Scepter with other Jewels and Marks of Royalty He appeared in publick accompanied with his Officers and Gentlemen of his Court having two Pages on Horse-back One carried his Crown and a Bible the Other his Sword He caused a Throne to be built in the most publick place hung with Cloath of Gold on which he sate as in his Court of Justice He created twelve Judges to whom he gave so many Imaginary Kingdoms He married several Women who were drest like so many Queens He sent twenty eight Disciples Teachers of his Law about 〈◊〉 World who were all executed and put 〈◊〉 but one who cunningly made his 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—rd â—â—â—ppeâ—doling who beâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Câ—nsul or Magistrate of the 〈◊〉 would needs be the Executioner He â—â—â—mitted many Cruelties and Extravaâ—â—ncies and the King as many in his turn 〈◊〉 heading People himself not sparing one 〈◊〉 his Wives who was grieved to see the â—â—â—eries the poor People endured by the â—â—tremity of Famine the City being beâ—â—ged by Francis Count of Waldeck their â—â—â—hop assisted by the Circles of the Emâ—â—re His False Doctrine was To deny Infants â—â—otism To Rebaptize those who had been so already To have all things in common â—o marry several wives He denied that Jesus Christ took Humane Nature from the Virâ—n Mary He denied the Pardon of Sinners abolisht Magistracy took Others Goods by Force and Extirpated those who believed not his Foolish Doctrine The 24th of June 1535. the City was taken by the skill of two Fugitives who did that good Service for the Bishop and the Besiegers John Bulchold the Impostor King Bernard Knipperdoling both Magistrate and Hangman and Crechtineh were all three Executed the 25th of Jannary 1536. being torn to pieces with Red-hot Pincers Bulchold repented and implored the Mercy of God Their Bodies were bound in Iron-Frames and hung on the highest Tower of the City the pretended King being placed in the middle a mans heighth above the rest CHAP. VI. THE False Clotaire CALLED GONDOALD THis Impostor appeared a second time in France under the Kings of the first Race in the year 586. calling himself the Son of Clotaire the first King of Soissons and by consequence Grandson to Clovis the Great I will observe what two Historians say of him those are Robert Guaguin and Paulus Aemilius both having writ the History of France His Mother Educated him from a Child like the Son of a King above all things preserving his Hair which was a Mark of the Royal Family amongst the Old French-men Clotaire his pretended Father would not own him when his Mother brought him to Soissons which perswades me that he was Illegitimate But Childebert his Uncle King of Paris who had no Child took pity of him and bred him in his Court At which Clotaire was angry and writ to him in these terms Send back to me Gondoald that I may take care of him my self and breed him up if I find him my Son for if he be not the Education of a Prince which you give him may be the occasion of Errour and Illusion in the World who may shew him those Honours which are not his due Clotaire when he had him in his power shaved his Head and shut him up in a Monastery This pretended Father dying in the year 564. Cherebert or Childebert King of Paris his elder Brother took a Kindness to him and was careful of him for some time But Cherebert was an Effeminate Prince abandoning himself to Debauchery and Women which extreamly altered his Health so that Gondoald's Happiness had but a short date For after the Death of this generous Brother of Clotaire which was in the year 565. Sigebert another of his Brothers King of Austrasia the Country which is now called Lorrain sent for him to his Court without saying how he intended to treat him and leaving him altogether in uncertainty which he nevertheless construed to his own advantage And this unhappy man no sooner arrived at the Court but he shaved him a second time and put him into a Monastery at Collein So that finding himself thus tost about he made an Escape and fled into Italy where Narses that famous Eunuch General of the Emperour Justinian's Army with admirable success made War against the Goths This was no small advantage to Gondoald to make a Friendship with one of the most Valiant and most Illustrious Captains mentioned in History Totila that Generous and Magnanimous King of the Ostrogoths whom Bellisarius the indefatigable General for the same Justinian could not entirely overcome lost both his Diadem and his Life by the Conduct of this Little Old Man of three Cubits stature who wanted one of the most Essential Parts of a Man I will onely use the words of Paulus Jovius in his Elogies of Illustrious men speaking of him Narses says he deserves an Admiration extraordinary and above all other men who being born a Slave in Persia and bred in the Seraglio or Apartment of the Empresses Women being but half a Man deprived of that Part which both Sexes most value became the Imperial Treasurer and was the only accomplisht General not only for all Military Vertue but likewise for his good Fortune whoever suffered so great a Deprivation