THE HISTORY of the Life and Reigne of RICHARD The Third Composed in five Bookes By GEO BUCK Esquire Honorandus est qui injuriam non fecit sed qui alios eam facere non patitur duplici Honore dignus est Plato de legibus Lib. 5. Qui non repellit a proximo injuriam si potest tam est in vitio quam ille qui infert D. Ambros. offic Lib. 3. LONDON Printed by W. Wilson and are to be sold by VV. L. H. M. and D. P. 1647. The true Portraiture of Richard Plantagenest of England and of France King Lord of Ireland the third King Richard TO THE FAVOVRABLE ACCEPTANCE Of the Right Honourable PHILIP Earle of Pembrooke and Mountgomery c. Sir HAving collected these papers out of their dust I was bold to hope there might be somthing in them of a better fate if mine obscure pen darken not that too Please your Lordshipp to let your name make them another witnesse of your noblenesse it may redeeme and improve them to a clearer opinion and acknowlegedment of these times in which I am to meet every Critick at his owne weapon who will challenge the Book at the very Title The Malicious and Malevolent with their blotted Coments the Captious Incredulous with their jealous praecisianâ—sines whose inclinations shewes them of envious perplexed natures to looke at other mens actions and memory by the wrong end of the perspective and me thinks I fancy them to our shaddowes which at noone creepe behind like Dwarfes atevening stalke by like Gyants they will haunte the noblest merits and endeavors to their Sun-set then they monster it but to the Common-rout they are another kind of Genius or ignis fatuus leades them into darke strange wanderings there they stick for to perswade the opinionated vulgar out of their ignorant selves is of as high a beliefe to me as to transpeciate a Beast into a man I therefore shall crave favour to protest these papers beyond their Censure and humour But to those they are wished I hope their weak accesses may be the more pardonable since they are the kindlings and scintillations of a modest Ambition to truth and gratitude which gives me the encouragement to assure your Lordship that if mine Authors be sincere and faithfull my penis free and innocent having learned that a story as it ought must be a just perspicuous Narration of things memorable spoken and don The Historiographer veritable free from all Prosopolepsyes or partiall respects and surely his pen should tast with a great deal of Conscience for there is nothing leaves so an infected a sting or scandall as History it rankles to all posterity wounds our good names to all memory places by an Authentick kind of preiudice I am with his opinion in his excellent Religio Medici who holds it an offence to Charity and as bloody a thought one way as Nero's in another My Lord under these humble addresses this sues to your honoured hand Presented by the unfained wishes of your Honours avowed and humble Servant GEO BUCK The ARGUMENT and CONTENTS of the First Booke The Linage Family Birth Education and Tirociny of King Richard the third THe Royall house of Plantagenest and the beginning of that name What Sobriquets were The antiquity of Sirnames Richard is created Duke of Gloucester his marriage and his issue His martiall imployments His Iourney into Scotland and recovery of Barwick The death of King Edward the 4 th The Duke of Gloucester made Lord Protector and soone after King of England by importunate suite of his Barons and of the People as the next true and lawfull heire Henry Teudor Earle of Richmond practiseth against the King He is conveyed into France The Noble Linage of Sir William Herbert his Imployment He is made Earle of Pembrooke King Edward the 4 th first and after King Richard sollicite the Duke of Brittaine and treat with him for the delivery of the young Earle of Richmond his Prisoner The successe of that businesse The quality and title of the Beauforts or Sommersets The Linage and Family of the Earle of Richmond The solemne Coronations of King Richard and of the Queene his wife his first at Westminster the second at Yorke Nobles Knights and Officers made by him Prince Edward his Son invested in the Principallity of Wales and the Oath of Allegeance made to him King Richard demandeth the Tribute of France His Progresse to Yorke His carefull charge given to the Iudges and Magistrates He holdeth a Parliament wherein the marriage of the King his Brother with the Lady Gray is declared and adjudged unlawfull their children to be illegitimate and not capable of the Crowne The Earle of Richmond and divers others attainted of Treason Many good Laws made The K. declared and approved by Parliament to be the only true and lawfull heire of the Crowne The King and Queene dowager are reconciled He hath secret advertisemeÌ„ts of Innovations and practises against him Createth a vice-Constable of England His sundry treaties with Forraigne Princes Doctor Morton corrupteth the Duke of Buckingham who becometh discontent demanding the Earledome of Hereford with the great Constableship of England He taketh Armes is defeated and put to death by marshall Law THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE HISTORY OF RICHARD THE THIRD OF ENGLAND AND OF FRANCE KING AND LORD OF IRELAND RIchard Plantagenet Duke of Glocester and King of England and of France and Lord of Ireland the third of that name was the younger sonne of Sir Richard Plantagenet the fourth Duke of Yorke of that Royall Family and King of England designate by King Henry the sixth and by the most noble Senate and universall Synod of this Kingdome the High Court of Parliament The Mother of this Richard Duke of Glocester was the Lady Cecily Daughter of Sir Ralph de Neville Earle of Westmerland by his wife Ioane de Beaufort the naturall Daughter of Iohn Plantagenet alias de Gaunt Duke of Guiene and Lancaster King of Castile and Leon third Sonne of King Edward the third for in that order this Duke is best accounted because William of Hatfield the second Sonne of King Edward the third dyed in his infancy and this Duke of Yorke and King designate was propagated from two younger sonnes of the same King Edward the third whereby he had both Paternall and Maternall Title to the Crowne of England and France But his better and nearer Title was the Maternall Title or that which came to him by his Mother the Lady Anne de Mortimer the Daughter and heire of Phillippa Plantagenet who was the sole Daughter and heire of Lyonell Plantagenet Duke of Clarence and second Sonne of King Edward the third according to the account and order aforesaid And this Lady Phillip was the Wife of Sir Edmond de Mortimer the great and famous Earle of March and that Duke Richard King designate by his Father Richard Plantagenet Duke of York sirnamed also de Conningsbâ—rrough issued directly and in a
to apply Sir Thomas Moore something above his ability which he exprest most in his hospitality And surely if men are taken to the life best from their actions we shall find him in the circle of a Character not so commaculate and mixt as passionate and purblinde pens have dasht it whilst we squint not at those vertues in him which make up other Princes absolute His wisedome and courage had not then their nicknames and calumny as now but drew the eyes and acknowledgment of the whole Kingdome towards him and his brother had a sound experience of his fidelity and constancy in divers hazardous congresses and battels through which he had faithfully followed his fortune and return'd all his undertakings successefull as at Barnet where he entred so farre and boldly into the Enemies Army that two of his Esquires Thomas Parr and Iohn Milwater being nearest to him were slaine yet by his owne valour he quit himselfe and put most part of the Enemies to flight the rest to the sword With the like valour he behaved himselfe at the battell of Exon Doncaster St Albans Blore-heath Northampton Mortimers Crosse and Tewkesbury And it was then confest a very considerable service to the State his taking of the famous Pyrate Thomas Nevill alias Faulkonbridge Earle of Kent with whom complyed Sir Richard de Nevill Earle of Warwicke a neare kinsman to the Earle of Kent his naturall Father which â—â—â—d him up in the better esteeme and whetted him to any Attempt â—or this haughty Earle who had drawne him from the House of Yorke to which he had done valiant service not long before to the party of Henry 6. and his Lancastrian faction and fearing what forces and aid King Edward might have from beyond Sea provides a warlike Fleet for the narrow Seas of which this Faulconbridge was appointed Admirall with Commission to take or sinke all Ships he met either of the Kings friends or Subjects who did not under act it but made many depredations on the Coasts and put many to the Sword becoming an Enemy the more considerable King Edward finding as the case stood then with him his Attemps by Sea would be of too weake a proofe to surprise him which the Duke of Gloucester contrived by an advertisement he had of his private stealth into severall of the parts sometimes where he had recourse to some abetters of that Faction and comming too shore at Southampton by a ready Ambush seized and apprehended him from whence he was conveyed to London so to Middleham Castle and after he had told some Tales put to death And whilst he continued in the Northern parts he governed those Countries with great Wisdome and Justice preserving the Concord and Amity betweene the Scots and English though the breaches were not to be made up with any strength and continuance the borders living out of mutuall spoyles and common Rapines ever prompt for any cause that might beget braules and seâ—ds And in the last yeare of the Reigne of the King his brother the Quarrels grew so outragious and hostile that nothing could compose them but the Sword and open War arising from an unjust detaining the Tribute King Iames was yearly bound to pay as Polidore thus writeth King Edward tooke it very ill at the hands of Iames fourth King of Scotland that he refused to pay the Tribute whereunto he was bound by Convenant And therefore resolved by Armes to compell him to it But King Edward being distracted with a jealous care and watching of France neglected that businesse of Scotland and in the meane time Alexander Duke of Albany Brother to King Iames pretending earnest businesse in France makes England in his way and instigates King Edward to put on Armes against his Brother promising to returne shortly out of France and raise a power in Scotland for his aide Hereupon the King resolved it and sent the Duke of Glocester with a good Armie into Scotland who marched master of the field neare to Barwicke having a little before sent thither Thomas Stanley to besiege it and soone after tooke it himselfe But the Duke of Albany failed him and had underhand strooke up a peace with his Brother of Scotland yet Richard of Gloucester accomplished the expedition very honourably and happily Thus Polidore But to enlarge what he reporteth desertively and abridgeth King Edward notwithstanding that negligence noted by him levied strong forces the King of Scotland being as vigilant in that businesse and made the Duke of Glocester his Generall under whom went Sir Henry Peircy Earle of Northumberland the Lord Stanley after Earle of Derby the Lord Lovell the Lord Gray of Grestocke the Lord Scroope of Bolton the Lord Fitzhugh Sir William Parre of Rose a noble and valiant Gentleman Father of the Lord Parr of Rose Kendall and Fitzhugh and Grandfather to Sir William Parr Earle of Essex and Marquesse of Northampton Sir Edward Woodville Lord Rivers Brother to the Queene Elizabeth with many other of Eminency and Noble quality The Duke marched first with his Armie to the borders and frontieres of Scotland giving the overthrow to such as resisted then made up to the strong Towne of Barwicke which at that instant the King of Scotland possessed by the surrender of Henry 6 and had the like successe with those Troopes of the Enemies he met and found about the Towne After a short siege the besieged upon Summons and Parlee finding themselves too weake to make good the opposition were easily perswaded to be at quiet and safely rendring the Towne and Castle vpon very slender conditions as is recorded in the Chronicle of Croyland Having plac't a Governour and Garrison in the Towne he continued his march towards Edenborough with a purpose to besiege and sacke it but was met in the halfe way by Embassadours from thence who after a favourable audience and accesse craved in the name of their King and Nation implore a League or at least a Truce betweene the Kingdomes offering so faire conditions for it that the Generall after a deliberate consultation granted to suspend or intermit all hostile proceedings with a faire entertainement to their persons and a publike Edict throughout the Army that no English should offer any violence or offence to any Scot or their goods and by this provident truce that ruddy storme which seemed terrible to impend was diverted and made a calme preface to the famous League afterward concluded by him when he was K. and Iames the 4 th of Scotland But whilst these imployments staid him there newes arrived of King Edwards death and was muttered very doubtfully by some who had confidence and ground to suppose it hastened by treachery The Nobles at London and in the South parts speedily call the Duke home by their private letters and free approbation to assume the Protection of the Kingdome and two Princes committed unto him by the King Rex Edwardus 4. filios suos Richardo Duci Glocestriae
