Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	earl_n	lord_n	robert_n	8,204	5	9.3818	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35234	Historical remarques and observations of the ancient and present state of London and Westminster shewing the foundation, walls, gates, towers, bridges, churches, rivers ... : with an account of the most remarkable accidents as to wars, fires, plagues, and other occurrences which have happened therein for above nine hundred years past, till the year 1681 : illustrated with pictures of the most considerable matters curiously ingraven on copper plates, with the arms of the sixty six companies of London, and the time of their incorporating / by Richard Burton, author of The history of the wars of England.	R. B., 1632?-1725?	1681 (1681)	Wing C7329; ESTC R22568	140,180	238

may say upon the Confines of his Destiny His Gracing of undeserving Men and Disgracing of Men deserving if they were not the Causes were at least the occasions of his own Disgracing He was now come to be of full Age to do all himself which was indeed to be of full Age to undo himself for the Errors of his younger years might be excused by inexperience but the faults of the Age he was now of admit of no Apology nor defence And to hasten his destiny the sooner the Evil Counsel which was formerly but whispered in his Ear they now had the Confidence to give him aloud For it was told him That he was under Tuition no longer and therefore not to be controlled as formerly he had been That to be crost of his will by his Subjects was to be their Subject That he is no Soveraign if he be not Absolute By the instigation of such Counsellors as these the King in a Parliament then Assembled fell to expostulate with the Lords asking them What years they thought him to be of who answering That he was somewhat more than one and Twenty Well then said he I am out of your Wardship and expect to enjoy my Kingdom as freely as you your selves at the like years enjoy your Patrimonies But saith our Author his flattering Favourites should have remembred that though the King may not be controlled where he can command yet he may be opposed where he can but demand as now indeed he was For when he demanded a Subsidy toward his Wars He was answered That he needed no Subsidy from his Subjects if he would but call in the debts that the Chancellor owed him and if he were so tender that he could not do that work himself they would do it for him And thereupon charged him with such Crimes that all his Goods were Confiscate and himself adjudged to dye if the King pleased Though others write his Sentence was only to pay twenty Thousand Marks as a Fine and a Thousand pound besides yearly This Chancellor was Michael de la Pool a Merchants Son who was lately made Earl of Suffolk and Lord Chancellor of England who with Robert Vere Earl of Oxford and Marquess of Dublin and some others were King Richards bosom Favourites And upon this Provocation given them they presently study Revenge And thereupon contrive that the Duke of Glocester the Kings Uncle as Principal and other Lords who crossed the Kings Courses should be invited to a supper in London and be there Murdered In the Execution of which Plot the late Lord Mayor Sir Nicholas Brember was deeply concerned but the present Lord Mayor Richard Exton though moved thereto by the King himself utterly refused to do it and thereupon this Design miscarried But notwithstanding these heats and many more which passed in this Parliament yet a Subsidy was at last granted to the King of half a Tenth and half a Fifteenth but with this express Condition that it should not be paid out but by order from the Lords and the Earl of Arundel was to receive it But before this time it was absolutely agreed between both Houses of Parliament That unless the Chancellor were removed they would proceed no further The King having notice hereof sent a Message to the House of Commons that they should send to Eltham where he then lay Forty of their House to declare their Minds to him But upon a Conference between both Houses it was agreed That the Duke of Glocester and Thomas Arundel Bishop of Ely should in the name of the Parliament go to him who coming to the King declared That by an old Statute the King once a year might lawfully summon his Court of Parliament for Reformation of all Enormities and Corruptions within the Realm and further declared That by an Old Ordinance it was likewise Enacted That if the King should absent himself Forty days not being sick the Houses might lawfully break up and return home At which it is reported the King should say Well we perceive our People go about to rise against us and therefore we think we cannot do better then to ask aid of our Cousen the King of France and rather submit our selves to him than to our own Subjects To which the Lords answered They wondred