the Nation which shâ—ws how far the publick Good was thought to be the Measure of the Obligation of these Oaths Gâ—â— Newburgeâ—sis saith L. 1. c. 30. the Bâ—num publicum was the Foundation of this Agreement A. 1153. And M. Westminster that the King and Lords did all swear to it and a solemn Charter was made of it and kâ—pt in a most secure place HISTORY M. W stm A. D. 1153 f. 246. n. 10 Diligentia Theobaldi Archiepiscopi Cantuartensi Episcoporum râ—gni Rex Anglorum Stephanus D x Nâ—â—mannorum Hâ—nricus apud Waâ—ingford talem concordiam inierunt c. By the D ligence of Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of the Kingdom the following Agreement was made between King Stephen and Henry Duke of Normandy at Walingford King Stephen not having an Heir except only Duke Henry did acknowledge in an Assembly of the Bishops and other chief Men of the Kingdom that Duke Henry had the hereditary Right to the Kingdom of England and the Duke kindly granted that King Stephen should during his Life peaceably enjoy his Kingdom The Agreement was so co firmed that the King him elf and the Bishops then present with the rest of the best Men of the Kingdom sware that Duke Henry after the Death of the King if he should outlive him should enjoy the Kingdom without all Contradiction Oâ— which Agreement there was a Charter made which was kept in a most secure place Ibid. n. 20. This is what the Historian hath in both places cited by the Author The whole Charter is in Brompton Brompton col 1037. n. 60. and begins thus Stephanus Râ—x Angliae Archiepiscopis Episcopis Abbatibus Comitibus Justitiariis Vicecomitibus Bâ—ronibus omnibus fidelibus suis salutem Sciatis quod Ego Rex Stephanus Henricum Ducem Normanâ—â—ae post me Successorem regni Angliae hae edem meum jâ—re haereditario constitus sic e haeredibus suis regnum Ang iae donavi consiâ—mavi Dâ—x vero propter hunc honorem Donationem Confirmationem sibi a me factam Homagio michi Sacramento securitatem fecit scilicet qâ—od fidelis mâ—chi erit vitam honâ—rem meum pro suo posse custodiet per Convâ—ntiones inter nos praelocâ—tas quae in hac Charta continentur Stephen K ng of England c Know ye that I have appointed Henry Duke of Normandy Successor of the Kingdom of England after me and my Heir by hereditary Righâ— and so have given and confirmed the Kingdom of England to him and his Heirs For which Honour Donation and Confiâ—mation made by me to him he gave me Security by Homage and Oath that he would be faithful to me and preserve my Life and Honour to the utmost of his power according to the Agreements made by us which are contained in this Charter Neubrigensis speaking of this Treaty says L. 1. c 30. p. 104. In Paris Ed. 1610. Pâ—acuâ—t inter eos that is the King and Duke solemne salubre colleqâ—ium celebrari ubi amicis mediantibus circa bonum publicum pia prudenti provisione satagentibus pâ—x inter eos caute formata solide firmata est Tâ—ey agreed to have a solemn and wholsome Treaty where by the Mediation of Friends having a pious and prudent respect to the common Good a Peace was warily made and solidly confirmed Ibidem p. 105. Quibus Deo propitio salâ—briter actis Rex Angliam Anglia pacem recepit annis enim jamplurimis fere nudo regis nomine insignis tunc recipere visus est hujus rem nominis quasi tunc primo regnare coepit quia tunc primo purgata Invasionis Tyrannica macula legitimi principis justitiam induit Which things being done by God's Assistance the King received England and England received Peace for having had the bare name of King for many Years now he enjoyed the thing it self and began then first to reign because then the Blot of Tyrannical Invasion being first wiped out he exercised the Justice of a lawful King The Author 's further Words about this Accord p. 22. And thus the Oaths of Allegiance were continued to one that had no Right for his Life and made to one who predended to no R ght but after his Mother who was set aside in this Agreement for we never read that she was present at the Agreement or resigned her Right to the Crown So that here were three Oaths of Allegiance at once that to Maud the Empress that to King Stephen and to Henry II. and yet the general Good of the Nation must give an equitable Sense of these Oaths or there must be Perjury on all sides The Answer to what the Author says about this Agreement and the Exclusion of Maud c. By this Accord it was owned by King Stephen Bishops and Barons which were then the Parliament or Colloquium as the Author confesseth that thâ— hereditary Right was in Duke Henry and he granted that King Stephen during his Life should peaceably enjoy his Kingdom And if the Right was in Henry might he not recede from it if he pleased And the Agreement says he did during Stephen's Life This Retrocession made the Bishops and Barons Oaths to the Agreement lawful and if he