was in Campis Secalaunicis in Soulogne near Orleans Attila lost nigh 200000 Men. Theodoric King of the Visigoths was killed in the Fight and the next day his Son Thorismond elected King by the Visigoths Notwithstanding this infinite loss Attila had still Men enough left to Retreat to his own Countrey Aetius having discharged the Visigoths and the French lest he should be obliged to pursue and make an end of them The youngest of Clodions Sons had cast himself into the Arms of that Prince who adopted him for his Son and the other under the protection of Attila what their Fortune was we know not but for Attila upon his return from another irruption he made into Italy about the year 452. he died in his own Countrey while he was in Bed with a new Spouse Year of our Lord 452 This year 452. is commonly reckoned to be the time of the wonderful birth or beginning of the City of Venice in the Adriatick Gulph It is held that the terror of Attilas Forces after he had taken Aquilea making all the people of those Countreys flie from thence some numbers of them got into the Island Rialto and other Islands adjacent who fixed their Habitation there which was the first foundation of that noble State Year of our Lord 454 The Emperour Valentinian caused Aetius to be Massacred who alone upheld the Empire shaken and assaulted on all hands The following year he is slain himself by the Year of our Lord 455 friends of that great Captain and upon the solicitation of Petronius Maximus whose Wife he had violated Maximus seizes on the Empire and Eudoxia his Widdow whom he Married The peasure of his Revenge and his Reign lasted but three Months The People stoned him to death as soon as Genseric King of the Vandals whom Eudoxa had called over from Africa to revenge her was come to the Gates of Rome But that Barbarian sacked the City and took the Empress who was carried into Captivity with her two Daughters being at the same time both revenged and punished From thence followed the utter destruction of the Western Empire there being no one Head left powerful enough to repair or indeed prop the ruines of that vast Building but only divers petit Commanders who were but the sport of the Barbarians and who consumed the small Forces they had by pushing at one another So that Meroveus and afterwards Childeric his Son had the proper time to extend their limits Meroveus took on the one hand all the Germania Prima or territory of Mentz and on the other the Belgica Secunda which is named Picardy a good part of the Second Lyonnoise named Normandy and almost all the Isle of France He Reigned almost 11 years and dyed Anno 458. we know nothing either of Year of our Lord 458 his Age nor of his Wife nor his Children but only that Childeric his Successor was his Son Childeric King IV. Aged XX to XXV years POPES LEON I. Three years HILARY the 12th Nov. 461. S. Five years Ten Months SIMPLICUS the 20th Sept. 561. S. Twenty Five years Five Months Year of our Lord 458 THis Prince being yet Young much addicted to his Pleasures and having a Kingdom too peaceable gave himself the liberty to debauch Year of our Lord 459. Or 460. his Subjects Wives and Daughters The French who were not accustomed to such infamous dealings degraded him from his Throne either by Sedition only or by some kind of judicial proceedings and in his stead Elected Aegidius or Gillon Master of the Roman Militia who was a stranger but in high reputation for Wisdom and Probity Childerick knowing after this that they sought his Life also retired himself into Year of our Lord 460 Turingia to King Basin but left a faithful friend in France named Guyemans who promised to work his Restauration by turning the Hearts of the French against Gillon Guyemans being very subtil gained much upon the Good Will and Confidence of Gillon and encouraged him to charge them with Taxes or Imposts and when they made a great noise about it he counsel'd him to strike off the most stirring Heads who were the same that had degraded Childeric then do they come secretly to make complaints to Guyemans who perswades them to recall their natural King and when he observes them disposed so to do gives him notice of it and for a Year of our Lord 468 token sends him the half of a Gold Crown broken in two of which the King kept the other half The French go as far as Bar to meet him and re-establish him in his Royalty with formal Solemnity Year of our Lord From the year 468. To the year 481. After his return he made use of the heat of his Subjects against Gillon he pushed at him vigorously forced him to abandon Colen took Treves by Assault and Burnt it Conquer'd the Countrey now called Lorrain and afterwards crossing Champagnes which then remained firm to the Romans he made himself Master of Beauvais Paris and of many other Towns upon the Oise and the Seine the People giving themselves up to the French rather out of choice than by compulsion to free themselves from the horrible Tailles and cruel Concussions of the Roman Magistrates who had put them into so great dispair that they sought their own relief in the ruine of the State A little after Childeric came from Turingia Queen Basina charmed with his Virtues forsook her Husband to come to him he took her to Wife and within the year had a Son by her who was named Clovis Gillon as it should seem had called in some Auxiliaries of the Saxons Commanded by their King Odoacer which he employed to defend the Cities above the Loire as well against the Visigoths as the French When he was dead viz. in the year 464. the Count Pol took the Command and Odoacer on his side would secure the City of Angiers and fortified the Islands in the Loire to preserve his booty but Childeric vanquished the Count Pol near Orleans and after he had possess'd himself of that City pursued him to Angiers where he forced his way in and laid him dead on the Pavement This done he dislodged the Saxons from their Islands and after an agreement with them he set them at work to drive away the Germans who at that same time had made an irruption into Gaul Year of our Lord 476 Anno 476. Of the Christian Aera and the 1229. from the foundation of Rome the Roman Empire ended in the West there having been in the last Twenty years Nine or Ten Abortives of Emperours of which Romulus whom they called Augustulus was the last He was a young Child of about Ten or Twelve years old to whom the Patrician Orestes his Father had given the Title of Emperour to Govern in his Name Odoacer King of the Heruli having slain Orestes locked up this Child in a Castle and gave beginning to the First Kingdom in Italy Divers years
he brought most of them to their Duty one after another Eudes being dead during these Transactions he Treated with Hugh de Puiset who was to inherit that Earldom and making him resign his Right provided he would give him his liberty put himself in possession of that place of great importance at that juncture Year of our Lord 1112 c. Some time after Hugh having re-fortisied le Puiset and committing a thousand Insolencies upon the Neighbouring Countries he besieged him in that place but the Champenois having the rest that were in League together for him failed not to come to relieve it Two great Battles were fought one to the Kings disadvantage the other to his advantage after that they talked of an Accommodation and Hugh obtained his Pardon Milon Vicount de Troyes whom the King had re-setled in Montlehery had withdrawn himself from the rest of the Leagued Party Crescy not being able to draw him in again surprized him by Treachery and after he had led him about to divers Castles bound and setter'd not knowing where to secure him so but the King would deliver him nor how to let him go but he would take his Revenge he caused him to be Strangled in the night and thrown out of a Window at the Castle of Gumet He would have had it believ'd that he had broken his Neck endeavouring to make his escape but the Crime was discover'd and the King with great diligence besieged the Castle of Gumet The wretched Murtherer being condemned to justifie himself by Duel in the Court of Amaulry de Montfort had not the courage to expose himself to that hazard and therefore finding himself Convicted he came and cast himself at the Kings Feet gave up his Lands to him and put on the Habit of a Monk as his Pennance Year of our