and had some private discourse with the Archbishop After a small space the Duke of Lancaster himself all Arm'd approached the Castle and being within the first Gate he there reposed himself till the King attended with the Bishop of Carlile the Earl of Salisbury and Sir Stephen Scroop who bore the Sword before him came forth and sate down in a place prepared for him As soon as the Duke saw his Majesty he came toward him bowing his Knee and advancing forward did so a second and a third time and then the King took him by the hand and lift him up saying Dear Cousin thou art welcome the Duke humbly thanking him answered My Soveraign Lord and King the Cause of my coming at this present is your Honour saved to have Restitution of my Person my Land and Inheritance To which the King replyed Dear Cousin I am ready to accomplish your will so that you may enjoy all that is yours without exception After this coming forth of the Castle the King called for Wine and having drank they mounted and rod to Chester and so by several Stages he was carried directly and with great Expedition to London and lodged on pretence of State but in truth for better security in the Tower having not in all that Journey changed his Apparel but wore only one Sute and that but an ordinary one whereas he was wont to be extraordinary profuse in his Cloaths having one Coat valued at Thirty thousand Marks The King yielded himself the Thirtieth day of August being but the Seven and fortieth day after the Dukes Arrival in England so that he might well assume Caesars Motto Veni Vidi Vici For considering his Marches from Holderness in the North up to London and from thence to Bristol and so into Wales and back again to Chester a man can scarce travel over so much ground in the space that he Conquered it Nay so indulgent was Fortune to him that all the Kings Jewels and Treasure amounting as a late Author asserts to Seven hundred thousand pounds with his Horses and Baggage fell into his hands The King being thus safely lodg'd in the Tower the Duke of Lancaster but in King Richards Name caused Writs to be issued forth for summoning and choosing a Parliament to be held at Westminster on the last day of September following And in the mean time consults with his nearest Kindred and Friends how to steer his Proceedings so as to bring his Affairs by prudence to a lucky end which had hitherto even beyond his hopes been favoured by Fortune In order to which the Duke of York who but a little before had been Governour of the Realm for the King but now his the said Lancasters great Director must be his best Oracle who after divers Debates proposed it as very expedient that King Richard should both voluntarily Resign and also be solemnly Deposed by the Estates of the Realm For otherwise Resignation would be imputed only to his Fear and Deprivation only to their Force whereof the one is always apt to move Pity and the other stir up Envy But if both concur and his desire be combined with his deserts being willing to forsake that which he is adjudged worthy to forfeit then it will appear that he is neither expelled his Kingdom by meer Constraint nor leave it without just Cause This Advice was generally approved and accordingly pursued a Solemn Renunciation being tendred unto the King and by him Signed on Michaelmas Day then next following being the day before the Parliament was to meet The Words Order and Ceremony whereof and of the Articles exhibited against Him and his Deposition thereupon following in Parliament appear in the Records thereof remaining in the Tower Authentick and Attested Copies wherefore are Printed in the Book Intituled Historiae Anglicanae scriptores decem beginning Col. 2743. From whence the same are word for word Translated as follow The Roll of Parliament Summoned and Holden at Westminster in the Feast of S. Fide the Virgin in the first year of the Reign of King Henry the Fourth after the Conquest Membrane the 20th The Record and Process of the Renunciation of King Richard the Second after the Conquest and likewise the Acceptance of the same Renunciation with the Deposition of the same King Richard afterwards ensuing BE it remembred that on Munday the Feast of S. Michael the Archangel in the Three and twentieth year of the Reign of King Richard the Second the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and other Persons of note that is to say the Lord Richard le Scroop Archbishop of York John bishop of Hereford Henry Earl of Northumberland and Ralph Earl of Westmor land the Lord Hugh le Burnel Thomas Lord de Berkley Prior of Canterbury and Abbot of Westminster William Thyrning Knight and John Markham Justices Thomas Stow and John Burbache Doctors of Laws Thomas de Erpingham and Thomas Gray Knights William de Feryby and Dionisius Lapham Publick Notaries first deputed to the Act under written by the Assent and Advice of several of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Judges and others skilful as well in the Civil and Canon Law as in the Law of the Realm Assembled at Westminster in the usual place of Council did about Nine of the Clock come to the Presence of the said King being within the Tower of London And it being Recited before the said King by the said Earl of Northumberland in the behalf of all the rest before named so as aforesaid joyned with him How the said King heretofore at Coneway in North-VVales being at Liberty did promise unto the Lord Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Northumberland that he would yield up and renounce the Crown of England and France and his Regal Majesty for Causes of his Inability and Insufficiency there by the said King himself confessed and that in the best manner and form as the same could be done as Councel learned should best order The said King before the said Lords and others above named hereunto benignly answering That he would with Effect accomplish what before in that behalf he had promised But desired to have some discourse with his Cousins Henry Duke of Lancaster and the said Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury before he fulfilled such his promise Afterwards the same day after Dinner the said King much affecting the coming of the said Duke of Lancaster and having long waited for him at last the said Duke of Lancaster the Lords and others above named and also the said Archbishop of Canterbury did come to the Presence of The said King in the Tower aforesaid The Lords de Roos de Willougby and de Abergeny and very many others being then there present and after the said King had had discourse with the said Duke of Lancaster and Archbishop exhibiting a merry Countenance here and there amongst them to part thereof as appeared to those that stood round about at last the said King calling to him all that were
Item At the same time that the King in his Parliament caused the Duke of Glocester and Earls of Arundel and Warwick to be adjudged that he might more freely exercise his Cruelty upon them and accomplish his injurious will in other matters he gathered to himself a great multitude of Malefactors of the County of Chester of whom some passing with the King through the Kingdom as well within the Kings Pallace as without did cruelly kill the Liege Subjects of the Kingdom and some they beat and wounded and did plunder the Goods of the People and refuse to pay for their Victuals and did Ravish and Violate their Wives and other Women and though their were grievous Complaints of such their excesses brought to the hearing of the said King Yet the said King did not regard to cause Justice to be done or any Remedy thereuponâ— but did favour the said Troops in such their evil doings trusting in them and their Guard against all others of his Kingdom for which cause the faithful People of his Kingdom had great matter of Commotion and Indignation VI. Item Although the said King by his writs caused Proclamation to be made throughout the whole Kingdom that he had caused his Uncle the Duke of Glocester and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick to be taken and Arrested not for any Assemblings or Troopings by them formerly made within the Kingdom of England but for very many Extortions Oppressions and other things by them afterwards done and perpetrated against his Royalty and Kingly Majesty And that it was not his Intention that any of the Family of the said Duke and Earls or of their followers at the time of such Assembling and Trooping should for that occasion be molested or aggrieved Yet the said King at last in his Parliament did not Impeach the said Lords for Extortions Oppressions or any such matters but for the Assemblings and Troopings aforesaid did adjudge them to Death and very many of the Family of the said Lords and others who were following them at the time of such their Assembling and Trooping he did for fear of Death force to make Fine and Ransom as Traytors or Rebels to the great destruction of a great Number of his People And so he did subtily fraudulently and maliciously deceive the said Lords and their familiars and the People of his Kingdom VII Item After very many of those Persons so making Fine and Ransom had obtained of the King his Letters Patent of full Pardon in the Premises they could not reap any Commodity by such Letters of Pardon till they had made new Fine and Ransoms for saving of their Life whereby very many were Impoverished which was a great Derogation and dishonour to the Name and State of a King VIII Item In the Last Parliament held at Shrewsbury the said King purposing to oppress his People subtily procured and caused it to be granted that the power of the Parliament by the consent of the States of his Kingdom shall remain in certain Persons to determine after the dissolution of the Parliament certain Petitions in the said Parliament exhibited but then not dispatched By Colour of which grant the Persons so deputed proceeded to other things generally touching that Parliament And this with the will of the King in Derogation of the state of Parliament the great dammage of the whole Kingdom and pernitious Example And that they might seem to have some Colour and Authority for such their doings the King called the Parliament Rolls to be altered and blotted at his pleasure against the Effect of the said Grant IX Item Notwithstanding the said King in his Coronation had sworn that in all his Judgments he would cause to be done equal and right Justice and discretion in mercy and truth according to his power Yet the said King rigorously without all mercy did amongst other things Ordain under grievous penalties that none should sue for any favour or intercede with the said King for Henry Duke of Lancaster being Banished whereby the said King did act against the Bond of Charity rashly violating his Oath aforesaid X. Item Although the Crown of the Kingdom of England and the Rights of the said Crown and that Kingdom it self have in all time past been so free that our Lord the Pope nor any other without the Kingdom ought to concern himself about the same Yet the aforesaid King for the Corroboration of such his erroneous statutes did make supplication to our Lord the Pope that he would confirm the statutes ordained his last Parliament whereupon our Lord the King obtained the Apostolick Letters in which grievous Censures are denounced against any that should presume in any thing to act contrary to the said statutes all which are well known to tend against the Crown and Royal dignity and against the Statutes and Liberties of the said Kingdom XI Item Although the Lord Henry now Duke of Lancaster by the Kings Command had preferred his Bill touching the State and Honour of the King against the Duke of Norfolk and the same had duely prosecuted so that according to the Kings Order he had exhibited himself in all Points prepared for the Combate And the said King had declared that the said Duke of Lancaster had honourably performed his Devoir as much as in him lay and this by a Decree publickly Proclaimed before all the people Assembled at the said Combate Yet the said King without any Legal Reason whatsoever did cause and command the said Duke to be Banisht for ten Years against all Justice and Laws and Customs of his Kingdom and the Law of War in that behalf thereby damnably incurring Perjury XII Item After the said King had graciously granted by his Letters Patents to the Lord Henry now Duke of Lancaster that in his absence whilst he was banisht his General Attorneys might prosecute for Livery to him to be made of all manner of Inheritances or Successions belonging unto him and that his Homage should be respited paying a certain reasonable Fine he injuriously did revoke the said Letters Patent against the Laws of the Land thereby incurring the Crime of Perjury XIII Item Notwithstanding that it was Enacted that every Year the Officers of the King with his Justices and others of the Kings Council should choose Sheriffs for all the Counties of England and name them to our Lord the King according as to their Discretion and Conscience should seem expedient for the good and utility of the Kingdom the said King hath caused persons to be made Sheriffs not so nominated or elected but other according to the Capricio's of his pleasure sometimes his Favourites or Creatures and sometimes such as he knew would not oppose his humour for his own and others private advantage to the great grievance of his People and against the Laws of his Kingdom thereby notoriously incurring Perjury XIV Item At such time as the aforesaid King requested and had of very many Lords and others of his Kingdom divers Sums
that pretence committing horrible Oppressions Exactions and Insolencies in divers parts especially in Kent Norfolk and the adjacent Counties Hence immediately after viz. In the Spring of the Year 1381 arose one of the most formidable and mischievous Insurrections that had been heard of almost in any Age the old Bellum servile of the Romans was acted in England but with greater Impudence and mischief the Slaves are in Arms and the very Dregs of the people will be Lords and Masters The true Causes or Occasions of this unexpected Confusion are very differently related some Monkish Historians followed blindfold by some later Authors out of hatred to Wickliffe and his Tenets which now began to be much disseminated and of which we shall by and by give a further account attributed it chiefly to his Doctrine for 't is an ordinary thing to proclaim all Evils concurring with any Attempts of Reformation in Religion to be proper fruits thereof as the Heathens of old imputed all their Calamities to the then new and rising Sect of the Christians But as we find nothing in that good mans real Positions for several of his Works are yet extant to foment such a lewd Rebellion so neither do the more impartial Authors of that Age lay it at his Door though 't is agreed one Ball a factious Clergyâ—man was an Incendiary of that Combustion which seems in its Original ascribable to the natural desire of Liberty and pride of Humane Nature impatient of Superiority since the Villains or Bondmen were chief in the Tumult and partly to the heavy Taxes and Insolencies of the Collectors and especially of these New Farmers of the Subsidy or Commissioners which exasperated the common people into a Mutiny But whatever were the Provocations dismal were the Effects and might have prov'd fatal to the utter ruine of the Kingdom had not the Providence of God wonderfully prevented it Nor is it less disputable where the Uproar began some say in Essex some in Kent for the Flame wâ—s so suddenly spread into divers places that they could scarce tell where the Fire broke forth and who first headed them is also uncertain some speak of one Thomas a Baker of Fobhyngges others of Walter Tyler at Deptford in Kent to be the Ringleader but the most received Tradition is thus That one of the said Collectors of Poll-money coming to the house of the said Tyler so called from his Trade and requiring of his Wife to pay for a Daughter of hers whom she affirmed was not of age to pay the rude Fellow told her he would presently see whether she were so or not and forceably turn'd up her Coats whereupon the Mother made such an Out-cry that her Husband being at work hard by heard her and came running with his Lathing Staff in his hand wherewith he beat out the Collectors Brains and knowing that for the same he must be hang'd endeavoured to secure himself by greater Crimes drawing together the Rabble and incensing them who of themselves were but too ready unto a Rebellion Thus Multitudes flockt together broke open the Goal at Maidstone where the before-mentioned Ball the Priest was then a Prisoner who having gain'd his Liberty marched along with them and they growing still more numerous some write an Hundred thousand strong came to Blackheath