Retreat they fell into Rout and Confusion in all parts of their Army so that a miserable slaughter ensued which had been much greater but that Night put an end to the pursuit and a mighty Storm of Hail falling compelled the English to shelter as many as could in the neighbouring Towns and Villages and the Flyers to betake them to Woods and other places of Refuge though on either side before this could be done many were grievously hurt by the falling of the Hail Stones which were of a prodigious bigness and did much mischief both to Cattle and People in divers other places This Defeat as considerable as it was discouraged not the Danes for being recruited they sent their Ships about to the Southern part of the Island with some â—orces to amuse the English by Landing at Southampton Plymouth and other Sea Ports and with what Plunder they could get immediatly retired to their Ships though many came short as being slain by the Peasants however this made them more revengful for gathering strength from new comers of their Nation who Landed from a Fleet on the Southern Coast they wasted Hampshire stormed Winchester defended by a good Garison and layed it in Ashes but the King coming suddainly with an Army a great number of them were slain and the rest compelled to retire to their Ships several of which were Burnt by Wild-Fire thrown amongst them before they could get to Sea and divers of the Danes perished in the Flames and involving Waves In his time two Blazing Stars appeared one in the North East and another in the South West both within half a Year of each other the first continued Fourteen Days and the latter Seven He began his Reign Anno Dom. 860 and Dyed Anno Dom. 865 having held a troublesom Reign for the space of Five Years He was Buryed at Sherburn Remarks on Cambridgshire c. CAmbridgshire is for the most part exempted from Hills and Woods being much applyed to the breeding of Cattle though it abounds in Corn-Fields and is Watered with many pleasant Streams and has belonging to it the fertil Isle of Ely It is Bounded with Northfolk Suffolk Essex Hartfordshire Bedfordshire Huntingtonshire and Lincolnshire It Contains One Hundred and Sixty Three Parishes Eight Market Towns and One River also the Bishoprick of Ely It sends Members to Parliament viz. Six Cambridge two for the Town and two for the Vniversity and two Knights of the Shire As for the Places Noted in it the first in rank is Cambridge which CAMBRIDGE SHIRE tho' no City is enobled above many others for its many famous Structures dedicated to Learning as Caius Colledge Founded by John Caius Doctor in Physick Anno 1557. Christs Colledge Founded by Queen Margaret 1506 Clare Hall Founded by Elizabeth Daughter to Gilbert Clare Earl of Leicester Anno 1326 Corpus Christi Colledge by John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster 1344 Emanuel Colledge by Sir Walter Mildmay 1588 Jesus Colledge by Doctor John Alcock Bishop of Ely St. John's Colledge by the afore named Queen Margaret 1506 Catharine Hall by Doctor Woodlack Provost of Kings Colledge 1459 Kings Colledge by King Henry the sixth 1441 Magdalen Colledge by the Lord Audley 1509 Pembrook Hall by Mary Countes of Pembrook 1343 Peter House by Hugh Balsam Bishop of Ely 1280 Queens Colledge by Margaret Queen to King Henry the Sixth Anno Dom. 1448 Trinity Colledge by Henry the Eighth Anno Dom. 1546 Trinity Hall by William Bateman Anno Dom. 1354. These famous Structures are Renowned for the many Learned Divines and Statesmen that have been brought up in them to the Honour and Credit of the Kingdom giving it considerable advantages of that kind over others there is in this Renowned Town many stately Churches and Antient Monuments of very curious Workmanship Ely the Bishops Seat from whence the Diocess takes its Name is held to be Built by Audry Wife to Tombart a Prince in those Parts and afterward Marryed Egbert King of Northumberland from whom departing she here betook her self to a Devout Life Building a Monastery of which she became the first Abbess and is famous for the Birth-place of divers Learned and Eminent Persons as Andrew Millet Sr. Thomas Ridley Doctor of Laws Richard Parker c. The next Places of Note are Everton Triplow Everden Caxton Wisbich Linton Milton Mildred from which places proceeded many Eminent Men both in Church and State At Caxton was Born William thence sirnamed Caxton who first set up the Ingenious Art of Printing in England It is likewise Beautified by divers Seats of the Nobility viz. Thorney-Abby the Seate of William Duke of Bedford Newmarket belonging to the Earl of Suffolk Kertling alias Catlidg belonging to the Lord North and Grey of Rolston Ely Place and Wisbich Castle the Seats of the Lord Bishop of the Diocess It is Watered with many small branching Rivers but the chief of Note is Cam on whose Banks Cambridge is advantageously seated and gives the County its Name The Reign of Ethelred Fifth Sole Monarch of England EThelred the Third Son of Ethelwolf upon his coming to the Crown Anno Dom. 866 found himself engaged in a dangerous War against the Danes who with their main Strength almost in all parts Invaded the Kingdom so getting strong footing with several Armys in the North East and South he was at a stand into which quarter he should advance which gave them opportunity to over-run many fertil Counties and being as yet Pagans they used unheard-of Cruelties under the Leading of Hungar and Hubba two of their Dukes who by some are stiled Kings They took the City of York by Storm and set it on Fire upon which Walketulus an Earl of the East Angles gave them Battel but was Overthrown and most of those he commanded slain and flushed with this Victory they destroyed many famous Churches also the Monasteries of Croyland Berdoxey Midlesham side or Peterborough and Ely and the Abbess of Coldingham to prevent Ravishment cut off her Nose and upper Lip and by her Example the Nuns did the like to preserve their Chastity by their Deformity but were nevertheless Defloured and afterward in despight Immured in their House and Fire being put to it they perished in the Flames And so terrible they became in those Parts That Burthred Vice Roy of Mercia to save the ruin of the Country made Peace with them as likwise did Offride and Ella stiled Dukes of the Northumbrians and were thereupon constrained to joyne their Forces with them against Ethelred which some Authors call a Rebellion and that with great reason for it was taking part with Invaders against their Lawful Soveraign These things happening whilst the King was busied in other Parts of the Land he no sooner found a little leasure but taking courage he Marched Northward and in a great Battel Overthrew the Dainish Northern Army in conjunction with many of his Subjects whom they had compelled as is said to the Field under their East Angle and Mercian Leaders
a Prisoner to King Stephen's Queen However after this Battel Maud received the Allegiance of all the Counties of England except Kent and Marching to Winchester received there the Crown and other Regalia's and so passing to London she was received in Triumph and now the reports of King Stephen's Defeat and Imprisonment flying into Normandy caused his Subjects there to slight him and incline to Geoffery Husband to the Empress but changed their Minds when they heard the King was at Liberty and had strongly Besieged the Empress in Oxford whither she was Fled upon notice the Londoners consulted to seiz her and deliver her Prisoner to the King because she had refused to confirm to them King Edward's Laws with all their Charters and Priveledges And withdrawing privately from London for fear of a Surprize she posted to Oxford where she had not been scarce five Days ere the King Beleagured the City and pressed it with continual Assaults tho' in the depth of Winter so that the Empress fearing to be Taken dressed herself in White and passing the Thames on the Ice went through the Snow which lay then thick on the Ground to Abingdon where taking Horse she passed to Wallingford-Castle kept with a strong Garison by her Friends and by this time her Brother and Son Henry were Landed at Warram-Haven and from thence came to her with some Forces but she wearied with the various turns and chances of War soon after left England and returned to her Husband who was in Normandy having sent Prince Henry before and so Oxford being Surrendered to the King he went to Lincoln and Summoned the Barons who there Swore Allegiance to Eustace his Son whom he Created Duke of Normandy and Theobald Arch Bishop of Canterbury refusing to Consecrate him was obliged for his contempt of the Kings commands to leave the Land and fly to Normandy whereupon the King seized on his Temporalities but did not dispose of the Arch Bishoprick It is Remarkable that the Kings of England before Stephen refrained going into Lincoln upon the account of a fatal Prophecy pronounced by Merlin viz. When a King enters within Lincoln's Walls His Reign proves Stormy and he Childless falls The Kings Treasure being much wasted in the Wars he Fought he demanded a Subsidy of the Clergy but they refusing it he was extream angry with the Prelates demanding of the Bishops of Salisbury Lincoln and Ely the Keys of their Castles and exacted great Sums of Money from them pretending they were Indebted to the Crown for the Tenures of their Temporalities And now Prince Henry being grown up gathered an Army and Invaded England nor was the King slow to Oppose him but was somewhat retarded by the Indisposition of his Son who fell into a Frenzy of which he shortly Dyed greatly lamented of the King who had no more Children but Sorrow giving place to Anger he caused the Trumpets to sound a Charge against the Enemy but as the two Armies were about to joyn such a Storm of Rain and Hail fell and continued so long that they were forced out of the Field to seek shelter which gave a time for Parly and the King weary of the War and pittying the Sufferings of his People being Childless and not expecting any more Children after many Messages from one to the other a meeting was appointed in which it was firmly agreed That the King should Adopt Prince Henry his Heir to Succeed him in the Kingdom and other his Dominions and in lieu thereof he should quietly enjoy the Crown during the Term of his Natural Life which being Signed and Sworn to all Hostilities ceased and Henry was sent to suppress the Rebellion in Normandy and oppose the intruding French where in his Young Years he shewed himself an expert General and Souldier in driving the Frenchmen out of the Garrisons and Castles they had taken but whilst he was busied in the Wars Abroad King Stephen fell Sick of the Iliack Passion and Dyed in the Monastery of Monks at Dover This Stephen was King of England and Duke of Normandy the third Son of Stephen Earl of Bloyce by Adilicia or Alice He began his Reign on Monday the Second of December Anno Dom. 1135 and Reigned 18 Years 10 Months and 20 Days being the 24th Sole Monarch of England He was Buried at Feversham in Kent in an Abby of his own Founding In his Reign Anno 1136 a Fire began at London-Stone and consumed all before it thence Eastward as far as Aldgate and Westward to St. Paul's Church and the next Year Rochester was destroyed by Fire And in the Third Year of his Reign St. Martin's Church without the Walls and the Hospital with Thirty Nine Houses and much Riches were Burnt In the Last Year of his Reign a little before his Death appeared a plain sign of a Cross in the Moon Remarks on the County of Norfolk c. THis County is pleasantly Situated and receives many Advantages by lying so commodiously open to Sea which Bounds it on the North-East and part of the West on the South it is Bounded by Suffolk and the remaining part of the West by Cambridgshire It produces plenty of Butter Cheese large Cattle Corn Wooll Deer Coneys Sheep and store of Woollen Manufacture It has in it one City viz Norwich a Bishops See it is divided into 31 Hundreds containing 660 Parishes 33 Market Towns and 3 Rivers of note the River Y ar from which Yarmouth takes its Name being the Principal It sends Members to Parliament 12 Norwich 2 Thetford 2 Yarmouth 2 Lynn-Regis 2 Castle-Rising 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Yarmouth lies advantagiously on the North side the River Y ar and has great Trade by Shipping it was Founded by the Danes the better to favour their Landing when they Invaded this Island and has been often Graced with the Presence of many Kings and Princes as William the Conquerer who Fortefied it Henry the Second and Queen Elizabeth Norwich the Antient Venta of the Romans is a City of great Antiquity often Sacked and Burnt by the Danes especially it was levelled to the Ground by them Anno 1004. It suffered much in the Conquerers time for siding with Earl Randdulph The Cathedral was Founded by one Herbert who Translated the Bishoprick from Thetford to Norwich and was the first Bishop of Norwich This City Imploys Thousands of People in the Woollen Manufacture in making Stuffs Bays Says Serges Stockings c. Thetford the Antient Stigomagus of the Romans was the principal seat of the Saxon East-Angle Kings where King Edmund the Martyr was Overthrown by the Danes NORFOLK Lynn is a pleasant Sea-Port Town honoured with the Gift of a Rich Cup by King John and their Charter was enlarged by Henry the Third for their good service against the Outlaw'd Barons and other Priviledges were added in Henry the Eighth's time the Name being changed from Lynn-Episcopi to Lynn-Regis Elmham was Antiently the Bishops See but it was Translated thence to Thetford
Market Towns and 5 Rivers Isis which gives an additional name to the Thames into which it falls is very much Celibrated in Antient Story It sends Members to Parliament 9 viz. Oxford City 2 the Vniversity 2 Banbury 1 New Woodstock 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire The Antient City of Oxford is renowned for many remarkable things as being the Place of Meeting of divers Parliaments and holding out many Sieges Here Maud the Empress was Besieged by King Stephen and all in White got by Night over the Thames on the Ice This Place King Charles the First made his chief Head-Quarters during the Civil War till it was taken by Sr. Thomas Farfaix King Richard the First was Born here Its Churches are 13 besides the Cathedral most of them very Stately It is Watered almost round and is supplyed within the City by many Conduits on one of which is the Figure of a Queen Riding on an Ox in Brass But the greatest Ornament of Oxford is its being a Vniversity and for the stateliness of its Colledges their Liberal Endowments and the Number of Scholars contained in them it is not except by its Sister Cambridge to be parallelled in the whole Christian World Of the Number of its Colledges the time of their Foundation and their Founders take the following Account An Account of the Colledges in Oxfond 1. University Colledge was founded by King Alfred Anno 872 for 12. Fellows besides other Students 2. Baliol Colledge was founded Anno 1262. by John Baliol and Devorgilla his Wife Parents of John Baliol King of Scots for 12. Fellows c. 3. Merton Colledge was founded Anno 1274. by Walter de Merton Lord High Chancellour of England and Bishop of Rochester This has 19 Fellows 14 Scholars c. 4. Exeter Colledge was founded Anno 1216. by Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter for 23. Fellows c. 5. Oriel Colledge was founded Anno 1337. by King Edward II for 18. Fellows 12 Schollars c. 6. Queens Colledge was founded Anno 1340. by Robert Eaglesfield B. D. for 15 Fellows besides other Students of the Foundation 7. New Colledge was founded Anno 1375. by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester and Lord High Chancellour of England for 70 Fellows 10 Chaplains 3 Clerks 16 Choiristers c. 8. Lincoln Colledge was founded Anno 1420. by Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincoln for 15 Fellows c. 9. All-Souls Colledge was founded Anno 1437. by Henry Chicheley Arch Bishop of Canterbury for 40 Fellows besides Chaplains Clerks and other Servants of the Foundation 10. Magdalen Colledge was founded Anno 1459. by William of Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester and Lord High Chancellour of England for 40 Fellows and 30 Scholars besides Chaplains Clerks Choiristers c. 11. Brazen-Nose Colledge was founded Anno 1515. by William Smith Bishop of Lincoln and Richard Sutton Esq for 20 Fellows besides Scholars and Students of the Foundation 12. Corpus Christi Colledge was founded Anno 1516. by Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester and Lord Privy Seal for 20 Follows 20 Scholars besides Chaplains and Clerks c. 13. Christ-Church Colledge was founded Anno 1546. by King Henry VIII for 8 Canons and 100 Students besides Chaplains c. 14. Trinity Colledge was founded Anno 1555. by Sir Tho. Pope for 12 Fellows 12 Scholars and other Students 15. St. Johns Colledge was founded Anno 1557. by Sir Thomas White Merchant Taylor of London for 50 Fellows c. 16. Jesus Colledge was founded Anno 1572. by Queen Elizabeth for 16 Fellows 16 Scholars and other Students 17. Wadham Colledge was founded Anno 1613. by Nicholas Wadham and Dorothy his Wife for 15 Fellows and 15 Scholars c. 18. Pembroke Colledge was founded Anno 1620. by Thomas Teisdale Esq and Richard Wightwick B. D. for 15 Fellows and 11 Scholars c. The Seven Halls are Glocester Edmund St. Alban Magdalen Hart and S. Mary Hall besides New-Inn In all which Colledges and Halls there are fair Chappels and Libraries But amongst these is the most famous Bodlean Library which for choice Books and rare Manuscripts falls little short of the Vatican Here is also that curious Piece of Architecture called the New Theater built for Scholastick Exercises with a fair Printing House by Dr. Sheldon a late Arch Bishop of Canterbury The Musaeum built at the Charge of the Vniversity for the Improvement of Experimental Knowledge especially in Physick with a Laboratory furnished with all sorts of Furnaces and other Materials for Chymical Practice a Store-Room for Preparations and another Room fitted up for a Chymical Library In the Musaeum is also to be seen a curious Repository The publick Physick Garden deserves also to be mentioned here for its Stateliness and infinite Variety of choice Plants The Number of Students in Oxford is rickoned to be 3000 whereof 1000 live upon the Revenues of the Colledges In this City was formerly a famous Castle but now of no great Strength being mostly used for a Prison It has several Bridges about it but one more specially of Stone curiously Arched and is a Place of considerable Trade Woodstock was a long time the Country Retirement of our Kings here it was that Henry II built a sumptuous Bower for fair Rosamond his Paramour here Edward the Black Prince was Born and Sr. Geoffry Chaucer Educated At Islip King Edward the Confessor was Born the other Towns of Note are Banbury Chipingnorton Charlbury Bampton Henly on Thames c. Near Evisham in the South of this County are erected Stones called Rol Richstone in the nature of those on Salisbury Plain but not so big which Fabulous Stories have rendered to have been Men Transformed into Stone but most certain they are a Monument of a great Battel fought there by Rollo the Dane near Oxford is the Well Dripa whose Waters distil from a Rock that hangs over it very Medicinal There is store of Oaker Fullers-Earth and Gipsum at Shot-over Garsington and Whitney and Tobacco-Pipe-Clay and Vmber is found near Blanden Cerulam or Native Blue near Blonds-Court the Tera Lapidosa the Colour of Turkish Rusma is found in the Quarries about Tame the Gold-gritty Clay at Hampton Gay The Seats af the Nobility are Cornbury belonging to the Earl of Clarendon Blechington to the Earl of Anglesey Caversham to the Earl of Craven Dichley and Les Rest to the Earl of Litchfield Ricot and Chesterton to the Earl of Abingdon Broughton Shutford and North Newton to the Lord Viscount Say and Seal Water-Eton to the late Lord Lovelace Cuddesden the Bishops Palace There are fine Parks in this County stored with Deer and many large Woods wherein abundance of Hares shelter The Seats of the Gentry are not a few so that put together it is a very fine Inland County Watered in some parts by the Thames c. The Reign of King HENRY the Third AFter the untimely Death of King John Henry his Eldest Son being but Nine Years of Age was Crowned at Gloucester in the presence of
the Earls of Warwick Devonshire Salisbury and others they resolved to complain in Parliament of the Queen's Misgovernment who by reason of the Kings Weakness and Imbecility did what she pleased as also did her Favourits the chief of which now was the Duke of Sommerset but his complaints not taking such effect as he supposed upon new Counsels he took other Measures raising an Army under pretence of removing Evil Counsellours from the King charging the Duke of Sommerset with oppressing the People and the many Miscarriages in France during his Regency occasioning the loss of Normandy and Aquitain with many other things The King upon this fearing the worst raised likewise an Army whereupon the Duke of York sent a submissive Message and Letter to him That he intended nothing against his Royal Person nor against the State but only craved That in Parliament the Duke of Sommerset might be Tryed and caused to Answer to such Crimes as would be Objected against him and the Duke of Sommerset upon this being for shew sake committed to the Tower the Duke of York dissolved his Army and came to the King where contrary to his expectation he met with the Duke of Sommerset who Accused him of Treason for that without the Kings Leave or Commandment he had raised an Army with which he intended to have Murthered his Soveraign and made himself Inheritor and Possessor of the Crown Whereupon the Duke was Arrested but in a few days Released Whilst these things happened in England the Lords of Guyan and Aquitain threw off their Subjection to France and sent secret Messages to King Henry That if he would furnish an Army to Protect them they would re-deliver those Provinces into his Possession upon which the Earl of Shrewsbury was sent with 3000 Men who received them into the Kings Protection But soon after being fought with by 20000 French he was Overthrown and Slain with almost all his followers and thereupon these Provinces were utterly Lost In the mean while the Queen was delivered of a Son whom she caused to be Named Edward The Duke of York having strengthened his Faction made grievous Complaints to the Lords in Parliament against the Duke of Sommerset so that in the Queen's Chamber he was Arrested for High Treason and conveyed to the Tower But the Parliament being suddainly Adjourned and the King by many protestations faithfully promising that at some other time he should Answer those Accusations he was set at Liberty and made Captain of the Castle and Town of Callice which made the Duke of York Leavy another Army and fought with the King at St. Albans and so prevailed that the Duke of Sommerset the Earls of Northumberland and Stafford the Lord Clifford and about 8000 others were Slain the King was also hurt in the Neck with an Arrow and taken Prisoner but used with much dissembled Civility and brought to London where at the Duke of York's entreaty he called a Parliament and the Earl of Salisbury was made Chancellour The Earl of Warwick Captain of Callice The Duke of York was likewise appointed Protector of the Kings Person and of the Realm but the Queen being perswaded he Aimed at the Crown they were soon displaced Whilst these Differences continued many disorders happened The Houses of Merchant-Strangers were Rifled and Robbed in London and the French greatly Annoy'd our Merchants on the Seas which compelled the Queen who was Wise Politick and of a Masculine Spirit to use a Stratagem which was to get the King to retire into the North for his Pleasure and sent Letters to the Three Lords immediatly to come and Confer with him who delay'd not to do it but having secret notice their destruction was intended they timely Fled and prevented their Ruin Yet the King advised by his grave Counsellours laboured for an Accommodation of matters appointing for this purpose a General Meeting of all his Lords at London who came strongly Guarded with Friends and Servants where the Arch Bishop of Canterbury and other great Clergymen used such Perswasions and Arguments That the King Queen and all the Lords were pleased in friendly and in kind sort to consent that all Jars and Discontents should be laid aside and by Instruments in Writing a Reconciliation was outwardly Confirmed but not with any hearty goodwill on either side yet it greatly Rejoyced the People who thought it Real After this the King rod through the City with the Crown on his Head the Duke of York conducted the Queen and the Lords of either Faction rod two and two together Not long after this one of the Kings Servants was Wounded in the Court by a Gentleman belonging to the Earl of Warwick who escaping the rest of the Kings Servants fell upon the Earl as he came from the Council-Table but he Escaped by Water and was searched after in London in order to be sent to the Tower yet he was not there but fled into Yorkshire complaining to his Father the Earl of Salisbury of the Injury that had been done to him who Advised him immediatly to repare to his Government of Callice and then the Earl of Salisbury raised an Army and Marched towards London of which the Queen had no sooner notice but she sent the Lord Audley to oppose him so that the Battel being joyned after a sharp Fight the Lord Audley and 2200 of his Men was Slain the rest flying and leaving Salisbury Master of the Field upon this success the Duke of York conceiving he should gain what he aimed at raised an Army on the Marches of Wales and Joyning with Salisbury near Ludlow the King's Army came in sight of them but the Lords fearing they were Betrayed by one Andrew Trollop and John Blunt two famous Captains trained up in the French Wars who had been brought over by the Earl of Warwick because after they had shewed them advantageously how to Attack the Kings Army they had on scruple of Conscience deserted and gone over to him raised their Camp in the Night and secretly Retiring disbanded their Army and shifted for themselves yet several of their Captains being Taken were Executed but the common Soldiers Pardoned and the flying Lords Proclaimed Arch Traytors to the King and Kingdom their Goods Offices and Lands Sequestered to the Kings Use c. And the King made Henry Son to the Duke of Sommerset Slain in the Battel of St. Albans Captain of Callice and now the King on good Advice Assembled a Parliament in which the Lords of the Yorkist's Faction were Attainted of High Treason and to prevent the Returning of such as were Fled beyond the Seas the Ports were Fortified and strictly Guarded yet they returned took Sandwich and in a short time raised an Army of 25000 Men with which they Marched towards London to secure which the Lord Scales was sent by the King but the Lord Mayor refused him admittance saying He was able to defend the City and would do it seeing the King had committed it to his charge so that
said to shed some Tears and wish it had not been done However he came to London and summoned a Parliament wherein to ingratiate with the People many good Laws were made which are highly in Esteem to this day But God shew'd him an early token of his displeasure by taking away his only Son being all the Children he had he falling from a Horse dyed of the Bruise Bishop Morton as is said being committed to the Duke of Buckingham's Custody that sagacious Prelate so wound himself into his favour and good opinion that finding he was Ambitiously enclined he spared nothing to encrease his aspiring thoughts to that height as to make him look with envious Eyes on King Richard's Crown and fancy it would sit more comely on his own Head He was indeed of the Royal Blood by the Female side but at a considerable distance However King Richard having broke Promise with him by detaining the Earldom of Hartford tho' he had been chiefly instrumental in Advancing him to the Royal Dignity That for many Reasons the Bishop urged he began to hate him which more and more encreasing from new disapointments and disfavours and in fine the Duke however seemed to decline the Crown it was urged by the Bishop he might be Instrumental to do good to his Country and gain Immortal Fame by Uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster in promoting a Match between the Lady Elizabeth Eldest Daughter to Edward the Fourth and Henry Earl of Richmond Son and Heir to Margaret Countess of Richmond Daughter and Heir to John Duke of Sommerset his great Unkle Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster Fourth Son to Edward the Third This he attentively harkened to and thereupon the Bishop desired to go into the Isle of Ely and there he would raise Men and Money to forward this matter But the Duke considering his Absence would be charged on him and be a means to discover the Intrigue and that also he should want his Counsel at need refused to consent however the Bishop in disguise soon after got away and escaped to the Earl of Richmond Counselling and Animating him to prosecute the Project laid in England King Richard hearing there were secret Cabbals held against him in Britany by the Earl of Richmond and others renewed his Brothers Stratagem to get him into his hands But tho' it cost him much Money yet his Counsels being revealed he also was frustrated in his expectations But by this time having notice of Buckingham's discontents he by Friendly invitations entreated him to come to Court but the Duke excused it on pretence of Indisposition but King Richard well informed to the contrary knew it was rather an Indisposition of Mind than Body sent a second Summons peremptorily commanding him to make his personal appearance which made him believe his design was discovered and thereupon he stoutly replied by the Messenger That he reputed him a Monster a Tyrant Murtherer and not his Lawful King and therefore would not trust his Person in his hands who was cruelly unmerciful to his nearest Relations And so with many of his Friends raised Forces in Wales whilst Sir Edward Courtney did the like in Devonshire and Cornwal Sir Richard Guilford gathered many of the Kentish Commons and in Yorkshire the Marquess of Dorset leaving Sanctuary drew a great Number to him This Storm that threatened Ruine to the Usurper roused him to Arms so that Levying a considerable Army he Marched against the Duke to give him Battel ere he joyned his Friends supposing if he could rout him the rest would soon be Subdued The Duke was as resolute as he and intended to pass the Severn at a low Ford near Gloucester to meet him but that Night and for Ten days after such abundance of Rain fell that the River over-flowed its Banks drowning all the Meadows so that he could not pass and by lingering his Victuals growing scanty most of his Forces left him which unexpected misfortune made him shift for himself when coming to the House of one Humphery Banister near Shrewsbury who had been his Steward and got a good Estate under him he was there sheltered for a time but King Richard Proscribing him and setting a Thousand Pounds on his Head that Treacherous Servant discovered him to the Sherif of Shropshire who apprehended him in poor Apparel digging in the Garden and conveyed him to the King at Salisbury where in hopes of favour he made an ample confession but it availed not for without any Legal Proceedings he was Beheaded upon which the rest dispersed The Earl of Richmond knowing nothing of this disappointment having gotten some Forces of the Duke of Britany put to Sea for England but by contrary winds was driven into Normandy where the French King not only succoured him with Money and other Necessaries but gave him safe conduct through his Territories to Britany where he found a great number of his Friends Arrived before him and there making a sollemn promise to Marry the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to Edward the Fourth if his success answered his expectations they owned him in a manner as their King vowing to adventure their Lives to settle him on the Throne King Richard in the mean while was busied in Fortifying the Sea-Ports and cutting off by terrible Executions all that he thought favoured the Earls Interest getting him and his adherents attainted in Parliament so that he seized their Lands and Effects bestowing them on his Creatures which caused much murmuring among the People And one Collingborn an Esquire of good Estate being in a Poetical strain reflecting on Richard's three Favourites viz. Sir Richard Ratcliff Sir William Catesby and the Viscount Lovel in this Distich The Rat the Cat and Lovel our Dog Rules all England under a Hogg Was Executed for it at Tyburn the Judges construing the last word to allude to the King because he had the White Boar for his Cognizance and so in their opinions the Scandal was wrested to Treason And then he laid another Trap for the Earl of Richmond by Bribing Peter Landoys the Duke of Britany's Treasurer but he escaped it on timely notice and fled to the French King however King Richard made an Alliance with James King of Scots by Marrying the Lady Ann one of his Neices to the Duke of Rothsey his Eldest Son and with large Presents and fair Promises so won on the infatuated Queen Dowager his Brothers Widow as to deliver her Daughters into his hands tho' she was sensible he had Murthured her Sons Then he caused it to be given out that Queen Ann his Wife who was Daughter to the great Earl of Warwick and had been Wife to Prince Edward Son to Henry the Sixth was suddainly Dead and though then very well yet soon after she was found unexpectedly dead not without suspicion of Poison which he so little regarded that he immediatly tendered Courtship to Elizabeth his Brothers Daughter who fearing her own and her Sisters safety put him off with
Edward the Fourth and the last of the Male Line of the Plantagenets who had sway'd the Scepter from Henry the Second King Henry by this Bloodshed having more firmly Established his Throne or at least himself from those fears that he apprehended from mutable Fortune whilst this Young Prince Lived Married Arthur Prince of Wales his Eldest Son to the Lady Catharine Daughter to Ferdinand King of Spain with great Magnificence in St. Paul's But that Young Prince soon after Dying she was Married to Henry his Second Son who Succeeded But upon some pretended scruples Divorced as will appear at large in the History of his Reign And James the Fourth King of Scots suing for the Lady Margaret the Kings Eldest Daughter the Match was concluded tho' the French King and others had required her but could not obtain their Suits for in this Henry wisely considered That if his Sons Issue should fail it would be a means to unite Scotland to England when if he had Married her to a more Powerful Kingdom this must have been Subjected to that which he concluded would prove very dishonourable to the English Nation and the Lady being sent to Edenbourough was there Married with great Solemnity The King in the latter end of his Reign growing exceeding Covetous contrived how he might extort Money from his Subjects and for this as his chief Instrument he used Sir Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley two Lawyers whom he appointed to put the Penal Laws in execution with great Rigor which they spared not to do to the utmost tho' in the next Reign it cost them their Lives nor was the complaints of the oppressed People minded tho' exceeding great and many from all parts of England which encouraged a whole swarm of Locusts as under Officers to pill and pole them in every Shire which caused the King much hatred After this Philip Duke of Austria in Right of his Wife coming to be King of Spain was in his Voyage thither driven by a Tempest into Weymouth Harbour in Dorsetshire where with his Queen he was Entertained by Sir Thomas Trenchard and after Invited to the King's Court at Windsor where for the Entertainment he gave him he procured the Duke of Suffolk fled into Austria to be put into his hands on condition he should have no violence offered him and indeed during this Kings Reign he was only kept a Prisoner but in the next lost his Head King Henry soon after falling Sick of a languishing Disease which was looked on as a Judgment for oppressing his Subjects remitted all offences against his Penal Laws enlarged all Prisoners except for Treason Murther restored Moneys to those that had been Ruined relieved the Poor and did many good Acts. And having Reigned 23 Years and 8 Months he Dyed and was Buried at Westminster in the famous Chappel of his own founding by Elizabeth his Queen who Dyed not long before in the 52d Year of his Age. In this Kings Reign Wheat was Sold for Six Pence a Bushel Nantwich Salt 6 d. and Bay Salt 3 d. per Bushel White Herings 6 s. per Barrel Red Herrings 3 s. per Cade Sprats 6 d. per Cade and Gascoign Wine at 6 l. per Tun. Anno 1495 a mighty Storm of Hail fell killing and wounding many Cattle and People several Stones being taken up at St. Neots in Huntingtonshire 18 Inches about And soon after a fearful Plague raged which made the King and Queen for a time remove their Court to Callice And during his Reign about Nine Persons Men and Women suffered the Flames for the profession of a good Faith Several did Penance by carrying Faggots on their Backs and some were Burnt in the Cheek c. Remarks on Wiltshire c. WIltshire is Renowned for the Frugal Industry of the Inhabitants It produces numerous Flocks of Sheep of whose Wooll Cloath is made and many Thousands of People set on Work as also large Cattle store of Corn and Pastures Venison Fish Fowl c. It is Bounded with Barkshire Hampshire Dorsetshire Somersetshire and Gloucestershire It contains 29 Hundreds in which are 304 Parishes 23 Market Towns 5 Rivers 1 City viz. Salisbury which is a Bishops See 3 Bridges 1 Castle 1 Chace and 2 Parks The River Avon branches its Southern parts and Wilby-Bourn extends to the West as also does a part of Avon and in other parts it is pleasantly Watered the Castle is that of Castlecomb It sends Members to Parliament 34 viz. Bedwin 2 Caln 2 Chipenham 2 Cricklade 2 Devizes 2 Downton 2 Heitsbury 2 Hindon 2 Ludgarsale 2 Malmsbury 2 Marleborough 2 New Sarum 2 Old Sarum 2 Westbury 2 Wilton 2 Wooton Basset 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire WILTSHIRE On Salisbury Plain is the memorable Wonder called Stone Henge supposed to be Erected as a Monument to Hingest the first Saxon Invader its Stones are of a prodigious bigness some 28 Foot long and 7 broad Morticed one within another tho' wasted by time some are falln Near Sawerth are Cockle-stones and those called the Grey Weathers near Marlborough On the Borders of this County between Great Bedwin and Lockington are certain deep Holes called the Giants Caves The Water breaking out of certain Stones near Knet is accounted a presage of Dearth At Luckington is a Well whose Virtue is to Cure Sore Eyes At Aubury is cast up a Ditch of a prodigious depth near Circular set round with large Stones supposed once a strong Encampment of the Romans as Yarnborough Castle on Salisbury Plain is supposed to have been one of their Fortresses The Seats of the Nobility are Marleborough-House and Allington-House belonging to the Duke of Somerset Wilton and Falstone alias Fallerdown to the Earl of Pembrook Clarlton to the Earl of Barkshire Stourton-Castle to the Lord Stourton Wardour-Castle to the Lord Arundel of Wardour Long Leats to the Viscount Weymouth Baron of Warmister the Bishops Seat in Salisbury The Reign of King HENRY the Eighth HENRY the Eighth being Eighteen Years old began his Reign the 22d of April Anno Dom. 1509. and was Crowned at Westminster by William Warham Arch-Bishop of Canterbury His first Policy was to wind himself into the Affections of his Subjects and soon found out a way to do it by issuing out Proclamations That such as had been Injured by Extortions and Oppressions of evil Persons in his Fathers Reign should be favourably heard and receive Satisfaction for the wrongs done them Whereupon great Numbers came with grievous Complaints those that had received the least Injury being the most clamorous and having recompenced many to please the rest Empson and Dudley the two corrupt Judges were Convicted of High Treason and Beheaded on Tower-Hill and divers imployed under them were Disgraced by Pillories Stocks and Whipping-Posts tho' these Catterpillars had exceedingly Enriched the Kings Treasury as well as their own Coffers For his Father left behind him the greatest Mass of Money that any King of England before him had done Things being a
to perswade him to change his Religion and Praying fervently he among other Expressions Desired the Queen to forgive him as he forgave all that had offended him At which Dr. Weston who had been earnest with him to change his Religion said aloud to the people The Queen had forgiven him Whereupon some Reply'd such forgiveness God send you And then preparing for the Stroke he underwent it with much constancy and courage not varying from what the series of his Life had expressed him Divers taken in Wiat's Rebellion being about this time Executed and some Pardoned Wiat in hopes of Life was wrought on to Accuse the Marquess of Exceter and the Lady Elizabeth the Queens Sister but being nevertheless brought to Execution he heartily begged both their pardons with Tears excusing them from having any hand in his Rebellion for which tho' he dyed by the Ax his Body was Quartered and set upon several Gates in the City and within a while Thomas Lord Grey Brother to the Duke of Suffolk was Beheaded For this Queen seemed to have learned her Fathers way viz. To spare none that stood in her way or from whom she apprehended any danger The Queen calling a Parliament propounded to the Houses her Intended Marriage and the desire she had of restoring the Popes Supremacy but to the latter at this time she could not get their Consents the Nobles imagining they must restore the Church-Lands if the Pope once came to assume a power over the Ecclesiastical State But the former upon several advantagous additional Articles they allowed and King Philip with a great Train of the Nobility of Spain and other Nations came to Winchester where the Queen stay'd to receive him and on St. James's Day they were Married there with great pomp and solemnity and their Stiles pronounced in Latin French and English Whereupon John Figuora the Emperours Ambassador resigned to them in his Masters name the Kingdom of Naples and the rejoycing being a little over they came to London where they were received in much splendor and going to Windsor the King was Installed Knight of the Garter and Cardinal Pool sent for over to settle the affairs of the Church being appointed the Popes Legate and in Parliament his Attainder was taken off and he restored to all his Honours and Dignities and making a moving Oration to both Houses won upon them to be Absolved by him as in Form he did after the whole Kingdom and in the end procured Popery to be restored but not the Lands of the Church For tho' they set light by Religion those were too sweet morsels to be parted with The Queen after this laboured to have King Philip Crowned but the Parliament refused their consent and soon after that she fancied herself to be with Child and by her Error led many to believe it so that the Infant was Pray'd for Some in the Pulpets undertook to describe its featurs when it should be born others to direct how it should be brought up abundance of Cradles Rockers Nurses and such like were provided and at last it was spread abroad with uncertain Rumour she was Delivered of a Prince then he was described again in the Pulpits the English Merchants at Antwerp fired their Guns and made great Rejoycing but at length it was discover'd the Queen had never been with Child But if any thing was in it she had been deceived by a Mole which tho' without Life some times stirrs as if it were Quickened However it occasioned various Conjectures of the Queen but time blew over the Censures Many Persons now were advanced to Dignities to ballance in the House of Peers and the Earl of Savoy and Piedmont coming to see England was highly welcomed and Lodged at White-Hall but after a short stay he departed to his own Country and the Prisons being in a manner fill'd many were Pardoned others without it set at Liberty and Sir Nicholas Throckmorton's Head being aimed at the Jury for Acquitting him upon Tryal were severely Fined and Punished to the Ruin of the greatest part of them The Lady Elizabeth Sister to the Queen after a long Imprisonment in the Tower and other places being often put in danger of her Life by Firing the Boards under her Lodgings Ruffians enterprising to Murther her and many hardships undergon so that she wished her self a Milk-Maid when she heard the merry contented Life of one singing in a Park near her Prison was set at Liberty as also the Lord Courtney Marquess of Exceter who had been a Prisoner from the time of his Fathers being Beheaded in Henry the Eighth's Reign The Lord Stourton a great stickler for Popery having Murthered one Hargil and his Son relying on his Pardon found he was deceived for himself was Hanged in a Silken Cord and four of his Servants who assisted him in Hemp. It seemes there had been Law-Suits and other Variances between him and the Murthered Person and the sooner to end them he and his Servants knocked them down with Clubbs cut their Throats and Buried them Fifteen Foot deep but such was the will of God the Murther should be discovered by such as went to digg Gravel and the Murtherers punished Thomas Stafford second Son to the Lord Stafford getting a few Ships Landed in the North and surprized Scarborough Castle Proclaiming Queen Mary held the Crown without Right and had betray'd the Kingdom to the Spaniards but six Days after his Landing he was Taken by the Earl of Westmoreland and at London lost his Head Three of his Followers being Executed at Tyburn And King Philip being in War with France upon the account of his Father Charles the Emperour notwithstanding by Articles of Marriage it was agreed upon that the English should not Intermeddle the Queen laboured to Quarrel that she might come in with a colourable pretext to Assist her Husband and therefore made divers Complaints of Injuries done especially That the French King had fitted out Stafford with Men and Money and encouraged divers others to molest her Kingdom and was about to Proclaim War But Pope Paul the Fourth Envying the Emperour and taking part with the French hereupon to cross Queen Mary's purposes took Cardinal Pool's Authority Legantine from him and appointed one Peter Petou a Monk of the Order of St. Francis to Succeed him naming him Bishop of Salisbury but the Queen forbad his Landing and by submitting to the Pope got Pool restored Whilst these things passed King Philip raised an Army in Flanders and other Countries of 25000 Foot and 12000 Horse and the Queen under-hand sent to his Aid 1000 Horse and 4000 Foot under the Earl of Pembrook and other experienced Generals which overthrew the French Army and took the Town of St. Quintins and because the English had thus assisted contrary to the Truce between the two Nations the Duke of Guise set down before Callice and battered it furiously of which the Queen having notice ordered Supplies to be immediatly sent of Men Ammunition and
could not Succeed being Illegitimate That he could not contradict the Declarations of Clement the Seventh and Paul the Third That it was a great presumption to assume the Name of Queen and Government without his consent yet being desirous to shew a Fatherly Affection if she would renounce her pretentions to the Crown and refer herself wholly to his free disposition he would do whatever might be done with the Honour of the Apostolick See The Queen who was well assured of her Title to the Crown by her Right and by the Estates in Parliament little expecting such an Answer was very much displeased called home her Agent and from that time resolved never more to hold any Correspondency with the See of Rome But having refused the King of Spain's offers of Marriage with her counting the Dispensation he promised to procure at the Popes hands Unlawful and Wicked she set her mind to contrive the most easie and inofensive ways how to restore the Protestant Religion consulting with those of the greatest understanding in Affairs of Church and State and coming to some result she placed in the Courts of Judicature and Offices of greatest Trust such Persons as were of that Profession or well enclined to it And having wisely weighed all circumstances she made provision against the encouragement and growth of Popery by restraining the Nobles and others from sending their Children to be Educated beyond the Seas and caused many Ceremonies in Divine Worship used in the former Reign to be laid aside And so after the Funeral of her Sister prepared for her Coronation and was in order to it conducted with extraordinary Pomp and Triumph from the Tower through the City to Westminster where she was Invested with the Regal Ornaments and was Crowned by the Bishop of Carlile the other Bishops refusing to perform that Office as fearing the Popes displeasure or rather the fall of the Romish Religion in this Kingdom to which Alteration if they consented not they foresaw they must lose their Bishopricks And now People differing much in Points of Religion it was ordered by Proclamation That none should unreverently speak of the Sacrament and it was alowed to be received in both kinds yet a Conferrence was appointed to be held at Westminster between the Papists and the Protestants upon these Considerations viz. 1. Concerning Prayer and the Administration of the Sacrament in the Vulgar-Tongue 2. Concerning the Authority of the Church in Constituting and Abrogating Ceremonies to Edification 3. Concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass But the Papists in this would come to nothing without the Popes License and some of the Bishops threatning the Queen and her Nobles with Excommunication if they proceeded to make alterations for their male-pertness some of them were committed to Prison The Queen appointed a Form of Common Prayer in English and settled the Reformed Religion entirely throwing off the Roman Yoak and began to apply herself to other weighty Affairs sending to demand the Restitution of Callice Lost in the preceding Reign and after many Debates it was agreed That the French King should Enjoy it for the Term of Eight Years and that then it should be restored to the Queen of England or in refusal be Paid 500000 Crowns and hereupon a Peace was Agreed and Proclaimed between the two Nations as also between the Dauphin and the Queen of Scots his Wife whereby Scotland was Included Whilst these things were transacting the Parliament Advised the Queen to Marry leaving her entirely therein to her own Choice that Children might be Born to Succeed her To which the Queen made this reply That she was already Wedded which was to her Kingdom and People and having promised to take a Husband if so the good of the State should require it she dismissed those that were sent to her by both Houses on this Message And soon after came an Ambassador from the King of Sweden to propose a Marriage between her and Prince Ericus the Kings Eldest Son but after he had been sumptuously Treated he was dismissed with a modest Denial and tho' the Duke of Anjou the Arch Duke of Austria and others sued for her Favour she only gave them her Esteem instead of her Love and put them off with fair words In the meantime the Scots destroyed in most parts of that Kingdom the Religious Houses Altars Images c. declaring for a Reformation which was against their Queens mind Whereupon the French on her Husbands and her part raised Forces to oppose them which made them send their Complaints to Queen Elizabeth and implore her assistance for the speedy driving out the Frenchmen whom they said through their Queens favour had engrossed all the Places of Trust Honour and Profit into their Hands This Queen Elizabeth communicating to her Council after many Debates to prevent the French getting an inlet into England by the way of Scotland it was agreed Assistance should be given to the Reformers And the Duke of Norfolk was appointed Lieutenant General of the North to secure the Borders and on certain Articles agreed an Army was sent into Scotland under the Command of the Lord Grey and Ships to Edenborough Frith who dislodged the French Men of War that lay there This made the French King sue for Peace to the Queen but his suit was rejected on many weighty Considerations tho' he promised at this time to deliver up Callice in lieu thereof However a Treaty was held at Edenborough but it came to little upon the French King 's declining to Sign the Articles agreed on And now the Pope a Second time laboured to perswade the Queen to own his Supremacy and not separate England from the Body of the Roman Catholick Church but the Queen refusing to harken to the Popes Letters resolved firmly to adhere to the Protestant Religion And now the Queen of Scots returning into that Kingdom her Husband being Dead sent a Letter to Queen Elizabeth full of kind expressions to desire that a sincere Friendship might be maintained between them and the Envoy that brought it had Commission to deal with the Queen to declare her Heir Apparent to the Kingdom which was insinuated as the safest way to continue Peace between the two Crowns But the Queen Answered She would do nothing to the prejudice of her Title but as to this matter she would refer it to the Personal Conferrence that was to be held shortly at York But that Interview was broken off by the Papists contrivance least it might be a means towards creating the Queen of Scots an inclination to the Reformed Religion whereupon the Queen the better to strengthen her Hands built several Sail of stout Ships cast a great many Ordnance and the Art of Gun-powder-making in England was first by her Encouragement found out so that having a great Fleet always at Sea she was by Forreigners stiled The Queen of the North Seas causing the Militia readily to be provided with Arms and frequently Exercised And the Guisean Faction
Elizabeth Cavendish she Married Sir William Seymour Son to the Lord Beaucham and both at a distance being Allyed to the Crown made the Marriage distasted but her Husband escaped out of the Tower whether he had been Committed for this conjunction and fled beyond Sea and she escaping from her House at Highgate to follow him was intercepted and Dyed in the place aforesaid There being a Peace confirmed with all Nations the King treated with Spain about a Marriage between his Son Charles now Prince of Wales and Heir apparent to the Crown and the Infanta but Ambassadors being sent many delays were made about difference in Religion and some other Objections which the Earl of Salisbury who Negotiated the matter perceiving would come to no good effect the Treaty of Marriage was laid aside and overtures at the same time made in the Court of France but that as the former then succeeded not by the means of the Duke of Savoy The King having been some Years out of Scotland went thither with a splended Retinue and unluckily about this time the Book of Sports was Published allowing on the Sabbath Day for the Recreation of the Younger sort after Evening-Service Dancing about May-Poles Church-Ales and such like which much displeased sober People to behold that Sacred Day so Prophaned however notwithstanding many complaints it continued and some were punished for opposing it by Writing or otherways Sir Walter Rawleigh making overtures to the King to find out a Rich Mine of Gold-Ore in Gunia by the directions of Captain Kentish once his Servant he was dismissed with some Ships and Men but Gondemar the Spanish Ambassador getting notice of this design writ to Spain about it with such Expedition that Letters from thence arrived in the West-Indies to Advertize of his preparations long before he came so that finding almost all places Fortified except St. Thomes they took that and attempted the River but in passing found such opposition as constrained them to retire without attchieving their ends which so perplexed Kentish that he Shot himself in his Cabin and Sir Walter upon his Return was seized by Sir Lewis Stukley his Kinsman and being brought to London was at the earnest instance and clamour of the Spanish Ambassador sent to the Tower and many grievous complaints laid to his charge of Imposing on the King and indangering a War with Spain That it would likewise break off the Treaty of Marrying again renewed between the Prince and Infanta of Spain with such aggravations that the King gave way he was brought to the King's-Bench Bar at Westminster where the Records of his former Arraignment were Read and he demanded why Execution should not be done upon him according to the Judgment that had been pronounced against him and he going about to Justifie himself on the account of his Voyage was told it was not in question but that he stood there upon his former Judgment which the King would have Executed upon him and tho' he urged much against it as the King 's Trust by a new Commission which he look'd upon as a Pardon c. his Execution was appointed and he Beheaded in the Old Palace-Yard at Westminster in the 60th Year of his Age which pacified the Spaniard for the Loss sustained by the West-India Voyage Soon after this Queen Ann dyed of a Dropsie at Hampton Court a prodigeous Blazing Star ushering her to another World And briefly thus stands her Character She was in her great Condition a good Woman not tempted from the heighth she stood on to Embroil things below her only giving herself content in her own House with such Recreations as might not make Time tedious to her so that nothing can be fixed on her but that she may have Engraven on her Monument a Character of Virtue The Bohemians having chosen Frederick Elector Palatine of the Rhine who Married the Lady Elizabeth King James's Daughter their King Revolted from the Emperour Ferdinand but being Overthrown by the Duke of Bavaria the Imperial General and all Bohemia recovered upon his return home he found his Palatinate Invaded by the Spaniards who with other Aides beat him out of it tho' King James sent about 6000 English to his Assistance who did many brave things but being worsted by great Numbers the poor remains of them in the conclusion of the War returned home This made the King call a Parliament to Refund his Treasure wasted in this War and on chargable Embasseys but they would not hearken to it before sundry Grievances were redressed and hereupon divers who had oppressed the People and mis-spent the publick Treasure were Questioned and Disgraced and among others the Lord Chancellour Bacon for Bribery and Extortion a thing he had always condemned in others and for it lost his Peerage and the Great Seal spending his days very melancholly afterward carrying only the empty title of Viscount St Albans to his Grave And after many contendings between the King and Parliament they not answering his expectations in giving the Sums required he Dissolved it and put out a Proclamation to restrain the peoples Talking to his prejudice but it little availed and the Earl of Oxford having been accused on that account by one White a Papist and the Earl of Southampton by others they were committed and continued a considerable time Prisoners The Kings Ambassadors found but slender success in their Negotiations being delay'd in the Courts of the Empire Spain and with the Duke of Bavaria which much troubled and vexed him And there being many strange Opinions creeping up the King sent his Letter to the arch-Arch-Bishops for Regulating the Ministry and Reforming Abuses therein but the Jesuits and other restless People under-hand laboured to Embroil the Factions and caused many disturbances which with other dissatisfactions from abroad cast the King into a Melancholly Temper especially the slights that were put upon the Prince his Son who went thither to Court in Person attended by Buckingham and others they endeavouring to pervert him in change of his Religion c. so that he was Indisposed and so much out of order a long time that his Favorites durst scarcely speak to him Then hearing the Spaniards still trifled his care was to get the Prince home again least having so wealthy a Prize they should detaine it and sent him secret notice to return Whereupon taking leave of the Queen of Spain and Infanta and the other Ladies and Grandees he was attended to the Sea Coast and in his return being in a Barge some distance from the Ships by a suddain Tempest he narrowly escaped being castaway for a time neither being able to reach the Ships or Shoar but at length he arrived safe to the high satisfaction of the King his Father but this Match after vast Expence and Trouble came to nothing tho' the Lady had a long time had Tutors to Teach her English and pleased enough she appeared at it but this was at last found only a device to retard the
