334
HISTORY OF PRINTING.
relates, that after the martyrdom of archbishop Cranmer* in 1666, Whitchurch married his widow, who had been his second wife, and to whom he was married whilst he was ambassador for Henry VIII. in Germany. The residence of Whitchurch was first at the sig^ of the Well and two Buckets, in St. Martin's Le Grand : secondly, on the south side of Aldermary church yard, and lastly, at the Sun in Fleet-street, over arainst the conduit; perhaps the dwelling of Wynkyn de Worde. One of his books is dated 1660, but nothing of him has been discovered subsequent to that period.
Whitchurch printed in the whole thirty-seven works, and affixed the above monogram to the books he printed.
- Tliomu Cranmer, arclibiataop of Canterbury, was born
at Aslactou, in NotUngbanuhlre, in usg, and edncatad at Jesua ccdle^, Cambridge. The opinion which he gave on the qneatian of Henry Vlllth'a divorce recommended him to dat monarch, who employed bim to vindicate the measure, and sent liim to the foreign univenitiea to obtain thdr opinion upon the point. In Qermany he married a niece odT Oaiande, who afterwarda became the wife of Bdward Whitchorch, printer. In 1553, Henry VIII ap- pointed liim archblabop of Canterbury, and the first service in which lie was employed, was to pronounce the divorce between Henry and CaUiertne, which took place at the coor heldlntheprioryof Dunstable, Mayas, 1933. He furthered the reformation with zeal, tempered with Judgment and moderation. Though he was esteemed by the king for his piety and integrity, he occasionally offended him by his oppoidtion to the six bloody articles, and to the alienation of the abbey lands to secular uses. The archbishop wished to appropriate them to the advancement of learn- ing and reUgion. By Henry's will he was appointed one of the regency ; and as Edward VI. was brought up chiefly under the archbishop's care, the reformation in his reign assumed a consistent form : the liturgy, homilies, and artlelea of religion, were framed i in all of which Cranmer had a principal hand. On the accession of Mary, our prelate was condemned first for treason, and pardoned ; but another charge was brought against him of heresy, and be was sent to the Tower, from whence, with Ridley and Latimer, be was removed to Oxford, to hold a public disputation. Be was kept in prison three years, and after tile most rlf^rous measures had been made use of to pre- vail upon him to abjure his errors, more lenient ones wci-e adopted. These were again changed, and he was removed to a filthy prison, where he suffered such uncommon hard- ahipe, that he was induced to sign the instrument of abju- ration on the promise of life. But this was an act of treachery, to procure his enemies a momentary triumph. The archbishop was brought into St Mary's church, to read his recantation in public, where, after a long sermon preached by Dr. Cole, Cranmer, instead of doing what was required, with many tears beseeched God's forgive- ness for the apostacy of which he had been guilty, and ex. horted the people against the errors of Rome. This greatly enraged his adversaries, who, after vilUfying him as a hypocrite and heretic, dragged him to the stake, opposite Ballot college, which he approached with a cheerful counte- nance, and endured the fire with patience and fortitude, holding his hand in the flame, and often exclaiming, "This unworthy hand I" and raising his eyes to heaven, expired with the dying prayer of the first martyr of the (Siristlan church, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" March 31, 1959.
1661, Jim. 8. John Bodeleiob, one of the English refugees at Geneva, had a patent grant- ed him by queen Elizabeth, fur seven years for the irapnnting bibles in the English tongue, though bis name is not found to any book.
1561, Jan. 18. The tragedy of Gorbodue* or Ferrex and Pomx, by Thomas, lord Sackville, was represented at Whitehall ; a period that has been justly named, by a pleasing female annalist, ike birth-day of the Englith drama. This was the first dramatic piece of any con- sideration in the English language, and was written many years before Shakspeare flourished. Lord Buckhurst was assisted in it by Thomas Norton, a fellow-labourer with Sternhold and Hopkins. It originally had the title of Ferrex and Porrex ; was surreptitiously and incorrectly printed in 1566; more completely in 1570; and again, under the title of Gorbodue, in 1590. It was re-published in 1736, with ajireface, by Mr. Spence, by the procuration of Pope, who won- dered that " the propriety and natural ease of it had not been better imitated by the dramatic authors in the succeeding age. It is to be found in the second volume of the collection of old plays, published by Dodsley.
Sir Philip Sydney, m his Apology for Poetry, gives the following character of this tragedy, in his lofty style: " It is full of stately speeches and well sounding phrases, climbing to the height of Seneca's style, and as full of notable morality, which it doth most delightfully teach, and thus obtain the very end of poesy." " I think that for tragedy, the Lord of Buukhutst and Maister Edwai^ Perrey's, for such doings as I have seen of theirs, do deserve the highest price: the Earl of Oxford and Maister Edwards (of her Majesty's chappel) for comedy and interlude.
1661. John Kynge was free of the old sta- tioners' company, dwelt in Creed lane, and kept shop at the sign of the Swan, St. Paul's churcni- yard. He had license to print 1667-60, (he Defence of Women. Adam Bell, ^c. Bretyat cronacle of the kyngt, in 8t»: A Jeite of Syr Gawayne. The Boke of Canynge if Mwynge. Syr Lamwell. The boke of Cokerye. The boke
• Printed by William Orifflth, in ISSS, with the follow- ing title :^The Tragedie of Oorboduc, wkereqf three aciea were written by Tliomaa Nortone, imd ttke two latte hp Thomaa Sackvyte. Sett forthe at the same was shewed be- fore the queenes most excellent majesties in her highnes court of Whitehall, the 18 Jan. ISfil. By the gentlemen of thynner Temple in London. Sept. 33. Quarto.
Gorbodue sold by auction, in Loudon, by Blr. Evans* January, 1830, for jtf3 12«.
t In this year, (1561, J says Camden, the most beantifUI spire of the cathedral church of St. Paul, London, whidi for a singular ornament to the city, was raised to an admirable height, namely 530 feet from the ground, and 360 from the square steeple upon which it stood, being framed with timber and covered with lead, took fire from heaven near the top, and with such violence the devouring fire descended, to the great terror of the citizens, that in five hours' space it quite consumed it, together wltii all the roof of the church, which was very large, and covered likewise with lead ; nevertheless the arches, which were all of stone, remained untouched. But by the great bountj of the queen, (who largely supplied a great quantity of money and materials,) and by money gathered of the churchmen and others, the roof was soon repaired, only the spire is lacking.
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