lesse yeerly and not of one certaine value the Commissioners obserued this course they did make choice of three seuerall yeeres viz. 47. and 48. and 49 of E. 3. and did take out of the seuerall profits of those yeeres and did cast them all into one summe which they againe diuided into three equall parts esteeming only of the said three parts to be the iust yeerly value of the said reuenewes communibus anâ—iâ— that is one yeere with another And in this accompt we finde no other charges or reprizes allowed then the Iustices fees only This survey and accompt made aboue 200. yeeres past is here inserted to the end it might appeare what the reuenew of this Principallity alone was besides the Dutchy of Cornwall and Earledome of Chester neere the first certaine erection thereof in the hands of that worthy Prince commonly called the Black Prince The said Prince of Wales surnamed the Black Prince being also Duke of Aquitane Guies and Cornwall and Earle of Chester after many fortunate victories atchieued by him hauing subdued a great part of France and hauing taken Iohn the French King prisoner at Poyteers in France and after that also hauing vanquished Henry at Naue-roit in Spaine and restored Peter King of Arragon he died in Iune being then about the age of forty six yeeres and in the fiftieth yeere of the reigne of his father King Edward the Third leauing behinde him Richard his sonne and heire borne at Burdeaux and thereof surnamed Richard of Burdeaux This Richard surnamed of Burdeaux sonne and heire of the said Edward the Black Prince after the death of his father was created by his grandfather King Edward the Third to bee Prince of Wales at Havoring at the Bower in the County of Essex the twentieth day of Nouember in the fiftieth yeere of the reigne of the said King Edward the third the said Richard then being about the age of eleuen yeeres and vpon Christmas day then next following the said King Edward the third caused the said Prince being his Nephew to sit at his table in high estate aboue all his vncles being the Kings sonnes as representing the personage of the heire apparant to the Crowne and gaue to him the two parts of all the said Principalitie Counties Lordships Castles and the most of the said Lands which belonging to the said Blacke Prince and the reuersion of the third part thereof the possession of the third part thereof then being to the mother of the said Prince Richard for her dowry with a hundred thirteene pound sixe shillings eight pence yeerely rent payable by the Earle of March as a fee farme for the Lordship and Lands of Beult and eighty fiue markes for the fee Farme of the Castle Lordship and Land of Montgomery with the vacations of Bishoprickes excepting the fees of the Baron Marches of VVales which doe alwaies hold of the Crowne in Capite and excepting the auoydance of the Bishopricke of S. Dauids in VVales which anciently also belonged to the Crowne with the like limitation of estate viz. To the said Prince Richard his heires Kings of England It seemeth that these Lordships of Beult and Montgomery being formerly granted to Edward the blacke Prince were before this time giuen away in fee farme rendring the rents here spoken of After the death of the said King Edward the Third which was in the 51. yeere of his raigne the kingdome of England descended vnto the said Richard being his grandchilde and he was Crowned King thereof by the name of King Richard the Second and in the three and twentieth yeere of his raigne he resigned his kingdome or rather more truely was deposed against his will and after by a violent death departed this life without issue Henry of Bullinbrooke Duke of Lancaster and Hereford Earle of Darby Leicester and Lincolne sonne and heire to Iohn of Gaunt fourth sonne to King Edward the Third raigning in his stead Henry of Bullingbrooke by the name of King Henry the Fourth by his Charter dated at Westminster the fifteenth day of October in the first yeere of his raigne created Henry his eldest sonne surnamed of Munmouth Prince of Wales and inuested him with the said Princely ornaments viz. the Chaplet Gold-Ring and Rod or Verge of gold To haue and to hold vnto him and his heires Kings of England And by one other Charter of the same date gaue vnto him and to his heires Kings of England the said Principalitie with the Lordships Castles and Lands before mentioned in the Chartermade to the Blacke Prince together with foure Comots in the Countie of Carnaruon viz. the Comots of Isaph Vghaph Nanconeway and Grewthyn not named before and the reuersion of the Lordship of Hauerford with the prices of Wines there and of the Lordships Newyn and Pughby in North-wales which Thomas Percy Earle of Worcester then held for tearme of his life of the demise of King Richard the Second together also with the reuersion of the County and Lordship of Anglesey in North-Wales and the Castle of Bewmarris and the Comots Lands Tenements and Hereditaments belonging thereunto which Henry Percy sonne of the Earle of Northumberland then held for terme of his life of the demise of the said King Henry the Fourth and by an Act of Parliament made in the first yeere of King Henry the Fourth whereby the Dutchie of Lancaster is seuered from the Crowne of England The Stile of the said Prince is declared to be this Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitane of Lancaster and of Cornwall and Earle of Chester For the said King Henry the Fourth hauing beene himselfe Duke of Lancaster before his assumption of the Crowne and knowing that the name of Duke being an inferiour dignity would extinguish and bee surrounded in the Crowne as in the Superiour desired as by that Act of Parliament appeareth not onely to separate the said Dutchie of Lancaster and the lands thereof from the Crowne to the intent he might still hold the said Dutchie as his ancient Patrimony if he were put from the Crowne being but his new acquired dignity but also to preserue the said stile title and name of Duke of Lancaster in his posterity which as the said act affirmeth his Ancestors had so worthily borne and sustained Afterwards the said Henry the Fourth died in the fourteenth yeere of his raigne and the said Henry of Munmouth Prince of Wales succeeded him in the kingdome by the name of King Henry the Fift who also in the tenth yeere of his raigne died leauing Henry his sonne behinde him being an Infant of the age of tenne moneths who by reason of his tender age was not as by any record extant can be proued euer created Prince but was proclaimed King immediately after the death of his father by the name of King Henry the Sixt. King Henry the Sixt by the aduice and counsell of his Lords spirituall and temporall giuen to him in his Parliament holden in the thirtie one