Lord 1116 Hugh du Puiset being Revolted the third time the King again besieged that Castle razed it and then turned that Rebel out of all his Estate This unfortunate Man having in a Sally killed Anseau de Garlande Grand Seneschal and Favourite to the King and not daring to remain any longer in the Country went a while after to the Holy Land which in those times was the Refuge of Banish'd and Condemned People as it was likewise of true Penitents Year of our Lord 1116 Thomas de Marle Lord of Coucy had been Excommunicated and Degraded of his Nobility Anno 1114. by the Popes Legat in the Council of Beauvais for the Sacriledge and Robberies he committed upon the Churches and the People belonging to the Bishopricks of Reims Laon and Amiens That Sentence had inflamed his Rage to do yet worse even to the setting Fire to the City of Laon and the Noble Church of Nostre-Dame I believe it was that of Liesse to Massacre the Bishop Galderic and cut off that Finger whereon he wore the Episcopal Ring The King who flew about every where with incredible Celerity ran that way before this Robber had seized the Tower of Laon forced and razed his Castles of Crecy and Nogent and brought him to Reason Year of our Lord 1116 17. He quelled likewise another puny Tyrannet named Adam that ravaged all the Neighbourhood of Amiens He had gotten possession of the City Tower which was very strong and gave a great deal of trouble but the King having begirt it for two years gained it and razed it About Ten or Eleven years afterwards Thomas draws the King again upon him by the like Deportment so that he went and besieged his Castle of Coucy It hapned that making their approaches Rodolph Count de Vermandois met him wounded him and took him Prisoner He was carried to Laon where he died miserably of his Wounds Henry King of England was the Boute-feu and Support of all these Revolts Year of our Lord 1117 King Lewis in Retaliation had stirred up against him his Nephew William Son of the Deceased Duke Robert whom he admitted to do Hommage for the Dukedom of Year of our Lord 1117 Normandy and gave him the Castle and City of Gisors the first occasion of the Quarrel This Nephew being thus supported put his Uncle to so much trouble that he was fain to make a Peace with Lewis promising to leave all the Rebels to his Mercy Year of our Lord 1118 Archambaud Lord of Bourbon being dead Hemon his Brother surnamed Vaire-Vache under pretence of claiming his Share detained the whole Possession to the prejudice of the Son and Treated his Subjects especially the Clergy very Tyrannically The King assigns him to plead his Right before the Parliament Upon his refusal to appear he went in Person to compel him and besieged his Castle of Germigny Hemon dreading his Wroth came and craved his Pardon he received him to Mercy and took both him and his Nephew along with him to bring them to an agreement of all their Disputes The Quarrel between the Emperor and Pope concerning the right of Investitures being burst out anew with more heat then ever Pascal II. being Pope the Emperor Henry V. had seized both upon him and all his Cardinals and constrained him to allow him the priviledge of nominating two Bishopricks Afterwards that Pope being at liberty annull'd that Treaty in the Council of Latran and Excommunicated the Emperor Year of our Lord 1118 In this year 1118. Galasius was elected in the room of Pascal or Paschalis but he sought not the approbation of the Emperor who being displeased at that neglect or contempt caused one Maurice Burdin to be chosen a Limosin by Birth and Archbishop of Braga in Portugal to whom they gave the name of Gregory Year of our Lord 1119 Gelasius being then driven from Rome took his way into France to hold a Council there as he did in the City of Vienne but he died the same year in the Abby of Clugny Year of our Lord 1119 The Cardinals that had followed him elected Guy Archbishop of Vienne who took the name of Calixtus II. He was the Brother of Stephen Earl of Burgundy and Uncle of Adele or Alix Queen of France who was the Daughter of his Sister and of Humbert Earl of Morienne and this consideration did fortisie the Holy See with great Alliances against the Emperor Year of our Lord 1119 The whole Kingdom of France having taken his part he came from Vienne to Toulouze where he held a Council Thence he went to Reims where he called another in which divers Canons were made to take away Simony the Investiture of Benefices from Laicks Concubines from Priests and the selling of Sacraments The King was present the Emperor Henry would not be there and having refused to part with the right of Investitures was Excommunicated There was almost the same contest and difference betwixt the Popes and the Kings of France These pretending the Election and Provisions of the Popes were not sufficient without their consent So that it had begot great troubles in the Churches of Bourges Reims Beauvais and
should happily get out of them at last Holding one day a grand Council in a House near the Walls of the City the Floor sunk down under his Feet James de Bourbon Lord de Preaux was crushed beneath the Ruines divers others mightily bruised and hurt they had much ado to pluck him out but he had no other hurt then only some parts of his Skin rubb'd off In like manner at his first coming to the Crown all was in a tottering condition threatning to overwhelm him The Duke of Bretagne enraged for that amongst the Papers belonging to the Lords de Pontieure they had found Orders which authorized and warranted them to make him Prisoner went his way to Amiens about mid March with his Brother Arthur Earl of Richmond where he made a League against him with the Duke of Bedford and the Burgundian These four Princes confirmed their Alliance by a double Marriage of the Duke of Bedford and the Bretons Brother Arthur with two of the Burgundians Sisters he had seven in all whereof six Married Arthur took the eldest named Marguerite Widow of the Dauphin Lewis and Bedford the fifth who was called Anne Year of our Lord 1423 There appeared not the least glimpse of good fortune for King Charles he received melancholy news from all Quarters the taking of Meulaue Crotoy Compeigne and Basas in Gascongne But the worst of all was that of the deâ—eat of his Men before the City of Crevant near Auxâ—rre The Earl of Salisbury had laid Siege to it the Constable de Bouchain and the Mareschal de Severac who went thither to relieve it were beaten a thousand of their valiantest Soldiers lay dead upon the place and almost as many led away Priseners amongst whom were the Constable and the Count de Ventadour Year of our Lord 1423 The Birth of his first Child which came into the World in the City of Bourges the fourth of July did for a time afford him some consolation This was a Son whom they named Lewis Year of our Lord 1423 The Council of Constance had by their Forty four Session appointed a Council at Pavia for the year 1423. so few Prelats met there that they were sain to transfer it to Sienna When they had held some Sessions Alphonso King of Arragon endeavoured by his Ambassadors to bring the business again on foot concerning the Anti-Pope Peter de Luna which he did in revenge for that Martin V. had denied him the Investiture of the Kingdom of Naples which he could not possibly grant him because the Council of Constance had bestowed it on Lewis III. Duke of Anjou Now Martin to prevent a Schism could find no readier Expedient then to dissolve the Council upon pretence of a Plague in the Neighbourhood though there appeared no sign of it But that it might not be suspected he in the least apprehended the Judgment of so Holy an Assembly he assigned another in the City of Basle or Basil for the year 1430. Some jealousie and mistrust arising which afterwards grew up to hatred betwixt Jean Queen of Naples and Alphonso King of Arragon whom she had Adopted This ungrateful Man endeavour'd to dispossess her and carry her away by force into Catalonia They fell to open War he held his Benefactress a long time besieged in one Year of our Lord 1423 of the Castles at Naples and without doubt had forced her to surrender if Sforza had not come to deliver her This offence in respect of the publick and according to strict Rules of Law was cause enough to annul the Adoption Jean or Joan therefore sets