of King Aelfred by Pact and Bargain between him and Guthrum enjoyed East-Saxony or Essex and the Country of the East-Angles and a far greater part of this Nation as many think And in this King Ethelred's Reign Swane King of Denmark with a great Army invaded and made himself Master of the whole Nation forcing Ethelred and his Wife Emmy Sister to Richard second Duke of Normandy with their two Sons Edward and Alfred into that Country But Ethelred had a former Wife Elgive Daughter of Duke Thored By her he had many Sons of whom Edmond called Ironside being the third Aethelstan and Egbert dying without Issue by the Election of the Londoners and West-Saxons succeeded his Father in the Kingdom Florence of Worcester says again after the death of Ethelred the Bishops Abbots Duces quicque Nobiles Angliae met and chose Cnute the Son of Swane but the Londoners and that part of the Nobility which was with them by one consent made Edmund King After several Battels fought for the Sovereignty of the Kingdom between these two Pretenders and their Adherents being weary on both sides they were persuaded to part the Kingdom between them which was done But not long after Edmund died at London The Arch-Traytor Edric after he had caused Edmund's Brother Edwy to be murdered advised Cnute to kill his two Sons also Edward and Edmund But he thinking it a great scandal and disgrace to him that they should be killed in England sent them to his Friend and Confederate the King of Sweves to be slain who not complying with his desire sent them to Solomon King of Hungary to be preserved where Edmund died and Edward married Agatha Daughter to Henry the Roman Emperor by whom he had Edgar Aetheling Edmund Christiana who all died without Issue and Margaret Queen of Scotland whose Daughter Maud was married to Henry the First After the death of Cnute the Londoners as Ingulph of Croyland and William of Malmsbury do report chose Harold but the English had a mind to chuse Edward the Son of Ethelred or at least Hardecnute the Son of Cnute by Emme his Wife the Widow of King Ethelred who was then in Denmark and that he coming over the Kingdom was divided between them and taking Possession of his Share returned into Denmark and that Harold in his absence made himself Master of the whole Kingdom who living only four Years after his death both English add Danes sent for Hardecnute into Denmark to succeed him The Author of the Encomium of Emme says Cnute gave both this and his other Kingdoms to his Son Harde-Cnute by Emme Edward by the Policy Power and Industry chiefly of Earl Goodwin and Livingus Bishop of Worcester was made King at London and was anointed King at Winchester by the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York and almost all the Bishops in England He being in England at the time of the death of his half-Brother Harde-Cnute was in a great streight not knowing what to do and thinking to retire into Normandy as he was advised by the Normans applied himself unto Earl Godwin who minded him whose Son he was and of his Right to the Kingdom aud agreeing to marry his Daughter Edgith and to other Conditions propounded to him being forced by necessity to consent thereto Godwin a Council being immediately called by his Reasons and Rhetorick made him King Gul. Gemeticensis saith Hardecnutus reliquit Edwardum fratrem totius regni Haeredem Harde-Cunte left Edward his Brother Heir of the whole Kingdom Ailred Abbot of Rievalle tells an idle Tale in the Life and Miracles of Edward the Confessor that his Father King Ethelred being solicitous about a Successor though he had at that time two Sons Edmund Irorside and Alfred yet in a great Convention of Bishops and Noble Men before him and a great Concourse of ordinary People by the Prescience and Direction of God Almighty this Edward was chosen King while he was in his Mother 's Womb. Praebet electioni Rex consensu laeti praebent proceres Sacramentum inasitato Miraculo in ejus fidelitate jurarunt qui utrum nasceretur ignorarunt The King consents to the Election and the Noble-Men joyfully and by reason of an unusual Miracle swear Fealty to him before they knew whether ever he would be born He is the only Author of this Legend that I know of and do think it a little too gross to be believed Edward the Confessor designed his Nephow Prince Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside for Ins Successor and in the thirteenth Year of his Reign nine Years before he died sent for him out of Hungary where he then was in Banishment but in a short time after he died at London Anno Dom. 1057. Clito Edwardus Regis Eadmundi ferret lateris filius ut ei mandarat suus Patruus Rex Edwardus de Hungaria quo multo anno in exilium missus fuerat Angliam venit decreverat enim Rex illum post se Regni haeredem constituere sed ex quo venit parvo post tempore vita decessit Londoniae After the death of Edward the Confessor Harold Throno Regio se intrusit And as Ailredus before cited hath it Quidam Edgarum Adeling cui Regnum Jure haereditario debebatur Regem constituere moliuntur sed quia puer tanto honore minus idoneus videbatur Haraldus Comes de genere perditorum cujus erat mens astutior crumena faecundior miles copiosior sinistro omine Regnum obtinuit Some endeavoured to make Edward Atheling King to whom the Kingdom belonged by Hereditary Right But because he was a Child and seemed not fit for so great Honour Earl Hurold a crafty Traytor being better furnished with Money and Soldiers by sinister Fater obtained the Kingdom To the same purpose Henry of Huntington says Quidam Anglorum Eadgar Adeling permovere volebant in Regem Haraldus vero viribus genere fretus Regni Diadema invasit That is Some of the English would have had Edgar Atheling King but Harold being well furnished with Forces and assisted by his Kindred invaded the Crown f. 210. b. n. 10. From the various Expressions of the antient Writers of the Saxon Story concerning the Succession an unwary Reader would think the Saxons agreed not in one Rule of Succession or that they had no Rule at all But whoever considers with understanding what here is said will find they had and pursued a sure Rule of Succession which was either Right of Blood or the Nomination and Appointment of the preceding King as we hinted before which Nomination by the Saxon Kings mostly happened in the Minority or Nonage of their Children and that only was thought and allowed Cause sufficient for the Father to prefer his Brother's Son before his own or a Bastard before his lawful Issue For by the subsequent Instances it will plainly appear that the Saxons did in their
He took Possession of the Kingdom He succeeded He was chosen c. The Danish Kings stayed not long here after Swane had conquered the Kingdom they all four reigned not much above twenty five Years their best Title was the Sword notwithstanding they either brought hither the Custom of the Predecessor naming or giving the Kingdom to his Successor as probably it might have been practised in their own Kingdoms or used it as they found it here practised by the Saxon Kings The Saxons were very weary of the Danish Government and without doubt very forward to set up a King of their own Nation yet the Donation of Harde-Cnute was as great a step for Edward the Consessor to the Throne as the Power and Policy of Earl Godwin and Livingus the Bishop of Worcester Ingulph Secretary to William when Duke of Normandy reports the Donation of England to him very confidently and as if in those times such Gifts were not much questioned Anno eodem Rex Edward senio jam gravatus cernens Clisonis Edwardi nuper defuncti filium Edgarum Regio so lio minus idoneum tarn corde quam corpore Godwini que Comitis multam malamque sobolem quotidie super terram crescere ad cognatum suum Willielmum Comitem Normaniae animum apposuit c. eum sibi succedere in Regnum Angliae voce stabili savivit In the same Year King Edward grown infirm witli Age perceiving Edgar the Son of the late deceased Edward Aetheling neither in Mind or Body fit for the Government nor to bear up against the growing Power and Malice of Godwin's Sons thought upon his Cousin William Earl of Normandy and by a firm Declaration decreed he should succeed him in the Kingdom Norman Succession FRom what hath been said