the house of Yorke their was yet no question as appereth also by Stow in his chronicle vvho setteth downe how that after the said deposition of Richard the Archbishop of Canterbuty asked the people three tymes whom they would haue to be their king vvhether the duke of Yorke their standing present or not and they answered no and then he asked the seronde tyme if they vvould haue his eldest sonne the duke of Aumaile and they said no he asked the third tyme yf they would haue his yongest-sonne Richard earle of cambridge and they said no. Thus writeth Stow vvher-by it is euident that albeit this earle of Cabridge had married now the sister of Edmōd Mortimer by whom his posterity claymed afterward yet could he not pretend at this tyme her brother being yet aliue who after dying vvithout issue left al his right to her by her to the house of Yorke for albeit this earle Richard neuer came to be duke of Yorke for that he vvas beheaded bv king Henry the fift at Southampton as before hath 〈◊〉 said vvhile his elder brother vvas a lyue yet left he a sonne named Richard that after hym came to be duke of Yorke by the death of his vncle Edmund duke of Yorke that dyed vvithout issue as on the other side also by his mother Anne Mortimer he vvas earle of March and was the first of the house of Yorke that made title to the crowne So that the question now is whether after the deposition of king Richard Edmond Mortimer nephew remoued of Leonel which Leonel vvas the second sonne to king Edward or els Henry duke of Lancaster sonne to Iohn of Gaunt which Iohn vvas third sonne to king Edward should by right haue succeded to king Richard and for Edmond is alleaged that he was heyre of the elder brother and for Hēry is said that he vvas neerer by two degrees to the stemme or last king that is to say to king Richard deposed then Edmond was for that Henry vvas sonne to king Richards vncle of Lancaster and Edmond was but nephew remoued that is to say daughters sonnes sonne to the said king Richards other vncle of Yorke And that in such a case the next in degree of consanguinitie to the last king is to be preferred though he be not of the elder lyne the fauourers of Lancaster alleage many proofes wher of some shal be touched a litle after we haue seene the same practized in our dayes in France where the Cardinal of Burbone by the iudgement of the most part of that realme was preferred to the crowne for his propinquity in blood to the dead king before the king of Nauarre though he were of the elder lyne Moreouer it is alleaged for Henry that his title came by a man and the others by a vvoman vvhich is not so much fauoured either by nature law or reason and so they saye that the pretenders of this title of lady Phillippe that vvas daughter of duke Leonel neuer opened their mouthes in those dayes to clayme vntil some 50. yeares after the deposition death of king Richard Nay more ouer they of Lancaster say that sixteene yeares after the deposition of king Richard vvhen king Henry the fift vvas now in possession of the crowne cerrayne noble mē especially Richard earle of Cambridge that had marryed this Edmond Mortimers sister offred to haue slayne king Henry and to haue made the said Edmōd Mortymer kinge for that he was discended of duke Leonel but he refused the matter thinking it not to be according to equitie and so vvent and discouered the whole treason to the king wheruppō they vvere al put to death in Southampton within fowre or fiue dayes after as before hath bin noted and this hapened in the yeare 1415. and from hence foreward vntil the yeare 1451. and thirreth of the reigne of king Henry the sixt vvhich vvas 36 yeares after the execution done vppon these conspirators no more mention or pretēce was made of this matter at vvhat tyme Richard duke of Yorke began to moue troobles about it againe Thus say those of the house of Lancaster but now these of Yorke haue a great argument for themselues as to them it seemeth vvhich is that in the yeare of Christ 1385. and 9 yeare of the reigne of king Richard the second it vvas declared by act of parlament as Polidor writeth that Edmond Mortimer vvho had marryed Phillip daughter heyre of Leonel duke of Clarence and was grandfather to the last Edmond by me named should be heyre apparent to the crowne if the king should chance to dye without issue To which obiection those of Lancaster do answere first that Polidor doth err in the person when he sayeth that Edmond husband of lady Philippe was declared for heyre apparent for that his Edmond Mortimer that married lady Philippe dyed peacably in Ireland three yeares before this parlament vvas holden to witt in the yeare of Christ 1382. as both Hollings head Stow and other chroniclets do testifie and therfore Polidor doth erre not only in this place about this man but also in that in an other place he sayeth that this Edmond so declared heyre apparent by king Richard vvas slayne by the Irish in Ireland 12. yeares after this declaration made of the succession to vvit in the yeare 1394. vvhich vvas in deede not this man but his sonne Roger Mortimer heyre to him and to the Lady Phillip his wife vvho vvas declared heyre apparent in the parlament afore said at the instance of king Richard and that for especial hatred malice as these men say vhich he did beate against his said vncle the duke of Lancaster and his sonne Henry vvhom he desired to exclude from the succession The cause of this hatred is said to be for that presently vppon the death of prince Edvvard father to this Richard which prince dyed in the yeare of Christ 1376. and but 10. monethes before his father king Edward the third their vvanted not diuers learned and vvise men in Ingland that were of opinion that Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster eldest sonne then liuing of the said king Edward should haue succeded his father iure propinquitatis before Richard that vvas but nephew and one degree further of then he but the old king vvas so extremly affectionate vnto his eldest sonne the blacke prince Edward newly dead that he vvould not heare of any to succede him as Frosard saith but only Richard the said princes sonne Wherfore he called presently a parlament vvhich vvas the last that euer he hold and therin caused his said nephew Richard to be declared heyre apparent and made his three sonnes then liuing that were vncles to the youth to vvitt Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster and Edmond Langhly duke afterward of Yorke and Thomas woodstock duke of Glocester to sweare fealtie vnto Richard as they did And albeit Iohn of Gaunt al his life
goodly monasteries and churches and dying left as famous a sonne behynde him as himself which was Edward the first surnamed the senior or elder This king Edward dying left two sonnes lawfully begotten of his wife Edgina the one named Prince Edmund and the other Eldred a third illegitimate whose name vvas Adelstan whom he had by a concubine But yet for that this man vvas estemed to be of more valor then the other he was preferred to the crowne before the two other Princes legittimate for so restifieth Polidor in thes wordes Adelstanus ex concubina Edwardi films rex a populo consalutatur atque ad king stonum opidum more maiorum ab Athelmo Cautuariensi Archiepiscopo coronatur vvhich is Adelstan the sonne of king Edward by a concubine vvas made king by the people and vvas crowned according to the old custome by Athelme Archbishop of Caterbury at the towne of kingston Thus far polidor and Stow addeth further thes words His coronation was celebrated in the market place vppon a stage erected on high that the king might better be seene of the multitude he was a Prince of worthy memorie valiant and wife in al his acts brought this land into one perfect monarchie for he expelled vtterly the danes and quieted the welchme Thus much Stow of the successe of chusing this king bastard to reigne To whose acts might be added that he conquered Scotland and brought Constantine their king to do him homage and restored Luys d'Outremer his sisters sonne to the kingdome of France as before hath bin signified This man dying without issue his lawful brother Edmond put back before was admitted to the crowne who being of excellent expectation died after 6. yeares and left two lawful sonnes but yet for that they were yonge they were both put back by the realme and their vncle Eldred was preferred before them so faith Polidor Genuit Edmondus ex Egilda vxore Fduinum Edgarum qui cum etate pueri essent post Eldredum deinde regnarunt King Edmond begat of his wife Egilda two sonnes named Edwin and Edgar who for that they were but children in yeares were put back and reigned afterward after ther vncle Eldred The like saith Stow and yealdeth the same reason in thes wordes Eldred succeded Edmōd his brother for that his sonnes Edwin and Edgar were thought to yong to take so great a charge vppon them This Eldred though he entred as you see against the right of the nephewes yet saith Polidor and Stow that he had al mens good will and was crowned as his brother had bin at kingston by Odo Archbishop of Canterbury and reigned 9. yeares with great good wil and praise of al men He dyed at last without issue and so his elder nephew Edwin vvas admitted to the crowne but yet after foure yeares he was deposed agayne for his leude and vitious life and his yonger brother Edgar admitted in his place in the yeare of Christ 959. This king Edgar that entred by deposition of his brother vvas one of the rarest princes that the world had in his tyme both for peace and vvar iustice pietye and valor Stow sayeth he kept a nauie of three thousand and 6. hundreth shippes distributed in diuers partes for defence of the realme Also that he buylt and restored 47. monasteries at his owne charges and did other many such acts he vvas father to king Edward the martir grand father to king Edward the confessor though by two different wiues for by his first wife named Egilfred he had Edward after martirized and by his secōd vvife Alfred he had Etheldred father to Edvvard the confessor to the end that Etheldred myght raigne his mother Alfred caused King Edward the sonue of Egilfred to be stayne after king Edgar her husband was dead After this so shameful murther of king Edward many good men of the realme vvere of opinion not to admit the succession of Etheldred his half brother both in respect of the murther of king Edward his elder brother cōmitted for his sake as also for that he semed a man not fir to gouerne and of this opinion among others vvas the holy man Dunston archbishop of Canterbury as Polidor sayeth who at length in flat words denyed to consecrate him but seing the most part of the realme bent on Etheldreds side he foretould them that it would repent them after and that in this mās life the realme should be destroyed as in deede it vvas and he rann away to Normandy and left Sweno and his danes in possession of the realme though afterward Sweno being dead he returned agayne and dyed in London This Etheldred had two wiues the first Ethelgina an Inglish womā by whom he had prince Edmund surnamed Ironside for his great strength and valor vvho suceeded his father in the crowne of Ingland for a yeare and at his death left two sonnes which after shal be named and besides this Etheldred had by his first wife other two sonnes Edwin and Adelston and one daughter named Edgina al which were ether slayne by the danes or dyed without issue The secōd wife of Etheldred was called Emma sister to Richard Duke of Normandie vvho was grand father to William the conqueror to witt father to Duke Robert that was father to VVilliam so as Emma vvas great aunt to this VVilliam and she bare vnto king Etheldred two sonnes the first Edward who was afterward named king Edward the Confessor and Alerud who was slayne traiterously by the Earle of kent as presently we shal shew After the death also of king Etheldred Queene Fmma was maried to the Dane king Canutus the first of that name surnamed the great that was king of Ingland after Etheldred Edmond Ironside his sonne and to him she bare a sonne named Hardicanutus vvho reigned also in Ingland before king Edvvard the Confessor New then to come to our purpose he that wil consider the passing of the crowne of Ingland from the death of Edmonde Ironside elder sonne of king Eltheldred vntil the possession therof gotten by VVilliam Duke of Normandie to wit for the space of 50. yeares shal easely see what authority the common wealth hath in such affaires to alter titles of succession according as publique necessity or vtility shal require for thus briefly the matter passed King Eltheldred seing himselfe to vveake for Sweno the king of Danes that vvas entred the land fled with his wife Emma and her two children Edward and Alerud vnto her brother Duke Richard of Normandie ther remayned vntil the death of Sweno and he being dead Etheldred returned into Ingland made a certayne agrement and diuision of the realme betweene him Canutus the sonne of Sweno and so dyed leauing his eldest sonne Edmond Ironside to succed him who soone after dying also left the whole realme to the said Canutus and that by playne couenant as Canutus pretended that
