yet it is an Art nothing seruile and base but noble and free since we know not onely Emperors and Kings but Saints yea our blessed Sauiour to haue cured the sicke as Constantine Adrian Edward the Confessor King of England Mithridates King of Pontus whose Antidote yet beareth his name Artemisia Queene of Caria who first found the vertue of Mugwort bearing her name in Latine Gentius King of Illyricum now Sclauonia who immortally liueth in the herbe Gentiana as also Lysimachus in his Lysimachia Achilles in Achillea or the Yarrow Apollo Podalirius Moses Esay Salomon Ezechias Honor the Phisitian saith Ecclesiasticus then againe All Phisicke or medicine is from God and he shall receiue a reward from the King The skill of the Physitian shall exalt his head c. And as Ptolomy sometime obiected against Zoilus concerning Homer so may I vnto our Lordly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Physicke-haters Which of them all trebble their reuenewes can maintaine so many as one poore Galen or Hippocrates who though dead many hundreds of yeares since feed many thousands of families euen at this present I heere intend no common Chyrurgians Mountebancks vnlettered Empericks and women Doctors of whom for the most part there is more danger then of the worst disease it selfe whose practise is infamous Mechanique and base Fiftly concerning Merchants the exercise of Merchandise hath beene I confesse accounted base and much derogating from Nobilitie except it be exercised vndertaken by a generall Estate or the Deputies thereof Aristotle therefore saith That the Thebanes and Lacedaemonians had a Law that none should bee esteemed and held capable of Honor in their Common-wealth except they had ten yeares before giuen ouer Trading and Merchandise and Valerius Maximus reporteth that among other things the Romanes had to disparage Tarquinius Priscus withall and make him odious to the people was that he was a Merchants sonne Saint Chrysostome vpon that place of Mathew Hee cast out the buyers and sellers out of the Temple gathereth that Merchants hardly and seldome please God And certaine it is that the ancient Romans neuer preferred any that exercised Merchandise to any eminent place or office in their Commonwealthe perhaps agreeing in one with Aristotle who speaking of Merchants and Mechanickes saith Vilis est huiusmodi vita virtuti aduersa The kind of life is base and contrary to vertue But some may obiect vnto me the great Estates of Venice Genoa Florence Luca c. where their Nobilitie is nothing disparaged by the exercise of Merchandise I answer as their Coines at home they may raise themselues high or lower at their pleasure but abroad like Citie Maiors in other Countries they fall vnder value and a great deale short of their reckoning But if the owner of the Earth and all that therein is hath so bestowed and disposed of his blessings that no one Countrey affordeth all things but must be beholden not onely to her neighbours but euen the most remote Regions and Common-wealths cannot stand without Trade and Commerce buying and selling I cannot by the leaue of so reuerend iudgements but account the honest Merchant among the number of Benefactors to his Countrey while he exposeth as well his life as goods to the hazzard of infinite dangers sometime for medicinall Drugges and preseruatiues of our liues in extremitie of sicknesse another for our food or cloathing in tâ—mes of scarsitie and want haply for vsefull necessaries for our vocations and callings or lastly for those Sensus animi oblectamenta which the Almightie prouidence hath purposely for our solace and recreation and for no other end else created as Apes Parrots Peacockes Canarie and all singing Birds rarest Flowers for colour and smell pretious Stones of all sorts Pearle Amber Corall Cristall all manner of sweete odouâ—s fruites infinitely differing in forme and taste Colours of all sorts for painting dying c. but I proceed Sixt and lastly touching Mechanicall Arts and Artists whosoeuer labour for their liuelihood and gaine haue no share at all in Nobilitie or Gentry As Painters Stage-playersâ— Tamblers ordinary Fidlers Inne-keepers Fencers Iuglers Dancers Mountebancks Bearewards and the like except the custome of the place determine the contrary as Herâ—dâ—tus and Xenophon witnesse to haue beene obserued both among the Aegyptians Scythians and Corinthians The reason is because their bodies are spent with labour and trauaile and men that are at their worke Assidui accibui vmbratiles esse cogumur Yea if a Noble man borne