the Pretences and Causes of William Duke of Normandy his succeeding Edward the Confessor and enjoying the Crown of England are very evident as also are the same to his Dukedom He was the only Son of his Father Robert who going on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem called together the Noble-men of his Dukedom and brought his Son William though Illegitimate before them and earnestly exacted of them that in his stead they would chuse him their Lord who though but a Child they forthwith according to the Decree of the Duke acknowledged him for their Prince and Lord swearing Fealty unto him Robertum ergo Archiepiscopum cum optimatibus suis Duc atus accersivit illis velle se appetere Jerosolimitanam pergrinationem manifestavit exponens autem eis Willielmus filium suum quem unicum apud Falesiam genuerat ab iis attentissime exigebat ut hinc sibi loco sui dum eligerent Qui licet sub tenerrima detineretur oetati puerili juxta Decretum Ducis protinus cum prompta viracitate collaudavere principem Dominum pangentes ti fidelitatem non violandis Sacramentis And R. Hoveden affirms it to have been the custom in Norway from whence the Normans came for Bastards to inherit and that in his time it was so Consuetudo Regni Norweiae est usque in hodiernum diem quod is qui alicujus Regis Norweiae dignoscitur esse filius licet sit spurius de ancilla genitus tantum sibi jus vendicat in Regnum gentitus ideo fiunt inter eos proelia indesinenter donec unus eorum vincatur interficiatur And so it happened between the Curators of Duke William in his Nonage and the Pretenders as Heirs to his Grandfather of the Dutchy of Normandy The same Right of Succession as Testamentary Heir to his Father William Rufus had to the Crown of England Metuens Rex ne in Regno tam diffuso repentina oriretur turbatio epistolam de constituendo Rege fecit Lanfranco Archiepiscopo suoque sigillo signatam tradidit Gulielmo Rufo silio suo jubens ut in Angliam transfretaret continuo This was done a little before the Conqueror's Death and he did it for that his Son William always stuck close to him and had in every thing according to the utmost of his power been dutiful and obedient Rufus brought his Father's Epistle by which he had constituted him King of England to Lanfranc Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who having read it hasted with him to London and consecrated him King in the old Church of St. Peter at Westminster on the 26th of September his Father dying the 9th of the same Month Willielmus Willielmi filius saith Malmsbury a patre ultima valetudine decumbente in Successorem adoptatus est accessit favori ejus maximum rerum momentum Archiepiscopus Lansrancus eo quod eum nutrierat militem fecerat quo Authore annitente Die Sanctorum Cosinae Damianae Coronatus est That is William the Son of Willaim was by his Father in his last Sickness adopted his Successor but it was matter of great moment and the greatest Addition to his Success that Arch-Bishop Lanfranc had educated him and made him a Knight by whose Authority and Endeavour he was Crowned on the day of Cesina and Damianus Florence of Worcester who only says that he was consecrated King at Westminster by Arch-Bishop Laufranc hath noted that not long atter his Coronation there arose great Discord and Contention between the chief Men of England for part of the Great and Noble Normans favoured King William but it was the least and the other part of them favoured Robert Duke of Normandy which was the greatest Odo who mortally hated Lanfranc headed the Duke's Party and Lanfranc headed the King's who with the King Congregatio quantum ad presens poterat Normanorum sed tamen maxime Anglorum equestri pedestri licet mediocri exercitu c. Having raised such an Army as he could of Horse and Foot of Normans but the grratest part English though but a mean one and by using the common Bait of Liberty declaring he would relax the rigid Laws give free leave of Hunting c. Also by insinuating into Roger Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury the chief Person for the Duke next unto Odo Bishop of Baieux and Earl of Kent brought him off to his Party By these means he brake the Force of his Enemies and ever after ruled by an Army More of this story may be seen in Eadmer Ord. Vit. f. 666. c. Florence of Worcester and Malmsbury in the places before cited who all lived at the time Here we see Rufus claimed as Testamentary Heir and by reason of that Claim was advanced to the Throne by the Assistance of Lanfranc's and the Bishops Faction who then swayed the People and ruled by the help of an Army ever after Whoever rightly considers this story cannot call it an Election After the death of Rufus Florence of Worcester only says that Henry his third Brother succeeded him and that the day he was crowned by Maurice Bishop of London he gave great Liberties to the Church and Kingdom and
exortus Diadema totius regni capiti imposuit William of Malmsbury is more particular in this matter and reports the Jealousie Brihtric had of Egbert Quem solum regalis prosapiae superstitem validissimum suis utilitatibus obicem metuebat Franciam fugandum curavit Who only of the Royal Line was left and the greatest Cheek to his Design he caused to fly into France Nam ipse Brihtricus caeteri infra Inam Reges licet naturalium splendore gloriantes quippe qui de Cerdicio originem traherent non purum tamen linea regiae stirpis exorbitaverant For though Brihtric himself and the rest of the Kings since Ina boasting of their Lineage as drawing their Origin from Cerdic yet they did not a little exorbitate from the true Royal Line The Pedigree of Egbert Egbertus fuit filius Ealmundi Ealmundus Eafae Eafa Eoppae Eoppa fuit filius Ingildi Egbert was the Son of Ealmund Ealmund of Eafa Eafa of Eoppa Eoppa of Ingild the only Brother of Ina King of the West-Saxons who left his Kingdom went to Rome lived a Monastick Life and died Childless Ethelwolfe succeeded his Father Egbert in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons and he gave to his other Son Aethelstan his Conquests Kent East-Sex Surrey and Sussex of which he made him King Malmsbury saith thus Ethelwolphus West-Saxonum regno contentus caetera quae pater subjugaverat Appendicia Aethelstano filio contradidit qui quanto que fine defecerit incertum Ethelwolph by Will divided his Kingdom between his Sons Ethelbald and Ethelbert To Ethelbald he gave West-Saxony to the other Kent c. and by Will gave the Kingdom of West-Saxony to his Sons Ethelred and Elfred after Ethelbald's Death Successively Ethelbald lived but five Years when Ethelbert possessed the whole Kingdom Vt justum èrat says Asser Florence of Worcester and Simeon Dunelmensis Ethelred third Son to Ethelwolph and Brother to Ethelbert succeeded him in his Father's Kingdom who Reigned five or six Years Alfred fourth and youngest Son of Ethelwolph succeeded his Brother Ethelred Fratribus suis Sccundarius fuit He was a Coadjutor or Assistant to his other Brothers Asser fol. 7. 50. To whom succeeded his Son Edward called the Elder To him succeeded his Son Ethelstan EADWEARD CYNG FORTH FERD and AETHELSTAN his SUNN FENG to RICE King Edward died Ejusque filius Aethelstanus capescit regnum And his Son Aethelstan succeeded in the Kingdom These being the usual Saxon and Latin Words by which the Succession is expressed Florence of Worcester and Simeon of Durham both say Rex Edwardus Sen. ex hac vita transiens Aethelstano filio regni gubernacula reliquit King Edward the Elder dying left the Government of the Kingdom to his Son Aethelstan Malmsbury says thus in the History of Edward the Elder Jussu Patris in Testamento Aethelstanus in Regem acclamatus est By the Command of his Father in his Will Aethelstan was proclaimed King By some Aethelstan is affirmed to be a Bastard from the report of William of Malmsbury in the Book and Chapters last cited Who tells us that one Alfred a Man of great Insolence and his Faction opposed Aethelstan upon pretence he was a Bastard Occasio contradictionis ut serunt says the Historian quod Aethelstanus ex Concubina natus csset The occasion of Contradiction was that Aethelstan was born of a Concubine as was reported Sed ipse praeter hanc notam si tamen vera est nihil ignobile habens But he had no