Fugitives and people of infamous conversation The writ of the Court runs Nos Capitaneus c. Tibi c. Mandamus vigore Regio nostra qua hac parte fungimur Authoritate c. In Criminal causes it is to be served a fortnight in Civil a week before the Court sits To the Judicia Campestria may be referred the Vice-Captains Court which takes cognizance of the division of Estates between brothers forcible ejections servants entertained without testimonial exaction of customs non-payment of publick duties c. The Sub-Chamberlains Court is for settling the bounds of Noblemens Estates The Commissorial Courts are erected for the same purpose when the controversy happens between a Noble-man and one of the Kings tenants For then the King sends down Commissioners to settle the limits of his own lands who therefore issue out their writ after this form Nos c. Commissarii per Majestatem Regiam specialiter deputati vobis Generosis c. innotescimus c. The Tribunal-Courts are superiour Courts which take cognizance of all causes removed thither by way of appeal from the Courts of Land-judicature the Captains Courts the Vice-Chamberlain and the Commissorial Courts The Judges of these Courts are as well spiritual as secular The spiritual Judges are elected by the several Chapters of the Provinces the temporal Judges by the most voices of the Nobility These Courts are held only in two places for Poland Petricow and Lublin The Causes are heard in order for three days are allowed to enter all causes that come and whatever is not enter'd in those three days cannot be medled with that sitting Here are tried all causes that concern Ecclesiastical persons and the revenues of Churches and religious houses The writs issued hence run all in the Kings name under the Seal of the Province where the Defendant lives The Decrees of the Court are seal'd with the Seal of the province where the Court is held From hence there lyes no appeal either to the King or the General Session unless where the Court is equally divided or that the case in Controversy be not decided by the Constitutions The Courts of the General Conventions are either Criminal or Civil The Criminal either for publick crimes as High Treason Treason Robbing the Exchequer Violation of the priviledges of the General Parliament and adulterating or falsifying the publick Coin or else for private crimes as Murder Poysoning Incest Adultery and such like hainous offences To the civil Conventional Courts belong all causes concerning the Estate of the Kings table goods unlawfully received extortion of custome negligence of Magistrates c. all causes concerning the tenths of Noblemens Estates profanation of Churches Land-offices and Honours c. The Judges of this Court are the King and the Senatours Whilst the Senatours and Deputies give their votes the King absents himself afterwards when the decree is confirm'd by plurality of votes he returns and the Marshal having proclaimed the Sentence in the Kings presence commands the person condemn'd to be clapt into irons and takes care that execution be done For causes that relate to the public Revenues there is the Court of the Exchequer usually held at Radom and therefore called Tribunal Radomiense The Judges of this Court besides the Treasurer are certain Senators elected for this purpose in the general Parliaments of the Kingdom Before this Court are examined and tryed all Sub-treasurers and Collectors of contributions and Captains which have not brought into the Treasury what collections were paid into their hands as also all Merchants and others by whom the Treasury has suffer'd any dammage This Court seldome sits above a fortnight or three weeks and always adjourns before the meeting of the general Conventions Nearly relating to this Court is that which they call The Commission for payment of Souldiers wages Here are tryed such Souldiers as have not appeared after they have received their pay or that have committed any Acts of violence towards the Kings Subjects The Judges of this Court are the chief Commission-officers of the Army with certain selected Senators and Deputies to assist them To omit the Military Courts which are the same in all well disciplined armies the Marshal of the Kings house has also his Court whose jurisdiction extends not only over the Kings servants but also over the Senators themselves that live in the Court The Captural Court is two-fold either General which sits during the Interregnum to prevent disorders having absolute power of life and death whose Judges are chosen out of the prime Nobility Or Particular in the several Palatinates of the Kingdom the Judges whereof are chosen out of the Nobility at the several particular Conventions in the beginning of the Interregnum They take cognizance of all causes tryable in the Captains Court and of all injuries and batteries but meddle not with civil matters being like a Court constituted to keep the peace during the Interregnum All Captural Courts cease three weeks before the Assemblies for Election meet After the Election is over they sit again till the Coronation of the King The Jews are every where tried and judged by the Palatines from whom there lyes no appeal except the sum exceed an hundred Florens They that live in Towns or Villages belonging to Noblemen are under the jurisdiction of the Lord of the Royalty In the Assessorial Court the Chancellour sits as supreme Judge assisted by the Masters of requests and the principal Secretaries of the Kingdom Here are heard all causes removed from the City Courts as also from the Palatines when the controversy lies between a Christian and a Jew Of the Court of Relations the King himself is Judg and hears all causes removed by way of appeal out of the Assessorial Court Hence there lies no appeal but only to the Parliament it self and that but in two or three cases As when the action relates to an Estate which the possessour affirms that he holds by inheritance or that it concern the publick revenue of the kingdom I do not find any Ecclesiatical Courts particularly named however most certain it is that the Bishops have their several Courts where either they or their officials take cognizance of all ceremonies and institutions Ecclesiastical and are Judges of Heresy Schism Magick Incantations Usury Simony as also controversies about Tithes and Church-lands of murder or violence offer'd to a religious person or upon holy ground Moreover they determine the rights of Patronage Matrimonial differences and contests touching birth-right As for Wills and Testaments the differences about them are decided in the secular Courts as well as in these unless in case of some Legacies left to the Church From the Bishop's Court there lies an appeal to the Arch-bishop of Leopol from him to the Arch-bishop of Gnesna and thence to the Apostolick See To the Spiritual Courts belong the Court of Nunciature under the jurisdiction of the Popes Nuncio for that purpose always residing in Poland However before he
hardly recover'd any of its ancient riches and grandeur and is now moulder'd into a Sea-Port Town of less note if possible then Wollin Cities and great Towns of Note in the Lower POMEREN FIrst 〈◊〉 STRALSUND When this City now the largest and wealthiest in Pomeren was first built is not certainly known The most credible Historians tell us it owes its first original to Sunno II. King of the Franks who laid the first foundation of this Town in the year 145 or 146 calling it from his own name Sunnonia which was afterwards corrupted into Sunda and by the addition of Strala an Island situate no man knows where turn'd at last into Stralsund But I had rather believe it had the name Sund as 't is still sometimes call'd from the narrow Sea upon which it stands since this as well as the Baltic Straits betwixt Helsingore and Helsingborg would be properly nam'd in the Danish or Gottish tongue de Sund. The other part of its modern name seems afterwards added von den Stralen oder flussen from the interchangable portions of Sea and Land in this place The first undoubted truth we find related of this City is that after some great spoiling or utter destruction it was magnificently rebuilt enlarged and peopled with Germans by Jaromar Prince of Rugen about the year 1209. By this Prince's Son its fortifications were first begun in the year 1230 and the City removed a little out of the place where its first foundations had been laid by his Father For before Jaromar had quite encompass'd his new built Town with a slender Wall which he fancied would have been sufficient to have defended it against the incursions of the Danes on the one hand and the Pomeranians on the other the Dukes of Pomeren broke in upon him and overpowering his small Garrison burnt up the greatest part of the intended City So that the Stralsunders have good reason to reckon the Age of their City no farther then from the year 1230 as they intimate from the following distich engraven in several places of the Town in Golden Letters Annis Ducentis ter denis mille retentis Fit Stralsundensis Civitas cui nomen ab undis Since that time it has had almost as many