lesse yeerly and not of one certaine value the Commissioners obserued this course they did make choice of three seuerall yeeres viz. 47. and 48. and 49 of E. 3. and did take out of the seuerall profits of those yeeres and did cast them all into one summe which they againe diuided into three equall parts esteeming only of the said three parts to be the iust yeerly value of the said reuenewes communibus anâ—iâ— that is one yeere with another And in this accompt we finde no other charges or reprizes allowed then the Iustices fees only This survey and accompt made aboue 200. yeeres past is here inserted to the end it might appeare what the reuenew of this Principallity alone was besides the Dutchy of Cornwall and Earledome of Chester neere the first certaine erection thereof in the hands of that worthy Prince commonly called the Black Prince The said Prince of Wales surnamed the Black Prince being also Duke of Aquitane Guies and Cornwall and Earle of Chester after many fortunate victories atchieued by him hauing subdued a great part of France and hauing taken Iohn the French King prisoner at Poyteers in France and after that also hauing vanquished Henry at Naue-roit in Spaine and restored Peter King of Arragon he died in Iune being then about the age of forty six yeeres and in the fiftieth yeere of the reigne of his father King Edward the Third leauing behinde him Richard his sonne and heire borne at Burdeaux and thereof surnamed Richard of Burdeaux This Richard surnamed of Burdeaux sonne and heire of the said Edward the Black Prince after the death of his father was created by his grandfather King Edward the Third to bee Prince of Wales at Havoring at the Bower in the County of Essex the twentieth day of Nouember in the fiftieth yeere of the reigne of the said King Edward the third the said Richard then being about the age of eleuen yeeres and vpon Christmas day then next following the said King Edward the third caused the said Prince being his Nephew to sit at his table in high estate aboue all his vncles being the Kings sonnes as representing the personage of the heire apparant to the Crowne and gaue to him the two parts of all the said Principalitie Counties Lordships Castles and the most of the said Lands which belonging to the said Blacke Prince and the reuersion of the third part thereof the possession of the third part thereof then being to the mother of the said Prince Richard for her dowry with a hundred thirteene pound sixe shillings eight pence yeerely rent payable by the Earle of March as a fee farme for the Lordship and Lands of Beult and eighty fiue markes for the fee Farme of the Castle Lordship and Land of Montgomery with the vacations of Bishoprickes excepting the fees of the Baron Marches of VVales which doe alwaies hold of the Crowne in Capite and excepting the auoydance of the Bishopricke of S. Dauids in VVales which anciently also belonged to the Crowne with the like limitation of estate viz. To the said Prince Richard his heires Kings of England It seemeth that these Lordships of Beult and Montgomery being formerly granted to Edward the blacke Prince were before this time giuen away in fee farme rendring the rents here spoken of After the death of the said King Edward the Third which was in the 51. yeere of his raigne the kingdome of England descended vnto the said Richard being his grandchilde and he was Crowned King thereof by the name of King Richard the Second and in the three and twentieth yeere of his raigne he resigned his kingdome or rather more truely was deposed against his will and after by a violent death departed this life without issue Henry of Bullinbrooke Duke of Lancaster and Hereford Earle of Darby Leicester and Lincolne sonne and heire to Iohn of Gaunt fourth sonne to King Edward the Third raigning in his stead Henry of Bullingbrooke by the name of King Henry the Fourth by his Charter dated at Westminster the fifteenth day of October in the first yeere of his raigne created Henry his eldest sonne surnamed of Munmouth Prince of Wales and inuested him with the said Princely ornaments viz. the Chaplet Gold-Ring and Rod or Verge of gold To haue and to hold vnto him and his heires Kings of England And by one other Charter of the same date gaue vnto him and to his heires Kings of England the said Principalitie with the Lordships Castles and Lands before mentioned in the Chartermade to the Blacke Prince together with foure Comots in the Countie of Carnaruon viz. the Comots of Isaph Vghaph Nanconeway and Grewthyn not named before and the reuersion of the Lordship of Hauerford with the prices of Wines there and of the Lordships Newyn and Pughby in North-wales which Thomas Percy Earle of Worcester then held for tearme of his life of the demise of King Richard the Second together also with the reuersion of the County and Lordship of Anglesey in North-Wales and the Castle of Bewmarris and the Comots Lands Tenements and Hereditaments belonging thereunto which Henry Percy sonne of the Earle of Northumberland then held for terme of his life of the demise of the said King Henry the Fourth and by an Act of Parliament made in the first yeere of King Henry the Fourth whereby the Dutchie of Lancaster is seuered from the Crowne of England The Stile of the said Prince is declared to be this Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitane of Lancaster and of Cornwall and Earle of Chester For the said King Henry the Fourth hauing beene himselfe Duke of Lancaster before his assumption of the Crowne and knowing that the name of Duke being an inferiour dignity would extinguish and bee surrounded in the Crowne as in the Superiour desired as by that Act of Parliament appeareth not onely to separate the said Dutchie of Lancaster and the lands thereof from the Crowne to the intent he might still hold the said Dutchie as his ancient Patrimony if he were put from the Crowne being but his new acquired dignity but also to preserue the said stile title and name of Duke of Lancaster in his posterity which as the said act affirmeth his Ancestors had so worthily borne and sustained Afterwards the said Henry the Fourth died in the fourteenth yeere of his raigne and the said Henry of Munmouth Prince of Wales succeeded him in the kingdome by the name of King Henry the Fift who also in the tenth yeere of his raigne died leauing Henry his sonne behinde him being an Infant of the age of tenne moneths who by reason of his tender age was not as by any record extant can be proued euer created Prince but was proclaimed King immediately after the death of his father by the name of King Henry the Sixt. King Henry the Sixt by the aduice and counsell of his Lords spirituall and temporall giuen to him in his Parliament holden in the thirtie one