other Mark of Ill upon him but this if it were true And telling the story how King Edward the Elder as it was reported stole a Leap with a Shepherd's Daughter by the help of his sometimes Nurse of whom it is fabled he begat Aethelstan he says he had it from trite Tales and Songs and that he related it not to defend the truth of it but because he would keep nothing from his Readers Nor indeed is the story credible for the same Author in the same Chapter reports that his Grandfather famous King Alfred in his Life-time wished him a prosperous Reign embracing him as a Child of great Hope and excellent Behaviour and Knighted him in his Childhood putting on him a Scarlet Cloak and girding him with a Belt set with Gems and a Saxon Sword in a Golden Scabbard This so wise and great a King as Alfred was would never have said and done to a Bastard Edmund his Brother succeeded Aethelstan in the Kingdom After him Edred third Brother to Aethelstan succeeded in the Kingdom and was consecrated King by Odo Arch Bishop of Canterbury This was done in the Nonage of King Edmund's Sons when they were very young and the Nation under great difficulties The Saxon Chronology says EADRED AETHELING his Brother FENG to RICE regnum â—apessit Florence of Worcester Edredus proximus haeres fratris succedens regnum suscepit Malmsbury Edredus tertius e filiis Edwardi regnum suscepit Simeon Dunelmensis Edredus frater Edmundi in regnum successit Edwy the Son of Edmund succeeded his Uncle Edred He banished Dunstan turned out Monks and placed Secular Priests in Monasteries and was so displeasing to the Mercians and Northumbrians that they rejected him and chose his Brother Edgar who also succeeded Edwy in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons Eadwigus Rex Kal. Octobris obiit and Edgar his Brother FENG to RICE Edwy died on the First of October and Edgar his Brother took the Kingdom Flor Wigorn. Abomni Anglorum populo Electus regnum suscepit Malmsbury Edgarus adolescentulus se decem annorum regnum adipiscit Edward his Son called the Martyr succeeded him filiumque suum Edwardum regnt morum haeredem reliquit And left his Son Edward Heir as well of the Kingdom as of his Vertues and Endowments But there happening a Contest between him and this Brother about the Succession Quidam Regis silium Edwardum quidam illius fratrem eligerunt Ethelredum quam ob causam Archipresules Dunstanus Oswaldus cum Co-episcopis Abbatibus â—ucâ—busque quamplurimis in unum convenerunt Edwardum ut pater eius praeceperat eligerunt Electum consecrarunt in Regem unxerunt Some elected Edward the King's Son some his Brother Ethelred wherefore the Arch-Bishops Dunstan and Oswald with the Bishops Abbots and very many Noble-Men being gathered together elected Edward as his Father had commanded consecrated and anointed him King This Contest was managed and set on foot by Elfrida second Wife to Edgar and Mother in Law to Edward Who by her Contrivance being murthered was succeeded by his Brother Ethelred FENG ETHELRED AETHELING his BROTHER to RICE and Ethelred Aetheling his Brother enjoyed or possessed the Kingdom The Danes ever since the beginning of King Egbert having by continued Invasions harassed and grievously wasted and molested England in the Reign
commanded that King Edward's Laws should be observed with such Amendments as his Father had amended them And further says that very many great Men sent for Duke Robert over and promised him the Crown and Kingdom and coming they did some of them adhere to him and others dissembling their Kindness and Affection stayed with King William until they had an opportunity of shewing it But the Bishops the Common Soldiers and English stuck close to King Henry by whose means he raised a very great Army and were ready to fight for him when they came to an Agreement by the Mediation of the wise Men of both Parties Eadmer tells us that most of the great Men either did or were ready to revolt from King Henry but Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who had given him great Assistance in raising his Army upon great Promises made that all the Church-Affairs should be left to his direction and disposing and that he would for ever after obey the Decrees and Commands of the Pope procured the great Men to assemble and then so wheedled and cajoled them and their Army that he altered theit Intentions And it was from his Fidelity and Industry that Henry lost not the Kingdom This King Henry was a plain right down Usurper he had no pretence of Donation no Testamentary Right from his Father and therefore as Malmsbury shews us more particularly he was advanced by a Faction there being only five great Men Robert Fitz-Haymon Richard de Redvers Roger Bigot Henry Earl of Warwick and Robert Earl of Mellent his Brother all Normans that favoured him and by the contrivance of Henry Earl of Warwick he was elected King All others sent privately to Duke Robert to come and be their King or openly reproached Henry This was an excellent Election made by a Faction and an Army and perhaps with a bawling multitude after them and indeed there could be no other Election than such an one as this for Rufus was slain in New Forest on the 2d of August being Thursday and Henry was Crowned on the 5th of August being Sunday So that it was impossible for all that were or ought to be concerned in such an Election all the Kingdom over to have notice meet and dispatch that Business in two days time These Historians lived at the very time these things were done It is true he says in his own Charter That he was Crowned King by the Common Council of the Barons of England Sciatis me misericordia Dei Communi Concilio Baronum Regni Angliae ejusdem Regni Regem Coronatum esse And he must say this or nothing for no other Pretence or Title he could have and there never was any other Usurper in his Circumstances but must say so or some other thing to make out a Title King Stephen in his Charter of Liberties says He was elected A Clero Populo King John in his Charter of Fees of the Seal affirmed himself right Heir to the Crown when Arthur Duke of Britain and his Sister Eleanor Son and Daughter to his Elder Brother Jeffrey were then living and they were both vain Affirmations as will appear in their several stories Some later Historians than these as Matthew Paris who wrote above an hundred Years after them Mat. Westminster and Hen. de Knighton and Brompton who wrote at least two hundred and fifty Years after them all say he was elected But only Knighton amongst them all tells us the most considerable reason why Robert his elder Brother was rejected Robertus says he semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario consensu consilio totius Communitatis Regni IMPOSUERUNT EI ILLEGITIMITATEM QUOD NON FUERAT PROCREATUS DE LEGITIMO THORO WILLIELMI CONQUESTORIS UNDE UNANIMI assensu suo ipsum refutaverunt pro rege omnino recusaverunt Hen. frem in Regem erexerunt Robert was always averse and so harsh to the Barons of England that they by full Consent and Advice voted him Illegitimate because he was not begotten lawfully by William the Conqueror and for that reason by unanimous Assent they refused him and set up Henry his Brother to be their King From this Passage of Knighton we see the Community or Baronage of all England fixed the Right of Succession in the Legitimate Right of Blood and therefore this King his two elder Brothers being dead without Issue desired to secure the Succession unto his Lawful Issue by Right of Blood To that end all Freemen of England and Normandy of what Order and Dignity soever and of whatsoever Lord they held or were Fendataries to were forced to do Homage and swear Fealty to his Son William then but twelve Years old And in the twenty seventh of his Reign he caused all the great Men of England after the death of his Sons William and Richard to recognize Maud the Empress his Daughter Queen to whom the only Lawful Succession was due from her Grandfather Uncle and Father that were Kings and from her Mother many Generations In the thirty first of King Henry he and his Daughter coming into England at a great Meeting of the Nobility or Parliament at Northampton those which before had sworn Fealty renewed their Oaths to her and those which had not done it