Friar Brackley to John Paston

338

FRIAR BRACKLEY TO JOHN PASTON¹

Honorabili viro Johanni Paston armigero ac confratri
suo Willelmo germano uterino.²

   RYTE reverent Syre, &c. I am informyd credybily of a
     secrete frend that S. T. T. [Sir Thomas Tuddenham]
     and J. H. [John Heydon], with J. A. [John Andrews?]
and other of cursyd covy, wyl bryng with hem many gentylmen
of here bende to compleyn upon me at the next chapitle, &c.
And there fore, by the grace of God, I dispose me, with help
of zour good maysterschip and my Mayster Willyam, zour
brother. Where fore, at the reverens of God, that ze do
speke with the clerk men clepyn Brayn, that kepyth the bokys
of here inditementes at the oyer determyner, anno xxix^o regni
Regis; and that an extret or a copy myte schortly be wrytyn
owt of as many namys as dedyn indyte T. T. and J. H. for
trespas, extorsyones, and oppressyonys done to other men, as
wele as to my Mayster Fastolff, etc., that I may be redy to
schew to my ordre, lyk a kalender, a legende of here lyvys
and here rewlyng of the cuntre, in destruccyon and gret
myschef of the cuntre in here dayes. At the reverens of
Jesu, forzet not this mater, ne the mater of Dedham, etc. I
wolde ze askyd my good lord and mayster, Yelverton, yf I
sent hym ony letter in the same mater, &c. Dicente Davitico
Psalmo:¹ Ne obliviscaris voces inimicorum tuorum, nam superbia
eorum ascendit semper in psalmo; qui et si nunquam ascendant
in cœlos, utinam nunquam desendant ab [ad] abissos, &c.,
etsi anima eorum in malis tabescebat, &c. Scriptum festi-
nacione (?) feria 3^a post festum Natalis Sancti Johannis
Baptistæ.² Recommendetis me magistro meo W. Paston,
confratri vestro, et Thomæ Playter cognato meo, cui dicite
quod faciat Willelmum Geneye sibi benivolum quia Sampson
filius et heres J. Sampson olim mariti Katerinæ Fastolff apud
Owlton mortuus, et ibi sunt duæ viduæ, major et minor,
senior et junior. Eligatur quæ sibi melius placet.

     Magister Thomas Howys vobis amantissimus se cordialis-
sime recommendat vobis, etc. Item, Willelmus Wigorniensis
recommendat se vobis ex toto corde. Scribo vobis, utinam ad
placitum.

                                     Vester ad vota,

                                                           F. J. B., Minorum minimus.

     I hafe a rolle redy of the inditements, that they were
indityd for trespase and extorsyon and oppressyon done to my
Mayster Fastolff, in the keping of W. Worceter, &c.

     Visa frangatur et in ignem post jaciatur. Si dignemini loqui
cum effectu magistro Ricardo Fysscher, secretario domini mei
comitis Warwicensis, pro cujus nomine et amore promptissi-
mus sum adhuc plura pati, ut mittatur pro me litera magistro
provinciali et diffinitoribus.

     ¹ [From Paston MSS., B.M.] Dr. John Brackley, the writer of this letter, was a
Grey Friar of Norwich, of considerable celebrity as a preacher. Several letters of his
are found in this collection, written in the years 1459 and 1460. This, however,
must be a few years earlier, as in 1459 Brackley writes of William Worcester in very
different terms. The handwriting also is not so close as that of his later letters. We
cannot, however, carry the date further back than 1455, as it seems that Worcester
and Howes were at this time together, which must have been at Caister. Nor will
the year 1455 itself suit all the circumstances of the letter, for it is evident that John
and William Paston were also together, and as the writer asks John Paston to speak
to Yelverton, it may be presumed they were in London. Now, John Paston was
certainly not in London within a week after St. John the Baptist’s Day in 1455.
We have therefore placed the letter in 1456. It will be observed that, on the 1st of
June in that year, John Russe advised Paston to go up to London.

     ² This address is in William Worcester’s hand. The letter itself is in Brackley’s
own.

¹ See Psalm lxxiii. (or lxxiv.) 23.

     ² St. John the Baptist’s Day is the 24th June. Feria tertia means Tuesday.

1456(?)
[JUNE 29]

1456(?)
[JUNE 29]