Edward the Fourth hauing thus gained the Crowne which had beene thus shaken from his head did by his Charter dated the 26. of â—une in the eleuenth yeere of his raigne create Edward of VVestminster his sonne heire apparant Prince of VVales and Earle of Chester And by another like Charter of the same yeere gaue vnto him the Lands and reuenues of the said Principality and Earledome To haue and to hold to him and his heires Kings of England This Edward the Prince being of tender yeeres was borne in the Sanctuary of VVestminster whither the Queene his Mother was fled for her security and during the time that the King her husband had auoided the Realme Afterwards the said King by his letters Patents bearing date the eight day of Iuly in the said eleuenth yeere of his raigne ordained his Queene the then Lord Archbishop of Canterbury George Duke of Clarence Richard Duke of Gloucester brothers to the said king The then Bishops of Bath and VVels and Durham Anthony Earle Riuers the then Abbot of VVestminster Chancellor to the Prince VVilliam Hastings knight Lord Chamberlaine to the king Richard Fynes Lord Dacres Steward of the said Prince Iohn Fogge Iohn Scot knights Thomas Vaughan Chamberlaine to the Prince Iohn Alcocke and Richard Fowler to be of Councell vnto the said Prince giuing vnto them and euery foure of them thereby with the aduice and expresse consent of the Queene large power to aduise and counsaile the said Prince and to order and dispose the Lands reuenues and possessions of the said Prince and the nomination of Officers belonging to the said Prince when they should happen to become void or that the parties were insufficient The said authority thus giuen vnto the said Councellors to continue vntill the said Prince should accomplish the age of fourteene yeeres which was performed by them accordingly in all Leases Dispositions and Grants of the reuenues of the said Prince The said king Edward the Fourth by one other Charter composed in English and bearing date the tenth of Nouember in the thirteenth yeere of his raigne appointed the said Earle Riuers being brother vnto the Queene to be the Gouernour of the person of the said Prince and to haue the education and the institution of him in all vertues worthy his birth and to haue the gouernement and direction of his seruants King Edward the Fourth hauing raigned full two and twenty yeeres in the foure and twentieth yeere of his raigne left this mortall life ended his dayes at VVestminster was enterred at VVindsor Edward the Prince his sonne and heire then being at Ludlow necre the Marches of Wales for the better ordering of the Welsh vnder the gouernment of the said Lord Riuers his vncle on the Mothers side and vpon the death of his father drawing towards London to prepare for his Coronation fell into the hands of his vncle by the father Richard Duke of Glocester and the said Lord Riuers being vpon the way towards London was intercepted and lost his head at Pomfret for what cause I know not other then this that hee was thought to be too great an obstacle betweene a thirsty tyrannous desire and the thing that was so thirstily and tyrannously desired Edward King of England the fist of that name for so he was although he enioyed it not long being thus surprized vnder the power of his naturall vncle and yet his mortall enemy was brought to London with great solemnity and pompe and with the great applause of the people flocking about to behold his person as the manner of the English Nation is to doe whose new ioyes cannot endure to be â—ettred with any bonds His said vncle calling himselfe Lord Protector of the King and his Realme but indeed was the woolfe to whom the Lambe was committed for hauing thus surprized the Kings person hee laboured by all meanes to get into his possession also the yonger brother being Duke of Yorke knowing that they both being sundred the safety of the yonger would be a meanes to preserue the elder and therefore by all sinister perswasions and faire pretences hauing obtained the yonger Duke from his mother the King and the Duke both for a time remained in the Tower of London and there shortly after both in one bed were in the night smothered to death and buried in an obscure and secret place vnknowne how and where vntill one of the executioners thereof after many yeeres being condemned to die for other his manifold crimes confessed also his guilty fact in this pitifully tragedy and the circumstance thereof of which by reason of the secrecy and incertainty diuers had before that diuersly coniectured And by this meanes all the prouision for the coronation of innocent Edward serued the turne to set the Crowne vpon the head of tyrannous Richard Out of which by the way I cannot but obserue how hatefull a bloody hand is to almighty God the King of Kings who reuenged the bloodshed of those ciuill broiles whereof Edward the father had beene the occasion and the breach of his oath vpon those his two innocent infants This tyrant and staine of the English Story Richard Duke of Glocester vsurped the Kingdome by the name of Richard the third and became King yet as our records of Law witnesse de facto sed non de iure And in the first yeere of his reigne created Edward his sonne being a child of ten yeeres of age Prince of Wales Lieutenant of the Realme of Ireland But for that the prosperity of the wicked is but as the florishing of a greene tree which whiles a man passes by is blasted dead at the roots and his place knoweth it no more So shortly afterwards God raised vp Henry Earle of Richmond the next heire of the house of Lancaster to exteute iustice vpon that vnnaturall and bloody vsurper and to cast him that had beene the rod of Gods iudgements vpon others into the fire also For in the third yeere of the reigne of the said Richard at the battell of Bosworth whereinto the said Richard entred in the morning crowned in all Kingly pompe he was slaine and his naked carkasse with as much despight as could be deuised was carried out thereof at night and the said Henry Earle of Richmond the Solomon of England father to Margaret your Maiesties great Grandmother reigned in his stead by the name of King Henry the seuenth This King Henry the seuenth tooke to wife Elizabeth the eldest daughter and after the death of her brothers the relict heire of King Edward the fourth by which mariage all occasions of further contention-betweene those noble families of Yorke and Lancaster were taken away and vtterly quenched and the red rose conioyned with the white The said King Henry the seuenth by his letters patents dated the first day of December in the fift yeere of his reigne created Arthur his eldest sonne and heire apparant being then about the age of three yeeres Prince of Wales
THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT and moderne Estate of The Principality of Wales Dutchy of Cornewall and Earldome of Chester Collected out of the Records of the Tower of LONDON and diuers ancient Authors By Sir IOHN DODRIDGE Knight late one of his Maiesties ludges in the Kings Bench. And by himselfe Dedicated to King IAMES of euer blessed memory LONDON ¶ Printed by Tho. Harper for Godfrey Emâ—ndson and Thomas Alchorne M. DC XXX TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY JAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD King of England Scotland France and Ireland defender of the faith c. My most dread Soueraigne and Liegelord AMong temporall blessings giuen from God and powred vpon men this is not the least for a man to behold the fruit of his owne body surculum exradice an impe or graffe the Oliue branches about his table the hope of his posterity the image of himselfe and the staffe of his old age The consideration of the want whereof caused that good Patriake out of the bitternesse of his soule to cry and make his complaint vnto his God in these words Behold I goe childlesse and the Steward of my house is Eleazer of Damascus loe to me thou hast giuen no seed wherefore a servant of mine house must bee mine heire But to be furnished with masculine issue and to haue his first borne of that sex to whom the Birthright is due as to the sanctfiied of God and the preseruer of his name and patrimony is a double blessing vnto all men much more vnto Kings the Lords anointed whereby his horne is established his subiects in the middest of the day present do behold the Sunne that shall arise vpon them the day suceeding and haue their hearts setled to say vnto their Soueraine wee and our seed will serue thee and thy seed for euer This made the Propheticall King in the day of his departure to blesse God and say Blessed be the Lord my God who hath caused mine eyes to see this day that one of mine own loynes shall fit vpon my Throne But contrariwise was Achah accursed of whom God said he would not leaue him one mingentem ad parietem threatning as it were by that circumlocution to root out all issue male of Achab that might succeed him And hence it is that all Potentates of the world haue highly respected and aduanced in the eyes of their subiects their heire apparant and giuen and conferred vpon him very high and eminent titles of honor Of the Romans he was called Caesar and Princeps juventutis as the principall of all their hopes in their posterity Of the French he is honored by the name of the Dolphin of that part of the Country being his patrimony And in like manner in this our Country of England the Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall and Earle of Chester He is next his father the chiefe in the Realme and by course of the ciuill Law is to sit at his right hand in all solemne assemblies of state and honor So that not without reason did King Edward the third King of England place Richard his grandchild and next heire apparant in his solemne feast at Christmas at his table next vnto himselfe aboue all his Vncles being the sonnes of that King and men manifoldly renowned for their prowes and virtue And yet hath not the Prince any Kingly prerogatiues allowed vnto him by the Lawes of this Realme in the life of his progenitors other then such as are due vnto other Noble men that hee might acknowledge himselfe to bee but a subiect and whereof he is put in remembrance euen by the Poesy that he vseth in the old English or Saxon tongues in this forme conceiued Ie dien I am a seruant The due consideration whereof hath caused me by the encouragement of an honorable learned and worthy Councellor my Lord of Buckhurst your Maiesties Lord high Treasurer of England and my very good Lord and being eased therein by the carefull paines and industry of a Gentleman Mr. Richard Connock his seruant in some conuenient method after my rude and vnlearned manner to set downe what the ancient and true estate of his excellency the Lord Prince hath beene what it now is and how impaired and to what estate and dignity by your Maiesties high and Princely wisdome it may againe be reduced Beseeching your highnesse of your accustomed clemency to pardon this my bold attempt and to accept my poore trauels therein with that gratious aspect as you do the manifold gratulations of other your Maiesties louing subiects Your Maiesties loyall and obedient subiect I. D. ABSTRACTS AND ADVERTISEMENTS concerning the Contents of this HISTORIE THe originall and antient estate of Wales before and vntill the Conquest thereof by King Edward the First in the eleuenth yeere of his Raigne Edward of Carnaruon so called because he was born at Carnaruon Castle in VVales and sonne to King Edward the First constituted Prince of VVales and the policy vsed therein by King Edward the First The creation of Edward sirnamed the blacke Prince to be Prince of VVales and the antient manner of the inuesture of the Princes of VVales The strange limitation of the estate of the Lands of the said Principality and the reasons thereof and the difference betweene the Principality of VVales and the Dutchy of Cornewall for the eldest sonne and heire apparant of the King of England is Duke of Cornewall as soone as be is borne or as soone as his father is King of England But he is created Prince of VVales by a speciall creation inuesture and donation of the lands thereunto belonging and not by birth The yeerely value of the reuenues of the Principality of VVales as the same were in the bands of the Prince commonly called the blacke Prince Richard sirnamed of Burdeaux sonne of the said blacke Prince was after the death of his father created Prince of VVales at Hauering at the Bower in the Countie of Essex by E 3. his Grandfather Henry of Munmouth sonne to King Henry the Fourth created Prince of VVales he was afterwards King by the name of King Henry the Fift Edward the sonne of King Henry the Sixt created Prince of VVales and Earle of Chester and for that hee was then very yong there was ordained by an Act of Parliament what allowance should bee made vnto the said Prince for his Wardrobe seruants wages and other necessary expences vntill the said Prince should be of fourteene yeers of age There was also a Counsaile of diuers honourable personages as Bishops Earles and others for the gouernement and direction of the reuenues of the said Prince which dispose the same accordingly with the assent and aduice of the Queene who was also especially appointed in that behalfe Edward the sonne and heire apparant of King Edward the Fourth created Prince of VVales and a Councell of honourable personages allowed to him also for the gouernement of his reuenues and the Lord Riuers Vncle by the mothers side of the
