London Mercer who first practised the same in the Abby of Westminstor 1471. This King Henry lost his Kingdom when he had reigned thirty eight years six months and odd days The day after he was murdered he was brought to St. Pauls Church in an open Coffin bare-faced where he bled and from thence carried to Black Fryars where he also bled and lastly was buried at Windsor In the first year of King Edward the fourth Walter Walker Grocer living in Cheapside was beheaded for speaking some words against King Edward In his fourth year there was a great Pestilence and the Thames was frozen over In his 14 year John Grose was burnt on Tower-hill for Religion The same year King Edward in his Progress hunting in Sir Thomas Burdels Park slew many Deer and among the rest a white Buck which Sir Thomas hearing of wished the Bucks head horns and all in his belly who moved the King to kill him Upon which words he was condemned to die and being drawn from the Tower of London to Tyburn was there beheaded Next year George D. of Clarence K. Ed. Brother was drowned in the Tower in a But of Malmsey In his twenty second year some Thieves for Robbery in St. Martins le Grand were drawn to Tower-hill and there hanged and burnt and others were pressed to death In this Kings time Richard Rawson one of the Sheriffs of London caused a House to be built at St. Mary Spittle for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen to hear Sermons in the Easter Holy-days King Edward the fourth being dead his eldest Son Edward not above eleven years old was proclaimed King but never crowned for the Duke of Glocester hearing of his Brothers death comes to London and having gotten the King and his Brother the Duke of York into his hands sends them to the Tower and murders the Lord Hatings who was true to Edward and then endeavours to prove the two children of Edward Illegitimate whereby he at last attained the Crown by the name of Richard the third and afterwards persuades Sir James Tyril to murder the two young Princes in the Tower who getting two other Villains as bad as himself they come to the childrens chamber in the night and suddenly wrapping them up in their cloths and keeping down by force the Feather-bed and Pillows hard upon their mouths so stifled them that their breath being gone they surrendred up their innocent souls and when the Murtherers perceived first by their strugling with the pains of death and then by their long lying still that they were throughly dead they laid their bodies out and then called Sir James Tyril to see them who presently caused their bodies to be buried under the Stairs But these Murderers came all to miserable ends and King Richard himself after this abominable Fact never had a quiet mind but was troubled with fearful dreams and would sometimes start out of his bed and run about the chamber in a great fright as if all the Furies in Hell were about him as he did the night before the Battle at Bosworth Field where he was slain by King Henry the seventh who succeeded to the Crown King Richard took away from Jane Shore one of King Edwards Concubines all her Goods to the value of above 3000 Marks and afterward caused her to do Pennance before the Cross for her Incontinency with a Taper in her hand when though undressed yet she appeared so fair and lovely and likewise so modest that many who hated her course of life yet pitied her course usage since she used all the favour she had with King Edward to the good of many but never to the hurt of any And truly she had cause to complain against Richard for being so severe for her offending against the seventh Commandment onely when he did no pennance for offending heavily against all Ten. But perhaps he got some Good Fellow to be his Confessor After Richard called Crook-back was slain Henry the seventh was proclaimed King In whose time were made several general Laws as that for admitting poor people to sue in Forma Pauperis without paying Fees to Attorney Counsellor or Clerk Another that no person that shall assist by Arms or otherwise the King in being shall ever after be impeached thereof or attainted by course of Law or act of Parliament and that if any such Act of Attainder did happen to 〈◊〉 made it should be void and of none effect In his fifth year it was ordained by Parliament that the Mayor of London should have the conservation oâ— the River of Thames from Stanes-bridge to the Waters of Yeudale and Medway In his seventeenth year John Shaw Lord Mayor of London caused his Brethren the Aldermen to ride from Guildhall to the Water-side when he went to Westminster to be presented to the Exchequer He also causeâ— Kitchins and other Conveniences to be built it Guild-hall This King was the first that ordaine a Company of tall proper men to be Yeomen 〈◊〉 the Guard and to attend the person of the King to whom he appointed a Livery and a Captaâ—â— over them In his eighteenth year King Heâ—â—â— himself being Free of the Tailors Company 〈◊〉 divers Kings before had been namely Richard tâ— second Henry the fourth fifth and sixth Edwarâ— the fourth and Richard the third as also eleveâ— Dukes twenty eight Earls and forty eight Lord He therefore now gave them the name of Mâ—â—chant-Taylors as an honourable Title to end 〈◊〉 for ever The 22 of August 1485. the very day King Henâ— got the Victory over King Richard a great Fiâ— happened in Bredstreet London in which was burnt the Parson of St. Mildreds and one person more In his tenth year in digging a new Foundation in the Church of St. Mary-hill in London the body of Alice Hackny who had been buried 175 years before was found whole of skin and the joints of her arms pliable the Corps was kept above ground four days without annoyance and then buried again In his twelfth year on St. Bartholomews day there fell Hail-stones measured twelve Inches about The great Tempest which drove King Philip of Spain into England blew down the Golden Eagle from the Spire of St. Pauls and in the fall it fell upon the sign of the Black Eagle in St. Pauls Church-yard where the School-house now is and broke it down This King was frugal from his Youth the City of London was his Paradice for what good fortune soever befel him he thought he enjoyed it nor till he acquainted them with it His Parliament was his Oracle for in all matters of Importance he would ask their advice yea he put his Prerogative many times into their hands After he had lived fifty two years and reigned twenty three years he died April 22. 1508. Henry the eighth his only Son succeeded him In the ninth year of his reign on May Eve there was an Insurrection of the Young men and Apprentices of London against Foreigners for which Riot several