it aside and by the advice of her Barons gave the same right to Lewis III. Duke of Anjou whom she immediately called into Italy caused him to be owned by her Subjects and gave him the Dutchy of Calabria Year of our Lord 1424 The year 1424. proved not more happy to King Charles then the foregoing one had been True it is that the Earl Douglas a Scot brought him four thousand Men and the Duke of Milan sent him six hundred Lances and twice as many Cross-bow-men on foot but they were almost as soon defeated as arrived The Duke of Bedford after the taking of some places had besieged Yvry which had capitulated after the manner used in those times to surrender upon the Twentieth day of August if no Army appeared before that time expired able to give battle Upon this the Constable the Duke of Alencon and seventeen or eighteen Lords more got all their Forces together and marched near the Town of Yvry but not daring hazard a battle they went all to Verneuil and made him that kept it for the English believe they had gained the Victory and by this Stratagem wrought upon them to open the Gates to them The day astigned for the Battle being past Yvry surrendred Bedford the same moment went and sought them out under the very Walls of Verneuil fought them and carried the day having slain four thousand of their Men and taken Prisoners the Duke of Alencon the Mareschal de la Fayette Lewis de Gaucour and above three hundred Gentlemen Amongst the dead were found Earl Douglas and the Vicount de Narbonne The Body of this last was quarter'd and set upon Stakes in several places he being an Accomplice in the Murther of John Duke of Burgundy Year of our Lord 1424 On the other hand the King drew over Arthur Earl of Richmond to his Party with hopes by his means to regain the Duke of Bretagne This Earl had ever a Soul devoted to France and hated the English the more for that he had offended them in making his escape from thence after the death of Henry V. pretending the faith he had given obliged him only to that King but not to his Successor He had afterwards patch'd up an agreement with the Duke of Bedford at their enterview at Amiens but that tye was too weak to hold him he forsook them upon some little picquant words which passed between him and the Duke of Bedford and Treated with King Charles perhaps not without the instigation or at least the consent of the Duke of Burgundy There were a great many precautions before he could adventure to come to Court they were fain to give him Lords and Towns in Hostage Having his securities he saw the King at Tours but he obliged himself to nothing till he had taken advice of the Duke his Brother the Dukes of Burgundy and Savoy After all these Formalities he came to wait upon the King at Chinon and from his hands received the Constables Sword in the Field of Chinon in presence of all the Lords the Seventeenth of March 1425. as the Bretons tell us though there is a Chronicle Year of our Lord 1425 that says it was in the Month of November 1424. He was positively promised the King would dismiss all those that were of Counsel for the Murther committed at Montereau and in that for seizing the Duke of Bretagne The most fixed
him run after his fancies and endeavoured then to recover Perpignan whereof John King of Arragon was repossessed by Intelligence it was only the Town for the Castle held out still for the French Their Army went thither after the taking of Leytoure King John besieged in the City though Aged above Seventy years defended himself bravely for two Months together till his Son Ferdinand came to his assistance and relieved him The Twelfth day of August Nicolas d'Anjou Son of John of Calabria who had Succeeded to the Dutchy of Lorrain after the Death of his Father Died of the Plague at Nancy Thus his Cousin Rene of Lorrain Son of his Aunt Yoland d'Anjou and de Ferry who was Son of Antony Count of Vaudemont restored the Dukedom to their House whence it came For about four or five years past the Constable play'd double betwixt the King and the Burgundian and incited them the one against the other He thought their broils was his only safety but both offended with his duplicity agreed his ruin at the price of his head and his plunder if they could but catch him He had some hint of it and broke the project by the many reasons he gave the King in writing But after he had obtained his pardon he again offended him more grievously then ever For he Seized on the City of St. Quentin and which was worse had the impudence to confer with him well Armed upon a Bridge with a Barrier betwixt them as he had been his equal Year of our Lord 1474 The Burgundians ambition was insatiable He had invited Edward of the House of York to make a descent in France where the Burgundian promised to do as much by his correspondence as they with their Forces and nevertheless instead of waiting for them he went and ruined his Army before the Town of Nuz building great designs upon the taking of this place which lies on the Rhine The apparent reason why he laid that Siege was to re-settle Robert de Bauiere in the Arch-Bishoprick of Cologn whose Channons had refused to admit him and for their Chief had taken one of their Colleagues to wit Herman Brother of the Landgrave of Hesse Year of our Lord 1474 As King Rene was good liberal and devout so was he inconstant and variable of Courage tame and weak His Sons and Grand-sons being all dead there remained only his Daughter Yoland mother of Rene Duke of Lorrain but that House was at distance from him and such as were near made him believe that having received so many troubles from her he ought not to love her and inclined him according to their interests to give his Succession one while to the King of France another while to Charles Count du Maine his Nephew Son of his Brother of the same name another time to the Duke of Burgundy And this is the reason of so many several Wills and divers Donations made by him on that Subject It is believed that he caused one to be written in Letters of Gold and Adorned with Miniature whereby he made the King his Heir to the County of Provence It is certain that this year 1474. he instituted Charles du Maine in all his Lands reserving only the Dutchy of Barr which he left to his Daughters Son Duke Rene. Now the following year when he saw the King had Seized his City of Anger 's and the Castle of Barr for the Portion said he of Mary d'Anjou his Mother he changed his mind or pretended so and to make him afraid said he would bestow it upon the Duke of Burgundy but the King being purposely advanced as far as Lyons hindred him and thereupon hapned the defeat of that Duke as you shall see Whilst he was battering his Head against that potent Body of Germany which is all of Iron the King accumulated Enemies on that part against him especially the Swisse whose alliance he had gained with the Cities of Basle and Strasburgh and others on the Rhine Sigismund Duke of Austria Rene Duke of Lorrain and even the Emperor Frederic Sigismund with the aid of the Swisse re-enters the County of Ferrete and caused Hagenbac's head to be cut off for the Concussions he had useâ— â—ene Duke of Lorrain sent to declare War against him even before Nuz by a Moorish Servant who belonged to the Lord de Craon and Frederick Armed all the power of the Empire to force him to raise the Siege Nevertheless durst he not attack him though he were four times more in number The Bishop of Munster alone had brought thither 1200 Horse and 60000 Foot all cloathed in Green with 1200 Waggons Year of our Lord 1475 The Truce betwixt the King and the Duke being expired the King goes into the Field and snatched from him Roye Montdidier and Corbie but neither this multitude of Enemies nor the Winter long and sharp nor the loss of his Towns could not make his stubborness Flexible which held him still to that Siege for ten Months from its beginning In the Month of June Edward King of England caused his Army to Land at Calais which took up three Weeks time Whilst he was putting them ashoar he sent two or three dispatches to him prayed him and pressed him to come and joyn with him the Duke making now one delay and then another The Mediation of the Apostolick Legat and of the King of Denmark who was in a City near at hand was a plausible pretence for him to withdraw from that