anno Domini 1397. he caused al his said issue to be legitimated which he had begotten vppon this lady Swinford before she vvas his wife But now to go foreward to declare the issue of thes three sonnes of Iohn of Gaunt by Catherine Swinford two of them that is Thomas duke of Excester and Henry Cardinal and Bishop of Winchester dyed vvithout issue Iohn the eldest sonne that vvas earle of Somerset had issue two sonnes Iohn and Edmond Iohn that vvas duke of Somerset had issue one only daughter named Margeret vvho vvas married to Edmond Tidder earle of Richmond by whom he had a sonne named Henry earle also of Richmond vvho after vvas afterward made king by the name of Henry the seuēth was father to K. Henry the eight and grand father to the Q. maiestie that now is this is the issue of Iohn the first sonne to the duke of Somerset Edmōd the secōd sonne to Iohn earle of Somerset was first earle of Mortaine and then after the death of his brother Iohn vvho dyed vvithout issue male as hath bin said vvas created by king Henry the sixte duke of Somerset and both he and almost al his kyn vvere slayne in the quarrel of the said king Henry the 6. and for defence of the house of Lācaster against York For first this Edmōd himselfe was slayne in the battel of S. Albanes against Richard duke and first pretender of Yorke in the yeare 1456. leauing behind him three goodly sonnes to wit Henry Edmond Iohn vvherof Henry succeded his father in the duchy of Sommetset and vvas taken and beheaded in the same quarrel at Exham in the yeare 1463. dying vvithout issue Edmond likewise succeded his brother Henry in the duchy of Sommerset and vvas taken in the battel of Tewkesbury in the same quarrel and ther beheaded the 7. of May 1471. leauing no issew Iohn also the third brother marques of Dorset vvas slayne in the same battel of Tewkesbury and left no issue and so in these tvvo noble men ceased vtterly al the issue male of the line of Lancaster by the children of Iohn of Gaunt begotten vppon lady Swinford his third vvife so that al vvhich remayned of this vvoman vvas only Margeret Countesse of Richmond mother to king Hēry the 7. which king Henry the 7. and al that do descende from him in Ingland or out of Inglande do hold the right of Lancaster only by this third mariage of Catherine Swinford as hath bin shewed and no wayes of Blanch the first vvife or of Constance the second and this is enough in this place of the discents of Iohn of Gaunt and of the house of Lancaster and therfore I shal now passe ouer to shew the issue of the howse of York I Touched breefly before how Edmond Langley duke of Yorke fourth sonne of king Edward the third had two sonnes Edward earle of Rutland and duke of Aumatle that succeded his father afterward in the duchy of Yorke and vvas slayne vvithout childrē vnder king Henry the 5. in the battayle of Egencourt in France and Richard earle of Cambridge vvhich marryed lady Anne Mortimer as before hath bin said that was heyre of the house of Clarence to wit of Leonel duke of Clarence second sonne to king Edward the third by vvhich marriage he ioyned together the two titles of the second fourth sonnes of king Edward and being himselfe conuinced of a conspiracy against king Henry the 5. vvas put to death in Southampton in the yeare of Christ 1415. and third of the reygne of king Hēry the 5. and fift day of August This Richard had issue by lady Anne Mortimer a sonne named Richard vvho succeded his vncle Edward duke of Yorke in the same duchy and afterward finding himselfe strong made clayme to the crowne in the behalfe of his mother and declaring himselfe chiefe of the faction of the white rose gaue occasion of many cruel battailes against them of the red rose and house of Lancaster and in one of the battels vvhich vvas giuen in the yeare 1460. at Wakfilde himselfe was slayne leauing behind him three sonnes Edward George and Richard wherof Edward vvas afteward king of Ingland by the name of Edward the fourth George was duke of Clarence and put to death in Calis in a butte of secke or malmesie by the commandement of the king his brother Richard was Duke of Glocester and afterward king by murthering his owne two nephewes and was called king Richard the third Edward the eldest of these three brothers which afterward was king had issue two sonnes Edward Richard both put to death in the tower of London by ther cruel vncle Richard he had also fiue daughters the last fowre wherof I do purposly omitt for that of none of them ther remayneth any issue but the eldest of al named Elizabeth was marryed to king Henry the 7. of the house of Lancaster and had by him issue king Henry the 8. and tvvo daughters the one marryed vnto Scotlād vvherof are discended the king of Scots and Arbella the other matryed to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk vvherof are issued the children of the earles of Hartford and Darby as after more at large shal be handled and this is the issue of the first brother of the house of Yorke The second brother George duke of Clarence had issue by his wife lady Isabel heyre to the earldomes of Warwick and Salisbury one sonne named Edward earle of Warwick vvho vvas put to death afterward in his youth by King Henry the 7. and left no issue this duke George had also one daughter named Margaret admitted by King Henry the eight at what tyme he sent her into wales with the princesse Mary to be coūresse of Salisbury but yet marryed very meanely to a knight of vvales named Syr Richard Poole by whom she had foure sonnes Henry Arthur Geffrey and Renald the lastvvherof vvas Cardinal and the other two Arthur and Geffrey had issue for Arthur had two daughters Mary and Margaret Mary was married to Sir Iohn Stanny Margaret to Sir Thomas fitzharbert Sir Geffrey Poole had also issue an other Geffrey Poole and he had issue Arthur and Geffrey which yet liue Now then to returne to the first sonne of the countesse of Salisbury named Henry that vvas Lord Montague and put to death both he and his mother by king Henry the 8. this man I say left two daughters Catherine and vvenefred Catherine was married to Sir Francis Hastings earle of Huntington by vvhich marriage issued Sir Henry Hastings now earle of Huntington and Sir Georg Hastings his brother who hath diuers children And Wenefred the yonger daughter vvas married to Sir Thomas Barington knight vvho also wanteth notissue and this is of the second brother of the house of Yorke to vvit of the duke of Clarence The third brother Richard duke of Glocester and afterward king left no issue
Polydor that wrote in king Henry the 8. his tyme and others that haue followed him since do take al right from the house of Lancaster and giue the same to the house of Yorke wherfore the best waye I suppose wil be not so much to consider vvhat historiographers do say according to their affections or interests as vvhat reasons and profes be alleged of euery side for that by this we shal more easely come to iudge where the right or wrong doth lye First therfore the defendors of the house of Yorke do alleage that their title is playne and euident for that as in the former chapter hath bin declared Richard duke of Yorke first pretender of this house vvhose father vvas sonne to Edmond Langley duke of Yorke fourth sonne of king Edward the third and his mother Anne Mortimer that vvas neece once remoued and sole heyre to Leonel duke of Clarence second sonne of the said king Edward this Richard I say duke of York pretended that for so much as he had tvvo titles ioyned together in himselfe and vvas lawful heyre as vvel to duke Leonel the second brother as to duke Edmond the fourth that he vvas to be preferred in succession of the crowne after the death of king Richard the second heyre of the first sonne of king Edward before the issue of Iohn of Gaunt that vvas but third sonne to the said king Edward and consequently that Hēry Bolenbrook Iohn of Gaunts sonne duke of Lancaster called afterward king Henry the fourth entred the crowne by tyrāny violēce first for deposing the true and lawful king Richard and secondly for taking the kingdome vppon himselfe vvhich kingdome after the death of the foresaid king Richard which happened in the yeare 1399 belonged to Edmond mortimer Earle of march then liuing and after his death to Anne Mortimer his sister marryed to Richard earle of Cābridge father to this Richard pretendent duke of Yorke as hath bin said for that this Edmond and Anne Mortimer were children to Roger Mortimer sonne of Phillip that vvas daughter to duke Leonel vvhich Leonel vvas elder vncle to king Richard and before Iohn of Gaunt the yonger brother vvhose sonne tooke the crovvne vppon him For the better vnderstanding of which pretence and allegation of the house of Yorke against Lancaster we must note the story following to wit that king Edward the third seing in his old age that prince Edward his eldest sonne whom of al his children he loued most dearly was deade though their vvanted not much doubt in some mēs heads as after shal be shewed vvho ought to succede yet the old man for the exceeding affection he bare to the dead prince vvould heare nothing in that behalfe but appointed Richard the said prince Edwards only sonne and heyre to succed him in the kingdome and made the same to be confirmed by act of parlament and inforced al his children then a liue to svveare to the same which were Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster his third and eldest sonne that then liued for Leonel his second sonne duke of Clarence vvas dead before and Edmond Langley and Thomas Woodstock earles at that tyme but after dukes of Yorke Glocester so king Richard reigned with good obedience of his vncles and their children for 20. yeares together but in the end when he grew insolent had put to death his vncle the duke of Glocester together vvith the earle of Arundel and banished many