sted of that they make of barley steeped and sodden a kinde of very strong drinke which will assoone make the tosse-pot drunke as the strongest wine in France Lewis Guicciardine writeth that about halfe a Dutch mile off from this towne there is a Mine or quarry of stone that is very like to mettall of Pliny in the 10. Chapter of the foure and thirtieth booke of his Naturall historie it is called Lapis aerosus Cadmia and lapis calaminaris if I be not deceiued The brasse stone or Copper ore D. Fusch testifieth that it hath also diuerse veines of Lead and Iron A kinde of blacke stone cole like vnto that which we heere call Seacoale of a sulphurous nature a good fuell and much vsed of Farriers and Smithes is in diuers places of the country digged out of the ground in great abundance Moreouer heere are found diuers sorts of stone not much vnlike to Marble or Iasper party coloured very beautiful and good for building This countrey at the first was no more but a County or Earldome vntill that Fredericke surnamed Barbarosso in the yeere of our Lord 1172. graced it with the title and dignity of a Duchie The first Duke that enioied this honor was Henry the First lineally descended from Henry the Fourth that valiant and religious Emperour At length Henry the Second Duke of Limburgh dying without heire male Iohn the First Duke of Brabant about the yeere after Christs incarnation 1293 by right of inheritance claimed the same and by dint of sworde driuing out Reynold Earle of Gelderland the Vsurper obteined it since whose daies it hath beene quietly possessed by the house of Brabant Therefore for iustice in ciuill causes not only Limburg but also Faulconburg Dalem and other liberties and free townes beyond the Mose do come to the courts of Brabant which ordinarily are held at Brussels otherwise for ecclesiasticall iurisdiction they doe belong to the diocesses of that Bishop of Leige But beside this dukedome of Limburgh there are diuers other Iursdictions and Signiories described in this Charte of the which these following are the chiefe whereof it shal not be amisse to speake a word or two Faulconburgh Valckembourg it is called of the Dutch but of the French Fauquemont is a very prety towne which hath iurisdiction and command ouer a large circuite of ground conteining many fine villages It is three great Dutch miles from Aix and but two small miles from Mastricht It was conquered and taken by Iohn the third Duke of Brabant who ouercame Ramot the Lord of Faulconburgh a troublesome man that at that time laid seege to Mastricht and had much and oft vexed the country round about him DALEM is a prety fine towne with a Castle but of no great strength It is three long miles from Aix and two from Liege It was honoured with the title of an Earldome and had iurisdiction and command ouer many villages and a great circuit of ground vp as high as the riuer of Mose Henry the Second Duke of Brabant conquered it and adioined it to his dominions ROIDVCK or as Guicciardin calleth it Rhodele-duc is an ancient little towne with an old Castle about one long Dutch mile as the forenamed authour would haue it from Faulconburg yet this our Mappe maketh it about two AIX or AIX LACHAPELLE if we may beleeue Munster was that which the Latines called Aquisgranum so much spoken of and mentioned in the stories of Charles the Great and others of those times Others would haue it to be that which Ptolemey in the 9 chapter of the second booke of his Geography calleth Veterra and where he saith the thirtieth Legion called Vlpia legio did reside Limprand nameth it Palais de Grau Rheginon Palais de eaux that is the Water palace which in my iudgement seemeth most probable because I find that that city in Prouence in France which the Romans called Aquae Sextiae the Frenchmen do at this day call Aix This city is situate betweene Brabant Limburgh the Duchie of Gulicke and the Bishopricke of Liege Some thinke that it was destroied and laid leuell with the ground by Attila king of the Humes others thinke that it was first founded by Charles the Great But to leaue all these as doubtfull this is certeine that it standeth in a most pleasant plaine and as healthfull and sweet an aire as any may be elswhere found in these parts That faire Church of our Sauiour and the blessed Virgin his mother was built by this Emperour and by him was endowed with great lands priuiledges many holy and precious reliques brought thither from sundry places of the world Beatus Rhenanus writeth that Charles the Great made it the head and chiefe city of the kingdome of France and generally of all the whole Empire the ordinary Court and place of residence for the Emperour in these Westerne parts of the same Moreouer he ordained that heere the Emperour should by the Bishop of Collen Metropolitan of this prouince be crowned with a crown of Iron at Millan with a crowne of Siluer and at Rome with a crowne of Gold Ouer one of the doores of the Towne-house are written these six Latine verses Carolus insignem reddens hanc condidit vrbem Quam libertauit post Romam