news came he was got into Holland where being no welcome Guest he wandred up and down two or three years like a Fugitive and at Lorain in Brabant ended his life By this time the Lords had got matter enough against the King at least to justifie their Arms and thereupon with an Army of Forty thousand men they came to London where after some debate they were received and some of them went to the Tower to the King to whom after humble Salutations they shewed the Letter which he had written to the Duke of Ireland to levy an Army for their destruction likewise the Letters which the French King had written to him containing a safe Conduct for him to come into France there to do Acts to his own dishonour and the Kingdoms After which upon the Kings Promise that he would come the next day to Westminster to treat further of these matters the Lords departed only at the Kings desire the Earls of Nottingham and Derby stayed all Night but before the King went to bed his Mind was quite altered as to keeping promise with the Lords which they understanding sent peremptorily to him That if be came not according to his Word they would chuse another King who should hearken to the faithful Counsel of his Lords This touched the King to the quick so that the next morning he went met them they declared to him how much it concerned the good of the Kingdom that those Traitors so often spoken of should be removed from the Court To which the King though much against his Will at last condescended and thereupon the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Chichester fled no man knew whether the Bishop of Durham Lord Treasurer Lord Zouch Lord Burrel Lord Beumont and others were expelled the Court and constrained to put in Bail to appear the next Parliament Also cerâ—ain Ladies were expelled the Court as the Lady Poynings the Lady Mouling and others Several other Knights with three of the Kings Chaplains and the Dean of his Chappel were likewise committed to Prison Shortly after the Parliament began called afterward the Parliament that wrought wonders On the first day whereof all the Judges but one were arrested as they sate upon the Bench and sent to the Tower and several Lords and Bishops were impeached But the Lord Chief Justice Tresillian having made his escape was afterward taken and hanged at Tyburn Sir Nicholas Brember was Beheaded with an Axe which he had prepared for the beheading of others after this divers Lords and Knights and among the rest the Steward of the Kings Household were Beheaded on Tower-hill Also all the Judges were condemned to dye but by the Queens Intercession they were only banished the Realm and all their Lands and Estates Confiscated only a small Sallery was allowed them for their support Finally in this Parliament an Oath was required and obtained of the King that he would perform such things as the Lords should Order and this Oath was likewise required of all the People of the Kingdom After this the Duke of Glocester and some other Lords upon discontent conspire to seize upon the King the Dukes of Lancaster 〈◊〉 York and commit them to Prison and all the other Lords of the Kings Council they determined should be drawn and hanged but the King having notice thereof by a Wile he seizeth upon the Duke of Glocester and sends him presently to Callice where he soon after lost his life being smothered with Pillows as some write and divers other Lords are committed to the Tower and soon after the Earl of Arundel is beheaded on Tower-hill and a Parliament being called the King brought it so about that he obtained the whole Power of the Parliament to be conferred upon certain Persons or to any seven or eight of them and these by virtue of this Grant proceeded to conclude upon many things which concerned the whole Parliament to the great prejudice of the State and a dangerous Example in time to come A General Pardon was also granted for all the Kings Subjects but only to Fifty whose names he would not Express but reserved them to himself that when any of the Nobility offended him he might at his Pleasure name him to be one of the number excepted and so keep them still within his danger Also in this Parliament the Judges gave their Opinious That when Articles are propounded by the King to be handled in Parliament if other Articles be handled before those be first determined that it is Treason in them that do it And for the more strengthning the Acts of this Parliament the King purchased the Popes Bulls containing grievous Censures and Curses to those that should break them And now the Heads of the Opposite Faction having lost their Heads and all things as well setled as could be desired the King was secure as thinking himself safe and he had been indeed safe if Time and Fortune were not Actors in Revenge as well as men or rather if a Superiour Power did not interpose whose ways are as secret as himself is invincible About this time it happened that Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk and Henry Duke of Hereford accused each other for speaking words sounding highly to the Kings dishonour whereupon