thing which concerns their Relations He came to Parma where he sent the Dutchess word that a Gentleman of Portugal had something to tell her which he could declare to none but herself The Dutchess had lately received an account by a Courrier from Lisbone of the Death of the Cardinal Don Henry who last filled that Throne which she now demanded for her Son Rainuccio she being the Daughter of Edward one of the Sons of King Don Emanuel There were also other Pretenders to this Crown of Portugal such was Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy by his Mother Beatrix a Daughter of King Don Emanuel Katharine the Sister of Mary joyned her Right with that of the Duke of Braganza a Prince of the Blood Royal of Portugal for her Son Theodosio and who indeed by the Law of Lamega which as they affirm excludes a Forreigner from the Throne of Portugal had the most just Pretence to it Catharine de Medicis Queen of France claimed it though at greater distance And Pope Paul the Fourth came in with his Title saying That Crown was a Fief of the Holy-See and therefore at his Disposal Philip the Second King of Spain was Son of Isabel Daughter of the same King Don Emanuel and Mary his Wife was yet nearer being Daughter of Don John the Third Son and Successor to Don Emanuel He was the nearest in Blood the nighest Neighbour and the most Potent so got Possession of the Crown but not without fighting for it by Sea and Land The Naval-Fight which his Admiral the Marquis de Santa Cruz obtained of Peter Strozzi a Florentine and Marshal of France who undertook by Force to dispute the Title of Catharine de Medicis his Mistress and kinswoman was no small Part of Philip's good Fortune The Three Estates of the Kingdom of Portugal were Assembled to determine this great Controversy when Don Sebastian appeared in Italy The Dutchess of Parma had also her mind filled with these things but when she perceived Him she gave a shrieck and ran to the Other end of her Closet much astonished I bring you Madam said he approaching her Extraordinary news which will much surprize you the King Don Sebastian is alive and not far from hence not much distant from you for he now speaks to you What Madam continued he without hesitating does then Don Sebastian Fright you He hoped that a better Reception would have been the reward of those pains he has endured to find you At the tone of his Voice the Dutchesses trouble was so great she could neither speak nor move out of her place Recollect your self my dear Cozen said he with a Passionate Air I am no Phantasme but the same Don Sebastian you once honoured with your Favour and now returned as full of your Idea as I was before I went to Affrica With these Discourses the Dutchess came to her self and suffer'd the False Don Sebastian to approach nearer giving him her hand and when she was assured that this pretended Monarch was a Man and no Ghost Ah my Lord said she Whence are you come where have you been so long hid And by what Miracle are you among the Living When you are in a Condition to hear me replyed Don Sebastian I will answer you all this But first be not so disturbed and believe that I am really the King of Portugal and if neither my Stature nor my Face assure it let the Passion of my Eyes convince you I have now recovered my Spirits said the Princess sitting down by him and confess your Sight did affright me above my Power of commanding my Disturbance But Sir all is now dissipated Therefore pray tell me to what Wonder we owe your Life and return to Love Madam answered Sebastian a Passion that had once made me touch your Heart must needs defend me from all Accidents Then he told her how Xerine found him among the Dead his getting into the Isle of Mucazen and his Living at Hoscore but carefully concealed how Don Sebastian had Loved Xerine before that Action and more his Marriage to her in Affrica Though that Princess used her utmost Power with Muley Boabdelin her Cozen and a Prince of the Blood Royal to oblige him to it by assuring him the Princess Mary was Married to the Duke of Parma But said that sometime after being informed she was a Widow He escaped as he pretended with difficulty out of Prison and came to lay himself at her Feet so full of Love that he had Lived on the very Thoughts of being esteemed by her Why then said the Dutchess did you not Write to me That I did many times reply'd he and doubtless Xerine who hoped that from my Misfortunes which she could not expect from my Re-establishment gave such Orders as prevented their coming to your hand My Restraint was very severe I was treated like a Valued Lover and had no Opportunity or Liberty to deliver my self from that Title The Dutchess must needs be Transported at the Recital of a Constancy so well invented She Ordered an Apartment for him whom she thought the King her Cousin together with an Equipage in all respects sutable and sent for the most Intelligent Persons to depute to the Estates of Portugal on his behalf which Deputation extreamly surprized them They sent Six of the Chief in their Assembly of whom some had been Ministers to Don Sebastian to see their Monarch Their Eyes assured them he was the same they ask't him several Questions which they thought Don Sebastian only could Answer But he was so well instructed by Xerine as convinced the Ambassadors that none but He in the World could so reply Insomuch that they assured the Estates he was really their King Those who were interested against him accused him of being a Counterfeit and Practizer of Deceit requiring this Sebastian to go and be present in Person at the General-Assembly of Estates to be Interrogated there in Form concerning his Pretentions While those who were affectionate to the Memory and Person of Don Sebastian thought there was no Security in that Demand The Kingdom was hereupon divided Those were called Royalists who adhered to the King and Those who declared for the several Princes pretending to the Crown Leaguers During these Disorders he that caused them lived at Parma expecting an Army should take the Field for his Interest At the Head of which he intended to demand what he said was his Right This supposed Prince after some time fell into disgrace with the Dutchess of Parma I know not whither or no by the Accident which Mademoiselle des Jardins relates on this manner That one Day walking with her by the side of that Canal which is one of the most Beautiful Things belonging to the Palace of Farnese she observed the Ribbon of a Letter-Case hanging out of his Pocket which she softly pulled out wherein she found Letters and Verses that discovered his Love some of them having the Greatest Liberties of his Marriage with Xerine for
Whisks this and that way to no purpose and his best Reasons as once his Squibbs destroy themselves and endanger no Body so much as their Author If he could possibly be made capable of Good Advice I would counsel him only to play the Fool in Bartholomew-Fair there let him be Laureat to King Oberon and at his own Booth be Zany and Poet. But let not his own Life and Manners be the Subject of his next Puppet-Show lest it Debauch the Rabble his great Admirers These and many other Scriblers have been Selected as the Propogaters of the Cause but they are generally so Vile and Inconsiderable that I chuse to despise them and scorn to do them the credit of Remarking I would stop here but Difficile est Satyram non Scribere as fast as I cut off New Heads arise from my Hydra Legion of Old left Man for Swine and now for Swine enters Man again Such Impostors have appeared amongst us of late that it is incredible to think that our Senses and Understandings should have been so much imposed on as they have Wretches most profligate in all sorts of Wickedness as Cheating Thieving Forgery Coyning Lying Perjury nay Sodomy have on a suddain been entertained and credited as most Pious Sober Virtuous Christians and True Protestants What greater Prodigy than that such Spirits of Darkness should pass for Angels of Light Yet in respect to the Sense and Justice of my Country I will keep in bold Truths and spare even the Impostor with a Witness But when any Man shall think it convenient in proper Colours to draw the true Lineaments of some of these Counterfeits the History of their Lives though writ with the greatest Impartiality will appear as improbable as Rablais his Garagantua In the mean time let them be tormented with their Secret Crimes and in their Consciences which are as a Thousand Witnesses confess Ambiguae si quando