at his Majesties Opinion since the French King was the Ancient Enemy of the Kingdom and he might remember what mischiefs were brought upon the Realm in King Johns time by such Courses By these and the like perswasions the King was induced to come to his Parliament wherein John Fordham Bishop of Durham is discharged of his Office of Treasurer and Michael de la Pool of being Chancellor and others by consent of Parliament put in their places Likewise by Order of Parliament thirteen Lords were appointed under the King to have oversight of the whole Government of the Realm that is the Bishop of Ely Lord Chancellor Bishop of Hereford Lord Treasurer the Abbot of Waltham Lord Privy Seal the Archbishops of Canterbury and York the Dukes of York and Glocester with others but this division of the Government was soon found inconvenient This Parliament also granted to Robert de Vere lately created Duke of Ireland thirty Thousand Marks which the Frenchmen were to give to the heirs of Charles de Bloys upon Condition that before Easter following he should go over into Ireland So desirous were the Lords and Commons to have him removed from the Kings presence But though the King gave way to this Torrent of the Parliament at present yet as soon as they were Dissolved he dissolved likewise all they had done against his Favourites and received them into more Favour than before A while after the Duke of Ireland puts away his lawful Wife who was neer a Kin to the Duke of Glocester and married one of the Queens Maids a Vintners Daughter at which the Duke of Glocester was very much offended which the Duke of Ireland understanding studied how by any means he might dispatch the Duke of Glocester and Easter being now past which was the time appointed for the Duke to go into Ireland the King pretending to go with him to the Seaside went with him unto Wales being attended likewise with Michael de la Pool Robert Tresillian a prime Favourite who was Lord Chief Justice and divers others where they consulted how to dispatch the Duke of Glocester the Earls of Arundel Warwick Darby Nottingham with divers others of that Party The King having remained some time in those Parts had quite forgotten the Voyage of the Duke of Ireland and so brought him back with him again to Nottingham Castle About the same time Robert Tresillian Lord Chief Justice came to Coventry and there Indicted two Thousand Persons The King then called all the High Sheriffs of the Counties before him and demanded what strength they could make for him against the Lords if there should be occasion To which they returned answer That the Common People did so favour

removed to the Bridge-house and it 's recorded that all the Revenues belonging to to London-Bridge in King Henry VII time amounted to 8 15 l. 17 s. 2d a year by which we may partly guess at the Incomes of this Bridge and what vast increase is made of it by this time But this noble Bridge like other earthly things hath suffered many disasters since for some years after the finishing thereof that is 1212. on the 10th of July at Night the Burrough of Southwark and St. Mary Overies Church being on fire and a multitude of People passing the Bridge either to quench or gaze upon it on a sudden the North part of it by the blowing of the South wind was set on fire and when the People would have returned they were stopped by the Fire and as they stayed in a consternation the South end of the Bridge sell on fire so that the People thronging between two raging Fires expected present death whereupon there came many Boats and Vessels to save them into which the multitude rushed so unadvisedly that the boats being thereby sunk they were all drowned above Three thousand Persons being destroyed by the Fire and Water part of whose Bodies were found half burned besides those burnt to Ashes which could not be found In 1282. after a great Frost and deep Snow five Arches of London-Bridge were carried away In 1289. the Bridge was so much decayed that People were afraid to go over it but by a subsidy granted it was repaired In 1595. on St. George's Day there was a great Justing on London-Bridge between David Earl of Crawford of Scotland and the Lord Wells of England which shews that the Bridge was then only coaped in but not built with Houses as it is now The next year Novem. 