E tanta ereptae virilitatis calamitate unicus prope cum Virtute tum fortuna Imperator extiterit It had been incomparably a greater Advantage if Gondoald could have been with this Captain in the heighth of his Favour for at that time viz. in the year 566. Justin the Second succeeded his Maternal Grandfather the Emperour Justinian who extreamly loved Narses for his Merit and the good Service he had done him having Extirpated two powerful Kings of the Ostrogoths Totila and Teias and defeated an Army of Seventy two thousand Frenchmen commanded by one Bucelin General for Theodobert King of Mets. Gornandes Archbishop of Ravenna and born a Goth is mistaken in his History when he reckons Two hundred thousand men kill'd and attributes the Victory to Bellisarius Sometime after Gondoald's Arrival the Empress Sophia perswaded by the Enemies of Narses's Glory recalled him into Italy and also treated him with great Scorn and Contempt saying He was sitter to distribute Wooll to her Women and to the Maids of her Seraglio to spin than to command an Army Which Expressions he so much resented that he called Alboin his Friend King of the Lombards out of Hungary to come into Italy who made such a Progress there that this most wise Empress was not able to put a stop to Gondoald hoped considerable Assistance from Alboin with which he designed to take from his Brothers Sigebert Chilperic and Gontran who bore the Titles of Kings of Mets Paris and Orleans the Cities where they lived and kept their Courts a more considerable Kingdom than either of them possest Narses being naturally Merciful and Religious was perswaded by the Entreaty of Pope John the Third who came to meet him at Naples how pernicious the consequence must
say Amissus fuit in Temiriano praelio The others escaped who were Lemir Solyman Isa Zelebis Zultan Muchemet and Casan Zelebis who was then very young I will not meddle with the Accidents Wars and Murders which happened amongst them only relate how after the Death of Lemir Solyman in the Year of Christ 1423. which is of the Hegyra 824 Amurath his Son being newly Placed on his Throne Twenty Years after Tamberlain's Famous Victory a certain Man called Dusmes Mustapha pretending to be the Son of Can Gilderum or Bajazet appeared in Romania And although Mahomet the First and Amurath the Second was assured that he was killed at Mount Stella yet the Grecian Emperor Emanuel Paleologus would never believe it but always thought him the true Mustapha and by giving him his utmost Assistance pulled many Unhappinesses on his own Head Amurath offered him great Advantages not to meddle with their Quarrel but to let them determine it among themselves with their own Arms. Carion in his Chronicle speaks not of Mustapha as an Impostor but says that the Greeks perceiving Amurath to raise the Ottoman Name and Power after that Fatal Overthrow at Mount Stella where his Grandfather lost both his Glory and Liberty and that he attacked all the little Christian Princes who had dependance on the Eastern Empire to extirminate one after another by their Spoils seeking to repair his own Losses though they most Religiously observed the Peace with his Father Wherefore the Greeks then brake it also taking out of Lemnos his Uncle Mustapha whom they had kept there under a sure Guard as a Rival capable of frustrating his Designs for which purpose they gave him all Imaginable Assistance that he might disposess Amurath and obtain the Empire for himself This Prince whither True or False is uncertain lived sometimes at Verdari a little City of Thessaly bearing the Name of a River which runs by it where severall Lords of the Family of the Eurenoses took his Party Assisted with whose Forces he Besieged the City Serra which with its Fortress he forced to a Surrender This great Success exalted his Hopes and gave him Courage to attempt Adrianople then Capital of the Ottoman Empire whose Inhabitants had a Favorable Opinion both of his Person and Title opening their Gates at his Approach and swearing Fidelity to him All Romagna followed their Example and submitted to his Government yet he still continued his Residence at Verdari Sultan Amurath thinking on little but his Pleasures at Bursa where he then kept his Court or Port heard what Progress Mustapha had made and sent against him Bassa Bajazet with a considerable Army but when he came before Adrianople this Trayterous Bassa abandoned his Conscience and his Honour joining with Mustapha's Army for Recompence of which Treason he was made Vizier which is like Chancellor or Prime Minister of State Zunaites Prince of Smyrna who had been Prisoner with the Impostor Mustapha in the strong Fortress of Monemuasia which was the antient Epidaurus armed also for him The Turks call'd this Man Chusines He raised a considerable Body of Men composed for the most part of Azapes being foot who fight with Bows and Arrows Laonicius supposes these to have been an Auxiliary of Strangers He gave great priviledges to all those who took up Arms in his Favour and that freely embraced his Party Having raised this Army he left Adrianople and Marched streight to Bursa and on the