John Blakman

“ But most strongly was the said king Henry moved by the passion of enkindled affection when he said to Master William Waynflete, the successor of the most renowned cardinal of Winchester: 'Receive the enthronement of Winchester, so to be there as was the custom of the bishops before you. Be your days long in the land, and grow and go forward in the path of virtue.'
[Pg 34] With like bounty did he prefer the bishops of Worcester and of Chichester together, and many others also, as is sufficiently known. ”

“ The actual words of the text represent Blacman as faithfully as possible; and that is the chief matter.
I need not, I think, say much by way of commending this little memorial of our Founder to the pietas of the many who have owed and still owe to his bounty such pleasant and peaceful years, and such opportunities for the gaining of knowledge and the forming of friendships, as he himself never enjoyed. The evils which his weak rule brought upon England have faded out of being: the good which in his boyhood he devised for coming generations lives after him. ”

“ It is written that we are to praise no man before his death, but that in the end shall be the exposing of his works: hence, now that every obstacle to sincere praise is out of the way, and inasmuch as the heavens declare the glory of Almighty God, and all things that the Lord hath made praise Him by the fashion of them, I have therefore thought fit to treat of some matters to the praise of God and of the serene prince King Henry VI now deceased ”

“ Again, once when riding in a street which lay outside the graveyard to the east of a certain church, wherein the pyx that hung over the altar did not contain the sacrament of the Eucharist, he on that account did [Pg 36] not bare his head, as he was wont always at other times to do most reverently in honour of the sacrament; and when many of his lords and nobles wondered thereat, he gave them his reason, saying: 'I know that my Lord Jesus Christ is not there for me to do so in His honour.' And it was found to be so as he had said. ”

“ Also, when this king Henry was asked during his imprisonment in the Tower why he had unjustly claimed and possessed the crown of England for so many years, he would answer thus: 'My father was king of England, and peaceably possessed the crown of England for the whole time of his reign. And his father and my grandfather was king of the same realm. ”

“ But his soul, as we piously believe upon the evidence of the long series of miracles done in the place where his body is buried, liveth with God in the heavenly places, where after the troubles of this world he rejoiceth with the just in the eternal contemplation of God and in the stead of this earthly and transitory kingdom whereof he patiently bore the loss, he now possesseth one that endureth for ever. ”

“ Also to enlarge the house of God and His worship, in the time when he bore rule he founded the two noble colleges before mentioned, which he endowed with large lands and revenues, for the maintenance of poor scholars not a few; wherein not only are the divine offices celebrated daily in the most devout manner, to the praise of Almighty God, but also scholastic teaching and the other arts pertaining thereto are constantly carried on, to the increase of knowledge. ”

“ At another time when the executors of his uncle, the most reverend lord cardinal the bishop of Winchester came to the king with a very great sum, namely £2000 of gold to pay him, for his own uses, and to relieve the burdens and necessities of the realm, he utterly refused the gift, nor would receive it by any manner of means, saying: 'He was a very dear uncle to me and most liberal in his lifetime. The Lord reward him. ”

“ Nam scio et veraciter confiteor, quod in tua manu cuncta sunt posita, et non est qui possit tibi resistere: quia Dominus universorum tu es. Ergo Deus omnipotens, misericors & clemens, in potestate cujus sunt regna omnia atque dominationes, et cui omnes cogitationes, verba et opera nostra præterita, præsentia et futura continue sunt cognita et aperta, qui solus habes scientiam & sapientiam incomprehensibilem. Tu scis, Domine, quæ michi misero peccatori expediunt: prout tibi placet, et in oculis tuæ divinæ majestatis videtur de me fieri, ita de me fiat. ”

“ For before he was married, being as a youth a pupil of chastity, he would keep careful watch through hidden windows of his chamber, lest any foolish impertinence of women coming into the house should grow to a head, and cause the fall of any of his household. ”

“ Below this is a woodcut measuring 99 × 76, and representing a bearded king in hat with crown about it, clad in ermine tippet, and dalmatic over long robe. He holds a closed book in his R. hand, a sceptre in his L.: on the L. wrist is a maniple. His head is turned towards R. On R. a tree, plants across the foreground: a mound on L. with two trees seen over it.
I feel confident that the woodcut is not intended for a portrait of Henry VI, and that it really represents some Old Testament personage: but I have not attempted to trace it in other books. ”

“ Sedulus & verissimus Dei cultor erat rex iste, magis Deo et devotioni orationum deditus, quam mundanis vel temporalibus rebus tractandis, aut vanis ludis vel occupationibus exercendis: qualibus ut frivola ab eo despectis, aut in orationibus, aut in scripturarum vel cronicarum lectionibus assidue erat occupatus, ex quibus non pauca eloquia hauserat, ad ipsius aliorumque consolationem spiritualem. Unde omni statui, omnique conditioni hominum et ætati sedulus hortator & consultor extiterat, juvenibus consulens, ut à vitiis declinarent, et virtutis viam assequerentur. ”