Edward the Fourth hauing thus gained the Crowne which had beene thus shaken from his head did by his Charter dated the 26. of â—une in the eleuenth yeere of his raigne create Edward of VVestminster his sonne heire apparant Prince of VVales and Earle of Chester And by another like Charter of the same yeere gaue vnto him the Lands and reuenues of the said Principality and Earledome To haue and to hold to him and his heires Kings of England This Edward the Prince being of tender yeeres was borne in the Sanctuary of VVestminster whither the Queene his Mother was fled for her security and during the time that the King her husband had auoided the Realme Afterwards the said King by his letters Patents bearing date the eight day of Iuly in the said eleuenth yeere of his raigne ordained his Queene the then Lord Archbishop of Canterbury George Duke of Clarence Richard Duke of Gloucester brothers to the said king The then Bishops of Bath and VVels and Durham Anthony Earle Riuers the then Abbot of VVestminster Chancellor to the Prince VVilliam Hastings knight Lord Chamberlaine to the king Richard Fynes Lord Dacres Steward of the said Prince Iohn Fogge Iohn Scot knights Thomas Vaughan Chamberlaine to the Prince Iohn Alcocke and Richard Fowler to be of Councell vnto the said Prince giuing vnto them and euery foure of them thereby with the aduice and expresse consent of the Queene large power to aduise and counsaile the said Prince and to order and dispose the Lands reuenues and possessions of the said Prince and the nomination of Officers belonging to the said Prince when they should happen to become void or that the parties were insufficient The said authority thus giuen vnto the said Councellors to continue vntill the said Prince should accomplish the age of fourteene yeeres which was performed by them accordingly in all Leases Dispositions and Grants of the reuenues of the said Prince The said king Edward the Fourth by one other Charter composed in English and bearing date the tenth of Nouember in the thirteenth yeere of his raigne appointed the said Earle Riuers being brother vnto the Queene to be the Gouernour of the person of the said Prince and to haue the education and the institution of him in all vertues worthy his birth and to haue the gouernement and direction of his seruants King Edward the Fourth hauing raigned full two and twenty yeeres in the foure and twentieth yeere of his raigne left this mortall life ended his dayes at VVestminster was enterred at VVindsor Edward the Prince his sonne and heire then being at Ludlow necre the Marches of Wales for the better ordering of the Welsh vnder the gouernment of the said Lord Riuers his vncle on the Mothers side and vpon the death of his father drawing towards London to prepare for his Coronation fell into the hands of his vncle by the father Richard Duke of Glocester and the said Lord Riuers being vpon the way towards London was intercepted and lost his head at Pomfret for what cause I know not other then this that hee was thought to be too great an obstacle betweene a thirsty tyrannous desire and the thing that was so thirstily and tyrannously desired Edward King of England the fist of that name for so he was although he enioyed it not long being thus surprized vnder the power of his naturall vncle and yet his mortall enemy was brought to London with great solemnity and pompe and with the great applause of the people flocking about to behold his person as the manner of the English Nation is to doe whose new ioyes cannot endure to be â—ettred with any bonds His said vncle calling himselfe Lord Protector of the King and his Realme but indeed was the woolfe to whom the Lambe was committed for hauing thus surprized the Kings person hee laboured by all meanes to get into his possession also the yonger brother being Duke of Yorke knowing that they both being sundred the safety of the yonger would be a meanes to preserue the elder and therefore by all sinister perswasions and faire pretences hauing obtained the yonger Duke from his mother the King and the Duke both for a time remained in the Tower of London and there shortly after both in one bed were in the night smothered to death and buried in an obscure and secret place vnknowne how and where vntill one of the executioners thereof after many yeeres being condemned to die for other his manifold crimes confessed also his guilty fact in this pitifully tragedy and the circumstance thereof of which by reason of the secrecy and incertainty diuers had before that diuersly coniectured And by this meanes all the prouision for the coronation of innocent Edward serued the turne to set the Crowne vpon the head of tyrannous Richard Out of which by the way I cannot but obserue how hatefull a bloody hand is to almighty God the King of Kings who reuenged the bloodshed of those ciuill broiles whereof Edward the father had beene the occasion and the breach of his oath vpon those his two innocent infants This tyrant and staine of the English Story Richard Duke of Glocester vsurped the Kingdome by the