HARVARD UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

AUG 1 8 1986

84*291

Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty

Το

THE PASTON LETTERS

Henry VI

260

WILLIAM PASTON TO JOHN PASTON1

my rith wurchipfull brodir, Jon Paston, be this delyveryd.

2

YTH wurchyfull brodyr, I recomande me to zow, 1454 desiryng to her of zowr willefar. Byllyng the SEPT. 6 serjant hathe byn in his contre, and he come to Lundon this weke; he sent for me and ast me how I fared; I tolde hym her is pestelens, and sayd I fard the better he was in good hele, for it was noysyd that he was ded. A toke me to him and ast how my suster dede, and I answeryd wyll, never better. He seyd he was with the Lord Gray, and they talkyd of j. jantilman qweche is ward to my Lord-I remember he sayd it was Harry Gray that thei talkyd of; and my Lord sayd, 'I was besy with jn this fewe days to a maryd hym to a jantyllwoman jn Norfolke that schall have iiij. C.

3

1 [From Fenn, iii. 220.] There is abundant evidence that the year in which this letter was written was 1454. The references to Lord Grey's offer of a husband for Elizabeth Paston, and to Sir John Fastolf's going into Norfolk, of which William Paston had before written by anticipation, though a little prematurely, in No. 254, are in themselves sufficient to fix the chronology; but the mention of fealty having been done by a new Archbishop of Canterbury and a new Bishop of Ely removes any possible doubt on the subject.

2 Thomas Billing was made a serjeant in 1453, and about 1469 was appointed Chief Justice of the King's Bench.

* Edmund, Lord Grey of Ruthyn.-See Letter 250.

VOL. III.- -A

I

1454 marc to hyr mariage, and now a wyll not be me, for iiij. C. SEPT. 6 marc wulde do me hese; and now he wulde have his mariage mony hymself, and therefore (quoth he) he schall mary hym self for me.'

This wurds had my Lorde to Byllyng, as he tollde me, he understod that my Lord laboryd for his owne a vayle, and consaylyd to byd her be wyse; and I thanlkeyd hym for hys good consayll.

I sent zow an answer of zowr letter of Sir Jon Fastolf comyng hom, as he told me hem self; neverthe lesse he bode longer than he sayd hymself he schull a do.

He tolde me he schulde make j. [one] ende be twix Skroop1 and my suster wulle he is in Norfolke. Many wulde it schulde not prove, for thei say it is an onlykkely mariage.

In casse Cressener be talkyd of ony mor, he is countyd a jantyllmanly man and a wurshepfull. Ze knowe he is most wurchipfull better than I. At the reverens of Good, drawe to sume conclusyn; it is time.

My Lord Chanseler 2 come not her sone I come to Lundon, nether my Lord of Yorke.3

4

My Lord of Canterbury hathe received hys crosse, and I was with hym in the kynggs chamber qwan he mad hys homage. I tolde Harry Wylton the demeanyng betwix the kyng and hym; it war to long to wrythe.

As for the prist that dede areste me, I can not understand that it is the pryste that ze mene.

Her is gret pestelens. I purpose to fle in to the contre. My Lord of Oxforthe is come azen fro the se, and he hath geth hym lytyll thank in this countre. Much more thyng I wulde wrythe to zow, but I lak lysore.

5

Harry Wylton sey the Kyng. My Lord of Ely hathe

1 Stephen Scroope.-See vol. ii. p. 108, Note 4.

2 Richard Nevill, Earl of Salisbury, was appointed chancellor in April 1454.

3 Richard, Duke of York, at this time Protector.

4 Thomas Bourchier, who was translated from the Bishopric of Ely to Canterbury in April 1454.

William Grey. He received his temporalities by a patent of the date of this letter, 6th September 1454, which shows that he had by that time done fealty.