in King Iames his reign tending to the advancement of such uniformitie be not interrupted For other things certain it is that London is the antienter Citie as being an Archbishops See in the time of the Britans when the name of Paris was scarce heard of a Bishops See at the first conversion of the Saxons increased so much in wealth and honour from one Age to another that it is grown at last too big for the Kingdom which whether it may be profitable for the State or not may be made a question And great Towns in the bodie of a State are like the Spleen or Melt in the bodie naturall the monstrous growth of which impoverisheth all the rest of the Members by drawing to it all the animal and vitai spirits which should give nourishment unto them And in the end cracked or surcharged by its own fulness not only sends unwholesome fumes and vapours unto the head and heavy pangs unto the heart but drawes a consumption on it self And certainly the over-growth of great Cities is of dangerous consequence not only in regard of Famine such multitudes of mouthes not being easie to be fed but in respect of the irreparable danger of Insurrections if once those multitudes sensible of their own strength oppressed with want or otherwise distempered with faction or discontent should gather to an head and break out into action Yet thus much may be said to the honour of London though grown by much too bigg now for the kingdom that it is generally so well governed and in so good peace that those Murders Robberies and outrages so frequent in great and populous Cities beyond the Seas are here seldom heard of 2 York in the West-riding of that Countie the second Citie of England as the old Verse hath it Londinum caput est Regni urbs prima Britanni Eboracum à primâ jure secunda venit That is to say In England London is the chiefest Town The second place York claimeth as its own And so it may being indeed the second Citie of the Kingdom both for same and greatness A pleasant large and stately Citie well fortified and beautifully adorned as well with private as publick Edifices and rich and populous withall Seated upon the River Ouse or Vre which divides it in twain both parts being joyned together with a fair stone Bridge consisting of high and mighty Arches A Citie of great estimation in the time of the Romans the Metropolis of the whole Province or Diâ—cese of Britain remarkable for the death and buriall of the Emperour Seveâ—us and the birth of Constantine the Great by consequence the Seat of the Primate of the British Church as long as Christianity did remain amongst them Nor stooped it lower when the Saxons had received the Faith and notwithstanding those mutations which befell this Kingdom under the Saxons Dancs and Normans it still preserved its antient lustre and increased it too Adorned with a stately and magnificent Cathedrall inferiour to few in Europe and with a Palace oâ— the Kings called the Manour-house the dwelling in these later dayes of the Lord President of the Court or Councell here established by King Henry 8th for the benefit of his Northern Subjects after the manner of the French Parliaments or Presed all Seiges 3 Bristol the third in rank of the Cities of England situate on the meeting of the Frome and Avon not far from the influx of the Severn into the Ocean in that regard commodiously seated for trade and traffick the Ships with full sayl coming into the Citie and the Citizens with as full purses trading into most parts of the World with good Faith and Fortune A Town exceeding populous and exceeding cleanly there being Sewers made under ground for the conveyance of all filth and nastiness into the Rivers Churches it hath to the number 18 or 20 reckoning in the Cathedrall and that of Ratcliff The Cathedrall first built by Rob. Fitz. Harding Sonne to a King of Danemark once a Burger here and by him stored with Canons Regular Anno 1248. but made a Bishops See by King Henry 8th Anno 1542. The principall building next the Church an antient Castle a piece of such strength that Maud the Empress having took King Steven Prisoner thought it the safest place to secure him in 4 Norwich the 4th Citie of the first rank of which more hereafter 5 Oxford the first of the second rank of English Cities seated upon the Ouse or Isis but whether so called as Vadum Isides Ouseford or the Ford of Ouse or Vada boum as the Greeks had their Bosphori in former times I determine not An antient Town and antiently made a seat of Learning coevall unto that of Paris if not before it the Vniversity hereof being restored rather than first founded by King Alured Anno 806. after it had been overborn awhile by the Danish Furies but hereof as an Vniversity more anon This only now that for the statelinesse of the Schooles and publick Library the bravery and beauty of particular Colleges all built of fair and polished stone the liberall endowment of those houses and notable encouragements of Industry and Learning in the salarie of the Professors in most Arts and Sciences it is not to be parallelled in the Christian World The Citie of it self well built and as pleasantly seated formed in the Figure of a Crosse two long Streets thwarting one another each of them neer a mile in length containing in that compasse 13 Parish Churches and a See Episcopall founded here by King Henry 8th Anno 1541. The honourary Title of 20 of the noble Family of the Veres now Earls of Oxon. 6 Salisbury first seated on the Hill where now stands old Salisbury the Sorbiodunum of the Antients But the Cathedrall being removed down into the Vale the Town quickly followed and grew up very suddenly into great Renown pleasantly seated on the Avon a name common to many English Rivers which watereth every street thereof and for the populousness of the place plenty of Provisions number of Churches a spacious Market-place and a fair Town-Hall esteemed the second Citie of all the West 7 Glocester by Antonine called Glevum by the Britains Caer Glowy whence the present name the Saxons adding Cester as in other places A fine neat Citie pleasantly seated on the Severn with a large Key or Wharf on the banks thereof very commodious to the Merchandise and trade of the place well built consisting of fair large Streets beautified with a magnificent Cathedrall and situate in so rich Vale that there is nothing wanting to the use of man except onely Wine which life or luxury may require 8 Chester upon the River Dee built in the manner of a quadrate inclosed with a wall which takes up more than two miles in compasse containing in that compasse 12 Parish Churches and an old Cathedrall dedicated antiently to S. Wereburg Daughter of Wolfere K. the Mercians and Visitress of all the Monasteries of England but
the shores adjoyning and receiving withall the Law of Mahomet they began to cast off all subjection to the Kings of Siam to whom the sonne and Successor of Pâ—ramisera had submitted his new-raised kingdom and became their Homager Incensed wherewith the Sâ—amite about the year 1500 sent out a Navy of 200 Sail to distress it by Sea and an Army of 30000 men and 400 Elephants to besiege it by land But before he was able to effect any thing hindred by Tempests and the insolencies of some of his Souldiers the Portugals in the year 1511 under the conduct of Albuquerque had possessed themselves of it who built there a Fortress and a Church And though Alodâ—nus the sonne of the expelled King whose name was Mahomet endeavoured the regaining of his Estate and that the Saracens Hollanders and the kings of For and Achen two neighbouring Princes envying the great fortunes of the Portugals have severally and successively laboured to deprive them of it yet they still keep it in defiance of all opposition which hath been hitherto made against them 2. North unto that of Malaca lieth the kingdome of YOR IOR or IOHOR so called of Jor or Johor the chief City of it Inhabited for the most part by Moores or Saracens Mahometanism by their means prevailing on the Natives of the Country also A Kingdom of no great extent but of so much power that joining his Land-forces with the Navy of the King of Achen he besieged Malaca and built a Royall Fort before it in which when taken by Paul de Lima by the defeat of this king were found 900 pieces of brass Ordnance After this picking a quarrel with the king of Pahan he burnt his houses barns provisions and the Suburbs of the City it self but in the course of his affairs was interrupted by the King of Achen one of the Kings in the Isle of Sumatra his old confederate who after 29 daies siege took the City of Jor. What afterwards became of this king or kingdom I am not able to resolve In former times it did acknowlege him of Siam for the Lord in chief 3. More North-ward yet lieth the kingdome of PATANE denominated from Patane the chief City of it but different from Patane in the other India as Cleveland in York-shire from Cleveland in Germany or Holland in the Low-Countries from Holland in Lincoln hire as hath been fully shewn before The City made of wood and Reed but artificially wrought and composed together the Mesquit onely most of the people being Mahometans is built of brick The Chinois make a great part of the Inhabitants of it insomuch that in this small City there are spoke three languages viz. the Chinese used by that people the Malayan or language of Malaca which is that of the Natives and the Siam to the King whereof this small Crown is Feudatary Built of such light stuff and combustible matter it must needs be in great danger of fire and was most miserably burnt in the year 1613 by some Javan Slaves in revenge of the death of some of their Fellows at which time the whole City was consumed with fire the Mesquit the Queens Court and some few houses excepted onely The Country governed of late years by Queens who have been very kind to the English and Hollanders granting them leave to erect their Factories in Patane Not memorable for any great exploit by them performed but that a late Queen a little before that dismall fire offended with the King of Pan or Pahan who had maried her Sister and reigned in a little Iland not farre off she sent against him a Fleet of 70 Sail and 4000 men by which compelled to correspond with her desires he brought his Queen and her children with him to make up the breach 4. The Kingdom of SIAM strictly and specially so called is situate on the main-land the rest before described being in the Chersonese betwixt Camboia on the East Pegu on the West the kingdome of Muantay on the North and the main Ocean on the South The chief Cities of it 1. Socotai memorable for a temple made wholly of mettall 80. spans in height raised by one of the Kings it being the custome of this Country that every king at his first coming to the Crown is to build a Temple which he adorneth with high Sâ—eples and many Idols 2. Quedoa renowned for the best Pepper and for that cause very much frequented by forreign Merchants 3. Tavay upon the Sea-coast where it joineth to Pegu. Whence measuring along the shores till we come to Champa before mentioned being all within the Dominions of the king of Siam not reckoning the Chersonese into this Accompt we have a Seacoastof the length of 600 Leagues 4. Lugor upon the sea-side also neer that little Isthmus which joineth the Cherson se to the land from whence to Malaca is 600 miles sail all along the coast 5. Calantan the head City of a little kingdome but subject to the Crown of Siam 6. Siam the chief City of this part of the kingdome which it giveth this name to A goodly City and very commodiously seated on the River Menam for trade and merchandise So populous and frequented by forreign nations that besides the natives here are said to be thirty thousand housholds of Arabians The Houses of it high built by reason of the Annual deluge during which time they live in the Upper rooms and unto every house a boat for the use of the familie Those of the poorer sort dwell in little sheds made of reed and timber which they remove from place to place for the best convenience of their markets And yet so strong that being besiged by the Tanguan Conqueror then king of Pegu Anno 1567 with an Army of fourteen hundred thousand fighting men for the space of 20 moneths together it resolutely held good against him not gained at last by force but treason one of the Gates being set open to him in the dead time of the right and by that means the City taken The people hereof are thought to be inclining to Christianity but hitherto so ill instructed in the principles of it that they maintain amongst many other strange opinions that after the end of 2000 years from what time I know not the world shall be consumed with fire and that under the ashes of it shall remain two egs out of which shall come one man and one woman who shall people the world anew 5. MVANTAY the last of these Kingdomes lieth betwixt Jangoma and Siam memorable for nothing more then the City of Odia or Vdiâ— the principal of all the Kingdomes of Siam and the usual residence of those Kings Situate on the banks of the River Caâ—pumo and containing in it 400000 Inhabitants of which 50000 are trained to the warres and in continual reâ—diness for prelent service For though this King be Lord of nine several Kingdomes yet he useth none of them in his wars but the naturall Siamites and those of
of Geographicall Tables and Descriptions Besides this it is usefull to most sorts of men as to Astronomers who are hereby informed of the different appearances of Stars in severall Countries their severall influences and aspects their rising and setting according to different Horizons Secondly to Physicians who are hereby acquainted with the different temper of mens bodies according to the Climes they live in the nature and growth of many Simples and Medicinall Drugs whereof every Country under Heaven hath some more naturall and proper to it self than to any others Thirdly to States-men who from hence draw their knowledge of the nature and disposition of those people with whom they are to negotiate the bounds and borders both of their own Kingdoms and the Neighbouring Countreys with the extent of their respective Dominions both by Sea and Land without the exact knowledge of which there would be a perpetuall Seminary of wars and discord Fourthly to Merchants Mariners and Souldiers the severall Professors of which kinds of life find nothing more necessary for them in their severall callings than a competent knowledge in Geography which presents to them many notable advantages both for their profit and contentâ—â—ent Finally by the study of Geography a man that hath not opportunity nor means of travelling may with as much benefit but far less danger and expence acquaint himself with the particular descriptions of Kingdoms Provinces Cities Towns and Castles with all things considerable in the same together with the customes manners and dispositions of all Forrain Nations and that too in as full a manner as if he had survey'd the one and observed the other by a personall visit of the places represented to him Such is the necessary use which men of ingenuuus Studies and Professions do and may make of History and Geographie in the course of their callings and imployments And there are some things also necessary to the knowledge of each that we may study them with the greater benefit and contentation To History it is onely requisite that it be defined distinguished from such writings as do seem to challenge the name of Histories and that somewhat be premised of those severall Epoches from which all people do begin their computations But to Geography it is needfull not onely that we do define it but that we explicate those Terms or second Notions which are not obvious to the understanding of every Reader First then for History if we consult the name or Quid noâ—â—â—is of it it is derived 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Videre and therefore properly doth signifie a Relation of such remarkable actions at which the Author was an Eye-witness if not an Agent Apud veteres onim saith Isidore nemo scribeâ—at Historiam nisi is qui iâ—â—orfuisset â—a quae scribenda essent vidisset But now the customary use of the Word hath taught it a more ample signification History being defined to be a Perfect Relation of all Occurrents observable hapning in the State whereof it is written described by the Motives Pretexts Consultations Speeches and Events a speciall care being had both of time and place As for the writings which do challenge the name of History but indeed are really distinguished from it they are Commentaries Annals Diaries or Journaels and Chronologies First Commentaries set down onely a naked continuance of Events and Actions without the Motives and designs the Counsells Speeches Occasions and Pretexts of businesses So that Caesar with more modesty than true propriety of speech applied the name of Commentaries to the best History in the World A History commended by King James to his Sonne Prinâ—e Henry above all other profane Authors both for the sweet flowing of the stile and the worthiness of the matter it selfe For I have ever saith he been of this opinion that of all Ethnick Emperors or great Captains he hath farthest exceeded both in his practice and in his precepts for martiall affairs Which makes me the more wonder at the strange and unjust Censure of Justus Lipsius who calls them Nudam simplicem narrationem for being entituâ—ed Commentaries they do saith he nil polliceri praeter nomen with pride and arrogance enough 2. For Annals next they are a bare recitall onely of the Actions happening every yeer without regard had to the causes and pretexts or any of the chief Ingredients required in History So that Tacitus had no other Reason to give the name of Annals to his excellent Work than that it is distinguished by the yeers of the Consuls Otherwise there is no great difference as unto the matter betwixt an History and an Annal the subject of them both being matter of State and not such triviall things as Triumphs Pageants and such like which stand not with the gravity and authority of Historicall Annals betwixt which and a Diary the same Tacitus speaking of some magnificent Structures which were built that yeer doth make this difference Res illustres Annalibus talia diurnis Urbis actis mandari that matters of the greater moment were committed to Annals and unto Diaries the Acts and Accidents of a meaner nature 3. But Diaries besides this difference in point of matter are distinguished from Annals also in point of time a Diary or Journal as the name imports containing the Actions of each day of which kind was the Chronicle called for by Ahasâ—erus in which the Actions of his Court were referred to Journals and in the which he found the relation of the treason intended against him by his Eunuchs And of this kinde was that of King Edward the fixt mentioned in the History of his life by Sir John Hayward 4. Last of all for Chronologies they are onely bare supputations of times with some brief touch upon the Actions therein hapning such as are those of Eusebius Functius Calvisius and Helvicus of which last I dare give that testimony which Paterculus affords to Ovid viz. that he is perfectissimus in forma operis sui though he and all the rest are debtors to Eusebius for the incredible pains taken by him in his excellent Chronicon Out of these four as out of the four Elements the Quintessence of History is extracted borrowing from Annals time from Diaries and Commentaries matter from Chronologies consent of time and co-etanity of Princes and thereto adding of her own all such other Ornaments in which these four are found defective That which remains is to prâ—mise somewhat of these severall Epoches from whence particular States Nations and People make their computations These have been very different in former times according to the severall occasions took in severall Countreys The Jews had severall Epoches peculiar to themselves alone and one in common with their Neighbours Those which they had amongst themselves were First from the Creation of the World or the beginning of time Secondly from the universall Deluge which hapned A. M. 1656. Thirdly from the Confusion of Tongues A. M. 1786. Fourthly from Abrahams journey out of
his Kingdom at his death He is sayd to be the founder of the Citie of Genâ—a and to have given name to the Hill in Rome called Janicula on which it was supposed that he had his dwelling 2 Saturn who taught the people the use of dunging of their lands and for that cause was honoured by them as a God under the name of Stercutius as St. Austin hath it He reigned first together with Janus and afterwards by himself alone the whole time of both their reigns was 33 years 3 Picus well skilled in divination by the flight and chattering of Birds and therefore feigned by the Poets to be turned into a Pye He entertained Evander and his Arcadians giving them the Hill called after Aventine to build upon 37. 4 Fannus the sonne of Picus and the husband of Fatua in whose time Hercules came into Italy vanquished the Giants of Cremona and killed the Giant Câ—cus who had fled out of Spain 44. 5 Latinus the sonne of Faunus who entertained Aeutas comming from the wars and destruction of Troy and gave him his daughter Lavinia to wife with his Kingdom after him in Dower 36. 6 Lavinia daughter to Latinus and Queen of the Latins maried to Aeneas whom she out-lived he being slain in his Wars against Mezentius the King of Tuscany the sonne or successor of that Mezentius an ungodly Tyrant whom Aeneas had before slain in his war with Turnus and the Latins 7. Kings of the Latins of the Trojan or Silvian rate 1 Aeneas the sonne of Anchises and Husband of Lavinia slain in his wars against Mezentius King of the Tuscans or Hetrurians as before is said 3. 2 Ascanius the sonne of Aeneas by Creusa his former Wife for fear of whom Lavinia being great with child fled into a Wood and was there delivered of a son called Silvius He removed the Seat Royall from Lavinium to Longa Alba a City of his own building 38. 3 Silvius Posthumus the sonne of Aeneas by Lavinia preferred unto the Kingdom by the love of the people before Iulus the sonne of Ascanius the founder of the Julian family from whom all the Kings of this Race had the name of Silvii Iulus being honoured with the chief Priesthood an office next in dignity to that of the King which he translated afterwards unto his Posterity 29. 4 Aeneas Silvius 31. 5 Latinus Silvius 50. 6 Alba Silvius so called because of his beautifying and repairing the City Alba then in some decay 39. 7 Capetus Silvius 24. 8 Capys Silvius said to be the founder of the Citie of Capua which shewes that he extended his dominion further than the Province of Latium 28. 9 Capetus Silvius 13. 10 Tiberinus Silvius from whom the River Tiber derives that name being formerly called Albula 8. 11 Agrippa Silvius 40. 12 Alladius Silvius who to make himself the more terrible to his subjects studied a way to imitate the Thunder but was killed at last by a reall Thunder-clap from Heaven 19. 13 Aventinus Silvius vvho gave name to the Hill Aventine 37. 14 Procas Silvius 23. 15 Amulius Silvius the younger sonne of Procas setting aside his Brother Numitor obtained the Kingdom for himself slain at last by Româ—lus and Numitor setled in the Throne 42. 16 Numitor the 21 King from Janus and the last King of the Latins restored by Romulus to the Throne and after the short reign of one year onely deprived by him both of life and Kingdom After whose death the Latins or Albans had no more Kings but kept themselves as a Free-estate till subdued to Rome 1. Concerning this it is to be understood that Amulius having chased his elder brother Numitor out of the Country and possessed himself of the Throne caused his brothers daughter Rhea for preventing any issue by her to be shut up in the Temple of Vesta Where she proving the mother of two sonnes was according to the Law buried quick and her children by the cruel Tyrant cast out to be devoured of wild Beasts They were found by Faustulus the Kings Shepheard nurst by his Wife for her infamous life called Lupa whence came the Fable that they were suckled by a Wolf and being grown to mans estate slew the Tyrant Amulius placing their Grandfather Numitor in the Royall Throne whom not long after they deprived both of life and kingdom Of these the eldest was named Romulus and the younger Rhemus who leaving Alba to the short possession of their Grandfather Numitor layd the foundation of the most famous City of Rome which Romulus first hanselled with the blood of his Brother Rhemus who had disdainfully leapt over the walls of his new City This City he made an Asylum or place of Refuge for all commers of what desperate estate soever and having ranked them into order made himself their King A people of so base a nature that their neighbours refused to give them any of their daughters in mariage So they were destitute of Wives and consequently not like to continue a people long till on a proclamation made of some plaies and pastimes many of the Sabine women flocked thither to behold the sports whom the Romans seized on and forced an unwilling consent from them to become their Wives From such a base and low beginning did this City rise to be the Empress of the World The Kings of Rome 1 Romulus the founder of Rome He made peace with Tatius King of the Sabines comming against him to revenge the ravishment of their women incorporating him and his into his new Citie and by that means adding thereto a fair and goodly Territory 37. 2 Numa the first Author of the Roman Ceremonies 43. 3 Tullus Hostilius who enlarged the borders of Rome by the conquest of Alba the mother-Citie of the Latins and vanquished the Fidenates 32. 4 Ancus Martius who built Ostia on the mouth of Tiber to be an Haven to the City 5 Tarquinius Priscus who subdued many of the Tuscan Nations encreased the number of the Tribes and Senators and added the triumphall ornaments 38. 6 Servius Tullus who first caused the people to be inrolled and brought into cense 44. 7 Tarquinius Superbus sonne to the former Tarquinius He vanquished the Gabiâ— and took the Towns of Ardea Ocriculum and Suessa Pometia but for his own insolent behaviour and a Rape committed on Lucretia the Wife of Collatine by his sonne Sextus he and his whole Race were driven out of the Town Anno Mund. 3457. V. C. 268. After this the Romans loathing the name of King caused two Officers to be chosen out of the Patricii or chief Citizens to whom they gave the name of Consuls à consulendo from counselling of and consulting the good of the Common-wealth ut consulere se suis civibus meminerint saith the Historian their name being a memento of their charge or duty And in this office they
command of so many Merchants The usuall Division of Italie is into six parts 1. Lombardie 2. Tuscany 3. the Land of the Church 4. Naples 5. Riviere de Genoa and 6. the Land of Venice and of them there is passed this Câ—nâ—ure according to the principall Cities i. e. Rome for Religion Naples for Nobility Millaâ—n for beauty Genoa for stateliness Florence for Policie and Venice for riches But take it as it stands at the present time and Italie is best divided into The Kingdoms of Naples Sicilie Sardinia The Land or Patrimony of the Church The Dukedoms of Urbin Florence The Common-wealths of Venice Genoa Luca. The Estates of Lombardie i.e. The Dukedom of Millain Mantua Modena Parma Montferrat The Principality of Piemont The Kingdom of NAPLES THe Kingdom of NAPLES is invironed on all sides with the Adriatick Ionian and Tuscan Seas excepting where it joyneth on the West to the Lands of the Church from which separated by a line drawn from the mouth of the River Tronto or Druentus falling into the Adriatick to the Spring-head of Axofenus By which accompt it taketh up all the East of Italie the compass of it being reckoned at 1468. miles It hath been called sometimes the Realm of Pouille but most commonly the Realm of Sicil on this side of the Phare to difference it from the Kingdom of the Isle of Sicil lying on the other side of the Phare or Streit of Messana The reason of which improper appellation proceeded from Roger the first King hereof who being also Earl of Sicil and keeping there his fixed and ordinary residence when he obtained the favour to be made a King desired in honour of the place where he most resided to be created by the name of King of both the Sicilies And that indeed is the true and antient name of the Kingdom the name or Title of King of Naples not comming into use till the French were dispossessed of Sicil by the Aragonians and nothing left them but this part of the Kingdom of which the City of Naples was the Regalâ— Seat called therefore in the following times the Kingdom of Naples and by some of the Italian Writers the Kingdom onely This is esteemed to be the most fertile place in all Italie abounding in all things necessary for the life of man and in such also as conduce to delight and Physick viz. Many Springs and Medicinall waters Bathes of divers vertues sundry Physicall herbs It hath also an excellent breed of Horses which may not be transported but by the leave of the King or at least the Vice-Roy great store of Allom Mines of divers Metals and the choicest Wines called antiently Vina Massica and Falerna frequently mentioned by the Poets And as for Merchandise to Alexandria they send Saffron to Genoa Silks to Rome Wine and to Venice Oyl The Noblemen or Gentrie hereof live of all men the most careless and contended lives and like the Tyrant Polycrates in the elder stories have nothing to trouble them but that they are troubled with nothing And there is a great number of them too there being reckoned in this Realm in the time of Ortelius 13 Princes 24 Dukes 25 Marquesses 90 Earles and 800 Barons and those not only Titular as in other places but men of great power and revenue in their severall Countries insomuch that the yearly income of the Prince of Bisignan is said to be an hundred thousand Crowns one year with the other the Princes of Salern and St. Severine being near as great They are all bound by their Tenure to serve the King in his Wars which gives them many privileges and great command over the common subject whereby as they were made the abler to assist the King upon any foren invasion so are they in condition also of raising and countenancing such defections as have been made from King to King and from one Family to another as sorted best with their ambitious and particular interesses For not alone the Nobles but in generall as many of the common people as can be spared from Husbandry are more addicted to the Wars than they are to Merchandise The Nobles in pursuit of honour and the Paisant out of desire of being in action so that the greatest part of the Forces which serve the Spaniard in the Low Countries are sent from hence To which the humour which they have from the highest to the lowest of going bravely in Apparell serves exceeding fitly An humour which is so predominant in both sexes that though the Paisant lives all the rest of the week in as great servility and drudgery as his Lord doth in pride and jollity yet on the Sundayes and Saints-daies he will be sure to have a good Suit to his back though perhaps he hath no meat for his belly And for the women she that works hard both day and night for an hungry living will be so pranked up on the Sundaies and other Festivals or when she is to shew her self in some publick place that one who did not know the humour might easily mistake her for some noble Lady The principall Rivers of this Kingdom are 1 Sibaris 2 Basentus 3 Pescara 4 Trontus 5 Salinellus 6 Vomanus 7 Salinus and 8 Gariglian On the banks of this last River many battels have been fought between the French and the Spaniards for the Kingdom of Naples especially that famous Battell between the Marquess of Saluzzes Generall of the French and Gonsalvo Leader of the Spaniards the loss of which Victory by the French was the absolute confirmation of the Realm of Naples to the Spaniards More famous is this River for the death of Peter de Medices who being banished his Country at the comming of King Charles the 8. into Italie and having at divers times in vain attempted to be reimpatriate followed the French Army hither and after the loss of the day took ship with others to fly to Caâ—eta but over-charging the vessel she sunk and drowned them all But most famous is it in that Marius that excellent though unfortunate Captain being by Sylla's faction driven out of Rome hid himself stark naked in the dirt and weeds of this river where he had not layen long but Sylla's Souldiers found him and carried him to the City of the Minturnians being not far off These men to please Sylla hired a Cimber to kill him which the fellow attempting such is the vertue of Majesty even in a miserable fortune run out again crying he could not kill C. Marius This river was of old called Liris and towards its influx into the Sea expatiated into Lakes and Fens called the Lakes of Minturni from a City of that name adjoyning It is divided into the Provinces of 1 Terra di Lavoro 2 Abruzzo 3 Calabria inferior 4 Calabria superior 5 Terra di Otranto 6 Puglia and 7 the Iles of Naples Some of which have some smaller Territories adjoyning to them which we shall meet withall as they come in our way 1
TERRA DILAVORO is bounded on the North and East with the Apennine Hils on the South with the Sea and on the West with St Peters Patrimonie called antiently Campania Felix in regard of the wonderfull fertilitie of it and that it was the seat or dwelling of the Campans by some modern Latinists named Campania Antiqâ—a to difference it from Latium which they now call Campagna di Roma or Campania Nova And for the other name of Terra di Lavoro or Terra Laboratoris it was given to it from the continuall labour of the Husbandman in cultivating the ground and carrying in the fruits thereof but neither the reason nor the name so new as some men suppose But I am sure as old as Plinie who calleth these parts sometimes by the name of Laboria sometimes of Campus Laborinus and gives this reason of the name quod ingens in eo colendo sit labor because of the great pains it requires to till it and the great profit reaped by them who did till and manure it The Country so exceeding fruitfull in Wines and Wheat that by Florus the Historian it is called Cereris Bacchi certamen and deservedly too For in this noble Region one may see large and beautifull fields overshaded with rich Vines thick and delightfull Woods sweet Fountains and most wholsome Springs of running water usefull as well for the restoring of mans health as delight and pleasure and in a word whatsoever a covetous mind can possibly aim at or a carnall covet Towns of note here were many in the elder times The principall whereof 1 Cajeta seated on a fair aud capacious Bay from the crookedness whereof it is thought by Strabo to have took the name the word in the Laconian language signifying crooked Others will have it so called from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Uro with reference to the burning of the Fleet of Aeneas by the Trojan Ladies for fear of being forced again to go to Sea where they had been so extremely tossed in their former voyages But why that Fact committed on the furthest coasts of Sicil should be so solemnly commemorated here on the shores of Italie I can see no reason And therefore we may far more probably derive it from Caâ—eta the Nurse of Aeneas in memory of whom being buried here or hereabouts Aeneas is affirmed to have built this Town Of which thus the Poet Aeneid lib. 7. Tu quoque Littoribus nostris Aeneia nutrix Aeternam moriens famam Cajeta dedisti That is to say Aeneas Nurse Caâ—eta by her death Did to these shores an endless fame bequeath But on what ground soever it first had this name it is assuredly a place of great strength and consequence and of so special importance for the estate of this Kingdom that as Cominaeus hath observed if King Charles the 8. had but only fortified it and the Castle of Naples the Realm had never been lost 2 Naples the Metroplis of the Kingdom a beautifull City containing seven miles in compass It was once called Parthenope and falling to ruin was new built and called Neapolis Among other things here is an Hospital the revenues whereof is 60000 Crowns wherewith besides other good deeds they nourish in divers parts of the Kingdom 2000 poor Infants In this City the disease called Morbus Gallicus or Neapolitanus was first known in Christendom This City is seated on the Sea-shore and fortified with 4 strong Castles viz. 1 Castle Capodna where the Kings Palace was 2 Ermo 3 Castle del Ovo or the Castle of the Egge and 4 Castle Novo or the new Castle But nature hath not done much less to her Fortifications than the hand of Art the Town being for the most part environed by Sea or Mountains not to be ascended without great difficulty and disadvantages Which Mountains as they seem on that side as a bank to the City so do they furnish the Citizens with most generous Wines and being once ascended yeeld a gallant prospect both for Sea and Land A City honoured by the seat of the Vice-Roy and the continual resort if not constant residence of most of the great men of the Realm which makes the private buildings to be very gracefull and the publick stately And yet it had increased much more in buildings than it is at present if the King had not forbidden it by speciall Edict And this he did partly at the perswasion of his Noblemen who feared that if such a restraint were not layd upon them their vassals would forsake the Country to inhabit here so to enjoy the privileges and exemptions oâ— the Regall City but principally upon jealousie and poynt of State the better to prevent all revolts and mutinies which in most populous Cities are of greatest danger 3 Capua once the head of the Campans seated in a delicious and luxurious soyl and one of the three Cities which the old Romans judged capable of the seat of the Empire the other two being Carthage and Corinth Being distressed by the Samnites they were fain to cast themselves into the Arms of the Romans who did not only take them into their protection but suffered them to live according to their own Laws as a Free Common-wealth rather like a Confederate than a Subject-State Which Freedom they enjoyed till after their revolt to the Carthaginians when being reduced to their obedience by force of arms they lost all their Liberties and hardly scaped its fatall and finall ruin The pleasures of this place was it which enervated the victorious Army of Annibal who wintered here after the great defeat given to Terentius Varro at the battell of Cannae whence came the saying Capuam esse Cannas Annibali 4 Cuma a City once of great power and beautie till Campania was subdued by the Romans after which it decayed in both Near hereunto was the Cave or Grot of one of the Sibyls called from hence Cumaea and not far off the Lake called Lacus Avernus the stink whereof is said to have poysoned Birds as they flew over it supposed by ignorant Antiquity for the entrance of Hell And finally from this place it was that Aeneas is fabled by the Poets to have gone down to the infernall Ghosts to talk with his Father 5 Nola where Marcellus discomfited the forces of Annibal and thereby gave the Romans to understand that he was not invincible 6 Puteolis a small Town standing on a Creek of the Sea just opposite to Baule on the other side of it from which distant about three miles and an half Both Towns remarkable for the Bridge built betwixt them by Caligula composed of sundry vessels joyned together in such sort that there was not only a fair and large passage over it but victualling houses on both sides of it Over which Bridge thus made he marched and re-marched in triumphall Robes as not only the Earth but the very Seas were made subject to him And he did as himself afterwards affirmed to some of his friends to
my self of these Furcae Caudinae and sport my self a while in the Plains of Calabria But I must note before I take my leave hereof that these two Provinces of Campania and Abruzzo make up the greatest richest and best peopled part of the Realm of Naples And therefore when the Kingdom was divided between the French and the Spaniards it was allotted to the French as having the priority both of claim and power The Provinces remaining although more in number yet are not comparable to these two for Wealth and Greatness and were assigned over to the Spaniard as lying most conveniently for the Realm of Sicilie Of these the first are the CALABRIAS so called from the Calabri an antient people of this tract which take up totally that Peninsula or Demi-Iland which lyeth at the South-East end of Italie near the Fare of Messana Amongst some of the Antient Writers the name Italie did extend no further than this Peninsula bounded by the two Bayes called Sinus Scilleticus and Sinus Lameticus because first peopled out of Greece or otherwise first known unto the old Writers of that Country For so saith Aristotle in his seventh Book of Politicks cap. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That part of Europe which is comprehended betwixt the Bay Scilleticus and Lameticus took the name of Italie and this Tradition he received as he there affirmeth from the best Antiquaries of that Country The like occurs in Dionysius Hallicarnasseus out of Antiochus Syracusanus a more antient Author the like in Strabo Lib. 6. But by what name soever it was called at first that of Calabria hath held longest and most constantly to it as being known by that name in the times of the Romans and so continuing to this day Ennius the old Poet being a native of this Country and so called by Ovid in his 3 d de Arte. Ennius emeruit Calabris in montibus hortos Old Ennias his Garden tills Among the steep Calabrian hils But leaving these matters of remote Antiquity let us behold the Country as it stands at the present and was the title of the eldest sonnes of the Kings of Naples who heretofore were called Dukes of Calabria divided of late times into inferior and superior in which distinct capacityes we shall look upon it Premising only by the way that this Country was the Title of the eldest sonnes of the Kings of Naples who were from hence called the Dukes of Calabria and that before it was subjected to those Kings it had a King of its own Holofernes whose daughter Flora was married unto Godfrey of Bovillon being King hereof An. 1098. 3 CALABRIA INFERIOR the habitation of the Brutii whom the Greek Writers generally call Bretti and their Country Brettania upon which ground some of our modern Criticks envying so great an honour to the I le of Great Britaine have transferred to this Province the birth of Constantine the first Christian Emperour These Brutii being first conquered by the Romans with the rest of Italie after the great defeat of Cannae took part with Carthage and was for a long time the retreat of Annibal whom the Romans had shut up in this corner It hath on the East a branch of the Adriatick Sea on the West that part of Campania which is called the Principate on the North Calabria superior and on the South the Tyrrhenian Seas and the streight of Messana A Country not much short in fruitfulness of the rest of the Kingdom and having the advantage of so much Sea is the better situate for Traffick At one extremity hereof is the Promontory called by Ptolomy Leuco-Petra now Cabo di Spartimento all along which especially in the moneth of May are taken yeerly great store of Tunnies a fish which much resembleth mans flesh which being barrelled up are sold to Mariners Here are two Rivers also of a very strange nature of which the one called Crathis makes a mans hair yellow and dies silk white the other named Busentus causeth both hair and silk to be black and swarthy The principall Cities of it are 1. Consensia an antient Town comprehending seven little hills and a Castle on the top of one of them which commandeth both the Town and the Countrey adjoyning It is built betwixt the said two Rivers and is still reasonably rich though not so wealthy now as in former times 2. Rhegium or Rhezo on the Sea shore opposite to Messana in the Isle of Sicilie which is supposed to have been broken off from the rest of Italie and that this Town had the name of Rhegium from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to break off or to tear asunder A Town in former times very well traded but left desolate in a manner since the yeer 1594. when it was fired by the Turks 3. Castrovillare seated upon the top of a very high Mountain 4. Belmont and 5. Altomont two very fair Towns whose names sufficiently express their pleasant and lofty situations 6. S. Euphemie from whence the Bay which antiently was called Sinus Lametinus or Lametirius is now called Golfâ— de S. Euphemie 7. Nicastro three miles from the Sea the same with Newcastle in Euglish On the West side of this Calabria and properly a part thereof standeth that mountainous Countrey which in the Subdivision of these Provinces by King Alfonsus was called the BASILICATE antiently the Seat of the Lucani A Countrey heretofore very unsafe for Travellers by reason of the difficult wayes and assured company of Theeves but now reduced to better order It containeth in it ninety three walled places and nine Towns or Cities the chief whereof are Possidonia or Pest a City situate in so clement and benign a Soyl that Roses grow there thrice a yeer 2. Poly Castrie on the Sea shore as the former is honoured with the Title of a Dukedom And 3. Dian or Dianum a more midland City neer which there is a valley twenty miles in length and four miles in bredth which for all manner of delights and fruitfulness yeelds to none in Naples 4. CALABRIA SUPERIOR called formerly Magna Graecia from many great and famous Cities founded there by the Graecians hath on the East the Adriatick on the West Campania from which it is divided by the Apennine and the River â—rathis on the North Sinus Tarentinus or the Gulf of Tarento and on the South and South-East Calabria inferior and Golfo de Chilaci of old called Sinus Scilleticus The principall Cities at this time are 1. Belcastro eight miles from the Sea where once stood Petilia 2. Bisignan the title of a Prince fortified with a very strong Castle and endowed with the best Revenues of any principality or other Nobleman of Title in all the Kingdom 3. Matera an Arch-Bishops See a rich Town and well peopled 4. Rosanum three miles from the Sea a well fortified City and situate in a very fruitfull and pleasant Soyl. 5. Altavilla which gives title also to a Prince 6. Terra Nova
Divine Providence by sending the birds called Gaives amongst them did not provide a remedy for so great a mischief The greatest defect hereof is the want of water which notwithstanding they have very rich pastures the people are conceived to be the simplest or most void of craft of any in Italie perhaps because they have so little commerce with their own Countrey-men and so much with Strangers The chief Towns are 1. Lecci Aletium in Latine a rich Town well built and very well peopled 2. Castro a Sea Town but not well fenced by art or nature which hath made it very often a prey to the Turks 3. Gallipolis a Town built on so craggy a Rock that it is conceived to be unconquerable 4. Brundusium the head Town of the Salentini once glorying in the most capacious Haven in all the World from whence there was continuall passage into Dalmatâ—a Epyrus Macedon and the rest of Greece Here was it that Pompey took ship to flie from Caesar and Caesar took shipping also to pursue after him when to incourage the Pilot who was afraid of the storm he cryed out Caesarum vehis fortunam ejus It was first built by the 〈◊〉 under the conduct of one Diomedes and called Brontesion which in the Mesapian Tongue siynifieth the horn or head of a Stag which it much resembleth from whence the Latines gave it the name of Brundusium At this day it is but a mean Town the Haven of it being so châ—ked that a Gally can very hardly enter 5. Hydruntum a very antient Town and yet still reasonably well peopled having a strong Castle upon a Rock for its defence and a capacious poâ—â— for Traffick It is now called Otranto and is still a place of such importance that the taking of it by Mahomet the great An. 14â—1 put all Italie into such a fear that Rome was quite abandoned not well inhabited again till the expulsion of the Turkâ— in the next year following 6 PUGLIA is bounded on the East with Terra di Otranto on the West with Abruzzo on the North with the Adriatick Sea on the South with Calabria It contains the whole Country called of old Apulia from whence the Puglia of the Italians and the Ponâ—lle of the French 〈◊〉 to be derived It is divided by Leander into Apulia Peucetia and Apulia Daunia the reason of which names I am unresolved of That of Peucetia some derive from Peucetius the Brother of Oenotrus which may be probable enough this being the first Country at which Oenotrus touched when he brought his people into Italie Bochartus a great Enemy to all Traditions will have it called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from that great plenty of Pitch which these Countries yeeld as that word â—ignifieth in the Greek But as for that of Daunâ—a I have yet found no more probable conjecture of it than that it should be called thus of Daunus the sonne of Danae by Pilumnus once the King of this Country it being reported in the Legends of those elder times that Danae being delivered of Perseus whom she had by Jupiter was by her Father the King Acrisius exposed to the mercy of the Seas by which she was wafted with her young sonne to the coasts of this Province here taken up by a poor Fisher and by him carried to the Court where the King became so enamoured of her that he took her to Wife and by her was Father to this Daunus But Daunus had not long enjoyed it on the death of his Father when either by force or composition he was fain to leave it to Diomedes King of Aetolia who at the end of the Troâ—an War wherein he was a principall Actor hearing of the libidinous courses of his Wife Aegâ—ale abhorred the thought of living with her and so came with his people to this Country where he fixt his dwelling and built the City of Argyripa whereof more anon But as for Daunus though he was not able to keep the possession of this Country yet he bequeathed his name unto it and afterwards withdrawing into Latium with such of his subjects as were willing to follow his Adventures he became there the chief or head of the Rutuli and built among them the Town of Ardea his chief seat at the comming of Aeneas into Italie betwixt whom and Turnus the sonne of this Daunus grew that deadly fewd so celebrated in the Works of Virgil. To proceed now in the description of this Province in the full latitude thereof it comprehended also the Salentini and other the inhabitants of the land of Otranto for by no other names than those of Apulia and Calabria was all the East part of Italie held by the Constantinopolitans and by those names was it transferred on Otho the third of Germany on his Mariage with Theophania as before is sayd But take it in the present bounds and acception of it and it containeth the three Provinces of Bari the Capitanate and Pouille the plain according to the subdivision made by King Alsonsus Pouille comprehending the greatest part of Apulia Daunia the rest thereof which is only the command of the Hill Garganus or the Mount St. Angelo being called the Capitanate and Bari comprehending all Peucetia The people both of this Province and the land of Otranto though in other things agreeing with the rest of this Kingdom have a disease peculiar only to themselves occasioned by the biting of a little Serpent whiah they call a Tarantula not curable There are in the whole besides the Villages and Towns unfortified 126 Castles or walled places and 13 Cities The principall of which are 1 Manfredonia built and fortified by Manfred the bastard King of Naples and Cicilie the better to assure these parts of his Kingdom a stately and magnificent City and the seat of the Arch-Bishop of Sipont having a very safe harbour for Ships and an impregnable Citadel for defence thereof 2 Barlette reckoned one of the 4 most noted Cities of Italie the other three being Crema in Lombardy Prato in Tuscany and Fabrianum now called Fabiano in Marca Anconitana 3 Bitontum an Arch-Bishops See one of which was a famous stickler in the Councill of Trent 4 Asculum or Ascoli the Title of a Duke called by the Antients Asculum Satrianum to difference it from another of the same name in Anconitana 5. Tranum an antient City better built than peopled for want of a commodious Haven 6. Bari a fair City well inhabited and seated in a very fruitfull soyl which gives name to one part of the Country as it is now divided Here stood in former times the poor Village of Cannae ignobilis Apuliae vicus as it is in Florus sed quae magnitudine cladis emersit but such a one as afterwards grew famous for the great victory which Annibal there got against Paulus Aemilius and Terentius Varro the Romon Consulls of whose Army he slew 42700. men upon the place Which Victory had he husbanded as he should have done he
place by reason of the fires which formerly have flamed so hideously especially in the yeer 1444. that it made not only the rest of these Ilands but all Sicilie tremble Neer unto this Isle was fought the first Navall fight betwixt Rome and Carthage Before which time the Romans had never used the Seas as being totally imployed in the conquest of Italie insomuch that when they had built their Gallies they were fain to exercise their men in rowing by placing them on two Seats neer the water with Oars in their hands Which notwithstanding having devised an Engine like a Grapling-hook they so fastened the Adverse Fleet unto them that the whole â—ight seemed a Land-battell fought upon the Sea The victory fell unto the Romans C. Duilins the Consul then commanding in Chief and was honoured with the first Navall Triumph that was ever solemnized at Rome After this Iland was once known to the Greeks they sent from all their chief Cities 〈◊〉 rall Colonies who planted in the Sea-coasts of the Country as before we noted But so as they never united themselves in a body together but had their severall estates and particular ends whereby they came to be divided into many factions and at last made themselves a prey to as many Tyrants Phalaris lording it at Agrigentum Panaetius at Leontium Gelon at Sâ—racuse Cleander at Gelae and when one Faction grew too weak to resist the other they called in severall Forein Nations to abet their quarrel For on this ground the Carthaginians were first called into Sicilie by the Messenians against the Agrigentines and on the same was managed here a great part of the Peloponnesian wars the Athenians siding with the Leontines and the Spartans with he Syracusans in which the whole power of Athens was broken by Sea and Land and their two Generals Nicias and Demosthenes murdered in prison But because Syracuse was a Citie of the greatest authority and of greatest influence over the rest of Sicilie we shall more punctually insist on the State and affairs thereof the government of which at first was popular as it was in most of the Greek Colonies according to the platforms which they brought from home and was but newly altered to the Aristocraticall when Gelon made himself King of it about 26 years after the expulsion of the Tarquins at Rome whom with as many as succeeded in the Royal dignity take along as followeth The Tyrants or Kings of Syracuse A. M. 3465. 1 Gelon the Prince or Lord of Gela taking advantage of the quarrels in Syracusa betwixt the Magistrates and people made himself Master of the Citie and was chosen King A valiant and prudent Prince by whom 150000 Carthaginians were slain in battle for their welcome into Sicil. 7. 3472 2 Hiero the brother of Gelon a valiant King also but a rude and covetous man whereby he lost the love of his people 11 3484 3 Thrasibulus brother of Hiero whose Government proved so cruell and unsupportable that he held it not above 10 moneths who being forced into Exile by the Syracusans the people did a while enjoy their libertie but withall fell into those Factions which after 60 years made them lose it again 3544 4 Dionysius that so famous Tyrant from being Generall of the Forces of the Syracusans made himself their King A man of great vices but great vertues withall He brought almost all Sicilie under his obedience and the Town of Rhegium in Italy reigning in all 38 years 3582 2 Dionysius II. succeeding his Father in his Kingdom and vices but not in valour or wisdom was first outed by Dion a noble Gentleman of Syracuse and afterward taken Prisoner by Timoleon of Corinth to which Citie he was sent and there dyed in exile 3635 6 Agathocles by trade a Potter after that a Souldier 20 years after the death of Timoleon made himself King of Syracusa To draw the Carthaginans out of Sicil he passed over into Africk and besieged Carthage which example Scipio after followed but with better fortune 29. 3681 7 Hieron II. of a Commander of their Armies chosen King of Syracuse by a party which he had made amongst them In his time brake out the first Punick War the Romans being called in by the Mamertones who held Messana against the Carthaginians the Lords at that time of the greatest part of the Iland 56. 3737 8 Hieronymus the sonne of Hiero after whose death Syracuse and all Sicil became subject to Rome by the fortunate conduct of Marcellus Of these eight Kings the six first commonly pass under the name of Tyrants from whence and from some others of like disposition who Lorded it over the rest of the Free Cities of Sicil the name of Siculi Tyranni grew into a Proverb But of all none more hated than the two Dionisii who were so odious that there were continuall execrations poured on them only one old woman praying for the life of the later Who being asked the cause made answer that she knew his Father to have been a monstrous and wicked Tyrant on whom when the curses of the people had prevailed and obtained his death this his son succeded worse by far than he for whose life she was resolved to pray lest after his death the devill himself should come amongst them But to proceed after these Tyrants as they called them were rooted out and the Iland was conquered by Marcellus it alwaies followed the fortune of the Roman Empire till in the partition of that Empire it fell together with Apulia and Calabria into the power of the Greeks In the declining of whose greatness this Iland having been miserably pilled and spoyled by the Emperor Constans An. 669. became a prey to the Saracens from then recovered again by the help of the Normans who held both this and the Realm of Naples in Fee of the Church under the title of Kings of both Sicils From that time forwards it ran the fortune of that Kingdom subject unto the Princes of the Norman and German lines till the death of Conrade no interruption intervening After whose death when Munfroy or Manfrede the base sonne of the Emperor Frederick and Brother of Conrade had forcibly made himself King of these Countries it was offered to Richard Earl of Cornwall Brother to Henry the third of England a Prince of such riches that he was able to dispend an hundred Marks perdiem for ten years together which according to the Standard of those times was no small sum But the conditions which the Pope ptoposed were so impossible for the Earl to perform that his Agent told him he might as well say to his Master I will give thee the Moon climb up catch and take it The Earl refusing it it was offered the King for his second sonne Edmund who was invested by the gift of a Ring and money coyned in his name by the Popes appointment with the inscription of Almundus Rex Siciliae But the King not being able to pursue the business
the Lombards the foundation of the houses of Free-stone the rest of Bricks built with Arched Cloysters towards the street under which one may walk dry in the greatest rain A City honoured with many Palaces of the neighbouring Nobles the chief University of Italy and the retiring place of the Popes The Civill Law is much studied here insomuch that from hence proceeded the famous Clvilians Johannes Andreas Azâ— Bartolus and Socinâ—s I believe they have built Castles in the air which ascribe the founding of this University to Theodosius the 2d. The Charter of this foundation dated Ano. 423. is an idle and foolish thing For there it is said that at the institution there were present Gualter Earl of Poictiers Embassador for the King of England and Baldwin Earl of Flanders for the King of France when at that time neither those Earldoms or those Kingdoms were in rerum natura It is fituate on the river Aposa and was by former Writers called Felsina Neer unto this Town in a Demy-Iland called Forcelli was that meeting between Augustus Antony and Lepidus wherein they agreed on the Triumvirate dividing the Empire and City of Rome among themselves Which combination was confirmed by the ensuing Proscription wherein that they might be revenged on Cicero Lepidus proscribed his Brother Antonius his Uncle 2. Rimini antiently called Ariminum seated on the mouth of the River Rubicon which in those times divided Italie from Gaule upon the bank whereof neer unto this Town there was an old Marble Pillar having on it a Latine Inscription to this purpose viz. Leave here thy Colours and lay down thine Arms and pass not with thy Forces beyond the Rubicon whosoever goeth against this command let him be held an Enemy to the people of ROME Which Rule when Caesar had transgressed and surprized this City he so frighted Pompey and his faction that they abandoned Italie and Rome it self and withdrew themselves into Epirus It is said that Caesar dreamed the night before that he carnally knew his own Mother whereby the South-sayers gathered that he should be Lord of Rome which was the common Mother of them all Which dream and severall prodigies happening at the same time with it did so incourage him in his enterprize that he is said at the passing over Rubicon to have said these words Eamus quo nos Divâ—m monita c. Let us go whether the sins of our Enemies and the prodigies of the Gods do call us In memory of which venturous but fortunate action he caused a monument to be erected in this City with his name and Titles It was antiently a Roman Colony and in the bustles happening betwixt the Pope and the Emperor was seized on by the Malatesti as Bononia was by the Bentivoli two potent Families of these parts who held them in defiance of the Powers of Rome till they were reduced again unto the Church by Pope Julio the second 3. Cervia on the Adriatick Sea where there is made so much Salt that they furnish therewith all their neighbours of Marca Anconitana and a great part of Lombardie the Pope receiving for his Customes of this one commoditie no less than 60000. Crowns per annum 4. Furlii called of old Forum Livii one of the Towns belonging properly to the Exarchate of Ravenna seated in a very pleasant air and a fruitfull soyl betwixt two fresh streams of which the one is called Ronchus and the other Montonus 5. Faventia now called Faenza on the banks of Anemus a calm gentle River an antient City but well peopled much benesited by the Flax which groweth in the adjoyning fields and the Earthen Vessells which they vend to most parts of Italie It was first given unto the Popes by Desiderius the last King of the Lombards whom they but sorrily requited for so great a curtesie 6. Sarsina an old City seated at the foot of the Apennine the birth place of Plautus the Comaedian 7. Imola antiently called Forum Cornelii and 8. Cesena Cities both of them of no small Antiquity but this last the fairer built the better peopled and the more strongly fortified 9. Ravenna once beautified with one of the fairest Havens in the world and for that cause made the Road of one of the two Navies which Augustus kept always manned to command the whole Empire of Rome the other riding at Misenus in Campania This of Ravenna being in the upper Sea awed and defended Dalmatia Greece Crete Cyprus Asia c. the other at Misenus in the lower Sea protected and kept under France Spain Africk Aegypt Syria c. The walls of this City are said to have been built or repaired by Tiberius Caesar the whole Citie to have been much beautified by Theodoricus King of the Gothes who built here a most stately and magnificent Palace the ruins whereof are still easily discernable The private buildings are but mean the publick ones are of a grave but stately structure Of which the principall heretofore was the Church of S. Maries the Round whose roof was of one entire stone and honoured with the rich Sepulchre of the said King Theodorick which the souldiers in the sack of this City by the French pulled down together with the Church it self onely to get the Jewells and Medalls of it The principall at the present is the Church of S. Vitalis the pavement whereof is all of Marble and the walls all covered with precious stones of many sorts but unpolished as they were taken out of Mines which sheweth as well the magnificence as Antiquity of it The Patriarchs of this City in regard it was so long the Regall and Imperiall Seat have heretofore contended for precedency with the Popes themselves this City having been antiently the Metropolis of the Province called Flaminia afterwards honoured with the Seat of the Emperor Honorius and his successors next of the Gothish Kings then of the Exarchs and last of its Patriarchs And it was chosen for this purpose because of the plentifull Territory since covered with water and the conveniency of the Haven at this day choaked though lately by expence of a great deal of treasure the Fens about the City have been very much drained and the Bogs in some places turned to fruitfull Fields to the great benefit hereof both for health and pleasure As for the Exarchs who had their residence in this City they were no other than the Vice-Roys or Lieutenants of the Eastern Emperors Concerning which we are to know that the Kingdom of the Gothes in Italie was no sooner destroyed by Narses but the Lombards entred To give a stop to whose successes and preserve so much unto the Empire as was not already conquered by them it was thought good by Justine the second to send thither an Imperiall Officer of principall command and note whom he honoured with the title of Exarch His residence setled at Ravenna as standing most commodiously to hinder the incursions of the barbarous Nations and withall to receive such aids
found the passages so closed up that he was forced to break his way as Plutarch telleth us with fire and vinegar whence that so memorable saying Viam Annibal aut invenâ—ct aut faciet and from the passage of those Worthies this tract and that adjoyning were called Alpes Craiae and Poeninae Or if as others think Annibal took the former way and came directly upon Turin which Town it is most certain that he took in his march then these Poeninae must take name from the passage of Asdrubal or of some part of Annibals Army which probably was too great to go all one way or els from the Mountain-God Poeninus as before was said The first way out of Germany into Italie is thorough the Countrey of the Grisons by the Valtolin which the Spaniard seized into his hands So that by the keeping of the Veltlyn or Valtolin and manning of the Fort Fuentes which he also erected he was in a manner the Lord of this passage not onely to the discontent of the Natives but to the distast of his neighbours the Savoyards and Venetians The other way out of Germany into Italie is thorough the Countrey of Torolis by the Towns of Inspruch and Trent This passage is commanded by the Castle and Fort of Eresberg seated on the confines of this Countrey towards Suevia and from Instruch is two days journey distant Which Fort in the War which the Protestant Princes made against Charles the fifth was surprized by Captain Scherteline so to hinder the comming of the Popes Forces into Germany for which the Emperor so hated him that when all the rest of that faction were pardoned he only continued a Proscript his head being valued at 4000. Crowns The taking also fo this Fort and the Castle adjoyning by D. Maurice of Saxony made the said Charles then being in Inspruch to fly out of Germany and shortly after to resign his Empire to his brother Ferdinand Out of these Mountains rise the springs of many of the most renowned Rivers in these West parts of the world as 1. The Rhene which springeth from two severall Fountains the one which they call the Neerer Rhyne out of the Lepontiae and the other which they term the Vorder or further Rhyne out of the Rheticae which meet together about a Dutch mile from Chur the chief Town of the Grisons and so go on by Constance to Germany 2. Rhosue which riseth in that part of the Lepontiae which is called Die Furchen about two Dutch miles from the head of the Neerer or Hinder Rhyne and so thorough Wallistand into France 3. Padus or Po which hath his head in a branch of the Coltian or Coctian Alpes heretofore called Mons Vesulus and so thorough Piemont into Italie Out of them also spring the Rivers of Russe Durance and Athesis the first a Dutch the second a French and the third an Italian River also not to say any thing of others of inferiour note The great Lakes which are found in this monntainous tract we shall hereafter meet with in their proper places Let us next look upon the Countreys and Estates here situate vvhich bordering upon Italie France and Germanie and partaking somevvhat of them all do belong to neither but reckon themselves to be free and absolute Estates Supreme and independent upon any others as indeed they are Such other of these Alpine Countreys which are under the command of the German Princes as some parts of Schwaben and Bavaria together vvith Tirol Carniola and the rest vvhich belong to Austria shall be considered in the History of those States and Princes to vvhich of right they do belong But for the rest vvhich as they lie intire together vvithout intermixture so they are absolute in themselves and ovv nor sute nor service unto any other vve vvill consider them in this place under the name of the Alpes or the Alpine Provinces The ALPES then or the Alpine Provinces call them vvhich you vvill are bounded on the East vvith Tirol in Germany and the Dukedoms of Millain and Montferrat in Italie on the West vvith Provence Daulphine and La Bresse parts of the Continent of France on the North vvith the County of Burgundy in France and Suevid or Schwaben in High Germany and on the South vvith Lombardy and a branch of the Mediterranean Sea Called in the middle times by the name of Burgundia Transâ—urana because it contained that part of the Kingdom of Burgundy which â—ay beyond the Mountain Jour A Mountain vvhich beginning near the City of Basil and not far from the Rhene passeth South-Westvvard by the Lakes of Bieler-Zee Nuwenburger-Zee and that called Lemane till it come almost unto the Rhosue dividing by that means the Provinces of Switzerland and Savoy from the County of Burgundy It lyeth under the sixt Climate and some part of the seventh so that the longest day in Summer is fifteen hours and three quarters Of different nature in regard both of Soyl and People vvhich vvill best shevv it self in the Survey of the severall Provinces into vvhich divided that is to say 1. the Dukedom of Savoy 2. the Signeury of Geneva 3. the Resorts of Wallisland 4 the Cantons of the Switzers and 5 the Leagues or the Grisons Which severall States though they be reckoned to belong to the German Empire and that the Bishops of Chuâ— Sâ—on and Basil are generally accounted for Princes of it yet they neither come unto the Diets nor are subject to the publick Taxes nor comprehended within any of those ten Circles into which the Empire is divided The Language herein spoken partakes somewhat of all three as before was sayd the French being wholly spoke in Savoy the lower Wallisland and generally by the Switzers bordering on the Lake Lemane the Dutch being common to the greatest part of the Switzers the Grisons about Chur and the upper Wallisland and finally the Italian used by the generality of the Grisons the Praefectures appertaining unto them and the Switzers both in Piemont and those parts of Savoy which lie next unto it The principall Souldiers of these mountainous Provinces 1 Rodolph Earl of Habspurg the Founder of the present Austrian Family 2 Thomas and 3 Peter Earles of Savoy this last surnamed Charlemain the second 4 Emanuel Philibert one of the later Dukes hereof Commander of the Armies of the King of Spain 5 John Tzerclas commonly called Count Tilly Generall of the Imperiall Armies in the War of Germany For Scholars of more speciall note for which we are beholding to these Countryes we have 1 Philip Theophrastus Bombastus à Boenham commonly called Paracelsus the Author or Instanrator of Chymicall Physick born in the Mountains of Helvetia as he saith himself a man of most prodigious parts and of no mean vices 2 Zuinglius one of the chief Agents in the Reformation 3 Musculus and 4 Oecolampadius two Divines his seconds 5 Henry Bullinger one of the same profession also 6 Sebastian Castalio of as much Learning as the best of
betwixt King Lewis the eleventh and Charles Earl of Charolots after Duke of Burgundie in which both sides ran out of the field and each proclamed it self the Victor It standeth in the road betwixt Paris and Estampâ—s And so doth 3 Castres of the bigness of an ordinary Market Town not to be mentioned in this place but for a Chamber or Branch of the Court of Parliament here setled by King Henry the 4th for the use and benefit of his Subjects of the Reformed Religion in Latin called Camera-Castrensis 4. Nemours upon the River of Loing the chief of Gastionys in name but not in beauty wherein inferiour to Pstampes a Town which hath given the title of Duke to many eminent persons of France Here is also in this part the County of Rochfort and the Towns of Milly 2 Montargis c. More there occurreth not worth the noting in this part of the Country but that being part of the possessions of Hugh the Great Constable of France and Earl of Paris it was given by him together with the Earidome of Anjou to Geofric surnamed Chrysogonelle a right Noble Warrier and a great stickler in behalf of the house of Aâ—jou then aiming at the Crown it self which at last they carried Continued in his line till the time of Fulk the second the fifth Earl of Anjou of this Family who gave it back again to King Philip the first that by his help he might possess himself of the Earldome of Anjou from his part wherein he was excluded by his Elder Brother Never since that dismembred from the Crown of France in Fact or Title 4 But the great glorie of this Province is that which is more properly called the ISLE OF FRANCE and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Isle caused by the Circlings and embracements of the Rivers of Sein and Marn the abstract of the whole beauties and glories of France which in this rich and pleasant Vallie are summed up together Chief places in it St. Germans seated on the ascent of an hill seven miles from Paris down the water a pretty neat and handsom Town honoured with one of the fairest Palaces of the French Kings which being built like Windsor on the top of a fine mountainet on the Rivers side affordeth an excellent prospect over all the Countrie The excellent water-works herein have been described on occasion of those of Tivoli so much extolled by the Italians It was first built by Charles the fifth surnamed the Wise beautified by the English when they were possessed of this Countrie but finally re-edified and enlarged by King Henry the fourth who brought it into that magnificence in which now we see it It took name from S. German Bishop of Auxerre companion with S. Lupus before mentioned in the British journey against Pelâ—giâ—s 2. Poâ—ssie upon the same River not far from S. Germans a Bayliwick belonging to the Provost of Paris and one of his seven daughters as they use to call them 3. Chantilly the chief seat of the Dukes of Moutmorencie the antientest and most noble family of Christendome whose Ancestors were the first fruits of the Gospell in this part of Gaul and used to stile themselves Les primiers Christâ—ens et plus Veilles Barons de la France i. e. The first Christians and most antient Barons of France A Familie that hath yeelded unto France more Admiralls Constables Marshalls and other like Officers of power than any three in all the Kingdom now most unhappily extinct in the person of Henry the last Duke executed by the command of the late Cardinall of Richelieu for sicing with the Mounseiur now Duke of Orleans against King Lewis the thirteenth his Brother The Arms of which illustrious and most noble Familie for I cannot let it pass without this honour were Or a Cross Gules cantonned with sixteen Allerions Azure four in every Canton What these Allerionâ— are we shall see in Lorrein take we notice now that from the great possessions which this noble Familie had in all this tract it was and is still called the Vale of Montmorencie 4. S. Denis some three miles from Paris so called of a Monastery built here by Dagobert King of France about the year 640. in memorie of S. Denis or Dionyse the first Bishop of Paris martyred on Mont-martyr an hill adjoyning in the time of Domitian Some of the French Kings because it lay so neer to Paris bestowed a wall upon the Town now not defensible nor otherwise of any consideration but for a very fair Abbie of Benedictines and therein the Sepulchres of many of the French Kings and Princes neither for workmanship nor cost able to hold comparison with those at Westminster 5. St. Cloud or the Town of St. Claudus unfortunately memorable for the murder of King Henry the third who lying here at the siege of Paris from whence he was compelled to flie by the Guisian Faction was wretchedly assassinated by Jaques Clement a Monk employed in that service by the heads of the Holy League 6. PARIS the chief Citie not of this Isle alone but of all the Kingdom By Caesar and Ammianus Marcellinus called Civitas Parisiorum from the Parisians a Nation of Gaul-Celtick whose chief Citie it was by Strabo called Lutetia Lucotetia by Ptolomie quasi in Luto sita as some conjecture from the dirtiness of the soyl in which it standeth A Soyl so dirtie as commonly all rich Countries are that though the streets hereof are paved which they affirm to be the work of King Philip Augustus yet every little dash of rain makes them very slipperie and worse than so yeelds an ill favour to the nose The Proverb is I l destaint comme la fauge de Paris it staineth like the dirt of Paris but the Author of the Proverb might have changed the word and turned it to Il peut c. It stinks like the dirt of Paris no stink being more offensive than those streets in Summer It is in compass about eight miles of an Orbicular form pleasantly seated on the divisions of the Sein a fair large and capacious Citie but far short of the braggs which the French make of it It was thought in the time of King Lewis the eleventh to contein 500000 people of all sorts and Ages which must be the least the same King at the entertainment of the Spanish Ambassadours shewing 14000 of this City in Arms all in a Liverie of â—ed Cassocks with white Crosses A gallant sight though possibly the one half of them were not fit for service These multitudes which since the time of that King must needs be very much increased are the chief strength of the Town the fortifications being weak and of ill assurance Insomuch that when once a Parisian bragged that their Town was never took by force an English man returned this Answer That it was because on the least distress it did use to capitulate It is seated as before was said on the River Sein which serveth