name of Richard the third and became King yet as our records of Law witnesse de facto sed non de iure And in the first yeere of his reigne created Edward his sonne being a child of ten yeeres of age Prince of Wales Lieutenant of the Realme of Ireland But for that the prosperity of the wicked is but as the florishing of a greene tree which whiles a man passes by is blasted dead at the roots and his place knoweth it no more So shortly afterwards God raised vp Henry Earle of Richmond the next heire of the house of Lancaster to exteute iustice vpon that vnnaturall and bloody vsurper and to cast him that had beene the rod of Gods iudgements vpon others into the fire also For in the third yeere of the reigne of the said Richard at the battell of Bosworth whereinto the said Richard entred in the morning crowned in all Kingly pompe he was slaine and his naked carkasse with as much despight as could be deuised was carried out thereof at night and the said Henry Earle of Richmond the Solomon of England father to Margaret your Maiesties great Grandmother reigned in his stead by the name of King Henry the seuenth This King Henry the seuenth tooke to wife Elizabeth the eldest daughter and after the death of her brothers the relict heire of King Edward the fourth by which mariage all occasions of further contention-betweene those noble families of Yorke and Lancaster were taken away and vtterly quenched and the red rose conioyned with the white The said King Henry the seuenth by his letters patents dated the first day of December in the fift yeere of his reigne created Arthur his eldest sonne and heire apparant being then about the age of three yeeres Prince of Wales
any greater number In euery of the said Shires where the said Commission of the Peace is established There is also a Clarke of the Peace for the entring and ingrossing of all proceedings before the said Iustices and this Officer is appointed by the Custos Rotulorum Euery of the said Shires hath his Sheriffe which word being of the Saxon English is as much to say as a Sbire Reeue or minister or Bayliffe of the Countie his Function or Office is two fold Ministeriall or Iudiciall As touching his Ministeriall office he is the Minister and executioner of all the proces and precepts of the Courts of Law and thereof ought to make return or certificate And as touching his Iudiciall office he hath authority to hold two seuerall Courts of distinct natures the one called the Tourne because he keepeth a Tourne or Circuit about his shire holding the same in seuerall places wherein he doth inquire of all offences perpetrated against the Common Law and not forbidden by any Statute or Act of Parliament And the Iurisdiction of this Court is deriued from Iustice distributiue and is for criminall offences The other is called the County Court where he doth determine all petty and small causes Ciuill vnder the value of forty shillings arising within the said County and thereof it is called the Countie Court And the iutisdiction of this Court is drawne from Iustice Commutatiue and is held euery moneth The office of the Sheriffe is Annuall and by the Statute of 34. h. 8. it is ordained that the Lord President Councell and Iustices of Wales or three of them at the least where of the President to be one shall yeerely nominate three fit persons for that office of whom the Kings Maiestie may elect and chose one who thereupon shall haue his Patent and be Sheriffe of the said shire Euery of the said Shires hath an Officer called an Escheator which is an officer to attend the Kings reuenue and to seaze into his Maiesties hands all lands either escheated goods or lands for seited and therefore he is called Escheator and he is to enquire by good enquest of the death of the Kings Tenants and to whom their lands are descended and to seaze their bodies and lands for ward if they be within age and is accountable for the same And this Officer in Wales is named by the Lord Treasurer of England by the aduice of the Lord President Councell and Iustices or three of them at the least whereof the Lord President to be one There are also in euery of the said shires two Officers called Coroners they are to enquire by inquest in what manner and by whom euery person dying of a violent death came to his death and to enter the same of Record which is matter criminall and a plea of the Crowne and thereof they are called Coroners or Crowners as one hath written because their enquiries ought to be publique in corona populi These Officers are chosen by the Free-holders of the Shire by vertue of a Writ out of the Chauncery de Coronatore eligendo and of them I need not to speake more because these Officers are elsewhere Forasmuch as euery shire is diuided into hundreds there are also by the said Statute of 34. h. 8. cap. 26. ordained that two sufficient Gentlemen or Yeomen shall be appointed Constables of euery hundred Also there is in euery Shire one Goale or Prison appointed for the restraint of liberty of such persons as for their offences are therunto committed vntill they shall be deliuered by course of law Finally in euery hundred of euery of the said shires the Sheriffes thereof shall nominate sufficient persons to be Bayliffes of that hundred and Vnderministers of the Sheriffe and they are to attend vpon the Iustices in euery of their Courts and Sessions The Gouernment of the Marches of VVales after the Statutes of an 27. 