Salisbury that he might make the King sensible of what he had done invited him to an Entertainment and so ordered it that he should pass to it through a Room wherein he had placed four Tables and on each Table Five Thousand Pounds in Silver when the King came into the Passage he started as amazed at the sight having never before seen such a Sum and asking the Treasurer the meaning of it The Treasurer told the King It was the Boon he bad given to Sir Robert Carr Swounds Man says the King which was the Oath he usually swore but Five Thousand Pounds shall serve his Turn By which means the Lord Treasurer sav'd the King Fifteen Thousand Pounds This shewed how easie he was to be impos'd upon giving his Favourites what they pleas'd to ask without knowing what it was His letting the Dutch redeem their Cautinary Towns upon their own terms and letting them also dispossess the English of their Factory at Amboyna in the East-Indies by the most horrid Massacre that any Age had heard of without any reparation or satisfaction for it however it might Entitle him to be Rex Pacificus it could never be an Argument of his Wisdom nor make him appear a Second Solomon which his Flatterers usually stiled him In the beginning of this King's Reign a Plague raged of which in London and the Liberties in one Year Dyed Thirty Thousand Five Hundred Seventy Eight Persons A terrible Blazing Star appeared before the Queens death and the breaking out of the Wars in Hungary Anno 1603 John Lepton Rode Five times between York and London in Five Days beginning his Journy on Monday finishing it the Friday after Anno 1605 William Calverly of York Esq Murthered two of his own Children in his House Stabbed his Wife and went out with intentions to have Kill'd his Child at Nurse but was prevented and was Pressed to death for refusing to Plead The Reign of King CHARLES the First KING James dying at Theobalds on the 27th of March 1625. The same Day his only Surviving Son Prince Charles was Proclaimed King of Great Britain France and Ireland On the 7th of May following were Celebrated the Funerals of the Deceased King whose Body being brought from Sommerset-House was Interred in the Abbey at Westminster with great Magnificence the King himself being the chief Mourner The next thing after the Celebration of the Funeral was to hasten the coming over of the Queen Henrietta Maria youngest Daughter of Henry the Fourth of France Deceased and Sister to Lewis the 13th then Reigning who had by the King's Proxy the Duke of Chevereux been Espoused to him on the first of May at our Ladies Church in Paris Upon Trinity-Sunday at Night she arriv'd at Dover where being met by the King the next Morning they went from thence to Canterbury where they were Married which the third Day after was Declar'd at White-Hall with great Rejoicing On the 18th of June following the King Summon'd a Parliament to meet at Westminster where he urged them for Supplies for the carrying on the War against Spain for the Recovery of the Palatinate upon which the Commons gave two Subsidies and the Clergy three In this Parliament Dr. Mountague the King's Chaplain was Questioned for certain Tenents in his Answer to a Book called the Romish Gagger and his Defence thereof Intituled Apello ad Caesarem and he being brought before the Bar of the House the Speaker declared their Pleasure That they would refer his Censure till their next Meeting and in the mean time he should stand Committed to the Serjeant's-Ward till Two Thousand Pounds Bail could be procured for his Appearance next Sessions And tho' the King by Bishop Laud's means took him into his Protection as his Servant yet his Bond remained Uncancell'd Divers Laws were Enacted in this Parliament and a Bill for Tunnage and Poundage passed the House of Commons but it Miscarried in the Lords House because it was Limitted to a Year whereas it had been Granted to the King's Predecessors during their Lives And then the Plague greatly encreasing the Parliament was Adjourn'd to Oxford where the King again Soliciting for more Money in order to the setting out the Fleet the Commons entred into a Debate about Grievances and were about drawing up a Remonstrance to present to the King but it bearing hard upon Buckingham the King 's great Favourite they were immediately Dissolved And soon after a Fleet was fitted out and sent against Spain but having staid Considering what to do till they lost the Opportunity of Destroying the Spanish Fleet in Cadiz which at first might have been easily done they Sailed to the Southern Gape in expectation of meeting their Plate-Fleet but the Contagion having got into the Fleet they made an Untimely return without doing any thing but four Dayes before the Fleet came This unprosperous Success of the Fleet very much Displeased the King who prohibited Wimbleton the General for some time from his Presence but he excusing himself laid a great part of the Miscarriage on the Stubbornness of the Earl of Essex But tho' all were Blam'd yet none were Punish'd for the ill Conduct of this Expedition And now the War growing very Chargeable since Parliamentary Aids fail'd the King as advis'd by his Council resolved upon raising Money by way of Loan by Letters of Privy-Seal sent to the Ablest Persons in the Kingdom in each of which Letters the King promised in the Name of Him and his Heirs and Successors to re-pay the Money in Eighteen Months after the Payment thereof to the Collector and the Collectors were Ordered to pay the Sums received into the Exchequer and to return the Names of such as went about to Delay or Excuse the Payment of the Money required of them This manner of Proceedings was by all Wise Men thought very improper for by the Law no Man was bound to lend the King Money so this instead of Supplying the King only tended to Alienate the Affections of his Subjects from him and render things more Difficult in the next Parliament Which after the Coronation was over met the 6th of February but with no better Success than the last For the House of Commons began where they left off at Oxford with matters of Religion and publick Grievances viz. The Miscarriage of the Fleet to Cadiz the Evil-Counsellors about the King Mis-government and Mis-imployment of the King's Revenues and an Account of the three Subsidies and three Fifteenths Granted the 21th of King James That new Impositions and Monopolies were multiplied and settled to continue by Grants Customs inhanced by the new Book of Rates and that Tonnage and Poundage was Levied tho' by no Act of Parliament and the Guard of the Seas neglected In this Parliament also five particular Articles were drawn up against Mr. Richard Mountague wherein he had broken the Laws and Statutes of the Realm and disturbed the Peace both of the Church and Common-wealth Upon all which the House of
greate noise of Terrour in Combates the Women usually going to War with them and not only Fighting Couragiously by their Husbands sides Animating them by their Courage but often Commanding Battalions and Armys as the Romans too fatally found when they strugled with much Slaughter 123 Years for this Island The Britains appear by all Authors to have been very sparing in their Diet and not much given to Venery Though they had many Wives in Common amongst Brothers and Kindred yet the Children redounded to his credit who first Cropt the Mothers Virgin Rose And by this means as Plutarch a very judicious Author affirms they were of so Healthful and Lively a Constitution That many if not most in the warm Southern parts according to the Term of a Natural Life exceeded 130 Years Yet they much delighted in Ornaments as Bracelets Beads Iron Rings c. And preferred their Paint'd and Carv'd Skins before the most gaudy Cloathing Their Agriculture was but little though the Earth much invited them to it by its promising Fruitfulness They had not the use of Ploughs and only Sowed their Grain on the Mellowest Land after Rain then laying great weights on bundles of Bushes drag it over in the nature of Harrowing Yet they had found out the way of making their Drink with sodden Barly which though perhaps in a higher Improvement continues to this day to the great Advantage and Health of the Moderate People of the Nation As for the flesh of Fowl and Wild Creatures they declin'd it as they did likewise Fish and Milk Then Hares were found in such abundance That they Flock'd together like Sheep fearless of the Hunter or his Hounds Their Opinions in Theology were That the Souls of Men Dyed not but according to Pythagoras had a Transmigration from one Body to another And on their Solemn Days their Druid's and Bards Sung the Praises of Renowned Heroes such as had Dyed in War or been Famous for any Rare Invention and this they did to Incourage and stir up others to Imitation INSULAE ALBION et HIBERNIA cum minoribus adjacentibus Nor did they carry any Provisions with them when they set out only creeping along the Shoar or in Calm Weather Wafting over to the Gallick or Belgian Shoar And most of their Business was to carry Grain and Metals with the latter of which the Island did then and still abounds And some are apt to think for that cause the Greeks Coasting in these Seas and finding the Island abounding with Metals Named it Britania from Prutania Metal or the Metal-Island As for ENGLAND that now so called Exempt from Wales and Scotland it had its Denomination from the East Angloens who seated themselves in the East Angle Kingdom to the Eastern Sea in the time of the Saxon Heptarchie or Seven Kingdoms and that Name through all Revolutions and Changes it has retained for above 900 Years This Land has been taken for the Fortunate Island set forth with many Praises and Encomiums by the Greek Poets and Charles the Great rightly termed it The Grainary and Store-House of the Western World Thus having given you a Brief Account of the Antient Inhabitants of this Country I proceed to shew how it was divided amongst their several Tribes and so come closer to the more sollid Body of History ENGLAND and WALES was possessed by 17 Tribes of Native Britains under these distinctions viz. 1. The Canti possessed Kent 2. Regni Sussex and Surry 3. Durotriges Dorsetshire 4. Damnonij Cornwall and Devonshire 5. Belgae Somersetshire Wiltsâ—â—re and Southamptonshire 6. Artabatij Berkshire 7. Dobuni Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire 8. Catieuclani Warwickshire Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire 9. Trinobants Hartfordshire Middlesex and Essex 10. Iceni Suffolk Norfolk Cambridge and Huntingtonshires 11. Coritani Rutland Northamptonshire Lincolnshire Leicestershire Derbyshire and Notinghamshire 12. Cornabij Staffordshire Worcestershire Shropshire and Cheshire 13. Ordovices Flintshire Denbighshire Carnarvanshire Montgomeryshire and Merionethshire 14. Brigantes Parisi Lancashire Yorkshire Richmondshire Durham Westmoreland and Cumberland 15. Silulers Herefordshire Radnorshire Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire 16. Dimetae Caermarthenshire Pembrookshire and Cardiganshire 17. Ottodoni Northumberland Tweedale Tiffedale March and Louthain Whilst these Tribes were scattered up and down in the several Counties then full of Woods which they Inhabited Lud King of the Trinobants Dyed He was wonderfully beloved not only of his own Subjects but of all the Britains for the good offices he had done them in reconciling their Differences puting an End to many Bloody Wars that fell out amongst them and civilizing their Manners constituting sundry wholsom Laws thereby making them lay aside many of their Barbarous Customs He held a free correspondence with the Gauls and was much Honoured by them their Kings sending him divers Rich Presents as also Artificers to assist him in Building or Enlarging Troy Novant or New Troy which he afterward called by his own Name Care Lud or Lud Town now the famous City of London which then reached no further than Dowgate Eastward the Houses standing up and down Angular and not Regular in Streets Yet he Inclosed it with a good Wall defended by Bullwarks and on it many Watch-Towers calling its Western Gate Lud's Gate which Name it retaines to this day placing his own Effigies in Marble on the Inside of it At his Death he Recommended his two Sons Andragius and Temantius being very Young to the care of Cassibelan his Brother who held his Regal Seat at Verulam now called St. Albanes in Hartford-shire Upon the Death of King Lud the People came and offered the Principality to him and the Heirs of his Body by consent of the Three Estates of the Trinobants viz. those of Essex Middlesex and Hartford-shire But in consideration of his Trust and his Nephews Rights he contented himself with only a Part for when they came to Age he placed Andrageus in Troynovant or London joyning to it all Middlesex and the Dukedom of Kent which in that time he had Conquered bringing the Canti under his Subjection And to Temantius he gave the Dukedom of Cornwall his Right by Marriage Reserving to himself Hartfordshire and Essex only Thus for the space of Seven Years the Nation continued in a happy state after the Death of King Lud before whose Departure a Terrible Blasing-Star with a Bloody Taile appeared at South West for the space of Fifteen Nights being likewise seen in many other Lands Fore-running the Miserys that afterward befell this Kingdom For now Andrageus a Prince of a haughty Spirit considering his Vnkle detained from him part of his Inheritance raised a mighty power and Invaded Hartfordshire But three Miles beyond Barnet being Fought with by Cassibelan he was there overthrown with a fearful Slaughter soon after driven out of most of his Possessions which so possessed him with Anger and desire of Revenge That hearing Julius Caesar who was then but a Roman Consul had subdued all Gallia now called France and a great part of Germany and given Refuge
himself to Miletus the first Bishop of St. Paul's in London by his grave Advice was induced to embrace the Christian Religion This famous Church was Founded by him and Ethelbert King of Kent in the place where before stood a Temple Dedicated to Diana wherein many Bloody Sacrifices had been offered to the supposed Goddess and so becoming the first Christian King of the East Saxons he was a great Encourager of Religious Men and Women building at their request divers other Churches in London and elsewhere He began his Reign Anno Dom. 591 and Reigned 21 Years Sered the Fourth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 611 He revoked the Indulgences of his Predecessors to the Christians and in attempting to Prophane The Lords Table being withstood by Miletus the Bishop of St. Paules he Banished him his Dominions but afterward entering on a War with Kingills King of the West Saxons which continued for some time he was in the conclusion of it Slain when he had Reigned Six Years A little before his Death he had a Dream like to that of Smyrdis Son to Cyrus the Great and Brother to King Cambysis of Persia viz. That he sat on the West Saxon Throne and his Head reached the Skies which being falsly Interpreted by his flatterers who pushed him on in his Ambitiaus designs whilst like the other he lost his Life though by different means the first Murthered by his Brothers command on a Jealousie he designed to Usurp the Persian Monarchy and the latter Fighting to enlarge his Dominions Sigesbert the Fifth King af the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 620. He made several Laws against Murtherers and Thieves that then much abounded in the Country In his time a dreadful Fire happened in London consuming most of the Eastern part of it but it was soon Re-built and much inlarged by this Kings Encouragement and the Michaelmas following a number of Porpoises came up the River whereupon preat Storms followed and the Thames overflowing lay'd many Hundreds of Acres under Water in Kent and Surry He Reigned Twenty Three Years Sigebert the Sixth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 643. He Restored again the True Worship in that Kingdom being perswaded by Oswy King of the Northumbers to be Baptized by Bishop Finnan giving Large Gifts to the Churches and Monasteries earnestly labouring to settle Peace among his Neighbours but being of a very wild temper and soft by Nature his two Brothers took the advantage of his weakness Conspired against him and Murthered him when he had Reigned Fifteen Years Swithelm the Seventh King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 658 upon the enterance on it he became a Christian and was Baptized by Bishop Cedda Ethelwald King of the East Angles being his Godfather In his time London began to flourish very much in Trade the Merchants and Traders having large Priviledges granted them A little before his Death A Globe of Fire fell on St. Paul 's Church and Burnt the Roof of it His Reign continued only Three Years and odd Days Sighere the Eighth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 661. He had embraced the Christian Faith but Apostatized on a slight Occasion and of a Father of the Church became a Persecutor but being afflicted with a grievous Disease he was smitten with Remorse of Conscience and many Thousands of his Subjects being Destroyed by a raging Pestilence he Remembered frem whence he was Fallen and Returned to the Christian Communion into which he was gladly received by an Assembly of the Clergy who prevailed with him to destroy the Idols and demolish their Altars He Reigned Five Years Sebba the Ninth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 666 being given much to a Religious Life and much Repenting the Blood he had shed when he was General in the Wars whereupon when he had Reigned Thirty Years he layed down his Scepter and took on him a Religious Habit in the Monastery of St. Paul's at London bequeathing his Kingdom to Sigherd his Kinsman Sigherd the Tenth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 696. He sent Forces to assist the West Saxons against the Britains who made strong Incursions into their Territories and carried away great Booties in the mean time divers Pirates from Denmark and Norway Invaded his Sea-Coasts Burning and Plundering many Villages but a mighty Tempest arising they suffered Shipwrack and so many of them as Escaped to Shoar were destroyed by the Country Peasants He Built many Religious Houses and Reigned Seven Years Seofrid the Eleventh King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 703. He Built Forts on the advantagious Havens to the Sea-Coast to prevent the Landing of Foreign Enemies by surprize encouraging his People to Trade with the Neighbour Nations so that many of the North East Countries were discovered and great Riches brought home which caused others who had advantagious Havens to take the like Measures whereupon the Shiping encreased He Reigned Seven Years Offa the Twelfth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 711. He was a great Encourager of the Christians and in his time the Christian Religion spread into all parts of his Dominions He Invited over Religious Men out of other Countries and ordered Publick Schooles to be Erected and being desirous to see Rome which he had heard so much of by Fame when he had Reigned Eight Years he went thither and being much taken with the Devotion of the Religious there he became a Monk and Dyed in that station leaving large Legacies to the Church Selred the Second and Thirteenth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 719. In his time a grievous Famine was in this Kingdom for the space of three Years so that People in many places were compelled to Eat Grass Roots Leaves and Barks of Trees and yet many Thousands were Famished Great flashes of Fire likewise Issued out of the Earth which Burnt up the Trees and Grass and Destroyed some People and much Cattel but soon after a great Plenty ensued He Reigned Thirty Eight Years Suthred the Fourteenth and Last King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 757. He had great Wars with Egbert King of the West Saxons so that in various Battels Fifty Thousand of his People being Slain he was so weakned that not being able to make head any longer he withdrew himself and left his Dominions to the prevailing Enemy when in much Trouble he had upheld them Eight Years So that Egbert annexing it as a Province to his own Kingdom Extinguished the Name of the East-Saxon-Kingdom about the Year of Christ 827. CHAP. VI. A Description of the Kingdoms of Northumberland and Mercia with the Succession of their Kings and the most Memorable Transactions Portents and Prodigies both in Peace and War that happened during their Reignes 4. The Kingdom of Northumberland as it Began and continued in
