. In the Parliament of 1572. For another copy, Add. 48027, ff. 109r-111v.
• ff. 163r-164v. T[homas] N[orton], 'A forme or platt for the ground and order of a petition to be framed to her maiestie for executing of the Duke of Norfolk', [May 1572]. In the Parliament of 1572. For another copy, see Add. 48027, ff. 112r-114r.

ff. 165r-180r: William Lambarde: 'Archion [Archeion] or of the high courtes of Justice in England', n.d. This copy is in line with the version that can be dated to 1579 (Bodleian Library, MMS Tanner 435), rather than the more complete 1591 version, excluding as it does the section on Star Chamber (see Archein, or a Discourse of the High Courts of Justice, ed. by Charles H. McIlwain and Paul L. Ward (Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press, 1957), 151-2.

ff. 181r-219v. 'Sr Tho. Smythes Dialogues touching the Mariage of the Q[ueen's] Ma[jes]ty'. Copy of Sir Thomas Smith's 'Dialogue' (Apr 1561), partly in the hand of Thomas Norton.

ff. 220r-244v: Robert Beale: 'Declaratio causarum quae permouerunt classarios Sanctissimae Angliae Reginae ex Lusitania redentes vt non[n]ullas naues frumento onustas Lisbona missas intercipere[n]t.', 18 July 1589 (date from f. 242). In Latin. This is an imperfect fair copy of the Latin text (ff. 220r-222v, 243r-244v). with this there is a draft heavily corrected by Beale (ff. 223r-227v, 240r-242v). Within these is a printed version of the text in English, A Declaration of the Causes, which mooved the chief commanders of the Navie of her most excellent Maiestie the Queene of England, in their voyage and expedition for Portingal. to take and arrest in the mouth of the River of Lisbone, certaine Shippes of corne and other prouisions of warre bound for the said Citie'(London: Christopher Barker, 1589) (ESTC: S100708; STC, 2nd edition, 9196). The Latin pamphlet printed with the title Declaratio Causarum, quibus Serenissimae Maiestatis Anglia Classiarii adducti, in expeditione sua Lusitanensi . . . (London: Christopher Barker, 1589, ESTC S100713;STC 9197).

ff. 246r-273r: 'The orders of the royall Exchaunge of London touching causes of assurance'; n.d. There are gaps in the text and the title of the chief officer of the Exchange is lacking. The number '238' is written at the bottom of f. 268r.

ff. 280r, 281v-318r: [Sir Robert Dallington], 'The Viewe of Fraunce or The Method of Travaile'; 1601 (date is from within the text, f. 287r.). The work was first printed in 1604 was ascribed in the Stationers' Registers to John Bailey, see STC 6202. The present text lacks Dallington's preface 'To all Gentlemen that have travelled', which is found in the first authorised edition by Thomas Creede [1605?], STC 6203. Creede's edition generally follows the arrangement in the present MS but with considerable variations in the text.

ff. 320r-321r: Memoranda concerning the mission to England of Christophe d'Assonleville, ambassador from the Duke of Alba, [Jan-before 18 Feb 1569]. Copies in the hand of Thomas Norton. The memoranda are made up of: untitled summary of an interview with or letter from, Assonleville, concerning the latter's request to visit the Spanish ambassador in London and to go abroad; 'the answ[e]r unto d'assonville' from the Privy Council, granting him permission to see the Spansh ambassador; 'A briefe note of the message done to d'assonville, and of his answer to the same' after the latter's conference with the Lords of the Privy Council, 'on Saturday last'. For an imperfect but revised copy see Cotton MS Galba C III, f. 179.

ff. 322r-322v: Request of the Spanish ambassador, Don Guerau d'Espes, for the release of the goods and subjects of the King of Spain held under the royal proclamation of 6 Jan. 1569, 14 Mar1569. In English,Copy in the hand of Thomas Norton. For a summary of the Latin version see The National Archives, SP 70/106, ff. 19r-30v (14 Mar 1569). Cotton MS Galba C III, f. 330, is an undated imperfect Latin version with a final clause not found in the present text. The item was begun apparently on f. 321v, but abandoned; some words or letters on f. 321v may have been erased and only the letter 'B' is now legible.