had not some testimony of a Cession or Resignation by and from his Mother though not mentioned in the Agreement this Convention could not upon Stephen's Acknowledgment only have own'd his hereditary Right upon Oath And that by Cession or some other way she did quit and leave her Right to govern to her Son 't is most probable from what follows Mâ—nd the Empress Malmâ—b f. 104. a.n. 10. upon the death of her Father and the Invasion of Stephen on the 30â—h of September in the Year 1139 came into England with her Brother Robert and managed the War against him in her own Person her Son being but a Child He was born A.D. 1133. and her Husband engaged in the Defence of Normandy Anjon c. against the King of France Her three great Supports were her half Brother Robert Earl of Gloucester Ranulph Earl of Chester and Milo Earl of Hereford the last Chaon Gervas Col. 1359. n. 10 Col. 1361. n. 10. Col. 1362. n. 10. lin 1. to her very great Grief died in the Year 1143. the second made his Peace with King Stephen 1145. and the first Robert Earl of Gloucester died in the beginning of November in the Year 1146. of an high Fever after he had sent Henry then being about thirteen Years of Age over to his Father into Normandy After the loss of these Friends and Supports the Empress Ibidem Col. 1363. lin 1. wearied out with these Commotions and Wars in England before Lent in the Year 1147. passed over into Normandy chusing rather to live there with her Husband in Peace than undergo so many Troubles In the Year 1149. Ibidem Col. 1366.
c. and under the name of Danes †Aelfred vit f. 10. c. 14. ever since the beginning of King Egbert having by continued Invasions and Piracies harassed and grievously wasted and molested England in the Reign of King Aelfred by pact and bargain between him and Guthran enjoy'd East Saxony or Essex and the County of the East Angles and as * Faedus Aelfr Guthr c. 1. Lamb. fol 36. some say a far greater part of the Nation In King Ethelred's Reign Swane King of Denmark with a great Army Invaded and made himself Master of the whole Nation forcing Ethelred and his Wife Emme Sister to Richard the Second Duke of Normandy with their two Sons Edward and Alfred into that Country The Danish Kings stayed not long here after Swane had conquer'd the Kingdom they all four Reigned not much above 25 years their only Title was the Sword notwithstanding they either brought hither the custom of the Predecessors naming or giving the Kingdom to his Successor as probably it might have been some times practis'd in their own Kingdoms or used it as they found it here practis'd in cases of Necessity and in their Childrens Minority by the Saxon Kings †Encomium Emmae pr. by du Chesn amongst the old French Histor fol. 164. B. Swane made his Son Cnute his Successor He married Emme the Widow of Ethelred by whom he had his Son Harde Cnute To him his half Brother Cnute gave all that had been any ways under his Government but he being then in Denmark * Ibid. C. Harold possessed himself of the Kingdom who was a Bastard Son of a Maid Servant brought into his Concubines Chamber and imposed upon him by her Fol. 174. A. B. and for this reason Elnoth Archbishop of Canterbury refused to Consecrate him King and to deliver him the Crown and Scepter After the death of Harold Harde Cnute called his half Brother Edward by his Mother Emme afterward called the Confessor out of Normandy and caused him to live with him and dying within less than two years after left him Heir of his whole Kingdom Gul. Gemeticens l. 6. c. 9. Totius regni reliquit haeredem And he not long before he died made William the Conqueror his Successor Anno eodem viz. 1065. Note the Reason Rex Edwardus senio gravatus cernens Clitonis Edwardi nuper defuncti filium Edgarum Regio folio minus idoneum tam corde quam corpore Godwinique Comitis multam malamque sobolem Quotidie super terram crescere ad Cognatum suum Wilhelmum Comitem Normanniae animum apposuit eum sibi succedere in regnum Angliae voce flabili sancivit In the same year King Edward growing infirm with Age perceiving Edgar Aetheling the Son of Prince Edward lately Deceased neither in Mind nor Body fit for the Government nor to bear up against the growing Power and Malice of Godwin's Sons thought upon his Cousin William Earl of Normandy Fol. 511. b. n. 30. and by a firm Declaration Decreed he should be his Successor in the Kingdom Ingulph that Reports this was at the very time Secretaty to this William Earl of Normandy and after he had given him a great Character for his Courage Conduct and constant success in War his Justice Religion and Devotion subjoyns that King Edward sent Robert Archbishop of Canterbury as Envoy to him to let him know he was designed his Successor in his Kingdom Which probably he would never have done if this and the like Donations had been question'd in those days Nay †Review of Tyrhs p. 482. Mr. Selden says This Donation was a lawful Title William Rufus had the same Right and Title of Succession by the Donation of his Father and as his Testamentary Heir * Fragmt de vitâ Gul. long f. 32. n. 20. 