in the dangerous War his Predecessor had set on foot engaging in a Battel against Egbert King of the West Saxons who joyned with the East Angles against him he was Slain in the Second Year of his Reign after which most of the Towns on the East and Western Borders were Sacked and some reduced to Ashes Which Desolation was fore-run by a Comet with a Tail pointing downward like a flaming Sword Watlaf the Eighteenth King of Mercia began his Reign Anno Dom. 826 and with the Kingdom was constrained to espouse the Wars his Predecessors had left as it were Entailed on it so that raising the Strength of his much harassed and weakened Dominions he drove the West Saxons out of Worcestershire and other Western Encroachments yet not without considerable loss in the several Bickerings between them But in the Thirteenth Year of this King Egbert the West Saxon came upon him with a potent Army and in a set Battel overthrew him putting a Period to his Life and Reign Berthulf the Nineteenth King of Mercia came to the Kingdom in a troublesome time viz. Anno Dom. 839 for he not only found his People in War with his Countrymen but a more cruel Enemy had Invaded the Country viz. The Pagan Danes who being Enemies to all alike as desirous of grasping the sole Monarchy of this Island they made such Havock and Desolation in all places where they prevailed That the People of whole Counties in the Northern parts flying their fury left the Towns Naked and Defenceless for the Saxons in Civil War having much impaired their strength found that they at this time were too weak to oppose the Torrent of those Multitudes that were poured in upon them from Denmark and Gothland and also from Shetland the Orcades and other Northern Islands which the Danes possessed beyond Scotland from one of which they brought a Cruel People called Redshanks from the Redness of their long Leggs occasioned by the coldness of that Climate they going for the most part Naked except a Mantle thrown over their Shoulders and are supposed by some Authors for their mighty stature to be of the Race of the Titans or Giants held once to Inhabit part of Britain However they brought such a Terror on the Mercian Kingdom c. That Berthulf was forced to quit it in the Thirteenth Year of his Reign after which in compassion to the oppressed People who were Slain and Spoiled at the pleasure of the Danes Burdred took upon him the Government and being a Prince of great Courage he fought divers Battels with the Danes and at last gained a great Victory insomuch that the Fields and Lanes were strewed with the Dead Bodies But greater Forces arriving to recruite their broken Army he was forced after some strugling to quit his Kingdom when he had Reigned Twenty Two Years viz. Anno Dom. 872. And with him Ended the Succession of Saxon Kings as petty Monarchs of the Mercian Kingdom CHAP. VII The Kingdoms of the East Angles and West Saxons with their respective Succession of Kings and what Happened of Note during their Reigns in Peace and War Particularly the Danish Invasion and by what means England was reduced under a Sole Monarchy 6. The East Angle Kingdom Described with the Succession of its Fifteen Kings THE Kingdom of the East Angles contained Suffolk Norfolk Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely Bounded on the East with the German Ocean on the South with Essex and Hartfordshire on the West with Notinghamshire Huntingtonshire and part of Bedfordshire on the North partly by the German Ocean and partly by the River Trent and Northumbrian Kingdom Commodiously Situate for Navigation as being accommodated with divers good Havens famous for Butter Cattel Corn Wooll Cloath Stuffs c. The First Saxon Founder of this Kingdom was Offa a High German Nobleman who brought over considerable Forces upon notice his Countrymen were parcelling out the Southern parts of this Island and Landing at Yarmouth he prevailed with some difficulty to settle himself and his People in the Counties above-mentioned beginning his Reign Anno Dom. 575 and Reigned Seven Years being for the most part at peace In his time a great Eclipse of the Sun happened about Noon almost total so that it continued in a great degree Dark for the space of an Hour Titulus Succeeding Vffa Anno Dom. 583 laboured to settle his Borders and keep a good understanding with his Neighbours and perceiving the British Forces were rather Retired than Subdued he made many wholsom Laws to keep his People in order repaired the Ruined Towns built Forts on the Sea-Coast and Reigned about 32 Years keeping his Country for the greater part of that time in Quiet he was the Second King of the East Angle Kingdom Redwald the Third King of the East Angles began his Reign Anno Dom. 616. Soon after his coming to the Throne he was Baptized into the Christian Faith but upon some distaste renounced his Baptismal Vows and became a great Persecutor of the Christians amongst others he intended the Death of Edwin afterward King of Northumherland who fled to his Court for Refuge because he interceeded for them But he being a Favorite of the Queens and the King imparting his design to her she pittying the young Prince so laboured to disswade him from it that he not only laid aside his wicked purpose but entered into a strict League with him and an Army was raised to place him in the Kingdom of Northumberland when in a great Battel they Slew Ethelfrid who had got possession of the Throne and had Banished Edwin This Redwald Reigned Eight Years Erpenwald the Fourth King of the East Angles began his Reign Anno Dom. 624. He by the perswasion of Edwin King of Northumberland became a Favourer of the Christians and was Baptized he built divers Churches and Monasteries but when he had Reigned about Twelve Years Richebert a Pagan Saxon out of a Zeal to their False Gods whose Idol Temples this King had caused to be converted into places of Christian Worship Assnssinated him and fled but being taken endeavoring to pass the Seas he was put to death by exquisit Torments Sigebert the Fifth King of the East Angles began his Reign Anno Dom. 636. He was Son to Redwald and having received a good opinion of the Christian Religion when he was very Young he upon his Fathers Apostatizing fled into that Country now call'd France antiently Gallia where he improved in the Study of Divine things so that being a great lover of Learned Men at his coming to the Crown he Founded a Colledge Endowing it with a plentiful Maintenance viz. Anno Dom. 637 and so passionately he was in love with a Religious manner of Living that laying aside his Crown when he had Reigoed Two Years he took on him the Habit of a Monk yet out of compassion to his suffering People Invaded and driven to great distress by Penda King of the Mercians he laid aside his Cowl and
by a Shepherd was Buried together with his Body at a place in Suffolk bearing from thence the Name of St. Edmunds-Bury he being soon after Cannonized a Saint and Martyr And with him ceased the East Angle Government there being no mention made of any more Kings that Governed it as a distinct Kingdom About the number of Years he Reigned Authors disagree and therefore I pass them over as uncertain and proceed to the last of the Seven Kingdoms viz. That of the West Saxons 7. The West Saxon Kingdom described with the Succession of its Kings and what things worthy of History happened during their respective Reigns Also by what means they at last Obtained the Sole Monarchy of England c. The Kingdom of the West Saxons contained the spacious and fertil Counties of Cornwal Devonshire Dorcetshire Somersetshire Wiltshire Hampshire and Barkshire Bounded on the North with Monmouthshire Gloucestershire Oxfordshire and Bristol-Channel on the East with Sussex Surry and part of Buckinghamshire on the South with the British-Ocean and part of the Channel on the West with the Ocean These Counties abound in plenty of Corn Wooll Tinn Fruits Cattle and profitable Manufactures having many Excellent Harbours opening advantageously to the Sea so that growing by such means Rich and Powerful they failed not at length to bring under the other Kingdoms Uniting them in a Sole Monarchy under Egbert their Seventeenth King as in the Series of this History will appear Cherdick a Valiant Captain of the Low Country Germans first laboured to form these Counties into a Kingdom but before he could do it he had Six Years Wars with the Britains in which he Fought a great Battel with Aurelius Ambrosius their King and was put to the Rout but upon his Death which happened Two Years after by Poison as has been related Vter-Pendragon Brother to Aurelius being Crowned King of the Britains he borrowed Forces of Hengist who were sent under the Leading of Ebusa and Octa his two Sons but these Forces were as the former overthrown by Vter-Pendragon and Hengists Sons were taken Prisoness but whilst the Victor neglected the Tents of Mars for the softer Alcove of Venus viz. To sport with the fair Igren Wife to the Duke of Cornwal on whom he got the Renouned Prince Arthur who Succeeded him as King over the Britains the Noble Captives Escaped and again advancing their Standard in the Field were Slain with most of their followers These bad beginnings so startled Cherdrick that he found little hopes to keep the footing he had gained but more Forces coming unexpectedly to his Aid he resolved to try another Battel with the Britains which was Fought near Salisbury wherein Fortune turning her Wheel about he put the British Army to the Foil killing Natauleon one of their great Captains and made so great a slaughter of his Enemies that for a time he had no Interruption in settling his Affairs but after the Death of Vter-Pendragon who Died of Poison put into a Well whereof he used to Drink every Morning King Arthur gave great disturbances to him in the settlement of his new acquired Kingdom much Blood being shed between them in divers Battels yet beginning his Reign Anno Dom. 501 he continued it Thirty Three Years Kenrick the Second King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 534. He was Son to Cherdick and a Mortal Enemy to the Britains In his Fathers time he Commanded a part of the Army and Fought several Battels and now coming to the Crown he raised all his Forces and gave the Britains two great Overthrows viz. One at Shrewsbury and the other at Banbury in Oxfordshire He Reigned Twenty Six Years Chewlin the Third King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 560. He Warred upon Ethelbert King of Kent and defeated his Army at Wimbledon slaying two of his chief Commanders and this is held to be the first Battel fought between Saxons and Saxons in England a little before which it remarkably happened at Feversham in Kent That a Tame Wolfe having brought forth Seven Male Young-ones they lived Quietly together till grown up and then never left Fighting till all but one were Destroyed as it afterward befell the Saxon Heptarchy This King gave a great Overthrow to the Britains at Bedford and Surprized Four of their Towns viz. Liganbury Ailsbury Bensington and Evisham He Fought another Battel with them at Deorham and Slew three of their Dukes viz. Farmnagill Coinmagill and Candigan Taking the Cities of Glocester Bath and Cirencester But not long after Encountering them at Wodensbridge his Army was defeated and Cuth his Eldest Son Slain for here a party of Saxons assisted the Britains under the Command of Cearlick his Nephew who had fled to them upon hard usage and fear of being made away by his unnatural Uncle He Reigned Thirty Three Years Cearlick the Fourth King of the West Savons gained the Kingdom by the Overthrow of his Uncle Chewlin which he gave him at Waines-Ditch in Wiltshire Anno Dom. 593 after which he found much trouble ere he could be settled in the Government but the Britains standing his Friends he continued his Reign Six Years Chelwolf began his Reign Anno Dom. 598 but scarce was he settled in the Throne ere the Britains Invaded his Territories making great Spoil but finding they were too weak to withstand him alone in process of time they drew the Scots and Picts to their assistance so that many bloody Battels were fought with various success In which Wars he Dyed in the 14th Year of his Reign leaving his Kingdom in much distress and perplexity He was the 5th King of the West Saxons Kingills the Sixth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 612. He had great Wars with the Britains and in a pitched Battel at Beandune he put Cudwan their King to the Rout Slaying above a Thousand of his Subjects and having concluded a Peace with Penda King of the Mercians he grievously Oppressed them so that for a long time they were confined to the Mountains and Fastnesses in the Country now called Wales However after he was Converted to the Christian Faith by Berinus he abated much of his Severity making Dorchester a Bishops See and placing that Religious Man in it He was the First Christian King of the West Saxons and Reigned Thirty One Years Kenwald the Seventh King of the West Saxons made great Wars upon the Britains Overthrowing King Cadwallo at a place called Pennum with incredible slaughter but growing Proud on the success and Quarreling with Penda King of Mercia whose Sister he had Married and in Contempt of him turned her away he was by him driven out of his Kingdom But upon Submitting and being Baptized by Bishop Felix he was restored to his Kingdom and thereby obliged by Penda to receive his Wife into Favour He began his Reign Anno Dom. 643 and Reigned Thirty One Years Eskwin the Eighth King of the West Saxons began his Reign
who Succeeded in the Kingdom successively but she Dying he took Judith Daughter to the King of France in a second Marriage by whom I do not find he had any Children In this Kings Reign the Picts were destroyed by Kenneth King of Scotland their chiefest City Camelon Stormed and as well Women and Children as Men who retired thither for safety put to the Sword in revenge of the Death of Alpine the King of Scots Father who being Overthrown by Burdus King of the Picts was taken Prisoner and had his Head struck off on a publick Scaffold and fixed on the Wall of Camelon but soon taken thence by some Scots who came thither in Pictish Habit and so implacable were the Scots in the utter extirpating this Nation which had long stood a boundary between them and the Southern parts of the Island being in a manner placed in the middle of it that having destroyed all the People that fell into their hands they slew their Cattel and suffered them to Rot on the Ground rooted up their Corn and layed their Towns and Villages level with the Ground not sparing Churches nor any Religious Houses pursuing the Flyers to their last Refuge viz. The strong Castle of Maidens now called Edenbourough Castle straightly Besieging them so that the Besieged having endured extream Famine and dispairing of relief desperately Sallying broke in the Night time through the Leagure and as many as escaped fled into England craving Aid of Ethelwolfs Lieutenants or Tributary Regents in Northumberland and other Northern Counties but little was done at this time by reason the King expected an Invasion by the Danes who were preparing in Denmark to succour their distressed Forces that kept but slender footing in England and others of the Picts who before had escaped the miserable desolation of their Country fled to Norway and Denmark and there in consideration of Refuge and present Support resigned their Interest in Pictland in their own and the Names of the rest of their Nation that survived the slaughter Which giving the Danes a colourable Title to make their Claim occasioned great calamities to England and Scotland to the subduing the former after a long continued War as in the sequel will appear Thus fell the Pictish Kingdom and was Annexed to Scotland Anno Dom. 839. After as some Historians Record they had continued under a Succession of Kings 1173 Years But its setting in Blood happened not without dreadful Omens and Prodigies at Camelon their chief City the Bishops Crosier Staff he Officiating at the Altar was reduced to Ashes by Lightning A dreadful Comet appeared and two Firey Armies were seen in the Air running at each other with Burning Spears a noise of Clashing of Arms and Neighing of Horses was affirmed to be heard in England and Pictland without any visibility of either which then were little minded but afterward looked on as the Forerunners of the dire calamities that ensued Upon this destruction of his Neighbours Kingdom Kenwolf was much perplexed because till now they stood as a Barricado to hinder the Incursion of the Scots whereupon he sent Ambassadors to Kenneth peaceably to suffer those of that Nation that were scattered in his and other Countries to return and Rebuild their Ruinated Towns but he would by no means harken to it which constrained him to Fortify the Towns in the Northern Marches and put strong Garisons into them And having a great love for the Clergy of whose number he had been he freed all Church-Lands from Tribute and Regal Services and being desirous to see Rome of whose Magnificence he had heard many wonderful Relations settling his Affairs in the best manner he could with divers of his Clergy and Nobility he Sailed thither and was Entertained with such Magnificence that in recompence of his Reception he confirmed Peter Pence to that See and after his Return gave Annually during his Life Three Hundred Marks to the Bishop of Rome This Ethelwolf Eldest Son to Egbert Began his Reign Anno Dom. 837 and Continued it Twenty Years Buckinghamshire Described c. BUckinghamshire is bounded with Northamptonshire Bedfordshire Oxfordshire Hartfordshire Middlesex and Barkshire It abounds in Corn Pastures large Cattle and numerous Flocks of Sheep feeding on its gradual rising Hills and has in it divers stately Forrests and Chaces BUCKINGHAM SHIRE By J. Seller Chilton was the Birth-Place of the Learned Sr. George Crook a Famous Lawyer Amersham or Agmondisham took its Name from the Great Agmond and gave Birth to John Surnamed Amersham and divers other Learned Men. Windover gave Birth to Roger Surnamed Windover Historian to King Henry the Third Houton did the like to Roger Goad a very Learned Man of great Repute This Shire is divided into Eight Hundreds viz. those of Newport Buckingham Cotslow Ashendon Ailesbury Burnham Disborough and Stocke It sends Members to Parliament for Alesbury two Amersham or Agmondisham two Buckingham two Chipen-Wiccomb two Marlo two Wendover two and two Knights of the Shire It Contains One Hundred Eighty Five Parishes Eleven Market Towns and is Watered with Two considerable Rivers viz. The Thames on its South side and the River Ouse on which the Town of Buckingham is seated and in a manner is surrounded with it unless a little on the North side it lies open and over this River are three fair Stone Bridges Ailesbury is likewise very pleasantly situated in the midst of most delightful Meddows and Pastures and the Vale bearing its Name is accounted the most Fertil in Europe As for the Churches in the Principal Towns of this County they give a goodly Prospect to Travellers and are not only well Adorn'd and Fair without but very Beautiful within The Noblemens Seats of Note are Buckingham-House and Whadon lately belonging to George Duke of Buckingham Cheynes one of the Seats of William Duke of Bedford Latimers one of the Seats of William Duke of Devonshire Ashbridge part in Bucks and part in Hartfordshire one of the Seats of John Earl of Bridgwater Wing and Ethrop the Seats of the Earl of Carnarvan Laurendon one of the Seats of the Earl of Lichfield Overwinchendon-House one of the Seats of the Lord Wharton with divers stately Houses many Newly Erected belonging to the Gentry and that which makes it so well Inhabited is the Wholsomness of the Air which contributes to and continues a Healthful Constitution The Reign of Ethelbald the Third Sole Manarch of England EThelbald was Eldest Son to Ethelwolf by Osburga his first Queen and in his Fathers Lifetime held the Kingdom in a great measure as if he had been his Co-Partner His Valour the Danes experienced in divers Bloody Battels in many of which he Prevailed killing numbers with a mighty Faulchion he used in Fight which few but himself could wield yet after the toiles of War giving a little respite to his wearyed Body Judith his Stepmother came attended with divers Lady 's to Congratulate his Success in a very splendid Dress so that her Snow-white Breasts
