common bond of loue among all Princes generallye I may not herein ouer passe that godlye father which sittethe in the holy Seat and as it is well knowen like a second Samuel will not anoint with holye oyle that is to say confirme by his authoritie any other to be rulers ouer Christians than suche Princes as might well seme to be Sauls and Dauids whiche represented the persones of all laufull Kynges For beside her vndoubted right of Succession which is accounted a kynd of diuine callyng and choyse to a Kyngdome this may speciallie persuade hym to defend her as his daughter whiche neyther by straitnesse of prison nor by any kinde of affliction could be hitherto seduced from honoring him as her father VVhat nede is there to call vpon the most sacred Emperour and other Kynges and Princes in particular sith they are all allied vnto the sayd noble Queene eyther by a sure knot of amitie and frendship or by a most fast bond of consanguinitie and kynred Neyther is it necessarie to proue this by genealogies and pedegrues seing the world allredye knoweth that she is descended both by father and mother from the most noble Princes Kynges and Emperours of the whole Christian worlde As for the nobilitie and Commons of England this should moue them to loue her that she is come so many wayes of English blood and had her great Grandmother out of the Princelie house of Somerset and had for her Grandmother the Lady Margaret eldest daughter to King Henrye the seuenth And is not this muche to moue them further that she was by this meanes so muche affected toward the Englishe Nation as in her troubles afflictions at home she rather hoped for relefe at their handes and therfore trusted the now Queene of England vpon her promises so farre as she made her choyse rather to come for succoure to the Englishe where now she liueth in prison than to other Princes her speciall freends of whome she was assured to haue found relefe and succour Adde this withall that before all other Christian Princes she choase an Englishe man to be her husband and by hym brought foorthe a sonne heyr to the same Kyngdome VVhat should I report of the signes and tokens of her pietie wiche now she showeth in England or of her Courtesie good will and loue towarde the English Nation how freendlye she thinketh of them how honorably she speaketh of them and how nobly she writeth of them yea how that by long conuersing with them she hath now so perfectlie lerned their manners their language and their customes as hauing almost forgot all other fashions she seemeth to be brought in to this world by the prouidence of God iustlie to gouerne the people of England VVherefore sithe this our Queene is the woorthie heir and the righteous heir of the English Croune it standeth agreablie with your charitie whiche you as Kinges are wont to vse toward Queenes and vith those offices of courtesie and kyndenesse whiche you owe as Allies to your freendes or as Cosaines to your kynsewomen to prouide by all possible meanes that she be not defeated of her right nor barred from that dignitie whiche by many titles is due vnto her lest that the harmes whiche fall vpon her by suche losses doe procure great perilles to you and youre posteritie And the better to auoyde all stoppes whiche might brede in you by any obscure or breefe relation I here present vnto your Maiesties with all humilitie this booke conteyning a full discourse of the whole cause whiche during my abode in England about the affaires of my sayd Soueraigne I caused to be published in Englishe to the vse of Englishe menne and haue now augmented it with a Genealogie of the Competitors whiche by discent from two Princelie families in that Realme to wit Yorke and Lancastre pretend title to the Croune And herein the cauilles and surmises of the aduersaries are so refuted their sleightes so discouered and auoided and their argumentes whiche they leane vpon so ouerthrowen as the scruples and dowbtes whiche before neuerthelesse to menne of equall and indifferent iudgementes were playne enoughe may well seme to be remoued and pulled out of the hartes and myndes of the aduersaries I humblie therfore beseche your Maiesties to accept that freendly whiche I present vnto you to mark that attentiuelie whiche in writing I sett downe before you and to performe that Iustlie whiche best beseemeth you So fare ye well and fauour the cause of a most laufull Queene TO THE MOST EXCELLENT AND MOST GRACIOVSE QVENE MARIE AND TO THE MOST noble king Iames her sonne Quene and kyng of Scotland his vndoubted Souereignes Iohn Lesley Byshop of Rosse wisheth all true felicitie O FALL the most excellent guyftes and benefites which God of his goodnesse hathe bestowed vpon mankynde I knowe not whether there be any one for profit more fruitfull or in estimation more excellinge than is the inclination among menne to mutuall loue and amitie For suche is the force thereof in matters of greate importance as the persone in whome it is once well establyshed can not be at any time eyther by counseil seduced by iniquitie of time imbased by fortunes frowning disquyeted nor by any violence shaken muche lesse ouerthrowen or destroyed In somuche as I must nedes saye that whosoeuer wanteh this guyft of nature he is not onlye farre from all commendation of constancie and wysedome in greate affaires but also putteth of all humanitie and is become impious wylde and sauage And this sense or feling of loue and amitie although it be naturally planted in euery man and woman yet is it most especiallye in them that are by blood and kynred most neerly conioyned together VVherfore so often as I consider the tender loue of parents toward their children the pietie of children toward their parents I alwayes acknowleige this naturall inclinatiō to loue and amitie without whiche no common wealth can endure nor any famylie stand to be a speciall benefit of God bestowed vpon mankynde And so often also most graciouse Princes I fynde iust cause to moue me in the behalfes of your Maiesties and of your subiectes to reioyse and to gyue God thankes for that these lawes of nature and guyftes of grace in you by God singularlye planted you haue reserued and kept whole and inuiolate from the iniurie of the time and from the malytiouse stinges of peruerse detractours in suche sorte as you could not by any other occasion haue gyuen a better testimonie of honorable courtesie and vertue nor haue raised in the hartes of your subiectes a more assured hope of the best mean to preserue yea and to enlarge also and amplyfie your kyngdome For to me and to all your louinge subiects nothing can be more gratefull than this firme and fast loue and agrement betwene you nothing that ought to be more acceptable to your selues nothinge more agreable to the generall wellfare of all men Ernestlie therfore and in the
matter groweth to faction and from factiō bursteth out to plain and open hostilitie wherevpō foloweth passing great perilles and oftentimes detestable alterations and subuersions of the plublick state For the better auoyding of suche and lyke inconueniences albeit at the beginning Princes reigned not by descent of blood and succession VVhy all the vvorld almost embraceth succession of princes rather than election but by choyse and election of the worthiest the world was for the most part constreyned to reiect and abandon election and so oftentimes in stead of a better and woorthier to take for their Gouernour some certain issue ofspring of one family though otherwyse perhappes not so mete VVhich defecte is so supplied partly by the greate benefit of the good reast and quyetnesse that the people vniuersally enioye by this course of succession and partly by the industrie and trauail of graue and sage personages whose counseil Princes doe vse in their affaires that the whole world in a manner these many thousand yeres hath embrased successiō by blood rather than by election And all politike Princes wanting issue of their own bodies to succede them haue euer had a speciall care foresight for auoyding of ciuil dissention that the people allwayes myght knowe the true and certain heyr apparent of the Croune specially when there appeared any lykelyhode of varitie of opinions or factions to ensue about the true and laufull succession in gouernement The care of English kinges to haue the successour to be knovvn This care and foresight doeth manifestly appear to haue bene not only in manye Princes of forain Countreis but also in the kynges of England aswell before as after the Conquest namely in S. Edward kyng of England that holie Confessour by declaring and appoynting Edgar Atheling his nephews fonne Flores hist anno 1057 to be his heyre as also in kynge Richard the first who before he interprised his Iourney to Ierusalem Richard Chanon of the Trinitie ī Londō assembled his Nobilitie and Commons together and by their consentes declared Arthure sonne of his brother Duke of Britain to be his next heir and Successour of the Croune Of whiche Arthure flores hist anno 1190 Poli. l. 14. as also of the sayd Edgar Atheling we will speake more hereafter This care also had king Richard the second what time by authoritie of Parlament he declared for heir apparent of the Croune the Lord Edmond Mortymer that Maried Philip daughter and heyr of his vnkle Leonell Polid. l. 20. duke of Clarence And to descend to later times the late kyng Henry the eight shewed as it is knowen his prudence and zelous care in this behalfe before his last voyage in to Fraunce And nowe if almightie God should as we be all bothe prince and others subiecte to mortall chaunces once bereaue the Realme of England of their present Queene the hartes and mindes of men being no better nor more firmely setled and stayed towardes the expectation of a certain succession than they seme now to be then woe alas it woundeth my very hart euen once to thinke vpon the imminent and almost ineuitable perilles of that noble Realme being lyke to be ouerwhelmed with the raiging roaring waues stormes of mutuall discorde and to be consumed with the terrible fire of ciuil dissention The feare whereof is the more by reason that already in these later yeres some flames of this horrible fire haue sparkled and flushed abroad some part of the rage of those fluddes haue beaten vpon the Englishe shores I mean the hote contention that hath there bene sturred in so many places and among so many persones Of bookes also dispersed abroode so many