[Page] ¶ A compendious Register in Metre, conteining the names, and pacient suffryngs of the membres of Iesus Christ. and the tormented; and cruelly burned within Englande, since the death, of our famous kyng, of immortall memory EDVVARDE the sixte: to the entrance and beginnyng of the raign, of our soueraigne & derest Lady ELIZABETH of Englande, Fraunce, and Ir [...] quene, defender of the faithe, to [...] highnes truly and properly, apperteineth next and immediatly vnder God, the supreme power, and authoritie of the Churches of Englande and Irelande. Sobeit.
Anno. 1559.
Apoca. 7.
ANd one of the angels (sayeth S. Ihō) spa [...], sayinge [...]: what are theie whiche are ar [...] in longe whyte Ga [...]entes, and when [...] came they (before the people before sealed by the angel) And I sai [...]d [...]o him: Lorde thou [...]otest, and he saied vnto me, these are thei which [...] great tribulatiō, and washed their garmentes, and made theym whyte by th [...] blo [...] the lambe, therefore are thei in the [...]esence of the Throne of GOD, and serue him day [...]nd [...] in his Temple, a [...] [...]at sytteth in [...] Throne wyll [...] amonge them. [...]
To the righte honourable Lorde Par, Marques of Northampion: Thmas Brice, your lordshippes dayly Oratour, wisiheth cōtinuall encrease of grace, concorde, & consolation in hym that is, was, and is to come, euen the first and the laste. AMEN.
IT maie please your goodnesse (honorable Lorde) to receiue in good parte, the [...]ttie labour of my pen, whiche, albe it the rudenes & quantite therof, procureth not to be dedicate to so honourable a personage, yet the matter it self is of soche worthines, as duely deserueth to be graeuen in golde, but who goeth about so finely to depict with Appelles instrumēte this [Page] saied Regester, thinkyng to excede the rest, not I poor wretch bicause I am assured, that soch a worthie woorke, as thereof maie bee written, can not, neither shall passe vntouched, emong so many godlie learned, but were it, that no man hereafter shuld in more ample and learned maner set foorthe the same, yet should my presumption (if I so mente) bee tourned to reproche, for this I beleue, that thei be in soche sorte regestred in the booke of the liuing, as passeth either pen, ynke, or memorie to declare. This my simplicitie, and to bolde attēpt might moue your honor to cō iecture in me moche rudenesse, or at the least might perswade me so to thinke, but that experience [Page] hath shewed me, the humilitie, and gentlenes, of your long tried pacience, the certain knowledge whereof, hath pricked me forwarde, in this my pretence: and beyng thereto requested of a faithfull brother & frend, I haue with more industrie then learnyng (God knoweth) finished thesame, which beyng (as I thought) brought to good ende, I desired according to the accustomed maner, to dedicate thesame, vnto soche one, as would not contēpne, so simple a gift. And callyng you to mind (right honorable lord) I knewe none more mete, first bicause youre knowledge in Christe, teacheth you thesame godlie, & vertuous life, whiche not onely your lordship, but al [Page] other honorable. &c. oughte to ensue. Secondly, bicause these late yeres you haue had good experiēce, of the troubles, and miseries of the faithful, which haue pacientlye embrased in their armes, the comfortable (although painefull) crosse of Christ, which in so great a nū bre is commonlye not so plenteous, as commendable, but what stand I praisyng this pa cience in them (whiche yet deserueth the same) seing y• migh tie god & his christ, hath prepared frō euerlastyng, for soche a glorious, rich, & incomprehensible croune of felicitie, & continual cōfortes. This my short & simple worke, I commēde and dedicate, vnto youre Lordeship, crauynge pardon at your [Page] handes, for this my to homely and rude enterprise, cōsidering that albeit golden frute ware offered in Peuter, and by the handes of a simple man, yet is the frute notwithstandyng stil precious, and neither abased by the Peuter or giuer, euen so (honorable Lorde) though the verses be simple, and the giuer vnworthy, yet the frute or mat ter, is precious, comfortable, and good: The order to attaine to the perfecte vnderstandyng of my mynde, in settyng forthe thesame, with figures and letters, shal largely appere in this booke, whiche I haue not onely dooen, to make plaine vnto your honour, the yere, moneth and daie, but also to all other, that hereafter shall read it, for [Page] that I doe pretend (if God and fauour will permit it) to vse the same as comō to the profit of al for which cause I haue al so, placed a preface to ye reader: But that it maye please youre honor (in respecte of the premises) to extende youre fauourable assistaunce, to the manifest setting forth of thys short and simple woorke, to the glorye of the great and myghtie God, to the comfort of christians, I as vnworthye and to bolde a suter most humbly craueth your Lordshyps ayde and supportation in the same, especiallye to beare the rudenesse of my vnlearned style (which alas I lament). But nowe ceassyng to trouble your Lordshyppe anye longer, this shall bee my continuall [Page] praier for you. The wisedome of GOD, direct your honour, the mercie of God, giue you spirituall power, the holie ghost guide and comforte you with all fulnes of consolation in Christe Iesus.
