July, 1501. resteth in two principal points, the one for a general pardon for all manner of causes; the other is for to alter and change a part of a license which I had given unto you before for to be put into mortmain at Westminster, and now to be converted into the use of the University of Cambridge, for your soul's health, etc, all which things, according to your desire and pleasure, I have, with all my heart and good will, given and granted unto you; and my dame, not only in this but in all other things that I may know should be to your honour, and pleasure, and weal of your soul, I shall be as glad to please you as your heart can desire it, and I know well, that I am as much bounden so to do, as any creature living for the great and singular motherly love and affection that it hath pleased you at all times to bear towards me. Wherefore, mine own most loving mother, in my most hearty manner I thank you, beseeching you of your good continuance in the same. And madame, your said confessor hath moreover shown unto me, on your behalf, that ye, of your goodness and kind disposition, have given and granted unto me such title and interest as ye have, or ought to have, in such debts and duties which is owing and due unto you in France by the French king,' and other; wherefore, madame, in my most hearty and humble wise, I thank you. Howbeit I verily [think] it will be right hard to recover it, without it be driven by compulsion and force, rather than by any true justice, which is not yet, as we think, any convenient time to be put in execution. Nevertheless, it hath pleased you to give us a good interest, and mean, if they will not conform them to reason and good justice, to defend or offend at a convenient time, when the case shall so require hereafter; for such a chance may fall, that this, your grant, might stand in

1 See above, Vol. i. Nos. 150, 151.

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189

great stead for a recovery of our right, and to make us July, 1501. free, whereas we be now bound etc. And verily, madame, an I might recover it at this time, or any other, ye be sure ye should have your pleasure therein, as I, and all that God has given me, is and ever shall [be] at your will and commandment, as I have instructed Master Fisher1 more largely herein, as I doubt not but he will declare unto you. And I beseech you to send me your mind and pleasure in the same, which I shall be full glad to follow, with God's grace, which send and give unto you the full accomplishment of all your noble and virtuous desires. Written at Greenwich, the 17th day of July, with the hand of your most humble and loving son.

H. R.

After the writing of this letter, your confessor delivered unto me such letters and writings obligatory of your duties in France, which it hath pleased you to send unto me, which I have received by an indenture of every parcel of the same. Wherefore, eftsoons, in my most humble wise I thank you; and I purpose hereafter at better leisure, to know your mind and pleasure further therein. Madame, I have encumbered you now with this my long writing, but methinks that I can do no less, considering that it is so seldom that I do write, wherefore I beseech you to pardon me, for verily, madame, my sight is nothing so perfect as it has been, and I know well it will appayre daily, wherefore I trust that you will not be displeased, though I write not so often with mine own hand, for on my faith I have been three days or I could make an end of this letter.

1 Afterwards Cardinal and Bishop of Rochester.

14 Decem ber, 14×5.

51.

[Foundation of the convent of the Friars Observants at Greenwich, Campbell's "Materials," i. 216. The Observants were much favoured by Henry VII and in his earlier years by Henry VIII.]

Foundation of the convent of the Friars Minors of the observance of the Order of St Francis, in the town of Estgrenewiche, co. Kent, to the praise and glory of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Francis, and All Saints to consist of a guardian and twelve brethren : to possess the property mentioned below in frank almoign.

In substance upon the following recital:

King Edward IV having obtained authority from the Pope to found a house or convent for the use and habitation of the friars of the Franciscan Order, and wishing to have masses used in Estgrenewich, by James, bp of Norwich, and Edmund, bp of Rochester, specially deputed thereto, gave a parcel of land with certain old houses built thereon in Estgrenewiche, adjoining to his manor there (12 virgates in breadth, and 63 virgates in length), bought with his own monies, for a church, cemetery, cloister, refectory, dormitory, "ortos," and other premises necessary for a convent belonging to the said order, to certain brethren of the order then present, and their successors, for the use and habitation of the Friars Minors of their observance in perpetuity; and the first stone of a future convent having been laid with the special solemnity observed on such occasions, he granted them full possession and seisin thereof. The brethren in the hope and confidence engendered by the said gift, and trusting that the premises would be increased in time to come, have begun at their own cost, labour, and exertion, to rebuild divers poor little dwellings, with the assistance of certain

THE FRIARS OBSERVANTS

191

1485.

devout and faithful people, to the glory of God, the December, Blessed Virgin Mary, St Francis and All Saints, and to pray for ever for the health and prosperity of the entire kingdom. King Henry VII, bearing in mind Edw. IVth's pious intention, the good disposition, devotion, expenses, and labours of the said brethren, by day and by night, in orisons, prayers, and fastings, and that chief and above everything else amongst works of mercy and piety is the canonical celebration of Divine service by priests and true vicars of God, and that it is a meritorious thing to support a ministry through whom the miserable souls of sinners purged from stains can receive calm and pardon, and the frail wanderers amongst sinful pleasures can be led back to the ways of grace.

1

D. ECCLESIASTICAL WEALTH.

52.

["Italian Relation," p. 40.]

But that [the wealth] of the Lords spiritual is very superior; for, besides their own lands, they possess the actual tenth of all the produce of the earth, and of every animal; and anyone living in his own house pays the tithe of everything to the Church, besides the third part of every inheritance, which has been mentioned

1

66

Compare Greyfriars' Chronicle" (Camden Soc.), pp. 25, 26 : "[1498] And this same yere in August was the second provinciall chapter of the Freer minores in London [cf. "Milanese Cal.," i., 362]. And there beganne the Observanttes, and came with the kynges letters and commandment for sertayne placis, and so beganne with Newcastle, Cauntorbery, and Sowthamtone." "[1502] And this yere the Gray freeres changed their abbyttes into whytte gray apon sent Georges Day. . . from London rosette unto whytt gray." *To that of the Lords temporal.

before. Nor is the saying that is so common in this country without cause,-"that the priests are one of the three happy generations of the world".

Although the Church of England is so rich, there are not more than two archbishops, Canterbury and York. In the province of the former, there are thirteen English and four Welsh bishops; in that of the latter only two. But the number of religious houses in England, both for men and women, is prodigious, and the greater proportion are of royal foundation. Nor can I omit to mention here, that in the diocese of Bath there are two convents, not above twelve miles distant from each other; the one for monks, named Glasberi (Glastonbury), and the other for nuns, named Santsberi (Shaftesbury), both of the order of St. Benedict. The abbot of the former has an annual income of more than 25,000 crowns, and the abbess of the other above 10,000; and the English say amongst themselves, that "the finest match that could be made in all England, would be between that abbot and the abbess!" However, there are few of the monastries of England that send to Rome for their bulls; nor are the deaneries, or canonries, or even the parochial livings, of which it is said that there are 52,000, in the gift of the crown. I, for my part, believe that the English priests would desire nothing better than what they have got, were it not that they are obliged to assist the crown in time of war, and also to keep many poor gentlemen, who are left beggars in consequence of the inheritance devolving to the eldest son. And if the bishops were to decline this expense, they would be considered infamous, nor do I believe that they would be safe in their own churches; which churches, although so rich, as I have already mentioned, are not in fine cities, for there are scarcely any towns of importance in the kingdom, excepting these two: