Volume Ii Part 66 (1/2)
WILLIAM BOTONER TO JOHN PASTON[323.3]
_To my G.o.de maister, John Paston, Escuier, in Norwich, and yn hys absence, to John Berney, at Caister, Squyer._
[Sidenote: 1454 / JULY 5]
Worshypfull Sirs, I recomaund me to yow. Lyke yow wete that as to the waraunts and copes that ye remembred to be gheten owt, it ys laboured for, &c.
And as to the a.s.sisse, it shall hald at Norwych, the Monday next com fortendayes.
The Duc of York, the Lord Cromewell, and othyr Lordys of the North that were wyth my seyd Lord York, comen hedre by Monday next, as it ys credybly seyd. The Lordys that be appoynted to kepe the see maken hem redye yn all haste; and the Tresourer also, the Lord Wyltshyre[324.1]
for the west coost. And a stately vessell, only for the warre, ys made new at Brystow by the Mayr, called Sturmyn[324.2]. And the seyd toune with the west coosts wolle do her part, and [i.e. _if_] they may be supported or favoured.[324.3]
Mastere Pownyngs[324.4] hath day tille the next terme by a remayner.
Manye a G.o.de man ys hert he hath.[325.1] G.o.d comfort hym in ryght!
And justice ys don dayly uppon thevys and malefactours, and people be glad that justice may precede.
The Lord Bourchier hath a G.o.de renomee of hys wyse demenyng at Calis, but he ys not yhyt comen.
The Soudeours be more temperat then they were. Not ell[es] for lak of leyser, but our Lord kepe you.
Wryt at L. [London], the v. day of Jullet.
Gressam qwyts hym well yn your erandys doyng to me.
Your,
W. BOTONER.
[Footnote 323.3: [From Fenn, i. 140.] The year in which this letter was written must be that of the mayoralty of Robert Sturmy at Bristol, as shown in p. 324, Note 2. It certainly could not be 1457, Fenn's date, as Lord Cromwell died in January 1456.]
[Footnote 324.1: James Butler, Earl of Wilts.h.i.+re and Ormond. He was appointed Lord Treasurer of England on the 15th March 1455 (Patent, 33 Henry VI., p. 2, m. 20), but on the 29th May following the office was taken from him, and given to Henry, Viscount Bourchier (_Ib._ m. 12). But this letter, which is dated in July, cannot be in 1455; indeed, we have positive evidence that it is in 1454. How, then, are we to explain the manner in which Wilts.h.i.+re is referred to above? It is just possible--though not likely, as Wilts.h.i.+re was a Lancastrian--that his appointment may have been enrolled in the wrong year, and that he was really made Lord Treasurer on the 15th March 1454. A difference in punctuation will perhaps solve the difficulty best:-- 'The Lords that be appointed to keep the see maken hem ready yn all haste, and the Treasourer also: the Lord Wyltshyre for the west coast.' John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, is mentioned as Lord Treasurer on the 11th February 1454.--See _Rolls of Parl._ v. 238.]
[Footnote 324.2: The name was printed by Fenn 'St'myn',' and in the modern version on the opposite page, 'St. Myn.' Robert Sturmy was Mayor of Bristol in the year 1453-4. It was probably this very s.h.i.+p that was captured by the Genoese in 1457, of which disaster there is the following notice in the MS.
Calendars of Bristol:-- 'Mr. Robert Sturney [_alias_ Sturmey], who was Mayor in 1453, had this year a s.h.i.+p spoiled in the Mediterranean Sea by the Genoese, which s.h.i.+p had gotten much wealth as having been long forth. She had spices fit to be planted here in England, as was reported, but the men of Genoa in envy spoiled her. Which wrong, when King Henry understood, he arrested the Genoa merchants in London, seized their goods, and imprisoned their persons, until they gave security to make good the loss; so that they were charged with 6000 indebted to Mr.
Sturney.' --Seyer's _Memoirs of Bristol_, ii. 189.]
[Footnote 324.3: 'The said town,' it would appear, did 'do her part' on the occasion; for besides this s.h.i.+p fitted out by the Mayor, Bristol subscribed 150 to a loan raised by the Duke of York from the seaports for the protection of trade. This sum may appear insignificant for a flouris.h.i.+ng seaport; but London itself only subscribed 300, and Southampton, which was the next largest contributor, only 100, while Norwich and Yarmouth contributed the latter amount between them.--Seyer's _Bristol_, ii. 188; see also _Rolls of Parl._ v. 245. We must remember, however, that these sums probably represent about fifteen times their value in modern currency. At all events, by comparison with other places, Botoner had no cause to be ashamed of his native town.]
[Footnote 324.4: Robert Poynings. --_See_ p. 154, Note 3.]
[Footnote 325.1: 'Many a good man's heart he hath.' --We should have thought this explanation unnecessary, but that Fenn, in his modern version, gives the following most extraordinary rendering:-- 'Many a good man is hurt (_that_) he hath.']
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EDMUND, LORD GREY OF HASTINGS TO JOHN PASTON[325.2]