in the House of York these men endeavour to shew all the contrary to wit that there was nothing else but suspition hatred and emulations among themselves and extreme cruelty of one against the other and so we see that as soon almost as Edward Duke of York came to be King George Duke of Clarence his younger Brother conspired against him and did help to drive him out again both from the Realm and Crown In recompence whereof his said elder Brother afterward notwithstanding all the reconciliation and many others that passed between them of new love and union caused him upon new grudges to be taken and murthered privily at Calis as all the World knoweth And after both their deaths Richard their third Brother murthered the two Sons of his said elder Brother and kept in prison whiles he lived the Son and Hâ—ir of his second Brother I mean the young Earl of Warwick though he were but a very Child whom King Henry the seventh afterward put to death But King Henry the eighth that succeeded them passed all the rest in cruelty toward his own kindred for he weeded out almost all that ever he could find of the Bloud Royal of York and this either for emulation or causes of meer suspicion only For first of all he beheaded Edmond de la Pole Duke of Suffolk Son of his own Aunt Lady Elizabeth that was Sister to King Edward the fourth which Edward was Grandfather to King Henry as is evident The like destruction King Henry went about to bring to Richard de la Pole Brother to the said Edmond if he had not escaped his hands by flying the Realm whom yet he never ceased to pursue until he was slain in the battel of Pavia in service of the King of France by whose death was extinguished the noble house of the de la Poles Again the said King Henry put to death Edward Duke of Buckingham high Constable of England the Son of his great Aunt Sister to the Queen Elizabeth his Grandmother and thereby overthrew also that worthy House of Buckingham and after again he put to death his Cousen-jerman Henry Câ—urtâ—â—y Marquess of Excester Son of the Lady Catherine his Aunt that was Daughter of King Edward the fourth and attained joyntly with him his Wife the Lady Gertrude taking from her all her goods lands and inheritance and committed to perpetual prison their only Son and Heir Lord Edward Courtney being then but a Child of seven years old which remained so there until many years after he was set at liberty and restored to his living by Queen Mary Moreover he put to death the Lady Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury Daughter of George Duke of Clarence that was Brother of his Grandfather King Edward the fourth and with her he put to death also her eldest Son and Heir Thomas Poole Lord Montague and committed to perpetual prison where soon after also he ended his life a little Infant named Henry Poole his Son and Heir and condemned to death by act of Parliament although absent Renald Poole Brother to the said Lord Montague Cardinal in Rome whereby he overthrew also the Noble House of Salisbury and Warwick neither need I to go further in this relation though these men do note also how Edward the sixth put to death two of his own Uncles the Seymers or at least it was done by his authority and how that under her Majesty that now is the Queen of Scotland that was next in kin of any other living and the chief titler of the House of York hath been put to death Lastly they do note and I may not omit it that there is no noble house standing at this day in England in the antient state of calling that it had and in that dignity and degree that it was in when the House of York entered to the Crown if it be above the State of a Barony but only such as defended the right and interest of the Houses of Lancaster and that all other great Houses that took part with the House of York and did help to ruine the House of Lancaster are either ceased since or extiâ—pated and overthrown by the same House of York it self which they assisted to get the Crown and so at this present they are either united to the Crown by confiscation or transferred to other lineages that are strangers to them who possessed them before As for example the ancient Houses of England that remain at this day and were standing when the House of York began their title are the House of Arundel Oxford Northumberland Westmerland and Shrewsbury for all others that are in England at this day above the dignity of Barons have been advanced since that time and all these five houses were these that principally did stick unto the House of Lancaster as is evident by all English Chronicles For that the Earl of Arundel brought in King Henry the fourth first King of the House of Lancaster and did help to place him in the Dignity-Royal coming out of France with him The Earl of Oxford and his Son the Lord Vere were so earnest in the defence of King Henry the sixth as they were both slain by King Edward the fourth and John Earl of Oxford was one of the principal assistants of Henry the seventh to take the Crown from Richard the third The House of Northumberland also was a principal aider to Henry the fourth in getting the Crown and two Earls of that name to wit Henry the second and third were slain in the quarrel of King Henry the sixth one in the battel of St. Albans and the other of Saxton and a third Earl named Henry the fourth fled into Scotland with the said King Henry the sixth The House of Westmerland also was chief advancer of Henry the fourth to the Crown and the second Earl of that House was slain in the party of Henry the sixth in the said battel of Saxton and John Earl of Shrewsbury was likewise slain in defence of the title of Lancaster in the battel of Nâ—rthampton And I omit many other great services and faithful endeavoure which many Princes of these five noble ancient houses did in the defence of the Lancastrian Kings which these men say that God hath rewarded wiâ—â— continuance of their houses unto this day But on the contrary side these men do note that all the old houses that principally assisted The title of York are now extinguished and that chiefly by the Kings themselves of that house as for example the principal Peers that assisted the family of York were Mâ—â—â—ray Duke of Norfolk de la Poole Duke of Suffolk the Earl of Saâ—isâ—uâ—y and the Earl of Warwiâ—k of all which the event was this John Moubray Duke of Nâ—rfolk the first considerate of the House of York died soon after the exaltation of Edward the fourth without Issue and so that name
and Chartres in France and the other two Polidor said dyed before they were Married and so their names were not Recorded These are the Children of King William the Conqueror among whom after his death there was much strife about the Succession For first his eldest Son Duke Robert who by order of Ancestrie by birth should have succeeded him in all his Estates was put back first from the Kingdom of England by his third Brother William Rufus upon a pretence of the Conquerors Will and Testament for particular affection that he had to this his said third Son William though as Stow Writeth almost all the Nobility of England were against William's entrance But in the end agreement was made between the two Brothers with the condition that if William should dye without Issue then that Robert should succeed him and to this accord both the Princes themselves and twelve principal Peers of each side were Sworn but yet after when William dyed without Issue this was not observed but Henry the fourth Son entred and deprived Robert not only of this his Succession to England but also of his Dukedom of Normandy that he had enjoyed peaceably before all the time of his Brother Rufus and moreover he took him Prisoner and so carried him into England and there kept him till his death which happened in the Castle of Cardif in the year 1134. And whereas this Duke Robert had a goodly Prince to this Son named William who was Duke of Normandy by his Father and Earl of Flanders in the right of his grand Mother that was the Conquerors Wife and Daughter of Baldwin Earl of Flanders as hath been said and was established in both these States by the help of Lewis the VI. surnamed Le Gros King of France and admitted to do homage to him for the said States his Uncle King Henry of England was so violent against him as first he drove him out of the state of Normandy and secondly he set up and maintained a Competitor or two against him in Flanders by whom finally he was slaine in the year of Christ 1128. before the Town of Alost by an Arrow after he had gotten the upper hand in the Field and so ended the race of the first Son of King William the Conquerour to wit oâ— Duke Robert which Robert lived after the Death of his said Son and Heir Duke William Six years in Prison in the Castle of Cardiff and pined away with sorrow and misery as both the French and English Histories do agree The second Son of the Conqueror named Richard dyed as before hath been said in his Fathers time and left no Issue at all as did neither the third Son William Rufus though he Reigned 13. years after his Father the Conqueror in which time he established the Succession of the Crown by consent of the States of England to his elder Brother Duke Roberts issue as hath been said though afterwards it was not observed This King Rufus came to the Crown principally by the help and favour of Lanfrancus Archbishop of Canterbury who greatly repented himself afterward of the error which in that point he had committed upon hopes of his good Government which proved extream evil But this King William Rufus being slayn afterward by the Arrow of a Cross-bow in Newforrest as is well known and this at such time as the foresaid Duke Robert his elder Brother to whom the Crown by Succession apperteined was absent in the War of the Holy Land where according as most Authors do Write he was chosen King of Hierusalem but refused it upon hope of the Kingdom of England But he returning home found that his fourth Brother Henry partly by fair promises and partly by force had invaded the Crown in the year 1110. and so he Reigned 35. years and had Issue divers Sons and Daughters but all were either drounded in the Seas coming out of Normandy or else dyed otherwise before their Father except only Mathildis who was first Married to Henry the Emperour fifth of that name and after his death without Issue to Geffrey Plantagenet Duke of Anjow Touraine and Maine in France by whom she had Henry which Reigned after King Stephen by the name of Henry the II. And thus much of the Sons of William the Conqueror Of his two Daughters that lived to be Married and had Issue the elder named Constance was Married to Alayn Fergant Duke of Britain who was Son to Hoel Earl of Nants and was made Duke of Britain by William the Conquerors means in manner Following Duke Robert of Normanyd Father to the Conqueror when he went on Pilgrimage unto the Holy Land in which Voyage he dyed left for Governour of Normandy under the protection of King Henry the first of France Duke Alayne the first of Britain which Allayn had Issue Conan the first who being a stirring Prince of about 24. years old when Duke William began to treat of passing over into England he shewed himself not to favour much that enterprise which Duke William fearing caused him to be Poysoned with a pair of perfumed Gloves as the French stories do report and caused to be set up in his place and made Duke one Hoel Earl of Nantes who to gratifie William sent his Son Alaine surnamed Fergaâ—t with 5000. Souldiers to pass over into England with him and so he did and William afterward in recompence thereof gave him his eldest Daughter Constantia in Marriage with the Earldom oâ— Richmond by whom he had Issue Conan the second surnamed le Gross who had Issue a Son and a Daughter The Son was called Hoel as his Grand-Father was and the Daughters name was Bertha Married to Eudo Earl of Porhet in Normandy and for that this Duke Conan liked better his Daughter and his Son in-law her Husband then he did Hoel his own Son he disavowed him on his Death Bead and made his said Daughter his Heir who had by the said Eudo a Son named Conan surnamed the younger which was the third Duke of that name and this man had one only Daughter and Heir named Lady Constance who was Married to the third Son of King Henry the second named Geffrey and elder Brother to King John that after came to Reign and by this Lord Geffrey she had Issue Arthur the second Duke of Britain whom King John his Uncle put back from the Crown of England and caused to be put to death as after shall be shewed and he dying without Issue his Mother Constance Dutchess and Heir of Britain Married again with a Prince of her own House whom after we shall name in the prosecution of this Line and by him she had Issue that hath endured until this day the last whereof hitherto is the Lady Isabella infant of Spain and that other of Savoy her Sister whom by this means we see to have descended from King William the Conqueror by his eldest Daughter Lady
Constance as also by divers other participations of the Bloud-Royal of England as afterwards will appear Now then to come to the second Daughter of King William the Conquerour or rather the third for that the first of all was a Nun as before hath been noted her name was Adela or Alice as hath been said and she was Married in France to Stephen Count Palatine of Champagne Charters and Bloys by whom she had a Son called also Stephen who by his Grand Mother was Earl also of Bullaine in Picardy and after the death of his Uncle King Henry of England was by the favour of the English Nobility and especially by the help of his own Brother the Lord Henry of Blâ—is that was Bishop of Winchester and Jointly Abbot of Glastenbury made King of England and this both in respect that Mathilda Daughter of King Henry the first was a Woman and her Son Henry Duke of Anjou a very child and one degree farther off from the Conqueror and from King Rufus then Stephen was as also for that this King Henry the first as hath been signified before was judged by many to have entred wrongfully unto the Crown and thereby to have made both himself and his posterity incapable of Succession by the violence which he used against both his elder Brother Robert and his Nephew Duke William that was Son and Heir to Robert who by nature and Law were both of them hold for Soverains to John by those that favoured them and their pretentions But yet howsoever this were we see that the Duke of Britainy that lived at that day should evidently have succeeded before Stephen for that he was descended of the elder Daughter of the Conqueror and Stephen of the younger though Stephen by the commodity he had of the nearness of his Port and Haven of Bullain into England as the French stories do say for Calis was of no importance at that time and by the friendship and familiarity he had goten in England during the Reign of his two Uncles King Rufus and King Herny and especially by the heâ—p of his Brother the Bishop and Abbot as hath been said he got the start of all the rest and the states of England admitted him This man although he had two Sons namely Eâ—stachius Duke of Normandy and William Earl of Norfolk yet left they no Issue And his Daughter Mary was Married to Matthew of Flanders of whom if any Issue remains it fell afterwards upon the House of Austria that succeeded in those States To King Stephen who left no Issue succeeded by composition after much War Henry Duke of Anjou Son and Heir to Mathilda before named Daughter of Henry the first which Henry named afterward the second took to his Wife Eleanor Daughter and Heir of William Duke of Aquitain and Earl of Poytiers which Eleanor had been Married before to the King of France Lewis the VII and bare him two Daughters but upon dislike conceaved by the one against the other they were Divorced under pretence of being within the fourth degree of Consanguinity and so by second Marriage Eleanor was Wife to this said Henry who afterwards was King of England by name of King Henry the II. that procured the death of Thomas Backet Archbishop of Canterbury and both before and after the greatest Enemy that ever Lewis the King of France had in the World and much the greater for his Marriage by which Henry was made far stronger for by this Woman he came to be Duke of all Aquitain that is of Gascony and Guiene and Earl of all the Country of Poytiers whereas before also by his Fathers inheritance he was Duke both of Anjou Touraine and Maine and his Mother Mathilda King Henries Daughter of England he came to be King of Enland and Duke of Normandy and his own industry he got also to be Lord of Ireland as also to bring Scotland under his homage so as he enlarged the Kingdom of England most of any other King before or after him This King Henry the II. as Stow recounteth had by Lady Eleanor five Sons and three Daughters His eldest Son was named William that dyed young his second was Henry whom he caused to be crowned in his own Life time whereby he received much trouble but in the end this Son dyed before his Father without issue His third Son was Richard sirnamed for his valour Cor de Leon who reigned after his Father by the name of Richard the I. and dyed without issue in the Year of Christ 1199. His fourth Son named Geffrey married Lady Constance Daughter and Heir of Britany as before hath been said and dying left a son by her named Arthur which was Duke of Britany after him and pretended also to be King of England but was put by it by his Uncle John that took him also Prisoner and kept him also in the Castle first of Fallaise in Normandy and then in Rouan until he caused him to be put to death or slew him with his own hands as French Stories write in the Year 1204 This Duke Arthur left behind him two Sisters as Stow writeth in his Chronicles but others write that it was but one and at least wise I find but one named by the French Stories which was Eleanor whom they say King John also caused to be murthered in England a little before her Brother the Duke was put to death in Normandy and this was the end of the Issue of Geffrey whose Wife Constance Dutchess of of Britany married again after this Murther of her Children unto one Guy Vicount of Touars and had by him two daughters whereof the eldest named Alice was Dutchess of Britany by whom the Race hath been continued unto our time The Fifth Son of King Henry the II. was named John who after the death of his Brother Richard by help of his Mother Eleanor and of Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury drawn thereunto by his said Mother got to be King and put back his Nephew Arthur whom King Richard before his departure to the War of the Holy Land had caused to be declared Heir apparent but John prevailed and made away both Nephew and Neece as before hath been said for which Fact he was detested of many in the World abroad and in France by Act of Parliament deprived of all the States he had in those parts Soon after also the Pope gave sentence of Deprivation against him and his own Barons took Arms to execute the sentence and finally they deposed both him and his young Son Henry being then but a Child of eight years old and this in the eighteenth year of his Reign and in the Year of Christ 1215. and Lewis the VIII of that name Prince at that time but afterwards King of France was chosen King of England and sworn in London and placed in the Tower though soon after by the sudden death of King John
shall now begin to make more particular declaration taking my beginning from the Children of King Edward the third who were the causers of this fatal dissention CHAP. III. Of the succession of English Kings from King Edward the third unto our days with the particular causes of dissention between the Families of York and Lancaster more largely declared KIng Edward the third surnamed by the English the Victorious though he had many Children whereof some died without Issue which appertain not to us to treat of yet had he five Sons that left Issue behind them to wit Edward the eldest that was Prince of Wales surnamed the Black Prince Leonel Duke of Clarence which was the second Son John of Gaunt so called for that he was born in that City that was the third Son and by his Wife was Duke of Lancaster and fourthly Edmond surnamed of Langley for that he was also born there and was Duke of York and last of all Thomas the fifth Son surnamed of Woodstock for the same reason of his birth and was Duke of Gloucester All these five Dukes being great Princes and Sons of one King left Issue behind them as shall be declared and for that the descendents of the third and fourth of these Sons to wit of the Dukes of Lancaster and York came afterward to strive who had best Title to Reign thereof it came that the controversie had his name of these two Families which for more distinction sake and the better to be known took upon them for their Ensigns a Rose of two different colours to wit the White Rose and the Red as all the World knoweth whereof the White served for York and the Red for Lancaster To begin then to shew the Issue of all these five Princes it is to be noted that the two elder of them to wit Prince Edward and his second Brother Leonel Duke of Clarence dyed both of them before King Edward their Father and left each of them an Heir for that Prince Edward left a Son named Richard who Succeeded in the Crown immediately after his Grand-father by the name of King Richard the second but afterward for his evil Government was deposed and dyed in prison without Issue and so was ended in him the Succession of the first Son of King Edward The second Son Leonel dying also before his Father left behind him one only Daughter and Heir named Philippa who was married to one Edmond Mortimer â—arl of March and he had by her a Son and Heir named Roger Mortimer which Roger had Issue two Sons named Edmond and Roger which dyed both without Children and one daughter named Anne Mortimer who was married unto Richard Plantagenet Earl of Cambridge second Son unto Edmond Langly Duke of York which Duke Edmond was fourth Son as hath been said unto King Edward the third and for that this Richard Plantagenet married the said Anne as hath been said hereby it came to pass that the House of York joyned two titles in one to wit that of Leonel Duke of Clarence which was the second Son of King Edward the third and that of Edmond Langly Duke of York which was the fourth Son and albeit this Richard Plantagenet himself never came to be Duke of York for that he was put to death while his elder Brother lived by King Henry the fifth for a conspiracy discovered in Southampton against the said King when he was going over into France with his Army yet he left a Son behind him named also Richard who afterward came to be Duke of York by the death of his Uncle which Uncle was slain soon after in the Batteâ— of Ageâ—couâ—t in France and this Richard began first of all to prosecute openly his quarrel for the Title of the Crown against the House of Lancaster as a little afterward more in particuler shall be declared as also shall be shewed how that this 2 Richard Duke of York being slain also in the same quarrel left a Son named Edward Earl of March who after much trouble got to be King by the name of King Edward the 4 by the oppression and putting down of King Henry the 6 of the House of Lancaster and was the first King of the House of York whose Genealogy we shall lay down more largely afterwards in place convenient And now it followeth in order that we should speak of John of Gaunt the third Son but for that his descent is great I shall first shew the descent of the fifth and last Son of King Edward who was Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester and Earl of Buckingham that was put to death afterward or rather murthered wrongfully by order of his Nephew King Richard the second and he left only one daughter and Heir named Anne who was married to the Lord Stafford whose Family afterward in regard of this marriage came to be Dukes of Buckingham and were put down by King Richard the third and King Henry the eighth albeit some of the bloud and name do remain yet still in England And thus having brought to an end the Issue of three Sons of King Edward to wit of the first second and fifth and touched also somewhat of the fourth there resteth to prosecute more fully the Issues and descents of the third and fourth Sons to wit of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and of Edmond Langly Duke of York which are the Heads of these two Noble Families which thing I shall do in this place with all brevity and perspicuity possible beginning first with the House of Lancaster John of Gaunt third Son of King Edward being Duke of Lancaster by his Wife as hath been said had three Wives in all and by every one of them had issue though the Bishop of Ross in his great Latine Arbour of the Genealogies of the Kings of England Printed in Paris in the year 1580. assigneth but one Wife only to this John of Gaunt and consequently that all his Children were born of her which is a great and manifest errour and causeth great confusion in all the rest which in his Book of the Queen of Scots Title he buildeth hereon for that it being evident that only the first Wife was Daughter and Heir of the House of Lancaster and John of Gaunt Duke thereof by her it followeth that the Children only that were born of her can pretend properly to the inheritance of that house and not others born of John of Gaunt by other wives as all the World will confess First then as I have said this John of Gaunt married Blanch Daughter and Heir of Henry Duke of Lancaster and had by her one Son only and two Daughters The Son was called Henry Earl first of Darby and after made Duke of Hereford by King Richard the second and after that came to be Duke also of Lancaster by the death of his Father and lastly was made King by the deposition of his Cousen German the said King