dangerous enterprize with Honour but he obstinately refused it In the end when he saw it was too long a business though he was within ten days of taking the City by Famine he consented it should be put into the hands of the Legat. That done he comes post to find the English at Calais leaving his Forces in Barrois so shatter'd that he durst not let them be seen He conducted the King all along the way to Peronne and from thence went to see the Constable at St. Quentin who gave him his word he would deliver that City and all his other places up to the English the Duke assured them of it But when they would have approached he caused them to Fire upon them It is hard to express whether was then greatest their amazement or their rage the Duke having spent a great many words to Interpret this in the best Sence returned to Barrois to recruit his Forces Edward was a Voluptuous Prince very Fat and naturally slow who sought only to cram his Purse and who having undertaken this War rather to screw money from his Subjects then to acquire Dominion or Honour had brought over with him some of the Fattest London Citizens such as loved their ease mightily that so their weariness and toyl might make them sooner willing to desire a Peace It hapned therefore that during the Burgundians absence the King by force of intrigues of flattery and withal some Presents whereof the English are very greedy persuaded that Prince and
being assisted in this good work by two Religious Carmelites who had their first Convent near the same City Pope Clement VIII separated them from the mitigated Anno 1693. and allowed them to have their Province apart and to chuse their Superiors amongst themselves upon condition however to acknowledge the General of the Order They came not into France till the year 1505. Their Convent in the Faux-bourg Saint Germain the first that ever they had in the Kingdom was Built Anno 1611. The Reformed of the Hermites of St. Augustin who are called at Paris les Petits Peres i.e. the Little Fathers was instituted at the General Chapter of that Order held at Madrid Anno 1588. From thence some went and settled themselves in Italy and from Italy six or Seven were brought into France in the year 1595. by William d'Avencon Arch-Bishop of Embrun who loged them at the Priory of Villars Benoist in Dauphiné They were not Established at Paris till the year 1609. first in the Faux-burg St. Germain where Queen Margaret Order'd a Convent to be erected for them which they left to the Augustines Reformed who hold it still then near the Gate Montmarte where they have built another The great care which the Friers De la Charité took by receiving in as also tending and administring to the Sick deserves we should make mention of them The Blessed Ican de Dien Native of the Diocess of Evora in Portugal a simple Man without Learning but inflamed with a Charitable zeal towards helping the poor sick began this Congregation in Spain about the year 1570. He went daily about the Streets and into many Houses exhorting all good Christians to bestow their Alms and having frequently these words in his mouth Do good Brethren whilst you have the time for which cause in Italy they named these Votaries Fatte ben Fratelli Pious V. Confirmed it by his Bull of the first of January 1572. Clement VIII reformed it and Paul V. made it a Religious Order obliging them to the three usual Vowes and a special fourth which is to tend the sick under the dependance notwithstanding and under the Correction of the Ordinaries The Congregation of Feuillents sprung from the Order of the Cistertians and began not till the year 1586 in the Abbey of Feuillents which is in the Diocess of Rieux within six Leagues of Toulouze It had for Author John de la Barriere who being Abbot Commendatary of that place had taken on him the Habit of a Frier Sixtus V. approved it Clement VIII and Paul V. allowed them particular Superiors King Henry III. Founded a Convent for them in the Fauxbourg Saint Honoré near the Garden of the Tuilleries and Anno 1587. John de la Barriere brought thither three-score of his Friers They went then all bare-footed but have since worne Sandals or Galochees They have but three Prvinces in France and some thirty Monasteries As every Age and every Generation hath its particular gusto and productions this sixteenth Century was very fertile in Congregations of Clerc's Regulars who are a kind of midling species between Monks and Priests Such are those of the Theatins the Somasques the Clerc's Minors the Ministers of the Infirmaries the Schools of Piety the Clerc's Regulars of Saint Paul called Barnabites the Oratorians of Rome and the Jesuites this last much more potent and of greater extent then all the rest together I shall observe en passant that one of these Fathers a man very devout named John Leon a Flemming by Birth and Regent in the lower Classes of their Colledge at Rome assembling those Scholars who were desirous to add Piety to Erudition gave beginning to their Congregation of the Virgin which hath been found so good and useful that they have not only made of them for their Scholars but also for the honester sort of Citizens and even in some places for Artisans Of all the Clerc's Regulars none have come into France but the Jesuits the Barnabites and the Theatins These last we not established till in our time under the Regency of Queen Anne of Austria It is well known that Saint Ignatius was Institutor of the Company of Jesus how it began in the year 1534. and how it was approved by Pope Paul III. and by his Successors We may elsewhere relate upon what conditions they were admitted into France the oppositions formed against their reception and the great and frequent Traverses they have undergone divers times It shall suffice at this moment to say that they have filled the whole Earth with the loud report of their names and the Books they have composed both for the advancement of Religion and of all polite Learning The Barnabites had been wished for in France by King Henry IV. to have employed them for the Instruction of Youth and to have substituted them in place of the Jesuits after they were empelled They came not then but about six years after their General sent some of his Order to labour for the Conversion of Bearn yet did not they take root in this Kingdom till a long time afterwards they have here fifteen or sixteen houses in most of which they have Colledges to teach all manner of good Learning Their first establishment was at Montargis Anno 1620. And two years after they had one at Paris near the Palace Their Congregation took Birth at Milan and was instituted by three Gentlemen two of that City another of Cremona They went by the name of Barnabites because they established themselves in Barnaby's and the Church they built there was Consecrated to God under the name of that great Apostle Let us now speak of the Religious Orders of the other Sex We omitted in the end of the last Age how in Anno 1594. John Tiâ—â—eran a Cordelier having moved and even melted the most obdurate hearts and converted many Ladies of Pleasure by his Preaching founded an Order Des Filles Repenties to the honour of Saint Magdalene which was to receive such who by the Mercies of God should be brought to forsake and abhor their sins For which reason they were called Penitents There came in at the very first two hundred and twenty and as the number encreased so much that the Revenue was not sufficient they allowed many to go about the Town to crave the Almes of the Charitable and well disposed people Which lasted till the year 1550. when by reason of many inconveniencies they were shut up in a most strict confinement Lewis Duke of Orleans who was afterwards King gave them his Hostel of Orleans near Saint Eustache where they remained till Anno 1572. that Queen Catherine dislodged them to build a Palace there and transferred them to the Chappel Saint George in the Street Saint Denis which till then belonged to the Order of Saint Magloire Queen Jane Daughter of King Lewis XI being parted from King Lewis XII her Husband and retired to the City of Bourges had now no further
