Add MS 48064

Papers of Robert Beale (1541-1601) relating to Elizabethan religious matters.

This volume is largely a matter of copies, often with headings, notes and corrections by Robert Beale. There are some items which are pre-Reformation precedents, and others which relate to religious authority and to puritanism in the early years of Elizabeth's reign. But the bulk deals with religious conflicts in the 1580s and 1590s, especially the anti-Puritanism of Archbishop Whitgift and the resistance to it (to which Beale was sympathetic), and it is likely that the copies all date from that later period. Apart from a few leaves - mainly additional notes by Beale himself - the copies are made on papers of a uniform size, though in different scribal hands, and the volume was compiled (and probably bound) in Beale's lifetime.

Contents:

ff. 9r-24v: Papers relating to the trial and imprisonment of John Penry, 1593:

• ff. 9r-15r: A brief summary of the examination of John Penry by Mr Fanshawe and Mr Yonge, 10 Apr 1593. Copy.
• ff. 15v-18v: Memorial by Penry in his defence, handed to the justices,[10 April 1593]. Copy.
• ff. 19r-21v: Letter of John Penry to his wife Eleanor, [6 Apr 1593]. Copy.
• f. 22r: Letter of John Penry to his wife Eleanor (part), [Apr-May 1593]
• ff. 22v-24v: Letter of John Penry to his four daughters, to be read 'when they come to yeres of discretion and understandinge', 10 [possibly 20] Apr 1593.

ff. 25r-29v: Notes taken from an autograph MS of Dr [John] Hammond relating to Puritan grievances, [1584?]. Copy, with Beale's own noting that the text was from an autograph of Dr Hammond. See also ff. 160r-166v.

ff. 32r-36r: 'Certaine points wherein Dr. Some desired to be resolved before he yealded a general subscription to my L. of Canterburyes articles', [early 1584]. Objections of Dr Robert Some to Archbishop Whitgift's articles of Oct 1583. Another copy is BL, Stowe MS 159, ff. 145v-150r.

ff. 37r-48v: Papers relating to Puritan opposition to the policies of JohnWhitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury policies, and to abuses in the Church of England, 1577-1588. As follows:

• ff. 37r-42r: 'A viewe of the validity of all the articles established by the Convocation of the Clergy lately kept at London', [Feb.-March 1585]. A discourse prepared while parliament was sitting (ff. 39, 42), criticizing articles approved by Convocation in Feb 1585. Ends with six lines of verse, beg. 'Ye amende not abuses, but abuses ye chaunge'. Copy, but heading and marginalia possibly in the hand of Robert Beale.
• ff. 43r-v: Address to the House of Commons against practices of bishops and their officials that are allegedly contrary to civil and canon law, [Nov 1584-March 1585]. Copy. Heading in the hand of Robert Beale, 'offred to the Parlament 27 Eliz.'
• ff. 44r-46v: 24 articles composed for use as interrogatories by the High Commissioners, Lambeth, May 1584. In Latin. Copy.
• f. 47r: Petition to the House of Commons of the inhabitants of Witham, Essex, [[Nov 1584-Mar 1585]. Copy.
• f. 47v: Letter from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in London to a clergyman, concerning one of his parishioners; 7 Feb 1578. Copy.
• f. 48r: Petition to councillors from William Plased against William Overton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, with the bishop's answer; Feb-Mar 1589. Annotated by Robert Beale, '1588. In parliament'. This may mean that the document was passed around in parliament as part of Beale's campaign for the bill against pluralities and non-residence, Collinson, Elizabethan Puritan Movement, p. 400.

ff. 49-63. Report of a two-day conference held at Lambeth on the Book of Common Prayer, between. on the one hand, John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas Cooper, Bishop of Winchester and, on the other, Dr Thomas Sparke and Dr Walter Travers, Dec 1584. The report was probably written by Travers. See Collinson, Elizabethan Puritan Movement pp. 269, 488-9, n.14.

ff. 64r-65r: Letters patent commissioning privy councillors to reprieve felons for service in the galleys, 5 May 1586. Copy. In English translation.