terra cujus Rex est Puer But here Sir there is exception of further consequence against them That they were not borne in lawfull Marriage the King having than another Wife living Dame Elizabeth Butler Besides the great dishonour and reproach he received by disparaging his Royall bloud with a woman so far unmeet for his bed These Considerations have resolutely turned all their eyes and Election towards your Grace as only worthy of it by your singular vertues and that interest in the Crownes of England and of France with the Rights and Titles by the high Authority of Parliament entailed to the Royall bloud and issue of Richard Duke of Yorke whose lawfull begotten Sonne and heire you are which by a just course of inheritance and the Common Lawes of this Land is divolv'd and come to you And unwilling that any inferiour Bloud should have the Dominion of this Land are fully determined to make your Grace King to which with all willingnesse and alacrity the Lords and people of the Northerne parts concurre And the Maior Aldermen and Commons of this City of London have all allowed and gladly embraced this generall Choice of your Grace and are come hither to beseech you to accept their just Election of which they have chosen me their unworthy Advocate and Speaker I must therefore againe crave leave in the behalfe of all to desire your Grace will be pleased in your noble and gracious zeale to the good of this Realme to cast your eyes upon the growing distresses and decay of our Estate and to set your happy hand to the redresse thereof for which we can conceive no abler remedy then by your undertaking the Crowne and Government which we doubt not shall accrew to the laud of God the profit of this Land and your Graces happinesse This speech of the Duke is recorded by Doctor Morton Sir Thomas Moore and other Chronicles and Historians to which the Protector gave this reply MY most noble Lords and my most loving friends and deare Country-men Albeit I must confesse your request most respective and favourable and the points and necessities alledged and urged true and certaine yet for the entire love and reverend respect I owe to my Brother deceased and to his Children my Princely Couzens you must give me leave more to regard mine honour and fame in other Realmes for where the truth and certaine proceedings herein are not knowne it may be thought an ambition in me to seeke what you voluntarily proffer which would charge so deep a reproach and staine upon my honour and sincerity that I would not beare for the worlds Diademe Besides you must not thinke me ignorant for I have well observed it there is more difficulty in the Government of a Kingdome then pleasure especially to that Prince who would use his Authority and Office as he ought I must therefore desire that this and my unfained Protestations may assure you the Crowne was never my ayme nor suits my desire with yours in this yet I shall thinke my selfe much beholding unto you all in this Election of me and that hearty love I find you beare me and here protest that for your sakes it shall be all one whether I be your King or no for I will serve my Nephew faithfully and carefully with my best counsels and endeavours to defend and preserve him and this Kingdome nor shall there want readinesse in me to attempt the recovery of that hereditary right in France which belongs to the Kings of England though of late negligently and unhappily lost There the Protector became silent and thought it not safe in his discretion or policy to open all the disgusts he had of the Soveraignty for that would have been matter of Exprobation of the Barons and toucht too neare the quicke though he had well observed by sundry experiences of the leading times and moderne too the inconstant ebbing and flowing of their dispositions how variable and apt they were to take up any occasion of change pursuing their Kings if once stirr'd so implacably that many times they never left without death or deposing Examples he had in the Raignes of King Edward his Brother and Henry the sixth not long before that in the time of Richard the second and his Grandfather Edward the second more anciently the extreame troubles and distresse of King Iohn and Henry the third all by the Barons being dreadfull warnings and insolent monuments of their haughtinesse and Levitie and this was Altamente repostum with the wise Prince But the Duke of Buckingham thinking the Protector set too slight a consideration upon so great a Concernment and the affection tender'd by himselfe and the Nobilitie and over hearing something he privately spake to the Lord Maior and Recorder tending to his mislike for an Epilogue or close to his former Oration he thus freely addes SIR I must now by the Priviledge of this Imployment and in the behalfe of those and my Countrey adde so much freedome unto my dutie as to tell your Grace It is immoveably resolved by the Barons and people that the Children of King Edward shall not Reigne over them Your Grace hath heard some causes nor need I intimate how these Estates have entred and proceeded so offensively to other men and so dangerously to themselves as is now too late to recall or retire And therefore they have fixt this Election upon you whom they thinke mostable and carefull for their safetie But if neither the generall good the earnest Petitions of the Nobility and Commonalty can move you wee most humbly desire your Answer and leave to Elect some other that may be worthy of the Imperiall Charge in which wee hope wee shall not incurre your displeasure considering the desperate necessitie of our welfare and Kingdome urges it And this is our last Suit and Petition to your Grace The Protector toucht by this round and braving farewell which made him very sensible For as Sir Thomas Moore disertly confesseth the Protector was so much moved with these words that otherwise of likelyhood he would never have inclined to their Suit And saith That when he saw there was no remedy but he must either at that instant take the Crowne or both he and his heires irrecoverably let it passe to another paradventure one that might prove an Enemy to him and his especially if Richmont stept in betwixt whom and this Prince the hatred was equally extreame Therefore it behoved the Protector to Collect himselfe and fixing his Consideration upon the effect of that necessitie they last urged gave this Reply MY most Noble good Lords and most loving and faithfull friends the better sense of your loves and most eminent inconveniencies insinuated by your Noble Speaker hath made me more serious to apprehend the benefit of your proffer and Election And I must confesse in the meditation thereof I find an alteration in my selfe not without some distraction when I consider all the Realme so bent
against the Sonnes of King Edward And therefore being certaine there is no man to whom the Crowne by just Title can be so due as to our selfe the rightfull Sonne and Heire of our most deare and Princely Father Richard Duke of Yorke to which Title of blood and nature your favours have joyned this of Election wherein wee hold our selfe to be most strong and safe And having the lawfull power of both why should I endure my professed Enemy to â—surpemy right and become a Vassall to my envious Subject The necessitie of these causes as admitting no other remedy urges me to accept your offer and according to your request and our owne right we here assume the Regall Praeheminence of the two Kingdoms England and France from this day forward by us and our heires to Govern and defend the one and by Gods grace and your good aydes to recover and establish the other to the Ancient Allegeance of England desiring of God to live no longer then wee intend and endeavour the advancement and flourishing Estate of this Kingdome at which they all cry'd God save King Richard And thus he became King But yet his Detractors stick not to slander and accuse all that was said or done in these proceedings of State for meer dissimulation by which justice they may as well censure At siâ— Reverentia dictum all the Barons worthy and grave Commons which had their Votes therein which would fall a most impudent and intolerable Scandall upon all the High Court of Parliament for in short time after all that was alledged and acted in that Treatie and Colloquy was approved and ratified by the Court of Parliament so that their Cavills onely discover an extreame malice and envy For it was not possible therefore not credible he could upon such an instant as it were by any practice attaine to that power and credit with all the Barons Spirituall and Temporall and Commons to procure and perswade them from the Sonnes of King Edward so unanimously to become his Subjects and put the Crowne upon his head with such Solemnitie and publicke Ceremonies Whilst those matters had their current the Northerne Gentlemen and his Southerne Friends joyned in a Bill Supplicatory to the Lords Spirituall and Temporall earnestly expressing their desires for the Election of the Lord Protector with the former causes urged Also that the blood of the young Earle of Warwicke was attainted and his Title confiscate by Parliament This Bill was delivered to the Lords Assembled in the great hall at Westminster the Lord Protector sitting in the Chaire of Marble amongst them upon the 26 of June some six or seven dayes after he was Proclaimed the tenor of the Bill was thus written in the Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland PRotector eodem die quo Regimen sub titulo regii nominis sibi vendicarit viz 26 o die Iunii Anno Dom. 1483. se apud Magnam Aulam Westmonasterii in Cathedram Marmoream Immisit tum mox omnibus proceribus tam Laicis quam Ecclesiasticis Caeteris assidentibus astantibus c. ostendebatur rotulus quidam in quo per modum supplicationis in nomine procerum populi Borealis exhibita sunt Primum quod silii Regis Edwardi erant Bastardi supponendo illum praecontraxisse matrimonium cum quadam Domina Elianora Boteler antequam Reginam Elizabetham duxisset in uxorem deinde quod sanguis alterius Fratris Georgii Scil Clarensiâ— ducis fuisset Attinctus Ita quod nullus certus incorruptus sanguis Linealis ex parte Richardi Ducis Eboraci poterat inveniri nisi in persona Richardi Protectoris Ducis Glocestriae jam eidem Duci suplicabant ut jus suum in Regno Angliae sibi assumeret Coronam acciperet But the Barons were all accorded before this Bill came both sides moving with an equall and contented forwardnesse And in July next following 1483. was Crown'd and receiv'd with as generall Magnificence and Acclamations as any King in England many years before For as a grave man writeth Fuit dignissimus regno c. non inter malos sed bonos principes Commemorandus That he was most worthy to Reigne and to be numbred amongst the good not bad Princes The Queene his Wife was Crowned with him and with no lesse State and Greatnesse Accompanied him from the Tower to Westminster having in their Traine besides the Nobilitie of the South parts foure thousand Gentlemen of the North. Upon the 19. of June 1483. in the 25. yeare of Lewis the French King he was named King of England the morrow Proclaimed and rode with great Solemnitie from London to Westminster where in the seat Royall he gave the Judges of the Land a strickt and religious charge for the just executing of the Lawes then departed towards the Abbey being met at the Church doore with Procession and the Scepter of King Edward delivered to him by the Abbot so Ascended to Saint Edwards Shrine where he offered the Monks in the meane time singing Te Deum From thence he return'd to the Palace where he lodged untill his Coronation Upon the fourth of July he went to the Tower by water with the Queene his Wife and the next day Created Edward his onely Son about ten yeares old Prince of Wales He Invested Sir Iohn Howard who was made Lord Howard and Knight of the Garter 17. Edward 4. in the Dukedome of Norffolke in a favourable admission of the right of the Lady Margaret his Mother Daughter of Sir Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norffolke and an heire generall of the Mowbrayes Dukes of Norffolke and Earles of Surrey descended from the Lord Tho. Plantagenet of Brotherton a younger Sonne of King Edward the first and Earle of Norffolke This King also made him Marshall and Admirall of England he was as rightfully Lord Mowbray Lord Segrave Lord Bruce as Lord Howard as I have seene him Stiled by Royall Warrant in a Commission for Treatie of Truce with Scotland His eldest Sonne Sir Thomas Howard was at the same time Created Earle of Surrey and made Knight of the Garter Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham was made Constable of England for terme of life but he claimed the Office by inheritance Sir Thomas Moore writes That Sir Thomas Howard Executed the Office of Constable that day William Lord Berkley was Created Earle of Nottingham Francis Lovel Viscount Lovel and Chamberlain to the King the Lord Stanley restor'd to liberty and made Steward of the Household Thomas Rotheram Chancellour and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury having beene committed for delivering the Great Seale to the Queene Widow receiv'd to grace and many Knights Addubbed of the old Order and some of the new or habit of the Bath whose names I have set downe to shew what regard was had of their Family and in those times accused of so much Malignity Sir Edward De-la-Poole Sonne to the Duke of Norfolke George Gray Sonne to the Earle of Kent William Souch Sonne to the
concilio soceri persuasus Iethro Solus quod Populi nequijt componere lites Constituit populi praefectos atque tribunos Sic cum me praecelsa premant fastigia Regni Ardua magnarum teneatis muner a rerum Et primùm à vobis pravos secludite motus AEquis Iustitiae trutinis appendite causas Ob paupertatem miseros ne spernite cives Nec vota in cassum fundat pupillus in auras Denique largitio nè vos Corrumpat iniqua c. All things thus in a happy presage and good order the King with the Queene departed from London and makes Windsor the first gift in his Progresse for some few dayes From thence to his Mannor of Woodstock then to the Universitie of Oxford where the Muses Crown'd their browes with fragrant Wreathes for his entertainment Next he visited the circular Citie of Glocester and gave the Citizens for the love and loyaltie they exprest in holding the Castle and Towne so constantly against Queene Margaret and the forces of Henry the sixt for him and his Brother the King large Priviledges and Immunities And here the Duke of Buckingham takes his leave for Brecknock constantly disposed and affected in all outward appearance The King making small stay any where save at Coventry untill he came to the goodly and ancient Citie of Yorke the scope and goale of his Progresse which receiv'd him with all honour and Festivitie and was there the second time Crowned by Dr. Rotheram Arch-Bishop of that Sea in the Cathedrall Church and his Sonne invested in the Principalitie of Wales as the Prior of Croyland reporteth Eodem die quo Richardus Coronatus est Rex in Ecclesia Metropolitana Eboracensi mox filium Edwardum in Principatum Walliae eum insigntis virgae aureae c. evexit Pomposa sumptuosa festa convivia ibi fecit And indeed it was a day of great state for as Polidore saith There was then three Princes in Yorke wearing Crownes the King Queene and Prince In acclamation whereof there was Stage-Playes Turneaments and other Triumphall Sports as Sir Thomas Moore relates At this time the King Knighted Richard of Glocester his base sonne who was after Captaine of Calice and many Gentlemen of those parts But albeit this was an intermission as it were of all busie and serious agitations yet the King still where he travall'd had a just regard to the Administration and Execution of Justice and the more facinerous Malefactors And surely these respective inclinations of his had their solemn affections and desires Naturalized in him witnessed by the scope and integritie of those just Lawes which after followed The Progresse thus spent he returnes to London and having consulted some matters of State declares his first resolution for the Tribute detain'd by France which he had formerly by a friendly Message demanded but now sends stout menaces and threats for it The French would not have it cal'd a Tribute but a Pension as Philip de Comines insinuates though it had beene rays'd and payd to King Edward the fourth in lieu of the Dutchy and Countries of Aquitaine Normandy Poictou and Maine c. whereof the the French had deseis'd the Crowne of England which King Edward the fourth forced Lewis to acknowledge and to Covenant and agree That he his heires and Successors should pay unto the Crowne of England the summe of fiftie thousand Crowns with caution and securitie to be payd in the Citie of London or after Iean Tillet and Iohn Maierus seventy five thousand Crowns to be payd into the Tower with which the French King also granted in the name of Annuall Pension sixteen thousand pounds to some Noblemen and others of speciall credit with the King As to Sir Thomas Gray Marquesse of Dorset William Lord Hastings Chamberlaine to the King Doctor Thomas Rothram Bishop of Lincolne and Lord Chancellour of England Iohn Lord Howard Sir Iohn Cheyney Master of the Horse Sir Thomas Mountgomery Master Challoner and to the Master of the Rowles The chiefest of these had two thousand Crownes apiece per annum Besides which Pensions he gave rich Presents and sent rewards to such Lords as stood most for this accord Eugueraunt de Moustrolet avoucheth that the Lord Howard and the Master of the Horse were the chiefest of the mediators in it his reason is that they were the men most in favour with King Edward Iean Tillet with Philip de Comines tells us the Lord Howard in lesse then two yeares had the value of twentie foure thousand Crownes in Plate Coine and Jewels over and above his Annuall Pension the Lord Hastings at one time to the value of two thousand markes in Plate besides his Pension And if their owne Stories speake truth Richard de Nevil the great Earle of Warwick had of the Kings of France much more then any other English Nobleman which the Chronicle of Brittaine seconds And doubtlesse King Richard had still compel'd him to continue it had not eruptions of State and tumultuary practises fatally deterr'd his Sword For as Kings have vaster limits they have higher bounds then others If our vulgar paths be rugged theirs are slippery and all their mighty resolutions and ambitions have their fate and circle hither they must and no further yet as envious as fortune shew'd her selfe he brought King Lewis to termes of faire promises and mediation for time of payment as Comines obscurely implyes This yeare the King kept a very magnificent Christmas at Westminister and was reconciled to the Queene Dowager who left Sanctuary and to congratulate the Kings favour sent her five daughters to Court where they were received with all Princely kindnesse On the three and twentieth day of January in the first yeare of his Raigne he summon'd a Parliament to be holden at Westminster i◠which after the enacting of many good Lawes the marriages o◠King Edward were debated that with the Lady Gray adjudged unlawfull and her children illegitimate there being proofe of a former Contract and Marriage with the Lady Elianor Talbot daughter of the old Earle of Shrewsbury and Relict of the Lord Butler of Sudely then and long after living and all that had been inferred by the Duke of Buckingham or contained in the Bill supplicatory demonstrated was againe consulted and judgement given against that Marriage and incapacity of the Children also of the Earle of Warwicke and his sister the Lady Elizabeth Plantagenet all decreed and confirmed by Act of Parliament so that here to taxe so generall an Assent were to say there was not one honest nor just man in that High Court and what greater scandall to the whole Kingdome There was likewise notice taken of the Earle of Richmonds pretence to the Crowne by a Title derived from the House of Lancaster who was at that time in France labouring to engage the King and the Duke of Brittaine in the quarrell Oh the infinite windings and perplexed sleepes we labour through to get that we must bid goodnight
complaints made to the King by the Subjects of the King of France and of Denmarke which was well expedited Anno Regni 2. That Treatie of Peace and League with Scotland began before was continued and finished by Commissioners sent from Iames the fourth King of Scotland and by other Commissioners delegate for the King of England those for Scotland were Coli Earl of Argile Chancellor of Scotland N. Bishop of Aberdene the Lord Lisle the Lord Dromonde of Stobhall Master Archibald Quhitlaw Arch-Deacon of Lodion Secretary to the King Lion King at Arms and Duncan of Dundas they came to Nottingham in September Anno Domini 1484 and were honourably receiv'd in the great Chamber of the Castle the King sitting under his Royall Cloth of State Master Archibald Quhitlaw stepping before the rest addrest a very Eloquent Oration unto him in Latine which reflected upon the praise of Martial men Art Military including much to the honour and praise of King Richard This Treatie aimed partly at a Truce and Peace partly at a Marriage betweene Iames the Prince of Scotland and the Lady Anne Daughter of Iohn de la Poole Duke of Suffolke and Neice to King Richard Commissioners for the King of England were Iohn Bishop of Lincolne Richard Bishop of Asaph Iohn Duke of Norfolke Henry Earle of Northumberland Master Iohn Gunthorpe custos privati sigilli Sir Thomas Stanley Lord Stanley Sir N. Lord Strange Sir N. Lord Powis Sir Henry Lord Fitz hugh Sir Humphry Lord Dacres Master Thomas Barrow Master of the Rowles Sir Richard Ratcliff William Catesby and Richard Salkeld The other for the Treatie of Alliance and Marriage were Thomas Arch-Bishop of Yorke Iohn Bishop of Lincolne Iohn Bishop of Worcester Iohn Duke of Norfolke William Earle of Nottingham Iohn Sutton Lord Dudley N. Lord Scroope of Upsall Sir William Hussey Chiefe Justice of the Kings Bench Sir Richard Ratcliffe and William Catesby But the successe of that and many other good intendments were interposed by the inconstancy and contraste of the times The Lady Anne de la Poole upon the the breach thereof resolving to accept no other motion forthwith tooke a religious habit in the Monastery of Sion There was another Treatie of Peace and Truce in this second yeare betweene him and the Duke of Brittaine or at the least given out for peace yet was indeed but a part and pretext of the Treatie for the maine negotiations on the Kings side was how to get the Earle of Richmond out of his custody into his owne or be as well secured of him there as his Brother King Edward was And for this Treatie the chiefe Negotiators were the Bishop of Lincolne and Sir Thomas Hutton for the King the Bishop of Leon and others for the Duke The Treatie began Anno Domini 1484. and was finished and ratified in the yeare following but the Duke violated his part immediately by giving ayde to the Kings Enemies In the same yeare there were Letters made which are yet extant in the Treasury of the Exchequor that moved a Peace and Truce beweene King Richard and Charles the eighth King of France wherein it must be understood the tribute before mentioned was Articled Also in this yeare and the yeare before there was a private Treatie which we must not passe by for the Marriage of the Lady Elizabeth with King Richard himselfe what the successe of it was and how farre it proceeded will more aptly present it selfe in another place Wee are now to take notice of the Duke of Buckinghams revolt for this was the preparative and fourrier of the rest And to give it the more taking feature and specious pretence it must be given out That the cause was the Reformation of an ill Government and Tyranny under which species for Treason is ever fairely palliated and seldome wants the forme of some plea though at the Barre they must take up Armes against the King And here as some Rivers deriv'd from the Sea cannot suddenly loose their taste of saltnesse they discovered their ancient taint and inconstancy which the Prince wisely suspected from the first For the Duke of Buckingham how affably soever he trim'd his countenance it should seeme departed male-content from Court yet made not that generall publick pretended cause of the Kings Crimes all his quarrell but challenged him by some private grudges as denying to give or restore to him the Earledome of Hereford and Constableship of England for they went together a long time which he alledged belonged to the Partage that fell to his great Grand-mother the Lady Anne Daughter and Heire of Thomas Plantagenet alias Woodstock created by King Richard the second Duke of Glocester and Earle of Buckingham and of his Wife Elianor daughter and co-heire of Humphry de Bohun Earle of Hereford and Constable of England Which claime had he considerately look't upon could not rightly revolve to him but rather was for the Kings part For Humphry de Bohun Earle of Hereford of Essex and Northampton Lord of Brecknock and Constable of England in the time of King Edward the third and the last Earle of the Family of the Bohuns had by the Lady Iane his Wife Daughter of Richard Fitz-Allan Earle of Arundel two Daughters and Heires Elianor and Mary Elianor was Married to the same Thomas Plantagenet alias de Woodstock youngest Sonne of King Edward the third Duke of Glocester and Earle of Buckingham Mary the second Daughter was Married to Henry Plantagenet Duke of Lancaster and after King of England by the name of Henry the fourth and the Earledome of Hereford fell to his Wife In favour whereof he was Created Duke of Hereford by King Richard the second and the Earledome now a Dutchy and the rights therof remained in the King and in the Kings Heires and Successors untill the death of King Henry the sixt who dyed without Issue then all the Estate of Lancaster especially that of the Royall Family of Lancaster escheated to King Edward the fourth and from him it came to King Richard as Heire to his Brother and all his Ancestors But the Duke of Buckingham pretended Title to that Earledome by his said Grandmother Anne who was one of the Daughters and Heires of the aforesaid Lady Elianor Wife of Thomas de Woodstock Duke of Glocester and the Wife of Edmond Stafford Earle of Stafford and Grand-father to this Henry Duke of Buckingham who the rather presumed to make this Claime because the Issue of the other Sister Mary being extinct he tooke himselfe also to be her Heire But King Richard relishing something in this neare the disposition and inclination of Bullingbrooke answered That the Earledome of Hereford was of the inheritance of Henry the fourth who was also King of England though by tort and usurpation and will you my Lord of Buckingham Claime to be Heire of Henry the fourth You may then also happily Assume his spirits and lay Claime to the Crowne
in the time he kept this Katherine and had those Beauforts who were Sir-named so from the place of their birth a Town of his own in Aniow But to note transitu how obnoxious this Duke made his frailties that thinking to put a smoother face upon his sin gave it but the same blush by making this Katherine Swinford his Dutchesse against the liking of the King all his noble friends direct Tenor of the common Laws which pronounce marriages between such as have lived in Aldutery unlawfull Nay to make him the more marvaile and smiling discourse of the Court the glasse of his age was turn'd to his last yeare when he sacrifie'd these scatterd embers of his desires and passion But he obtained those children to be legitimated First by the Pope Vrbanus the sixt next by the Charter of King Richard the second and had both these indulgences afterward enlarged and confirmed by Parliament Yet neither these foure legitimate children nec qui nascebantur ab illis were permitted to the Princely familiar Title of Lancaster so long as that â—ame flourished much lesse of Plantagenet for that was the peculiar Sir-name in chiefe of the Kings of England and Princes of the blood Royall since the time of the second Henry Sonne of the Empresse Matilda the first founder of that name in the Royall Family of England Of which honour were partakers the Princely Family of Wales of Brotherton of Yorke of Lancaster of Clarence of Woodstock of Glocester c. And there are yet some Noblemen in Portugall who descended from Iohn Duke of Lancaster and are called and written de Lancastro others of the like Origine and Title may doe as much Neither would King Henry the fourth Henry the fift nor King Henry the sixt all Kings of the Lancastrian race indure to let the Lineage of Beaufort though they respected them as kinsmen and advanced them to many honours Assume the the Sir-name of Lancaster holding it an Arrogation and Usurpation of Royaltie and Royall Rights wherein they followed their Ancestors who devised other names for their base children As Fitz. Roy Oxenford Fitz-Herbert Clarendon Fitz-Henry Longuespee Cornwall and so they continued the name of Beaufort and Somersets untill the Earle of Richmond came and this was in imitation of the Kings of France as I conceâ—ve For within the reach of my observation since the time of Hugh Câ—â—â—t they never vouchsafed any of their base sons to be capable of the Crown of France or to have the Adven as they call it nor the Sir-name of France but the illegitimate daughters may take the Sir-name France or de France because they can make no claime to the Crowne by a pretended permission of the Sa lik-law which Iohn de Tillet witnesseth La troisiesme lignèe a du tout rejectè les Bastards non seulement de la Coronne mais aussi de l'aduen et Surnom de France qui Concession est permis aux Bastards de roy ' c. And as the Bastards of the Kings of England had other names so they tooke differenced Armes or elsewere permitted to beare their mothers if of any Family If tolerated to beare the armes of England then they were diversified in a Checking Debasing and Rebating manner with Bastons Bends Sinister Barres Bordutes Marks of Basenesse Obscuritie and Noveltie which any new Gentleman might beare such as the Learned call filios terrae novos homines and wee vulgarly upstarts But to object against the use of this in England the example of Hamelin is brought in and to credit it his Armes forged by some weake and negligent Heralds who call him Hamelin Plantagenet when the truth is this Hamelin base sonne of Ieoffry Plantagenet Earle of Aniow was simply called Hamelin and his sonne William tooke the Sir-name of his Mother Dame Isabel de Warren daughter and heire of William de Warren Earle of Surrey which their Posteri continued as Ioannes de Warrena the first and Ioannes de Warrena the second both Earles of Surrey and Isabella de Warren and Elianor de Warren c. mentionedin the Charters and Records but never Plantagenet which is acknowledged by our best Heralds and Antiquaries Master William Campden hath these words Isabella filla sola Gulielmi de Warrena Comitis Surreiae Hamelinum Nothum Galfredi Plantageneti c. titulo Comitis Surreiae maritum exornavit Hamelinus Gulielmum Surreiae Comitem genuit cujus posteri à Scito WarrenoruÌ„ nomine eundem titulum gesserunt And that the base sonne of King Edward the fourth was commonly called Arthur Plantagenet proves nothing neither well considered For in the times when this Arthur lived the name of Plantagenet being onely left in the house of Yorke the Lancasterian Plantagenet being more extinguished had not the former honour and reputation but was darkned and setting rather drawing a contempt and hate to them that bare it the White Rose dayly fading and withering and so malignant was their Planet then that as a Learned Gentleman hath further observed It was not safe in that time to be a Plantagenet therefore the permission of those times can be no warrant for the objections nor the ignorance of the Poeticall Heralds who have strain'd this fable of Hamelin Yet farther not onely giving him and his Posteri a false Sir-name but assign'd him by the like Fabulous Art a shield of familiar Ensignes the Armes of France border'd with an Orle of Normandy or Guyen which he nor yet any of the Antique Lineage of Aniow or their Progeny ever bare or could by just Title beare either simply or compounded or the Progenitors of our English Kings the Lillies of Gold in an azure field untill King Edward claimed the Crowne of France and assumed them in the right of Queene Isabel de Valoys his Mother who was the first that bare them quarterly with the Armes of England But the Armes of the ancient Earles of Aniow were a Scarboucle that is a Golden Bucle of a military Scarffe or Belt set with precious Stones not a Carbuncle or more precious Ruby for the terme is erroneous and absurd if considered The Princes of Aniow bare this Scarboucle in a shield party per Chiefe Argent and Gueules and the Heires of this Hamelin who tooke the Sir-name of Warren bare also the Armes of the house of Warren in their Shields and Caparisons but bare the Scarboucle of Aniow for their Crest as they were descended out of that House as I have seene upon a Seal of Ioannes de Warrena Earl of Surrey at a Charter dated 20. E. 3. An. Dom. 1346. apud Dom. Rob. Cotton which hath given me occasion to speake thus much to cure the Blemish that mistake hath thrust into History such absurdities having their infection and passing by an Age or two upon the easie and common judgments after grow up for tall and undeniable truths For some meerly reading the complexion of things as they do
in their greatest height were called Principes therefore Princeps is thus defined Princeps est penes quem summa Reip. potestas est qui primus omnium dominatur And Principatus and Dominatus are used as Synonomies But it is conceiv'd an errour now to take Principatus for Regnum Oâ— Supremus Dominatus being the word Principatus long before and in the age of Richard the second also ever since hath beene restrained to the Estate of Primogenitus and Heire apparant not onely of Kings but also of Dukes and Marquesses as well Feudall as Soveraigne And the next King Henry the fourth a wise discreet and wary Prince though he was much inclin'd to those Beauforts as being his naturall Brethren by the Paternall side and willing to advance them all he could yet he discovered clearely enough by that certaine Charter in which he entailed the Crowne successively to his soure Sonnes and to the Heires of their bodies that he reputed not the Beauforts to be Lancastrians or neare the Crown Neither is there the least clause or mention to leave any remainder therein to them First he intaild the Crowne to his eldest sonne Henry Prince of Wales after him to the Heires of his body If they faile then to Thomas of Lancaster his second sonne and to the Heires of his body so to his third sonne Iohn of Lancaster and to the Heires of his body Lastly to the fourth sonne Humphrey and to the Heires of his body for still and for every estate the words are Post ipsum successive Heredibus suis de ipsius Corpore legitime procreandis which is all and implicatively an expresse exclusion of the Beauforts This Charter was confirmed by Act of Parliament holden at Westminster the two and twentieth day of December in the eight yeare of Henry the fourth and sealed with his owne Signet Upon the Dexter side of that hung the seales of sundry Lords Spirituall on the left side the seales of the Lords Temporall witnesses And albeit the Earle of Richmond could not so well and rightly beare the name of Beaufort or Somerset being a Teador by his Father and so to be Sir-named or of some other Welch-name if there were any in his Family by his Mother he was descended from the Beauforts for the Lady Margaret Countesse of Richmond was daughter and heire to Sir Iohn de Beaufort Duke of Somerset and Grand-child to Iohn of Gaunt by Katherine the wife of Otho de Swinford which Iohn de Beaufort was created Duke of Somerset by Henry the fift his Wife was the daughter and at length the heire of Sir Iohn Beauchamp of Blet so and the widow of Sir Oliver Saint-Iohn when he married her But the Earle of Richmond by his Grand-mother Katherine Queene of England was descended from the Kings of France and I have seen him in a Pedigrce drawne after he was King derived from the ancient Kings Princes of Brittaine Polidore saith he was Ex fratre Nepos to King Henry the sixt who cal'd him Nephew and he the King Avunculum nostrum our Uncle insteed of Patruum as it is in the Records of Parliament Ann. 1. of Henry the seventh but not his Nephew as wee erroneously now take it that is his German younger Brothers Sonne for then he had beene a true Masculine Issue of the house of Lancaster and Royall blood of England But he was Nephew to him by his Brother Uterine Edmond Teudor Earle of Richmond the sonne of Owen Teudor or Meridock and of Queene Katherine daughter of Charles the sixt King of France and widow of Henry the fift King of England which the French well knew and gave him the better esteeme for it but those Honours were obscure Additions to him that must not goe lesse then for a Prince of the house of Lancaster and so of England which passed with such vulgar credit in France that Du Tillet mistooke Iohn Duke of Somerset Father of Margaret Countesse of Richmond for the true and lawfull Sonne of Iohn de Gaunt c. by his first Wife Blanch Plantagenet Daughter and Heire of the Earle and Earledome of Lancaster Philip de Comines Lord of Argent had better intelligence of his Pedigree and Title which he gives us thus Iln ' avoit croix ny pile ne null droit Come je croy a la Coronne d'Angleterre And this expresses he had no great opinion of either though he were then King when this was writ But let us suppose him lawfully from that Duke of Lancaster his claime must stand excluded whilst the house of Yorke survived for Richard Plantagenet Duke of Yorke and King of England designat by Act of Parliament holden 39 yeare of King Henry the sixt to whom these Titles of Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall Earle of Chester and Protector of England were given by the three Estates in that Parliament descended from the Daughter and Heire of the second Sonne of King Edward the third For as before so still I leave the Infant William of Hatfield without the Catalogue and King Henry the fourth and his Progeny descended from the third Sonne and King Henry the sixt being the best of the house of Lancaster then living did acknowledge in that Parliament the Title of Richard Duke of Yorke the onely lawfull and just Title so consequently next and better then that of Lancaster or any other and before any Beaufort or their Heires the Issue of the two daughters of Iohn Duke of Lancaster Philip and Katherine married to the King of Portugall and Castile were to be preferr'd if Forraigne Titles be not excluded by Parliament But the Earle of Richmond measuring his owne height by the advantage of a tumultuary and indisposed time and finding his Lancastrian pretence began to have a popular retinew he was now incompatible of any others precedency and propinquity for those great ones that led him by the hand unto the Action layd the line by their owne corrupted hopes and feares of the successe therefore would not let the fortune of their expectation faint in him Bishop Morton steered much in the course of their Affaires and was a great Oracle to the Earle who was noted too partiall and credulous especially where he believed the persons of any honesty vertue or learning for which his fame yet beares some staines of Morton Dudley Empson Bray Vrswike Knevett c. for there be two extreames observed in the Councells of Princes one when the Prince is subject to follow the councells of evill men the other when the Prince is too opinionated to consult with Counsell such an one as was Charles the hardy Duke of Burgundy so opinionated and overweening of his owne wisedome and judgement that he under-thought all mens else which wide conceit of his hath left this Monument Carolus pugnax altorum consilia rationes ne dicam sequi uix audire volebat ignominiae loco habens ab alijs discere judicavit
which indeed struck a great discouragement in the expectation of all his Favourers and made his welcome the colder to the Duke of Brittaine the rather also because he had beene with the French King before he came to him which was taken but ill although the Earle could not otherwise doe being forc't upon the Coasts of Normandy And comming into the Road at Deipe landed to refresh himself and company From thence he intended to Roan which being so neare Paris ingaged him thither to the King being as Philip de Comines saith followed in a very honourable Port by 500 Englishmen In his stay there to shew us how much interest a provident and active spirit hath in fortune he so heightned and sweetned his behaviour to the Court as conciliated the favour and respect of the Greatest and Noblest Persons to him But most happily the faire opinion and esteeme of the Princely Lady Anne de France eldest Sister to King Charles the eight who had such an influence upon him in his minoritie that she out-pitched Lewis Duke of Orleance chiefe Prince of the Blood In envy or mis-like whereof he tooke Armes and raysed a Civill Warre in France as Iohn Tillet and others write she was wife to Pierce de Bourbon Lord of Beaujen after Duke de Bourbon but Beaujen being his most stately and honourable Signiory he was called Mounâ—ieur de Beaujen and this Lady had so flexible an inclination to the Earle of Richmonds Cause that she importuned the King to aide him with a good summe of mony and 3000 men but odde fellowes For Philip de Comines saith they were trois mille hommes les plus meschants que lux peut trouver no better then Rogues and Trewans men of base qualitie and as low courage Whilst these were Levying the Earle thriftie of all opportunities and as diligent to adde what advantage of time and ayde he could visits the Duke of Brittaine to the same purpose The Duke propounds it to his Councell which Peter Landois his Treasurer and chiefe Counsellour objects against with this reason That if the Enterpize succeeded well yet the event must fall out unhappily and ill to him the Earle having now interested himself to the favour and assistance of Charles King of France And this would be the first linke of so strong an ingagement that the Earle and his Confederacy must be lost to Brittaine when he came to be King being respectively tyed to lend the King of France ayde against them if any cause should happen which the King of France had a prepared stomack for and had not beene nice to seeke any provocation that might countenance a Quarrell against the Dutchy of Brittaine which was beyond his spanne so long as they continued in League with England that being untwisted and France and England Contracted how easie was it for the French to envade and swallow up both him and his Dukedome To make the present advantage therefore as profitable as safe his advice was to stay the Earle the Duke knowing his Coffers at that time very lanke and that the King of England would offer well for him approved the Counsell and resolved to be led by Landois whose respects notwithstanding were very affectionate to the Earle But whether by the secret caution of some friends or suggested to him by his better genius Sure it is by some unknowne meanes he had knowledge of it and yet this was determined but at night and designed for the morning But before midnight or the knowledge of their flight he and twelve Gentlemen his followers had left Vannes and recovered Aniow under the French Kings protection from thence to the French Court againe the King being still very pliable and constant to his promise concerning those French forces under his owne charge The next thing he works at is how to enlarge the Earl of Oxford out of the Castle of Hammes committed thither by Edward the fourth and in this he uses or rather followed indeed the contrivement of Doctor Morton who held good quarter with the Earle of Oxford and by his frequent visits had a familiar and easie doore open'd which the Earl readily tooke the opportunitie of least it might be shut againe by some miscarriage for Richmond thought or found the constitution of his Designe not a little strengthned by the Earle of Oxfords coâ—federacy nor did he mistake himselfe in his accompt when he set him downe of speciall use knowing him a man of an eminent power wisely and valiantly temper'd And to give him the stronger presumptions and confidence one that most mortally hated Edward the fourth and all the house of Yorke To begin therefore an Obligation the Earle of Richmond makes a Complementall journey to Hammes where the Earle of Oxford was then under the charge of Sir Iames Blound He finds all honourable and respective entertainment with fit libertie and occasion to propound himselfe unto the Earle who had beene partly prepar'd by Doctor Morton and therefore met him the nearest way engaging himselfe solely to the premises and by vertue of an indefatigable confidence sets upon his Keeper winnes him to the Faction and to Paris with them By which time all preparations were in readinesse and whilst they make this stay in the French Court the Earle of Richmond receives a faire excuse and protestation from the Duke of Brittaine with offer of Auxiliary Forces This supply came very acceptably and however he resented the Dukes late purpose upon him his wisedome told him he must now convert his anger into thanks which he returns with a reciprocall Protestation and Order to send the Troopes to Harflew where his Shipping lay and was the Rendezvous for his Souldiers In the end of July 1485. he tooke leave of the King and his most Noble Cousin Madam de Beaujen departing for the â—ort of Harflew in Normandy where he met with two thousand Brittaines from the Duke honourably accommodated But by the way he made some stay at Roven and had newes which much distemper'd him That the Lady Elizabeth was forthwith to be married to King Richard this quickned his hast for England presuming his landing would forbid the Banes otherwise he might sit downe with folded hands for upon this marriage insisted the maine hope and consequence of his Fortune without her all his great praetexts would faint yet seemed to heare it as a thing that could not concerne him so much having so present and provident a wit that in any chance he wanted not Councell and determination in himselfe for all Fortunes instantly resolving to apply his suit to her Sister the Lady Cecily but ere he could perfectly fashion these intents they were also counterchecked by the next packet which assured him the Lady Cecily was lately married neither did that after some Collection seeme much to discompose him but quickely varying his disposition to his fortune he would now fixe himselfe upon some choice in Brittaine Amongst his nobler friends for the most part
Richard pursued him with so much speed and fiercenesse that he forc't him to his Standard And now high in bloud and anger to see his Valour deluded by such a politicke Bravery with his Sword makes way and with his owne hand slew Sir Charles Brandon Standerd-Bearer thinking to have made the next blow as fatall to the Earle but the confluence of Souldiers interjecting rescued him Sir Iohn Cheney being one of the foremost whom the King stroke from his Horse to the Earth But Charged and invironed with multitudes that like a storme came on him Valiant Richard falls the Sacrifice of that day under their cruell Swords so rabious in their execution as if his body must suffer more because they could not kill his better part mangling and wounding his dead Corps whilst it lies drentcht in gore Et Lupus turpes instant morientibus ursi Et quaecunque minor nobilitate fera est As Currs in their kenells will bite and teare the skin of those beasts which in the fields they durst not barke at Occidit in bello miseranda caede Richardus Crinibus attractus dum ferro saeviat hostis And after all to compleate their barbarisme threw his body behind one upon a Jade and so conveyed it to Leicester A story to be thought incredible at least to charitable and modest eares and highly upbraided by the happier and Christian fame of William the Conquerour who severely punished a Souldier but for hacking the thigh of King Harold after he was dead though an Usurper and his perfidious enemy with all noblenesse causing the body to be delivered to his Mother for an honourable interment which was solemnly celebrated in his own Abbey at Waltham The Battle thus fought and won the Victor was Crowned in the field with that Crown K. Rich. wore which the L. Stanley put upon his head salutes him King by the stile of Hen. 7. K. of England c. And Henry Earle of Richmond Son of Edmund ap Meredith ap Teudor alias of Hadham Earle of Richmond and of Margaret Daughter and Heiâ—e of Iohn Beaufort Duke of Sommerset attained to the Crowne and had the easier ascent by the oversight and remissnesse of Richard in that Catastrophe of his Raign who gave too much opportunity and scope to the actings of his Enemies when they were under his power and arme And in the Fortune of his judgment at the closing Scene that did not better presuppose his Enemy too prudent and reserved to trust the advantage he had upon so sharpe and single an hazzard But Richard beleeving he had the odds in courage and monomachie of him which probably might make him Master of the Combate and so of the Field the straite being so desperate too resolved rather to trust to the Fate of his owne Valour then the chance of an uncertaine escape a resolution not so rash and overweening as commendable if we looke upon the very aymes and necessity of it neither is it new or improper for Princes to demand the tryall of campe fight or single Combate personaly in their Armies and to the Generals in their absence William the Conquerour challenged King Harold Before that a Combate was fought betweene Edmund Ironside and Canute the Danish King for the whole Kingdome of England our Richard the first and Edward the first in Palestine proffered the like to some of the Pagan Princes so did Edward the third Henry the fifth with the Kings of France In the last Age the valiant Prince Iaâ—es the fifth of Scotland in Person challenged Thomas Lord Howard Duke of Norfolke Generall for the King of England who accepted it But the King into his Demands would have the Country or Lands then in Controversie to be made Brabium victoris which was without the Generalls power to engage being the Inheritance of the King his Master but proffers better Lands of his owne upon the Combate which was not accepted so that concluded nothing The better end of these Challenges and Combates being at first levelled from Mercy and Piety for by this single adventure the Innocent bloud of Armies was more then stanched preserved Forraigne Stories brings this home to us and highly Characters their Kings and Generalls in the like examples which this Age draws a Curtaine before as not fit for imitation making too desperate a wound in a setled State and Succession the first who rendred that or some more Politike reason for Princes not to adventure themselves was Phi. the 2 K. of Spain as a late writer ascribeth but is mistaken For the more ancient Histories of Syria and Persia mentions some Kings that refrain'd from Warres long before as Herodotus Diodorus Trogus Pompeius tells us But let us take measure from that Times Wisedome Valour Policy c. to this and wee shall find them but tottering foundations of States which cannot uphold themselves or obvert the least Decree of God when he intends to scourge or alter kingdomes for where such vicissitudes are destin'd the Councells and faculties of men must be darkned and there will fall out all concurrences and advantages to further that purpose So in the extirpation and transferring of Families the Potter in Ieremy breaking one Jarre to make another whose fatall commutations should extimulate the pietie of our natures and make us modest censurers of their events For as wee see things but through a Cloud whilst wee measure them by accidents so wee intrude on Gods providence judging mens actions in their successe while wee over-act our owne Of such a composition was the ill-wishers of King Richard who forgot him not in his grave but indeavoured to be equally cruell to his memory And in November following a Parliament was holden in which he was attainted of High Treason a straine very high to make him guiltie of that being a King he could not commit By the same figure may others who were stiled chiefe ayders and assistants of King Richard in the Battaile of Bosworth as Sir Iohn Howard Duke of Norfolke c. though some would have him retired from the Court all King Richards raigne But Sir Thomas Moore affirmes He was constantly with him and neare his Counsells Sir Thomas Howard Earle of Surrey Sonne and heire apparent to the Duke Francis Lovel Viscount Lovel Sir Walter Devereux Lord Ferrers of Chartley Sir Iohn de la Sâ—uch Sir Robert Harrington Richard Charleton Richard Ratcliffe William Berkley William Catesby Thomas Broughton Iohn Buck Humphrey Stafford Robert Midleton Robert Brokenbury Iohn Kendall Secretary to the King Walter Hopton Ieoffry Saint-German Roger Wake Thomas Billington William Sapcoate William Brampton all Knights and some Heralds at Armes with divers other an Act of Parliament being made to disable and fore-judge them of all manner of Honour State Dignitie Also to â—orfeit all Mannors Castles Lordships Hundreds Franchises Lâ—berties Advowsons Priviledges Nominations Presentations Tenements Rents Suits Reversions Portions Annuities Pensions Rights Hereditaments
he was proclaimed traitor for him and when Queene Margaret besiedged the City of Gloucester with the Kings power the Citizens stood at defiance with her Army and told her it was the Duke of Gloucester his Towne who was with the King and for the King and for him they would hold it his Loyalty bearing a most constant expression in this motto Loualto melie which I have seen written by his owne hand and subscribed Richard Gloucester The other was as constantly undermining at him after confederate with the Earle of Warwicke his Father Allie who had turn'd faith from the King and went into France solliciting for force against England which they brought in fought with the King and overthrew him and so fiercely pursuing the victory that the King was forc't to fly out of the Land Clarence not so satisfied unlesse he might utterly supplant him studied that slander of basterdy to bring in himselfe an heire to the Crowne which was proved and given in expresse evidence against him at his triall and attainder by Parliament amongst sundry other articles of high Treason Videlicet That the said Duke of Clarence had falsly and untruly published King Edward a bastard and not legitimate to Raigne that himselfe therefore was true Heire of the Kingdome the Royalty and Crowne belonging unto him and to his Heires these be the very words of the Record and enough to tell us who was the Author of that slander and what important cause the King had to quit himselfe of Clarens a bitter proofe of the old Proverbe fratrum inter se irae acerbissimae sunt and all the favour Clarence could at his end obtaine was to choose it as Iohn de Serres reporteth it so that it was not the Duke of Gloucester but the Kings implacable displeasure for his malice and treasons that cut him off who could not thinke himselfe secure whilst he lived Witnesse Polidor Virgil Edvardus Rex post mortem fratris se a cunctis timeri animadvertit ipse jam timebat neminem Next for the murther of the two sonnes of King Edward the fourth Edward the fifth King in hope and Richard of Shrewsbury Duke of Yorke and Norfolke his younger Brother they alleadge it in this manner That King Richard being desirous to rid those two Princes his Nephews out of the world imployed his trusty servant Iohn Greene to Sir Robert Brackenbury Lieutenant Constable of the Tower about the executing of this murther and by reason that plot tooke no effect Sir Robert not liking it The Protectour suborned foure desperate Villaines Iohn Dighton Miles Forrest Iames Tyrrell and William Slater to undertake it who as they further alleadge smothered them in their beds which done they made a deepe hole in the ground at the foote of the staires of their lodging and their buried them hiding the place under an heape of stones not after the antient manner of tumulus testis others vary from this and say confidently the young Princes were imbarqued in a Ship at Tower wharfe and conveyed from thence to Sea so cast into the Blacke deeps others averre they were not drowned but set safe on shore beyond Seas And thus their stories and relations are scatter'd in various formes their accusations differing in very many and materiall points which shakes the credit of their suggestion and makes it both fabulous and uncertaine one giving the lie to the other their malice having too much Tongue for their memories and is worth the noting how opposite and as it were ex Diametro repugnant they are In vulgus fama valuitfilios Edwardi Regis aliquò terrarum parteâ—migrasse atque ita supestites esse Thus Pollidor with which Dr. Morton and Sir Thomas Moore agree in one place The man say they commonly called Perkin Warbeck was as well with the Princes as with the people English and forraigne held to be the younger Son of Edward the fourth and that the deaths of the young King Edward and of Richard his brother had come so far in question as some are yet in doubt whether they were destroyed or no in the dayes of King Richard By which it appeares they were thought to be living after his death And as the act of their death is thus uncertainly disputed so is the manner of it controverted For Sir Thomas Moore affirmeth as before reported they were smothered in their beds with Pillowes but Pollidor saith peremptorily it was never known of what kinde of death they dyed Another Author and more ancient agreeth with them Vulgatum est Regis Edwardi pueros concessisse in sata sed quâ— genere interitus ignoratur one reason of this may be that they who held Perkin Warbeck and Richard Duke of Yorke to be all one give another accompt of his death whereas if it had beene certaine these foure before named for Assasines had murdered them then the place time and manner had beene easily known upon their strict examination they living freely and securely and without question long after this murdeâ— was said to be done Therefore there can be no excuse for this neglect of Examination much lesse for the suffering such to goe unpunished and at liberty which me thinks maketh much for the cleering of King Richard As for the burying of their bodyes in the Tower if that be brought in question certes the affirmative will be much more hard to prove then the negative For true it is there was much diligent search made for their bodies in the Tower all places opened and digged that was supposed but not found Then it was given out a certaine Priest tooke up their bodies and buried them in another secret place nto to be found hereunto but with better decorum for the more credit of this assertion they might have added it was done sub sigillo confessionis which may not be revealed Sir Thomas Moore seeing the absurdities and contrarieties of these opinions as a man puzeled and distracted with the variety and uncertainty thereof concludeth their bodies were bestowed God wot where and that it could never come to light what became of them Hall Hallingshed Grafton and the rest confesse the very truth hereof was never knowne And if there be a stricter inquiry into the mystery we shall discover that they were neither buried in the Tower nor swallowed in the Sea for the testimony and Relation of sundry grave and discreâ—te persons and such as knew the young Duke of Yorke will resolve us how he was preserved and secretly conveyed into a foraigne Country also alive many years after the time of this imaginary murder to which may be added strong authorities having layd downe some conjectures that may answer the iniquiry after the other And first whereas it is said the Lord Protector before his Coronation procured this murder To refell and contradict that there bee certaine proofes that the Princes were both living in the moneth of February following the death
to build little upon any from thence his chiefe conâ—idence and refuge being in England and Ireland where he had a good party and sayled with a prety Fleete into Ireland there hee was welcomed and received as the the second Sonne of King Edward some of the Geraldins and other great Lords in Ireland purposing to make him their King To overtake him betimes there too Doctor Henry Deane Abbot of Lanthory a very wise able man was sent and made Chancellor of Ireland with him went the said Sr. Edward Poynings who so actively bestirred themselves that in short time they drew the Irish from Perkin so that now hee must returne home but by the way was encouraged to apply himselfe to Iames King of Scotland whither forthwith hee directs his hopes and found his entertainment answerable to them the King receiving him very Nobly by his title of Duke of York calls him Cozen with promises to give him strong footing in England and in earnest of his better intents bestowed in Marriage upon him the most Noble and faire Lady Katharine Gordon his neere kinswoman Daughter of Alexander Earle of Huntly This came home very sharpely to King Henry who knew King Iames to bee a Prince so Wise and Valiant that no easy delusion could abuse him And true it is King Iames was very precise in his consideration of this young Duke but very cleerely confirmed before hee would acknowledge him King Henry is very Studious how to thwaâ—t the event of this scene and unfasten the King but casts his conâ—idence againe upon the fortune of his judgement and sends many Protestations with rich promises to King Iames for Perkin for now wee shall so call him with the times which tooke small effect at first but King Henry being a man pregnant to finde any advantage and one whose providence would not let it die remembers the stong affinity and friendship betwixt King Iames and Ferdinando King of Castile one of the most Noble Princes then living At that time too it happened so happily there was a Treaty and intelligence betwixt Henry the Seventh and Ferdinando for proposition of a Marriage of Arthur the Prince of Wales and Katharine Daughter of King Ferdinando this occasion no sooner offered it selfe to his consideration but a Post was dispatcht to Castile with Letters and Instructions to give the King to know what had passed betweene him and King Iames of Scotland urging him to use the Power and Credit hee had with him for the delivery of Perkin to himselfe which Ferdinando undertooke and sends Don Pedro Ayala not one Peter Hialas or Peter Hayles as our vulgar stories have a wise and learned man and of a very Noble house who so ably used his Braine in this imployment that King Iames passed to him his promise to dismisse Perkin to his own fortunes But would by no meanes deliver him to the King Thus Perkin was againe supplanted Virtute vel dolo and of necessity driven into Ireland where hee was formerly received and entertained whilst they were agitating their first Plot of setling him King Charles the French King sends to him Lois de Laques and Estiene Friant to offer him his friendship and ayde with this good newes Perkin hasted into France where hee found his welcome very honorable as befitting a Prince a Guard appointed to attend him of which Monsieur Congre-Salle was Captaine before this King Henry had threatned France with an Army but now upon a better view and deliberation foreseeing what this had in it He propounds very faire Conditions for a Peace with the French King which the French King was as willing to intertaine and so it was concluded Perkin after this began to thinke the King shortned his respects and looked upon him as it were but imagine lusca with halfe a Countenance and fearing there might bee some capitulation in this new League that might concerne his liberty privately quits Paris returning to his Aunt of Burgondy Although Perkin was thus shortned in his forraine expectations hee had those both in England and Ireland that much favored him and his cause making another voyage into Ireland but returned with his first comfort for though they stood constantly affected and were willing the Kings Officers curbed them so they could not stir From Ireland hee sayled into England landing at Bodmin in Cornewall the Cornish and Westerne men thereabouts receiving him very gladly proclayming him King of England and of France c by the Title of Richard the Fourth as Hee had beene proclaimed before in the North parts of England by the Councell and Countenance of the King of Scots Out of Cornewall Hee marches into Devonshire to Exeter to which Hee layd Siege having then about five thousand men in his Army but the Kings being at hand and farre stronger Hee was forc't to rise from the siege upon which those few friends Hee had left finding His want and the King with greater strength approaching forsooke him to provide for themselves thus abandoned no way before him but flight and being well mounted with a traine of some forty or fifty resolute Gentlemen recovers the Abby of Beanely in Hampshire where Hee tooke Sanctuary from which the Kings party who persued Him would violently have surprised Him Which the Abbot and Religious persons would not indure as a thing too foule against their Priviledge The King after sends to him profers of favours and mercy with promises of such Honour and Condition as drew Him to the Court where the King looked upon him with a very Gratious and Bountifull usage as a Noble person But his prompting Jealousies and Feares soone east a dulnesse over this first favours and promises Then a Guard must bee set upon Perkin and his usuall freedome restrained these were harsh presages Hee thought which so justly moved His suspition and discontent that hee thought Sanctuary againe must bee his best safety and passing by the Monastery of Shrene hee suddenly slips into it from his Guard whither the King sends unto him with perswasions of the first Courtly and Honorable tincture But Perkin that had discerned the Hook was not easily to be tempted with the bait this second time Then the King dealt with the Prior for him who would not yeeld him but upon faithfull promise from the King to use him with all favour and grace which was protested although Perkin no sooner came into his power againe but hee was sent to the Tower where his imprisonment was made so hard and rude that it much dejected and troubled him oftentimes in private and with peircing groanes having beene heard to wish himselfe borne the Sonne of any Pesant And indeed every one could tell hee fared the worse for his Name it being an observation of those times that there was three men most feared of the King Edward Plantagenet Earle of Warwicke Perkin alias Richard Plantagenet and Edmond de la Poole Sonne of King Edwards Sister all of
Hen. 7. and dies of greife 143. Elizabeth daughter of Ed. 4. desired by her letter to marry with Richard 3. 128. 129. Elianor Talbot alias Butler married to E. 4. 116. her wrongs death 122. Escape what the offence is 100. F. FAulcon Serrure a French devise of obseen signification 115. Faulconbridge a famous Pyrate apprehended by a wile 9. Flattery and Flatterers 52. 133. 78. Fortune inconstant 41. Vertuous Master of her 57. Fortitude a notable example in Rio. 3. 59. 60. 61. Friends and friendship 52 best known in adversity Ib. French King payes a tribute of 75000. crownes to K. Edw. 4. and rich pensions to diverse Noble men 29. G. GAston de Foix K. of Navarr 19. Gray Woodvile and others of the Reginists executed at Pomfret for treachery 13 Glocester City rewarded by Rich. 3. for their loyalty 28. Gâ—mot what it is 125. Genius or Angell Guardian 106. H. HAstings his affection to Edw. 4. his children 13. Is betrayed and executed in the Tower ibid. Henry 2. K. of England his great descent and spacious Empire 4. his penance for Tho Beckets death 5. Sirnamed du Court Mantea why 4. Henry 4. King of England caused his soveraigne Rich. 2. anointed King to bee Murthered 14. Entailes the Crowne to his heires 50. Henry 6. K. of England not murthered by Rich. 3. but dyed a naturall death of griefe and melancholy 80 81. Henry Teâ—dor Earle of Richm. borne in Pembrooke castle 16. His noble descent 144 145. by his mother 50. by his Grand-mother and Father Ib. His escape into France 16. And there detained prisoner 17 18 19. His various and doubtfull fortunes Ib. 43. 57. Is attainted of high Treason 30. A description of his Person and qualities 42 58. 144. A wise provident a religious Prince 58. 144. Laies claime to the Crowne of England 17. Made good by marriage 53. And the Popes Bull 55. And act of Parliament 145. His title de jure belli or of conquest confirmed by the Pope and distasted by the Barons 54 55. Invades England with ill successe 43. His 2. invasion by aid of the French 56 57. 59. Overthrowes K. R. 3. at Redmore heath and is crowned by the name of Henry 7 th 62. His vow at the high Altar in Vannes 42. Is very covetous 88. too partiall and credulous 51. Unkinde and severe to his Wife 143. And to the Wife and Children of Edw. 4. Ib. His pretence against the Ea of Warwick 105. 141. And Perk. Warbeck alias Rich. Plantag 95. His breach of promise 93. He feared 3. men specially Ib. His reach upon the Duke of Burgundy 142. His charge to his son upon his death-bed ib. Henry the first K. of England sirnamed Beauclerke 16. Or the good Clerk His ambition and covetousnesse 141. cruelty to his elder Brother ib. Heralds whence the name derived 138. a Colledg of Heralds founded by R. 3. ibid. Herbertus Chamberlaine to W. Rufus Ancestor to the Herberts of Pemb. and Mountgom founder of that name 16. Historians their great partiality 134 135. 143. The errours of vulgar Historians 41. Howards their great Nobility alliance and discent from Hewardus or Herewardus the story of him 66. signification of the name ib. of Hawardus 67. Tho Howard Barl of Surrey escapes Bosworth field 64. A notable speech of his showing his integrity ibid. Is advanced by Henry 7. ib. Triumphator Scotorum 67. Sir Charles Howard Lord Admirall in 88. His noble fame 67. I. IAmes the 4 th King of Scotland denies his tribute to England 10. An army is sent to recover it ib. But a Truce concluded ibid. James the 5 th of Scotland challenges Thomas Earle of Arundel in Campe fight 62. James King of Great Brittaine his Noble elemency to some regall Titulars 135. Jane Shore King Edw. 4. his Concubine 115. 135. Jerusalem a barren soile 6. Imperiall Ensigns of England their signification 26. Ingratitude ex 59 60. John King of England charg'd with the murther of his Nephew 141. K. KAtherin wife of Sir Otho Swinford Mother of the Beauforts 44. Kings have their bounds 29. Their prerogatives in Iudgments and Controversies 54. Cannot commit high Treason 63. May not marry their Subjects 119. A King deposed for so doing ib. Kings and kingdomes in Gods disposing 63. changed by him why 140. Two evils especially the overthrow of Kings and kingdomes 103. To kill an Anoynted King a sacrilegious offence p. 80. Knights and Lords created 25. L. LAncaster and Beaufort how they differ 30. 44. 47. Legitimation What the Popes legitimation is and what the Princes 47 48. Liars need of good memories 84. Lancaster escheated to Edward 4. 35. 47. Don Duart de Lancastro 45. Laws good Laws made by R. 3. Lawes against Bastards 48. Loyalty a rare example 64. M. MArgaret Plantag daughter of Geo. Duke of Clarence put to dearh 143 Matilda or Maud the Empress daughter and heir of H. 1. 4. Anglor Dom. ibid. Malice malitious 130. Height of malice 75. Marble stone or fatall stone prophesie of it 146. Brought out of Scotland into England by Edward the 1. And placed at Westminster ib. The stone that Jacob laid his head upon ib. Marriage not lawfull between those that have lived in adultery 45. Between Uncles and Nieces frequent in other Countreys 129. Monasteries supprest with the true cause of it 77. Monuments of the British Empirâ— 146 Sir Thomas Moore a great enemie of R. 3. 76. Came short of the learning is ascribed to him dyed scoffing ib. Lord Chancellor of Eng. 77. And a sworn vassall to the Pope 76. Morton Bishop of Ely a subtle man 15. A great enemie of K. R. 3. ib. 75 76 77. A temporizer 52. His extreame pride and covetousnesse 53. Lord Chancellor of Eng. 77. N. NAmes taken from Offices other occasions 5 6 66. Nandick a conjurer Parl. 1. H. 7. Natural Father natural sons daughters why so called Naturall daughters may take the sirname of France 46. Noblenesse of nature Examp. 61. c. O. OFficers of State 25. 32. Oxford Iohn de Vene Earl of Ox. fevere against nick-named Perkin Warb 105. he gave sentence of death gainst the innocent Earl of Warwick ib. Strange dissipation of a mighty estate ib. Oppression many examples of it 99. 141. and pastime alibi P. PArasites the nature of them p. 27. 78. Parliaments their power authority 124. From whence the word is derived ib. A Court of great antiquity 125. Called by the Saxons Witengemot the meeting of wise men ibid. The honour and obedience due unto them 126. Parl. 1. R. 3. Many good Lawes enacted Pater mater parentes or parents words of larger signification among other Nations then among us 69. Perkin Warbeck his story 84. Confirmed by many noble and learned men 100 101. Philip Duke of Burgundy K. of Castile driven by a storm with his Qu upon the coast of England 141 142. His entertainment ib. Plantaganest or Plantagenet original occasion of that
of a thing Jnconcuss that cannot be shaken undaunted Bartlemies 63. Meant of the great and generall massacre of above 100000. Protestants in France chiefly in Paris and the Countrey adjoyning on Saint Bartholmews Eve Anno 72. whereupon S t. Bartholmews teares Bartholomaeus flet quia Gallicus occubat Atlas Como sal in aqua 105. Is meant of suddain wasting Monomachy 62. When two sight single without seconds Cadet 67. A younger brother Guerdonable worthy of reward 75. Aneu 45. An acknowledging or taking for his owne Geus saus adneu vagabonds that none will owne so Bastards are not admitted to their adneu 1 not acknowledged by their Fathers Rebus de Picardy Devises and representations of odd things by words mottoes which present one thing and by deviding the word in pronunciation signifie another Faulcon Serrure An abscene French device and presents the use of Italian lockes Authors quoted in this History AUgustine Aristotle Baleus Boetius Buchan Cambden Cicero Cambrensis Claudian Croyland Pryor Comineus Cooke Demosthines Dion AEsopus Euripides Ennius Erasmus Epictetus Fabian Fuchius Froisard Grafton Glover Guinsford Goodwin Du Hailon Hall Hollinshead Hyrd Dele-Hay Harding Hist. de Brit. Homer Julius Capital Juvenall Justus Vulterius Lib. Manusâ—r Apud D. Rob. Cotton Lampridius Lucan Maximus Moore Monstrolet Newbrigensis Nyerus Ovid Osiander Pliny Paradin Polidor virg Plutarch Seneca Sarisburensis Stow Strabo Socrates Stanford Suetonius De Serces Tacitus Terence Tillet Virgill Valla Walsingham With many Parliament Roules and Records FINIS The House and Title of Yorke The Linage of Edward 3. The Empire of K. Henry 2. Girald in Topog Hibernie Sariâ—bur in Pol. Newbrig Lib. â— Fulk Earle of Anjou Acoustre in criminall condemne Paradin From this example Henry 2. submitted his body to be scourged by the Monks of Canterbury for the death of Tho. Becket After this manner and long after K. H. 2 the heire and successour of this Earle Fulko was injoyned by the Pope to go to the Holy-Land and to fight against the Infidels Hovend Rival c. Leon. Fuchius Plin. Lib. 24. cap. 9. Strabo Lib. 16. Du Haillon In his Catalogue of Honour Deus i. Rex Lib. manus in quarto apud D. Rob. Cotton Comes i. Praesesâ— Camden in Cumberland Sir William Haward purblind Quasi part blind The Bastard Faulconbridge An Army sent into Scotland under the D. of Glocester Anno 24. Ed. 4. Chron. Croy. The doubtfull death of K. E. 4 vid. lib 4. The Duke of Gloucester made Lord Protector Phil. de Comines in Lud. 11. Sir Tho. Moore Chronic Abbat Croy. The insolency of the Queens Kindred Sir Thomas Moore in Edward 5. Rich. 3. Lord Hastings Sir Thomas Moore Ciâ— lib 3. de offic Suet. in viâ—a Iulâ—i Caesaris Eurip. in Phoeniss Axiom Polit. Senec. in trag Artes imperii The flight of Richmont with his Vncle Pembrooke The Earle of Rich. borne in Pembrooke Castle This slight of theirs was in Anno 11. E. 4. Iohn Stow. Earle of Rich. Prisoner in Brittaine The last D. of Brittaine who was Earle of Richmond possessed of the Earledome was Iohn de Montfort who flourished An. Dom. 1440 had sons but not Earles of Richmond as Rob. Glou. writeth now this Francis 1. renewed the claime which was about 30 yeares after Iohn de Montfort Duke of Brittaine Iac. Nyerus in Annal. Fland. lib. 17. King Edward treateth for the delivery of Richmond Ennius apud Cicer. ta Offic. K. â— 4 sends for Richmond Hist de Brit. D. Stillington sent for Richmond K. R. reneweth suâ—t to the D. of B. for the Earle of Richmond E. 4. Fulmen â—elli ut Seleac Rex inde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. fulmen dictus claud Paradin B. Mort. Sir Th Moore Hollingshed Graston Stow Hall Virgill c. Parliament The Duke of Buck. to the L. Protector in the behalfe of the 3 Estates The common published stories have Eliz. Lucy but that is false The Answer of the Lord Protector to the 3 Estates The bold and round conclusion of the D. of Buck. The Protectors Reply to the Dukes last Suit Lib. Abb. Croyl Cambden Monstrolet Coâ—ineâ— Anglici scriptoret Stile of the D. of Norff. In rotuliâ— in domo convers Signifying mercy Signifying Iustice to the Temporalty Iustice to the Clergy Peace Monarchy Moore Graston Polidore Hall Croyland Hollingshed Stow c. Chron. M. S. in Quar. apud D. Ro. Coâ—ton and Rob. Fabian Rich. the Bastard of the D. oâ— Gloc. Captaine of Calice Iohn Maierus Iean Tillet dâ— Tillet saith That that tribute or Pension was 75000 crowns or Escu's chacun Escu vallant trois souls The Q. Mother King Rich. reconciled The Parliament of R. 3. The friends confederates of the E of Rich. The sons of K. E. living in Jan Febr after the death of their Father Vice Constable of England Patents de anno 1 Rich 3. part 1. meâ— 2. Other Officers of King Richard 3. Treaties for League and commerce with Flanders c. In Thesauro Scaeccarij 1 R. 3. In Rowles Aâ— 1 R. 3. An. Dom. 1484. Eâ—gile in Record The Lady Anne de la Poole a Nun. Treaty with the Duke of Brittaine Ib. in Scaccaer Treatie with the King of France Treaty of marriage of King Rich. with the Lady Eliz. Revolt of the D. of Buck. The Duke of Buckingham first riseth in Rebellion The quarrell of the Duke of Buck. against the King The Title of the Earldome of Hereford of the Constableship of England Sir Tho. Moor. This Margaret Countesse of Richmond was Daughter and Heire to Iohn Beaufort Duke of Somerset Margaret de Beaufort Mother of the D. of Buck. was Daughter of Edmond D. of Somerset and thus were the E. of Rich. and the D. of Buck. a Kin. Rob. Glov in catal c. The Conspirators with the D. of Buck. for the E. of Rich. The overthrow of the Duke of Buckingham Polidore lib. 25 King Richard sharply reprehended Banister for betraying his Master which argued a noble mind The D. execucuted by Marshall Law Eurip. in heâ—a Valer. Max. l. 7 Virgill Iohn Froisard Paradin Hist. de Brit. The Duke had by this Lady his daughter and heir Anne who brought the Dutchy of Brittaine to France Hist. de Brit. The death of Edw. Prince of Wales Sonne of Rich. 3. Chron. Croyland Ibidem Seneca Iohn Earle of Lincolne and after Duke of Suffolke proclaimed Heire Apparant Iohn Sarisburiensis Ep. 85. Sir Tha. Walsin in Rich. 2. Parl. ann 20. Rich. 2. Don Duart de Lancastro a Noble Gen. of Portugall averred himself descended from the D. of â—â—â— Valodolid The peculiar Sir-names of the Bastards of the anâ—â— in Kings of England Armes of Bastards of the Kings of England Camd. in Surr. The. Gainsford Scarboucle falsly called Carbuncle Difference betweene the house of Lancaster and Somerset The Earles of Worcester from whom The civill and imperiall Law against Bastards Sir Edw. Cook Doctor Stephen Gardiner Sir Tho. Eger Chancellors of England
what that purpose was and what they had in Agitation at that instant is not disertly said onely from other places of the Story And those which follow Sir Thomas Moore it may be conceiv'd they doubted him for his affectation of the Soveraigntie some practice against the King and his Brother for those be the charges they presse upon him although it is neither said nor made good by any direct and just proofe But admit he was now growne jealous of him and sent Sir William Catseby a man in great credit with the Lord Hastings to â—ound what opinion he held of that Title and Claime he might lay to the Crowne who presuming upon Catsebies gratitude and trust that had beene advanced by him without circumstance and even with indignation exprest an utter mislike thereof and engaged himselfe his uttermost power and abilitie against it peremptorily adding he had rather see the death and destructions of the Protector and Duke of Buckingham then the young King deprived of the Crowne Which reply Catseby being more just to his employment then honour in this poynt returnes the Protector who layd hold upon the next occasion to seize his head which is the greatest and bloodiest Crime that brings any proofe against him and yet not so cleare but that there may be some other State-mistery or fraud suspected in it Let us leave it up on that accompt and but consider how much more wee forgive the fames of H. 1. E. 3. H. 4. E. 4. H. 7. because they had their happy Starres and successe and then Prosperum scelus virtus vocatur there is applause goes with the Act and Actor Iulius Caesar was and ever will be reputed a wise and a great Captaine although his Emulation cost an infinite quantitie of excellent humane blood and his Nephew Octa. Augustus never ceased proscribing banishing and massacring untill he had dispatched all his proud Emulators Iulius Caesar thought it Crimen sacrum vel crimen Regale or Crimen sacrum Ambitio whoâ—e rule was Si violandum est jus regnandi gratiâ Violandum est ali is rebus piet atem colas If right for ought may e're be violate It must be only for a Soveraign State Drawing it from that rule though Apocrypha in Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Si injuste agere oportet pro tyrannide aut regno pulcherrimum est injuste agere in aliis pietatem colere expedâ—t And Antonius Caracalla alledged the Text to justifie the killing of his Brother Geta his Collegue in the Empire Polynicâ—s the Brother of Eteocles was of the same Religion and said A Kingdome could not be bought at too high a rate put in Friends Kindred Wife and Riches Via ad potentiam est tollere â—â—â—ulos premere Adversarios which the great Mâ—ster of Axiomes allowed hath beene countenanced by many great examples of State-reason and policie in all times even since the Ogygian Age for an old observation and generall in all forraigne Countries saith Regnum furto Et fraude ademptum antiquum est specimen imperii So King Atreus by his owne experience could say Vt nemo doceat fraâ—dis sceleris vias Regnum docebit But what those Ages call'd Valour Wisedome and Policy in those great Schollers of State who with credit practised their Artes Imperii and rules of Empire comes not under the license or warrant of our Christian times yet we may speak thus much for Richard to those who cry him so deepe an homicide that he had either more conscience or lesse cruelty then they attribute to him that by the same Act of power could not secure himselfe of others he had as just cause to feare especially Iasper Earle of Pembroke his Nephew Richmond and the subtill Doctor Morton who was extreamly his Enemy and the Chiefe Instrument that secretly mov'd against him And although the King had no certain notice which way his Engins wrought yet he knew enough to suspect him for and to remove him from the Councell-Table unto the custody of the Duke of Buckingham the man he had reason to suppose nearest to his trust though his expectation leaned on a broken Reed there for the Duke was now secretly in his heart defected from the King and become male-content Morton but toucht his pulse and knew how the distemper lay which he irritated into such sparklings as gave him notice where his constitution was most apt and prepared yea so subtilly mastred it that he had leave to steale from Brecknock Castle to Ely so for good store of Coine found safe passage into France whither his desires vehemently carried him in hope to fashion the Earle of Richmond to his Plot and under pretence of a Lancastrian Title to stirre him to take up Armes and invade England with the Assurance of many mightie friends here which would make the Designe of an easie and quick dispatch nor forgot he how much Artificiall and Eloquent perswasions adde to the Blaze of Ambition knowing the Earles temper like other mens in that and observing him with a kind of pleasure listen he gave such a studied glosse and superlation to the Text that the Earle was now so full of encouragement and hope for the invasion that their purposes spread as well into England as in France The Protector having also certaine intelligence of some particular Designes disposed himselfe in his actions more closely and knew what Friends and Confederates had engaged themselves to Richmond who yet kept a face of love and fidelitie towards him as did the Duke of Buckingham and the Countesse of Richmond who appeared at this instant an earnest Sutor to reconcile her Sonne into favour and that the King would bee pleased to bestow on him any of King Edward the fourth his Daughters But this took not the vigilancy of his eye from him and his partie the cause being of greater danger and apprehension now then in King Edwards time for the Earle had drawne unto him many of the English Nobilitie and Gentry and some Forraigne Princes had in favour to him promised their aydes But in the time of King Edward his Title and he was so little understood by his blood of Lancaster that the better judging-sort of the English Nobilitie and Gentry King Lewis the eleventh of France Francis the second Duke of Brittaine and other Forraigne Princes looked very slightly upon it And yet as Iohn Harding observed the King might be jealous of him being given out for an Heire of the House of Lancaster and Nephew to Henry the sixt With this he considered that some Forraigne Princes stood not well-affected to him or that some at home envying his House and Posteritie would catch at any sparke to trouble his peace and kindle a Sedition therefore he had good reason to thinke that as his libertie might make these beginnings more popular so their ends more dangerous and ingratefull the vulgar tasting all things by the eare and
voce Richardus eram Tutor eram Patriae Patrius pro jure Nepotis Dirupta tenui regna Britanna fide Sexaginta dies binis duntaxat ademptis AEtatesque tulitunc mea Sceptra duas Fortiter in Bello certans desertus ab Anglis Rex Henrice tibi septime succubui At sumptu pius ipse tuo sic ossa dicaras Regem olimque facis Regis honore Coli Quatuor exceptis jam tantum quinque bis annis Acta trecenta quidem lustra salutis erant Antique Septembris undena luce Kalendas Redideram rubrae jura petita Rosae At mea quisquis eris propter commissa precarem Sit Minor ut precibus poena levata tuis Deo O. M. Trino Uno sit laus gloria aeterna AMEN EPIGRAMMA In Richardos Angliae Reges ex vet lib. M. S. transcriptum TRes sunt Richardi quorum fortuna erat aequa In tribus aescariis sua cujus propria sors est Nam Concors horum finis sine posteritate Corporis atque rapax vitae modus violentus Interitus fuerat sed major gloria primi Praelia terrarum qui gesserat redeuntem Tela Balistarum feriunt apud extera regna Alter depositus regno qui carcere Clausus Mensibus extiterat certis fame velle perire Elegit potius quam famae probra videre Tertius exbausto statim amplo divitiarum Edwardi cumulo proscribens auxiliares Henrici partes post annos denique binos Suscepti regni Bello confectus eisdem Mundanam vitam tum perdidit atque Coronam Anno milleno Centum quater octuageno Adjunctis quinque cum lux Sextilis adest Vndena duplex dentes apri stupuerunt Et vindex albae Rosa Rubra refloret in orbe FINIS A Table of the Heads contained in this BOOKE A. AMbition and Covetuousnesse the cause of unnaturall fends murders and infinite other mischiefes Example pag. 5. 12 13 14. 35 36. 98 99. 104. 141. c. Ambassadour of Scotland his speech to K. Richard 3. p. 139. 140. Angell Guardian Genius p. 106. Ann de la Poole a Nun. 35. Anjou Fulke Earle of Anjou sonne of Geofrey Grisegonnelle p. 4. his purjury and murder of his Nephew Drogo ib. his pilgrimage to the holy Sepulcher his penance ib. his great and famous posterity p. 6 7. Armes of France assumed by Ed. 3. p. 47. Armes of the ancient Earles of Anjou pag. 47. Armes of bastards differenced 46. Arrogation of royall rights 45. Arts Imperij and rules of policy in auncient times not warrantable p. 14. Ancesters or Antecestoures the duty and respect we owe unto their memories p. 69. Ambitious minds easily flattered 35. a sower sweet p. 30. B. BArrons of England their great priviledge 118. Bastards what they are 44. cannot inherit p. 45. not beare their fathers name or arms 46. without speciall indulgence p. 48. Take the mothers name 46. 47. The ancient custome of England and France herein ib. Great families discended from bastards p. 66. may bee capeable of offices and dignities 48. Battell of Bosworth 60. 61. Baynard Castle London formerly Yorke house p. 20. Beauforts naturall children of Iohn of Gaunt so called from a towne in Anjou 45. not permitted to the title of Lancas ib. A charter of their legitimation 48. 49. Benevolence the meaning of that word in Edw. 4. his time 133. in Margin Barwick recovered by the English 10. Bucking an auncient famly 67. how desended c. 68. of the name ib. Buckingham Henry Stafford D. of Buck. his speech to the Lord protector 20. 22. His revolt and rebellion 34. his pretended title to the Crowne 35. retires sides with Richmond 36 his forces are scattered himselfe betrayed and beheaded 37. D. of Brittaine chose Knight of the Garter 18. C. CHarter of Henry 4. entailing the Crown to his 4. sons successively 50. Camp-fight or single combates between Princes and Generalls and grounds of it 62. Catarhe to dye of a Catarhe what it meanes in France 123. Censure and censuring 63. K. Charles our most Gracious and dear soveraigne Lord his just undoubted right his many great and auncient titles to the Imperial Crowne of England 144 145 146. Clarence G. D. of Clarence rebells against his Brother Edward 4. is taken and beheaded 82 83. Clergy pride of Popish Clergy 53. Comlinesse of personage adds a grace to vertue 42. Comes or Count two fold signification of it 8. Constable-ship of England joyned to the Earledome of Hereford 34. Vice-Constable a new and politick institution 31. A coppie of their Commission ibid. Cole Harbour London at first Heralds Office 138. Conquerour and Conquest Licentious power of it 54 55. Titles by conquest not safe nor lasting 144. distasted of the people as tyranicall 54. Covetuonsness roote of all evill 5. c. as in Ambition Councel and Councellers 51 52. 55. 103 Counterfeit princes many examples p. 89. Cowardice Insolence over a conquered enemy a note of it 61. Crowne little pleasure in it 21. D. DEath the best men have dyed violent deaths 140. To dye in battell a glorious death ibid. Wee must not a mans life by the manner of his death 141. Decree of God not to be prevented 63. Deformity of body no blemish to vertue 80. Desires unlawfull alwaies unsatiable 5. 116. Detraction v. Slander Dimock Champion to K. Rich. 3. makes a challenge in defence of the Kings title to the Crowne 27. Divorce of Wives formerly usuall upon slight occasions 127. Copy of a Bill of divorse in use among the Iewes 128. Dux and Comes Ducatus and Comitatus were formerly Synonomies 4. Drogo Young Earle of Brittaine made away by his Vncle 5. E. EDward 3. King of England his linage 4. thought privie and consenting to his fathers deposition â—assacre 141. Edward Earle of March obtaines the Crowne 8. sends an army into Scotland to recover his tribute 10. received tribute of France 29. much feared for his prowess 19. His wantonnesse and many loves 115 116. His witty Leman 121. Had two wives at once 116 117. Ill consequences of his last marriage 118. His answer to his mother 120. Adjudged unlawfull the children illegittimate Parliam Anno 1. Rich. 3. p. 30. And refused by the Barons and Commons as incapeable of rule 20. 22. His daughters meane fortunes 143. His death supposed by treachery 11. by poyson 102. 123. Appointed his brother Ric. D. of Glocester protector 11 Edward 5. conveyed with an honorable conduct from Ludlow to London 11. reports of his death diverse but uncertaine 83 84. most probable that he died of sicknesse and infirmity 85. Edward Prince of Wales sonne of Hen. 6. Murdered 81. 141. Edw. Prince of Wales son of R. 3. dyed to the great griefe of the K. Q 44. Elianor Talbott alias Butler married to Edw. fourth 116. her wrongs and death 122. Elizabeth Gray her witty strengths against K. Edwards amorous assaults 117. Is marrid to him privately in a lodge 118. Is confined to an Abbey by