a Combate is agreed upon between them which being ready to be begun the King interposeth and banisheth the Duke of Norfolk for ever and the D of Hereford for six years But soon after several discontented Lords sollicite the D. of Hereford to return into England take the Government upon him they would be ready to assist him who thereupon without much deliberation prepares to come over and landing at Ravenspur in Yorkshire where many Lords Gentlemen and Common people repaired to him to whom he solemnly protests That though some of them had invited him to come to take the Government yet he came only to take possession of the Inheritance descended to him from his Father which King Richard unjustly and contrary to his promise had seized into his hands Hereupon many more Lords join with him and all the Kings Castles are surrendred to him and the Lord Scroop Treasurer of England Sir Henry Bushy and Sir Henry Green being seized were condemned and beheaded for Misgoverning the King and the Realm King Richard was at that time in Ireland busie in suppressing the Rebels and had no notice of the Dukes Arrival in England till six weeks after but hearing of it he sends the Earl of Salisbury before to raise an Army and promiseth to come himself within six days the Earl provides an Army of Forty Thousand men but when the King came not at his time they all disbanded and went away The King coming over and finding how it was fell into despair and secretly the next night gets into Conway Castle The Duke of Hereford now Duke of Lancaster by his Fathers Death sends the Earl of Northumberland to the King that if his Grace would undertake there should be a
of the English upon which false Pretence he was taken into favour again Three days after both Armies prepared again for Battle yet stood still without skirmishing only refreshing their tired Bodies and burying those that were slain in the two days before The night following nutus brake up his Camp and marched toward London he having great displeasure against the Citizens and desiring to conquer that place which was already besieged by the Danish Ships Next morning the Centinels gave notice to King Edmâ—nd who was preparing to Battle that his Enemies were marched away Who followed them with all speed to London where with little difficulty he raised the Siege and entred the City triumphantly The Danes being thus discomfited Edmund taking advantage of their fear routed them two days after at Brainford though in passing the Thames many of his Men were drowned Upon this Ioss the Traytor Edrick fearing the Ruine of the Danes persuaded his Brother in Law King Edmund to come to a Truce with Canutus who kept it but till he had increased his Forces and then another Battle was fought wherein it is reported Canutus lost 4500 Men and King Edmund only 600. But Canutus a while after recruiting his Army Edmund marched toward him who lay at Ashdown 3 Miles from Saffron Walden in Essex where at first the Victory seemed doubtful till the Danes began to retreat which the ever traiterous Edrick perceiving he with all his Forces revolted to the Danes whereby they got the day and the poor betrayed English were utterly overthrown There were slain of Edmund's Nobility Duke Alfred Duke Godwin Duke Athelward Duke Athelwin and Earl Vrchil with Cadnoth Bishop of Lincoln and Wolsey Abbot of Ramsey and several other of the Clergy who came thither to pray for the good success of King Edmâ—nd and his Army There are some signs of this Battle in that Field to this very day divers small hills still â—emaining there from whence have been digged the Bones of Men Armour and he chains of Horses Bridles King Edmund being thus treacherbusly forced to quit the Field went on Foot to Glocester with a very small Army leaving Canutus flushed with Victory who marched to London and forced the City to submit to him with many other great Towns After which he followed Edmund into the West who had again raised a considerable Army resolving at once to try the utmost of his fortune The Armies met with a full Resolution to establish the Title of the one by the ruine of the other But a Captain in King Edmund's Army proposed that for preventing Bloodshed the two Kings only should fight in single Combat it chiefly concerning them or else divide the Kingdom between them This was agreed to and the two Kings in sight of both Armies went into a small Island called Alney near Glocester encompassed with the River Severn being compleatly armed they first assaulted each other very stoutly on Horseback ' and afterward on foot But Edmund was strong and fought for a Kingdomâ— Canutus for Honour And the Combat seemed equal till Canutus having received a dangerous Wound and finding himself over matched desired to treat and spake thus to Edmund What necessity is there most valiant Prince that we for obtaining a Title should thus endanger our Lives it were better to lay Malice and our Armour aside and condescend to a loving Agreement let us therefore become sworn Brothers and divide the Kingdom between us and keep such Amity that we may both use the others share as his own so shall this Land be peaceably governed and we jointly assist each other in necessity Upon this Speech they both cast down their Swords and embraced as Friends to the great joy of both Armies who stood wâ—vering before betwixt hope and fear expecting their own fortunes according to the success of their Champions Thus was the Kingdom divided betwixt these two Princes Edmund enjoying the West part toward the Coast of France and Canutus the rest And thus was the Saxon Monarchy come to its â—â—st Period and the tottering Crown was soon Severn and being compleatly armed they first assaulted each other very stoutly on Horse-back and afterward on Foot But Edmund was strong and fought for a Kingdom Canutus for Honour and the Combat seemed indifferent equal till Canutus