died in the year 1396, at the age of eighty-eight; and was buried in the Choir, habited in his best and richest vestments. The spot of his interment is yet pointed out by a large slab, inlaid with fine brasses. In his time, the service of the Church appears to have been in the very zenith of its splendour: the habiliments were of the most costly and gorgeous kind; the cups, and other vessels, were of gold, or silver, curiously wrought; the crosses were set with the most precious stones; the altars well furnished with rich vials and patines; and, in short, every method was employed to render the celebration of divine worship attractive by its brilliancy, and impressive from its magnificence.

John De la Moote, the succeeding Abbot, obtained various new privileges for his Monastery, from the court of Rome. He constructed a new chamber for the Abbot, at an expense of more than 600 marks, re-built part of the cloisters, and increased the monastic buildings by other additions. Various edifices were also constructed under his direction, on many of the granges and manors belonging to the Abbey; and the mansion of the Abbots at Tittenhanger was begun by him, though it was not completely finished till the time of John of Whethamsted. In this house De la Moote was seized with a pleurisy, and being removed to his Abbey, he died there three days afterwards, on St. Martin's Day, 1400.* His successor, William de Heyworth, governed the Monastery

In the time of John De la Moote, the Abbots of Westminster attempted to assume the uppermost seat in Parliament, contrary to the grant of precedence made by Pope Adrian the Fourth to Robert de Gorham, Abbot of St. Alban's;* and these attempts being frequently repeated, were eventually successful, as appears from the register of these transactions made by John of Whethampstead; this is given by Newcome, in the following words. "In the reign of Richard the Second, who was a great promoter of the Abbot of Westminster, the Parliament then sitting, John Moote, at that time Abbot of St. Alban's, took his proper seat; viz. the first and uppermost. The Abbot of Westminster coming in late, made some essay to sit in that place, but was hindered by Moote;

See page, 43.

mastery with much prudence till the year 1421, when he resigned his office on being promoted to the See of Lichfield,

John of Whethamsted, who was chosen Abbot on the death of Heyworth, very early directed his attention to the state of the Abbey Church; and, by his influence with the great, procured some large sums towards putting it into repair, and furnishing it with additional ornaments. The nave of the Church was new ceiled and painted; the choir was repaired, and a neat Chapel erected in it for the Abbot's burial-place: the Chapel of the Virgin was also fresh painted, and further embellished: the cloisters were new glazed, with painted or stained glass, representing a series of subjects from Scripture History: the Bake-house, which Abbot Paul had left standing, was re-built, together with the Infirmary: a new Library was constructed; and various other improvements were made in the monastic edifices. The beautiful monument, in memory of Humphrey, Duke of Glocester, was also constructed durD 4

ing

Moote; and this attempt was repeated many times after, and as often repulsed by Moote, and Westminster took another seat. But one day, Moote being absent, and his place supplied by his Prior, Westminster came, and a great dispute arose; the Abbot claiming, the Prior defending. Henry, Earl of Northumberland, perhaps, on reference to him, said, that the late Abbot, Thomas De la Mare, of St. Alban's, who died in 1396, having been absent for ten years by reason of infirmity, had lost all right, and that others had sat above him ad libitum. The Prior appealed to the Lords who had seen these things ten years before; and these were, the Duke of Buckingham, the Lord Scrope, and William de Wykeham. These noble Lords, unwilling to offend the King, by determining against the Abbot of Westminster, referred it to his Majesty, with a request that he would save harmless all the rights, privileges, and immunities, of his ancient and royal Monastery of St. Alban. The King decreed, that the two Abbots should take the seat, alternately, day by day but the Abbot of St. Alban, being often absent, by reason of distance, and Westminster being near at hand, he took the advantage, and seated himself at pleasure; and William Heyworth, who succeeded Moote, contenting himself with a consciousness of having most learning, never asserted his ancient right, nor moved the question more." Hist. of St. Alban, p. 311, 312.

ing the time of Whethamsted; and it is extremely probable, that the elegant Screen also, which separates the chancel from the presbytery, was designed and begun under his direction, as his arms are carved on it over the doorways.