in captiuitie or constrained through any other necessitie shall exercise any manuall occupation or Art hee by the opinion of some loseth his Nobilitie Ciuill but not Christian and shall at his returne bee restored Where I said the custome of the Country I intend thus by the law of Mahomet the Grand Signior or great Turke himselfe is bound to exercise some manuall Trade or Occupation for none must be idle as Solyman the Magnificent that so threatned Vienna his trade was making of Arrow-heads Achmat the last horne rings for Archers and the like From the roote and branches let vs taste the fruite which fall not like the Apples of Sodoms with a light touch into nothing but are as those of Hesperides golden and out of the vulgar reach First Noble or Gentlemen ought to bee preferred in Fees Honors Offices and other dignities of command and gouernment before the common people They are to be admitted neere and about the person of the Prince to be of his Counsel in warre and to beare his Standard We ought to giue credit to a Noble or Gentleman before any of the inferior sort He must not be arrested or pleaded against vpon cosenage We must attend him and come to his house and not â—e to ours His punishment ought to be more fauourable honorable vpon his tryall and that to bee by his Peeres of the same Noble ranke He ought in all sittings meetings and salutations to haue the vpper hand and greatest respect They must be cited by Bill or Writing to make their appearance In criminall causes Noblemen may appeare by their Arturney or Procurator They ought to take their recreations of hunting hawking c. freely without controule in all places Their imprisonment ought not to bee in base manner or so strict as others They may eate the best and daintiest meate that the place affordeth to weare at their pleasure Gold Iewels the best apparell and of what fashion they please c. Beside Nobilitie stirreth vp emulation in great Spirits not onely of equalling others but excelling them as in Cimon the elder Scipio Africanus Decius the sonne Alexander Edward our Blacke Prince and many others It many times procureth a good marriage as in Germany where a faire Coate and a Crest is often preferred before a good reuenew It is a spurre in braue and good Spirits to beare in mind those things which their Ancestors haue
Shield within a Bordure Componeè Or and Gules before the Armes of Ferrara in recognisance of the league and fidelitie wherein hee promised to stand bound to serue the King at his own charges And for the like respect Lewis the eleuenth in May 1465. allowed Pietro de Medici to beare three Flower-de-luces in his shield which I haue seene borne in cheife vpon one of his sixe Lozenges Of Difference by the Labell A second difference is by the Labell borne chieefely as the difference of the elder Brother As Edward the blacke Prince and all our Princes of Wales eldest sonnes to the King beare their Fathers Soueraigne Coate with a Labell of three points Siluer Iohn of Gauns had his Labell Ermin Edmond of Langley Duke of Yorke on his Labell Siluer nine Torteauxes Edmond Plantagenes sonne and heire of Richard Duke of Yorke Earle of Ruâ—land who being a Child scarce twelue yeares of age was stricken to the heart with a Dagger by the Lord Clifford at the battaile of Wakefield had vpon his Labell of fiue points Argent two Lionceaux Gules with nine Torteauxes The Coate of Vlsâ—er and Mortimâ—r being â—mpaled with his owne as may be seene in the windowes of Fâ—deringhay Castle the mansion house of the Duke of Yorke where by his father Richard Duke of Yorke and Cicely Nevill his mother hee lyeth buried whose bodies remoued out of Fâ—deringhay Church-yard for the Chancell in the Quire wherein they first were laid in that fury of knocking Churches and sacred Monuments in the head was also felled to the ground lapped in Lead were buried in the Church by the commandement of Queene Elizabeth and a meane Monument of Plaister wrought with the Trowell erected ouer them very homely and farre vnfitting so Noble Princes I remember Master Creuse a Gentleman and my wâ—rthy friend who dwelt in the Colledge at the same time told me that their Coffins being opened their bodies appeared very plainly to be discerned and withall that the Dutchesse Cicely had about her necke hanging in a Silke riband a pardon from Rome which penned in a very fine Romane hand was as faire and fresh to be read as it had beene written but yesterday Of Difference by the Bend. A third difference is by the Bend Baston c. as the house of Burâ—â—â— beareth