citabere Testis Incertaeque rei Phalaris licet imperet ut sis Falsus admoto dictet perjuria Tauro Summum crede nefas vitam praeferre pudori Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas Juvenal Sat. 8. I could have Paraphrased this into English but will content my self with Doctor Holliday 's Translation When in a Doubtful Cause thou needs must stand A Witness should Phalaris bid thee be False shew his Bull and dictate Perjury Life before Vertue count it lewd to choose Do not to save Life th' Ends we live for loose A TABLE OF THE Histories contained in this Book Chap. I. THe False Smerdis only Brother of Cambyses King of Persia and of the Medes Pag. 1. Chap. II. The False Nero. Pag. 26. Chap. III. The False Messiah called Bencochab Chief of the Revolted Jews Pag. 30. Chap. IV. The False Moses Pag. 33. Chap. V. John Bulchold King of the Anabaptists called John of Leyden Pag. 35. Chap. VI. The False Clotaire called Gondoald Pag. 38. Chap. VII The False Baldwin Emperour of Greece and Earl of Flanders Pag. 58. Chap. VIII The False Richard Duke of York and pretended Son of Edward the Fourth King of England called Perkin Warbeck Pag. 76. Chap. IX The False Don Sebastian King of Portugal Pag. 113. Chap. X. The False Voldemar Marquis and Elector of Brandenbourg Pag. 139. Chap. XI The False Mustapha Son of Bajazet the First of that Name Emperour of the Turks Pag. 154. Chap. XII The False James Heraclides Despot of Moldavia and Wallachia Pag. 179. A LIST OF INFAMOUS Impostors OR THE LIVES Of Several Notorious Counterfeits who from the most Abject and Meanest of the People have usurped the Titles of Emperours Kings and Princes CHAP. I. Of the False Smerdis ONE of the most Profligate Impostors I can write of is the Counterfeit Smerdis who was a Magus which taking the word in its most favourable Acceptation signifies a Scholar an Astrologer or Philosopher But I am more inclin'd to believe he was a Magician who for some Crime escap'd the Justice of Cyrus with the loss of his Ears The Frenzy and Distraction into which Cambyses King of Persia and Son of Cyrus the Great fell gave this Impostor an Opportunity to shew himself and for eight Months to ascend the Throne of one of the Greatest and most Potent Empires in the Universe For the King when fallen into this Distemper caus'd his only Brother to be put to Death he being then Governour of Persia Whose Person this Magician so acted as obtain'd him the Quality and Empire of Smedis The untimely Death of this Prince gave him the Opportunity of being so great an Impostor the Distraction of Cambyses was the cause of his Death and the Sacrilege of Cambyses in mortally wounding the God Apis of Epaphus the Occasion of that Punishment This Apis the Aegyptians blinded with Idolatory ador'd in the Figure of a Calf The Fable of this Divinity is known to proceed from Jupiter's loving the Princess Jo Daughter of Inachus King of Phoenicia Juno contrived to surprize him with her wherefore Jupiter turn'd her into an Heifer to secure her against the Revenge and Jealousie of the Goddess But that was not sufficient to extinguish her Jealous suspitions which prompted her to beg that beautiful Cow of Jupiter who could find no excuse to deny her Juno committed her to the keeping of Argus with his hundred Eyes at which Jupiter being extreamly vext sent Mercury his Bastard and stole her away while Argus slept This so engaged Juno that her Revenge fell on Jo whom she commanded the fury Erinnys to make distracted and possess with wild Fancies which made her wander about the World untill grown weary and Faint she stopt in Aegypt where she was restor'd to her former Shape and Person and brought to Bed of Epaphus The Egyptians Worshipping both her and her Son Ovid tells this Story at the end of his first Book of Metamorphosis Cambyses although the eldest Son and Successor to so great a King and in the Possession of such mighty Provinces as the Persiaen Empire contain'd burn'd with an unlimited Ambition to extend his Conquests which he did over Aegypt stripping Psalmneticus the King Son of Amasis the Usurper of all Regal Power But this not being enough for his vast Thoughts he undertook three great Wars at the same time though very unseasonably and to his disadvantage making the Carthaginians the Aethiopians and the Arabians his Enemies Against each of these he had ill Success He could not attack the Carthaginians but by Sea and the Phoenicians his only Subjects that could assist him with Ships mutin'd and refused to lend him any belleving it unnatural to contribute towards the Ruin of the Carthaginians who proceeded from them To advance towards Aethiopia the Army had vast Deserts to march over and this young unadvised King took so ill Measures and made so small Provisions that he hardly got the Fifth Part of the way ere his Army wanted and were forced to eat their own Horses and Camels and afterward by Decimation
Scepter with other Jewels and Marks of Royalty He appeared in publick accompanied with his Officers and Gentlemen of his Court having two Pages on Horse-back One carried his Crown and a Bible the Other his Sword He caused a Throne to be built in the most publick place hung with Cloath of Gold on which he sate as in his Court of Justice He created twelve Judges to whom he gave so many Imaginary Kingdoms He married several Women who were drest like so many Queens He sent twenty eight Disciples Teachers of his Law about 〈◊〉 World who were all executed and put 〈◊〉 but one who cunningly made his 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—rd â—â—â—ppeâ—doling who beâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Câ—nsul or Magistrate of the 〈◊〉 would needs be the Executioner He â—â—â—mitted many Cruelties and Extravaâ—â—ncies and the King as many in his turn 〈◊〉 heading People himself not sparing one 〈◊〉 his Wives who was grieved to see the â—â—â—eries the poor People endured by the â—â—tremity of Famine the City being beâ—â—ged by Francis Count of Waldeck their â—â—â—hop assisted by the Circles of the Emâ—â—re His False Doctrine was To deny Infants â—â—otism To Rebaptize those who had been so already To have all things in common â—o marry several wives He denied that Jesus Christ took Humane Nature from the Virâ—n Mary He denied the Pardon of Sinners abolisht Magistracy took Others Goods by Force and Extirpated those who believed not his Foolish Doctrine The 24th of June 1535. the City was taken by the skill of two Fugitives who did that good Service for the Bishop and the Besiegers John Bulchold the Impostor King Bernard Knipperdoling both Magistrate and Hangman and Crechtineh were all three Executed the 25th of Jannary 1536. being torn to pieces with Red-hot Pincers Bulchold repented and implored the Mercy of God Their Bodies were bound in Iron-Frames and hung on the highest Tower of the City the pretended King being placed in the middle a mans heighth above the rest CHAP. VI. THE False Clotaire CALLED GONDOALD THis Impostor appeared a second time in France under the Kings of the first Race in the year 586. calling himself the Son of Clotaire the first King of Soissons and by consequence Grandson to Clovis the Great I will observe what two Historians say of him those are Robert Guaguin and Paulus Aemilius both having writ the History of France His Mother Educated him from a Child like the Son of a King above all things preserving his Hair which was a Mark of the Royal Family amongst the Old French-men Clotaire his pretended Father would not own him when his Mother brought him to Soissons which perswades me that he was Illegitimate But Childebert his Uncle King of Paris who had no Child took pity of him and bred him in his Court At which Clotaire was angry and writ to him in these terms Send back to me Gondoald that I may take care of him my self and breed him up if I find him my Son for if he be not the Education of a Prince which you give him may be the occasion of Errour and Illusion in the World who may shew him those Honours which are not his due Clotaire when he had him in his power shaved his Head and shut him up in a Monastery This pretended Father dying in the year 564. Cherebert or Childebert King of Paris his elder Brother took a Kindness to him and was careful of him for some time But Cherebert was an Effeminate Prince abandoning himself to Debauchery and Women which extreamly altered his Health so that Gondoald's Happiness had but a short date For after the Death of this generous Brother of Clotaire which was in the year 