Baron of the Parliament hath place above all Barons and if he be of a higher degree according to the former rule The Spirituall Nobility are thus placed The Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of York Bishop of London Bishop of Durham Bishop of Winchester The two first are placed according to ancient dignity and the three last by act of Parliament and the rest of the Bishops to take their places according to the seniority of Consecration Segar lib. 4. cap. 24. By an Act of Parliament An. 31. Hen. 8. See the Act in Mr. Selden's Titles of Honor. So all men serving near unto the Prince's Person either Civil or Military are allowed a precedency in pari dignitate and themselves according to his seniority of place As to their precedency otherwise Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons are to take their places according to the antiquity of their Title and their Ancestor's creation and their Wives accordingly A Duke's eldest son takes place as a Marquesle but beneath him and his Wife beneath a Marchionesse and if she be the daughter and heir of a Duke she shall go before all Duke's eldest sons wives and however are equall to a Marchionesse but to go beneath them and the younger sons of Dukes are in equall degree with an Earl but to go beneath him and Marquesles eldest sons and their Ladies to take place accordingly So the eldest son of a Marquesse as an Earl and the younger as Viscounts and their Ladies and sisters to take place accordingly as before An Earl's eldest son takes place as a youngest Viscount and the younger as Barons their wives and sisters accordingly Viscounts eldest sons as Barons and their youngest sons to take place with Barons eldest sons above Knights Baronets by an Act of King James and above all Bannerets but those made by the King himself under the Stander and all Knights Batchelers Of Women NOw lest I should be thought malitious to a Sex I owe much honor to before I conclude I shall take some short observations more then already I have And first that although they are not allowed to sit in Parliament yet do they enjoy almost all priviledges due to the other Sex The honorable Feminine Dignities are Princesse Dutchesse Marchionesse Countesse Vicountesse and Baronesse Which are either by Creation by Descent or by Marriage This honor by Creation as it is rare amongst us so it is more rarely taken notice of though many examples have been as Richard the second created Margaret Countesse of Norfolk into the title of Dutchess of Norfolk See the Charter in Mr. Selden Anne Bullen was created Marchionesse of Pembrook by Hen. 8. limited to her and the heirs males of her body to be begotten with creation-mony of twenty five pounds per annum and the ceremony of Mantle and Coronet The Lady Finch was by King James created Vicountesse of Maidston to her and her heirs of her body with speciall clause that her heirs male should have a voice in Parliament and afterward she was likewise made Countesse of Winchester c. Of these Titles thus conferred Sir John Fern takes no notice though else he discourses largely enough By Descent we have continuall examples When any daughter of an Earl or Vicount shall continue a Virgin or marry an Esquire she shall retain that honor that springs from her father's blood take place according and be saluted by the Title of Lady Which word Lady came from Hleafdian or Leafdian by contraction in the Teutonick and so Lafdy and thence Lady as from Laford Lord. The word Laf signifying bread and Dian serve It seems from that they called those persons that for their quality could entertain others and distribute corn and bread to their neighbours by that Title And of old though in the Empire and here the word Dominus was used in generall for salutation amongst men of all sorts yet Domina onely to persons of honor amongst women as the widows of all Tenants in chief and daughters and heirs of all Knights c. The heirs females of any Count or Baron shall enjoy both the Estate divided and Titles too if they be to be divided and they shall be enjoyed by their husbands if they marry in the right of their wives So that if there be two or three or more sisters to share the estate and the honors and dignities inherent be enough they shall enjoy every one one as in the case of the Earldom of Pembrooke in the time of Edward the third and now the Lord Darcy of the North by the same right enjoys the title of the Lord Conyers But this holds not when the title is held by Jus gladii or Knight's service or if the Honor be in any Castle or place onely it cannot be divided but falls and dissolves in the Crown or left to the disposing of the King And again if the estate of honor and dignity be not descending to the heirs generall but entail'd to the heirs male it cannot be the inheritance of a daughter as many times it is But we may understand this the better by that more eminent demonstration of high Offices of the Kingdom which descending by inheritance on the heirs generall have been challenged by the husbands of heirs female in right of their wives the Descent-male failing as in the case of the Duke of Buckingham in the time of Henry the eighth challenging the Office of High-Constableship of England The Office of Lord Steward descended to Blaunch daughter of Hen. Earl of Lancaster in whose right Joh. of Gaunt her husband enjoy'd it So the Office of Earl Marshall descended to the house of Norfolk by an heir female afterward being forfeited by treason was conferred to the Lords Howards of Arundell And in this and all such Descents where there are not dignities enough to allow a partition to all the Sisters but the Honor shall be undividable it shall descend to the eldest or be disposed by the King to which he please And for ennobling by birth these rules are observed That if a Gentleman Knight or Baron do marry a wife of ignoble parents she shall enjoy the title name and dignity of her husband For saith Sir John Fern let the wife be shining and glorious with the dignities of her husband Whereas on the contrary if a Gentlewoman of blood and Coat-Armor shall marry a Francklin Yeoman or the like that is ignoble having no Coat-Armor his condition is no whit advanced by marriage in point of honor Although let him be inferior to her whom she shall marry yet she shall retain the honor state and dignity she was born to But there is this Law for them to walk by too that is Si mulier nobilis nupserit ignobili desinit esse nobilis that is If a Noble-woman marry with an ignoble her nobility is extinguished for she is under the power of her husband and ought not to be in
