was garnished with a Mantlet of Cloth of Silver covered with embroidery made after the same fashion as was the great Mantle excepting only that instead of Cyphers there were wrought fair Doves of Silver and both these robes double-lined with Satin of Orange-tawney colour The great Collar of the Order worn over the Mantlet was at first composed of Flowers de Lis cantoned or cornered with Flames of Fire interwoven with three Cyphers and divers Monogramms of Silver one was the Letter H and a Greek Lambda both double the first of these belonging to the Kings own name the other to the Queen his Wife Madam Lovisa de Loraine the other two were reserved in the Kings own mind but not without suspicion of referring to some wanton Amours But these Cyphers were taken off from the Collar and the embroidery of the Robes by Henry the Fourth his Successor and for a mark of his Battels and Victories Trophies of Arms were interlaced instead thereof with the Letter H crowned because it was also the initial Letter to his Christian name whereout arose flames and sparks of Fire and for the like reason hath this Letter H been since changed into the Letter L both by Lewis the Thirteenth and Lewis the Fourteenth At this Collar hung a Cross artificially wrought and adorned with a rich enamel in the midst whereof was represented the form of a Dove in a flying posture as descending down from Heaven with full spread Wings and to the end an Epigraph might not be wanting some have attributed to it this Duce Auspice thereby to signifie that those who wear it ought to hope for good success in their designs and enterprises being guided and assisted by the happy conduct of the Holy Ghost Besides these Ornaments the Knights wear a Black Velvet Cap adorned with a white Plume their Breeches and Doublets are of Cloth of Silver and their Shoes White tyed with Roses or Knots of Black Velvet The Badges ordained to be ordinarily worn are a Cross of Yellow or Orange colour Velvet wrought in the fashion of a Malta Cross fixed on the lest side of the Soveraigns breast but this at pleasure and the like Cross sewed on the left side of the upper Garments of the Prelates Commanders and Officers except in actions of Arms and then they are permitted to wear them of Cloth of Silver or White Velvet having in the midst thereof a Dove embroidered in Silver and at the angles or corners Rays and Flowers de Lis of Silver Moreover a Cross of the Order made of Gold like to the Cross of Malta also with a Flower de Lis in each angle thereof was appointed to be worn about their necks in a Blue Ribbon and to be enamelled White about the sides but not in the middle such as are Knights both of the Order of St. Michael and the Holy Ghost are to bear the Figure of St. Michael on the one side and of a Dove on the other The Anniversary of the grand Feast is ordained to be held on the first day of the new Year but the first part of the Ceremony begins always on the last day of the old the place for celebrating thereof is the Church of Augustine Friars in Paris An account of the first Solemnity as also of some other which have succeeded in the Reign of King Lewis the Thirteenth are set forth by Monsieur Boitel in his historical relations of the Pomps and Ceremonies used at the receiving of several Knights into this Order by this King and Printed at Paris 1620. The Order of the Precious Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ of Mantua 45. Vincentio de Gonzago the Fourth Duke of Mantua and Second of Montferat instituted this Order anno Dom. 1608. for defence and propagation of the Christian Religion and in honor of three drops of blood of our Saviour and Redeemer as also the more nobly to set forth the Nuptials of his eldest Son Francisco who succeeded him in his Dukedoms with Margaret of Savoy Daughter to Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy and Catharine of Austria It was allowed and approved by Pope Paul the Fifth and consisted of 20 Knights the Founder declared himself Great Master and after him his Successors Dukes of Mantua and Montferat The Collar is fill'd with variety of fancy and design being composed of Ovals of Gold some extended in length others in breadth and interlinkt with small Annulets On those Ovals in length is raised in white enamel these words Domine Probâsti on the other in breadth upon flames of Fire on a Trevet enamelled Black a Crucible Grey fill'd with small rods of Gold he being desirous to intimate by this devise that they who entred into this Society should hold inviolable faith and perpetual concord in the greatest tryals and extremities At the end of this Collar is pendent a larger Oval of Gold in which are exprest two Angels standing upright enamelled according to life holding between them a Chalice crowned in the Table whereof are figured three drops of blood enamelled Red and round the Oval Nihil isto triste recepto On Whitsonday in the year 1608. were the first Ceremonies of this Order performed in the Dukes Chappel of the Palace at Mantua The Order of Amaranta in Sweden 46. This Order of the Knights of Amaranta was instituted by Christina Queen of Sweden about the year 1645. in honor of a Lady of that name of great beauty courage modesty and charity The chief Ensign is a Jewel of Gold composed of two great AA adorned with Diamonds on both fides and joined together by reversing one of them being set within a Circle of Laurel Leaves wreathed about with White and on the four sides this Motto Dolce nella memoria which Jewel the Knights wear either in a Gold Chain or a Crimson or Blue Ribbon as they best like of The Ceremony used at the Investiture of these Knights with this Ensign is briefly this The Queen being seated under her state the designed Knight is brought up with usual Reverences and approaching neer the Queen he kneels before her then she in a short speech acquaints him with the inducements that invited her to bestow this honor enumerating his services and merits to which he makes a return of humble thanks This done he takes his Oath still kneeling and holding his hands between the Queens hands the effect whereof is to defend the Queens person from harm and the persons of the Brothers of the Order to promote to his power Justice Virtue and Piety and to discountenance Vice Injury and Wickedness Having obliged himself to the performance of this Oath the Queen puts about him in the manner of a Baudrick a Crimson Silk Scarf with the Iewel fastned thereto after which the Knight ariseth and retireth with all sutable reverence To an absent Prince or great Personage whom the Queen intends to honor
Soveraign of the Order was at the charge notwithstanding the said Order an 3. E. 6. which heretofore we see was paid out of the Treasury in the Exchequer and since the establishment of 1200. l. per an setled by the late Soveraign King Charles the First to discharge the ordinary and extraordinary expences of the Order the allowance issued thence and was paid by the Chancellor of the Order But now the charge is placed upon Garter he having an allowance therefore included in the augmentation of his Pension an 15. Car. 2. We find Privy-Seals to have issued as high as the 15. of Queen Elizabeth for the annual allowance of 7 l. Scutcheons employed for the use aforesaid and that the price sometime before was much about that rate for the three and twenty Scutcheons provided against St. George's Feast an 1 2. Ph. Mar. came to 6 l. 1 s. 8 d. and those five and twenty set up the following year to 6 l. 11 s. 8. d. some difference then also being in the work which inhanced the price viz. those provided for Princes at 6 s. 8 d. a piece and each of the rest at 5. s. The Soveraign the Prince of Wales and Stranger Kings and Princes have accustomably had at these times Majesty Scutcheons set up over each of their Stalls but the rest of the Knights-Companions Lodging Scutcheons only and we have seen an account of four Majesty Scutcheons prepared for every St. George's Feast from 1613. to 1619. to wit one for the Soveraign another for the King of Denmark a third for the Prince of Wales and a fourth for Frederick Count Palatine of the Rhyne at 6 s. 8 d. a piece but so many Knights-Companions as attended the Soveraign at those Feasts had each a Lodging Scutcheon at 2 s. 6 d. From the marshalling of Arms quartered in the Knights-Companions Scutcheons and ordering their Stiles printed always in French there are several things no less useful than worthy observation for First though the Plates of Arms and Quarterings fixed in each Knights-Companions Stall at Windesor continue there without alteration or very seldom changed from that order wherein they were marshalled at the time of their Installation yet these Scutcheons and Stiles annually set up do admit of frequent alteration as there is occasion either by adding more Quarterings altering the Stiles or amending any thing that is amiss For instance Whereas the Duke of Savoy before 5. Eliz. bore Gules a Cross Argent it was then altered into 5 Coats that is to say in the first quarter Westpahliâ— Saxe moderne and Angrie in the second Chablais in the third Aouste the fourth as the first and over all in the middle the foresaid Scutcheon of Savoy When the Lord Hunsdon was installed an 3. Eliz. he had 12 Coats of Arms thus marshalled in his Plate 4 4 and 4 the first Carey the second Spencer the third Somerset the fourth Bullen the fifth Ormond the sixth Hoo the seventh Rochford the eighth Seyntomer the ninth Malmains the tenth Wichingham the eleventh St. Leger and the twelfth Hangford But an 7. Eliz. his Scutcheon received an addition of four other Coats viz. Beauchamp Warwick Berkley and Gerard and these were inserted next to Somerset the third Coat in his said Plate But on the contrary where Ambrose Earl of Warwick had 21 Coats put into his Plate an 5. Eliz. and they marshalled in this order 5.5.5 and 6. namely 1. Sutton 2. Paganell 3. Grey of Ruthin 4. Hastings 5. Quincy 6. Malpas 7. Somery 8. Valence 9. Talbott 10. Warwick 11. Beauchamp 12. Berkley 13. Lisle 14. Gerard. 15. Guilford 16. Houlden 17. West 18. and 19. quarterly de la Ware and Cantilupe 20. Mortimere of Wigmore and 21. Greely at the Feast of St. George held at Whitehall an 9. Eliz. his Scutcheon contained but 16. viz. 4.4.4 and 4. namely 1. Sutton 2. Paganell 3. Somery 4. Malpas 5. Grey of Ruthin 6. Hastings 7. Valence 8. Ferrers 9. Quincy 10. Chester 11. Talbot 12 Beauchamp 13. Warwick 14. Berkley 15. Gerard. and 16. Lisle So that here was seven Coats taken out of the former namely Guilford Holden West de la Ware and Cantilupe quarterly Mortimere and Greely and two added viz. Ferrars and Chester But the greatest and most frequent variations are in the Stiles and Titles of Honor set under the Scutcheons and these relate unto and are occasioned principally from their attaining or resigning of Offices or Dignities We find that the Stile set under the Scutcheon of Ferdinand the Emperor at St. George's Feast an 1. 2. Ph. Mar. was as followeth Du tres-hault tres-excellent tres-puissant Prince Ferdinand par la grace de Dieu Roy des Romaines de Hungarie Bohemie Archiduc d' Austrie Duc de Bourgoigne c. Chevalier du tresnoble Ordre de la Iarretiere But an 5. Eliz. in the said Emperors Stile the Titles of King of Hungary and Bohemia were left out because Maximilian his Son had a little before obtained and at that time enjoyed both those Kingdoms In the Reign of Queen Elizabeth the Stiles of Philip King of Spain who while Queen Mary lived was Co Soveraign of this most Noble Order run thus Du tres-hault tres-excellent tres-puissant Prince Philip par la grace de Dieu Roy d' Espaigne des Deux Cicels Ierusalem Arch-Duc d' Austriae Duc de Bourgoigne Millan Brabant Comte de Hapsburge Flanders and Tyroll Chevalier du tres-noble Order de la Iarretiere But at the Feasts of St. George an 28.29 and 30. Eliz. the Title of Catholick Prince was also given him viz. Du tres-hault tres-excellent tres-puissant Catholique Prince Philip c. And till an 26. Eliz. we observe the Title des Deux Cicils were continued to him but an 28. Eliz. and so forward the word Deux was omitted nevertheless an 36. Eliz. that word is again added but withall we find this marginal note entred over against the said Stile This was forbidden to be set up at Greenwich the 22. of April an 1594. If we proceed with a few instances relating to Knights-Subjects we shall find that among them there hath hapned the most frequent alterations and almost every year some additions or omissions In the Duke of Norfolk's Stile an 3. Eliz. the Lieutenantship of the North was omitted In the Earl of Rutlands at the same Feast President of the Council in the North was added The Marquess of Winchester an â— Eliz. caused the Title of Bâ—ron of St. Iohn to be omitted because his eldest Son then bore that honor In like manner was the Title of Lord Strange left out of the Earl of Derby's Stile an 4. Eliz. in regard his Son was then so called and a Baron of Parliament As to these and such like particulars a multitude of Examples might be cited but let these suffice
among whom were Robert de Maule Guy de Brian Iohn de Ravensholm Peter de Brewes Thomas de Lancastre Henry Dengayne and Iohn the Son of Guy de Beauchamp to whom the King gave annual Pensions for their lives to support these Honors The Battel was fought between Bray and Cressy on Saturday the 7. of the Calends of September viz. the 26. of August an Dom. 1346. and the Victory fell to King Edward There were kill'd on the French part the King of Bohemia the Duke of Lorraine the Earls of Alanson Flanders Harcourt Almor Bloys Auser and St. Paul but the French King fled to Bray Castle with 5 Barons only and thence to Amiens On the day after the Battel there were four times as many slain coming to the assistance of the French King but knew nothing of his defeat as on the day on which the Battel was fought After this Battel the King forthwith carried his Army towards Calais and sat down before it the 7. day of September continuing his Siege all the Winter ensuing The next Summer the French King came down with an Army of 200000 men to raise the Siege and on Monday after St. Iame's day drawing neer to the Castle of Guisnes and finding the King so strongly intrenched that he could not attempt him he on the 2. of August returned whereupon the Town was surrendred to the King's mercy the 4. of August following and the King having setled his Affairs there returned into England the 14. of October The 7. of October an 20. E. 3. which was within a Month after King Edward had laid Siege to Calais David King of Scots invaded England with 50000 men The Queen being then at York raised an Army to oppose him and marched towards Newcastle neer which on St. Luke's Eve she encountred the Scots flew 15000 of them and vanquished the rest Their King was taken Prisoner at Meryngton by Iohn Copland an Esquire of Northumberland and according to the Kings command signified to Thomas Rokely high Sheriff of Yorkshire who had received him by Indenture from Monsieur Ralph Nevill was delivered by Indenture dated the 2. of Ianuary after unto Iohn Darcy Constable of the Tower of London there to be kept in safe custody After this Victory the English entred Scotland and took the Castles of Roxburgh and Hermitage and subdued the Counties of Anandale Galloway Mers Tividale and Ethrick Forest extending their March as far as Cockburns Peth and Sowtray hedge Tralnilips and Cross Cave Shortly after the defeating of the King of Scots upon the mediation of the Cardinal of Naples and Clermont a Commission was made out to William Marquess of Iuliers William de Bohun Earl of Northampton Constable of England Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick Marshal of England Bartholomew de Burghersh Richard Talbot Steward of the King's House Thomas Bradewardyn Chancellor of London Iohn de Thoresby Canon of Lincolne and Andrew Offord Canon of York or any 8 7 6 5 4 or 3 of them to treat of and conclude with the said Cardinals upon all Quarrels and Controversies depending between the King and Sir Philip de Valois and their Allies but this meeting came to nothing Nevertheless after Calais was taken the Earls of Lancaster and Huntingdon were commissionated to treat of a Peace with the said Sir Philip de Valois which upon the interposition and mediation of the foresaid Cardinals produced a Truce to endure from Michaelmas Eve an 21. E. 3. to the Qninzeme of St. Iohn Baptist next ensuing Lewis of Bavaria the Emperor being dead about this time Henry Archbishop of Mentz Arch-Chancellor of the Empire in Germany Rudolph and Rupert Counts Palatine of the Rhyne and Dukes of Bavaria Lewis Marquess of Brandenburgh and Lusatia and the Dukes of Saxony assembled at Collen whence they sent Ambassadors to King Edward with the offer of Electing him Emperor of Germany in return of which he sent to them Sir Hugh Nevil and Ivo de Glynton Canon of St. Pauls London with full information of the Kings intention which contained a refusal of that Imperial Dignity but with great thanks for the honor they designed him The Truce made at Calais as aforesaid now growing towards an end the King was prevailed with upon the Popes Letters to depute Thomas Fastolf Arch Deacon of Wells Iohn Carleton Canon of Wells both Doctors of Law and Fryer Iohn de Reppes of the Order of Mount Carmell who had Commission to prorogue the Truce and to treat of a final Peace the former of which was concluded on for 6 weeks in Picardy Normandy Artois Boloigne and Flanders and to commence the 13. of September an 22. E. 3. But the King well seeing the delay and unwillingness of the French to close with him either for Truce or Peace drew down his Forces in October to Sandwich intending to pass the Sea which quickned the French to agree to the prorogation of the Truce from the 18. of November till the first of September an 23. E. 3. upon which he returned to London No sooner was this Truce concluded but the Lord Geoffry Charney attempted to corrupt Sir Amery de Pavy an Italian then Governor of Calais to betray the Town to him for 20000 Crowns of which the King having notice came privately the night before the delivery was agreed on The Lord Geoffry had paid his money and expected the surrender of the Town when the King issued out disguised under the Banner of Sir Walter Many and fought on foot among the Common Souldiers and within a while he encountred the Lord Eustace of Rybemont a Valiant Knight who having struck him twice on his Knees was at last Mastered by the King and made his Prisoner The encounter being over and the King desirous to view the Prisoners caused a great Supper to be prepared for them at which time he came in wearing a Chaplet of Pearls and passing to Sir Eustace of Rybemont took the Chaplet off his own head and placed it upon the head of Sir Eustace with the commendation of a valiant Knight and one that had performed best in the late Action and with all forgave him his ransom Thomas of Walsingham placeth this famous exploit to the year 1349. and consequently to be done in the 23 d year of King Edward the Third But we rather judge Sir Iohn Froissard to be in the right since we find Sir Iohn Beauchamp made Captain of Calais the first of Ianuary an 22. E. 3. which according to Froissard's Account was the next day after this defeat of Sir Geoffry Charney And though the French Writers affirm that Sir Aymery de Pavy discovered the design to the King yet Froissard saith not tell the King had otherwise first heard of it and therefore not unlike but there might rest so much suspicion upon Sir Aymery as induced the King to appoint