fair priviledges and immunities conferr'd upon it as any City in the Empire of its age As 1. The Magistrates of the Town have power to determine all controversies as well in Criminal as Civil causes within their own Courts from whence lies no appeal to any superior Judge or Prince whatever 2. They have power to coin money and raise forces either for Sea or Land 3. In case of an engagement of the whole German Empire with some foreign Nation in a Sea-Fight the Stralsunders are not obliged to venture any further abroad then is convenient for the defence of their own City 4. They have had power to make Leagues and Confederacies for the advancement of their own trade and to chuse their own Patrons and Protectors out of all the Princes of the Empire At this day the City is in a flourishing and splendid condition the Houses generally stone and very uniform This last year 1680 some part of the Town was burnt down by an unhappy accident but the plentiful purses of the inhabitants will be able quickly to repair the damages of that fire The Sea betwixt this Town and the Isle of Rugen is about an English mile in breadth down to which from the Walls there are six great Gates and as many Bridges leading thither To these Bridges the Merchantships of 150 or 200 Tun which ride in the Harbour are fasten'd Towards the Land it is fortified with regular Bulwarks and Fish-ponds of twice a Musket's shot in bredth over which there are four Dams and Bridges leading from the four Land-Gates of the Town The chief Commodity of the Town is Corn which the Merchants transport in great quantities into the Low-Countries Scotland Norway and many other parts of Europe In some of the Northern Nations the Stralsund beer is reckoned a choise Commodity and for that reason many tun of that Liquor is here yearly ship'd off Stralsund has always so bravely maintain'd its priviledges and Liberties that it would be a voluminous History to give an account of the many several Proofs its Inhabitants have given of their valour in this kind Historians will acquaint us that at once it withstood the United Forces of two Kings of Denmark and Sweden and ten Princes against the assaults of all which it bravely defended it self and in the engagement took Eric Duke of Saxony Prisoner After this exploit the City began to be as terrible as before it had been impregnable and none of the Neighbouring Princes durst offer either violence or any affront to the Citizens of Stralsund In the Civil Wars of Germany Count Walstein trusting to Fortune that had always favour'd his former enterprises lay close siege to the Town but after a furious onset and a long but vain expectance of success was at last forced shamefully to retire Within a while after the Stralsunders put themselves under the protection of Gustavus Adolphus the triumphant King of Sweden who though at first designed only for a titular Patron prov'd in the end their real Lord and Master However the present Elector of Brandenburg is the only Prince that can justly brag of having fairly conquered the City of Stralsund which after he had taken Stetin and the greatest part of the upper Pomeren was by him besieged and taken in the year 1678 though afterwards as he stood obliged by the Fifth Article of the Treaty of peace signed by the Ministers of the Kings of France and Sweden and the said Elector at St. Germain's en Laye the 29th of July in the year 1679 he resign'd it back into the hands of the Swedish King II. Bardt BARTH or BARDT This Town not many ages agoe was the Metropolis of the upper Pomeren and gave name to all that part of the Countrey wherein are now situate Stralsund Grimmen Tribsees with many other Cities and great Towns of good note Some fancy it derived its name from the Longobardi whom they make the undoubtedly antient Inhabitants of these parts and in confirmation of this their conjecture produce the old Arms of the Town wherein it bears a mans head with a long beard But the more probable opinion is That 't is so called from the River Barte or Bartze on the mouth of which it is seated The Fields about this City are exceeding fruitful and abound with all manner of grain whence were the Haven here as deep and fit to harbour Ships of a considerable burthen as that at Stralsund Bardt would be capable of being as much advanced by Merchandise as any of its Neighbouring Cities But that small Arm of the Sea upon which this City stands is so shallow that neither Merchantmen nor almost any other Vessels save only such as serve to convey Passengers from hence into Denmark or Sweden
and Vilna For the Polonians believe that it very much avails both to the security of the Governour and to confirm the allegiance of them that obey that the King should be chosen by the Generality who can then have no pretence to complain of their own Act. The place of Election is in an open field not far from Warsaw near the Village Wola by reason of the multitude of them who have voices in the Election it is mark'd out by the Marshals of Poland and Lithuania When the day of Election is come and the Senators all met the Interrex asks the Question three times Whether it be their pleasure to command that such a one shall be declared King If by consent of voices they return for an answer It pleases us Let him live then the Archbishop declares him King in these words In the name of God I declare such a one King and great Duke of Lithuania and beseech the King of Heaven to enable him for so great a charge and through his mercy so to order that the Election may be prosperous for the Nation and happy for the Catholick Religion After which the Marshals proclaim the Election in the following manner King N. is unanimously elected and so declared by the Interrex him therefore all ye acknowledg your lawfully elected and declared King If the King so elected be absent his Ambassadours are obliged to confirm by oath the conditions and receive the decree of the Election After which the Marshalls make a second Proclamation in these words The Polanders have a lawful King On the other side before the King is admitted he is obliged by oath to preserve the Laws and priviledges of the Kingdom and the Covenants agreed upon by the Estates in all their clauses points and conditions and to renew the said oath at his Coronation But though he be now elected the Interregnum does not cease till after his Coronation for till then he assumes no other Title then that of King Elect neither are his Letters to Foreign Princes seal'd with any other seal then that of the Chamber So that though the present King was permitted to make use of the Seal of great Duke of Lithuania before his Coronation that was only done upon the necessity of the Muscovitick Expedition The usual place of Coronation is Cracow where the Crown is kept in the cheif treasury under the charge of the high Treasurer and the person performing the ceremony is always the Archbishop of Gnesna if not prevented by sickness The chief Ceremonies at the Coronation are the Questions propounded to the King Wilt thou profess the Catholick faith delivered by Catholick men Answ I will Wilt thou defend and maintain the Church and its Ministers Wilt thou uphold defend and govern the Kingdom by God committed to thy care according to Justice Ans I will All which he confirms by the usual form of words and laying his hand upon the Evangelists The Ceremony of anointing is perform'd with saying these words I anoint thee King with the sanctified oil in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost The words of Confirmation are Sit and possess the Throne appointed thee by God Let thy hand be strengthned and thy right hand exalted The solemnity being ended the King repairs to the grand Assembly for the Coronation where the Interrex resigns his Authority and the Senatours together with the Nobility and Deputies of the Cities take their oaths of allegiance to the new King The present power and authority of the Kings of Poland will more plainly appear by a recital of the articles to the observance whereof they bind themselves as well before as at their Coronation for they contain all the essential properties of Regal Dominion under the name of Pacta Conventa As to their power in Ecclesiastical affairs the Roman-Catholick Kings of Poland have been so kind as to part with their chiefest prerogatives in that particular reserving only to themselves the collation of benefices The King swears to maintain peace between the dissenters in Religion of which there are many in Poland and to compose the causes and differences among persons professing the Greek religion as appears by the Pacta Conventa sworn to by John the Third now reigning As for foundations of Churches and Monasteries whatsoever liberty the King may have to erect they are to be confirm'd by all the orders at the general assembly of Estates and thus the immunities and priviledges granted by the Kings of Poland to the Academy of Vilna were also confirm'd The next prerogative is the legislative power concerning which we find that in the time of Lechus the Kings of Poland had an absolute authority of making Laws