wayes fashioned framed as either depraued affection peruersely lusted or zelous defense of truthe sincerely moued men Seing therfore that there is iust cause of fear and of great daunger lykely to happen by this varietie of mennes myndes and opinions so diuersely affected aswell of the meaner sort of menne as of greate personages I take it to be the parte of euery naturall Englishe man of suche as fauoure them to labour and trauaile eache man for his possibilitie and for suche talent as God hath gyuen hym that this so imminent a mischiefe may be in conuenient time preuented VVe see what witt policye paynes and charges men employe with dammes weares and all kynde of ingenious deuises to prouide that the sea or other riuers doe not ouerflowe or burst the bankes in suche places as are most subiecte to suche daunger VVe knowe also what politike prouision is made in many good Cities and townes that no daungerous fires do aryse through negligence and that the furie therof if any happen may speedilye be repressed with diligence VVherein Augustus the Emperour among other his famours actes is woorthely commended honored for appointing in Rome an ordinary wache of seuen companies in seuerall places to preuent suche mischiefes as come by fyre being hereunto induced by reason that the Citie was set on fire in seuen seuerall places in one daye And shall not then euery man for his part and vocation haue a vigilant care and respect to extinguishe and quenche fuche a fyre alreadye bursten owt as may if the matter be not wyselye looked vnto subuert distroy and consume not one Citie onlye but also a whole Realme Countrye VVhiche to suppresse one ready and commodiouse waye as I thinke is that the Countrey men people of that nation may throughly vnderstand and knowe from time to time in what persone the right of succession of the Croune of that Realme doeth stande and remayne For now many men partly through ignorance of the sayd right title partly through sinister persuasion of some lewd pamphlets whereunto they haue too lightly giuen credit are seduced and caried away quite from the right opinion and good meaning whiche once they had conceiued and from the reuerence and duetie that they other wyse woulde and shoulde haue VVhiche corruption of Iudgement and opinion I doe hartely wishe to be plucked out of the hartes and mindes of men and shall in this Treatise doe my best indeuoure with moste strong reasons and prooses to remoue the same not presuminge vpon my selfe that I am better able than all others this to doe but vpon duety and zeal to open a waye fot the knoulege of trueth whiche by so many indirect meanes is restreined obscured and persecutde after reading and vewing of suche bookes and the argumentes therof as haue bene set forth by the aduersaires to the contrarie whiles I was in England Ambassador for my most gratiouse Soueraigne ladye the Quene of Scotland I attempted this woork not vnrequested of some noble personages then of great accompte nor without the aduise counsail and Iudgement of some verie skillfull in the customes lawes and statutes of that Realme VVherein I verily hope to showe suche good matter for euident demōstration of the truth as semeth to me
A TREATISE TOVVCHING THE RIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST OF THE MOST excellent Princesse Marie Queene of Scotland And of the most noble king Iames her Graces sonne to the succession of the Croune of England VVherein is conteined asvvell a Genealogie of the Competitors pretending title to the same Croune as a resolution of their obiections Compiled and published before in latin and after in Englishe by the right reuerend father in God Iohn Lesley Byshop of Rosse VVith an exhortation to the English and Scottish nations for vniting of them selues in a true league of Amitie An 1584. All Britaine Yle dissentions ouer past In peace faith will growe to one at last Encrease of blesse expected long In Britain was begonne VVhen suche a mother dyd bring foorth VVith so good happe a sonne MARIA SCOTORVM REGINA IACOBVS VI SCOTORVM REX Through princelie grace and pietie Great is the mothers fame The king her sonne doth yeeld muche hope To imitate the same TO THE SACRED AND MOST MIGHTIE EMPEROVR AND TO THE MOST HIGH AND PVISSANT kynges and Soueraigne Princes of Christendome Iohn Lesley Byshop of Rosse wysheth peace and perpetuall felicitie SACRED AND MOST MIGHTIE Emperour and ye most puyssant kynges and Princes Christian yf you call to mynde and memorye all formes of common wealthes wherein diuerse people in tymes past aswell heathen as Christians haue bene preserued you shall finde none eyther for peace and tranquyllitie more established or for Maiestie more gloriouse than that where one hathe gouerned whiche laufullie entred as right heyr in succession and moderated all thinges with sincere indifferencio as a Iust and vpright Iudge And to omitt that this forme of Gouernemēt resembleth that regimēt wherwith God ruleth the whole world and how therfore it is the best to omitt also that the leagues of forrain Princes with their mariages and mutuall agreementes in loue and amitie are herein also included and how therfore it is profitable Likewyse to lett passe the generall peace quiett and tranquillitie whiche this assureth to all men and how therfore it is amiable the trueth of this matter will more euidentlye appear if you deeply consider what iniuries and calamities the people of that country is forced to endure where an vsurping Tyrāne not by right of successiō as laufull heir vnto his auncestor but by ambition stronghand violently intrudeth hym selfe vpon an other mans right possession For suche a one by vexing his subiectes with continuall fear oppressing them with wicked exactions and more wicked morders sticketh not to subuert all lawes of God man to the ende that he may rule all alone Thus whiles he most cruelly tirannizeth ouer his subiects and they most mortally doe hate hym what mischiefes and miseries do not burst in vpon any nation by suche a desperate head and suche discorde of membres Vherupon it foloweth well in my Iudgement that the good will of Princes toward their subiectes and the loue of Subiectes toward their Princes is the surest meanes to keepe and preserue the publick weal of any Countrie In somuche as what Region so euer wanteth this must eyther be deuided in it selfe and torne in peces with domesticall troubles or fall in to the handes of straungers Therfore of all nations that haue bene in any age I finde none that by this coniunction of mutuall amitie hathe not bene aduaunced with great felicitye and none on the other syde that by want therof hathe not eyther lyke a sore diseased or wounded bodye languished miserablye or vtterly deuolued in to extreme ruyne and destruction Yea suche misruled nations haue not alone tasted the calamities of their enormityes but haue wickedlye also casten out their vonim vpon others and with suche contagious poyson haue infected their neighboures rownd about them So as all Princes Christian that desire long to Raigne haue hereby to note and learne how it behoueth them not onlie to rule their own Countries without all manner of Tirannie but allso to prouyde so muche as in them lyeth that their neighbours be not oppressed by Tyrannes For suche neyghborhoode can not be but contagiouse because it is the nature of Tyrannes first to ransake and spoyle their own people and afterward to breake owt vpon others and to ruyne them all manner of wayes And this I wryte to the ende that all Christian Princes aswell for their own sake as for Charitie also toward their Christian neighbours should haue some speciall care to helpe that my Soueraigne Ladye Marye Queene of Scotland and the most noble King her sonne be not excluded and barred frome their right of inheritance and succession to the Croune of England after the laufull yssues of King Henrye the eyght be all deceassed Least that by vniust intrusion and inuasion of vnlaufull vsurpers the true heyr be defeated that florishing Kyngedome by tyrannie ruyned and the neighbours adioyning contagiouslye annoyed Fort sithe it is euidently knowen that all those commodities and riches wherwith England hathe plentifully furnished not onlye it selfe but other countries also haue growen specially by this occasion that it hathe bene hitherto sweetlye and peaceablye gouerned by the true and laufull heyrs to the great honour of the Gouernours and commoditie of the Subiectes and seing it is also manifest that after the deceases of all the yssues laufullie descended from Kyng Henrie the eight as I sayd before the Kyngdome of England by right euery waye belongeth vnto Marye the Queene of Scotland who seeth not that if the same Ladye be excluded from her right then not only that Realm shall be spoyled of their own commodities and their neighboures want those helpes which they haue long enioyed but also that Region wil be a neast of Tyrannes where euery familie shall robbe it selfe and as mere straungers spoile and morder one an other Now then because some vniust Competitors incensed with desire of rule doe couer their ambition by pretending a title to the Croune of England I thought it to be a part of my duetie to infringe their vntrue surmises and by strong and weightie argumentes to proue and ratifie the laufull title and right of the Queene and Kynge my Soueraigne Princes For so I hope it will fall owt that all Christian Kinges and Potentates will more reddelye performe suche honorable offices of Courtesie and Charitie as all Princes owe one to an other and that speciallie when they shall see the veritie integritie and iustice of this cause so expresselie declared as no scruple therof can stick in the hart of any indifferent persone For thoughe generallie all Christian Kynges are as it wer so lynked to gether as they should aide and defende eache others honour and dignitie in respect that they are Kynges Yet euery one of them in some one or other particulrr respecte is so allied vnto the Queene and Kyng of Scotland as they owght to take her part and to ioyne with her against her enemies And to surcease from speaking any more of the