way finding his new Vizier the Bassa Bajazet was conspiring against him he caused him to be Excecuted publickly as a Traytor within one days Journey of Bursa Thus paying with an Ignominious Death his double Treason In the mean while Amurath advised with his Bassa's how he might best defend himself from the Storm that threatned him They counsell'd him to release out of Prison Mechemet Beg Chief of the Michalogli of whom Lunclavius in the Twenty Seventh Chapter of his Pandects gives this account Osman one of the Chief Heads of the Ottoman-Family the better to Establish his Greatness made a Friendship and Allyance with Three little Princes by whose Assistance he extraordinarily advanced his own Affairs and gained many great Victories over the Christians One of these Princes was called Michael another Mark both of the Eastern Imperial Family and the Third a Turk named Aurami From which Three were descended the most Considerable Persons then in the Ottoman-Empires Still retaining the Names of the Son of Michel Mark and Aurami or Michalogli Marcalogli and Auramogli the Turkish Pronounciation calls the last Eurenosogli whom Mustapha had on his side as Amurath had the Micaloglis and above all Beg Mechemet the Instrument of his Good Fortune who extirminated his Rival in this manner Amurath recalled him to the Port from Nisar the antient Nicocesaria often called also Tocat the Chief City of Capadocia where he was under Restraint kept like a Prisoner giving him with his Liberty the Command of his Army Mechemet without staying at Bursa March't to Lupadi or Vlabat a considerable Town in Natolia encamping near the Bridge Dusmes Mustapha likewise advanced with his Army on the other side of it opposite to him Mechemet apprehending the Danger of a Battle saw that Dusmes his Army was no way to be forced thought on a Stratagem more for his purpose He then in Disguise went to the Enemy's Guards and being one of the greatest Men among the Turks made himself known to them desiring to speak with the Officers that were his Friends to whom with Substantiall Evidence he represented and proved the Imposture of Dusmes Mustapha with the Interest the Greeks were able to make of their Division by indeavouring to set up a base unknown Impostor and Creature of theirs on the Ottoman Throne Telling them also what Recompences Amurath would give them Mechemet with the Sentiment of the Christian Religion had also renounced and disclaimed the Blood of the Imperial Family of Greeks of whom he was descended By this and other Arts he drew to his Master Amurath's side the most considerable Lords and Souldiers in Dusmes Army as Laonicius reports at large which over-threw all his Affairs without Hopes of any Re-establishment reducing him to the utmost Extremities Dusmes Mustapha and Amurath both sent Ambassadors to the Emperor of Constantinople Johannes Paleologus to obtain his Assistance making great Offers and solliciting his Ministers with mighty Promises This Affair was much debated in the Councel of State The Reasons of both Sides being considered the Emperor declared for Mustapha who was his Creature whom he had begun to oblige when he was in Prison And therefore promised himself more from his gratitude than Amurath would ever do This had great Reason to fright Amurath's Party and doubtless had it been known the greater part of his Captains would have declared for his Enemy But his Ambassadors foreseeing the danger of such a Report returned with speed after this denyal to give the Army an Account of their Expedition but Mechemet the
be of Alboin's coming into Italy and conjured him to countermand and hinder it all he could When the Pope and he were returned to Rome and considering how they might remedy this Misfortune Narses died whose body was carried to Constantinople and there magnificently buried Gondoald after this Accident crossed the Sea and made his Court to the Emperour Justin and the Empress Sophia his Wife an Ambitious and Airy Princess His good Meen and Intriguing Humour made him extreamly considered in that Court Venerationem sibi ac Majestatem conciliarunt says Paulus Aemilius He remained at Constantinople all the time of Justin the Second a pusillanimous Prince who suffered his Wife to govern the Empire contrary to his Honour and Interest During the Reign of Tiberius which was seven years he made several Campaigns in the Wars of Persia under Mauritius who was after chosen Emperour and Successor to Tiberius for Gondoald dared not to venture himself in the Court of France where he had been so ill treated having many sad Examples of his Relations Cruelty even to their own Blood Clotaire his Father without Pity or Mercy burnt Cramnus or Granus his own Son with his Wise and Children in a House where they Fled for Refuge He overcame kill'd in Battle Senabut Duke of Britain He Burnt Conobald Duke of Guienne in the Chappel of S. Martin where he ran for safety because he had assisted Granus in his Revolt to whom he Married his Daughter This Clotaire also was Guilty of that abominable parricide of dipping his hands in the Innocent Blood of his two young Nephews Theobald and Gontier