565. Sigebert another of his Brothers King of Austrasia the Country which is now called Lorrain sent for him to his Court without saying how he intended to treat him and leaving him altogether in uncertainty which he nevertheless construed to his own advantage And this unhappy man no sooner arrived at the Court but he shaved him a second time and put him into a Monastery at Collein So that finding himself thus tost about he made an Escape and fled into Italy where Narses that famous Eunuch General of the Emperour Justinian's Army with admirable success made War against the Goths This was no small advantage to Gondoald to make a Friendship with one of the most Valiant and most Illustrious Captains mentioned in History Totila that Generous and Magnanimous King of the Ostrogoths whom Bellisarius the indefatigable General for the same Justinian could not entirely overcome lost both his Diadem and his Life by the Conduct of this Little Old Man of three Cubits stature who wanted one of the most Essential Parts of a Man I will onely use the words of Paulus Jovius in his Elogies of Illustrious men speaking of him Narses says he deserves an Admiration extraordinary and above all other men who being born a Slave in Persia and bred in the Seraglio or Apartment of the Empresses Women being but half a Man deprived of that Part which both Sexes most value became the Imperial Treasurer and was the only accomplisht General not only for all Military Vertue but likewise for his good Fortune whoever suffered so great a Deprivation E tanta ereptae virilitatis calamitate unicus prope cum Virtute tum fortuna Imperator extiterit It had been incomparably a greater Advantage if Gondoald could have been with this Captain in the heighth of his Favour for at that time viz. in the year 566. Justin the Second succeeded his Maternal Grandfather the Emperour Justinian who extreamly loved Narses for his Merit and the good Service he had done him having Extirpated two powerful Kings of the Ostrogoths Totila and Teias and defeated an Army of Seventy two thousand Frenchmen commanded by one Bucelin General for Theodobert King of Mets. Gornandes Archbishop of Ravenna and born a Goth is mistaken in his History when he reckons Two hundred thousand men kill'd and attributes the Victory to Bellisarius Sometime after Gondoald's Arrival the Empress Sophia perswaded by the Enemies of Narses's Glory recalled him into Italy and also treated him with great Scorn and Contempt saying He was sitter to distribute Wooll to her Women and to the Maids of her Seraglio to spin than to command an Army Which Expressions he so much resented that he called Alboin his Friend King of the Lombards out of Hungary to come into Italy who made such a Progress there that this most wise Empress was not able to put a stop to Gondoald hoped considerable Assistance from Alboin with which he designed to take from his Brothers Sigebert Chilperic and Gontran who bore the Titles of Kings of Mets Paris and Orleans the Cities where they lived and kept their Courts a more considerable Kingdom than either of them possest Narses being naturally Merciful and Religious was perswaded by the Entreaty of Pope John the Third who came to meet him at Naples how pernicious the consequence must
be of Alboin's coming into Italy and conjured him to countermand and hinder it all he could When the Pope and he were returned to Rome and considering how they might remedy this Misfortune Narses died whose body was carried to Constantinople and there magnificently buried Gondoald after this Accident crossed the Sea and made his Court to the Emperour Justin and the Empress Sophia his Wife an Ambitious and Airy Princess His good Meen and Intriguing Humour made him extreamly considered in that Court Venerationem sibi ac Majestatem conciliarunt says Paulus Aemilius He remained at Constantinople all the time of Justin the Second a pusillanimous Prince who suffered his Wife to govern the Empire contrary to his Honour and Interest During the Reign of Tiberius which was seven years he made several Campaigns in the Wars of Persia under Mauritius who was after chosen Emperour and Successor to Tiberius for Gondoald dared not to venture himself in the Court of France where he had been so ill treated having many sad Examples of his Relations Cruelty even to their own Blood Clotaire his Father without Pity or Mercy burnt Cramnus or Granus his own Son with his Wise and Children in a House where they Fled for Refuge He overcame kill'd in Battle Senabut Duke of Britain He Burnt Conobald Duke of Guienne in the Chappel of S. Martin where he ran for safety because he had assisted Granus in his Revolt to whom he Married his Daughter This Clotaire also was Guilty of that abominable parricide of dipping his hands in the Innocent Blood of his two young Nephews Theobald and Gontier Sons of Cladomir his Brother King of Orleans Gondoald considering he had little Reason to expect a better Treatment from his Fathers Brothers Sigebert and Chilperic chose rather to Live quietly in Justin's Court But when he was Informed how matters went in France he resolved to hasten thither encouraged by the Empress Constantina and the Emperour Mauritius Son-in-Law to Tiberius who promis'd him their Assistance His two Sisters-in-Law Brunechilde the Daughter of Athanagilde King of the Wisigoths in Spain Married to his Brother Sigebert and Fredegonde Woman of the Bed-chamber to the Queen Galsond Wife to Chilperic his other Brother King of Paris who first became Mistress and then Wife to that King These two Women disturbed all France Their Husbands having been Traitorously Murthered which was the occasion of his Return after having been Twenty Years in the East He Landed at Marseilles with a splendid Equipage where Theodore Bishop of that Diocess received him with much Honour it being reported he brought Vast Riches along with him and was able to give great Rewards having made the best Advantage of his Happiness in the Eastern Court besides the finding a mighty Treasure hid by Narses the Eunuch His Royal Qualities and Majestick Person were admired The Fame of his Actions having gain'd him the Reputation of a good Captain Scholler to the Incomparable General Narses Didier who absolutely Commanded the Countrys adjacent to Tholouse Mummol much talkt of for his Service in the Wars against the Greeks and Lombards and thought one of the best Souldiers in his time besides many Lords both Visigoths and Romans who kept the Frontiers of Spain declared for him Thus having acquir'd such powerful Friends and reduced to his Obedience a great part of the People and Cities of Guienne the Peregordins and Bourdelois those of Tholouse and Anjou followed his Fortune Childebert King of Mets the Nephew of Gondoald was then angry with his Uncle Gontran King of Orleans for refusing to deliver into his hands his Mother-in-Law Queen Fredegonde the Murtheress of King Sigebert his Father which reason perswaded him to declare for Gondoald sending him Ambassadors and stiling him King to give him the more Majesty for the obtaining the Hearts of the French advising him to take the Name of Clotaire his Father The occasion of Gontrans refusing to deliver to him the Queen Fredegonde was that young King Clotaire the Second her Son was under his Tutelage and he thought it below a Generous Prince to give up the Mother of him whom he intended to make his Successor Gontran was a Prince extreamly Good Pious and Charitable I can find no other Reason why he preferr'd Clotaire his Nephew who was but Four Months Old when his Father Chilperic was Assassinated by the Infidelity of Fredegonde his Wife Gondoald having before so much cause to doubt whether Clotaire were Lawfully begot or no his Mother being of a very scandalous Life in her Husbands time abandoning her self to the Maire or Stewards of the Pallace Londry de la Tour. Unless he thought the Decision of the Laws sufficient that Filius est quem nuptiae demonstran That Child is Legitimate who is Born of a Woman who hath a Husband He hoped to give good Impressions to the young Prince being like soft Wax capable of any he would make But Gondoald's Humour he extreamly apprehended for his fierceness and resentment of the usage he received in his younger Days That Divine Quality so Admirable in a Prince to forget Injuries received when 't is in his Power to Revenge them never having been exercised by Clotaire his Father who always prefer'd his own private Resentments This made him not acknowledge Gondoald that