à Lasco's superintendency. One member of which, a very honest man, and of sound religion, by the general testimony of that church, had desired to set up a printing-house for his livelihood, chiefly for printing the Liturgy, and other books of the church of England, in French, for the use of the French islands under the English subjection. In whose behalf the superintendent readily interceded by a letter with the secretary to procure the king's letters patents, for his license and authority so to do. The issue of which will be seen in the progress of this history. The letter I have transcribed to accompany two others of à Lasco in the Appendix.

No. LIV.

242

Another church of

strangers at

trade weav

ing.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE CHURCH AT GLASTENBURY.

In the same year, viz. 1550, another church of strangers, and they mostwhat French and Walloons, began to settle Glasten- at Glastenbury in Somersetshire. They were weavers, bury. Their and followed the manufacture of kersies, and cloth of that nature, as I conjecture. Their great patrons were the duke of Somerset and sir William Cecyl; I add, and our archbishop, though I do not find his name mentioned in the papers I make use of, relating to this church: for there is no question but that his counsel and aid concurred in the settlement of this church, as well as those in London and particularly as to the preacher; whom I suspect

Pollanus

and super

:

to have been one of those learned foreign divines whom he Valerandus harboured in his own house. His name was Valerandus their Pollanus, a man of great worth both for learning and preacher integrity, who had the title of "Superintendent of the intendent. strangers' church at Glastenbury," as John à Lasco had of that at London; given to each to fix a character of honour and esteem upon their persons, and perhaps to exempt them and their churches from the jurisdiction of the bishops of those respective dioceses. This Pollanus turned into Latin, and printed, the disputations held in the beginning of queen Mary's reign between the protestants and papists at the convocation, anno 1553. If any desire to know the particular state and condition of the establishment of these strangers, as to their trade, it stood thus:

How they came to fix here.

Pollanus, in behalf of the rest, had preferred a petition to the duke of Somerset, and the rest of the lords of the council, to this effect; "That they might be permitted to form themselves into a church for the free exercise of

religion, and to follow peaceably their calling of weaving; declaring, as an argument to persuade them to allow the same, the considerable benefit that would accrue thence to the realm; and that for shops and working-houses, and for reception of them and their families, they might enjoy some old dissolved religious house." Their petition was condescended to: and the duke, being a great cherisher of those of the religion, resolved to be their patron, and to take the managing of this whole cause upon himself. The duke, in the month of June this year, had made an exchange of certain lands with the king, and that probably for the better accommodating of these strangers. He had parted with the castle and lordship of Sleaford, and other lands and tenements in the county of Lincoln, to the king and the king had granted him, in lieu thereof, all and singular his messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, with their appurtenances, in the town of Glastenbury, (namely, what had belonged to the abbey), and other lands and tenements in Kingston-upon-Hull, to the value of 2147. 14s. 5d. obq. as I find in a manuscript book, mentioning the several sales that king made. Having obtained such conveniences in Glastenbury, he

。 ["I have yet met with nothing of this abbey from the time it was pulled down, to king Edward VIth's days; and so I presume it laid near a dozen years waste and desolate. But in Fuller's history of abbeys I find, that it was granted by king Edward, on the fourth of June, in the fourth year of his reign, (that is to say, in the year of Christ 1550.), to Edward Seymour, duke of So

merset, in consideration of his petition and the advice of his council, to support his dignity. But he enjoyed it only one year, seven months, and twenty days, being beheaded on Tower-hill, the 24th of January, 155. So little did this and his other sacrileges thrive with him."-Hearne's Hist. of Glastonbury, p. 52. ed. Oxon. 1722.]

* [Fuller's Abbeys, p. 368.]

resolved to plant this manufacture here; which he thought 243 would tend so much to the benefit of the country, himself, and these poor strangers too. Conditions were mutually entered into.

Conditions

of trade be

merset and them.

:

The conditions on Somerset's part were, "That he should tween So- provide them houses convenient for their occupations, and to contain themselves and families: that five acres of pasture land, or as much as would serve for the feeding of two cows throughout the year, should be allotted to each of them and until land were so allotted, they should enjoy the park in common for the said use, with some part also of the gardens. They were also to be supplied with monies from the duke to buy wool, and to defray other charges necessary to set them on work. They were also empowered to employ both English men and women, as they should have occasion, in spinning and other works belonging to their trade." And so accordingly they went down to Glastenbury, and fell to work.

Their trade obstructed

bles of So

merset.

But upon the troubles and fall of Somerset, which hapby the trou- pened about fourteen or fifteen months after, their affairs were much obstructed. His servants neglected to furnish them with money according to contract: nor was he at leisure now to regard them. The people, among whom they lived, took this opportunity to express what little kindness they had for them: it being the temper of the common sort to be jealous of strangers, and rude to them. So that they were not without their discontents and discouragements for they wanted those conveniences of room for work-houses and habitations, that were promised them. They ran in debt, and were forced to lay to pawn the clothes they had wove, to supply their wants. Cornish, one of the chief of their procurators, appointed to oversee them, and further their trade, proved very deceitful and false to them; who came to them, pretending

letters from the council, and treating them at first with fair words, and after with threatenings: and so compelled them to deliver the clothes that they had made to him, though they had by mere necessity been forced before to pawn them. He had also, by his importunity and fraud, got the grant of the park from them, though he knew the duke had fully purposed and intended it for their use, for the necessary maintenance of themselves and families.

themselves

again to the

secretary

Things being in this ill condition with them, and Somer- Apply set no longer able to befriend them, they were glad to apply again to those above. Pollanus therefore, in their council, behalf, petitioned the lords of the council to take their declining state into their consideration, and to carry on that good work the duke of Somerset had begun. He did also ply the secretary to further their petition, (who was and to the indeed of his own accord their most hearty friend); and Cecyl. laboured particularly with all earnestness imaginable, both by word of mouth and by divers letters, to get the factory discharged of Cornish, urging that the weavers had never found the least grain of integrity, justice, or candour in him. This man was now very industrious and busy at court to get himself continued in his office; which the strangers understanding, were as diligent to get themselves delivered of him. The superintendent had but a little before dispatched to the secretary one Peter Wolf, 244 a good man, and a great sufferer, a Brabanter by nation, to relate the evil deeds of this man: and now again he dispatched Stephen Le Provost, a deacon of his church, with another message to the same import to the said secretary. Telling him, "That those who were to be set over others ought themselves in the first place to be honest and just; but especially they ought to be so in the highest degree that were to be placed over such good men, and who were exiles only for the sake of Christ; unless any CRANMER, VOL. II.

U