two causes One was that Richard refused to do Hommage to Year of our Lord 1186 the King for his County of Poitou grounded perhaps on this that it held immediately of the Dutchy of Aquitain The other Henry deferr'd to surrender Gisors and other places of the Vexin which Louis VII had given in Dowre to Margaret who had no Year of our Lord 1187 Children by young Henry Philip sets upon him towards Berry took Issoudun and besieged the Castle-Ruouel The King of England and his Son came to its Relief and sent to bid Battle but the two Armies being ranged Henry's heart failed him he talks of an Agreement promises Satisfaction to Philip and leaves him Issoudun for his Expences in that War Year of our Lord 1187 The Fifth of September Lewis the first born Son of Philip came into the World for which the City of Paris expressed so much Joy that they made the whole week but one Holy-day keeping all darkness at a distance by the infinite numbers of Flambeaux every where Saladin King of Syria and Egypt who from a low Birth was raised to that high power not without great desert after his having obtained many Victories over the Christians at last tears the Holy City of Jerusalem from them whereof Guy de Luzignan was then King it was taken the Second day of October and all the Holy-Land excepting only Tyre Tripoly Antioch and some strong Holds Thus at the end of Eigthy eight years Ended the Kingdom of Jerusalem which Title after it had ambitiously passed through the Houses of divers Princes does at this day make us part of the Catholick Kings At this dreadful news which arrived towards the end of the year 1187. all the Faithful made a great moan never was any sorrow so great or so universal The Kings Philip and Henry being sensibly touched Conferr'd together at Gisors and Trie and resolved to take up the Cross with great numbers of Princes Lords and Prelats to recover those Holy Places out of the hands of the Infidels In remembrance whereof they erected a Cross in the Field where they had resolved upon this Croisade and mutually promised to leave all Disputes in the same posture they then were till after their return from this holy Expedition Year of our Lord 1188 The Month of March following Philip Assembles a Parliament at Paris where it was resolv'd by Advice of the Bishops and Barons to take the Tenths of all Goods Movables and Immovables of all Persons as well Ecclesiasticks as of the Laity excepting only the Monks de Cisteaux the Chartreux de Fontevrault and the Spittles belonging to the poor Leprous People This Impost was called the Saladine Tith Year of our Lord 1188 Whilst they were preparing with great chearfulness and courage for this Expedition Richard for I not what little Injury received of Alfonso Earl of Thoulouze renew'd the old Pretention of his Mother Alienor to that County and endeavoured to recover it by the Sword Philip to disengage his Brother-in-Law and make a Diversion falls into Berry takes all the places the English were possessed of drove out old Henry who was got thither with an Army and pursued him as far as Normandy Year of our Lord 1189 Winter brought them to a Truce In the mean time Richard falls out with his Father and threw himself into the Arms of Philip. His discontent proceeded from his Fathers delay in giving him Alix of France betroathed to him Some believe the old Man cast other looks upon her then he ought towards his Sons Wife and besides by compleating this Marriage he had been obliged according to the Contract to let his be Crowned and give him the Title of King The Physitian Rigord in the History of Philip relates That being at Argenteuil when the Moon was at Full and the Night very clear a little before day-break the Prior of that Monastery and several of the Monks saw that Planet descend in a Moment to the Earth where having rested some time it went slowly up again and took its former place Year of our Lord 1189 The following Spring Philip takes the Field Conquers all the Countrey of Mayne and the City of Mans Touraine and the City of Tours himself having as by Miracle found a Foard in the Loire which he discover'd to his Army At the same time John surnamed Without-Land the Third Son of Henry likewise takes up Arms against his Father who not knowing which way to turn himself leaves Chinon and advances towards King Philip humbly to desire a Peace Philip grants it and reconciles him to Richard upon condition that one of them should accompany him to the Holy-Land Year of our Lord 1189 But Henry as unfortunate in War as he was unfortunate in his Children overcome with shame and sorrow dies three days after he was returned to Chinon Richard succeeds him and then Philip his Brother-in-Law generously restores to him all he had Conquer'd of his excepting Issoudun and the Fiefs he held in Auvergne settling Gisors and all the Vexin for his Wives Portion The two Princes thus united in a Friendship which appeared to be very cordial and so firm that one would imagine nothing could untie or shake it fitted themselves for their Expedition to the Holy-Land appointed the Rendezvous for their Armies at Vezelay and took Shipping Richard at Marseilles and Philip at Genoa Both of them landed in Sicily but Philip not so happily as Richard a furious Tempest having forced him to throw over-board part of his Horses and his Equipage Year of our Lord 1190 Before their departure Philip with the leave and by the agreement of all his Barons left the Guardianship of his Son and the Government of the Kingdom to the Queen his Mother Alix de Champagne and to William Cardinal-Archbishop of Reims Brother to that Queen But fearing they might abuse it he left an Authentick Order in Writing Signed by the Great Officers belonging to the Crown which limited their Power and prescribed their Lesson in many cases Amongst others he would have them bestow vacant Benefices of the Regalia by the Advice of Brother Bernard who was a devout Hermit living in the Bois de Vincennes and that during his absence no Tailles should be levied by any Lords upon their Lands nor in case he should happen to dye by the Regents during the Minority of his Son Year of our Lord 1190 He likewise ordered the Sheriffs of Paris that they should take care to enclose it with Walls and Towers There were no Ditches made the Enclosure on the left hand of the River upwards hath been often enlarged and altred The Burghers of other Cities by their example were ambitious to Wall their Towns and make Ramparts for defence William the Good King of Sicily Son of William the Wicked or Bad being dead without Children Anno 1189. He had an Aunt the Daughter of King Roger named Constance who being almost Thirty years of Age not a Nun as some have
them that they could scarce forbear doing the like to his person Year of our Lord 1495 The same Day he had news of Alphonso's flight That King finding himself mortally hated by his Subjects whom both he and old Ferdinand had Treated most cruelly resigned his Crown which he had not worn a year to young Ferdinand his Son and retired to Messina in Sicilia where he shut himself up in a Monastery to do pennance all the rest of his Days They were not many for before the end of that year he ended his life Dying of the Gravel which made him Languish with most grievous Torment Alphonso's fears and astonishment was so strange that although the French were yet above sixty Leagues distant he fancied they were in the very Streets of Naples and that the Trees and Stones cried out France His wife begging him to stay but only three days that she might say she had been one whole year in her new Kingdom he would not allow her that little satisfaction but said he would throw himself out of the Windows if they offer'd to detain him any longer He made so much hast to fly thence that he took none of all the vast Riches with him which he had heaped up in his strong Castles The misfortunes of this House or rather the Judgments of the Almighty God followed the Son as they had done the Father and Grandfather Ferdinand came and had posted himself at the passage de Cancello near the Abbey of Saint Germans to defend the entrance into the Kingdom As soon as ever the Mareschal de Rieux drew near to attack him he quitted it and all his Forces Disbanded John James Trivulcio a Milanese by Birth but who having been Banished by Ludovic was Listed in his Service came over to the Kings Party and gave him up Capoua which gave example to all the rest to do the like the City of Naples shut her Gates against him in a word