ff. 68r-74v: Petitions and letters concerning Puritan grievances. As follows

• ff. 68r-69r: Letter to from Edward Fleetwood, Rector of Wigan, Lancashire, to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Wigan, 12 Oct. 1590. With annotation by Robert Beale: that it is to the Lord Treasurer and from Lancashire.
• ff. 70r-70v: Petition to Edmund Scambler, Bishop of Norwich, from John Burgess, John Harrison and Rowland Nutt, for relief from suspension, [1590]. All three were clergymen in Norwich, Burgess being rector of St Peter Hungate. Copy. Robert Beale has noted 'Norff'.
• f. 71r: Memorandum by John Burgess on proceedings before the High Commissioners in Norwich, at which he, Harrison and Nutt were deprived, 30 Sep 1590.
• ff. 72r-73r: Petition from the inhabitants of 'South Farnham', i.e. the parish and hundred of Farnham, Surrey, to Sir William More of Loseley, asking him to intercede with the Bishop of Winchester and Parliament about the inadequacies of their local clergy, [early 1589]. Robert Beale at the head writes 'Farneham', and at the foot notes notes (f. 73) that 'This was exhibited to the B. of Winton: by Sir William Moore For in the parlement tyme 1589: he showed it unto me: subscribed with many hands: But nevertheless the B. hath reformed nothing.'
• ff. 74r-v: Petition from the inhabitants of Farnham parish to Thomas Cooper, Bishop of Winchester, aginst their vicar; c. 1589. Robert Beale notes (f. 74v) 'The partye continued not withstanding and no redress'.

ff. 76r-87v: Papers chiefly relating to complaints against ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Essex and generally in the diocese of London, [ autumn 1584-1585]. As follows:

• ff. 76r-78r: 'Certaine disorders and corruptions committed and don . . . ' by the Bishop of London and his officials in Essex, [1584-1585]. Copy. See also ff. 85r-87v.
• ff 78v-81r: 'The abuses of the Commissaries Courtes within the dioces of London', [1584-1585?]. Copy.
• ff. 81v-82r: Petition to the Privy Council from John Maryam, husbandman, of Stow, Essex, concerning his treatment at the hands of the Official of the Bishop of London, [1584-1585?]. Copy.
• ff. 82v-83r: Letter from a bishop, probably John Aylmer, Bishop of London, to individuals intending to practice judicially the authority of the Ecclesiastical Commission in parts of his diocese, [1584-1585?]. Imperfect. Copy.
• ff. 85r-87v: 'Certaine disorders and corruptions committed and don . . . ' by the Bishop of London and his officials in Essex, [1584-1585]. Another version of ff. 76r-78r, but giving details of names and places. Copy.

ff. 88r-v: Articles prepared by John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, for subscription by lawyers and justices of the peace, March 1591 [or 1592?]. With marginal notes by Robert Beale (not certainly autograph) and date [March 1590 or 1591]and heading in Beale's hand. Another copy is British Library, Harley MS 6849, ff. 179r-180v.

ff. 90r-91v: Documents relating to the deprivation of John Hopkins, vicar of Nasing, Essex, and chaplain to the Earl of Essex, for refusal to wear the surplice and use the sign of the Cross in baptism, 7 Nov 1589. As follows:

• ff. 90r-90v: Act of deprivation by the Bishop of London and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, 7 Nov 1589. In Latin. Copy from transcripts certified by the registrar. Heading by Robert Beale.
• f. 90v: Notes by John Hopkins on the deprivation. Copy. Annotation by Robert Beale.
• ff. 91r-v: Promulgation of the act of deprivation of John Hopkins by the bishop and commissioners, 7 Nov 1589. In Latin. Copy from transcripts certified by the registrar.

ff. 92r-v: Letter, apparently from a fellow of University College, Oxford, relating to a High Commission enquiry into the puritan preaching of Edward Gellibrand of Magdalen College and others, and the affairs of University College, [1585-1588?]. Extract. Another contemporary copy is British Library, Add MS 38492, f. 80. Heading by Robert Beale, 'Oxford', and marginalia.

ff. 94r-95r: 'A true declaracion of some partes of the misgovernment of the Churche of England . . . ', by Sir Francis Knollys, 16 May 1590. Marginal comments, and pointing hands, beside several paragraphs.

ff. 96r-99v: Documents relating to the High Commission, deprivation, alleged abuses in the Church of England. As follows:

• ff. 96r-v: 'Certaine motions whereuppon a conference is humbly to be desired . . . ', being a request from the Commons for a conference with the Lords about abuses of the High Commission; [Feb-Mar] 1585. Copy.
• ff. 96v-98v: 'Now to the causes pretended and inserted in divers of ther sentences of deprivation'; a series of interrogatories, with preamble, questioning the legality both of various reasons for deprivation and of certain practices of the Church of England, probably intended for use in a petition to the Queen or Council, [1584-1585?].
• ff. 99r-99v: 'Meanes of unitie': a Puritan petition to the bishops: [1584-1585?].

ff. 102r-103r: Statement by certain ministers explaining their subscription to the Book of Discipline and their innocence of seditious intent: made in support of the nine imprisoned ministers, at the time of their imprisonment and trial, [1590-1591].

ff. 106r-115v: Letter of Robert Beale to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, [17] Mar 1593. Draft, with amendments in his own hand, and some on loose sheets of paper (ff. 109*r, 110*r, 111*r, 112*r, 113*, 114*r). The letter as finally sent is BL, Lansdowne MS 73, ff. 4r-14v.

ff. 118r-131r: Papers relating to the trial and conviction of John Udall, 1590-1591. See Collinson, Elizabethan Puritan Movement, p. 407. Original material concerning Udall's trials from the papers of Sir John Puckering, one of his judges, is BL, Harley MS. 6849, ff. 120r-172r. As follows

• ff. 118r-127v: Account of the trial of John Udall at Surrey Assizes; Croydon, 24, 25 July 1590.
• ff. 128r-129r: Articles delivered by John Udall to the judges [in a private session at Southwark Assizes], urging them to stay sentence against him, 9 Feb 1591. Copy. Heading by Robert Beale, 'Mr Udall. Delivred in writing'. Note at the end that sentence of death was pronounced on 20 Feb 1591. Another contemporary copy is BL, Harley MS 6849, ff. 139v-142r.
• ff. 130r-131r: Articles (ff. 130r-v) and a letter sent from John Udall to Sir Walter Ralegh (f. 131r), The White Lion, 22 Feb 1591. Copy. Heading in Robert Beale's hand. Other contemporary copies are BL, Harley MS 6849, ff. 138r-138v, 139r-140r.

ff. 134r-143r: 'Touchinge the proceadinge against the ministers': an address from Robert Beale to John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, in defence of the nine imprisoned ministers, 1591. A draft, amended by Beale, with a note that it was sent to Whitgift, is BL, Add MS 48039, ff. 77r-88v.

ff. 144r-145v: Letter of Edward Donne Lee alias Down Lee alias Dounley to Sir Christopher Hatton, [1590?]. copy. Donne Lee was removed from the Commission for the Peace because of his religious views and a speech made by him in Parliament, when MP for Carmarthen, in Feb 1587. This letter was probably written three years after the dissolution of that parliament (f. 144v). Endorsement in the hand of Robert Beale.

ff. 146r-146v: Account of the examination of John Hodgkin, printer of the Martin Marprelate tracts, [autumn 1589]. Copy.

ff. 148r-151v: Papers relating to the case of William Hubbock of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1590. Hubbock was tried and imprisoned by the High Commission on account of a sermon preached at Oxford. As follows:

• ff. 148r-150r: 'Notes of a sermon preached at Oxforde in Lente March 16 1589[/90] but especially the effect of some particulars, wherefore the author is still in trouble': Hubbock's account of his sermon and the conduct of his case, describing himself as 'prisoner for the gospel of the kingdome', 24 March 1590. The sermon may have been preached 16 March 1588[/89] (otherwise there is a copyist's error somewhere in the dating): by his own account Hubbock had been in jail for 26 weeks when this document was written (f. 150r). A letter on his behalf from Sir Francis Knollys to Burghley is dated 29 March 1590, see BL, Lansdowne MS. 68, ff. 173r-174v.
• ff. 150r-151v: Form of submission prepared for William Hubbock by the Lord Chancellor [Sir Christopher Hatton], [1590?].

ff. 158r-159*v: Petitions to the Queen on behalf of the nine imprisoned ministers, purporting to be from them and their congregations, 1591. Draft, amended by Robert Beale, who also writes the endorsement(f. 158 [d], verso]. Collinson, Elizabethan Puritan Movement, p. 415 suggests that the petitions were Beale's work.

ff. 160r-171r: Objections to the articles of John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury of Oct 1583