came from the Court of Constantinople when the Grecian Artifices Treachery and Cruelty were much in use The Affection and tenderness he had for the Innocent Child prevail'd over his aversion to the Vices and conduct of Fredegonde his Mother Raymond Bishop of Paris a Person of an Exemplary Life first spoke to the good King in Favour of this young Prince he having before saved Fredegonde from the Fury of the People inraged by the Death of their King Chilperic of which she and her Gallant Landry were shrewdly suspected he giving her with her Son and Treasure refuge in his Church The Merciful King continued his Clemency to his Death which happened the 28th of March 594. Still assisting the Queen with his Councel and Protection He perswaded her by his remonstrances with the fear and respect she had to offend him to Live a more retir'd Life He caused what the Courtiers and Domesticks of his Brother Chilperic had unjustly taken from several particular Persons to be restored He did many Favours to the Church making those dues to be paid which Chilperic had supprest or diverted and largly assisting the Poor All which he had reason to believe Gondoald would not do being greedy of Money wanting all the Treasure he could get to recompence his Creatures and support the Luxury he had Learnt at Constantinople I will not stop to relate the Encomiums which Gregory of Tours and Fredegarius in their Chronicles give this King Gontran only say it was the greatest misfortune or if you please an effect of Gods Judgment to want his protection and be rejected by him Though Gondoald did all he could to obtain his Favour He chose two
going out of the Kingdom except with good Passes and to hinder all great Assemblies For the better disabusing the English from their false opinions he sent his subtlest Spies through all the Towns of Flanders to understand the Birth and Original of this Counterfeit promising large Recompence to those that could discover it Writing to his Friends on the same Subject These Emissaries exactly obeyed their Orders some of them coming to Tournay found the false Richard was Born there of the Meanest of the People his name being Peter Warbeck of which they brought very authentick Attestations Upon this the King sent a solemn Embassy to young Earl Philip in Flanders of which Sir Edward Poinings and William Warham Dr. of Laws were chief The latter of these was also a Church-man of extraordinary Parts and Modesty He made a Speech to the Lords of the Young Princes Counsel who was not of Age yet to take the Government upon himself He laid the impiousness of the Impostor before them putting them in mind of the like happening in their Country about 250 years before in the time of their Countess Jane Likewise telling them that the Effects of the King his Masters Friendship to Maximilian Father of the Prince in the War of France should not be so quickly blotted out of their memory sharply reflecting on the Conduct of the Dutchess Margaret who brought forth in her elder Years not a Child at nine Months but a Prodigy of nine score Months old The Councel after a long Debate reply'd That to gratifie the King their Earl would give no assistance to Perkin But for the Dutchess Dowager She was Mistress of her Joynture and her Actions and they would neither prescribe nor forbid her any thing The Ambassadors being return'd Henry sent divers Emissaries some to discover the Names of the Conspirators by feigning to enter into the design others to endeavour the persuading Sir Robert Clifford and William Barklay to return with the assurance of their Pardon Clifford was prevailed on but Barklay continued obstinate not returning till two Years after and till he was certain of the Kings Mercy Some of the Kings Messengers came back after having discovered many of the Conspirators Others staid longer to accompany Clifford whose coming home so much discountenanced the Plotters that they knew not whom to trust The King being informed who several of the Conspirators were caused them to be Seized and Committed to Prison in London the Chief were John Ratclif Lord Fitz-Walter Sir Simon Montfort and Sir Thomas Thwaites Knights William Dawbeney Robert Ratclif Richard Lacy with divers others Some Priests William Richeford and Thomas Ponys Dominican Fryers William Sutton Robert Laybourn and William Worsley Dean of St. Pauls The rest finding their practises were discovered fled to several places of Refuge They were all Condemned as Traytors but only these Principal were Beheaded Robert Ratclif William Dawbeney and Simon Montfort John Ratclif Lord Fitzwalter was carried to Calais where for endeavouring to make his Escape he lost his Head likewise The rest the King Pardoned Not long after Sir Robert Clifford Arrived and the King chose to speak with him in the Tower that in case he accused any Great Men about his Person he might secure them there Much discourse there was touching Cliffords Conduct some thought him all along to have been imploy'd by the King to discover the rest This was occasioned by the ready obtaining his Pardon and his Return made him equally decry'd by both Parties his Friends believing him a Cheat but the small consideration the King had of him generally convinced People he acted as he thought through his Inclination to the House of York being deceived into the persuasion it was the true Prince He threw himself at the Kings Feet giving an account what passed in Flanders and naming amongst his Accomplices Sir William Stanley It much astonished the King he being his Lord Chamberlain to whom he trusted his most Important Affairs and who had gain'd him the Crown which was wore by his assistance in the Battel against Rich. the Third the Usurper Clifford pretending to know his ill will to the King from the beginning he having declared He would never bear Arms against that Young Man if he were convinced he was the Son of King Edward Polydore Virgil says his Resentment proceeded from his not being rewarded as he thought he had deserved to be Benesicium post hominum memoriam Maximum per quod Henricus a periculo vitaeliberatus conservatusque Regnum sibi quaesivit For when the King was over-power'd at the Battel of Bosworth and like to be torn in pieces by that Squadron where his Enemy Richard was Sir William Stanly by order of his Brother Thomas who Commanded the Reserve effectually helping where he found most need charging Richard he disingaged the King and gave him the Victory These Considerations made him in some suspence but the consequence of the Example prevail'd and he was Beheaded as the rest were The King was under a necessity to use that Rigour for hindring the Insolent discourses of the common People who talkt Maliciously and Cursed him at their little Meetings saying aloud They expected every day the Duke of York and to see him on the Throne But these Executions and the Method he used in his Affairs extinguished great part of those Heats and restored many People to their Duty Giles Lord Dawbeney whose Prudence and Fidelity the King was well assured of possest the Place of Lord Chamberlain Vacant by the Death of Sir William Stanley The Irish more than ever persisting in their rash unadvisedness it was resolved to endeavour to crush those Seeds of Sedition Perkin had sown amongst them the precedent Years For which Intent the King sent Henry Denny Abbot of Langton a Wise and Contriving Man whom he designed to make Chancellor of that Kingdom making Sir Edward Poynings his Colleague who was to command the Army These two Persons representing the two Arms of Justice one holding the Scales the other the Sword shewing above the Cheats of an Impostor the Majesty of a Lawful King Non solum Armis decoratam sed Legibus armatam They had order to go where he had been and take an exact account who they were that resolved to assist him and to Arm all they could to pursue the Accomplices Ireland was divided into two sorts of Inhabitants the one Civilized through the converse with other Nations but especially the English The others Wild and Savage as any upon Earth living by Theft enclin'd to Rebellion and Novely destroying one another according to the Inclinations and Avarice of those they follow Perkin knowing the Genius and Turbulent Spirits of the latter addressed himself to them These Sir Edward Poynings attackt chiefly knowing them most Guilty but they would never stand the shock always flying to their Boggs and Mountains The other Irish did not obey his Orders nor send him Succours as they promised which made him give over
