[1] He is said to have been attached to the Curia, and his residence in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City may have given rise to his alternative surname De Palatio (later Anglicised to Palles).
The then Archbishop, Edmund Connesburgh, was not personally responsible for the enormous debts of the Archdiocese, which had been incurred by his predecessor John Bole, who died in 1471.
Despite having been the personal choice of King Edward IV for Archbishop, Connesburgh was persuaded to resign in return for a pension and the cancellation of his debts.
This appointment was revoked on 20 October 1480 and Tomás Mac Brádaigh, the Archdeacon of Kilmore, recommended replacing him: his decision was confirmed by Pope Sixtus IV.
Payne, like nearly all of Simnel's supporters, received a royal pardon from the victorious Henry VII, but apparently felt that he could improve his standing at Court by attacking Spinellis, with whom his relations were never good.
[5] Spinellis and his fellow Archbishop, John Walton of Dublin, made vigorous efforts to free him, even hiring troops, but to no effect.