30. the young Queen Isabel Wife to Richard II. commonly called the little Queen for she was but 8 years old was brought from Kenington over the Bridge to the Tower of London such a mu●●itude of People went upon the Bridge to see her that nine Persons were crouded to death among the rest the P●●or of Tiptree in Essex and an ancient Matron in Cornhill In 1633 there happened a great Fire on London Bridge but was again repaired In the dreadful Fire 1666 a great part of the North Buildings of the Bridge were burnt down but are wholly rebuilt with much Advantage To conclude this Bridge for admirable Workmanship vastness of Foundation and Dimensions and for stately Houses and rich Shops built thereon surpasseth all others in Europe it hath nineteen Arches founded in a deep River made of square Stone sixty Foot in height and Thirty in breadth distant 20 foot one from another joined together with Vaults and Cellars and built as some say upon Ozy soft ground being Eight hundred Foot in length and 30 foot broad and a Draw-bridge almost in the middle Besides this noble Bridge there are others belong to the City as three stately Bridges of Stone built since 1666 over Fleet Ditch and also Holborn Bridge the Ditch being enlarged cleansed and fenced of each side with Stone and Rails and Store-Houses for Coals on each side it is likewise freed from Houses for twenty Foot on each side and made exceeding handsome to the great charge of this City there were likewise some small Bridges over the Town Ditch but now it is arched over with Brick and doth no where appear being paved even with the Street CHAP. V. The Government of the City of London THE Civil Government of this City is not as it is in Rome Paris Madrid Vienna and other Cities by a chief Magistrate or some noble Man set over it as it was here in the time of the Romans when the chief Magistrate was called the Prefect of London or in the time of the Saxons when he was called the Portrieve Custos or Guardian and sometimes Provost of London but after the coming in of the Normans the cheif Magistrate was called Bailive from the French or Commissarie one that hath a Commission to govern and there were sometimes two Bailiffs of London till Rich. I. 1189. changed the name of Bailiff into Mayor which hath held ever since The Mayor is a Citizen chosen every year by the Citizens evcept when their Priviledges and Franchises have been taken from them as in the time of Henry III. Edward I. and King Charles II. The Mayor tho' always a Citizen or Tradesman hath been of such high repute that in writing and speaking to him the Title of Lord is prefixt as to Noble Men Bishops or Judges and of late to the Mayor of York or some of the highest Officers of the Realm he is likewise usually Knighted his Table and also the two Sheriffs is open to all that are of any Quality but so well furnished that it is always fit to receive the greatest Subject in England nay it is recorded that a Lord Mayor of London feasted four Kings at once at his Table His Officers are eight of them Esquires by their places that is the Sword-bearer the Common Hunt who keeps a Kennel of Hounds for the Lord Mayor's Recreation the Common Cryer and four Water-Bailiffs there is also the Coroner three Sergeants Carvers three Serjeants of the Chamber a Serjeant of the Channel four Yeomen of the Water-side one Under Bailiff two Yeomen of the Chamber three Meal Weighers two Yeomen of the Wood Wharfs most of which have their Servants allowed them and Liveries for themselves The State of the Lord Mayor appears when he goes abroad which is usually on Horseback with rich Caparisons himself always in long Robes either of Scarlet richly surred People or Puke with a Chain of Gold about his Neck many Officers walking before and on all sides of him but esp●cially on the 29th of October when he goes 〈◊〉 Westminster in his Barge with the Aldermen attended by all his Officers and the Liverymen of the several Companies in their stately Barges with their Arms Colours and Streamers and having in the Exchequer Chamber before the Judges taken his Oath to be true to the King and Government he returns in like manner to Guild-hall that is the Great Hall of Guilds o● Incorporated Confraternities where is prepared a sumptuous Dinner the Kings Queens Noblemen and Persons of Honour have of late years been pleased to dine there with him with the Forreign Ambassadors and all the Judges This great Magistrate upon the Death of the King is said to be the Prime Person in England and therefore when King James was invited to come and take the Crown of England Robert Loe then Lord Mayor of London subscribed in the first place before the great Officers of the Crown and the Nobility he is usually chosen on Michaelmas day out of 26 Aldermen all Wealthy Men. His Authority reaches over all this great City part of the Suburbs and likewise to the River of Thames with power to punish all that annoy the Stream Banks or Fish only the safety