eight imprisoned in the Tower of london where he remayned many yeres till the death of king Edward the sixt At whiche time that patterne of singular clemencie Queene Marie dyd not only delyuer hym but also restored hym to his auncient estate of blood and dignitie This yong noble man afterward dyed without issue at Padua in Italie but if he had liued he might with best right haue claimed the Croune of England after the issues of king Henry the seuenth and Queene Elizabeth his wyfe had bene extinguishhed In this Courtney now deceased the progenie of King Edward the fowerth had bene determined as concerning the streight line if the ofspring of king Henry the seuenth and Quene Elizabeth his wyfe were not yet liuing But if that at any tyme faile then must they seke for an heyr in the collateral line Therfore it is to be noted The collaterall lyne of the succession that the before mentioned Richard Plantagenet Duke of York which was slayn by Henry the sixt in the battail of wakefeild and of whose progenie we now speake had three sonnes to witt king Edward the fowerth George Duke of Clarence and Richard Duke of Glocestre Now then for default of issue in lineal descent from Edward the eldest brother we must haue recourse as is before sayd vnto the collateral descent that is to George Duke of Clarenee the second brother and to his succession For to speak any more of Richard the yongest brother whiche dyed without issue it were superfluouse George then duke of Clarēce yonger brother to Edward the fowerth had by his vyfe Isabell Countesse of VVarwik and Sarisbury two children to witt Edward and Margaret This George vpon suspition of treason to affect the kyngdome was by kyng Edward his brother priuilye put to deathe And his sonne Edward being but a child emprisoned in the Tower of lond where he was deteined vntill at last vpon lyke surmise kinge Henry the seuenth stroke of his head But the sayd Lady Margaret Countesse of Sarisburie was maried to Sir Richard pole knight by whom she had diuers sonnes to wytt Henry Arthur Geffray Reinald the same which afterward for his rare vertues and singular wisdome and learning was aduaunced to the dignitie of a Cardinal Cardinal Pole and called Cardinal Pole Henry the eldest brother to omitt the rest had two daughters Catharin Pole the elder sister whiche was maried to Francise Hastinges Erle of Huntingdon and VVenefride the yonger sister Of whiche VVenefride there is no nede to speak any more because there is yet liuing descended of the sayd Ladye Catharin a plentifull generation Thus it is euident and very playn that whan the lineal descent in bloode from king Henry the seuenth and Queene Elizabeth his wyfe shall fayle then must the right of the white Rose that is to saye of the house of Yorke whiche dyd spring of king Edward the fowerth be transplanted and be deriued by a collateral lyne from George Duke of Clarence vnto the house of the Poles and so vnto the house of haftings or Hūtingdon Yet is there an other braunche sprong out of the same stock The novv Emperor and King Philip are descended from King Edvvard the third I mean from Edward the third in a long course of descent And that is Philip the king Catholique of Spayn descended from Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancastre third sonne of king Edward the third For the sayd Iohn of Gaunt had two daughters Philipp and Catharin This Ladye Philipp was mother to Edward king of Portugal of whome all other the kings of Portugal sithince that tyme till this day are descended This Edward king of Portugal was father to Eleonor the Emperesse whiche was mother to Maximilian the Emperor father to Philipp king of Castil father to that most victoriouse Emperour Charles the fift father to the most prudent Prince Philipp the King Catholik of Spayn now raigning to the most graciouse Ladye Marie mother to Rudolphus now Emperour But no to omitt any thing which apperteyneth to the Royall succession I think it good to adde a word or two touching the Lady Margaret Duglasse Aunt that is to saye sister to the father of my Soueraign Lady now Queene of Scotland her mean whiche was maried to the Erle of Leneux a mariage verie plausible to king Henrye the eight or he indued her with great possessiōs in England this Ladye Margaret had by the sayd Erle two sonnes Henry and Charles Atferward the same Henry went in to Scotland to visit his father and sing in the Court there a comely yong gentlemā verie personable and of great expectation fownd suche fauour in the sight of that most Gratiouse Queene of Scotland as her Maiestie created hym Duke of Albanie Erle of Rosse And there withal she made a speciall choyse of hym to be her husband thynking therby that because he was born and brought vp in England her right and title might be more fortifyed and all surmised defectes supplied yf any thing there were that coulde be obiected against her Maiestie After this Mariage betwene that most noble Queene and the sayd Henry was solemnized and consummate her Grace had by hym a sonne my said Soueraign now king of Scotland called Iames the sixt A noble Prince of heroical towardnesse and of the best hope the vndoubted laufull heir of that most gratiouse Queene representing allwayes from his infancie a liuely Image of his mother and of her beautie vertues and graces Thus muche in few woordes concerning the succession of the Croune of England and of those persones which clame any interest therein But to the ende that all thinges may be more perfectlye discerned I haue caused to be sett downe in a table hereunto annexed all the degrees of descents both lineal and collaterall from king Edward the third from whome eyther of those two families of York Lancastre doe take their begynning In whiche table the whole order and processe of that noble stocke hanging together in a continuall course of succession may most easily appeare at the first sight Here is to folowe a Table of the sayd Genealogie A table of the Rase and progenye of suche persones as descending from the princely families of Yorke Lācastre doe eyther iustly clame or ambytiously couet the title of successiō to the Croune of Englād VVhere by all men may see by what right and in what course eache of the yssues of King Henry the seauenth and Queene Elizabeth his wife are to be orderly called to the Croune of that Realme A genealogie of the Kinges of Englād from VVilliam Duke of Normandie called VVilliam the cōquerour vntill this present yere of our Lorde 1584. VVhereas some persones ambitiouslie coueting the Croune of England doe practize sinisterly to discredit the right title of the laufull heyres and seke priu ilye to aduaunce I knowe not what new titles of their owne creation Therefore to remoue all scruples that hereupon may growe this table
most open and euidente so it is moste conformable to the lawe of God of Nature and of that Realme And consequentlye in a manner of all other Realmes in the worlde as growing by the nearest proximitie of the Royal blood She is a Kinges and a Queenes daughter her selfe a Queene daughter as is before declared to the late King Iames of Scotlande sonne to Ladie Margarete the eldest Syster to the late King Henrie the eight VVhose daughter also the late Ladie Lenoux was by a later husbande But Ladie Frauncis late wife to Henrie Marques Dorsette afterwarde Duke of Suffolke and the Ladie Eleonour late wife to the Earle of Cumberlande and their Progenie proceede from the Lady Marie Dowager of Fraunce yongest Sister of the sayd King Henrye late wyfe to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke as is before declared I might here fetche foorth olde farne dayes I might reache backe to the noble worthie Kings long before the Conquest of whose Royal blood she is descended VVhiche I Intend not to treat vpon at this tyme. And though perhappes it might seme not much to enforce her title yet may it serue to proue her no stranger to England being of so long continuance and so many wayes descended of the kings and Royal blood of that Realme But the Argumentes and prouffes whiche we meane to alleage and bring forth for the confirmation of her right and title in Succession as Heire apparent to the Croune of England are gathered and grounded vpon the lawes of God and nature and not onely receaued in the Ciuile policies of other nations but also in the olde lawes and Customes of the Realme of England by reason approued by vsage and longe continuance of tyme obserued from the first constitution of that Realme in politicall order vnto this present day And yet for all that hath it bene and yet is by some men attempted artificiallye to obiecte and caste many mystie darke cloudes before mennes eyes to kepe from them if it may be the cleare light of the sayd iust title the whiche they would extinguish or at the least blemish with some obscure shadow of lawe but in deede against the lawe and with the shadowe of Parlamentes but in deede against the true meaning of the Parlamentes And though it were enough for vs our cause being so firmely and suerly established vpon all good reason and lawe to stande at defence and only to auoide as easely we may their obiections whiche principally and chiefly are grounded vpon the common lawes and Statutes of that Realme yet for the bettering and strengthening of the same we shall Lay forth sundrie great inuincible reasons conioyned with good and sufficient authoritie of the lawe so approued and confirmed that the Aduersaries shal neuer be able iustly to impugne them And so as we trust after the reading of this Treatise and the effectes of the same well digested no maner of scruple ought to remaine in any indifferent mans hart concerning her right and title VVhose expectation and conscience allthough we truste fully in this Discourse to satisfie doubt nothing of the righteousnes of our cause yet must we nedes confesse the manner forme to entreate therof to be full of difficulty perplexity For such causes of Princes as they be seldome and rare so is it more rare strange to finde them discoursed discussed and determined by any lawe or statute albeit nowe then some statutes tende that waye Inst de iust iure â— fin Neither do the lawes of England nor the Corps of the Romaine and Ciuil lawes medle so muche with the direction of the right L. princeps â— de leg l. dignuÌ„ vâ—x C. eodem and titles of kings as with priuate mens causes And yet this notwithstanding for the better iustification of our cause albeit it I denie not but that by the common lawe it must be knowen who ought to haue the Croune and that the common lawe muste discerne the right aswel of the Croune as of subiectes yet I saye that there is a great difference betwene the Kings right and the right of others The common lavve of England is rather grounded vpon a generall custome than vpon any lavve vvritten And that the title of the Croune of that Realme of England is not subiect to the rules and principles of the common lawe of that Realme as to be ruled and tryed after suche order and course as the inheritance of priuate persones is by the same For the proofe whereof let vs consider what the common lawe of that Realme is and how the rules thereof be grounded and do take place It is very manifeste and plaine In Prologo suo eiusdeÌ„ li. fo 1. 