however the Lancastrians imposed upon the People For Edward was born June 16. 1239. and Edmund upon the 16th of January 1245. being Marcellus his Day six Years after Edward by that time he was a Year old was acknowledged the First-born of his Father his Brother Edmund not then born Per idem tempus Rex Cives Londinenses quinque portuum custodes multos alios fecit jurare fidelitatem ligantiam Edwardo primogenito suo In the Letter from the Loyal to the Rebellious Barons he is styled the First-born of King Henry Richardus Dei gratia Rex Romanorum semper Augustus Edwardus illustris Regis Angliae primogenitus c. And very frequently Matthew Paris who lived at this time and was Historiographer to his Father calls him his First-born So that there can be no doubt in History that he was the eldest Son for King Henry the Third had only these two Sons Edward and Edmund After the death of Edward the First his Son Edward the Second succeeded him and as Men of purely Commonwealth-Principles tell us he degenerating from so great a Father the People grew weary of his Irregular Arbitrary Government deposed him and chose Edward his Son to reign in his stead A plain Argument say they of the Peoples Power in chusing their Kings aud of limiting and binding the Succession But whoever reads this story will not find the ordinary People had much if any thing to do in this matter further than as they were excited to Tumults and Railing at the Government by many of the Popular Bishops and Barons for they always have been and ever will be Instruments of designing Men against the Government if by remissness thereof and easiness of Governors they be permitted This King was deposed and murdered by a wicked Confederacy and Rebellion of many Bishops and Barons And there is nothing to justifie this Rebellion Deposition and Murther in which our Anti-Monarchical Men instance so often as an Example to be followed but the meer doing of it And if a fact be therefore lawful only because it is done we have no need of Laws Lawyers or Officers of Justice to maintain plead for or defend it The truth is this King was not of so brisk a temper as his Father nor endowed with so much Courage he was more soft and easie and used too great and unseasonable Indulgence to such as he permitted to guide his Affairs and the Affairs of the Kingdom in his Name From hence many Rebellious Barons under pretence of the Honour of God and Holy Church the Honour of the King and Realm made Confederations to remove evil Counsellors reform the Court and to force the King to let them name all Judges the Chancellor Treasurer and other great Officers in Court Gascoigne Ireland and Scotland Thomas Duke of Lancaster one of those Commissioners and Ordainers was always the Head of these Confederacies who pretended great Affection to the King to the common profit of the Realm and great care to see these Ordinances cited in the Margin maintained in all points and many things amended in the King's Houshold Court and Realm At length this great Earl of Lancaster behaved himself very indecently towards the KIng and used him with much Scorn and Contempt until at last in the fifteenth of his Reign he and many of his Confederates brake out into open Rebellion at Burton upon Trent and flying before the King's Army Northward was with many others taken at Burrough-Bridge in York-shire and being tried by his Peers was adjudged to be Hanged Drawn and Quartered which Sentence was pardoned by the King and he was only beheaded The like Sentence had Warren de Insula William Toket Thomas Maudut Henry de Bradborn William Fitz-William and William Cheyne the Lord Roger Clifford the Lord John de Mounbray the Lord Henry Tyes the Lord Bartholomew de Badlesmere Joscelin de Invilla most of them Barons Propter Roberias Felonias resistentiam quam fecerunt contra Regem ad villam de Burton Occidentes Regis familiares Regis transitum prohibentes partem villae praedictae comburentes c. For Robberies and Felonies and the Resistance they made against the King at the Town of Burton killing the King's Friends and Servants and burning part of the Town upon their Retreat The Ordinances before-mentioned in number forty one were revoked and the Confederations and Tumultuous Barons and their Actions consured in a Parliament holden at York 15 Ed. 2. The Ordinances were revoked upon Examination of them before the Prelates Earls Barons amongst which were all the Ordiners then alive and the Commons of the Realm For that by the things which were ordained The King 's Royal Power was restrained in many things against the due Greatness of his Seigniory Royal and contrary to the State of the Crown And also for that in times past by such Ordinances and Provisions made by Subjects over the Power Royal of the Ancestors of the Lord the King Troubles and Wars came upon the Realm by which the Nation was in danger and it was accorded and established in the said Parliament by the Lord the King and by the said Prelates Earls and Barons and all the Commonalty of the Realm at that Parliament assembled That all those things by the Ordiners ordained and contained in the said Ordinances from henceforth for the time to come should cease and lose their Force Vertue and Effect for euer And that from hence forward in no time no manner of Ordinances or Provisions made by the Subjects of the Lord the King or his Heirs by any Power or Commission whatsoever over and upon the Power Royal of the said Lord the King or his Heirs or against the State of the Crown shall be of no value or force But the things which shall be established for the Estate of the King and his Heirs and for the Estate of the Realm and People may be treated accorded and established in Parliament by the King and by the Assent of the Prelates Earls Barons and Communalty of the Realm Roger de Mortuo-Mari Lord of Wigmore submitted himself to the King which much weakned the Barons Forces before the Engagement at Burton and was sent to the Tower of London from whence he made his Escape after two Years Imprisonment in the seventeenth of this King's Reign and went over Sea to the King of France who at this time required the King of England to do him Homage for Gascoygn and other Territories he held of him in France But he delaying to do it and excusing himself by Messengers who prevailed not the King of France with an Army seized Gascoign and the County of Pontheu yet by the means of Edmund of Woodstock the King's Brother and other English Noble-men then in France a Truce was made with the King of France for a certain time until a Peace might be treated of
A True and Exact HISTORY OF THE SUCCESSION OF THE CROWN OF ENGLAND Collected out of Records and the best Historians Written for the Information of such as have been deluded and seduced by the Pamphlet called The Brief History of the Succession c. pretended to have been written for the Satisfaction of the Earl of H. LONDON Printed for Cave Pulleyn in the Year MDCLXXXI A True and Exact History of the SVCCESSION of the CROWN of ENGLAND IN the Year 1594. Parsons the Jesuit or as Mr. Camden says He Cardinal Allen and Sir Francis Inglefield under the name of R. Doleman wrote a Book entituled A Conference about the next Succession to the Crown of England divided into two Parts The first pretended to have been the Discourse of a Civil Lawyer concerning Succession by Proximity of Blood in general contains for the most part in nine Chapters the very Principles of Sedition and Rebellion proved and maintained as is there also pretended by Examples and Texts of Holy Scripture Examples in France Spain Germany England and other Nations The English Examples and Instances generally are partially cited or mis-applied or not fully understood by the Author and are matter of fact only The Second Part is there said to be the Speech of a Temporal Lawyer about the particular Titles of all such as might pretend within England or without to the next Succession after Queen Elizabeth which according to his Account were ten or eleven yet this Author says if any body will believe him That this Treatise was wrote out of singular Affection and Devotion to that excellent Princess and with special care of her Safety It was dedicated to the Earl of Essex with design after the Queen of Scots was taken off to baffle the Title of King James who was her immediate Heir and either to fix it upon the Earl for whom he had made a Title or to promote a Contention between the King and him about it while by some means or other which was their main intention the Infanta of Spain by a far-fetch'd Title might obtain the Kingdom and thereby advance their own Purposes and Religion How justly this Book is censured by the Judicious Camden and branded with Perfidiousness and Design to delude and abuse the People raise Tumults and Seditions the Reader may see in the places cited in the Margin In the Year 1648. as a Preparative to the Deposition and Murther of King Charles the First there was published a Pamphlet and printed at London by Robert Ibbitson under the Title of Several Speeches delivered at a Conference concerning the Power of Parliaments to proceed against their King for Mis-Government And the Heads in the Title Page upon which these Speeches are pretended to be made are in number nine and the very same verbatim with the Titles of Doleman's nine Chapters in his first Part of the Conference touching the Succession to the Crown and the Matter and words of the Speeches themselves almost in all things are the very same except the Transitions Connexions and some few not material passages which are left out From these Conferences of Doleman which by crafty Men were published by Retail in several Pamphlets Speeches Declarations pernicious Deductions c. and from the nine Speeches last mentioned all the Factions in the late times of Rebellion were furnished with Arguments Reasons Examples and Pretences for their Seditious Practices And the Suggestions of the Act for the Tryal of King Charles the First and the Materials of the long Speech Bradshaw made to declare the Grounds of the Sentence and aggravate the things laid to his charge by mis-applying both Law and History were borrowed from these Books as likewise was much of the most seditious part of Milton's Book entituled The Defence for the People of England Also in the Year 1655. at London was printed an Abstract of Parsons his Book containing the Substance and often the Words of it The Chapters being divided into several short Sections with Titles to each of them this bears the name of a Treatise concerning the broken Succession of the Crown of England To what end it was at that time published I cannot guess unless to set up a Foreign Title or make way for Oliver Cromwell's Kingship And how lately there hath come forth a Pamphlet under the name of A Brief History of the Succession collected out of the Records and most Authentick Historians for the Satisfaction of the Earl of H. Much or the Materials of this Pamphlet and most of the History contained in it concerning the Succession are taken out of the Jesuit's Book the Speeches and Abstract before mentioned but this Author's industry leads him further than Polydor Virgil who is mostly cited by his three Predecessors and sometimes Stowe and Hollinshead And for the making his Work more plausible and passable and more readily to be received by his ordinary Readers he takes very little notice of Polydor who pointed him to his Authors and Places but cites William of Malmsbury Henry of Pluntington Simeon Dunelm Ailredus Abbas Rievallensis Brompton and others ancient Writers in his Saxon Instances especially whose Words if faithfully cited would have been of no use to him for often in the middle of the Sentences and of Records he hath cited he hath left out such Words and Matters as would have ruined the Design or his History A Paralel of his Words with the true Words of the Authors from whence he had them will be given at the latter end of this Treatise Hence we proceed to the Succession by a true History whereof Men will be able to judg what was the Government and how the Crown hath Hereditarily discended for many Ages in this Nation And though History is so deficient and the many Rencòuntèrs and Invasions of one another's Territories and Bickerings between the petty Kings and Governors of the Saxons in the time of the Heptarchy the Succession cannot be well made out yet though not in all we may be able to make out a Succession in the greatest and most Illustrious Kingdom of them which was that of the West-Saxions The Saxon Succession Egbert who is commonly said to be the first Saxon Monarch though he brought not the whole Heptarchy under his Power and Government succeeded Brihtric King of the West-Saxons The Words of the Saxon Chronicle are these only BEORHTRIC CYNING FORTHFERD ECGRYHT FENG to WEST-SEAXNA RICE Which words the Translator thus renders Beorhtricus Rex Occidentalium obiit Egbryhtus Occidentalium Saxonum Regnum Capessit And Florence of Worcester who strictly follows this Chronicle says Rex Occidentalium Saxonum Brihtricus obiit Egbertus successit that is Brihtric died and Egbert King of the West-Saxons took the Kingdom or succeeded him Simeon Dunelmensis says Defuncto Rege glorioso Brihtrico Occidentalis regni suscepit post ipsius obitum Regnum Impertum Egbertus Rex qui ex regali illius gentis prosapia
be true he was Testamentary Heir and had a Testamentary Right and in that Right he was made King But be this story true or false his Advancement to the Throne was as followeth Notwithstanding all the Nobility and amongst them King Stephen himself had sworn Fealty to Maud the Empress yet by the Interest of his Brother Henry Bishop of Winchester and the Pope's Legat without which he could have done nothing he was made King he brought off Roger Bishop of Salisbury a great and powerful Prelate also William de Pout-Arch Keeper of King Henry's Treasure which was 100000 l. in Money And by his own Dexterity the Artifice of his Brother and Roger Bishop of Salisbury and the advantage of this Money he inclined the minds of the Noble Men much towards him and to secure himself raised an Army mostly of Flemings and Britains At his Coronation were only three Bishops the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Winchester and Salisbury no Abbots and few Noble-men I think this looks not like an Election yet he in his Charter of Liberties which he chiefly granted to the Church says he was elected by the Assent of the Clergy and Laity and confirmed by the Pope Afterwards Stephen using the Bishops roughly lost his Brother Henry's favour who by his Legantine Power called a Council of the Clergy at Winchester to consult of the Peace of the Kingdom Where they conclude that the Right of chusing and ordaining Kings chiefly belonged to them And therefore having first called upon God they chose Maud the Empress Queen Ad Cleri ius potissimum spectat principem eligere ordinare invocata itaque in auxilium Divinitate filiam Regis in Angliae Normanni aeque Dominam eligimus c. But not long after being displeased with Maud he entred into a Confederacy against her and as Legat called another Council at Westminister in which was read the Pope's Bull in favour of Stephen who was then advanced to the Throne again And the Kingdom being wasted and destroyed with continual Wars the Arch-Bishop this Legat and the Bishops mediate a Peace between Stephen and Henry Duke of Anjou Son to the Empress by which it was agreed that Stephen should adopt Henry his Son who after his death should enjoy the Crown and Stephen quietly to wear it during his Life c. Which Agreement is most fully and clearly related by Matthew of Westminister Rex Stephanus omni horede viduatus praeter solummodo Ducem Henricum recognovit in Conventu Episcoporum aliorum de Regno optimatum quod Dux Henricus jus haereditarium in Regnum Angliae habebat Dux benigne concessit ut Rex Stephanus tota vita sua suum Regnum pacifice possideret Ita tamen confirmatum est quod ipse Rex Episcopi tunc praesentes cum caeteris Regni optimatibus jurarent quod Dux Henricus post mortem Regis si illum superviverct Regnum sine aliqua contradictione obtineret that is King Stephen not having an Heir except only Duke Henry did acknowledge in an Assembly of the Bishops and other Chief Men of the Kingdom That Duke Henry had the Hereditary Right to the Kingdom of England and the Duke kindly granted that King Stephen should during his life peaceably enjoy his Kingdom The Agreement was so confirmed that the King himself and the Bishops then present with the rest of the best Men of the Kingdom sware that Duke Henry after the death of the King if he should out-live him should enjoy the Kingdom without all contradiction This Accord afforded Quiet and Tranquillity both to Henry and the Nation with certain Confidence of enjoying the Kingdom after the death of Stephen which he did But as to his Right and Title it added nothing to that it being Hereditary for he was acknowledged the true Heir by his Adversary Stephen in the presence of the Bishops and the best Men of the Kingdom who all likewise acknowledged it by owning the Accord and swearing to observe it On the 24th of October the Year following King Stephen died and on the 19th of December following Henry was Crowned at Westminster by Theobald Arch-Bishop of Canterbury And Maud the Empress being satisfied with the Enthroning of her Son quitted her Pretensions King Henry the Second dying in France July 7. 1189 his eldest Son and Heir Richard was by Walter Arch-Bishop of Roven girt with the Sword of the Dukedom of Normandy on the 20th of the same Month in the presence of the Bishops Earls and Barons of Normandy And before his coming into England every Free-man of the whole Kingdom by the Command of his Mother Alienor sware Fealty to Richard King of England Son of King Henry as to their Liege Lord against all Men. Afterwards coming to London Congregatis ibi Archiepiscopis Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus copiosa Militum multitudine in occursum ejus quorum Consilio assensu ipse Dux 3. Nonas Septembris Consecratus Coronatus est apud Westmonasterium in Regem Angliae a Baldwino Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo c. The Arch-Bishops Bishops Earls Barons and a copious multitude of Knights met him by whose Advice and Assent the Duke was Crowned King of England by Baldwin Arch-Bishop of Canterbury many other Bishops there named assisting Et omnibus fere Abbatibus Prioribus Comitibus Baronibus Angliae astantibus Almost all the Abbots Priors Earls and Barons of England being Spectators Ralph de Diceto then Dean of St. Paul's London who in the Vacancy of that Church and Bishoprick supplied the Office of the Bishop at King Richard's Coronation hath this passage Comes itaque Pictavorum Richardus HAEREDITARIO JURE PRAEMOVENDUS in Ragem post tam Cleri quam Populi solemnem debitam Electionem involutus est triplici Sacramento c. Therefore Richard Earl of Poictou being by Hereditary Right to be made King after the solemn and due Election as well of the Clergy as the Laity sware to three things Scilicet Quod opem impendet pro viribus ut Ecclesia Dei populusque Christianus veram pacem obtinent quod interdicet omnibus Rapacitatem quod in judiciis equitatem praecipiet misericordiam That is to say That he would use his utmost power that the Church of God and Christian People might enjoy true Peace That he would interdict Rapine to all Men That he would command Mercy and Equity to be done in Judgments What can this solemn and due Election signifie here what can it mean further than that Richard being King by Hereditary Right was so owned and recognized by the Clergy and Laity John in his Brother Richard's Life-time had a mind to be King and taking advantage or his Absence in the Holy Land and his Imprisonment in Germany practised with the Nobility and Londoners to that purpose The last sware faithful Service to their Lord King Richard and to
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 Duke of York and in the King's Name streightly command them to find all Objections as might he laid against the same in fortifying of the King's Title Who on Monday following on the 20th of October answered that the matter was so high and touched the King's high Estate and Regalio which is above the Law and passed their Learning Wherefore they durst not enter into any Communication of the same for that it permined to the Lords of the King's Blode and th'Apparage of this his Londes and therefore besought all the Lords to have then utterly excused Then the Lords sent for all the King's Serjeants and Attorney and gave them streight Commandment in the King's Name that they sadladly and avisely shuld serch and take all such things as might be best and strongest to be allegged for the King 's Avail in Objection and defeating of the Title and Cleym of the Due They answered that if this matter passed the Lerning of the Justices it must needs exceed their Lerning and also that they durst not enter into any Communication in that matier and prayed and besought all the Lords to have them excused by geveing any Avice or Counsell therein But the Lords would not excuse them and therefore by the in Advice and Assistance it was concluded by all the Lords that the Articles following should be objected agenst the Clayme and Title of the Duc. First It is thought that the Lords of this Lond must needs call to their remembrance the great Oaths the which they have made to the King the which may be leyd to the said Duc of York and that the Lords may not break their Othes Item It is thought also that it is to be called to remembrance the great and notable Acts of Parliament of divers of the King's Progonitors The which Acts be sufficient and reasonable to be leyd agene the Title of the said Due of York The which Acts be of much more Authority than eny Chronicle and also of Authority to defete eny manner of Title made to eny Person Item It is thought that there is to be leyd ayent the Title divers Inteyles made to the Heires Mules of Henry the Foureth as for the Crown of England as it may appear by divers Chronicles and Parliaments Item It is thought to be allegged the Title of the seid Due that the tyme that King Henry the Fourth toke upon him the Corone of England he said he entered and toke upon him the Corone as right Inheritor to King Henry the Third and not as a Conqueror To which Articles the Duke answered First That noe Oath being the Lawe of Man ought to be performed when the same leadeth to suppression of Trueth and Right which is against the Lawe of God To the second and third That in trouth there been noo such Acts and Tayles made by eny Parliament heretofore as it is furmised but only in the seventh yere of King Hen. IV. a certain Act and Ordinance was made in a Parliament by him called wherein he made the Reaums of Englond and France amongst other to be unto him and to the Hetres of his Body comeing and to his four Sons and to the Heires of their Body comeing in manner and fourme as it apperith in the same Act. And if he might have obteyned and rejoysed the Corones c. by Title of Inhaeritance Discenter or Succession He neither needed or would have desired or made thaim to be granted to him in such wyse as be by the said Act which tacketh noo place neither is of eny force or effect ayenst him that is right Inhaeriter of the sayd CORONES as it accordeth with Gods Lawe and all Natural Lowes howe it be that all other Acts and Ordinances made in the seyd Parliament â—â—then been good and sufficient ayenst all other Persons To the fourth That such seyeing of the King Henry the Fourth may in noe wise be true and that the contrary thereof which is trouth shall be largely enough shewed approved and justified by sufficient Autorite and matter of Record and over that his seyd seying was onely to shadowe and cover fraudulently his seyd unrightwyse and violent Vsurpation and by that moyen to abuse disceyveably the People standing about him Upon consideration of this Answer and Claim of the Duke of York it was concluded and agreed by all the Lords That his Title could not be DEFETED and therefore for eschuying the great Inconvenients that may ensue a mean was found to save the Kings Honor and Estate and to appease the said Due IF HE WOULD which was That the King should enjoye the Corone during Life the Duke to be declared the true Heir and to possess it after his Death c. In the first Article of this Agreement or Accord as 't is there called the Title of the Duke of York is set forth and the Judgment of the Parliament given what then was and before had been the Foundation and ground of the Succession to the Crown of England tint is Proximity of Blood The Articles follow so much of them as is pertinent to this matter First Where the seyd Richard Due of Yorke hath declared and opened as above his seyd Title and Cleyme in manner as followeth That the right noble and worthy Prince Herry King of Englond the Third had Issue and leefully gate Edward his first-begotten Son born at Westminster the xv Kalend of Juyle in the Vigil of St. Mart. Marcellian the Yere of our Lord M.CC. XXXIX and Edmund his second goten Son which was born on Seint Marcell day the Yere of our Lord M. CC. XLV The which Edward after the death of the seyd King Herry his Fader entituled and called King Edward the First had Issue Edward his first-begoten Son entituled and called after the decease of the seyd first Edward his Fader King Edward the Second which had Issue and leefully gate the ryght Noble and Honourable Prynce Edward the Third true and undoubted King of Englond and of France and Lord of Ireland Which Edward the Third true and undoubted King of Englond and of France and Lord of Irelond had Issue and leefully gate Edward his first begotten Son Prynce of Wales William Hatfield second begotten Leonell third-begoten Duc of Clarence John of Gaunt fourth-begotten Duc of Lancaster Edmund Langley fifth begoten Duc of Yorke Thomas Woodstock sixth-begoten Duc of Gloucester and William Wyndesore the seventh-begotten The seyd Edward Prynce of Wales which dyed in the lyfe of the seyd Edward King had Issue and leefully gate Richard the which succeeded the same Edward King his Grandfather in Royal Dignity entituled and called king Richard the Second and dyed without Issue William Hatfield the second-goten Son of the seyd Edward King dyed without Issue Leonell the third-goten Son of the same king Edward had Issue and leefully gate Philippa his oonly Daughter and Heir which by the Sacrament of Matrymony copled unto
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
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
acceptabant ipsumque Comitem in Regem eligentes assumentes exclamant dicentes vivat Rex Interrogatus autem postea Archiepiscopus Hubertus quare haec dixisset respondet ve praesagia mente conjecturare quibusdam Oraculis Edoctum Certificatum fuisse quod ipse Johannes Regnum Coronam Angliae foret aliquando corrupturus in magnam confusionem praecipitaturus ne haberet liberas habenas hoc faciendi ipsum electione non successione haereditaria Elegi debere affirmabat That is The Arch-Bishops Bishops Earls and Barons and all others Officers probably required to be there which ought to be present at his Coronation meeting at London The Arch Bishop standing in the middle of them said Hear all of you your Discretion shall know that no Man hath Right to succeed in the Kingdom unless after seeking God he be unanimously chosen by the University of the Kingdom that is those that are here said to meet at London And according to the Eminency of his Endowments pre-elected according the Example and Similitude of Saul the first anointed King whom God set over his People not the Son of a King or of the Royal Line likewise after him David the Son of Jesse This because stout and fit for Royal Dignity the other because holy and humble That so he which exceeded all Men of the Kingdom in Strength or Prowess should be set over all in Power and Government but if an of the Progeny of the dead King did excell others they ought more readily to consent to the Election of him These things we have therefore said in the behalf of the famous Earl John who is here present the Brother of our most illustrious dead King Richard that died without Issue of his Body who is Provident Stout and manifestly Noble whom we having invoked the Grace of the Holy Spirit have all of us unanimously chosen Nor dare any others so much as doubt of these things knowing the Arch-Bishop had not thus decreed this Matter without Cause But Earl John and all there acquiesced in what he had said and chusing or acknowledging and receiving him for their King shouted saying Let the King live But Arch-Bishop Hubert being asked afterward why he said these things answered that he guessed and was taught and ascertained by certain Oracles that John would bring the Kingdom and Crown into great Confusion And therefore lest he might have too much Liberty in doing it he affirmed he ought to come in by Election and not by Hereditary Succession and so was Crowned as before rehearsed This Learned Doctrine and Preachment of the Arch-Bishop asserts not any Right of Election in the Convention of Bishops Earls Barons and others required to be at the Coronation but by his own Answer when he was asked why he said these things it clearly discovers a Design only and Artifice in the Arch-Bishop to cause them to set up and make John King In which also he denies any such Right of Election Hoveden hath none of nor doth mention this Harangue and therefore it seems rather to be an invention of Matthew Paris than a Sermon of the Arch-Bishop Historians commonly make Speeches for other Men they write of Brompton takes no notice of it all he says is that Johannes Lundoniam veniens in Festo ascensionis Domini VI. Kalend Junii Anno Dom. 1199. ab Huberto Contuariensi Archiepiscopo in Ecclesia B. Petri Westmonasterii inungitur in Regem Angliae coronatur assistente Prelatorum Comitum Baronum aliorum Nobilium multitudine infinita John coming to London on Ascension-Day the 27th of June 1199. was Anointed and Crowned king of England By Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in St. Peter's Church in Westminster an infinite multitude of Bishops Earls Barons and other Noble men assisting him Not one word here or in Hovedon or Paris of the ordinary People And this Doctrine of the Arch-Bishop concerning the Election of Kings if meant according to the Modern Understanding of it was then new for Gervase a Monk of Canterbury in the Year 1122. speaking of the Coronation of Henry the First says It was manifest and known almost to all Men than the Kings of England were only obliged and bound to God for the Possession of the Kingdom and to the Church of Canterbury for their Coronation Manifestum est autem omnibus sere notur Reges Angliae soli Deo obligari teneri exipsius regni adeptione ECclesiae Canturiensi ex Coronatione King John doth say in a Charter dated the first Year of his Reign that he came to the Crown Jure haereditario mediante tam Cleriquam populi unanimi consensu favore By Right of Inheritance and by unanimous Consent and Favour as well of the Clergy as Laity This unanimous Consent of the Clergy and Laity was rather their Acknowledgment and Submission than any thing else for according to Hoveden's Relation of his coming to the Crown which is the most exact extant They submitted and swore Fealty to him against all Men before he came into England some time before his Coronation Nor could it be true that he had an Hereditary Right for Arthur Duke of Britain Son and Heir to his elder Brother Jeffrey and his Sister Eleanor was then living unless ho had regard to the Donation of his brother Richard and so esteemed himself a Testamentary Heir After the death of King John Henry the Third his eldest Son and Heir by the Assistance of the Loyal Barons was Crowned King notwithstanding the Barons which had made War against King John when they were reduced to great Streights called out of France Lewes the King's Son to whom they with the Londoners sware Fealty and advanced him to the Throne and adhered to him against their own Prince until by Force they were reduced and he driven out of the Kingdom This Treasonable calling in of Lewes some that are pertinacious in the fancy of Election will have it to be one Indeed King Henry the Third at this time had no good Hereditary Title and therefore Johannes ex hac vita transmigravit Henricum primogenitum suum regni constituens haeredem And this Donation of his Father or his making him his Heir was his best Title for until that Eleanor the Daughter of his Uncle Jeffrey died in the twenty fifth Year of his Reign he was not true Heir by Right of Blood Obiit Eleanora saith Matthew Paris filia Galfridi Comitis Britanniae in clausura diuturna carceris sub arcta custodia reservata fol. 574. n. 40. 25 H. 3. Anno Dom. 1241. To Henry the Third succeeded his eldest Son Edward the First though the Lancastrians said his second Son Edmund commonly called Crouch-Back was the eldest and laid aside for his deformity on whose Person was originally founded the great Contention between the two Royal Houses of York and Lancaster But that he was really the eldest there can be no pretence
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
State and Subjects of the Realm which thing all dutiful faithful and loving Subjects ought and will with all careful Study and Zeal consider foresee and provide for By the neglecting and passing over whereof with winking Eyes there might happen to grow the Subversion and Ruine of the Quiet and most happy State and present Government of this Realm which God defend Therefore it was Enacted Declared and Established That if any Person or Persons whatsoever within the Realm or without should compass imagine invent devise or intend the Death or Destruction or any Bodily harm tending to Death Destruction Maym or Wounding of the Person of Queen Elizabeth or to Deprive or Depose her of or from the Stile Honour or Kingly Name c. or to levy War against her Majestie within the Realm or without or to move or stir any Forreigners or Strangers with Force to Invade this Realm or if any Person of Persons whatsoever shall maliciously and advisedly declare and publish That Queen Elizabeth during her Life is not or ought not to be Queen of England c. or That any other Person or Persons ought of Right to be King or Queen of the said Realm or That shall maliciously and advisedly set forth and affirm That Queen Elizabeth is an Heretick Schismatick Tyrant Infidel or Vsurper That then all and every such said Offence and Offences shall be taken deemed and declared by the Authority of this Act and Parliament to be High Treason And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and every Person and Persons of what Degree Condition Place Nation or Estate whatsoever they be which shall at any time in the Life of Queen Elizabeth in any wiâ—e claim pretendi utter declare affirm or publish themselves or any of them or any other than Queen Elizabeth to have Right or Title to have and enjoy the Crown of England during or in her life-Life-time or shall usurp the same Crown or Royal Style Title and Dignity during or in her Life-time or shall hold and affirm That she had not Right to hold and enjoy the said Crown or shall not after demand effectually acknowledge her to be in Right true and lawful Queen They and every of them so offending shall be utterly disabled during their Natural Lives onely to have or enjoy the Crown or Realm of England or the Style Title or Dignity thereof at any time in Succession Inheritance or otherwise after the Decease of the Queen as if such Person were naturally dead Any Law Custom Pretence or Matter whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding And be it further Enacted That if any Person shall during the Queens Majesties Life maintain hold and affirm any Right in Succession Inheritance or Possibility in or to the Crown or Realm of England or the Rights thereof to be in any such Claimer Pretender Vtterer Declarer Affirmer Vsurper Publisher or Not-acknowledger shall be a High Traytor and suffer and forfeit as in Cases of High Treason And for the Confirmation and making good what had in this Law been hitherto Enacted as much as might be it was further Enacted That if any Person should in any wise hold and affirm or maintain That the Common Laws of this Realm not altered by Parliament ought not to direct the Right of the Crown of England or That our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth with and by Authority of the Parliament of England is not able to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof or That this present Statute or any part thereof or any other Statute to be made by the Authority of the Parliament of England with the Royal Assent of the Queen for Limitting of the Crown or any Statute for Recognizing the Right of the said Crown and Realm to be justly and lawfully in the most Royal Person of the Queen is not are not or shall not or ought not to be for ever of good and sufficient force and validity to bind limit restrain and govern all Persons their Rights and Titles that in any wise may or might claim any Interest or Possibility in or to the Crown of England in Possession Remainder Inheritance Succession or otherwise howsoever Every such Person so holding affirming or mainteining during the Life of the Queens Majesty shall be judged a High Traytor c. And every Person so holding affirming and mainteining after the Decease of the Queen shall forfeit all his Goods and Chattels This Statute was a peculiar Law made for the Preservation of Queen Elizabeths Person and Title and this last Enacting Clause and Paragraph was made to strengthen and confirm the former part of the Statute which was a Provision and Security against such Pretences and Practices as were ennumerated in the preceding Historical Account And if we consider how much if not altogether her Title to the Crown depended upon Statute-Law and how Questionable her Birth-right was generally reputed to be no man can much wonder if for her own advantage and safety she attributed more to an Act of Parliament than otherwise she would have done She was necessitated to take this course to establish her self against the Pretences of the Queen of Scots when her Birth-right could not do it it being very doubtful whether she was Legitimate considering the Proceedings in the Divorce of Queen Katherine Marriage of her Mother and her Mothers Confession to Archbishop Cranmer when the Statute was made for the declaring the Marriage null and void between Henry the Eighth and Anne Bolein by which Statute she was also solemnly Bastardized And although Queen Elizabeth at the entrance upon her Government was acknowledged to be rightly lineally and lawfully Descended from the Blood Royal of this Realm which if true had been a sufficient Title She being then the only remaining Issue of Henry the Eighth yet her right was recognized as depending upon the Lawes and Statutes of the Realm and by express mention of and reference to the Thirty fifth of Henry the eighth by which Statute the Crown was settled upon her and the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten in several places whereof she is by the King her Father implicitly reputed and declared illegitimate and the settlement in that Act is made to her as not being lawfully begotten or having right to inherit In the first of her Reign before cited when the Crown was declared to be vested in her and that Declaration and Recognition as also the Limitation and Declaration of the Succession of the Imperial Crown of this Realm mentioned and conteined in the Act of 35 Hen. 8. were to stand remain and be the Law of this Land for ever Which notwithstanding when Mary Queen of Scots had claimed the Crown by right of Inheritance and had spread abroad that Title unto it and also the Title of the House of Suffolk and other
and that her Majesty minded not by any Implication or drawing of Words to have the Scotish Queen either inabled or disinabled to or from any manner of Title to the Crown of England and willed That the Bill be drawn and penned by her Learned Counsel before the same be treated of in the House and that in the mean time of bringing in of that Bill the House enter not into any Speeches or Arguments of that Matter With the Journal agrees a Passage in the Lord Burleigh's Letter to Sir Francis Walsingham the Queens Embassador in France July 2. 1572. two days after the Parliament was Prorogued Now for our Parliament I cannot write patiently All that we laboured for and had with full Consent brought to fashion I mean a Law to make the Scotish Queen unable and unworthy of Succession of the Crown was by her Majesty neither assented to nor rejected but deferred until the Feast of All Saints But what all other good and wise Men may think thereof you may guess Some here have it seemeth abused their Favour about her Majesty to make her self her most Enemy God amend them I will not write to you who were suspected I am sorry for them and so would you also if you thought the suspicion to be true Your assured Loving Friend Will. Burleigh This Parliament did not meet again until the Eighth of February in the Eighteenth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth unless there be any better Authority than Mr. Pulton's in his Statutes to make it appear that it did And although there never was greater fear and danger of the Introduction of Popery and Arbitrary Power by reason of the Queen of Scots Religion her Pretences and Practices and the expectation of great Assistance from abroad and at home than at this time yet we find not those that were suspected to have advised the Queen this great Affair to have been branded by Publick Vote as Betrayers of the Queen the Protestant Religion and the Kingdom of England Promoters of the Scottish Interest and Pensioners to Scotland This is a faithful Relation of the Succession Whether I have fairly or partially cited the Records and Histories I have used any Man if he please may inform himself Whether it be expedient just or lawful to go about to interrupt the lawful Succession by Birth-right or to endeavour to break or vacate the Laws and Customs of the Nation by which it is Established and Governed without any Motion Sollicitation Procurement or Intention of the present true and lawful King by Birth-right for and upon the Suggestions in the Bill mentioned I leave to the Consideration of Wiser Men than my self In smaller Matters than this it was said Nolumus Leges Angliae mutare A Paralel or Comparison between some Citations in the Author of the Brief History of Succession c. And the Words of the Authors themselves Author of the Brief Hist fol. 1. in the Margin EDwardum Elegerunt Electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt Sim. Dunelm An. 975. f. 160. Fol. 3. in the Margin Hic Robertus semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario consensu Consilio totius Comunitatis Regni ipsum refutaverunt pre Rege omnino recusaverunt Henricum fratrem in Regem erexerunt Hen. de Knighton c. 8. 2374. Fol. 4. In the Notes in the middle of the Folio In Conventu Episcoporium aliorum de Regno optimatum Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. Fol. 4. In the Margin Convenerunt interim die Statuto ex Mandato Regis ad Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones Vice-Comites Praepositi Aldermanni cum Fidejussoribus Gervas Hen. 2 fol. 1412. And fol. 4. in the Body of his History says This was a Parliament in which Henry the Second procured his Son Henry to he declared King together with himself by their consent Brief History fol. 5. in the Margin Post tam Cleri quam Populi solennem debitam electionem Rad. de Diceto fol. 647. Ibid. f. 5. In the Body of the History King John applies himself to the People for a more sure Title d who being summoned together chose him King Ibid. in the Margin d Praelatorum Comitum aliorum Nobilium infinita a multitudine Brompt 1281. Fol. 10. in the Body of the History Please it your Grace to understand the Consideration Election and Petition of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons c. Cot. Rec. fol. 709. This is all considerable which he cites out of this Record Fol. 11. in the Body of the History In the 25th Year of Henry the Eighth an Act passed wherein the Parliament in the Preamble say They were BOUNDEN to provide for the perfect Surety of the Succession They did not certainly reckon themselves bound to do a thing that was not in their Power Stat. 25 H. 8. c. 22. Sim. Dunelm Anno 975. col 160. n. 40. EDwardum UT PATER SUUS PRAECEPERAT Elegerunt Electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt Hen. de Knighton col 2374. c. 8. n. 10. Iste Robertus semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario Consensu Consilio totius Comunitatis Regni IMPOSUERUNT EI ILLEGITIMITATEM QUOD NON FUERAT PROCREATUS DE LEGITIMO THORO WILLIELMI CONQUESTORIS UNDE UNANIMI ASSENSU SUO ipsum refutaverunt pro Rege omnino recusaverunt Henricum fratrem ejus in Regem erexerunt Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. n. 10. Rex Stephanus omni haerede viduatus praeter solumodo Henricum Ducem recognovit in Conventu Episcoporum aliorum de Regno optimatum Quod Dux Henricus jus haereditarium in Regnum Angliae habebat Dux benigne concessit ut Rex Stephanus tota vita sua suum Regnum pacifice possideret Chronica Gervasii col 1412. lin 4. Convenerunt interim die Statuto ex Mandato Regis ad Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones Vice-Comites praepositi Aldermani cum Fidejussoribus suis timentes valde omnes Quisque juxta conscientiam suam metuebat nesciebunt enim Quid Rex statuere decrevisset ipsa die Henricum filium suum qui eadem septimana de Normannia venerat militem fecit statimque eum stupentibus cunctis mirantibus in Regem ungi praecepit coronari Not one word here or in all this story of this Author of their declaring him King Rad. de Diceto Imagines historiarum col 647. n. 40. Comes Itaque Pictavorum Ricardus HAEREDITARIO JURE PRAEMOVENDUS IN REGEM post tam Cleri quam Populi solempnem debitam electionem c. Chron. Johan Brompt col 1281. n. 40 50. Johannes ab Huberto Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi in Ecclesia B. Petri Westmonasterii INUNGITUR ET IN REGEM ANGLIAE CORONATUR ASSISTENT Prelatorum Comitum BARONUM aliorum Nobilium infinita multitudine Exact Abridgment of Records in the Tower fol 709 710 711