yeere of his raigne did after wards by his Charter bearing date at Westminster the fifteenth day of March in the thirty two yeere of his raigne created Edward his sonne borne at Westminster by one and the selfesame patent to be both Prince of Wales and Earle of Chester and inuested him therin with the vsuall ensignes of that dignitie as had beene in former time accustomed To haue and to hold the said dignities to him and his heires Kings of England which Charter is recited in the Act of Parliament made for the confirmation thereof by Parliament holden at Westminster the ninth day of Iuly in the three and thirtieth yeere of the raigne of the same King In which act of Parliament is also recited another Charter likewise confirmed by the said Parliament whereby the said King did giue vnto the said Prince the said Principalitie of VVales together with all his Lordships and Lands Castles and Tenements by speciall names aboue mentioned and in the former Charters granted and conuaied to the former Princes and the said fee Farmes and Rents of 113. l. 6. s. 8. d. out of the Lordship and towne of Buelt and the said 56. l. 13. s. 4. d. out of the Lordship Castle and Towne of Montgomery likewise mentioned in the Charters of the former Prince To haue and to hold the same to him and his heires Kings of England By the same act of Parliament also it was enacted because the said Prince was then of tender yeeres there was assigned vnto him a certaine number of seruants to attend on him according to his estate and dignity which should beat dyet in the Kings house vntill the said Prince should accomplish the age of fourteene yeeres and that the King should haue all such summes of money as should cleerely remaine vnto the Prince due of all manner issues and reuenues which the Prince then had in respect of his said Principalitie Dutchie and Earledome vntill the said age of fourteene yeeres the said Reuenues to be accounted for to the King in his Exchequer reseruing vnto the said Prince vntill he should come to be of the age of eight yeeres a thousand pound yeerely and from that age till he come to fourteene yeeres two thousand markes yeerely for his wardrobes wages of seruants and other necessarie expences But sauing alwaies vnto the King the Aduousons of Bishoprickes and spirituall liuings and the gifts of all offices wards releefes and escheats belonging to the said Prince vntill he should accomplish the said age of fourteen yeeres sauing such estate in certaine of the said lands as the Queene had to her before the said time assured vnto the said Prince should be of the said age of fourteene yeeres and sauing certaine particular summes of money in the said Act of Parliament mentioned as were formerly appointed out of the said Lands as well for expence of the Kings of England for their houshold as otherwise during such particular times as are therein declared prouided that all offices formerly granted by the King and needing actuall exercise and the fees due to the same should not be preiudiced by the said Act. Afterwards by another Charter the said King doth release vnto the said Prince all the said grant of the said yeerely summes of money issuing out of the reuenues aforesaid and all things by the said Act granted and appointed vnto the said King reseruing onely for the same vnto the said King yeerely fiue hundred twenty seauen markes foure shillings seauen pence halfepenny to be issuing out of the said Principality and Earledome and feauen hundred sixty seauen markes eleuen shillings seauen pence halfepenny yeerely out of the said Dutchy vntill the said Prince should be of eight yeeres of age then reseruing out of the said Principality and Earledome yeerely vnto the King two hundred seuenty seuen markes foure shillings seuen pence halfe penny and out of the said Dutchy yeerely fiue hundred and seuenteene markes eleuen shillings seauen pence halfe penny vntill the said age of fourteene yeeres of the Prince for the said Dutchy and to be imployed towards the charges of the Kings houshold and not otherwise And the said King by his Letters Patents dated the eighteenth of Ianuary in the fiue and thirtieth yeare of his raigne during the minority of the said Prince ordained the then Archbishop of Yorke the then Bishop of VVinchester Hereford Couentry and Lichfield and the Lord Keeper of the priuie Seale the Earles of Shrewesbury Stafford and VViltes the then Viscount Beamont and also Iohn Sutton and Thomas Stanley Knights to be of the priuie Councell vnto the said Prince enioyning all Officers and Ministers of the said Prince that they and euery of them should be obedient in the execution of all Commandements and Warrants of the said Councellors or at the least soure of them together with the assent and consent of the Queene in all causes and matters concerning the titles rights possessions and interests of the said Prince and that the said Commandements and Warrants should be as auaileable in that behalfe as if the same had beene made or done by the said Prince himselfe being of full age which Commandement in all Leases of the said Princes inheritance was pursued accordingly In the nine and thirtieth yeere of the said King Henry the Sixts raigne he being of the house of Lancaster such is the mutability and so vnstable are all humane things that the said King being a man as the times then were deuout and religious the founder of Schooles and Colledges vertuous and a louer of peace was by the violence of the heires of the house of Yorke put from his kingdome and committed to prison and Edward Earle of March sonne and heire to Richard Duke of Yorke raigned in his stead by the name of King Edward the Fourth But yet behold the hand of God for in the tenth yeere of the said King Edward the Fourth vpon discontentment conceiued against him by Richard Earle of VVarwicke a man more popular and potent then was fit for a Subiect the said Richard with a collected power so pressed the King that he was driuen to flye the Realme and to seeke forraigne aide seeing his homebred subiects proued so vnfaithfull Then King Henry the Sixt after tenne yeeres imprisonment readepted the kingdome and in the said tenth yeere of King Edward the Fourth wrote the fortie ninth yeere of his raigne hauing indured tenne yeeres intermission in the computation of his time as appeareth in the bookes of Law of that age But being thus seated he was yet vnsetled and after much effusion of bloud for in a ciuill warre there is no true victory in as much as he that preuaileth is also a looser King Henry the Sixt was compelled againe to giue place to his aduersary and after to make that part sure was depriued of life hauing lost also Edward his sonne Prince before spoken of the hope of all his posterity in the battell of Tewkesbury