Occasion of so many Rebellions The King of Scotland could not in Honour yeild to deliver up a Man to Death whom he had raised and made his Kinsman So at last it was agreed that he should quit his Interest and command him out of his Dominions These Articles were agreed on and a Peace was made between them in the Year 1498. Henry King of England sent home this Spanish Ambassador Loaden with Presents and with great Thanks to his King and Queen Then was the Marriage projected of Prince Arthur the Kings Eldest Son and Katharine the Infanta afterwards Marryed to Henry the VIII his Second Son whose Famous Divorce caused so many Revolutions in the Kingdom About the same time King Henry Received two other Embassies One from the King of France the Other from Prince Philip Earl of Flanders Son to the Emperour Maximilan who renewed his Alliance with Him The King of Scotland exactly observed the Articles of Peace touching Perkin Warbeck being wholly disabused concerning him He sent for him and told him in short what he had done in his Favour but he found himself obliged to conclude a Peace with England and now was no longer in Circumstances to give him assistance or allow him his Court for a Retreat Therefore advised him to retire and hope a better Fortune Though this was a Fatal Blow to Warbeck it came not unforeseen by him who wanted not Understanding but extreamly thanked the King assuring him he could never acknowledge his Favours as he ought and desired acquiescing in his Orders After this with his Wife he went for Ireland with Intention either to go for Flanders to his Aunt or head the Cornish Malecontents But resolving on the latter he found the Minds of those People irritated by their Losses and easily engaged them to Mutiny He then gave out his Commissions and Formed his Army with Design to surprize some considerable Towns which might serve for a Refuge in case of ill Success With this intent he Besieged Exeter using all Endeavours to carry it by Assault and trying to seize the Gates for Petards nor Rams were not then in Use he brought Great Stones and Axes instead of those Engins which not taking effect he employ'd Fire and heaping Wood against the Gates indeavoured to burn them The Besieged used the same Expedient Fireing great quantity of Wood within their Gates by Flames preventing their Danger by Fire He then raised his Scaling Ladders and commanded the Attack to be made which was better repulsed many of his Men being left dead under the Walls the very Women throwing Stones and Scalding Water on the Besiegers King Henry being Informed what Danger the Besieged were in advanced with great Marches to their Assistance sending Detached Partys to declare His Coming In the mean time several Men of Quality got into the City with supplyes Amongst whom was Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire and several of his Family Peter Edgcomb and William St. Maure and other Men of Noto This extreamly perplexed Perkin he could not cover his Men in any strong Place who for the most part of them were ill provided of Armes as well Offensive as Defensive and considering he was not able to resist so Powerful Enemies as were advancing towards him he raised the Siege and Marched to Taunton where he Muster'd his Men and drew them up in Battalia of which the King hearing directed his March that way many Lords Joyning Him and giving Demonstrations of their Zeal to express and Signalize their Loyalty on that Occasion The King Commanded my Lord Brook my Lord Dawbeney and Sir Richard Thomas with a Party of chosen detached Men to begin the Charge but both his Orders and their Resolutions were needless For Warbeck through his own Natural Cowardize or believing himself betray'd ran away and left his Army flying into the Monastery of Beaulieu His Officers seeing themselves abandonned lost their Resolution and tryed to save themselves by Flight The wretched Multitude being left without a Head knew not what to do whether to resolve to dye Fighting or to Implore the Kings Mercy But choosing the latter they threw down their Armes and on their Knees begged Pardon which the King granted them For certainly if their Officers had not left them it would have cost him very dear they being resolved to overcome or dye Partyes of Light-Horse were sent every way for the Apprehension of Warbeck and the Chief of his Gang But though they missed him they took most of the others his Accomplices Some of the Searchers found Katharine Huntley Wife of Perkin with her Women Her they brought to the King who was much furprized to see so Beautiful a Lady extreamly pittying her Misfortune And considering such a Noble Prize was not fit to be the Souldiers Prey but worthy an Emperor He sent her to London where he presented to the Queen this unfortunate Lady so unhappily Sacrificed to the Humour or Interests of the King her Uncle Match't to a Villain and Impostor instead of a Legitimate Prince whom she justly Merited and not the extream Grief of seeing this Counterfeit her Husband suffer the deserved Reproaches and Calumny of the Basest Profligates The King Encompast the Monastery of Beaulieu with his Army for the better securing Perkin Not being willing to Violate the Sanctuary he himself having been protected the same manner in Bretagn when Richard the Usurper demanded him Besides such was the Custome of those days Wherefore he sent him word by the Religious Men of the Monastery that he would spare his Life assuring him of his Clemency yet nevertheless at Exeter he beheaded several of the Principal Rebels punishing many of the rest which were taken in their Flight thanking that City for their Zeal and Fidelity With Warbeck in his Power he return'd for London where the People in Multitudes Flock't to see Perkin with astonishment admiring that a Forreigner of so mean Birth should undertake by his Impostures the Overthrow of so great a Kingdome and perswade so many Princes Lords and People to the Destruction of many of the Truth of those Falsehoods he till then spread abroad both of his Person and Birth There is no doubt but that the King kept him close Prisoner and justly punish't those remarkable Rebels of Cornwall Devon and Sommersetshire for which Service he sent Thomas Lord Darcy Sir Anyas Pawlet and Robert Sherburn Dean of St. Pauls with his Commission into the West where they soundly Fined Amerced every one that had Assisted or Favoured the Rebels before or after their Defeat at Black-heath But yet with consideration of such Persons who either through Fear or by Force were compell'd to do it There happened about this time a Quarrel between the English and Scotch that had like to have renewed the War Some Scotch were observed to walk under the Walls of Norham which a little before they had Besieged and the next day doing it again the English Garrison fearing they had some Design sent
her Loved Sebastian whom she sought amidst the Horrid Numbers of the Dead and Dying with which the Plain was covered Some of the Wounded Men who had yet a Glimmering of understanding left them told the Place where Don Sebastian Fought and carefully observing those Bodys she espyed one extreamly resembling her Lover and with great Crys she embraced and moved him resolving to Dye there when the supposed Dead Man came to himself a little opening his Eyes and spake a few words imperfectly Xerine being Transported with Joy by the help of her Slave carryed him to the Bank of the River Mucazen which runs through those Plaines where she wash't and bound up his Wounds sending Laura to a little house hard by for some body to remove him from thence A Mariner did that good Office carrying him with his Boat into a small Island but Inhabited at the Mouth of the River for which she well rewarded him The Allyance which Don Sebastian had with Muley Mahomet made his Death necessary to the Peace of the new King Hamet so the Xerine fear'd equally the Life Liberty of her Lover if he fell into his hands she tended and drest him till his Recovery One Day saying to him Heaven will not deprive Portugal of it's King But has made your Xerine happy in saving her Dear Don Sebastian 's Life The Wounded Man soon found the Princesses Error without intending to undeceive her but using his Endeavour to confirm her mistake from which he foresaw such happy Consequences Therefore gave her Infinite Thanks desiring she would inform him how she distinguish't him among the Dead of which she told him the Particulars This shewed him Xerine's Birth and Engagement