Duke of Somerset Earl of Devonshire c. Were Beheaded At Aderly on the top of certain Hills are found Stones in the form of Oyters Cockles c. and near Puckle Church is a Vein of blue Stone At Lessington are Stones that represent Stars of the circumferance of a single Penny and the thickness of half a Crown they grow together in Columns about 3 or 4 Inches long and being singly put into Vinegar they naturaly move and tend towards union The Seats of the Nobility are Badminton and Wallastons Grange seats of the Duke of Beaufort Stowel a seat of the Earl of Strafford Berkely-Castle a seat of the Earl of Berkley's Campden-House in Campden a seat of the Earl of Gainsboroughs Overnorton a seat of the Lord Viscount Say and Seal's Corfe-Court and Cockbury seats of the Lord Coventry Glocester Pallace the Bishops seat It has in it also a great many Parks Forrests and all accommodations for Recreation c. The Reign of Ethelred Fourteenth Sole Monarch of England EThelred began his Reign Anno Dom. 979 he was the third Son of Edgar and came very Young to the Crown for I find that being informed of the manner of his Brother Edwards Death to make way for him to the Crown when he was but ten Years old he not only detested the crime and refused to be made King but wept and complained so abundantly for the deceased that the Queen in a great passion snatched a Wax Taper from the Alter nothing else being at hand and beat him so sorely with it that it gave him an Antipathy against Wax Tapers all his life time he never enduring any to be in his sight so that he may be reputed to be between Ten and Eleven Years Old when he came to the Throne so that the Danes promising themselves great advantages by reason of his Minority Landed in great numbers This King Ethelred by some called Eldred was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames by Arch Bishop Dunstan not as is said by his good will but he was compelled to perform that Office yet instead of a Benediction he Bann'd him as one that Swam to the Throne in the Stream of his Brothers Blood as he Phrased it speaking also as it were Prophetically of the great losses England would sustain in this Kings Reign and indeed Queen Alfreda being soon sensible of the Blood-guiltiness that cried against her and fearing the fury of the People built two Monasteries of Nuns at Amesbury where she lived a solitary Life till she Dyed The King being but slow in his preparations by which means he got himself the nickname of the Vnready Swane King or chief Leader of the Danes and Olaf King of Norway who assisted him got strong possession of divers of the most fertil Counties being secretly encouraged by Duke Edrick a Treacherous Courtier who discovered to them all the Kings Counsels and Fortified the Towns and Castles casting up works to secure what they gained as they made their Encroachments However at length the King gave them Battel and tho' he cannot be said to lose it the parting being somewhat doubtful on either side yet he lost so many of his People that he could not get together a sufficient Army to oppose them so that to save the rest of his Country from Spoil he was constrained to comply with the Enemies exorbitant demands compounding for his Quiet at 10000 l. Then they raised him to 16 20 30 and 40000 Pounds compelling the People to find them Provisions in their Houses where they were Quartered and to see in many places their Wives and Daughters Ravished before their Faces not daring on pain of their Lives to gainsay it The People calling them Lord Danes corruptly now Lurdane a by-word for a Lazy Fellow But Elfrick Earl of Mercia and Algarius his Son being found contributes and abettors to the Misery of their Country the King caused their Eyes to be put out and they confin'd to certain Limits during Life And now the King plainly perceiving what a miserable condition the Kingdom was in between private Traitors and professed Enemies he resolved to take a violent and speedy course as he thought to end the War at once and thereupon sent secret Messages throughout the Kingdom That upon the Ringing the Allarm-Bell on St. Brices Day the 13th of November Anno Dom. 1002 the People in all Cities and Towns should fall on the Danes as they lay scattered and had no time to get to their Arms or in any great Body and Massacre them and accordingly it was put in execution so that many places flowed with Danes Blood the injured and imaged People not sparing either Sex of that Nation so that Guni-Child King Swane's Sister was slain at Dorchester This Honour if I may rightly term it one the Women by I know not what Tradition totally ascribe to their Sex tho' no doubt both Sexes were Actors in the Danish Tragedy which had been more Bloody had not Duke Edrick given Swane notice tho' somewhat too late in the main of the Design by which means he saved himself and a great many of his followers and storming at his Loss Repaired it with all speed sending for Recruits from Norway and Denmark It was supposed in this Slaughter about 24000 fell but to Revenge it being Recruited the Danes grievously oppressed the Country Burning and Destroying in all places where they came so that although the King to the Impoverishing himself gave them 30000 Pounds for Peace they observed it but a few Days for having wrested a great Sum of Money from Alphegus who Succeeded Dunstan in the Arch Bishoprick of Canterbury and slain 900 Monks and Men in Religious Orders They Stoned the good Bishop to Death at Greenwich in Kent The King seeing these proceedings sent Emma his Queen with his two Sons to her Brother Richard Duke of Normandy and shortly after not able to endure the Destruction the Enemy made followed them But at length Swane was Murthered by his own Men for denying them their share of Plunder or restraining them from their Insolencies over the English However they chose Canute his Son King Of which change Ethelred thinking to make advantage at the solicitation of his Friends returned but perceiving several Treasons hatching against him That his Councells were betrayed by some he confided in and that he was too weak to withstand the Enemies fury he fell into a Melancholly and Dyed as is supposed of Grief and he was Bury'd in St. Paul's London He Reigned 37 Years unless we exclude the time he was absent in Normandy which by some is accounted between two and three Years He was the Fourteenth Sole Monarch of England Remarks on Hampshire or Hantshire HAmpshire is not only considerable for its Fertility in Corne Cattle Fowle Fish and its producing store of singular good Honey but for its commodious Sea-Ports opening to the South for the conveniency of Shipping outward or inward bound especially Southampton Antiently Hamo's Haven It is
Market Towns and 5 Rivers Isis which gives an additional name to the Thames into which it falls is very much Celibrated in Antient Story It sends Members to Parliament 9 viz. Oxford City 2 the Vniversity 2 Banbury 1 New Woodstock 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire The Antient City of Oxford is renowned for many remarkable things as being the Place of Meeting of divers Parliaments and holding out many Sieges Here Maud the Empress was Besieged by King Stephen and all in White got by Night over the Thames on the Ice This Place King Charles the First made his chief Head-Quarters during the Civil War till it was taken by Sr. Thomas Farfaix King Richard the First was Born here Its Churches are 13 besides the Cathedral most of them very Stately It is Watered almost round and is supplyed within the City by many Conduits on one of which is the Figure of a Queen Riding on an Ox in Brass But the greatest Ornament of Oxford is its being a Vniversity and for the stateliness of its Colledges their Liberal Endowments and the Number of Scholars contained in them it is not except by its Sister Cambridge to be parallelled in the whole Christian World Of the Number of its Colledges the time of their Foundation and their Founders take the following Account An Account of the Colledges in Oxfond 1. University Colledge was founded by King Alfred Anno 872 for 12. Fellows besides other Students 2. Baliol Colledge was founded Anno 1262. by John Baliol and Devorgilla his Wife Parents of John Baliol King of Scots for 12. Fellows c. 3. Merton Colledge was founded Anno 1274. by Walter de Merton Lord High Chancellour of England and Bishop of Rochester This has 19 Fellows 14 Scholars c. 4. Exeter Colledge was founded Anno 1216. by Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter for 23. Fellows c. 5. Oriel Colledge was founded Anno 1337. by King Edward II for 18. Fellows 12 Schollars c. 6. Queens Colledge was founded Anno 1340. by Robert Eaglesfield B. D. for 15 Fellows besides other Students of the Foundation 7. New Colledge was founded Anno 1375. by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester and Lord High Chancellour of England for 70 Fellows 10 Chaplains 3 Clerks 16 Choiristers c. 8. Lincoln Colledge was founded Anno 1420. by Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincoln for 15 Fellows c. 9. All-Souls Colledge was founded Anno 1437. by Henry Chicheley Arch Bishop of Canterbury for 40 Fellows besides Chaplains Clerks and other Servants of the Foundation 10. Magdalen Colledge was founded Anno 1459. by William of Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester and Lord High Chancellour of England for 40 Fellows and 30 Scholars besides Chaplains Clerks Choiristers c. 11. Brazen-Nose Colledge was founded Anno 1515. by William Smith Bishop of Lincoln and Richard Sutton Esq for 20 Fellows besides Scholars and Students of the Foundation 12. Corpus Christi Colledge was founded Anno 1516. by Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester and Lord Privy Seal for 20 Follows 20 Scholars besides Chaplains and Clerks c. 13. Christ-Church Colledge was founded Anno 1546. by King Henry VIII for 8 Canons and 100 Students besides Chaplains c. 14. Trinity Colledge was founded Anno 1555. by Sir Tho. Pope for 12 Fellows 12 Scholars and other Students 15. St. Johns Colledge was founded Anno 1557. by Sir Thomas White Merchant Taylor of London for 50 Fellows c. 16. Jesus Colledge was founded Anno 1572. by Queen Elizabeth for 16 Fellows 16 Scholars and other Students 17. Wadham Colledge was founded Anno 1613. by Nicholas Wadham and Dorothy his Wife for 15 Fellows and 15 Scholars c. 18. Pembroke Colledge was founded Anno 1620. by Thomas Teisdale Esq and Richard Wightwick B. D. for 15 Fellows and 11 Scholars c. The Seven Halls are Glocester Edmund St. Alban Magdalen Hart and S. Mary Hall besides New-Inn In all which Colledges and Halls there are fair Chappels and Libraries But amongst these is the most famous Bodlean Library which for choice Books and rare Manuscripts falls little short of the Vatican Here is also that curious Piece of Architecture called the New Theater built for Scholastick Exercises with a fair Printing House by Dr. Sheldon a late Arch Bishop of Canterbury The Musaeum built at the Charge of the Vniversity for the Improvement of Experimental Knowledge especially in Physick with a Laboratory furnished with all sorts of Furnaces and other Materials for Chymical Practice a Store-Room for Preparations and another Room fitted up for a Chymical Library In the Musaeum is also to be seen a curious Repository The publick Physick Garden deserves also to be mentioned here for its Stateliness and infinite Variety of choice Plants The Number of Students in Oxford is rickoned to be 3000 whereof 1000 live upon the Revenues of the Colledges In this City was formerly a famous Castle but now of no great Strength being mostly used for a Prison It has several Bridges about it but one more specially of Stone curiously Arched and is a Place of considerable Trade Woodstock was a long time the Country Retirement of our Kings here it was that Henry II built a sumptuous Bower for fair Rosamond his Paramour here Edward the Black Prince was Born and Sr. Geoffry Chaucer Educated At Islip King Edward the Confessor was Born the other Towns of Note are Banbury Chipingnorton Charlbury Bampton Henly on Thames c. Near Evisham in the South of this County are erected Stones called Rol Richstone in the nature of those on Salisbury Plain but not so big which Fabulous Stories have rendered to have been Men Transformed into Stone but most certain they are a Monument of a great Battel fought there by Rollo the Dane near Oxford is the Well Dripa whose Waters distil from a Rock that hangs over it very Medicinal There is store of Oaker Fullers-Earth and Gipsum at Shot-over Garsington and Whitney and Tobacco-Pipe-Clay and Vmber is found near Blanden Cerulam or Native Blue near Blonds-Court the Tera Lapidosa the Colour of Turkish Rusma is found in the Quarries about Tame the Gold-gritty Clay at Hampton Gay The Seats af the Nobility are Cornbury belonging to the Earl of Clarendon Blechington to the Earl of Anglesey Caversham to the Earl of Craven Dichley and Les Rest to the Earl of Litchfield Ricot and Chesterton to the Earl of Abingdon Broughton Shutford and North Newton to the Lord Viscount Say and Seal Water-Eton to the late Lord Lovelace Cuddesden the Bishops Palace There are fine Parks in this County stored with Deer and many large Woods wherein abundance of Hares shelter The Seats of the Gentry are not a few so that put together it is a very fine Inland County Watered in some parts by the Thames c. The Reign of King HENRY the Third AFter the untimely Death of King John Henry his Eldest Son being but Nine Years of Age was Crowned at Gloucester in the presence of
of War the King taking by force and surrender all the strong Castles and Fortresses into his hands and Oath of the Justices Mayors and Officers of the several Towns and Forts and having disposed all things to the best advantage and settled the Government in trusty hands he brought away the Crown Robes of State and Marble Chair from Scone in which the Scots Kings had always been Crowned and placed the latter in the Kings Chappel at Westminster and on it there is said to be a Prophetick Latin Distick in English to this Effect Where e'er this Stone is Plac'd the Scot shall find And there shall Rule for there his Reign 's Assign'd This may indeed seem to be verified in the Union of the two Kingdoms under King James the First of the Scotish Line But to proceed As soon as King Edward was returned from his Journey he caused an Enquiry which was termed Troli Baston to be made in all his Dominions of the Misdemeanors and Oppressions of his Officers and others so that the Number of the Transgressors were so many that heavy Fines being laid on them and they like so many full Spunges Squeezed of their Unjust Gains into the Kings Coffers they were plentifully replenished thereby not only to Pay off old Debts but to Recompence such as had at their own Expence faithfully Served him in his Wars and among other Complaints Dr. Langton Bishop of Chester Exhibited one to the King against Prince Edward whom he said at the Instigation of Pierce Gaveston his Loose and Evil Counsellor had forcibly broken into his Parks wounded his Servants and destroyed his Game Whereupon the Prince was committed to Prison during the Kings pleasure and Gaveston Banished upon pain of Death never to return into the Land and Edward Earl of Cornwal Son to Richard King of the Romans Dying without Issue he gave that Earldom to Prince Edward which Title with that of Chester have been since inseparable from the Princes of Wales A Peace being now had in Scotland things remained quiet for a time during which space Robert Bruce one of the Competitors came with divers Nobles to the English Court and was highly Entertained which they did only for a shew whilst they were dealing underhand with the Pope to favour their Cause nor was he slow in it but sent an Instrument in Writing by which he pretended to lay claim to the Kingdom of Scotland as holden of the See of Rome wherein King Edward was peremptorily required to surcease from all Demands of Tenure and Soveraignty over it But he stoutly Answered by his Ambassadors That it did belong to the Kings of England and not unto the See of Rome or to any other requiring him to revoke his unjust Claim for that both he and his Nobles were resolved to maintain his Right therein at the hazard of their Lives and Estates and the Ambassador shewing the Hands and Seals of the Nobles and most of the Prelates of England that had Sworn to this Resolution the old Blade with the Leaden Sword drew in his Horns whereupon Bruce secretly withdrew and raised Tumults in Scotland Yet the King forced him to fly into Norway where he remained till in Edward the Seconds Reign he returned to broach new Troubles But the King upon his Marching through Scotland Dyed commanding in his Last Will That his Son should SHROP SHIRE By John Seller carry his Bones with him till he had utterly Subdued the Rebells and that Gaveston should not be Recalled from Banishment also that his Heart should be carried to the Holy Land and there Buried He began his Reign November 16 Anno Dom. 1272 and Reigned 34 Years 7 Months and 21 Days being the 29th Sole Monarch of England He Dyed of a Dyssentery at Burg upon Sands July 7 Anno Dom. 1307 in the 69th Year of his Age and was Buried at Westminster In the Third Year of this Kings Reign on St. Nicholas Day very terrible Thunders Earthquakes and Lightenings happened also a great Fiery Dragon in the Air and a Blazing Star which much amazed the People In the Year 1288 the Summer was so Scorching that many Dyed of extream Heat yet Wheat was Sold at 2 s. 8 d. the Quarter and all Corn at a proportionable rate but the Year following by reason of the great Rains that fell Wheat was raised to 20 s. a Quarter and so continued near Forty Years which was in those times accounted a great Dearth Anno Dom. 1299 the Kings Palace at Westminster with the Buildings of the Monastery were consumed with Fire and a great Whale coming up the River was struck and taken over-against Erif being 40 Foot Long and proportionable in Bulk c. Remarks on Shropshire c. SHropshire is commodiously situated intermixed with Hills Plains Woods Forrests Chaces c. and produces Corn Rich Pastures Cattle and many other things to the advantage of the Inhabitants It is Bounded with Cheshire Staffordshire Worcestershire Herefordshire Radnorshire Mongomeryshire and Denbyshire It contains 15 Hundreds divided into 170 Parishes and haâ— in it 14 Market Towns and 18 great and small Rivers branching mostly from the Severn which plentifully Waters this Shire and others It sends Members to Parliament 12 viz. Bishops-Castle 2 Bridgnorth 2 Ludlow 2 Shrewsbury 2 Wenlock 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire In Shropshire besides Shrewsbury the County Town a noted Mart for Cloath and Frizes brought from Wales and thence dispersed into divers parts of England There are Remarkable Ruins of some Antient Places which were certainly Towns or Cities of great splendor as Workcester Uriconium the antient Usoconia of which Okenyat is a small remainder Oswalstree retaines its Name from Oswald the 11th King of Northumberland who was here Slain in Battel by Penda King of the Mercians The other Towns of Note are Wellynton Newport Braynton c. At Shrewsbury and other places on the Severn is taken a Fish called a Mort in Taste like a Salmon at Pitchford is a Well whose Water casts up a Scum of Liquid Bitumen and near Oswaldstree is a Vestigia of a Roman Camp The Seats of the Nobility are Pepperhill belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury Highercal and Eyton to the Lord Viscount Newport Cherbury to the Lord Herbert Baron of Cherbury It has also in it 13 Bridges 13 Castles 7 Forrests and 27 Parks The Seats of the Gentry are likewise very pleasant and there is almost every where great store of Game and abundance of Fish The Reign of EDWARD the Second usually called Edward of Carnarvan EDWARD the Second Succeeded his Father in the Throne but having been brought up tenderly and given too much to Flatterers and loose Company he very early gave the Nobles cause to distast his Government for tho' his Father in his Last Will had strictly Prohibited his Recalling Peirce Gaveston from Banishment a Person who by his evil Example and pernicious Counsels had been the great Debaucher of his Younger Years yet he did it tho'
