place of Comes the ceremony of Creation much at one and the title hereditary the annuity money in their Patent is forty marks And here by the way I cannot but observe one note of Mr. Seldens that John Beaufort Earl of Somerset modestly refused to be made Marquesse of Dorset by Henry the fourth because the title was then so strange and new in the Kingdome The Marquesse is honored with a Coronet of gold flurred the points and flowers of equall height whereas of the Earls the pearled points are much longer then the flowers His Mantle also doubled Ermine as is the Earls also but the Earls is but of four and the Marquesses is of five the doubling of the Viscount is to be understood to be but of Miniver or plain white Fur so is the Barons the Barons of two the Vice-counts of three doublings Of the Duke The Creation Robe of a Duke Where by the way one note is proper to be understood that as he was here created without any Ceremony except the girding with a Sword so in all other degrees of honor where a lesser degree is conferred on a person of a greater there needs nothing but meer Patent without any ceremony of creation But John son to Edward the third being created Duke of Lancaster had a Cap of furre added to the ceremony and succeeding times have had the Sword Crownet and Verge of Gold a Surcoat Mantle and Hood and a Ducal cap doubled Ermin but not indented and is honored with the style of Gratious and Excellent These if they be of Royall line are reputed as Arch-dukes It is also allowed that a Duke tantum shall take place before any Lord that is both Marquesse and Earl but a Duke that is Marquesse or Earl besides shall precede him The Duke Marquesse and Earl at their creation have a sword put over their shoulders which the Vice-count and Baron have not Of the Arch-Duke THis title is of neer relation to the other but not found in any place save in the house of Austria the addition of which word Arch is from the Greek word Archos which is as much as Princeps in Latin So he taketh place of all other Dukes and he is allowed a Surcoat a Mantle and a Hood of Crimson Velvet at his Creation He hath also a Chapeau or Ducal Cap doubled Ermin indented with a Coronet about the same and an arch of Gold with an Orbe and Verge of Gold Of these titles the Duke Marquesse and Earl are esteemed Princely especially the two last These also are allowed to bear their Crests with Helmets the Beaver directly forward whereas a Gentleman Knight and Baron bare them with half the Beaver seen The Creation Robe of the Prince of Wales The Prince THe next and first immediately subordinate to the Crown amongst these radiant Stars is The Prince who in England onely is the Prince of Wales the first-born of the King These in the Saxons time were called Clitons and clitunculi from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Illustrious But since it hath been a title of creation for honor to the rising sun there were none created in the Nation but the King 's eldest son who are in all Nations honored above all other subjects and amongst some as in Spain have been called King 's during the life of their Fathers because of his so neer a relation to the Crown that if the Father dye he is ipso 〈◊〉 Rex there being no interregnum though he be not crowned In a Statute of the second of Henry the fourth it is provided that the Prince may give his honorable Liveries of signes to the Lords or to his meniall Gentry and that the said Lords may wear the same as they wear the Kings Livery and that the Menials of the Prince may wear the same as the King's menials but this hath been since abridged So likewise by a Statute of the 25. of Edward the third chap. 2. it is declared that to compasse or imagine the death of the Kings eldest son and heir is Crimen laesae Majestatis high Treason as also to violate the wife of the King 's eldest son And again see Coke 8. part 28. The Prince shineth with the beams of his Father and is holden to be one person with him Yet doth he acknowledge a reverence not only as to a Father but Soveraign and to that purpose continues that Motto which the Black Prince took up Ick dien I serve He is called Princeps quia principalis in strenuitate post regem saith Sir William Segar The first that we read of in England was Edward eldest son of Henry the third and after him the eldest son of the King hath been ever by Patent and Ceremonies of Instalment created Prince of Wales Earl of Chester and Flint being born Duke of Cornwall The Prince or first born of the King in France is called the Dauphin in Spain l' Infanta There are in other Countries Princes by Creation as the Prince of Piemont the Prince of Orange and many others but these are also now become hereditary and in some Countries all the Royall line are styled Princes When he is created he is presented before the King in Princely Robes who putteth about his neck a Sword bend-wise a Cap and Coronet over his head a Ring on his middle finger a Verge of gold in his hand and his Letters Patents after they are read His Mantle is once more doubled then the Dukes and his Coronet of Crosses and Flowers de Luce and his Cap of State doubled indented The King THe King is the next and in our Nations the highest being subordinate to no sublunary power as those of Spain Portugall and other Kingdoms of Europe and other parts of the world are He is the true Fountain from whence all these Rivulets and swelling Streams of Honor spring He is called Rex from whence the word Rego came and King amongst us from the Saxon word Koning and Kuning To say any thing of the Originall of the Government here were in vain for it is unknown onely I may say that none can produce any thing to assure any Government before it and what I spake in the beginning concerning the first institution of it universally is sufficient Besides these times have said enough to that purpose He hath ever bin of great reverence amongst these Kingdoms of Europe the very Title carrying Divinity in it being of Heavenly institution ordained by God himself the Bond of Peace and the Sword of Justice He is God's Vicegerent and to be obeyed accordingly both in Church and State If good he is a blessing if bad a judgment He is styled Pater Patriae Caput Reipub and for that the protection of his Subjects lies in his breast the Militia is annexed to his Crown and the Sword as well as Scepter put into his hand He hath power of pardoning where the Law
