ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



had to carry an image of St. Katherine in his hand, and do public reverence 

 to it, both in the church and in the market ; he had to recite also an antiphon 

 and collect of St. Katherine. 10 * About the same time the anchoress of 

 St. Peter's, Leicester, was found to be guilty of holding heretical doctrines, 

 and after an examination at St. James's, Northampton, was sent back to her 

 cell with a penance. 105 But Knighton owns that these measures were not 

 very effective ; the Lollards were silenced ' more from fear of the archbishop 

 than from the love of God,' and their teachings were still cherished in secret. 



It seems, however, that in spite of their number, they were all of the 

 lower classes, and had no favour among the county gentry. Among the 

 clergy only a few stipendiary priests like Swynderby and Waytestathe were 

 accused of heresy. It was the same in 1414 ; among the names of those 

 pardoned for their share in the proceedings in St. Giles's Fields we find only 

 such names as John Scryvener, Simon Carter, William Ward, ploughman ; 

 Nicholas Selby, ironmonger ; with John Parlibien, chaplain of Mountsorrel ; 

 and John Colson of Goadby, clerk. The places from which they came 

 Kibworth Harcourt, Belton, Shangton show, however, that they were 

 scattered all over the county. 108 In the same year one Thomas Novery of 

 Illston purged himself of the accusation of Lollardy in St. Martin's, 

 Leicester. 107 The Parliament which met at Leicester in 1414 issued a 

 special statute against the Lollards, 108 and the bishop of Winchester voiced 

 the general opinion of the church and state at that time when he said, ' No 

 kingdom can exist in safety without due reverence for God and the law of 

 the land, and both of these are endangered by the Lollards.' 



During the episcopate of Bishop Chadworth (1452-72), when strong 

 measures were taken against heretics in the Thames Valley, there is no 

 record of any prosecutions in Leicestershire. John Poultney of Misterton, 

 a member of a family usually conspicuous for loyalty to church and state, 

 was accused before the bishop in 1455 for refusing to pay tithes, withdrawing 

 from confession and divine service, inciting others to do the like, and uttering 

 divers speeches against the Christian faith. This, however, is a solitary 

 case ; and it may have been only an episode in John Poultney 's life, for he 

 died apparently at peace with the Church. 109 



A proclamation was issued by Bishop Repingdon early in the century 

 against a somewhat curious abuse, called the ' Glutton Mass,' in the arch- 

 deaconry of Leicester. On the five feasts of our Lady, which were days of 

 merry-making, parishioners of many churches had been wont to pay a priest 



104 Here again the evidence of Courtney's Register (Wilkins, Concifia, iii, 211) corroborates Knighton's 

 account in every detail. It is pleasant to note a touch of real humanity in the orders given by the archbishop 

 for the carrying out of this humiliating sentence. The penitents were to appear clad only in a single linen 

 garment ; but since the penance was to be done in November, and they might take hurt from the cold, their 

 ordinary garments were to be put over them while they stood under the crucifix in the church, provided only 

 that their heads and feet remained bare all the time. 



105 Wilkins, Concilia, iii, 209 ; and Knighton. The position of an anchoress in a churchyard laid her 

 specially open to the temptation of idle gossip. In 1346 an anchoress of Huntingdon was accused of 

 introducing doctrines contrary to the catholic faith (Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Bek, 84) j and an anchoress by 

 St. Julian's Church, Norwich, was convicted of heresy, taught her by Latimer's friend, ' little Bilney,' under 

 Henry VIII (Blomfield, Hist. ofNorf). 



108 Rymer, Foedera, ix, 194 ; and Pat. 2 Henry V, pt. 2, m. I. Richard Monk, a chaplain convicted of 

 heresy in 1428, said that he was born and bred at Melton Mowbray. Wilkins, Concilia, iii, 503. 



107 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Repingdon, 117. loe Par!. R. iv, 24. 



>c * Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Chadworth, I o. -His will at Somerset House directs that his body should be 

 buried in the Carmelite church at Coventry, and he bequeathed small legacies to other friars. 



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