Lady Violant his Daughter From this Sene it was taken by Lewis the 11th who having put a Garrison into Bar repaired the Walls and caused the Arms of France to be set on the Gates thereof Restored again by Charles the 8th at his going to the Conquest of Naples since which time quietly enjoyed by the Dukes of Lorrein till the year 1633. when seized on by Lewis the 13th upon a Iudgement and Arrest of the Court of Parliament in Paris in regard the present Duke had not done his Homage to the King as he ought to have done The Arms hereof are Azure two Barbels back to back Or Seme of Crosse Crossets Fâ—tche of the second But to return again to Champagne it pleased Hugh Capet at his coming to the Crown of France to give the same to Euies or Odon Earl of Blais whose Daughter he had maried in his private fortunes before he had attained the Kingdom with all the rights and privileges of a Countie Palatine Which Eudes or Odon was the Sonne of Theobald Earl of Blais and Nephew of that Gerlon a Noble Dine to whom Charles the simple gave the Town and Earldom of Blais about the year 940. and not long after the time that he conferred the Countrie of Neustria upon Roâ—â—o the Norman In the person of Theobald the 3d the Earls hereof became Kings of Navarre descended on him in right of the Ladie Blanch his Mother Sister and Heir of King Sancho the 8th Anno 1234. By the Mariage of Joan Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne to Philip the 4th of France surnamed the Fair both these Estates were added to the Crown of France enjoyed by him and his three Sonnes one after another though not without some prejudice to the Ladie Joan Daughter and Heir of Lewis Hutin But the three Brethren being dead and Philip of Valois succeeding in the Crown of France he restored the Kingdom of Navarre to the said Ladie Joan and for the Countie of Champagne which lay too neer the Citie of Paris to be trusted in a forrein hand he gave unto her and her posterity as in the way of exchange some certain Towns and Lands in other places though not of equal value to so rich a Patrimonie Count Palatines of Champagne 999. 1 Odo Earl of Champagne Brie Blais and Toureine Sonne of Theebald the elder Earl of Blais 1032. 2 Stephen Earl of Campagne and Blais Father of Stephen Earl of Blais and King of England 1101. 3 Theobald eldest Sonne of Stephen 1151. 4 Henry Sonne of Theobald a great Adventurer in the Wars of the Holy Land 1181. 5 Henry II. an Associate of the Kings of France and England in the Holy Wars King of Hierusalem in right of Isabel his Wife 1196. 6 Theobald II. Brother of Henry added unto his house the hopes of the kingdom of Navarre by his Marriage with the Ladie Blanche Sister and Heir of Sancho the 8th 1201. 7 Theobald III. Earl of Campagnâ— Sonne of Theobald the 2d and the Ladie Blanche succeeded in the Realm of Navarre Anno 1234. 1269. 8 Theobald IV. Sonne of Theobald the 3d King of Navarre and Earl of Champagne and Brie 1271. 9 Henry Sonne of Theobald the 4th King of Navarre and Earl of Champagne c. 1284. 10 Philip IV. King of France in right of Ioane his Wife King of Navarre and Earl of Campagne 1313. 11 Lewis Hutin Sonne of Philip King of France and Navarre and Earl of Champagne 1315. 12 Philip the Long Brother of Lewis Hutin King of France and Navarre and Earl of Champagne 1320. 13 Charles the Fair Brother of Philip King of France and Navarre and the last Earl of Champagne united after his decease by Philip de Valois to the Crown of France the Earldom of March neer Angolesme being given for it in exchange to the Ladie Ioane Daughter of King Lewis Hutin and Queen of Navarre maried to Philip Earl of Eureux in her right honoured with that Crown from whom descend the Kings of France and Navarre of the House of Bourbon The Arms of these Palatines of Champagne were Azure two Bends cotized potencee and counterpotencee of three peeces 3. PICARDIE PICARDIE hath on the East the Dukedoms of Luxembourg and Lorrein on the West some part of Normandie and the English Ocean on the North the Counties of Artois and Haiâ—â—â— and on the South Champagne and France strictly and specially so called A Countrie so well stored with Corn that it is accounted the Granarie or Store house of Paris but the few Wines which it produceth are but harsh and of no good relish especially in the Northern and colder parts of it The antient Inhabitants of it were the Snessiones Ambiani and Veromandui considerable Nations of the Belgae and therefore reckoned into the Province of Belgica Secunda but why they had the name of Picards I am yet to seek Omitting therefore the conjectures of other men some of the which are groundless and the rest ridiculous I onely say as Robert Bishop of Auranches hath affirmed before me Quos itaque aetas nostra Picardos appellat verè Belgae diâ—endi suâ—t qui postmodum in Picardorun nomen transmigrarunt The whole Countrie as it lieth from Calais to the Borders of Lorrein is divided into the Higher and the Lower the Lower subdivided into Sainterre Ponthein Boulognois and Guisnes the Higher into the Vidamate of Amieus Veromandois Rethelois and Tierasche in every of which there are some places of importance and consideration In LOWER PICARDIE and the Countie of GVISNES the chief Towns 1. Calais by Caesar called Portus Iccius as the adjoyning Promontorie Promontorium Itium by Ptolomie a strong Town close upon Artois at the entrance of the English Channel taken by Edward the 3d after the siedge of 11 moneths An. 1347. and lost again by Queen Mary in lesse than a fortnight An. 1â—57 So that had Monsieur de Cordes then lived he had had his wish who used to say that he would be content to lie seven years in Hell on condition that Calais were taken from the English The loss of which Town was a great blow to our Estate for till that time we had the Keyes of Frâ—nce at our Girdles and as great a grief unto Q. Mary who sickning presently upon it said to those which attended her that if she were opened they should find Calais next her heart 2. Hamme a strong peece one of the best Out-works of Calais 3. Ardres more towards the Borders of Boulognois memorable for the interview of Henry the 8th and Francis the first and many meetings of the English French Commissioners 4 Guisaes which gives name to this Division called the County of Guisnes of which the Land of Oye whereon Calice stood by the French called commonly Pais de Calais was esteemed a part 2. In BOVLOGNOIS neighbouring on the Countie of Guisnes the places of most note 1 Blackness a strong Fort on the Sea side betwixt Calice and Boulogne 2 Chastillon
and King Lewis the 11th the first of which never digested the restoring of it to that King being pawned unto his Father together with Corbie Amiens and Abbeville for no less than 400000 Crowns the later never would forgive the Earl of S. Paul for detaining it from him though under colour of his service A Town of greater note in succeeding times for the famous battle of St. Quintins Anno 1557. wherein King Philip the second of Spain with the help of the English under command of the Earl of Pembroke overthrew the whole Forces of the French made themselves Masters of the Town and thereby grew so formidable to the French King that the Duke of Guise was in Post hast sent for out of Italic where his affairs began to prosper to look unto the safety of France it self III. More towards Hainalt and Lorrein lieth the Countrie of RETHELOIS so called of Rethel the chief Town well fortified as the rest of the Frontire places but of most note amongst the French in that the eldest sonnes of the Dukes of Nevers have usually been entituled Earls and Dukes of Rethel united to that Familie by the mariage of Lewis of Flanders Earl of Nevers with the Daughter and Heir of James Earl of Rethel Anno 1312 or thereabouts 2 St. Monhaud a Town of consequence and strength 3 Sygni a strong peece belonging to the Marquess of Vieu-Ville 4 Chasteau-Portian of more beautie but of like importance IV. Finally in the Dutchie of TIERASCHE the last part of the higher Picardie we have the Town of Guise of some note for the Castle but of more for the Lords thereof of the Ducall Familie of Lorrein from hence entituled Dukes of Guise A Familie which within a little compass of time produced two Cardinals the one entituled of Guise the other of Lorrein six Dukes that is to say the Duke of Guise Mayenne Aumal Elbeuf Aguillon and Cheureuse the Earl of Samarive and besides many Daughters maried into the best houses in France one maried to lamâ—s the 5th King of the Scots The first and he that gave the rise unto all the rest of this potent Family was Claud â—onne to Rene the second Duke of Lorrein and husband to Antomette Daughter to the Duke of Vendosme in respect of which alliance he was honoured with this title The second was Francis who endangered the Realm of Naples resisted the siedge of the Emperor Charles at Mets drove him out of Provence took Calice from Q. Mary and was at last treacherously slain at the siedge of Orleans Anno 1563. The third was Henry that great enemy of the Protestants who contrived the great Massacre at Paris and almost dispossessed Henry the third of all France He began the holy league and was finally slain at Bloys by the command of King Henry the 3d. But we must know that this Town did antiently belong to the Dukes of Lorrein and had given the title of Guise to Frederick the second sonne of Iohn and Charles the third sonne of Râ—ne both the first of those names before Claud of Lorrein was advanced to the title of Duke Of most note next to Guise it self is 2 Ripemont on the South of Guise 3 Chastelet upon the border towards Luxembourg a strong Town and one of the best outworks of France 4 Mazâ—ers upon the Maes or Mâ—use a place of great strength and like importance As for the state of this whole Province I doe not finde that it was ever passed over by the French Kings unto any one hand as almost all the rest of France had been at some time or other but distracted into divers Lordships Some of which fell to the Crown of France by confiscations and others by conquest Some held of England some of the Earls of Artois and others of Flanders and lastly of the Dukes of Burgundie as Lords of those Provinces those which depended upon England being seized on by Charles the 7th on the loss of Normandie by the English as those which held of Burgundie were by Lewis his sonne immediately on the death of Duke Charles at the battel of Nancie Anno 1476. NORMANDIE NORMANDIE is bounded on the East with the River Some which parteth it from Picardie on the West with Bretagne and some part of the Ocean on the North with the English Channel by which divided from England and on the South with France specially so called and the County of Maine It made up the whole Province of Lugdunensis Secunda in the time of the Romans the Metropolis whereof was Roven and in the greatness of the French Empire had the name of Neustria corruptly so called for Westria the name of Westria or Westonrich being given by some to this part of the Realm of West-France as that of Austria or Ostenrich to a part of East-France Afterwards being bestowed upon the Normans by Charles the Simple it was called Normandie In this Countrie is the little Signeurie of IVIDOT heretofore said to be a free and absolute Kingdom advanced to that high dignitie by Clotaire the seventh King of the French who having abused the wife of one Gautier de Ividot so called because of his dwelling here and afterward to prevent revenge killed the man himself to make some satisfaction to his Familie for so great an injury erected the Lordship of Ividot to the estate of a Kingdom and gave unto the heirs of this Gâ—utier or Walter all the prerogative of a free and absolute Monarch as to make Laws coyn money and the like From hence the French call a man that hath but small demaines to maintain a great title a Roy d' Ividot At last but at what time I know not it fell again to a Lordship and belongeth now to the house of Bellay in Bretagne But to proceed from the poor Kingdom of Ividot to the rich Dukedom of Normandie for largeness of Extent multitudes of People number and stateliness of Cities fertilitie of Soyl and the commodiousness of the Seas it may worthily be accompted the chief Province of France Well watered with the River Seine which runneth quite thorough it as do also 2 the Orne and 3 the Avâ—n not to say any thing of 4 Robee 5 Ante and 6 Reinelle and many others of less note In length it reacheth 170 miles and about 60 in bredth where it is narrowest containing in that round the largest and fairest Corn-fields that are to be seen in all France Of all other naturall commodities it is extreme plentifull excepting Wines which the Northern coldness of the Climate admits not of or sparingly at the best and of no perfection The people of it formerly renowned for feats of Arms the Conquerours of England Naples Sicil and the Kingdom of Aâ—tioch in the East at this time thought to be of a more sharp and subtill wit than the rest of the French Scavans au possible en proceces plaideries saith Ortelius of them especially in the quillets and quirks of Law It is
of the Barbarians then confederate with him would become too insolent gave him leave to retire home through Italy which he â—arassed with Fire and Sword murdering the People and ruining the Towns so that he was then and long after called Flagellum Dei Aetius notwithstanding this good service was by Valentinian the Emperour of the West rewarded with the loss of his head By which act the Emperour as one truly told him had cut off his right hand with his left And indeed so it happened For not long after he himself was by Maximus murdered and the Empire of Rome irrecoverably destroyed Now that these Fields say here abouts and not about Chalons in the Province of Champaigne as some learned and industrious men have been of opinion I am assured by these three reasons First the improbabilitie that Aetius having got the victory should suffer such a vast and numerous Army to pass through the whole length of France from one end to the other and having wasted all the Countrie to break into Italy and secondly the testimony of â—ornandes an antient writer who telleth us first that before this fight Attila had besiedged and distressed the City of Orleans and therefore was not vanquished in the fields of Chalons and then that immediately upon the Victory Torismund the King of the Gothes his Father Theodoriâ— being slain in Campis Catalaunicis ubi pugnavâ—rat Regia Majestate subvectus Toloâ—am ingreditur being proclamed King in those very fields entred with great Statâ— and Triumph into Tholouse The Regall Citie at that time of the Gothish Kingdom Which plainly proves the place of battle to be neer this City though possible by the name Campi Catalaunici the great length and breadth thereof considered we are to understand the whole Country of Languedoc The old Inhabitants of this Countrie besides the Helvii the 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 Vages and Albigenses formerly remembred were the Agâ—â—enses 〈◊〉 Gâ—bâ—les Volcae and the Arâ—comici all which together with some others of lâ—sser note made the Province of Narbonensis Prima whereof the Metropolis was Narbon In the falling of the Râ—man Empire assigned with the rest of Narbonensis some part of Spain to Aâ—â—â—ulfus King of the 〈◊〉 whom Hoâ—orius by this gift bought out of â—talie The Gothes having got so good footing in Gauâ— enlarged their bounds by taking in the most part of Aquitain Quercu and 〈◊〉 but forced to quâ—t them to the French who Conquered that from them which they got from the â—omans and shut them up within the limits of their first Donation after this they 〈◊〉 as fast in France as they thrived in Spain losing Provence to Theodoric King of the 〈◊〉 Gâ—thes or Gothes of Itali Whose successour Amalâ—sunta fearing a War from Greece resigned her intereâ—s in Provence to Theodobert the French King of Mets. Nothing now left unto the Gales of their Gallick purchases but this Languedock only and this they held as long as they had any thing to do in Europe but lost it finally to the Moors with all Spain it self Recovered from the â—oors by Charles Martel and added to the rest of the French Empire it was by Charles the great given to one Thursin of the race of the antient Kings with the title of the Earl of Tholâ—uâ—e on condition that he would be Christned How long it continued in his Race it is hard to say the story and succession of these Earls being very imperfect not setled in a way of Lineall Deâ—cent till the time of Raimâ—nd the eighth Earl Brother to another Raimond Earl of St. Giles a Town of Guienne whose Grand-child Hugh being an adventurer in the Wars of the Holy Land and wanting money to provide himself for that expedition sold his Estate herein to his Vncle Raimond the Earl of St. Giles before mentioned From this time forward we find these Earls to be as often called the Earls of St. Giles as the Earls of Tholouse and by that name frequently remembred in the Eastern stories but not without some mark of infidelity as if not sound and through-paced to the Cause on foot A punishment whereof the short continuance of this house is supposed to be For Raimond the Great Earl of Tâ—olouse St. Giles and Tripoli in the Holy-Land had three Sonnes all of them succeeding the first two issuless the third the Father of Raimond the Father of another Raimond who proved a great maintainer of the Albigenses and in pursuance of that Cause murdered the Legat of the Pope sent to Excommunicate him strangled his own Brother Baldwin because he found him not inclinable to his opinions For this cause Warred upon and Vanquished by Simon de Monfort Father of Simon de Monfort the great Earl of Leicester and after many troubles and continuall Wars left his estate and quarrell to his Sonne named also Raimond the last Earl of this House Who proving also a strong Patron of these Albigenses was condemned for a Heretick cursed by the Pope and persecuted by the French Kings Philip the second Lewis the 8th and St. Lewis This last willing to make a peaceable composition maried his Brother Alfonso to Jane daughter and heir to Count Raimond with this clause That if it should happen these two to die without issue then Languedoc should be incorporated to the Crown Raimond agreed the mariage was solemnized Anno 1249. They both died without issue 1270 and Languedoc returned to the Crown in the dayes of Philip the third The names and Succession of these Earls in regard they were Peers of France great Princes and for the most part men of action take in order thus A. Ch. The Earls of Tholouze 779. 1 Tursiâ— the first Earl of Tholouze 803. 2 William made Earl by Charlemaigne Peer of France at the first foundation of that Order 828. 3 Isauret Thursin Sonne of Thursin the first Earl 841 4 Bertrand Sonne of Isauret Thursin 894. 5 William II. of some other house 919. 6 Ponce a great Justiciar but of unknown race 963. 7 Almaric of as obscure parentage as Ponce 1003. 8 Raymond the Brother of Raymond Earl of S. Giles advanced by Robert King of France 1052. 9 William III. Duke of Aquitaine succeded in right of his Wiâ—e the Daughter of Raymond 1086. 10 Hugh â—rmon Sonne of William the 3d sold his Estate and Earldom to his Uncle Raymond 1096. 11 Raymond II. Earl of S. Gâ—les Tholouzeâ— and Tripoli of great note in the Warre of the Holy-Land 12 Bertrand Sonne of Raymond the Great 13 William IV. Brother of Bertrand 1101. 14 Alfonso Brother of William the fourth 1146. 15 Raymond III. Sonne of Alfonso 1185. 16 Raymond IV. Sonne of Raymond the 3d the Great Patron of the Albigenses 1222. 17 Raymond V. Sonne of Raymond the 4th vanquished and compounded with by King Lewis the Saint 1249. 18 Alfonso II. Brother of St. Lewis and Husband of Ioan. daughter and heir of the last Raymond after whose death and the decease of Ioan the
Countess Anno 1270. this Earldom was united to the Crown of France according to the Capitulations before mentioned The Arms of this Earldom were Gules a Cross Pommelè of 12 points Or. 14 PROVENCE PROVENCE is environed with Languedoc on the West Daulphine on the North the Mediterranean on the South and on the East with the Alpes and the River Varus which divide it from Piemont the neerest of the Alpine Provinces It took this name from the Romans who being called in by the Marsilians to revenge a private wrong wholly possessed themselves of this countrey calling it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Province Under their Empire it continued making up the whole Province of Narbonensis Secunda and part of Alpes Maritimae How it was given unto the Visigothes or Gothes of Spain and from them taken by the Ostrogothes or Gothes of Italie hath been shewn in Languedoc Being resigned unto the French it became a part of the new Kingdom of Arles and Burgundy By Hugh de Arles upon his resignation of that Kingdom to Râ—dolph Duke of Burgundiâ— beyond the Iour given unto William his Sonne with the stile and title of Earl of Provence confirmed therein by the Emperour Conrade the second on whom the rights of that Kingdom had been transferred to be held of him and his Successours in the Empire In his posteritie it continued till conveyed to the Earls of Barcelone by the mariage of the Lady Doulce with Earl Raymond Arnold Anno 1082. Carried together with that Earldom to the Crown of Aragon and finally by â—eatrix heir generall of this Familie to Charles Earl of Anjou Anno 1262 whom Vrban the 4th not long after crowned King of Naples By Joan the first the fourth from Charles driven out of Naples by Lewis of Hungaria and restored again by the power of Pope Clement the fift the City and Territorie of Avignion where the Pope resided at that time is dismembred from the Earldom of Provence and given in Fee for ever to the Church of Rome partly to recompence that favour and partly for discharge of some old Arrears of Rent or Tribute pretended to be due to the See of Rome for the Realm of Naples A Citie which had formerly been under the Protection and by that title in the Actuall possession of many of the Popes of Rome ever since the conviction of Raymond Earl of Tholouse to whom it formerly belonged but held by them in Fee of the Earls of Provence Not long after this Donation the said Ioan adopted for her Heir and Successour Lewis Duke of Anjou Brother to Charles the fift of France descended lineally from Charles Earl of Anjou and King of Naples possessed by this Adoption of the Earldom of Provence and a title to the Realm of Naples Rene the Grandchild of this Lewis having no issue-male surviving made Lewis of Chalons Prince of Orange another Signeurie in this Countrie and gave him therewithall full power to make Lawes coin money and pardon all Crimes to write himself Prince of Orange by the Grace of God with all the other Prerogatives of an absolute Prince This was in the yeer 1415. So that now the Countrie stands divided betwixt the French King the Pope and the Prince of Orange each of them absolute and independent in his own Estate as long at least as the French King is pleased to give way unto it The whole much of the same nature with Languedoc before described In that part of it which belongs to the King the Towns of speciall note are 1 Aix seated on the Rhosâ—e the Metropolis of Narbonensis secunda and at that time called Aquae Sextiae from Sextius it's founder and the hot Bathes here Now and of long time an Archbishops See and the chief Citie of this Province and for that reason made the Seat of a Court of Parliament for this Country Anno 1501. Most memorable in old storie for the great discomfiture of the Cimbri by C. Marius Who not willing to venture on the enemy united for they were no fewer than 300000 fighting men and lately fleshed in the overthrow of Manlius and Cepio two Roman Consuls permitted them quietly to pass by his Camp The Barbarians who imputed it to fear or cowardize scornfully asking his Souldiers what service they would command them to Rome But when for their easier passage over the Alpes they had divided themselves into 3 Companies Marius severally setting on them all put them all to the Sword Ea victoria visus meruisse ne ejus nati Rempub. poenit eret by this Victory and this onely giving cause to the Romans as Velleins hath it not to be sorry for his Birth 2 Arles in Latine Arelatum by Ausonius called the Rome of France and in those times so highly prized that Constantinus Flavius being chosen Emperour by the British Legions in the declining times of the Western Empire intended to have made it the Imperiall Seat And not less memorable in Church-storie for a Councill here held in the time of Constantine the Great Anno 313 in which was present Restiâ—uius the Bishop of London and certain other Bishops of the British Church It was antiently a Roman Colonie and now the See of an Archbishop situate on the River Rhosne in a low and marishie situation which naturall strength seconded by the new works of King Henry the 4th have made it one of the best Bulwarks of France on that side of the Kingdom Selected for the Seat Royall of the French Kings of Burgundie who from hence were called Kings of Arles as the Kings of Austrasia or East France were called Kings of Metâ— because they had made choice of that Citie for the Regall Seat Between this Citie and the Sea but on the other side of the River runneth a deep Channel cut with infinite charge and industrie by C. Marius for conveyance of victuals into his Camp in his War against the Cimbrâ— beforenamed by Ptolomie called Fossae Marianae by the French Camargue a corrupt word made of â—â—aius Marius the Countrey about which called also by the same name for the space of 24 miles is of excellent pasturage and breedeth great abundance of horses the chief Town of which is called 3 St. Gillis 4 Marseilles a known Port on the Mediterranean first built by the Phocenses a Greek Nation of Asia Minor who being banished their Countrie came and planted here about the reigne of Tarquinius Superbus the last King of Rome It was first onely a Confederate Citie of the Romans for whose sake being molested by the Salii and others of the neighbouring Nations the Roman Legions first entred Gaul afterwards siding with Pompey in the Civill Wars or at least desirous to stand neutrall it was forced by Caesar and made a Colonie In the prosperity hereof it drave a great trade on the Mediterranean and was the mother of many fair and â—lourishing Colonies Emporia Forum Jultum Nicaea Olbia dispersed in the adjoyning shores of France Spain and Italiâ—
Iarsey by the Dean thereof Suffragan heretofore to the Bishop of Constance now to the Bishop of Winchester in Gernsey by a mixt Consistory of Clergie and Lay-Elders according to the new Modell of Geneva introduced in both Ilands Anno 1565. being the eighth yeer of Queen Elizabeth and abolished again in Iarsey Anno 1619. being the 17th of King James But to return again to the storie of France thorow which we have now made our Progress both by Sea and Land It took this name from the Frankes or French a German People who in the War of the Roman Empire possessed themselves of it not mentioned by that name by Caesar Strabo Ptolomie or any of the more antient Writers Nor was it taken up by them for ought appeareth till an hundred years after the death of Ptolomie the first express mention of them occurring in the reign of Gallienus then ransacking the coasts of Gaul and joyning with Posthumus the Rebell against that Emperour Afterwards often spoken of in the course of the Roman stories under the Empire of Claudius Probus Dioclesian and the Sonnes of Constantine though only in the way of pillage and depredation Their habitation in those times was from the meeting of the 〈◊〉 with the River Moenus not far from Frankford where they confined upon the Almans to the German Ocean conteining the particular Nations of the Bructeri Sicambri Salii Cherusci Frisit and Teucteri besides some others of less note and taking up the Countries of Westphalen Bâ—rgen Marck and so much of Cleve as lieth on the Dutch side of the Rhene the Lantgravedom of Hassia the Dutchie of Gueldres the Provinces of Zutphen Utrecht Over-Yssell both Frieslands and so much of Hâ—lland as lieth on the same side of the Rhene United in the name of Frankes to shew that Libertie or Freedom from the yoke of servitude which the Romans had endeavoured to impose upon them and wherewith all the Nations on the other side of the River were supposed to suffer Governed by Dukes till the yeer 420. when Pharamond first took upon himself the name of King Meroveus their third King having dispossessed the Sonns of Cledion the Sonne and Successor of Pharamond was the first that set foot in Gaul when seeing the Romans on the one side put to the worst by Theodorick and the Gothes and on the other side by the Burgundians they passed over the Rhene and possessed themselves of the Province of Germania Secunda containing all the Belgicâ— Provinces on the French side of that River together with the District of Colen Gulick and the rest of Cleve them passing in the accompt of Gaul His victories and fortunes were inherited by Chilperick his Sonne Successour who added Picardy Champaine and the Isle of France to the former conquest took Paris made it the seat of his Kingdom Afterwards when they had fully seated themselves here and thereby opened a free passage to the rest of the Country they quickly made themselves Masters of al that which formerly had been possessed by the Romans whom they outed of their last hold in Soissons under Clovis their fift King who also took Aquitain and the parts adjoyning from the Visi-Gothes or Gothes of Spain for these and many signal victories against the Almains deservedly surnamed the Great but greater in submitting to the Faith of CHRIST and receiving Baptism than by all his Victories Childebert and Clotaire the Sonnes of this Clovis vanquished the Burgundians adding that Kingdom to their own as Theodebert his Grandchild King of Mets or Austrasia did the Country of Provence resigned unto him by Amâ—lasunta Queen of the Ostro Gothes or Gothes of Italy by whom it had been wrested from the Gothes of Spain In the person of Clotaire the second the Realm of France improvidently dismembred into many Kingdoms amongst the Children of Clovis the first that is to say the Kingdoms of France Soissons Orleans and Austrasia of which Orleans and Austrasia were of long continuance were again united Whose Successor Dagobert the first was the last considerable Prince of the Mergovignians After this time the reputation of the French Kings of this line began to diminish scarce doing any thing that might ennoble and commend them to succeeding Ages or leaving any monument behind them but their empty Names which I shall represent in the following catalogue according to their severall times first taking notice that though the Kings of this first race did many times divide the Kingdom as before was said yet none of them were called Kings of France but those that had their Royall seat in the City of Paris the rest being called only Kings of Soissons Mets or Orleans according to the Name of their Principall Cities And therefore leaving those to their proper places we will here only take a Survey of those who passed in common estimate for the Kings of France The Kings of France of the French or Merovignian Line 449 1 Meroveus Master of the horse to Clodion the Sonne of Pharamond from whom this Line of Kings were called Merovignians 10. 459. 2 Chilperic the Sonne of Morove 26. 485. 3 Clovis the first Christian King of the French 30. 515. 4. Childebert eldest Sonne of Clovis his other Brethren Reigning in their severall places 45. 560. 5 Clotaire Brother of Childebert first King of the Soissons afterwards sole King of the French 565. 6 Cherebert Sonne of Clotaire 574. 7 Chilperic II. King of Scissons and Brother of Cherebert whom he succeeded in the Kingdom 14. 588. 8 Clotaire II. Sonne of Chilperic the second 44. 632. 9 Dagobert Sonne of Clotaire the second 14. 645. 10 Clovis II. Sonne of Dagobert 17. 663. 11 Clotaire III. Sonne of Clotaire the second 4. 667 12 Chilperic III. Sonne of Clotaire the third 680 13 Theodorick Brother of Chilperic 14. 694 14 Clovis III. Sonne to Theodorick 5. 698. 15 Childebert II. Brother to Clovis 18. 716. 16 Dagobert II. Sonne of Childebert the second 722. 17 Chilperic IV. opposed by Charls Martel in behalf of Clotaire the fourth 5. 727 17 Theodoric II. Sonne of Dagobert the second 742 19 Chilperic V. Sonne of Theodoric the last of the Merovignian Family Deposed by Pepin Sonne to Charles Martel the Pope giving approbation to his proceedings This Pepin and his Father Martel were Mayres of the Palace to the former Kings which Mayres were originally Controllers of the Kings House and had nothing to do with the affairs of State But Clotaire the third to ease himself and his successours of a burden so weighty made the Mayres Vicars generall of his Empire From henceforward the Kings followed their pleasures shewing themselves only on May-day and then being seated in a Chariot adorned with Flowers and drawn by four Oxen. As for the Mayâ—e he openeth packets heareth and diâ—patcheth forrein Ambassadours giveth remedy to the complaints of the Subjects maketh Laws repealeth them An authority somewhat like that of the Praefecti Praetoâ—io in the declining times of the
apparition of that Saint to his Father Charles the seventh on Orleans Bridge in his wars against the English The Seat thereof was first at S. Michaels Mount in Normandy a place which had held longest for the French Kings against the English but it was afterwards removed to Bois de Vincennes not far from Paris S. Michaels day the time of the Solemnity and Mount S. Michael the name of the Herald which did attend upon the Order which in most things was presidented by that of the Garter 5 Of the Holy-Ghost ordained by Henry the 3d Anno 1579 to rectifie the abuses which had crept into that of S. Michael having been of late times given to unworthy persons to reduce which to its first esteem he ordered that the Collar of S. Michael should be given to none who had not first been dignified with this of the Holy-Ghost into which none to be admitted but such as can prove their Nobility by three descents Their Oath is to maintain the Romish-Catholick Religion and persecute all Opponents to it Their Robe a black Velvet Mantle powdred with Lillies and Flames of Gold the Collar of Flower de Lyces and Flames of Gold with a Cross and a Dove appendant to it And hereunto he gave the name of the Holy-Ghost because this Henry was on a Whit sunday chosen King of Poland I omit the other petit orders as those of the Cock and Dog by them of Montmorencie of the Porcupine by them of Orleans and of the Thistle by them of Burbon The Arms of the French Kings in the dayes of Pharamond and his three first Successors were Gules three Crowns Or. Clovis the Great altered them to â—zure Seme of Flower de Lyces Or and Charles the sixt to Azure 3 Flower de Lyces Or. In which last changes they were followed by the Kings of England varying the Coat of France which they enquartered with their own as the French Kings did and by the Princes of the blood who bear the Arms of France with some difference onely for the distinction of their Houses There are in France Archbishops 17. Bishops 107. And Vniversities 15. Viz. 1 Paris 2 Orleans 3 Bourges 4 Poictiers 5 Angiers 6 Caen 7 Rhemes 8 Bourdeaux 9 Tholouse 10 Nismes 11 Montpelier 12 Avignon 13 Lyons 14 Besancon 15 Dole And so much for France THE PYRENEAN HILLS BEtwixt France and Spain are the Mountains called Pyrenae the reason of which name is very differently reported Some fetch the Original thereof from Pyrene a Nymph the Daughter of one Bebrix said by old Fablers to have been here ravished by Hercules others conceive they were so called because much stricken with Lightnings those Celestial Flames But being the name doth most undoubtedly proceed from a Greek word which signifieth Fire the more probable opinion is that they took this name from being fired once by Shepherds these Hills being then extremely overgrown with woods the Flame whereof raged so extremely that the Mines of Gold Silver being melted by the heat thereof ran streaming down the Mountains many dayes together the fame of which invited many Forrein Nationâ— to invade the Countrie Which Accident they place 880 yeers before the Birth of our Saviour Hereunto Diodorus Siculus an old Greek Writer addes no small authoritie who speaking of this conflagration as Aristotle and Strabo also de addeth withall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say these Mountains had the name of 〈◊〉 from the fire which many dayes together so extremely raged And this tradirion backed by so good autoritie I should rather credit than fetch the derivation as Bocharâ—uâ— doth from Purani a Phoenician word signifying dark or shadie though true it is that these Mountains antiently were very much overgrown with woods as before was noted But whatsoever was the reason why they had this name certain it is that they have been of long time the naturall bound betwixt the great and puissant Monarch of France and Spaine terminating as it were their desires and purposes against each other as well as their Dominions if any thing could put a bound to the designes of ambitious Princes Yet not more separated by these Mountainâ— than by those jealousies and fears which they have long since harboured of one another each of them manifestly affecting the supreme command So that we may affirm of them as the Historian doth of others on the like occasion Aut montibus aut mutuo metu sâ—parantur These mountains also make that â—stâ—mus or neck of Land which conjoyn Spain to the rest of Europe the Câ—aeâ—tabrian Ocean fiercely beating on the North-West the Mediterraâ—ean Sea more gently washing the South-East thereof Their beginning at the Promontorie now called Oiarco the Ocâ—so of Ptolomie not far from the Citie of Baionne in France bordering on the Sea Cantabrick From thence continued South-East-wards betwixt both Kingdoms to Cabo de Creux by the antients called Templum Veneris on the Mediteryanean not far from the Citie of Rhoda now Rosas one of the Port Towns of Catalonâ—a The whole length not reckoning in the windings and turnings affirmed to be 80 Spanish leagues at three miles to a league The highest part thereof by the Spaniards called Canigo and by the Latines named Canus from which as it is said by some there is a Prospect in a cleer day into both the Seas But whether this be true or not for I dare not build any belief upon it it is no doubt the highest part of all these Mountains and took this name from the whiteness or hoariness thereof as having on its top or summit a Cap of snow for most part of the year In which respect as the Alpes took their name ab albo that in the Sâ—bine Dialect being termed Alpum which by the Latines was called Album as before we noted so did Mount Lebanon in Syria take its name from Leban which in the Phoenician Language signifieth white and Lebanah whiteness Such people as inhabit in this mountainous tract have been and shall be mentioned in their proper places I only adde and so go forwards towards Spain that the barbarous people of these Mountains compelled Sertorius in his hasty passage into Spain when he fled from the power of Sylla's Faction to pay them tribute for his pass at which when some of his Souldiers murmured as thinking it dishonourable to a Proconsul of Rome to pay tribute to the barbarous nations the prudent Generall replyed that he bought only time a Commoditie which they that deal in haughty Enterprises must needs take up at any rate OF SPAIN HAving thus crossed the Pyrenees we are come to Spain the most Western part of all the Continent of Europe environed on all sides with the Sea except towards France from which separated by the said Mountains but more particularly bounded upon the North with the Cantabrian on the West with the Atlantick Ocean on the South with the Streits of Gibraltar on the East with the Mediterranean and on the
passage thorough their countrey but also to have certain places of strength put into his hands for his better assurance These unjust demands the Naâ—arrâ—â—y denied Whereupon Ferdinand with all expedition invadeth the kingdom the greatest part of which he took without a blow given the French King being as backward in affording due assistance as the other was unprovided of means for defence The French netled with this loss divers times attempted the recovery of it but in vain for the Spaniard still keepeth those parts of it which lie on that side of the â—yrenees leaving the rest which lieth on the French side of those Mountains being about a sixt part of the whole to the Descendants of those Princes whom he had disseized The Arms of Navarre are Gales a Carbuncle nowed Or. Which Carbuncle having a resemblance unto 〈◊〉 of Gold is said to have been first taken by Sancho the 8th in memorie that he and his Forces had first broken the Fortification made with chaines about the Pavilion of Mahomet Enaser the Meramomolin of Morocco at the great fight in Sierra Morena before which time the Armes of this Kingdom had been Azure a Cross Argent The chief order of Knighthood was of the Lilly begun by Garcia the sixth their Blazen a pot of Lillies with the Portraiture of our Lady ingraved upon it their duty to defend the Faith and daily to repeat certain Ave-Maries 4. LEON and OVIEDO THe Kingdom of LEON and OVIEDO hath on the East the Countrie of Biscay on the North the main Cantabrian Ocean on the South Castile on the West Gallicia So called from Leon and Oviedo the chief Cities of it and first seat of their Kings the antientest Kingdom in all Spain By a more antient name it was called Asturia from the Astures who possessed it in the time of the Romans divided into the two generall names of Augustani and Transmontani but comprehending the particular Tribes or Nations of the Pesici Gigari Zoclae and Lancienses The Countrey mountainous and woodie but formerly of some esteem for those small though swift Horses which the Romans from hence called Asturcones we may read it Hobbies which afterwards became a common name for all Nags or Gueldings Asturco Macedoniâ—us being used for a Macedonian Nag by Petronius Arbiter It is divided commonly into two parts that is to say Asturia de Oviedo bordering on Gallicia towards the West and 2 Asturia Santillana confining on Biscay towards the â—ast From which division of the Countrey the eldest Son of Castile is called Prince of the Asturias in the plural number which Title some suppose to be given unto them because it was the first Countrey which held up against the Moores But indeed the true Original hereof is referred by the best Spanish Writers to the time of the mariage of Catharine Daughter of Iohn of Gaunt and in right of her Mother Constance the right Heir of Castile unto Henry Sonne of Iohn the first then in possession of that Kingdom For to this new maried Couple it was granted saith Mariana that after the manner of England where the Heir Apparant is called Prince of Wales they should be called Princes of the Asturias In times succeeding the Towns of Iaen Vbeda Biatia and Anduiar were added to this Principate and so continued to this day Places of most importance in it 1. Avales on the Sea side not far from the Promontorie called of old Promontorium Scythicum but now Cabo de Pinas 2. Sublanco now a small vâ—llage but once a Town of so great strength that it was destroyed by the command of the Emperour Nerva lest it might animate these Mountainers unto a revolt 3. LEON situate at the foot of the Mountains not far from the place of the old Sublancia as it was then called The town but mean were it not beautified by a fair and large Cathedral the Bishop whereof acknowledgeth no Metropolitan but the Pope alone Recovered from the Moores Anno 722. Afterwards made the Regal Seat of the Kings of Leon by some called Legio because the 7th Legion was here lodged by Ptolomie called Legio Germanica and by others Gemina 4. S. Andera so named from a Church there built to the honour of S. Andrew by Ptolomie called Flavionavie now a wel-traded Port on the Cantabrian Ocean 5. Santillana which gives name to the Eastern part of Asturia 6. Lâ—anes where the two Asturias meet together 7. Civid id Reâ—l in the Western part of Asturia called Asturia de Oviedo 8. Villa Viciosa the only noted Port in this part of the Countrie 9. OVIEDO called for a time the Citie of Bishops because many of the Bishops of Spain dispossessed of their Churches by the Moores had retired thither and there preserved the line of Episcopal Succession till their Sees were filled again with Bishops in more happy times Antiently it was called Lucus Asturum and was of old a Bishops See reedified by King Froila the first in the yeer 757. Famous enough in giving the title of a Kingdom to the first Christian Princes after the Conquest by the Moores called from hence Kings of Oviedo Afterwards Anno 896. they began to be stiled Kings of Oviedo and Leon and at last Kings of Leon only Oviedo being quite leâ—t out of the Regal stile by Raymir the 2d Anno 904. More toward the Inlands of this Kingdom now reckoned part of old Castile are 10. Palenza the Pallantia of Ptolomie and Antoninus seated on the River â—â—arrion once a small Vniversitie till the translation of it unto Salamanca by King Ferdinand the third This Town first felt the furie of the Suâ—vians when they mastered these parts of Spaiâ— 11. Astorga antiently called Augusta Asturica whence the Astures of this tract were called Augustani a Bishops See frontiring on Gallicia happy in this that it felt not the fury of the lustfull King Vitiza who to secure himself in his unlawfull pleasures and to weaken his subjects if they should attempt any thing against him dismantelled all the Towns in his Dominions except Leon Toledo and this Astorga Who were the old Inhabitants of this Countrie hath been shewn already When conquered by â—ugustus Caesar they were under part of the Province of Tarragonensis part afterwards of the Prâ—vince of Gallicia by the Emp Constant Won from the Romans by the Gothes from them by the Moâ—res though long they did not lye under their command For as the lust of Roderick the last King of the Gothes in Spain occasioned the coming in of the Moores so the lust of Magnuâ—zâ— a Moorâ—◠〈◊〉 Roy occasioned though in long course of time their expulsion thence For Magnutzâ— having employed Pelagius a young Prince of the â—sturias on an Embassy to Musa the Leiutenant General 〈◊〉 the Moores then residing at Corduba in his absence ravished his Sister and at his return died by 〈◊〉 edge of his sword Dispairing of pardon for this Act he was fain to stand upon his guard and for
strongly by King Philip the 2d for fear of surprisall by the Tnrks and the security of the Haven which is withall very large and capacious coming from a little Iland lying at the mouth thereof by which assured from tempestuous winds and the violent ragings of the Sea Hence the occasion of that Saying of Andreas Doria Admiral unto Charles the fifth that there were but three safe Ports in the Mediterranean that is to say August Iuly and the Carthagena meaning as I conceive that those two moneths being commonly free from tempestuous weather were of as great safety to the Mariners as this famous Port. 3. Lorca another Port Town situate on a Creek more within the Land 4 Almanca 5 Sarâ—zal two strong Towns bordering on Valentia well fortified when Murcia and Valentia were in severall hands 6 Câ—rvillan 7 Alhama 8 Rus c. This Countrey being part of the Province of Carthaginensis was by the Alani taken from the Romanâ— at their first entrance into Spain from them recovered by Wallia the first King of the Gothes in this part of Europe Together with the rest of Spain it was subdued by the Moors of Africk in the distractions of whose Empire after the going hence of the Moores of Africk it was made a distinct Kingdom by Aben-Hut of the race of the Kings of Saragossa who had seized upon it Anno 1228 and for a time was the most puissant King of the Moores in Spain commanding over this Countrey Granada and a great part of Andaluzia Invited to a Feast made drunk and then basely murdered by Aben Arramin a false servant of his Anno 1236 one Aben Hudiel seized on the Realm of Murcia disturbed in his possession by Alboaquis the last King hereof But he not able to defend himself against his Competitor surrendred it to Ferdinand the 2d of 〈◊〉 whom he put into possession of the Fort of Murcia and many other places of great importance conditioned that Alboaquis should enjoy the title of King of Murcia as long as he lived under the Soveraignty of Castile and that Ferdinand should enjoy one half of the profits of it this was in the yeer 1241 after it had continued in the state of a Kingdomâ— but 12. yeers only united to Castile without blood or trouble and so remains ever since 9. The Kingdom of TOLEDO THe Kingdom of TOLEDO so called from Toledo the chief Citie of it contained once the greatest part of that Countrey which is now called New-Castile of which it is now reckoned only for a part or Member The Countrey lying next unto it was antiently the Seat of the Carâ—entani the nature of the soyl we shall find else-where Principal Cities of this Kingdom 1. Toledo of great Antiquity as being taken by Fulvius a Roman Praetor in the time of Sciâ—io Africanus and then a Citie of good note Pleasantly seated on the â—aâ—us beautified with many Peeces of rare and excellent Architecture and fortified with 30 Towers standing on the wals By reason of the situation of it in the very middest almost of Spain it is passing well inhabited as well by the Nobility who reside there for pleasure and by Scâ—olars who abide in it for their studies as by Merchants who resort thither for theâ—r profit besides such Souldiers and their Officers who are continually garrisoned in it for defence thereof The private buildings generally are but mean and ordinary though by farre more handsome in the inside than the outside promiseth most of them being furnishâ—ed with water from the River Tagus conveyed into them by the admirable inventions of one Iames a native of Cremona in the Dukedom of Millain The Streets narrow close â—ly and uneven exceeding troublesome to walk or go upon especially in slippery or dirty weather by reason of its steep and uneven situation on the side of a Rockie hill by which and by the River which almost surrounds it it is naturally very strong and well helped by Art For that cause made the seat of the Gothish Kings by one of which called Bamba so repaired and beautified besides the addition of a strong Wall for defence of the place that he is by some accounted for the sounder of it For so we find it in these old verses Eâ—â—xit fautore Deo Rex inclytus Vrbem Bamba suae celebrem port endens Gentis honorem That is to say King Bamba God assisting rais'd this Town Extending so the antient Gothes renown When the Gothes fell it was in chief estimation amongst the Moores and by them advanced unto the honour of a Kingdom whereof more anon but under both as it continueth to this day the See of an Archbishop who is the Metropolitan of Spain and President for the most part of the Inquisition His revenue answerable to his place the greatest of any Clergyman in the Christian World next to the Popes of Rome as being estimated at 300000 Crowns per Annum Finally this City hath been honoured with no fewer than 18 Nationall Councills here holden in the time of the Gothes and is now a famous University for the study of the Civill and Canon Lawes and hath to this day the temporall Jurisdiction over 17 walled Towns besides Villages 2 Calâ—trava the next Town of note is situate on the River Ava of most fame in these latter times for an Order of Knights called the Knights of Calatrava of which more when we come to Castile Neighboured by the ruines of the strong and Famous City Castulo which being under the command of the Romans was by the Gyresoeny a people that dwelt on the other side of the River suddenly entred and taken But Sertorius following after them by the same Gate put them all to Sword and causing his men to apparrell themselves in the cloathes of the Enemy led them to the chief City of the Gyresoeni who supposing them to be their own party opened their Gates and were all either slain or sold for slaves More of this Town anon when we come to Castile to which belonging now 3 Talbora commonly called Talvera de la Reyna or the Queens Talvera and called so occasion of an execrable murder committed there by the command of Queen Mary the Widdow of Alfonso the sixt on the Lady Leonore de Guzman her husbands Paramour A proper and neat Town it is pleasantly seated on the Tagus supposed to be the Libora of Ptolomie and now belonging to the Archbishop of Toledo as chief Lord thereof As for Toledo it self in the time of the Romans it was the Metropolis of the Province of Tarraconensis after that the seat Royall of the Gothith Kings removed hither from Tholouse in Languedoâ— forced by the Moores at their first entrance into Spain Anno 716. more prudently aiming at the head than the Gothes possibly expected from such Barbarians In the Confusions of that Kingdom betwixt the beginning of the reign of Mahomet the fourth and the second coming in of the Moores of Africk made a distinct
Kingdom of it self continuing in that estate till taken from Haia Alcaduâ—â—ir the last King hereof by Alfonso the first King of Castile Anno 1083. This Alfonso being the younger Sonne of Ferdinand the first King of Castile and Leon had the Kingdom of Leon for his part Ejected out of that by his Brother Sanctio King of Castile he lived in Exile with the Moores kindly received and entertained by this Hyaâ—a King of Toledo till the death of his Brother After which coming to the Crowns of Castile and Leon Anno 1073. he picked a quarrell with his Host and besiedged Toledo his long abode there making him acquainted with all advantages that might facilitate his designs which notwithstanding held him a siedge of five years before he could make himself Master of it by him incorporated presently on the taking of it with the rest of that Kingdom and made the head of New Castile The Arms hereof are Azure a Crown Mitral Imperiall Or garnished with sundry precious Gems Proper 10 CASTILE CASTILE is bounded on the East with Navarre Aragon and part of Valentia on the West with Portugal on the North with Biscay Guipuscoa and the Astuâ—ias on the South with Extremadura Andeluzia and Granada The reason of the name we shall have anon This was the most prevailing Kingdom of all this Continent to which the rest are all united either by Mariages or Conquest Divided commonly into the New and the Old parted from one another by the hills of Segovia the one being called the Old Castile because it was the antient Patrimony of the first Earles hereof and the other named the New from that addition which was made to the first inheritance by the Conquest of the Realm of Toledo and other peeces from the Moores The Old Castile is the less fruitfull of the two more fit for Pasturage than Corn but better stored with that and all sorts of fruits than the Neighbouring Countries which lie betwixt it and the Northern or Cantabrian Ocean the New more plain and Champain better stored with fruits and furnished with sufficient plenty of Corn and other provisions necessary for the life of man The Old Castile watered with the Rivers of 1 Relaunos rising not far from Burgos 2 Tormes passing by Salamanca 3 Duero the Receptacle of the others The New with 4 Xaruma honoured with the Neighbourhood of Madrid 5 Taevina and 6 Tagus the most famous River of all Spain The Old Castile is situate on the North of the New and hath for the chief Cities of it 1 Soâ—ia of great note in the antient Storie by the name of Numantia which for the space of fourteen years withstood the whole forces of Rome During which time they valiantly repulsed their Enemies and forced them to dishonourable Compositions But finding at the last no hope of holding longer out they gathered together all their Armour Money and goods laid them in an heap then set fire unto them and finally burnt themselves in the midst of the flame leaving Scipio who had brought them to that extremity nothing but the bare name of Numantia to adorn his triumph 2 Avila situate under the great Mountains which are call'd from hence the Mountains of Avila Known antiently by the name of Abule and by that name giving the title of Abulensis to the renowned Tostatus who was Bishop of it A Man who in his time was President to the Counsell to Iohn King of Aragon yet could find leisure enough not only to attend his Episcopal charge but to compile those learned and painful Commentaries on a great part of the Bible Of which and his other abilities besides that which hath before been noted of him we may take that Eulogie which Casaubon hath given him in his Book against Baronius saying Laudo acumen viri si in meliora incidisset Tempora Longè maximi 3 Valadolid a fine neat Town and one of the antientest Vniversities of Spain discontinued for a time by Students and then restored again by King Philip the 2d whose birth-place it was and who erected here a College among others for the education onely of yong English Fugitives Seated upon the River Pisuerga and one of the Chanceries of the Kingdoms of Castile and Leon. By means whereof and of the Kings Court here residing in the Summer times it became in little space a fair large populous Citie and of great resort not yeelding unto any in Spain except Lisbone and Sevill It is called in Latine Vallis oletum and Vallis Oletana from the abundance of Olives growing neer it but by Ptolomie Pintia 3 Segovia a Bishops See of great trade in clothing situate under a branch of the Mountain Idubeda called from hence the hils of Segovia 4 Burgos neer the head of the River Râ—launos or Relanzon at the foot of the great Mountain aâ— Oca part of the Idubeda built out of certain Villages lying hereabouts by Nugno Bellides a German Sonne-in-law unto one of the first Earls of Castile for long time the seat of those Kings since of the Archbishops hereof the Cathedrall being one of the fairest in Spain built with such Art that Mass may be sung aloud in five severall Chappels without disturbing one another This Citie doth contend from Primacie and Precedencie in Civi ' maters with that of Toledo of which it hath the first place or vote in all Parliaments or Assemblies of the States of Castile But yet to satisfie Toledo the Controversie is still undecided and was once finely taken up by one of the Ferdinands saying that Burgos should first speak for it self and then that he would speak for Toledo Without the walls of this Citie is a famous Nunnerie called De las Huelgas consisting of 150 Religious women all of noble Houses 5 Cividad Râ—drigo a Bishops See on the River Gada 6 Zamora a strong and well-built Citie and a Bishops See the Sentica of Ptolomie situate on the River Duero and now famous for the best Bag-pipes 7 Tordesillas the Segisana of the Antients 8 Salamanca the most famous Universitie of Spain especially for the studie of the Civill and Canon Lawes first instituted by Ferdinand the 2d of Castile Anno 1240. and by an Order of the Popes together with Paris Oxford and Bonâ—nia in Italie created a Generale Studium wherein there were to be Professors of the Greek Hebrew Chaldee and Arabick Tongues besides those of the Arts. It was of old called Salmantica is now a Bishops See situate on the River Tormes as before was said Not far from this Citie about the times of our Grandfathers was discovered in a Valley situate amongst high and impassable Mountains a kind of Patoecos or Savage people never heard of in Spain before The occasion this An Hawk of the Duke of Alva's which he very much valued flew over those Mountains and his men not being able to find her at first they were sent back by the Duke to seek her Clambring from one hill to another they hapned at
Marble and some Mines of Silver c. The people are of a more plain and simple behaviour than the rest of Spain and if we beleeve the old Proverb none of the wisest For whereas the Spaniards are said to seem wise and yet to be Fools the French to seem Fools and yet to be wise the Italians both to seem wise and to be so the Portugals are affirmed to be neither wise indeed nor so much as to seem so But little different from which is the Spanish by-word which telleth us of the Portugals that they are Pocosâ—y Locos few and foolish which others varie with the addition of another part of their Character saying that they are Pocos Sotos y Devotos few and foolish but withall devout They have great animosities if it be not grown to an Antipathie against the Castilians for bereaving them of their Kingdom and Liberty though both of late recovered by them but when most Fools were counted for good Sea-faring men and happy in the discoverie of forrain Nations Rivers it hath of all sorts both great and small almost 200. Those of most note 1 Minius full of red Lead from hence called Minium by the Latines navigable with small Vessels 100 miles 2 Lethes now Lavada 3 Muliadas now Mondego 4 Tagus 5 Duerus and 6 Anas these three last common also to the rest of Spain Anat or Guadiana passing by Poriugal but for 7 Leagues only Tagus for 18 and Duero for 80. None of them navigable for any long space by ships of burden the Rivers of all Spain being generally swift of course restrained within narrow Channels banked on both sides with very steep Rocks which make them incommodious for Navigation Insomuch that it is reckoned for a great Prerogative of Tagus and the Realm of Portugal that this River is there navigable with great ships 15 or 20 miles within the Continent But here that want is somewhat tolerably supplied with 3 excellent Havens 1 That of Lisbon upon â—agus and 2 Porto on Duero to the North of Lisbon of which more anon 3 of Setaval South of Lisbon situate on a Golf of 20 miles in length and three in breadth a place of principal importance to those parts of the Realm Rivers however of great fame according to whose course the whole Countrey was divided by the Romans into Vlteriorem lying beyond Duero North-wards 2 Citeriorem on the South of Tagus and 3 Interamnem betwixt both Principal Cities of this part 1 Lisbon seated upon Tagus a famous Citie for traffick the Portugals in all their Navigations setting sayl from hence By the Latines called Olysippo and Vlyssiâ—po because as some say Vlysses built it coming hither in the course of his ten yeers travel a thing meerly fabulous it being no where found that Vlysses did ever see the Ocean But like enough it is that this Town being seated conveniently for Navigation and inhabited by Sea-faring meâ— might at the first be consecrated to the memory of so great a Traveller as Athens being a place of Lâ—arning was dedicated to Minerva whom the Greeks call Athenâ— It is in compass seven miles and containeth upwards of 30 Parishes and in them 20000 houses all of neat and elegant building Turrets and Towers it numbreth upon the wals about 76. Gates towards the Sea-shore 22. And towards the Continent situate upon five small Hils betwâ—xt which is a valley which runs down to the River on the highest Hill an ancient Castle not strong but by reason of the situation serving now only for a Prison for men of quality the entry of the River being defended by the Castle of Cascais and neerer to the Citie by the Fort of S. Iuâ—ians and the Rock of Belem munitioned with 20. Peeces of Ordinance This Citie heretofore was honoured with the Seat of the Kings since of the Vice-Roys an Arch-bishops See the Staple of commodities for all the Kingdom and thought to be more worth than the whole Realm besides said by some French Writers to be the best peopled Citie in Christendom next unto Paris aud by Bâ—tero an Italian made to be the 4th Mart Town of Europe the other three being â—onstantinople Paris Mosco in which they doe great wrong to London as populous and well-traded as the best them all 2 Santareâ— on the Tagus so called from S. Irenâ— a Nun of Tomar a Monasterie in which the old Kings of Portugal did use to be crowned here martyred by the Moores by Ptolomie called Scabaliscus then a Roman Colonie 3 Siâ—tra upon the main Aâ—â—lantick at the end of the huge Mountains called Montes Lunae whither by reason of the cool refreshings from the Sea and pleasure of the Woods adjoyning the Kings of Portugal used to retire in the heats of Summer 4 Conimbre on both sides the River Mondego pleasantly seated amongst Vineyards and Woods of Olives a Bishops See and an Vniversity the Masters whereof made the Commentarie on most part of Aristotle called from hence Schola Conimbricensis Then on the North of the River Duero betwixt that and Minio are 5. Braga by Ptolomâ—e called Bracaria Augusta reckoned by Antonine for one of the four chief Cities in Spain the Royal Seat when time was of the Suevian Kings and now the See of an Archbishop contending for the Primacie with him of Toledo 6 Porto the Haven of the Galls on the mouth of Duero 7 Miranda a Bishops See on the same River 8 Bragance the Duke whereof is so great a Prince that it is thought a third part of the people of Portugal are his Vassals and live on his Lands the later Dukes since the time of King Emanuel being withall of the Royal blood two steps of main advantage to the Regal Throne lately ascended and obtained by Iohn Duke of Bragance now called John the 4th And finally on the South of Tagus betwixt that and the Kingdom of Algarba there is 9 Ebora in the middest of a large and spacious Plain an Archbishops See and an Vniversitie this last of the foundation of King Henry the Cardinall 10 Portilegre a Bishops See 11 Olivenca on the Guadiana 12 Beâ—â— by Plinie called Paxâ—lulia 2 The Kingdom of ALGARVE lieth on the South of Portugal from which divided by a line drawn from Ascorin on the western Sea to Odechere a Castle on the Guadiana on the East bounded by Andaluzia on the West and South by the Main Atlantick This the most wild and desart part of all this Kingdom barren and drie peopled with few Towns nor those very populous hilly and Mountainous withall but yielding by the benefit of the Sea a great trade of fishing of Tunny specially whereof more caught upon this coast than in all the Kingdom The name it took from the Western situation of it for so the word Algarve signifieth in the Arabick tongue The utmost end of it called anciently Promâ—ntorium Sacrum now the Cape of S. Vincent because the Bones of S. Vincent religiouslly preserved by the Christians were
to the Crown of Aragon by Alfonso the 2d by Iames the first laid to the Kingdom of Majorca united to the Crown again by King Pedro the 4th after that sold or rather pawned by King Iohn the 2d to Lewis the 11th of France for the summe of 300000 Crowns Anno 1462. and freely returned back again to Ferdinand the second after called the Catholick by King Charles the 8th Anno 1493 conditioned that he should not hinder him in the Conquest of Naples â—oyning hereto as part of the Kingdom of Majorca was the Countrey of Sardaigne or Cerdagne the habitation of the Corretani in former times and afterwards accounted of as a part of Aragon The chief Town of those Cerretani called Iulia Libyca the principall now being hath the name of Cardono or Sardona as the Spaniards commonly pronounce it retaining some resemblance to the name of the Nation The Countrey lying in the Vallies of the Pyrenees and consequently in a corner somewhat out of the way was thought fit to be added to the Land of Rousillon for the better endowment of this Kingdom the fortunes of which it hath since followed as appendant on it pawned when that was unto the French and with that restored 2. The Earldom of MONTPELIER is situate in the Province of Languedoc adjoyning to the Land of Rousillon so called from Montpelier the chief Citie for the description whereof we must send the Reader back to France having spoken of it there already All I shall here repeat is this that Mary the Daughter of William the last Earl thereof brought it in mariage to her Husband Peter the 2d King of Aragon and that it was sold to Philip de Valoys the French King by Iames King of Majorca of that name the third 3 The Iland of MAIORCA is situate in the Mediterranean just over against Valentia from which distant about 60 miles about 300 miles in circuit the length above an hundred the breadth somewhat under the number of Inhabitants reckoned at 30000. The Land on all sides towards the Sea is somewhat mountainous and barren withall the In-lands more champian and fruitfull yeelding sufficient quantity of Oyl Corn Wines and Fruits for the use of its people The whole Iland is divided into 30 parts as so many Wapontakes in every one of which are reckoned from 300 to 600 Families No hurtfull Creatures are here bred except Conies only and those not hurtfull but by accident of which more anon Places of chief note in the former times were 1. Palma and 2. Pallentia which had the rights of Roman Citizens 3. Ciâ—ium and 4. Cunici which enjoyed the rights of the Latiues and 5. Bochri or Bochorum which was in the condition of a Town confederate besides divers others not so priviledged Of these none left at this day but Palma only vulgarly called Majorca by the name of the Iland a Bishops See the Seat of the Vice-Roy for these Isles and an Vniversity the birth-place of Raymundus Lullius a man of great wit and profound judgement the Author of some Books in the Art of Chymistrie whose Works are read and studied in that Vniversitie as Aristotles are in others This is the greater of the two Ilands called Baleares whence it had the name A joyning hereunto two others of inferiour note called Dragonera and Cabrera of which nothing memorable 4 MINORCA so called because it is the lesser of the Baleares is situate East-ward of Majorca from which distant neer 100 miles of about 60 miles in length and 150 miles in Circuit More fruitfull than the other though less in quantitie of a rich soyl which breedeth them great herds of Cattell and Mules of the largest size of any in Spain accommodated also with two convenient Havens the one called Maon the other Farnessus Other considerable places are 1 Minorca now so called by the name of the Iland but antiently known by the name of Mago situate in the East part thereof first Founded by the Carthaginians as the name imports And so was also 2 Iamno seated in the West Duo parva Oppida quibus à Poenis indita nomina saith Severus Bishop of these Isles An. 420 or thereabouts It is now called Citadella or the little Citie Here was also in the mid-land a third Town called Sanisera by Plinie of which I finde now no tract remaining 5 EBVSA now called YVICA lyeth between the main Land and the Baleares opposite to the Promontorie of Ferraria in the Realm of Valentia from which distant about 50 miles and neer an hundred miles in compass The Countrey plentifull of Corn and all manner of Fruits breeding no hurtfull Creature except Conies onely which many times destroy their Harvest The chief Town here is Yvica of old called Ebusus the Inhabitants of which make yearly great store of Salt wherewith they doe not only furnish Spain but some parts of Italie 6 FRVMENTERA so called from the plenty of Corn is distant ten miles from Yvica and about 60 miles from the main Land of Spain in circuit about 70 miles Not well inhabited by reason of the multitude of Serpents for which cause called by the Grecians 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 by the Latines Both Ilands antiently known by the name of Pityusâ— and Pityodâ—â— from the abundance of â—ines there growing About thâ—se Ilands are three others of little worth called 1. Veâ—ra 2 〈◊〉 and 3 Dâ—â—gorgo 4 Another called Moncolibre betwixt Mâ—jore and the influx of the River â—â—us 5 Alâ—aquâ—s lying in the very mouth of that River and 6 Soombâ—aria antiently called the Iland of Hercules over against Carthagena so named from a kind of Tuâ—â—ny in 〈◊〉 named Scomâ—ri of which great sâ—oales use to lye about it All these together with the 〈◊〉 make up the Province of the Ilands the 7th Province of â—paâ—n But the chief glory of these Ilands were the BALEARES so called as the generall conceit is from the Greek word 〈◊〉 which signifieth to throw because the people were so expert in throwâ—â—â— their Slings or Darts but as Bâ—chaâ—tus will needs have it to the same effect from 〈◊〉 a Punick or Proenician word signifying a mâ—ster in the Art of slinging An Art so naturall and innative to them that Parents used to give no meat unto their Children after some sit age but what they could hit down with their Slings from the top of a Beam Of their deâ—terity at this weapon there is much mention made in the Antient Writers as well Historiâ—ns as Poets And from this exercise they had the name also of Insulae 〈◊〉 or else because the people of it used to goe naked to the wars and possibly enough in those first Ages of the World and at other times also from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same with Nudâ—s in the Lâ—tire Nor were they good at Slinging only but at Swiming too an exercise not ordinarily performed but by naked People at which the very women are at this day expert 〈◊〉 reporting in
a Bishops See by King Henry the 8th The buildings generally fair the Streets wide and open with Galleries before every door under which a man may walk dry from one end to the other The rest of chief note shall be specified on another occasion with this advertisment that the ordinary Cities of England are not to be compared with those of France and Italy First because the Nobles and Gentry of those Countries live for the most part in the Cities ours in Country-Villages And secondly because the Londoners so ingross all trading that they draw thither all the Wealth and treasure of the Kingdom By means whereof that every day increaseth in wealth and beauty the rest except Bristol only doe decay as sensibly that Citie being like the Spleen in the body naturall the monstrous growth whereof starveth all the rest of the Members Liene excrâ—scenâ—e reliquum corpus contabescit as the Doctors have it There are in England but two Vniversities which may equall six nay ten of all other Countries so that Paris be not in the number most of them being no better than our Colleges of Westminster Eaton or Winchester and none so liberally endowed as some one of these in the Vniversities Of which there are 16 in Cambridge some of them called only by the name of Halls but these endowed with Lands and Fellowships as the others are In Oxford there 18 Colleges endowed with Lands besides six Halls where Students live at their own charges in both of them Professors of the Arts and Sciences as also of Divinity Law Physick and the Learned Languages with liberall Salaries and in each to the number of 3000 Students so regular in their lives and conversations as are not to be found in the World besides The fairer and more antient Oxford which of long time together with Paris in France Bononia in Italy and Salamanca in Spain hath been honoured with the Title of Generale studium For that the Vniversity of Cambridge though giving upper hand to her Sister of Oxford she may take place of all the Vniversities in the World besides is not of so long standing as that of Oxford is evident by the testimony of Robertus de Remington cited by Master Camden viz. Regnante Edwardo primo It should rather be read secundo de studio Grantbridge facta est Academia sicut Oxonium where the word sicut doth not import an idenity of the time but a relation to Oxford as to the pattern We see this truth yet clearer in the Bull of Pope Iohn the 21 the contemporary of our Edward 2d as I find in the work of that great Searcher of Academicell Antiquities Mr. Brian Twine Aâ—ostolica authoritate statuimus saith the Bull quod Collegium magistrorum scholariâ—m ejusdem studij speaking of Cambridge Vniversitas siz censenda c. But what need more than Resolution of the Commons of the first Parliament holden under King Iames. For when he Clerk of that House had put the name of Cambridge before Oxford they taking disdainfully that Hysteron Proteron commanded the Antiquities of both Vniversities to be searched and after fearch made gave the place to Oxford But to proceed the Vniversity of Cambridge as it was much of a later Foundation so was it long before it grew into esteem insomuch that when William of Waâ—nslate Bishop of Winchester and Founder of Magdalen College in Oxon whereof I was once an unworthy Member perswaded King Henry the sixth to erect a College in Oxford as some of the Kings his Predecessors had done before him immo potius Cantabrigiae replyed the King Vt duas si fieri possit in Anglia Academias habeam No said the King in Cambridge rather that so if possible I may have two Vniversities in my Realm of England As for the Storie of this Country that it was first peopled out of Gaul is affirmed by Caesar proved by many strong and concluding Arguments as their Religion Manners Languages Customs and the neerness of the one to the other To omit therefore the Fable of Brute and the Catalogue of 68 Kings which are said to have reigned here successively before the coming of the Romans Certain it is that Caesar found the Countrey cantoned into many Kingdoms four in Kent alone and the people to be very rude and illiterate Such Learning as they had was locked up in the brests of the Druides who committed nothing unto writing and by that means kept the People in continuall ignorance communicating what they knew to none but those of their own Order and therein being sought to by the Druides or Priests of Gaul who came over into this Island to them and did from them receive the knowledge of their sacred Mysteries Being conquered or discovered rather by Iulius Caesar it was not so much as looked after by the two next Emperours Augustus and Tiberius counting it an high point of Wisdom not to extend the Empire beyond the Ocean Caligula had once a mind to the Adventure but he durst not follow it But Claudius his Successor undertook the Enterprise sollicited thereunto by Bericus a noble Briton who for sedition and some practices against the publick was expelled the Countrey Hereupon Aulus Plautius is sent over with some Roman Forces by whom and Pâ— Ostorius Scapula his Successor Togodumnus and Caractacus two Kings of the Britains were severally overcome in battel a Roman Colonie planted at Camalodunum and the Southern parts thereof reduced to the form of a Province After this time by little and little the whole was conquered as far as to the Frythes of Dunbarten and Edenburgh Agricola in the time of Domitian having the happiness and good fortune to goe beyond the furthest of his Predecessors and so much moderation not to venture further where there was nothing to be got but blowes cold and hunger At the first entrance of the Romans the Iland was divided into severall Nations each governed by its own Kings and particular Princes different in their ends and counsels and so more easily subdued by united Forces The principall of which for it is needless to make mention of inferiour Claâ—s were 1 the Danmonij containing Devonshire and Cornwall whose chief Cities were Isca now Exeter and Volcha neer the Town of Falmouth in Cornwall 2 the Durotriges inhabiting only in the County of Dorset whose chief Citie was Danium or Durnovaria which we now call Vorchester 3 the Belgae planted in the Counties of Somerset Southampton and Wilts whose chief Cities were Aquae calidae now Bath Ventu Belgarum now Winchester and Sorbioâ—unum the seat of old Salisbury 4 the Attrebatij confined within Barkshire only the chief Citie of whom was Guallena where now is Wallingfâ—rd 5 the Regni possessed of Sussex and Surrey whose chief Cities were Vindeliâ— now Winchelsey and Neomagus situate some ten miles from London 6 the Cantianâ— or the Kentish having Durovernum now Canterbury Dubris now Dover and Rhutupiae now called Richborough for their principall Cities