Frâ—â—â—â— with a Bâ—tune Gules though the proper and true Coate of 〈◊〉 is Of a Lyon Gules within an Orle of Escallops Azure Lewis Earle of Eureux in Normandy brother to Philip le Bâ—ll bare Seme de France with a Batune Componeè Argent and Gules Iohn Earle of Lâ—â—â—aster and Brother to Richard the first afterward King bare for his difference a Batune Azure If the mother be of the ligne Royall many times her Coate is preferred into the first quarter as Hâ—nry Earle of Dâ—â—â—nshire and Marquâ—sse of Exeter â—â—re his mother Kâ—tharines Coate who was daughter to King Edward the fourth And the like Humphrey Stafford who was the first Duke of Buckingham by Anne Platagâ—nâ—â— his mother â— the Coate of Thomas of Woodstocke whose daughter she was This Coate I remember standeth in the great Chancell window in the Church of Kimbaltâ—n In France it hath beene and it yet a custome among the Nobilitie to 〈◊〉 their owne proper Coates and take others as perhaps their Wiâ—es or the Armes of that Srigâ—â—â—â— whereof they are Lords or whence they haue their Titles as Mons. Hugues brother to King Philip marrying the daughter and heire of Herbere Earle of Verâ—â—â—dâ—â—â—s forsooke his proper Coate and bare his Wiues which was Checky Or and Azure onely three Flower-de-luces added in chiefe to shew he was of the blood And Robert Counâ— de Dreux albeit he was brother to King Lewis 〈◊〉 bare Checky Azure and Or with a Bordure Gules Robert Duke of Burgogne brother to Henry the first tooke for his bearing the ancient Armes of the Dukes of Burgogne which was bendy Or and Azure within a Bordure Gules giuen by Charlemaigne to Sanson Duke of Burgogne And whereas we in England allow the base sonne his Fathers Coate with the difference of a bend Batune sinister or bordure engrailed or the like it was in France a long time forbidden I thinke vnder the Capets to the Princes of the blood as 〈◊〉 Earle of Mâ—mfort base sonne to King Robert was forced to leaue his Fathers Coate and beare Gules a Lion à la queue fourcheè Or passeè per à lentour Argent for Le maison de France â—â—â—â—tant les bastardes no leur endurè son armeirè c. saith Tillet The last and least obseruation is of Crests the Helmet the Mantle and doubling thereof which according to the manner of diuers Countries are diuersly borne In Germany they beare their Beauers open with Barres which we allow in England to none vnder the degree of a Baron in some places they haue no Crests at all If you would farther proceed in Nobilitie or Heraldry I would wiâ—h you to reade these bookes of 〈◊〉 obâ—â—itie in generâ—â—â— Simon Simonius de Nâ—â—ilitâ—â—e 〈…〉 at Leipsig 1572. Chassanâ—â—â—â— his Catalogus Gloria munâ—â— Hippolitus à Collibus his Axumata Nobilitatis Conclusiones de Nobilitate Doctorain published by one of Meckleburg who concealeth his name printed 1621. dedicated to the Archbishop of Breme Petrus Eritzius Counâ—â—â—â—er to the Elector of Brandenburge published Conclusiones de Nobilitate in quarto Lionellus De pracedentia â—omiâ—um Of the Spanish Nobilitie these Authors haue written Ioannes ab Arce Offalora in folio Priuilegios y Franquezas y libertades des bijos dâ—algos De Senniorio de Vizcaia c. in fol. Ludovicus de Mollâ—â—a De primogâ—niorâ—m Hispanicorum iure c. in fol. Iosephus de Sesse in Decis Aragon Decis 8. 9. 10. c. Gonzales de Câ—rte his Nobliza del Andaluzia in fol. Of Italy Sicily Naples c. Scipie Mazzella nelle Neapoli Illustrata in quarto Paulus Merula in Cosmograph lib. 3. pt 3. in Italian Of France The Workes of Tillet Ferâ—â— Charles L'Oisâ—â—â— Choppin Theatre d'Honneur Of Germany or the Empire Fran. Contzen his Politiques in fol. The Collections of Goldastus with some others The practise of Blazonrie Willeged the first Abbot dyed the same yeare that Off a did of very griefe it was thought for the death of his king and kinsman whom he dearely loued Anno 8â—8 After him succeeded these in order Eadricke Vulsigus Wulâ—â—â—us Eadfrithus Wulsinus Who built Saint Peters Church Saint Michaels and Saint Stephens and made a faire market place in the towne Alfricke Aldredus Who digged vp and searched the ruines of Verlam-cesire which in his time were dens of theeues and whores saued all the tile and stone for the repaire of the Church and in digging vpon the North side in the vale found oaken plankes pitched Shelles peeces of oares and a rusty Anchor or two Eadmer after his death being a religious and a good man imitating his predecessour saued all the ancient coines vrnes