having received a dangerous wound and finding himself overmatched in strength desired to treat and spake thus to Edmund What necessity is there most valiant Prince that we for obtaining a title should thus endanger our lives It were better to lay Malice and our Armour aside and condescend to a loving Agreement let us now therefore become Sworn Brothers and divide the Kingdom between us and keep such amity that we may both use the others share as if it were his own so shall this Land be peaceably governed and we jointly assist each others necessity Upon this Speech they both cast down their Swords and embraced as Friends to the great joy and rejoycing of both Armies who stood doubtfully wavering before betwixt hope fear as expecting their own fortunes according to the success of their Champions Thus was the kingdom divided between these two Princes Edmund enjoying the West part toward the Coast of France and Canutus the rest And thus was the Saxon Monarchy come to its last period and the tottering Crown was soon after torn from Edmunds head For Duke Edrick a Traitor in grain being much in favour with both Kings yet to oblige Canutus contrived the death of renowned Edmund who going into a place of casement was suddenly thrust from under the Vault into the body with a sharp Spear which being done the Villain Edrick cut off his Sovereigns head and presented it to Canutus with this flattering salutation All hail thou now sole Monarch of England for here behold the head of thy Copartner which for thy sake I have adventured to cut off Canutus though ambitious enough of Sovereignty yet being of a Princely temper he was much astonished at this base and treacherous Act and vowed That in reward of that Service the Bringers own head should be advanced above all the Peers of his Kingdom Which high honour while this prodigious wretch greedily expected and indeed for some time saith our Author he had some shew of favour from the King he suddenly by the Kings command had his head struck off and placed upon the highest Gate of London to overlook that great City Canutus being possessed of half the Kingdom by composition with Edmund now after his death seized the whole and that all things as was pretended might proceed with Justice and Concord he called a Council of the English Nobility at London wherein it was demanded whether in the Agreement between Edmund and him any Claim or Title to the Crown had been reserved for King Edmunds Brethren or his Sons The English who had paid dear for resisting the Dane hitherto and being afraid to provoke him absolutely answered No. And knowing that Princes
are generally appeased with flattery they offered their Swords against any such Claims and took themselves the Oath of Allegiance to Canutus who being a very wise and Politick Prince had never the better opinion of them for their fawning rightfully judging that those who were false to their natural Prince would never be true to him nor his posterity who were Foreigners Canutus being thus freed from all his Opposites was Crowned King of England at London in 1017. by Elstane Archbishop of Canterbury being the second King of Denmark of that name and the first of England and the 34. Monarch of this Land King Canutus dying left the Kingdom of Norway to his eldest Son Swain and England to his youngest called Hardyknute who being at that time in Denmark Harold his elder Brother by a former wife taking advantage of his absence laid claim to the Crown and enjoyed it four years having neither wife nor child After his death the English as well as Danes who had been for Harold thought best to send for Hardyknute and offer him the Crown who soon after came to London in great state and was there proclaimed King of England and crowned He spent his Reign in doing nothing but doing ill For no sooner had he power to command but he ordered the body of his Brother the deceased King Harold to be taken out of his Grave and disgracefully thrown into the River Thames where it remained till a Fisherman found it and buried it in the Churchyard of S. Clement commonly called St. Clement Danes because say some it was the burying-place for that Nation This Hardyknute altogether neglected his Government delighting in nothing but eating and drinking to excess having his Tables spread with fresh Victuals four times every day which caused all manner of Debauchery to reign among his Subjects by his evil example since it is natural for people to imitate the Vices of their Sovereign He died suddenly at the celebration of a Marriage at Lambeth near London for while he was revelling and carousing in the midst of his Cups he suddenly fell down without speech or breath whose loss was little lamented by reason of his Riot and Excess and the severe Taxes he laid upon the People for maintaining his extravagancies yea so far were any from bewailing him that in remembrance of their Freedom from the Danish yoke he being the last King of the Danes the common people for a long time after celebrated the day of his death which was the eighth of June with open Pastimes in the Streets as the Romans formerly kept their Fugalia for chasing out their Kings which time is called Hocktide or Heuxtide signifying a time of Scorning and Contempt which fell upon the Danes by his death Edward the third of that name before the Conquest half-brother to the deceased Hardy-Canute and Son to King Ethelred by Queen Emma his wife succeeded him and was called Edward the Confessor between whom and Godwin Earl of Kent there happened such differences that they raised Forces against each other and fitted out divers Ships King Edward appointed sixty Ships for a Guard to the Thames mouth but Godwin being a man of very great Authority sollicited the People of Kent Sussex and Surrey to his aid and entering the Thames with his Ships invited the Londoners to join with him which they accordingly did