Category: Church Of England: Leadership And Governance

The Execution of Edward Stafford

17/5/2018

“A butcher's dog has killed the finest Buck in England” was a reference to Cardinal Wolsey part in the execution of Edward Stafford

Cardinal Wolsey had obtained great power and wealth rather quickly and Henry was soon dependent on him and the advice he gave, this of course angered the nobility and other men of rank who considered that Wolsey was punching above his weight.

Envy and jealousy played their part in the downfall of Buckingham as it later would with Wolsey, there was a least one person who succumbed by pointing the finger of suspicion at the Duke and he made his feeling quite plain in a letter sent to Wolsey accusing Buckingham of treason.

Was Buckingham part of a plot to kill the king, Thomas More suggested his conviction was based on hearsay others considered him guilty as charged.

A J Pollard wrote of Buckingham's fate

"Buckingham was not executed because he was a criminal, but because he was, or might become,
dangerous: his crime was not treason, but descent from Edward III"

Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham climbed the steps to the scaffold at Tower Hill on the 17th May in 1521.

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Ranulf Flambard's Daring Escape

22/9/2016

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On the 15th August 1100, Bishop Ranulf Flambard was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Henry I on charges of embezzlement.

In the February of the following year, Flambard invited his guards to join him in his cell for a quick glass of vino collapso to celebrate Candlemas. While his inept guards guzzled down their wine, Flambard surreptitiously poured his into his favourite potted plant.

Later that evening, with the plant looking a bit worse for wear and the guards fallen into a drunken stupor, Flambard used a rope that had been smuggled in a gallon of wine to make his escape down the walls of the tower, and on reaching the ground he hot footed it to Normandy where he was welcomed by Henry's brother and rival Robert Curthose.

On receiving the news of Flambard's escape Henry was furious, and it was one William de Mandeville, who was in charge of the tower at that time, who felt the wrath of the king. Henry knew that there was more to it than meets the eye, and just like me, he knew that there is no way you could hide enough rope to scale the walls of large tower in one gallon of wine, and make such a quick get away without being seen.

Some one was in on it!

Henry suspected that Mandeville was involved, however nothing was proved, but he confiscated three of Mandevilles manors anyway and booted him out of his important position within the tower.

Ranulf Flambard was the first person to be imprisoned within the Tower's walls, he was also the first to escape.

Eventually, Flambard arrived back in England and died in Durham in 1128, but what of William de Mandeville?
Well he went on to organise the wedding of his daughter Beatrice, and thank goodness he did, or else I wouldn't be here!

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Simon and Henry de Montfort

4/8/2016

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Simon de Montfort was French by birth and a year younger than Henry III. In 1248, Henry had appointed Montfort as
Governor of Gascony, a mistake that cost Henry dearly.

In Gascony, Montfort was disliked, but he was powerful and he abused his position and this forced Henry to intervene.
On Montfort's return to England, he perceived Henry as weak and with the barons aching for a fight, it was
Simon de Montfort that stepped in to take charge.

In 1258 this action culminated in the Provisions of Oxford, a law that served to limit Henry’s power. Henry’s refusal
to accept the Provisions of Westminster the following year saw Montfort’s power base grow rapidly, and by 1263 he
was all but wearing the crown.

On the 14th of May 1264 at the Battle of Lewes, Henry, his son the future Edward I, and Richard, Duke of Cornwall
were taken prisoner but a year later the tables were turned, and it was at the Battle of Evesham, on the 4th August in
1265, that Simon de Montfort and his eldest son Henry died a grisly death.

The Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grosseteste, once said to Henry de Montfort:

"My beloved child, both you and your father will meet your deaths on one day, and by one kind of death, but it
will be in the name of justice and truth."

The bishop was right on both counts:

Of Henry de Montfort's death, the
"first born son and heir, in full view of his father, perished, split by a sword.

and Simon himself:
"the head was severed from his body, and his testicles cut off and hung on either side of his nose"

Bishop Grosseteste was correct.

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Catherine of Aragon at Blackfriars

20/6/2016

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On the 21st June 1529, Catherine of Aragon, appeared in front of Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio at the court at Blackfriars.