The limitations, enacted by the Statute of Mortmain, had prevented this Church, in common with all others, from benefiting so much by the gifts of the devout, the ostentatious, or the repentant, as it had done previously to the passing of that statute. The desire of ecclesiastics to increase their possessions was, however, still ardent; and various subterfuges were practised, to prevent the penalties of the law from being enforced on the estates that yet continued to be given. Whethamsted appears to have been engaged in some transactions of this description; and though, by a subtle policy, he had procured grants from the Crown of all the property thus acquired, he found it expedient to solicit the Royal pardon: this was granted, and confirmed by the Parliament, and by a most singular kind of phraseology, it includes a complete indemnity for many of the worst crimes that disgrace human nature; crimes too, which there is every reason to believe the Abbot never had in contemplation. Shortly afterwards, (anno 1440,) the approaching troubles of the state, and the reverse of fortune, which seemed impending over his best friend, Humphrey, Duke of Glocester,

* This pardon was obtained in the twentieth year of Henry the Sixth: its tenor is as follows. "We have pardoned unto the said John, Abbot of St. Alban's, the suit of our peace, which belongs unto us, against him, for all treasons, murders, rapes, rebellions, insurrections, felonies, conspiracies, and other transgressions, extortions, misprisions, ignorances, contempts, concealments, and deceptions, by him in anywise perpetrated before the 22cd. of September, in the twentieth year of our reign, and also any outlawry that shall have been published against him on these occasions. Provided, nevertheless, the said Abbot appear not to be conversant in the mystery of coining, nor be a multiplier of coinage, nor a clipper of our money, nor a common approver, nor a notorious thief, nor a felon, who had abjured the realm: but so that he stand rectus in curiâ nostrâ, if any one should question him in the premisses." Newcome's St. Alban's, p. 335.

cester, induced Whethamsted to resign, and this he did, though contrary to the persuasions of all his monastic brethren.

The next Abbot was John Stoke, of whom little is recorded, but that he held the privileges of the Abbey with a feeble hand, and suffered its possessions to be wasted by the inferior inmates. In his time, the Duke of Glocester died, not without strong suspicions of violence, and was interred in the Abbey Church, in the vault where a few of his bones may yet be seen by the curious visitant. On the death of Stoke, in 1451, Whethamsted was again made Abbot, and continued to govern the Monastery with exemplary discretion till the year 1462, when he also experienced the common fate of all mankind. The period of his second rule was that eventful era, which of every other, perhaps, that occurred during the disastrous struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster, was most deeply shaded with human blood. Two battles were fought in this town by the rival partizans, and both of them were extremely sanguinary.

The first battle of St. Alban's was fought on the twenty-third of May, 1455:* the King himself, the meek-spirited Henry the Sixth, being present. This ill-fated Prince, who, from the recesses of his heart, could exclaim, that he had fallen upon evil days,' had set out from the Metropolis with about 2000 men, apparently with the design of impeding the progress of the Duke of York, who was marching from the north, accompanied by the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury, and a body of about 3000 hardy soldiers. The Duke, who had not yet advanced his claim to the Throne, encamped on the east side of the town, in Key-field; while the King occupied the town itself, and fixed his standard at a spot called Goselow, in St. Peter's Street. The avowed purpose of the Yorkists, was to seize, and bring to trial, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who had been impeached of treason by the House of Commons, and committed to the Tower, but was afterwards

Chauncy has erroneously assigned the date 1445, for the year in which this battle was fought; see Hist. of Herts, p. 446: he has also made various errors in the times of the accession, &c. of the Abbots.

afterwards released in despite of the impeachment, by the influence of the Queen, Margaret of Anjou.

When the King, as appears from Hollinshed, heard of the Duke's approach, he sent the Duke of Buckingham, with some other noblemen, to inquire the reason of his coming in that hostile manner. The Duke answered that, he and his army were the King's faithful liege subjects, and intended no harm to his Majesty; but only desired that he would deliver up the Duke of Somerset, who had lost Normandy, taken no care to preserve Gascoigne, and had brought the realm into its present miserable condition: they would then return to their countries, without trouble or breach of peace; otherwise they would rather die in the field, than suffer a continuance of this grievance.'

As the Duke of Somerset was then with the King, and was himself at the head of the Royal councils, this demand was not acceded to; and both parties prepared to try their strength in battle. The barriers of the town were well defended by the Royalists; and the assault made on the side next St. Peter's Street, by the Duke of York, proved unsuccessful; till the Earl of Warwick, with a chosen band, forced an entrance on the garden side, in Holywell Street; and, by the terror of his name, his soldiers shouting, A Warwick! a Warwick! and the vigor of his onset, obliged his opponents to give way. Thus aided, the Duke was enabled to overpower the force opposed to him at the barriers; and, after a short, but sanguinary, conflict in the streets of the town, the Royal army was defeated. The King himself, being entirely deserted, and wounded in the neck with an arrow, took refuge in a small house, or cottage, where he was afterwards discovered by the Duke of York, and by him conducted to the Abbey. The slain on the King's part amounted to about 800: among them were the Duke of Somerset, the Earls of Stafford and Northumberland, John Lord Clifford, Sir Robert Vere, Sir Bertin Entwysel, Sir William Chamberlain, Sir Richard Fortescue, and Sir Ralph Ferrers, Knts. besides many esquires and gentlemen. About 600 of the Yorkists were killed: not any person of distinction, however, is recorded to have fallen on this side, The bodies of