Also there was a Charter of the grant of the lands of the said Principality Earldome of Chester and Flint dated the twenty seuenth of February in the said fift yeere of the said King made vnto the said Prince The said King Henry the seuenth by his Charter bearing date the twentieth day of March in the eight yeere of his reigne did constitute and appoint the said Prince Arthur to bee his Iustice in the County of Salope Hereford Glocester and the Marches of Wales adioyning to the said Shires to enquire of all liberties priuiledges and fraunchises being possessed or claimed or which then after should be possessed or claimed by any person or persons and which were to bee seized into the Kings hands and of all escapes and fellons and those Inquisitions so from time to time to be taken to certifie into the Chancery And by the same Charter gaue him power to substitute and appoint others vnder him for the better execution of the same which after wards by commission was executed accordingly And the said King also by his Charter bearing date the fourteenth of Iune in the eight yeere of his reigne made and constituted the said Arthur Prince of Wales and Gouernor and Warden of the Marches of England towards Scotland and substituted as his Lieutenant and vice-warden vnder him Thomas Earle of Surrey for the due execution thereof Likewise the said King by his letters patents dated the fift day of Nouember in the ninth yeere of his reigne in augmentation of the reuenew of the Prince did grant vnto the said Prince the honor Castle and Lordship of Wigmore and diuers other Castles Mannors and Lands which sometime had beene belonging to the Earledome of March which came to the Crowne by King Edward the fourth who was himselfe Earle of March before he assumed his regall estate To haue and to hold during the pleasure of the King yeelding yeerly the rent of two hundred pounds This Prince was sent into the Marches of Wales for the gouernment of that Country and in the seuenteenth yeere of the reigne of the said King his father had a Councell of very wise and worthy persons assigned vnto him as namely Sir Richard Poole chiefe Chamberlaine of the said Prince Sir Henry Vernon Sir Richard Crofts Sir Dauid Phillips Sir William V dall Sir Thomas Englefield and Sir Peter Newton Knights Iohn Wilson Henry Marian Doctor William Smith President of his Councell and Doctor Charles where not long afterwards the said Prince died in the Castle of Ludlow without issue After the death of the said Prince Arthur King Henry the seuenth by his letters patents dated the eighteenth of February in the 19. yeere of his reigne in Parliament created Henry then his onely soune who after was King Henry the eight and whom before that in the 11 th he had made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by another Charter of the same yeere Constable of the Castle of Douer to be Prince of Wales and Earle of Chester being then about the age of twelue yeeres to haue and to hold to him and his heires Kings of England for euer being the like limitation of estate and with the like inuesture as in former times had beene accustomed But whether the said King did grant the lands and reuenewes belonging to the said Principality vnto the said Prince Henry or no as hee had done vnto Prince Arthur his brother doth not appeare by any Charter that as yet thereof can be found After the death of King Henry the seuenth the said Prince Henry was King of England by the name of King Henry the eight he had issue a sonne called Henry who dyed very yong hee likewise had issue the Lady Mary afterwards Queene and the Lady Elizabeth our late Soueraigne of most happy memory and lastly Prince Edward the yongest in yeeres who first reigned after the death of his said father by the name of King Edward the sixt But there cannot be found any Charters among the records whereby it may appeare that any of them were created Princes of Wales or whereby any of the reuenewes of the said Principality were giuen or conferred vnto any of them so that it seemeth they were Princes generally by their birth and not Princes of Wales by any creation or investure for in a record of an accompt of the Dutchy of Cornwall in the time of the said Prince Edward he is called by the name of the Prince of England and not by the name of the Prince of Wales And thus much touching the succession or rancks of the Princes of Wales which I haue drawne in an historicall although a plaine and homely manner thereby the better to take away the harshnesse of the particularities of records intermingled therewith which of themselues although they affoord profitable knowledge yet they doe carry with them small delight but also for that the variety of things in those succeeding ages in the sundry occurences and accidents thereof doe yeeld good matter of obseruance and worthy memory representing as it were the English State for the time of more then two hundred yeeres together Now therefore do rest neuerthelesse three things concerning the said Principality to be further considered of First in what manner and order the said Principality and Marches of Wales were gouerned and directed vnder the said Prince Secondly what officers aswell domesticall as others the said Princes had about them and their fees as farre forth as I could come to any certaine knowledge thereof And thirdly an abstract of the reuenewes of the said Principality as they now stand in charge and be esteemed to your Maiesty whereby may bee perceiued what in time past the said reuenewes haue beene and in what case they now stand The manner of the gouernment of the Principality and Marches of Wales THe said Principality being vnder the gouernment of the Princes of the Welsh blood whose ancient patrimony yet remained vntill the Conquest thereof by King Edward the first as before hath beene shewed was guyded gouerned and directed by their owne municipall and homebred Lawes and the Customes of their Country Most of which had their commencement from the Constitutions of one of their ancient Princes called Howell Dah as their Historians haue recorded But being reduced vnder the yoke by the said King Edward he diuided certaine parts of that Territory into Shires as hath beene declared he caused the Welsh Lawes to bee perused some whereof he did allow and approue some others he did abrogate and disanull and in their place appointed new altogether according to the English manner of executing Iustice Hee caused to be deuised ce taine Briefes Writs or formulaeturis and he instituted their manner of Processe pleadings and course of their Iudiciall proceedings All which things doe manisestly appeare by the act of Parliament made at Rithlan in Wales called therefore Statutum Walliae which afore is remembred and when they want a writ of forme