themselves as necessity required But afterwards when they had received the Christian faith they began to make Laws with the consent of the Peers Insomuch that Sigismund the Third in the year 1570 enacted That no Law should be of publick force till reviewed and subscribed by such a number of Deputies of the Nobility and Senators whose consent was to be required before-hand whether the Law should pass which Law remains to this day The determination of Controversies was likewise formerly in the breast of the King as supreme Judg till Vladislaus Jagello granted this priviledge to the Nobility That they should not be punished or imprison'd till convicted by Law After him Bathor threw off the burthen of hearing causes from his own shoulders and erected several courts of Judicature in Poland and Lithuania reserving only to himself the judgment of such causes as concerned his Chequer and such Cities as were immediately under his jurisdiction But now the Nobility create the chief Judg or Marshal with his assistants in those tribunals nor does the King sit alone upon causes that come before him by way of appeal besides the King swears to determine all Court causes according to the advice and opinion of the Senators and Officers residing at Court as also to call the causes in order as they are set down in the Register and neither to retard nor further any cause for favour or interest The power of making war did formerly without doubt absolutely belong to the King But Casimir the third in the year 1454 made a promise that he would undertake no war without the consent of the Senate At this day the Kings of Poland by the Pacta Conventa promise not to admit or call in any foreign assistance without the especial consent of the Estates not to encrease the number of the standing Militia nor raise forces privately not to send aid to any other Prince without consent as aforesaid nor to commit the trust of Forts or Castles to strangers or plebeians but to men of worth and landed Nobility Besides all these engagements there is a Council of War elected out of the Senate and Nobility to attend and advise him in the field according to the late Constitutions in the year 1676 and several others before He is also
the lesser Councils or Conventions in the several Palatinates larger Provinces and certain Districts These Conventions precede the general Assemblies of the Kingdom six weeks unless upon some extraordinary accident and are held in the proper Cities of the Palatinates and Provinces appointed for that purpose Here after they have chosen a Marshal who seems to be much like our Speaker as being the Director of the Convention they first consider of such things as are propounded to them by the Kings Deputies dispatched away to every Convention and of what other business is to be motioned at the General Session After that they choose the Land Deputies or provincial Delegates for the general Assembly Every Province sends so many almost in the same manner as our Shires save only that they are not chosen by the people till the whole number amount to about 300. These Deputies are generally elected out of such Magistrates as are not of the Senatorian order excluding all Judges and their Assistants Collectors and all Officers of the Exchequer unless they have exact and full acquittances from the Treasurer The Delegates like our Burgesses have a certain allowance from their respective Provinces during the sitting of the general Assembly The particular Conventions being broken up which by the Law are not to sit above four days three weeks before the Senators and Delegates repair to the Grand Session they meet at the general Committees for the several Provinces where they again read over the Kings commands the instructions given to the Delegates and what was thought needful to be propounded for the publick good The grand Assembly being met the Deputies repair to their Chamber and choose their Marshal or Director which done they are all conducted to kiss the Kings hand and after that ceremony perform'd the Chancellours of the Kingdom and Dukedome in order declare to them the substance of those affairs which are to be the subject of their Debates Before they depart they put the King in mind of supplying such employments as are vacant with deserving persons and desire an account of such Laws or Ordinances as have been made by the resident Senators since the sitting of the last grand Convention Having so done they return to their Chamber The power of these Nuncii or Deputies is very great for when they send any of their number to the King they are presently admitted let the King be never so busy and have an immediate dispatch If they clash in their debates the King is careful to send some of the Senators to reconcile them who then give them the Title of Mosci Panovoie Bracia or Gracious Lords Brothers They have also power to impeach any great Officer of Misdemeanours and to put the King himself in mind of his promises touching the Laws and priviledges of the Kingdom neither is any constitution valid that has not its Original from the Chamber of the Deputies And which is yet more if any one of the whole number of the Nuncii dissent nothing can be legally concluded So that upon the protestation and departure of one Deputy the whole Convention is ipso facto dissolv'd Whilst the Deputies are thus consulting the King and Senators have little to do but to hear certain criminal causes appointed before hand for the first week and some other civil controversies the second till the return of the Deputies embodies the whole Senate together Then every man has liberty to deliver his mind with the leave and direction of the Marshal The King suspends his own opinion till the Senators and Deputies or the major part of them agree Then he endeavours to reconcile their different votes or if he cannot prevail concurs with that party which has voted most conformably to the Laws and priviledges of the Realm These consultations by the Law ought not to be continued above fifteen days after the joyning of both Houses though sometimes urgency of affairs causes farther prolongation When the Session breaks up the Deputies returning home give notice of their return to the Captains with Jurisdiction and the Palatines or Vice-Palatines give the same notice of the return to the Deputies to the Nobility inviting them withal to the Post-Comitial Assemblies or Conventions of Relation the meeting whereof the King appoints In these Conventions the Deputies produce the constitutions made in the last general Assembly of Estates delivered to them under seal by the Chancellours and take care that they be fairly transcribed into the Land and military Registers not omitting after this to give a full account of what they have acted in discharge of their Trusts If the grand Session break up in confusion not having effected any thing to purpose then certain Post-Comitial Councils are called wherein the King prefixes a time for another grand Session Nor is it a wonder that much disturbance should rise in the General Assemblies considering the multitude of the Deputies and the liberty of each member for which reason Cardinal Johannes Franciscus Commendonus facetiously said That Morbus Comitialis was the Epidemical distemper of Poland Now that the King may not want a Council in the interval of general Conventions they before they break up appoint 24 Senators 8 Palatines 8 Major and as many Minor Castellanes and four Bishops to wait quarterly four at a time one Bishop and three Senators till other 28 are chosen And these are bound so close to their duty that they accompany the King to the Wars for which they have a Stipend allowed and payed out of the Treasury The Courts of Judicature in respect of their division are the same as in other countreys 〈…〉 that is either Ecclesiastic or Secular either for civil or criminal causes but in respect of the Judges and manner of proceeding therein not easily to be understood without a particular survey The Nobles have a Court peculiar to themselves called the Court of Land-judicature wherein all actions relating to estates in Land are tryed Where also the Captains and by their permission the Kings Tenants may sue the Nobles themselves for wast done upon the Lands belonging to the Kings table To this Court likewise belong all actions of debt upon Contract The Judges of this Court are a chief Judg a Judg and a Secondary Upon the death of any of these the Nobility propose four landed men whom they recommend to the King who chuses one out of them into the dead place All the Judges are bound to be resident at the Session of the Court which is twice thrice and sometimes four times a year The next remarkable Court is that of the several Captains jurisdiction called Sudy Grodskie or Courtmilitary The chief Judg of this Court is a Captain he sits alone takes cognisance of Rapes Burglary Setting Houses on fire Robberies upon the High-way c. Noblemen not Landed are here also tryed and forreign Merchants coming to Faires He has also power without any noise of Law to condemn and punish idle Vagabonds Thieves Proscribed persons