“Sir, I beseech you for all the love that hath been between us, and for the love of God, let me have justice. Take of me some pity and compassion, for I am a poor woman, and a stranger born out of your dominion. I have here no assured friends, and much less impartial counsel…

Alas! Sir, wherein have I offended you, or what occasion of displeasure have I deserved?… I have been to you a true, humble and obedient wife, ever comfortable to your will and pleasure, that never said or did any thing to the contrary thereof, being always well pleased and contented with all things wherein you had any delight or dalliance, whether it were in little or much. I never grudged in word or countenance, or showed a visage or spark of discontent. I loved all those whom ye loved, only for your sake, whether I had cause or no, and whether they were my friends or enemies. This twenty years or more I have been your true wife and by me ye have had divers children, although it hath pleased God to call them out of this world, which hath been no default in me…

When ye had me at first, I take God to my judge, I was a true maid, without touch of man. And whether it be true or no, I put it to your conscience. If there be any just cause by the law that ye can allege against me either of dishonesty or any other impediment to banish and put me from you, I am well content to depart to my great shame and dishonour. And if there be none, then here, I most lowly beseech you, let me remain in my former estate… Therefore, I most humbly require you, in the way of charity and for the love of God – who is the just judge – to spare me the extremity of this new court, until I may be advised what way and order my friends in Spain will advise me to take. And if ye will not extend to me so much impartial favour, your pleasure then be fulfilled, and to God I commit my cause!”

Catherine was renowned for her strength of character and virtue, abandoning Catherine was Henry VIII's
first big mistake.

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Matthew Parker, The Duke of Wellington and the Great Exhibition

10/8/2015

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What do they all have in Common?

Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury was born on 6th August in 1504.

Parker served as chaplain to Anne Boleyn, was involved in implementing the Thirty Nine Articles, a set of doctrines within the Church of England, he was also an avid book collector, salvaging medieval manuscripts that were set to be destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries. His efforts meant he left us a priceless collection of manuscripts that are now housed at the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

But did you know that Matthew Parker was the first 'Nosey Parker'?

A nosey parker as you will all know, means someone who pokes their nose into other peoples business. Allegedly, people thought Parker was far too inquisitive about church matters for his own good, they also thought he had rather a long nose.

Here's the man himself. His nose looks okay to me.

The term itself, sticking your nose into other people’s affairs, can be dated back the the late 1880's. Before then, anyone called nosey was just somebody with a big nose, like the Duke of Wellington, who had the nickname Old Nosey.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first citation of the statement was

“You’re a askin’ too many questions for me, there’s too much of Mr. Nosey Parker about you.”

My favourite has to be the 1907 'Adventures of Mr Nosey Parker' a set of postcards illustrating the antic's of a gentleman who never minded his own business.

Nosey Parker's origins may spring from the 1851 at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park where a very large numbers of people attended the exhibition, so there would have been lots of opportunities for peeping Toms and eavesdroppers in the grounds.

Interestingly the word Parker is a medieval term, being used for an official in charge of a park, a park-keeper.

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The Death of Margaret Countess of Salisbury.

23/5/2015

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Bishop Gardiner wrote of the date of the Countesses execution as the 27th of May but Eustace Chapuys wrote of it as the 28th, either way Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, the daughter of George Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville was taken to her place of death at the end of May in 1541.

By the time of Margaret's execution, three years had passed since her son's Geoffrey and Henry Pole had been arrested on a charge of treason at the beginning of November 1538. It was just over a week later, the 12th November that Cromwell's henchmen came knocking on the Countesse's door.

Probably not tortured, but certainly coerced by the Earl of Southampton and the Bishop of Ely Margaret said nothing, her two interrogators eventually telling Cromwell that they had to conclude that her sons had told her nothing or that she was

"the most arrant traitress that ever lived"

Margaret was sent to Cowdray Park, the home of the Earl of Southampton where the abuse at the hands of Cromwell's men continued. It was there in the May that a Bill of Attainder was issued and evidence of 'guilt' was presented in the form of a silk tunic embroidered on the back with the Five Wounds of Christ. This and other trumped up charges were brought against her, and Margaret was sent to the Tower where she was kept for just under two years. The Countess was not treated well during her incarceration, the conditions were austere and inadequate for woman her age let alone her status, the room was cold and damp and she suffered as a result.

Margaret heard of her execution only hours before it was due to happen.

