stock wherof ech part doth spring the disabling of the same stock afterwards by attainders or otherwise the bastardies or other particuler impedimēts that may haue fallen vppon ech discent or branch therof al thes thinges said he may alter the course of common supposed right in him or her that is taken to be next in blood as prouing them not to be truly and lawfully the nerest though they be the next in degree As for example said he the whole multitude of competitors or pretenders which I conceaue may come in consideration or haue action or clayme to the crowne after her Maiesty that now is may be reduced to three or fower first heads or principal stocks to wit to the house of Lancaster a part as descendcd of Iohn of Gant Duke of Lancaster by his first wife Blanche sole heyre of the Duchie of Lancaster And of this branch or stock the most knowne of-spring in thes our dayes are thos Princes that are lineally discended of Don Iuan the first surnamed de boa memoria tenth king of Portugal who marryed with Philip the eldest daughter of the saide Iohn of Gant by his first wife Blanche and thes Princes are king Phillip of Spayne now king also of Portugal the Dukes of Parma and Braganza who descended of the same race as also the Duke of Sauoy one degree after them The second stock is of the house of yorke a part descending of George the Duke of Clarence second brother to king Edward the fourth who being put to death by the kings order in Cales left a daughter by whom are descended the Earle of Huntington with his brothers which also haue children and the ofspring of Geffrey Pole and Sir Thomas Barrington who marryed the other sister of her that was marryed to the Hastings The third stock was in king Henry the seuenthe who being himselfe of the house of lancaster and warying the eldest daughter of Edward the fourth of the house of yorke is presumed to haue ioyned thes two houses together and from this man by his two daughters for of his sonne who was king Henry the eight ther remayneth only the Queeue that now is ther hath proceeded the house of Scotland deuided into the famylies of the king of Scots and Arbella as also the progeny of the two Earles yet liuing of Hartford and Darby Vnto thes three heads which are commonlie knowen to al men some of ourdayes do add also a fourth which may seeme more ancient then ether of al thes three to wit by the Dukes of Brytaine who are discended dyuers wayes of the blood royal of Ingland as maye easely be declared whose heire at this day by lineal discent is the Enfanta of Spaine named Dona Ysabella Clara Eugenia daughter to king Philipp So that heerby wee come to discouer no lesse then ten or eleuen famylies that may pretend and haue al of them frends in Ingland and els wher as yesterday I told you who do not fayle in secret to negotiat and lay plotts for them for that ther are none of thes so far of but to their frends it seemeth the tymes standing as they do that reasons may be giuen for their preferment and good hope conceaued of preualying You do wel to adde said a Captayne ther present the tymes standing as they do or at least wise as they are like to stand when this matter must come to trial at what tyme I beleue not you lawyers but we souldiars must determyne this title and then no doubt if ther were not only thes tenn by you named but twenty moore also of the blood royal that would pretend and had frends and money to stand by them we should admit their causes to examination and perhapps giue sentence for him that by your lawes would sonest be excluded for whe matters come to snatching it is hard to say who shal haue the bet ter part I do not ad this circumstance of the tyme said the lawyer as though it were the only or principal poynt which maketh doubtful the matter of successiō though I confesse that it helpeth ther-vnto greatly in respect of the great variety of mens affections at this day in religion which do incline them commonly to iudge for him whom they best loue but besids this I do say that were the tymes neuer so quiet and religion neuer so vniforme yet are ther great doubtes in many mens heades about the lawfulnes of diuers pretentions of the famylies before named but if you adde vnto this the said wonderfull diuersity in matters of religiō also which this tyme yealdeth you shal finde the euent much more doubtfull and consequently it is no maruaile though many may remaine in hope to preuaile seing that wher many are admitted to stand for a preferment ther diuers may haue probality also of speeding An example you may take said the Ciuiliā lawyer in the Roman Conclaue at the popes election wher among three or sower score Cardinales that enter in for electors few ther are that haue not hope also to be elected not for that they see themselues all as well qualified as others but because oftentymes when diuers that are more forward by likely hode cannot be agreed vppon it falleth to the lott of hun that is fardest of and so it may among your pretender's quoth he in Ingland Your example said the temporal lawyer confirmeth somewhat of that I meane though it be not al togeather in like matter or maner for that the pope is made by electiō here we talke of a king by succession Your succession said the Ciuilian includeth also an election or approbation of the common wealth and so doth the succession of al kings in Christendome besides as wel appeareth by the manner of their new admission at their coronations wher the people are demaunded agayne if they be content to accept such a man for their King thoughe his title of neernes by blood be neuer so cleere And therfore much more it is like to be in this case of Inglish pretenders now wher their lawful neernes in blood is so doubtful as you haue signified so I do come to confirme your former proposition of the doubtfulnes of the next successor in Ingland with an other reason besids that which you haue alleaged of the ambiguity of their true propoinquity in blood for I say further that albeit the neernes of each mans succession in blood were euidently knowne yet were it very vncertayne as things now stand in Ingland and in the rest of Christendome rownd about who should preuaile for that it is not enough for a man to be next only in blood therby to pretend a crowne but that other circumstances also must concurre which if they want the bare propinquity or ancetrie of blood may iustly be reiected and he that is second third fourth fifth or last may lawfully be preferred before the first and this by al law both diuine and
to Stephen countie Palatine of Bloys Champagne and Chartres in France and the other two Polidor saith dyed before they were marryed and so their names vvere not recorded These are the children of king William the Conqueror among whom after his death ther vvas much strife about the succession For first his eldest sonne duke Robert vvho by order of ancestrie by birthe should haue succeded him in al his estares was put back first from the kingdome of Ingland by his third brother William Rufus vppon a pretence of the Conquerors vvil and testament for perticuler affection that he had to this his said third sonne William though as Stow writeth almost al the nobility of Inglande vvere against Williās entrance But in the end agreement vvas made between the two brothers vvithe condition that if William should dye vvithout issue then that Robert should succed him and to this accord both the princes themselues and twelue principal peeres of ech side vvere sworne but yet after when VVilliam dyed vvithout issue this vvas not obserued but Henry the fourth sonne entred and depriued Robert not only of this his succession to Ingland but also of his dukedome of Normandie that he had enioyed peaceably before al the tyme of his brother Rufus and moreouer he toke him prisoner so caryed him into Ingland and ther kept him vntil his death which happened in the castle of Cardif in the yeare 1134. And vvhereas this Duke Robert had a goodly prince to this sonne named VVilliam who vvas duke of Normandy by his father earle of Flanders in the right of his grand mother that was the Cōquerors wife daughter of Baldwin Earle of Flanders as hath bin said and vvas established in both these states by the help of Lewys the 6. surnamed le gros king of France and admitted to do homage to hym for the saide states his vncle king Henry of Englād was so violent against him as first he draue him out of the state of Normandy and secondly he set vp and maynteyned a competitor or two against him in Flanders by whome finally he was slaine in the yeare of Christ 1128. before the towne of Alost by an arrow after he had gotten the vppet hand in the feild and so ended the race of the first sonne of king William the Conqueror to wit of duke Robert vvhich Robert liued after the death of his saide sonne and heyre duke VVilliam six yeares in prison in the castel of Cardife and pyned avvay vvith sorrow and miserie as both the Frenche and Inglishe histories do agree The second sonne of the Conqueror named Richard dyed as before hath bin sayde in his fathers tyme and left no issue at al as did neither the third sōne Williā Rufus though he reigned 13. yeares after his father the Conqueror in which tyme he established the successiō of the crowne by consent of the stares of Ingland to his elder brother duke Roberts issue as hath bin saide though afterward it was not obserued This Kinge Rufus came to the crowne principally by the help and fauour of Lanfrancus Archbishop of Canterbury who greatly repēted himselfe afterward of the error vvhich in that point he had committed vppō hope of his good gouerment which proued extreeme euel But this king William Rufus being slayne afterward by the error of a crosbow in newforest as is vvel knowne and this at such tyme as the foresaid duke Robert his elder brother to vvhom the crowne by succession apparteyned was absent in the vvarr of the holy land vvher according as most authors do vvrit he vvas chosen king of Hierusalem but refused it vppon hope of the kingdome of Ingland But he returning home foūde that his fowerth brother Henry partly by fayre promises and partly by force had inuaded the crowne in the yeare 1100. and so he reygned 35. yeares and had issue diuers sonnes and daughters but al vvere either drowned in the seas comming out of Normandie or els dyed otherwise before their father except only Mathildis vvho vvas first marryed to Henry the Emperor fift of that name and after his death without issue to Geffrey Platagenet duke of Anjow Tourayne and Mayne in France by whom she had Henry which reigned after king Stephen by the name of Henry the second and thus much of the sonnes of William the Conqueror Of his two daughters that lyued to be maryed and had issue the elder named Constance vvas maryed to Alayn fergat duke of Britanie vvho vvas sonne to Hoel earle of Nantes and vvas made duke of Britanie by VVilliam Cōquerors meanes in manner following Duke Robert of Normandy father to the Conqueror vvhen he went in pilgrimage vnto the holy land in which voyage he dyed left for gouernour of Normandy vnder the protection of king Henry the first of france duke Alayne the first of Britanie vvhich Allayn had issue Conan the first vvho being a stirringe prince of about 24. yeares old when duke VVilliam began to treat of passing ouer into Ingland he shewed himselfe not to fauour much that enterprise which duke VVilliam fearing caused him to be poysoned vvith a payre of perfumed gloues as the French stories do report and caused to be set vp in his place and made duke one Hoel earle of Nantes who to gratifie VVilliam sent his sonne Alaine surnamed Fergant with 5000. souldiars to passe ouer into Ingland vvith him and so he did VVilliam afterward in recompēce heer-of gaue him his eldest daughter Constantia in mariage vvith the earldome of Richmond by vvhom he had issue Conan the second surnamed le gros who had issue a sonne and a daughter The sonne vvas called Hoel as his grand father was and the daughters name was Bertha marryed to Eudo Earle of 〈◊〉 in Normandy for that this duke Conan liked better his daughter and his sonne in law her husband then he did Hoel his owne sonne he disauowed him in his death bedde and made his said daughter his heyre who had by the said Eudo a sonne named Conan surnamed the yonger which vvas the third duke of that name and this man had one only daughter and heyre named Lady Constance who whas marryed to the third sonne of king Henry the second named Geffrey elder brother to king Ihon that after came to rayne by this Lord Geffrey she had issue Arthur the second duke of Britanie whom king Iohn his vncle put back from the crowne of Ingland and caused to be put to death as after shal be shewed and he dying without issue his mother Constance duchesse heyre of Britanie marryed agayne vvith a prince of her owne house vvhom after vve shall name in the prosecution of this lyne and by him she had issue that hath indured vntil this day the last vvherof hitherto is the lady Isabella infanta of Spaine that other of Sauoy her sister whom by this meanes we se to haue
placed in the Tower though soone after by the suddaine death of king Iohn that course vvas altered agayne Henry his sonne admitted for king And thus much of the sonnes of king Hēry the second but of his daughters by the same lady Elenor heyre of Gascony Belforest in his story of France hath these wordes following King Henry had foure daughters by Elenor of Aquiraine the eldest vvherof vvas marryed to Alonso the 9. of that name king of Castile of vvhich marryage issued Queene Blanch mother to S. Lewis king of France The second of these two daughters vvas espoused to Alexis Emperor of Constantinople The third vvas married to the duke of Saxony and the fourth vvas giuen to the earle of Tholosa thus being the french stories of these daughters Of the marriage of the eldest daughter of these foure whose name was Elenor also as her mothers vvas vvith king Alonso the 9. of Castile ther proceeded many children but only one sonne that liued whose name vvas Henry vvho vvas king of Castile after his father by the name of Henry the first and dyed quickly vvithout issue and besides this Henry tvvo daughters also vvere borne of the same mariage of which the eldest and heyre named Blanch vvas married by intercession of her vncle king Iohn of Ingland vvith the foresaid Prince Lewis of France with this expresse cōdition as both Polidor in his Inglish story Garibay the chronicler of Spayne do affirme that she should haue for her dowry al the states that king Iohn had lost in France vvhich were almost al that he had there and this to the end he might not seeme to haue lost them by force but to haue giuen them with the mariage of his Neece and so this mariage vvas made and her husband Lewis was afterward chosen also king of Ingland by the Barons and sworne in London as before hath bin saide hereby also the Infanta of Spaine before mentioned that is discended lineally from both these princes I meane as wel from Queene Blanch as from Lewys is proued to haue her pretence fortified to the interest of Ingland as afterward shal be declared more at large in dew place The second daughter of king Alonso the 9. by Queen Elenor vvas named Berenguela and vvas married to the prince of Leon in Spayne and had by him a sonne named Fernando vvho afterward vvhen king Henry her brother vvas dead vvas admitted by the Castilians for their king by the name of Fernando the fourth as before the Ciuilian hath noted and Blanch vvith her sonne S. Lewis though she vvere the elder vvas put by the crowne against al right of succession as Garibay the Spaniard Chronicler noteth and confesseth Heerby then some do gather that as the first interest which the crowne of Ingland had to the states of Gascony Guyne and Poyters came by a vvoman so also did it come to France by the right of this foresaid Blanch wherof the fauourers of the Infanta of Spaine do saye that she being now first and next in blood of that house ought to inherite al these and such like states as are inheritable by vvomen or came by womē as the former states of Gascony and Guvne did to king Henry the second by Queen Elenor his wife and Normandie by Mathilda his mother and both of them to France by this former interest of Blanch and more they saye that his lady Blanch mother to King S. Lewis vvhose heyre at this daye the infanta of spayne is should by right haue inherited the kingdome of Ingland also after the murther of Duke Arthur and his sister Elenor for that she was the next of kynne vnto them at that tyme vvhich could be capable to succede them for that king Iohn himselfe vvas vncapable of their succession whom he had murthered and his sonne Henry vvas not then borne nor in diuers yeares after and if he had bin yet could he receaue no interest therunto by his father vvho had none himselfe of al vvhich points ther vvilbe more particuler occasion to speak hereafter Now then I come to speak of king Henry the third vvho was sonne to this king Iohn and from whom al the three houses before mentioned of Britanie Lancaster and Yorke do seeme to issue as a triple branch out of one tree albeit the royal line of Britanie is more ancient and vvas deuided before euen from William Conquerors tyme as hath bin shewed yet do they knytt againe in this king Henry for that of king Henry the third his eldest sonne named prince Edward the first discended Edward the second and of him Edward the third from whom properly riseth the house of Yorke And of his secōd sonne Edmond surnamed crooke-backs county Palatine of Lancaster issued the dukes of Lancaster vntil in the third dissent vvhen the Lady Blanch heyre of that house matched vvith Iohn of Gaunt third sonne of king Edward the third from which mariage rose afterward the formal diuision of these two houses of Lancaster and Yorke also two distinct branches of Lancaster Besides these two sonnes king Henry the third had a daughter named lady Beatrix whom he marryed to Iohn the second of that name duke of Britanie vvho after vvas stayne at Lions in France by the fal of an old wall in the coronation of pope Clement the 5. of that name in the yeare of Christ 1298. and for that the frēdes of the Infanta of Spayne do seeke to strengthen her title by this her discent also of the royal blood of Ingland from Henry the third as afterward shal be declared I wil breifly in this place continew the pedegree of the house of Britanie from that I left before euen to our dayes I shewed before in this chapter that Geffrey the third sonne to king Henry the second and duke of Britanie by his wife being dead his two children Arthur and Elenor put to death by their vncle king Iohn in Ingland as before hath bin said it fel out that Constance duchesse and heyre of Britanie marryed agayne to Guy viscond of Touars and had by him two daughters wherof the eldest named Alis vvas duchesse of Britanie and marryed to Peter Brien earle of Drusse and by him had Iohn the first of that name duke of Britanie vvhich Iohn the first had issue Iohn the second vvho marryed lady Beatrix before mētioned daughter to king Henry the third and by her had the second Arthur duke of Britanie to vvhom succeded his eldest sonne by his first wife named Iohn the third who dying without issue left the very same trouble and garboyle in Britanie about the succession betweene the two noble houses of Bloys and Monford the one maynteyned by France and the other by Ingland as soone after vppon the very like occasion happened in Ingland betweene the houses of Lancaster York as after shal be shewed And not long after that againe the like