while But not being able to withstand the puissance of the West-Saxons this Kingdom was subdued by Ina the Successor of Ceadwall by whom united to that Crown III. The Kingdom of WEST-SEX or of the WEST-SAXONS the third in order and that which did in fine prevail over all the rest conteined the Counties of Cornwall Devon Somerset Dorset Wilts Southampton and Berks begun by Cerdic a noble Commander of the Saxons ariving with new Forces out of Germany Anno 495. who having overcome the Britans of this Western tract conducted by Natanland their Chieftain entituled himself King of the West-Saxons Anno 522. The Christian Faith suppressed here as elswhere was restored again in the time of Kingâ—ls their first Christian King by the preaching of S. Birinus Bishop of Dorchester neer Oxford then a great City of no fewer than ten Parishes now reduced to one Chief Cities of this Kingdom were 1 Exeter a fair and goodly Citie and a Bishops See removed hither from Cridington or Kirton by Leâ—fricus Anno 1049. Seated upon the bank of the River Ex whence the name of Ex-ceaster environed with deep ditches and very strong wals in compass about a mile and half besides the Suburbs in which are contained in all 15 Parish Churches besides the Minster a beautifull and stately Fabrick 2 Bath so called from the Bathes there being the chief Citie of Somerset by the Latives called Aquae Solis by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the self same reason Situate in a low Vallie environed about with Hils very steep and high from whence come many Rivulets and fresh Springs to the great commodity of the people A fine neat Town and beautified with as neat a Church heretofore a Monasterie partner with Wels the Bishops See in the stile Episcopall and gives the Title of an Earl to the noble Family of the Bouâ—châ—â—rs 3 Falemoâ—th in Cornwall seated upon a large and capacious Bay so â—ull of Creeks and Roads capable of the best Ships that it is said an hundred sayl of Ships may be lodged therein with such convenience that from the top of the one the Mast of another is not to be seen the mouth or entrance of it defended for the greater safety with two very strong Castles built by Henry the 8th that of S. Mandits on the Fast and that of Pendinas commonly called Pendennis upon the West 4 Dorchester the chief Town of Dorsetshire which is thence denominated by Antoninus called Durnovaria the principall at that time of the Durotriges an Inland Town and consequently of no great trading not so much famous for ought else as giving the Title of a Marquess to Henry Earl of Kingston of the noble Family of the Pierrepoints 5 Wilton the head Town in those times of Wiltshire and a Bishops See honoured with the residence of nine severall Bishops But by translating of the See to Sarum or Sarisbury as the fitter place and carrying thither therewithall the thorow-fare which before was here it fell by little and little into decay and is now hardly worth the reputation of a Market-Town 6 Winchester called Venta in the times of the Romans by the Saxons Vent-ceaster situate on the banks of a pleasant River the seat Royal of the West Saxon Kings who had here their Palace called Wolves-eye so named from the Kings of the Wolphian Family and the situation of it in the circlings of the fore-said River which the old Saxons called an Eye not from the Woel-Staple here kept as some much less from Cardinal Wolsey as others most absurdly think The house given after to the Bishops and made their Palace The Town in compass two miles besides the Suburbs commodiously seated in a low place between very steep Hils by which it is defended both from cold and wind afflicted very much since those times both by war and fire half of the ground within the Town being fields and gardens but still adorned with a magnificent Cathedrall and a gallant but no great Castle bravely mounted upon an hill for defence and prospect besides a College and an Hospital added since those dayes 7 Southampton conveniently seated on an Arm of the Sea capable of Ships of burden to the very Key which maketh it one of the richest Towns in those parts of England Well built of fair large streets beautified with 5 Parish Churches and fortified with high walls a double ditch and a right strong Castle but the Castle now decayed and ruined 8 Reading on the Banks of the River Kennet where it falleth into the Thames by which means it hath the convenience of both Rivers A Town of great trade for clothing well-built and of three Parish Churches heretofore beautified with a strong Castle and a goodly Monasterie but both now decayed 9 Wondsor called Windleshores in the old Saxon situate neer the Banks of the Thames on a rising ground which gives it a fair prospect over all the Countrey adorned in succeeding times with a Palace Royall of the Kings of England and the seat of the Order of the Garter 10 Wallingford the Guallena of the Antients and then the chief Town of the Attrebatii as it was afterwards in the time of the Saxons of the Countie of Berks a mile in compass at that time within the walls fortified with an impregnable Castle and adorned with twelve Parish Churches So desolated by a Plague Anno 1348. that there is now but one Church left hardly Inhabitants enough to keep that in repair and nothing of the wals left as not much of the Castle but the tract and ruins The Kings of the West Saxons A. Ch. 522. 1 Cerdic the first King 17. 539. 2 Kenric 29. 565. 3 Celingus or Châ—uline 10. 595. 4 Celric 5. 600. 5 Ceolwolf 14 614. 6 Kingil the first Christian King 646. 7 Kenewalchin 31. 677. 8 Sigebert 1. 678. 9 Esâ—win 2. 680. 10 Cent win 7. 687. 11 Ceadwall 690. 12 Ina who first gave the Peterpence to the Church of Rome 725. 13 Ethelard 14. 739. 14 Cuthbert 16. 755. 15 Sigebert II. 1. 756. 16 Kinulph 31. 787. 17 Bithric 13. 800 18 Egbert the most puissant King of the West Saxons who united all the Heptarchie into one Estate of whom see more amongst the Monarchs of the Saxons and the Kings of England IV. The Kingdom of EAST-SEX or the EAST-SAXONS was begun about the yeer 527 by Eâ—â—nâ—nwin descended from Weden the common Progenitor of the Saxons from whom we have the name of Wednesday or Wâ—dnesday as they called it formerly It contained only the Counties of Midlesex Essex and so much of Hartfordshire as is in the Dâ—ocese of London The Christian Faith expulled here as in other places was restored again in the time of Sebert the Founder of the Abby Church of S. Peter in Westminster by the preaching of Mellitus the first Bishop of London after the entrance of the Saxons suppressed again by Seward and Sigebert the Sonnes of Sebert but setled stronger than before by Cedda
the next Bishop there Principall Cities of this Kingdom besides London spoken of already were 1 Westminster situate in those times a mile from London now adjoyning to it The See of the Archbishop of London in the time of the Britains afterwards by the Saxons called Thorn-eye or the Thorny Iland till the new Minster built by Sebert as before is said and the western situation of it in regard of S. Pauls built at the same time by Ethelbert the King of Kent gained it this new name A Citie honoured with the seat of the Kings of East-Sex and since those times with that of the Kings of England the names of the old Palace of the one and the new Palace of the other still remaining there beautified upon that occasion with more stately and magnificent houses belonging to the King Bishops and Nobility than all the other in the Kingdom having of late a new Town added to it in the Convent Garden a place belonging formerly to the Monks of Westminster for uniformity of building and handsome streets inferiour to no Citie of France or Italy 2 Colchester the chief Town of Est-sex situate neer the Sea on the River Coln a Colonie of the Londoners in former times thence called Colonia Londinensium and Colonia only then a Bishops See from which or from the River with the Addition of Ceaster after the manner of the Saxons came the name of Colchester A fair and well built Town and of good resort fortified with an old Roman wall and having in it to the number of 14 Churches 3 Ithancester in Dengey Hundred where S. Ceaddae the second Bishop of London baptized the relapsed East-Saxons 4 Hartford the chief Town of the Countie so called by Beda named Herudford and of great note in his time for a Synod there held in the dawning of the day of Christianity among the Saxons in which S. Augustine the Monk the first Apostle of that People had a conference or consultation with the British Bishops more memorable in the following times for giving the title of an Earl to the illustrious Family surnamed De Clare the addition of an Honour and a goodly Patrimonie to Ioâ—u of Gaunt D. of Lancaster and at this time the title of Earl and Marquess to the noble Family of the Seymours The Kings of the East-Saxons A. Ch. 527. 1 Erchenwin the first King 587. 2 Sledda 596. 3 S. Sebert the first Christian King 4 Sâ—ward and Sigebert 623. 5 Sigebert II. or the Litle 6 Sigebert III. 661. 7 Swiâ—helme 664. 8 Sighere 664. 9 S. Sebba 694. 10 Sigbeard 11 Seofride 701 12 Offa. 709. 13 Selred 774. 14 Suthred the last King of the East-Saxons subdued by Egbert the great and potent King of West-Sex Anno 828. and his Kingdom made a Member of that rising Monarchy V. The Kingdom of the EAST-ANGLES so called from the Angli or English which possessed these parts and the Eastern situation of it begun by Vffa a great Commander of the Saxons Anno 575. contained the Counties of Norfolk Suffolk Cambridge-shire and the Isle of Fly The Christian Faith first planted here in the Reign of Redwall the third King by the Ministerie of Felix a Burgundian the first Bishop of the East-Angles the See whereof was afterwards removed to Norwich Places of most importance in it were 1 Dunwich on the Sea-shore the first Bishops See of the East-Angles for the Countie of Suffolk then a Town capable of that Dignity now ruinous decayed and for the greatest part worn into the Sea 2 Ipswich in the same Countie of Suffolk and the chief of the Countrie a rich populous and well traded Emporie consisting of no fewer than 5 Parish Churches 3 Norwich the head Citie of Norfolke situate on the River Yare which runs thence to Yaremouth lying out in length a mile and an half half as much in breadth and in that Circuit comprehending about 30 Parishes well walled about with many a Turret and 12 Gates for entrance but hath within it much wast ground the Citie suffering great loss both in wealth and buildings by Kets Rebellion in the time of K. Edward the sixth recovered of the first blow by the Dutch Manufactures of the last still languishing yet still it glorieth in the beauties of a fair Cathedrall the three Palaces of the Bishops the Dukes of Norfolke and the Earls of Surrey and the ruins of an antient Castle of the Saxons building 4 North Elmham the Bishops See of the East-Angles for those parts which we now call Norfolk both this and that of Dunwich ruinated in the Danish Wars but this reviving at the end of 100 yeers and here continuing both Sees united unto one till removed to 5 Thetford another Town of this Countie situate on the confluence of the Thet and the lesser Ouse a larger Town than either of the other two from whence at last removed to Norwich 6 Cambridge the chief Town of that Countie by Antonine called Camboritum whence the modern name unless we rather fetch it from a Bridge over the River Cam or Grant for some call it Grantbridge as perhaps we may A Town well built by reason of the Vniversity said to be founded by Sigebert King of the East-Angles of whom it is affirmed by Beda that he Founded a School for the education of Children in the wayes of good Learning but he speaketh neither of Vniversitie nor nameth Cambridge for the place 7 Ely situate in the Isle so named occasioned by the divided streams of Nor and Ouse with the over-flotes of other Rivers turning a great part of this tract into Fens and Marishes the Inhabitants vvhereof were called Girvii A place of no great beauty or reputation as situate in a foggy and unhealthfull ayr but only for a Fair Monastery built by S. Ethelreda Wife of Egfride King of the Northumbers by her made a Nunnery aftervvards rebuilt and replenished with Monks by Ethelwold B. of Winchester Anno 970. or thereabouts finally made a Bishops See in the time of King Henry the first Anno 1109. The Kings of the East-Angles A. Ch. 575. 1 Vffa the first King 582. 2 Titullus 593. 3 Redwall the first Christian King 624. 4 Erpenwald 636. 5 S. Sigebert 638. 6 Egric 642. 7 Anna. 654. 8 Ethelbert 656. 9 Edelwald 664. 10 Alauffe 683. 11 Elswolph 714. 12 Beorn 714. 13 S. Ethelred 749. 14 Ethelbert II. treacherously murdered by Offa the great King of the Mercians to whose Court he came an invited Guest Anno 793. after whose death this Kingdom became subject to the 〈◊〉 and then to Egbert the West-Saxon governed by Tributarie Kings of their own Nation of whom we have no constat till the time of 870. 15 S. Edmund descended from Anna the 7th King hereof Martyred by the Danes for his stout and constant perseverance in the Faith of CHRIST from whence the fair Town of S. Edmunds burie in the County of Suffolk took denomination After whose death the Kingdom was possessed by the Danes
March Anno 1602. according to the computation of the Church of England which beginneth the new yeer with the Feast of the Annunciation To whom succeeded IAMES the sixt â—ing of the Scots with the joy of all men as the next undoubted heir of the Crown Of whom we shall say more when we come to speak of the Monarchs of Britain of which he was the first since the fall of the Roman Empire and such more properly than the greatest of all those Emperors had been before None of them having all the North parts of Britain it self or any part of Ireland at all nor many of the Isles adjoyning under their Dominion In the mean time to look on England as a State distinct we will consider it and the Kings thereof with reference to Reputation abroad and power at home with the Revenues Armes and Military Orders of it as in other places And first for Reputation when all Christendom in the Councill of Constance was divided into Nations Anglicana Natio was one of the Principall and not Subaltern and had its vote of equall balance with the Nations of France or Italy in all affairs concerning the doctrine discipline and peace of the Church which were there debated And for the place due to the Kings hereof in those Generall Councils and the rank they held among other Christian Princes I find that the Emperor of Germany was accounted Major filius Ecclesiae the King of France Minor filius and the King of England Filius tertius adoptivus The King of France in Generall Councils had place next the Emperor on his right hand the King of England on his left hand and the King of Scotland next before Castile Now indeed the King of Spain being so much improved is the dearly beloved Sonne of the Church and arrogateth to himself the place above all other Princes but in the time of Pope Iulius the controversie arising between the Ambassadors of the two Princes for precedencie the Pope adjudged it to belong of right unto England And Pope Pius the fourth upon the like controversie arising between the Ambassadors of France and Spain adjudged the precedencie to the French Touching the Souldierie of England and their most notable atchievements both by Sea and Land sufficient hath been said already What Forces the Kings hereof have been able to raise and may command for present service will best be seen by the action of King Henry the 8th at 〈◊〉 the Armies of Queen Elizabeth in 88. and the numbers of the trained Bands of the severall Counties First for the Action of King Henry the 8th he had in his Avantguard 12000. â—oot and 500 Light Horse in bew lackets with red Guards in the Rere-ward a like number both of Hore and Foot and in the main Battail 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse all in Red lackets and yellow Guards the whole number 44000 Foot and â—000 Horse They drew after them 100 great Peeces besides small ones and for conveyance of their Ordinance Baggage and other necessaries no fewer than 25000 Draught-horses besides other cariages In the next place for 88. the Queen dispersed in severall places on the Southern Coasts of the Kingdom to hinder the landing of the Enemy 25000 Souldiers of both sorts at Tilbury for the defence of the Citie of 〈◊〉 under the command of the Earl of Leicester 22000 Foot and 1000 Horse and for the Guard of her own person under the Lord Hunsdon 34000 Foot 2000 Horse in all the number of 84000 men besides those goodly Troops which the Nobility and Gentry did present her with at their own proper charges And as for the trained Bands the number of both sorts disciplined and mustered to be ready upon all occasions in the 8th yeer of King James for I have since seen no Muster-Roll of them amounted to 196150 able men 144300 Armed men 935 Demilances 〈◊〉 Light-Horse and 16545 Pioneers besides what was required of Peers and Prelates supposed to amount to 20000 Armed men and 4000 Light Horse And for their strength at Sea besides the Navy Royall consisting of about 30 gallant Ships besides the lesser Vessels the best and bravest that any Prince in Christendom can boast of as his own propriety there are such store of Collieâ—s and Merchants ships fit for any service that in the yeer 88 aforesaid the Queen had 100 Sayl of good Ships to oppose the Spaniard and 20 more to wait upon the motions of the Duke of Parma And in the yeer 1597 she set out for the Iland Voyage no sewer than 1â—0 Sayâ—â—â— all sorts of which 60 were men of war As for the Revenues of this Kingdom Boâ—erus reckoned them in the time of King Henry the 7th to be no more than 400000 Crowns per Annum but grants that afterward they were improved to a million more by King Henry the 8th the dissolution of Monasteries and the benefit redounding from the Court of Wards making that improvement And to say truth the Vniversall dissolution of Religious Houses of all sorts did for the time so mightily increase his annuall Income that he was fain to erect two new Courts the Court of Augmentation and the Court of Suâ—veyours for the better managing of the same But these Additions being wasted by his own exorbitant expences and the severall Alienations made by King Edward the sixth those Courts of new Erection were dissolved again and the Revenue fell so short of its former height that in the 12 yeer of Queen Elizabeth the profits of the Crown besides the Court of Wards and the Dutchâ—e of Lancaster came to no more than to 188â—97 l. 4s Of which 110612. l. 13. s. went out that yeer upon the Navie charge of Houshold and other necessary Assignments Since which time the great increase of trading both at home and abroad and the great glut of money in all parts of the World hath added very much to the Intrado The certaintie whereof as I doe not know so neither will I aim at it by uncertain Hear-say The Arms of the Realm of England are Mars 3 Lions passant Gardant Sol. The reason why these Arms quartered with the French took the second place are 1 because that France at the time of the first quartering of them was the larger and more famous kingdom 2 That the French seeing the honour done to their Arms might more easily be induced to have acknowledged the Enhlish Title 3 Because the English Arms were compounded of the Lion of Aquitaine and the two Lions of Normandy being both French Dutchies The principall Orders of Knight-hood are and were 1 of the Round Table instituted by Arthur King of the Britans and one of the Worlds nine Worthies It consisted of 150 Knights whose names are recorded in the History of King Arthur there where Sir Vre a wounded Knight came to be cured of his hurts it being his Fate that only the best Knight of the Order should be his Chirirgion The Arms of most of these with
England made him stay it out So that his Maxim of no Bishops no King was not made at Random but founded on the sad experience of his own condition And though upon the sense of those inconveniences which that alteration brought upon him he did afterwards with great both Policie and Prudence restore again the Episcopall Order and setled it both by Synodicall Acts and by Acts of Parliament yet the same restless spirit breaking out again in the Reign of his Sons Anno 1638. did violently eject the Bishops and suppress the calling and set up their Presbyteries thorowout the Kingdom as in former times The famous or miraculous things rather of this Countrey are 1 the Lake of Mirton part oâ— whose waters doe congeal in Winter and part of them not 2 That in the Lake of Lennox being 24 miles in compass the Fish are generally without Fins and yet there is great abundance of them 3 That when there is no wind stirring the waters of the said Lake are so tempestuous that no Mariner dares venture on it 4 That there is a stone called the Deaf-stone a foot high and 33 Cubits thick of this rare quality that a Musket shot off on the one side cannot be heard by a man standing on the other If it be otherwise as he must have a strong Faith who beleeves these wonders let Hector Boetius bear the blame out of whom I had it Chief Mountains of this Kingdom are the Cheviot Hills upon the Borders and Mount Grampius spoken of by Taciâ—us the safest shelter of the Picts or Northern Britans against the Romans and of the Scots against the English now called the hills of Albanie or the mountainous Regions of Braid-Albin Out of these springeth the 1 Tay or Taus the fairest River of Scotland falling into the Sea about Dâ—ndec in the East side and 2 the Cluyd emptying it self into Dunbritton Frith on the West side of the Kingdom Other Rivers of most note are the 3 Banoc emptying it self into the Frith of Edenburgh on the banks whereof was sought that fatall battell of Banocks-bourn of which more anon 4 Spey 5 Dee the Ocasa of Ptolomie none of them of any long course by reason that the Countrey Northward is but very narrow In reference to Ecclesiasticall affairs this Kingdom hath been long divided into 13 Dioceses to which the Diocese of Edenburgh taken out of that of S. Andrews hath been lately added and in relation to the Civil into divers Seneschalsies and Sheriffdoms which being for the most part hereditary are no small hinderance to the due execution of Justice So that the readiest way to redress the mischief as King Iames advised is to dispose of them as they fall or Escheat to the Crown according to the laudable custom in that case in England The greatest Friends of the Scots were the French to whom the Scots shewed themselves so faithfull that the French King committed the defence of his Person to a selected number of Scotish Gentlemen and so valiant that they have much hindered the English Victories in France And certainly the French feeling the smart of the English puissance alone have continually heartned the Scots in their attempts against England and hindred all means of making union betwixt them as appeared when they broke the match agreed on between our Edward the sixth and Mary the young Queen of Scots Their greatest enemy was the English who overcame them in many battels seized once upon the Kingdom and had longer kept it if the mountainous and unaccessible woods had not been more advantagious to the 〈◊〉 than their power for so much King Iames seemeth to intimate in his Speech at 〈◊〉 1607. And though saith he the Scots 〈…〉 nour and good fortune never to be conquered yet were they never but on the defensible side and may in paâ—t thank their hills and inaccessible passages that saved them from an utter overthrow at the hands of all them that ever pretended to conquer thâ—m But Jam cunctigens una sumus siâ—â—â—mus in aevum One onely Nation now are we And let us so for ever be The chief Cities are Edenburgh of old called Castrum Alatum in Lothien where is the Kings Palace and the Court of Justice It consisteth chiefly of one street extending in length one mile into which runne many pretty lanes so that the whole compass may be nigh three miles extending from East to West on a rising ground at the Summit or West end whereof standeth a strong and magnificent Castle mounted upon a steep and precipitious Rock which commandeth the Town supposed to be the Castrum Alâ—tum spoken of by Ptolomiâ— Under the command or rather the protection of which Castle and thorough the neighbourhood of Lâ—ith standing on the Fryth and serving as a Port unto it and finally by the advantage of the Courts of Justice and the Court Royall called Holy-Rood-House it soon became rich populous well-traded and the chief of the Kingdom but withall factious and seditious contesting with their Kings or siding against them upon all occasions No way to humble them and keep them in obedience to their Soveraign Lords but by incorporating Leith indulging it the privileges of a City and removing thither the Seat Royall and the Courts of Judicature which they more fear than all the Plagnes that can befall them It belonged in former times to the English-Sâ—xons as all the rest of the Countrey from the Fryth to Barwick from whom oppressed by the tyranny of the Danes it was taken by the Scots and Picts Anno 800. or thereabouts 2 Sterling situate on the South-side of the Forth or Fryth in the Sheriffdom so called a strong Town and beautified withall with a very fair Castle the birth-place of King Iames the sixt the first Monarch of Great Britain Neer to which Town on the banks of the River Bâ—nnock hapned the most memorable discomfiture that the Scots ever gave the English who besides many Lords and 700 Knights and men of note lost in this Fight as the Scotish Writers do report 50000 of the common Soldiers our English Histories confess 10000 and too many of that the King himself Edward the 2d being compelled to slie for his life and safety Some of the Scotish Writers tell us that the purer sort of Silver wâ—ich we call Sterling money did take name from hence they might as well have told us that all our Silver Bullion comes from Bouillon in Luxembourgh or from the Port of Boulâ—gne in France the truth being that it took that name from the Easterlings or Merchants of East Germany drawn into England by King Iohn to refine our Coin 3 Glasco in Cluydsdâ—le honoured with an Archbishops See and a publick School to which some give the name of an University founded here by Archbishop Turnbal Anno 1554. 4 S. Andrews the chief Town of Fife an Archiepiscopall See â—nd an Vniversity by the Latines called Fanum Reguli which and the English name it took from the bones
the Councell of Colen in the reign of Constantius the son of Constantine the Great anno 347. But the light hereof being extinguished for a time by those barbarous nations who fell upon these out-parts of the Roman Empire began to shine again on the conversion of the French in all parts of this countrey the Conquests and example of this puissant Nation giving great incouragement thereunto In which as those of other Countries doe not want their honour so the greatest part thereof belongs to the English Saxons Willibrod the first Bishop of Vtrecht Willibald of Aichstat Swibert of Virden Willibald of Breme and specially Boniface the Archbishop of Mentz being most gloriously fortunate in that sacred service The Moravians Boâ—emians and others farther off came not in till afterwards Not fully converted to the faith they began to suck in the corruptions of the Church of Rome discerned and opposed by John Husse and Hierome of Prague Bohemian Divines who by reason of the marriage of King Richard the second of England with the daughter of Wenceslaus Emperour and King of Bohemia had opportunity to be acquainted with the preachings of Wiclef the points of whose Doctrine they approved and propagated But these two being burnt at Constance by the decree of that Councell their followers in Bohemia would not so give over but after many sufferings and much bloudshed obtained at last a toleration of the Emperour Sigismund their King more able to make good his word in his own dominions then he had been to save the two Martyrs from the fire at Constance to whom he had granted his safe conduct for their comming and going In this condition they remained under the name of those of the Sub utraque or Calistini because of their Administring the Sacrament in both kindes till the rising of Luther who justly offended at the impious and unwarrantable Assertions of Frier Tekel and others of the Popes Pardon-mungers first opposed their doings and after questioned that authority by which they acted falling from one point to another till he had shaken the foundations of the Roman Fabrick Of the successe of his undertaking we shall speak more punctually in the Dukedome of Saxony the place of his birth the Scene of this great Action and the proper Sphere of his Activity Suffice it now to say that his doctrine was so well approved of that the Dukes of Saxonie Brunswick Lunenbourg Wirtenberg Mecklenberg and Pomerania the Marquesse of Branderbourg the Lantgraves of Hassia and most of the Free and Imperial Cities did adhere unto it who from their Protestation made at Spires the Imperiall Chamber to that effect anno 1529. had the name of Protestants The next year following they delivered in the Confession of their faith at Auspurg a City of Suevia thence called Confessio Augustana authorized or tolerated at the least after a long war with variable successe on both sides by the Emperour Charles the fift at the Pacification made at Passaw anno 1552. and afterwards more fully at Ausbourg where their Confession had first been tendred anno 1555. In the mean time arose up Zuinglius amongst the Switzers of whose both Doctrine and successe we have spoken there These not communicating Councels went two severall waies especially in the points of Consulstantiation and the Reall presence not reconciled in their times nor like to be agreed upon amongst their followers For Calvin rising into the esteem and place of Zuinglius added some Tenets of his own to the former doctrines touching Predestination Free-will Vniversall Grace Finall perservance points fitter for the Schooles then a popular Auditory by which the differences were widened and the breach made irreparable the cause being followed on both sides with great impatience as if they did not strive so much for truth as victory And of the two those of the Lutheran party seemed more violent though the other was altogether as irreconcilable who could not choose but stomach it to see themselves undermined and blown by a new form of doctrine not tolerated in the Empire but under colour of conformity to the Confession of Ausburg For Zuinglianisme being entertained amongst the French a busie and active people spread it self further in few years then it was propagated by the Switzers men of the same temper with the Dutch in all times before Insomuch as it did not only prevail in France but by the reputation of Calvin and the diligence of his followers was wholly entertained in the Kingdome of Scotland the Netherlands and even in Germanie it self in which it got footing in all the territories of the Counts Palatines of the Rhene in some of the Lantgraves of Hassia in the Imperiall City of Strasburg many of the Hanse-towns and amongst other Princes and Free Cities of inferiour note The rest of Germanie containing the Patrimoniall Estates of the house of Austria the Dukedomes of Bavaria and Lorrain the territories of the three Spirituall Electours and of all the other Bishopricks in the hands of the Clergie some of the Marquesses of Baden part of the subjects of Cleve and but three of the Imperiall Cities and those small ones too that is to say Gmund Vberlinque and Dinekell-Spuell unlesse some more be added by the late great successes of the house of Austria remain in their obedience to the See of Rome yet so that there be many Protestants in Bohemia Austria and in other the Estates of the Popish Princes as there be Papists in the Free Cities of Frankford Nurenberg Vlm Aken and some other places besides the late increase of them in both Palatinates As for the Government of their Churches those that continue in obedience of the See of Rome are under the old form of Archbishops and Bishops co-aevall in all Germanie as in most places else with the faith it self The Calvinists by which name the Zuinglianâ—st now also passeth if not eaten out submit themselves for doctrine discipline and formes of worship to Calvins Modell whereof we have spoke more at large when we were in Geneva And for the Lutherans they have divided the Episcopall function from the Revenues giving those last to some of their younger Princes with the title of Administrators of such a Bishoprick the function or jurisdiction to some of the more eminent Clergie with the title of a Superintendent assigning to them a priority both of place and power before other Ministers which they enjoy for term of life together with some liberall maintenance in proportion to it In other things as habit and title of dignitie they differ not at all from the other Ministers and over them in place of Archbishops they have their generall Superintendents all of them of each sort accomptable to the supreme Ecclesiastical Consistory as formerly to the Provinciall or Nationall Synod made up of Counsellors of State and the heads of the Clergie so that the form is much the same as in elder times the greatest Alteration being in the names and that no other in
the fortunes of Bavaria till the year 1339. when Ludovick the Emperour and Duke of Bavaria on the partition of the estate betwixt him and Rodolphus his elder brother relinquished it for ever to the house of the Palatines Returned for the present to the Dukes of Bavaria on whom conferred together with the Electorall dignity by the Emperour Ferdinand the 2. in recompense of the great service don him by Maximilian the now Duke thereof in the war of Bohemia and the great charge he had been at in the reduction of that Kingdome to the house of Austria How long it will continue thus is known only to God the disposer of all things Yet neither the Bavarians formerly nor the Palatines since have been so fully Masters of it but that the Landgrave of Luchetenberg and the Citie of Nurenberg have put in for a share The Arms of which great and puissant Citie are Azure an Harpie displayed crowned crined and armed Or. 13. The KINGDOM of BOHEMIA The Kingdom of BOHEMIA containing Bohemia it self with the incorporate Provinces is bounded on the East with Poland and Hungarie on the West with the Vpper Palatinate Voiteland and Misnia on the North with the Marquisate of Brandenberg and some part of Misnia and on the South with Austria and Bavaria It comprehends in it besides Bohemia it self the Marquisate of Moravia with the Dukedoms of Silesia and Lusatia 1 BOHEMIA encompassed about with woodie Mountains part of the Hercynian is bounded on the East with Moravia on the West with the Vpper Palatinate and Voiteland on the North with Misnia Lusatia and some part of Silesia on the South with parts of Bavaria and Austria It took this name from the Bemi or Boiemi the old Inhabitants hereof of whom more anon and containing in compasse about 550 English miles The soil is indifferently fruitfull and enriched with mines of all sorts except of gold Tinne they have here in good plenty the mines whereof were first found out by a Cornish man banished out of England anno 1240. which discovery of Tinne in these parts was as saith my Author in magnam jacturam Richardi Comitis Cornubiae he meaneth that Richard which was afterwards King of the Romans and no marvail for in those times there was no Tinne in all Europe but in England Wood they have here good store and in some of their Forrests a Beast called Lomie which hath hanging under its neck a bladder full of scalding water with which when she is hunted she so tortureth the Dogs that she easily escapeth them Of corn they have sufficient for their own use and sometimes also an increase above their spending wherewith they do supply their neighbours of the Vpper Palatinate but they want wine the Air here being too sharp and piercing to produce a good Vintage And it yeelds also store of Saffron no where to be bettered with plenty of medicinable drugs The principall Rivers hereof are 1 the Elb or Albis having here its spring of whose course we have spoken elsewhere 2 Egra 3 the Muldaw or Muldavius and 4 the Warts all three exonerating themselves into the Elb which runneth through the midst of the Country The Kingdome is not as others divided into Counties and Provinces but into the Territories and possessions of severall Lords who have great authority and command over their Vassalls The figure of the whole in a manner Circular the Diameter whereof reacheth every way some 200 miles containing in that compasse 700 Cities walled Townes and Castles and as some say 30000 Villages Inhabited by a people given to drink and gluttony and yet valiant and with sense of honour this last belonging to the Nobility and Gentry the former to the common people but more moderately then most others of the German Nations All of them Princes or Plebeians rich poor noble and base use the Sclavonian language as their mother tongue The chief Bohemian Captain that ever I read of was Zisca who in eleven battels fought in the defence of the Hussites against the Pope and his confederates prevailed and went away victorious insomuch that at his death he willed the Bohemians to flea him and make a drumme of his skin perswading himself if they so did they could never be overcome A fancie like to that of Scipio African and Vortimer King of Britain spoken of before Scholars of most note John of Hus and Hierome of Prague two eminent Divines of whom more anon The Christian faith was first here preached by one Borsinous anno 900 or thereabouts Borzivoius the 8 Duke from Crocus was the first Christian Prince and next to him Wenceslaus the second This last most cruelly murdered by Boleslaus his brother at the instigation of Drahomira an obstinate Heathen mother to them both who having caused the Ministers of the Lord to be butchered and their bodies to lie unburied for two years together was swallowed coach and all in that very place where their bodies lay Confirmed by this prodigy they continued constant in the Faith to this very day though not without the intermixture of some notable vanity For one Picardus coming out of the Low-countries drew a great sort of men and women unto him pretending to bring them to the same state of perfection that Adam was in before his fall from whence they were called Picards and Adamites They had no respect unto marriage yet could they not accompany any woman untill the man coming to Adam said unto him Father Adam I am inflamed towards this woman and Adam made answer Increase and multiply They lived in an Island which they called Paradise and went stark naked but they continued not long for Zisca hearing of them entred their fooles Paradise and put them all to the sword anno 1416. But to make amends for this folly they were exceeding zealous of the Reformation For much about the same time the works of Wickliffe were brought into Bohemia by a certain scholar who had been Student in the University of Oxford which hapning into the hands of John Husse and Hierome of Prague two men whereof the Country may worthily boast wrought in their hearts a desire to reforme the Church A businesse which they prosecuted so earnestly that being summoned to the Councell of Constance they were there condemned for Hereticks and burned anno 1414. yet had their doctrine such deep root in the hearts of the people that it could never be destroyed by the Tyrannies of war or persecutions though both were used to this very day multitudes of the Professours of it living in this Kingdome under the names of Calistini and Sub utraque as before is said though perfected by the writings of Luther Melanchthon Calvin and such other of the Protestant Doctors as travelled in the work of Reformation The first Inhabitants hereof of whom there is any good record were the Benni whom Pomponius Mela placeth in this tract with the addition of Gens Magna By Tacitus they are called Boiemi who makes them the
1100 afterwards beautified and inlarged by Adolph the second Earl of Holst by some esteemed the Founder of it But his issue male failing in the yeer 1326 it fell by compact made between them to the Dukes of Pomeren to whom these Islands ever since have continued subject And as for Pomeren it self the old Inhabitants thereof were part of the Rugii before mentioned the Reudigni Longi-nani and Longi-Diduni with parts of the Heruli and Burgundians into whose void roomes the Pomortzi and other Tribes of the Winithi the most potent Nation of the Sclaves did in fine succeed extending their Dominion to the bankes of the Vistula which to difference it from Pomeren was called Pomerella But that part of it being given by Mestovinus the last Prince thereof dying without issue anno 1295. to Primislaus Duke of Poland the name and power of the Princes or Dukes of Pomerania became confined within the bounds before laid downe The first Prince of it whom we meet with on good record was one Barnimus of the noble Gryphonian family anno 933. whose Grandson Suantiboruâ— commanded over all this tract But his Dominions being parted betwixt his sonnes Bugislaus who had Pomerella retained the language and old customs of the Sclavonians Wartislaus who possessed the residue conformed himself to the Laws and Language of the Saxons the Countrey by that means accounted for a part of Germany added unto the Empire and accompt thereof in the time of Frederick Barbarossa by whom Bugislaus and Casimir sonnes of Wartislaus were made Princes of the Empire and Dukes of Pomeren The Estate being afterwards divided betwixt Bugislaus and Otho sonnes of Barnimus the first and the house of Otho failing in the person of Otho the third that part hereof was given by the Emperour Frederick the third to Frederick the second Marquesse and Electour of Brandenburg the cause of much contention amongst these Marquesses and the other house of the Dukes of Pomeren but thus agreed upon at last that both Princes should continue the Armes and title the possession of it to be yeelded to the Duke of Pomeren on the failing of whose issue male it should descend upon the heirs of the house of Brandenburg The succession of these Princes followeth in this order The DVKES of POMERANIA 1 Wartislaus the first Christian Prince of the Pomeranians baptized by Otho Bishop of Bamberg anno 1124. 11â—8 2 Bugislaus sonne of Wartislaus created by Frederick Barbarossa the first Duke of Pomeren 1188 3 Bugislaus II. sonne of Bugislaus planted the void parts of Pomeren with Saxon Colonies 1282 4 Barnimus sonne of Bogeslaus the second after whose death Pomeren was divided into two Principalities DUKES of Wolgast 1277 5 Bugislaus II. sonne of Barnimus 1319 6 VVartislaus sonne to Bugislaus 1326 7 Barnimus II. 1365 8 VVartislaus II. 1394 9 Barnimus III. 1405 10 VVartislaus III. 1456 11 Ericus sonne of VVartislaus DUKES of Stetin 1277 1 Otho Duke of Pomeren Stetin 1345 2 Casimir sonne of Otho 1368 3 Casimir II. sonne of Casimir 1374 4 Suartiborus brother of Casimir 1413 5 Casimir III. sonne of Suantiborus 1433 6 Joachim sonne of Casimir 1451 7 Otho III. son of Joachim dyed without issue anno 1464. 12 Bugislaus III. commonly called the tenth the younger Princes of both houses making up the tale succeeded Otho the third in that part of Pomeren uniting so the whole into one estate 1523 13 George sonne of Bugislaus the tenth 1531 14 Philip sonne of George in whose time the Reformation made by Luther was admitted into Pomerania 1583 15 Bugislaus IV. but the 13. in the Dutch accompt sonne of Philip his younger brother Ernestus Ludovicus having that of Stetin for his share 16 Bugislaus V. and 14 sonne of Bugislaus the fourth born in the year 1580. succeeded in Pomeren of VVolgast as Philip Julius son of Ernestus Ludovicus did in that of Stetin After whose death Bogislaus became Lord of all Pomerania in a fair way to have lost all to the prevailing Imperialists had not the timely coming in of the King of Sweden stopped their violent Progresse But Bogislaus dying without issue in the time of the war and in him the male issue of the house of Bugislaus the tenth being quite extinguished George VVilliam Marquesse and Electour of Brandenbourg put in his claime for the Estate according to the compact and agreement spoken of before Betwixt whom and the Swedes who under colour of aiding the last Duke had possessed themselves of all the strong places in the Countrey it was accorded and concluded at the Treaty of Munster that all the Higher Pomerania with the Isles of Rugen and VVollin and the town of Stetin should from thencefourth belong to the Crown of Sweden the Lower Pomeren to be enjoyed by the house of Brandenbourg so long as the male issue lasteth on default whereof that also to be added unto that Crown the Armes and Titles to be used by both promiscuously And in regard the Marquesse of Brandenbourg was to part with the Vpper Pomeren for the contentation of the Swedes without which no firm peace could be made in Germany it was also there agreed upon that the temporall estates of the Bishopricks of Halberstade Minden and Camine together with that of Magdeburg after the decease of the present Bishop should be for ever added to the possessions of that house the Marquesses and Electors of it to bee thenceforth entituled Dukes of Magdeburg Princes of Halberstad and Minden But what will be the issue of these conclusions futures time must shew The Armes of Pomeran are A Gryphon 16. MECKLENBOVRG The Dukedome of MECKLENBVRG is bounded on the East with Pomerania on the West with Holstein a Province of the Kingdome of Danemark on the North with the Baltick Sea and on the South with Brandenbourg and Saxen-lawenburg So called from Mecklenburg or Megalopolis both names in severall languages of the Dutch and Greeks signifying a great City a great town of that name here being in the time of the Heruli and the Vandals the old Inhabitants of these parts whose chief City it was but on their leaving of this Countrey decayed to nothing The Countrey of the same nature as Pomerania and was rich in corn Places of most importance in it are 1 VVismar a noted Port on a Creek or Bay of the Baltick Sea raised out of the ruines of old Mecklenburg before mentioned about the year 1240. the Haven hereof capable of the greatest vessels to which it gives a safe and assured Station whence the name of VVismar the word signifying in the Sclavonian language idem ac certum mare as my Author hath it as much as a quiet or safe Sea Now one of the Hanse Towns and being it lies conveniently for the use of the Swedes alloted to that Crown by the treaty of Munster the Duke of Mecklenburg being in recompense thereof to have the temporaries of the Bishopricks of Swerin and Ratzenburg 2 Swerin seated upon the
Finnisch and Bodner Seas on the North and West the main Ocean on the South where it points towards Germany the Baltick or Oost-Zee as the Dutch call it joyned to the main Continent of Sarmatia by an Jsthmus or neck of land at the bottome of the Bodner See not far from Wardhuys In regard of so great Seas on all parts thereof it was generally by the Antients thought to be an Iland but incompertae magnitudinis of an unknown greatnesse as both Pytheas and Xen phon Lampsacenus doe affirme it in Pliny by one of which it is called Basilia by the other Baltia from whence the name of Baltick to the Sea adjoyning But later Navigations and experience have confuted that opinion by which it is found to be no Iland but a part of the Continent and a great one too containing the whole Kingdome of Norway the greatest part of the Kingdome of Sweden and some part of Denmark that part hereof which belongs to Denmark situate in the South-east of this great Peninsula and divided into the three Provinces of Hallandia Scania and Blescida and in them 23 Herets or Prefectures and fifteene Cities 1. HALLANDIA or HALLANDT hath on the East the wilde woods which part it from Gothland in the West the intervening Sea betwixt it and Juitland on the North Sweden properly and specially so called on the South Scania or Schonen A Country which for the healthfulnesse of the Air pliantnesse of the soil commodiousnesse of Havens plenty of fish pleasure of hunting for inexhaâ—stible mines of Brasse and Lead with some veines of Silver frequency of well-peopled Townes and Villages and civility of the Inhabitants not inferiour to any Places of most importance in it are 1 Laholm 2 Halmstad 3 Falkendorch all of them on the Sea at the mouth of navigable streams whose names I finde not 4 Warburg upon the Sea side also but fortified with a very strong Castle on the top of an hill Taken and garrisoned by the Swedes anno 1569 and not without great difficulty recovered by the Danes again anno 1569. II. SCANIA or SCHONEN hath on the East Blescida or Blecking on the West the Sound running along the shore hereof for the space of twenty German miles on the North Hallandt on the South the Baltick or Oost Zee The Country of the same nature with Hallandt as before described the Character of that pertaining to all the three this having over and above as peculiar to it that the Sea shores are stored with such sholes of Herrings that sometimes Ships are scarce able with winde and oar to break through them and row off the Harbour It is in length 72 miles 48 in breadth Chief towns in which are 1 Lunden an Archbishops See the Metropolitan of Denmark Norway advanced unto that honor by the means and mediation of Ericus the first who purposely made a journey to Rome to effect that businesse the Church of Denmark being before that time subject to the Archbishops of Breme This was about the yeer 1100. It is situate somewhat within the land but the Cathedrall easily discernible by Mariners as they sail along The City mean and were it not for the Cathedrall of no beauty at all But that indeed affirmed to be a work of much magnificence and Art especially for the Clock the Diall and some outward adjuncts For in the Diall couriously set out with divers colours are to be seen distinctly the year moneth week-day and hour of every day throughout the year with the Feasts both moveable and fixed together with the motion of the Sun and Moon and their passage through each degree of the Zodiack Then for the Clock it is so framed by Artificiall Engines that whensoever it is to strike two horse-men encounter one another giving as many blowes apiece as the Bell sounds hours and on the opening of a dore there appears a Theatre the Virgin Mary on a Throne with Christ in her armes and the three Kings or Magi with their severall trains marching in order doing humble reverence and presenting severally their gifts two Trumpeters sounding all the while to adorne the Pompe of that procession 2 Malmoge or Elbogen called by both names at the very Southern point hereof just opposite to Coppenhagen in Seland a well traded Port the birth-place of Gaspar â—artholinus otherwise called Malmogius Danus that great Mathematician supposed to the be Author of the Clock and Dial before described 3 Trelleberg on the north of Elbogen 4 Landiscron on the Sea-side of great strength and consequence 5 Helsemburg a mean town but fortified with an imprâ—gnable Castle just opposite to Helsinare and Croneberg in Selandt the other of the two keyes which openeth into the Sound 6 Radneby a frontire town bordering on Verendia a Province of Swethland 7 Christiania or Christendorp a strong piece built by Christiern the fourth anno 1604. compassed by the Sea and fortified by Fens and Marshes thought to be impregnable III. BLESCIA or BLECKING is bounded on the East and South with the Baltick Sea on the North with Verendia a Province of Swethland on the West with Scania or Sconen more mountainous and barren then either but yet partaking somewhat of the former character which we had of Hallandt Chief Townes hereof are 1 Vsted on the mouth of a River falling into the Baltick 2 Christenberg in Latine Christianopolis on the borders of Swethland raised out of the ground by Christiern the fourth to defend his kingdome on that side anno 1604. not long after by a warlike stratagem surprised by the Swedes in the late war betwixt those kingdomes in the year 1611. destroyed and dispeopled by that Nation who looked upon it as a dangerous and unpleasing object but since repaired and replenished 3 Abuys upon the River which divides the Kingdomes not far from Christenberg The antient Inhabitants hereof were the Gutae and Dauciones taking up the South parts of this great Peninsula Meridionalia tenent Gutae Dauciones as we finde in Ptolemie Geogr. l. 2. c. 11. which in all probability must be meant of these three Provinces Of these the Gutes passing over into the Cimbrick Chersoneâ—e possessed themselves of the North parts of it since from them called Juitland The rest uniting with the people of those many Islands which lye together in the Bay or Gulph Codanus now the Baltick Sea took the name of Danes and not from Dan I know not what King thereof above a thousand years before the birth of our Saviour First taken notice of by that name in Jornandes de Rebus Getiâ—is who lived about the time of Justinian the first about which time or not long after it is conceived that they made themselves masters of so much of the Cimbrick Chersonese as had been formerly possessed by the Juites and Angli whose forsaken or ill-peopled seats they possessed themselves of After this we hear little of them till the time of Charles the Great living in a confused estate sometimes
lâ—qui liceat when as a man might thinke as hee listed of the publick and speak what he thought But whether this be such a Rara temporum felicitas such a felicitie of these our times as Tacitus conceived the other to be of those future times will shew But to return againe to Poland notwithstanding this mixture of Religions yet that most publickly allowed and countenanced is the Religion authorised by the Church of Rome asserted here by the zeal of the Kings unto that cause and the great power of the Bishops who seeing how those of their Order have spâ—d in Germanie and other places under colour of Reformation of some things amisse have hitherto upheld the Ecclesiasticall Estate in the same forme they found it The Government of the Church as formerly by 3 Archbishops and 19 Bishops who challenge a jurisdiction over all the kingdome â—ut exercise it upon those onely who submit unto them those who embrace the Doctrines of Luther or Calvin following the formes of Government by them established as others doe some new ones of their owne devising And for those Provinces and people which lie towards Greece or were parts heretofore of the Russian Empire and still hold a Communion with those Churches they have Archbishops and Bishops of their owne Religion that is to say the Archbishops of Vilne and Lemburg the Bishops of Polozko Luzko Pinsko Volodomire Presmil and Kiovia Yet amongst all these different Churches and formes of Government there is this conformitie that whensoever the Gospell is read openly in the Congregation the Nobility and Gentrie use to draw their swords according to an antient custom which they had among them signifying their readinesse to defend it against all opposers Which reason doubtlesse gave beginning to the standing up at the Creed and Gospell in the primitive times retained still in the Church of England whereby we doe declare how prepared and resolute we are to defend the same though some of late holding it for a Relick of Popery with greater nicety then wisdome have refused to doe it Chief Rivers of this Kingdome are 1 Vistula or Wixel the antient Boundary betwixt Germany and Sarmatia Europaea which rising in the Carpathian Mountaines passeth by Cracovia the chief City of Poland and dividing Prussia from Pomerella falleth into the Baltick sea not far from Dantzick and is navigable for the space of 400 miles of old called Vandalis 2 Warta which runneth through the lesser Poland 3 Duina the lesse watering Livonia and 4 Borysthenes or Nieper passing through Podolia both spoken of before when we were in Russia 5 Niester by Ptolemie called Tyras which falleth into the Euxine Sea having first parted Podolia from Moldavia 6 Jugra by some called the lesser Tanais arising in Lituania and falling into the more noted Tanais which is now called Don. Of lesse note there are 1 Reuben or Reuhon 2 Chronuâ— now called Pregel 3 Bogh said by some to bee the 〈◊〉 of the Antients 4 Minnael 5 Niemen the Maeander of these Northern parts 9 Winde a Livonian river falling into the Baltick Mountains of note here are not many the Countreys for the most part being plain and Champain and those which be are rather boundaries betwixt this and some other Kingdome then proper unto this alone The chief of which are those called Sarmatici dividing Gâ—rmany from Sarmatia Europaea by Solinus named Sevo by Ptolemie the Carpathian Mountains the boundary at this time betwixt Poland and Hungary The common metes and Land-markes being thus laid down we will next take a view of those severall Provinces of which this kingdome doth consist being ten in number that is to say 1 Livonia 2 Samogitia 3 Lituania 4 Prussia 5 Poland specially so called 6 Mollovia 7 Podlassia 8 Russia Nigra 9 Voltinia and 10 Podâ—lia all of them except the proper Poland within Sarmatia Europaea 1 LIVONIA 1 LIVONIA or LIEFLAND is bounded on the East with the Empire of Russia on the West with the Baltick Sea on the North with the Gulf or Bay of Finland on the South with Samogitia and Lituania Extended in length along the shore of the Baltick for the space of 125 Dutch or 500 Italian miles 40 Dutch or 160 Italian miles in breadth and called thus perhaps from the Lenovi a people of Germany inhabiting not far from the River Vistula The countrey for the most part plaine without any mountaines furnished with corn and fruits in so great aboundance that they send part thereof into other countries and yet there is much ground untilled in it by reason of the bogs and marishes which are very frequent Here is also store of wax honey and pitch but they have neither oyl nor wine the want of which last is supplyed by Meth. Of tame beasts fit for mans service they are well provided as also of such whose skins are of more value with the Merchant then their flesh at the market as Ermins Sables Castors others of that kinde besides good store of game for hunting the countrey having in it many large woods parts of the Hercynian And as for Rivers there are few countries which have more watered by the Winde the Beck the Dwine the Ruho all of them falling into the Baltick many great Lakes whereof the chiefe is that of Beybas 45 miles long and full of fish The people are much given to gluttonie and drunkennesse especially in rich mens houses where it is to be had for the paisant lives in want enough meere slaves to their tyrannicall Landlords who spend in riot and excesse what these get by drudgerie And when at any time the poore wretch leaves his Landlord to mend his condition with some other the Lord if he can overtake him will cut off his foot to make sure of him for the future They are a mixture of many Nations as the Fstones which are the naturall Inhabitants derived from the Estii a Dutch people spoken of by Ptolemie of which Nation are almost all the Paisants the Moscovites Swedes Danes Dutch and Polanders intermingled with them comming in upon severall conquest and planting themselves in the best parts of it in which they still Lord it over the Native but the Dutch especially for long time Masters of the whole The Christian Faith was first here planted by Meinardus of Lubeck imployed herein in the time of Frederick the first at the perswasion of some Dutch Merchants who traded hither by the Archbishop of Breme by whom made the first Bishop of the Livonians The Church hereof at this time governed by the Archbishop of Riga the Bishops of Derpt Asâ—lia Oesel Curland and Rivallia in those parts which remaine subject to the Polander where the Religion of the Church of Rome is onely countenanced Such parts of it that are under the Swedes or Danes are for the most part of the Lutheran profession planted with colonies of that people But the Estones or originall Inhabitants as they have a language so they have a Religion
the noble Vaivod that few of them escaped the slaughter But being afterwards betrayed by his old friend Czarnieviche and against faith given barbarously murdered by the Turkish Bassa Moldavia fell into the hands of the Turkes and was united to that Empire an 1574. the Vaivods from that time forwards being nominated by the Turkish Emperours and governing as substitutes and Lievtenants for and under them And though Aaron one of the succeeding Vaivods did shake off this yoke and confederated himself with Sigismund Prince of Transylvania and Michael Vaivod of Valachia for defence of themselves and their Estates against that Enemy yet being afterwards supplanted by Roswan one of his own ambitious subjects and that confederacie disjointed it became subject first unto the Polonians by the power and practise of Zamoyskie Chancellour of Poland and then unto Rodolphus Emperour of Germany and finally unto the Turke as before it was And though the Polanders have since made use of some opportunities in imposing Vaivods on this countrey in despite of the Turkes yet was it commonly to their owne losse little or no benefit to the Moldavians and in the end drew the whole power of the Turkes upon themselves in the reign of Osman never since intermedling in the affaires of this Province but leaving them entirely to the Turkes disposing who receive hence some yearly tribute but have not hitherto obtained the entire possession of it so long since aimed at by those Tyrants 3 VALACHIA VALACHIA is bounded on the East with Moldavia and a branch of the Ister or Danubius bending towards the North on the West with Rascia on the North with Transylvania and some part of Moldavia and on the South with the Danubius wholly by which parted from Servia and Bulgaria First called Flaccia from one Flaccus a Noble Roman who on the conquest hereof in the time of Trajan brought hither an Italian Colonie afterwards by corruption Vlachia and at last Valachia But the name of Flaccia or Vlachia was at first of a more large extent then it is at present comprehending all Moldavia also divided in those times by a ridge of Mountaines into Cisalpina and Tran alpinaa the name of Moldavia being afterwards appropriated to the one and that of Valachia properly and specially so called unto the other The people of both in token of their first extraction speak a corrupt Latine or Italian language but in matters of Religion follow the dictates of the Greek Church and obey the Patriarch of Constantinople under whom all Ecclesiasticall affairs are governed by one Archhishop and two Bishops In other things they partake generally of the rudenesse and barbarity of those Nations which have since subdued them being a rough hewn people hardly civilized ignorant for the most part of letters and all liberall sciences not weaned perfectly in so long time of their possession of Christianity from the superstitions of the Gentiles swearing by Jupiter and Venus marying and unmarying at their pleasures much given to magicall charms and incantations and burying with their dead both clothes and victuals for their relief in that long journey to the other world It is in length 500 in breadth 120 miles the countrey for the most part plain and very fertile affording store of Cattell a breed of excellent Horses iron-mines salt-pits and all provisions necessarie to the life of man Some vines they also have and not few mines of gold and silver more then for feare of the Turkes and other ill neighbours they dare discover begirt about with woodie mountaines which afford them fewell and very well watered with the Rivers of Pruth called antiently â—â—rasus 2 Stertius 3 Fulmina 4 Teln 5 Alluta all of them falling into 6 the Danow which in this Province at the influx of Fulmina takes the name of Ister yet is it not at the present very populous the spaciousnesse and fertilitie hereof considered by reason of the ill neighbourhood of the Tartars Turks and Polonian Cossackes their late long wars against those Nations and the Dutch having much decreased their former numbers with which they so abounded in the times foregoing that the Vaivod of this countrey in the year 1473. was able upon little warning to bring 70000 men into the field for a present service Places of most note herein are 1 Galatz on the influx of the River Pruth or Hierasus into the Danubius the waters of which River are so unwholesome that it causeth the body to swell 2 Trescortum not far from which they dig a bituminous earth so refined and pure that usually they make Candles of it instead of wax 3 Prailaba by some called Brailovia the town of most trade in all this countrey situate on the Danow and defended with a very strong Castle fortified by Art and Nature and furnished with a strong garrison of Turkes as the key of this Province opening the dore unto the rest The town most cruelly destroyed and razed to the ground with an incredible slaughter of the Inhabitants of all sexes ages for the spaces of four dayes together by John the Vaivod of Moldavia spoken of before at his first revolting from the Turkes but the Castle in regard of the great strength of it scarce attempted by him 4 Teina a Fortresse of great strength but in the hands of the Turkes also 5 Zorza corruptly for San-Georgio seated on the Danow with an arm whereof the Castle of it is encompassed garrisoned by the Turkes and by them held to be so strong and so safe a place that at the taking of it by Sigismund the Prince of Transylvania an 1596. there were found in it 39 great peeces of Ordinance with such store of Armes and Ammunition as might well have served for a whole kingdome 6 Tergovista sometimes the chief City of the Province and the ordinary residence of the Vaivod till the taking of it by the Turkes once beautified with a fair and famous Monastery by the Turkes converted into a fortresse environed with deep trenches strong Bulwarks upon every quarter and great store of Ordinance but many times lost and got againe according to the changes and chance of war 7 Bucaresta about a dayes journey from Tergovista seated on the Danow remarkable for two bridges built neer unto it the one of Boats the laying whereof took up no lesse then an whole moneths time for the transporting of the Army of Sinan Bassa against Sigismund Prince of Transylvania before mentioned and broken down by the said Bassa in his flight having bern worsted in all places by the Transylvanian The other work of the Emperour Trajan in his warre against Decebalus King of Dacia built all of stone and laid on piles and Arches of a wonderfull greatnesse 24 piles or pillars whereof are yet remaining to the great admiration of all beholders 8 Cebium of old called Lycostomos in vain besieged by the forces of Mahomet the Great coming in person to subdue this petit Province 9 Zarmizegethusa the seat Royall of Decebalus
unlesse reduced to extreme bondage by their Kings which he wished not neither took the advantage of the minoritie of Charilaus to new mould the Government and what he could not doe by fair means to effect by Arms forcing this Charilaus though his Nephew when he came to age to flie for sanctuarie to the Temple of Juno Having ordained what Laws he pleased and setled such a form of government as himself best fancied the better to decline the envie of so great a change he got leave to travail binding the people by an oath to observe all his laws untill his return and being gone commanded at his death that his ashes should be cast into the Sea lest being carryed back to Sparta the people might conceive themselves released from their oath By means whereof his Laws continued in force near 700 years during which time that Common-wealth did flourish in all prosperity the particulars of which Institutions he that lists to see may finde them specified at large by Photareh in the life of Lycurgus Suffice it that the Discipline was so sharp and strict that many went into the wars for no other reason then on an hope to rid themselves from so hard a life and that Diogenes returning hence to the Citie of Athens gave out that he returned from men to women 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And being asked in what part of Greece he had met with the compleatest men made answer that he could no where meet with men but that he had found some boyes amongst the Spartans A Cynicall and rugged answer but such as carryed a great deal of judgment in it the Spartans being more stout and resolute in all their actions and lesse effeminate in their lives then the rest of the Grecians But besides the strictnesse of the discipline under which they lived there was another thing which made them wish for wars abroad namely the little or no power which either the Kings or People had in civil matters and affairs of State entirely left to the disposing of the Senate and the power of the Ephori So that the Kings having by the laws the command of their armies were willing to engage in war upon all occasion and the common people as desircus to attend them in such employments as the Kings could wish Upon these grounds the war is made a trade amongst them beginning with the Helots a neighbouring people then with the rest of the Lacenians afterwards quarrelling the Messenians their old Confederates all which they severally subdued and made subject to them In the warre which Xerxes made against the City of Athens their King Leouid as the first of the elder house went forth to aid them slain at the straights of Thermopyloe courageously fighting for the liberty of Greece and when it was thought fit to set upon the Persian Fleet Eurybiades the Spartan Admirall did command in chief In pursuit of the this war against the Persians Pausanias and Agesilaus were of most renown the first in helping the Athenians to drive them out of Greece the other in making war upon them in their own Dominions Freed from the Persians they grow jealous of the State of Athens whom they looked on as their Rivals in point of Soveraignty and glory Hence the long warre betwixt these Cities called Bellam Peloponnesiacum managed for the most part in Peloponnesus from thence transferred into Sicil and at last ended in the taking of Athens the Government whereof they changed into an Aristocratie under 30 Magistrates of their own appointment commonly called the thirty tyrants Proud of this fortunate successe their next quarrell was with the Boeotians the conquered Athenians covertly and the Persians openly assisting the enemy Here their prosperity began to leave them For besides many small defeats Epaminondas the Theban so discomsited them at the overthrowes of Leuctres and Maxtinea that Sparta it selfe was in danger of utter ruine Not long after happened the Holy warre chiefly undertooke against the Phocians wherein also they made a party but this warre being ended by King Philip they scarce breathed more freedome than he gave air to But when Alexanders Captains fought for the Empire of their Master all these flourishing Republiques were either totally swallowed into or much defaced by the Kingdome of Macedon The Lacedoemonians held the chief strongth of a Town to consist in the valour of the people and therefore would never suffer Sparta to be walled till the times immediately following the death of Alexander the Great yet could not those fortifications then defend them from Antigonus Doson King of Macedon who having vanquished Cleomenes King of Sparta entred the Town and was the first man that ever was received into it as Conqueror So much different were the present Spartans from the valour and courage of their ancestours Cleomenes being forced to forsake his countrey and the race of the Heraclidoe failing in him they became a prey to Machanidus and Nabis two wicked Tyrants from whom they were no sooner freed but they were made subject in a manner to the power of Rome and in the end the Town so weak and inconsiderable that it was not able to resist the poorest enemy now a small Burrough called Misithra And so I leave them to the thoughts of their former glories having now nothing dseto boast of but the fame and memory of their actions in former times ARGOLIS so called from the chief City Argos is bounded on the South with Laconia on the West with Corinthia and Achaia Propria on the East and North with the Sea A territorie remarkable for a most excellent breed of Horses and from thence called Hippium Places of most importance in it 1 Argos founded by Argus the fourth King of this countrey and the chief of this Kingdome Memorable as for other things so 1 for the death of Pyrrhus King of Epirus who having forced his entry into it was here ignobly slaine after all his victories by the hands of an old woman throwing a Tyle at him from the top of an house 2 For the long race of the Kings hereof from Inachus the cotemporary of our Father Abraham anno 2003. unto Acrisius their last King Whose daughter Danae being shut up in a Tower of Brasse was deflowred by Jupiter to whom she bare the renowned Perseus so memorised in antient Poets But Perseus having by misfortune slain his Grandfather the old King Acrisius quitted the City of Argos as unlucky to him and transferred the Kingdome to Mycenae a City of his own foundation and so better fancied by means hereof the second City of esteem in this little Province Growing in small time unto so great riches that it got the name of dites Mycenoe as appeareth by Horace in whom the Horses of Argos and the wealth of Mycene are placed in one verse together Aptum dicis equis Argos ditesque Mycenas For horses Argos is of fame For wealth Mycenoe hath the name 3 Troezen situate on the Sinus Argolicus now
the people and the conveniency of the situation then for any notable exploits performed by them or any great influence which they had on the States of Greece But in regard of the wealth greatnesse and situation accounted by the Romans one of the three Cities which they held capable of the Empire Carthage and Capua being the other two In this City lived the famous or infamous whore Thais who exacted 10000 Drachmas for a single nights lodging which made Demostbenes cry out Non emam tanti poenitore and occasioned the old By-word Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum 'T is not for every mans availe Unto Corinth for to sayle Neer hereunto stood the Acrocorinthian mountaines at the foot whereof the City and on the top whereof the Castle called hence Acrocorinthus were seated out of which flowed the famous fountane named Pyrene of old consecrated to the Muses by Persius called Fons Caballinus because faigned by the antient Poets to have been made by the horse Pegasus dashing his foot against the rock And on the other side hereof in the very Isthmus were celebrated yearly the Isthmian games ordained by Ineseus in the honour of Neptune in imitation of the Olympick devised by Hercules in honour of Jupiter The exercises much the same and the reward no other then a Garland of Oaken bougbes yet drawing yearly a great report of people to them partly to exercise themselves and behold the spcits and partly to sacrifice to Neptune who had hard by a famous Temple As for the fortunes of this City it was at first called Ephyra at that time a small and obscure place but beautified and repaired by Corinthus the son of Pelops tooke the name of Corinth Governed by him and his posteritie till the coming of the Heraclidae into Peloponnesus at what time one Aletes of the race of Hercules possessed himself hereof with the name of King A. M. 2849. Twelve Princes of his line enjoyed it for the space of 220 yeares and upwards when the house sayling in the person of Automanes they were governed by temporary officers like the Archontes of Athens Continuing under this Government 124 years the City was seised on by one Cypselus A. M. 3294. who left it to his sonne Periander one of the seven wisemen of Greece counted a Tyrant in those times for no other reason then that he had suppressed the popular government after whose death an 3364. the City did recover its former liberty In the bustles betwixt Athens aud Lacedaemon and other the estates of Greece for the superiority it did little meddle the aim of this people being wealth not honour not interessed in any action of renown in all those times but in the sending of Timoleon to the aid of the Syracusans against the Tyrant Diomysius who did lord it over them Subdued together with the rest by the Kings of Macedon and with the rest restored to liberty by the power of Rome Under whom growing still more rich and withall more insolent they abused certain Roman Ambassadours But irasci populo Romano nemo sapienter potest as is said in Livie which the Corinthians found too true the City being besieged sacked and burnt unto the ground by Lucius Mummius a Roman Consul an V. C. 607. In the burning whereof there were consumed so many goodly Statuas of gold silver brasse and other metals that being melted into a Lump they made up by that fatal chance the so much estimated metal called Aes Corinthium more highly prized in Rome then Gold or Silver Repaired again it was of great esteem in the time of the Emperours converted by S. Paul to the Christian Faith and having flourished a long time in pride and pleasures decayed by little and little till it came to nothing and is now a small Burrough called Crato Having thus spoken of the severall Estates of Peloponnesus it resteth that we speak somewhat of the estate of the whole varied according to the fortunes of those particulars which had most influence on the same The affaires hereof a long while swayed by the Kings of Sicyon whence it had the name of Sicyonia restrained afterwards to the territories of that City onely But when the Kings of Argos came in place and power it depended much upon their pleasures from Apis the third king whereof if not rather from Apis the fourth King of Sicyon in the opinion of some Writers it was named Apia But Pelops the son of Tantalus King of Phrygia coming into Greece and marrying Hippodamia daughter of Oenomaus King of Elis became the most powerfull Prince of all this Peninsula taking from him the name of Peloponnesus The Kingdome of Mycene growing into power and credit had the next turn in swaying the affaires hereof for a certain season as after that the Dores and the Heraclide possessed at once of Argos Sporta Corinth and Messene The Spartans getting the prehemlnence over all the rest were the next who governed the affaires of it and they held it long having first conquered Laconia and subverted the estate of Messene by means whereof and by their fortunate successe against the Persians they became almost absolute in their commands without any Competitor But their power being broken by Pelopidas and Epaminondas in the Thehan war the petit States hereof began to take heart again stand upon their own legs as they did a while till the Kings of Macedon succeeding Alexander the Great brought them once more under and made them fellow-servants with their Spartan Masters In the confusions which ensued in Macedon amongst the Competitors for that Kingdome Patras and Dime two Cities of Achaia Propria first united themselves in a strong league of amity at such time as Pyrrbus first went into Italy into which confederacie the Cities of Tritaea and Pherae shortly after came and not long after that Aegira and the rest of Achaia Propria their affaires first governed by two Praetors with advice of the Senate as afterwards by one alone with the like advice of which Marcus Carinensis was the first and Aratus of Sicyonia the second The ground thus laid and the reputation of this new Commonwealth increasing by the vertue of Aratus the Epidaurians Troezenians Argives and Megarians became members of it maintaining gallantly the liberties of Pelotonnesus till finally mastered by the Romans the division of whose Empire it fell with all the rest of Greece to the Constantinopolitans and in the declining of their fortunes when the Latines got possession of the Imperiall City most of the Sea-coasts of it were alotted to the State of Venice the inland parts formerly parcelled out amongst many Princes whom they called Despots continuing as before they were till all together made a prey to the Turkish Tyrants Mahomet the Great and Bajazet the second by whom wholly conquered For howsoever Thomas and Demetrius Brethren of that unfortunate Prince Constantinus Palaologus had fled hither at the taking of Constantinople and were received and obeyed by