frequently attributed 'T is true the very same names of Nero Claudius Germanicus are all stamped upon the Coyns of Drusus Brother of Tiberius the Emperor but there the Head is crowned with Laurel which Drusus the Son of Tiberius wanted and the Face made older in all places than that set forth by Oct. Strada which indeed is a perfect juvenile Effigies nor hath this Drusus the Brother of Tiberius the Title of Princeps juventutis any where given to him but that of Imperator only added at the end of his Names Besides these we are beholding to Occo for the description and to Fr. Angelonus for the Ectyp of another Coyn appertaining to Commodus the Son of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus on whose Reverse is to be seen the aforementioned Inscription viz. EQVESTER ORDO PRINCIPI IVVENTVT it being stamped when Commodus had the like address made to him from the Equestrian Order he having then also attained that attribute of Princeps juventutis And thus have we let in a glimps of the Equestrian Order established among the Romans with its Dignity and Honors which for many Ages flourished in great glory and reputation it being the continual care of that famous Nation to preserve partly the Fame of valiant men to posterity by the memory of their noble Acts and partly to stir up the spirits of the younger sort to the imitation of their Virtue upon whom the glory of their Ancestors might have such an influence as to make them eagerly contend for the attainment of a like degree of Honor by proportionate degrees of Virtue and Noble deeds All which we have thought requisite to bring in by way of Introduction to those Knightly Honors that afterwards succeeded in the world What we have further to say in this Chapter shall be to touch upon those degrees of Knighthood which have been personal and obtained by Creation only after such time as the French Empire took beginning and are or may be comprehended under the modern Title of Equites Aurati or Milites simpliees being indeed all of one nature albeit they received several denominations from those various Ensigns of Honor and Ceremonies of Creation wherewith the Dignity hath been in several Ages since particularly bestowed and as this Equestrian Dignity is distinguished from the several Orders of Chevalry instituted in Christendom whether they be of greater or less note who have received their Titles as Knights used together with that of their peculiar Orders which differenceth them from those we call Milites simplices In the circumstances of whose Creation we confess that nothing in the Ordo Equestris among the ancient Romans hath place though that might well be the ground and original of the Dignity and one common end in both namely the pursuit of military exploits and service in the Wars SECT IV. Of the modern Degrees of Knighthood AND first concerning those whom some call Monozoni that is Knights begirt with the Military Girdle a custom devolved to the Germans and Gauls from ancient time and from them to later Ages Our learned Countryman Sir Henry Spelman notes That the later Emperors conferr'd the Dignity of Knighthood with the military Girdle instead of all other Arms because that part more eminent amongst them girdeth supporteth and adorneth the rest Whence our learned Selden calls this girding the most essential part of the Ceremony Nor do we find that among the various Ceremonies belonging to Knighthood there have been any to the later ages that hath continued so constant and frequent in practice as the endowing with Girdle and Sword Ornaments indeed most proper to the Knightly Dignity and marks of Honor and Virtue with which the Statues and Portraitures of Knights have been adorned after death is may be seen on divers of their Monuments and Grave-Stones For as at this day Knights are in some places stiled Equites Aurati from the golden Spurs heretofore put on at their Creation so were they more anciently Cingulo militari donati or according to the old word used by Bracton Ringae Gladiis in regard that when any one was Knighted he was not as in this Age only smitten with the Sword but invested with Sword and Belt Nor is this Ceremony wholly lost since it is retained among those appointed to be used at the creating our Knights of the Bath who are to be girt with a Sword and Belt when they receive the aforesaid Honor as the old Formulary thus hath it Then shall the King of his great favour take the Sword and gird the Esquire therewith In the second place taking leave to rank those following degrees of Knighthood here mentioned according to their antiquity not the precedence they have since gained the Baccalaurei or Knights Batchelors are to be considered who are also indifferently stiled Chevaliers Milites Equites Aurati and Knights This degree is truly accounted with us the first of all military dignity and the basis and foundation of all Honors in our Nation and is certainly derived from if not the same with that immediately preceding For as the Ceremony of a gentle touch on the shoulder with the flat side of the Sword hath been since used instead of endowing with the Sword and Belt especially in times of War or in haste as an initiation into the Military Order so on the contrary it is not unusual now adays for the Prince at least Gladio if not Cingulo donare for he oftentimes bestows the Sword upon the person whom he Knighteth The Equites had the Epithete of Aurati given them from the priviledge of wearing Gold upon their Swords and Spurs and the 265 Knights created upon Hadrians Bridge at Rome by Frederick the Third Emperor of Germany the 18. of March Anno Dom. 1451. as he proceeded to the Cathedral Church of St. Iohn de Lateran to be crowned are by Ciaconius called Equites Aurati and were indeed no other than Knights Batchelors such were also the Italian and German Knights created in the same place by Sigismond the Emperour on Whitsunday 1432. as he went to the Lateran from the Vatican where he had received his Crown from Pope Eugenius the Fourth And here we have an occasion offer'd to insert the distinction which Andrew Tiraquel puts between those Knights who are and who are not noble before they receive that dignity allowing the later the Title of Equites Aurati and to the former that of Milites For saith he it is to be observed that those whom we in the French Tongue call Chevaliers were made noble assoon as they attain'd that dignity even though they were not such before yet they were not called Milites contrary to the position of all Interpreters of the Law but such as speak properly have called them Equites Auratos Which appellation Franciscus Philelphius did first of all find out and Bebellius in his Commentary De abusione linguae brings many things against the
upon valiant men and such as had rendred themselves conspicuous by acts of Prowess and Chivalry as a worthy recompence of their Virtue and from Pliny it appears that the ancient Gauls were wont to wear them in Fight for as the said Schefser notes upon his words no other thing can be understood by the word Auro than Torques The like may be said of the ancient Britans Danes and Goths among whom it was customary to wear them as denoting such as were remarkable for their valour But in later times it was the peculiar Fashion of Knights among us to wear Golden Collars composed of SS or other various works so that those Monuments are known to belong to Knights on whose Portraictures such Ornaments are now found To conclude we must acknowledge that this noble Ensign hath been likewise honored with a particular and high estimation among the Founders of Military Orders since it is manifest from Francis Capre that the Order of Savoy was at first called The Order of the Collar and not by the Title of the Anunciade until the year 1518. as will more amply appear by and by So that if we sum up the principal Ensigns of Knighthood ancient and modern we shall find them to have been or are a Horse Gold Ring Shield and Launce a Belt and Sword gilt spurs and a Gold Chain or Collar But from these have later Ages more especially selected the Belt or golden Girdle Sword Collar Spurs and Rings 〈◊〉 which we find innumerated and particularly called the Ornaments and Ensigns appertaining to Knighthood in some Imperial Diplomas and wherewith the Emperor is therein said to have adorned and invested his new created Knight according to Custom as for instance that of Rodolph the Second granted to Sir Robert Sherley and dated at Prague the second of Iune 1610. of which a fuller account may be taken in Purchas his Pilgrimage where the Imperial Instrument containing also the creating of him an Earl Palatine of the Empire and bestowing sundry Priviledges and Prerogatives therewith worthy of knowing is translated verbatim The Author of the Iurisprudentia Heroica has afforded an Example in this kind in another Diploma of the same Emperors made to Sir Charles Rillehe dated at Vienna the eleventh of February anno 1594. And there is a priviledge usually granted in these Diplomas that the Knights shall in all Exercises Actions and Enterprises use and wear Chains Swords Spurs Robes Trappings and whatsoever Furniture else belonging to Horses either all Gold or gilt The Trappings here mentioned put us in mind of a passage in Pliny whence it may be conjectured that Horse-Trappings were sometime heretofore accounted part of the Ensigns of a Roman Knight for having told us that one Flavius a man of mean birth had ingratiated himself with the Commons by publishing the Mystery of the whole course of days pleadable and not pleadable which his Master Appius Claudius Caecus had discovered to him he adds that a Bill passed by general consent to create him Aedilis Curulis together with Q. Anicius without any regard had to those other who being nobly born had lâ—kewise stood for that Dignity And that at the same time he was also made Tribunus Plebis at which the whole Senate took such offence that they laid aside their Rings and some thought but were mistaken that the Knights did the like nay believed further that they left off their Horse-Trappings as if from them the name of Knight had been bestowed and consequently the Phalerae no less than the Annuli or Equi were accounted Badges of the Equestrian Order after they were drawn into fashion and use However we may suppose that the publick Horse if at first was not afterwards given naked but with such accoutrements and furniture as were both for use and ornament in War the fashion whereof may be observed among those Sculptures upon Trajans Column at Rome a Draught whereof was first made by Iulio Romano then set forth by Franciscus Villamena and last of all after a long and retchless neglect these Plates being thrown by and welnigh spoil'd with rust and carelesness were happily brought to light and repaired by the care and expence of my noble Friend accomplished with great variety of useful and ingenious knowledge Iohn Evelyn Esquire during his residence at Rome SECT VIII Qualifications for Knighthood AS touching the Qualifications which formerly made persons capable of this Honor of Knighthood the principal and most remarkable were these three Merit Birth and Estate In the right distribution of this Honor and Dignity Merit has been by all allowed to challenge a principal share and the deserving judged fittest to be preferr'd before those who wanted that Qualification Among the Romans no Soldier was denyed or envyed his part in the Prizes of Honor or Recompence to wit that sort of Crown or such other of the Military Rewards which their valour had deserved and not only their Emperors but all other Princes found the advantage of conferring benefits on the meritorious in being thereby best served For those who have shewed themselves inclined to noble and valiant Actions having once tasted the sweet of Reward are generally so encouraged as no danger hath seem'd too great to attempt no enterprise so difficult but might be made feasible But of this subject there is so much spoke and to be met with almost every where that we need not add more As to the second Qualification namely Birth there was so great câ—re taken that saith Andrew Favin to prevent the admittance of any not of eminent and generous Extraction into this Dignity of the Ordinances made concerning the Order of Knighthood the first Article is That the parties who enter thereinto ought first to make it appear they be Gentlemen of three paternal descents and that the Arms they bear have been born by their Fathers Grandfathers and great-Grandfathers It was also the Law of the Empire That no man should be capable of this Dignity but he that was descended from one who was Miles which Mr. Selden interprets not by Knight but Gentleman or Nobilis as appears by the Constitution of Frederick the Second elected Emperor anno 1212. and mentioned in the Titles of Honor and perhaps there was an Eye had to this Law in the Sentences upon the following Cases Nor hath it been by some accounted sufficient that the person Knighted should be a Gentleman by the Fathers side unless he were so also by the Mothers at least she was to be a Free-woman and not a Servant for if she were a Servant or Bond-woman though the Father were a Gentleman the Children were still ranked within the Degree of Servitude and counted incapable of the Knightly Dignity Heretofore the conferring of Knighthood was not restrained to the Soveraign power as now it is but that the greater Subjects did sometime make Knights But where the honor hath been given by
intimation that where any reasonable cause could be made appear at the time of Knighthood to impede the receiving of the Order the person might be admitted to make Fine for the respite thereof Yet was not this Fine constant or certain but estimated and set according to the nature of the excuse or length of time given for instance Robert de Menevil of Northumberland having obtained respite for two years was set at five Marks and Peter Founden at forty eight Shillings and eight Pence for three years respite but Iohn de Drokensford paid ten Pounds for a suspension of his Knighthood only for the same time And in these cases the Kings Writ usually issued to the Sheriff with command to permit the person to have that respite and to forbear taking any distress till the time compounded for should be expired and if nevertheless the person happened to be impleaded for not having received Knighthood the Kings Letters Patents granting him the time of respite being produced have been allowed If any person had been distrained by the Sheriff and a retorn thereof made to the King and did not appear at the time and place in the Writ nominated to receive the Honor of Knighthood in such case we sometimes find that a Writ hath issued giving command to the Sheriff forthwith to seize all his Lands and Tenements into the Kings hands and answer the profits thereof into the Exchequer The Fines and Amerciaments set upon such contempt seem to have been arbitrary and the Court swayed according as the nature of the default appeared William the Son of Gilbert de Alton paid twenty shillings for not appearing and receiving Knighthood according to the command of the Kings Proclamation Thomas Pauncefoot paid four Nobles Iohn de Lodbroke forty shillings the like Fine was set upon Simon de Bradeney and Thomas Trivet both of Somersetshire and Iohn de Neirvote in the County of Bucks and lastly William Lassels paid four pounds for that he had not received Knighthood before Michaelmas Anno 30. E. 3. and for obtaining respite for three years from thence But albeit in the promiscuous course of bestowing of Knighthood where the men of Wealth and Estate whether otherwise worthy or not became dignified yet was not the gate of Honor then shut against those who wanting Riches sought her out by the paths of Virtue and Merit For where men of low Fortunes deserved well of their Country and that for their good services the King had judged them worthy of Honor He was accordingly pleas'd to bestow such annual Pension or Lands upon them as He esteemed sufficient to maintain that degree of Dignity whatsoever it was so conferr'd And this is agreeable to the judgment of the Author of the Division du Monde who saith That the Honor of Knighthood is not to be given to any person who hath not a considerable Estate unless sufficient means to support the Honor of that Order be also given with it Hence it is that the Kings of England have allowed Pensions and frequent mention of them is made in the Rolls sometimes during pleasure and then again during the lives of those on whom they have thought fit to confer the Honor for their better support as for instance King Edward the Third granted by Letters Patents forty Pounds per annum out of his Exchequer to Iohn atte Lee Queen Isabel's Steward in auxilium status sui manutenendi first during pleasure and afterwards for his life But the case is more remarkable of Sir Nele Loring who afterwards attained the Honor to be one of the first Founders of the most noble Order of the Garter for whose valiant performances in the Naval Fight against the French at Sluce the King conferr'd the Dignity of Knighthood upon him and immediately after granted to him and his Heirs Males twenty Pounds per annum that he might better maintain that Honor until he could settle on him and them so much in value of Lands or yearly Rents in Fee And here the following Grant made by King Richard the Second to Sir Iohn Walssh of forty Marks per annum for life to support that Dignity of Knighthood he had given him may very well be inserted Rex omnibus ad quos c. salutem Sciatis quod cum nos pro eo quod dilectus fidelis noster Johannes Walssh nuper in praesentia nostra pro defensione suâ— multum strenue fecit prout satis est notorium ipsum Ordinem Militarem suscipere facerimus Ordinem illum ei de manibus nostris dederimus eum penes nos ipsos retinuerimus Et quia ipse sufficienter non habet unde Onus cum honore valeat supportare Dedimus Concessimus ei Quadraginta Marcas per annum ad terminum vitae suae percipiend per manus Vicecomitis nostri Lincolniensis qui pro tempore fuerit de exitibus balivae suae ad terminos Paschae Sancti Michaelis per aequales portiones In cujus c. Teste R. apud Westminst quinto die Decembris The Kings of England upon the same account did usually bestow like annual rewards on such whose merit raised them to the Degree of Baneret and in the Letters Patents whereby such Pensions are granted we observe it usually exprest ad manutenendum statum Baneretti or words to the like effect Hereupon King Edward the Third gave to Sir Reginald Cobbâ—m four hundred Marks per annum during his life to be paid him out of the Exchequer afterwards the Mannor of Tippenham in Buckinghamshire for life and a Mill under Oxford Castle with a Meadow there called Kings Meade We find moreover that Thomas de Rokeley who in the service of this King had received the Degree of Baneret had two hundred Marks per annum granted unto him pro sustentatione sua during life To Sir Iohn Lysle one other of the Founders of the said most noble Order ut ipse statum Baneretti which the King had before conferr'd on him melius manutenere possit he gave two hundred pounds a year during life and upon Roger de Swynerton Baneret He bestowed for life pro statu suo manutenendo all the Mannors Lands c. which lying in the Counties of Stafford and Chester came to the Kings hands by the forfeiture of Hugh le Despenser as likewise the Mannor of Barew in the County Palatine of Chester to him and his Heirs And it is worthy of note that some times such like Grants have been made by the consent of Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for so were the two hundred Marks per annum given to Geoffry le Scroop Baneret in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth Thus far we have spoken of the Qualifications which capacitate him who receives the Degree of Knighthood it will not now be amiss to touch upon one particular relating to the Person