2. De dict Ranulpho Glanuilla vide Giraldum Cambren in topogra de VVallia that the common lawe of the Realme of England is no lawe written but is grounded onely vpon a common and generall custome throughout the whole Realme as appeareth by the Treatise of the auncient famous VVriter of the lawes of the Realme named Ranulphus de Glanuilla who wrote in the time of the noble King Henrie the second of the lawe and Custome of the Realme of England being then and also in the time of the raigne of King Richarde the firste the chiefe Counsailour and Iustice of the same king and also by the famouse Iustice Fortescue in his booke whiche he wrote being Chauncellour of England De laudibus Legum Angliae Fortescue de lau Leg. Angl. c. 17. 8. E. 4. 19. 33. H. 6. 51. Pinsons prime And by 33. H. 6. 51. and by E. 4. 19. VVhiche Custome by vsage and continuall practise heretofore had in the kinges Courts within that Realme is onely knowen and mainteined wherein the English nation seeme much agreable to the olde Lacedemonians who many hundred yeres past Inst de in re natura gent. ciuil §. ex non script most politikely and famously gouuerned their common VVealth with lawe vnwritten whereas among the Athenians the writen lawes bare all the sway This thing being so true as with any reason or good authoritie it can not be denied then we are further to consider whether the kinges title to the Croune can be examined tried and ordered by this common Custome or no. Yf it may then must yt be proued by some recorde that it hath bene so vsed otherwise the aduersaries only say it and nothing at all proue it For nothing can be sayde by lawe to be subiecte to any custome vnlesse the same hath bene vsed accordingly and by force of the same custome But I am well assured The Aduersaries haue shevved no rule of the common lavve that bindeth the Croune that the aduersaries are not able to proue the vsage and practise thereof by any record in any of the Kings courts Yea I will further say and also proue that they neither haue shewed nor can shew any one rule general or special of the
coÌ„mon lawe of that realme that hath bene taken by any iust coÌ„struction to extende vnto or bind the King or his Croune I will not denie but that to declare set forth the prerogatiue and Iurisdiction of the King they may shewe many rules of the lawe but to binde hym as I haue sayde they can shewe none The obiections of the aduersaries touching Aliens borne are clearlie auoided OVR aduersaries in a booke gyuen out by them touching this succession doe alleige for a Maxime in lawe most manifest that who so euer is borne out of England and of father and mother not being vnder obedieÌ„ce of the King of England can not be capable to inherite any thing in England VVhiche rule being generall without any wordes of exception they also say must nedes extende vnto the Croune VVhat they meane by lawe I knowe not But if they meane as I thinke they do the common lawe of England I answere there is no suche Maxime in the common lawe of the Realme of Englande as hereafter I shall manifestly proue But if it were for argumentes sake admitted for this time that it be a Maxime or general rule of the common lawe of England yet to saye that it is so general as that no exception can be taken against the same rule they shewe them selues either ignorant 25. E. 3. or els very carelesse of their credite For it doth plainely appeare by the Statute of 25. E. 3. being a declaration of that rule of the lawe which I suppose they meane in terminge it a Maxime that this rule extendeth not vnto the Kinges children VVhereby it moste euindently appeareth that it extendeth not generally to all And if it extende not to binde the Kinges children in respect of any inheritance descended vnto them from any of their Auncestours it is an Argument á forâ—iori that it doth not extende to binde the king or his Croune And for a full short answere to their Authorities sett foorth in their marginall Notes as 5. Edvvard 3. tt Aylâ— 1â— Edvva 3. tt Bref 31. Edvva 3. tt Cosen 42 Ed. 3 fol. 2 22 Henric. 6 fol. 42. 11. Henric. 4. 23. 24. Litleton ca. vileâ—age it may plainly appeare vnto all that will reade and peruse those Bookes that there is none of them all that doth so muche as with a peece of a word or by any colour or shadow seeme to intende that the title of the Croune is bounde by this their supposed generall rule or Maxime For euerie one of the said Cases argued and noted in the said Booke are onely concerning the dishabilitie of an Alien borne and not Denizon to demaunde any landes by the lawes of the Realme by suite and action onely as a subiect vnder the King The aduersaries case perteineth to subiectes onely and nothing touching any dishabilitie to be laied to the King hymselfe or to his subiectes Is there any coÌ„trouersie about the title of the Croune by reason of any suche dishabilitie touched in any of these Bookes No verely not one woord I dare boldely say As it may most manifestly appeare to them that will reade and pervse those bookes And yet the aduersaries are not ashamed to note them as sufficient authorities for the maintenance of their euill purpose and intent But as they would seeme to vnderstand that their rule of dishabilitie is a generall Maxime of the lawe so me thinketh they should not be ignorant that it is also as general No Maxime of the lavve bindeth the Croune vnles the Croune specially be named yea a more general rule Maxime of the lawe that no Maxime or rule of the lawe can extende to binde the king or the Croune vnlesse the same be specially mentioned therein as may appeare by diuerse principles and rules of the lawe which be as general as is their sayd supposed Maxime and yet neither the king nor the Croune is by any of them bound As for example it is very plaine 1. Of Tenant by the curtesy that the rule of Tenante by the Curtesie is general without any exception at all And yet the same bindeth not the Croune neither doth extende to geue any benefite to him that shall Marie the Queene of England As it was plainely agreed by all the lawiers of that Realme when king Philip was maried vnto Queene Marie although for the more suertie and plaine declaration of the intentes of King Philip and Queene Marie and of all the states of that Realme it was enacted 2. Nor that the landes shal be diuided among the daughters that king Philip should not clame any title to be Tenaunt by the Curtesie It is also a general rule that if a man dye seysed of any landes in Fee simple without yssue male hauing diuerse daughters the lande shal be equally diuided among the daughters VVhich rule the learned men in the lawes of that Realme agreed in the lyfe of the late noble Prince Edwarde and also euery reasonable man knoweth by vsage to take no place in the succession of the Croune For there the eldest enioyeth all 3. Nor the vvife shall haue the third part as though she were issue male Likewise it is a general rule that the wife after the decease of her husband shal be endowed haue the third parte of the best possessions of her husband And yet it is verie clere 5. E. 3. Tit. praeroga 21. E. 3. 9. 28. H. 6. that a Queene shall not haue the thirde parte of the landes belonging to the Croune as appeareth in 5. E. 3. Tit. praerogat 21. E. 3. 9. 28. H. 6. and diuers other bookes Bysides this the rule of Possessio fratris 4. Nor the rule of Possessio fratris c. being generall neither hath bene or can be stretched to the inheritance of the Croune For the brother of the half blood shall succede and not the sister of the whole blood as may appeare by Iustice Moile and may be proued by King Etheldred brother and successor to king Edward the Martyr and by kyng Edward the Confessor brother to king Edmunde and by diuers other who succeded in the Croune of England being but of the halfe blood As was also the late Queene Marie and is at this presente her sister VVho both in all recordes of the lawe wherein their seuerall rightes and titles to the Croune are pleaded as by daily experience in the Exchequer in all other Courtes is manifest doe make their conueiance as heires in blood the one to the other whiche if they were coÌ„mon or priuate persons they could not be allowed in lawe they as is well knowen being of the halfe blood one to the other that is to wit begotten of one father 5. Nor that the executour shall haue the goods and Chattles of the testatour 7. H. 4. fol. 42. but borne of sundrie mothers It is also a generall rule in the lawe that the executour shall haue the goodes and