any greater number In euery of the said Shires where the said Commission of the Peace is established There is also a Clarke of the Peace for the entring and ingrossing of all proceedings before the said Iustices and this Officer is appointed by the Custos Rotulorum Euery of the said Shires hath his Sheriffe which word being of the Saxon English is as much to say as a Sbire Reeue or minister or Bayliffe of the Countie his Function or Office is two fold Ministeriall or Iudiciall As touching his Ministeriall office he is the Minister and executioner of all the proces and precepts of the Courts of Law and thereof ought to make return or certificate And as touching his Iudiciall office he hath authority to hold two seuerall Courts of distinct natures the one called the Tourne because he keepeth a Tourne or Circuit about his shire holding the same in seuerall places wherein he doth inquire of all offences perpetrated against the Common Law and not forbidden by any Statute or Act of Parliament And the Iurisdiction of this Court is deriued from Iustice distributiue and is for criminall offences The other is called the County Court where he doth determine all petty and small causes Ciuill vnder the value of forty shillings arising within the said County and thereof it is called the Countie Court And the iutisdiction of this Court is drawne from Iustice Commutatiue and is held euery moneth The office of the Sheriffe is Annuall and by the Statute of 34. h. 8. it is ordained that the Lord President Councell and Iustices of Wales or three of them at the least where of the President to be one shall yeerely nominate three fit persons for that office of whom the Kings Maiestie may elect and chose one who thereupon shall haue his Patent and be Sheriffe of the said shire Euery of the said Shires hath an Officer called an Escheator which is an officer to attend the Kings reuenue and to seaze into his Maiesties hands all lands either escheated goods or lands for seited and therefore he is called Escheator and he is to enquire by good enquest of the death of the Kings Tenants and to whom their lands are descended and to seaze their bodies and lands for ward if they be within age and is accountable for the same And this Officer in Wales is named by the Lord Treasurer of England by the aduice of the Lord President Councell and Iustices or three of them at the least whereof the Lord President to be one There are also in euery of the said shires two Officers called Coroners they are to enquire by inquest in what manner and by whom euery person dying of a violent death came to his death and to enter the same of Record which is matter criminall and a plea of the Crowne and thereof they are called Coroners or Crowners as one hath written because their enquiries ought to be publique in corona populi These Officers are chosen by the Free-holders of the Shire by vertue of a Writ out of the Chauncery de Coronatore eligendo and of them I need not to speake more because these Officers are elsewhere Forasmuch as euery shire is diuided into hundreds there are also by the said Statute of 34. h. 8. cap. 26. ordained that two sufficient Gentlemen or Yeomen shall be appointed Constables of euery hundred Also there is in euery Shire one Goale or Prison appointed for the restraint of liberty of such persons as for their offences are therunto committed vntill they shall be deliuered by course of law Finally in euery hundred of euery of the said shires the Sheriffes thereof shall nominate sufficient persons to be Bayliffes of that hundred and Vnderministers of the Sheriffe and they are to attend vpon the Iustices in euery of their Courts and Sessions The Gouernment of the Marches of VVales after the Statutes of an 27. 34. H. 8. BY the said Statute of 34. H. 8. ca. 26. it is further ordayned that the President and Councell in the said Dominion and Principality of Wales and the Marches of the same with all Officers Clarks and incidents thereunto should continue and remaine in manner and forme as was then formerly vsed and accustomed And therefore the said Rowland Lee spoken of before being Lord President of the Councell of the Marches of Wales at the time of the making of the said Statute so continued after the making thereof vntill his death being in the foure and thirtieth yeere of the said King Henry the eight After whom succeeded in the office of the said President Richard Samson Bishop first of Chester and after remoued to Couentry and Litchfield who continued Lord President vntill the second yeere of King Edward the sixt at what time Iohn Dâ—dley then Earle of Warwick and after Duke of Northumberland was President of the said Councell who so continued vntill the fourth yeere of the said King And after him succeeded Sir William Herbert Knight of the noble Order of the Garter and after Earle of Pembrooke who continued President vntill the first yeere of Queene Mary Next succeeded Nicholas Heath then Bishop of Worcester and after Archbishop of Yorke and Lord Chancellor of England And vpon the remouing of the said Archbishop the said Sir William Herbert againe succeded as President of the said Councell vntill the sixt yeere of the said Queene Mary at what time followed him Gilbert Browne Bishop of Bath and VVels who so continued vntill the death of the same Queene In the beginning of the reigne of the late Queene Elizabeth Sir Iohn VVilliams Lord VVilliams of Tame of whom the Lord Norris is descended was appointed President of the said Councell and died the same yeere And after him succeeded Sir Henry Sidney Knight of the noble Order of the Garter whose loue to learning fauour to learned men need not here to be spoken he continued Lord President of Wales about foure and twenty yeeres and six moneths he serued in Ireland eight yeeres and six months being there three seuerall times Lord Deputy generall in that Country During some part of the time of the aboade in Ireland of the said Sir Henry Sidney there serued in Ireland as President or Vice-President Iohn Bishop of VVorcester and now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury After this succeeded Henry Earle of Pembrooke sonne in law to the said Sir Henry Sidney and father to the right honorable the Earle of Pembrooke that now is And after him Edward Lord Zouch now present Lord President of that Councell The President and Councell of the Marches of Wales haue power and authority to heare and determine by their wisdomes and discretions such causes and matters as bee or shall bee assigned to them by the Kings Maiesty and in such manner as shall be so prescribed vnto them by instruction signed with his hand The Councell assisting the Lord Prince consisteth of these the chiefe Iustice of Chester together
