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I. Noble Patronage in the Elizabethan Church

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

M. Claire Cross
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Extract

Elizabeth made the decision that the English Church should again be Protestant, but the particular form of Protestantism to be adopted by the Church was not entirely in the power of the Queen, or even the Bishops to decide. A result of the dissolution of the monasteries and the sale of a large part of monastic lands by the Crown was that a greatly increased amount of patronage became vested in lay hands. The Church's theological inclination could be determined by the type of men presented by lay patrons to livings throughout the length and breadth of the country. One particular group amongst the Elizabethan nobility, the Earls of Leicester, Warwick, Huntingdon and Bedford, exercised a very remarkable influence upon the emergent Church of England. This study of the patronage of one member of the group, the third Earl of Huntingdon, illustrates how militant Protestantism could be injected into the Church.

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Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , March 1960 , pp. 1 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1960

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References

1 An incident related by Fuller is apparently the basis for this tradition. When Sir John Cheke became very ill, and was thought to be dying, Edward VI exclaimed: ‘ No, he will not die at this time, for this morning I begged his life from God in my prayers, and obtained it.’ He did indeed recover. ‘This was attested by the old Earl of Huntingdon, bred up in childhóod with King Edward, unto Sir Thomas Cheke, still surviving about eighty years of age.’ Cit. Nichols, J.G. (ed.), Literary Remains of Edward VI (Roxburghe Club, 1857), p. clixGoogle Scholar.

2 Leicester, Museum, Hall Book, II, 78.Google Scholar A further ordinance governing the lectures of 1565 refers specifically to the ‘Decree made by the advyce and consent of the right honorable Henry, Earle of Huntingdon...’ (Leicester, Museum, Book of Acts, 1488–1581).Google Scholar

3 Huntingdon Library, Hastings MSS. (microfilm). (Since these documents do not appear to have been indexed, there is no means of referring to them individually.) John Londe to [the Earl of Huntingdon]. This letter, as microfilmed, is practically illegible and only its gist can be gathered: the exact date, and spelling of names are uncertain.

4 S.T.C. 4397. The editors of [The] S[hort] T[itle] C[atalogue] attribute the work to Arthur Golding, but the D[ictionary of] N[ational] B[iography] (xxi, 339) gives this translation to Anthony Gilby. Since Huntingdon was his acknowledged patron, Gilby seems in every respect the more likely author.

5 See Introduction and text in Meads, D.M., Diary of Lady MargaretHoby, 1599–1605 (1930).Google Scholar

6 Hessels, J.H., Epistulae et Tractatus cum reformationis turn ecclesiae Londino-Batavae historiam illustrantes (Cambridge, 1897), III, pt. 2, 129Google Scholar, 137. I owe this reference to the kindness of Mr B. Dietz, fellow student at the Institute of Historical Research.

7 See below, p. 15.

8 The preamble of the deed by which Huntingdon granted four of his livings to Emmanuel College on 19 Jan. 1586 (Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Treasury. Box 1, A. 2).

9 P., Collinson, ‘The Puritan Classical Movement’ (unpublished London Ph.D. thesis, 1957), 25.Google Scholar

10 W., Fuller, Ecclesiastical History, v (1845 edn., Oxford, ), 164.Google Scholar

11 Public Record Office, Patent Rolls, C 66/1006.

12 Venn, J. and Venn, J.A., Alumni Cantabrigienses (Cambridge, 1922), IV, 17.Google Scholar

13 A., Peel (ed.), Seconde Parte of a Register (2 vols., Cambridge, 1915), I, 98.Google Scholar

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15 There is a book of dispensations for pluralities at the P[ublic] R[ecord] O[ffice]: S.P. 12/76 fos. 31 ff. Unfortunately it only continues from the beginning of Elizabeth's reign to 1572. I am indebted to Dr H. G. Owen for this reference.