as other heires should VVhervpon it is to be gathered by dew iust cōstruction of the same statute and hath bene heretofore commonly taken that the common lawe alwayes was yet is that no persone born out of the allegeāce of the king of England whose father and mother were not of the same allegeance should be able to haue or demaund any heritage within the same algeance as heire to any person VVhiche rule I take to be the same supposed Maxime that the aduersaries do meane But to stretche it generally to all inheritāces as the aduersaries woulde seeme to do by any reasonable meanes can not be The statute of Edvv. 3. An. 25. touchetb inberitance not purchase 11. H. 4. fol. 25. For as I haue said before euery stranger and Alien borne may haue and take inheritance as a purchaser And if an Alien do Marie a woman inheritable the inheritance therby is both in the Alien also in his wife the Alien thereby a purchaser No man doubteth but that a Denizon maye purchase landes to his owne vse but to inherit landes as heire to any person within the allegeance of England he can not by any meanes So that it seemeth very plaine that the said rule bindeth also Denyzons doth onely extend to Descentes of inheritance and not to the hauing of any lande by purchse Now will we then consider whether this rule by any reasonable cōstruction can extend vnto the Lady Marie the Queene of Scotland for and concerning her title to the Croune of England It hath bene said by the Aduersaries that she was borne in Scotland whiche realm is out of the allegeance of England her father and mother not being of the same allegeāce therfore by the said rule she is not inheritable to the Croune of England Though I might at the beginning very wel and orderly deny the consequent of this argumente yet I wil first examin the Antecedent euen by the cōmon opinion and sentence of English men then will I consider vpon the consequent And this I intend of purpose only to discouer the improuidence of the aduersaries whiche in a matter where they couet most to looke vnto them selues there they least of all prouide for the warrantize of theyr cause by their owne pretensed lawes of the Realme of England But I mynde not hereupon so to ouer rule the matter as any preiudice may thereby be created against the Kynges of Scotland who haue alwayes kept and still doe kepe and enioye with a plain profession most iust clame in their owne right ouer their subiectes a supreme authoritie power not depending by any lawe right or custome vpon any other Prince or potentate in the world VVell then to come to the Antecedent so it is that the Queene of Scotland was borne in Scotland it must nedes be graunted but that Scotland is out of the allegeance of England though the sayde Queene and all her subiectes doe iustlye affirme the same yet there is a verie greate number of men in England both learned and others whiche are not of that opinion but earnestly auouche the contrary being led persuaded therunto as they say by diuerse Histories Registers Recordes and Instruments remayninge in the Treasurie of that Realme wherin is mentioned as they also saye that the Kynges of Scotland haue acknouleged the Kyng of England to be the superiour Lorde ouer the Realme of Scotland haue done homage and fealtie for the same VVhich being true though all Scotsmen denie it as Iustlie they may for the homage fealtie whiche those men speake of was not exhibited nor done in any such respect as they surmise but in consideration of the tenures of certein Segnories Lands tenements hereditaments lyeing in Northumberland Cumberland other Shyres of England whiche now the Kinges of Scotland want and then did enioye holde of the Kyng of England As cōmonlie it is sene in sondrie parts of Christindome Kyngs and Princes hauyng distinct and absolute regiments not depending of any other potentate to holde neuerthelesse one of an other diuerse landes townes and countries lyeing within the marches of the one or the others dominions But admit it to be true whiche these men doe so auouche then Scotlande must nedes be accompted within the allegeance of England euen by their owne lawes of the same Realme and by the common opinion of their owne nation And although sins the tyme of Kinge Henry the sixt none of the Kinges of Scotlande haue done the said seruice vnto the Kinges of England yet that is no reason in the lawe of England to saye that therefore the Realme of Scotland at the tyme of the birth of the sayd Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande being in the thirtie and fourth yeare of the raigne of the late Kinge Henrie the eight was out of the allegeance of the Kinges of England For the lawe of that Realme is very plain that though the Tenant do not his seruice vnto the Lorde yet hath not the Lord thereby lost his Seignorie The Lorde loseth not his seignorie though the tenante doth not his seruice For the lande still remaineth within his Fee Seignorie that notwithstanding But peraduenture some will obiecte and saye that by this reason France should likewise be said to be within the allegeance of England forasmuch as the possessiō of the Croune of France hath bene within a litle more then the space of one hundred yeares nowe last past laufully vested in the Kinges of England whose right and title still remaineth To that obiection it may be answered that there is a great differēce betwene the right title which the kings of England clame to the Realm of Frāce the right title which they clame to the Realme of Scotlād For although it be true that the kings of Englād haue bene lawfully possessed of the Croune of France yet during such time as they by vsurpation of others are dispossessed of the said Realme of Fraunce the same Realme by no meanes can be said to be within their allegeance especially considering how that syns the time of vsurpation the people of France haue wholy forsaken their allegeance and subiectiō which they did owe vnto the kings of England haue geuen submitted them selues vnder the obediēce allegeāce of the frēsh But as for the Realme of Scotlande it is otherwise For the Title whiche the Kinges of England by the opinion of these men may clame to the Realme of Scotland is not in the possession of the lande and Croune of Scotlande but onely in the seruice of homage and fealtie for the same And though the Kinges of Scotland many yeres haue intermitted to doe the said homage fealtie vnto the Kinges of Englande yet for all that the Kinges of Scotland can not by any reason or lawe be called vsurpers and vniust possessors And thus all indifferente men not ledd by affections may well see by the recordes testimonies of
the woord nepos A nephevv that is to say a sonnes sōne or daughters sonne though not by the propertie of the voice or speache L. Filius de S.C. Maced L. Senatus de ritu nupt L. quod si nepo tes ff test cū notatis ibid. Infantes in Frenche coūtervaileth this vvorde liberi in lat yet by interpretation admittable in all suche thinges as the lawe disposeth of And as touching this word Infants in French we say that it reacheth to other descēdantes as well as to the first degree VVherein I do referre me to suche as be expert in the saide tongue There is no worde in English for the barennes of that tongue to coūterpaise the said French word Infantes or the Latin word Liberi Therefore doe they supply it as wel as they may by this worde Children The Spaniardes also vse this worde Infantes in this ample sense when they call the nexte heire to the heire apparent Infant of Spaine euen as the late deceased Lord Charles of Austrich was called his father grandfather then liuing Yf then then the original woord of the statute declaring the said rule may naturally properly apperteine to all the Descendants why should we straine and bynde it to the first degree only otherwise than the nature of the worde or reason will beare For I suppose verely The grand fathers call their nephues sonnes L. Gallus § Instituens ff de liber Et post I. ff C. de impub. Aliis substan c. 1. q. 4. Father and son cōpted in person flesh in maner one that it wil be very harde for the Aduersarie to geue any good substantial reason why to make a diuersitie in the cases But touching the contrarie there are good and probable considerations which shall serue vs for the second cause As for that the grandfathers call their nephewes as by a more pleasant plausible name not only their children but their sonnes also for that the sonne being deceased the grandfather suruiuing not only the grādfathers affection but also such right title and interest as the sonne hath by the lawe and by proximitie of blood growe and drawe al to the nephew who representeth and supplieth the fathers place the father and the sonne beinge compted in person and in flesh in manet but as one VVhy shall then the bare and naked consideration of the external and accidental place of the birth only seuer and sunder suche an entier inwarde and natural cōiunction Adde there vnto the many great absurdities that may hereof spring and ensue Diuerse of the kinges of the Realme of Englād as well before the time of King Edwarde the third in whose time this statute was made as after him gaue their daughters out to foraine and sometimes to meane Princes in mariage Great absurditie in excluding the true right successour for the place of his birth onely VVhich they would neuer so often times haue done if they had thought that whyle they went aboute to set fotth and aduaunce their issue their doinges should haue tended to the disheriting of them from so great large and noble a Realme as that is whiche might haue chaunced if the daughter hauing a sonne or daughter had died her father liuing For there should this supposed Maxime haue ben a barre to the childrē to succede their grandfather This absurditie would haue bene more notable if it had chaunced about the time of Kinge Henry the second or this King Edward or King Henry the firste and sixte when the possessions of the Croune of that Realme were so amply enlargid in other Countries beyond the seas And yet neuer so notable as it might haue bene hereafter in our fresh memorie and remēbrance if any such thing had chaunced as by possibilitie it might haue chaunced by the late mariage of King Philippe and Queene Marie For admitting their daughter maried to a foraine Prince should haue dyed before them she leauing a sonne furuiuing his father and grandmother they hauing none other issue so nigh in degree then would this late framed Maxime haue excluded the same sonne lamentably and vnnaturally from the succession of the Croune of Englande and also the same Croune from the inheritance of the Realmes of Spain of both Sicilies with their appurtenances of the Dukedom of Milan and other landes and Dominions in Lumbardy and Italie as also from the Dukedomes of Brabant Luxemburg Geldres Zutphan Burgundie Friseland from the Countreies of Flādres Artois Holland Zealand Namurs and from the new found lands parcel of the said kingdome of Spaine VVhich are vnlesse I be deceiued more ample by dubble or treble than all the Countreies now rehearsed Al the whiche Countreies by the foresaid Mariage should haue bene by al right deuolued to the said sonne if any such child had bene borne If either the same by the force of this iolie new found Maxime had bene excluded from the Croune of England or the saide Croune from the inheritance of the foresaid Countreies were there any reason to be yelded for the maintenance of this supposed rule or Maxime in that case Or might there possibly rise any commodity to the Realme by obseruinge there in this rigourous pretensed rule that should by one hundred part counteruaile this importable losse and spoile of the Croune and of the lawfull inheritour of the same But perchāce for the auoiding of this exceptiō limited vnto the blood roial some wil say An euasion auoided pretending the priuilege of the Kīgs children not to be in respect of the Croune but of other lādes that the same was but a priuilege graunted to the kinges children not in respect of the succession of the Croune but of other landes descending to them from their Auncestours VVhiche although we might very well admit allowe yet can it not be denied but that the same priuilege was graunted vnto the Kinges children and other descendantes of the Blood royall by reason of the dignitie and worthines of the Croune whiche the King their father did enioy and the great reuerence whiche the lawe geueth of dewtie therevnto And therefore if the aduersaries would go about to restraine withdraw from the Croune that priuilege which the law geueth to the kings childrē for the Crounes sake they should doo therein contarie to al reason against the rules of the Arte of Reasoning which saith that Propter quod vnumquodque illud magis Beside that I would faine knowe by what reason might a man saye that they of the Kinges Blood born out of the allegeance of England may inherite landes within that Realme as heires vnto theyr Ancestours and yet not to be able to inherite the Croune Truly in mine opiniō it were against all reason But on the contrarie side the very force of reason muste driue vs to graunt the like The royall blood beareth his honour vvith it vvhereso euer it be Yea more great and ample priuilege and benefit of the lawe