Ierusalem then remaining in the Isle of Rhodes since more commonly known by the Title of Knights of Malta as being under the same Vow and Rule But it was not long e're his Successor Pope Alexander the Sixth anno 1496. transferr'd to the Papal See all power of conferring this Order of Knighthood publishing himself and his Successors to be the Great Masters thereof He further empowred the Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre his Vicar-general to bestow the same upon Pilgrims and Travellers to the Holy Land the Formulary for receiving of which is set down at large by Mennenius and Favin Afterwards Philip the Second King of Spain used his endeavours to restore this Order in some of his Dominions to which end several of these Knights assembled in the Church of St. Catharine at Hochstraten in Brabant in Cameracensi Diocesi and by their Diploma dated the 26. of March 1558. exhibited by Mennenius elected the said King Grand Master of the Order but this design took no effect Of latter times there was another attempt to the like purpose made by Charles Gonzâ—go of Cleve Duke of Nevers in the year 1615. and this also upon the application of the Great Master of Malta to Lewis the Thirteenth of France came to nothing The Order of Hospitalars of St. Iohn Baptist in Ierusalem 2. Before the Latin Christians had taken the City of Ierusalem from the Saracens certain Christian Merchants of the Kingdom of Naples who traded into Syria and the Holy Land with Commodities most acceptable because most rare and strange to the Inhabitants of those Countries obtained leave from the Caliph of Aegypt who then had the Dominion thereof to erect a small and convenient House for the entertainment of themselves and their Country-men which they built before the Patriarchal Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Ierusalem together with as small an Oratory dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary To them repaired certain Canons of the Order of St. Augustine conducted by an Abbot from Naples who in a short time built another Oratory in honor of St. Mary Magdalen that of the Virgin Mary being appointed for the entertainment of Men and that other of St. Mary Magdalen for the reception of Women And not long after to wit in the year of our Lord 1048. they restored the Church of the Holy Sepulchre But the confluence of Pilgrims and Travellers growing very great and these places already built too narrow for their reception they erected a large Hospital in that very place where our Saviour celebrated the last Supper with his Disciples for the better entertainment of Strangers that travelled thither upon the account of Devotion who for want of a place to lodge in did usually in the night time fall into the hands of the Saracens that rob'd and murder'd them as also to relieve and cure the diseased among them So that at length in regard of their great Charity and friendly Hospitality as also for that these religious persons took St. Iohn Baptist for their Patron to the honor of whose Name a Chappel or Oratory was built there also they obtained the Title of Brethren Hospitalars of St. Iohn Baptist of Ierusalem But some are of opinion that this Hospital was dedicated to the memory of St. Iohn of Cyprus who in the Reign of Phocas the Emperor was Bishop of Alexandria and so charitable and liberal in bestowing Alms that he obtained the name of Iohannes Eleemosynarius Calvisius in his Chronology sets down the Institution of this Order to be in the year 1092. Others refer it to the year 1099. when one Gerard a Native of the Province of Tholouse and a man of holy life and piety came to Ierusalem in the time of Godfrey of Bouillon and out of zeal upon sight of the places trodden by the feet of our Saviour and sprinkled with his blood built this Hospital which became the first and chief Seat of this ancient Order and devoutly ministred to the necessities of the poor After a while he adjoined to himself some honest and religious men and received the regular Habit of Black wearing on the outside thereof a White Cross. King Baldwin the First conferr'd on them large Priviledges and Franchises permitting them to manage Arms as did the Canons Regulars Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre and anno 1104. instituted them to be Knights So that they who before were pious and liberal towards Pilgrims and diseased persons became at length the examples of true and Christian generosity Their duty now engaging them personally to fight against the Saraâ—ens and Insidels in defence of the Christian Faith These Knights then acknowledged obedience to the Patriarch of Ierusalem who first approved their Order but afterwards when their Revenues increased it begat a neglect of their former religious and humble carriage and forthwith they laboured with the Pope to be absolved from their obedience to the Patriarch which they obtain'd though he and several other Bishops of Palestine travelled to Rome to oppose them and manifest the injuries they sustained from the Knights This Order had its second approbation and rule of living confirmed from Pope Gelasius the Second but Andr. Mendo saith from Calixtus the Second anno 1120. and was by Adrian the Fourth received under the protection of the Papal See being likewise endowed with ample Priviledges and exemption from payment of Tythes by succeeding Popes chiefly by Pius the Fourth The Knights of this Order then took the black Habit of Hermits of St. Augustine and lived under his rule by the grant of Honorius the Second anno 1125. vowing Obedience Poverty and Chastity and on the Breast of this Habit wore at first a plain Cross of white Cloth since changed to one with eight points but in the time of War they used a Red Cassock bearing the White Cross upon it After the death of Gerard the Founder of this Hospital having increased in Men and Revenues elected out of their own Body another Governor or Head namely Raimund de Podio or Poggio a Florentine who digested and enlarged their Laws and Institutions and divided the Body of the Order into three Classes viz. Knights Servants and Ecclesiasticks which hath since received from the succeeeding Great Masters many additions This Body of Laws was confirmed by Pope Boniface the Ninth 7. Idus Apr. in the sixth year of his Popedom the Composers style in it runs thus Ego Ramundus Dei gratia servus pauperum Iesu Christi Custos Hospitalis Ierusolymitani But afterwards he had the Title of Great Master of the Order given him which continued to his Successors the Adjective Great being added to denote his power and authority the Government and Administration of the whole Militia being lodged in him for the time being This great Master is a free
a Copy whereof was most freely communicated to me by Monsieur Cristofle Lindenow Envoye from Christian the Fifth now King of Denmark to his sacred Majesty the present Soveraign of the most noble Order of the Garter This Letter informs him of the Institution and some other particulars relating to the Order to wit That King Christian the first being at Rome whither he had travelled upon a religious account Pope Sixtus the Fourth among other Honors invested him with this Order in memory of the Passion of our Lord and Saviour and withal ordained that the dignity of Chief and Supream should be continued as a successive right to the succeeding Kings of Denmark This King founded the magnificent Chappel of the three Kings in the Cathedral Church at Roschilt four Leagues from Copenhagen where the Knights were obliged to assemble upon the death of any of their Fraternity He also admitted thereinto divers Kings Princes and Noblemen The chief Ensign of this Order was the Figure of an Elephant on whose side within a Rundle was represented a Crown of Thorns with three Nails all bloody in honor and memory of the Passion of our blessed Saviour The Knights were obliged to the performance of acts of Piety Alms Deeds and certain Ceremonies especially upon those days on which they wore the Ensigns of the Order But King Iohn set so high a value upon it that he wore them on every solemn Festival He also advanc'd the honor of this Order to so great esteem that it became accepted by both our King Henry the Eighth and Iames the Fifth King of Scotland his Sisters Son with whom the Ensigns thereof remained as a Pledge and assurance of constant and perpetual friendship with these he likewise invested divers Ambassadors Senators and noble Danes There is one Ivarus Nicholai Hertholm a learned Dane as I am informed who hath written a particular Treatise of this Elephantine Order but not yet printed The scope whereof is to shew that the beforementioned Epistle of the Bishop of Arhusen does not sufficiently make it appear that it received its first Institution when Christian the First had those many Honors conferr'd on him by Pope Sixtus the Fourth And that the Badge was an Ensign meerly Military anciently given as a memorial and incitement to the Danish Princes who took upon them the defence of Christianity against the Moors and Africans 'T is greatly presumed that this Book which we hope may shortly be published will furnish the world with many choice things relating to the antiquity and honor of the Institution Ensigns and Ceremonies of this royal Order Heretofore the Knights wore a Collar of Gold composed of Elephants and Crosses fashioned something like Crosses Ancrees Mennenius calls them Spurs at which hung the Picture of the Virgin Mary to the middle holding Christ in her arms and surrounded with a Glory of Sun-beams but they have long since laid this Collar aside and now wear only a Blue Ribbon at which hangs an Elephant enamelled White adorned with five large Diamonds set in the middle Those Elephants worn by the Knights in the Reign of Christian the Fourth had in the same place within a Circle the Letter C and in the heart thereof the Figure of 4 made to signifie Christianus quartus This Honor hath been most commonly conferr'd by the Kings of Denmark on the day of their Coronation both upon the Nobles and Senators of the Kingdom It seems Frederick the Third brought into use in imitation of the most noble Order of the Garter an embroidered Glory of Silver Purle wrought upon the left side of their Cloak or Vest on which was embroidered two Crowns within a Rundle bearing his Motto Deus providebit for such a one did Count Guldenâ— low Ambassador hither from that King wear at his residing here in England anno 1669. But we are to note that the Motto hath changed with the King for that of the present King is Pietate Iustitia and this the Knights of his Election now wear in the middle of the Circle Nevertheless all the Knights created by his Father are obliged still to continue the former Motto The Order of the Burgundian Cross at Tunis 43. Charles the Fifth Emperor of Germany and King of Spain after he had restored Mulleasses King of Tunis to his Kingdom who had been expulsed thence by that famous Pyrate Barbarossa on the day of his victorious entrade into Tunis with solemn and magnificent Pomp was apparelled in a Coat which he used to wear in Battel whereon was embroidered the Burgundian Cross and being desirous to gain the good respect of all who had served in that War was chiefly willing to adorn the Commanders that had behaved themselves valiantly in the Victory with some Badge or token of Honor as a reward and for this reason did he institute this Order in the year 1535. on St. Magdalen's day To this Burgundian Cross he added a Steel striking sparks of fire out of Flint with this Inscription BARBARIA to be the Badge or Ensign thereof And for an additional Ornament gave a Collar of Gold whereat hung the said Badge Some say this Order was instituted at ten of the Clock that day it being also the hour of Mercury in which respect the Character of that Planet is usually enamelled on the one side of the Jewel as the Burgundian Cross is on the other But it was of short continuance for it expired long since The Order of Knights of the Holy Ghost in France 44. This Order received Institution from the French King Henry the Third the first Chapter being held on the last day of the year 1578. The design thereof was chiefly to unite and tye his Nobility and Prelates more firmly to their natural obedience as also to stir up and encourage them to persevere in the Romish Religion to illustrate and adorn the state of the Nobility and to restore its ancient splendor and dignity It had its denomination from the Holy Ghost to whose power and assistance the Founder usually ascribed all his Actions and Councils advanced with most glorious and fortunate successes in remembrance that he was born on Whitsonday in the year of our Lord 1550. elected to the Crown of Poland on Whitsonday 1573. and lastly came to the Crown of France on Whitsonday 1574. The number of Knights whereof this Order was to consist is by the Statutes ordained to be one hundred besides the Soveraign or Great Master which Office and Dignity is inseparable from the Crown of France A long Mantle of Black Velvet turned up on the left side and opened on the right was also appointed for the Habit of this Order being at first embroidered round with Gold and Silver consisting of Flowers de Lis and Knots of Gold between three sundry Cyphers of Silver and above the Flowers de Lis and Knots were thickly seeded or powdered Flames of Fire This great Mantle
should be free from all reproach and of untainted reputation and according to those of King Henry the Fifth are to be the best and most sufficient Knights and freest from reproach that the Nominators know To the same purpose speaks the Exemplar entred in the Black Book Such as are fittest and whom they who Nominate believe to be free from ignominy and dishonour And to this Act of Nomination belongs part of the second Article in Henry the Eighth's Statutes That no Knight-Companion should name any Person whom he thinks or esteems in his Conscience to have upon him any spot of Reproach But on the contrary in another place of the same Statutes it is provided that they be nominated and proposed out of the number of the most worthy and select Knights How tender the Knights-Companions were in ancient time of infringing the Statutes in this particular is manifest from a notable passage which fell out an 39. H. 6. at a Scruteny taken the 8. of February in the Bishop of London's Palace where Iohn de Foix Earl of Kendall a Gascoigner by birth which makes the Example more eminent where a Stranger became so tender of the honor of the Order not being acquainted with the quality and merit of Knights and honorable Persons among us so well and sufficiently as to name such whom he was confident were irréprehensible and without blemish forbore to nominate any person at all And certainly seeing the Statutes put very considerable qualifications upon the Deputies and Proxies made choice of for the Installation of Strangers as shall be discourst of in its proper place much more caution and regard ought to be used and had both in the Nomination and Election of Knights into this so Illustrious Society 3. Touching the third point the Statutes make indifferently capable of being Nominated or Elected either Knights-Subjects or Strangers Free Princes or their Subjects and it was so even at the Institution upon the first choice where among the 25 Elected Knights 23 of them were Subjectâ— among whom we reckon Piers Capdall de la Buche but Sir Sâ—ncâ—io dabricâ—â—â—â—rt and Sir Henry Eme were both born Strangers and Subjects to other Princes And thus was it practised not only in the remaining part of the Founder's Reign and during the Reigns of three of his Successors as appears in the Catalogue of Knights elected in their times but also ever since as is more particularly and fully evident from the Scrutenies taken and entred throughout the Annals of the Order Of those who were admitted into this Noble Order by Election we shall in the last Chapter give an account in a compleat Catalogue of them Here we think it sufficient to insert the Names of such as having not been Elected are not to be forgotten out of this very respect that by their standing Candidates in Elections into this Order have the fame of being mentioned in the principal Register of Honor now in the Christian world Giving a List not of all for that were too numerous but only those of eminent quality in Foreign parts with the time when the Scrutenies were taken that transmitted them to our hands A Catalogue of some Strangers who have been Nominated yet not Elected Franciscus Sforza dux Mediolâ—ni 28. H. 6. Franciscus secundus dux Britanniae 13.14.15.22 E. 4. Henricus quartus Rex Legionis Castillae 14. E. 4. Matthias Corvinus Rex Hungariae 19.22 E. 4. Fredericus sâ—cundus Dux Austriae 22. E. 4. 1. R. 3. Philippus quartus Dux Burgundiae 14. H. 7. Franciscus Maria Dux Vrbini 1.2 H. 8. Vladislaus Secundus Rex Hungariae 1.2.6.8 H. 8. Christianus secundus Rex Dâ—niae 6.8 H. 8. Dux Barrye 8. H. 8. Comes Galaciae 8. H. 8. Alphonsus Dux Ferrariae 13.15 H. 8. Lodovicus secundus Rex Hungariae 13.14.15 H. 8. Maximilianus Sforza Dux Mediolani 14.15.16 H. 8. Marchio Piscarae 17. H. 8. Iohannes tertius Rex Portugalliae 17.18.26.28 H. 8. Marchio Mantuae 18. H. 8. Carolus Burbonus Dux Vandosme 24. H. 8. Guilielmus Dux Clivensis 32. H. 8. Dux Bavariae 32. H. 8. Dux Alvae 1. 2. Ph. Mar. Dux Medinae Coeli 1. 2. Ph. Mar. Comes Fereae 1. 2. Ph. Mar. Franciscus secundus Rex Galliae 1. Elizab. Franciscus tertius Comes Palatinus 10.11.12.13.16.17 Eliz. Augustus Dux Saxoniae 11. Eliz. Alphonsus secundus Dux Ferrariae 13. Eliz. Dux Andegavensis 13.22.23.24 Eliz. Rambrith de Walsey 25. H. 6. Iohannes de Voynada 25. H. 6. Dominus Grabazenby 24. H. 8. Dominus Humers 24. H. 8. Dominus Iohannes Mounte 24. H. 8. Dominus Harmibolt 24. H. 8. Dominus Boysy 24. H. 8. 4. In the fourth place they are not in a capacity of Nomination who are known to have taken contrary part against the Soveraign or as the Exemplar entred in the Black Book more largely than any of the Statutes express such as are not his Adversaries or Abettors or willing defenders of his Adversaries But concerning such we no where observe they had room in the Scrutenies all Knights-Companions having been more wary and discreet than by Nominating a known or publick Enemy to put either disrespect upon the Soveraign or offer violation to the Statutes 5. In the fifth and last place concerning the Degree Rank and Dignity of the Nine Knights propounded to Election the Statutes of Institution appoint That they be first three Earls or persons of greater dignity secondly three Barons and thirdly three Knights or as it is in Henry the Fifth's Statutes trois Contes ou de greigneur estat trois Banerets trois Batchelers These Degrees are to be ranked in three Classes and they distinguished by three Divisions all comprehending the three Degrees aforesaid As touching the first of these Divisions whereas all other Bodies and Exemplars of the Statutes make positive mention of Earls only taking in nevertheless the higher Degrees though not named the Statutes of Henry the Eighth express themselves in this point somewhat more amply than the rest by mentioning in the first Class Dukes Marquesses and Earls or persons superiour to these in Degree wherein the highest Dignities are included In this place we may properly observe the different Title viz. Baneret that Henry the Fifth's Statutes but now mentioned hath given us instead of Baron and not only in this Article but in all other where there is occasion to speak of Barons nevertheless the Record intends by it to signifie no other than the very same Degree namely a Baron For albeit a Baneret who had his name a Vexillo from the Banner was usually taken to signifie a Degree of Honor next beneath that of Baron both heretofore and in later times as may be collected from that famous establishment made on the behalf of the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons yet formerly among our Records it is found to be a Synonimy to Baron and so clearly made out by our most