Light-horse as the King thinks fit and pay in yearly such a sum of money into the Treasury But these are neither so numerous nor large as before the alteration of Government in the year 1660. Again out of the Nobility are chosen all the Court-Officers Of which the chiefest are 1. Court-Officers The Chancellor 2. The Admiral who takes care of the building and repairing of all sorts of Ships belonging to the Crown He has under him a Vice-Admiral who acts by his Commission 3. The Marshal who provides necessaries for all manner of dispatches in the times of war and peace 4. The Treasurer who receives in and gives acquittances for all summs paid into the Kings Exchequer he has under him two Secretaries of the Nobility and a great number of inferior Scribes 5. The Master of the Horse There are only seven Bishopricks in Denmark Bishopricks which are all as in England in the Kings gift 1. Copenhagen where the Bishop has Archiepiscopal rights tho without the title 2. Ripen and 3. Arhusen both in the Northern Jutland 4. Odensee in Funen 5. Wiburg 6. Arhusen 7. Sleswic in the Southern Jutland The Cities are governed by their distinct Corporations Citâ—â—â— And the Citizens enjoy peculiar Priviledges and Charters as in other parts of Europe The Rustics are either Freeholders Frybunder Rustics such as have hereditary Estates paying only some small Quit-rent to their Landlords Or Wornede Villains absolutely in the power of their Lords Whilst the Kingdom of Denmark lay confused and broken into several incoherent parts Laâ—â— the Provinces had not all the same Laws but were governed by peculiar Statutes established by their petty but independent Princes Whence in Danish Authors we meet often with mention made of the Leges Scanicae Leges Sialandicae c. But afterwards when all these scatter'd members came to be re-united under the same head they were all subject to the same Government and Laws The Laws now in use were drawn into one body which they call the Jydske Lowbog or the Book of the Laws of Jutland and established by King Waldemar the first and revised and confirm'd by Waldemar the second To the observation of these as the only Municipal Laws of the Land the Kings of Denmark have formerly bin sworn at their Coronation Howbeit some of them have been since changed As for instance by the ancient Laws of Denmark as well as in England as may appear by the frequent mention of manbot and wergild in our English-Saxon Laws murder was not punished with death but a pecuniary mulct This custom was observed till the days of Christian the third who looking upon it as a constitution inconsistent with the Law of God and dictates of humane reason abrogated it ordering that from thenceforward wilful murder should be judged a capital crime The ancient Danes were so careful and zealous to transmit their Estates to their right heirs that tho they could be so merciful as to suffer murderers to live yet they punished Adultery with death Which Law is still in force in Saxony as may be seen in any Sachsen-Spiegel and many other parts of Germany The fashion of deciding all manner of causes in our English Courts by a Jury of twelve men Judâ—â—â—ture may seem to have bin borrowed from the Danes who used formerly as they do still in some parts of Jutland to assemble every Parish by themselves once a year in the fields to determine all differences by twelve select men From whom if the disagreeing parties were not reconciled an appeal lay to the Judge of the Province and thence to the supreme Court of Justice as is shown before The Heathen Danes had another way of determining Controversies by Duels in which the Challenger was to demonstrate the justice of his cause by his success This custom lasted till the first planting of Christianity by Poppo who to confirm the truth of his Doctrine took up with his bare hands glowing-hot bars of Iron without the least harm to the admiration of all beholders This miracle wrought not only a change in the Religion but Laws also of the Kingdom For hereupon King Sueno or Suenotto ordered That thence forward all persons accused of any hainous crime should clear themselves by carrying in their hands a glowing plough-share or some other piece of hot iron This kind of purging is called by some of the Danish Writers Jerntegn i. e. Iron-token by others Ordale Whence this last word should fetch its original is not agreed on by our modern Etymologists Verstegan brings it from Or an old word for Law and deal a part or portion And indeed the German word Vhrteil seems to favour this derivation Our fore-fathers the Saxons had borrowed from the Danes several kinds of Ordale As by carrying a bar of hot iron up to the high Altar bare hand by treading barefoot and blindfold over a certain number of glowing barrs laid on the ground at unequal distances by thrusting the naked arm into a pot of boiling water and lastly as they use to try Witches by throwing the accused party into a River or deep Vessel of cold water He that desires to see an exact account of the ceremonies used in the second and third kinds of Ordale may read them at large in the Ecclesiastical Laws of King Athelstane published by the Learned Sr. Henry Spelman Concil Britann tom 1. pag. 404. And in the same Kings Laws as they are published by Mr. Lambard you have the other two sorts described The first that throughly abolished all kinds of Ordale in Denmark was King Waldemar the Second about the year 1240 at the request of Pope Innocent the Third who thought it an intolerable and hainous impiety thus to tempt God Barclay in his Icon Animorum wonders that such innumerable swarms of men should sally out of these parts as were able to overrun the greatest part of Europe whereas at this day there is such a scarcity of Inhabitants that the King of Denmark is hardly able to wage war with any of his Neighbours without a supply of Souldiers out of foreign Countries But this is no such great miracle when we consider how the vastest Empires in the World Assyria Egypt Judaea and Rome it self vainly flattered with the name of Vrbs Aeterna have had their periods The greatest strength of the King of Denmark as of all Princes of Isles consists chiefly in the number of their Mariners and good Ships In all Skirmishes and Wars between the Dane and Swede it is obvious to observe how much the latter have usually prevail'd at Land and the former at Sea Christian the second upon a short warning fitted out a hundred good men of war to aid Henry the Second King of France against the English and this present King has a much larger Fleet always ready for action The Danish King can afford to build yearly twelve men of war without impoverishing his Exchequer And in this Naval force the
parts of Germany So that these still retain'd their ancient forms until the Franks having made themselves Masters of all introduc'd new modes and establish'd a new sort of Government every-where For these Conquerors imitating the Romans reduc'd all Germany into Provinces over which they appointed so many Dukes who had authority to govern and to administer justice according to the tenure of their respective Commissions To these Dukes they sometimes added Assistants who were from their office which was to aid the Dukes in the management of great and weighty affairs call'd Counts or Comites The Dukes were always elected by the King and Nobility out of some illustrious Family yet so that if the deceased Duke's Son were capable and worthy of his Father's honour he was seldom rejected At last the power of these Dukes grew exceedingly great and terrible insomuch that 't was ordinary for several of them to deny to pay homage to the Emperors Which when Charles the Great observ'd he destroy'd the two great Dukedoms of the Francic Kingdom Aquitane and Bavaria by dividing them into several smaller Counties But not long after Charles's death the Emperors created new Dukes in most places where he had chang'd them into Counts Whereupon the Empire was quickly reduc'd to the former straits every Duke pretending to and exercising Regal authority in his own Province The first of these that grew formidably potent was Otho Duke of Saxony afterwards elected Emperor who tho he refus'd the Imperial Diadem and got it conferr'd on Conrad Duke of Franconia was always look'd upon as the most powerful Prince of the German Empire in his time After Otho's death the Emperor Conrad used all means possible to reduce the overgrown power of the Duke of Saxony to some tolerable mediocrity but his endeavours prov'd unsuccessful and Duke Henry stoutly maintain'd the Honours and Priviledges which his Father Otho had enjoy'd without disturbance From that time forward the Emperors lay under an obligation of creating new Dukes who getting into their hands the government of several potent Cities set up for almost absolute Princes Our Learned Antiquary Mr. Selden reckons up six several sorts of Graves or Counts which are these 1. Schlecht-Graven or simple Counts 2. Counts Palatine which as will be shew'n anon are subdivided into several other branches 3. Counts of the Empire 4. Marck-Graves or Counts