34. H. 8. BY the said Statute of 34. H. 8. ca. 26. it is further ordayned that the President and Councell in the said Dominion and Principality of Wales and the Marches of the same with all Officers Clarks and incidents thereunto should continue and remaine in manner and forme as was then formerly vsed and accustomed And therefore the said Rowland Lee spoken of before being Lord President of the Councell of the Marches of Wales at the time of the making of the said Statute so continued after the making thereof vntill his death being in the foure and thirtieth yeere of the said King Henry the eight After whom succeeded in the office of the said President Richard Samson Bishop first of Chester and after remoued to Couentry and Litchfield who continued Lord President vntill the second yeere of King Edward the sixt at what time Iohn Dâ—dley then Earle of Warwick and after Duke of Northumberland was President of the said Councell who so continued vntill the fourth yeere of the said King And after him succeeded Sir William Herbert Knight of the noble Order of the Garter and after Earle of Pembrooke who continued President vntill the first yeere of Queene Mary Next succeeded Nicholas Heath then Bishop of Worcester and after Archbishop of Yorke and Lord Chancellor of England And vpon the remouing of the said Archbishop the said Sir William Herbert againe succeded as President of the said Councell vntill the sixt yeere of the said Queene Mary at what time followed him Gilbert Browne Bishop of Bath and VVels who so continued vntill the death of the same Queene In the beginning of the reigne of the late Queene Elizabeth Sir Iohn VVilliams Lord VVilliams of Tame of whom the Lord Norris is descended was appointed President of the said Councell and died the same yeere And after him succeeded Sir Henry Sidney Knight of the noble Order of the Garter whose loue to learning fauour to learned men need not here to be spoken he continued Lord President of Wales about foure and twenty yeeres and six moneths he serued in Ireland eight yeeres and six months being there three seuerall times Lord Deputy generall in that Country During some part of the time of the aboade in Ireland of the said Sir Henry Sidney there serued in Ireland as President or Vice-President Iohn Bishop of VVorcester and now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury After this succeeded Henry Earle of Pembrooke sonne in law to the said Sir Henry Sidney and father to the right honorable the Earle of Pembrooke that now is And after him Edward Lord Zouch now present Lord President of that Councell The President and Councell of the Marches of Wales haue power and authority to heare and determine by their wisdomes and discretions such causes and matters as bee or shall bee assigned to them by the Kings Maiesty and in such manner as shall be so prescribed vnto them by instruction signed with his hand The Councell assisting the Lord Prince consisteth of these the chiefe Iustice of Chester together
rebellions and disorders the kings of England deuised their Scutagium or Escuage as it is called in the Lawes of England that is to leuy ayd assistance of their tenants in England which held of them Per Seruitium militare to suppresse such disordred Welsh tanquaÌ„ Rebelles and Non hostes as Rebells and not as forraine Enemies And hence it is that King Henry the third vpon those often reuolts of the Welsh indeuored to resume the Territory of Wales as forfeit vnto him selfe and conferred the same vpon Edward the Longshanckes his heire apparant yet neuerthelesse rather in title then in possession or vpon any profit obteyned thereby For the former prince of Wales continued his gouernment notwithstanding this betweene whome and the said Edward warres were continued Whereof when the said Edward complained to King Henry the third his father the said King made this answer as recordeth Matthew Paris a Cosmographer liuing in that time Quid ad me terra tua est ex dono meo Exerevires primitiuas famam excita iuuenilem et de caetero timeant inimici c. But the Charter of this gift is not now readilie to be found among the Records For after this time it appeareth by the Records of the Tower of London that by the mediation of Othâ—bon Deacon Cardinal of S Andrews a peace was concluded between the then Prince of the Welsh blood and the said Henry the 3. which neuerthelesse as it seemeth continued not long for sundry battells were fought betweene the said Edward both before and after he was King of England Lewlyn the last Prince of the Welsh blood and Dauid his brother vntill both the said Prince his said brother were ouercome by the said Edward after he was King of England and who thereby made a finall and full conquest of Wales annexing the same vnto the Crowne of England diuiding some parts thereof into Shires and appointing Lawes for the gouernment of that people Although the Welsh nation doe not willingly acknowledge such conquest but referres it rather to composition The words of the Statute made in Wales at Ruthlan presently vpon the conquest are these Diuina Prouidentia quae in sui dispositione non fallitur inter alia dispensationis munera quibus nos regnum nostrum Angliae decorari dignata est Terram Waliae cum incolis suis prius nobis iure fendali subiectam jam sui gratia in proprietatis nostrae dominium obstaculis quibuscunque non obstantibus totaliter et cum integritate conuertit et corona Regni pradicti tanquam partem corporis eiusdem annexit et vniuit This Territory of Wales thus being vnited the said King Edward vsed meanes to obtaine the peoples good will to strengthen that which he had gotten by effusion of blood with the beneuolence of his Subiects of Wales who promised their harty and most humble obedience if it would please the King either to remaine among them him selfe in person or else to appoint vnder him a gouernour ouer them that was of their owne nation cuntrey The King thereupon purposing a pretty policie sendeth for the Queene then being greate with Child to come vnto him into Wales who being deliuered of a sonne in the Castle of Carnaruon in Wales called by reason thereof Edward of Carnarnon the King thereupon sent for all the Barons of Wales tooke their assurance and submission according to their offers formerly made if they should haue a gouernour of their owne nation affirming vnto them that he was then ready to name vnto them a