King John went with a full Resolution having now got a very great Army together to give present Battle to Lewis but as he was passing the Washes of Lincolnshire which are always dangerous all his Carriages Treasure and Provision were irrecoverably lost in the the Sands himself and his Army hardly escaping The kingdom was now made the Stage of all manner of Rapine and Cruelty having two Armies in it at once each of them seeking to prey upon the other and both of them upon the Country Which the Lords seriously reflecting upon and finding likewise their faithful Services to Lewis little regarded since he bestowed all places that were conquered upon French men onely they began to consider how they might free themselves from these Calamities But that which startled them most was that a Noble French man called Viscount de Melun wh● was very much in esteem with Lewis being upon his death-bed in London desired to have som● private conference with those English Lords and Londoners to whom Lewis had committed the Custody of that City to whom he discovered That lamentable desolation and secret and unsuspected ruine and destruction hung over their heads since Lewis with sixteen others of his chief Earls and Lords of whom himself was one had taken an Oath that if ever the Crown of England were setled on his head they would condemn to perpetual banishment all such as now adhered to him against King John as being Traitors to their own Sovereign and that all their Kindred and Relations should be utterly rooted out of the Land This he affirmed to be true as he hoped for the salvation of his now departing soul and thereupon counselling them timely to prevent their approaching miseries and in the mean while to lock up his words under the Seal of Secresie he soon after departed this life These dreadful Tidings strangely amazed the Auditors and though many of the Lords doubted whether if they returned to their Allegiance toward King John he would ever accept of their Repentance since they had so highly provoked him Yet forty of them immediately sent submissive Letters to the King therein expressing their sorrow and hoping that true Royal Bloud would be ever ready to yield mercy to such as were ready to yield themselves prostrate to intreat for it But these solicitors for mercy came too late for King John through vexation of mind for the loss of his Carriages fell into a high Fever whereof within few days he died Though the manner of his death is otherwise reported by other Authors one of whom saith he was poisoned at Swinshead Abby by a Monk of that Covent upon the following account The King being told that Corn was very cheap said That it should be dearer ere long for he would make a penny loaf to be sold for a shilling At which Speech the Monk was so offended that he put the poison of a Toad into a Cup of Wine and brought it to the King telling him There was such a cup of Wine as he had never drank in all his life and therewithal drank first of it himself which made the King drink more boldly of it but finding himself very ill upon 〈◊〉 he asked for the Monk and when it was told him that he was fallen down dead Then saith the King God have mercy upon me I doubted as much Others say Poison was given him in a dish of Pears and add that this was judged such a meritorious act that the Monk had a Mass appointed to be said for his soul for ever after by his Fellow-Monks This King is charged with Irreligion by the Monks of those times who did not love him and therefore we know not how far they are to be believed And among other Speeches That having been a little before reconciled to the Pope and afterward receiving a great overthrow from the French he in great anger cried out That nothing had prospered with him since he was reconciled to God and the Pope And that at another time being a hunting ●e merrily said at the opening of a fat Buck See how this Deer hath prospered and how fat he is and yet I dare swear he never heard M●ss He is likewise charged that being in some distress he sent Thomas Hardington and Ralph Fitz-Nichols Knights Ambassadors to Miram●malim King of Africa and Morocco with offer of his kingdom to him if he would assist him and that if he prevailed he himself would become a Turk and renounce the Christian Religion To this time the City of London had been governed by two Bailiffs but the King in his tenth Year taking displeasure against them for denying his Purveyors Wheat he imprisoned them till 35 of the chief Citizens repaired to him and acquainted him with what small store the City had and how the Commons were ready to make an Insurrection about it he was then satisfied and likewise at their suit he by a New Charter granted ●o the Citizens to elect a new Mayor and 2 Sheriffs to be chosen yearly nine days before Michaelmas which Order hath continued to this day though with some alteration as to time In this Kings time likewise five and thirty of the most substantial Citizens were chosen out and called the Common Council of the City In this Kings time there fell Hail as big as Goose eggs with great Thunder and Lightning so that many Men Women and Cattle were destroyed Houses overthrown and burned and Corn in the Fields beaten down In 1202. and the 4. of King John there began a Frost the 14. of January which continued to the 22. of March that the