King who gives it him that is created Then he returning thanks for his great honor withdraws in the same manner he came in the Trumpers sounding and so he goes to dinner Where after the second service is gone up the Garter with the rest of the Heralds cometh neer the Table where first pronouncing Largesse with a loud voyce he declareth the King's style in Latin French and English and then standing somewhat further off pronounceth Largesse again with the style of him that is newly created In which form was William Cecill created Lord Burghley 15. of Febr. 13. Elizab. Of the Viscount THis word in Latin is Vice-comes which is interpreted from the office of the person who was one cui Dominus hoc est Comes committit vices suas sive gubernationem castri saith Sir John Ferne. The Title is derived from the same Order in France which there were only first substitutes to Earls till getting themselves first in power got also to have the title honorary and hereditary between the Earl and Baron it being the same word which signifieth our Sheriffe and began not with us till about the 18. year of Henry the sixth who then created John Lord Beaumont Viscount Beaumont by Letters patent Though Sir John Fern tells us of it in the time of Henry the first and King Stephen and though the Elder sons of Dukes are styled Earls during their fathers life time so the Eldest sons of Marquesses are styled by their Fathers Vicounties and Baronies and called Lords and the younger sons saluted with Lord yet it is by 〈◊〉 only To this degree is allowed a Surcoat Mantle Hood and a Circulet without either flowers or points as in the discourse of Armory shall be seen and is created with the same ceremony those above him are Of the Count or Earl THe next precedency is an Earl called in Latin Comes and thence is an English word Count which word Comes we have from the example of the Romans amongst whom they used it for the title of sundry offices Coke defines them thus Dicuntur Comites quia à Comitatu five à societate nomen sumpserunt qui etiam dici possunt Consules a Consulendo c. But John of Salisbury who writ in the time of Henry the second says thus Comites dici à 〈◊〉 participatione And the word Earl we had from the Saxons from whence till we borrowed the word Honor we used the word Earl for gentle or noble and Ethel which was sometimes abridged to el so that of Ear-ethel it was Ear-el and by abbreviation Earl which the Dutch called Eorle Amongst the Germans they have the word Grave for it as Palsgrave Landgrave Reingrave c. from the word Gerefa by abbreviation Gereve and Grave as also Reve from whence our Shierreve or Shirriffe as some do abbreviate it Which word in the Teutonick signifies a Disposer or Director Others have That the word with the Saxons was Erlig and Ethling and used for the same office of Ealderman was before and the word Ealderman which now is writ Alderman was transferred to a lower degree who used the word also Thegon or Thaine for Baron as I said before But the word Ealderman and Ethling it seems did only signifie them according to Civill power and the word Heretoga from whence Hertshog for their Military power the former word being no more then Senior or Senator This title of Ealdermen continued for Duces Principes Comites untill Canutus reign when the word Earl was brought in and the other lost as to that Honor. What the Jurisdiction of the Ealderman in those times was and how absolute or large is to me yet uncertain though large it was doubtlesse because of the severall Offices that were under them but as it hath remained since the Conquest we find more reasonable satisfaction Their possessions were sometimes the whole Territories they derived their Title from and sometimes not but some particular 〈◊〉 or place in it We find also that both it and Thane were honorary and feudall Titles Upon the coming in of the Normans this word was turned into Comes or Count since when it hath remained And this word in the Empire was given to Quotquot è Comitatu Principis erant to all that were admitted to society of the Prince So the 〈◊〉 styled them in Warre Commilitones in the Court Comites The dignity is of divers kinds for an Earl acknowledging no Superior is equall to a Prince This Title as it continues since the Conquest is either locall or personall Locall as from the denomination of some County or other Territory and Personall that hath its being in some great Office as Earl-Marshal and the like Those locall are also simplices and Palatine which last retain the same constitution the Saxons time allowed them which is Juraeregalia or merum mixtum Imperium and could make Barons under them as those of Chester Lancaster the Bishopricks of Durham and Ely Hugh Lupus had the County Palatine of Chester given him by the Conquerour Ita liberè ad Gladium 〈◊〉 ipse Rex tenebat Angliam ad Coronam Who governed the County forty years he created eight Barons and built the Abbey