affirm by the Causes and Arguments before-alledged against him no reason say they but that this Lady should enter into his place as next in Bloud unto him Secondly it is alledged in her behalf That she is an English woman born in England and of Parents who at the time of her Birth were of English Allegiance wherein she goeth before the King of Scots as hath been seen as also in this other principal point that by her admission no such inconvenience can be feared of bringing in strangers or causing Troubles or Sedition within the Realm as in the pretence of the Scottish King hath been considered And this in effect is all that I have heard alledged for her But against her by other Competitors and their Friends I have heard divers Arguments of no small Importance and Consideration produced whereof the first is that which before hath been alledged against the King of Scotland to wit that neither of them is properly of the House of Lancaster as in the Genealogy set down in the third Chapter hath appeared And secondly That the title of Lancaster is before the pretence of York as hath been proved in the fourth Chapter whereof is inferred that neither the King of Scots nor Arabella is next in Succession And for that of these two propositions there hath been much treated before I remit me thereunto only promising That of the first of the two which is how King Henry VII was of the House of Lancaster touching Right of Succession I shall handle more particularly afterward when I come to speak of the House of Portugal whereby also shall appear plainly what pretence of Succession to the Crown or â—utchy of Lancaster the Descendents of the said King Henry can justly make The second Impediment against the Lady Arabella is the aforesaid Testament of King Henry VIII and the two Acts of Parliament for authorising of the same by all which is pretended that the House of Suffolk is preferred before this other of Scotland A third Argument is For that there is yet living one of the House of Suffolk that is nearer by a degree to the Stem to wit Henry VII to whom after the decease of Her Majesty that now is we must return than is the Lady Arabella or the King of Scots and that is the Lady Margaret Countess of Darby Mother to the present Earl of Darby who was Daughter to Lady Eleanor Daughter of Queen Mary of France that was second Daughter of King Henry VII so as this Lady Margaret Countess of Darby is but in the third degree from the said Henry whereas both the King of Scotland and Arabella in the fourth and consequently she is next in propinquity of Bloud and how greatly this propinquiâ—y hath been favoured in such cases though they were of the younger Line the Examples before-alledged in the fourth Chapter do make manifest Fourthly and lastly and most strongly of all they do argue against the title of this Lady Arabella affirming that the descent is not free from bastardy which they prove first for that Queen Margaret soon after the death of her first Husband and King James the IV. married secretly one Stuart Lord of Annerdale which Stuart was alive long after her marriage with Douglas and consequently this second marriage with Douglas Stuart being alive could not be lawful which they do prove also by another name for that they say it is most certain and to be made evident that the said Archibald Douglas Earl of Anguis had another Wife also alive when he married the said Queen which points they say were so publick as they came to King Henry's ears whereupon he sent into Scotland the Lord William Howard Brother to the old Duke of Norfolk and Father to the present Lord Admiral of England to enquire of these points and the said Lord Howard found them to be true and so he reported not only to the King but also afterwards many times to others and namely to Queen Mary to whom he was Lord Chamberlain and to divers others of whom many be yet living which can and will testifie the same upon the relation they heard from the said Lord William's own mouth whereupon King Henry was greatly offended and would have hindred the Marriage between his said Sister and Douglas but that they were married in secrret and had consumated their Marriage before this was known or that the thing could be prevented which is thought was one especial cause and motive also to the King afterward to put back the Issue of his said Sister of Scotland as by his forenamed Testament is pretended and this touching Arabella's title by propinquity of Birth But besides this the same men do alledge divers reasons also of inconvenience in respect of the Commonwealth for which in their opinions it should be hurtful to the Realm to admit this Lady Arabella for Queen As first of all for that she is a Woman who ought not to be preferred before so many men as at this time stand for the Crown And that it were much to have three Women to Reign in England one after the other whereas in the space of above a thousand years before them there hath not reigned so many of that Sex neither together nor asunder for that from Cordick first King of the West Saxons unto Egbert the first Monarch of the English Name and Nation containing the space of more then 300 years no one Woman at all is found to have Reigned and from Egbert to the Conquest which is almost other 300 years the like is to be observed and from the Conquest downwards which is above 500 years one only Woman was admitted for Inheritrix which was Maud the Empress Daughter of King Henry I. who yet after her â—athers death was put back and King Stephen was admitted in her place and she never received by the Realm until her Son Henry II. was of age to govern himself and then he was received with express condition That he should be Crowned and govern by himself and not his Mother which very condition was put also by the Spaniards not long after at their admitting of the Lady Berenguela younger Sister of Lady Blanch Neece to King Henry II. whereof before often mention hath been made to wit the Condition was That her Son Ferdinando should govern and not she though his title came by her so as this Circumstance of being a Woman hath ever been of much consideration especially where men do pretend also as in our Case they do Another Consideration of these men is that if this Lady should be advanced unto the Crown though she be of Noble Bloud by her Fathers side yet in respect of Alliance with the Nobility of England she is a meer stranger for that her Kindred is only in Scotland and in England she hath only the Candishes by her Mothers side who being but a mean Family might cause much grudging among the
English Nobility to see them so greatly advanced above the rest as necessarily they must be if this Woman of their Lineage should come to be Queen which how the Nobility of England would bâ—ar is hard to say And this is as much as I have heard others say of this matter and of all the House of Scotland wherefore with this I shall end and pass over to treat also of the other Houses that do remain of such as before I named CHAP. VI. Of the House of Suffolk containing the Claims of the Countess of Darby and her Children as also of the Children of the Earl of Hartford IT hath appeared by the Genealogy set down before in the third Chapter and often-times mentioned since how that the House of Suffolk is so called for that the Lady Mary second Daughter of King Henry VII being first married to Lewis XII King of France was afterwards married to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk who being sent over to condole the death of the said King got the good will of the Widow-Queen though the common Fame of all men was That the said Charles had a Wife living at that day and divers years after as in this Chapter we shall examine more in particular By this Charles Brandon then Duke of Suffolk this Queen Mary of France had two Daughters first the Lady Frances married to Sir Henry Gray Marquess of Dorset and afterwards in the right of his Wife Duke also of Suffolk who was afterwards beheaded by Queen Mary And secondly Lady Eleanor married to Sir Henry Clifford Earl of Cumberland The Lady Frances elder Daughter of the Queen and of Charles Brandon had Issue by her Husband the said last Duke of Suffolk three Daughters to wit Jane Katharine and Mary which Mary the youngest was betrothed first to Arthur Lord Gray of Wilton and after left by him she was married to one M. Martin Keyes of Kent Gentleman-Porter of the Queens Houshold and after she died without Issue And the Lady Jane the eldest of the three Sisters was married at the same time to the Lord Guilford Dudley fourth Son to Sir John Dudley Duke of Northumberland and was proclaimed Queen after the death of King Edward for which act all three of them to wit both the Father Son and Daughter-in-law were put to death soon after But the Lady Katharine the second Daughter was married first upon the same day that the other two her Sisters were unto Lord Henry Herbert now Earl of Pembroke and upon the fall and misery of her House she was left by him and so she lived a sole Woman for divers years until in the beginning of this Queens days she was found to be with-child which she affirmed was by the Lord Edward Seymor Earl of Hartford who at that time was in France with Sir Nicholas Throgmorton the Embassador and had purpose and license to have travelled into Italy but being called home in hast upon this new accident he confessed that the Child was his and both he and the Lady affirmed that they were man and wife but for that they could not prove it by Witnesses and for attempting such a Match with one of the Blood Royal without Privity and License of the Prince they were Committed to the Tower where they procured Means to meet again afterward and had an other Child which both Children do yet live and the Elder of them is called Lord Henry Beacham and the other Edward Seymor the Mother of whom lived not long after neither married the Earl again until of late that he married the Lady Frances Howard Sister to the Lady Sheffield And this is all the Issue of the elder Daughter of Charles Brandon by Lady Mary Queen of France The second Daughter of Duke Charles and the Queen named Lady Eleanor was married to Henry Lord Clifford Earl of Cumberland and had by him a Daughter named Margaret that married Sir Henry Stanely Lord Strange and after Earl of Darby by whom the said Lady who yet liveth hath had Issue Ferdinando Stanley now Earl of Darby William and Francis Stanley And this is the Issue of the House of Suffolk to wit this Countess of Darby with her Children and these other of the Earl of Hartford of all whose Titles with their Impediments I shall here briefly give an account and reason First of all both of these Families do joyn together in this one point to exclude the House of Scotland both by foreign Birth anh by the aforesaid Testament of King Henry authorized by two Parliaments and by the other Exclusions which in each of the titles of the King of cots and of Lady Arabella hath been before-alledged But then secondly they come to vary between themselves about the Priority or Propinquity of their own Succession for the Children of the Earl of Hartford and their Friends do alledge That they do descend of Lady Frances the elder Sister of Lady Eleanor and so by Law and Reason ought to be preferred But the other House alledgeth against this two Impediments the one That the Lady Margaret Countess of Darby now living is nearer by one degree to the Stem that is to King Henry VII then are the Children of the Earl of Hartford and consequently according to that which in the former fourth Chapter hath been declared she is to be preferred albeit the Children of the said Earl were legitimate Secondly they do affirm That the said Children of the Earl of Hartford by the Lady Katharine Gray are many ways illegitimate First for that the said Lady Katharine Gray their Mother was lawfully married before to the Earl of Pembroke now living as hath been touched and publick Records do testifie and not lawfully separated nor by lawful authority nor for just Causes but only for temporal and worldly respects for that the House of Suffolk was come into misery and disgrace whereby she remained still his true Wife and before God and so could have no lawful Children by any other whiles he yet lived as yet he doth Again they prove the illegitimation of these Children of the Earl of Hartford for that it could never be lawfully proved that the said Earl and the Lady Katharine were married but only by their own assertions which in Law is not holden sufficient for which occasion the said pretended Marriage was disannulled in the Court of Arches by publick and definitive Sentence of Doctor Parker Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of England not long after the Birth of the said Children Furthermore they do add yet another Bastardy also in the Birth of Lady Katharine her self for that her Father Lord Henry Gray Marquess of Dorset was known to have a lawful Wife alive when he married the Lady Frances Daughter and Heir of the Queen of France and of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk and Mother of this Lady Katharine for obâ—aining of which said Marriage the said Marquess put away his foresaid
John that was King after his Father by the Name of John the third Secondly the Lady Isabel Married to the Emperor Charles the fifth and Mother to King Philip of Spain that now liveth Thirdly Lady Beatrix Married to Charles Duke of Savoy and Mother to Duke Philibert the last Duke that Died and Grand-mother to this that now Liveth Fourthly Lord Lewis Father to Don Antonio that now is in England Fifthly Lord Henry that was Cardinal and Archbishop of Ebora and in the end King of Portugal And sixthly Lord Edward that was Father of the two Dutchesses of Parma and Bragansa to wit of the Lady Mary and Lady Catharine both which left goodly Issue for that Lady Mary hath left by the last Duke of Parma Lord Ranutius that is now Duke of Parma and Lord Edward that is Cardinal And the Lady Catharine Dutchess of Bragansa that yet liveth hath Issue divers goodly Princes as the Lord Theodosius that is now Duke of Bragansa and three younger Brothers to wit Edward Alexander and Philip young Princes of great expectation and these are the Children of King Emmanuel whose particular Successions and Issues I shall declare somewhat more in particular Prince John of Portugal afterward King by name of King John the Third had Issue another John that was Prince of Portugal but died before his Father and left a Son Named Sebastian who was King and slain afterward by the Moors in Barbary and so ended this first Line The second Son and fourth Child of King Emmanuel was Named Lord Lewis and died also without Issue Legitimate as is supposed for that Don Antonio his Son that afterward was proclaimed King by the People of Lisbone and now liveth in England was taken by all men to be unlawful as presently more at large shall be shewed so as after the Death of King Sebastian there entred the Cardinal Lord Henry which was third Son of King Emmanuel and Great-Uncle to Sabastian lately Desceased for that he was Brother to King John the third that was Grand Father to King Sebastian And albeit there wanted not some according as the Authors Write which afterward I shall Name who affirmed and held that King Philip of Spain should have succeeded King Sebastian before the Cardinal for that he was nearer in Consanguinity to him than was the Cardinal for that besides that King Philip was Son of King Emmanuâ—ls Eldest Daughter he was Brother also to King Sebastians Mother yet the said Cardinal entred peaceably and by consent of all parties but for that he was Old and Unmarried and not like to leave any Child of his own there began presently the Contention in his days who should be his Successor To which Succession did pretend five Princes of the Blood-Royal of Portugal besides the Lady Catharine Queen-Mothers of France who pretended by her Mothers side to be Descended of one Lord Ralph Earl of Bullain in Piccardy which Ralph was Eldest Son of Alfonsus the third King of Portugal which Alfonsus before he was King to wit in the time of his Eldest Brother King Sanches of Portugal was Married to the Countess and Heir of Bullain Named Mathildis and had by her this Ralph But afterwards this Alfonsus coming to be King of Portugal he Married again with the King of Castile's Daughter and had by her a Son called Denyse who reigned after him and his Successors unto this day all which Succession of King Denyse and his Posterity the said Queen Mother would have improved and shewed that it appertained unto her by the said Raphe and for this cause sent she to Portugal one Lord Vrban Bishop of Comince in Gascony to plead her Cause which Cause of hers was quickly rejected and only the aforesaid five Princes Descended of King Emmanuel's Children were admitted to the Tryal for the same which were Don Antonio Son of Lord Lewis the King Cardinals Elder Brother and King Philip of Spain Son of Lady Elizabeth the Eldest Sister of the said Cardinal and Philibert Duke of Savoy Son of the Lady Beatrix the same Cardinals Younger Sister and the two Dutchesses of Parma and Bragansa named Mary and Catharine Daughters of Lord Edward Younger Brother of the said Cardinal and Youngest Child of the said King Emmanuel And for that the Lady Mary Dutchess of Parma which was the Elder of the two Daughters was Dead before this Controversy fell out her Eldest Son Lord Ranutio now Duke of Parma pretended by her Right to the said Crown And for that this matter was of so great Importance every party procured to lay down their Reasons and declared their Rights in the best manner they could and such as could not be present themselves in Portugal sent thither their Agents Embassadors and Attorneys to plead their Cause for them Don Antonio and the Dutchess of Bragansa as Inhabitants of that Kingdom were present and declared their pretences Namely Don Antonio by himself and for himself and the Lady Mary of Bragansa by her Husband the Duke and his Learned Councel The Prince of Parma sent thither for his part one Ferdinando Farneso Bishop of Parma The Duke of â—avoy seâ—t Charles of Rovere afterward made Cardinal The King of Spain as the greatest pretender sent the Lord Peter Gyron Duke of Osuna afterward Viceroy of Naples and Sir Christopher de Mora Knight of his Chamber at that time but since of his Privy-Council and lately made Earl of Castil Rodrigo in Portugal of which Country he is a Native and besides these two a great Lawyer Named Roderigo Vasques made since as I hear say Lord President of Castil which is as much almost as Lord Chancellor with us All these did lay forth before the King Cardinal their several Reasons and Pretensions to the Succession of the Crown of Portugal for the five persons before-mentioned whereof two were quickly excluded to wit the Duke of Savoy for that his Mother was Younger Sister to King Philip's Mother and himself also of less Age then the said King And secondly Don Antonio was also excluded by publick and Judicial Sentence of the King Cardinal his Uncle as Illegitimate and Born out of lawful Wedlock And Albeit Don Antonio denyed the same and went about to prove himself Legitimate affirming that his Father the Lord Lewis before his Death had Married with his Mother in secret and for this brought forth some Witnesses as Namely his Mothers Sister with her Husband and two others Yet the King Cardinal affirmed that upon Examination he had found them Suborned which he said was evident to him partly for that they agreed not in their Speeches and partly for that some of them had Confessed the same to wit that they were Suborned whom he cast into Prison and caused them to be punished And so sitting in Judgment accompanied with four Bishops and four Lawyers whom he had called to assist him in this Cause he pronounced the same Don Antonio to be a Bastard for
Children we shall see the like course continued for we shall see put to death within the space of four years all these following by Name the Duke of Somerset the Duke of Suffolk the Duke of Northumberland and the Lord Admiral of England Sir Miles Partridge Sir Ralph Vane Sir Michael Stanhope Sir Thomas Arundel Sir John Gates Sir Thomas Palmer Knights with divers other Gentlemen of their Retinue and all these by Natural Domestical and Home-born Princes whereas I dare adventure the greatest Wager that I can make that you shall not find so many put to death of the Nobility by any strange Prince State or Commonwealth Christian in any Foreign Dominion that they possess in many Ages together and the reason thereof is evident by that I said before neither were it policy or wisdom nor could the causes be so often nor ordinarily given by the Nobility to a Prince that were absent from them to use such Severity so as by this it may also appear that to be under a Foreign Government even in the worst kind thereof that can be devised which is to be as a Province or piece of another Kingdom and to come under it by very Conquest it self is not so dangerous a matter as at the first shew it may seem and much less to be under Foreign Government by other sweeter means of Succession or Composition as the present case of England seemeth to import in respect of those foreign Princes which do pretend to the Succession thereof And this is not only shewed and declared by the state and condition of Flanders before their tumults but in like manner it is seen by the present state of Britanny Normandy Aquitaine Provence and other Dukedoms and Countries in France that were wont to have their own particular Princes and now are much more commodiously under the Crown of France The like is seen by the States of Naples Millain Sicily Sardinia and other parts and Countries of Italy which were wont to be under Kings and Princes of their own and now are under the Crowns of Aragon and Castile with infinite odds of peace rest security and wealth then they were before when they had domestical Princes and so themselves do confess I mean the wise and dispassionate among them for of the Vulgar in this case no account is to be made and if they should deny it yet the thing speaketh it self and the publick Histories of their Countries would convince them wherein it is to be read what Phalaris what Dionysius and other homeâ—born Tyrants Sicily for example hath had and suffered and with what infinite cruelty they and divers others of their own Governours have exercised upon them as also what continual turmoils there were in the City of Naples and in all that Kingdom for many years together after it self fell from the Government first of the Roman Empire and then of the Grecian until it came to the Crown of Aragon I mean between their own domestical Kings now of the Blood of Italians now of the Normans now of the Hungarians and now of the French for of all these Lines there have reigned among them and the Realm was a perpetual prey to Souldiers and the very like may be said of Millain after their fall from the Roman Empire under which they lived quiet and prosperously until they came again to be under the Crown of Spain they passed infinite Tribulations first by the contention of their common People against their Nobility and then by the Bloody falling out of their chief Families the one against the other to wit the Furiani Visconti Marcelli Castilioni and Ssorzi which Family last of all prevailed he I say that shall remember this and then behold the present state with the quiet peace safety and riches wherein they now live will now live wiâ—l easily confess that they have changed for the better though they be under Foreign Government and thus much of this point There remaineth to speak a word or two about the second part of the Question before proposed and included partly in this which already hath been treated to wit whether it be better to be under a little or great King which question though it may be decided in part by that which before hath been alledged about being under a foreign Prince yet more particularly to make the same plain these men do say that the reasons be many and evident to prove that the subjection to a great and mighty Monarch is far better First for that he is best able to defend and protect his Subjects And secondly for that he hath least need ordinarily to pill and pole them for that a little King be he never so mean yet must he keep the State of a King and his subjects must maintain the same and if they be but few the greater will the burthen be of every one in particular And thirdly for that a great and potent Prince hath more to bestow upon his Subjects for reward of Vertue and Valour than hath a poor and seeing that every particular subject born within his Princes Dominions is capable of all the Prefermenes which Princes State or Kingdom do yield if he be worthy of the same it is a great Prerogative say these men to be born under a potent Prince that hath much to give which they declare by this example following A man that is born in the City of Genoua or Geneva for both are Cities and States within themselves let him be of what ability or worthiness soever yet can he hope for no more preferment than that Commonwealth and State can give and if there should be many worthy men born there at one time then were this his condition worse for then must he part also with other men though there were not sufficient for himself and the most he could aspire unto if he were an Ecclesiastical man were the greatest Benefice within that State and on the other side if he were a Temporal man he could not hope for much for that the State hath it not to bestow but another that is born under a great Monarch as is the King of France or Spain in these our dayes that hath so many great Bishopricks for Examples sake and other Spiritual Livings to bestow upon the Clergy and so many high Governments and Employments both of War and Peace to give unto Temporal men that can deserve the same This man I say hath a great Advantage of the other in respect of preferment at this day but much more was it in old time to be born under the Roman Empire when it had the preferments of all the World to bestow for that every subject thereof was capable of all the said preferments so far forth as he could make himself worthy and deserve the same For better explication of which point yet I have thought good to cite in this place the words of a certain Learned Knight that in our dayes hath written the Lives
