On this Day in History ... 22nd October

Annals of Dunstable. In the same year Brother John (age 54), archbishop of Canterbury, visited the diocese of Lincoln for the first time. And on the feast of Saint Luke [18th October 1284] he turned aside to Dunstable for the purpose of visitation. And since he found everything there in good order, because the bishop of Lincoln had quite recently visited that house, he nevertheless stayed there one night. And he received from that monastery for his procuration four marks; and he departed. Also, to a certain canon of Dunstable who had incurred irregularity, the said archbishop gave the cross, and by the authority granted to those signed with the cross absolved the said canon from that irregularity, provided that on the first expedition he should make redemption of it, so far as he might be able to obtain the money from his own chamber or also from his friends, without loss to the monastery. On the following Sunday [22nd October 1284] the said archbishop consecrated Walter Scammel as bishop of Salisbury, namely in one of the manors¹ of that bishop near Reading. Also, the inspection of our privileges concerning the appropriation of churches the same archbishop then postponed."

Eodem anno, frater Johannes, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, primo visitavit Lincolniensem diocesim. Et die Sancti Lucæ apud Dunstaple causa visitationis divertit. Cumque ibi omnia prospere reperisset, eo quod Lincolniensis episcopus quasi recenter domum illam visitasset, una tamen nocte ibidem pernoctavit. Et recepit ab illo monasterio pro procuratione sua quatuor marcas; et discessit. Item, cuidam canonico de Dunstaple, qui irregularitatem contraxerat, dictus archiepiscopus dedit crucem, et auctoritate cruce signatis indulta, dictum canonicum ab ipsa irregularitate absolvit. Ita quod in prima expeditione faceret inde redemptionem, quatenus assequi posset pecuniam a sua propria camera, seu etiam ab amicis, sine monasterii læsione. Dominica proxima sequenti dictus archiepiscopus Walterum Scamal in episcopum Sarisburiensem Salisbury, consecravit; videlicet, in quodam manerio ipsius episcopi juxta Redingges. Item, inspectionem privilegioleges as to rum nostrorum super appropriatione ecclesiarum, idem archiepiscopus ad tunc posuit in respectum.

Note 1. The manor of Sunning, aka Sunninghill, in Berkshire.

Rymer's Fœdera Volume 1. A confederation entered into between the King of England and the King of the Romans.