where he made a seditious Preachment to them taking for his Text or Theme the old Proverb When Adam Delv'd and Eve Span Who was then a Gentleman From thence telling them That by Descent from Adam all men were of one Condition That the Laws of the Realm were injurious to Christian Liberty and unjust by making such difference of mens Estates preferring some to be Peers and Potentates with great Authority and large Possessions whereby they took advantage of the humble plyable Condition of others to keep them in slavery hardly affording them Sustenance whereas there ought to be an equal sharing of all things and that in common c. This Doctrine was extreamly pleasing to these Raggamuffins who animated thus with Multitudes and holding Correspondence with others as mad as themselves in other Counties they Arrested all Strangers that they met with making them swear to be true to King Richard and to the Commons and never to own any King that should be called John which they did out of spight to the Duke of Lancaster against whom they had an implacable Malice They likewise beheaded all Lawyers they could catch saying Till they were rooted out the Land would never enjoy free liberty At Black-heath they sent for the King to hear their Grievances but the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Treasurer disswaded him from venturing his Royal Person amongst them which being understood by the Commons they were thereupon more enraged against those two calling them Traytors and to be revenged immediately march towards London in Southwark they discharge all Prisoners and when the Mayor of London would have pull'd up the Draw-bridge and shut the Gates against them the Rabble of the City would not suffer him so that all that Night they came in and out at their pleasure being the more favoured because hitherto they spoiled no man but honestly paid for all they had saying They came not as Robbers but to bring Malefactors to justice The King to prevent Mischief sent them word to meet Him at Mile-end where he would hear their Complaints and part of them accordingly went thither where the King gave them a Câ—arter under the Great Seal of England That thenceforth all the Men of England should be free and discharged from the Tenour of Villenage and all Bondage of that kind The Tenour of which Charter of Manumission as it was given to them and within few days sent into several Counties was as follows RICHARD By the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland to all his Bailiffs and faithfull Subjects to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Know yee that of our special Grace we have Manumiss'd or set free all and singular our Liege Subjects and other of the County of E. and them and every of them from all Bondage do Release and Acquit by these Presents And also we pardon to our said Liege-men and Subjects all manner of Felonies Treasons Transgressions and Extortions by them or any of them in any manner whatsoever done or committed And also all and every Outlawry or Outlawries if any be or shall be Published against them or any of them for or by occasion of the Premisses and do thereof to them and every of them grant Our highest Peace In witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent Witness Our self at London the Fifteenth of June in the Fourth Year of Our Reign Upon this Concession most of the Essex-men that met at Mile-end went home but while this was doing others that staid behind in London enter'd the Tower and dragg'd out thence Hen. Earl of Derby the Duke of Lancaster's Son and but a youth
Simon of Sudbury Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of England Robert Hales Prior of the Hospital and Treasurer of England he the before-mentioned John Legg and and John a Minorite being a Crony of Lancaster's and 3 others all which 7 last they forthwith Beheaded carrying their Heads on Poles as in Triumph And now being heated with both Wine and Blood they march to the Savoy and burn the Duke of Lancaster's stately Palace the best House in England with all its rich Furniture to Ashes breaking in pieces all his Plate and Jewels of inestimable value and flinging them into the Thames and when one of their Fellows was spy'd to thrust a piece of Plate into his Bosom they presently flung it and him into the fire to be destroy'd together saying They came not like Thieves to enrich themselves But of Liquors they were not so scrupulous for two and thirty of them being got ito the Dukes Wine-Cellar Tippled so long till the Rafters of the House on fire fell down and stopt the passage that they could not get out but were heard to cry seven days after and so perished From the Savoy they came back to the Temple and burnt the Lawyers Lodgings Books Papers and all Records they could meet with The house of S. John's by Smithfield they set fire to so that it burnt seven days Nor had they any regard to Churches but forc'd out such as fled thither for Sanctuary and Beheaded them for they used no other manner of Execution to high or low That Night wearied with spoil and generally Drunk they lay sleeping like Swine in the open Streets and under the Walls and the next day being routed together again the King with a small Guard coming to Smithfield offered a Pardon to all such as yet after all these Outrages would cease from the like for the future and go quickly home Whereupon Wat Tyler declared That he was for Peace very willingly provided it were on such Terms as he should approve of Therefore to understand what he would have one Sir John Newton is sent to Invite and desire for so they were glad in that Juncture of Affairs to compliment his Sawciness Wat to come and Treat thereof with the King and when the Knight urged him to make haste he answered with some Indignation If thou art in such haste go back to thy Master the King I 'le come when I see mine own time However he soon followed him on Horse back but slowly for the greater State and being come near the King the same Knight was commanded to go to him and receive and bring back his Proposals Tyler offended because this Messenger came to him mounted told him it became him to alight from his Horse in his Presence and therewith drew out his Dagger to strike him But the King to pacifie him made him alight The Demands which Tyler made besides a general Enfranchisement of the Bond men which the King had already granted were That all Warrens Parks and Chases should be made common and free to all so that as well the Poor as the Rich should have liberty to Fish Fowl and Hunt in all places throughout the Kingdom with several other the like extravagant Demands In which Tyler behaved himself so insolently that the Kings Attendants could not but represent to his Majesty that it was insufferable and the before celebrated John Philpot according to his usual Courage told the King That if his Majesty would but command his Lieutenant viz. The Mayor to Arrest the Traytor he would lose his Life if it were not happily accomplisht Whereupon the King was prevailed with to give such a Command or rather leave to William Walworth then Mayor of London who waiting an Opportunity and observing Tyler to play with his Dagger tossing it from hand to hand as if he meant some mischief and that at last to what intent is not known whether out of rudeness or design he laid one of his hands upon the Kings Bridle fearing the Ruffian might attempt his Royal Person instantly executed his Arrest by giving him a Blow on his Head with a Dagger which was seconded with Philpot's Sword and anothers in his Body so that immediately he fell down dead on the ground When the Rabble saw this they began furiously to cry out O our Captain is slain our Captain is murdered Let 's revenge the Death of our Captain c. But the King with a Courage and Ingenuity beyond any thing could be expected from his Years for he was not yet above Fifteen Clapt Spurs to his Horse and rod to the Head of them crying aloud What mean you my Men Or what do you do Will you shoot your King You shall have no cause to grieve for the Death of that Traytor and Ribauld I that am the King will be your Captain and your Leader Follow me into the Field and you shall have whatever you will Upon which words amaz'd and not certainly resolv'd either of one anothers minds nor indeed each man of his own they followed awhile till Sir Richard Knolls with a Thousand armed men raised in the mean time by the Mayor came upon them out of the City at whose approach being now headless and all in confusion they were so terrifi'd that they forthwith flung down what Arms they had and begg'd for Mercy which the King granted and withal gave them a Charter of Freedom in form as before recited but proclaim'd that no Citizen should have any Correspondence with any of them nor suffer them to come within the Liberties And so this dreadful rout from the height of Insolence was in a moment scattered and reduced to the depth of misery and fear sneaking back by stealth into the Country many in their passage slain or perishing for want and multitudes of them soon after Executed For this good Service the King upon the place conferr'd the Honour of Knighthood upon the said John Walworth Mayor and John Philpot as likewise on Nichol. Brembre John Land and Nicholas Twyford Citizens of London And in memory of so Honourable an Exploit perform'd by the Mayor the Dagger hath 't is said ever since that time been added in the City-Arms which before bore only the Cross. But though things were thus appeas'd at London there was still no less Hurley-burley in several Counties At St. Albans they committed many Out-rages and Cancell'd the Ancient Charter of the Abbot and Monks In Suffolk there were swarm'd together Fifty thousand Villains under the Conduct of one John Straw a lewd Priest who beheaded Sir John Cavendish Lord Chief Justice of England and â—et his Head on the Pillory in S. Edmundsbury The like Commotions also there were at the same time in Norfolk Cambridge-shire and the Isle of Ely at the Instigation of one Littester a Dyer who called himself King of the Commons and forc'd several Lords and Persons of Quality to be sworn to them and ride along with them to countenance their Proceedings but these were for
to recover that Kingdom belonging to him in the Right of his Wife which was granted and Forty thousand Marks promised him for his aid therein and accordingly on Easter-Day he came to take his Leave of their Majesties The King commanding that he should be styled King of Spain presented him with a Crown of Gold as the Quen did anoâ—her to her Sister A great number of the Youthfull Nobility and Gentry attended the Duke in this Voyage who having Matcht one of his Daughters to the King of Portugal with joynt Forces Invaded Castile and took many strong Towns but at last on a Treaty it was agreed that the King of Spains Eldest Son should marry Katherine another of the Dukes Daughters and the Duke receive Two hundâ—red thousand Nobles in hand and the Sâ—m of Ten thousand Marks yearly during the Lives of him and his Dutchess and in consideration thereof all Claims should cease Walsingham tells us the Duke had such Favour from the Pope as to be Arm'd for the Recovery of this Kingdom with a Grant of Remission of Sins to all that should adventure with him or aid him with money towards the Voyage and had got as as large Indulgences as the Bishop of Norwich lately had as aforesaid but he well observes That the frequency of granting such Pardons and Relaxations had now rendered them vile and contemptible to the People so that there was scarce any body regarded them or would give Two pence to this last Croisadâ— though they were so extravagantly fond of the former whence is taught this Lesson That a Cheat though never so religious is not to be plaid over twice in one Age. The Year 1386 â—illed England with great Consternations and frequent Aâ—arms by means of an Invasion threatned by the French who had prepared above Twelve hundred Sail of Ships and a mighty Army on that Design which lay â—overing on the Coasts daily waiting an opportunity to pass the Channel and the better to secure their men at their first Landing in England they had framed a wonderful Wall of Wood three Miles in length of great thickness and twenty Foot high with which they would have inclosed their Camp But it happned that the Lord Beauchamp Captain of Calice took three of their Ships laden with part of the said Inclosure which King Richard caused to be set up about Whinchelsea for securing that Town and also he took another Ship full of Guns Gunpowder and other Instruments of War With which Losses and especialy by the adversness of the Winds which from the beginning of August to Alhallontide stood full in their Teeth so that their Ships could not come out and their Victuals and provisions by lying all that time being spent they were discouraged from prosecuting the Enterprize and nothing was effected And now King Richard every day more and more entring upon the Confines of his Destiny as if he had not done enough in making his Minion Marquess of Dublin Creates him Duke of Ireland and would says Walsingham had Fortune favor'd his Wishes have gone on to make him a King so strangely was he bewitch'd to him and so excessively he doted on him Non sina nota utfertur fami iaritatis obscoenae which I forbear to english out of Respect to Royal Majesty as being willing to think it a fulsom Imagination of that Monk that writes it rather than charge an English Prince with such a detestable suspicion But this undeserved Honour together with the Exorbitancies of Michael ae Pole and other Publick Miscarriages had made no small Impressions on the Minds of many of the Peers of the Land as well as the Commons On Monday the morrow after the Feast of S Jerom the King held a Parliament at Westminister which ended on the Feast of S. Andrew the Proceedings whereof Henry Knyghton who lived at that very time Relates as follows P. 2680. The King saith he for the most part staid lingering at Eltham whilest the Parliament sate the nobles therefore of the Realm and the Commons with joynt Assent sent this Message to the King That the Chancelor and Treasurer ought to be removed from their Offices because they were not for the good of the King and Kingdom and because also they had such matters to treat of with Michael de Pole as could not be treated of whilest he remain'd in the Office of Chancellor The King hereat incensed return'd his Command That they should mention no more those things but that they should proceed to the Business of Parliament aud hasten to a conclusion adding That he would not for them or at their instance remove the meanest Scullion boy in his Kitchin out of his place For the Chancelor in the Name of the King had desired of the Commons Four Fifteenths to be paid in one year and as many Tenths from the Clergy alledging that the King was so much in debt that he could not otherwise be freed from his Debts and other Burdens lying upon him as well upon the account of war as of his Houshold and other Charges But they by joynt Assent of Lords and Commons returned this Answer to the King That they neiher could nor by any means would proceed in any Business of Parliament nor dispatch somuch as the least Article till the King should come and shew himself in his own Person amongst them and remove the said Michael de Pole from his office Upon which the King sent back this Command to them That they should order Forty Knights of the most substantial and wisest of the Commons to come unto him and declare the Votes of all the rest But then were they more afraid every man for his own safety For a secret Rumor had privately come to their Ears That the death of these Forty was design'd by Treachery For it was said as appeared afterwards unto them That as these should be going to speak with the King a multitude of Armed Men should set upon and murther them Or that being invited to a Feast by the King some Armed Ruffians should rush in upon them and kill them or that they should be murther'd in an instant in their Lodgings in London But Nieolas de Exon Mayor of that City refusing and by no meanes consenting to so great a wickedness the Villany was deferr'd and the cursed Contrivance by degrees brought to light Making use therefore of wholsom Advice they by common consent of the whole Parliament sent the Lord Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester and Thomas de Arundel Bishop of Ely to the King at Eltham That they should on the behalf of the Lords and Commons of his Parliament Salute him and deliver their Votes or desires to him under such a Form or Sense of words Sir King The Prelates Lords and whole People of the Commons in Parliament with most humble submission recommend themselves to the most Excellent the word is wanting in our Author of your Royal Dignity wishing you a successful Course of Honour and
