Chronicle of Robert Fabyan
Chronicle of Robert Fabyan is in Tudor Books.
Tudor Books, Chronicle of Robert Fabyan 1458
THis yere, and the therde day of December, Reynolde Pecoke, than being bisshop of Chichester, at Lambith, by the archebysshop, and by a cot [court] of dyuyns [divines], was abiouryd for an herityke, and his bokys after brent at Paulys crosse, and himselfe kept in mewe euer whyle he lyued after. And soone after, so to appease this rancour and malyce atwene the Queen and the other lordys, a day of meting was appoyntyd by the King at London, whyther the Duke of York with the other Lords were commaundvd to come by a certeyne day.
26 Jan 1458. In obeyinge of which commaundement the Duke of York came unto London the. xxvi. daye of lanuary, and was lodged at Baynardys Castell, and before him the. xv. daye of lanuary, came the Earl of Salesbury to London, and was lodgyd at his place callyd the Erber: and soone after came unto London the dukys of Somerset and of Exeter, and were lodgyd bothe without Temple Barre ; and in lykwyse the Earl of Northumberlande, the lord Egremonde, and the yonge Lord Clyfforde, came unto the cytie, and were lodgyd in the suharbys of the same.
14 Feb 1458. And the. xiiii. day of February came the Earl of Warwick from Calais, with a great bande of men, all arayed in rede iakettys with whyte raggyd staues upon them, and was lodgyd at the Gray Freris:
17 Mar 1458. and lastly, that is to say, the. xvii. day of Marche, the King and the Queen, with a great retynewe came unto London, and were lodgyd in the bysshop of Londons palays. And ve shall vnderstande, that with theysc foresaide Lords came great companyes of men, in sornoche that some had. vi.C. [600] some. v. and theleest. iiii.C. [400] Wherfore the mayer, for so longe as the King and the lordys lay thus in the cytie, had dayly in harnesse. v. M. [5000] cytezyns, and rode dayly about the cytie and subburbys of the same, to see that the Kings peace were kepte, and nyghtlye he prouyded for. iii1. M. men in harnesse, to geue attend aunce upon. iii. aldermen : and they to kepe the nyght watche tyll. vii. of the clocke upon the morowe, tyll the day watche were asseniblyd. By reason whereof, good ordre and rule was kepte, and no man so hardy ones to attempte the breaKing of the Kings peace. During this watche, a great counceyll was holden by the King and his lordys; by reason wherof, a dysSirnulyd vnyte and Concorde atwene them was concluded.
24 Mar 1458. In token and for joy wherof, the King, the Queen, and all the said lordys, upon our Lady day annunciacion in Lent, at Paulys went solempnly in processyon, and soone after euery Lord departyd where his pleasure was. And in ther moneth of2 .... folowing, was a great fray in Flete strete, atwene the inhabytauntys3 of the saide strete ; in which fray a gentylman, being the quenys attourney, was slayen. Vpon the Thursday in Whitson weke, the Duke of Somerset, with Antony Ryuers, and other, iiii. kepte iustis of peace before the Queen within the Towre of London, agayne thre esquyers of the quenys, and in lyke maner at Grenewych the Sonday folowing. And upon Trynyte Sunday or the Monday folowing, certeyne shyppys, apperteyning unto the Earl of Warwick, mette with a flote of Spanyardys, and after longe and cruell fyght, toke. vi. of them laden with iron and other marchaudyse, and drowned and chasyd to the noumber of. xxvi. not without sheding of blode on both partyes ; for of the Englyssheme were slayen an hundreth, and many moo woundyd and sore hurte.
Note 1. ii. edit. 1533. 1542. 155
Note 2. of March. MS.
Note 3. the men of court and the inhabytauntys.