to haue need His magnificence appeared by diuers his building For within the Citie of Florence hee builded the Abbaits and Temples of S. Marco S. Lorenzo and the Monastery of S. Verdiana in the mountains of Fiesole S. Girolamo with the Abbey thereto belonging Also in Mugello he did not only repaire the Church for the Friers but tooke it downe and built it anew Besides those magnificent buildings in S. Croce in S. Agnoli and S. Miniato he made Altars and sumptuâ—â—â— Chappels All which Temples and Chappels besides the buildings of them were by him paued and furnished throughly with all things necessarie With these publique buildings wee may number his priuate houses whereof one within the Citie meeâ—e for so great a personage and foure other without at Carriaggi at Fiesole at Casaggiuolo and at Trebio all Palaces fitter for Princes then priuate persons And because his magnificent houses in Italy did not in his opinion make him famous enough he builded in Ierusalem an Hospitall to receiue poore and diseased Pilgrims In which worke he consumed great summes of Money And albeit these buildings and euery other his actions were princely and that in Florence he liued like a Prince yet so gouerned by wisedome as he neuer exceeded the bounds of ciuill modestie For in his conuersation in riding in marrying his Children and Kinsfolkes he was like vnto all other modest and discreeâ—e Citizens because he well knâ—w that extraordinarie things which are of all men with admiration beheld doâ— procure more enuy then those which without ostentation be honestly couered I omit as followeth shortly after his great and excessiue charge in entertaining of learned men of all professions to instruct the youth of Florence his bountie to Argiropolo a Gracian and Marsilio Fiâ—ins whom he maintained for the exercise of his owne studies in his house and gaue him goodly lands neere his house of Carreggi men in that time of singular learning because Vertue reares him rather to wonder then Imitation To proceed no lesse respect and honour is to be attributed to Eloquence whereby so many haue raised their esteeme and fortunes as able to draw Ciuilitie out of Barbarisme and sway whole kingdomes by leading with Celticke Hercules the rude multitude by the eares Marke Anthony contending against Augustus for the Romane Empire assured himselfe he could neuer obtaine his purpose while Cicero liued therefore he procured his death The like did Antipater a Successor to Alexander by Demosthenes aspiring to the Monarchy of Greece And not long since a poore Mahumetan Priest by his smooth tongue got the Crowne of Morocco from the right heire being of the house of Giuseph or Ioseph And much hurt it may doe if like a mad mans sword it be vsed by a turbulent and mutinous Orator otherwise we must hold it a principall meanes of correcting ill manners reforming lawes humbling aspiring minds and vpholding all vertue For as Serpents are charmed with words so the most sauage and cruell natures by Eloquence which some interpret to be the meaning of Mercuries golden Rod with those Serpents wreathed about it Much therefore it concerneth Princes not onely to countenance honest and eloquent Orators but to maintaine such neere about them as no meane props if occasion serue to vphold a State and the onely keies to bring in tune a discordant Common-wealth But it shall not be amisse ere I proceede further to remoue certaine doubts which as rubs clog the cleere passage of our Discourse and the first concerning Bastardie whether Bastards may be said to be Nobly borne or not I answere with Iustinian Sordes inter praecipuos nominarinon merentur Yet it is the custome with vs and in France to allow them for Noble by giuing them sometimes their Fathers proper Coate with a bend Sinister as Reignald Earle of Cornewall base sonne to the Conquerour bare his Fathers two Leopards passant gardant or in a field Gules with a bend sinister Azure The like Hamlin base sonne to Geoffrey Plantagenet Earle of Surreyâ— Some their fathers whole Coate or part of the same in bend dexter as Iohn Beauford a Bastard of Somerset bare partie per pale argent and Azure a bend of England with a labell of France Sir Roger de Clarendon base son to the Blacke Prince his fathers three Feathers on a bend Sable the field Or. I willingly produce these examples to confirme our custome of ennobling them and though the Law leaneth not on their side yet stand they in the head of the troope with the most deseruing yea and many times according to Euripides proue better â—hen the legitimate Who are more famous then Remus