Fabyans cronycle newly prynted, wyth the cronycle, actes, and dedes done in the tyme of the reygne of the moste excellent prynce kynge Henry the vii. father vnto our most drad souerayne lord kynge Henry the .viii. To whom be all honour, reuere[n]ce, and ioyfull contynaunce of his prosperous reygne, to the pleasure of god and weale of this his realme amen

THE .CCXXII. CHAPITER.

ABoute the .x. yere of kynge wyllyams reygne / Roger erle of Hereforde, by whose counsayl the kynge as before ys sayde hadde serched all the abbayes of England, whyche erle hadde wedded hys sys∣ter vnto Rauf erle of eest Angles / that is to saye, of Norf. and Suff, agayne the kynges mynde / he wyth the sayde Raufe made conspyracy a∣gayne the kynge / & caused an other erle by theyr subtyle meanes to be agreable vnto theyr vntrouth, why∣che erle had to name walref. But at length when thys erle walref hadde knowen the fyne of theyr entent / he

went vnto Lamfranke, and shewed to hym the hole mater. By whose counsayll he shortely after sayled vn∣to the kyng then beynge in Norman¦dye / and dysclosed the mater to hym, and putte hym holy in hys grace and mercye.

when the kynge had harde of these tydynges / he made good semblaunt vnto this erle walref, and sped hym the faster into Englande. But howe so yt was, the forenamed two erles were warned of dysclosynge of this mater / in such wyse y^t they gaderyd to theym suche strength, that y^e kyng coude not haue them at his pleasure, but as he was fayne by stronge hāde to chase and outlawe theym. And for he fayled of his purpose of them, he emprysoned erle walref at wyn∣chester / and lastely caused hym to be hedded, more of tyranny, then of iu∣styce, as affermeth myne authoure / whose corps was buryed at the ab∣bay of Crowlande.

In the .xi. yere was holden a great counsayll or synode of the clergye of the lande in saynt Paules chyrche of London / where amōges many thyn¦ges ordeyned for the rule of y^e chyrch of England, dyuers byshoppes sees were transported from one place to another / as Selwey to Chychester, Kyrton̄ to Exeter, welles to Bathe, Shyrbourne to Salysbury, Dor∣chester to Lyncolne, and the see of Lychefelde to Chester. whyche thyn¦ges thus ordered, wyth many other for the chyrche / the sayde counsayll was dyssolued.

In the .xiii. yere of hys reygne / af∣ter the deth of Herman byshoppe of Salysbury, succeded Osmūde y^e kyn¦ges chaunceller. The whyche buyl∣ded there a new chyrch / and brought thyther clerkes that were garnyshed wyth vertue and connynge. And he hym self wrote & bounde bokes that were occupyed in the dyuyne seruyce of the chyrche, as the ordynall or consuetudynary, the whyche at this daye is occupyed in the more partye of Englande, wyth walys, and Ir∣lande, and is nowe named Salysbu¦ry vse, or the ordynary after Salys¦bury vse.

In the .xv. yere of his reygne Ro¦bert the eldest sonne of kynge wylly∣am, the whyche was surnamed Cur¦those or Shorthose and shorte bote also / for he myght not haue the du∣chy of Normandy, whych his father hadde somtyme assygned and gyuen vnto hym, and after for hys wylde∣nesse hadde agayne resumed yt / he wyth fauoure and ayde of y^e French kynge Phylyppe and of Lewys hys sonne, toke prays in that duchy, and put hys father to myche trouble / in so myche that at length the father & the sonne met in playne felde with .ii. great hostes / and eyther wyth other faught a cruell batayll.

It is radde that durynge thys ba∣tayll wyllyam was throwē from his horse, and in great ieopardy of hys lyfe. wherof hys sonne Robert beyng ware / was so moued wyth pytye, y^t he rescowed his father, and delyue∣red hym free from all daunger of his enymyes. But howe so yt betyde of the kynge / trouth yt is that many of his men were slayn, & his second son wyllyam the rede sore hurte, so that in the ende kynge wylliam was fayn to refuse the felde, and gatte at that tyme none aduauntage of his sayde sonne. For the whiche dede and rebel¦lyon thus made by the sonne / y^e fader accursed hym after the opynyon of some wryters.

whyle kyng wyllyam was thus oc¦cupyed in Normandy / the Northum¦bers waxte sterne & rebell, and slewe in theyr rage walkerus the bishop of Durham / but for what cause myne

authour expressyth not.