before then did it Paris tells us that the Clergy and Great or Noble Men made Conditions with Henry who promised them what is before related and in that gave them satisfaction But as all Usurpers ever did so he changed his Mind and his Canting Speech had no other effects than to enslave them for with a seared and cahterized Conscience he had obtained the Kingdom and usurped upon his Brother Robert who had manifest Right impudently violating the Laws and Promises by which he had drawn in all Men to serve him and afterward taking him Prisoner caused his Eyes to be pulled out and kept him in Prison twenty four Years until he died King Henry having thus provided for the Security of his Daughter Maud being asked in his Sickness by Robert Duke of Gloucester and the Noble Men that then were with him about a Successor Filiae omnem terram suam citra ultra mate Legitima perenni successione adjucavit Adjudged his Daughter his Lawful Successor in all his Territories Radulphus de Diceto Dean of Saint Paul's who died Anno Dom. 1210. says that Hath Bigot Steward of the King's Houshold made speed out of Normandy where the King died into England and made Oath before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that King Henry upon his Death-bed upon some differences which happened between him and his Daughter the Empress did dis-inherit her and made Stephen Earl of Boloign his Heir Whereupon William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury giving too much credit to the words of the Steward consecratcd Stephen Earl of Mortaigne King at Westminster If this story
his Heirs and if he should die without Issue Vt reciperent Comitem Johannem fratrem Richardi Regis in Regem Dominum That they would receive Earl John the Brother of King Richard for their King and Lord and swore Fealty to him against all Men saving their Fealty to his Brother King Richard Two Years afterward confederating with the King of France against his Brother and being assisted by him he returned into England and brought many Strangers with him and coming to London demanded the Kingdom of the Arch-Bishop of Roven who was then Justiciary and the other Justiciaries of England Fidelitates Hominum Angliae affirming the King of England his Brother was dead But not believing him they and the other great Men of the Kingdom rejected him Then swelling with Fury he fortified his Castles and places of Strength and seized the Crown-Lands Many came in unto him but being deceived they were punished according to their deserts And for these and other Treasons committed the Year following as combining with the King of France and offering great Sums of Money to the Emperor to keep King Richard in Prison and making new Disturbances in the Nation Per Commune Consilium Regni Definitum est quod Comes Johannes dissaifiretur de omnibus Tenementis suis in Anglia By the Common Council of the Kingdom it was decreed he should be disseized of all he held of the King in England And presently all his Castles were besieged and taken from him Yet for all this the next Year King Richard pardoned his Brother John and restored to him the Earldom of Moreton or Mortaigne the Honour of Eye and Earldom of Glocester except the Castles and for his other Earldoms and Lands allowed him Yearly eight thousand Pounds of Anjou-Money And in the last Year of his Reign Cum Rex de vita desperaret divisit Johanni fratri suo Regnum Angliae omnes alias terras suas fecit fieri praedicto Johanni fidelitates ab illis qui aderant praecepit ut traderentur ei Castella sua tres partes Thesauris sui When the King despaired of Life he devised to his Brother John the Kingdom of England and all other his Lands and made all present swear Fealty to him and commanded that his Castles and three parts of his Treasure should be delivered to him Richard being dead John stayed in Normandy where by Walter Arch-Bishop of Roven he was girt with the Sword of that Dutchy April 25. on St. Mark 's Day and sent Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Pope's Legat and William Marshal Earl of Strigvil into England to keep the Peace together with Jeffrey Fitz-Peter Justitiary of England and other Barons of the Kingdom Qui fecerunt homines regni tam de Civitatibus quem de Burgis Comites Barones libere tenentes jurare fidelitatem pacem Johanni Normannorum Duci filii Henrici Regis filii Matildis Imperatricis contra omnes homines Who made the Homagers of England as well of Cities as Burroughs and Earls Barons and free Tenants to swear Fealty and Peace to John Duke of Normandy the Son of King Henry the Son of Maud the Empress against all Men. Notwithstanding this all the Bishops Earls and Barons which had Castles Manned Victualled and stored them with Arms. But Hubert the Arch-Bishops William Marshal and Jeffrey Fitz-Peter Justiciary of England met at Northampton and called before them those which they most doubted David Brother to the King of Scots Richard Earl of Clare Ranulph Earl of Chester William Earl of Tutesbury and Walran Earl of Warwick Roger Constable of Chester William de Mowbray and many other Earls and Barons to whom they promised and engaged that John Duke of Normandy should restore to every Man his Right if they would keep Faith and Peace with him Súb hac igitur Conventione supradicti Comites c. According to this Agreement the said Earls and Barons swore Fealty and faithful Service to John Duke of Normandy against all Men. This was done while he was in Normandy On the 25th of May following Duke John crossed the Seas from Normandy into England and the next day came to London and there were convened in Expectation of him Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury John Arch-Bishop of Dublin William Bishop of London Gilbert of Rochester John of Norwich Hugh of Lincoln Eustace of Ely Godfrid of Winchester Henry of Exeter Sefrid of Chichester Jeffrey of Coventry Savaric of Bath Herbert of Salisbury Philip of Durham Roger of St. Andrews in Scotland Henry of Landaff Bishops Robert Earl of Leicester Richard Earl of Glare William of Tutesbury Hamelin de Warenn William of Salisbury William de Strigvil Walran of Warwick Roger Bigot William de Arundell Ranulph de Cestre Earls and many Barons And then Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Consecrated and Crowned the said John Duke of Normandy King of England in the Church of St. Peter at Westminster on the 27th of May being Ascension Day Not one word here of any Election by but only a Submission from the Barons Spiritual and Temporal to King John and a Recognition that he was their King And all this related by Hoveden in all probability an Eye-witness of this Translation Indeed Matthew Paris who died Anno Dom. 1259. was then either unborn or so young as not with Judgment to take sufficient notice of this Affair relates it thus Congregatis in adventu ejus Archiepiscopis Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus atque aliis omnibus qui ejus Coronationi interesse debuerant Archiepiscopus stans in medio omnium dixit audite universi noverit discretio vestra quod nullus proevia ratione alii succedere habet Regnum nisi ab universitate Regni unanimiter invocata Spiritus Gratia electus secundum morum suorum eminentiam praeelectus ad exemplum fimilitudinis Saul primi Regis inuncti quem praeposuit Dominus populo suo non Regis filium nec de Regali stirpe procreatum similiter post eum David Jesse silium Hunc quia strenuum aptum Dignitati Regiae illum quia sanctum humilem ut sic qui cunctos in regno supereminet strenuitate omnibus praefit potestate regimine verum si quis ex stirpe Regis defuncti aliis prepolleret pronius promptius in electionem ejus est consentiendum Haec idcirco diximus pro inclyto Comite Johanne qui praesens est frater illustrissimi nameri Richardi jam defuncti qui haerede caruit ab eo egrediente qui providus strenuus manifeste nobilis quem nos invocata Spiritus Sancti Gratia ratione tam meritorum quom Sanguinis Regii unanimiter elegimus universi nec ausi erant alii super his adhuc ambigere scientes quod Archiepiscopus sine causa hoc non sic diffiniverat verum Comes Johannes omnes hoc