though King Edward were in the City so that without resistance his Navy came up with the Tide to the South end of London-bridge and a very great Army attended to aid him on Southwark side The Nobility observing the People to be divided into Parties and one English man ready to destroy another they so prevailed with King Edward and Godwin that they made a Reconciliation between them and Pledges were delivered for the true performance of the Agreement About this time that is in 1047. there fell a very great Snow in January which covered the ground to the middle of March so that most of the Cattle and Fowl perished and the Year following a strange and terrible Earthquake happened which seemed to rend the earth asunder and such Lightnings withall as burnt up the Corn â—rowing in the Fields whereby an extraordinary Dearth and Faâ—ine followed In the Year 1066. William the Conquerour landed at Pemsey in Sussex and immediately sent a Messenger to King Harold at London whereby he claimed no less than the Crown of England upon pretence of a Donation from King Edward deceased and required that Harold should be a Vassal to him The Messenger urged the same with so much confidence that Harold in his fury could hardly forbear though against the Law of Arms to lay violent hands on the Ambassadour And thereupon he returns a threatning Message to William to depart immediately back into Normandy at his utmost peril He then proceeds to muster his Forces which were not so many as he expected though divers Noblemen Gentlemen and others who were inflamed with the love of the Rights and Liberties of their Native Country joined with him to keep out this dangerous Foreigner However King Harold with an undaunted courage led his men into Sussex against the earnest intreaty of his Mother who endeavoured to hinder him and pitching his Tents in a large fair Plain not above seven miles from the Enemy he sent forth his Spies for discovery who being taken by Duke William he ordered that they should view all his Tents and then sent them safely back to Harold They commended Williams clemency and his great strength but told Harold that they thought all his Army were Priests for their Beards were all shaved whereas the use of the English was then to reserve the hair of the upper lip without cutting King Harold replied they were no Priests but men of great courage and valour to his knowledgeâ— he having been formerly in that Country Harold was thereupon persuaded not to venture himself in the Battle but to go on to levy more Souldiers And his Brother told him that William charged him that he had taken an Oath to settle him in the Throne and said he Thou knowest what Oath thine own mouth hath made unto William if it were lawful and thou tookest it willingly withdraw thy self out of the Field lest for thy great sin the whole Army be destroyed for there is no power that can resist God But Harold reproved his Brother for his freedom and disdainfully undervalued the strength of the Normans and seemed to conceive that nothing which he did being a private man could now bind him when he was a Prince Duke William being now come into the Field and both Armies facing each other as ready for Battle to spare the effusion of Christian bloud he sent a Monk as a Mediator for Peace offering Harold either to resign the Kingdom to himself and acknowledge him his Sovereign or to trie the quarrel in single Battle in the sight of both Armies or lastly to stand to the Arbitrement of the Pope who should
you have already an account After the death of King John his eldest Son Henry being not above ten years old succeeded him and was therefore very unfit to govern in such a distracted time when a great part of the kingdom had sworn Allegiance to Prince Lewis However upon October 8. 1216. he was crowned at Glocester by the name of Henry the Third where besides the usual Oath taken by all Kings he did Homage also to the Church of Rome and to Pope Innocent for the kingdoms of England and Ireland and promised the true payment of the Thousand Marks a year which his Father had granted to the Church of Rome And then William Marshal Earl of Pembroke was by general consent made Protector of the Realm during the Kings Minority In the mean time Lewis who thought himself sure of the kingdom by the death of King John now hearing of the solemn Crowning of the young King with such unanimous consent he begins to grow jealous of the English Lords who indeed had some conflicts in their minds whom they should obey they thought it great ingratitude to forsake Prince Lewis whom they themselves had invited to come and yet it seemed extream disloyalty to stand in opposition to Henry their innocent natural Soveraign but the discovery of Viscount Melun that Lewis intended to extirpate all the English Nobility and the curse of Wallo the Popes Legate against all who should join with Lewis with divers other reasons caused the principal of them to shrink from Lewis and join with King Henry as thinking no obligation so great as Allegiance many others staid with Lewis as thinking none greater than an Oath And now Prince Lewis fearing that his enemies having gotten an head should likewise gather a head and draw more Forces together staying himself in London sent his Lieutenant with an Army of Twenty thousand to take in what Towns he could get some of which they took with small resistance but William Earl of Pembroke the Protector coming against them with an Army utterly routed Lewis and took most of the Lords that adhered to him Prisoners and though his Father Philip sent him more Forces yet they were defeated at Sea so that Lewis upon payment of some monies and other conditions returned into France and King Henry took an Oath and for him the Popes Legate Wallo and the Protector That he would restore to the Barons of the Realm and other his Subjects all their Rights and Priviledges