Besides admit the great benefit and necessity of Laws in a Common-weal for the preserving of peace yet we must acknowledge that the peace which produced those Laws was the effect of the Sword and neither is Peace able to protect those Daws nor those Laws Peace without the assistance of Military Authority And so necessary is the profession of Arms that no Common-wealth no City no publick Society can subsist without it Aristotle when he speaketh of the constitution of a well-govern'd City in the first place calleth Soldiers the true Citizens And at the same time faith Ea Respublica tyrannidem 〈◊〉 quae fortes saptentes minimè honorat Plato in the institution of his Common-wealth appoints one sort of men far more excellent then the rest whose office should be the taking up of Arms for the defence of the other Citizens to which he allowed many privileges and that they should be more honorable than any other state of people Sir John Fern determines thus In artibus militaribus vel in actu indiffer enti data paritate Militum Doctorum c. semper praefertur 〈◊〉 Miles Doctori sic de singulis de gradu in gradum And the same Author understands this rule to extend also to the Serjeant at Law as to the Doctor at Law Neither can I any way derogate in other respects from the honor due to a Doctor at Law for they are to be preferred in the second place below a Knight that is next the Doctor of Divinity out of the respect due to the Law it self And what respect hath always bin given to it you may see by these of the Fathers Quid enim sunt regna nisi latrocinia remotâ 〈◊〉 quae est legum effectus And again Justitia regentis est utilior 〈◊〉 fertilitas 〈◊〉 solatium pauperum haereditas filiorum sibimetipsi spes futurae beatitudinis This Doctor as well as the Doctor of Divinity hath for his honor many Ceremonies and Tokens of Honor appropriated to his Creation or Commencement As first a Book in token of his Learning Secondly a Habit which is called Biretrum 〈◊〉 bis rectum Thirdly a Ring to shew how he is espoused to Philosophy and Science Fourthly in token he is a Doctor he must sit in a Chair which hath been thus described It ought to be four-square in the forepart should be painted a Young-man of great strength noting labor and love to work and to finish on the hinder part two Virgins called Care and Vigilancy on the right side a Young-man well girded carrying in his arms things of small value to signifie the mean estate of wealth and on the left a man running away to shew that the study of Science requires a volunary exile from all relations The fifth Ensigne is a Girdle about his loyns with these words Take this Girdle and gird thy loyns with a bond of Faith so that thy body may be adorned with all vertues that thou mayst seem before God and man perfect in thy degree Lastly a Kiss with these words Take the Kiss of Peace in token thou shalt ever seek to preserve the bonds of Concord in thy Faculty The next place amongst these honors is due to the Doctor of Physick which being the very perfection of naturall Philosophy and from the necessity of it in a Common-wealth is allowed the name of Liberall and not Mechanicall Science To this Profession also is admitted the bearing of Arms but in that case the Herauld ought always to be carefull to have regard in the designment to the 〈◊〉 Which bearing of Arms is the 〈◊〉 badge of all Honor as in its due place shall be set forth Neither are the rest of the Liberall Sciences debarred from the like priviledges according to the excellency of the Professors To which is adjoyned Poetry which among Antients hath been honored with the style of Sacred and Poets called Prophets by the title of Vates St. Austine give them this character Poetae Theologi dicti fuerunt cùm de diis immortalibus multa scriberent quales Orpheus Musaeus Linus How they have been honoured of Princes is evident in every Chronologie amongst which that of Alexander is most 〈◊〉 With Homer will I sleep with Honor will I wake Homer is a fit companion for Alexander The Ensigne usually given to a Poet Laureat is the Swan signifying pureness of style the Bird of Venus and consecrated to the Muses and sometimes a Pegasus as to Michael Drayton See his tombe in Westminster To this I must joyn and indeed should give the precedency to that sister-Art of Painting than which none hath received more honour in the World though too Mechanically slighted amongst us which hath been the reason we have not arrived to that excellency that some other Kingdoms have done in it For 〈◊〉 is the true spurre to perfection This hath been for its sublimity reckoned with much honour among the liberall Sciences by many Princes nay Pliny calls it plainly a liberall art whose reasons not his own onely but modern times have approved much reason there is to give it that honour since its performance is by the exact engagement of Geometry Arithmetick Perspective and indeed all points and species of natural Philosophy besides the remembrance of the great estimation it was in amongst the Grecians whose Kings many of them were proud in professing the Art And then the law amongst the Romans that no man should undertake it but such as were Gentlemen because the brain of a clown must be too durty and muddy to arrive at excellency in it They were also to be of estate that the labouring for a lively-hood might not take them off from industrious study for perfection Other examples that Princes have given of their delight in it is declared in the Ingenuity of Francis and Emanuel Kings of France and many Germane Princes since Under which genus I wish the Ingenuity of our Nations like as others would also comprize that species of Graving an art too noble to be so much slighted as it is amongst ingenuous men History also being esteemed a witnesse of time a light of truth a mistris of life and a messenger of antiquity deserves from its Country the gratefull return and reward of its merits In generall if any person be advanced by lawfull commission of his Prince to any office dignity or publique administration be it either ecclesiasticall military or civill so that the said Office comprehends in it dignitatem vel dignitatis titulum he ought to be matriculated into the rank of Gentility In the State Ecclesiasticall are Patriarchs Primates Archbishops and Bishops all which by custom of the Realme and Royall grants of 〈◊〉 Princes are invested Barons and admitted to the high Court of Parliament But more of that in its due place Also are admitted to the state of Gentility Vicars Generals Guardians of Spiritualties Deans of Cathedralls