Ground could not be tilled so that in the Summer following a Quarter of Wheat was sold for a Mark which in the days of Henry the second was sold for twelve pence and a Quarter of Beans or Oats for a Groat and why the disproportion in the prices is now so great since the price of Silver is much less altered for an ounce of Silver was then valued at twenty pence which is now valued at five shillings must be left to Philosophers to give the reason for since scarcity makes things dear why should not plenty make them cheap About this time Fishes of strange shape were taken armed with Helmets and Shields like armed men onely they were much bigger A certain Monster was likewise found stricken with Lightning not far from London which had an head like an Ass a belly like a Man and all other parts far differing from any other Creature And in another place a Fish was taken alive in the form of a Man and was kept six Months upon Land with raw flesh and fish and then because they could not make it speak they cast it into the Sea again In the ninth of King John the Arches and Stone bridge over the Thames at London was quite finished by Serle Mercer and William Alman then Procurators and Masters of the Bridge-house and soon after a great Fire happened there of which

down to the Ground and that as he lay on the ground there came out of his Mouth a flame of fire with abundance of smoke this last being told the King he made a jest of it saying Well a Monk he is and he can dream only as Monks do that is for gain Go give him an hundred shillings lest he think he hath dreamed unprofitably But though he had these warnings yet the day after Lammas he would needs go a hunting in the New Forrest yet something resenting the many Presages he stayd within all the forenoon About dinner time an Artificer came and brought him six Crossbow Arrows very strong and sharp four whereof he kept himself and the other Two he delivered to S. Walter Tyrell a Knight of Normandy his Bow-bearer saying Here Tyrell take you two for you know how to shoot them to purpose And so having at dinner drank more berally than his custom as it were in contempt of Prodigies and Presages he rides out in the New Forest where S. Walter Tyrell shooting at a Deer the arrow glanced against a Tree or as some say grazed upon the back of the Deer and flying forward struck the King in the breast who hastily breaking off so much as stuck in his body with one onely groan fell down and dyed of which sudden mischance his followers having notice most of them went away and those that remained with much ado got his body put into a Colliers Cart which being drawn with one lean Horse through a very foul dirty way the Cart broke and there lay the Spectacle of worldly Glory all besmeared with his own bloud and filthyly bedaubed with mire till he was conveyed to Winchester where he was buried under a plain Marble stone in the Cathedral King Henry the 1. his brother and the youngest son of William the Conquerour succeeded him though his elder brother Robert Duke of Normandy was living which caused great Wars and disturbance In his time Anse●m Archbishop of Canterbury being returned called a Council of the Bishops at London wherein he offended both the King and Clergy for he excommunicated all married Priests half the Clergy of England at that time being either married or the Sons of Married Priests and depending upon the Popes assistance he deprived many great Prelats of their Promotions because they were invested in them by the King but they refused to resign them since they had them by the donation of their Soveraign upon which Anselm thinking himself much wronged appealed to the Pope and went to Rome in Person soon after The King likewise sent Herbere Bishop of Norwich and Robert Bishop of Litchfield Privy Counsellors and William Warwast his Procurator as Ambassadors to Rome and the last being a Clergyman of a bold and daring Spirit He in debating his Soveraigns cause before the Pope and Cardinals with threatning Language and Countenance avouched That the King his Master would not lose his Right in the Investitures of the Church though he lost his Kingdom Whereto Pope Paschal being upon his own dunghill as stoutly answered If thou sayest the King will not lose his donation of Churches for the loss of his Kingdom Know thou for certain that before God I will not suffer him to to enjoy them without punishment and will venture my head thereupon But notwithstanding these great words against the King yet the degraded Abbots were restored again through the Clemency of the Papal See which is never wanting to any as long as The White and Red make intercession for them as the Monks own words were at that time A while after Cardinal Cremensis came into England from the Pope and calling a Council in London upon the Birth day of the Blessed Virgin he made a solemn Oration