others of the nobility and among them the Archbishop of Canterbury as also his owne cosin germaine Henry duke of Hereford after of Lancaster sonne and heyre of Iohn of Gaunt and had made many wicked statutes aswel against the church and state Ecclesiastical as also to intangle the realme and nobility with fayned crymes of treason against his regaltie as then he termed them the principal men of the realme seing a fit occasion offred by the kings absence in Ireland called home out of France the foresaid Henry duke of Lancaster vvith the Archbishop of Canterbury earles of Arundel and Warwick and others which vvere in banishment and by common consent gathered vppon the suddaine such an army to assist them in Ingland as they took the king brought him to London and there in a parlament laying together the intollerable faults of his gouerment they depriued him of al regal dignity as before they had done to his great grandfather king Edward the second then by vniuersal consent of the parlament and people their present they chose admitted the said Henry duke of Lancaster to be their king vvho continewed so al the daies of his life and left the crowne vnto his sonne and sonnes sonne after him by the space of threescore yeares vntill this Richard before named duke of Yorke made chalenge of the same in manner and forme as before hath bin shewed Now then the storie being this the question is first whether Richard the second were iustly deposed or no and secondly whether after his deposition the house of Yorke or house of Lācaster should haue entred and thirdly if the house of Lancaster did commit any wronge or iniustice at their first entrance to the crowne yet whether the continuance of so many yeares in possession vvith so many approbations and confirmations therof by the common vvealth vvere not sufficient to legitimate their right Concerning vvhich points many things are alleaged by the fauourers of both families and in the first pointe touching the lawfulnes or vnlawfulnes of king Richards deposition three articles especially do seeme most considerable to wit about the thing in it selfe whether a lawful king may be deposed vppon iust causes secōdly about these causes in king Richards deposition to vvit vvhether they vvere iust or sufficient for deposition of the said king and lastly about the manner of doing it vvhether the same were good and orderly or not And touching the first of these three pointes vvhich is that a king vppon iust causes may be deposed I thinke both parties though neuer so contrary betweene themselues vvil easely agree and the Ciuil lawyer seemeth to me to haue proued it so euidently before throughout his vvhole discourse as I thinke very litle may be said against the same For he hath declared if you remember both by reason authority examples of al nations Christian that this may and hath and ought to be done vvhen vrgent occasions are offred And first by reason he sheweth it for that al kingly authority is giuen them only by the common wealth that with this expresse condition that they shal gouerne according to law and equity that this is the cause of their exaltation aboue other men that this is the end of their gouerment the butt of their authority the starr and pole by vvhich they ought to direct their sterne to witt the good of the people by the vveale of their subiects by the benefite of the realme
of three bretheren the elder dye without issue and the second leaue a sonne yet in the inheritance and succession of the crowne it goeth otherwise as by al the former eight examples haue bin shewed and this is the first they saye about the common law The second pointe which they affirme is that the ground of our common lawes consisteth principally and almost only about this pointe of the crowne in custome for so say they we see by experience that nothing in effect is written therof in the common law and al old lawyers do affirme this pointe as vvere Ranulfus de Granuilla in his booke of the lawes and customes of Ingland vvhich he vvrote in the tyme of king Henry the second and Iudge Fortescue in his booke of the prayse of Inglish lawes vvhich he compiled in the tyme of king Henry the sixt and others Wherof these men do inferr that seing there are so many presidēts and examples alleaged before of the vncles case preferred before the nephew not only in forayne countryes but also in Ingland for this cause I saye they do affirme that our cōmon lawes cannot but fauour also this title and cōsequently must needs like vvel of the interest of Lancaster as they auouch that al the best old lawyers did in those tymes for example they do record two by name of the most famous learned men vvhich those ages had who not only defended the said title of Lancaster in those dayes but also suffred much for the same The one vvas the forenamed iudge Fortescue Chancelor of Ingland and named father of the common lawes in that age vvho fled out os Ingland vvhith the Queene vvife of king Henry the sixt vvith the prince her sonne and liued in banishment in france vvhere it seemeth also that he vvrote his learned booke intituled de laudibus legum Angliae And the other vvas Sir Thomas Thorope chiefe Baron of the excheker in the same reigne of the same king Henry the sixt vvho being aftervvard put into the tower by the Princes of the house of Yorke for his eger defence of the title of Lancaster remayned ther a long tyme and after being deliuered was beheaded at hygate in a tumulte in the dayes of king Edward the fourth These then are the allegations which the fauourers of the house of Lācaster do lay downe for the iustyfying of that title affirming first that Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster ought to haue succeded his father K. Edward the third immediately before king Richard and that iniury vvas done vnto him in that king Richard vvas preferred And secondly that king Richard vvere his right neuer so good vvas iustly orderly deposed for his euil gouerment by lawful authority of the common wealth And thirdly that after his deposition Henry duke of Lancaster sonne heyre of Iohn of Gaunt vvas next in succession euery vvay both in respect of the right of his father as also for that he vvas two degrees neerer to the king deposed then vvas Edmond Mortimer descended of Leonel duke of Clarence and these are the principal and substancial proofes of their right and title But yet besides these they do add also these other arguments and cōsiderations following first that vvhat soeuer right or pretence the house of Yorke had the princes therof did forfeit and leese the same many tymes by their cōspiraces rehellions attainders as namely Richard earle of Cambrige that married the lady Anne Mortimer and by her tooke his pretence to the crowne vvas conuicted of a conspiracy against king Henry the fift in Southampton as before I haue said and there vvas put to death for the same by iudgment of the king and of al his peeres in the yeare 1415. the duke of Yorke his elder brother being one of the iury that condēned him This earle Richards sonne also named Richard comming afterward by the death of his vncle to be duke of York first of al made open clay me to the crowne by the title of Yorke But yet after many othes sworne and broken to king Henry the sixt he was attaynted of treason I meane bothe he and Edward his sonne then earle of march which aftervvard vvas king vvith the rest of his ofspringe euen to the nynth degree as Stow affirmeth in a parlament holden at Couentry in the yeare 1459. and in the 38. yeare of the reigne of the said king Henry and the very next yeare after the said Richard was slayne in the same quarrel but the honse of Lācaster say these mē was neuer attainted of any such crime Secondly they saye that the house of Yorke did enter only by violence by infinite blood-shedd and by wilful murthering not only of diuers of the nobilitie both spiritual and temporal but also of both king Hēry the sixt hym self and of prince Edward his sonne and by a certaine populer and mutinous election of a certaine few souldiers in Smithfield of Lōdon and this vvas the entrance of the howse of Yorke to the crowne vvheras king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster entred vvithout bloodshedd as hath bin shewed beinge called home by the requestes and letters of the people and nobility and his election admission to the crowne vvas orderly and authorized by general consent of parlament in the doing therof Thirdly they alleage that king Hēry the sixt put downe by the house of Yorke was a good and holy king and had reigned peaceably 40 yeares and neuer committed any act vvorthy deposition vvheras king Richard the second had many waies deserued the same as him selfe came to acknowledge and ther vppon made a personal solemne and publique resignation of the said crowne vnto his cosen Henry of Lancaster the which iustified much the said Henries entrance Fourthly they alleage that the housa of Lancaster had bin in possession of the crowne vppon the pointe of 60. yeares before the house of Yorke did raise trouble vnto them for the same in vvhich tyme their title was confirmed by many parlaments othes approbations and publique acts of the common vvealth and by the nobles peeres and people therof and by the states both spiritual and temporal and vvith the cōsent of al foraine nations so that if there had bin any fault in their first entrance yet vvas this sufficient to authorize the same as we see it vvas in the title of king William the Conqueror and of his two sonnes king William Rufus and king Henry the first that entred before their elder brother and of king Iohn that entred before his nephew of his sonne king Henry the third that entred after his fathers depriuation and after the election of prince Lewis of france as also of Edward the third that entred by deposition of his owne father of al which titles yet might there haue bin doubt made at the begining but by tyme and durance of possession and