Aboute thys tyme, warynge erle of Shrewesbury made two abbayes in the worshyp of god and saynte Myl¦borgh / wherof one was set in the sub¦urbes of Shrewesbury, and y^e other at wenioke.

In the .xvii. yere of kyng wyllyam / a cursed stryfe was arered betwene Thurstone abbot of Glastenbury a Norman, and his munkes. wherof a part of the cause was, that the abbot despysed, & wold haue set a part such songe and offices, as by pope Grego¦ry and Augustyn his dyscyple, of old tyme to them was assygned / & wolde haue compelled them to haue folow∣ed the vse of one wyllyā of Fescamp̄. And ouer that this Thurstone was∣ted and spēded the goodes of y^e place inordynatly, in lechery and by other insolent meanes / and wythdrew frō the munkes theyr olde accustomed dyet. For the whyche causes fyrst be¦ganne great wordes wyth chydyng, and after strokes and fyghtes / so y^t the abbot gat vnto hym armed men, and fyll vppon hys munkes, & slewe two of them at y^e hygh alter, and woū¦ded of theym .xviii. And the munkes wyth fourmes and candelstyckes defended theym, in suche wyse that they hurte many of the armed men. Then the complaynte was brought before the kyng / by whose iudgemēt Thurstone was agayne returned vn¦to Cadony frō whēs he was brought and the mūkes were spredde abrode into dyuers houses thorough En∣glande. But yt is sayde that in the tyme of wyllyā the Rede / this Thur¦ston̄ obteyned the rule of that abbay agayne for the pryce of .v. hundred pounde.

In the .xix. yere of his reygne, kyng willyam then raysed a new maner of trybute. For he caused to be gadered thorough England of euery hyde of lande .vi. s̄. An hyde of lande contey¦neth .v. yerdes / and euery yerde con¦teyneth foure acres. And so an hyde of lande conteyneth .xx. acres, an a∣cre conteyneth .xl. perches in length and .iiii. in brede / & .iiii. acres make a yerde / and .v. yerdes make an hyde / and .viii. hydes make a knightes fee. By the whyche reason a knyghtes fee shuld welde a hundred & .lx. acres / and that is demed for a plough tyll a yere.

And not longe after he caused to be serchyd howe myche lande eche of hys barons helde / how many knygh¦tes fees / how many townes / & what nombre of men and of bestes were wyth in this lande / wherof he com∣maunded a boke to be made, whyche all was done. For the whyche dede, this lande was after greued wyth many sondry plages as after shall appere. In the .xx. yere of the rey∣gne of kynge wyllyam / Canutus kynge of Denmarke wyth helpe of the Flemmynges, to whome he was called wyth a great armye came to∣warde Englande. But by the prouy¦syon of the kynge they were so fered, that they were let of theyr iourney. Then kyng wyllyam gaue vnto .iii. of his champyons .iii. byshopryches. To Moryce he gaue London, to wil¦lyam he gaue Thetforde, and to Ro∣bert he gaue Chester / whych Robert was after remoued to Couentre. Of this Robert reporteth Ranulfe, that he scraped frō one beme of his chirch in Couentre .v. hūdred marke, to fyll wyth y^e hande of kyng wyllyam. For erle Leofricus y^t was duke of Mer∣cia in the tyme of Edwarde the cōf••s∣sour / had adourned that chyrch with great ryches of golde, syluer, & other precyous iewelles.

In thys yere Edgare Ethelynge, whych was reconcyled vnto the kyn¦ges fauoure / by lycence of the kynge

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sayled into Apulia.

Then beganne the forsayde pla∣ges to sprynge. For greate morayne fell vppon the brute bestes, and bren¦nyng feuours amonges the people, and also great hūger and barreynes of y^e erth. Also in this yere great hurt was done in many places of y^e lande by fyre, and specyally in the cytye of London / where vpon the .vii. day of the moneth of Iulii sodayne fyre be∣gan, the whyche brent a great parte of the chyrche of saynte Paule, wyth also a great parte of the cytye.