obtaining a Ring one of the Symbols of the Equestrian Order with them Whence have been wisely found out those three Degrees of Gentility Beginning Encrease and full Ripeness for Gentility hath its beginning in the Grandfather its encrease in the Father and full ripeness in the Son and therefore in the constitution of Gentility the Father and Grandfather bringing renown and reputation to the Son by same and estimation of life and actions are at least required to make it perfect and compleat because it cannot naturally and congruously grow to ripeness in the Son unless it hath formerly encreased in the Father and long before begun from the Grandfather As to this particular there is a memorable instance in that of the Lord William Pagit devested of the Garter about five years after his â—lection upon pretence of his not being a Gentleman of Blood by either Father or Mother But it is also observable in the Blue Book that this severity towards him proceeded not altogether from defect in point of Extraction but most from the prevalence and practice of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland by whose means he was most unjustly and undeservedly put out of the Order haply grudging the great honor he had formerly done the said Lord when being Earl Marshal of England his good advice and character of him procured from King Edward the Sixth a new Grant of those Arms under the Great Seal of England which he had sometime before received from Garter Principal King of Arms. But admit the defect of Blood and Arms for three descents were the true cause of his deprivation of the Garter yet what follows is mis-related by Sir Io. Howard as also by Iohn Stow to wit that the George and Garter were forthwith bestowed upon the Earl of Warwick eldest Son to the Duke of Northumberland who out of curtesie was so called as a commonly Dukes Sons in the life time of their Fathers are entituled of some Earldom whereof their Fathers have the honor but more truly had he said they were bestowed upon Sir Andrew Dudley Brother to the said Duke For although we find the said Earl of Warwick put in the Scruteny entred among the Annals of the Order of Edward the Sixth's Reign and taken at a Chapter held on St. George's day an 6. Ed. 6. the Lord Pagit being degraded in a Chapter held on the Eve of the said Feast yet was not the Earl Elected at that or any other time nor was any other person then chosen who had the honor to be inserted into that Scruteny except the Earl of Westmerland and the said Sir Andrew Dudley But to return the Ensigns of this most Noble Order were not with more disgrace taken from than with honor restored to the Lord Pagit assoon as Queen Mary came to the Crown and that by as great and absolute authority as did deprive him of them namely by Decree in Chapter holden at St. Iames's the 27. of September an 1. Mar. so that this Honor might be said to have been rather wrongfully suspended than justly lost For in confirmation of this Lords restauration he had the Garter forthwith buckled on his Leg again by two of the Knights-Companions present and the Collar of the Order put about his shoulders with the George depending thereat And a command then also given Garter to take care that his Atchievements should be again publickly set up over his Stall at Windesor being the same he before possest viz. the 9. on the Soveraign's side In this case of the Lord Pagit we observe that the very Records of the Order brand his degradation of injustice upon the foresaid pretence as if it were inferable thence that when Honor is conferr'd upon the score of Virtue and great Endownments the consideration of these supplies the defect and obscurity of Extraction Whence it came that the then Soveraign whose prerogative it was to declare and interpret the Statutes being at that time present in Chapter thought fit to qualifie the Law and gave him this honorable commendation That he had highly deserved of the Nation by his Prudence and Counsel And though the Exemplar entred in the Black Book hath the qualification of Virtue and good Report inserted only into it yet we observe the same in effect and practice considered in foregoing times with great circumspection by the Soveraigns and their Lieutenants before Election and that the Magnanimity Fortitude Prudence Generosity Fame Reputation and other Virtues and Merits whether innate or acquired of the Person proposed to Election have been by their prudent Inquisition looked into deliberately weighed and brought to the Rule for tryal as to their fitness and capacity of the honor of this most Noble Order These and such like Qualities we see King Henry the Fifth took into his consideration at an Election in the 9. year of his Reign and for which he preferr'd before others then Nominated and presented unto him Iohn Earl Marshal William Earl of Suffolk Iohn Lord Clifford Sir Lewis Robertsack and Sir Heer tanke Clux In like manner did Humfrey Duke of Gloucester Deputy to King Henry the Sixth in the second year of his Reign weigh and examine diligently with himself the Fortitude and Prudence with other the illustrious Actions and deserts of Iohn Lord Talbot before his Election and thereunto gave an approbation worthy his own judgment and not less than that noble Candidates virtue merited It is further remembred in the Annals of this Order that for these and such like noble and heroick Qualifications persons in after times were likewise preferr'd in Election before others And particularly we observe it taken notice of an 28. H. 8. upon the Election of Sir Nicholas Carew That he was a very fit person upon the eminency of his Extraction and Fame and the many worthy and noble Actions he had performed so as that all present did without any delay unanimously approve of his Election Of like nature those Commendations given to Henry Earl of Cumberland upon his Election wherein also particular services are taken notice of viz. the many famous and loyal Atchievements performed by him both at several other times and then more especially when the tumult of Rebellion began to break forth in those Borders where he had his habitation The second Point is That unless he be a Knight he is not qualified for Election or as one of the Exemplers express it unless girded with the unstained Girdle of Knighthood and the same in terms do the other Bodies of Statutes declare Whence we may again mind the Reader of the singular regard and jealousie the Law of the Order hath of this particular Qualification above the rest And lest chance or inadvertency might let slip a Person not Knighted into the Scruteny besides the two former cautions given touching Nomination yet is it also here in another Article a third
the Soveraign under his Seal the cause of his impediment that so he might perceive by his excuse whether it were worthy acceptance or he in fault or not CHAP. X. THE Investiture OF A KNIGHT SUBJECT WITH THE Garter and George SECT I. The Notice given to a Knight Subject of his Election IN reference to this Ceremony we are first to premise something concerning the notice to be given the Knight-Elect of his Election into this most Noble Order whether he be at such time personally at Windesor or other place where the Chapter is then held or employed in some more remote parts within the Kingdom or elsewhere beyond the Seas upon the Soveraign's Affairs To the newly Elect-Knight who upon this acquisition of Honor happens to be at Windesor or wheresoever else the Chapter is held Garter immediately after the Soveraign hath signified his pleasure in Election of the person is sent out of the Chapter to give him notice of it for we find this employment recorded as part of the duty of his Office and asserted to be so by the general practice and among other Precedents in the Annals upon the Election of the Lord Howard and Sir Henry Marney an 2. H. 8. both then present at Court it appears that Garter was forthwith sent out of the Chapter to give them notice thereof and to conduct them to the Soveraign 's presence where both were invested with the two principal Ensigns of the Order the Garter and George And upon the like service was he employed at the Election of Sir Nicholas Carew an 28. H. 8. and of the Lord Burghley and Lord Grey of Wilton an 14. Eliz. And as Garter hath been accustomed to carry the verbal notice of Knights Election so also the Soveraign's Letter signifying Election to a Knight then likewise at Court where the Soveraign is pleased for the greater honor of the Person to wave a verbal notice and send Letters of signification in its stead And in such case these Letters are drawn up by the Chancellor of the Order and pass under both the Soveraign's Sign manual and Signet of the Order Such a particular Honor was afforded the present soveraign to whom immediately after his Election in a Chapter held at Windesor the Soveraign directed the following Letter presented to him by Sir Iohn Burrough Garter who found him walking in St. George's Hall Charles R. OVR most dear and entirely beloved Son having to our great comfort seen and considered the ripeness of your youth and conceived joyful and pregnant hopes of your manly virtues in which we are assured you will encrease to your own honor both in prowess wisdom justice and all princely endowments and that the emulation of Chevalry will in your tender years provoke and encourage you to pursue the glory of heroick action besitting your royal birth and our care and education We with the Companions of our most Noble Order of the Garter assembled in Chapter holden this present day at our Castle of Windesor have elected and chosen you one of the Companions of our Order In signification whereof we have sent unto you by our trusty and well beloved servants Sir John Burrough Knight Garter and our Principal King of Arms these our Royal Letters requiring you to make your speedy repair unto us to receive the Ensigns of our most honorable Order and to be ready for your Installation upon the 21. day of this present Month. Given under the Signet of our Order at our Castle of Windesor the 20. of May in the 14. year of our Reign 1638. To our dearly beloved son Prince Charles This is the only Instance we have met with where a Letter was sent to an Elect-Knight and he at the same time present at Court But when an Election passeth and the Knight Elected is remote from Court then the general form of the Letter is both to signifie his Election and summon him to his Investiture with the Garter and George of which see a Precedent in the Appendix But where the Soveraign is pleased to descend to mention particular services or other inducements for a Knights Election there the Preamble of the Letter is worded accordingly and that this hath sometimes though but rarely been used appears thus in that Letter which certified Election to Sir Iohn Fastolfe We considering the virtuous fidelity you have shown and the honorable exploits you have done in the service of our thrice renowned Father and that in our service also you as many others have given proofs of that honor and those deserts wherewith God hath endowed you always suffering as is the part of a good and faithful subject the pains and toyls of War for the vindicating and maintaining of our just right claims and title have chosen you one of our Companions of our Order c. Where the Letter barely signifies Election that is when the Soveraign doth not design a present Investiture with the Garter and George but defers that Ceremony till the Elect-Knight comes to Windesor to take possession of his Stall in such case notice of the day of his Installation is also inserted towards the end of the Letter and upon his appearance at Windesor so soon as he is called into the Chapter-house the Garter is first buckled about his left leg next follows his Investiture with the rest of the Ornaments of the Order and lastly his Installation And thus in the case of Henry Earl of Cumberland an 29. H. 8. was the Investiture with the Garter deferr'd till his appearance at Windesor where that Ceremony as also his Investiture with the Habit and Collar and lastly his Installation were dispatcht at one time SECT II. His Reception into the Chapter-house IF the Elect Knight be neer where the Chapter is held and that Garter hath been sent forth to give him notice of the Honor and to usher him into the Chapter-house to receive the Garter and George before the Chapter break up intimation being given of his approach the Soveraign sends forth two of the Knights-Companions to meet him who after a mutual salute conduct him between them to the presence of the Soveraign Garter going before them For instances herein first of Strangers we shall remember Vlrick Duke of Holstien an 3. Iac. R. who being sent for by Garter was introduced into the Chapter between Prince Henry and the Earl of Dorset and by them presented to the Soveraign So Christian Duke of Brunswick an 22. Iac. R. proceeded with much state and honor in the midst between William Earl of Penbroke and Philip Earl of Montgomery to receive the Garter and George The 6. of November an 14. Car. 2. Christian Prince of Denmark being Elected in a Chapter held in the Withdrawing Room at Whitehall and then absent Garter was sent next day by the Soveraign to give him notice thereof with desire to be present the following day at the foresaid place to receive his
hither being pronounced by the Chancellor if the Soveraign or his Lieutenant be present otherwise by the Register To the land and honor of Almighty God his imaculate Mother and Saint George the holy Martyr tye or gird your Leg with this Noble Garter wearing it to the encrease of your honor and in token and remembrance of this most Noble Order remembring that thereby you being admonished and encouraged in all just Battels and Wars which only you shall take in hand both strongly to fight valiantly to stand and honorable to have the Victory But against the Investiture of the present Soveraign the words of Signification being better weighed and considered were put into this form To the honor of God omnipotent and in memorial of the blessed Martyr St. George tye about thy Leg for thy renown this Noble Garter wear it as the Symbol of the most illustrious Order never to be forgotten or laid aside That thereby thou mayst be admonished to be courageous and having undertaken a just War into which only thou shalt be engaged thou mayest stand firm valiantly fight and successfully conquer The Princely Garter being in manner aforesaid buckled on and the words of Signification pronounced the Elect-Knight is brought before the Soveraign who puts about his Neck the George pendant at a Skie coloured Ribband at which part of the Ceremony the Admonition used at the adorning of an Installed Knight with the Collar of the Order changing only the word Collar for Ribband is pronounced but were thus framed for the before mentioned occasion of the present Soveraign's Investiture with the George and Ribband Weaâ— this Ribband about thy Neck adorned with the Image of the blessed Martyr and Soldier of Christ St. George by whose imitation provoked thou mayest so overpass both prosperous and adverse encounters that having stoutly vanquished thy Enemies both of Body and Soul thou mayest not only receive the praise of this transient Combat but be crowned with the Palm of eternal Victory In further progress upon this Ceremony we shall note that so great a respect hath been given to Foreign Princes who receive the honor here that the Soveraign most usually performs the Investiture himself For so when Philip King of Castile received a personal Investiture in the Chapter-house at Windesor it was from the Soveraign's own hands for he took the Garter from the King of Arms put it about the Kings Leg and Prince Henry fastned the Buckle Queen Elizabeth her self buckled the Garter about the Leg of Iohn Casimire Count Palatine of the Rhyne and hung about his Neck a Gold Chain with the George at it The like honor did King Iames to the Duke of Holâ—tein in the third year of his Reign And now and then though seldom out of special grace and favour hath the Soveraign done this honor to a Knight-Subject though when Queen Eliz. was pleased to adorn the Lord Burghley with the Garter the Annals note it to be done as it were by the by and Henry Earl of Susseâ— an 31. Eliz. received these Ensigns of the Order from the Soveraign her self The like favour did she to the Earl of Shrewsbury in the 34. year of her Reign So also did King Iames invest Henry Earl of Northampton with the principal Ensigns of the Order as a person worthy so great an honor and lastly his late Mâ—jesty of blessed memory placed both the Garter and George upon the present Soveraign the 21. of May 1638. with his own hands Sometimes the Soveraign hath performed but part of the Investiture and commanded the senior Knight to do the rest Thus when the Earl of Devonshire an 13. H. 8. received these Ensigns it was on this manner first the Soveraign reached out the Garter to the Marquess Dorset and commanded him buckle it about his left Leg which as he was doing the Duke of Norsolk gave him his assistance then the Soveraign put on the Gold Chain with the Image of Saint George at it At the Investiture of Christian Duke of Brunswick an 22. Iac. R. the Soveraign put about his neck the Blue Ribband whereat hung the Effigies of St. George and the Earls who introduced him to the Soveraign's presâ—â—â—e buckled on the Garter The like did the late Soveraign to William Earl of Northampton an 4. Car. 1. at which time the Earl of Penbroke fastned the Garter about his left Leg and an 9. Car. 1. the Earls of Danby and Moreton were both of them invested with the George by the Soveraign himself while the Earl of Penbroke invested the former and the Earl of Carlisle the latter with the Garter So also since the Soveraign's happy return in the cases of the Prince of Denmark the Dukes of Monmouth Cambridge and Albemarle was the Investiture begun with the George And thus we see that an 22. Iac. Reg. the order of Investiture began to be inverted the George and Ribband being then first put on and the Garter last Nevertheless the Garter as it was the first so the principal and most worthy Ensign of the Order and therefore in the practice of all former times thought fit to have the precedence of Investiture given it and was so observed at the Investiture of the present Soveraign Lastly the Investiture with these two Ensigns hath for the most part been heretofore performed by the two senior Knights and at the command of the Soveraign but always in his presence the Chapter sitting but if absent then by his Lieutenant and so it hapned an 31. Eliz. for the Lord Buckhurst being Elected at Whitehall upon the 24. of April that year and coming to Court having no knowledge of his Election after the Soveraign was risen yet leaving the Chapter sitting her Lieutenant invested him both with the Garter and George The Solemnity of Investiture being compleated the Elect-Knight recollecting himself with all befitting humility renders thanks to the Soveraign for these Tokens and Ensigns of Honor and after with due respects salutes the Knights-Companions who thereupon re-salute the Elect-Knight and joyfully receive him into their Fellowship Society In case two or more Elect-Knights receive the honor of this Investiture at one time then so soon as the senior hath been Invested and his humble thanks presented he passeth down towards the Chapter-house door and there stands while the next junior is in like manner invested which Ceremony being ended he also goes down and stands with the other Elect-Knight and so do the rest in order if there be more present that attend their Investiture until the Chapter break up SECT IV. Of sending the Garter and George to an Elect-Knight Subject WHere a Knight-Subject at the time of his Election is remote from Court or beyond Sea and the Soveraign determines to send him the two principal Ensigns of the Order the charge of this employment doth of right belong to Garter and herein there are divers Precedents Sir
