Complex sentence: According to William Hutchinson a commission, had been issued in 1576 or 1577 to examine matters of complaint against him, but had proved ineffectual because the Earl of Huntingdon and Matthew Hutton sided with the dean against the third commissioner, Sandys.
Split into simpler sentences: According to William Hutchinson a commission had been issued in 1576 or 1577 to examine complaints against him. But this proved ineffectual because the Earl of Huntingdon and Matthew Hutton sided with the dean against the third commissioner, Sandys.