Sons of Cladomir his Brother King of Orleans Gondoald considering he had little Reason to expect a better Treatment from his Fathers Brothers Sigebert and Chilperic chose rather to Live quietly in Justin's Court But when he was Informed how matters went in France he resolved to hasten thither encouraged by the Empress Constantina and the Emperour Mauritius Son-in-Law to Tiberius who promis'd him their Assistance His two Sisters-in-Law Brunechilde the Daughter of Athanagilde King of the Wisigoths in Spain Married to his Brother Sigebert and Fredegonde Woman of the Bed-chamber to the Queen Galsond Wife to Chilperic his other Brother King of Paris who first became Mistress and then Wife to that King These two Women disturbed all France Their Husbands having been Traitorously Murthered which was the occasion of his Return after having been Twenty Years in the East He Landed at Marseilles with a splendid Equipage where Theodore Bishop of that Diocess received him with much Honour it being reported he brought Vast Riches along with him and was able to give great Rewards having made the best Advantage of his Happiness in the Eastern Court besides the finding a mighty Treasure hid by Narses the Eunuch His Royal Qualities and Majestick Person were admired The Fame of his Actions having gain'd him the Reputation of a good Captain Scholler to the Incomparable General Narses Didier who absolutely Commanded the Countrys adjacent to Tholouse Mummol much talkt of for his Service in the Wars against the Greeks and Lombards and thought one of the best Souldiers in his time besides many Lords both Visigoths and Romans who kept the Frontiers of Spain declared for him Thus having acquir'd such powerful Friends and reduced to his Obedience a great part of the People and Cities of Guienne the Peregordins and Bourdelois those of Tholouse and Anjou followed his Fortune Childebert King of Mets the Nephew of Gondoald was then angry with his Uncle Gontran King of Orleans for refusing to deliver into his hands his Mother-in-Law Queen Fredegonde the Murtheress of King Sigebert his Father which reason perswaded him to declare for Gondoald sending him Ambassadors and stiling him King to give him the more Majesty for the obtaining the Hearts of the French advising him to take the Name of Clotaire his Father The occasion of Gontrans refusing to deliver to him the Queen Fredegonde was that young King Clotaire the Second her Son was under his Tutelage and he thought it below a Generous Prince to give up the Mother of him whom he intended to make his Successor Gontran was a Prince extreamly Good Pious and Charitable I can find no other Reason why he preferr'd Clotaire his Nephew who was but Four Months Old when his Father Chilperic was Assassinated by the Infidelity of Fredegonde his Wife Gondoald having before so much cause to doubt whether Clotaire were Lawfully begot or no his Mother being of a very scandalous Life in her Husbands time abandoning her self to the Maire or Stewards of the Pallace Londry de la Tour. Unless he thought the Decision of the Laws sufficient that Filius est quem nuptiae demonstran That Child is Legitimate who is Born of a Woman who hath a Husband He hoped to give good Impressions to the young Prince being like soft Wax capable of any he would make But Gondoald's Humour he extreamly apprehended for his fierceness and resentment of the usage he received in his younger Days That Divine Quality so Admirable in a Prince to forget Injuries received when 't is in his Power to Revenge them never having been exercised by Clotaire his Father who always prefer'd his own private Resentments This made him not acknowledge Gondoald that came from the Court of Constantinople when the Grecian Artifices Treachery and Cruelty were much in use The Affection and tenderness he had for the Innocent Child prevail'd over his aversion to the Vices and conduct of Fredegonde his Mother Raymond Bishop of Paris a Person of an Exemplary Life first spoke to the good King in Favour of this young Prince he having before saved Fredegonde from the Fury of the People inraged by the Death of their King Chilperic of which she and her Gallant Landry were shrewdly suspected he giving her with her Son and Treasure refuge in his Church The Merciful King continued his Clemency to his Death which happened the 28th of March 594. Still assisting the Queen with his Councel and Protection He perswaded her by his remonstrances with the fear and respect she had to offend him to Live a more retir'd Life He caused what the Courtiers and Domesticks of his Brother Chilperic had unjustly taken from several particular Persons to be restored He did many Favours to the Church making those dues to be paid which Chilperic had supprest or diverted and largly assisting the Poor All which he had reason to believe Gondoald would not do being greedy of Money wanting all the Treasure he could get to recompence his Creatures and support the Luxury he had Learnt at Constantinople I will not stop to relate the Encomiums which Gregory of Tours and Fredegarius in their Chronicles give this King Gontran only say it was the greatest misfortune or if you please an effect of Gods Judgment to want his protection and be rejected by him Though Gondoald did all he could to obtain his Favour He chose two