of Chester Lancaster was made a Palatinate by Edward the third as says Sir William Segar and had Barons Chancery and Seal and so had the Bishopricks of Durham and Ely The office of those Barons being to sit in Councell and Judgment with the Earl To the County Palatine of Chester 〈◊〉 been Chamberlains who supplied the place of Chancellor Justices before whom the causes that should else belong to the King's Bench and Common Pleas are triable a Baron of the Exchequer a Sheriffe and other offices proportionably to those of the Crown at Westminster which being since reserved in the Crown is given to the Prince of Wales when he is created This County had this honor I conceive out of regard to the great trust was reposed in the first Earl which was to subdue and keep in order the British or Welch after the Conquest Of those that are not Palatine we find their Creation also as ancient as the Conquest William theConqueror made Alan Fergent thenDuke of Brittaign Earl of Richmond by a Patent The Creation Robe of a Marquesse Of the Marquesse THis word Marquesse at the first was used to all Earls and Barons that were Lords Marchers or Lords of Frontires and came afterward into a Title of speciall dignity between that of Duke and Earl beginning in the time of Richard the second who created Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford Marquesse of Dublin Per gladii cincturam circuli aurei suo capiti positionem The form of the Patent was then and many ages since very various but it is now regulated to one method which is the same in a manner with that of Earl only the word Marchio is put in the
a condition above him For example whereof a case is cited of one Ralph Hayward Esquire and the Lady Anne Powes widow of the Lord Powes But I am of opinion that being onely an acception in Court by the Adversary of the Party this is not to be understood but in case the person such a Noble woman shall marry be no Gentleman and that she hath received the Honor she enjoyed before from the right of a former husband and not by descent of Ancestors for the words of Judge Coke run thus Si mulier nobilis nupserit ignobili desinit esse nobilis eodem modo quo quidem constituitur dissolvitur That is If a Noble-woman shall marry an ignoble husband she ceases to be Noble and in the same manner her honor was constituted it is dissolved So as by the Laws of the Nation an Adulteresse forfeiteth her Dower so also her honor of Nobility if she commit adultery either as a wife or widow or else having received honor from her deceased husband and shall so put him out of her mind as to subject her self to another by which act she wipeth both the name and memory of the former from her she hath the sentence of forfeiture against her So Sir John Fern in his Glory of Generosity fol. 62. Yet the Law is thus curious in preserving the memory of Vertue in the honor of its reward that if a woman of noble blood do marry a Churl or Clown and have issue by him she being an heir that issue shall have liberty of bearing her Coat-Armor But Sir John Fern says onely for life and that on a Lozenge Shield which is the feminine bearing with the difference of a Cinque-foile One note more I think proper in this place which is If a French Spanish or German woman be married to any Peer of this Realm or other Gentleman and be not denizoned by the Laws of the Nation she cannot claim the priviledges or titles of her husband nor have Dower or Joynter from him And thus much I think sufficient in this place as to the honor of Women and if I have said too little I wish I could have said more if too much I beg their pardons but refer my self to the Law In the next place I should proceed to the display of Armory by which the infinite number of persons are distinguisht by an innumerable variety of different Ensignes that do illustrate and appropriate their dignity and honor But by the way I have stumbled on another Theam which though it be not so much concerned in honor yet the Kingdom is much concerned in it as a Power and though I need not say much yet I cannot passe by it and say nothing Of a Parliament SOme not altogether knowing of that true constitution of a Parliament may be apt to think that its Authority is onely Supream in this Nation But let such understand that from this Argument if there were none other it is disproved That nothing can be made greater or more excellent than the thing that makes it Propter quod unumquodque tale est illud majus tale And such creatures as shall aim at a Superiority to their Creator are to be esteemed like those Angels that by the same spirit attempting the same pride precipitated themselves from everlasting liberty to eternall chains This great Council did arise from the antient custom of not onely the Saxons but all Nations in the world almost who have had examples of their King 's summoning the chief Peers and Nobles to consult in weighty affairs Which Councel among the Saxons was called 〈◊〉 which was a meeting of the chief Prelates and Peers to deliberate about and to consent to what laws the King should enact and advising in matters of State giving Judgement upon suits or Complaints in the same Court as is understood of the time of King Ine of West sexe about 711. years after Christ. And again of King Ethelbert his ordaining Decreta Judiciorum juxta exempla Romanorum cum consilio sapientum And when Edwin King of Northumberland was perswaded to be a Christian he consulted cum Principibus Consulariis suis. He called to Councell his Princes or Ealdermen and Counsellors And again King Eldred An. 948. In festo Nativitatis Beatae Mariae all the Nobility of the Kingdome were summoned by an Edict from the King as well Arch-bishops Bishops and Abbots as all of the rest of the Lords and Chief Counsellors