Gouernour borne in their Countrey and who could not speake any word of English whose life and conuersation no man was able to staine and required their promise of obedience whereunto they yeelding the King thereupon named vnto them his said sonne borne at Carnaruon Castle a few dayes before vnto whom the Barons of Wales afterwards made their homage as appeareth Anno 29 E 1. at Chester The said Edward of Carnaruon after the death of his father was King of England by the name of King Edward the second liuing in a turbulent time betweene him and his Barons was afterwards deposed for his ill gouernment and came to a violent death in the Castle of Barkeley and Edward his sonne by the name of King Edward the third reigned in his steade Neuerthelesse this Edward the third being called Edward of Windsor in the life of his father was created Prince of Wales and Duke of Aquitane in a Parliamant holden at Yorke Edward the third in a Parliament holden at Westminster in the fifteenth yeare of his reigne created Edward his eldest sonne surnamed the blacke Prince Prince of Wales being then of tender yeeres and inuested him in the said Principalitie with these ensignes of honour and as in the Charter is conteined Per sertum in capite et annulum in digitâ— aureuÌ„ ac virgam argenteam iuxta moreÌ„ By a Chaplet of Gould made in the manner of a Garland for the word SertuÌ„ importeth by a gould ring set on his finger and by verdge Rod or Scepter of Siluer how be it in the inuesture of the succeeding Princes this Rod or Scepter as appeareth by the Charters of their seuerall creations was changed into a verge of gould The said King for the better maintainance of the said Prince his sonne in honorable support according to such his state and dignity gaue vnto him by his Charter dated the twelfth of May in the seuenth yeere of his reigne of England and in the fourth yeere of his reigne of France and inrolled in the Exchequer in the Terme of S. Hillary in the eighteenth yeere of the said King Edward the third The said Principality and the Mannors Lordships Castles and Lands ensuing to appertaine to the said Principalitie viz. All his Lordships and Lands in Northwales Westwales and Southwales 1 The Lordship Castle towne and County of Carnaruon 2 The Lordship Castle and towne of Conway 3 The Lordship Castle and towne of Crucketh 4 The Lordship Castle and towne of Bewmarish 5 The Lordship Castle and towne of Hardlagh 6 The Lordship Castle and townes and Countys of Anglesey and Merioneth 7 The Lordship Castle towne and County of Caermardin 8 The Lordship Castle and towne of Lampaderuaur 9 The Lordship and Stewardship of Cantermawer 10 The Lordship Castle towne and County of Cardigan 11 The Lordship Castle and Towne of Emelyn 12 The Lordship Castle and Towne of Buelt 13 The Lordship Castle and Towne of Hauerford 14 The Lordship Castle and Towne of Montgomery And all the Lands that were of Rice ap Meridick which came to the hands of King Edward the first together with all the Lordships Cities Castles Borrowes Townes Manours Members Hamlets Lands Tenements Knights fees Voydances of Bishopricks Aduowsons of Churches and of Abbeys Priories and of Hospitals with Customes and Prisages of wines The exercise and execution of
Also there was a Charter of the grant of the lands of the said Principality Earldome of Chester and Flint dated the twenty seuenth of February in the said fift yeere of the said King made vnto the said Prince The said King Henry the seuenth by his Charter bearing date the twentieth day of March in the eight yeere of his reigne did constitute and appoint the said Prince Arthur to bee his Iustice in the County of Salope Hereford Glocester and the Marches of Wales adioyning to the said Shires to enquire of all liberties priuiledges and fraunchises being possessed or claimed or which then after should be possessed or claimed by any person or persons and which were to bee seized into the Kings hands and of all escapes and fellons and those Inquisitions so from time to time to be taken to certifie into the Chancery And by the same Charter gaue him power to substitute and appoint others vnder him for the better execution of the same which after wards by commission was executed accordingly And the said King also by his Charter bearing date the fourteenth of Iune in the eight yeere of his reigne made and constituted the said Arthur Prince of Wales and Gouernor and Warden of the Marches of England towards Scotland and substituted as his Lieutenant and vice-warden vnder him Thomas Earle of Surrey for the due execution thereof Likewise the said King by his letters patents dated the fift day of Nouember in the ninth yeere of his reigne in augmentation of the reuenew of the Prince did grant vnto the said Prince the honor Castle and Lordship of Wigmore and diuers other Castles Mannors and Lands which sometime had beene belonging to the Earledome of March which came to the Crowne by King Edward the fourth who was himselfe Earle of March before he assumed his regall estate To haue and to hold during the pleasure of the King yeelding yeerly the rent of two hundred pounds This Prince was sent into the Marches of Wales for the gouernment of that Country and in the seuenteenth yeere of the reigne of the said King his father had a Councell of very wise and worthy persons assigned vnto him as namely Sir Richard Poole chiefe Chamberlaine of the said Prince Sir Henry Vernon Sir Richard Crofts Sir Dauid Phillips Sir William V dall Sir Thomas Englefield and Sir Peter Newton Knights Iohn Wilson Henry Marian Doctor William Smith President of his Councell and Doctor Charles where not long afterwards the said Prince died in the Castle of Ludlow without issue After the death of the said Prince Arthur King Henry the seuenth by his letters patents dated the eighteenth of February in the 19. yeere of his reigne in Parliament created Henry then his onely soune who