vvoman vvho ought not to be preferred before so many men as at this tyme do or may stand for the crowne and that it vvere much to haue three women to reigne in Ingland one after the other vvher-as in the fpace of a-boue a thousaid yeares before them there hath not reigned so many of that sexe nether together nor a sunder for that from king Cerdick first king of the vvest Saxons vnto Egbright the first monarch of the Inglish name and nation conteyning the space of more then 300. yeares no one vvomā at al is founde to haue reigned and from Egbright to the Conquest which is almost other 300. yeares the like is to be obserued and from the conquest downeward vvhich is aboue 500. yeares one only vvoman was admitted for inheritrix vvhich was Maude the Empresse daughter of king Henry the first vvho yet after her fathers death vvas put back and king Stephen vvas admitted in her place and she neuer receaued by the realme vntil her sonne Henry the second vvas of age to gouerne himselfe then he vvas receaued vvith expresse condition that he should be crowned and gouerne by himselfe and not his mother which very conditiō vvas put also by the spaniards not long after at their admitting of the lady Berenguela yonger sister of lady Blauch neese to king Henry the second vvherof before often mention hath bin made to vvit the condition vvas that her sonne 〈◊〉 should gouerne and not she though his title came by her so as this circumstance of being a woman hath euer bin of much consideration especially where men do pretend also as in our case they doe An other consideratiō of these men is that if this lady should be aduanced vnto the crowne though she be of noble blood by her fathers side yet in respectt of alliance with the nobility of Ingland she is a meere strainger for that her kyndred is only in Scotland and in Inglād she hath only the Candishes by her mothers side vvho being but a meane familie might cause much grudging amōg the Inglish nobility to see them so greatly aduanced aboue the rest as necessarily they must be yf this womā of their linage should come to be Queene vvhich how the nobility of Ingland vvould beare is hard to say and this is as much as I haue heard others saye of this matter and of al the house of Scotland vvherfore vvith this I shal end and passe ouer to treat also of the other houses that do remayne of such as before I named OF THE HOVSE OF SVFFOLK CONTEYNING THE CLAYMES OF THE COVNTESSE OF Darby and her children as also of the children of the earle of Hartford CAP. VI. IT hath appeared by the genealogie set downe before in the third chapter and oftētymes mentioned since how that the house of Suffolk is so called for that the lady Mary secōd daughter of king Henry the seuenth being first married to Lewis the 12. king of France vvas afterward married to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolke who being sent oner to condole the death of the said king gat the good will to marry the widow Queene though the common fame of al men vvas that the said Charles had a vvife lyuing at that day and diuers yeares after as in this chapter vve shal examine more in particuler By this Chatles Brandon then duke of Suffolk this Queene Mary of France had tvvo daughters first the lady Francis married to Syr Henry Gray marques Dorset and aftervvard in the right of his vvife duke also of Suffolke vvho vvas afterward be-hedded by Queene Mary and secondly lady Elenor married to Syr Henry Clifford earle of Cumberland The lady Francis elder daughter of the Queene and of Charles Brandon had issue by her husband the said last duke of Suffolke three daughters to wit Iane Catherin and Mary which Mary the yongest vvas betrothed first to Arthur lord Gray of wilton and after lefte by hym she was marryed to one M. Martin keyes of kent gentlemā porter of the Queenes housholde and after she dyed without issue And the lady Iane the eldest of the three sisters was married at the same tyme to the lord Guylford Dudley fourth sonne to Syr Iohn Dudley duke of Northumberland and vvas proclaymed Queene after the death of king Edward for which acte al three of thē to vvit both the father sonne and daughter in law were put to death soone after But the L. Catherin the second daughter vvas married first vppon the same day that the other two her sisters vvere vnto lord Henry Herbert now earle of Penbroke and vppon the fal and misery of her house she was left by him and so she liued a sole vvoman for diuers yeares vntil in the begining of this Queenes dayes she was found to be vvith child which she affirmed to be by the lord Edward Seymer earle of Hartford vvho at that tyme was in France vvith Syr Nicholas Throgmorton the Embassador and had purpose and licence to haue trauailed into Italie but being called home in haste vppō this new accident he cōfessed that the child vvas his and both he and the lady affirmed that they were man and vvife but for that they could not proue it by witnesses for attempting such a match with one of the blood royal without priuity and licence of the prince they were committed both of them to the tower vvhere they procured meanes to meete againe afterward had an other childe vvhich both children do yet liue and the elder of them is called lord Henry Beacham and the other Edward Seymer the mother of whom liued not long after nether married the earle againe vntil of late that he married the lady Francis Howard sister to the lady Sheffeild and this is all the issue of the elder daughter of Charles Brandon by lady Mary Queene of France The second daughter of duke Charles and the Queene named L. Elenor vvas married to Henry lord Cliford earle of Cumbeiland and had by him a daughter named Margaret that married Syr Hēry Stanley lord Strāge after earle of Darby by vvhom the said lady who yet liueth hath had issue Fernande Stanley now earle of Darby William and Francis Stanley this is the issue of the house of Suffolk to vvit this Countesse of Darby with her children and these other of the earle of Hartford of al whose clayme 's and titles vvith their impediments I shal here briefly giue accompt and reason First of al both of these families do ioyne together in this one pointe to exclude the house of Scotland both by foraine birth and by the foresaid restament of king Henry authorized by two parlaments by the other exclusions which in each of the titles of the king of Scots and of lady Arbella hath bin before alleaged But then secondly they come to vary betweene themselues about the priority or propinquitie of their owne succession for the children of the earle
of Hartford and their frendes do alleage that they do discend of lady Francis the elder sister of lady Elenor and so by law and reason are to be preferred but the other house alleageth against this two impediments the one that the lady Margaret countesse of Darby now lyuing is neerer by one degree to the stemme that is to king Henry the seuenth then are the children of the earle of Hartford and consequently according to that which in the former fourth chapter hath bin declared she is to be preferred albeit the children of the said earle vvere legitimate Secondly they do affirme that the said children of the eatle of Hartford by the lady Catherin Gray many waies are illegitimate First for that the said lady Catherin Gray their mother was lawfully married before to the earle of Penbrok now liuing as hath bin touched and publike recordes do testifie and not lawfully seperated nor by lawful authority nor for iust causes but only for temporal and wordly respects for that the house of Suffolk was come into misery disgrace vvherby she remayned stil his true wife in deede and before God so could haue no lawful children by an other whiles he liued as yet he doth Agayne they proue the illegitimatiō of these children of the earle of Hartford for that it could neuer be lawfully proued that the said earle and the lady Catherin were married but only by their owne assertions vvhich in law is not holden sufficient for which occasion the said pretended marriage vvas disanulled in the court of arches by publique definitiue sentence of Doctor Parker archbishop of Canterbury and prymate of Ingland not long after the birth of the said children Further-more they do add yet an other bastardy also in the birth of lady Catherin her selfe for that her father lord Henry Gray marques of Docset was knowne to haue a lawful wife aliue vvhen he married the lady Francis daughter and heyre of the Queene of France of Charles Brandon duke of Suffolke and mother of this lady Catherin for obteyning of which great marriage the said marques put away his foresaid lawful vvife vvhich was sister to the L. Henry Fytzallen earle of Arondel vvhich disorder was occasion of much vnkindnes and hatred betweene the said marques and earle euer after But the power of the marques and fauour vvith king Henry in womens matters vvas so great at that tyme as the earle could haue no remedie but only that his said sister vvho liued many yeares after had an annuitye out of the said marques lands during her life liued some yeares after the said marques aftervvards made duke vvas put to death in Queene Maries tyme. These then are three waies by vvhich the family of Darby do argue the issue of Hartford to be illegitimate but the other two houses of Scotland and Clarence do vrge a former bastardy also that is common to them both to wit both against the lady Francis and the lady Eleanor for that the lord Charles Brandon also duke of Suffolk had a wife a liue as before hath bin signified when he married the lady Mary Queene of France by vvhich former wife he had issue the lady Powyse I meane the vvife of my lord Powyse of Poystlandes in VVales how long after the new marriage of her husband Charles Brandon this former vvife did liue I cannot set downe distinctly though I think it were not hard to take particuler information therof in Ingland by the register of the church wherin she vvas buried but the frēdes of the countesse of Darby do affirme that she died before the birth of L. Eleanor the second daughter though after the birthe of lady Francis and thereby they do seeke to cleare the familie of Darby of this bastardye and to lay al foure vppon the childen of Hartford before mentioned but this is easy to be knowne verified by the meanes before signified But now the frendes of Hartford do answere to al these bastardies that for the first two pretended by the marriages of the two dukes of Suffolk they saye that either the causes might be such as their deuorces with their former 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be lawful and proue them no marriages and so giue them place to marrie againe or els that the said former wiues dyd dye before these dukes that had bin their husbands so as by a post-contract and second new consent giuen betweene the parties vvhen they vvere now free the said later marriages vvhich vvere not good at the begining might come to be lawful aftervvards according as the law permitteth notwithstanding that children begotten in suche pretēded marriages where one partye is alredy bounde are not made legitimat by subsequent trew marriage of their parentes this for the first two bastardies But as for the third illegitimation of the contract betweene the lady Catherin and the earle of Hartford by reason of a precontract made betweene the said lady Catherin and the earle of Penbroke that now liueth they saye and affirme that precontract to haue bin dissolued afterward lawfully and iudicially in the tyme of Queene Mary There remayneth then only the fourth obiectrō about the secret marriage made betweene the said lady Catherin and the earle of Hartford before the birth of their eldest sonne now called L. Beacham vvhich to say the truth seemeth the hardest pointe to be answered for albeit in the sight of God that marriage might be good and lawful if before their carnal knowledge they gaue mutual consent the one to the other to be man and vvife and vvith that mynde and intention had carnal copulation vvhich thing is also allowed by the late councel of Trent it selfe which disanulleth otherwise al clandestine and secret contracts in such states and countries vvher the authoritie of the said councel is receaued and admitted yet to iustifie these kide of marriages in the face of the church and to make the issue therof legitimate and inheritable to estates and possessions it is necessary by al law and in al nations that there should be some vvitnes to testifie this consent and contract of the parties before their carnal knowledge for that otherwise it should lye in euery particuler mans hand to legitimate any bastard of his by his only woord to the preiudice of others that might in equitie of succession pretend to be his heyres and therfore no doubt but that the Archbishop of Canterbury had great reason to pronounce this contract of the lady Catherin and the earle of Hartford to be insufficient and vnlawful though themselues did affirme that they had giuen mutual consent before of being man vvife and that they came together animo maritali as the law of wedlock requireth but yet for that they were not able to proue their said former consent by lawful vvitnesses their saide coniunction was rightly pronounced vnlawful and so I conclude that the first sonne of these tvvo parties