Thanes and Ealdormen to come to London to a 〈◊〉 or great Councel to consult about affairs of the whole Kingdome As Ingulphus his words are And again in the time of Edward the Confessor the Parliament sate at London Rex omnes 〈◊〉 Magnates In which Parliament the King attaches Earl Godwin for that he had kil'd his Brother Alfred and upon his pleading and submission the King refers him to the Judgement of the Court who a long while debating it to no purpose at last Leofricus Consul Cestriae probus homo quoad Deum Seculum saith the Author spake thus Earl Godwin is a gallant Person and a man next the King of the best birth in the Land and it cannot be denied but by his Counsell or Design Alfred was slain therefore my opinion is that he with his son and all we twelve Earls that are his friends and kindred do present our selves humbly before the King loaden with as much Gold and Silver as every man can carry betwixt his arms to offer it up with supplication for an expiation of the crime Which being consented unto and done the King considering the reference he had made to the Court ratified their act and his pardon By which we see their meetings was at the Kings summons their power only deliberative in giving legall force by consenting to what he should think fit to make a Law and to advise de arduis Reipub not that this force given by them is to be understood otherwise than that because it was enacted by their consent it was the more binding over them their consent otherwise being no whit binding over the Soveraign's will in the enaction for it was his Volumus that made it and let their Consultations rise to never so powerfull votes and results be the thing what it would his Nolumus buried it in oblivion which custom 〈◊〉 ever continued as a true Prerogative of the Crown Nay avisera le Roy which is but The King will consider of it was enough to throw a Bill out of the House Nothing enacted by them though by a generall consent of both Houses of Lords Commons being of any force and that not only before but after the Commons were brought in which I find to be about the time of Edw. 1. his third year of Inauguration an Dom. 1273. Who in the 23. year of his reign confirmed the Magna Charta made by Henry the third though Mr. Selden is of opinion The first
Honor rediviuus or An analysis of Hono and Armory by MATT CARTER Esq London printed for Henry Herringman 1660 And Are to be Sould by Henry Herringman at the Ancker on the lowest side of the New-Exchange ANDREW COLTEE DUCAREL L.L.D. Doctor 's Commons A POSSE AD ESSE TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAML d. Marquesse AND Earl of HERTFORD Baron SEYMOUR AND BEAUCHAMP MY LORD THat I have preferred so slender a Volume to Your Honorable Patronage is no more than the Subject of it which is Honor erects as Your Lordship is known of the first and greatest of those that challenge a concernment therein yet not more eminent by that of Your blood then of the inward Noblenesse of Your Vertues whereof the World hath received unmatchable testimonies These reasons as they oblige me to this presentment so I cannot but hope will also plead pardon for the trouble it brings a long with it and that once obtained I am assured of the preservation of this imperfect Essay under the powerfull Protection of your Lordships name Of the infinite Honorers whereof none is more ambitious to be known such than My LORD Your Honours most humbly devoted Matt. Carter TO THE READER READER THe unhappy Causes of the present neglect of this most noble knowledge are of so high nature as will not endure to be named the ill consequents in the imminent degenerateness of this Age so manifest that they need not In this declining condition of Honour nothing is more requisite then the means of its preservation amongst which this being one and that not inconsiderable gave me occasion of busying my self in this design Such bookes as have beene already publisht by persons eminent in this kinde are of large bulke and some of them too tedious to the most ingenious Student The more they comprehend the less apt for memory especially when enlarged with tedious impertinencies and doubtlesse more difficult for the apprehension of every Reader to which Method that is most discernable in brevity is the most excellent help That which I have herein followed is to treat first of the degrees of Honour and then of Armory and that although concisely yet I hope so clearly and fully that any person of ordinary capacity may hereby be able to blazon a Coat of the greatest difficulty the only care being in observing the termes given to things born and the manner of posture and position Some errors have escaped both the Press and theGraver which the Reader may at his leisure rectifie by the Errata at the end so let him peruse seriously and censure modestly and then I shal wish him Farewell Of HONOR in Generall and of its Particular Divisions THe Heraulds of former ages have many of them not onely divided the nobler sort of men into severall degrees but distinguished likewise the inferiour rank into four forms But as in some other things in that also I shall forbear to follow their method as not altogether so pertinent to the intentions of this compilement It is but an easie caution in me when I know not how few I shall 〈◊〉 by my best demerits not to stumble into the hazard of disgusting many by a rash enterprise in a weak endeavour considering especially the present temper of the world The great and wise Disposer of all Entities hath contriv'd every thing into such a Method as in every particle of the Creation is discover'd a most excellent harmony in which that of the degrees and honorary distinctions is as admirable as any and this is the intended scope of this 〈◊〉 Some he 