in the succession of the Croune For the Roial blood where so euer it be found will be taken as a pretious and singular Iewell and will carie with it his worthie estimation honour with the people and where it is dew his right withall Vide Anto CorsetuÌ„ de potest et excell regi q. 100. By the Ciuill lawe the right of the inheritance of priuate persones is hemmed and inched within the bandes of the tenth degre The Blood Roial runneth a farther race so farre as it may be found therfore the great mightie Conquerors are glad faine to ioyne in affinitie with the blood Roial OoÌ„querors glad to ioine vvith the royall blood Henry the first euer fearing the weaknes of their owne bloddie sworde in respect of the greate force and strength of the other For this cause was Henrie the firste called for his learning wisedome Beauclerke glad to consociate and couple him selfe with the auncient Roial blood of the Saxons whiche continueing in the Princely succession from worthie king Alured was cutte of by the death of the good king Edward and by the mariyng of Mathildis being in the fourth degree in lineal descent to the said king Edward was reuiued and reunited From this Edward my sayd souueraine ladie the Queene of Scotland taketh her noble auncient Pedegrue These then and diuers other reasons causes mo may be alleaged for the weighing setting foorth of the true meaning and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and consideratioÌ„s will not satisfie the aduersaries we wil adioine there vnto an other whiche they shall neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward VVe stand vpon the interpretation of the common law recited and declared by the said statute L. fin ff de legibus how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the law is custome Common vse and practise the best interpretation of the lavve EodeÌ„ anno Rex cuÌ„ in diebus suis processisset AeldreduÌ„ VigornenseÌ„ EpiscopuÌ„ ad RegeÌ„ Hungariae transmittens reuocauit inde filium fratris sui Edmundi Eduardum cuÌ„ tota familia sua vt vel ipse ver filii eiê° sibi succederent in regnum Flor. histo 1057. But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and suche as were plainely borne out of the kinges allegeance The foresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other king Eduard the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire whithin the Realme sent into Hungary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Out law son to king EdmuÌ„d called Ironside after many yeres of his exile to returne into England to the intent the said Outlaw should inherite that Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the sayd king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king appointed Eadgar Adeling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen to be his heire as he was of right to the Croune of England And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeres and not able to take vpon him so great a gouernement the said king committed the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to welde the state of a king Flor. bislo 1066. Aelredus Regional leÌ„f de reg AngloruÌ„ ad Regem Henr. â— VVhich Harold neuerthelesse contrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the kingdome and put the Croune vpon his owne head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accoÌ„pted before the time of the Conquest to be a iust cause to repel and reiect any man beinge of the next proximitie in blood from the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Confessors will and purpose tooke no suche force and effect King Stephen and King H. 2. as he desired and the lawe craued yet the like succession tooke place effectuouslye in king Stephen and king Henry the second as we haue already declared Neither will the Aduersaries shift of forainers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings allegeance The aduersaries fond imagination that H. 2. should come to the Croune by compositioÌ„ not by proximitie of blood Rex Stephanus omni haerede viduatus praeter soluÌ„ modo DuceÌ„ Henricum recognouit in conueÌ„tu EpiscoporuÌ„ aliorum de regno Optimatum quod Dux Henr. ius haereditariuÌ„ iÌ„ regnuÌ„ Angliae habebat Et Dux benigne concessit vt Rex Stephanê° tota vita sua suuÌ„ RegnuÌ„ pacifice possideret Ita tamen confirmatuÌ„ est pactuÌ„ quod ipse Rex ipsi tunc praesentes cuÌ„ caeteris regni optimatibê° iurareÌ„t quod Dux Henr. post morteÌ„ Regis si illum superâ—iueret regnum sine aliqua coÌ„ntradictione obtineret Flor. histo An. 1153 The like fond imagination touching King Richardes nephevv Diuersitie of opinions touching the vncle nephue vvhetherof them ought to be preferred in the royall gouuernement help them forasmuche as this clause of the said statute is not to be applied to the kings children but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephen and Henrie the .2 as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers were not of the kings allegeance but mere Aliens and strangers And how notorious a vaine thing it is that the Aduersaries would perswade vs that the said King Henrie the second rather came in by force of a composition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to consider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of that realm The composition did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right thereby than was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no children And no dout in case she had had any children by the Emperour they should haue ben heires by successioÌ„ to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did king Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and afrer her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat
ere the first yere of his vsurped reigne turned about he was spoiled and turned out of both Croune and his life withal Yea his vsurpatiō occasioned the cōquest of the whole realme by VVilliā Duke of Normandie bastard sonne to Robert the sixt Duke of the same And may you thinke al safe sound now from like dāger if you should tread the said wrong steppes with Harolde forsaking the right and high way of law and iustice VVhat shal I now speake of the cruel ciuil warres betwene king Stephen and king Henry the second whiche warres rose by reason that the said Henry was vniustly kept from the Croune dew to his mother Maude and to him afterwardes The pitiful reigne of the said Iohn who doth not lamēt with the lamentable losse of Normandie Aquitaine the possibilitie of the Dukedome of Britanie and with the losse of other goodly possessions in France whereof the Croune of England was robbed and spoiled by the vnlawfull vsurping of him against his nephew Arthur VVell let vs leaue these greuouse and lothsome remembrances let vs yet seeke if we may finde any later interpretatiō either of the said statute or rather of the common law for our purpose And lo the great goodnes and prouidence of God who hath if the foresaid exāples would not serue prouided a later but so good so sure apt mete interpretatiō for our cause as any reasonable hart may desire The interpretatiō directly toucheth our case I meane by the mariage of the Lady Margaret eldest daughter to King Hēry the vij vnto the fourth king Iames of Scotland and by the opinion of the same most prudent Prince in bestowing his said daughter into Scotlād a matter sufficient enough to ouerthrow all those cauilling inuētiōs of the aduersaries For what time King Iames the fourth sent his Ambassadour to King Henry the seuenth to obteine his good will to espouse the said Lady Margaret Polid. 