compel him to more easie Terms but not to be behind hand with them he passed to Callis with an Army taking the Black Prince along with him and so wasted the Countries with Fire and Sword taking many strong Towns and Castles that they became humble Suitors to him for a Peace and submitted to his Terms so that after a short Treaty Articles were Agreed on viz. That the French King for his Ransom should Pay King Edward 500000l and not Aid any King of Scots in any War or Rebellion against England and That King Edward should not take part with the Flemings against France That the Kings of England should be ever quit of their Homage for Territories holden in France and That in Consideration these were performed King Edward in the behalf of himself and Successors Kings of England should renounce and leave the Name and Title to the Kingdom of France and so Hostages being delivered the French King after he had remained more than Four Years a Prisoner was set at Liberty and soon after he came with the Kings of Cyprus and Scots to visit King Edward and pay his respects for the Royal Treatment he had during his Imprisonment but falling Sick at the Savoy he Dyed and his Body was conveyed to St. Dennis in France And now Fortune seemed to turn against King Edward that had hitherto ever been Favourable to him for Peter the King of Castile being driven out of his Kingdom by Henry his Bastard Brother came to the Prince of Wales who then lived at Burdeaux with his Family Imploring his Assistance to Restore him which he did Overthrowing a Spanish and French Army that had joyned the Revolted Castilians with great Slaughter yet he was no sooner retired ere King Peter was again driven out and being taken in his Flight was by the Usurper put to Death but leaving two Daughters the Eldest Married John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and the Younger Thomas of Woodstock King Edwards Sons who laid Claim to the Kingdom of Castile in their Right yet an unlucky Accident crossed all for the Black Prince to Pay his Souldiers Leavying a Tax on the English Subjects beyond the Seas they not only refused to pay it but looking on it to be an Innovation and Oppression they perswaded Charles the new French King to break the League his Father had made and generally Revolting delivered up most of the Cities Towns and Castles into his hands and he growing Proud of his Success sent a huge Navy into the Narrow Seas which was defeated and beaten home by the English and hereupon the King sent the Duke of Lancaster with an Army to Callais from whence he Marched to joyn the Prince at Burdeaux beating the French Kings Army by the way and forced his Passage and soon after another Army was sent to St. Omers under the Leading of Sr. Robert Knowls which took the strong Towns of Vanes and Ruily but there grow-a difference between him and the Lord Fitz-Walter The French King took the advantage of it and fell on the English Army near Paris slaying 1000 and putting the rest to flight and immediatly sent an Army into Cuyan where the Prince being weakly assisted most of the Towns were Lost To Remedy this evil the King called a Parliament wherein the Temporality granted him a large Subsidy but the Clergy complaining of Poverty gave him only fair words and promises of future Aid which made him in his Anger turn them out of all Offices and Places of Trust in Temporal matters And the English Navy going to Relieve Rochel under the Conduct of the Earl of Pembrook was worsted by Henry the Usurping King of Castile who kept the Narrow Seas for the French King the Earl was Taken and divers others whereupon Rochel and many strong Towns Yielded This made John Duke of Britanie fear the French Greatness and offer King Edward his Assistance so that another Army was sent under the Leading of the Duke of Lancaster which greatly Endamaged the French but coming to Burdeaux he found the Prince his Brother exceeding Sick who resigning the Government of King Edwards Territories to his Conduct came for England and tho' Treaties were set on foot by the Mediation of Pope Gregory the Eleventh yet such were the insolent demands of the French that they came to nothing Whereupon the King called a Parliament who refused to Grant him any Aid unless the Lord Latimer and other evil Counsellors were Removed which being done they Liberally supplied his wants But the Black Prince Dying the 8th of June Anno 1376 in the 40th Year of his Age and Buried at Canterbury the King in his Old Age being over perswaded Restored those Officers that had been turned out to the high discontent of his People and having Created Richard Son to the Black Prince Prince of Wales Earl of Chester and Duke of Cornwal and committed the Regency of the Kingdom in his Minority to the Duke of Lancaster He Dyed on the 12th of June Anno 1377 in the 51st Year of his Reign and about the 65th of his Age and lies Buried at Westminster being the One and Thirtieth Sole Monarch of England In this Kings Reign John Wicklif the First English Reformer of Popish Errors and Superstitions Preached openly and soon after Nicholas Lyryan and Doctor Ockham so that People began to Search the Scriptures and protest against the Abominations of Rome Anno 1339 an Inundation of Water broke down part of the Wall of Newcastle and Drowned 120 People a Serpent at Chiping-Norton in Oxfordshire was found with two Heads and Faces like a Woman the one dressed in the New Attire and the other in the Old by a resemblance of Scales and Pleats having Wings like a Batt and Fiends and Devils and strange Apparitions were seen by Men and spake to them as they Travelled in solitary places and such a Plague happened that 50000 Persons Dyed in London Anno 1366 Peter Pence was ordered no more to be paid to the See of Rome and Dr. Orum Preaching before Pope Vrban at Rome condemned the Papacy and writ an Epistle from Lucifer to the Clergy thanking them for sending so many Souls to Hell c. Remarks on Staffordshire c. STaffordshire is commodiously Situate pleasantly accomodated with Meadows Enclosures Hills Valleys Woods and Champian Grounds abounds in Cattle Corn Butter Cheese Wooll and some Minerals It is incompassed with Cheshire Derbyshire Leicestershire Warwickshire and Shropshire It contains 5 Hundreds and in these are 1 City 130 Parishes 12 Market Towns 5 Castles 13 Rivers 19 Bridges 1 Chase 1 Forrest and 38 Parks It sends Members to Parliamenn 10 viz. Litchfield City 2 Newcastle Underline 2 Stafford 2 Tamworth 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Stafford the County Town Antiently Bitheny from Berteline a Holy Hermit It was Founded by King Edward the Elder and made a Corporation by King John Tamworth is Memorable for the Mercian Kings keeping their Courts there Litchfield is an Episcopal See
different success But at length the Earl perceiving fresh supplies continually press on his weary Soldiers thinking by his Example to give them new Courage he dismounted and with his Sword in his Hand pressed into the Front of his Enemies making miserable slaughter But breaking in too far and not being timely succoured he was slain together with the Marquess his Brother who threw himself into the opening Jaws of Death in hopes to bring the Earl off These great Commanders slain the Army grew faint and giving way by degrees at length fell into a total rout about 10000 being slain and of King Edward's Part of Note only Sir Humphry Bourcher Son to the Lord Barns and the dead Bodies of the Earl and Marquess being brought to St. Paul's were exposed to view three Days and then Honourably Interred among their Ancestors in the Priory of Bissam Queen Margaret having notice of this Defeat fled with her Son to the Abbey of Bewley in Hampshire whither divers Lords resorted to her and agreed to raise new Forces and try the fortune of another Field which they did and were Overthrown at Tewxbury about 3000 being slain and of Note the Duke of Sommerset Sir John Lewkner Sir John Delves c. The Prisoners of Note were the Queen and Prince the Prior of St. John's Sir Jervis Cliffton Sir Thomas Tristram and Twelve others of Note all but the two first being Beheaded the next day and soon after Prince Edward being presented to the King by Sir Richard Crofts who took him Prisoner was piteously Murthered in his sight by the Dukes of Clarence Gloucester and others on the signal given by the King in striking him on the Mouth with his Gantlet nor was it long after that Innocent King Henry was Murthered in the Tower by the same Duke of Gloucester who struck a Dagger to his Heart his Body being afterward exposed to view in St. Paul's three days that the People might be sure he was Dead however these Proceedings caused the King much hatred among the People when somewhat to satisfie them he consented to Ransome the Queen to pay which the poor Prince her Father sold his Titles to Jerusalem Naples and Sicily and returning home she Lived a Melancholy and Disconsolate Life which lasted not long ere she dyed of Grief particularly for the Death of the Prince her Son whom she dearly Loved King Edward by Bloodshed being rid of his greatest opposers took sollace in Pleasures being very Lustful and was rarely without two or three Concubins tho' his Queen was Young and Beautiful and among them Jane Shoar Wife to Mathew Shoar a Goldsmith in Grace-church-street was most pleasing to him though in the end it brought her to shame and misery But to pass this over The King being now as I may term it Established in the Throne the Duke of Burgundy vehemently incited him to War on France and recover it as his Antient Right and Inheritance upon which condition himself promised to do great matters towards assisting him The King was not slow in listening to it for many reasons urged by his Council as The French having frequently assisted his Enemies c. Yet Money being wanting it seemed difficult But to surmount this he resolved without a Parliament to ask it of his Subjects as a Free Gift which many indeed complied with tho' with an ill will But one thing in this is Remarkable The King to oblige them to bring in more freely if not for Love yet for fear of after-claps on Penal Laws seeing many that were Rich had engaged their Persons or Purses in the War against him he sat sundry Hours in a Day to receive it himself when among others a Rich yet Nigardly old Widow brought Twenty Pounds this so highly pleased him That he not only returned her thanks but told her For her kindness she should Kiss a King and having performed it once the Old Woman pull'd out another Bag crying Vdsbodikins if Kings Sell their Kisses so Cheap give me tother Touch on the Lips and here is another Twenty Pound for you The King smiled at this took her at her word and thought his Kisses well Sold. With this Benevolence of his Subjects and his own Treasure he Transported a fair Army over Sea but found the Duke of Burgundy altogether unprovided even of the promised Necessaries for the support of the English who Lying without the Towns on the cold Ground soon began to murmur however to employ them he Marched with the Duke towards St. Quintins which was secretly promised to be delivered to him by Lewis of Luxemburg great Unkle to King Edward's Queen but on their approaching its Walls the Cannon not only plaid fiercely on them but the Garison made great Sallies so that finding no good to be done they were constrained to draw off and soon after the Duke without taking leave went to raise Forces leaving only word That he would come again with an Army as soon as he was able These Proceedings made the King begin to repent he had come over upon his account and the French King making large offers to obtain a Peace it was after some debate Agreed to without the Dukes consent viz. 1. In consideration the French King Paid Edward 65000 Crowns towards his Charge and 50000l per Annum for his Life 2. That in one Year he should send for the Lady Elizabeth King Edward 's Eldest Daughter and Marry her to the Dauphin allowing them for Nine Years space Annually 50000 Crowns and then the Peaceable possession of the Dutchy of Guyan and in consideration of this Hostages should be left till the English had quitted France and were returned home This being Agreed on tho' the Marriage was never performed the Duke of Burgundy hastened to the Kings Camp and in a blustering and storming manner greatly inveighed against what he had done and was as sharply Answered by him whereupon he rod away in much discontent and the French King came to an Enterview with King Edward highly Feasting him and his whole Army giving Money to the Officers and Soldiers and commanding all his Subjects to use them with much Bounty and Civility which done King Edward Marched to Callice and there passed over to England and then the Lord Howard and Sir John Cheney the Hostages were sent after him with great Rewards The Duke of Burgundy however continued the War and was thrice Overthrown in one Year and in the last at Nancy he was slain King Edward being now at leasure to look if therâ— were after so many slaughters any that could lay â— Claim to his Crown or Interrupt by such a pretence the Peace of him or his Heirs for by this time he had two Sons and five Daughters he at last thought on Henry Earl of Richmond who remained with the Duke of Brittany he being of the Royal Blood and near of Allyance to the Crown To get this Prince into his hands he Bribed Peter Landois the Dukes Treasurer with great Sums
to make that report to their Neighbours and that this was all that had occasioned the Disturbance and Execution in the Tower Nor had Hastings been dead above two Hours ere a large Proclamation with the Broad Seal to it was read in divers parts of the City by a Herauld at Arms so that it was plain to the People that this matter was not suddain but premeditated These Advances coming near the Throne the Citizens were Assembled at Guild-Hall and the matter openly proposed to them by the Duke of Buckingham who used many Arguments to induce their consent to the Proclaiming Richard Duke of Gloucester King and lay aside King Edwards Line but they appeared little inclinable to it However Dr. Shaw Brother to the Lord Mayor in a Sermon at St. Paul's Magnified him as a Prince of the greatest Magnanimity and Virtue imaginable labouring to Bastardize Edward the Fourth and all the other Sons of Richard Duke of York except this Richard who he said was his own Picture and the true imitator of his Valour and Virtues Which was taken for such a piece of Dissimulation and Flattery that he being afterwards very evilly spoken of he was ashamed ever after to appear in a Pulpit This weighty matter being now brought to a home push the Duke of Buckingham to finish the work he had begun carried divers Citizens of the meaner sort to Baynards Castle where the Protector kept his Court where he made them seem to impose the Crown on him with threats if he refused it to place it on the Head of some Nobleman not of the Family of the Plantagenets for they would not have any of Edward the Fourth's Line to Rule over them This and much more to the like purpose the Duke spoke for them which with a faint shout of God save King Richard made him with great unwillingness as appeared to them accept what he had so hard laboured for and passionately desired And thus an end was put to Edward the Fifth's Reign if I may so terme it two Months and thirteen Days after his Fathers Death and was afterward together with his Brother Murthered in the Tower as will appear in the next Reign The Reign of King RICHARD the Third RIchard Plantagenet Third Son to Richard Duke of York having by Pollicy and Stratagem crouded himself into the Throne he called a Parliament wherein by the power of a leading Faction he was confirmed King The Crown Entailed on him and his Heirs his only Son Prince Edward being made Heir apparent But against his Coronation fearing some Insurrection on the meeting of so great a concourse as that solemnity required he sent for 5000 Soldiers out of the North under the Leading of Robert Risdale and after it he set at Liberty the Arch-Bishop of York and the Lord Stanley but continued Bishop Morton yet at the humble supplication of the University of Oxford he was delivered to the Duke of Buckingham who sent him to his Castle of Brecnock in Wales as a Prisoner at large for he had his Liberty of the Parks and Grounds lying about it King Richard knowing his Title to be bad laboured by Favours and Interest to strengthen it He Created his Son about Ten Years of Age Prince of Wales and John Howard a Man of great Experience in feats of Arms Duke of Norfolk and Sir Thomas Howard his Eldest Son Earl of Surry The Lord William Barkley was Advanced to the Earldom of Notingham and Francis Lord Lovel his great Crony and Favourite was made Viscount Lovel And thus as he immagined having settled his Estate securely at Home he sent Ambassadors to Lewis the French King to conclude a Peace with him thereby to prevent Storms from Abroad But that Prince so far detested his proceedings with his Nephews That he would not admit his Ambassadors to his Presence nor own him for a King This much perplexed him and as is thought put him upon the Project of Murthering the Young Innocent Princes as supposing by what had passed at the French Court he could never be Reputed and truly Honoured as a King whilst they Lived and that their Murther might not be imputed to him he purposely took a Progress to visit the City of Gloucester from whence he sometimes took his Title and from thence sent his Letters to Sir Robert Brakenbury Lieutenant of the Tower whom he had raised from a Low Degree to a considerable Fortune expressly Commanding him to make away the two Princes But either fear of after-claps or his abhorrence of so villanous a Deed made him absolutely refuse it Upon notice whereof Richard stormed and appeared much perplexed in Mind retiring himself for some Hours to consider how it might be done and then remembering there was one Sir James Terril a retainer to the Tower whom he knew to be very Indigent and Necessitous this Man he doubted not to prevail on for the Execution of his wicked purpose and therefore sent him a supply of Money with large promises of preferment if he Executed his pleasure and withal his Commands to the Lieutenant to deliver him the Keys of the Tower This wicked wretch not weighing the Guilt closed with the Golden offers and had the Keys delivered to him tho' not without regret by Sir Robert Brakenbury and the same Evening he hired two desperate Ruffians viz. John Dighton and Miles Forrest to Smother the Princes in their Beds which they as wickedly performed by claping Pillows on their Faces and lying on them with all their force till by their no longer strugling they found they had bereaved them of Life This cruel Murther being committed the next thing was to consider how to dispose of their Bodies which after some consults about it they Buried under the Stairs from whence they were removed and Buried none knows where Thus King Edward the Fourth's Male Issue became extinct which some looked on as a Judgment for his consenting to the Murther of Pious King Henry and Innocent Prince Edward his Son However it alleviates not the Guilt of those that dipt their hands in this Blood for all that were concerned in it came to untimely ends so just and severe is God in punishing Murther even in this Life for rarely wee find his vengance stays till the shedders of Innocent Blood drop into a timely Grave This being rumoured abroad tho' many things were urged by his creatures to excuse the Kings knowledge of it and Terril was secretly commanded to fly beyond the Seas But in Henry the Seventh's time returning was Executed for Treason yet the People as well Nobles as Commons detested him for it The Queen grew Frantick for some time and much ado they had to prevent her laying violent hands on herself but being brought to her Sences with Tears and bitter Excecrations against her wicked Brother-in-Law she passed a Melancholy Life for many Months King Richard after this was troubled with fears and frightful Dreams of Devils and Spirits haling and tormenting him that he is
them A Sow furrowed Piggs with Arms and Hands fingered as a Child instead of Legs And many other Creatures produced Monstrous Births A Plague likewise happened whereof Dyed in 8 Months 23660. The Thames was so hard Frozen that Waines and Carts passed it Markets and divers sorts of Exercises were kept and used on it Great Floods and Tempests happened spoiling much Corn and demolishing many Buildings In Yorkshire a Tempest over-threw a Church called Patrick Burton and laid many Villages in Ruins And many fearful Sights appeared in the Air. The Reign of King JAMES the First QUeen Elizabeth a little before she died having declared King James the Sixth of Scotland her Successor as indeed he was the next Allied to the Crown of England as being great Grand-Son to the Lady Margaret Eldest Daughter to Henry the Seventh he was upon that Queens death Proclaimed by Secretary Cecill and others and solemnly Invited to fill the vacant Throne when having disposed Affairs in Scotland for the preserving the Peace of that Kingdom he set forward with a very splendid Equipage And his first Act was to Establish and Continue Religion as it had been Setled by the deceased Queen causing the Old and New Testaments to be Translated from the Original and set many at liberty who were Imprisoned on sundry occasions by the Queen deceased But whilst these things were doing there wanted not some who envied his Accession to the Throne and secret contrivances were laid to Depose him and set up the Lady Arabella a Branch sprung from the same Stem by another Branch but it being timely discovered divers were Apprehended Tryed and Condemn'd yet only George Brook Brother to the Lord Cobham and two Popish Priests suffered Death Sir Walter Rawleigh and divers others being Pardoned and on the 25th of July 1603 the King and Ann his Queen were Crowned at Westminster in the Marble Chaire brought out of Scotland by Edward the First which fullfilled the Prophecy Inscribed on it and mentioned in that Kings Reign and Prince Henry the Kings Eldest Son was made Knight of the Garter and stiled Prince of Wales and Honours were conferred on divers Persons The next thing the King proceeded to do was to decide the Controversy between the Church of England and the Party that then stiled themselves Puritans and a Conference to that purpose was appointed at Hampton-Court where the King so Learnedly Argued that the former carried the day And the Jesuits proving over-hot in stirring up the People to change in opinions thereby to work their own ends were Banished the Kingdom and a Proclamation put out for Uniformity in the Church Soon after this the King Assembled a Parliament recommending to them the care of the Nation and a lasting settlement of Peace and Tranquility and thereupon restored the Antient Name of this Island causing himself to be Proclaimed King of Great Britain And whilst he and the Parliament happily accorded a private design was carried on to destroy them both for the Popish Party being denied the Tolleration they had petitioned for contrived one of the most Stupendious Mischiefs that ever entered into the Hearts of Men for their heat of Mallice would not be quenched with the Royal Blood but that of the Nobility and Gentry the representative body of the whole Kingdom united