I am so confident as to believe every man understands that knows any thing But I shall take up this conclusion as that from them as a true Fountain these Rivers must flow for there is such a connexion and chain of affinity in these virtues that none may be severed from the rest and that man may be truly said to be virtuous though Like as the body is conserved by the nourishment of the four Elements or Complexions so that the extinguishment of any one of them is destruction to the body yet the constitution of that body is generally tearmed from the predominancy of some one of them that is most erninent in him So the vertues of a man may be esteemed from the paticular discovery of someone more eminent But if we will make any difference in the merits of Atchievment it may be best done in short by taking notice onely of Prudence and Fortitude from whence that generall opinion of the world that Merit was onely by the Pike or Pen is derived And though it has ever been a dispute to which of these the precedency should be allowed yet I think a little reason will decide it For though there hath been so much of Honor allowed in all Ages to Prudence yet we ever found the first succession of Honor was from the atchievments of Fortitude as in the example of the Roman Statues and at this day the publick example of the Shield whereon all both Civill and Military do illustrate their atchievments which should be enough to end that controversie though some have been very violent in a dispute to prefer the Doctor to be before the Knight To obtain estate of Gentility by learning and discovering the secrets of Heaven is very honorable certainly but to atchieve it by service in his Soveraign's Wars the defence of the Church King and Country is of all most excellent and worthy In which case War is permitted by the Law of God taught us by the Law of Nature and commanded by the Laws of all Nations Sir William Segar when he speaketh of the Nobility allowed to Prudence disposeth it in the second Place And Sir John Fern speaking of learning gives it the same onely of all under that genus when the degree of the Doctor of Divinity differenceth he saith It excelleth all other degrees in Learning in four respects first the excellency of the subject it treateth of secondly for the dignity of the matter treating of things beyond reason of Philosophy or the reach of Human Wisdom thirdly the excellency of the end whereunto it is ordained lastly the worthinesse of the Author's authority receiving it not from mortall men as all other Sciences but from the Spirit of God Now a man may be ennobled by Leters Patent from his Prince though he have not the Superior Titles added as by the example of Jo. de King ston who was by Patent from K. Richard the second receiv'd into the state of a Gentleman as you may see at large in Mr. Selden's Titles of Honor. As also in another example of Hen. 6. 〈◊〉 by the word Nobilitamus creates Bernard Angeuin a Burdelois a Gentleman and a latter of K. James to a Hollander Which examples makes him divide Honor into Nativa and Dativa There were Codicilli 〈◊〉 in the Empire by which men were entitled to the Honors of Nobles And there have been Edicts made in France for the like ennobling of Centry the form whereof Mr. Selden's Book sets forth at large There is a whole Title De honorariis condicilliis in Theodosius his Code and some Laws concerning them as antient as Constantine There is another kind of Nobility and that is called Nobilitas adoptiva a Gentility arising from adoption when a Gentleman of Blood and Coat-armour for some speciall affection though neither allyed to his Blood or a Gentleman otherways adopteth a stranger to be his son and constituteth him to succeed as well in his Estate of Gentry as to his Name and Possessions An example of the like also of great Antiquity in Salustius Tiberius à 〈◊〉 his formulari where the greatest part of a Gentle Family assembling do by consent adopt a stranger that hath well deserved of them to be of their Family as if he were descended of a Male from among them creating him a Gentleman to be reputed De domo agnatione ipsorum and granted him also their Arms and limited the whole honour to him and the Heirs of his body But this creation cannot make him a Gentleman by birth as it is in Spain a proverb The King cannot make an Hidal go he may be Nobilis but not Generosus which Mr. Selden defines to be qui bono genere ortus non degenerat which the Dutch have the word 〈◊〉 for which is well-born in English But this word Generosus hath been in use amongst us but since the time of Hen. 8. since when it hath bin constantly used for a Gentleman of what sort soever if he had no title above it the word Gentleman being before generally used in the like nature in Writs Pleadings and the like though they were Latine This word Gentleman did first rise from the word Gens or Gentes which the Christians in the Primitive times used for all such as were neither Jews nor Christians which our English Translators turn Gentiles as the French Payens for Pagans the Dutch Heyden or Heydenen for Heathen So afterward the same word and Gentiles was used in the Empire for all such as were not Cives Romani or Provincials But it is more reasonably resolved that the word Gentleman is derived from this origination That the Northern Nations framing their words out of Latin to make up their Provincial or Roman Tongues so esteemed the word Gentilis by which they found themselves styled in the Latine that they now made it in those Tongues a distinction or note of Honor for such of them as were of more eminent quality ambitious it seems to be honored with that very name with which the Romans had before in scorn expressed them By which means Gentil-hommes became generally a word amongst the Provincialls for Nobiles So that from the word Gentil homme 〈◊〉 Gentilhombre which we received from the French for till the Normans we had it not we made out this word Gentleman which was before called AEdel This Nobilis or Gentleman as before we find is a generall denomination for all that come under the notions of Honor for indeed it is our vulgar genus for those also that are distinguished by higher Titles but to those that are not more properly the Species whereof I shall a little further look into Of the Doctor of Divinity I spake before the next is the Doctor of Law which hath also held a dispute of precedency with the Knight but to lesse purpose than the other the same reason that held in the major must of necessity in the minor