life and Kingdome did depend Which Jewell his daughter Scylla is said to have delivered unto King Minos her Fathers Enemy on whom then besieging this City upon the sight of him from an high Turret shee became inamoured But he rejecting her and her Present both after the taking of the City returned into Crete which the unhappy woman seeing threw her self after him into the Sea and was turned into the Bird called â—iris I leave the moralizing of the Fable unto the Mythologists observing only by the way the antiquity of that politick practise to love the treason and hate the Traitour But the glories of this Citie did not â—nd with Nisus For shaking off the Cretan yoke it became sui juris once again and being conveniently seated on the very Isthmus amounted to that height of prosperity that they contended with the Athenians for the Island of Salamis And in this war they so crushed the power and spirit of Athens by one fatall overthrow that the Athenians to prevent all the like dysasters did ordain by Law that whosoever mentioned the recovery of Salamis was to lose his life so that Solon was compelled to faign himself frantick the better to propound the enterprise In which although the State of Athens got the Isle of Salamis yet did the Megarenses continue a Free-people till brought under with the rest by the Macedonians and with them made subject unto Rome 3 BOEOTIA is bounded on the South with Megaris and the Bay of Corinth on the North with the River Cephisus on the East with Attica and a branch of the Aegean Sea and on the West with Phâ—â—is Thus named from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in Greek signifieth an Oxe because when Cadmus weary of seeking his sister Europa whom Jupiter had stollen out of Phoenicia came to the Oracle at Delphos he was commanded to follow the first Oxe he saw and where the Oxe did rest it self there to build a Citie In the Countrie nothing singular but an ancient custome of burning before the door of an house in which a new-married wife was designed to dwel the Axâ—e-tree of the Coach which brought her thither giving her by that Ceremonie to understand as Plutarch telleth us in his Morals that she must restrain her self from gadding abroad and that being now joined unto an husband she must frame herself to live and abide with him without hope of departure In this Country also are the Straits of the Mountain Oeta from the neighbouring Bathes called Thermopylae not above 25 foot in breadth which â—n the war that Xerxes made against the Greeks were valiantly defended by Leonidas King of Sparta with no more then 300 of his men who having valiantly resisted that Armie which in its passage out of Persia had drank Rivers drie and slain at least 30000 of them dyed every man upon the place To hide the greatnesse of which losse lest it should terrifie the rest of his Armie which were coming on Xerxes commandedd all the slain men to be buried in severall pits except a thousand as it no more then they had been lost in that passage Places of most observation in it 1 Thespias on a River of the same name at the fall whereof into the Bay it is pleasantly seated shadowed on the North with a Branch of the Mountain Helicon and consecrated as that was unto the Muses hence called Thespiades in the Poets 2 Platea nigh to which Mardonius Generall to the Persians was overcome by the Greeks with the losse of Mardonius himself and 160000 men on the Persian side and on the other no more then 31 Spartans 16 Arcadians 52 Athenians and about 600 of the Megarenses In memorie of which brave exploit and to preserve the names and honour of those Worthies who there laid down their lives for the liberty of Greece there was a festivall kept annually by the Plateans in the month of September with solemn Sacrifices and a kinde of divine acknowledgment unto the deceased continued from the time of Aristides the Athenian who first ordained them to the dayes of Plutarch who records it but how long after I am not able to say In this great fight the Commander in chief was a noble Spartan called Pausanias who afterwards having a design to make himself Soveraign of all Greece and being discovered in the practise fled for sanctuarie to the Temple of Pallas From whence because it was counted sacriledge to constrain him by violence it was unanimously resolved to wall up the entrances his own Mother laying the first stone It is recorded that before the fighting of this battell the Athenians had been told by the Oracle that they should be Conquerors if they fought upon their own ground whereupon the Plateans within whose territories the Persians had prepared to fight bestowed that field on the State of Athens In requitall of which noble act Alexander the Great re-edified and enlarged their Citie having been first burnt and sacked by the Persians and after levelled with the ground by the Lacedemonians because confederate with Athens in the war against them 3 Leuctra remarkable for the great overthrow which the Thebans under the conduct of Epaminondas gave unto the Spartans and their King Cleombrotus there slain by which victory they did not only preserve their own liberty but brought their enemies to that fall of courage and reputation that they could never rise again the divine vengeance overtaking them in that very place where some of their Nation had deflowred the daughters of Schedasus who had given them courteous entertainment For which when no reparation could be had from the State of Sparta the unfortunate Damosels flew themselves to avoid the infamie of consenting to their own dishonour and were buried in those very fields where this battell was fought 4 Asera the birth-place of Hesiod a man according to Paterculus elegantis ingenii carminum dulcedine memorabilis though it hath pleased that proud Critick Julius Scaliger intending to deifie Virgil to prefer the worst verse in the Georgicks of the one before the whole works of the other 5 Lebadia near the River Cephisus the Inhabitants whereof were counted the most superstitious of all the Grecians memorable for the Den or Cave of Trophonia and the Oracle there given by Jupiter hence called Trophonius Into which Cave none were permitted to enter and receive the Oracle but after many ointings washings and the like superstitious preparations too long and many to be specified in this place and time A town which still preserves so much of its ancient estimation that from hence as I conjecture the whole Country of Achaia hath the name of Levadia by which the Turks call it at this present 6 Cherona or Coronea the birth-place of Plutarch Near unto which was fought that memorable battell betwixt L. Sylla and the Romans against Archelaus one of the Lieutenants of Mithridates King of Pontus leading an armie of 120000 souldiers of which 10000 only escaped with life the
famous Poetesse At that time joined unto the sand but since by the violence of the Sea or the hand of man made into an Island according unto that of Ovid Leucada continuam veteres habuere Coloni Nunc Freta circumcunt That is to say Leucas in former times join'd to the land Environ'd round with waters now doth stand It was called Leucas from the whitenesse of the Rock or Promontorie having before the separation or disjunction of it been called Neritos the chief Town of it varying with the name of the Isle and Promontory both town and Island at this time called S. Maure taken by Bajazet the second from the State of Venice and by him given unto the Jews who doe still inhabit it at their expulsion out of Spaine 5 Nicopolis a Colonie of the Romans of great both wealth and beautie in the time of S. Paul who from hence dated his Epistle to Titus called in that Postscript Nicopolis of Macedonia because Epirus at that time was part of the Province of Macedon though afterwards a distinct Province of it selfe It was first built by Augustus Casar on a Promontory opposite unte Actium on the other side of the Bay that being the place where his Land souldiers were incamped before the Navall battell betwixt him and Mark Anthony and was thus called either in memory of his victory or from a poor man and his Asse whom he met there the day before For asking the mans name he told him that his name was Eutyches i. e. Fortunate and that the name of his Asse was Nicon i. e. Conquerour which happy Omen made his souldiers courageous and hopefull of victory and he in memory thereof erected here two brazen Images the one of the Asse the other of his Master It is now a small village called Prevesa 6. Actium on the Sea-shore nigh unto which Augustus and Antony fought for the Empire of the world The Navy of the later consisted of 500 Gallies the former had 250 onely but those crowned with victory Antonius shamefully deserting his souldiers to follow after Cleopatra who on the very first charge fled away for Egypt The town now ruined the Promontory upon which it stood called Cabbo di Figulo The Countrey was first peopled by Dodonim the son of Javan or at least by some of his posterity coming hither from the Isle of Rhodes whose memory was preserved a long time in the Towne of Dodona him or from him so denominated Afterwards being parted into severall Nations and those Nations united in the common name of Epirots it became a great and powerfull Kingdome governed by a race of Kings descending from Pyrrhus the sonne of Achilles and continuing till the time of Pyrrhus the sonne of Aeacides A man of such courage and magnanimity that he did not onely recover his owne Kingdome of which Cassander had deprived his Father but got the Kingdome of Macedon from Cassanders children outed of which he tried his fortunes with the Romans Anno Mundi 3683. V. C. 471. After his death this Kingdome was shrewdly shaken by the Macedonians and shortly after subdued by Paulus Aemilius who as we now said destroyed 70 Cities hereof in one day For desirous to satisfie his souldiers after his victory in Macedon he sent unto the Epirots for ten of the principall men of every City These he commanded to deliver up all the gold and silver which they had and to that end as he gave out he sent certaine companies of souldiers along with them unto whom he gave secret instructions that on a day by him appointed they should fall to fack every one the town whereunto they were sent A barbarous and bloudy decree 70 Cities confederate with the Romans ruined in one day and no fewer then 150000 Epirots made and sold for slaves But the chief motive which induced him to so great a cruelty was by dispeopling this countrey lying with a long and faire Sea-coast over against Italy to give the Romans opportunity to land their Armies without any resistance for the further progresse of their Forces into Macedon Thrace Moesia or where else they pleased Which ungodly policie was afterwards imitated by William the Conquerour who laid wast all that part of Hampshire since called New Forrest and therein 36 Parish Churches that he might have a safe landing place for his Norman Forces if the English should at any time endeavour to make head against him Being made subject to the Romans it was a while part of the Province of Macedonia but afterwards when Macedonia was made a Diocese it became a distinct Province of it selfe called by the name of Old Epirus to difference it from the Province of New Fpirus which lay Eastward of it At the division of the Empire it belonged to the Constantinopolitans and so continued till the taking of Constantinople by the Western Christians at what time Throdorus Angelus a Prince of the Imperiall family seised on Aetolia and Epirus as before is said and sped so well in his designs that he took the strong City of Durazzo from the State of Venice to whom it fell in the division of that spoil and cunningly if not treacherously intercepted Peter the third Emperor of the Latines whom as some say he caused to be murdered at a banquet After his death his whole Estate being divided into two parts Aetolia with that part hereof which is called Chaonia continued in his house till the time of Charles Prince of Aetolia and Epirus spoken of before after whose death it was subdued by Amurath the second as before was said The residue hereof together with that part of Macedon which is called Albania fell to the family of the Caâ—triots the last of which named John the Father of Scanderbeg seeing himself unable to resist that Tyrant who had already swallowed up all his neighbour Princes submitted his estate unto him and gave unto him all his sonnes for hostages No sooner was the old Prince dead but Amurath seised on his estate murdered his three eldest sonnes and caused George the youngest to be trained up in the Law of Mahâ—met who afterwards escaping out of his power and recovering all his Fathers countries assumed also the style or title of Prince of Epirus After whose death his children not being able to make good their game lost it to Mahomet the Great as shall be shewn more fully in the storie and description of Albania which is next to follow 4 ALBANIA ALBANIA is bounded on the East with Macedonia on the West with the Adriatick on the North with Sâ—lavonia on the South with Epirus The countrey mountainous and barren watred with few Rivers and those of no great note amongst the Antients as 1 Laus 2 Apsus 3 Paniasus 4 Celidnus all of them falling into the Adriatick It took this name from the Albani once the Inhabitants of this tract from whom the chiefe City hereof was called Albanopolis Other townes of most consideration are 1 Stetigrade or Vestigard called
by the Macedonians together with Chalcis in the Isle of Euboea and the City of Corinth kept all Greece in awe and were therefore commonly called the Fetters of Greece the Grecians never thinking themselves at liberty till those townes were dismantled by the Romans 5 Pharsalis nigh to which was fought the great battell betwixt Caesar and Pompey for the Soveraignty of the Roman Empire a battell more famous then bloudy 6000 only of 300000 which were in the field on both sides being therein slain A battell before which the Pompeians were in such a miserable security that some of them contended for the Priesthood which was Caesars Office others disposed of the Consulship and preferments in the City of Rome Pompey himself being so rechlesse that he neither considered into what place it were best to flie if he lost the day or by what means he might provide for his own safety and end the war As if the war had been made against some ignoble Enemie and not against that Caesar who had taken 1000 Towns conquered 300 Nations tooke prisoners one million of men and slain as many 6 Philippi so named from Philip the Macedonian the first founder of it situate in the further part of the same plains of Pharsalia and famous for as memorable a Battell as that before and of no lesse consequence that namely betwixt Augusius and M. Antonius on the one side against Brutus and Cassius on the other these later being rather overcome by chance then valour For either of them thinking the other vanquished slew himself in the field being the two last that ever openly stood out for the common Liberty and therefore called by Cremutius Cordus Vltimi Romanorum or the last of the true Roman Spirits 7 Gomphi an ancient Citie bordering on Epirus 8 Pheroe in which Citie Alexander the Tyrant reigned against whom that noble Captain Pelopidas the Theban fighting was slain in battell the Tyrant being not long after murdered by his wifes brother and by that means all Thessalie recovering liberty 9 Pagasa situate on the Bay called Sinus Pelasgicus which from hence is sometimes named Pegasicus in which the ship called Argo was said to be built so famous for the renowned voyage of the Argonautes The hill Pelion spoken of before is not far from hence 10 Pythion or Pythoeum of great note for the Pythian games there celebrated in the honour of Apollo who hereabouts killed the Serpent Python the Conquerour in which games were crowned at the first only with an Oaken Garland but afterwards with one of Lawrell Of which thus the Poet Neve operis famam posset abolere vetustas Instituit sacros celebri certam ne ludos Pythia de domiti Serpentis nomine dictos c. Thus made to speak English by G. Sandys Then lest the well-deserved memorie Of such an act in future times should die He instituted the so famous Games Of free contention which he Pythia names Who ran who wrestled best or rak'd the ground With swiftest wheels the Oaken Garland crown'd These games together with the Olympick Isthmian and Nemaean spoken of before made the four annuall meetings amongst the Grecians renowned for the universall concourse of the noblest spirits 11 Doliche which together with Pythium and 12 Azorium another Citie of this tract standing near together are called in Livius the Historian by the name of Tripolis 13 Hypata the Metropolis of Thessalie so called by Heliodorus in his Aethiopick Historie before mentioned who placeth it near the Bay called Sinus Maliacus now Golfo di Ziton and not far from Mount Oeta bordering on the Province of Doris upon which Mountain Hercules being tortured with a poisoned shirt sent by his innocent wife Deianira said to have burned himself thence called Hercules Oeteus Of all which Towns Lamia Pagasa and Demetrias are in the Region called Phthiotis Larissa Doliche Phthium and Azorium in that called Pelasgia Gomphi and Trieca in Estiotis the rest in Thessalie properly and specially so named This Country at first called Aemonia afterwards Pelasgia then Pyrrhoea from Pyrrha the wife of Deucalion and finally Thessalia from Thessalus one of the companions of Hercules by Plinie is called Driopis Estiotis by Strabo Pelasgia by Diodorus and by Homer Argos the name of some chief Citie or particular Province being figuratively used for the whole Divided commonly into four parts 1 Thessaliotis 2 Estiotis 3 Pelasgiotis and 4 Phthiotis the name of Thessalie or Thessaliotis in the end prevailing accordingly distributed into severall governments united finally in the person of Philip the father of Alexander who partly by force but specially by art and practise made himself Master of the whole Continuing in a mixt condition betwixt free and subject under the Macedonian Kings of the second Race it became subject with that Kingdome to the State of Rome first reckoned as a part of the Province of Macedon after a Province of it self when Macedon was made a Diocese part of which it was But from a Province of that Diocese and a member of the Eastern Empire it was made a kingdome given with that title to Boniface Marquesse of Mont-ferrat in exchange for Candie together with the Citie of Thessalonica and some part of Peloponnesus at the division of that Empire amongst the Latines Which title he affected in regard that Reiner the brother of Boniface his Grandfather had formerly been created Prince of Thessalie by the Emperour Emanuel whose daughter Cyri Maria or the Lady Mary he had took to wife In him as it began so this title ended Thessalonica falling to the State of Venice Thessalie reverting to the Empire when the Greeks recovered it from whom subdued and added to the Turkish Empire in the reign of Amurath the 2. anno 1432. 2 MACEDON specially so called is bounded on the East with Mygdonia on the West with Albania on the North with Mount Haemus on the South with Thessalie The Country for the most part fruitfull as before was said but not so surfeiting with delights as to make the people wanton or esteminate in their course of life as being naturally good souldiers exact observers of military discipline and inured to hardnesse which their many signall victories doe most clearly evidence both in Greece and Asia The Greeks in the pride of their own wits reckoned them amongst the barbarous Nations and yet by a strange kinde of contradiction ascribe unto their Country the seats of the Muses For in this Country was Mount Pimple with a fountain of the same name at the foot thereof both consecrated to the Muses from hence called Pimpleides Here also was the hill Libethris and the Province of Pieria from whence the Muses had the names of Libethrides and Pierides by this last called more frequently then by any other name what ever especially by the Greeks themselves But the birth of Aristotle in this Country doth more convince the Grecians of this foolish arrogance then all the Muses in the world A man
the father both of Gods and men though most incongruously and absurdly as Lactantius noteth there being many thousands living in and before the times of Saturn when Jupiter was yet unborn But to proceed he being dead Minos begotten by him on Europa succeeded here who wisely taking the advantage which the convenient situation of the Island gave him made himselfe master of the Seas and afterwards enlarged his Dominions by the conquest of the Megarenses and Athenians upon which last he imposed amongst other hard conditions a tribute of seven male children yearly to be kept as hostages determined after three years by the valour and good fortune of Theseus But Minos being slain in Sicil and his posterity extinct the Cretans would no longer admit of Kings but governed themselves after the manner of a Common-wealth or Free-estate the Lawes and Ordinances whereof first devised by Minos were of such esteem that they were much imitated by Lycurgus and are at large described by Aristatle in the second Book of his Politicks ch 8. Under this government it continued till the Romans having taken in all the rest of Greece picked a quarrell with them For though it was pretended that they had been aiding unto Mithridates in his war against them yet Florus states the matter rightly affirming that the warre was undertaken on no other ground but sola nobilem insulam vincendi cupiditate a covetous desire onely of subduing such a wealthy Island And to this war they went with so proud a confidence that M. Antony who commanded in it carryed more chaines with him to bring home his Prisoners then Armes to conquer them An-insolence which he paid right deare for his navy being vanquished by the Cretans the bodies of his slaine souldiers hanged upon the Maâ—â—s and himselfe perishing in the action by a fit of sicknesse 〈◊〉 who succeeded him in that charge went on more successefully first taking Gnossus Eleuthera or Erythraea as Florus calls it and Cydonia their principall Cities and not long after all the Island using the vanquished Islanders with such inhumanity that most of them poisoned themselves to avoid his cruelty rewarded with no other honour for so great a victory then that he got the surname of Creticus his Triumph being denyed by the faction of Pompey against whose will he had put himselfe upon that service Thus added to the Roman Empire it was united unto Cyrenaica by Augustus Coesar both making up one Province onely governed by a Proconsul till the death of Nero afterwards separated from it but the time I finde not During the reign of Constantine in 36 yeares together here fell no reign so that this Island was in a manner wholly desolated But Helena the mother of Constantine having obtained rain for it by her prayers to God it was again new-peopled by severall Colonies brought out of Egypt Syria Greece and the parts adjoining By Constantine made a Province of the diocese of Macedonia it continued a member of the Eastern Empire till the time of Michael Balbus when subdued by the Saracens from whom recovered under the more fortunate conduct of Nicephorus Phocas who came unto the Empire anno 963. In the division of the spoile amongst the Latines it was first given to Boniface Marquesse of Montferrat by whom surrendred willingly to the State of Venice who had a minde to be possessed of all the Islands of that Empire he being recompensed with the Kingdome of Thessalie the faire and wealthy City of Thessalonica and many townes and territories in Peloponnesus Under that State it still continueth in vain attempted by Selimus the second in the yeare 1571. at what time he invaded and conquered Cyprus and gallantly defended for this yeare last past against all the forces of Ibrahim the late Grand Sâ—â—neur What the successe of this war will be we shall see hereafter For the defence hereof against the insurrections of the Inhabitants who did at first ill brooke the Venetian Government there are some standing forces kept in constant pay besides such as are maintained in severrall Garrisons the City of Canca having in it no fewer then six companies of souldiers Candie 2000 souldiers and the lesser Cities proportionably over which there is set so strong a guard that a naturall Cretan is not permitted to enter weaponed into any of them And for the preservation of their interesse in it from a forain power they have furnished the Island with 70 or 80 Gallies for the defence of the shores and have exceedingly fortified the haven of Suda with two strong Castles this haven being capable of more then 1000 vessels and therefore meritoriously reputed the door and entry into the Countrey It is reported that the King of Spain Philip the second did offer unto the Venetians for this haven money more then enough but it could not be accepted For though the Spaniard seemed only to intend the retreat and relief of his own Navy when he should undertake any expedition against the Turk yet the wise Venetians saw that by this haven he might at all times awe and when he listed surprize the whole countrey II The other Islands of this Sea as of lesser note will be past over in few words The first of which is called CLAVD mentioned Act. 27. 16. situate on the South west of Crete by Mela called Gaulos wherein in Plinies time was a town or City named Gaudos now called Golo with the Island 2 DIA now Standia a very small Island and of little note 3 LETVA on the South-east of Crete now called Christiana And 4 AEGILIA or Aegialia by Pliny Aeglia more in the Sea towards Peloponnesus now called Ceterigo by Sophianus Of which and others of lesse note if lesse may be there is no more to be said but that they have alwayes followed the fortunes of Crete on which they seen to have their principall dependence The ISLANDS of the IONIAN SEA The IONIAN SEA is so called either from one Ionius the son of Dyrachius whom Hercules having ignorantly killed threw into this Sea giving that name unto it to preserve his memory as Didymus is of opinion or from Iona a Region in the extremity of Calabria as Solinus or from Iâ— the daughter of Inachus as Lycophron the Poet hath it It containeth all that part of the Mediterranean which lieth from the Aegean or Cretan Seas unto the Adriatick from which parted about Epidamnum otherwise called Dyrrachium as is said by Ptolemie or rather at the shooting out of the Acroceraunian hils as affirmed by Pliny and other writers and so along the shores of the two Calabrias to the lsle of Sicil. Chief Isles whereof which passe in the accompt of Greece for of those lying on the coast of Italy we have spoke elsewhere are 1 the Strophades 2 Zacynthus 3 the Echinades 4 Cephalenia 5 Corcyra and 6 Ithaca 1 The STROPHADES are two small Islands now called Strivali lying against Messene in Peloponnesus famous for nothing but the Harpies ravenous birds
fortunes of Bithynia it self I look upon the Bithynians as a Thracian people whom both Strabo and Herodotus speak of as the founders of the name and Nation Of such a King of theirs as Bithynius I finde some mention in my Authors and possibly it might be he who had the leading of the Thrni or Bithyxi in this expedition that being the name rather of his Nation then his proper Family But for the line of Kings which held out till the flourish of the Roman greatnesse they begun to reign here some few geaerations before the time of Philip and Alexander the Macedonians by whom having other imployment and lying out of the road towards Persia they were little troubled alantus one of Alexanders Captains made an expedition into their Countrey and was vanquished by them and afterwards they had to do with one of the Lieutanants of Antigonus one of Alexanders greatest Princes who though he humbled them for the present yet got he neither title nor possession by it And thus they held it out till the time of Prusias so shuffling with the Macedonian and Syrian Kings that betwixt both they still preserved their own estates This Prusias when the Romans became so considerable as that no danger need be feared from Greece or Syria peeced himself with them and having aided them in their warres against Philip and Antiochus both and most unworthily promised to deliver Anniball who had fled to him for succour unto their Embassadours made all sure on this side His Sonne and successour Nicomedes being outed of his Kingdome by Muhridates King of Pontus and restored again unto it by the power of the Romans held it as their Fenditarie as did Nicomedes his next Successour simamed Philometor who dying without issue in the time of Augustus gave his whole Kingdome to the Romans By them with the addition of that part of Pontus which lay next unto it it was made a Province of their Empire by the name of Pontus and Bithynta continuing so till the division of that Empire into the Eastern and the Western when falling to the share of the Constantinopolitans and with them to the power of the Turkish Tyrants who do still possesse it 2. PONTVS PONTUS is bounded on the East with Colchis and Armenta on the West with Bithynia and the River Sangarius on the North with the Euxine Sea and on the South with Phrygia Mayor Paphlagonia Galatia and Cappadocia So that it taketh up the whole length of Anatolia or Asia Minor from Bithynia to the River Euphrates which parts it from Armenia Major but not of answerable breadth and gives name to the Sea adjoining a Ponto regione illi adjacente it a appellari as Ortelius hath it called from hence Pontus by the Latines the adjunct of Euxinus comming on another occasion which we have spoken of before A Countrey of a large extent and therefore divided by the Romans when Masters of it into these four parts viz. Metapontus or Pontus specially so called 2. Pontus Galaticus 3. Polemomacus and 4. Pontus Cappadocius 1. PONTUS specially so called or Metapontus bordering on Bithynia and bounded on the East with the River Parthemius which divided it from Paphlagonia had for the Chief Cities thereof 1. Claudiapolis so called in honor of Clausdius the Roman Emperor as 2. Flaviopolis in honor of Flavius Vespasianus and 3. Fulipolis in honor of the Julian family all midland Towns 4. Diospolis on the Euxine Sea so called from a Temple consecrated to Jupiter of great resort 5. Heraclea a Colonie of the Phocians called for distinctionssake there being many of that name Heraeclea Pontit memorable of late times for being the seat or residence of a branch of the Imperial family of the Conent when at the taking of Constantinople by the Western Christians David Alexius Comnexi fled into these parts the first fixing here his Royal residence commanded over this part of Pontus and paphligonia the other possessing himself of Cappadocia and Galatia made Trabezond his Regall or Imperiall City But these two Empires though of the same date were of different destinies that of Heraclea and Pontus being partly conquered by the Greek Emperours residing at Nice and partly seized on by the Turks in the beginning and first fortunes of the Ottoman family the other keeping up the Majesty and State of an Empire till the year 1461. when subdued by Mahomet the Great 6. Phillium at the mouth or influx of the River Phillis upon which it is seated 7. Amastris the farthest Town of this part towards the East on the Sea-side also once of great strength but take by Lucullus together with Heracles Sinope Amisut and other Townes in the war against Mithridates the great King of Pontus 2. Eastward of Pontus specially so called or Metapontus as Justin the historian call's it lyeth PONTUS GALATICUS so named because added to Galatia in the time of the Romans The chief Cities whereof were 1. Sinope pleasantly seated on a long point or Promontorie shooting into the main remarkable in antient storie for the birth and sepulture of Muthridates before mentioned and in the later times for being the chief seat of the Issendiars and noble Family of the Turkes who had taken it with the rest of this tract from the Comneni and held it till the same year in which the Empire of Trabezond was subdued by Mahomet First built by the Milesians and continuing in a free estate till taken by Pharatees a King of Pontus and made the Metropolis of that Kingdome 2. Castamona the head City of the Principality of the Isfendiars before mentioned preferred by them for strength and conveniency of situation before Heraclea or Synope 3. Themiseyra now called Favagoria seated on a spacious plain neer unto the Sea and antiently giving name to the Province adjoyning 4. Amasia the birth-place of Strabo the Geographer remarkable in the Ecclesiatical Histories for the Martyrdome of St. Theodorus and of late times for being the residence of the eldest Sonnes of the Grand Signeur sent hither as soon as circumcised never returning back again till the death of their Father Accompted now amongst the Cities of Cappadocia and the chief of that Province a midland Town as also is 5. Cabira called afterward Dtopolis memerable for the great defeat which Lucullus gave there unto Mithridates more for the trick which Mithridues there put upon Lacullus For being well acquainted with the covetousnesse of the Romans he saw no better way to save himself and the rest of his forces after the defeate then to scatter his treasures in the way which he was to take that by that meanes his enemies might slacken the pursuite to collect the spoiles and he preserve himself to another day and so accordingly it proved 6. Coniaus to difference it from another of that name called Comana Pontica to which other being of Cappadociae or Armenia Minor Mithridates came in safety by the trick aforesaid and thence escaped unto Trgranes the Armenian
and effected the death of all the Roman Souldiers dispersed in Anatâ—lia being in number 150000 in like manner as in after times the Englâ—â—â— taught perhaps by this example murdered all the Danes then resident in England and the 〈◊〉 massacred all the French inhabiting Sicilia as we have formerly declared He dispossessed Naomede sonne to Pâ—usias King of Bithyma Arâ—obarzanes King of Cappadocia and Philomones King of 〈◊〉 of their estates because they persisted faithful to his enemies of Rome He excited the Grecians to rebell possessed himself of Athens and divers places of importance in Greece Thracâ— and Asia and allured all the Isles except Rhodes from their obedience to the Romans And finally having disturbed their victories and much shaken their estate for the space of 40. years he was with much ado vanquished by the valour and felicity of L. Sylla Lucullus and Pompey the Great three of the greatest Souldiers that ever the Roman Empire knew Yet did not the Roman puissance so much pluck down his proud heart as the rebellion of his son Phaâ—naâ—es against him which he no sooner heard but he would have poisoned himself but having formerly so used his bedie to a kind of poison allaied which from hâ—s inventing of it we now call Mithridate that the venome could not work upon him he flew himself He is said to have been an excellent Scholler and to have spoken perfectly the languages of 22. Nations the languages of so many nations which were subject to him But neither his learning nor his courage could preserve him from those common miseries which ordinarily attend a falling greatnesse And so ended this long and tedious war exceeding troublesome to the Romans but withall very beneficial For under colour of giving aid to Mithridates they took in Crete Galatia Colchis Iberia and both Armenia's insomuch as it is truely said by L. Florus totum pene Orientem Septen trionem involvit that in his ruines involved both the Eastand and North. But to proceed after his death the Kingdome continued unto his postâ— but 〈◊〉 to the Romans till the time of Nero when Polemo the last King hereof dying with 〈◊〉 issue it was comoned and divided into many parts and laid unto the Provinces of Bithynia Galâ—â—a and Cappadocia onely that part of it which was called Polemenâ—â—cus retaining the dignity of a Province distinct and separate And so it remained till the reign of Consean inâ— the Great who changing the names lessening the bounds and increasing the number of the Provinces left onely the Province of Pontus and Bithyâ—ia in the state he found it And for the rest he cast it into two new Provinces that towards the East retaining the name but not the bounds of the old Polemoniacus wherein were the Cities of Trapezus Nâ—c-Caesarea Cerasus Comana Pontica Palemonium and Petroeorum Civitas called afterwads Ju 〈◊〉 of which Neâ—-Caesarea was the Metropolis That towards the East separated from the Province of Pontus and Bithynia by the River Parthemius he caused to be called Helâ—xopontu by the name of his Mother and thereunto assigned the Cities of Amasia the Metropolis of it Ibora Euâ—haita Zela Aâ—drapus Aegâ—um Chmacus Sinope Amisus and Leontopolis But this division held not long both being united into one and called Helâ—nopontus by Justintan continuing after that a member of the Eastern Empire till the comming of David and Alexius Comneni from Constantizopls whereof the one reigned in Heraclea and the other in Trabezond as befores said But their estates being overthrown it remains wholly to the Turkes who do now possesse it The Armes of the Emperours of Trabezond the greatest Princes of these parts till the Turkes subdued them were Oz an Eagle volant Gules 3. PAPHLAGONIA PAPHLAGONIA is bounded on the East with the River Halys by which parted from 〈◊〉 on the West by the Rivers Parthemius which part it from the Province of Ponthus and 〈◊〉 on the North with that part of the Kingdome of Pontus which was named Galaticus and on the South with Phrygia Maâ—or and Galatia So called of Paphlago the Sonne of Phineus estated in it by his Father who had newly conquered it The Countrey was but small and of little power and consequently the Cities were not very many and of no great note The principall of such as were were 1. Gangra observable for a Councill holden there in the 〈◊〉 times Anno 339. commonly called Synodus Gangrensis 2. Conica or Cinata of so convenient a situation that it was entrenched and fortified by Mithridate when he was master of this Countrey 3. Pompeâ—opolis raised out of the foundations of some lesser town by Pompey the great and by him so named 4. Germanopolis 5. Xoâ—na 6. Anarapa called afterwards Nava Claud opoâ—â—â— to difference it from another City of that name in Pontus This Province though but small in circuite was heretofore the seat of four different Nations viz. 1. the â—word of whom it is said that they never waged warre on any enemy but they faithfully certified them before-hand of the time and place of their fight 2. The Heptacoâ—etoe 3. The Mossynoeâ— both which were a people so beastly and shamelesse that they used to performe the work of generation publique not knowing that Multa sunt honesta factu qua sunt turpia visit and 4. the Heneri to whom the Venetians as we have already said do owe their first originall The Kings which ruled in this Countrey derived themselves from Philomores who assâ—sted Priamus King of Troy in his defence against the Greeks in memory of whom this Region for a while was called Philomenia Applying themselves unto the times they were alwaies favourable to the strongest serving the Persian and submitting to Alexander as he passed that way and so maintained their estate without much molestation till the time of Muthridates King of Pontus who finding them firme unto the Romans then growing to great power in the lesser Asia deprived Philomenes then King hereof and took the Kingdome to himselfe fortifying the chiefe townes and places of it Restored again unto his Kingdome by the power of the Romans he gave it to them at his death But the Countrey being very much wasted and most of the Cities of it destroyed and desolated in the course of that warre it was not thought worthy a particular care and therefore laid unto Galatia Not reckoned a distinct Province in the time of Saint Peter who writing to the Jewes dispersed in Pontus Cappadocia Galatia Asia and Bithynnia take's no notice of this Paphlâ—gonia nor was it otherwise esteemed then as a member of Galatia in the time of Ptolomie Afterwards it was joyned to Pontus by the Emperour Constantine part of it after that with some parts of Pontus and Bithynnia being made into a new Province by the Emperour Theodosias and called Henorias in honour of his sonne Honorius whereof Claudiopolis a Citie of Pontus properly so called was made the Metropolis But by Justinian the name of Honorius being
Queen of Harlicarnassus who in the honour of her husband Mausolus built a stately monument accounted one of the worlds seven wonders of which thus Martiall speaking of the Roman Amphitheatre erected by Domitian◠Aere nec vacuo pendentia Mausolaea Laudibus immodicis Cares ad astra ferant That is to say Mausolus tomb filling the empty Aire Let not the Carians praise beyond compare That the Carians were so called from Cares the sonne of Phoroneus King of Argos hath been said before But Bochartus will rather have them so called from Car which in the Phoenician language signifieth a Sheep or a Ram with numerous flocks whereof they did once abound And this may seem more probable in regard that the Ionians next neighbours to Caria borrowing this word from the Phoenicians called sheep by the name of Cara 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faith Hesrchius the old Gramarian But from whomsoever they had their name certain it is they were a very warlike people 〈◊〉 morun pugnaeque amans saith Pomponius Mela ut aliena etiam bella appeterent who when they had no warres at home would seek out for action A little before the time of Xerxes Mausolus reigned here whose wife Artemisia lately mentioned aided that King in his undertakings against Greece Afterwards in the time of Alexander the Great we meet with Ada Queen hereof who aided him against the Persians adopting him for her Sonne and Successour Subject after her decease to the Macedonians it followed the same fortune with the rest of these Provinces till the defeat of Antiochus neer Magnesia in the division of whose spoiles it was given to the Rhodians incorporated not long after to the State of Rome and made a Province of the Empire Wrested from the Eastern Emperours by the Turkes of the Selzuccian Family the greatest part hereof on the death of Aladine 2d was raised unto a petit Kingdome by the name of Mentesia so called from Mendos or Mindus the chief City of it the residue being laid to the Caraman Kingdome both long ago subdued by the Ottoman Family that of Mentesia by Mahome surnamed the Great who dispossessed Elias the last Prince thereof Anno 1451. LYCIA LYCIA is bounded on the East with Pamphylia on the West with Caria on the North with parts of Lydia and Phrygia Major on the Sauth with the Mediterrenean Sea Environed on three sides with the Mountain Taurus which part it from the Countries above mentioned by consequence naturally strong aud not very accessible the Sea for the space of twenty miles shutting up the fourth And here it is to be observed that besides this there was a litle Region of the same name not far from Troy not much observed by our Geographers either old or new but mentioned sometimes by the Peets as in Virgill Aeneid 4. Qualis ubi hybernan Lyciam Xanthique fluenta deserit c. which is meant plainly of the Phrygian or Trojan Lycia the word hyberna being added because of its Northern situation in respect of this The People hereof were sometimes called Xanthi from Xanthus the chief River hereof which rising in two springs from the foot of mount Cadmus passeth by a Town called Xanthus also and falleth into the Sea But generally they were called Lycii and the Councrey Lycia from Lycius the sonne of Pandion King of Athens who either conquered them or did some memorable Act amongst them which deserved that honour The principall Mountain of this Countrey and indeed of Asia is the Mountain Taurus which hath his beginning in this Province extending Eastward to the great Orientall Ocean of which somewhat hath been said already and more is to be said hereafter when these hils are grown unto the greatest One of the branches of it and the most notable in this Countrey is that called Chimoera vomiting flames of fire like Cicilian Aetna the bottom whereof was infested with Serpents the midle parts grazed upon by Goats and the higher parts made dangerous by the dens of Lions Hence by the Poets made a Monster having the head of a Lion the body of a Goat and the taile of a Serpent according unto that of Ovid in his Metamorphosis Quoque Chimaera iugo mediis in partibns Hyrcum Pectus ora Leo caudam Serpentis habebat In English thus Chimaera from a Goat her mid-parts takes From Lions head and breast her tail from Snakes This dangerous Mountain was first planted and made habitable by the care of Bellerophou a noble Grecian who is therefore fabled by the Poets to have killed this Monster employed upon this business by Jobares the King of Lycia to whom he had been sent by Proetus King of Argos who was jealous of him and sent with letters to require that King to kill him Whence came the saying Bellerophontis liter as portare applied to those who were unawares imployed do carry letters tending to their own destruction such as those carried by Vriah to Joab the Generall by command of David This Countrey was so populous that antiently there were reckoned threescore Cities in it of which six and thirty remained in the time of Saint Paul now nothing left of them but the names and ruins Those of chief note were 1. Myra the Metropolis of Lycia when a Roman Province by consequence an Arch-Bishops See when Christian St. Nicholas one of the Bishops hereof in the primitive times is said to have been a great Patron of Scholars his festivall annually holden on the sixt of December is celebrated in the Church of Rome with several pastimes and still in some Schools here in England as in that of Burford in the County of Oxon where I had my breeding and my birth for a feast and a play-day Of this City there is mention Acts 27. v. 5. 2. Telmesus the Inhabitants whereof were famous for South-saying and accounted the first Interpreters of Dreams 3. Patara or Patras formerly called Sataros beautified with a fair Haven and many Temples one of them dedicated to Apollo with an Oracle in it for wealth and credit equall unto that of Delphos 4. Phaselis on the Sea-side also a nest of Pirates in the times of the Reman greatness by whom then haunted and enriched as Algiers is now but taken by Servilius a Roman Captain at such time as Powpey scowred the Seas And unto the Pirates of this Town the former Ages were indebted for the first invention of those swift Vessels which the Romans called a Phaselus by the name of the Town we may render it a Brigantine 5. Cragus with a Mountain of the same name thrusting out eight points or Promontories neer to the Chimoera 6. Rhodia or Rhodiopolis as Plinie calleth it most probably the foundation of the neighbouring Rhodians 7. Solyma on the borders hereof towards Pisidia the people of which were conquered and added unto Lycia by the sword of Bellerophon whom Jobares with a minde to kill him according to the request of Poetus imployed in that service 8. Corydalla neer
and forty or a hondred and sixty Oars a peece which the Italians call from hence by the name of Pamphyli But forced to leave this trade at last being warred upon by the Romans with great forces both by Sea and Land a fuller narrative whereof we shall have in Cilicia in the conclusion of that warre they lost that liberty which so small a time they had enjoyed and were made Vassals unto Rome Afterwards made a Province of the Asian Diocese they ran the same fortune with the rest till subdued by the Turks and at the death of Alidine were seized on by Caraman and so became a part of his Kingdome Of which we shall hear more when we come to Cilicia And so much for the Provinces of the Asian Diocese the Provinces of the Isles excepted whereof more anon converted to the Christian faith by three great Apostles but most especially by Saint Paul of whose travels through most Cities and Regions of it there is such pregnant evidence in the book of the Acts. And that Saint Peter and Saint John had also their parts herein appears by the Revelation of the one and the first Epistle of the other Paul planting John and Peter watering but God himself giving the increase Pass we on next unto ISAURIA and CILICIA which though Provinces of the Diocese of the Orient were parts of the Caramanian Kingdome of which having taken a Survey and so cleared our selveâ— of this Peninsula we will then sayl about such Islands as make up the remainder of the Asian Diocese 18. ISAVRIA CILCIA THese two though distinct Provinces I have joined together because the first was onely a part of the last Cilicia antiently comprehending both The fourtunes of both being the same also in point of story ISAVRIA a mountainous and hilly Province seated on both sides of Taurus hath on the East and South the rest of Cilicia whereof antiently it was a part on the North Pisidia on the West Pamphylia So called from Isaurus the chief City of it when first made known unto the Romans which being taken by Servilius the Proconsnl imployed by Pompey in that service reduced the conquered Countrey under the command of Rome and gave unto the Conquerour the surname of Isauricus The quality of the Soyl and whole estate of this small Province take thus from Ammianus Marcellinus who had seen these Countries Ciliciae lateri dextro adnexa Isauria uberi palmite viret frugibus multis quam mediam flumen navigabile Calicadnus interscindit c. i. e. On the right hand of Cilicia lyeth Isauria a Province of a wealthy soyl plentifull of Vines and much other fruits which the River Calecadnus parteth in the very middest Beautified besides many Towns with two principall Cities 1. Seleucia founded by Seleucus and 2. Claudiopolis into which Claudius the Emperour brought a Roman Colonie For as touching 3. Isauria heretofore a walled City and of most esteem it hath been long ago destroyed as yielding too secure a refuge to the neighburing Rebels insomuch that now there are scarce any visible tracts of its former greatness And not much after Hae duae Provinciae bello quondam Piratico cateruis mixtae Praedonum a Servilio Proconsule missae sub jugum factae sunt vectigales i e These Provinces Cilicia and this heretofore in the Piraticall warre joyning with those Robbers were brought under by Servilius the Proconsâ—l and made subject to the State of Rome And here we have in brief the nature of the Countrey the names of the chief Rivers and the principall Cities with so much of the story as relates to the first subjugation of it What further doth concern it we shall hear in Cilicia upon the which it did depend 2. CILICIA is bounded on the East with Syria or rather that part thereof which is called Comagena separated from which part by a branch of the Mounta in Taurus called Amanus on the West with Pamphylia on the North with Isauria and Armenia Minor on the South with the Mediterranean and Syria specially so called It was thus named as the old tradition was from 〈◊〉 the brother of Cadmus the Phoenician a neer neighbour to it but as Bochartus of whose humour I have told you often from Callukim a Phoenician word signifying stones quia lapidosa est Regio because in some parts especially in that which was called Cilicia Trachaea or Cilicia Aspera it was very stony It is now called Caramania as the last Province of the Caramanian Kingdome which held out for those falling Princes when the rest was conquerd by the Turks of the Ottoman race The Countrey said by Marcellinus to be terra dives omnibus bonis wealthy and fruitfull of all necessaries Which Character holdeth good chiefly in the Eastern parts which heretofore had the name of Cilicia Campestris the western parts lying towards Pamphylia formerly called Cilicia aspera being rough and stony But generally where the lands lie in severall and are duly cultivated it answereth to the former Character being also very well watered and having a fair and large Sea-coast for the space of there hundred miles and upwards Which notwithstanding it is not much traded and but meanly inhabited a great part of the Countrey lying in large and common fields to which none can lay any proper claim and therefore planted onely with Goats and Sheep out of which the Commoners on all sides raise good profit by cheese and butter by their fleeces chiefly Here is also a good breed of Horses of which six hundred yearly are culled out for the speciall service of the Grand Signeur But as they have some profitable and usefull creatures so have they others as dangerous and hurtfull to them especially those which the Vulgar Grecians call Squilachi of a mixt making betwixt a Dog and a Wolf which go in ttoops and are so bold and theevish withall as they use to set upon a man as he is a sleep and leave him neither hat cloak nor fardell nor anything they can conveniently get from him Chief Rivers hereof are 1. Pyzamus now called Malmistra which rising on the North side of the Taurus and forcing his passage through that Mountain makes such a noise in falling down the precipices and rocks thereof as resemblanceth at a great distance a clap of Thunder 2. Orymagdus 3. Calicadnus spoken of before 4. Cidnus which riseth in the Anti-Taurus a River of a violent course and so cold a water that as Pliny writes it cureth the Gout the waters of which proved very dangerous to Alexander the Great the coldness of them striking violently into his stomack and deadly to Fredrick the first Emperour of the Germans as he here bathed himself the violence of the stream tripping up his heels and he not able to recover was presenly drowned Of their chief hils I need add nothing having already said that the Countrey is parted by Amanus from Syria and by Taurus it self from Pisidia and Armenia Minor not
Kingdome of the Caramanians continuing theirs till the destruction of that line by Bajazet the second Anno 1486. by whom incorporated with the rest of the Ottoman Empire Thus having made our Progress over all the Provinces of the Lesser Asia and shewn how every one of them was made subject to the Turkish Tyranny we must next draw down the Succession of such Turkish Kings as have reigned herein till it was wholly conquered by the Princes of the house of Ottoman Concerning which we are to know in the way of Preamble that the Turks having made themselves Masters of the Kingdome of Persia and following their successes into Syria also fell to a breach amongst themselves For making up whereof it was condescended unto by Axan the then Persian Sultan that Meloch and Ducat two of his discontented Kins-men should be infeoffed in the Cities of Aleppo and Damascus and their severall Territories with whatsoever they could conquer from the Caleph of Egypt possessed at that time of most part of Syria and some of the adjoining Provinces It was also then agreed upon that a third but neerer Kinsman called Cutlu Moses another of the Leaders of the opposite faction should have leave to conquer for himself whatsoever he could win from the Christian Princes And he accordingly being furnished with a competent Army subdued the Provinces of Media and Armenia in the Greater Asia with Cappadocia Pontus and Bithynia in Asia Minor Which and the rest of their affairs take here in the ensuing Catologue of The Turkish Kings in Asia Minor of the Selzuccian Family 1075. 1. Cutlu Moses Nephew to Trangolipix the first Persian Sultan of the Turks won Media part of Armenia Major Cappadocia Pontus and Bithynia 2. Solyman Son of Cutlu Moses for a while dispossed of most of his estates by the Westren Christians in their first passage towards the Holy Land 3. Mahomet the Sonne of Solyman recovered most of his estates in the Lesser Asia but outed of them and subbued by 4. Musat Sultan or Lord Deputy of Iconium but of the same Selzuccian family who was thereby possessed of all the Turkish Provinces in the Lesser Asia 5. Calisastlan the Sonne of Musat to whom his Father left Iconium with the adjacent Provinces wrested Amasia and Ancyra from his brother Jagupasan Sebastia and Caesareâ— from his brother Dodune which with their severall Territories were bequeathed unto them by the will of their Father He overthrow the Emp. Emanuel Comnenus and united Phrygia to his Kingdome 6. Reucratine the third Son of Calisastlan having dispossest his three brethren Masut Cappatine Caicosrhoes of the estates left them by their Father became sole Monarch of all the Turkish Provinces in the Lesser Asia In the later end of whose reign Occata the Tartarian Cham having driven the Turks out of Persia many of them under the conduct of Aladine a Prince of the same Selzuccian Family joined themselves to their Countreymen here with whose help they won Cilicia from the Grecian Emperours who in the reign of Calo-Johannes the Turks being then embroyled by the Western Christians had not long before regained it and after the decease of Reucratine advanced him to the whole estate The Turkish Kings in Asia Minor of the race of Aladine 7. Aladine descended in direct line from Cussanes the last Turkish Sultan in Persia having with many of his Nation seated himself in Cilicia first made Sebastia one of the Cities thereof his chief Seat or residence Which after the death of Reucratine he removed to Iconium as the antient Regall City of the former Kings 8. Azalide by some called Azadire eldest Son of Aladine wasted the most part of his reign in wars with his brother Jathatine whom at last he forced into exile 9. Jathatine on the death of his brother possesseth the Kingdome slain afterwards in single combate by Theodorus Lascaris Emp. of the Greeks at Nice 10. Jathatine II. Son of the former driven out of his Kingdome by the Tartars and dyed in exile the Turks becoming Tributaries and Vassals unto the Tartarian 11. Masut and Cei-cubades of the same Selzuccian Family but whether the Sons of the second Jathatine I am not able to say substituted in his place as Tributaries to the conquering Tartars 12. Aladine II. Son of Cei-cubades succeeded his Father in the Kingdome but as Vassall and Leigeman to the Tartars After whose death leaving no issue of his body the great Princes of his Family divided amongst them his Dominions To Sarachan fell Aeolis Ionia and part of Lydia from him named Sarchan Sarachan or Saracha-Illi to Aidin the rest of Lydia Phrygia Major and the greatest part of the Greater Mysia from him called Aidinia or Aidin-Illi to Carasus the Lesser Phrygia with the rest of Mysia from him denominated Carasan or Carasa-Illi To the Family of the Isfendiars the Cities of Heraclea Sinote and that part of Pontus which lieth next to Bithynia There were also lesser Toparchies or sub-divisions from whence we find a Prince of Smyrna a second of Amasia a third of Amisus a fourth of Scandcloro besides many others But the main body of the estate was seized by Caraman who for his share had the whole Provinces of Lycia Lycamia Pisidia Pamphylia Isauria Cilicia with the Regall City of Iconium the greatest part of Caria the rest of it appertaining to the Prince of Menâ—esia with part of Cappadocia and Armenia Minor and some Towns in Phrygia continuing in his family for as many descents as either of the formet had held before in great power and lustre under The Turkish Kings in Asia Minor of the house of Caraman 13. Caraman the first raiser of this family Contemporary with Ottoman the first King of that race 14. Aladine Son of Caraman and Son-in-Law of Amurath the first of the house of Ottoman by whom subdued but pardoned and restored unto his estate on the humble entreats of his wife 15. Aladine II. Son of the former subdued by Bajazet the first and hanged by Tertumases one of Bajazets great Commanders 16. Mahomet Son of Aladine the second recovered his Kingdome on the death of Bajazet vanquished and led captive by the mighty Tamerlane Afterwards warred upon and vanquished by Mahomet the Son of Bajazet redeemed his peace by yielding up unto him many of his principal Towns and was finally slain at the siege of Attalia 17. Ibrahim the Son of Mahomet and Son-in-Law of Amurath the second against whom unadvisedly raising war he was forced to submit and become his Tributary after whose death rebelling against Mahomet the Great he was then also vanquished and a reconciliation made betwixt them 18. Ibrahim II. by some called Pyramus the Son of Ibrahim the first supported Zemes brother of Bajazet the second in his warre against him for which Bajazet having setled his affairs invaded and subdued the Kingdome of Caramanta killed the unfortunate King in battel and so united that Estate unto the rest of the Dominions of the house of Oâ—toman The
the World The names and history of whom I shall here subjoin in this ensuing Catalogue of The Kings of Tyre A. M. 1. Abibalus as Josephus Abemalus as Theophilus Antiochenus calleth him Co-temporary with Samuel supposed to be the same which the Sonne of Syrach mentioneth Eccles 46. verse 18. 2. Saron the Sonne of Abibalus whom David as Eusebius saith compelled to pay tribute complained of by that Prophet Psal 83. v. 7. 2931. 3. Hiram the Sonne of Saron confederate with David to whom he sent Cedars with Carpenters and Masons towards his buildings in Hierusalem after he had beaten thence the Jebusites as he did afterwards to Solomon when he built the Temple Much mentioned in the Books of Kings and Chronicles 53. 2955. 4. Baleastartus or Bazorus succeeded Hiram 7. 2962. 5. Abdastartus Sonne of Baleastartus slain by the four Sonnes of his own nurse having reigned 9 years the eldest of which four did for the space of 12 years usurp the Kingdome 2983. 6. Astartus brother of Abdastartus recovered the Kingdome to his house out of the hands of the Usurpers 12. 2995. 7. Astorinus or Athorinus as Theophilus calleth him the younger Brother of A. startus 9. 3004. 8. Phelles the Brother of these three Kings and youngest Sonne of Baleastartus reigned eight moneths only 9. Ithobalus called Ethbaal 1 Kings 16. 31. Sonne of Astorinus slew his Uncle Phelles and so regained his Fathers Throne before which he was the High-Priest of the Godess Astaroth or Astarta a dignity next to that of the King He was the Father of Jezabel the wife of Ahab so often mentioned in the Scripture 32. 3037. 10. Badezar or Bazar Sonne of Ethbaal 6. 3043. 11. Mettimus by some called Matginus Sonne of Badezar and Father of Elisa whom Vagil celebrateth by the name of Dido 3052. 12. Pygmalion the Sonne of Mettimus who slew Sicheus the husband of his Sister Elisa to get his riches but yet was cosened of his prey his Sister Elisa accompanied with her Brother Barca the founder of the Noble Barcine Family of which Annibal was and her Sister Anna flying into Africk where she built the renowned City of Carthage 47. The names of his Successors we find not till we come to 13. Elulaus descended from a Sonne of Pygmalion who overthrew the Fleet of Salmannassar the Assyrian in the port of Tyre 14. Eâ—hobales or Ethbaal II. who vaunted himself to be as wise as Daniel and to know all secrets as saith the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 28. v. 1 2. And yet not wise enough to preserve his Kingdome from Nabuchadonosor who after aâ— 13 years took the City of Tyre and subjected it unto his Empire 15. Baal the Sonne and Successor of Ethbaal the second but a Tributary to the Babylonians After whose death the Tyrians had no more Kings but were governed by Judges or by such titular Kings onely as were sent from Babylon And though Tyre and Sidon did recover breath in the fall of the Babylonian Empire and the unsettledness of the Persian yet being of the Persian faction and having dependance on that Crown they were by Alexander held unworthy to continue Who therefore deposed Strato the King of Sidon and overthrew the City of Tyre in the taking whereof he had spent more time than in forcing all the Cities of Asia After this time Phoenicia being reckoned as a part of Syria followed the fortune of the whole subject unto the Syrian Kings of the house of Seleucus till made a Province of the Romans subject to the Constantinopolitans till the fatall year 636. when subdued by the Saracens Successively conquered by the Turks Christians and after their expulsion by the Turks again then by the Mamalucks of Egypt and finally with the rest of Syria by Selimus the first united to the Turkish Empire Subject at this time or of late to the Emir of the Drusians commonly called the Emir of Sidon of which people we have spoken before A people who in the time of Amurath the third were governed by 5 Emirs or Priuces one of which was Man-Ogli who so resolutely resisted Ibrahim Bassa Anno 1585. This Man-Ogli then kept his Court or residence at Andirene a strong place situate on a hill and was of that wealth that he sent to make his peace unto the above-named Ibrahim 320 Arcubuses 20 packs of Andirene Silks and 50000 Ducats At a second time he presented him with 50000 Ducats more 480 Arcubuses 1000 Goats 150 Camels 150 Buffes 1000 Oxen and 200 Weathers By these rich gifts we may not a little conjecture of the Revenue of the present Emir of Sidon who since the year 1600. hath reduced almost all the Countreys belonging once to five Princes under his own Empire containing the Towns and Territories of Gaza Barut Sidon Tyre Acre Saffet or Tiberias his seat of refidence Nazareth Cana Mount Tabor Elkiffe c. This present Emir by name Faccardine was not long since driven out of his Countrey by the Turk and forced to fly to Florence but he again recovered his own laid siege to Damascus and caused a notable rebellion in Asia not quenched in a long time after And finally having possessed himself of the City and Castle of Damascus prepared for the taking of Hierusalem also threatning to make the Christians once more Masters of it This was in the year 1623. How he sped afterward and whether his Some as stout and valiant as himself hath since his death succeeded him in his Estates I am not able to say having of late heard nothing of them 2. SYRIA PROPRIA SYRIA PROPRIA or Syria specially so called is bounded on the East with Palmyrene on the West with the Mediterranean on the North with Cilicia on the South with Phoenicia and some part of Coele Syria This part of Syria I take to be the Land of Hamath so often mentioned in the Scriptures the Kingdome of Toi or Tou next neighbour and sworn Enemy to Adadezer King of Aram-Sobah who hearing of the great discomfiture which David had given unto that King sent his Sonne Joram or Adoram for the Scripture calls him by both names with Presents unto him as well to congratulate his success as to be assured for times to come of his love and amity So called from Hamath one of the Sonnes of Canaan who fixed his dwelling in these parts and left many Cities of that name in Syria and Palestine which we shall meet withall in the course of this work either built by him or his postetity Now that the Land of Hamath was this part of Syria I am perswaded to believe by these following reasons viz. 1. From the neighbourhood hereof to Arpad or Arphad conjoined together as in Esay 10. 9. and Jer. 49. 23. So in other places viz. Where are the Gods of Hamath and Arpad 2 Kings 18. 34. The King of Hamath and the King of Arphad Esay 37. 13. And we know well that Arvad was the name of an Iland over against the mouth of
appertaining unto those Idolatries as much esteemed of but more sumpeuous than those of Delphos The Grove about ten miles in circuit environed round with Cypresses and other trees so tall and close to one another that they suffered not the Sunne to enter in his greatest heats the ground perpetually covered with the choisest Tapestry of nature watered with many a pleasant stream derived from the Castalian founteins as it was given out and yielding the most excellent fruits both for taste and tincture to which the wind and air participating the sweetness of the place did adde a most delightfull influence A place devised for pleasure but abused to lust he being held unworthy of the name of a man who transformed not himself unto a Beast or trod on this unholy ground without his Curtezan insomuch as they which had a care of their good names did forbear to haunt it A fuller discription of it he that lists to see may find in the first Book and 18. chapter of Sozomens Ecclesiasicall History who is copious in it The Temple said to have been built by Seleucus also renowned for the Oracle there given by which Adrian was foretold of his being Emperour and therefore much resorted to by Julian the Apostata for that purpose also But the body of Babylas the Martyr and Bishop of Antioch being removed thither by the command of his Brother Galius then created Coesar by Constantius the Devil and his Oracles were both frighted away as the devill did himself confess to Julian Who being desirous to learn here the success of his intended expedition into Persia received this Answer that no Oracle could be given as long as those divine bones were so neer the Shrine Nor was it long after before the Idol and the Temple were consumed by a fire from Heaven as was avowed by those who observed the fall of it though Julian did impure it to the innocent Christians and in revenge caused many of their Churches to be burned to ashes 20. Anitoch situate in that part hereof which is called Casiotis first built oâ— began rather by Antigonus when Lord of Asia by whom named Antigonia but finished and enlarged by Seleucus after he had overthrown and slain him at the battell of Issus by the Jewes or Hebrew 's once called Reblatha Built neer the place and partly out of the ruines of an antient City in the second Book of Kings called Râ—blah in the Land of Hamath Hamath the Great in the sixt of Amos by Josephus and the Syrians Reblata Memorable in those daies for the Tragedies of Jehoahaz and Sedechias Kings of Judah the first of which was here deprived of his Crown and Liberty by Pharaoh Neco King of Egypt 2 Kings 23. 33. the other of his eyes and Children by the command of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon as was said before In following times it was by some Greek writers called Epidaphne from the neerness of it to that Grove as afterwards in the times of Chrictianity by the name of Theopolis or the City of God either from the many miracles there done in the Primitive times or from the great improvement which the Christian faith did here receive where the Disciples first obtained the name of Christians The Royall seat for many Ages of the Kings of Syria and in the flourish and best fortune of the Roman Empire the ordinary residence of the Praefect or Governour of the Eastern Provinces next of the Praefectus Praetorio Orientis who had not only the superintendency over the Diocese of the Orient though that large enough but also of the Dioceses of Egypt Asia Pontus Thrace extending so his Jurisdiction into all the parts of the then known World Honoured also with the residence of many of the Roman Emperours especially of Verus and Valens who spent here the greatest part of their times and from the first dawning of the Gospel with the Seat of the Patriarck A title of such eminency in all times of the Church the second in Accompt to the See of Rome till Constantinople being made the Imperiall City got precedence of it that there are at this time no less than four great Prelates which pretend unto it that is to say the true Patriarck governing the Christians of those parts whom they call Syrians or Melchites the Psâ—ndo-Patriarcks of the Jacobite and Maronite Sectaries both which for the greater credit to their Schism doe assume this title and finally a titular Patriarck nominated by the Pope who since the time that the Western Christians were possessed of these Eastern Countries hath assumed a power unto himself of nominating Patriarks for Alexandria Hierusalem and this City of Antioch The City seated on both sides of the River Orontis about twelve miles distant from the shores of the Mediterranean the River Parfar passing on the South-side of it By Art and Nature fortified even to admiration compassed with a double wall the outward most of which was stone the other of brick with four hundred and sixty Towers in the walls and an impregnable Castle at the East-end thereof and on the other side defended with high broken Mountains whereunto was adjoyning a deep Lake comming cut of the River Parfar before mentioned Adorned in former times with many sumptuous Palaces and magnificent Temples answerable to the reputation of so great a City till taken by the Saracâ—ns and after by the Turks and Mamalucks men careless of all State and beauty in their fairest Cities it began to grow into decay Recovered by the Western Christians from the power of the Turks after a siege of seven moneths June 3. Anno 1098. confirmed in their possession by a great and memorable Victory got in the very sight hereof within few daies after June 28. obtained against Corbanas Lieutenant to the Persian Sultan in which with the loss of four thousand and two hundred of their own they slew a hundred thousand of the Enemy The Town and territory given by the Conquerours to Bohemund a noble Norman and Prince of Tarentum who by practising with one Pyrâ—hus who had the command of one of the chief Towers thereof afterwards called Saint Georges Tower was secretly let into the City and so made way for all the rest Bohemund thus made the Prince or as some say King of Antioch left it to Bohemund his sonne about ten years after succeeded in this principate by Tancred and Roger Princes of great renown in those holy wars which last unfortunately slain by the Turks not far from Aleppo in the year 1120. Baldwin the second having revenged his death by a signall victory joyned this estate to the Kingdome of Hierusalem Betrayed about sixty years after this that is to say in the year 1188. it came into the power of Saladine the victorious King of Egypt and Damascus and therewithall no fewer than five and twenty Cities which depended on the fortunes of it the glories of this famous City so declining after this last Tragedy but whether laid desolate of