Bastardies or other particular impediments that may have fallen upon each discent or branch thereof all these things said he may alter the course of common supposed right in him or her that is taken to be next in bloud as proving them not to be truly and lawfully the nearest though they be the next in degree As for example said he the whole multitude of competitors or pretendors which I conceive may come in consideration or have action or claim to the Crown after her Majesty that now is may be reduced to three or four first heads or principal stocks to wit to the House of Lancaster a part as descended of John of Gant Duke of Lancaster by his first Wife Blanch sole Heir of the Dutchess of Lancaster And of this branch or stock the most known off spring in these our days are those Princes that are lineally descended of Don Juan the first sirnamed de bona memoria tenth King of Portugal who married with Philippa the eldest Daughter of the said John of Gant by his first Wife Blanch and these Princes are King Philip of Spain now King also of Portugal and the Duke of Parma and Braganza who descended of the same race as also the Duke of Savoy on degree after them The second stock is of the house of York a part descended of George the Duke of Clarence second Brother to King Edward the fourth who being put to death by the Kings order in Cales left a daughter by whom were descended the Earl of Huntington with his Brothers which also have children and the off spring of Geffry Pole and Sir Thomas Barrington who married the other Sister of her that was married to the Hastings The third stock was in King Henry the seventh who being himself of the house of Lancaster and marrying the eldest daughter of Edward the fourth of the house of York is presumed to have joyned these two houses together and from this man by his two daughters for of his Son who was King Henry the eighth there remaineth only the Queen that now is there hath proceeded the house of Scotland divided into the families of the King of Scots and Arabella as also the Progeny of the two Earls yet living of Hartford and Darby Vnto these three heads which are commonly known to all men some of our days do add also a fourth which may seem more ancient then either of these three to wit by the Duke of Britany who are descended divers ways of the bloud royal of England as may easily be declared whose Heir at this day by lineal descent is the Infanta of Spain named Dona Isabella Clara Eugenia daughter to King Philip. So that hereby we come to discover no less then ten or eleven families that may pretend and have all of them friends in England and else where as yesterday I told you who do not fail in secret to negotiate and lay plots for them for that there are none of these so far off but to their friends it seemeth the times standing as they do that reasons may be given for their preferment and good hope conceived of prevailing You do well to add said a Captain there present the times standing as they do or at leastwise as they are like to stand when this matter must come to tryal at what time I believe not you Lawyers but we Souldiers must determine this title and then no doubt if there were not only these ten by you named but twenty more also of the Bloud Royal that would pretend and had friends and money to stand by them we should admit their causes to examination and perhaps give sentence for him that by your laws would soonest be excluded for when matters come to snatching it is hard to say who shall have the better part I do not add this circumstance of the time said the Lawyer as though it were the only or principal point which maketh doubtful the matter of Succession though I confess that helpeth thereunto greatly in respect of the great variety of mans affections at this day in Religion which do decline them commonly to judge for him whom they best love but besides this I do say that were the times never so quiet and Religion never so uniform yet are there great doubts in many mens heads about the lawfulness of divers Petitions of the Families before-named but if you add unto this the said wonderful diversity in matters of Religion also which this time yieldeth you shall find the event much more doubtful and consequently it is no marvel though many may remain in hope to prevail seeing that where many are admitted to stand for a preferment there divers may have propability also of speeding An example you may take said the Civilian Lawyer in the Roman Conclave at the Popes election where among three or four score Cardinals that enter in for Electors few there are that have not hope also to be elected not for that they see themselves all well qualified as others but because often times when divers that are more forward by likelyhood cannot be agreed upon it falleth to the lot of him that is farthest off and so it may among your pretenders quoth he in England Your example said the Temporal Lawyer confirmeth somewhat of that I mean though it be not altogether in like matter or manners for that the Pope is made by Election and here we talk of a King by Succession Your Succession said the Civilian includeth also an Election or approbation of the common-wealth and so doth the succession of all Kings in Christendom besides as well appeareth by the manner of their new admision at their Coronations where the people are demanded again if they be content to accept such a man for their King though his title of nearness by bloud be never so clear And therefore much more it is like to be in this case of English pretenders now where their lawful nearness in bloud is so doubtful as you have signified and so I do come to confirm your former proposition of the doubtfulness of the next Successor in England with another reason besides that which you have alledged of the ambiguity of their true propinquity in bloud for I say further that albeit the nearness of each mans succession in bloud were evidently known yet were it very uncertain as things now stand in England and in the rest of Christendom round about who should prevail for that it is not enough for a man to be next only in bloud thereby to pretend a Crown but that other circumstances also must concur which if they want the bare propinquity or ancestry of bloud may justly be rejected and he that is second third fourth fifth or last may lawfully be preferred before the first and this by all Law both divine and human and by all reason conscience and custom of all Christian Nations To this said the temporal Lawyer you go further Sir then
of Kin also to King Henry the eighth of England yet could he never get to be restored but passed his time miserably partly in Banishment and partly in Prison until he died But it shall be best perhaps to end this short Narration with an Example or two out of England it self for that no where else have I read more remarkable accidents touching this point than in England but for brevity sake I shall only touch two or three that have happened since the Conquest for that I will go no higher though I might as appeareth by the Example of King Edwin and others neither will I begin to stand much upon the Example of King John though well also I might for that by his evil Government he made himself both so odious at home and contemptible abroad having lost Normandy Gascoin Guyen and all the rest in effect which the Crown of England had in France as first of all he was both Excommunicated and Deposed by the Sentence of the Pope at the Suit of his own people and was forced to make his peace by resigning his Crown into the hands of Pandulf the Pope's Legaâ—e as Polidor recounteth and afterwards falling back again to his old defects and naughty Government albeit by his promise to the Pope to go and make War against the Turks if he might be quiet at home and that his Kingdom should be perpetually tributary to the See of Rome he procured him to be of his side for a time and against the Barons yet that stayed not them to proceed to his Deprivation which they did effectuate first at Canterbury and after at London in the 18 th and last year of King John's Reign and meant also to have disinherited his Son Henry which was afterwards named King Henry the 3 d. and at that time a Child of Eight years old only and all this in punishment of the Father if he had lived and for that cause they called into England Lodowick Prince of France Son to King Philip the second and Father to St. Lewis the ninth and chose him for their King and did swear him Fealty with general consent in London in the year of our Lord 1216. And but that the Death of King John that presently ensued alter'd the whole course of that defignment and moved them to turn their purposes and accept of his Son Henry before matters were fully established for King Lodowick it was most likely that France and England would have been joyned by these means under a Crown But in the end as he said King Henry the third was admitted and he proved a very worthy King after so evil as had gone before him and had been Deposed which is a circumstance that you must always note in this Narration and he reigned more years than ever King in England did before him for he reigned full Fifty three years and left his Son and Heir Edward the first not inferiour to himself in Manhood and Virtue who reigned 34 years and left a Son named Edward the second who falling into the same or worse defects of Government than King John his Great-Grand-father had done was after 19 years reign Deposed also by Act of Parliament holden at London in the year 1326. and his Body adjudg'd to perpetual Imprisonment he being Prisoner at that present in the Castle of Wallingford whither divers both Bishops Lords and Knights of the Parliament were sent unto him to denounce the Sentence of the Realm against him viz. How they had deprived him and chosen Edward his Son in his stead For which act of choosing his Son he thanked them heartily and with many tears acknowledged his own unworthiness whereupon he was degraded his Name of King first taken from him and he appointed to be called Edward of Carnarvan from that hour forward and then his Crown and Ring were taken away and the Steward of his House brake the Staff of his Office in his presence and discharged his Servants of their Service and all other people of their Obedience or Allegiance towards him And towards his maintenance he had only a hundred Marks a year allowed for his Expences and then was he delivered also into the hands of certain particular Keepers who led him Prisoner from thence by divers other places using him with extreme indignity in the way until at last they took his Life from him in the Castle of Barklay and his Son Edward the third reigned in his place who if we respect either Valour Prowess length of Reign Acts of Chivalry or the multitude of famous Princes his Children left behind him was one of the noblest Kings that ever England had though he were chosen in the place of a very evil one as you have seen But what shall we say Is this worthiness which God giveth commonly to the Successors at these changes perpetual or certain by Descent No truly noâ— the example of one Prince's punishment maketh another to bewares for the next Successor after this noble Edwardâ— which was King Richard the second though he were not his Son but his Sons Son to wit Son and Heir to the renowned Black Prince of Walâ—s This Richard I say forgetting the miserable end of his Great-Grand-father for evil Government and the felicity and virtue of his Father and Grand-father for the contrary suffered himself to be abused and misled by evil Counsellors to the great hurt and disquiet of the Realm For which cause after he had reigned 22 years he was also Deposed by Act of Parliament holden in London in the year of our Lord 1399. and condemned to perpetual Imprisonment in the Castle of Pontefract where he was soon after put to death also and used as the other before had been And in this man's place by free Election was chosen for King the noble Knight Henry Duke of Lancaster who proved afterwards so notable a King as the World knoweth and was Father to King Henry the fifth commonly called the Alexander of England for that as Alexander the Great conquered the most part of Asia in the space of 9 or 10 years so did this Henry conquer France in less than the like time I might reckon also in this number of Princes Deposed for defect in Government though otherwise he were no evil man in life this King Henry the fourths Nephew I mean King Henry the sixth who after almost forty years Reign was Deposed and Imprisoned and put to death also together with his Son the Prince of Wales by Edward the fourth of the House of York and the sameâ— was confirmed by the Commons and especially by the people of London and afterwards also by publick Act of Parliament in respect not only of the Title which King Edward pretended but also and especially for that King Henry did suffer himself to be over-ruled by the Queen his Wife and had broken the Articles of Agreement made by the Parliament between
as also he left a little Infant newly born of his lawful Wife Adeltrude Daughter to King Alfred of England which infant was King of France afterwards by the name of Charles the Simple albeit not immediatly after the death of his Father for that the Nobles of France said that they had need of a Man to be King and not a Child as Gerard reporteth and therefore the whole State of France chose for their Kings the two foresaid Bastards Luys the third and Carlomon the First of that name jointly and they were Crowned most solemnly and divided the whole Realm between them in the year of Christ 881. and Queen Adelâ—rude with her child true Heir of France fled into England to her Father and there brought him up for divers years in which time she saw four or five Kings Reign in his place in France one after the other for briefly thus it passed Of these two Bastard Kings the Elder named Luys reigned but four years and died without issue the second that is Carlomon lived but one year after him and left a son called also Luys which succeeded in the Kingdom by the name of Luys the Fifth and sirnamed Faineant for his idle and slothful life For which as also for his vitious behaviour and in particular for taking out and marrying a Nun of the Aâ—bey of S. Baudour at Chels by Paris he was deprived and made a Monk in the Abbey of S. Denis where he died and in his place was chosen King of France and Crowned with great Solemnity Charles the Fourth Emperour of Rome sirnamed le Gros for that he was fat and corpulent he was Nephew to Charles the Bald before mentioned and therefore the French Stories say that he came to the Crown of France partly by Succession and partly by Election but for Succession we see that it was nothing worth for so so much as Charles the Simple the right Heir was alive in England whom it seemeth that the French men had quite forgotten seeing that now they had not only excluded him three times already as you have heard but afterwards also again when this Gross Charles was for his evil Government by them deposed and deprived not only of the Kingdom of France but also of his Empire which he had before he was King and was brought into such miserable penury as divers write that he perished for want At this time I say the States of France Would not yet admit Charles the Simple though hitherto his Simplicity did not appear but he seemed a goodly Prince but rather they chose for King one Odo Earl of Paris and Duke of Angiers and caused him to be Crowned But yet after a few years being weary of this man's Government and moved also somewhat with compassion towards the Youth that was in England they resolved to depose Odo and so they did whilst he was absent in Gascony and called Charles the Simple out of England to Paris and restored him to the Kingdom of France leaving only to Odo for Recompense the State of Aquitaine with Title of a Duke wherewith in â—ine he contented himself seeing that he could get no more But yet his Posterity by vertue of this Election pretended ever after a Title to the Crown of France and never left it off until at length by Hugo Capetus they got it for Hugh descended of this King and Duke Odo This King Charles then sirnamed the Simple an English Womans Son as you have heard being thus admitted to the Crown of France he took to Wife an English Woman named Elgina or Odin Daughter of King Edward the Elder by whom he had a Son named Lowys and himself being a Simple man as hath been said was allured to go to the Castle of Peronne in Picardy where he was made Prisoner and forced to resign his Kingdom unto Ralph King of Burgundy and soon after he dyed through Misery in the same Castle and his Queen Ogin fled into England with her little son Luys unto her Uncle King Adelstan as Queen Adeltrude had done before with her Son unto King Alfred and one of the Chief in this Action for putting down of the Simple was Counte Hugh sirnamed the Great Earle of Paris Father unto Hugo Capetus which after was King But this new King Ralph lived but three Years after and then the States of France considering the right Title of Luys the lawful child of King Charles the Simple which Luys was commonly called now in France by the name of d' Outremer that is beyond Sea for that he had been brought up in England the said States being also greatly and continually solicited hereunto by the Embassadours of King Adelstan of England and by William Duke of Normandy sirnamed Long Spear Great Grandfather to William the Conquerour who by the King of England was gained also to be of the young Princes part for these Considerations I say they resolved to call him into France out of England as his Father had been before him and to admit and Crown him King and so they did and he Reigned 27 Years and was a good Prince and dyed peaceably in his Bed in the Year of Christ 945. This King Luys d' Outremer left two Sons behind him the Eldest was called Lothaire the First who succeeded him in the Crown of France the Second was named Charles whom he made Duke of Loraine Lothaire dying left one onely Son named Luys as his Grandfather was who was King of France by the name of Luys the V. and dying without issue after two Years that he had Reigned the Crown was to have gone by Lineal Succession unto his Uncle Charles the Duke of Lorayne second Son to Luys d' Outremer as is evident but the States of France did put him by it for mislike they had of his Person and did chuse Hugo Capetus Earl of Paris and so ended the Second Line of Pepin and of Charles the Greâ—t and entred the Race of Hugo Capetus which endureth unto this day and the French Stories do say that this Sirname Capet was given to him when he was a boy for that he was wont to snatch away his Fellows Caps from their Heads whereof he was termed Snatch-Cap which some do interpret to be an Abodement that he should snatch also a Crown from the true Owners Head in time as afterwards we see it fell out though yet he had it by Election and Approbâ—tion of the Commonwealth as I have said And in this respect all the French Chroniclers who otherwise are most earnest Defenders of their Law of Succession do justify this Title of Hugo Capetus against Charles for which cause Francis Belforest doth alledge the saying of William Nangis an antient and diligent-Chronicler of the Abbey of S. Denys in France who defendeth King Capetus in these words We may not grant in any case that Hugh Capet may be esteemed an Invader or Vsurper
Stow that he had all mens Good-will and was Crowned as his Brother had been at Kingston by Odo Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Reigned nine years with great good will and praise of all men He dyed at last without Issue and so his Elder Nephew Edwin was admitted to the Crown but yet after four years he was deposed again for his lewd and vitious Life and his younger brother Edgar admitted in his place in the year of Christ 959 This King Edgar that entred by deposition of his Brother was one of the rarest Princes that the World had in his time both for Peace and War Justice Piety and Valour Stow saith he kept a Navy of three thousand and six hundred Ships distributed in divers Parts for defence of the Realm Also that he built and restored 47 Monasteries at his own Charges and did other many such Acts he was Father to King Edward the Martyr and Grandfather to King Edward the Confessor though by two different Wives for by his first Wife named Egilfred he had Edwarâ— after martyrized and by his second Wife Alfred he had Etheldred Father to Edward the Confessor and to the end that Etheldred might Reign his Mother Alfred caused King Edward the son of Egilfred to be slain after King Edgar her Husband was dead After this so shameful Murther of King Edward many good men of the Realm were of opinion not to admit the Succession of Etheldred his half Brother both in respect of the Murther of King Edward his elder Brother committed for his sake as also for that he seemed a man not fit to Govern and of this opinion among others was the Holy man Dunston Archbishop of Canterbury as Polidor saith who at length in flat words denyed to consecrate him but seeing the most part of the Realm bent on Etheldred's side he foretold them that it would repent them after and that in this man's Life the Realm should be destroyed as indeed it was and he ran away to Normandy and left Sweno and his Danes in possession of the Realm though afterwards Sweno being dead he returned again and dyed in London This Etheldred had two Wives the first Ethelgina an English Woman by whom he had Prince Edmund sirnamed Ironside for his great strength and valour who succeeded his Father in the Crown of England for a year and at his death left two Sons which after shall be named and besides this Etheldred had by his first Wife other two Sons Edwin and Adelston and one Daughter named Edgina all which were either slain by the Danes or dyed without issue The second Wife of Etheldred was called Emma Sister to Richard Duke of Normandy who was Grandfather to William the Conquerour to wit Father to Duke Robert that was Father to William so as Emma was great Aunt to this William and she bare unto King Etheldred two Sons the First Edward who was afterwards named King Edward the Confessor Alerud who was slain traiterously by the Earl of Kent as presently we shall shew After the death also of King Etheldred Queen Emma was married to the Dane King Canutus the first of that name sirnamed the Great that was King of England after Etheldred and Edmond Ironside his Son and to him she bare a Son named Hardicaâ—utus who Reigned also in England before King Edward the Confessor Now then to come to our Purpose he that will consider the passing of the Crown of England from the death of Edmond Ironside elder Son of King Etheldred until the possession thereof gotten by William Duke of Normandy to wit for the space of 50 years shall easily see what authority the Commonwealth hath in such Affairs to alter titles of Succession according as publick necessity or utility stall require for thus briefly the matter passed King Etheldred seeing himself too weak for Sweno the King of Danes that was entred the Land fled with his Wife Emma and her two children Edward and Alerud unto her Brother Duke Richard of Normandy and there remained until the death of Sweno and he being dead Etheldred returned into England made a certain Agreement and Division of the Realm between him and Canutus the son of Sweno and so dyed leaving his eldest Son Edmond Ironside to succeed him who soon after dying also left the whole Realm to the said Canutus and that by plain Covenant as Canutus pretended that the Longest Liver should have all whereupon the said Canutus took the two Children of King Edmond Ironside named Edmond and Edward and sent them over into Sweedland which at that time was subject also unto him and caused them to be brought up honourably of which Two the Elder named Edmond dyed without issue but Edward was married and had divers Children as after shall be touched Etheldred and his Son Edmond being dead Canutus the Dane was admitted for King of England by the whole Parliament and Consent of the Realm and Crowned by Alerud Archbishop of Canterbury as Polidor saith and he proved an excellent King went to Rome and was allowed by that See also He did many Works of Charity shewed himself a good Christian and very loving and kind to Englishmen married Queen Emma an Englishwoman and Mother to King Edward the Confessor and had by her a Son named Hardicanutus and so dyed and was much mourned by the English after he had Reigned twenty Years though his entrance and Title was partly by Force and partly by Election as before you heard After this Canutus the First sirnamed the Great for that he was King jointly both of England Norway and Denmark was dead Polidor saith that all the States of the Realm met together at Oxford to consult whom they should make King and at last by the more part of Voices was chosen Herauld the first Son of Canutus by a Concubine by which Election we see injury was done to the Lineal Succession of three Parties first to the Sons of King Edmond Ironside that were in Sweedland then to the Princes of Edward and Alerud Sons to King Etheldred and Brothers to Ironside that were in Normandy and thirdly to Hardicanutus Son to Canutus by his Lawful Wife Emma to whom it was also assured at her Marriage that her Issue should succeed if she had any by Canutus After the death of this Harald who dyed in Oxford where he was elected within three years after his Election there came from Denmark Hardicanutus to claim the Crown that his Father and Brother had possessed before him of whose Coming Polidor saith libentissimis animis accipitur communique omnium consensu Rex dicitur He was received with great good-will of all and by common Consent made King and this was done by the States without any respect had of the Succession of those Princes in Normandy and Swedeland and who by birth were before him as hath been shewed and this is the second breach of Lineal Descent after Etheldred