of the Frontiers 5. Landt-Graves or Counts of Provinces 6. Burg-Graves or Counts of Cities and great Towns There was anciently a seventh sort Here-Graven who answer'd exactly to the primitive Dukes or Her-tzogen for as the office of these was to conduct and govern the Soldiers so the others were to determine all controversies as Field-Judges The Gefurstete Graven do not make a distinct species being nothing else then such Counts as besides their ordinary Title may challenge that of Furst or Prince In the old Laws and Constitutions of the Empire we meet with almost an innumerable company of inferior Officers who have the title of Graven bestow'd on them Such are 1. Cent-Grave he that had the government of an Hundred We may English the word High-Constable 2. Holtz-Grave or Wald-Grave Overseers of the Woods and Forests 3. Gograf of which before 4. Spiel-Grave the Master of the Revels 5. Hans-Grave a Title formerly given to the Chief Judg in all matters relating to Trade debated in the Diet at Ratisbon But we shall not weary the Reader with insisting upon these obsolete Titles of Honour contenting our selves with a short account of the six first kinds which are all our famous Antiquary beforemention'd has thought worthy his taking notice of The first are such as are stiled barely Counts Schlechtgraven without the addition of any more then the place which gives them that Title As Der Graf von Eissenburg Der Graf von Ortenberg c. There were formerly only four of this kind in the whole Empire who were ordinarily called Die vier Graven dess Heiligen Romischen Reichs i. e. The four Graves or Counts of the Holy Roman Empire These were the Counts of Cleve Schwartzenburg Ciley and Savoy But since the Counts of Cleve and Savoy were advanced to Dukes and the Family of the ancient Counts of Ciley was extinct which happen'd about two hundred years ago the Count of Schwartzenburg in Thuringen is the only Prince that bears that Title stiling himself usually to this day der vier Graven dess Reichs Grave zu Schwartzenburg i. e. of the four Counts of the Empire Count of Schwartzenburg Besides him there are now-a-days several other German Counts who may justly be referr'd to this head tho they have no Investiture into any Graffschaft or County but are only stiled Counts of some small Castle or inconsiderable Territories of which they are Lords Such are the Counts of Ottingen and Zollern who are supposed to be of the posterity of some of the ancient Counts of the Empire and thence retain the title tho not the grandeur and power of their Ancestors Counts Palatine call'd by the Germans Pfaltz-Graven Counts Palatine or Dess Heiligen Romischen Reichs Hoffe-Graven are such as have in their Title a certain eminence of their Dignity from a relation as their name denotes to the Emperors Court or Palace For Palatinus is but the possessive of Palatium and signifies no more then an Officer of the Houshold with us in England But this Title is twofold 1. Originally Feudal and annex'd to the name of some Territory or Grafschaft with such jura Imperii Majestatis as other ordinary Princes of the Empire have not as we see in the Title of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine 2. Meerly Personal without the addition of any particular Territory proper to him that hath the Dignity Both the Title and Nature of this later kind are originally to be fetcht from the Examples of the old Roman Empire but the former tho the Nature of it may be found in the ancient Constitutions of the Roman Empire under the name of Praefectus Praetorio yet was in ordinary use as to the Name and Title only in the Francic Kingdom For there was in the Court of the Francic Kings long before their Kingdom was chang'd into an Empire a chief Officer known by the name of Comes Palatii or Count Palatine who had a Vice-Regency under the King in like sort as the Praefecti Praetorio in the elder Empire or the old Chief Justice of England under our ancient Kings that is he had the exercise of supreme Jurisdiction in the name of the King in all causes that came to the Kings immediate audience I suppose the Office of Hofmeister used to this day in every German Prince's Court is a relique of this Palatinate And that Comes Palatii might easily signifie the same thing with Praefectus Praetorio or Hofmeister will not be difficult for any man to imagine that shall consider the signification which the word Comes had amongst the ancient Romans in the usual compellation of
have votes in the Diets All the Ecclesiastical Members of the Diet have not equal votes Prelates as neither have the secular ones The Ecclesiastical as well as Secular Princes of the Empire as also all other Prelates that have Princely Dignities annex'd to their Sacred Functions together with the Master of the Teutonic Order have single voices and give in their votes to the Vice-Marshal by turns But others that can lay no claim to any Temporal Principality give their voices by companies Of this last sort there are at this day two Benches die Schwabische and Rheinische Formerly the Counts and Barons of the Empire had no more then two voices and were therefore as the Prelates are now divided into two Benches call'd by the Germans in those days die Wetterawische und Schwabische Bank Afterwards in the Diet held in the year 1641 the Counts of Franconia had a peculiar voice allow'd them and not long after in the year 1654 another vote was given to the Counts of Saxony and Westphalia So that at present there are four Benches of Counts the Schwabish Wetterawish Francic and Westphalian who have votes in the public Diets of the Empire The Deputies or Delegates of the Imperial Cities make up the third and last rank of the Members of a General Diet or Assembly of the Estates of the Empire Imperial Cities What time the Cities that have now votes and go under the known name of Imperial Cities came to have that priviledg cannot certainly be learn'd from the German Historians The Author of the Chronicle of Spire endeavours to prove that several of these Cities were invested with this honour in the twelfth Century The Oath taken by the Emperor Ferdinand I. may seem to countenance this relation In Christi Nomine Juro non solum Principum sed Civitatum ccnsilio negotia confoederationes Collegia Vniversitatis tractanda esse But this passage is not to be understood of the Cities of Germany which in this Emperor's days were in too mean a condition to offer to concern themselves in the Government of the Empire but of those in Italy which many years before had been call'd to public Assemblies in the Italian Kingdom The most probable opinion is that the Imperial Cities those I mean in Germany which at this day bear that name were not admitted to the Diet before the fourteenth Century not long before they were reckon'd up by the Emperor Charles IV. in his Golden Bull amongst the other Estates of the Empire Their Deputies at present are divided into two Benches whereof the one is called Die Rheinische and the other Die Schwabische Bank On the former sit the Deputies of Lubec the free Cities upon the Rhine in Witteraw Alsace Saxony and Thuringen On the latter the Delegates from the free Cities in Schwaben and Franconia The Deputies of the City where the Diet is held sit at a Table by themselves and there take an account of the voices of other Delegates which are brought to them and register'd by the two Registers of Vlm and Spire whereof the former represents the Cities in the Rheinish Circle and the latter those of Schwaben Some Historians will tell us Debates that the greatest disputes which happen at a German Diet are about precedency and that more time is spent in ranking the Members in their due places then in debating the Emperor's Proposals when they are set down Another fourth part of their time or rather more they will have to be spent in set drinking matches Whence the Emperor Ferdinand is said sharply to have reprehended the intemperance of the greatest part of the Ambassadors sent to the Diet from the several Princes and Imperial Cities A third quarter of their time is employ'd in disputing the Priviledges and Prerogatives of a Diet and shewing in what cases it may or may not be curb'd or controll'd by the Emperor The fourth and last part they spend upon the business proposed by the Emperor which is commonly concerning some Articles of Peace with some foreign Nation the making or renewing some Laws of the Empire the regulating of Coinage raising of Taxes or some such State affair Of the Imperial Chamber and other General Courts of Judicature IN the days of Charles the Great and some of his Successors Imperial Chamber the Bishops and Officers of the Crown jointly with the Emperor decided all Ecclesiastical causes The Prelates Counts and other persons of Quality who had any Suits of Law to commence were heard at the first instance in the Emperor's Court but the Secular Princes could not be judged but in the General Diets of the Empire Afterwards when Law-suits began to multiply in proportion to the growing malice and wickedness of men the infinite numbers of Clients that overstockt