Lieutenant he dispatcheth a Letter to the Prelate of the Order signifying the Soveraign's commands for his attendance at the day appointed In both which cases as also if the Installation be dispatcht by Commissioners he writes his Letters to the three inferior Officers of the Order purporting the same command The conveyance of all which appertain to Garter and are left to his care and trust by the Constitutions relating to the Officers of the Order whose allowance and reward upon these and such like service shall be noted in its due place SECT V. Warrant for the Livery of the Order THE third thing to be obtained by the Chancellor of the Order is the Soveraign's Warrant directed to the Master of the Great Wardrobe for the time being to deliver so much Velvet for the Livery of the Order as will make the Knight Elect a Surcoat and Hood and as much Sarcenet or Taffety as will line them Of such a Warrant there is an ancient Precedent in Latin entred in the Black Book of the Order and transferred to the Appendix together with which we have also inserted another Precedent in English for delivery forth of materials for the Livery to Sir Iohn Wallop Knight Elected an 35. H. 8. And in the same form run all the Warrants we have seen in the Reigns of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth There is also to be provided a Book wherein King Henry the Eighths English Statutes are written in a fair and legible hand upon Vellom having in the beginning the Soveraign's Arms impaled with those of the Order and the proper Arms of the Knight for whom the Book is provided both fairly limned and surrounded with the Garter This Book of Statutes is prepared by the Register of the Order to whom for the writing there is an allowance made which generally in the Reigns of King Edward the Sixth Queen Mary and Queen Eliz. was 2 l. but at King Iames his coming to the Crown it was enlarged to 3 l. 6 â— 8 d. SECT VI. The Removal of Atchievements and Plates BEsides these particulars before mentioned there is a Warrant or Scheme prepared for the Soveraign to sign wherein the order of the Stalls in the Choire at Windesor is set down according as he appoints them to stand at the ensuing Installation by virtue of which Garter is impowered to removed the Plates and Atchievements of the present Knights-Companions that so way be made for the Elect Knight or Knights and to fix the new Plates and Atchievements within and over the Stalls in such order as they are ranked in the said Scheme In reference to this alteration Garter so soon as the Soveraign's pleasure is known touching an Installation brings to the Chancellor of the Order the Names of the present Knights-Companions ranked in the order they then sit in their Stalls in which the Stalls void are to be so noted to the end he may present them to the Soveraign who upon observing the series wherein they be already placed may the better consider and determine how to alter and seat both them and the new Elect Knights And we find in the vacancy of Garter's Office this Employment was put upon Clarenceux for an 27. Eliz. the Soveraign's Warrant for removal and placing of Plates and Atchievements was delivered to him five days before the Installation of the Earl of Rutland the Lords Cobham and Scroop who thereupon fixed them according to the direction therein given This Section may be further enlarged by adding thereunto an account upon what ground this Alteration and Removal came to be made and how it continueth now in practice seeing it was otherwise at the Institution of the Order wherein we must first have recourse to the Statutes of the Order and ancient practice grounded thereupon Among the Statutes those of Institution did Ordain That if any Earl Baron or Knight Batchellor should depart this life he that succeeded in his place of what condition or state soever should possess the same Stall which his Predecessor held before without changing So that it might happen for an Earl or Duke to succeed a Knight and a Knight an Earl or Duke And it was thus at first appointed That it might be known who were the first Founders of this most Noble Order Now how punctually this Article of the Statutes hath been observed and what care was generally taken for a long time after the Institution of the Order that none chosen should interrupt or change this course we shall shew in the following Instances conceiving it very material to make use of those Tables yet preserved in the Chapter-house at Windesor but heretofore in the Choire of St. George's Chappel there wherein are collected the Names of all those Knights Companions who succeeded one another in each Stall until the beginning of King Henry the Seventh's Reign a transcript whereof we have inserted in the Appendix next after the Constitutions belonging to the Officers of the Order From which Series of succession and other Authorities we shall note how exactly the Law in this point hath been kept and observed even unto King Henry the Eighth's Reign when it received some alteration in this particular with reference no less to Election than Installation for we find in the Annals several Knights designed to the Stall of their immediate Predecessor by the honor only of Election albeit prevented of Installation by death or other accidental occasion and the Statutes do not bind him only who shall fortune to attain the honor of Installation but him who shall come after or succeed the desunct Knight which may as well be understood of and applied to an Elect as Installed Knight though the before mentioned Tables take notice only of the latter of these First therefore we shall instance in foreign Kings among whom we see the King of Denmark Ericus to have received Installation in King Henry the Fifth's Reign not according to his own state and degree as a King but into the Stall of that Knight-Companion whom he succeeded namely the Duke of Bavaria it being the eighth on the Soveraign's side whose first Predecessor and Founder was Sir Iohn Grey of Codnore Castle in the Country of Darby Besides Iohn the First King of Portugal a Knight-Companion in King Henry the Fifth's time also was installed in the second Stall on the Soveraign's side which belonged to Henry Duke of Lancaster his first Predeccessor and to this King did succeed in the same Stall his Son Edward King of Portugal elected an 13. H. 6. to whose Successor Humfry Duke of Gloucester an 34. of the same King succeeded Alphonsus the Fifth King of Portugal and to him as saith the French Table Iohn the Second King of Portugal But I rather doubt this Table as to the last King is mistaken for the second Stall not on the Soveraign's but Princes side because there we find as may be
attending upon the Soveraign in Normandy whence it may be collected that Sir William Philipp was installed if not in the 5. yet in the 6. year of King Henry the Fifth at the farthest And that this Procuration made by Sir William Philipp became a President in that Age appears from the Deputation given by Sir Iohn Fastolf to Sir Henry Inghouse and Sir William Breton under his Hand and Seal of Arms which is little different from Sir Philipp's Procuration in French unless in the alteration of the Persons Names SECT III. Qualifications of a Proxie AS touching the Qualifications of a Proctor nominated by a Knight-Subject they are the same with those wherewith the Proxie of a Stranger is to be endowed and of which we shall discourse anon that permissive clause in the Statutes affording the same favour to a Knight-Subject as to Strangers and is the ground whence he derives like Priviledges We shall only add here that not any Deputy or Proxy for a Knight-Subject hath at any time been admitted to be Installed for an Elect-Knight under the degree of a Knight it being thought fit as in other essentials and circumstantials so especially and chiefly in this that a Knight-Subject should exactly observe the Rule which the Statutes have imposed on a Stranger And in this respect the case is very observable where Sir William Lysle though one of the Alms-Knights of Windesor yet in Degree a Knight was not refused but allowed Proctor to Sir Iohn Grey an 7. H. 5. It appears by the Characters given to the Proctors nominated by Sir William Philipp and Sir Iohn Fastolf that the Qualifications required in a Proctor viz. to be 1. a sufficient Proctor of 2. unblamable Reputation and at least 3. a Knight were to be found in them for when the Soveraign was induced by reason that the Employments of Sir Philipp's in his service detained him beyond Sea to give him leave to nominate his Proctor it may be observed that this License was not granted but under this Proviso That his Procuration should be executed by a Knight at least in degree ennobled with Arms and of an honest and untainted reputation And when the said Sir William did make choice of and depute his Proctors they were Knights and such and so nobly qualified That there was nothing wanting in them which belonged to true valiant Knights and the like Character is bestowed upon those two Knights nominated by Sir Iohn Fastolf to take the possession of his Stall to wit That in them there could be found no defect of ought that should belong to magnanimous and couragious Knights SECT IV. Preparations for Installation THE day for Installation of a Knight-Subject by Proxie being by the Soveraign appointed there are to be provided for him and got ready against the Solemnity these things following First a Commission for Installation is to be drawn up and by the Chancellor of the Order presented to the Soveraign for his Sign manual to which is after affixt the great Seal of the Order The substance of the ancient Commissions may be found in that directed to Sir Iohn Robessart an 5. H. 6. to accept of Sir Henry Inghouse one of the two Knights which Sir Iohn Fastolf had constituted for his Proxie himself being at that season employed in the Wars of France the powers granted by the Soveraign to the said Sir Iohn Robessart were these 1. To conduct Sir Henry Inghouse to Windesor Castle 2. To put him in possession as from the Soveraign of the Stall assigned to his Principal 3. To invest him with all the Benefits Honors Prerogatives Franchises and Liberties thereunto appertaining 4. To receive his Mantle Helm and Sword and set them up where the Earl of Westmerland's stood in whose room he was Elected 5. To ad thereunto all usual Solemnities 6. Lastly this Commission contained an Injuction to all the Knights-Companions to suffer and permit the said Sir Iohn Fastolf fully and peaceably to possess the said Stall Places Honors Franchises Prerogatives and Liberties in the same manner as the Statutes import without any contradiction or scruple There is another Precedent almost as ancient in a Commission granted to the Earl of Essex the Lords Berners and Wenlock for Installation of the Earl of Worcester and other Elect-Knights by their Proxies an 2. E. 4. in regard they for the present were and for some time would be so far employed about the Soveraign's Person and in his Service that they could not receive a Personal Installation but the Commissioners Authority in this is comprised in fewer particulars than the former namely to admit receive and establish with all convenient speed the Elect-Knights by their Proctors into their Stalls at Windesor in the same manner as if one and all of them had been present in their own persons any Ordinance or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding Of later times the Commissions granted upon such occasions differ from those made for the Personal Installations of the Knights themselves only be premising the cause of their Principals absence and the Employment or Negotiation he is then ingaged in and then authorising the Commissioners to admit the Proxie into his Stall a Precedent of which kind is added in the Appendix to the former In the next place where the Installation by Proxie is performed by two or more Commissioners the Soveraign directs Letters to each of them giving notice of the intended Solemnity and requiring them to make their repair to his Castle of Windesor by a certain day therein prefixt to the end the Proxie may proceed to take possession of his Principal 's Stall Of such a Letter see also a form in the Appendix And as there is upon admission of an Elect-Knight installed by Proxie the same ground for removal of Stalls in the Choire as for one who receives a Personal Installation and in like cases So is it usual to issue out the like Warrants from the Soveraign to Garter some time before the Solemnity to remove the Atchievements and Plates and place them in the order as his Warrant directs Anciently the Stall for the Elect-Knight was assigned in the body of the Commission which issueth out for his Installation as it appears in the before mentioned Commission for admitting Sir Henry Inghouse Proctor to Sir Iohn Fastols to whom the Stall which the Earl of Westmerland held while living was thereby appointed for him The rest of the particulars to be prepared against the day of Installation are provided at the Knight's own charge and they are first his Mantle of the Order which according to the injunction of the Statutes the Proctor is obliged to bring along with him to Windesor at the day appointed for Installation Garter is also to be consulted with as to the preparing the Elect-Knight's Atchievements namely his Helm Crest Mantlings Sword and Banner of Arms and to
should receive from the Proctor his Principal 's Helm and Sword for we find no mention of the Banner till afterwards and place them over his Stall CHAP. XIV THE Signification of Election TO Strangers SECT I. Within what time and in what manner Certificate is made of their Election FOrasmuch as Strangers Elect are for the most part Emperors Kings or Soveraign Princes the necessity of whose affairs obliged them to abide in their own Dominions and seldom or rarely permitted them to receive a Personal Installation in the Colledge of the Order therefore several Priviledges 〈◊〉 thought fit by the wisdom of the Founder of this most Noble Order to 〈…〉 and established in their favour as principally the giving them honâ—◠〈…〉 of their Elections allowing convenient time of consideration for Acceptance affording to them Investiture in their own Countries and permitting their Installations to be performed at Windesor by Substitutes or Deputies It was therefore by the Statutes of the Institution Ordained That when any such were chosen into the Order they should be certified of their Elections by the Soveraign and besides that at his charge the Garter should be sent over to them with the Mantle and Statutes of the Order sealed with the Common Seal And this to be done with all convenient speed so that they might have notice thereof at least within four moneths from the time of Election to the end they might advise and determine with themselves from consideration had of the tenor of the Statutes whether they would receive or refuse the honor of this most Noble Order In pursuance of these directions it became customary for the Soveraign together with his Letters to the Elect Stranger giving signification of his Election to send and that by way of solemn Embassy the Habit and Ensigns of the Order as also a Book of the Statutes and in case the Election were accepted then the Elect Stranger might receive Investiture before the return of the persons by whom the Habit was sent And this is manifest from the direction given upon the Election of Edward King of Portugal Son of King Iohn and of the Lady Philippa Daughter to Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster at the Feast of St. George celebrated at Windesor the 8. day of May an 13. H. 6. to wit That because the Election then but newly transacted was not known to the said King it seemed good to the Chapter that he should be speedily certified thereof And that Garter King of Arms should be sent over to him to signifie his Election and upon his acceptation thereof to present him with the Garter and Habit of the Order as also with the Book of Statutes which he was likewise appointed to carry over with him And it may be presumed that a Certificate of Election was sent to the Duke of Vrbin within the time limited by the Statutes since it appears that being Elected the 18. of August an 14. E. 4. all things were fitted for his Installation against the following St. George's Feast at which he was Installed And upon the Election of the King of Portugal an 22. E. 4. the Register observes that notice was sâ—nt to him of his Election within the appointed time The purport of which Letters certifying a Stranger 's Election may be understood and known from that which King Edward the Sixth sent to the French King Henry the Second whereby briefly for his eminent Nobleness and Virtues and to augment and improve the brotherly amity and fair correspondency between them He had in Chapter with the consent of the Knights-Companions Chosen and Elected him into the number of the Society of the Garter and therefore thought good to acquaint him therewith desiring also the said King to give him and the Society the honor of consenting to and accepting of the Election forasmuch as he should thereby perform that which would be very acceptable and grateful to him as he should more fully understand by the Ambassadors who were preparing for their journey to Invest him with the Habit. The right of bearing these Letters signifying Election and returning the Stranger 's answer belongs to Garter being confirmed to him by the Constitutions appertaining to his Office We see before that the Certificate of Election was ordained to be dispatcht within four months from the time of Election Nevertheless to afford the Soveraign more liberty where the nature of the Affair required it King Henry the Eighth added this necessary Clause to the foresaid Article That where the Soveraign had any great or high impediment He should defer certifying the Election till a more opportune or convenient time But in this particular we observe that like liberty had been taken in times preceeding though no provision by Statute was made for it before as namely by King Henry the Sixth in the case of Frederick the Third Eâ—peror of Germany who having been Elected an 35. of the said King had not Letters sent him to signifie his Election until the following year It likewise appears that Letters to the same effect were then also dispatcht to the King of Aragon the Duke of Brunswick and King of Poland who had been Elected eight years before And yet we find it recorded that the Habit and Ensigns of the Order were sent by special Ambassadors to all three an 34. H. 6. viz. two years before but perhaps this ought to be understood of their being but then designed and ordered to be sent and upon second thoughts might be stopped or if they were sent might miscarry by some accident for if they had arrived at these Princes Courts it would have been needless to send other Letters to give notice of their Election two years after But to clear this doubt we after find a second mention of sending the Habit and Ensigns of the Order to the King of Poland an 37. H. 6. by which it is sufficiently apparent that the first Embassy took no effect In the foresaid Memorial entred in the Black-Book of the Order and placed under the 34. year of King Henry the Sixth touching the King of Aragon King of Poland and Duke of Brunswick we suppose the King of Aragon is mistaken for the King of Portugal Elected an 25. H. 6. Since the Registrum Chartaceum calls him King of Portugal and both authorities agree in sending over Mr. Fetiplaâ—e with the Garter and Mantle though the Black-Book doth not distinguish as doth the other to which he was sent It may much rather be presumed that Mr. Fetiplace was sent on this Legation to the King of Portugal not Aragon since Beatrix the natural Daughter of Iohn King of Portuâ—â—l was his Mother and he by this relation and being in those times a Courtier in King Henry the Sixth's Court might the sooner obtain the honor of this Employment And there is in the Registrum Chartaceum another particular co-relative
United Provinces and by consequence his Realms and so thereby the whole Christian World his Majesty being altogether of opinion that the quiet of Christendom consisteth much in the happy state of these Provinces and that the condition of these Provinces what ever it be and that of those Realms have a mutual dependence one upon the other This is the motive and sole cause that hath induced his Majesty to confer upon you an Honor the greatest his Kingdoms can bestow of which behold these the Marks and Ensigns and with these words produced the Garter which your Excellency is to receive from us according to the commands of our King and those altogether free from any Ceremonies except such wherein you shall voluntarily and willingly consent to be engaged This Speech being ended Prince Maurice in brief gave thanks for the Honor offer'd him and then forthwith the Ambassador and Garter having made due obeysance tyed on the Garter about his Leg next Garter took out of the forementioned Purse the Golden Medal whereon was the Effigies of St. George with the subdued Dragon under his feet this Medal hanging upon a Blue Ribband Garter put about the Princes Neck after which he unfolded a Parchment wherein were contained the Titles of Prince Maurice in French which he read aloud The high mighty and excellent Prince Maurice Prince of Orange Earl of Nassau Catzenelleboge Viand Dietz Meurs Linge Marquess of Vere and Flushing Baron of Grave the Territory of Kuyke Lece and Nyervaert Governour and Captain General of Gelderland Holland Zealand Vtrecht West-Friesland Zutphen and Overyssell Admiral General of the United Provinces and Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter Assoon as he had made an end of reading these Titles presently all the Trumpets sounded and the Troops in order shot off their Pistols which Volly was seconded by the Trained-Bands after which the great Guns were discharged These things being thus performed and silence made Sir John Oldenbarnevelt Lord of Tempel making an Oration in the name of the States General reckoned up in brief the Leagues contracted heretofore at several times between the Provinces and the Kingdom of Great Britain and thereupon rendred humble thanks to the King for the continuance of them specially for that by this action he went about to manifest the same to all men for as much as that so remarkable Honor which his Majesty was conferring on those Provinces in the person of Prince Maurice their Governour and Commander both in War and Peace was an honor used to be shewn but only to the very choicest of his Friends but most principally of all for that he was pleased to confer this honor on Prince Maurice without enjoining any strict obligation upon the receipt of the Order Next he gave thanks to the Ambassadors for the diligence they had employed in this affair and lastly directing his speech to Prince Maurice he in the name of the States General congratulated his new honor assuring him on their behalf that they conceived very great joy and satisfaction and wisht him a very long and a happy enjoyment thereof to the glory of God and the enlargement of his Family and the conservation of the publick liberty of the United Provinces in which thing as hitherto they had done so for the time to come they would for ever afford him their best and most faithful assistance As soon as he had finished his Speech John Utenbogard Minister of the Hague as he had been ordered standing at the end of the Table made a very admirable and learned Sermon wherein he most devoutly praised God for what had hapned imploring him to bless Prince Maurice in his new obtained honor and to endue him with his Grace The Sermon