for which the discord began between the late King and his People And afterward he confirmed the two Charters of Magna Charta and Charta Forestae granted by his Father King John In the Tenth year of King Henries Reign and the nineteenth of his Age he claimed to take the Government upon himself and no longer to be under a Protector after which there presently appeared the difference between a Prince that is ruled by good counsel and one that will do all of his own will and take no Advice For thirteen years he was ruled by a Protector and then all passed as it were in a calm without noise or clamour but as soon as he took upon him the Government storms and tumults presently arose neither was there any quietness with the Subject nor himself nothing but Grievances all the long time of his Reign For as soon as he was crowned again he presently cancels and annuls the Charter of the Forests as granted in his Nonage and therefore not bound to observe it and then makes a new Seal forcing all that had Grants by the former to renew them whereby he got abundance of money After which he goes over into France to recover his Rights there to which purpose he raises great sums of money from the Londoners for Redemption of their Liberties About which time Constantine Fitz-Arnulf a Citizen of London upon a tumult which arose in the City at a Wrestling which he purposely appointed endeavoured to set up Lewis again and in the heat of the disturbance he traiterously cried out Mountjoy Mountjoy God for us and our Lord Lewis And though the Lord Mayor who was a very discreet person earnestly persuaded them to be quiet yet Constantine by his seditious Orations had made the people incapable of good counsel so that there was little hope of appeasing them The Lord Chief Justice having notice hereof presently raised Forces and entered the Tower of London and sent for the principal men of the City to come before him who all disclaimed their being concerned therein and charged Fitz Arnulph to be the chief Author thereof But he resolutely answered That he had not done so much therein as he ought Whereupon he was condemned to die together with the Crier who published the Proclamation and his Nephew and was accordingly executed though when he saw the Halter about his neck he offered Fifteen thousand Marks for the saving of his life This Execution being done without noise or the knowledge of the Londoners the Lord Chief Justice comes into the City and apprehending several who where guilty of this Tumult he causeth their hands and feet to be cut off for a terrour to the rest and then set them at liberty The King likewise deposed several of the Magistrates but afterwards finding that the baser sort of People onely were concerned in the Disorder he thereupon was reconciled to the City About this time an Execrable Impostor was brought before the Archbishop of Canterbury who observing how easily the People were deluded in those times of Darkness and Superstition he impudently caused himself to be wounded in his hands feet and sides that by the resemblance of these bloudy Impressions he might be acknowledged for their very Saviour who was thereupon deservedly immured up between four Walls and with him a wretched Woman who pretended to be Mary the Mother of this Christ and some say another who called her self Mary Magdalene this punishment being thought fittest for such Miscreants as Monsters too impious and unworthy to die by Humane hands though it is very remarkable that this man should have such a severe judgment at Oxford and yet St. Francis who was guilty of the same Imposture as to the wounds of Christ though not the name should soon after be canonized at Rome for the chief of Saints and perhaps if this Monster had been at Rome he had been likewise Sainted and if Saint Francis had been at Oxford he had been immured King Henry returning from France brought over many French men with him which he puts in places of Trust and Profit and removes and fines his old Officers The Lords could no longer endure so many indignities to see themselves slighted and Strangers advanced their Persons likewise exposed to danger and their Estates to ruine for which they could find no remedy but the Kings confirming their Charter of Liberties wherein it is strange to see upon what different grounds the King and the Lords went It seems the King thought that to
Henry the third died Nov. 16. 1272. when he had reigned 56 years and 28 days and was buried at Westminster having built a great part of that Church As soon as he was dead the great Lords of the Realm caused his eldest Son Prince Edward the first of that name to be proclaimed King and assembling at the New Temple in London they there took order for the quiet Governing of the Realm till he came for he was at this time in the Holy Land and had been there above a year when his Father died and performed many great Actions after which out of Envy to his valour a desperate Saracen who had been often imployed to him from their General being one time upon pretence of some secret Message admitted alone into his Chamber gave him three wounds with a poisoned knife two in the Arm and one near the Armpit which were thought to be mortal and perhaps had been so if out of unspeakable love the Lady Eleanor his wife had not suckt out the poison of his wounds with her mouth thereby effecting a Cure which else had been incurable and it is no wonder that Love should do Wonders since it is it self a Wonder When Edward heard of his Fathers death he took it far more heavily than he did that of his young Son Henry of whose death he had heard a little before at which when Chartes King of Sicily where he then was wondered he answered He might have more Sons but he could never have another Father After his return to London he was crowned at Westminster August 15. 