at Westminster was to have been shattered in pieces and dismembered by a blast of 36 Barrells of Gunpowder which they had placed in a Cellar under the Parliament House but it was Discovered by a Letter to the Lord Monteagle the Morning before it was to have been put in execution The principal Conspirators were Robert Catesby Thomas Piercy Robert Winter Thomas Winter John Garnet Ambrose Rookwood John Wright Francis Fresham Sir Everard Dighby and Guido Faux This Latter was to have set Fire to the Train and was taken with his Dark-Lanthorn at the Enterance of the Cellar on the 5th of November 1605. Which day by Parliament was appointed Annually a Day of Thanksgiving for that memorable Deliverance Upon this Discovery the Conspirators that escaped by flying were divers of them slain by Forces raised by the High-Sheriff of Warwickshire Faux upon Examination before the Council confessed the whole matter saying God would have had it prosper but the Devil Discovered it expressing himself sorry that it had not taken effect Garnet the Jesuite and others were Executed on this account and some Lords who were absent from Parliament and were suspected to have notice of the Design were committed to the Tower but after some confinement were released again and soon after this a rumour was spread without any certain Author That the King was Stabbed and Slain with an Impoisoned Knife as he was Hunting near Ockingham which for a time much troubled the People nor could their fears be allayed before a Proclamation came out to satisfie them of the contrary and the King of Denmark the Queens Brother coming to White-Hall was Magnificently Entertained and having stay'd about a Month departed highly satisfied The Kingdoms of England and Scotland that had long continued in bloody Wars were now United by both their consents in their Representatives on a foundation advantagious to either Nation and so it has ever since continued The Duke of Juliers about this time dying the Dukes of Newburg and Brandenburg strove for that Dutchey but whilst they weakly contended Spain more powerful resolved to take it from them both seizing on the City of Juliers the principal place of the Province which obliged King James at the States of the Netherlands supplication to send 4000 English under the Command of Sir Edward Cecill and Sir Hatton Cheek by whose Valour it was chiefly Reduced Soon after Henry the Fourth of France was Stabbed in his Coach by one Ravilliack passing the Ironmongers-street in Paris for which the Murtherer was pulled to pieces with Burning Pincers yet could not be compelled to tell who set him on that wicked Enterprize and King James startled with this untimely Death put out a Second Proclamation to Banish the Jesuits out of the Kingdom and all Popish Recusants Ten Miles from the Court. The Lord Sanquire a Scotish Baron having his Eye put out by one Turner a Fencing-master in White-Fryars in revenge hired two Persons to Murther him for which he was Hanged before Westminster-Hall-Gate in the Palace-Yard and Dyed very penitently tho' great intercession was made to save him And the Queen of Scots Beheaded in the foregoing Reign was by the Kings order removed from Peterborough to Westminster and there magnificently Interred and soon after the Elector Palatine of the Rhinâ— came into England and Married the Lady Elizabeth the Kings Daughter But the splendour of the Nuptials were Eclipsed by the Death of Prince Henry the Kings Eldest Son which happened a little before the Weding not without suspicion of Poison as some have it by the Scent of Perfumed Gloves others by eating a Bunch of Grapes but the Disease affecting mostly the Brain it carried him
King and Parliament in England continuing to increase many that feared the sad Events left the Land others retired to lead private Lives Mary the King 's Eldest Daughter being Married to the Prince of Orange by Approbation of Parliament the Queen went over with her and the King caused all Popish Priests to be banish'd the Kingdom and the Penal Statutes to be put in Execution against Papists Yet the Parliament proceeded to Tax the King about harkning to the Change of Religion and that he had given cause to the Rebellion in Ireland casting many Reflections on the Queen which constrained him to publish his Declaration to wipe off these Imputations but this doing little good he retired with Prince Charles his Son the Palsgrave of the Rhine the Duke of Richmond and others to York Summoning the Nobles Knights of the Garter and all such as held Tenure of the Crown by Lands or Service But the Parliament strictly forbid it Yet many went and among them several Members of Parliament The King seeing no good by fair means to be done he Commanded all the Yorkshire Men to meet him at Howard-Moor near York where there appeared about 60000 and with about 20000 he returned to York Commanding the rest to return to their Respective Homes In the mean while the Parliament was borrowing Money of the Londoners on the Publick Faith and raising 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse they sent them towards York of which the King had no sooner Notice but with a slender Force he repaired to Hull and demanded enterance but Sir John Hotham the Governour appearing on the Walls fell on his Knees and entreated his Majesty not to desire that of him which he could not Grant by reason of the Trust imposed in him by the Parliament whereupon he was proclaimed Traytor and the King sent to the Parliament to complain of this Affront and require a Treaty tending to a Reconciliation promising to repair to them if they would leave London and make choice of some other fitting place but they refused it Whereupon he Proclaimed all those Guilty of Treason that assisted them either with Money or Supplies and threatned to deprive the Londoners of their Charter if they offended herein Then he Fortified Newark and Barwick and sought to gain Hull by Force but failed in the Attempt And the Parliament having proclaimed the Earl of Essex their General the King repaired to Notingham and there set up his Standard and gathered a considerable Army so that now to the great Trouble of most People War was prepared for on both sides with much Vigor and Resolution in which many Gallant Men lost their Lives And Prince Charles seeing his Father's Affairs in a desperate Condition Sailed for the Scillys from whence he was Invited by the Parliament to return for London but not thinking it safe he went to the Hague and continued with his Sister the Princess of Orange till he heard the sad News of his Father's Death In the mean while Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice the King's Nephews Sons to his Sister the Queen of Bohemia came over and were Graced with Commands in the Army After several Skirmishes and the taking some Towns on both sides the two Armies drew near each other and the King perceiving himself Strong upon the Earl of Worcester's coming in with a considerable Force of Welch resolved to out-march Essex and reach London and to that end got a days March before him but Scorning to be pursu'd by a Subject he changed his Measures Faced about and both Parties Facing between Keinton and Edge-hill in Warwickshire on the 23d of Octob. 1642 a sharp Battel was Fought between them in which on both sides were slain between 5 and 6000 Men and the Slaughter had been much greater had not Night come on and parted them After this the King took in the Town and Castle of Banbury and some other places The Parliament to strengthen their Army Voted That all Apprentices that would List should be Free from their Masters and afterward received into Service again whereupon they gained considerable Recruits Then solemnly invited the Scots to their Assistance which the King by his Letters to the Privy-Council of Scotland laboured to prevent but in vain Yet several of the Lords and Commons presented a Petition to him at Cole-brook and had answer He would expect them at Windsor Castle and desired them to hasten the Treaty But this they did to gain time till Essex was Recruited which made the King hasten to Secure Brainford where happened a sharp Encounter tho' at last he forced his way but upon Essex's hastening with his Regular Forces and the London-Militia he retired for fear of being hemmed in to Oxford and because this happened in a time of Treaty the Parliament Voted to have no Accommodation yet after allowed it if he would leave his Army and come to them But this was Rejected and the War waxed fierce so that with various Success Towns were taken and Parties routed on both sides by turns whilst the Counties of Norfolk Suffolk Essex Hartford Cambridge Isle of Ely and the City of Norwich were Authorized by the Parliament to Associate under the Lord Gray of Wark And the Queen arriving with Officers Ammunition and Money from Holland was received at York by the Earls of New castle and Cumberland And these Disturbances at Home gave the Irish an Opportunity to Rebel again at the Instigation of the Pope who to that Purpose sent two Letters one to Owen O Neal and the other to all the Arch-bishops Bishops Nobles and People of the Kingdom Commanding those who had already appeared in the Quarrel and Exhorting others to take Arms wickedly approving the Massacre and bestowing on them his Benediction with plenary Pardons and Absolutions for whatever they should act so that much Blood was again shed which caused by the Mediation of those that were Peaceably inclin'd several new Treaties to be set on Foot between the King and Parliament but they came to nothing being still crossed by those that hoped for Advantages by the Distractions of the times And the Lord Brook besieging Litchfield-Close was there Slain but his Soldiers took it and the Earl of Chester Prisoner And now they proceeded to draw up Articles of high Treason against the Queen some of which were That she pawned the Crown-Jewels in Holland That she endeavoured to raise a Party in Scotland against the Parliament and that she was in the Head of a Popish Army in England This was carried to the Lords by Pym who seemed at first to be Surprized but after agreed to it About this time Robert Yeomans and George Boucher were Hang'd at Bristol on pretence they designed to betray the City to the King and on the like pretence Mr. Tomkins and Mr. Challonor were Executed on the Account of London And during these Heats Arch-bishop Laud was Attainted of High-Treason and lost his Head And the Queen meeting the King at Edge-hill went with him to
strong into the Bay after the Fight was over veer'd suddenly about to the West and brought out all our Ships safe to Seâ— This News was so grateful to Oliver that he sent Blake a Jewel of 500 l. with Gratuities to the rest of the Officers After this Cromwel called another Parliament which would fain have had him taken the Title of King upon him but he declining it he was by the Parliament solemnly invested in th Protectorial Dignity in Westminster-Hall But the Royalists yet gave him some farther Disturbance by their Endeavours to restore the King tho' they were unhappily betray'd and several of them Executed among whom were Sir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Hewet with several others of less Note In pursuance of the Peace formerly concluded with France the English and French Forces laid Siege to Dunkirk which the Spaniards endeavouring to relieve were totally routed and Dunkirk soon after taken and put into the possession of the English And now on the fatal third of September in the Year 1658. Oliver Cromwel Dyed in the Sixty-third Year of his Age and the Fifth of his Protector-ship He was Born in Huntington and was the Son of a second Brother of Sir Oliver Cromwel of Huntington-shire his Mother was the Daughter of Sir Richard Stewart of the Isle of Ely and his Wife was Elizabeth the Daughter of Sir James Bourchier By whom he had Issue three Sons of which one Died â—oung and four Daughters By his Reputation in Arms he was Courted or Feared by most of the Princes of Europe he was a Man of singular Courage and Resolution attended with very great Success and kept his Army under him in so exact and strict a Discipline that they seem'd rather a Body of well-govern'd Citizens than an Army of Soldiers Swearing Drunkenness and Profaneness the common Vices of other Camps were not to be found in his His desire of Glory excited him to make attempts in other Countries by which a great Renown accrued to our Nation in all parts of the World In short had he not been a Vsurper he might have been compar'd with the best of our Princes but his Usurpation and the indirect means he used to obtain his Power spoil'd all his Good Qualities After his Death his Son Richard was Proclaimed Protector but he enjoy'd his Power but a short time the Army calling again the Rump Parliament which strait-way put an end to his Protector-ship and now the Stone began to rowl it stayed not there for Sir George â—oth having raised some Forces for the King in Cheshire and being subdued by Lambert Lambert turned the Rump out again and set up a Committee of Safety in Order to the setting up himself to prevent which General Monk in Scotland declares for the Rump and comes with his Army into England to restore them and having effected that brought in again those Members that had been Secluded by the Army before the Tryal of the late King These Members being restored issued out Writs for the Calling of a New Parliament to meet the 25th of April following and so dissolved themselves The King who had Notice of all these Proceedings with drew himself out of the Spanish Territories and went to Breda from whence at the opening of Parliament he sent over a Declaration promising Liberty of Conscience Pardon to all Offenders and Satisfaction to all Interests Upon the reading whereof the Parliament unanimously Voted That a Message be sent to his Majesty to thank him for his Gacious Declaration and to desire him to return to his Kingdom which he did upon the 29th of May following being received with the Universal Joy and Acclamations of his People Soon after which several of those that had sate in the High Court of Justice for the Tryal of his Father were themselves Tryed and Executed Of which Number were Thomas Harrison Hugh Peters Daniel Axtell John Cook Thomas Scot Gregory Clemont John Jones John Carew and Adrian Scroop who Suffered some at Charing-Cross and some at Tyburn The Bishops were also now restored to their Diocesses and the Common-Prayer Ordered again to be Read in Churches But now an over-cast of Sorrow happened for the Virtuous Princess Mary Princess of Orange coming over to see her Brother now settled in his Throne fell Sick of the Small-Pox and Dyed And in January after the King's Return one Venner a Wine-Cooper with divers other Desperate Persons fell upon the City of London being opposed many on both sides were Slain and the rest being taken or dispersed Venner with eleven more were Tryed Condemned and Executed in divers places of the City And on the 30th of January the Carcasses of Cromwel Bradshaw and Ireton were taken out of their Graves conveyed to Tyburn and Hanged up for several Hours then their Bodies buried under the Gallows and their Heads set on Westminster-Hall And soon after the Duke of Gloucester the King 's youngest Brother a Prince of great Hopes and a firm Protestant Dyed and on the 23d of April 1661 being St. George's Day the King was Crowned at Westminster with much Solemnity and Splendor having the Day before made a magnificent Cavalcade from the Tower of London to White-Hall The Army hereupon was Disbanded and the Parliament in Ireland Dissolved every thing appearing in a tendency to a lasting Settlement by a good Understanding between Prince and People For the Parliament that had been Assembled being Dissolved and another called the Peers were restored to their Antient Priviledges and the Militia declared to be Vested in the King as his right The like was also declared by the Parliament of Scotland who resigned the solemn League and Covenant and passed an Act for the Attainder of the Marquess of Argyle upon divers Crimes laid to his Charge whereupon being brought to his Tryal and Condemned he lost his Head much Lamented by the greater part of that Kingdom About this time a Convocation in England was assembled to adjust and settle matters of Religion and soon after the solemn League and Covenant which the KING had taken in Scotland was burnt by the common Hang-man in London and Westminster and then all over the Nation and a pretended Act for the Tryal of King Charles the first used in the same manner in Westminster-Hall The French and Spanish Ambassadors being at Court upon Notice of the arrival of the Broh Ambassador extraordinary from Sweeden with their Coaches went to receive him at his publick Entry on Tower-hill and contending for precedency a sharp Encounter happened some were killed and divers Wounded The Spaniard obtaining the better by the help of some English who for good Rewards tho' the King expresly by his Proclamation forbid any of his Subjects to intermeddle dressed themselves in Spanish Habits which Encounter had not the King interceeded as Mediator had at that time in all Likelihood created a War between the two Nations as being highly Resented at either Court. James Duke of Ormond being made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and
the remaining part of his Reign which Began Anno. Dom. 43 and Ended Anno. 57. In his Reign the Virgin Mary Dyed in the 72 Year of her Age and was Honourably Buryed at Jerusalem Not Translated or taken up Alive and made Queen of Heaven as the Papists foolishly imagine to colour their Idolatry in paying Divine Adoration to Heâ— St. Peter in this Emperours Reign is held by Authentic Authors to have come into Britain at the time that the Jews by several Edicts were Banished Rome and successfully Preached the Gospel turning many to the Christian Faith and having Ordained Bishops Priests and Deacons he returned to Rome where soon after he was Crucified by Nero the succeeding Emperour with his Head downward at the same time St. Paul of whose being in this Island and dispencing the Gospel there are many pregnant Testimonies was Beheaded with a Sword In this Emperours Reign there was so hard a Frost that all the Lakes and Rivers were Passible from the mindle of November to the begining of April A Coâ— at Glasenbury broughtforth a Lamb. And a Star appeared Triangular darting its Fiery Beams like Swords and Javelins towards the Earth for Three Weeks Nero geting himself chosen Emperour after the Death of Claudius Drusius by the assistance of his Mother sent Suetonius his Lieutenant into Britain where he found Patrusagus a British Prince of great Fame Dead who by his Last Will had Bequeathed Boduo his Queen by some called Bonduca and his two Daughters to the Protection of the Emperour together with his Principality But the Young Ladies being very Beautiful contrary to the Trust reposed were Ravished by a Roman Tribune after he had labour'd in vain to tempt their Chastity with Gifts and Flatteries The Queen upon knowledge of this great Injury done to her Children exceedingly Grieved and perceiving she was like to have no Redress though she had complain'd of the Injury and violation of Trust Mov'd by her Daughters Tears and her own Courage she resolved to Revenge the Treachery Whereupon calling together the chief of her People and some of the Neighbouring Princes she presented the Young Ladies before them with dishelved Hair Raining a shower of Tears from their Sorrow-clouded Eyes and rising from her Seat in a Majestick manner declared her Misfortunes inciting them to Revenge and the regaining their Liberties in these Words Let us Remember worthy Princes and others that are Assembled on this occasion That we are Britains the rightful Owners of this Country by so long a possession that none knows any other than the Race we are descended of You see through Covetousness of our Wealth and Thirst of Glory to Tyrannize over us and Enslave our Liberties these Romans having enough of their own notwithstanding first without a cause Invaded and then Encroached on our Country to bring us into Slavery Behold what breach of Trust they have made what Insolence they have offered for which and many other Injurys there is no Redress but by the Sword Let us take Courage then and to regain our Liberties and free our Country from such a Yoak of Bondage freely expose our Liveâ— and so Armed with that resolution we shall find them fly before us like a timerous Hare Hereupon opening the Lappets of her Robe there started out a Hare that she had purposely concealed which flying upon the shouts that arose animated the Assembly and made them resolve on War And so secretly was the business mannaged that the Britains Assembling by many small Troops in Woods all on a suddain at the time prefixed joyned their Forces and fell upon the Enemy little suspecting it with such fury that before they could gather their scattered Forces Forty Thousand were Slain and Suetonius compelled to immure himself in Troynovant or London and send speedily for succours so that most of the Midland Counties were recovered and the Roman Fortresses built to bridle the Britains with Garisons Demolished But the Carcasses lying un-bury'd corrupted the Air and brought on a Plague which made great desolation Yet the Queen pursuing this good success in divers Skirmishes destroyed 40000 more however at last being betrayed for a sum of Gold she Poisoned her self to prevent her Captivity or being carryed to Rome to grace the Victors Triumph In this Emperours Reign began the First Persecution of the Christians he causing the City of Rome to be Fired and laying the Guilt to their charge St. Peter and St. Paul fell Sacrifices to his Revenge and he Tortured Christians by Day for his Pastime and Burnt their Bodies by Night to light him to his Drunken Revels His Mother Agripina he caused to be riped open on no other account than to see the place where he had layn his Wife Popaea being great with Child he Kicked on the Belly that she Dyed and so far his Cruelty Extended to all Degrees of People that the Senate Proclaimed him an Enemy to the Roman State and Proscribed and Condemned him to be Whipt to Death whereupon he Fled and in Dispair Slew himself when he had Reigned about 14 Years Anno Dom. 70. Sergius Galba Succeeding Nero recall'd Suetonius and appointed Maximinus his Lieutenant in Britain yet scarce had he Reigned Seven Months e're his Souldiers Mutinied against him for his wicked course of Life and as he endeavoured to secure himself from their Rage by geting into a strong hold one Locrian a Legionary Souldier pursued him and struck off his Head In his time Britain had Peace yet a pressing Famine began which lasted two Years through exceeding Rains in Winter and Droughts in Summer so that many Thousands perished for want of Bread And to him Succeeded Marcus Selvius Otho who Reigned only three Months and five Days and then was Deposed and Murthered by the unruly Souldiers Aulus Vitellius for large Sums of Money procuring the Souldiers and others to Proclaim him Emperour enjoyed it but a short time for Flavius Vespasian waring with a Consulary Army against the Jews that had Rebelled being chosen Emperour by the Asian Army he sent 20000 of them to Depose Vitellius and Proclaim him in Rome which they performed throwing the Murthered Body of Vitellius into the River Tyber which runs by that City when he had Reigned in Drunkenness and Luxury about Eight Months Flavius Vespasian having thus gained the Empire left his Son Titus to mannage his Wars in Asia and came to Rome This Titus after Three Years hard Siege took the famous City of Jerusalem and utterly Destroyed it as had been fore-told by our Saviour So that from that time the Jews were scattered into all Nations of the Earth Upon this change of Affairs in the Roman Empire the Britains were not slow to take the advantage for the regaining the Liberty of their Country the Brigants and Silures gathering great Forces Fought with Julius Frontius the Roman Lieutenant and put his Legions to the Rout with so great a Slaughter that the Fields and Ditches in the place of Battel were filled