Parliament but who were Milites gladiis accincti Many other priviledges there were appropriated to them according to the rules of Honor and custom of the Nation as well as requisites in them which more at large may be understood in Sir Will. Segar's Honor Military and Civill Where is to be found the severity in degrading them When if any Knight at any time had been corrupted with mony by his Prince's Enemy or committed any other notable fact against Loyalty and Honor he was apprehended and caused to be armed from head to foot and on a high Scaffold in the Church he was placed and after the Priests had sung some funerall Psalm as though he had been dead first they took off his Helmet to shew his face and so by degrees his whole Armor and then the Heralds crying out This is a disloyall Miscreant with many other ignoble Ceremonies he was thrown down the Stage with a rope This he mentions to have been about the time of King Arthur We have many examples of latter times also of degrading Knights for dishonorably absenting from the service of the King and other treasons with which seising on all that he had except one Horse ne qui dignitate factus est Eques cogatur pedes incedere for in all Countries the Title is related to a Horse from serving on Horseback and also by the cutting off their Spurrs from their heels taking away his Sword reversing his Coat-Arms and the like as in the degrading of Sir Ralph Gray See more at large Sir William Segar Mr. Selden and Sir John Fern. The Creation Robe of a Knight of y e Garter IT is ever to be observed that when the word Knight is found without any addition of distinction it is meant by the Knight Batcheler Of the Order of the Bath the first that are taken notice of is in 〈◊〉 who gives an account of 46 made by Henry the Fourth But Mr. Selden is of an opinion they were long before Mr. Upton in a Manuscript which Mr. Bish a Gentleman much deserving of Honor from our English Gentry hath since very 〈◊〉 illustrated and published takes notice of this Order in these words Creantur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 modis c. Creantur in alio modo Milites per Balneum qui modus multùm observatur in Anglia in 〈◊〉 Regnis He lived in the time of Henry the sixth The Honor is invested with a great deal of noble Ceremony as is seen by the example of Henry the seventh when he sent Writs to divers Lords and Gentlemen to come up to the making Henry his second son Knight of the Bath Ad ordinem Militia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suscipiendum juxta antiquam consuetudinem in creatione usitatam When one is to be made a Knight of the Bath he comming up to the Court is very nobly received by the Officers and Nobles of the Court where he hath two Esquires appointed to wait on him who convey him to a Chamber where is to be Musick before he commeth to the Tubbs then they uncloath him and put him naked into the Bath where if there be any other Knights of the Order in the Court they come in their Order and salute him and after discourse concerning the Order they sprinkle some of the water on his shoulder and so depart Then the Esquires convey him to a bed where he is dryed and then he putting on his clothes they put over them a long gray coat like a Hermit's weed with long sleeves and a hood then the Knights return to him again and lead him to the Chappel where he receives a cup of spiced Wine and with that salutes the Knights who after leave him there onely with his Esquires and Priest where he performs a Vigill till almost day with Prayers and Offerings After this and some repose in his Chamber the next morning where are Robes provided for him the Knights wait on him again and do service to him in his making ready one giving him his doublet another his breeches another combes his head c. Then with Musick he is brought to the Hall in the Court on Horsback accompanied with those Knights and Esquires where the Marshall meets him Then the King comming to the Hall commands a Lord to put on his right Spur and making a crosse upon his knee rises up and kisses him and so another the left Then the King puts the Sword about him himself and smiting him on the shoulder says Be a good Knight and kisses him Then with the Musick he is conducted again to the Chappel where he goes to the Altar and performs some Ceremonies maketh protestation for the performance of the Orders of Knighthood Then the King's Cook comes to him with a knife in his hand to demand his fee and tells him That if he do any thing against the Orders of Chivalry he will cut his 〈◊〉 off from his heels Then he is habited in a blew Gown with Maunches open like a Priest and so led again to the Hall The particular manner is more at large set down by Sir William Segar in his Honor Military and Civill and Cambden's Britannia They are distinguished ordinarily by the wearing of a red Ribbon cross the left shoulder as Knights of the Garter by the blew And have this priviledge above all Knights their sons are free from Wardship as in the example of the Heir of Sir Thomas Wise of Essex which was a Cause in Chancery and the Heir Victor Of Bannerets THis was antiently an Order in France and excert that in England they are not created by Parent not the Title Hereditary the same The creation is almost the same with theirs by the solemn delivery of a Banner charged with the Arms of him that is to be created and cutting or tearing off the end of a Pennon or Streamers to make it square into the shape of a Banner are called by some Equites vexillarii Sir William Segar relates the Ceremony thus He is led between two other Knights into the presence of the King or Generall with his Pennon of Arms in his hand and there the Heralds declare his merit for which he deserves to be made a Knight Banneret and thenceforth to display a Banner in the field Then the King or Generall causes the point of his Pennon to be rent off and the new made Knight returns to his Tent the Trumpets sounding before him A Banneret thus made may bear his Banner display'd if he be a Captain and set his Arms thereon as other Degrees above him And although the Knight Baronet be an honor given by Patent and made hereditary yet by Decree of King fames it is established that all such Bannerets as shall be made by the Kings Majesty his heirs and successors under their Standard display'd in an Army Royall in open War the King personally present for the tearm of the lives of such Bannerets shall for ever take place and precedency as well
