A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



of dealing with ' other dampned heresies,' and exhorted the people to be 

 steadfast even unto death in their ancient faith and practices. 1 He then 

 made pointed reference to the story of St. Maurice, who refused 

 obedience to his prince's command where contrary to the divine law, 

 and concluded by arguing strongly in favour of the primacy of St. Peter. 

 This plain preaching was reported to Cromwell. Orders were at once 

 issued to John Perchard, the mayor of Southampton, to arrest Gabriel 

 Pecock and bring him up to London. Accordingly on Wednesday in 

 Easter week the mayor proceeded to the Observant friary at South- 

 ampton, but found that the warden was still absent on a preaching tour. 

 A few days later he was apprehended and sent to Cromwell, but at the 

 same time the mayor and his colleague wrote to the vicar-general in 

 warm terms as to Pecock's very good behaviour ever since he had been 

 in Southampton, and also of the good order of his convent. His 

 popularity at Southampton probably procured his release, or he may to 

 some extent have recanted ; at all events Pecock, a few months later, 

 was again at Southampton. 2 



During this year the visiting of religious houses by virtue of letters 

 patent the king considering himself for such purposes the superior of 

 all the episcopate was first put in practice. Selection was made of two 

 renegade friars, Dr. Hilsey, a Dominican, and Dr. Brown, an Augustinian, 

 as ' grand visitors and provincials ' to all the friaries of the kingdom. 8 

 This action gave rise to imposition, in addition to royal harshness. 

 More than one self-appointed ' visitor,' with forged letters, went about 

 to different houses extorting bribes and payments. Friar Pecock, of the 

 Southampton Observants, had one of these sham visitors on 15 July. 

 Dressed as a ' father Black friar ' he entered the friary, took the keys 

 from the porter, rang the bell and assembled the convent in the chapter 

 house. He said he was visitor by the king's authority, and read a 

 transcript of the royal letters patent to Hilsey and Brown, certified (as 

 he pretended) under the seal of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and 

 passed himself off as Hilsey. As however it was discovered by chance 

 from one of his servants that he was not Hilsey and was not named in 

 the commission, they refused to let him proceed. The ' visitor ' 

 threatened them with the king's and Cromwell's displeasure, whereupon 

 Warden Pecock wrote on the morrow a full account of the whole 

 occurrence and forwarded it to Cromwell. 1 



In 1535 began the suppression of the monasteries. From one point 



1 In 1533 Stokesley was president of a commission that condemned and burned two Eucharistic 

 heretics. In 1535 fourteen Anabaptists were condemned at St. Paul's, and burned in different parts of 

 England so as to strike a terror throughout the kingdom. Others were burnt for like reasons in 1538, 

 1540, 1541, 1543 and 1546. At least thirty persons were burned at the stake for their Protestant 

 opinions in the reign of Henry VIII., and a far larger number escaped the stake, like Robert Cooke, by 

 recantation. See Wakeman's History of the Church of England, pp. 255-6. 



1 Letters and Papers, Henry nil. (1534), 448-50. 



* Hilsey was rewarded by being made Bishop of Rochester, whilst Brown was raised to the arch- 

 bishopric of Dublin. 



4 Letters and Papers, Henry Vlll. (1534), 982. In a list of the whereabouts of various leading 

 friars drawn up in December, 1534, many having escaped over the seas, Gabriel Pecock is named as 

 being at Lincoln (ibid. 1607). 



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