ancient lyne of Lancaster ther vvant not noble houses vvith in the realme at this day issued thence before the cōttouersie fell out betweene yorke this family of vvhich controuersie how it rose and how it vvas continued I shall now begyn to make more particuler declaration taking my begining from the children of king Edward the third who vvere the causers of this fatal dissention OE THE SVCCESSION OF INGLISH KINGES FROM KING EDVARD THE THIRD VNTO OVR dayes with the particuler causes of dissention betweene the families of yorke and Lancaster more largly declared CAP. III. KING Edward the third surnamed by the English the victorious though he had many children wherof some dyed vvithout issue vvhich appertaine not to vs to treat of yet had he fiue sonnes that lest issue behinde them to wit Edward the eldest that was prince of Wales surnamed the black Prince Leonel duke of Clarence vvhich vvas the 2. sonne Iohn of Gant so called for that he vvas borne in that citye that vvas the third sonne and by his wife was duke of Lancaster and fourthly Edmond surnamed of Langley for that he was also borne ther and vvas duke of Yorke last of al Thomas the fift sonne surnamed of Woodstocke for the same reason of his birth and vvas duke of Glocester Al these fiue dukes being great princes and sonnes of one king left issue behinde them as shal be declared and for that the discendents of the third and fourth of these sonnes to wit of the dukes of Lancaster and Yorke came afterward to striue who had best title to reigne therof it came that the controuersie had his name of these two familes vvhich for more distinctiō sake the better to be knowne tooke vppon them for their ensignes a rose of two different colures to wit the white rose and the redd as al the vvorld knoweth wherof the vvhite serued for Yorke and the redd for Lancaster To begyn then to shew the issue of al these fiue princes it is to be noted that the two elder of them to wit prince Edward and his second brother Leonel Duke of Clarence dyed both of them before king Edward their father and left each of them an heyre for that Prince Edward left a sonne named Richard vvho succeded in the crowne immediatly after his grādfather by the name of king Richard the secōd but aftervvard for his euel gouerment vvas deposed and dyed in prison vvithout issue and so vvas ended in him the succession of the first sonne of king Edward The second sonne Leonel dying also before his father left behind him one only daughter and heyre named Phillip who was marryed to one Edmond mortimer Earle of march and he had by her a sonne and heyre named Roger mortimer vvhich Roger had issue two sonnes named Edmond and Roger which dyed both without children and one daughter named Ann mortimer vvhich was marryed vnto Richard Plantaginet earle of Cambrige second sonne vnto Edmond Langly duke of Yorke vvhich duke Edmond vvas fourth sonne as hath bin said vnto king Edward the third and for that this Richard Plantaginet marryed the said Anne as hath bin saide hereby it came to passe that the house of Yorke ioyned two titles in one to wit that of Leonel duke of Clarence vvhich was the secōd sonne of K. Edward the third that of Edmond langly duke of yorke which vvas the fourth sonne and albeit this Richard Plantaginet him selfe neuer came to be duke of Yorke for that he was put to death whiles his elder brother lyued by king Henry the fift for a conspiracy discouered in South hampton against the said king vvhen he vvas going ouer into france vvith his army yet he left a sonne behind him named also Richard vvho afterward came to be duke of Yorke by the death of his vncle vvhich vncle vvas 〈◊〉 soone after in the battel of Egēcourt in France this Richard began first of al to prosecute openly his quarrel for the title of the crowne against the house of Lancaster as a litle afterward more in particuler shal be declared as also shal be shewed how that this 2. Richard duke of Yorke being slame also in the same quariel left a sonne named Edward earle of march who after much trooble gat to be king by the name of king Edward the 4. by the oppression and putting downe of king Henry the 6. of the house of Lancaster and was the first king of the house of Yorke vvhose geuealogie vve shal lay downe more largly aftervvards in place conuenient And nowe it followeth in order that vve should speak of Iohn of Gaūt the third sonne but for that his discent is great I shal first shew the discent of the fifth and last sonne of king Edward who vvas Thomas of Woodstock duke of Glocester and earle of Buckingham that vvas put to death afterward or rather murthered wrongfully by order of his nephew king Richard the second and he left only one daughter and heyre named Anna vvho vvas marryed to the L. Stafford vvhose familie aftervvard in regard of this marriage came to be dukes of Bucking ha vvere put downe by king Richard the third and king Henry the eight albeit some of the blood and name do remayne yet stil in Ingland And thus hauing brought to an end the issue of three sonnes of king Edward to wit of the first second fift touched also some what of the fourth ther resteth to prosecute more fully the issues discēts of the third fourth sonnes to vvit of Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lācaster and of Edmond Langly duke of Yorke which are the heades of these two noble families which thing I shal do in this place vvith al breuity and perspecuity possible begining first vvith the house of Lancaster Iohn of Gaunt third sonne of king Edward being duke of Lancaster by his wife as hath bin said had three wiues in al and by euery one of them had issue though the bishop of Rosse in his great Latin arbor of the genealogies of the kings of Ingland printed in Parris in the yeare 1580. assigneth but one wife only to this Iohn of Gaunt and consequently that al his childen were borne of her which is a great and manifest error and causeth great confusion in al the rest which in his booke of the Queene of Scots title he buyldeth hereon for that it being euident that only the first wife vvas daughter and heyre of the house of Lancaster and Iohn of Gant duke therof by her it followeth that the children only that vvere borne of her can pretend properly to the inheritance of that house and not others borne of Iohn of Gaunt by other wiues as al the vvorld vvil confesse First then as I haue said this Iohn of Gaunt marryed Blanch daughter and heyre of Henry duke of Lancaster and had by her one sonne only and two daughters The sonne was called Henry earle first of Darby
anno Domini 1397. he caused al his said issue to be legitimated which he had begotten vppon this lady Swinford before she vvas his wife But now to go foreward to declare the issue of thes three sonnes of Iohn of Gaunt by Catherine Swinford two of them that is Thomas duke of Excester and Henry Cardinal and Bishop of Winchester dyed vvithout issue Iohn the eldest sonne that vvas earle of Somerset had issue two sonnes Iohn and Edmond Iohn that vvas duke of Somerset had issue one only daughter named Margeret vvho vvas married to Edmond Tidder earle of Richmond by whom he had a sonne named Henry earle also of Richmond vvho after vvas afterward made king by the name of Henry the seuēth was father to K. Henry the eight and grand father to the Q. maiestie that now is this is the issue of Iohn the first sonne to the duke of Somerset Edmōd the secōd sonne to Iohn earle of Somerset was first earle of Mortaine and then after the death of his brother Iohn vvho dyed vvithout issue male as hath bin said vvas created by king Henry the sixte duke of Somerset and both he and almost al his kyn vvere slayne in the quarrel of the said king Henry the 6. and for defence of the house of Lācaster against York For first this Edmōd himselfe was slayne in the battel of S. Albanes against Richard duke and first pretender of Yorke in the yeare 1456. leauing behind him three goodly sonnes to wit Henry Edmond Iohn vvherof Henry succeded his father in the duchy of Sommetset and vvas taken and beheaded in the same quarrel at Exham in the yeare 1463. dying vvithout issue Edmond likewise succeded his brother Henry in the duchy of Sommerset and vvas taken in the battel of Tewkesbury in the same quarrel and ther beheaded the 7. of May 1471. leauing no issew Iohn also the third brother marques of Dorset vvas slayne in the same battel of Tewkesbury and left no issue and so in these tvvo noble men ceased vtterly al the issue male of the line of Lancaster by the children of Iohn of Gaunt begotten vppon lady Swinford his third vvife so that al vvhich remayned of this vvoman vvas only Margeret Countesse of Richmond mother to king Hēry the 7. which king Henry the 7. and al that do descende from him in Ingland or out of Inglande do hold the right of Lancaster only by this third mariage of Catherine Swinford as hath bin shewed and no wayes of Blanch the first vvife or of Constance the second and this is enough in this place of the discents of Iohn of Gaunt and of the house of Lancaster and therfore I shal now passe ouer to shew the issue of the howse of York I Touched breefly before how Edmond Langley duke of Yorke fourth sonne of king Edward the third had two sonnes Edward earle of Rutland and duke of Aumatle that succeded his father afterward in the duchy of Yorke and vvas slayne vvithout childrē vnder king Henry the 5. in the battayle of Egencourt in France and Richard earle of Cambridge vvhich marryed lady Anne Mortimer as before hath bin said that was heyre of the house of Clarence to wit of Leonel duke of Clarence second sonne to king Edward the third by vvhich marriage he ioyned together the two titles of the second fourth sonnes of king Edward and being himselfe conuinced of a conspiracy against king Henry the 5. vvas put to death in Southampton in the yeare of Christ 1415. and third of the reygne of king Hēry the 5. and fift day of August This Richard had issue by lady Anne Mortimer a sonne named Richard vvho succeded his vncle Edward duke of Yorke in the same duchy and afterward finding himselfe strong made clayme to the crowne in the behalfe of his mother and declaring himselfe chiefe of the faction of the white rose gaue occasion of many cruel battailes against them of the red rose and house of Lancaster and in one of the battels vvhich vvas giuen in the yeare 1460. at Wakfilde himselfe was slayne leauing behind him three sonnes Edward George and Richard wherof Edward vvas afteward king of Ingland by the name of Edward the fourth George was duke of Clarence and put to death in Calis in a butte of secke or malmesie by the commandement of the king his brother Richard was Duke of Glocester and afterward king by murthering his owne two nephewes and was called king Richard the third Edward the eldest of these three brothers which afterward was king had issue two sonnes Edward Richard both put to death in the tower of London by ther cruel vncle Richard he had also fiue daughters the last fowre wherof I do purposly omitt for that of none of them ther remayneth any issue but the eldest of al named Elizabeth was marryed to king Henry the 7. of the house of Lancaster and had by him issue king Henry the 8. and tvvo daughters the one marryed vnto Scotlād vvherof are discended the king of Scots and Arbella the other matryed to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk vvherof are issued the children of the earles of Hartford and Darby as after more at large shal be handled and this is the issue of the first brother of the house of Yorke The second brother George duke of Clarence had issue by his wife lady Isabel heyre to the earldomes of Warwick and Salisbury one sonne named Edward earle of Warwick vvho vvas put to death afterward in his youth by King Henry the 7. and left no issue this duke George had also one daughter named Margaret admitted by King Henry the eight at what tyme he sent her into wales with the princesse Mary to be coūresse of Salisbury but yet marryed very meanely to a knight of vvales named Syr Richard Poole by whom she had foure sonnes Henry Arthur Geffrey and Renald the lastvvherof vvas Cardinal and the other two Arthur and Geffrey had issue for Arthur had two daughters Mary and Margaret Mary was married to Sir Iohn Stanny Margaret to Sir Thomas fitzharbert Sir Geffrey Poole had also issue an other Geffrey Poole and he had issue Arthur and Geffrey which yet liue Now then to returne to the first sonne of the countesse of Salisbury named Henry that vvas Lord Montague and put to death both he and his mother by king Henry the 8. this man I say left two daughters Catherine and vvenefred Catherine was married to Sir Francis Hastings earle of Huntington by vvhich marriage issued Sir Henry Hastings now earle of Huntington and Sir Georg Hastings his brother who hath diuers children And Wenefred the yonger daughter vvas married to Sir Thomas Barington knight vvho also wanteth notissue and this is of the second brother of the house of Yorke to vvit of the duke of Clarence The third brother Richard duke of Glocester and afterward king left no issue
so as this is al that is needful to be spoken of the house of York in which vve see that the first and principal competitor is the king of Scots and after him Arbella and the children of the earles of Hartford and Darby are also competitors of the same house as discended by the daughter of the first brother Edward duke of Yorke and king of England and then the Earle of Huntington and his generation as also the Pooles Barringtons and others before named are or may be titlers of York as descended of George duke of Clarence second sonne of Richard duke of Yorke all vvhich issue yet seme to remayne only within the compasse of the house of Yorke for that by the former pedegre of the house of Lancaster it seemeth to the fauorets of this howse that none of these other cōpetitors are properly of the line of Lancaster for that king Henry the 7. comming only of Iohn of Gaunt by Catherin Swinford his third wife could haue no part in Lady Blanch that vvas only inheritour of that house as to these men seemeth euident Only then it remaineth for the ending of this chapter to explane some-what more clearly the discent of king Henry the 7. and of his issue for better vnderstanding vvhereof you must consider that king Henry the 7. being of the house of Lancaster in the manner that you haue heard and marrying Elizabeth the eldest daughter of the contrary house of Yorke did seeme to ioyne both houses together make an end of that bloody controuersie though others now wil say no but how soeuer that vvas vvhich after shal be examined cleere it is that he had by that mariage one only sonne that left issue and two daughters his sonne vvas king Henry the 8. vvho by three seueral wiues had three children that haue reigned after him to vvit king Edward the 6. by Queene Iane Seymer Queene Mary by Queene Catherine of Spaine and Queene Elizabeth by Queene Anne Bullen of al which three children no issue hath remayned so as now vve must returne to consider the issue of his daughters The eldest daughter of king Henry the 7. named Margaret vvas married by her first mariage to Iames the fourth king of Scots vvho had issue Iames the 5. he againe Lady mary late Queene of Scots and dowager of France put to death not long ago in Ingland vvho left issue Iames the 6. now king of Scots And by her second mariage the said Lady Margeret after the death of king Iames the 4. tooke for husband Archebald Duglas earle of Anguys in Scotland by whom she had one only daughter named Margeret which vvas married to Mathew Steward earle of Lenox and by him she had two sonnes to vvit Hēry Lord Darly and Charles Steward Henry marryed the foresaid Lady Mary Queene of Scotland vvas murthered in Edinbrough in the yeare 1566. as the world knoweth and Charles his brother marryed Elizabeth the daughter of Sir William Candish in Ingland by whom he had one only daughter yet liuing named Arbella an other competitor of the crowne of Ingland by the house of Yorke and this much of the first daughter of kinge Henry the 7. Mary the secōd daughter of king Henry the 7. yonger sister to king Henry the 8. vvas maried first to Lewis the 12. king of Frāce by whom she had no issue and afterward to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk by whō she had two daughters to witt Frances and Elenor the lady Francis vvas marryed first to Henry Gray marques of Dorset after duke of Suffolk behedded by Queene mary and by him she had three daughters to vvit lane Catherine and Mary the lady Iane eldest of the three was married to L. Guylford Dudly sonne to Iohn Dudly late duke of Northumberland vvith whom I meane with her husband father in law she was beheaded soone after for being proclaymed Queene vppon the death of king Edward the fixt the lady Catherine second daughter maryed first the lord Henry Herbert earle of Penbroke and left by hym again she dyed afterward in the tower wher she vvas prisoner for hauing had two childrē by Edward Seymer earle of Hartford vvithout sufficient proofe that she vvas married vnto him and the tvvo children are yet liuing to vvit Henry Seymer commonly called lord Beacham and Edward Seymer his brother The lady mary the third sister though she was betrothed to Arthur lord Gray of vvilton and maryed after to Martin keyes gentleman porter yet hath she left no issue as far as I vnderstand This then is the end of the issue of Lady Francis first of the two daughters of Queene Mary of France by Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk for albeit the said lady Francis after the beheading of the said Henry Lord Gray duke of Suffolk her first husband married againe one Adrian Stokes her seruant had a sonne by him yet it liued not but dyed very soone after Now then to speak of the yonger daughter of the said Frenche Queene and duke named Elinor she vvas married to Henry Clifford Earle of Comberlād who had by her a daughter named Margaret that vvas married to Lord Henry Stanley earle of Darby by whom she hath a plentiful issue as Ferdinand now earle of Darby William Stanley Francis Stanley and others and this is al that needeth to be spoken of these discents of our Inglish kings princes peeres or competitors to the crowne for this place and therfore now it resteth only that vve begin to examine what different pretentions are framed by diuers parties vppon these dissents and genealogies vvhich is the principal point of this our discourse OF THE GREAT AND GENERALL CONTROVERSIE AND CONTENTION BETVVEENE the two houses royal of Lancaster and York and which of them may seeme to haue had the better right to the crowne by way of succession CAP. IIII. AND first of al before I do descend to treat in particuler of the different pretences of seueral persons and families that haue issued out of these two royal linages of Lancaster and Yorke it shal perhaps not be amisse to discusse with some attention what is or hath or may be said on both sides for the general controuersie that lyeth betweene them yet vndescided in many mens opinions notwithstanding their hath bin so much sturr about the same not only writing and disputing but also fighting and murthering for many yeares And truly if we looke into diuers histories recordes and authors vvhich haue written of this matter vve shal find that euery one of them speaketh commonly according to the tyme wherin they liued for that al such as wrote in the tyme of the three Henries fourth fift and sixt kings of the house of Lancaster they make the title of Lancaster very cleare and vndoubted but such others as wrote since that tyme 〈◊〉 the house of Yorke hath held the scepter they haue spoken in far different manner as namely