in his description of those countryes the whole wealth and riches of the world seemed to slow thither and I my selfe can remember to haue seene such exceding abundance in very ordinairy men of this country both for their dyet apparrel furniture of house and the like as was wonder ful besides that for their nobilitie they were al great Princes for that euery one had his prouince or great towne in gouerment which they ruled whith that pompe and honor as if they had bin absolute lordes themselues by reason of the farr distance of their supreme Prince and so they were receaued whith publique honor of al citties and townes their charges borne wheresoeuer they passed as such high estates are wont to be And albeit they had euer commonly a strainger for supreme gouernor among them vnder their kinge which bare the name to be aboue them yet did he in deed nothing but as they would haue him and this partly for that his time of gouerment being but short he alwaies attended principally to gett the good willes of the people and to hold them contented and therby to be grat-ful to his king at his returne home and partly also for that if he should attempt to do any thing against their myndes and liking they made reply by their president and Chancelor and other of their owne Councelers residing for the Flemish nation in the court of Spayne for this nation hath alwaies a particuler councel ther about the king as al other forayne nations also haue that are vnder him and by this meanes they obteyned lightly what they would and brought the gouernor to what they pleased so as in effect they were absolute kings in themselues wrought their willes in euery thing this in that tyme while the country was quiet But now since their reuolt which hath indured almose these foure or fiue and twenty yeares what hath succeded surely their hath not a quarter so many bin punished or put to death in al these yeares by order of Iustice of their king absent as before I haue shewed that there were in one day by their owne earles and dukes when they were present that vppon far lesse occasion and cause giuen then are these for if we take away the two noble men Egmond and Horne put to death at the beginning of these Flemish troobles by the duke of Alua for which some men say also that he had no thanke afterward by the king no man of importance hath bin since executed and the cheefest townes that haue bin and are agaynst the king in Holland and Zeland are suffred vntil this day to traffique freely into Spayne and yet we know that for a little beginning of a certayne tumult this last yeare past in Spayne it selfe to wit in the kingdome of Aragon many heades haue bin stroken of and much iustice done where of then riseth this differēce no doubt for that the Flemmings are straingers far of and the other neere at home natural borne so as this circumstance of being a stranger and dwelling far of doth them great pleasure and giueth them priuilege aboue the homborne subiects The like I might shew for this matter of punishment in the fore said states of Italie where if a mā do compare the number of them that were put to death pulled downe or afflicted by order of Iustice and other wise at the commandement of the Prince in tyme of their owne home-borne kings with that which hath bin since especially of the nobility you shal not finde one for twenty and the reason of this is for that their owne kings were absolute and had to giue accompt to no man of their doings and for that they were men and had their passions and emulations with the nobilitie and might put the same in execution without accompt or controlment they pulled downe set vp at their pleasure and made oftentymes but a iest of noblemens liues and deathes but now these that are gouernours viceroyes for a forraine prince first they haue not so great authority or comission as to touch any such principal persons liues whithout giuing relation therof first vnto their king councel and receaue againe particuler order for the same and then they knowing that after their three yeares gouermēt is ended they must be priuate men againe and stay their 40. dayes as subiects vnder the next new gouernour to giue a reconning of their doings against al that shal accuse them which in these countryes they call to make their residence they take heede what they doe and whom they offend so as the condition of nobility is far different vnder such a strainge gouerment as this is termed then vnder a natural Prince of their owne country which oppresseth them at his pleasure But now to draw neer homward if we wil examine and considerer what hath passed in Ingland in this point of massacring our nobility by our domestical Princes it is a matter lamentable for it may seeme that they haue serued oftentymes for our Princes to make disport to play whith their heades And to let passe al those which in tyme of warres rebellions comotions haue bin cut of which occasions may seeme more iustifiable I do read also in our chronicles that 2 Sangue freddo as the Italian sayth that is to say in tyme of peace and by execution of iustice at the Princes appoyntment these noblemen following and knyghts by name were put to death with in the space of one fiue yeares in king Henry the fourth his dayes The duke of Excester the duke of Surrey the Archbis hop of Yorke the earles of Salisbury of Glocester of Worcester and of Huntington The earle mowbray earle marshal The Baron of Kinderton S. Roger Clarington bastard sonne of Edward the black Prince S. Thomas Blunr S. Barnard Rocas S. Richard Vernon And agayne soone aftervnder king Edward the fourth in almost whith in as litle space The dukes of Somerset and of Excester The earles of Deuonshire of Oxford and of Keyns The Lord Rosse the Lord Molyns S. Thomas Tudingham S. Phillip Wentworth S. Thomas fyndam and many others afterward for this was but at the beginning of his reigne which number of nobility if a man should haue seene them aliue together with their traynes before they had bin put downe he would haue said they had bin a very goodly company pitiful that so many of our owne nobilitie should be brought by our own Princes to such confusion But yet this matter may seeme perhapps the lesse maruelous and more excusable vnder those two kings for that troobles and contentions had passed a little before in the realme about the succession and heervppon so many of the nobility might be cut of but let vs see then what ensued afterwards when thinges were established and al doubt of contention about the succession taken away as in king Henry the eight his dayes it was and yet do
as Alexander the great conquered the most parte of Asia in the space of 9. or 10. yeares so did this Henry conquere France in lesse then the like tyme. I might recon also in this number of Princes deposed for defect in gouermēt though otherwise he vvere no euel man in lyfe this king Henry the fourths nephew I meane king Henry the sixt vvho after almost forty yeares reigne vvas deposed and imprisoned and put to death also together vvith his sonne the Prince of wales by Edward the fourth of the howse of yorke the same was confirmed by the commons and especially by the people of London and afterwards also by publique act of parliament in respect not only of the title which king Edward pretended but also and especially for that king Henry did suffer himselfe to be ouerruled by the Queene his wife and had broken the articles of agrement made by the parlament betwene him and the Duke of Yorke and solemnly sworē on both sides the 8. of Octob. in the yeare 1459. In punishment vvherof and of his other negligent and euel gouermēt though for his owne particuler life he vvas a good man as hath bin said sentence was giuen agaynst him partly by force and partly by law and king Edward the fourth vvas put in his place who was no euel king as al Inglish men vvel know but one of the renoumedst for martial actes and iustice that hath worne the Inglish crowne But after this man agayne ther fel an other accident much more notorious vvhich was that Richard Duke of Glocester this king Edwards yonger brother did put to death his two nephewes this mans children to vvit king Edward the fifth and his litle brother made him selfe king and albeit he synned greuously by taking vppon him the crowne in this wicked manner yet when his nephewes were once dead he might in reason seeme to be lawful king both in respect that he was the next male in blood after his said brother as also for that by diuers acts of parlament both before and after the death of thos infantes his title vvas authorized and made good and yet no man vvil say I thinke but that he vvas lawfully also deposed agayne afterward by the cōmō wealth which called out of France Henry Earle of Richmond to chastise him and to put him downe and fo he did and tooke from him both life and kingdome in the fielde and vvas king himselfe after him by the name of king Henry the seuenth and no man I suppose vvil say but that he vvas lawfully king also vvhich yet cannot be except the other might lawfully be deposed moreouer as I sayd at the beginning I vvould haue you consider in al thes mutations what men commonly haue succeded in the places of such as haue bin deposed as namely in Ingland in the place of thos fiue kings before named that vvere depriued to vvit Iohn Edward the second Richard the second Henry the sixt and Richard the third ther haue succeded the three Henryes to wit the third fourth and seuenth two Edwards the third and fourth al most rare valiant Princes who haue donne infinit importanr acts in their cōmon vvealthes and among other haue raysed many houses to nobility put downe others changed states both abroad and at home distributed ecclesiastical dignityes altred the course of discent in the blood royal and the like al which was iniust and is voyd at this day if the chainges and depriuations of the former Princes could not be made and consequently none of thes that do pretende the crowne of Ingland at this day can haue any title at al for that from thos men they discende vvho were put vp in place of the depriued And this may be sufficient for proofe of the two principal poynts which you required to be discussed in the beginning of this spech to wit that lawful Princes haue oftentymes by their common wealthes bin lawfully deposed for misgouerment and that God hath allowed and assisted the same with good successe vnto the weal publique and if this be so or might be so in kings lawfully set in possession then much more hath the said common wealth power authority to alter the succession of such as do but yet pretend to that dignity if ther be dew reason and causes for the same which is the head poynt that first we began to treate of saide the Ciuilian and with this ended his speech vvithout saying any more VVHER IN CONSISTETH PRINCIPALLY THE LAVFVLNES OF PROCEEDING AGAYNST Princes which in the former chapter is mētioned what interest Princes haue in their subiect 's goods or liues how othes doth binde or may be broken by subiects towards Princes and finally the difference betwene a good king and a Tirant CHAP. IIII. VVHEN the Ciuilian had ended his speech the temporal lawyer looked vppon the stāders by to see whether any would reply or no and perceauing al to hold ther peace he began to say in this māner Truly