constituendo Quòd sit trans Alpes hic semper regia sedes Vt caput vrbs cuncta colat hanc Gallia tota Gaudet Aquisgranum prae cunctis munere clarum Quae prius imperij leges nunc laureat almi And ouer another doore these two Hîc sedes regni trans Alpes habeatur Caput omnium ciuitatum prouinciarum Galliae This famous Emperour hauing reigned ouer the Frenchmen 47. yeares and worne the imperiall diadem 14. ended his life in the yeere of our Lord 813. and was heere enterred in a tombe of Marble in our Ladies Church with this plaine epitaph Caroli Magni Christianissimi Romanorum Imperatoris Corpus hoc conditum est sepulchro That is the body of Charles the Great Emperour of the Romans lieth heere interred in this tombe Thus farre Guicciardine to whom I wish thee to repaire if thou desire a larger discourse of these particulars LIMBVRGENSIS DVCATVS TABVLA NOVA EXCVSA SVMPTIBVS IOAN BAPTISTAE VRINTS AEMVLI STVDII GEOGRAPHIAE D. AB ORTELLI P. M. COSMOGRAPHI REGII c. ILLVSTRISSIMO DOCTISSIMOQVE DOMINO D. GASTONI SPINOLAE COMITI BRVACENSI c. ORDINIS EQVESTRIS S. IACOBI PRIMO A STABVLIS ATQVE A CVBICVLIS SERENISSIMI DVCIS BRABANTIAE EIVSDEMQVE IN BELLICIS CONSILIIS ASSESSORI ORDINARIO DVCATVS LIMBVRGENSIS TOTIVSQVE REGIONIS VLTRAMOSANAE GVBERNATORI VIGILANTISSIMO OMNISQVE ERVDITIONIS ASYLO VNICO HANC TABVLAM GEOGRAPHICAM NOVISSIMIS DIMENSIONIBVS A SE AD EXACTISSIMAM REDACTAM PERFECTIONEM AEGIDIVS MARTINI ANTVERPIENSIS IN VTROQVE IVRE LICENTLATVS ET MATHEMATICVS FECIT ET DEDICAVIT ANNO M.DCIII AN EPISTLE OF HVMFREY LHOYD VVRITTEN TO ABRAHAM ORTEL COSMOGRAPHER TO PHILIP the Second King of SPAINE wherein at large and learnedly he discourseth of the
the moneths of May Iune and Iuly and reape within six weeks after Concerning this region reade the booke of Iaques Morguez le moine GVASTECAN THis also is a region of North America and part of New Spaine The inhabitants are poore Along the sea-coasts and the bancks of riuers they liue for the most part of fish but in the inland with Guinie-wheat which they call Maiz. Otherwise they are a people gentle enough The Spaniards haue planted two colonies here the one is called Panuco of the riuer that runneth by it and the other S. Iames of the vallies Not farre from Panuco neere the towne called Tamatao stands an hill with two fountaines vpon it one whereof disgorgeth blacke pitch and the other red which is scalding hot The BRITTISH Iles. THE EMPIRE OF GREAT BRITAIN included within the parallels 49. and 63. and the Meridians or longitudes 9. and 26. bounded vpon the South by France vpon the East by Germany vpon the North West by the Vast Ocean disioined from the rest of the maine land as High Admirall of the seas comprehendeth that Iland which at this day conteineth the kingdomes of England Scotland together with Ireland ouer against it Westward the circumiacent iles the Orchades Hebrides Man Anglesey Wight the Sorlings many others of lesse note and were generally of the old writers with one consent called BRITANNICAE INSVLAE The Brittish Ilands taking their denomination as seemeth from the greatest of them commander of the rest which indeed is properly called BRITANNIA Brittaine So named not of that fained Brutus the bloody parricide as the fabulous historian Geffrey of Monmouth against all reason authority truth of storie hath hitherto made the world beleeue nor of the Welch word Prydain or Prydcain as the learned Britaine Humfrey Lhoyd hath thought but of Brit a Celticke word which signifieth Painted For these people as Caesar and other old writers report vsed to paint their bodies and therefore were called of the Gaules their next neighbours BRITONES as those people of the same nation who to auoid the slauery and seruitude of the Romanes and withdrew themselues into the North parts from whom they continually molested their colonies heere were of them for the same reason in their language called PICTI The Greekes called it also ALBION not of Albion Neptunes sonne which sometime sweied the scepter heere as some haue most fabulously taught but of Alphiων the white cliffes vpon the sea coast which first offer themselues to the eie of those which to this our land saile hither from France and indeed the Welch poets call it Inis win that is as Orphaeus the most ancient poet of the Greeks doth interpret it Nesos leu caessa and Leucaios Chersos The white I le or The whiteland The first Inhabitants which seated themselues heere not long after the vniuersall Flood and Confusion of Babel came hither from France as by Neerenesse of place Likenesse of language Maners Gouernment Customes Name is by the learned Clarencieux Camden the onely light of our histories in that his thrise renowned Britannia euidently demonstrated For to this day the ancient Britans the Welchmen do call themselues CVMRI not Cambri as come from Gomer the sonne of Iapheth called of the Latines Cimber from whom are descended the Celtae or Gaules The Romanes a second nation vnder the conduct of Iulius Caesar about the yeare before the birth of CHRIST 54. entered Brittaine and planted their