the Court became burthensom to the Emperor who could not possibly attend and hear all Causes brought before him Besides the Emperor's Court being not always kept in one place both parties concern'd in any controversie were forced to follow the Emperor for a decision into the remotest parts of Germany Upon these considerations Maximilian I. taking compassion upon his quarrelsom Subjects and desiring as much as possibly he could to save both their labour and money setled a Sedentary Parliament at Worms or Francfurt in the year 1495 which was soon after brought to Spire whence it cannot be removed without a consent of all the Estates of the Empire except in time of Plague or War At first the Assessors Assessors appointed as Judges in this Court were only sixteen but their number has since been encreased to fifty who are all nominated by the Head and principal Members of the Empire The Emperor names the supreme Judg who is always a Count or Baron and well skill'd in the Civil and Municipal Laws of the Empire and four of the principal Officers Each Elector names one Assessor and the rest are promoted to that employment by the several Circles or Benches of Voters in the Diets Now as those Princes and Estates of the Empire who have power to nominate the Assessors in this Court are of different Religions some adhering to the Doctrines of the Church of Rome and others professing the Reform'd Religion and embracing the opinions either of Luther or Calvin so are also the Assessors themselves Tho there lies no appeal from the Imperial Chamber to any other Court of Judicature Visiters yet if the Judg and Assessors of this Court be accused of any unjust proceedings in the determination of any controversie execution of the sentence pronounced is deferr'd till the Visiters of the Chamber examine the reasonableness of the complaint and redress the grievance if justly alledg'd Whence it appears that the Assessors themselves that sit at this Tribunal are not the supreme Judges of the Empire but that their Visiters may more justly claim that Title For some time before the conclusion of the Westphalian Treaty of Peace it was almost impossible to procure
six chief Courts of Judicature Courts of Judicature for the examination and trial of Cases Civil and Ecclesiastical in the Elector's Dominions 1. At Coen on the Spree or in the Elector's Palace at Berlin 2. At Colberg in Pomeren 3. Cleve 4. Halberstadt 5. Petershagh where all Causes depending between any of the Elector's Subjects in the Dukedom of Minden are brought to trial 6. Konigsberg in Prussia To these may be added the Court of Magdeburg since that Archbishopric is now fall'n into the Elector's hands But of this more hereafter The whole Marquisate of Brandenburg strictly so call'd is commonly divided into the Alt Mittel Neue and Vcker-Marck with the Territories of Prignitz and Sternberg But taking Prignitz and Vcker-Marck into the Middle and Sternberg into the New we may include them all under the three following heads ALT-MARCK FIrst ALT-MARCK or the old Marquisate is bounded on the North with the Dukedom of Mecklenburg on the West with Saxon-Lawenburg and some part of the Duke of Lunenburg's Territories on the South with the Dukedom of Magdeburg and on the East with the Middle Marck containing about thirty English miles in length or bredth Some Authors for the plenty it affords of all manner of Herbs and Fruits have been pleased to call it the Galilee of Germany It is commonly subdivided into four petty Provinces whereof that on the East called Das Balsamerland or Ostland contains Stendal Arneburg the City and County of Osterburg with some other Towns of note On the South lies Die Langer or Das Angerland taking its name from the River Anger Towards the West Das land zu Zermund in which is situate the ancient City Soltwedel And lastly Das Senland on the North supposed to have its name from the Senones who are thought to have been the ancient inhabitants of these parts The most considerable Cities and great Towns in the Old Marck are 1. Stendal the Metropolis of this Province Stendal seated upon the River Vcht about five English miles distant from the Elb and Angermund in a pleasant plain and at the side of a large Forest It was built by the Emperor Henry the First in the year of Christ 920 and afterwards fortified with strong Walls and Bulwarks by Marquise Albert surnam'd Vrsus in the year 1150. In this neat and well-built Hans-Town are kept the ordinary Quarter-Sessions for decision of all Law-Suits in the Old Marck The chief trade of the Citizens is in Corn and Linnen Cloth with which and the daily opportunity of entertaining Passengers that travel this road from Hamburg and Lubec towards Magdeburg Erfurt c. they make a shift to live handsomly MARCHIA VETUS Vulgo ALTE MARCK in March Brandenburgico To the R. t Wor. ll Ralph Macro M. D. r this Plate is Humbly Dedicated by Moses Pitt MARCHIA MEDIA Vulgo MIDLE MARCK in Brandenburg IE NE SERCH QVâ— To the R. t Hon. t Iames Earle of Northampton This Mapp is humbly Dedicated by M. Pitt 3. Gardleben GARDLEBEN Some Authors tell us that the ancient name of this Town was Isoburgum from the Image of Isis here worshipp'd Others believe 't was Isernburg and so called from its impregnable strength that name signifying properly a City of Iron The neighbouring old Fort call'd still by its ancient Wendish name Iseren Schnippe i. e. Iron Jaws gave occasion to both these opinions which are purely conjectural and are neither countenanc'd by Antiquity nor Probability But omitting these fancies with that of other Authors equally impertinent who write the Gardelegia and fetch its Etymology from Gardalegionum or Custodia Legionum because forsooth Claudius Drusus quarter'd some of his Soldiers here as well as at Soltwedel 't is most likely this City had its name from the multitude of pleasant Gardens among which 't is seated The Beer brewed in this Town is famous all Germany over and reckon'd amongst the greatest Blessings of the Old Marck Henry Meibonius a Professor in Helmstadt whither great quantities of this Liquor is ordinarily convey'd has writ a Panegyrick in commendation of it Another great commodity of the Town is Hops which are preferr'd by the Danish Merchants and others before the best in Germany and bought up at a higher rate The Arms of the City are three Hop-poles laden with Hops IV. Angermund ANGERMUND or Tangermund Seated as the name intimates on the mouth of the River Anger or Tanger about thirty English miles from Magdeburg The Emperor Charles IV. having bought the whole Marquisate of Brandenburg built the Castle of Angermund in the year 1376 making this the usual place of his residence for some years after The Citizens have a considerable trade from the advantage of the Elb by which their Corn and other Commodities of the Country are convey'd in Vessels down to Hamburg and thence into foreign Nations Other places of less note are 1. Seehusen or Senheusen as some write it seated on the River Alant and falsely suppos'd to have been built by the Senones who were indeed a Gaulish people and never inhabited these parts 2. Osterburg a great Corn-Market 3. Werben seated at the confluence of the Rivers Elb and Havel built by Henry surnamed the Fowler out of the ruins of the old Castellum Vari Gustavus Adolphus fancied this place capable of being made the strongest Fort in Germany and himself contributed so far towards its fortification as to cause that Castle to be built which now commands the whole Town 4. Havelberg anciently a Bishop's See 5. Perleberg the chief Town in Prignitz seated in a pleasant and fruitful plain Arneburg Wittemberg Bismarcht Schnakenburg with some others are Villages rather then great Towns II. MIDDLE-MARCK MIDDLE-MARCK as its name intimates is situate in the very midst of the Marquisate of Brandenburg 'T is the largest of the three and reaches from the banks of the Elb to the Oder about an hundred English miles The chief Towns in it are I. BRANDENBURG which Brandenburg tho at present far inferior to many of the neighbouring Cities well merits the preeminence as having been formerly the Metropolis of the whole Land and to this day giving name to the Marquisate Some of the German Historians endeavour to perswade us that 't was built 416 years before the birth of our Saviour by one Brenno a famous Captain of the Semnones Others more modestly fetch its original and name from one Brando who as they tell the story first built this City about the year 230. At present the Town is considerable for little but its age and the inhabitants would be put to a hard shift to pick up a livelihood if the neighbouring Lake about ten English miles in length did not supply them with good store of Fish In the great Church there are a great many Monuments and Sepulchers of Princes and Bishops and in the Market-place a Statua Rolandina of which last we have already given the Reader a short account II. BERLIN Berlin Angelius a