he retired to the Island of Ischia leaving the defence of the Castles of Naples to his most considing Officers The two and twentieth of February the King made his entrance into that City the People triumphing at his Victory and receiving him as if he had been their founder and deliverer The Castles did not hold out long Thus in four Months this young King marched thorough all Italy was received every where as their Soveraign Lord without using any Force only sending his Harbingers to mark out his Lodgings and Conquer'd the whole Kingdom of Naples in fifteen days excepting only Brindes Year of our Lord 1495 Greece was almost ready to follow the same Dance with Italy Bajazeth Siezed with the extreamest Terror had drawn away all his Garrisons to strengthen his City of Constantinople the Grâ—ecians were ready to cut the Throats of all the Turks and the Turks cast their eyes towards Zemes or Zizim and wisht he were their Soveraign The jealous Venetians and the Pope made this design miscarry amidst all those fair hopes they poysoned that Prince before he was resigned into the hands of the French And withal gave the Turks notice of all the correspondence the King held in those Countries Which cost the Lives or Ruin of above fifty Thousand Christians whom the King was to have furnished with Arms to have Siezed divers maritime Towns at the time he was to pass into Greece This Bright Sun-shine of Fortune did so dazle the young King and all his Council who had but little Sence or Judgment that they scarce minded or took care of any thing Several Cities that had set up the Standard of France returned to the Arrogonians for want of sending some body to receive and take possession for the King the Favourites on whom he bestowed the Governments squandred away the Ammunitions his Soldiers lived at discretion and his Lords became insolent The People were not eased no justice was done to those Gentlemen of the Angevin Faction who had been thrown out of all their Estates So that the Love they had at first for the French was soon converted into hatred and made them forget the sorrows under the foregoing Tyrannies Year of our Lord 1495 Whilst the King and his Court full of young Fopps wasted their time in dancing Feasting Gaming and pleasant Walks the Venetians laboured to form a League against him comprizing the Pope the Emperor the Arch-Duke his Son Ferdinand King of Arragon and Ludovic Sforza so many Heads could not readily be brought to agree together it required near a whole years time to adjust them And the League they thought to contrive to obstruct his going into Italy could now only serve them to turn him out again At first Ludovic would by no means side with them on the contrary he endeavoured his utmost to hinder them but having attained his own ends he was the most zealous to promote and hasten it It was concluded about the end of Lent and published upon Palm-Sunday in presence ☞ of the Turkish Ambassador The Venetians and the Pope his good Friends would needs gratify him with that joyful news before he took his leave The information the King had thereof put him upon thoughts of his return but yet ere he went he would needs make his Triumphant entrance into Naples the Thirteenth Day of May. He was on Horse-back in an Imperial Habit a Crown upon his Head the Globe in his right Hand and a Scepter in his Left under a Canopy born by the greatest Lords of that Country and the People shouting aloud and crying Long live the August Emperor With this Ceremony he was conducted to the great Church where he received anew their Oaths of Fidelity He left in all four Thousand men to defend that Kingdom and the Country furnished him with twice as many Gilbert de Bourbon Duke of Montpensier had the Title and power of Vice-Roy a good man but of little judgment and one that loved his ease so much he seldom rose from his Bed till Noon Daubigny the Office of Constable and the Government of Calabria George de Sully that of the Dutchy of Tarente Gratian Guerre a Gascon that of Abruzzo Stephen de Vers the Dutchy of Nola. He parted from Naples the Twentieth of May. The Pope had offended him too much to stay his coming he went from Rome and retired to Orvieto But the King did not fail to restore all those places he held belonging to the Church As soon as he was gone some distance the Colonnas lately so zealous for his Interests turned their backs upon him the Florentines alone out of a desire to regain their own offer'd to maintain his quarrel and to furnish him with a good force to convoy him but he refused both the one and the other and again confirmed the Liberty of the Pisans He lost twelve or fifteen days time at Pisa and at Sienna during which the Confederates Army had leasure enough to Assemble Perhaps he waited for news from the Duke of Orleans who remained yet
they sought by all manner of ways to make some impression upon the Mind of King Francis I. A Curate of the Parish of Saint Eustache named le-Cog Preached one day before him and speaking of the Mystery of the Eucharist told them that they must lift up the heart towards Heaven where Jesus Christ sat at the right hand of God his Father not bow down to the Altar and for this reason said he does the Church sing Sursum Corda those Doctors that were present would not let the Proposition pass so but obliged him to retract That King had a mighty tenderness for his Sister Margaret and was no less fond of good Learning when he met with it amongst the Ingenuous and the Beaux Esprits the Novators employ'd both the one and the other to draw him over to them At that very time which was in the year 1533. Philip Melancthon a man of as rare a Genius as any of that Age propounded to compose all the Disputes and Differences in Religion and did condescend to many Points in favour of the Catholicks in so much that if things of that Nature could have admitted of a Division he would have shared the Differences to have reconciled the Parties The King who had some interest to make himself considerable amongst the German Princes and to whom it would have gained Immortal Honour to have become the Arbitrator of Christendom wrote to him by William du Bellay Langey whom he sent into that Country That he Passionately desired to see him that he should be most extremely Welcom if he would come and confer with his Divines for the Reconciliation and Re-union of the Church and the Re-establishment of the ancient Polity which he desired to embrace with all Affection But the Cardinal de Tournon and the Divines of Paris apprehending the Consequences of this enterview to be like the opening of a Gap in the Sheep-cote to one whom they looked upon as a Ravenous Woolf made such frequent and such pressing Remonstrances to the King that he gave Melancthon notice he did excuse him from taking so great a trouble upon him They likewise hindred him from reading the Book of Calvin's Institutions which the Author had dedicated to him in Anno 1535. and withal engaged him to send for his Sister Margeret and her Doctors to come to Court They were brought thither together with her by Charles de Coucy-Buric the King's Lieutenant in Guyenne imbued with the same Sentiments as that Princess He privately gave her fraternal Correction and Admonition and sent her Doctors to Prison but so soon as they retracted he released them upon condition they should never dare again to approach the said Princess Notwithstanding he restored her Roussel to her whom she had provided with the Bishoprick of Oleron and the Abbey of Clairac with which he passed the remainder of his days in an apparent exercise of the Catholick Religion and a most exemplary Holiness of Life and Conversation if his inside were equal to his outward deportment and his heart as sincere as his tongue seemed Pious As for the Queen she protested to her Brother never to depart more from the Catholick Religion and shewed her self much an Enemy to those that opposed it nevertheless towards the end of her days which was in Anno 1549. she seemed to repent of her Repentance and desired Calvin by Letters to come both to instruct and to comfort her but he did not judge there would be any security for him in the Journey and ever chusing rather to expose his Counsel than his Person in case of danger he would not stir out of Geneva which was his main Fortress We have formerly told you who this Calvin was his Birth his Beginnings and his Progress It is worthy our Observation that in Anno 1534. he held his first Synod at Poitiers in a Garden and from thence sent his Disciples forth to other Cities to plant his new Gospel Those that have seen him write that his Speech his Gestures and his Presence were but little taking in the Pulpit but his Books manifest that no man in his time had so Eloquent a Pen as his His manners were much more regular than Luther's he appeared sober frugal continent setled edifying both by his Discourse and his Example notwithstanding he was by Nature surly violent jealous injurious and implacable towards any that opposed him In the year 1535. the Citizens of Geneva having withdrawn themselves from the dominion of their Bishop who was also their Temporal Lord and then from that of the Roman Church called in Calvin and Farel to be their Pastors Scarce had they been nestled there two years and a half when some difference arose between them and the Magistrates of the City who drove them out this was in the year 1538. but absent as they were they still maintain'd their Cabal and their Party was so strong they were recalled again in Anno Year of our Lord From the year 1535. 