Polydor that wrote in king Henry the 8. his tyme and others that haue followed him since do take al right from the house of Lancaster and giue the same to the house of Yorke wherfore the best waye I suppose wil be not so much to consider vvhat historiographers do say according to their affections or interests as vvhat reasons and profes be alleged of euery side for that by this we shal more easely come to iudge where the right or wrong doth lye First therfore the defendors of the house of Yorke do alleage that their title is playne and euident for that as in the former chapter hath bin declared Richard duke of Yorke first pretender of this house vvhose father vvas sonne to Edmond Langley duke of Yorke fourth sonne of king Edward the third and his mother Anne Mortimer that vvas neece once remoued and sole heyre to Leonel duke of Clarence second sonne of the said king Edward this Richard I say duke of York pretended that for so much as he had tvvo titles ioyned together in himselfe and vvas lawful heyre as vvel to duke Leonel the second brother as to duke Edmond the fourth that he vvas to be preferred in succession of the crowne after the death of king Richard the second heyre of the first sonne of king Edward before the issue of Iohn of Gaunt that vvas but third sonne to the said king Edward and consequently that Hēry Bolenbrook Iohn of Gaunts sonne duke of Lancaster called afterward king Henry the fourth entred the crowne by tyrāny violēce first for deposing the true and lawful king Richard and secondly for taking the kingdome vppon himselfe vvhich kingdome after the death of the foresaid king Richard which happened in the yeare 1399 belonged to Edmond mortimer Earle of march then liuing and after his death to Anne Mortimer his sister marryed to Richard earle of Cābridge father to this Richard pretendent duke of Yorke as hath bin said for that this Edmond and Anne Mortimer were children to Roger Mortimer sonne of Phillip that vvas daughter to duke Leonel vvhich Leonel vvas elder vncle to king Richard and before Iohn of Gaunt the yonger brother vvhose sonne tooke the crovvne vppon him For the better vnderstanding of which pretence and allegation of the house of Yorke against Lancaster we must note the story following to wit that king Edward the third seing in his old age that prince Edward his eldest sonne whom of al his children he loued most dearly was deade though their vvanted not much doubt in some mēs heads as after shal be shewed vvho ought to succede yet the old man for the exceeding affection he bare to the dead prince vvould heare nothing in that behalfe but appointed Richard the said prince Edwards only sonne and heyre to succed him in the kingdome and made the same to be confirmed by act of parlament and inforced al his children then a liue to svveare to the same which were Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster his third and eldest sonne that then liued for Leonel his second sonne duke of Clarence vvas dead before and Edmond Langley and Thomas Woodstock earles at that tyme but after dukes of Yorke Glocester so king Richard reigned with good obedience of his vncles and their children for 20. yeares together but in the end when he grew insolent had put to death his vncle the duke of Glocester together vvith the earle of Arundel and banished many others of the nobility and among them the Archbishop of Canterbury as also his owne cosin germaine Henry duke of Hereford after of Lancaster sonne and heyre of Iohn of Gaunt and had made many wicked statutes aswel against the church and state Ecclesiastical as also to intangle the realme and nobility with fayned crymes of treason against his regaltie as then he termed them the principal men of the realme seing a fit occasion offred by the kings absence in Ireland called home out of France the foresaid Henry duke of Lancaster vvith the Archbishop of Canterbury earles of Arundel and Warwick and others which vvere in banishment and by common consent gathered vppon the suddaine such an army to assist them in Ingland as they took the king brought him to London and there in a parlament laying together the intollerable faults of his gouerment they depriued him of al regal dignity as before they had done to his great grandfather king Edward the second then by vniuersal consent of the parlament and people their present they chose admitted the said Henry duke of Lancaster to be their king vvho continewed so al the daies of his life and left the crowne vnto his sonne and sonnes sonne after him by the space of threescore yeares vntill this Richard before named duke of Yorke made chalenge of the same in manner and forme as before hath bin shewed Now then the storie being this the question is first whether Richard the second were iustly deposed or no and secondly whether after his deposition the house of Yorke or house of Lācaster should haue entred and thirdly if the house of Lancaster did commit any wronge or iniustice at their first entrance to the crowne yet whether the continuance of so many yeares in possession vvith so many approbations and confirmations therof by the common vvealth vvere not sufficient to legitimate their right Concerning vvhich points many things are alleaged by the fauourers of both families and in the first pointe touching the lawfulnes or vnlawfulnes of king Richards deposition three articles especially do seeme most considerable to wit about the thing in it selfe whether a lawful king may be deposed vppon iust causes secōdly about these causes in king Richards deposition to vvit vvhether they vvere iust or sufficient for deposition of the said king and lastly about the manner of doing it vvhether the same were good and orderly or not And touching the first of these three pointes vvhich is that a king vppon iust causes may be deposed I thinke both parties though neuer so contrary betweene themselues vvil easely agree and the Ciuil lawyer seemeth to me to haue proued it so euidently before throughout his vvhole discourse as I thinke very litle may be said against the same For he hath declared if you remember both by reason authority examples of al nations Christian that this may and hath and ought to be done vvhen vrgent occasions are offred And first by reason he sheweth it for that al kingly authority is giuen them only by the common wealth that with this expresse condition that they shal gouerne according to law and equity that this is the cause of their exaltation aboue other men that this is the end of their gouerment the butt of their authority the starr and pole by vvhich they ought to direct their sterne to witt the good of the people by the vveale of their subiects by the benefite of the realme
the house of Yorke their was yet no question as appereth also by Stow in his chronicle vvho setteth downe how that after the said deposition of Richard the Archbishop of Canterbuty asked the people three tymes whom they would haue to be their king vvhether the duke of Yorke their standing present or not and they answered no and then he asked the seronde tyme if they vvould haue his eldest sonne the duke of Aumaile and they said no he asked the third tyme yf they would haue his yongest-sonne Richard earle of cambridge and they said no. Thus writeth Stow vvher-by it is euident that albeit this earle of Cabridge had married now the sister of Edmōd Mortimer by whom his posterity claymed afterward yet could he not pretend at this tyme her brother being yet aliue who after dying vvithout issue left al his right to her by her to the house of Yorke for albeit this earle Richard neuer came to be duke of Yorke for that he vvas beheaded bv king Henry the fift at Southampton as before hath 〈◊〉 said vvhile his elder brother vvas a lyue yet left he a sonne named Richard that after hym came to be duke of Yorke by the death of his vncle Edmund duke of Yorke that dyed vvithout issue as on the other side also by his mother Anne Mortimer he vvas earle of March and was the first of the house of Yorke that made title to the crowne So that the question now is whether after the deposition of king Richard Edmond Mortimer nephew remoued of Leonel which Leonel vvas the second sonne to king Edward or els Henry duke of Lancaster sonne to Iohn of Gaunt which Iohn vvas third sonne to king Edward should by right haue succeded to king Richard and for Edmond is alleaged that he was heyre of the elder brother and for Hēry is said that he vvas neerer by two degrees to the stemme or last king that is to say to king Richard deposed then Edmond was for that Henry vvas sonne to king Richards vncle of Lancaster and Edmond was but nephew remoued that is to say daughters sonnes sonne to the said king Richards other vncle of Yorke And that in such a case the next in degree of consanguinitie to the last king is to be preferred though he be not of the elder lyne the fauourers of Lancaster alleage many proofes wher of some shal be touched a litle after we haue seene the same practized in our dayes in France where the Cardinal of Burbone by the iudgement of the most part of that realme was preferred to the crowne for his propinquity in blood to the dead king before the king of Nauarre though he were of the elder lyne Moreouer it is alleaged for Henry that his title came by a man and the others by a vvoman vvhich is not so much fauoured either by nature law or reason and so they saye that the pretenders of this title of lady Phillippe that vvas daughter of duke Leonel neuer opened their mouthes in those dayes to clayme vntil some 50. yeares after the deposition death of king Richard Nay more ouer they of Lancaster say that sixteene yeares after the deposition of king Richard vvhen king Henry the fift vvas now in possession of the crowne cerrayne noble mē especially Richard earle of Cambridge that had marryed this Edmond Mortimers sister offred to haue slayne king Henry and to haue made the said Edmōd Mortymer kinge for that he was discended of duke Leonel but he refused the matter thinking it not to be according to equitie and so vvent and discouered the whole treason to the king wheruppō they vvere al put to death in Southampton within fowre or fiue dayes after as before hath bin noted and this hapened in the yeare 1415. and from hence foreward vntil the yeare 1451. and thirreth of the reigne of king Henry the sixt vvhich vvas 36 yeares after the execution done vppon these conspirators no more mention or pretēce was made of this matter at vvhat tyme Richard duke of Yorke began to moue troobles about it againe Thus say those of the house of Lancaster but now these of Yorke haue a great argument for themselues as to them it seemeth vvhich is that in the yeare of Christ 1385. and 9 yeare of the reigne of king Richard the second it vvas declared by act of parlament as Polidor writeth that Edmond Mortimer vvho had marryed Phillip daughter heyre of Leonel duke of Clarence and was grandfather to the last Edmond by me named should be heyre apparent to the crowne if the king should chance to dye without issue To which obiection those of Lancaster do answere first that Polidor doth err in the person when he sayeth that Edmond husband of lady Philippe was declared for heyre apparent for that his Edmond Mortimer that married lady Philippe dyed peacably in Ireland three yeares before this parlament vvas holden to witt in the yeare of Christ 1382. as both Hollings head Stow and other chroniclets do testifie and therfore Polidor doth erre not only in this place about this man but also in that in an other place he sayeth that this Edmond so declared heyre apparent by king Richard vvas slayne by the Irish in Ireland 12. yeares after this declaration made of the succession to vvit in the yeare 1394. vvhich vvas in deede not this man but his sonne Roger Mortimer heyre to him and to the Lady Phillip his wife vvho vvas declared heyre apparent in the parlament afore said at the instance of king Richard and that for especial hatred malice as these men say vhich he did beate against his said vncle the duke of Lancaster and his sonne Henry vvhom he desired to exclude from the succession The cause of this hatred is said to be for that presently vppon the death of prince Edvvard father to this Richard which prince dyed in the yeare of Christ 1376. and but 10. monethes before his father king Edward the third their vvanted not diuers learned and vvise men in Ingland that were of opinion that Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster eldest sonne then liuing of the said king Edward should haue succeded his father iure propinquitatis before Richard that vvas but nephew and one degree further of then he but the old king vvas so extremly affectionate vnto his eldest sonne the blacke prince Edward newly dead that he vvould not heare of any to succede him as Frosard saith but only Richard the said princes sonne Wherfore he called presently a parlament vvhich vvas the last that euer he hold and therin caused his said nephew Richard to be declared heyre apparent and made his three sonnes then liuing that were vncles to the youth to vvitt Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster and Edmond Langhly duke afterward of Yorke and Thomas woodstock duke of Glocester to sweare fealtie vnto Richard as they did And albeit Iohn of Gaunt al his life
and she neece once remoued he preuailed in like manner and thus farr Gerrard historiographes of France And no doubt but if we consider examples that fell out euen in this very age only concerning this controuersie betweene the vncle and nephew we shal finde store of them for in Spaine not long before this tyme to wit in the yeare of Christ 1276. vvas that great and famous determination made by Don Alonso the wise eleuenth king of that name and of al his realme and nobility in their couites or parlament of Segouia mentioned before by the Ciuilian wherin they disinherited the children of the prince Don Alonso de la Cerda that dyed as our prince Edward did before his father and made heyre apparent Don Sancho brauo yonger brother to the said Don Alonso and vncle to his children the two yong Cerdas Which sentēce standeth euen vnto this day and king Phillip enioyeth the crowne of Spaine therby and the dukes of Medina Celi and their race that are discendentes of the said two Cerdas vvhich vvere put backe are subiects by that sentence and not soueraines as al the world knoweth The like controuersie fel out but very litle after to vvit in the tyme of king Edward the third in frāce though not about the kingdome but about the earldome of Artoys but yet it was decided by a solemne sentence of two kings of France and of the whole parlament of Paris in fauour of the aunte against her nephew which albeit it cost great troubles yet vvas it defended and king Phillip of Spaine holdeth the county of Artoys by it at this day Polidor reporteth the story in this manner Robert earle of Artoys a man famous for his chiualry had two children Phillip a sonne and Maude a daughter this maude vvas marryed to Otho earle of Burgundy and Phillip dying before his father left a sonne named Robert the second vvhose father Robert the first being dead the question was vvho should succede ether maude the daughter or Robert the nephew and the matter being remitted vnto Phillip le Bel king of France as chiefe Lord at that tyme of that state he adiuged it to Maude as to the next in blood but vvhen Robert repyned at this sentence the matter vvas referred to the parlament of Paris vvhich confirmed the sentence of king Phillip wher vppon Robert making his way with Phillip de Valoys that soone after came to be king of France he assisted the said Phillip earnestly to bring him to the crowne against king Edward of Ingland that opposed himselfe therunto and by this hoped that king Phillip would haue reuoked the same sentence but he being once established in the crowne answered that a sentence of such importance and so maturely giuen could not be reuoked Wheruppon the said Robert fled to the king of Inglands part against france thus far Polidor The very like sentence recounteth the same author to haue bin giuē in Ingland at the same tyme and in the same controuersie of the vncle against the nephew for the succession to the dukedome of Britany as before I haue related wherin Iohn Breno earle of Montford vvas preferred before the daughter and heyre of his elder brother Guy though he vvere but of the halfe blood to the last duke and she of the whole For that Iohn the third duke of Britanny had two brothers first Guy of the vvhole blood by father and mother and then Iohn Breno his yonger brother by the fathers side only Guy dying left a daughter and heyre named Iane married to the earle of Bloys nephew to the king of France vvho after the death of duke Iohn pretended in the right of his wife as daughter and heyre to Guye the elder brother but king Edward the third with the state of Ingland gaue sentence for Iohn Breno earle of Montford her vncle as for him that vvas next in consanguinity to the dead duke and with their armes the state of Ingland did put him in possession vvho flew the earle of Bloys as before hath bin declared and ther-by gat possession of that realme and held it euer after and so do his heyres at this day And not long before this againe the like resolution preuayled in Scotland betweene the house of Balliol and Bruse who were competitors to that crowne by this occasion that now I wil declare VVilliam king of Scots had issue tvvo sonnes Alexander that succeded in the crowne and Dauid earle of Huntington Alexander had issue an other Alexander and a daughter marryed to the king of Norway al which issue and lyne ended about the yeare 1290. Dauid yonger brother to king William had issue two daughters Margaret and Isabel Margaret vvas married to Alaine earle of Galloway and had issue by him a daughter that married Iohn Balliol Lord of Harcourt in Normādie vvho had issue by her this Iohn Balliol founder of Balliol College in Oxford that now pretended the crowne as discended from the eldest daughter of Dauid in the third discent Isabel the second daughter of Dauid vvas married to Robert Bruse Earle of Cleueland in Ingland vvho had issue by her this Robert Bruse earle of Carick the other competitor Now then the question betweene these two cōpetitors was vvhich of them should succeede ether Iohn Balliol that was nephew to the elder daughter or Robert Bruse that vvas sonne to the yonger daughter so one degree more neere to the stock or stemme then the other And albeit king Edward the first of Ingland whose power vvas dreadful at that day in Scotland hauing the matter referred to his arbitrement gaue sentence for Iohn Bailliol and Robert Bruse obeyed for the tyme in respect partly of feare and partly of his oth that he had made to stand to that iudgment yet vvas that sentence held to be vniust in Scotland and so vvas the crowne restored afterward to Robert Bruse his sonne and his posterity doth hold it vnto this day In Ingland also it selfe they alleage the examples of king Henry the first preferred before his nephew William sonne and heyre to his elder brother Robert as also the example of king Iohn preferred before his nephew Arthur duke of Britany for that king Henry the second had fower sonnes Henry Richard Geffrey and Iohn Henry dyed before his father vvithout issue Richard reygned after him and dyed also vvithout issue Geffrey also dyed before his father but left a sonne named Arthur duke of Britanie by right of his mother But after the death of king Richard the question vvas vvho should succeede to vvit either Arthur the nephew or Iohn the vncle but the matter in Ingland vvas soone decided for that Iohn the vncle was preferred before the nephew Arthur by reason he vvas more neere to his brother dead by a degree then vvas Arthur And albeit the king of Frāce and some other princes abroad opposed themselues for stomack against this succession of king Iohn yet say these
