To my Sovereyn, John Paston.
1449(?)
MARCH 5
I recomend me hertily, thankyng yow for the tydings, and the good awysse that ze sent me be the Parson of Thorpe;[96.2] latyng zow wittin that the Byschope of the todir syde of the see sent laate to me a man, the qwych wuld abydin uppon my leyser, for to an had me ovyr wyt hym to the seyd Byschope, and so forth to the Courte.[96.3] So the seyd man and I arryn a poynted that he schal comyn ageyn a purpose fro the Byschope, to be my gyde ovyr the see, and so I purpose me fully forthe a noon aftir this Estryn. I mak me evyre day fulli redy as privyli as I can, be sekyng zow, as I trost on zow, and as I am zour trow bede man, as labor for me her that I mythe haf a wyrte of passagche directid un[to] swyche men as zow thyng that schyd best yife me my schargche.
The best takyng of schepynge is at Yernemuthe er Kyrley, or som othir place in Norfolk syde. I schal haf favour he now [enough] wyt ther seergiours [searchers]; bod all my goode spede and all my wel lythe in you heer, for ther on I trost fully.
Som cownsel me to haf a letter of exschawnge, thow it wer bode of xls. er lees, bod I comitte all my best in this matir to zour wysdam, and qwat at evyr ze pay in this matir, I schal truly at owr metyng repay ageyn to zow. Bod for Godds love purvey for my sped her, for ell [else] I lees all my purvyans, and ther too I schyd jaape[97.1] the Byschope man, and caus hym to com in to Yngland, and lees all his labour. For Goddis love, send me down this wyrte, er ell bryng it wyt zow, that I mythe haf fro zow a letter of tydings and comforthe; for I had nevyr verray need of zour labor til now, bod my hert hangithe in gret langor.
All my brethir wenyth that I schyd no forthir goo than to the Byschope, and undir that colour schal I weel go forthe to the Courte. I haf gret stody til I haf tydings fro zow. Avyr mor All mythi Good haf zow in kepyng, bodi and soule.
Writtin in hast, the Wednesday in the fyrst week of clen Lent.[97.2] Your Orator, Robt., P. of B.
I sent zow a letter, bod I hade non answer ageyn.
[96.1] [From Fenn, iii. 80.] There is no distinct clue to the date of this letter; but Fenn throws out a conjecture which, in default of any better guide, may be accepted as not improbable, that ‘the Bishop of the other side of the sea’ was Walter Lyhert, Bishop of Norwich, who in the beginning of 1449 must have been in Savoy, having been sent thither by the King to persuade the anti-pope Felix V. to renounce his claim to Nicholas V. for the peace of the Church. This Felix actually did in the beginning of this year, and Wharton considers Bishop Lyhert to have been the cause of his doing so (Angl. Sac. i. 418). Fenn, however, dates this letter 1450, on the supposition that the Bishop would have been still abroad in the beginning of that year, which is a mistake, as his name appears in the Rolls of Parliament as a trier of petitions as early as February.
[96.2] Robert Rogers was parson of Thorpe from 1445 to 1476.