with the Bodies and Blood of the Slain but fresh Forces arriving they found themselves constrained to submit and had to augment their Miseries great Tribute lay'd on them so that they groaned under the burthen of their Opression This Emperour began his Reign Anno Dom. 72 and Reigned Nine Years Titus Vespasian his Son succeeded him in the Empire and sent Offers of Peace to the Britains who accepted them He for his good Nature and Humanity was stiled Delicii Humani Generis The Delight of Mankind He took off part of the Taxes and permitted the Exercise of the Christian Religion which began to flourish in this Island making it his business every Evening to Examine his Actions of the past Day and if he had done no Good Deeds he accounted that Day lost yet his Reign was short viz. Two Years and Three Months Dying greatly Lamented throughout the Empire Domitian his Brother Succeeded him a Person of a cruel Nature who had sought his Death but was prevented This Man began his Reign Anno Dom. 83 he turned his rage and fury against the Christians causing multitudes of them to be Tortured to Death not only in this Land but throughout his Empire inventing New Torments which he first try'd in his Solitudes on Flys and other Insects so that when any one asked Who was with the Emperour It was the usual answer Non Musca not so much as a Fly He appointed Julius Agricola his Lieutenant whom the British Princes of the North opposed making a great Slaughter of his Souldiers but after many Skirmishes in a set Battel were overthrown on the borders of the Tweed Whereupon he Marched his Army through that Country now call'd Scotland with little opposition and was the first Roman that found this Country to be an Island 136 Years after the Landing of Julius Caesar This Emperour began his Reign Anno Dom. 83 and Reigned 15 Years having caused to be destroyed by several sorts of Deaths 10000 Christians At his Death a terible Tempest and Earthquake happened Flames ascended out of the Ground in Cornwal and the Sea broak in on the Essex-Shoar destroying many Villages Towns People and Cattel and Ebbing again left many Monstrous Fishes on the Plains Coceeius Nerva Succeeding this cruel Emperour recalled his Edicts against the Christians gave Peace to the Britains and had done many good things had he not been too hastily disappointed by Death He was called the Patron of the Poor being very Charitable His Reign began Anno 99. and continued only Ten Months Trajan Succeeded Nerva and at his first enterance began the Third Persecutian against the Christians he appointed Spartianus his Lieutenant in Britain with whom the British Princes Fought divers Battels with various success but were at last compell'd to submit being wasted with Slaughter and a grievous Famine that happened amongst them This Emperours Reign began Anno 100 and continued 21 Years and six Months before his Death a terrible Blazing-Star appear'd and the Sea in many places seemed all on Fire in the Night-time Strange and Amazing Voices were heard in the Air and the Water of the Humber seemed for two Days of the colour of BLOOD Adrian continued the Persecution of the Christians with great earnestness making the Streets of the Principal Towns stream with their Blood He appointed Trebellus his Lieutenant in Britain and though he had no open War with the Britains he wasted great numbers of them in digging Mines draining Marshes and making Bridges over Rivers to which servile Labours they were compell'd with rigor He began his Reign Anno Dom. 121 and continued it 22 Years Antonius Pius Succeeding Adrian stayed the Persecution of the Christians restoring them to their Goods and Lands that had been taken from them He constituted Lollius Vrbicus his Lieutenant in Britain against whom the Brigantes made head surprized him in his security and cut off a great number of his Souldiers But afterward in a bloody Battel they were overthrown compelled to submit and pay large Taxes to be restor'd to their possessions This Emperour was called the Patron of Virtue from the gifts and rewards he distributed among pious and learned Men. In his time the Christian Religion flourished and many places of Publick Worship were errected in Britain He began his Reign Anno 139 and Reigned 23 Years Marcus Aurelius Succeeding Antonius Abrogated his Edicts in favour of the Christians and Persecuted them with great fury Agricola was his Lieutenant in Britain and kept the Country in Peace all his time He began his Reign Anno 162 and continued it 19 Years Commodus though of a very wicked Life was however moved at the Sufferings of the Christians and restrained the Persecution In his time flourished King Lucius a Britain Son to King Coillus who Built Colchester and great Grandson to King Arviragus who Married the Emperour Drusius's Daughter He to the honour of this Nation was the first King in the World that embraced Christianity and by it set a good Example to others and to be the better informed in so Sacred a matter he sent Elvanus and Medvinus two of his Learned Counsellors to Elutherius Bishop of Rome to commune with him and receive Instructions from him for the good Government of his Kingdom The good Bishop at this greatly rejoyced and not only Instructed them in the Holy Faith but sent Faganus and Damianus to the King with the following Letter Good King you have received as I understand by your Messengers to my great Rejoycing in the Kingdom of Britain by Gods Mercy both the Law and the Faith of Christ Jesus our ever Blessed Lord you have both the Old and New Testament out of the same through Gods Grace by the Advice of your Realm take a Law and by the same through Gods sufferance Rule you your Kigndom of Britain for in that Kingdom you are Gods Vicar By this we see what different Spirits the Bishops of Rome were of in the time of Primitive Christianity to what they have since been they were then too Modest to Usurp Authority out of their own Jurisdiction and claim Supremacy over Kings yet Luxury Pride and Riches has since brought them not only to such a prodigious height of Arrogancy to set the World in a Flame with Wars and Mischiefs but even to dare to Corrupt the Holy Scriptures and by bringing in Traditions of their own jostle out the Doctrine of our Saviour and his Apostles filling the Nations with Blood and laying them Disolate where they have been opposed or their Revenge could take place The King upon this Advice called a Council and changed the Seats of the three Arch Flammins or Heathen Priests into Arch Bishopricks Viz. at London Glocester and York and the 24 Subordinate Flammins into so many Bishops Sees The Idol Gods of the Britains were laid in the Dust who were many viz. Taramis or Jupiter Tutates or Mercury Helus or Mars Hues or Bacchus Belenus or Apollo Belisama or the Moon Owvana or Minerva
God And coming soon after to be Pope he Remembring what he had said sent Augusting the Monk accompanied with Forty Men of several Religious Orders into Britain Anno Dom. 596 who making their Address to King Ethelbert were by him kindly received and had Canterbury then but a poor Village allowed them for their Residence with Liberty to Convert his Subjects to the Christian Faith so that by their painful industry in Preaching and exemplary Lives they made a considerable progress in the Glorious work of Salvation to poor Souls leading them out of the Darkness of Paganisme into the Marvelous Light of the Gospel so that again the Candle was Lighted which God for the Pride and Lukewarmness of the Christians had suffered in a great measure to be Extinguished in this Island and the King falling in Love with their Inoffensive Lives and conceiving a good Opinion of their Doctrine was Baptized with many Thousands of his Subjects in the Thirty Sixth Year of his Age and Fourteenth of his Reign Anno Dom. 596 for which God Blessed him with a long and prosperous Reign viz. Fifty Six Years Edelbard the Sixth King of Kent soon after his coming to the Crown was Converted by Lawrence Arch-Bishop of Canterbury whom Augustine on his Death-Bed had appointed his Successor in that See whereupon he Divorced himself from his Mother-in-Law whom he had Married after his Fathers Death and recalled Militus and Jusâ—us whom he had caused to fly beyond the Seas for fear of Persecution restoring them to their Bishopricks In his time Two mighty Whales were taken on the Coast of Kent and a Fight of Birds of various kinds were seen in the Air near Rochester about Noon whose numbers in that place in some measure Darkened the Sun for the space of an Hour He began his Reign Anno Dom. 618 and Reigned Twenty Four Years Ercombert the Seventh King of Kent began his Reign Anno Dom. 642. This Man was a great Lover of the Christians everywhere in his Dominions suppressing the Idol Temples causing the Christian Worship strictly to be Observed throughout his Dominions Building divers Churches commanding the Fast of Lent to be kept He Reigned Twenty Four Years Egbert the Eighth King of Kent began his Reign Anno Dom. 666. He was of a cruel Nature Murthering his two Nephews Ethelred and Ethelbert to secure the Kingdom to his Posterity casting their Dead Bodies into the Medway a River runing by Rochester and Chattam whose Water thereupon for a time seemed of the colour of Blood and was so corrupted that a number of Fish dyed in it which was held as a Divine Judgment to upbraid the Murtherer after which he had a troublesome Reign his own People murmuring against him and being often ready to Rebel A little before his Death a terrible Blazing-Star appear'd for six Nights at South East soon after the seting of the Sun He Reigned Nine Years and odd Days Lothaire the Ninth King of Kent began his Reign Anno Dom. 675. In his time there was held the Third General Council at Constantinople where 600 Bishops were present Three of which went from England and had the Precedency given them before divers other Nations Agatho being then Bishop of Rome Afterward engaging in a War against Ethelred King of Mercia and Edrick King of the South Saxons he charging in the thickest of the Battel and endeavouring to break in upon the Mercian Standard where that King stood Invironed with his Nobles a Dart being thrown overthwart with a strong hand struck him on the Left Side and pierced through the Right so that he instantly fell Dead on the place when he had Reigned Eleven Years and his death so discouraged his Souldiers who had before near-gained the Victory that they quitted the Field and fled Ederick the Tenth King of Kent was a Man of great Courage but using some Cruelty towards his Nobility they grew displeased with him and laboured to stir up the common People to a dislike of his Government and at last raised a Rebellion against him and in a great Battel near Maidstone he was Slain and his Body very despitefully used The Night before this Battel there were Groans and Cries heard as proceeding out of the Air and most of the Lawrels throughout the Country Withered after which great Mischief happened for the Victors not agreeing about dividing the spoil fell into parties and in clandestine Broyles shed much Blood so that there was no King in Kent for six years This Ederick Reigned only two Years and ten Days begining it Anno Dom. 682. Withred the Eleventh King of Kent upon his Brothers Overthrow fled from the Popular Fury to Ine King of the West Saxons with whom he remained till the expiration of the six Years when agreeing with him for a considerable sum of Money he Restored him to the Kingdom which sum not exceeding 6000 l. being raised on the Subject caused great Murmurings but he quieted them by promising to Live Frugally Proclaiming a general Pardon and granting them many Priviledges which in former Reigns they enjoyed not so that he lived rather like a Private Man than a Soveraigne Prince Yet he had great Wars with Ethelred King of Mercia He Reigned 33 Years beginning it Anno Dom. 694. Edbert the Twelfth King of Kent Succeeded Withred He at the beginning of his Reign laboured for Peace and setled the Kingdom that had been harrassed and in a manner destroyed by the Mercians in the former Reign Rebuilding the Churches and Monastries they had Ruinated But in the Fourth Year of his Reign the Beacons of Heaven foreshewed more Misery to the already suffering Kingdom two Blazing-Stars appearing successively the one in the South West and the other at South East after which great Dissentions arose among the Saxon Kings and much Blood was spilt in divers places the Britains were likwise extreamly distressed by the Invading Norhumbers and West Saxons who penned them within the Streights and Mountains of Wales till Famine coming on numbers were Starved in the Rocks and Caves whither they had retired for shelter He began his Reign Anno Dom. 727 and Reigned 23 Years Ethelbert the Thirteenth King of Kent began his Reign Anno Dom. 750. At his coming to the Crown he laboured to promote Christianity gave large Gifts to the Cathedral Church of Canterbury and to St. Andrews in Rochester Built by Ethelbert the Second King of Kent He laboured also to keep Peace with his Neighbours yet such was the greedy desire of the Saxons to incroach on each other having beaten the poor Britains out of all the Counties that were worth Possessing that Wars ensued and much Blood was shed Yet he Dyed in Peace whan he had Reigned Eleven Years Alrick the Fourteenth King of Kent began his Reign Anno Dom. 761 but after he had Reigned 34 Years Offa the great King of the Mercians Quarrelled with him for Entertaining Duke Edesin who Fled from his Fury yet this seemed only a pretence his
Ambition aiming to Annex Kent to his own large Dominions whereupon both Armies approaching near Ottford joyned in a Bloody Battel which lasted Twelve Hours when Alrick being beaten down and slain with a Battel-Ax his Men fled the Field and were so hotly pursued that many of them were put to the Sword and great spoil made through all the Country which was continued from the South to the North as far as the River Humber In his time The second General Council was held at Nice being the seventh General Council for all Christendom Ethelbert the Third and Fifteenth King of Kent Usurped the Kingdome after the Death of Alrick whereupon Kenwolfe the Mercian upon his denying to pay him Tribute and Homage came against him with a powerful Army and in a fatal Battel he was overthrown and taken Prisoner and carried into Mercia where he continued some Years But Kenwolfe having erected a stately Church at Winchcomb in Glocestershire at the Dedication of it where were present Ten Dukes and Thirteen Bishops he sent for him and at the High Altar freely Released him without any Ransom so he returned again to his People He began his Reign Anno Dom. 795 and Reigned Three Years Cuthred the Sixteenth King of Kent was contrary to the mind of the People placed in the Throne by Kenwolfe King of Mercia but nothing Memorable is Recorded of him He began his Reign 798 and Reigned Three Years In his time a terrible Earth-quake happened in this Island which overthrew many stately Buildings Baldred the Seventeenth and last King of Kent began his Reign 806 but displeasing Kenwolfe King of Mercia he drove him out of the Kingdom when he had Reigned Eighteen Years for the Conqueror annexed it to his own Dominions when it had continued a distinct Kingdom 372 Years 2. Of the South Saxon Kingdom in the Succession of Four Kings Ella a Captain of the Low Germans was the first Founder of this Kingdom as in the foregoing Chapter is mentioned At his Landing at Shorâ—ham in Sussex he divided his Forces under his three Sons viz. Cymen Plettinger and Cissa but finding he was too weak for the Britains that Inhabited Sussex and Surry he was constrained to go over-Sea to fetch greater Strength Then in a set Battel he gave them a fatal Overthrow forcing them into a vast Wood on the South of Kent called Andersleger where many of them perished for want others stole away by Night and some submitted to the Victor whereupon he setled his Borders Bounded on the North with the Thames dividing it from Middlesex and part of Buckinghamshire on the South with the Ocean on the West with Hampshire and on the East with Kent being Counties exceeding fertil in Corn and Rich Pastures stored with excellent Fruits and great numbers of Cattle He began his Reign Anno Dom. 488 and continued it 32 Years Cissa Son to Ella Second King of the South Saxons began his Reign 520 and confederating with Cherdick King of the West Saxons allowing him a small Tribute for some part of his Country which that King layed claim to by Priority he Built Chichester in Sussex and Chisbury Fortifying the Sea-Coast opposing France after that he layed heavy Taxes on his Subjects which Money when raised he sent to Cherdick to maintain his War against the Britains So that being sheltered on all sides from their Invasions he had a long and peacable Reign some Historians alow him 76 Years but this must needs be a mistake considering he was at Mans Estate when he came into this Land and that his Father Reigned 32 Years so that the more moderate allow him to have Reigned only 36 Years Ethelwolfe the Third King of the South Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 596 at which time divers terrible and amazing Sights appeared in the Air of Armies in Rout with great noises of Thunder and flashes of Lightening many drops of the colour of Blood falling at the same time in divers parts of Surry which seemed to Prognosticate the great Bloodshed that afterwards happened when this Kingdom was Invaded by Ceadwald then a Banished Prince of the West Saxons who gathering to him Out-Laws and other Resolute Persons in a Mortal Battel slew Ethelwolfe and divers of his Nobles and pursuing his Victory entered the Kingdom of Kent where he put the Monks to the Sword levelling with the Ground all the Religious Houses that he found in his Progress and then made himself King of the South Saxons after which he greatly lamented the desolation he had made This Ethelwolfe a considerable time before his Death as Bede a very Venerable Clergyman Reports was Converted to the Christian Religion by Bishop Wilfrid though some affirm it to be done by Berinus Bishop of Dorchester He Reigned Twenty Five Years Barthun the Fourth King of the South Saxons and Duke Autban his assistant soon after Ethelwolfes Death prevailed with the People to Banish their Intruding King Ceadwell and within a short time Barthun geting the sole Power into his hands Ceadwell returned with a great Army and after a Fight of Eight Hours on the Plain now called Banstead-Downs Barthun was Slain and his Subjects submitted to the Conqueror who made himself by this Victory a second time King of the South Saxons annexing it by right of Conquest to the West Saxon Kinghom after the Succession of Four Kings who upheld it One Hundred and Thirty Three Years It Begining Anno Dom. 488 and Ending 621. So that by this Addition the West Saxons became very formidable not only to the Britains but their own Countrymen who bordered on them 3. The Kingdom of the East Saxons in the Succession of Fourteen Kings This Kingdom Commenced Anno Dom. 522 containing Middlesex and Essex Counties abounding in Cattle Corn Warrens store of Deer Fowl Fish and other advantagious Commodities Bounded on the North with Suffolk Cambridgshire and Hartfordshire on the South with the River Thames dividing it from Kent and Surry on the West with Buckinghamshire and on the East with the Sea Erchenwin was the First Saxon that framed it into a Kingdom after he had assisted the other Saxons with the Forces he brought over to drive the Britains out of their possessions in the Fertil parts of England and then giving himself much to Peace and framing such Laws from those in Germany as best suited to the wellfare of his People in this Country he continued his Reign Sixty Years Dying in Peace Anno Dom. 582. Sleadda the Second King of the East Saxons Succeeding Erchenwin Encouraged the Idol Temples and much Oppressed the Christians at the beginning of his Reign but upon seeing a threatening Vision of Angels with drawn Swords opposing his Progress he grew much milder at the Latter-end of his Reign which began Anno Dom. 582 and ended 591. Sebert the Third King of the East Saxons though at first a Persecutor of the Christians was at last so far overcâ—me by their harmless and inoffensive Lives that he applying
himself to Miletus the first Bishop of St. Paul's in London by his grave Advice was induced to embrace the Christian Religion This famous Church was Founded by him and Ethelbert King of Kent in the place where before stood a Temple Dedicated to Diana wherein many Bloody Sacrifices had been offered to the supposed Goddess and so becoming the first Christian King of the East Saxons he was a great Encourager of Religious Men and Women building at their request divers other Churches in London and elsewhere He began his Reign Anno Dom. 591 and Reigned 21 Years Sered the Fourth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 611 He revoked the Indulgences of his Predecessors to the Christians and in attempting to Prophane The Lords Table being withstood by Miletus the Bishop of St. Paules he Banished him his Dominions but afterward entering on a War with Kingills King of the West Saxons which continued for some time he was in the conclusion of it Slain when he had Reigned Six Years A little before his Death he had a Dream like to that of Smyrdis Son to Cyrus the Great and Brother to King Cambysis of Persia viz. That he sat on the West Saxon Throne and his Head reached the Skies which being falsly Interpreted by his flatterers who pushed him on in his Ambitiaus designs whilst like the other he lost his Life though by different means the first Murthered by his Brothers command on a Jealousie he designed to Usurp the Persian Monarchy and the latter Fighting to enlarge his Dominions Sigesbert the Fifth King af the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 620. He made several Laws against Murtherers and Thieves that then much abounded in the Country In his time a dreadful Fire happened in London consuming most of the Eastern part of it but it was soon Re-built and much inlarged by this Kings Encouragement and the Michaelmas following a number of Porpoises came up the River whereupon preat Storms followed and the Thames overflowing lay'd many Hundreds of Acres under Water in Kent and Surry He Reigned Twenty Three Years Sigebert the Sixth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 643. He Restored again the True Worship in that Kingdom being perswaded by Oswy King of the Northumbers to be Baptized by Bishop Finnan giving Large Gifts to the Churches and Monasteries earnestly labouring to settle Peace among his Neighbours but being of a very wild temper and soft by Nature his two Brothers took the advantage of his weakness Conspired against him and Murthered him when he had Reigned Fifteen Years Swithelm the Seventh King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 658 upon the enterance on it he became a Christian and was Baptized by Bishop Cedda Ethelwald King of the East Angles being his Godfather In his time London began to flourish very much in Trade the Merchants and Traders having large Priviledges granted them A little before his Death A Globe of Fire fell on St. Paul 's Church and Burnt the Roof of it His Reign continued only Three Years and odd Days Sighere the Eighth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 661. He had embraced the Christian Faith but Apostatized on a slight Occasion and of a Father of the Church became a Persecutor but being afflicted with a grievous Disease he was smitten with Remorse of Conscience and many Thousands of his Subjects being Destroyed by a raging Pestilence he Remembered frem whence he was Fallen and Returned to the Christian Communion into which he was gladly received by an Assembly of the Clergy who prevailed with him to destroy the Idols and demolish their Altars He Reigned Five Years Sebba the Ninth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 666 being given much to a Religious Life and much Repenting the Blood he had shed when he was General in the Wars whereupon when he had Reigned Thirty Years he layed down his Scepter and took on him a Religious Habit in the Monastery of St. Paul's at London bequeathing his Kingdom to Sigherd his Kinsman Sigherd the Tenth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 696. He sent Forces to assist the West Saxons against the Britains who made strong Incursions into their Territories and carried away great Booties in the mean time divers Pirates from Denmark and Norway Invaded his Sea-Coasts Burning and Plundering many Villages but a mighty Tempest arising they suffered Shipwrack and so many of them as Escaped to Shoar were destroyed by the Country Peasants He Built many Religious Houses and Reigned Seven Years Seofrid the Eleventh King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 703. He Built Forts on the advantagious Havens to the Sea-Coast to prevent the Landing of Foreign Enemies by surprize encouraging his People to Trade with the Neighbour Nations so that many of the North East Countries were discovered and great Riches brought home which caused others who had advantagious Havens to take the like Measures whereupon the Shiping encreased He Reigned Seven Years Offa the Twelfth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 711. He was a great Encourager of the Christians and in his time the Christian Religion spread into all parts of his Dominions He Invited over Religious Men out of other Countries and ordered Publick Schooles to be Erected and being desirous to see Rome which he had heard so much of by Fame when he had Reigned Eight Years he went thither and being much taken with the Devotion of the Religious there he became a Monk and Dyed in that station leaving large Legacies to the Church Selred the Second and Thirteenth King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 719. In his time a grievous Famine was in this Kingdom for the space of three Years so that People in many places were compelled to Eat Grass Roots Leaves and Barks of Trees and yet many Thousands were Famished Great flashes of Fire likewise Issued out of the Earth which Burnt up the Trees and Grass and Destroyed some People and much Cattel but soon after a great Plenty ensued He Reigned Thirty Eight Years Suthred the Fourteenth and Last King of the East Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 757. He had great Wars with Egbert King of the West Saxons so that in various Battels Fifty Thousand of his People being Slain he was so weakned that not being able to make head any longer he withdrew himself and left his Dominions to the prevailing Enemy when in much Trouble he had upheld them Eight Years So that Egbert annexing it as a Province to his own Kingdom Extinguished the Name of the East-Saxon-Kingdom about the Year of Christ 827. CHAP. VI. A Description of the Kingdoms of Northumberland and Mercia with the Succession of their Kings and the most Memorable Transactions Portents and Prodigies both in Peace and War that happened during their Reignes 4. The Kingdom of Northumberland as it Began and continued in
the Reignes of Twenty Five Kings THE Kingdom of Northumberland Extended very largly in the North of England containing Yorkshire Durham Lancashire Westmorland Cumberland and Northumberland Bounded on the North with the German Ocean on the West with the Irish Sea and part of Scotland on the South with Cheshire Derbyshire Notinghamshire and Lincolnshire abounding with Sea-Coale Mineralls Quarries of Stone Cattle Rivers stored with Salmon Trouts and other Fish Fat Pastures Fowl and abundance of Corn. Ida and Ella two Saxon Dukes first Modelled it into a Kingdom Anno Dom. 597 causing divers Towns to be Built that had been ruined in the Wars keeping strong Guards on their Borders to defend them against Encroachments yet after they had Reigned Fifteen Years finding themselves too weak to bandy against the Britains Picts and East Angles who greatly disturbed them in their Settlement to render them able to keep what they had Seized they sent for five German Captains who came with more Forces by which additional Strength the Kingdom was Established But about that time Ida Dying they Quarrelled with Ella for their Parts or Shares whereupon to prevent the effusion of Blood and rending it in pieces by Civil Dissention it was agreed they should Reign with him as Co-Parteners Anno Dom. 562. The Continuance of their Reigns were as followeth 2. Theadwold 1 Year 3. Elappea 5 Years 4. Adda 7 Years 5. Ferthuf 7 Years 6. Theodorick 7 Years But Ella Out-living some and Banishing others when he found he was powerful in the Love of his People and they hated for their Tyranny Reigned singly many Years after and in all Forty Two Viz. till 589. Elthelrick Accounted by the foregoing means the Seventh King of Northumberland Succeeding Ella Anno Dom. 589. His Accession to the Throne was ushered in by a fearful Blazing Star and the Sea breaking in near Hortle Pool in the Bishoprick of Durham swept away divers Villages Drowning many People and Cattle He had Wars with the Picts who bordered on the North of his Kingdom and in a set Battel near Wark in Northumberland gave them a great overthrow as also the Scots their Confederates entering their Kingdom and bringing away large Booties so that they were constrained to sue for Peace which was granted But intending to War on the Britains Death put a period to that Enterprize when he had Reigned four Years Anno 593. Ethelfrid the Eighth King of Northumberland began his Reign Anno Dom. 593 being a mortal Enemy to the poor Britains making Inroads into their Territories and destroying all before him when coming to the Monastery of Bangor in Carnarvanshire the Monks came out with Presents to meet him Singing a Hymn as a demonstration of his Welcom but this and their Innocence which they too much trusted in little availed to Skreen them from his Fury for being of a Bloody temper Eleven Hundred of them in that Monastry and others Adjacient were miserably Massacred at his Command a little while after the meeting of Augustin Bishop of Canterbury with the British Bishops at Austin's Oak in Worcestershire to settle matters of Religion according as it was practiced at Rome but those Bishops in many Points Dissenting from him the Assembly abruptly broke up and for this he is hardly censured and not without ground to be the Instigater of Ethelfrids Cruelty This Ethelfrid Fought with Cadwan King of the Britains near West-Chester and overthrew him with great slaughter and after a Peace concluded which lasted during their Lives he Warred on the Scots and defeated Edanaden their King at Degsaxton on the Marches of Scotland and Banished Edwin his Kinsman and Heir Apparent to the Crown who flying for protection to Redwald King of the East Angles they raised an Army and joyning Battel many of Ethelfrids Souldiers who bore good-will to Edwin seeing his Standard in the Field Revolted whereupon Ethelfrid labouring to restore the declining Battel threw himselfe like a desperate Man among the thickest of the Enemies and was slain when he had Reigned Thirty Two Years Edwin after the Death of Ethelfrid was placed by Redwald in the Throne of the Northumbrian Kingdom and is accounted the Ninth King He began his Reign Anno Dom. 626. It is reported by the Monks of those times who were mightily addicted to such Foolish and Superstitious Fables That in his Banishment the Apostle St. Paul Appeared to him in a Vision Preaching to him the Gospel and telling him if he would cause it to be freely Preached in the Northumbrian Kingdom he should be shortly placed in the Throne which he then promised to do whereupon the Vision laying one Hand on his Head and Commanding him to remember that Sign Vanished But after he gained his desires forgeting his promise the same Apostle appeared to Paulinus the Bishop of York and commanded him to lay his Hand on the Kings Head and demand if he remembred that Sign which he had no sooner done but Edwin fell at his Feet begging Pardon for his neglect and was thereupon with many of his Nobles Baptized at York after which he Built many Religious Houses and was himself a great promoter of Christianity sheltering and relieving such as fled the Persecution of Pagan Kings which Charitable succour of the distressed was the main ground on which Penda King of the Mercians founded his Quarrel so that a Bloody War ensuing Edwin and Offrid his Son were slain in Battel the Mercians at that time being assisted by Cadwallo King of the Britains when he had Reigned Seven Years In his time he much inlarged the Northumbrian Kingdom subduing the Coasts of Britain and the Islands of the Hebrides To prevent whose progress one Eumerius was sent by the West Saxon King to Murther him but was prevented by Lillia the Kings Chamberlain steping between on the push and receiving the Mortal Wound in his own Body He Built the Cathedral at York of Stone which before was only of Wood. Offride or Osrick the Tenth King of Northumberland began his Reign Anno Dom. 633. By Edwin's Example encouraging and promoting the Christian Religion In his time a Little Stream of the Colour of Blood burst from a Rock near York and soon after entering on a War against Cadwallo King of the Britains he was Slain when he had Reigned about a Year Oswald the Eleventh King of Northumberland began his Reign Anno Dom. 634 he followed the steps of his Two Predecessors in promoting the Christian Religion sending for Adian a Scotch Bishop of great note to assist him in so good a Work who Preaching in Landesfeorn or Holy Island in Scotland and the King Interpreting it to the People many of them were Converted and Baptized He had great Wars with the Britains and in a set Battel slew Cadwallo the last but one of the race of the British Kings and the greatest part of his Army at Deniseburn so that he had Peace on that side but thinking to gain the like advantage over Penda the Mercian King
from Remald then King of that Island and gave it to Edilwach King of the South Saxons to whom he stood Godfather upon condition of his being Baptized into the Christian Faith though so great an Enemy he was to the Christians before his Conversion That he Caused his two Sons to be put to Death for being Baptized but as a Pennance for that Sin and to Attone for Innocent Blood he Founded the Abby Church at Peterbourough in Northamptonshire and Endowed it with large Gifts He Reigned Sixteen Years and odd Months Ethelred the Seventh King of Mercia began his Reign Anno Dom. 675. He made Wars on the Kentish Kingdom laying it desolate in a manner with Fire and Sword not sparing Churches or any Religious Houses This Desolation was forewarned by the appearance of two dreadful Blazing Stars which were Vissible for the space of three Months at the Instance of his Wife he turned Willfridus out of his Bishoprick but at last being stricken with Remorse of Conscience for the Slaughters and other Wastes he had made he resigned his Crown and Government to Kenred his Nephew whose Right it was before and turning Monk made a Religious End though he had Lived Wickedly the greatest part of his days He Reigned Twenty Nine Years Kenred began his Reign Anno Dom. 704 but seemed little to affect an Earthly Diadem labouring to be at Peace with his Neighbours by restoring as much as lay in his power what his Predecessor had Violently taken from them and when he had Reigned Five Years he resigned his Kingdom to his Cousin Chelred and took his Journey to Rome with Offa King of the East Saxons and Edwin Bishop of Winchester where he became a Monk and Dyed in that station He was the Eighth King of Mercia Chelred the Ninth King of the Mercians began his Reign Anno Dom. 709 but had not long been in the Throne e're Ine or Inas King of the West Saxons emulating his spreading greatness Quarrelled with him about the Boundaries of their Kingdoms so that a fatal War ensued and much Blood was shed they being now the Two most Powerful Kings of the Heptarchy so that others siding with them the whole Nation was Embroyled in their Quarrel nor ended it with his Reign which lasted Seven Years Ethelbald the Tenth King of Mercia began his Reign Anno Dom. 716. He raised great Forces and laying Siege to Summerton had it Surrendered Then he turned his whole Power on the Northumbrians Ravaged the Country and took great Spoile but in his return Cuthred King of the West Saxons gave him Battel for lucre of the spoil and routed him at Burford in Oxfordshire and after that another great Overthrow near Tamworth in Warwickshire where by the procurement of one Bernzed a principal Captain in his Host he was Slain in a Mutiny of his People when he had Reigned Twenty Four Years He is said to have Builded the Monastery of Crowland and divers other Religious Houses Offa the Eleventh King of Mercia began his Reign Anno Dom. 758. He Warred upon Alrick King of Kent Slaying him in Battel near Otteford and made great Spoil and Destruction in his Kingdom as also that of the South Saxons and puffed up with Victory not so contented he Marched through the Countries of the East Saxons as far as the Mouth of the River Humber bringing great Terror on the Northumbrian Kingdom and at his Return Kenwolf King of the West Saxons endeavouring to Intercept him with great Power in hopes to be Master of the Rich Booty he had gathered in divers Counties he was by him Overthrown with much Slaughter near Merton This Offa caused a Ditch of Forty Eight Foot Wide and Fifteen Deep to be Cut or Thrown up running a Line between England and Wales the tract of which is yet visible and retains the Name of Offa's Ditch commanding the Britains under the Penalty of being pursued with Fire and Sword not to pass this bound But they little regarding his Threats threw it down in divers places and came Armed into Mercia making great Spoil though it proved to their disadvantage for Offa entering Wales with a Potent Army Overthrew Marmodius their Prince and most of his Followers wasting the Towns and Villages with Fire for near Fifty Miles This Offa Reigned Thirty Nine Years In his time a terrible Earth-Quake overthrew many Churches and stately Buildings Egfrid the Twelfth King of Mercia began his Reign Anno Dom. 797. This Man was well affected to the Christian Religion Restoring the Church to all her Antient Priviledges which his Father had deprived her of contributing to the Rebuilding those that had been laid in Ruins by Offa in Kent and other Counties He was a great lover of Peace and laboured to reconcile those that were at difference yet his Reign was very short continuing only Four Months and odd Days Kenwolf the Thirteenth King of Mercia began his Reign Anno Dom. 797. He Warred on the Kingdom of Kent and made great Spoil Overthrowing Ethelbert the Third and taking him Prisoner but Released him at the Dedication of a new Church he had Builded at Winchcomb and afterward much Inlarged his Borders during his Twenty Two Years Reign Kenelm coming Young to the Crown Anno Dom. 819 was much given to Pleasure and Recreations leaving the chief Management of his weighty Affaires to Askbert his Tutor who greatly Inriched himself by Oppressing the People and fearing to be called to a strict Account upon the many Complaints made against him he Conspired with Quendride the Kings Sister whose Favourite he was to cover the Guilt of his crimes with a greater so that taking an opportunity when the King was in his Retirement he Murthered him when he had Reigned about Five Months He was the Fourteenth King of Mercia Ceolwolfe Succeeding Kenelm laboured to settle Affairs which were much out of order but the Methods of his proceedings being disliked one Bernulfe a Duke very Powerful at that time among the common People stirred them up to Rebellion so that rising Tumultuously they forced him to Abdicate the Throne by a secret withdrawing to prevent the dire effects of Popular-Fury when he had Reigned One Year So that for a time great Distractions were amongst them but Anno Dom. 821 Bernulfe got possession of the vacant Throne This Ceolwolfe was the Fifteenth King of Mercia Bernulfe by Flattery distribution of Money and fair Promises getting possession of the Kingdom found great Troubles from his Powerful Neighbours the West Saxons and East Angles Egbert King of the former making fierce Wars upon him wasting his Borders and destroying multitudes of his People and after Bernulfe Warring on the East Angles who had entered Lincolnshire and made great Spoil was Slain in a bloody Battel with many Thousands of his Subjects in the Third Year of his Reign Anno Dom. 824. He was the Sixteenth King of Mercia Ludecan the Seventeenth King of the Mercians began his Reign Anno Dom. 824 but being embroyled
by a Shepherd was Buried together with his Body at a place in Suffolk bearing from thence the Name of St. Edmunds-Bury he being soon after Cannonized a Saint and Martyr And with him ceased the East Angle Government there being no mention made of any more Kings that Governed it as a distinct Kingdom About the number of Years he Reigned Authors disagree and therefore I pass them over as uncertain and proceed to the last of the Seven Kingdoms viz. That of the West Saxons 7. The West Saxon Kingdom described with the Succession of its Kings and what things worthy of History happened during their respective Reigns Also by what means they at last Obtained the Sole Monarchy of England c. The Kingdom of the West Saxons contained the spacious and fertil Counties of Cornwal Devonshire Dorcetshire Somersetshire Wiltshire Hampshire and Barkshire Bounded on the North with Monmouthshire Gloucestershire Oxfordshire and Bristol-Channel on the East with Sussex Surry and part of Buckinghamshire on the South with the British-Ocean and part of the Channel on the West with the Ocean These Counties abound in plenty of Corn Wooll Tinn Fruits Cattle and profitable Manufactures having many Excellent Harbours opening advantageously to the Sea so that growing by such means Rich and Powerful they failed not at length to bring under the other Kingdoms Uniting them in a Sole Monarchy under Egbert their Seventeenth King as in the Series of this History will appear Cherdick a Valiant Captain of the Low Country Germans first laboured to form these Counties into a Kingdom but before he could do it he had Six Years Wars with the Britains in which he Fought a great Battel with Aurelius Ambrosius their King and was put to the Rout but upon his Death which happened Two Years after by Poison as has been related Vter-Pendragon Brother to Aurelius being Crowned King of the Britains he borrowed Forces of Hengist who were sent under the Leading of Ebusa and Octa his two Sons but these Forces were as the former overthrown by Vter-Pendragon and Hengists Sons were taken Prisoness but whilst the Victor neglected the Tents of Mars for the softer Alcove of Venus viz. To sport with the fair Igren Wife to the Duke of Cornwal on whom he got the Renouned Prince Arthur who Succeeded him as King over the Britains the Noble Captives Escaped and again advancing their Standard in the Field were Slain with most of their followers These bad beginnings so startled Cherdrick that he found little hopes to keep the footing he had gained but more Forces coming unexpectedly to his Aid he resolved to try another Battel with the Britains which was Fought near Salisbury wherein Fortune turning her Wheel about he put the British Army to the Foil killing Natauleon one of their great Captains and made so great a slaughter of his Enemies that for a time he had no Interruption in settling his Affairs but after the Death of Vter-Pendragon who Died of Poison put into a Well whereof he used to Drink every Morning King Arthur gave great disturbances to him in the settlement of his new acquired Kingdom much Blood being shed between them in divers Battels yet beginning his Reign Anno Dom. 501 he continued it Thirty Three Years Kenrick the Second King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 534. He was Son to Cherdick and a Mortal Enemy to the Britains In his Fathers time he Commanded a part of the Army and Fought several Battels and now coming to the Crown he raised all his Forces and gave the Britains two great Overthrows viz. One at Shrewsbury and the other at Banbury in Oxfordshire He Reigned Twenty Six Years Chewlin the Third King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 560. He Warred upon Ethelbert King of Kent and defeated his Army at Wimbledon slaying two of his chief Commanders and this is held to be the first Battel fought between Saxons and Saxons in England a little before which it remarkably happened at Feversham in Kent That a Tame Wolfe having brought forth Seven Male Young-ones they lived Quietly together till grown up and then never left Fighting till all but one were Destroyed as it afterward befell the Saxon Heptarchy This King gave a great Overthrow to the Britains at Bedford and Surprized Four of their Towns viz. Liganbury Ailsbury Bensington and Evisham He Fought another Battel with them at Deorham and Slew three of their Dukes viz. Farmnagill Coinmagill and Candigan Taking the Cities of Glocester Bath and Cirencester But not long after Encountering them at Wodensbridge his Army was defeated and Cuth his Eldest Son Slain for here a party of Saxons assisted the Britains under the Command of Cearlick his Nephew who had fled to them upon hard usage and fear of being made away by his unnatural Uncle He Reigned Thirty Three Years Cearlick the Fourth King of the West Savons gained the Kingdom by the Overthrow of his Uncle Chewlin which he gave him at Waines-Ditch in Wiltshire Anno Dom. 593 after which he found much trouble ere he could be settled in the Government but the Britains standing his Friends he continued his Reign Six Years Chelwolf began his Reign Anno Dom. 598 but scarce was he settled in the Throne ere the Britains Invaded his Territories making great Spoil but finding they were too weak to withstand him alone in process of time they drew the Scots and Picts to their assistance so that many bloody Battels were fought with various success In which Wars he Dyed in the 14th Year of his Reign leaving his Kingdom in much distress and perplexity He was the 5th King of the West Saxons Kingills the Sixth King of the West Saxons began his Reign Anno Dom. 612. He had great Wars with the Britains and in a pitched Battel at Beandune he put Cudwan their King to the Rout Slaying above a Thousand of his Subjects and having concluded a Peace with Penda King of the Mercians he grievously Oppressed them so that for a long time they were confined to the Mountains and Fastnesses in the Country now called Wales However after he was Converted to the Christian Faith by Berinus he abated much of his Severity making Dorchester a Bishops See and placing that Religious Man in it He was the First Christian King of the West Saxons and Reigned Thirty One Years Kenwald the Seventh King of the West Saxons made great Wars upon the Britains Overthrowing King Cadwallo at a place called Pennum with incredible slaughter but growing Proud on the success and Quarreling with Penda King of Mercia whose Sister he had Married and in Contempt of him turned her away he was by him driven out of his Kingdom But upon Submitting and being Baptized by Bishop Felix he was restored to his Kingdom and thereby obliged by Penda to receive his Wife into Favour He began his Reign Anno Dom. 643 and Reigned Thirty One Years Eskwin the Eighth King of the West Saxons began his Reign
many Years Elbowed each other and discontented with a Part strugled who should become Masters of the Whole and Amass the Light Crowns into one more Ponderous we find Fortune or rather Providence gave this advantage to Egbert the Seventeenth King of the West Saxons though to attain it he waded as I may term it through a Sea of Blood in his Wars with the Welsh for so I must henceforth stile the poor remainders of the Antient British Race as taking upon them that Epithite and calling their Principality Wales after the Name the Saxons had many Years before given it also with the Cornishmen who Rebelled against him and were assisted with Supplies from Armorica or Britany in France in his Wars against Bernulf King of Mercia and his subduing the Kingdom of Kent and compelling the East South and Angle Saxons to submit to him In these Enterprizes which took him up for the most part the Nineteen Years he Reigned as Petty Monarch over the West Saxons about one Hundred Thousand are held to be Slain on all sides so that the Crown purchased at so large an expence of Lives being set on his Head as has been said at Winchester he commanded the Name of Saxons to be changed into that of Englishmen corresponding with the Name given to the Country they Inhabited That by this change they by degrees might forget the Distinctions they before were under and so firmly Unite as one Kingdom and People not tending to different but one and the same Interest This Egbert gaining through many difficulties what he long before aspired to made divers good Laws for the better Establishment of his new acquired Soveraignty so that the Welsh though they put not themselves under his Protection yet desirous to be at Peace sent him many Presents out of their divided Dominions of North and South Wales which Provincees for no more must I call them Kingdoms were Governed by Petty Princes After this Egbert made a Progress through the greatest part of England appointing Judges and other Magistrates to see the Laws put in Execution against Offenders and to redress the Wrongs and Grievances of such as were Oppressed being received every where with great respect and then thinking to lead a quiet Life he found by sad experience the Inconstancy of Fortune BARKSHIRE Having promised to give a Brief Description of England and its Rarities c. To make good my Word I conceive no better Method to do it in than placing the Counties and what I find in them worthy of Remark after the respective Reign of each Sole Monarch taking them Alphabetically and first of Barkshire Described c. THis County is bounded on the North with part of Oxfordshire and part of Buckinghamshire on the East with part of Middlesex and part of Surry on the South with Hampshire and partly on the West with Wiltshire It is Rich in Clothworking Fat Pasture abundance of Cattle rare Artificers Rivers stored with Fish of divers sorts particularly the River Kennet abounds with Trouts It Containes 140 Parishes 20 Hundreds 12 Market Towns and 3 Rivers of note and to the Parliament Abingdon sends one Member New Windsor two Reading two and Wallingford two besides two Knights of the Shire The Towns Memorable for things of Note are these viz. At Reading was Interred the Body of King Henry the First in a Collegiate Church of an Abby Founded by himself as also his Queen and Daughter Maud the Empress This place is also Memorable for the Birth of William Laud Arch Bishop of Canterbury the Son of a Poor Clothier At Englesfield the Danes were defeated Wallingford is the Gallena of Ptolomy it was the Antient station of the Romans and chief City of the Atrebants Windsor was Builded by King Edward the Third who Instituted the most Noble Order of the Garter The Burying Place of Henry the Sixth Edward the Fourth Henry the Eighth and King Charles the First Eaton was Founded by King Henry the Sixth and Renouned as a Nursery for bringing up of Youth being one of the chiefest Free-Schools in England Sunning was an Episcopal See during the Residence of Eight Bishops which afterward was translated to Sherbourn and so to Salisbury where it now is fixed At Wantage King Alfred Sir Named the Scourge of the Danes was Born Waltham in the East of this County was an Antient station of the Romans as also was Sinodum in the North as appears by many Roman Coins and Medals of their Emperours Digged up there Newbury is Renowned for the Birth of Thomas Hide a famous Historian and Memorable for the Two great Battels between the King and Parliament in the late Civil War As for Castles that of Windsor in this County is accounted the most Exalted of all others having not only been the Burying Place but Pallace of divers Kings and much delighted in by King Charles the Second who made it his chosen place of Pleasure and Retirement being besides its delightful situation advanced on a high Hill arising with a gradual ascent which affords the pleasantest Prospect imaginable On the North side of this County the River Thames glides washing its verdant Banks in many Meanderings with its Silver Streams and out of it goes many Creeks which much advantages those parts of the County by cheap Water-Carriage from London and other places It is likewise Beautified with some Seats of the Nobility which give a good Prospect to Travelers viz. A Noble Seat of the Earl of Craven near Newbery the Earle of Clarendon's at Swallowfield Hurly belonging to John Late Lord Lovelace Barron of Hurley with a great many stately Houses belonging to the Gentry of the County so that it claimes an Equality with most of the English Counties The Reign of Ethelwolf the Second Sole Monarch of England c. EThelwolf the Eldest Son of Egbert upon his Fathers decease declined the Crown as being then Bishop of Winchester rather affecting a Religious Peaceable Life than to Incumber himself with the weighty Affairs of Government But the Nobles perceiving Troubles would arise if they altered the Succession used many cogent Arguments to perswade him to lay aside his Pall for a Crown but their Reasons prevailed not till they had dealt with his Clergy in a manner to constrain him to a compliance whereupon bestowing his Bishoprick on Swithin his Tutor he was solemnly Crowned at Winchester and settling the Civil Affairs as the times allowed finding part of his Dominions Oppressed by the Danes he raised great Forces and Encountered them in divers Battels and in a Bloody one at Ockly in Surry destroyed the greater part of their Army killing and taking Prisoners their chief Captains or Leaders which made the routed Danes that survived the Fatal day retired to the extremities of Kent where straightened for Food and roving to get it many of them were slain by the Country People This King Marryed Osburga a fair Lady Daughter to his Butler by whom he had Ethelbald Ethelbert Ethelbred and Elfride
attired like an Amazonian Queen she accompanied her Brother in his Wars and mainly assisted him by her Prowess and Counsells being a Lady of great Politicks in Martial Affairs In a Battel against the Welsh she took their Standard slew their General and took his Lady Prisoner whom she used very courteously She divers times chased the Danes and in Person Stormed the Town of Derby Garrisoned strongly by the Enemy she also beat them out of Tamworth Litchfield Watersbury Elderbury and Leicester which she Repaired and Fortified also the Town and Castle of Rincorne She Builded Brimsbury and lay'd a Bridge over the Severn and in a set Battel Overthrew the Yorkshire Forces that were in Rebellion against the King and so having manifested her self to the World as the Wonder of her Sex for Heroick Vertues and set an Illustrious Pattern for their Imitation She Dyed when she may be said to have Reigned Eight Years as Co-Partner with the King her Brother in the one and Fortieth Year of her Age and was Buryed at Gloucester in a Church which she and her Husband had Founded where a stately Monument was erected to her Memory And Henry of Huntington in his Works makes the following Encomium upon her Victorious Elfled ever famous Maid Whom weaker Men and Nature's self obey'd Nature your softer Limbs for Ease design'd But Heav'n inspir'd you with a Manly Mind You only Madam latest Times shall sing A glorious Queen and a triumphant King Farewel brave Soul Let Caesar now look down And yield thy Triumphs greater than his own The King upon the Death of his Heroick Sister â—reatly lamented her loss and retired for a time from â—â—l Business but finding his Country yet Called for his â—id he shook off his Melancholly and took a Progress 〈◊〉 those parts of his Kingdom he had not as yet well â—uieted appointing Governours and making such â—aws as might restrain the Oppression of his People â—nd settling his Dominions to the borders of Scotland â—â—e Welsh also submitted In this Kings Reign John Patrick Erigena a Britain â—rote a Book about the Lords Supper shewing therein â—â—me Abuses the Roman Church had put upon that â—â—crament and how it ought to be worthily Received â—â—cording to our Blessed Saviours Institution and sent â—â—to Rome which so offended the Pope whose Leaden â—ord by this time had so got the Ascendant over the â—eel Ones of Princes that he wrote to the Clergy to â—evail with the King that the Author might be deliâ—â—red into their hands to be Censured as they should â—â—e fit which with some reluctancy being granted â—â—ough the Author proposed to prove it true by Scripture and gave many reasons for what he had done the Clergy in the Popes Name Condemned both him and his Book him as a Heretick and his Book as Erroneous and Heretical when being degraded and delivered over to the Secular Power he suffered Death in the Flames and is worthily accounted amongst the Martyrs This Edward was the Seventh Sole Monarch of England He Reigned Twenty Four Years and was Buryed at Winchester amongst his Royal Ancestors Remarks on Cumberland c. CUmberland extends to the extremity of England Northward as being Bounded that way by Scotland on the East with Northumberland and Westmoreland on the West by the Irish Sea and part of Scotland on the South with Lancashire It abounds in Hills but of no extraordinary height and produces great store of Cattle and a good sprinkling of Corn but not many Fruit Trees At Newlands are Copper-Mines at Refwick Black-Lead and Lapis Calaminaris It Contains one City viz. Carlisle which gives Title to a Bishop Fifty Eight Parishes Nine Market Towns and two remarkable Rivers It sends Members to Parliament six viz. Carlisle two Cockermouth two and two Knights of the Shire Carlisle the Metropolis of the County is very Antient held to be Built by Leil a British King long before the coming of Caesar and is by Ptolomy called Lugovallum it was a flourishing City under the Romans and upon their departure Demolished by the Picts and utterly ruined by the Danes but again Rebuilded by King William Rufus who Built there a strong Castle to prevent the Scots Incursions and by King Henry the first it was made a Bishops See it has been often taken by the Scots but wrested from them again It was Besieged in the late Civil War and made a CUMBERLAND strenuous Defence The other Places of Note are Cockermouth Werkinton Egremond Penroth Keswick and Bampton near which is to be seen part of the Ruins of the Picts Wall which reached from Sea to Sea at East and West At Salkeld in this County upon the River Eden is a Monumental Trophy of Victory consisting of 77 Stones called by the Inhabitants Long Megg and her Daughters one of which to wit that called Long Megg is 15 Foot high from the Ground and the rest 10 supposed to be placed in Remembrance of some Roman Victory The Nobilities Seats are Gray-stock Castle Grumb Castle belonging to the Duke of Norfolk Naywoth alias Noword Castle belonging to the Earl of Carlisle Kirkosward and de Acre Castles belonging to the Earl of Sussex Cockermouth Castle belonging to the Duke of Somerset Rose Castle the Bishops Seate The Reign of Ethelstan Eighth Sole Monarch of England EThelstan Eldest Son to Edward and Eighth Sole Monarch of England began his Reign Anno 925 and was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames by Adelme Arch Bishop of Canterbury and is held by some to be the first Anointed King of England but I suppose they mean the first Saxon King for it is held by Antient Writers to be used in the Coronation Ceremonies of divers British Kings a great while before Long he had not been Established in his Throne ere Elfried a Norman and one he trusted in weighty Affairs raised a Rebellion against him causing great commotions in the Kingdom but in the end he was taken and his Party dispersed upon which he utterly deny'd he was the occasion of it and laboured to lay it on others whereupon the King unwilling to search deep into the matter least he should create himself powerful Enemies among the Nobility was at that time contented that Elfred should go to Rome and purge himself of the fact upon Oath before the Pope But hereupon not freed from a Jealousie he conceived of Edwin his Brother whom Elfred had accused as a Person aspiring to the Throne he was made away privately with the Kings consent yet tho' too late being better informed he was so grieved that to attone as he conceived for guiltless Blood he caused the Assassines to be put to Death with exquisit Torments and Founded divers places dedicating them to Pious uses as St. Germans in Cornwal St. Petrocus at Bodmyn Plympton Priory Middleton and Michelney c. He Fortified Exeter and quelled the Cornishmen that Rebelled against him and upon Disorders committed by the Scots in the Northern Borders he Marched into that Kingdom gave them
he continued for a time in that station but using many Arts to win upon the Affections of the People finding he should meet with no great opposition in making him self King contrary to the Trust reposed in him he got to be Crowned at Kingston upon Thames in Surry But Wolstan Arch Bishop of York having laboured to oppose it and not being able to do it became his Enemy practising many underhand Treacheries against him siding with Anlafe the Dane who lurked with a few Forces in the Northern parts till Recruits came to him and then by the Bishops means the People of Northumberland Received him as their King A Mapp of DORSETSHIRE By Iohn Seller Hydrog reg at the west end of the Exchang London This King made St. Germans in Cornwal a Bishop See which was afterwards translated to Cridington by Canute King of the Danes Reigning Sole Monarch in England and at last it was settled at Exeter by Edward the Confessor where it now remaines He began his Reign Anno Dom. 946 and continued it Nine Years and was Buryed at Winchester and is accounted the Tenth Sole Monarch of England In his time a violent Earthquake happened throwing down many stately Buildings especially in the Northern parts Remarks on Dorsetshire c. DOrsetshire is very spacious and fertil breeding great numbers of Cattle in its rich Pastures and is much renowned for its Linnen and Woollen Manufactures It produces abundance of Corn and the Isle of Portland joyning as it were to it furnishes us with plenty of Free-Stone used in building Churches and other stately Fabricks in London c. It is Bounded with Wiltshire Somersetshire Hampshire Devonshire and the Channel It Containes 248 Parishes divided into 29 Hundreds 19 Market Towns and four Rivers It sends Members to Parliament 20 viz. Bridport 2 Croft-Castle 2 Dorchester 2 Lyme Regis 2 Melcom Regis 2 Pool 2 Shaston 2 Weymouth 2 Wareham 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire It has in it a great many Parks stored with Venison Dorchester the chief Town in this Shire is of great Antiquity and was called by the Romans Durnovaria being of pleasant situation and its Buildings Rich and Populous Banbury was Antiently the Court of many West Saxon Kings at Cern Austin the Monk Preached up Christianity on his first Arrival in this shire and by the consent of the People destroyed their Idols and among the rest one called Hell Shaftsbury is famed for the History of the Prophecying Eagle probably a Man whose Name was Aquila in this place was Buryed the Body of Edward the Son of Edgar Murthered at the command of his Step-Mother in Corfe-Castle At Winbourn Minster Builded by Cuthburga Queen of Northumberland was Intered the Body of Ethelred Nor must we forget Lime in this County which is Memorable for the Landing of James late Duke of Monmouth there with about fourscore Gentlemen from Holland in the Year 1685 being the first Year of the late King James's Reign And tho' he brought so few along with him yet in a few Days after his Landing he was several Thousands strong and gave the Kings Forces a considerable Repulse at Philips-Norton and had he gain'd the Day at Sedgemore which in all probability he had done had he not been betray'd It is verily believed the greatest part of England had Declared for him so great an Aversion even at that time the Nation had against King James and Popery and I am sure they have no reason to be fonder of him since But Heaven had decreed our Deliverance to be the Work of another hand And therefore the unhappy Duke after his Defeat at Sedgmore was taken at Ringwood in Hampshire and from thence brought up to London and two days after Beheaded upon Tower-Hill whose Death was follow'd by abundance of barbarous Executions in this County so that there is hardly a Town in it but what can shew some Bloody Tokens of King James his Cruelty The Quarters of the poor Macerated Wretches having been placed upon Poles set up in the High-ways for many Miles together As we shall shew more at large when we come to King James's Reign Sherburn was Antiently an Episcopal See and so continued a long time in whose Cathedral were Interred the Body of the Kings Ethelbert and Ethelbald Maiden Castle about a Mile West of Dorchester and Badbury Castle appear by Coin and other Marks digg'd up and found about them to have been Garisons of the Romans if not builded by them The River Stowr in this County abounds with Tench of an extraordinary bigness In the Isle of Purbeck are veins of Marble tho' not continued but scattering here and there as Cambden observes yet run a great way under Ground Great store of the best Hemp growing in England is found between Bemister and Bridport and near Sturpain on the side of the River there is a plentiful production of Madder The Hills in Dorsetshire are few and those for the most part gradually rising some Crowned with pleasant Woods and others with Corn in its season and flocks of Sheep It is Beautified with several Seats of the Nobility viz. Hook Castle the Duke of Boltons Cranbourn-House the Earl of Salisburys Wimbourn St. Giles the Earle of Shaftsburys The Houses of the Gentry are likewise very stately as well in the Towns as seperate so that it may be ranked among the most delightful Counties of England The Reign of Edwye the Eleventh Sole Monarch of England EDwye Eldest Son to Edmund and Nephew to Edrid began his Reign Anno Dom. 955 finding Affairs in a forward settlement the Danes being for the most part expelled the Land or had turned their Forces on the Scots as knowing they had been foiled on this side and had but little hopes of fixing in the Southern parts of the Island He was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames and there is reported to have drawn a Lady near a kin to him and Married to a Nobleman aside after a Ball or Dancing bout as if he had some matter of importance to relate to her and behind the Cloth of Arras forced her to his Lust which being much complained of by the Nobility he proposed for the reparation of her Honour to take her to be his Wife but her Husband opposing it and willing to pass over the high Injury his Prince had done him rather than his Country should suffer by any publick Mischief that might ensue thereon from Popular Fury or Factions at Court the matter seemed hushed for a time but whether the King feared the private Revenge of an abused Husband or having an inclination to a free Enjoyment of the Lady I determine not but so it was ordered that he in conclusion caused the Husband to be Murthered and took his Lady now free from the bonds of Marriage by the untimely Death of her Husband not for a Wife as he had before proposed but for his Concubine which makes some Authors believe her Ambition to glitter so near a Throne tho'
in a Tinsel splendor of ignominy made her consenting to the latter crime however she enclined to the former yet this unprincely action created him such a hatred in the minds of his Subjects That all except his Flatterers extreamly murmured against him and Bishop Dunstan sharply reproving him for his Vices he Proscribed him as an Enemy or Traytor so that to save his Life he absconded in England a while and then fled into Flanders Of these disorders in Government and Disaffections of the People the Danes taking advantage joyned with the Welsh and Invaded the Northern Borders having many Irish and some Scots as Auxiliaries joyned with them so that most of those Counties being violently Oppressed and finding the King slow to relieve them THE BISHOPRICK of DURHAM By Iohn Seller having united their Forces and expelled the Enemy renounced their Allegiance to him and chose his Brother Edgar King a young Prince of an active Spirit who had assisted them in the War to which with little opposition the whole Nation consented and hereupon Edwye being Deposed Dyed of Grief and was Buryed at Winchester In his time there was a great contention between the Monks and Marryed Priests the former opposing the latter as not capable of Officiating in holy Orders according to the Cannons of the Church of Rome and they again alledging those Cannons were contradictory to the Holy Scriptures so the Controversy was put to the King to determine and in this indeed he gave a right Judgment declaring for the Married Priests which is the only commendable thing noted in his Reign He Reigned four Years and was the Eleventh Sole Monarch of England Remarks on the Bishoprick of Durham c. THE Bishoprick of Durham tho' small in circumference abounds in plenty of all things as Cattel Corn Pastures Fruit-Trees Woods Forests and Parks and is Watered with divers pleastant Streams stored with Fish It has to the North and West many pleasant Hills and is Bounded with Northumberland Westmorland Yorkshire and the German Ocean It has in it the City of Durham which is a Bishops See and is a Palatine having divers Priviledges above many Counties It Contains 118 Parishes 6 Market Towns and 11 Rivers It sends Members to Parliament 4 viz. Durham 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire It gained the Title and Priviledge by the great Fame and Renown of St. Cuthberd for the Interment of whom the Cathedral was first Bulded by Bishop Aldwin and much enlarged by Bishop Careleph His Tomb was with much Devotion Visited by Edward Ethelstane and divers other Saxon Kings and by William the Conqueror this Bishoprick was made a County Palatine There is a place called Gallile in the West End of the Church where is to be seen the Tomb of venerable Beda Binchester the Benovium of the Romans was famed for their chief station in the North and many of their Coins have been found in Earthen Vrns upon Digging up old foundations Chester in the Street the Condercum of the Romans is a Place of great Antiquity pleasantly situate and well Inhabited At Nevil's Cross near Durham the Scots were defeated and David their King made Prisoner by one Copeland and carry'd Prisoner to the Tower for which service Copeland received of the King five Hundred Pounds per Annum In this Bishoprick near Darlington are three wonderful deep Pits called Hell Kettles supposed to be sunk by an Earthquake In this Palatine also stands Bernard Castle famous for the many Sieges it has held out against the Scots Over the River Weer with which the City of Durham is almost encompassed are two well built Stone Bridges one from the South the other from the North Road leading into the Town This Palatine has a Jurisdiction within it self to Try Criminals and other Matters from which in many cases there lyes no Appeal The Seats tho' few are very Antient and yet Magnificent Structures viz. Durham Place and Aukland Castle the Bishop Seats being the principal The Reign of King Edgar Twelfth Sole Monarch of England EDgar the Second Son of Edmund began his Reign Anno Dom. 959 at which time the Danes wearyâ—d out with War began to think of settling a Peace â—ith the English upon consideration they might rest at â—uiet in some Northern Counties and have other Adâ—antages which considering the uncertainty of the â—en state of Affairs was not thought amiss to be â—lowed them they owning the King their Superiour â—nd to continue as it were his Subjects And so King â—dgar having received the Crown at Bath from the â—ands of Odo Arch Bishop of Canterbury applied himâ—elf to the Government of his Kingdom and recalled Dunstan from Banishment yet by this means some Divines of Oxford Vniversity were Branded in the Cheek and Banished for Affirming The Church of Rome â—o be the Whore of Babylon Monkery an Offensive Contagion Their Vows of Celibacy an encouragement to Sodomy and other Vncleaneness He made very strict Laws against Drunkenness which was very rife in his time causing Cups to be made with certain Pins or Marks and a penalty to such as should exceed the allowed Draught And England being then pestered with Wolves who destroyed much small Cattle and some People he made a Law That those who held Lands of the Crown should Yearly bring in a cerrain number of Wolves Heads under a Penalty of forfeiting their Tenures And Ludwal the Prince of Wales was alloted to bring in three Hundred Wolves Heads Yearly in consideration of the Lands he held in subjection to the Crown of England Whereupon upon such dilligent search was every where made that â—n a few years there was not one to be found in England except such as were kept tame nor ever since has there been otherways any of the breed in this Country tho' Neighbouring Ireland not long since abounded with them This Edgar Yearly rid the Circuit to take notice of the abuses and corruptions of his Judges and severely Punished their remisness in the Administration of the Laws But notwithstanding all these good Qualities he was very much blemish'd with Incontinency not sparing Wives or Daughters where his desires lead him to pursue the enjoyment of his unlawful Pleasures He begat a Daughter whom he named Edith on Wolfe-child a veiled Nun who was afterward for a considerable sum of Money Cannonized by the Pope and attempting to gaine the possession of Odwina a Western Dukes Daughter her Mother whom he solicited to give her into his Arms preferring the preservation of her Chastity to the Kings Anger and all his Golden Promises contrived a Stratagem to defeat him which she effected by laying her waiting Maid in her Daughters Bed with whose wanton toying in the Dark he was so pleased that tho' he discovered the Fraud the next Morning he not only commended the Dutchess but gave his Bedfellow the Reward he had promised the Yong Lady and kept her as his Concubine Soon after this hearing by Fame of the great Beauty of Duke
Orgarius's Daughter that she was even a Phoenix in nature for incomparable Features being by this time a Widower he resolved if what was reported proved true to take her to Wife and in order to be better certified he sent Earl Ethelwold one of his Courtiers to view her who falling in Love with the Lady wooed her for himself and Married her excusing it to the King by telling him That she had Beauty enough for a Subiect but not for so great a Prince However this did not so well satisfy him but he resolved to see her and so Invited himself to the Earls House Ethelwold mistrusting to what intent he had done it being conscious his Wives Beauty would enflame him laboured to excuse his unpreparedness but in vain whereupon he acquainted his Wife with it and intreated her to deforme herself by appearing in a homely Dress and by discolouring her Face if she had any regard to his Life or her own Chastity telling her how her prevailing Charms had made him betray his Trust But this Ambitious Woman proud of her Beauty gathering from his discourse she might have been a Queen and not now altogether out of hopes to be so promised the Earl for the better hiding her Anger to obey him but on the contrary when the King was set at Dinner she came before him Adorned with Jewells and all her costly Ornaments having much added by Art to her Natural Beauties so that she appeared in his Eyes like a glittering Angel yet he dissembled his Anger with Ethelwold for the present till that Afternoon going a Hunting with the Earl in his Forrest he singled him out and after many reproaches struck him through with his Javelin as he was about to fall on his Knees and begg Pardon and in a little time after took the Lady to Wife by whom he had Ethelred afterward King of England For this and his other wicked practices Dunstan whome he had made a Bishop and his great Favorite Enjoyned him as a Penance Not to wear his Crown for seven Years which Injunction he submitted to but left not his Lascivious courses This Edgar brought the Kingdom to a Flourishing condition and is accounted the greatest of the Saxon Monarchs being once at Westchester he had eight Kings and Princes to Row his Barge on the River Dee as we have already noted in our Remarks on Cheshire He is said to compass the Island with almost an incredible Navy of Ships viz. 3600 settling and strengthening the Sea-Ports leaving Guard-Ships to defend them against the Landing of Pirates or other Enemies by which Undertaking he brought such a Terror on Scotland that their King sued for Peace and payed an Annual Tribute to have it confirmed He Restored and Founded 47 Monasteries And in the presence of his Nobility on Christmas Day Anno Dom. 974 he Confirmed the Abby of Ramsey which his Cousin Alwin had Founded and made the Abby which Bishop Oswald had Builded a Cathedral Church He brought the Welsh under an intire Subjection to England aloting their Princes Pensions as his Servants clearing the Seas of Rovers and intended to War on France to compol that King to a reparation of the Damages his Merchants had sustained on the French Coasts by Embargoes and Seisures of their Goods But whilst great things were in his mind his Debaucheries having much wasted his Natural Strength he Dyed when he had Reigned Sixteen Years and was honourably Entombed at Glastenbury which as yet boasts some remains of his Monument In the sixth Year of his Reign the Heavens seemed as on Fire the Stars to appearance darted Beams at each other as if Creation had been about to dissolve A Monsterous Fish was taken on the Coast of Sussex with a Face and Hair like a Man and a Scaly Circlet like a Coronet on its Head and upon its being drawn up sent forth a mighty noise like the roaring of a Lion ESSEX By J Seller Remarks on the County of Essex c. ESSEX is not only considerably Large but is every where sprinkled with Towns and Villages of note and is abundantly stored with Cattle by reason its advantageous Meadows Marshes and other Pastures which lying low produce store of Grass in the driest seasons as for Cheese and Butter it produces very great quantities as also very good Corn and store of Saffron Hops c. It is Bounded on the South with the River Thames and Kent the River washing its verdant Banks as far as the Hope on the West with Hartfordshire and Middlesex on the North with Cambridgshire and Suffolk and on the East with the Ocean It is divided into 20 Hundreds which containe 415 Parishes It has 27 Market Towns and seven Rivers It sends Members to Parliament eight viz. Colchester 2 Harwich 2 Maldon 2 and two Knights of the Shire Colchester in this County is of great Antiquity held to be Built by the Antient British King Coilus from whom it seems to derive its Name and in it was Born King Lucius the first known Christian King in the World Constantine the first Christian Roman Emperour as also Helena his Mother Empress to Constantius and Daughter to King Coilus It is also Memorable for its Long Siege in the late Civil War Malden is very Antient having been the Royal Seat of the Trinobantes of which Cunobeline was King when our Saviour was Born It was taken by the Emperour Claudius and Named Camalodunum wherein he placed a Roman Garison but Rased to the Ground by Queen Bonduca or Boadicia after a mighey Defeat given the Romans in Revenge of their breach of Trust and the Rape of her Daughters which we formerly mentioned Walden famous for Saffron growing about it from whicâ— it takes the Name of Saffron Walden and for giving Birth to that Learned Statesman Sr. Thomas Smith Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth At Tilbury the said Queen rendezvouzed her Forces to oppose the Spanish Invasion 1588 and there is now a strong Fort commanding the Mouth of the Thames Chelmsford accounted the Shire Town is of very commodious Building and situation the Assizes being usually held there Braintry Cogshal Harwich and other Towns adorn this County There is a Proverb peculiar to this County which is He may fetch a Flitch of Bacon from Dunmow This Proverb took its rise from a Custom formerly practis'd in the Priory of Dunmow first founded by Juga a Noble Lady for Black Nuns Anno 1111. but afterwards converted into a Priory for Friars who ordained That if any Person from any part of England would come thither and humbly kneel on two stones yet to be seen at the Church Door before the Convent and solemnly take the following Oath he might demand a Gammon or Flitch of Bacon which should be freely given him You shall Swear by the Custom of our Confession That you never made any Nuptial Transgression Since you were married Man and Wife By Houshold Brawls or contentious strife Or otherwise in Bed or at Board
Duke of Somerset Earl of Devonshire c. Were Beheaded At Aderly on the top of certain Hills are found Stones in the form of Oyters Cockles c. and near Puckle Church is a Vein of blue Stone At Lessington are Stones that represent Stars of the circumferance of a single Penny and the thickness of half a Crown they grow together in Columns about 3 or 4 Inches long and being singly put into Vinegar they naturaly move and tend towards union The Seats of the Nobility are Badminton and Wallastons Grange seats of the Duke of Beaufort Stowel a seat of the Earl of Strafford Berkely-Castle a seat of the Earl of Berkley's Campden-House in Campden a seat of the Earl of Gainsboroughs Overnorton a seat of the Lord Viscount Say and Seal's Corfe-Court and Cockbury seats of the Lord Coventry Glocester Pallace the Bishops seat It has in it also a great many Parks Forrests and all accommodations for Recreation c. The Reign of Ethelred Fourteenth Sole Monarch of England EThelred began his Reign Anno Dom. 979 he was the third Son of Edgar and came very Young to the Crown for I find that being informed of the manner of his Brother Edwards Death to make way for him to the Crown when he was but ten Years old he not only detested the crime and refused to be made King but wept and complained so abundantly for the deceased that the Queen in a great passion snatched a Wax Taper from the Alter nothing else being at hand and beat him so sorely with it that it gave him an Antipathy against Wax Tapers all his life time he never enduring any to be in his sight so that he may be reputed to be between Ten and Eleven Years Old when he came to the Throne so that the Danes promising themselves great advantages by reason of his Minority Landed in great numbers This King Ethelred by some called Eldred was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames by Arch Bishop Dunstan not as is said by his good will but he was compelled to perform that Office yet instead of a Benediction he Bann'd him as one that Swam to the Throne in the Stream of his Brothers Blood as he Phrased it speaking also as it were Prophetically of the great losses England would sustain in this Kings Reign and indeed Queen Alfreda being soon sensible of the Blood-guiltiness that cried against her and fearing the fury of the People built two Monasteries of Nuns at Amesbury where she lived a solitary Life till she Dyed The King being but slow in his preparations by which means he got himself the nickname of the Vnready Swane King or chief Leader of the Danes and Olaf King of Norway who assisted him got strong possession of divers of the most fertil Counties being secretly encouraged by Duke Edrick a Treacherous Courtier who discovered to them all the Kings Counsels and Fortified the Towns and Castles casting up works to secure what they gained as they made their Encroachments However at length the King gave them Battel and tho' he cannot be said to lose it the parting being somewhat doubtful on either side yet he lost so many of his People that he could not get together a sufficient Army to oppose them so that to save the rest of his Country from Spoil he was constrained to comply with the Enemies exorbitant demands compounding for his Quiet at 10000 l. Then they raised him to 16 20 30 and 40000 Pounds compelling the People to find them Provisions in their Houses where they were Quartered and to see in many places their Wives and Daughters Ravished before their Faces not daring on pain of their Lives to gainsay it The People calling them Lord Danes corruptly now Lurdane a by-word for a Lazy Fellow But Elfrick Earl of Mercia and Algarius his Son being found contributes and abettors to the Misery of their Country the King caused their Eyes to be put out and they confin'd to certain Limits during Life And now the King plainly perceiving what a miserable condition the Kingdom was in between private Traitors and professed Enemies he resolved to take a violent and speedy course as he thought to end the War at once and thereupon sent secret Messages throughout the Kingdom That upon the Ringing the Allarm-Bell on St. Brices Day the 13th of November Anno Dom. 1002 the People in all Cities and Towns should fall on the Danes as they lay scattered and had no time to get to their Arms or in any great Body and Massacre them and accordingly it was put in execution so that many places flowed with Danes Blood the injured and imaged People not sparing either Sex of that Nation so that Guni-Child King Swane's Sister was slain at Dorchester This Honour if I may rightly term it one the Women by I know not what Tradition totally ascribe to their Sex tho' no doubt both Sexes were Actors in the Danish Tragedy which had been more Bloody had not Duke Edrick given Swane notice tho' somewhat too late in the main of the Design by which means he saved himself and a great many of his followers and storming at his Loss Repaired it with all speed sending for Recruits from Norway and Denmark It was supposed in this Slaughter about 24000 fell but to Revenge it being Recruited the Danes grievously oppressed the Country Burning and Destroying in all places where they came so that although the King to the Impoverishing himself gave them 30000 Pounds for Peace they observed it but a few Days for having wrested a great Sum of Money from Alphegus who Succeeded Dunstan in the Arch Bishoprick of Canterbury and slain 900 Monks and Men in Religious Orders They Stoned the good Bishop to Death at Greenwich in Kent The King seeing these proceedings sent Emma his Queen with his two Sons to her Brother Richard Duke of Normandy and shortly after not able to endure the Destruction the Enemy made followed them But at length Swane was Murthered by his own Men for denying them their share of Plunder or restraining them from their Insolencies over the English However they chose Canute his Son King Of which change Ethelred thinking to make advantage at the solicitation of his Friends returned but perceiving several Treasons hatching against him That his Councells were betrayed by some he confided in and that he was too weak to withstand the Enemies fury he fell into a Melancholly and Dyed as is supposed of Grief and he was Bury'd in St. Paul's London He Reigned 37 Years unless we exclude the time he was absent in Normandy which by some is accounted between two and three Years He was the Fourteenth Sole Monarch of England Remarks on Hampshire or Hantshire HAmpshire is not only considerable for its Fertility in Corne Cattle Fowle Fish and its producing store of singular good Honey but for its commodious Sea-Ports opening to the South for the conveniency of Shipping outward or inward bound especially Southampton Antiently Hamo's Haven It is
gave Birth to the Renowned Robert Devereux Earl of Essex who lost his Head in Queen Elizabeths Reign The next Towns of note are Stanton Lempster Weobly Ludbury Rosse Orleton Pembridg and Wormbridg Marsley-Hill in this County is Celebrated by all Writers for its wonderful Travel on Saturday the 7th of February 1571. which was indeed exceeding strange and surprizing and must not be here omitted It happened thus About six of the Clock in the Evening the Earth began to move with a mighty rooring and bellowing Noise which was heard several Miles off and then it lifted it self up a great height and began to Travel carrying along with it the Trees that grew upon it the Sheepfolds and Flocks of Sheep continuing still thereon and from the place whereon it first stood by seven a Clock the next Morning had gone about 200 Foot and so continued its Travel three Days together and then stood still in its passage it overthrew Kinnaston-Chappel and removed an Yew-Tree growing in the Church-Yard from West to East throwing down also several Houses Trees and Hedges But that which adds more to the wonder is That two High-ways were turned about 300 Foot from their former Pathes the East part to the West and the West to the East Pasturage being left in the place of Tillage and likewise Tillage in the place of Pasturage As for the Seats of the Nobility tho' not many they are mostly of curious Antient Building viz. Goodrick-Castle Penyard-Castle and Eccleswald-Castle belonging to the Earl of Kent Wilton Aconsbury and Dewswell belonging to the Lord Chandois and Hereford Palace belonging to the Bishop of the Diocess There are divers Quarries of Stone found in this County which stand the People in great stead also some Minerals much Fuel is likewise got out of the Ground The Reign of Hardicanute the Third Danish King and Eighteenth Sole Monarch of England HArdicanute the Third Son of Canute by a different Mother viz. Emma Succeeded Harrold Anno Dom. 1040 He was Crowned at London by Elnoch Arch Bishop of Canterbury upon which he laboured to settle his Affairs at home and abroad kept the Seas free from Pirates that for some time before had infested the Coast causing the Danes and Norwegians to build divers Ships for his Service but being of a rough and uneasy temper he was not very pleasing to his Subjects He bore a Mortal Hatred to Harrold his Brother-in-Law and not being capable of expressing it to any effect during his Life he shewed it openly after his Death causing his dead Body to be taken out of the Sepulcher in which it had lain a considerable time and the Head to be cut off and then thrown into the Thames sunk with a great weight of Lead but some Fishermen draging it up with their Nets a while after decently Buried it in St. Clements Church in the Strand for which reason some will have it to take the additinal word Danes as it is now called This Hardicanute is accounted among the Voluptuous Kings taking great pleasure in Banqueting and often gloried he could Eat more at a Meal than any of his Subjects his Table was four times a Day spread with all manner of Delicates that Sea or Land afforded by which riotous manner of living he greatly wasted his Treasure and set an example to his Nobles to do the like so that the Court being Impoverished consults were held to raise an exacting Tax on the Commons which was chiefly counselled by Goodwin Earl of Kent whereby he fell into the hatred of the People and went Guarded a long time after to prevent their fury The Sum raised was 3â—147 Pounds a great Tax in those days and grievously exasperated the People because it was exacted with rigor insomuch that at Worcester they made an Insurrection and slew two of the Collectors which so highly offended the King that he not only caused divers of the Mutineers to be Executed but laid the City in a heap of Rubbish by Fire so that the Innocent suffered among the Guilty which caused other Insurrections but they were presently quieted and many slain With part of this Money the clamouring Seamen were paid off and thereupon a great part of the Fleet laid up and then the King pursued his former pleasures whereupon the Scots much wasted the Northern Borders but being overthrown in a great Battel on the bank of the Tweed near to Barwick they were compelled to sue for Peace which they could not obtain till they had made considerable restitution for the dammage they had done in the English Counties About the latter end of this Kings Reign a terrible Blazing Star appeared for Three Weeks The Sun at noon day seemed of the colour of Blood strange and amazing Voices were heard supposed to proceed out of the Air and many other Prodigies are said to have happened When he had Reigned about two Years being Invited to a Noblemans Wedding held at Lambeth in Surry situate on the South side the Thames he there Eat and Drank so unmeasurably that he immediatly Sickned and being carried from the Table fell into a grievous Surfeit and not admiting his Physitians to Bleed him which they advised as the only Remedy for his Recovery he soon after Dyed and leaving no Issue behind him with him dyed the Danish Monarchy in England and it devolved again on the Saxons For Edward the Seventh Son of Ethelred by Queen Emma having escaped many dangers was sent for upon the Death of Hardicanute from Normandy whither he had retired to save his Life upon the Death of his Brother Alfride and Proclaimed King Remarks on the County of Kent c. KEnt is a very large and spacious County and advantagiously seated being almost wholly invironed with the Sea except its Western parts which borders upon Surry and Sussex Besides the Thames which parts it Northward from Essex its principal Rivers are Medway the Rother and the Stowr It abounds in Fruits Corn fat Pastures and exceeding profitable Marshes for the feeding of Cattle which are bought up Lean from other Counties and sent thither to be made Fat It produces particularly the greatest quantity of Cherries of any County in England c. It is divided into 67 Hundreds containing 408 Parishes 2 Cities viz. Canterbury and Rochester the former being an Archiepiscopal See having the Primacy of all England the latter is likewise a Bishops See It has likewise 31 Market Towns and 4 Rivers more than before mentioned among which Lewisham River is famous for the large store of Fish found in it its Stream carrying about several Mills It sends Members to Parliament 10 viz. Canterbury 2 Maidston 2 Queenbourough 2 Rochester 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Besides which 3 of the Cinque Ports being in this County viz. Dover Rumney and Sandwich do each of them send two Barons up to the Parliament called Barons of the Cinque Ports KENT By J. Seller Canterbury is by some Authors said to have been Built 900
Years before the birth of our Saviour it was given by Ethelbert the Saxon King of Kent to Austin the Monk and his Companions and in their time the Cathedral was Founded in which Eight Kings of Kent lie Buryed It suffered greatly by the Fury of the Danes especially in the Reign of Ethelred when 4200 of its Inhabitants were slain Here King John and his Queen Isabela were Crowned King Henry the Third and King Edward the First Married Edward the Black Prince Henry the Fourth and Queen Joan were Interred here and the Cathedral was long famous in Superstitious times for Pilgrimages made to visit the Shrine of St. Thomas of Becket a Popish Saint and Martyr slain at the Altar in the Reign of Henry the Second Rochester formerly called Roffchester as Builded by one Roff Lord thereof is a very pleasant City it was destroyed by the Danes and suffered much after Rebuilding by two dreadful Fires in the Reigns of King Henry the First and King Henry the Second it has in it many fair Churches and leading to it a curious Arched Bridge of Stone Maidstone a flourishing Town situate on the Medway for a meer Town is reputed the handsomest and best of Trade in all the County Feversham is of great Antiquity very pleasant and commodious in its situation in it King Stephen and Queen Maud were Buried Dover is renowned for its Castle said to be Built by Julius Caesar at his second Landing Queenborough Castle was Built by Edward the Third At Wye J. Kemp the learned Arch Bishop of Canterbury was Born Greenwich is famous for its Park and stately Palace and near it is the New Hospital founded for Decayed Merchants Horstead took its Name from Horsus one of the first Saxon Invaders Tunbridge is famous for its Medicinal Waters and the great resort to its Wells The Seats of the Nobility are Knobl belonging to the Earl of Dorset Penhurst to the Earl of Leicester Bocton-Malberb to the Earl of Chesterfield Hoathfield and Sylom to the Earl of Thanet Chenvening to the Earl of Sussex Lingstead Lodg to the Lord Tenham Leeds-Castle and Grenway-Court to the Lord Culpeper Alington-Castle and Maidstone Place to the Lord Astly Bromly-House the Bishop of Rochesters seat CHAP. X. The Saxons Re-Entry upon the failure of Succession in the Danes and what happened during the Reign of those Kings till the Conquest made of England by William the Norman Conqueror The Reign of Edward called the Confessor Nineteenth Sole Monarch of England EDward commonly stiled the Confessor being arrived in England was received by the People with great demonstrations of Joy and that Flattering Earl of Kent possessed him that he was the chief Instrument of his Restauration tho' indeed like a stanch Courtier he Sailed with all Winds usually adhering to him who was most powerful for certain it is that Leofrick the Earl of Chester moved the Estates on Edwards behalf urging his Right to the Crown as being the true Heir descended from the Antient Saxon Kings under whom the Nation had enjoyed its Rights and Priviledges without Infringments or Invasion He urged his Fathers Merits and the Battels he had Fought against the Danes in the defence of the English Nation and many other things So that they generally concuring with him Edward was Accepted and Crowned at Winchestor by Edsine Arch Bishop of Canterbury yet Goodwin so far insinuated into his favour that he took Edith his Daughter to Wife a very virtuous Lady much affecting a Religious Life so that Ingultus Abbot of Crowland who flourished in her time makes a large Encomium on her Learning Wisdom Humility Modesty and Behaviour In the beginning of this Kings Reign new Troubles arose the Danes Irish and Welsh in a manner all at once Invading the Kingdom doing great Mischief and destroying all before them with Fire and Sword but being met by Alfred the Martial Bishop of Worcester he gave them a great Overthrow In the fifth Year of his Reign there fell so great a Snow in January that covering the Ground and being of a prodigious deepness and continuing so till the middle of March much Cattle and Fowl perished for want of Food And the January following a terrible Earthquake happened causing the Ground to Open in divers places overthrowing many stately Buildings destroying much People and Cattle also at the same time such fearful Lightnings happened That the new sprung Corn was Burnt up whereupon a Dearth ensued and many dyed of Hunger Malcolm the true Heir to the Crown of Scotland flying into England to avoid the Fury of Mackbeth a Bloody Tyrant who had slain the King and Usurped the Kingdom Edward aided him with 10000 Men under the Leading of Syward Earl of Northumberland who by the Mothers side was Grandfather to the Young Prince who Besieging Mackbeth in his Castle of Dunsinane and he attempting to Escape was slain by Maskduff Sheriff of Fife whose Wife and Children Mackbeth had cruelly Murthered and soon after by the Valour of the English Malcolme Sirnamed Conmer was placed in the Scots Throne making a strict League with King Edward and paying him 10000 Marks for the charge of the War After this he Banished Goodwin and his five Sons for being Turbulent in the Government and endeavoring to raise Commotions but about two Years after they were Recalled and received into Favour and Goodwin being one day at Dinner with the King the Cupbearer coming in got a slip and had like to have spilt the Wine but as one Legg failed he recovered with the other and saved both the Wine and his Credit whereupon the Earl of Kent Jestingly said I see one Brother hath helped the other This suddainly puting the King in mind how by his Treachery his Brother Alfride was slain by Harrold the Dane In a heat replied And so would my Brother Alfride have helped me if Goodwin had not been The Earl perceiving the Kings anger which he little expected at that time thinking to excuse himself of so notorious a crime took a piece of Bread and wished it might Choak him if he were any ways concerned in Betraying the Prince into the hands of Harrold and accordingly his Wish was answered for putting it into his Mouth it stuck in his Throat so that it could not be got upwards nor downwards by which means he was Suffocated and Dyed before he could be well removed from the Table which I the rather remark That it may stand as a dreadful warning to all the Rash Imprecators or Evil Wishers of our Age being a Sin too often practised on trivial occasions and I am apt to fear frequently as false in many matters as this of the Earl of Kents which pulled down Gods immediate Judgment upon him and hastily snatched him out of the World The King soon after this falling into displeasure with Queen Emma his Mother abridged her of her Dowry and got her accused of Adultery when by the Law then called Ordealium she was Tryed in the following
manner Her Eyes were blinded with a thick Veil and nine Plowshares newly taken out of the Fire laid a Yard distance from each other in an even row over which she was to pass for her Purgation and if she did it without touching any of them she was to be adjudged Guiltless so being led by a Priest her Feet being bare she passed over missing every one of them which being done and she not knowing it Cryed out O Lord when shall I come to the place of my Purgation she having her Eyes uncovered and perceiving she had passed the danger she fell on her Knees and gave thanks to God for her deliverance This King is likwise accounted to be over severe to his Virtuous Wife Edith who being wrongfully accused of Incontinency was Imprisoned and at last confined to a Religious Life in the Monastery of Wilton In this Kings Reign a Blazing Star appeared and was seen for seven Nights all over Europe The Abby of St. Peter's Westminster founded in a place formerly called the Isle of Thorns was Beautified and much Enlarged by him he removed the Bishops See from Credington in Devonshire to Exeter in the same County and was the first of our English Kings that is said to have The Gift conferred upon him of Curing the Disease called Struma now the Kings-Evil And the first also that sealed his Patents with that stately Seal now called The Kings Great Seal He remitted the remainder of the Tax called Dane Gelt moved to it as some say upon seeing a fearful Apparition dancing about a heap of Money in his Closet that had been exacted from the People under that denomination and towards the close of his Reign he collected all the useful Laws made by his Predecessors into one Body and out of them compiled a select Body of Law held at this day to be the Ground of our Common Law This Edward Seventh Son to Ethelred by Emma his Second Wife was Born at Islip in Oxfordshire and brought up to a great degree of Learning which he improved in his Banishment He began his Reign Anno Dom. 1042 and Reigned Twenty Years Six Months and Twenty Seven Days Dying the Fourth of January of a lingering Fever and was Buried in Westminster Abby where in the second Year of the Reign of the Late King James one of the Choristers searching his Tomb found a plain Golden Crucifix Inscribed to be this Kings and delivered it into the Hands of the said King James who esteemed it as an extraordinary Relick by reason this Edward after his Death was Canonized a Saint at Rome tho' for what Extraordinary Vertues I know not Remarks on the County Palatine of Lancaster c. LANCASHIRE by John Seller Lancaster the Shire Town is Commodiously Situate on the South Banks of the River Lon from whence it might probably take the Name of Loncaster and now by corruption Lancaster It has a Curious Bridge Leading to it and in it a famous Church It gave Title from John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster to four Henries Kings of England viz 4th 5th 6th and 7th It is a place of great Antiquity Considerable Trade Pleasant Building and has a stately Castle Manchester the Antient Mancunium of the Romans was highly prized by them where the Ruins of their Forts and Works are found in the digging of Foundacions Ribchester taks it's Name from Rible a little Brook near Clithero it is a Town of great Antiquity and was a station of the Romans as appears by their Coins and Statues that have been digg'd up there and Tradition Reports it to have been once the Richest Town in Christendom Near Duglas a small Brook not far from the Town of Wiggan King Arthur put the Saxons to the Rout with great Slaughter at Belango the Saxons Fought a mortal Battel with each other Near Furness-Fells in this County is a standing Water accounted the greatest in England called Minander-Meer being 10 Miles in Length and all along paved at the bottom with flat Stone and it is said a Fish called a Chare is found here and in no other Waters Also the the River Lune near Cockerfand-Abby abounds with Trout Pike and some Salmon In this County is the Antiently Famous Castle called Hornby Castle Induring many Sieges There are scatered up and down in Lancashire divers Quarries of useful Stone for Building and some Mineralls upon its Hills are many pleasant Springs and Rivers and some places naturally abound with Wiâ—â— Thime Marjorum and Cardus and many other Physical Herbs The Seats of the Nobility give a gratful Prospect to the Travellers and are Clithero Castle belonging to the late Duke of Albemarle Alburn Tower to the Earl of Derby Halfal to the Earl of Macclesfield Hornby Castle to the Lord Morley and Mount-Eagle Wood-acre Hall Ashton Hall and Shortâ—n Hall to the Lord Gerard of Gerards Bromley Wigan the Bishop of Chesters Place besides divers Seats of the Gentry as famous in Prâ—spect for most part as those mentioned and to conclude it has produced many famous Men serviceable in Church and State The Reign of Harrold Twentieth Sole Monarch of England KIng Edward Dying Issueless tho' Edgar Etheling was the next Heir to the Crown yet Harrold Son to Goodwin Earl of Kent by his Wife Sitha Sister to Swain the Younger King of Denmark having Ingratiated himself into the Favour of the leading Nobility and promised great advantages to the Commons he so firmly bound them to him that he procured himself to be Proclaimed King beginning his Reign Anno Dom. 1065 and according to his promise he remitted to the People many grievous Taxes making them everywhere â—asie in their stations and then was Crowned by Aldred Arch Bishop of York confirming the Laws of Edward the Confessor and adding some of his own and laboured to make his bad Title appear more fair in the Eyes of his Subjects by heaping on them what favours they desired as fearing a storm from the Norman Coast which soon after happened to his destruction the cause of it being reported by Historians three several ways 1. That Edward had consigned his Crown to William the Seventh Duke of Normandy to be holden by him after his Death 2. That Young Edgar the true Heir to whom he was great Unkle had resigned his Right to him as being too weak to contend for the possession 3. That Harrold in King Edwards life-time Hawking on the Coast of Sussex the Hawk when he was cast off flew into the Sea whereupon getting into a Skiff in hopes to recover him a Storm arose and he was driven on the Coast of Normandy where Landing and being taken Prisoner he was known and presented to the Duke who caused him to be kept with a strict Guard till such time as he Swore That if King Edward Dyed Issueless he would do his utmost endeavour to secure the Kingdom to the use and behoof of him the before named Duke and thereupon he procuring his Liberty returned to England However
County and produces store of large Cattle much Corn plenty of Fowl Fruits Fish wholsom Pastures c. It is Bounded by Darbyshire Notinghamshire Lincolnshire Rutlandshire Northamptonshire and Warwickshire It is divided into 6 Hundreds containing 192 Parishes 11 Market Towns and one noted River It sends Members to Parliament 4 viz. Leicester 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Leicester is pleasantly seated on the River Stower and well compacted being the County Town and a place of considerable Trade it is of great Antiquity as held to have been Builded by King Leir a famous British King for which cause it was antiently called Leir-Cester Lutterworth gave Birth to the famous John Wickliff who was Parson of it and the first English Reformer or Detector of the Errors in the Church of Rome frequently Writing and Disputing against them in the Reign of Edward the Third for which many snares were laid to take his Life by the Romish Clergy but he escaped them and Dyed a natural Death leaving the Candle of Truth Lighted by which John Huss Jerome of Prague Luther and others took their prospect of a happy Reformation that soon after ensued Bosworth is Memorable for the Battel fought near it on Redmore August 22 Anno Dom 1485 wherein Richard the Third was slain by the forces of Henry Earl of Richmond and his Crown found in a Hawthorn Bush which was placed on the Earles Head and he Proclaimed King which put an End to the fatal Feuds between the Houses of York and Lancaster In the West of this County once stood Clycester a famous City in the time of the Romans called by them Bennone though now nothing but a few Ruins of it remain The other Towns of note are Mountsorell Loughborough Waltham on the Woald Ashby-de-la-Zouch Bildsdon Lutterworth Harborough c. At Cole-Overton in the Hundred of West Goscot and other parts of this County great store of Pitcole is digg'd of a Bitumencus Nature very hard and fast about Luterworth are Allomey Veins and Welâ—s whose Waters strained through them are Medicinal and Petrefying so that it is said they turn Straw and Sticks into Stone by reason of their Exceeding Coldness near Belvoir-Castle on a R ck are found Snake Stones Cockle Stones and Star Stones The Seats of the Nobility are Pleasantly Situate viz Garerton one of the seats belonging to the Late Duke of Albemarle Burbage to the Earl of Kent Belvoir-Castle partly in Lincolnshire to the Earle of Rutland Ashby-de-in-Zouch Donington-Park to the Earl of Huntington Broadgate and Grooby to the Earl of Stamford Stanton-Bruâ—nell to the Earle of Cardigan Ashby-Folville to the Lord Carrington Besides these there are iâ— great many fine Houses of the Gentry standing sightly to the Fields and Roads some Parks and store of Ganie at all proper Seasons CHAP. XI An Account of the Norman Original How they came to be called Normans With a Description of the Dutchey of Normandy c. BEfore I enter upon the particulars of the Reign of William the First stiled the Conquerer I shall take the Method observed upon other Turns and Changes of Government viz. To give some Account of these New Invaders who at last laid claim to England by Conquest These Normans so called from the Northern Climes which first produced them were composed of Norwegians Swedes and Danes who finding their Country too straight for them betook them to the Seas to seek their Fortunes and practiced Piracies upon the Coasts of Belgia Frizia and England on the latter of which they Landed under the Leading of Rollo their Duke and became very troublesom to the English Saxons between whom there was great Wars Till at last Rollo Dreaming He sat on the highest Hill in France and a pleasant Spring Issued out of a Rock on which he laid his Head running down in many Streams to which flocked a number of Birds with Red Brests to Drink the Water and then flew to fragrant Groves where they Sung so Melodiously that he was Ravished with their Notes and beneath this Hill he fancied there lay so pleasant a Country that the like he had never beheld in his Life When Waking much pleased with his Dream he sent for a Monk of Crowland accounted a great Diviner telling him his Dream and demanding the Interpretation of it who willing for his Countrys sake to be rid of such troublesom Guests told him at an adventure as is supposed That the Fates had Decreed him to settle his Dominions in one of the most pleasant Countries of France Which he gave creadit to and perceiving England much wasted and impoverished by a tedious War and a Famine that then raged having exacted some Aides and Supplies of Money he Transported his Forces over the Narrow Sea and Warred five Years with such Fury on the French that fearing to lose all Charles their King Sirnamed the Simple gave him his Daughter Gilla in Marriage and as her Dowry the Peaceable Possession of what they had already gained by the Sword which being modeled into a Dutchy they called Normandy which Name through all the changes of that Kingdom it bears to this day This Rollo was great Grandfather to Richard the Fifth Duke of Normandy Elder Brother to Robert Father to William the Conquerer As for a Brief Description of the Dukedom of Normandy once a Patrimonial Inheritance of the Kings of England and to which they now have a Right It is Bounded on the East with the Isles of France at the River Epta which passes by the City of Gisors on the West with Britany the Antient Armorica and a Collony of the Britains from which it is separated by the River Crenon Northward by the Sea on the South with the Country of Mayne and is divided by the River Seine Abundantly Rich in Merchandize through the commodiousness of its Havens and Rivers The People are the most Subtil Apt and Ingenious of all the French Provinces yet Affable Curteous and greatly enclined to Learning Their Manufacture consisting most in Wooll and Linnen Cloth the Country producing no Vines capable of making good Wine unless about Caen a very pleasant City The chief City is Roan very famous for many Sieges as in the Series of History will appear having an Arch Bishop whose Jurisdiction extendeth to the River Oyse and a Parliament till of late that the French King has assumed such a Despotick Power and much lessened its Authority was usually held here for the consulting the good of the Province The other Cities of note are Auranche Argences Alancon Falaise Fecham Newhaven or Haver-de-Grace St. Valery Sileaux Constance Manta St. Michale and divers Walled Towns to the number of Eighty So that when the French by reason of our Civil Dissentions wrested it from us they plucked one of the fairest Jewells out of the English Diadem which in time we may yet hope to regain especially under the Auspicious Reign of WILLIAM the Third our present Heroick and Victorious King The Reign of WILLIAM the First
Eglesine Abbot of St Austines had as secretly as they could made them Weapons and lay in Ambush for him which he no sooner entered but every one cut down a Bough to shelter him from present discovery burst out of the Woods on either side the straight he was passing and surrounded his small Train but whilst the King was in suspence what this unusual thing might signifie they all at once threw down their Boughs and stood ready prepared with their Bows Arrows and such other Weapons as they had for the Encounter whereupon the Arch Bishop advancing towards the Conquerer said Behold most noble King the Commons of Kent Assembled to demand a Confirmation of their Antient Rights Laws and Liberties the which if you will Grant them they are willing to Submit and become your Obedient Subjects otherwise in defence of them they are resolved to venture their dearest Blood and presently to give you Battel This unexpected Adventure startled the King that notwithstanding his great Courage a surprising fear seemed visible in his Countenance so that pausing a while he thought it more prudent to yield to Necessity than hazard after so much expence of Blood and Treasure his Life and Kingdom on an uncertain Chance and Nicety Whereupon he signed their demands presented in Writing and gave them a Solemn Promise to Confirm it to them in a Legal manner whereupon they threw down their Arms and Shouted for Joy so that from his Reign to this day that County Enjoys the Priviledges they held in Edward the Confessors time exempted from other Counties as also those in preceding Reigns After this perceiving the Spirits of the English were not so easily brought under as he supposed and hearing that Swain King of Denmark was preparing for an Invasion at the Instigation of Goodwin and Edmund two of King Harrolds Sons he began to relax in his severity and to make fair with the City of London Granted them this short Charter viz. I William King Greet William Bishop and Godfrey Porters and all the Burgesses within London French and English and I Grant you that I Will that you Maintain and Enjoy all your Laws as you did in the days of King Edward meaning the Confessor and I will that each Child be his Fathers Heir and further I will that no Man Wrong you and so God keep you However the Danes Landed a strong Army in the North where they were Joyned by many English in hopes thereby to regain their Liberties but the King hasting thither drove them to their Ships with great slaughter and to revenge him on those that had joyned with them he wasted the Country from York to Durham so that for Nine Years the Ground lay waste which occasioning a Famine numbers of People Dyed After this he Summoned a Convocation of the Clergy charging them with many faults and failures in their Functions and Duty towards him for which he Deposed and Deprived divers Learned and Godly Men of their Dignities Living and Substance The two former he bestowed on such as bid most for them and the latter he kept to Maintain his Wars in Normandy where Troubles were arisen in his Absence the French labouring to recover it as part of their Antient Territories But scarce had he Expelled them ere hasty News recalled him viz. The Earls Edwin and Morcar had set up Edgar Etheling and raised great Forces which were so Formidable to the Conquerer by reason the English were generally enclined to favour the Young Prince than he found himself constrained to end the Difference by fair means and to make the common sort more ready to embrace it he Swore to keep Inviolable the Antient Laws of the Land particularly those of Edward the Confessor but not long after he took from the Abby of St. Albans all the Lands between Barnet and London-Stone And to Strengthen himself he made a League with Malcolm King of Scots who had often publickly or underhand made Incursions or raised Commotions in the Northern parts of the Kingdom And the Bounds of the Country were ascertained by rearing a Stone Cross called by the Scots Stain Moor in Westmorland but by the English Roy Cross or Kings Cross and soon after the King Sailed again for Normandy and quelled the Rebellious Normans that were joyned with the French against him and so returned with Victory but his Treasure being Exhausted he to recruit it Sold to Walcher Bishop of Durham the Earldom of Northumberland but he Enjoyed it not long for Oppressing the People to raise the Money he had disbursed they rose in a Tumultuous manner and slew him Anno 1075 and the ensuing Year a Frost continued without Intermission from the 12th of November to the 15th of April so that the Wild Fowl were most destroyed and many Cattle perished for want of Food A Blazing Star soon after appeared whereupon great contentions ensued in Normandy for Robert the Kings Son having Ingratiated himself into the Favour of the People raised great Forces and in a set Battel Wounded his Father in the Arm threw him from his Horse and took it as his Prize gaining an intire Victory in which many of the English Nobles lost their Lives Whereupon the King finding his Army much weakened was constrained to return for England and finding the City of London did not much favour him after this Defeat to lay a curb and awe on them he rebuilt the Tower of London drawing a Ditch about it to the largness as it continues to this day it being before but of inconsiderable Strength viz. Anno Dom. 1078 and so a Peace in a short time being concluded between him and his Son Robert the latter being allowed the nominal Title of Duke of Normandy and entirely to possess it as a Soveraign Prince after his Fathers Death he came into England and was made General against the Scots who breaking the League wasted the Northern Countries as far as the place then called Moonkchester to whom he gave an entire Defeat and in memory of the Victory erected a strong Castle of Stone Naming it New-Castle from which the Town so called on Tine took its Name Not long after this such mighty Rains happened and continued for so long a time that divers Hills were so softened into a Quagmire that they sunk down and overthrew many Cots and some Villages making as it were a Level St. Paul's Church was likewise set on Fire in June following supposed to be done by Lightning and a great part of it consumed but soon Rebuilded by the Liberal Contributions of the Clergy and Laity He held a Synod in London where some Bishopricks were Translated from one place to another as Selwy to Chichester Credington to Exeter Shirbourn to Salisbury Dorchester unto Lincoln and there being a Contention between the two Arch Bishops of Canterbury and York for Primacy he undertook to determine the difference appointing Lanfrank Arch Bishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Thomas Arch Bishop of York only