The Year following the Bishops of Winchester and Norwich with John de Britannia Earl of Richmond were employed to that purpose and after much desceptation about it they received a Form of Peace from the King of France And at length the Queen by Advice given by the Bishops and Great Men to the King was sent to her Brother the King of France for making up and Confirmation of the Peace and it was accorded that King Edward should give the Prince his Son the Dutchy of Aquitain and County of Pontheu that he should go over into France and do Homage for them which he did accordingly But the Prince being in France with his Mother she had no mind to return The King sent divers Letters to his Son Edward and his Queen Isabel expostulating the Cause of their stay in France against his Will and the Confederation they made there with Roger Mortimer his Enemy and Rebel and others Walsingham says Some affirmed she stayed there against her Will Alii voro asserebant quod voluntarie propter nimiam familiaritatem tunc contractam inter Reginam Rogerum de Mortuo-mari siâ—â— quo aliis Nobilibus de Anglia profugatis nolluit dicta Regina redire maxime in odium dispensatorum But others affirmed she stayed voluntarily by reason of the too great Familiarity she had contracted with Earl Roger Mortimer without whose Advice she did nothing and without whom and the other Noble-men that had fled out of England she would not return and especially for the Hatred she bare towards the Spencers proud ambitious haughty and covetous Men by whom the King was too much swayed in the Management of his Affairs which might give a dissatisfaction to the Nobility though not warrant their Actions The next Year having married the Prince not then fourteen Years old to the Earl of Hanault's Daughter who furnished her with Shipping and two thousand seven hundred and fifty Men led by his Brother John she with Edmund Earl of Kent and Roger Mortimer Lord of Wigmore and many other Great Men who had sled out of England landed at Harwich to whom the Earl Marshal the Earl of Leicester and other Barons and Knights of those Parts and almost all the Bishops did adhere and proceeding her Army daily increased so as at last she took her Husband the King Prisoner and put to death both the Spencers the Younger without Hearing or Answering ' The imprisoned King was carried and removed from place to place but at last fixed at Berkeley-Castle in Glocester shire under the Guard of Thomas Berkeley and John Maltravers who had allowed an hundred Shillings a Day for his Expences arid Keeping The Queen never would see him during his Imprisonment Regina misit sibi Indumenta delicata Literas blandientes sed tamen ipsum videre nolebat fingens quod communitas regni non permisit The Queen sent him gay Cloaths and flattering Letters but would not see him feigning the Community of the Kingdom would not permit her He was made Prisoner November 16. and the Morrow after Twelfth-Day all the Nobility of the Kingdom being summoned to Parliament met at London and judged the King unit to rule and for several Reasons to be deposed and his Son Prince Edward to be chosen King Convenit Londoniis tota Nobilitas regni citata per prius ad Parliamentum tenendum ibidem in crastino Epiphaniae ubi cuncti censuerunt Regem indignum Diademate propter plures Articulos deponendum Edvardum filium ejus primogenitum in Regem unanimiter eligendum quod etiam consequenter factum est Of which Transaction when the Queen had notice she was full of Grief outwardly ut for is apparuit saith Walsingbam But the Prince affected with this outward Passion of his Mother as young as he was would not accept of this Title whether out of his own Apprehension of things or by grave and mature Advice which is most probable Et Juravit quod invito patre nunquam susciperet coronam Regni And swore that without his Father's Consent he would never take upon him the Crown of the Kingdom Whereupon several Messengers being dispatched to the King then Prisoner at Kenelworth-Castle who told him what had been done and concluded of and diligently required him to resign his Royal Dignity and Crown and permit his Son to reign in his stead He was much disturbed with the Message and said Since it could be no otherwise he thanked them for chusing his First-born Son making his Resignation and delivering up the Royal Ensigns or Tokens of Sovereignty This done Edward the Third directs his Writs to the Sheriffs of the several Counties for preserving and keeping the Peace with this Preamble Rex Vicecom Ebor. Salutem Quia Dominus Edwardus nuper Rex Angliae Pater Noster de Communi Consilio assensu Praelator Com. Baron alior Magnat necnon Communitat totius Regni praedict SPONTANEA VOLUNTATE se amovit a Regimine dicti Regni VOLENS CONCEDENS quod nos tanquam ipsius primogenitus HAERES ipsius regni qubernationem regimen assumemus nosque ipsius patris nostri beneplacito in hac parte de consilio avisamento Praelator Com. Baron Magnat Comitat. praedict annuentes Gubernacula suscepimus dicti regni side litates Homag ipsorum Praelator Magnat recepimus ut est moris Teste Rege apud Westmonasâ—erium 29 Jan. The King to the Sheriff of Tork-shre Greeting Because Edward late King of England our Father by Common Council and Assent of Prelates Earls Barons and other Great Men and also of the Communities of the said Kingdom of his own Free Will removed himself from the Government of the said Kingdom Willing and Granting that We as his First-born and Heir of his Kingdom should take upon us the Rule and Government And We yielding to the good Pleasure of our Father by the Counsel and Advisement of the Prelates Earls Barons Great Men and Communities aforesaid have taken upon Us the Government of the said Kingdom and received the Fealties and Homages of the said Prelates and Great Men according to Custom Witness the King at Westminster Jan. 29. Nine days after he was invested with Kingship and not long after that King Edward the Second was murdered in Berkeley-Castle Any Man though but of an indifferent Capacity that seriously considers the story of this unfortunate Prince will easily perceive he was deposed by notorious Rebellion raised by factious Bishops and Tumultuous Barons and not without great suspition of an intended Vsurpation by Thomas Earl of Lancaster and may easily see through the Contrivance of the Queen and Mortimer afterwards and from thence cannot but judge it to have been a Design of wicked popular Barons and not the Action much less the Choice of the People In the Fourth of Edward the Third Roger Mortimer Earl of March
was impeached in Parliament for divers Felonies and Treasons for assuming to himself Royal Power making Dissention between King Edward the Second and his Queen and for murdering of him and many other great Treasons and adjudged to be Drawn and Hanged and was executed accordingly And the Earl Marshal was commanded to do the Execution and the Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs of London and Constable of the Tower to guard and assist him Many of his Accomplices had the same Judgment In the Fiftieth of Edward the Third the Parliament do acknowledge Richard the Second to be very Heir to the Crown as Son to Edward the Black Prince very Heir to the Crown and petition the King his Father being dead to make him Prince of Wales Who after his Grandfather's death was immediately by all people the Londoners especially acknowledged owned and addressed to as King and not long after Crowned with great Solemnity He lived continually in Tumults and by his Great Uncles his Reign was made uneasie and at length was deposed and murdered by a Potent Faction The Author of the Brief History of Succession fol. 7. recommends to his Readers the thirty three Articles drawn up against Richard the Second as well deserving to be read with hope and design as easily may be guessed to make them believe and think he was justly deposed and murdered But Mr. Hollingshed a moderate Writer who hath truly related these Articles and all the Transactions of his Deposition and Murder tells us y that whatsoever Writers do report touching the state of the time and doings of this King yet if he might boldly speak what he thought He was a Prince the most unthankfully used of his Subjects of any one of whom ye shall lightly read For although through Frailty of Youth he demeaned himself more dissolutely than seemed convenient for his Royal