same vpon his Minion Pierce de Gaueston but hee being afterwards attainted of Treason and executed the same Earledome was bestowed vpon Iohn sirnamed of Eltam because hee was borne there yonger brother to King Edward the Third who dying likewise without issue it was lastly erected into a Dutchy as hath beene said and conferred vpon Edward afterward surnamed the black Prince in the eleuenth yeere of the raigne of the said King Edward the third his father Therefore the said King Edward purposing to augment the title of his said sonne did in the Parliament holden in the eleuenth yeere of his reigne create not only the said Edward then before made Earle of Chester to be Duke of Cornwall but also to honor that publique proceeding the more did at the same time create diuers and sundry worthy persons and well deseruing to sundry dignities of nobility as by the records extant thereof doth appeare The manner of the first creation of the Duke of Cornwall was very speciall for the said dignity was conferred vnto the said Edward then Earle of Chester and to the first begotten sonnes and heires apparant of him and his heires Kings of England for euer So that it seemeth that the intention thereof was first that none should bee Dukes of Cornwall but such as were eldest sonnes and heires apparant to the Crowne and that when there was any faile of such person then the said dignity should remaine insuspence vntill such son heire apparant againe were extant Secondly that the said sonne and heire apparant without any further solemnity or creation should presently vpon his birth being then heire apparant to the King or from the time that hee is heire apparant to the Kingdome bee also Duke of Cornwall herein much differing from the order of the Principality of Wales which requireth in euery new succeeding Prince a new creation and inuesture and gift of that Principality as hath formerly appeared The truth of this assertion is made most euident by an act of Parliament in the 33. yeere of the reigne of King Henry the 6. the words whereof are these Moreouer the King considering that his said best beloued first begotten sonne at the time of his birth is Duke of Cornwall and ought of right to haue Liuery of the said Dutchy and of all Honors Lordships Signiories Castles Mannors Lands Tenements Rents Possessions Hereditaments with their appurtenances to the said Dutchy belonging or parcell of the same in any wise by the aduice assent and authority c. deliuereth and doth cause to bee deliuered to the said Prince his first begotten sonne the said Dutchy of Cornwall and all Honors Lordships Signiories Castles Mannors Lands Tenements c. with all other things Possessions and Inheritances Profits and commodities with their appurtenances to the said Dutchy annexed vnited pertaining or belonging or parcell of the same in any wise The same was after many likewise verified by the Charter of King Henry the seuenth being the Charter of Liuety made vnto Prince Arthur his sonne whereof some part followeth in these words Hemicus deigratta Angliae Franciae Rex dominus Hiberniae c. Salutem Sciatis quod nos considerantes quod regnum Angliae cuius regni soliâ—â— dei gratia portimur filij primogeniti in ducatu Cornubiae haereditario in perpetuum dicti regni nostriiure sunt successuri atque ex speciali superinde Actu promulgato primo nativitatis suae die maioris atque perfectae praesumitur aetatis fic quod liberationem dicti ducatus eo tum à nobis petere valeant atque de iure obtinere debeant acsi viginti uninius annorum aetatis plene fuissent volentes etiam uti debemus praecharissimo filio nostro primogenito Arthuro ius reddere in nullo eius iure derogare eundemque ducatum Cornubiae cum omnibus singulis suis membris atque iuribus dicto primogenito nostro sicuti caeterorum Principum temporibns bactenus fieri consuevit liberare ex certa scientia mero motu nostro acâ—de advisamento assensu Consilij nostri dedimus concessimus liberamus damusque per praesentes concedimus liberamus pro nobis haeredibus nostris bac praesenti charta nostra confirmavimus eidem filio nostro sub nomine honore Ducis dictiloci castra manneria terras tenementa alia subscripta ut ipse statum honorem ducis dicti ducatus decentius generis sui nobilitatem valcat continuare onera in hac parte incumbentia facilius supportare c. By which is proued not only that the sonne and heire apparant of the Crowne is Duke of Cornwall from his birth or when he is knowne to be sonne and heire apparant but that the King his father is by law to make vnto him liuery of the said Dutchy Lands and the hereditaments thereunto belonging although though he be within the age of one and twenty yeeres as if he were of full and perfect age But to returne againe vnto King Edward the third and to consider the bestowing of the reuenewes of the said Dutchy and the managing thereof for orders sake I shall therein observe these generall things First what reuenewes were bestowed vpon the said Dutchy Secondly the yeerly value of the same aswell of ancient time as of latter yeers And lastly to set downe the particular officers of the said Dutchy aswell ancient as moderne by all which the present state of the said Dutchy may best appeare As concerning the former namely the reuenewes of the said Dutchy as it is obserued that the same doe consist generally of these two kindes first the lands and hereditaments that are annuall and secondly the reuenewes that are casuall The reuenewes annuall are of three kindes first the lands giuen by the Charter made in the eleuenth yeere of King Edward the third and were sometimes the ancient of the said Dutchy Secondly certaine Knights fees and other hereditaments gâ—uen by other letters patents of the same King Edward the third vnto the said Duke which were vnited and annexed by the said latter letters patents vnto the said Dutchy Thirdly and lastly the lands giuen by act of Parliament vnto the said Dutchy and annexed thereunto in liew of other lands that by act of Parliament were afterwards taken from the same againe at sundry times as hereafter shall appeare for in euery of these there is difference of estate and quality The reuenewes annuall giuen by the Charter made by King Edward the third in the eleuenth yeere of his reigne and established for the Dutchy are situate and doe lye first in the County of Cornwall secondly in the County of Devon thirdly in other Shires dispersed within this Realme And first of all in the County of Cornwall are these following County of Cornwall 1 The Castle Mannor and Parke and Borough of Launceston with his appurtenances 2 The Castle and Mannor of Trematon and the Borough of Saltash and the Parke