after was King Henry the eight and whom before that in the 11 th he had made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by another Charter of the same yeere Constable of the Castle of Douer to be Prince of Wales and Earle of Chester being then about the age of twelue yeeres to haue and to hold to him and his heires Kings of England for euer being the like limitation of estate and with the like inuesture as in former times had beene accustomed But whether the said King did grant the lands and reuenewes belonging to the said Principality vnto the said Prince Henry or no as hee had done vnto Prince Arthur his brother doth not appeare by any Charter that as yet thereof can be found After the death of King Henry the seuenth the said Prince Henry was King of England by the name of King Henry the eight he had issue a sonne called Henry who dyed very yong hee likewise had issue the Lady Mary afterwards Queene and the Lady Elizabeth our late Soueraigne of most happy memory and lastly Prince Edward the yongest in yeeres who first reigned after the death of his said father by the name of King Edward the sixt But there cannot be found any Charters among the records whereby it may appeare that any of them were created Princes of Wales or whereby any of the reuenewes of the said Principality were giuen or conferred vnto any of them so that it seemeth they were Princes generally by their birth and not Princes of Wales by any creation or investure for in a record of an accompt of the Dutchy of Cornwall in the time of the said Prince Edward he is called by the name of the Prince of England and not by the name of the Prince of Wales And thus much touching the succession or rancks of the Princes of Wales which I haue drawne in an historicall although a plaine and homely manner thereby the better to take away the harshnesse of the particularities of records intermingled therewith which of themselues although they affoord profitable knowledge yet they doe carry with them small delight but also for that the variety of things in those succeeding ages in the sundry occurences and accidents thereof doe yeeld good matter of obseruance and worthy memory representing as it were the English State for the time of more then two hundred yeeres together Now therefore do rest neuerthelesse three things concerning the said Principality to be further considered of First in what manner and order the said Principality and Marches of Wales were gouerned and directed vnder the said Prince Secondly what officers aswell domesticall as others the said Princes had about them and their fees as farre forth as I could come to any certaine knowledge thereof And thirdly an abstract of the reuenewes of the said Principality as they now stand in charge and be esteemed to your Maiesty whereby may bee perceiued what in time past the said reuenewes haue beene and in what case they now stand The manner of the gouernment of the Principality and Marches of Wales THe said Principality being vnder the gouernment of the Princes of the Welsh blood whose ancient patrimony yet remained vntill the Conquest thereof by King Edward the first as before hath beene shewed was guyded gouerned and directed by their owne municipall and homebred Lawes and the Customes of their Country Most of which had their commencement from the Constitutions of one of their ancient Princes called Howell Dah as their Historians haue recorded But being reduced vnder the yoke by the said King Edward he diuided certaine parts of that Territory into Shires as hath beene declared he caused the Welsh Lawes to bee perused some whereof he did allow and approue some others he did abrogate and disanull and in their place appointed new altogether according to the English manner of executing Iustice Hee caused to be deuised ce taine Briefes Writs or formulaeturis and he instituted their manner of Processe pleadings and course of their Iudiciall proceedings All which things doe manisestly appeare by the act of Parliament made at Rithlan in Wales called therefore Statutum Walliae which afore is remembred and when they want a writ of forme
Prince was appointed Gouernour of the Person of the said Prince The creation of Arthure sonne and heire apparant to King Henry the Seuenth to bee Prince of VVales the Copie of the Charter of that creation obserued for the forme and manner of penning thereof and the names of the Councellors that were assigned vnto him After the death of Prince Arthure Henry his brother who was afterwards King Henry the Eight was created Prince of Wales after whose time there are no Charters found of the creation of any Prince of Wales although King Edward the Sixt in the life of his Father and Queene Mary carried the name of Prince generall and the reason why this discourse hitherunto is drawne after an historicall manner After the said historicall discourse Three things are further considered of viz. First in what manner and order the said Principalitie and Marches of Wales were gouerned and directed vnder the Princes of Wales as well before as after the English Conquests thereof wherein by the way are noted the Courts of Iustice of the said principality of Wales the originall of the Baronyes Marchers and when the first Councell was established in the Marches of Wales vnto England and in what manner the same was done and the commodities ensuing thereof which vnion or annexation may serue in some respect as a president in other cases of like consequence The second principall thing proposed is the consideration of the antient and moderne Officers of the said principality seruing the Lord Prince and none others and what fees and sallaries were allowed vnto them The third principall matter is the present reuenues of the principality of Wales as the same was in charge before the Auditors this last yeere past viz. the fortie foure yeere of the late Queene Elizabeth The Dukedome of Cornewall