colonies in diuers and sundry places of this Iland The Scottes obseruing the Roman legions to grow weake and their Empire to decline thereupon tooke occasion first to seise vpon Ireland then about the yeare of CHRIST 446. great trouble arising in France the Emperours were constrained wholly to withdraw their forces from hence and to leaue the Brittaines naked and open to the furie of the Pictes their enemies From hence ensued a double mischiefe for first the vnquiet and turbulent Pictes thinking that now the onely opportunitie was offered them to accomplish their desires thought to make sure worke called in the Scottes out of Ireland combined themselues together against the poore disarmed Britans whereupon the Britans were constrained for safegard of their liues and liberties to call in about the yeare of CHRIST 440. the Angles Saxons and Iuites a warlike people inhabiting along the sea coast of Germany from the riuer of Rhein vnto Denmarke to aid them against their violent enemies The Normanes lead by William the Bastard their Duke tooke possession of Great Brittaine in the yeare 1066. The Vandalles Norweis and Danes who by their piracies and robberies a long time and oft greeuously vexed these Iles neuer seated their Colonies heere and therefore I passe them ouer with silence The forme of Brittaine is triangular like vnto that figure which the Geometers call Scalenum or as Nubiensis the Arabian saith to the head and necke of Alnaama the ostrich and therefore it may aswell as Sicilia be called TRINACRIA The three-cornered I le The ancient Geographers did hold it and that deseruedly to be the greatest Iland of the Maine Ocean wherefore Solinus saith it may well deserue the name of ANOTHER WORLD and Matthew Paris for the same cause calleth it THE QVEEN or Empresse of the Isles of the Ocean In respect of which large compasse it hath been in former ages diuided into many seuerall iurisdictions and kingdomes in the time of the Saxons England the South-east part into seuen and Wales into three Great Egbert in the yeare 800. reduced the Saxon heptarchy into a Monarchy The Irish Princes Nobles and Commons after the incarnation 1172. vnited their Pentarchy to the crowne of Egbert and swore alleageance to Henry the second King of England Edward the first to these did knit in the yeare after the birth of Christ 1282. the triple crowne of the Pety Kings of Wales In these our daies the eternall wisedome of the Great King of Heauen and Earth hath cast all these together with the crowne of Scotland into one massie Emperiall Diademe and placed it vpon the head of our dread soueraigne IAMES lineally descended from those mighty Monarches and shall we doubt not in time adde to these whatsoeuer from them vnto his Highnesse do belong BRITANNICAE INSVLAE or the Empire of Great Brittaine conteineth Ilands Greater and often mentioned in histories BRITANNIA diuided by the Romans into Superior the Higher conteining ANGLIA England CVMERIA Wales Inferior the Neather now called SCOTIA Scotland HIBERNIA Ireland vpon the West of Britaine Lesser yet famous belonging to England from it South Close to the shore of Brittaine VECTA Wight Vpon the coast of France CAESARIA Gersey SARNIA Gernsey And many other lesser West From the point of Cornwall SILLINAE Silly anno 145. In the middest betweene England Ireland and Scotland MONOEDA Man Wales MONA called of the English Anglesey of the Welch Tirmôn Scotland lying from it West HEBRIDES The West isles in number foure and fortie North ORCHADES Orkney-iles about
thee to M. Camdens Britannia where this argument is handled at large and most learnedly Only in defence of Gaulfridus lest any man should thinke that I haue all this while spoken against his person I conclude with this sayng of a learned man of our time Cardanus ait sayth he illius aetatis scriptores tantopere mendacio fabulis fuisse delectatos vt in contentionem venerint quis plura confingeret Cardane sayth That the Historians and Writers of those times betweene foure hundred and fiue hundred yeeres since were so much delighted with fables and lies that they stroue who should lie fastest and win the whetstone It was you see the fault of the time and age wherein he liued not of the man The learned Oratour Tully in the second booke of his Offices as I remember thus describeth the vertues of a true Historiographer Ne quid falsi scribere audeat Ne quid veri non audeat Ne quam in scribendo suspitionem gratiae Ne quam simultatis ostendat A good Historian may not dare to write any thing that is false He may not be afrayd to write any thing that is true He must not shew any partiality or fauour in writing He ought to be void of all affection and malice Learned Antiquaries follow this good counsell of the graue Philosopher Sell vs no more drosse for pure mettall Refine what you reade and write Euery tale is not true that is tolde Some authours want iudgement others honesty Let no man be beleeued for his antiquity For you know what Menander sayd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grayhaires are