about him 6. Friga or Frea was Wodens Queen upon the account of Chastity and other Virtues after her Death they set up an Idol in her Likeness on a Pillar resembling Diana compleatly Armed to the Waste with a Bow and a Sword and to her were often Sacrificed those Females that had Violated their Virgin-Chastity Some Authors allow her to have been Expert in Arms by whose Prowess the Antient Saxons extended their German Territories and to her was Dedicated the Sixth Day called then Frea's-Day now Fryday 7. Seater This Idol was placed in the shape of an Old Man on a Pillar treading with his bare Feet on a Pearch with sharp pricks on its Back holding in his Right Hand a Basket of Fruits signifying Plenty and in his Left a Wheel signifying Time when we ought to be careful in laying up our Stores to prevent Scarcity He was held in his Life time to be a great Prophet and Astrologer telling things to come and Teaching the Saxons the Course of the Sun Moon and Stars and to him they Prayed for Knowledge Wisdom and hopeful Children Spring and Fall they Offered Fruits to him and strewed the way to his Temple with Flowers For his Worship they appointed the Seventh Day of the Week calling it Sater's Day now Saturday They had another Idol resembling the Image of Death with Flowing Crimson Robes holding a Lighted Torch in his Right Hand and a Lion Rampant on his Head by the Left Foot with his Left Hand He was placed on a Tomb or Grave-stone to put them in mind of Mortality and to shew Deaths Obduracy and Inexorableness they called him Flint Before his Shrine which was set in a large place Walled about without any Covering they Executed or Sacrificed Offenders for Extraordinary Crimes by Fire Racks and other Exquisit Tortures Having thus given you a Brief Description of the Original and Manners of the Antient Saxons before their coming into this Island I should now proceed to give you an Account of the Succession of their several Kings here during the time of their Heptarchy or Seven Kingdoms until King Edgar overcoming and subduing all the rest reduc'd it again to a Monarchy But that shall be the business of the next Chapter CHAP. V. The Succession of the Petty Monarchs of the Kentish South-Saxon and East-Saxon Kingdoms with what Remarkably Happen'd during their respective Reigns in Peace and War The Time when they Began and Ended them with the Limits of their Dominions 1. Of the Kingdom of Kent and the Succession of its seventeen Kings HEngist the first Saxon Invader as is formerly noted setled Himself and his People in the County of Kent a Fertil part of England large in Extent bounded on the North with the River Thames by which it is divided from Essex on the East with the Channel on the West with Surry and on the South with Sussex He began to Erect a Saxon Kingdom there Anno Dom. 455 and had during his Thirty Four years Reign continual War with the Britains his Brother Horsa Dying of the Wounds he received in Battel gave Name to a place called Horsa's Tomb now corruptly called Horsted where he was Buried and had a famous Monument erected over his Grave the Ruins of which some Hundred Years since were visible It is held by Authors of great repute those Stones of a prodigious bigness on Salisbury Plain which have created Admiration in the Beholders were erected as a Monument where he caused the British Nobles to be Treacherously Slain by which means he gained his design on this Kingdom making way to its Subjection for indeed they are commonly to this day called Stone Hing or Hengist Stones They appear to have been a Treble Row of Stones circularly placed one within another Twenty Eight Foot long for the most part and Seven Foot broad viz. those that are reared upright besides others of prodigious bigness that lie overthwart from one to another and are fastned with Tenents and Mortises but at this day the Form of this Wonderful Structure is very much defaced some of the greater Stones being either faln or reclining towards the Earth Eske by some called Osea succeeded Hengist in the Kingdom of Kent a Man much inferiour to him in Valour and Conduct therefore to make the People if possible to forget what they were that he might live the more at Ease he Tollerated such of the Câ—nti as would to live among his Saxons on condition they would take upon them the Name or Epithite of Eskins and though he Reigned Twenty Four Years nothing very Memorable is Recorded of him in History for the other Saxon Princes in setling their Kingdoms Screening him from the Incursions of the Britains and making the seat of War in the Northern and Western Counties he had for the most part a Peaceable Reign Octa the Third King of Kent began his Reign Anno Dom. 513 he provided prudent and wholsom Laws for the Goverment of his People Built several Castles on the Sea-Coast and the Inland Frontiers commanded the Pagan Idolatries to be strictly Observed and Christianity to be Extirpated sheding much Innocent Blood on that occasion In his time strange sights were seen of Dragons Lions and other furious wild Beasts Fighting in the Air. In the West of Kent it Rained Wheat and soon after great Drops of Blood upon which ensued extream Dearth succeeded by much Bloodshed between his People and the South Saxon borders about setling their Territories at the latter end of his Reign which continued Twenty Years Imerick began his Reign Anno Dom. 533 He made an Edict That Strangrs should be Curteously Entertained and caused Houses of Publick Resort to be built on the Roads and the Highways to be Mended and made Passable at the Publick Charge building Watch-Towers on the Sea-Coasts and setting Lights in them for the guidance of Saylors He restrained the severity against the Christians and is numbered among the good Saxon Kings in his time was the Second General Council held at Constantinople for all Christendom Anno Dom. 553. He Reigned Twenty Nine Years during which space nothing Memorable of any Warlike Actions are Recorded of him Ethelbert The Fifth King of Kent began his Reign 562 He had not long Reigned before Cheuline King of the West Saxons raised an Army against him to Oppose whom he Mustered great Forces and at Wimbleton both Hosts joyned Battel where Ethelbert lost the day Two of his Dukes and Five Thousand of his People being Slain and this is Recorded to be the first Open War among the Saxon Kings However a Peace was soon after concluded and Gregory Arch-Deacon of Rome seeing some fair Youths of this Island standing in the Market of that City to be Sold he demanded from whence they were and being told from Britain out of a Province called Deira he sighing said when he understood Paganisme predominated Ah it is great pity but their Country should be Delivered Ira Dei from the Wrath of
Anno Dom. 674. He had Wars with Wolfere King of Mercia and a great Battel was Fought between them at Bidamheaford which continued so Obstinate from Morning till Evening that both the Kings perceiving the great Loss they had sustained in the Night time they raised their Camps and secretly Retreated as being mutually possessed with a fear of the direful consequences they apprehended would attend the next days Encounter He afterward Warred on the Britains but his short Reign affords us no Memorable Achievement in that Enterprize it continuing only Two Years Kentwin the Ninth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 677 continuing the War on the Britains sorely Oppressing them in all the Neighbouring Counties in the latter end of the Reign of Cadwallo their King which he continued after the Death of that British Prince so that Cadwallader his Son coming to the Crown found himself constrained to draw his People into a lesser compass having at last little more at liberty than the Mountains and some Valleys being perpetually Alarmed on the Frontiers so that Blood was daily spilt like Water This Kentwin Reigned Nine Years A Blazing Sar of a Whitish or Flame-Colour appeared in his time for three Months with a Taile of exceeding length far longer than before had been Recorded in any Age. Ceadwald the Tenth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 686. He made War on the South Saxons and in a set Battel slew Ethelwolf their King and continuing to prosecute his Ravages in that Country and Kent he spilt much Christian Blood Encountering Barthun Successor to Ethelwolf he likewise slew him in Battel after which repenting what he had done he went to Rome and was there Baptized by Pope Sergius and Named Peter His Reign continued Two Years and odd Days Ine or Ineas the Eleventh King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 688. In his time the poor Britains were sorely Oppressed with War Famine and Pestilence so that the Living were scarce able to Bury the Dead which great Calamity Cadwallader not able to bear left the Land and went to Armorica or Britany to his Cousin Allan and from thence in Pilgrimage to Rome and received a Religious Habit at the Hands of Pope Sergius in which Retirement he Dyed and with him all the hopes of the Britains he being accounted the Last of their Kings the rest being stiled by Authentick Historians only Princes of Wales This Ine made the South Saxons to Submit and annexed that Kingdom to his own He likewise Warred with various success on Chelred King of Mercia and made many wholsom Laws for the good of his People Translated by Mr. Lambert out of the Saxon Language He Founded the Abby of Glassenbury over the Tomb or Burying-place of Joseph of Arimathea who begged our Saviours Body from the Cross and afterwards as several Authors report came over into this Kingdom Preaching the Gospel to the Britains and Dying was Buried at Glassenbury This King afterward went a Pilgrimage to Rome and for the good reception he found there he made a Law That every Housholder who had Goods to the Value of Twenty Pence of One Sort should pay a Penny by way of Gratuity to the Pope every Lammas Day which afterward was Claimed by succeeding Popes by way of Tribute and called Peter Pence He Reigned Thirty Seven Years Ethellard the Twelfth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 726 being in a manner ushered in by two Blazing Stars both within a quarter of a Year one at North-West and the other at South-East after which a Famine and Pestilence grievously Afflicted all parts of this Island so that Shiping was sent abroad to fetch in Food in Exchange for Metals and other valuable Goods He streightened the Britains in their Mountanous Country and caused many to be slain who passed the appointed Boundaries He Reigned Fourteen Years Cuthred the Thirteenth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 740 when finding the Britains had gathered Courage by the coming over of Recruits from Armorica or Britany with which Country as an antient Collony of this they kept a strict Allyance after several Battels fought with them in Worcestershire Monmouthshire and other bordering Counties which they laboured to recover he at last in many Encounters proving too weak Leagued with Ethelbald King of Mercia and by that means the Britains were beaten out of most of the places they had gained and being Overthrown in Battel near Carnarvan they found themselves unable to make head against the Victors by reason half their Army most of their Nobles and chief Commanders were slain so that they sued for Peace which after much havock and desolation in their Mountainous Country by the pursuing Saxons was granted in consideration of an Annual Tribute of Three Thousand Marks to be payed to Cuthred but it was not long punctually observed before new Tumults and Disturbances happened for Adelm an Earl of the West Saxons Rebelling against his King and drawing a multitude of the Plebeans to his Party the Britains took that opportunity to cast off their Yoak This Cuthred Reigned Fourteen Years Sigesburt the Fourteenth King of the West Saxons assumed the Throne Anno Dom. 754 and being brought up tenderly in his Infancy and in his Grown Years addicting himself to the conversation of Parasites Flatterers and other Vicious Persons it so corrupted his Manners that by the Advice of such his wicked Counsellours who chiefly Swayed him he caused Earl Cumbria to be put to Death with great Torture For Daring as he himself Expressed it to tell him of his Failings and Defects in his Kingly Office But this Earl being a grave Patriot and a Man of Unblameable Life was so generally beloved by the People that his Death cost Sigesbert his Crown and Life for hereupon they rose up in Arms against him defeated those that stood by him and drove him into a Wood in Dorcetshire where he absconded till he supposed the heat of the Pursuit and Popular Fury was abated but being found by the Earls Swineheard Breakfasting on Acorns under a spreading Oake he with a Battoon beat out his Braines in revenge of his Masters Death no intreaties or promises of reward being able to deter him from this bloody Execution His Reign continued about a Year Kenwolf the Fifteenth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 755 and had no sooner settled the Government which by reason of Intestine Broyles and the untimely Death of a King was much disordered than he prepared to Invade the Britains but upon their sending to excuse the non Payment of the Tribute on the account of their extream Poverty caused by a Famine that had held two Years in their Country so that the Poorer sort left no Unclean thing un-eaten His preparations were for a time layed aside but some stragling Parties of Britains constrained by Necessity making Incursions into the Saxon Counties War was
of the Young-Men and Maids about the Reign of Queen Mary the First and is equall'd for Height and Beauty by few in the Nation In short 't is a Town of good Trade and very famous for its Ale which is accounted the best and strongest in the Kingdom Ripton the Antient Ripandunum is a pleasant place here Ethelbald the ninth King of the Mercians slain at Egelwald was by his Subjects Interred and from hence Burdred the last King of Mercia was expelled by the Danes together with his Queen Ethelwith At Melburn John D' Bourbon taken at the Battel of Agincourt in France by our Henry the 5th was kept Prisoner Little Derby was an Antient Collony of the Romans as appears by their Coins and Medals digged up there at sundry times The Seats of the Noblemen are Palsover Castle the Antient seat of the Duke of Newcastle Haddon the seat of the Earl of Rutland Hadwick and Chatsworth the seats of the Duke of Devonshire Berthy the seat of the Earl of Chesterfield Sherley the seat of the Lord Ferrers Sutton c. The Reign of Edmund Ninth Sole Monarch of England EDmund Brother to Ethelstan began his Reign Anno. Dom. 940. He was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames but scarce settled in the Throne before the Danes perswading the People of Northumberland and other Northern Counties to joyn with them advanced against him with a puissant Army to whom he gave a great Overthrow near Northampton and had various success against them in divers other Battels He caused the Eyes of the two Sons of Dunmail to be put out for theirs and their Fathers Rebellion against him and then to quiet his People made many good Laws to restrain Rapin and other Injuries that for want of such boundaries between Princes and Subjects they had sustained in many of the former Reigns and upon these Laws Magna Charta or the Great Charter of England seems very much to be grounded Anlafe the Dane retaining some footing in the Northern parts of England and Southern Sheirs of Scotland Laboured to perswade Indulph King of Scots to break the League he had made with Ethelstan urging that Edmund who now Reigned was a supine Person no ways fit to bear the weight of Government and therefore they might easily gaine their designes in subduing the Kingdom but Indulph would by no means be tempted to break his Oath Whereupon the Dane thinking to do it without his Aid sent for more Forces who Landing in the Humber Elgarine Governor of Northumberland either through fear or hopes of Advancement declared he was descended of Danish Blood and breaking the Trust King Edmund had reposed in him he Joyned such Forces as he could raise with Anlafe whereupon the King sent to Indulph for Aid according to the Articles of Treaty to assist each other in case of Invasion and with all expedition he sent him 10000 well apointed Soldiers with which and his own Forces he fell upon the Danes and Routed them at the first onset making a terrible slaughter in the pursuit In this Battle as the King had commanded the Treacherous Earl Elgarine was taken alive though he would willingly have dyed on the Swords of those that secured him when being adjuged a Traytor to his Country he was drawn in peices by the strength of Horses And after this great Victory he settled the Northern Counties that had been much harrassed and weakened by the Enemy and upon his return granted large Priviledges to St. Edmunds-Bury in Suffolk rebuilding many ruined places And now the Irish Invading the Western Coasts with many small Vessels were beaten off divers of them slaughtered and most of their Ships Burnt Greater things were in projection to be done by this King had not an untimely Death prevented him for one day seeing a Gentleman that served him and for whom by reason of his Faithfullness he had a singular esteem hard pressed by a Ruffiain in single Combate and at the point to be slain he unadvisedly rushed in to his Rescue and receiving the points of their Swords in his Body whilst he thought to seize them with his Hands he dyed of the Wounds when he had Reigned Six Years and was Interred at Glastenbury being the Ninth sole Monarch of England Anno Dom. 946. He was fifth son to King Edward At his death he left his Brother Edred or Eldred Protector of the Realm commiting to his care Edwye and Edgar his two Sons who were in their Minority Remarks on Devonshire c. DEvonshire by reason of the advantage of the Sea and its many spacious Havens is not only of great account in it self but to its Neighbouring Counties It produces many rich Manufactories and contains divers stately Towns It has in it rich veins of Tin store of Cattle Corn fat Pastures Containing the City of Exon a Bishops See 394 Parishes 33 Hundreds 37 Market Towns and 23 Rivers small and great It sends Members to Parliament 26 viz. Exeter Plymouth Plimpton Totness Oakhampton Honiton Barnstaple Tavistock Ashburton Tiverton Beralston 2 Each and 2 more out of these three Towns Clifton Dartmouth and Hardness and 2 Knights of the Shire in all 26. It is Bounded with Somersetshire Cornwal the Irish Sea and Channel Exeter the only City of this County is of great Antiquity for the Castle called Rugemont was once the Palace of the West Saxon Kings and afterward of the Earls of Cornwal and the Walls and Cathedral were Builded by King Ethelstane and is situate on the River Ex. Torbay in this County some few Miles from the North East of Dartmouth is singularly remarkable for the Descent made here on the 5th of November 1688 by the then Prince of Orange but his now present Majesty King William the Third whom God long preserve with his Forces from Holland to save this Nation from Popery and Slavery which had then bid fair for it but upon his Landing vanish'd like Mists before the Morning Sun Plymouth seated on the River Plym is renowned by being the birth-place of that great Sea Captain Sr. Francis DEVON SHIRE Drake Tinmouth was the place where the Danes Landed when they first Invaded the Western Parts and suffered much by the French in the Year 1690 Crediton was a Bishops See till it was removed to Exeter by Edward the Confessor Hubblestone was the burying-place of Hubba the Dane Brother to Hungar slain in Battel not far from thence In the Parish of Comb-Martin it is Recorded That William Wimondham Refined out of Oar digged there 270 Pound weight of Silver afterward Coined for Elinor Dutches of Bar. The Seats of the Nobility are pleasantly situate in this County viz. Potheridge and Wenbury seats of the Late Duke of Albemarle Chudleigh the seat of the Lord Clifford Baron of Chudleigh and the Lord Bishop of the Diocess his Palace at Exeter The Reign of Edred c. Tenth Sole Monarch of England EDred or Eldred as is said being left Protector of the Realms and Persons of Edwye and Edgar