Syr I cannot deny but the examples are many that you haue alleaged and they seme to proue sufficiently that which you affirmed at the beginning to wit that the Princes by you named were depriued and put downe by their common vvealthes for ther euel gouerment And good successors commonly raysed vp in their places and that the common wealth had authority also to do it I do not greatly doubt at least wise they did it de facto and now to cal thes factes in question were to embroyle and turne vp-side-downe al the states of Christen dom as you haue wel signified but yet for that you haue added this vvord lawfully so many tymes in the course of your narration I vvould you tooke the payne to tel vs also by vvhat law they did the same seing that Belloy whom you haue named before and some other of his opinion do affirme that albeit by nature the common vvealth haue authority ouer the Prince to chuse and appoynt him at the beginning as you haue vvel proued out of Aristotle and other vvayes yet hauing once made him and giuen vp al their authority vnto him he is now no more subiect to ther cortection or restraynt but remayneth absolute of himselfe without respect to any but only to god alone vvhich they proue by the example of euery particuler man that hath authority to make his Master or Prince of his inferior but not afterwards to put him downe agayne or to depriue him of the authority vvhich he gaue him though he should not beare himselfe vvel and gratefully but discourtious rather iniuriously towards him that gaue him first this authority To which also they do alleage the speech of the prophet Samuel in the first booke of the kings vvher the people of Israel demaunded to haue a king to gouerne ouer them as other nations round about them had and to leaue the gouerment of the high Prieste vnder
ancient lyne of Lancaster ther vvant not noble houses vvith in the realme at this day issued thence before the cōttouersie fell out betweene yorke this family of vvhich controuersie how it rose and how it vvas continued I shall now begyn to make more particuler declaration taking my begining from the children of king Edward the third who vvere the causers of this fatal dissention OE THE SVCCESSION OF INGLISH KINGES FROM KING EDVARD THE THIRD VNTO OVR dayes with the particuler causes of dissention betweene the families of yorke and Lancaster more largly declared CAP. III. KING Edward the third surnamed by the English the victorious though he had many children wherof some dyed vvithout issue vvhich appertaine not to vs to treat of yet had he fiue sonnes that lest issue behinde them to wit Edward the eldest that was prince of Wales surnamed the black Prince Leonel duke of Clarence vvhich vvas the 2. sonne Iohn of Gant so called for that he vvas borne in that citye that vvas the third sonne and by his wife was duke of Lancaster and fourthly Edmond surnamed of Langley for that he was also borne ther and vvas duke of Yorke last of al Thomas the fift sonne surnamed of Woodstocke for the same reason of his birth and vvas duke of Glocester Al these fiue dukes being great princes and sonnes of one king left issue behinde them as shal be declared and for that the discendents of the third and fourth of these sonnes to wit of the dukes of Lancaster and Yorke came afterward to striue who had best title to reigne therof it came that the controuersie had his name of these two familes vvhich for more distinctiō sake the better to be knowne tooke vppon them for their ensignes a rose of two different colures to wit the white rose and the redd as al the vvorld knoweth wherof the vvhite serued for Yorke and the redd for Lancaster To begyn then to shew the issue of al these fiue princes it is to be noted that the two elder of them to wit prince Edward and his second brother Leonel Duke of Clarence dyed both of them before king Edward their father and left each of them an heyre for that Prince Edward left a sonne named Richard vvho succeded in the crowne immediatly after his grādfather by the name of king Richard the secōd but aftervvard for his euel gouerment vvas deposed and dyed in prison vvithout issue and so vvas ended in him the succession of the first sonne of king Edward The second sonne Leonel dying also before his father left behind him one only daughter and heyre named Phillip who was marryed to one Edmond mortimer Earle of march and he had by her a sonne and heyre named Roger mortimer vvhich Roger had issue two sonnes named Edmond and Roger which dyed both without children and one daughter named Ann mortimer vvhich was marryed vnto Richard Plantaginet earle of Cambrige second sonne vnto Edmond Langly duke of Yorke vvhich duke Edmond vvas fourth sonne as hath bin said vnto king Edward the third and for that this Richard Plantaginet marryed the said Anne as hath bin saide hereby it came to passe that the house of Yorke ioyned two titles in one to wit that of Leonel duke of Clarence vvhich was the secōd sonne of K. Edward the third that of Edmond langly duke of yorke which vvas the fourth sonne and albeit this Richard Plantaginet him selfe neuer came to be duke of Yorke for that he was put to death whiles his elder brother lyued by king Henry the fift for a conspiracy discouered in South hampton against the said king vvhen he vvas going ouer into france vvith his army yet he left a sonne behind him named also Richard vvho afterward came to be duke of Yorke by the death of his vncle vvhich vncle vvas 〈◊〉 soone after in the battel of Egēcourt in France this Richard began first of al to prosecute openly his quarrel for the title of the crowne against the house of Lancaster as a litle afterward more in particuler shal be declared as also shal be shewed how that this 2. Richard duke of Yorke being slame also in the same quariel left a sonne named Edward earle of march who after much trooble gat to be king by the name of king Edward the 4. by the oppression and putting downe of king Henry the 6. of the house of Lancaster and was the first king of the house of Yorke vvhose geuealogie vve shal lay downe more largly aftervvards in place conuenient And nowe it followeth in order that vve should speak of Iohn of Gaūt the third sonne but for that his discent is great I shal first shew the discent of the fifth and last sonne of king Edward who vvas Thomas of Woodstock duke of Glocester and earle of Buckingham that vvas put to death afterward or rather murthered wrongfully by order of his nephew king Richard the second and he left only one daughter and heyre named Anna vvho vvas marryed to the L. Stafford vvhose familie aftervvard in regard of this marriage came to be dukes of Bucking ha vvere put downe by king Richard the third and king Henry the eight albeit some of the blood and name do remayne yet stil in Ingland And thus hauing brought to an end the issue of three sonnes of king Edward to wit of the first second fift touched also some what of the fourth ther resteth to prosecute more fully the issues discēts of the third fourth sonnes to vvit of Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lācaster and of Edmond Langly duke of Yorke which are the heades of these two noble families which thing I shal do in this place vvith al breuity and perspecuity possible begining first vvith the house of Lancaster Iohn of Gaunt third sonne of king Edward being duke of Lancaster by his wife as hath bin said had three wiues in al and by euery one of them had issue though the bishop of Rosse in his great Latin arbor of the genealogies of the kings of Ingland printed in Parris in the yeare 1580. assigneth but one wife only to this Iohn of Gaunt and consequently that al his childen were borne of her which is a great and manifest error and causeth great confusion in al the rest which in his booke of the Queene of Scots title he buyldeth hereon for that it being euident that only the first wife vvas daughter and heyre of the house of Lancaster and Iohn of Gant duke therof by her it followeth that the children only that vvere borne of her can pretend properly to the inheritance of that house and not others borne of Iohn of Gaunt by other wiues as al the vvorld vvil confesse First then as I haue said this Iohn of Gaunt marryed Blanch daughter and heyre of Henry duke of Lancaster and had by her one sonne only and two daughters The sonne was called Henry earle first of Darby
by confirmation of the commō wealth they were made lawful vvithout controuersie Fiftly they say that if we consider the fowre king Heuryes that haue bin of the house of Lancaster to vvit the 4. 5. 6. and 7. and do compare thē vvith the other fower that haue bin of the house of York to wit Edward the fourth Richard the third Henry the eight Edward the sixt al their acts both at home abroade vvhat quietnes or troobles haue passed what the common wealth of Ingland hath gotten or lost vnder each of them vve shal finde that God hath seemed to prosper and allow much more of those of Lancaster then of those of Yorke for that vnder those of Lancaster the realme hath enioyed much more peace and gayned far greater honor and enlarged more the dominions of the crowne then vnder those of Yorke and that it had done also much more if the seditions rebellions and troobles raysed and brought in by the princes of the house of Yorke had not hindered the same as saye these men it vvas euidently seene in the tyme of king Henry the sixt when their contention against the princes of the house of Lancaster vvas the principal cause vvhy al the English states in France vvere lost and what garboiles and troubles at home haue ensued afterwards and how infinite murthers and man slaughters vvith chainge of nobility haue bin caused hereby and increased aftervvard vnder the gouerment and rule of the princes of Yorke neadeth not say these men to be declared One thing only they note in particuler vvhich I vvil not omit and let it be the sixt note and that is that the princes of Yorke haue not only bin rigorous and very bloody vnto their aduersaires but also among themselues and to their owne kynred vvhich these men take to be a iust punishment of God vppon them And for proofe heerof they alleage first the testimonie of Polydor vvho albeit he vvere a great aduocat of the house of Yorke as before hath bin noted for that he liued and vvrote his story vnder king Henry the eight yet in one place he breaketh foorth into these wordes of the princes of this house Cum non haberent iam inimicos in quos soeuitiam explerent saturarent in semetipsos crudelitatem exercuerunt proprioque sanguine suas pollure manus When these princes now had brought to destruction al those of the house of Lancaster so as they had no more enimyes vppon vvhom to fill and satiat their crueltie then began they to exercise their fiersnes vppon themselues and to embrevv their handes with their owne blood thus far Polidor Secondly they do shew the same by the deedes of both sides for that the loue vnion trust confidence fayth fulnes kyndnes and loyaltie of the princes of Lancaster the one tovvardes the other is singuler and notorious as may appeare by the acts and studious endeuours of the lord Henry bishop of Winchester and Cardinal and of the lord Thomas duke of Excester and marques of Dorset brothers of king Henry the fourth to vvhom and to his children they were most faythfull frendly and loyal as also by the noble proceedings of the lordes Thomas duke of Clarence Iohn duke of Bedford and Humfrey duke of Glocester sonnes of the foresaid Henry the fourth and brothers of king Henry the fist