26. there were of his Counsaile not ignorant of the lawes and Customes of the Realme that did not well like upon the said Mariage saying it might so fal out that the right title of the Croune might be deuolued to the Lady Margaret and her children and the Realme therby might be subiect to Scotland To the whiche the prudent and wise king answered King H. 7. vvith his Counsaile is a good interpretor of our present cause that in case any suche deuolution should happen it would be nothing preiudiciall to England For England as the chief and principal and worthiest parte of the I le should drawe Scotland to it as it did Normandie from the time of the Conquest VVhich answere was wonderfully well liked of all the Counsaile And so consequently the Mariage toke effect as appereth by Polydor the Historiographer of that Realme and suche a one as wrote the Actes of that time by the instruction of the king him selfe I say then the worthy wise Salomon foreseeing that such deuolution might happen was an interpretour with his prudente and sage Counsaile for our cause For els they neaded not to reason of any such subiection to Scotlande if the children of the Ladie Margaret might not lawfully inherite the Croune of England For as to her husband Englād could not be subiect hauing him selfe no right by this mariage to the Title of the Croune of that Realme VVherevpon I may well inferre that the said newe Maxime of these men whereby they would rule and ouer rule the successiō of Princes was not knowen to the said wise king neither to any of his Counsaile Or if it were yet was it taken not to reache to his blood royall borne in Scotlande And so on euery side the Title of my Soueraigne Lady Queene Marie is assured So that now by this that we haue said it may easely be seen by what light and slender cōsideration the aduersaries haue gone about to strayne the worde Infantes or children to the first degree only Of the like weight is their other consideration imagining and surmising this statute to be made bicause the king had so many occasions to be so oft ouer the sea with his spouse the Queene As though diuers kings before him vsed not oftē to passe ouer the seas As though this were a personal statute made of a special purpose and not to be taken as a declaration of the common law VVhiche to say is most directely repugnant and contrary to the letter of the said statute Or as though his children also did not very often repaire to outward Countries The mariages of King E. 3. sonnes as Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancastre that Maried Peters the king of Castiles eldest daughter by whose right he clamed the Croune of Castile as his brother Edmund Erle of Camhridge that maried the yongest daughter as Lionell Duke of Clarence that maried at Milaine Violant daughter and heir to Galeatius Duke of Milan But especialy Prince Edwarde whiche moste victoriously toke in battaile Iohn the French King and brought him into England his prisoner to the great triumphe and reioysing of the realme whose eldest sonne Edward that died in short time after was borne beyond the seas in Gascoine and his other sonne Richard that succeded his grandfather was borne at Burdeaux And as these noble King Edwardes sonnes maried with forainers so did they geue out their daughters in mariage to foraine Princes as the Duke of Lancaster his daughter Philip to the King of Portugall and his daughter Catherin to the king of Spaine his Neece Iohan daughter to his sonne Erle of Somerset was ioyned in mariage to the king of Scottes Iohan daughter to his brother Thomas of wodstocke Duke of Gloucester was Queene of Spaine and his other daughter Marie Duchesse of Britānie Now by these mennes interpretation none of the issue of all these noble women could haue enioyed the Croune of England when it had fallen to them though they had bene of the neerest roial blood after the death of their Aūcestours VVhich surely had bene against the auncient presidentes examples that we haue declared and against the common Lawe the whiche must not be thought by this Statute any thing taken away but only declared and against all good reason also For as the kings of England would haue thought that Realme greatly iniuried if it had bene defrauded of Spaine or any of the foresaid countreies being deuolued to the same by the foresaid Mariages so the issue of the foresaide noble women might and would haue thought them hardly and iniuriously handled yf any such case had happened Neither suche friuolous interpretations and gloses as these men nowe frame and make vpon the statute woulde then haue serued nor nowe will serue A fond imagination of the Aduersaries of the statute of 25. E. 3. But of all other their friuolous and folish ghessing vpō the clause of the statute for Infantes de Roy there is one most fond of all For they would make vs beleue
and auoyd all mutuall stryfe contention Lyke answer was made to Scipio surnamed Aphricanê° who hauing by many conflictes daunted the Numantines and broken their great forces asked of Tyresius Prince of the Celtanes how it happened that Numantia whiche so long tyme before had bene inuincible was at the last ouerthrowen bycause sayd Tyresius the amitye and concorde of the Citizens before made them victorious and nowe their discorde hath brought their destructioÌ„ For as there is nothing so weake slender whiche by concorde may not be strengthened so nothing is so strong but discorde can ouerturne it And it is manifestlye knowne what famouse common welthes haue bene defaced and ruyned by discorde and sedition and that no Empire is so wel fortified no Citie so surely established nor house so firmelye builded but that by hatred and dissention it may be ouerturned pulled in pieces dismeÌ„bred and destroyed For discord as Liuie sayeth maketh two Cities of one VVe see how the controuersie bettwene the two brothers Aristobulus and Hircanus brought the kingedome of Iewes in subiection to the Romanes whiles the one called in Pompey for ayd against the other Euenso the dissention of Christian Princes translated the Empire of Constantinople to the TiraÌ„ny of turkes Yea all Syria was by the noble Duke Godfrey of Bullon recouered and had bene submitted to Christianes if a suddain discorde had not frustrated their victorie Sythe then vnanimitie in loue frendshippe is of such importance as therevpon the safetie of a common wealthe dependeth we must endeuour our selfes with all industrie and trauaile to cherishe defend and reteyn concorde among vs. Now therfore when I deeply consider with how many and howe greate benefites and singular guiftes allmightie God hathe endewed your Yland Britaine aboue many other Countries I can not but greatly meruaile what should be the cause whie you are not more carefull to confirme a perpetuall peace and amitie among your selues For you want but this one thinge to make you seeme the most happie people in the worlde This Yland is so full fraught with all thinges necessarie to mannes vse as nothing is there wanting whiche a man may well wishe for First it is furnished with great store of all thinges nedefull eyther for mannes profit or for his pleasure in so much as not only it hath no need of helpe of other Countries but it is also able to supplie the wantes and to serue the turne of forreyners And all this fertilitie and welthe as in a strong Yland enuironed euery waye by sea is sufficiently fenced and fortified by the naturall situation from all foraine incursions inrodes Bysyde all this the commoditie of soyle and eyr be it spoken without offence of other nations bringeth foorth menne and women eyther in respect of comelynesse of personage strengthe of bodye or excellencie of witt so perfect as else where in any place are hardlie to be found Britaine therfore may well be accompted an Yland framed by nature and fashioned not only to defend itselfe but also to beare a great swaye in the worlde And not without cause for the Yle Crete was in auncieÌ„t mennes opinion estemed to be conueniently situated to get and gayne the Empire of Grece by cause it was euery waye enclosed by sea being not farre distant from Peloponese of one syde very neare to Triopio on an other side And by that oportunitie Minos King of Crete became Lord and Soueraign of those seas inuaded the yles adioyning placed in them new inhabitaÌ„tes and if he had not dyed as Aristotle saithe when he went about to conquerre Sicilia he was lyke to haue greatly enlarged the kyndome and dominions of Crete But in how many degrees doeth your Yle excell Crete It is not to be doubted but that your auncestors had achiued famouse interprises with great honour if their naturall helpes and valiant attemptes had not bene frustrated by their Ciuile dissentions VVell reason persuadeth me that a speciall occasion of all your dissentions procedeth from the multitude of Gouernours and from diuersitie of opinions and parties among the communaltye for the regiment of many is verie muche subiecte to stryfe and dissention Therfore Aristotle regarding that consonant vniforme agrement of all thinges whiche appeareth in the whole frame of the world settyth downe this for a conclusion the vvorld vvas made by one God And Homere poetically imagining that there were many Goddes contendyng among them selues about the wellfare and wrecke of Troye whiles some were of opinion to destroye the Citie and some to saue it at last he breaketh out into this exclamation The regiment of many is not profitable let one Gouerne For where the state is suche as many may beare the swaye there oftentimes many controuersies doe growe and verie harde it is for a societie to stand fast and continue bycause the more a man excedeth in haughtinesse or fiercenesse rather of mynde lesse able he is to endure a compere according to that sayeing of the Poet. There is no faithe in peeres of Royall state For none that rules can friendlye brooke a mate Neyther can Caesar yeeld to any one Nor Pompey lyke but aye to rule alone These such like contentions among your Princes haue muche hindered and disturbed your peace more than two thowsand yeres In so much as their inordinate desire to rule whiche is the very seminarie and sede plott of all warres is by your Riches nourished and with your great trauailes paines and bloodeshed fostered and maynteyned Oh miserable people Oh wreched infortunate state which neuer could brooke good fortune neuer wolde be reformed by any necessitie nor was bredde by good destinye but by selfe will and blyndenesse allwayes ouerruled Of trueth it is mere madnesse to preferre the lust and gredynesse of a few Tyrannes before a mans selfe and all that is his and before the safetye and lybertie of his Countrie As they of Sychem dyd whiche vpon the dishonest motion of Abimelech submitted them selues vnto his gouernement Iudic. 9. Methinkes that I heare his troublesome and sediouse speche I am your mouthe sayd he and of your flesh bloode better therfore it vvere for you to take me as your king than my brothers vvhiche are foreyners VVherevpon that fonde people leaned to him and to his rule and gouernement and sayed he is our brother Then Abimelech cruellye dyd fall vpoÌ„ the fiftye laufully borne brothers mordered them that he himselfe a basterd might raigne alone Yet God afterward punished that foule fact in Abimelech hym selfe and requited them of Sichem as they had deserued for the curse of Ioathan fell vpoÌ„ them The lyke wickednesse was in England committed by that mischeuouse parricide the Tyranne Richard who to gain the kingdom neither regarded the honour of his brother then lately deceassed the lyues of his noble Countrie men the blood of his nephewes the right heires of the Croune nor yet the Chastitie of their mother the Queene so great
