Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	henry_n	king_n	richard_n	15,475	5	9.2713	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A33387	His Majesties propriety and dominion on the Brittish seas asserted together with a true account of the Neatherlanders insupportable insolencies and injuries they have committed, and the inestimable benefits they have gained in their fishing on the English seas : as also their prodigious and horrid cruelties in the East and West-Indies, and other places : to which is added an exact mapp, containing the isles of Great Brittain and Ireland, with the several coastings, and the adjacent parts of our neighbours / by an experienced hand.	Codrington, Robert, 1601-1665.; Clavell, Robert, d. 1711.	1665 (1665)	Wing C4602; ESTC R3773	67,265	198

time of Richard the Second Hugh Calverley was made Admiral of the Sea saith the same Author and the Universal Custody of the Sea was committed by our Kings to the High Admirals of England And that the Dominion of the Seas is properly in the Power and Jurisdiction of the King may appear by those Tributes and Customes that were Imposed and Payed for the Guard and Protection of them The Tribute called the Danegeld was paid in the Time of the English Saxons which amounted to four shillings upon every Hide of Land for the defending of the Dominion by Sea Roger Houerden affirmeth that this was paid until the Time of King Stephen Afterwards Subsidies have been demanded of the People in Parliament upon the same Account and in the Parliament-Records of King Richard the Second it is Observable That a Custome was imposed upon every Ship that passed through the Northern Admiralty that is from the Thames along the Eastern Shoare of England towards the North-East for the Maintenance of a Guard for the Seas Neither was this Imposed onely upon the English but also upon the Ships of Forreigners payment was made at the Rate of six pence a Tun upon every Vessell that passed by such Ships only excepted that brought Merchandize out of Flanders into London If a Vessel were imployed to Fish for Herrings it payed the Rate of Six pence a week upon every Tun If for other kind of Fish so much was to be payed every three weeks as they who brought Coles to London from New-Castle paid it every three Moneths But if a Vessel were bound North-wards to Prussia Scone or Norway or any of the Neighbouring Countries it payed a particular Custome according to the Weight and Proportion of the Freight And if any were unwilling it was Lawful to Compel them to pay In this Place we shall give you the Copy of the usual form of a Commission whereby the High Admiral of England is Invested with Authority for the Guard of the Sea it runneth in these Words VVE Give and Grant to N. the Office of our Great Admiral of England Ireland Wales and of the Dominions and Islands belonging to the same also of our Town of Calais and our Marches thereof Normandy Acquitayn and Gascoign and we have Made Appointed and Ordained And by these Presents we Make Appoint and Ordain ●im the said N. our Admiral of England Ireland and Wales and our Dominions and Isles of the same our Town of Calais and our Marches thereof Normandy Gascoign and Aquitayn as also General Governour over all our Fleets and SEAS of our said Kingdomes of England and Ireland and our Dominions and Islands belonging to the same And know ye further that we of our especial Grace and upon certain Knowledge do Give and Grant to the said N our Great Admiral of England and Governour General over our Fleets and Seas aforesaid all manner of Iurisdictions Authorities Liberties Offices Fees Profits Duties Emoluments Wracks of the Sea cast Goods Regards Advantages Commodities Preheminences Priviledges whatsoever to the said Officer our Great Admiral of England and Ireland and of the other Places and Dominions aforesaid in any manner Whatsoever Belonging or Appertaining Thus we see we have a continual Possession or Dominion of the Kings of England by Sea pointed out in very Expresse Words for very many years We may add to this that it can be proved by words plain enough in the form of the Commissions for the Command of High Admiral of England that the Sea for whose Defence he was appointed by the King of England who is Lord and Sovereign of it was ever bounded towards the South by the Shores of Aquitain Normandy and Picardy for although those Countries sometimes in the Possession of the English are now lost and for many years under the Jurisdiction of the French yet the whole Sea Flowing betwixt our Brittish Isles and the Provinces over against them are by a Peculiar Dominion and Right of the King of England on those Seas subject unto them whom he puts in Command over the English Fleet and Coasts that there remaineth neither Place nor Use for any other Commanders of that kinde And as for the Islands of Gernesey Jersey and the rest Mr. Selden affirmeth that before a Court of Delegats in France in expresse terms it hath been acknowledged that the King of England hath ever been Lord not onely of this Sea but also of the Islands placed therein Par raison du Royalmed ' Angleterre upon the Account of the Realm of England or as they were Kings of England And in the Treaty held at Charters when Edward the Third Renounced his Claim to Normandy and some other Counties of France that bordered upon the Sea it was added that no Controversie should remain touching the Islands but that he should hold all Islands whatsoever which he Possessed at that time whither they lay before those Countries y t he held there or others For Reason required this that he should maintain his Dominion by Sea And both Gernesey and Jersey as well as the Isles of Wight and Man in several Treaties held betwixt the Kings of England and other Princes are acknowledged not onely to lye neer unto the Kingdome of England but to belong unto it But to give a greater Light to this Truth we may from several Records produce many Testimonies that the Kings of England have given leave unto to Forreigners upon Request to passe through their Seas he gave permission to Ferrando Vrtis de Sarachione a Spaniard to Sail freely from the Port of London through his Kingdomes Dominions and Jurisdiction to the Town of Rochel There are Innumerable Letters of safe Conducts in the Records especially of Henry the Fifth and Sixth whereby safe Port and Passage was usually granted And it is worthy of observation that these kinde of Letters was usually superscribed and directed by those Kings to their Governours of the Sea-Admirals Vice-Admirals and Sea-Captains And to clear all at once the Kings of England have such an absolute Dominion in the English Seas that they have called the Sea it self their Admiralty And this we finde in a Commission of King Edward the Third The Title whereof is De Navibus Arrestandis Capiendis For the Arresting and Seizing of Ships The Form of it runs in these Words The King to his beloved Thomas de Wenlock his Serjeant at Armes and Lievtenant To our Beloved and Trusty Reginald de Cobham Admiral of our Fleet of Ships from the mouth of the River of Thames towards the Western parts Greeting Be it known unto you that we have appointed you with all the speed that may be used by you and such as shall be Deputed by you to Arrest and Seize all Ships Flie-Boats Barks and Burges of ten Tun burthen and upwards which may happen to be found in my foresaid ADMIRALTY that is in the Sea reaching from the Thames Mouth towards the South and West and

to bring them speedily well and sufficiently Armed to Sandwich c. All Officers also in the said Admiralty are Commanded to yeild Obedience and Assistance upon the same Condition Thus That the Sea it self was contained under the Name of the Admiralty is most clearly manifest by what already we have shown you And as a Freedome of Passage so also we do finde that a Liberty of Fishing hath been obtained by Petition from the Kings of England we have already made mention that King Richard the Second imposed a Tribute upon all persons whatsoever that used Fishing on his Seas We read also that Henry the Sixth gave leave to the French and other Forreigners sometimes for a Year sometimes but for six Moneths to go and Fish throughout his Seas provided that the Fishing-Boats and Busses were not above thirty Tuns And if any Forreigners whither French Dutch or others should Disturb or Molest any of the Kings Subjects as they were Fishing they were to loose the benefit of their Licence But in the Eastern Sea which washeth the Coasts of York-shire and the Neighbouring Counties It hath been an Antient Custome for the Hollanders and Zelanders to obtain leave by Petitioning to the Governour of Scarborough Castle It is worth the while saith the Reverend Mr. Cambden to observe what an extraordinary gain the Hollanders and the Zelanders do make by fishing on the English Seas having first obtained leave from the Castle of Scarborough For the English have ever granted them leave to Fish reserving always the Honour and the Priviledge to themselves but through a negligence resigning the Profit unto Strangers for it is almost incredible saith he to believe what a vast sum of Money the Hollanders do make by this Fishing upon our Coast Mr. Hitchock also in the time of Queen Elizabeth presented a Book to the Parliament written in the English Tongue concerning the Commodity of Fishing in which he specifies that the Hollanders and Zealanders every year towards the latter end of summer do send forth four or five hundred Vessels called Busses to Fish for Herrings in our Eastern Seas but before they fish they ask leave of Scarborough they are his very Words Care was also taken by K. James that no Foreigner should Fish on the English or Irish Seas without leave first obtained and every year at the least this leave was renewed from the Commissioners for that purpose appointed at London But the Reason why we do not so often meet with these Forms of Licences is because by the Leagues made with the Neighboring Princes a Licence or Freedom of that kinde was so often allowed by both parties that as long as the League was in Force the Sea served as it were a Common Feild as well for the Forreigner y was in Amity as for the King of England himself who was the Lord and owner of it But a remarkable Example of Fishing in this Nature we finde in the days of King Henry the Fourth An Agreement was made betwixt the Kings of England and France that the Subjects of both Kingdomes might freely Fish throughout that part of the Sea which is bounded on this side by the Ports of Scarborough and Southampton and on the other side by the Coast of Flanders and the Mouth of the River of Sein The time was also limited betwixt Autumn and the beginning of January And that the French might securely enjoy the Benefit of this Agreement the King of England sent Letters unto all his Sea Captains and Commanders By this we may plainly see that these Limits wholy excluded the French from that part of the Sea which lies towards the West and South-West as also that which lieth North-East of them as being so limited by our Henry at his own pleasure as Lord and Soveraign of the whole There is amongst the Records of Edward the First an Inscription Pro Hominibus Hollandiae c. For the Men of Holland Zealand and Friesland to have leave to Fish neer Jernemuth now called Yarmouth The Kings Letter for their Protection runneth in these Words The King to his Beloved and Trusty John de Buteturte Warden of his Port of Jernemuth Greeting For as much as we have been certified that many men out of the Parts of Holland Zealand and Freisland who are in Amity with us intend now to come and Fish in our Seas neer unto Jernemuth we command you that publick Proclamation be made once or twice every week that no Person whatsoever imployed abroad in our Service presume to cause any Injury Trouble Dammage Hinderance or Grievance to be done unto them but rather when they stand in need that you give them Advice and Assistance in such manner that they may Fish and pursue their own Advantage without any Let or Impediment In Testimony whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Pattents and to continue in Force until after the Feast of St. Martins next ensuing Here you see that the King granteth a Protection to Fish and he Limits it within the space of two Moneths He alone also Protected the Fishermen upon the German Coast nor might the Fishermen use any other kind of Vessels then what were Prescribed by our Kings Upon which Accounts all kind of Fishing was sometimes prohibited and sometimes admitted this Restriction being added hat they should Fish onely in such Vessels as were under the Burden of Thirty Tun And this appears by the Letters of King Edward the Third concerning the Laws of Fishing which were directed unto the Governours of several Ports and Towns on the Eastern Shoar the Words are these For as much as We have given Licence to the Fishermen of the Neighbouring Ports and to others who shall be willing to come unto them for the Benefit of Fishing that they may Fish and make their own Advantage with Ships and Boats under the burden of thirty Tuns any Prohibition or Commands of ours whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding we command you to permitt the Fishermen of the said Towns and others who shall be willing to come to the said places for the Benefit of Fishing to Fish and make their own Advantage with Ships and Boats under-thirty Tun without any Let or Impediment any Prohibitions or Commands of ours made to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding This is evident also in the Records of King Edward the Fourth for he invested three Persons with Naval Power whose Office it was to Protect and Guard the Fishermen upon the Coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk and the charges of the Guard were to be Defrayed by the Fishermen of the said Seas at the pleasure of the King of England although they have Letters of Publick Security and Protection from Foreign Princes Neither were any Persons admitted to a Partnership in this kind of Guard except those who were appointed by the King of England least by this means perhaps it might Derogate from the English Right which is a manifest Sign and Evidence of their

is the Title of Successive Inheritance confirmed as well by the Law of Nature as of Nations and is so much the more considerable in regard of the infinite Advantages of the profits of it as the Brittish Ocean in its Latitude and Circumference exceedeth the small Boundaries of the Gulph of Venice But in this great Disputation where were present the most Remarkable Wits of Italy and Germany and where the Imperialists themselves and amongst them one of the most Eminent Stephen Baron of Gourz Attested openly that the Common-Wealth of Venice was Patron of the Adriatitk Sea and might impose what Customs they thought fitting and that all other the Commissaries thought so in their Consciences There is enough as may be thought in Reason to convince all Opponents that may pretend to differ in Judgement from us Yet so it is that the Indulgence of the Kings of England to their Neighbouring Nations especially to the Hollanders by giving them too much liberty hath incouraged them to assume a Liberty to themselves and what at the first was but a License they improve into a Custom and make that Custom their Authority Insomuch that some of the most busiest of them have openly declared against the Kings Propriety on the Brittish Seas Amongst these is one Hugo Grotius a Gentleman of great Ingenuity but in this particular so inclined to obey the Importunities and serve the Interests of his Country-men that he disobliged himself of the Truth and moreover to speak the truth of his Conscience it self for it you look into his Silvae upon the first Inauguration of King Iames of ever Blessed Memory he is pleased to express himself in these words Tria Sceptra profundi in magnum Cojere Ducem which is that the Rights of the English Scottish and Irish Seas are united under one Scepter neither is he satisfied with this bare profession but he goes on Sume animas a Rege tuo Quis det Iura Mari which is in English Take courage from the King who giveth Law unto the Seas In the same Book in the contemplation of so great a Power he concludeth Finis hic est qui fine caret that is This is an end beyond an end a bound that knoweth no bound a bound which even the winds and the waves must submit unto But with what ingratitude have the Dutch Answered the many Royal Favours which the Kings of England have almost perpetually conferred on them If there be no Monster greater then Ingratitude what Monsters are these Men who of late are so far from acknowledging their thankfulness that like Vipers they would feed upon and consume those Bowells which did afford them Life and Spirit We may observe that in their Lowest Condition which is most sutable to the Name of their Abode called the Low Countries they Petitioned to the Majesty of the Q●een of England whose Royal Heart and Hand being alwayes open to those that were Distressed especially those that were her Neighbours upon the account of Religion she sent them Threescore Thousand Pound upon the account of Sir Thomas Gresham in the year One Thousand Five Hundred Seventy and Two and presently afterwards there followed Colonel Morgan Colonel Gilbert Colonel Chester to Assist them in their Wars who were the Commanders of so many Regiments of Men And after them the War increasing there were sent over Colonel North Colonel Cotton Colonel Candish and Colonel Norris and some other persons of an Eminent Name who for the Honour of the English Nation made there Excellent Demonstrations of their Valour and Redeemed the Dutch from the Power of those who otherwise would have brought them to a better understanding of their Duties Great supplyes of monies were sent over to maintain so great a charge At the last the Prince of Orange being slain presently after the Death of the Duke Alanson Brother to Henry the third of France who if the successe had Answered the Expectation was wisely enough made Duke of Brabant the Queen of England sent over unto them Robert Duke of Leicester with great provision both of Men and Money accompanied with diverse of the Nobility and Gentlemen of good account And although the said Earle not long afterwards returned into England and the affairs of the Hollanders were doubtful untill the fatal Battel at Nieuport yet Queen Elizabeth of ever Blessed Memory out of her unspeakable goodness to the distressed and to those that suffered for Religion did as long as she lived constantly Assist the Hollanders both with Men and Monies she gave them Hope in Despair she gave them strength being weak and and with the Charity of her Princely Hand did support them being fallen And although the Hollanders do ungratefully alledge that it was a Benefit great enough for the English to Assist them in reason of state because by so doing they kept out a War from their own Country It is most certain that at that time the English had need to fear no Warr at all but onely for their Cause and for taking their parts for it was for their Cause that the English in the year One Thousand Five Hundred and seventy one had seized upon the sum of Six Hundred Thousand Ducats on the West Coast of England being the money designed from Spain to the Duke of Alva for the Advancement of the Spanish Interests in the Neatherlands And although the Hollanders do further alledge in their own Excuse that they were so grateful as that they offered unto the Queen of England the Soveraignty of the Neatherlands which she would not accept and therefore it was not their fault that she obtained it not It is in reason truly answered That the Queen of England well knowing that she was in danger to draw a perpetual Warr upon her Self and her Successours by the accepting of such a Gift to which she had no Right did wisely refuse their Liberality And yet for all that she continued still to aid them without that chargeable obligation The Hollanders do further alledge that the Queen of England had the Cautionary Town of Brill Flushing and the other places delivered into her Hands It is true she had so and thereby enjoyed only the Benefit of being at more Expence both of Men and Money and let the Reader take notice that most certain it is that the Hollander had no sooner made a Truce with the King of Spain and the Arch-Duke Albertus but he began presently to set the English at nought and to take the Bridle out of their Hands whereupon immediately insued their Forbiding of the bringing of English cloaths died and dressed into Holland and the adjoyning Provinces without ever making the King of England or his Ambassadour Leiger at the Hague Privy thereunto And to make amends for this their Saucy and Insolent Affront in a more High and Peremptory way they demeaned themselves to King Iames himself for whereas the Duke of Lennox as Admiral of Scotland had by order from

then was in the more Antient Nations and covered with Oxe-Hides yet with good ground we may conceive that they were wont to Build and set forth ships of War of a far more commodious and solid substance for the Guarding of the Seas and the Isles We read in Caesar's Commentaries that they were strong at Sea and it is not to be doubted but that besides their Twiggs and Leathern Vessels they had a considerable Navy which was able at pleasure to Encounter the ships of their Neighbours that were best Armed But the Southernly Parts of Great Brittain being Invaded by the Emperour Claudius and the Isle of Wight surrendred to them the Brittish Sea following the Fate of the Island was annexed with it to the Roman Empire From the Dominion of the Brittish Sea as being continually United to the Island or an Inseparable Concomitant thereof many remarquable passages have proceeded amongst those who have left unto Posterity the Atchievements of the Romans when they were Masters of this Island But when the Roman Empire was declining and they had scarce Forces enough to Guard the City it self The Brittains about the Year of our Lord Four Hundred and Fourscore did cast off the Roman Government and setled a Common-Wealth after their own liking In the mean time the Saxons Inhabiting the Shoar over against them had a great and greedy mind unto it who being a People extreamly given to Piracy the Romans were accustomed to appoint an Officer to drive them away called The Count of the Saxon Shore throughout Brittain These Saxons being sent for by the Brittains to Assist them against the Scots and Picts did get at length the whole Power into their own hand These Saxons being Arch Pirats did not only know but were familiarly acquainted with the Dangers of the Sea The same may be said of the Danes and Normans for these names being promiscuously used do often signifie the same Nation as is sufficiently attested by Regino Dudo the Monk of Malmesbury and others And these People had so great and so admirable a Knowledge of the Sea and Sea Affairs that by an exquisite observation of the Tides and Ebbings of the Sea they were accustomed to reckon their Months and Years yea and to frame Computations of years thereby In Antient Records diverse particulars are to be seen which most plainly show that both the Saxons and Danes had a Dominion over the Sea whilest they Reigned in Brittain In the Reign of the English Saxons we read in Asserius Bishop of Sherburn that Hengist being invited into England by the Perswasions of Vortigern there came presently afterwards to recruit him Octa and Ebissa who putting Pitates aboard his ships he charged them to Guard the passages of the Sea You are to understand that the word Pirate was not then taken as now commonly it is for Robbers or Rovers but for such who being the most skilfull in Sea-Affairs were judged to be the fittest Men to Encounter with their Enemies The word sayes my Authour doth seem to be deriv'd from the Greek for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Pira in the Greek Tongue signifieth Craft or Art and from this Art in Maritine Discipline they are now called Pirates which infest the Seas But amongst these Kings none was more Potent then King Edgar who possessing an Absolute Dominion of the Seas sayled round about it every Year and secured it with a constant Guard It is Recorded that these ships being very stout ones were in number One Thousand Two Hundred Other Writers affirm that they were Foure Thousand the Abbot of Jorvaux John Bramton by name doth number them to be Four Thousand and Eight Hundred sayle And what Dominion King Edgar had as Absolute Lord of the Sea appears in these words I Edgar King of England and of all the Kings of the Islands and of the Ocean lying round about Brittain and of all the Nations that are Included within the Circuit thereof Supream Lord and Governour do render my thanks to Almighty GOD My KING who hath Enlarged my Empire and Exalted it above the Royal Estate of my Progenitors who although they Arrived to the Monarchy of all England ever since Athelstan yet the Divine Goodness hath favoured me to Subdue all the Kingdomes of the Island in the Ocean with their most Stout and Mighty Kings even as far as Norway and the greatest part of Ireland together with their most Famous City of Dublin After him King Canutus left a Testimony whereby he most expresly Asserteth the Sea to be a part of his Dominion For placing himself by the Sea side in the time of a High Tide upon Southampton shoare he is reported to have made tryal of the Obedience of the Sea in this manner Thou O Sea art under my Dominion as the Land also which I sit upon is mine And there was never any that disobeyed my Command without Punishment Therefore I command thee not to ascend upon my Land nor do thou presume to wet the Feet or Garments of Thy Sovereign But although the Event did not answer his Expectation yet most plain it is that here he openly professed himself to be Sovereign of the Seas as well as of the Land From the Testimonies of the Saxons and Danes we shall Descend to the Government of the Normans where by many Notable and Cleer Proofs we shall finde That 1. The Custody Government or Admiralty of the English Sea did belong unto the King together with the Dominion of the Adjacent Islands 2. That the Leave of Passage through this Sea was granted unto Forreigners upon Request 3. That the Liberty of Fishing was upon Courtesie Allowed to Forreigners and Neighbours and Protection given to the Fisher-men 4. That Laws and Limits were Prescribed to Forreigners who being in Hostility the one with the other but both in Amity with the English made Prize of each other on the Sea 5. The Records whereby this Dominion is expressely Asserted as a most Undoubted Right and that not onely by the Kings but by the Parliaments of England As for the First There is nothing more Cleer than that the Kings of England have been Accustomed to Constitute Governours or Commanders who had a Charge to Guard the English Seas and these were called Custodes Navium or Custodes Maritimi These were the Officers that were called Butsecarli as may be gathered out of that Breviary of England called Doomes Day In this Number was Thomas de Moleton who is Stiled Captain and Guardian of the Sea and Hugh de Cerquen Afterwards the Title of Guardians was changed into that of Admiral as is alleaged by Thomas Walsingham in the days of Edward the First We finde that in the days of Edward the third The Principal End of Calling that Parliament was concerning the Preservation of Peace both by Land and Sea giving us to understand that the Land and Sea together made one entire Body of the Kingdome of England In the