Edward, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to all who shall inspect these present letters, greeting. Know that we have given, transferred, and conveyed full and free power, and special mandate of ordering, establishing, and concluding, between us and our heirs, and the renowned prince Lord Adolf, illustrious King of the Romans and ever august, an indissoluble bond of confederation and union of special friendship, to John of good memory, then Archbishop of Dublin, and to the venerable father Anthony, Bishop of Durham, and to the noble man Florent, Count of Holland and Zeeland, and to Hugh le Despencer, knight, by our letters patent which we delivered to them upon this matter. Truly, the same Archbishop, Bishop, Count, and Hugh, by force of the authority granted to them by us, first said, pronounced, and ordained that we and our heirs shall in particular assist that same King of the Romans against Philip King of France and his heirs, and against whatsoever other princes and magnates (the most holy Roman Church alone excepted), because by the King of France and his progenitors our goods, lands, and fiefs, and those of our predecessors, have been and still are for a long time powerfully and openly occupied; and that we, with all our power so long as we live, and our heirs after us, shall render and provide him assistance and help, at our and their own costs, perils, and expenses, both in prosecuting his rights and wrongs, and likewise in the recovery of the goods, possessions, and lands of the Empire occupied by the Kings of France. II. Likewise they said and ordained that we, or our heirs, shall not make truce or peace with the King of France, his heirs, or his helpers, or with any other adversaries of the said King of the Romans, in the aforesaid matters, nor shall we enter into such truce or peace, without the request of the said King of the Romans, and his express will and consent. III. Likewise they said and ordained that, if it should happen that we or our heirs, in conflict or otherwise, together or separately, should acquire fortresses, lands, and castles against the King of France or his heirs, or against other enemies of the said King of the Romans, the profit arising from the aforesaid, and from captives, and from other sources, shall be equally shared and divided between us and our heirs, and the same King of the Romans; unless perhaps such castles and fortresses and tracts of land should descend by right of dominion or as a fief, or by title of fee, to one or the other of us, and ought to belong to him, which shall not be shared, but each shall keep for himself alone that which is his or ought to be his, and shall restore it to his kingdom and dominion. IV. Likewise they said and ordained that, if any presumptuous persons, whoever they may be, established within our kingdom of England, by reason of wages, favour, friendship, or gratuities, shall afford aid or assistance to the King of France, or to his heirs, or to other enemies of the said King of the Romans, in the recovery of the aforesaid, we and our heirs shall perpetually banish their persons, together with the confiscation of all their goods, without hope of revocation or pardon. And we declare that this penalty shall extend also to those who, by occasion or cause of the discord and strife stirred between the Kings of the Romans and of France, shall have attacked or directly or indirectly disturbed the friends and helpers, either ours and our heirs', or of the said King of the Romans, so that they cannot pass over into our aid and that of our heirs and of the said King of the Romans. V. For greater security and observance of the aforesaid ordinance, they said and ordained that we, for ourselves and our heirs, ought to render corporal oath; and that nevertheless the said archbishop, earl, and Hugh, or others, shall renew the oath already sworn in our soul concerning the firm observance of this confederation and friendship, in our presence when opportunity shall arise, that we and our heirs shall faithfully observe all and singular the aforesaid, so long as the said King of the Romans shall live, and also afterwards to the Empire, after the death of the said King, provided however that he who shall preside over the kingdom or empire shall renew and observe the same pacts with us or our heirs, Kings of England. And nonetheless, for ourselves and our heirs, we shall willingly give our consent that the princes of our kingdom, whose number and consent may be obtained, with protestation, shall withdraw their services from us and our heirs, so long as we should not keep the conventions entered into with the said King of the Romans (which may God forbid), the aforesaid obligation still remaining in full force. Provided also that the princes, by their letters patent, shall protest that, by our will and special mandate, they shall inviolably observe such withdrawal of services, if (which God forbid) we or our heirs should in any way fail to keep the said conventions: and concerning these matters we shall give our letters patent, for us and our heirs, to the aforesaid King of the Romans. VI. Item, they said and ordained that we, for ourselves and our heirs, under our seal, should expressly ratify by our duplicate letters all the aforesaid. VII. Item, they said and ordained that we and our heirs, setting aside all deliberate delay, shall, as speedily as we can, in good faith move our forces, and with our army, at a certain day and place to be appointed by the aforesaid archbishop, bishop, earl, and Hugh, together with the envoys of the aforesaid King of the Romans, shall take the road and march to the said King of the Romans with our men, and shall join him; nor shall we and the aforesaid King of the Romans separate from one another, unless and until our business against the King of France and his heirs shall have been successfully completed. VIII. Likewise, they reserved the right of amendment of the said confederation, both for us and for the said King of the Romans, whenever we shall meet together, for the honor and advantage of us both. IX. Item, they said and ordained that we would aid the same King of the Romans, by our envoys and letters, before the Supreme Pontiff and the lord cardinals, for obtaining the imperial diadem, in good faith. For the inviolable observance of all and singular the foregoing, they firmly bound us and our heirs, by their letters patent strengthened with the safeguard of their seals, by virtue of the power granted to them by us, we having solemnly sworn upon our soul concerning these things. We therefore hold as ratified and acceptable all and singular the things which the aforesaid archbishop, bishop, earl, and Hugh have said, pronounced, and ordained, as expressed above; and by these presents, for ourselves and our heirs, we renew, ratify, and confirm them, having pledged manual faith for their inviolable observance. And furthermore, by the noble men, Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, our cousin, Roger le Bygot, Earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England, Hugh le Despenser, knight, and John de Langeton, our chancellor, in our presence, by corporal oath sworn upon our soul, we and our heirs, by the tenor of these presents, are firmly bound. In testimony and for the strength and fuller evidence of this matter, we have caused these present letters to be made and fortified with the safeguard of our seal. Given at Westminster, on the eleventh day before the Kalends of November [22nd October], in the year of our Lord 1294, and in the 22nd year of our reign.

Confœderatio inita inter Regem Angliæ & Regem Romanorum.