But this Hardicanutus being dead also upon the sudden at a certain Banquet in Lambeth by London without issue within two years after his Coronation the States of the Realm had determined to chuse Aludred for their King who was younger Brother to Edward and for that cause sent for him out of Normandy as Polidor recounteth and had made him King without all doubt for that he was esteemed more Stirring and Valiant than his elder Brother Edward had not Earl Goodwin of Kent fearing the young man's stomach raised a strong Faction against him and thereupon also caused him to be traiterously murthered as he passed through Kent towards London nor had the State herein any respect to Antiquity of Bloud for that before Alfred were both his own elder Brother Prince Edward who after him was chosen King and before them both were Edmond and Edward the Children of their elder Brother Edmond Ironside as hath been said and this is the third Breach of Lineal Descent But this notwithstanding Alured being slain Prince Edward was made King tanta publica laetitta saith Polidor ut certatim pro ejus saelici Principatu cuncti vot a facerent That is He was made King with such universal joy and contentment of all men as every man contended who should pray and make most Vows to God for his happy Reign And according to this was the Success for he was a most Excellent Prince and almost miraculously he Reigned with great Peace and void of all War at home and abroad for the space of almost twenty years after so infinit Broils as had been before him and ensued after him and yet his Title by Succession cannot be justified as you see for that his eldest Brothers Son was then alive to wit Prince Edward sirnamed the Outlaw who in this Kings Reign came into England and brought his Wife and three lawful Children with him to wit Edgar Margaret and Christian but yet was not this good King Edward so scrupulous as to give over his Kingdom to any of them or to doubt of the Right of his own Title which he had by Election of the Commonwealth against the Order of Succession This King Edward being dead without issue Polidor saith that the States made a great Consultation whom they should make King and first of all it seemeth they excluded him that was only Next by Propinquity in Bloud which was Edgar Adelin Son to the said Prince Edward the Outlaw now departed and Nephew to King Edmond Ironside and the reason of this exclusion is alledged by Polidor in these words is puer id aetatis nondum regno gubernando maturus erat That is he being a Child of so small-years was not ripe enough to Govern the Kingdom And then he saith that Harald Son of Earl Goodwin by the Daughter of Canutus the First proclaimed himself King and moreover he addeth Non displicuit omnino id factum populo qui plurimum sâ—ei in Haraldi virtute habebat itaque more majorum sacratus est which is This fact of Harald displeased not at all the People of England for that they had great hope in the vertue of this Harald and so was he Anointed and Crowned according to the Fashion of the antient Kings of England By which words we may see that Harald had also the approbation of the Realm to be King notwithstanding that little Edgar was present as hath been said so as this was the fourth Breach of Succession at this time But in the mean space William Duke of Normandy pretended that he was chosen before by King Edward the Confessor and that the Realm had given their consent thereunto and that King Edward left the same testified in his last Will and Testament and albeit none of our English Authors do avow the same clearly yet do many other foreign Writers hold it and it seemeth very probable that some such thing had past both for that Duke William had many in England that did favour his Pretence at his entrance as also as Gerard in his French Story saith that at his first Coming to London he punished divers by name for that they had broken their Oaths and Promises in that behalf And moreover it appeareth that by alledging this Title of Election he moved divers Princes abroad to favour him in that Action as in a just Quarrel which is not like they should have done if he had pretended only a Conquest or his Title of Consanguinity which could be of no importance in the World for that effect seeing it was no other but that his Grandfather and King Edward's Mother were Brother and Sister which could give him no pretence at all to the Succession of the Crown by Bloud and yet wee see that divers Princes did assist him and among others the French Chronicler Gerard so often named before writeth that Alexander the second Pope of Rome whose Holiness was so much esteemed in those days as one Constantinus Afer wrot a Book of his Miracles being informed by Duke William of the Justness of his pretence did send him his Benediction and a precious Ring of Gold with an Hallowed Banner by which he got the Victory thus writeth Gerard in his French Chronicles and Antoninus Archbishop of Florence sirnamed Sainct writing of this matter in his Chronicles speaketh great good of William Conquerour and commendeth his Enterprize But howsoever this was the Victory we see he got and God prospered his Pretence and hath confirmed his Off-spring in the Crown of England more than 500. Years together So as now accounting from the the death of King Edmond Ironside unto this man we shall find as before I have said in less than 50 Years that 5. or 6. Kings were made in England one after another by only Authority and Approbation of the Commonwealth contrary to the ordinary Course of Lineal Succession by Propinquity of Blood And all this is before the Conquest but if we should pass any further down we should find more Examples than before For First the two Sons of the Conquerour himself that succeeded after him to wit William Rufus and Henry the I. were they not both younger Brothers to Robert Duke of Normandy to whom the most part of the Realm was inclined as Polydor saith to have given the Kingdom presently after the Conquerours death as due to him by Succession notwithstanding that William for particular displeasure against his elder Son had ordained the contrary in his Testament But that Robert being absent in the War of Hierusalem the Holy and Learned man Laufranke as he was accounted then Archbishop of Canterbury being deceived with vain hope of William Rufus's good nature perswaded them the contrary who was at that day of high Estimation and Authority in England and so might induce the Realm to do what he liked By like means got Henry his younger Brother the same Crown afterwards to wit by fair Promises to the
to handle the same again and more largely hereafter These Points toucheth Highington though divers other he leave untouched which are of much importance for the resolution as whether after the Line extinguished of King Henry the IV. which was the eldest son of John of Gaunt there should have entred the Line of Lady Philippa the eldest Daughter lawfully begotten of Blanch first Wife of John of Gaunt or else the race of John Earl of Somerset younger son by his third Wife which then was base-born but legitimated by Parliament for of Philip do come the Kings of Portugal and of John came King Henry the VII And again these Points had been to be disputed as well touching the Succession to the Dukedom of Lancaster alone as also to the Crown jointly all which Articles shall severally afterwards be handled in their places And thus much of this Book More than these four Books I have not seen written of this Affair though I have heard of one made in Flanders in the behalf of the Duke of Parma that is now who by his Mother descendeth of the same Line of Portugal that the King of Spain doth and as this Book pretendeth if we respect the ordinary course of English Laws in particular mens Inheritances he is to be preferred before the said King or any other of the House of Portugal for that his Mother descended of the younger Son and the King of the elder Daughter of the King of Portugal and albeit according to the Law of Portugal the King Was adjudged Next Heir to that Crown yet say they by our Laws of England he cannot be which after must be examined Thus saith that Book and he alledgeth many Reasons for the same as it hath been told me for as I said I never came to have a view of the whole Book but divers of his Arguments I have seen laid together which I shall afterwards in place convenient alledge unto you with the Answers Censures and Replies that the contrary Parties do make thereunto Divers other Papers Nots and Memories I have seen also said he as well touching the Succession of those whom I have named as of others for that Sir Richard Shelly who dyed some years ago in Venice by the name of Lord Prior of S. Johns of England had gathered divers Points touching these Affairs and many more than he had Mr. Francis Peto that dyed in Millain and was a very curious and well read man in Genealogies as may appear by sundry Papers that I have seen of his There want not also divers in England who have traveled much in this business and I have had the the perusing of some of their Labours though I dare not discover their names lest thereby I should hurt them which were not convenient But one great Trouble find I in them all that every man seeketh to draw the whole Water unto his own Mill and to make that Title always most clear whom he most favoureth and this with so great probability of Reason and Authority many times as it is hard to retain a mans consent from that which is said until he have read the Reasons of the other Party and this also is a great Proof of the wonderful ambiguity and doubtfulness which in this most important Affair is to be found And by the way also I had almost forgotten to tell you how that of late I have lighted upon a certain new Discourse and Treatise made in the behalf of the King of Spain's eldest Daughter whom he had by his Wife Isabel the eldest Sister of the last King of France which Isabel and her Daughter the Infanta of Spain called also Isabel are presumed to be the Lawful Heirs to the State of Britany and to all other States that by that means of Britany or otherwise by Women have come to France or have or may fall upon a Woman of the House of France as the States of England and other States thereunto annexed may for that they follow not the Law Salique of France And so this Treatise proveth that by divers ways and for sundry considerations this Princess of Spain is also of the Blood Royal of England and may among others be entituled to that Crown by a particular Title of her own besides the pretence which her Father the King or her Brother the Prince of Spain have for themselves by the House of Portugal all which Reasons and Considerations I shall alledge afterwards in their place and time or at least wise the chief and principal of them And to the end they may be understood the better as also the clearness and pretentions of all the rest that have interest in this Affair I shall first of all for a beginning and foundation to all the rest that shall or may be spoken hereafter set down by way of historical narration all the descents of our English Kings and Pretenders that be important to this our Purpose from the Conquest unto our time which being compared with the Tree it self of Genealogies that shall be added in the end of this Conference will make the matter more plain and pleasant to the Reader CHAP. II. Of the Succession of the Crown of England from the Conquest unto the time of King Edward the III. with the beginning of three principal Lineages of the English Bloud-Royal dispersed into the Houses of Britain Lancaster and York NO man is ignorant said the Lawyer how William the Conqueror came to the Crown of England which was indeed by dint of Sword though he pretended that he was chosen by the will and testament of King Edward the Confessor But howsoever this were his posterity hath endured untill this day and two and twenty Princes of his race have worn the English Crown after him for the space of more then five hundred years and how many more may yet do the same God only knoweth but if we follow probabillity we cannot want of them seeing his bloud is so dispersed over the World at this day as by this Declaration ensueing will appear This King William according to Polidor and other Chronicles of England had by his Wife Mathilda Daughter of Baldwin Earl of Flanders four Sons and five Daughters his eldest Son was Robert whom he left Duke of Normandy who was afterwards deprived of that Dukedom by his younger and fourth Brother Henry when he came to be King of England His second Son was Richard that dyed in his youth his third Son was William surnamed Rufus for that he was of red Hair and the fourth Son was Henry which two last Sons were both Kings of England one after the other as the World knoweth by the names of William the second and Henry the first The Conquerours Daughters were first Cecilie that was a Nun and the second Constantia that was Married to Alayn surnamed Fergant Duke of Britanie and the third was Adela or Alis Married to Stephen County Palatine of Bloys Champagne
that course was altered again and Henry his Son admitted for King And thus much of the Sons of King Henry II. But of his Daughters by the same Lady Eleanor Heir of Gascony Belforest in his Story of France hath these words following King Henry had four Daughters by Eleanor of Aquitain the eldest whereof was married to Alonso the IX of that name King of Castile of which Marriage issued Queen Blanch Mother to S. Lewis King of France The second of these two Daughters was espoused to Alexis Emperour of Constantinople The third was married to the Duke of Saxony and the fourth was given to the Earl of Tholosa Thus being the French Stories of these Daughters Of the marriage of the eldest Daughter of these four whose name was Eleanor also as her Mothers was with King Alonso the IX of Castile there succeeded many Children but only one son that lived whose name was Henry who was King of Castile after his Father by the name of Henry the I and â—ied quickly without Issue and besides this Henry two Daughters also were born of the same marriage of which the eldest and Heir named Blanch was married by intercession of her Uncle King John of England with the foresaid Prince Lewis of France with this express condition as both Polydor in his English Story and Garibay the Chronicler of Spain do affirm that she should have for her Dowry all the States that King John had lost in France which were almost all that he had there and this to the end he might not seem to have lost them by force but to have given them with the marriage of his Neece and so this marriage was made and her Husband Lewis was afterward chosen also King of England by the Barons and sworn in London as before hath been said And hereby also the Infanta of Spain before mentioned that is descended lineally from both these Princes I mean as well from Queen Blanch as from Lewis is proved to have her pretence fortified to the Interest of England as afterwards shall be declared more at large in due place The second Daughter of King Alonso the IX by Queen Eleanor was named Berenguela and was married to the Prince of Leon in Spain and had by him a Son named Fernando who afterwards when King Henry her Brother was dead was admitted by the Castilians for their King by the name of Fernando the IV. as before the Civilian hath noted and Blanch with her Son S. Lewis though she were the elder was put by the Crown against all right of Succession as Garibay the Spanish Chronicler noteth and confesseth Hereby then some do gather that as the first Interest which the Crown of England had to the States of Gascony Guyenne and Poyters came by a woman so also did it come to France by the right of this foresaid Blanch whereof the favourers of the Infanta of Spain do say that she being now first and next in bloud of that House ought to inherit all these and such like States as are inheritable by women or came by women as the former States of Gascony and Guyenne did to King Henry the II by Queen Eleanor his wife and Normandy by Mathilda his mother and both of them to France by this former interest of Blanch. And more they say that this Lady Blanch mother to King S. Lewis whose Heir at this day the Infanta of Spain is should by right have inherited the Kingdom of England also after the murther of Duke Arthur and his Sister Eleanor for that she was the next of â—in unto them at that time which could be capable to succeed them for that King John himself was uncapable of their succession whom he had murthered and his Son Henry was not then born nor in divers years after and if he had been yet could he receive no Interest thereunto by his Father who had none himself of all which points there will be more particular occasion to speak hereafter Now then I come to speak of King Henry the third who was Son to this King John and from whom all the three Houses before mentioned of Britany Lancaster and York do seem to issue as a triple branch out of one Tree albeit the Royal Line of Britany is more ancient and was divided before even from William the Conquerors time as hath been shewed yet do they knit again in this King Henry for that of King Henry the third his eldest Son named Prince Edward the first descended Edward the second and of him Edward the third from whom properly riseth the House of York And of his second Son Edmond surnamed Crookback County Palatine of Lancaster issued the Dukes of Lancaster until in the third descent when the Lady Blanch Heir of that House matched with John of Gaunt third Son of King Edward the third from which marriage rose afterward the formal division of these two Houses of Lancaster and York and also two distinct branches of Lancaster Besides these two Sons King Henry the third had a Daughter named Lady Beatrix whom he married to John the second of that name Duke of Britany who after was slain at Lions in France by the fall of an old Wall at the Coronation of Pope Clement the 5th of that name in the year of Christ 1298. and for that the Friends of the Infanta of Spain do seek to strengthen her Title by this her descent also of the Royal bloud of England from Henry the third as afterward shall be declared I will briefly in this place continue the Pedegree of the House of Britany from that I left before even to our days I shewed before in this Chapter that Geoffry the third Son to King Henry the second and Duke of Britany by his wife being dead and his two Children Arthur and Eleanor put to death by their Uncle King John in England as before hath been said it fell out that Constance Dutchess and Heir of Britany married again to Guy Viscount of Tours and had by him two Daughters whereof the eldest named Alice was Dutchess of Britany and married to Peter Brien Earl of Drusse and by him had John the first of that name Duke of Britany which John the first had issue John the second who married Lady Beatrix before-mentioned Daughter to King Henry the third and by her had the second Arthur Duke of Britany to whom succeeded his eldest Son by his first Wife named John the third who dying without Issue left the very same trouble and garboil in Britany about the succession between the two noble Houses of Blois and Monford the one maintained by France and the other by England as soon after upon the very like occasion happen'd in England between the Houses of Lancaster and York as after shall be shewed And not long after that again the like affliction also ensued in France though not for succession but upon other occasions between
the great and Royal Houses of Burgundy and Orleans whereby all three Commonwealths I mean England Britany and France were like to have come to destruction and utter desolation And for that it may serve much to our purpose hereafter to understand well this controversie of Britany I think it not amiss in few words to declare the same in this place Thus then it happened The foresaid Arthur the second of that name Duke of Britanie and Son of Lady Beatrix that was Daughter as hath been said to King Henry the III. of England had two Wives the first named Beatrix as his Mother was and by this he had two Sons John that succeeded him in the State by the name of Duke John the III. and Guye that dying before his elder Brother left a Daughter and Heir named Joan and surnamed the lame for that she halted who was married to the Earl of Bloys that was Nephew to Phillip of Valois King of France for that he was born of his Sister But besides the two Children the said Duke Arthur had by his second Wife named Joland Countess and Heir of the Earldom of Monford another Son called John Breno who in the right of his Mother was Earl of Monford And afterward when Duke John the III. came to die without Issue the question was who should succeed him in his Dukedom the Uncle or the Neece that is to say his third Brother John Breno by half bloud or else his Neece Joan the lame that was Daughter and Heir to his second Brother Guye of whole bloud that is by Father and Mother which Lady Joan was married to the Earl of Bloys as hath been said And first this matter was handled in the Parliament of Paris the King himself sitting in Judgment with all his Peers the 30 day of September 1341 and adjudged it to the Earl of Bloys both for that his Wife was Heir to the elder Brother as also for that Duke John by his Testiment and consent of the States had appointed her to be his Heir but yet King Edward the III. and States of England did Judge it otherwise and preferred John Monford not knowing that the very case was to fall out very soon after in England I mean they Judged the State to John Breno Earl of Monford younger Brother to Guy and they assisted him and his Son after him with all their Forces for the gaining and holding of that State And albeit at the beginning it seemed that matters went against Monford for that himself was taken prisoner in Nantes and carried captive to Paris where he died in prison yet his Son John by the assistance of the English Armies got the Dukedome afterward and slew the Earl of Bloys and was peaceably Duke of Britanie by the name of John the IV. and his posterity hath endured until this day as briefly here I will declare This Duke John the IV. of the House of Monford had Issue John the V. and he Francis the first who dying without Issue left the Dukedom to Peter his Brother and Peter having no Children neither he left it to his Uncle Arthur the III Brother to his Father John the V. and this Arthur was Earl of Richmond in England as some of his ancestors had been before him by gifts of the Kings of England This Arthur dying without Issue left the Dukedom unto his Nephew to wit his Brothers Son Francis the II. who was the last male Child of that race and was he that had once determined to have delivered Henry Earl of Richmond unto his enemy King Edward the IV. and after him to King Richard the III. but that Henry's good fortune reserved him to come to be King of England This Duke Francis had a Daughter and Heir named Anna married first to Charles the VIII King of France and after his death without Issue to his Successor Lewis the XII by whom she had a Daughter named Claudia that was Heir to Britanie though not to the Crown of France by reason of the Law Salique that holdeth against women in the Kingdom of France but not in Britany and to the end this Dukdome should not be disunited again from the said Crown of France this Daughter Claudia was married to Francis Duke of Angolome Heir apparent to the Crown of France by whom she had Issue Henry that was afterward King of France and was Father to the last King of that Country and to Isabel Mother of the Infanta of Spain and of her Sister the Dutchess of Savoy that now is by which also some do affirm that the said Princess or Infanta of Spain albeit she be barred from the Succession of France by their pretended Law Salique yet is her title manifest to the Dukdome of Britanie that came by a woman as we have shewed and thus much of the House of Britany and of the Princess of Spain how she is of the Bloud Royal of England from the time of William the Conqueror himself by his eldest Daughter as also by other Kings after him and now we shall return to prosecute the Issue of these two Sons of King Henry the III. to wit of Edward and Edmond which before we left I shewed you before how King Henry the III. had two Sons Edward the Prince that was King after his Father by the name of Edward the first and Edmond surnamed Crouchback by some Writers who was the first Earl and County Palatine of Lancaster and beginner of that House And albeit some Writers of our time have affirmed or at least wise much inclined to favour a certain old report that Edmond should be the Elder Brother to Edward and put back only for his deformity of his body whereof Polidor doth speak in the beginning of the Reign of King Henry the IV. and as well the Bishop of Ross as also George Lilly do seem to believe it yet evident it seemeth that it was but a fable as before I have noted and now again shall briefly prove it by these reasons following for that it importeth very much for deciding the controversie between the Houses of Lancaster and York The first reason then is for that all Ancient Historiographers of England and among them Mattheus Westmonasteriensis that lived at the same time do affirm the contrary and do make Edward to be elder then Edmond by six years and two days for that they appoint the Birth of Prince Edward to have been upon the 16. day of June in the year of Christ 1239 and the 24. of the Reign of his Father King Henry and the Birth of Lord Edmond to have followed upon the 18. day of the same month 6 years after to wit in the year of our Lord 1245 and they do name the Godfathers and Godmothers of them both together with the peculiar solemnities and feasts that were celebrated at their several Nativities so as it seemeth there can be no error in this matter The 2d