Treasurer The Lord Michael de Pole Earl of Suffolk was with much disgrace turn'd out of the Office of Chancelor and Thomas de Arundel Bishop of Ely by Consent of Parliament put in his stead And sometime afterward the said Michael de Pole was Impeached of several High Crimes and Misdemeâ—â—ors by the Commons as follows The Impeachment or Articles made by the Commons in full Parliament against Michael de Pole Earl of Suffolk late Chancellor of England in the Term of S. Michael in the Tenth Year of the King and the Judgment upon them following from Point to Point IMprimis That the said Earl being Chancellor and Sworn to Act for the just Profit of the King hath Purchased of Our Lord the King Lands Tenements and Rents to a great Value as appears by the Record-Rolls of the Chancery And against his Oath not regarding the great Necessity of the King and Realm being Chancellor at the time of such Purchase made did cause the said Lands and Tenements to be Extended at a much smaller value than really they were worth by the year and thereby deceiv'd the King And for that he purchased the said Lands when he was Chancellor against his Oath the King shall have the said Lands again intirely and the said Earl shall make Fine and Ransom to the King with all Profits received since the Purchase 2. Item Whereas Nine Lords were Assigned by the last Parliament to View and Examine the Estate of the King and Realm and to deliver their Advice how the same might be Improved Amended and put into better Order Governance and thereupon such Examination to be delivered to the King as well by Word of Mouth as in Writing The said late Chancellor did say in full Parliament That the said Advice and Ordinance should be put in due Execution which yet was not done and that by the default of him who was the principal Officer To this Article and the Third and the Seventh the said Earl shall answer if he have any thing to say against the same in special 3. Item Whereas a Tax was granted by the Commons in the last Parliament to be laid out in a certain Form demanded by the Commons and assented to by the King and Lords and not otherwise yet the Moneys thence arising were expended in another manner so that the Sea was not Guarded as it was ordered to have been whence many Mischiefs already have happen'd and more are like to ensue to the Realm and all this by the default of the said late Chancellor 4. Item Whereas the Tydeman of Limbergh having to him and his Heirs of the Gift of the King's Grandfather Fifty pounds per annum out of the Customs of Kingstone upon Hull which the said Tydeman forfeited to the King and also the payment of the said Fifty pounds per annum was discontinued for Five and thirty years and upwards The said Chancellor knowing the Premisses purchased to him and his Heirs of the said Tydeman the said Fifty pounds per annum and prevailed with the King to confirm the said Purchase whereas the King ought to have had the whole Profit For this Purchase the said Earl was adjudged to Fine and Ranson and the said Fifty pounds to go to the King and his Heirs with the Mannor of Flaxâ—â—ete and Ten Marks of Rent which were exchang'd c. with the Issues c. 5. Whereas the high Master of S. Antony is a Schismatick and for that Cause the King ought to have the Profits which appertain to him in England the said late Chancellor who ought to advance and procure the Profit of the King took to Farm the said Profits of the King at Twenty Marks per annum and so got to his own use above a Thousand Marks And afterwards when the said Master in England which now is ought to have had the Possession and Livery of the said Profits he could not obtain the same till he and two persons with him became bound by Recognizance in Chancery of Three thousand pounds to pay yearly to the said Chancellor and his Son John One hundred pounds for the term of their two Lives For which it is adjudged That the King shall have all the Profits belonging to the said S. Anthony's at the time of the Purchase and that for the Recognizance so made the said Earl shall be Awarded to Prison and Fined and Ransom'd at the pleasure of the King 6. Item That in the time of the latâ— Chancellor there were granted and madâ— divers Charters and Patents of Pardoâ— for Murders Treasons Felonies c. against the Laws and before the Commencement of this present Parliament there was made and sealed a Charter of certain Franchises granted to the Castle of Dover in Disinherison of the Crown and to the subversion of the Pleas and Courts of the King and of his Laws The King Awards that those Charters be Repealed 7. Whereas by an Ordinance made in the last Parliament that Ten thousand Marks should be raised for the Relief of the City of Gaunt by the default of the said late Chancellor the said City of Gaunt was lost and also a Thousand Marks of the said Money Vpon all which Articles the Commons demand the Judgment of Parliament WAlsingham tells us That all these Articles were so fully proved that de Pole could not deny them insomuch that when he stood upon his Answer and had nothing to say for himself the King Blushing for him shook his Head and said Alas alas Michael see what thou hast done And when the King desired a Supply the Commons answered That he did not need the Tallage of his Subjects who might so easily furnish himself of so great a sum of Money from him who was his just Debtor But at last upon his Majesties yielding to have him turn'd out of the Chancellorship and admitting the Articles which he was very unwilling to suffer they freely gave him half a Tenth and half a Fifteenth only providing that it might be necessarily Expended To which purpose it was to be deposited in the hands of the Earl of Arundel who was then going to Sea with a Fleet to secure the Coasts They likewise gave the King on every Pipe of Wine Imported or Exported Three shillings and on every Twenty shillings worth of all sorts of Merchandize Foreign or Domestick brought in or carried out one shilling Wool Hides and Pelts onely excepted And also at the King's Instance granted that the Heirs of Charles de Bloys should for Thirty thousand Marks be permitted to sell Bretaigne in France to the French and that Robert de Vere the new Duke of Ireland the Kings most dangerous Favourite should have the said Thirty thousand Marks a prodigious sum of Money in those days wholly to his own use provided he would be gone before next Easter into Ireland and there make use of it to recover the Dominions that the King hath given him in that Kingdom so passionately did both Lords and
Commons desire his Absence that they would rather want so much Treasure than have him here to Seduce and Infatuate the King As for Michael Pole he was committed to Windsor-castle Furthermore the Parliament observing that by the Covetousness of the King's Ministers the publick Revenue was vainly consumed the King insufferably defrauded and abused the Common People of the Realm by continual and grievous Burdens miserably impoverished the Rents and Profits of the Nobles and Great Men much impaired and their poor Tenants in many places forc'd to abandon their Husbandry and leave their Farms empty and desolate And yet still by all these things the Kings Officers only becoming unmeasurably Rich They therefore chose Fourteen Lords of the Realm and gave them leave and power to Inquire into Treat of and Determine all Affairs Causes and Complaints arising from the Death of King Edward the Third to that present time As also of the King's Expences and his Ministers and all other matters whatsoever happening within the time to them Assigned and caused the said Lords so chosen to be sworn on the Holy Evangelists well and truly to regulate all Burdens and other Affairs incumbent on the King and Kingdom and to do Justice to every one requiring the same according to the Grace and Understanding given them by God And also the King took an Oath to stand to their Ordination and to encourage them in their Actings and not to revoke any Article of their Power but to confirm and hold good and stable whatsoever the said Counsellors should do or order during such time of whom Six with the Three Officers of the King appointed by consent of Parliament viz. The Chancellor the Treasurer and the Lord Privy Seal should at any time make a Quorum And it was also Ordained by Act of Parliament That if any one should Advise the King to make any Revocation of their Power though the King should not Revoke it yet the Person probably Convicted only of such ill Counsel should for the same forfeit all his Lands and Goods and if he attempt it a second time be drawn and hang'd as a Traytor Whereupon the King issued forth his Commission under the Great Seal of England Confirming the said Lords in such power in the words following Translated from the Original French RIchard King c. To all those to whom these Letters shall come to be seen or heard Greeting We being duly Conscious of the grievous Complaints of the Lords and Commons of our Realm in this present Parliament Assembled That our Profits and Rents and the Revenues of our Realm by private and insufficient Council and the Ill-governance as well of certain our late Great Officers as of divers other persons being near Our Person are so much consumed wasted embeziled given away granted and aliened destroyed and evilly disposed of and expended That We are so much impoverished and stript of Treasure and Means and the Substance of Our Crown so diminished and destroyed that We are neither able to Sustain Honourably as We ought the State of Our Houshold nor maintain and manage those Wars wherewith Our Realm is Environ'd without great and outragious Oppressions and Charges on Our People greater than they can bear And also that the good Laws Statutes and Customs of Our said Realm to which we are bound by Oath and obliged to maintain are not nor have been duly observed nor executed nor full Justice or Right done to Our said People but many Disinherisons and other most great Mischiefs and and Damages have happened as well to Vs as to our People and whole Realm Now We for the Honour of God and for the good of Vs and our Realm and for the quiet and relief of Our People willing against the said Mischiefs to establish a good and meet Remedy as We have already of Our free Will at the Request of the Lords and Commons Ordained and Assigned such Persons for Our great Officers that is to say Our Chancellor Treasurer and Keeper of Our Privy Seal as We esteem good faithful and sufficient for the Honour and Profit of Vs and Our said Realm so also of Our real Authority certain knowledge good pleasure and free will and by the Advice and Assent of the Prelates Lords and Commons in full Parliament in Aid of the good Governance of Our Realm and the well and due execution of Our Laws for the Relief in time of that miserable Condition under which both We and Our Subjects have long labour'd having full confidence in the good Advice Sense and Discretion of the most Honourable Fathers in God William Archbishop of Canterbury Alexander Archibishop of York Our most dear Vncles Edmund Duke of York and Thomas Duke of Gloucester the Honourable Fathers in God William Bishop of Winchester Thomas Bishop of Exeter and Nicholas Abbot of Waltham Our beloved and faithful Richard Earl of Arundel John Lord Cobham Richard le Scroop and John Devereux Have Ordained Assigned and Deputed and do Ordain Assigne and Depute them to be of Our Great and Continual Council for One whole Year next after the Date hereof to Survey and Examine together with our said Great Officers as well the Estate Condition and Government of Our whole Realm and of all Our Officers and Ministers of whatever Estate Degree or Condition they be within Our Houshold or without and to Inquire and take Information by all such ways as they shall think meet of all Rents Revenues and Profits belonging to us or which are duâ— and ought to appertain to us either within the Realm or without And of all Gifts Grants Alienations and Confirmations by Vs made of any Lands Tenements Rents Annuities Profits Revenues Wards Marriages Escheats Forfeitures Franchises Liberties Voidances of Archbishopricks Bishopricks Abbeys Priories Farms of Houses Possessions of Aliens c. And also of all Revenues and Profits as well of Our said Realm as of Our Lands Lordships Cities Villages and other Possessions beyond the Sea and of the Benefices and Possessions and other Revenues of all that are in Rebellion against the Pope And of the carrying Moneys out of the Realm by the Collectors of the Pope or the Procurators of Cardinals Lumbards or other persons And likewise of the Profits of Our Customs and all Subsidies granted to Vs by the Clergy and Laity since the day of Our Coronation to that time And of all Fees Wages and Rewards of Our Officers and Ministers great and small and of Annuities and other Rewards granted and Gifts made to any persons in Fee or term of Life or in any other manner And of Lands Tenements Rents Revenues and Forfeitures bargained or sold to the prejudice and damage of Our Crown And also touching the Jewels and Goods which were Our Grandfathers at the time of his Death and of Charters and General Pardon and how General Payments have been levied and expended how Garrisons and Forts have been maintained And of all Defaults and Misprisions as well in Our Houshold
pretence of seeing him take Shipping but in truth that being there remote they might more securely consult how to circumvent and destroy the Duke of Gloucester the Earls of Arundel Warwick Derby Nottingham and other faithful Subjects of the Kingdom For there were with the King Michael de la Pole Tresylian the Chief Justice and many others that were conscious of their own Deserts and feared to be brought to Justice as well as the said Duke of Ireland and therefore readily conspired with him against the Lords Having thus laid their Plot and agreed the manner of putting it in execution back comes the King to Nottingham and as if Ireland's Voyage had been quite forgot brings him and the rest of the Cabal with him Thither they summon divers Citizens of London the Sheriffs of the several Counties and all the Judges of England The Londoners because several of them having lately confessed themselves guilty of Treason had been pardoned by the King were call'd that in return of that Favour they might accuse the Lords of such Crimes as the King with his Counsellors in Wales and contrived against them The Sheriffs were advised with what Forces they could raise for the Kings Service against the Barons and also commanded that they should not permit any to be returned as Knights of the Shire or Burgesses for the next Parliament but such as the King and his Council should direct or nominate To which the Sheriffs reply'd That the Commons generally favoured the said Lords so that it was not in their power to raise an Army in this Case and as for Parliament-men the People would hold their ancient Customs which require that they be freely chosen by the Commons Nor could the same be hindered These Answers were not very agreeable to the Court-designes But the Judges were more compliant for not onely Tresylian the Chief Justice had about the same time indicted two thousand persons at Coventry and he and John Blake an Apprentice of the Law perused and approved under their Seals the Indictment against the Lords but also the better to colour Proceedings with a Form of Law several Questions were propounded to them touching the late Act of Parliament giving the fourteen Lords power to inspect and punish miscarriages of the Kings Ministers as aforesaid To the end as modern Author observes That what the Duke of Ireland and the rest thought fit might pass for Law out of the Judges mouths the Questions being so fram'd and propos'd as it was easier to understand what the King would have to be Law than what in truth was so For it seems they proceeded against their Consciences in that several of them and particularly Belknapp Chief Justice of the Common Pleas did as Knyghton Col. 2694. assures us very earnestly refuse to signe the Resolutions till Ireland and de Pole forced him to it by threatning him to kill him if he refused Whereupon having put to his Seal he burst forth into these words before them Now want I nothing but a Ship or a nimble Horse or an Halter to bring me to that death I deserve If I had not done this I should have been kill'd by your hands and now I have gratified the Kings pleasure and yours in doing it I have well deserv'd to die for Treason against the Nobles of the Land Which last words were like to have prov'd fatally Prophetick for not long after in the next Parliament he was indeed condemned to die though not executed for the same Some Authors say That all the