forrein and Barbarous nation the Englysh Saxons And the lett of that Mariage proceded of the Englyshe whose vse is to seek to wynne that of the Scottes by manacing wordes and force of armes whiche they should desyre by fayr meanes termes of freendlye good will And there wanteth not occasion to suspecte that they dyd it of purpose to the end that by breakyng of that mariage some of them might haue a more reddye accesse to the vsurpation of the Croune of England How soeuer it was the Scottysh Nation was not mynded to yeeld by force and yet scarse able to forbeare were constreyned to craue ayde of the Frenshe whiche they could not obteyne onlesse they sent theyr Queene into Fraunce as an hostage for their fidelitie But there was nothing that the Scottish nation more estemed and desyred at that day than the vnion of those two regions by that mariage as may well be proued by the common opinion and sayeing of the people there before the matter was attempted by way of force and armes vve vnderstand the English mans language sayd the people they oures vve inhabit all one Yland and almost in nothing doe vvee differre but that vvee are gouerned by tvvo seuerall Princes And in dede it is euidently knowne that the Scottishe Nation many yeres before dyd greatlye desyre and wyshe this manner of coniunction in amitye and namely at suche tyme as they maried the noble Lady Margaret the only heire of the croune of Scotlād daughter of Alexander their King to the fyrst Kyng Edward of England By whiche maryage those two kyngdomes had bene vnited had not that noble virgin deceassed before she came to the fyght of her husband Seing then the case thus standeth there is no cause whye eyther the Englysh or Scottishe should vpbraide or reproue one an other but they ought rather to agree all together in one voyce and consent that yf there were none alyue to whome the Soueraigntie of the whole Yland by right could belonged one generall Prince ouer all might be elected by voyce or lott So as at last the whole weale publicque and people might enioye perpetuall peace and be no more with partiall parttakinge sectes factions disturbed Euen as wee rede that the Persians in olde tyme verie prouidently in a like case vsed them selues For as Iustine reporteth when they had slayne their Mages great was their glorie and renowme for the recouerye of their Kyngdome but muche greater for that in contendyng about the gouernement they coulde agree among them selues There was among them many equall in vertue and nobilitie as it was hard for the people to make an election of a gouernour Therfore theyr nobility deuised among them selues an indifferent mean whereby to cōmit the iudgement of their woorthinesse to their goddes They agreed among them selues on a day appointed to lead all theyr horses before the Palace earlye in the mornyng and that he whose horse fyrst dyd neyghe before the rising of the sunne should be kyng The next day after when all were assembled at the houre appointed the horse of Darius sonne of Hydaspes dyd first neygh and gaue that happy signe of good fortune to his maister Immediatlye the modestye of all the rest was suche as vpon the first heearing of the good notice so gyuen they all leapt from their horses and dyd theyr homage to Darius as to their King and all the commons foloweing the iugement of the nobles willyngly confirmed the election accepted hym for theyr Soueraign Thus the kyngdome of Persians wherof at one time there was seuen noble competitors was in a moment reduced to the regiment of one And this they dyd withe suche incredible zeale and pietie towardes theyr Countrye as for the delyuerey therof from trouble and miserye they could haue bene content euery one to haue lost his lyfe Thus farre Iustin Immortall is the honour and renoume of those noble men whiche willinglie preferred the wellfare of their countrey before their priuate ambition But allmightie God hathe eased you well of this doubt For he hathe Layd it open before your eyes what persone it is to whome the Soueraigntie of the whole Yland euen by the lawes of the realm after the decease of the now Queene of England without laufull issue of her body ought to descend and come I mean the most noble Ladye Marye the woorthie Quene of Scotland whose apparēt pietie and vnuincible constancie in aduersitie vniuersally well knowne and talked of through the whole world doeth gyue a plain demonstration how vain and friuolous the Iudgment of those men is which represse and reiect the Regiment of women To this Ladye therfore may the regiment of the whole Yland at length descend according as it was once before to her adiuged by the sentence of her great graundfather Kyng Henry the seauenth and of his Counseill as Polydor reporteth Kyng Iames of Scotland the third saieth he dyd honorably intertein Richard Fox Byshop of durisme Ambassadour sent to him by Kyng Henry the seuēth and at their fyrst meting he showed hym selfe muche greued for the late slaughter of his subiectes but easilie he remitted the iniurie Afterward when they were together alone the Kyng tolde hym how auncient and iust causes of frendshipp had bene betweene Kyng Henry and hym and how greatly he desired the assurance therof that they two myght be tyed together in a more fast knot of loue and amitie whiche out of doubt will folow sayd the Kyng yf King Henry wolde bestow on hym his eldest daughter the Ladye Margaret in Mariage To this the Amhassadour answered coldlie but yet promised his helpe and furtherance and put the Kyng in good hope of the matter if he wold send an Ambassadour directly to that end The Ambassadour vpon hys returne home reported to Kyng Henry the whole matter whiche pleased Kyng Henrye wonderous well as one whiche delyted muche in peace VVithin fewe dayes after this the Ambassadours of Kynge Iames came to request the Ladye Margaret in Mariage Kyng Henrye after audience referred the matter to his Counseil among whome some there were whiche suppected that the kingdome might in processe of tyme be deuolued to the same Ladye Margaret and therfore thought it not good to marie her to a forain Prince whereunto the Kyng made answere and sayd what then Yf any suche thing happen whiche God forbid yet I see our kyngdome should take no harme therby for England should not be added to Scotland but Scotland vnto England as to the farre most noble head of the whole Yland for we see it so fallen owt in all thinges that the lesse is for honour sake euer adioyned to that whiche is farre greater as Normandie in time past came to be vnder the dominion and power of the Kynges of England our auncestors The Kynges Iudgement was greatly commended the whole Counseil approued the matter with a full consent and the sayd Ladye and virgin Margaret was maried to Kyng Iames. Thus
farre hath Polidor Thees are woordes of great importance putte our matter clear out of doubt for here it appeareth that the case solemnlie in counceil by a wyse and prudent King with wise graue and learned Counseilours was debated and with great wisedome resolued concluded and to this some lawyers of that land gyue great authoritie credit Thus it is euidently declared who are the true heires of the Crounes of Englād Scotlād and that the sayd mariage of Iames the fowerth and the sayd Lady Margaret is to be accompted a most fortunate benefit to the whole Yland For if it be true as in dede it is that the mariage of the seuenth Kyng Henrie with the daughter and heir of King Edward the fowerth was to be estemed as a most happie cōmoditie to all England because it dyd cutt of and dissolue all those tumultes and seditions betwene the howses of Yorke and Lancaster which so many yeres had miserablie afflicted all that nation I pray you what reckening is to be made of the matrimonie betwene King Iames the fowerth of Scotlād the Ladye Margaret daughter to the King of England sithe nowe at last by the benefit of this mariage bothe England and Scotland may be quite reskewed and deliuered from those most mortall warres and intestine dissentions whiche for preheminence sake haue bene so long continewed and maintened A happie prince therfore to Englād was King Henry the seuenth for that by him allmightie God abolished all seditions and vnited the two howses of yorke and Lancastre But most fortunate most gratiouse shall the renowmed Quene Mary of Scotland be her most noble sonne king Iames also to the Englishe and Scottishe Nations yf by them two the same God shall bringe the said twoe seuerall kyngdomes to a perfect vnitie reduce the whole Yle of Britaine to his moste auncient estate of dignitie and deliuer it from all ciuill warres and Barbarous crueltie Embrace therfore ye Britaine 's of all mortall men most fortunat and take holde of this singular great benefit when the same by the grace of the euerliuing God shal be bestowed vpō yow and in the mean time euer yeeld ye to him most hūble most hartie thankes for that he of his infinite clemency and benignitie hath at last produced out of booth you bloodes a Prince by whose helpe your domesticall troubles and dissentions may be extinguished a place left for this diuine lawe of peace and amitie to be planted by the same law a soueraigne safetye and wellfare of all the people establyshed For the wellfare of the people consisteth 〈◊〉 in peace and concord But perpetuall peace and quyetnesse can not be among you except these two Realmes be combined and made all one For the force of vnitie is suche as the preseruation therof is the vtter moste ende that nature intendeth Herehence also groweth among men charitie loue frendshipp so farre that many mindes are become all as one first to remember that they must be truely menne in dede and then that they leade a good blessed lyfe whiche is the last ende and perfection of mankinde Sithe therfore the matter goeth so if you will folow God and the law of nature if you desire the safety and wellfare of your countrie yf you will liue well and fortunatlie in this world and at last enioie the perfect blesse of eternall felicitie you must enforce your selues with all labour industrie and diligence that this dispersed people may be called together vnder the regiment of one rightfull Prince and Catholique Religion of their auncestors This will please allmightie God and bring great tranquilitie peace quiet to your selues and to all the people of England Scotland and Yreland And that it maye so be lett vs all continuallie pray to almightie God the supreme gouernour ruler of the whole worlde Amen