Edwardus, Dei gratiâ, Rex Angliæ, dominus Hiberniæ, & dux Aquitanniæ, præsentium inspectoribus universis, salutem. Noveritis quod nos plenam & liberam potestatem, ac mandatum speciale ordinandi, firmandi & terminandi inter nos, & hæredes nostros, & inclitum principem, dominum Adolphum, Regem Romanorum illustrem, & semper augustum, indissolubile confœderationis vinculum, & unionem amicitiæ specialis dedimus, transtulimus & transfudimus in, bonæ memoriæ, Johannem tunc archiepiscopum Dublinensem, & venerabilem patrem, Antonium episcopum Dunelmensem, & nobilem virum Florentium Hollandiæ & Zelandiæ comitem, ac Hugonem le Despencer militem, per nostras patentes litteras, quas ipsis tradidimus super eo. I. Sanè iidem, archiepiscopus, episcopus, comes, & Hugo, in primis, ex vi autoritatis eis concessæ à nobis, dixerunt, pronunciaverunt, & ordinaverunt quod nos, & hæredes nostri, eidem Regi Romanorum specialiter contra Philippum Regem Franciæ, & hæredes suos, & alios quoscumque principes & magnates (sacrosanctâ Romanâ ecclesiâ dumtaxat exceptâ) quia per Regem Franciæ, & suos progenitores, bona, terræ, & feoda nostra & prædecessorum nostrorum extiterunt, & sunt jam à multo tempore occupata potenter & patenter, toto posse nostro, quoad vixerimus, & hæredes nostri post nos, assistemus, & assistent, & auxilium præstabimus, & præstabunt nostris & eorum sumptibus, periculis & expensis, in prosecutione jurium suorum, & injuriarum suarum, & similiter in recuperatione bonorum, possessionum, & terrarum imperii per Reges Franciæ occupatarum. II. Item, dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod nos, vel hæredes nostri, treugas vel pacem, cum Rege Franciæ, ipsius hæredibus, vel adjutoribus, seu aliis quibuscumque adversariis dicti Regis Romanorum, in præmissis non faciemus, vel facient, inibimus vel inibunt, sine requisitione dicti Regis Romanorum, & ipsius voluntate & consensu expresso. III. Item, dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod, si nos, vel hæredes nostros, contra Regem Franciæ, aut hæredes suos, seu hostes alios, ipsius Regis Romanorum inimicos, munitiones, terras & castra in conflictu, vel extra, conjunctim, vel divisim, adconquirere contigerit, lucrum de prædictis, & ex captivis, & aliundè proveniens, nos, & hæredes nostri, & idem Rex Romanorum æqualiter condividemus & partiemur: nisi fortè castra & munitiones hujusmodi, & tractus terrarum, ab altero nostrum jure dominii vel quasi, aut titulo feodi descenderent, & haberi deberent; quæ non condividemus, sed quilibet, quod suum est, vel esse deberet, per se solus retinebit, & ad suum regnum & dominium revocabit. IV. Item, dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod, si præsumptiosi, quicumque sint illi, in regno nostro Angliæ constituti, qui occasione stipendiorum, favoris, amicitiæ, aut gratis, Regi Franciæ, vel hæredibus suis, aut aliis inimicis Regis prædicti Romanorum, in recuperatione præmissorum, auxilium præstiterint & juvamen; nos & hæredes nostri, personas eorum, cum publicatione omnium bonorum suorum, sine spe revocationis & gratiæ, perpetuò relegabimus, vel relegabunt: Quam pœnam ad illos dicimus extendendam, qui occasione, & ex causâ discordiæ litisque, motæ inter Romanorum & Franciæ Reges, amicos & auxiliatores, tam nostros, & hæredum nostrorum, quàm ipsius Regis Romanorum invaserint, directè vel indirectè turbaverint, quominus in auxilium nostrum, & hæredum nostrorum, ac ejusdem Regis Romanorum, valeant se transferre. V. Ad majorem etiam securitatem & observationem ordinationis prædictæ, dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod nos, pro nobis, & hæredibus nostris fidem præstare