Judges of England except William Skipwith absent by reason of sickness joyn'd in answering these Questions which seems probable because they were afterwards all question'd and punish'd for the same yet in the Record there are but five named possibly the others might consent though only these set their Seals to it The Questions so proposed to the Judges and their Answers were as follow BE it remembered That on the 25th day of August in the 11th year of the Reign of King Richard the Second at the Castle of Nottingham before our said Lord the King Robert Tresylian Chief Justice of England and Robert Belknappe Chief Justice of the Common Bench of our said Lord the King John Holt Roger Fulthorp and William de Burgh Knights Justices and Associates of the said Rob. Belknappe and John de Lokton the Kings Serjeant at Law in the presence of the Lords and other Witnesses under written were personally required by our said Lord the King on the Faith and Allegiance wherein to him the said King they are bound to answer faithfully unto certain Questions here-under specified and to them then and there truly recited and upon the same to declare the Law according to their discretion Viz. 1. Imprimis It was demanded of them Whether that new Statute and Ordination and Commission made and published in the last Parliament held at Westminster be not derogatory to the Royalty and Prerogative of our said Lord the King To which they unanimously answered That the same are derogatory thereunto especially because they were against his will 2. Quaery of them How those are to be punished who procured that Statute and Commission To which they unanimously answered That they were to be punished with Death except the King would pardon them 3. Quaery of them How those are to be punished who moved the King to consent to the making of the said Statute Whereunto they answered with one accord That they ought to lose their Lives unless his Majesty would pardon them 4. It was askt them What punishment they deserved who compell'd streightned or necessitated the King to consent to the making of the said Statute and Commission To which they all answered That they ought to suffer as Traytors 5. Quaery of them How those are to be punished who hindered the King from exercising those things which appertain to his Royalty and Prerogative To which Question they unanimously answered That they are to be punished as Traytors 6. Quaery of them Whether after in a Parliament assembled the Affairs of the Kingdom and the cause of calling that Parliament are by the Kings Command declared and certain Articles limited by the King upon which the Lords and Commons in that Parliament ought to proceed if yet the said Lords and Commons will proceed altogether upon other Articles and Affairs and not at all upon those limited and proposed to them by the King until the King shall have first answered them upon the Articles and Matters so by them started and express'd although the Kings Command be to the contrary whether in such case the King ought not to have the Governance of the Parliament and effectually over-rule them so as that they ought to proceed first on the Matters proposed by the King or whether on the contrary the Lords and Commons ought first to have the Kings Answer upon their Proposals before they proceeded further To which Question they answered unanimously that the King in that behalf his
again in England The Appeal or Charge exhibited against them in Parliament tho' long is yet remarkable and not being extant in English I shall so far presume on the Reader 's Patience as to insert it Translated from the Original as we find it in Knyghton de Eventibus Angliae Col. 2713. as follows viz. TO our Most Excellent and redoubted Lord the King and his Council in this present Parliament do shew Tho. Duke of Glocester Constable of England Henry Earl of Derby Richard Earl of Arundel and Surry Thomas Earl of Warwick and Tho. Earl Marshal That whereas they the said Duke and Earls as Loyal Subjects of our Lord the King for the profit of the King and Realm on the Fourteenth day of November last past at Waltham-Cross in the County of Hertford did before the most Reverend Fathers in God William Bishop of Winchâ—ster Thomas Bishop of Ely late Chancellour of England John Waltham then Lord Privy Seal John Lord Cobham the Lords Richard le Scrope and John Denross then Commissioners of our Lord the King Ordain'd and made in the last Parliament Appeal Accuse or Charge Alexander Archbishop of York Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland Michael de Pole Earl of Suffok Robert Tresylian the false Justice and Nicholas Brember the false Knight of London of several High Treasons by them committed against the King and his Realm and did offer to prosecute and maintain the same and sufficient Sureties to find praying the said Lords to certifie the same to their said Soveraign Lord which the same day the said Commissioners did accordingly certifie to the King at Westminster where most of the said persons so Appealed being present were fully informed and certified of such Appeal And whereas shortly after by the Assent of the King and his Council the said Thomas Duke of Glocester c. coming to Westminster in presence of the King and of his Council there for the profit of the King and his Realm did again Appeal the said Arch-bishop of York and other false Traytors his Companions appealed of High Treasons by them committed against the King and his Realm as Traytors and Enemies to the King and Realm in affirmance of their former Appeal offering to pursue and maintain it as aforesaid Which Appeal our Lord the King did accept and thereupon assigned a day to the said Parties at his first Parliament which should be holden on the Morrow after Candlemass next insuing then to have receive full Justice upon the said Appeal and in the mean time took into his safe and most special protection the said Parties with all their people Goods and Chattels and caused the same to be then proclaimed and published And whereas also on Monday next after the day of the Nativity of our Lord Christ next after the said Duke of Gloucester c. in the presence of the King in the Tower of London as Loyal Subjects of the King and his Realm did appeal the said Archbishop of York c. as false Traytors c. Whereupon the King assign'd them a day in the next Parliament to pursue and declare their Appeal and by the advice of his Council did cause Proclamation to be made in all the Counties of England by Writs under his great Seal That all the said persons so Appealed should be at the said Parliament to answer thereunto Which Appeal the said Duke of Gloucester c. the Appealors are now ready to pursue maintain and declare and do by these Presents as loyal Subjects of our Lord the King for the profit of the King and Realm Appeal the said Archbishop c. of High Treasons by them committed against our Lord the King and his Realm as Traytors and Enemies of both King and Kingdom which Treasons are declared and fully specified in certain Schedules hereunto annexed and they do pray that the said persons Appealed may be called and Right and Justice done in this present Parliament Imprimis Thomas Duke of Gloucester Constable of England Henry Earl of Derby c. do Appeal and say that Alexander Archbishop of York Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland and Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk false Traytors to the King and Realm seeing the tender Age of our said Lord the King and the Innocency of his Royal Person have by many false Contrivances by them without Loyalty or Good Faith imagined and suggested endeavoured wholly to Ingross his Majesties Affection and to make him intirely give Faith and Credence to what they should say though never so pernicious to himself and his Realm and to hate his Loyal Lords and People by whom he would more faithfully have been served Encroaching and assuming to themselves a power to the endefranchising our Lord the King of his Soveraignty and imparing his Royal Prerogative and Dignity making him so far obey them that he hath been sworn to be govern'd and counsel'd only by them by means of which Oath and the power they have so trayterously usurped great inconveniencies mischiefs and destructions have hapned as by the subsequent Articles will appear 2. Item Whereas the King is not bound to make any Oath to any of his Subjects but on the day of his Câ—ronation or for the common profit of him and his Realm the said Bishop Duke and Earl false Traytors to the King and Realm have made him swear and assent to them that he will maintain and defend them and live and die with them And so whereas the King ought to be of a free condition above any other in his Realm they have brought him more into Servitude and Bondage against his Honour Estate and Royalty contrary to their Allegiance and as Traytors unto him 3. Item The said Traytors by the Assent and Councel of Robert Tresylian the false Justice and Nicholas Brember the false Knight of London by their false Covin would not at all suffer the great Persons of the Realm nor the good Subjects of the King to speak to or approach the King to give him wholsome advice nor the King to speak to them unless in the presence and hearing of them the said Duke of Ireland c. or two of them at their will and pleasure or about such things as they thought fit to the great disgrace of the Nobles and good Counsellors of the King and to the preventing of their good will and service towards the King thereby encroaching to themselves the Royal power and a Lordship and Soveraignty over the person of the King to the great dishonour and peril of the King his Crown and Realm 4. Item The said Archbishop c. by such their false devices and pernicious Councels have diverted the King from shewing due countenance to his great Lords and Liege People so that they could not be answered in their Suits and Rights without the leave of them the said Archbishop c. Thereby putting the King besides his Devoir contrary to his Oath contriving to alienate the Heart of our Lord the King from
his People that they might engross amongst themselves only the Government of the Realm whereby they have caused our Lord the King without the Assent of the Realm or any desert in them to have given away by their Abetment many Lordships Castles Towns and Mannors as well annexed to his Crown as others As particularly the Land of Ireland and Okam with the Forest and Lands which did belong to the Lord Dandelegh and great quantities of other Lands to the said Duke of Ireland and divers others whereby they unworthily are vastly inriched but the King rendred poor and unable to sustain and defray the Charges of the Government unless by Impositions heavy Taxes and Tributes laid upon his People to the disinherison of his Crown and the destruction of the Realm 5. Item By such Encroachment of the said Archbishop c. and by the Counsel of that false Justicer Tresylian and Brember the false Knight of London they have caused our Lord the King to have given away divers Mannors Lands Tenements Offices and Bailywicks to divers other persons their Creatures and such as they could confide in and to others of whom they have taken great Gifts by way of Brokage for that purpose and to stand by them in their false Suits and ill purposes to the great prejudice of the King and Realm such as Sir Robert Mansel Clerk John Blake Thomas Vsk and divers others 6. Item The said Duke c. Encroaching to themselves the Royal Power have caused the King to give very great Gifts of Gold and Silver as well of his proper Goods and Jewels as of the Goods and Treasure of the Realm as Tenths Fifteens and other Taxes granted by divers Parliaments to be expended for the defence and safeguard of the Kingdom which yet to the value of One hundred thousand Marks have been lavisht away upon the said Duke of Ireland and others And though many good Ordinances and Laws have been made in Parliament as well for maintaining and carrying on of Wars as for the defence of the Realm yet they have been by them disturbed and defeated to the great dishonour and damage of the King and Realm 7. Item By such Encroachment and the great Gifts and Brokages taken by the said Duke of Ireland c. it came to pass that divers unfit and insufficient persons were preferred to and intrusted with the keeping and government of divers Garrisons Castles and Countries involved in War as in Guyen and elsewhere both beyond and on this side the Sea whereby the said Strong-holds have been lost the Countries wasted and the People faithful Subjects to the King destroyed and great Seigniories newly rendred into the hands and possessions of Enemies without the Assent of the Realm as the Marches of Scotland c. to the disinherison of the Kings Crown and the great loss of the Kingdom as in Harpeden and Craddock and divers others 8. By the same means the said Archbishop and his Fellow-Traytors have caused divers people to be disturbed and deprived of Right and the Common Law of England and put to intolerable delays losses and costs and the Statutes and Judgments which rightfully for necessary Causes have been made and given in Parliament have been reversed and annull'd by the procurement of the said Malefactors and Traytors and all this because of the great Gifts and Brokages by them received of Parties to the grand mischief of the King and Realm 9. Item The said Archbishop and other Traytors have caused and counselled our Lord the King to grant Charters of Pardon of horrible Felonies and Treasons as well against the State of the King as of the Person injured and prosecuting which thing is against the King and the Oath of the King 10. Item Whereas the said Seignories of the Land of Ireland are and time out of mind have been parcel of the Crown of England and the People of Ireland Liege Subjects to our Lord the King and his Royal Progenitors Kings of England who in all their Charters Writs Letters Patents and in their Seals have for the Augmentation of their Renown and Royalty been intituled Lords of Ireland yet the said Archbishop c. as false Traytors by their said Encroachment have caused and counselled our Lord the King as much as in him lies to have granted and fully assented and accorded that the said Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland should be made King of Ireland And to compleat such their ill purpose have advised and excited our said Lord the King to send his Letters to our Holy Father the Pope to grant ratifie and confirm this their trayterous Designe without the privity or assent of His Realm of England and of the said Land of Ireland to the dividing the Liegance of the King between his Realm of England and the said Land of Ireland in diminution of his Majesties honourable Stile and open disinherison of the Crown of England and full destruction of the lawful Liege Subjects of our Lord the King and of the said Land of Ireland 11. Item Whereas by the Great Charter and other good Laws and Vsages of the Realm of England No man is to be taken nor any Prisoner put to death without the due process of Law The said Nicholas Brember the false Knight of London did take by night certain Prisoners to the number of 22 out of the Gaol of Newgate some of them being Indicted and Appealed of Felony and some Approvers in cases of Felony and some on suspition of Felony and carried them out of London into Kent to a place called Foulhoke and there encroaching on the Royal Power and in Defiance of the said Laws as a Traytor to the King did without any Process of Law cause them all to be Beheaded except one who was Appealed of Felony by an Approver whom he set at large the same time 12. Item The aforesaid Archbishop and other Traytors have in small Causes taken great Gifts in the Name of the King of divers Parties to maintain and abet them in their Suits and Quarrels and sometimes have play'd the Ambo-dexters and taken Money of both sides 13. Item Whereas divers of the great Lords Loyal Subjects to the King in divers Parliaments seeing the dangers and apprehending the destruction threatning the King and Realm by means of the Mischiefs of these Malefactors have moved to have good Governance under the King to avoid the said Perils The forenamed Archbishop and other Traytors by their Encroachment and fatal Influences have so ordered Matters that the King has not onely been deaf to all such Perswasions but also has Commanded some of those that moved it to depart from his Council and to speak no more of such Matters Nor touching the good Governance of the King and Kingdom on pain of Death to the great prejudice of the King and Kingdom 14. Item Whereas in the last Parliament all the Lords and other Sages there assembled seeing the loss and destruction of the King and Realm and the