〈◊〉 created to honor and some to dishonor 〈◊〉 a difference and variety in all things that by a rule of contraries they might the better display themselves Some men he hath richly adorn'd with Excellency and elevated them with the sublimary glories of Honor Nobility and Greatness and others again in the same light they shine hath he obscured with contraries of Meanness Ignobility and Indigency Of the latter I shall onely say that for them to Spurn at the more honorable because themselves are debased to an inferiority is to kick dirt in the face of that infinitely just and wise God of our Creation The first being the intended concernment I forbear any farther discourse of the latter Nobility saith Sir John Fern is thus defined Vir Nobilis idem est quod notus ac per omnium or a vulgatus A Gentleman or Nobleman is he which is known and through the Heroical vertues of his life talked of in every man's mouth In short amongst all men it is defined A certain eminence of some above the rest This is by the same Author distinguished into three Species Nobility supernaturall Nobility naturall and Nobility civill or politicall Supernaturall as in the heavenly Hierarchies or sacred Principalities And that there are orders and degrees amongst them we must believe or renounce our Christianity but I leave the further discovery thereof as too sublime to more mature and deliberate contemplations The second is Nobilitas physica or naturall Nobility consisting in the great variety of naturall creatures obvious to our human senses As for example Among the Planets the Sun is the most noble among the Elements Fire among the Plants the Cedar among Flowers the Rose of Metalls Gold of Jems the Diamond of Fish the Dolphin of Birds the Eagle of Beasts the Lion and amongst Men the King The last is Nobility civill or politicall which onely relates to Mankind and though some have distinguished the generality of a Common-wealth into two divisions onely the Noble and Ignoble the Gentry and Commonalty yet either part are again subdivided according to the policy of civill Government as well as the providence of divine Ordination When first this distinction came amongst us is by some thought uncertain but for my part not For doubtlesse it hath been continued from the first encrease of Mankind in the world for if there were Kings and Governors certainly other distinctions vertue being still admired and honored and some signall put upon it and Dignitas Nobilitas idem sunt dignity or preferment to power is that which makes a man noble And that there were Kings long before the Floud as Mr. Selden that excellent Master of Antiquity is of opinion is evident by those words he inserts which signifie that Adam after the propagation of Mankind was esteemed nor onely the Father but Governor in a kind of Royall or Monarchicall power during his life and Seth his son succeeded him in the like The Jews called such as were in the state of Nobiles among them Ben Ish or Filii viri or the sons of great men And the sons of men of common rank they tearmed Sons of men by filiihominis And the Scripture in many places distinguishes men thus as in that of the Psalm as well the sons of great men as of men of common rank both rich and poor together And this distinction of
men hath descended to us with so much severity that our Saviour himself gave example in his Practise and Rule in the charge he left us for it in these words Speak not evill of Dignities and many other the like And the Civill Law hath formerly been so severe in the preserving this distinction that Gentle or Noble were prohibited the marrying with the Ungentle or Ignoble as the Ignoble were debarred from any honour or dignity to hinder the evill of introducing mongrell and mechanick dispositions in the Common-wealth and consequently such impostumated humors as is commonly the Off-spring thereof even among the greatest Nobility The Law commanded that in case a Guardian being a Person of honor having the tuition of a Child under age and should marry him to the daughter of an ignoble person it was an injury done to the whole Family a penalty should be inflicted upon the Guardian the reason for though the Husband cannot be ennobled by the Wife yet the Issue of that Male is debased and a Mongrel and primogenitus est totius geniturae quasi splendor gloria and the glory of children are their parents Civill Nobility is an excellency of dignity and fame placed in any Nation People or Blood through the virtues there shewed forth to the profit of that Common-wealth as Sir John Fern defines it This he divides into three so t s of N tions Cities and Families These last are by the Greeks termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latin Nobiles Ingenui and Generosi in French Nobles in the Empire 〈◊〉 among the Spaniards Hiidalgo and Gentilhome or Gentilhombre and in the old Saxon Ardel. Aristotle maketh four kinds of civill Nobility viz. Divitiarum Generis Virtutis Disciplinae Cicero attributes the Crovvn of Generosity to the virtuous and therefore is understood to allow of no other Nobility and Diogenes was so cynicall as to term nobleness of blood a vail of lewdness a cloak of sloth and a vizard of cowardice And what would he have said had he liv'd in our age But to lay by these and many other divisions the Philosophy of latter times have refined Civill Nobility into a triple division The first by Blood the second by Merit the third by Blood and Merit which last without doubt must receive the estimation of the most honorable See Sir Johu Fern and Mr. Segar in his Honor Military and Civill And also by place in the Common-wealth And Bartholus In the Court his words are Omnes 〈◊〉 Principi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ideo Nobiles cùm 〈◊〉 nobilitas