summoning of the Commons was in the 49. year of Henry the third The style of the Statutes running after this manner The King hath Ordained and Established these Acts underwritten c. First The King willeth and commandeth that c. Signifying the power of enacting to force and penalty was derived from the Volumus of the King not the Vote of the Lords and Commons their consent only making it of more vigour against themselves If it were an Act of Indulgence or relief to the Common-wealth it run thus Our Lord the King of his speciall Grace and for the affection that he bears unto his Prelates Earls and Barons and others of his Realm hath granted that c. And sometimes Our Soveraign Lord the King hath granted and commanded at the Instance of the Nobles of this Realm c. No mention at all being made of the consent of the Lords and Commons Then afterwards thus they run Our Lord the King by the Counsel of his Prelats Earls Barons other great men Nobles of his Kingdom in his Parliament hath Ordained 〈◊〉 c. An. 33. Edward the first 1307. and so along in other Statutes the Commons not at all mentioned in the enacting any Statute but as thus in the beginning of Edward the third At the request of the Commons of this Realm by their Petition made before him and his Councel in the Parliament by the assent of the Prelates Earls and Barons c. Untill the 23. of this Kings reign in a Statute of Labourers I find the Commons not mentioned and then the power of Ordination given to the Statute still by the King as thus It is ordered by our Lord the King by the assent of the Prelates Farls Barons and other great men and all the Commons of the Realm summoned to this Parliament c. And in one Act of the same King the style runs thus The King of his own will without motion of the Great men or Commons hath granted and Ordained in ease of his people c. And then to signifie the Constitution of the Commons in Parliament See the 37. of Edward the third where the Statute runs thus The King at his Parliament c. at the request of the Commons and by the assent of the Prelates Dukes Earls and Barons and other Great men there assembled hath Ordained c. and at the prayer of the Commons c. In which style most of the Statutes run untill Henry the eight And for provision of the choyce of the Commons in a Statute of the 23. of Hen. 6. is set down the form of Writ by which they are summoned where it is also enacted That the Knights of the Shires for Parliament hereafter to be chosen shall be naturall Knights or otherwise such naturall Esquires or Gentlemen of the same County as shall be 〈◊〉 to be Knights And every Knight that is elected ought to be a resident of the place for which he is elected and every man that is an Elector ought to have forty shillings of free-hold within the said County and for the security of it the Sheriffe hath power to put them to an Oath upon the Evangelist and the Election ought to be betwixt the hours of eight and nine in the Forenoon and so of Burgesses The form of the Writ is this Rex Vic' c. Salutem Quia nostri 〈◊〉 pro quibusdam arduis ur gentibus negotiis nos statum defensionem regni nostri Angliae Ecclesiae Anglicanae concernent ' quoddam Parliamentum nostrum Westm. 12. die Novemb. proxim ' futur ' teneri Ordinavimus ibidem 〈◊〉 Magnatibus Proceribus domus regni nostri colloquium habere tractare Tibi praecipimus firmiter injungentes quod facta Proclamatione in proximo tuo post receptionem hujus literis nostris tenend ' die loco predicto duos milites gladiis cinctis magis idoneos discret ' Com' praedict ' c. electionem illam in distincte apertè sigillo tuo sub sigillis eorum qui electioni illi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bis in Cancellaria nostra locum certisices 〈◊〉 And still before they came up to the House they signed Indentures to be true and faithfull to their King and Country and the service thereof upon a penalty even to the last long Parliament of eternall infamy And in the third of Queen Elizabeth it was enacted in full Parliament for the safety of the Queen's Majesty her Heirs and Successors and the dignity of the Imperiall Crown of England for the avoiding both of such hurts perills dishonor and inconveniencies as have before time befallen that not only all persons should take the Oath of Supremacy upon divers penalties in that Act specified But also every Knight Citizen and Burgesse of the Parliament should take the said Oath before he entred into the said House or had any voyce there else he should be deemed no Knight Citizen or Burgesse for that Parliament nor have any voyce but shall be to all intents constructions and purposes as if he had never been Returned nor Elected for that Parliament and shall suffer all pains and penalties as if he had presumed to sit in the same without Election Return or Authority And by King James the Oath of Allegiance was added Yet notwithstanding all this limitation upon the Commonalty Parliaments in England were ever esteemed since Magna Charta the greatest liberty of the Subject none else indeed being dreamt of And as it is as great a flower of the Crown to summon Parliaments as foedera bellum indicere to make War and Leagues which is so absolute that it is resolved by all the Judges of the Land that the King may before he is Crowned if by descent the Crown be his right summon a Parliament or within age as was seen in King Henry the sixth who summoned divers Parliaments in his 1 2 3 4 5 6. years of his reign yet was not Crowned till the eighth He being then essentially King without any Ceremony or Act ex post facto and Coronation but a Royall Ornament So the priviledges of Parliament and of the Common-wealth by Parliament are as great for though we thus see the great Prerogative of a King yet many things there are which a King in his own Kingdome cannot do without a Parliament by the Laws by which he hath bound himself as the making any man hereditable or the altering the Common Law or Customs of the Realm though by his absolute authority he may commit any man to Prison during his pleasure Therefore every Parliament-man during the time of the Parliament is priviledged from all disturbance of arrest for debt or the like and the servants of any Parliament man as much as the Kings are And to this Parliament for the further security of the good of the Common-wealth were ever admitted certain Judges of the Land though