perils and mischiefs aforesaid and that the King was departed from the Council of the Realm and wholly abandon'd himself to the Counsels of the said Malefactors and Traytors By means whereof the French King had Ships and a Royal Power on the Sea ready to have arrived in England and the said Realm and the very Language of England to destroy And yet no Provision was made or good Governance taken for the safety of the King nor of the Realm Finding no other Remedy did Remonstrate to the King very fully how he was Ill-advised and Affairs most perniciously manag'd by the aforesaid Traytors and Malefactors declaring to him their wicked Conditions and most humbly beseeching him for the safety of himself and of all his Realm avoiding the said impending dangers to forsake and turn these Traytors from his Presence and Company and no longer to conduct himself after their evil Counsel but to hearken to the sage loyal and discreet persons of his Realm Whereupon the said Archbishop and other Traytors to defeat this wholsom Advice of the Parliament by their false Counsel did then cause the King to command the Mayor of London suddenly to levy a great Power of the People of that City to attaque and put to death all the said Lords and Commons except such as were of their Cabal At the Execution of which Villany the said great Malefactors and Traytors should be present and Parties to the scandal and great disservice of the King and his Realm 15. Item When the said Archbishop and other Traytors perceived that the said Mayor and good People of London had openly refused in the presence of the King to accomplish such their Treachery and lewd purposes touching the Murder of the saids Lords and Commons They then by such their trayterous Encroachment falsly Advised the King and so far prevailed that our Lord the King did absent himself from his Parliament for many days and did certifie them That he would never Approach the said Parliament nor Commune with the said Lords and Commons touching the Affairs of the Realm for any danger loss or mischief that might happen to him or his Realm unless he were first assured by the said Lords and Commons that they would not say or act any thing in that Parliament against any of the said Malefactors save only in the Process which was began against Michael de la Pole All which was to the great disservice of the King and of his Realm and contrary to the Ancient Ordinance and Liberties of Parliament 16. Item The said Lords and Commons of the Realm after they found the Kings Will by the malignant Counsel and excitement of the said Arch-Bishop and other Traytors to be such that he would not suffer any thing to be commenced prosecuted or done against the said Malefactors and Traytors were pleased to acquiesce and not proceed therein any further against his pleasure And afterwards in the said Parliament taking the Advice and Counsel of all the Lords Judges and other sage Commons of the said Parliament how the Estate of the King and his Royalty might best be preserved from the Perils and Mischiefs aforesaid could not find any apter Expedient than to ordain that Twelve of the Loyal and sage Lords of the land should be of Council to the King for one year then next ensuing And that there should be made during that time a 〈◊〉 and Commission whereby they should hav◠〈◊〉 and sufficient Power to order Matters for 〈◊〉 Government of the King and of the Realm and what appertained to the King as well on this side as beyond the Seas And to repel repair and redress what ever should have been ill done against the Estate Honour and Profit of the King and Kingdom and to do divers other things necessary for the King and Realm as in the Commission thereupon issued and remaining of Record in Chancery is contained And that no person should presume to Counsel the King or any way move him against the said Ordinance and Statute on pain of forfeiting for the first Offence all their Goods and Chattels and pain of Death for the second such Expedient and Ordinance to be made if it would so please the King and not otherwise To which Ordinance or Statute all the Judges of the Land agreed and gave their consent unto and Advice for the same as well in presence of the King as of the Lords And also our Lord the King did fully give his Assent to the same and thereupon the said Ordinance Statute and Commission were made and accorded unto by the Assent of the King and of the said Lords and Judges and other Sages and Commons Assembled in that Parliament for the Safâ—â—y of the King his Royalty and Realm And yet after the end of the said Parliament the aforesaid Trâ—yâ—â—rs and Malefactor by such their evil 〈◊〉 falsly and trayterously did inform the King That 〈…〉 Statute and Commission were made in Derogation of his Royalty and that all those who procured or advised the making thereof or counselled the King to assent thereunto were worthy of Death as Traytors to the King 17. Item That after this the said Traytors the Archbishop c. caused the King to Assemble a Council of certain of the Lord-Justices and others without the Assent or Presence of the said Lords of the great Council to whom they made many Demands and very much suspicious touching divers Matters whereby the King the Lords and the Common-people have been involved in most grievous trouble the whole Realm disquieted and the Hearts of many withdrawn from the King saving their Allegiance 18. Item To accomplish their said High-Treasons the said Traytors the Archbishop c. caused the King to go with some of them throughout the midst of his Realm and to make the Lords Knights Esquires and other good people as well in Cities and Boroughs as in other Places to come before him and there to become bound by some Obligations others by their Oaths to our said Lord the King to be with him against all people and to accomplish the purpose of the King which at that time was to accomplish the will and purposes of the said Malefactors and Traytors drawn in thereunto by their false Contrivances Flatteries and Deceits Which Securities and Oaths were made against the good Laws and Vsages of the Land and contrary to the Oath of the King to the great dishonour of the King and Kingdom By means of which Oaths so inforced the whole Realm was Embroil'd in great Murmurs and trouble by the said Traytors and in danger to have suffered divers important Mischiefs 19. Item To inforce their purposes the said Traytors caused the King to absent himself in the furthest parts of this Realm to the intent that the Lords appointed by the said Ordination Statute and Commission might not Confer and Advise with Him touching the Affairs of the Realm to the interruption and hindrance of the purport and effect of the said
Statute and Commission and great prejudice of the King and Realm 20. Item The said Malefactors and Traytors after they had Estranged both the Person and good will of the King from the said Lords so Commissioned and that he esteem'd them Traytors and Enemies and that they had obtain'd the Opinions of the Judges suited to their wicked purposes did agree and design That several of the said Lords and also divers Loyal Commons should be first Arrested and then Indicted in London and in Middlesex and by false Inquests Attainted of certain Treasons falsly imagined against them and so put to shameful Death To which purpose they had procured an evil and false person of their Conspiracy called Thomas Vsk to be Vnder-Sheriff by whose means the said false Inquests were to be taken and the wicked Design accomplished by colour of Law And for the more compleat effecting thereof they caused the King to send his Letters of Credence by John Rypon a false Clerk and one of their Crâ—w directed to the Mayor of London That he should seize the said Duke of Gloucester and others therein named to be Indicted for certain Treasons in such manner as the said Nicholas Brember the false Knight and John Blake who were thereof fully informed should direct By vertue of which Letters of Credence Brember and Blake carried to the Mayor the said false Indictment commanding him on behalf of the King that to his power he should promote the same And also they ordered that a strong Watch should be set to seize my Lord Duke of Lancaster upon his first Arrival 21. Item The said Traytors having trayterously informed the King that he should believe that the said Ordination Statute and Commission were made in derogation of his Royalty and Prerogative did further perswade him that the same was made with an intention to degrade and finally to depose our Lord the King And perceiving that thereby he lookt upon his Loyal Lords as Traytors and Enemies They yet further advised Him that by all means possible as well by the power of his own Liege People as by the force of his Enemies the French and others he should destroy and put to death the said Lords and others that assented to the making of the said Ordinance and that the same might be done so privily that none should know of it till it was done 22. Item In order to these Treasons by their Counsels they caused the King to send Letters to his Enemy the French King some by Nicholas Southwell Groom of his Chamber and others by other persons of base condition as well Aliens as Denizons requiring and praying the said French King that he would with all his Power and Counsel Aid and assist our Lord the King to destroy and put to Death the said Lords and others whom they had so falsly represented as Traytors to the great Disturbance of the whole Realm 23. Item That usurping to themselves Royal Power they caused the King to promise the French King by his Letters Patents and Messages for such his Assistance to accomplish the said Treason and Murder to give and surrender to the said French King the Town and Castle of Calice and divers other Forts and Places as Brest Chirburgh and others c. to the great dishonour trouble and prejudice of the Realm 24. Item That after this trayterous Contrivance it was agreed between our Lord the King and the French King by the instigation and influence of these Traytors that a Parley or Interview should be had in the Marches of Calice and a Truce of five years between the Realms of England and France At which Interview by Treachery the said Lords and others whom the King took for Traytors attending him thither should there by Treachery be slain In order to which they procured several Letters of safe Conduct from the said French King for the said Duke of Ireland's going into France to accomplish this ill purpose and Treason which Letters are ready to be shewn 25. Item That the said Brember by the Assent and Counsel of the said other Traytors did come into London and without the Assent or knowledge of the King did cause all the Companies of the City to be sworn to hold and perform divers Matters as they are contained in the said Oath which is of Record in Chancery And amongst other things That they should hold with and maintain the Will and purpose of the King to their power against all that are or shall be Rebels or contrary to his Person or Royal pleasure And that they should be ready to destroy all those which do or shall purpose Treason against our said Lord the King in any manner and be ready with their Mayor to resist during life all such Traytors c. At which time the King by the Mis-information of the said Evil-doers and Traytors and by the false Answers of the Justices did firmly hold the said Lords and others who assented to the making of the said Ordinances Statute and Commission to be Rebels Traytors and Enemies unto him By all which the said Traytors endeavoured to stir up the said People of London to destroy the said Lords and other Loyal Subjects 26. Item The said Brember and other Traytors to the King and Realm usurping to themselves Royal Power Did of their own Authority without any Warrant from the King or his great Council cause Proclamation to be made through the City of London That none of the Liege Subjects of our Lord the King should Sustain Comfort or Aid Richard Earl of Arundel and Surrey one of the Lords of the Kings Great Council during the said Commission nor sell him any Armour Victuals or other Necessaries on pain of being preceeded against as Rebels carrying about and shewing a Patent of the Kings but of another Tenor the better to compass such their false Proclamation 27. Item They also caused it to be Cryed and Proclaimed in the said City of London That no person should be so hardy as to presume to speak any ill or utter any word or expression against them the said Malefactors and Traytors or any of them on pain of forfeiting all they had Which was an Encroachment on the Royal Power 8. Item The said Archbishop Chief Justice and other Traytors caused the King to command his Council to make certain persons throughout England Sheriffs who were named or recommended to him by them the said Traytors with an intent to get such persons as they should name returned for Knights of the Shire to serve in Parliament And to keep out from thence Gentlemen good and loyal against the good Laws and Customs of the Land 29. Item The said Traytors during the time that the King had so taken both Parties into His Protection as aforesaid did falsly counsel and prevail with the King to command by His Letters divers Knights and Squires Sheriffs and other Ministers of several Counties to Levy Men and assemble all their Power to joyn with the said Duke
by the Mediation of the Queen the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Bishops the King by the consent of the Lords against whom they had offended pardon'd the Sentence of Death But they were Out-law'd and Banisht for ever into Ireland Two and two to be kept in a place limited within certain Bounds which if they should presume to go out of they were immediately to be Executed on their former Judgment And for their Maintenance were allowed out of the Kings Exchequer as follows viz. To Fulthorp 40 l. per annum to Burgh 40 Marks to Belknappe 30 l. to Holt 40 Marks and to Care and Locton 20 l. per annum apiece This being done a General Pardon is pass'd for all Treasons and Seditions whatsoever and an Oath saith Walsingham exacted not only of all the Inhabitants of the Land but of the King too to stand to the Regulation of the Lords meaning as I conceive those so Commissioned and Authorized for one years space by King and Parliament as aforesaid And then the Parliament broke up in the Month of July After Whitsontide the Earl of Arundel again puts to Sea and burns-sinks and takes Fourscore French Ships And likewise Seizes the Isles of Ree and Oleroon the latter famous for the Laws Marine there said to be Compos'd and agreed upon with the City of Rochel and divers other places About the same time the Scots entred England as far as Newcastle in which young Peircy Son of the Earl of Northumberland and for his Valour and Fury in Arms Surnamed Hot-spur being them Ingarrison'd he with a small Party fought with them and with his own hand slew W. Douglass their Commander in Chief but being at last over-powr'd by the coming in of the Earl of Dunbar was himself taken Prisoner though at the same time he set free his Countrey For he had first so weakned them by the destruction of their Men that they durst not stay longer but in hast and disorder retreated into Scotland After Harvest a Parliament was again held at Cambridge in which many wholsome Laws pass'd As against Beggars Riding Arm'd giving Liveries to excessive Retinues Touching Labourers and Apparel suitable to peoples Ranks And especially That none should go out of the Realm to the Pope to procure the Grant of any Benefices in England without the Kings leave on penalty of being put out of the Kings protection Also a Tax was granted to the King being a Tenth of the Clergy and a Fifteenth of the Laity In the Year 1389 a grievous Discord happen'd at Oxford between the Welsh and the Northern Scholars wherein several were slain and further mischief threatned but by the Mediation of the Duke of Glocester the Broil was composed and divers of the Welshmen dismiss'd the Vniversity In May the King held a Great Council at Westminster and on Holy-Road-day being led by the Advice of certain Whisperers entred suddenly into the Council-Chamber and taking his Seat Demanded How old they took him to be Being answered Somewhat upwards of One and twenty years Then replyed He I am of full Age and capable to manage my Inheritance my self for sure 't is unjust that I should be in a worse condition than any other in my Kingdom for every Heir after the death of his Ancestor comes to his Estate and takes it into his own hand at one and twenty years of age This the Lords perhaps might be unwilling to Grant but more unable and afraid to deny And therefore the King went on with his Speech 'T is well known that for many years I have lived under your Tutelage and Governance