THIS House, before it passed into a regular college,
had been a sort of literary retreat for some neighbouring
religious.

John de Crowdon, the 22d prior of Ely, elected
May 20, 1321, was a person of great account with his
convent, and of a public spirit. He bought a house at
Cambridge on this site, and sent some of the Ely monks
there, for the purpose of acquiring University learning;
and from Crowdon's time it seems three or four of these
monks were regularly resident, supported there at the
charges of the convent. When they took their degrees,
they were succeeded by others. But the place was not
so occupied long; nor am I aware that any possessions b
were attached to the House, except it might be a few
messuages. Be this as it may, the site was granted to
Bateman, Bishop of Norwich, soon after, and he began
to build there the college now called Trinity Hall. The

■ I follow Mr. Bentham's Orthography.

b Had there been, it is most likely Mr. Bentham, who had the Rot. Comput. of Ely Cathedral before him, would have mentioned it. See his History of Ely Cathedral.

monks, in the event settled on the north side of the river, with some brethren of their own order (St. Benedict's), who came from Ramsey, Walden, and other places. The House to which these monks retired, after leaving this spot, was called Monk's College, which occupied part of the grounds on which Magdalen now stands.

Our business, then, is only concerned with Bishop Bateman and his new college.

From Bishop Bateman's petigrea, I can collect nothing material, except that his father served the office of bailiff, afterwards changed into that of mayor, of Norwich, and built a chapel there.

Bateman himself is described as outstripping, when a youth, all his compeers in parts and knowledge; as admirably taught, in after-life, in what were called primitivæ Scientia; and as being made doctor of laws, when 30. He was very early Dean of Lincoln, and elected in 1843 Bishop of Norwich; and his history affords some re-. markable testimonies to his being Ecclesiæ suæ propugnator acerrimus". But what particularly distinguishes his history, is, the foundation of this college, to which, having visited Rome, and been in great confidence with Stephen (afterwards Pope Innocent the Sixth), he obtained permission to unite several rectories, which were confirmed in perpetuity by the seal of Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury. He went twice to France, in a diplomatic

a Harl. MS. 7029.

b Bishop Godwin.—Mr. Blomefield gives one or two ludicrous instances of the excess of church power, in the case of this bishop. Hist. Norfolk, Vol. 2. But not belonging to this place, they are not copied.

character, to assert the claims of Edward III. and to treat of peace. He died on the last of these embassies, at Avignon, in 1355, and was buried at the cathedral church there, the cardinals, archbishops, and clergy, attending with great solemnity, the patriarch of Constantinople, who happened to be there, reading the funeral service a

This college was designed for students in civil and canon law; though with a view, at the same time, to supply the bishop's diocese with clergy". The founder, indeed, dying before all his intentions were realized, provided only for a master, three fellows, and three scholars, but other benefactors, following up his designs, increased the number. His intention was to have founded 20 fellowships. There are at present 12 fellowships and 16 scholarships: the fellowships, 10 lay, and two divinity, are open to all counties.

Of the eminent men of this college, or hall, I shall not attempt to make out a very large list; for, it being principally designed for students of the canon and civil law, the number of men eminent for general literature, has been in proportion less: the college too itself is not large. Of the thirteen first masters, Stephen Gardiner is the first who is much known to us by any writings: he was doctor of the civil law, a great instrument of Henry VIII. in managing the business of his divorce abroad, as well as at home, particularly at this University, of which he was chancellor in 1539: he was made

a In the above account of Bateman, I follow principally a MS. in Caius College library, copied from the archives of Trinity Hall.

b So expressly asserted in Lib. Institut. 4, quoted in Blomefield's Hist. of Norfolk. Mr. R. Smyth, therefore (MS.) speaks hastily.

• Archbishop Parker's Catalogus Cancellariorum, &c. p. 53.

Bishop of Winchester by Henry, next after his patron Cardinal Wolsey, in the year 1531. He was zealous, though a catholic, for the king's supremacy, and had a principal hand in promoting the six articles: under Edward VI. he was deprived of his bishopric, and during the five years of his reign, imprisoned in the Tower: but when Mary succeeded to the crown, and the popish party came again into favour, he was reinstated in 1553. During his chancellorship of the University it was, that he issued that curious decree against the new mode of pronouncing the Greek and Latin languages introduced by Cheke and Smith".

He was a man of great diplomatic powers, which he displayed in Italy, France, and Germany, and was distinguished for his eloquence; and how he employed both subtlety of thinking and speaking against the reformation, is detailed at large in our historians.

It is remarkable, though Gardiner had written against the pope's supremacy, that he was the person who employed his eloquence, in introducing Cardinal Pole, who came to establish it in full pomp at the beginning of Queen Mary's reign c.

His book written against the pope's supremacy, and in favour of Henry VIIIth's divorce, is entitled, De Verâ Obedientiâ: but he wrote a recantation in Queen Mary's reign: he also wrote on the sacrament against Cranmer and Peter Martyr.

Gardiner then was a politician, as well as an author, as

a Godwin De Præsul. Ang. p. 236.

b MS. Ca. num. 5, p. 147, as quoted by Dr. Richardson in Godwin. • See Lodovico Beccatelli's Life of Cardinal Reginald Pole, by Pye, p. 97.

indeed were most of the archbishops and bishops of those times.

Richard Sampson, L. L. D. was also a great civilian, consecrated Bishop of Chichester in 1537, and translated to Litchfield in 1543: he wrote in favour of the king's supremacy, which raised Cardinal Pole against him : he was author also of Commentaries on the Psalms, and on Paul's Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians. He died 1554a.

The following extract will illustrate the spirit of these times

Bishop Burnet speaks of Mr. Thomas Bilney as follows: "The most eminent person who suffered about this time was Thomas Bilney, of whose abjuration an account was formerly given. He after that went to Cambridge, and was much troubled in his conscience for what he had done, so that the rest of the society at Cambridge were in great apprehensions of some violent effects, which that desperation might produce, and sometimes watched whole nights. This continued about a year, but at length his mind was more quieted, and he resolved to expiate his abjuration by as public and solemn à confession of the truth; and to prepare himself the better both to defend and suffer for the doctrines which he had, through fear, formerly denied, he followed his studies for two years; and when he found himself well fortified in his resolutions, he took leave of his friends at Cambridge, and went to his own county of Norfolk. There he suffered martyrdom, and Parker, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, saw him suffer;" though Parker had, no share in his sufferings.

"When his allowance of bread and ale was brought

a Godwin De Præsul. Angl. p. 342.

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