Abraham Fleming: writer, cleric and preacher in Elizabethan and Jacobean London Clare Elizabeth Painting Stubbs, M. A. Royal Holloway University of London 21 April 2011 Supervised by Professor Pauline Croft and to be submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Declaration: I hereby declare that the work presented in this thesis, Abraham Fleming: writer, cleric and preacher in Jacobethan London, is my own. Signed: Name: Clare Elizabeth Painting Stubbs Date: 21 April 2011 1 Abstract: Since his death in 1607, Abraham Fleming has never been completely forgotten about. This thesis covers all aspects of Fleming’s life. It begins with his time at Cambridge and the relationships he forged there. It studies his varied and sometimes groundbreaking contributions to the books associated with him (with a focus on his English texts and translations). It also covers his ordination into the Church of England and subsequent career as a chaplain to Charles Howard, earl of Nottingham. It also elucidates his previously unknown life as a curate in the parish of St Nicholas, Deptford and as a deacon and priest St Pancras, Soper Lane, and finally his sermons at Paul’s Cross in the grounds of St Paul’s Cathedral. Fleming’s legacy of at least 52 printed books, which includes original godly protestant treatises, English translations of Latin and Greek classical works, and books commemorating unusual occasions, have ensured that his name lived on in bibliographic catalogues. Since the 1950s a few scholars have considered Fleming’s work on Holinshed’s Chronicles as significant contributions to the text. However, the subsequent articles that have been written about him have been narrow in scope and at times unreliable. Recent studies of Fleming have considered him only as a minor writer, yet this thesis demonstrates that he was a literary figure of considerable significance. Fleming made an important contribution to the emerging public sphere, as foregrounded by Jurgen Habermas, that was lauded by his contemporaries but he has largely slipped from view. Before this doctoral research little was known about Fleming’s career as a preacher in the Church of England, a career in which he proved just as diligent as when he was a “learned corrector” of books. The aim of this thesis has been to throw fresh light on the multi-faceted career of Abraham Fleming and establish him as a leading figure in late-Sixteenth century political and print culture. 2 For my mother and father. 3 Acknowledgements There are a number of people without whom this thesis would not have been possible. Foremost among these is my supervisor Professor Pauline Croft. When it seemed unlikely that there would be material enough for a Ph.D. on Fleming, Pauline looked at my initial research and gave me a chance. She has been patient and generous, she is always supportive and knowledgeable, and she is a consummate historian and academic. I would not have met Pauline without John A. W. Lock, fellow researcher and mine of information on just about everything. His suggestion that I “have a chat with Pauline” and subsequent introduction to her led to my enrolment at Royal Holloway, University of London and the completion of this thesis. At Royal Holloway, Professor Blair Worden agreed to act as my advisor, as required by the university regulations. I want to thank my friend Steve Moore, without whom I would not have heard of the Black Dog, which led to me the Wunder pamphlet that introduced me to Fleming some 15 years ago. I also valued the contributions to discussion made by many members of the Tudor and Stuart seminars at the Institute of Historical Research, London, particularly those of: Professor Michael Questier of the Department of History, Queen Mary, University of London; Dr Rivkah Zim of the English Department, Kings College, London; Simon Healey of the History of Parliament Trust; Helen Good of the University of Hull and regular contributor to the Tudor and Stuart seminars; and Professor Richard Hoyle of the Department of History, University of Reading. I thank Dr Michael Honeybone, lecturer at the Open University, and his wife Diana who have been studying Fleming’s brother, Samuel, and who have been very enthusiastic in their support of me and my research. Michael Saunders, former churchwarden of St Mary the Virgin, Bottesford, has not only shown great interest in my work but opened the church for me on a number of occasions so that I could explore Fleming’s last resting place. Many thanks go to Mr and Mrs Nicholas Fothergill of Stanford Hall in Lutterworth who allowed me into their library to look for Fleming’s manuscripts, and to their librarian Sarah Maughan for her help during my visits. I thank Revd Steven Doel, former vicar of St Nicholas, Deptford, for his time, the guided tour of his church and for telling me about his parish. I also thank Gary Haines, archivist and records keeper to the Worshipful Company of Mercers for sending me two books about the Company. I also thank the staff of the Huntington Library, California, for welcoming and assisting me