and for the pains therein We thank you but now having attained to Our Legal Age We are resolved to be no longer in Ward but to take into Our hands the Government of Our Realm and to appoint such Officers and Ministers as We think fit and remove others at Our pleasure Accordingly he forthwith commanded the Bishop of York then Lord Chancellour to Resign the Seal which being done the King put it up in his Bosom and went away but soon after returned and gave it to William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester making him Lord Chancellor He likewise turn'd out the Bishop of Hereford from the Office of Treasurer and put in another in his room and chang'd several other chief Ministers of State partly to shew his Authority partly to satisfie his Displeasure As particularly he suspended his Vncle the Duke of Glocester and the Earl of Warwick and others from his Privy Council and admitted others in their stead that Humour'd him more but Honour'd him less The Earl of Arundel likewise was removed from the Admiralty of the Sea wherewith he had been entrusted by the Parliament and the same given to the Earl of Huntington Soon after this certain Detractors circumventing the King had so far prevail'd as to make him believe That the Duke of Glocester was contriving some Designs against him But upon the Dukes Examination the falshood and Malice of those Reports did appear And the King blusht to consider his own Credulity against so near and eminent a Relation yet though some of the Spreaders thereof were there present when the Duke would have questioned them for the same the King charged him as he lov'd him not to stir farther in the matter This Summer the King being at his Mannor of Sheen in July on a sudden there appeared such innumerable Swarms of Gnats that all the Air was darkned with them who skirmisht and fought one with another till the Slain fell down in heaps and being swept together with Brooms amounted to the quantity of many Bushels-full and the rest who seem'd to come off and were reckoned about a third part of the whole flew away which was by many esteem'd as an ill-boding Prodigy About the same time the Disciples of Wickliff in those days called Lollards being very numerous their Presbyters took upon them after the manner of Bishops to confer Holy Orders Asserting that every Priest had as much power of Binding and Loosing and Administring other Ecclesiastical Functims as the Pope himself either had or could bestow And though the Prelates had notice hereof yet out of negligence or rather fear they did not much concern themselves to suppress them save only the stout Bishop of Norwich who swore That if any of that Sect should presume to Preach in his Diocess he would either Burn or Behead them In November the Duke of Lanâ—aster after three years absence return'd into England from Spain having matcht his Daughter to the King of Castile's Son And the King of England having summon'd a Council at Reading the said Duke understanding that his Majesty had conceived Displeasure against divers great Lords to prevent the Mischiefs that might thereby arise immediately after his Arrival posted thither by whose good Offices the King's Resentments were diverted and Matters for the present pacified In the Year 1390 being the 13 year of King Richard's Reign on Munday after
themselves appear more like those Savages which they were to represent had got on strait Garments close to their Bodies cover'd over with Tâ—we which was fixt on with Rosin and Pitch to make it stick the faster Now when they were busie in the midst of their Dance by Torch-light a Villain suborn'd by the Duke clapt a Flambeau amongst them as if done by Accident whereby in an instant the Tow and other Combustibles took fire but a Lady seeing the danger snatcht away the King before the flames seiz'd him whilst Four of the other Maskers notwithstanding all the help imaginable was used were immediately burnt to Death In England the Lord Tho. Pierey is made the King's Steward and Sir William Scroop Chamberlain a Person saith our Author than whom in all Mankind there could not be found one more wicked or cruel The year following 1394 was chiefly remarkable for Funerals First the Dutchess of Lancaster Daughter to the King of Castile was snatcht away then the Countess of Derby her Daughter-in-Law next Queen Anne her self whose Obsequies were magnificently and at vast Expences Celebrated by the King and soon after died Isabella Dutchess of York Nor was Death onely content to Triumph over the Ladies but also mowed down the Noble Sir John Hawkwood a Knight whose Valour had rendred him Famous in many foreign Nations and no less dear to his own About August issâ—ed a Proclamation throughout England That all the Irish should forthwith return home and wait the Kings coming thither at Lady-day next following on pain of death And indeed it was but time to send them packing for such multitudes were come over in hopes of gain that they had left the English Pale in Ireland almost quite desolate So that the natural wilde Irish not yet Conquer'd taking thereby an advantage destroy'd or pillaged the few Subjects the King of England had remaining there at their pleasure And whereas King Edward the Third when he settled his Courts of Justice c. in that Country received from thence to his Exchequer Thirty thousand pounds per annum the same by reason of the want of Inhabitants was not only lost but on the contrary the King forc'd to be out of Pocket Thirty thousand Marks every year in the necessary defence of his Territories there Effectually to redress which the King in Person about Michaelmas sail'd into Ireland attended with the Duke of Glocester the Earls of March Nottingham Rutland c. The Irish unable to Cope with so great a Force endeavoured onely to weary him with Alarms Ambuscades and Skirmishes but at last divers of their petty Princes were glad to submit to King Richard of whom some he kept as Hostages for security others he dismist upon Parole And for the better settlement of Affairs Assembled a Parliament for Ireland at Dublin and continued in that Kingdom till after Easter In the mean time Anno 1395 the Duke of York Guardian of England during the Kings absence called a Parliament at London eight days after Twelfth-tide unto which was sent from Ireland the Duke of Gloucester who so zealously represented the Kings Necessities by reason of the vast Expence he had been at in this necessary and no less advantageous than honourable Expedition into Ireland that the Clergy were content to present his Majesty with a Tenth and the Commonalty with a Fifteenth But not without a Protestation first made That they were not bound to grant the same De stricto jure but did it purely out of their Affection to their King The Lollards so call'd as Tritemius says from Walter Lollard a German who flourisht about the year 1315. Or as others think from Lolium signifying Darnel or Tares for being Followers and Disciples of Wickeliff the Clergy and especially the Monks and Fryars were not wanting to brand them with ill Names and reputed them as the Tares sown by the evil One in the Field of Gods Church did about this time publickly affix on the Doors of S. Paul's Church Accusations of the Clergy charging them with sundry Abominations and also divers Conclusions touching Ecclesiastical Persons and the Sacraments of the Church At which the Bishops were much disturb'd and according to their usual Method instead of clearing themselves and confuting their Adversaries by Scripture or Reason endeavoured to silence them by Club-law dispatching away the Archbishop of York and Bishop of London into Ireland to the King intreating him to hasten his return to succour Faith and Holy Church that were both like to be undone by the Hereticks who were contriving how to take away the Possessions of the whole Church and overthrow all the Canonical Sanctions Upon this News back comes the King from Ireland and takes several of the Chief Favourites of the Lollards to task threatning most terribly if they shew'd them any Countenance for the future But the Hereticks were not the onely Afflicters of the Clergy at this time but Birds of their own Nests began to pluck their feathers too for William Archbishop of Canterbury got a Bull from the Pope Impowering him to levy throughout all the Diocesses of his Province Four pence in the pound of all Ecclesiastical Goods and Revenues as well of those Exempt as not Exempt and this without so much as pretending any true or lawful Cause for the same However the Execution of this Bull being committed unto the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London though many of the inferiour Clergy grumbled not a little and complained thereof as unreasonable yet they were generally forced to submit unto it Anno Domini 1396 the Duke of Lancaster to whom the King had given the Dutchy of Aquitain and who had been at inestimable Charges in those Parts to Conciliate to himself the Affections of the Inhabitants no sooner had obtained the same but he was suddenly recall'd from thence by the Kings Command To which though it seemed no less hard than unexpected the Duke paid a punctual Obedience and was received if not with love yet at least with a shew of honour by the King from whom having obtain'd License to depart the Court he hastened to Lincoln and there to the admiration of all the World by reason of the disparity of their Qualities was married to Katherine Swinford who for divers years before had been his Mistress This year also the Pope wrote to the King intreating him to assist the Prelates of the Church in the Cause of God and of him the said King and his Kingdom against the Lollards whom he declared to be Traytors not onely to the Church but likewise to the King and therefore did most earnestly press him That whomsoever the Bishops should declare to be Hereticks he would forthwith Condemn by his Royal Authority But it seems the King was too busie otherwise to attend his Holiness's Commands and to do his Prelates drudgery in butchering of Hereticks for he was making mighty Preparations for a Voyage not of War but of Galiantry into France where
of Money by way of Loan to be paid again at a certain term notwithstanding the said King faithfully promised by his several Letters Patent to the several persons of whom he borrowed the said Moneys that at the term limited as aforesaid he would repay the same yet he did not fulfill such his Promise nor are they yet satisfied the said Moneys whereby such Creditors are much agrieved and not only they but many others of the Kingdom repute the King unfaithfull XV. Item Whereas the King of England by the Revenue of his Kingdom and the Patrimony belonging to his Crown is able to live honestly without the oppression of his People as long as the Kingdom is not burthen'd with the Charge of Wars yet the said King in a manner for his whole time during the Truces between the Kingdom of England and its Adversaries hath not only given away a great yea indeed the greatest part of his said Patrimony and this to unworthy Persons But also hath further imposed on his Subjects so many Burdens of Monies granted as it were every year of his Reign that thereby he hath extreamly and too excessively oppressed his People to the Impoverishment of his Kingdom Not converting the Goods so levied to the Commodity and profit of the Kingdom of England but prodigally squandering it away for the Ostentation of his Name and in Pomp and Vain-glory Whilst great Sums of Money are owing in his Kingdom for the Victuals of his Houshould and other things bought though he hath abounded with Riches and Treasures more than any of his Progenitors XVI Item The said King not willing to keep or Protect the just Laws and Customs of his Kingdom but according to his Arbitrary Will to do whatsoever should occur to his Desires sometimes and very often when the Laws of his Kingdom have been expounded and declared to him by the Judges and others of his Council and that they have desired that he would do Justice according to those Laws hath expresly and with an angry and haughty Countenance said That his Laws were in his Mouth and sometimes That they were in his Breast And that he himself alone could make and change the Laws of his Kingdom And being seduced with that Opinion did not suffer Justice to be done to very many of his Leige People but by Threats and Terrors hath forced very many to cease from the prosecution of Common Justice XVII Item That after certain Statutes had been made in Parliament which always bind till they are specially revok'd by the Authority of another Parliament The said King desiring to enjoy such Liberty that no such Statutes should so bind him but that he might do and execute his pleasure subtily procured a Petition to be preferred in his Parliament on the behalf of the Commonalty of his Kingdom and to be granted to him in general That he might be as free as any of his Progenitors were before him By colour of which Petition and Concession the said King hath very often commanded very many things to be done against such Statutes unrepealed acting therein expresly and knowingly against his Oath taken in his Coronation as aforesaid XVIII Item Although it was Enacted and Ordained that no Sheriff should hold his Office above one year together but that three years should pass before he should be again admitted to that Office The said King Richard sometimes for his own single Commodity and sometimes at the instance of others for their advantage hath permitted and caused certain Sheriffs to stand and remain continually in their Offices sometimes two sometimes three Years against the Tenor and effect of the Statute aforesaid thereby incurring Perjury and this is notorious publick and generally ill spoken of XIX Item Although by the Statuteâ— and Custom of his Realm in the calling together of every Parliament his People in several Countries of the Kingdom ought to be free in choosing and deputing two Knights to be present in such Parliament for each respective County and to declare their Grievances and to prosecute such Remedies thereupon as to them shall seem expedient Yet the aforesaid King that in his Parliaments he might be able more freely to accomplish the effects of his head-strong will did very often direct his Command to his Sheriffs that they should cause to come to his Parliaments as Knights of the Shire certain Persons by the said King named which Knights being his Favourites he might lead as often as he has done sometimes by various Menaces and Terrors and sometimes by Gifts to consent to those things as were prejudicial to the Kingdom and exceeding burthensom to the People And especially to grant to the said King a Subsidy on Wooll for the term of his Life and another Subsidy for certain Years thereby too grievously oppressed his People XX. Item the said King that he might more freely fulfil and follow in every thing his own Arbitrary Will did unlawfully cause and command That the Sheriffs throughout his whole Realm besides their ancient accustomed Oath should swear that they would obey his commands as often as they should be directed to them under his Great and Privy Seal and also his Letters under his Signet And that in case the said Sheriffs could come to know that any within their Bailiwicks of whatsoever condition they were had publickly or secretly said or spoken any ill that might tend to the disgrace or scandal of his Royal Person they should Arrest and imprison them there safely to be kept till they should receive Command from the King to the contrary as may be found in the Record which Fact may probably tend to the destruction of many of the Liege People to the said Kingdom XXI Item The said King striving to trample under foot his People and subtily to acquire their Goods to himself that he might abound in superfluous Riches did cause the People of Seventeen Counties of the Realm to submit themselves to the King as Traitors by Letters under their Seals By colour whereof he got mighty Sums of Money to be granted him by the Clergy and People of those Counties for obtaining his Royal good Will and Favour And though to please the People the King had caused those Obligatory Letters to be restored yet the Procurators of the People having full Power granted them to oblige themselves and their Heirs to the said King he the said King caused them under their Seals to be bound to him in the Name of the said People and so deceived his people and Subtily extorted from them their Goods XXII Item Although the said King in his Corâ—nation had sworn to keep the Liberties granted to the Arglicane Church yet the said King by reason of his Voyage into Ireland did by his Letters command very many Religious Persons viz. Abbots and Priors of his Kingdom strictly requiring that some of them should send to him certain Horses and some of them not only Horses but also Waggons and Carriages for his said Voyage