Richard and Reigned 13. years by the name of King Henry the fourth and was the first King of the House of Lancaster of the right of whose title examination shall be made afterwards The first of the two daughters which John of Gaunt had by Blanch was named Philippa who was married to John the first of â—hat name King of Portugal by whom she had Issue Edward King of Portugal and he Alfonsus the fifth and he John the second and so one after another even unto our days The second daughter of John of Gaunt by Lady Blanch was named Elizabeth who was married to John Holland Duke of Exeter and she had Issue by him another John Duke of Exeter and he had Issue Henry Duke of Exeter that died without Issue Male leaving only one Daughter named Anne who was married to Sir Thomas Nevil Knight and by him had Issue Ralph Nevil third Earl of Westmerland whose Lineal Heir is at this day Lord Charles Nevil Earl of Westmerland that liveth banished in Flanders And this is all the Issue that John of Gaunt had by Lady Blanch his first Wife saving only that I had forgotten to prosecute the Issue of Henry his first Son surnamed of Bullenbroke that was afterward called K. Henry the fourth which King had four Sons and two daughters his daughters were Blanch and Philippa the first married to William Duke of Bavaria and the second to Erick King of Denmark and both of them died without Children The four Sons were first Henry that Reigned after him by the name of Henry the fifth and the second was Thomas Duke of Clarence the third was John Duke of Bedford and the fourth was Humphry Duke of Glocester all which three Dukes died without Issue or were slain in Wars of the Realm so as only King Henry the fifth their elder Brother had Issue one Son named Henry also that was King and Reigned 40 years by the name of Henry the sixth who had Issue Prince Edward and both of them I mean both Father and Son were murthered by order or permission of Edward Duke of York who afterward took the Crown upon him by the name of King Edward the fourth as before hath been said so as in this King Henry the sixth and his Son Prince Edward ended all the bloud-Royal male of the House of Lancaster by Blanch the first Wife of John of Gaunt and the Inheritance of the said Lady Blanch returned by right of succession as the favourers of the House of Portugal affirm though others deny it unto the Heirs of Lady Philip her eldest daughter married into Portugal whose Nephew named Alfonsus the fifth King of Portugal lived at that day when King Henry the sixth and his Heir were made away and thus much of John of Gaunt's first marriage But after the death of the Lady Blanch John of Gaunt married the Lady Constance daughter and Hâ—ir of Peter the first surnamed the Cruel King of Castile who being driven out of his Kingdom by Henry his Bastard-brother assisted thereunto by the French he fled to Bourdeaux with his Wife and two daughters where he found Prince Edward eldest Son to King Edward the third by whom he was restored and for pledge of his fidelity and performance of other conditions that the said King Peter had promised to the Prince he left his two daughters with him which daughters being sent afterwards into England the eldest of them named Constance was married to John of Gaunt and by her Title he named himself for divers years afterwards King of Castile and went to gain the same by Arms when Peter her Father was slain by his foresaid Bastard-brother But yet some years after that again there was an agreement made between the said John of Gaunt and John the first of that name King of Castile Son and Heir of the foresaid Henry the Bastard with condition that Catharine the only daughter of John of Gaâ—nt by Lady Constance should marry with Henry the third Prince of Castile Son and Heir of the said King John and Nephew to the Bastard Henry the second and by this means was ended that controversie between England and Castile And the said Lady Catharine had Issue by King Henry John the second King of Casâ—â—â—e and he Isabel that married with Ferdinando the Catholick King of Aragon and joyned by that marriage both those Kingdoms together and by him she had a daughter named Joan that married Philip Duke of Austria and Burgundy and by him had Charles the such that was Emperor and Father to King Philip that now reigneth â—n Spain who as we see is descided two ways from John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster to wit by two daughters begotten of two Wives Blanch and Constance neither had John of Gaunt any more Children by Constance but only this daughter Catharine of whom we have spoken wherefore now we shall speak of his third Wife that was Lady Catharine Swinford This Lady Catharine as English Histories do note was born in Heinalt in Flanders and was daughter to a Knight of that Country called Sir Payne de Ruet and she was brought up in her youth in the Duke of Lancasters house and attended upon his first Wife Lady Blanch and being fair of personage grew in such favour with the Duke as in the time of his second Wife Constance he kept this Catharine for his Concubine and begat upon her four Children to wit three Sons and â— daughter which daughter whose name was Jane was married to Ralph Earl of Westmorland called commonly in those days Daw Raby of whom descended the Earls of Westmorland that ensued His three Sons were John Thomas and Henry and John was first Earl and then Duke of Summerset Thomas was first Marques of Dorset and then Duke of Excester Henry was Bishop of Winchester and after Cardinal And after John of Gaunt had begotten all these four Children upon Catharine he married her to a Knight in England named Swinford which Knight lived not many years after and John of Gaunt coming home to England from Aquitaine where he had been for divers years and seeing this old Conâ—â—â—â—ne of his Catharine to be now a Widow and himself also without a Wife for that the Lady Constance was dead a little before for the love that he bore to the Children that he had begotten of her he determined to marry her and thereby the rather to legitimate her Children though himself were old now and all his Kindred utterly against the Marriage and so not full two years before his death to wit in the Year of Christ 1396. he married her and the next Year after in a Parliament begun at Westminster the 22 of January Anno Domini 1397. he caused all his said Children to be legitimated which he had begotten upon this Lady Swinford before she was his Wife But now to go forward to declare the Issue of these three Sons of John of Gaunt by Catharine
what Historiographers do say according to their affections or Interests as what reasons and proofs be alledged of every side for that by this we shall more easily come to judge where the right or wrong doth lie First therefore the defenders of the House of York do alledge that their title is plain and evident for that as in the former chapter hath been declared Richard Duke of York first pretender of this House whose Father was Son to Edmond Langley Duke of York fourth Son of King Edward the third and his Mother Anne Mortimer that was Neece once removed and sole Heir to Leonel Duke of Clarence second Son of the said King Edward this Richard I say Duke of York pretended that for so much as he had two titles joyned together in himself and was lawful Heir as well to Duke Leonel the second Brother as to Duke Edmond the fourth that he was to be preferred in Succession of the Crown after the death of King Richard the second Heir of the first Son of King Edward before the Issue of John of Gaunt that was but third Son to the said King Edward and consequently that Henry Bolenbrok John of Gaunts Son Duke of Lancaster called afterwards King Henry the fourth entred the Crown by tyranny and violonce first for deposing the true and Lawful King Richard and secondly for taking the Kingdom upon himself which Kingdom after the death of the foresaid King Richard which happened in the year 1399. belonging to Edmond Mortimer Earl of March then living and after his death to Anne Mortimer his Sister married to Richard Earl of Cambridge Father to this Richard pretendent Duke of York as hath been said for that this Edmond and Anne Mortimer were Children to Roger Mortimer Son of Philip that was daughter to Duke Leonel which Leonel was elder Uncle to King Richard and before John of Gaunt the younger Brother whose Son took the Crown upon him For the better understanding of which pretence and allegation of the House of York against Lancaster we must note the story following to wit That King Edward the III. seeing in his old age that Prince Edward his eldest Son whom of all his Children he loved most dearly was dead though there wanted not much doubt in some mens heads as after shall be shewed who ought to succeed yet the old man for the exceeding great affection he bare to the dead Prince would hear nothing in that behalf but appointed Richard the said Prince Edwards only Son and Heir to succeed him in the Kingdom and made the same to be confirmed by Act of Parliament and inforced all his Children then alive to swear to the same which were John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster his third and eldest Son that then lived for Leonel his second Son Duke of Clarence was dead before and Edmond Langley and Thomas Woodstock Earls at that time but after Dukes of York and Glocester and so King Richard Reigned with good obedience of his Uncles and their Children for 20 years together but in the end when he grew insolent and had put to death his Uncle the Duke of Glocester together with the Earl of Arundel and banished many others of the Nobility and among them the Archbishop of Canterbury as also his own Cousin-German Henry Duke of Hertford and after of Lancaster Son and Heir of John of Gaunt and had made many wickedd Statutes as well against the Church and State Ecclesiastical as also to intangle the Realm and Nobility with fained crimes of Treason against his Regality as then he termed them the principal men of the Realm seeing a sit occasion offered by the Kings absence in Ireland called home out of France the foresaid Henry Duke of Lancaster with the Archbishop of Canterbury Earls of Arundel and Warwick and others which were in banishment and by common consent gathered upon the suddain such an Army to assist them in England as they took the King brought him to London and there in a Parliament laying together the intolerable faults of his Government they deprived him of all Regal Dignity as before they had done to his great Grandfather K. Edward the second and then by universal consent of the Parliament and people there present they chose and admitted the said Henry Duke of Lancaster to be their King who continued so all the days of his life and left the Crown unto his Son and Sons Son after him by the space of threescore years until this Richard before named Duke of York made challenge of the same in manner and form as before hath been shewed Now then the story being thus the question is first whether Richard the second were justly deposed or no and secondly whether after his deposition the House of York or House of Lancaster should have entred and thirdly if the House of Lancaster did commit any wrong or injustice at their first entrance to the Crown yet whether the continuance of so many years in possession with so many approbations and confirmations thereof by the Commonwealth were not sufficient to legitimate their right Concerning which points many things are alledged by the favourers of both Families and in the first point touching the lawfulness or unlawfulness of King Richards deposition three Articles especially do seem most considerable to wit about the thing in it self whether a lawful King may be deposed upon just causes and secondly about these causes in King Richards deposition to wit whether they were just or sufficient for deposition of the said King and lastly about the manner of doing iâ— whether the same were good and orderly or not And touching the first of these three points which is that a King upon just causes may be deposed I think both parties though never so contrary between themselves will easily agree and the Civil Lawyer seems to me to have proved it so evidently before throughout his whole dicourse as I think very little may be said against the same For he hath declared if you remember both by reason authority and examples of all Nations Christian that this may and hath and ought to be done when urgent occasions are offered And first by reason he sheweth it for that all Kingly authority is given them only by the Commonwealth and that with this express condition that they shall Govern according to Law and equity that this is the cause of their exaltation above other men that this is the end of their Government the butt of their authority the star and pole by which they ought to direct their stern to wit the good of the people by the weal of their Subjects by the benefit of the Realm which end being taken away or perverted the King becometh a Tyrant a Tyger a fierce Lion a ravening Wolf a publick enemy and a bloudy murtherer which were against all reason both natural and moral that a Common-wealth could not deliver it self from so eminent a destruction By authority also
you have heard it proved of all Law-makers Philosophers Lawyers Divines and Governours of Commonwealhs who have set down in their Statutes and Ordinances that Kings shall swear and protest at their entrance to Government that they will observe and perform the conditions there promised and otherwise to have no Interest in that Dignity and Soveraignty By examples in like manner of all Realms Christian he declared how that often-times they have deposed their Princes for just causes and that God hath concurred and assisted wonderfully the same sending them commonly very good Kings after those that were deprived and in no Country more then in England it self yea in the very Line and Family of this King Richard whose Noble Grandfather King Edward the third was exalted to the Crown by a most solemn deposition of his predecessor King Edward the second wherefore in this point there can be little controversie and therefore we shall pass unto the second which is whether the causes were good and just for which this King Richard was esteemed worthy to be deposed And in this second point much more difference there is betwixt York and Lancaster and between the white Rose and the Red for that the House of York seeking to make the other odious as though they had entred by tyranny and cruelty doth not stick to avouch that King Richard was unjustly deposed but against this the House of Lancaster alledgeth first that the House of York cannot justly say this for that the chief Prince assistant to the deposing of King Richard was Lord Edmond himself Duke of York and head of that family together with Edward Earl of Rutland and Duke of Aumarl his eldest Son and Heir yea and his younger Son also Richard Earl of Cambridge Father to this Richard that now pretendeth for so do write both Stow Hollingshead and other Chroniclers of England that those Princes of the Hâ—â—â—e of York did principally assist Henry Duke of Lancaster in getting the Crown and deposing King Richard and Polidâ—r speaking of the wicked Government of King Richard and of the first Cogitation about deposing him when King Henry of Lancaster was yet in France banished and seemed not to think of any such matter he hath these words Sed Edmundo Eboâ—acensium duci ea res cum primis bilem commovit quod Rex omnia jam jura perverteret quod antea parricidio postea râ—pints se obstrinxâ—sset c. That is this matter of the wicked Government of King Richard did principally offend his Uncle Edmond Duke of York for that he saw the King now to peâ—srvert all Law and Equity and that as before he had defiled himself with Parricide that is with the murther of his own Uncle the Duke of Glocester Brother to this Edmond so now he intangled himself also with Rapine in that he took by violence the Goods and Inheritance of John of Gaunt late deceased which did belong to Henry Duke of Lancaster his Cousin-German By which words of Polidor as also for that the Duke of Lancaster coming out of Britany accompaned only with threescore persons as some stories say chose first to go into York shire and to enter at Ravenspur at the mouth of Humber as all the World knoweth which he would never have done if the Princes of York had not principally favoured him in that action all this I say is an evident argument that these Princes of the House of York were then the chief doers in this deposition and consequently cannot alledge now with reason that the said Richard was deposed uniustly Secondly the House of Lancaster alledgeth for the justifying of this deposition the opinions of all Historiographers that ever have written of this matter whether they be English French Dutch Latine or of any other Nation or Language who all with one accord do affirm that King Richards Government was intolerable and he worthy of deposition whereof he that will see more let him read Thomas of Walsingham and John Frosard in the life of King Richard Thirdly they of Lancaster do alledge the particular outrages and insolencies of King Richards Government and first the suffering himself to be carried away with evil counsel of his favorites and then the perverting of all Laws generally under his Government as before you have heard out of Polidor the joyning with his Minions for oppressing the Nobility of which Stow hath these words The King being at Bristow with Robert de Vere Duke of Ireland and Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk devised how to take away the Duke of Glocester the Earls of Arundel Warwick Darby and Nottingham and others whose deaths they conspired Thus saith Stow. And after they executed the most part of their devices for that Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester was made away without Law or Process the Earl of Arundel also was put to death and Warwick was banished and so was also Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury by like Injustice and the like was done to Henry Duke of Hertford and after of Lancaster and among other insolencies he suffered Robert Vere to dishonour and put from him his Wife a Noble and goodly young Lady as Stow saith and born of Lady Isabella King Richards Aunt that was daughter to King Edward the third and suffered Vere to marry another openly to her disgrace and dishonour of her Kindred And finally in the last Parliament that ever he held which was in the 21. year of his Reign commonly called the Evil Parliament he would needs have all authority absolute granted to certain favourites of his which Thomas Walsingham saith were not above 6 or 7. to determine of all matters with all full authority as if they only had been the whole Realm which was nothing indeed but to take all authority to himself only and Stow in his Chronicle hath these words following This Parliament began about the 15. of Sept. in the year 1397. at the beginning whereof Edward Stafford Bishop of Exeter Lord Chancellor of England made a proposition or Sermon in which he affirmed that the power of the King was alone and perfect of it self and those that do impeach it were worthy to suffer pain of the Law c. thus saith Stow by all which is evident how exorbitant and contrary to all Law and Equity this Kings Government was Fourthly and lastly those of Lancaster do alledge for justifying of this deprivation that Duke Henry was called home by express Letters of the more and better part of all the Realm and that he came wholly in a manner uâ—â—rmed considering his person for that Frosard saith he had but three Ships only out of Britany and Walsingham saith he had but 15. Lances and 4â—0 foot-men and the additions to Polâ—â—hronicon as before I noted do avouch that when he landed at Ravenspur in the County of York he had but threescore men in all to begin the Reformation of
Richard had still great jealousie of his Uncle the Duke of Lancaster and of his off-spring considering how doubtful the question was among the Wise and Learned of those days For more declaration whereof I think it not amiss to alledge the very words of the foresaid Chronicler with the examples by him recited thus then he writeth About this time saith he there did arise a great and doubtful question in the World whether Uncles or Nephews that is to say the younger Brother or else the Children of the elder should Succeed unto Realms and Kingdoms which controversie put all Christianity into great broils and troubles for first Charles the second King of Naplis begat of Mary his Wife Queen and Heir of Hungary divers Children but namely three Sons Marâ—el Robert and Philip Martel dying before his Father left a Son named Charles which in his Grand-mothers right was King also of Hungary but about the Kingdom of Naples the question was when King Charles was dead who should Succeed him either Charles his Nephew King of Hungary or Robert his second Son but Robert was preferred and Reigned in Naples and enjoyed the Earldom of Provence in France also for the space of 33. years with great renown of Valor and Wisdom And this is own example that Girard recounteth which example is reported by the famous Lawyer Bartholus in his Commentaries touching the Succession of the Kingdom of Cicilia and he saith that this Succession of the Uncle before the Nephew was averred also for rightful by the Learned of that time and confirmed for just by the judicial sentence of Pope Boniface and that for the reasons which afterward shall be shewed when we shall treat of this question more in particular Another example also reporteth Girard which ensued immediately after in the same place for that the foresaid King Robert having a Son named Charles which died before him he left a daughter and Heir named Joan Neece unto King Robert which Joan was married to Andrew the younger Son of the foresaid Charles King of Hungary but King Robert being dead there stept up one Lewis Prince of Tarranto a place of the same Kingdom of Naples who was Son to Philip before mentioned younger Brother to King Robert which Lewis pretending his right to be better then that of Joan for that he was a man and one degree nearer to King Charles his Grand-father then Joan was for that he was Nephew and she Neece once removed he prevailed in like manner and thus far Girard Historiographer of France And no doubt but if we consider examples that fell out even in this very age only concerning this controversie between the Uncle and Nephew we shall find store of them for in Spain not long before this time to wit in the year of Christ 1276. was that great and famous determination made by Don Alonso the wise eleventh King of that name and of all his Realm and Nobility in their Courts or Parliament of Segovia mentioned before by the Civilian wherein they disâ—inherited the Children of the Prince Don Alonso de la Cerda that died as our Prince Edward did before his Father and made Heir apparent Don Sancho Bravo younger Brother to the said Don Alonso and Uncle to his Children the two young Cerda's Which sentence standeth even unto this day and King Philip enjoyed the Crown of Spain thereby and the Dukes of Medina Celi and their race that are descendents of the said two Cerda's which were put back are Subjects by that sentence and not Soveraigns as all the World knoweth The like controversie fell out but very little after to wit in the time of King Edward the third in France though not about the Kingdom but about the Earldom of Artoys but yet it was decided by a solemn sentence of two Kings of France and of the whole Parliament of Paris in favour of the Aunt against her Nephew which albeit it cost great troubles yet was it defended and King Philip of Spain holdeth the County of Artoys by it at this day Polydor reporteth the story in this manner Robert Earl of Artoys a man famous for his Chivalry had two Children Philip a Son and Maude a daughter this Maude was married to Otho Earl of Burgundy and Philip dying before his Father left a Son named Robert the second whose Father Robert the first being dead the question was who should Suâ—â—eed either Maude the daughter or Robert the Nephew and the matter being remitted unto Philip le Bel King of France as chief Lord at that time of that State he adjudged it to Maude as to the next in bloud but when Robert repined at this sentence the matter was referred to the Parliament of Paris which confirmed the sentence of King Philip whereupon Robert making his way with Philip de Valoys that soon after came to be King of France he assisted the said Philip earnestly to bring him to the Crown against King Edward of England that opposed himself thereunto and by this hoped that King Philip would have revoked the same sentence but he being once established in the Crown answered that a sentence of such importance and so maturely given could not be revoked Whereupon the said Robert fled to the King of Englands part against France Thus far Polydor. The very like sentence recounteth the same Author to have been given in England at the same time and in the same controversie of the Uncle against the Nephew for the Succession to the Dukedom of Britany as before I have related wherein John Breno Earl of Monford was preferred before the daughter and Heir of his elder Brother Guy though he were but of the half bloud to the last Duke and she of the whole For that John the third Duke of Britany had two Brothers first Guy of the whole bloud by Father and Mother and then John Breno his younger Brother by the Fathers side only Guy dying left a daughter and Heir named Jane married to the Earl of Bloys Nephew to the King of France who after the death of Duke John pretended in the right of his Wife as daughter and Heir to Guy the elder Brother but King Edward the third with the State of England gave sentence for John Breno Earl of Monford her Uncle as for him that was next in consanguinity to the dead Duke and with their Arms the State of England did put him in possession who slew the Earl of Bloys as before hath been declared and thereby got possession of that Realm and held it ever after and so do his Heirs at this day And not long before this again the like resolution prevailed in Scotland between the House of Balliol and Bruse who were competitors to that Crown by this occasion that now I will declare William King of Scots had Issue two Sons Alexander that Succeeded in the Crown and David Earl of Huntington Alexander had Issue another Alexander and a daughter