during my research trip; I thank in particular archivist Steve Tabor for his help regarding the Huntington’s unique Melton Holinshed. Thank you to Professor Peter W. M. Blayney of University of Toronto, author of The Bookshops in Paul’s Cross Churchyard, for an inspirational meeting in which I realised how much could be achieved when one has very little known material to work with. Thank you to Dr Roger Lovatt, Librarian of Peterhouse, Cambridge, for allowing me to see the Buttery books and Dr Andrew Perne’s library inventory. I also thank Professor Ronald Cooley of the English Department, University of Saskatchewan, for sending me a copy of a rare early study of Fleming. Lastly, my thanks also go to my friend Chris Yates who has accompanied me on a number of research trips including the one to the Huntington Library, California. 4 Conventions and Abbreviations All dates are given in the New Style with the given year beginning on 1 January. All dates are anno domini unless suffixed with “B. C.” All spellings and punctuation used in quotations are kept as in the original books and documents unless clarity of meaning is compromised, in which case punctuation has been altered. The full titles of Fleming’s works are given at their first mention of the book in the chapter that deals with that book. Elsewhere in the thesis the titles have been abbreviated. For reference, a catalogue of all Fleming’s known printed material is provided in Appendix B and each entry gives the full title and the abbreviated title of the book. Printed books and journals: where London is the place of publication, London has been omitted from the references. DNB refers to Dictionary of National Biography (1885-1900). ODNB refers to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). STC refers to Pollard and Redgrave’s Short-title Catalogue (1986; 1991). BL is the British Library. LG is the London Guildhall archive. LRO is the Lowestoft Records Office. PRO refers to manuscripts kept at The National Archives. TNA refers to The National Archives. Ames is Joseph Ames’s Typographical Antiquities (1749). AthC is Charles Cooper’s Athenae Cantabrigienses (1858). BTop is J. Nichols’ (ed.) Bibliotheca Topographica vol. VIII [Antiquities in Leicesteshire] (1790). Lowndes is William Lowndes’ The Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature (1834). PBR is Thomas Walker’s A Biographical Register of Peterhouse Men and Some of their Neighbours (1927). Tanner is Thomas Tanner’s Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica (1748). 5 Table of Contents 1. Re-introducing Abraham Fleming (c. 1552–1607)………………………......…....…...8 2. A Straunge and Terrible Wunder (1577)……………………………………………...37 3. The Footepath of Faith and The Diamond of Devotion (1581)………...…….…….....62 4. Fleming and the Development of Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587)……………………………………………………….……....91 5. Fleming’s Printed Books 1575–c. 1580: The Classical and Occasional Works ………………………………………………….….……...128 6. Fleming’s Devotional Books, A Discoverie of Witchcraft, Dictionaries and Indexed Works, c. 1580-89…………………...……….....….169 7. Ordination, Paul’s Cross, Lord Howard of Effingham, St Pancras Soper Lane and the Lost Manuscripts…………………………….…...…..…..200 8. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….......…...228 Appendix A: A Biographical Chronology………………………………...….........…..236 Appendix B: A Companion to Fleming’s Known Printed Writing……………..............241 Appendix C: Peck’s List of Fleming’s Manuscripts………………………...…...…….260 Appendix D: Illustrations………………………………………………………..…......267 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………...…….276 Supplementary material on CD: Transcription of British Library printed book C27a4: Abraham Fleming, A Straunge and Terrible Wunder (1577), transcribed by Clare Painting Stubbs. Transcription of British Library printed book C65aa19: Abraham Fleming, The Diamond of Devotion (4th edn, 1602), transcribed by Clare Painting Stubbs. 6 List of Illustrations (see Appendix D, pp. 267-75): Fleming’s signatures from the deposition PRO C24/221 ‘Gryffen versus Mable et al, 34 Eliz. Regnus’ (courtesy of The National Archives) A view of Peterhouse, Cambridge, that Fleming would have recognized. (Photo taken by the author.) Godley’s woodcut of the Black Dog from Fleming’s Straunge and Terrible Wunder (1577). Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, where Fleming was ordained deacon and priest in August1588. (Photo taken by the author.) The cups used during ordination services at the time Fleming was ordained. (Photo taken by the author.) Lord Howard of Effingham. (Portrait by Daniel Mytens (c. 1590-1647), 1620.) St Nicholas’ church, Deptford, where Fleming assisted Revd. Thomas Macander as curate. (Photo taken by the author.) The area within St Nicholas’ churchyard where Christopher Marlowe was buried. (Photo taken by the author.) The rectangular plaque that commemorates Marlowe. (Photo taken by the author.) The blue plaque that commemorates the site of St Pancras Soper Lane, Fleming’s parish church.