A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3: Parishes: Chenies. 1296. The next to hold Isenhampstead was Bartholomew Cheyne, whose name occurs between the years 1296 and 131615. He was followed by Alexander Cheyne, who with Margaret his wife was in 1321 in possession of Isenhampstead Chenies Manor [Map], so called for the first time16, and was still holding in 134617. By 1350 it had passed to John Cheyne18, who was Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in 137119 and a knight of the shire in 137320. He was afterwards knighted21, but in 1397 was condemned to death as a Lollard with Sir John Oldcastle22. The sentence was, however, at the intercession of the Lords, commuted to one of perpetual imprisonment23.
Note 15. Feud. Aids, i, 91, 18; Lipscomb, Hist. and Antiq. of Bucks. iii, 251.
Note 16. De Banco R. 238, m. 155. Alexander presented to the church in 1325 (Add. MS. 5480, fol. 39).
Note 17. Feet of F. Bucks. Mich. 6 Edw. III, no. 8; Feud. Aids, i, 116.
Note 18. Cal. Close, 1349-54, p. 230.
Note 19. P.R.O. List of Sheriffs, 2.
Note 20. Ret. of Memb. of Parl. i, 190.
Note 21. Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 235; Close, 6 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 32 d.
Note 22. V.C.H. Bucks. i, 291.
Note 23. Ibid.
Chronicle of Gregory. 1411. Ande that same year there com inbassetours to the King from the Duke of Burgeyne [aged 39] for to have men sowdyd whithe him ayenst the Duke of Orlyauns [aged 16], but the King wolde not graunte him non. And they spake unto the prynce [aged 24], and he sende thedyr the Erle of Arundelle [aged 29] and Syr John Oldecastelle, lord of Cobham, and many mo knygtys and squyers of this londe.
Chronicle of Gregory. 1413. And that same year Syr John Olde Castelle was a restyde [arrested] at Wynsore and sende to the Toure of London [Map] for poyntys of heresy that he was accusyd of; and at the Frere Prechourys he was examnyd by fore alle the clargy of this realme, spyritualle and temporalle and relygyous, and he was sent unto the Toure a-yenne; and son aftyr he brake owt of the Towre and wentte in to Walys; and aftyr he was take ayen by the Lord Powes [aged 43] in the tyme of Rychard Merlowe, as ye shalle hyre aftyr.
Deeds of King Henry V [1413-1421]. And while these most sacred thoughts occupied the royal mind, God Himself, who is the searcher of hearts, and in whose hand are the hearts of kings, in order that affliction might give understanding and His chosen one might be proven in the crucible of tribulation, permitted an adversary to rise against him, a certain John of Oldcastle1, a knight, one of his most cherished among his great household. This man, famous among the people, elevated in heart, strong in body, but weak in virtue, not only presumed against the king but against the universal Church. For he had been so intoxicated by the envy of Wycliffe that, resuming nearly all the errors and heresies which that pseudo-prophet and of damned memory, John Wycliffe, had formerly revived under the new terms of text from ancient paganism, he became like a leader and captain in the tempest of the people, whom this pestilence had infected throughout various parts of England.
He did not hesitate to attack the royal majesty with the treacherous words of such deadly poison. But the pious and merciful God, who does not allow anyone to be tempted beyond their ability, but always gives His elect a way out in temptation, not only gave the king an unmoved heart but also armed him against such a treacherous man as well as the poison itself. The king rebuked this renovator of such wickedness and poured oil and wine upon him, so that, if he could, he might cut off the ulcers of his poisoned presumption. But when the seditious man could not be turned away from his obstinate and condemned opinion by flattery, terror, or any persuasion, he deemed it necessary for him to be struck by the sword, first spiritually, then temporally, since neither the softness of words nor the harshness of threats could wean him from the most wicked concepts he had conceived.
Et dum sacratissimæ cogitationes istæ occuparunt mentem regiam, Deus ipse, qui scrutator est cordium, et in cujus manu corda sunt regum, ut simul vexatio daret intellectum, et in conflatorio tribulationis probaretur electus ejus, permisit adversarium in eum insurgere, quendam Johannem de Veteri Castro, militem, unum de præcarissimis ex magnis domesticis suis. Qui vir famosus in populo, elatus corde, fortis viribus, sed virtute debilis, non solùm in regem, sed in universalem præsumpsit ecclesiam. In tantum enim eum intoxicaverat Wycliviana invidia, quod resumens ferè omnes errores et hæreses, quos, in subversionem statûs utriusque mucronis, dudum ille pseudo-propheta et damnatæ memoriæ Johannes Wyclif, sub novorum terminorum texturis ab antiquo paganismo revocaverat, factus est quasi dux et capitaneus in turbine populi, quem per diversas partes Angliæ pestis hujusmodi inviscarat.