• 160r-166v: 'Observations concerning the same articles by P. H.' i.e. 'D. H.', Dr John Hammond; 1584. See above, ff.25r-29v. Another copy is BL, Stowe MS159, ff. 135r-142r. Printed from a MS. in Dr Williams' Library in Peel, ed.cit., i, pp. 185-190.
• ff. 167r-169v: Address of Norfolk ministers to John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury (f. 167r), with the justification of the articles to which they object (ff. 167r-169v). Collinson, Elizabethan Puritan Movement, p. 254. Copy.
• ff. 170r-171r: Petition of the Suffolk ministers, [1584]. Copy.

ff. 171r-172v: 'The Coppie of a letter touching the same argument'. This follows on immediately from the Suffolk petition, and might imply a response to Whitgift in 1584. But identified in the 1994 catalogue as Jan 1565, possibly from a member of the University of Oxford to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (the recipient is a lord and described as a new Chancellor - Leicester became Chancellor of the University in Dec 1564), and so linked to the vestiarian controversy. Copy.

ff. 173r-174v: Letter of James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, Bishiop Auckland, 25 Oct 1564. Copy.

ff. 180r-181vr 'The truthe of that wch the Ministers in prison hold touchinge the othe of Office ministred by her Maties High Commissioners': statement by the imprisoned ministers against the oath administered by High Commission, [1590-1591]. Copy. Printed from this MS in Cartwrightiana, ed. A. Peel and L. H. Carlson (London: Allen & Unwin, for the Sir Halley Stewart Trust,1951), pp. 28-30.

f. 181v: Submission urged on Humphrey Newman [distributor of the Martin Marprelate tracts] by the judges, [1591].

ff. 182r-185v: Protestation of John Penry, sent to [William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, 22 May 1593]. Copy. Original in BL, Lansdowne MS. 109, ff. 35r-36v.

ff. 188r-200v: Proposals for reform of the Church of England, [c. 1575-1581]. Items (a), (b), (d) and (f) are referred to in marginals by Beale as taken from 'a book of Mr. Secretarye Walsingham's', eg. f. 188.

As follows:

• ff. 188r-188v: 'A Proiect for the increase of the number of Preachers', [c. 1575-1581]. Copy. A marginal note by Robert Beale states that this was 'out of a booke of Mr Secretarye W[alsingham]'. Another copy is Cotton MS Cleopatra F II, ff. 257r-257v.
• ff. 189r-191r: Articles for ecclesiastical reform, including the ordering of ministers, prepared by the House of Commons [March 1581]. A marginal note by Robert Beale states that this was 'out of a booke of Mr S[ecretary] W[alsingham]'. Printed, together with the bishops' replies, from a number of MSS including the present, in Hartley, ed., Proceedings in the Parliaments of Elizabeth I, I, 510-521, which uses British Library, Lansdowne MS 30, ff. 203r-210v as the main text.
• ff. 191v-193r: Petition of the House of Commons for reform of discipline in the Church (ff. 191-192v), with the Queen's reply (f. 193r), [2 and 9 March 1576]. Copy. Printed from several MSS including the present, in Hartley, ed., Proceedings in the Parliaments of Elizabeth I, I, 445-447, which uses British Library, Add MS 33271, ff. 13v-14r.
• ff. 193v-197r: Tract entitled 'The maner of makinge of ministers at this daie is for most parte in this sorte', concerning the ordering of ministers and ecclesiastical discipline, [Feb.-March?] 1581. It incorporates a longer version of the articles presented to parliament in March 1981 (see ff. 189r-191r above), and was probably used in their drafting. Annotated by Robert Beale: 'out of a boke of Mr. S[ecretary W[alsingham] made by D[r John] Hamond' (f. 193v).
• ff. 197v-198r: 'Orders for reformacion of the abuses about the learned exercyses and conferences of the ministers of the Churche', by Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, [autumn 1576]. Copy. At the foot Robert Beale has noted, 'This was subscribed wth Archbishopp Grindalls own hand'.
• ff. 198v-200v: 'Certen Notes for reformation out of a booke of Mr S[ecretary] W[alsingham]. Copy. The heading is so given by Robert Beale. The first section (ff. 198v-199r|), addressed to Queen Elizabeth I, suggests a survey of church property with a view to financing learned preachers from ecclesiastical income. The second section (199r-200v) is 'A waye for reformacion of disorders in the ministerye', concerning ecclesiastical appointments and the punishment of corruption [c. 1575-1581].