16 R. G. Usher, op. cit. 88–91.

17 B[ritish] M[useum], Add. MSS. 29546, fo. 56. See below, p. 7. I am very grateful to Dr Collinson for this reference.

18 B.M. Add. MSS. 29546, fos. 56–7.

19 A. Peel, op. cit. I, 226.

20 Forster, C.W. (ed.), State of the Church in the Diocese of Lincoln (Lincoln Record Society, 1926)Google Scholar, p. xxv; Newcastle Chamberlains’ Accounts, 1590–5: Payments. Oct. 1592 (no pagination). And see p. 9 below.

21 D.N.B. 1, 401; Historical Manuscripts Commission Report. Hastings (1928), I, 433 II.Google Scholar

22 A Peel, op. cit. II, 37.

23 D.N.B. VI, 1115.

24 The valuation is the Henrician Valuation of 1535. It continued to be used for taxation purposes throughout Elizabeth's reign. With the rise in prices the real value of livings was usually much in excess of the official figure (see Owen, H.G., ‘The London Parish Clergy in the Reign of Elizabeth’, unpublished London Ph.D. thesis, 1957, 321 ff.).Google Scholar

25 Forster, C.W. (ed.), The State of the Church...(1926),Google Scholar ‘Liber Cleri’, fo. 2.

26 Ibid.. fo. 3d.

27 Ibid.. fo. 2. In 1604 Wood, still at Castle Donnington, was presented for not wearing the surplice, but he conformed and the case was dismissed.

28 Wydowes was inducted in 1569 (Leicester Museum, ID41/28/132). In 1576 Gilby was certainly officially no more than a lecturer at Ashby (Forster, op. cit. 33). In the D.N.B. (xxi, 339) Gilby is said to have been vicar of Ashby, but no reference is given. The only period when he could have been vicar is between 1560 and 1569 when Wydowes was instituted. There is, unfortunately, a complete absence of ecclesiastical records for Ashby both at Leicester and Lincoln for these ten years. It is possible that Gilby refused any preferment in the Elizabethan Church because of his scruples over vestments (see P. Collinson, ‘Puritan Classical Movement’, 25).

29 Huntingdon to Hildersham, 5 July 1593 (B., Brook, Lives of the Puritans (1813), 11, 380).Google Scholar

30 C[ambridge] U[niversity] L[ibrary], Mm 1. 43 (Baker 32), 434. Dr Collinson very kindly lent me his transcripts of these papers in the first place. In this section on the Church in Leicestershire in particular, as in the account in general of Huntingdon's patronage of Protestants, I have been much influenced by his thesis.

31 C.U.L. Mm 1. 43 (Baker, 32), 427–30, 25 Jan. 1565/6.

32 C.U.L. Mm. 1. 43 (Baker, 32), 447, 442.

33 Ibid.. 441 ff.

34 Ibid.. 433. It is doubtful whether the date supplied on the copy of this letter-8 March 1584-is accurate.

35 P. Collinson, ‘The Puritan Classical Movement’, 190.

36 B.M. Add. MSS. 27632, fo. 47. I owe this reference to Dr Collinson.

37 B.M. Add. MSS. 29546, fo. 42. In Feb. 1571, the Queen had presented Johnson to the living of St Martin's, Leicester, ‘on the recommendation and at the petition of Henry, Earl of Huntingdon’ (Forster, C.W., Episcopal Records in the Time of Thomas Cooper. Lincoln Record Society, 11 (1912), 317).Google Scholar In 1563–4 Huntingdon had had a pew constructed for himself in St Martin's Church (The Churchwardens’ Accounts. Printed in North, T., A Chronicle of the Church of St Martin, Leicester (Leicester, 1866), 163).Google Scholar

38 B.M. Add. MSS. 29546. fo. 57.

39 C.U.L. Mm 1. 43 (Baker, 32), 436–7.

40 P., Collinson,Google Scholar ‘The Puritan Classical Movement’, 430 and 458, quoting from Rylands, English MS. 874, fo. 39.