with Don Sebastian whom he studyed to personate which he might with Impunity for he resembled him much a Prodigious and incredible thing even to several Moles and Natural Marks on his Body Xerine understood by those whom she had sent to enquire for News that King Sebastian was drowned in his endeavouring to save himself but none could find his Body This Truth she thought an Error as she believed her own Error true promising her self no less than to be Queen of Portugal and thinking her Care kind Words and obliging Promises well bestowed on that Subject The Portugueze having spirit enough to support this Caprice of Fortune soon perceived by the Princesses Discourse that Muley Boabdelin a Prince of the Blood Royal of Morocco had always been a Friend to Don Sebastian He sent him word that the King of Portugal was not dead and if he would come to the Island of Mucazen he should hear of him Maley Boabdelin came in great haste with the Envoy Xerine sent leaving the farthest Part of the Province Hoscore whither he was sled to avoid the Tyranny of Muley Moluc generally called Abdelmeleck When he Arrived he was deceived by the resemblance as the Princess had been There was great Embracing caressing and mutual kindness betwixt them By him the False Sebastian was informed That his Uncle the Cardinal Don Henry Reigned in his stead by the consent of the People This News much disturbed him believing it very difficult to dispossess him Muley Boabdelin was of his Opinion they both concluded it proper to sound the Inclinations of the Portuguezes and try to Oblige the Principal Ministers of State to Assert and Maintain their Monarch's Right before he should expose himself to the Policies of the New King This Moorish Prince at the same time offering Xerine and her Lover a retreat in Hoscore where he was so well fortified that he had no occasion to fear any thing They all agreed not to Publish any report of Don Sebastian's being alive till he were in a Condition of Possessing his Crown But to Authorize what the Princess had done in his Favour Muley Advised him to marry Xerine which she also wish't believing by that tye her hopes secured This Effect of his likeness to Don Sebastian made him desirous to taste the Fruit of it he was charmed with the Beauty and Passion of the Princess and had Reason to be so Therefore fulfilled her desire with as much Joy as Speed By this becoming Victorious and the most happy of Mankind But when he had thus made what Advantages he could the private Negotiation of Portugal seemed too slow so he resolved to go and manage his Affairs there in Person Upon which Xerine and he had many Discourses Europe said she one day to him Asia or Affrick are all equal to me provided I have you with me Do not then refuse me the Pleasure of following you 'T is a Debt to my Love Let me not be so unhappy to find any other thing more Powerful in your Soul since I have the Glory of Contributing to your Establishment when Pretentions had been Vain without me These tender Expressions seemed Reproaches to Sebastian they offended him which troubled Xerine at last they differ'd and that Difference gave him an opportunity which he lookt for He had Learned from her the most Particular Affairs of the true Sebastian and in these Transports of their Love he ask her What Part of his Conduct had most sensibly touch't her that as he said he might often repeat what he had Practised with Success The Princess ingenuously told him It was the slighting Mary of Portugal whom he refused to Marry for her sake Besides said she that Princess was very Beautiful and Loved you much as you did her before you knew me He well might Love her for she was a Princess of Infinite Wit whose Body and Mind were equally Admirable her Meen was modest and yet Majestick she was of a most accomplish't Beauty and indeed the most admirable of that Age. I cannot Read her Character in Fam. Strada's History of the Wars of Flanders without being charmed with the Merit and Vertue of this Princess whom in the absence of Don Sebastian the King of Spain Philip the Second gave to her Cousin-German in Marriage being Brother and Sister's Children This was that Great and most Renowed Souldier of his Time Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma the King's Nephew who did him those Eminent Services as Governour of the Low Countrys This Princess spake Latine Elegantly understood the Greek Tongue was perfectly Mistress of the Mathematicks a Great Judge of Philosophy and Familiar in the Holy Scriptures of both Testaments And with all this was of an admirable Innocence of Manners and a Holy Life Of all which the said Strada gives us the Relation The Pretended Sebastian being furnished with these Instructions and above all with those he had cunningly drawn from Xerine took an Opportunity to cross the Sea about Fourteen or Fifteen Years after the Battle of Alcazer Landing in Italy where the Princess was then a Widdow The Hero her Husband dying at Arras in the Six and Fortieth Year of his Age the Second Day of December 1591. People of this Sebastian's Character use not to be ignorant of any Circumstance or
their Subject This so possest the Dutchess with Rage and Jealousy that she destroy'd all she had before done for him and declared him an Impostor Xerine came soon after into Portugal to sollicite the Establishment of her Husband purely moved by her own Conjugal Affection notwithstanding his Ingratitude and had she come before he had left the Dutchess her Resentment might have been more Fatal Mademoiselle des Jardins contrary to the Idea that Strada gives of her says Her anger was the more Justifyable having granted this Counterfeit Sebastian many innocent Favours which this Accident made her think Criminal Her Aversion bearing a Proportion to her Former Kindness made her fly from one Extream to another She sent and declared to the Estates That he was a Counterfeit which she had discovered by the many Contradictions and different Stories she found him in Making a Voyage into Portugal more to raise him Enemies for his Perfidiousness than for the obtaining her Son Rainuccio that Crown And as her Anger saw plainer than her Love so it was more Active The Circumstances of the true Sebastians Death were examined by the Assembly of the Estates His defeat at Tamista was not so general but that several Persons of Note could give an Account of their Princes Fate They all affirmed They had followed him to the Side of the River Mucazen Some added They saw him drowned there And others said They had like to have perish't by endeavouring to Save him This Story no way agreed with what Xerine affirmed of finding him in the middle of the Battle But that which made most against him was the Account she gave of the Cloths he was wounded in The King's Officers affirming that they were no way like those he had on that Day But Nature had made the Subject so like the Prince and he so supported the Resemblance by his Wit and Courage that they knew not what to resolve The more they examined the greater Difficulties arose It was a horrid Crime to refuse their Lawful Prince his Crown And it could be no less to give it to an Impostor But the Death of the Counterfeit determined the Matter The Politicians look't on this Union of Don Sebastian with the Moors as very dangerous to Portugal He had Married Xerine by a most Signal Infidelity charmed with her Beauty before he came to Affrica She drew him from among the Dead and was Married to him before the Old Prince Boabdelin at Hoscore and it was impossible to bring any Obstacle by reason of the Difference of Religion she having promised to become a Christian and kept her word as soon as she Landed in Portugal Mademoiselle des Jardins says The Pretended Sebastian was with an Army raised in his Favour upon the Frontiers of Portugal where it is separated from the Kingdom of Oviedo and that being obliged to Fight his Ambition made his Courage so rash that he was made a Prisoner and carried to Lisbon where his Adversaries talked of no less than punishing his Insolence by a shameful Death But this supposed King died in Prison leaving great Suspicions that his Death was hastened He desired to see Xerine before he dyed and the last Breath being a Touch-Stone to the Artinces of Life he confest to this Princess of Morocco That he was not the King of Portugal and Conjured her not to disturb the Election after his Death This Declaration he found necessary for the Peace of his Conscience Xerine having had a Son by him who