Estate and made choice of such Counsellors as were not favoured of the People whereby he was the less favoured himself Yet in no King's days were the Commons in greater Wealth if they could have perceived their happy State Neither in any other time were the Nobles and Gentlemen more cherished nor Church-men less wronged But such was their Ingratitude towards their bountiful and loving Sovereign that those whom he had chiefly advanced were readiest to control him for that they might not rule all things at their Will and remove from him such as they misliked and place in their rooms whom they thought good and that rather by strong Hand than by gentle and courteous means Which stirred such malice betwixt him and them The chief Instruments in deposing this King were Henry Duke of Lancaster late Earl of Derby and Thomas Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who assisted by others reduced the unfortunate King to so great Straits as he was weary of his Government They having him in their power kept him safe in the Tower of London until a Parliament was called which was suddainly done by directing Writs in the King's Name to those who of Right ought to be there All things were prepared for the Resignation of his Crown against the time of the meeting of the Parliament He was by certain Commissioners appointed by it deposed or had rather a Resignation of the Crown extorted from him though he seemed willing and forward to do it And then the Duke of Lancaster claimed the Crown in Parliament and challenged the Realm AL 's DESCENDIT BE RYGHT LYNE OF THE BLODE COMEYNGE FRO THE GUDE LORD HENRY THERDE Postquam quidem vindicationem clameum tam Domini Spirituales quam Temporales omnes status ibidem praesentes singillatim communiter interrogati quid de illa vindicatione clameo sentiebant Iidem status cum toto populo absque quacunque difficultate vel mora ut Dux praefatus super eos regnaret unanimitur consenserunt After which Claim and Challenge as well the Lords Spiritual as Temporal and all States there present being severally asked what they thought of that Challenge and Claim the same States with all the People without difficulty or delay consented the aforesaid Duke should reign over him And then shewing to the States the Signet of King Richard which he gave him as token of his desire to have him succeed him The Arch-Bishop taking him by the Right Hand placed him in the Throne Here we see the Foundation of the Parliament's Consent that Henry should be King was a pretended Right of Blood and the desire of King Richard that it might be so Henry the Fourth was Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster fourth Son to Edward the Third by Blanch his Wife Daughter and Heir of Henry Duke of Lancaster Son of Henry Earl of Lancaster Brother and Heir to Thomas Earl of Lancaster eldest Son to Edmund called Crouch-Back the First Earl of Lancaster Second Son to King Henry the Third Upon Consideration had of this Title it was conceived to be insufficient and that it would pass for a Blind and Pretence only And therefore king Henry upon the day of his Coronation caused to be proclaimed That he claimed the Kingdom of England First By Right of Conquest Secondly Because King Richard had resigned his Estate and designed him for his Successor And Lastly Because he was of the Blood-Royal and NEXT HEIR MALE UNTO KING RICHARD In this Claim he takes no notice of any Election by the People nor doth own the least Right in them to elect him but founds his Title upon Conquest and Proximity of Male-Blood and Donation of Richard the Second Henry the Fourth Fifth and Sixth held the Crown by Vsurpation without much disturbance until the thirty ninth Year of Henry the Sixth when Richard Duke of York put in his Claim as Hein to Philippa Daughter and Heir to Lionel the third gotten Son of King Edward the Third to whom the Right Title Dignity Royal and Estate o the Crowns of the Realms of England and of France and of the Lordship and Land of Ireland of Right and Law and Custom appertaineth and belongeth before any Issue of John of Gaunt the fourth gotten Son of the same King Edward The Lords Spiritual and Temporal the Question being put what they thought of the Duke's Claim answer that The Matier was so high and of such wyght that it was not to any of the King's Subjects to enter into Communication thereof without his high Commandment Agreement and Consent had thereto The Duke pressing for an Answer all the Lords went unto the King and opened the Claim by the Mouth of the Chancellor of England and it pleased him to pray and command all the said Lords that they should search as much as in them was to find all such things as might be object and leyde against the Cleym and Title of the Due Whereupon in the Morning October 18. the Lords sent for the King's Justices to defend his Title against the Claim of
Edmund Mortimer Erle of March had Issue and leefully bare Rogier Mortimer Erle of March her Son and Heir Which Rogier Erle of March had Issue and leefully gate Edmund Erle of Marche Rogier Mortymer Anne and Alianore which Edmund Rogier and Alianore dyed without Issue And the seyd Anne under the Sacrament of Matrymony copled unto Richard Erle of Cambridge the Son of the seyd Edmund Langley fifth-begoten Son of the seyd King Edward as it is afore specified had Issue and leefully bare Richard Plantagenet commonly called Duc of Yorke The seyd John of Gaunt the fourth-goten Son of the seyd King Edward and younger Brother of the seyd Leonell had Issue and leefully gate Hen. Erle of Derby which incontinent after the tyme that the seyd King Richard resigned the Corones of the seyd Reaumes and the seyd Lordship of Ireland unrightwysely entered upon the same then being on live Edmund Mortymer Erle of Marche Son to Rogier Mortymer Erle of March Son and Heir of the seyd Phelippa Daughter and Heir of the seyd Sir Leonell the third Son of the seyd King Edward the Third to the which Edmund the Ryght and Title of the seyd Corones and Lordship by Lawe and Custome belonged Before we pass over these three Usurpers we must take notice of a Passage in Polydore Virgil concerning Henry V. in these Words Princeps Hen. facto Patris funere Concilium Principum ad Westmonasterium convocandum curat in quo dum de Rege creando more mojorum agitabatur Ecce tibi de repente aliquot Principes ultro in EJVS VERBA jurare coeperunt Quod Benevolentiae Officium nulli antea priusquam Rex renantiatus esset praestitum constat adeo Hen. ab ineunte aetate spem omnibus optimae indolis fecit Creatur itaque Rex ad quintum Iduum Aprilis eo Anno quo Pater e vita excesserat Quintus ejus Nominis Henricus dictus est The Author of the Brief History of Succession thus renders this Sentence Immediately upon the death of Hen. IV. a Parliament MET at Westminster and there according to the Custom of the Realm it was debated who should be King But all men had entertained so good thoughts of Prince Henry that without staying till the whole Assembly had declared him King divers of them began to swear Allegiance to him a thing strange and without president as only occasioned by extraordinary Opinion which was generally conceived of him before and the certain Title vested in him by Act of Parliament In his Citation of the Latin he leaves out these Words which belong to this piece of Story and do declare the meaning of it Creatur itaque Rex ad quintum Iduum Aprilis eo Anno quo Pater e vita excesserat c. He was Crowned King on the fifth of the Ides of April the same year his Father died Tho. Walsingham who lived at this time says Hen. IV. died Mar. 20. 