In this yere, after some auctours, a marchaunt of Brystowe, named Sturmyn, whiche with his shyp had trauaylyd in dyuerse partyes of Leuaunt and other partyes of the Eest, for so moche as the fame ramie upon hyin that he hadde gotten grene pepyr and other spycys, to haue sette and sowen in Englonde, as the fame went, therefore the lanuays waytcd him vpo the see, and spoylyd his shyp and other. But this is full lyke to be vntrewe that the lanuays shulde spoyle him for any suche cause: for there is no nacion in Englonde that delyth so lytle with spicis. But were it for this cause or other, trouth it is, that by that nacion an offence was done, for the which all the marchautys lanuays in London were arestyd and comyttyd to the Flete, tyll they had founden suffycyent suretye to answere to the premysses. And fynally, for the harmys which theyr nacion had done to the saide Sturmyn and to this realme. vi.M. marke was sette to theyr payne to paye; but howe it was payed no meneion I fynde.
In this yere also, was made an ordynauce, by auctoryte of the King and his couceyll, for the ordering of the seyntwary men within seynt Martens the Graude ; whereof the artycles are at length sette out in the boke of. K. within the chaumbre of Guylde hall, in the leefe. CC.LXXXXIX. wherof the execucion of obseruing were necessary to be vsyd, but more pyteit is, fewe poyntys of it ben exercysed.
Tudor Books, Chronicle of Robert Fabyan 1459
Rafe losselyn. Thomas Scotte, draper. Rycharde Nedeham.
This yere, aboute the feest of Candelmasse, the foresaid dissymulyd Loveday hanging by a smalle threde, atwene [the Queen and]1 the fore named lordis, expressyd in the preceding yere, the King and many Lords than being at Westmynster, a fray happenyd to falle atwene a seruaunt of the Kings and aseruaunt of the Earl of Warwick, the whiche hurte the Kings seruaunt and after escaped. Wherefore the Kings other menial servants seeing they might not be avenged upon the partie that thus had hurt their fellow, as the said Earl of Warwick was coming from the counsell, and was going toward his barge, the King's servants came unwarely upon him so rabbysshely, that the cooks with their spits, and other officers with other weapons came runing as mad men, intending to have slain him, so that he escaped with great danger and took his barge, and so in all haste rowed to London, not without great maymys and hurts received by many of his servants. For this the old rancour and malice, which never was clearly cured, anon began to break out; in so much that the queen's counsel would have had the said Earl arrested and committed unto the Tower. Wherefore he shortly after departed towarde Warwick, and by policy purchased, soon after, a commission of the King, and so yode or sailyd unto Calais.
Note 1. Omitted in edit. 1559.
Then increased this old malice more and more, in so much yet where the queen and her counsel saw that they might not be avenged upon the Earl, that so unto Calais was departyd, then they maligned again his father, the Earl of Salisbury, and imagined how he might be brought out of life.
23 Sep 1459. And in processe of time after, as he was riding towarde Salysbury, or, after some, from his lodging toward London, the lord Audley, with a strong company, was assigned to meet with him, and as a prisoner to bring him unto London. Whereof the said Earl being warned, gathered unto him the more men, and keeping his journey, met with the said Lord Audley at a place callyd Blore Heth, where both companies ran together and had there a strong bickering; whereof in theendthe Earl was victour, and slew there the Lord Audley and many of his retinue. At this skirmish were the. ii. sons of the said Earl sore wounded, named Sir Thomas and Sir John ; the which shortly after, as they were going homewarde, were by some of the queen's party taken, and as prisoners sent unto Chester. When this was known unto the Duke of York and to the other lordys of this party, they knew and understood, that if they provided not shortly for remedy for themself, they should all be destroyed. And for that, they by one assent gathered to them a strong host of men, as of Marchemen and other, and in the month of October, that was in the beginning of the XXXVIII. year of the reign of King Henry, and the later end of this mayor's year, they drew them toward the King, to the entent to remove from him such persons as they thought were enemies unto the common weale of England. But the Queen and her cousel hearing of the intent and strength of these lords, caused the King in all haste to send for the comissions to gather the people, so that in short while the King was strongly accompanied, and so sped him upon his journey toward the Duke of York and his company.