41 A., Hamilton-Thompson (ed.), Wyggeston Hospital Records (Leicester, 1933), 54.Google Scholar

42 Brook, , Lives of the Puritans, 11, 376–88.Google Scholar

43 Lincoln, , Episcopal Act Book, no. 30.Google Scholar

44 Forster, State of the Church., cxxvii.

45 P.R.O., S.P. 15/21/103 (Huntingdon to Burghley, 21 Dec. 1572).

46 B.M. Lansdowne, 19. 2.

47 B.M. Lansdowne 20. 50.

48 J., Raine (ed.), Correspondence of Dr Mathew Hutton (Surtees Society), xvII (1843), 59;Google Scholar Huntingdon to Hutton, 20 May 1578.

49 Huntingdon Library, Hastings MSS. (microfilm).

50 York, Guildhall Housebook, 1577–1580Google Scholar, fos. 189 and 230. Housebook, 1581–5, fo. 54.

51 Newcastle Chamberlains’ Accounts, 1590–5. Payments (no pagination). Entries for Oct. 1592.

52 F., Peck (ed.), Desiderata Curiosa (1779), XLVI, 151.Google Scholar

53 Ibid. XLI, 109–10 (Huntingdon to Chaderton, 7 Dec. 1581).

54 Chetham Miscellany (1875), v, 1–13.Google Scholar

55 Ibid.. pt. III, 1 ff.

56 Raine, Correspondence of Dr Mathew Hutton, 63 (Hutton to Huntingdon, 8 May 1582). In this case Dr Gibson, a member both of the Council of the North and the High Commission had already gained a dispensation from the Queen for non-residence upon his living in the Church at York. In his absence he had attempted to enjoy ‘all the commodities due to a residentarie’.

57 Huntingdon Library, Hastings MS. (microfilm) (Francis Kaye to Huntingdon, 7 Feb. 1594/5).

58 P., Collinson, ‘Puritan Classical Movement’, 31.Google Scholar

59 B.M. Add. MSS. 33207, fos. 5–7.

60 B.M. Lansdowne, 27. 6 (Huntingdon to Burghley, 3 Nov. 1578). Particular exception was taken to Whittingham's orders because he had deliberately gone to Geneva to receive ordination in Elizabeth's reign when he could have been ordained in the Church of England.

61 B.M. Add. MSS. 33207, fo. 9. The other Commissioners were Mr Ramsden, Mr Wains-worth, Dr Gibson, Sir Robert Stapleton and Sir William Malory—the latter four all certainly members of the Council in the North.

62 Whittingham in his will dated 18 April 1579 left books, with covers gilt, to the Countesses of Huntingdon and Warwick (M.A.E., Green (ed.), The Life and Death of Mr William Whittingham (Camden Society, 1871), 37).Google Scholar

63 B.M. Lansdowne, 24. 80 (Sandys to Burghley, 28 Dec. 1579).

64 P.R.O., S.P. 12/27/32.

65 College of Arms. Talbot MS. vol. G, p. 252. I am most grateful to the College of Arms for being allowed to go through these papers.

66 S.T.C. 17122. John, Lyster, A rule how to bring up children. (1587).Google Scholar The dedication.

67 S.T.C. 24492. John, Udall, The Combate betwixt Christ and the Devill [1588?].Google Scholar And see D.N.B. xx, 4.

68 S.T.C. 4398. Christopher, Fetherstone, translation of Calvin, , The Commentaries upon the actes of the Apostles (1585).Google Scholar

69 S.T.C.. 22891. N[athaniel] G[ilby], translation of G., Sohn, A Briefe and learned treatise.of the Antichrist (1592).Google Scholar

70 The Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College paid particular respect to Huntingdon's requests since in 1586 he had granted four of his livings to the College.