deberemus corporalem; & quod nichilominus dicti, archieAngliæ & Regem Romanorum. piscopus, comes, & Hugo, vel alii, juramentum, in animam nostram, super firmâ observatione confoederationis & amicitiæ hujusmodi, jam præstitum, in præsentiâ nostrâ, dum oportunitas fuerit, innovabunt, quod nos, & hæredes nostri, omnia & singula prædicta, quamdiu dictus Rex Romanorum vixerit, fideliter observabimus: & etiam imperio, post ipsius Regis decessum; dum tamen ille, qui præerit regno vel imperio, easdem pactiones nobis, vel hæredibus nostris, Regibus Angliæ, innovet & observet: & nichilominus, pro nobis, & hæredibus nostris, nostruin voluntarium adhibebimus consensum, quod principes regni nostri, quorum copia & consensus haberi poterunt, cum protestatione, sua servitia nobis & hæredibus nostris subtrahent, quamdiu conventiones, cum dicto Rege Romanorum initas, non servaverimus, quod absit: obligatione nichilominus prædictâ in suo robore duraturâ; dum etiam principes suis patentibus litteris protestabuntur, quod, de voluntate & mandato nostro speciali, hujusmodi subtractiones servitiorum inviolabiliter observabunt, si, quod absit, conventiones easdem nos, vel hæredes nostri minimè servaremus: super quibus etiam nostras litteras patentes, pro nobis, & hæredibus nostris, dabimus Regi Romanorum antedicto. VI. Item, dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod nos, pro nobis, & hæredibus nostris, sub sigillo nostro, expressè per litteras nostras duplicatas ratificemus omnia prælibata. VII Item dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod nos, & hæredes nostri, omni morâ affectatâ postpositâ, ad citius quod poterimus, bonâ fide, castra nostra movebimus, vel movebunt, & cum exercitu nostro, ad certos diem & locum per præfatos, archiepiscopum, episcopum, comitem, & Hugonem, & nuncios præfati Regis Romanorum condicendos, ad ipsum Regem Romanorum, cum nostris hominibus, iter arripiemus, vel arripient, & declinabimus, vel declinabunt; nec seperabimur nos & præfatus Rex Romanorum abinvicem, nisi nostris negotiis, contra Regem Franciæ, vel hæredes suos, fæliciter expeditis: VIII. Emendationem etiam dictæ confœderationis, tam nobis, quàm eidem Regi Romanorum, dum convenerimus, pro utriusque nostrûm honore & commodo, reservârunt. IX. Item dixerunt & ordinaverunt quod nos eundem Romanorum Regem, nunciis & litteris nostris, apud summum Pontificem & dominos cardinales, pro diademate imperii consequendo, juvabimus bonâ fide. Ad quorum omnium & singulorum inviolabilem observantiam, nos, & hæredes nostros, præstito super hiis in animam nostram solempniter juramento, per eorum patentes litteras, sigillorum suorum munimine roboratas, ex vi potestatis sibi à nobis traditæ, firmiter obligârunt. Nos itaque omnia & singula, quæ in præmissis antefati, archiepiscopus, episcopus, comes, & Hugo, dixerunt, pronunciaverunt, & ordinaverunt, prout superius sunt expressa: Rata habemus & grata, ac ea præsentibus, pro nobis, & hæredibus nostris, innovamus, ratificamus, & confirmamus, ab observantiam eorum inviolabilem manuali fide præstitâ super eis: & nichilominus per spectabiles viros, Edmundum comitem Cornubiæ consanguineum nostrum, Rogerum le Bygot comitem Norfolciæ & marescallum Angliæ, Hugonem le Despenser militem, & Johannem de Langeton cancellarium nostrum, in nostrâ præsentiâ, corporali in animam nostram præstito juramento, nos, & hæredes nostros, tenore præsentium, firmiter obligantes. In cujus rei testimonium, & robur, ac evidentiam pleniorem, præsentes litteras fieri fecimus, & sigilli nostri munimine roborari. Dat' apud Westm', undecimo kal' Novembris, anno Domini MCCXCIV, regni verò nostri anno XXII.

Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic Henry VIII 1529. 25th October 1529. Bradford, 256. 6026. Chapuys (age 39) to Charles V (age 29).

On the receipt of your letter on Thursday the 21st, dated Piacenza, I sent to Windsor to ask for an audience. As the administration has fallen principally into the hands of the Duke of Norfolk (age 56), and the communication is more agreeable to him than that of the marriage, I hastened to visit him. The Cardinal (age 56), who was dis-evangelised on the day of St. Luke the Evangelist (18 Oct.), has been deprived of his offices. I was received by the Duke with great distinction, and expressed to him the regard in which you had always held him for his goodwill. He seemed highly pleased, and said that he and his family had always been attached to the house of Burgundy; that no one more lamented the late disagreements than himself, but that all the evil and misunderstanding ought to be attributed to those who formerly directed the King's councils, acting by their own will and authority, with which the King himself was often dissatisfied.

In reply to his remark that he should like to serve your Majesty against the Turk, I praised his virtuous feelings, and told him that was the main object of my communication; but for the better security of peace, which the King had done so much to establish, one unhappy difference between himself and the Queen remained to be settled. I told him that, however strongly he might feel from family considerations, he could not but feel as a true knight, nor act otherwise than if it had been his own daughter, and as conscience directed; and that your Majesty was convinced that he had not been the promoter of this step. He replied that he would sooner have lost one of his hands than that such a question should have arisen; but it was entirely a matter of law and conscience, and he had never been appealed to; that it had been submitted to ecclesiastics and doctors, who had pronounced against the validity of the marriage; that if the dispensation you held was illegal, the King would consider himself the most abused prince in Christendom; and that if you had not declared yourself in it so openly, it might have sooner been brought to a satisfactory issue. I explained to him the constraint under which you acted; and that, as to the king of England not having declared himself a party in the matter, it was clear that he had done so from the proceedings of the English ambassadors at Rome. Finding he remained thoughtful, I changed the subject. Shortly after he turned to me with a laugh, and said, "How glad the Emperor will be to hear of this fall of the Cardinal, and his loss of office?" I answered, I thought you would, but not from any hatred you had to the Cardinal; and that he could have done neither good nor ill to you, and was not of such importance as that you would care to be avenged, or trouble yourself about his disgrace; but what you rejoiced at was, that the king of England would now learn who had been his evil counsellors, and leave the management of affairs to men who from birth and circumstances were more competent. I told him that I was the first who had broken through the chain of paying court to the Cardinal, and addressed myself to him. He thanked me for my good intentions, and said that the government was managed not by an individual but by the Council, where he usually assisted, and would promote Your Majesty's interests.

In order to please the Duke I asked him what I should do, although I had already sent one of my secretaries to the King. He told me that the King had ordered that application should be made direct to himself, before any other person was acquainted with the communication. He followed me to the hall, using very courteous language.

On the 22nd my secretary returned from Windsor, stating that the King would be at Greenwich on Saturday, and I was to go the day after. On my reaching Greenwich [Map] I found a civil gentleman, named Poller (Bollen?), sent by the King to conduct me to the palace. There I found the bishop of London (age 55), who led me to the King's antechamber, where the Court was assembled, and was received by two dukes and the archbishop of Canterbury (age 79). I conversed with these lords, waiting for the King to go to mass; and we talked of the conference at Bologna. The King, on going to mass, came directly to me, and taking me by the sleeve said, with the utmost graciousness, "You have news from my brother the Emperor." On answering Yes, he asked the date, and then said your Majesty was very careful to give him information. I assured him that you were anxious to make him partaker of all affairs, and thus show your brotherly affection. I then presented your letters, and, as to the particulars of my credentials, he said that the ambassadors in your court were authorised to treat about them. Speaking of your going into Italy I bespoke his good offices.

On his return from mass, he came up to me again, and resumed the subject. When we talked of the necessity of resisting the Turk, and of the Pope's arrival at Bologna on the 5th, I said I thought it advisable that he should commission his ambassadors with the Pope to treat; and I combated his remark that he could do but little against the Turk, seeing he was wealthy, and as absolute in his dominions as the Pope. He urged that this affair was chiefly yours, and if you wished to accomplish it you must make peace with the princes of Italy. I assured him you had never ceased from efforts in this direction. The conversation then turned on the duke Francesco Sforza; and I urged, in opposition to his remark, that your proceedings were as favorable to the Duke as could be. He objected to the cession of Pavia and Alexandria, alleging the cruelties which had taken place at Sienna. I told him Pavia was out of dispute, as it was already given up. "Between ourselves," said he, "I think it is a great shame that whilst the Turk is in Austria, the patrimony of the Emperor, he should not rescue it, but make war upon Christians." On my urging the danger that might be expected from Sforza and the Venetians if your troops were withdrawn, he urged that neither could do anything. Shortly after, changing his tone, he said, with some emphasis, "My brother the king of France has made your Emperor a marvellous offer." This he repeated three times. I said, if it were so, he had now done a virtuous part, and kept his professions. After various other topics it grew late. Not a word was said of the Queen. After dinner he asked me if I had anything more to say.