Blood and the Miserie 's such a War was likely to bring on both Nations for being thereby weakened they might easily become a Prey to Forreign Enemies who watched for such an opportunity to work their ends both on Normandy and England especially the Danes and French To these and other Reasons for an amicable conclusion of the Difference the Norman Duke harkened with much mildness so that in a short time it was agreed that Robert after Williams Death should possess the Kingdom and to the end his Heirs might not disturb it he was debarred from Marriage as I find it in some Historians however certaine it is he left no Legitimate Issue behind him And in the mean time he was Yearly to pay the sum of 3000 Marks And the Articles being Signed the Brothers took a Friendly leave of each other so that through Providence this threatning Storm which filled England with many doubts and fears at its approach blew over without doing any harm After the Duke of Normandy had repassed the Seas with his Army the King fearing he might repent him of what he had Agree'd to strengthened the Sea Ports and Built some Castles advantagiously on the Havens to prevent Landing by surprize but knowing his prime Strength and Assurance was in the Love of his Subjects he began to caress the Nobles more than he had done and remitted to the Commons several grievous Taxes for upon his coming to the Crown he thought treading in his Fathers steps was the best Measures but now he found that Mildness rather than Rigor was the surest Policy to keep the Natives of this Island firm to his Interest whereupon he restored much that had been Extorted by his Rigorous Ministers and the better to curry favour with the People caused some of them to be punished for the offences he had enjoyned them to commit About this time Odo Bishop of Bayon the Kings Unkle who had been Banished by the Conquerer came over and was kindly received by his Nephew who Created him Earl of Kent and conferred on him many other Honours and Trusts which made the old Clergy-Man presume so much on the Kings Favour That he took upon him more Authority to Rule than came to his share by many degrees whereupon the Nobles made grievous complaints That a Stranger should presume to Domineer over them in their Native Country so that the King being sensible of his Arogancy changed his Smiles into Frowns which caused him to make a party among the English Normans and to fall into open Rebellion Declaring for Duke Robert and his Right who underhand had promised to Land some Forces but did not This Treachery of the Normans made the King almost totally throw himself on the English for Safeguard and Protection These Fractions and Disorders in the State begat new conceits in Malcolm King of Scots who resolving to take the advantage of them hastily raised an Army and Invaded the Northern Marches wasting all in his way with Fire and Sword whereupon the King Summoning all his Courage not to leave an Enemy at his Back first fell upon the Bishop and gave him and his Rebellious Associates a terrible Overthrow and in the Battel the Bishop being taken Prisoner he was compelled to Abjure the Land This happening the latter-end of the Second Year of the Kings Reign the Third no sooner began but he resolved to be Revenged on the Scots who had broke their League with him in order to lay hold on the Advantages Clandestine Commotions seemed to offer them and finding them Plundering and Spoiling his Subjects he scarce gave them time to Embattel ere like a Tempest he broke in amongst them destroying the greater part of their numerous Army in which fell Twenty of their Nobles and their King was constrained to Acknowledg Subjection to England renew his League upon Oath and in further confirmation of his Subjection he became a Pentioner to King William and to make it more apparent he was Tributary to England payed Twelve Mark Yearly for the Twelve Villages the King restored him after he had taken them from him in this War which he had held in the Reign of William the Conquerer and to Fortifie against the Scots Incursions he Rebuilded and Garisoned the City of Carlisle in Cumberland it having been demolished by the Danes about 200 Years before and Lanfrank Dying at a great Age the King kept the profits of the Arch Bishoprick in his hands Four Years and then made Anselm a Norman Abbot Arch Bishop which much displeased the English Clergy Not long after this Malcolm King of Scots coming to Gloucester where King William held his Court being denied Access and unhandsomly treated by some Carpet-Courtiers who had been raised from a low degree he without acquainting the King with it or demanding satisfaction for the Indignity put upon him flung away in a great rage and arriving in Scotland Assembled the Nobles and incited them to bring all the Forces they could raise to his Standard which they punctually obeyed and entering England with a huge Army he wasted all before him as far as Alnewick which he Besieged and Took it but the strong Castle held out against him which with his numbers he so straightly begirt that Famine got in and much dismai'd the Besieged whereupon an adventurous Knight with a Flag of Truce in his Hand and the Keys of the Castle on his Spear came out at the Gate Mounted on a swift Racer and making low obeysence as if he submitted them to the King of Scots being come pretty near setting Spurs to his Horse he run at the King with his Spear and piercing him into the Eye and Brain he fell Dead to the Ground and the Knight by the swiftness of his Horse escaped through the Scotish Camp at which the Scots were so dismai'd That they raised the Siege and departed with the Body of their King Mournfully into Scotland For this daring piece of Service which turned so much to the advantage of William The Knight had his Name by him changed from Mabrey to Piercey and was created Earl of Northumberland whose Race as Earls continued till of very late days as will appear in the succeeding Reigns But this Success prevented not a Conspiracy against the King for Robert Mowbrey and William of Ancho Plotted to take away his Life by Treachery and Crown Stephen D' Albemarle his Second Sisters Son but the Design being Discovered a little before it was to be put in practice by one of the Accomplices in the Conspiracy some were taken and Executed others Fled And now the Welsh Rebelling under the Leading of Rees their Prince the King with a gallant Army entered Wales but the Rebells shifting from one steep Mountain to another as well knowing the ways in those Fastnesses and climbing the craggy Clifts like Goats many of the English were wasted in pursuing them but at length Starving them out they were constrained to come to a Battel wherein Rees was Slain with
most of his Army whereupon Wales entirely submitted to the English Obedience These Troubles were scarce over when another Storm threatned from Normandy The Duke spurred on by Philip of France who promised to Aid him a second time prepared for England but the King having an Army on foot concluded it better to seat the War in another Country than in his own and therefore to prevent the Dukes making his Voyage Sailed to Normandy whose surprising Landing brought great fear on the Country however the King finding himself able with the Army he had to do no great matters and being destitute of Money to raise Forces Abroad bethought him of a Stratagem to do it viz. He sent to England many chief Officers to Levy such for the Wars as were of Ability and having Listed Citizens of London and others to the number of 30000 when they came to the Sea Shoar and most of them shewed an unwillingness to Embark as looking back to their Wives and Children from which many of them had been forced upon a pretended pressing urgency it was Proclaimed That such as would lay down Ten Shillings should be Discharged from the Service which most of them did with great Alacrity so that very few of them went With this Money King William underhand bought off Philip the French King from the Duke of Normandy's Interest which he perceiving agreed with his Brother by Ratifying again the former Conditions and the Christian Armies being on foot in most parts of Europe to rescue the Christians in the Holy Land from the Tyrany of the Turks and Sarazens Duke Robert to raise Forces and accompany them Pawned his Dutchey of Normandy to King William for 10000 Pounds and there did many Valiant Exploits insomuch that at the taking of Jerusalem he was first proffered to be made King of it and all the Country lying about it larger than what either David or Solomon possessed but he refused it in hopes of the Kingdom of England after his Brothers Death tho' he was disappointed of it and Dyed a deplorable Death which some have accounted as a Judgment for his having refused the profered Scepter of Jerusalem However on his refusal the Princes chose Godfry of Bulloin Earl of Flanders with which Choice he Joyfully complied but would not be Crowned as he said with a Crown of Gold where our Blessed Saviour for the Sins of Man and to procure his Redemption had some time worn a Crown of Thorns But nearer to My Purpose The King was no sooner returned out of Normandy but News was brought him the Welsh were again in Rebellion whereupon he Marched to Subdue them but returned without effecting it by reason of the violent Torrents occasioned by the Rain and their keeping among the Rocks and Fastnesses till his Army was tired out with Famine and other inconveniencies yet soon after they grew Quiet of themselves But scarce had he time to take breath ere a Rebellion broke out in the North whither he hasted with his Army gave the Rebells a great Overthrow and takeing some of the Ringleaders caused them to be put to Death but extended his Pardon to the common sort and Mowbray who encouraged them was committed to Windsor Castle where he continued a long while Prisoner And the Welsh growing again troublesom by wasting the English Borders and carrying away great spoils the King sent the Earls of Shrewsbury and Chester against them with a strong Power where after some Search and as secret Marchings as they could they found them making Merry in the Isle of Anglesey with the Plunder they had got from the English and falling upon them when they expected nothing less their Feasting was turned into Mourning for the greater part of them was Slain and those that were taken Prisoners mostly lost Feet Hands or Eyes or were put to worse Torments as a Terror to the rest that they should keep Quiet within their appointed limits The King thinking all would now be Quiet resolved to take his Ease and then forgeting how the English had faithfully stood by him and assisted him in his most dangerous undertakings he cast many of them out of Favour Office and Trust laying grievous Taxes on the Commonalty Selling for ready Money the best Promotions in Ecclesiastical and Civil Affairs Prohibiting Anselm Arch Bishop of Canterbury to Assemble any Convocations or Synods for the well ordering the Clergy or for the Correcting such as did Offend without his Leave or License by which means he secretly filled his Coffers with Treasure and tho' the Good Arch Bishop laid before him the ill consequences and dangers of such Proceedings and not being minded he resolved to go for Rome and lay before Pope Vrban the Third the danger the Church was in by Misgovernment and to perswade him to Intercede with the King not to intermedle with Church-Affaires but leave them to his Clergy The King hearing of his Intention sent to command him not to go but the Old Man and his Retinue were before on their Journey however the King sent after him and Pillaged him near Dover of all his Wealth in hopes that would stay him but it did not For he went to Rome and made such Complaints that the Pope in a chafe would have Excomunicated the King But his Clergy Advised him that having already Excomunicated the Emperour Henry the Fourth The first Christian Prince that ever was under Excomunication therefore it would be convenient to see the Issue of that Sentence ere he proceeded any further For says a blunt Abbot your Holiness must have a care how you heat any more Irons before you see how those you have Heated already will be Quenched least they prove too Hot for your handling However many Letters and Verbal Messages were sent to the King Admonishing him not to meddle any more with the Investing of Bishops by giving them the Cross Ring and Pastoral Staff nor Prohibit the Assembling of the Convocations or Synods touching the Affairs of the Church nor the Execution of any Canons tho' they were by Regal Authority Confirmed To this the King Answered That he would still do as he Pleased and not lose so fair a Flower belonging to his Crown And being Reproved in the absence of Anselm by Ralph Bishop of Chichester he cast him into disgrace and Suspended many Churches in his Diocess causing the Revenues to be brought into his Exchequer so that the Clergy finding no Redress greatly Murmured but in vain till his humour was over and then he not only received the Bishop into his extraordinary Grace and Favour but Granted many Honourable Priviledges to his See yet he stood not long on these terms ere the Kings humour changing again he Banished him By these ways the King had Amassed great Sums part of which he laid out in Building viz. He made outward Walls and Bullwarks about the Tower of London on this side the Ditch which Ruined by Time and other Accidents are now Demolished tho' some of the
the Sword valiantly fighting in the Field than again to be guilty of such Meanness The King who was not unacquainted with his humour rightly guessed at what was intended and therefore followed him with an Army and much Treasure and after many Battels overpowering his small number he was taken brought Prisoner to England and closely confined when endeavouring to make his Escape the King to whome in William Rufus his Reign he had done many good offices ungratfully caused his Eyes to be put out with Burning Glasses yet in this Captivity he lived about the space of 20 Years and then as is said the King sending him a Suit of his Old Cloaths he took the Indignity so impatiently that resolving to live no longer in that Misery and Disgrace some Historians have it that he voluntarily Starved himself others that he Beat out his Braines against the Stones of the Prison-Wall however certain it is that in his confinement Dyed the Valliant well Accomplished and much Lamented Robert Eighth Duke of Normandy a Prince in whom all Heroick Virtues shined The King seeming now to be rid of all his Fears began to consider the Clergy by his concessions were grown exceeding Rich and Ingrossed many Temporalities so that resolving to come in with them for a share of what they had Accumulated by his Bounty he laid Taxes on some and reassumed his power of Creating Bishops which so highly disgusted Arch Bishop Anselm That he not only bitterly inveighed against his Proceedings contrary to his former Promises but absolutely refused to Consecrate such Bishops as the King Appointed However to curry favour with the King Gerald Arch Bishop of York performed that Ceremony and Anselm soon after being Banished fled to Rome and made grievous complaints to Pope Paschal the Second of the wrongs as he pretended that had been done him and upon the Popes Intercession about two Years after he had License to return and at a Synod of the Clergy holden in London by the Popes Authority it was Enacted That from thence forth no Temporal Person should give Investiture to any Bishop by the Cross and Ring yet three Years after Arch Bishop Anselm Dying The Temporalities of the See of Canterbury were Seized into the Kings hands who converted them to his use for the space of five Years the See being so long kept vacant he aledging to the Bishops that sued to him to Nominate an Arch Bishop That he only kept it for a worthy Person that might justly deserve it Anno Dom. 1108 The King erected the Bishoprick of Ely appointing the Diocess to extend through the County of Cambridge and Isle of Ely and Endowed it with some of his own Lands in those parts by which means he made fair weather with the Pope because by this addition he had strengthened his Interest the more in England and the Clergy seemed satisfied in part for their Damages sustained But now a Storm threatned in Normandy for the King having gotten quiet Possession after his Brothers Death Lewis Le Gross King of France fearing a further Incroachment on his Territories if the King of England wanting Interuption had liberty to grow Powerful he procured Foulk Earl of Anjou on a weak pretence to seiz on the Country of Mayne and then animated Baldwin Earl of Flanders to Proclaim War for the King of England's with-houlding a Yearly Pension of 300 Marks which the Conquerer had settled on Baldwin fifth Earl of Flanders and had been pay'd by William Rufus to his Son and Nephew because the Earl had assisted the Conquerer with considerable Forces upon his Invading Elngand All these made strong preparations to Invade Normandy But the News soon roused the King from his Bed of Ease and filled him with Princely Resolutions whereupon he passed the Seas with an Army of Nobles Gentry and common Souldiers when losing no time he set upon the Earl of Anjou and his Associates giving him an entire Overthrow so that he was enforced to save himself by shameful Flight leaving the Prime Nobility and Gentry of his Army dead on the Plaines or Prisoners of War with 4000 of lesser note And near unto the Town of Nice which was Surprized and holden by the King of France he Encountered the other Confederates so that a very cruel Fight beginning between them it continued Nine Hours and was on both sides fought with such Eagerness and Heroick Resolution that tho' the King won the Victory and kept the Field whilst his Parties sent after them had a long chace of the flying Enemy he truly confessed He Fought not then for Victory but for his Life Not long after these Victories Overtures of Peace were made and the King fearing some practices against him in England might raise a Rebellion if he should be long entangled in War Abroad he thâ— more readily harkened to them and a Peace was concluded upon a Marriage between William the Kings Eldest Son and the Daughter of the Duke of Anjou but in their return for England staying somewhat behind the King and to make Merry and take leave of their Friends in their Riotous Treatments the Marriners got such plenty of Wine that being for the most part made Drunk coming with full Sail in hopes to overtake the King they run upon the Shallows where the Ship beating along by the violence of the Wind and Waves Foundered yet the Prince with his fair Bride and many others got into the Long-Boat and put off but Mary Countess of Perch his Sister crying from the Sinking Deck pitiously to him To take her in and not let her Perish in the Waters he Rowed back again thinking to do it but then many Lives being at the point to be lost and in that great Extremity â—very one valuing his own Life equal with his Princes neither Words nor Swords could keep so many from leaping in as sunk the Boat so that they together with Richard the Kings Younger Son Lucia his Neice and her Husband the Earle of Chester were swallowed up by the merciless Waves only three or four Sailors escaping on Planks to Shoar as sad Relators of the Tragical News which filled the Court with Mourning and the whole Nation with an Universal heaviness However the King bore it with Prudence and much Princely Fortitude knowing his Grief could not Retrieve his great loss nor had he any long time after his Landing to weigh the mishap ere Wars loud Alarms summoned him to the Field for in his absence the Welsh impatient of the English Yoak had strengthened themselves in Confedracy with some Irish Adventurers and now broke into open Rebellion not as formerly abiding in the Mountains and Fastnesses but relying on a foolish Prophecy That in that Year they should recover their Antient Territories and have a King of their Nation Reign over the whole Island they boldly advanced and unadvisedly gave him Battel in the Plains where they were Overthrown and most of them Slain or taken Prisoners the King inciting the Sword
to rage in their destruction and consumed with Fire all the places in his March making such a desolation as had not been known in that Country for many hundred Years and by so mighty a Terror having Quieted these People he returned with great Spoil and was joyfully received at London Where Assembling the Nobles he desired a Supply to enable him to Marry his Daughter Maud to the Emperour Henry who had demanded her in Marriage which they granted and it was Leavied in the nature of a Tax on Lands being called Aid pur file Marrier and the same custom for the Marriage of the Eldest Daughters of the Kings of this Realm was a long time continued and may yet be practised on the like Emergency At the same time he devised and ordered the manner and fashion of a High Court of Parliament appointing it to consist of the Three Estates of which himself was the Head so that the Laws being made by the consent of all were highly pleasing to the People This happy beginning of a Good Constitution of Government was First Established at Salisbury in April Anno Dom. 1114 some Authors have it 1116. However it has proved by the continuance and great Improvement of Parliaments happy for England to this day seeing to those August Assemblies we owe the well founding of the best constituted Government it the World Soon after this the King hoping in some measure to repair the loss of his Children Drowned as has been recited Married Adilicia Daughter to Godfrey first Duke of Lovain And Pope Calixtus the Second came to him in Normandy in hopes to perswade him not to meddle in matters belonging to Ecclesiastical Affairs but neither Flattery Threats or Perswasion could work the King to a compliance with his desires and at this meeting two Youths Sons to the Earl of Mellent and Servants to the King Disputing with two of the Popes Cardinals with Logical Sylogisms so Nonplus'd them that they were compelled to own their Ignorance About Three Years after Pope Honorius the Second sent Cardinal Cremensis to certifie the abuses of the Married Clergy and to that purpose he made a long Oration in a large Assembly of Priests and others in praise of Chastity and dispraise of Vnlawful Lust for so he termed that of the Married Priests with their Wives but being narrowly watched by some of them he was by a Publick Officer taken in Bed the same Night with a common Strumpet and so loaden with Shame compelled to return to his Master without Success Yet the King preferring Thurston one of his Chaplains to the Arch Bishoprick of York the Proud Priest refused to Swear Obedience to the See of Canterbury which his Predecessors had both Sworn and performed and Appealing to Rome the King permited the Pope to dispense with his Obedience to that See but he proceeding further to give him the Investure of Arch Bishop by delivering him the Pall Ring and Cross the King was so much displeased that he prohibited his return but in the end the Popes Threatnings Menacing nothing but Curses Excomunications and Suspensions he had leave to Enjoy the Dignity of the Archiepiscopal See least evil affected Persons taking advantage of the Difference might raise Commotions to disturb the Quiet of the Kingdom And soon after one Arnold in a Divinity Lecture at Oxford for Preaching against the Pride of the Prelates and Dissolute and Wicked Lives of the Priests was Assassinated and found Dead with near a Hundred Wounds in his Head Face and other Parts In the 27th Year of this Kings Reign Dyed the Emperour Henry the Fifth of Germany not leaving any Issue by Maud his Empress whereupon the King to strengthen his Interest against France Married her to Geoffrey Plantagenet Son and Heir Apparent to Foulk then Earl of Anjou by whom she had Issue Henry afterward King of England Geoffery and William This fair Ofspring enriched the King with the truest endowment of Content for that as he conceived he saw in them the long continuance of his Line in possessing the Crown of this Realm and to make it the more certain and sure to them he took three sollemn Oaths in the space of five Years of all the Nobility and chief Men of the Kingdom That with their best Advice and with the hazzard of their Goods Lands Lives and Fortunes they should Support and Maintain the Succession of his Daughter and her Heirs And so growing in Years he went over to Normandy to do the like there and settle his Affaires but Eating Lamprys at the Town of St. Dennis he Surfeited on them and after a short Sickness Dyed This King was accounted Wise Learned Mild and Just beyond most of his Predecessors more enclined to Peace than War extending his Bounty to such as merited it by Publick Service confining his Gifts within the limits of Thrift and Measure He was a gentle Friend but a stuborn Enemy He had several Children by his Concubins which he promoted to Honours and Places of Trust He Erected the two Bishopricks Ely and Carlisâ—le and Founded the Monastries of Shirbourn Circester the Priory at Dunstable and the Abby of Reading in Barkshire where he was Intered in a stately Tomb. He began his Reign Wednesday the First of August Anno Dom. 1100 and Reigned 35 Years 4 Months and 1 Day and was the 33d Sole Monarch of England In the 16th Year of his Reign great Thunders Lightenings and Hail happened in December doing much harm and the Moon for two Nights appeared of the Colour of Blood in October the same Year the Thames was so Dry that the People passed at the Tower and almost as far as the Bridge to the other side on Foot In the 33d Year of his Reign happened so great an Eclips of the Sun that at Noon-day the Stars plainly appeared and about two days after there was a terrible Earthquake and the same Year happened a dreadful Fire in London which consumed it from the West End of Cheapside to Aldgate and the nex Year Worcester and Rochester were Accidentally Burnt and a little before his Death a Blazing Star with a Bushy Tail of the colour of Blood appeared at South West Twelve Nights successively Remarks on Northamptonshire c. NOrthamptonshire is a pleasant Inland County held to be Situate in the Middle of the Kingdom being mostly Inclosure affording store of Corn Pease Fruits good Pasturs and larg Cattle Sheep and Foul in abundance divers Parks stored with Deer and much Fish It contains in it one City viz. Peterborough which is a Bishops See tho' Northampton is the Shire Town It is divided into 20 Hundreds and in them 326 Parishes 13 Market Towns and 5 Rivers It is Bounded with Cambridgshire Huntingtonshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Warwickshire Leicestershire and Lincolnshire sends Members to Parliament 9 viz. 2 Knights of the Shire Peterborough 2 Northampton 2 Brackley 2 Higham Ferries 1. NORTHAMTON SHIRE Oundle or Houndhill is famous for a Well wherein at certain
times the beating of a Drum is heard and People say it is usually the Alarm or Forerunner of Wars or Changes of Government and indeed before the late Revolution it was for many days together heard very plain It has a very fine Church a Free-Sohool and an Almes-House Peterborough is famed for its Building and the curious Work of its Cathedral It is seated as Northampton and Oundle are on the River Nen. At Higham Ferries was Born Henry Chichely Cardinal and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in the Reign of Henry the Sixth who Founded All Souls Colledge in Oxford Edgcot on Danes Moor near this place a Bloody Battle was Fought Anno 1469 between Robin of Risdale and Sr. John Coniers against William Herbert Earl of Pembrook the Lord Rivers and others At Fotheringay Castle Mary Queen of Scots was kept a long time Prisoner and at last Beheaded in it The other Towns of Note are Towcester Daventree Wellingborough Kettering Brabrook situate mostly on pleasant Streams that branch in all parts of this County At Wellingborough are Medicinal Waters upon the account of which Queen Mary the First Lay there for several Weeks In the midest of the River Nen South of Peterborough is a deep Gulf so Cold in the Summer no Swimmer is able to endure it yet never Frozen in the Winter The whole County is pleasantly sprinkled with Woods and Tufted Groves wherein great store of Hares shelter The Seats of the Nobility are Grafton Regis a seat of the late Duke of Grafton Burghly Worthorp and Wakerly belonging to the Earl of Exeter Apethorp and Sewlhay Lodg to the Earl of Westmerland Brayton Luswick alias Lowick Thrapston and Sudborow to the Earl of Peterborough Althorp to the Earl of Sunderland Dean to the Earl of Cardigan Winwick to the Earl of Craven Holdenby to the Earl of Feversham Kerby to the Lord Viscount Hatton Baron of Kerby c. Astwell to the Lord Ferrers Easton Mauit to the Lord Grey Boughton and Barnwell Castle to the Lord Montague Rockingham Castle Warmington and Stoke Albony to the Lord Watson Stean to the Lord Crew Peterborough-Pallace and Castle to the Lord Bishop of the Diocess Besides these there are many stately Houses of the Gentry that give a curious Prospect to most Roads in the County The Reign of King STEPHEN THough King Henry thought he made the Crown of England and Dutchy of Normandy sure to his Daughter Maud and her Issue yet for a whole Reign it was debarred from them for Stephen Third Son to Stephen Earl of Bloyce by his Wife Adilicia or Alice Third Daughter to Willian the Conquerer having insinuated himself into the Favour of the leading Nobles Sailed for England and Landed at Whit-Sand Bay with whom came a wonderful Tempest attended with Thunder and Lightening He was Crowned at Westminster on the 26th of December Anno Dom. 1135 by William Corbell Arch Bishop of Canterbury and so well was he Instructed in the former Examples That by Wisdom and Policy he laboured to lay a sure foundation for his Advancement and because Riches are the Sinews and Strength of the Strongest Kings he therefore to Enrich himself seized on the Treasure of the Deceased King and Bountifully disposed of it to such as either by Arms or Council were most likely to stand him in stead he also created sundry Noblemen and Dignified many others with the Honour of Knighthood which made him find many fast Friends and because benefits received are more frequently pleasing to the Vulgar than Right or Reason to ingratiate with the Common Sort he remitted several Taxes of â—hose Grievance they had complained in the latter end of the last Reign but could have no Redress causing the better to confirm this Concession a Charter to be made to the People under the Great Seal for an Assurance of his not Revoking what he had consented to he also made a Mitigation of the Severeties and Penalties of divers Laws and by Solemn Oath bound himself to Observe and Keep the same he likewise Renounced the future Seisures of all Ecclesiastical Dignities and Promotions when they should become Vacant the better to Endear the Clergy to him giving to the Church and Church-men such Graceful and Profitable Priviledges and Immunities as they would demand exempting them among other things from the Authority of the Temporal Magistrate for all Offence whatsoever unless the Ordinary consent to give them up to the Secular Power And to prevent suddain Disturbances that might arise he Builded many Forts Fortresses Bullwarks and Castles Licensing the Nobles Gentry and Clergy to do the like for their Security And to keep fair with David King of Scots who was Unkle to Maud the Empress he gave him the County of Cumberland to hold it in Fee of the Crown of England and do Homage for it when he should be so required and Created his Eldest Son Henry Earl of Huntingdon yet this sufficed not that restless King for soon after he entered England in the Empresses Quarrel and laid many Towns and Villages Waste but being Encountered by Thurston Arch Bishop of York he was Overthrown and flying into Scotland left about 10000 of his Men Dead behind him Nor were the Welsh less troublesome tho' he had Banished Baldwin D' Redvers for Rebelling against him but greatly infested the Western Parts whereupon an Army was sent and gave them Battel but by the Negligence of the Commanders for want of due order the English were put to the Rout and many Slain tho' more taken Prisoners many of which were lead away by the Welsh-women and so great a number were Drowned by the fall of a Bridge over Tweed That a Passage was made over the Water with their Dead Bodies In the Sixth Year of this Kings Reign the Empress Maud being accompanied by her Brother-in-Law Robert Duke of Glocester Landed in England with an Army which as it Marched was much encreased by the comming in of many English and soon after joyned by Randulph Earl of Chester with a Body of Welsh hereupon the King reposing no confidence in delay but Experience advising him that time would be the chief enabler of his Adversaries Success he Levied a strong Army and Marched against them so that a cruel Fight with equal hopes was Fought for many hours between them but at length the common Souldiers on the Kings part striving faintly rather endeavouring to save themselves than to defend their Prince they at last betook them to Flight and left him with a few Nobles and Gentry yet with his Battel-Ax in his Hand like an enraged Lion he stoutly maintained the Combate Slaying many of the Enemy till at last being surrounded and in vain demanded to yeild he made a War himself against whole Troops till being beaten down with a weighty Stone cast on him at a distance he was taken Prisoner and carried to Bristol Castle where remaining about three Months he was exchanged for the Duke of Glocester who in the mean while was made
and thence to Norwich where it now remains The Seats of the Nobility are Dukes-Place belonging to the Duke of Norfolk Oxnead-Hall and Paston-Hall to the Earl of Yarmouth Reynam-Hall and Stif-key-Hall to the Lord Viscount Towusend Castle-Rising to the Duke of Norfolk Norwich-Palace and Ludham-Hall to the Bishop of the Diocess Besides divers sightly Houses of the Gentry The Reign of King HENRY the Second commonly called Henry Fitz-Empress AT the time when King Stephen Dyed Henry was in Normandy Besieging a strong Castle the French had a little before taken by Surprize and being advised by some Nobles about him to pass over for England and leave the Siege least another in his Absence might step into the Throne as before had happened he made a Reply full of Discretion and true Valour to this effect The Kingdom of England shall henceforth be at my Command in despight of those that dare to cross me most and so shall these Intruding Frenchmen ere I raise the Siege This resolution redoubled his honour among his Friends and brought fear on the Enemy for when they knew it they surrendered the Castle and submitted themselves to his Mercy and so having settled Affairs in that Dukedom with a Noble Train of Lords and Gentlemen he came for England where he was Crowned three times viz. By Theobald Arch Bishop of Canterbury at Westminster Then at Lincoln and lastly at Worcester He chose his Council of the Gravest Wisest and most Learned Peers and made Thomas of Becket Chancelour and appointed such Judges and Learned Men in the Laws by Industry and Labour to Refine them That the Common Laws were greatly Mended and Improved being rendred more tolerable and profitable to the People and after this he divided the Kingdom into six Circuits and for the better administration of Justice and Trying of Causes between Subject and Subject he appointed his Judges to go those Circuits twice a Year which Order yet continues He Banished the greatest part of Strangers who in those days by multitudes flocked hither and by their extraordinary Sparing and painful Industry procured much Wealth and Begger'd the Natives He Exiled many of the Nobles who contrary to their Duties had adhered to King Stephen and differing much from the Opinion of his Predecessor he affirmed that strong Castles and Forts maintained in the heart of the Kingdom did rather Animate Great Men upon any displeasure to Revolt than Fear them into Obedience whereupon he caused most of them to be Razed to the Ground and Seized such Mannors Lordships Possessions as his Predecessors had either Sold or Given from the Crown holding it to be the Duty of every Subject to refuse the Gift or Purchace of such things as do immediately concern the Honour and Maintenance of a King And the like he did in the Northern Parts where many Great Men Commanding as they list had wrought themselves and their Posterity into many Honours Castles Mannors which properly appertained to the Crown He likewise took into his hands the Provinces of Cumberland Northumberland and the Earldom of Huntingdon which David King of Scots and Henry his Son had received as a Gift from King Stephen to favour his Wars against the Empress However the King entered into Amity with Malcolm King of Scots upon the same Conditions as were Agreed on in Henry the Firsts time and in Token of his Subjection the Scot Offered his Bonnet and Saddle upon St. Peter's Altar at York And about this time Theobald Dying Becket was made Arch Bishop of Canterbury This King even in time of Peace had generally an Army on foot and rarely kept them Idle but would often Transport them to Normandy and there having Exercised them would bring them back again so that on all occasions they were found ready and expert Souldiers And now an advantage opened a way to the English for the Conquest of Ireland For the Eastern part along the Sea being possessed by Dormat-Mac-Mahur King of Leinster his Cruelties had highly incensed his Subjects against him especially upon taking away the Queen of Morice King of Meath so that the Injured King Confederating with Roderick O Conor King of Connought they beat him out of his Country so that he fled for England and craved Aid of King Henry to Restore him which upon taking an Oath of Fidelity and Subjection was harkened to when the better to encourage the design the King for a Sum of Money obtained leave of Pope Adrian an Englishman then advanced to St. Peter's Chair that he might Conquer Ireland promising moreover throughly to Establish the Christian Religion therein and bring it to an acknowledgment of the See of Rome but whilst he was preparing for this Expedition new Troubles arose in Normandy which required his Presence to pacifie but he granted his Letters Patents by which he gave leave with Encouragement to his Nobles and such others as were willing to go for Ireland Dormat impatient of Exile laid hold of this first Advantage and Solicited the Nobles but above all he promised Richard the Kings Son a Young Prince of a Warlike Spirit his Daughter a very Beautiful Young Lady and all his Countries after his Decease to be made over to them he likewise incited one Fitz Stephens who with a Band of Valiant Welshmen was the first that Landed and maintained his Ground with much Courage till the Prince and divers Nobles came over and with little trouble they seized the Town of Wexford which was given to Fitz Stephens for his part of the Charge of the War and soon after many of the petty Irish Kings being Overthrown Dormat was Restored and Dublin the chief City Submitting to him he put to Death by many Cruelties such of his Capital Enemies as he found there However the Prince went Conquering on and Subdued all before him of which King Henry had no sooner Notice but fearing this might flush Ambition and make him practice with his own Subjects for the Crown he speedily returned to England and sent Mandates Commanding all the English under great Penalties to return rallying the Nobility for suffering the Prince in his Absence to go over he was in this so far Obeyed that the Prince was left in Dublin with a small Train the Irish was not slow in taking the advantage of this Retreat and therefore Besieged him in that prime City with an Army of 30000 Men upon which he Sally'd with about 1500 and utterly Routed them taking great Spoils and so in obedience to the Kings commands returned for England where he surrendered into his Fathers hands all the Forts and Cities he had taken Anno 1172 the King Landed in Ireland with a Royal Army and found Dormar to be Dead however he brought such a Terror on the Country That Roderick and most of the other Princes submitted to him intreating him to take the Government on him as their Supream Lord which he Accepted with their Oaths of Fealty and at Christmas he made a Royal Feast in
the City of Dublin to the Petty Kings and most of the Nobility of the Kingdom and having settled the Civil and Ecclesiastical matters reforming Barbarities and Abuses he brought those that held out in Vlster under Subjection and so returned in Triumph to London Thus was Ireland made subject to the Crown of England and has so continued ever since being a very spacious Country viz. in Length 303 Miles in Breadth 112 in Circumference 948. And such was the over-fondness of this King to his Eldest Son Henry that he caused him and his Wife Margaret Daughter to Lewis the French King to be twice sollemnly Crowned in the presence of his People himself the second time for that day leaving the Title of King and serving as a Servitor at his Son's Table whereat the Bishop of Winchester whispering the Young Henry in the Ear said Never any King of England had such a Sewer at his Table Nay replied the Upstart my Father need not think it any dishonour to him as being but Royal Born on one side when I had both a King to my Father and a Queen to my Mother upon this the old King shook his Head and whispered the Bishop I find my Lord I have raised the Young Man too soon and too late repent of it And from that time he laboured to suppress the Pride of his Sons which made them often Rebel and Conspire with his Enemies drawing away the Hearts of many of his Subjects And altho' at one time Lewis the French King Henry Geoffry and John three of his Sons joyned with Robert Earl of Leicester Hugh Earl of Chester and William King of Scots against him yet by plain Valour he Routed them and made his Sons and others that were his Subjects submit to his Pardon and soon after his Son Henry Dyed in the flower of his Age. But these were not all the Kings Troubles for he was grievously pestered with the stubbornness of Becket Arch Bishop of Canterbury For upon his first admittance to that See he refused to take the Oath for observation of the Articles administred to the Clergy which the rest of the Bishops had done because it was clearly against the Popes Authority and perceiving the King much displeased at his refusal he resolved to set the Pope on his Back and therefore privately withdrawing himself went to Rome where he made grievous complaints against the King and Clergy of England to Innocent the Second upon which the Pope gave him the Pall and appointed him Legate so upon his return he delivered up his Chancelorship and Great Seal not giving the King or any other an account why he did so These Jars between the King and the Arch Bishop imboldened the Inferiour Clergy to commit many Irregularities for which they received but small punishment for if they committed Murthers Manslaughters Fellonies or Robberie being Censured by Men of their own Profession they came off as they could wish so that the Common Wealth being sorely oppressed to Redress these Grievances the King found himself constrained to call a Parliament In which that Law made in King Stephens Reign which exempted the Authority of Temporal Judges from meddling with Ecclesiastical Affaires was Repealed and the Laws held in the Reign of Henry the First and other the Kings Predecessors Established and Inforced being commonly called Avitae Legis but he was stoutly opposed in his Proceedings by Becket and some other Bishops who unadvisedly made themselves partakers of his Faction but after many Conferences Disputes and Consultations all except Becket Ratified and Subscribed those newly revived Laws but he by no means would do it unless he might enter this Clause Salvo Ordine suo which words clearly Annihilated the Life and Substance of those Laws but the Bishops fearing the Kings Anger might turn to their great disadvantage at last prevailed with Becket to Swear to the said Laws but upon another Pet taken he recanted his Oath and was Absolved by the Pope Yet it nothing daunted the King but rather Irritated him to Seiz into his own hands all such Temporalities as he had formerly given to the Arch Bishop requiring him to render an Account of 30000 Marks he had Imbezilled during his being Chancellor But the Prelate in Answer to this boldly affirmed the King had freely given it to him as a free Gift and ought not in Honour or Conscience to demand it back Whereupon all the Moveables that appertained to him were Seized by the Kings express command At which Becket being disgusted he went to Rome without the Kings License and the King perceiving his drift was to incense the Pope against him sent his Ambassadors to represent his perversness and evil carriage and how reasonable things were he had imposed on him entreating the Pope to divest him of his Dignity and he would provide for him and his in another station But Becket had made such interest in the Court of Rome That the Pope not only refused it but with many Threatnings sent two Legates To Curse the King and all his People unless on their demands Becket were immediatly restored to his Dignity also to his Lands and Moveables that were Confiscated and in the mean while he commended him to the Abbot of Pontynack where he was kindly received and for a time entertained But upon the Kings Threats that unless he was Expelled the House that he would leave no Monk of that Order in France he was dismissed the King Commanding That without his License no Cardinal nor Legate should presume to set Footing in England and hereupon he Banished all Beckets Relations which much grieved him yet under-hand he was encouraged by Lewis the French King resolutely to persist in his Obstinacy whereupon King Henry to put an end to this difference that much disturbed the Kingdom Sailed to France and in the French Kings presence Conferred with the Arch Bishop making him an Offer That if he would take the Oath again and subscribe the Instrument Triparte as himself and the Arch Bishop of York had done he should be restored to his Favour and enjoy all that was formerly appertaining to him and his Friends recalled from Banishment but then he started another obstacle consenting to do it if it might be with an exception of salvo honore Dei This more angered the King than the former for by it he seemed to Object the Laws made tended to the dishonour of God and if so consequently were void in themselves bringing a scandal upon those that first Instituted them and also upon himself and the Parliament that had Revived them Whereupon Becket plainly told him That he feared none but God and since his Laws were derogatory to the Antient Customs and Priviledges of the Church and Robbed God of his Honour the King in seeking to Establish them should not have his will whilst he lived And upon this Disagreement the Pope sent two Legates to Interdict the Kingdom till Becket should be restored to his Dignity This so far
transported the King with Anger being then in Normandy That he let some words fall in his Passion which being taken hold on by some of his Courtiers who mis-construed the Kings meaning it proved the destruction of Becket For soon after having leave to return and beginning new Troubles in Church Matters four of them Slew him at the High Altar in the Cathedral Church of Canterbury and with him two or three Monks that endeavoured his Rescue Thus fell this troublesom Prelate who rising from a low degree his Father being a Londoner and his Mother a Sarazen in his Pride contended many Years with a Potent King and brought many miseries on the Kingdom Afterward he was Sainted and many Superstitious People went on Pilgrimage to his Tomb. The Pope no sooner knew his Champion was fallen but he Threatned Cursed and Fulminated yet with little Terrour However to make himself Easie the King admitted two Cardinals to take his Purgation who allotted his Penance when he had denied his consenting to the Murther upon Oath to War three Years in the Holy Land which he Redeemed by Erecting three Religious Houses That he should go from London to Canterbury bare Footed to visit Beckets Shrine which he performed and suffered himself to be Scourged by the Monks with Rods on his Naked Back after which upon his sending Presents to the Pope he was Absolved During the Kings being thus Abroad his Queen had caused Rosamond his fair Concubine to be Poisoned which so inraged him that he cast her into Prison and would be prevailed on by no Intreaty nor Submission to release her during his Life tho' she endured many Miseries and Hardships in her confinement till at length she was set at Liberty by her Son Richard's comming to the Crown as will more at large appear in his Reign Doctor Gilbert Folliott of Oxford however hardly the Pope had used the King nevertheless perswaded him to regulate abuses in the Clergy and curb their Pride shewing him a warrant for it from the Word of God and the Writings of Eminent Fathers of the Church and other Good and Learned Men That for as much as Kings are stiled The Nursing Fathers of the Church It is their Duty to God to see it well Ordered and Governed and like a careful Husbandman suppress and keep under those rank Weeds of Error that would over-top and choak the Corn of Truth He used many other Reasons and Arguments so that the King began to assume his Power and look more narrowly into their Covetousness Pride and the Oppressions they laid on such as their Jurisdiction extended over in Temporalities wherein he abridged and cut them short which made them greivously complain that the King hearkened to Persons evilly affected to the Church and the Pope having notice who had advised the King sent many Threats and Menaces of what Mischief he would do in England if he did not put him out of his Protection which he had no sooner done but the Clergy like so many Harpies grievously Persecuted him till they made him Abjure the Land but this being contrary to the Kings pleasure he was afterward recalled and had leave to live a private Life However the King neglected to pay the Tribute called Peter-Pence to Rome and Garrisoned his Towns in Normandy very strongly beating out the encroaching French and Enlarging his Borders tho' his Sons proved still troublesom to him in under-hand siding with the French and some discontented Normans and English However he surmounted all Difficulties till in Normandy he fell Sick of a Feaver and Dyed at Chinon on the Sixth of July Anno Dom. 1189 when he had Reigned 34 Years 8 Months and 11 Days He was Eldest Son to Geoffery Plantagenet Earl of Anjou Son to Foulk King of Jerusalem by Maud the Empress Eldest Daughter to Henry the First He began his Reign October 25 Anno 1154 and Dying as is said was Buried at Font-Everard in Normandy He is accounted a Wise Just Learned and Valliant Prince and tho' he little burthened his Subjects with Taxes considering the Wars he had yet he left in his Treasury 900000 Pounds in Coin and Plate besides Jewels and other things of great value which furnished out his Son Richard for the Holy War As for his fair Concubine whom he entirely doted on he caused her to be Buried at Godstow near Oxford and on her stately Monument placed this Epitaph Hic Jacet in Tumba Rosamundi non Rosa Munda Non Redolet sed olet que Redolere Solet And may be Englished thus Within this Tomb lies the World 's chiefest Rose She who was Sweet will now offend your Nose In the Fifth Year of this Kings Reign 30 Persecuted Waldenses flying their Country came into England and found here no better Entertainment for being Pronounced Heriticks by a Convocation of Bishops at Oxford the King strictly Prohibited his Subjects to relieve them so that wandering up and down they Dyed with Hunger And near this time certain Jews Crucified a Child at Glocester for which 20 of them were Hanged and many Banished Anno 1163 one Peter Priest of Cole-Church was at the Charge of Building London-Bridge a New with Timber In the 20th Year of this Kings Reign Leicester was Burnt by his command the Walls and Castle Razed and the Inhabitants dispersed for adhering to his Enemies The same Year Christ-Church in Canterbury was burned and six Years after the City of York was Burned and 1185 the Abby of Glasenbury was consumed by Lightening and the next Year a terrible Earthquake happening threw down many Buildings and rent in pieces the Cathederal Church of Lincoln Chichester was also Burnt Near Orford in Suffolk a Monstrous Fish was taken having the shape of a Man upwards and was kept a long time by the Governour in the Castle Eating Raw Flesh and Fish greedily but at last it got away by the breaking of a Sluce and was carried to the Sea again and People were perswaded if it could have been made to Speak it might have told many wonderful things Remarks on Notinghamshire c. NOTTINGHAM SHIRE It contains 8 Hundreds divided into 168 Parishes as also 8 Market Towns and is Watered with 21 great and small Rivers It sends Members to Parliament 8 viz. East Retford 2 Newark 2 Notingham 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Newark in this County is pleasantly seated on the River Trent thence called Newark upon Trent to distinguish it At Swinstead Abby in this place King John was Poisoned by a Monk and over the River there is a very fine Bridge Notingham is pleasantly seated on a branch of the same River incompassed with pleasant Fields and Groves It s Castle was kept by the Danes against Burthred King of Mercia also against Ethelred and Alfred two other Saxon Kings At Stoke near Newark Lambert Symnel in the Reign of Henry the Seventh was utterly Defeated and his upholders John D' La Pool Earl of Lincoln Thomas Garadine Chancelour of Ireland
the main design of his Preparations having private notice that his Brother John was practicing against him and fearing whilst he was warring abroad he might lose his Kingdom at home he resolved to make such Conditions with the Turkish Sultan as might be best for the Settlement and Peace of the Christians in Syria But the crafty Infidel being very sensible of the weak condition the Christian Army was in would not hearken to any other Terms than to have all the Towns that were taken Ptolomais Excepted surrendered and upon that condition they should be suffered to have a quiet Enjoyment of their Effects and to Trade in the Country and so having made this Agreement and Sold the Island of Cyprus for a Sum of Money to Hugh of Lusingham the last Christian King of Jerusalem though at that time but in Name which Title he confered on King Richard and it lasted to many of our Kings afterward who were stiled Kings of Jerusalem he Embarked in divers Vessels with his Queen who had accompanied him in that dangerous Voyage and Sailed for England but the Ship he was in being separated from the rest of the Fleet in a Storm was driven on the Coast of Histria lying between Aquileia and Venice where he was Ship-Wrack'd and saving his Life by Swimming was made Prisoner and presented to the Duke of Austria in whose Territories he Landed but the Queen who was in another Ship and the rest of the Fleet came safe to England The King by misfortune thus made a Prisoner to his Enemy whom he had disgusted by throwing down his Standard as is said was Sold by him for 40000 Pounds to the Emperer Frederick who set his Ransom at 100000 Pounds Fourscore Thousand of which was raised in England but Duke Leopold was constrained to Pay the other Twenty Thousand Pounds before he could be released from the Popes Curse pronounced against him for making a Prince his Prisoner who for the honour of the Christian Name had Warred Victoriously in the Holy Land So that after almost a Years Imprisonment the King was set at Liberty of which Lewis the French King had no sooner notice but be sent John the Kings Brother word The Devil was got loose again However he did not immediately return to England but went to Normandy and with the Terror of his coming frighted the French out of many strong holds they had taken in his absence then raising a puissant Army he entered France wasting all before him with Fire and Sword reducing to his Subjection all such places as had been taken and made the Rebellious Norman Peers who had engaged in the French Faction prostrate themselves before him whose humble Submission he accepted and accordingly Pardoned them on promises of future Obedience and Fidelity Let me now speak of something that happened Remarkable in England during the Kings absence I told you he had left the Bishop of Ely Regent This Man being of mean Parentage his Grandfather a Plowman and himself the Son of a Cowheard soon forgot his Original as such mostly do who are raised from a low Estate to high Promotion and grew so Insolently Proud that he would not Ride abroad without a Guard of 500 Men to attend him his Table was exceeding Expensive on the Publick Cost and his Insolencies over all sorts as well the Clergy as Laiety was so great that he soon procured himself a Universal Hatred yet a while he Proudly spread his Peacocks Train being Served at his Table and every where Waited on by the Sons of Noblemen to whom he gave in Marriage with some Portion and Preferment divers of his Rustick Kindred thinking thereby to strengthen his Interest but this proved to him a broken Reed for finding he was generally hated by the Nobles and Commons to shun the storm that threatened him with some violent End he sewed up many Jewels and some Gold in the Garments of a Pedlar Woman and Disguised in that Habit resolved to leave the Land carrying under his Arm a piece of Country Cloath which he offering to sale at Dover was Discovered and Seized suffering much outrage from the Common People and being sent to London the Lords Committed him to the Tower where he remained till the Kings return who not only released him but restored him to his Bishoprick yet having seen the folly of his Pride he grew more Humble and shortly after Travelling to Rome Dyed by the way unlamented by all that had known his former carriage The Queen-Mother in the Kings absence perceiving her Son John's aspiring who had a hand in bringing the Bishop of Ely into Disgrace and Outing him made a strong Party of her Friends as soon as she heard King Richard was a Prisoner compelling the Nobles and such others as were in Offices and Trusts to Swear to be True to him and Conserve the Realm to his use and behoof and John hearing he was Released and in Normandy hasted to excuse himself submitting to his Grace and Mercy voluntarily surrendering all the Forts and Castles he had Seized into his hands saying What â—e had done he was provoked to do by the Extraordinary Pride and Insolent Behaviour of the Bishop of Ely who unworthily had disordered the Government of the Realm and particularly for the Outrages he had committed on the Person of Jeffery Arch Bishop of York the Kings Brother Yet by the Peers he was Condemned in the Forfeiture of his Goods Estate and Honours but not long after received them again and was restored to the Kings Favour and came with him to England where the King at his Landing was Joyfully received by Hubert Arch Bishop of Canterbury and most of the Nobles causing himself a second time to be Crowned and the Coronation Solemnity was performed at Winchester Then he made a new Broad-Seal by which device he got much Money out of his Subjects who were obliged to have their Patents Royal Grants for Offices and other Evidences new Sealed the former being declared null and void And yet this not sufficing to put the Kingdom in a good Settlement pay his Soldiers Arrears and repay the Money that had been taken upon trust for his Ransom the Treasuries of Religious Houses were ransacked and a Parliament being called he was allowed to reassume into his hands such Mannors Lordships Lands and Offices as had been disposed of at his setting out to the Holy War for Ready Money so that the Purchasers were enforced to content themselves with the Profits they had Received in lieve of the Money they had Paid After this as the King was at Dinner in his Palace of Westminster News came to him that the French had Besieged Nerville in Normandy upon which in a great Passion he Swore He would never turn his back till he had got thither with his Army and to save his Oath a place by order was immediatly broken in the Wall through which he passed the breach heing left open above a hundred Years afterward in Remembrance