30. 40. Orde Vit. f. 39. C. D. Ralph de Diceto Dean of St. Paul's who lived in or very near the time says †Col. 505. n. 40. 50. That Hugh Bigod Steward of the King made speed out of Normandy where King Henry died into England and made Oath before the Archbishop of Canterbury That upon his Death bed upon some Differences that hapned between him and his Daughter the Empress did disinherit her and made Stephen Earl of Boloign his Heir Whereupon William Archbishop of Canterbury giving too much credit to the Words of the Steward consecrated Stephen Earl of Mortaign King at Westminster If this should be true he succeeded as Testamentary Heir to King Henry King John was Testamentary Heir to his Brother Richard who upon his Death-bed when he despaired of Life devised to his Brother John the Kingdom of England and all other his Lands and made all present swear Fealty to him and commanded that his Castles and Three parts of his Treasure should be delivered to him * f. 449. b. lin 37. Wals Hypodig Neustriae f. 457. n. 40. Roger Hoveden who was a Domestick in the Family of King Henry II. and wrote at this very time delivers this King John before he left the World made Henry his First-begotten Son his Heir Paris who * f. 288. lin 2. Mat. West f. 276. n. 40. writes this was Historian to this Henry After what hath been premised the Author's History comes to be considered upon his first Query which he maintains upon Instances in the Saxon Norman and subsequent times The Author's Words P. 13. As to the former I say the resolution of Conscience in this case doth not depend upon the Will and Pleasure of the Person to whom the former Oath was made but upon the ground on which it was made and from which it had its force to oblige and if those cease the obligation of the Oath ceases together with them And whether they do or not no particular Person is so fit to judge as the Three Estates of the Realm as I shall now prove from several remarkable Instances to this purpose in our Histories and Parliament Records whereby I shall make it appear that when a Dispute hath hapned about the Right of Succession and to whom the Oaths of Allegiance were to be made they have looked on it as their proper Right to limit the Succession and determine the Oaths The Author's Words and Application continued ibid. p. 13. V nder the British Government we find a considerable Instance to our purpose Vortigern A.G. 454. Magnates Brit. Regem Vortigernum penitus deserentes unanimiter filium suum in Regem sublimaverunt Mat. West p. 83. the British King had enter'd into a Secret League to bring over the Saxons upon which the Great Men of the Nation deserted him and chose Vortimer in his room he was his eldest Son Here it is plain they thought the introducing a Foreign Power a sufficient discharge of their Obligation to him it being so directly contrary to the publick Good of the Nation although Vortigern gave them no Discharge In the Desertion of Vortigern
n. 30. Col. 1367. n 30. Chr. Norm f. 984 B.C. A. D 1150 M Wâ—stin eod An. Henry came into England with an Army in the Month of May and returned into Noâ—mandy in the beginning of January next following without Success In the Year 1150. Henry took possession of his Mother's Inheritance haereditatem matris the Dukedom of Normandy and did Homage to Lewâ—s King of France for it his Father Geofrey being present both when he took Possession and did Homage and they returned together from Paris rejoicing and no doubt if they two were so well pleased with what had been done the Mother could not be dissatisfied nor could it be done without her Consent Ibidem D. A. D. 1150 On the 7th of September his Father Geofrey died and gave to Henry Dâ—ke of Normandy his eldest Son the Earldom of Anjou Henrico Duci Normanniae primogenito suo concessit Comitatam Andegavensem Chr. Gerv. Col. 1372. n. 30. The old Historians began the Yâ—ar at Christmas In the Year 1153. Duke Henry all things being quiet beyond Sea came with some Forces into England on the 1st of January His Câ—ming was no sooner known but the Earls and great Men flocked to him and upon the 8th of the same Month the Year following the Agreement was made between King S ephen and Duke Henry Matth. Westminster says it was made A. D. 1153. Chr. Norm f 1101. D A. D. 1166 From the time Maud the Empress left England in the Year 1147 she is not so much as mentioned by any Historian until the time of her death which was on the 4th of the Ides or 10th of September 1166. From these Particulars 't is most probable if not certain that she was satisfied with and consented to this Agreement