Emperour of Greece Whose Death I have lamented when I was in my Youth When first the unhappy News arrived his Son Henry a Valiant Prince succeeded him in the Empire and his Eldest Daughter Jane in his Earldom of Flanders Their Country holds of me and is a Feudatory of my Crown as the Earl is a Peer of my Kingdom I wish I could alter the Course of Nature and that what has happened had not been that my dear Vncle the Father of my Cousin-German whose Name and Memory is of admirable Veneration in Greece could return to Life But I cannot lightly be perswaded from the belief I have of his death and the report which hath been confirmed through the course of so many Years Most humane things especially Empires subsist by the Testimony of men Tell me then for whom you would be received If for my Vncle shew it us by some authentick proof and because the thing is unexpected it will be so much the more agreeable and give me transports of joy and satisfaction when I am convinced I have wept for my Vncle without cause and for a false Opinion whilst he that I should Reverence like a Father is restor'd to me I am glad that a few short questions will make your self judge and witness in your own Cause which the World must needs know is of the greatest Importance I ask you then If my Father King Philip treated you as his Homager and whether he gave you the Investiture of the Earldom of Flanders In what place at what time in what manner and before what Witnesses did he gird on your Sword and made you a Knight And of what Order was it Who was the Wife you Married in France Who treated the Match In what place and with what Ceremonies did you Marry her for the true Baldwyn cannot be ignorant of these matters I have exactly made a Recital of all the Questions from Paulus Aemilius that admirable Historian It is very strange that he who had so well studied the Genealogies of the Flemish Lords could not tell what Wife he Married which was Margaret Daughter to the Earl of Champagne The Annals of Flanders say it was the Bishop of Beauvais President of the Kings Counsel that askt him all these questions which may be reduced to three 1. In what place he did Homage for his Earldom of Flanders 2. By whom and in what Place he was made a Knight 3. In what Place and on what Day he Married Margaret of Champagne But this Impostor as surprized with all these Questions askt three days to answer them Perhaps one might excuse a Man for not remembring several Circumstances of the principal Actions of his Life Besides such an August Assembly before so Great a King and Magnificent a Court a Subject of such consequence before an Audience no ways favourable with the Apprehension of the Danger might distract him and hinder his answering pertinently Guaguin says That speaking Haughtily to the Points in question without sufficient Proofs of what he pretended to be the King commanded him to go out of his Realm in three days but doing him no hurt because he had given him his safe Conduct This Impostor being thus shamefully Driven away retir'd to Valenciennes in Haynault where being abandon'd by those whose hopes of advantage by this Novelty had made them promise him great assistance he disguis'd himself like a Trades-man intending to have past into Burgundy hoping to find countenance and support there but he was watcht and taken on his way by a Burgundian Gentleman Erard Castenac who sold him to the Countess Jane for four hundred Marks She put him to the torture and forc'd him by his torments to Confess his Imposture He said he was Born in Champagne and his name was Bertrand de Rayns he was led through all the Cities of Flanders and Haynault where after having been shew'd to the People he was publickly hang'd at Lisle in Flanders Famâ ancipiti jurene an injuriâ The greatest part of Europe was in doubt whether the Countess justly put this Impostor to Death The example of Peter Courtney Successor of the true Baldwyn and Henry in right of his Wife Yolante persuaded the possibility of so straight a Prison as might not give him Opportunity to inform his Subjects and Friends what misfortune had befallen him The Catastrophe of this false Baldwyn happen'd in the year of Christ 1225. and of the World 5186. CHAP. VIII Perkin Warbeck OR THE COUNTERFEIT Duke of York Son of Edward the Fourth King of England THis Impostor continued longer than any of the rest and had more Chances and happy Hours The Cruelty of Richard Duke of Glocester Son of Richard Duke of York and Brother of Edward the Fourth King of England gave Henry Earl of Richmond Grand-son of Owen Tudor and Catharine of France a Pretension to Arm against him for the Recovery of the Kingdom of England which Edward the Fourth before Duke of York and Head of the Red-Rose had usurp't from Henry the Sixth Richard Duke of Glocester had also usurp't the Crown from Edward the Fifth a young Prince of Twelve years old Eldest Son and Successor to King Edward the Fourth as likewise from his Brother