1413. And then eodem Anno coronatus Londoniis Henricus Primogenitus Regis Henrici nuper defuncti quinto Iduum Aprilis c. The same Year Henry the First-born of King Henry lately deceased was Crowned at London on the fifth of the Ides or tenth of April By which Words of Walsingham 't is evident he hath mistaken the meaning and falsly translated the Words of Polydore for they ought to be Englished in this manner Prince Henry having buried his Father caused a Council of the Chief Men of the Nation to be called at Westminster in which they treat or debate about Crowning the King according to the Custom of his Predecessors forthwith some of the Great Men began to swear as he dictated to them which officious Benevolence was performed to none before he was declared King such hope he had given from his Childhood of an excellent Disposition therefore he was Crowned King on the fifth of the Ides of April that Year his Father died and was called Henry the Fifth An intelligent Man would wonder how the Writer of the Brief History c. should SQVEEZE his Translation out of these Latin Words But Polydore who as I hinted before was very unfit to write the English History hath very oddly in Latin express'd this Relation as he likewise hath done many other Stories His Character take from Sir Hen. Savile in his Epistle to Queen Elizabeth before his Edition of the old English Writers after Bede Polydorus saith he ut homo Italus in rebus nostris hospes c. quod caput est neque in Republika versatus nec magni alioqui vel judicii vel ingenii pauca ex multis delibans falfit plerumque pro veris amplexus Historiam nobis reliquit cum caetera mendosam tum exiliter sane jejune conscriptam Polydor as he was an Italian and a Stranger in our Affairs and which was the chief matter not understanding our Government and Laws nor otherwise of great Wit or Judgment chusing a few things out of many and oft-times taking false things for true hath left us a very faulty History slightly and pitifully written After the Reign of these three Usurpers and Deposition of Henry the Sixth in the first of Edward the Fourth the Proceedings against Richard the Second are Repealed where 't is said That Henry Earl of Derby afterwards Henry the Fourth temerously ayenst ryghtwisnesse and Justice by Force and Arms ayenst his Faith and Ligeance rered Werre at Flynt in Wales ayenst King Richard the Second him tooke and imprisoned in the Tower of London in great violence and usurped and intruded upon the Royall Power Estate Dignity c. And not therewith satisfyed or content but more grievous thing attempting wickedly of unnatural unmanly and cruel Tyranny the same King Richard King Anointed Crowned and Consecrated and his Liege and most Soveraigne Lord in Earth against Gods Lawe Mans Ligeance and Oath of Fidelity with uttermost punicion attormenting murdered and destroyed with most vile hainous and lamentable Death c. The Commons being of this present Parliament having sufficient and evident knowledge of the said unryghtwyse Usurpation and Intrusion by the said Henry late Earl of Derby upon the said Crown of England knoweing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity the Right and Title of our said Soveraigne Lord thereunto true and that by Gods Lawe Mans Lawe and the Lawe of Nature he and none other is and ought to be their true ryghtwyse and natural Liege and Soveraigne Lord and that he was in right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the said Realm of England doe take accept and repute and will for ever take accept and repute the said Edward the Fourth their Soveraigne and Liege Lord and him and his Heirs to be Kings of England and none other according to his said Right and Title And that the same Henry unryghtwysely against Lawe Conscience and Custome of the said Realm of
England usurped upon the said Crown and Lordship and that he and also Henry late called King Henry the Fifth his Son and Henry late called King Henry the Sixth his Son occupied the Realm of England and Lordship of Ireland and exercised the Governance thereof by unryghtwyse intrusion usurpation and no otherwise That the Amotion of Henry late called King Henry the Sixth from the Exercise Occupation Usurpation Intrusion Reign and Governance of the same Realm and Lordship done by our Soveraigne Lord King Edward the Fourth was and is rightwyse lawfull and according to the Lawes and Customes of the said Realme and soe ought to be taken holden reputed and accepted Further Some if not all the Grants made by Henry Earl of Derby called Henry the Fourth the said Henry his Son or the said Henry called Henry the Sixth or by Authority of any pretenced Parliament in any of their days were reputed null and void That the unrightwyse and unlawful Usurpation and Intrusion of the same Henry upon the Crown of England and Lordship of Ireland was to the great and intolerable hurt prejudice and derogation of Edmund Mortimer Earle of Maroh next Heir of Blood of the said King Richard at the time of his Death and to the Heirs of the said Edmomd and to the great and excessive Damage unto the Realm of England and to the politick and peaceable Governance thereof by inward Wars moved and grounded by occasion thereof In the First of Richard the Third the Three Estates after having much faulted the Government Marriage and Person of Edward the Fourth and affirmed That the Right and Title of the Issue of George Duke of Clarence was barred by his Attainder and extolling the Parts Wisdom and Justice of Richard his Brother declared him undoubted Heir of Richard Duke of York Father to Edward the Fourth very Inhaeritor of the Crown of England and Dignity Royal and as in Right King of England by way of Inheritance and therefore having in his great prudent Justice Princely Courage and excellent Vertue singular Confidence did by Writing in all that in them lay chuse him their King and Sovereign Lord to whom they knew of certain it apperteined to be so chosen c. And do further declare That the Right Title and Estate which King Richard the Third had to and in the Crown and Royal Dignity of the Realm of England with all things thereunto within the said Realm and without it annexed and apperteining was just and lawful as grounded upon the Laws of God and Nature and also upon the antient Lawes and laudable Customes of this said Realm as also taken and reputed by all such Persons as were learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customs And then they proceed and say Yet nevertheless forasmuch as it is considered that the most part of the People is not sufficiently learned in the aforesaid Laws and Customs whereby the Truth and Right in this behalf of likelyhood may be hid and not clearly known to all the People and thereupon put in doubt and question And over this how that the Court of Parliament is of such Authority and the People of this Land of such a nature and disposition as Experience teacheth that Manifestation or Declaration of any Truth made by the Three Estates of this Realm assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same maketh before all other things most faithful and certain quieting of Mens minds and removeth the occasion of Doubts and seditious Language Therefore at the Request and by the Assent of the Three Estates of this Realm THAT IS TO SAY The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of this Land assembled in this present Parliament and by the Authority of the same be it pronounced decreed and declared That our said Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very undoubted King of this Realm of England with all things thereunto belonging within the said Realm and without it united annexed and apperteining as well by Right of Consanguinity and Inhaeritance as by lawful Election Consecration and Coronation Haereditary Right and Right of Blood was the Ground of this Establishment Henry the Seventh having no Haereditary Title of his own and being always averse to take upon him the only true and undoubted Title of his Queen eldest Daughter and Heir to Edward the Fourth procured an Act of Parliament That the Inhaeritance of the Crown of the Realms of England and France with all the Preheminencies and Dignities Royal to the same apperteining and the Ligeances to the King belonging beyond the Seas c. shall be rest remain and abide in the most Royal Person of our most Sovereign Lord Henry the Seventh and in the Heirs of his Body lawfully coming perpetually and so to endure and no otherwise It may be noted from these words That the inheritance of the Crown should rest remain and abide in the King c. That he designed not a Declaration or Recognition of his Right but rather an Establishment of that Possession he had gotten by the Sword for not thinking this Act a Sufficient Security for him nor depending on this Parliamentary Title he extended his pretences beyond this Establishment in at much as he procured it to be confirmed the