Edward the Fifth who held it not long enough to have it put on him with the usual Solemnity for though he was Proclaimed he was never Crowned King For his Uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester having secured him and his Brother in the Tower did cunningly insinuate the Bastardy of his Nephew and that Edward the Fourth had another Wife living at the time of his Marriage to their Mother and also at the time of their Birth The Report found Credit universally in so much that the Duke of Buckingham coming to him at Baynards-Castle with most of the great Lords and wise men of the Kingdom and the Mayor and Aldermen of London the Duke did in their Names acquaint him that they had unanimously thought fit to elect him King as being Heir to the Royal Blood of Richard Duke of York upon whom the Crown was entail'd by the High Authority of Parliament 'T is very remarkable that in the midst of their highest Flatteries and Courtship to him they tell him only of this great and sure Title by Act of Parliament although if he had been indeed what was pretended the Heir of the House of York his Right by Descent from Edward the Third was unquestionable Richard after some feigned Excuses did at last accept of their Offer and Election and the Parliament being soon after Assembled Cott. Rec. fol. 709. they presented a Bill to this effect Please it your Grace to understand the Consideration Election and Petition under-written of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Commons c. And thereby they Declare the Children of Edward the Fourth illegitimate Bucks Rich. 3. lib. 1. fol. 22. and that his Brother George Duke of Clarence was attainted of High-Treason by Parliament in the 17th year of Edward the Fourth's Reign by reason whereof all the Issue of the said George were and are disabled and barr'd of all Right and Claim that in any case they might have or challenge by Inheritance to the Crown and Dignity Royal of this Realm by the ancient Laws and Customs of the same After which considering that none of the uncorrupted lineal Blood of Richard Duke of York could be found but in his Person say they We have chosen and do choose you our King and Sovereign Lord. Then the Bill proceeds in reciting that all the Learned in the Laws do approve his Title and declaring him King as well by Right of Consanguinity and Inheritance as by lawful Election and entails the Crown on him and the Heirs of his Body and declares his Son Heir Apparent To which the King gave his Royal Assent in these words 〈◊〉 idem Dominus Rex de Assensu dictorum trium Statuum Regni Authoritate praedicta omnia singula praemissa in Billa praedicta contenta concedit ea pro vero indubio pronunciat decernit declarat But the barbarous Murder of his Nephews did soon beget such an universal Detestation of Richard in the minds of the People that they resolved he should no longer Reign over them and so taking hold of a Pretence which Henry Duke of Richmond set up they joyn'd with him against Richard Though Henry's Title was indeed no more than a meer Pretence for not only the Right of the House of York as far as Blood could give Right was before that of the House of Lancaster but also he had no manner of Interest in that Title which the Lancastrian Line had since his Claim was under a Bastard begotten in Adultery and besides his Mother Margaret Countess of Richmond as Heir to whom he pretended he claim'd was then living Therefore Comines the most judicious Writer of that Age and who knew well what was the sence of Europe concerning his Title says plainly though he wrote in the time of Henry the Seventh Qu'il 〈◊〉 Croix ne Pile ne nul Droit comme Jeo Croy 〈…〉 Nevertheless Henry having slain Richard in Bosworth-field the Crown was there put on his Head by the Lord Stanley with the general Acclamation of the People But he was wise enough to think his Title to it was not very good till it was made so by an Act of Parliament and therefore in the first year of his Reign he procured one to pass in these words For the Wealth Bucks Rich. 3. lib. 5. fol. 145. Prosperity and Surety of this Realm of England and for avoiding of all Ambiguities and Questions The wisest of our Princes you see had no little Opinion of the Authority of a Parliament in this point Be it Ordained c. That the Inheritance of the Crown of the Realms of England and France with all the Preheminences and Dignities Royal to the same appertaining and the Ligeances to the King belonging beyond the Seas c. shall be rest remain and abide in the most Royal Person of our Sovereign Lord Henry the Seventh and in the Heirs of his Body lawfully coming perpetually with the Grace of God and so to endure and no other Thus did the wisest of our Kings establish himself Lord Bacon H. 7. f. 11 12. and the best of our Historians mentions it as one of the greatest Instances of his Wisdom That he did not press to have this as a Declaration or Recognition of Ancient Right but onely as an Establishment of the possession which he then had nor to have the Remainder limited to any person after the determination of his Estate but was content with the Settlement upon himself and the Issue of his own Body leaving it to the Law to decide what was to follow upon the failure of such Heirs Nor can any thing be more clear than that Henry the Seventh depended entirely on this Parliamentary Title without extending any pretences of his or his Wives who was Heir of the House of York beyond this Establishment in as much as the Oaths of Allegiance and other publick Tests and Securities which were required at that time of the Subjects were not in general Terms to the King his Heirs and Successors but only to the King Burnet's Hist of the Reformation Collect ad lib. 2. fol. 3 4. and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten An Instance of this without going any further may be seen amongst the Records Printed at the end of the late History of the Reformation where Cardinal Adrian when he was promoted by Henry the Seventh to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells renounces all Clauses in the Popes Bulls which may be prejudicial Domini meo supremo Haeredibus suis corpore suo legitime procreatis Angliae Regibus and he does afterwards swear Allegiance to him in the very same Words without taking any notice of Remoter Heirs Henry the Eighth the Heir to this Entail Succeeded his Father and though he attempted as much for Arbitrary Power and used Parliaments with as little respect as any of his Predecessors Yet even he never doubted of their Power in settling the Succession but valued it much and resorted
in ejus promotionem Willielmo Cantuariensis Archiepiscopo Clericorum Laicorum universitate apud London Jo. Hagulstad 250. Predictus Stephanus à cunctis in Regem Electus Gervas Chron. f. 340. Congregatis Londiniis terrae magnatibus Mat. Paris 74. with the Estates of the Realm to elect him King And in this Charter which he made soon after he owns this Title beginning it thus Ego Stephanus Dei gratia assensu Cleri Populi in Regem Angliae electus c. And the Pope in his Charter of Confirmation sent to him in the first year of his Reign tells him That he was Communi voto unanimi assensu tam Procerum quam etiam Populi in Regem electus And then he adds That since so universal an Assent could not be directed but by the Divine Grace he therefore allows his Title and confirms him in the Kingdom 'T is true that afterwards Mawd the Empress together with her Son Henry having after some years gained many to their side gave him great disturbance till at last Stephen having lost his Eldest Son Eustace in whom he placed his hopes (e) Hen. Hunt l. 8. f. 395. R. Hag. de gestii Steph. 314. and used all means whilst he liv'd to have got him declared his Successor but without Success came to an Agreement with the Empress and her Son and (a) Facto Wintoniae conventu publica Rex Stephanus ipsum Ducem cunctis videntibus adoptavit in Filium utque interposito omnium Juramento concessit confirmarit ei totius Angliae principatum Dux autem suscepit eum in loeum genitoris contendens ei omnibus diebus vitae fuae nomen rem Regij culminis obtinere Gervas f. 1375. In conventu Episcoporum aliorum de Regno optum Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. 282. an 1154. Consenserunt in hoc omnes principes Regni Jo. Hagulstad f. 282. Mat. pacis 86. Hen. Hunt l. 8. f. 398. Jo. Hagalstad 282. an 1154. the Parliament who alone could give a Sanction to such Agreement was assembled at Winchester to confirm it and then Stephen publickly Adopts Henry for his Son and with their full consent declares him his Heir and with the same consent Henry gives Stephen the name of Father and agrees that he should continue to be King during his Life and they all Swore That if Henry surviv'd he should without opposition obtain the Crown and Stephen by his Charter which is set down at large in Brompton publishes this Agreement Brompt 1037. In all this Transaction certainly there was no consideration had of any other Right but that which universal consent conferred For if Stephen's Heir had any pretence he had a Son then living whose Name was William and who by the same Agreement was to have all the Possessions which his Father enjoyed before he was made King If the Heir of Henry the first had any Title that was vested in Mawd the Empress who was then also living so that neither of the parties had any other colour of Right to the Crown than what the consent of the People gave them According to this Parliamentary Agreement and Limitation Stephen enjoy'd the Crown peaceably during his Life and after his Death Henry the Second came to it as peaceably but he remembred by what Title and therefore was desirous to secure it to his Son in the same manner that he took a very dangerous and unusual way to do it (b) Convenerunt interim die statuto ex mandato Regis Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones vicecomites prepositi Aldermanit cum sidejussoribus Gervas H 2. f 1412. For Summoning a Parliament to meet at London he procures his Son Henry to be declared King together with himself by their consent and thereupon he was Crowned by the Archbishop of York and Fealty Sworn to him by all This was the occasion of Civil Wars between them for the Father meant hereby only to have secured the Succession to him and the Son was impatient of having only the bare Title of a King all along pretending to an Equal Authority as doth sufficiently appear by what he writes to the Prior and Convent of Canterbury where he takes notice That his Father did attempt some Invasions upon them which he ought not to have done without his assent (c) Gervas H. 2. f 1425. Qui ratione Regiae unctionis Regnum totius Regni curam suscepiemus and therefore he appeal'd to the Pope in that behalf Nay the Father himself paid that Respect to his Sons Dignity That when he at last subdued him and his Rebellious Brothers (d) Brompt f. 1100. he would not suffer him to do him Hommage with his other Sons though he offered it But Henry the Son dying in the Life of his Father Richard was then his Eldest Son surviving and consequently had all the Right which a next Heir could claim But the wise and wary King had not confidence enough to rely upon this now so much talk'd of sacred Right but though he had already suffered so much from disobedient Sons was glad to get the Succession confirmed to him in his Life-time And the Truth is there was reason enough that he should do so for he had all his Children by Eleanor the Daughter of William Duke of Guyen (a) M. Paris 84 who was before the Wife of Lewis the 7th King of France who was still living and she onely Divorced causa Adulterii which being not a Divorce à vinculo Matrimonii she could not either by the Canon-Law universally received or the Laws of England lawfully Marry with any other Husband After his Father's Death Richard came to London to which place all the Clergy and Laity were summoned and (b) Post tamcleri quam populi solennem debitam Electionem R. de daeto f 647. R. H. par 2. f. 6. 56. after he had been solemnly and duely Elected by the whole Clergy and Laity they are the very words of the Historian and taken the usual Oaths he was Crowned And when he undertook the holy War he (c) Flo. Hist An. 1190. declared Arthur Son of his next Brother Geoffery the Duke of Britain the next Heir to the Crown Richard dying without Issue this Arthur ought to have succeeded and his Sister Elianor also had a Title before her Uncle But John the younger Brother without regarding this divine Right of his Nephew applies himself to the People for a more sure though but a humane Title (d) Praelatorum Comitum aliorum Nobilium multitudo insinita Brompt 1281. who being summon'd together elected him King And (e) Mat. Paris 197. An. 1199. Si aliquis ex stirpe Regis Defuncti aliis praepolliret pronius promptius in electionem ejus esse consentiendum Hubert the then Archbishop of Canterbury did at his Coronation preach a Doctrine which would have sounded very strangely to the Convocation in 1640. viz. No one
the Crown and the name and power of King discharging all his Subjects from all Oaths which they had taken of Allegiance to him confessing himself thereby insufficient for the Government and swearing never to make any pretences to the same for the future All which he Pronounced and Subscribed wishing if it were in his power to have Henry Duke of Lancaster for his Successour but since it was not he desired the Commissioners to signifie his Desires to the States of the Realm The next day all the States of the Realm accepted his Resignation and when that was done they proceeded to read publickly his Coronation-Oath and all the Breaches of it that so it might appear how justly he had deserved to be deposed All which are contained in Thirty three Articles entred at large in the Rolls of Parliament and well deserve to be read whereupon the States adjudged that he shall be Depos'd and appoint Commissioners ad Deponendum eundem Richardum Regem ab omne Dignitate Majestate honore Regiis vice nomine authoritate omnium statuum praedictorum prout in Consimilibus casibus de antiqua consuetudine dicti Regni fuit observatum which the Bishop of St. Asaph did in full Parliament in their names and by their directions The same Commissioners were also to resign up to him their Homage and Fealty and intimate the Sentence of Deposition which they did accordingly by the Mouth of Sir William Thirning whose words are at large entred upon Record Then did the Parliament proceed to choose Henry the Fourth King And upon this Title onely did he rely though he mentioned some other trifling ones as that he challenged it being then void by Force as Descended to him from King Henry the Third But this could give him no Title for 't is plain that whilst any of the Issue of Lionel Duke of Clarence the Third Son of Henry the Third were in being no right of Blood could Descend to him who derived his Pedigree onely from John of Gaunt who was but his Fourth Son And he plainly shewed what a good Opinion he had of a Parliamentary Title to the Crown when in the 7th year of his Reign 7 H. 4. cap. 2. he procured an Act of Parliament to pass whereby the Inheritance of the Crown and Realms of England and France were setled upon himself for Life and the Remainder entail'd upon his four Sons by name and the Issue of their Bodies begotten He was contented that it should be limited no farther but that after failure of his own Issue it should go according to the general direction of the Law And he made a Charter soon after whereby he setled the Crown pursuant to this Act of Parliament Bucks Hist R. 3. l. 2. f. 50. Post ipsum successive haeredibus suis de ipsius Corpore legitime procreandis which Charter was again confirm'd in Parliament the 22 December 8 H. 4. and the Original Charter is still to be seen in the Cotton Library Immediately upon the Death of Henry the Fourth a Parliament met at Westminster and there according to the custom of the Realm it was debated who should be King But all Men had entertained so good thoughts of Prince Henry that without staying till the whole Assembly had declared him King divers of them began to swear Allegiance to him A thing strange and without President as only occasioned by the extraordinary Opinion which was generally conceived of him before And the certain Title vested in him by an Act of Parliament Princeps Henricus facto Patris sui funere Concilium Principum apud Westmonasterium Convocandum Curat in quo de Rege Creando more Majorum agitabatur Continuò aliquot Principe ultro in ejus Verba jurare coeperunt quod Benevolentiae Officium Nulli priusquam Rex renunciatus esset praestitum constat Adeo Henricus ab ineunto aetate spem omnibus optimae Indolis fecit Pol. Virg. l. 22. Hist Angl. in Vit. H. 5. Henry the Fifth dying and leaving but one Son who was an Infant of Eight Months old Titus Livius says there was some doubt whether he should be accepted as King Titus Liv. Ms in Bibl. Bod. Cott. Record f. 666. but as soon as his Fathers Funerals were Solemnized the Estates of the Realm of England Assembling and Consulting together they declared Henry the Sixth to be their Sovereign In the Thirty fifth year of Henry the Sixth a new Limitation of the Crown was made by Parliament for though the King had a Son then living yet it was Enacted Hubington's Hist E. 4. f. 10. That during his own Life onely Henry the Sixth should hold and enjoy the Crown and that during his Life Richard Duke of York should be reputed and stil'd Heir Apparent to the Crown and that it should be Treason to compass his Death Cott. Rec. 670. Fructus Temp. part 7. f. 162. and after the Death Resignation c. of Henry the Crown was limited in Remainder to Richard and his Heirs with a Proviso that if Henry or any in his behalf should endeavour to disanul or frustrate this Act that then Richard should have the present possession of the Crown And by force of this Act of Parliament the same Duke of York taking advantage of Henry's Violation of it did lay claim to Hubingt E. 4. f. 73. and attempt the recovery of the Kingdom as also did his Son Edward after him with better success and Edward did openly insist upon this Title in the Speech which he made at his Coronation It was also Declared by Edward's first Parliament in the first year of his Reign that Henry the Sixth having broken the aforesaid Concord in many particulars the Crown was duely devolved to Edward the Fourth by vertue thereof Afterwards Edward the Fourth being driven out of the Kingdom in the Tenth year of his Reign the Parliament did again entail the Crown on Henry the Sixth and the Heirs Male of his Body with the Remainder to George Duke of Clarence Brother to Edward the Fourth who was thereby also declared Heir to Richard Duke of York 'T is worthy observation that both the Families of York and Lancaster claimed a Title by Act of Parliament and as long as that Title continued the Issue of Henry the Fourth had never any Disturbance from the Pretences of the House of York who had undoubtedly the Right of Blood on their side Buck's Hist Rich. 3. lib. 1. fol. 20. But as soon as Richard Duke of York had a Title vested in him by the Statute made in the Thirty ninth year of Henry the Sixth then he thought it was worth contending for nor did he and his Son desist till they had driven out Henry the Sixth Edward the Fourth did recover the Kingdom again as suddenly as he lost it and prevail'd with his Parliament to repeal that Law which was made during his Expulsion and so left the Crown to that young unfortunate Prince