is said never to have made use of her husbands company when she perceived her self with child After this nothing singular in the Story of Palmirene but that when all the rest of Syria was subdued by the Christans of the West this Province and the next onely were made good against them by the Turkish Sultars of Damasens 5. COELE-SYRIA COELE-SYRIA is bounden on the East with part of Palmyrene and Arabia Deserta on the West with Palestine on the North with Palmyrene and some part of Syria Propria from which divided by the Interposition of Mount Libanus on the South with Ituraea and Arabia Deserta also It was called by the Greeks Coele-Syria i.e. Syria Cava because partly situate in the hollow vallies interjected betwixt Libanus and Anti-Libanus and sometimes also Syro-Phoenacia from the intermixture of those people as the Phoenicians which went with Dido into Africk were called Libe-Phoemces By the Romans when made a distinct Province of their Empire it had the name of Phoenice Libam or Phanicia Libanensis to difference it from the other Phoenicia which they called Maritima but before all this by the Hebrews named Aram-Damasek Syria-Damascena in the Latine from Damaescus the chief City of it unless perhaps we should rather say that Aram-Damasek conteined only that which lay between the Mountaines of Labanus and Anti-Libanus the rest being added by the Romans out of the neighbouring parts of Palestine and Arabia-Deserta as perhaps it was Chief Rivers hereof are 1. Abanak and 2. Pharphar the Rivers of Damascus as the Scripture calleth them 2 Kings chap. 5. The one of which is thought to be the River Adonis spoken of already the other that which Ptolomy calleth Chrysorrhoas or the golden flood which rising in the Hills of this Countrey passeth by Damascus and so together with the other into the Mediterranean Sea Chief Mountaines of it 1. Alsadamus by the Phoenicians called Syrion by the Amorites Samir a Ridge of Hills which beginning at the East point of Anti-Libanus bend directly Southwards shutting up on that side the land of Israel whereof more in Palestine 2. Hippus a ledge of Mountains in the South parts of this Province where it bordereth on Arabia Deserta Towns of most consideration in it 1. Heliopolis so called from an Image of the Sun there worshipped in time of Paganism now Ballebec or as some say Balbec 2. Chalcis more East-ward towards Damascut which gave the title of a King to Prolomy Mennaeus and his sonne Lysanias the Kingdome then extending over the City of Abila and the whole Province of Iturea in Palestine But that Family being either expired or grown out of favour and Abila with Ituret otherwise disposed of the title of the King of Chalcis with the Town and territory was given to Herod brother of Agrippa the first King of Jeurie Erroneously supposed by some learned men to be that Chalcis from which the Countrey called Chalcidice takes denomination that Chalcis being placed by Ptolomy a degree and an half more East than Damascus and two degrees more towards the North whereas this Chalcis lieth on the West of that City in the shades of Libanus and in the very same degree of Northern Latitude 3. Abila seated at the foot of Libanus betwixt Heliopolis and Chalcis from whence the Countrey round about is called Abilene given to Lysanias the sonne of the former Lysanias King of Chalcis with the title of Tetrach Mentioned Luk 3. 1. with those other Princes which shared Palestine amongst them not that he was the sonne of Herod as antiently Beda and Euthymius and of late-times some very industrious men have been of opinion but partly because the Cities of Chalcis and Abila of right belonged to those of the Tribe of Naphthalim though never conquered or possessed by them and so to be a part of Palestine and partly because the Teirarchy of Abtlene when Saint Luke wrote that Gospel was possessed together with the rest by King Agrippa Restored as it seemeth to the former Family after his decease for known it was by the name of Abil-Lysaniae in the time of Prolomy 4 Adida memorable for the victory which Aretas King of Arabia obtained neer unto it against Alexander King of Jewrie the Kingdome of Syria then lying open as a prey to the next Invaders 5. Hippus or Hippons as Plinie calleth it not far from the Mountain of that name 6. Capitolias now called Suente 7. Gadara 8. Scythopolis 9. Gerasa and 10. Philadelphia reckoned by Ptolomy as Cities of Coele-Syria but of right belonging unto Palestine where we mean to take more notice of them 11. Damascus situate in a large plain environed with hills and watered with the River Chrysorrboas which with a great noise descendeth from the Mountains and so abundantly serveth the City that not only most of the houses have their Fountains of it but their Orchards and gardens have some Rivulets conveyed into them The Countrey round about abundantly enriched with plenty of most excellent wines the vines hereof bearing grapes all the year long and great store of wheat as their Orchards with variety of most delicate fruits our Damascens or Pruna Damaseena as the Latines call them coming first from hence as also do our Damask Roses but infinite short of their naturall sweetness by the transplantation A place so surfeiting of delights so girt about with odoriferous and curious gardens that the vile Impostor Mahomet would never be perswaded to come into it for fear as himself was used to say lest being ravished with the ineffable pleasures of it he should forget the business he was sent about and make there his Paradice But Muhavias one of his Successors having no such scruple removed the Regal Seat unto it where it continued for the most part till the building of Bagdat by Bugiafer the twentieth Caliph about an hundred years after this Removall The chief buildings of it of late times till destroyed by the Tartars were a strong Castle in the opinion of those times held to be impregnable and not without great difficulty forced by Tamerlane whom nothing was able to withstand and as Majesticall a Church gamished with fourty suumptucus porches and no fewer then 9000 Lanterns of gold and Silver which with 30000 people in it who fled thither for Sanctuary was by the said Tamerline most cruelly and unmercifully burnt and pulled down unto the ground Repaired by the Mamalucks of Aegypt when Lords of Syria it hath since flourished in Trade the people being industrious and celebrated for most excellent Artizans the branching of Satins and fine Linnen which we call by the name of Damasks being amongst many others one of their inventions Renowned in the Old Testament for the Kings hereof and the birth of Eliezer Abrahams Steward so honourably antient was this City and in the New for the Conversion of Saint Paul who first preached the Gospell in this place and here so narrowly escaped the snares of his enemies that he was fain to
the second Sonne of Saladine succeeded upon this Exchange in the Realm of Damascus murdered not long after by his Uncle Saphradine 8. Saphradine the Brother of Saladine having barbariously murdered eight of the Sonnes of Saladine the youngest called Saphradine escaping onely who was after Sultan of Aleppo possessed himself of the Kingdome of Damascus left at his death to Corradine his Sonne or Nephew 9. Corradine Sonne or Nephew to the Tyrant Saphradine was by him at his death left Sultan of Damascus to which all Syria and Palestine were then made Provincials But the treacheries and murders of Saphradine crying loud for vengeance Haulon the Tartar in the year 1262. having taken the King of Damascus Prisoner but whether Corradine or some other I am not able to say brought him before the walls of the City threatning to kill him in the sight of his people if they did not deliver it unto him Which the Citizens refusing to do the wretched King was torn in peeces and the City taken by assault the Kingdome by the Conquerors conferred upon Agab the Sonne of Haalon And so ended the Selzuccian family of the Kings of Damascus in the person of Corradine or the Sonne of Corradine most miserably murdered by the Tartars as it had done in Egypt 17 years before in the person of Melechsela and Elmutam the Sonne of Meledine as villainously disposed and murdered by the Mamalucks So slippery is the foundation of those Kingdomes which are laid in blood Nor did this Kingdome hold long in the hands of the Tartars recovered from them in short time by the Mamalucise then Kings of Egypt from them once more regained by the furious Tamerlane who in the year 1400. besieged Damascius with an Army of 1200000. men if the number be not mistaken and one Cypher added more than should in pursuite whereof he filled up the ditches with his Prisoners put all the people to the sword and with great art raised three Towers as a trophey of his victory built with the heads of those whom he had so slaughtered A man so strangely made up of vice and vertues that it is hard to say which had the predominancie But the violence of this tempest being overblown the Mamalucks from whom he had also conquered the Kingdome of Egypt recovered Syria by degrees and repaired Damascus continuing in their power till the year 1516 when Selimus the first discomsited amâ—sâ—n Gaurus the Aegyptian Sultan in the fields of Aleppo Upon the newes whereof the Citizens of Damascus fearing the spoil of their rich City then of very great trading set open their Gates unto the Victors as did all the other Cities and Towns of Syria by their Example By means whereof without any more blows the Turks became Lords of all this Country as the next year of Egypt also by the vanquishment and death of Tonombeius who succeeded Campson so rooting out the name and government of the Mamalucks and adding those rich Kindomes to the Turkish Empire And so much for Syria MOVNT HERMON IN our passage out of Coele-Syria into Palestine we must cross Mount Hermon a ledge of hills which beginning at the East point of the Anti-Libanus bend directly South in different places and by several Nations called by divers names By Ptolomy called Alsadamus by the Amorites Samir by the Phoenicians Syrion by that name remembered in the book of Psadmes But Alsadamus they are called onely where they border upon Coele-Syria Where they begin to part the Region of Traconitis from Arabis-Deserta they are called by Moses and the Scriptures Hermon part of the Kingdome of Og the King of Basan as is said Josuah chap. 12. ver 6. Syrion by the Sidonians as is affirmed Deut. chap. 3. v. 9. Running farther after this unto the South they are called Gilead or Galaad by Strabo Trachonitae after the name of the Region along which they pass and are conceived to be the highest part of all Mount Labanus or rather of that long Ridge of Mountains which there take beginining And so we are to understand the words of the Prophet Jeremie saying Galaad tu mihi caput Libani as the Vulgar readeth it That is to say that as the head is the highest part of a man so these hills or this part of them was the highest of all the branches or spurres of Livanus Called Galeed by Jacob from that heap of stones which was there laid by Laban and Jacob to be a witness of the Covenant which was made betwixt them Con. 31 ver 27. the word signifying in the Original an heap of Witnesses And Laban said this heap 〈◊〉 between me and thee this day therefore was the name of it called Galeed ver 28. By these hills and the main body of the Anti-Libanus lying on the North and the Mountaines of Phoenicia and lanmaea on the West the land of Palestine is so shut up on every side that no Foretress can be stronger by wit or Art than that Countrey by Nature the passages in some parts so narrow as hardly to afford passage for a single person Clauditur undig montibus hinc abruptis rupibus et profundis vallibus concursu Torrentium inde altis et implexis anfractibus sic contractis ut per angustos colles vix pateat transitus viatori as my Author hath it I forgot to adde that that part of these hills which commonly is known in Scripture by the name of Hermon is in one place thereof called Sihon as Deut 4 ver 48. where it is said that the Israelites possessed the Land from Aroer on the bank of the River Arnon even to Mount Sion which is Hermon as also that one of the highest tops or Summits of it had the name of Amana alluded to by Solomon in the fourth of the Canticles by some mistaken for Amanus a branch of Taurus which divides Syria from Cilicia in the Lesser Asia with which Solomon had but small or no acquaintance And so having cleared our selves of so much of this Mountain as lay before us in our way we palestine where we shall meet with it again or rather with the Western parts and branches of it under the names of Gilead and Trachonitis as a part of that Country OF PALESTINE PALESTINE is bounden on the East with the Hills last mentioned by which parted from Coelo-Syria and Arabia-Deserta on the West with the Mediterranean Sea and some part of Phoenicia on the North with the Anti-Libanus which divides 〈◊〉 from Syria and the rest of Phoenicia and on the South with some part of Arabia Petraea It was first called Palestine from the Philistims the most potent Nation of those parts A name first found in the History of Herodotus but generally used in times succeeding by the Greeks Romanâ— And this I look on as the proper and adaequate name of the whole Countrey according to the bounds before laid down the others by which commonly called being more restrained and properly belonging to so much
either because it hath no visible enflux into the Ocean nor is at all increased with the waters of this River and many other Torrents which fall into it or because no living creature is nourished it it suffocated with the bituminous savour which it sendeth forth from the abundance of which matter it is also called Lacus Alphaltites Nigh hereunto stood the once-famous Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with three others more whence the valley had the name of Pentapolis destroyed for their abominations by a fire from heaven now fruitful in shew onely but not in substance the fruits here growing being very fair unto the eye sed levi tactu pressa in vagum fâ—tiscunt pulverem but if touched moulder into ashes as Solinus hath it Chief Hills and Mountains of it besides Anti-Libanns and Mount Hermon spoken of already which be onely borderers are 1. Mount Sion memorable for the Tower of David which was built upon it called frequently the Holy Hill of Sion 2. Mount Moriah famous for the intended sacrifice of Isaac and the Temple of Solomon 3. Mount Calvarie on which CHRIST suffered supposed to be the burial place of our Father Adam 4. Mount Tabor on which our Saviour was transfigured 5. Mount Oliver from which he ascended into Heaven 6. Mount Garizim whereon stood the Samaritans Temple their ordinary place of worship mentioned Iohn 4. 20. 8. The Mountains of Saron stretching with intermixed vallies from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean notfar from Tyre there ending in a white cliff and for that cause called Capo Bianco by the Sayler The whole Mountain pleasantly enriched with the fragant smells of Rosemary Sweet Marjoram Hyssop Baies and other odoriferous plants which do grow their naturally but for all that destitute of any other Inhabitants than Leopards Boars Jaccalls and such savage Creatures 9. the Mountains of Gilboa the highest on the West of Iordan as 10. those of Basan celebrated for their height in the book of Psalmes and 11. those of Abarim on the East side of it from one of the Summits of which last called Nebo by some writers Pasgah the Lord gave Moses a Survey of the Land of Promise As for this whole Countrey comprehended in the name of Palestine it hath had divers divisions according to the quality of the People or the will of those who have been formerly Masters of it Divided first betwizt the Philistims Perezites Hittites Jebusites and others of the sonnes of Canaan on this side Jordan the Moabites Ammonites Midianites and Amorites dwelling on the other When conquered by the sonnes of Jacob it was divided into the twelve Tribes of 1. Iudah 2. Benjamin 3. Simeon 4. Dan 5. Aser 6. Nephthali 7. Zabuton 8. Issachar 9. Gad 10. Reuben 11. Epbraim and 12. Manasseth When that great breach was made by Iereboam in the Kindome of David it was broken into the two Kingdomes of Iudah and Israel of which the first contained onely the two Tribes of Iudah and Benjamin the latter comprehending the other ten When the Israelites were led captive into Assyria and a new set of People planted in their rooms those new-comers from Samaria their capitall City had the name of Samaritans And when the men of Iudah were released of their long captivity and came back from Babylon they took to themselves the name of Iewes after which time the whole Countrey of Palestine antiently possessed or subdued by the seed of Abraham was divided into 1. Peraea 2. Ituraea 3. Galilee 4. Samarin 5. Iudaea and 6. Idumaea When conquered by the Romans all these were joined into one Province which for a time was reckoned as a part of Syria or at least subordinate But Constantine not liking of the one or the other went a way by himself and cast it into three Provinces viz. 1. Palestina Prima 2. Palestina Secunda and 3. Palestina Salutaris the Metropolis of the first being Caesarea Palestinae of the second Samaria of the third Hierusalem But this division of Constantines growing out of use we will adhere unto to the former beginning first with those parts hereof which lay on the other side of Iordan because first conquered and possessed by the house of Israel who at that gate found entrance into the rest and coming round to Idumaea which last of all these Provinces was added to the State of Iewry In the Chorographis whereof 1 must confess my self a Debtor to Sir Walter Raleigh whose industry herein hath saved me a great deal of search though sometimes I make bold to differ from him add to him as I see occasion PERAEA PERAEA is that part of Palestine which lieth betwixt the River Iordan and the mountains of Arnon which divide Palestine from Syria and Arabia East and West and reacheth from Pellis in the North to Petra the chief Town of Arabia Petraea in the South By Pliny it is made to bend more towards Egypt who describes it thus Peraea Judeae pars est ulterior Arabiae Egypto proxima asperis dispersa montibus á coeteris Indaeis Jordane amne discreta Peraea saith he is the furtherst part of Iudaea neighbouring Arabia and Egypt interspersed with rough and craggy mountains and parted from the rest of the Iews by the River Iordan So called from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in regard of the situation of it on the other side of that River and not improperly might be rendred by Trans-Iordana Blessed with a rich soil and large fields beset with divers trees especially of Olive Vines and Palms The habitation in times past of the Midianites Amorites and Ammonites as also of the two Tribes of Gad and Reuben Of all which I shall speak in order beginning with the Midianites and the Children of Lot as the first occupants hereof upon the knowlege of whose affairs the state and story of the Israelites hath so much dependance And first the MADIANITES inhabited on the South-East of the Dead Sea at the very entrance of the Countrey descended from one or more of the five Sonnes of Madian the Sonne of Abraham by Keturah mentioned Gen. 25. v. 4. Who leaving the rest of their brethren to seek themselves new habitations more towards the banks of the Red Sea and the desarts of Arabia Petraea continued neer unto the place of Abrahams dwelling and mingling with the Moabites and Canaanites in blood and Mariages came in short time to lose all the knowlege of the true God and to worship Idols as the rest of their neighbours did Their chief Cities were 1. Recon built by one of the five Kings of the Midianites which was slain by Iosuah afterwards called Selah 2 Kings 14. 7. accounted at that time a City of the Edomites next of the Ismaelites or Arabians and by them called Hagar Best known unto the Greeks and Romans by the name of Petra and by that name we shall take further notice of it when we come to Arabia 2. Midian on the banks of the Dead Sea the
amongst those I reckon 1. Gerra 2. Elere 3. Nelaxa 4. Adrama all named by Ptolomy and all placed by him in the Longitude of 70 degrees or upwards more towards the East than well agreeth with the position of this Countrey or any part of Belying more towards the West than Trachonitis though to that part of Ituraea by him ascribed Hither also I refer the City of 5. Tishbe the Countrey of old Tobit and the Prophet Elias 6. Tob where Jophes lived in exile when oppreffed by his Brethren till the necessities of his Countrey called him to the publick government and 7. Hippus at the foot of those Mountains reckoned amongst the Cities of Coele-Syria 2. BATANEA is that part of Ituraea which antiently made up the best and greatest part of the Kingdome of Basan whence it had this name the changing of S to T as Assyria into Attyria and the like being usuall among the Greeks But that Kingdome being brought to an end by Moses it was given to the half tribe of Manasses so called of Manasses the Sonne of Joseph of whom there were found at the first muster neer Mount Sinai 32200 men able to bear armes which though consumed in the Desarts yet were they of such a swift increase that there were found 52700 fighting men of them when rhey passed over Jordan Their Territory on that side of the River streching from Jaboc on the South to the Realm of Gessur on the North and from the mountains unto Jordan East and West was exceeding fertile repenished withall sorts of Cattel and adorned with the goodliest Woods in that part of the World the Oakes of Basan being celebrated in the Holy Scriptures It had in it 60. fenced Cities when first conquered by those of this Tribe The principall of which 1. Pella formerly called Butis but being rebuilt by Seleucus the Great King of Syria was by him called Pella with reference to a City of that name in Macedon the birth-place of Alexander to whom Seleucus owed his greatness and whole estate Destroyed by Alexander Jannaeus King of the Jews because not willing to admit of the Law of Moses it was afterwards restored by Pompey to its former lustre Memorable in Church-story for the Admonition or premonishment given by a voice from Heaven to the Christians dwelling at Hierusalem to remove thence and dwell at Pella that so they might escape that destruction which the Roman Army under Titus was to bring upon it 2. Edrey the Seat-Royall of the Kings of Basan 3. Carnaim on the banks of Jaboc taken by Judas Maccabaeus who set fire on the Temple of the Idols there and burnt therein all such as sled thither for sanctuary 4. Ephror a strong City upon Jordan taken and burnt by the same Judas Maccabaeus for refusing to give a passage to his Army 5. Jabesh Gilead more neer unto the Mountains whence it had that Adjunct memorable in the Scriptures for the siege of Nabas King of the Ammonites the raising of that siege by Saul and the gratitude of the People towards him again in taking down imbalming and intombing the bodies of him and his Sonnes which the Philistims had most delpitefully hanged on the walls of Bethsan 6. Astaroth a City of great note in the Elder times the seat of the Rephaims a Giantlike race of men of whom descended Og of Basan from whence the Countrey adjoining had the name of the Land of giantâ— Astaroth the Godess of the Sidonians had here her worshippers 7. Gaulon sometimes possessed by Og of Basan and afterwards made one of the Cities of Refuge of such esteem in the times of the Greeks and Romans that the North part of Basanitis or Batanea was called Gaulonitis divided into Superior and Inferior so often mentioned by Josephus And of this City or Countrey was that Judas of Galâ—lee spoken of in the sift of the Acts the Founder of the Gaulonites or Anti-Herodians 8. Gamala in the Lower Gaulonitis so called because the Hill upon which it stood was fashioned like the back of a Camel invincibly situate strengthned both by Art and Nature and at the last with so great difficulty and hazard of Vespasians person stormed by Titus that the Romans in the heat of the execution spared neither Women nor Children insomuch that all the Inhabitants perished except some few Women which had hid themselves 9. Gadara after ten moneths siege taken and destroyed by Alexander Jannaeus King of the lews repaired by Pompey and by Gabinius made one of the five feats of Justice for the whole Countrey of Palestine the other four being Hierusalem Iericho Hamath and Sephorah 10. Gerasa or Gergesa the Chief City of the Gergesites the people whereof on the loss of their Swine intreated our Saviour to depart out of their costs as Saint Matthew hath it Saint Luke and Saint Mark ascribe it to the People of Gadara not that the Cities were both one or the Evangelists at ods in the Relation but because they were two neighbouring Cities and their fields lay in Common pour cause de vicinage as our Lawyers phrase it and so the storie might be common to both alike 11. Hippus not far from the River Iordan so called from a Garrison of Horse there placed by Herod not from the Mountain Hippus as some suppose which is too far off to have any influence upon it 12. Iulias built by Philip the Tetrarch of Ituraea in the Southern border of his estate in imitation of the like work of Herod the Tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea to ingratiate himself with Iulia the wife of Tiberius Caesar 13. Abel by Iosephus called Abel Maacha for distinctions sake where Sheba that Grand Rebell being besieged by Ioab and the City brought into some danger had his head cut off and thrown over the wall at the perswasion of a wife woman of the Town So the rebellion ended and the City was saved North of Basanitis or Batanea lieth the Kingdome of GESSVR by a latter name called AVRANITIS from Hauran a chief City of it mentioned by the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 16. 18. A Kingdome spoken of by Moses as the Northern bound of the Half Tribe of Manasses on that side of Iordan Deut. 4. 14. by Iosuah as the Northern border of the Kingdome of Basar chap 12. 5 but reckoned as a part of Syria because held by the Aramites 2 Sam. 15. 8. A Kingdome though of no great territorie yet of some consideration in the eye of the World David esteeming the alliance of the Kings hereof of some use unto him and therefore marying Maacha the daughter of Tolmui King of Gessur by whom he had Absolom and Tamar And to this King it was that Absolom fled on the killing of Amnon abiding here three years as the storie telleth us Conterminus to this or at least not very much distant from it was the petit Kingdome of Isk-â—ob which sent 12000. men to the aid of the Ammonites against David and not far off but more
not far off the Mountain where Abdia the Steward of Ahab hid the hundred Prophets whom he preserved against the fury of Iezabel finally to this City it was that S. Paul was conveyed by the command of Lysias to save him from the Iews who lay in wait to destroy him 2. The Tribe of EPHRAIM was so called from Ephraim the second and youngest sonne of Joseph of whom were mustered in the Desarts 45000 fighting men and 32500 in the Land of Canaan where their lot fell betwixt this half Tribe of Manasses on the North and the Tribes of Dan and Benjamin upon the South extending from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Places of most consideration 1. Sâ—râ—n on the Mediterranean to the South of Antipuris mentioned Acts 9. 35. and giving name unto that fruitfull valley which reacheth from Caesarea Palestinae as far as Joppa 2. Lydda upon the same shores where Saint Peter virtute Christi non sua cured Aeneas of the Palsey By the Gentiles it was called Dâ—ospolis or the City of Jupiter but by the Christians in the time of the holy wars it had the name of the St. Georges partly from a Magnificent Temple which the Emperour Justinian there errected to the honour of that blessed Mâ—rtyr but principally from an opinion which they had amongst them that he suffered martyrdome in that place An opinion founded on mistakes first of a Cenoâ—aphium or an empty Monument errected in this City to preserve his memory for the grave in which he was interred the other in taking the word Passio used in the Marâ—â—yrologies for the place of his suffering which is meant onely of the story or celebration But howsoever they intituled it by the name of Saint Georges as was said before and made it on that accompt also an Episcopall See 3. Ramatha or Aâ—amathea a City of the Levites supposed to be the dwelling of Joseph who begged of Pilate the bodie of CHRIST 4. Helon or Aâ—alon a City of the Levites also 5. Themnath-Chares given by the Israelites to Iosuah who enlarged the same and made it a strong and goodly City honoured with the sepulchre of that brave Commander one of the nine Worthies of the World and afterwards made one of the Prefectures of Judaea by the name of Thamnitica 6. Adasa or Adarsâ— where Iudas Maccabaeus with 3000 Iews overthrew the Army of Nicanor 7. Ieâ—eti called otherwise Pelethi which gave name and birth unto the Pâ—lethites part of Davids guard under the governance of Benaiah 8. Silo situate on the top of a lofty mountain the receptacle of the Ark till taken and carryed thence by the Philistims 9. Michmas the habitation of Jonathan one of the Maccabaean Brethren situate in the middle way from Samaria to Hierusalem now called Byra 10. Nâ—â—oth where Saul prophesied 11. Bethoron a City of the Levites beautified by Solomon but made more famous by the great and notable overthrow which Judas Maccabaeus here gave to Lysias 12. Pirhatlon on the Mountain Amaleâ— the City of Abdon the Judge of Israel 13. Siâ—heâ— called also Sichor the habitation in the old times of Sichem the father of that Hamor who deâ—lâ—ured Dâ—na the daughter of Jacob the City for that cause destroyed by Simeon and Levi repaired again and afterward by Abimelech levelled with the ground a third time re-edified by Ieroboam the Sonne of Nâ—baâ— and a third time ruined by the Kings of Damascus yet notwithstanding these blowes it was of good esteem in the time of our Saviour who abode in it two daies and converted many Memorable for Iacobs Well which was very neer it more for its neighbourhood to Mount Garizam where the blessings were to be read to the people of which see Deut. 11. 27. and Ios 8. 23. and where afterwards was built a magnificent Temple for the use of the Samaritan Nation at the cost and charge of Sâ—â—bâ—â—â— a great Prince amongst them Who having marryed his Daughter to Manasses brother of Iaddus the Priest of the Iews and fearing he would put her away to avoid the sentence of excommunication which he was involved in for that match promised him that if he would retain her he would build a Tample answerable unto that of Hierusalem and make him the Hiâ—â—h Priest thereof which was doâ—e accordingly But this Temple had not stood above 200 hundred years when destroyed by Hyroâ—â—â—â— the Mâ—cabaeâ—n the place remaining notwithstanding a place of worship as appeareth Ioh. 4. 20 As for the City of Sichem or Sichor it was by the Grecians called Neâ—â—olis afterwards made a Colony by the Emperour Vespasian who caused it to be called Flâ—â—â—â— Caesarea of which Colony was that renowned Iustin Martyr 14. Samaria the Metropolis of the Kingdome of Israel founded by Omri one of the Kings thereof on the top of the Mountain Samrom which overlooketh all the bottom as far as the Se-coast whence it had the name A stately and magnificent City conjectured by Brochardus who had traced the antient ruins of it to be bigger than Hierusalem Destroyed by the Assyrians when they carryed away the Ten Tribes but afterwards repaired again and again beaten to the ground by the Sonnes of Hyranus above-mentioned But Herod the Great who was pleased with the situation of it did a-again re-edifie it in more stately manner than before as appeareth by the great store of goodly Marble pillars and other carved stones in great abundance found amongst the rubbish and having rebuilt it to has mind inclosed it with a strong wall and beautifyed it with a goodly Temple in honour of Augustus Caesar whom the Greeks call Sebastos he caused it to be called Sebaste Memorable after this new erection for the Sepulchre of Iohn Baptist and being made the Metropolis of Palestin Secundâ— by consequence an Arch-Bihops See now nothing but a few Cottages filled with Grecian Monkes Nor were the Samaritans themselves so called from this their principall City less subject to the vicissitudes and change of fortune than the City was Descended for the most part from the Assyians and such other Nations as were sent thither to fill up the empty places of the Captive Tribes but called Cuâ—â—â—ans by the Jewes either because most of them were of Cuth a Region of Persia as Josephus telleth us which is now called Chuzestan or else by way of scorn for Chusites as being of the posterity of the accursed Cham by Chus his sonne Having imbraced the Law of Moses they began to think better of the Jews than the other Nations but fitted their affections to the change of times it being the observation of the said Iosephus that as often as the Iews were in any prosperity then they called them Cousins and would be of the same Nation with them but when their fortunes were on the declining hand then they were strangers which came thither out of forrain Nations and no kin at all Nor doth he wrong them in that Character For when Alexander the Great had granted the Iews
that is to say from the sending it home by the Philistims till brought to Hierusalem by David 8. Beth-semes to which the Aâ—â— was brought by a yoke of Kine turned loose by the Philistims for irreverent looking into which there were slain by the immediate hand of God no fewer then 50070 persons of this City 9. Tsarah neer which is a fountain called the Fountain of Ethiopia because Philip there baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch 10. Caspin taken with great slaughter by Iudas Maccabaeus 11. Lachis remarkable for the death of Amaziah King of Iudah 12. Aialon a City of the Levites also in the valley whereof the Moon is said to have stood still at the prayers of Iosuah as the Sun did over the City of Gibeon the motion of the Heavens being said that he might have the more time for execution on the Kings of the Canaanites To this Tribe also belonged the Town and Territory of Dan or Leshem afterwards called Caesarea Philippi in the Tribe of NEPHTHALIM whereof we have there spoke already 3. The Tribe of SIMEON was so called from Simeon the second Sonne of Iâ—cob by his first wife Leah of whom were found at the first muster 59300 able men and but 22200 at the second muster when they came into Canaan Where they enjoyed but a small Territory to themselves their lot falling amongst the Philistims whom they were not able to expell and therefore they were taken into the Tribe of Iudah where they were permitted to enjoy some Towns and Villages intermixed with that more potent Tribe Afterwards in the reign of King Hezekiah some of them possessed themselves of Gedar belonging to the Children of Ham and others passing Southwards into Idumaea smote the Amaleâ—ites which inhabited in the Mountains thereof and dwelt in the places by them conquered But for all this wanting room for themselves and their Children many of them undertook the Office of Scribes or Scriveners and dispersed themselves amongst the rest of the Tribes teaching their Children to write and giving themselves to the employment of Publick Notaries God herein verifying the curse which Iacob had denounced on Simeon that he should be divided and scattered in Israel But for their fixed habitation which fell to them by lot it lay betwixt Dan upon the North and Idumaea on the South the Tribe of Iudah on the East and the Philistims upon the West Places of most observation in it 1. Gerar the Royall seat of the two Abimelechs Kings of the Philistims with whom Abraham and Isaac had to do and probably of some other of their Kings and Princes till subdued by the Israelites Situate in the South border of Canaan not far from the Wildernesse of Beersheba but in a very healthfull air called therefore Regio Salutaris in the times succeeding 2. Siceleg or Ziglag belonging to the Philistims till the time of David to whom given by Achish King of Gath for his place of retreat when persecuted by Saul from whom flying he lodged here all his goods and carriages sacked by the Amalekites but the booty recovered from them speedily by the diligence and good fortune of David 3. Haiin a City of the Levites 4. Cariath 〈◊〉 that is to say the City of Books seated within the bounds of Simeon but belonging to Iudah which some hold to be the University or Academie of old Palestine A Citie of the Levites also and at first possessed by the Sonnes of Anak or men of a Gigantine stature but taken by Othomel the Sonne of Kenâ— on the promise and encouragement which was given by Caleb that whosoever took it should have his Daughter Achsah to wife Afterwards it was called Debir Iudg. 1. 11. known in the time of Saint Hierome by the name of Daema 5. Chorma conceived by some to be that place mentioned 〈◊〉 14. 45 to which the Canaanites and Amalekites pursued those of Israel 6. Beershab or 〈◊〉 â—uramenti so called of the Well of waters and the oath which was there sworn betwixt Abraham and Abimelech Gen. 21. 31. Memorable in the Scripture for the Grove which Abraham there planted the wandring of Hagar thereabouts when she was cast out of Abrahams house with her young sonne â—â—mad and the dwelling of Isaac for which cause called the City of Isaac Situate in the extreme South border of the Land of Canaan the length whereof is often measured in the Scripture from this Town to Daâ— and for that cause well fortified by the Western Christians when they were possessed of this Countrey as standing on the borders of Idumaea and the Desarts of Arabia in the way from Egypt 4. The Tribe of IVDAH was so called from Iudah the fourth sonne of Iacob by his wife Leah of whom there were numbred at the first generall muster taken neer Mount Sinai 76600 fighting men and no fewer than 76500 at their entrance into the Land of Canaan The greatest Tribe and therefore answerably fitted with the largest territory bordering on the Dead Sea East upon Simeon West and the Tribe of Benjamin on the North and the Idumaeans on the South Comparatively large with reference to the other Tribes but otherwise unable to contain or feed those infinite multitudes without the extraordinary providence of Almighty God which are recorded to be in it King David mustering 470000 fighting men of this Tribe alone which was more than half the number found in the rest of the Tribes A Tribe which had a native Sovereignty over all the others the Scepter the Legislative power and the worlds Messiah being all promised unto this Places of most observation in it 1. Arad situate in the entrance of Iudaea in the way from the Wilderness of Edom. 2. Hebron one of the antientest Cities of Canaan the seat of Giants called Anakim or the sonnes of Anak This word Anak signifieth a chain worn for ornament and it seemeth that this Anak enriched with the spoils of his enemies wore a chain of Gold leaving both the custome and name to his posterity We read the like of Manlius Torquatus in the Roman Histories This Town did Abraham buy for a buriall place for his dead and in it his wife Sarah was first buried and after her four of the Patriarchs Adjoyning to this town is the plain of Mamre where Abraham the Father of the faithfull sitting in his Tent was visited from Heaven by God in the shape of man Here David kept his Court before the winning of Hierusalem to this place came the Tribes to anoint him King over Israel and hither came Absalon under the pretence of paying his vowes to usurp the Kingdome of his Father 3. Tecoa the City of Amos the Prophet and also of that woman who by the words which Ioab put into her mouth perswaded the King to call Absolon from exile In the Wilderness of this Tecoa there assembled the Inhabitants of Moab Ammon and Mount Seir to overthrow Iuda But the Lord being appeased by the publique Fast proclamed and kept by Iehosaphat and
story see at large in the Book of the Indges chap. 19 20 21. The territories of this Tribe lay betwixt those of Ephraim on the North and Iudah on the South having the Dead-Sea to the East and Tribe of Dan to the West-ward of them The chief of their Towns and Cities were 1. Micmas the incamping place of Saul 1 Sam. 13. 2. and the abiding place of Ionathan one of the Maccaboean brethren 1 Macc. 9. 73. 2. Mispah famous in being the ordinary place of assembly for the whole body of the people in matters of warre or peace as also in that standing in the midst of Canaan it was together with Gilgal made the seat of justice to which Samuel went yearly to give judgement to the people 3. Gebah the North border of the Kingdome of Iudah toward Israel 4. Gibeah the Countrey of Saul the first King where the a busing of the Levites wife by the young men of this Town had almost rooted the Tribe of Renjamin out of the garden of Israel 5. At a great and strong City in the siege of which the Israels were first discomfited but when by the death of Achan who had stoln the accursed thing the Camp was purged Josuah by a warlike stratagem surprised it 6. Gibeon the mother City of the Gibeonites who presaging the unresistable victories of the Israelites came to the Camp of Josuah and by a wile obtained peace of Josuah and the People Emploied by them in hewing wood and drawing water for the use of the Tabernacle after the fraud was made known unto them called Nethinims Ezr. 43. from Nathan which signifies to give because they were given to the service of the Tabernacle first of the Temple after Saul about four hundred years after slew some of them for which fact the Lord caused a famine on the land which could not be taken away till seven of Sauls sonnes were by David delivered unto the Gibeonites and by them hanged This famine did God send because in killing those poor Gibeonites the Oath was broken which Josuah and the Princes swore concerning them In defence of those Gibeonites it was that Josuah waged war against the Kings of the Canaanites and staied the motion of the Sun by his fervent praiers 7. Jericho destroied by the sound of Rams-horns was not onely levelled by Josuah to the ground but a curse inflicted on him that should attempt the re-building of it This curse notwithstanding at the time when Ahab reigned in Israel which was about five hundred years after the ruine of it Hiel a Bethelite delighted with the pleasantness of the place reedified it But as it was foretold by Iosuah as he laid the foundation of the wals he lost his eldest Sonne and when he had finished it and was setting up the gates thereof he lost also the younger It may be Hiel when he began his work minded not the prophecy it may be he believed it not peradventure he thought the words of Iosuah not so much to proceed from the spirit of prophecy as from an angry and vexed heart they being spoken in way of wish or execration And it is possible it may be he chose rather to build the eternity of his name on so pleasant and beautifull a City than on the lines and issues of two young men 8. Anathoth the birth-place of the Prophet Ieremy and the patrimony of Abiathar the high Priest sent hither by the command of Solomon as to a place of his own when deposed from his Office by that King 9. Nob called 1 Sam. 22. 19. the Cit of the Priests destroyed by Saul for the relief which Abimelech the high Priest had given to David the Aâ—k of the Lord then residing there 10. Gilgaâ— upon the banks of Iordan where Iosuah did first eat of the fruits of the Land and kept his first Passeover where he circumcised such of the People as were born during their wandring in the Wilderness and nigh to which he set up twelve stones for a Memorial to posterity that the waters of Jordan did there divide themselves to give passage to the twelve Tribes of Israel where Agag King of the Amalekites was hewen in peeces by Samuel and where Samuel once every year administred Justice to the People For being seated in the midst of the land of Israel betwixt North and South and on the Eastside of the Countrey neer the banks of Iordan it served very fitly for that purpose as Mispah also did which stood in the same distance in regard of the length of the land of Canaan but situate towards the West Sea neer the land of the Philistinis used therefore enterchangeably for the ease of the people 11. Bthel at first called Luz but took this new name in remembrance of the vision which Iacob saw here at his going towards Mesopotamia as is said Gen. 28. 19. It signifieth the house of God and was therefore chosen by Jeroboam for the setting up of one of his Golden Calves though thereby as the Prophet saith he made it to be Beth-aver the house of vanity Osee 4. 15. and 10. 5. For then it was a part of the Kingdome of the Ten Tribe and the Southern border of that Kingdome on the coasts of Ephraim but taken from it by Abijah the King of Judah and after that accounted as a member of his Kingdome till the destruction of it by the Chaldoeans Called with the rest of those parts in the time of the Maccabees by the of Aphoerema which signifieth a thing taken away because taken from the Ten Tribes to which once it belonged 1. Maccab. 11. 34. where it is said to have been taken from the Countrey of Samaria and added unto the borders of Iudoea 12. Ramath another place there mentioned and said to have been added to the Realm of Iudah having been formerly the South border of the Kingdome of Israel and therefore strongly fortified by Baoesha in the time of Asa King of Iudah 13. Chadid or Hadid one of the three Cities the other two being 14. Lod and 15. Ono which were inhabited by the Fenjamites after the Captivity Destroyed in the warres with the Kings of Syria and afterwards rebuilt by Simâ—n the Maccaboean But he chief glory of this Tribe and of all the rest and not so only but of all the whole world besides was the famous City of Hurusalem seated upon a rocky Mountain every way to be ascended with steep and difficult ascents except towards the North environed on all other sides also with some neighbouring mountainets as if placed in the middest of an Amphitheatre It consisted in the time of its greatest flourish of four parts separated by their several Walls as if severall Cities we may call them the Upper City the Lower City the New City and the City of Herod all of them but the Lower City seated upon their severall hills Of these that which we call the City of Herod had formerly been beautified with the houses of many of the
forgetting where they left them sit on those they meet next In that respect accounted for a simple fowl though otherwise of wit enough to preserve themselves keeping in flocks and oftentimes with their fearful shreeches affrighting Passengers to whom they do appear a farre off like a Troop of horsemen Their wings too little for their bodies serve them not for flight but to run more speedily and by that means not easily caught though much laid in wait for for their skins which the people sell unto the Merchant with the feathers on them Nor of less note is the Frankincense though of common use almost peculiar to this Countrey and here but to those parts thereof which were formerly possessed by the Sabi the wood out of which this gum proceedeth being about 100 miles long and 500 broad gathered onely in Spring and Autumn More of this anon The Countrey is much commended by Ammianus for plenty of Rivers the principal whereof are said by Ptolomy to be 1. Betus 2. Prion 3. Harman 4. Lar but the modern names thereof I find not Many fair Lakes and store of large capacious Baies on each coast of the Sea as 1. Sinus Eliniticus 2. Sachalites 3. Leanites 4. Sinus Magoram 5. Sinus Iehthy-phagorum 6. Messanites 7. Sacer Sinus or the holy Bay and 8 the Road or Naval station called Neogilla Mountains of most note 1. Those which are called Melanes at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. 2. Cabubuthra at the entrance of the Red Sea or Gulf of Arabia 3. Hippus 4. Prionotus not far from the River Pyton from whence so denominated 5. Climax 6. The Mountains called Dedymi c. Towns of good note in antient times it had very many no Region affording unto Ptolomy the names of more and amongst those many commodious Ports for trafick the Sea begirting it for the space of three thousand miles and upwards Of most importance and observation in those times were 1. Zabrum 2. Baden 3. Rhabana 4. Carman 5. Manambis 6. Sabe 7. Are the Royal seats of so many severall Kingdomes and therefore honoured by Ptolomy with the title of Regioe Then there are 1. Macoâ—mos 2. Meara 3. Nagara 4 Sabbatha 5. Mapha and 6. Saphar which he called Metropolet as being the head Cities of some severall Nations Amongst the Ports he reckoneth 1. Soâ—ippus 2. Trulla 3. Tretos 4. Cryptus 5. Itamos and 6. Moscha amongst the most noted Empories or Towns of Trafick 1. Musa 2. Ocelis 3. Arabia 4. Cane Besides which there are some which do preserve the memory of their first Plantations as 1. Saphta upon the Persian Gulf to called from Sabta the third Sonne of Chus 2. Rhegama or Regma as the Greek copies of Ptolomy have it so named from Regmoe or Raama his sixt Sonne On the same Gulf also 3. Sabe on the shores of the Red Sea and 4. Sabe Regia more within the Land so named from Seba the eldest Some of the same Chus from whom the rich and potent nation of the Saboeans are to be derived Out of all which and many others by him named we shall take more particular notice of some that follow 1. Musa a noted Port on the entrance of the Red-Sea frequented antiently by the Ethiopian and Egyptian Merchants who there laded their ships with Frankincekse Myrrhe Spices and other commodities of this Countrey bringing in in exchange thereof Saffron corn wine ointments purple dies c. 2. Sabe the Regal Seat of the Kings of the Sabaans particularly of that Queen so memorized in holy Scripture called in the old Testament the Queen of Sheba from her Countrey and place of dwelling in the New Testament the Queen of the South because of the Southern situation of it in respect of Judea said there to come from the furthest parts of the world because there was no part of the world which lay south to the Countrey of the Saboeans over which she reigned Situate on a little Mountain assumed by Agatharcides to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most beautiful by far in all Arabia and the Metropolis of the rich and potent Nation of the Saboeans rich in all the excellencies of Nature espeecially in Frankincense a gum peculiar to them only and growing here in a wood of about 100 miles long and 50 broad not gathered but in the Spring and Autumn nor then without great care and many ceremonies The Countrey hereabouts from hence called Thurifera and this sweet gum appropriated soly to it Sabaei Arabum propter thura clarissimi as we find in Pliny Solis est thurea virga Sabaeis as it is in Virgil and finally Thuriferos felicia Regna Sabaeos in the Argonauticks of Valerius Flaccus It was called also Mariaba and by that name occurreth in some antient Writers 3. Saphar more towards the Persian Gulf on the South-side of the mountain Climax the chief City of the Homerita adorned in times of Christianity with a beautifull Temple 4. Sabbatha or Sabota as Pliny calleth it seated about the middest of the Countrey on the top of an high and lofty hill from whence it had a gallant prospect on the fields adjoyning antiently large and populous and strongly fortified having no fewer than 60 Temples within the walls the principal that consecrated unto Sabis the God of their Nation to whom they offered the tith of their Frankincense ubi decimas Deo quem Sabin vocant mensura non pondere capiunt Sacerdotes as we read in Pliny But these and almost all the rest being grown out of knowledge there have risen in their rooms 1. Egra on the shore of the Red Sea neer the Bay called Sinus Elaniticus by Prolomy called Arga by the Arabians themselves Algiar the Port Town to medina from which about three daies journey distant 2. Jatrib or Jathrib in the way betwixt Aygiar and Medina the birth-place of Mahomet by whom fortified with a mud-wall as his place of retreat in the first beginnings of his fortunes 3. Medina or commonly called Medina Talmabi corrupty for Medinatho-luabi that is to say the City of the Prophet so called from the Sepulchre of Mahomet that vile Imposture which is there to be seen although not in such an iron coffin or drawn up to the roof of the Temple by vertue of an Amant there placed as some deliver The Town situate in a desolate and barren place bordering on Arabia Petroea but of great trade rich and well inhabited the Sepulchre of that false Prophet drawing thither a continuall resort of Pilgrims The Temple gorgeous having 3000 lamps in it which burn continually The Sepulchre or Tomb inclosed within an Iron grate but of no magnificence or beauty covered with a carpet of Green Velvet which is sent hither yearly by the Grand Signeur the old one being taken off and cut into innumerable shreds or peeces and sold for Relicks by the Priests to such as come in Pilgrimage thither to their great enriching 4. Cufa the ordinary residence of the first Caliphs till
Ratze 7. 939 321 7. Muctade 4. 943 325 8. Musteraphs 2. 947 325 9. Macia and Taia 44. 989 361 10. Kadar 41. 1030 412 11. Kaim 5. 1035 417 12. Muctadi 60. 1095 477 13. Mustetaher 22. 1117 499 14. Musteraschad 18. 1135 517 15. Raschid 25. 1160 542 16. Musteneged 9. 1169 551 17. Mustazi 10. 1179 561 18. Narzi 39. 1225 597 19. Taher 20. Mustenatzer 1255 638 21. Mustatzem the last Caliph or High-Priest of the Saracens of Bagdet or Babylon living in the accompt of a Prince or an Emperour or looked on as the Supreme Lord of the Saracen Empire starved in his Castle of Bagdet and his whole posterity rooted out by Allan or Halon the Tartar in the first year of his reign Yet there is still remaining a carcass of the old body one whom they call Caliph at whose hands the neighbour Princes use to receive their Diadems and regalities so we find Solyman the Magnificent after his conquest of Chaldaea Mesopotamia and Assyria to have been by one of these poor titulary Caliphs Crowned King of Babylon Anno 1513. This unwieldy body of the Saracen Empire having thus two heads began apparently to decline losing to the Kings of Leon and Oviede the greatest part of Spain to the Genoese Sardinia and Corsica to the Normans Naples and Sicily and finally most of their Empire with their very names to the Turks and Tartars For Allan or Haallon a Tartarian Captain starved Mustatzem the Babylomon Caliph in his Tower of Bagdet and rooted out all his posterity and Sarracon the first Turkish King of Egypt brained the last Aegyptian Caliph with his horsemans Mace leaving not one of his issue or kindred surviving The office of the Caliphs is now executed in the Turks Dominion by the Mufti or chief Priest of the Turkish Mahometans As Mars shewed himself a friend unto those Moors in their warres and triumphs so also did Phoebus powre down no less ceiestial influence on such as addicted themselves to Scholarship Bagdet in Chaldaea Cairo in Fess Morocco in Barbary and Corduba in Spain were their Universities out of which came the Philosophers Avicen and Averroes the Phisicians Rhasis and Mosue the Geographers Leo and Abilfada almost all the Textuarie profound Writers as Halt Algazel Albumazar c. in Astrology from whom a great part of our Astrommicall and Astrologicall termes are borrowed There is now no Kingdome Iland or Province which acknowledgeth the Empire of the Saracons but the Kingdome of Fess and Morocco ovely Arabia it self the very first seat of their power acknowledgeing a subjection to the Turkish Empire For first Petraes and Deserta being subdued by the Turks when they conquered Persia or otherwise following the fortunes of the present Victor were afterwards accounted of as subject unto the Mamalucks of Egypt who out of that Countrey and all Syria had by degrees diffeized the Selzucci in Family And as the vassals of that Crown though but Subjects at will they more molested Selimus in his march towards Egypt by falling on his Rear and terrifying him with their night-Alarms than all the forces of the Mamalucks in the field against him But Egypt being subdued and the Mamaluths utterly destroyed some of their Chiefes being gained by money and the rest by promise of preserment the whole Nation of these wild Arabs swore alleageance to him continuing in accompt as Subjects unto his Successors but in effect doing what they list governed as formerly by the Chieses of their severall Clannes and in their Robberies taking no more notice of the Turk than they do of the Christians And as for Felix it continued also in a free condition in respect of any forrein power till of late times the Turks and Portugals entrenched upon them For in the year 1538. Solyman Bassa Admirall of the Turkish Fleet against the Pontugals who had diverted the trade of the Red Sea and otherwise given offence to Solyman the Magnificent by aiding the Persians went with a strong Army to take Din a Town and Iland of East-India then in their possession But being unable to effect it at his coming back he called in at Aden one of the best traded Ports of Arabia Felix invited the King thereof aboard most trecherously hanged him and surprized the City The like he also did to the King of Zibit the Port Town to Mecca and by that means got possession of all the Coasts of this Countrey bordering on the Red Sea or Gulf of Arabia of which the Turks still continue Masters But in the inland parts and towards the Persian Gulf of no power at all not suffered to travell up and down without a Pass from some of the Arabian Chiefes or if they do in danger to be set upon by the Natives who brook them not Some parts hereof which lie next unto the Isle of Ormus made one Kingdome with it but the Kings originally of this Countrey by whom the City of Ormus was first builded and so continued till the taking of Ormus by the Portugals Anno 1622. who since the taking of that Isle by the King of Persia hold Muskahat and some other peeces upon this Continent The residue of the Countrey cantonned amongst a company of petit Princes as in former times before ambition taught them to devour one another And so much for Arabia 6 CHALDAEA 7 ASSYRIA 8 MESOPOTAMIA THese Provinces which properly and originally constituted the Assyrian Empire I have joined together in the Title because united in the story and affairs thereof though severally to be considered in the description and Chorographie of them CHALDAEA is bounded on the East with Susiana a Province of Persia on the West with Arabia Deserta on the North with Mesopotamia and on the South with the Persian Bay and the rest of Deserta Originally called Chasdam from Chesed the fourth Sonne of Nachor the brother of Abraham Chesed quoque quartus est à quo Chasdim idest Chaldaei postea vocati sunt as Saint Hierome hath it But why the Chaldeans should derive their name from Chesed being a People long before Cheseds birth I am not able to determine unless he taught them the first Principles of the Art of Astronomy or was the Author of some signall benefit unto them which we know not of It was called afterwards Babylonia from Babylon the chief City of it and at this day by Bellonius Azamia by the Arabians Keldan by the Turks Curdistan But the name of Chaldaea sometimes went beyond these bounds taking in somepart also of Mesopotania as appeareth by that passage of Saint Stephen saying Acts 7. v. 2 3 4. That the God of glory appeared to our Father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Charran And said unto him Get thee out of this Countrey and from thy Kindred and come into the Land which I said shew thee Then came be out of the Land of the Chaldees and dwelt in Charran c. Where clearly that part of
Patriarch of the Armenians at their first separarion from the See of Constantinople the Metropolis at that time of all Armenia so named in honour of Augustus whom the Greeks call Sebastos But of late divested of that dignity the Patriarchall See by reason of the fierce wars raging in this Countrey betwixt the Persians and the Turks being removed to the Monastery of Ecmeazin neer the City of Ervan in Persia in the dominions of which King these Armenian Christians live in great abundance by the name of Jelphelins 3. Tigraneceria beautified and inlarged if not first founded by Tigranes above-mentioned by whom replenished with people of severall Nations whose Countries he had taken from them and enriched in a manner with the wealth of all his Kingdome there being no Armenian either Prince or Paisant who sent not somewhat towards the adorning of it But taken by Lucullus without great resistance those severall Nations not agreeing amongst themselves and therein besides other Treasure no less than 8000 Talents in ready money The City situate neer a River which Tacitus calleth Nicesorius 4. Arsamosata by Pliny called Arsimote on the banks of Euphrates 5. Cholna so called in memory of Hul or Chul the sonne of Aram one of the first Planters of this Countrey 6. Baraza by the Emperor Leo much enlarged and beautified dignified with the new name of Leontopolis and for a while made the Metropolis of the Province 7. Arsâ—rata by Strabo called Arxata 8. Theodosiopolis built on the foundation of some of the more antient Cities by the Emperor Theodosius and of him thus named 9 Colonia the strongest and most defensible City hereof when possessed by the Romans 10. Clamassun a strong Town on the banks of Euphrates taken by Selimus the first in his way towards Persia and therewith livery and seisin of the rest of this Countrey since wholly conquered by his Successors 12. Chars not far from the same River also supposed to be the Chorsa of Ptolomy of which not long since the ruins onely but in three weeks so repaired and fortified by the Turks Anno 1579. that it is thought to be impregnable 13. Thespia giving name of old to the Lake Thespitis and to the Region called Thespites but now not in being 14. Arminig now of greatest name and esteemed the Metropolis of this Countrie situate in that part of the Lake of Vaslan the Martiana palus of the antient writers which lieth next to this Countrey and by that well fortified the onely City of Armenia possessed by the Persians who are the Lords of all that Lake of which more hereafter 15. Van both for natural situation and the works of art accompted by the Turks for their strongest Bulwark in these parts against the Persians and for that cause well garrisoned and as well munitioned This Countrey was first planted by Hul or Chul the sonne of Aram and by Mesech one of the sonnes of Japhet who with their families or Colonies possessed the same the one leaving the remainder of his name in the Montes Moschici the other in the Town called Cholna and the Region called Colthene by Ptolomy Cholobatene by Stephanus Advanced to the honour of a Kingdome assoon as any that of Babel excepted Ninus the third from Nimrod finding Barzanes King hereof whom he forced to acknowledge his superiority and to aid him in his warres against Zoroaster the King of Bactria Kings of most note in times succeeding for we have no constant Cata legue of them were 1. Araxes who being warred on by the Persians was promised victory by the Oracle on the sacrifice of his two fair daughters Willing to satisfie the Gods and yet spare his children he sacrificed two of the daughters of Musalcus a noble man of this Countrey by whom in revenge hereof his own daughters were slain and himself so closely followed that swiming the River then called Helmns he was therein drowned and thereby gave unto that River the name of Araxes 2. Artaxa the founder of the great City Artaxata spoken of before 3. Tigranes the most mightie King that ever reigned in Armenia to which he added by his prowess Galatia and a great part of Cilicia in Asia Minor the whole Countreys of Media Syria and Phoenicia But siding with Mithridates whose daughter he had maryed against the Romans he was by Lucullus overthrown in two grea battels and outed of the greatest part of his dominions Hearing that Pompey had succeeded Lucullus in command of the Army and trusting more unto his goodness than a wiseman would he put himself into his power by whom condemned in a great sum of money for the charge of the war and stripped of all the rest of his estates he was suffered to enjoy Armenta Major Syria being made a Province Sophene given to Ariobarzanes King of Cappadocia Media left unto it self and the lesser Armenia conferred on one of his Sonnes who being found guilty of some practice with the King of Parthia was carryed Prisoner unto Rome and his Countrey brought into the form of a Province 4. Artavasdes circumvented by Mar. Antonie who led him Prisoner to Rome but catenis i.e. quid honori ejus deesset aureis as the Historian tells us of him it was in chaines of Gold for his greater honour giving Armenia to one of the sonnes of Cleopatra And though 5. Artaxias recovered his Fathers Kingdome yet he and his Successors held it but as Vassals of the Roman Empire the Senate after that confirming and sometimes nominating the Armeni in Kings Continuing in this estate till the time of Trajan it was by him reduced to the form of a Province made after that a part of the Pontick Diocese who adding Mesopotamia also unto his dominions make Tigris the Eastern border of his Empire which Augustus thought fit to limit with the banks of Euphrates But long it held not in that form being governed by its own Kings as it was before Trajans time in the reign of Constantius Julian and the Emperors following whom they acknowledged and revered as their Lords in chief till the time of Justinian the second he began his Empire Anno 687. when subdued by the Saracens Recovered by that Emperour but soon lost again it continued subject to the Saracens till the breaking in of the Turks Anno 844. of whom more anon The greatest part of the Turks emptying themselves into Persit and other Countreys which they took from the Eastern Emperors the Christians of Armenia began to take heart again and to have Kings of their own by whom governed till again subdued by Occadan or Hoccata sonne of Cingis the first Cham of the Fartars Nor did the Tartars make so absolute a conquest of it as to extinguish either Christianity or the race of the Kings Haithon surnamed Armentus reigning after this and going in person to Mangu the great Cham of Tartarie Anno 1257. And in our own Chronicles in the reign of King Richard the second we find mention of one Leon an
and in the end possessed himself of the City of Nice not long before the Imperiall Seat of the Grecian Emperors Emboldned with such great successes and heating of the death of Aladins the second whom he acknowledged for his Lord he took unto himself the Title of Sultan Anno 1300. from which before he had abstained To this time and these small beginnings we must reduce the first foundation of the Ottoman Empire increased unto its present greatness by the courage and good fortune of these Princes following The Kings of the Turks of the Oguzian or Ottoman Family 1300. 1. Ottoman the sonne of Ethrogul the first Turkish Sultan of this line added to his small territory the greatest part of Bithynia and some part of Pontus 28. 1328. 2. Orchanes took the City Prusa and made it his residence and was the first that put footing in Europe where he got Gallipolis and other peeces 1350. 3. Amurath wonne the Thracian Chersonese the strong City of Adrianople with the Countries of Servia and Bulgaria where he was slain by a common Souldier in the fields of Cossova 23. 1373. 4. Bajazet made himself master of a great part of Thrace Macedon and Achaia He was taken prisoner by Tamerlane and brained himself in an iron cage in which the insolent Conqueror used to carry him 26. 1399. 5. Mahomet united the dismembred Empire of his Father and inlarged it with the more absolute conquest of Dacia part of Sclavonia and the rest of Macedon 17. 1416. 6. Amurath II. subdued from the Constantinopolitan Empire all Achaia Thessaly Epirus he shaked the State of Hungary and dyed before the Walls of Croy. 34. The Ottoman Emperors 1450. 7. Mahomet II. sumamed the Great and first Emperor of the Turks ruined the two Empires of Constantinople and Trabezond twelve Kingdomes and two hundred Cities 31. 1481. 8. Bajazet II. subdued the Caramanian Kingdome and part of Armenia and drove the Venetians from Morea and their part of Dalmatia 31. 1512. 9. Sclimus having poisoned his Father subverted the Mamalucks of Egypt bringing it together with Palestine Syria and Arabia under the yoke of the Turks 7. 1519. 10. Solyman the Magnificent surprised Rhodes Belgrad Buda with a great part of Hungary Babylon Assyria Mesopotamia 48. 1567. 11. Selimus II. an idle and effeminate Emperour by his Deputies took from the Venetians the Isle of Cyprius and from the Moores the Kingdome of Tunis and Algiers 8. 1575. 12. Amurath III. took from the disagreeing Persians Armenia Media and the City Tauris and the fort Guierino from the Hungarians 20. 1595. 13. Mahomet III. took Agria in Hungarie which Kingdome had likely bin lost if he had pursued his victory at the battell of Keresture 8. 1603. 14. Achmat who the better to enjoy his pleasures made peace with the German Emperor and added nothing to his Empire 15. 1618. 15. Mustapha brother to Achmat succeeded a novelty never before heard of in this Kingdome it being the Grand Signeurs common policy to strangle all the younger brothers howsoever this Mustapha was preserved either because Achmat being once a younger brother took pitty on him or because he had no issue of his own body and so was not permitted to kill him 1618. 16. Osmen succeeded his Unkle Mustapha and being unsuccesseful in his war against Poland was by the Janizaries slainin an uproar and Mustapha again restored yet long enjoyed be not his throne for the same hand that raised him plucked him down and seated young Amurath in the place 1623. 17. Morat or Amurath the IV. Brother of Osmen of the age of 13. years succeeded on the second deposition of his Unkle Mustapha who proved a stout and masculine Prince and bent himself to the reviving of the antient discipline To the great good of Christendome he spent his stomach on the Persians 18. Ibrahim the brother of Morat preserved by the Sultaness his mother in his brother life and by her power deposed again for interdicting her the Court He spent a great part of his reign in the warre of Crete against the Venetians but without any great successe 1648. 19. Mahomet IV. sonne of Ibrahim now reigning Lord of all this vast Empire containing all Dacia and Greece the greatest part of Sclavonia and Hungary the Isles of the Aegean Sea and a great part of the Taurican Chersonese in Europe of all the Isles and Provinces which we have hitherto described in Asia and in Africk of all Aegypt the Kingdomes of Tunis and Algiers with the Ports of Suachem and Erocco Nor is their stile inferiour to so vastan Empire Solyman thus stiling himself in his Leter to Villerius great Master of the Rhades at such time as he intended to invade that Iland i.e. Solyman King of Kings Lord of Lords most high Emperour of Constantinople and Trabezond he most mighty King of Persia Syria Arabia and the Holy Land Lord of Europe Asia and Africa Prince of Meccha and Aleppo Ruler of Hierusalem and Soveraign Lord of all the Seas and Isles thereof As for the persons of the Turks they are generally well-complexioned of good stature proportionably compacted no idle talkers nor doers of things superfluous hot and venereous servile to their Prince and zealous in their Religion They nourish no hair upon their heads except it be a Tust on the top of their Crowns by which they think that Mahomet will snatch them up into Paradise at the day of judgement For which reason they keep on of all sides though never so poor accounting it an approbrious thing to see any men uncover their heads saying when they dislike of any thing which they see or hear I had as liefe thou hadst shewn me thy bare skull In their familiar salutation they lay their hands on their bosomes and a little incline their bodies but when they accost a person of rank they bow almost to the ground and kiss the hem of his garment Walking up and down they never use and much wonder at the often walking of Christians Biddulph relateth that being at his ambulatory exercise with his companion a Turk demanded them whether they were out of their way or their wits If your way quoth the Turk lay toward the upper end of the Cloister why come you downwards If to the neither end why go you back again Shooting is their chief recreation which they also follow with much laziness sitting on carpets in the shadow and sending some of their slaves to fetch their arrowes They prefer as they pass the streets the left hand before the right as being thereby made master of his sword with whom they walk As they shave their heads so they wear their berds long as a sign of freedome but their slaves keep theirs shaven and close cut The women are of small stature for the most part ruddy clear and smooth as the polished Ivory as neither afflicted with the weather and often frequenting the baths of a very good complexion seldome going abroad and then masked
the same fortunes ever since that they are hardly to be parted in course of story though each must have unto it self a distinct Chorographie First then we begin with MEDIA MEDIA is bounded on the East with Parthia and some part of Hyrcania Provinces of the Persian Empire on the West with Armenia Major and some part of Assyria on the North with the Caspian Sea and those parts of Armenia Major which now pass in the accompt of Georgia and on the South with Persia So called from Madai the sonne of Japhet by whom first planted and possessed after that general dispersion made at Babel Known by this name amongst the antients both Greeks and Romans but at this time called Sheirvan by the Turks and Persians the word signifying in the language of this Countrey a Milkie-Plain The Countrey of a large extent and of so different nature as one would think it not the same The North parts lying betwixt Mount Taurus and the Hyrcanian Sea very cold and comfortless so barren that for the most part they make their bread of dried Almonds and their drink of the juice of certain herbs Fruit-trees they have but few and those but of Apples nor any droves of tame cattel as in other places their food being generally on Ventson or the flesh of wild beasts took in hunting But on the South-side of the Taurus the soyl is very rich and the Countrey pleasant plentifull both of corn and wine and all things necessary full of fat pastures some of them so large in compass that 50000 horses do graze upon it The people antiently great Warriers as those who ruined the great Empire of the Babylonians and laid upon themselves and their own vertue the foundation of the second Monarchy But being not long after incorporated into the same Empire with the Persians have not onely ever since followed the same fortunes with them but participate of their nature also and therefore we shall hear more of their Character when we come to Persia Polygâ—mie antiently amongst them so farre from being esteemed a sinne or an inconvenience that it was a punishment for the common Villager to have less than seven wives or the woman if of noble birth fewer than five husbands In their warres they use commonly to envenom their Arrows with an oyl or liquor made of a bituminous water called Naphta whereof there is great plenty both here in Persia and Assyria The oyl called Oleum Mediacum from this people only because their invention and by them most mischievously used The Arrow which was anointed with it being shot from a slacker bow for a swift and strong motion took away its vertue did burn the flesh wherein it fastned with so great a violence that nothing but dust could mitigate the fury of it water increasing rather than diminishing that malignant flame The Christian Religion was first here planted by Saint Thomas but never had the happiness to be so universally embraced as in other places alwayes opposed and suppressed either by Paganism in the time of the old Porsian Kings or by Mahometanism since the first conquest of this Countrey by the power of the Saracons Some Christians yet there be amongst them either of the Armenian or Nestorian Sects as in all other parts of the Persian Empire the specialties of whose Religion have been elsewhere spoke of Here live also very many Jews indulged the free exercise of their Religion many of which are the Descendants of those Tribes which were transplanted hither by Salmanassar But the Religion generally embraced and countenanced is that of Mahomet according to the Sophian or Persian Sects the Language of which Nation they do also speak though they had a language of their own different from that of the Parthian Elamite or Persian as appeareth Acts 2. v. 9. where they are reckoned as distinct Mountains of chief note 1. Orontes 2. Coronus 3. Chabor as the boundary betwixt Media and Assyria 4. Jasonium 5. Lagoas all of them except Chaboras onely the disjointed branches of Mount Taurus which is here more broken and divided than in any part of his course besides Out of these flow their principall Rivers 1. Amandus 2. Strato and 3. Carindas of greatest eminence in this Countrey in the time of Ptolomy but otherwise of no great account or observation 4. Canac the Divider of this Province from Armenia Major but whether any of the former under this new name I am not able to affâ—â—m Adde hereunto the great Lake now called Argis by the Persians Vâ—â—sthlar but by Strabo named Martiana Palus situate in the confines of Assyria Media and Armenia of the fish whereof dryed by the Sun and wind and sold into divers other Conntreys the people of these parts raise a great commodity In former times it was divided into many Provinces the principall of which 1. Tropatene 2. Charomeâ—â—rene 3. Daritis 4 Marciane 5. Amariace and 6. Syro-Media these and the rest reduced to two in the later reckonings viz. Atropatia and 2. Media Major 1. ATROPATIA is that part hereof which lieth betwixt Mount Taurus and the Caspian Sea So called from that Atropatus Governor of these parts in the time of Darius the last persian Monarch who so valiantly held out against the Macedonians The Tropatene as I take it of the antient Writers A patten cold and unhospitable Countrey as before described and for that cause allotted for the dwelling of many of the captive Israelites brought hither by Salmanassar when he conquered that Kingdome their numbers being found so great in this Northern Region that benjamin the Jew reckoned no fewer than 50000 of them in one City onely which he calleth by the name of Madai And that great numbers of them were transplanted hither appeareth by that passage 2 Kings 17. 6. where it is said that they were placed in Halan and Habor by the River of Gozâ—n and in the Cities of the Medes Now Halah or Chalah seems almost probably to be that Region of Assyria which Ptolomy calleth Chalatone in the North of that Countrey towards Media Habor or Chabor to be that Mount Chaberus which parteth this Countrey from Assyria in which Mountainous tract there was in those times a City of the same name also Betwixt which City and the banks of the Caspian Sea I find in Ptolomy the City Gauzania in the 40th degree and 40 minutes of Northern Latitude in which there are apparent footsteeps of the name of the River Gozin upon whose banks it was most likely to be seated Places of most observation in it 1. Hamadum by Benjamin the Jew called Madai replenished in his time with families of the captive Israelites 2. Gaurazania another dwelling of those Tribes spoken of before 3. Mandigarsis of which nothing extant but the name 4 Gelan the Gela of the antients whom the Greeks call Cadusii 5. Bochu more towards the the Caspian Sea hence called Mare de Bochu 6. Ere 's a place of great strength but possessed by the