and Romulus who laid the first stone of Rome more couragious and truly valiant then Hercules Alexander our King Arthur of Britaine and William the first more critically learned then Christopher Longolius Iacobus Faber more modest and of better life then Coelius Calgaguinus the delight of his Ferrara with infinite others and where decretals and Schoolemen may beare the bell those two Grandes Gratian and Lombard A second question ariseth whether he that is Noble descended may by his vice and basenesse lose his Nobilitie or no. It is answered that if he that is ignoble and inglorious may acquire Nobilitie by Vertue the other may very well lose it by his Vice But such are the miserable corruptions of our times that Vices go for prime Vertues and to be drunke sweare wench follow the fashion to do iust nothing are the attributes and marks now adaies of a great part of our Gentry Hence the Agrigentines expelled their Phalaris the Romanes extinguished the memorie of the whole race of the Tarquines with those Monsters of Nature Nero Heliogabalus c. the Sicilians Dionysins the later with others Thirdly whether Pouertie impeacheth or staineth Nobilitie I answere Riches are an ornament not the cause of Nobilitie and many times wee see there lyeth more worth vnder a thrid-bare Cloake and within a thatched Cottage then the richest Robe or stateliest Palace Witnesse the Noble Curij and Fabritij taken from a poore dinner of Turneps and Water-cresses in an earthen dish to leade the Romane Army and conquer the most potent Kings of the world Fourthly concerning Aduocates and Physitians whether we may rancke them with the ennobled or no. Aduocates or Counsellors being Interpreters of the Law their place is commendable and themselues most necessarie Instruments in a Common-wealth wherefore saith the Ciuill Law their calling is honorable they ought to be freed of mulcts publike charges and all impositions and to be written or sent vnto as vnto persons of especiall worth and dignitie Touching Physitians though the profession by some hath beene thought seruile and in times past was practised by seruants as Domitian saith Seneca imper auit medico seruo vt venenum sibi daret and that slouenly Epithite of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be by Aristophanes bestowed vpon Aesculapius
augmentation to the Armories of the Palsgraue of the Râ—ine in regard of Vienna so brauely defended by Phillip Earle Palatine together with the Count Solmas against the furie of Solyman who laid siedge to it with aboue 300000. men yet glad at the rumour of the Emperour Charles his comming to shew his backe For Solyman as himselfe was wont to say seared not Charles as he was Emperour of Germany but that good fortune which euer attended him in his greatest enterprises And no doubt but the blessing of God was vpon him as being one of the most religious iust and worthiest Princes that euer liued The family of the Haies in Scotland bare Arg. three Escotcheons Gules vpon this occasion At what time the Danes inuaded Scotland and in a set batraile had put the Scots to the worst one Hay with his two sonnes being at plow not farre off and seeing his Countrey-men flying froÌ„ their enemies to come vp a narrow Lane walled with stone on both sides towards him with their Plowbeames in their hands meeting them at the lanes end in despite beate them backe to charge their enemies afresh reuiling their cowardize that now hazarded the whole kingdome whereupon with a stout resolution they put themselues againe into array and returning backe vpon the Danes who were both disordered and in a feare lest a new supply had come downe to the Scots succour ouerthrew them vtterly and regained a most memorable victory Heâ—eupon Hay was by the King ennobled and had giuen him for his bearing in a field Siluer three Escotcheons Gules the rest a Plow-man with his Plow-beame on his shoulder and withall for his maintenance as much Land as a Faulcon put off from hand could sly ouer erc she did alight which Land in Scotland is to this day called Hay his Land and the Faulcon alighting vpon a stone about seuen miles off gaue it the name of the Falcons stone euen to this day Armes againe are sometimes taken from professions and those meanes by which the bearers haue raised themselues to honourable place as the Dukes of Florence for that they are descended from the family Di Medicâ— or Phisitians bare in a field Azure sixe Lozenges Sometimes they are wonne in the field from Infidels for no Christian may directly beare anothers Coate by