Then kynge wyllyam beynge in Normandye was syke, and kept his ••hamber at Roan̄ a longe time. wher¦fore Phylyppe the Frenche kynge in hys game sayde that wyllyam lay in chyldbedde••, and noryshed hys fatte wombe. The whyche wordes when they were blowen to kynge wyllyās crys, he was greuously dyscontent and sayde, when I am chyrched I shall offer to hym a thousande can∣dellys lyghte, wyth the whyche he shall holde hym smally contented. The whyche promyse he after perfor¦med. For in the moneth of Iuly whē Corne, fruyt, and grapes were moste florishynge / he entred Fraunce with a great army / and sette on fyre many cytyes and townes in the west syde of Fraunce / and lastely came to the cytye of Meaus, and fyred yt & brent a parte therof wyth the chyrch of our lady / wherin he brent a womā beyng closed in the walle of the sayd chyrch as a recluse.

But of this thynge speketh not the cronycle of Fraunce / Nor yet for the more parte of any thynge that soun∣deth to theyr dyshonour done vnto theym by Englyshemen.

In this hete, or as some wryters ha∣ue by y^e lepyng of an horse / kyng wyl¦lyam toke such a dysease or sykenes, that yt was the cause of hys deth. And when he felt hym thus greued / he called his sonnes before hym, and exhorted theym in his beste maner, that they shulde charytably loue and fauoure euery of them the other, and holde to gyder as louyng bretherne / & after made his testamēt, and therin ordeyned wyllyam Ruffus or wylly∣am the rede to be kynge of England. And Normandye he beset vnto Ro∣ber Curthose. And to Henry his yon¦gest sonne he bequethed his treasour and mouable goodes. And that done he enfourmed hys two eldest sonnes of the dysposycyon of both peoples / and warned wyllyam to be louynge and lyberall to his subiectes, and Ro¦bert to be sterne and sturdy vnto his. Then he was moued with myldenes and delyueryd from prison hys own brother the byshop of Bayon, Mar∣charus erle of Northūberlande. wyl∣notus the sonne of Harolde, or after some the sonne of Goodwyne, that was sent to wyllyā by Edwarde the confessour to remayne for a pledge for his sayde fader Goodwyn. And shortely after these thynges wyth other done / he dyed in Normandye, and was buryed in y^e cytye of Caan̄ / when he had reygned as kyng of En¦glande .xxi. yeres and vppon .x. mo∣nethes, in the moneth of Iuly, and the yere of hys duchery the .lii.

when wyllyam was dede / men spake of hym as they do of other prynces / and sayd that he was wyse and gylefull, ryche and couetous, & loued well to be magnifyed and pray¦sed / a fayre speker & a greatr dyssy∣muler, a man of skylfull stature but somdeale fatte in the bely, sterne of face and stronge in armys, and ther∣wyth bolde / and had therwyth great pleasure in huntyng and in makyng of great festes. But he passed al other in leuyenge of taskes. whyche con∣dycyon hys subiectes construed .iii.

maner of wayes / and saydeyt was to the entente that he wolde excell all other in rychesse, or ellys for to withstāde and defende his enymyes, or ellys to staunche the appetyte of his couetyse mynde. He buylded .ii. abbayes in Englande / one at batayl in Sussex where he wanne the felde agayne Harolde, and is at thys daye called the abbay of Batail / & y^e other he sette besyde London vppon the south syde of Thamys, and named yt Barmoundesay. And in Norman¦dye he buylded two also.

Thys man made the newe forest in the countrey of Southampton / the whyche to brynge aboute he caste downe dyuers chyrches by the space of .xxx. myles, and replenyshed yt wyth wylde bestes / and made harde and sharpe lawes for the encreasyng of them, as losyng of eyen and other. And he helde Englyshemen so lowe, that in hys dayes was almoste no Englyshe man that bare any offyce of honoure or rule. But yet some∣deale he fauoured the cytye of Lon∣don, and graunted to the cytezens the fyrste charter that euer they had / the whych is wryten in Saxon tun∣ge, and sealed wyth grene waxe, and expressed in .viii. or .ix. lynes.