The Dukedome of Cornewall was the first erected Dutchie in England after the Norman conquest and made to be a Dutchie in the eleuenth yeere of King Edward the Third and giuen to his eldest sonne commonly called the blacke Prince who was the first Duke in Cornewall after the Conquest to him and to his first begotten sonnes and heires apparant of the Kings of England and the difference that is betweene the Principalitie of Wales and the said Dutchie At what age of the Duke of Cornewall Liuery may bee made vnto him of the said Dutchy Moreouer touching the said Dutchie of Cornewall three things are considered First what reuenues were bestowed vpon the said Dutchy for the erection thereof both annuall and casuall and the particulars thereof the seuerall natures and differences of them in the construction of the Law together with the Stanneryes and coynage of Tynne and the lawes vsages and customes of the said Stanueryes concerning the managing of Tynne The diuers kindes of Tynners and Tynne and the coynage of Tynne is and for what cause due and payable and the priuiledges that the King and Duke of Cornewall haue in their preemption of Tynne The reuenues of the Dutchie of Cornewall as it is rated by suruey taken in the fifth yeere of King Edward the Third The reuenues of the said Dutchie of Cornewall as it was in the fifteenth yeere of King Henry the Eight The reuenues of the said Dutchie as it was in account vnto the late Queene Elizabeth in the 44. yeere of her raigne which is the last account and the cleere yeerely value thereof as it may be drawne to an estimation annuall appeareth The Countie Palatine of Chester and Flint The third principall reuenue belonging to the Prince as Earle of Chester which Earledome is a Countie Palatine Edward sirnamed the blacke Prince created Earle of Chester by King Edward the Third his Father in the seauenth yeere of the said King Edward the Thirds raigne The totall reuenue of the said Countie Palatine of Chester and Flint as it was in the 44. yeere of the late Queene Elizabeth The antient reuenues of the said Earledome of Chester and Flint as the same were in the fifth yeere of King Edward the Third The reasons why in this History diuers an tiquities not vulgarly knowne are discouered concerning the Principality of VVales Dutchy of Cornewall and Earledome of Chester Inconueniens erit omissis initijs atque origine non repetita atqueillotis vt ita dixerim manibus protinus materiam tractare Ex lege prima DigestoruÌ„ Iuris Ciuilis titulo de origine Iuris THE ANCIENT REVENEWES OF the Lord PRINCE consist of these three kindes The Principality of Wales Dutchie of Cornewall And Earldome of Chester And therefore of euery of these in order as followeth The Principality of Wales THat part of this Island which is called Wales is thought by some learned to be the same which the Romanes hauing reduced this Island vnder their gouernment called Britannia Secunda of some others it is supposed to bee the same that was called by the Romanes Valentia but howsoeuer the truth thereof be it was anciently called by the Brittaines Cambria who diuided the whole Island of Albion into these three parts Loegria Albania and Cambria The Saxons conquering this Island called the said Territorie into the mountaines whereof the remnant of the Britaines that remayned were fled and not to be ouercome by them Wallia and the people Welshmen that is to say vnto them strangers And the other part those Britaines or Welshmen doe yet in their language call the English Saissons or Saxons It was also anciently diuided into three Prouinces or Principalities the first and principall called by them Guyneth or as they haue written in Latine Venedotia viz that which is called North-Wales The second they haue called in Latine Demetia and is that we call South-Wales And the third Powisia or Powisland and euery of these Prouinces were againe subdiuided into Cantreds and euery Cantred into Comots The Records do diuide the same into three parts also Westwales Northwales Southwales The whole Countrey is now allotted into Shires which are thirteen in number and namely these 1 Radnor shire 2 Brecknock shire 3 Munmouth shire 4 Glamorganshire 5 Carmarthenshire 6 Pembrookeshire 7 Cardiganshire 8 Montgomeryshire 9 Merionethshire 10 Caâ—rnaruoushire 11 Denbighshire 12 Flintshire 13 Anglesyshire This Parcell of the said Island called Wales thus possessed by the remnant of those Britaines was no parcell of the dominion of the Realme of England but distinguished from the same as the bookes of the Lawes of this Realme doe testifie and as it were a Realme of it selfe not gouerned by the Lawes of England and was by some of the Saxon Kings diuided from England by a ditch called of the name of the King which caused the same King Offa his Ditch Yet neuertheless was the same Dominion of Wales euer holden in Chiefe and in Fee of the Crowne of England And the Prince thereof being then of their owne Nation compellable vpon Summons to come and appeare in the Parliaments of England and vpon their
THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT and moderne Estate of The Principality of Wales Dutchy of Cornewall and Earldome of Chester Collected out of the Records of the Tower of LONDON and diuers ancient Authors By Sir IOHN DODRIDGE Knight late one of his Maiesties ludges in the Kings Bench. And by himselfe Dedicated to King IAMES of euer blessed memory LONDON ¶ Printed by Tho. Harper for Godfrey Emâ—ndson and Thomas Alchorne M. DC XXX TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY JAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD King of England Scotland France and Ireland defender of the faith c. My most dread Soueraigne and Liegelord AMong temporall blessings giuen from God and powred vpon men this is not the least for a man to behold the fruit of his owne body surculum exradice an impe or graffe the Oliue branches about his table the hope of his posterity the image of himselfe and the staffe of his old age The consideration of the want whereof caused that good Patriake out of the bitternesse of his soule to cry and make his complaint vnto his God in these words Behold I goe childlesse and the Steward of my house is Eleazer of Damascus loe to me thou hast giuen no seed wherefore a servant of mine house must bee mine heire But to be furnished with masculine issue and to haue his first borne of that sex to whom the Birthright is due as to the sanctfiied of God and the preseruer of his name and patrimony is a double blessing vnto all men much more vnto Kings the Lords anointed whereby his horne is established his subiects in the middest of the day present do behold the Sunne that shall arise vpon them the day suceeding and haue their hearts setled to say vnto their Soueraine wee and our seed will serue thee and thy seed for euer This made the Propheticall King in the day of his departure to blesse God and say Blessed be the Lord my God who hath caused mine eyes to see this day that one of mine own loynes shall fit vpon my Throne But contrariwise was Achah accursed of whom God said he would not leaue him one mingentem ad parietem threatning as it were by that circumlocution to root out all issue male of Achab that might succeed him And hence it is that all Potentates of the world haue highly respected and aduanced in the eyes of their subiects their heire apparant and giuen and conferred vpon him very high and eminent titles of honor Of the Romans he was called Caesar and Princeps juventutis as the principall of all their hopes in their posterity Of the French he is honored by the name of the Dolphin of that part of the Country being his patrimony And in like manner in this our Country of England the Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall and Earle of Chester He is next his father the chiefe in the Realme and by course of the ciuill Law is to sit at his right hand in all solemne assemblies of state and honor So that not without reason did King Edward the third King of England place Richard his grandchild and next heire apparant in his solemne feast at Christmas at his table next vnto himselfe aboue all his Vncles being the sonnes of that King and men manifoldly renowned for their prowes and virtue And yet hath not the Prince any Kingly prerogatiues allowed vnto him by the Lawes of this Realme in the life of his progenitors other then such as are due vnto other Noble men that hee might acknowledge himselfe to bee but a subiect and whereof he is put in remembrance euen by the Poesy that he vseth in the old English or Saxon tongues in this forme conceiued Ie dien I am a seruant The due consideration whereof hath caused me by the encouragement of an honorable learned and worthy Councellor my Lord of Buckhurst your Maiesties Lord high Treasurer of England and my very good Lord and being eased therein by the carefull paines and industry of a Gentleman Mr. Richard Connock his seruant in some conuenient method after my rude and vnlearned manner to set downe what the ancient and true estate of his excellency the Lord Prince hath beene what it now is and how impaired and to what estate and dignity by your Maiesties high and Princely wisdome it may againe be reduced Beseeching your highnesse of your accustomed clemency to pardon this my bold attempt and to accept my poore trauels therein with that gratious aspect as you do the manifold gratulations of other your Maiesties louing subiects Your Maiesties loyall and obedient subiect I. D. ABSTRACTS AND ADVERTISEMENTS concerning the Contents of this HISTORIE THe originall and antient estate of Wales before and vntill the Conquest thereof by King Edward the First in the eleuenth yeere of his Raigne Edward of Carnaruon so called because he was born at Carnaruon Castle in VVales and sonne to King Edward the First constituted Prince of VVales and the policy vsed therein by King Edward the First The creation of Edward sirnamed the blacke Prince to be Prince of VVales and the antient manner of the inuesture of the Princes of VVales The strange limitation of the estate of the Lands of the said Principality and the reasons thereof and the difference betweene the Principality of VVales and the Dutchy of Cornewall for the eldest sonne and heire apparant of the King of England is Duke of Cornewall as soone as be is borne or as soone as his father is King of England But he is created Prince of VVales by a speciall creation inuesture and donation of the lands thereunto belonging and not by birth The yeerely value of the reuenues of the Principality of VVales as the same were in the bands of the Prince commonly called the blacke Prince Richard sirnamed of Burdeaux sonne of the said blacke Prince was after the death of his father created Prince of VVales at Hauering at the Bower in the Countie of Essex by E 3. his Grandfather Henry of Munmouth sonne to King Henry the Fourth created Prince of VVales he was afterwards King by the name of King Henry the Fift Edward the sonne of King Henry the Sixt created Prince of VVales and Earle of Chester and for that hee was then very yong there was ordained by an Act of Parliament what allowance should bee made vnto the said Prince for his Wardrobe seruants wages and other necessary expences vntill the said Prince should be of fourteene yeers of age There was also a Counsaile of diuers honourable personages as Bishops Earles and others for the gouernement and direction of the reuenues of the said Prince which dispose the same accordingly with the assent and aduice of the Queene who was also especially appointed in that behalfe Edward the sonne and heire apparant of King Edward the Fourth created Prince of VVales and a Councell of honourable personages allowed to him also for the gouernement of his reuenues and the Lord Riuers Vncle by the mothers side of the