I pass by Colchester's part, if he took any, in Richard's journey to Ireland in 1399;[ 82] for our records throw no light on what did not concern the Convent. There appears to be no doubt that he was confederate with the Earls of Rutland, Huntingdon, Kent, and Salisbury, who were at first confided to his safe-keeping by Henry IV.; that he took part on December 17, 1399, in a secret gathering of the conspirators within the Abbey; that he was arrested, and sent first to Reigate and then, January 25, 1400, to the Tower; and that he was released, after a trial there held on February 4.[ 83] He had, of course, received Henry IV. when he made his progress to Westminster on October 12, 1399, and had taken part in the coronation on the following day.[ 84]
But inside the Convent there was an evident desire to eschew partisanships, as any one can realize who reads Roger Cretton's bare and impartial record in the Liber Niger.[ 85] I therefore pass from public questions and take up an otherwise undated letter[ 86] of the Abbot, written from Cologne on October 10, to two important Westminster monks whom we have already had before us, Peter Coumbe and John Borewell. It reveals Colchester's close interest in Abbey affairs, however far away he might be, and it is even somewhat peremptory in tone. For he had referred to them some detail of monastic business, and says that he is daily awaiting their answer, in order that he may take action accordingly. The Convent, he adds, is to receive with due honour a relation of the Bishop of Lincoln, remembering that his lordship has always been gracious to them in matters of conventual concern.
We must try to fix the date of this journey through Cologne, and some things can be soon settled. It must be before 1409-10, when John Borewell died.[ 87] He was in office as Granger, Kitchener, Cellarer, and Gardener almost till his death, and he had been in partnership with Peter Coumbe, as manager of the funds provided for Queen Anne's anniversary,[ 88] from 1394 to 1399. But who is the Bishop of Lincoln? It is tempting to think of the princely Henry Beaufort, the most potent holder of the see at this period; if so, the journey would fall at some time before 1404, when Beaufort was translated to Winchester, and thus it might even be got just within the limits of the partnership above-mentioned, for he was appointed to Lincoln in 1398. But we have evidence pointing to 1407 and 1408 as the time with which the visit to Cologne must be connected, and bringing Henry Beaufort's help and Abbot Colchester's travels into further association. It is a tattered paper document[ 89] which states that when Colchester was in foreign parts in 1407,[ 90] the collector of Romescot for the county of Surrey doubled his demand upon the chapels of Pyrford and Horsell from 12½d. each to 25d. each, and laid them under interdict when payment was refused. But the Bishop of Winchester issued a special mandate to the collector to desist from the exaction. Beaufort was therefore not abroad at the time with Colchester, but was defending his interests at home. But both Colchester and Philip Repingdon, Bishop of Lincoln, were in Italy in 1408. Colchester was at Lucca and Pisa in May, supporting the Cardinals who were struggling with Gregory XII.,[ 91] and his old friend, Bishop Merke, was with him. At Siena, on September 18, Gregory created ten new Cardinals, and one of these was Philip Repingdon.[ 92] It would be natural that he and Colchester should then meet, possibly travelling homeward together, and being in Cologne on October 10.
The matter of the augmented Romescot was brought to an end at Guildford, says the document, after the Abbot's return to England, July 22, 1412. This must not be interpreted to mean a continuous absence of five years, 1407-12, for we have seen the Abbot on his homeward way in 1408, and know that in July, 1411, he presided alone over the General Chapter of Benedictines at Northampton.[ 93] His absence in 1412, which is also substantiated by his bailiffs' payments to a substitute, was due to one more journey to Rome; for the account of the "Novum Opus" for 1412-3 enters payment, by consent of the Prior and the Seniors, of the large sum of £33 to the Abbot for the acceleration of certain concerns of the church in the Roman Court. It is possible that this journey took place in the autumn; for great events at home, in which the Abbot had some share, marked the months which followed. Early in 1413[ 94] Henry IV. had a seizure while at his devotions in the Abbey, and we should like to know whether the Abbot was in town and gave his instructions for the King's removal to the noblest apartment in the abbatial residence, Jerusalem Chamber, where he died on March 20. It does not appear that Colchester took any part in the royal obsequies, but there is no doubt that he assisted at the coronation of Henry V. in the Abbey church on that snowy Passion Sunday, April 9, 1413. For when the King's chantry was built, about twenty years after Colchester's death, its famous sculptures included two Coronation groups—perhaps, the acclamation and the homage[ 95]—in each of which the Abbot is represented as standing, in cope and mitre, on the King's left hand, Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, being on the King's right hand. We may also assume that Colchester was at Westminster to receive Henry, when he attended divine service in the church on Ascension Day and Whitsunday of that year.[ 96] The new King's devotion to the Abbey was beyond question, and his zeal for the immediate resumption of the New Work in the nave would tend to keep the Abbot at hand. Operations began on July 7, one thousand marks a year being granted by the Crown;[ 97] and Colchester would see things well in train under the hands of Richard Whitington and Brother Richard Harwden, before he left the precincts once more.
Possibly he had a rest from travel in the year 1413-4; at least we have nothing more serious to notice than his Receiver's payment of 8d. for boat hire "when my lord dined with the Archbishop at Lambhyth." But the autumn of 1414 saw him once more setting out for foreign parts; for Henry chose him as one of the English delegates to the great Council of Constance.[ 98] People spoke of the greatness of his train as he journeyed. Dr. Wylie remarks that he "was looked upon by the foreigners as a prince."[ 99] Perhaps he himself thought sometimes of the very different circumstances in which he and his man Gerard had crossed the Channel in fear and trembling, seven and thirty years earlier. He had been already engaged, as collector of the triennial contribution of ½d. in the mark imposed on English Benedictine houses, in paying out loans for their journey to the Abbot of St. Edmundsbury and the Prior of Worcester, who were the delegates from the Order to the same Council, and in sending fees to the various counsel who were retained by the Order at Constance. We have his triennial accounts as collector for 1417 and 1420,[ 100] which show that the business of the Council hung about him for the rest of his days; even in the latter, made up long after Constance had seen the last of its visitors, he was still reckoning the cost of a monk of Worcester's journey to Constance and back.
How long he remained at Constance, and what part he took in the tortuous proceedings, we do not know. The spring and summer of 1415 were anxious times in England, and Henry V. would be glad to have so shrewd an adviser within reach. The Abbot was now about seventy-seven years of age, and the lust of travel must have long since ceased. The King's writ went forth in May for the "Array and Munitioning of the Clergy" by July 16,[ 101] and the head of our House would be concerned to see that Westminster did its duty, per alios if not per se. Our Treasurers' roll for 1414-5 shows how Abbot and Convent performed their several parts:—