12 Oct 1459. Where of hearing the said Duke, then being with his people near unto the town of Ludlow, picked there a sure and strong field, that none of his foes might upon any part enter. Where he so lying, came to him from Calais, the Earl of Warwick with a strong band of men, among the which was Andrew Trollope, and many other of the best soldiers of Calais. The Duke thus keeping his field upon that one party, and the king with his people upon that other, upon the night preceeding the day that both houses should have met, the forenamed Andrewe Trollope, with all the cheif soldiers of Calais, secretly departed from the Duke's host and went unto the kings, where they were joyously received. When this thing to the Duke and the other lords was ascertained, they were therewith sore dismayed, and especially, for the said lordes had to the said Andrew showed the whole of their entities, which then they knew well should be clearely discovered unto their enemies: wherefore, after counsel for a remedie taken, they concluded to flee, and to leave the field standing as they had been present and still abidyng. And so incontently the saide Duke with his two sons, and a few other persons, fled towarde Wales, and from thence passed safely into Irelande. And the earls of Salesbury, of Marche, and of Warwick, and other, with a secret company also departed and took the way into Devonshire, where a squire named John Dynham (age 26), which after was a lorde and High Treasurer of England, and so lastly in Henry the VII's days and sixteenth year of his reign died, [which John Dynham foresaid]1 bought a ship for aa hundredn and ten markys, or eleven score nobles; and in the same ship the said lords went, and so sailed into Gernesey. And when they had a season there sojourned and refreshed themselves, they departed thence, as in the beginning of the next mayor's year shall be clearly shown. Upon the morrow, when all this couyne was known to the kyng and the lords upon his party, there was sending and running with all speed toward every coast to take these lords, but none might be found. And forthwith the King rode unto Ludlow and despoiled the town and castle, and sent the Duchess of York, with her children, unto the Duchesse of Buckingham her sister, where she rested long after.
Tudor Books, Chronicle of Robert Fabyan 1478
This yere, that is to meane ye xviii. daye of February, the Duke of Clarence (age 28) and .... 2brother to the King, thanne being prysoner in ye Tower [Map], was secretely put to deth and drowned in a barell of maluesye within the said Tower. And this mayer this yere pursued also the reparacyon of the wallys, but nat so dylygently as his predccessour dyd, wherfore it was nat spedde as it might haue been, and also he was a syke and a feble man, and hadde not so sharpe and quycke mynde as that other hadde. And one other cause was, whiche ensuythe of a generaltie, that for the more partie one mayer wyll nat fynesshe that thing whiche that other begynneth, for then they thynke, be the dede neuer so good and profitable, that the honoure therof shalbe ascribed to the begynner, and nat to the fynyssher, whiche lacke of charytie and deSire of veingiory causeth many good actes and dedys to dye and growe out of minde, to the great decaye of the cōmon weale of the cytie.
Note 2. second brother. edit. 1542. 1559.
Tudor Books, Chronicle of Robert Fabyan 1498
30 Oct 1498. In this year, upon the 30th day of October, came my lord prince through the city with an honourable company toward Westminster.
Tudor Books, Chronicle of Robert Fabyan 1499
12 Feb 1499. And upon Shrove Tuesday was put in execution, at Saint Thomas Watering, a stripling [Ralph Wulford (age 20)] of twenty years of age, which had himself to be the son or heir to the Earl of Warwick's lands, and was the son of a cordwainer of London.
26 Jul 1499. And this year master John Tate, alderman, began the new edifying of Saint Anthony's Church. And this year, upon the 26th day of July, being Sunday, and upon the Sunday following, stood twelve heretics at Paul's Crosse shryned [sic] with faggots.
Tudor Books, Chronicle of Robert Fabyan 1517
11 Oct 1517. And upon the eleventh day of October next following, then being the sweating sickness of new begun, died the said Thomas Hall then of London mayor, and for him was chosen as mayor Sir William Stocker knight and draper, which died also of the said sikeness shortly after; and then John Ward, grocer, was chosen mayor, which so continued till the Feast of Simon and Jude following.