The Bishop had not shown himself again in his diocese
many weeks before they were all three dead. In making this last
statement, I am a little anticipating the course of events, but only
a little. The Angel of Death moves at no laggard pace when once he
begins his march with his sword drawn in his hand.
* * * * * * *
Thus far I have been quoting from, or referring to, authorities which
are accessible to any one with an adequate command of books at his
elbow--the chroniclers and the historians named, the Foedera, the
Rolls of Parliament, and such authorities as whoever chooses may
consult for himself. These printed authorities, which have all been
consulted and looked into again and again, have told us very little,
but they have given us certain notes of time--furnished us, in fact,
with a _terminus a quo_. We have learnt this, at any rate, that
about Christmas, 1348, the plague appeared at Westminster and its
vicinity, and that it had increased alarmingly in London and
elsewhere by the beginning of March, 1349.
We have next to deal with that other evidence to which I have
alluded--the unprinted documentary evidence ready to our hands--I
mean the Institution Books in the various Diocesan Registries and the
Rolls of the Manor Courts, which still exist in very great abundance,
though they are rapidly disappearing from the face of the earth.
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