Form of such sentence of Deposition and presently did resign and give back to the said late King Richard the Horiage and 〈◊〉 formerly to him made as aforesaid With these words The Words which William â—â—â—nyng spake to Monsire Richard late King of England at the Tower of London in his Chamber on Wednesday next after the Feast of S. Michaâ—l the Archangel were as follow SIre It is wele know to Èow that ther was a parlement somon'd of all the States of the Reaume for to be at 〈◊〉 and to begin on the Tuesday in the Morn of the Fest of S. Miâ—hâ—el the Archangel that was Èesterday 〈…〉 of the which Summons all 〈…〉 of this Lond were there 〈◊〉 the which States 〈◊〉 made 〈…〉 persones that ben conten 〈…〉 now her 〈◊〉 and 〈…〉 Autorite and Power and charged hem for to say the words that we shall say to Èow in her Name and on their behalve that is to wytten the Bishop of Saint Assa for Ersbishoppes and Bishoppes the Abbot of Glastenbury for Abbots and Priours and all other men of Holy Chirche Seculers and Rewelers the Eearle of 〈◊〉 for Dukes and Erls the Lord of Berkley for Barons and Laueâ—ettes 〈◊〉 Thomas 〈◊〉 Chamberleyn for 〈◊〉 Bachilers and Commons of this Lond be South Sir Thomas Grey for all the Bachilers and Commons by North and my fâ—lawe Johan Markham and me for to come with hem for all thes States And so Svre these words and the doing that we shall say to Èowe is not onlych our wordes but the wordes and the dâ—yngs of all the States of this Lond and our Charge and in her Name And he answered and said That he myste wele that we wold noght say but as we were charged Sire Èe remember Èowe wele that on Moneday in the 〈◊〉 of Seinâ— Mâ—châ—â— the Archanâ—gel 〈◊〉 in this Chamber and in 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 and of Lordship 〈…〉 and Wyrship that longed thereto and assoiled all Èour Leiges of her Ligeance and Obeisance that longed to Èowe uppe the fourme that is contened in the same Renunciation and Cession whiche Èe redde Èour self by Èour mouth and affermed it by Èour Othe and by Èour own writing Upon whiche Èe made Ordeined Èour Procurators the Ersbishop of York and the Bishop of Hereford for to notifie and declare in Èour Name thes Renunciation and Cession at Westmynstre to all the States and all the People that was there gadyr'd betause of the summons aforesaid the which thus don yesterday by thes Lords Èour Procurators we le herde and understouden thes Renunciation and Cession ware plenelich and frelich accepted and fullish agreed by all the States and People foresaid And over this Sire at the instance of all thes States People ther ware certain Articles of Defautes in Èour Governance redde there and tho we le herd pleineâ—ich understoâ—den to all the States foresaid hem thoght hem so trewe and so notorie and knowen That by tho Causes and by mo other as thei sayd and 〈◊〉 Consideration to Èour own 〈…〉 Èour own Renunciation and Cession that Èe were not worthy no sufficient ne able for to Governe for Èour owne demerites as it is more pleinerlich contened therein hem thoght that wos resonable and cause for to depose Èowe and her Commissaries that they made and ordein'd as it is of Record that declared and decreed and adjudged Èowe for to be deposed and pryved and indede deposed Èowe and pryved Èowe of the Astate of King and of the Lordship conteined in the Renunciation and Cession forsayd and of all the dignite and wyrshipp and of all the Administration that longed thereto And we procurators to all thes States and People forsayd os we be charged by hem and by her Auctorite gyffen us and in her name Èelde Èow uppe for all the States and People forsayd Homage Leige and feaute and all Leigeance and all other Bondes Charges and Services that long therto and that non of all thes States and People fro thys tyme forward ne bere Èowe Feyth ne de Èowe Obeisance os to that King And he answered and seyd that he loked not ther after but he sayde that after all this he hoped that is Cosyn wolde be goode Lord to hym Thus far the Record word for word Translated out of the Latine and French and the English reâ—â—ted in the Old Words and obsolete spelling as it â—ands in the Rolls remaining in the Tower the some being attested to have been Examined and soâ—nd to â—gree theâ—â—with Thus 〈◊〉 the series of 〈◊〉 we have 〈…〉 this 〈◊〉 happy Prince through all the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 and sâ—eâ— hoâ— by over-straining at too absolute a power he fatally came to be depriâ—ed of his 〈◊〉 unquestioned Dominâ—on so that on a sudden he was abandoned despised and reduced to the Condition of a private man a State so much worse than that of Death as it sâ—ffered him to 〈◊〉 his Honour and remain only a Monument of his own Ignominy and the Iriâ—mphs of his Successor Yet this 〈…〉 not very long for there 〈…〉 many steps between the Prison and the 〈◊〉 of Princes Though in truth his Fate 〈◊〉 have been 〈◊〉 by the vaiâ— attempts of pretended Friends to restore him rather than by any 〈…〉 of these that had dispossessed 〈◊〉 For at first after his Deposition he was carried to â—â—eds Castle in Kenâ— and there kept under 〈…〉 as a Prisoner but not in any very close Conâ—inement nos yet without Prince◠〈◊〉 in some proportion to his 〈…〉 On Monday the 20th of September 1â—9â— was the said King Richard's Resignation on the next 〈◊〉 he was Deposed by the Parliament and Henry 〈◊〉 the said claim to the Crown and actually began his Reign as King On the 6th of October a Parliament meets that was Summoned by him in his own Name and on Monday the 13th of the same October he was Crowned being the same day of the Month on which in the very last year he received Sentence of Banishment The better to establish his new assumed Throne he began with Acts of Clemency as hoping to purchase new Friends or at least extinguish old Exmitâ—es the Dukes of 〈◊〉 and Exeâ—er the Earl of Saliâ—bury and the Lord Morley all Privâ—â—â—â— to the late King Richard he freely pardon'd yeâ— could not this unexpected favour at which the common people not a little 〈◊〉 as being they thought undeserv'd restrain these very Noblemen from hazarding their own Lives and His too for whose sake they pretended to venture them in attempting fresh 〈◊〉 For before King Henry had reigned two years they with several others enter'd into a Confederacy first hatcht 't is said by the Abbâ—t of Westminster to destroy him by surprising him at a Tâ—urnament or Martial Exercise that they appointed to be held at Oxford and to which they had solemnly inâ—ited him and then to re-establish Richard A Plet which whether it were more justly or imprudently design'd more wonderfully discovered at
the most part subdu'd and dispers'd by the active valour of Hugh Spenser Bishop of Norwich who gathering an Army together set upon the Rebels with incredible fury pursuing them from place to place and giving no Quarter to any of them It is to be noted That these Rebels in several Shires held correspondence and their Leaders sent abroad their Epistles of Advice and encouragement some of which as they were afterwards taken and own'd I shall insert for the Readers diversion that he may admire the style of these popular Orators and observe what strength of perswasion there was in Non-sense A LETTER of John Ball to the COMNONS in Essex IOhn Sheep sometime S. Mary Priest of York and now of Colchester Greeteth well John Nameless and John the Miller and John Charter and biddeth them beware of Guil in Borough and stand together in Gods Name and biddeth Piers Plowman go to his werk and Chastise well Hob the Robber and take with you John Trewman and all his Fellows and no mo John the Miller hath yground small small small The Kings Son of heven shall pay for all Beware or ye be wo know your Frende fro your Foe have ynough and say No and do well and better and flee sinne and seek peace and hold you therein And so biddeth John Trewman and all his Fellows Another IOhn Ball gretyth you wele All and doth you to understand he hath rungen the Bell Now ryght andâ—myght wyll and skyll God spede every yee dele Now is time Lady help to Ihesu the Sone and thid Sone to his Fadur to make a gode end in the name of the Trinity of that is begun Amen Amen pur Charite Amen Another IOhn Bell S. Mary Prist gretes wele all manner men and byddes them in the Name of the Trinity Fadur and Son and Holy Ghost stond manlyche togedyr in trewthe and helps trewthe and trewthe shall helpe yowe Now regneth Pride in prise and Covetous is hold wise and Lechery without en shame and Glotony without en blame Envie regneth with treason and slouthe is take in grete sesone God do bote for now is the time Amen in Esex Southfolc aud Northfolc Jack the Millers Epistle JAKK Mylner asket help to turn his Mylne aright He hath Grounden small small The Kings Son of Heven he shall pay for all Look thy Mylne do a right with the four Sailes and the Post stand in stedfastnesse With right and with might with skill and with will lat might help right and skill go before will and right before might than goeth our Mylne aright And if might go before right and will before skill than is our Mylne mysadyght Jack the Carter's JAKK Carter pryes yow all that yee make a gode end of that yee have begunnen and doth wele and ay bettur and bettur for at the even men heryth the day for if the end be wele than is all we le Lat Peres the Plowman my Brother duele at home and dyght us Corn and I will so with yow and help that yee may so dyght your mete and your drynk that yee none fayle Lokke that Hobb Robbyoure be wele chastised for lesing of your Grace for yee have grete nede to take God with yow in all yowr dedes for now is time to beware Jack Trewman's Scroll JAkk Trewman doth yow to understand that falseness and gile havith regned to long and trewth hath been sett under a Lokke and falsneth and gile regneth in everylk Flokke No man may come trewth to both syng Si dedero Speke spend and speed quoth John of Bathon and therefore sinn fareth as wilde flode trew love is a way that was so gode and Clerks for welth worth hem wo. God do bote for nowze is time The Storm being thus happily over-blown the Rebels suddenly master'd and a competent Force raised to secure the Peace of the Kingdom it was quickly thought fit to revenge such an Affront and bring the Delinquents to justice In order to which the King as soon as he could do it with safety to Himself and the Publick revokes his former Charters of Manumission and Pardon by a Proclamation under His Great Seal in these Terms RICHARD by the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland To all to whom these Presents shall come Greeting Although in the late detestable Disturbance horribly made by divers of Our Liege People and Subjects rising up against Our Peace certain Letters Patent of Ours were made at the importunate Instance of the Rebels containing That We have freed all Our Leige People Common Subjects and others of the several Counties of Our Realm of England and them and every of them discharged and acquitted from all Bondage and Service And also That we have pardoned them all manner of Insurrections by them against Us made and all manner of Treasons Felonies Transgressions and Extortions by them or any of them committed As also all Outlawries Publisht against them or any of them on those Occasions Or that we have granted to them and every of them Our firm Peace And that Our Will was That Our said Liege People and Subjects should be free to buy and Sell in all Cities Burroughs Towns Markets and other Places within the Kingdom of England and that no Acre of Land which holds in Bondage or Villenage should be accounted higher than at Four Pence And if any were before held for less that it should not be raised for the future Yet for that such Our Letters did Issue without Mature Deliberation and unduly We well weighing that the Grant of the said Letters doth manifestly tend to the very great prejudice of Us and Our Crown and to the Disinherison as well of us and the Prelates and Nobility of Our said Realms as of the Holy Anglicane Church and also the the Damage and Incommodity of the Commonwealth Therefore by the Advice of Our Council We have Revoked made void and do utterly annul the said Letters and whatever hath been done or follow'd thereupon willing that none of what state or condition soever he be shall any way have or reap or enjoy any liberty or benefit whatsoever of or by the said Letters For We will and 't is our intention by the Advice of Our sound Council for the future to impart such Grace and Favour to all and singular although they have grievously forfeited their Allegiance as shall be well-pleasing and profitable to Our Realm and with which Our faithful Subjects may reasonably hold themselves contented And this we do notifie to all persons concern'd by these Presents Commanding the same to be Proclaimed in all Cities and Towns Villages c. And further We strictly require and command That all and singular as well Free as Bond-men shall without any contradiction murmuring resistance or difficulty do and perform the Works Customs and Services which to us or any other their Lords they ought to do and which before the said Disturbance were used to be done
of his Pillow was nothing so fierce next Morning but resolv'd to lay aside the thoughts of going himself and to send some body else To which purpose the Duke of Lancaster was nominated but so tedious in making Preparations that the Bishop in the mean time was glad to leave Graveling having first dismantled and destroyed it and so return'd home to England after a vast Treasure dissipated and many thousand Lives lost and more Souls cheated with as little Glory as he set forth with mighty Expectation the Success of his Armes being suitable to the ridiculous occasion of them And what was yet worse for the haughty Prelate soon after his coming home in a Parliament held at London about Alhallontide all his Temporalities were seized into the Kings hands for his Contempt in disobeying the Kings Writ when His Majesty sent to him to come back just as he was putting to Sea on this piece of Ecclesiastical Knight-Errantry and he refused to come as aforesaid In this Parliament also was granted to the King half a Fifteenth by the Laity and half a Tenth by the Clergy In the Year 1384 a Truce was made with France and the Duke of Lancaster and his Brother Thomas of Woodstock entred Scotland with a mighty Army but the Scots wholly declining to fight and many of the English being destroyed with Want and cold Weather they return'd making very small Advantages by that expensive Expedition Soon after which an Irish Carmelite Fryer made a discovery in Writing to the King of a Design the Duke of Lancaster had to destroy His Majesty and usurp the Crown but the King advising about the same only with certain young Favourites the Duke obtained notice of the Charge and cleared or seemed to clear himself so much to the Kings satisfaction that the poor Fryer was committed to Custody and 't is said on the Evening before the Hearing should have been was most cruely murdered Whose Information if real shews what aâ— Opportunity the King slipt of preventing his after misfortune and that some times it proves even more dangerous to discover Treasons than to act them which yet should discourage no good Subject from the discharge of his Duty But possibly this whole Accusation or the Relation of such a thing might be a Contrivance of the Duke's Enemies to render him suspected to the King and odious to the People for it 't is certain they entred not many Months after into a formal-Design against his Life the occasion whereof I do not find mentioned by Authors but only that the King by the Instigation of his young Cabal-Council had conceiv'd displeasure against him and that they had conspired to take away the said Duke's Life In order whereunto certain Crimes were suggested Appellors prepared and t was agreed that he should be suddenly Arrested and brought before the Lord Chief Justice Trysilian who had boldly untertaken to pronounce Sentence upon him according to the quality of the matters to be objected though by Law he could not be tryed but by his Peers and so Execution should immediately have followed But the Duke being fore warn'd of these Contrivances hastned to his Castle of Pomfret and there stood upon his Guard And the King's Mother considering the Dangers that would ensue such a Rupture took great pains by riding notwithstanding her Age and corpulency to and fro between the King and him to pacifie each side and at last brought them to such a Reconcilement that all appearance of Displeasure on the one part and Distrust on the other was for that time removed About the Feast of