1274. and soon after called a Parliament wherein he would admit no Church-men to sit And a while after he makes War against Baliol King of Scots whom he takes prisoner with the loss of twenty five thousand Scots and commits him prisoner to the Tower of London He likewise brings from Scotland the fatal Chair wherein the Kings of Scotland used to be Crowned which now seems to recover that secret operation according to the ancient Prophesie That whithersoever that Chair should be removed the Kingdom should be removed with it and this Chair King Edward caused to be brought out of Scotland and to be placed at Westminster among the Monuments where it still continues This King restored to the Citizens of London their Liberties which for some misdemeanours they had forfeited In the sixteenth year of his Reign the Sun was so exceeding hot that many men died with the extremity thereof and yet Wheat was sold for three shillings four pence a Quarter at London This King by Proclamation forbid the use of Sea-coal in London and the Suburbs for avoiding the noisom Smoak In his time the Bakers of London were first drawn upon Hurdles by Henry Wallis Mayor and Corn was then first sold by weight In a Synod held in his time it was Ordained according to the Constitution of the General Council That no Ecclesiastical person shall have more than one Benefice with the Cure of Souls About this time the new work of the Church at Westminster was finished and the Foundation of the Black-Fryars near Ludgate was laid by Kilwarby Archbishop of Canterbury And Queen Margaret began to build the Quire of the Gray Friars in London now called Christchurch In his time was begun to be made the great Conduit formerly at the lower end of Cheapside And Henry Wall is Mayor made the Tun in Cornhil a Prison for Nightwalkers and likewise built a House at the Stocks Market for Fish and Flesh which since the fatal Fire in 1666. is demolished and laid into the Street In the ninth year of his Reign there was such a great Frost that five Arches of London Bridge and all Rochester Bridge was carried down and born away On St. Nicholas day in the Even were great Earthquakes Lightning and Thunder with a great Dragon and a Blazing Star which extremely terrified the People In his two and twentieth year three men had their right hands cut off for rescuing a Prisoner from an Officer of the City of London and about that time the River of Thames overflowing the Banks made a breach at Redriff near London and the lower Grounds thereabout were all laid under Water In his twenty seventh year a Fire being kindled in the lesser Hall of the Pallace of Westminster the flame thereof being driven by the wind fired the Monastery next adjoyning which with the Pallace were both consumed The same year by an Act of Common Council in London with the Kings consent it was Ordained that a fat Cock should be sold for three half pence two Pallets for three half pence a fat Capon for two pence half penny a Goose for four pence a Mallard three half pence a Partridge three half pence a Pheasant four pence a Heron six pence a Plover one penny a Swan three shillings a Crane twelve pence two Woodcocks three half pence a fat Lamb from Christmas to Shrovetide sixteen pence and all the year after for four pence and Wheat was this year so plentiful that a Quarter was sold for ten Groats In his thirty second year William Wallace who had often caused great trouble in Scotland was taken and hanged beheaded and quartered in London After King Edward had reigned thirty four years and seven moneths he died and was buried at Westminster leaving his Son Edward the second called Carnarvan to succeed him Of whom the People had at first great expectation but he soon brake all his Fathers admonitions especially that he should banish for ever Pierce Gaveston who had been his Companion in many Irregularities in his Youth He married Isabel the daughter of Philip the Fair of France and makes Gaveston his chiefest Favourite which so incensed the Lords that they threaten unless he would banish him his Court and Kingdom they would hinder his Coronation Which he promises to do but doth not perform but on the contrary bestows so much of his Treasury upon him that he scarce left means to sustain himself or to maintain his Queen This put the Lords into a new discontent who thereupon went again to the King and told him plainly That unless he would put Gaveston out of the Court and Kingdom they would rise up in Arms against him as a perjured King Whereupon out of fear the King sends him to France where finding no entertainment more than in other places he soon returns again and is received into as much favour as before Whereupon the whole Nobility join together except Gilbert Earl of Glocester and raising Forces send to the King either to deliver Gaveston into their hands or else to banish him immediately out of the kingdom But the King led by evil Counsel still refused Whereupon the Lords hearing where he was seized him and cut off his head The King being much concerned at his death to vex the Nobility takes into his nearest familiarity and Council the two Spencers Sir Hugh the Father and Sir Hugh the Son men as debaucht