idem sunt Nobility of Blood saith Sir John Fern is a Nobility drawn from the first House and continued through the virtues of those succeeding which the Laws and Customs of Nations have permitted the progeny and kindred to challenge as their Inheritance though for no excellency in themselves that enjoy it And this is the Nobility which Boetius takes notice of when he saith Nobilitas est quaedam laus proveniens de 〈◊〉 parentum Now as Nobility by Blood and Merit is justly esteemed the most honorable so certainly this the least the glory they shine in being but the reflection of their Ancestors and not their own proper rayes Neither are dignities and discents of blood enough to ennoble us for whatsoever is not within us cannot justly be called ours but rather the graces and goods of fortune Genus proavos quae non fecimus ipsi Vix 〈◊〉 nostra vaco And certainly the Honor atchieved by an Ancestor livs in his Family as his and to the memory of his vertues and example of theirs which ought doubly to oblige them to care first in keeping that tenderly which their Ancestors purchased so difficulty and to shew themselves the true heirs of such noble spirits in their due imitations of those renowned vertues Therefore it is but vain for a man to boast that he can derive the foundation of his honor from the renowned catalogue of worthy Ancestors and himself degenerate from their heroicall virtues for at the best they blaze but another's honor and their own shame and may quickly be answered as Hermodius was by Iphierates who upbraided him with the stain of so base a parent My House taketh beginning in me but thine taketh end in thy self And our Nation hath produced too many that deserve the saying of Lycurgus whose Soldiers bragged much of the Nobility of Hercules being derived to them he told them Hercules's nobility would avail them nothing except they did those things whereby Hercules became Noble The second is Nobleness of proper Virtue atchieved by Merit which is certainly to be esteemed above the other for a Country's safety dependeth upon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 counsell and courage of the virtuous when the 〈◊〉 boastings of an authentick Stock where vertues fail do add nothing to the relief of a Common-wealth in time of need The Romans attired their Knights with a Ring for faithfulness a Buckle for stedfastness and a Bracelet for industry as signes of vertue not of sloth the appropriated priviledge of succeeding Nobility And in all Nobility Author 〈◊〉 à quo primum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in signia profecta sunt homo novus fuit The first atchiever in any stock whatever was a new man ennobled for some demerit Sir John Fern. And all men will judge him that was the originall of a family more honorable than him that succeeded him two or three descents not adding to that honour by any merit of his own Now these two qualities meeting in one man is it that maketh the perfect Gentleman and such a man ought to be preferred before all others in the receiving of Dignity Office or Rule in the Common-wealth Wherefore by the Laws of Arms antiently these seven circumstances were regarded in the chioce of a Captain or Leader his Age his Virtues his Faith or Allegiance his Knowledge in Martiall Discipline his Authority his good Fortune and lastly his Blood and Gentry And antiently none were admitted into the Inns of Court but who were Gentlemen of Blood be their Merits what ever as the Foundations of some of 〈◊〉 do yet shew Therefore it is the best Patrimony a Father can leave his Son to bequeathe him the glory of his merits with the state of Gentility And the best honor the Son can do to the deceased Parent is to continue his name in that estate which his Ancestors left him and by imitating the virtues that obtained it to preserve it without a stain Which consideration hath been the occasion to stir up many generous spirits to a noble contention and commendable emulation to exalt the worthiness of their Familie's fame What those virtues are that must thus ennoble men Sir John 〈◊〉 hath taken too much care I think in demonstrating for whose sake I shall take as little First he tells you of all the Cardinall virtues and then what they are which
before all other Bannerets as the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons as also before all Baronets but not otherwise And this Order was of so great estimation that divers Knights Bachelers and Esquires served under them which Title it seems in many antient Writs hath been mis-writ Barronets as in a Patent to Sir Ralph Fane a Knight Banneret under Edward the sixt he is called Barronettus for Bannerettus which Title of Baronet was not amongst us till King James Of Baronet THe Title of Baronet was erected by King James in the ninth year of his Reign He made diverse on the 22 day of May whose Patents were all of one form without any difference at all the 〈◊〉 or Argument being for the propagating a Plantation in Ulster in Ireland to which the aid of these Knights was ordained the words run thus 〈◊〉 ex certa scientia mero 〈◊〉 nostris Ordinavimus ereximus constituimus creavimus quendam statum gradum dignitatem nomen titulum Baronetti Anglice of a Baronet infra hoc Regnum nostrum Angliae perpetuis temporibus duraturum Their aid was the maintenance of thirty Soldiers in that Province for three years Their Titles were to descend to the heirs male of their body and to take place before all Knights Bachelers Knights of the Bath and Knights Bannerets the other Degree before specified being afterward made and that the name of Baronet in all Writs Commissions and Style should be added to his Surname and that the addition of Sir should precede in all mentionings of his name as the Title of