Rivers which he reckoneth of greater name than the rest he mentioneth 1. Saganis 2. Sagareus and 3. Hydriacus Of which Saganis onely is named by Prolomy the other Rivers or the same under divers names being 1. Dara 2. Andanius 3. Cathrappis 4. Achindura 5. Salarus the Sagareus as I take it of Ammianus 6. Caudriaces 7. Zoromba and 8. Samidace most of them falling into the Gulf of Persia few navigable or of any use in the way of trading Mountains of most note 1. that called Semiramis from some exploit of that great Lady 2. Strongeius so named from the roundness of it and 3. a continued ridge of hills dividing this Countrey from Gedrosia Places of most observation in it 1. Cantharis 2. Agris 3. Tisa honoured by Ptolomy with the names of Cities 4. Cyrza and 5. Gocharta two Port-Towas 6. Alexandera bearing the name of that great Conquerour who here or hereabouts kept his Bacchanalia whereof more anon 7. Portospant by Ammianus called Ortospana and by him reckoned amongst the fairest and richest of all the Countrey 8. Armuzt or Armuzium as Pliny calleth it on the shore of the Gulf giving name to a Promoatory neer-adjoining and to the Noble Isle of Ormus of which more anon 9. Guntroone not longsince a poor village but since the fall of Ormus from which not above nine miles distant grown a populous Town consisting at the least of a thousand houses 10. Jasques at the opening of the Parsian Gulf into which it looketh whence the Promontory of it called Carpella is of late named Capodi Jasques 11. Carmania the Metropolis or mother City of the Province in former times of good esteem and now of passing good repute both for cloth of gold and the making of the best Scymitars A weapon of such value amongst the Mahometans and so esteemed of by the Turks that at the overthrow of their Navy at the battle of Corsu Anno 1574. most of them who were taken Prisoners threw their Scymnars into the Sea for fear the Christians should be masters of such excellent weapons It is now called Chyrman by the name of the Province as in former times with very little difference from the antient name 12. Lar more within the land towards Persis seated in a barren and inhospitable Countrey full of huge heaps of sands both loose and dangerous moved and removed as the wind sitteth into plains and Mountains without grass water herbs or any other necessary for the use of Travellers the City being served with rain-water only entertained with great joy when it falleth and kept in cisterns The City notwithstanding large and of good capacity containing not long since to the namber of 5000 houses of which the greatest part in the year 1590. were thrown down by an earthquake now most remarkable for a fair Market-place of about 180 paces square a goodly Mosque adorned with Masaick work and a strong Castle seated on the top of an hill furnished with great plenty of Ordinance brought hither from Ormus This once a Kingdome of it self or the head City of a Kingdome acknowledging no subjection to the Persian Sophies till conquered to that Crown by Emangoli Chawn Duke of Shyras who sent hence as much treasure as was said to load 700 Camels and put to death the poor King with his whole posterity Anno 1604. or thereabouts 13. Tecoa or Dea-chow a Town of the jurisdiction of Lar not far from which is a huge wall cut out of the solid rock by incredible labour which served formerly both for the boundary and desence of that sandy Kingdome against the Persians The antient Inha bitants hereof were the posterity of Sabta the sonne of Chus who wanting room on the coast of Arabta Felix where they were first planted passed over into Sophta from them so named an Island of the Persian Gulf and afterwards into the main land of Carmania where they built and gave name to the City of Sabis which we find in Ptolomy Divided in some tract of time into the severall Nations of the Sazota Ara Charadra Chelonophagi Cabadinae and Pasagarda Neither the People nor the Countrey memorable in the way of story but by Accident onely it being here that Alexander being returned out of India kept his Baechanalia in imitation of Bacchus who first conquered that Nation Night and day he was continually feasting with his friends on a scaffold drawn with eight horses his Companions following in their Chariots some adorned with Purple and Silk others with Flowers and Green Boughs themselves wearing Garlands on their heads and carrying their Carowsing Cups in their hands In this Army there was neither Helmet Sword Arrow or Buckler seen all their Armour was Cups Barrells and Flaggons their Skirmishing Eating Drinking Laughing and Singing Attended they were by Minstrells playing on their Fluits by Women dancing Boyes shouting all playing the drunken Foolls most naturally Thus march they through the Countrey of Carmania in as great dissoluteness as if BACCHUS himself had indeed been there and led the Mummery and for seaven whole daies this sottishness continued So that Curtius well observeth Si quid victis saltem adversus comessantes animi fuisset mille hercule viri modo sobrii septem dierum crapula graves in suo triumpho capere potuerunt a thousand Persians sober and well provided had their hearts been answerable to so good an opportunity might have destroyed this drunken Army and redeemed at once the honour of their Countrey and their own liberty 4. ORMVS ORMUS not so much memorable for the greatness as the wealth the conveniency of the situation of it is an Iland situate in the entrance of the Persian Gulf commanding not long since over some part of the Continent of Carmania and some few Towns of Arabia Felix and most of the Ilands of the Bay And therefore before we come to speak of the Isle it self we must take a brief survey of the Sea or Bay called Sinus Persicus according to our method in other places SINVS PERSICVS the Gulf or Bay of Persia so famous so full of Ilands and so much frequented I use the words of Ammianus Marcellinus beginneth at Harmozonta the name which Prolomy calls Armuza a Cape or Promontory of Carmania from which unto a Cape or foreland of Arabia Feltx which the Inhabitants call Maces the passage is so strait and narrow that one may very easily see to the opposite shore The Strait once passed the Bay beginneth to open and inlarge it self as farre at the City of Teredon now called Balsora where Euphrates after many downfalls is lost in the Sea The whole Gulf measured by the shores of Orbicular form in compass 20000 Furlongs or 2500 Italian miles in all the coasts and sides whereof the Villages and Towns stand exceeding thick affording frequent passage to and fro for shipping So farre and to this purpose he To which description of his so exact and punctual our late Navigations have not added much but the change of
biggest 6. Maranis from which place the said Tamerlane having received his aids from China began his march These Tartars called Zagathayans by the name of their Countrey are of a different government from that of the Great Cham of Cathay though subject to him at the first and have so been ever since the time of Zaicham or Bathu the third great Cham who gave it unto Zagathay a younger sonne whence it had the name To Zagathay succeeded Og by some called Zain-Cham the Father of Tamerlane a peaceable and quiet Prince who rather studied to preserve than enlarge his Empire But Tamerlane being of a fiercer and more warlike nature made the first proof of his valour and good fortune against the Moscovite for spoyling a City which had put it self under his protection whom he overthrew with the slaughter of 25000 foot and 15000 of his horse Moved with this notable exploit and the hopes of greater Gino Cham the great Emperor of the Tartars gave him to wife his onely daughter and therewithall declared him his heir apparent Incouraged and inabled with this advancement he first brake down the wall of China encountred with the King thereof overcame him in battel and imposed on him the summe of 300000 Crowns of yearly tribute Having left things quiet at his back and taking with him a great part of the forces of Chinâ— he advanced forwards against Bâ—â—azet the fourth King of the Turks of the greatness of whose growing Empire he began to be jealous Passing along the left-hand shores of the Caspian Sea and so through Albania and the rest of the Provinces which lay in his way which he took and conquered as he went he came at last into Asia Minor where neer the City of Sebastia he encountred with Bajazet vanquished him slew 200000 of his men and carried him away captive in an iron Cage Restoring those Princes dispossessed by Bajazet unto their estates and taking to himself all the Turkish Provinces in Anatolia he bestowed a â—â—rivate visit on Constantinople which seen he marched towards Syria subdued both that Province and the Kingdome of Egypt then possessed by the Maâ—alucks visited Hierusalem and did honour to the holy Sepulchre returned by Babylon and won it and with it the whole Countries of Babylonia and Assyria And taking Persia in his way impatronized himself of that Kingdome also and such parts of India as either lay neer Persia or his own dominions now made the Soveraign Lord of all the Regions and Kingdomes in both Asias excepting the chief India for which the rich Kingdome of Egypt may be put in balance Come home at last to Samarchand he there died in peace A Prince of strong body but lovely lineaments his eyes bearing in them such raies of majestie that ordinary men could scarce endure to look upon them His hair long contrary to the custome of the Mahometans for the most part shaved on their heads for which he pretended a descent from Sampson Perfect in the Arabian learning and a lover of all learned men a hater of Idols and Polytheism and a great friend to the Christians More fortunate in the conquering of so many Kingdomes than in â—aying any sure foundation to maintain his conquests For by holding his seat Royal in Samarchand Cambâ—ln and other the chief Cities of Cathay he gave the remote Provinces the opportunity of returning to their former Governours and by parcelling his estates amongst his Children and kindred this mighty flood which had so quickly overflown both Asias returned in very little time within its own proper and originall banks Even Zagathay it self divided from the Empire of Cathay had its King apart hardly acknowledging the great Cham for the Lord in chief the most considerable of whom was that Saba who in the new beginnings and unsetledness of the Sophian Empire invaded Persia but instead of recovering that Kingdome into the power of the Tartars he lost some Provinces of his own Hyrcania Margiana and some part of Bactria being since subdued by Abas the late Sultan Nothing since memorable that I meet with in the affairs of this part of the Empire of Tartary 4. IVRCHESTAN is bounden on the East with Zagathay specially so called on the West with the River Soâ—ne parting it from Deserta on the North with those desarts which Ptolomy blindeth under the name of 〈◊〉 and on the South with the Caspian Sea So called from the Turks some of which people when they left their first Seats neer the Fennes of Moeotis setled in this Country and here still continue The Countrey as desert and ill planted as the rest of Tartary not so much out of any defect in the soyl it self as in the humour of the people who though originally Turks do yet compose themselves unto the lives of the Scythian or Tartarian Nomades neglecting tillage and abiding in no place longer than that place affords them pasturage for their Cattell huge herds of which they keep as their greatest treasure but more to cloth their backs with the skinns than to fill their Bellies with the flesh Amongst the Rivers of most note we may reckon 1. Rhymnus mentioned by Ptolomy which by the position of it in the 91 degree of longitude seems to be of this Tract It riseth out of the mountains called Montes Rhymnici giving name to the River or taking name from it 2. Ardock not known by that name amongst the Antients and whether known at all or not I am not able to say Shaping its course towards the North and weary of so cold a clime and such barbarous people after a long and swift course of a thousand miles it hideth it self under the ground for five hundred more but breaking out again and finding little or no hope of a better fortune loseth it self for ever in the great Lake of Kitay To look for Towns amongst a people which delight not in settled houses were a labour lost yet some I find ascribed unto them The principall but of no great note 1. Calba and 2. Occrra Then there is 3. Crâ—stina situate on or neer the Lake of Kitay never without the company of Russian and Tartarian Merchants the Russians sailing to it by the River Ob and the Zagathaian Tartars travelling to it by land By these two nations more peopled to maintain their traffick than by the Turcomans themselves in whose land it standeth These Turconâ—ans are of the posterity of some of those Turca who wanting room or otherwise oppress'd with want forsook their antient dwelling neer the Fennes of Moeotis and the coasts of the Euxine Sea to seek new dwellings Anno 844. That their whole body settled here and from hence made their conquest quest of Persia as some very industrious men are of opinion I by no means grant For when the Sultan of Persia having by the means of Tangrolipix and those Mercinary Turks whom he invited to his aid obtained the victory and thought it fit for his affairs to detain them
on the South Altay on the West and North the main Scythick Ocean on the East the Streights of Anian by which parted from America So called because the first habitation of the Tartars who from this den or Jail made their first eruptions and have since over-grown so much of Asia The Countrey cold and comfortless as lying under the Polar Circle and in part beyond it not fit for any but for such as can live no where else yet heretofore a receptacle of many Christians though those of the Nestorian Sect who here enjoyed that liberty of their Religion which the Persians and Saâ—â—â—enâ— denyed them in more pleasing Countries It containeth many Regions some not considerable Those of most note are 1. Thebet 2. Tabor 3. Tenduâ— 4. Bargu 5. Anian and 6. Tartar 1. THEBET a fenny Region and full of woods rich in Corall which they find on the Sea-shore and use it instead of money So named from the chief City of it the ordinary Seat of the Abassi or Pope of this Idolatrous people much reverenced and having in his power the disposing of all Offices which concern the service of their Idols They have also some good store of Musk and abundance of wild beasts which are bred in their Forrests But no beasts wilder than the people who in times past if not at the present also used to bury their Parents in their own bowels and to make drinking cups of their skuls for fear lest in the midst of their jollity they should forget their Progenitors Yet not more barbarous than immodest it being contrary to their custome to take a wife that is a Virgin And therefore the Mothers use to prostitute their daughters to the Merchant-Strangers who having had their pleasure of them gratify them with a Jewell or some other present which they wear on their wedding day she being the most acceptable Bride to her husband who bringeth the greatest Dowry with her of those base rewards It contained once eight petit Kingdomes Homagers to the Kings of Tenduc with many Cities but now laid desolate by the Tartar 2. â—ABOR once a distinct Kingdome also One of the Kings whereof in the year 1540. came to the Courts of Charles the fift and Francis the first where he found Princely entertainment But upon proof that he was a Factor for the Jews and secretly solicited many uato that Religion by the command of Charles he was burnt at Mantua 3. TENDVâ— a populous Kingdome of it self but greater in name and power the Kings hereof commanding all these North-East parts as far as the borders of Cathay Christian in Religion till the Conquest of it by the Tartars though according to the Nestorian tendries but now Mahometan â—or the most part with some remainders and but few of Christianity Divided into many large and spacious Provinces as Chinâ—hintales Cerguth Egrigaia Cercham others of less note so called according to the names of their principâ—ll Towns or having some Towns in them of the name of the Provinces Those of most note in Tenduc It self 1. Coras the ordinary sepulture of the Kings of Tenduc before it was subdued by the Tartars and since that also 2. Caâ—acoras where Cingis was first honoured with the Title of King The Kings hereof bearing the port of Kings and the office of Priests were antiently called by the name of Presbyter Johannes or Prester John a title now erroniously conferred by some on the Emperour of the Abassines or Aethiopians in Asrick Concerning which it is a wonder that Joseph Scaliger a man of such infinite reading should be so deceived and by the authority of his judgement deceive so many For finding that there was a Presbyter Johannes in the North of Asia and hearing vulgarly that title given unto him in Africk he fell upon a fancie that this Aâ—assine Emperour was formerly of so great power as to extend his empire over India and the North of Asia and in this last for the assurance of his conquests to hold his residence A monstrous and undefensible fancy For besides that all histories even those of the Aâ—â—ssines themselves are silent in it how improbable is it that a King reigning in the heart of Aâ—â—â—k should subdue the most remote parts of Asia and there keep his Court so many great States and most puissant Nations being interposed or that so memorable an exploit should be buried in silence and found in no record but in Scaligers head Besides it is well known and generally granted that the Presbyter John of Asia was by Sect a Nestorim but he that is so called in Africk of the Sect of the Jacâ—bites and further that the Christians of Aethiopâ—â— are circumcised which never was reported of those of Asia Letting this pass therefore as an unwarrantable and ill-grounded fancy we are to know that formerly this Province of Tenduc was under the old Kings of Cathay till the time of Cin-Cham the King thereof After whose death a certain Nestortâ—n shepheard that is to say the master of great flocks of sheep being Governour of the Yaymans a People of Tenduc took to himself the title of king of Tenduc whom they called by the name of Prâ—â—st John or Prince John the same word in their language as in the Hebrâ—â— signifieth both Priest and Prince Dying he bequeathed his estate and flocks to his brother Unt-â—ham commonly called in one word Uncham a greater sheep-master than he whose flocks ranged over all the past ures of the Moâ—es or Monguls and Tartars though dwelling fourteen daies journey off whom he had in subjection the title of Priest John or Presbyter Johannes going along with the dignity and Royall estate And though afterwards this Uncham was subdued by the Tartars yet his posterity for long time were suffered to enjoy the title of Kings and Presbyters but Vassals and Homagers to the Great Cham the Great Chams in regard of their nobility and royall parentage bestowing their daughters on them in marriage as is said by William de Rubraquis who travelled in these Countries Anno 1253. the King hereof being then named George the fourth from Uncham but commonly called Presbyter Johannes as his Fathers were 4. BARGV on the extreme North-west bordering on both those sides the cold Scythick Ocean situate under the North-starre of the same nature both for the soyl and people as that of the Tartars And 5. ANIAN on the North-East opposite unto it giving name unto the Streightâ— of Aâ—iaâ— lying betwixt Tartarie and America which Streights the Tartars and some other of these Northern nations are thought to have passed over and to plant that Countrey 6. TARTAR so called of the great River Tartar the principall of this Northern Tract and giving name unto the Tartars this being their Originall Countrey where they lived like beasts having neither faith nor letters nor habitation nor the use of Arms nor any reputation amongst their neighbours In matter of Religion the worst sort of gentiles worshipping the Sunne Moon
navigable River whereon ride for the most part no fewer than 10000 of the Kings ships besides such as belong to private men The Town in compass 30 miles being girt with three fair brick walls having large and stately Gates The streets in length two leagues wide and paved the number of houses is about 200000. so that it may equall four of the fairest Cities of Europe 4. Paquin or Pagnia where the King continually resideth and that either because the air hereof is more healthfull and pleasant than any of the other or because it lieth neer unto the Tartars with whom the Chinois are in perpetuall warre so that from hence the dangers which may by their invasions happen unto the Countrey may with more convenience be either prevented or remedied The City said to be inferiour to Nanquin for bulk and beauty but to exceed it in multitude of Inhabitants Souldiers and Magistrates occasioned by the Kings abode Environed on the South with two walls of so great breadth that twelve horsemen may runne a brest upon them on the North with one wall onely but that so strong and vigilantly guarded that they fear as little annoyance on that side as they do on the other But the greatest Omament hereof is the Royall Palace compassed about with a triple wall the outwardmost of which would well inviron a large City within which space besides the many lodgings for Eunuchs and other Courtiers are Groves hills fountains Rivers and the like places of pleasure larger in circuit but not comparable for the Arts of Architecture to the Royall Palaces of Europe 5. Canton supposed to be the Caltigara of Ptolomy by the Chinois called Quamchen the least of the Metropolitan Cities of this Countrey but beautified with many triumphant Arches a navigable River large streets and many goodly bridges Fortified with deep trenches 83. Bulwarks and seated in so rich a soyl both for Fowl and Catteil that here are said to be eaten dayly 6000 hogs and 12000 Ducks besides proportionable quantity of other victuals If this be one of the least of their Metropolitans what may we fancy of the greatest A Town in which the Portugals drive a wealthy trade being permitted in the day-time to come within the City it self but at night excluded and forced to find lodging in the Suburbs By reason of which restraint they have settled their Mart at Macaan the Port-Town to this where they have their Factor and many Families the Town being almost wholly peopled by them 6. Suchean seated in the marishes like Venice but more commodiously because those marishes are of fresh water the streets and houses founded upon piles of pine-tree with many bridges and conveniencies for passage both by land and water Well traded as the fittest Center for dispersion of merchandise from all the other Ports of the Kingdome by the multitude and frequency of ships almost denying faith to the eyes which would think all the ships of China to be here assembled So infinitely rich that the small Region whereof it is the head containing but eight Cities more payeth 12 millions to the king of yearly income 7. Hamseu the Metropolis of the Province of Chequian about two dayes journey from the Sea of which distance from the Sea is Sucheau also in compass less than Namquin but better builded no place in it taken up with gardens Orchards or other pleasures but all employed for shops houses and other edifices So beautified with Triumphant Arches erected to the honour of deserving Magistrates that in one street there are 300 of great mass or workmanship The Temples magnificent and many the bank-sides of the Channels watering every street beset with trees of shade and most excellent fruits and in the midle of the City a round high mountain which gives the eye a gallant prospect into every street And not farre off a pleasant Like of great breadth and length the banks whereof are beautified with groves and gardens and the Lake it self even clothed with vessels of all sorts on which the Citizens use to feast and entertain their idle time with plaies and spectacles Two Cities so replenished with all kind of pleasures that the Chinois use it for a Proverb Thien Xam thien thum ti Xamsu hum that is to say look what the Hall or Presence Chamber is in heaven that Hamseu and Sucheau are on earth 8 Focheo beautified amongst many other Stately structures with a magnificent Tower erected on 40 marble pillars of great elegancy cost and bigness every pillar being 40 spans in height and 12 in breadth not to be parallelled as some say by any the like work in Europe 9. Lochiau in which are 70000 families 10. Colans famous for the best Porcellane 11. Xaitou whose Harbour is never without 500 ships 12. Scianhay within 24. houres sail of the Isle of Japan and therefore defended with a strong Garrison and a Navy Situate in a pleasant and wholesome soyl the whole Countrey so set forth with trees as if it were one continued Orchard So populous that it conteineth 40000 housholds most of which get their livelihood by weaving Cottons it being supposed that here are 200000 persons which attend that maintenance 13. Chinchiâ—â—su whence by a River made by hand there is a passage to Sucheau the water of which never freezeth and for that cause so clogged with ships in time of winter that the passage is stopped with the multitudes of them 14. Cergivan of the same fashion with the rest though of lesser note So like they are to one another that we may say with Ovid on the like ocasion Facies non omnibus una Nec diversa tamen qualem decet esse sororum Which I find thus Englishâ—d by George Sandys Amongst them all no two appear the same Nor differ more than Sisters well became The antient Inhabitants of this Country in the time of Ptolomy were towards the North the Semantini bordering a mountain of that name and the only one remembred in all this Countrey more Southward the Acadra and Aspithrae Towards the Sea the Anabastae and Ichthyophagi these last so called from living wholly upon fish From what Original they came it is hard to say whether from the Indians or the Scythes or that it was primitively planted by some of the posterity of Noah before the enterprise of Babel which last may propably be concluded from the extreme populousness of the Country the many magnificent Cities their industry and ingenuity in all Arts and Sciences not to be taught them by their neighbours more ignorant in those things than themselves And hereunto the Chronicles of China seem to give some ground which tell us of 340 Kings which for the space of four thousand years have therein reigned For as their Chronicles inform us if they may be credited the Countrey being without Rule or settled government was first reduced into order by one Vitey the Sonne of Ezolom by whom the people were instructed in Physick Astrology Divination and the
though remote State in terms of amity Therefore they sent Embassadours unto Augustus who presented him with a number of Tigers which beasts saith Dion till then the Roman people had never seen and which was the most pleasing a little boy born without arms who with his feet could bend a bow shoot and play on wind instruments as exactly as others with their hands Traâ—an the Emperor had a great desire to see this Countrey but was diverted from that purpose by matters of more necessary importance to the State of his Empire Moved with the same of Antoninus the Roman Emperor they sent a solemn Ambassie to him making him Umpire in some Controversies which they had with the Bactrians from which Ambassadors it is probable that Ptolomy the Geographer who then lived might receive his informations of the estate of this Countrey The like they did to Julian the Apostate also then setting forwards on his expedition against the Persian desiring his friendship and alliance How it was with them in the time of Constantine and Justinian hath been shewn already After these times by little and little histories have been in a manner silent concerning the affairs hereof but for some conquests made on the parts next Persia by the Chaliphs of Bagdet For noâ—withstanding that there was continual traffick from the Red Sea hither and between the Persians Turkish and Indian Merchants for spices and the other commodities of this Region yet were not these Merchants acquainted with the state of the Countrey because they entered not into it but were met by the Indian Merchants at Sarmachand being as it were the common Emporie Neither did the Aegyptians at all enter into India but were met by the Indians at Ormus or some other Iland even as now the Chinois make some of the Philippinae the staple of their trade with the Spaniards whom they licence not to come into the Continent among them But our modern navigators have withdrawn this mask of obscurity and shew us her lively portraiture in as lively colours One of the first which brake the ice and gave us any certainty of their affairs was Sir John Mandeville accompted at his comming back for the greatest Fabler in the world so incredible seemed his reports of the magnificence of those Kings and the wealth of their Countreys and the many rarities which he found amongst them But better thought of by our neighbours he obtained a Monument in a Convent at Leige the Friers of which keep some things of his Comme pour honorable memorie de son excellent for an honorable memorial of his Excellencies Many of his Relations since confirmed by the Portugals who under the conduct of Vasquez de Gama first discovered this Countrey by the new way of the Cape of good hope Anno 1497. By whom and some later observations we have been informed that in this part of India were no fewer than 47 Kingdomes whereof some few have still their own natural Kings the rest all subject to the power of the Great Mogul Contracted into a lesser number by joining many lesser territories into one Division we shall look on it as distributed into 15 Provinces Some have reduced them unto five but give us neither the bounds nor extent of any of them And others in the description of their travels ramble up and down with such uncertainties most of them being men of trades and ignorance that though they tell us where they lodged and what entertainments they did meet with yet we shall hardly know by them for I think they did not know themselves in what Province they were or to what part the severall Towns thorow which they passed did of right belong So that our passage thorow these Countries having such blind guides to follow will be full of difficultie and not so satisfactory to the Reader as he might expect Howsoever I desire him to bear me company whilest I take the best survey I can of these 15 Provinces to which the whole may be most handsomely reduced that is to say 1. Dulsinda 2. Pengab 3. Maâ—dao 4. Delly 5. Agra 6. Sanga 7. Cambaia 8. Decan 9. Canara 10. Malabar 11. Narsinga 12. Oristan 13. Botanter 14. Patenaw and 15. Bengala 1. DVLSINDA DVLSINDA is bounded on the East with the River Indus on the West with Paropamisus and Arachosia two Persian Provinces but for the most part under the command of the Great Mogul on the North with Caucasus by which parted from Tartary on the South with the Kingdom of Cambaia So that it taketh up all the Northern parts of this Estate which lie upon the West of the River Indus from which River called by the Natives Sinda most probable it is that it took this name and therefore I have written it with an s Dulsinda and not Dulcinda with a c as I see some do but on no good reason The Countrey by reason of the Northern situation of it more temperat but less fruitful than the rest of India The seat in antient times of the Mazagae and Indo-Scythae when subdued by Alexander Made up at present of many lesser Kingdomes and smaller Provinces denominated for the most part from the principal Tows and Cities of them as in other places Amongst which those of most esteem are 1. Caximir Cascimir or Chesmur for by all these names it is called the chief of a Kingdome once unto which it gave name till subdued by Echebar the Mogul who in a pleasant Iland in the middest of a great and deep Lake about three leagues off the City beset round with Trees built a Royall Palace which he honoured sometimes with his Court removed hither from Lahor partly the better to assure this new conquered Kingdome but principally because his Palace at Lahor and therein an infinite deal to Treasure had but newly been consumed by fire The City it self situate in the most healthy Country of all India encompassed with high Mountains covered for the most part of the year with snow the rest a delicate goodly plain diversified with Pastures Woods Corn-fields Meadows Parks Gardens and Rivers even to admiration The air hereof and of the Country round about by reason of the Northern situation of it and the snowie Mountains very cool and temperate The soil abundantly productive of Wheat Rice and Vines which last they plant at the foot of the Mulberry-tree which seemeth by this means to bear double fruits Both Town and Kingdome subdued by Echebar the Mogul about the year 1597. their own dissentions more conducing to that subjugation than any visible force which he brought before it 2. Roree a Fort of the Mâ—gulâ— towards Paropamisus but bordering upon the Country of Multan to which People it properly belongeth garrisoned not so much for fear of the Persian for Paropamisus now called Cabal is his antient Patrimony but to preserve the People from the spoil of Theeves who alwaies hang about the Mountains 3. In the most Northern parts hereof stood the Nagara of Ptolomy
mistook by some for the modern Agra of which more anon 4. Sestan the chief City as I take it of the Kingdome of Rebat situate on the East of Caximâ—r betwixt it and the Indus in the same Latitude with that but not of so temperate an air the snowy Mountains much conducing to the Temperature of the Realm of Caximir 5. Mulâ—an a great and antient City and the chief of a Kindome on the South of Caximir or Chesmur and about three French leagues from the banks of the River Indus The ordinary thorow-fare of the Caravans in the way from Lahor to Spahan the chief Seat of the Sophy or King of Persia forced to abide there divers dayes sometimes ten or twelve to enrich the Town which of it self is of no great trading nor otherwise able to subsist but by this device 6. Duckee a Fort or Garrison situate in the Streights of the Mountains to secure the Caravans and protect other Passengers from the danger of Robbers hovering in these hill-countrâ—es the out-parts of this Empire 2. PENGAB OPposite to Dulsinda on the Eastern-side of the River Indus but more inclining towards the South lieth the Country or Division rather which my Author calleth by the name of PENGAB bounded on the West with Indus which divideth it from Dulsinda on the South with the Kingdome of Mandoa on the North and East with those many Kingdomes which we have comprehended under the name of Botanter The reason of the name I find not nor any thing memorable of the Country but that it was divided in the time of Ptolomy into the Provinces of the Lambatae Caspiria Cylindrine and Suastene subdued by Alexander in his expedition into India the famous Rivers of Acesines and Hydaspis but by what names now called I find not having here their course So that it seemeth to have been a part of the Kingdom of Porus or that the Kingdome of Porus was a part of this Places of most importance in it 1. Lahor on the Eastern banks of Indus affirmed to be the fairest and most antient City in both the Indies of most esteem for wealth and greatness In compass about sixteen miles and honoured for a while with the ordinary Residence of the Great Mogul till on the burning of his Palace spoken of before he removed his Court to Caximir from thence to Fatipore and at last to Agra Since that time made the Seat of the eldest sonne or heir apparent sent hither for avoiding all occasion of factions which their living in the Court might breed A City of exceeding great trade as being the chief Staple for the Spices in these parts and other commodities of India from hence transported into Persia by the way of Candahor the principall Town of Arachosia and so to Spahan the chief City of the Sophian Empire where they are sold by reason of so long and chargeable a journey at excessive rates It is said that 12000 Camels at the least pass every year thorow it with their lading besides what is ferried down the River and brought up by the Portugals who therewith traded unto Ormus till that Town was taken By this we may conjecture at the wealth hereof but more by that great Mass of treasure which a late Governour hereof did leave behind him At whose death Echebar the Mogul for the Mogul is the heir General unto all mens wealth found in his Coffers three millions of Gold ready coined great quantity of Gold and Silver uncoined and some store of Jewels besides Horses Elephants Houshold-furniture and other goods almost invaluable 2. Sultan-puare of more antiquity than beauty yet of good esteem 3. Athec in the common Road from Lahor to China reported in the description of the travels of Benedictus a Goes a Portugal Jesuite to be a moneths journey from Lahor and yet in the same Province with it Which if it be true either the Province must be large or his journies short or if not true we must remember that we had it from the pen of a Jesuite And yet as great as this Province or Division is affirmed to be we do not find the names of any more Towns of consideration which may be said with confidence to belong unto it 3. MANDAO THe Kingdome of MANDAO is bounded on the North with Pengab on the South with the Realm of Agra on the East with Delly and on the West with the River Indus So called from Mandao the chief City of it The Country more mountainous and rugged than the rest of these Provinces by reason of the many branches of Mount Bittigo the Southern part of the Imaus which do overrun it in other things partaking of the riches of India The men as most of those who live in such mountainous tracts of a warlike temper comparatively with the rest of the Indians the women here antiently as valiant as the men in other places riding astride and practised in the Arts of Horsemanship for that cause called Amazons some of which are said to be still remaining Insomuch as it is written in the stories hereof that the King of this Countrey not long since going to the warres was accompanied by the Queen his Wife marching in the Front of two thousand women all well mounted and prepared for service Chief Cities hereof 1. Mandao seated on the bankes of the River Mandova the Manda of Ptolomy and the Antients whence it had the name A City of great note said to be 30 miles in compass yet so well fortified and furnished with all necessaries so defence and resistance that it held out twelve years against Mirumudius or Merhamed the Great Mogul who then besieged it Surrendred at the last and with it the Kingdome Memorable for the great battail fought before it betwixt the said Merhamed then comming to the relief thereof and Badurius King of Cambaia who had then distressed it in which fight Badurius lost his tents and Treasures and was fain to fly disguised unto Diu to crave aid of the Portugals 2. Moltan once the chief City of a Kingdome or a Kingdome rather of it self but of no great note the women whereof though not so good Souldiers as their Ancestors of the female sex yet to come as neer them as they can use boots and spurs when they take a journey and so fitted fit astride the saddle 3. Scernus on the River so called of more Antiquity than greatness as is also 4. Polymbothie the Palibothra of Ptolomy and others of the antient writers then the chief Town of the Palibothei by Pliny and Strabo called Prasii a People of as great authority and power as any in India This once a Kingdom of it self of great power and wealth till Badurius King of Cambaia having conquered the Realm of Citor and therewith a great part of Sanga made an attempt upon this also Galgee then King of Mandao finding himself too weak for so strong an Enemie craved aid of Merhamed of Miramudius as the Latines the Mongul Tartar then
reigning in Chabul or Arachosia and possessed of some parts of India also since the times of Tamerlane Who compounding an Army of his own subjects some mercinary Persians and a great body of Zagathaian Tartars from whom originally descended came in accordingly discomfited the vast Anny of Badurius consisting of of 150000 horse and 500000 foot in two set battails the first at Doceti the next at Mandao and following his blow possessed himself of the whole Kingdome of Cambaia But not content with that success quarrelled the Mandoan King in whose aid he came besieged him in his principal City which at last he won and therewithall the Kingdome also the wretched King shewing hereby a fair both evidence and example to succeeding ages that the easiest way for a Prince to ruin his own estate and endanger his neighbours is to admit a Forrein power into his own Dominions which he cannot as easily thrust out as he hath brought them in 4. DELLY DELLY is bounded on the West with Mandao on the East with the Kingdome of Botanter on the North with the Eastern parts of Pengab on the South with the Eastern parts also of the Kingdome of Agra So named from DELLY the chief City of it by some called Delin The Countrey besides what is common to it with the rest of India is said to be more abundantly stored than any other part of it with horses Elephants and Dromedaries Of the people nothing singular except it be that many of them taking more delight in thee very than honest trades live for the most part upon spoil but those especially whom they call by the name of Belemi being such of the nobility or better sort who since the conquest of their Countrey by the Great Moguls have lived like Out-Laws on the Mountains Of the same temper with the Resbutes in Cambaia and the Agwans in Sanga and Dulsinda who rather than submit themselves to a forrein yoak as they count that of the Mongull choose to forsake their proper dwellings and all honest waies and means of living Places of most importance in it 1. Delly A City not only honoured heretofore with the residence of the Great Moguls who from hence pass in common appellation by the names of the Kings of Delly and that amongst their most knowing Subjects but beautified with many sepulchres of their antient Kings whose funerals and Coronations were herein celebrated And though deserted of late times by the Great Moguls moving their Courts from place to place as they inlarged their Empire and increased their conquests yet still a great many of the Nobles and not a few Captains and Commanders do frequent the same and have their houses and pleasure of retirement in it 2. Tremel upon the Western side of the River Mandova but not much observable 3. Doceti memorable for the great battel fought neer unto it in which Merhamed the Mongul overthrew the forces of Badurius and therby opened a fair way to the Realm of Cambaia This Countrey governed a long time by its natural Princes was at last conquered by some Moores or Saracens comming from Persia or Arabia but I find not which who grew to so great power and wealth that Sanosaradine a Mahometan one of their Descendants dreamt of no less than the conquest of all India if not of the whole Continent of Asia also Having about the year 1300 memorable for the beginning of the Ottoman Empire subdued by little and little all the neighbouring Princes which made head against him he pierced at last into Canora now called Decan and conquering a great part of it returned back to Delly The pursuit of his victories he left unâ—o one Abdessa his Lieutenant there who added the rest of that Countrey to his Masters territories but kept the possession to himself confirmed therin by Sanosaradine with the Title of Regent But Sanosaradine dying in a war against the Persians left for his Successor a sonne so unlike his Father that the conquered Provinces revolted from him unto other Masters more able to govern and protect them Confined unto its former bounds it remained notwithstanding of sufficient power to preseâ—ve it self from any of their equal neighbors till the rising of the Great Monguls whose puissance being unable to withstand it submitted at the last to Adabar the son of Merhamed the second Emperor of this line who to assure himself of the peoples loyaltie and confirm his conquests settled his Court a while at Delly the chief City of it from whence removed on the next prosporous emergency as before was noted 5. AGRA THe Realm of AGRA is bounded on the North with Delly and Mandao on the South with Sangâ— and Cambaia on the West with Indus which parteth it from the Province of Sinda a part of the Kingdome of Cambaia on the East with Oristan or Orixa So called from Agra the chief City of it and the Seat Royall of late times of the Great Monguls The Country said to be the best and most pleasant of India plentifull in all things and such a delicate even peece of ground as the like is hardly to be seen Well watered as with other Rivers so most especially with those of Tamtheo and Jemena which last runneth thorow the middest of it North and South or rather from the North-west to the South-east from whence bending more directly Eastwards it falleth at last into the Ganges or that which is supposed to be Ganges for the bed of that great River is no ncertainly known The People for the most part Gentiles Mahometanism coming in with the Great Mogul and generally inclining somewhat to the Pythagorean For such as live upon the banks of the River Jemena neither eat flesh nor kill any thing The waters of which River they esteem so sacred that thereof they usually make their Temple and say their prayers therein but naked in which posture they both dress their meat and eat it lodging upon the ground being imposed by them as a penance and so conceived Places of most esteem herein 1. Fattpore or Fettebarri on the West-side of the River a very fair and goodly City once beautified with a Royall Palace here built by Echebar after the removall of his Court from Cascimar with many spacious gardens belonging to it but much decaied since the fixing of the Court at Agra to which most of the Stones are carried and no small quantity of Corn sowed within the Walls 2. Agra on the North bank of the River Jemena inferiour to Lanor for wealth and greatness but far more populous the constant residence of the Court here in these latter times drawing to it great resort of all sorts of People By some supposed to be the Nagara of Ptolomy but such a supposition as is built on no better ground than some resemblance of the names For Ptolomies Nagara is by him placed on the Western-side of Indus in the Latitude of 33. whereas this Agra standeth on the East of the River Jemena five Degrees more
as no man can pierce it with a thrust which is the Rhinocerot of the Antients The people effeminate and unwarlike and therefore not much used by the Moguls in a war of consequence to supply which defect he furnisheth himself with Souldiers out of Persia of which his standing bands consist most of their Sultans and Commanders of that Nation also More given to merchandise than war and therein thought to be as cunning if not deceitful withall as any people in the world treacherous in their trust proud in their carriage bloody upon advantage and much given to Venerie ignorant of letters but well practised in Mechanical Arts. In matters of Religion for the most part Gentils not knowing or contemning the Law of Mahomet but very punctual in their own heathenish superstitions The Bannians in this Countrey being natural Indians nusled in Paganism and so wedded to their old Idolatries that no perswasions can prevail with them make the greatest number and seem to be all Pythagoreans in some opinions for they eat not any thing that hath blood or life but feed on Rice Roots Plantons and such natural fruits paying a large Revenue yeerly to the Great Mogul that no Oxen may be killed amongst them And because new opinions should not grow amongst them they mary in their own Tribes only and never out of their own Trades secure thereby as they conceive from all innovations Cities of most observation in it 1. Cambaia three miles from the Indus and as many in compass one of the nearest and best built in all the East So populous withall that it is thought to contain 130000 Families and is therefore called the Caire of the Indies Of most esteem in all this Kingdome though far less than Madabay to which it doth impart its name 2. Barocho Southwards of Cambaia on the top of an hill with a fair River underneath it well-walled and noted for the best Calicuts a kind of linnen Cloth so called from the City of Calicut where it was first made not to be matched in all the Indies 3. Swalley still more unto the South and about a mile from the Sea-shore but giving name unto a large and capacious Bay where the ships ride which trade at Surat 4. Surat about ten miles from the Bay of Swaller from whence the River navigable but by Boats and Shallops fortified with a Castle of Stone well stored with Ordnance The houses for the most part of Sun-dried bricks very large and lasting built with flat roofs but battlemented on all sides for fear of falling and beautified with goodly Gardens of Pomgranats Melons Figs and Limons interlaced with Riverers and Springs Made of late years a Factory for the English Merchants who have here their President and a magnificent house for the reception and staple of their Commodities 5. Neriand a great Town and as remarkable for the making of Indico which growing on a small shrub like our Goose-berry-bushes bears a seed like a Cabbage seed and being cut down is laid in heaps for half a year Grown rotten it is brought into a vault to be trod by Oxen from the Stalks then ground in Mills and finally boyled in furnaces refined and sorted and so sold to the Merchant 6. Daman upon the Sea-side over against ' Diu and possessed as that is by the Portugals A beautifull and pleasant Town fortified with a strong Castle at the North-end of it of white chalky stone well planted with Ordnance opposite whereunto on the South-side of the Town a goodly Church edged atop with white Which with the houses for the most part of the same colour also afford a pleasing prospect to the sailers by 7. Cumpanel situate on the top of an high mountain and environed with a seven-fold wall once the Seat Royall of the Kings of Cambaâ—â— 8. Daâ—aitote a place of such strength that the great M guls could never get it by force Rendred at the last upon composition conditioned they should still be governed by a King of their own 9. Netherby a great market of brazen ware beasts and Armour 10. Baâ—ndâ—râ— 11. Tanai c. This Kingdome taking in Guzarate and Sinda as parts hereof is extremely populous said to contain 60000 Towns and Villages very well inhabited but the people not accustomed to or unfit for warres Antiently governed by Kings of their own it was first subdued by the 〈◊〉 or Moores Anno 1423. under the conduct of one Mahomet or Machamut who having forced the Resbutes or naturals of the Country to betake themselves unto the Mountains was made Kings hereof To him succeeded his soane Mamudius one of no great action But what he wanted was supplied by his sonne Badurius who having conquered the Kingdome of Citor invaded that of Mandao also His Army for that warre consisted of 500000 foot 150000 horse 1000 great pieces of Ordinance 500 wagons loaded with powder shot and as many wain-loads of gold and silver to pay his Army But being discomfited in two great battels by Merhamed the Mongul Tartar whom Galgâ—e the Mandoan King had called in to his aid he shaved his beard and fled in a disguize to Diu then possessed by the Portugals whom he licenced in that distress to build the Citadel slain afterwards by a mean mariner at his return from the Portugal Vice-Roy whom he had visited on ship-board And though Mamudius his Successor endeavoured to free his Kingdome from both pretenders yet weakned with the loss of so great an Army he was not able to effect it First driven from Diu which he had besieged both by Sea and land to his great dishonour and after vanquished in battell by Adabar the sonne of Merhamed not far from Serkeffe the antient buriall-place of the Kings of Cambaia but then the Sepulchre of the Kingdome which by that victory fell to the Great Monguls who have since enjoyed it 8 DECAN DECAN is bounded on the East with Narsinga on the West with the Indian Ocean on the North with Delly and Cambaia on the South with Malavar and Canara The reason of the name we shall have anon It lieth along the Sea-coast for the space of 250 miles betwixt Aliga and Bate two noted Rivers extending East as farre as the Mountain Gates and afterwards thrusting into the North betwixt Cambara and those mountains till it meet with Delly The soil much of the same nature with the rest of India but not so flourishing as Cambaia The People for the most part Mahometaus which Religion was first planted there by the conquests of Sa Nosaradine 350 years ago yet not without some entermixture of their antient Gantilism Places of most importance in it 1. Bider the Seat Royall of Mamudza once sole King of this Country who to beautifie and adorn this City commanded every one of his Prefects or subordinate Governors being eighteen in number to build here a Palace and to reside therein certain moneths in the year each one to leave a sonne there in perpetual hostage Situtate
in the most Northern parts of the Countrey neer the borders of Delly from the King whereof Mamudza had then newly revolted and therefore would make sure of this place as most in danger 2 Visapore bordering on Cambaia the Princely Seat of Idalean one of the Kings of Decan after it was dismembered into severall Kingdomes 3. Danager confiningon Canara a beautifull and flourishing City once the chief Seat of Nisalamoccus or 〈◊〉 another of the Kings hereof after that division 4. Decan so called by the name of the Province of which the chief City next to Bider the Imperiall Seat Six miles from which there is an hill encompassed with an high wall and kept by a strong Garrison because of the great store of Diamonds which are digged out of it The town so wealthy that the people generally are attired in silks or the purest tiffany 5. Sintacora on the mouth of the River Aliga where it falleth into the Sea 6. Goa a Sea-Town also situate in a little but most pleasant Iland called Ticuarinum fifteen miles in compass opposite to the mouth or out-let of the River Mandova A noted Empory and one of the chief keys which unlock the Indies for number of Inhabitants magnificent buildings and pleasantness of situation one of most note in all this Country Possessed by the Portugals who have here their Arsenall and harbour for their Indian Fleet by which they do command these Seas So strongly fortified withall that though beleagured by Idalcan of whom before with 35000 horse 6000 Elephants and 250 peece of Ordance Anno 1573. yet he could not force it Made in regard of the convenient situation and strength thereof the ordinary Residence of the Portugal Vice-Roy who hath here his Counsell Chancellor and other Officers for the government of such parts of India as belong to that Crown as also of the Arch-Bishop or Primate of the Indian Churches planted by that nation who is hence called the Arch-Bishop of Goa 7. Chaul a Sea-Town in the hands of the Portugals also and by them well fortified Insomuch as Nisamalocco assaulting it at the same time with a very great Army was sain to leave it as he found it 8. Balaguate in the uplands or Hill-Country whence it had the name Balâ— in the Persian language signifying a top or summit of a mountain and Guate an Hill 9. Brampore once the chief seat of another Kingdome now the chief City of those parts of Decan which are subject to the Great Mongul Situate on a great River in the middest of a spacious Plain beautifull and of very great trading in bigness equall unto Paris yet yielded to Echebar the Mogul without any resistance Anno 1600. Miram then King thereof forsaking it and betaking himself to 10. Syra a strong hold both by art and nature Situate on the top of an hill in compass five leagues and environed with a triple wall furnished with victuals and all other necessary provisions sufficient to maintain 60000 men many years 3000 great peeces of Ordnance planted on the walls Besieged herein by Echebar with an Army of 2000â—0 fighting men he held our against him till over come by promises of fair correspondence drawn out of his hold some of his Counsellers being bribed to perswade him to it he was detained by the Mogull and the Commanders won by rewards and hopes yielded up the Fort and therein all the Princes of the Royall family accustomably kept therein when the Throne was full which vacant the next Heir was taken hence to succeed unto it Of the same nature as it seemeth with the hill Amara in Ethropia The Countrey formerly inhabited by a people called Venaz 〈◊〉 by Religion Gentiles and held by them till the year 1300 when overcome by 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 and King of Delly who driving the Inhabitants into the Hill-Countries possessed himself of a great part of it compelling them to submit unto his Religion The residue hereof subdued by Abdâ—â—a whom Sa Nosaradine left here to pursue the warre was by him governed with great justice for 20 years when dying he left his government to his sonne Mamudza confirmed by the Successor of Sa Nosaradine in his Fathers Regency on the payment of an annuall tribute Mamudza soon finding that the young King was of no great Spirit not only refused to pay the tribute imposed upon him but took unto himself the title of King of Decan giving this nameunto the Countrey before called Canara in regard that he had filled it with a Mungril body of Christians Mahometâ—ins and Gentiles acknowledging no common Parent nor agreeing in language customes or Religion the word 〈◊〉 signifying in that tongue as much as an illegitimate brood or a body of Bastards Out of these he made choice of twelve others say eighteen whom he appointed Governors of so many Province not daring to trust any of the old Nobility or of the Natives of the Countrey and hoping that these Slaves thus promoted by him would be more subject to command But here his silly hopes deceived him For these Slaves either governed by their masters example who had done the like unto the sonne and Heir of Sa Nosaradine or presuming on their own strength and some forein aids left to their master nothing but an empty title each one becoming absolute in his severall Province Nor did his Successors for any long time enjoy that title Daquem the last of them being taken at Bider his chief City and thereupon the name of King usurped by every one of those petit Tyrants Reduced at last into fewer hands such of them as were left became considerable Princes as appeareth by the great Army raised by Id tlean for the siege of Goa But in the end distressed on the one side by the Portugals who embarred their trade and invaded on the other side by the Great Mogul with most puissant Armies Melie entituled King of Decan and Miram King of Brâ—mpore were in fine subdued by Echebar about the year 1600. Against whom and his Successors though the Venazarari still hold out as the Resbutes or 〈◊〉 do in the Realm of Cambaia and that the King of Amdanager and perhaps some other petit Princes are not yet brought under yet we may look on the Mongul as the Lord of this Country the residue of these Royteleâ—â— and petit Princes if any of them be remaining being Homagers or Vassals to him Against whose further Progress to the Cape of Comari which Echebar so greedily aimed at the puissant Kings of 〈◊〉 and those of Malabar have opposed their power whose Kingdomes and estates we must next survey before we take a view of those other provinces which are now under the command of that mighty Monarch 9. CANARA CANARA is bounded on the North with Decan where of antiently it was a part on the South with Malabar on the East with Narsinga from which separated by the Mountain Gates on the West with the Ocean The reason of the name I find not
Kingdomes Divided at present and long since into those of 1. Cononor 2. Calecut 3. Granganor 4. Chochin 5. Cai-Colam 6. Coulan and 7. Travancor 1. CONONOR joineth to Canara extending Southward on the shore about 20 miles where is bordereth on the Kingdome of Calicut The chief Cities of which 1. Cononor giving name to the whole Kingdom well built and beautified with a very fair Haven not more safe than spacious capacious of the greatest vessels and for that cause much frequented by forein Merchants but specially by the Portugals who for the assuring of their trade have here a Citadel erected and well garrisoned with the Kings consent 2. Cota not far from Cangeraco the border betwixt this and Canara 3. Peripatan on the confines of Calicute 4. Marabia 5. Tramopatan 6. Main intermediate Towns but not much observable 2. CALICVTE South from Cononor extending on the Sea-shore 25 Leagues and situate in the most pleasant and fruitfull part of all Malabar Chief Towns whereof 1. Pandaram on the skirts of Cononor 2. Tanor a retiring place of the Kings 3. Patangale 4 Chatua on the borders of Cranganor 5. Chale a strong peece once in the hands of the Portugueze but in the year 1601 recovered by the King of Calicute who had besieged it with an Army of 90000 men 6. Capacote the Haven to Calicute 7. Calicute the chief City of the Kingdom to which it gives name in length upon the Sea three miles and a mile in breadth containing about 6000 houses but standing some of them far asunder mean and low-built few of them exceeding the height of a man on horse-back the soil being so hollow and full of water that it is not capable of the foundation of an heavier building for that cause unwalled Insomuch that Merchants houses are here valued but at 20. Crowns those of the common sort at no more than ten Which notwithstanding of great trading and much frequented by Arabians Persians Syrians Indians yea the very Tartars these last from the furthest parts of Cathaâ— 6000 miles distant The common Staple in those times of all Indian Merchandise till distracted into severall Ports by the power of the Portugaâ—s who being more industrious and better Architects have forced a foundation on the shore for a very strong Castle by which they do command the Haven and receive custome of all Merchandise going in and out The inconvenience whereof being found by the King of Calicute he besieged it with 100000 men and though the Portugals held it out a whole winter together yet in the end they were fain to quit it but first den olished it to the ground that it might not be made usefull to those of Calicute A City of exceeding wealth and of no less wantonness the men here using to change wives with one another to confirm their Amities the women spending their whole time in adorning themselves with Rings and Jewels about their ears necks legs arms and upon their brests though going naked for the most part one would think that a little dressing might suffice them If covered it is onely with a smock of Calicut a kind of linnen cloth here made and from hence so called and that not used but by those of the better sort 3. CRANGANOR lieth on the South of Calicute a small Kingdom and affording little worth the speaking of but that a great part of the Inhaâ—itants of it are of those old Christians whom they call Christians of Saint Thomas Cranganor the chief City which gives name to the whole assumed to be so full of them that they amount unto the number of 70000 vexed and exposed to publique scorn both by the Idâ—laters and Mahometans amongst whom they live The City rich commodiously built for trade at the mouth of a River which watering with his crooked streams the most part of the Country makes it fat and flourishing 4. COCHIN more South than Cranganor extended on the shore for the space of 40. Leagues and therein many Christians of the first plantation besides some converts made of later times by the Jesuâ—tes Towns of most note herein 1. Augamale the Arch-Bishops Sce of those antient Christians fifteen miles from Cochin 2. Cochin a Bishops See but of later erection and the chief City of this Kingdome which takes name from hence Situate on the mouth or out-let of the River Mangat by which almost encompassed like a Demy-Iland Of great trade in regard of its Haven very safe and spacious as also by the friendship of the Portugal Nation By whose power and favor they have not onely freed themselves from the King of Calicute to whom before they did acknowledge some subjection but drawn from thence a great part of the trafick also this King permitting them to erect a Castle on the Haven to secure their trade which the other on good reasons of State forced them to destroy The King hereof in some respect superiour unto him of Calicute when a Vassal to him this King being the Pipe or Cheif Bishop as it were of all the Bramines for which cause reverenced by all the Kings of Malabar as the Pope by many Princes of these Western parts who look upon him as the head of their superstitâ—or no pay him many Annuall duties 5. CAI-COLAM is on the South of Cochin with which agreeing both in the temper of the Air and the fertility of the Earth which notwithstanding the King hereof is not so rich as his other neighbours Here live also mary of the old Christians taking name from Saint Thomas but those so destitute of Priests and Ministers to instruct them in the Principles of Christianity that once in three years there came some formerly from the Patriarch of Muzall in Assyria to baptize their children Better I hope provided for in these later daies since their embosoming and reconcilement to the Church of Rome Their chief Town of the same name with the Country hath a very fair Haven in the fashion of a Semi-Circle well traded till destroyed by the Portugals but since that re-edified Of less note there are many both Towns and Villages but such as do deserve here no particular mention 6. COVLAN upon the South of Cai-Colam extended 20. Leagues more Southwards upon the Shores is said to be destitute of corn but plentifull of pepper and most sorts of spices So stored with Horses and sit Riders to serve upon them that the King hereof keeps 20000 Horse in continuall readiness either for invasion or Defence This Kingdome as the rest before takes name from the chief City of it which is called Coulan 24. miles from Cochin and once a member of this Kingdome of great resort by forein Merchants by reason of the fair and commodious Haven In former times the ordinary Seat of the Cobritin or chief Priest of the Bramines till removed to Cochin and held to be the Metropolis or mother City of all Malabar the rest being thought to be but Colontes of this Both in the City and the
Cattel to prosper above all imagination Most destitute in this kind is the Province of Choromandel in which if any year passeth without rain they fall into such extremities that they are fain to â—ell their children The People in Religion 〈◊〉 so worshipping one God as the Lord of all which is taught them by the light of nature that they join the Devil or their Pagodes in Commission with him where to induced by the perswasion of their beastly Bramines who thereout suck no small advantage Some Christians there are intermixt of the old plantation especially in Maâ—apur and the Region of Choromandel but not to well instructed in the Principles of their own belief as to be able to convince or convert the Gentiles nor to disswade them from the use of some Heathenigh customes though barbarous inhumane and against all reason not used in any place but amongst the Indians Amongst which I reckon for most savage the forcing of poor women to burn themselves with their husbands bodies the womens kindred not the husbands thrusting them on these hard conditions who reckon it a disgrace to their familie if she should refuse And because they will be sure not to have that infamy stick upon them they have ordered that the woman who shall so refuse must shave her head and break her Jewells and not be suffered to eat drink or sleep or company with any body till her death A life more miserable than the Flames which they seek to shun This makes them leap into the fire with joy and greediness and to contend which shall be formost she being thought to have been most loving during his life which is now most willing to accompany him in his death and offer her self to his Mane at the funeral pile whereunto thus alludeth the Poet. Et 〈…〉 quae viva sequatur 〈◊〉 râ—est non licuisse mori 〈…〉 praebent pectora sammae 〈…〉 A shame 't is not to dy they therefore strive Who may be sam'd to follow him alive The Victor burns yields to the flame her brest And her burnt face doth on her husband rest Chief Cities of this Countrey 1. 〈◊〉 on the borders of Travancer belonging antiently to the Kings of 〈◊〉 now to those of 〈◊〉 the people whereabout called Paravt are a kind of Christians who live for the most part by fishing for Pearl which they fell to the Portugals and Bengalan Merchants 2. 〈◊〉 the chief City of the Province called Musulipatan the Lord whereof is a Moor of the 〈◊〉 sect but a Vassal to the Kings of Narsinga 3. Chamdagrin one of the Seat-Royals of the King 4. Prepett three miles from Chamdagâ—â—n memorable for an yearly feast here celebrated in honour of 〈◊〉 once sâ—le King of Malavar reckoned for a Saint at least in these parts of India the offerings at which accustomably amount unto 200000 Crowns 5. Chadambaram the Moâ—he-City of these 〈◊〉 Solemnities which are done to Pereimal who hath here a Temple endowed with 30000 Ducats of annual reat all consumed by the Bramines belonging to it who pretend to have been born out of Pâ—reâ—â—alls head 6. Madura honoured with the residence of the Choâ—anâ—tâ—â— or the Chief Prelsc of the Bramines of this Kingdome so numerous that in this Town and the territories of it only are thought to be no fewer than an hundred thousand The seat also of one of three 〈◊〉 or tributary Kings of the Crown of Narsinga the other two residing at 7. 〈◊〉 and S. 〈◊〉 the Chief Towns of their Principalities but not else observable 9. Mahapur called also St. Thomas from an opinion that the body of that Apostle was here interred martyred here by the 〈…〉 whose posterity in other things like unto other men are said to have one legand foot as big as an Elephants a punishment inflicted on the whole Generation for the sin of their Ancestors How true this is I cannot say but sure I am that Dorotheus faith that he resteth at Calaemâ—na where he was slain with a dart However the Portugali to make some use of the old tradition removed some bones from this place which were said to be his and enshrined them in Goa their own City much visited by profitable 〈◊〉 to their great enriching The City once so large and populous that it contained 330 Temples for the use of divers Nations which resorted thither In these later daies desolate and forlorn inhabited onely by some old Christians till the Portugueze began again to people it with new Colonies 10. Choromandel giving name to a large Sea-Coast lying on the West side of the Golf of Bengala 11. Casta a Town of Choromandel in which the woman is not burned with her Husband as in other places of this Countrey but buried quick in the same grave with him 12. Negapatan in the same Region inhabited for the most part by Saint Thomas Christians 13. Tarnassari once the head City of a Kingdome to called the King whereof was able to bring into the field 100000 horse and foot and 100 armed Elephants but now subject to the King of Narsinga The people black but so out of love with their own colour that they willingly prostitute their wives or daughters to any people of a whiter and more cleer complexion 14. Bisnagar once the chief City of this kingdome whence the King is sometimes called the King of Bisnagar In those times 24 miles in compass with nine Gates in it amongst others continually guarded with Souldiers and a magnificent Palace not elsewhere equalled In the year 1565. sacked by four of the Mahometan Kings of Decan who with their joint forces had invaded this kingdome it became desolate and forsaken and the Court removed to 15. Penegardc eight daies journey within the Land Bisnagar being seated on the borders of Decan But long it had not staid there when removed to 16. Narsinga where it hath ever since been fixed which is now the chief City of this Kingdome unto which it gives name though the King many times call himself by the name of that City where he resideth for the present Of the Antiquity of this kingdome I have little to say these Eastern parts not being known at all till these later times nor well known in these About the year 1550 their King then reigning was imprisoned by three of his Captains or Commanders who shewed him only once a year to his Subjects parting the power and government amongst themselves He being dead and his sonne kept in the like restraint Romaragio the first Captain ascended the Throne Timaragio mannaged the Estate and Bengahe commanded the Army But these Usurpers being overthrown by the kings of Decan in the year 1565. Timaragio the Survivor took the charge of all whose sonne to make himself sure of the kingdome murdered his imprisoned Soveraign the life and liberty of kings being much of a date whence followed many broiles and troubles touching the Succession till settled in the person of Chrismarao the undoubted Heir who did
not only restore peace and quiet to Narsinga it self but recovered Canara out of the hands of the Idalcan who had before endangered his estate therein Of the great Army which he led against this Idalcan we have spoke already adding here onely that before he went upon this enterprise called the journey of Rachiol he sacrificed in nine daies 2036 Beasts to the Countrey Idols the flesh whereof he caused to be distributed amongst the poor Routed at first and being perswaded by some about him to go out of the field he is said to have made this Noble Answer that he had rather the Idalcan should boast that he had slain him than vanquished him And thereupon leaping into the thickest of his enemies and well followed by the valiantest of his Friends he obtained the victory But this vast Army of 606000 foot 30000 Horse 537 Elephants with necessaries answerable to such infinite multitudes speaks only what he can do on extreme necessiry or when he hath some long time of preparation as he had in that Action The power of Kings is better measured by their standing forces than by premeditated Levies And herein this Prince comes not much short of his greatest neighbours his standing bands consisting of 40000 Nairos or Gentlemen of his own Kingdom which serve on foot 20000 Horse who are either Persians or Arabians and 200 Elephants well paid and kept in continual readiness his foot defraied out of his Revenues his Horse maintained like the Turks Timariots out of cerrain lands distributed amongst his Captains some of which are said to have a million of Crowns per Annum to furnish him with these stable bands of Horses and Elephants As for his Revenue it is reckoned at 12 millions yearly out of which he is thought to lay up three defraying with the rest the expence of his houshold and the entertainment of his Foot This sum amassed together out of the lands mines and forrests of the Countrey which are wholly his and the waters of of some Rivers sold by him to his subjects which he monopolizeth the common people having nothing but their Armes and Labour Of which the mines forrests and one third of the lands he retaineth to himself the other two being divided amongst his Captains So that it is no marvel if so rich a Countrey yield him such an income considering it is all his own I do rather wounder of the two it should yield no more 9. ORISTAN ORISTAN or ORIXA is bounded on the South with Narsinga on the West with Delly and Mandao on the North with the Kingdomes of Botanter on the East with the Golf of Bengala and part of Patanaw or Patanâ— so called from Orissa the chief City of it The Countrey hath plenty of Rice cloth of Cotton and a fine stuff like silk made of grass and there called Yerva with which together with Long Pepper Ginger Mirabolins and other commodities here growing they use to load 25 or 30 Ships from the Haven of Orissa only The people so well governed or so hating theft that in the time of their own kings before they came under the Moguls a man might have travelled with Gold in his hand without any danger In other points of the same temper and religion with the rest of the Indians subject to that Prince It is generally well watered and interlaced with many Rivers which do much moisten and refresh it but none so beneficial to the Kings hereof as the River Guangen of old called Chaberis the waters whereof esteemed sacred by the Kings of Calicure and Narsinga and much used by them in their sacrifices and superstitious purgations are wholly ingrossed by this King who selleth them to those Princes at excessive rates Besides which Rivers it is watered with a fair Sea-coast of 350 miles in length that is to say from Cape Guadarino in the South which divides it from the Realm of Narsinga to Cape Leogorae in the East which parts it from Bengala But for all that not very much traded because not so well provided of commodious Havens as many other Indian Provinces of a far less Territory Towns of most note herein 1. Orissa on the Sea-side or not far from it the best traded Port of all this Kingdome to which the name thereof is to be ascribed as the head-Head-City of the Countrey 2. Cateâ—ha six daies journey within the land the ordinary residence of their Kings before it was subdued by the Great Monguls 3. Angeli a well-frequented Port at the bottom of the Golf of Bergala from whence many ships are yearly laden with Indian wares 4. Bacolli or Bacola more within the land and once the head City of a Kingdome but a very poor one 5. Simergan where they held it an impiety to eat flesh or kill any beast 6. Senerpate of which little memorable Nor do I find any thing which deserves much memory in the affairs of this Kingdom but that the Kings hereof were Gentiles subdued not many yeers since by the K. of Patanaw and both grown weaker by that war by Echebar the Great Mongul 10. BOTANTER BOTANTER under which name I comprehend all those petit Kingdomes which are crowded together in the North and North-East of this part of 〈◊〉 hath on the South Oristan and 〈◊〉 on the West the River Guenga or Chaberis by which parted from the Realms of Saâ—gâ— on the North the Zagathaian Tartars divided from it by some branches of Mount Taurus on the East the famous River Ganges So called from Bottia the principall City of Botanter which is the chief of these small Kingdomes The Countrey great of three moneths journey in extent full of high Mountains one of which may be seen five dayes journey off in which are said to dwell a people with ears of a span long or more whom otherwise those of the Valleys count as Apes In those parts which are next Sanga they are white and 〈◊〉 i in others more enclined to the Olive Colour Their garments they wear close to their bodâ—es so streight that one cannot see a pleit or wrinckle and those they never put off by night nor day whilest they are able to hang on nor do they wash at any time for fear of defiling so pure a Creature as the water Content with one wife deservedly to be held a miracle in these Eastern parts and yet cohabit not with her after two or three Children When any of them dy the Sooth-sayer is to tell them what to do with his body according to whose direction first consulting his Books they burn bury or eat it Few Towâ—s of note there are amongst them The principall 1. Bottia the Metropolis of it 2. Calamur and 3. Nâ—garâ—â—t their Staples for the sale of their cloth most of the people being Weavers bought of them by the Chinors and 〈◊〉 Merchants who resort frequently to those markets This a distinct Kingdome of it self the Kings whereof are called Dermair but 〈◊〉 to the great Mongul And so 〈◊〉 2.