of it and his Arrival so terrified the French That they no sooner heard of his Landing but they raised the Siege Yet pursuing this Advantage he gave a mighty Army of them Battel near Gysors slaying great numbers and putting the rest to Flight he not having half their number Whereupon said he Not we but Dieu Et Mondroit that is God and our Right hath obtained this Victory After which the Kings of England made it their Motto under their Arms and so he prosecuting this Victory took many Towns But in the midest of his Success Pope Innocent the Third Interceding a Peace was concluded between the two Crowns but it held not long for the French giving new provocations he passed the Seas again with a powerful Army when closely Besieging the Castle of Challons near to Lymois as he took a private view he was descried and known by a common Soldier who Shooting at him with a square impoisoned Arrow out of a Steel Bow grievously Wounded him in the Arm yet he took the Castle by Storm and caused all he found therein to be Slain except the Person who wounded him who being brought before him and demanded how he durst shoot a Poisoned Arrow at the King The Fellow who expected he was reserved for Death by Cruel Torments seemed not at all daunted but boldly reply'd That in the War he had lest his Father and his Brother and was exceeding glad Fortune had so well assisted him in Revenging their Deaths Upon this resolute Answer the King much contrary to the expectation not only of the Prisoner but all the rest freely Pardoned him and caused him to be led out of the Army to avoid the violence of the Soldiers towards a Person who had Slain their King for indeed he Dyed within three days after viz. the 6th of April Anno Dom. 1199. This King Richard began his Reign Anno Dom. 1189 and Reigned 9 Years and 9 Months Dying in the 42 Year of his Age and was Buried at Font-Everard in Normandy at his Fathers Feet as himself had directed He was for his surpassing Valour called Ceur de Leon or Lions-Heart fearing no danger where the attempt was Honourable In his Reign the Jews were Banished out of Norwich St. Edmunds-Bury Stamford Lyn and York in which last place about 500 of them besides Women and Children entered a Tower of the Castle and when they found themselves hard pressed by a Siege they cut the Throats of their Wives and Children and cast them on the Heads of the Besiegers then in a desperate mood Fired the Tower and Burnt themselves in it tho' Quarter was offered if they would have Surrendered NORTHUMBERLAND Remarks on the County of Northumberland THis Northern County the Extremity of England is Bounded on the North and part of the West with Scotland another part of the West with Cumberland on the South with part of Cumberland and the Bishoprick of Durham and on the East with the German Ocean In many Parts there is Plenty of good Corn it produces a profitable Breed of Cattle has in it many pleasant Gardens Orchards Parks Hare and Coney Warrens on the Western side it is somewhat incommoded with Hills but otherwise produces Plains Inclosures Meadows Woods tho' not many It contains 46 Parishes 5 Market Towns and is branched with 21 Rivers It sends Members to Parliament 8 viz. Berwick upon Tweed 2 Morpeth 2 New-Castle on Tine 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire This County was the Antient Northumbrian Kingdom of the Saxons and suffered much by lying so near the borders of Scotland especially when the Scots utterly destroy'd the Pictish Kingdom that had for some time screened them from the Incroachment of that Northern Nation At a Place called Otterburn a great Battle was Fought between the English and Scots Alnwick is of note for the mighty Victories the English gained over the Scots and being the usual Seat of the Northumbrian Kings and lately of many of the Noble Earls of Northumberland At Emildon Duns Sirnamed Scotus was Born a Person of great Wit and Subtilty in School Philosophy Berwick is pleasantly situate on the Tweed looking a great way from its lofty Turrets into both Kingdoms and is fam us for the many Sieges it has held out against the Scots in divers Kings Reigns Newcastle is pleasantly seated on the River Tine that branches all the Southern part of this County and produces store of Salmon as dos also the River Bywel Newcastle is also famous for furnishing the City of London with Coals brought thence by Sea and therefore commonly called Sea-Coals which Trade is also a great Nursery for Seamen Vpon the Hills near North-Tine tho' Boggy and full of Water there are great heaps of Stones which some take as a Monument of a Roman British or Saxon Victory The Seats of the Nobility are Ogle Castle Bothat Castle Heple Tower belonging to the Noble Family of the Duke of Newcastle Prudhoe Castle to the Duke of Summerset Wark Castle Chillingham Castle Dunstaburg Castle and Horton Castle to the Lord Grey of Wark Widerington Castle to the Lord Widerington and some Houses there are of the Gentry very Beautiful and pleasantly Situate especially on the East side with a curious Prospect to the Sea by means of whose Washing its Shoars this County receives great Benefit The Reign of King JOHN RICHARD the First Dying in Normandy and Buried at Font-Everard his Brother John Earl of Lancaster by his own Right and of Glocester in Right of his Wife having long aspired to the Crown thought this was his time to push hard for it although Arthur Plantaginet Son to Geoffery his Elder Brother was Living and so with what store of Treasure he had heaped up making many of the Nobles and some Leading Commoners of his Party he openly laid claim to the Soveraignty of England as his Undoubted Right and Arthur not being able to stand in competition with him this way as being little Interested in the English by reason he had for the most part been brought up beyond the Seas and consequently a Stranger to the greatest part of the Nation his Right was carried away in the current of the Peoples Inclinations and John was Crowned at Westminster by Hubert Arch Bishop of Canterbury at what time the Bishop to flatter the People and curry-favour with the King declared in an Oration That the Crown of England was meerly Arbitrary and Elective yet the more sober part of the Nobility knowing this Princes Haughty Temper Swore him to several Articles upon his admission to the Crown for Observing and Maintaining their Rights and Priviledges Antient Laws and Customs c. Scarcely was King John Settled in his Throne but Philip the French King underhand assisted by others sent for Arthur to his Court protesting a great deal of Love and tender Affection to him Informed him of his Title to the Crown of England Dutchy of Normandy and Britany animating him to raise his Spirits and use his
Courage for the recovery of what was so unjustly taken from him and that if he were destitute of Friends that might Advise and Council him he and his Nobles would willingly supply that defect if he wanted Gold or Silver the Sinews of War his Coffers should be open at his Service or if Valiant Men to Fight for him and his Right many Thousand Frenchmen would venture their Lives in his Quarrel These large and Friendly proffers which rather proceeded from the fear King Philip had of Englands Strength and Prosperity which might as indeed it afterwards fell out get the Ascendant over France than for any cordial Love he bore to the Young Prince keeping him only as a Trump Card in his hand to play his Game as he saw occasion However these great Proffers bore up his Spirits and he wholly cast himself on the French King for Protection submitting to be Governed and Ruled by him in all things Whereupon Forces were Levied in France and Normandy and hereupon some Strong Holds in the latter Revolted from King John and declared for Prince Arthur and others they won however the Kings Lieutenant raised Forces to oppose them so that between both Armies there happened divers Encounters with various success King John hearing of these stirs in Normandy thought there remained no time for delay but gathering a strong Power passed the Seas and joyning with his Lieutenant retook several Towns and Overthrew the Young Prince in a set Battel with great Slaughter of the French Nobles and others that were Engaged with him This made the French King begin to consider he had laid hold on the wrong end of the staff and from that time procured divers Prelates and some Princes as Mediators to bring on Foot a Treaty for a Peace which Treaty gave both sides a short breathing But the King of England's Proposals being no less than the restoring all the Towns taken a defraying of the charges of the War and that King Philip should put for ever Prince Arthur out of his Protection it came in the end to nothing so that the War renewed more furious than before by which means the poor Inhabitants of Normandy were grievously Oppressed by Burning Plundering and many other Miserie 's attendant on Hostilities However to repress these Outrages of the Invading French the King raised a yet greater Army but then found his Treasure was much too scanty to defray the charges of that Expedition of which the Nobles and Commons were no sooner made sensible but of their own accord they largely contributed rather than the Honour of the King and Kingdom should be Eclipsed by the Bravadoes of a dastardly Nation and then Landing with a gallant Army in Normandy the number of his Forces were daily augmented and not long after the two Armies met and sought a dreadful Battel in which the French were Overthrown and Prince Arthur with divers of the French Nobility taken Prisoners and sent to the Castle of Roan where as it was given out leaping from the Walls to make his Escape he leaped short fell into the Moat and there was Drowned Tho' Historians who have made Remarks What a few Steps there are between the Prisons and Graves of Princes tho' they do not charge the King with the knowledg of it are apt to conjecture that this Prince came to be Drowned by other means than his own attempt And indeed the King had all his Life afterward a very troublesome and turbulent Reign For now the Prince was Dead the French King began to pull off his Vizor laying claim to Normandy in his own Right and poured in such a number of Forces that King John's Treasure being spent he could not Levy in any reasonable time Soldiers sufficient to oppose their torrent so that wining many Towns and Castles the whole Dutchy to prevent the Ruin and Desolation threatened it Subjected it self to the French King after it had been disbranched from France about 319 Years And that the King should not be at leasure to Regain it the French King underhand found him work at home by making Pope Innocent the Third his Enemy For about this time Hubert Arch Bishop of Canterbury Dying the Monks of the Order of St. Augustin met in the Cathedral Church about Midnight without the Kings knowledg or License and chose one Reynold a Brother of their own to Succeed in the Archiepiscopal See taking of him an Oath to travel to Rome and procure his Investiture and receive the Pall from the Pope The King hearing of these unwarantable Proceedings was much displeased which so affrighted the Monks that to regain his Favour they proceeded to a second Election and chose John Grey a Person whom the King had nominated to them who was then Bishop of Norwich and so the Kings Anger being appeased he sent Ambassadors with his Letters to the Pope to Entreat him to Ratify the second Choice But in the mean time a new Schism or Faction appeared for the Suffragan because he was not made acquainted nor an Actor in either of the said two Elections made suit to the Pope to displace them both But he imitating the proud Example of many of his Predecessors who coveted to swim against the stream and seldom or never granted any Kings request least in some sort they should be thought to be yeilding neglected both their suits and confirmed Raynold who was first chosen But the King growing angry hereat the Monks to please him rather out of fear than complacency refused to receive into their Quire or own the Arch Bishop the Pope had Confirmed tho' he was of their own chusing giving this Reason for it viz. That it was done Clandestinly and at an unseasonable Time for as much as the choice was made in the Night when as it should have been done in the open Day and so they concluded it void and in it self a Nulity yet remained good till by Judicial Proceedings and a Sentence it were pronounced void so that this matter was Controverted at Rome where the Pope made specious shews and pretences of accomodating the matter to heal the Schisme so that it should be to the satisfaction of the King and Monks but his aim was otherwise for he designed to prefer a creature of his own viz. Stephen Langton a Man that would always move by his dictates having before been made Cardinal of Chrisogone and privatly he Wrote to the Monks to Choose him yet not so cunningly but the King had Notice of it and strictly charged them not to proceed to any other Election but the Popes Threats and Promises of Rewards dispensed with their Obedience to the Kings Commands so that they did Elect him their Arch Bishop This so exasperated the King that he commanded on severe Penalties no Appeals should be made to Rome and that from thence forth he would take a strict account of such of his Subjects that for any matter of Right or Justice should go to Rome to require it seeing he had
Prelates Noblemen and Judges sufficient to determine any Controversies within his Kingdom that should arise either in Church or Common-Weal and added That he would rather expose himself to Ten Thousand Deaths than basely as he was required make himself and his Kingdom Servil to the Popes Insolency and Peremptory Commands But on the other side the Pope threatened what he would do if he was not Obey'd in the Election of Langton and the calling home such Monks as had Fled through fear of the Kings displeasure on this last Election and because this was not speedily done he sent his Apostolical Command to the Prelates of London Ely Worcester c. to Interdict the Kingdom if the King continued in his obstinacy as he termed it This Commission was put in Execution and the Church-Doors were shut up for several Years Some Authors say Six there being neither Prayers Sermons Christenings nor Service at the Funerals of the Dead said or performed publickly during that time so that the People distinguished not the Sabbath from other days but followed their Work and Sports on it living More like Infidels than Christians such power over the Minds of besotted Men had the Popes Usurpation in those dark and ignorant Times For this Affront the King Banished divers Bishops and others of the Clergy whom he found most forward in complying with the Popes Interest seizing on their Temporalities resolving to take the like course with all such as consented to receive Promotions Investitures or Ecclesiastical Degrees from the Pope or new Arch Bishop or that went to Rome upon any occasion without his License or did attempt to put in Execution any Command from the Pope within his Kingdom The Pope no sooner heard of this but resolving not to cool on it he sent into England two Legates viz. Pandulph and Durant to perswade the King to be Reconciled to Langton and the other Bishops and Clergy that were under his Displeasure in England or in Banishment to restore them to their Lands Places and Goods that a good understanding might be renewed between the Pope and him This did but little please the King yet however fearing to be Accursed and Embroyl himself in new Troubles for in those days the Popes Leaden Sword did more mischief in Kingdoms than many of Steel People being for the most part infatuated to believe what he did he did by the immediate Will and Command of God whose Vicegerent he assumed to himself to be He promised to perform all but allowing the Election of Cardinal Langton protesting that if another might be chosen he would yet prefer him to some other Bishoprick but the Imperious Legates instead of gratifying the Kings Request pronounced the Popes Curse not only against the King but all Persons who should do him Service or give him Attendance or supply him with things Necessary Absolving his Subjects from their Allegiance Duties and Oaths requiring all Christian Princes to make War upon him as upon the Arch and Grand Enemy of the Church of God The Pope also published and pronounced against him Sentence of Deprivation and gave his Crown and his Kingdom to Philip the French King if by any secret Plot or open Violence and Hostility he could Expel or Murther him These were the Fruits of this pretended Holy un-Holy Father The Popes Religion and Government and this Usurping Arrogance was a badg of his unsufferable Pride in that he presumed to do what no Earthly Creature can do nor what a Christian ought to attempt to do against a Prince who is Gods Anointed and against such a one as the Almighty has placed in his Kingdom to Govern and Rule his People Yet this Fulmination did not much startle King John and being determined to know the minds of his People how they stood affected to him after this matter he took a sollemn Oath of them for the defence of his Person and the performance of faithful Service to him and then raising an Army he went to Scotland because that King encouraged by the Pope was practicing against him sheltering such as had taken part with the Pope and fled out of England But King Alexander the Second perceiving that Fire and Sword began to devour apace in his Country he with much Humility sent to King John to desire him to spare his People and their Substance and what in reason he required he would accord to and a Peace was made shortly between them he consenting to Banish all the Kings Enemies out of his Country This much disappointed Philip of France who was preparing to Invade England and had to that end provided a gallant Army but by the Wisdom Valour and Circumspection of King John and the Providence of God 300 of his Ships Laden with Corn and other Provisions and Necessaries for the Invasion were Surprized by our Ships which great disapointment put an end at that time to the Design and frustrated his vain hope But after all this the King finding so many Efforts and Treacheries against him that disparing to weather every one of them and pittying the sufferings of his People under these distractions he suddainly without the Advice of his Nobles or of his Privy Council degenerating from his former daring and boldness of Spirit fell on his Knees before the Legate acknowledging his Disobedience craving of him the Popes Pardon resigning with his Crown the possession of his Kingdom to the See of Rome which Crown the proud Prelate took and to put him into some pain in considering whether he should ever have it restored again kept it Four Days and then returned it to the use of him and his Heirs reserving 1000 Marks Yearly by way of Tribute to the See of Rome which was the main thing the Pope had aimed at and for which he had all the while made such a prodigious noise and bustle But this low and Un-Prince-like Submission to a paltry Priest threw him into another mischief which was the contempt and dislike of his Nobles so that for the most part they Revolted from him and entered upon a cruel and unnatural War which went very near to have enslaved this flourishing Island once more to Strangers for the Barons finding they were too weak to oppose the King they leaned on Philip of Frrnce proposing if he would assist them with sufficient Forces and Money they would soon Depose King John and place the Crown upon the Head of Lewis Son to Philip This News fired the Young Ambitious French Prince who had also something of a Martial Spirit that he never left urging his Father till he had furnished him out with an Army But the Pope having now closed with King John on his complaining of this to him he sent his strict command under many Threats to the French King not to suffer his Son to pass the Seas or in the least to molest a Kingdom under the Protection of the Holy See tho' as you have heard a little before himself had given it to them
But Popes usually blow hot or cold as their Interest Ebbs or Flows and therefore it was no wonder he should so soon change his side But Philip refused to Obey his Mandate returning Answer That no King without the consent of his Nobles Prelates and Common People can Subject his Kingdom to the See of Rome or put it under its Protection it being Committed to them by God and consequently this Kingdom was not holden of the See of Rome nor ought to be Defended or Protected by her This Answer somewhat startled the Pope yet using his old way he sent Guallo his Legate Cardinal of St. Martins to Curse Philip and Lewis his Son and such of the English Nobility as took part with them as also all their other Adherents and Accomplices and tho' the wiser sort little minded this yet the ordinary degrees of Soldiers whose Devotion more directly depended on Fear than Knowledge or Judgment to apprehend any danger that could ensue from such threats were so amazed and daunted that they left their Leaders in the Field and returned home to their Wives and Children c. And the Rascally sort in England hearing divers Noblemen were under this Curse entered into their Houses Fields and Parks Robbing Spoiling and bearing away whatever they could find of value being so far from doubting or disputing with their own Consciences whether they did well in it or not that such was the blindness of those Times they supposed their so doing tended to the Glory of God Almighty and that their Rapin and Violence was well pleasing in his Sight yet this hastened many of the Lords who had little left to subsist on to submit to the King and prostrate at his Feet confess their undutiful Revolt and crave his Pardon Upon this they were received into Favour with gentle reproofs for their former failures and were restored to their Estates and Honours so that the Disorders that had happened were by this means settled and a Peace for a time ensued to the great refreshing of a Nation wearied out with Intestine Broyls The Pope intending to make his Proceedings with King John a President to other Princes Assembled a General Council at Lateran where he caused to be published at large the Assignment of the Kingdom of England to the See of Rome and there Otho the Emperour Peter King of Arragon Raymond Earl of Tholouse were Excomunicated for no other material reason than not submitting themselves and Principalities to the Popes Pride and Insolency to be disposed of at his pleasure Also the Empire Kingdom and Principality appertaining to them were Interdicted on pretended Heresie In this Council Auricular Confession and Transubstantiation were Decreed the Cup taken from the Laity in the Communion c. And it was made no less than Eternal Damnation to such as should speak evil of the Pope and that they who were guilty of it should immediatly when they Dyed descend into Hell without being admitted by the way to call in at Purgatory to take leave of any of their Acquaintance And that no Man should presume to take on him the Imperial Diadem till he was Sworn the Popes Vassal paid him Homage and received that Crown at his Hands But these Princes despised him and his idle Menaces yet he secretly wrought them many Troubles and put their Subjects into Rebellion but in time the Storm blew over with the end of his restless Life During these stirs the Irish fell into Rebellion but were soon Quieted on the Kings going over for at Dublin he was met by Twenty of their petty Kings who submitted and promised him their future Obedience And one Gualter Maxes Arch Deacon of Oxford Preached against the Pride of the Pope and wrote a Book Entituled The Revelation of the Romish Goliah for which the Bishops greatly Persecuted him And the Clergy not being heartily reconciled to the King because he had controuled them in many things as he was in his Progress to settle the Kingdom so long disquieted and out of order Dining at Swinstead-Abby not far from Lincoln one Simon a Villanous Monk who served at the Table being of the Order of St. Bernard Poisoned him by delivering into his hand a Bowl of Intoxicated Wine and Poisoned himself also for company the King compelling him upon suspecting by a suddain pain in his Stomach some Treachery to Drink part of it Too easy a Death for such a Monster in wickedness who considered not that Kings are God's Anointed and that the Affront is put upon Heaven when they are Injured Thus fell King John after a troublesom Reign for the most part when he had Reigned 17 Years 6 Months and 13 Days He Dyed on the 19th of October Anno Dom. 1216. and was Buried at Winchester To palliate this execrable Murther it was given out that he should say holding a Halfpeny Loaf in his hand That if he lived a Twelve-month he would make it at the Rate of Twelve Pence and that he should have Ridiculed the Mass when the Pope had Accursed him upon cuming to the Quarry of a Buck that was Slain in Hunting viz. See how fair and fat this Buck is that never heard Mass in all its Life That when he was vexed with the Rebellious Barons he should send to Mira Mula a prevaling King in Africa for Assistance promising him to turn Mahometan and hold his Kingdom Tributary of him if by his help he prevailed over his Enemies But these seem to be Monkish Stories raised to poison his Fame as well as Body and are Rejected by Authentic Historians In the Ninth Year of his Reign by a New Charter he enabled the Citizens of London for their good Service done him to make their Annual Choice of a Mayor and two Sherifs for the better Government of the City In his Reign London-Bridge was Built with Stone-Arches as still it remains being before only of Timber and a dreadful Fire happening on it taking both Ends by the vehemency of the Wind carrying the Flame in sheets from the one to the other the People that came to Quench it were caught in the middle of the danger and Boats coming to receive them by Water they thronged in a hurry so fast into them that divers Sunk so that in the Thames and Flames 300 are computed to perish OXFORD SHIRE By Ihon Seller He left behind him Four Sons viz. Henry who Succeeded him Richard Elected King of the Romans William of Valentia and Guidio Disany and Three Daughters viz. Isabella Married to Frederick the Emperer a Second to William Marshal Earl of Worcester and a Third to the Earl of Leicester Remarks on Oxfordshire c. OXfordshire abounds in rich Pastures store of Cattle Corn Fruits Fish Fowle Coneys Hares Deer and other things to render it Pleasant and Acceptable being a pleasant Inland County bounded with Glocestershire Warwickshire Northamptonshire Buckinghamshire and Barkshire It contains one City which is a Bishops See and in its 14 Hundreds has 280 Parishes 12
with various success tho' in them the French were â—enerally worsted but Fortune no further favouring his endeavours but only to stop the French Torrent â—nd their further Encroachments he returned for England On his departure the French King Married Alphonsus his Brother to the Daughter of the Earl of Tholouse and gave him the Earldom of Poictiers and so cunningly contrived it that he would have procured the Earl of March to do him Homage for such Lands as he pretended he held in that Province but he refused it and could not by Entreaties or Threats be wrought on to comply which so enraged the French King that he entered with an Army into the Earldom of March and laid all waste before him but was Fought with by the English Army newly Transported near Burdeaux yet the English being much inferiour in Number after a Long Bloody and Doubtful Fight were constrained to quit the Field and King Henry who did wonders in the Battel that day hardly escaped being taken Prisoner whereupon the Earl of March found he was in a necessity to submit to the Terms offered him by the French King after which King Henry settling his affaires as well as he could returned to England and made a fiâ—m Alliance with the King of Scots to strengthen his Interest against France This continued happy to him for a time but his Court not being purged of Parasites and Whisperers who with their stories set him against the English Nobility a fatal Discord befel which at times lasted till his Death for the Nobles grudging he bestowed Favours on those that deserved them not and was scanty in his Liberalities towards them that had Merited of him at the expence of their Blood and Treasure from Murmuring they fell to open Reproaches charging him with the violation of those Liberties and Priviledges that he had so solemnly Confirmed and Granted This Angered the King and made him inwardly Fret but finding they spoke the sense of the greatest part of the Nation to bring things to a quieter temper and alay or satisfie the discontents of his Subjects he called a Parliament at Oxford tho' in it what he aimed at was for the most part if not altogether frustrated so that it was afterward through the Distractions that happened upon it called Insanum Parliamentum or The Mad Parliament For when multitudes of such as were Grieved came for Redress of their Grievances the Lords and Commons endeavouring to Redress what was amiss Established many things Profitable as they intended for the Common-Weal but highly derogatory to the Kings Prerogative and to the end those things that they had so contrived should be lasting and inviolably observed they made choice of Twelve Noblemen by the Title of Les douze Piers or The Twelve Peers giving them absolute Power and Authority to Maintain and Support those Laws of whom the Earls of Leicester and Gloucester were chief and for this they had their Pattent and took a solemn Oath which was Sealed and Ratified by the King although he did it unwillingly so that the Parliament being ended the Commissioners began by strict Execution to give Life unto those Laws and Ordinances thrusting out of their Places and Offices many of the Kings Menial Servants and Attendants placing others in their stead which very much troubled him for by these proceedings he perceived those that waited on his Person were rather to be Trusted by others than by himself and that he should be furthest from chusing those that were to be nearest to him this made him grow Melancholy and vex himself exceedingly yet thinking to mend what he supposed amiss he called another Parliament which contrary to his expectation Ratified and Confirmed more strongly all that the former had done tho' he at the opening of the Sessions had complained of the hard Usage he had received from the Twelve Peers and by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury and Nine other Bishops of the Kingdom a solemn Curse was denounced against all such as either by Direction Council Arms or otherwise withstood or hindered the Execution of those Laws or the Authority of the Twelve Peers This made the King more Melancholy than before when to divert himself he Sailed to France and had an Enterview with King Lewis who highly welcomed him Lodged him in his own Palace Feasted him and used him with all Gentleness Curtesie and Honour protesting in his Parliament of Estates That he was much dissatisfied in his Conscience for detaining from King Henry his Dutchy of Normandy and such other Territories in France as in Right he ought to Enjoy and on the other hand King Henry intending to conclude an inviolable Peace freely surrendered to him Normandy Anjou Poictiers and Mayn and in the same Parliament with great Solemnity and Honour he received them again to himself and his Heirs Whilst things thus proceeded in France a Quarrel happened between Prince Edward the Kings Son and the Duke of Glocester about the Laws being put too severely in Execution which made the King hasten home to prevent the Danger or Mischief that might happen thereby and with some difficulty he reconciled them and hoping to remove the curb the Peers had laid on him with much Expence he procured Bulls of Pope Alexander the Third by virtue of which himself and all others who had Sworn to maintain those new Laws and Ordinances and to support the proceedings of the Peers and their Authority were freely Absolved from their Oaths yet they took no notice of it but proceeded to displace such Judges Justices and Sheriffs as the King had appointed for not following their Orders and put such in their Places and Offices as they thought fit So that the King being no longer able to endure these Indignities caused the Popes Bulls to be Read and Proclaimed in the chief Towns and Cities of England and Wales straightly Commanding all Persons of what Estate Condition or Degree soever That from thence forth did by Word or Deed Support or Maintain the said Laws and Ordinances or the Authority of the Twelve Peers that they should be committed to Prison and not delivered thence without the Kings consent And hereupon he Swore the Londoners from twelve Years Old and upwards to be True and Faithful to him and to be Aiding to him and his Heirs against all Opposers In the mean while the Barons met and entered into a Resolution among themselves rather to lose their Lives than decline the upholding the Laws and fancying the King had some desperate design upon them their Jealousie so encreased that retiring to the Marches of Wales they raised a strong Army and furnished it with all things necessary for the War they intended yet pretended to abstain from any Hostility or Violence unless the King compelled them to it Then they sent their Letters in a most submissive and humble manner to the King protesting their Duty Service and true Allegiance to him entreating his Highness for the Honour of Almighty God for the
of War the King taking by force and surrender all the strong Castles and Fortresses into his hands and Oath of the Justices Mayors and Officers of the several Towns and Forts and having disposed all things to the best advantage and settled the Government in trusty hands he brought away the Crown Robes of State and Marble Chair from Scone in which the Scots Kings had always been Crowned and placed the latter in the Kings Chappel at Westminster and on it there is said to be a Prophetick Latin Distick in English to this Effect Where e'er this Stone is Plac'd the Scot shall find And there shall Rule for there his Reign 's Assign'd This may indeed seem to be verified in the Union of the two Kingdoms under King James the First of the Scotish Line But to proceed As soon as King Edward was returned from his Journey he caused an Enquiry which was termed Troli Baston to be made in all his Dominions of the Misdemeanors and Oppressions of his Officers and others so that the Number of the Transgressors were so many that heavy Fines being laid on them and they like so many full Spunges Squeezed of their Unjust Gains into the Kings Coffers they were plentifully replenished thereby not only to Pay off old Debts but to Recompence such as had at their own Expence faithfully Served him in his Wars and among other Complaints Dr. Langton Bishop of Chester Exhibited one to the King against Prince Edward whom he said at the Instigation of Pierce Gaveston his Loose and Evil Counsellor had forcibly broken into his Parks wounded his Servants and destroyed his Game Whereupon the Prince was committed to Prison during the Kings pleasure and Gaveston Banished upon pain of Death never to return into the Land and Edward Earl of Cornwal Son to Richard King of the Romans Dying without Issue he gave that Earldom to Prince Edward which Title with that of Chester have been since inseparable from the Princes of Wales A Peace being now had in Scotland things remained quiet for a time during which space Robert Bruce one of the Competitors came with divers Nobles to the English Court and was highly Entertained which they did only for a shew whilst they were dealing underhand with the Pope to favour their Cause nor was he slow in it but sent an Instrument in Writing by which he pretended to lay claim to the Kingdom of Scotland as holden of the See of Rome wherein King Edward was peremptorily required to surcease from all Demands of Tenure and Soveraignty over it But he stoutly Answered by his Ambassadors That it did belong to the Kings of England and not unto the See of Rome or to any other requiring him to revoke his unjust Claim for that both he and his Nobles were resolved to maintain his Right therein at the hazard of their Lives and Estates and the Ambassador shewing the Hands and Seals of the Nobles and most of the Prelates of England that had Sworn to this Resolution the old Blade with the Leaden Sword drew in his Horns whereupon Bruce secretly withdrew and raised Tumults in Scotland Yet the King forced him to fly into Norway where he remained till in Edward the Seconds Reign he returned to broach new Troubles But the King upon his Marching through Scotland Dyed commanding in his Last Will That his Son should SHROP SHIRE By John Seller carry his Bones with him till he had utterly Subdued the Rebells and that Gaveston should not be Recalled from Banishment also that his Heart should be carried to the Holy Land and there Buried He began his Reign November 16 Anno Dom. 1272 and Reigned 34 Years 7 Months and 21 Days being the 29th Sole Monarch of England He Dyed of a Dyssentery at Burg upon Sands July 7 Anno Dom. 1307 in the 69th Year of his Age and was Buried at Westminster In the Third Year of this Kings Reign on St. Nicholas Day very terrible Thunders Earthquakes and Lightenings happened also a great Fiery Dragon in the Air and a Blazing Star which much amazed the People In the Year 1288 the Summer was so Scorching that many Dyed of extream Heat yet Wheat was Sold at 2 s. 8 d. the Quarter and all Corn at a proportionable rate but the Year following by reason of the great Rains that fell Wheat was raised to 20 s. a Quarter and so continued near Forty Years which was in those times accounted a great Dearth Anno Dom. 1299 the Kings Palace at Westminster with the Buildings of the Monastery were consumed with Fire and a great Whale coming up the River was struck and taken over-against Erif being 40 Foot Long and proportionable in Bulk c. Remarks on Shropshire c. SHropshire is commodiously situated intermixed with Hills Plains Woods Forrests Chaces c. and produces Corn Rich Pastures Cattle and many other things to the advantage of the Inhabitants It is Bounded with Cheshire Staffordshire Worcestershire Herefordshire Radnorshire Mongomeryshire and Denbyshire It contains 15 Hundreds divided into 170 Parishes and haâ— in it 14 Market Towns and 18 great and small Rivers branching mostly from the Severn which plentifully Waters this Shire and others It sends Members to Parliament 12 viz. Bishops-Castle 2 Bridgnorth 2 Ludlow 2 Shrewsbury 2 Wenlock 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire In Shropshire besides Shrewsbury the County Town a noted Mart for Cloath and Frizes brought from Wales and thence dispersed into divers parts of England There are Remarkable Ruins of some Antient Places which were certainly Towns or Cities of great splendor as Workcester Uriconium the antient Usoconia of which Okenyat is a small remainder Oswalstree retaines its Name from Oswald the 11th King of Northumberland who was here Slain in Battel by Penda King of the Mercians The other Towns of Note are Wellynton Newport Braynton c. At Shrewsbury and other places on the Severn is taken a Fish called a Mort in Taste like a Salmon at Pitchford is a Well whose Water casts up a Scum of Liquid Bitumen and near Oswaldstree is a Vestigia of a Roman Camp The Seats of the Nobility are Pepperhill belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury Highercal and Eyton to the Lord Viscount Newport Cherbury to the Lord Herbert Baron of Cherbury It has also in it 13 Bridges 13 Castles 7 Forrests and 27 Parks The Seats of the Gentry are likewise very pleasant and there is almost every where great store of Game and abundance of Fish The Reign of EDWARD the Second usually called Edward of Carnarvan EDWARD the Second Succeeded his Father in the Throne but having been brought up tenderly and given too much to Flatterers and loose Company he very early gave the Nobles cause to distast his Government for tho' his Father in his Last Will had strictly Prohibited his Recalling Peirce Gaveston from Banishment a Person who by his evil Example and pernicious Counsels had been the great Debaucher of his Younger Years yet he did it tho'
they could procure an Executioner to Behead him so greatly was he Beloved by all sorts of People but at length a vile Wretch was procur'd out of a Goal for a sum of Money to perform that Office Five others were put to Death there and at York the next day the Lords Clifford Mobray and Derwell were Hanged in Iron-Chaines The Earl of Hereford likewise lost his Head in all at several places Twenty Noblemen so that in no Reign so much Noble Blood by Executions wet the English Earth These terrible Executions astonished the rest and broke their Strength which greatly puffed up the Spencers by whose Instigation more than any cruel inclination in the King it was thought to be done to secure their own State which after this they imagined could not be shaken For soon after some Courtiers Intreating the King for the Life of a Person of mean Rank who had committed a Murther he broke out into a violent Passion in these words viz. A Plague overtake you all for Flatering Knaves you make much Suit for the Life of an errand Caitiff but which of you spoke a word for the good Knight Lord Thomas my Vnkle By the Bread of God this Varlet shall Dye the Death he deserves and so in a Rage he turned from them and soon after he called a Parliament at York in which Prince Edward his Son was Created Prince of Wales and Duke of Aquitain and Sir Andrew Harkly whose extraordinary Service was a principal means of the Barons Overthrow Earl of Carlisle and demanded the Sixth Penny of all Temporalities in England Wales and Ireland to defray the Charges of his intended War against the Scots which he obtained yet the People grievously Murmured at Paying it affirming they were altogether Impoverished by the late Wars and Famine And now the Scots geting secret Inteligence of what the King intended against them resolved to begin first and well knowing they had Impoverished the Northern parts and that no further Booty was there to be had they crossed over the Narrow Straights and fell very furiously on Ireland but by the Courage and prudent Conduct of the Bishop of Armagh and the Lord Brinningham they were Overthrown their King Slain and most of them Cut in Pieces upon this advantage King Edward Marched into Scotland which he found full of Terror and Confusion the People every where flying before him into the Woods Mountains and other Fastnesses thinking by that means to weary out the English and indeed their Project failed not for Snows Rains and bitter Frosts ensuing the English were unable to keep the Field especially their Provisions being near spent and a great Mortality by reason of the raw Damps and Colds grievously afflicted the Camp so that contrary to the mind of the King they were forced to return which the Scots perceiving crept from their lurking Holes and carried Fire a cross which is the usual Signal for the Alarum or raising the Country and soon gathered into such Multitudes that following and wasting his Rear at last they boldly set on his main Battel and discomfited it so that he was constrained to fly and leave them Masters of his Treasure and Baggage This Defeat is said to be occasioned by the Treachery of Sr. Andrew Harkley who had been lately Created Earl of Carlisle who being Bribed by the Scots betraied his trust in the Battel But however it happened it was charged upon him and for it he lost his Head Upon the Kings return there happened a Quarrel between the Queen and the Spencers she charging them to have Alienated the Kings affections from her and to cause him to place it on Harlots and the King seeming to excuse or take part with them she so highly resented the Affront that under pretence of visiting her native Country she obtained leave to go over with the Prince her Son where she was received by King Charles her Brother Philip her Father being Dead with many expressions of kindness and shewing her dislike to return unless matters might be Reformed at home some of the Barons in England sent secretly by Letters to Advise her That if she could procure one Thousand Valliant Strangers they would joyn her on her Landing with a considerable Force and endeavour once more to Redress the Disorders of the State This she made known to her Brother who comforted her by earnest Promises and Oaths That by his Assistance and at his Cost her Wrongs and the Kingdoms Injuries should be Repaired but kept not his Word for being Bribed by the Spencers who by their Spies had notice of her tampering in the French Court when she demanded his Performance he grew cold upon it and chid her for such Intentions saying She was foolishly afraid of her Shaddow since she had Vndutifully forsaken the company of her Lord and Husband The Pope also and chiefest Cardinals being Engaged by great Rewards strictly required the French King upon pain of the Apostolick Curse to send home the Queen and Prince so that she perceiving he intended to deliver her into the hands of such as would have Forcibly brought her over she secretly retired with her Son into the Empire however during her stay at the French Court she had done England a kindness in causing by her Mediation the Troubles in Gascoyne to cease and making an Agreement in other matters relating to the King her Husband In consideration of which he was to confer the Dutchy of Aquitain and Earldom of Poictou on the Prince his Son which he did under his Seal and he did Homage for it to his Unkle the French King but upon his sending for her home she refused to come unless hers and others Grievances were Redressed by Parliament which occasioned his trying by other means to make her return but as is said she retiring into the Empire upon suspicion of what was Intended went to Hainalt where she was kindly received and to make her Interest strong at that Court she without the consent of her Husband or the Peers of England Married the Prince to Phillipa the Earl of Hainalts Daughter upon which account and the means of what Treasure she had brought she raised 2700 Soldiers Commanded by Sr. John of Hainalt and the Lord Beamont to whom Joyned the Young Lord Mortimer who had escaped out of the Tower of London and got beyond the Seas with some other Exiled English Noblemen and Strangers so that having all things in a readiness she Sayled for England and Landed at Orwell in Sussex whither a great Number of English resorted to her and the further she went her Army greatly encreased King Edward having notice of this left his Court and retired hastily into the West to raise Forces promising 1000 l. to any that should bring him the Lord Mortimer's Head The King was no sooner retired but the Londoners taking the Advantage of his Absence seized upon the Bishop of Exeter who was appointed to Govern the City and without any Legal Proceedings or Judicial
Earl of Bristol Hinton St. George Court of Ewick Lenn Court and Walton to the Lord Paulet Connington to the Lord Clifford Wells Palace and Banwell to the Bishop of Bath and Wells Bristol Palace to the Bishop of Bristol With divers Houses of the Gentry pleasantly Sighted c. The Reign of EDWARD the Third commonly called Edward of Windsor EDWARD upon the offer of the Crown to him in his Fathers Life time not being Fifteen Years of Age refused it with Tears and Detestation till Mortimer and the Queen his Mother by Threats and Perswasions wrought him to some compliance nor then would he yeild to be Crowned till his Father had Resigned nor then till he was made sensible by some faithful Counsellors it was the only way to secure the Life of the Deposed King and the Crown in the Right Line For many feared that Mortimer being great with the Queen and high in her favour would find some means to rid her of her Husband and by Marrying her place the Diadem on his own Head for which reason he ever after hated that aspiring Lord and laboured to Revenge the Indignity and Death of King Edward the Second which in time he in some measure did in the Execution of Mortimer as will hereafter appear In the beginning of this Kings Reign the Scots denounced War against England thinking to make their Advantage in the Kings Minority but he tho' Young being of a Martial Spirit scorned to be outbraved whereupon he raised an Army of 50000 valiant Men and Marched into Scotland chasing the Scots from place to place who nowhere durst appear in the Field in any Number and having seized several Towns and Castles and finding his Soldiers tired out in following through Woods Marshes and over Craggy Hills he resolved to return which he did and assembled his Parliament at Northampton in which the two Executed Spencers and Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter who had been put to Death by the Londoners were Attainted of High Treason and all their Goods Lands c. Seized into the Kings hands and then the King by the direction of his Mother and Mortimer concluded a dishonourable Peace with the Scots releasing them of their Homage Fealty and Service due from that Kingdom to the Crown of England and delivered up the Grand Instrument or Charter called Ragman which under the Hands and Seals of their Late King and of the Nobility of Scotland testified their Tenure and Subjection to the Kings of this Realm After that he Married his Sister to David Son to Robert Bruce and created Mortimer Earl of March at which the Generality of the Nobility were exceedingly disgusted Mortimer upon his new Advancement to Honour and relyance on the Queens favour tho' he found the Nobles were not in his Interest bore it with a higher hand than formerly and perceiving Edmund of Woodstock Earl of Kent the Kings Unkle stood most in his way and crossed his aspiring he and the Queen so laboured with the Young King That infecting him with a Jealousie that the Earl had Designs upon his Life and Crown which being backed by false Witnesses he â—dvisedly gave way to Articles that were suggested â— brought in against him so that by Mortimers Creaâ—es he was found Guilty and Beheaded to the great â—ef of all True Englishmen being a Person of singular â—lour a great Statesman Prudent and Virtuous but â— Blood so Treacherously spilt was not slow in â—ying for and procuring Vengance for the King â—ing made sensible of a familiarity between Mortimer â—d his Mother more than was decent and much to â—er dishonour by being got abroad among the Vulgar â—using many scandalous Reports he would not howâ—ver lightly believe it yet one time being assured she â—as at Mortimer's Castle he with a resolute Band of â—is Followers privately in the Evening entered a back â—way and seizing such Servants as he met to prevent â—iscovery went by the direction of one of them to â—he Chamber where the Queen Lodged and there â—ound her in Bed and Mortimer undressing in order to â—leep with her This so exasperated the Young King â—hat calling him Trator and Villain he seized him with his own hands and delivered him to the Guards he not offering to resist or call for help tho' he had a far greater number of Attendants in the Castle than the King brought with him and being Committed to Prison free liberty was given for any that would to Exhibit their Complaints against him which were summed up in the following Articles 1. That he had wickedly contrived and procured the Murther of the Kings Father 2. That by his false Accusations and sinister Counsels he had caused the King to take away the Life of his Vnkle who was truly Noble Religious Devout Honest and a strong Pillar of the Commonwealth 3. That too familiarly he conversed with Queen Isabel the Kings Mother to her just Reproach and the dishonour of the King 4. That he received of the Scots a Bribe of 20000l for which he procured the Kings Retreat out of Scotland and the Releasment of his Signory and Homage due for that Kingdom 5. That he had deceitfully couzened and beguiled the King of his Wards and Treasury converting the Monies and Profits to his own use and behoof For these Wicked and Treasonable Practices he was Tryed and Condemned and afterward Hanged at Tyburn where he remained Hanging unpittied for two Days And in a little time after the King abridged the Queen his Mother in her Dowry allowing her but 1000 l. per Annum restraining her within a certain Limit In the Fifth Year of the Kings Reign Philip D' Valois who Succeeded Charles in the French Throne required him to come over and pay Homage and Fealty for his Dutchey of Guyan and accordingly he went and was kindly entertained till he refused to do it by any more Ceremony than Words but that not being Accepted he returned to England and upon a Second Summons sent it in Writing under the Great Seal which was not looked on as sufficient yet this submission displeased the English Nobility who told him he ought not to pay any Homage for as much as the Crown of France in Right of his Mother properly belonged to him and thus stated his Title viz. Isabel was Daughter to Philip the Fair Son to Philip the Hardy That Philip the Hardy the Queens Grandfather had two Sons viz. her Father who was King and Charles D' Valois who was also King after him Philip the Fair had three Sons all which Dyed without Issue Male he had also a Daughter which was this Isabel Married to King Edward the Second and that Charles D' Valois the Second Son of Philip the Hardy was Father to Philip D' Valois who then Reigned in France and although by the Salique Law of France Women are barred to Rule yet King Edward being a Male of the Elder branch ought to take place before a Male of the Younger though coming by a
common Soldiers yet with an undaunted Courage he Marched on and coming within sight of the Enemy Marshalled his small Army resolving to abide the Battel viz. He divided it into three Battels all which he Impaled in the Rear with Carriages and gave the conduct of the First to Prince Edward his Son who was by reason of his Young Years assisted by the Earls of Warwick and Crawford the Lords Harcourt Stafford Manney De La Warr Chandois Clifford and Bourchier â—ving 800 Men at Arms 2000 Archers and 1000 â—hers The Second Battel was Commanded by the â—rls of Northampton and Arundel accompanied with â—vers Nobles and Gentlemen consisting of 800 Men 〈◊〉 Arms and 1200 Archers The Third and main â—ttel the King Commanded and having Prayed for â—â—ccess and Refreshed themselves they prepared for â—e Fight but that day the French declined the Battel â—t the next it was begun on their side by 15000 Geâ—is with Crosbows Shooting Bearded Arrows but â—ey Charging on the Princes Battel were soon overâ—rn by the English Archers and in their Retreat put â—e French Kings Battel into disorder whereupon â—any of them were Slain by their Friends and then â—e French main Battel Charged on the Prince and put â—im so hard to it that he was obliged to send to the King to succour him who asked the Messenger Whether he was Alive or not And being Answered He â—as he said Report to him from me That he must expect no Aid for this shall be the day wherein he shall win his Spurs â—r lose his Life whereupon the English as Men in dispair Fought so desperately that they put the French Army in all parts to the Rout the Kings Battel standing entire and not Engaging slaying more than 30000 of them and the next day they Overthrew another Army that not knowing of the Defeat was coming to the Camp under the Leading of the Arch Bishop of Roan and Grand Prior of France and among the Slain were 11 Princes 80 Barons 1200 Knights and many of Note made Prisoners The Plunder of the Field the King bestowed upon his Nobles Gentry and common Soldiers which greatly Inriched them carrying the Slain of Note to Mountrell and there Honourably Interred them After this great Victory with inconsiderable Loss to the English the King laid Siege to Callis and the French King tho' he made some shews with a great Army to Relieve it defending the Passes stopt their retiring the Besieged were Summoned and threatned if they Surrendered not immediately to expect no Mercy they Capitulated but their Terms offered was not accepted they obstinately resisted so long that being brought to extremity the King would not accept of their Submission then tendered unless six of their chief Inhabitants would present themselves before him in their Shirts with Halters about their Necks and deliver up the Keys which was done when forthwith he commanded them to be Hanged but at the entreaty of the Queen and Nobles they were spared Whilst this Siege lasted David King of Scots with an Army of 50000 Men entered England and did great mischief but the Queen being then at home gave him Battel with an Army of 12000 and gave the Scots a fatal Overthrow King David was there taken Prisoner by one John Copeland who refused to deliver him to the Queen as claiming him his Prisoner by the Right of War till going over to the King he desired him to do it and for his good Service settled on him 500 l. per Annum in Lancashire and made him a Squire of his Body whereupon King David was committed Prisoner to the Tower of London The King having appointed Sr. Andrew D' Pavie a Lombard Governour of Callis and turned out the French Inhabitants returned to England but upon private notice the Governour for a great Sum designed to betray it to the Lord Cherney Captain of Arrays he went over and was received in the dusk of the Evening he prevented it by surprising that Lord and his Soldiers when they had partly entered and the rest waited for admittance Yet in this Fight the King Encountering hand to hand with Eustace of Ribomount was by him twice stooped on his Knees but scorning to yield he advanced with such fury and redoubled strength that he beat him down and took him Prisoner but having experienced him to be a Valiant Knight he soon released him without Ransom About this time King Philip Dyed and John his Son was Crowned and the Calicians took the strong Castle of Guyens and the King upon the obstinacy of the Flemings in refusing to Aid him removed the Marts to Callis settling there the Woollen Manufacture so that by the Priviledges and Imunities granted to Artificers happy was he that in a few Years could obtain the Kings leave to go over Soon after Prince Edward Sirnamed for his valourous deeds the Black Prince Landed an Army in Gascoine soon subduing the greater part of that Province which made the French King hasten thither with a very numerous Army and tho' he was six to one against the Prince the Battel was Fought near Poictiers where the English Archers put the French Horse into such confusion at the first onset that they fell into Rout and disordered all the Squadrons that were to support them however the Battel where the French King fought valiantly stood manfully to it a considerable time but such was the prevailing valour of the English That King John and Philip his Younger Son were taken Prisoners many Thousands Slain and the rest put to Flight The Fight being over Prince Edward treated his Royal Prisoners with all Gentleness and Humility cheering up their drooping Spirits attending at the Kings Table Lodged him in his own Bed and provided for him Honourable Attendance insomuch that he confessed He rather fancied himself at his own Court than a Prisoner by having met with so Courteous an Enemy From hence he was conducted to Burdeaux and so into England where he was Entertained with the like civilities and respect by the King and Queen and besides these and what Nobles were Slain there were taken 17 Earls 51 Barons and a great Number of Knights and Gentlemen the English Soldiers throughout the Army that had fewest being possessed of two Prisoners and moreover the rich Spoiles of exceeding value were divided amongst them and a Truce was concluded for two Years In the mean while the King of Scots who had been Ten Years a Prisoner was Released at the Ransom of 100000 l. to be Paid in Five Years and upon taking his Oath not to bear Arms against England nor be Aiding to any other in doing it and further he acknowledged Homage and Fealty for his Kingdom of Scotland to King Edward And proposing to the French King his Ransom with Articles to be signed on his Enlargement he sent them to Charles his Eldest Son who was Regent in his absence and to the Nobility of France who utterly disliking the Conditions prepared to Invade King Edwards Terretories to