might have caused much disturbance He could not make such a Confession without great Signes of Remorse Crying Ah Madam I have deceived you more ways than one yet I can but weakly reproach my self for the Deceit which made me your Husband I should do it more not to have used it when in my Power than I can think my self Guilty for the accepting so great a Glory But Madam That which makes me Dye in Despair is That once I ceased to Love you for the hopes of a Crown which I obtained not and which a Thousand Accidents might take from me if I had gained it I was on the point of Renouncing a Heart that all the Diadems upon Earth could not justly Meritâ—â— Afflict not your self said the Generous Princess with 〈◊〉 too late and unuseful Repentance I Loved the Person of Don Sebastian more than the Splendour of his Condition I thought I had met that Person in you Those charmes which first touch't me have lost none of their Priviledge because they were not placed in a Monarch though I confess I should never have observed them in an Ordinary Man Neither my Spirit nor my Birth would have permitted me to Consider whom I had not thought a Prince but my Error became dear to me and is so still for all it is Fatal to my Peace The Name of Husband is so sacred to a Woman truely Vertuous that it wipes out any Stain which accompanies it Therefore try to overcome your Illness my dear Prince pardon that Name Fortune said she lifting her Eyes to Heaven might have given it where she gave me Rescue your self from the Arms of Death if it be possible it may be we may find you a Happiness more serene and easy than that which is denied you in Portugal He was so moved with this Excess of Generosity that he could no longer suffer the Transports of it But expired in the Arms of the Passionate Xerine whose Soul with much difficulty staid behind This Man had in the highest Degree abused the Princesses mistakes and the unconstancy which followed the first Fault was more Injurious than the Crime it self But Xerine truely Loved the Counterfeit Don Sebastian and religiously fulfilled his Desire as soon as her Grief permitted retiring into Affrica without giving the least Disturbance to the Competitors of the Crown I acknowledge to have borrowed the most agreeable Part of this Relation from Mademoiselle des Jardins her Annales Gallantes P. Mathieu in his History of Henry the Great says That Sebastian wandred through many of the Courts of Italy till he fell into the hands of the Viceroy of Naples who sent him to Philip the Second King of Spain By an Effect of whose Policy he dyed in Prison out of the sight of the World and without Witnesses He passed through all Christendom except in Portugal since the late Revolutions in 1639. for an Impostor CHAP. X. THE LIFE OF THE COUNTERFEIT Voldemar Elector and Marquis of Brandenbourg THis Man has past for an Impostor in the Opinion of most Historians as Hen. the Monk of Rebdorff in his Chronicle John Cuspinian in his Lives of the Emperors Nicholas Lutinger in his Life of Frederic the First of that Name Elector of Brandenburg and John Leunclavius in his Pandects of the Turkish History c. For my own Part after examining the Circumstances of his Story I am apt to conclude in his Favour and pity this Princes Disafter in losing his Country and being decryed by
so many Pens for a Counterfeit and placed in the number of Notorious Impostors whose Lives we treat of But this is the true History Voldemar the Second Marquis and Elector of Brandenburg was the Thirteenth descended in a Right Line from Albert de L'Ours of the Family of the Earls of Ascagne who bore that Dignity From which Albert are also descended the Dukes of Saxon Lavemburg and the Princes of Anhalt Voldemar was the Son of Henry stiled Without Land who dyed in 1313. and of Agnes or as others say Matilda de Sangerhuse the two Electors John the Third and Voldemar the First who preceded him were his great Uncles whom he Succeeded He had scarcely been three years Elector when a Fit of Devotion according to the Custom of those Times perswaded him to go a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land He left his Brother John the Fourth in Possession of his Country and discharged all his Servants except two whom he reserved for his Voyage not giving his Brother his Relations nor Subjects any Account which way he travelled nor what adventures befell him in his Journey For indeed there were then no Posts in use it being difficult sending from Forreign Countrys unless by express Messengers Voldemar believed he had taken sufficient Care of the Succession his Brother being only left alive of the Eldest Branch though in a short time there had been Nineteen Persons of the same who by Wars and Inveterate contentions for Avarice and Ambition drew God's displeasure on the Family and were suddenly scattered like the Dust of the Earth He obliged his Subjects not to receive the Princes of Anhalt who were of their House of the Counts of Ascagne for this Sovereigns in Case his Brother and He should dye without Heirs This their Subjects had Sworn justly to obey and execute But it not being Authorized by the Electors nor approved in the Empire the Emperor Lewis thought he had Power to dispose of it when he should receive News of Voldemar's Death He left his Country in the Year 1322 and appeared not till Three and Twenty Years after being in 1345. His Brother who govern'd in his Absence dyed Four and Twenty Days after he departed I know not whether by Sickness or Poison However Lewis of Bavaria then possessing the Empire disposed of the Electorate investing in it his Eldest Son Lewis by his First Wife Beatrix of Poland as a vacant Fief of the Empire Most of the German Histories tell this much in Favour of the House of Bavaria as follows Rodolph Duke and Elector of Saxony design'd to take the Electorate of Brandenbourg from Lewis of Bavaria Son to the Emperor Lewis the Fourth who had Invested him in it after the Death of John the Fourth State-holder and Governor of Brandenburg in the Absence of Voldemar his Elder Brother Rodolph pretended that being of the House of Ascagne of which Voldemar was the Head He ought to possess it before any Other or at least some Prince of his Family since Two Electorates could not possibly be in one and the same Person The better to compass his Design he reported his Cousin the Elector Voldemar was alive who had not appeared in Twenty Three Years Till understanding how matters went after many Pilgrimages to Holy Places like an ordinary Man and having escap't from the Captivity and Imprisonment of the Infidels he was now returned to his Country and to personate this Prince he brought on the Stage for a Principal Actor in this Tragedy a Miller of Landrestaw or as others say of Beltztize called James Rebok a Cunning Fellow and a Subtle Lyer being near the Age of Voldemar with something of his Meen Shape as much as so many years absence the changing of his Hair the Misery and Trouble he had suffered with the Weakness of Age could allow or perswade He had Lived many Years in Saxony where he was throughly instructed in the Life and Family of Voldemar His Application and Address made his Deceit very Successful for to all Persons he seemingly gave eminent Proofs that he was no Counterfeit but the true Marquis Voldemar The noise of his Return from Palestine and Turky where he had so many Years been detained spread through the Country and all Germany over he being assisted by the Emperor Charles the Fourth who was also King of Bohemia Grand-son of the Emperor Henry the Seventh who brought that Dignity into his Family of Luthzelburg This Prince recommended him to the Cyrcles of the Empire and severely treating many of his Enemies The Occasion of his Enmity to Lewis the Elector was because he got from his Brother Henry Margaret Countess of Tyrol with her vast Fortune His other Friends were the Dukes of Brunswick Pomerania and Mekelbourg the Arch-Bishop of Magdebourg Primate of Germany besides Fifteen others The most Zealous for his Interest being those of his own Family the Duke of Saxony and the Princes of Anhalt so that he wanted very little of expelling the Elector Lewis of Bavaria Voldemar presently Summoned an Assembly in the Year 1348. The Circle and near all the Nobility of the Marquisate acknowledging him for their Prince reiterated their Loyalty and Homage being transported with Joy to see their Antient Master His Old Subjects either touched with the Misfortunes and Calamities which he had suffred or pleased