l. 13. s. 4. d. The fee of the Steward and keeper of the Courts of the Mannors in the County of Cornewall which sometimes were the Marquesse of Exceter and now parcell of the lands annexed vnto the said Dutchy 46. s. 8. d. The fee of the Bailiffe Itinerant of the said Dutchie of Cornewall 3. l. 10. d. The fee of the Woodward of the said Dutchie of Cornewall yeerely 5. l. The summe totall of the fees of the Officers of the said Dutchie of Cornewall 138. l. 3. s. 4. d. Money paid vnto the Captaine of the Castle of Saint Mawes 118. l. 12. s. 6. d. Money paid to the Captaine of the Castle of Pendynas both which Castles are for the defence of the Hauen of Falmouth 118. l. 12. s. 6. d. Summe totall 237. l. 5. s. Paid yeerely to the Bishop of Exceter for the tenth of the coynage of Tynne in Deuon and Cornewall 16. l. 13. s. 4. d. Paid yeerely vnto the Barons of the Exchequer forth examination of the accounts belonging to the said Dutchie 5. l. The summe totall of all the charges and reprizes taken out thereof amounted vnto 615. l. 9. s. 6. d. Which being deducted out of the generall summe of the reuenues of the said Dutchie being by estimation 4569. l. 12. s. 2. d. q. there may remaine of cleere reuenue the summe of 3954. l. 2s 8 d. q. which cannot be cast into a certaine yeerely value by reason of the casuall profits and casuall expences which may happen yeerely And thus much of the Dutchie of Cornewall THE EARLEDOME OF CHESTER The third reuenue is the Earledome of Chester whereunto is annexed the Countie of Flint belonging to the Prince as Earle of Chester THe Earledome of Chester is the third reuenue before spoken of this Earledome bordering vpon North-Wales for the better defence of that Country and that the Inhabitants should not be thence withdrawne in sutes of law was made Palatyne and conferred by the Conquerour vpon his kinsman Hugh sirnamed Loupe or Lupus sonne to the Earle of Awrenches in Normandy to whom hee gaue this Earledome To haue and to hold to him and his heires as the words of the first donation import It a libere adgladium sicut ipse Rex tenebat Angliam Coronam This Earledome for the more honour thereof and for the better accomplishment of the Palatyne iurisdiction therin hath certaine substitute Baronyes vnder it who doe acknowledge the Earle Palatyne to be their superiour Lord as 1 The Baron of Halton 2 The Baron of Mountalt 3 The Baron of Maâ—banâ—k 4 The Baron of Shibrooke 5 The Baron of Malpas 6 The Baron of Mascey 7 The Baron of Kinderton 8 The Baron of Stockport This Earledome from the said Hugh Lupus discended in his bloud and kâ—ndred by sundry descents vnto Iohn sirnamed Scot Earle of Chester Anguise Galway and Huntingdon who in the time of King Henry the Third dying without issue the said King Henry the Third seized the same into his hands giuing the Aunts and next coheires of the said Iohn other Lands by exchange which thing the said King was induced to doe as the Record saith netanta haereditas inter colos diduceretur not willing that so great a patrimony should beâ— parted amongst disttaffs Afterward King Edward the first was by his father the said King Henry the third created Earle of Chester But the same Earldome being afterwards conferred vpon Simon de Monford by his attainder it came the Crowne After that Edward the third in the life-time of his father and before he tooke vpon him the Kingdome had the said Earledome but afterwards hee being King gaue the same to his eldest sonne Edward surnamed the Black Prince by his Charter bearing date at Pomfret the eighteenth day of March in the seuenth yeere of his reigne and inrolled of record in the Exchequer anno 33. of the same King By which Charter the said King did grant vnto the said Earle of Chester the Castles of Chester Beston Rothlan and Flint and all his lands there And also the cantred and lands of Englefield together with the Knights fees aduousons liberties franchises forrests chaces parks woods warrens and other the appurtenances thereunto belonging to haue and to hold to him and to his heires Kings of England And the same King by another Charter bearing date the ninteenth of March in the seuenth yeere of his reigne granted vnto the said Earle of Chester all his goods chattels stock of cattell then being in or vpon the said lands of the said Earldome formerly granted Moreouer all the Kings of England succeeding when they created their sonnes and heires apparant Princes of Wales did also create them Earles of Chester to haue and to hold the same vnto him so created and his heires Kings of England in such manner as the Principality of Wales was giuen vnto him And did by their seuerall Charters giue vnto the said Earle the said Earledome and lands as namely the said Castles of Chester Beston Rothlan and Flint and the Castle also of Hope and the Mannors of Hope and Hopedall and of Foreshaâ— and the said Cantred and lands of Englefield and other their lands in the said Counties of Chester Flint and elsewhere belonging vnto the said Earledome And the Aduouson of the Cathedrall Church of Saint Asaph in Wales and the auoydance issues and profits of the temporalities of the Bishopricks of Chester and Saint Asaph aforesaid together with all aduousons pentions portions corrodies offices prizes customes liberties franchises lordships comots hundreds escheats forfeitures and hereditaments vnto the said Earldome belonging And to the intent that it may the better appeare both what the ancient reuenewes were of the said Earledome and also what it is at this present I shall according to the order before pursued set downe the ancient reuenew thereof as it was in the latter time of King Edward the third and also how it now standeth in charge to your Maiestie The ancient reuenews of the Earldome of Chester as it was taken vpon the suruey thereof made in the fiftieth of Edward the third The County of Chester The fee farme of the City of Chester 100. l. For other profits out of the said Citie 4 l The farme of the towne of Medwick 64. l The Farme of the Milles vpon the Riuer of Dee 240 l The Manner of Dracklow in yeerly rent 49. l. 22. d. The farme of the Mannor of Dummarsh 15. l The Forrest of Mara the issues and profits thereof 51. l. 7. s. The rents and profits of Norwich are 66 l The Mannor of Shotwick the rents are 30. l. 14. s. 1. d. The Mannor of Eordsham in yeerly rent 56. l. 13. s. 4. d. The profits of the office of the Sheriffe of the said County 124. l. 7. s. 4. d. The perquisits of Courts holden by the Iustice of Chester 180. l. The profits of the office of the Escheator 100 l The summe totall of the reuenew of the said Earldome