ff. 323r-324v: Memorandum: 'Pro parte Catholici Regis Oratoris ad D[omi]nos Consiliarios Ser[enissi]mae Angliae Reginae Secretioris consilii, Responsio'. With note at end: 'Oblata nobili Georgio Speake 13 Aprilis 1569o'. In Latin. The King of Spain's charges concerning the treatment of Spanish property and persons, under the proclamation of 1569; with marginal replies to the charges in English. A reference to the West Indies expedition of John Hawkins is at f. 324r. For a letter of Sir Gorge Speke[ Speake] to Sir William Cecil, 13Jun 1569 on a note of the Spanish Ambassador's on his request, see The National Archives, SP 70/107, f. 78A.

ff. 325r-326v: 'The Embassadors answer/19 Aprilis 1569'. Account of the Spanish ambassador's appearance before the Privy Council and of a further interview between the ambassador and Bernard Hampton, an intermediary between the former and the government. In the hand of Thomas Norton.

f. 327r-v: Letter from the Privy Council to the Spanish ambassador; c. 13 Jan. 1569. Copy in the hand of Thomas Norton. The Council's letter to the Spanish ambassador is The National Archives, SP 70/105 ff. 98r-99v, where the endorsement, probably in Cecil's hand, gives the date as 14 Jan. An earlier rough draft is Cotton MS. Galba C.III, f 155; Espes' letters are Galba C III, ff. 177-178b, 154.

37. ff. 330r-335r, 339v. Privy Council instructions to Sir William Winter for his mission to William the Silent, Prince of Orange 19 June 1576. The endorsement in Beale's hand (f. 339v) but not the text misdates to 1577. The draft corrected by William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, is in in the National Archives, SP /138 ff.193-202r.

ff. 340r-349r: 'A l[ett]re from L. Norris [Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norris] and S[i]r Thomas Smith to the Queene'. Account by the former of their embassy to France, Paris, May 1567. Including accounts of interviews with the King, the Queen Mother and the Council, 29 April 1567, mainly concerning the English claim to Calais under the Treaty of Cateau Cambrésis, 1559; May 1567. Other copies are Stowe MS 541, ff. 90r-99v and Sloane MS 1710, ff. 107v-109r (dated 3 May 1567 and ascribed to Smith).

ff. 350r-369v: Memoranda on events 1548-1552 (ff. 350r-351v), followed by a narrative Sept. 1559-Dec. 1562 (ff. 352r-369v), apparently contemporary from October 1561 (f. 358), when long entries for each month begin, with frequent use of the present tense. Probably compiled c. 1562. There is a retrospect to the reign of Henry VIII (especially 1544-5, 34 Hen. VIII) at ff. 359r-v. This is reprinted, as 'A "Journall" of Matters of State Happened from Time to Time as well Within and Withoute the Realme from and before the Death of King Edw. the 6th.untill the Yere 1562 in Religion, Politics and Society in Sixteenth-Century England, ed. by Ian W. Archer et al., Camden Society, 5th series, Vol. 22 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for the Royal Historical Society, 2003), pp. 35-122.

ff. 372r-376v (until the letter with a heading by Robert Beale on f. 376v) on ecclesiastcial matters, are copies in the same hand: (as are ff. 378r, 385r-387v):