vvoman vvho ought not to be preferred before so many men as at this tyme do or may stand for the crowne and that it vvere much to haue three women to reigne in Ingland one after the other vvher-as in the fpace of a-boue a thousaid yeares before them there hath not reigned so many of that sexe nether together nor a sunder for that from king Cerdick first king of the vvest Saxons vnto Egbright the first monarch of the Inglish name and nation conteyning the space of more then 300. yeares no one vvomā at al is founde to haue reigned and from Egbright to the Conquest which is almost other 300. yeares the like is to be obserued and from the conquest downeward vvhich is aboue 500. yeares one only vvoman was admitted for inheritrix vvhich was Maude the Empresse daughter of king Henry the first vvho yet after her fathers death vvas put back and king Stephen vvas admitted in her place and she neuer receaued by the realme vntil her sonne Henry the second vvas of age to gouerne himselfe then he vvas receaued vvith expresse condition that he should be crowned and gouerne by himselfe and not his mother which very conditiō vvas put also by the spaniards not long after at their admitting of the lady Berenguela yonger sister of lady Blauch neese to king Henry the second vvherof before often mention hath bin made to vvit the condition vvas that her sonne 〈◊〉 should gouerne and not she though his title came by her so as this circumstance of being a woman hath euer bin of much consideration especially where men do pretend also as in our case they doe An other consideratiō of these men is that if this lady should be aduanced vnto the crowne though she be of noble blood by her fathers side yet in respectt of alliance with the nobility of Ingland she is a meere strainger for that her kyndred is only in Scotland and in Inglād she hath only the Candishes by her mothers side vvho being but a meane familie might cause much grudging amōg the Inglish nobility to see them so greatly aduanced aboue the rest as necessarily they must be yf this womā of their linage should come to be Queene vvhich how the nobility of Ingland vvould beare is hard to say and this is as much as I haue heard others saye of this matter and of al the house of Scotland vvherfore vvith this I shal end and passe ouer to treat also of the other houses that do remayne of such as before I named OF THE HOVSE OF SVFFOLK CONTEYNING THE CLAYMES OF THE COVNTESSE OF Darby and her children as also of the children of the earle of Hartford CAP. VI. IT hath appeared by the genealogie set downe before in the third chapter and oftētymes mentioned since how that the house of Suffolk is so called for that the lady Mary secōd daughter of king Henry the seuenth being first married to Lewis the 12. king of France vvas afterward married to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolke who being sent oner to condole the death of the said king gat the good will to marry the widow Queene though the common fame of al men vvas that the said Charles had a vvife lyuing at that day and diuers yeares after as in this chapter vve shal examine more in particuler By this Chatles Brandon then duke of Suffolk this Queene Mary of France had tvvo daughters first the lady Francis married to Syr Henry Gray marques Dorset and aftervvard in the right of his vvife duke also of Suffolke vvho vvas afterward be-hedded by Queene Mary and secondly lady Elenor married to Syr Henry Clifford earle of Cumberland The lady Francis elder daughter of the Queene and of Charles Brandon had issue by her husband the said last duke of Suffolke three daughters to wit Iane Catherin and Mary which Mary the yongest vvas betrothed first to Arthur lord Gray of wilton and after lefte by hym she was marryed to one M. Martin keyes of kent gentlemā porter of the Queenes housholde and after she dyed without issue And the lady Iane the eldest of the three sisters was married at the same tyme to the lord Guylford Dudley fourth sonne to Syr Iohn Dudley duke of Northumberland and vvas proclaymed Queene after the death of king Edward for which acte al three of thē to vvit both the father sonne and daughter in law were put to death soone after But the L. Catherin the second daughter vvas married first vppon the same day that the other two her sisters vvere vnto lord Henry Herbert now earle of Penbroke and vppon the fal and misery of her house she was left by him and so she liued a sole vvoman for diuers yeares vntil in the begining of this Queenes dayes she was found to be vvith child which she affirmed to be by the lord Edward Seymer earle of Hartford vvho at that tyme was in France vvith Syr Nicholas Throgmorton the Embassador and had purpose and licence to haue trauailed into Italie but being called home in haste vppō this new accident he cōfessed that the child vvas his and both he and the lady affirmed that they were man and vvife but for that they could not proue it by witnesses for attempting such a match with one of the blood royal without priuity and licence of the prince they were committed both of them to the tower vvhere they procured meanes to meete againe afterward had an other childe vvhich both children do yet liue and the elder of them is called lord Henry Beacham and the other Edward Seymer the mother of whom liued not long after nether married the earle againe vntil of late that he married the lady Francis Howard sister to the lady Sheffeild and this is all the issue of the elder daughter of Charles Brandon by lady Mary Queene of France The second daughter of duke Charles and the Queene named L. Elenor vvas married to Henry lord Cliford earle of Cumbeiland and had by him a daughter named Margaret that married Syr Hēry Stanley lord Strāge after earle of Darby by vvhom the said lady who yet liueth hath had issue Fernande Stanley now earle of Darby William and Francis Stanley this is the issue of the house of Suffolk to vvit this Countesse of Darby with her children and these other of the earle of Hartford of al whose clayme 's and titles vvith their impediments I shal here briefly giue accompt and reason First of al both of these families do ioyne together in this one pointe to exclude the house of Scotland both by foraine birth and by the foresaid restament of king Henry authorized by two parlaments by the other exclusions which in each of the titles of the king of Scots and of lady Arbella hath bin before alleaged But then secondly they come to vary betweene themselues about the priority or propinquitie of their owne succession for the children of the earle
discended from king VVilliam the Cōqueror by his eldest daughter lady Cōstance as also by diuers other participations of the blood royal of Ingland as aftervvards vvil appeare Now then to come to the second daughter of king VVilliam the Conqueror or rather the third for that the first of al vvas a Nonne as before hath byn noted her name vvas Adela or Alis as hath bin saide and she vvas marryed in France to Stephen counte Palatin of Champagne Charters and Bloys by whom she had a sonne called also Stephen vvho by his grand mother was earle also of Bollayne in Picardie and after the death of his vncle king Henry of Ingland vvas by the fauour of the Inglish nobility and especially by the helpe of his owne brother the Lord Henry of Bloys that vvas Bishop of Winchester and iointly Abbot of Glastenbury made kinge of England and this both in respect that Mathilda daughter of king Henry the first was a woman and her sonne Henry duke of Anjou a very childe one degree farther of from the Conqueror and from kings Rufus then Stephen vvas as also for that this king Henry the first as hath bin signified before vvas iudged by many to haue entred vvrongfully vnto the crowne and therby to haue made both himselfe and his posterity incapable of succession by the violence vvhich he vsed against both his elder brother Robart and his nephew duke VVilliam that vvas sonne and heyte to Robert vvho by nature and law were bothe of them held for soueraintes to Iohn by those that fauored them and their pretentions But yet howsoeuer this were we see that the duke of Britany that liued at that day should euidently haue succeded before Stephen for that he was discended of the elder daughter of the Conqueror and Stephen of the yonger though Stephen by the commodity he had of the neernes of his porte and hauen of Bullayne vnto Ingland as the French stories do saye for Calys vvas of no importance at that tyme and by the frendship and familiarity he had gotten in Ingland during the raigne of his two vncles king Rufus and king Henry and especially by the help of his brother the Bishop and Abbot as hath bin said he gat the start of al the rest and the states of Ingland admitted him This man although he had two sonnes namely Eustachius duke of Normandy and William earle of Norfolk yet left they no issue And his daughter Marie was maried to mathew of Fladers of whom if any issue remaines it fell afterward vppon the house of Austria that succeded in those states To king Stephen who left no issue succeded by compositiō after much warre Henry duke of Aniou sonne and heyre to Mathilda before named daughter of Henry the first which Henry named afterward the second tooke to wife Elenor daughter and heyre of VVilliam duke of Aquitaine earle of Poytiers which Elenor had bin marryed before to the king of France Lewis the 7. and bare him two daughters but vppon dislike conceaued by the one against the other they were deuorced vnder pretēce of being within the fowerth degree of consanguinitye and so by second marriage Elenor vvas vvife to this said Henry who afterward was king of Ingland by name of K. Henry the fecōd that procured the deathe of Thomas Becket archebishope of Canterbury and vvas both before and after the greatest enimye that euer Lewis the king of France had in the vvorld and much the greater for his marriage by vvhich Henry vvas made far stronger for by this woman he came to be duke of al Aquitaine that is of Gascony and Guyene and earle of al the coūtrey of Poytiers wheras beforealso by his fathers inheritance he vvas duke both of Anjou Tourayne and Mayne by his mother Mathilda king Henries daughter of Ingland he came to be king of Ingland duke of Normandie and by his owne industry he gat also to be lord of Ireland as also to bring Scotland vnder his homage so as he enlarged the kingdome of Ingland most of any other king before or after him This king Henry the second as Stow reconteth had by Lady Elenor fyue sonnes and three daughters His eldest sonne vvas named VVilliam that dyed yonge his seconde vvas Henry vvhom he caused to be crowned in his owne life tyme vvherby he receaued much trouble but in the end this sonne died before his father without issue His third sonne vvas Richard surnamed for his valour Cor de leon who reigned after his father by the name of Richard the first and died vvithout issue in the yeare of Christ 1199. Hys fovverth sonne named Geffrey maried lady Constance daughter and heyre of Britanie as before hath bin said and dying left a sonne by her named Arthur which vvas duke of Britanie after him and pretended also to be king of Ingland but vvas put by it by his vncle Iohn that tooke him also prisoner and kept him so in the castel first of fallaise in Normandie and then in Roan vntil he caused him to be put to death or slew him vvith his owne hands as Frēch stories vvrite in the yeare 1204. This duke Arthur left behind him two sisters as Stow writeth in his chronicles but others write that it was but one and at least wise I fynde but one named by the french stories which vvas Elenor whom they saye king Iohn also caused to be muthered in Ingland a a litle before her brother the duke vvas put to death in Normandie and this was the end of the issue of Geffrey whose vvife Constance duchesse of Britanie marryed againe after this murther of her children vnto one Guy Vicond of Touars and had by him two daughters wherof the eldest named Alis was duchefse of Britanie by vvhome the race hath bin continued vnto our tyme. The fift sonne of king Henry the second was named Iohn who after the death of his brother Richard by help of his mother Elenor and of Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury drawen therunto by his said mother gat to be king and put back his nephew Arthur vvhom king Richard before his departure to the war of the holy land had caused to be declared heyre apparent but Iohn preuayled and made away both nephew and Neece as before hath bin saide for which fact he vvas detested of many in the world abroade and in France by acte of parlament depriued of al the states he had in those partes Soone after also the pope gaue sentence of depriuation against him and his owne barons tooke armes to execute the sentence and finally they deposed both him and his yong sonne Henry being then but a child of 8. yeares old and this in the 18. yeare of his reigne and in the yeare of Christ 1215. and Levvis the 8. of that name prince at that tyme but afterward king of France was chosen king of Ingland sworne in Londō and
and after made duke of Hereford by king Richard the second and after that came to be duke also of Lancaster by the death of his father and lastely vvas made king by the deposition of his cosen germaine the said king Richard and reigned 13. yeares by the name of king Henry the fourth and vvas the first king of the house of Lācaster of the right of vvhose title examination shal be made afterwards The first of the two daughters vvhich Iohn of Gaunt had by Blanch vvas named Phillip vvho was marryed to Iohn the first of that name king of Portugal by whom she had issue Edward king of Portugal and he Alfonsus the fift he Iohn the second so one after another euen vnto our dayes The second daughter of Iohn of Gaunt by lady Blanch vvas named Elizabeth vvho was marryed to Iohn Holland duke of Excester she had issue by him an other Iohn duke of Excester and he had issue Henry duke of Excester that dyed without issue male leauing only one daughter named Anne vvho vvas marryed to Sir Thomas Neuill knight and by him had issue Raffe Neuill third earle of Westmerland whose lineal heyre is at this day Lord Charles Neuill earle oft Westmerland that liueth banished in Flanders And this is al the issue that Iohn of Gaunt had by lady Blanch his first vvife sauing only that I had forgotten to prosecute the issue of Henry his first sonne surnamed of Bolenbrok that vvas afterward called king Henry the fourth which king had 4. sonnes and tvvo daughters his daughters vvere Blanch and Phillip the first marryed to William duke of Bauaria and the second to Erick king of Denmarke and both of them dyed without children The four sonnes vvere first Henry that reygned after him by the name of Henry the fift and the second vvas Thomas duke of Clarence the third vvas Iohn duke of Bedford and the fourth vvas Humfrey duke of Glocester al vvhich three dukes dyed vvithout issue or vvere slaine in vvarres of the realme so as only king Henry the fift their elder brother had issue one sonne named Henry also that vvas king and reigned 40. yeares by the name of Henry the sixt who had issue prince Edward both of them I meane both father sonne were murthered by order or permissiō of Edward duke of Yorke vvho afterward tooke the crowne vppon him by the name of king Edward the fourth as before hath bin said so as in this king Henry the 6. and his sonne prince Edward ended all the blood royal male of the house of Lancaster by Blanch the first wife of Iohn of Gaunt and the inheritance of the said lady Blanch returned by right of succession as the fauorers of the howse of Portugal affirme though others deny it vnto the heyres of lady Phillip her eldest daughter marryed into Portugal vvhose nephew named Alfonsus the fift kinge of Portugal liued at that day when king Henry the 6. and his heyre were made away and this much of Iohn of Gaunts first marriage But after the death of the L. Blanch Iohn of Gaunt marryed the Lady Constance daughter and heyre of Peter the first surnamed the cruel king of Castile who being driuen out of his kingdome by Henry his bastard brother assisted therunto by the french he fledd to Burdeaux vvith his wife tvvo daughters where he founde prince Edward eldest sonne to king Edward the third by vvhom he was restored and for pledge of his fidelity and performance of other conditions that the said king Peter had promised to the Prince he left his two daughters withe hym which daughters being sent afterwards into Inglād the eldest of them named Constance was marryed to Iohn of Gaunt and by her title he named himselfe for diuers yeares afterward king of Castile and went to gayne the same by armes when Peter her father vvas stayne by his foresaid bastard brother but yet some yeares after that againe their vvas an agrement made betweene the said Iohn of Gaunt and Iohn the first of that name king of Castile sonne and heyre of the foresaid Henry the bastard vvith condition that Catherine the only daughter of Iohn of 〈◊〉 by lady Cōstance should marry vvith Henry the third prince of Castile sonne and heyre of the said king Iohn and nephew to the bastard Henry the 2. and by this meanes vvas ended that controusie betweene Ingland and Castile and the said L. Catherine had issue by king Henry Iohn the 2. king of Castile he Isabell that marryed with Ferdinando the Catholique king of Aragon and ioyned by that marriage both those kingdomes together and by him she had a daughter named Ioan that marryed Phillip duke of Austria and Burgundy and by him had Charles the fifth that vvas Emperor and father to king Phillip that now reigneth in Spaine vvho as we see is descēded tvvo waies from Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster to vvit by two daughters begotten of two wiues Blanch and Constance nether had Iohn of Gaunt any more childrē by Constance but only this daughter Catherine of vvhom vve haue spoken vvherfore now vve shal speake of his third vvife that vvas Lady Catherine Swinford This lady Catherin as Inglish histories do note vvas borne in Henalt in Flanders was daughter to a knight of that country called Sir Payne de Ruet and she vvas brought vp in her youth in the duke of Lancasters house and attended vppon his first wife lady Blanch and being fayre of personage grew in such fauour vvith the duke as in the tyme of his second wife Constance he kept this Catherin for his concubin and begat vppon her fower children to vvit three sonnes and a daughter vvhich daughter vvhose name vvas Iane was marryed to Raph earle of Westmerland called commonly in those dayes Daw Raby of whom descended the Earles of VVestmerland that insued His three sonnes were Iohn Thomas and Henry and Iohn vvas first earle and then duke of Sommerset Thomas vvas first marques Dorset and then duke of Excester Henry vvas Bishop of VVinchester and after Cardinal And after Iohn of Gaunt had begotten al thes 4. children vppon Catherin he marryed her to a knight in Ingland named Swinford vvhich knight lyued not many yeares after Iohn of Gaunt comming home to Ingland from Aquitaine vvher he had bin for diuers yeares and seing this old concubine of his Catherine to be now a widow and himselfe also without a wife for that the lady Cōstance vvas dead a litle before for the loue that he bore to the children which he had begotten of her he determyned to marry her and therby the rather to legitimate her childrē though himselfe vvere old now and al his kyndred vtterly against the marriage and so not ful two yeares before his death to wit in the yeare of Christ 1396. he married her and the next yeare after in a parlament begun at Westminster the 22. of Ianuary