joyntly with Coventry the Cathedral was Builded by Oswin King of Northumberland upon a Conquest gained over the Mercians and here Wulferre and Celred two Saxon Kings were Buried It was for some time an Arch Bishoprick by the means of King Offa. At Blore Heath in this County a Battel was Fought between the two Houses of York and Lancaster and 2400 of the Yorkists slain STAFFORD SHIRE The Seats of the Nobility are Blore Hall belonging to the Noble Family of Newcastle Newborough to the Earl of Bridgwater Cherley Castle to the Lord Ferrers Throwley to the Lord Cromwell Beudesert and Seaney Park to the Lord Paget Rolleston to the Lord North and Grey Gerards Brumley Sandon and Wislow to the Lord Gerard of Brumley Hamstal Ridware to the Lord Leigh Dudley Castle and Hinley to the Lord Ward Litchfield Close and Eccleshal Castle to the Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry The Houses of the Gentry are likewise many and spacious The Reign of RICHARD the Second commonly called Richard of Bourdeaux RICHARD the Second Son and Heir to Edward the Black Prince was Crowned Anno 1377 not much exceeding 11 Years in Age so that Charles the French King taking advantage of his Minority set out a great Fleet Sack't and Burnt the Towns of Dartmouth Plimouth Portsmouth Hastings Rie and others on the Sea-Coast of England but after they had roamed up and down doing great Mischief for three Weeks they were beaten off with considerable Loss by Edmund Earl of Cambridge the Kings Unkle and others nor were the Scots Incited by the French King less troublesom Burning Roxborough and taking by surprize the Castle of Berwick but the People breaking down the Draw-Bridge shut them out of the Town and being straightly Besieged all the Scots in the Castle were put to the Sword except Alexander Ramsey who was reserved for a large Ransom yet the French though they had been beaten off not giving over their designs Landed again and did much mischief at Winchelsea Dover Gravesend and other places on or near the Sea-coast So that the King to Enable him to set out a Fleet and Transport an Army that might put a check to these Insolencies fummoned a Parliament at Westminster in which a Subsidy was Granted him of Four Pence a Head on all Persons above the Age of Fourteen Years which was looked on in those days as a very grievous Tax and the Gathering it was attended with bad consequences However the Money set out an indifferent good Fleet and an Army were sent into France under Lord Thomas one of the Kings Unkles who wasting all in his way joyned with the Duke of Britanie and much anoyed the French Recovering many Towns and Castles but whilst this was doing abroad a dangerous Mischief befell at home John Wall a Factious Priest by his going from place to place and Preaching to the inferiour sort of People That they were Free by the Law of Nature and that Laws were made by Crafty People to keep them Poor and Low so to Enslave them and that by their Pedigree derived from Adam the good things of the Earth should be equally divided amongst them and not some grow Fat and Rich whilst others Pine and Starve And moreover no Taxes were due on any pretence but People Free Born in their Liberality ought to be left Free This and such like Cant being sutable to their humor and wishes mainly wrought with them to become Levellers so that these pernicious Insinuations spread soon into most parts of England before the Magistrates were aware to suppress it and to bring about what was wished by some cunning Knaves to Inrich themselves in the Spoil of others they raised Tumults and possess'd the Country People with a belief That the City of London was at their devotion and only waited till they came to take possession of it whereupon they flowed thither like an outragious Torrent from Kent Essex Sussex Bedfordshire and other places stiling themselves The Kings Men and the Servants of the Weale Publick chosing as their chief Captain one Wat Tyler by profession a Taylor and as his subordinate Officers Jack Straw Jack Shepherd and some others and to this Rout the Incendary of a lewd Priest John Wall Chaplain and being Encamped in Kent and Essex they sent to the King to come and Treat with them but he was disswaded by his Nobles Whereupon those in Essex crossed the Thames and joyning the Kentish Rebels came to Southwark which they Plundered and finding London-Bridge Fortified against them intended to have Burnt the Suburbs on the South side and have Murthered such as they had notice were not pleased with their Proceedings But the Citizens to prevent so great a Mischief let down the Draw-Bridge and admitted them into the City Feasting and Carressing them rather out of fear than good-will however they Burnt the Duke of Lancaster's House at the Savoy and Murthered all his Servants they found in it They ransacked the Inns of Court and Law Offices Burning all the Law Books and Records that came to their hands Plundering the Churches and Religious Houses and Wat Tyler having seized Richard Lyon his Master with whom he had been Apprentice caused his Head to be Cut off and carry'd before him on a Lance because in his Service he had sometimes Beat him for his Rogueries They Plundered likewise the Houses of all Strangers They likewise forced into the Tower where the King Lay Plundered his Mothers Lodgings and broke her Head because she reproved them for their Insolency They Murthered Simon Tybald Arch Bishop of Canterbury because he had some time before Imprisoned Wall for his Seditious Doctrine and after several meetings the King finding he could do no good with them their Behaviour being so Audacious and their Demands so Insolent and Unreasonable he laboured to make the Citizens his Frinds and resolved to repel them by force Whereupon a Conference being appointed in Smithfield the King beforehand thinking to bring them to better Terms without Extremity if possible sent them several of his Ensigns and their Pardons as a token that he owned them for his good Subjects and freely forgave them for what had happened and then meeting them as appointed he perswaded them to desist from all Violence assuring them that upon tryal they should find him to be their Good Lord and Gracious King But Tyler with a frowning countenance insolent behaviour and rough speech refused to accept the Kings Grace and Favour proudly telling him That all those Troops and many more Thousands were at his dispose to Execute whatsoever he would command Then he commanded Sr. John Newton one of the Kings Attendants who bore the Sword to deliver his Dagger which by the Kings command he did Then he Insolently proceeded to demand the Sword but he stoutly Answered It was the Kings Sword and should not be given to a Knave which so incensed Tyler That he Swore he should lose his Head before himself would Eat or Drink commanding the
King to deliver him up to Execution which Insolent Behaviour Sr. William Wallworth Lord Mayor not able to endure Stabbed him with his Dagger so that he fell down Dead and then hasting to raise the City Militia the Rebells after some time were so amazed that they scattered and every one fled for his safety and it was not many days before most of the Ringleaders were by their Companions a thing that seldom fails in such tumultuous Rebellions delivered into the hands of Justice the better to obtain their own Pardons which in the height of their Pride they had scornfully thrown up and the King at this last Conference before their Faces had Cancelled them so that about 1500 or more of the principal Agents were Convicted and Executed in divers Places which put an end to these Popular Disorders and for this Exploit of the Lord Mayor the Dagger was added to the City Arms. Things thus Quieted and the Peoples Fears over The King sued for the Lady Ann Daughter to Charles the Fourth and Sister to Winceslaus the Emperour of Germany in Marriage which was Accorded and the Lady who was exceeding Virtuous and Beautiful was received with great Joy by the King and People and Anno Dom. 1385 he Summoned a Parliament at Westminster in which he Created his Unkle Edmund of Langley Duke of York and Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester his Cousin Henry Eldest Son to the Earl of Lancaster Earl of Derby Edward Son to Edmund of Langley Earl of Rutland Sir John Holland Earl of Huntington and Thomas Lord Mowbray Earl of Notingham Declaring Roger Mortimer Earl of March Son to Edmund Mortimer and Philippa his Wife Daughter and Heires to Lionel Duke of Clarence Third Son to Edward the Third Heir apparent to the Crown but he was Slain by the Rebells in Ireland before the Kings Death And now the King fell into the dislike of his People by hearkening to evil Counsellours especially one Michael De La Pool whom he had made Chancellour and created Duke of Suffolk and Robert Vere whome he created Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland and would have made him King of that Country if the Nobility would have consented to it so that he respected not the sage Advice and Counsel of the grave and most experienced Lords of this the Parliament took great notice and upon the Chancellours insisting on the Kings behalf for a Tax of four Fifteens affirming no less could support his Estate or maintain such Wars as he was likely to undertake the Lords and Commons not only opposed the motion but accused the Duke and others for lewdly Counselling the King and by their Purloyning to enrich themselves wasting his Treasure That by their bad Advice they had kept the King from coming amongst them which according to a received Law and Custom if he refused to do in Forty Days they might Legally break up and depart to their own homes without his leave and of this and other particulars they sent word to the King desiring him within three days he would come amongst them and give Life to those Laws they should make or they were resolved to separate But in Answer to this he required that a select Assembly of Fifty of their Members should attend him This was refused and the Duke of Gloucester and Thomas Arundel Arch Bishop of Canterbury were only deputed who plainly told the King of the Grievances of his People and that by his Absence from Parliament he obscured the light of Justice and hindered the Negotiation of the Commonweal And if he further declined it they must break up and depart to their homes They also craved with humble submssion as they were commanded to be informed by whom his Majesties Treasure belonging to the Commonweal was prodigally consumed and how it came to pass that his large Revenues could not suffice to maintain his Estate and charge seeing he had no Wars This Message and their Demands so angered the King That he Swore had he fore-known the sawcy bouldness of his Subjects whom as he supposed intended to rise in Arms against him he would more willingly have submitted himself to the King of France and have relyed on him for Protection than thus to be baffled and made servil to those whom his Soveraignty ought to command But the two Lords in all humble Duty shewed him that his People stood well affected towards him and that the French had been and were inveterate Enemies to the King of England With this and such-like submissive Discourse he was some what pacified and promised to come to his Parliament in three days and failed not to do it where by Proof and Accusation of the Lords Michael De La Pool Chancellour of England and Duke of Suffolk was Convicted of Purloyning the Kings Treasure and purchasing Estates with it to his own behoof and giving evil Counsel to the great damage of the Kings Subjects and other things so that his Lands were Sequestered to the King's use his Person Fined 20000 Marks committed close Prisoner and deprived of his Chancellourship and other Offices The Arch Bishop being made Chancellour in his stead and in the same Parliament thirteen Persons were Elected Sworn and Authorized with â—he consent of the King published in Writing under â—is Seal to Examine all or any of his Officers touching â—heir Demeanours in their several Offices and Trusts 〈◊〉 censure and condemn any that should be found â—uilty of henious Crimes and the King took an Oath â—ot to revoke or suppress this Commission without the â—onsent of Parliament and it further passed into a â—aw That if any Person should attempt directly or â—â—directly to perswade or encourage the King to inâ—â—ge his Oath and Promise touching all or any of these matters for the first Offence to lose his Lands and Goods and for the second to be proceeded against as a Traitor to the King and Kingdom And then a Subsidy of one half Fifteen was granted if the Commissioners upon view of the Kings Estate thought it needful and so an end was put to this Sessions of Parliament This was no sooner done but the King at the perswasion of his Counsellours Released his Favourite De La Poole and went with him the Duke of Ireland Tresillian his chief Justice other Judges and Ministers of State to Notingham where they Pronounced the Duke of Gloucester Arch Bishop of Canterbury and the Thirteen Commissioners to be Guilty of High Treason because against his will and consent they had compelled the King to Ratifie the Commission by his Oath and under his Great Seal so going to Coventry the Judges by an Instrument in Writing under their Hands and Seals declared and confirmed their Opinions to be agreeable and consonant to the Laws of the Land touching these matters Whilst Affairs had but an ill Aspect at home thâ— French King to Embroyl the Kingdom more if poâ—sible sent his Admiral with a Thousand Noblemen anâ— Gentlemen into Scotland with Arms and
Warlikâ— Stores who joyning the Scots Army Marched intâ— England but upon notice of King Richard's approacâ— with a formidable Army they crossed the Mountain into Wales leaving Scotland open to the English who Burnt Edenburg St. Johnstons Sterling and Dundee anâ— having harassed the Country almost from Sea to Seâ— they returned Laden with much Booty This greâ—â— Loss so perplexed the Scots who had got little Plundeâ— among the Barren Mountains that on their returâ— they made the French Admiral and most that Atteâ—â—â—â— him of note Prisoners till the French King who 〈◊〉 precipitated them into this War should make 〈◊〉 satisfaction as designing his own Interest and â—â—vantage by it and not theirs and tho' he was very â—â—gry at it yet the Scots kept them Prisoners till the â—â—ey demanded was sent for their Ransoms This â—red up the French King to raise a mighty Army with â—â—solution to Conquer England and to Transport it 〈◊〉 prepared 1200 Ships but when they had a long â—e in their unruly March Plundered the French and â—nings and by reason the Duke of Berry the Kings â—kle who was to command them approving not 〈◊〉 Enterprize delay'd to come to them their wants â—e so great that to supply them they Sold their â—rses Armour Weapons and lastly their Cloaths 〈◊〉 then fell so horribly to Plundering the Country 〈◊〉 the French King not able to endure the cries and â—plaints of the oppressed People and dispairing to 〈◊〉 any thing in England with such a half-starved disâ—erly Rout Disbanded them after he had been at â—000 l. Charge The English Nobles now began grievously to comâ—n of the Kings breaking his Oath and Promises in â—rkening to the evil Counsels and Advice of Robert 〈◊〉 Vere Michael De La Poole Alexander Arch Bishop 〈◊〉 York Nicholas Bamber and Robert Trisillian his Chief â—ice together with those flattering Judges who to â—se the King had Subscribed to the Nullity of the â—mmission and had Censured all such as procured it â—e Traitors to the King c. Intreating him to â—ish them the Kingdom but he would in no wise â—rken to any Proposals of parting with those Favoâ— who for their better safety counselled him to give 〈◊〉 Callice and his other Towns in France to the French â—g and rely on him for Aid to curb those proud Subjects who sought to Enslave him their Soveraign but this he looked on as dangerous and would not agree to it But the Nobles finding no Redress flying to Arms he practiced with the Lord Mayor of London to raise him an Army in and about the City which he laboured to do but the Graver Citizens who were well affected to the Nobles not only refused to further it but hindered it all they could declaring it was a means to hasten the desolation of that great City humbly beseeching the King not to require any such thing at their hands but rather seek an Accommodation of Differences This extreamly vexed him but finding he misseâ— of his purpose he dissembled his displeasure and laid aside that Project yet forgot them not But some time after this desiring a Loan of 1000 l. and it being refused him he seized into his hands their Charter and Liberties dissolved their proper Magistracy turning out John Hind their Mayor Henry Warner and John Shadworth Sherifs appointing Sir Edward Dallingredge Warden of the City However finding he could not raise such an Army as he intended by reason most of his inferiour Subjects were well affected to the Lords because they sought not to injure the King but to remove his evil Counsellours who were great Oppressors and Disquieters of the Kingdom he promised to call â— Parliament wherein matters might be Debated with out heat or animosity and that there his five Favors should be Answerable to all Objections and if Convicted stand to such publick Censure or Punishment as the Parliament could justly inflict on them This Concession much pleased the Lords so that they disbanded their Forces and returned the King their humble thanks But it was not long before they were sensible a Snare was laid for them for the Duke of Ireland was privately Levying 5000 Men pretendedly for his Guard and Defence but it was secretly intimated they were to lie in wait in Parties and Surprize the Lords as they were coming to Parliament so that they suddainly recalled their disbanded Forces and shut him up on the Banks of the Thames which he was forced to Swim on Horse-back for the preservation of his Life and posting to the Sea Coast took Shipping for France where some Years after he was Slain in Chasing a wild Boar but so great was then the Kings Love towards him That he caused his Dead Body to be Embalmed brought over and Magnificently Bury'd After the flight of the Duke the Lords Executed some of the chief Ringleaders and suffered the rest to depart to their Houses and so passed with their Army to London where they were Joyfully received by the Citizens The King who kept his Court at the Tower well perceived how much they had gained the Hearts of the greater Part of the People and therefore for his own safety he desired a Conference with them in which it was Agreed a Parliament should be speedily called to Redress Grievances and accordingly a Parliament was Assembled in which the evil Counsellours and corrupt Judges were Sommoned to appear and Answer to the Articles Exhibited against them but upon their default they were Attainted of High Treason against the King and Common-weal and for this John Earl of Salisbury and Sir Nicholas Bambre lost their Heads the Lord Chief Justice Trisilian was Hanged at Tyburn and the rest of these Judges had suffered in like manner had not the Queens incessant supplications prevailed to change their Dooms into Banishment and in this Parliament the state of Affairs was settled to the high contentment of the People And tho' the next Year the Scots began to bustle yet at the Mediation of the French King a Truce was made between the three Kingdoms and King Richard by this means in Peace and Tranquility assisted the Duke of Lancaster to raise an Army when Leaguing with the King of Portugal he Warred on the Spaniard for the Kingdom of Castile which he claimed in Right of his Wife and so prevailed That the Spaniard was compelled to sue for a Peace which was granted on that Kings Marrying Constance the Dukes Eldest Daughter Loading him Eight Waggons with Gold and allowing him and his Dutchess during their Lives 10000 Mark a Year And after having Married Ann his Younger Daughter to the King of Portugal he returned into England Laden with Riches and Honour And now all Appeals to Rome and the Popes Authority in this Kingdom was Abrogated by Parliament and soon after the Vertuous Lady Queen Ann Dyed whose Death so exceedingly grieved the King that for some Weeks he would not be comforted causing the stately House at Sheen in which she Dyed to be utterly Razed
Cursing any that should afterward Build it yet this Sorrow wasting by time to strengthen his Alliance he Sailed to France and took the Lady Isabel Charles the Sixth's Daughter to Wife and brought her to England with her Nurse and a great Train of Ladies and not exceeding Seven or Eight Years she was called The Baby Queen the King having contracted not to Bed her till she should be Fourteen Years of Age and a 30 Years Peace was concluded whereupon the King gave up to the Duke of Britany the strong Town and Castle of Brest which much offended the English Nobles especially the Duke of Glocester his Unkle who plainly told him he had dishonoured himself and the English Nation by tamely parting with such an important Place which had not been gained but at the expence of much Blood and Treasure this so angered the King that he privately Swore to be Revenged on him and such other Noblemen as he said usually checked and controuled him in his Proceedings and accordingly getting a Parliament to his mind Sir John Bushe one of his Creatures being Speaker of the Lower House This upstart Speaker boldly Accused Thomas Arundel Arch Bishop of Canterbury who fitting in the House of Peers by the King was ordered not to Answer and it should be no damage to him his silence nevertheless was taken for Confession and he was Banished the Realm the Earls of Arundel and Warwick in this Parliament were Attainted of High Treason upon which the former lost his Head and the latter being confined to the Isle of Wight through Grief and want of Necessaries shortly Dyed But the Duke of Glocester stood too high in the Peoples Favour to be reached this way therefore he was privately seized at his own House hurried to Callice and there by the command of Thomas Moubray then Earl of Notingham and for this wicked exploit created Duke of Norfolk the Valiant Prudent Virtuous and Renowned Duke was Smothered to Death tho' in the manner of it Authors disagree some will have it by pressing and keeping him long between Feather-Beds others that he was thrown into and headed up in a Butt of Malmsey However here he was wickedly made away and never seen afterward to the great grief of all but the King and his Favourites who hugged themselves with joy to think they had removed out of their way the great Obstacle that hindered their Advances to Arbitrary Power After this Moubray proceeded to Accuse Henry Duke of Hartford Son to the Duke of Lancaster of Speaking Treasonable and Scandalous Words of the King whereupon Hartford Challenged his Accuser to the single Combate to try by the Sword the Truth and Justice of his Accusation but when they were both entered the Lists and prepared for the Encounter the King threw down his Warder staid the Combate Banished Hartford for six Years and Moubray forever who Travailing to Venice there Dyed miserably confessing his Guilt and trouble for the Death of the Noble Duke of Glocester but Hartford was honourably Entertained by Charles the French King who would have Married him to a Beautiful Lady Daughter to the Duke of Berry his Unkle but King Richard industriously prevented it as fearing such an Alliance might enable him to grasp at his Crown and when the Duke of Lancaster Dyed he seized on his vast Treasure tho' he had given his Cousin Henry leave on his departure to appoint his Attorney to Act for him and take care of his Inheritance But these Proceedings bred much Mischief For the King having lost most of his old and getting a new set of Counselors viz. The Earl of Wiltshire Sir John Bushe Sir James Bagot and Sir John Green they advised him to many things contrary to the Advice of his grave Council and much troubled the People and now the Irish Rebelling the King to Raise an Army Farmed the Kingdom and all his Revenues belonging thereunto for certain Years and Sailed for Ireland The Duke of Hartford who wanted no Intelligence how matters went in England looked on the Peoples Ferment and the Kings Absence to give him a very favourable advantage to shake off his Chains wherefore as privately as he might he came to England accompanied by the Banished Arch Bishop and many other trusty Friends declaring to the People he only came to take quiet Possession of his Dutchy of Lancaster which by the Death of his Father was his Undoubted Right so that Trousands flocked to him And finding how the People were bent to favour his cause he Raised a considerable Army and seized the before named Counsellours whom they Beheaded King Richard in Ireland hearing of these Stirs setled Affaires there as well as he could and hasted over with a small Army but before he could pass Wales most of them had Deserted him and then being ascertained that his Counsellours in whom he had reposed much trust to Levy Forces for him were taken off despairing of any safety to be gained by force he came to Henry Duke of Lancaster of his own accord and publickly owned his Insufficiency and Weakness to Govern well praising the Duke's rare and singular Virtues his absolute worthiness to be a King c. profering to make him an absolute Surrender of his Kingdom if he would accept of it The Politick Duke who well knew this proceeded not cordially from him but from the effects of fear and constraint however refused it for tho' he much affected the wearing of a Crown yet he thought it more advisable to receive it at this time from the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty and hereupon he caused the King with a very respective and honourable Attendance to be conveyed to the Tower and a Parliament being called in his Name Twenty Four Articles were Exhibited against him for Mismanagement and ill Conduct in Government and many henious Crimes which in his Restraint he seemed to confess and own and by an Instrument under his Hand and Seal he Resigned his Crown and Kingdom to Henry of Bullenbrook Duke of Lancaster which being publickly and generally Ratified and Approved by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons Assembled in Parliament Henry stood up and made this Challenge to the Crown viz. In the Name of God Amen I Henry of Lancaster Claim the Realm of England and the Crown with all the Appurtinances as coming by the Blood Royal from King Henry the Third and the Justice which God of his Grace hath sent me by the help of my Friends for the Recovery of the said Realm which was at the point of Perdition through default of Government and breach of Laws These words being said all the Estates acknowledged him for King and Richard was formally Deposed in the words and in manner Recited in Edward the Seconds Reign and thereupon was sent to Pomfret Castle but long he had not been there ere upon some practices of his Favourites to Reinstate him he was villanously Murthered by Sir Pierce of Exton and Eight others of whom he
Valiantly killed Four with a Bill he wrested out of one of their Hands Thus untimely Dyed King Richard the Second when he had Reigned 22 Years 3 Months and 8 Days Being the 32d Sole Monarch of England After his Death his Body was brought to London and exposed to the view of the People to satisfie them he was Dead and prevent their taking part with Impostors and then Buried at Langley In this Kings Reign the River Ouse between Swelstone and Harleswood near Bedford stood still and divided it self so that the Botton in the Middle remained dry for three Miles Soon after Vtred Bolton John Ashwerby Walter Bruce John Ashton and Peter Peteshall were Persecuted some by Perpetual Imprisonment some by Banishment for Preaching and Maintaining Wickliffe's Doctrine In the last Year of this Kings Reign all the Bay-Trees in England Withered and when Lancaster came to the Crown fresh Branches sprouted from the supposed dead Stocks And an Army of Birds Fighting in the Air strangely destroyed each other THE County of SUFFOLKE Remarks on the County of Suffolk c. SUffolk has many Advantages in its Situation by reason the Eastern part of it opens to the Sea and is stored with commodious Havens besides this County abounds with Cattle Wooll Corn Marshes producing fat Pastures store of Butter and much Cheese but not much approved of It is mostly plain branched with several curious Rivers flowing from and runing into the Ocean On the North it is Bounded with Norfolk on the West with Cambridgeshire and on the South with Essex It contains 22 Hundreds 575 Parishes 28 Market Towns 1 Castle 2 principal Rivers 32 Bridges 27 Parks most of them well stored with Deer It sends Members to Parliament 16 viz. Alborough 2 Dunwich 2 St. Edmunds-Bury 2 Ipswich 2 Orford 2 Sudbury 2 Eye 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Ipswich in this County was Founded by one Gipsa it has a flourishing Estate in Shiping-Trade by reason of the Navigable River it stands on it was often harassed in antient times by the Danes and is particularly noted for the Birth of that great Pagentry of Fortune Cardinal Wolsey whose Father was a Butcher in it St. Edmunds-Bury is Memorable for King Edmund's being Shot to Death by the Danes for Expiation of which Cruelty King Canute Erected here a stately Monastery once accounted the Richest in Europe And here a Parliament was held in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth Exning is the Birth-place of St. Audri Sister to King Ina. At Renlisham Redwald the first Christian King of the East-Angles kept his Court Lidgate is the Birth-place of John Sirnamed Lidgate a famous English Poet. The Seats of the Nobility are Busbrook Hall belonging to the Duke of St. Albans Ewston to the Earl of Arlington Christs Church in Ipswich Sudbury Hall Soham Lodge to the Lord Viscount Hereford Denham Hall to the Lord Viscount Townsend Broom Hall and Carleford Hall to the Lord Cornwallis Besides these there are a great many stately Buildings belonging to private Gentlemen In some of the Cliffs to the Sea Hawks build and there is much Game for Recreation as Fishing Fowling Hunting c. Here also stands Framlingham Castle a place of great State Beauty Strength and Conveniency and the Ruins of Burgh Castle Remain The Reign of HENRY the Fourth commonly called Henry of Bullenbrook THIS Henry was Crowned by the consent of the Estates in the life time of Richard the Second and created Henry his Eldest Son Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwal and Earl of Chester Then he called a Parliament in his own Name in which the Bishop of Carlisle for speaking in the behalf of King Richard and moving a commiseration of his wrongs was committed close Prisoner to the Abby of St. Albans and the Crown was entailed on Henry and his Heirs forever This Parliament no sooner ended but many Lords Conspired the Death of the King entering into Oath and Covenant to do it at Oxford where they had appointed sollemn Sports for his Entertainment in honour as they Flatteringly pretended of his happy Accession to the Crown but really with an intent to restore King Richard And accordingly they met Armed all but Edward Plantagenet Duke of Aumarle Son to Edmund of Langley Duke of York the Kings Unkle who as he sat at Dinner with his Father had by chance the Label of the Instrument of Combination hanging out at his Bosom of which the old Duke taking hold drew forth the whole Writing and Reading the Contents of the Conspiracy prepared for Windsor to give the King an account of it which the young Duke perceiving hastily took Horse and out-stript him himself revealing all the Intrigue for which he had his Pardon Upon this Discovery the King put off his Journey to Oxford and hastened to the Tower of London securing the City to his Interest and raising an Army of which the Lords at Oxford had no sooner notice but they encreased their Forces causing one Magdalen much in likeness to Personate King Richard and advanced their Standard to meet the King but finding they were much inferiour to him in Number their courage failed which so disheartened the Souldiers that they dispersed and left their Leaders to shift for themselves so that most of them were Taken and Executed in divers places others fled the Kingdom and reserved themselves to broach new Broils and this hastened King Richard's Murther in the manner as has been said For King Henry complaining that so long as he Lived he should never be at rest and demanding if none loved him so well as to rid him of that Torment Pierce of Exton to curry favour with him posted away and with other Ruffians villainously performed it at which the French King was mightily displeased purposing to send his Letters of Defiance to King Henry and Invade his Kingdom but upon second thoughts tho' he had raised a potent Army he dissolved it and proceeded no further in the business Yet soon after he Levied another Army to Invade Aquitaine and Guyan but was so stoutly withstood by King Henry's Forces That he retired and Disbanded them But the King of England doubting the security of his ill-got Title laboured to make Peace with him the better to strengthen himself offering a Marriage between Henry his Son and the Lady Isabella Widow to King Richard and Daughter to Charles the Sixth of France but that King considering how unfortunate Marriages had been between France and England refused it whereupon she was sent over in great State and Married to her Cousin Charles Eldest Son of Lewis Duke of Orleance her Unkle Soon after this Owen Glendour with his Welsh Rebelled Overthrowing the King's Army and taking the Lord Grey of Ruthen and Edmund Mortimer the Kings Cousin Prisoners using them exceeding hardly the sooner to oblige the King to Ransom them but he neglected it because Mortimer was nearer Allied to the Crown by Right of Descent than himself yet tho' he might have had his
Liberty if he would have joyned with the Welsh and some English Nobles that were fled thither he rather chose to endure Extremities than to comply with them Whereupon they solicited the Scots who Invaded the Northern parts of the Kingdom doing much Mischief but the King soon requited it by entering Scotland and laying all waste before him However he no sooner returned but the Scots re-entered England with 20000 Men committing many Barbarous Cruelties but being Encountered by Henry Sirnamed Hotspur Son to Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland 10000 of them were Slain and 500 taken Prisoners and of note Mordacke Earl of Fiffe Archibald Earl of Douglas Thomas Earl of Murray and Robert Earl of Angus The following Year the French sent 12 Ships with 1200 Nobles Gentlemen and others to assist the Welsh but most of them were Shipwrack'd on the Point of Cornwal and the rest with much difficulty returned to France yet soon after he Landed 12000 Men in Wales to assist Glendour and his Rebellious Companions who joyned them with 10000. But upon the Kings approach with an Army the Welsh fled into the Woods and Mountains leaving the French to shift for themselves which made them hasten to their Ships and return to France without doing any thing Memorable which made the French King become a Jest to the English viz. That he was often Big but never Brought-forth Notwithstanding King Henry to Strengthen his Interest Abroad Married Jane Widow to John the deceased Duke of Britany and gave Blanch his Eldest Daughter to William Duke of Bavaria Son and Heir Apparent to the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria and some time after Philippa his Youngest Daughter to the King of Denmark In the Third Year of his Reign he required Henry Piercy Earl of Worcester Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland and Piercy Hotspur his Son to deliver up the Scots Prisoners taken in the late Battel on the Northern Borders but was Answered Those Prisoners were theirs by Right of War and they would not part with them desiring him at the same time to Ransom his Cousin Mortimer but this he refused alledging That he had voluntarily made himself a Prisoner to give Glendour and other his Accomplices a colourable pretence for Rebellion seeing he was so near Allied to the Crown and therefore his own Safety and his good Discretion gave him Advice not to hearken to their Motion but to punish his offence This much displeased the Piercies and designing to Levy War against the King they Ransomed Mortimer at their own charge secretly entering into a League and Friendship with Glendour they promised him great matters when King Henry by their United Strength should be Deposed then they Engaged the Scots Prisoners to take part with them also the Earl of Stafford Richard Scroop Arch Bishop of York and many others and as they had done against Richard so they framed and published Articles against him as to his Misdemeanours in Government false claim to the Crown charging him with the Murther of King Richard his Lawful and Rightful Soveraign also his refusing to Ransom his Cousin Mortimer who was taken Fighting in his Cause but rather wished he might die in a loathsome Prison because the Crown of Right belonged to him as being Son and Heir to Philippa Daughter and Heiress to Lionel Duke of Clarence Elder Brother to John of Gaunt Father to Henry whom they stiled a Usurper This made many joyn with them so that their Army became very Formidable to the King And to bind the Welsh more firmly to them Edward Mortimer Earl of March Married Glendour's Daughter by which means in a little time they flattered themselves they should have a King of England of the Antient British Blood And indeed a very great danger about this time threatened the King for a Calthrop or Engin with three very sharp Teeth or Spikes was placed in his Bed which had certainly procured his Death had he suddainly lain down upon it but it was timely Discovered yet the Party who placed it could not be made known and divers Gray Fryers scattering defamatory Libels against the King several of them were taken and Hanged The King finding his greatest advantage now lay in Expedition suddainly raised an Army and by long Marches prevented the Earls joyning with the Welsh so that both Armies meeting near Shrewsbury Piercy Hotspur a Person of undaunted Courage no sooner saw the Royal Standard but he resolved to throw his Fortune on the hazard of a Battel so the Charge being Sounded the Scots gave the first onset and Fought desperately but were over-born and a great part of them Slain yet notwithstanding the Lords renewed the Battel with great fury and obstinacy perswading themselves of good success until the King and the Prince his Son determining by Honourable Death to leave their Bodies in the Field rather than fall into the hands of their Enemies or betake them to shameful flight and leave their Men a Sacrifice behind them redoubling their Strength and Valour set such Examples to the rest that the declining Battel was restored and Piercy Hotspur with many of chief Command being Slain the Lords Army fell into rout and confusion so that in the Field and Pursuit 6000 were slain the Earls of Worcester Douglas and many others were taken Prisoners and a famous Victory was obtained and it is said the King slew in this Battel 36 with his own hands but because the Earl Douglas in single Combate had fought with him and approved himself a valiant Man he had his Liberty granted without Ransom but the rest of the Prisoners had not that good luck for the Earl of Worcester and several of the chief were Beheaded many of a lower degree Hanged and Quartered and their Heads placed on London Bridge In this Battel the King lost not above 600 Men. To follow this lucky Success the Prince was sent into Wales with part of the Army where he found Owen Glendour forsaken by most of his Companions and with the rest for his safety he retired into a vast Wood which being encompassed and narrowly watched he was there with many others Famished to Death and such as were taken by hunting and beating that Wood suffered by Execution And hereupon the Prince returned to the King and in the mean while the Earl of Northumberland came and submitted himself to the Kings Mercy and tho' he was excused it was with no hearty goodwill but rather to prevent the Castle of Berwick and other strong Places on the Frontiers from falling into the hands of the Scots as being held by such Officers as the Earl had appointed under him These Troubles were no sooner over but Lewis Duke of Orleance sent the King in a Bravado a Challenge to meet him and a Hundred French with a Hundred English to Combate it for Honours sake in an indifferent place whereto the King returned Answer That his former Actions in Warlike undertakings could clearly acquit him from the imputation of Cowardize and that Kings
ought not to be so careless of their Peoples wellfare and safety as to meet every Madman who had the vanity to send them a Challenge But that he would be at all times ready to Repel any Violence or Injury which he should dare rashly or unadvisedly to Attempt against him or his People This exceedingly nettled Mounsieur so that in an angry mood designing Revenge he Besieged the Town of Vergie in Guyan but having wasted his Army in almost a four Months Siege he was constrained to raise it and retire with disgrace After this the Duke of Burgundy to mend the matter raised an Army to reduce Callis but upon King Henry's preparations to pass the Seas with an Army he was Remanded by the French King which he looking on as the Duke of Orleances doings to hinder him from gathering expected Lawrels a mortal hatred sprung up between them and several Battels were Fought King Henry first assisting Burgundy and then Orleance and gained much Money by their Contention whilst they weakened each other and the whole Estate of France whilst they drew in Parties to side with them In the mean while the Marshal of France laying Siege to a Town in Gascony with 4000 Men at Arms was beaten off by Sir John Blunt with 300 English 12 Noblemen and 120 Gentlemen taken Prisoners and carried into the Town in Triumph And now tho' the King had Pardoned the Earl of Northumberland yet he resenting some Indignities put on him grew restless for Revenge and therefore Associating with Richard Scroop Arch Bishop of York Thomas Moubray Earl Marshal The Lords Hastings Faulconbridge Bardolf and divers others Forces were resolved to be raised and another hazard of the Field to be Enterprised But the Earl of Westmoreland whom they would have drawn to their Party revealing their Design to the King he secretly Marched with an Army into the North and surprising Moubray Scroop and some others caused their Heads to be stricken off but Northumberland Bardolf c. Escaped to France from whence they afterward came to Scotland where that King promised to Aid them but to prevent the threatening Danger the King raised a potent Army and sent it under the Prince of Wales into Scotland where he Retook Berwick Alnwick and other strong places that the Earl had delivered to the Scots and Burnt many Towns in the heart of that Kingdom whereupon the Scots finding themselves unable to make Resistance craved a Truce which was Granted for twelve Months and thereupon the Prince returned home with his Spoils Whilst this was doing the French to favour the Design set out several Armed Ships to Alarum the Coast Towns of England when the Lord Castile with three other Lords 20 Knights and a great many Soldiers Landing at Dartmouth were Encountered by the Country People who Slew Castile and most of his Soldiers and taking the rest Prisoners brought them to the King who very well rewarded the Rusticks for their Care and Vigilancy and put the Lords and Knights to great Ransoms and the King going to see them on Board at their departure in his return from the Downs very narrowly scaped being taken by a French Privatier's supposedly lying purposely in wait for him whereupon the Lord Commois who attended him being a Norman Nobleman was suspected of Treachery but upon his Tryal acquitted and received into Favour The Truce with Scotland Expired Northumberland and Bardolf Animated the Scots to Invade England which they did doing much mischief in Northumberland and other Northern parts Whereupon the King Levied an Army and Traveled by long Marches to Encounter them but before his Arrival they were Fought-with and Overthrown by Sir Thomas Rookby High Sherif of Yorkshire who slew the Earl and sent his Head as a Present to the King that was very acceptably received and the Lord Bardolf being Wounded fled into Scotland and there Dyed of his Wounds After this the King Assembling a Parliament Created therein his three Younger Sons viz. Thomas Duke of Clarence John Duke of Bedford and Humphry Duke of Gloucester and many Laws were therein Enacted profitable to the Common-weal and from this Day till his Death the King Enjoyed a Life free from Hostility but found such Inward perplexities of Mind for having Consented to or Instigated the Murther of King Richard his first Cousin for the lucre of his Crown that to make some Attonement and quiet his Conscience he Levied an Army resolving as he had Vowed to make War against the Infidels that Oppressed the Christians in the Holy Land which the Popes of those times declared was a full Atonement or sufficient Expiation for any Crime how Notorious so ever but whilst things were getting ready he fell into an Appoplexy and finding Death approaching caused his Crown to be placed on his Pillow with an intent to deliver it to the Prince when he was near Departing but he impatient of delay supposing him when fallen into a Drowsâ—ness to be Dead removed it thence whereupon the King raised himself and missing it demanded Who had taken it And the Prince Replying It was he The King fell back and fetching a deep Sigh said My Son what Right I had to this Crown and how I have Enioyed it God knows and the World hath seen and thereupon he fetched a deep Groan but the Prince not minding that said Comfort your self in God Father The Crown you have and if you Dye it is mine and I will keep it with my Sword as you have done and within a few Hours the King dyed in the 46th Year of his Age when he had Reigned 13 Years 5 Months and 19 Days and was Buried at Canterbury Anno 1412. In this Kings Reign two Blazing Stars appeared before the breaking out of the Piercy's Rebellion and many Drops of Blood fell on Peoples Garments in the Northern Parts as from the Clouds Anno 1407 a great Plague happened that destroyed in London 30000 Persons and multitudes else where and the Year after a violent Frost held 15 Weeks And by the wicked procurement of Thomas Arundel Arch Bishop of Canterbury William Sawtree William Swinderby and William Thorp worthy Divines suffered Martyrdome for opposing the Romish Superstitions and Idolatry Preaching the Gospel and much adhearing to Wickliffe's Doctrine Remarks on the County of Surry c. SUrry is a very spacious County and would be aboundantly Fruitful did not a ridge of barren Hills run in a manner quite through it however it abounds in Corn Cattle Rich Medows and Vpland Pastures and Open and Inclosed Grounds yeilds store of Honey Wooll Fowl Fish Deer and is abundant in pleasant Gardens and Orchards of Fruit-Trees It is Bounded on the North with the Thames and Middlesex on the East with Kent on the South with Sussex and on the West with Hampshire and Buckinghamshire It contains 13 Hundreds in which are 141 Parishes 8 Principal Market Towns 7 Bridges 4 Forrests and 17 Parks as for Rivers there are many small ones as at Gilford
French hasted out of the Field with their Prisoners and Spoil as having had hot work on it already and not willing to try a second Encounter The King was much troubled at this Overthrow and the death of his Brother but resolving Revenge he sent the Earl of Mountague to succeed him in the Command of the Provinces and assembling a Parliament caused to be laid before them the State of both Nations whereupon to enable him in his Wars the Temporality gave him one Fifteenth and the Clergy two and for Expedition the Bishop of Winchester Advanced 20000 l. and received it again out of the Tax Granted by Parliament whereupon an Army consisting of 24000 Men was Transported under the Command of John Duke of Bedford the King's Brother driving the Dauphin from the Siege of Chartieres from thence the Duke Marched to Paris and was soon joyned by the Duke of Burgundy with 4000 Horse nor was the King slow in following his Army having with him James the Young King of Scots who with his own People Besieged and Took Direux and delivered it to King Henry and so they chased the Dauphin out of all his strong Holds compelling him to take Refuge in Berry whither the King thought not fit to tire his Army in following him but having taken in a great many places repassed the Loire About this time Queen Catharine was delivered of a Son at Windsor which News coming to the King very much troubled him because he had charged her not to Lye-in there but being unexpectedly taken in Labour necessity compelled her to do it The King's Reason for it was grounded on an old Prophecy Predicting No Prince Fortunate that should be Born there Whereupon in a Passion he said to the Lord Fitz-Hugh his Chamberlaine Good God! I Henry of Monmouth shall have but a short Reign and Win much but Henry of Windsor shall Reign long and Loose all But God's Will be done Soon after this the King having Reduced the Isles of France and almost all other Places fell Sick and unable to Travel whereupon he committed the charge of the Army to his Brother John Duke of Bedford Then calling together his Nobles and sending for the Queen he appointed the Duke of Bedford Regent of France and Lieutenant General of Normandy and his other Brother Humphry Duke of Glocester Regent of England and Protector of his Son's Person Exhorting the Nobles to maintain the Friendship with the Duke of Burgundy and always to be at Union among themselves to be faithful to his Son and Queen and never to conclude a Peace with the Dauphin till he submitted to his Son Soon after this he Dyed August 31st Anno 1422 at Boice Le Vincenois in France of a Burning Feavour and Flux in the 30th Year of his Age when he had Reigned 9 Years 5 Months and 10 Days and his Body being brought over was Buried among his Noble Ancestors at Westminster with extraordinary Solemnity SUSSEX By I. Seller Remarks on the County of Sussex c. SUssex is a very pleasant open County in most parts and much advantaged by its lying open on its South side to the Sea It produces a considerable sprinkling of Corn flocks of Sheep and many Large Cattle Fruit great store and much Pasture-Ground It abounds in Butter Cheese and some Honey Flax and Hops on the West it is Bounded with Hampshire on the North with Kent and Surry and on the East with the Sea and some little part of Kent It contains 1 City viz. Chichester which is a Bishops See 65 Hundreds Parishes 312 Market Towns 17 1 Castle 2 Rivers 10 Bridges and 33 Parks It sends Members to Parliament 20 viz. Arundel 2 Bramber 2 Chichester 2 East Grinstead 2 Horesham 2 Lewis 2 Midhurst 2 New Shoreham 2 Steyning 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Besides the Cinque Ports viz. Hastings 2 Rye 2 Seaford 2 and Winchelsea 2. Chichester in this County is held to be Founded by Cissa a South Saxon and the Bishoprick was Translated thither from Sesley by William the Conqueror at Lewis King Ethelston Coined his Money and a strong Castle was Built there by Earl Warren and a Bloody Battel fought near it between King Henry and his Barons at Pensey or Pevensey the Conqueror Landed when he won England and near Hastings the great Fight was fought between William and King Harold for the Kingdom and the place is called to this day Battel-Field at Buckstead the first Great Iron Guns in England were Cast The Waters in this County produce the best Carp in the Island and on the Sea Coast store of Lobsters are taken Near Walsal are store of Lime Pits Sesley is famed for Cockles near Tenderden Steeple is a Stone that sensibly appears to Grow by the falliag of the Rain The Seats of the Nobility are Arundel Castle belonging to the Duke of Norfolk Buckhurs and Stoneland belonging to the Earl of Dorset part of Bolebrook to the Earl of Thanet Herst Monceux to the Earl of Sussex Cowdrey Battel-Abby and Poynings to the Lord Montague Petworth-Place to the Duke of Sommerset Eridg to the Lord Abergavenny Up-Park to the Lord Grey and Chichester Palace to the Bishop of the Diocess And many sightly Houses belonging to the Gentry c. The Reign of HENRY the Sixth commonly called Henry of Windsor HENRY the Sixth being at the Death of his Father not above three Months Old a Parliament was soon after called and he Crowned at Westminster at five Months Old the Queen holding him in her Lap whilst the Ceremony was performed and likewise brought into the Parliament-House where the Lords paid Homage to him as their Rightful Soveraign a Speech on his behalf being made to them by the Queen Exhorting them to be stedfast and Unanimous in securing his Right and opposing his Enemies c. which they promised to be and endeavour to the utmost Not long after this King Charles the Sixth Dying the French Nobles began to bethink themselves that it stood little with their Honour to be subject to a Prince of another Nation whilst they had a Son of their King amongst them and forgeting their Oaths and Fealty they began on a suddain to grow cold towards the English and seemed desirous to shake off their Yoak of which the Regent giving notice to his Brother in England care was taken continually to send him over Men and Money to compell them if necessity required it to their Obedience but first he used all manner of fair Means minding them if they persevered in their Loyalty the happy conclusion would make them Rich and Fortunate win to them the Love and Favour of their Young King as he grew up and increased in Wisdom and Years c. However the Dauphin got himself Crowned by his Party under the Title of Charles the Seventh and with his small Army took the Field sending the Lord Grandval to Besiege Pont-Melance on the River Seine which he had the fortune to surprize before the
English Garrison was aware of his coming putting most he found therein to the Sword but it was soon regained by the Earl of Salisbury and the Lord Grandval swore Allegiance for his Ransom to King Henry but basely revolted as soon as he was Enlarged Then the Earl took Senes whereupon the Parisians sued to the New French King to assist them underhand tho' at the same time they had for a colour sent some of their Citizens to King Henry promising a continued Duty and Loyalty for yet they found not matters ripe for an open Revolt But whilst the Regent was Magnificently Celebrating his Nuptials with the Lady Ann Sister to the Duke of Burgundy they secretly sent to Charles Advertising him That if he came speedily with any considerable Power they would over-master the English Garrison and deliver the City into his hands This greatly Rejoyced him but whilst his Preparations were slow the Conspiracy was made known to the Regent who swiftly Marched his Army in at their Gates seized on the chief Conspirators and caused them to be Executed in sundry places of the City placing a greater Garrison which very much curbed them bridling them more with the Castle of Pacy and Coursay not far from thence which he took and strongly Fortified and to prevent the Scots Aiding the French James their King was sent home who had been taken on the Seas and a Prisoner at Large to the English many Years yet the English Interest was something weakened by the Revolt of the Duke of Britainy who fearing the Regent growing Powerful might bring him into subjection joyned with the Dauphin as did his Brother Arthur Earl of Yvrie causing that Town in Normandy of which King Henry the Fifth had made him Captain to Rebel yet that and Vernoille which had likewise Revolted were soon Regained and the French Armies that came to Relieve them were Overthrown Soon after the defeated Governour of Yvrie whom the Dauphin had unworthily made Constable of France Besieged St. James Town in Bayon with 4000 Men but the Besieged issuing out with hideous cries of St. George and the Earl Salisbury who by his Martial deeds was grown Terrible to the French that Army being seized with a fear that the Earl was entered with his Army on the other side and about to break-in upon them all in confusion threw away their Arms and fled so a handful of Men pursuing a great many of them leaped into the River and were Drowned others were slain and all the Rich Plunder of the Camp fell to the English But whilst we thus Triumphed in France a Mischief had like to have marred all at home by a discord that happened between the Duke of Gloucester and his Unkle the Bishop of Winchester But the Regent leaving the Earl of Warwick his Lieutenant General in France came timely over and made them Friends in a Parliament he called in honour of which Reconciliation the Young King held a solemn Feast and the Regent Dubbed him a Knight after which the King made Richard Son to the late Earl of Cambridge Duke of York and Restored John Moubray Earl Marshal to his Fathers Dutchy of Norfolk and the Bishop of Winchester going to Callis met the Popes Bull which Invested him with the Dignity of a Cardinal which highly pleased him and new Forces being Levied in England were sent to strengthen the Armies in France so that a great number of Towns that had Revolted were Regained and many French Nobles put to their Ransoms which raised Money to maintain the War Orleance being now the strongest place the French held the Earl of Salisbury laid Siege to it but after two Months lying before it the Earl from a Watch-Tower taking a view of the Town where it was easiest to be Assaulted was slain by a shot from a Culverin being the first Noble Englishman ever known to be kill'd by a Great Shot and with his Death the Courage of the English much abated However the Earl of Suffolk succeeded him in the Command who sending out Sir John Falstaff to procure Provisions for the Camp the Lord Delabreth in his return intending to surprise him with a great Power was beaten by his small Party as being catched again with the Agincourt Trap by Goaring their Horses on Irons Pointed whilst the English retired safe behind them and with their Arrows made a miserable Slaughter of 2500 of his Men taking 11000 Prisoners and a great Booâ— whereupon the Besieged in Orleance offered to deliver up the City to the Duke of Burgundy if he would take them into his immediate Protection which he consented to do if the Regent would Agree to it But when he proposed it the Regent told him He could not for since King Henry had been at such great Charge to reduce it to Extreamity and at a point to Yield it was altogether reasonable it should obey no other Soveraign but him This much perplexed the Duke and made him ever after lessen his Affections to the English till he quite fell off and to their great detriment joyned with the adverse party The Citizens of Orleance finding their Proposal fruitless sent to the Dauphin for speedy Succour resolving to hold out to the last Extreamity and the Watches of the English Camp being careless as expecting every day it would Surrender in the depth of Night they thrust several Thousand Men in with store of Provisions so that within a few days they boldly Sallied with their main Strength won a strong Pass and slew 600 English that Guarded it but Assaulting a Bastile where the Lord Talbot lay he fell on them with such fury that leaving half their Number Dead the rest fled fearful into the Town But the next day the Earl of Suffolk by reason of the new Supplies seeing no probability of winning the Place raised the Sirge and put the greater part of his Army into Garrisons but whilst himself lay at Jargeaux the French won it and took him Prisoner and many Noble Prisoners were Slain because the French hotly contended among themselves to whom they rightly belonged and about 25000 French under the Earl of Vendosm and others meeting with the Lords Scales Talbot and Hungerford who Fought with them desperately but not having above 5000 English they were Overthrown and the Lords taken Prisoners yet the French magnifying their Victory many small Towns and Castles Revolted to them as Trois Rhemes Challons and many others which made the Regent resolve to give Charles Battel sending to defie him as a Usurper and Traytor to his Lord and Master and tho' he drew out his Army and made some semblance as if he accepted the Challenge yet he shifted and fled from place to place and could not be brought to a fair Field and the Towns still Revolting it was thought Expedient to send for King Henry over thinking his Presence might keep the rest in Obedience and accordingly coming to Paris he was Crowned there King of France with much Royal Pomp