“ Humilitas regis.
De ipsius etiam humilitate in incessu, in vestibus et aliis corporalibus indumentis, in verbis et ceteris corporis gestibus compluribus, constat, quam [23] obtusis sotularibus et ocreis à juventute uti consueverat adinstar coloni. Togam etiam longam cum capucio rotulato ad modum burgensis, et talarem tunicam ultra genua demissam, caligas, ocreas, calceos omnino pulli coloris &c. omnimoda curiositate per eum prohebita [24] in consuetudine habuit. ”

“ Unde semel contigit, quod tempore natalis Domini choreas, vel spectaculum quoddam generosarum juvencularum, resolutis sinibus suis nudatas mamillas proponentium, quidam adduceret magnus dominus coram eo, ut ante regis aspectum juvenes illæ mulierculæ sic denudatæ tripudiarent, ad probandum forsan eum, vel ad alliciendum regis juvenilem animum. Sed rex iste non improvidus, nec diabolicæ fraudis ignarus, his spretis præstigiis, nimium indignatus, oculos avertens, dorsum ejus citius posuit, et ad cameram suam exivit dicens, Fy fy, for shame, forsothe ye be to blame. ”

“ It must be either unfinished by the author or mutilated (as Hearne conjectured) . If mutilated, political considerations may have been responsible, for the subject of the last paragraph is the question of Henry's right to the crown (and not any revelation vouchsafed to him) ; and I see signs that the tract was written before the accession of Henry VII, in the vagueness of such allusions to the reigning sovereign as are to be found in it. The clause 'propter regnum, ut tunc sperabatur, ab aliis pacifice possidendum' is the most overt of these, and no one can say that it is too explicit. ”

“ Loquendo de magna regis istius humilitate, sciendum, quod multum clarus fuerat virtute illa humilitatis. Non enim erubuit rex iste piissimus sacerdoti, celebranti coram eo, diligens minister fieri, respondendo ad missam, Amen. Sed libera nos, et similia. Ita vero fecit etiam michi communiter indigno sacerdoti. In mensa etiam succinctam faciens refectionem, quasi religiosus cum concitata surrectione silentium servans stando Deo gratias totiens quotiens devotissime persolvit. ”

“ Praise be to God.
Footnotes:
[47] Lit. from virtue to virtue.
[Pg 45]
NOTES
The style and literary ability of John Blacman must be rated very low. In translating him one is forced to neglect his use of particles and tenses in order to produce a tolerable sense. He uses the pluperfect apparently as an equivalent of the preterite, and begins sentences with unde where unde has no meaning at all. There is no shape or proportion in the composition of his tract as it stands. ”

“ At another time, riding by Bath, where are warm baths in which they say the men of that country customably refresh and wash themselves, the king, looking into the baths, saw in them men wholly naked with every garment cast off. ”

“ For to one of his chaplains he gave, on hearing that he was busy repairing his priestly vestments, more than ten changes of chasubles of his own silk for the saying of masses in the church which that priest then held.
[Pg 33] At another time, hearing that one of his servants had lost much of his substance by theft, the king sent him in compensation for his loss twenty nobles, advising him at the same time to be henceforth more careful in keeping his stuff, and not to take the law of the thief. ”

“ This may mean that the body is still at Chertsey, though in after years miracles occurred at Windsor. It will be remembered that Richard III transferred it hastily from Chertsey to Windsor because the reports of the miracles were testifying to a growth of interest in the good king which was not healthy for the dynasty of York.
So also in the prologue, Blacman will not dwell upon the descent, the coronation, and so on, of Henry, because these [Pg 46] things are known to everyone and because of his subsequent fall. ”

“ In attestationem etiam suæ eximiæ devotionis ad Deum, dicunt complures adhuc superstites, eidem etiam principi quondam familiares, quod quasi continue oculos suos ad cœlum attollere consueverat, quasi cœlicola quidam aut raptus, nec seipsum pro tempore, nec se circumstantes sentiens, quasi esset homo extaticus, vel subcœlestis, conversationem suam in cœlis habens, juxta illud apostoli, Conversatio nostra in cœlis est. ”

