Calendar of State Papers, Spain (Simancas), Volume 2, 1568-1579. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1894.
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'Simancas: July 1577', in Calendar of State Papers, Spain (Simancas), Volume 2, 1568-1579, (London, 1894) pp. 541-542. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/simancas/vol2/pp541-542 [accessed 12 April 2024]
July 1577
| July. B. M. Add. 26,056c. |
462. Document headed, "What Sandero (i.e., Dr. Sanders) has
received from England." Relation of a great miracle which our Lady has worked in England. In the month of July of this year 1577 in the city of Oxford (which was formerly a flourishing seat of learning and is now a school of heresy) certain judges and the principal people of the province were met together, as is customary in that country, to judge criminal cases. The hearing of mass is held to be a crime, as is also the confession of sins to a priest, submission to the supreme pontiff, and the carrying or venerating of the cross or Agnus Dei ; and these crimes were amongst those for hearing. Suddenly, in the midst of their deliberations, the wrath of God fell upon them in such a way that, although all there present had been perfectly well previously, the two principal judges, two viscounts, eight of the twelve jurymen, and many of the people in Court, fell ill of a strange malady. Numbers of them died on the spot, many others on their road home, and many more as soon as they entered their houses, so that within 24 hours 200 of these people were dead, and in the course of the three days 150 more, and the malady was still raging when the letter was written. Amongst those who died were some of the principal doctors and preachers of the sect called the Puritans, one of them being Lawrence Humphreys, (fn. 1) who translated the commentaries of St. Cyril from Greek to Latin and dedicated them to Queen Elizabeth, the dedication being very justly condemned by the holy Inquisition in Spain. It will thus be seen that God is fighting on our side. |
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