they could procure an Executioner to Behead him so greatly was he Beloved by all sorts of People but at length a vile Wretch was procur'd out of a Goal for a sum of Money to perform that Office Five others were put to Death there and at York the next day the Lords Clifford Mobray and Derwell were Hanged in Iron-Chaines The Earl of Hereford likewise lost his Head in all at several places Twenty Noblemen so that in no Reign so much Noble Blood by Executions wet the English Earth These terrible Executions astonished the rest and broke their Strength which greatly puffed up the Spencers by whose Instigation more than any cruel inclination in the King it was thought to be done to secure their own State which after this they imagined could not be shaken For soon after some Courtiers Intreating the King for the Life of a Person of mean Rank who had committed a Murther he broke out into a violent Passion in these words viz. A Plague overtake you all for Flatering Knaves you make much Suit for the Life of an errand Caitiff but which of you spoke a word for the good Knight Lord Thomas my Vnkle By the Bread of God this Varlet shall Dye the Death he deserves and so in a Rage he turned from them and soon after he called a Parliament at York in which Prince Edward his Son was Created Prince of Wales and Duke of Aquitain and Sir Andrew Harkly whose extraordinary Service was a principal means of the Barons Overthrow Earl of Carlisle and demanded the Sixth Penny of all Temporalities in England Wales and Ireland to defray the Charges of his intended War against the Scots which he obtained yet the People grievously Murmured at Paying it affirming they were altogether Impoverished by the late Wars and Famine And now the Scots geting secret Inteligence of what the King intended against them resolved to begin first and well knowing they had Impoverished the Northern parts and that no further Booty was there to be had they crossed over the Narrow Straights and fell very furiously on Ireland but by the Courage and prudent Conduct of the Bishop of Armagh and the Lord Brinningham they were Overthrown their King Slain and most of them Cut in Pieces upon this advantage King Edward Marched into Scotland which he found full of Terror and Confusion the People every where flying before him into the Woods Mountains and other Fastnesses thinking by that means to weary out the English and indeed their Project failed not for Snows Rains and bitter Frosts ensuing the English were unable to keep the Field especially their Provisions being near spent and a great Mortality by reason of the raw Damps and Colds grievously afflicted the Camp so that contrary to the mind of the King they were forced to return which the Scots perceiving crept from their lurking Holes and carried Fire a cross which is the usual Signal for the Alarum or raising the Country and soon gathered into such Multitudes that following and wasting his Rear at last they boldly set on his main Battel and discomfited it so that he was constrained to fly and leave them Masters of his Treasure and Baggage This Defeat is said to be occasioned by the Treachery of Sr. Andrew Harkley who had been lately Created Earl of Carlisle who being Bribed by the Scots betraied his trust in the Battel But however it happened it was charged upon him and for it he lost his Head Upon the Kings return there happened a Quarrel between the Queen and the Spencers she charging them to have Alienated the Kings affections from her and to cause him to place it on Harlots and the King seeming to excuse or take part with them she so highly resented the Affront that under pretence of visiting her native Country she obtained leave to go over with the Prince her Son where she was received by King Charles her Brother Philip her Father being Dead with many expressions of kindness and shewing her dislike to return unless matters might be Reformed at home some of the Barons in England sent secretly by Letters to Advise her That if she could procure one Thousand Valliant Strangers they would joyn her on her Landing with a considerable Force and endeavour once more to Redress the Disorders of the State This she made known to her Brother who comforted her by earnest Promises and Oaths That by his Assistance and at his Cost her Wrongs and the Kingdoms Injuries should be Repaired but kept not his Word for being Bribed by the Spencers who by their Spies had notice of her tampering in the French Court when she demanded his Performance he grew cold upon it and chid her for such Intentions saying She was foolishly afraid of her Shaddow since she had Vndutifully forsaken the company of her Lord and Husband The Pope also and chiefest Cardinals being Engaged by great Rewards strictly required the French King upon pain of the Apostolick Curse to send home the Queen and Prince so that she perceiving he intended to deliver her into the hands of such as would have Forcibly brought her over she secretly retired with her Son into the Empire however during her stay at the French Court she had done England a kindness in causing by her Mediation the Troubles in Gascoyne to cease and making an Agreement in other matters relating to the King her Husband In consideration of which he was to confer the Dutchy of Aquitain and Earldom of Poictou on the Prince his Son which he did under his Seal and he did Homage for it to his Unkle the French King but upon his sending for her home she refused to come unless hers and others Grievances were Redressed by Parliament which occasioned his trying by other means to make her return but as is said she retiring into the Empire upon suspicion of what was Intended went to Hainalt where she was kindly received and to make her Interest strong at that Court she without the consent of her Husband or the Peers of England Married the Prince to Phillipa the Earl of Hainalts Daughter upon which account and the means of what Treasure she had brought she raised 2700 Soldiers Commanded by Sr. John of Hainalt and the Lord Beamont to whom Joyned the Young Lord Mortimer who had escaped out of the Tower of London and got beyond the Seas with some other Exiled English Noblemen and Strangers so that having all things in a readiness she Sayled for England and Landed at Orwell in Sussex whither a great Number of English resorted to her and the further she went her Army greatly encreased King Edward having notice of this left his Court and retired hastily into the West to raise Forces promising 1000 l. to any that should bring him the Lord Mortimer's Head The King was no sooner retired but the Londoners taking the Advantage of his Absence seized upon the Bishop of Exeter who was appointed to Govern the City and without any Legal Proceedings or Judicial
might be any hopes to recover and some were recovered for in so suddain an Execution many received Wounds that were not Mortal This famous Victory obtained the King fell on his Knees and caused all the Army to do the like and with up-lifted Hands say Lord Not unto us not unto us but to thy Name be Glory and Honour In this Battel which the King said should be called The Battel of Agincourt to all Posterity because Fought near that Town were slain of the French Charles Lord Delabreth Constable of France Jaques Lord of Dampire High Admiral John Duke of Alanson Anthony Duke of Brabant Edward Duke of Barre The Earls of Marle Vaudemont Blawmount Grand Pree Russey Faulconbridg Foys and Lastrake 25 Lords 8000 Knights Esquires and Gentlemen and about 10000 of the meaner sort The Prisoners of Note were Charles Duke of Orleance John Duke of Burbon The Lords Donuart Fosseux Humiers Roy Cawny Hamcourt Noell Bonciqualt and some others and on King Henry's part of Note were slain Edward Duke of York and the Earl of Worcester Some Historians will have the latter to be the Earl of Suffolk and not above 600 others of all Ranks The King who before the Battel had Vowed to Dye or Conquer and that England should never be at a Penny charge for his Ransom was informed by some of his Noble Prisoners That the French were so confident of the Victory that they had not only disposed of his Person and the spoil of his Camp before hand but also of Places and Offices in England But when Man proposes God disposes The Dead being Honourably Buried and the Soldiers Inriched with the Spoil the King Marched to Callis without any interuption and having settled his Affairs passed into England where he was received by his Subjects with unspeakable Joy Soon after this the Duke of Exeter Captain of Harestew Ravaged the Countries and Overthrew the Earl of Arminiack the new Constable of France with considerable slaughter taking many Prisoners for which he had large Ransoms And Sigismund the Emperor of Germany coming into England laboured to conclude a Peace between the two Kings but not being able to effect it he made one for himself and being honourably attended by the King and his Nobles to his Ships he returned home highly satisfied with his Entertainment Shortly after the Duke of Burgundy made a Peace with King Henry only for the Counties of Flanders and Arthois for which he was suspected as an Enemy to the Crown of France In the Kings absence the French Besieged Hareflew by Sea and Land but their Fleet Commanded by John Viscount Narbon was utterly destroyed by John Duke of Bedford whereupon the Constable raised the Siege by Land and hasted to Paris upon which the French Nobility Quarelled among themselves about the several bad Successes charging the Miscarriage upon one another which made for King Henry's Interest so that he called a Parliament at Westminster declaring publickly his Right and undoubted Title to the Crown of France and the many wrongs the French had done the English Nation which now they had an opportunity to repair in giving him Supplies to enable him in the prosecution of his Wars which they liberally Granted him and it was raised without any murmurings of the People as in other Reigns had happened on the like occasion In the mean while John Holland Earl of Huntington after a sharp Engagement took three Carracks of Genoa and sunk other six that were going to Aid the French and in the Prizes found great store of Treasure and early in the Spring the King Landed a strong Army in Normandy took the Castle of Tonque whereupon the Villagers of that Dutchy fled into their Walled-Towns and he laid Siege to the City of Caen which after many fierce Assaults he took putting to Death the most obstinate who had too long refused his proffered Mercy in holding out against him and the more Wealthy Citizens he put to Fines and Ransoms And now a Quarrel happened between the Queen of France and the Dauphin her Son for she having raked together great store of Treasure he forcibly seized it for the use of the War which so enraged her that she vowed Revenge and procured John Duke of Burgundy to be Protector of the Kings Person and of the Kingdome so that an irreconcileable Quarrel continued among them The Constable and Dauphin labouring to weaken his Interest and he on the other hand supported by the Kings Favour was not wanting to do the like for them Whilst King Henry was Warring in Normandy and took in about 50 strong Towns and Castles reducing the Normans for the most part to his obedience and having appointed Sir Gilbert Vmphrevile Captain of Caen Castle and Sir Gilbert Talbot the like of the Town Sir John Popham Baylif c. and disposed the other Places in Trusty Hands he Marched to Roan where he found the Citizens had drawn a great Trench about it and strongly Fortified it with Towers and Bullwarks and having laid Siege to it at Pontle-Arch he laid over a strong Chain and a Wooden Bridge to hinder any Succours coming by Water keeping likewise that Passage blocked up with a strong Squadron under the Command of the Earl of Warwick and whilst he lay at this Siege the Lord Kilmay with 16000 Irishmen came to him Armed with Darts and Coats of Mail being joyfully received and proved very servicable But the King finding his violent Assaults were repulsed the Garrison being very Numerous incompassed the place to the Landward with a wide and deep Trench impailed at the bottom with sharp Stakes and so well guarded with Archers that they durst not approach it so there being Multitudes of useless People in the City the Famine encreased so sore among them that nothing Unclean was left uneaten nor were those they turned out suffered to pass the English Camp so that many Hundreds with piteous cries lay and died under the Walls and the Siege having continued from Lamas tide till Christmas on New-Years Day they desired safe Conduct for their Commissioners to pass to the King which was allowed but to little purpose for a bold Frenchman so angered him with his vaunting speech wherein he taxed him with unprincely degenerateness and meanness of Courage for Cloistering up the Garrison to Starve them as not daring to let them be at liberty to Fight and sell their Lives bravely in the Field That he resolved not to hearken to any Terms but the Surrender of the City upon discretion Granting them only a Truce of Eight Days to well advise in the matter but nothing being determined the half-Starved Inhabitants with hideous cries and shouts compelled the Governour and Magistrates to a Surrender so that having Four Days more allowed they Surrendered the City and Castle to the King there being Famished during the Siege 5000 and 12000 Starvelings were turned out who many of them dyed in the Fields and Lanes Then he compelled the Burghers for
Fortune However the Lord Grey Deputy of Ireland lost his Head for winking as it was alledged against him at the Irish entering within the English Pale and not timely Repelling them Sir Edmund Knevet of Norfolk having been Arraigned before the Green Cloth for Striking one Mr. Clear of Norfolk within the Tennis Court of the King's House and being found Guilty he had Judgment to lose his Right Hand and to forfeit all his Lands and Goods and all things being prepared for the Execution of this Sentence and Sir Edmund brought in the Chief Justice declared his Offence which he Confessed and humbly submitted himself to the King's Mercy only he desired the King would spare his Right Hand and take his Left For said he if my Right Hand be spared I may Live to do the King good Services Of which Submission and Saying when the King was informed he ordered he should lose neither of his Hands and Pardoned him also as to his Lands and Goods The Scots had lain still a long while but now began under James the Fifth their Young King to make great Disturbances but after some Bickerings and much Spoil in either Country they were Overthrown and the Earls of Cassels and Glencarn the Lords Maxwell Fleming Sommervel Oliphant Gray and Car were made Prisoners and many Slain The News of this Overthrow so perplexed King James That falling into a deep Grief and Melancholly he Dyed a week after leaving only a Daughter to Succeed him who was then but newly Born and Christened Mary Upon notice of whose Birth when he lay Sick he burst out in this Prophetical Saying It came with a Lass meaning the Crown and it will go with a Lass Soon after the King of Scots Death the Lords that were Prisoners in England to curry favour for their Liberty proposed a Match between Prince Edward Henry's Son and their Young Queen which was kindly accepted The Match being proposed to the Parliament of Scotland they seemed highly to approve it ratifying a Writing under the Hands and Seals of the Nobility as also with their Oaths yet the French Faction so prevailed that it came to nothing But King Henry enraged to be thus abused sent a powerful Army into Scotland which spoiled the Country taking several Towns and great Plunder nor was the King flow to pass over to France where laying Siege to Bullen he had it yielded to him and having Fortified it returned into England to raise Money for a Supply of the War which tho' the Emperour without his consent had made a Peace with France he resolved vigorously to prosecute and because Richard Read an Alderman refused Sir Thomas Wryothsltey the Chancellor the Supply he demanded of him he was compelled in Person to Serve the King in his Wars against the Scots by whom he was taken Prisoner and paid a large Ransom And soon after the French were worsted by Sea and Land and the Scots Routed who Invaded England and followed into their Country Whereupon Peace ensued between England and France Soon after the King cavelling with the Duke of Norfolk and his Son the Earl of Surry for bearing in their Escutchion certain Arms appropriated to the King and Prince only tho' they had been born by his Ancestors time out of mind unquestioned being Indicted for High Treason they were both Condemned The Son was Beheaded and the Father escaped by the King's Death which soon ensued viz. on Tuesday the 28th of January Anno Dom. 1546 in the 56th Year of his Age when he had Reigned 37 Years 9 Months and 6 Days He was Buryed with much pomp and Funeral solemnity in the Chappel at Windsor In this King's time happened a great Famin viz. 1527 upon the falling of a violent Raine November December and January and from the 12th of April every day till the 3d of June Anno 1545 William Foxley Potmaker to the Mint Slept in the Tower of London not being by any meanâ— to be Waked 14 Days and 15 Nights and when he waked it seemed to him but as one Night The Number of Religious Houses Suppressed were Monasteries 313 Priories 290 Friaries 122 Nunneries 142 Colledges 152 Hospitals 129 and their Inhabitants turned out to wander in the Fields after long Ease and Luxury Remarks on Yorkshire in its three Ridings THis is the largest Shire in England and not inferiour to some of the biggest Provinces in France It is divided into three Parts or Ridings viz. The North East and West Ridings It produces store of Horses large Cattle Sheep and in many places very good Corn and Pastures great quantities of Woollen Cloth and very Subtil People It is Bounded with the Bishoprick of Duâ—ham the German Ocian Lincolnshire Derbyshire Lancashire and Westmoreland It contains 26 Hundreds 563 Parishes 57 Marker Towns 36 Rivers of which the Humber is the chief 1 City which is an Archiepiscopal See viz. York 14 Castles 62 Bridges 4 Chases â— Forrests and 72 Parks It sends Members to Parliament 30 viz. Alborough 2 Beverly 2 Borrough-Bridge 2 Hildon 2 Hull 2 Knarseborough 2 Malton 2 North-Alerton 2 Pomfret 2 Richmond 2 Rippon 2 Scarborough 2 Thrisk 2 York City 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire YORK SHIRE By I Seller This Shire affoards store of Iron Pit-Coal and Sea-Coal at Whitby are Stones of a Serpentine figure near Burrough Bridge are 4 Piramidal Stones supposed some Roman Monument on Rosemary Topping are Stones found like Sea Wincles and Cockles at Giglesworth are 3 Springs one of which constantly Ebbs and Flows four times an Hour in the North are Ting-tong Wells said to be three Miles in the Earth and near Knarsborough the Well Dripa whose Water distills from a Rock that hangs over it The Castles of note are those of Sheffield Coningsborough Tickil Sandal Harwood Knasborough Cawood Scarborough Kilton Skelton c. On Wakefield Bridge stands a Chappel Founded by Edward the Fourth in memory of the Battel fought there near Flamborough-Head are Waters called Vipsies which flow out of the Springs every other Year and fall violently into the Sea The Seats of the Nobility are Sheffeild-Mannor belonging to the Duke of Norfolk Bishops-Hill and Hemsey Castle to the late Duke of Buckingham Slingsby Castle to the Honourable Family of New-castle Snap to the Earl of Exceter Markin-field to the Earl of Bridgwater Mulgrave Castle to the Earl of Mulgrave Shipton Castle to the Earl of Thanet Nawort Castle to the Earl of Carlisle Wharlton Castle and Javoux Abby to the Earl of Ailesbury Lounsborough Bolton and Braden Tower to the Earl of Burlington Hall and Wimbledon to the Duke of Leeds Thorn-Hill to the Earl of Macclesfield Hackforth Anderly Le Miers to the Earl of Holderness Newborough Abby Coxwold Hall Oulston Hall Aldwark and Murton to the Lord Faulconberg Wressel Castle to the Duke of Richmond Easby Hall to the Lord Eure Baron of Witton Wheldrake to the Lord Howard of Escrick Holm in Spadingmore and Dalton to the Lord Lexinton Wilton Castle to the