Qui et non est veritus sublimitatem regiam, versutis verborum insidiis hujusmodi veneno mortifero attentare. Sed pius et misericors Deus, qui neminem tentari permittit ultra posse, sed dat semper suis electis in tentatione proventum, non solùm cor regis dedit immobile, sed et ipsum tam contra proditiosum virum, quàm virus, armavit. Increpavit enim illum rex tanti sceleris renovatorem, et eidem infudit nunc oleum, nunc vinum, ut si quo modo potuisset, ejus venenatæ præsumptionis ulcera intercideret. Sed cùm demum seditiosus, nec blanditiis nec terroribus sed nec ullâ suasione à suâ obstinatâ et damnatâ opinione reflecti quivit, censuit eum feriri gladio, primò spirituali, inde temporali, quem nec verborum mollities nec minarum asperitas ab his conceptuum sceleratissimorum uberibus potuit ablactare.
Note 1. John Oldcastle, leader of the Lollards, a religious movement that demanded religious reform. Oldcastle was hanged, possibly hanged, drawn and quartered, at St Giles' Fields on the 14th of December 1417.
Deeds of King Henry V [1413-1421]. And immediately, with the royal power assisting and with the principal agent in this matter being the most blessed memory of Lord Thomas Arundell1, Archbishop of Canterbury, a man of high lineage, profound intellect, and a noble defender of the Church, who could not be elevated by prosperity nor cast down by adversity, and in whose efforts in the battles of Christ against such seditious men no one has been found since ancient times2, the aforementioned traitor of God and man was condemned the following month of September in London, by his own confession, indeed by a violent and obstinate assertion, as a heretic, and he was handed over to the secular arm to be punished according to the law of the kingdom.
Et statim assistente potentiâ regiâ, et ad hoc principaliter agente, felicis, recordationis dominus Thomas Arundelle, Cantuariensis archiepiscopus, vir altæ prosapiæ, profundi ingenii, nobilis defensor ecclesiæ, quem nec prosperitas extollere nec adversitas dejicere potuit, et quo strenuior in præliis Christi et contrà hujuscemodi seditiosos homines nusquam repertus est à diebus antiquis, præfatum proditorem Dei et hominis sequenti mense Septembri apud Londonium, propriâ confessione, immò violentâ et obstinatâ assertione convictum damnavit, hereticum, et ipsum brachio seculari tradidit, ulteriùs juxtà regni legitima puniendum,
Note 1. Thomas Arundel, 1353-1414. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1396. Younger son of Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel. He had crowned both King Henry VI and King Henry V.
Note 2. Archbishop Arundel, with the Bishops of London and Winchester, sat to try Sir John Oldcastle, in the Chapter House of St. Paul's, on 23rd September. The archbishop afterwards held a great convocation of the clergy at Powles, on St. Edmund's Day, [20th November] which continued until 4th December [Bodleian; MS. Digby, 235, attributed to Hoccleve, in which the Lollards are termed Lowlers, favouring the derivation from "lolium". So Chaucer nearly, "Loller."] At this synod attended twelve inquisitors of heresies, who had been appointed the year before. At Henry's accession, Arundel possessed, for the fifth time, the Chancellorship of England; but Henry removed him to make room for his uncle, afterwards the cardinal, Beaufort. After his retirement he occupied himself with carrying on a violent persecution against the Lollards, whom Henry was rather disposed to screen. Arundel had been instrumental to the fall of Richard the Second; for Richard, with all his faults, had to a certain degree opposed the encroachments of the papacy, or, at least, during his reign the increasing influence of the Commons had strengthened the memorable statutes of Provisors and Præmunire, besides recognizing the statute of Mortmain, Some parties having ventured abroad to solicit their repeal, Richard, by a proclamation, ordered them to return to England on pain of death and forfeiture of estate. During his reign the Holy Scriptures were not suppressed, nor was there one drop of blood shed for what "they call heresy" till the commencement of the reign of Henry the Fourth. But the power which Richard was thus endeavouring to reduce, at last, through the subtle Arundel, effected his own ruin. The archbishop died in the early part of the year 1414.