All here are satisfied with the treaty of Cambray. As for the observance of it, the Queen, as I have already written, has expressed her doubt of its duration. It is supposed to have cost this King 800,000 ducats. He is not therefore likely to break it. People here are not very anxious to repeat the dose, as it is not to their taste. At present they seem on good terms with the French. The ambassador has been only once at court with his brother since my arrival. He has been commanded to deliver his message to the Council, and abstain from communication with the Cardinal; at which he was greatly vexed. Various ambassadors are here. The most in favour is the Milanese, on whom the King has spent money. Those who are now in most credit are the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk (age 45). There is not a single person about the King who is not saturated with French money; and though they profess great affection to you, their affection for money is much stronger. I have submitted the proposition to the King respecting the sea being kept free from pirates. He has ordered a good reception for Mons. Rosymbez.

The downfall of the Cardinal is complete. He is dismissed from the Council, deprived of the Chancellorship, and constrained to make an inventory of his goods in his own hand, that nothing may be forgotten. It is said that he has acknowledged his faults, and presented all his effects to the King. Yesterday the King returned to Greenwich by water secretly, in order to see them, and found them much greater than he expected. He took with him "sa mye" (his darling-Ann Boleyn (age 28)), her mother (age 49), and a gentleman of his chamber (Norris?) The Cardinal, notwithstanding his troubles, has always shown a good face, especially towards the town, but since St. Luke's Day all has been changed to sighs and tears night and day. The King, either moved by pity, or for fear if he should die the whole extent of his effects would not be found, sent him a ring for his comfort. He has withdrawn with a small attendance to a place ten miles off. They have sent for his son from Paris. People say execrable things of him, all which will be known at this Parliament. But those who have raised the storm will not let it abate, not knowing, if he returned to power, what would become of them. The ambassador of France commiserates him most. It was feared the Cardinal would get his goods out of the country, and therefore a strict watch was kept at the ports, and the watch insisted on opening the coffers of cardinal Campeggio (age 54), notwithstanding his passport, and, on his refusal, broke open the locks. He said they had done him great wrong to suppose that he could be corrupted by the Cardinal, since he had been proof against the innumerable presents offered him by the King.

The Chancellor's seal has remained in the hands of the Duke of Norfolk till this morning, when it was transferred to Sir Thomas More (age 51). Every one is delighted at his promotion, because he is an upright and learned man, and a good servant of the Queen. He was Chancellor of Lancaster, an office now conferred on the Sieur Villeury (Fitzwilliam). Richard Pace, a faithful servant of your Majesty, whom the Cardinal had kept in prison for two years, as well in the Tower of London as in a monastery (Syon House), is set at liberty. Unless his mind should again become unsettled, it is thought he will rise in higher favour at Court than ever.

There is a young man here, sent by the duke of Saxony, who has much business with the King and the bishop of London.

Of the King's affair there is nothing new to communicate, except what the bishop of London has told me, that Dr. Stokesley (age 54) had been sent to France to consult the doctors of Paris. The Queen begs your Majesty will send some respectable person there to do the same, for without some definitive sentence the King will remain obstinate in his opinions. She thinks that delay will be more dangerous than profitable, and therefore we have thought it desirable not to consent to the postponement demanded. To avoid creating suspicion in the mind of the King, she thinks I had better cease to visit her, but she will provide means for my speaking with her in private. London, 25 Oct. 1529.