might be legitimate before God and yet illegitimate before men and consequently incapable of al such succession as otherwise he might pretend by his said mother And this now is for the first begotten of these two persons for as touching the second childe begotten in the tower of London diuers learned men are of opinion that he may be freed of this bastardy for that both the earle and the lady being examined vppon their first child did consesse and affirme that they vvere man and wife and that they had meaning so to be and to continew vvhich confession is thought to be sufficient both for ratifying of their old cōtract and also for making of a new yfthe other had not bin made before And seeing that in the other former pretended contract and marriage their wanted nothing for iustifying the same before men and for making it good in law but only external testimony of witnesses for prouing that they gaue such mutual consent of myndes before their carnal knowledge for the presence of priest or minister is not absolutly necessary no man can say that their wanted witnesses for restifying of this consent before the second copulation by vvhich vvas begotten their second sonne for that both the Queene herselfe and her councel and as many besides as examined these parties vppon their first acte and child birth are vvitnesses vnto them that they gaue their ful consents and approbations to be man vvife vvhich they ratified afterward in the tower by the begetting of their second child and so for the reasons afore-said he must needes seeme to be legitimate vvhatsoeuer my lord of Canterbury for that tyme or in respect of the great offence taken by the estate against that act did or might determyne to the contrary And this is the somme of that which commonly is treated about these two families of the house of Suffolk to wit of Hartford and Darby both vvhich families of Suffolke the other two opposite houses of Scotland and Clarence do seeke to exclude by the first bastardy or vnlawful contract betweene the Queene ofFrance and duke Charles Brandon as hath bin seene of which bastardye the house of 〈◊〉 doth indeuour to auoide it selfe in manner as before hath bin declared and preferreth it selfe in degree of propinquity not only before the foresaid two houses of Scotland and Clarence but also before this other part of the house of Suffolke I meane the familie of Hartford though descended of the elder daughter for that the countesse of Darby doth hold her selfe one degree neerer in discent then are the other pretenders of Hartford as hath bin shewed And albeit their vvant not many obiections and reasons of some against this pretence of the house of Darby besides that which I haue touched before yet for that they are for the most part parsonal impediments and do not touch the right or substance of the title or any other important reason of state concerning the common vvealth but only the mistike of the persons that pretende and of their life and gouerment I shal omitt them in this place for that as in the begining I promised so shal I obserue as much as lieth in me to vtter nothing in this conference of ours that may iustly offend and much lesse touch the honor or reputation of any one person of the blood royal of our realme vvhen the tyme of admitting or excluding cometh then vvil the realme consider as vvel of their persons as of their rightes and vvil see vvhat accompt and satisfaction ech person hath giuen of his former life and doings and according to that vvil proceede as is to be supposed but to me in this place it shal be enough to treat of the first pointe vvhich is of the right and interest pretended by vvay of succession and so vvith this I shal make an ende of these families and passe ouer to others that yet do remayne OF THE HOVSES OF CLARENCE AND BRITANIE WHICH CONTEYNE THE CLAYMES OF the earle of Huntington with the Pooles as also of the lady Infanta of Spayne and others of those families CAP. VII HAVING declared the claymes rightes and pretences which the two noble houses of Scotland and Suffolke descended of the tvvo daughters of king Hēry the seuenth haue or may haue to the succession of Ingland with intention afterward to handle the house of Portugal a part vvhich pretendeth to comprehend in it selfe the whole body or at least the first and principal branch of the ancient house of Lancaster it shal not be amisse perhaps by the way to treate in this one chapter so much as appartayneth to the tvvo seueral houses of Clarence and Britanie for that there is lesse to be said about them then of the other And first of al I am of opinion that the earle of Huntington and such other pretendors as are of the house of Yorke alone before the coniunction of both houses by king Henry the seuenth may be named to be of the house of Clarence and so for distinction sake I do name them for not to confound them vvith the houses of Scotland and Suffolke which are termed also by the Lancastrians to be of the houfe of Yorke alone for that they deny them to be of the true house of Lancaster but principally I do name them to be of the house of Clarence for that in deed al their clayme and title to the crowne doth discende from George duke of Clarence as before in the third chapter and other vvhere hath bin declared which duke George being brother to king Edward the fourth and put to death by his order left issue Edward carle of Warwick and of Salisbury vvhich vvas put to death by king Henry the seuenth in his youth and Margaret countesse of Salisbury which Margaret had issue by Syr Richard Poole Henry Poole lord Montague afterward behedded and he agayne Catherin married to Syr Francis Hastings earle of Huntington by whom she had Sir Henry Hastings now earle of Huntington Syr George Hastings his brother yet liuinge others so as the earle of Huntington vvith his said bretheren be in the fourth degree from the said George duke of Clarence to wit his nephewes twice remoued The faide Margaret countesse of Salisbury had a yonger sonne also named Syr Geffrey Poole vvho had issue an other Geffrey and this Geffrey hath two sonnes that liue at this day in Italie named Arthur and Geffrey vvho be in the same degree of distance with the saide earle of Huntington sauing that some alleage for them that they do discend al by male kinde from Margaret and the earle pretendeth by a Woman vvherof vve shal speake afterward Hereby then it is made manifest how the earle of Huntingtō commeth to preteud to the crowne of Ingland by the house of York only vvhich is no other in deede but by the debarring and disabling of al other former pretēdors not only of Portugal and of Britanie as strangers but
their owne and Ireland and Scotland is not far of vvhere frendship perhapps in such a case might be offred and finally in this poynte of abillity great oddes is their seene betweene these Lordes As for their religion I cannot determyne what difference their is or may be betweene them The Lord Beacham by education is presumed to be a protestant albeit some hold that his father and father in law be more inclined towards the Puritans The earle of Darbyes religion is held to be more doubtful so as some do thinke him to be of al three religions and others of none and these agayne are deuided in iudgments about the euent heerof for that some do imagin that this opinion of him may do him goode for that al sides heerby may perhapps conceaue hope of him but others do persuade themselues that it vvil do him hurt for that no side in deede will esteeme or trust him so as al these matters with their euents and consequences do remayne vncertaine But now will I passe to speake of the house of Clarence the cheefe persons wherof and most emynent at this day are the earle of Huntington and his bretheren the Hastings for that the Pooles and Barringtons are of far meaner condition and authoritie albeit the other also I meane the house of Hastings doth not seme to be of any great allyance for that albeit the old earle of Huntington this earles father had two brethren the one S. Thomas Hastings that married one of the Lord Henry Pooles daughters named Lord montague that was put to death which daughter was sister to this earles mother and the other named S. Edward Hastings vvas made Lord of Lowghborow by Queene Mary to whom he was first master of the horse and afterward Lord Chamberland neither of them hauing left issue and this is al I remember by his fathers side except it be his owne brethren as hath bin said of which S. George Hastings is the cheefest By his mothers side he hath only the Pooles whose power as it is not great so what it is is rather lyke to be agaynst him then with him partly for their difference from him in religion and partly for preferment of their owne title vppon the reasons before alleaged By his owne marriage with the daughter of the late duke of Northumberland and sister to the late earles of Lecester and Warwicke he was lyke to haue drawne a very great strong alliance if the said two earles had liued and especially S. Phillip Sidney who was borne of the other sister of the present Countesse of Huntington and his owne sister was married to the earle of Penbroke that now is himselfe to the daughter of S. Francis Walsingham cheefe secretary of the state by al which meanes and by al the affection and power of the party puritan and much of the protestant this earle was thought to be in very great forwardnes But now these great pillers being fayled and no issue yet remayning by the said Countesse his wife no man can assure himselfe what the successe wil be especially seing that of the three bodyes of different religions before described it is thought that this earle hath incurred deeply the hatred of the one and perhapps some ielousy and suspition of the other but yet others do say and no doubt but that it is a matter of singular importance if it be so that he is lyke to haue the whole power of London for him which citty did preuaile so much in aduancing the title of Yorke in king Edward the fourth his tyme as it made him king twise to wit once at the beginning when he first apprehended and put downe king Henry the sixt and the second tyme vvhen he being driuen out of the kingdome by his brother the duke of Clarence and Richard earle of Warwicke he returned from Flanders vppon hope of the fauour of the Londoners and was in deede receaued fauoured and set vp agayne by them especially and by the helps of kent and other places adioyning and depending of London and so it may be that the fauourers of this earle do hope the like successe to him in tyme by this potent cittie For the houses of Britanny and Portugal I shal ioyne them both together for that they are straingers and the persons therof so nigh linked in kynred affinitie frendship as both their tittles forces and fauours may easely be ioyned together and imparted the one with the other as to themselues shal best appeare conuenient The lady Infanta of Spayne pretendent of the house of Britanie is eldest daughter of king Phillip as al the world knoweth and dearly beloued of him and that worthely as al men report that come from thence for that she is a princesse of rare partes both for bewty wisdome and pietie The two yong Princes of Parma I meane both the duke and his brother the Cardinal are ympes in like manner of great expectation and diuers wayes neere of kynn to the said king for that by their fathers side they are his nephewes that is the childeren of his sister and by their mothers side almoost as neere for that they are the nephewes of his vncle Prince Edward Infant of Portugal In lyke neernes of blood are the Duchesse of Bragansa and her children vnto the said king which children are many as hath bin shewed and al of that rare vertue and valor and of that singuler affection vnto the English natiō as it is wonderful to heare what men write from those partes and what others do reporte that haue trauayled Portugal and seene those Princes and tasted of their magnificente liberality so as I haue hard diuers reioyse that are affected that way to vnderstand that their do remayne such noble ofsping yet in forrayne countryes of the true and ancient blood royal of Ingland What the powers and possibilities of al these Princes of the house of Portugal be or may be heerafter for pursuyng their right shal not neede to be declared in this place for that al the world doth know and see the same yet al seemeth to depend of the heade roote which is the king of Spayne himselfe and the yonge Prince his sonne whose states and forces how and where they lye what allyance frendes subiects or followers they haue or may haue it is easy to consider but what part or affection of men they haue or may haue heerafter in Ingland it selfe when tyme shal come for the determyning of this matter no man can tell at this present and what plotts agreements compartitions or other conclusions may be made at that day tyme only must teach vs so as now I know not well what to say further in this affaire but only commend it to Gods highe prouidence and therefore I pray you quoth the Lawyer let me ende with this only that alredy I haue saide and pardon me of my former promisse to put my
apparent of Spayne and they put back in ther grand fathers tyme and by his and the realmes consent ther father as I haue said being dead and this was done in a general parlament holden at Segouia in the yeare 1276. and after this Don Sancho was made king in the yeare 1284. and the two Princes put into prisō but afterward at the sure of there vncle king Phillip the third of France they were let out agayne and endued with certayne landes and so they remaine vnto this day and of thes do come the Dukes of Medina Celi and al the rest of the house of Cerda which are of much nobility in Spayne at this tyme and king Phillip that reyneth cometh of Don Sancho the yonger brother Not long after this agayne when Don Pedro surnamed the cruel king of Castile was driuen out and his bastard brother Henry the second set vp in his place as before hath bin mētioned the Duke of Lancaster Iohn of Gant hauing maried Dona Constantia the said king peters daughter heyre pretended by succession the said crowne of Castile as in deed it appertayned vnto him but yet the state of spaine denied it flatly and defended it by atmes and they preuailed against Iohn of Gant as dyd also the race of Henry the bastard against his lawful brother the race of Don Sancho the vncle against his lawful nephewes as hath byn shewed and that of Dona Berenguela against her elder sister al which races do reigne vnto this day thes three changes of the trew lyue happened with in two ages and in the third and principal discent of the Spanish kings when this matter of succession was most assuredly and perfectly established and yet who wil deny but that the kings of Spayne who hold by the later titles at this day be true and lawful kings Well one example wil I giue you more out of the kyngdom of Portugal and so wil I make an ende with thes countreyes This kinge Henry the bastard last named king of Spayne had a sonne that succeded him in the crowne of Spayne named Iohn the first who married the daughter and heyre named Dona Beatrix of king Fernando the first of Portugal but yet after the death of the said King Fernando the states of Portugal would neuer agree to admit him for ther king for not subiecting themselues by that meanes to the Castilians and for that cause they rather tooke for ther king a bastard brother of the said late king Don Fernando whos name was Don Iuan a youth of 20. yeares old who had bin master of a militare order in Portugal named de Auis and so they excluded Dona Beatrix Queene of Castile that was their lawful heyre aud chose this yong man and maried him afterwards to the lady Phillippe daughter of Iohn of Gant Duke of Lancaster by his first wife blanch Duchesse and heyre of Lācaster in whose right the kings of Portugal and ther discendents do pretend vnto this day a cerrayne interest to the house of Lancaster which I leaue to our tēporal lawyer to discusse but heereby we see what an ordinary matter it hath bin in Spayne and Portugal to alter the lyne of next succession vppon any reasonable consideration which they imagined to be for ther weal publique and the like we shal finde in France Ingland which euen now I wil begin to treat of DIVERS OTHER EXAM'PLES OVT OF THE STATES OF FRANCE AND INGLAND FOR proofe that the next in blood are some tymes put backe from succession and how God had approued the same with good successe CAP. VIII AS concerning the state of France I haue noted before that albeit since the entrāce of ther first king Pharamond with his Frankes out of Germanie which vvas about the yeare of Christ 419. they haue neuer had any strāger come to were there crowne which they attribute to the benefit of there law Salike that for biddeth women to reigne yet among themselues haue they changed twyse there whole race and linage of kings once in the entrance of king Pepin that put out the lyne of Pharamond about the yeare 751. and agayne in the promotion of kinge Hugo Capetus that put out the lyne of Pepin in the yeare 988 so as they haue had three discents and races of kings as wel as the spaniards the first of Pharamond the 2. of Pepin and the 3. of Capetus which indureth vnto this present if it be not altered now by the exclusion that diuers pretend to make of the king of Nauarr and other Princes of the blood royal of the howse of Burbon Wherfore as I did before in the spaniards so I wil heere let passe the first ranke of al of the french kings for that some men may say perhaps that the common wealth and law of succession was not so wel setled in those dayes as it hath bin afterward in tyme of kinge Pepin Charles the great and ther discendantes as also for that it were in very deede ouer tedious to examine and pervse al three rankes of kings in France as you wil say when you shal see what store I haue to alleage out of the second ranck only which began vvith the exclusion and deposition of their lawful King Childerike the third and election of king Pepin as before you haue heard at large declared in the third chapter of this discourse it shal not be need ful to repeate the same agayne in this place Pepin then surnamed le brefe or the litle for his smale stature though he vvere a gyant in deeds being made king of France by mere election in the yeare of Christ 751. after 22. kings that had reigned of the first lyne of Pharamond for the space of more then three hundreth yeares and being so famous and worthy a king as al the world knoweth reigned 18. yeares then left his states and kingdomes by succession vnto his eldest sonne Charles surnamed afterward the great for his famous and heroical acts And albeit the vvhole kingdome of France appertayned vnto him alone by the law of succession as hath bin said his father being king and he his eldest sonne yet would the realme of France shew ther authority in his admission which Girard setteth downe in thes vvords Estant Pepin decedé les Francois esleurent Rois Charles Carlomon ses fils ala charge qu'ils partageroient entre eux egalement le royaume Which is king Pipin being deade the french men chose for ther kings his two sonnes Charles and Carlomon with condition that they should part equally betwene them the realme Wherin is to be noted not only the election of the common wealth besides succession but also the heauie condition laid vppon the heyre to part halfe of his kingdome vvith his yonger brother and the very same woords hath Eginard an ancient French writer in the life of this Charles the great