ended the Trumpets sounded the Muskets also and great Guns were again discharged Then Prince Maurice accompanied by the Ambassadors and other Noble Persons returned in the same order as he came and then again the third time Vollies of great and small shot were discharged after which the Soldiers and Trained-Bands went every one to their own homes and quarters At Evening the pitcht Barels were set on fire and Bonfires kindled a magnificent entertainment also was given by Prince Maurice to the Ambassadors Princes and great Persons above mentioned at which while Healths were drunk to the King of France and Great Britain all the Guns were again discharged A Remonstrance made by Sir William Segar Knight Garter Principal King of Arms joined in Commission with the right honorable the Lord Carleton Ambassador to the high and mighty Prince Henry Prince of Orange for presenting him with the Noble Order of the Garter 1627. WE took our journey from Whitehall on a Thursday to Gravesend being the of April Anno Domini 1627. and lodged there that night On Friday morning we embarqued in two Merchants ships of London in the one went the Lord Ambassador Carleton Secretary of State of the Kings Majesty King Charles accompanied with the young Lord Dormer and divers other Gentlemen his Followers and Servants my self embarqued in the other Merchants Ship with my two Sons Mr. Henry Lennard my three Servants Trunks and other Provisions We set sail about 9 of the Clock and sailed all that day and night following and arrived on Saturday at Delf Haven in Holland about 6 of the Clock in the Evening where being landed we could have no lodging in the Town all was taken up for the Lodging of the Lord Ambassador and his Train and I forced to hire two Waggons for the transport of me and mine our Trunks and baggage to the Town of Delf whither we came about eleven of the Clock that night and lodged at the Sign of the Golden Fleece The next day being Monday the Ambassador coming by water to Delf was entertained and feasted at the English House by the English Merchants and that Afternoon was conveyed by Water in the Princes Barge to the Hague and by the way was met with by his Excellency and divers of the States who complemented his welcome My self followed his Lordship by Waggon and had my Lodging and Diet provided in the Chastelins House in the Hague where I was well entertained and accommodated The day following being Tuesday my self with my two Sons an Mr. Lennard went to kiss his Excellencies hands who very kindly entertained me and remembred he had seen me there before upon the like occassion with his Brother Maurice Prince of Orange so after our humble salutations we departed It was about nine or ten days before we could be resolved whether the Order should be accepted of or not for the French Ambassador there resident opposed it by all means possible that he could alledging it stood not with the French King his Masters honor considering the League between him the Prince and States that his Enemy the King of Great Britain should be so much favored and honored by the Prince as to have the Order of the Garter by him received
one of the Earl of Winâ—helsey's Gentlemen SECT XIII The Dinner WHen the Installation hath past in the morning there hath usually been prepared a great Dinner at the Soveraign's charge we shall need here only to mention such particulars as are peculiar to the Proxie of a Stranger or different from the Instances set down in our discourse of this particular in the Personal Installation of a Knight-Companion And first before Dinner if the Installation pass by Commissioners the Proxie representing the State of his Principal shall wash alone he shall sit at the chief place of the Table and alone and shall be served alone but the other Knights-Commissioners shall sit at the end of the Table Thus was it observed at the Installation of Ferdinand Arch-Duke of Austria an 14. H. 8. and of Francis the French King an 19. H. 8. for when the later of these was Installed the Dinner was held at the Deans-house and his Proctor washed alone and sat down to Dinner in a Chair nor did any of the Knights-Commissioners sit at his Mess. The services were all performed to him in every particular as though his Principal had been present saving his Cloth of State The Lord Marquess of Exceter and all the other Knights-Companions having first washed sat on both sides the same Table yet beneath the Proctor and in their whole Habits of the Order The Dinner was likewise prepared in the Dean's great Chamber at the Installation of Charles the Ninth the French King whose Proctor was served with Water and a Towel by the Earl of Southampton and Lord Herbert Sir Iohn Radcliff performed the Office of Sewer Henry Brooks alias Cobham Esq was Carver and Mr. Francis Hervy Cupbearer This Proctor had a Cloth of State allowed him under which he sat at Dinner the Mantle lying by him all the while on a Stool and Cushen at the Tables end on the right hand sat the four Commissioners in their Robes being served apart from the Proctor But if the Soveraign's Lieutenant be present the Proctor dines at the same Table with him and then a little before the second course is brought in is the Soveraign's Stile proclaimed in Latin French and English with usual Ceremony but otherwise only the Stile of the new Installed Prince and but once The Stile and Titles of Christian the Fourth King of Denmark were proclaimed in Latin and of Maurice of Orange in French Dinner being ended all rise in order and wash first the Proxie alone and after him the Knights-Commissioners and thence they accompany the Proctor to his Chamber where having left him they retire to their own Lodgings and there put off their Habits The Proctor to Charles the Ninth took the Mantle of his Principal on his arm into his Chamber when he rose from Dinner and there delivered it to Garter So soon as the Solemnity of Installation is over the Proctor is to take care that Garter forthwith set up the Atchievements of his Principal over his Stall and fix the Plate of his Arms upon the back thereof in memorial of the Honor done him by this Ceremony of Inauguration into the most Noble and most Honorable Order of the Garter And sometimes we find the Proxie hath upon his request obtained an Instrument under the Sign manual of the Soveraign and Seal of the Order attesting his being conducted to St. George's Chappel at Windesor and placed in and taken possession of the Seat assigned to his Principal in whose name he hath also taken the Oath attested by his subscription and performed all the Ceremonies in due form as the Statutes direct for so did the Sieur de Chastes Proctor to the French King Henry the Fourth an 42. Eliz. In close of all let us here remember that the present King of Sweden against his late Installation caused both Gold and Silver Medals to be made in memory of that Solemnity and to perpetuate the honor so received Those of Gold were bestowed upon the Knights-Companions present and other persons of quality and those of Silver distributed among some of the Officers attending at the Installation and others The Devise was sutable to the occasion and present interest of both Kings as may be observed from the Representation here exhibited CHAP. XVII THE Duties and Fees PAYABLE BY THE KNIGHTS COMPANIONS AT THEIR Installations SECT I. Touching the Fees due to the Colledge of Windesor SUch was the piety and bounty of our Ancestors that they thought no work well performed without being attended with some charitable donation especially if it had relation to the Church whereunto they generally bore a venerable esteem Hence was it at the Installation of this Order ordained That every Knight-Companion should at his entrance bestow a certain sum of money according to his quality and degree That is to say  l. s. d. The Soveraign of the Order 26 13 4 A Stranger-King 20 0 0 The Prince of Wales 13 6 8 Every Duke 10 0 0 Every Earl 6 13 4 Every Baron 5 0 0 Every Knight-Batchelor 3 6 8 What use these sums were employed in and how distributed appears by the appointment there set down viz. Towards the relief of the Canons of Windesor the Alms-Knights and augmentation of the Alms deeds there appointed perpetually to be done To the end That every one entring â—nto this Military Order might thereby more worthily obtain the Name Title and Priviledge of one of the Founders of the order It being supposed a worthy and just thing that whosoever obtained this Priviledge should add some small increment to this Founâ—ation Not long after establishing the Statutes of Institution the Titles of Marquess and Viscount came to be special dignities for Robert Vere Earl of Oxford was the first among us who as a distinct dignity received the title of Marquess the first of December an 9. R. 2. and Iohn Lord Beaumont the first here also that had the Title of Viscount conferred on him as a distinct Title of Honor the 12. of February an 18. H. 6. And whereas both these Degrees of Honor at their Creations were setled as intermediate the first between a Duke and an Earl for so saith the Roll where it speaks of the Marquess his precedency the Marquess was commanded to sit among the Peers in Parliament in a higher place than his Degree as Earl of Oxford could justly challenge viz. between Dukes and Earls and the Viscount between Earls and Barons as the said Viscount Beaumont is by his first Patent ranked to wit above all Barons and afterwards in another Patent to render his place more certain and apparent above all Viscounts afterwards made and created and before and above the Heirs and Sons of Earls and immediately and next to Eâ—rls both in all Parliaments Councils and other Places Upon these grounds and sutable to
aetherial and christalline Heaâ—en that at length they may come to the empyreal It is called also Obitus Because then the Angels come to meet the Soul Sometimes it is termed Passio because then the soul and body suffer most as being violently separated one from the other The transitus of the blessed Virgin Mary is called her Assumption Deposition is properly belonging to St. Iohn the Evangelist who entred alive into the place of Sepulture and as it were deposited himself Obdormition is the refreshment of the Saints after sleep because Saints in their glorified bodies rise as it were newly awakened out of sleep By all these several Names are the Festivals of the Saints celebrated which plainly denote the day of the second Birth or going out of the world and not of the first or coming into the world And it is further observable that the Church among the many Saints who have days appointed for their Commemoration does not celebrate the Nativities of any but our blessed Saviour and St. Iohn the Baptist whereto those of the Romish perswasion have added that of the blessed Virgin Mary SECT III. St. George's day made Festum duplex AFter that the Soveraign and Knights-Companions had given encrease of honors to this their Patron 's â—estival our Church began to take a greater regard to his day because he was also esteemed amongst us the Patron of our Nation and therefore bestowed an addition of honor thereupon For whereas it had anciently been accounted only minus duplex or inferius duplex as beside the Testimonies both of our learned Selden and others may also be deduced from the interdiction of the minora servilia opera upon this Saints day by a Synod held at Oxford in the year of our Lord 1222. cited by Hospinian it was petitioned in a Convocation held under Archbishop Arundel an 1. H. 4. that it might be observed and solemnized sicut caeterae Nationis suorum Patronorum facta colunt which though it took no effect yet after at the instance of King Henry the Fifth this day was in the 3. year of his Reign made Festum duplex ad modum majoris duplicis by a Canon of the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury And so we find it noted to be observed a long time after in the Kalender set before the Horae beatissimae Virginis Mariae secundum usum Sarum Printed at Paris by Francis Regnault anno Domini 1526. But this is found so noted only in some of the Missals used here in England for in the Roman Breviary and Missal it appearâ— to be but Semiduplex Now the better to explain the above-mentioned distinction of Festa majora duplicia minora duplicia Durand as being very particular in this point may fitly be consulted herein who saith Quaedam festa dicuntur in totum duplicia quaedam simpliciter duplicia quaedam semiduplicia c.. Some Feasts are said to be totally double some simply double some half double The totally or greater double are so called because in them the Responsories as well the greater as the shorter as also the Verses are sung by two and because the Antiphones both at Mattins and Vespers are doubled of this sort are the Feasts of the Nativity of our Lord of St. Stephen of St. Iohn the Evangelists Epiphany Purification c.. The lesser double Feasts are the second and third Feriae before the Octaves of Easter and Penticost the Commemoration of St. Paul and in brief every Feast which is ordained to be celebrated double in all Churches whereas the greater double Feast are kept in some particular Churches only The half double Feasts are such wherein the Responsories are sung by two but neither are they begun by two nor are the Antiphones sung double yet the Verses and short Responsories are said and these are the Feasts of St. Andrew Nicholas Lucie Thomas the Apostle c.. And the reason of this variety observed in the celebration of these Feasts is for that as St. Paul saith One Star difers from another in glory so according to the degrees of merit saith the same Durand their praise is so much the more or less celebrated in these Feasts This division of Durand appears to be the same in effect with that taken notice of by our learned Selden where Majora duplicia answers to Durandus his duplicia in totum the Minora to the simpliciter duplicia and the Inferiora to the Semiduplicia only herein Selden notes this difference that the grand and high Feast of all as Christmas Easter and Penticost c. are not comprehended under the notion of Majora Duplicia but by the title of Principaliora And as for the Festival of our particular Patron St. George however after-Custom had slackned that due honor which was decreed unto it by the above mentioned Canon yet how great a veneration it was thought worthy of plainly appears both by that part of the said Canon wherein it is Decreed to be one of the Festa majora duplicia and also by the reasons given at large for it in the Preamble thereof which are these Vpon consideration therefore of this appointment proceeding from the favorable and bountiful mercy of our God and Saviour the faithful of the English Nation although at all times obliged to worship God in all his Saints yet as is testified by the general vote of the World and the experience of grace given from above the best interpreter of all things are they more particularly bound to extol him with high acclamations to sound forth his praises and to give him veneration and special honors in the persoâ— of his most glorious Martyr Saint George as Patron and Protector of the said Nation since by his intercession at we verily believe not only the Military Power of the English Nation is strengthened and made capable of repelling all hostile incursions in the time of War but also our Spiritual Militia the flourishing estate of our Clergy is under the tutelage of so great a Patron manifestly fortified in the prosperity of a holy and peaceful estate To this may be added the division of Feasts into Generalia which are called Solemnitates and Particularia which are peculiar to one Church only one Parish or one Bishoprick and also into Mobilia such as are not limited to one certain day of the Month as Easter-day Whitsunday c. and Fixa such as constantly fall upon a certain day of the Month as Christmas-day Lady-day and several others which as falling into this subject of Feasts we thought fit to mention out of the before mentioned Hospinian rather for satisfaction to the curious than as necessarily relating to the present discourse SECT IV. The Place for celebrating the Grand Feast assigned to Windesor Castle AND as King Edward the Third Founder of this most Noble Order had fixed the day of its Feast to that of the Passion or according to the
the Registers and from the Commissions themselves For instance The before recited Deputations made to Iohn Duke of Bedford an 4. H. 6. is said to be done by a sufficient Commission delivered unto him under the Common Seal of the Order So an 8. H. 6. Humfry Duke of Gloucester c. was deputed by a certain Commission signed by the Soveraign under the Common Seal And for holding the Feast an 1. E. 4. Viscount Bourghier was also Deputed by the Soveraign By a fit and suâ—â—icient Commission So also the Earl of Essex an 14. E. 4. by the authority of the Soveraigns Commission In like manner an 18. E. 4. The Lord Dudley was assigned by vertue of the Soveraigns Commission to observe the yearly Feast of St. George and to perform all things according to custom It may be further observed that the Commissions of Lieutenancy as ancient as the Reign of King Henry the Eighth are said in the close to issue forth under the Seal of this most Noble Order So was that to the Duke of Norfolk an 17. H. 8. And also that other to the Marquess of Exceter an 20. H. 8. which runneth thus Yeoven under the Seal of Our Garter c. and according to the Modern expression Given under the Seal c. These Commissions of Lieutenancy an 14. Eliz. and the six following years run under the title of Letters Patent and are so called in the Blue Book but how justly is to be questioned For in one of these Commissions made to the Earl of Lincoln an 15. of the said Queen the conclusion is the same with those other Commissions of like nature of former years viz. Yeoven under the Seal of Our Order at c. and wanteth that Clause or conclusive period from which such instruments as we are informed derive the name of Letters Patent to wit In cujus rei testimonium has liter as nostras fieri fecimus Patentes Again an 12. Eliz. and for seven years after we observe from the said Blue Book that this Officer was made with the consent of all the Knights-Companions a Phrase much like that used elswhere touching the Election of Knights as hath been before taken notice of But if duely examined we shall find this expression of no more strength to entitle the Knights-Companions to a joynt power with the Soveraign for the constituting of a Lieutenant than the other is to make them Coelectors where though something requisite to the obtaining of their consent may seem to be implied in the aforesaid words yet we conceive those expressions were used by the Register as of his own choice rather than such as the Law of the Order will allow of The Dignity of this Officer as he represents the Soveraign's person and supplies his place is very great Which that we may the better set forth we shall distinguish the Honors annexed to this eminent Place as they are essential and necessarily consequent thereto or personal that is such as may additionally be conferred upon him at the pleasure of the Soveraign That this Officer as an essential Honor to his Place hath from ancient time had some of the Knights-Companions assigned him for his Assistants during the whole Feast is evident enough throughout the Registers yet the first mention of Assistants as to the Title particularly given unto such persons we find in the Registrum Chartaceum in the Decree made at a Chapter called at Eltham on St. George's day an 8. H. 8. wherein after the Anniversary of the Grand Feast had been appointed to be observed at Windsor upon the 25. of May then next ensuing and the Marquess of Dorset nominated the Soveraign's Lieutenant the Earl of Essex the Lord de la Ware the Lord Monteagle and Sir Thomas Lovell were appointed Assistants to the said Marquess Another instance in the same Register concerning the celebration of the Grand Feast at Windesor the following year upon the 10. day of May the Earl of Arundel being appointed Lieutenant affirms that the Lords de la Ware and Monteagle and Sir Thomas Lovell and Sir Henry Marney were also appointed Assistants to the said Earl The number of Assistants were in those times uncertain here above we see they were four Anno 21. H. 8. we find but three and afterwards an 32. H. 8. they were reduced unto two which number following times exceeded not except once and that was the last year of the aforesaid King when there were three appointed These Assistants were always appointed in Chapter when the Lieutenant himself was Nominated and afterwards had Letters of notice sent to each of them from the Soveraign requiring their repair to Windesor a Transcript whereof see in the Appendix of which form have we seen several other Letters sent upon the same occasion to each of the Assistants after they had been appointed to the said Service And as before we have noted in the case of Lieutenants themselves it hath sometimes chanced that others were afterwards upon occasion put in the places of those first named so here amongst the Assistants it hath in like manner hapned for the Lord Poynings an 8. H. 8. by the Soveraign's Commission was appointed Assistant to the Lieutenant in the room of the Earl of Essex who had been before nominated And the Earl of Rutland being named one of the Assistants an 22. H. 8. was afterwards excused by the Kings Letters whose place the Lord Montjoy executed So an 29. H. 8. the aforesaid Earl of Rutland falling sick after the time of his nomination and before the approach of the Feast day the Earl of Sussex was substituted Assistant in his place And sometimes a Quorum of Assistants have been nominated as an 3. 4. Ph. Mar. in case some of them should be absent for the Lord Pagit the Lord Clynton the Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Edward Hastings having been appointed Assistants to attend the Lieutenant at the following Feast it is added that at least any two of them who at that time were neerest to the Kings Court should be there present to assist the Soveraign's Deputy according to his Majesties pleasure as the Custom and their duty obliged Another Honor essential to the Dignity of the Lieutenant is that the Soveraign layes an Injunction upon the rest of the Knights-Companions then present to yield Assistance and Obedience to him in all things as if himself were personally present For so is it enjoyned by the Commission to the aforesaid Iohn Duke of Bedford And generally all Forms of Commissions since close with such like Injunctions of Obedience in the execution of the Soveraign's Authority To these Honors before spoken of we might add some other of the like nature viz. that this great Officer possesseth the Soveraigns Place in all Proceedings and at the Table that he hath his Train carried up that a Reverence is given