with Novelty being weary of the Bavarian Dominion after having Experimented the Glory and Justice of Voldemars Family the space of One Hundred and Eighty Years They lent him Mony to acquire his Right and drive out Lewis All the Citys in the Marquisate declaring for him except Francfort on the Oder Spandaw and Brizack Lutinger observes in the Two and Twentieth Book of his Commentarys of Brandenburg that the Family of Lockhow one of the Greatest in the Marquisate continued on Lewis's Side having the Principal Commands in his Army during the War which lasted Nine Years with various Success according to the Chance of Fortune Voldemar King of Denmark whose Name seemed a good Augury to Voldemar the Elector was nevertheless quite contrary for Carion in the Fifth Book of his Chronicle says He was the First that stop'd the Course of his Victorys and prevented his absolute Repossessing his Country Cassimir King of Poland Lewis called the Roman for his being Born at Rome Brother by a Second Venter to the Elector Lewis the Duke of Stetin that Dutchy being then separate from Pomerania with many Lords of Poland and Silesia then assisted Lewis Notwithstanding which Voldemar the Assailant gain'd a very Signal Battle absolutely defeating the Army of Lewis his Rival commanded by Lewis the Roman his Brother who very hardly himself escaped The Duke Rodolph Palatin of the Rhyne with Seventy nine Gentlemen bearing Shields of Arms of which number were Forty of Poland Fourteen being of the Family of Lettizia he maâ—e Prisoners of War and Trophies of his Victory This Blow extreamly lessened Lewis's Courage and reduced his Affairs to such a Point that many
in his Place the absent Voldemar whom they believed was dead They knew that Lewis bore a mighty Hatred to the House of Ascagne the two Electors of that Family Rodolph Duke of Saxony and Voldemar the First having opposed his Election declaring for Frederick of Austria his Rival in the Empire in the year 1313 at the Diet of Franckfort Voldemar the First starving Nicholaas Booch his Envoy in Prison for falsifying his Letters of Procuration razing out the Name of Frederick to insert that of Lewis contrary to his Master's Intention and Pleasure All these Considerations make me reasonably conclude they either thought him Living and had some News of him or were perswaded the Emperour Lewis only gave his Son the Administration of the Marquisate and Electorate of Brandenbourg till he returned or his Death was better confirmed It is almost impossible he should die in a strange Country and tell no Body who he was as likewise that the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria should send no Messengers to be assured of the Place and Circumstances of his Death when it would have saved him so much Trouble and secured so rich a Prize How many Examples are there of Princes who have quitted their Country thro' the same Motives that Voldemar did William Duke of Guienne and Earl of Portou whose eldest Daughter and Heiress Elenor was repudiated by Lewis the Seventh King of France called the Young and Married to Hen y the S cond King of England in the year 1152 also of the Old Blood of the Earls of Anjou which Lady became the occasion of most cruel Wars between those Martial Nations while her Father went on Pilgrimage to St. James of Galicia feigning himself Dead he in the mean time travelling like a miserable unknown Wretch about the World that he might exercise those rude Pennances for his Crimes after his Death being made a Saint to eternize his Memory Fiacre Son of Eugenius the Fourth King of Scotland lived a Hermite unknown to all near Meaux in France chusing a Spade before a Scepter Him also they made a Saint Julius Sabinus an Illustrious Gaul near Langres who boasted that he was descended from Julius Caesar and in the time of the Civil War between Vitellius Otho and Vespasian caused himself to be proclaimed Emperour by several Legions but having the worst in Fight lived Nine Years in a â—ave with his dearly beloved Wife Eponina where in the greatest Extremity to Poverty he had several Children by her but could not so conceal himself to avoyd Death by the Cruelty of the Emperour Vespasian who destroyed him with his Wife and Children The Proverb says Ill gotten Goods are soon lost Which was verisied in the Posterity of Lewis of Bavaria Marquis of Brandenbourg for neither He nor his two Brothers Lewis the Roman nor Otho ever possest it quietly but were constrain'd to abandon it to the Emperour Charles the 4th Thus as Carion concludes in the Fifth Book of his Chronicle the Bavarians were deprived of this Electorate and Marquisate of Brandenbourg by the same Deceits which they had used to frustrate the Princes of Anhalt after the Absence and Death of Voldemar who were justly the next Heirs CHAP. XI THE False Mustapha SON of BAJAZET The First of that Name Emperor of the Turks THere 's none can be so ignorant in History as not to have heard of Tamberlain Emperour of the Tartars and of the Victory he gain'd over Bajazet the First of that Name Emperor of the Turks In the Turkish Annals these two Monarchs are called the one Temir Can and the other Gilderum Can. The Title Can which signifies King or Lord being commonly used to any other Tartar Prince or Turkish Lord. But the Name of Tamberlain or Tamerland was given him because he was Lame which Land expresses in the Persian Tongue Some called him Temir Cuthlus signifying in the Tartarian Language a Fortunate Sword His Sirnames were The Terrour and Desolation of the East Terror Clades Orientis He also stiled himself the Wrath of God or the Instrument of his Indignation As for Bajazet he was Named Gilderum or as others say Hildrim which in the Language of the Tartars signifies the Terrour of Thunder and Lightning The Greeks called him Lelapa that is a Violent Torrent The Imposture of this False Mustapha who called himself the true Son of Bajazet certainly believed to have been killed in this great Battle where his Father was defeated and made a Prisoner obliges me to look backward and tell you of Bajazet with the Subject and Circumstances of the War Bajazet was a most Cruel and Bloody Parricide being the First who taught the Princes of his Family to Imbrew their Hands in the Blood of their nearest Relations he causing his Brother Jacup or Jacob to be strangled whom Paulus Jovius calls Solyman His Ambition was so great that without having any right but the sharper Scymitar he drove many Soveraign Princes out of their Countrys As Techrin Prince of Erzingue or Erzrum in the Greater Armenia whom some call Scander and make him King also of Armenia together with the Prince of Germian the Duzinon or Lord of Adem and others sadly experimented He had also much Afflicted Constantinople and made great Devastations in the Countrys of Emanuel Emperour of the East These expelled Princes being thus cruelly used went in Person to implore the Protection of Tamberlain against the Tyranny and Injustice of Bajazet The same Greek Emperour groaning under the severe Yoak of this Tyrant paying him Three Hundred Thousand Crowns Tribute every Year Tres myriadas Auriorum as Carion has it in his Chronicle was constrained to surrender up the City of Philadelphia to him which the Tyrant had so often Besieged in vain giving him also Hostages and being Obliged to furnish such number of Souldiers for his Wars this made him also send Ambassadours to represent his miserable condition Axalla the bravest of Tamberlain's Generals was a Christian of Genoese Extraction born at Copha in Taurica Chersonesus which was then a City and Collony under the Dominion of that State of Genoa This generous Man endeavoured also by his entreaties to perswade his Master to re-establish these Persecuted Princes and beat down the Pride and Insolencâ— of Bajazet Tamberlain was pleased to hear him express what Glory it would be to his Reputation if he should deliver the Emperour of Constantinople and the other Princes from so unjust a Tyranny The Tartar was so sensibly touched with their Misfortunes that he dispatched away a Herald to require Justice on their behalf from Bajazet at the same time sending a very Rich Vest which is always by them presented from a Superior to an Inferior This so enraged the Turk that a War was soon declared Bajazet bringing an Army of Eight Hundred Thousand Men into the Field Paulus Jovius says a Million where in a bloody Fight he was absolutely defeated and taken Prisoner The Turkish Annals mention not the numbers of either Army only