in praise of Virginity and Chastity and a terrible Invective against the Married Priests affirming it to be no less than professed Adultery And to amplifie their sin the more he shewed what great Impiety it was to rise from the Bed of unlawful Lust for so he termed chast Marriage and with polluted hands to touch the Sacrament of the Body of Christ yet but the very night following this holy Cardinal was found in Bed with a common Whore having himself consecrated the Host that very day so that he returned to Rome with much shame and but little success in the intended matter Yea Anselm himself the most earnest in favour of single life did not it seems die a Virgin for else he would never in his writings make such lamentations for the loss thereof Yet Anselm afterward called another Council at Westminster where it was ordained That Priests should no longer be suffered to have Wives and that there should be no more selling and buying men in England they being then sold like Horses or Oxen. Yet King Henry afterward suffered Priests to have Wives for Fines or rather took Fines of them whether they had Wives or no because they might have them if they would Duke Robert his Brother having sound that force would not prevail to settle him in his Right to the Kingdom he himself comes over to King Henry referring both his Dukedom and himself and all differences and debates to his will and pleasure but King Henry scarce vouchsafed to speak to him or at least to make him an answer but in a sullen humour turned away and so left him Which scornful usage put the Duke into such Indignation that he resolved upon Revenge and returning into Normandy raiseth a great Army But Henry knowing Robert to be a Souldier and considering his own Estate called his Lords together to London and there tickled their cars with this pleasing Speech My Friends faithful Counsellors and Native Country men You know all undoubtedly that my Brother Robert was elected and called by God himself to be the fortunate King of Jerusalem and how unfortunately or rather insolently he refused that sacred Estate whereby he is now most justly reprobated of God You also know by many other experiments his Pride and Arrogancy for being a man of a war like bumour he is not onely impatient of Peace but also earnestly desireth to trample upon you as men of object and contemptible dispositions and upbraid you for idle Drones Belly-gods and what not But I your King am naturally inclined to be both humble and peaceable and take delight in nothing more than in doing you good and to maintain your Tranquillity and ancient Liberty as I have often sworn unto you and meekly and willingly to yield my self to your advices whereby I may circumspectly govern you as a clement Prince And to that end even now will I confirm if your Wisdoms think fit your over-worn and undermined Charters and will corroborate them most firmly with a new Oath and Ratification In the mean time all the Laws which the holy King Edward by Gods inspiring did establish I do here command to be inviolably observed hereby to move you to adhere stedfastly unto me in chearfully

willingly and powerfully repulsing the wrongs offered me by my Brother shall I say Nay by the most deadly Enemy both to me to you and the whole Nation For if I be guarded with the Valour and Affections of Englishmen I shall scorn the threats of him and his Normans and count them vain and not to be regarded With these fair promises which yet he afterward quite neglected he so won the hearts of the Lords and the Londoners that they engaged to die with him or for him against any opposition whatsoever Duke Robert being gone and Henry thus setled in the affection of the People he raised a very great Army and accompanied with divers of the Nobility sailed to Normandy where falling upon Robert before he was half ready to fight he obtained a compleat Victory over him and won Normandy with the slaughter of ten thousand men taking Robert himself prisoner whom he brought over and committed to Cardiff Castle in Wales where he remained a prisoner till he died yet had liberty of walking in the Kings Meadows and Pastures But being weary of this Confinement he endeavoured to make his escape which the King being afraid of ordered his eyes to be put out which to avoid the deformity of breaking the Eye-bals was done by causing his head to be held to a burning Basin till the Glassie Tunicles had lost the Office of retaining the Light This though it increased his misery yet did not shorten his life for he lived long after in all from the time of his Imprisonment twenty eight years And thus this great Duke who in his Birth was the joy of Nature in his Life was the scorn of Fortune And it is worth observing that the English won Normandy th● very same day fortieth year the Normans had won England Such Revolutions of Fortune there are in kingdoms