married to the King of Norway all which Issue and Line ended about the year 1290. David younger Brother to King William had Issue two daughters Margaret and Isabel Margaret was married to Alain Earl of Galloway and had Issue by him a daughter that married John Balliol Lord of Harcourt in Normandy who had Issue by her this John Balliol Founder of Balliol Colledge in Oxford that now pretended to the Crown as descended from the eldest daughter of David in the third descent Isabel the second daughter of David was married to Robert Bruse Earl of Cleveland in England who had Issue by her this Robert Bruse Earl of Carick the other competitor Now then the question between these two competitors was which of them should Succeed either John Balliol that was Nephew to the elder daughter or Robert Bruse that was Son to the younger daughter and so one degree more near to the Stock or Stem then the other And albeit King Edward the first of England whose power was dreadful at that day in Scotland having the matter referred to his arbitrement gave sentence for John Balliol and Robert Bruse obeyed for the time in respect partly of fear and partly of his Oath that he had made to stand to that Judgment yet was that sentence held to be unjust in Scotland and so was the Crown restor'd afterward to Robert Bruse his Son and his posterity doth hold it unto this day In England also it self they alledge the examples of K. Henry the first preferred before his Nephew William Son and Heir to his elder Brother Robert as also the example of K. John preferred before his Nephew Arthur Duke of Britany for that King Henry the second had four Sons Henry Richard Geffery and John Henry died before his Father without Issue Richard Reigned after him and died also without Issue Geffery also died before his Father but left a Son named Arthur Duke of Britany by right of his Mother But after the death of King Richard the question was who should Succeed to wit either Arthur the Nephew or John the Uncle but the matter in England was soon desided for that John the Uncle was preferred before the Nephew Arthur by reason he was more near to his Brother dead by a degree then was Arthur And albeit the King of France and some other Princes abroad opposed themselves for stomack against this Succession of King John yet say these favourers of the House of Lancaster that the English inclined still to acknowledge and admit his right before his Nephew and so they proclaimed this King John for King of England while he was yet in Normandy I mean Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury Eleanor the Queen this Mother Geffery Fitz-peter chief Judge of England who knew also what law meant therein and others the Nobles and Barons of the Realm without making any doubt or scruple of his title to the Succession And whereas those of the House of York do alledge that King Richard in his life time when he was to go to the holy Land caused his Nephew Arthur to be declared Heir apparent to the Crown and thereby did shew that his title was the better they of Lancaster do answer first that this declaration of King Richard was not made by act of Parliament of England for that King Richard was in Normandy when he made this declaration as plainly appeareth both by Polidor and Hollingshed Secondly that this declaration was made the sooner by King Richard at that time thereby to repress and keep down the ambitious humor of his Brother John whom he feared least in his absence if he had been declared for Heir apparent might invade the Crown as indeed without that he was like to have done as may appear by that which happened in his said Brothers absence Thirdly they shew that this declaration of King Richard was never admitted in England neither would Duke John suffer it to be admitted but rather caused the Bishop of Ely that was left Governour by King Richard with consent of the Nobility to renounce the said declaration of King Richard in favour of Arthur and to take a contrary Oath to admit the said John if King Richard his Brother should die without Issue and the like Oath did the said Bishop of Ely together with the Archbishop of Roan that was left in equal Authority with him exact and take of the Citizens of London when they gave them their Priviledges and Liberties of Commonalty as Hollingshed recordeth And lastly the said Hollinshed writeth how that King Richard being now come home again from the War of Jerusalem and void of that jealousie of his Brother which before I have mentioned he made his last Will and Testament and ordained in the same that his Brother John should be his successor and caused all the Nobles there present to swear Fealty unto him as to his next in bloud for which cause Thomas Walsingham in his story writeth these words Johannis filius junior Henrici 2. Anglorum regis Alienorae Ducissae Aquitaniae non modo jure propinquitatis sed etiam testamento fratris sui Richardi designatus est successo post mortem ipsius which is John younger Son of Henry the second King of England and of Eleanor Dutchess of Aquitain was declared successor of the Crown not only by Law and right of nearness of bloud but also by the Will and Testament of Richard his Brother Thus much this ancient Chronicler speaketh in the testifying of King John's Title By all which examples that fell out almost within one age in divers Nations over the World letting pass many others which the Civilian touched in his discourse before for that they are of more ancient times these favourers of the House of Lancaster do infer that the right of the Uncle before the Nephew was no new or strange matter in those days of King Edward the third and that if we will deny the same now we must call in question the succession and right of all the Kingdoms and States before-mentioned of Naples Sicily Spain Britany Flanders Scotland and England whose Kings and Princes do evidently hold their Crowns at this day by that very Title as hath been shewed Moreover they say that touching Law in this point albeit the most famous Civil Lawyers of the World be somewhat divided in the same matter some of them favouring the Uncle and some other the Nephew and that for different reasons as Baldus Oldratus Panormitanus and divers others alledged by Gulielmâ—â— Benedictus in his Repetitions in favour of the Nephew against the Uncle And on the other side for the Uncle before the Nephew Bartolus Alexander Decius Altiatus Cujatius and many other their followers are recounted in the same place by the same man yet in the end Baldus that is held for head of the contrary side for the Nephew after all reasons weighed to and fro he cometh to conclude
Succession or Right of Women which the Kingdom of France in it self doth not as is known and consequently a Woman may be Heir to the one without the other that is to say she may be Heir to some particular states of France inheritable by Women though not to the Crown it self and so do pretend to be the two Daughters of France that were Sisters to the late King Henry III. which Daughters were married the one to the King of Spain that now is who had Issue by her the Infanta of Spain yet unmarried and her younger Sister married to the Duke of Savoy and the other to wit the younger Daughter of the King of France was married to the Duke of Lorrain yet living by whom she had the Prince of Lorrain and other Children that live at this day This then being so clear as it is first that according to the common course of Succession in England and other Countries and according to the course of all Common Law the Infanâ—a of Spain should inherit the whole Kingdom of France and all other States thereunto belonging she being the Daughter and Heir of King Henry II. of France whose Issue-male of the direct line is wholly extinct but yet for that the French do pretend their Law Salique to exclude Women which we English have ever denied to be good until now hereby cometh it to pass that the King of Navarr pretendeth to enter and to be preferred before the said Infanta or her Sisters Children though Male by a Collateral Line But yet her favourers say I mean those of the Infanta that from the Dukedoms of Britany Aquitain and the like that came to the Crown of France by Women and are Inheritable by Women she cannot be in right debarred as neither from any Succession or Pretence to England if either by the Bloud-Royal of France Britany Aquitain or of England it self it may be proved that she hath any Interest thereunto as her favourers do affirm that she hath by these reasons following First for that she is of the ancient Bloud-Royal of England even from the Conquest by the elder Daughter of William the Conquerour married to Allain Fergant Duke of Britany as hath been shewed before in the second Chapter and other places of this Conference And of this they infer three Consequences First when the Sons of the Conquerour died without Issue or were made uncapable of the Crown as it was presumed at least-wise of King Henry I. last Son of the Conquerour that he lost his Right for the violence used to his elder Brother Robert and unto William the said Robert's Son and Heir they say these men ought the said Dutchess of Britany to have entred as eldest Sister Secondly they say That when Duke Robert that both by right of Birth and by express Agreement with William Rufus and with the Realm of England should have succeeded next after the said Rufus came to die in Prison the said Lady Constance should have succeeded him for that his Brother Henry being culpable of his Death could not in right be his Heir And thirdly they say That at least wise after the death of the said King Henry I. she and her Son I mean Lady Constance and Conan Duke of Britany should have entred before King Stephen who was born of Adela the younger Daughter of William the Conquerour Secondly they do alledge That the Infanta of Spain descendeth also lineally from Lady Eleanor eldest Daughter of King Henry II. married to King Alonso the ninth of that name King of Castile whose eldest Daughter and Heir named Blanch for that their only Son Henry died without Issue married with the Prince Lewis VIII of France who was Father by her to King St. Lewis of France and so hath continued the Line of France unto this day and joyned the same afterwards to the House of Britany as hath been declared So as the Infanta cometh to be Heir general of both those Houses that is as well of Britany as France as hath been shewed And now by this her descent from Queen Eleanor Daughter of King Henry II. her favourers do found divers Pretences and Titles not only to the States of Aquitain that came to her Father by a Woman but also to England in manner following First for Aquitain they say it came to King Henry II. by his Wife Eleanor Daughter of William Duke of Aquitain as before in the second Chapter at large hath been declared and for that the most part thereof was lost afterwards to the French in King John's time that was fourth Son to the aforesaid King Henry it was agreed between the said King John and the French-King Philip that all the States of Aquitain already lost to the French should be given in Dowry with the said Blanch to be married to Lewis VIII then Prince of France and so they were And moreover they do alledge That not long after this the same States with the residue that remained in King John's hands were all adjudged to be forfeited by the Parliament of Paris for the Death of Duke Arthur and consequently did fall also upon this Lady Blanch as next Heir capable of such Succession unto King John for that yet the said King John had no Son at all and for this cause and for that the said States are Inheritable by Women and came by Women as hath been often said these men affirm That at this day they do by Succession appertain unto the said Lady Infanta of Spain and not unto the Crown of France To the Succession of England also they make pretence by way of the said Lady Blanch married into France and that in divers manners First for that King John of England by the Murther of Duke Arthur of Britany his Nephew which divers Authors do affirm as Stow also witnesseth was done by King John's own hands he forfeited all his States though his right to them had been never so good and for that this Murther happened in the fifth year of his Reign and four years before his Son Henry was born none was so near to succeed at that time as was this Lady Blanch married into France for that she was Daughter and Heir unto King John's elder Sister Eleanor or the said Lady Eleanor her self Queen of Spain should have succeeded for that she yet lived and died not as appeareth by Stephen Garribay Chronicler of Spain until the year of Christ 1214. which was not until the fifteenth year of the Reign of King John and one year only before he died so as he having yet no Issue when this Murther was committed and losing by this forfeit all the right he had in the Kingdom of England it followeth that the same should have gone then to his said Sister and by her to this Lady Blanch her Heir and eldest Daughter married into France as hath been said which forfeit also of King John these men do confirm by his
Deprivation by the Pope that soon after ensued as also by another Deprivation made by the Barons of his Realm as after shall be touched Furthermore they say That when Arthur Duke of Britain whom to this effect they do hold to have been the only true Heir at that time to the Kingdom of England was in Prison in the Castle of Roan suspecting that he should be murthered by his said Unkle King John he nominated this Lady Blanch his Cousin-jerman to be his Heir perswading himself that he by the help of her Husband Prince Lewis of France and her Father the King of Spain should be better able to defend and recover his or her right to the Crown of England than Eleanor his own Sister should be who was also in the hands of his said Unkle for that he supposed that she should be made away by himself shortly after as indeed the French Chronicler affirmeth that she was And howsoever this matter of Duke Arthur's Testament was yet certain it is that when he and his Sister were put to death the next in Kin that could succeed them in their right to England was this Lady Blanch and her Mother Queen Eleanor that was Sister to Arthur's Father Geffrey Duke of Britany for that King John their Unkle was presumed by all men to be uncapable of their Inheritance by his putting of them to death and Child he had yet none And this is the second point that these men do deduce for the Lady Infanta of Spain by the title of Queen Eleanor and her Daughter Blanch to whom the Infanta is next Heir A third Interest also the same men do derive to the Infanta by the actual Deposition of King John by the Barons and States of this Realm in the 16 th year of his Reign and by the Election and actual Admission of Lewis Prince of France Husband of Lady Blanch whom they chose with one consent and admitted and swore him Fealty and Obedience in London for him and for his Heirs and Posterity in the year 1217. and gave him Possession of the said City and Tower of London and of many other chief places of the Realm and albeit afterwards the most part of the Realm changed their minds upon the sudden death of the said King John and chose and admitted his young Son Henry III. a Child of 9 years old yet do the favourers of the Infanta say That there remaineth to her as Heir unto the said Lewis until this day that Interest which by this Election Oath and Admission of the Realm remained unto this Prince Lewis which these men affirm to be the very like case as was that of Hugo Capetus in France who came to be King especially upon a certain Title that one of his Ancestors named Odo Earl of Paris had by being once elected King of France and admitted and sworn though afterwards he was deposed again and young Charles surnamed the Simple was admitted in his place as Henry III. was in England after the Election of Lewis But yet as the other ever continued his Right and Claim till it was restored to Hugo Capetus one of his Race so say these men may this Infanta continue and renew now the Demand of King Lewis her Ancestor for that Titles and Interests to Kingdoms once rightly gotten do never die but remain ever for the Posterity to effectuate when they can And thus much of this matter But after this again these men do shew how that the said Infanta of Spain doth descend also from Henry III. son of King John by the Dukes of Britany as before in the second Chapter hath been declared and in the Arbor and Genealogy following in the end of this Conference shall be seen for that King Henry besides his two Sons Edward and Edmond which were the beginners of the two Houses of York and Lancaster had also a Daughter named Beatrix married to John the second of that Name Duke of Britany and by him she had Arthur II. and so lineally from him have descended the Princes of that House until their Union with the Crown of France and from thence unto this Lady Infanta of Spain that now is who taketh her self for proper Heir of the said House of Britany and Heir general of France as hath been said By this Conjunction then of the House of Britany with the Bloud-Royal of England the Friends of the Infanta do argue in this manner That seeing she descendeth of the Sister of these two Brothers which were the Heads of the two opposite Houses of Lancaster and York and considering that each of these Houses hath often-times been Attainted and Excluded from the Succession by sundry Acts of Parliament and at this present are opposite and at contention among themselves why may not this right of both Houses say these men by way of Composition Peace and Comprize at least be passed over to the Issue of their Sister which resteth in the Infanta Again they say That all these three Branches of the Lines to wit by the Lady Constance Daughter of King William the Conquerour by the Lady Eleanor Daughter of King Henry II. and by the Lady Beatrix Daughter of King Henry III. it is evident that this Lady the Infanta of Spain is of the true ancient Bloud-Royal of England and that divers ways she may have Claim to the same which being granted they infer That seeing matters are so doubtful at this day about the next lawful Succession and that divers of the Pretenders are excluded some for Bastardy some other for Religion some for unaptness to Govern and some for other Causes and seeing the Commonwealth hath such Authority to dispose in this Affair as before the Civil-Lawyer hath declared why may there not Consideration be had among other Pretenders of this noble Princess also say these men especially seeing she is unmarried and may thereby commodate many matters and salve many breaches and satisfie many hopes and give contentment to many desires as the world knoweth And this is in effect as much as I have heard alledged hitherto in favour of the Infanta of Spain but against this Pretence others do produce divers Arguments and Objections As first of all That these her Claims be very old and worn out and are but Collateral by Sisters Secondly That she is a Stranger and Alien born Thirdly That her Religion is contrary to the State Unto all which Objections the favourers aforesaid do make their Answers And to the first they say That Antiquity hurteth not the goodness of a Title when occasion is offered to advance the same especially â—n Titles belonging to Kingdoms which commonly are never presumed to die as hath been said and nullum tempus occurrit Regi saith our Law And as for Collateral Lines they say That they may lawfully be admitted to enter when the direct Lines do either fail or are excluded for other just respects as in our Case they hold that