to wit that the French state in a publique assembly did chose two Princes to be their kings with expresse condition to deuide the realme equally as Francis Belforest citeth his wordes which two French authors I meane Girard and Belforest I shal vse principally hereafter in the rest of my citations After three yeares that these two bretherē had reigned together king Carlomon the yonger died and left many sonnes the elder wherof vvas named Adalgise but Belforest sayeth that the Lords ecclesiastical temporal of France swore fidelitie and obedience to Charles without any respect or regard at al of the children of Carlomon who yet by right of succession should haue bin preferred Paulus Emilius a latine writer saith proceres regni ad Carolum vltro venientes regem eum totius Galliae salutarunt that is the nobility of the realme comming of ther owne accord vnto charles saluted him king of al France wherby is shewed that this exclusion of the children of Carlomon was not by force or tiranny but by free deliberation of the realme After Charles the great reigned by successiō his only sonue Luys the first surnamed de bonnaire of his curtesye vvho entring to reigne in the yeare 817. vvith great applause of al men for the excedinge grateful memory of his father vvas yet afterward at the poursuite principally of his owne three sonnes by his first wife which were Lothair pepin and Luys deposed first in a councel at Lions and then agayne at Compeigne and put into a monastery though afterward he came to reigne agayne and his fourth sonne by his secōd vvife vvhich sonne vvas named Gharles le chauue for that he vvas bald succeded him in the states of France though after many battels against his eldest brother Lothaire to whom by succession the same appertayned After Charles the balde succeded Luys the second surnamed le begue for his stuttering who was not eldest but third sonne vnto his father for the second dyed before his father the eldest vvas put by his succession for his euel demeanure this Luys also vvas like to haue bin depriued by the states at his first entrāce for the hatred conceaued against his father Charles the bald but that he calling a solemne parlament at Compeigne as Girard saith he made the people cleargie and nobilitie many faire promises to haue their good vvilles This Luys the stuttering left two bastard sonnes by a cōcubine vvho vvere called Luys and Carlomō as also he left a litle infant newly borne of his lawful vvife Adeltrude daughter to king Alfred of Ingland vvhich infant vvas king of France aftervvard by the name of Charles the simple albeit not immediatly after the death of his father for that the nobles of Frāce said that they had need of a man to be king not a childe as Girard reporteth therfore the vvhole state of France chose for their kinges the tvvo foresaid bastards Luys the third and Carlomon the first of that name ioyntly and they vvere crowned most solemnly deuided the vvhole realme betwene them in the yeare of Christ 881. and Queen Adeltrude vvith her childe true heyre of France fled into Ingland to her father and ther brought him vp for diuers yeares in which tyme she saw foure or fiue kinges reigne in his place in France one after the other for breflv thus it passed Of thes tvvo bastard kings the elder named Luys reigned but foure yeares died without issue the second that is Carlomon liued but one yeare after him and left a sonne called also Luys vvhich succeded in the kingdome by the name of Luys the fift and surnamed Faineant for his idle and slouth ful life For which as also for his vitious behaueour and in particuler for taking out and marying a Nōne of the Abbey of S. Baudour at Chells by Partis he vvas depriued and made a monke in the Abbey of S. Denys vvher he died and in his place vvas chosen king of France and crowned vvith great solemnitie Gharles the 4. Emperor of Rome surnamed le gros for that he vvas fat and corpulēt he vvas nephew to Charles the bald before mentioned and therfore the French stories say that he came to the crowne of France partly by succession and partly by election but for succession vve see that it vvas nothing worth for so muche as Charles the simple the right heyre was a liue in Ingland vvhom it semeth that the french men had quite forgotten seing that now they had not only excluded him three tymes already as you haue hard but afterwards also againe when this grosse Charles was for his euel gouermēt by them deposed and depriued not only of the kingdome of France but also of his Empire vvhich he had before he was kinge was brought into such miserable penurie as diuers write that he perished for wāt At this tyme I saye the states of France vvould not yet admitt Charles the simple though hither to his simplicity did not appeare but he seemed a goodly Prince but rather they chose for king one Odo Earle of Paris and Duke of Angiers and caused him to be crowned But yet after a few yeares being vveary of this mans gouerment and moued also some what with compassion towards the youth that vvas in Ingland they resolued to depose Odo and so they did vvhiles he vvas absent in Gascony and called Charles the simple out of Ingland to Paris and restored him to the kingdome of France leauing only to Odo for recompence the state of Aquitaine with title of a Duke wherwith in fine he contented himselfe seing that he could get no more But yet his posterity by vertue of this election pretended euer after a title to the crowne of France and neuer left it of vntil at length by Hugo Capetus they gat it for Hugh descended of this king and Duke Odo This king Charles then surnamed the simple an Inglish vvomans sonne as you haue hard being thus admitted to the crowne of France he toke to vvife an Inglish vvoman named Elgina or Ogin daughter of king Edward the elder by whom he had a sonne named Lewys and himselfe being a simple man as hath bin saide vvas allured to go to the castle of peronne in Picardie vvher he vvas made ptisoner and forced to resigne his kingdome vnto Rafe king of Burgundye and soone after he dyed through misery in the same castle and his Queene Ogin fled into Ingland vvith her litle sonne Luys vnto her vncle kinge Adelstan as Queene Adeltrude had done before vvith her sonne vnto king Alfred and one of the chiefe in this action for putting downe of the simple vvas Counte Hugh surnamed the great Earle of Paris father vnto Hugo Capetus vvhich after vvas king But this new king Rafe liued but three yeares after and then the states of France considering the right title of Luys the lawful child of
goodly monasteries and churches and dying left as famous a sonne behynde him as himself which was Edward the first surnamed the senior or elder This king Edward dying left two sonnes lawfully begotten of his wife Edgina the one named Prince Edmund and the other Eldred a third illegitimate whose name vvas Adelstan whom he had by a concubine But yet for that this man vvas estemed to be of more valor then the other he was preferred to the crowne before the two other Princes legittimate for so restifieth Polidor in thes wordes Adelstanus ex concubina Edwardi films rex a populo consalutatur atque ad king stonum opidum more maiorum ab Athelmo Cautuariensi Archiepiscopo coronatur vvhich is Adelstan the sonne of king Edward by a concubine vvas made king by the people and vvas crowned according to the old custome by Athelme Archbishop of Caterbury at the towne of kingston Thus far polidor and Stow addeth further thes words His coronation was celebrated in the market place vppon a stage erected on high that the king might better be seene of the multitude he was a Prince of worthy memorie valiant and wife in al his acts brought this land into one perfect monarchie for he expelled vtterly the danes and quieted the welchme Thus much Stow of the successe of chusing this king bastard to reigne To whose acts might be added that he conquered Scotland and brought Constantine their king to do him homage and restored Luys d'Outremer his sisters sonne to the kingdome of France as before hath bin signified This man dying without issue his lawful brother Edmond put back before was admitted to the crowne who being of excellent expectation died after 6. yeares and left two lawful sonnes but yet for that they were yonge they were both put back by the realme and their vncle Eldred was preferred before them so faith Polidor Genuit Edmondus ex Egilda vxore Fduinum Edgarum qui cum etate pueri essent post Eldredum deinde regnarunt King Edmond begat of his wife Egilda two sonnes named Edwin and Edgar who for that they were but children in yeares were put back and reigned afterward after ther vncle Eldred The like saith Stow and yealdeth the same reason in thes wordes Eldred succeded Edmōd his brother for that his sonnes Edwin and Edgar were thought to yong to take so great a charge vppon them This Eldred though he entred as you see against the right of the nephewes yet saith Polidor and Stow that he had al mens good will and was crowned as his brother had bin at kingston by Odo Archbishop of Canterbury and reigned 9. yeares with great good wil and praise of al men He dyed at last without issue and so his elder nephew Edwin vvas admitted to the crowne but yet after foure yeares he was deposed agayne for his leude and vitious life and his yonger brother Edgar admitted in his place in the yeare of Christ 959. This king Edgar that entred by deposition of his brother vvas one of the rarest princes that the world had in his tyme both for peace and vvar iustice pietye and valor Stow sayeth he kept a nauie of three thousand and 6. hundreth shippes distributed in diuers partes for defence of the realme Also that he buylt and restored 47. monasteries at his owne charges and did other many such acts he vvas father to king Edward the martir grand father to king Edward the confessor though by two different wiues for by his first wife named Egilfred he had Edward after martirized and by his secōd vvife Alfred he had Etheldred father to Edvvard the confessor to the end that Etheldred myght raigne his mother Alfred caused King Edward the sonue of Egilfred to be stayne after king Edgar her husband was dead After this so shameful murther of king Edward many good men of the realme vvere of opinion not to admit the succession of Etheldred his half brother both in respect of the murther of king Edward his elder brother cōmitted for his sake as also for that he semed a man not fir to gouerne and of this opinion among others vvas the holy man Dunston archbishop of Canterbury as Polidor sayeth who at length in flat words denyed to consecrate him but seing the most part of the realme bent on Etheldreds side he foretould them that it would repent them after and that in this mās life the realme should be destroyed as in deede it vvas and he rann away to Normandy and left Sweno and his danes in possession of the realme though afterward Sweno being dead he returned agayne and dyed in London This Etheldred had two wiues the first Ethelgina an Inglish womā by whom he had prince Edmund surnamed Ironside for his great strength and valor vvho suceeded his father in the crowne of Ingland for a yeare and at his death left two sonnes which after shal be named and besides this Etheldred had by his first wife other two sonnes Edwin and Adelston and one daughter named Edgina al which were ether slayne by the danes or dyed without issue The secōd wife of Etheldred was called Emma sister to Richard Duke of Normandie vvho was grand father to William the conqueror to witt father to Duke Robert that was father to VVilliam so as Emma vvas great aunt to this VVilliam and she bare vnto king Etheldred two sonnes the first Edward who was afterward named king Edward the Confessor and Alerud who was slayne traiterously by the Earle of kent as presently we shal shew After the death also of king Etheldred Queene Fmma was maried to the Dane king Canutus the first of that name surnamed the great that was king of Ingland after Etheldred Edmond Ironside his sonne and to him she bare a sonne named Hardicanutus vvho reigned also in Ingland before king Edvvard the Confessor New then to come to our purpose he that wil consider the passing of the crowne of Ingland from the death of Edmonde Ironside elder sonne of king Eltheldred vntil the possession therof gotten by VVilliam Duke of Normandie to wit for the space of 50. yeares shal easely see what authority the common wealth hath in such affaires to alter titles of succession according as publique necessity or vtility shal require for thus briefly the matter passed King Eltheldred seing himselfe to vveake for Sweno the king of Danes that vvas entred the land fled with his wife Emma and her two children Edward and Alerud vnto her brother Duke Richard of Normandie ther remayned vntil the death of Sweno and he being dead Etheldred returned into Ingland made a certayne agrement and diuision of the realme betweene him Canutus the sonne of Sweno and so dyed leauing his eldest sonne Edmond Ironside to succed him who soone after dying also left the whole realme to the said Canutus and that by playne couenant as Canutus pretended that
affliction also ensewed in France though not for succession but vppon other occasions betwene the great and royal houses of Burgundy and Orleans vvherby al three common wealthes I meane Ingland Britanie and France vvere like to haue come to distruction and vtter desolation And for that it may serue much to our purpose hereafter to vnderstand vvel this contiousie of Britanie I thinke it not amisse in few vvordes to declare the same in this place thus then it happened The foresaid Arthur the secōd of that name duke of Britanie and sonne of Lady Beatrix that was daughter as hath bin said to king Henry the third of Ingland had two vviues the first named Beatrix as his mother vvas and by this he had two sonnes Iohn that succeded him in the state by the name of duke Iohn the third and Guye that dying before his elder brother left a daughter and heyre named Ioan and surnamed the lame for that she halted who vvas marryed to the earle of Bloys that vvas nephew to Phillip of Valois king of France for that he vvas borne of his sister But besides these two children the said duke Arthur had by his second wife named Ioland countesse and heyre of the earldome of Monford an other sonne called Iohn Breno vvho in the right of his mother vvas earle of Monford And afterward vvhen duke Iohn the third came to die vvithout issue the question vvas who should succede him in his dukedome the vncle or the neece that is to saye his third brother Iohn Breno by half bloode or els his Neece Ioan the lame that vvas daughter and heyre to his second brother Guye of whole bloode that is by father and mother which lady Ioan was marryed to the earle of Bloys as hath byn said And first this matter vvas handled in the parlament of Paris the king himselfe sitting in iudgment vvith al his peeres the 30. day of Septemb. 1341. and adiuged it to the earle of Bloys both for that his wife vvas heyre to the elder brother as also for that duke Iohn by his testament and consent of the states had appointed her to be his heyre but yet king Edward the third and states of Ingland did iudge it otherwise and preferred Iohn Monford not knowing that the very like case vvas to fal out very soone after in Ingland I meane they iudged the state to Iohn Breno earle of monford yonger brother to Guye they did assist him and his sonne after him vvith al their forces for the gayning and holding of that state And albeit at the beginning it seemed that matters went against Monford for that himselfe vvas taken prisoner in Nantes and carryed captiue to Paris vvhere he dyed in prison yet his sonne Iohn by the assistance of the Inglish armies gat the dukedome afterward and slew the earle of Bloys and vvas peaceably duke of Britanie by the name of Iohn the fourth and his posterity hath indured vntil this day as briefly heere I wil declare This duke Iohn the fourth of the house of Monford had issue Iohn the fift he Francis the first vvho dying without issue left the dukedome to Peter his brother and Peter hauing no children neither he left it to his vncle Arthur the third brother to his father Iohn the fift and this Arthur vvas earle of Richmond in Ingland as some of his ancestors had bin before him by gyftes of the kings of Ingland This Arthur dying without issue left the dukdome vnto his nephew to vvit his brothers sonne Francis the second who vvas the last male child of that race and was he that had once determyned to haue deliuered Henry earle of Richmond vnto his enimye king Edward the fourth and after him to king Richard the 3. but that Henries good fortune reserued him to come to be king of Ingland This duke Francis had a daughter and heyre named Anna marryed first to Charles the eight king of France and after his death without issue to his successor Lewis the 12. by whome she had a daughter named Claudia that was heyre to Britanie though not to the crowne of France by reason of the law Salique that holdeth against vvomen in the kingdome of Frace but not in Britanie and to the end this dukdome should not be disvnited agayne from the said crowne of France this daughter Claudia vvas marryed to Francis duke of Angoleme heyre apparent to the crowne of France by vvhom she had issue Henry that was afterward king of France and vvas father to the last king of that country and to Ysabel mother of the Infanta of Spayne and of her sister the duchesse of Sauoye that now is by which also some do affirme that the said princesse or Infanta of spayne albeit she be barred from the successiō of France by their pretended law Salique yet is her title manifest to the dukdome of Britanie that came by a woman as we haue shewed and thus much of the house of Britanie and of the princesse of Spaine how she is of the blood royal of Ingland from the tyme of VVilliam Conqueror himselfe by his eldest daughter as also by other kings after him and now we shall returne to prosecute the issue of these two sonnes of king Henry the third to wit of Edward and Edmond which before we left I shewed yon before how king Henry the third had two sonnes Edward the prince that vvas king after his father by the name of Edward the first and Edmond surnamed crokback by some writers who vvhas the first earle and county Palatine of Lancaster and beginner of that house And albeit some writers of our tyme haue affirmed or at least wise much inclined to fauour a certayne old report that Edmōd should be the elder brother to Edward and put back only for his deformity of his body wherof Polidor doth speak in the begining of the reigne of king Henry the fourth and as vvel the Bishop of Rosse as also George Lylly do seeme to beleeue it yet euident it semeth that is was but a fable as before I haue noted and now againe I shall briefly proue it by these reasōs following for that it importeth very muche for deciding the cōtrouersie between the howses of Lancaster and yorke The first reason then is for that al ancient historiographers of Ingland and among them Matheus Westmonasteriensis that liued at the same tyme do affirme the cōtrary and do make Edward to be elder then Edmond by six yeares and two dayes for that they appointe the birth of Prince Edward to haue bin vppon the 16. day of Iune in the yeare of Christ 1239 the 24. of the reigne of his father king Henry and the birth of Lord Edmond to haue followed vppon the 18. day of the same moneth 6. yeares after to wit in the yeare of our lord 1245. and they do name the godfathers and godmothers of them both together with the peculier