Looking pale and thin, it must have been a distressing sight as she made her way to Tower Green, but her suffering was not over. At the hands of inexperienced executioner a

‘wretched and blundering youth who literally hacked her head and shoulders to pieces in the most pitiful manner’

Margaret Pole, the last true Plantagenet was dead.

She was sixty eight year old.

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John Bampton and the Events of May 1381

28/3/2015

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Sowing the seeds of the Peasants Revolt

Unlike later plots against government, such of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 or the Babington Plot in 1586 where conspiracies were formulated by a few men under one roof, the Peasants Revolt was the quiet murmurings of unrest among many unhappy and angry people who finally got together under one leader.

We get much of our information regarding the beginnings of the revolt from local level in the form of court cases brought against villagers who took part in the early stage, people from the villages like Fobbing, Billericay, Gold Hanger and Bocking. Evidence of the events that took place in Brentwood on the last days in May are also found in written accounts and this is backed up by the Anonimalle Chronicle written at the time by a Benedictine monk from St Mary’s Abbey in York, and a later inquisition headed by the Chief Justice of the King Bench and West County lawyer, Sir Robert Tresillian.

Historian are in agreement over the events that took place in Brentwood, but not over John Bampton, the man who history associates with it. In the Anonimalle Chronicle, Bampton's christian name is Thomas but the vast majority of the
references to him are as John.

Bampton held lands in Essex, in 1362 Edward III granted him Ongar Park for an annual payment of ten marks and in 1372 he held Margaret Roding, one of six villages that make up what is known as The Rodings. He also held Canewdon, a village just north of Rochford. Also in 1372, Bampton was made sheriff of Essex, but it was as Justice of the Peace that he achieves his historical 'claim to fame'

History tells us that Bampton was in the Essex village of Brentwood in the May of 1381 to inquire into unpaid taxes, and he had summoned the inhabitants of surrounding villages to come to Brentwood and explain their non payments.The meeting soon got out of hand and men from three of the communities refused to cooperate, violently forcing Bampton and his men at arms out of the village.

It was this one incident that was the catalyst for the Peasants Revolt, the troubles soon escalated and was followed by the rebelling peasants entering London on June 13th.

As we know, records of any historical event have to be read with caution and this applies to the events of the 30/31 of May 1381. It has been suggested that Bampton didn't play a major part in this story at all but only appeared because his property was one of the first to be attacked at beginning of the revolt. It has also been suggested that he was brought in later to replace another judge. But what is more likely is that he was not the lone justice triggering the revolt with his demands for money but one member of an investigating commission of four justices, a sheriff, a clerk and a sergeant at arms.

This suggestion is backed by Tresillian's commission statement that states

“John Goldsborough, John Bampton and other justices of the peace with bows and arrows pursuing them them to kill
them headed back to London."

In 1348, the Black Death killed over one third of England's population, it was the first link in a chain of events that would, over thirty years later, result in what is now known as the Peasants Revolt.

The second link in that chain was a shortage of people to work the land, and it was this that gave the peasant population the ’upper hand’ causing them to demand higher wages. To counter these demands taxes were implemented, three poll taxes were introduced over a four year period that saw everyone over the age of fifteen paying one shilling each, this tax was crippling, it was the seeds of civil unrest.

Of John Bampton after his return to London I cannot find any reference, but the important question is what of the peasants,did they go back to tilling the soil, did they return to their fields like nothing had happened? Initially yes, but what these men eventually achieved was the breaking down of the century old feudal system which had kept them at the very bottom of life's ladder. Attitudes were changing, this meant that the poor man would no longer be beholden to a lord and master, he would be a free man.

The events of 1381 ended badly for most, Richards II's promise to the peasants came to nothing, the charter that was signed later revoked, The peasants leader, Wat Tyler was decapitated after trying to escape and two important members of the court, the kings Treasurer and the Archbishop of Canterbury are viciously murdered in the Tower of London by the rebels themselves.

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The Execution of Edward Stafford

Ranulf Flambard's Daring Escape

Simon and Henry de Montfort

Catherine of Aragon at Blackfriars

Matthew Parker, The Duke of Wellington and the Great Exhibition

What do they all have in Common?

The Death of Margaret Countess of Salisbury.

John Bampton and the Events of May 1381

Sowing the seeds of the Peasants Revolt

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