standing in the Severn adjoyning unto the City of Glocester where both being strong of body they fought like Lions one to secure his Kingdom the other to gain it But in the end the Dane being wounded he intreated a parly which Edmund granted and then with a loud voice thus proceeded What necessity should thus move us most Heroick King that for the obtaining of a Title we should thus indanger our Lives Is it not better to lay malice aside and condescend to an amicable agreement Let us now therefore become sworn friends and divide the Kingdom between us and in such a League of friendship that each may use the others part as his own so shall this Land be peaceably Governed and we mutually assist each others necessity This Speech ended both the Kings cast down their Swords and imbraced each other upon which great shouts arose in either Army who before stood doubtful of the success and this accord being ratified the Kingdom was divided by Lot and that part bordering on the Coast of France fell to King Edmund who howsoever enjoyed it not long for in this Treaty the offence of Duke Edrick was included and upon his submission he taken into favour by the good King and so continued as it were glutted with the favour and princely bounty of two Kings till at last resolving to perfect his many Treasons begun he watched his opportunity as King Edmund was alone in the Draught-house evacuating and having placed himself beneath with a sharp Spear he run it up into the Kings Belly that he there died then coming up he traiterously and inhumanely cut off his Head and escaping with it undiscovered to Canute the Danish King and presenting it to him with these fawning Salutations All Hail thou now sole Monarch of England for here behold the Head of thy Co-partner which for thy sake I have adventured to cut off Canute though ambitious enough of the Soveraignty yet of Princely disposition abashed and sore grieved at so unworthy and disloyal an attempt replied with an Oath that in reward of that Service the bringers Head should be advanced above all the Peers of his Kingdom which high honour whilst the traiterous wretch greedily expected and indeed for a time found some favour his Head by the Kings command was smitten off and fixed upon a Pole on the highest Gate of the City of London as he most justly deserved His Wife and Children were banished and great was the rejoycing throughout England at the Death of this prodigious Regicide and betrayer of his Country King Edmunds Body was buried at Glasten-bury near to his Father King Edgar he was of person tall for Courage hardy strong of Limbs and well could indure the inconveniencies of War for which some think he had his additional name of Ironside with him at that time fell the Glory of the English he leaving but one Son viz. Edward who was Sir-named the Out-law by reason all the Reign of Canute he lived in Hungary and there Married the Queens Sister not returning into England till the Reign of his Uncle King Edward the Confessor Thus fell this good King and thus Heavens vengeance overtook the Traitour whose miserable end in some sort made an atonement for the innocent Blood shed by wicked hands as likewise for the Death of Sigefreth and Morcar King Edmunds Queens former Husband and Brother who were murthered at Oxford by the contrivance of Edrick CHAP. II. The Historical relation of the deposing and barbarous Murther of Edward the Second commonly called Edward of Carnarvan King of England Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine and the Forty eighth Monarch of England with the manner of Gods vengeance upon those that were guilty of shedding his Blood EDward the Second of that Name since the Conquest was Son to Edward the First the terror of Syria and dread of Scotland and his Wife Queen Elenor Born on the 25 of April 1284. at Carnarvan in North-Wales and after the Death of Lewellin ap Griffith in regard of the place of his Nativity he was with the general consent of the Welch created Prince of Wales which Title has ever since devolved upon the Heir apparent to the Crown of England This Edward being the first who had that Dignity conferred on him and his Father dying he was Crowned with great applause in the 23. Year of his Age Then having setled the Affairs of Scotland he passed over to Bulloin and there in great state was Married to Isabel Daughter to Philip the fair King of France and returned with his Bride not passing twelve years of Age in great Triumph when as taking into his Favour one Pierre Gaviston whom his Father had banished but himself intirely loved many of the Nobility were displeased though the King made no great account of such their displeasure This Gaviston was a stranger by Birth Born in Gascoigne but a Gentleman in all respects being in his younger years brought up with the King during his being Prince of Wales and now made Earl of Cornwel yet so prevailed the Enviers of his rise that they procured a Decree for his perpetual Banishment out of England But the Kings love still following him he was made Governour of Ireland and within a while revoaked and in his return met by the King at Flint-Castle in North-Wales and there had bestowed on him to Wife Joan of Acres Countess of Glocester the Kings Sisters Daughter Yet so far prevailed the discontented Lords that a third time they procured his banishment but beyond the Seas his life being often put in hazard by the procurement of his Enemies as some suppose by the Kings secret sending for he returned within six Months to the great trouble of the Queen and her party who by this time began to disaffect her Husband and joyn with the Lords against Gaviston Whereupon first seeming to Petition for a redress of grievances they after took up Arms of which the Earls Lancaster Warwick and Hereford were chief and within a while the Earl of Warwick at a place called Blacklow afterwards Gavenshead having surprized Gavinston cut off his Head to the high displeasure of the King who at that time was not capable of hindering it yet excessive was the grief and displeasure he conceived so that the Lords thought it not safe to lay down their Arms till they had reconciled themselves to the King which was done by the mediation of Gilbert Earl of Glocester and several Prelates who travel'd therein Yet not so firm but the King continued a secret displeasure against the chief Actors but his melancholy was diverted by the Queens being delivered of her first Son at Windsor who succeeded him by the name of Edward the third as shall hereafter be related The Scots upon notice of this Intestine broil grew haughty and under the Command of Robert their King not only put many affronts upon the English who so long before had Lorded it over that Nation but made several
foreign Army Yet the Queen and her Confederates put to Sea her whole Power not exceeding 3000 of all Nations and two days before St. Michaels day landed at Orwel in Suffolk the force being commanded by the Lord John Brother to the Earl of Hanault The news of their arrival coming to the Kings Ear he seemed like one amazed and at first would not credit the report but upon his being further certified he sent to the Citizens of London for Aid who answered that they would honour with all submission the King Queen and Prince but resolved to shut their Gates against strangers and to withstand them to their power this answer bearing no favourable Construction to the King he committed the charge of the Tower and in it his other Son commonly called John of Eltham in the Custody of Sir John D' Weston and retired with his favorites the Spencers Baldock and others into the West to gather forces against the Queen and her Accomplices having first Proclaimed them Traitours and offered the reward of 1000 pounds to any that could take the young Lord Mortimer dead or alive And by this his unadvised abandoning his chief strengths he gave the Queens party opportunity to strengthen themselves several Lords and others daily coming to their assistance and the better to terrify the Kings partakers and to colour the Treason it was rumour'd that the French King had sent with his Sister so many Dukes Earls and Lords that England would not suffice to feed them and that the Pope had sent to Excommunicate all the Kings partakers for which purpose two Cardinals had been sent over and credibly reported to have been seen in the Queens Camp though all was but fictitious and further to ingratiate with the People she caused it to be Proclaimed that her coming was only to remove evil Councillors from the King the same pretences that were used by our late forty one Parliament though Roger Lord Mortimer was the man that chiefly Councilled all the mischief then were the Kings favorites branded with the names of Traitors and Enemies to the Nation and 1000 pounds bid to any that could bring the younger Spencers Head And thereupon the Londoners rise in a tumultuous manner and commit many outrages cutting off the Bishop of Exceters Head as likewise the Head of John Le Marchel whom the King had appointed to Govern the City They likewise broke open the Prisons and set all Prisoners at liberty got into their possession the Tower and taking thence the Lord John of Eltham proclaimed him Custos or chief Governour of the City and the Queen likewise to strengthen her Faction caused most of the Prisons in England to be set open and repealed such as had been banished so that thereby her power greatly increasing She or rather the Lord Mortimer followed the King who destitute of friends still fled before his pursuers who besieged Bristol and therein took the Elder Spencer whom without any form of Trial they cut up alive having first exposed him to the fury of the People upon notice of which the King entered on Ship-board and intended to fly for Ireland but upon further consideration came ashore in Wales and there for the love the Welshmen bore him was concealed for many days in the Abby of Neath but the Queen and her Accomplices coming to Hereford after Prince Edward was Proclaimed High Keeper of England Henry Earl of Lancaster Brother to the late Earl of Lancaster Sir William Delazouch and others who had Lands in those parts where the King absconded were sent in quest of him with sums of Money to facilitate the discovery who in the end surprised him together with the young Lord Spencer Robert Baldock Lord Chancellor and Simon de Reading whom without any respect to the Person of the King they conveyed to Monmouth and from thence was the King carried to Kenelworth Castle and there committed to the keeping of the Earl of Leicester but the rest to Hereford where without any form of Trial was put to death the Lord Spencer being hanged on a Gallows fifty foot high and Robert Baldock committed to the keeping of the Bishop of Hereford who sent him up to London and exposed him to the fury of the Rabble who though a Bishop was used by them in such a barbarous manner only for being true to his Soveraign that within a short time after he died the Earl of Arundel and two other Gentlemen of note were put to death to pleasure Mortimer and now the mournful King divested of all his friends being at Kenelworth there repaired to him the Bishops of Winchester Hereford and Lincoln two Earls two Abbots four Barons and three Knights from every County with two of the Judges as from the Parliament which the Queen had called at London to perswade him to a Resignation of his Crown to his Son Edward and so many devices they had heaped together that in the end having first given private notice to the King of their approach and the cause they came to Kenelworth and presented themselves before the King who clad in black sutable to his mournful condition came out of an inward Chamber when in the head of the company set in order according to their qualities the Earl of Leicester and Bishop of Hereford began to declare the Message with which they were charged by the Body of the Kingdom as they termed the then sitting Parliament alledging that the Common-wealth of England was weary of his Government and conceived such irreconcileable dislike of his management of Kingly affairs that they would by no means permit him longer to Reign over them but were contented that his Eldest Son Prince Edward should succeed him in his Throne if he would make a voluntary Resignation if not they would proceed to Elect another not of his Blood c. The sound of this mournful Message struck so to the Kings Heart that e're any could prevent it he fell to the ground and lay stretched in a swoon a considerable time e're life could be perceived or he recovered to his Senses But in the end recovering he with many heavy Sighs bewailed his Infortunate condition and began to parly with his Vassals but found them inflexible persisting in threatning sort to tell him that unless he would freely resign his Diadem to his Son and disclaim all Right-to the Crown they would return his Answer and that immediately thereupon the Parliament would proceed to the Election of another not of his Race These Menaces made the distressed King who now was fallen low in the Opinion of his Subjects through the false insinuation of the factious Lords to consent to their hard proposals confessing that for his many sins God had permitted these Calamities to fall upon him but seeing they had not rejected his Race he was content to submit Whereupon they proceeded to the new invented and never before practised Ceremony of dekinging their Sovereign which in this manner was performed by Sir William
Trussel one of the Judges who found out a Law Quirk to colour the detestable Treason as followeth I William Trussel In the name of all Men of the Land of England and of all the Parliament Procurator resign to thee Edward the Homage that was made to thee some time and from this time forward I defie thee and deprive thee of all Royal Dignity and I shall never be Tendant to thee as for King hereafter This Ceremony or rather compact of Treason being utter'd Sir Thomas Blunt Steward of the Houshold broke his Staff and Proclaimed the Kings Houshold discharged from any further Service and then leaving the King divested of Regal Authority and under strong confinement they posted to London to tell the news which was joyfully received especially by Roger Lord Mortimer of Wigmore though the Queen the better to colour the Treason seemed much disturbed at the relation of the Kings deposing Now the next business was to set the Crown upon young Edwards Head whom by reason of his Minority they thought to Rule as themselves thought fit who notwithstanding his being but fifteen years of Age utterly refused to admit of the Ceremony till he was assured it was with his Fathers free consent But at last submitting to the perswasions of the Queen and Mortimer he was Crowned and Proclamation put out in his name to satisfie the minds of people touching the free Concession of his Father Things being at this pass the Queen began to think of securing her self a Dowry which she did so large that it amounted to two parts of the Revenues of the Crown which she delivered to the disposal of Mortimer at whose command she solely was even as Fame reported both at Bed and Board but their security being interrupted by the pitty many seemed to have for the miseries of the Deposed King they well knowing if he were again restored to his Dignity it would prove their confusion therefore laying aside all remorse they entered into a conspiracy to make sure of him for ever by Murther Whereupon removing him from Kenelworth and out of the Custody of the Earl of Lancaster who they thought too much favored him he was delivered into the Custody of Sir Thomas De Gournay and Sir John Mattravers two bloody Sycophants who conveyed him to Corfe Castle from thence to Bristol and then to Berkly Castle where after many barbarous and vile usages they Murthered him the manner according to Holinshead thus The Kings Death being resolved on Mortimer procured Adam De Forleton to write this doubtful but most wicked Sophism and to be Sealed with the Queens Seal Edvardum occidere nolite timere Bonum est To shed King Edward's Blood Refuse to fear I count it good Where the Comma being put after Nolite bids them not to make him away but placed after Timere expresly commands it in performing which execrable Villany these Monsters were not slow and the better to colour the Regicide lest any outward appearance of violence should be observed they by force bind the good King and O barbarous inhumanity putting a Horn into his Fundament to keep the outward part from seering they thrust a hot Iron through it and therewith twisted his Bowels to pieces not once only but often repeated the cruel torture the which how painful may be guessed by the pittiful out-cries the King made whilst they were putting him to death which cries were heard by many but none durst venture to relieve him After this foul and barbarous Murther committed it was blazed abroad that he died of grief and thereupon they publickly exposed his Body to the Prelates and others for several days but in a short time the Murther which is seldom hid came to light and the Actors known though the Queen and Mortimer deeply dissembled the matter and to outward appearance seemed greatly afflicted Upon the discovery Gorney and Mattravers fled the former of which was taken at Massels in France where he produced the Queen and Mortimers Seals for what he had done whereupon secret Orders were sent for Beheading him on Ship-board in his way for England lest had he come to a Trial he should have made a full discovery of the chief Conspirator as for the latter he wandered about miserably in forreign Countries and at last died miserably in Italy being eat up with Ulcers And Gods vengeance found out these Monsters of men nor was it slow in punishing most deservedly Roger Lord Mortimer the chief Contriver of the wicked Parricide who having attained to the height of his ambition for he together with the Queen being at his Castle of Nottingham one Evening upon a bruite that his Mother was with Child by Mortimer the King with a well affected Company having entered a Vault that went into the Castle passed on till he came into the Chamber where the Queen was in Bed and Mortimer undressing himself to go to her and so secure they were that they had left open the Chamber door whereupon the King caused him to be seized which was not so easily done but two or three were killed in the attempt for Mortimer had at that time a Retinue of fourscore Knights and Gentlemen attending him but in spite of resistance he was carried off And within a while after condemned in Parliament for being accessary to the Murther of the late King betraying the Nation and wasting the Coin as also for committing adultery with the Queen Whereupon he was soon after drawn to Tiburn then called the Elms and there hanged where by the commandment of the King he continued hanging for two days being pittied of none nor did he fall alone for with him were Executed Sir Simon De Bedford and John Deverel Esq both concerned in King Edwards Murther and thus Heavens vengeance aim'd sure and overwhelmed in the height of their pride and security these Monsters of men that durst by cruel tortures shed the Blood of their Anointed Soveraign CHAP. III. The Birth remarkable passages deposing and murthering of Richard the Second King of England France and Lord of Ireland the fiftieth Monarch of England with the manner of the Conspiracies against and Vengeance that overtook many of the Regicides RIchard the Second was Son to the black Prince and Grandson to King Edward the Third being Crowned in the Eleventh year of his Age at the first entry upon his Kingdom all things promised him a peaceable and prosperous Reign but it continued not long so for by reason of the ill conduct of affairs in his Minority John Duke of Lancaster ruling all who was in hatred with the Commons great numbers of the Rabble rose in many Counties under the Conduct of their factious Leaders upon pretence of Redressing grievances the common Cloak of Rebellion the principal Commanders being Wat Tyler and Jack Straw two Mechanicks who committed many outrages as burning plundering and murthering in most places where they came and were so far sided with by the City of London that they entered it
Escutcheons the Armories of St. Edward the Confessor sometime King of England These proceedings for a time made fair weather but not long for a Feud arising between Henry Duke of Hereford and Thomas Duke of Glocester the latter accused the former of speaking several words to the dishonour of the King that King Richard held the Peers of England in no esteem but as much as in him lay sought to destroy them by banishing some and putting others to death That he never troubled his mind with considering how his Dominions were diminished through his carelesness and lastly that all things went to wrack as well in Peace as War Upon this it was ordered that the Accuser and the Accused should try the matter by Combate the latter stoutly denying he ever said any such words as were objected against him so that gages being delivered on both sides they entered the Lists but e're they encountered the King threw down his Warder and upon further consideration banished Norfolk for his Life and Hereford at first for ten years which after he reduced to six which some alleadged was a just Judgment on the former for being instrumental in putting the Duke of Glocester to death he being then Captain of Calais But now ruin and desolation being at hand Portents forerun it all the Bay-trees in England suddenly withered and within a while sprung out again fresh near Bedford the River between the Villages of Harleswood and Swelston where it is deepest drove back on either hand and for three Miles left its Channel dry with sundry other remarkable presages of what after happened To give way to which the King upon notice of his Cousin the Lord Mortimer's being slain by the Irish of Leinster who were up in Arms under their Leader Obrian he resolved to pass over in person to revenge his death and therefore to furnish his expedition he raised many of all hands and at the same time his Uncle the Duke of Lancaster dying he seized on his Inheritance without regard to his Son the Duke of Hereford who remained in Exile which the said Duke hearing was so throughly netled that not resolving to wait the expiration of his Banishment he taking the advantage of King Richard's absence resolves for England having upon notice of his Fathers decease taken upon him the Title of Duke of Lancaster and only accompanied with the banished Bishop of Canterbury and about twenty others when having taken Ship he for some time lay hovering on the Coast to understand how the People stood affected to him and the better to give his agents on shore time to work them to his purpose but upon notice that his Faction was strong he Landed only under pretence of recovering his Rightful Inheritance when as there repaired to him the Earl of Northumberland and his Son the Lord Henry his Son the Lord Nevil Earl of Westmorland and others as likewise a great number of the Country People offering him their Service so that within a short time he had formed a Puissant Army the news of which soon alarumed Edmund Duke of York the Kings Uncle who calling to his assistance Edmund Stafford Bishop of Chichester Lord Chancellour Lord Treasurer Earl of Wiltshire Bushy Bagot Green Russel and other Knights of the Kings Council to consult about raising forces to impeach the Dukes passage but their consultation came to nothing the Dukes Faction having so dealt with the common people that they every where refused to take up Arms against him Whereupon Sir John Bushy Lord Treasurer and Sir Henry Green betake themselves to Bristol Castle but it being stormed by the Lancastrians their Heads became a Sacrifice to popular fury but Bagot taking ship Sailed over to Ireland to acquaint the King with what had happened who thereupon making such peace as he could with the Irish he hastens over but before his arrival the Dukes Faction was swelled to such a torrent that there was no opposing it Whereupon the King having Cashiered his Army or they for the most part deserting him he retired to the Castle of Conway in North-Wales whither upon notice of his being there resorted to him the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Earl of Northumberland where after a long Parly the King perceiving no other conditions could be gained required that he and eight more whom he would name might have honourable allowance with the assurance of a quiet private Life that he in consideration thereof would make a resignation of his Crown which demand Northumberland swore should be observed and thereupon the King accompanied them to the Castle of Flint whither the Duke was come with a part of his Army and from thence after a short conference they removed to Chester where the King in consideration of many fair promises never performed put himself into the Dukes hands who conveyed him to London and there made sure of him in the Tower whither several of the Lancastrian Faction daily resorted to him to parly about the surrender of his Crown which at last he consented to do seeing no other Remedy to his Cousin the Duke of Lancaster and at the same time taking off his Signet he put it on the Dukes Finger and at the same time there being a Parliament called in King Richard's name the Arch-bishop of York and Bishop of Hereford were appointed his Procurators to declare what he had done nor was this sufficient for to make him odious to the People they exhibited thirty two Articles against him very scandalous and reproachful Whereupon Commissioners were nominated by the consent of the Houses to pronounce the Sentence of Deposition who were the Bishop of Asaph the Abbot of Glastenbury the Duke of Glocester the Lord Berkly and William Thyrring Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas the Form thus In the Name of God We John Bishop of St. Asaph John Abbot of Glastenbury c. Commissioners specially chosen by the Lords Spiritual of the Realm of England and Commons of the said Realm representing all the states of the said Realm sitting in place of Judgment do renounce all fealty to Richard of Burdeaux and him Depose from all Kingly Dignity c. Upon which the Duke of Lancaster rising from his Seat Crossed himself and then layed claim to the Crown in these words In the Name of God Amen I Henry of Lancaster claim the Realm of England and Crown with all the appurtenances as coming by the Blood Royal from King Henry and by that Justice which God of his Grace hath sent me by the help of my Kinsfolks and Friends for the Recovery of the said Realm which was in point of perdition through default of Government and breach of Laws This said he was conducted by the Arch-bishops of Canterbury and York to the Royal Throne and there Seated and from thenceforth all Writs and Process Issued out in his Name Richard In the mean space remaining a Prisoner in the Tower and every day in danger of his Life which was often aimed at the more
opportunity to recover it The King seeing himself in danger resolves to oppose the torrent and therefore Arms and with a strong power marcheth towards Wales in whose Marches the Duke resided with his forces of which the Duke having notice and understanding the Kings power was such that he was no ways able to oppose them upon his feigned submission he so wrought upon the good nature of this pious and peaceful King that a peace was concluded and after some heats and accusations had passed between the Dukes of York and Somerset the former was swore to be true to the King and never more take up Arms but regarded his Oath no longer than it served for his purpose for joyning with the Earls of Warwick Salisbury and others of the Faction he again takes Arms and marches towards London and to oppose him the King does the like both Armies meeting at St. Albans a dreadful fight began which for a long time lasted doubtful but at last the Earl of Warwick with his Battalian breaking through a Garden fell in so furiously that the Kings party were put to the rout six hundred slain and amongst them the Duke of Somerset Earl of Northumberland Stafford Lord Clifford and others of Note Here the King received a slight wound in the Neck with an Arrow and was taken Prisoner though at the same time the Lords of the Faction pretended abundance of respect leading him to London and there procured a Parliament to be called in his name where they caused an Act of Indemnity to be passed and all things to be so ordered that they render their Faction pleasing to the multitude and now nothing remained but to depose the King and deprive him of Life but this they feared to do till their insinuations had spread wider and that they had got Prince Edward his Son into their hands for the King notwithstanding this adversity was extreamly beloved for his singular Piety and meekness nor did this suffice for in this Parliament the Duke of York got himself made Protector of England and its appurtenances a thing never heard of before unless in the Nonage of a King but his insolencies were such by Imprisoning and deposing the Kings best friends that he was soon divested of that power at the instance of the Queen and several Noble Lords well-wishers to the King These Intestine broils Incited the French and Scots to molest the Sea-port Towns and ways the remote parts of England upon news of which the King the better to revenge those injuries called an Assembly of the Peers at London whither the Duke of York Earls of Warwick and Salisbury were Summoned under the Kings Privy Seal and accordingly came but finding things not for their purpose they feigned a Plot against their Lives and so retired to their several Castles and places of strength without leave taken and there gathering forces upon a second Summons came in Hostile manner yet the good natured King so labored that a reconciliation or at least a seeming one on the part of the Yorkists was the result of that meeting but it continued not so long for upon a Quarrel between one of the Kings Servants and one of the Earl of Warwicks all was again in a combustion for the Earl of Warwick upon that occasion being Assaulted flies to Calais and there maintains himself by Piracy utterly disowning the King Supream Lord of that Place but being not long satisfied there he Sails over to the Assistance of the Duke of York and Earl of Salisbury who again had taken up Arms and Encamped near Ludlow bringing with him one Captain Andrew Trolop and a stout Band of Calesians whom all along he had perswaded that they were to fight in the Kings Quarrel but they finding it otherwise upon the Kings approach expressed their Loyalty by forsaking the Yorkists and coming over to the King who good natured Prince received them with all convenient expressions of kindness and Royal favour and Trolop their Captain being privy to all the Plots and Designs of the Yorkists Faction the Kings Enemies disperse the Duke of York with the Earl of Rutland his youngest Son into Ireland the Earl of March his Eldest Son and Heir together with the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury with much difficulty escape to Calais which place had King Henry timely fortified he had driven them all to great extremity yet the Parliament proceeded to Proclaim them and their Abetters Traitours and to attaint them of high Treason disabling them or their Heirs of ever inheriting their Titles or Possessions which made them again prepare to Invade England by stealth in their wonted Hypocrisy the better to win the multitude to side with them with deepest Oaths protesting they only sought the good and welfare of King Henry and the removal of evil Councillors sending many Writings abroad fraight with dissimulations to that purpose which wrought them much favour so that Landing in Kent and swearing to be true to King Henry especially the Earl of Warwick who swore it upon the Cross of the Cathedral of Canterbury they came forward to London still increasing in number which caused the King and Queen being no ways confident of the Citizens to remove to Northampton whither the Earls of March and Warwick hasted and notwithstanding their many fair pretences gave the King Battel overthrew his Army and taking him Prisoner brought him as it were in Triumph to London and although they held him Prisoner yet continued their dissembled kindness towards him with many feigned expressions of Obedience and Loyalty Upon news of this success the Duke of York hasts from Dublin in Ireland and pulling off the Mask he had so long vailed his design with layed claim in the Parliament then sitting to the Crown breaking open the Kings Lodgings and possessing himself thereof but the Parliament not approving his rashness he drew up his Pedigree in which he proposed himself to be the rightful Heir which was likewise opposed with many forcible Arguments yet so powerful was his Faction that he prevailed to be Proclaimed Heir apparent and again to enjoy the Title of Protector of England with a grant that Henry the Sixth should Reign only during his natural Life and that then the Crown should devolve on him and his Heirs as descended of the Masculine Line from Edward the Third but at this time the Queen being in the North gathering forces to release her Husband would by no means consent to this agreement which caused York to advance in order to oppose her but her forces consisting of near 18000 and his a far less number he contrary to the advice of his Council resolving to give Battel before his Son the Earl of March could joyn him the Battel was fought at Wakefield and therein himself the Lord Harington Sir Thomas Nevil Son to the Earl of Salisbury and almost all his Soldiers were slain so severe is the Almighty in punishing perjury and disloyalty to him and his Vice-gerents Kings Anointed
the Earl of Salisbury was taken Prisoner and Beheaded and his head with the Dukes fixed upon York Gates upon this the Queen and her Army came to London and released the King by the overthrow of Warwick at St. Albans restoring him to his Power and Majesty but rested not long e're the Earl of March Eldest Son to the Duke of York advanced with a Puissant Army and the Earl of Warwick having escaped the fight joyned with him which news made the King and Queen retire into the North to provide against the threatning storm whereupon Edward Earl of Mâ—rch without any controul advanced and entered London fearful of a Sack and there by threats and perswasions prevailed with the unstable multitude to give their Assents for his being Crowned King which Ceremony ended though against all Law and Right he drew forth his Army and advanced against the King who had gathered great forces which were in chief by the Duke of Somerset Earl of Northumberland and Lord Clifford both Armies consisting of 112000. the greatest Army of English that ever England saw who upon the charge being sounded began the Fight with great fury near Ferry-Bridge which continued ten hours and was lost on the Kings side by the overhastiness of the Northern Archers who spent all their Arrows at a distance as not being able to discern the Enemy by reason the Snow that then fell was driven full in their Eyes The Nobility that died on the Kings side were the Lords Scales Willowby Beaumont Wells Grey Dacres Fitz Hugh Buckingham and Clifford the two Bastards of Exceter of Knights and Esquires a great number and in all on both parts the slain were computed 35091. a slaughter the like not known in England since the Conquest Upon this fatal overthrow King Henry hs Son the Prince and several great Lords escaped into Scotland where they were kindly received and a Marriage proposed between the young Prince and the Lady Margaret the Scotch King's Daughter upon which Queen Margaret passed into France to negotiate her Husbands affairs with the French King for new supplies In the mean while Edward is Crowned at Westminster and a Parliament called wherein King Henry and Prince Edward his Son are disinherited of the Crown and all Regal Authority upon news of which Queen Margaret returns to Scotland having obtained a considerable supply of men from her Father Duke Reynold Duke of Anjoy King of Naples Jerusalem and Sicily having suffered much by storm from Scotland she passed into England together with her Husband and such Scotch forces as that King assisted her with and took several Castles in Northumberland several Loyal English daily resorting to the Royal Standard which proceeding greatly alarumed Edward so that constituting the Lord Montacute his Lieutenant General he furnished him with an Army with which he gave Battel to King Henry's forces near unto Hexham where the Yorkists prevailed and King Henry is obliged again to fly into Scotland from whence some time after coming into England in disguise he was taken Prisoner by Thomas Talbot in Cletherworth in Lancashire and from thence brought to London with his Legs bound under the Horses Belly so little respect had those Varlets into whose hands he fell to afflicted Majesty and upon his arrival committed Prisoner to the Tower Edward having King Henry in safe custody began to give himself over to sports and Daliances and above all to bethink himself of a Wife upon which several were proposed as the Lady Margaret Sister to King James of Scotland the Lady Elizabeth Sister and Heir Apparent to Henry King of Castile the Lady Bona Daughter to the Duke of Savoy and Sister to the French Queen of which the latter being thought the fittest Match the Earl of Warwick was sent over to negotiate the affair and proceeded so well that he procured a free consent of the French King Queen and the Lady her self when in the mean while Edward had cast his Eyes upon Elizabeth Grey Widdow to Sir John Grey slain in the Quarrel of King Henry at St. Albans and notwithstanding all the perswasions of the Dutchess of York his Mother Married her and made her Queen which Warwick taking as a grievous affront put upon him from that moment Alienated his Affections from Edward and consulted how to restore King Henry to his Crown and Dignity in order to which he first consults his two Brothers George Nevil Arch-bishop of York and John Nevil Marquess of Montacute the former of which soon consented but the latter proposed many delays whereupon the politick Earl the better to bring his designs about resolves to bring to his Lurd George Duke of Clarence Edwards Second Brother whom he knew to be discontented with his Brothers Rule and so effectually wrought with Soliciting that he soon found him pliable and ready to espouse his Interest whereupon the more to secure him he proposed to him his Eldest Daughter in Marriage with the one half of his Wives Inheritance which was afterwards consummated at Calais and in the mean while by the countenance of the Earl many Commotions were raised in England to countenance which and to dispossess Edward of his Usurped Crown to say no worse the Duke and Earl prepared for England having first espoused his second Daughter to Prince Edward Son to King Henry and then arriving a great conflux of People hasted to his Banner so well known and dreaded in England being the White Bear and Ragged Staff to oppose which torrent e're it grew greater Edward hastened and at Woolvy four Miles from Warwick where the Duke and the Earls Host lay pitched his Tents and bid the Earl Battel who undaunted Spirit brooked no such Bravado advance and both Armies stood Imbattled expecting the dreadful blast but it so happened that the Fight was delayed and both Armies retire as if a Peace would undoubtedly insue but crafty Warwick had other designs on foot for within a while after he surprized Edward in the midst of his Army and took him Prisoner committing him to the custody of the Archbishop of York from whom he soon after escaped which greatly perplexed the Earl yet he so ordered the matter as not to seem in the least to regard it Edward upon his escape fled to London and the Duke and Earl continuing in their station levied great forces but upon the Mediation of the Nobility it was so ordered that the Duke and Earl came to Edward upon his Letters of safe conduct but Edward taxing them with Disloyalty and they him with ingratitude nothing was done but both departed Edward to Canterbury and the other returned to Warwick and from thence sent their Agents into Lincolnshire where they dealt with the Commons to take up Arms under the Leading of Sir Robert Wells Son to the Lord Wells but he in revenge of his Fathers Death whom Edward had basely Beheaded contrary to his promise rashly ingaged Edwards power before Warwick could come to his Aid and by that means lost
the day and his own Life upon notice of which overthrow the Duke and Earl betook themselves again to Calais of which place the latter was Captain but were denied entrance by Vawclere his Lieutenant and thereupon went to the French Court where they were kindly received and within a while returning into England gathered so huge an Army that Edward was forced to fly the Land and his Queen to take Sanctuary whereupon King Henry was again restored to his Regal Dignity and Edward with all his adherents Proclaimed Traitors and in Parliament disinabled from Inheriting the Crown and it again Intailed on King Henry upon which Heart-breaking news Edward procures forces from the Duke of Burgundia who had Married his Sister and under pretence of Friendship enters England pretending to no more than his Dutchy of York framing Letters for his safe conduct under the Seal of the Earl of Northumberland but he no sooner entered but surprized that City whereupon Warwick and Clarence prepare to drive him thence but the latter was so wrought with under hand that he revolted to Edward and endeavored to perswade Warwick to do the like who generously answered to the Messenger go tell your Duke that I had rather be an Earl and always like my self than a false and perjured Duke and that e're my Oath shall be falsified as his apparently is I will lay down my Life at my Enemies Foot which I doubt not but shall be bought very dear and thereupon Marched towards London when at St. Albans he considered what was best to be done and finding that the Sword must decide it he advanced and at Barnet both Armies approached each other where in the spacious Field the Battle joyn'd on Easter day with such fury that the like had not been known and continued doubtful for a long time when as the day being overcast with mist hindering the Soldiers sight Warwicks Battalian took the Stars Imbroidered upon the Earl of Oxford's Mens Coats for his Son Edwards Body whereupon they let fly upon their friends which mistake caused the Earl to leave the fight his Men crying Treason Treason we are all betrayed which Warwick perceiving charged with fury upon the Enemy but entering too far was beaten down and slain though not without performing wonders sutable to his great Soul who had been Englands Make-King for many years before with him perished his Brother the Marquess of Montacute and a great number of smaller note as likewise the loss of the Battle on the side of the Lancastrians Son after this overthrow Queen Margaret and Prince Edward arrive at Weymouth and understanding the loss of the Battle of Barnet Field she went to Ceerue Abby whither the Lancastrian Nobility that escaped the slaughter came to her and with comfortable words put her in hopes of better success and immediately raised such forces as they could and joyned them to those they Queen had brought over from France but loth she was that the Prince her Son should hazard himself in the Battle and urged sundry persons but was over perswaded by the Lords whose preparations alarumed Edward so that gathering an Army he advanced towards them resolving to hinder the increase of the Queens power having first committed King Henry and the Archbishop of York to the Tower and at Teuxbury both Armies met where after a hot Encounter by the Treachery of the Lord Wenlock the Battle went with Edward which Treachery was rewarded with death the Duke of Somerset the Queens General beating his Brains out with his Battle-Ax In this Battle of the Lancastrian Nobility were slain John Lord Summert John Coventry Earl of Devonshire the Lord Wenlock in manner aforesaid several Knights and three thousand common Soldiers and on the other side not fewer Upon this defeat Proclamation was made for the Apprehending Prince Edward who was soon taken by that unworthy Knight Sir Robert Crofts and delivered to his most Capital Enemy the Duke of Somerset and others of Quality having taken Sanctuary were haled thence and beheaded Prince Edward not passing fourteen years of Age being brought before Edward had assumed the Soveraignty he beheld him with a stern Countenance and demanded how he durst with Banners displayed enter his Realm to which the young Prince with an undaunted Courage replied to recover my Fathers Kingdoms and most Rightful Inheritance possessed by his Father and Grandfather and immediately from him descending to me how darest thou then that art but his Subject take up Arms against thy King This Brave and Generous Answer so touched King Edward to the quick that he unmanly with his Gauntlet smote him on the Mouth when at the same instant the more villanous Duke of Glocester afterwards Usurper of the Crown by the name of Richard the Third together with his wicked Accomplices stabbed the Prince to death in Edwards presence Monsters unworthy of the name of Men but Heavens vengeance for this and other black crimes overtook the Actors The Prince after his being murthered was Buried in the Grey-Fryars at Tewksbury without any Ceremony and now Queen Margaret having taken Sanctuary was discovered and brought Prisoner to the Tower where she continued till her Father with a great Ransome to raise which he was forced to sell most of his Signeouries to the French King he redeemed her and now King Henry being Prisoner likewise and the Thorne that made Edwards Crown sit uneasie he resolves to be rid of him and therefore sent his Brother that Crook-backed Monster in the shape of a Man to dispatch him who pretending to discourse about his releasment stabbed the pious King to the Heart and eased him of this troublesome Life though perpetual horrour haunted the Actor of this black deed to his Grave After this cruel murther committed on the pious King his Body was for many days exposed to the view of the People ever bleeding afresh which raised at once pitty and detestation in the Spectators and then carried by Water to Chersie in Surry And thus fell this good King though not unrevenged for he lived to see the miserable ends of all such as had first broached the mutual War against him viz. Richard Duke of York the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick and afterward God was not slow to revenge his Royal Blood for within a while the Duke of Clarence King Edwards Brother was attainted of Treason and privately put to death in the Tower as some say drowned in a Butt of Malmsey King Edward himself continually infested with troubles through his unquiet Reign and People every where suffering through storms pestilence and Losses by Sea and Land after his Decease his two Sons murthered by their unnatural Uncle the Duke of Glocester and that Monster himself after a short Usurpation slain in Bosworth Field as in the sequel shall more at large be shown and thus I shall end with the death of this pious though unfortunate King who left no Issue his only Son being murthered as is before recited CHAP. V.
THE CRY OF Royal Innocent Blood Heard and Answered Being a True and Impartial Account of Gods extraordinary and Signal Judgments upon REGICIDES With an Historical Relation of the Deposing Murthering and Assasinating of several Kings of England Scotland France c. for near 600 years last past With the Plots Conspiracies Means and Methods that were used to compass their destruction As likewise Gods signal Vengeance immediately succeeding such Tragedies upon the Nations in which they were suffered to be perpetrated as Famine War Pestilence Murraine of Cattle Fires Earthquakes and Inundations Worthy the perusal of all and may serve as an Antidote against Faction and Rebellion Touch not my Anointed nor do my Prophets no harm Psal 105.15 Entred according to Order London Printed for Daniel Brown at the Black-Swan and Bible without Temple-Bar and Tho. Benskin in St. Brides Church-Yard Fleet-Street 1683. K Edmund the 30 Mon of the Enalishmen Assasianated K· Edward the II. Deposed Murthered K· Richard the II. Deposed Murtherd K· Henry the VI. Deposed Murthered K Edward the V. Murthered K· Henry the III of Fra Assasianated K Henry the IIII of Fra Assasinated Henry Stewart K of Scotland Murthered K· Charles the I. Martyred Printed for Dan Browne and Tho. Benskin 1683 TO THE READER REader what ever thou art consider well this Treatise in which as in a Mirrour you may behold the Machivilian Policies of Wicked and desperate Men formed to bring about their Diabolical purposes and at the same time observe how the unerring hand of Divine Vengeance has overwhelmed them with swift destruction for what greater Affront can be offered the Almighty then with Sacralegious Hands to shed the Blood of his Anointed even those whom himself has Chosen from amongst all the Sons of Men to bear his Sacred Character and Govern as his Vice-Gerents upon Earth on whom he has doubly Stamp'd his bless'd Idea and has declared that by him they Reign and Honoured them with Titles above the ordinary rank of Men viz. I have said ye are Gods c. as indeed they are Gods upon Earth to Execute Justice upon the Wicked and Cherrish the Virtuous against whom the wise Man says there is that is there ought to be no rising up and that we ought not to speak Evil of them no not in our Hearts yet such have been the Hellish Engins raised by the Prince of Darkness that not regarding their Allegiance to the King of Kings nor his Vice-Gerents contrary to all Oaths and strictest Ties have not feared to perpetrate such Villanies as in their effects have made whole Kingdoms groan but added Guilt to Guilt by making Religion the Cloak of their Horrid Impieties or at least the Reformation of the Kingdoms wherein their Villanies were Acted which as they insinuated into the unthinking Plebeans must of necessity be effected or that all things would sink into inevitable Ruin when at the same time these Instruments of Satan were brooding more miseries and dire Calamities then Pandoras-Box contained Plagues to Afflict Mankind and turn all things into Confusion though for the most part the Pitt that they digged for others themselves have fallen into for it has been observed how crafty so ever the Regicides of all Ages have been to bring about their amazing Impieties yet none of them sooner or later have escaped the Hand of Divine Vengeance either in some Signal and Exemplary Punishment or by the wounds of a torturing Conscience even in this Life as is at large discovered in this Treatise which contains the Tragedies of many good Kings of these latter Ages Deposed and Murthered by their Subjects or rather Devils in the Shapes of Men especially such Kings of England as have come to untimely Ends by such means for Six Hundred Years past together with Compendious Histories of their Lives and Reigns and the Calamities that thereupon have befallen this and other Nations Worthy the perusal of all Persons and may serve as a terrible Memento or Warning-Peice to those whose Consciences Start not when either Ambition or Profit is the Master at the Horridest Impiety that Hell can Dictate THE CRY OF ROYAL BLOOD Heard Answered OR An Historical Account of the Deposing Murthering c. of several KINGS of England c. and of Gods severe Vengeance on the Regicides AMongst the many Crimes that hasten Heavens vengeance on wretched miscreants there is none so vile in the sight of the Worlds Creator who is a God of purer Eyes than to behold iniquity than the loud Tongu'd Scarlet Crime of shedding innocent Blood a sin so heinous that it seldom escapes Exemplary punishment in this World the better to deterr barbarous wretches from violating the Persons and bereeving of Life those on whom God has been pleased to impress his Sacred Stamp by Inspiring them with immortal Souls and setting before them a large prospect of Heaven and Eternal happiness but more immediately when Hell-born Villains dare Murther those on whom his Sacred Image is doubly stamped as Kings and Men against whom they should not imagine evil no not in their hearts But since History abounds with the relation of such execrable Treasons and villainous Assassinations I shall make it the subsequent discourse of this Treatise to lay open the nature and manner of those amazing Tragedies by what means and treasonable divices the Regicides of almost all Ages have accomplished their most pernicious Enterprizes and how Heavens vengeance with a level aim at first or last has hit them sure and brought them to destruction Passing over the Murthers of Agamemnon Darius Alexander the Great Hannibal Pompey Caesar and divers other Emperours Kings and Princes who fell by treachery and whose Blood was thorowly revenged on the Murtherers even when they supposed themselves the most secure I shall proceed to more modern times and not exceeding 670. years past And First I shall begin with the Murther of good King Edmund Sirnamed the Ironside being the thirty third Monarch of the English-men This King of the Saxon Line succeeding his Father King Ethelred was Crowned at Kingstone upon Thames by Livingus Arch-Bishop of Canterbury on the 16 of April Anno 1016. At what time the Pagan Danes with bloody cruelties insested this Island destroying and burning all before them without regard to either Sex or Age. But such was the success of this valiant King that he not only put a stop to their proceedings but gave them many fatal overthrows and had past all dispute forced them to have left the prey the which so long with bloody hands so eagerly they grasped had it not been for the prodigious Treasons of the Monster Edrick a Person who by this Kings means during the Reign of his Father though ill deserving such a Title had been created a Duke and was now General of King Edmund's Army and by the power of such a trust sought by all means the downfal of his Lord which to his Eternal Infamy he at last effected as shall
Patrons the Jesuits had perswaded him to that wickedness and promised him Salvation for his Reward whereupon his Father was Banished his House demollished and a Piramid set in his place and secondly by a Decree of Parliament the whole Society of Jesuits were expelled out of France but by their shews of Piety and Sincerity so Wrought with the Kings Favorites and they with him on their behalf that that Decree was repealed and they again restored to the Destruction of the Kings Life as most imagine The next that attempted his Life was one that was or at least pretended himself a Natural who finding opportunity run at him with a Knife whereupon the Guard would have Killed him but the King forbid it and he being asked the reason said He was King of all the World and that Henry kept France from him whereupon the King out of meer compassion ordered him to be released And now France Flourishing under this great and Glorious Prince whose good Conduct had Reduced it to so happy an Estate that the like for some Ages past had not been he thought to have rested but such was the Implacable Mallice of his Adversaries that they watched all opportunities to deprive him of Life to whom next Heaven they owed their happyness nor did they desist till they had brought about their wicked purposes the manner and opportunity given thus The King having Married Mary D' Medicis Daughter to Frances and Neice to Fardinand Dukes of Florence upon the Divorce of Margaret Sister to the three late Kings of France She was Impatient till she was Installed and although the King had other purposes of more urgency which required his leaving of Paris yet was he prevailed with to stay though many things Prognosticated ill events as the Raining Blood in divers places Monsters-Born Earthquakes and Airy Fantoms happening and appearing and several Predictions that the King should not out-live that Year that he should Dye in Paris a suddain and violent Death and in his Coach the which he though he was not over credulous on such occasions began to hearken to it and was heard to say that he must be gone from that City or his Enemies would Kill him nay so sure were they of his Destruction that a Month before his being Assassinated Papers were found Printed in Spain and Italy that he was Dead and eight days before a Courrier passed through Leige saying He went to give the Princes of Germany notice of his Death The Villain Incited to be the Executioner with large promises of Earthly Treasure and Joys Everlasting hardens himself to perpetrate the Execrable wickedness having Lingered about Paris a long time for that purpose he being an Ill down lookt Rascal who had formerly quitted his Order and became a Solicitor of Ecclesiastical affairs the day after the Instalment the King Intending to leave Paris the next day the King going in his Coach from the Louvre to the Arsenal and to see all things provided for the Queens Entrance having in the Coach with him the Dukes of Espernon and Monthason the Marshals of Lavardine Rocquelavar La Force Mirebeau and Lian Cour chief Esquires when Entering Iron-Mongers Street through the narrow passage by St. Innocents Church a Cart Laden with Wine was overthrown as most imagine for the purpose which caused the Coach to stop and whilst his Guard of Partizans passed through the Church-yard this Villain who had all the while followed the Coach set one Foot against the Stall and the other upon the spoke of the Wheel and with a long Knife struck the King into the Breast beneath the Heart at which the King cryed I am Wounded yet the Hellhound redoubled his force with a second Blow which struck him to the Heart of which he Dyed without fetching so much as a Sigh and again a third stroke which the Duke D' Monthazon received on his Sleeve and although it was supposed the Murtherer might have escaped yet so heightened was he in his wickedness that he never Stirred from the place neither hid his Bloody Knife but rather Gloried in what he had done and being taken he was adjudged by the Chamber of the Assemblies to be drawn to the Grave with four Horses and to have the Flesh pulled off from his Arms Breasts and Thighs with Burning Pincers and then Torn to peices which Sentence was put in Execution without his Testifying the least Emotion of Grief or Fear for such strange Torments so that it was Evident that he had been made believe that Paricid was Merritorious and that if he Dyed he Dye a Martyr being Inchanted with a false assurance of great things though for his Horrid Treason and Barbarous Assassination he met with his just Reward All France at the Death of this King were amazed and in Tears unless his Enemies who secretly rejoyced thinking to gain their purposes but were deceived most of them being wasted and destroyed in the Wars that were in the Minority of his Children and thus fell this great King yet e're I conclude one thing is Remarkable when he was opened the Jesuits got his Heart which they so long had desired and carryed it to their Church De La Fleck under pretence of Burying it there his Body was Buryed in St. Dennis whither a little before the Body of his Prodecessor Henry the III. had been brought from the Church of St. Cornillie And leaving France I shall Return to England there to give the Reader a Sight of one of the blackest Trajedies that ever the World has known a Murther without President or Parrallel even the Murther of the Sacred Martyr Charles the First of ever Blessed Memory which take as followeth to the Eternal Infamy of the Regicids CHAP. VIII The Dismal Relation of the most Inhuman and Barbarous Murther of CHARLES the First King of Great Brittain France and Ireland and of Gods extraordinary Judgments and speedy Vengeance on the Monsterous Regicides and principal Agents and Abettors in his most deplorable Death KING CHARLES the First of ever Blessed Memory Son to the Renowned King James first sole Monarch of Great Brittains Empire and his Vertuous Consort Anne Sister to Christianus King of Denmark was Born at Dunfermel in Scotland on the 19 of November 1600 and when Englands bright Star the Glorious Queen Elizabeth Set he with his Royal Father the undoubted Heir of these Dominions came to London and continued with great Applause attracting in his Infancy the Eyes and Hearts of the Nation to gaze upon his comely person and much admire his Vertues promising such a Blessing to England that indeed it was not worthy of he being sole Heir to the Crown by the Death of Prince Henry who died at St. James's Anno 1625 succeeded to the Crown having before his Fathers Death contracted Marriage with the Vertuous and most Renowned Princess Henrietta Maria Daughter to Henry the IV. of France and Sister to Lewis the then Reigning King and at first such was the Universal