Provision but so outragious was the sea that no Ships could put out so that the Lord Wentworth Governour of the Town found himself constrained to surrender it on Articles when it had been held by the English 211 Years for the Taking of which such joy was made in France as if England was falln into their hands After that they Invaided Flanders pillaging the Country but were Fought with and Overthrown and soon after a great Fleet being set-forth the English Landed near Brest in Britany and Sacked Conquet a considerable Port-Town in that Tract which they afterwards Burnt When the French to strengthen their Interest Married Mary the Young Queen of Scots to Francis the then Dauphin she having been in King Edward the Sixth's Reign conveyed into France to that end But whilst Queen Mary was making great preparation she fell Sick some say of Melancholly for the Absence of King Philip who now seemed little to regard her but herself affirmed when that was alledged to her in her Sickness It was not his Vnkindness troubled her but if she Dyed they might open her and find the loss of Callis written upon her Heart and of that Sickness she Dyed on the 17th of November Anno 1558 when she had Reigned 5 Years 4 Months and 11 Days and in the 40th Year of her Age and was Interred among her Royal Ancestors in Westminster In this Queens Reign a Tempest happened accompanied with prodigious Thunder and Lightening and in Notinghamshire it threw down many Churches and Houses tore up huge Trees threw the Bells out of Steeples and took off Sheets of Lead writhed them together like a Glove and threw them 400 Foot from their place A Child was taken by the force of the Tempest out of a Mans Arms a great height and Dyed by the fall Five or Six People were Kill'd and many Cattle by Hail-Stones Fifteen Inches in Circumference A great Mortality happened at the time of the Queens Death which fell mostly on the Clergy and of that burning Feaver 13 Bishops dyed besides a great Number of Priests and others also Cardinal Poole A Brief Chronology of Martyrs and famous Men and Women that have Suffered the Flames and other Tortures and Persecutions under Popery in England before and since the happy Reformation With the Exhortations and Dying Words of the most Eminent of them ACcording to my Promise tho' this History by reason of many things occuring swells to more Sheets than my intended Brevery designed it I shall in this place set down together a Summary Account of the Persons who have Suffered in England for the sake of a good Conscience and could think it no where more fitly to be placed than after a Reign wherein the Blood of those of the Reformed Church was shed like Water yet Dyed with such Constancy as amazed and startled their cruel Persecutors I have already spoke somthing of our English Martyrs after the Kings Reigns wherein they were Persecuted but for Brevity having omitted many I now come to place them closer together that a better view may be taken and the Method by its plainness more easily understood Know then That when the Purity of the Primitive Churches was Clouded and almost Obscured by the Romish Traditions Errors and Superstitions to make Godliness in the Litteral worldly sense a Gain by leading People into Ignorance and blind Devotion in keeping the Word of God from their Knowledge and in its stead imposing the Doctrine of Men not agreeable with it God in his great Mercy was pleased to raise up such Instruments as laboured to rekindle that Light wicked and designing Rome had near extinguished who for the sake of Gods Holy Truth exposed themselves to the fury of the Adversary and as in other Nations there were many so in England faithful Witnesses were not wanting very early to lay down their Lives I shall not look back so far as the Persecutions under the Heathen Roman Emperours Saxons and Danes for tho' they were very grievous yet more Cruel ensued under the Tyranny of that which calles it self Christian Rome or the Roman Catholick Church For after John Wickliff William Wickham Bishop of Winchester and many other Learned Men had Lighted the Candle as I may term it and opened the Eyes of many in this and the Neighboring Nations to discern Truth from Falshood and of this we have just cause to Glory since the Reformation in all Churches was grounded on it True Religion soon raised her Head and tho' Cruel Adversaries made her Proselites few for a time their Constancy and Zeal was very great In the Year 1380 Vter Bolton and John Asherly were severly Persecuted and soon after Walter Bruce John Ashton John Patescul and divers more some of which are mentioned in the History but as yet it began not to grow up to Flames but by degrees it did for William Swinderly was Burnt in Smithfield also William Thorp and divers others Stigmatized Banished Whipped and Starved in Goals the Popes in whose time they Lived Inciting and Encouraging their Clergy here to pursue them with all Violence and utmost Rigor So that in the Year 1417 the Lord Cobham was Burnt Hanging on a Gallows in St Gilse's Fields and soon after William White John Purrey and Richard White confessing their Faith and Dying with Courage and Christian bravery for the sake of a good Conscience and Peter Clark being forced to fly for maintaining Wickliff's Doctrine from Scripture and Fathers was taken beyond the Seas and put to Death by exquisit Torments viz. His Tongue cut out then Hanged by the Heels and a slow Fire made under him till he Dyed Roger Overly for speaking against the Mass and other Superstitions and offering to prove them not consonant to the Word of God was Executed And to put a Scandal on the Professors of the Truth they Nick-Named them Lollards and their common Prison was called the Lollards Tower But Persecution rather encreased than diminished their Number as appears by the largness of their Assemblies some to Teach and others to Hear For one of these Meetings being surprised in St. Gilses Fields Anno 1415 by Armed Force and wrongfully charged as a Riotous or Tumultuous Meeting tending to Insurrection and Rebellion it was by Popish Judges construed a Treasonable Act and hereupon Roger Acton John Beverly John Brown and about 36 more were Drawn Hanged and Quartered in the Place where they met and John Claydon and Benidict Vlman Burned and about 100 others Languished in Prison till most of them Dyed In Henry the Sixth's time William Taylor for embracing the Doctrine Wickliff had Taught was Burnt in Smithfield Henry Web and Henry Florence Scourged unmercifully and 120 Imprisoned and Tortured divers ways and some suffered the Flames among whom William White and Richard Hovelden were Burnt Soon after this Thomas Baly and Richard Wiche both Ministers were burnt one in Smithfield and the other on Tower-Hill In Edward the Fourth's Reign John Huss or Goose was burnt
King from medling in the Affairs of the Palatinate and the design of this Marriage was his chief aime to restore it whereupon he gave orders to the Earl of Bristol his Ambassador positively to declare to the King of Spain That unless that was restored to the Elector the Treaty should proceed no further and that being refused the Prince grew cold in his Love and so all was dashed upon his thoughts with a Match with the Youngest Daughter of Henry the Fourth of France whom he had seen in his passage that way to Spain and to whom after his Fathers death he was Married Upon this the King called another Parliament and missing the Duke of Richmond his old Friend and sending to his Lodging he was found dead in his Bed without any Wound or sign of force upon him which put the King into such grief and consternation that he would not go to the House in his Robes and so put them off for some Days longer This Parliament greatly inveighed against the Duke of Buckingham for perswading the Prince to take such a hazardous Journey out of the Land and advised the King since so many Delays and Tricks had been put upon the Honour of the Nation to break the Treaty with Spain protesting to assist him for the regaining the Palatinate with their Lives and Fortunes c. They insisting on a Religious War that might be Aiding to the afflicted Protestants in Germany and France but the King however seemed more to encline to Peace as appeared by his Letters and Speeches on this occasion for fearing that when the War was begun he should not find wherewithal to maintain it and therefore thanking them for their proffers and advice he told them he would consider better of it however the Treaty with Spain was utterly dissolved This and some forwardness for War so fretted the Spanish Ambassador that whether out of Truth and Knowledge as he pretended or Malice only cannot be determined he sent to the King to let him know that Buckingham had some dangerous Design against him tending to his destruction and that it would be the safest to confine him to some Country-House for his Life however tho' it was generally thought to proceed from spight because the Duke set himself against the Spanish Interest it put the King into such fears being now grown Old that all the Duke's protestations could not a long time remove them nor till the Duke's Friends gave upon Oath their knowledge of the Duke 's sincere intentions and that this was contrived with the Ambassador by the Advice of a Jesuite and this Parliament the Earl of Middlesex by Buckingham's procurement was Questioned but there came no great matter of it for the Parliament knowing it was done by the Duke's means upon his Questioning for the Money excessively spent in Spain they had no great mind to back him in it Whilst these things passed a melancholy Account came from the East-Indies where the English had five several Factories two at Hitto and Lerico and two at Latro and Cambello in the Island of Seran but the Principal of them was at Amboyna which is the chief Place in all the East-Indies where Nutmegs Mace Cinnamon Cloves and other Spices grow and from these Factories the English supplied not only England and all Europe with Spice but Persia Japan and other Countries in the East-Indies This made the Dutch to Envy the English and therefore resolved to dispossess them of the Spice-Trade which is the best in all the East-Indies The English in all these Islands were better beloved than the Dutch and had built a Fortress in Amboyna for the safety of their Trade but the Dutch having two hundred Soldiers on that Island forced this Fortress from the English and then pretending a Plot between the English and the Natives of Amboyna for the Recovering of the said Fort from the Dutch to the English the Dutch by horrid Torments burning them under the Soles of their Feet and under their Armpits and pouring Water down their Throats when stretched on a Rack till they were ready to burst and by other barbarous ways Massacred the English there and seized upon the English Factories to the value of Four Hundred Thousand Pounds making the rest of the English that had escaped their Massacre Slaves and sent them into other Islands which the Dutch had possessed themselves of This was in the Year 1622 when but three Years before the Dutch had concluded a Treaty of Trade between the English and Dutch in the East-Indies This News extreamly troubled the East-India Company who humbly petitioned the King to demand satisfaction of the States General But the King cared not for War and tho' the Dutch refused to make any satisfaction for this Unheard-of Villany the King only told the Dutch Ambassador That he never heard nor read of a more Cruel and Impious Act than that of Amboyna yet said he I do forgive them and I hope God will but my Sons Son shall revenge this Blood and punish this horrid Massacre And so left the Dutch in the quiet Possession of what they had so basely gotten from the English without offering to draw his Sword against them Which perhaps occasion'd his being pictur'd with his Sword in his Scabbard and two Men pulling at it but could not get it out And now the King having permitted the Count Mansfield General for the Elector Palatine to raise some Forces here he soon after fell sick of a Tertian Fever a little before his Death he called for the Prince and rowsed himself as desirous to speak to him but being too weak sunk down in his Bed again and Dyed at Theobalds on the 27th of March 1625. when he had Reigned over all Britain 22 Years and three Days being the Twenty Third of his Reign and Fifty Ninth of his Age. He was buried at Westminster He was of a Stature inclining to tallness being somewhat higher than Ordinary his Body very well compacted his Hair of an Aubourn Colour and of a Pleasing Countenance and towards his latter End somewhat fat and burly He had the repute of a Wise Prince but his Reign did not shew it He indeed Writ several Books against the Jesuite's King-Killing Doctrin but that shewed his Fear more than his Learning and that he was therein acted by a Principle of Self-Preservation For the Gunpowder-Plot in England and the Assassination of Henry the Fourth by Ravilliac in France were enough to make him afraid of the Jesuites He was wholly ruled in all things by his Favourites to whom he was excessively bountiful and thereby squandered away the Treasure of the Nation At his coming to the Crown he found the Exchequer Rich but at his Death which was a great Unhappiness to his Son he left it very poor and well he might giving so profusely as he did to his Flatterers and Favorites It is reported of him That having given Sir Robert Carr Twenty Thousand Pounds the Lord Treasurer
away upon the Lemon-Sands and many Worthy Gentlemen were Lost in her but the Duke by the assistance of a Yacht come to help them got off just as the Ship was sinking being reserv'd by Divine Providence as a further Scourge to these Nations About this time also two Famous Embassadors came into England from Princes never known to have sent Embassadors here before the one from the Emperor of Fez and Morocco whose Business was to establish a Peace in relation to Tangier and the other was from the King of Bantam in the East-Indies who presented the King with several Diamonds and other things of great Value And now the World began to see the Cause of the City Charter's being taken away for the Duke of York and his Party that now ruled all things at their own Pleasure were resolved to take off all those Gentlemen that were most Zealous for the Protestant Religion and that in Parliament had been most forward for the Bill of Exclusion And this was to be done by Pretence of a Plot to take away the Life of the King and the Duke and alter the Government and this was pretended to be executed at the Rye-House in Hartfor-shire as the King should come back from New-market and was said to be prevented by a Fire happening at New-Market which caused the King to come away sooner than he intended and so before the Conspirators were ready This Plot was Sworn by one Keeling who had been conversant among the Dissenters For this pretended Plot the Earl of Essex the Lord Russel Lord Howard of Escrick Collonel Sidney and Mr. Hambden of Buckingham-shire were taken up and several others of less Note among whom were Walcot Rouse and Hone which were first Tryed and found Guilty and soon after Executed at Tyburn Walcot declared himself Innocent of any design against the King or his knowledge of any Plot some Words he Confessed had been spoken in his Company by those that were Witnesses against him and which he did not discover Praying God to forgive those who had Causlesly brought him to that undeserved Death Rouse spake much to the same Purpose that he had heard Words about the Feasibleness of seizing the Tower but knew of no such Design But these were but Prologues to the more fatal Tragedies that were after to be acted For the Lord Russel was next brought to his Tryal where the Lord Howard of Escrick and Coll. Rumsey were the principal Witnesses against him the Lord Howard told a story of a Counsel of Six for carrying on the Design consisting of himself Coll. Sidney Mr. Hambden the Lord Russel the Earl of Essex and the Duke of Monmouth and Rumsey gave an Account of a Declaration taken out of Ferguson's Bosom and read at Shepheards The Lord Russel answer'd every Particular and declared his own Inoocency but while he wâ—â— at his Tryal there was News brought that the Earl of Essex in the Tower struck with the Horrour of a Guilty Conscience had cut his own Throat and this was improv'd by the King's Counsel as an Argument of the Lord Russel's Guilt as it is believ'd the Plot had been laid before-hand and accordingly the Jury brought him in Guilty and he was thereupon Condemned and soon after Beheaded in Lincolns-Inn-Fields whose excellent Speech and Behaviour at his Death declaring his Innocency to the very last made very few of the Numerous Spectators unless it were those of the Duke of York's Faction go away with dry Eyes This Noble Lord was the eldest surviving Son of William Earl of Bedford and was a Person of great Honour and Integrity and Zeal for the Protestant Religion which what ever was pretended was his true Crime he being the Person that carried up the Hill of Exclusion to the House of Lords and saying in the House of Commons when Popery began to be Rampant If I can't Live a Protestant I am resolv'd to Dye one The Proceedings against him appear'd so Unjust and his Innocency so clear that the Parliament since this last Revolution took off the Attainder against him and his present Majesty has since his coming in Created his Noble Fathâ—r Duke of Bedford as some Compensation for the loss of so Incomparable a Son as the very Words of the Patent has it Having told you how the News of the Earl of Essex's having cut his Throat in the Tower it will be convenient to give some Brief Account of it That Noble Lord was taken out of his own House at Caisho-Berry near Watford and Committed to the Tower upon this Plot where he sent for his own Servants to attend him and his own Cook to dress his Meat being Jealous perhaps of Sir Tho. Overburies Fate and also sent for his own Wine for his Drinking and hearing that the Lord Russel was to be Try'd that Day order'd one of his Servants to go and take Notes of the Lord Russel's Tryal and bring to him but so it was that that Morning that the Lord Russel was Tryed the King and the Duke went to the Tower where they had not been for several Years before whilst they were there the Duke was for some time absent from the King and soon after he was come to the King again there was News brought to his Majesty whilst he was in the Tower with his Brother that the Earl of Essex had cut his own Throat The King was extreamly Surpriz'd at the News and immediately gave Order to the Lord Allington the Constable of the Tower that his Lodgings should be shut up and no one suffered to go in till the Coroners Inquest had sate upon the Body But notwithstanding this Order of the King 's by the Direction of Some Body else the Body was stript and wash'd and so was the Room also before the Coroners Inquest came and his Cloathes taken away which when the Coroners Inquest desir'd might be brought to them that they might see them were told They were to sit upon the Body and not upon the Cloaths and so were deny'd the sight of them And when they were about adjourning till the next Day before they gave in their Verdict they were told they must give it in presently and not stir till they had done it because the King stay'd for it And so they were hurried into a Verdict of the Earl's being Felo-de-se And when from some Information of a Rasor thrown out of the Window of the Earl's Closet and some other Concurrent Circumstances one Mr. Lawrence Braddon went about to Discover that the Earl was Murder'd and did not Kill himself he was prosecuted for it with the greatest Violence imaginable as if the Discovery of the Earl's Murther had been the Arraignment of the Government After this the Honourable Algernoon Sidney was also Try'd as one of the Council of Six and for Writing and Publishing a Libel tho' it was only found in Writing in his own Closet and not prov'd to be his own Writing neither but by the Similitude of Hands which