Richard Duke of York his two Nephews whom he unnaturally and cruelly murthered in the Tower of London in the year 1483. It was the Person of this last Richard Duke of York and only Brother of King Edward the Fifth that this Impostor Peter Warbeck commonly called Perkin Warbeck so artfully imitated for Five or Six Years time from 1494 untill 1499 putting all England into combustion and perplexity on that Subject and giving much trouble to the new Conqueror Henry the Seventh who was before Earl of Richmond Margaret Sister to King Edward the Fourth Widow of Charles the Hardy Duke of Burgundy and Soveraign of the Seventeen Provinces of the Lower Germany produced and instructed this Counterfeit to take the Crown of England if she could have effected what she had often endeavoured from Henry the Seventh Chief of the House of Lancaster or the White-Rose whom she mortally hated This is the Truth of the Story as Polydore Virgil Historiographer to Henry the Eighth relates it in the Twenty-sixth Book of his History of England This Princess a Woman of an Ambitious and Intriguing humour had conceived a great Aversion to Henry the Seventh Exterminator of the Usurper Richard Duke of Glocester The principal cause of her Hatred proceeded from the long Enmity between his Family of Lancaster and her 's of the House of York which made her continually endeavour by all means imaginable his extirpation with the satisfaction of her own Revenge in the removal of the Crown to One of her own Party But finding all her endeavours miscarried and those of John Earl of Lincoln were come to nothing her old Inveterate temper prompted her with new Expedients more difficult for Henry to prevent She met a young man at Tourney who was handsom
going out of the Kingdom except with good Passes and to hinder all great Assemblies For the better disabusing the English from their false opinions he sent his subtlest Spies through all the Towns of Flanders to understand the Birth and Original of this Counterfeit promising large Recompence to those that could discover it Writing to his Friends on the same Subject These Emissaries exactly obeyed their Orders some of them coming to Tournay found the false Richard was Born there of the Meanest of the People his name being Peter Warbeck of which they brought very authentick Attestations Upon this the King sent a solemn Embassy to young Earl Philip in Flanders of which Sir Edward Poinings and William Warham Dr. of Laws were chief The latter of these was also a Church-man of extraordinary Parts and Modesty He made a Speech to the Lords of the Young Princes Counsel who was not of Age yet to take the Government upon himself He laid the impiousness of the Impostor before them putting them in mind of the like happening in their Country about 250 years before in the time of their Countess Jane Likewise telling them that the Effects of the King his Masters Friendship to Maximilian Father of the Prince in the War of France should not be so quickly blotted out of their memory sharply reflecting on the Conduct of the Dutchess Margaret who brought forth in her elder Years not a Child at nine Months but a Prodigy of nine score Months old The Councel after a long Debate reply'd That to gratifie the King their Earl would give no assistance to Perkin But for the Dutchess Dowager She was Mistress of her Joynture and her Actions and they would neither prescribe nor forbid her any thing The Ambassadors being return'd Henry sent divers Emissaries some to discover the Names of the Conspirators by feigning to enter into the design others to endeavour the persuading Sir Robert Clifford and William Barklay to return with the assurance of their Pardon Clifford was prevailed on but Barklay continued obstinate not returning till two Years after and till he was certain of the Kings Mercy Some of the Kings Messengers came back after having discovered many of the Conspirators Others staid longer to accompany Clifford whose coming home so much discountenanced the Plotters that they knew not whom to trust The King being informed who several of the Conspirators were caused them to be Seized and Committed to Prison in London the Chief were John Ratclif Lord Fitz-Walter Sir Simon Montfort and Sir Thomas Thwaites Knights William Dawbeney Robert Ratclif Richard Lacy with divers others Some Priests William Richeford and Thomas Ponys Dominican Fryers William Sutton Robert Laybourn and William Worsley Dean of St. Pauls The rest finding their practises were discovered fled to several places of Refuge They were all Condemned as Traytors but only these Principal were Beheaded Robert Ratclif William Dawbeney and Simon Montfort John Ratclif Lord Fitzwalter was carried to Calais where for endeavouring to make his Escape he lost his Head likewise The rest the King Pardoned Not long after Sir Robert Clifford Arrived and the King chose to speak with him in the Tower that in case he accused any Great Men about his Person he might secure them there Much discourse there was touching Cliffords Conduct some thought him all along to have been imploy'd by the King to discover the rest This was occasioned by