after fell into a general Rout throwing away their Coats to run the nimbler for which reason it is to this day called the Battel of Loose Coat Field and in it were slain about 10000 Sir Robert and some other of Note being taken Prisoners lost their Heads The Earl of Warwick Duke of Clarence and other Lords hearing of this fatal Overthrow distrusting the fidelity of the Army they Commanded left it secretly by Night and with a small Train took Shipping at Dartmouth and Sailed till they came before Callice but was denied Enterance by Monsieur Vaucler whom the Earl had left as his Deputy there for which he was made Captain of the place by King Edward and had a Thousand Pounds a Year Pension from the Duke of Burgundy And here on Shipboard the Dutchess of Clarence was brought to bed of a Son to whom Vauclear would not send any Necessaries nor suffer the Child to be brought on Shore to be Christened yet Sayling hence to Diep they took by the way a Rich Prize belonging to Burgundy and Landing were met by the French King at the Castle of Amboys on the River Loyer and highly welcomed with promises of Assistance and being conducted to the French Court they found there Queen Margaret Prince Edward her Son and Jasper sometimes Earl of Pembrook who had escaped a little before out of the Tower of London with others where they entered into new Conferences in order to Depose King Edward and Restore King Henry and the Earl of Warwick to make his own Party the Stronger gave his Second Daughter in Marriage to Prince Edward and soon after the French King furnishing them with Shipping Men and such Necessaries as they required leaving Queen Margaret and the Prince her Son at the French Court to attend their success they put to Sea and Landed at Dartmouth in Devonshire where the Earl Marshalled his Forces then few in Number but quickly encreased by the Peoples flowing to his Standard from all sides upon his putting out a Proclamation in King Henry's Name requiring them to repair to his Aid with Money Victuals and all things Necessary for the War and valiantly to fight against the Duke of York whom he stiled a Usurper and bloody Tyrant untruly and falsly calling himself King Having by this time mustered a powerful Army he Marched it towards London The King was not idle at this Juncture but with what Army he could gather on the suddain Marched to give the Earl Battel yet on the way hearing that in all the places where his Enemies came the People applauded them and no cry was heard but King Henry and a Warwick and having little confidence in his own Soldiers by the wavering he found in them notwithstanding his wonted courage his Heart now failed him Whereupon in the Night taking with him about 800 of his Friends he could rely on he left the Army and posted into Lincolnshire but finding nothing there in a readiness to advantage him he took Shipping and Sayled for Holland and so passed to Burgundy where he was kindly received by the Duke his Brother-in-Law Upon this the Earl of Warwick came to London and King Henry was taken out of the Tower and carried in Triumph to St. Paul's Church where having paid his Devotions and made his Offerings he was convey'd to the Bishop of London's Palace where he kept his Court with much Bounty and Magnificence and a Parliament being assembled at Westminster in his Name in it Edward and all his principal Adherents were Attainted of High Treason their Goods and Possessions Confiscated to King Henry and by the same Authority the Duke of Clarence was declared to be the next Heir to Richard Duke of York tho' his Second Son and the Dutchy of York was setled on him and his Heirs Also the Crown entailed to King Henry and the Heirs Male of his Body and for want of such Issue to the Duke of Clarence and his Heirs Male and such as had been dispossessed for Henry's Cause were restored to their Titles and Estates Clarence and Warwick were stiled the Kings best Friends Patriots of their Country and made chief Rulers in all things under Henry Upon notice of this great Revolution Queen Margaret and her Son came over but long they had not been here ere Edward furnished by the Duke of Burgundy with Ships Men and Warlike Stores Landed at Ravenspurg in Yorkshire declaring he came not now for the Kingdom but to possess himself of the Dutchy of York his Rightful Inheritance on which he intended as a Subject to live Peaceably which drew many to favour his Cause but having got admittance into that City he soon discovered other Intentions For tho' a little before he had Sworn the contrary to the Citizens â—he Garisoned it with his own Soldiers and exacted Money of them to raise more Forces and so Marching towards London the Marquess Montacute who was sent to oppose him let him pass whereupon he caused himself to be Proclaimed King setting up the Royal Standard This obliged the Earls of Warwick Oxford and divers other Nobles to raise an Army and advance to give him Battel but the Duke of Clarence Marching another way with a separate Army being reconciled to his Brother Edward and joyning his Army with him the Earl thought fit at that time to take other measures not harkening to any fair Words or large Promises to draw him from King Henry's side but bitterly inveighed against the Duke of Clarence saying He had always rather be an Earl firm to his Word and Oath than a Perjured Duke tho' in hopes of a Kingdom Edward being now very much strengthened Marched to London whilst Warwick was raising more Forces and being with some difficulty received by the Citizens he sent King Henry again to the Tower yet having continual News of Warwick's approach he drew out his Forces and Encamped near Barnet about Ten Miles from London having King Henry as a pledg with him fearing if he had left him in the Tower the Londoners in his Absence would have set him at Liberty and the next Morning the Earl of Warwick resolving to throw all on the fortune of a Battel drew up in Battel Array viz. The Right Wing he gave to the Marquess his Brother and the Earl of Oxford the Main Battel to the Duke of Sommerset and others the Left Wing was Commanded by himself and the Duke of Exeter the Vant-Guard of King Edward's Army was commanded by the Duke of Gloucester the Main Battel by himself and the Duke of Clarence in which was King Henry the 6th the Rear-Guard by the Lord Hastings and after they had confronted each other a little space and both Generals made moving Orations to animate their Soldiers the Trumpets sounded the Charge and they rushed together with great fury fighting five or six Hours so desperately that Victory seemed to encline to no side whilst the City of London was greatly amazed and terrified with various Reports of the
of Money to Betray him over which he earnestly laboured to do shewing him the Kings Letters in a Loving stile wherein he invited him into England promising at his Arrival to give him his Daughter Elizabeth in Marriage and by this means the Treacherous Treasurer trained the Earl to St. Malloes where a Ship and Equipage lay ready to Transport him But no sooner had John Chevelet the Earls Friend truly informed the Duke of Brittany that this pretended Marriage was designed for the Earls destruction but he commanded his Treasurer oâ— pain of Death to re-possess him of his Person who accordingly stole him from the English whilst himselâ— made merry with the Ambassador and caused his Servants to thrust him into a Sanctuary whose priviledgâ— might not be violated excusing and laying it on theâ— own Negligence for not taking more care to keep â—im when in their custody This Loss both of Money and of Prey made King Edward exceeding Angry but there being no remedy he seemed slightly â—o pass it over Not long after this by the instigation of the Duke â—f Gloucester and others the King grew exceeding Jeaâ—ous of his Brother the Duke of Clarence being the more incited to it by an old Prophecy which Predicted 〈◊〉 G should Reign after an E and this Dukes Name â—eing George he verily believed he was meant by it â—alling freshly into his mind his Practices with Warwick â—nd what had been done concerning him in Parliament â—nd thereupon by his contrivance he was accused of High Treason for Conspiring his Death and Aspiring â—o the Throne and after a few days Imprisonment â—e was found Drowned in a Butt of Malmsey leaving â—ehind him but two Children Edward and Margaret who were both Unfortunate for Edward being creaâ—ed Earl of Warwick was Imprisoned very Young and â—auslesly Beheaded in the Reign of Henry the Seventh â—n a surmize he intended to Escape Prison and joyn with Perkin Warbeck to raise Commotions And Marâ—aret was Married to Richard De La Poole Earl of Salisâ—ury who being a Widow after the Earls Death was â—eheaded in the Reign of Henry the Eighth so strange â—â— is that Competitors for Crowns rarely enjoy that Calm and Tranquility that attends on a meaner Estate Nor do Historians excuse this King from being of a â—ruel Temper as causing a Mercer in Cheapside to be â—anged at his own door for Jestingly saying to his â—ttle Son If he would be a good Boy he would make him â—eir to the Crown meaning his House bearing that Sign â—ut it being otherways wrested it cost him his Life â—e also caused one Thomas Burdet Esq to be Beheaded upon a very slender occasion viz. Being on his Progress in Warwickshire he chanced to Hunt in one of Burdel's Parks and among others killing a White Buck which he highly esteened News of it was no sooner brought but the Gentleman in a passion wished The Horns in the Belly of those that Counselled the King to kill him This being told by some Pick-thanks to Edward with this addition viz. That he wished the Horns in his Belly the Judges soon construed it that thereby he wished the King's Death who with those Horns in his Belly could by no means Live and so the poor Gentleman in lieu of the great Entertainment he had given the King and his Nobles at his House lost his Life at Tyburn being there Beheaded The King in the latter-end of his Reign contrary to his former Generous humour grew exceeding Covetous and Nigardly so that to encrease his Treasure he extorted much Money from his People by vexing them with the execution of Penal-Laws which quenched their Love and Affections very much with this Money he proposed to Match his Daughters and sent to the French King to mind him of his Oath sworn to in the Articles that he should send over for the Lady Elizabeth and Marry her to the Dauphin but he never intending it excused it only with fair promises that he would do it speedily and whilst this was on foot James the Third King of Scots required the Lady Cicilia another of the Kings Daughters in Marriage with his Son and Heir apparent which was agreed to and part of her Portion paid before hand but instead of her being sent for and a Friendly Allyance concluded the King of Scots with this Money raised Forces and entered England committing many cruel outrages 〈…〉 The Duke of Gloucester was sent with a 〈◊〉 â—â—ble Army forcing his way into the Town of Berwick and Besieging the Castle defended by Earl Bothwel but purposing to March into Scotland he left the Lord Standly with 4000 Men to maintain the Siege and pursued the Scots King wasting his Country with Fire and Sword Till the Nobility perceiving the miserable estate of the Realm humbly sued to the Duke for Peace which was granted on these Conditions viz. That full Restitution should be made to King Edward 's Subjects for the Injuries done them That the Scots King should Restore his Brother the Duke of Albany who was in the English Army to his Honours c. That the Castle of Berwick should be Yeilded or not Rescued from the present Siege and the Marriage Money Re-paid The First of these they performed not as being unable but the other were observed and the Castle of Berwick soon Surrendered But the French King utterly broke all Frindship with King Edward by denying the Yearly Pension and Marrying the Dauphin to the Lady Margaret Daughter to Maximillian Son of Frederick the Emperour which Affront had certainly caused a War had King Edward lived to have prosecuted what he had projected but falling Sick of a Surfeit with Eating too excessively at a Banquet he grew daily weaker and weaker and a visible decay of Nature appearing in him he called his Nobles about him and laboured to make Friendship between his Wives kindred and his own causing them to Embrace and give Solemn assurances of it in his presence then recommending to them the care of his Queen and Children earnestly Exhorting them to live in Unity he gave up the Ghost at Westminster on the ninth of April 1483 in the 40th Year of his Age and 23d of his Reign His Body being buried in a Chappel of his own foundation at Windsor In this Kings Reign John Hust was Burnt on Tower-Hill for the profession of a good Conscience A Rose-Tree in the beginning of the calamitous Wars between the two Houses Bore on one Branch a White and a Red Rose the Cognizances of York and Lancaster and a Spring of Blood gushed out near Lancaster Amazing Voices were heard in the Air Firey Meteors and Blazing-Stars c. appeared as also Fiery Armies Fighting furiously Remarks on Westmorland c. THis County is partly Hilly and partly Plain It produces Cattle a good sprinkling of Corn store of Wild-Fowl and in some places abounds in Fish Venison c. It is Bounded with Yorkshire Lancashire and Cumberland It is divided into five Wards containing 26
to make that report to their Neighbours and that this was all that had occasioned the Disturbance and Execution in the Tower Nor had Hastings been dead above two Hours ere a large Proclamation with the Broad Seal to it was read in divers parts of the City by a Herauld at Arms so that it was plain to the People that this matter was not suddain but premeditated These Advances coming near the Throne the Citizens were Assembled at Guild-Hall and the matter openly proposed to them by the Duke of Buckingham who used many Arguments to induce their consent to the Proclaiming Richard Duke of Gloucester King and lay aside King Edwards Line but they appeared little inclinable to it However Dr. Shaw Brother to the Lord Mayor in a Sermon at St. Paul's Magnified him as a Prince of the greatest Magnanimity and Virtue imaginable labouring to Bastardize Edward the Fourth and all the other Sons of Richard Duke of York except this Richard who he said was his own Picture and the true imitator of his Valour and Virtues Which was taken for such a piece of Dissimulation and Flattery that he being afterwards very evilly spoken of he was ashamed ever after to appear in a Pulpit This weighty matter being now brought to a home push the Duke of Buckingham to finish the work he had begun carried divers Citizens of the meaner sort to Baynards Castle where the Protector kept his Court where he made them seem to impose the Crown on him with threats if he refused it to place it on the Head of some Nobleman not of the Family of the Plantagenets for they would not have any of Edward the Fourth's Line to Rule over them This and much more to the like purpose the Duke spoke for them which with a faint shout of God save King Richard made him with great unwillingness as appeared to them accept what he had so hard laboured for and passionately desired And thus an end was put to Edward the Fifth's Reign if I may so terme it two Months and thirteen Days after his Fathers Death and was afterward together with his Brother Murthered in the Tower as will appear in the next Reign The Reign of King RICHARD the Third RIchard Plantagenet Third Son to Richard Duke of York having by Pollicy and Stratagem crouded himself into the Throne he called a Parliament wherein by the power of a leading Faction he was confirmed King The Crown Entailed on him and his Heirs his only Son Prince Edward being made Heir apparent But against his Coronation fearing some Insurrection on the meeting of so great a concourse as that solemnity required he sent for 5000 Soldiers out of the North under the Leading of Robert Risdale and after it he set at Liberty the Arch-Bishop of York and the Lord Stanley but continued Bishop Morton yet at the humble supplication of the University of Oxford he was delivered to the Duke of Buckingham who sent him to his Castle of Brecnock in Wales as a Prisoner at large for he had his Liberty of the Parks and Grounds lying about it King Richard knowing his Title to be bad laboured by Favours and Interest to strengthen it He Created his Son about Ten Years of Age Prince of Wales and John Howard a Man of great Experience in feats of Arms Duke of Norfolk and Sir Thomas Howard his Eldest Son Earl of Surry The Lord William Barkley was Advanced to the Earldom of Notingham and Francis Lord Lovel his great Crony and Favourite was made Viscount Lovel And thus as he immagined having settled his Estate securely at Home he sent Ambassadors to Lewis the French King to conclude a Peace with him thereby to prevent Storms from Abroad But that Prince so far detested his proceedings with his Nephews That he would not admit his Ambassadors to his Presence nor own him for a King This much perplexed him and as is thought put him upon the Project of Murthering the Young Innocent Princes as supposing by what had passed at the French Court he could never be Reputed and truly Honoured as a King whilst they Lived and that their Murther might not be imputed to him he purposely took a Progress to visit the City of Gloucester from whence he sometimes took his Title and from thence sent his Letters to Sir Robert Brakenbury Lieutenant of the Tower whom he had raised from a Low Degree to a considerable Fortune expressly Commanding him to make away the two Princes But either fear of after-claps or his abhorrence of so villanous a Deed made him absolutely refuse it Upon notice whereof Richard stormed and appeared much perplexed in Mind retiring himself for some Hours to consider how it might be done and then remembering there was one Sir James Terril a retainer to the Tower whom he knew to be very Indigent and Necessitous this Man he doubted not to prevail on for the Execution of his wicked purpose and therefore sent him a supply of Money with large promises of preferment if he Executed his pleasure and withal his Commands to the Lieutenant to deliver him the Keys of the Tower This wicked wretch not weighing the Guilt closed with the Golden offers and had the Keys delivered to him tho' not without regret by Sir Robert Brakenbury and the same Evening he hired two desperate Ruffians viz. John Dighton and Miles Forrest to Smother the Princes in their Beds which they as wickedly performed by claping Pillows on their Faces and lying on them with all their force till by their no longer strugling they found they had bereaved them of Life This cruel Murther being committed the next thing was to consider how to dispose of their Bodies which after some consults about it they Buried under the Stairs from whence they were removed and Buried none knows where Thus King Edward the Fourth's Male Issue became extinct which some looked on as a Judgment for his consenting to the Murther of Pious King Henry and Innocent Prince Edward his Son However it alleviates not the Guilt of those that dipt their hands in this Blood for all that were concerned in it came to untimely ends so just and severe is God in punishing Murther even in this Life for rarely wee find his vengance stays till the shedders of Innocent Blood drop into a timely Grave This being rumoured abroad tho' many things were urged by his creatures to excuse the Kings knowledge of it and Terril was secretly commanded to fly beyond the Seas But in Henry the Seventh's time returning was Executed for Treason yet the People as well Nobles as Commons detested him for it The Queen grew Frantick for some time and much ado they had to prevent her laying violent hands on herself but being brought to her Sences with Tears and bitter Excecrations against her wicked Brother-in-Law she passed a Melancholy Life for many Months King Richard after this was troubled with fears and frightful Dreams of Devils and Spirits haling and tormenting him that he is
delays without any absolute denyal till the Battel of Bosworth-Field ending his Life set her at liberty to Marry the Earl of Richmond whom this News of Courtship hastened over with such Forces as the French King and his own Friends furnished him with to the Number of 2000 with those he Landed at Milford Haven in Wales and for a time few resorted to him yet no sooner the Welshmen understood he was of the Family of the Tuthers and of their own Blood and might prove an especial Favouour of them if he was advanced to the Crown but they flocked to his Standard from all parts under their Captains John Morgan Rice ap Thomas Richard Griffith and others having by this means gotten a little Army he Marched forward by Sir George Talbot Sir Walter Hungerford Sir Thomas Bourcher and others with Forces they had raised for King Richard This News soon flew to London and much perplexed the King insomuch that he scarcely knew who to trust yet he Levied an Army of 20000 Men and with John Duke of Norfolk and others that he had Obliged by many great Gifts Marched against his Enemies resolving to venture his Crown and Life on the fortune of a Battel and tho' many indeavours were used to withdraw the Duke of Norfolk from his side none could prevail to shake his fidelity however the Night before the Battel to amuse him and to weaken his hand This Distich was fixed on his Chamber Door viz. Jack of Norfolk be not too bold For Dickon thy Master is bought and sold On the 20th of August 1485 The two Armies faced each other near Bosworth in Leicestershire But when King Richard perceived the Lord Stanley who commanded a part of his Forces stand wavering at a distance he sent to him to come immediatly and joyn with him to which he Replied He would do it when he saw his time This so enraged him that he commanded the Son of that Lord whom he had as a Hostage of his Fidelity to be instantly cut off however he was diswaded to defer it till the fortune of the Field had been tried and so both Armies joyning fought desperately none knowing which would be victor till by the Lord Stanly's Revolting and breaking in upon the Kings Battallion with fresh Men he turned the scale when the King perceiving Fortune against him resolving to restore the Battel or Dye in a desperate mood he rushed into the Earls Battel and with his Sword made a free passage till he encountered Sir William Brandon Standard bearer to the Earl whom he slew and then singled out Sir John Cheney whom he tumbled to the Ground much Bruised and Wounded and thus gaining a passage to the Earl they Encountered like enraged Lions and Richard in all appearance had slain him had he not been beaten down by others and slain tho' the Earl had it given out he slew him with his own hands for notwithstanding his many evil qualities all Authors allow him to have been Valiant and of extraordinary Strength so that had half his Army imitated his example it is concluded he had been Victor But such was the will of God to punish him for his many Murthers that at once he lost his Kingdom and Life Upon his fall his Army partly fled and partly revolted the Duke of Norfolk likewise Fighting valiantly was slain and in all about 4000 others The Crown he brought into the Field was found in a Hawthorn Bush and placed on the Earl of Richmond's Head by the Lord Stanley whereupon he was saluted King by the General Voice Among other dead Bodies King Richard's was found Stript and carried Naked and Bloody on a Horse to Leicester where it was two days exposed to the view of the People and then Buried in the Grey-Friers Monastery when at the dissolution of Religious Houses the Stone Coffin wherein his Corps lay was taken up and said now to be a drinking Trough for Horses at a common Inn in Leicester He began his Reign June 22 Anno Dom. 1483 and Reigned two Years and two Months Remarks on Worcestershire c. WOrcestershire produces store of Sheep and large Cattle much Corn and rich Pastures It is pleasently Watered by the River Severn branching in a manner through all the County affording store of Fish as the Parks do Venison It is towards Staffordshire pretty Woody with some rising Hills It is Bounded with Shropshire Herefordshire Glocestershire Warwickshire and Staffordshire It sends Members to Parliament 9 viz. Bewdly 1 Droitwich 2 Evesham 2 Worcester City 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire WORCESTER SHIRE At Eversham King Kenry the Third gained a great Victory over the Barons Kiderminster is of great Antiquity also Sturbridg On the edge of this County at Eckington is a Medicinal Well whose Waters are Restorative In this Shire are Hartlebury Holt and Emsley Castles The Seats of the Nobility are Grafton belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury Lenwick to the Earl of Craven Feckenham Lodg to the Lord Coventry and Hartelbury Castle the Bishops Seat This Shire contains 7 Hundreds 152 Parishes 1 City which is a Bishops See 12 Market Towns and is Watered with 5 Rivers over which and Branches are 15 Bridges It has moreover 7 Castles 1 Chase 2 Forrests and 16 Parks The Reign of King HENRY the Seventh AFter the Battel of Bosworth Henry hasted to London and soon after his arrival was Crowned King Then calling a Parliament King Richard was Attainted and the Crown entailed on him and his Heirs and the January following he Married the Lady Elizabeth Eldest Daughter to Edward the Fourth by which means the long Warring Houses of York and Lancaster were joyned in one and in the ensuing September she was delivered of a Prince who was Christned Arthur and the King published his Pardon to all that had born Arms against him conditionally if they would Swear Fealty and Allegiance to him which many refused and had their Goods and Estates Confiscated Then he chose Grave and Wise Counsellours of State who by their prudent mannagment of Affairs thorowly settled the Kingdom in Peace and Tranquillity and so proceeding to make large amends to the Duke of Britany and French King for the favours he received from them during his Exile But now whilst all things seemed quiet and Trade began to flourish a suddain Rebellion broke out in the North Headed by Sir Humphry Stafford the Lord Lovel and others who left their Sanctuaries and drew great Numbers to side with them But King Henry raised an Army with much celerity and coming swiftly on them the Ringleaders fled by Night which so amazed the Plebeans that the next Morning they submitted to the Kings mercy However Sir Humphry Stafford and his Brother Thomas were taken out of Culuham Abby in Oxfordshire whither they had fled for Sanctuary and the first Beheaded the latter being spared because he Acted by the Dictates of his Brother This combustion was no sooner over but another more dangerous ensued For one
Richard Symond a Priest set up a Pupil of his whom he had cunningly Instructed to claim the Crown by the Name of Edward Plantagenet Eldest Son to the Duke of Clarence tho' it afterward appeared his true Name was Lambert Symnel His Age agreed with that of the Prince he represented who was then a Prisoner and in likness he resembled him and his carriage was extreamly Genteil and Taking so that many flocked to him who were desirous of change as well of the Nobles and Gentry as Commons but not finding here a sufficient Strength he failed to Ireland where Sir Thomas Garendine the Lord Chancelor espoused his Quarrel and drew many to take part with him and to him the Dutchess Dowager a mortal Enemy to King Henry sent supplies of Money Men and Arms and by her Encouragement many English espoused his Interest so that he became very Formidable This constrained King Henry to bring the true Edward out of the Tower and carry him through the Streets of London to satisfy the People of the Imposture where the Nobility were required to be present and to confer with him But this did little for the others Army encreasing The King raised Forces to repel him and a Battel was joyned near Stoke in Lincolnshire which was maintained with great resolution but the Irish who compossed the greater part of Symnel's Army being destitute of Warlike Weapons tho' they fought valiantly were routed whereupon the rest gave way And in this Battel the Earl of Lincoln the Lord Lovel Sir Thomas Garendine Marian Swart and Sir Thomas Browghton were Slain Symnell was taken Prisoner and after a publick Confession who he was made Scullion in the Kings Kitchen and after that his Faulconer Peace now being settled the Queen was Crowned and Thomas Bourcher Arch-Bishop of Canterbury being dead Bishop Morton was preferred to that Archiepiscopal See and made Lord Chancelor of England soon after which preferment he was dignified with the Hat and Habit of a Cardinal by Pope Alexander the Sixth Whilst these things Passed a Quarrel arose between Charles the French King and Francis Duke of Britany whereupon the latter too weak to oppose his powerful Enemy required Aid of King Henry but he having in his necessities been befriended by them both rather laboured to make an Accomodation yet underhand the King winking at it many English went over to the Duke's Assistance but were mostly slain in a fatal Overthrow the French gave near the City of Nantz with their chief Leader the Lord Woodvile This made King Henry openly assist the Duke with Men and Money to furnish which he raised by Parliament a Tax of the Tenth Penny on all Moveable Goods which caused a Rebellion in the North where the Earl of Northumberland enforcing the Kings Orders for the strict Levying it was Murthered by the Rout but Thomas Earl of Surry going against them with an Army they dispersed and fled yet several of the Ringleaders were taken and Executed in sundry places During the War in Britany That Duke dyed and the Estates Marrying his Daughter and Heiress to the French King tho' she had before been contracted to Maximillian the Emperour a Peace ensued and the Lady Margaret Daughter to the Emperour whom the French King had taken as his Wife was returned with disgrace which occasioned a War between them and Henry being on both sides solicited for Aid he for many waighty Reasons adhered to the Emperour and Transported an Army under the Command of his Unkle Jasper Duke of Bedford and John Earl of Oxford but the Emperour not being forward in his promised Preparation the King passed into France and laid Siege to Bullen which made the French King for fear of Britany of which by his Marriage he was become Soveraign Prince sue for Peace which was concluded between him and King Henry during their Lives The French King for defraying his Charges paying 186200 l. and a Yearly Pension of 25000 Crowns which was Paid during King Henry's Life whereupon he returned with his Army Not long after this the Dutchess Dowager of Burgundy set up another Imposture who though his true Name was Perkin Warbeck was to pass for Richard Plantagenet the second Son of Edward the Fourth and the better to further her design she used such Policy in England that she gained many of the best Rank who were well affected to the House of York to favour him King Henry however to Countermine her Stratagem bent to work him Mischief secretly caused divers of his Friends seemingly to fly to this nâ—â— pretended Duke and offer him their Service their Estates the mean while the better to colour the matter being seized in England And by this means he gained private Intelligence of all the Proceedings and an Account of the Names of such as being in England held correspondency with him which brought many into Trouble and some to Execution And finding the Emperour disgusted at the Peace he had made with France secretly encouraged this design he removed the English Mart from the Low Countries to Callice which proved greatly prejudicial to the Flemings especially upon a Prohibition of Flemish Wares being brought into England which made the Emperour publish the like Prohibition to hinder the Importation of English Goods in any part of his Territories which causing a decay of Trade incited the meaner sort of Handicrafts in London to commit divers Outrages on the Persons and Goods of the Flemings that Inhabited among them but about 80 of the Ringleaders being Taken were Imprisoned till by the Kings Pardon they were Released and the Flemings Banished Sir Robert Clifton whom the King by Promises and Gifts had won to his Favour about this time came over and the better to Apprehend such as he should Accuse without Blows he appointed to meet him in the Tower where among his Great Courtiers he singled out Stanley who had been Instrumental in setting the Crown on the Kings Head and was now his Lord Chamberlain who was nevertheless committed to Prison and the main Evidence on his Tryal being That he had said That if he was sure this Perkin was the True Duke of York he would not draw his Sword against him he was thereupon Sentenced and all his great Services could not attone to save his Life for he was very soon after Beheaded Yet with this the Storm blew not over for the Native Irish declaring for Perkin tho' the King sent an Army thither under Sir Edward Poinings yet he could do little good there they being too nimble for him in their Woods Bogs and Mountains and not being assisted by the Nobles and Gentry as he expected the fault was charged by him on the Earl of Killdare whom he brought over Prisoner but that Lord so well acquitted himself that he was soon set at Liberty and sent back again with Honour and Rewards and Perkin putting to Sea Landed in Kent but he was beaten off and a great many of his Men slain and such as were
little settled Ferdinand the King's Father-in-Law craved Aid of him against the Moors who infested his Kingdom which he obtained and drove them by that means out of Spain but the War ceasing he sent home the English poor and ill rewarded for their Service which much offended the King and Wars arrising between Pope Julius the Second and Lewis the French King in Italy where the latter seized on the strong Towns of Bologna and La Gasse and became very Formidable King Henry became a friendly Mediator between them But the French King refusing to yeild to Proposals of Peace pursuing his Conquests he required him by his Ambassadors to restore him the Peaceable possession of Guyan and Normandy with his Antient Inheritance of Mayne and Anjou unjustly detained from his Ancestors and himself which being refused he Proclaimed War and for this and Writing a Book in defence of the Roman Pontificate against Martin Luther the Pope on whose account this Quarrel was espoused stiled him Defender of the Faith which Title has ever since been retained by the Kings and Queens of England The King was not slow in raising an Army and King Ferdinand of Spain having notice of his preparations sent to offer his Service if he would Land his Forces in Biscay a part of his Country and from thence March into Guyan which was agreed to and done under the Leading of Thomas Crey Marquess of Dorset But the crafty Spaniard intending nothing but his own advantage by this after the English had suffered many hardships in his Country he joyned them and fell unexpectedly on the Kingdom of Navarre which he seized in a short time the Natives being so amazed at the suddainness of the Invasion that they made little or no resistance But after this success he afforded them no subsistance or any part of the spoil which made the Soldiers Disband of their own accord and come straglingly into England Poor and almost Naked But Sir Edward Howard Youngest Son to the Earl of Surry being Lord Admiral of England many times Landed in the French Territories and greatly endamaged them and at Sea overthrew their Navy in which Fight Sir John Carew of Devonshire in the Regent grapling with a great Carrick of Brest both Ships in the contest fell on Fire and in them on both sides about 800 Men perished This distress on his Coast made the French King augment his Fleet and Fortify his Harbours However the Admiral entered that of Brest with Boats and armed Barges and assailed three great Galleys of Rhodes brought to the assistance of the French King by Prior John these they soon Boarded but the Boats and Barges then returning and leaving them well Manned to be brought off at high Tide by this oversight the French regained them and in the contest the Admiral was born overboard by a Pike and Drowned But in few days his Elder Brother was made Admiral and two Land Armies prepared one under the Leading of George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury and the other by Charles Somerset Lord Herbert Chamberlain to the King These had not long been Landed but the King leaving the publick mannagement of Affaires to the Queen and directing the Earl of Surry to Guard the North against the Scots Incursion he Sailed to Callice and caused his Army to March to Terwyn which he Besieged and upon the overthrow of the French Army that came to its Relief had it put into his possession which he rased and consumed by Fire except the Cathedral and Bishops Palace During this Siege Maximilian the Emperour with 30 Nobles and Gentlemen repared to King Henry's Camp where to the Honour of England they Enrolled themselves in the King's Pay and were Nobly entertained The next Place that opposed him in his intended Conquest was Tournay which despairing of succour after many fierce Assaults yielded and on condition of their paying 10000 l. the Citizens were received into Henry's Protection and Wolsey his Almoner took an Oath of Allegiance of them to be True to him as his own Subjects However in his Absence the Scots Invaded England with 8000 Men under the Command of the Lord Humes and did great mischief but as they were returning with their Plunder Sir William Bulmer who lay in wait with 1000 Archers put them to the Rout in a sharp Fight slew 500 and took 400 Prisoners and recovered all the Booty so that those who had the luck to Escape returned Poor and Beggarly into Scotland But King James the Fourth to revenge this disgrace raised the Power of his Kingdom and come before the Castle of Norham some Historians say with 100000 Fighting Men which he Took by reason the Captain being prodigal of his Powder too soon spent it But the Earl of Surry Marching against the Scots with 26000 Fighting Men Anno 1513 the fatal Battel of Floden Field was Fought September 9 in which the Victory fell to the English the Scots King 2 Bishops 12 Earls 14 Lords and 12000 others of lesser note being slain For this good Service the Earl of Surry was Created Duke of Norfolk Charles Brandon Viscount Lysle Duke of Suffolk and Woolsey was made Bishop of Lincoln and after some Bickerings with the French on the Coast of Normandy King Lewis stricken much in Years sued for Peace and the better to confirm it Married the Lady Mary Second Sister to King Henry a Young and very Beautiful Lady at whose Wedding and Coronation many brave feats of Chivalry were performed by the English Nobility and Gentry who waited on her But Lewis the 12th Dying three Months after this Marriage she returned again for England and with the King 's private consent was Married to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk who had a long time been her Lover Woolsey who was a Butchers Son at Ipswich now began to rise a pace for Doctor Bambridge dying he was made Arch-Bishop and after by the Pope Cardinal of York which puffed him up with so much Pride that he undertook to Rule the King and Kingdom doing for a time without controul what he listed placing and displacing Officers and meddling in all Affairs where there was Advantage or Homage to be gained Especially when made Lord Chancelour and Counsellour of State demanding Accounts of the Treasurers Captains and other Officers that had been in the Wars by which he got much Money out of some that were Rich and those that could not furnish him he Punished and Imprisoned Erecting Courts of his own head and by subtilty got himself to be made the Popes Legat and to Build two Colledges by the Popes permission suppressed and seized on the Lands Effects of many Religious Houses which gave an inlet to King Henry's suppressing the rest some time after who concluded if it were not Sacriledge in the Pope but he could alow of it at pleasure it would be none in him However this Cardinal was sent on several Honourable Embassies wherein he behaved himself so Proudly Naming the King but in the Second
and whilst the King was expecting a final Determination Campeius seeing a Storm likely to arise thought fit to be packing for Rome pretending the Pope had sent for him Upon notice of this the King was much perplexed as knowing they designed to fix it in the Court of Rome to tire him out with vast Expences and Delays so that from that time Cardinal Woolsey began to fall from his favour For having secretly promised a Divorce yet fearing to displease the Court of Rome he had now refused it And the next Term the King caused his Attourney General to prefer an Indictment against him on the Statute of Premunire on several Articles which being found by the Grand Jury he Confessed all the material points by his Attourney And all his Promotions except the Arch-Bishoprick of York and the Bishoprick of Winchester were taken from him and Sir Thomas Moor was made Lord Chancellour The King likewise seized his Mass of Plate and Rich Furniture and confined him to his House at Asher near Kingstone A Parliament being Assembled the Commons made great complaints against the Clergy exhibiting divers Articles relating to their Pride Luxurious way of Living Trading as Husbandmen and Merchants to the Injury of those brought up to it c. This was strongly opposed by Dr. Fisher Bishop of Rochester who Reflecting on the Commons by saying Now with our Commons is nothing but Down with the Church and all this is for lack of Faith only they complained of it to the King by Sir Thomas Audley their Speaker and others but the Bishop excusing himself by putting another Interpretation on the meaning of his Words they were contented with the King 's sharply reprehending him and then they proceeded to Article against Woolsey under several Heads Charging him with Misleading and Abusing the King wasting and purloining the Treasure That in his Letters he had Written I and my King as if the King had been his Inferiour and at his Command To be brief they loaded him with Pride Cruelty Oppression Lechery Evil Counsel c. However the King by reason of his former Favour permitted him to retire to the Arch-Bishoprick of York and there continue privately till further orders But he tampering with the Pope and being encouraged by his Letters to oppose the King and force him if he would not otherways comply to restore him to Favour or else by virtue of a Bull to Curse him and take the power of the Clergy Government into his own hands as the Popes Vice Roy whilst he was in his way to York and preparing for his Installment he was Arrested by the Earl of Northumberland whereupon he shewed the Meanness of his Spirit and Birth as all Cruel Proud Upstarts usually do when they fall into any affliction though in their prosperity they are regardless of others Calamities but rather labour to promote than decrease them For however upon his first being seized thinking to terrify the Earl who never bore any good-will towards him he told him He was a Member of the Colledge of Cardinals at Rome and that neither the King nor any other Temporal Prince could or ought to Intermeddle with him for any Cause or Matter whatsoever But this nothing availing he fell into Tremblings and Frights and when the Kings Letter was produced to give him some beams of Comfort that he might not altogether despair of Mercy and Favour with a sordid Meanness of Spirit he fell on his knees in a dirty place and kissed it shedding Tears for Joy when in the height of his State and Pride he had accounted the King as his Pupil more than his Soveraign For indeed his first Station in the World was an ordinary Pedagogue or Schoolmaster But at the sight of Sir William Kingstone Constable of the Tower with a Guard of Yeomen to convey him Prisoner thither his fears so encreased that he fell Sick at Leicester Abby and taking a strong Confection which some suppose he did purposely to Poison himself he breathed his last saying a little before he Dyed If he had Served his God so faithfully as he had done his King he would not at that time have cast him off And thus fell that Pageant of suddain Greatness unpitied by all Inriching some by his Death tho' in his Life-time he had Ruined many more He Built White-Hall a stately Colledge at Oxford another at Ipswich and many other stately Buildings leaving much Money Plate and Rich Furniture which was seized to the Kings use who distributed part of it and his Lands among such as had well deserved The King by this time having gotten it under the Seals of most of the Universities in Christendom That his Marriage was Unlawful procured a Divorce without the Popes Dispensation and soon after he Married Anna Bullen whom he had Created Marchioness of Pembrook a Protestant Lady Daughter to the Lord Rochford afterwards Earl of Wiltshire Elizabeth Barton stiled the Holy Maid of Kent for Prophecying That if King Henry proceeded to the Divorce and Married another he should not be King of England one Month after was Hanged together with Seven of her Desciples at Tyburn for Treason A Parliament being called the Clergy therein totally submitted themselves to the King touching their Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Affaires and the Pope was by Parliament utterly deprived of all Annates and First Fruits of Bishopricks and other Spiritual Promotions The Marriage with Queen Catharine was Annulled and that with Queen Anna Confirmed and by the same Act the Crown was entailed to the King and the Heirs of his Body out of which the Lady Mary was Excluded and to this all the Lords and Burgess present in Parliament were Sworn except Doctor Fisher Bishop of Rochester and Sir Thomas Moor who refused to do it Wherefore they were marked out by the King for Destruction as a Terror to others for not only Refusing to Swear but Contesting and Protesting against the proceedings of the Parliament they were sent to the Tower where upon denying the Kings Supremacy Ordained by another Act and atributing it to the Pope they were Accused Tryed Convicted and Beheaded And by this Act the King was Acknowledged to be Supream Head of the Church in all Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Things and Causes and the Popes Bulls Pardons Indulgences and other Instruments of the like Nature made void For Grief of which and her own hard Usage Queen Catharine who was stiled Dowager and Lived with a small Attendance Sickened and Dyed nor did her Successor long survive her For some time after Queen Ann had been safely delivered of the Princess Elizabeth who was afterwards Queen of England a Conspiracy was laid to take away her Life supposedly on the account of her Religion for some of the Romish party were not without supposition she swayed much in those Alterations and therefore being Accused of Incest by some of her Subborned Bedchamber-Women as if she had Layn with the Lord Rochford her own Brother the furious King
gave her up to be Tryed by her Enemies who found her Guilty of High Treason for that being a Queen she had defiled her Marriage-Bed and being Condemned she was Beheaded on Tower-Hill protesting her Innocency to the last which most people believed The Lord Rochford was likewise Executed and some of her Bedchamber Attendants but the Kings hasty Marriage makes Historians apt to conclude he grew weary of her and doated on a fresh Beauty for within Twenty Days he Wedded the Lady Jane Seymor a Beautiful Young Gentlewoman who Dyed in Child-Bed of Prince Edward afterward King Edward the Sixth and about this time the Lord Howard lost his Head for Marrying Margaret Daughter to Margaret Sister to the King and Archibald Dowglas Earl of Angus who Married the Queen Dowager of Scotland and their Issue being so of the Royal Blood it was held Treason in the Lord Howard for Marrying her without King Henry's consent to whom he was a Subject and indeed so Absolute was this King over his Judges and Ministers of State that they rarely denied him any Head he required for fear he should Quarel with them for theirs And now a Book of Six Articles called the Bloody Articles from the much Blood shed on that occasion being made publick the People rose in Arms Tumultuously but upon the King's and his Generals Approach in Lincolnshire and the North they were Dispersed and many of the Ringleaders Taken and Executed The Articles were these 1. That after the speaking the Words of Consecration by the Priest The Real Natural Body and Blood of Christ as he was Conceived and Crucified was in the Sacrament and no other Substance 2. That the Communion in both kinds is not necessary to Salvation 3. That Priests may not Marry 4. That Vows of Chastity ought to be observed by the Laws of God 5. That private Mass ought to be continued And 6. That Auricular Confession is Expedient to be retained in the Church And upon the denyal of these many good Christians suffered the Flames and several Papests were Executed for denying the King's Supremacy it being made Treason The Lord Cromwell a Blacksmiths Son of Putney in Surry who had a long time Served Wolsey and by the King raised upon the fall of that Favourite was made Vicar General of Ecclesastical Affairs and soon after created Earl of Essex and to please the King by Enriching him for complaining of the Lewd Lives of the Monks Fryars Nuns and their Superiours who Lived in Luxury and Ease on the spoil and labour of others he was soon incited to harken to his Advice so that laying before him the great Sums that would accrue to his Treasury by the suppression of those Houses he considering what Wolsey had done by the Popes Approbation and Authority resolved to make havock of the rest and accordingly calling a Parliament at Westminster he procured them to be suppressed and tho' most of the Religious Houses were Demolished yet at a Rate no doubt half the value the Account given in to the King was 183707 l. 13 s. per Annum And intending Posterity should not be enabled to Restore them again to their former Uses he liberally exchanged the Abby-Lands c. with the Gentry for Lands of a less value so that at this day most of the principal Estate or great part of them consist of possessions of that nature This was followed with a very bloody Execution for the King being Jealous that many dealt with Cardinal Pool who was beyond Seas to prevail with the Pope and King of France by Force to restore the Rights of the Roman Catholick Church it was improved so far by such Evidence as were produced that the Marquess of Exceter Henry Pool Lord Montacute and Sir Nicholas Cary Knight of the Garter and Master of the King's Horse were Beheaded and on the same account within a few Months after the Lady Margaret Countess of Salisbury Mother to Cardinal Pool and Daughter to the Duke of Clarence Brother to Edward the Fourth also Gartrude Widow to the Marquess of Exceter Sir Adrian Fortescue and divers others were Executed insomuch that the Hangman of those times is said to have complained That he was weary of shedding Blood Soon after this the Irish Rebelled under O Neâ—i O Donel and others but were soon suppressed by the Lord Grey Deputy of Ireland And now the Lord Cromwell being high in favour with the King Enterprized a business that not only tumbled him from the ticklish Pinacle of Honour where he stood but also cost him his Life The King by the Death of the Lady Jane Seymour was a Widower and that he might not lye pensive alone Cromwell undertook to provide him a Wife and proposed the Lady Ann of Cleve Alluring him with flattering Pictures and unmerited immoderate Commendations of her Beauty and Parts but indeed tho' she was very Religious and replenished with many Virtues in Person and Countenance she was neither well Composed Fair nor Lovely yet on Cromwell's Commendations the Match was concluded and the Lady brought over in great State But when the King met her on Black-Heath at the first sight he took a dislike insomuch that although he was Married to her four Years he in all that time had not as he protested any Carnal knowledge of her nor ever could have any desires that way when in private with her whereupon in a Convocation of the Clergy by an Authentick Instrument under the Seals of the two arch-Arch-Bishops the Marriage was declared void and that the Lady might take another Husband when she pleased and it was made Treason for any to Write or Say the contrary and the King being in haste Married the Lady Catharine Howard Daughter to the Lord Edmund Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk The Wedding was no sooner over but the King gave way to the Enemies of the Lord Cromwell who Exhibited a Bill against him in Parliament for Treason Misprison of Treason and Heresie and so far they prevailed by the King 's altogether withdrawing his Favour and Protection from him that he with the Lord Hungerford lost his Head on Tower-Hill And soon after the new Queen Catharine was Accused for having been Familliar before her Marriage with one Francis Dorham and after with one Thomas Culpeper but whether it be True or False the two Gentlemen lost their Lives as did the Queen and Lady Rochford who was accused of Introducing Culpeper at a time he stay'd five Hours privately with the Queen on her Progress and returned Gifted with a Chain and Rich Cap. And in this Parliament the King was Proclaimed King of Ireland which Title his Predecessors never had being only stiled Lords of Ireland The King unwilling yet to Lye alone took to Wife the Lady Catharine Par Widow to the Lord Lattimer who in the end of his Reign was in a fair possibility to have lost her Head if her Vertue Modesty and the King's Death had not reserved her to a better
Lord Cornwallis Bishopsthorp to the Arch-Bishop of the Province The Reign of King EDWARD the Sixth EDWARD the Sixth the only Son of Henry the Eighth was Crowned at Westminster January 28 Anno Dom. 1547 and Edward Seymour Created Duke of Somerset Unkle to the King by the Mothers side constituted Protector of the King's Person and of the Realm during his Minority and was sent by the Estates into Scotland to require their Young Queen in Marriage with Edward as had been agreed between them and the King's Father but they refusing a Battel was fought in which the Scots were Routed and 14000 of them Slain among which were divers of the Nobility whereupon a great many Towns and Castles fell into the hands of the English This Battel was fought at Musselburg the 10th of September in which the whole Power of that Kingdom was so broken that in many Years they could not recover their former Strength However the Winter coming on the English Army retired into the Northern Borders The next thing taken in hand was to reform Religion and after some contests King Henry's disannuling the Pope's Supremacy was confirmed and whatsoever in his time had been Enacted against the Authority of the See of Rome Images and Statues were cast out of the Churches The Clergy allowed to Marry The Liturgy or Common Prayer turned into English The Sacrament administred in both kinds Auricular Confession abrogated The Scriptures permitted publickly to be Read in English Mass and Praying for the Dead silenced and such of the Popish Clergy as would not Conform to this outed as Gardner Bishop of Winchester Bonner of London Tanstall of Durham Day of Chichester and some others Gardener for contempt was Imprisoned and most of the Bishopricks seized into the King's hands and bestowed on such as would Conform tho' the Nobles much fleeced the Churches Patrimony to enrich themselves The Scots by this time having taken breath surprised Humes and Fas-Castle Garisoned by the English and slew most they found therein through the carelesness of the Centinels which made the Earl of Rutland demolish Haddington as a place not tenable and so retired with the Garrison into England And a contention arising between the Duke of Somerset Protector and Sir Thomas Seymour his Younger Brother who was Lord Admiral upon a Quarrel happening between their Wives the latter having Married Queen Catharine Par Widow to Henry the Eighth it went so far that the Admiral was Accused in Parliament of High Treason in Conspiring to get the King into his hands and by Marrying the Lady Elizabeth to whom indeed he formerly made Courtship in her Right when the King should be made away to Claim the Kingdom and so unheard being Attainted he was Executed on a Scaffold at Tower-Hill protesting to the last his Innocency touching the matter laid to his charge and his Brother was by most blamed for permitting him so easily to be cut off and found in the end that it was chiefly contrived by his secret Enemies to lay him the opener to Destruction which he Escaped not In these times of Reformation Bucer Phagus and Peter Martyr three Learned German Divines came over but the two former soon Dying Martyr Disputed at Oxford about the Sacraments and other material Points and caused a Book of the Disputation to be Printed which opened the Eyes of many to see God's Truth that by Popish Superstition Error and Ignorance had a long time been darkened However the Popish Clergy stirred up divers to Rebel in Devonshire Cornwal and other parts of the Kingdom and especially to the City of Exceter which City for its Loyalty and stout Resistance had not long after the Manner of Exilond bestowed upon it by the King and in memory of their deliverance from a Sack that time the Citizens keep the 6th of August on which the Rebels were Beaten off yearly Holyday and indeed they were so obstinate that till they had been four times worsted by the Lord Russel they gave not over tho' the King offered them pardon however many of the Ringleaders being Taken were Executed and among others the Mayor of Bodmin was Hanged also a Millers Man who took upon him his Masters Name and Cause till seeing he was about to Suffer he recanted and cryed out He was not the Miller but his Man and that his Master Ordered him to do what he had done To which Sir Anthony Kingston Marshal of the Field told him He could never do his Master better Service than to Hang for him and so not being credited he was turned off Long these Western Troubles had not been alayed but others broke out as dangerous in the north under pretence of throwing down Inclosures and Parks that had been taken from the Waste which the Common sort of people claimed as their Right This was chiefly Headed by Robert Ket who took the City of Norwich But the Lord Dudley put them to the Rout caused Ket to be Hanged in Chaines on the top of the Castle and 60 others in divers places 9 of them in the Oak of Reformation a Tree in which Ket used to sit to Judg and Determine of their intended purposes and proceeding as also to order Parties out to Plunder the Houses of such as he judged not well affected to their Cause In Yorkshire others Rose under the Leading of William Omble a Yeoman Thomas Dale a Parish-Clerk and one Stephens a Postmaster but the King sending down his Pardon the common sort left their Leaders to be Lead to York where they were Executed The French taking the Advantage of these Tumults Besieged Bullen and sent a Fleet to pillage the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey from the Islands they were beaten with the loss of 1000 Men and few on our side but on the Main Land having won the out-works of Bullen whilst they pretended to Parley with the English they forcibly entered the Town and after that soon reduced all the Forts and Castles near it except Guisness which held out till the Winter made them raise the Siege You have heard how the Lord Admiral was removed out of the way and now the Duke of Somerset his Brother is to go next For his greatest Enemy Budley Earl of Warwick delay'd not to make a strong Party against him upon secret notice of which he being with the King at Hampton Court sent dispatches to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London immediately to send him 1000 Armed Men to defend the King's Person and himself against the Treachery and Violence that threatened them and that Night removed with the King to Windsor Castle upon this the Earl of Warwick Assembled the Privy Counsellours and other Nobles at London making grievous complaints against the Duke and amongst others That he had laid wait for his Head and so Inveagled them that they joyned with him to send their Letters to the Citizens to Levy Forces for their use in order to Rescue the King out of the hands of his Enemies and as