aged Gentlemen established to be maintained with stipends by the name of Knights of Windsor who had appointed to them robes of cloath according to the manner of the Order which were to pray for the Order Of the Knights of the Round Table in England IT is said by many writers that the Order of the 〈◊〉 was inftituted in imitation 〈◊〉 the Round Table but I can give no great assurance of it only I believe it probable enough the beginning of them both agreeing also in some kind of Analogy This of the Round Table for so much as is remaining in History appears to me to have been the most noble in the world either before or since for ought yet I can understand And pity it were the memory of it should perish as it is almost being buried in the metamorphosis of ridiculous fables and by that means only 〈◊〉 with the shadowie reputation of a Romance in the minds of many and indeed most men It was erected by King Arthur who reigned in the year of our Redemption 490. and conquered Norway Scotland and so much of France that he was crowned King of Paris as both ours and the French annals testifie Of this King many fabulous things have been writ but we may collect so much from the more serious as may assute us that without doubt many noble and beyond ordinary heroick acts were performed by this generous Prince Which caused the society of this Order to shine with so much the more splendor than the ordinary stars of this sublunary world insomuch that it is recorded in some Chronologies that at one time summoning them to a meeting at a place in Wales called Carlion or Carlignion there resorted to him ten Kings thirteen Earls and many Barons and other persons of great quality that were of the Fraternity This I have also in Sir William Segar and in a very antient Chronicle which I have seen my selfe in Manuscript in that Country which was much the same with the relations I have since met with of this Order And that these Kings were not petty Kings must be understood since there was at that time no Heptarchy or Provincial Kings but all Monarchies much in the same nature as they have been in our ages This King is generally reported by Chronologers and some of them solid too to be taken alive from the earth or at least miraculously disposed of invisibly but this is a riddle too great for me to unfold Many of them 〈◊〉 this fable I conjecture from an Epitaph that Merlin writ on him Hic jacet Arturus Rex quondam Rexque futurus Which very thing to my Judgement must make clear that he was buryed which is their argument that he was not The Order or Fraternity however was certainly in very great repute in the world and being only a banquet of Honor could not but whet the emulations of all generous spirits for none were admitted to it but such as had shewed their merit by some eminent exploit Their place of convention was Winchester where they had their Round Table and at the Feast of Pentecost they alwayes met and feasted So saith Sir William Segar in whose Orders of Knighthood the articles of this Order are set down but others are of another opinion and tell us that Windsor Castle was the most peculiar place where a Round Table was erected for their meeting being a Castle built by the same King and the Records of the place shew us as much though Winchester may sometimes have been the place according as the time of the Kings being in progresse or keeping his Court accidentally there as sometimes it was at Carleon and sometimes in the North. Knights of St. Andrew in Scotland THe Scots ever since the reign of Hungus the Pict have received St. Andrew for their Tutelar-Saint Who as it is reported in their Histories making war on the English saw in the skie a bright Crosse of St. Andrew which is in the Shape of the Saltire and in that battail after gained a very great victory From which time ever since they flye that Crosse in their Banners And from thence erected the Order of St. Andrew But I find nothing in Favin Aubertus Mereus or the Scotch Writer 〈◊〉 that can satisfie me in what time it began Only it was refined by James the fifth Who being honored with the Garter from England the Toyzon d'or from the Emperor and St Michael from France celebrated the Festivals of them all and setting up their several arms with their orders about them over the gate of 〈◊〉 erected his own also with the order of Saint Andrew in the midst which Order is ensigned with a Collar of Rue and Thistles with a Medal of St. Andrew hanging at it and this Motto Nemo me impune 〈◊〉 Of the Golden Fleece in the Empire THis Order of the Toyzon d'Or was instituted by Philip Duke of Burgundy an 1429. upon his expedition to the Holy Land in memory of Gideon who with three hundred men fought against and overthrew a mighty Army of the Midianites as Favin is of opinion Which perchance may be true he marching upon a great enterprise with a smal Army might do it to raise courage and emulation in his Commanders The Patron is St. Andrew the Soveraign the Dukes of Burgundy the number twenty four besides the Soveraign all of Noble blood Their habit is a Cassock of Crimson Velvet and over it a Mantle of the same lined with white which openeth on the right fide and is turned upon the left over the shoulder embroydered round about with a bordure of flames fusils and fleeces and a Hood of Crimson Velvet on their heads The Collar of the Order is of gold wrought with flames fusils and fleeces which they are bound to wear alwayes upon a penalty The power of making new is in the Soveraign only And who ever enters into it renounces all other orders of Knighthood unlesse the Soveraigns be Emperors Kings or free Princes To the order belongs a Chancellor a Treasurer Register and a King of Armes called Toyzon Dor. At the Collar hangs a golden Fleece And formerly there was an Impresse peculiar to it which was an instrument to strike fire with his Motto Ante ferit quà m flamma micet The Emperor Charles the fifth being afterwards Soveraign as Duke of Burgundy did much increase the Order The severall Orders of Knighthood in France Knights of the Star THis order I find of very great eminence in France called the Star of the Sea and sometimes also of the Virgin Mary It was instituted by King Robert an 〈◊〉 And himself and succeding Kings were of the Fraternity Their Ensigne was a Star which they wore was their Hoods or Caps But this Order in time grew so common and distributed so immeritorioufly that Charles the seventh as 〈◊〉 at it commanded every Yeoman of his Guard to wear a Star in like manner which the Knights seeing
