21. William Dangerfield
Explanatory Notes
202 sat upon: went into session concerning.
deposed: testified.
203 Herodian cruelty: cruelty in the manner of Herod the Great, who ordered the massacre of infant boys in an attempt to kill Jesus, whom the Magi heralded as 'the new-born king of the Jews' (Matthew 2: 2, 16 – 18).
20. JOAN WASTE
205 repeat one chapter upon a price: read a chapter in return for payment.
notorious: commonly known.
206 why was not Christ able . . . as to turn water into wine: in interrogating Joan
Waste concerning her dissent from Roman Catholic Eucharistic doctrine, Ralph Bayne, Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield, and Doctor
Anthony Draycot, chancellor of Coventry, liken transubstantiation of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ (see
Matthew 26: 26) to his transformation of water into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2: 1 – 11).
raise Lazarus from death: Luke 16: 19 – 31.
207 De haeretico comburendo: Latin for 'concerning the heretic who is to be burnt'. Legislated in 1401, this statute imposed the penalty of being burnt alive on those condemned for heresy on the basis of reading the Bible in English translation, notably the Lollard version inspired by John
Wyclif. Parliament abrogated this law during the reign of Edward VI and then reinstated it under Mary I.
21. WILLIAM DANGERFIELD
209 the story of . . . at Derby: Narratives 19 – 20.
repaired: returned
Doctor Brooks: Doctor James Brooks, Bishop of Gloucester.
fretted off: worn away.
210 as the serpent did with Eve: the narrator likens the bishop's deception of Dangerfield to the temptation of Eve (Genesis 3: 1 – 6).
your first vow made to Christ in baptism: on behalf of infants undergoing baptism, parents make a vow of fidelity to Jesus Christ.
22. RICHARD WOODMAN
212 ironmaker: one who smelts iron.
turning head to tail: making an about face.
Richard Woodman . . . he was apprehended: he was arrested for accusing a priest named Fairbank of renouncing his marriage, which was permissible during the reign of Edward VI, following the reimposition of clerical celibacy under Mary I.