the first of vvhich three gaue his blood in his seruice the other two spent their whole liues in defence of the dignity of the Inglish crowne the one as regent of France the other as protector of Ingland by the worthy acts also and renomed fayth fulnes of the dukes of Somerset cosen germans to the said king Henry the fourth and to his children and the proper ancestors of king Henry the seuenth al vvhich dukes of Somerset of the house of Lancaster being fiue or six in number did not only as Polydor sayeth assist and helpe their soueraine and the vvhole realme Vigilijs curis pcriculis that is to saye with watchfulnes cares and offering themselues to dangers but also fower of them one after an other to with Edmond with his three sonnes Henry Edmond and Iohn wherof two successiuely after him vvere dukes of Somerset and the other marques dorset were al fower I say as so many Machabyes slayne in the defence of their country and family by the other factiō of the house of Yorke which thing say these men shewed euidently both a maruelous confidence that these men had in their quarrel as also a great blessing of God towards that familie that they had such loue and vnion among them selues But now in the house of Yorke these men endeuour to shew al the contrary to witt that there vvas nothing els but suspition hatred emulations among themselues and extreme crueltie of one against the other and so vve see that as soone almost as Edward duke of Yorke came to be king George duke of Clarence his yonger brother conspired against him did help to driue him out againe both from the realme and crowne In recompence vvherof his said elder brother afterward notwithstanding al the reconciliation and many othes that passed betweene them of new loue and vnion caused him vppon new grudges to be taken murthered priuily at Calis as al the world knoweth And after both their deathes Richard their third brother murthered the two sonnes of his said elder brother and kept in prison vvhiles he liued the sonne and heyre of his second brother I meane the yong earle of Warwick though he were but a very child vvhom king Henry the seuenth aftervvard put to death But king Henry the eight that succeded them passed al the rest in crueltie toward his owne kynred for he weeded out almost al that euer he could finde of the blood royal of York and this either for emulation or causes of meere suspicion only For first of al he behedded Edmond de la Pole duke of Suffolk sonne of his owne aunt lady Elizabeth that was sister to king Edward the fourth vvhich Edward vvas grand father to king Henry as is euident The like distruction king Henry vvent about to bring to Richard de la Pole brother to the said Edmond if he had not escaped his handes by flying the realme whom yet he neuer ceased to pursue vntil he vvas slayne in the battel of Pauia in seruice of the king of Frāce by whose death vvas extinguished the noble house of the de la Poles Agayne the said king Henry put to death Edward duke of Buckingham high constable of Ingland the sonne of his great Aunt sister to the Queene Elizabeth his grādmother and therby ouerthew also that vvorthy house of Buckingham after againe he put to death his cosen germaine Henry Courtney marques of Excester sonne of the lady Catherin his Aūt that vvas daughter of king Edward the fourth and attainted iointly vvith him his
vvife the lady Gertrude taking from her al her goodes landes and inheritance and committed to perpetual prison their only sonne and heyre lord Edward Courtney being then but a childe of seuen yeares old vvhich remayned so there vntil many yeares after he vvas set at libertie and restored to his liuing by Queene Mary Moreouer he put to death the lady 〈◊〉 Plantagenet Countesse of Salisbury daughter of George duke of Clarence that vvas brother of his grandfather king Edward the fourth vvith her he put to death also her eldest sonne and heyre Thomas Poole lord Montague and committed to perpetual prison where soone after also he ended his life a little infant named Henry Poole his sonne and heyre condemned to death by act of parlament although absent Renald Pole brother to the said lord Montague Cardinal in Rome wherby he ouerthrew also the noble house of Salisbury and vvarwick nether need I to go further in this relation though these men do note also how Edward the sixt put to death two of his owne vncles the Seymers or at least it vvas done by his authority and how that vnder her Maiestie that now is the Queene of Scotland that vvas next in 〈◊〉 of any other liuing the chiefe titler of the honse of Yorke hath also bin put to death Lastly they do note and I may not omit it that their is no noble house standing at this day in Ingland in the ancient state of calling that it had and in that dignity and degree that it vvas in vvhen the house of Yorke entred to the crowne if it be aboue the state of a barony but only such as defended the right and interest of the houses of Lancaster and that al other great houses that toke parte vvith the house of Yorke and did helpe to ruine the house of Lancaster be either ceased since or extyrpated and ouer throwne by the same house of Yorke it selfe which they assisted to gett the crowne so at this present they be either vnited to the crowne by confiscatiō or transferred to other Images that are strangers to them who possessed thē before As for example the ancient houses of Inglād that remaine at this day were stāding whē the house of Yorke begā ther title are the houses of Arōdel Oxford Northūberland Westmerland Shrewsbery for al other that are in Ingland at this day aboue the dignity of Barons haue bin aduanced since that tyme and al these fiue houses vvere these that principally did stick vnto the house of Lancaster as is euident by al Inglish chronicles For that the earle of Arondel brought in king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster and did helpe to place him in the dignity royal comming out of France vvith him The earle of Oxford and his sonne the lord Vere were so earnest in the defence of king Hēry the sixt as they were both slayne by king Edward the fourth and Iohn earle of Oxford vvas one of the principal assistāts of Hēry the seuēth to take the crowne frō Richard the third The house of Northumberland also was a principal ayder to Henry the fourth in getting the crowne and two earles of that name to wit Henry the second and third were slayne in the quarrel of king Henry the sixt one in the battel of S. Albons and the other of Saxton and a third earle named Henry the fourth fled into Scotlād vvith the said king Henry the sixt The house of Westmerland also vvas chiefe aduācer of Hēry the fourth to the crowne the secōd earle of that house vvas slayne in the party of Henry the sixt in the said bartaile of Saxton and Iohn earle of Shrewsbury vvas likevvise slayne in defence of the title of Lancaster in the bartaile of Northamptō and I omit many other great seruices and faithful endeuours vvhich many Princes of these fiue noble anciēt houses did in the defence of the Lancastrian kings vvhich these men say that God hath revvarded vvith continuance of their howses vnto this day But on the contrary side these men do note that al the old houses that principally assisted The title of Yorke are now extinguished and that chiefly by the kings themselues of that house as for example the principal peeres that assisted the family of Yorke vvere Moubray duke of Norfolke de la Poole duke of Suffolk the earle of Salisbury and the earle of Warwick of al which the euent was this Iohn Moubray duke of Norfolke the first confederat of the house of Yorke dyed soone after the exaltation of Edward the fourth vvithout ifsue and so that name of Moubray ceased and the title of the dukedome of Norfolke vvas transferred afterward by king Richard the third vnto the house of Howards Iohn de la Poole duke of Suffolke that married the sister of king Edward the fourth was his great assistant though he left three sonnes yet al were extinguished vvithout issue by helpe of the house of Yorke for that Edmond the eldest sonne duke of Suffolke vvas beheaded by king Henry the eight his brother Richard driuen out of the realme to his destruction as before hath bin shewed Iohn their brother earle of Lincolue was stayne at Stockfild in seruice of king Richard the third and so ended the line of de la Pooles Richard Neuel earle of Salisbury a chiefe enemy to the house of Lancaster and exalter of York vvas taken at the battaile of VVakefild and there beheaded leauing three sonnes Richard Iohn and George Richard vvas earle both of Salisbuty and Warwick surnamed the great earle of Warwick vvas he that placed king Edward the fourth in the royal seate by whome yet he vvas slayne afterward at Barnet and the landes of these two great earldomes of Salisbury and Warwick were vnited to the crowne by his attainder Iohn his yonger brother vvas Marques of montague and after al assistance giuen to the said king Edward the fourth of the howse of Yorke vvas slayne also by him at Barnet and his lands in like māner confiscate to the crowne vvhich yet vvere neuer restored againe George Neuel their yonger brother vvas Archbishop of Yorke vvas taken sent prisoner by the said king Edward vnto Guynes vvho shortly after pined avvay and dyed and this vvas the ende of al the principal frendes helpers aduancers of the house of Yorke as these men do alleage Wherfore they do conclude that for al these reasons many more that might be alleaged the title of Lancaster must needes seeme the better title which they do confirme by the general consent of al the realme at king Henry the seuenth his comming in to recouer the crowne from the house of Yorke as from vsurpers for hauing had the victory against king Richard they crowned him presētly in the field in the right of Lācaster before he married with the house of Yorke