not alwayes a signe of wisdome and deepe vnderstanding olde men do sometime dote and will lie as well as others One sayth Nesc to quo casu illud euenit vt falsa potius quà m vera animum nostrum captant I cannot tell sayth he how it commeth to passe but surely true it is that we are more easily caried away with lies and fables than with truth And how hard a matter it is to remoue one from a setled opinion though neuer so false and absurd any man meanly experienced doth very well know f Yet Caesar saith that Britanniae Loca sunt temperatiora qùam in Gallia remissioribus frigoribus The temperature of the aire in England is better then in France the cold is nothing so bitter That is as the authour of the Panegyricke oration made to Constantius the Emperour doth interpret it In ea nec rigor est nimius hyemis nec ardor aestatis In it neither the cold of winter nor the heat of summer is very excessiue And Minutius Felix hee writeth that Britannia sole deficitur sed circumfluentis maris tepore recreatur In England the Sunne shineth not very hotte but that defect is repaied by a certaine steame or hot vapour which ascendeth vp out of the sea that inuironeth this iland on all sides round g What place this should be I dare not for truth constantly affirme Perhaps he meaneth Vitsam or as we call it Whitsan a little towne in the country of Bolloine some fiue or six miles from Calais situate vpon the sea coast built at the mouth of a small riuer which peraduenture he calleth Shant For in the Arabicke tongue Wadi-shant importeth so much h This is false and by himselfe contradicted for in another place if I be not deceiued he maketh it twenty fiue miles ouer wherefore I doubt not but for a mile the authour did put a parasange which conteineth three English miles And this is somewhat neere the mark i I take it that he meaneth Cercester in Glocestershire which vulgarly they now call Ciceter It is an ancient city called of Ptolemey Corinium of Antonine Durocornouium of the Saxons Cyrenceaster taking the denomination from the riuer Corinus or Churne vpon which it is situate The tract of the decaied wals of it which are two miles about doe testifie that it was sometime a very great citie Many antiquities and auncient monuments doe plainly shew that in the time of the Romans it was a place of good rekoning Now it is nothing so populous and well inhabited k From the Seuerne I vnderstand it which at euery floude enterteineth the salt water a great way vp into the countrey l Warham is a sea towne in Dorsetshire strongly fortified by nature vpon the South and North with two riuers Ware and Trent this now they call Piddle and with the maine sea vpon the East only vpon the Wew it lieth open to the assailaunt Yet it was in times past defended with a faire wall and a strong Castle It was very populous well inhabited and graced with the Kings mint for the refining and coining of his mony vntill the time of Henry the Second since whose daies by reason of ciuill warres casualty by fire and stopping of the hauen it is much decaied and hath lost much of that former beauty m This distance is much too great whether he meaneth the lands end in Cornwall or the farther part of Wales Westward which I rather incline to But obserue this once for all that there is no great heed to be taken to those his accounts of miles and distances n Dartmouth an hauen towne in Deuonshire situate vpon a little hill running out into the sea at the mouth of the riuer Dart or Dert as some write it The hauen is defended with two strong Castels or Block-houses It is very populous well frequented with Merchants and hath many goodly tall shippes belonging to it King Iohn granted them certaine priuiledges and euery yeere to chuse a Maior for their supreme magistrrate and gouernour in ciuill causes vnder the King o Thus our seamen cal it at this day The Arabian termeth it _____ Tarfi'lgarbi mina'lgiezira The Westerne bound of the iland Master Camden in his Scotland that I may note this by the way affirmeth that Taurus in Welch doth signifie the end or limbe of any thing Heere in Arabicke thou seest it signifieth the same And in English wee call if I be not deceiued the brimmes of an hatte The tarfe p SALISBVRY or rather SARISBVRY a sweet and pleasant city within the County of Wilt situate in a plaine at the meeting of the riuers Auone and Nadder It is not that ancient city Sorbiodunum mentioned by Antoninus in his Iournall but built of the ruines of it as seemeth very probable For this old towne being often distressed for want of water and at length spoiled and rased to the ground by Swein the Dane in the yeare of our Lord 1003. although it reuiued againe a little after about the time of William the First was forsaken and abandoned by the citizens who laid the foundation of this new citie about 400. yeares since at what time Richard the First was King of England That most stately Cathedrall Church which they report hath as many doores as there be months in the yeare as many windowes as the yeare hath daies and as many pillars as there are