his sword as was the Coate of Millan from a Saraceâ— it being an Infant naisant or issuing from the mouth of a Serpent And after the winning of Granadâ— from the Moores in the times of Ferdin 〈◊〉 and Isâ—bell Kings of Castile the Pomgranate the Armes of that kingdome was placed in the bast of the Escotcheon Royall and in regard it was gained principally by the meanes of Archerie the Bow and Quiuer of Arrowes was stamped vpon the Spanish sixpence which remaineth at this day to be seene Coates sometimes are by stealth purchased shuffled into Records and Monuments by Painters Glasiers Caruers and such But I trust so good an order hath beene lately established by the Right Honorable the late CoÌ„missioners for the Office of the Earle Marshalship carefull respect of the Heralds with vs that all hope of sinister dealing in that kind is quite cut off from such mercenary abusers of Nobilitie Many times gained at a cheaper rate by bearing as the Boores in Germany and the Netherlands what they list themselues neither can their owne Inuentions content them but into what land or place soeuer they trauaile if they espy a fairer Coate then their owne for they esteeme Coates faire or good as our Naturals according to the varietie of colours after their returne they set it vp in Glasse for them and their heires with the Crest and open Beauer as if they were all Princes as at Wodrichom or Worcom hard by Louestein I found ouer a Tradesman Coate no worse Crest then the three Feathers in the Crown and in many other places whole Coates of the French Nobilitie Heereof examples in those parts are so frequent that I must say Inopem me copia fecit Now being acquainted with your colours the points and euery place of the Escotchcon which the Accidence of Armorie of Master Guillims Display will at large instruct you in begin to practise the Blazon of those Coats which consist of bare and simple lines without charge as that ancient Coate of Waldgraâ—â— who beareth onely party per pale Arg. and Gules and the Citie of Virecht partie per bend of the same Then your fields equally compounded of moe lines as Quarterly Bâ—ndey Barrey Gyronned Checkey Masculie c. Withall know the names and vse of all manner of your crooked lines as Endemed Embatâ—elled Nebulè or Vndeè Danncéâ—â—â—è c. Know then those Honorable and prime places or Ordinaries with their Species as the cheese so called of Chef in French that of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it possesseth the head or vpper third part of the Escotcheon The Fesse holding the middle third part of the shield containeth vnder it the Barre Barrulet Coste Barresgemells c. The Bend the Bendlet single and double Cotize Next know the Furres Counterchangings Bordures Tressures Orles Frets all formes of Crosses differences of Brothers Roundles of euery kind as Beasanâ—s Plaâ—es Pommices c. Then proceede to the blazon of all vegetable things as Flowers Trees c. Then to all quicke and liuing things as Beasts Birds Fishes Serpents and the like When you haue done know Honorable additaments whether they be by way of augmentation or markes and differences of alliance Coates of augmentation as those of Queene Katherine Parre Queene Katherine Howard and Queene Iane Seymor conferred by King Henry the eight By Cantons as Ferdinand King of Spaine honoured Sir Henry Guilford with a Canton of Granado and King Iames Molinâ— the Vâ—neâ—ian Embassadour with a Canton of the Rose of England and Thistle of Scotland empaled Then ensue differences of alliance by Bordures Labels Bends Quarterings and the like By the Bordure no where more frequent then in the Soueraignes Coate when the blood Roiall was deriued into so many veines to the distemper of the whole body vnder the dissention of Yorke and Lancaster Thomas of Woodstocke as also Humphrey Duke of Glocester who lyeth buried in the Abbey of S. Albanes vpon the South-side of the Quire and not in Paules bare the Soueraigne Coate within a Bordure Argent Richard Plantagenet sonne and heire of Richard Earle of Cambridge Duke of Yorke and father to Edward the fourth bare quarterly France and England within a Bordure Argent charged with Lionceeaux purpure Edmund of Hadham sonne of Owen Tuder by Queene Katherine the Soueraigne Coat within a Bordure Azure with Martlets and Flower-de-luces Or. Iohn Beaufort sonne of Iohn of Gaunt and his posteritie the same within a bordure Componeè Argent and Azure Charles the seuenth King of France in the yeare 1436. gaue leaue vnto Nicholas Duke of Ferrara to beare the Armes of France in a