the lawes of Ingland and not by the lawes of other forrayne countryes it followeth that the selfe same right of succession that is pretended at this day by the princes of Portugal for succeding the said lady Phillippe should be determined only by the lawes of Ingland where representation taketh place and not by the lawes of any other nation Thus say they But against this others do alleage that the question is not heer by vvhat law this pretence of the blood royal of Portugal to the crowne of Ingland is to be tried but rather vvho is the true and next heyre and successor vnto K. Iohn the first and to his wife Queene lady Phillippe heyre of the house of Lancaster which two priuces vvere king and Queene of Portugal their true heyre at this day hath the forenamed pretence to the crowne of Ingland which true and next heyre being once knowne it litle importeth by what law he pretendeth his said right to Ingland whether by that of Inglād or by this of Portugal or by bothe thoughe to determine this first and chief point vvho is the next and true heyre vnto these foresaid king Queene of Portugal the lawes of Portugal must needes be iudge not those of Ingland and so seing that by these lawes of Portugal the king of Spayne is now adiudged for next heyre to the said princes and is in possession of their inheritance at this day I meane of the crowne of Portugal these mē say that he must consequently inherite also al other rightes dignities and prerogatiues belonging to the foresaid princes or to their posteritie And thus you see now how great diuersitie of arguments and obiections are and may be alleaged on different sides about this affayre wherby also is made manifest how doubtful ambiguous a matter this pointe of Inglish succession is seing that in one only branch of the pretenders vvhich is in the house of Portugal alone their are so many difficulties as heere hath byn touched But now the common obiection against al these titles and titlers is that they are old and out of vre and not to be brought in question againe now especially seing that both king Henry the seuenth and his issue haue enioyed so long the title of the house of Lancaster as it hath and secondly that these titles do apperteyne vnto strangers vvhose gouerment may be dangerous many wayes vnto Ingland and especially in that which toucheth the king of Spayne who being so great and mightye a monarch as he is may preiudice greatly the Inglish libertye and easely bring them into seruitude if his pretence should be fauoured as by some it seemeth to be This is the speach of many men in Ingland and abroad at this day wherunto yet some others do answer that as concerning the first obiection of the oldnes of the pretence title it hath bin shewed before that by law no title to a kingdome dyeth euer but may take place vvhensoeuer the partie to vvhom it belongeth is able to auouch it and gett possession and as for this pretence of the line of Portugal they say that it hath not such great age but that very vvel it may shew it selfe and be had in consideracion especially at this tyme vvhen now the issue male of king Henry the seuenth is ended and that of necessitie vve must returne to haue consideration of the issue of his daughters before vvhich daughters good reason say these men is it that the issue of lady Phillippe Queene of Portugal should be admitted for that albeit vve vvould haue that respect to the issue male of Iohn Earle of Somerset as to preferr it or suffer it to enioy the crowne before the issue of Queene Phillippe and so they say it seemeth that it was for that king Henry the seuenth vvas crowned king his mother being a liue vvhich yet by ordinary course of succession should haue gone before him yet say they it is no reason that the issue female of Iohn of Somerset or of king Henry the seuenth should be preferred before the issue male of the said Queene Phillippe Moreouer they saye that the house of Clarence and Huntington do pretend a title more old and stale at this day then this of Portugal for that they pretend from George duke of Clarence that neuer had the crowne and these of Portugal pretend to be next heyre to king Henry the sixt that did vveere the crowne of Ingland for 40. yeares togeather after whose death if king Alfonsus of Portugal who vvas then old vvearied with euel successe of warres had bin so able to preferr and follow his title as some of that house be at this day he vvould neuer haue suffered the house of York to haue entred nor king Henry the seuenth to haue enioyed it after them by the title of Lancaster vvhich title yet of Lancaster say these men king Henry the seuenth could not haue in himselfe any vvay vvhether we respect Queene Phillippe or Iohn of Somerset for by Queene Phillippe they of Portugal were euidently before him and by waye of Iohn of Somerset the countesse his mother vvas as cleerly before hym nether could he haue any title as yet by the house of Yorke for that he vvas not yet married to the daughter of king Edward so as his crowning in the feild and whole entrance to the kingdome vvas without any actual title at al but only the good will of the people as these men do hold To the other obiection of forraine princes strange gouerment that may come to Ingland by these pretences of the princes of Portugal diuers men do answer diuersly for some do graunt that it may be so that by this meanes Ingland may come to be vnder forayne kinges and that no hurt or inconuenience at al would ensue therof to Ingland but rather much good and commoditie but other that like not vvell of this assertion do say further that if these forrayne pretence should take place yet that al matters might be so compounded that albeit the prince himselfe which is to rule should be forrayne borne vvhich they take to be no inconuenience yet that his forces and dependance should be only of the Inglish for that he should not bring in any strainge powers into the land no more them did king Stephen or king Henry the second that were borne in France or then did king Phillip of Spayne in Queene Maryes dayes or as it is thought Monsieur of France should haue done if he had married her Maiestie that now is as once it was supposed he should To this said one of the companie and is it possible that any man should be of opiniō that forrayne gouerment in what manner or kinde so euerit be should not be iuconuenient and hurtfull to Inglād wher the people are vvholye bent against it you remember quoth he as concering the last two examples that you haue alleaged what tumult and sture
to king Richard The title of Yorke is by a VVomā Stovv in vit Henrici 5 au 3. regni The earle of Cambrige executed for conspiracy An obiection for Yorke that Edmond Mortymer vvas declared heyre apparent Polydor l. 20. Stovv in vit Rich. 〈◊〉 an 1385 Hollings-head in vit Rich. 2. pag. 1088. Stovv an 1382. Polydor li. 20. an 1394. The cause of hatred be rvveeue king Richard and the house of Lancaster Iohn frosard in histo Polydor. Hollings Stovv in vita 〈◊〉 2 Tho vvassing in vit Richardi 2. pag. 341. 344. Iohn Fros sard in vit Hēri VVhy Ro ger Mortimer vvas declared heyre apparent Hollings in vit Richard 3. pag. 1406. in vit Edvvard 6. pa. 1715 The declaration of king Edvvard 6. in fauour of the Lady Iane Gray Girard de Haillan l. 15. his Fran. initio VVhether vncles or nephevves to be preferred in Succession Barthol in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 C. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And example of the vncle before the nephevv in spayne Garibay li. 13 cap. 14 and 1276. An other example in France and Flanders Polidor l. 25. in vit 〈◊〉 3. An other example of Britanny Supra c. 2 An other example in Scotland The conuentiō of the houses of Balliol Bruse in Scotland 8. Examples in Inglād 〈◊〉 head in vit Regis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 142. Hovv Arthur duke of Britanny vvas declared 〈◊〉 apparent 〈◊〉 1. 14 〈◊〉 in vit Richar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 420. 2. 3. Hollingli in vit Richar 〈◊〉 pag. 496. 499. 4. Hollingshead pag. 540. VValsing in ypodig Neustriss Opinions of lavvyers for the nephevv vncle Benedict Cap. Ranutius verb in eodem testam Baldus in lib. vt in test cap. de suis leg hered per. li. vnicam pro 20. sui autē nouissimo Touching the common lavv of Ingland Different rules in successiō of the crovvne and of other inheritances The common lavv grounded in custome Ancient lavvyers that defended the house of Lancaster Holling 〈◊〉 vit Hēric 6. pag. 〈◊〉 00. The summe of this controuersie repeated 1. 2. 3. Other arguments of Lancaster Stovv in vita Henrici 5. pag. 587. The princes of Yorke often attained Stovv in vita Henrici 6. 2. Yorke entred by violence Stovv in fine vit 〈◊〉 6. 3. The house of Yorke put dovvne a holy king 4. Long pos sessions of the house of Lancaster 5. The difference of kings of both houses 6. The princes of Yorke cruel one to the other Polydor virg hist. Anglie lib. 24. Great vnion faythfulnes of the princes of Lancaster Polyd. lib. 23. Diffentions in the house of Yorke King Edvvard 4. King Richard 3. King Hēry 3. hovv many he put to death of his ovvne kynred The de la pooles The house of Buckingam The house of Courtneis The house of Salisbury Seymers put to death Queene of Scots 7. No old noble house standing in Inglād but such as tooke parte vvith Lācaster Siue ancient noble hovvses Arondel Oxford Northum berland VVestmerland Shrevvsbury Houses that fauo red York deftroyed The Mon braies The de la Pooles The house of Salesbury VVarvvicke King 〈◊〉 the 7. crovvned in the fild in respect of the house of Lancaster only thoughe his tytle that vvay vvas not great A diuisiō of the families that do precend Of the house of Scotland Arbella In fauour of the king of Scots 1. 2. 3. Argumēt against the king of Scots 1. The king of Scots not of the house of Lancaster 2. The king of Scots foraine botne The controuersie about somayne 〈◊〉 Movv strāgers may inherite Reasons vvhy the statute toucheth not our case The crovvne not holdē by allegeance The king of Scots excluded by the starute of association Other cōsideratiōs against the King of Scots Ioyning of Inglād and Scotland together 1. Polydor. lib. 17. in vit Edvvardi primi 3. Inconueniences of bringing strāgers into Ingland A consideration of importance Polydot hist. Ang. l. s. 9. Example of Spaine Garibay l. 20 c 42. An Dn̄i 1207. Example out of Portugal Garibay l. 34. c. 38. An. Dn̄i 1383. Stovv pa. 54. 59. 95. 76. Of the religion of Scotland Of the title of lady Arbella 1. 2. An Inglish vvoman Against Arbella 1. Not of the house of Lancaster 2. The testa ment of king Hēry 3. The coun tesse of darby neerer by a degree Illegitimation by bastardye The testimonie of the lord Vvillian hovvard Other reasons of state against Arbella Gouerment if vvomen Bolyd l. 12 Garibay li. 〈◊〉 c. 41 The issue of Charles Brandon Issue of lady Fran cis Stovv an 7. Edon 6 The issue of the L. Catherin The issue of L. Eleanor Allegations of the houses of Darby hartford the one against the other Charles Brandon had a vvyse a lyue First bastardie against the issue of hartford Stovv in vita Edvvard An. 〈◊〉 2. Bastardie 3. Bastardie The fourth be 〈◊〉 cōmon to both famines of Suffolk The ansvvere of those of hartford to the foresaid bastardies Of the marriage betvveen the earle of hartford and the L. Catherin Gray Concil Trid. Sess. 24. cap. 1. Hovv the second sonne of the earie of hart ford mav be legitimate Allegations of the house of Darby VVhy the earle of Huntingtōs house is said to be of the house of Clarence Issue of the house of Clarence Issue of S. Geffrey Poole The interest pretēce of the earle of Huntington Obiectiōns against the earle of Huntington 1. 2. Attainders in the house of Huntington Restitution may be in blood vvithout restitutiō of dignitie The pretence of the Pooles against Huntington Obiectiō of Religion The house of Britanie The course of inheritan ce in the crovvne of Frāce First pretence of the Infan ta to Ingland 1. 2. Polydor. in vita Guliel Rufi 3. Second pretence of the Infanta of Spaine 3. Pretence by Arthur duke of Britanie Belforest I. 3. cap. 71 hist. Fran. Electiō of Levvys the 8. to be King of Inglād Polydor. l. 15. hist. Angl. Holling Stovv in vita Ioannis Belfor li. 〈◊〉 cap. 67. Girard li. histor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 france Pretence by dissent from Hēry the third Admissiō by composition Obiectiōs against the Infan tas pretence The princes of Portugal are of the house of Lācaster The issue of lady Phillip Queene of Portugal Issue of Iohn of Gaunt by his later vviues Sce the arbor in the end of this booke The point of difficultie Issue of Catherin Svvinford The principal question Ansvver Duchie of Lācaster The crovvne An exam ple of Edvvard the sixth of the prince of spaine Replies of the house of Portugal The duke dome of Lācaster The legitimation of Catherin Svvinfords children not lavvful Stovv in vit Richardi 2. Garibay his Portugal l. 33 cap. 4. Note this example Stovv in vit Henrici 8. Iohn of Gauntes marriage vvith Catherin Svvinford helpeth not the legitimation The question betvveene lord Phillip and Iohn of Somerset The question betvveene the