P.S.-Two days after I had written the above, the Cardinal was definitively condemned by the Council, declared a rebel, and guilty of high treason for having obtained a legatine bull, whereby he had conferred many benefices in the King's patronage. He has been deprived of his dignities, his goods confiscated, and himself sentenced to prison until the King shall decide. This sentence was not given in his presence, but to his two proctors. This he will not find easy of digestion, but worse remains behind (mais encoures ne serat il quicte pour le prix).

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 22nd October 1667. Slept but ill all the last part of the night, for fear of this day's success in Parliament: therefore up, and all of us all the morning close, till almost two o'clock, collecting all we had to say and had done from the beginning, touching the safety of the River Medway and Chatham, Kent [Map]. And, having done this, and put it into order, we away, I not having time to eat my dinner; and so all in my Lord Bruncker's (age 47) coach, that is to say, Bruncker, W. Pen (age 46), T. Harvy (age 42), and myself, talking of the other great matter with which they charge us, that is, of discharging men by ticket, in order to our defence in case that should be asked. We come to the Parliament-door, and there, after a little waiting till the Committee was sat, we were, the House being very full, called in: Sir W. Pen went in and sat as a Member; and my Lord Bruncker would not at first go in, expecting to have a chair set for him, and his brother (age 40) had bid him not go in, till he was called for; but, after a few words, I had occasion to mention him, and so he was called in, but without any more chair or respect paid him than myself: and so Bruncker, and T. Harvy, and I, were there to answer: and I had a chair brought me to lean my books upon: and so did give them such an account, in a series of the whole business that had passed the Office touching the matter, and so answered all questions given me about it, that I did not perceive but they were fully satisfied with me and the business as to our Office: and then Commissioner Pett (age 57) (who was by at all my discourse, and this held till within an hour after candlelight, for I had candles brought in to read my papers by) was to answer for himself, we having lodged all matters with him for execution. But, Lord! what a tumultuous thing this Committee is, for all the reputation they have of a great council, is a strange consideration; there being as impertinent questions, and as disorderly proposed, as any man could make. But Commissioner Pett, of all men living, did make the weakest defence for himself: nothing to the purpose, nor to satisfaction, nor certain; but sometimes one thing and sometimes another, sometimes for himself and sometimes against him; and his greatest failure was, that I observed, from his [not] considering whether the question propounded was his part to answer or no, and the thing to be done was his work to do: the want of which distinction will overthrow him; for he concerns himself in giving an account of the disposal of the boats, which he had no reason at all to do, or take any blame upon him for them. He charged the not carrying up of "The Charles" upon the Tuesday, to the Duke of Albemarle (age 58); but I see the House is mighty favourable to the Duke of Albemarle, and would give little weight to it. And something of want of armes he spoke, which Sir J. Duncomb (age 45) answered with great imperiousness and earnestness; but, for all that, I do see the House is resolved to be better satisfied in the business of the unreadiness of Sherenesse, and want of armes and ammunition there and every where: and all their officers were here to-day attending, but only one called in, about armes for boats, to answer Commissioner Pett.

John Evelyn's Diary. 22nd October 1685. I accompanied my Lady Clarendon to her house at Swallowfield in Berks, dining by the way at Mr. Graham's (age 36) lodge at Bagshot; the house, new repair'd and capacious enough for a good family, stands in a Park [Map]. Hence we went to Swallowfield; this house is after the antient build ing of honourable gentlemen's houses, when they kept up antient hospitality, but the gardens and waters as elegant as 'tis possible to make a flat, by art and industrie, and no meane expence, my lady being so extraordinarily skill'd in ye flowery part, and my lord in diligence of planting; so that I have hardly seene a seate whrch shews more tokens of it than what is to be found here, not only in the delicious and rarest fruits of a garden, but in those innumerable timber trees in the ground about the seate, to the greatest ornament and benefit of the place. There is one orchard of 1000 golden, and other cider pippins; walks and groves of elms, limes, oaks, and other trees. The garden is so beset with all manner of sweete shrubbs, that it per fumes the aire. The distribution also of the quarters, walks, and parterres, is excellent. The nurseries, kitchin garden full of ye most desireable plants; two very noble Orangeries well furnished; but above all, the canall and fishponds, the one fed with a white, the other with a black running water, fed by a quick and swift river, so well and plen tifully stor'd with fish, that for pike, carp, breame and tench, I never saw any thing approching it. We had at every meale carp and pike of size fit for the table of a Prince, and what added to ye delight was to see the hundreds taken by the drag, out of which, the cooke standing by, we pointed out what we had most mind to, and had carp that would have ben worth at London twenty shillings a piece. The waters are flagg'd about with Calamus aromaticus, with wch my lady has hung a closet, that retains the smell very perfectly. There is also a certaine sweete willow and other exotics: also a very fine bowllng-greene, meadow, pasture, and wood; in a word, all that can render a country seate delightful. There is besides a well furnish'd library in ye house.