ff. 201r-202v: Formulas for documents chiefly relating to the appointment of bishops, 1535-1575, n.d. A note by Robert Beale (f. 201r) refers to 'the printed book of presidents of instruments fol. 13 or 14'. As follows

• f. 201r: Royal letter to a Dean and Chapter naming a candidate for election, 16th cent. In English. Copy.
• f. 201r: Congé d'élire from the Queen to a Dean and Chapter, [reign of Elizabeth I]. In Latin. Copy.
• f. 201r: Royal assent to an election, 1559-1575. In Latin. Copy.
• f. 201v; Oath of a Bishop (Matthew parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1559]. In English. Copy.
• f. 201v: 'A note wherto suspected persons should subscribe their names', i.e. to uphold the Elizabethan church settlement according to the Act of Uniformity, [1573?]
• ff. 202r-202v: Mandates of King Henry VIII for the installation of bishops. In Latin. For Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford15 Oct 1535 (f. 202r) and Robert Holgate, Bishop of Llandaff, 4 May 1537 (f. 202v).

ff. 204r-205r: Privy Council letters relating to the enforcement of the Act of Uniformity, 2 Nov 1573:

• ff. 204r-v: Letter of Privy Council to Edwin Sandys, Bishop of London, Greenwich, 2 Nov. 1573. Entitled 'A sharpe admonition and commandment for uniformitie in common prayer'. Copy.
• f. 205r: Letter of the Privy Council to the Commissioners appointed to enforce uniformity of religion in Essex, Greenwich, 2 Nov 1573. Copy.

ff. 205v-206r: Order of Star Chamber order to the Benchers of the Inner Temple, for the exclusion of named Catholic fellows from the Society, with a general instruction not to admit those disaffected to the established religion to a degree, Westminster, 20 May 1569. Copy. With note at end by Robert Beale (noting a similar order to Lincoln's Inn).

ff. 207r-208v: Star Chamber case against Thomas Skinner alias Skynner and John Catcher, aldermen and former sheriffs of London, for the unlawful imprisonment in Bridewell of Jane Smithe alias Neville, wife of Edmund Neville, self-styled Earl of Westmorland, and Jane Newnham, wife of William Newnham, Esquire, 29 Nov 1588.

ff. 212r-214r: Account of an Ecclesiastical Commission case against various inhabitants of Wymondham, Norfolk, with memoranda of alleged corruption and injustice, Hilary term, 1590.

32. ff. 215r-217v: Material relating to the legality of various aspects of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, collected [1589-1590?]. As follows

• f. 215r: Letter from King Edward IV to Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1461-1483]. Copy. Robert Beale notes that this was 'out of the old printed booke' of temp. Henry VII. Copy.
• ff. 215r-216r: Pre-reformation articles of an enquiry used by an ordinary visiting a parish, 15th-16th centuries. Copy.
• ff. 217r-v: Memoranda on the statutory basis of examination as a judicial procedure. Copy. With heading and marginalia by Robert Beale.

ff. 220r-222r: Interrogatories sent by JohnWhitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury to Thomas Cartwright (ff. 220r-v), with Cartwright's replies (ff. 221r-222r). Copy. Headings by Beale, who dates the first item March 1590[/1591]. Printed from the present MS in Cartwrightiana, ed. A. Peel and L. H. Carlson,(London: Allen & Unwin, for the Sir Halley Stewart Trust,1951), pp. 21-27, where Beale's date (f. 220r) is ignored.

34. ff. 224r-235v: Royal letters patent for the visitation of the midland circuit of the province of Canterbury, 24 June 1559. In latin. Endorsement by Robert Beale.

ff. 226r-234r: Reply of John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury Reply of Whitgift to two questions posed by Sir Francis Knollys on episcopal authority, [ autumn 1589]. In the title, Knollys is 'a Counsellor', and Whitgift, 'a grave lernede man': Robert Beale's marginalia identify the two men. from f. 229v of the present MS. is 'The preachers answere', followed by Whitgift's response. At the end, Beale notes, .As D[r John] Bridges in his booke'.

ff. 238r-252v: Notes by Robert Beale on law, particularly ecclesiastical jurisdiction and oaths, [late 16th century]. In his own hand.

ff. 253r-256v: Notes and extracts out of Martin Marprelate and 'other seditious books', Nov 1589. So endorsed (f. 256v).