which was not a little for the advancement of King Philip's Title before them both as presently shall be shewâ—d It was replied against this answer in the behalf of the Duke of Parma that the last King Sebastian entred the Crown by way of Representation and not by propinquity of Blood for that he was a degree further off in propinquity of Blood from King John the III. whom he succeeded than was the Cardinal for that he was but his Nephew to wit his Sons Son and the Cardinal was his Brother and yet was the said Sebastian admitted before the Cardinal for that he represented the Place and Right of his Father Prince John that dyed before he inherited and so we see that in this case Representation was admitted said they and in like manner ought it to be now To this it was said that Sebastian was not so much preferred before his great Uncle the Cardinal by vertue of Representation as for that he was of the right Descendant line of King John and the Cardinal was but of the collateral or transversal Line and that all Law alloweth that the right Line shall first be served and preferred before the Collateral shall be admitted so that hereby Representation is nothing furthered This exclusion of Representation did greatly further and advance the pretence of King Philip for the excluding of both these Ladies and their Issues for that supposing as this answer avoucheth that there is no Representation of Father or Mother or Predecessors to be admitted but that every pretender is to be considered only in his own person then it followeth said these men which plead for the King that King Philip being in equal degree of propinquity of Blood with the two Ladies in respect as well of King Henry yet living for that they were all three children of Brother and Sister it followeth that he was to be preferred before them both as well in respect that he was Man and they both Women as also for that he was elder in age and born before them both And albeit the Duke of Parma alledged that he was one degree further off from the foresaid Kings than was King Philip so as not respecting Representation of their Parents that is to say not considering at all that King Philip descended of a Woman and the two Dutchesses of a man but only especting their own persons as hath been declared these mâ—n avouched that King Philip's person was evidently to be preferred for that he was a degree nearer in Blood than the Duke of Parma and superior in sâ—x and age to the Lady Catharine of Bragansa Moreover the Lawyers of King Philip's side affirmed that he was nearer also in propinqâ—ity of blood to King Sebastian the last King than was the very King Cardinal himself and much more than any of the other two pretenders for that he was Brother to the said King Sebastian's Mother and the Cardinal was but Brother to his Grandfather And besides this they alledged that Portugal did belong to the Crown of Castil by divers other means of old as for that it could not be given away by Kings of Castil in Marriage of their Daughters as the principal parts thereof had been as also for that when King John the I that was a Bastard was made King of Portugal by Election of the People the Inheritance thereof did evidently appertain to King John of Castile that had to Wife the Lady Beatrix Daughter and Heir of Ferdinand King of Portugal from which Inheritance of that Crown by open injury both she and her Posterity whose Right is in King Philip at this day were debarred by the intrusion of the said John Master of Avis bastard brother of the foresaid King Ferdinand Thesâ— Reasons alledged divers Lawyers in the behalf of King Philip and those not only Spaniards but also of divers other Countries and Nations as my authors before-named do avow and many books wâ—â—â— written of this matter and when the contention was at the hotest then died the King Cardinal before he could decide the same controversy upon which occasion the King of Spain being perswaded that his Right was best and that he being a Monarch and under no temporal Judge was not bound to expect any other judgment in this Affair nor to subject himself to any other Tribunal but that he might by Force put himself in possession of that which he took to be his own if otherwise he could not have it delivered unto him for so write these Authors by me named seeing also Don Antonio to pretend the said Kingdom by only Favour of some popular party that he had in Lisbon the said King Philip entred upon Portugal by Force of Arms as all the World knoweth and holdeth the same peaceably unto the day And I have been the longer in setting down this contention about the Succession to the Crown of Portugal for that it includeth also the very same pretence and contention for the Crown of England For that all these Princes before-named may in like manner pretend the Succession of that Interest to the House of Lancaster and by that to the Crown of England which doth descend from Queen Philippa eldest Daughter of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Sister of King Henry the IV. as hath largely been declared And albeit that some men will sâ—y that this matter is now decided which of these Princes of the House of Portugal entreth also thereby to the other Right of Succession of England yet others will say no for that the Laws of Succession in Portugal and England be different For that in England Representation taketh places so as the children of the Son â—hough they be Women shall never be preferred before the Children of the Daughter though they be Men whereof these men do infer that seeing the Lady Philips Right before-mentioned to the Dukedom of Lancaster and thereby also to the Crown of England is to be preferred according to the Laws of England and not by the Laws of other Foreign Countries it followeth that the self same Right of Succession that is pretended at this day by the Princes of Portugal for succeeding the said Lady Philippa should be determined only by the Laws of England where Representation taketh place and not by the Laws of any other Nation Thus say they But against this others do alledge that the question is not here by what Law this pretence of the Blood Royal of Portugal to the Crown of England is to be tried but rather who is the true and next Heir and Successor unto King John the I. and to his Wife Queen Lady Philippa Heir of the House of Lancaster which two Princes were King and Queen of Portugal and their true Heir at this day hath the forenamed pretence to the Crown of England true and next Hâ—â—r being once known it little importeth by what Lâ—w he pretendeth his said Right to England whether by that of England or by
this of Portugal or by both though to determine this first and chief point who is the next and true Heir unto these foresaid King and Queen of Portugal the Laws of Portugal must needs be Judge and not those of England and so seeing that by these Lawâ— of Portugal the King of Spain is now adjudged for next Heir to the said Prince and is in possession of their Inheritance at this day I mean of the Crown of Portugal these men say that he must consequently Inherit also all other Rights Dignities and Prerogatives belonging to the foresaid Princes or to their Posterity And thus you see now how great diversity of Arguments and Objections is and may be alledged on different sides about this Affair whereby also is made manifest how doubtful and ambiguous a matter this point of English Succession is seeing that in one onely branch of the Pretenders which is in the House of Portugal alone there are so many difficulties as here hath been touched But now the common Objection against all these Titles and Titlers is that they are old and out of use and not to be brought in question again now especially seeing that both King Henry the VII and his Issue have enjoyed so long the Title of the House of Lancaster as it hath and secondly that these Titles do appertain unto Strangers whose Government may be dangerous many ways unto England and especially in that which toucheth the King of Spain who being so Great and Mighty a Monarch as he is may prejudice greatly the English Liberty and easily bring them into servitude if his pretence should be Favoured as by some it seemeth to be This is the Speech of many men in England and abroad at this day whereunto yet some others do answer that as concerning the first Objection of the oldness of the Pretence and Title it hath shewed before that by Law no Title to a Kingdom dyeth ever but may take place whensoever the Party to whom it belongeth is able to avouch it and get possession and as for this pretence of the Line of Portugal they say that it hath not such great age but that very well it may shew it self and be had in consideration especially at this Time wâ—â—n now the Issue Male of King Henry the VII is ended and that of Necessity we must return to have consideration of the Issue of his Daughters before which Daughters good Reason say these men is it that the Issue of Lady Philippa Queen of Portugal should be admitted for that albeit we would have that respect to the Issues Male of John Earl of Somerset as to prefer it or suffer it to enjoy the Crown before the Issue of Queen Philippa and so they say it seemeth that it was for that King Henry the VII was Crowned King his Mother being alive which yet by ordinary course of Succession should have gone before him yet say they it is no reason that the Issue-Female of John of Somerset or of King Henry the VII should be preferred before the Issue-Male of the said Queen Philippa Moreover they say that the House of Clarence and Hutnington do pretend a Title more old and stale at this day than this of Portugal for that they pretend from George Duke of Clarence that never had the Crown and these of Portugal pretend to be next Heir to King Henry the VI. that did wear the Crown of England for 40. Years together after whose death if King Alfonsus of Portugal who was then old and wearied with evil success of Wars had been so able to prefer and follow his Title as some of that House be at this day he would never have suffered the House of York to have entred nor King Henry the VII to have enjoyed it after them by the Title of Lancaster which Title yet of Lancaster say these men King Henry the VII could not have in himself any way whether we respect Queen Philippa or John of Somerset for by Queen Philippa they of Portugal were evidently before him and by way of John of Somerset the Countess his Mother was as clearly before him neither could he have any Title as yet by the House of Yâ—rk for that he was not yet married to the Daughter of King Edward so as his Crowning in the Field and whole entrance to the Kingdom was without any actual Title at all but only the good will of the People as these men do hold To the other Objection of 14. Princes and strange Government that may come to England by these pretences of the Princes of Portugal divers men do answer diversly for some do grant that it may be so that by this means England may come to be under Foreign Kings and that no hurt or inconvenience at all would ensue thereof to England but rather much Good and Commodity but other that like not well of this assertion do say further that if these Foreign pretences should take place yet that all matters might be so compounded that albeit the Prince himself which is to Rule should be Foreign born which they take to be no Inconvenience yet that his Forces and Dependance should be only of the English for that he should not bring in any strange Powers into the Land no more than did King Stephen or King Henry the II. that were born in France or than did King Philip of Spain in Queen Marys days or as it is thought Monsiâ—ur of France should have done if he had married her Majesty that now is as once it was supposed he should To this said one of the Company and is it possible that any man should be of opinion that Foreign Government in what manner or kind soever it be should not be inconvenient and hurtfull to England where the People are wholly bent against it you remember quoth he as concerning the last two Examples that you have alledged what Tumult and stir there was raised by some kind of Men about the coming in of King Philip and what there was like to have been about the entrance of Monsieur if that purpose had gone forward I remember well said the Lawyer and these men that are of this opinion will say to this that it was but a Popular Mutiny without Reason or any good Ground at all and only raised by some crafty Heads that misliked the Religion of the Princes that were to enter and for some other drifts of their own but not of any sound Reason or Argument of State which these men think rather to be of their side and in good sooth they alledge so many Arguments for their Opinion that if you should hear them you would say it were hard to judge which Opinion had most Truth but they are too long for this place and so said he I shall make an end of the matter that I have in hand and leave this point for others to discuss With this the whole Company shewed marvellous great desire to know
of all the Roman Emperours and in the Life of one of them that was an excellent Governour named Antonius Pius the said Knight hath this discourse ensuing There was in this mans Governments said he great Contentment and Joy on all hands great Peace and Quietness and very great Justice and truely it is a thing worthy in this place to be considered what was the humane Power and how infinite the Forces of the Roman Empire at this day and how great was the Liberty Quietness Security Wealth and Contentment of the Subjects that lived under that Government when good Princes had the managing thereof as was this Antoninus and his Son Aurelius that followed him and as were Adrian Trajan and divers others What a thing was it to see their Courts frequented freely by all the Noble Valiant and Learned men of the World to see the union and friendly dealing of diffierent Nations together when all served one Prince so as a man might have gone over the whole World or most and best parts thereof with all security and without all fear all Nations and Countries being their Friends Neighbours or Subjects neither was there need at that time of any Pasports or safe Conducts nor of so often change of Coyn to travel as now there is neither yet were there new Laws every foot as now be found in different Countries neither was there danger of Enemies or to be taken prisoners and captives nor could any malefactor do a mischief in one Countrey and flee into another thereby to be free from punishment and he that was born in the very Orcades or furthest part of Europe was at home though he were in Africa or Asia and as free a Denizen as if he had been born there Merchants also might pass at that day from Countrey to Countrey with their Merchandise without particular Licences or fear of Forfeits and finally the temporal state of a Subject was wonderful happy at that time Thus far discourseth that learned Knight and no doubt but that his discourse and consideration is founded on great Reason and he that will leave at this day the many commodities of being under a Great and Potent Prince if it lie in his own hands to chuse for this only circumstance that he is not born in the same Countrey with him is a man of small judgment and capacity in these mens opinion and measureth matters of publick utility with a false weight of fond affection And thus much may be said of the first way of being under Strangers and Foreign Government which is that which vulgar men do most abhor and inveigh against to wit to be under a foreign Prince that liveth absent and ruleth by his Governours But besides this there is another manner of being under a Foreign Prince as when an Alien Prince cometh to dwell among us and this by either of two ways to wit that either this Prince cometh without Forces as did King Stephen and King Henry the II. that were French-men as hath been said and came to live and govern in England but without external Forces and as King Philip of Spain came afterwards when by Marriage of Queen Mary he became King of England and as the last King Henry the III of France went into Polonia by the free Election and Invitation of that Nation and as his Brother Monsieur Francis Duke of Alenson should have entred afterward to have been King of England if the Marriage pretended between her Majesty and him had gone forward and taken effect as many thought once that it should This I say is one way and another is that this Prince do bring Forces with him for his own assurance and these either present as the Danish Kings Sweno Canutus Haraldus and Hardicanutus did and as after them the Norman Princes also used I mean not only William the Conquerour himself but also his two Sons William Rufus and Henry the I who either by help of the Normans already in England or by others brought in by them afterwards wrought their will or else that this Prince so entring have Foreign Forces so at hand as he may call and use them when he will for that they have no Sea to pass which is the case of the King of Scots and of both these wayes these men do give their sentence distinctly For as concerning the former way when a Foreign Prince entreth without any Forces at all and with intention to live among us they hold that there is no danger nor yet any inconvenience can justly be feared for that in this case he subjecteth himself rather to the Realm and Nation than they to him and if he live and marry in England both himself and his Children will become English in a little space And for his own assurance he must be inforced to favour and cherish and make much of the English Nation and be liberal gentle and friendly to all for gaining their good wills and friendship And in one very great and important point his condition is different and better for the English than any English Kings can be which is that he entreth with indifferent mind towards all men hath no kindred or alliance within the Land to whom he is bound nor enemy against whom he may be inticed to use cruelty so as only merit or demerit of each man must move him to favour or disfavour which is a great Foundation say these men of good and equal Government Again they say that in respect of the State present of England and as now it standeth and for the publick good not only of the common Subjects but also of the Nobility and especially and above others of the English Competitors and Pretenders that cannot all speed no way were so commodious as this to avoid bloodshed to wit that some external Prince of this time should be admitted upon such Compositions and Agreements as both the Realm should remain with her ancient Liberties and perhaps much more than now it enjoyeth for such Princes commonly and upon such occasions of Preferment would yield to much more in those Cases than a home-born Prince would and the other Pretenders at home also should remain with more security than they can well hope to do under any English Competitor if he come to the Crown who shall be continually egged on by his own kindred and by the aversion emulation and hatred that he has taken already by contention against the other opposite Houses to pull them down and to make them away and so we have seen it by continual Examples for many years though no occasion say these men hath ever been offered to suspect the same so much as now if any one of the home English Bloud be preferred before the rest and this is so much as they say to this second kind of being under Foreign Princes To the third they confess that it standeth subject to much danger and inconvenience to admit a foreign Prince
Lancaster Joan eldest Daughter married to L. Mowbray Mary second Daughter married to Hen. L. Percy Hen. 2d Son Earl of Lancaster Darby and Lâ—icester H. II. 1st D. of Lancaster made by Edward III. J. of Ga. 3d. Son of Ed. D. of Lanâ— by his 1st Wife Blanch Heir of Lancaster first Wife to Jo. of Gaunt 13. Hen. IV. first King of the House of Lanc. 1406. 14. Henry V. King of England 1414. 15. Hen. VI. deposed by the House of York Edw. Prince of Wâ—les slain by the house of York Eleanor 3â— Daughter married to â— E. of Arunâ—el The 1st Son Earl of Lancaster died without issue John the 3d. Son Earl of Darby Edmond Crockbâ—â—k 2d Son Earl of Lancaster 8. Henry III. succeeded his Father John 1316. 9. Edward I. Son of Henry III. reigned 1272. 10. Edward II. afterward deposed 11. Edw. III fâ—om whom bâ—gan the â—â—uses of Lan â— York 1326. Edw. Prince of Wales 1st Son died before his Fath. 12. Richard II. deposed by H. D. of Lanc. 1460. The House of Britany by the Second â—â—ay Beatrix married to John II. Duke of Britany Arth. II. D. of Brit. whose title ends in the Inf. of Sp. John II. that married Beatrix John the first of that name D. of Britany The House of Devonshire H. D. of Exeter had no issue and left all to 's sister Ann married to Siâ— T. Nevil Father of R. J. E. of West John Holland D. of Exeter Son of Elizabeth Elizabeth 2d Daughter married to J. H. D. of Exet. The House of PORTUGAL Philippa eldest daughter married to John I. K. of Port. Edward I. K. of Port. Son of Queen Philippa Alfonsus V. eldest Son King of Portugal John II. King of Portugal Ferdinand â—d Son D. of Viseo in Portugal Emmanuel King of Portugal Son of D. Ferdinand Henry 3d. Son Cardinal and K. of Portugal John III. eldest Son K. of Portugal John Prince of Portugal died before his Father Sebastian K. of Portugal slain in Barbary Lewis 2d Son never married Anthony Illegitimate Son of Lewis Isabel eldest Daughter of K. Em. born next K. John The Line of Castile Const. Heir of K of Castile 2d Wife of Jo. of Gaunt Catherine married to K. Henry III. of Castile John I. King of Castile Son of Catherine Isab. married to Ferd. K. of Aragâ—n sirnam'd Cathaâ— Joan marrito Philip I. Arch-Duke of Austria Chacees V. Emperour and King of Spain Philip II. King of Spain Isabel 〈◊〉 ta of Spain eldest Daughter Philip III. prince of Spain Cathar 2d Daughter married the D. of Savâ—y Edward Infanta of Portugal younger Son Katharine 2 daughter married to John D. of Bragansa Theodosius Duke of Bragansa Edward Alexander Philip Brothers of Theâ—dosius Mary eldest Daughter married Al. D. of Parma Ranutius the first Son D. of Parma Edward 2d Son Cardinal The House of Clarence Lionel 2d son D. of Clarence died before his Father Philipa married to Edm. Mortimer E. of March Roger Mort. 4th E. of March died in Ireland Ed. Mortim. E. of March slain in Irel. without Issu Mortim. younger son died without Issue The House of Buckingham Edm. of Langly D. of York 4th Son of K. Edward Edw. eldest Son D. of York had no Issue Th. of Woodst D. of Glo. 5th son of E. III. slain by his Neph Rich. Ann mar to â— L. Staf. whereby they become Duke of Bucks The House of YORK Richard â—d Son D. of York husband of Ann Ann Mort. mar the D. of York by which they claim R. Plantagâ—net D. of York 1 st pretendâ—r of that house 18. Rich. III. 2d Son of Rich. D. of York 1483. Edw. Prince of Wales died without Issue George Duke of Clarence 2d Son of Richard Edward Earl of Warwick put to death by H. VII Margaret Countess of Salisbury married of Rich. Pâ—ol Reginald Pool died Cardinal so England Hon. I. Mâ—â—tague â—â—t Son put to death by Henry VIII Winifred 2d daughter maried to S. T. Barington Catharine married to S. F. Hâ—stings E. of Hunting H. Hastings â—arl of Hantington and his Brethren Geffry Pool Knight Geffry Pool Arthur and Geffry Pool Sons of Geffry 18. Edw. IV. first K. of the House of York 1460. 17. Edw. V. put to death hy his Unkle Richard The Line of Somerset and of K. H. 7. The Uniting of York and Lancaster Catharine Swinford 3â— Wife to John of Gaunt John Earl of Somerset John Duke of Somerset Margaret married to Edm. Tuder â— of â—ichm 19. Henry VII King of England 1485. 20. Henry VIII King of England 1507. 21. Edw. VI. Son of Henry VIII 1546. 22. Mary eldest Daughter Queen of England 23. Elizab. â—d daughter of K. Henry 1558. Eliz. eldest Daughter of Ed. IV. married to H. VII Mary 2d daughter married Cha. Br. D. of Suf. Franc. eldest Daughter married Hen. Gr. D. of Suf. Cathar Gray had by the E. of Harts two sons Edward Seymour called Lord Bâ—aâ—ham Hen. Seymor ad Son begoten in the Tower Eleanor 2d Daughter married H. E. of Camb. Margaret married to H. Earl of Darby Ferdinand L. Strange and his Brother Jama IV. K. of Scots first husband of Margaret Margar. eldest daughter married twico Arch. Doug. E. of Angus 2d Husband of Margaret James V. King of Scotland Margaret married to Matthew E. of Lanox Mary Queen of Scotland put to death in England Henry Lord Darly Husband of Mary Charles 2d Son married to Eliz. Candish James VI. King of Scotland The Lady Arabella Polyd. in vita â— VIII Occasions of meeting The matter of Succession discussed Mr. Promely Mr. Wentworth Two Lawyers Many pretenders to the Crown of England Sucession doubtful and why Three or four principal heads of pretendors 1. Lancaster 2 York 3. The two houses joyned Circumstances of the time present The Romman Conclave Succession includeth also some kind of election Of this more afterwards Cap. 4 5. Nearness only in bloud not sufficient M◠〈…〉 in 〈◊〉 pretenders Two principal points handled in this book Two parts of this conference Bellay apollog pro reg cap. 20. Not only Succession sufficient That no particular form of Government is of Nature To live in Company is Natural to man and the ground of all Common-Wealths Plato de repub Cicero de repub Aristotle polit Divers Praeses 1. Inclination universal Pompon Mela. lib. 3. cap. 3 4. Tacit. l. 8. 2. Speech Aristot. l. 1.1 pol. c. 1.2.3.4 3. Imbecility of man Theoph. lib. de Plaut Plutarch conde fortuna lib. de pietatem in parent Note this saying of Aristotle 4. The use of Justice and Friendship Cicero lib. de amicitia The use of charity and helping one an other August lib. de amicitia Gen. 2. v. 18. That Government and Jurisdiction of Magistrates is also of Nature 1. Necessity Job 10. v. 22. 2. Consent of Nations Cicero li. 1. de natura Deorum 3. The Civil Law Lib. 1. digest tit 2. Scripture Prov. 8. Rom. 13. Particular form of Government is free Arist. li. 2.