1541. After than Calvin never left it more having as it were established his Pontifical seat in that place from whence he governed his whole Party as well in Temporals as Spirituals Farel could not long comply with him and retired into Switzerland As Calvins temperament was very severe and an Enemy to all divertisements that besides he must needs have observed how the Lutherans instead of having retrenched their Luxury Debaucheries and Oppressions had rather increased them he thought it would be much better to use more strictness in reforming those irregularities so to gain Proselytes by the specious appearance of Austerity He therefore forbad all Oaths which then were grown very horrible and very frequent not permitting his to affirm otherwise then by the word verily he prohibited Dancing Cabarets Gaming-houses and Usury he punished Fornication and Adultery with death and recommended modesty of Habits Frugality and Temperance that so those of his Sect might appear to be really reformed and the Catholicks by opposition much more irregular and much more dissolute The number of his followers encreased daily they held their Assemblies by night in Cellars or in solitary places and had Advertisers who went from house to house to give them notice of the place and time Francis I. a very merciful Prince was not over rigorous to them till in the year 1535. when they lost all respect to him as well as to things Holy and Sacred Some over Zealous amongst them being angry because he would not hear Melancton nor read the works of their Calvin posted up certain very scandalous placards against him and against his Religion and scatterd'd divers very injurious Libels even upon his Table and on his very Bed nay there were those that cut off the Arms and heads of some Images So that being exasperated to the highest degree by this audacious Saerilege he quitted Blois where he then was and came to Paris where after he had given order to seize upon a good many of
453 Her Memory justified 466 Jane Queen of Naples her death 448. 454 Jane Queen of France takes upon her the sacred Vail in a Convent 534 Jane of Castille loses her Wits 642 Jane Queen of Spain her Death 642 Indies West by whom discovered 516 517 John I. King of France 371 Defeated and vanquish'd in Battle and taken Prisoner by the English near Poitiers 374 Makes Peace with the English and is set at Liberty 380 Repasses into England 382 His Death his Wives and his Children 383 John XXII Pope degraded and another substituted in his place 359 His Death 361 John King of Arragon in War with the Castillian 482 John d'Albret King of Navarre deprived of his Kingdom by the Arragonians 551 Innocent VI. Pope 372 Innocent VII Pope of Rome 420 his Death 422 Innocent VIII Pope favours Reneé Duke of Lorrain against Ferdinand King of Naples 514 Inquisition cause of great Troubles in the Kingdom of Naples 625. Interim granted to the Protestants of Germany 610 Investiture granted to King Lewis XII of the Milanois by the Emperour 541 Investiture of the Kingdom of Naples given by the Pope to Ferdinand of Arragon 547 Isabella de Valois Dutchess Widdow of Bourbon made Prisoner by the English 389 Isabella of Bavaria Queen of France claims the Regency 435 c. Her death 456 Isabella of Bavaria Wife of King Charles VI. the too strict Union of this Princess with the Duke of Orleans gives a Scandal 421 Held Prisoner and afterwards gotten away by the Duke of Burgundy 435 Isabella Queen of Arragon her Death 542 Iscalin Paulin afterwards called the Baron de la Garde goes on behalf of the King to Solyman at Constantinople 612 Italy divided into two Factions for the Pope and for the Duke of Milan 629 Jubilé Centenary celebrated 536 Julius Pope 541 Recovers Bolognia upon John Bentivoglio 543 Enemy of France 547 He Leagues and Arms against the Venetians 545 Reconciled with them 546 Quarrels with the Duke of Ferrara about some Salt-Pits 547 Sollicites the Swiss and the King of England against France ib. Besieges the City of Miranda in Person 548 His Death 552 Julius III. Pope 628 Leagues with the Emperour against the Duke of Parma and the Count de la Miranda 629 Breaks with the King of France 630 c. Juliers the Duke kill'd in a Battle 389 Juvenal John Chancellor 430 K KNoles an English Captain 379 L LAdislas seizes upon Rome and the Lands of the Church 425 Ladislas the Young King of Hungary 460 Landgrave of Hesse Prisoner 624 Languedoc the Government of it given to the Lord de Chevreuse 416 Lanoy 583 Vice-Roy of Naples 584 Laon the Cardinal de Laon his Death 411 Lautrec bravely defends Bayonne 575 General of the Armies of the League in Italy his Exploits 587 c. Governor of the Milanois his Death 590 Lancaster Duke Lands at Calais with an English Army traverses and runs thorow all France without doing any considerable Exploit 387 Lands at Calais and over-runs the Country of Caux 388 Enters France in Arms. 427 Passes into Spain and Conquers a part of Castille 408 League of the King with the Venetians the Florentines and Sforsa for the deliverance of the Pope and the Children of France that were Prisoners 420 League of the Princes against the House of Burgundy 426 League the first the Kings had with the Swisse 501 League and rising of the Spaniards called the Santa Junta 565 League Holy League in England to prevent a Schism League offensive and defensive between the Pope the King of France and the Holy See 605 Leon King of Armenia flying from the cruelty of the Turks takes refuge in France 408 Leo X. Pope 552 His Death 552 D Leve Anthony General for the Emperour in Piedmont 602 Liege in great Troubles about the Election and Establishment of a Bishop 424 Taken by Storm sacked and burnt by the Duke of Burgundy 490 Implacable hatred of the Liegois against the House of Burgundy 424 Limoges taken by Storm by the English 392 Loire the River Loire frozen in the Month of June 484 Lorain Charles Cardinal raises himself and his House very much 629 c. Longueville Duke Prisoner in England 554 Lewis or Lovis of Bavaria Emperour Excommunicated by the Pope degraded from the Empire his Death 367 Lowis the Great King of Hungary Revenges the Death of the King of Sicilia his Brother 368 Lovis Duke of Anjou seizes on the Regency after the Death of Charles V. c. 400 His Death 408 Louis Duke of Orleance Brother of King Charles VI. 412 Is assassinated by order of the Duke of Burgundy 423 The Dutchess his Wife comes from Blois to Paris to complain to the King 424 c. Louis II. Duke of Anjou invested with the Kingdom of Naples 426 Louis of Anjou King of Sicily 430 Louis of Anjou King of Naples 454 His Death ib. Louis XI King of France his return from Flanders and his Coronation at Reims 481 Ill Conduct in the beginning of his Reign 482 His Death his Elogy his Wives and his Children 505 506. Louis King of Hungary vanquished by the Turks 584 Louis or Lewis XII King of France heretofore Lewis Duke of Orleance 532 His Marriage with Jane Daughter of Lewis XI declared null 534 Makes Peace and Alliance by Marriage with the King of England His Death 554 Louysa of Savoy Mother of King