offered and an 4. Car. 1. those of the Duke of Brunswick and the Earls of Suffolk and Leicester before the King of Sweden Prince of Orange and Earl of Suffolk were installed and at all times afterwards during that pious Kings Reign the Offering of Atchievments was the first Ceremony performed on the Eve of the Feast next after the decease of a Knight though no Installation followed as were those of the Earl of Carlisle an 13. Car. 1. and of the Earl of Kelly in the 15. year of the same Soveraign But if at that time any of the Elect-Knights were introduced into the Choire before the Offering of Atchievments began they were appointed to stand there under the Stalls designed for them till that Ceremony was finished Thus the practice continued of Offering the defunct Knights Atchievments before the Ceremony of Installation began from the 9. year of King Iames until an 15. of the present Soveraign when it was performed at the time anciently accustomed for the Prince of Denmark by his Proctor Sir George Carteret and the Duke of Monmouth were both Installed before the first Vespers began and the Atchievments of Bernard de Foix Duke of Espernon and Edward Count Palatine of the Rhyne were not Offered till the Morrow after the Feast day immediately before Divine Service began so also was it observed at the Feast held an 23. Car. 2. As to the manner and order of this Ceremony among other Institutions of King Henry the Fifth it is thus appointed That as often as through the vacancy of any Stall the Swords Helms with the rest of the Atchievements ought to be Offered the Sword of the deceased Knight shall be first Offered being carried up to the high Altar by two of the Knights-Companions whom the Soveraign or his Deputy shall assign to that purpose and afterwards the Helm with the Crest and Mantlings for which we sometimes find one general word Insignia used by two other Knights-Companions named also by the Soveraign or his Deputy and this Offering is to be made for them in the order as they were Installed not as they dyed But of the Offering of a defunct Knights Banner we find no express mention till the 18. year of King Henry the Seventh at which time the Banner of the Lord Brook was Offered by Sir Edward Poynings and Sir Richard Pool his Sword by the Earl of Surrey and Lord Strange and in the last place his Helm with its Appendices by the before named Sir Edward Poynings and Sir Richard Pool But afterwards the direction for Offering this Ensign of the defunct Knights honor was taken into King Henry the Eighth's body of Statutes And note that since the Offering of the Banner was introduced it was in the order of Ceremony and according to the before mentioned Precedent to be offered first and so hath it been observed only once we find this course inverted viz. an 22. Iac. R. but upon what account there is no mention where at the Offering of the Duke of Lenox his Atchievements the Helm and Crest were offered in the first place the Sword in the second and the Banner in the third Immediately after the entrance of the before mentioned Constitution of King Henry the Fifth in the Black Book a Precedent for the order of this Ceremony doth also follow which extended it self to future times and was thus On the Morrow after the Feast of St. George an 9. H. 5. the Soveraign and Knights-Companions assembled according to custom to celebrate the Mass pro defunctis at which time the Sword of Thomas Duke of Clarence who was slain at Bougy-bridge in his return out of Anjou on Easter Eve preceding was born to the Altar and offered up by John Duke of Bedford and Humfrey Duke of Gloucester Brothers to the defunct Duke but his Helm with its Appendices were offered by the hands of the Soveraign and the said Duke of Bedford Besides this honor thus paid to the deceased Duke of Clarence there past the like at that time upon several other defunct Knights-Companions namely on Sir Iohn Grey whose Sword was offered up by Sir Thomas Erpingham and Sir Walter Hungerford and his Helm and Crest by Richard Earl of Warwick and the Lord Fitz Hugh and next on the Lord Burnell whose Sword was offered by Sir Lewis Robessart and Sir Simon Felbrig and his Helm c. by Sir Iohn Cornwall and Sir Iohn Robessart In the fourth place the Sword of the Lord Cameux was offered up by Sir Lewis Robessart and Sâ—â— Here Tank Clux and his Helm by Sir Iohn Cornwall and Sir Iohn Robessart This solemn Ceremony being finished in the order as is set down the Soveraign and Knights-Companions presently after decreed That the Rites to be observed at the Offring of Atchievements should for the future be in the foresaid manner performed The appointment of the Statute is before noted to be that the Soveraign shall nominate and assign the Knights-Companions who are severally to perform this Ceremony and so is the direction set down in King Henry the Eighth's Statutes But generally heretofore so few of the Knights-Companions have used to attend the Feasts of Installation at which time most commonly were the Atchievements of the defunct Knights offered that there hath not been much choice nay for the most part not enough for the enterchange of all the Atchievements but that those who have offered the Banner have been constrained to assist at the Offering if not of the Sword yet of the Helm and Crest Nay yet less for the Feast of St. George an 1. E. 4. was solemnized at Windesor by two Knights-Companions only viz. Viscount Bourchier the Soveraign's Deputy and the Lord Berners at which time there being the Atchievements of six deceased Knights to be offered namely the Dukes of York and Buckingham the Earls of Salisbury and Shrewsbury of Viscount Beaumont and the Lord Scales these two Knights-Companions performed the whole Ceremony according to the ancient Custom Moreover an 32. H. 6. there were but three Knights-Companions that then held the Feast namely the Duke of Buckingham Deputy to the Soveraign the Lord Sudely and Viscount Bourchier the two latter of which offered both the Sword and Helm of the Earl of Salisbury the Duke of Buckingham not enterchanging But notwithstanding these Examples at another time viz. an 8. H. 7. because the number of the Knights-Companions present at the Feast were fewer than the Statute required therefore the Offering of Atchievements was then prorogued Iohn Lord Denham then Lord Treasurer of England being President and only the Lord Scroop joined with him Again when the number of Knights-Companions present have been sufficient to perform all the Ceremony severally yet do we not observe the same anciently executed by Knights-Companions according to the series of their Stalls which is an argument that the Rule
into England P. Priest Cardinal of St. Praxid and B. Deacon Cardinal of St. Mary in Aquiro to use their best endeavours to compose the differences now growing high between the two Kings Upon whose mediation with King Edward though Peace could not be obtained yet that things relating to Peace might the better be effected a Truce was agreed on to the Morrow after Candlemas day an 12. E. 3. and thence prorogued to the first of March and lastly a further enlargement of it to Midsummer following in case the King of France should consent to it and give Security that it should be observed but he it seems refusing the King was advised to revoke this later cessation which he did the 6. of May and to take a Journey into Flanders personally to confer with his Allies in pursuance of his design against France and thereupon he took shipping at the Port of Orewell the 16. of Iuly and went to Antwerp But before he went upon the Cardinals further importunity a Commission issued to I. Archbishop of Canterbury R. Bishop of Durham R. de Vfford Earl of Suffolk Sir Geoffry le Scrop Knight and Mr. Iohn Vfford Archdeacon of Ely with power to treat and agree touching all things in difference between them in reference to a full and final Peace And by another Commission bearing the same date the Duke of Brabant Earl of Hanow and Gueldres the Marquess of Iuliers and Sir William Dunort Lord of Oustrehout Knight are added to them These Commissions were double and of two several Stiles in the one the King calls Philip de Valoys Consanguineus noster Franciae only and in the other Excellentissimus Princeps Dominus Philippus Rex Franciae illustris Consanguineus noster charissimus At Antwerp the confederate Princes gave the King a meeting and here he expresly revoked all the powers he had given the forementioned Commissioners to treat with Philip de Valois as King of France At length it was resolved that the Duke of Iuliers should be sent Ambassador from the King to the Emperor which Embassy obtained a promise to the King of the Vicar-generalship of the Empire whereupon about the beginning of September he took a Journey to Colen where the Emperor publickly defied the King of France and constituted King Edward his Vicar-General who at his return into Flanders entred upon the execution of that Office In the 13. year of this Kings Reign at the instance of the foresaid Cardinals Iohn Archbishop of Canterbury Richard Bishop of Durham Henry Bishop of Lincolne the Earls of Derby Salisbury and Suffolk and some others were impowered to treat with Philip de Valois or his Deputies upon the Dignities Honors Lands and Rights belonging to King Edward and all other controversies whatsoever The Deputies on the other part were the Archbishop of Rouen the Bishops of Langres and Beauvais and the place for treaty Arras but nothing of Peace being thereby effected the King prepared effectually for War having some time before made an alliance with Albert and Otho Dukes of Austria Stiria and Karinthia and received Homage as King of France from Reiginald Duke of Gueldres and Earl of Zutphen for which he afterwards granted him 1000 l. sterling per Annum for his life He likewise made alliances with other Princes who were to furnish him with men to be imployed in his intended expedition into France as also with Lewis the Emperour after which he sent a Letter from Antwerp to the Pope asserting his claim to the Crown of France which is to be seen in Walsingham's History of England All things for War being now in readiness the King with the assistance of his Allies first besieged Cambray an Imperial City and then in the hands of the French but it being too well fortified and provided to be suddenly taken he raised his Siege and passed into France first sending his defiance to Philip de Valois then at Paris by the Bishop of Lincoln Sir Walter Many was the first who after the defiance made entred France with 40. Horse burnt Mortaigne took the Castle of Thyne garrisoned it and returned to the King at Mechlin The King having passed the River Skell entred France upon St. Matthews Day and burnt the Country before him And not long after at the request of the Duke of Brabant to admit of a Treaty of Peace the King at Markoyne grants the said Duke power in his name to give safe conduct to such persons as he should think fit to meet at any place within two or three Leagues from his Camp to treat of Peace the same to continue till Friday following and all that day but nothing was effected The Saturday before St. Lukes Day the King with his Army passed the River Oyze and marching forward till he came between Vyronfoss and Flamengery the two Armies drew near each other where the Day of Battel was agreed on to be the Friday after But in the interim a Letter of advice was brought to the French King from Robert King of Sicily a famous Astrologer to disswade him from fighting since he had by his Science found that if he fought with the King of England he should be vanquished and loose the day This Letter so prevailed with the King of France that though he had the greater power and that both Armies stood ranged for Battel yet was there not a blow struck on the appointed Day The Munday following intelligence was brought to the King that the French were dispersed and returning homewards whereupon he withdrew his Army and marched back into Brabant At his return to Antwerp he issued out another Commission to Iohn Archbishop of Canterbury R. Bishop of Durham H. Bishop of Lincoln W. Earl of Salisbury Sir Bartholomew Burghersh and Sir Geoffry le Scrop Knights and Iohn de Offord Archdeacon of Ely to treat of Peace with Philip de Valois or with Commissioners from him and a month after this Commission was renued upon adding Robert de Vfford Earl of Suffolk to the before-named Commissioners Here also the King was advised to ingage the Flemmings to his further Assistance who were willing enough for by the means of Iaques D'artuell he had gained a great influence upon them but considering they stood ingaged in the Pope's Chamber in two Millions of Florens not to make War against the King of France they proposed that the King would quarter the Arms of France with those of England and call himself King of France as he ought of right to do and then they would take him to be the rightful King of France and receive from him a discharge of that Obligation and afford him their assistance To this proposal the King agreed and solemnly assumed both the Arms of the Kingdom and Title of King of France He also caused his Great Seal to be changed and brought it with him at his return to
Santonge repaired doing him Fealty and Homage then he departed for Bordeaux thither the Nobility and Knights of Gascoigne came to wait on him after which he setled English Officers in all places of his Principality and there kept his Court with great state and magnificence Immediately after the Election of Pope Vrban the Fifth Peter of Lusignan King of Cyprus and Ierusalem came to Avignon and there engaged Iohn King of France in a Crusade he thence went to the Emperor at Prague and afterwards into Flanders and England whence after he had been nobly entertained he returned to King Iohn then at Amiens and thinking he had not yet seen any thing till he had seen the Prince of Wales took a Journey to Poicters and so to Augoulesme where the Prince held a Royal Justs of 40 Knights and as many Esquires in honor of the birth of his Son Edward and here the King of Cyprus was received with great honor and nobly feasted while he stayed Not long after this Noble Prince was induced to re-establish Don Peter King of Castile who had made a personal application to him in so great distress being driven out of his Kingdom by his Bastard Brother Henry with the assistance of some part of the late disbanded Army called the late Comers or Companions under the command of Sir Bertrand de Guesclin and some English and Bretagn Forces that went along with them commanded by Sir Eustace Dabrichecourt and other Knights Hereupon the Prince first sent his Letters to remand them back and after which strengthened his undertaking he received aid from the King his Father commanded by Iohn of Gaunt his Brother Iames Son of Ferdinand King of Mojorca whom the King of Aragon had imprisoned at Barcelona and there put to death made also address to the Prince for assistance in the recovery of his Realm which the Prince promised after his return out of Spain whither he was then engaged and towards which he began his Voyage the Sunday after Epiphany an Dom. 1366. Upon his entry into Castile with 30000 Horse and Foot Don Henry prepared to give him Battel with 86000 the Armies joined between Navarr and Naveret on Saturday the 3. of April an 40. E. 3. and here the Prince got a Victory which re-established Don Pedro in his Kingdom thereupon Don Pedro went to Sevill and promised to return the Prince money to pay his Army but after four Months stay and expectation the Prince was constrained to return into Aquitane without any so forgetful was Don Pedro of the courtesies he had received from him This Victory got the Prince great renown throughout the Empire and the repute of being the valiantest Prince in that Age even worthy to govern all the World but in this Voyage he contracted a sickness he never recovered which his Physicians and Surgeons judged to be an incurable Dropsie others that he was poysoned In an Instrument dated about this time to wit 8. October 1366. whereby he granted to his Brother Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster the Village and Castellaine of Roche sur Ion to him and his Heirs males I find him thus stiled Edward ainsne filz du Roy de France d' Engleterre Prince d' Aquitaine de Gales Duke de Cornwall Conte de Cestre Seigneur de Biscaie de Castre de Dordiales but after he had resigned the Principality of Aquitaine his Titles were these only Edwardus Regis Angliae Franciae primogenitus Princeps Walliae Dux Cornubiae Comes Cestriae 6. Feb. 49. E. 3. so an 47. E. 3. vide Lib. Miscell R. Glover Somerset p. 111. Some time after his return into Aquitaine the discontented Gascoigners and French taking occasion to rebel upon raising a Subsidy called Fouage for 5 years consented to by most of his Subjects viz. the Poictouins and they of Xanctonge Limosin Rouergue and Rochell but other parts of Guine refused entred in a hostile manner the Princes Territories whereupon Sir Hugh Caurel coming out of Aragon to the Prince was made Captain of the Companions whom he had sent for out of Normandy and ordered to march with them into the Country of the Earl of Armaignac and the Lord d' Albret two of the great Ring-Leaders of the Rebellion new begun to wast those parts He also had sent before a body Commanded by Sir Iohn Chandos to Montauban and a third under the Command of the Earl of Cambridge and Penbroke into Perigort and which took Bourdeilles after 11. Weeks Siege After this the Prince receiving Intelligence that two Armies under the conduct of the Dukes of Anjou and Berry were design'd to enter Aquitaine and besiege him in Angoulesme resolved his Enemies should not find him there and therefore summond in the Nobility and appointed a Rendevouz at Cognac leaving his Princess at Angoulesme but taking his young Son Richard with him The King of England having upon this great rupture of the Peace concluded at Bretigny resumed his Name and Title to the Crown of France sent forthwith to the Prince to give him notice that the Parliament at Westminster had Ordained that all his Subjects of what Nation or condition soever should maintain his Interest against his Enemies in the Realm of France to recover and conquer the same And likewise directed his Letters to the Nobility of Gascoigne desiring their assistance herein The year following he sent over Iohn Duke of Lancaster his third Son to the assistance of this Prince and gave him Commission to receive into favour and wholly pardon such of his Cities Castles Towns and Inhabitants aswell in Aquitaine as other parts of France as should return to his Obedience and to do and exercise all powers given in his said Commission with the consent of the Prince if present and in his absence what the King could do in his assistance if personally there And that care might be taken in Civil Affairs the King having reserved to himself the Soveraignty and resort in those Territories sent a blank Commission for the Prince to insert the names of such as he should think fit to appoint for Judges or Delegate to hear all Causes as well Criminal as Civil upon Appeals from the Princes Courts The Duke of Lancaster shortly after arrived at Bordeaux and came to the Prince at Cognac but the Duke of Anjou thought better to withdraw his Forces into Garrisons than to fall into action The Duke of Berry took Limoges which the Prince retaking put the Inhabitants to the Sword and burnt the Town But the Prince's disease growing daily upon him he was advised by his Physicians and Chirurgeons to return into England for the recovery of his health which caused him to assemble the Nobility of Aquitaine Gascoigne Poictou and Santonge at Bordeux to whom he communicated his intentions and withal that he would leave the Duke of