challenge him he should first right the Lady and then perform the 〈◊〉 or if a chalenge preceded such other accident it was at their pleasure which to undertake first and many more such which would be too tedious for this place They are at large in Mauchaut Sieur de Roman ville his history of Boucicat Of Military Orders in Spain Of the Order of the Lilly THis Order was erected in 〈◊〉 by Garcia the sixth of the name surnamed Naiera in honor of the Virgin Mary and upon a miracle so great as might make this Lilly one of the primest flowers in her little garden The substance of it this The King having been very sick in the extremity of his disease sent to St. Saviour de Leyra and other places of devotion that prayers and interercessions might be made for his recovery In which time was discovered in the City of Naiera where ordinarily he kept Court the Image of the Virgin Mary issuing out of a Lilly holding her Son berwixt her arms And suddenly after the discovery of this the King recovered his health and many other miracles were done on diseased people in that place as supposed by vertue of the Virgin Mother whom they tearmed the Lilly of the Vallyes In honor whereof the said King erected this Order and made himself Soveraign of it and his Sucessors after him These Knights did wear on their breasts a Lilly embroydered in silver and on festivall dayes a double chain of gold interlaced with letters M after the manner of the Gotish letter with an Oval meddal hanging at it with a Lilly enamelled Knights of San Jago or St. James THis was erected by the resolution of Gentlemen being either Barons or men of great quality that jupon the conquering of their Country by the Arabians retired into the Mountains of Asturia and residing there made an engagement of War against the Moors agreeing upon religious Rules of Knighthood yet reserving to themselves liberty of marriage but this Order Favin speaks to be erected by Alphonso the ninth an 1158. and that it was confirmed in 1175 by Pope Alexander the third Their Governor is called great Master their feast is on All-Saints day when they meet in very great magnificence having very great revenues their Ensign a red Crosse shaped like a Sword with an Escollop's shell on it in imitation of the badge of the Pilgrims that go to Jerusalem and to the Sepulchre of St. James the Apostle Now the great Master of this Order hath alwayes neer him thirteen Knights where ever he goes for his aid and Councill and so all the other Orders in Spain Of the Order of Calatrava THis was begun an 1158. in imitation of that of St. Jago by Don Sanctio the third King of Toledo and it takes it name from the place of its establishment their habit is a black garment and on the breast thereof a red Crosse they have many great priviledges and possessions in Spain the form of their Crosse is set down in the end of this discourse which if we will believe Monsieur Favin and Aubertus Maereus is quite another then that which Sir William Segar describes Knights of Alcantara THese also derive their denomination from the place of their institution and living under the same orders with those of Calatrava doe wear the same fashioned Crosse only the Colour is green They have a very glorious Church at Alcantara in Castiglia upon the river Tago endowed with rich possessions where their great meetings are These were first of the order of St. Julian called the order of the Pear-tree Ferainando the second King of 〈◊〉 and Gallicia being the first great Master 1176. Knights of the Band. SIR William Segar attributes the originall of this Ordsr to Alphonso King of Spain an 1268. But Favin sets it down in an 1330. from the testimony of Don Antonio de Guevara Bishop of Mondognedo But by the same person Alphonso the eleventh of which Order that it might receive the more reputation he enrolled himselfe and his Son And yet as Favin sayes None were to be admitted but younger brothers and mean Gentlemen of poor and slender sufficiency who must have been ten years followers of the Court or at the least had fought three times against the Moors They wear a red Scarfe or Ribon crosse the left shoulder like our Knights of the Bath the breadth of three inches Their articles are too many to be inserted here Sir William Segar and Favin have them at large D' Avis in Portugal THere was an Order in Portugal erected in the year 1147. called D' Avis by Alphonso the first who were seatrd in the City Ebora and so called from the Virgin Mary being Patronesse of the City They had a great Master and were called Fratres and the place of their convention was called Frieria Their Ensign is the same Crosse with Calatrava vert and in the centre of it a Pear-tree Of the Order of Jesus Christ. SInce in the year 1320. was erected another Order of more esteem amongst the Portugals called of Jesus Christ by Dionysius King of that Country and nephew to Alphonso the tenth of Castile to which Order was given much of the revenue of the Knights Templars that lay in that Countrey the Kings of Portugal are ever the Soveraigns of the Order to this day The Ensign of the Order is a red crosse surmounted or intersected with another white on a black vestment and they have many priviledges and Articles amongst them Of this order was Don Pantaleon Brother to the Portugal Embassadour who was beheaded at Tower-Hill July 10. 1654. Knights of Montesia THis order was much about the time of those of Calatrava and received their name from the place of their residence in Valentia and do wear for their Ensign a plain crosse Gules This order was established in the year 1317. and had much of the revenue of the Knights Templars also setled on them Knights of Redemption THese Knights called of Redemption were erected by James King of Aragon upon the conquering the Islands of Majorica in the year 1212. Their Articles are many but the chief is they are to redeem prisoners from whence their title is derived their habit is a white garment with a black crosse and their Governour is alwayes resident at Barcco na D'Espuella D' Orada or Of the Goldeu Spnr. THere is another Order in Spain of far more honor called 〈◊〉 D' Espuella D' Orada Which was created with much ceremony as bathing like our Knights of the Bath then being laid on a rich bed after brought to the Chappel or Church where he performs his Vigils confesses and supplicates for power to observe the duty belonging to the order then his gold spurs are put on and a sword girt about him and the sword being drawn is delivered into his right hand in which posture standing he takes an Oath never to refuse to dye