• ff. 372r-v: Letter or paper to an unnamed recipient, 'Touching proxies claimed by Bishoppes', beginning, 'It is out of doubt that proxies are claymed by the Bishoppes and Archdeacons in respect of their visitations onlie . . . ', 19 Aug 1577. Copy. Another copy is Lansdowne MS 155, f. 60. The recipient is tentatively given as Sir Francis Walsingham in Calendar of State Papers Domestic, 1547-1580, p. 553.
• f. 373. 'The Submission of the Preachers', a petition of several Norwich ministers seeking 'to be restored to preachinge' on their submitting to the articles, ceremonies, order and discipline of the Church of England. Copy. The submission is headed by John More and is followed by the form of a preaching licence by Edmund Freke, Bishop of Norwich [in or after Aug 1578].
• f. 374. 'The opinion of certen Doctors of the civill Lawe uppon a question of the vacation of the livinges of a man elected to a Bischopprick', n.d.
• f. 374v: 'Copie of a Letter from Mr Attorney generall, signifying the opinion of the lawyers temporall and what may be done wth the recusants to come to the Churche', 3 Dec. 1578. An outline of the decisions of the Ecclesiastical Commission, together with the opinions of Doctors Lewes and Hammond on the powers of bishops to punish recusants. Other (slightly different) texts are Lansdowne MSS 27, ff. 46r-48r (dated 1577 in error) and 155, f. 61.
• ff. 375v-376: Memorandum, 'Dispensations to be utterlie abolished as not agreeable to Christian religion in the opinion of the LL[Lords] of the [Privy] Counsell'; 20 June 1576 (date in the hand of Robert Beale, f. 375bv). Another copy, with marginal notes, is Lansdowne MS 23, ff. 127r-128v.

f. 376v: Memorandum from a Privy Council Register of two resolutions made at Richmond, 15 Jan 1579, relating to faculties and dispensations. The heading, which gives source, date and attendant councillors, is headed by Robert Beale.

ff. 377r-377v. Letter 'from the Lls [Lords] to the L[ord] Justice of Irelande [Sir William Drury] Febr. 1578'. Letter from the Privy Council concerning Church reform, 22 Feb 1579.

f. 378r: 'A l[etter]e from the LLs [Lords] of the Counsell to the L[ord] Justice of Irelande [Sir William Drury]. Febr. 1578', concerning the office of faculties with ecclesiastical jurisdiction granted to Dr George Acworth and Robert Garvey, 25 Feb 1579.

f. 378r: Letter of Queen Elizabeth I to the Lord Justice of Ireland [Sir William Drury], announcing the transfer of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Ireland from George Acworth and Robert Garvey to Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 14 March 1579. Copy in the same hand as ff. 372r-376v.

ff. 378v-380r: Commission and instructions from Elizabeth I to Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin and Robert Garvey, the commissioners for faculties in Ireland, 25 May 1579. Copy.

ff. 382v-384r: [Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury]: note relating to ecclesiastical dispensations in England 'to be utterlie abolished' or left to the consideration of the Lords of the Council, and of the taxes or fees involved, n.d. [c. April 1576].

f. 385r: Memorandum: 'Certaine inconveniences amonge divers others w[hi]ch are thought maie insue if Commission shall be graunted from her Ma[ies]tie for the exercise of t'harchb[ishop] of Canterburie in the Coortes of audience and elsewhere'; n.d. [1580?]. Another slightly different copy is Lansdowne MS 155, f. 78b.

53. ff. 385v-386r. Treatise as to whether Bishops are 'usufructuarii' or 'usuarii' in civil law, beg. 'Ecclesiastici prelati (ut quibusdam placet) in bona valetudine constituti . . . '; n.d. In Latin. In same hand as ff. 372r-376v). Another version with an English heading is Lansdowne MS 155, ff 114r-116r.

ff. 387r-v: 'Causes to mainteyne permanent and standing Delegates for appeales in Ecclesiasticall causes'; n.d. Copy in same hand as ff. 372r-376v

ff. 388r-388v: Tract, 'How such as doe not obey her Ma[ies]ties laws in matters of religion maye by the law Ecclesiasticall, the Act of Parliame[n]t and her Ma[ies]ties Commission be punished by waye of fyne', n.d. [Dec 1578]. Another copy is Lansdowne MS 97, ff. 172r, 173r.

f. 389: 'A note of certain fynes assessed by B[ishop Edmund] Bonner and other the high Commissioners for causes Ecclesiasticall in Q. Maryes time', n.d. [after 1559].