the ready obtaining his Pardon and his Return made him equally decry'd by both Parties his Friends believing him a Cheat but the small consideration the King had of him generally convinced People he acted as he thought through his Inclination to the House of York being deceived into the persuasion it was the true Prince He threw himself at the Kings Feet giving an account what passed in Flanders and naming amongst his Accomplices Sir William Stanley It much astonished the King he being his Lord Chamberlain to whom he trusted his most Important Affairs and who had gain'd him the Crown which was wore by his assistance in the Battel against Rich. the Third the Usurper Clifford pretending to know his ill will to the King from the beginning he having declared He would never bear Arms against that Young Man if he were convinced he was the Son of King Edward Polydore Virgil says his Resentment proceeded from his not being rewarded as he thought he had deserved to be Benesicium post hominum memoriam Maximum per quod Henricus a periculo vitaeliberatus conservatusque Regnum sibi quaesivit For when the King was over-power'd at the Battel of Bosworth and like to be torn in pieces by that Squadron where his Enemy Richard was Sir William Stanly by order of his Brother Thomas who Commanded the Reserve effectually helping where he found most need charging Richard he disingaged the King and gave him the Victory These Considerations made him in some suspence but the consequence of the Example prevail'd and he was Beheaded as the rest were The King was under a necessity to use that Rigour for hindring the Insolent discourses of the common People who talkt Maliciously and Cursed him at their little Meetings saying aloud They expected every day the Duke of York and to see him on the Throne But these Executions and the Method he used in his Affairs extinguished great part of those Heats and restored many People to their Duty Giles Lord Dawbeney whose Prudence and Fidelity the King was well assured of possest the Place of Lord Chamberlain Vacant by the Death of Sir William Stanley The Irish more than ever persisting in their rash unadvisedness it was resolved to endeavour to crush those Seeds of Sedition Perkin had sown amongst them the precedent Years For which Intent the King sent Henry Denny Abbot of Langton a Wise and Contriving Man whom he designed to make Chancellor of that Kingdom making Sir Edward Poynings his Colleague who was to command the Army These two Persons representing the two Arms of Justice one holding the Scales the other the Sword shewing above the Cheats of an Impostor the Majesty of a Lawful King Non solum Armis decoratam sed Legibus armatam They had order to go where he had been and take an exact account who they were that resolved to assist him and to Arm all they could to pursue the Accomplices Ireland was divided into two sorts of Inhabitants the one Civilized through the converse with other Nations but especially the English The others Wild and Savage as any upon Earth living by Theft enclin'd to Rebellion and Novely destroying one another according to the Inclinations and Avarice of those they follow Perkin knowing the Genius and Turbulent Spirits of the latter addressed himself to them These Sir Edward Poynings attackt chiefly knowing them most Guilty but they would never stand the shock always flying to their Boggs and Mountains The other Irish did not obey his Orders nor send him Succours as they promised which made him give over
her Loved Sebastian whom she sought amidst the Horrid Numbers of the Dead and Dying with which the Plain was covered Some of the Wounded Men who had yet a Glimmering of understanding left them told the Place where Don Sebastian Fought and carefully observing those Bodys she espyed one extreamly resembling her Lover and with great Crys she embraced and moved him resolving to Dye there when the supposed Dead Man came to himself a little opening his Eyes and spake a few words imperfectly Xerine being Transported with Joy by the help of her Slave carryed him to the Bank of the River Mucazen which runs through those Plaines where she wash't and bound up his Wounds sending Laura to a little house hard by for some body to remove him from thence A Mariner did that good Office carrying him with his Boat into a small Island but Inhabited at the Mouth of the River for which she well rewarded him The Allyance which Don Sebastian had with Muley Mahomet made his Death necessary to the Peace of the new King Hamet so the Xerine fear'd equally the Life Liberty of her Lover if he fell into his hands she tended and drest him till his Recovery One Day saying to him Heaven will not deprive Portugal of it's King But has made your Xerine happy in saving her Dear Don Sebastian 's Life The Wounded Man soon found the Princesses Error without intending to undeceive her but using his Endeavour to confirm her mistake from which he foresaw such happy Consequences Therefore gave her Infinite Thanks desiring she would inform him how she distinguish't him among the Dead of which she told him the Particulars This shewed him Xerine's Birth and Engagement with Don Sebastian whom he studyed to personate which he might with Impunity for he resembled him much a Prodigious and incredible thing even to several Moles and Natural Marks on his Body Xerine understood by those whom she had sent to enquire for News that King Sebastian was drowned in his endeavouring to save himself but none could find his Body This Truth she thought an Error as she believed her own Error true promising her self no less than to be Queen of Portugal and thinking her Care kind Words and obliging Promises well bestowed on that Subject The Portugueze having spirit enough to support this Caprice of Fortune soon perceived by the Princesses Discourse that Muley Boabdelin a Prince of the Blood Royal of Morocco had always been a Friend to Don Sebastian He sent him word that the King of Portugal was not dead and if he would come to the Island of Mucazen he should hear of him Maley Boabdelin came in great haste with the Envoy Xerine sent leaving the farthest Part of the Province Hoscore whither he was sled to avoid the Tyranny of Muley Moluc generally called Abdelmeleck When he Arrived he was deceived by the resemblance as the Princess had been There was great Embracing caressing and mutual kindness betwixt them By him the False Sebastian was informed That his Uncle the Cardinal Don Henry Reigned in his stead by the consent of the People This News much disturbed him believing it very difficult to dispossess him Muley Boabdelin was of his Opinion they both concluded it proper to sound the Inclinations of the Portuguezes and try to Oblige the Principal Ministers of State to Assert and Maintain their Monarch's Right before he should expose himself to the Policies of the New King This Moorish Prince at the same time offering Xerine and her Lover a retreat in Hoscore where he was so well fortified that he had no occasion to fear any thing They all agreed not to Publish any report of Don Sebastian's being alive till he were in a Condition of Possessing his Crown But to Authorize what the Princess had done in his Favour Muley Advised him to marry Xerine which she also wish't believing by that tye her hopes secured This Effect of his likeness to Don Sebastian made him desirous to taste the Fruit of it he was charmed with the Beauty and Passion of the Princess and had Reason to be so Therefore fulfilled her desire with as much Joy as Speed By this becoming Victorious and the most happy of Mankind But when he had thus made what Advantages he could the private Negotiation of Portugal seemed too slow so he resolved to go and manage his Affairs there in Person Upon which Xerine and he had many Discourses Europe said she one day to him Asia or Affrick are all equal to me provided I have you with me Do not then refuse me the Pleasure of following you 'T is a Debt to my Love Let me not be so unhappy to find any other thing more Powerful in your Soul since I have the Glory of Contributing to your Establishment when Pretentions had been Vain without me These tender Expressions seemed Reproaches to Sebastian they offended him which troubled Xerine at last they differ'd and that Difference gave him an opportunity which he lookt for He had Learned from her the most Particular Affairs of the true Sebastian and in these Transports of their Love he ask her What Part of his Conduct had most sensibly touch't her that as he said he might often repeat what he had Practised with Success The Princess ingenuously told him It was the slighting Mary of Portugal whom he refused to Marry for her sake Besides said she that Princess was very Beautiful and Loved you much as you did her before you knew me He well might Love her for she was a Princess of Infinite Wit whose Body and Mind were equally Admirable her Meen was modest and yet Majestick she was of a most accomplish't Beauty and indeed the most admirable of that Age. I cannot Read her Character in Fam. Strada's History of the Wars of Flanders without being charmed with the Merit and Vertue of this Princess whom in the absence of Don Sebastian the King of Spain Philip the Second gave to her Cousin-German in Marriage being Brother and Sister's Children This was that Great and most Renowed Souldier of his Time Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma the King's Nephew who did him those Eminent Services as Governour of the Low Countrys This Princess spake Latine Elegantly understood the Greek Tongue was perfectly Mistress of the Mathematicks a Great Judge of Philosophy and Familiar in the Holy Scriptures of both Testaments And with all this was of an admirable Innocence of Manners and a Holy Life Of all which the said Strada gives us the Relation The Pretended Sebastian being furnished with these Instructions and above all with those he had cunningly drawn from Xerine took an Opportunity to cross the Sea about Fourteen or Fifteen Years after the Battle of Alcazer Landing in Italy where the Princess was then a Widdow The Hero her Husband dying at Arras in the Six and Fortieth Year of his Age the Second Day of December 1591. People of this Sebastian's Character use not to be ignorant of any Circumstance or