year following by the Bull of Pope Innocent the Eighth in which this Statute with his Titles of Couquest and Descent are mentioned and confirmed The Bull says That the Kingdom of England belonged to him by undubitable right Non modo jure Belli ac notorio indubitato proximo successions Titulo verum etiam omnium prelatorum procerum Magnatum Nobilium totiusque ejusdem Regni Angliae plebis Electione et noto ac decreto statuto et ordinatione ipsius Angliae Regni trium Statuum in ipsorum conventu Parliamento nuncupato That is Not only by the right of War and the notorious and indubitable next Title of Succession but also by the election of all the Prelates and great Men and of the whole Commonalty of the Kingdom of England and by a known and decreed Statute and Ordinance of the Three Estates of the same Kingdom of England their meeting called a Parliament And afterward in the Thirteenth of his Reign he got his Bull renewed and the Act confirmed again by Pope Alexander the Sixth under pain of Excommunication and Curse to such as should upon any pretence whatsoever disturb the peace of the Nation and create trouble against this Title of Henry the Seventh So that notwithstanding this Act of Parliament which was cunningly penned to Establish his possession he had obtained by the sword He thought that and the Popes Bulls of Confirmation his best Title yet not omitting his own pretended indubitable next Right of Succession Henry the Eighth next heir to the Crown by Proximity of Blood as right Heir to his Mother Elizabeth Daughter and right Heir to Edward the Fourth succeeded his Father in
and her Council secretly thought of her own Personal Title Yet upon the Treaty or Marriage with the Duke of Anjon in the Answer to the sixth Article delivered by the French Ambassador it is declared that the Succession in her Kingdoms was and ought to be Hereditary according to nearness in Blood The words are Liberi ex hoc matrimonio prognati in materna haereditate succedent in regnis secundum jura consuetudines regnorum viz. primogenitus filius in Coronam quam Regina mater habet si nulli extabunt filii Masculi filioe si extabunt viz prima sola maxima natu c. Atque idem ut fiat in hoereditate paterna loequum est quomodo consuetudines locorum id ferent intelligi parest That is The Children begotten of this Marriage shall succeed in the Mothers Inheritance in the Kingdoms according to the Laws and Customs of the Kingdoms that is to say The First born Son shall enjoy the Crown which the Queen Mother hath And if there be no Issue Male the Daughters if there be any shall succeed that is to say the Eldest first and alone c. And that it is just the Succession should obtain after the same manner in the Paternal Inheritance if the Custom of the places would allow it After the death of Queen Elizabeth the Act of Recognition made Upon King James his coming to the Crown doth not take notice of the Title raised by Act of Parliament to Henry the Seventh and the Heirs of his Body But declares that he was Lineally Rightfully and Lawfully descended of the Body of the most excellent Lady Margaret eldest Daughter of this most renowned King Henry the Seventh and the high and noble Prinress Queen Elizabeth his Wife eldest Daughter of King Edward the Fourth The said Lady Margaret being eldest Sister of King Henry the Eighth Father of the High and Mighty Princess of famous Memory Elizabeth late Queen of England In consideration whereof the Parliament doth acknowledge King James their only Lawful and Rightful Leige Lord and Sovereign And further say as being bound thereunto both by the Laws of God and Man they do recognize and acknowledge that Immediately upon the Dissolution and Deceasy of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England and all the Kingdoms Dominions and Rights belonging to the same did by inherent Birth-right and lawful and undoubted Succession descend and come to His most excellent Majesty as being lineally justly and lawfully next and SOLE HEIR of the Blood-Royal of this Realm as it is afore said And thereunto they do most humbly and faithfully submit and oblige themselves their Heirs and Posterities for ever until the last drop of their Bloods be spent What can be clearer than that the Succession to the Crown of England was always thought judged had taken and reputed to be from Nextness of Blood by the Opinion of all sober Men by Law and Custom by this and other Acts of Parliament and Statutes before cited This then being the true History and Case of Succession to the Crown of England and its being only founded upon Proximity of Blood the Author of the Brief History of Succession c. ought to have called it An History of Vsurpations Seditions and Rebellions It was written and intended for a purpose he will not own that is to shew that In the English Monarchy there is not Right of Succession but that Parliaments or Armies may set up whom they please This I confess hath been practised in this Nation and it was the main Cause of the War between the Families of Tork and Lancaster that proceeding from the Right of the one Patty and Possession of the other and the Contrarieties of Acts of Parliament was caused by the Alternate Victories of both But the doing of a thing makes it not lawful Repeated Wickedness or the frequent Repetition of Wiekedness gives no Authority to any one to commit that Wickedness as the frequency of Adulteries or Robberies doth not justifie either of them I think it 's no good Argument to say Edward the Second was deposed and murthered therefore Richard the Second might be deposed and murthered or That they were both deposed and murthered therefore Charles the First might be deposed and murthered or Because King Charles the First was deposed and murthered therefore King Charles the Second may be deposed and murthered Precedents are of force only in things lawful obscure or dubious but never in things unjust The Depositions and Murthers of Edward the Second and Richard the Second the Usurpations and unlawful Actions of Henry the Fourth and Richard the Third were in their own times condemned by all good Men even as the Actions of that Parliament began in 1641. in ours which I suppose is the reason why the Author of the Pamphlet brings not them in as a Precedent which would have served his turn better than all his other Instances But besides their impious Instances we ought to take notice of the Expressions of these Men of Jesuitical Principles They call Usurpation the Election of the People a Faction the Commonwealth the Actions of a few they impute to all They call Rebellion a just and judicial Proceeding often and open Perjury an orderly Revoking of a Sentence God's secret Judgment in permitting Injustice to prevail his owning and allowance thereof the Inconsistency and present Humour of the heedless Multitude who judge of things not by Reason or Justice but either by Opinion which commonly is partial or else by Report which is usually full of Incertainties and Errors the most part Doing because others Do all easie to be drawn in to serve any wicked and ambitious Men's Attempts they call the presumed Will and Consent of the People According to which say they the Succession of the Crown is to be directed And by these Arts they do very much impose upon their unwary Readers To this History of Succession belongs the Act of the Thirteenth of Elizabeth cap. 1. intituled An Act whereby certain Offences are made Treason which as many great and learned Persons think was upon the debate and making of it intended and designed to declare a Power in the Queen and her Successors for ever by Authority of Parliament to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of England and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof Sir Edward Coke says Many Acts of Parliament are hardly to be understood unless the History of that time be joyned thereunto This Parliament met April 2. 1571. 13 Eliz. and was dissolved May 29. following This Parliament we see was holden in the beginning of the Year 1571. Some Years before but most especially in the Year1570 immediately preceding there had been many Practices and Seditious and Treasonable Contrivances against Queen Elizabeth by Foreign as well as Domestick Enemies By the Pope and