A HISTORY OF LONDON The surrender in i 544 of the chapel of Rouncivall near Charing Cross by the fraternity which had kept up the services there/*' like that of St. Martin le Grand, forms a link between the earlier confiscation of monastic property and that of the endowments of chantries, &c., in 1548. Another such link was the seizure of a famous steeple in St. Paul's Churchyard in 1545 ; the king granted it to Sir Miles Partridge, who was currently said to have won it from him at dice.^" Henry was in great need of money that year, and in January a proposal was made to seize the silver plate of the parish churches, but as it was thought that this might seem ' somewhat strange ' to ' men that either want experience or a right judgement of things,' another plan was adopted ; Parliament ' committed to the king's order ' certain colleges, chantries, and hospitals, and an inquiry was ordered regarding those in the diocese of London. Meanwhile the clergy had been required to pay in July an instalment of the last subsidy which was not due till Christmas. It is to be feared that the royal proceedings had a demoralizing effect on other persons who had dealings with Church property ; several London parishes were selling their plate, and in 1545 it was necessary for the Common Council to pass an Act regulating the conditions on which leases could be made of property belonging to the City churches."^ In December i 544 ' books of heresies ' against all the sacraments, abusing the Bishop of Winchester and other learned men, had been found in London. In January 1545 some cases of reading forbidden books came before the Court of Aldermen. An inquiry held in the spring under the amended Act of Six Articles is notable for the case of Anne Askew, who came from Lincolnshire but seems to have had friends in London. On 20 March Bishop Bonner persuaded her to sign a declaration that she believed Christ's Body and Blood to be really present in the Sacrament. Notwithstanding this, on I 3 June she and two others were ' indicted for sacramentaries,' but the jury found all three not guilty, and they were discharged.'" Vigorous measures were taken by the Government during the spring and summer of 1546, when the Earl of Hertford was abroad and the conservative party was dominant in the Privy Council. Dr. Crome, now, according to the Imperial ambassador, ' a grave old doctor, much liked by the king,' was ordered, in consequence of a sermon against the received doctrine of the Eucharist, to sign certain articles and declare his belief at Paul's Cross. He took counsel with Latimer and others, and his sermon was so unsatisfac- tory that he was again imprisoned, when he seems to have submitted almost at once, and on 27 June made a ' plain recantation ' at the Cross. He gave information which led to the arrest of others, and a persecution began which was continued for several months, in spite of signs of discontent in the City '" L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), 590 ; 'Our Lady's Tabernacle' there had been already transferred to St. Margaret's Westminster (Chwdns.' Accts. 1540-2), and St. Martin in the Fields now obtained a cope and other ornaments ; Chwdns.' Accts. 1544. '" Lend. Epis. Reg. Bonner, fol. 70, job ; L. and P. Hen. Fill, xx (l), 620 (46) ; Rymer, Toedera, xv, 71 ; Lond. Chron. 18 in Camd. Misc. iv ; Monum. Franc. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 235 ; Stow, Sutf. (ed. Kingsford), i, 330. "' L. and P. Hen. VIII, xx (l), 16 ; ibid. (2), 850 (4) ; xxi (l), 302 (30) ; cf. 309 ; Gee and Hardy, Doc. Sec, 329 et seq. ; Lond. Epis. Reg. Bonner, fol. 121 ; Hall, Chron.; Rec. Corp. Repert. xi, fol. 184 ; journ. XV, fol. 96 ; S.P. Dom Edw. VI, v, 19. A large exchange of property between the king and the bishop was made this year ; Lond. Epis. Reg. Grindal, fol. 343 et seq. Cf. Bonner's letter in State Papers Hen. VIII, i, 762, and L. ar.dP. Hen. VIII, xxi (i), 148 (134), 716 (16). ^*' Monum. Franc. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 208 ; Rec. Corp. Repert. xi, fol. 1 36, 1 37^ ; Foxe, op. cit. v, 538 et seq.; Wriothesley, op. cit. i, 155. 284