Francis I. Regent of the Kingdom during the Voyage of her Son into Italy 580 c. Her Death 594 Luther and of his Defection and going out of the Church the Birth of Lutheranisme 562 Lutheranisme introduced in Sweden in Denmark and Norway 606 Lutherans sought after in France 575 Punished ib. Called Protestants 562 Louret President of Provence 449 Luxury breeds from Desolation 374 M Perrin MAcé 377 Island of Madera's discover'd 439 Mahomet takes the City of Constantinople by force 465 His Death 503 Majority of the Eldest Sons of France Memorable Ordonance 393 c. Mantoua from a Marquisate erected to a Dutchy 592 Marcellus II. Pope 642 Mareschals of France 623 Margaret of Burgundy marries the Daufin of France 504 Margaret of Scotland Queen of France Her Death 506 Margaret of Austria Wife of Charles VIII is sent back into Germany to Maximilian her Father 516 Margaret Sister of King Francis I. passes into Spain 581 Marriage of Charles VI. with Isabella of Bavaria and of John of Burgundy with Margaret of Bavaria 408 Marriage of the Daufin of France with the Daughter of the Duke of Burgundy and the eldest Son of the Burgundian with Michel of France 421 Marriage of Catherine of France with the King of England 439 Marriage of Margarite of Anjou with the King of England 459 Marriage of King Lewis XII with Mary Sister of the King of England 544 Marriage of Philip of Spain with Isabella of France 654 Of the Duke of Savoy with Margaret Sister of King Henry II. 653 Mary Queen of England her Death 651 Mary Queen
had been adjudged to a Lady as being given her in Dower with an express Declaration that after her Decease the Heirs should enjoy it in equal proportions That many Bishopricks were without Bishops and their Goods usurped by prophane Persons that of neer eight hundred Abbeys to which the King named there were not an hundred Titulary or Commendatory Abbeys and that of those the greater part did but only lend their names to others who in effect enjoy'd the Revenue Thus were the Churches without Pastors the Monasteries without Religious Votaries the Votaries without Discipline the Temples and Sacred Places fallen to ruine and converted to Dens of Thieves When the Clergy perceived they were thus left a prey to all the World and that the Licentiousness of a Civil War exposed their Goods to the first occupier the Catholicks falling on them with no less greediness then the Huguenots they endeavour'd to re-unite themselves for their own security and the Bishops were forced to reside in their Bishopricks if not to feed their Flocks yet at least to preserve wherewith to feed themselves Before this necessity they ran from them as dismal Solitudes the divertisements of Paris and Servitude at Court were a more pleasing exercise History observes how Anno 1560. John de Montluc Bishop of Valence speaking his mind freely one day in the Kings Council complained how forty had been seen at once in Paris wallowing in all manner of Debaucheries and Idleness Therefore the Parliament enjoyned them by a Decree to return to their Bishopricks and to perform their Duties otherwise they should be constrained to it by Seizure of their Goods and Equipage But perhaps considering after what way they lived there for the most part their absence might be less scandal to their Flocks then their residence ☜ would have proved In this Age were not made any new Orders of Monks I shall however mention that of the Minimes which began in the precedent Saint Francis a Native of Paolo in Calabria was the Institutor of it and did plant it in France at the time he was called thither by King Lewis XI Pope Sixtus IV. approved it in 1473. And Julius II. Confirmed it in 1506. All those of the Mendicants renewing their Ancient Fervour and Discipline some sooner others later begot divers Reformations That of Saint Francis which hath ever been more abounding than any other in diversity of Habits and Observations of Rules produced three new Branches that of the Capucines that of the Recollects and that of the Piquepusses That of the Augustines did likewise produce one which is the Hermites of Saint Augustine as the Carmelites also produced the Congregation of those named Deschaux I pass by in silence that of the Dominicans or Jacobins Reformed and that of the Augustins deschaussez or Barefooted forasmuch as they belong to the Seventeenth Age. And to speak first of the Recollects we must know that there having been at divers times many different Congregations in the Order of Saint Francis who vaunted each the observing the Rule of their Patriarch in its greatest purity and simplicity Leo X. had ordained that they should all be comprised and reduced into one under the name of the Reformed That notwithstanding there were yet many more of them who affected to be more rigid then the rest and to observe the Rule litterally pursuant to the Declarations of Nicholas III. and Clement V. That in the year 1531. Clement VIII caused certain Convents to be assigned by the Superiors of the Order where they placed those that had the Spirit of Piety and Recollection for which cause they were named Recollects The Cities of Tulle in Limosin and of Murat in Awvergne were the first in France who allowed them any Convents some Religious Friers having brought this Reformation out of Italy about the year 1584. they had one at Paris at present they have in the several parts of the Kingdom neer an Hundred and fifty which are divided into seven Provinces The Original of the Capucins so named from the extraordinary form of their Capuchon or Hood was thus In the year 1525. a Frier Minor Observantin named Matthew de Basci of the Dutchy of Spoleta a Votary in the Convent de Montefalconi affirming that God had commanded him by a Vision to the exercise of a more severe Poverty and that he had shewed him the very manner how St. Francis was cloathed cut out a long pointed Hood or Capuche* and such a Habit as the Capucins now wear and retired himself into Solitude by permission of the Pope Some others prompted by the same Spirit joyned with him to the number of twelve The Duke of Florance gave them a Hermitage in his Territories and so by little and little his band increased to that number that in the year 1528. Pope Clement VII approved this Congregation under the name of Friers Minors Capucines Pope Paul III. confirmed it Anno 1536. with permission to settle in any place and gave them a Vicar General and Officers and Superiors Such as have believed that Bernardinus Ochius who Apostatized and went over into the Camp of the Philistins or Hereticks was the Institutor of so Holy a Congregation were very ill informed perhaps the advantage he had of being once their General and one of the first and most noted of those that embraced this Reformation hath caused the mistake In the Reign of Charles IX they were received into France and had first a Convent at Meudon which the Cardinal de Lorrain caused to be crected for them and another little one in the place called Piquepuz where now are the Religious Pentients of the Tiers or third Order of Saint Francis King Henry III. transferr'd them from that place into a Convent he caused to be Built for them in the Faux-burg Sanct Honoré They have nine Provinces in this Kingdom and above four hundred Convents The Tiers Order of St. Francis named the Penitents were in the beginning only a Congregation of Secular Persons both of the one and the other Sex but some while after they were made regular Now in the following Ages being extreamly relaxed one of the Society named Vincent Massart a Parisian undertook to Reform them about the year 1595. The first Convent of this Reformation was built in the Village of Franconville between Paris and Pontoise and the second in the place called Piquepuz at the end of the Faux-burg Saint Antoine whence the vulgar hath named them * Piquepusses This Order is divided in four Provinces and hath about three-score Convents Pope Eugenius IV. having thought fit to mitigate the Rule of the Carmelites the said mitigation having made them fall into a too great relaxation Saincte Theresia a Nun of this Order in the Convent of Auilla in Castille the place of her Birth brought them again to their former Austerity She began with the Sisters for whom she built a Monastery at Avile Afterwards she undertook to restore the Men likewise