“ Contra pestem avaritiæ, qua quamplurimi inficiuntur et languent, etiam terreni principes, Rex iste H. de quo loquimur, cautissimus, et erectissimus omnino fuerat. Quia nec donariis præfulgidis sibi donatis, nec excellentissimis divitiis, quas ipse possiderat [17] aliquotiens illicito amore captus fuerat. Sed ad pauperes omnino liberalis erat, eorum inopiam sublevando. Alios etiam quamplures largitate ditabat donorum, aut officiorum, vel saltem omnem ab eis egestatem amovebat. ”

“ Several of these exist in the Bodleian and other libraries, and one, a notable copy of the Polychronicon, which contains the earliest known picture of Windsor Castle (and of Eton) , very probably drawn by Blacman himself, has in recent years been acquired by the library of Eton College. The full list of Blacman's books is given in a separate note.
In reprinting Hearne's text I have retained his spelling, which does not correspond completely with that of Coplande's print. Hearne gives æ for e throughout, and expands contractions without notice. ”

“ Alter vero cum sicca [35] percussit eum in latere, dum in turri fuerat carcere detentus, qui post hoc commissum facinus putans, se regem ex suo ictu nephario occidisse, timens se capiendum fore, citissime aufugit, deprehensum tamen eum, & eidem regi postea adductum, convalescens rex, et è carcere illo eductus, et ad regalia fastigia, Deo favente et agente, iterum sublimatus sine bellis post longa exilia et diutinam ejus incarcerationem, pardonavit eum ex summa sua clementia, sicut et prædictum suum persecutorem. ”

“ Hoc ipsum tantummodo requiro, quatinus sacramenta Paschalia & ecclesiastica cum aliis Christicolis in die cœnæ recipiam, ut moris nostri est, unde & propter nimiam suam devo [Pg 20] tionem, quam ad Deum, et ad ejus sacramenta, semper habuerat, non incongrue videtur, quod cœlestibus sacramentis fuisset sæpius illustratus, & in suis tribulationibus consolatus. Fertur enim à nonnullis secretioribus sibi personis, quibus solebat secreta sua reserare, quod frequenter viderat Dominum Iesum in manibus celebrantis tractatum in forma humana ei apparere sub sacramento. ”

“ Thurland in Westmorland (or Lancashire) appears frequently in the Patent Rolls etc. of Henry VI, Edward IV and Henry VII. Under Edward IV his lands are naturally granted to other people and he is attainted. In 1470, at Henry's restoration, he is 'king's chamberlain' (Cal. Pat. R. p. 227) . Under Henry VII he is in favour and holds many important posts.
An entry in William Worcester's Annals (Rolls, Wars of the English in France, ii. pt. 2 [785] ) , wrongly printed, is of interest here. ”

“ Episcopos etiam Wurcestriæ et Cestriæ [20] simul, cum multis aliis, pari liberalitate promovit, ut res satis innotuit. Unde ad [Pg 12] ampliandum domum Dei, et cultum divinum, duo præclara principatus sui tempore fundavit collegia prædicta, quæ amplissimis dotavit prædiis et redditibus, ad sustentationem pauperum scholarium non paucorum, in quibus non tam divina cotidie devotissime celebrantur officia, ad Dei omnipotentis laudem, quam scolastica dogmata cum ceteris actibus continue exercentur, ad scientiæ incrementum. ”

“ Fuerat enim, quasi alter Job, vir simplex, & rectus, Dominum Deum omnino timens, & à malo recedens. Erat autem vir simplex, sine omni plica dolositatis aut falsitatis, ut omnibus constat. Nulli enim dolose egerat: aut falsum aliquod cuiquam proferre solebat: sed veridica semper exercuerat eloquia. Fuerat & rectus et justus, per lineam justiciæ semper in actis suis procedens. Nulli vero injuriam facere voluit scienter. ”

“ Ceteros vero dies etiam minus solemnes, non in ocio aut vanitatibus, non in commessationibus aut ebrietatibus, non in vaniloquiis aut ceteris nocivis dictis aut loquelis (quæ amnia [27] semper dum viveret declinabat,) immo paucissimis eloquiis, ut verbis ædificariis vel ceteris utilibus omnino usus fuerat: Sed dies illos aut in regni negotiis cum consilio suo tractandis, prout rei exposcerat necessitas, aut in scripturarum lectionibus, vel in scriptis aut cronicis legendis non minus diligenter expendit. ”

“ Item equitando semel in strata quadam, jacente extra cemiterium ad orientem cujusdam ecclesiæ, ubi pixis super altare pendens carebat sacramento eucharistiæ, eo igitur non nudante caput, ut semper aliàs vel ante assolet agere cum magna devotione propter reverentiam sacramenti: admirantibus inde suis dominis et compluribus magnatibus, rationem reddit rex dicens: Scio, inquit, ibi non esse Dominum meum Iesum Christum, ob cujus honorem tanta facerem. ”