71 A., Hildersham, CVIII Lectures upon the Fourth of John (1656).Google Scholar

72 S.T.C. 3885. Hugh, Broughton, A seder olam...(1594).Google Scholar

73 See Cross, M.C.,Google ScholarThe Free Grammar School of Leicester (Leicester University Occasional Papers, no. 4, 1953). The statutes of the school, strongly Protestant, which Huntingdon had drawn up, are here printed in full.

74 In 1586–7 the Churchwardens of St Martin's ‘payd for too planke and toothels in the liberary, ijs, viijd’ (T., North (ed.), Accounts of the Churchwardens of St Martin's Leicester (Leicester, 1884), 132). The legend round the portrait of Huntingdon, commissioned by the town in 1623 and now in the Guildhall, Leicester, records how he gave ‘many books for a Librari’.Google Scholar

75 I am greatly indebted to Professor F. B. Williams, junior, of Georgetown University who generously gave me the S.T.C. numbers of all books dedicated to Huntingdon. Professor Williams is compiling a catalogue of the dedications of all early English printed books.

76 S.T.C. 3548. Thomas, Brasbridge, Abdias the prophet (1574).Google Scholar

77 S.T.C. 4654. Christopher, Carlisle, A Discourse concerning two divine positions. (1582).Google Scholar

78 S.T.C. 585. Bartimaeus, Andrewes, Certaine verie worthie sermons upon the fifth Chapiter of the songs of Solomon (1583).Google Scholar

79 S.T.C. 4090. Edmund, Bunny, The Coronation of David (1588).Google Scholar

80 S.T.C. 4101. Francis, Bunny, A survey of the Popes Supremacie. (1595).Google Scholar

81 S.T.C. 4398. Christopher, Fetherstone, translation of Calvin, , The Commentaries upon the actes of the Apostles (1585).Google Scholar

82 S.T.C. 2007. Robert, Fyll, translation of Beza, , A briefe and piththie [sic] sumnte of the Christian faith (Bodleian edn. 1563).Google Scholar This tract was burnt at the Stationers’ Hall in 1574 (P. Collinson, ‘The Puritan Classical Movement’, 91 n. 5).

83 S.T.C. 4055. John, Stockwood, translation of Bullinger, , Commonplaces of the Christian religion (1572).Google Scholar

84 S.T.C. 23285. John, Stockwood, A very fruiteful sermon preached at Paules Crosse the tenth of May last (1579).Google Scholar Stockwood must have received positive encouragement from Huntingdon, for in 1592 he dedicated yet another translation to him: S.T.C. 6227. Daneau, A fruitfull Commentarie upon the Twelve Small Prophets.

85 E., Rosenberg, Leicester, Patron of Letters (New York, 1955), 119, 244;Google ScholarSt Clare Byrne, M. and Scott Thomson, G., ‘My Lord's Books’, Review of English Studies, VII (1931), 385–405.Google Scholar

86 S.T.C. 4439. John, Fielde, translation of Calvin, , Foure sermons.with a briefe exposition of the LXXXVI psalme (1579).Google Scholar

87 S.T.C. 2802. P., Loselerius Villerius, translation into Latin of Beza, T. interprete, Jesu Christi d.n. Novum Testamentum (1574).Google Scholar

88 S.T.C. 2032. T., Beza, Psalmorum Davidis et aliorum prophetarum libri quinque Latine expressi (1580).Google Scholar The nephew was Francis Hastings, the heir of Huntingdon's eldest brother, George, subsequently fourth Earl of Huntingdon.

89 S.T.C. 18778. Christopher, Ockland, The Fountaine and Welspring of all Variance, Sedition and deadlie Hate (1589).Google Scholar

90 E., Rosenberg, op. cit., Appendix, 355–62.Google Scholar

91 St Clare Byrne and Scott Thomson, art. cit., 385–405. When the catalogue of the dedications of early English printed books comes to be published it is likely to disclose many more such connexions among the Protestant nsobility.