copies whereof we
herewith send you, from our most holy Lord and Father in Christ,
Innocent, by Divine Providence Pope, the eighth of that name. We
therefore, John, the archbishop, the visitor, reformer, inquisitor, and
judge therein mentioned, in reverence for the Apostolic See, have taken
upon ourselves the burden of enforcing the said commission; and have
determined that we will proceed by, and according to, the full force,
tenour, and effect of the same.

"And it has come to our ears, being at once publicly notorious and
brought before us upon the testimony of many witnesses worthy of credit,
that you, the abbot aforementioned, have been of long time noted and
diffamed, and do yet continue so noted, of Simony, of usury, of
dilapidation and waste of the goods, revenues, and possessions of the
said monastery, and of certain other enormous crimes and excesses
hereafter written. In the rule, custody, and administration of the
goods, spiritual and temporal, of the said monastery, you are so remiss,
so negligent, so prodigal, that whereas the said monastery was of old
times founded and endowed by the pious devotion of illustrious princes
of famous memory, heretofore kings of this land, the most noble
progenitors of our most serene Lord and King that now is, in order that
true religion might flourish there, that the name of the Most High, in
whose honour and glory it was instituted, might be duly celebrated
there;

"And whereas, in days heretofore the regular observance of the said rule
was greatly regarded, and hospitality was diligently kept;

[Sidenote: Delinquencies of the abbot and the monks.]

"Nevertheless, for no little time, during which you have presided in the
same monastery, you and certain of your fellow monks and brethren (whose
blood, it is feared, through your neglect, a severe Judge will require at
your hand) have relaxed the measure and form of religious life; you have
laid aside the pleasant yoke of contemplation, and all regular observances;
hospitality, alms, and those other offices of piety which of old time were
exercised and ministered therein have decreased, and by your faults, your
carelessness, your neglect and deed, do daily decrease more and more, and
cease to be regarded--the pious vows of the founders are defrauded of their
just intent; the antient rule of your order is deserted; and not a few of
your fellow monks and brethren, as we most deeply grieve to learn, giving
themselves over to