in this Church forty-nine Altars whereof the High Altar in the Quire is of one piece of stone curiously wrought and of various colours It is nine Hamburg Ells each of which makes one foot and ten inches in length four in bredth and one in thickness and valued at above two Tun of Gold Magdeburg had once the supreme Jurisdiction in Civil Cases as well as Ecclesiastical over all the other Cities in Saxony Judicature and the Archbishop of this Diocess was like our Bishops of Durham a Count Palatine who had the sole power of determining all Causes brought before him But that grand Authority was lost by degrees and now the Citizens of Magdeburg have no other Courts of Judicature then such as are kept by the Burgomasters and Raedtsherrn of other Cities as well as this That part of this Dukedom which lies on the Western banks of the Elb is exceedingly fruitful in Corn but wants Wood and other fuel and on the contrary that part of it which lies beyond the River has plenty of Wood but wants Corn. There are contain'd in the whole Circle twenty-eight Towns which anciently paid homage to the Archbishops of Magdeburg and are now subject to the Elector of Brandenburg as their Duke ANHALT BEtwixt the Sala and the Elb lies the greatest part of this Principality the whole being environ'd by the County of Mansfeldt the Upper Saxony the Bishopric of Halle the Dukedom of Magdeburg and the Bishopric of Halberstadt MARCHIA NOVA Vulgo NEW MARK in March Brandenburg PRINCIPATUS ANHALDINUS ET MAGDEBURGENSIS Archiepiscopatus Apud Janssonio-Waesbergios Mosem Pitt et Stephanum Swart 'T will not in this place be amiss to inform the the Reader that Prince Lewis beforemention'd to the great credit of himself and Family was the first Founder of the Frucht-Barende Geselschaft as the Germans call it or Fructifying Society The story of which is as follows This Prince having travell'd over all Europe and observed the great advantages which the Nobility in France Italy and other Nations had in being furnish'd with store of excellent Books in their own Languages was resolved to try whether he could perswade any of his own Countrymen to set upon the Translation of the best Latin and Greek Authors into a more easie and intelligible stile then was ordinarily used among them In pursuance of this design he instituted the Society aforesaid whereof himself was the first President and succeeded so well herein that in a very short time after there were above twenty Princes and at least six hundred Lords and Noblemen who enter'd and enroll'd themselves in this College of Wits And how much the German Nation is beholden to the endeavours of these Virtuosi there is no intelligent man but what is abundantly sensible For besides the opportunity which every man has of reading the writings of foreign Authors in his own Language the Germans are able to spell their own tongue aright which before the Institution of this Society so few of them could do that Duesius tells us one main design of his publishing a German Grammar was to teach the Nobility of that Nation to put their words into writing The most considerable Towns in this small Principality are 1. Zerbst Seated on a small River about an English mile distant from the banks of the Elb. Dresserus fancies this a Town of great Antiquity Zerbst and had its name from the Servetii or Cervetii as he reads it an old Wendish people But Werdenhagen a better Antiquary rejects this frivolous assertion and proves that Zerbst in the Wendish Dialect signifies a strong Fort. 'T is at this day remarkable for nothing but a sort of strong heady Beer which the Citizens brew in Summer and send abroad into all the neighbouring Towns and Provinces 2. Bernburg Bernburg Another Residence of the Princes of Anhalt separated from the Palace by the River Sala On the eleventh of March in the year 1636 this Town was taken by the Elector of Saxony's Forces who put the whole Garrison that defended it with all the inhabitants excepting only those few that belong'd to the Prince's Court to the Sword and plunder'd the City 3. Dessau A well fortified Town on the Elb Dessau seated in a pleasant and fruitful part of the Country It had its name given as most of the German Etymologists imagine by the Jews who in their mungrel Dutch-Jewish Dialect call a fat soil such as this Town stands on Desse The Prince's Palace in Dessau was first built as appears by an old Inscription over one of the Gates by Albert and Waldemar two Brothers Princes of Anhalt in the year 1341. In one of the Chappels of this Town is to be seen the Tomb of Jeckel Rehebock whom some German Historians name Meniken von Belitz an old Miller who having for some time attended Waldemar Marquise of Brandenburg in the Wars took upon him to counterfeit his slain Master and carried on the design so cunningly that a great many believ'd him to be the very Marquise and follow'd him with as great respect as they had done his Master before He dyed in the year 1350. 4. Aschersleben or Ascania Ascania whence the Princes of Anhalt got the name of Principes Ascanii 'T is an old Town on the confines of the Bishopric of Halberstadt and for that reason seized on by Canons of that Church upon the death of Prince Otho's Widow in the year 1315. Since which time the Princes of Anhalt have often complain'd of the injustice of this action and hoped for a redress at the Treaty of Munster but in vain for the Bishopric of Halberstadt was by that Treaty granted to the Elector of Brandenburg who is too potent a Prince to be frighted into a resignation of any of the dependances upon that Diocess THE DUKEDOME OF BRUNSWIC THE Dukedom of Brunswic strictly so call'd comprehends only the Territories subject to the Dukes of Brunswic and Hannover or Calenberg The Principality of Grubenhagen with the Counties of Blanckenburg and Reinstein are indeed usually comprised under the same name because subject to the Dukes of Zell and Wolfenbuttel who are both entituled Dukes of Brunswic as well Luneburg but are however in themselves distinct Dominions and shall accordingly be separately described The Dukedoms of Brunswic and Hannever are exceeding populous and fruitful Soil The Wheat and Rye in this Country grows sometimes to that prodigious height that their ordinary Ears of Corn are higher then the tallest man on Horseback But yet we must not expect to meet with such pleasant and profitable Cornfields as these in every part of the Country A great share of the Hercynean Forest ran thro this Land tho that be now parcell'd out into smaller Woods and Parks In these the Inhabitants have besides the provision of Timber and Fuel great store of Deer wild Swine Hares c. with Fowl of all sorts Not to mention their rich Mines of Iron Salt and Coal-pits of which in
an oath taken in Norway and Iseland we read Hialpi mier suo Fryer og Niordur og hin al matke As i.e. So help me Frier and Niordur a Norwegian King Deified for his noble exploits and the almighty Asian i.e. Woden From him the Iselanders call the fourth day of the week Odensdagur and we Wendesday The Nobility of the ancient people of the North were wonderfully ambitious of fetching their pedigree down in a streight line from this Patriarch and God of the Northern Nations Hence possibly it comes that in some Copies of our Anglo-Saxonic Chronicle the Genealogy of our English King Cerdic with several others is run up to one who is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the son of Woden and there the pedegree breaks of As if in so doing they had sufficiently imitated St. Luke's Genealogy of our Saviour unto Adam which was the son of God And hence as may well be conjectured the Islanders do to this day call their Noblemen Godar and Hoffgodar i.e. such as are of the lineage or family of the Gods Besides these two we sometimes read of Freyer as in the Norwegian oath before quoted one of Wodens companions and Friga Wodens wife whence our Friday with several others of less note Arngrim allows 〈…〉 that several Christians came out of Norway into Iseland with Ingulf in the year 874 but that the Isle was then converted to the Christian faith he denies A full and total conversion he says was never attempted till about an hundred years after The first that openly preached the Gospel was one Frideric a Saxon born who came over into this Isle in the year 981 and succeeded so well that within three years after there were several Churches built The Iselandic Chronicle mentions one Thangbrandt another outlandish Bishop who came into Iseland in the year 997. At last in the year 1000 it was agreed on in a general Assembly of the whole Isle That the worship of Heathenish Idols being abandoned they would unanimously embrace the Christian Religion In the year 1056 Isleif an Iselander was consecrated Bishop of the whole Isle and enter'd upon the See of Schalholt the year following It is very observable what is recorded in the Iselandic Chronicle that this Isleif married Dalla the daughter of one Thorwald and by her had three sons The eldest of which named Gysser succeeded his father in the Bishoprick of Schalholt altho he also is said to have married Stenun the daughter of Thorgrin Since that time the inhabitants of Iseland have continued stedfast in the Christian faith Gudbrand Thorlac who