deserved He married Ioane the Daughter and Heir of Oliver de Ingham and Relict of Roger le Strange and dyed on Wednesday next before the Feast of St. Nicholas an 38. E. 3. leaving his Son Miles then about 20 years of age The Custody of his Lands was granted to the Queen who granted it to Bryan Stapleton Knight Iohn de Boys and Roger de Boys till his said Son came of age which Grant the King confirmed the same day by his Letters Patent He and his Wife were both buried at the House of Ingham founded by his Mothers Ancestors 18. Sir Thomas Wale HE was the Son of Sir Thomas Wale and Lucy his Wife which Lucy held the Mannor of Wedon-Pinkney in the County of Northampton with its appurtenances in her Demesne as of Fee of the King in Capite as of the Fee Pinkney by the service of one Knights Fee and long before her death she setled the said Mannor on this Sir Thomas and his Heirs as appears by the Inquisition taken after her death wherein the said Sir Thomas is found to be her next Heir and then about 40 years of age He attended the King into Flanders an 12. E. 3. and had command under William de Bohun Earl of Northampton in the Expedition which the King made into Bretagne an 16. E. 3. so also beyond Sea in the Kings service with Richard Earl of Arundel an 18. E. 3. We find not that he had any issue by his Wife Nichola who out-lived him but that his three Sisters were his Heirs namely Margaret the Wife of Malorre Alice of Thomas Chamberlain and Iulian. He dyed in Gascoigne on Tuesday next after the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel an 26. E. 3. being a Knight of great vertue and worthiness so that of all the Stalls of the first Founders his first became void into which succeeded Reginald Lord Cobham of Sterborough 19. Sir Hugh Wrottesley SIR Hugh Wrottesley was Son to Sir William Wrottesley of Wrottesley in the County of Stafford Knight It appears that an 8. E. 3. he designed a Voyage to the Holy-Land and to that end had obtained the Kings Letters for appointing Peter de Hoe and Thomas de Chency his Attornies during his absence to prosecute his Suits in any Court of England An. 12. E. 3. he went in the Kings Service into Flanders when the King went over thither to confer with his Allies And at the Siege of Calais he had the Kings Licence to inclose his Wood at Wrottesley and make a Park Two years after for his good service he granted to him the Custody of the Lands and Tenements which were William de Pilateâ—hall deceased till his Heirs came of age with the marriages of them without rendring any thing theretofore An. 24. E. 3. the King granted him a Pension of 40 l. per annum out of his Exchequer for his life upon the surrender of which Letters Patent he granted him 40 l. per annum to be thus received viz. 16 l. 4 s. 4 d. out of the Farm of the Villages of Mere and Clent 11 l. 10 s. out of the Farm of the Village of Swinford 11 l. out of the Farm of the Village of Kinefare and Tetenhale and 1 l. 6 s. 8 d. out of the Farm of the Foresters Fee of Tedesley to hold for life or till he had 40 l. per annum in Lands or Rents setled on him for life yet to be answerable for the overplus being 1 s. 8 d. These last Letters Patent were confirmed to him by King Richard the Second in the first year of his Reign He married Mabill the Daughter of Sir Philip ap Rees and Ioane his Wife by whom he had issue Iohn whose heir male in a direct line is Sir Walter Wrottesley of Wrottesley in the County of Stafford Baronet now living He also had to his second Wife Isabel Daughter of Iohn Arderne of Aldeford Aderlegh and Edds. And dyed the Monday after the Feast of St. Vincent an 4. R. 2. 20. Sir Nele Loring AT the Naval Fight before Sluce his Valour was so remarkable that it gained him the Honor of Knighthood to which the King immediately added a Donation of 20 l. per annum to him and his Heirs males for the better support of that Dignity till Lands of the like annual value were provided for him and them These Letters Patent bear Teste at Sluce 26. of Iune in the 14. year of the Kings Reign over England and his first of France In the Kings Expedition into Bretagne he attended him thither and an 18. E. 3. went beyond Sea in his Service In the beginning of the following year he and Michael Northburgh Canon of Liâ—hfeild and Hereford were sent to the Pope's Court with the Kings Letter dated 23. Feb. an 19. E. 3. to obtain a Dispensation for the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Daughter of the Duke of Brabant At his return he went with Henry de Lancaster Earl of Derby into Gascoigne where he stayed the following year After which coming over into England he within a short time returned to his Commands in Gascoigne An. 29. E. 3. he attended the Prince of Wales in his Expedition into Gascoigne and being specially assigned to attend his person in the Battel at Poictiers he performed his duty so well that he received both acknowledgments and rewards from the Prince for that days service He was afterwards appointed by King Edward to be one of his Commissioners for receiving the possession of all Countries Cities Forts c. that by the Treaty of Peace near Chartres were to be delivered to him When the Prince of Wales was created Prince of Guyenne he attended him thither again and there continued four years whence returning into England he stayed not long but went back again and remained there three years After which coming into England and being again sent into Aquitaine Writs were directed to Robert de Ashton Admiral towards the West for the passage of him and Sir Iohn de la Haye their Soldiers and Retinue and this year he was one of those Knights of the Prince's Retinue sent to meet Sir Robert Knolls at his coming out of Bretagne whom they met at Quercy and assisted at the Sieges of Durmel and Domme both which though they thought fit to break up yet marching further into the Country they took Gauaches Freins Rochmador and Ville Franche upon the marches of Tholouze He was an active man and did King Edward great services which induced him to confer many favours on him in recompence thereof as first he granted him a Pension of 5 l. a year during his life to be paid him by the Abbess of Burnham out of the 15 l. per annum she was
day And both these Kings after their solemn Procession presently instituted an Order naming it the Order of St. Andrew But Andr. Favin reporteth the occasion to be otherwise to wit that Achaius King of Scotland having made that famous League offensive and defensive with Charlemain King of France towards all and against all other Princes to preserve the memory of which alliance to posterity the Scotch Lyon assumed before by King Fergus became then enclosed with a Tresure of Flowers de Lis he found himself thereby so strong and mighty that he took for device the Thistle and the Rue which he composed into a Collar of his Order and for his Motto Pour ma defence giving intimation thereby that he feared not the powers of Foreign Princes seeing he leaned on the succour and alliance of the French And though hence may be inferr'd that these two Plants were the united Symbols but of one Order of Knighthood yet doth Mennenius divide them into two making one whose chief Badge was the Thistle whence the Knights were so stiled and the Motto Nemo me impune lacessit and another vulgarly called Sertum Rutae or the Garland of Rue whose Collar was composed of two Branches or Sprigs thereof or else many of its leaves Nevertheless that at both these Collars hung one and the same Jewel to wit the Figure of St. Andrew Patron of that Kingdom bearing before him the Cross of his Martyrdom But there are some saith the same Author who refer the Institution of the Order of the Thistle to later times albeit the Thistle from the Reign of Aâ—haius had been acknowledged for the Badge and Symbol of the Kingdom of Scotland in like manner as the Rose was of England the Lilly of France the Pomegranate of Spain c. to wit in the Reign of Charles the Seventh of France when as the League of amity was renewed between those two Kingdoms and especially for the succour and aid which France then received from Scotland it being in a time of so extraordinary distress and last of all others place the Foundation yet later viz. in the year of our Lord 1500. I have done with what can be said as to the Foundation of this Order and the time thereof and shall now pass on to some other particulars relating to the Order it self The chief and principal Ensign of this Order is a Gold Collar composed of Thistles interlink'd with anulets of Gold and pendant thereunto the Image of St. Andrew with his Cross and this Epigraph Nemo me impune lacessit the Figure whereof may be seen in a Picture of Iames the Fifth King of Scotland now hanging in his Majesty's Gallery at Whitehall on several great Seals of that Kingdom on some Coyns and Medals and lastly among the representations of the Military Ensigns placed at the beginning of this Chapter The time of this Societies meeting was heretofore very religiously observed and celebrated upon the Feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle annually in the Church of the Town dedicated to his name and in testimony of the high esteem and reverence they bore unto him as their titular Saint and Patron During the solemnity of the Feast the Knights of this Order were habited in rich and costly Apparel and wore their Parliament Robes having fixt on their left shoulders an azure Rundle on which was embroidered St. Andrews Cross environed in Center with a Crown composed of Flowers de Lis Or. For the ordinary and common Ensign the Knights used a Green Ribbon whereat hung a Thistle of Gold crowned with an Imperial Crown within a Circle of Gold containing also the foresaid Epigraph but for more satisfaction we have caused the Figures of these two to be here exactly represented from the draughts of them sent me from the before-mentioned Sir Charles Areskin As to the number of the Knights there is nothing remembred by any Author we have seen but herein I was supplyed by the Right Honorable the Earl of Lauderdale who assured me he had met with among his readings from good authority a memorial that this Order consisted of 13 Knights in allusion to the number of our blessed Saviour and his twelve Apostles The Order of Knights of our Lady of the Star in France 7. The Institution of this Order is by Andrew Favin derived from Robert King of France surnamed the Devout who to manifest his particular devotion to the blessed Virgin Mary and in her honor gave Being thereunto in the Month of August Anno Domini 1022. The Knights were in number thirty comprehending the King of France the Chief or Soveraign they had appointed for their Habit Mantles of White Damask their Mantlets and Lining were of light Carnation Damask their Surcoats of the same and on their Mantles as also on their Surcoats to wit upon the left side of the breast was embroidered a Star wrought in pure Gold with five rays or pointed beams The great Collar saith he was formed of three round Chains of Gold much like that of the Order of the Gennet and united at little distances with enamelled Roses interchangeably White and Red at the end whereof hung the Figure of a Star The Ceremonies of the Order began on the day of the Nativity of the blessed Virgin Mary Patroness thereof in the year before-mentioned In the Reign of Philip de Valois this Order began to be intermitted by reason of the Wars nevertheless it was restored by King Iohn his Son the eighth of September anno 1356. But albeit Favin hath thus formally set down the Institution of this Order and assign'd it to King Robert adding moreover Habit Collar and other specious circumstances thereunto yet the Sancte Marthe's his Countrymen are not perswaded of the truth thereof but ingeniously acknowledge that there is not any thing of it mentioned by their ancient Writers and coming to speak of the Order in particular they refer its first Institution not renovation so do Mennenius Ios. Micheli and others to King Iohn Son of Philip de Valois in the Month of October anno 1352. in commemoration of that Star which directed the Wisemen who came from far to adore the Saviour of the World at his Nativity the Figure whereof crowned King Iohn caused to be embroidered on the Mantle or upper Garment of the Order as also this Motto Monstrant Regibus Astra viam The Seat of this Order thus instituted by King Iohn and where the first Ceremonies were kept was in the noble and ancient House of St. Owen called de Clichy neer St. Denys in France and by an ancient deed of Exchange of Lands situate in the Earldom of Alançon in lieu of the House of St. Owen made by King Iohn to the Countess of Alançon and dated at St. Cler de Gomets the 6. day of Iune 1356. is the King called
Institutor of the military Fraternity of the Star which sufficiently contradicts the fair-spun relation of Favin who bestows the honor of Foundation upon King Robert as before hath been said To which we may add that the day assigned by Favin for holding the Chapter of Election of the first Knights to wit the eighth of September 1356 and at Clichy aforesaid was in all probability too neer the day of the Battel of Foicters that being but eleven days after and King Iohn not only then at a great distance from Clichy but on a hasty March to engage the Black Prince and consequently too little at leisure to enter upon the Formalities of such an Institution This Order was of no long continuance for being much violated and dishonoured during the confusion of the Civil and Foreign War by the admission into it of mean and undeserving persons it gave a fair occasion to King Charles the Seventh to take off the pretence of honor supposed in it and to extinguish it Whereupon in the year 1455. he contrived the holding of a Chapter for giving away that Ensign thereof which himself wore to the Chevalier du Guet Captain of the Night-watch in Paris after whose example the Princes and Lords left the Order thus disgraced to the said Captain and never after wore it This Story as to the time though not the manner doth Favin contradict and renders his reasons for it howbeit upon what occasion soever the Order became relinquished or dismist certain it is that upon if not some time before the Foundation of the Order of St. Michael it grew out of request as did that of the Gennet upon the erection of the Star The Order of the Lilly in Navarre 8. Garcius King of Navarre the Sixth of that name lying under the extremity of a languishing sickness sent to divers places of Devotion to the end that Prayers might be offered up for the recovery of his health In which season there hapned to be found in the City of Nagera where he kept his Court an Image of the blessed Virgin Mary issuing forth of a Lilly and holding her Son between her arms upon finding of which if we may credit the story he immediately recovered and to perpetuate his devotion to the said Virgin instituted an Order of Knighthood in the year of our Lord 1048. which consisted of 38 Knights drawn out of the ancientest Families in Navarre Biscay and old Castile and Entituled it the Order of Knights of St. Mary of the Lilly But Ios. Mich. Marquez gives foundation to this Order 25 years before Favin and draws the Institution from another ground For whereas Don Garcias had succeeded his Father King Zanchy the Fourth in the Kingdom of Navarre the Moors made War against him and he prevailing made a Feast in honor of the blessed Virgin Mary at which he instituted this Order and adorned many Knights with the Ensign thereof beginning with his Brothers and Sons Of this Order esteemed the most illustrious of all Spain King Garcias ordained himself and after him his Successors Kings of Navarre the Chiefs and Sovereigns The Knights promised at their entrance into this Order to expose their lives and fortunes in defence of the Christian Faith conservation of the Crown of Navarre and expulsion of the Moors The Badge or Symbol which the Knights wore daily on their breast was a Lilly embroidered in Silver but on solemn days a double Chain of Gold interlaced with the letter M. made after the fashion of a Saxon Capital at the end whereof did hang a Flower de Lis of Gold enamelled White bearing the foresaid Letter M. crowned upon the head of its Flower The Habit was White wrought all over in Needle-work with White Lillies But Ios. Micheli differs in this also from Favin for he assigns for the Badge two Branches of Skie-coloured Lillies one crossing another and in the middle of them the Figure of the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin but agrees that the Habit was White The Order of the Sword in Cyprus 9. Guy of Lusignan and according to this Author King of Ierusalem and Cyprus in right of his Wife Sibilla Sister to Baldwin the Leper shortly after his setlement in the Isle of Cyprus which he had bought of Richard the First King of England for one hundred thousand Crowns of Gold Instituted this Order in the year of our Lord 1195. in remembrance of so fortunate a Plantation of 15000 persons whom he had brought thither But Mennenius and some others are so far from being of this opinion as to affirm that neither the name of the Founder nor the time of this Order's Foundation are certainly known though it be conceived he was one of the Family of Lusignan who gave beginning unto it The Collar of the Order called a Collar of Esses by Mennenius was composed as Favin reports of round Cordons of White Silk woven into Love-knots interlaced with the Letters S and R. Beneath this Collar hung an Oval of Gold wherein was figured a Sword the Blade enamelled Silver and the Hilt Gold and about the Oval was engraven this Motto Securitas Regni Micheli saith it was Pro fide servanda and Gothofridus Pro integritate tuendâ The day appointed for holding of the solemn Ceremonies of this Order was Ascension-day whereon the Founder gave it in the Church of St. Sophia the Cathedral of Nicosia in Cyprus to his Brother Amaury Constable of Ierusalem and Cyprus and to 300 Barons which he had established in that his new Kingdom There were eight Kings of Cyprus of this House of Lusignan Great Masters or Chiefs of this Order and when the Isle fell into the hands of the Turks this noble Institution ceased The Order of the Bear in Switzerland 10. The Emperor Frederick the Second in favour of the Abbot of St. Gall in Swaben and several Noblemen of that Country who had been active in his assistance for gaining to him the Empire instituted this Order in the year of our Lord 1213. and bestowed upon the elect Knights Collars of Gold at the end whereof hung the Figure of a Bear Gold mounted on an Hillock enamelled with Black He ordained that this Honor should be conferr'd by the Abbot of St. Gall for the time being and that on the Anniversary of their Patron St. Gall a Gentleman of Scotland and the Apostle of Swaben being the 16. day of October the Knights of this Order should assemble at the Abbey on which day such Candidates as were designed to receive the Honor were girded with the military Belt the Sword being first consecrated at the Altar and adorned with the Collar of the Order having kept their Vigils the preceding night according to the ancient and accustomed manner But it carried the Title of the Order of the Bear in memory of St.