432 ENGLISHMEN AT WITTENBERG July hym. Lubicenses cofmparant] nouum exercitum. 1 Thes be all the nevs that I know. I desy[re your] h[onorable] mastershyp that we mae have a commission to dispute with co[chlaeus] 2 et purgare famam nostri principis et extinguere virulenta [male]dicentia insulsissimi hominis, for al men here that be the Kynges fr[iends] thynke it gretly for the Kynges honore that the folys [fool's] mouthe shuld be stopyd, evyn afore hys owne prynce, and it shuld also be a gret sty[f]lyng on to al papisfts]. I am not a frayd to dispute with hym allone, yf none other man come. Fynally I wold pray your goodness to send me more money, for veryly I ame and must be dayly at gret charge, and yt shuld be a genst my pryncys honore yf I shuld pynche or spare, and I have nothyng of myne owne to bere owt the chargys wyth. Also I must have money plenty to pay for phylyps costs and al others that he shal bryng wyth hym and to by hym horse and other necessaryse for hys jorney, as your honorable wysdome can wel thynke. I desyre your mastershyp to excuse me that I wryte not to my most gracius prynce, for I know not hys plesure, nor can I wryte worthyly to so noble a prince. Your mastership knowyth my fayth. Thus Jesus kepe yow in honore and vertu. Amen. In Wyttembergh, 6 Octobris by your dayly oratur Robert Bar. British Museum, Cotton MS. Vitellius B. xxi, fo. 123. 3 Gotha, 28 December 1535. Robert Barnes to Thomas Cromwell Gote in Turingia in festo pue[rorum, 1535]. Ryght honorable syr my deuty consideryd. Your mastershyp [should know] that my lorde 4 hathe byne wyth al the conf ederators and hath hfandled all things . . . .]usly hard, in so moche that he hathe brought to passe al thyfnges that our] soverane lorde desyreth (as farre as I could evyr perseve by your mfastership's] comunycation) savying all only that he hathe not spokyn of the Kynges [marriage] for ther was neyther tyme nor place con- venyent, but now he is goy[ng to] Wyttenbergh to intrete of those matters ther, wher I trust thorow g[od's] helpe and my lordes wysdome we shal make a good ende. Thys thyng [I] do know that the elector wold gladly that hys lernyd men and w[e] myght a gre. I have so informyd 5 hys grace that he is not a genst us, but he had rather (for fere of the emperoure) that hys lerdnyd [sic] men should handyl the matter than he for as much as yt perteynyth to lernyng. Farder more, Marten est multo equior causae 1 Liibeck was now in the throes of a struggle against Denmark, the populace having risen under Georg Wullanwever in the vain attempt to establish an independent republic. On this see P. Smith, The Age of the Reformation, 1920, pp. 118 f. The State Papers show that England took a lively interest in the matter. 2 John Dobneck, commonly called Cochlaeus, had been aroused by the death of his friends More and Fisher to write an attack on Henry. See M. Spahn, J. Cochlaeus, 1898, p. 258. 3 This manuscript has been damaged by fire, making it necessary to supply a few words, which are here included in brackets. There is an abstract of the letter in Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, ix. 1030.
- i.e. Fox, lord bishop of Hereford.
5 i. e. won him over.