and so unstable is the state of all wordly Greatness This Robert died 1134 and lies buried at Glocester One Author writes That King Henry sent him according to his Custom a Robe of Scarlet and putting it first on himself found that the Capouch or Hood as the Fashion was then was somewhat too little whereupon he said Carry this to my Brother his head is less than mine The Messenger delivering the Robe Duke Robert demanded if any had worn it and being told the King had first tried it on and what words he had said The Duke replied I have too long protracted a miserable life since my Brother is so injurious to me that he sends me his old Clothes to wear And from that time he would never taste any food nor receive any comfort This King Henry first instituted the Form of the High Court of Parliament for before his time onely certain of the Nobility and Prelates of the Realm were called to consultation about the most important Affairs of State but he caused the Commons also to be assembled by Knights Citizens and Burgesses of their own electing and made that Court to consist of three Estates the Nobility the Clergy and the Commons represeming the whole Body of the Realm and appointed them to fit in several Chambers the King the Lords and the Bishops in one and the Commons in another and to consult together by themselves He established likewise several other Orders as they are used to this day The first Parliament that was so held met at Salisbury upon the 19 of April in the 16 Year of his Reign 1019. He forbid wearing of long hair which at that time was frequent according to the French Mode He commanded Robers on the High-way to be hanged without Redemption He punished Counterfeiters of Money with pulling out their eyes or cutting off their privy members a punishment both less than Death and greater In this Kings time Guymond one of his Chaplains observing that unlearned and unworthy men were generally prefer'd to the best dignities in the Church as he celebrated Divine Service before him and was to read these words out of S. James It rained not upon the earth III years and VI Months he read it thus It rained not upon the Earth 1.1.1 years and 5.1 Months The King observed his Reading and afterwards blamed him for it but Guymond answered That he did it on purpose since such Readers were sconest advanced by His Majesty The King smiled and afterwards promoted him About this time Thomas Archb. of York falling sick his Physicians told him that nothing would do him good but to company with a woman to whom he answered That the Remedy was worse than the disease And so it is said died a Virgin Upon the Tenth of October the River of Medway that runs by Rochester failed so of water for many miles together that in the midst of the Channel the smallest Vessels could not pass and the same day also in the Thames between the Tower and London Bridge men waded over on foot for the space of two days A great fire happened in London which consumed a long Tract of buildings from Westcheap to Aldgate and several other great Cities in England were likewise burnt down about this time In the thirteenth of this King many Prodigies were seen a Pig was farrowed with a face like a child a Chicken was hatched with four legs and the Sun was so deeply eclipsed that by reason of the darkness many Stars did plainly appear This King left behind him onely one daughter named Maud who could never come to be Queen though born to a Kingdom She was married at six years old to the Emperour Henry the Fourth and after his death she was again married to Fulk Duke of Anjou Yet her Father took much care to establish the Succession in her and her issue and therefore he called his Nobility together and among them David King of Scots and made them take their Oaths of Allegiance to her and her Heirs This he did three years one after another wherein nothing pleased him so much as that Stephen Earl of Blois was the first man that took the Oath because he was known to be or it was known at least that he might be a pretender to the Crown But the King should have considered that no Oath is binding when the getting a Kingdom is the price of breaking it and especially to Stephen who was so deeply interested Yet Providence could do no more and the King was well satisfied with it especially when he saw his daughter Mother of two Sons for this though it gave him no assurance yet it gave him assured hope to have the Crown perpetuated in his Posterity Yet after King Henry was dead Stephen ascends the Throne as being Earl of Bulleign Son to Stephen Earl of Beis by Adela daughter of King William the Conquerour and though there were two before him that is Maud the Empress and Theobald his elder Brother yet taking hold of opportunity while the other lingred about smaller Affairs he solicites all the Orders of the Realm Bishops and Lords and People to receive