Lady and Madam to the Wives of them and their Successors and that they should take place according to the priority of the date of their Patents inter se and so to their successors In which Patents also the King did engage for himself and successors that there should be but two hundred of them made and that there should be never any degree of Honor established that should take place between the Baronet and Baron and if for want of heirs male the Title in any should fall there should never be any created in their room but that the Title should diminish to the honour of them remaining and be by that means reduced to a 〈◊〉 number And afterward a Commission was ordained under the great Seal for filling up the number who had instructions also enacted among which they that desired to be admitted into the dignity of Baronets must maintain the number of thirty Foot-Soldiers in Ireland for three years after the rate of eight-pence sterling a day and a years pay to be paid in at the passing of the Patent to the Exchequer And again That they must be of good reputation and descended of a Grand-father at least by the father's side that bare Arms and have also a certain yearly revenue of one thousand pounds de claro They were to take bond also for the true payment of that maintenance and to appoint one particular Treasurer for it that it might not come into the King's Exchequer After this many being made it was also ordained by the King That they and their descendents being of full age should be Knighted and that they should in a Canton or Inescutcheon as they pleased bear the Arms of Ulster which is Argent a sinister hand and Gules There are many other Orders of Knighthood almost in every Nation some appropriated to the Country and some of more excellency as is that of the Garter whereof in another place I shall speak with the rest but these Titles have an estimated honor due to them greater or lesse according to the quality of the creator for the Knight made by the King shall be preferred before a Knight made by a Prince of meaner title So all Emperors Kings and Princes acknowledging no lawfull Superior may make Knights as also some Common-wealths as the State of Venice and Genoa The Popes also sometimes do make Knights calling them after their own names as Chevaleri de San Pedro San Paulo 〈◊〉 c. And so much for Knights may serve in this place Of Barons THis word Baron is very variously interpreted as first that it comes from the word Baria in Greek which signifies Authoritas gravis Bracton interprets it Robur belli Again saith Sir Henry Spelman the word Baro is the same in Latine with Vir whose derivation is from Vi Force and from thence Sunt alii potentes sub rege qui dicuntur Barones id est robur belli And taking of it in that sense we now understand it Sir Henry Spelman calls him Cliens feodalis and Vassallus capitalis Hujusmodi sunt saith he qui Pagos Urbes Castra vel eximiam ruris portionem cum jurisdictione acceperunt à Rege The Creation Robe of a Baron This word is a generall notion in England to all Lords of the Great Council of Parliament as it is in Naples and Lumbardy where all those Lords that are called Titulati are in generall styled Barons thus dignitas Baronalis stat ut genus This word was used by the Danes in the stead of Thane which was among the Saxons a Title of Honor and being next the King he was called the King's Thane And in the Laws of William the first instead of the Earl King's Thane and middle Thane of the Saxons times the title of Count or Earl of Baron and of Valvasor are used By which we understand it to have been though not in the same name yet notion a Feodall honor of great antiquity Sir Henry Spelman says they were such as had not onely Castles Towns or great parts of Countries in their jurisdiction but they had their Valvasores Minores I conceive for there were then Valvasores Majores Minores Milites libere tenentes Which should signifie an honor of command in the Common-wealth In France Germany and Italy Baronem vocant qui merum mistumque Imperium habet in aliquo Castro ex concessione 〈◊〉 And it hath been a common opinion that every Earldom in times past had under it ten Barons and every Barony ten Knights Fees holden of him But those Knights Fees say other Authors were uncertain for number However we find many Barons created in the times after the comming in of the Normans that held both of Knights service and of the Crown in chief which were either Spiritual or Temporall and it is certain that all honorary Barons from the Conquest till the latter time of King John were onely Barons by tenure These Spirituall Barons were distinguished from the Temporall Thane in the time of the Saxons by holding their lands free from all secular service excepting trinoda necessitas as it was called which was assistance in War in building of Bridges and Castles Which continued till the fourth year of William the first who then made the Bishopricks and Abbies subject to Knights service in chief by creation of new tenures and so
first turned their possessions into Baronies and thereby made them Barons of the Kingdom by tenure That all Bishops Abbots Priors and the like that held in chief of the King had their possessions as Baronies and were accordingly to do services and to sit in judgment with the rest of the Barons in all cases but cases of Blood from which they are prohibited by the Canon-Law This Honor of Baronady is of three kinds by Tenure by Creation and by Writ Barons by Tenure are the Barons Spirituall as I said before which are reputed Peers of the Realm and were ever first in nomination and take place on the Prince's right hand in Parliament and have been capable of temporall 〈◊〉 and some of them are accounted Count Palatines in their Jurisdictions And by tenure Temporall which are such as hold their Honor Castle or Mannor as the head of their Barony per Baroniam which is Grand Serjanty By which tenure they ought to be summoned to Parliament See Bracton lib. 5. fol. 351. 357. But he is no Lord of the Parliament untill he be called by Writ to the Parliament These Barons by renure in the time of the Conqueror and after were very numerous and 〈◊〉 his time as I conceive distinguished into Majores Minores and summoned accordingly to Parliament the Majores by immediate Writ from the King the others by generall Writ from the high Sheriff at the King's command But these had also another distinction which was the first were called onely Barons by tenure then and the last Tenants in chief which were after quite excluded the Parliament as Mr. Cambden says in the reign of Henry the third by a Law made that none of the Barons should assemble in Parliament but such as were summoned by speciall Writ from the King And that King Edward the first summoned always those of antient Families that were most wise but omitted their sons after their death if they were not answerable to their parents in understanding But Mr. 〈◊〉 opinion is that not long after the Grand Charter of King John the Law for excluding all Tenants in chief was made From whence came that other dignity of Barons by Writ the King summoning whom he pleased though he were but a private Gentleman or Knight as many Seculars Priors Abbots and Deacons also all which have been fince omitted that held nothing of the King in chief or Grand Tenure This title of Baron by Writ is by some esteemed onely temporary pro termino Parliamenti but that cannot be for the ceremony of his admittance signifies more than a titular or temporary Honor which is this He is first brought by the Garter-King at Arms in his Soveraign Coat to the Lord Chancellor between two of the youngest Barons who bear the Robe of a Baron there he shews his Prescript which the Chancellor reads then congratulates him as a Baron and invests him with those Robes and sends him to take his place Then the Writ is delivered to the Clerk of the Parliament and he by the Garter shewed to the Barons and placed in the House and from thence is this title allowed him as hereditary Since these two sorts of Barons in the time of Richard the second hath another been established which is Barons by Patent and indeed more usuall in our latter times than those by Writ He first created John de Beauchamp Steward of the houshold Baron of Kiderminster to him and his heirs males of his body And this comming afterwards to be the onely way of creation they had commonly creation-mony granted them as Sir Ralph Botiller who had one hundred marks granted him annuity out of the County of Lincoln Some of those Minores have yet remained to our memories as the Barons of the Cinque Ports Barons of the Exchequer c. and some others which are called Barons yet have not the honor such are those that were created by Count Palatines as the Baron of Kinderton and some few others As concerning the descent of this Honor and the extension of it it many times descends to heirs female as when there is no speciall entail on the heirs male yet then no husband of that heir female shall enjoy the style and honor in right of his wife unlesse he have issue by her as it was decreed by Henry the eighth in the case of Mr. Wimbry for the style of the Lord Talboyes Neither shall any honor of Barony by Tenure be conveyed with the 〈◊〉 of any place from whence the title is derived without licence immediate from the King but all such as shall without is absolutely forfeited and stopt and returns again into that great Fount ain of Honor the Crown Now though this dignity be not allowed the Princely distinction of a Coronet yet is he as a Lord of the Parliament reckoned among the Peers of the Realm and priviledged amongst them in all these things as first in all trialls of criminall causes he is not tried by a Jury but a Bench of Peers If for Treason he be indicted and shall stand mute he shall be convicted but not prest but if it be for Felony his standing silent shall not convict him Upon any tryall of Peers the Lords that are to give Verdict are not like a Jury put upon their Oaths but upon their Honor. A Peer of the Realm is not to be Empannelled in any Jury but what concerns the King 's Enquiry Neither are they to be arrested by any Warrant of Justice of Peace either for the peace or good behaviour Neither is he to be put upon his Oath upon any appearance he shall make in Court but his Honor to be esteemed as binding And whereas all Burgesses of the Commons House are sworn to Supremacy the Barons of the Upper-House of Parliament are not with many other priviledges But it is to be noted that by these are onely meant to Lords of the Parliament not to the sons of Dukes Marquesses or Earls during the life of their fathers Nor to any Baron of another Kingdom in this though under the same allegiance who are not triable out of their own Kingdome unlesse they enjoy some honor in this The form of creating a Baron is in this manner The King sitting in state in the Presence-Chamber First the Hetalds by two and two and their Garter Principall King alone proceed bearing in his hand the Patent of creation next to him a Baron bearing the Robes and then the Person to be created followeth betwixt two other Barons Being entred the Chamber of Presence they make their obeysance to the King three times Garter then delivereth the Patent to the Lord Chamberlain of the houshold and he to the King and the King to one of his Principall Secretaries of State who readeth it and at the word Investimus the King putteth on him the Baron's robe so soon as the Patent is read it is to be delivered to the