〈◊〉 another Kingdome of this Tract frontire upon Cauchâ—-China beyond 〈◊〉 so called from 〈◊〉 the chief Town of it The Country rich by reason that it may be drowned and dried up again when the people will full of good pastures by that means and those well stored with Sheep Goats Swine Deer and other Cattel though the people neither kill nor eat them But on the contrary build Hospitals for them in which when lame and old they are kept till they die Yet many times they eat their money and I cannot blame them their small money being Almonds 3. GOVREN a kind of Desart or unpeopled Country joyneth close to this In which are few Villages grass longer than a man and therein many Buffes Tigers and other wild Basts none wilder than the Theeves who frequent the wildernesses In this Tract also are the Kingdoms of RAME and RECON joining upon Zagâ—thâ—â— or endining towards it possessed by the Mongul Tartars from the time of Tamerlane if not before but Fendataries to the Kings of Châ—bul or Arachosie who commanded in the North-East of Persâ—â— and these North parts of India and from those places drew his Army or the greatest part of it when called unto the aid of Gâ—lgee the King of Mâ—ndâ—o Here is also the Kingdome of TIPPVRA naturally fenced with hills and mountains and by that means hitherto defended against the Mongul Tartarâ— their bad neighbours with whom they have continuall warres But of these Northern Kingdomes lying towards Tartary there is but little to besaid and that little of no certain knowledge those parts being hitherto so untravelled that they may pass in the Accompt of a Terra Incâ—gnita 11. PATANAW PATANE or PATANAW is bounded on the North with the Realms of 〈◊〉 on the East with Ganges on the West with Oristan and on the South with the Kingdome and Gulf of Bengala So called from Pataâ—e the chief City of it There is another Kingdome of thâ—â— name in the further India but whether it were so called because a Colony of this or from some resemblances in the nature of the severall Countries or from the signification of the word in the Indian language I am not able to determine Certain I am that though they have the same name yet they are under several Governments and situate in farre distant places no other wise agreeing than in some resemblances as Holland in the Low-Countries doth with Holland in Lincolâ—shire The Country yieldeth veins of Gold which they dig out of the pits and wash away the earth from it in great Bolls The people tall and of slender making many of them old great Praters and as great dissemblers The women so bedecked with silver and copper especially about the feet that they are not able to endure a shooe Both Sexes use much washing in the open Rivers and that too intermâ—xt together in their naturall nakedness especially such as live neer the banks of the River Jemenae esteemed more holy than the rest which from Agra passing thorow this Country falleth into Ganges Chief Towns hereof 1. Patane a large town and a long one built with very broad streets but the houses very mean and poor made at the best of earth and hurdles and thatched over head The Metropolis of this Kingdom because the antientest and that which gives the name unto it 2. Bannaras a great Town on Ganges to which the Gentiles from remote Countries use to come in pilgrimage to bath themselves in the holy waters of that River The Country betwixt this and Patanaw very fair and flourishing and beautified upon the Rode with handsome Villages 3. Siripur the chief Seat of one of the old Princes of this Country not yet subdued by the Great Mongu's 4. Ciandecan on the bottom of the Gulf of Bengala the Seat of another of their Kings One of which memorable for a trick put upon the Jesuâ—es when blamed by them for the worship of so many Pagâ—des as contrary both to the law of God and nature For causing them to rehearse the Decalogue he told them that he did offead no more against those commandements in worshiping so many Pagodes than they themselves in worshipping so many Saints 5. 〈◊〉 a fair City for a City of Moores once part of Patanaw since ascribed to Bengala The people of this Country properly called Pataneaâ—â— but corruptly Parthians wâ—re once of great command and power in these parts of India Lords for a time of a great part of the Kingdom of Bengala into which driven by Baburxa the Mongul Tartar the Father of Emanpaxda and Grand-father of Eâ—hebar Their last King being slain in that war twelve of â—heir chief Princes joined in an Aristocraty and warring upon Emanpaxda had the better of him After this their Successors attempted Oristan and added that also to their Estate But they could not long make good their fortunes subdued by Ethebar the Mongul and made subject to him Three of them viz. the Prince of Siripur the King of 〈◊〉 and he whom they call Mausadalion retain as yet for ought I can learn unto the contrary as well their antient Paganism as their natural liberty The other nine together with Mahometanism have vassailâ—d themselves to the great Mongul now the Lord Paramount of the Country 12. BENGALA BENGALA is bounded on the North with Patanaw on the East with the Kingdoms of Pegu on the South and West with the Gulf of Bengala So called from Bengala the chief City of it It containeth in length on the Gulf and River 360 miles and as much in breadth into the Land A Countrey stored with all things necessary to the life of man great plenty of Wheat Rice Sugar Ginger and Long-Pepper Such aboundance of Silk Cotton and of Flesh and Fish that it is impossible that any Countrey should exceed it in those commodities And which crowns all blest with so temperate and sweet an air that it draws thither people of all sorts to inhabit it Here is also amongst other rarities a Tree called Moses which beareth so delicate a fruit that the Jews and Mâ—hometans who live here affirm it to be the fruit which made Adam to sin The natural Inhabitants for the most part are of white complexion like the Europaeans subtil of wit and of a courteous disposition well skill'd in dealing in the world much given to traffick and intelligent in the way of Merchandize if not somewhat deceitful Noâ— ignorant of other Arts but with some imattering in Philosophy Physick and Astrology Stately and delicate both in their Diet and Apparell not naked as in others of these Indian Provinces but clothed in a shirt or smock reaching to their feet with some upper Garment over that The women of an ill name for their unchastity though Adultery be punished with cutting off of their noses Neat if not curious and too costly in this one custom that they never seeth meat twice in the same Pot but for every boyling buy a new one In Religion
for the most part Mahometans especially on the Sea-shores which lay most open and commodious to the Arabians by whom Mahometanism was here planted many ages since Of Rivers we need take no care having spoke of Ganges That with its many Channels may abundantly serve to water so small a Province But hereof more anon in a place more proper Proceed we now unto the Cities The principall whereof 1. Bengala which gave name to the whole Kingdom situate on a branch of the River Ganges and reckoned for one of the most beautifull Towns of all the Indies Exceedingly enriched by trade but more by Pilgrimages by reason of the holyness and divine operations ascribed by the Indians to the waters of it there being few years in which not visited by three or four hundred thousand Pilgrims 2. Gouro the seat-Royall of the antient Kings 3. Catigâ—n on the bottom of the Gulf of Bengala a well-traded Port. 4. Taxdâ— once a Town of great trafick and situate in those times on the banks of Ganges now by the changing of the Channel occasioned by the frequent overflowings of it above a league off from the River 5. Porto Grande and 6. Porâ—o Pâ—quâ—no two Towns of the Portugals but without Forts for defence or rules for Government Places like the Asylum which was built by Romulus whereunto such as dare not stay in their own Countries or any well-regulated Cities use to make their resort privileged here to live in all kind of licentioâ—sness Here is also in the North parts of this Province or adjoining to it the City and Kingdom of ARACHAN Lying along the banks of Ganges but so remote from the Sea that it is 50 miles distant from the neerest branch of it Wealthy and populous withall governed heretofore by a King of its own so wallowing in wealth and sensuall pleasures that he had in this City and the parts adjoyning twelve Royall Palaces or Seraglios all stowed with women for his Iust Now subject with Bengala and Patanaw betwixt which it lieth to the Empire of the great Monguls There are also some small Ilands in the Gulf of Bengala which I account unto that Kindom 1. Bazacata now called Basse 2. Barassae of which name there are five in Prolomy three of them by Mercator said to be Mindâ—nao Cailon and Subut 3. Two called the Ilands of Good fortune by him placed under the Aeâ—uator and said to be inhabited by Anthropophagi or man eaters as also were three more which he calls 4. Sabadibae now named Cainam 5. Iâ—sulae Satyrorum or the 〈◊〉 of Saâ—â—res three in number the people whereof were reported to have tails like Satyres And 6. those called Maniolae in number ten now Islas de Pracel reported by Ptolomy to be so stored with Adamant stones that they violently drew to them any ships or vessels which had iron in them for which cause they which used these Seas fastned the planks of their ships with wooden pins But our later Navigators find no such matter unless perhaps it be in the exploits of Sir Huon of Bourdeaux where indeed we meet with such an Iland in the course of his Errantrie But to return again to the Kindome of Bengala we find it of a different constitution from the rest of the Kingdomes of these parts Not governed by a family of Successive Princes descended from the Stemme of a Royall Ancestrie as the others are Chance or necessity had brought thither many Abassines or Aethiopians who made a conquest of the Country and chose a King out of themselves To keep whan they had gotten and perpetuate the Regall honor to the Abassine Nation they procured thence yearly certain thousands of Slaves whom they trained up unto the warres advanced unto the higest commands in civill and military service and out of them elected one for their Lord and Soveraign as the Mamalucks in the Kingdome of Egypt whom herâ—in they followed By some Arabians trading with them they came in time to admit Mahometanism amongst them on 〈◊〉 Sea-coasts especially Dispossessed first of some part of their Kingdome lying about Satagan by the Pataneans when driven to seek new dwellings by Baburxa the Mongul Tartar and of their whole Kingdom by the valor and good fortune of Echebar who added it unto the rest of his estate Thus have we drawn together all the Indian Provinces on this side of Ganges the Kingdoms of Mâ—labar and Narsinga being but a Parenthesis in the construction of this sentence into the hands of the Moâ—gul So called for his descent from the Mongul-Tartars one of the five great Tribes or Nations into which that People were divided Derived originally from the famous and mighty Tamerlane who having added almost all the greater and lesser Asia unto his estates left Persia with the parts of Indâ—â— which lay neerest to it on the North to Myrza Charrok his fourth sonne But his issue failing in Abdula the 4th of that line those estates fell to Abusaid descended from Maromâ—ha the third sonne of Tamerlane Whose sonne and Successor called Zeuzes by some Malaonchres being disseized of the greatest part of the Kingdome of Persia by Ussan-Cassanes the rights of all with the possession of Arachosia now called Chabul and Paropamisus now Candahor or Sablestan together with so much of India as was held by those Princes remained in Hamed one of the younger sonnes of Abuâ—â—â—aid whose posterity laying hold on such opportunities as were offered to them have made themselves Masters in few years of this mighty Empire Whose Successors and their achievements we shall here present The Great Monguls 1473. 1. Hamed the sonne of Abuâ—â—â—ul of the race of Tamerlane after the conquest of Persia by Vssâ—â—-Cassanes succeeded in Chabus Candahor and the parts of the Realms of India subject to the Tartars 1500. 2. Babor or Baburxa in danger to be dispossessed of most of his Estates by the neighbouring Vâ—beques living upon the borders of Persia Tartary and India whom at last he quieted enlarged his dominions by the conquest of some part of Patanaw and other Kingdomes in the North. 1532. 3. Hamoyen the sonne of Babor or Baburxa commonly called Emanpaxda vanquished by the Parthians or Pataneans and their confederates craved aid of Tamas the 2d Persian Monarch of this line on promise to conform to the Sophian Sect and by that and confirmed and settled his affairs but held himself to the former Principles of his Irreâ—â—gion 4. Merhamed or Miramudius sonne of Emanpaxda called in by Galgee the King of Mandâ—o against Badurius the Cambaian vanquished the Cambaian King in two pitched fields and conquered the Kingdomes of Mandao and Balassia with some other Provinces 5. Adabar the sonne of Merhamed added the Realms of Delly and Cambaia unto his Dominions 1550. 6. Mahomet Selabdin commonly called Eohebar brother of Adabar the most fortunate and victorious Prince of all this family subdued the Kingdoms of Caxiâ—â—ir Agra Decan Orissa Bengala Patanaw and divers others of less note 1605. 7. Selim
of 150 Leagues but far more from West to East watered with many great and remarkable Rivers issuing from the Lake Chiamay which though 600 miles from the Sea and emptying it self continually into so many Channels contains four hundred miles in compass and is nevertheless full of waters for the one or the other By the overflowing of which Rivers and the commodiousness of the Lake the Countrey is wonderfully enriched as Aeâ—ypt by the overflowings of 〈◊〉 Which notwithstanding there are in it many huge forrests in the West especially and therein many Lions Tigers Ounces Serpents and other Creatures of a mischievous and 〈◊〉 Nature The whole Countrey containeth the Kingdomes of 1. Calam 2. Prom 3. Melintay 4. Mirandâ— 5. Bâ—cam 6. Tangu 7. Avâ— and 8. Brama Of 1. MELINTAY and 2. MIRANDA I find little written but that they were conquered with the rest by the Vice-Roy of Tangu in the first rising of his fortunes becoming the foundation of his following greatness Of 3. BACAM it is said that it is plentifully enriched with Mines both of Gold and Silver In 4. CAVILAN commonly and contractedly called CALAM we find apparent foot-steps of the name of Chavilah the sonne of Jocktan Of the rest more is to be said not much 5. PROM though it be a little Kingdome is exceeding populous and stored with a warlike people Given by the second King of Pegu of the Tanguan Race to a younger sonne who being by his Father commanded to the siege of Mâ—rmolan which had then revolted not only did decline the service but rebelled against him and by the strength of this small Kingdome held it out three years But seeing his Fathers fortunes in a manner desperate he repented of his disobedience and went unto his aid with an Army of 50000 men of his Natural Subjects Treacherously poisoned on the way by his chiefest Counseller for fear the Crime of his Revole would be charged on him 6. TANGV is the name of one of these Bramian Kingdoms so called from the chief Town thereof formerly subject with the rest to the Kings of Pegu and governed by their several Vice-Royes One of which taking his advantage of the warres between the Kings of Pegu and Sâ—am began to set up for himself and husbanded his affairs so well that he became sole Lord of these Bramian Kingdoms as afterwards of all the rest in this part of India Not long enjoyed by his successor when dispossessed and slain by one whom he married to his Sister and made Governour of this very Province In which he bore himself so stâ—ffely that being sent for by his King to aid him against some of his Rebels and to bring all the inhabitants of the Country with him he answered that he would send one half to send all unreasonable Inceased with which denial the King armed against him but he put the Leaders to the sword and seized their followers After this being now in Arms and dispairing of reconcilement he took upon himself the title of King of Tangu and to secure himself therein joined with the King of Arrachan against his Soveraign whom he most barbarously slew after he had put himself into his hands with his wife and children Neither enjoyed he long the fruits of his villany subdued not long after with the rest of these Indian Princes by the King of Barma of which more hereafter 7. AV A another of these Kingdoms and one of the plantations of Chavilah also is liberally furnished with all things necessary for the life of man It affordeth also store of Rubies which they dig out of the Mountains a certain creature which breeds Musk together with great plenty of horse and Elephants Their chief City is called Ava which name it giveth to the River upon which it is built issuing out of the Lake of â—hâ—amay and communicates the same to the whole Province Subject for many ages past to the Kings of Pegu till conquered by the Vice-Roy of Tangu as before is said and by him given with the Title of King unto one of his brothers Who rebelling against the sonne and successour of his Benefactor and by him slain in single Combat this Kingdome was conferred on a sonne of the Conqueror A Prince of more vertue than his brother and one which grew at last unto so great power that in the bustles or combustions of the Kingdome of Pegu he surprised or forced the Fort of Siriâ—â—ngh formerly given unto the Portugals by the King of Arrachan slew all the Souldiers and spitted Philip de Britto who commanded in it After which gathering together the dispersed Peguans and repairing part of the City for them he was likely to have made himself a good bargain by it if the sudden coming of the King of Barma had not spoiled his markets 8. BRAMA or BARMA the most Southern of these Bramian kingdomes the king where of was Feudatarie to the kings of Pegu or of their appointment Of no accompt when the Portugals came first acquainted with India nor in many years after now of most renown For sitting still when all the rest of their neighbours wâ—re embroiled in wars they gathered so much power and strength that in the end one of the later kings hereof observing how the forces of his neighbouring Princes were consumed and their treasures wasted levyed an Army of 300000 fighting men 40000 Elephants with all things suitable And with this power subdued the kingdoms of Macin and Arrachan conquered the Cities of Pegu and Odia the two chief Cities of these parts invaded the kingdome of Siam and possessed himself of it making in little time all the lesser Princes to become his Tributaries as they still continue CAVCHIN-CHINA CAVCHIN-CHINA is bounded on the West with the Kingdomes of Brama on the East with the Great Realm of China on the North extending towards Tartary and on the South bordering on Camboia The Countrey aboundeth with Gold Silver Aloes and great store of silks of which the Inhabitants make 〈◊〉 and other stuffes It affordeth also plenty of Porcellane Earth which being made into Cups Dishes and other Utensils of houshold is sold by the name of China-ware well counterfeited of late amongst us by putting a white crust on our Poâ—â—ers earth as neat for use and shew as the naturall China The people very stout and warlike especially for Foot-service though they have many horses here and those fit for warre Well-practised on their Peeces also on which they spend great store of powder but not so much in warre as in sports and triumphs yet making much more than they spend the earth in some parts yielding very fit materials for that commodity Trained up to Manufactures especially to the making of Powder Sâ—lks and Porcellâ—ne which they sell to the Chinese Idolaters for the most part as 〈…〉 whose Characters and language they also use but so that there appear some inclinations unto Christianity in many of them who have erected many Crosses and do admit the pictures of
the Blessed Virgin and the finall judgement Men not unlikely to have made a further Progress in the Gospel if they had met with better Teachers than these Laymens books The chief City hereof is called Cauchin-China by the name of the Province situate on a River coming out of China and passing hence into the bottom of a large and capacious Bay The whole Country divided into three Provinces and as many Kings over which one Paramount but he and they the Tributaries of the King of China Belonging hereunto is a little Iland called Ainao ten miles from the land where the Inhabitants have a great trade of fishing for Pearls The onely Province of the Indies which is wholly subject to the power of a forein Prince the Portugals holding in this Continent many Towns and Cities but no whole Provinces 3 CAMBOIA CAMBOIA is bounded on the North with Cauchin-Chinâ— on the East and South with the Ocean on the West with parts of the Kingdome of Stam and the Realms of Jangoma So called from Câ—mboâ—a the chief City of it Divided commonly into the Kingdom of Champa and Cambota specially so called 1. CHAMPA the Northern part hereof bordereth Cauchin-China and is liberally provided of all necessaries besides which there is plenty of Gold and of the wood called Lignum Aloes prized at the weight thereof in silver much used in Bathes and at the funeralls of great persons This a distinct kingdome of it self but subject with the rest to the king of Barma The chief City of it called by the name of Champa which it communicates to the Country is situate neer the Sea-side and of very good trafick 2. CAMBOIA specially so called lieth South of Champa a very great and populous Country well stored with Elephants and Rhinocerots which last the Indians call Abades It yieldeth also great plenty of a sweet-wood which they call Calumba as precious and as much esteemed of as the wood of Aloes if not the same or some Species of it as I think it is together with abundance of Rice Flesh and Fish well-watred with the River Mecon issuing out of China having received many lesser streams falleth first into a great Lake of 200 miles compass and thence into the Indian Ocean making betwixt the Lake and that an hundred Ilands By the overflowings of this River the whole Country is enriched as Egypt by the like overflowings of Nilus the inhabitants at those times betaking themselves to their upper Rooms and passing altogether by boats from one place to another The people are conceived to be strong and warlike though more enclined to merchandise and navigagation than to deeds of Arms. Idolaters of the worst kind esteeming Men and Beasts of a like condition in regard of any future judgement of late beginning to set up and adore the Cross which is it seems the first Principle of Religion in which the Friers are wont to instruct their Converts Not weaned as yet by these new Teachers from burning the women with their Husbands common to them with many other Indian people not from burning their Nobles with the King used onely here but voluntarily to express their loves not upon constraint The chief Towns of it 1. Camboia one of the three prime Cities of this part of India the other two being Odâ—â— and Pegu of which more anon Situate on the River Mecon before destroyed where it hath its fall into the Sea well traded as the Staple for all this Country the commodities whereof are brought hither and here sold to the Merchant 2. Cudurmuch twelve league from Camboia on the same River also 3. Coul on the Sea-side in the very South-west Angle of all the Country The Kings whereof once absolute and at their own disposing till invaded by a vast Army of the neighbouring Laos in which their King being slain and his forces weakned his sonne and Successor was constrained to become a Vâ—ssâ— to the crown of Siam But fearing the loss of his estate when that Kingdom was made subject to the Kings of Pegu in the year 1598. he applied himself unto the Portugals offered them a Peninsula part of his dominions extending three leagues into the Sea and sent to the Jesuites for some of their Society to live and preach amongst his people Not able for all these honest Policies to preserve himself from being made a Feudatary of the King of Barma 4 JANGOMA JANGOMA or the Country of the LAOS is bounded on the East with Camboia and Champa from which parted by the River Menon on the West with the River of Pegu by which divided from that Kingdome on the South with the Realm of Siam on the North with Brama It took this name from Jangoma the chief province of it the other two for here be three of them in all being those of Livet and Curror All of them joyned together called the Country of the Laos by the name of the people a mighty Nation and a stout by Religion Gentile naked from the middle upwards and tâ—â—ssing up their hair like a cap. Their Country very rich and levell but very ill-neighboured by the Guâ—oâ—â— Paulus Venetus giveth them the name of Gangâ—gu who possess the mountains whence falling in great companies to hunt for men whom they kill and eat they commit cruel butcheries amongst them Insomuch as this people not able to defend themselves against their fury or rather wanting good leaders to conduct and order them for it is said that they can make a million of men were fain to put themselves under the protection of the King of Siam whom they obeyed no further than the humour took them Towns they have none of any note except those three which give name to the severall Provinces and those of no note neither but for doing that The people for the most part live on the banks of their Rivers where they have Cottages of Timber or else upon the Rivers in boats and shallops as the Tartarians of the Desarts in their Carts or wheel-houses One of their Rivers commonly called the River of Laos said to extend 400 Leagues within the land as far as â—artary and China and from July to September to invert its course and flow back strongly toward its fountain Not governed by any certain rule or order till they submitted to the Patronage of the king of Siam and then no oftner than they listed though for their sakes that king engaged himself in a war against the Cannibals their most deadly enemies accompanyed with 25000 foot 20000 Horse and 10000 Elephants Secured by his protection from the 〈◊〉 of those Cannibals of whom otherwise they had been devoured in the year 1578 they descended the River in great multitudes to the number of 200000 and fell into the Realm of Camboia But they made an unprosperous adventure of it For though the king of Camboia lost his life in the battel ye he gave â—hem such a fatal blow that they were almost all slain drowned or
captived in the fight Weakned wherewith they became an easie prey to the Vice-Roy of Tangu when he first made himself sole Master of this part of India Who giving to his brother the kingdome of Ava and leaving to his eldest sonne the kingdome of Pegu with the Soveraignty over all the rest conferred this Countrey with the title of king of Jangoma on a younger Sonne But he begotten on a daughter of the king of Pegu and born after his Father had attained this whole Indian Empire was easily perswaded by the â—alapoies so they call their Priests that his Title was better than that of his Elder Brother who was born before it Prevented in his claim by the kings of Arrachan and Tangu by whom that king was slain and his kingdome wasted How he sped afterwards I find not But probable it is that he submitted with the rest to the king of Barma 5. SIAM SIAM is bounded on the North with Jangoma and part of Pegu on all other parts with the wide Ocean save that it toucheth on the East with a part of Camboia and on the West with a poinâ— of Pegu. So called from Siam the chief of all those kingdomes which pass under this name as that from Siam the chief City of it The Countrey of greater length than breadth stretcheth it self South-wards into the Sea many hundred miles in form of a Peninsula or Denty-Iland called antiently Aurea Chersonesus or the Golden Chersonese one of the five famous Chersoneses or Peninsulaes of the elder writers the other four being Peloponnesus in Greece the Thracian Chersonese neer Propontis the Taurican Chersonese in the Euxine and the Cimbrian Chersonese in the North of Germany now part of Denmark It had the name of Aurea or the Golden super-added to it from its plenty of Gold for which much celebrated by the Antients both Greeks and Romans and therefore not improbably thought by some to be Solomons Ophir stil famous with the rest of the Countries of the kingdome of Siam for abundance of Gold Silver Tinn and other metals great quantity of Pepper sent yearly thence with store of Elephants and horses the whole Countrey very fat and fertile well stored with Rice Corn Grass and all other necessaries The people generally much addicted to pleasures if not to Luxury delighted much with Musick and rich apparel and such as stand much upon their honour For their instruction in good letters they have publick Schools where their own Lawes and the mysteries of their own religion are taught them in their natural Language all other Sciences in strange tongues understood by none but by the learned To tillage they can frame themselves and are painful in it but by no means will follow any Mechanicall Arts which they put over to their Slaves In Religion for the most part Gentiles worshiping the four Elements amongst other Gods to each of which as they are severally affected so are their bodies to be disposed of either burnt buried hanged or drowned after their decease as in their lives they were most devoted to the fire Earth Air or Water Some Christians here also in and about the parts possessed by the Portugals but more Mahometans who possessing two hundred Leagues of the Sea-Coasts of this Countrey have planted that religion in most part of the Countrey now by them possessed It containeth in it many kingdomes some of little note those of most observation 1. Malaca 2. Patane 3. Jor 4. Muanâ—ay and 5. Siam properly and specially so called Of which Malaca is now in the hands of the Portugals Jor and Patane are possessed by the Arabians or Saracens the other two have followed the fortunes of the kings of Siam 1. The kingdome of MALACA taketh up the South part of the Golden Chersonese extended towards the North from the Cape or Promontory which Ptolomy calleth Malancoâ—in in the extreme South-point hereof neer unto Sabana then a noted Emporie for the space of 270 miles So called from Malaca the chief City of it of old times called Musicana or built very neer it from whence this Tract is called by Strabo Musicani terra The City seated on the banks of the River Gaza which is here said to be 15 miles in breadth by the frequent overflowings whereof and the neerness of it to the Line being but two degrees to the North the Air hereof and all the territory belonging to it is very unwholsome and for that cause the Countrey but meanly populous In compass it is said to be 20 miles of great wealth because of almost infinite trading for Spices Vnguents Gold Silver Pearls and previous Stones the most noted Emporie of the East Insomuch that is said by Ludovico Barthema who was there before the Portugals knew it that it was traded by more ships than any one City in the world more by far since the comming of the Portugals to it than it was before The People as in all this tract of an Ash-colour with long hair hanging over their faces bloody and murderous specially when they meet one another in the Night Few other Towns of any note in a place so unhealthy except 2. Sincapura situate East of Malaca neer the Promontory of old called Magnum supposed by some to be the Zaba of Ptolomy and that more probably than that it should be his Palura as Maginus would have it Palura being a City of the Hither India and different at the least 20 degrees of Langitude from any part of this Chersonese But whatsoever it was called in the former times it was in these latter ages the mother of Malaca the greatest part of the Trade and people being removed from thence to this newer foundation before which time it was the best frequented Emporie in these parts of the East 3. Palo Zambilan 120 miles on the West of Malaca from whence to Sincapura coasting about the Southern Cape now called Cape Liampo we have a Sea-shore of 270 miles as before was said No other habitation of any reckoning but a few sheds upon the shore for the use of Fisher-men and some scattered Villages in the land the People dwelling most on Trees for fear of Tigers This Tract in former times possessed by the Kings of Siam about the year 1258 bâ— came a kingdome of it self founded by Paramisera and some other of the Javan Nobility who flying the tyranny of their own king came into this Country where they were lovingly received by Sangesinga then reigning under the Sâ—amite in Sincapura Him they perfidiously slew and invested Paramisera in his Dominion Outed of which by the King of Siam he was forced to seek a new dwelling and after two or three Removes fell upon the place where Malaca now standeth which City pleased with the commodiousness of the situation he is said to have built The trade of Sincapura in short time removed hither also which so increased the wealth and power of the Kings hereof that joyning with the Moores who began to plant themselves on
this City and the rest of his Subjects of Muantâ—y It is said that for the use of this City only being eated like Venice upon many little Ilands not bridged together there are no fewer than 200000 skiffes and shallops serving to wast the people from one place to another By means hereof of great strength and almost impregnable But being beleagured by the Tanguan or 〈◊〉 Conquerour with ten hundred thousand fighting men an Army bigge enough to have buryâ—d a greater City than this if every man had but cast a shovell full of earth upon it it was wonne at last The Government of these kings of Siam was absolute heretofore if not tyrannical he being sole Lord of all the land in his kingdomes which he either gave to his Nobles or Farmed out to Husbandmen during life or pleasure but never passed over unto any the right of Inheritance And these he grants unto his Subjects besides rents in money upon condition to mairtain a determinate number of horse Foot and Elephants thereby inabled without further charge unto the Subject to leavy 20000 Horse and 250000 Foot for present service besides far greater numbers out of the residue of his people if occasion be And for his ordinary Guard he was said to keep 6000 Souldiers and 200 Elephants of which beasts he is reported to have 30000 of which every tenth Elephant is trained up to the war By reason of so great a power he became Master of the Realms of Camboia and Champa held those of Mâ—lâ—ca Jâ—r Pahan and Patane as his Vassals and Tributaries with that of Jangoma and the Laos under his protection But when the fatal time was come and that his City of Siam was betrayed to the king of Pegu he poisoned himself upon the newes his sonne becoming Tributary to the Peguan Victor This sonne of his too much a Prince to be a Subject reuolted from a sonne of the Peguan a vicious and tyrannical King degenerating from the gallantries of so worthy a Father by whom he was besieged in Siam with 900000 fighting men Unable to resist this Army if he had presently declared such a resolution he entertained the king with Treaties and promises of delivering the City to him till the third moneth after which was March when ordinarily the River was to overflow all the Countrey for 120 miles about by which sudden and violent inundation and the sword together the Siamites waiting diligently for the opportunity there perished all of this great Army except 70 thousand After this blow the conquering Siamite Anno 1600 besieged and endangered the City of Pegu of which more annon and dying in the year 1605. left his estate unto his Brother Whose sonne succeeding settled a Factory in Siam of the English Merchants Anno 1612. and was in a fair way of obtaining the soveraignty of Pegu then destroyed and wasted if the violent and unresitable coming of the king of Barms had not crossed him in it to whom now subject with the rest of the Indian Princes on that side of the River 6. PEGV PEGV is bounded on the East with Jangoma and a part of Siam on the North with the kingdomes of Brama on the West and South with the kingdome and Golf of Bengala So called from Pegu the chief City as that is by the name of the River upon which it standeth Divided commonly into the kingdoms and estates of 1. Verma 2. Macin 3. Orrachan 4. Martavan and 5. Pegu specially so called 1. VERMA is the name of a small kingdome bordering upon Bengala and so denominated from Verma the chief Town thereof A kingdome which hath no Port or Haven at all and therefore wholly freed of Moores and Mahometans which can be said of no other of these Indian kingdoms The people black naked above the Waste and covered beneath it onely with a veil of Cotton in matter of Religion Gentiles and in wane right valiant This last apparent by the long and frequent warres which they had with the Peguans to whom made Tributary in conclusion but not fully conquered 2. MACIN so called from Macin the chief City thereof is another of these Peguans kingdoms Of small esteem but for the great quantity of the sweet-wood by the Latines called Lignum vitae by the natives Calamba so much in use for Funeralls and Bathes as was said before held also by the Indians for a Sovereign and unparallell'd Medicine against many dangerous diseases great quantities whereof are brought hence yearly by the Merchant One of the first kingdoms which was conquered by the king of Barma upon whom it bordereth in the beginning of his Fortunes 3. ORRACHAN or Arrachan lieth on the West of Macin and the South of Verma environed round with mountains and impassable woods Chief Towns thereof 1. Dia ga taken and destroyed by the Portugals in the quarrels betwixt them and the king of Arrachan Anno 1608. â— Sundiva situate in an Iland unto which it gives name fix leagues off from the continent of Bengala to which it formerly belonged Subdued by the Portugals Anno 1602. and from them taken by this king about two years after and made a member of his kingdom The Iland 30 leagues in compass very strong fruitfull and the Town well fortified 3. Arrachan the head City which gives name to all distant from the Sea 45 miles but seated on a large and capacious River The king and kingdom of no note till the ruins of Pegu to the Crown whereof it once pertained In the desolation of which State the king hereof combining with him of Tangu besieged the second Tanguan king in the Castle of Macan and had betwixt them the whole pillage of that wealthy City together with the possession of the best Towns of it After this victory he returned to Arrachan in triumph leading with him the white Elephant of the king of Pegu sumptuously adorned the brother and two sonnes of the Peguan following in the Pagâ—ant A solemn and magnificent entry The better to assure himself of his new dominions this king bestowed upon the Portugals the fort of Siriangh on the River of Pegu. For which favour ill-requited by the Portugals who had taken his sonne and put him to a grievous ransom they brake out into open warres In the pursuit whereof after many losses the king recovered from them the Isle of Sundiva and manning out a Fleet of 1200 sail of which 75 were of so great burden as to carry every one twelve peeces of Ordnance and in that fleet 30000 Souldiers 8000 hand-guns and 3500 greater peeces besieged the Fortress assisted in that action also by the king of Tangu And though he failed in his design yet like enough he had prevented the king of Avâ— who took it in the year 1613 as before is said had he not been outed in the mean time of his own kingdom by the king of Barma of whole great rise the conquering of the Realms of Macin and Arrachan were the first foundation 4. MARTAVAN the
richest of these kingdoms lieth South to Arrachan a little turning towards the West The soyl so fertile that it yieldeth three Harvests in a year and sent annually 15 ships to Cochin and as many to Malaâ—a laden with Rice Rich also in Mines of Iron lead steel brass silver gold and Rubies and very liberally provided of Springs and Rivers The Forrests well-stored with Harts Bores and Buffoles store of Pines and Palms the woods with Sugar-canes many excellent fruits the ordinary herbs and shrubs either Medicinal or odoriferous The principall City of it called also Martavan situate on an Haven open at all times of the year and not choked with sands as usually other Havens are in the Indian winter of great trading much splendour and a temperate aâ—â— Faithfull unto the last to the Crown of Pegu to the Kings whereof their own were subjects and in that constancy they twice repulsed the king of Siam who then had conquered the most part of the Kingdome of Pegu. Angry whereat the Siamite caused two of his cowardly Captains to be cast into a chaldron of scalding oyl and at the third assault became master of it Bannalaius the old King hereof 99 years old with his heir apparent and 200000 of his Subjects being compelled to hide themselves in the woods and Desarts 5. PEGV the most predominant Kingdom lieth like a Crescent or half-moon on the Gulf of Bengala extending on that coast from Negrais unto Tavan the next Town of Siam for the space of three hundred miles and upwards but little less in breadth if not quite as much So called from the River Pegu which runs thorow the middest of it and gives this name also unto Pegu the most noted City The Soyl hereof exceeding fruitfull by reason of the annuall overflowings of the River which do yearly fatten it fit to bear wheat and of Rice yielding an incredible quantity It affordeth also many Rubies great numbers of Civet-Cats plenty of â—â—cca a Gum there made by Ants as here Bees make wax store of Elephants and abundance of Parats which speak plainer and are much fairer than in any place else The people of a mean stature somewhat corpulent and naturally beardless If any stragling hair thrust forth they alwayes carry Pinsers with them to pull them out Nimble and strong but yet not very fit for warre spending too much of their strength in the love of women to which most passionably addicted They black their teeth because they say that dogs teeth be white and wear no cloths but on their heads and about their nakedness Said by the Jews to be descended from some of the Tribes of Israel confined hither by Solomon but by the Peguans themselves to be begotten of a dog and a China woman which were saved here upon a Shipwrack By Religion for the most part Gentiles imagining innumerable worlds one after another and a determinate number of Gods for every world more Orthodox in assigning after this life according to the merits of the party deceased one place of Torments and another of Delights and pleasures if they had not added a third also for satisfaction Chief Cities of this Kingdome 1. Cosin seated in a Territory full of Woods as those Woods of Tigers Wild Bores Apes and Parats the houses made of Canes which serve here for timber some of them being as bigge as Hogs-Heads covered over with thatch 2. Joccabel a great City on the River Pegu. 3. Dian on the same River also where they make Barks or Vessels as big as Galeasses which serve both for trade and liabitation 4. Coilan a City four-square and each square four miles 5. Lanagon a pleasant Town and full of Palm-trees 6. Dala in which were the Kings Stables for his ordinary Elephants his four White Elephants for so many he had being alwaies kept about the Court not seen abroad but in great solemnities when trapped in furnitures of Gold and no less honoured by the people than the King himself called therefore King of the White Elephant by the neighbouring Princes 7. Silvanpede where many victualling Barkes are made to serve for dwelling on the Sea 8. Mevcao where they use to unload such goods as are to pass by Land to Pegu. Neighboured by the strongest Castle in all this Kingdome and therefore chosen by the King for his place of Retreat when distressed by the Kings of Arrachan and Tangu To the last of which making choice to yield up his person with his Wife and Children because he had maryed him to his Sister he was by him perfidiously and basely murdered 9. Siriangh a strong peece on the mouth of the River given by the King of Arrachan to the Portugals and by them committed to the keeping of Philip de Britto in the year one thousand six hundred or thereabouts Who having made it good against him and the King of Tangu his Associate for the space of thirteen years together was at last forced to yield himself prisoner to the King of Avâ— by whom cruelly tortured on a spit 10. Pegu the glory of these parts great strong and beautifull Divided into two Towns the Old and the New the Old inhabited by Merchants the New by the King and his Nobility The houses made of wood but covered with Tiles a Coco-Tree before every house yielding a comfortable shade and a pleasant shew The Steetes as strait as any line and so broad that ten or twelve men may ride abrest in the narrowest of them In figure square each square having five Gates besides many Turrets all of them beautifully gilded The whole well walled with walls of stone environed on all sides with great Datches and in the middest the Royall Palace walled and ditched about most sumptuously gilded but specially the Temple or Idol-chapel the walls whereof were hid with Gold the Roof tiled with Silver In this magnificent Palace lived the Peguan Kings in as much pomp and pleasure as the world could yield his empire not extending only over these kingdoms now described but over all the Provinces or kingdoms of the Bramane also which he governed by his severall Vice-Roys or rather TRIBUTARIE kings A happiness too great to continue long For in the year 1567. the Vice-Roy or Tributary king of Tangu by the aid of his faction and reputation of his vertues entered into rebellion and slaying the Nobles of the Land usurped that kingdome After this he subdued the Cities and kingdoms of Calam Melintay Prom Miranda and Ava inhabited all of them by the Brames or Bramanes and therfore taking to himself the title of king of Brama because his fame and fortunes took their rise from his victories over them Following the course of his Successes he first assailed the Cities of Odia and Siam but repulsed with loss To make amends for which misfortune he beleaguered Pegu and subdued it and by the reputation which he got in that action returning to the siege of Siam had it yielded to him Dying he gave the
kingdome of Ava unto one of his Brothers that of Peam to one of his grandsonnes the kingdome of Jangoma to a younger sonne but born after the time of his obtaining the Crown of Pegu and finally that of Pegu with the Soveraignty over all the rest to his eldest sonne a Prince of vicious and tyrannical nature and not more cruell to his subjects than they disobedient to him Whereupon preparations are made on both sides the people to defend their liberty the King to preserve his Royalty During these civill discords the titulary king of Stam whose late overthrow was not yet fully digested came violently into the Countrey of Pegu burning Corn Grass and Fruits killing man woman and child and having satisfyed his Fury returned to his home This spoil of the fruits of the Earth was but a prâ—logue to an unsupportable famine which consumed all the inhabitants of this flourishing kingdome except such whom the Granaries of the City of Pegu preserved Anno 1598. For here the Fathers devoured their Children the stronger preyed upon the weaker not only devouring their more fleshy parts but their entrails also nay they broke up the skulls of such as they had slain and sucked out their brains This calamity incited another Tributary Prince of Tangu to make his best advantage out of his neighbours affliction though made his Brother-in-Law and advanced to great honours by his Father For justly fearing the displeasure of his angry Prince to whose aid he had refused to come when sent for by him he joined himself with the king of Arrahan besieged his Lord and Soveraign in the Fort of Meccao Brought to extremities the unfortunate Prince thought best to put himself into the hands of his brother of Tangu who assaulted and entred Pegu where he found as much treasure as 600 Elephants and as many horses could conveniently carry away This havock being made he villanously murdered the King Queen and their Children and departed leaving the gleaning of his spoil to the King of Arrachan who Anno 1600 was expelled by the King of Siam who enjoyed it not long For the King of Barma having with an Army of an hundred thousand fighting men and fourty thousand Elephants subdued the Kingdomes of Macin and Arrachan followed the currents of his Victories conquered Siam drove the king thereof from PEGV where he hath built a most Magnificent Palace and is now the sole Monarch of the twelve kingdomes of this India A more particular relation of this King and his new-settled Estate we cannot yet understand what his Revenues are what his Government what his Forces Merchants whose inquisitiveness into the State-Matters of other Princes is dangerous to their trading cannot give us any full satisfaction Scholars and Statists are not permitted to observe and such of the Natives as could give us the most light are not suffered to travell Onely we may conjecture by the great Wealth of those several Princes and the vast Armies by them raised in their severall Territories that his Annual Revenues Casualties and united Forces must be almost infinite And so much for INDIA OF THE ORIENTAL ILANDS THE ORIENTAL ILANDS so called from their situation in the Oriental or Eastern Seas may be divided into the Ilands of 1. Japan 2. the Philippinae 3. the Isles of Bantam 4. the Moluccoes 5. those called Sinde or the Celebes 6. Java 7. Borneo 8. Sumatra 9. Ceilan and 10. certain others of less note 1. JAPAN JAPAN is an aggregate body of many Ilands separated by small Gulfs Streights and turnings of the Sea but taking name from Japan the chief of all Some reckon them to be 66. in all others ascribe that number to so many Kingdoms into which these Ilands be they in number more or less use to be divided But whatsoever the number be the certainty whereof I can no where find there are three only of accompt to which the severall petit Kingdoms are now reduced that is to say 1. Japan specially so called which containeth 53 Kingdoms of which 26 are under the King of Meace 12 under the King of Amagunce the other 15 under other Princes of inferior note II. Ximo which containeth in it nine Realms the principall whereof are those of Bungo and Figen III. Xicoum which comprehendeth four onely of these petit Signeuries JAPAN the chief of all these Ilands to which the residue may be accompted of but as Appurtenances is situate over against the streights of Anian towards which it looketh to the North distant from New Spain on the East 150 leagues or 450 English miles and 60 leagues from Cantan a Province of China opposite to it on the West On the South it hath the vast Ocean and those infinite sholes of Ilands which are called the Phillippinae and the Isles neighbouring upon them Extending in length from West to the East 200 leagues but the breadth not proportionable thereunto in some places not above ten leagues over and in the broadest parts but thirty The Country mountainous and barren but of a very healthy air if not too much subject unto cold yet in some places they have Wheat ripe in the moneth of May but their Rice which is their principall sustenance they gather not before September The surface of the Earth clothed with woods and forrests in which some Cedars of so tall and large a body that one of them onely is sufficient to make a Pillar for a Church the bowels of it stored with divers metals and amongst others with such inexhausible mines of gold that Paulus Venetus reporteth some of the Palaces of their Kings to be covered in this time with sheets of gold as ours in Europe are with lead But I find no such matter in our latter travellers Their Fields and Medows full of Cattel but hitherto not made acquainted with the making of Butter their Fens much visited by wild-Ducks as their house yards with Pigeons Turtles Quails and pullen The People for the most part of good understanding apt to learn and of able memories cunning and subtil in their dealings Of body vigorous and strong accustomed to bear Arms until 60 years old Their complexion of an Olive-Colour their beards thin and the one half of the hair of their heads shaved off Patient they are of pain ambitious of glory uncapable of suffering wrong but can withall dissemble their resentments of it till opportunity of revenge They reproach no man for his poverty so it come not by his own unthrifciness for which cause they detest all kinds of gaming as the wayes of ill-husbandry and generally abhorre standering these and swearing Their mourning commonly is in white as their feasts in black their teeth they colour black also to make them beautiful they mount on the right side of the horse and sit as we are used to rise when they entertain In Physick they eat salt things sharp and raw and in their salutations they put off their shooes The very Antipodes of our world in customs though not
beginning continuance and period of the Traffick through this Sea by which all Europe formerly received so great commodity Know then saith he that Ptolomie Philadelphus 277 years before the Incarnation was the first that set on foot this Navigation Cosir of old called Myos-Hormos on the sea-side being the ordinary Haven out of which they hoysed sail for India and into which they returned full fraught with their commodities From hence they were by land conveighed to Coptus and so down the Nile to Alexandria by which Traffick the City grew exceeding rich insomuch that the Custom-house there yielded Ptol-Auletes 7 millions and an half of gold yearly The Romans being Lords of Egypt enhansed the Customs to double that sum they sent into India every year as Plinie witnesseth 120 ships whose lading was worth 1200000 Crowns and there was made in return of every Crown 100. When the Vandals Lombards Goths and Moors had torn in peeces the Roman Empire all commerce between Nations began to cease At last perceiving the inconvenience they began anew conveighing the Indian commodities partly by land partly by water unto Capha in Taurica Chersonesus belonging to the Genoese Next Trabezond was made the Mart-town then Sarmachand in Zagatate where the Indian Turkish and Persian Merchants met to barter wares the Turks conveighing their merchandise to Damascus Baratti and Aleppo from whence the Venetians transported it to Venice making that the common Emporium of Christendome Once again viz. Anno 1300. the Soldans of Egypt restored the passage by the Red-Sea which having continued more then 200 years is now discontinued by the Portugals Spaniards English and Dutch which bring them to their several homes by the back side of Africk So that not only the Traffick of Alexandria is almost decayed and the Riches of the Venetians much diminished but the Drugs and Spices have lost much of their vertue as impaired by too much moisture So much saith he touching the course and alteration of this Trading to which I shall take leave to adde That for the better and more quick return of such Commodities as were usually brought into this Sea some of the Kings of Egypt attempted formerly to cut a main Channel from it to the River Nilus passable by Ships of greatest burden the marks of whose proud attempts are remaining still Sesostris was the first who designed the work having before with good successe cut many Trenches from the River and some Navigable into many places of the Country by which unprofitable Marishes were drained the Country strengthened Trade made easie and the People better furnished with water then in former times Darius the great Persian Monarch seconded the same Project so did one of the Ptolomies The like is said of a Capricious Portugal in these later times But they all gave it over on the same consideration which was a fear lest by letting in the Red-Sea they might drown the Country and perhaps make a second Deluge in the parts of Greece and Asia Minor which lay nearest to them that Sea being found to be much higher then the Mediterranean and the flats of Egypt But here we are to understand that all which hitherto hath been spoken concerning Egypt relates to Egypt strictly and specially so called containing only so much of the Country of Egypt as lieth upon the Banks and Channels of the River Nilus and not to all that tract of ground which lay betwixt the Red-Sea and the borders of Libya which was reckoned in the compasse of the kingdom of Egypt much lesse as comprehending Libya and Cyrene also though now accounted Members of that great Body and antiently parts or Provinces of the Diocese of it For Egypt in the largest sense and acception of the word may be and generally is divided into these three parts viz. 1. Egypt in the general notion or the Kingdom of Egypt extended on the Mediterranean from the borders of Idumaea to the the Roman Libya or Marmarica lying Westward of the mouth of Nilus called Heracleoticum and on the borders of Aethiopia Superior from the said Red-Sea to the Country of Libya Interior 2. Libya or Marmarica lying betwixt Egypt properly so called and the Province of Cyrene or Pentapolis And 3. Cyrene or Pentapolis reaching from that Libya to the greater Syrtis where it bordered with that part of the African Diocese which is now called the Kingdom of Tunis And in this first acception of it we shall now proceed to a Survey of the Mountains and chief Cities which done we shall describe the other in their proper places and then unite them all in the Generall Story As for the Mountains of this Country there are very many there were no living else for the people in the time of the overflowings of the River The principal of these 1. Those called Montes Libyei lying in a long chain on the West of Nilus 2. Alabastrinus 3. Porphyritus 4. Troigus 5. Basanitus on the East thereof Betwixt these Hils the course of the River is so hemmed in on both sides that at the upper part of the stream where it first entreth into Egypt the space betwixt the Mountains is not above four miles broad enlarging afterwards to eight then about Caire to thirty seven thence opening wider and wider till we come to the breaches of the Delta as the Country doth increase in breadth On these and other of the Mountains and lesser Hils stand most part of the Towns the receptacles of the Country-people in the time of the Flood rising when least to fifteen cubits or seven yards and an half Rivers of note here are none but Nilus nor indeed any one but that that being sufficient of it self to enrich this Country which otherwise would be nothing but a Sandy Desart But what they want in Rivers is supplied with Lakes and Trenches which serve for watering their Cattel tempering of mortar for their buildings and other such inferior uses sometimes perhaps for drink for the poorer sort who cannot be conveniently furnished with the waters of Nile Amongst the Trenches which were many as before was said those of most estimation were the Works of Ptolomie and the Emperor Trajan the first falling into that branch of the Nile which maketh the Isle called Heracleotis the other into the main body of it not far from Caire These two by reason of the many fresh springs which fall into them have the name of Rivers in old Authors and betwixt these was seated the Land of Goshen extending from Nilus to the Red-Sea on the East and West The chief of note amongst the Lakes were those called 1. Mareotis not far from Alexandria by Plinie called Arapotes Maria by Ptolomie all which names are now lost and changed into that of Lagodi Antacon from a Town of that name near unto it 2. Laccus supposed to be the same which in the book of Maccabees is called Asphar lib. 1. cap. 9. And 3. Moeris now called Buchaira more memorable then the rest in compasse 3500
under the conduct of Sarracon or Shirachoch a right valiant and stout Commander who taking his advantages not only cleared the Country of Almericus but got the whole kingdom to himself dashing out the brains of Elphaiz with his horsemans-mace And though Etzar his son assumed for a while the title of Caliph yet the destruction of himself and the whole Phatimean family rooted out by Sarracon soon put an end to that claim and left the kingdom in the peaceable possession of the Turkish Sultans The fourth Dynastie or the Race of the Turkish Kings or Caliphs of Egypt 1163. 1 Asereddin sirnamed Shirachoch called Sarracon by the Christian writers the first of the Turks which reigned in Egypt of the Noble family of Alub 1186. 2 Zeli-heddin called Saladine by the Christian writers the son or as some say the nephew of Sarracon or Shirachoch confirmed in his estate by the Caliph of Bagdet under whose jurisdiction he reduced the Egyptian Schismaticks He obtained also the kingdom of Damascus conquered Mesopotamia Palestine and in the year 1190 regained the City of Hierusalem A Prince who wanted nothing to commend him to succeeding Ages nor to glorifie him in the kingdom of Heaven but the saving knowledge of CHRIST JESUS 1199. 3 Elaziz the second son of Saladine succeeded in the Realm of Egypt which he exchanged afterwards with his brother Eladel for the kingdom of Damascus 4 Eladel or El-Aphtzel by the Christian writers called Meledine succeeded upon this exchange in the kingdom of Egypt and overcame the Christians without the losse of a man at the siege of Caire by letting loose the Sluces of Nilus which drowned their Army and forced them to covenant with him at his own pleasure 1210. 5 Elchamul 1237. 6 Melech Essalach by the Christian writers called Melechsala the son of Elchamul who overcame Lewis the 9. of France and going with that King towards Damiata was slain by the souldiers of his guard called Mamalucks 1242. 7 Elmutan the son of Melech Essalach succeeded for a time in his Fathers throne But the Mamalucks being resolved to obtain the kingdom for themselves inforced him to flie to a Tower of Wood which they set on fire the poor Prince half burned leaping into a River which ran close by it was there drowned the Mamalucks setled in the kingdom An. 1245. These Mamalucks were the ofspring of a People on the banks of the Euxine Sea vulgarly called the Circassians whom Melechsala either bought of their Parents or at the second hand of the Tartars then newly Masters of those Countries to supply the want of valour in the idle and effeminate People of Egypt and out of them selected a choise Band of men for the guard of his person Knowing their strength and finding their opportunity they treacherously slew Melechsala their Lord and Master appointing one Azeddin Ibek a Turco-man by nation and therefore by most Christian writers called Turquimeneius one of their own number a man of great spirit and valour to succeed in the Throne Unwilling to re-give the Supreme Authority into the hands of the Egyptians and not permitting their own sons to enjoy the name and privilege of Mamalucks they bought yearly certain numbers of Circassian slaves whom they committed to the keeping of the Egyptians by them to be instructed in the Egyptian language and the Law of Mahomet Being thus fitted for imployment they were taught the Discipline of War and by degrees advanced unto the highest Offices of power and trust as now the Janizaries are in the Turkish Empire in choice and ordering of whom as the Ottoman Turks were Precedented by those of Egypt so it is possible enough that the Janizaries may make as great a Change in the Turkish Empire as the Mamalucks did in the Egyptian So unsafe a thing it is for a Prince to commit the sole guard of his person or the defence of his Dominions to the hands of such whom not the sense of natural duty but the hopes of profit or preferment may make useful to him For thus we find that Constantius a King of the Britains was murdered by his Guard of Picts most of the Roman Emperours by the hands of those whom they intrusted either with the guard of their persons or the command of their Armies And I think no man can be ignorant how many times the Princes and Estates of Italy have been brought into the extremest dangers by trusting too much to the honesty of mercenaâ—ie Souldiers and Commanders Take we for instance the proceedings of Giacopo Picinino who with his Followers first took Pay of Ferdinand the first of Naples left him to fight for his vowed Enemy Iohn Duke of Calabria the son of Renè Duke of Anjou whom also he forsook in his greatest need The like we find of Francisco Sforza first entertained by the Duke of Millain from whom he revolted to the Florentines from them to the Venetians and being again received into the Pay of the State of Millain made use of their own Army to subdue that City Nor can I speak better of the Switzers or their dealing in this kind with the French Kings the Sforza's Dukes of Millain and with whom not to say the truth that ever trusted or employed them Now as it is unsafe for a Prince to commit the custody of his person or the defence of his Estates to the faith of Forreiners so is it dangerous to him to call in such aids and to commit his fortunes either wholly or principally unto their fidelity A moderate supply of men money or munition from a confederate King is I confesse in most cases convenient in some necessary as well to save their Natives from the sword as to trie a friend and interest an Allie in the same cause But to invite so great a number of Succours as from Helpers may become Masters and oppresse the people whom they came to defend is that Rock on which many Realms have suffered shipwrack and which a good Pilot of the State should with all care avoid For as in the sickness of the body natural it is hurtful to a mans health and life to take more physick then it may after the effect thereof be wrought either digest or put out again so in the body politick it is a perilous matter to receive more succours then what after they have done the deed they were sent for we may either with conveniencie reward and settle with us or at liberty expell Of all Surfeits this of Forraign supplies is most uncurable and Ne quid nimis if in nothing else true is in this case oracle There is no Kingdom I am verily perswaded under the Sun which hath not been by this means conquered no Common-wealth which hath not been by this means ruined To relate all examples were infinite and tedious to inferre some pleasing to the Reader and to illustrate the point not unnecessary To begin with former times Philip of Macedon called into Greece to assist the