Deeds of King Henry V [1413-1421]. 1414. This enemy and subverter of the Church [John Oldcastle] was first 'created' humble by nature. Then, the slaughter and plunder of the Welsh promoted him to knighthood, and finally, fortune, flattering him, summoned him to the lordship of Cobham through marriage1. From there, swollen with the desire to propagate his dominion, he wished to become greater than the great, richer than the rich, and to rise from a subject to an emperor.
Note 1. John Oldcastle married Joan Cobham as his third wife bringing his extensive property in Kent including Cooling Castle [Map]. In 1409 he was summoned to Parliament as Baron Cobham.
Foxe's Book of Martyrs. 437. Of Sir Roger Acton And Others.
On the story of Sir Roger Acton above mentioned, I find that with him were taken many other persons, that all the prisons in and about London were replenished with people. The chief of them, which were twenty and nine, were condemned of heresy; and attainted of high treason, as movers of war against their king, by the temporal law in the Guildhall, the twelfth day of December; and adjudged to be drawn and hanged for treason, and for heresy to be consumed with fire, gallows and all: which judgment was executed in [10th] January [1414] following on the said Sir Roger Acton, and twenty-eight others.
Some say that the occasion of their death was the conveyance of the Lord Cobham out of prison. Others write, that it was both for treason (as the adversaries termed it) and heresy.
Certain affirm, that it was for feigned causes surmised by the spiritualty, more of displeasure than truth, as seemeth more near to the truth.
On 14th December 1417 John Oldcastle was hanged in St Giles' Field Holborn for being a Lollard.
Chronicle of Gregory. 14th December 1417. Alle so the same year Syr Johnne Oldecastelle was take in the Marche of Walys and brought unto Westemyster in a chare, and there he was juggyde to the dethe; and this was his juggement, that he shulde be ladde thorowe London in the same chare unto Towre Hylle, and there to be layde on a hyrdylle and drawe to Syn Gylys galowys, and there to be hanggyd and brent. And so he was hanggyd by a strong chayne. For there was the Duke of Bedforde [aged 28], the Duke of Exceter [aged 40], and alle the lordys of this londe that were [th]at tyme a-bowte London, tylle that they hadde sene his juggement.
Ande the same day the person of Wortham, theffe, and his peramowre was broughte unto Westemyster Halle. And he was sente to Newgate, and there he dyde.
Close Rolls Henry V. 4th March 1421. Durham. Jevan and Gruffuth sones of Gruffuth ap Jevan ap Mad[oc] ap Gwennoys of Powys londe gentilman, Hoel ap Gr[uffuth] ap David ap Mad[oc] and Deio ap Jevan ap Jor[werth] ap Ada[m] of the same londe yemen, tenants to Sire Edward Charletoun knyght lorde of Powys and takers of Sir John Oldcastell that was myscreant and unboxome to the lawe of God and traitour to oure gracious soueraigne lorde and his, Henry kynge of Englonde after the conquest the V, thonken our said soveraigne lord in as lowely wyse and with as hole hert as we in oure simple manere con devyse that hit hath liked him of his gracious goodenesse for to remembre his notarie proclamacioun made thorgh his roialme by his hie commaundement of the guerdoun and rewarde by his hie discressioun appoynted to hym that mizt have that fortune and grace to ben takers of the said John Oldcastell, for the which guerdoun and rewarde our said lorde of Powys by the graciouse governaunce and assent of oure said soveraigne lorde hase com- pownyd with us and fynaly accorded, so that we and everych of us ben fully satisfied and agreoud aftir oure owne desire and plaisir in pleyn accomplisement and excusacioun of the pro- clamacioun aforsaide, of the wych guerdoun and rewarde we hold us fynaly agreut and content for evermore. In witnessynge wherof to this oure present lettres we have ysette oure seales in the hie and noble presence of oure said soveraigne lord, and also of the hie and myghty prince the duc of Gloucestre [aged 30] brothir un to oure soveraigne lord by forsaid, and also of Umfray erle of Stafforde [aged 18], John lorde Fornyvall [aged 38], and of other mony mo worthy and gret of diverses degrees at that tyme, they beyng present. Y made at Shrosbery the iiij day of Marcz the yere of oure said soveraigne lord the viij.