and odious to the Lords and the People as the other was for they inclined the King to a lewd and wanton course of life among Whores and Concubines and to forsake the company of his modest and vertuous Queen which made him a Scorn to Foreign Princes and hateful in the sight of all honest men yet the King in despight of his Lords supported the Spencers in whatever they did Whereupon the Lords rise in Arms and the King likewise raiseth Forces where a great Battle was fought and the Barons were overthrown and after the Fight two and twenty of the Lords were beheaded which increased the pride and insolence of the Spencers Yet the Queen who fled to Germany soon after returned accompanied with 300 Knights and select men at Arms with whom the Lords and the Londoners joined and seizing upon the Spencers the Father who was fourscore and ten years old was cruelly executed having his heart pulled out and his body left hanging on the Gallows while he was alive and the Son with the King himself were imprisoned and soon after young Spencer was drawn hanged and quartered his Head set upon London Bridge and his four Quarters bestowed in several Cities Then was a Parliament called wherein it was agreed to depose the King and set up his Son which he because they threatned to exclude both him and his Son and set up a King of another Race consented to And thereupon the Bishop of Hereford and other Commissioners came and sate at a place appointed to take his Resignation and the King coming forth in mourning Robes upon a sudden fell down in a swound and could hardly be recovered After which the Bishop of Hereford declared the cause of their coming To which the King answered That as he much grieved his People should be so hardened against him as utterly to reject him so iâ— was some comfort to him that they would yet receive his Son to be their Sovereign Whereupon Sir William Trussel Speaker of the Parliament in the name of the whole kingdom renounced Homage to the King in these words I William Trussel in the name of all the Men of the Land of England and of all the Parliament Procurator do resign to thee Edward the Homage that was made to thee sometimes and from this time forward now following I defie thee and deprive thee of all Royal Power and I shall never be tendant to thee as for King after this time Not long after this King was murthered by Sir John Matravers and Thomas Gourney by thrusting an hot Spit up his Fundament into his Bowels after he had reigned nineteen Years and 6 months 1327. In the eighth year of his reign was so great a Dearth that Horses and Dogs were eaten and Thieves in Prison pulled in pieces those that were newly brought in amongst them and eat them half alive Which continuing three years in the end brought such a Pestilence that the living scarce sufficed to bury the dead In this Kings time digging the Foundation of a Work about St. Pauls were found above an hundred Heads of Oxen and Kine which confirmed the opinions that of old time it had been the Temple of Jupiter and that there was the Sacrifice of Beasts Edward of Windsor eldest Son of King Edward the second by the order of Parliament upon his Fathers Resignation was proclaimed King of England Jan. 25. 1327. and soon after a Parliament was called wherein Edmund Earl of Kent the Kings Uncle is accused for intending to restore his Brother upon which he was condemned and brought to the Scaffold but was so generally beloved of the People that he stood there from one of the Clock till five in the Afternoon before any Executioner could be found to do the Office till at last a silly Wretch in the Marshalsey was gotten to cut off his head But the authors of his death escaped not long themselves for in the third year of the Kings Reign another Parliament is holden wherein the Queen hath all her great Jointure taken from her and is put to her Pension of a thousand pound a Year and her self confined to a Castle where she remained the rest of her days no fewer than thirty years Time long enough to convince her that her being the daughter of a King the wife of a King and the mother of a King were glorious Titles but all not worth the Liberty of a mean Estate And Roger Mortimer her great Minion and Favourite lately created Earl of the Marches of Wales was seized on this manner The King taking others with him went secretly one night by Torch-light through a private way under ground till they came to the Queens chamber where leaving the King without some of them went in and found the Queen with Mortimer ready to go to bed and laying hands on him they brought him out after whom the Queen followed crying Good Son good Son take pity upon the gentle Mortimer suspecting her Son had been amongst them This way was taken to apprehend him to prevent Tumult he having no less than ninescore Knights and Gentlemen besides other meaner Servants about him continually Being thus seized he is committed to the Tower and accused of divers crimes and amongst the rest that he had been too familiar with the Queen by whom she was thought to be with child Of which Articles he was found guilty and condemned and thereupon is drawn and hanged at the common Gallows at the Elms now called Tyburn where his body remained two days an opprobrious spectacle to all beholders This King Edward the third was a victorious Prince and with the assistance of his Son Edward called the Black Prince won many considerable Victories against the French and Scetch taking both their Kings prisoners who were committed to the Tower of London This King instituted the Order of the Garter upon what cause is uncertain the common opinion is that a Garter of his own Queen or as some say of the Countess of Salisbury slipping off in a dance King Edward stooped and took it up whereat some of his Lords that were present smiling as at an amorous action he seriously said It should not be long ere sovereign honour were done to that Garter Whereupon he added that French Motto Honi soit qui maly pense Evil to him that evil thinks therein checking his Lords sinister suspicion In the fourth year of his Reign the Sea Banks were overflown through all England but especially in the River Thames so that all the Cattle and Beasts near thereunto were drowned There was likewise found a Serpent having two heads and two faces like a Woman one face drest after the new fashion and another like the old with Wings like a Bat and men and women perished in divers places by Lightning and Thunder Fiends Devils and Apparitions were likewise seen by men and spoke to them as they travelled At this time upon the Petition of the Londoners an Act was made that no common Whore