in defence of his Law King and Country And then receiving a kisse from all the rest of the order in testimony of the amity betwixt them he is compleat Other orders there are there as that of Cavaleri Armadi Cavaleri 〈◊〉 Alarde and some more antient as the Order os the Dove or Holy Ghost in Castile of St. Saviour of Mont Real in Aragon but these are either out of date or of low reputation Knights of the Annuntiation THis Order saith Sir William Segar was erected about the same time with that of St. Michael but how I shall engage my faith to this article I know not for I find much uncertainty in the relation the institution of St. Michael being in an 1469. according to his own account and of the Annuntiation an 1434. Besides there is a greater error yet in computation for Monsieur Favin who hath some reason in this case to be understood aud hath been esteemed authentick affirms it to be by Amedis the fifth called also the Green or Verd whom he Chronologizes to live in an 1355. which makes a vast difference and again Aubertus Maereus in his Symbola Equest Ordinum gives the honor of its birth to Amedis the sixth Earl of 〈◊〉 by which I must confesse so great an uncertainty appears as affrights me from any conclusion but that by their general 〈◊〉 defacto I am assured such an Order was And that in memory of Amedis the fifth who most couragiously defended Rhodes against the Turks where he took the bearing of Gules a plain crosse Argent which the Dukes of Savoy have continued till this day This order was first called of the snares of love from the receiving from his Lady the favour of a bracelet made of her hair into love-knots and it was constantly celebrated on St. Maurices day who is Patron-Saint of Savoy He composed it to consist of fifteen Knights comprehending himself a chief Master The place of their celebration is the Church of Pietra in the Castle of Bellies unto which at the institution of this Order was given certain lands for the maintenance of fifteen Chaplains and continually every Knight at his death gives to the Church an hundred Florins And one other Article was that at the funeral of every Knight ceremoniously performed at the Castle of Pietra every Knight of the order should wear black whereas their mourning was a white Gown and leave off the Collar for certain dayes and that at the enterment of the Soveraign every Knight according to their seniority in order should offer up his Collar Every Knight was sworn to wear this order dayly and to accept of no other And that no person stained with reproach or dishonor should be admitted or if found so after to be degraded Of these past Knighthoods these four of the Garter in England the Toyzon in Burgndy St. Michael and of St. Esprit in France and this of the 〈◊〉 in Savoy are the most honorable and yet in being Of the Knights Templars THis Order as it hath been most famous in the world though now extinct I think ought to be preserved with an honorable memory It was erected in a pious design perpetrated with a glorious fame though extinguished in an ignoble and injust stratagem of the Devil the Pope and the King of France Its first rise was from an accident of certain Gentlemen meeting in the Holy Land some say nine an 1117. Who hearing of the great disturbance of the Country by the incursion of Turks and swarmings of Pickaroons engaged a confederacy with the hazzard of their lives to suppresse them Which resolution being known was so approved of by the Patriarch that he commanded accommodation for them in the Temple neer the Sepulchre And the King of Jerusalem appointed them all appertinencies for so religious an enterprize From whence they received the name of Knights-Templars And thus going on with much resolution and courage many Christians came in to thrir assistance and many brave exploits were performed by them Insomuch that in nine years time they had erected such a structure of honor as set all the world at gaze and establisht their Countrey in a happy peace For a reward whereof Pope Honorius at the suit of the Patriarchof Jerusalem prescribed unto them a peculiar Order of life and distinguished their order by wearing a white Garment and Pope Eugenius added a red Crosse after which prosperity they elected a Head whom they called Great Master Yet not long after this Jerusalem and a great part of the Countrey was lost for want of supply from other parts of Christendome However they still made war upon the Turks for 120. years and added new breath to the Trump of Fame purchasing large revenues to the Order in most Kingdoms of Europe being the exercise of love in all Christian Princes and of emulation in every Heroick spirit Insomuch that Vitriacus gives this character of them they were saith he Leones in bello agni mansueti in domo in expeditione milites asperi in Ecclesia vel ut Eremitae Monachi inimicis Christi duri feroces Christianis autem benigni mites c. But this great glory could not shine for ever without an eclipse nor such favorites of fortune live without envy as well as emulation and their fall was so much the more sodain and violent by how much their fame was higher For in England France and almost all parts of Christendome was it at an instant as it were and in one very day by sentence of Pope Clement the first to satisfie the the base avarice of Philip de Beau the Roy of France totally disolved and supprest The pretence was upon certain Articles exhibited against them which have been by all the world almost not only adjudged false but ridiculous As that they used Pagan ceremonies in the election of their great Master that they lost the Holy Land when they alone endeavoured to preserve it that they held some Heretical opinions that they worshipped an Image apparelled in a mans skin and that they drunk mans blood to confirm their oath of Confederacy When indeed itwas most certain that the crime for which they suffered was their vast wealth and their fidelity to the Patriarch whom they owned before the Pope cause sufficient to set the one to solicite and the other to grant a monstrous doom which they suffered under for what will not pride and avarice do The Great Master himselfe and sixty others of the Order were commited to the mercy of fire in Paris at one time and the rest persecuted if not executed in most places all of them dying without any acknowledgement of any one allegation and with the same Christian and heroick spirits they had lived in and by the account of Favin a French writer and one I think in this not too impartial there was at twice after one hundred or above burned to death in Paris all dying with innocence in their