Amē.
To the gentle Reader mercye and peace.
MAy it please the (gentle reader) to take in good woorth, thys shorte and simple regester, conteyning the names of diuers (althoughe not all) bothe men, women, and virgins. &c. Which for the profession of Christ their Capitaine, haue been moste miserablie afflicted, tormented, and prisoned, and in fine either died (by some occasion) in prison, or els erected in the charret of Elias since the. iiii. day of February M. D. L. v. to the. xvii. daye of Nouember. M. D. L. viii. wherein accordynge to the determinacion of our louynge & [Page] most merciful father our long wisshed for, and moste noble Queene Elizabeth, was placed Gouernesse and Queene by generall Proclamacion, to the greate comfort of all trew Englishe heartes.
This I commit to thy frendlye acceptatiō and fauourable scannynge (gentle reader) and all be it, I doubt not, but some of godly zeale both wise & lear ned, wil not neglect hereafter, to set forth so worthy a worke, namelye of the martyrdome, and paciente sufferynges of Christes electe membres, and also of the tyrannicall Tragedies, of the vnmercifull ministers of Sathan, yet at the request of a dere frend, to whom loue and nature hathe linked [Page] me, I coulde not (withoute ingratitude) denie his lawful desier, attempting the same also the rather, because it might be manifest to the eyes of the worlde, and also put the learned (of godly zeale) in memory moore amplie to enlarge, and at theyr good discretion to set forth the same, pardon my rudenes: therfore I beseche thee, considerynge that wyll in the vnable is to bee estemed, looke not vpō the basenes of the metre (the trew nombre whereof can not easely be obserued in soche a gatherynge of names) but wyth lyfted eyes of the minde, meditate vpō the omni potent power of God, whiche hath geuen and wrought such constancie in his children, in [Page] these oure dayes, that euen in firie flambes, and terrible tormentes they haue not ceased to inuocate and to extoll the name of their creator, redemer and comforter, accordynge to the sayinge of the. C. xlviii. Psalme, yonge men and maidens, olde men, and children, haue set forth his worthy and excellent prayse, to that the same iust and righteous God, whiche (for our sinnes) corrected vs and gaue vs ouer into the handes of the most bloudy and viperous generatiō, to be eaten like bread, hath now (of his mercie alone) exalted the horne of his people. Therefore al his sainctes shall praise him.
The maner how to vnderstande the letters and fygures.
INprimus, the fygures, whiche are alwayes foure in nū bre, and ax placed in the myddle of the twoo strykes, whiche goe betwene the verses, within two short strikes, signifie the yere, wherein those persones were slayne vnder them conteyned. And wher you see a lytle crosse on the out syde of the outmost lyne, on the syde of the booke, it signifieth the chaungyng of the yere, as from. M. D. L. iiii. to M. D. L. v. and in such maner, the letters which stand iii the lytle square place, on the rightside of the booke, signifieth [Page] the moneth wherein they died, and for the playner vnderstandynge thereof, I haue vsed twelue Letters, for the twelue Monethes, that is A. for Ianuary, B. for February, C. for March, D. for April, E. for May, F. for Iune, G. for Iuly, H for August, I. for Septēber. K. for October, L. for Nouēber, M for December. But where one letter standeth in ye litle square place, & an other is placed vnder it, betwene the twoo lynes before ye verse be ended, it signifieth the chaūgyng of the moneth, so that the person or perfones, where againste the letter so chaunged doeth stande, was put to death in that moneth which that letter doth signifie. And where as in the [Page] thirde verse (and no where els) there standeth fygures on the righte side betwene the twoo lynes, that giueth to vnderstande, that Hunter, Higbye, Picket, and Knight, which are placed in one lyne, were brent in three sundrye dayes. The fygures, whiche standeth in the litle square place, on the lefte side of the boke, is but the sum of the verses. But those which stande betwene the two lines, on the left side of the booke, signifieth the daye of the moneth, wherein that person or persones died, where agaynste those fygures stande, the fygures, whyche stande withoute both the lynes on the toppe of the righte syde, signifieth the Folio, or numbre of the sydes, [Page] but the figures whiche stande vnderneath the neither strike, betwene the twoo lynes is the numbre of the persones murthered on that syde, thys is doen (gentle Reader) that thou shouldest vnderstande, the yere moneth, and day, wherin