vvife the lady Gertrude taking from her al her goodes landes and inheritance and committed to perpetual prison their only sonne and heyre lord Edward Courtney being then but a childe of seuen yeares old vvhich remayned so there vntil many yeares after he vvas set at libertie and restored to his liuing by Queene Mary Moreouer he put to death the lady 〈◊〉 Plantagenet Countesse of Salisbury daughter of George duke of Clarence that vvas brother of his grandfather king Edward the fourth vvith her he put to death also her eldest sonne and heyre Thomas Poole lord Montague and committed to perpetual prison where soone after also he ended his life a little infant named Henry Poole his sonne and heyre condemned to death by act of parlament although absent Renald Pole brother to the said lord Montague Cardinal in Rome wherby he ouerthrew also the noble house of Salisbury and vvarwick nether need I to go further in this relation though these men do note also how Edward the sixt put to death two of his owne vncles the Seymers or at least it vvas done by his authority and how that vnder her Maiestie that now is the Queene of Scotland that vvas next in 〈◊〉 of any other liuing the chiefe titler of the honse of Yorke hath also bin put to death Lastly they do note and I may not omit it that their is no noble house standing at this day in Ingland in the ancient state of calling that it had and in that dignity and degree that it vvas in vvhen the house of Yorke entred to the crowne if it be aboue the state of a barony but only such as defended the right and interest of the houses of Lancaster and that al other great houses that toke parte vvith the house of Yorke and did helpe to ruine the house of Lancaster be either ceased since or extyrpated and ouer throwne by the same house of Yorke it selfe which they assisted to gett the crowne so at this present they be either vnited to the crowne by confiscatiō or transferred to other Images that are strangers to them who possessed thē before As for example the ancient houses of Inglād that remaine at this day were stāding whē the house of Yorke begā ther title are the houses of Arōdel Oxford Northūberland Westmerland Shrewsbery for al other that are in Ingland at this day aboue the dignity of Barons haue bin aduanced since that tyme and al these fiue houses vvere these that principally did stick vnto the house of Lancaster as is euident by al Inglish chronicles For that the earle of Arondel brought in king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster and did helpe to place him in the dignity royal comming out of France vvith him The earle of Oxford and his sonne the lord Vere were so earnest in the defence of king Hēry the sixt as they were both slayne by king Edward the fourth and Iohn earle of Oxford vvas one of the principal assistāts of Hēry the seuēth to take the crowne frō Richard the third The house of Northumberland also was a principal ayder to Henry the fourth in getting the crowne and two earles of that name to wit Henry the second and third were slayne in the quarrel of king Henry the sixt one in the battel of S. Albons and the other of Saxton and a third earle named Henry the fourth fled into Scotlād vvith the said king Henry the sixt The house of Westmerland also vvas chiefe aduācer of Hēry the fourth to the crowne the secōd earle of that house vvas slayne in the party of Henry the sixt in the said bartaile of Saxton and Iohn earle of Shrewsbury vvas likevvise slayne in defence of the title of Lancaster in the bartaile of Northamptō and I omit many other great seruices and faithful endeuours vvhich many Princes of these fiue noble anciēt houses did in the defence of the Lancastrian kings vvhich these men say that God hath revvarded vvith continuance of their howses vnto this day But on the contrary side these men do note that al the old houses that principally assisted The title of Yorke are now extinguished and that chiefly by the kings themselues of that house as for example the principal peeres that assisted the family of Yorke vvere Moubray duke of Norfolke de la Poole duke of Suffolk the earle of Salisbury and the earle of Warwick of al which the euent was this Iohn Moubray duke of Norfolke the first confederat of the house of Yorke dyed soone after the exaltation of Edward the fourth vvithout ifsue and so that name of Moubray ceased and the title of the dukedome of Norfolke vvas transferred afterward by king Richard the third vnto the house of Howards Iohn de la Poole duke of Suffolke that married the sister of king Edward the fourth was his great assistant though he left three sonnes yet al were extinguished vvithout issue by helpe of the house of Yorke for that Edmond the eldest sonne duke of Suffolke vvas beheaded by king Henry the eight his brother Richard driuen out of the realme to his destruction as before hath bin shewed Iohn their brother earle of Lincolue was stayne at Stockfild in seruice of king Richard the third and so ended the line of de la Pooles Richard Neuel earle of Salisbury a chiefe enemy to the house of Lancaster and exalter of York vvas taken at the battaile of VVakefild and there beheaded leauing three sonnes Richard Iohn and George Richard vvas earle both of Salisbuty and Warwick surnamed the great earle of Warwick vvas he that placed king Edward the fourth in the royal seate by whome yet he vvas slayne afterward at Barnet and the landes of these two great earldomes of Salisbury and Warwick were vnited to the crowne by his attainder Iohn his yonger brother vvas Marques of montague and after al assistance giuen to the said king Edward the fourth of the howse of Yorke vvas slayne also by him at Barnet and his lands in like māner confiscate to the crowne vvhich yet vvere neuer restored againe George Neuel their yonger brother vvas Archbishop of Yorke vvas taken sent prisoner by the said king Edward vnto Guynes vvho shortly after pined avvay and dyed and this vvas the ende of al the principal frendes helpers aduancers of the house of Yorke as these men do alleage Wherfore they do conclude that for al these reasons many more that might be alleaged the title of Lancaster must needes seeme the better title which they do confirme by the general consent of al the realme at king Henry the seuenth his comming in to recouer the crowne from the house of Yorke as from vsurpers for hauing had the victory against king Richard they crowned him presētly in the field in the right of Lācaster before he married with the house of Yorke
the auersion and natural alienatiōn of that people from the Inglish and their ancient inclination to ioyne with the Frēch Irish against vs maketh it yery probable that that subiection of theirs to the crowne of Ingland vvould not loug indure as by expetience we haue feene since the tyme of king Edward the first vvhen after the death of their king Alexander the third without issue they chose king Edward to be their king deliuered their townes and fortresses into his hands did sweare him fealty receaued his deputy or viceroy as Polidor at large declareth And yet al this serued afterward to no other effect but only slaughter bloodshed and infinyt losses and charges of Ingland Thirdly they saye that if the king of Scots should come to possesse the crowne of Inglād he cannot choose at least for many yeares but to stand in great ielousy of so many other competitors of the Inglish blood royal as he shal finde in Ingland against whom he must needes fortifie him selfe by those other forayne natiōs that may be presumed to be most sure vnto him though most contrary by natural inclination least tollerable in gouermēt to Inglish men as are the Scots of whom he is borne and danes vvith vvhom he is allyed and French of vvhom he is descended and of the vnciuil part ofIreland vvith vvhom one great piece of his realme hath most coniunction the authority sway of which fower nations in Ingland and ouer Inglish-men vvhat trouble it may worke euery vvise man may easely coniecture Besides that the Scots-men themselues specially those of the nobility do openly professe that they desire not this coniunction and subordination vnto Ingland which in no wise they can beare both for the auersion they haue to al Inglish gouerment ouer them as also for that their liberties are far greater as now they liue then in that case it would be suffred their king coming heerby to be of greater power to force them to the forme of Inglish subiection as no doubt but in tyme he would And seing the greatest vtility that in this case by reason and probability can be hoped for by this vnion is that the Scotish nation should come to be aduanced in Inglād and to be made of the nobility both temporal and spiritual of the priuy councel and of other lyke dignities of credit and confidence for otherwise no vnion or amitie durable can be hoped for and considering that the king both for his owne safetie as before hath bin said as also for gratitude and loue to his owne nation and allied frends must needs plant them about him in chiefe place of credit vvhich are most opposite to Inglish natures and by litle litle through occasion of emulations and of controuersies that vvil fal out daylie betwixt such diuersity of nations he must needes secretlie begin to fauour and fortifie his owne as we reade that William Conqueror did his Normannes and Canutus before him his Danes to the incredible calamity of the Inglish nation though otherwise neither of them vvas of themselues either an euil king or enimye to the Inglish blood but driuē hereunto for their owne saftie and for that it vvas impossible to stand neutral in such national contentions if al this I say fel out so then as vve know it did and our ancestors felt it to their extreme ruine what other effect can be hoped for now by this violent vnion of nations that are by nature so disunited and opposite as are the Inglish Scotish Irishe Danishe Frenche other on them depending vvhich by this meanes must needs be planted together in Ingland And if vve reade that the vvhole realme of Spayne did refuse to admitt S. Lewis king of France to be their king in Spayne to vvhom yet by law of succession it vvas euident confessed by the spaniards themselues as their chronicler Garibay writeth that the right most clearly dyd appertayne by his mother lady Blanch eldest daughter and heyre of K. Alonso the nynth and that they dyd this only for that he vvas a Frenchman and might therby bring the french to haue chiefe authority in Spayne and if for this cause they did agree together to giue the kingdome rather to Ferdinando the third that was sonne of Lady Berenguela yonger sister to the said lady Blanch and if this determination vvas thought at that tyme to be vvife and prouident though against al right of lineal succession and if vve see that it had good successe for that it indureth vnto this day what shal vve say in this case say these men vvhere the king in question is not yet a S. Lewis nor his title to Ingland so cleere as that other vvas to spayne and the auersion betwixt his nation and ours much greater then vvas that betwixt the french and Spanish thus they do reason Agayne we heard out of the discourse made by the Ciuilian before how the states of Portugal after the death of their king Don Ferdinando the first of that name vvho left one only daughter and heyre named lady Beatrix married vnto Iohn the first king of Castile to whō the succession of Portugal vvithout al controuersie did apertaine they rather determyned to chose for their king a bastard brother of the sayd Don Fernando named Iohn then to admitt the true inheretor Beatrix vvith the gouerment of the Castilians by vvhom yet they being much the richer people the Portugals might hope to reape far greater vtility then Inglish men can do by Scotland considering it is the poorer country and nation And this is that in effect which these men do answere in this behalfe noting also by the way that the Romās themselues vvith al their power could neuer bring vnion or peace betweene thease two nations of Ingland Scotlande nor hold the Scots and North-Irish in obedience of any authority residing in Ingland and so in the end they vvere enforced to cut them of to make that famous walle begun by Adrian and pursued by other Emperours to diuide them from Inglād and barre them from ioyning as al the vvorld knoweth and much lesse shal any one king liuing in Ingland now hold them al in obedience let him be of vvhat nation he vvil and this for the vtility that may be hoped by this vnion But now for the other pointe alleaged by the fauourers of Scotland about establishmēt of true religion in Ingland by entrance of this king of Scots these other mē do hold that this is the vvoorst and most dangerous pointe of al other considering vvhat the state of religion is in Scotland at this day and how different or rather opposite to that forme which in Ingland is mainteyned and vvhen the Archbishopes bishopes deanes archdeacons and other such of ecclesiastical and honorable dignities of Ingland shal consider that no such dignity or promotion is left now standing in Scotland no nor any cathedral
or collegiate church is remayned on foote vvith the rents and dignities therunto apperteyning and vvhen our nobilytie shal remember how the nobilitie of Scotland is subiect at this day to a few ordinary and common ministers vvithout any head vvho in their synodes and assemblies haue authority to put to the horne and driue out of the realme any noble man vvhatsoeuer vvithout remedy or redresse except he vvil yeald and humble himselfe to them and that the king himselfe standeth in avve of this exorbitant and populer povver of his ministers and is content to yeld therunto it is to be thought say these men that few Inglish be they of vvhat religion or opinion so-euer vvil shevv themselues forvvard to receaue such a King in respect of his religion that hath no better order in his ovvne at home and thus much concerning the King of Scotland Now then it remayneth that we come to treat of the lady Arbella second branch of the house of Scotlād touching whose title though much of that vvhich hath bin said before for or against the king of Scotland may also be vnderstoode to apparteyne vnto her for that she is of the same house yet shal I in this place repeat in few wordes the principal points that are alleaged in her behalfe or preiudice First of al then is alleaged for her and by her fauourers that she is descended of the foresaid lady Margaret eldest daughter of king Henry the seuenth by her second marriage vvith Archibald Duglas earle of Anguys and that she is in the third degree only from her for that she is the daughter of Charles Steward vvho was sonne to Margaret Countesse of Lenox daughter to the said lady Margaret Queene of Scots so as this lady Arbella is but neece once remoued vnto the said Queene Margaret to vvit in equal degree of discent vvith the king of Scots vvhich king being excluded as the fauorers of this vvoman do affirme by the causes and arguments before alleaged against hym no reason say they but that this lady should enter in his place as next in blood vnto him Secondly is alleaged in her behalfe that she as an Inglish vvoman borne in Ingland and of parents vvho at the tyme of her birth vvere of Inglish alleageance vvherin she goeth before the king of Scots as hath bin seene as also in this other principal pointe that by her admission no such inconuenience can be feared of bringing in strangers or causing troobles sedition vvith-in the realme as in the pretence of the Scotish king hath bin considered and this in effect is al that I haue heard alleaged for her But against her by other competitors and their frendes I haue hard diuers arguments of no smale importance and consideration produced vvherof the first is that vvhich before hath bin alleaged against the king of Scotlād in like māner to wit that neither of them is properly of the house of Lancaster as in the genealogie set downe in the third chapter hath appeared And secondly that the title of Lācaster is before the pretence of Yorke as hath bin proued in the fourth chapter wherof is inferred that neythere the king of Scots nor Arbella are next in successiō and for that of these two propositiōs ther hath bin much treated before I remitte me therunto only promising that of the first of the tvvo vvhich is how king Henry the seuēth vvas of the house of Lancaster touching right of succession I shal handle more particulerly afterward vvhen I come to speake of the house of Portugal vvherby also shal appeare playnly vvhat pretence of succession to the crowne or duchy of Lancaster the discendentes of the said king Henry can iustely make The second impediment against the lady Arbella is the aforesaid testament of king Henry the eight and the two acts of parlaments for authorising of the same by al vvhich is pretended that the house of Suffolke is preferred before this other of Scotland A third argument is for that there is yet liuing one of the house of Suffolk that is neerer by a degree to the stemme to vvit to Hēry the seuenth to vvhom after the discease of her Maiesty that now is we must returne then is the lady Arbella or the king of Scots and this is the lady Margeret countesse of Darby mother to the present earle of Darby vvho was daughter to lady Elenor daughter of Queene Mary of France that vvas second daughter of king Henry the seuēth so as this lady Margaret coūtesse of Darby is but in the third degree from the said Henry wheras both the king of Scotland and Arbella are in the fourth and consequently she is next in propinquitie of blood how greatly this propinquity hath bin fauoured in such cases though they vvere of the yōger liine the examples before alleaged in the fourth chapter do make manifest Fourthlie and lastely and most strongly of al they do argue against the title of this lady Arbella affirming that her discent is not free from bastardly vvhich they proue first for that Queene Margaret soone after the death of her first husband king Iames the fourth marryed secretly one Steward lord of Annerdale which Steward vvas alyue longe after her marriage vvith Duglas and consequently this second marriage vvith Duglas Steward being aliue could not be lawful vvhich they do proue also by an other meane for that they saie it is most certaine and to be made euident that the said Archibald Duglas earle of Anguis had an other vvife also aliue vvhen he married the said Queene vvhich points they say vvere so publique as they came to king Henries eares vvhervppon he sent into Scotland the lord William Howard brother to the old duke of Norfolke and father to the present lord Admiral of Ingland to enquire of these pointes and the said lord Howard founde them to be true and so he reported not only to the king but also aftervvards many tymes to others and namely to Queene Mary to vvhom he vvas lord Chamberlayne and to diuers others of vvhom many be yet liuing which can and will testefy the same vppon the relation they heard from the-sayd lord Williams owne mouthe vvheruppon king Henry vvas greatly offended and would haue letted the marriage betweene his said sister and Duglas but that they were married in secret and had consummate their marriage before this was knowne or that the thing could be preuented vvhich is thought vvas one especial cause and motiue also to the said king afterward to put back the issue of his said sister of Scotland as by his fornamed testament is pretended and this touching Arbellas title by propinquitie of byrthe But besides this the same men do alleage dimers reasons also of inconucnience in respect of the common vvealthe for vvhich in their opinions it should be hurtful to the real me to admitt this lady Arbella for Queene as first of al for that she is a