Polit. Diversity of Government in divers Countries and Times Rome Africa and Greece Italy Dukes for Kings and Kings for Dukes Spain Bohemia Polonia England The Jews lib. Genes Lib. Exo. Lib. Job Lib. Jud. Lib. 1. Reg. Lib. Machab The Realm chuseth her Form of Government The Commonwealth limiteth the Governours Authority A Natural Prince A Monarchy the best Government Arist. lib. 4. pol. a. c. 9. Seneca Plutarch The Antiquity of Monarchy 1 Reg. 8. Dionys. Haly l. 5. Cornel. Tacit. l. 3. Cicero l. 1. Offic. Hierom. l. 2. epist. 12. Chrisost. ho. 23. 1 Pet. 2. Two Points to be noted How St. Peter calleth a King most excellent Utilites of a Kingdom and conveniences of other Governments Cicero l. 1. offic Democratia Miseries of Popular Government in Italy Tit. liv l. 30. Eutrop. l. 3. Oros. l. 5. 6. The cause why Laws be added to Kings Arist. l. 3 pol. c. vitâ— A notable Saying Arist. l. 3â— pol. c. 12. Arist. l. 1. Pol. c. 2. Divers â—â—â—nes and properties of Laws Cic. lib. 2. Offic. Law is the Discipline of a weal publick Psal. 2. The Counsels of Princes a great help Arist. l. 4. Pol. c. 10. The Monarchy of England temper'd The restraints of Kingly power in all Estates Roman Kings Liv. lib. 1. dâ—c 1. Greâ—ian Kings Arist. lib. 2. c. 8. polit Plutarch in Lycurg Cic. l. â— Offic. Why Kiâ—â— were restrained Laws Cic. l. 3. de legibuâ— Why Kinâ—â—ly Goverâ—â—ment we left in Rome Titus Livâ—â—â—us l. 1. dec 8. Livius ibidem Restrain's of Kingdoms in Europe Sleydon lib. 8. Aâ— 1532. Blond Dâ—â—cad 2. l. Crant li. cap. 25. Kingdoms of Polonia and Bohemia Her l. 9. Hist. Polonia Cromerus l. 3. Hist. Polon Kings of Spain France and England Concil blet 4. c. 74. concil s. c. 3. Peculiar manner of Succession An. 1340. Paul Anil Hist. Franc. l. 2. Gerard du Hailan l. 4. Hist. Franc. Fran. Belfor l. 5. c. 1 An. 1327. Reason for Succession of Women The Infanta of Spain and Prince of Lorrain Gerard dâ— Hailain lib. 13. Hiâ—â— Franc. c An. 1317 lib. 14 An. 132â— lib. 3. dâ— l'Estat de frunce Kings lawfully possessed may be deprived A markable circumstance Against Rebillions People and contemnorâ— of Princes 2 Pet. 2.10 Jude 8. Titles of Princes once settled not to be examined by private men Against flatterers that yield too much power to Princes Absurd flateries uttered by Belloy and others Belloy in apolog Cath. apolog pro Rege The purpose of the next Chapter Two points to be proved Nothing hear spoken against due respect to Princes ☜ Deprivations of Kings recounted in Scripture ☜ 1 Reg. 31. 4 Reg. 21.44 King Josias 2 Paralip 34. 2 Paralip 35. King David Xenophon in Cyropaed Ni. Machâ— l. 2. c 2. â— Tit. Liviâ— August l. de Gran. The wisdome and piety of King David 1 Paralipâ— 15. 1 Psal. 22â— 25. The Arms King David His Valour in Chivalry King David ' s Victories 2 Reg. 8. 1 Paral. 18 2 Reg. 23. Joseph l. 7. antiq c. 10 2 Reg. 7. His Humiliâ—y Charity and Devotion Kings put down among the Romans and what Successors they had Halicar l. 1 Tertul. l. de praescrip contra haeres Justin. martyr apolog T it liv l. 1 dec 1. Eutrop. l. 1 Caesar Augustus Dion in Caesa. Sueton in Câ—esa Nero Vespatian Cornel. Tacit. lib. 10 81. Egesip l. 5 Entrop in vita Caesa. Heliogabalus An. Domâ— 124. Alius lamp in vita Heliog Alexander Severus Herod in vit Sever Maxentius Constantin The bhange of the East Empire Charles the Great An. 800. Two chanâ—gs in France Belfori l. â— Girard l. â— Aemil. l. 2 Clem. Caudin en la Chroâ—nique des Roys de France Reasons Deprivation Hugo Capet Anno 988. Examples of Spain Concil Tolet. 4. cap. 4. Ambros. moral l. 11 cap. 17. Isidor in Hist. Hispan Estevan â— Garibay 13. de la â— Hist. de â—spa c. 1 Tabulae Astron. Alfonsinae King Don Alonso deposed Don Pedrâ— Crâ—el deposed Garibay l. 14. c. 40.41 In Portugal King Don Sancho 2. deposed Garibay lib. 4. de Hist. Portug c. 19. Lib. 6. dâ—â—â—cret tit de suppleâ— da cap. Grand 1. Garibay in Hist. dâ— Portug 〈◊〉 34. cap. 2. The Emperrors of Greece Galicas in Annal. part 4. Zon. Annal co 3. in vita Michael Calapha In Polonia In literis reip Polon ad Henr. Valesium pag. 182.184 Vide Gagneum part 1. de rebus Polon In Suetia Poilin 1.32 Histor de Franc. An. 1568. In Denmark Sleydanâ— l. 4. Hisâ— An. 133â— Munst. 〈◊〉 Cosmogâ— descript Davide Paulus â— vius in ris illust Example of England King Joâ—â— Deposed Polid. hiâ—â— Ang. l. 1â— An. 121. An. 1216. An. 1216. King Henry the third King Edward the second deposed Polyd. l. 18 Hist Ang. An. 1386. Stow in the Life of K. Edward the second The manner of Deprivation of a King See Stow and Hollings in this man's Life King Edward the third King Richard the second Deposed Polyd. l. 20. Hist. Aug. 1399. King Henry the 6th Deposed Polyd. lib. 23. Hist. Anglic. K. Richâ— the thiâ—â— deposedpunc An. 1â— A poâ—â— much noted The reply of the Temporal Lawer Belloy apolog Cathol c. part 2. Paragraph 9. Apol. pro. Regâ—â— cap. 9. An objection out of the Prophet Samuel 1. Reg. 8. The Power of a King or rather of a Tyrant Belloy polog pâ— 2. Paraâ— Apolâ— rege câ— 2.4 c Great aâ—surditieâ— flateriesâ— Cic. lib. 2. offic Another absurdity Institut imperial l. 2. Tit. 1. Division of goods by Civil Law Slaves and Freemen Arist. l. â— pol. c. 4 â— Arist. l. â— c. 3. Mark the Reason Divers evident reasons against Belloy 3 Reg. 21. Cap. inovamus 10. de cauebus c. super quibusdam 26. §. de verborum signif An Answer to the Objection out of the Prophet Samuel Arist. l. pol. c. 1â— Joseph l. â— antiq c. â— Deut. 1â— 3 Reg. 10. Psal. 2. By what Law Princes are punished The difference beween a private man and a Common-wealth The Prince Authority but subdelegat In reguliâ— utrinque juris vide in sine sexti Decret reg 75.69 When an Oath bindeth not Cicero li. 1. Offic. A clear Example Math. 24. Regul 68. in sine 6. Decret Decret Greg. l. Tit. 24. Decret part 2. caâ— sa 22. quâ— 4. c. 5. â— quâ— 5. perâ—â—totuâ— Two principle cases when Oath hold not â—â—wards a Prince Aemil. l. 2. Hist. Franc. Belfor in vita Childer Girad lib. 3. The Speech of the Fren. Embassador for deprivation of their King The conclusion how when Oaths do not bind Subjects The difference between a King and a Tyrant Plat. dial 1. de repub Arist. li. 2. Pol. c. 5. Bart. li. de Tyrannide Cicero li. 3. de legibus God l. 1. Tit. 14 §. digna Suet. c. 23. in Calig Zoo tom 2 in Trainâ— See in the Chapter following The Speech of a Souldier The occasion of the next Chapter The
Queen of Spain Garib l. 13. cap. 10. An. 12â—7 An English Queen Grand-mother to two King Saints at once Another breach of Succession The Cord is put back from the Crown 1276. Garabay l. 15. c. 1. an 1363. Many alterations of Lineal descent Don John the first bastard King of Portugal Garib l. 15. c. 22 l. 34. c. 39. Of the State of France An 419. An. 751. An. 988. Examples of the two Ranks of French Kings King Pepin by Election An. 751. King 〈…〉 〈…〉 â—â—â—â—lan 〈◊〉 an â—8 Eginard Belfor li. 2 cap. 5. The Uncle preferred before the Nephew Paul Mili hist. Franc. King Luys de bonnaire An. 814. Gerard. l. 5. An. 834 An. 840. An. 878. Baudin en la Chronique pag. 119. Gerard l. 1 An. 879. Two Bastards preferred An. 881. Luys Faineant King of Foance An. 886. Charles 4. le Gros King of France Gerard. li. 5. An. 888 Odo a King and after Duke of whom came Hugo Capetus Ralph I. King of France An. 927. An. 929. Luys IV. d' Outremer The true Heir of France excluded Hugh Capet otherwise Snatchcape 988. Belfor li. 3. cap. 1. An. 988. Defence of Hugh Kapetus Title The Embassage of the States of France unto Charles of Loraine Gerard l. 6. an 988. Note this comparison Example out of the third time of France Gerard. li. 6. an 1032. King Henry preferred before his elder Brother William Conquerour how he came to be Duke of Normandy Gerard l. 6. anno 1032. 1037. Sons excluded for the Fathers offences Gerard l. 7. ann 1110 Belfor l. 4. c. 1. l. 5. Commaeus in commentar l 1. in vita Ludovic 11. Examples of the Realm of England Divers Races of English Kings The name of England and English King Egbert the first Monarch of England Polidor hist. Aug. li 4. in fine An. 802. King Pepin of France King Adelwolfe An. 829. King Alfred 872. King Edward Elder An. 900 King Aleston the Bastard preferred An 〈◊〉 〈…〉 hist. Angl. Stow pag. 130. An. 924. King Edmond I. An. 940. The 〈◊〉 preferred before the Nephews 946. Polid. l. 6. Stâ—w in 〈…〉 〈…〉 King Edward martyrized King Etheldred 978. Polid. l. 7. hist. Aug. King Edmond Ironside Queen Emma Mother to King Edward the Confessor Many breaches of Lineal Succession Sons of King Edmond Ironside King Canutus the First 1018 King Harald the Bastard 1038. Polyd. l 8. hist. Angl. King Hardiâ—anutus Anno 1041. Alfred the younger Brother preferred King Edward the Confessor made King against Right of Succession Prince Edward the Outlaw and his Children put back Polyd. l. 8. Harald second King by Election 1066. Polid. ubi sâ—p 〈…〉 of England An. 1066. by Election Gerard. li. 6. An. 1065 Chron. 〈◊〉 l. 3. cap. â—4 Antoninus part 2. Chron. tit 16. cap. 5. §. 1. Examples after the conquest Polyd. in vita Gul. Conq. William Rufus King An. 1087. Henry I. An. 1100. Mathild the Empress King Stephen entred against Succession An Act of Parliament about Succession 1153. King Richard and King John 1190. Prince Arthur put back Two Sisters of Prince Arthur Duke of Britain King John and his Son rejected 1216. The Titles of York and Lancaster The conclusion of this Chapter Causes of Excluding Princes Who must be Judge of the lawful cause of Exclusion Open injustice to be resisted What are the chief points to be regarded in â— Princes admission Whence the Reasons of admitting or rejecting a Prince are to be taken Gerard. li. 3. de l' Estat pag. 242. Three principal Points to be considered Why â—e resolveth to treat of Religion principally The chief end of a common-wealth supernatural Philosophers and Law-makers what end they had of their Doings The commonwealth of Beasts The natural end of Mans commonwealth Sacrifices and Oblations by Nature Gen. 8. Job 1. The chief end of a common-wealth and Magistrates is Religion Genebrard l. 1. Chronol de l. aetate Genes 25. 29. Deut. 21. 2 Parali 21. Regard of Religion among Gentiles Cicero li. 1 quaest Tus. de natuâ—a Deorum lib. 1. Plâ—tâ—rch adverses 〈◊〉 Aristo l. 7. Polâ—ti c. 8. The aâ—sâ—rd 〈…〉 Politicks See before the Oaths made by Princes at their Coronations in the IV. Chapter The Oath to Governours for defence of Religion Collat. 2. Novella constit Justin. 8. tit 3. Note the form of this Oath written An. Dom. 560. How great a defect is want of Religion in a Magistrate Lack of Religion the chiefest cause to exclude a Pretender Vide Digest li. 2â— tit 1. leg 8. 10. Matth. 1â— Marc. 10. 1 Cor. 7. Lib. 4. deceret Greg. tit 19. c. 7. Whether difference in Religion be infidelity Act. 23. 1 Cor. 8. 2 Cor. 5. 1 Pet. 3. Matth. 18 How he that doth against his own conscience Rom. 14. 1 Cor. 14. 10. See upon this place of S. Paul S. Chrysost. hom 36. in hanc epistolam Orig. l. 10. Theodor. in hunc locum How dangerous to favour a Pretender of a contrary reli Against Wisdom and Policy to prefer a Prince of a contrary Religion The conclusion of the whole Speech A protestation of the Lawyer Why they will not determin of any one Title The Book of Hales and Sir Nicholas Bacon The but of â—â—lâ—s his â—â—â—k 〈◊〉 Râ—â—son 〈…〉 The Book of M. Morgan and Judge Brown Answer to the I. Reason To the II. Reason Highinton's book George Lilly in fine Epit. chronic Anglic Sundry important Points Divers other Nots and Pamphlets Sir Richard Shelly Francis Peto A Treatise in the behalf of 〈◊〉 Infanta of Spain Discent of William the Conqueror The Children of the Conqueror Polid. l. 9. in fine Stow in vita Guliel The miseries of Duke Robert and his Son Stow in vit Gul. Conquest William Son of Duke Robert Belfor l 3. cap. 42. An. 1128. King William Rufus Tareagnotta l. 2. del Hist. del mondo K. Henry Polydor. in vita Henrici 1. The House of Britain by the elder Daughter of the Conqueror Belfor l. 3. Pag. 423. Conan Duke of Britain Poysoned by William the Conqueror Belâ—or l. 3. Cap. 12. Aâ— 1095. ex chronic dionis The Daugh of Spain â—re of the â—loud Royal of England The Houses of Bloys Why Stephen was admitted King of England Girard l. 6. Belfor l. 3. The Issue of K. Stephen K. Henry the II. Belfor l. 3. cap. 50. An. 1151. Geraâ—d l. 8 pag 549 King Henry II. his Issue Stow in vita Hen. King Richard Duke Geffrey Paradyn apud Belforest Belfor l. 3. cap. 71. An. 1203. Belfor l. 4. cap. 4. King John and his Issue Miseries that fell upon King John Poâ—i l. Hollâ—â—g 〈◊〉 Stow â—n vita Johannis The issue of King Henry II his Daâ—â—â—ters 〈◊〉 l. 3. c. â—9 〈◊〉 115â— The Issue of Lady Eleanor Queen of Spain Polyd. l. 15. in vit Johan Steph. Garib l. 12. cap. 31. Queen Berenguela Garibay l. 12. c. 52. Pretences of the Infanta of Spain to English French States K. Henry â—he 3. and his
Issue The meeting of three Houses Prince Edward Duke Edmond Lady Beatrix daughter of K. Henry 3. The Pedegree of the Dukes of Britany The great Contention between the Houses of Monford and Bloâ—s in Britany Burgundy and Orleans The controversie between the House of Monford and Blois A question about succession between the Uncle and the Niece The House of Blois overcome The succession of the Monfords in Britany Francis last Duke of Britany How the Dukedom of Britany was united to France The Issue Male of K. Henr. 3. The Bishop of Ross in his Book of the Queen of Scots Title George Lilly in fine Epitomes Chron. Anglic. That Edward was the elder Mat. West in vit H. 3. Hollingshed ibid. p. 654. Hollingsh in vit H. 3. p. 740. 777. Edmonds Line never pretended to the Crown Note this consequent The eldership of Edmond a fiction Polyd. in fine vit Henr. 3. The Issue of K. Edward the â— The Issue of Edmond Crouch-back Collateral Lines of Lancaster 〈…〉 of K Edward 3. The Red Rose and the White Issue of the Black Prince The Issue of Leonel the 2d Son The Issue of Edmond the 4. Son The Issue of Thomas the 5. Son The Issue of of the 3d. â—n Duke of Lancast. The Issue of L. Blanch. Lady Philippa married into Portugal and her Issue Lady Elizabeth second Daughter The Issue of K. Henr. 4. The Issue of John of Gaunt by his second Wife The controversie in Spain between King Peter the Cruel and his Bastard broohâ—r Garibay l. 15. â— 26. Of Lady Catharine Swinford Hollinshed in vita Rich. 2. p. 1088. The Duke of Lancaster 's bastards made legitimate Hollingh in vita Kich 2. pag. 1090. The issue of Katharine Swinfords children King Henry VII The Dukes of Somerset Polidor hist. Ang. lib. 23. Hollings in vita Edwardi IV. pa. 1314. 1340. What heirs of Lancaster now remain in England The Issue of the House of York Richard Earl of Cambridge executed Richard Duke of York slain Edward Duke of York and King his Issue The Line of the Pooles The Line of the Hastings The Barringtons King Richard 3. Issue of K. Henry the 7. Issue of the Lady Mary of Scotland Issue of Mary 2d Sister to K. Henry Lady Frances Stow An. 7 Edw. 6. Of Lady Eleanor of Suffolk Variety of Authors opinions about this controversie Polyd. in fine vit Henr. 3. initio vit Henr. 4. in vit Ric. An. 1386. The Allegations of the House of York The story of the controversie between Lancaster and York Polyd. in â—â—a Riâ—h 2. l. b. 20. King Richards deposition Chief points of the controversie between Lancaster and York Three pâ—â—â—t King Richards deposition That a 〈…〉 1. Reason 2. Authority 3. Examples Whether the causes were sufficient of King Richards deposition The Hâ—â—se of York chief 〈◊〉 in deposing K. Rich. Polyd. Hist. Angl. l. 20. Addit ad Polycronicon Testimony of Stories The evil government of K. Rich. Stow in vit Rich. 2. pag. 502. regni 11. A great insolency The evil Parliament Stow an 21 regni Rich. The Duke of Lancaster called by common request Frosard Walsingham Whether the manner of deposing K. Richard were good Arms necessary for removing an evil Prince 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 by 〈◊〉 Forces King Eglon slain in his Chamber Judg. 3. Saul put down by violence 1 Chr. 10. vers 9. Rehoboam deposed by his Subjects of ten Tribes 2 Reg. 11. 12. 2 Paralip cap. 10. Joram and his Mother Jezabel deposed by force 4 Reg. 9. Athalia deprived by force 4 Reg. 11. Whether Lancaster or York should have entred after K. Rich. Polydor l. 20. in vit Rich. Stow in vita Richardi 2. Whether 〈◊〉 Earl of 〈…〉 or 〈…〉 K. Râ—â—h The Title of York is by a Woman Stow in vit Hen. 5. an 3. regn The Earl of Cambridge executed for Conspiracy An objection for York that Edmond Mortimer was declared Heir appaâ—â—n Polyd. l. 20 Stow in vit Rich. 2. an 1385. Hollingsh in vit Rich 2. p. 1038. Stow an 1382. Polyd. l. 20 an 1394. The cause of hatred between K. Richard and the House of Lancaster John Frosard in Histor. Polydor. Hollingsh Stow in vit Rich. 2 Wâ—lâ—â—â—gh 〈…〉 2. p. 341. 3â—â— John Frosard in vit Henriet 〈◊〉 Roger Moâ—tiâ—â—â— was deâ—lâ—red Hâ—â—r 〈◊〉 Hollingsh in vit Richar. 3. p. 1406. in vit Edwar. 6. p. 1715. The declaration of K. Edw. 6. in favour of the Lady Jane Gray Girard du Haillan l. 15. his Franc. initio 〈…〉 〈◊〉 in â—â—tent Poâ—â—â—nem Câ—â—e suis leg haered The second â—â—â—mâ—le of the Uncle An examâ—plâ— of the Uncle before 〈◊〉 Nephew in Spain Garâ—bay l. 13. c. 1â— an 1276. Another example in France and Flanders Polydor. l. 15. in vit Edw. 3. Anoâ—â—eâ— example of Britany Supra c. 2. Another example â—n Scotland The contention of the Houses of â—alliol and Bruse in Scotl. Examples in England Hollingsh in vit Regis Johannis p. 142. How Arthur Duke of Britany was declared Heir apparent Polydor l. 14. Hollingsh in vit Ric. 1. p. 480. Hollingsh in vit Richardi Regis p. 496. 499. Hollingsh p. 540. Walsingh in Ypodig Neustriae Opinions of Lawyers for the Nephew and Uncle Benedict Cap. Ranutius verb. in eodem testam Baldus in lib. ut in test cap. de suis leg haered per. li. unicam pro 20. sui autem novissimo Touching the Common Law of England Different rules in succession of the Crown of other Inheritances The Common Law grounded in Custom Ancient Lawyers that defended the House of Lancaster Hollingsh in vit Henrici 6. p. 1300. The sum of this controversie repeated Other Arguments of Lancaster Stow in vit Hen. 5. p. 587. The Princes of York often attainted Stow in vit Hen. 6. York entred by violence Stow in fine vit Henrici 6. The House of York put down a Holy King Long possessions of the House of Lancaster 5. The difference of Kings of both Houses The Princes of York cruel one to the other Polydor Virg Hist. Angl. l. 24. Great union and faithfulness of the Princes of Lancaster Polydor lib. 23. Dissentioâ—s in the House of York K. Edw. 4. K. Riâ—h 3. K. Henry 8. how many he put to death of his own Kindred The de la Pools The House of Buckingham The House of Câ—urtâ—eys The House of Salisbury Seymers put to death Queen of Scots 7. Nâ— old noble House standing in England but such as took part with Lancaster Five ancient noble houses Arondel Oxford Northumberland Westmerland Shrewsbury Houses that favoured York destroyed 〈…〉 〈…〉 Pooâ—â—◠〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 and Warwick King Henry the 7. Chowned in the field in respect of the house of Lancaster only though his title that way was not great A division of the families that do pretend Of the house of Scotland Arabella In favour of the King of Scots Argument against the King of Sâ—ots The King of Scots
not of the House of Lancaster The King of Scots forrain born The controversie about forrain birth How strangers may inherit Reasons why the statute toucheth not one case The Crown not holden by allegiance 5. Reason King Henrys Testament against the King of Scots Answers to the King's Testament The King of Scots excluded by the statute of association Joyning of England and Scotland together Polyd. lib 17. in vit Edw. l. Inconveniences of bringing Strangers into England A Consideration of Importance Polyd. Hist Ang. l. 8. 9. Example of Spain Garibay l. 29. c. 42. An. Dom. 1207. Example out of Portugal Garibay l. 34. c. 38. An. Dom. 1383. Sâ—ow pa. 4. 54 59 90 76. Of â—he 〈◊〉 of Scotland Of the title of Lady Arabella An English Woman Against Arabella Not of the House of Lancaster The Testament of King Henry The countess of Darby nearer by a degree Illegitimâ—tion by â—â—sâ—ardy The Testimony of the L. William Howard Other reasons of 〈◊〉 against Arabâ—l◠〈…〉 Polyd. l. 12. Garibay l. 12. c. 42. â— The Issue of Charles Brandon Issue of Lady Frances Stow an 7. Edon 6. The Issue of the Lady Katharine The Issue of Lady Eleanor Allegations of the Houses of Darby and Hartford the one against the other Charles Brandon had a Wife alive First Bastardy against the Issue of Hartford Stow in vit Edward An. 1553. 2 Bastardy 3 Bastardy The fourth Bastardy common to both Families of Suffolk The Answer of tâ—ose of Hartford to the foresaid Bastardies Of the marriage between the Earl of Hartford and the Lady Katharine Gray How the second Son of the Earl of Hartford may be legitimate Allegations of the House of Darby Why the Earl of Huntingtonâ—â— House is 〈◊〉 to be of the House of Clarenâ—e Issue of tâ—â— House of Clâ—rence Issue of â—iâ— Geffrey Poole The interest and pretence of the Earl of Huntington Objections against the Earl â—f Huntingtâ—n Restitution may be in blâ—â—d without restitution of dignity The Pretence of the Pooles against Huntington Objections of Religion The House of Britany The course of Inheritance in the Crown of France First pretence of the Infanta to England Polyd. in vit Guil. Ruâ—â— Second pretence of the Infanta of Spain Pretence to Aquitain Polyd in vit Johan Garib in vit Alfons Pretences to England by Lady Blanch. Stow in vit Johannis Garib l. 12 c. 38. Pretence by Arthur Duke of Britany Belfor l 3. c. 71. Hist. Fran. Election of Lewis VIII to be King of England Poâ—yd l. 5. Hist. Angl. Hollings Stow in vit Johannis Belfor l. 2. c. 67. Girrard l. 5. Histor. Baudin an 891. chron France Pretence by Descent from Henry III. Admission by Composition Objections against the Infanta's pretence The Princes of Portugal are of the House of Lancaster The Issue of Lady Philippa Qu. of Portugal Issue of â—â—hn of Gaunt 〈…〉 â—ee the Arâ—â—◠〈◊〉 â—he 〈…〉 Book The point of difficulty Issue of Catharine Swinford The principal question Answer Dutchy of Lancaster The Crown An example of Edward the sixth and of the Prince of Spain 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 of Portugal The Dukedom of Lancaster The Legitiâ—â—â—ion â—f Câ—thâ—rin Swinfâ—rds Chilâ—â—â—â— noâ— lawfâ—l Stow in vit Riâ—har 2. Garibay hâ—st Portugal l. 35. cap. 4. Note this example â—tow in vit Henrici 2. John of Gauntes Marriage with Catherine Swinford helpeth not the Lâ—gitimaâ—ion The Question between Lady Philippa and John of Somerset The Question between the Nephews 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 Portugal The proper Interest of King Henry the 4th cannot descend to King Henry the 7th Who are the Princes of Portugal and how they pretend â—o England The Issue of King Emmanuel of Portugal Issue of K. John the 3. of Portugal K. Lewis Father of Don Antonio K. Henry Cardinal The pretence of the Qunen Mother of France to Portugal Five Pretenders of the Crown of Portugal The contention about the Succession of Portugal Attorneys sent to Portugal A Sentence of Illâ—â—â—imation against Don Antonio Writers of this Controversy The Causes why Don Antonio was pronounced Illegitimate Don Antonio his pretence to England Three principal pretenders of Portugal Pretences of the Duke of Parma For the Dutchess of Bragansa Representation excluded A Reply for â—he Duâ—e oâ— Paâ—ma King Philip 's pretence to Portugal Divers allegations for King Philip. Hieron Frakâ— Jo. Pâ—et Vipeâ— anus The case of pretence of the House of Portugal to England An objection with the answer Objections against the Pretenders of Portugal Answers Note this By what Title King Henry VII did enter About foreign power in England About Foreign Government The occasion of the next chapter about Foreign Government Reasons against foreign Government Polit. Arist. Demosthenis Philippicae in Aeschines Attempts to deliver Realms from strangers Quint. Curt. l. 5 6. de gest Alex. Vespere Sicilianae an 1265. Leand. in descript Siciliae Polyd. l. 8. Hollings in vit Camiti The rage of the French against the English The conclusion against Strangers Authority of Scripture against strangers Deut. 15. The answer in defence of foreign Government The effect of Governments to be considered and not the Governours An Example Little importeth the Subject of what Country his Governour is so he is good 1 Reg. 12. Not the Country but the good Government importeth Note these examples Who are properly Strangers Divers manners of being under Strangers To be undder strangers by Conquest How Conquerours do proceed towards â—he Conquered Polydor Virg. l. 8. Hist. Angliae Clemensy of the Romans Lib. 1. Macchab. â—ap 8. Strangers most favoured in wise Governments Gascoynes Britons Candians States oâ— Italy The condition of the Irish under the English Of the States of Flanders Girard du Haâ—lan l. 18. an 1381. Prosperity of Flanders under the House of Austria In Guiâ—ciard nella descrittione delli pasi bassi The Authority of the Flomings at home The Indulgence miâ—d â—o offenders 〈◊〉 â—landers The Spaniard punisheth less in Italy than nearer home Vâ—ceroyes do give account of their Government Much slaughter of Nobility in England Execution of Nobility by Henry the eight Under King Edward and Queen Mary States governed happily by foreign Princes Old afflictions of Naples and Millain Whether a great or little Prince be better Pedro Mexio en vit de Antonio Piâ—â— The felicity of the Roman Government The second way of being under a foreign Prince A foreign Prince without Forces not prejudicial Note this utility of a foreign King The manner of foreign Prince more commodious for the present A third way of being under foreign Government 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 Gâ—veâ—â—ent Inconâ—â—â—enceâ— of tâ—â—s Government Strange Governoâ—â—â— desired in some Realm The Answer to objections against foreign Government Answer the Grecian Philosophers and Orators Demosthenes The troublsome state of the Grecian Cities Arist. l. 2. â—olit c. 1.2 â—â—â—wer to 〈◊〉 objection out of Deuteronomy Deut. 15. Secondary Lines Ambiguity of Prevailing Two Grounds of probability of speeding Three Religions in England The great Importance of Religion in this Action The next Change like to be difficult and why The consideration of the Protestant Party The Clergy The Council and Nobility Persons designed or favoured by the Protestant Party Foreign Friends of the Protestants Of the Party Puritan Persons affected by the Puritans External Friends Lutheranâ— The Puritan at home Those of the Roman Religion Tâ—e Râ—man Party grâ—at and wâ—y 1 Reg â—2 〈…〉 Friends and Allies abroad Considerations of 〈◊〉 Pretender in particular The King of Scotland Arabella The Lord Beacham and the Earl of Darby Alliance of the Earl of Darby Aâ—â—ance of the Seymers Alliance â—â— the Stanleys Aâ—lâ—ance of the old Countess of Darby The States of the Lord Beacham and the Earl of Darby 〈…〉 Lords The Earl of Huntington 〈◊〉 of the 〈…〉 â—untingâ—â—â— The Power of London Polydor. 24 Holingshed in vita Henrici VI. The Houses of Britain and Portugal Infanta of Spain Duke of Parma The Duke of Bragansa Power of foreign Pretenders The first Conjecture that there will be War and why Sup. c. 4. A consideration to be marked The second conjecture no main Battel probable The third Conjecture who is likest to prevail For the Infanta of Spain For the Earl of Hartfod's second Son Sup. c. 6. For the Children of the Countess of Darby Garibay l. a 5. c. 36 Polydor in rit Steph.