I greet you well, letting
you weet that your brother and his fellowship stand in
great jeopardy at Caister, and lack victual; and
Daubency and Berney be dead, and divers other greatly hurt, and
they fail gunpowder and arrows, and the place sore
broken with guns of the tother part; so that, but they
have hasty help, they be like to lose both their lives
and the place, to the greatest rebuke to you that ever
came to any gentleman, for every man in this country
marvelleth greatly that ye suffer them to be so long in
so great jeopardy without help or other remedy. The
Duke hath be more fervently set thereupon, and more
cruel, sith that Writtle, my Lord of Clarence man, was
there than he was before, and he hath sent for all his
tenants from every place, and other, to be there at
Caister on Thursday next coming, that there is then like
to be the greatest multitude of people that came there
yet. And they purpose then to make a great assault, for
they have sent for guns to Lynn and other place by the
sea's side, that with their great multitude of guns,
with other shoot and ordnance, there shall no man dare
appear in the place. They shall hold them so busy with
their great people that it shall not lie in their power
within to hold it again them, without God help them or
(they) have hasty succour from you. Therefore, as ye
will have my blessing, I charge you and require you that
ye see your brother be holpen in haste. And if ye can
have none mean, rather desire writing fro my Lord of
Clarence, if he be at London, or ell of my Lord
Archbishop of York, to the Duke of Norfolk that he will
grant them that be in the place their lives and their
goods; and in eschewing of insurrections, with other
inconvenience that be like to grow within the shire of
Norfolk, this troublous world, because of such
conventicles and gatherings within the said shire for
cause of the said place, they shall suffer him to enter
upon such appointment, or other like taken by the advice
of your counsel there at London, if ye think this be not
good, till the law hath determined otherwise; and let
him write another letter to your brother to deliver the
place the same appointment. And if ye think, as I can
suppose, that the Duke of Norfolk will not agree to
this, because he granted this aforn and they in the
place would not accept it, then I would the said
messenger should with the said letters bring fro the
said Lord of Clarence, or ell my Lord Archbishop, to
my Lord of Oxford other letters, to rescue them
forthwith, though the said Earl of Oxford should have
the place during his life for his labour. Spare not this
to be done in haste, if ye will have their lives and be
set by in Norfolk, though ye should lose the best manor
of all for the rescue. I had liefer ye lost the livelode
than their lives. Ye must get a messenger of the lords
or some other notable man to bring these letters.
Do your devoir now, and let me send you no more
messengers for these matters; but send me by the bearer
hereof more certain comfort than ye have do by all other
that I have sent before. In any wise, let the letters
that shall come to the Earl of Oxford comen with the
letters that shall comen to the Duke of Norfolk, that if
he will not agree to the tone that ye may have ready
your rescue, that it need no more to send therefor.
God keep you. Written the Tuesday next before
Holy Rood Day in haste. |