THe Kingdom of TVNIS in Latine called Regnum Tunctanum hath on the East Cyrene on the West the Kingdom of Algeirs or Tremesin on the North the Mediterranean on the South Mount Atlas So called from Tunis the chief City of it The Country towards the East barren and destitute of water but in the Western parts sufficiently plentiful of Corn and other fruits and generally well set with Trees The people more patient of labour then the rest of Barbary and for that cause perhaps more healthy but questionlesse of so good constitution that they live commonly to great Age unlesse a violent death prevent them and are not much afraid of sickness or much troubled with it It contains in it the two whole Provinces of Africa Propria or Africa Minor as some call it and the Numidia of the Romans called since Numidia Antiqua to difference it from the present Numidia lying on the other side of Mount Atlas The principal Mountains of which Countries besides those spoken of already were 1 Audas 2 Buzara 3 Cinna 4 Dios or the Hils of Jupiter 5 Gillius by some named Gigion and 6 those called Thizibi Rivers of most esteem with them though not much with others besides those mentioned before 1 Ampsaga now called Collo and by some Sat Gemar which divideth this Kingdom from that of Tremesen 2 Catuda 3 Cyniphus issuing from the hils called Zuchabarus and falling into the Sea not far from Tripolis Besides which there were some great Lakes the chief whereof 1 Hipponites near Mount Cinna 2 the Lake of Pallas or that called Palus Tritonia where Minerva was said to have shewed herself the Inventress of Spining and of Oyle and for that much worshipped by this People 3 Sylura another great Lake but not so famous as the former because not honoured by a Goddesse The whole divided by the Romans into these four parts viz. 1. Africa specially so called lying on the Sea from the River Ampsaga to the Lesser Syrtis 2. Tripolitana from the Lesser Syrtis to the Greater 3. Numidia lying on the West of Zeugitana or Africa Propria and 4. Byzacena so called from Byzacium or Byzacina a chief City of it the territory whereof so extremely fruitful that 400 Ears of corn were sent to Rome in the time of Augustus and 360 in the time of Domitius Nero growing on one stalk But this Division being long since worn out of memory it is divided at the present into the Provinces of 1. Ezzab 2. Tripolis 3. Tunis 4 Constantina 5. Bugia 1. EZZAB is that part of this Kingdom which lieth next to Cyrene A small Region and not very fruitful yet the Inhabitants hereof are conceived to be rich the richer in regard they are free from tributes their wealth not rising from the commodities of their own Country which affordeth them little else besides Dates and Olives but from such merchandise which they buy of the Venetians and sell to the Numidians The richest those of Mesrata a little Province of this Tract which lieth near the Sea Towns it hath some but none of note the chief of which 1. Mesurata 2. Sibeca both upon the Sea of which the first gives name unto that little Province spoken of before Of more note in the former times was Philoeni Villa situate on the Greater Syrtis near the Promontory then called Hippi but now Cabo de Surta memorable for the adjoyning Altars called Phileni Arae erected by the Carthaginians upon this occasion Some controversies being grown betwixt those of Carthage and Cyrene about their bounds it was agreed that two men at a set houre should be sent out of each City towards the other and where they met there to be fixed the Meer-stone of their several Territories The Phileni two brothers nominated for Carthage were so quick of foot that they had goten a good way into the Country of the Cyrenenses before they were met wherewith the Cyreneans much enraged put to them this choice either to go so much back again or to die in the place This last accepted by the Phileni who preferred the common good of their Country before their own for preservation of whose name and honour to succeeding Ages the grateful Carthaginians did erect these Altars 2. West of the Province of Ezzab lieth that of TRIPOLIS which together with Ezzab made that Province which the Romans called Tripolitana Not much more fruitful then the other except in Barley but more commodiously seated in regard of the Sea which is here more safe for navigation the former lying wholly on the greater Syrtis Chief Towns hereof 1. Leptis Magna so called to distinguish it from another but of lesse note and therefore called Leptis Parva situate in the now Province of Tunis A town of so great wealth and trade that it was worth a Talent daily to the Carthaginians 2. Euphranta called also Pyrgos Euphranta from some strong Tower in it on the Western-bank of the greater Syrtis 3. Cinsterna on the Eastern side of the River Cyniphus 4. Cabis the utmost City of this Province westward the same which Ptolomie cals Tacapa situate at the fall of the River Triton into the lesser Syrtis 5. Sabratha and 6. Heva not else observable but that together with Leptis Magna they made up that one City which the Romans called from thence Tripolis 7. Tripolis founded by the Romans and by them peopled with Colonies from those three Cities before mentioned A City of great name and riches till destroyed by the Saracens By whom rebuilt adorned with many fair Temples Colleges and Hospitals and flourishing in much wealth and lustre it became a Kingdom of it self but subject to the Kings of Tunis till taken by the Genoes with a Fleet of 20 sail and by them sold to the King of Fesse Recovered not long after by the King of Tunis it came once more to have a King of its own till by the valour of Peter of Navar it was conquered for Ferdinand the Catholique the first Monarch of Spain whose Nephew Charles the 5. conferred it on the Knights of S. John of Hierusalem then expelled from Rhodes whom the Turks under Sinan Basa General of Selimus the second dispossessed by force An. 1551. since that the ordinary Residence of the Turkish Begterbeg for these African Provinces and made an usual retreat for Pyrats who infest these Seas and do much mischief to the Coasts of Sicil Italy and others of the Christian Countries 3. The Province of TVNIS lying Westward to that of Tripolis taketh up so much of this Kingdom as antiently contained the Province of Byzacena and so much of the Roman Africk as lieth on the East of the River called Guadilharbar the Hipponites Lacus of the Antient writers The Country antiently so fruitful that it yielded usually an increase of an hundred and fifty fold For proof of which besides the testimony of approved Authors the wonderfull if not prodigious Ears of Corn which before we heard of may serve sufficiently
the Roman Colonies 6. Cirta or Cirta Julia the Metropolis of Numidia when a Roman Province and formerly the Seat-royal of Syphax King of the Masaesyli within whose country it was reckoned in former times though afterwards laid unto this Province Situate near the mouth of the River Ampsaga and memorable for the tragedie of Sophonisba the daughter of Asdrubal of Carthage a Lady of most exquisite beauty and yet carried more charms in her tongue then in her eyes â—spoused first unto Masinissa King of the Numidians but after upon reason of State married unto Syphax who being took prisoner by his Rival and brought to Cirta the Lady upon hopes of liberty and honour both bestowed her self on her first Lover but Scipio fearing lest that marriage might withdraw Masinissa from the Roman party caused the Lady to be seized on which Masinissa not being otherwise able to prevent or remedie sent her a Cup of poyson which she drank and died Of these Numidians there is much mention in the Stories of Rome and Carthage imployed by this last City in all their wars both in Spain Italy and Sicil. Siding at last with Scipio against that State they did good service to the Romans in the weakening and destruction of that City whose fall they did not long survive first conquered in the war of Jugurth after the death of Juba made a Roman Province Their Kings as far as I can trace the succession of them follow in this Order The Kings of the Numidians 1 Gala the Father of Masinissa 2 Desalces the brother of Gala according to the laws of the Country which gave the Crown unto the brother not the son of the former King like the law of Tanistry in Ireland succeeded Gala. 3 N. N. a son of Desalces in the absence of Masinissa then serving under the Carthaginians in the wars of Spain possessed himself of the throne slain not long after by a Rebel 4 Masinissa son of Gala recovered the kingdome of his Fathers but again outed by Syphax and the Carthaginians betwixt whom and Masinissa touching Sophonisba there was deadly feud Aided by Scipio and the Romans with whom associated against Carthage he not only recovered his own kingdome but was gratified with the greatest part of that which belonged to Syphax A professed Enemy to Carthage the final ruine whereof he lived to see till the time of his death being then ninety years of Age. 5 Micipsa the son of Masinissa of whom nothing memorable 6 Jugurth the son of Mastanabilis one of the Brethren of Micipsa having wickedly made away the two sons of Micipsa usurped the kingdom manifestly withstood the Romans whose attempts sometimes by force sometimes by subtility but chiefly by money and bribes he overthrew and made frustrate Et fuit in Ingurtha saith Florus quod post Annibalem timeretur At last being broken by Metellus vanquished by Marius and by Bocchus delivered into the hands of Sylla he was by Marius led in triumph to Rome In this Triumph was carried 3700 pound weight in Gold in Silver-wedges 5775 pound weight and in ready Coin 28900 Crowns it being the custome of the Romans in their Triumphs to have carried before them all the riches and mony which they had brought out of the conquered Countries to put into the common Treasury 7 Hiempsal son of Bocchus king of Mauritania gratified for his Fathers treacherie in betraying Jugurth with the kingdome of Numidia Relieved Marius in his exile 8 Hiarbas another of the Marian faction preferred to the Numidian Crown but vanquished and deprived by Pompey at that time one of Sylla's Captains 9 Hiempsal II. preferred by Pompey to this kingdom 10 Juba the son of Hiempsal the second who siding with Pompey against Caesar in the Civil wars gave a great overthrow to Curio one of Caesar's Lieutenants Curio himself slain his whole Army routed such as were taken prisoners murdered in cold blood But being discomfited by Caesar after Pompey's death Numidia was made a Province of the Roman Empire Thus by the fall of Carthage and the death of Juba came the whole Provinces of Africa Propria and Numidia containing the now Kingdom of Tunis into the power of the Romans Of which the Nations of most note were the Nigitimi on the Eastern parts of the Mediterranean the Machyni near the Lesser Syrtis the Libya-Phoenices and Mideni bordering upon Carthage the Ionii Navatrae and Cirtesii taking up all the Sea-coasts of Numidia Such as inhabited more Southwards on the back of these not so much considerable None of them to be staid upon but the Libya-Phaenices a mixt people of the old Libyans and new Phoenicians as the Liby-Aegyptii were of the said Libyans and the neighbouring Egyptians The memory of all of them so defaced by the violent inundation of the Arabians that there is scarce any tract or footsteps of them in all the Country When conquered by the Saracens they were at first subject to the Caliph or Sultan of Cairoan after the spoile whereof by the Arabians subdued by Abdul Mumen King of Morocco and by him added to that Kingdom In the distractions of that State made a peculiar Kingdom by some of the Relicts of the Stock of the Almohades who took unto himself the title of King of Tunis that City being his chief Seat By him transmitted unto his posterity till the dayes of our Grandfathers when Muleasses one of the youngest sons of Sultan Mahomet having first murdered Maimon his eldest brother and put out the eyes of twenty of the rest usurped the Soveraignty Rosetta the onely one of those Princes who escaped this massacre by the aid of Solyman the magnificent obtained the Crown outed thereof not long after by Charles the fifth appearing in favour of Muleasses An. 1535. But the Tyrant did not long enjoy his ill-gotten Soveraignty when his eyes were were also put out by his own son Amida and so committed to close prison Nor did Amida enjoy it long dispossessed by Abdamelech his fathers brother To Abdamelech Mahomet his son succeeded and in his life another Mahomet the brother of Amida who being supported by the Turks recovered from the Christians the strong Fort of Coletta and dying left the Turk his heire who doth now possesse it 2. TREMESEN or ALGIERS THe Kingdom of TREMESEN is bounded on the East with the River Ampsaga now called Maâ—or by which parted from the Kingdom of Tunis on the West with the Kingdoms of Fesse and Morocco from which separated by the River Malutha or Malva So called from Tremesen or Teleusine the chief City of it Called also the Kingdom of Algiers from the City so named sometimes the Seat-royal of their Kings In the flourish of the Roman Empire it had the name of Mauritania Casariensis Mauritania because a part of the Kingdom of Juba King of Mauritania of which more anon Casariensis from Casarea the chief City of it as that so called in honour of Augustus Caesar on whom the Kings hereof depended
and flourished But growing into many distractions and every Sultan or Provincial Governour shifting for himself it became a Kingdom under the stile and title of the kingdom of Tremesen The majesty of it much impaired by Abulthasen or Albohacen king of Fesse who brought it not long after under his command Recovering after some short time its former liberty it became a Kingdom once again and so continued till the time of Abuchemen who incurring the hatred of his people because by his supine neglect the Spaniards had surprised and taken Oran and Masalquivir their two best Havens made an easie passage for his brother Abuzeiden to the Regal diadem Abuzeiden scarce well setled lost it to Hairadine Barbarossa An. 1515. He to Charles the fifth by whom Abuchemen was restored becoming Homager and Tributary to the Crown of Spain But his successor Abdulla weary of the Spanish servitude put himself under the protection of Solyman the magnificent as a Prince of his own Religion to whom at his decease he left the possession of his Kingdom also ever since subject to the Turks whos 's Beglerbeg or Supreme Officer for these African Provinces resides for the most part in Algiers and hath 40000 Timariots under his command 3. FESSE 4. MOROCCO THese Kingdoms I have joyned in title because united for the most part in the storie and affairs thereof and of late times making but one entire Estate under the Xeriffes of Morocco and therefore handled both together in the point of History though of a different consideration in the way of Chorography They contain in them the whole Country of Mauritania truly and properly so called divided antiently into Tingitana and Sitifensis Caesariensis being naturally a Numidian Region the Masasyli and the rest of the Inhabitants of it of Numidian breed not laid to Mauritania nor accompted any part thereof till the death of Iugurth when given to Bocchus King hereof in reward of his treason for betraying that unhappy Prince into the hands of the Romans It took this name from the Mauri the Inhabitants of it when that name first given the word Tania signifying a Nation being added to it as in Britannia Lusitania Aquitania and perhaps some others and the name of Mauri given them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth amongst other things obscure or black by reason of the darknesse of their complexion Accompted in their times an hardy but a bloody people carelesse of life fearlesse of death implacable if once offended their thirst of revenge not to be quenched but by blood Mauri sunt genus hominum suapte nature cadis avidissimum nibilque non facile audens desperatis similes contemptu viz. mortis periculorum the character given of them in Herodians time and it holds good still notwithstanding the intermixture of Goths and Saracens incorporated into the same nation with them and passing by the same name in the Writers of the middle time Post baec Mauri totam Hispaniam Provinciam Burgundiam c. dominio suo manciparunt as my Author hath it where by Moors we are to understand the Saracens which came out of Africk Chief Mountains of this Country 1. Atlas Minor so called to difference it from the greater Mountain of that name from which it is seven degrees more North but shooteth as that doth with a point or Promontory into the main Atlantick Ocean on the South of Salla 2. Durdus extended also into Caesariensis 3. Diur 4. Phocra of which little memorable Rivers of most note 1. Sala 2. Subur 3. Zilia 4 Phuth 5. Diur 6. Cusa all falling into the Atlantick this last the same as I conjecture which our modern Writers call Ommirabili And for the rest we must find amongst them 1. Sifelmel 2. Tensist 3. Niffis the names of the chief Rivers as at this time called The old Inhabitants here of in the time of the Romans were the Metagonita neer the Streits giving name unto Metagonitis an adjoyning Promontory the Succosii Verbicae Nectiberes Vacuatae Voli and on the East-side the Mauresii These last participating of that common name in which all united Called by the Latines Mauri by the Greeks Maurusii The Etymologie as before Their descent originally from Phut the son of Cham whose memory preserved here in the River Phut To that the coming of the Chanaanites of the same extraction served but as an Accessory From those two fountains sprang the whole Nation of the Mauri Governed by Kings the most considerable of which when first known to the Romans was that Bocchus who betrayed Jugurth his friend and son in law into the hands of the Romans gratified for that treacherie with the Country of the Masasyli reckoned for part of Mauritania from that time forwards as Hiempsal one of his sons was not long after with the Kingdom of Numidia The whole Estates of Bocchus Syphax and Masinissa united by this means in the person of Juba one of his posterity the most potent Prince of all these parts who falling in the African war against Julius Casar Numidia was forthwith made a Province of the Roman Empire Crispus Salustius being made the first Governour of it But Mauritania extending at that time from the Ocean to the River Ampsagus he gave to Bocchus and Bogud two of his Confederares but descended of the old Regal family Bogud unluckily taking part with Mark Antony against Augustus was by Bocchus who declared for the other side dispossessed of his part that which now makes the Kingdom of Fesse in which confirmed for his good service by the conquering Emperor Juba the son of the former Juba grown famous for his eminent learning was of a Prisoner made a Prince invested affect the death of Bocchus in all the Dominions of his father except Numidia and by the bounty of Augustus a great Patron of Learning advanced to the marriage of Selene daughter of Antony and Cleopatra After whose death and the death of Ptolomy their son murdered by Caligula Mauritania was by Claudius added to the patrimony of the Roman Empire divided into two Provinces viz. Caesariensis betwixt the two Rivers Malva and Ampsaga now the Kingdom of Tremesen and Tingitana from the River Malva to the Western Ocean This last divided into Tingitana and Sitifensis the River now called Ommirobili being the boundary betwixt them by the Emperor Constantine who leaving Sitifensis to the Diocese of Africk laid Tingitana why I know not unto that of Spain Cained from the Romans by the Goths after by the Saracens they became members of those Empires in the declining of the last divided into the two Kingdoms of Fesse and Morocco to the description and history whereof we do now proceed 3. MOROCCO THe Kingdom of MOROCCO hath on the East the River Malva by which parted from Tremesen on the West the Atlantick Ocean on the South Mount Atlas and on the North the Kingdom of Fesse So called from Morocco the chief City of it in former times known by the
name of Mauritania Sitifensis from Sitiphis in those times the principal City as Procopius telleth us The Country said to be fruitful of all things necessary to life pleasing to the fight and sweet to smell to particularly well stored with Grain and Pulse plentiful of Oyl Honey and Sugar liberally furnished with Dates Grapes Figs Apples Pears and all sorts of Fruits exceedingly well stocked with Cattel but with Goats especially whose skins afford a very excellent kind of leather and of their â—leece materials for the finest Chamlets which are here made in most of their Cities The whole Country divided commonly into these seven parts viz. 1. Guzzula 2. Sus 3. Morocco specially so called 4. Hea. 5. Hascora 6. Duccala and 7. Tedles 1. GVZZVLA the most Southern Province of this Kingdom hath on the East some part of Tremesen on the West Sus or Susa from which parted by a ridge of Mountains called Ilda on the South Mount Atlas and on the North part of the territory of Morocco and the rest of Susa The Country rich in Mines of Brasse Iron and other metals of which are made many Vtensils for domestick uses exported hence into other places The People barbarous and rude not easily acknowledging subjection to the Kings of Morocco and at continual wars amongst themselves except only for two moneths in the year which being the time of their publike Marts and then much visited with Strangers from other Countries they lay aside their private quarrels and cheerfully entertain such Merchants as repair unto them Walled Towns here are not any but some very great Villages the chief whereof 1. Guzula on the Northern bank of the River Sus whence the name of the Province 2. Tagressa not far off but on the other side of the water towards the foot of Mount Atlas 3. Tedza inclining towards the borders of Morocco Of these nothing memorable 2. West of Guzzula lieth the Province of SVS or SVSA so called from the River Sus with which well watered or giving name to it Rich in Gold-Mines the cause of continual wars amongst the people well stored with Sugar-Canes which the Inhabitants know neither how to boyl nor purifie and on the Sea-shores furnished with great plenty of Amber bought by the Portugals of the people at an easie rate Chief Towns hereof 1. Cape D'Aguer on a Promontory so called a place of such importance to the Portugals that the taking of it by Mahomet then King of Sus after of Morocco also made them all the Forts which they had in this Country 2. Tagavast a 〈◊〉 and wealthy Town the greatest in the Province and situate in a large Plain near the foot of Mount Atlas 3. Teijent situate in a spacious Plain also but on the banks of the River Sus divided into three parts each a mile from the other which joyned together make the exact figure of a Triangle 4. Messa or Massa seated at the influx of the said River on the Promontory called Caâ—â— Gilen three Towns in one not much the better for the Sea and but ill befriended by the Land as leated in a barren and unpleasing soile remarkable for a fair Temple the beams and rasterâ— of which are made of the bones of Whales which usually are left dead on the shâ—re 5. Taroâ—â—â— a large Town built by the Africans before the conquest of this Country by the Geths or Saraceâ—s the Residence of the Vice-Roy for the Kings of Fesse when the Lords of this kingdom but more enriched of late by the Merchants of France and England who have here a Staple for their Sugars By this Commerce the people made more civil then in other parts of this Province the whole number of them thought to amount to 3000 families 6. Tedza more within the land bigger then Taradant but less wealthy the chief Ornament of it being a fair Mahometan Temple liberally furnished with Priests and Readers of that Law at the common charge Not far from hence the Hill Anchisa where it snoweth at all seasons of the year and yet the people go extreme thin in the sharpest Winter Nothing else memorable of this Province but that a little before the Xeriffe made himself King of Morocco it had the title of a Kingdom and gave the title of King to Mahomet the second Xeriffe made King of Taradaâ—t or Sus before he dispossessed his brother of the Crown of Morocco 3. Northward of Sus lieth the Province of MOROCCO specially so called the most fruitful and best peopled part of Barhary not much unlike to Lombardy in wealth and pleasures the very Hills hereof as fruitful as the Vallies in other places To which fertility of the soâ—l the Rivers 1 Tensist and 2 Asisinâ—ad give no small advantage though much defaced by the frequent incursions of the Portugals who have extreamly spoiled this Country Places of most observation in it 1. Delgumaba built upon a very high Mountain and environed with many other Hills at the foot whereof the Fountain of Asisiâ—uad 2. Elgiumuba a small but ancient Town on the River Sisseva 3. Tesrast a small Town upon Asifinuad 4. Imizmizi situate on a Rock spacious and seated neer the entrance of a narrow way leading into Guzzala 5. Tenezze an old Town but very well fortified 6. Agnet upon the River Tensift all ruined except the Fort and some scattered houses formerly second unto none but Morocco from which distant 24 miles the Hils and Valley about it adorned with pleasant Gardens fruitful Vineyards a fair River and Fields so fertile that they yield a fifty-fold increase 7. Seâ—sina where they have snow at all times of the year 8. Temnella an Heretical Town differing in opinion from the rest of the Mahometan Sect and so well grounded in their â—enets that they challenge all their Opposites to a Disputation 9. Hantera very full of Jewes 10. Morocco the principal of this province and of all the Kingdom situate in or near the place where once stood the 〈◊〉 Ilemerum of Ptolomy Once reckoned amongst the greatest Cities of the World at what 〈◊〉 was â—aâ—d to contain 100000 families since so defaced and wasted by the depredations of the Arabians and the removal of the Seat-Royal to Fesse when that Kingdom was in the Ascendent that it is hardly a third part so great as formerly The founder of it Joseph sirnamed Telesinus the second King of the house of the Almoravides but much enlarged and beautified by Abdul-Mumen one of his successors The principal buildings in it are the Church and the Castle the Church of Mosque one of the greatest in the World adorned with many sumptuous pillars brought out of Spain when the Mâ—â—rs had the possession of that Country and beautified with a stately Steeple in compass at the bottom an hundred yards and of so great height that the Hils of Azati one of the branches of the Lesser Atlas being 130 miles distant may be thence easily discerned the Castle very large and strong on a Tower whereof stand
Hucba in the Kingdom of Cairoan having subdued the rest of Africk and added it unto his Estate passed forwards into Egypt which he conquered also assuming to himself the title of Caliph But in his absence the Lieutenant whom he left in Africk rebelled against him and acknowledging the Caliph of Bagdet for his lawful Lord received of him for this good service the Kingdom of Africa Despairing to recover his lost Estate and yet not willing that it should be useful unto his Enemies he licenced the Arabians for a Ducat a man to passe over the Nile with their tents and families On which agreement almost half the Tribes of Arabia Deserta and many of Arabia Felix went into Africa where they sacked Tripolis Cairoan and the rest of the principal Cities tyrannizing over all Barbary till restrained at last by Joseph the founder of Morocco of whom more hereafter Since which time though they lost their unlimited Empire yet they still swarm like Locusts over all the Country and neither apply themselves to tillage or building houses or any civil course of life nor suffer those to live in quiet who would otherwise manure and improve the Country The rest of the Storie of these Kingdoms we shall have anon when we have taken a Survey of the Kingdom of Fesse 4. FESSE THe Kingdom of FESSE is bounded on the South with the Realm of Morocco on the North with parts of the Atlantick and Mediterranean on the East with Malva parting it from the Kingdom of Tremesen and on the West with the Atlantick wholly It takes this name from Fesse the chief City of it Known to the Ancients by the name of Mauritania Tingitana so called from the City Tingis now Tanger then of greatest note Called also Hispania Transfretana Spain on the other side of the Sea because a part of that Diocese and by some Pliny amongst others Bogudiania from Bâ—gud one of the Kings hereof to whom given by Caesar by others Ampelusia from its abundance of Vines The Inhabitants of it by the Spaniards now called Alarbes The Country of good temperature in regard of the Air if not in some places of the coldest but very unequally disposed of in respect of the Earth here being in it many Desarts and large Forrests not well inhabited but intermixt with many rich and delightful Fields So that taking the estimate in the gross it may be said to be a rich and flourishing Country hardly inferior unto any The particularities of which are to be considered in the Characters of the several Provinces into which it now doth stand divided that is to say 1 Temesna 2 Fesse specially so called 3 Elchaus or Chaus 4 Garet 5 Algara 6 Erritis and 7 Habat 1. TEMESNA hath on the South the River Ommirabili on the West the Ocean extended in length from West to East 80 miles and in breadth 70. A champain Country very level and once so populous that it contained 40 Cities and 300 Castles most of them ruined by the wars and the wild Arabians the greater destroyer of the two The principal of those remaining 1 Teyeget neer the River Ommirabili once of greater note but now inhabited only by poor people and a few Smiths compelled to live there for the making of Iron-instruments to manure the land 2. Thagia on the course of the said River much visited by those of Fesse for the Sepulchre of an holy Prophet who was there interred the Fessans going thither in pilgrimage with such numbers of men women and children that their Tents seem sufficient to lodge an Army 3. Adendun more towards the Sea but on a small River called Guirla well walled and fenced on one side by a Lake or Pool 4 Amsa on the shore of the Atlantick once of great trade and well frequented both by the English and the Portugals by which last destroyed 5. Munsor destroyed in like manner by the wild Arabians 6. Nuchaida situate in so fertile and rich a soil that the inhabitants would have given a Camels burden of Corn for a pair of shooes Nothing now left of it but one Steeple and a piece of the wall 7. Rabut or Rubut built by Mansor or Almansor a King of Morocco neer the mouth of the River Burugrug and by him made one of the best peopled Towns in Africk built after the model of Morocco but now so wasted that there are not in it above 500 families most of the ground within the wals being turned into meadows vineyards and gardens 8. Fanzara on the River Subu the Subur of Ptolomy falling not far off into the other 9 Mahmora in the same tract also once possessed by the Spaniards neer which the Portugals received a great defeat by the King of Fesse for want of good intelligence betwixt them and the Castilians 10. Salla the Sala of Ptolomy by the inhabitants called Zale in ordinary Maps by mistaking Cale at the mouth of the River Rebato which the antient Writers called Sala as they named the Town Beautified by King Almansor who is here interred with a stately Palace a goodly Hospital a fair Temple and an Hall of Marble cut in Mosaich works intended for the burial-place of his posterity A town much traded formerly by the Christian Merchants of England Flanders Genoa and the Golf of Venice Took by the Spaniards An. 1287. and within ten dayes lost again and of late times made a nest of Pyrates as dangerous to those which â—ailed in the Ocean as the Pirates of Algiers to the Mediterrean Whose insolencies the King of Morrcco not able to suppress for want of shipping desired the aid of His Majesty Charles King of Great-Britain by whom the Town being blocked up by Sea and besieged to the Landward by the King of Morocco it was at last compelled to yield the works thereof dismantled the Pirates executed and 300 Christian Captives sent unto His Majesty to be by him restored to their former liberty to the great honour of His Majesty and the English Nation An 1632. As for the fortunes of this Province they have been somwhat different from the rest of this Kingdom trained by a factious Prophet to revolt from the King of Fesse and Morocco whose Estate they very much endangered sending an Army of 50000 men to the Gates of Morocco But being discomfited by Joseph sirnamed Telephinus he followed them into their own Country which he wasted with great cruelty for ten moneths together consuming above a million of them and leaving the province to the mercy of Wolves and Lyons Repeopled afterwards by Almansor with Arabian Colonies Given about fifty years after that by the Princes of the Marine family to more civil Inhabitants by whom the Arabians were expelled and the Province consequently reduced into some good Order 2. Westward of Temesna lieth the Province of FESSE properly and specially so called Extended in length from the River Burugrug to the River Inavis for the space of 100 miles A very fruitful Province well stored with
Cattel and exceeding populous the Villages hereof as big as the better sort of Towns in other places but contrary to the custom of other Countries better inhabited on the hils then amongst the vallies the people making choice of the mountains for their habitation as places of defence and safety but husbanding the vallies which lie neerest to them Places of most consideration in it 1. Macarmeda on the River Inavis in a goodly Plain but in a manner all ruined except the wals 2. Gualili memorable for the Sepulchre of Idris the first founder of Fesse 3. Peitra Rossa where they have some Lyons so tame that they will gather up bones in the streets like dogs without hurting any body 4. Agla where they have brought their Lyons to so strange a cowardise that they will run away at the voice of a child whence a Bracchadochio is called proverbially a Lyon of Aga. 5. Pharao by reason of the name thought by the Vulgar to be founded by some King of Egypt but the Latine Inscriptions therein feund declare it to have been some work of the antient Romans 6. Maquille of more antiquity then note 7. Fesse the Metropolis of this Province and the chief of the Kingdom supposed to be the Volubilis of Ptolomy but much enlarged and beautified by some new Accesâ—ions Situate for the most part upon little hillocks and watered by a pleasant and gentle Rivers derived by Aquaducts and Conduits into all parts of the City which they now call the River of Fesse conceived by some learned men to be that which was anciently called Phuth from Phut the first Planter of the African Nations A City so beautifull and well seated as if Nature and Art had plaid the Wantons and brought this forth as the fruit of their dalliance The Founder or enlarger of it one of the Race of the false Prophet Mahomet his name Idris who built on the East side of the River that on the West side being the Work of one of his sons both so increasing that at last they were joyned together To these the Suburbs being added have made a third The whole called Fesse from Fezian Arabick word signifying Gold whereof great quantity was found when they digged the Foundations Divided into three parts by the River all of which contain 82000 housholds and 700 Moschees or Saracenicall Temples the chief of which is Carne or Carnven being a mile and a half in compass It hath 31 gates great and high the roof is 150 yards long and 80 broad round about are divers Porches containing 40 yards in length and 30 in breadth under which are the publike store-houses of the Town About the walls are Pulpits of divers sorts wherein the Masters of their Law read unto the people such things as they think to pertain to their salvation The Revenue hereof is 200 Ducats a day of the old Rents for so it was Anno 1526. when Leo Afer wrote The Merchants have here a Court or Exchange inclosed with a strong wall with 12 Gates and 15 streets There is also a Colledge called Amarodoc a most curious and delicate building It hath three Cloysters of admirable beauty supported with 8 square pillars of divers colours The roof curiously carved and the Arches of Mosaique work of gold and azure The gates are of brass fair wrought and the doors of the private chambers of inlayed Work This Colledge did cost the Founder king Abuchenen or Abu Henen 480000 Crowns Here are finally said to be in it many Hospitals little inferior to the Colledges in building and beauty all very liberally endowed and about an hundred hot Bathes well built with four Halls to each and certain Galleries without where they put off their clothes when they go to bathe themselves and besides these 200 Inns built three stories high each of them having 120 Chambers in it with Galleries before all the doors for their Guests to walk in 3. Eastward of the Territory of Fesse lieth the Province of CHAUS extended in length from the River Gurngrut or Gurguigarn by which parted from Temesna and Fesse to the borders of Tremesen for the space of 190 miles and 170 miles in breadth So that it is thought to contain one third part of the whole Kingdom but meanly populous for the bigness the Country being poor and barren and the Inhabitants fierce and warlike more given to prosecute their quarrels then to Trade or Tillage Chief Towns hereof 1 Ham Lisnan a Town built in the more mountainous parts of the Country by the old Africans Famous for the Temple of an Idol here worshipped to which at certain times men and women resorted in the night where after their devotions ended and the Candles put out every man lay with the woman he first touched the exact platform of the Family of Love if all be true which is told us of them and anciently but faisly charged on the Primitive Christians 2 Tezza adorned with three Colledges many Baths and Hospitals and some beautifull Temples one of them larger though not fairer then that of Fesse in both Towns men of the same Trade have a street by themselves for greatness wealth and numbers of People esteemed the third City of this Kingdom 3. Dubdu an ancient Town but not much observable 4 Teurert seated on the top of an Hill in the midst of a Plain but compassed about with Desarts 5 Beni sesseten neighboured by Iron Mines in which their greatest bravery and wealth consisteth the women here wearing Iron-rings for ornaments to their ears and fingers 6 Tezergui subject to the Arabians 7. Adaggia the most Eastern Town of all this Region situate in a Peninsula made by the consluences of Muluso and Malva In this Country is the head of the River Subur which rising out of a great Lake in the woods of the Mountain Seligus and receiving many lesser waters with a large and Navigable stream falleth into the Ocean 4. Northwards of Chaus lieth the Region called GARET extended thence as far as the Mediterranean and reaching East and West from the River Malva where it bordereth on Tremesen to that of Nochor where it toucheth on Errif and Algaria The length hereof 25 Leagues the breadth but twenty The soyl in most places dry and delart like the Sands of Nismidia especially all along the banks of the Malva neer unto which from the Mediterranean to Chaus it is wholly desart and unpeopled not well inhabited in the most fruitfull parts of it being full of mountains the worse for the ill neighbourhood of the Spaniards possessed of 1 Chesusa and 2 Medela two chief Towns hereof 3 Pennon de Veles by some called Velez de Gomenera fituate on the shore of the Mediterranean betwixt two high Mountains built by the Africans or Gothes but now in the possession of the Spaniards also 4 Jasserin situate on the Sea also founded by the Mahometans of the Marine Family 5 Tezzora standing on an hill to which there is but one passage
goodly Arch erected upon stately Pillars fairly wrought and gilded with the Statue of S. Matthew made of brass but gilded on the top thereof Such it is said to be by some Others think there is no such City it may not be so beautiful as those some have made it The other Towns of note and name in it in former times 2 Sacolche 3 Darorum Vicus 4 Eser of which we have little but the names This Iland was once a peculiar Kingdom he being chosen for their King who excelled the rest in strength person or in stock of Cattel but those Kings so subject to their Priests that by a Messenger or Herald they were sentenced by them unto death and others advanced unto the throne And thus it stood till one of the more provident Kings forcing the Temple with his armed Souldiers slew all these Priests and freed himself and his Successours from so great a slavery Afterwards made a Province of the Kingdom of Aethiopia honoured for the most part with the Seat of those Kings and memorable in those times for the Table of the Sun which was a place neer the City of Meroe always furnished with variety of rosted meats set there by night at the charge and command of the King much taken as it seemeth with this costly vanity and eaten in the day time by all that would called therefore the Table of the Sun because ascribed unto his bounty by the ignorant People In the declining of this Kingdom occasioned by the inundation of the Saracens and other Arabians this Iland was seized on by that People and hath been ever since kept by them together with the rest of the Country lying betwixt it and Egypt in which are contained as some write the Kingdom of Damote Sua and Jasculum antiently belonging to this Empire now dismembred from it not much observable but for being a thorowfare to great troops of Pilgrims which every Lent pass by them out of the Abassine Dominions to the Sepulebre and other like places in and neer Jerusalem 2. TIGREMAON TIGREMAON hath on the north Guagere and the River Marabo by which last parted from Barnagasse on the South the Realm of Angote on the West Nilus On the East it is said to extend to the Red-Sea but the Sea parts thereof possessed by the Turks and the adjoyning Coasts by the Moors and Arabians the inland parts promiscuously inhabited especially more towards the Sea by Christians and Ethnicks Divided into many inferiour Regions the principal whereof 1. Sabaiu 2 Torrates 3 Balgada so called perhaps from the chief Towns of them and 4 Tigrai the most large and ample of all these subordinate Provinces as containing in it 17 great tracts under so many Lieutenants which rule all affairs both of Peace and War The People black of colour deformed of shape in condition miserable of conditions wicked Some Rivers they have but dried up in Summer yet so that with a little digging they finde water in them Their chief City Caxumo or Cassumo supposed to be the same which Ptolomie calleth Auxume Stephanus Axomites Procopius Auzomide by all of them esteemed the Metropolitan City of Ethiopia and the Seat Royal of their Kings In witness whereof are many ancient buildings yet remaining some Pillars which resemble the Aegyptian Obelisks admirable for their height and workmanship 60 foot high and full of Characters or Letters in graven on them which now none can read The Aethiopian Auxumites the most potent Nation of this Countrey had their name from hence more probably conceived to be the Regal Seat of Candace mentioned in the Acts then any other of the Kingdom and still affirmed to be honoured with the Court of their Emperours Others I know have fixed his Court in Beimalechi but I know not in what part to finde it some in a Royal Palace neer that Lake of Zembre built in the year 1570 by some Europaean Architects sent hither by Francis Duke of Florence and many will allow him no fixed Seat at all but tell us that he moveth with his Tents in a Royall Progress from one place to another which wandring Court or moving City is said to be no less then ten miles in compass when the Pavilions which belong to it are disposed of into rank and order This Kingdom is governed by a Prince of its own but one who is an Homager and Tributary to the Abassine Emperour to whom he payeth yeerly 200 horses of the best Arabian breed infinite quantities of silkes great store of Cotton-Wool and abundance of Gold but the determinate proportion I have nowhere met with 3. ANGOTE ANGOTE is bounded on the North with Tigremon on the West with Nilus on the South with the Kingdom of Amara on the East with Dancali and Xoa Indifferently compounded of hils and vallies both extremely fertile productive of the choicest fruits and great herds of Cattel The people eat but once in 24 houres and for the most part make that meal in the night their dyet raw Venison or smoaked Beef the mony most in use amongst them Salt Pepper and Iron Which custom of using Salt pepper and the like instead of mony was in former times amongst most people the onely bartery or way of exchange So in Homer Glancus golden Armour was valued at an hundred Kine and Diomedes Armour at ten only Afterward in Justice commutative it was deemed convenient to have some common Judge or valuation of the equality or inequality of goods the invention of which the Jews attribute to Cain the Grecians to Hermodice the wife of Midas the Romans to Janus It is called Nummus or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was ordained by law Pecunia either because in elder times the chief of their wealth consisted in cattel as now among the Irish or from a Cow Pecus which was stamped on it and Moneta à monendo as Suidas faith because when the Romans stood in need of money Iuno monebat Iuno admonished them that they should use justice and there should be no want of money To this Goddesse Dea Pecunia the Romans erected a Temple and worshipped it in the figure of a Woman holding a pair of Scales in one hand and a Cornucopia in the other by the Poet called Regina Pecunia and not unfitly the greatness of her power considered But to return again to Angote I find not much spoken of the Country in the way of story nor meet I with the names of any of their Towns or Cities unless that 1 Angote it self as also 2 Abugana 3 Giannamora two of the principal provinces of it may possibly be so called from their principal Towns as perhaps they are 4. AMARA AMARA hath on the North Angote on the South Damut on the West it stretcheth towards the Nile and on the East bounded with the Realm of Xoa The Country very plain and champaign little swelled with hils sufficiently fruitful and well stored with all forts
contracted Channell he may be said to have a second birth from hence though not the first And these I take to be the Lakes which were discovered by the Romans in the time of Nero. Who following the design of some other great Potentates Sesostris Cambyses Alexander and Philadelphus in discovering the true Original of this famous River imployed two Centurions in that service who aided in it by the then King of the Aethiopians are said to have come at last unto certain great Marishes most probably the lower and sedgie parts of these Lakes now mentioned of whose extent the Inhabitants themselves were ignorant nor possible to be discovered any further the weeds having so overgrown the water that there was no further passage to be made by boat and less by wading Betwixt this Country and Damut which we last passed thorow is said to be a Province of Amazons warlike and fierce and very expert at the Bow whose Queen knoweth no man and by the rest honoured as a Goddess These they say were first instituted by the Queen of Saba as true as that which some have added of the Phoenix visible in this Country of Griffons and of Fowls so big that they make a shadow like a Cloud Which strange reports I have here added to supply the defect of Towns and Cities of which I meet not with so much as the naked names as undiscovered places in our Maps and Charts are filled up with Monsters 7. BAGAMEDRVM BAGAMEDRVM or SAGAMEDRVM for I finde both names lieth on the West of Goiamy betwixt the Northern parts thereof and the River Nilus and keeping all along the course of that River as far as Guagere or Meroe encountreth with the Southern point of Barnagasso Some do extend it also beyond that Iland but making the whole length thereof but 600 miles do confate themselves The greatest Province of this Empire it may probably be cateris hujus AEthiopiae amplissimum as they say it is but if extended the whole length of it it must be 1500 miles not 600 only The Country plentifull in Mines of the purest Silver which they cannot draw thence but by fire which makes it run like long rods or Ropes of Mettall And yet as large and wealthy as they say it is I am more to seek for Towns and rich Cities in it then in the Desarts of Libya or the sands of Arabia Merchants and Travellers for the most part go no further then the Sea coasts of the Country of which they give us more exact and full informations knowing but little of the Inlands and of the Natives such as have travelled abroad into other Kingdoms rude and ignorant men know little more of their own Empire then the place they lived in Or probably their best Cities not containing above 2000 houses few of them so many and those patched up of thatch dirt and hurdles unless some of the Nobility or wealtheir Merchants are provided better they may have no great reason to speak much of them or to acquaint us with the names of such sorry places as are indeed not worth the naming Which I conceive to be the true condition of most or all the Inland Towns in this large Estate 8. BARNAGASSO BARNAGNES or BARNAGASSVM hath on the West Guagere or the Isle of Meroe on the Southwest as some say a point of Bogamedrum on the South Dangali and Adel on the East the Red Sea or Bay of Arabia on the North it stretcheth towards Egypt the Kingdoms of Jasculum and Sua possessed by the Mahometans being interposed The Country very sertile full of Towns and Villages and exceedingly well stored with pleasant Riverets besides the neighbourhood of the Red Sea on the one side Nile and Abanhi on the other Remarkable for a Mountain in the Western part of it which being spacious in the beginning groweth strait by little and little and then enlargeth it self again to a League in circuit On the top thereof a Royal Palace a Church a Monastery and two very large Cisterns with a piece of ground able to entertain and keep 500 men To be ascended one way only and that but to a certain mark to which being come they are drawn up with Cords and Baskets to the top of all not to be took by force by reason of the impossibility of ascent nor by long siege or any extremity of Family in regard it yields provision enough to maintain itself Accounted therefore the chief Hold of all this Province against Turks and Moors It containeth besides Barnagasso it self the two Provinces of Canfila and Dafila though rather subject to the Governour or Vice-Roy of it then parts and members of the same Towns of most moment in the whole I Beroa or Barua conceived by some to be the Colony of Ptolomy the Residence of the Vice Roy situate on a pleasant and fish full River 2 Zameta honoured sometimes also with the Vice Royes presence but rather as a retiring place in times of leisure then a Town of strength 3 Suachen situate in an Hand of the Red Sea or Bay of Arabia one of the richest Cities of the Eastern parts and beautified with a goodly and capacious Haven secured by nature from all storms or smooth tides sure Anchorage and able to receive 300 great ships of burden Situate in a little Iland the whole circumference whereof it taketh up insomuch that vessels of all sorts both within the Haven and without do usually unlade themselves at the doors of the Merchants to which the Ship beaks serve for bridges A wealthy and well traded Town both by Sea and Land to which from the more in land parts of the Abassine Empire the Mountains open a safe passage for the carriage and re carriage of their commodities Taken by the Turks long since with all the rest of the Country lying betwixt it and Egypt and made the seat of a Turkish Beglerbeg or Bassa whom in imitation of the Romans they call the Beglerbeg of Abassia as if by the possession of this small part of that Empire they would entitle the Grand Signeur unto all the rest The Town conceived by some to be that which Ptolomy calleth Ostium Sabasticum or rather Sabaiticum as called by Strabo Others will have it to be the Ptolomais Ferarum or the Epitherias as Plinie calleth it of the Ancient Writers And some again will have it to be the Succhae of Plinie by whom reckoned among the Cities of the Troglodites who are called Succhaei in the Scriptures as before was noted in whose part of the Country it is seated and to which name it hath some resemblance 4 Bisam not far from Erocco remarkable for a Monastery situate on the top of an high Rock environed with dreadful Precipices upon every side in which live 3000 Monks eating by three and three together in a common Refectorie this being the chief of six others in this Province of Barnagasso the furthest not above 30 miles distant For maintainance of whom
It containeth in it to the number of 15 Provinces that is to say 1 Melinde 2 Mombaza 3 Quiloa 4 Mosambique 5 Sofasa all along the Coasts 6 Moenhemage 7 Corova 8 Calen 9 Anzuga 10 Monzalo 11 Badin 12 Mombra 13 Mombizo 14 Embroe and 15 Macaos more within the Land Of the nine last not being perfectly discovered and therefore likely to yield nothing of note and credit we shall now be silent But the first six lying upon the Shores or neer it and consequently better known to Merchants Travellers and the like Adventurers shall be surveyed in order as they lie before us 1. MELINDE is the name of a little Kingdom on the South of the Realm of Adea in the Higher Aethiopia from which parted by the River Raptus now called Quilimanci so named from Melinde the chief City of it well walled and seated in a fruitful and delightful soyl abundantly productive of Rice Mill Flesh Limons Citrons and most sorts of fruits but not well furnished with Corn the greatest part whereof is brought out of Cambaia a Province of India The houses built of lime and stone after the manner of Europe The Inhabitants on the Sea coasts of Arabian breed and of that Religion those of the Inlands which are of the original Natives for the most part Heathens Most of them of an Olive colour but inclining to white the Women generally of as white complexions as in other places but they have some black people also And all of them more civil in their Habit course of life and entertainment in their houses then the rest of this Country Great friends unto the Portugals and befriended by them ever since the kind entertainment which they gave unto Vasques de Gama whom they furnished with Pilots to direct him in his way to India when first discovered by that People 2. MOMBAZA is the name of another of these petit Kingdoms of the same nature for the temper of the soil and people that Melinde is So called from Mombaza the chief City of it situate from Melinde about 70 miles in a little Iland of 12 miles compass but of good influence on some part of the Continent also The Isle and City said to have some resemblance unto the Rhodes The Town about a league in circuit environed with a wall and fortified with a Castle the Streets thereof very narrow but well built most of the houses being brick and the Mosques capacious The King hereof a Mahometan as are most of his Subjects and a bitter enemy of the Christians For which cause and upon some discourtesies received from them the Town was taken by Vasques de Gama An. 1500. but abandoned again by reason of the unhealthy Air not well agreeing with the constitution of the Portugals Afterwards having taken in Alibeg and five Turkish Gallies the better to enable themselves against the Portugals the Town was taken and ruinated by Thomas de Cotigno sent thither An. 1589. by the Portugal Vice-Roy residing in Goa there being taken at that time besides the spoil of the City all the Turkish Gallies and in them 23 greater and as many lesser Peeces of Ordinance such of the Turks and Citizens as escaped the slaughter and had the opportunity of coming to them yielded themselves into their power to avoid the fury of the Imbians a man-eating people who had before besieged the City and gathering up such gleanings as were left by the Portugals devoured the King and as many of the principal Citizens as they could get into their hands 2 Ampaza the second Town of note was taken by the Portugals about two years after 3. QVILOA lieth on the South of Mombaza The Country rich and pleasant the Inhabitants for the most part of Arabian Ancestry of complexion neer unto a white their women comely sumptuou in attire and of civil carriage neat in their houses which are generally well built and richly furnished Touching the ordering of this Sex of whose honour they are very tender the people of this Quiloa are said to have a strange custom amongst them more to be mentioned for the rarity then the decency of it which is the sowing up of the private passages of nature in their female children leaving only a small vent for their urine Thus sowed they keep them carefully at home till they come to be married And she that is by her Husband found to want this sign of her perpetual Virginity is with all kinde of ignominie sent back to her Parents and by them as disgracefully received It took this name from Quiloa the chief Town thereof situate in a little Iland but neer the shore from which parted by a narrow Fryth opposite to the mouth of the River Coava by some called Quiloa First built in the 400 year of the Hegira by Ali the son of Suttan Hischen who not agreeing very well with his other Brethren because their Mothers were Persians and his an Abssine sought new Adventures in these parts and bought this Iland His Successors grown rich and powerful by the trade of Sofala extended their Dominions far within the Land and so adorned Quiloa the chief Town of their Kingdom that for sumptuous and magnificent buildings there were few like it in those parts Proud of their many good successes they provoked the Portugals by whom under the conduct of Vasques de Gama An. 1500. the City it self was taken the King made a Tributary and with his leave some Fortresses erected by them in convenient places Secure and wanton by this means they pick a quarrel with Abraham then the King of this Country whom in the year 1505. they deposed from his Kingdom and placed another in his Throne under colour of not paying the conditioned Tribute For which the Arabians rose in Arms displaced their new King demolished their Fortifications and sent them to learn better moderation in their prosperous Fortunes An. 1509. The business coming after to a composition the Quiloan convenanted for the yeerly Tribute of 1500 Marks of Gold paid unto the Portugals to live in peace and quietly enjoy his own without further trouble 4. MOSAMBIQVE lieth on the South of Quiloa so called of Mosambique the chief City of it situate in a little Iland the principal of three opposite all of them to the mouth of the River Moghincats and bordering on the Promontory of old called Prassum spoken of by Ptolomy and by him made the furthest known place of all this Coast In the Iland there are said to be sheep whose tails are 25. pound weight as in other places of these Countries and some parts of Syria Hens black in feathers flesh and bone and if sodden make the water as black as ink but yet sweeter in taste then any other Of Pork good store the more because the people are for the most part of the Law of Mahomet by which all hog-meat is forbidden The in land parts more barren but very populous so ignorant and rude when the Portugals first came among
afford them Materials for Swords Knives and Armour well furnished also with Martrons Sables and other Futrs of great esteeme amongst Forreigne Merchants This is the best Region of this Kingdom not above 40 miles in breadth betwixt Batta and the River of Zaire nor much more in length Their chief City hath the name of Sunda which it communicateth to the whole 7. SONGO is bounded on the East with Batta and Anzichana on the West with the Aethiopick Ocean on the North with the Kingdom of Loanga and on the South with the River Ambrizi by which parted from the Realm of Bamba It lieth on both sides of the great River Zaire which is here so turbulent and broad and so full of Ilands that the one part of it hath little or no commerce with the other The chief Town hereof called Songo gives this name to the Country in which is nothing singular for the Soil or People 8. ANZICHANA hath on the West part of Songo and Loango extended thence unto the East as far almost as the Lake of Zembre on the North some part of the Land of Negroes on the South the Zaire So called from the Anziqui the Inhabitants of it The cruellest Cannibals in the world for they do not only eat their Enemies but their Friends and Kinsfolk And that they may be sure not to want these Dainties they have shambles of mans flesh as in other parts of Beef or Mutton So covetous withall that if their Slaves will yield but a penny more when sold joynt by joynt then if sold alive they will cut them out and sell them so upon the Shambles Yet with these barbarous qualities they have many good Affirmed to be so cunning at the Bow and Arrows that they will discharge 28 Arrows for so many do their Quivers hold before the first of them falls to ground and of so great fidelity to their Masters and to those which trust them that they will rather choose to be killed then either to abuse the trust or betray their Master For that cause more esteemed by the Portugals then their other Slaves And for the same and that only worthy of so good a Country said to be rich in Mines of Copper and very plentifull of Sanders both red and gray which tempered with Vinegar is found by the Portugals to be a certain remedy against the Pox as the smoke thereof against the head-ache Towns they have none or none at least of any reckoning which deserve place here 9. LOANGO hath on the East Anzichana on the West the Atlantick Ocean on the North Benin one of the Realms of Guinea in the Land of Negroes and on the South the Province of Songo from which parted by the River Loango whence it hath its name The Country very hot as lying under the Line but well peopled indifferently fruitful and more stored with Elephants then any other of these parts strenching in length 200 miles within the Land and for the most part very well watered The Inhabitants whom they call Bramas by Religion Heathens but of old accustomed as the Anziqui and other of these barbarous Africans unto Circumcision Governed by a King of their own once subject to the Kings of Congo but of late times both he and the King of the Anziqui for they are also under the command of one Soveraign Prince have freed themselves from that subjection though still the King of Congo be called King of both Their King they call by the name of Mani-Loanga Their Towns of note 1 Penga the Haven to the rest 2 Morumba 30 Leagues more Northwards and within the 1 and the inhabitants of which Towns being more civil then the rest apparell themselves with the leaves of Palm trees but not so well skilled in the nature of that excellent Tree as the more civilized People of the Realms of Congo who out of the leaves thereof well cleansed and purged draw a fine long thred of which they make Velvets Damaskes Sattens Taffaties Sarcenets and the lake fine Stuffes 10. Having thus looked upon the chief Provinces of this Kingdom seated on the Continent Let us next look upon the Ilands The principal of which LO ANDA situate over against the Town of S. Paul in the Province of Bamba said to be first made out of the sands of the Ocean and the mire of Coanza cast into an heap and at last made into an Iland Now beautified with a very fair Haven of the same name with the Iland possessed by the Portugals The Iland destitute of Rivers but so well furnished with waters that every where within less then half a yard digging they find sweet and good Waters so contrary to the Sea from whence they come that when the Sea ebbs from it they be salt and brackish when it floweth towards the Iland then most fresh and sweet But most remarkable is this Iland for the Cockle fishing which the Women going a little into the Sea take up together with the sands in baskets and part them from the sand as they lie on the shore the shells of which being naturally distinguished into drivers colours serve over all the Kingdom of Congo instead of money which is a matter of such moment unto this King that he entertains a Governour in the Iland for no other reason but to take care about this fishing Besides this there are many Ilands in the River of Zaire now subject to the Kings of Congo but heretofore in continual Wars against them fighting in Boats which they made of the bodies of a Tree by them called Liconde The tree so big that two or three men or more are not able to fathom it insomuch that many times a Boat is made of one of the largest of them able to contain 200 men Upon the shores of these Ilands and in others of their Bays and Creeks they have so great numbers of Anchioves that in winter time they will leap upon the Land of their own Accord Compacted of these several Members and of the rest expressed in the Stile Imperial is the Realm of Congo so called from Congo the chief Province but now distinguished from the rest by the name of Pemba which being of more power or of better fortune then any of the other or of all together hath given both Law and name unto them Discovered by the Portugals under Diego Can An. 1486. at what times these Kings were at the greatest called by their subjects Mani Congo or the Kings of Congo the word Mani signifying in their Language a Prince or Lord the name communicated since to the Kingdom also Of their affairs before this time there is nothing certain What hath since hapned in this Kingdom may best be seen in the ensuing Catalogue of The Kings of Congo 1486. 1 John not so called till converted to the Faith of Christ and then baptized by this name in honour of John the 2. King of Portugal Anno 1490. in whose reign this discovery and Conversion hapned 2
also one of which will grind and knead more Maize in a day then the women of Mexico do in four In other things not differing from the rest of the Salvages This Country was first made known to the Spaniards by the Travels of Frier Marco de Nisa employed on new Discoveries by Antonio de Mendoza as before was said Leaving Conliacan the most Northern Province of Nova Gallicia he overcame a tedious Desart four dayes journey long at the end of which he met some people who told him of a pleasant Country four dayes journey further unto which he went And staying at a place called Vacapa he dispatched the Negro whom he took with him for his Guide to search towards the North by whom he was advertised after four dayes absence that he had been informed of a large and wealthy Province called Cibola a moneths journey thence wherein were seven great Cities under the Government of one Princess the houses of which were built of stone many stories high the Lintrels of their Doors adorned with Turquoises with many other strange reports of their markets multitudes and riches But neither the Frier nor the Negro had the hap to see it the Negro being killed on the very borders and the Frier so terrified with the news that he thought it better to return and satisfie the Vice Roy with some handsome Fiction then put himself upon the danger of a further journey To that end he enlarged and amplified the Reports which the Negro sent him gave to the Desarts in his way the name of the Kingdoms of Tonteac and Marata ascribed unto this last a great City called Abacus once well inhabited but at that time destroyed by wars to the other a more civil and well clothed People then in other places Inflamed with which reports Vasques de Coronado undertook the action but found the Frier to be a Frier nothing of moment true in all his Relations the Kingdom of Marata to be found only in the Friers brains Tonteac to be nothing but a great Lake on whose Banks had once been many Cottages now consumed by Wars And as for the seven Cities of such wealth and bigness he found them to be seven poor Burroughs all situate within the compass of four Leagues which made up that so famous Kingdom which the Frier dreamt of The biggest of them held about 500 Cottages the rest of them not above half that number One of them lest he might be said to return without doing something he besieged and took but found it such an hot piece of service that he was twice beaten down with stones as he scaled the Rampiers but having taken it at the last he found in it great plenty of Maize to refresh his Army and caused the Town consisting of 200 houses or thereabouts to be called Granada for some resemblance which it had to that City in Spain Such as have since endeavoured the Discovery of these North-west parts and sailed along the shores hereof on Mer Vermiglio have added hereunto the names of some points or Promontories known in the Maps by the names of Po de S. Clara not far from the mouth or influx of Rio del Nort 2 Las Plaias 3 S. Michael 4 Rio de Toron 5 Laques del Oro bordering on Quivira and 6 Rey Coronado on the East of that Betwixt this Region and Quivira specially so called lieth a Country which the said Vasques names Tucayan memorable for the famous River of Huex on the Banks whereof for the space of 20 Leagues stand 15 Burroughs well-built and furnished with Stoves if he hath not in this part of the Story out-lied the Frier as in other cold but more civil Countries against the extremities of Winter This Region stretching seven days journey to the River of Cicuique I reckon to belong to the North-east parts of Cibola As I do also the fruitfull Valley of Aroia de Corazones which they passed in their way hither from Conliacan with the Town and Territory of Chichilticala and the Valley of Nuestra Sennora or our Ladies Dale in the South parts of it not knowing otherwise what Province to refer them to Proceed we now unto the Iland the other general part of this Division parted from Cibola and New Gallicia by a narrow Sea called Mer Vermiglio and by some the Golf of Califormia environed on all other parts by the main Ocean Extended in a great length from the 22d degree of Northern Latitude to the 42d but the breadth not answerable The most Northern point hereof called Cabo Blance of which little memorable The most Southern called the Cape of S. Lucas remarkable for the great prize there taken from the Spaniards by Captain Cavendish in his Circumnavigation of the World An. 1587. Supposed informer times to have been joyned in the North parts of it above the Latitude of 27. to the rest of the Continent and so described in most of our later Maps till the year 1626 and after that in the Chart or Map of John de Laet An. 1633. which I wonder at himself affirming that in many of the old Maps it was made an Iland l. 6 cap. 11. and that he had seen a fair Map in parchment a very fair and ancient draught Quae Califormiam in ingentis Insulae modum a Continente divideret in which it was expressed for a spacious Iland lib. 6. cap. 17. The reason of the Errour was that those who first endeavoured the Discovery of it sayling up the Sea of Mer Vermiglio found it to grow narrower and narrower towards the North till it seemed to be no bigger then some mighty River but that of such a violent current that no Boat was able to pass upwards with wind or Oar unless haled up with Cords by the strength of men And taking it to be a River they gave it the name of Rio de Bona Guia known by that name and continued in the opinion of being a River till the year 1620 or thereabouts At what time some Adventurers beating on these Coasts fell accidentally upon a strait but violent passage on the North hereof which brought them with a strong current into Mer Vermiglio discovering by that Accident that the waters falling into that Sea was not a River as formerly had been supposed but a violent breaking in of the Northern Ocean by consequence that this part of Califormia was not a Demi-Iland or Peninsula but a perfect Iland And looking on it as an Iland we have divided it into Nova Albion and Califormia specially so called 1. And first Califormia specially so called containeth the Southern parts hereof as far as to the Latitude of 38. where it bordereth on Nova Albion of which Country though so neer to New Spain and New Gallicia and though discovered so long since we yet know but little the Spaniards either wanting men for new Plantations or finding small incouragements here to invite them to it Furnished on the Sea-coasts with great plenty both of Fish and Fowl