On 22nd October 1983 Thomas Craven 7th Earl Craven (age 26) shot himself. His brother Simon (age 22) succeeded 8th Earl Craven in Yorkshire, 8th Viscount Uffington, 14th Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire.

Montreal Gazette: "Earl of Craven fears olf curse and kills himself. Eastbourne, England (AP). The seventh Earl of Craven — who lived in fear of a curse that all the males of his family would die young — has killed himself at age 26, police said. Thomas Robert Douglas Craven fatally shot himself at the home of his mother, Countess Elizabeth Craven, police reported. His body was found Saturday. None of Craven's direct ancestors going back to the 17th century reached the age of 60. His father, the sixth earl, drowned at age 47 when he fell off a yacht during a party in 1965. Leukemia killed his grandfather, the fifth earl, at age 35. The reputed curse says that all Craven boys will die before their mothers, Residents in the earl's village of Hampstead Marshall, Berkshire, said it was uttered by a village mother whose daughter was made pregnant by a Craven ancestor. 'They were a family that over the years never mixed closely in village affairs and I think the curse developed because of the antagonism between them and the local folk,' said one elderly man. The young earl was unmarried. Anne Nicholson, his former girlfriend and mother of their seven-year-old son, Thomas, was quoted last year as saying: 'The curse of the Cravens does worry him (the earl) a lot. He rarely discusses it, but it's at the back of his mind most of the time. It's an awful thing because it seems tp have come true in the past. It makes me worry about our little Tommy.' The earl's only son will not inherit the earldom because he is illegitimate. The title passes to the earl's 22-year-old brother, Simon George Craven, The Cravens can trace their line back to William the Conqueror, who invaded England and won its crown in 1066. The Craven estates were once among the largest in Britain, embracing 8,000 hectares in Berkshire alone, but they have dwindled to a few properties."

On 22nd October 1983 Thomas Craven 7th Earl Craven (age 26) shot himself. His brother Simon (age 22) succeeded 8th Earl Craven in Yorkshire, 8th Viscount Uffington, 14th Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire.

Montreal Gazette: "Earl of Craven fears olf curse and kills himself. Eastbourne, England (AP). The seventh Earl of Craven — who lived in fear of a curse that all the males of his family would die young — has killed himself at age 26, police said. Thomas Robert Douglas Craven fatally shot himself at the home of his mother, Countess Elizabeth Craven, police reported. His body was found Saturday. None of Craven's direct ancestors going back to the 17th century reached the age of 60. His father, the sixth earl, drowned at age 47 when he fell off a yacht during a party in 1965. Leukemia killed his grandfather, the fifth earl, at age 35. The reputed curse says that all Craven boys will die before their mothers, Residents in the earl's village of Hampstead Marshall, Berkshire, said it was uttered by a village mother whose daughter was made pregnant by a Craven ancestor. 'They were a family that over the years never mixed closely in village affairs and I think the curse developed because of the antagonism between them and the local folk,' said one elderly man. The young earl was unmarried. Anne Nicholson, his former girlfriend and mother of their seven-year-old son, Thomas, was quoted last year as saying: 'The curse of the Cravens does worry him (the earl) a lot. He rarely discusses it, but it's at the back of his mind most of the time. It's an awful thing because it seems tp have come true in the past. It makes me worry about our little Tommy.' The earl's only son will not inherit the earldom because he is illegitimate. The title passes to the earl's 22-year-old brother, Simon George Craven, The Cravens can trace their line back to William the Conqueror, who invaded England and won its crown in 1066. The Craven estates were once among the largest in Britain, embracing 8,000 hectares in Berkshire alone, but they have dwindled to a few properties."