entred the Bishoprick of Holen in the year 1571 abolished the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of Rome and introduced the Augustan Confession which to this day is maintained all over the Isle The same Bishop first procured a Printing-house to be set up in Iseland and afterwards caused the Bible and several other godly books to be translated into the Iselandic tongue and printed Christian the third King of Denmark founded two Free-schools in Iseland one at Holen and the other at Skalholt which by the munificence of his successors Frideric the second and Christian the fourth were improved into two considerable Colledges where young men were instructed in the liberal Arts and principles of Religion till they were thought fit for the ministry Of late years many ingenious men and learned Iselanders have been bred up in the University at Copenhagen We have before taken a survey of the mean Cottages or Burrows of the Rusticks in Iseland Cities and we cannot expect that their Citizens should live in much better fashion There are only two Cities in the Isle Holen and Skalholt the one the seat of their Northern the other of their Southern Bishop In both of them the houses are built of wood rarely of stone cover'd with either boards or turf The Cathedral at Holen according to Arngrim's description either is or at least has been a stately Fabrick In his days the Church-porch had on each side five pillars which were fourteen ells high I suppose he means Norwegian ells one of which is about three quarters of a yard English and five in thickness The Quire and Body of the Church were proportionable to the Porch This noble structure was blown down in the year 1584 but magnificently rebuilt at the charge of Frideric II. King of Denmark within four years after Neither of these Cities look any better then one of our ordinary Villages for the houses are not contiguous nor defended by any fortification or rampire Blefkenius tells us how truly I know not of a pleasant plain in the middle of Iseland Judicature where formerly stood an high flaming mountain which by degrees burnt away This plain says he is encompassed with huge rocks which make it inaccessible excepting only in one place and there too you have room for no more then one passenger at once From the tops of two of these rocks fall down two large rivers which with a terrible noise are swallowed up by a whirl-pool in the midst of the plain Hither yearly upon the twenty-ninth day of June repair all such as have any suit at Law or other controversie to be determined At the passage stands a guard of soldiers who admit all in that desire the favour but suffer none to go out without a pass from the Governor As soon as all who have any business are come in the Governor or Lieutenant of the Isle reads his Commission from the King of Denmark That done he gives his charge insisting much upon the good will and kindness which the King his Master and himself bear the Iselanders and advising them all to administer justice without respect of any manner of persons whatever After this he returns to his Tent where in a godly Sermon preach'd to him and the rest of the Assembly the necessity of punishing offenders and vindicating the injur'd is declared As soon as Sermon is ended the twelve chosen Justices whom they call Lochmaders i.e. men of the Law sit down on the ground with each a book of the Iselandic Laws in his hand After the Plaintiff and Defendant have both given in what they have to say they all arise and every man examines privately the verdict of his book in the case proposed Returning they consult awhile of the sentence and then unanimously pronounce it If any considerable doubt arise among them which they themselves cannot easily solve they consult the Lieutenant but will not give him authority or leave to decide the controversie by pronouncing of sentence These twelve Jurymen of whom one always is Foreman have great respect shew'n them as long as these Assizes last They have power to determine all Civil causes and to pronounce condemnation as they think convenient against all Criminals Those that are condemn'd to dye as Adulterers Murderers and notorious Thieves are beheaded but smaller misdemeanors are marked in the forehead with an hot iron This
account of the manner of proceeding in the Iselandic Court of Judicature the much different from the methods made use of in the days of their Nomophylaces mentioned by Arngrim Jonas I can the easilier credit because I do not find it contradicted in Arngrim's reply to Blefkenius Besides the custom of deciding controversies by the verdict of twelve Jurymen here in England may perswade us to believe the same fashion may be observed in these Danish dominions from whence probably it was first brought into Britain The End of the First Volume AN ALPHABETICAL INDEX Containing The NAMES of all the COUNTRIES CITIES TOWNS RIVERS ISLES c. IN THE Maps of the First Volume Places Map Latitude D. M. Longitude D. M. A  AAb 20 58 00 22 00 Aabo 25 58 00 22 00  29 58 20 22 00  36 57 00 24 10 〈◊〉 37 55 50 23 10 〈◊〉 36 56 55 23 40 〈◊〉 30 55 40 27 00  32 55 40 27 00 〈◊〉 20 55 00 29 00  22 55 30 29 00 〈◊〉 37 55 50 24 40 〈◊〉 29 59 00 20 00  24 60 40 31 40 〈◊〉 20 56 00 24 00  30 56 40 24 40  36 56 55 24 20 â—â—â—d 36 56 30 24 30 〈◊〉 22 30 00 27 00 〈◊〉 37 55 35 22 40  36 56 40 24 50  29 60 00 23 00 〈◊〉 32 54 50 27 00  33 54 55 27 00 〈◊〉 30 55 20 24 00 〈◊〉 29 58 00 21 00 〈◊〉 37 55 25 23 40  30 54 40 25 20 〈◊〉 34 55 10 25 30  20 58 00 21 00  25 58 30 21 00  29 58 20 22 00   58 40 21 00 〈◊〉 37 56 50 24 50 〈◊〉 38 55 10 24 50 〈◊〉 36 56 50 23 10  20 57 00 27 00   56 00 29 00   56 00 33 00   58 00 21 00  22 56 00 33 00   56 30 29 00   57 00 27 00  29 57 40 21 30  36 57 15 24 30 â—â—â—ing 24 59 40 32 00 â—â—â—d 30 57 20 24 20 â—â—â—a 34 55 25 25 10 â—â—ed 36 57 10 24 40 â—â—â—p 34 55 05 25 20 â—â—â—p 32 54 50 27 00  33 54 55 27 10 â—â—eford 29 58 40 23 30 â—â—â—â—â—ng 19 57 30 39 00 â—â—â—â—â—sen 41 53 25 23 00 〈◊〉 38 55 00 23 50  39 55 00 23 50  40 55 00 24 00 〈◊〉 I. 01 77 10 47 00 â—â—â—â—â—k 19 57 30 40 00 â—â—â—d 39 55 10 24 00 â—â—â—â—g 39 54 55 23 50 Abella fl 18 55 00 42 00 Abelheffuit 37 56 05 24 50 Abijam 21 64 30 37 00 Abildorst 37 56 00 23 10 Abkier 38 55 10 24 20  39 55 10 24 20  40 55 10 24 20 Abilliunge 30 56 00 28 20  31 56 10 28 50 Abo 06 60 00 39 00  20 60 00 39 00  21 60 00 39 00 Abor 34 55 10 24 50 Abosoe 35 56 20 24 40 Abra 40 54 50 24 10 Abramesca 09 M  Abramstrup 32 55 50 26 40 Abrum 20 55 00 27 00 Abskow 06 46 00 54 00  11 46 00 54 00 Abstoruy 31 56 10 28 20 Abswangen 16 54 20 38 30 Abweden 16 53 40 39 00 Abweiden 16 54 20 38 30 Aby 22 56 30 32 00  31 55 55 28 20 Abygdelag 29 58 40 22 30 Achas 11 50 00 60 00 Achmatzgora M. 10 A  Achmatzko Ins 10 A  Achterup 38 54 45 24 00 Achterwehz 38 54 15 25 00  42 54 15 24 50 Achtoba fl 10 G  Achtobenisna Ustga 10 G  Achtopska fl 10 F  Achyr Y. H. 12 49 00 52 00 Ackebro 40 54 35 24 10 Ackefioâ—rd 28 59 30 20 30 Ackestede 20 53 00 23 00 Aoroto 06 41 00 42 00 Aczud 06 46 00 41 00 Adauwa 06 58 00 46 00  19 58 30 46 00  20 58 00 46 00 Adehon 06 47 00 57 00  11 47 00 57 00 Adelbuy 38 54 45 24 30  40 54 45 24 30 Adelhoff 17 53 55 37 00 Adelwick 26 67 30 349 00  25 59 30 21 00  28 60 00 21 00 Adestadt 14 49 40 33 00 Adima 06 55 00 67 00  08 55 00 67 00 Admirals I. 01 75 00 73 30  06 74 00 77 00  07 75 00 78 00 Adosogn 20 59 00 21 00 Adsleff 37 56 05 24 30 Adune fl 17 54 00 37 00 Adzel 19 57 30 44 00 Aebeltost 37 56 15 25 10 Aebeltostwiig 37 56 15 25 00 AEgil 17 53 55 36 40 Aeichenberg 17 54 20 36 20 Aelholm 33 54 40 26 50 Aelsange 22 58 30 25 00  25 59 50 25 00 Aelsen 35 54 40 24 40 Aenby 27 63 00 26 00 Aer 35 54 40 25 20 Aeunisioki fl 20 68 00 37 00 Aeye 27 64 20 26 00 Af C. 01 65 00 321 00 Affrade 41 53 55 25 20 Afringbyochnioll 36 56 50 24 30 Agaard 30 56 40 23 20 Agarcova 06 58 00 60 00  07 58 00 60 00  08 58 00 60 00  20 58 00 60 00 Agarstruy 31 55 40 28 10 Agarup 31 55 50 28 50 Agaruy 30 56 00 29 00  31 55 45 28 30   56 05 29 10 Agatzlibert fl 11 49 00 55 00 Agby 31 55 55 28 10 Agdrup 36 57 15 24 30 Agenborg 18 54 00 39 00 Agenes 20 64 00 25 00  25 64 00 25 00 Agerup 32 55 30 26 40 Ageruy 31 55 30 28 20 Aggabro 22 56 30 30 00 Aggeby 22 56 30 33 00 Aggenes 27 64 40 26 00 Agger 20 61 00 23 00  30 55 00 26 00  32 55 10 26 00  34 55 15 25 50  35 55 00 25 40  36 56 40 23 00   56 45 22 30  37 55 55 24 50 Aggerkrog 37 55 35 23 10 Aggernis 34 55 05 24 50 Aggerstaggaard 36 56 55 23 40 Aggerschow 38 55 05 24 10  39 55 05 24 10 Aggers Husslet 29 59 20 24 30 Aggerhuys 22 59 00 25 00  25 59 30 25 00 Aggeruy 31 56 05 29 00 Aggil 16 54 40 39 00 Agius 19 57 00 41 00 Aglbaek 37 56 15 24 20 Aglon fl 16 55 20 39 30 Agry 37 56 10 25 00 Agulfa 31 56 15 28 50 Ahel 38 55 10 24 10 Ahls 25 60 00 22 00 Ahuys 30 55 40 29 20  31 55 50 29 40 Ahwenjerwi 21 61 30 44 00 Aines T. 20 68 00 36 00 Aniel 22 58 30 27 00 Aisted 37 55 50 23 50 Aker 19 59 00 35 00  20 57 00 29 00   59 00 35 00  22 57 00 29 00   59 00 35 00  23 59 20 35 00 Akerby 23 59 50 34 00  24 59 50 34 00 Akersund 06 58 00 24 00  20 58 00 24 00  22 58 30 25 00  25 58 30 25 00  29 58 40 25 00 Akiere 31 56 00 28