also of the houses of Scotland Suffolke that hold likewise of the house of Yorke and that for the reasons and argumēts vvhich in the former two chapters I haue set downe in particuler against euery one of them and shal here-after also againe those that remaine vvhich arguments and obiections or any of them if they should not be founde sufficient to exclude the said other houses then is the clayme of this house of Huntington therby made voide for that it is as vve see by the yonger childe of the house of Yorke that is to saye by the second brother so as if either the pretence of Lancaster in general be better thē that of Yorke or if in the house of Yorke it selfe any of the fornamed pretenders descended frō K. Edward the fourth as of the elder brother may hold or take place then holdeth not this title of Clarence for that as I haue said it cōming from the yonger brother must needes be grounded only or principally vppō the barring and excluding of the rest that ioyntly do pretēd of which barres and exclusions laid by this house of Clarence against the rest for that I haue spoken sufficiētly in the last two chapters going tefore for so much as toucheth the two houses of Scotland and Suffolk and shal do afterwards about the other two of Britanie and Portugal I meane in this place to omit to say any more therin only to consider vvhat the other competitors do alleage against this house of Clarence and especially agaynst the pretence of the earle of Huntington as chiefe titler therof for to the excluding of him do concurr not only those other of opposite houses but also the Pooles of his owne house as now vve shall see First then the contrary houses do alleage generally against al this house of Clarence that seing their clayme is founded only vppon the right of the daughter of George duke of Clarence second brother to K. Edward the fourth euident it is that so long as any lawful issue remayneth of any elder daughter of the said king Edward the elder brother as they say much doth and cannot be denyed no clayme or pretence of the yonger brothers daughter can be admitted and so by standing vppon this and answering to the obiections alleaged before against the elder houses they hold this matter for very cleere and al pretence of this house of Clarence vtterly excluded Secondly the same opposite houses do alleage diuers attainders against the principal heades of the house of Clarence vvherby their vvhole interests vvere cut of as namely it is to be shewed in three discents the one after the other to vvit in duke George himselfe the first head beginner of this house that was attainted and executed and then in the lady Margaret his daughter and heyre countesse of Salisbury and in like manner attaynted and executed thirdly in her sonne and heyre Henry Poole lord Monrague put also to death from vvhose daughters both the earle of Huntington his brethren vvith the children of Syr Thomas Barrington do descende and albeit some may say that the said house of Clarence hath bin since those attainders restored in blood yet reply these men that except it can be shewed that particuler mention was made of reabiliting the same to this pretence of succession to the crowne it vvil not be sufficient as in like manner they affirme that the same restoring in blood if any such were hath not bin sufficiēt to recouer the ancient landes and titles of honor which this house of Clarence had before these attainders for that they were forfeited therby to the crowne and so say these men was their forfeited therby in like manner vnto the next in blood not attainted this prerogatiue of succeeding to the crowne and cannot be restored againe by any general restauration in blood except special mention be made therof euen as vve see that many houses attainted are restored daylie in blood without restoremēt of their titles and dignities and a present example we haue in the earle of Arundel restored in blood but not to the title of duke of Norfolke and this saye the opposite houses against this house of Clarence But now thirdly entreth in also against the earle of Huntington the opposition of some of his owne house vvhich is of the issue of Syr Geffrey Poole brother to his grād father vvho say that vvhen the lord Henry Montague vvas put to death vvith his mother the countesse of Salisbury and therby both their pretences and titles cut of in them then fel al such right as they had or might haue vppō the said Sir Geffry Poole and not vppon his neece the lady Catherin daughter of the lord Henry his elder brother and mother of the earle of Huntingtō and this for three causes First for that he was not attainted and so vvhether we respect his grand-father duke George of Clarence or his great grand father duke Richard of York the saide right in this respect discended to him and secondly for that he vvas a degree neerer to the said dukes his ancestors then vvas at that tyme his neece Catherine vvhich right of neerest propinquitie say these men is made good lawful by al the reasons examples presidēts and authorities alleaged before in the fourth chapter of this conference in fauour of vncles before their nephewes and it shal not neede that vve speake any thing more of that matter in this place but only to remit your remembrance to that vvhich herein hath bin said before Fourthly they proue the same in fauour of Syr Geffrey for that the lady Catherin vvas a vvoman and Syr Geffrey a man vvhose priuilege is so great in a matter of succession as also hath bin touched before that albeit they had bin in equal degree and that Syr Greffrey were not a degree before her as he vvas yet seing neither of thē nor their fathers vvere euer in possessiō of the thing pretended Sir Geffrey should be preferred as hath bin shewed before by some presidents and shal be seene afterward in the case of Portugal wherin the king of Spaine that now is vvas preferred to the crowne for that respect only that his competitors vvere vvomen and in equal degree of discent vvith him and he a man And the very like allegation of propinquitie I haue hard produced for the lady Wenefred vvife of Syr Thomas Barrington if she be yet a-liue to wit that she is before the earle of Huntington and his brethrē by this reason of propinquitie in bloode for that she is one degree neerer to the stock then they Fiftly and lastely both these and other cōpetitors do alleage against the earle of Hūntington as an important and sufficient barr against his pretence the qualitie of his religion vvhich is as they say that he hath bin euer knowne to fauour those which commonly in Ingland are called Puritanes and not fauoured by the state but yet this
To the last pointe of religion they answer that this impediment is not vniuersal not admitted in the iudgment of al men but only of those Inglish that be of different religion from her But to some others and those many as these men do vveene her religion vvil rather be a motiue to fauour her title then to hinder the same so that on this ground no certaintie can be buylded and this is as much as I haue to say at this tyme of these two families of Clatence and Britanie OF THE HOVSE OF PORTVGAL VVHICH CONTEYNETH THE CLAYMES AS VVEL OF the king and prince of Spayne to the succession of Ingland as also of the dukes of Parma and Bragansa by the house of Lancaster CAP. VIII IT hath bin oftentymes spoken before vppon occasions offred that the princes of the house of Portugal at this day do persuade thēselues that the only remaynder of the house of Lancaster resteth among them as the only true heyres of the lady Blanch duchesse and heyre of Lancaster first wife of Iohn of Gaunt which pointe of these princes descents from the said duchesse of Lancaster though it be declared sufficiently before in the third and fourth chapters yet wil I briefly here also set downe and repeat agayne the reasons therof vvhich are these that follow Iohn of Gaunt vvas duke of Lancaster by the right of his first vvife lady Blanch and had by her only one sonne as also one daughter of vvhom vve neede heere to speake for that the other hath left no issue now liuing The sonne vvas king Henry the fourth vvho had issue king Henry the fift and he agayne Henry the sixt in vvhom vvas extinguished al the succession of this sonne Henry The daughter of Iohn of Gaunt by lady Blanch vvas called Phillip vvho vvas married to Iohn the first king of that name of Portugal vvho had issue by him king Edward and he agayne had issue king Alfonsus the fift king of Portugal and he and his ofspringe had issue agayne the one after the other vntil our tymes and so by this marriage of lady Phillip to their first king Iohn these princes of the house of Portugal that liue at this day do pretende that the inheritance of Lancaster is only in them by this lady Phillip for that the succession of her elder brother king Henry the fourth is expired long ago This is effect is their pretence but now vve vvil passe on to see vvhat others say that do pretend also to be of the house of Lancaster by a latter marriage Iohn of Gaunt after the death of his first vvife lady Blanch dyd marrye againe the lady Constance daughter of king Peter surnamed the cruel of Castile and had by her one daughter only named Catherin vvhom he married afterward back to Castile againe giuing her to vvife to king Henry the third of that name by vvhom she had issue king Iohn and he others so as lineally king Philippe king of Spayne is descēded from her vvhich king Phillip being at this day king also of Portugal and the cheife titler of that house vnto Ingland he ioyneth the inheritance of both the two daughters of Iohn of Gaunt in one so we shal not neede to talk of these two daughters hearafter distinctly but only as of one seing that both their discents do end in this one man The only difficultie and dissention is then about the issue of the third marriage vvhich vvas of Iohn of Gaunt vvith lady Catherin Swinford whom he first kept as a Concubine in the tyme of his second wife lady Constance as before hath bin shewed in the third chapter and begat of her fower children and after that his wife lady Constance vvas dead he tooke her to vvife for the loue he bare to his children a litle before his death and caused the said children to be legitimated by authority of parlament and for that none of these fower children of his haue left issue but only one that vvas Iohn earle of Somerset we shal speake only of him ommitting al the rest This Iohn then earle of Somerset had issue an other Iohn which was made duke of Somerset by king Henry the sixt who vvith his three sonnes vvere slayne by the princes of the house of Yorke in the quarrel of Lancaster so left only one daughter named Margaret who by her husbād Edmond Tydder earle of Richmond vvas Countesse of Richmond had by him a sonne named Henry earle of Richmond that was after king by the name of king Henry the senenth and from him al his discendents both of the house of Scotland and Suffolke do pretend also to be of the house of Lancaster which yet can be no otherwise then now hath bin declared to wit not from Blanch first wife heyre of the duchy of Lancastee but frō Catherin Swinford his third wife vvherin riseth the question vvhether those men I meane king Henry the seuēth his discendents may properlie be said to be of the true house of Lancaster or no wherunto some do answere vvith a distinctiō to wit that to the duchy of Lācaster wherof the first wife lady Blāch was heire these of the third marriage cannot be heyres but only the remaynder of the issue of the said lady Blanch that resteth in the princes of the house of Portugal But yet to the title of the crowne of Inglande which came by Iohn of Gaūt himselfe in that he vvas third sonne of K. Edward the third and eldest of al his children that liued vvhen the said king Edward dyed by vvhich is pretended also that he should haue succeded immediatly after him before king Richard the secōd as before in the fourth chapter hath bin declared to this right I saie to this interest of the crowne which came by Iohn of Gaunt himselfe not by lady Blāch or by any other of his wiues the discendents of king Henry the seuenth do say that they may and ought to succede for that Iohn earle of Somerset eldest sonne of Iohn of Gaunt by lady Catherin Swinford though he vvere begotten out of matrimony yet being afterward made legitimate he vvas to inherite this right of Iohn of Gaunt his father before the lady Phillip his sister for that so vve see that king Edvvard the sixt though yonger and but halfe brother vnto the lady Mary and Elizabeth his sisters yet he inherited the crowne before them and in like manner is lord Phillippe prince of Spaine at this daye to inherite al the states of that crowne before his two sisters that be elder then he so likewise saye these men ought Iohn of Somerset to haue donne before Phillippe his eldest sister if he had bin aliue at that tyme vvhen king Henry the sixt vvas put downe and dyed and consequently his posterity vvhich are the discendents of king Henry the seuenth ought to enioye the same before the princes
vvith the king of Castiles daughter and had by her a sonne called Denyse vvho reigned after him and his successors vnto this day al which succession of kinge Denyse his posteritie the said Queene mother would haue improued and shevved that it apperteyned to her by the said Raphe for this cause sent she to Portugal one lord Vrban bishop of Comince in Gasgonie to plead her cause vvhich cause of hers vvas quicklie reiected and only the forsaide fiue princes discended of king Emanuels children were admitted to tryal for the same which vvere Don Antonio sonne of lord Lewis the king Cardinals elder brother and king Phillip of Spayne sonne of lady Elizabeth the eldest sisteof t he said Cardinal and Philibert duke of Sauoy sonne of the lady Beatrix the same Cardinals yonger sister and the two duchesses of Parma and Bragansa named Mary and Catherine daughters of lord Edward yonger brother of the said Cardinal and yongest child of king Emanuel And for that the lady Mary duchesse of Parma vvhich vvas the elder of the tvvo daughters vvas dead before this controuersie fel out her eldest sonne lord Ranutio now duke of Parma pretended by her right to the said crowne And for that this matter vvas of so great importance euery parte procured to lay downe their reasons and declared their rightes in the best manner they could and such as could not be present themselues in Portugal sent thither their agentes Embassadors and Atturneys to plead their causes for them Don Antonio and the duchesse of Bragansa as inhabitants of that kingdome were present and declared their pretences namely Don Antonio by himselfe and for himselfe and the lady Mary of Bragansa by her husband the duke and his learned councel The prince of Parma sent thither for his parte one Ferdinande Farnese bishop of Parma The duke of Sauoy sent Charles of Rouere aftervvard made Cardinal The king of Spaine as the greatest pretender sent the lord Peter Gyrō duke of Osuna afterward Viceroy of Naples Syr Christopher de Mora knight of his chamber at that tyme but since of his priuye councel and lately made earle of Castel Rodrigo in Portugal of vvhich country he is natiue and besides these two a great lawyer named Roderigo Vasques made since as I heare saye lord President of Castil vvhich is as much almost as lord Chancelor vvith vs. Al these did lay forth before the king Cardinall their seueral reasons and pretensions to the succession of the crowne of Portugal for the fiue persons before mentioned whereof two vvere quickly excluded to wit the duke of Sauoy for that his mother was yonger sister to king Phillips mother and himselfe also of lesse age then the said king And secondly Don Antonio was also excluded by publike and iudicial sentence of the king Cardinal his vncle as illegitimate and borne out of lawful wedloke and albeit Dō Antonio denyed the same and went about to proue hym selfe legitimat affirming that his father the lord Lewis before his death had married with his mother in secret and for this brought forth some witnesses as namely his mothers sister with her husband and two others yet the king Cardinal affirmed that vppon examinatiō he had found them to be suborned vvhich he said vvas euident to him partly for that they agreed not in their speeches and partly for that some of them had confessed the same to wit that they were suborned vvhom he cast into prison and caused them to be punished and so sitting in iudgement accompained with fower bishopes and fower lawyers vvhō he had called to assist him in this cause he pronounced the same Don Antonio to be a bastard for vvhich the Authors that I haue read about this matter which are principally two the first named Hierom Franke a gentleman of Genua who wrote ten bookes in Italian of the vnion of the crowne of Portugal to the crowne of Castilia and the second is named Ioanes Antonius Viperanus a Sicilian as I take him who wrote one booke only in latine de obtenta Portugallia à rege Catholico Phillippo of Portugal gotte by king Phillip the Catholike both these bookes I say out of vvhom principally I haue taken the pointes which heere I wil touch do seuerally set downe the causes following vvhy the king Cardinal did reiect the pretence of Don Antonio before al other pretenders and pronounced him a bastard First for that he had byn euer so taken al the tyme of his fathers life and no man euer dowted therof or called the matter in question vntil now that himselfe denyed the same Secondly for that in the tyme of Iulius Tertius the Pope when certayne decres came out from Rome against the promotion of bastardes the same Dō Antonio sued to the said Pope to be dispensed with al in that case vvhich argueth that then he knew himselfe not legitimate Thirdly that his father the lord Lewis had often tymes both by word and writing testified the same that this Antonye vvas his bastard and had signified also so much in his last vvil testament Fourthly the said Cardinal as of himselfe also affirmed that if his brother the lord Lewis had euer dōne any such thinge as to marry this Woman who was but base in birth and of the Iewish race as these stories do affirme that it is like that he would haue made some of his owne frendes kynred acquainted therwith as a matter so much important for them to know but he neuer did though the said Cardinal auowed that himselfe was present vvith him at his death Fiftly he said that if Don Antonio had bin legitimate how happened that he did not pretend the succession before the Cardinal himselfe next after the death of king Sebastian seing that he vvas to haue gone before the said Cardinal by as good right as his other nephew Sebastian did if he had bin legitimate for that he vvas sonne also to the Cardinales elder brother as hath bin saide Sixtly lastly the said king Cardinal auowched against Don Antonio partly the disagreeing and partly the open confessing of the vvitnesses that they were suborned by him vppon al vvhich causes and considerations he proceeded to the iudicial sentence before alleaged Thus passed the matter in the case of Don Antonio vvho if he had bin legitimate no doubt but by al right he should haue bin preferred before al the other pretenders to the crowne of Portugal and must be at this day towards the crowne of Ingland before al those that pretend of the house of Portugal if vve graunt him to be legitimate and much more clearly may he pretend to the dukedome of Lancaster as before hath bin declared for that it must discend to the lawful heyre of lady Phillip Queene of Portugall wherof enseweth also one consideration not impertinent to vs in Ingland that seing we hold him there for true king of Portugal I see not