euerye person dyed (accordynge to the knowledge that I haue learned.) Also in some places, where you shall see, a name or names stande withoute fygures, that signifieth the certayne daye to bee vnknowen. Some therefore, perchaunce wyll iudge muche rasshnes in me to write with ignoraunce: to whome with reuerence I answere, that as I receyued the names regestred, and gathered, by a good gentleman, [Page] euen so (at a frendes desier) I haue putte theym in metre in this litle booke, thinking that by pleasauntnes of reading, & easines of prices they myghte be the moore largely blowen & knowen, for my desier is that all menne shoulde participate thys my trauayle. And were the Authour and endightynge halfe so worthye as the matter, then woulde I moste earnestly wyshe and desyre that it myght bee conueyed and delyuered to the Quenes maiesties owne handes, wherein her grace mighte see what vnmercifull ministers had charge ouer the poore shepe, who woluishely at theyr wylles deuoured the same. And also what ruyne and decay of her graces [Page] subiectes (that myghte haue been) they haue broughte to passe, therein might her grace see as in a glasse, howe that blood thyrstie generation, neither spared hore headed & auncient age, which al men ought to honour, neyther youth, nor middle age, neither wyfe, nor widow, yongeman, nor tender virgins: but lyke the vnnaturall egges of Astiages that tyraunte, destroye and spyll the blood of all, besydes stockynge rackyng, and whippyng of the yonger sorte, whome shame woulde not suffer to kyll (as some are well ynoughe knowen) and I am not all together ignoraunt. Should such tyrannycall tragidies bee kept one houre from the handes of [Page] so noble and vertuous a gouer nesse, whose princelye and natural hart (I doubt not) shulde haue occasion thereby to be in both hindes bothe heauie and ioyfull, heauy for the innocent bloud spilt, but ioiful for yt the prayses of her God, & our God shalbe honoured therby, while the world doth endure, I dout whether her grace (inwardlye rapte vp wyth Paule & Ihon) in diuine science wyl brast out and say: Oh happy Latymer, Cranmer, Hoper, Rogers, Far rer, Tailer, Sanders, Philpot, Cardmaker, Bradford. &c. you membres of Christ, you faithful fathers and preachyng pastours, you that haue not defiled your selues (with abhominacion) but haue washed your [Page] garmentes white in the bloud of the lambe, you that in fyrye tormentes with Steuen haue called vpon the name of youre redemer, and so finished youre lyues, you that now are clothed in white garmēts of inno cency, with crownes of consolation, and palmes of victory, in your handes, folowyng the Lambe whether so euer he goeth. Or elles in anguishe of soule syghyngly say, oh thou tyrannous and vnmercyfull world, thou monstrous & vnnaturall generation, what deuyl inflamed thy mynde wyth such malicious mischief to tor ment and shedde the bloude, of suche innocent lyuers, perfect preachers, and worthye councelours, learned ministers, diligent [Page] diuines, perfecte personages, and faythfull shepherdes, they were constant confessours before, but thou (with the Romain Emperour) thoughtest to preuent the determinacion of god, in making them martyrs, to be the sooner with their Christe, whome they so muche talked of, oh cruell Neroes that coulde kyll (through malice) suche worthye men, as haue often preached to oure dere father, and brother, the euerlasting ghospell of GOD. Coulde neyther honourable age, innocent syngle lyfe, chast matrimonye, inuiolate virginitie, nor yet pitie morte you to cease sheadyng of bloude (alas to muche vnnaturalnes) whether the sighte of thys symple [Page] booke, I saye, shoulde bryng to her graces naturall heart the passions of heauines or ioye (I doubte) but I thynke rather both. Therfore would to God it weare worthy to enter into the hands of so noble and naturall a Princes and Queene, whom the Lord of his eternal and foreseyng determination, hath now placed in this royal dignitie, to the redresse of such vnnatural and bloudy factes, as in thys booke are contayned. But for asmuch as some imperfection is (and may easly be) in this gathering, I commende it to thy goodnes (gentle reader) besechyng thee not to bee to precise in perusynge the daye, for it maye bee that eyther through my negligence [Page] or some other wrytyng before me, we may misse so narrow a ma [...]e, suche as it is, I commende vnto thee, onely Iudge well. [...]
The ooke to the Reader.
The Regester.
The wishes, of the wise, whiche long, to be at reste: To GOD, with lifted iyes, Thei call, to be redreste.
¶ Imprynted at London by Ihon Kyngston, for Richard Adams.