S. Martin was held a Parliament at London wherein the Earl of Nothumberland was Condemn'd for the loss of the Castle of Barwick Surprised by the Scots through the Treachery of one that he had put in there as his Deputy But the King after Judgment was pleased to Pardon him who went forthwith down and retook the said Castle In the Year 1385 the French made great Preparations for the Invading of England and to facilitate the Attempt by a Diversion â—end the Admiral of France with a considerable Force into Scotland the Common Back-door at which they were wont to Infest us Of which King Richard having notice raises a mighty Army and by speedy Marches pierces into the Heart of Scotland and reduc'd their chief City Edenburgh into Ashes as a Bonfire to give the whole Kingdom notice of his Arrival and Challenge them to Battel But they declined it and Victuals growing very scarce the King thought fit to return homewards the rather for that the Scots in the mean time had entred Nothumberland and besieg'd Carlile but hearing of the Kings approach fled back into Scotland During this Expedition the Lord John Holland the Kings Brother by the Mother side near York Killed the eldest Son of the Earl of Stafford for which he fled and the King was so highly incensed that he caused all his goods to be Confiscated the King's Mother interceded for him but could not be heard and resented the denial so heavily that soon after she died At a Parliament the latter end of this Year the Laity granted the King one Fifteenth and an half upon condition that the Clergy would give a Tenth and an half who took this Articulating of the Commons in grievous dudgeon protesting that the Laity should not Charge them and the Archbishop of Canterbury was so hot as to declare he would rather venture his Head in this Cause than that the Holy Church of England should thus Truckle whereupon the Commons and many of the Temporal Lords began to bid Battel to the Clergies Temporalities saying they were grown to that excess of Pride that it would be a Work of Piety and Charity to clip their Wings and reduce them to an Humility suitable to their Profession The Clergy at this were not a little Alarm'd and to prevent the worst make a voluntary offer of a Tenth to the King and so the Dispute is rock'd to sleep Also during this Parliament the King Conferred several Honours Creating his Uncle Thomas of Woodstock who before was Earl of Buckingham Duke of Gloucester and his other Uncle Edmund of Langley before the Earl of Cambridge Duke of York With whom too he prefer'd his pernicious Favorites as Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford to be Marquess of Dublin in Ireland the first man within the Realm that was Enobled with that Title and Sir Michael de la Pole the Son of a Merchant in London was made Earl of Suffolk and Lord Chancelor of England But these last grew in Hatred faster then they did in Honour the Ancient Nobility disdainfully resenting their undeserved as they deemed Advancement Nor were the People better satisfied but grumbled heavily for they durst not speak out against these Court Ear-wigs as Seducers of the King and occasion of all misadministrations of Affairs In this Parliament likewise the Duke of Lancaster desired Leave of the King Lords and Commons to go into Spain
should submit to the disproportionate force of the Invader But these Triumphs cost King Richard dear in the sequel for whilst he is thus engaged and absent from his discontented Kingdom of England the Duke of Lancaster thinks it the only proper time to put in execution what he and others his Confederates had been consulting of Wherefore dispatching some of his trusty Emissaries over to acquaint his Friends and provide Arms and all necessaries for his Arrival He addresses himself to the French King with a Complement That he intended to pay a Visit to his Kinsman John Duke of Britain and therefore desired his Majesties Royal Letters of safe Conduct which being granted he there very privately levied a few Souldiers with whom hiring three Ships of the Duke of Britain he put to Sea for England accompanied with the forementioned Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury Tho. Heir to Richard late Earl of Arundel the Lord Cobham Sir Thomas Erpington and Sir Thomas Ramstone Knights John Norbury Robert Waterton and Francis Coynt Esquires having not in all above twenty Lances and his whole Retinue besides consisting not of above sixty persons so that 't is hard to judge which was the greatest wonder that he durst attempt or that he did succeed in the Conquest of a Kingdom with so inconsiderable a Company But his Confidence was not so much in the People he brought with him as in the strength he should find here relying altogether on the favour and assistance of the people of the Realm whom he knew to be generally male-contented and eager to change their present Governours for any that would but promise them a Melioration of their Condition for the future Yet being wary not to push things on beyound Possibility of a Retreat As he did not presently Land but lay cruising up and down sometimes appearing on one Coast and sometimes on another that he might the better discover how the Inclinations of the people stood and what Forces were ready either to receive or resist him till at last being satisfied therein he put on shore without any opposition about the biginning of June at Ravenspurre in Yorkshire So did he not then make any pretensions to the Crown but gave out very solemnly that he came only to regain possession of the Dutchy of Lancaster and the rest of his lawful Inheritance which all the Nation knew was wrongfully detained from him and so were the more ready to pity and favour him in a Cause notoriously just and against which there was no objection His Arrival was no sooner known but there repaired to him the Lords Willoughby Ross Darcy and Beaumout and shorly after at Doncaster the Earl of Northumberland and his Son Sir Henry Piercy with the Earl of Westmorland and great numbers of the Gentry and common people Intelligence hereof being soon conveied to the Duke of York the Kings eldest Uncle and with whom during his absence he had intrusted the Governance of the Realm He calls together the Bishop of Chichester Lord Chancellor Scroop Earl of Wiltshire Lord Treasurer Sir John Bushy Sir Henry Green Sir William Bagot and Sir John Russel chief Favourites of the Kings Privy Council to consult what was to be done in this Exigency of Affairs Amongst whom whether designedly by some or ignorantly by others I cannot say but I am sure by all perniciously for King Richards Interest It was concluded to abandon London and appoint the Rendezvous for levying Forces against the Duke at S. Albans But when the people out of sundry Counties were drawn thither to be mustered they declared They would not act any thing to the prejudice of the said Duke who they affirmed was unjustly expelled his Country and unlawfully kept from his Inheritance This Refusal of the Commons to serve being looked upon as a very ill Omen to the Kings Cause The Earl of Wiltshire Sir John Bushy Sir William Bagot and Sir Henry Green forsook the Duke of York and fled to Bristol intending to pass the Seas into Ireland to the King And time it was especially for them to take their Heels for these Four were those that were said to have taken of the King his Kingdom to Farm and on that account and other Greivances and Oppressions which they had occasioned were become so odious to the People that their very presence turned away many of the Subjects hearts from their Soveraign it being the displeasure against them rather than any disatisfaction to the Kings Person that caused this general Revolt The Duke of York seeing their flight and the Humour of the Generality favouring Lancaster and loath to run the adventure of an improbable Resistance gave over the Cause and thereupou the rest of the Counsellors either openly declared for the said Duke or secretly held Correspondence with hm resolving to swim with the general Torrent in hopes of greater safety thereby than by stemming that impetuous Tide which bore down all before it For never did Snow-ball encrease so fast by rolling as the Duke of Lancaster's Forces were augmented by his March so that they were quickly grown sixty thousand strong and he resolving to â—ollow the Channel whilst the Current was fierce hastned with his Troops to London that possessing himself thereof being the chief place within the Kingdom for Strength and Store he might best there make the Seat of War and be easiest accommodated both with Provision and Ammunition In his whole March no Opposition was seen no Hostility shewn but all along Gentlemen of the best quality out of Affection or Fear or hope of Reward resorted to his Tents and where ever he stayed rich Presents were mad him and his Army supplyed with necessaries even to superfluity and particularly at London he was received with Triumphant Pageants and Shews solemn Processions of the Clergy and loud Acclamations of the People But he was more regardful of his Affairs than to stay long there and therefore having fix'd the Citizens firm to his Interest and knowing all the danger that could threaten him must be from King Richard's return out of Ireland To obviate that and overtake the fugitive Favourites who were fled to Bristol he with speedy Marches pursued them thither where finding the Castle fortified against him he assaults it so briskly that in Four daies time he forc'd it to a surrender and taking therein the Earl of Wiltshire Lord Treasurer Sir John Bushy and Sir Henry Green he the very next day Sacrificed them to the importunate rage of the incensed People causing them all Three to be beheaded But as for Sir William Bagot he was got to Chester and from thence shifting over into Ireland alone escaped the present vengeance This Execution if it had not been just must yet be accounted Politick for partly because it was so grateful to the People and partly because it excluded all hope of the Kings Pardon It became a great ingagement to all the Dukes followers to adhere more firmly to him for the future The Duke had
there present did publickly say before them that he was ready to make the Renunciation and to renounce and recede according to the Promise by him made as aforesaid And so forthwith although as was said unto him he might have made some Deputy to have served as the Organ of his Voice for avoiding so tedious a labour as the reading of the said Cession and Renunciation reduced by others into a Schedule of Parchment Yet the said King very willingly as appeared and with a pleasant Countenance holding the said Schedule in his hand said that he himself would read it and distinctly read the same through And also did absolve all his Leige People and renounce and recede and swear and other things did say and pronounce in Reading and did Subscribe it with his own hand as is more fully contained in the said Schedule the Tenor whereof is such THE RESIGNATION OF RICHARD II. IN the Name of God Amen I Richard by the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland do Absolve the Archbishops Bishops and other Prelates of Churches Secular or Regular of whatsoever Dignity Degree State or Condition they be The Dukes Marquesses Earls Barons Vassals and Valvasors and all and every my Leige People whatsoever Ecclesiasticks or Seculars of all the said Kingdoms and Dominions by what Name soever they are known from the Oath of Fealty and Homage and other Oaths whatsoever to be made and from all Bond or Tie of Legiance Royalty and Dominion whereby they have been or are obliged or otherwise in any manner bound unto me And I do Free Release and Acquit them and their Heirs and Successors for ever from the said Oaths and other Obligations whatsoever And I do dismiss them free unloosen quit and in full Immunity as far as relates to my Person to every effect of Law which may follow from the Prâ—mises or any of them And I do purely of my own Accord simply and absolutely in and by the best manner way and form that may be in these Writings Renounce and totally Resign all Kingly Dignity and Majesty and the Crown and Dominion and Power of the said Kingdoms and Dominions and all other my Dominions and Possessions or any way belonging or appertaining unto me by what Name soever they may be reckon'd up within the aforesaid Kingdoms or elsewhere And all Right and Colour of Right and Title Possession and Dominion which at any time I have had now have or by any means shall have in or to the same or any of them with their universal Rights and Appurtenances or any Dependences however on them or any of them And also the Rule and Government of the said Kingdoms and Dominions and their Administration and all manner of meer and Mixt Empire and Jurisdiction to me in the said Kingdoms belonging or that may be belonging and to the Name of King and the Honour Regality and Celsitude Royal purely voluntarily simply and absolutely by the best manner way and form that the same can be done in these Writings I do Renounce and them do totally Resign and in Deed and in Word dismiss and quit the same and from them do recede for ever Saving to my Successors Kings of England the Rights to them or any of them belonging or that shall any way belong in the said Kingdoms and Dominions and all other the Premises for ever And I do confess acknowledge repute and truely and out of certain knowledge do judge my self to have been and to be utterly insufficient and unuseful for the Rule and Government of the said Kingdoms and Dominions with all their Appurtenances And that for my notorious demerits I deserve to be Deposed And I do swear upon these Holy Gospels of God by me corporally touched That I will never Act contrary to the said Resignation Renunciation Dismission and Cession nor any way oppose the same in Deed or in Word by my Self or any other or others Nor will as much as in melies permit the same publickly or privately to be contraried or opposed But the said Renunciation Resignation Dismission and Cession will for ever esteem ratified and well-pleasing and firmly hold and observe the same in the whole and in every part So God me help and these Holy Gospels of God I the before named King Richard do here subscribe my self with my own Hand And presently to the said Renunciation and Cession the said King added by word of mouth That if it lay in his power the said Duke of Lancaster should succeed him in his Kingdom But Because as he said this did not depend on his pleasure he did request the said Archbishop of York and Bishop of Hereford whom he for that time had constituted his Procurators to declare and imitate such his Cession and Renunciation to the States of the Kingdom That they would be pleased to signify to the People his will and intention in that behalf And in token of such his will and intention did then and there openly pluck off the Golden Ring of his signet from his own finger and put it upon the finger of the said Duke of Lancaster desiring as he affirmed that the same might be made known to all the States of the Kingdom Which being done taking their leaves on both sides they all went out of the said Tower to return to their Lodgings But on the Morrow viz. Tuesday the Feast of S. Jereme in the great Hall at Westminster in the place honourably prepared for holding the Parliament the said Arch-bishops of Canterbury and York and the Duke of Lancaster and other Dukes and Lords as well Spiritual as Temporal whose names are under written and the Commons of the said Kingdom Assembled in a great multitude in Parliament being present and the said Duke of Lancaster being seated in a place due to his Quality and the Chair of State or Royal Throne being solemnly adorn'd with Cloth of Gold but then empty without any body presiding therein the above named Archbishop of York in the name of himself and of the said Bishop of Hereford according to the order of the said King did publickly declare the Cession and Renunciation to have been so made by him as aforesaid with the subscription of his Royal Hand and delivery of his Signet And the said Cession and Renunciation did there cause to be ready by another first in Latin and then in English Immediately after which it was demanded of the Estates and People their present to wit first of the Archbishop of Canterbury to whom by reason of the dignity and prerogative of his metropolitan Church of Canterbury it belongs in this behalf to have the first voice amongst the rest of the Prelates and Nobles of the Realm whether for their interest and the utility of the Kingdom they would be pleased to admit such Renunciation and Cession And the said States and People judging from the Causes by the said king himself in his Renunciation and Cession aforesaid signified that the