either at the time it was made or by Cession from the Kingdom and Government by relinquishing it and leaving the whoâ—e Management to her Son who was now Duke of Normandy Earl of Anjou Ibid. f. 985. C. and in Right of his Wife Alienor Duke of Aquitain and being now above twenty Years of Age fit for Action When he came for England she was in her declining Age her Years being then about fifty and fixing her Mind upon Works of Charity she spent the rest of her Days in performing of them Ib. f. 1101. D. for she built three Monasteries in Normandy one of Cistersians in the Country of Caux another of Canons near Cherburgh and a third of Canons in the Forest of Goser and for the building of the Stone Bâ—idge of Rhoven over the River Seyn which had been begun by her she gave a great Summ of Money She was a Woman of a very brisk and high Spirit as appears by her Actions in England and after she left it she lived nineteen Years and twelve or thirteen after her Son was King So as if she had not relinquished her Right to England as she had done about three Years before this Agreement to Normandy the Historians could not have been so silent concerning her So that from hence 't is evident that such as had taken the three Oaths were safe for upon Maâ—d's Cession or relinquishing her Right the Obligation of the Oath made to her ceased Then the Oath made to Stephen seeing it was done by the Consent of Henry who had the Right became lawful And thirdly Theâ—e can be no Scruple about the Legality of the Oath made to H nry who upon the Cession of his Mother had the hereditary Right and this is suggested and owned in the Agreement But the Author says The general Good of the Nation must give an equitable Sense of these Oaths or there must be Perjury on all sides What could this general Good then be It could not be the Publick of the Nation in a true sense for the Buâ—k and Body of the People were English Saxons for though the Normans had taken away their Estates and made them Slaves as appears by Dooms-day-Book and the black Book in the Exchequer yet we read not that they massacred or murthered them And what general Good did they receive by or what equitable Sense did or could what was general Good to them give to the Normans Oaths For all the Bishops and Noblemen that took these Oaths were Normans All the Bishops Earls and Barons that were Witnesses to the Instrument of Agreement and sware to it in number thirty seven were Normans except Geofrey of Monmuth a Welshman or Britain then Bishop of St. Asaph That England was an Habitation of Strangers meaning the Normans and governed by Foreigners Malms f. 52. a. n. 40. Malmâ—bury wrote at this time and says when he wrote there was no natural Englishman a Duke that is a great or leading Man a Bishop or an Abbot all sorts of Outlandish-men devoured the Riches and Bowels of England nor was there any hopes this Misery would have an end Anglia facta est exterorum habitatio alieniginarum dominatio nullus hodie Anglus vel Dux vel Pontifex vel Abbas Advenae quique divitias viscera corrodunt Angliae nec ulla spes finiendae miseriae And in another place speaking of the Battle of Hastings he says Ibid. f 57. a. n. 30. That was the fatal Day to the English the lamentable Destruction of his sweet Country by its receiving new Lords and Masters Illa fuit dies fatalis Anglis funestum excidium dulcis patriae pro novorum Dominorum commutatione Let the Author tell the World how the general Good of a Nation that were miserable People and Slaves could give an equitable Sense of their Conquerors and cruel domineering Masters Oaths Let him shew how the general Good of any Nation can give an equitable Sense to the Oaths of such Men who were educated in Perjury Rapine Murther and and all sorts of Barbarities and Wickedness whose Gain and Advantage was the Measure of all their Actions In the Year 1104 or 1105 notwithstanding all the great Normans had swore Fealty to their true and lawful Duke Robert yet when Henry came from England with good store of Money they ran after him and delivered to him Castles and fortified Towns Eadmer f. 80. lin 1. A D. 1104. Hoved. f. 289 b. n. 30 A. D. 1105 Anno millesimo centesimo quinto Rex Anglorum Henricus transiit mare omnes autem pene majores-Normannorum ad ejus adventum spreto comite Domino suo cui fidelitatem juraverant in aurum argentum regis quod ipse de Anglia portaverat cucurrerunt eique castra munitasque civitatis tradiderunt It was the way in Normandy and from thence brought hither when any Earl or great Man found himself grieved by another injured or highly affronted they frequently got together all their Men at Arms their other Tenants and poor Dependants and as much Assistance from their Friends and Confederates as they could and burnt one anothers Castles or Houses destroyed their Lands and small Territories and