the chief of them they named the Protector sending abroad Proclamations wherein they lay'd many grievous Crimes to his charge as his Male Administration of Government and the great Mischiefs that had thereby befallen the Kingdom his converting the Publick Treasure to his Private Vse his endeavouring to set the Peers at Variance c. The Duke upon this finding â—he Londoners denyed him Aid but on the contrary had assisted his Adversary Warwick with 400 Armed Men who had drawn most of the Peers to his side and that contrary to his expectation he was left in a manner alone he now too late saw his Brothers Fall was contrived to usher in his However putting the best construction on the matter he sent a Messenger to them desiring they would forbear all rough proceedings and deal with him according to Law and Right which they promising to do he yielded himself and the King's Person into their hands and was committed to the Tower together with Sir Thomas Stanhop Sir Thomas Smith and others his Favourites but having been a Prisoner 3 Months and nothing made out against him upon acknowledging himself worthy of the punishment he suffered and begging the King's Pardon he was set at Liberty but deposed from his Protectorship and by the more Peaceable Nobility the Earl of Warwick and he were made Friends and to bind it the firmer the Earls Eldest Son was Married to the Dukes Daughter and new Honours bestowed on persons that had well deserved viz John Lord Russet was created Earl of Bedford William Lord St. John Earl of Wiltshire Sir William Paget Lord Paget and soon after the King called a Parliament at Westminster wherein was Enacted a Statute for the punishment of Rebells and Riotous Assemblies upon which ensuing Statute the Duke was about two Years after Condemned The Parliament being ended the Earl of Bedford and Lord Paget were sent Ambassadors with other Assistants to France and the Emperour by whose means a Peace was concluded upon divers Articles advantageous to the English and the Queen of Scots was included in it and it was Proclaimed with great Joy in the City of London Now all the high Altars being taken down in the Churches Tables were placed in their stead for receiving the Communion and Sir Andrew Jude Builded the Free-School at Tunbridge and six Alms-houses in St. Hellins within Bishopsgate And the Book of Common Prayer which had in some part been Corrected and Amended was appointed by Parliament to be Read in all Churches and Chappels In Aprill Anno 1551. An unaccountable Sweating Sickness happened and held till October of which vast numbers of people dyed Most that were taken with it dying in 24 Hours or sooner it seizing mostly on lusty young Men and very little on Women Children or aged people and of it dyed Henry Duke of Suffolk and his brother Sons to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk both of the Royal Blood by the Mothers side viz Mary younger Sister to Henry the 8th So that the Dukdome fell to Henry Grey Marquess of Dorset who had marryed the Lady Frances Eldest Daughter to Brandon and Mary his Wife And now the Duke of Northumberland growing powerful and labouring to get the King at his disposal to bring his purposes about found he could not do it unless the Duke of Somerset were Removed And the feud growing hot between them the Duke of Somerset by the perswasion of some private Enemies Employed by his Adversary went Armed to the Council under his Surcoat where the Duke of Northumberland feignedly pretending to Clasp him about as in Friendship discovered his Coat of Male and found Weapons about him Whereupon Northumberland laying hold on the opportunity Charged him with an Intention to have Murthered some of the Kings Privy Counsellors and afterwards produced Witnesses to aver he had before come with Armed Men to attempt his Life but that his Courage failed him and one of his followers when he returned demanding if he had done it and he saying No replyed then you are undone Upon this with divers of his Favorites he was sent to the Tower and process being drawn up against him he was Tryed by his Peers in Westminster Hall on two Articles 1. For High Treason viz. That he had not only Imprudently but Treacherously administered the weighty affairs of Government 2. For Conspiring the Death of Northumberland who was a Privy Counsellor which by the new Law was Fellony Of the former he Acquitted himself wherupon the Ax being taken away such a shout arose in the Hall among the Common People that it was heard to Charing Cross but on the other Article he was found Guilty and Condemned but it was a considerable time before they could constrain the King to Sign the Warrant for his Execution which he did not without Tears Saying he was the unhappyest Creature Living For at his Birth he had been the Death of his Mother And had since tho against his Inclination signed the Death of one of her Brothers and now they urged him to do the like for the Noble Duke his Vncle and therfore concluded the Lord Judge between me and you that Constrain me to do this against my mind However having got the Warrant signed they hastened the Duke's Execution and diverted the Kings Melancholly the mean while with Balls Plays and Musick And so infatuated was this Great Man that according to the opinion of divers had he thought upon demanding his Clergy he might have saved his Life his Crime by the new Act being only Fellony However he made a very Pennitent and Christian-like end much bewailing he had forwarded his Brothers Destruction and now saw it brought his own upon himself by opening a way to his Enemies He lost his Head on Tower-Hill and was much Lamented by all sorts of people except his enveterate Enemies who Rejoyced at his removal to another World and in his fall many of his Favourits boâ—e their part by Northumberland's contrivance viz. Sir Ralph Vane and Sir Thomas Arundel Beheaded for Conspiring with Somerset to Kill Northumberland the latter of which declared his Blood should be a Bolster for the Duke of Northumberland as long as he Lived intimating thereby he should have a troubled Conscience and all of them professed their Innocency to the last as to the Crimes they were charged with Doctor Ridley Bishop of London Preaching before the Young King of the excellency of Charity and Alms-deeds he was so affected with his Sermon that thinking he directly pointed at him who was in the highest Station after the Sermon was ended he held a private Conferrence with him how he might effectually bestow his Charity who advised him to send for the Mayor and Aldermen of London who would give him satisfaction in that matter as being most acquainted with the needs of the Poor which he did and after consulting with them allotted them Christs Hospital formerly the Grey Fryars of St. Francis Order St. Thomas's Hospital and Bridewel dividing the Poor
Earl of Lowborough Soon after this six Ships with Stores Ammunition and Provision which the Duke had caused to Watch the Coast and Intercept Mary if she should fly fell into her hands as driven by stress of Weather into Yarmouth when a great part of her Forces were there by whom they were seized And Sir Henry Jerningham consigned them to her use Having by this means got a Traine of Artillery she Marched towards Northumberland Snow-Ball like gathering as she proceeded which made the Duke send to the Lords at London to supply him with more Forces for on the Muster he found many were Deserted and till their coming he resolved to stay at Cambridge but they hearing how things went and finding the People unwilling to engage began more to consult their own safety than any other matter and leaving the Tower they met at Bainard's Castle and there contrary to their sollemn promises they consulted to Depose the Lady Jane whom they had so lately advanced to the Throne and the Earl of Arrundel being Spokesman boldly declared the necessity of it enveighing bitterly against the Duke of Northumberland recounting many things that have been already mentioned of him urging the unlawfulness of what they had done and that there was no better Cure of Error than mature and timely Repentance and therefore he besought them all present with one Heart and Mind to endeavour to the utmost that Mary the undoubted Lawful Heir of the Crown might presently be Proclaimed Queen See in this the wonderful Conversion Fear can work in Mens minds for untill he perceived the Lady Mary Powerful and likely to come in by Force except Northumberland he was the most violent against her Upon this Advice and some other Debates it was agreed the Lady Mary should be Proclaimed Queen for the Earl of Pembrook saying he heartily agreed with Arrundel and laying his Hand on his Sword Swore He would try it with any one that should presume to maintain the contrary most became willing and the rest were carried away in the stream of Power and so sending for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen they went to Cheap Cross and there to the great wonderment of the People Proclaimed Mary Queen and passing to St. Paul's Te Deum was Sung sending some to take possession of the Tower and others to Summon the Duke of Suffolk laying all Excuses aside to appear at the Council-Board The Duke perceiving Ruin threatned him and his Family by laying too great a stress on Treacherous Friends and drawn into a Snare by Northumberland's subtilty he yet concluded to use such means as he hoped might avert the coming Storm wherefore upon this notice he went to his Daughters Chamber of State causing her to lay aside her Princely Ornaments Advising her not to take it grievously that she was to return home and live a Private Life To which with a composed Countenance she Reply'd Most loving Father I with more Joy and Gladness entertain the Message you now bring me than that when sore against my will you placed me in the Throne I then displeased my self that I might shew my Obedience to you and my Mother I believe I have greatly Offended in what I have done but now I willingly Obey you and am well contented to renounce the Crown and to confess my fault if at last so great an offence may be wiped away by an acknowledgment of my Error After this she retired to her Closet and the Ladies that waited on her were discharged from that Office and desired to retire to their respective Habitations which they did tho' not without Tears to see Innocence precipitated into so great a misfortune as was likely to follow The Duke of Suffolk after this went to the Council of Lords and subscribed the last Proclamation and thereupon the Earl of Arrundel and divers others posted to Queen Mary for so now I must stile her with a great Train and procured their Pardons The Duke of Northumberland somwhat late hearing of these Proceedings in much perturbation of mind shewed his meanness of Spirit in running into the Street at Cambridge and Proclaiming Queen Mary throwing up his Cap and capering amongst the croud as if he had done it with all the sincerity and alacrity imaginable when every body knew Fear and hope of Pardon compelled him to it Yet a few days after he and divers others whilst they were preparing for Flight as doubting the worst were Arrested by the Lord Arrundel and convey'd to the Tower of London and the Army he commanded Disbanded and ordered on pain of being reputed Rebells to repair immediatly to their several Houses and the Virtuous Lady Jane after ten Days Acting the Queen as on a Stage by special order confin'd to the Tower The Marquess of Northampton was Imprisoned and divers others of Note who they suggested were any way concerned in this business and the Lady Elizabeth upon her Sisters coming towards London went to meet her Sister and Congratulated her Success highly commending her for so undauntedly pursuing her Right to the Crown and upon her enterance into London she caused the Duke of Norfolk and Edward Courtney Son to the Marquess of Exceter Beheaded in Henry the Eighth's time to be set at Liberty as also Stephen Gardener and all the Romish Clergy were released from their confinement with many others Constituting Gardener Lord Chancellour of England restoring the deprived Popish Bishops to their Offices and Dignities outing those of the Reformed Religion that had by King Edward been preferred to those Bishopricks as London Winchesâ—â—â— Durham Worcester Chichester c. But for all this Dr. Bourn Preaching at St. Paul's Cross and bitterly inveighing against the Reformed Religion had a Dagger flung at him whose mortal Point narrowly missed his Breast tho' the party that did it upon the narrowest search and scrutinie could not be discovered Things being a little settled the Queen by Advice of her Council chosen for the purpose proceeded to Revenge herself on her opposers and procured the Duke of Northumberland the Earl of Warwick his Eldest Son and the Marquess of Northampton to be Try'd and Condemn'd for High Treason and soon after the Duke was brought to the Scaffold on Tower-Hill where he declared himself in hopes of Life a Roman Catholick Advising all present to return to the Mother Church and not to embrace a new uncertain Religion that had work'd so many Mischiefs and Disorders in the Kingdom And that for his own part he always embraced and loved the Religion he received from his Ancestors with much more to the same purpose But by the way pray hear what he said to King Edward when he perswaded him to exclude his Sisters from the Crown which I should not have mention'd had he by his Ambition brought none but himself to this kind of Misfortune He told him The Lady Mary his Eldest Sister was a professed Roman Catholick and if she came to the Crown would destroy the Reformed Religion and
and in Henry the Seventh's Jane Boughton a Woman of Fourscore Years of Age was burnt in Norfolk another in Smithfield several Branded and others did Pennance going in their Shirts with Ropes about their Necks and carrying Faggots on their Backs and Will. Tâ—lsworth being Condemned as a Heretick for owning the Scriptures for the true Rule of Faith and saving Knowlidge and denying the Romish Traditions and Image Worship c. to make the flaming Scene more dreadful being bound to a Stake in Amersham and the Wood placed about him they compelled his own Daughter with a Torch to Light his Funeral Pile whilst he was Singing and Rejoycing in his Martyrdom till the Flames stopped his Breath and his Soul mounted on Firy Wings to Everlasting Rest And about two Years after in Buckinghamshire were Burned John Melton Tho. Bernard and one Roberts taking that cruel Death with admirable Patience and Cherfulness Thomas Norrice Suffered in the like manner at Norwich and Tho. Guest at Salisbury and a Woman at Chiping Sudbury and in this Reign several other Persons in divers Places some against whom there were no colourable Accusations after severe Rackings and Torturings were found Murthered in Goals and Hundreds fled into Germany c. Cardinal Wolsey in the beginning of Henry the Eighth's Reign doing all under him or rather above him for he did only what he pleased to ingratiate himself with the Court of Rome as aiming at the Pontificate loosed the Reins of Persecution against those that had separated themselves from the Romish Churches for indeed about this time two things mainly encreased the Gospel Professors in England and other Nations viz. One The appearance of Martin Luther in Germany who openly with all his might opposed it and had gained some Princes to his side and the other the Noble Mystery of Printing which began to be much used whereby good Books were more easily Promulgated and Dispersed through divers Nations in their proper Languages These alarmed the Pope and his Clergy fearful of their Diana Profit to raise dreadful Persecutions against the Professors of the Gospel raging against them even to Madness and of this England now had a smarting share For in the Year 1511 John Brewster and William Sweeting were Burnt in Smithfield and also Robert Harrison William Carder and Agnese Greble the Husband and Daughter being forced in as Witnesses to take away the Life of the latter and one Mr. Stye for having the Book of Revelations in English was Burnt with that and other good Books hanging about his Neck in a String in the â—ashion of Popish Beads and five Persons for Reading the four Evangelists in English were Accused for having in their possession and Reading Heretical Books containing many Damnable Opinions and in the Year 1514 Richard Hun was found Murthered in the Lollards Castle after many Torments and much Cruelty had been excercised towards him However their Mallice extended to his dead Body for it was committed to the Flames and about this time John Stile John Brown and Thomas Man were Burnt in Smithfield Robert Cousens at Buckingham Christopher Shoomaker at Newbury Robert and Richard Bartlet and John Scrivener likewise suffer'd the Flames after all ways had been in vain used to make them Renounce their Profession and thinking to terrify the latter his Children were compelled to set Fire to the pile that burnt him In the Year 1519 Six Persons were Burnt at Coventry and soon after them Thomas Harding and Robert Silkeb And the Body of William Tracy Esq in Gloucestershire because his Executors refused to Pay for Singing his Soul out of Purgatory was dug up and burnt being Charged for the fore-mentioned reason to have dyed a Heretick One Richard Brayfield who had been a Monk at Bury in Suffolk but left it upon seeing the Debauched and Dissolute Lives of the other Monasticks was accused of Heresy hurry'd to a Dungeon bound Gagg'd and Whipt and then standing to his Profession of that Truth Recorded in Holy Writ opposite to the Romish Tenents he was Degraded and Condemned when being Burnt in London the Fire was on purpose made so scanty that he continued in it half an Hour Alive without Complaining and his Left Arm being burnt he cherfully rubbed it with his Right Hand so that it fell into the Fire and so in Prayers without moving his Body he cherfully ended his days in a bed of flames Some that were Imprisoned they fed with Sawdust some were kept continually in the Stocks with great Waights on their Leggs some with Manacles and bars of Iron fixed about their Necks and many Rack'd till they were Lamed and Distorted in Body James Bainham John Tewsbury Valentine Sheaf and his Wife John Bent and Mr. Trapnel suffered the Flames three Persons were Hanged in Chains and Starved to Death for burning a Wooden Image called the Rood at Dover Court Andrew Honor John Frith Thomas Bennet John Lambert William Tindal William Leighton and Mr. Collier a Lawyer suffered the Flames accused for Lutherans for so now they termed the Professors of the Gospel Truths And a little while after Dr. Barns William Hieron Thomas Garret made their passage from this to a better World through the Fire in Smithfield Anthony Parker Henry Filmer and Robert Testwood were Burnt at Windsor and many Dyed in Prison some Natural Deaths others suspected to be Murthered In the Year 1541 Kerby and Clarke were Burnt at Ipswich and Bury and Anno 1546 Mrs. Ann Askew a Gentlewoman belonging to Queen Catharine Par because she would not accuse the Queen and other great Ladies of favouring the Lutheran Tenents was put upon the Rack Wriothsley the Chancellor playing the part of the Hangman in Torturing and Stretching her Limbs but tho' he Sweat at this barbarous Work she bore it wiâ—â—out a Sigh or Groan till the Bloodthirsty Wretch was weary with Tormenting her yet being Condemned for Heresy she was burnt in Smithfield where she Dyed with such Constancy Courage and composedness of Mind that by her Death many who saw her suffer were Converted and at the same time and place suffered in the â—â—ames Nicholas Bellerian a Minister John Addams a Taylor and John Lassets a Gentleman belonging to the Court who were much encouraged to undergo their Sufferings as having beheld the Constancy and Patience of Mrs. Askew And Sir John Blage a Gentleman of the Kings Privy-Chamber was by the Romish Bishops Condemned for Speaking against the Efficacy of the Mass but by the Earl of Bedford's Intercession Pardoned when the King soon after meeting him said Ah my Pigg how do'st thou Truly reply'd the Knight feelingly If your Majesty had not been kinder to mee than your Bishops your Pigg had been Roasted long ere now Soon after this Bishop Gardener procured the King to put out a Proclamation for taking away the use of the Scriptures and all other Books in English that might Enlighten the People in the ways of Truth or that shewed them the Absurdities of the Romish
Earl's caused the Attorney-General to draw up a Charge against him consisting of Eleven Articles of matters of divers Natures And beside these Articles against the Duke the Earl of Bristol exhibited Eleven others against the Lord Conway The Earl likewise gave in his Answer to each particular Article of his Impeachment And now whilst these two Peers were thus Contesting the House of Commons presented an Impeachment against the Duke consisting of twelve Articles to each of which the Duke made Replies But that not Satisfying the Commons they drew up another Declaration of Grievances against the Duke whom they resolved by all means to bring down which Declaration was read before the Bill of Subsidies Which so Incensed the King that he Dissolved the Parliament the very next Day and thereby lost Four Subsidies and Three Fifteenths rather than the Duke should be farther Question'd by the Parliament tho' one of the Articles against the Duke was for a strong Presumption of his having Poisoned the King's Father And thus ended this King's Second Parliament After this Dissolution the King Committed the Earl of Bristol to the Tower and Published first a Proclamation for Burning all Copies of the Commons Declaration and then a Declaration shewing the Grounds and Reasons of his Dissolving this and the former Parliament There were several Occasions at this time which required considerable Sums of Money for besides the Palatinate there was great Likelihood of a War with France upon occasion of the French King 's using the Vaunt-Guard one of the King's Men of War lent to the French King to go against Genoa with six other Merchants Ships turn'd into Men of War against the French Protestants in Rochel expresly contrary to Agreement and the King being extreamly Troubled at it demanded Satisfaction of the French King who Deferring to give it the King seized a rich French Ship and the French King Arrested the Goods of the English Merchants in France to the Value of about 300000 l. tho' afterwards Restoration was made on both sides But the Insolent Practices of the Priests and Jesuits belonging to the Queen especially her Confessor soon caused another Rupture for he imposed upon her as a Pennance to wait upon his Servants at their Dinner and to walk on Foot in a rainy Morning from Sommerset-House to St. James's and from thence to Tyburn to offer up her Prayers for the Souls of the Romish Martyrs i. e. Traytors or Jesuits that had been Executed there himself the mean while riding by her in his Coach But these Arrogancies being unsufferable the Queens French Domesticks were paid off and sent Home Hereupon the French King tho' this was no more than what himself had done before in sending back all the Spanish Courtiers that came with his Queen Arrested all the English Merchants Ships that lay in the River of Bourdeaux this was so ill resented by the King that the Peace so lately patch'd up was now turn'd into an open War And the King thereupon made use of those Forces against the French which were designed against the Spaniard complying now with the Desires of the Rochelers who had humbly Sued to him for Aid and Protection But the Fleet design'd for their Relief not going out till after Michaelmas a very improper Season to send out a Fleet of great Ships to Sea encountred only with Storms and Tempests and return'd Home again without doing any thing leaving the poor Rochellers in a worse Condition than they were before The Assessment of the Loan again set on Foot since the Parliaments Dissolution being generally Opposed the People of lower Rank were Ordered to appear in the Military-Yar near St. Martins in the Fields to be Listed for Soldiers it being thought fit that those who could not with their Purâ—es should assist the King with their Persons But several Gentlemen and others of Ability for refusing the Loan were Committed Prisoners to the Fleet Marâ—â—â—sea Gate-House and other Prisons Sir John Elliot who Petition'd his Majesty declaring that he could prove by many Presidents That all manner of Aids and Taxes in former Kings Reigns were never Levied but the general Consent of the Nobility and Commons Assembled in Parliament Notwithstanding which he was Committed to the Gate-House Dr. Sybthorp and Manwaring two Eminent Preachers at Court instead of Preaching the Gospel Preach'd up the Necessity and Duty of the Loan one of them Asserting That the Prince hath power to Direct his Counsel and make Laws and that Subjects if they cannot exhibit Active Obedience in case the thing Commanded should be against the Law of God or Nature yet ought to yield Passive Obedience and in all other Cases they were bound to Active Obedience The other was more express to the Purpose and affirmed That the King 's Royal Command in imposing of Loans and Taxes though without Consent in Parliament did Oblige the Subjects Conscience upon pain of Eternal Damnation Which Position being highly Applauded at Court the Sermon of Dr. Sybthorp call'd Apostolick Obedience was approved by Dr. Laud then Bishop of London and an Express sent from the King to Archbishop Abbot to License it which he refusing the King suspended him from his Archiepiscopal See and a Commission was Granted to five Bishops to execute his Office And now the D. of Buckingham to clear his Reputation and shew his Diligence in his Admiral-ship with some difficulty compleated his Naval Forces consisting of 6000 Horse and Foot in Ten Royal Ships and Ninety Merchant-Men with which he set Sail from Portsmouth June 27th 1627. and Published a Manifesto of the King's Affection to the Reformed Churches in France and his Displeasure for the last Mis-employing of his Ships against the Rochellers But after all through the Duke 's ill Conduct or Obstinacy in going before St. Martin's Castle in the Isle of Rhee against which his Council disswaded him rather than against the Mede another Castle in that Island which they might in all likelihood have carried and would have been a safe place of Retreat in case of Necessity this great Design Miscarried with the Death of near Two Thousand common Souldiers Thirty Prisoners of Note and Forty four Colours taken Yet to make some Amends for this Miscarriage a great French Ship was taken upon the Coasts of Holland Laden with all sorts of Ammunition to a great Value Also Sir John Pennington took 34 rich French Merchant-men homeward-bound and brought 'em all safe into England The lowness of the Exchequer the late Miscarriage at the Isle of Rhee and the present distressed Condition of the Rochellers being laid before the Lords of the Council it was thereupon resolved to call another Parliament and Writs were forthwith issued out accordingly And the Parliament met the 27th of March and the King tells them That the greatness of the Danger requires a speedy Supply and hopes they will prove such true Patriots as not to deceive his Expectations The first thing the Commons went upon was the Grievances
of the Nation and therein the chief thing insisted on was the Case of those Gentlemen imprisoned for refusing the Loan and who notwithstanding their Habeas Corpus were remanded to Prison After the Debating whereof the Commons resolved Nemine Contradicente 1. That no Man ought to be Restrained by the Command of the King or Privy-Council without some Cause of the Commitment 2. That the Writ of Habeas Corpus ought to be granted upon request to every Man that is Restrained tho' by the Command of the King the Privy Council or any other 3. That if a Free-man be Imprisoned by the Command of the King the Privy-Council or any other and no cause of such Commitment expressed and the same be returned upon an Habeas Corpus granted for the said Party then he ought to be Delivered or Bailed After which the Parliament drew up a Petition against Popish Recusants to which the King gave a full and Satisfactory Answer and then the Commons granted the King Five Subsidies at which he was so pleased that he sent them Word He would deny them nothing of their Liberties which any of his Predecessors had Granted And thereupon the Commons drew up that Memorable Bill called Petition of Right which after many Debates about it passed both Houses and was Presented to the King to which the King answered The King willeth that Right be done according to the Law and Customs of the Realm and that the Statutes be put in due Execution that his Subjects may have no cause to complain of any Wrong or Oppressions contrary to their just Rights and Liberties to the Preservation whereof he holds himself in Conscience as well Obliged as to that of his Prerogative But this Answer not being thought Satisfactory upon their further Application to the King he sent them this short but full Answer Soit Droit Fait come il est desire i. e. Let it be done according to your Desire Which Answer was received with great Joy by both Houses and the Citizens of London who expressed it by making of Bonfires and ringing of Bells And the King for further Satisfaction received again into his Favour Dr. Abbot A. B. of Canterbury Bishop Williams and others and likewise caused the Commission of Loan and Excise to be Cancell'd in his Presence But the Commons after this drawing up a Remonstrance against the Duke and calling in Question the King 's taking of Tunnage and Poundage were Adjourned to the 20th of October several Acts being first passed by them Much about this time Dr. Lamb that had been formerly twice Arraigned once for Necromancy and another time for a Rape was Kill'd by the Rabble in Lothbury for which the City was Fined 6000 l. He was a great Favourite of the Duke of Buckingham's and commonly call'd the Duke's Devil which made him the more Hated After the Duke 's late Expedition to the Isle of Rhee the Earl of Denbeigh Sailed with Fifty Ships for the Relief of Rochel but being repelled with much Loss he return'd back to Plymouth despairing of Success Whereupon the Duke of Buckingham himself resolved to go again with a more considerable Navy but whilst he was at Portsmouth hastening the fitting out of the Fleet one John Felton a Lieutenant Stabb'd him to the Heart with a Knife which he left sticking in his Body till the Duke himself pull'd it out and Died immediately after Felton was soon Apprehended by the Servants and laden with Irons and being ask'd what induc'd him to commit so bloody a Fact he boldly answer'd He Kill'd him for the Cause of God and his Countrey He had likewise fasten'd a Paper in the Crown of his Hat to tell the World in case he had miscarry'd in the Action That his only motive to this Fact was the Remonstrance of the Commons against the Duke and that he could not Sacrifice his Life in a Nobler Cause than by delivering his Countrey from so great an Enemy For this Fact Felton was Condemned and Hanged at Tyburn and his Body hang'd in Chains upon a Gibbet at Portsmouth However the designed Fleet set Sail under the Command of the Earl of Lindsey and came to Rochel-Haven where there was a Barricado of 1400 Yards cross the Channel notwithstanding which the Earl adventured in passing the Forts and Out-works but the Wind changing drove the Ships foul upon each other Which unhappy Accident made the Rochellers despair of Relief and presently Surrendred the Town And the Earl of Lindsey brought the Fleet safe home again The Parliament after some Adjournments sitting again the Merchants who for refusing to Pay Customs had had their Effects seized made grievous Complaints this made the King send for the two Houses to attend him in the Banquetting-House requiring them to pass the Bill for Tunnage and Poundage for the better and more speedy ending all Differences But they replyed God's Cause was to be preferred before the King 's and in the first place therefore they would consult about the Establishment of Religion and so returning they appointed a Committee for that Purpose and another for Civil matters and many were Censured for reflecting on their Proceedings and for Levying Tunnage and Poundage but the King excused the latter as done by his express Command in a time when the Nation was in Danger to be Invaded by Foreigners And that such things had been often done in the Reigns of his Predecessors when Money could not be speedily raised on urgent Necessities in a Parliamentary way However this and other Misunderstandings raised great Heats and Jealousies which were Fomented to that Degree that the Parliament was quickly after Dissolved without passing the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage Soon after which the King publish'd a Declaration of the Cause thereof and eleven of the Members were Summon'd before the Council-Table and all committed to divers Prisons contrary to the Petition of Right so lately confirmed by the King Soon after this a Paper was dispersed containing some Projects how the King might encrease his Revenue without the help of a Parliament and upon Information that the Earls of Bedford Clare Sommerset and others had dispersed some Copies of them they were Committed But Sir David Fowlis making it appear it was a Project of Sir Robert Dudley's Son to to the Earl of Leicester in Italy sixteen Years since and no ways intended at this time to create any Difference between the King and Parliament they were released And now divers Threatning Libels against the chief Ministers of State were scattered abroad and particularly one against Bishop Land assuring him his Life was sought for he being the Fountain of Wickedness c. This made the great Men fear the sitting of another Parliament And it is said Weston the Treasurer advised the King never to call any again And a Book of Projects for Governing and raising Money without Parliaments was presented to the King In January an Embassador from Spain arrived at London whose business was to treat of
Peace which was soon Concluded as had been with France before On the 29th of May 1630. the Queen was deliver'd of a Son who was Christened Charles and Succeeded in the Kingdom At whose Birth it is Remarkable a very bright Star appeared at Noon-day which being shewed the King as he came from his Devotion he greatly Rejoyced thereat as taking it for a fortunate Presage Soon after Dr. Leighton Writing and Publishing a Book Entituled Sion's Plea was Censured for it and Sentenced to have his Nose slit his Ears cropp'd and a Mark or Brand in his Fore-head which was inflicted on him Anno 1631 Mervin Lord Audley Earl of Castle-Haven was tryed by his Peers on the Petition of his Son and Heir for a Rape and Sodomy and being found Guilty lost his Head on Tower-hill The King hearing of some Murmurrings and Discontents in Scotland went thither in Person hoping to give his People of that Kingdom Satisfaction and being solemnly Crowned at Edenborough he called a Parliament But they fearing the bringing in of Episcopacy and the Form of Prayer and other Services in England seemed more and more to be Disgusted However the King having Confirmed and Ratified some Laws which the Scots construed to the worst Sense And which was indeed in order to the establishing Episcopacy there which King James the First had introduced Anno 1616. and which was apparent by the King 's giving Order to the Dean of his Royal Chappel in Edenborough to have Prayer read therein according to the English Liturgy c. In the Year 1632 the King incited thereto by Bishop Laud set out a Declaration for Tollerating of Sports on the Lord's-day which gave great Offence to all sober Men and for refusing to Publish it many of the best Ministers were Suspended and deprived of their Benefices Octob. 13. 1633. The Queen was delivered of her second Son named James afterwards Duke of York and after his Brother Charles his Death King of England c. And at that time the Arch-bishop of Canterbury dying Bishop Laud was made Arch-bishop in his place After this a Fleet was set out by the Supply of a Tax called Ship-money which removed the Hollanders who had Confederated with the French from before Dunkirk and the Flandrians with the assistance of the Spaniard soon Routed the French Army by Land The King Considering the good success of this Fleet sent out an other which Sailing Northward scoured the Seas of the Dutch Busses and spoiled their Fishing-trade so that they were constrained to purchase their leave to Fish on our Coast on Valuable Considerations Several Gentlemen being Dissatisfied with the raising of Ship-money and being done without consent of Parliament refused to pay it upon which the King referr'd it to his Judges of whom Ten were for the Legality of it and subcribed their Names to be Enrolled in the Courts of Westminster but Hutton and Crook refused and thereupon Mr. Hamden of Buckinghamshire refusing to pay it had Judgment given against him which occasioned murmurings among the people of which Dr. Bastwick Prin and Burton taking the Advantage writ Books reflecting on the Bishops and Government for which they were sentenced to pay 5000 l. Fine lose their Ears in the Pillory and Imprisoned during the King's pleasure And Dr. Williams Bishop of Lincoln was fined 10000 l. and Imprisoned in the Tower During pleasure and left to the Censure of the High Commission Court as to what concerned them wherein the Bishop had very hard Measure his Offence being chiefly that he approved not of Archbishop Laud's Exorbitant Actions And now new Troubles arising about the Book of Common-Prayer in Scotland the King marched thither with an Army and the Scots met him near Berwick But a Treaty being began by means of the Scots Nobility a Peace was soon Concluded but they kept it no longer than the King's return to London which occasioned him to make a second Expedition but by this time they had entred into a solemn League and Covenant for the Extirpation of Episcopacy and Establishing of Presbytery On the 13th of April 1640. After twelve Years interval a Parliament met at Westminster to whom the King promised That if they would Supply him to maintain the War against the Scots he would quit his claim of ship-money And the Parliament seemed to have a great Disposition to comply with the King's desires but it being demanded in the House of Commons what supply the King expected It was answered by Mr. Secretary Vane Twelve Subsidies whereas at that time the King only desir'd Six This large Demand put the House into such a Ferment made things look so ill that the King Dissolved the Parliament the next Day having only sat 22 Days The Scots not yet quieted enter into England with an Army and having defeated the King's Forces at Newborn seized upon New-castle and Durham upon which the King is willing to hear their Grievances and receives a Petition from them wherein they require a Parliament to be called in England without which they could have no Redress Declaring their Intention not to lay down Arms till the Reformed Religion was settled in both Nations upon sure Grounds and the Causers and Abetters of their present Troubles Laud and Strafford were brought to publick Justice in Parliament After which several Peers the City of London and divers other places Petition'd the King for the sitting of a Parliament whereupon the King Summon'd another Parliament to meet Nov. 3. 1640. when the People were every where in a Ferment and Prejudice inveighing if not against the King yet against his Ministers of State In this Parliament all Ceremonies in the Church were suppressed except those used in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Strafford Arch-bishop Laud and Bishop Wren were Impeached of High-Treason and committed to the Tower Divers of the Judges that had declared for Ship-money were Voted Delinquents and Judge Berkley Arrested by the Usher of the Black Rod for High-Treason as he sate in the King's-Bench-Court The King being vexed at the proceeding of the Commons complained to the Peers who promised to Labour for a Moderation and good Understanding between the King and his two Houses But matters yet running high he removed divers Ministers of State and Officers in Trust appointing a new Lieutenant of the Tower which greatly displeased the Commons insomuch that tâ—â—â— Articled against the new Lieutenant to be Peers wâ—â— refused to meddle in it it being the King's Prerogative to â—â—nt in whom he pleased But not long after a multitude of â—â—prentices and others came to the Peers House clamouriâ—â—â—o have the Lieutenant removed and Threatning on refusaâ— to turn all Topsy-turvey they also demanded that the Bishops might be excluded the House of Peers And then going into Westminster-Abbey in their unadvised Fury spoiled the Vestments Organs Sepulchres and what else was comely and decent And as they returned by White-Hall uttered very opprobrious Threatnings against the King and his
Counsellors which made him Fortify his Pallace and accept of a Guard of the Inns of Court Gentlemen who offered their Service to defend his Person from any Insults The Parliament hereupon apprehending a fear of Danger that threaten'd them assumed a Guard for their Defence constituting the Earl of Essex Captain of it and appointed an extraordinary Assembly in the City of London and soon after committed twelve Pishops Prisoners to the Tower which scared most if not all the rest from giving their Attendance and many Ministers of State were Accused and Censured And the Earl of Strafford upon his Tryal being accused of many things and plainly answering all that by Articles was laid to his Charge and the Court Adjourning without prefixing any time of meeting the Commons proceeded to draw up and dispatch a Bill of Attainder against him which the King with great difficulty and some reluctancy of Mind Signed but the Warrant for his Execution he laboured much to defer saying He had heard the Cause and believed in his Conscience the Earl was not guilty of Treason and yet he could not clear him of Misdemeanour but hoped a way might be found out to satisfie Justice and their Fears without oppressing his Conscience and had consulted about it with his Judges and Bishops before he had Signed the Bill as also a Bill for the sitting of the Parliament during the pleasure of both Houses which last was occasioned for satisfying the Scots who required vast Sums of Money However the Earl was Executed tho' the King laboured much to save him proposing his perpetual Imprisonment and many other things He was attended at his Execution on Tower-Hill by the Arch-bishop of Armagh and to this Effect addressed him to the People viz. That he was come thither to pay the last Debt he ow'd to Sin with a good Hope of rising to Righteousness that he Dyed willingly Forgave all and patiently submitted declaring himself Innocent of the Crimes charged against him wishing Prosperity to the King and People He advised his Adversaries to repent of their violent Proceedings against him saying He thought it a strange way to write in Blood the beginning of Reformation and Settlement of the Kingdom however he wished his Blood might rest and not cry against them declaring he Dyed in the Communion of the Church of England for whose Prosperity he Prayed and concluded with a Desire that the Spectators would pray for him And then had his Head stricken off There having been about this time some Tumults made about White-Hall and Westminster and the King being inform'd they were encouraged by the Lord Kimbolton and five Members of the House of Commons the King demanded those five Members whom he accused of High-Treason as also the Lord Kimbolton a Member of the House of Peers but they were refused to be delivered Whereupon he came with about 500 armed Men to the House of Commons where the Speaker resigned the Chair to him but looking about and not seeing those he expected for upon Notice they were withdrawn he declared his good Intentions to the Parliament saying He hoped they would send him those Members against whom he had matters of high Concern But they were so far from doing it that they put the City of London in Arms and Adjourned their sitting for five days forbidding the Citizens to help the King to find out any of the accused Members and so far were they from it that the Parliament sitting again they carry'd them in Triumph and placed them in their Seats shouting and threatning as they passed by White-hall and to lessen the King's Power the Parliament sent Letters to the adjacent Counties commanding the Militia to draw up in Arms Whereupon they found that upon occasion more than 20000 Men could be got in a Readiness These proceedings made the King withdraw to Hampton-Court whose absence much encreased the Parliaments Authority among the People and to endear them to the Citizens they adjourned from Westminster to London and sent their Mandates to the Governors of Sea-port Towns strictly forbidding them to Obey any of the King's Orders unless they were confirmed by them This more weaken'd his Power than all their former Proceedings which the King by an early precaution in Garisoning those parts might have prevented The King considering that things were likely to go ill and that he had given away his Power and could not dissolve this Parliament he endeavoured by mild Terms to win them to his Interest and Writ from Windsor protesting his good meaning towarâ—s both Houses and that he would be ready to any thing that might be for the good of his People whereupon they sent Messengers to desire him to return to London but for some Reasons he refused it Hereupon the Commons drew up an humble Remonstrance which seemed so unreasonable to the Peers as to what therein they proposed that they rejected it till they saw the Commons uniting against them and then Messengers were sent to the King with it who with some Reservation yielded to part of it and denyed the rest which not satisfying them they proceeded to Petition the King That the accused Members might be freed from all imputation of Guilt which was Granted During the King's being busie in Scotland a horrid Conspiracy and Rebellion broke out in Ireland which was discovered but the Night before it began to the Lords-Justices by Owen O Conally by which means Dublin and some other places were secured and divers of the Conspirators apprehended However it was carry'd on with such a Rage and Fury by the Encouragement of the Popish Priests Monks and Fryars that nothing for a time but Slaughter and miserable Cruelties on the English and Scots were to be seen in most of the Provinces the Romish Priests loudly declaring that they were Hereticks and ought to be Extirpated from the Earth that it it was no more Sin to kill them than Dogs and a mortal one to Relieve and Protect them giving the Sacrament to divers on condition that they should spare neither Man Woman nor Child saying It did them a great deal of Good to wash their Hands in their Blood and they were told If any of the Murtherers in this Attempt were slain they should immediately go to Heaven so that nothing but Blood-shed and piteous Cries were to be seen and heard in most parts of that Kingdom The King to Redress this Solicited the Scots Parliament to send ovâ—r Forces but they refused Alledging It was a dependant Kingdom on England and if the English Parliament would make use of and pay any of their Men they might raise them or otherwise they would not intermeddle And the Parliament of England being slow in sending over Succours about 200000 of all sorts fell in this unparrallel'd Massacre but Forces going over the Cut-throats were every where Routed many Slain and the rest betook themselves to their Fastnesses and the state of Affairs were restored to some good Order The Contendings between the
and there being attended on a Scaffold before the Banquetting-House by Dr. Juxon Bishop of London he made a Profession of his Innocency and of his Faith forgiving his Enemies and praying to God not to lay his Blood to their Charge seeming troubled that he had consented to the Sentence against the Earl of Strafford and after this and much more to the like Purpose he kneeling down gave the Sign to the Executioner by stretching out his Arms and at one Blow had his Head separated from his Body which being put in a Coffin covered with Velvet was carried to Windsor and buried in a Vault in St. George's Chappel Thus without President fell King Charles when he had Reigned 23 Years 10 Months and 3 Days being the 24th Year of his Reign and 49th of his Age. Put to Death by the Hands of his own Subjects contrary to all Law and Justice universally Pitied but unable to be help'd by his People He was one of the Chastest Princes that ever sate upon the Throne being all along so true to his Queen that he never Defil'd his Marriage-bed And had he not given too much heed to Buckingham Laud and some other fâ—attering Parasites and Courtiers who were continually Buzzing into his Ears nothing but Absolute and unlimitted Power putting him upon Dissolving his Parliaments and then raising Money and Ruling without them as appear'd by his Twelve Years interval of Parliaments viz. from Anno 1628 to 1640. whereby he lost the Love of his People he had never been brought to that dismal Catastrophe but might have Liv'd and Dy'd a Happy Prince And this may be observ'd from this King's Reign as well as from several before That never any Prince fell out with his Parliament and went about to Establish an Arbitrary Power but he not only found himself Mistaken but also thereby made himself Miserable Before the breaking out of this unnatural War amazing Sights were seen in the Air of Firey Men and Horses running at each other with Launces encountring with great Blasts of Lightning and noise of Thunder In Gloucester-shire Spectres were seen in a large Field not far from that City drawn up in Battalia furiously Engaging and then Vanishing to the Amazement of the Beholders The Reign of King CHARLES The Second KING Charles the First being put to Death the Relicks of the Parliament began to take out of the way such Nobles and others as they supposed would obstruct their Proceedings and particularly Duke Hamilton the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel were Beheaded for Treason pretended against them And now to make their Power the Stronger they combined with the Army-Officers And tho' Charles Son to the preceding King had an undoubted Right to the Kingdom they proceeded to bar him and all the Royal Line as they hoped from the Crown or any other from being King or chief Magistrate unless by Publick Act of Parliament so appointed and that it should be Treason in any to attempt to further King Charles the Second by them generally called Charles Stewart in his Designs to possess the Crown by Proclaiming him or any Assistance given to him taking great care not to admit the Secluded Members lest they should put a stop to the Current of their Proceedings taking down every where the King 's Arms and placing the Harp and Cross in their places called the States Arms and having taken down the late King's Effigies from the Royal-Exchange they caused to be inscribed in the place where it stood in Letters of Gold Exit Tyranus Regum ultimus Anno Libertatis Angliae Restitutiae Primo Anno 1648. Jan. 30. All Titles in Processes of Law were altered and instead of Carolus Dei Gratia c. was put in Custodes Libertatis Angliae c. The King's-Bench was called the Vpper-Bench and a new Stamp was made for Money having on the one side the Cross and on the other the Cross and Harp inscribed The Common-wealth of England on the one side and God with Vs on the other also a new Great Seal was prepared with the Cross and Harp on the one side with this Inscription The Great Seal of England and on the other side the Picture of the House of Commons with these Words In the first Year of Freedom by God's Blessing restor'd 1648. Things being thus Moddelled whilst King Charles was in France Solliciting for Aid to possess him of his Kingdoms Fairfax out of some dislike to the Patliaments proceedings laid down his Commission which was given to Oliver Cromwel who from this time laid the Projection of his future Greatness And indeed in his attempts on Ireland and Scotland he was so Successful as to reduce them to the English Obedience with incredible Slaughter of the Natives However King Charles was proclaimed by his Friends in England and Ireland and soon after in Scotland And now Money being wanting to maintain the Parliaments Armies c. the Crown-Lands Dean and Chapter and Bishops Lands were Sold with many stately Houses and most of the Castles in England Demolished and all Persons expelled from Places of Trust in Church and State that Subscribed not to be Conformable to the New-modelled Government The Scots all this while were Debating how to Restore the King who was in the Isle of Jersey and coming to a Result sent the Laird Libberton and Mr. Windram to him with Proposals the Heads being these 1. That he should Sign the Solemn League and Covenant 2. That he should Pass divers Acts concluded on in the two last Sessions of Parliament in Scotland 3. That he should recall the Commissions given to Montross 4. That he should put from him all Papists and appoint some place in Holland to treat with their Commissioners and give them a speedy Answer And Sir William Fleming being sent by the King to the Estates of Scotland Breda was appointed for the place of Treaty and Commissioners were sent to represent the Kirk and State who delivered what they had in Charge to the same Effect as has been mentioned But whilst the Treaty held the Marquess of Montross making new Attempts was Surprized in Scotland where with much Indignity he was brought to Execution and Hanged on a Gibbet of extraordinary height Dying with a Courage and Bravery suitable to that wherein he had Lived and Quarters were set up in divers places This being done in a full Treaty greatly Displeased the King because he had his Commission and had acted in his Cause but the necessity of his affairs made him pass it over and he Condescended to most of the Proposals The Parliament of England soon heard of their Treaty and to prevent its taking effect sent an Army under Cromwel into Scotland and manning out a Fleet Admiral Blake fell in with Prince Rupert's Squadron sinking and burning most of the Ships he Commanded for the King however matters being agreed on the King hastened to Scotland and Landed at Spey where several Lords came to him and the Town of
That if the King would enter into an actual War with the French King they would stand by him with their Lives and Fortunes So that finding the French King still went on with his Conquests King Charles delayed not to send several Regiments to the Aid of thâ— Confederates in Flanders and laid a Prohibition on Frâ—â—ch Goods Hereat the French King being somewhat Startled hoping to break the Measures of England made Proposals of Peace to the Dutch and they Understanding that the Parliament had taken up a Resolution to give no more Money till Satisfaction was first had and their Fears and Jealousies removed and not thinking for this Cause fit to rely on England since the Misunderstandings rendred it no longer it self did clap up a Peace in a very short time and the rest of the Confederates followed their Example However before the Peace could be Ratified the French took several Towns and at last Besieged Mons this made the King Command the Duke of Monmouth and Earl of Ossory to joyn the English Forces under their Command with the Prince of Orange who so bravely Behaved themselves that they forced the Duke of Luxemburg's Camp and raised the Siege with the Slaughter of some Thousands of French and had done greater things if all Hostilities had not thereupon been stopped Things being thus settled Abroad greater Disturbances threatned at Home for about this time a wicked design was discovered to take away the King's Life and involve the whole Nation in Blood and Ruin which was carried on for a considerable time by the Papists The first Discoverer was Titus Oats but his Evidence was little Credited till such time as Sir Edmundbury Godfrey who had taken Oats's Depositions was found Murthered at Primrose-Hill with a Sword run through his Body tho' by a visible Mark about his Neck it appeared he had been Strangled So that this giving a sufficient Ground of Belief Oats's Evidence being also further Corroborated by Letters found in the Custody of Edw. Coleman Secretary to the Duke of York the Parliament proceeded strictly to Enquire into the matter so that the Commons often sat from Morning till Night to Consult how to Prevent the Danger and make a thorow Discovery and having Voted and entred into their Journal That it was their Opinions that there had been and was an Execrable and Hellish Design carried on by the Papists for Assassinating the King Subverting of the Government and Destroying the Protestant Religion A Proclamation was â—ssued out for Banishing Papists and reputed Papists ten Miles from the City of London and Westminster and all Roman-Catholicks were turned out of the Guards and the Parliament Addressed the King That the Duke of York might be removed from his Presence and Counsels But the last was not Granted And now divers Persons being taken up and Imprisoned on the account of this Plot one Staly a Goldsmith's Son in Convent-Garden was first Executed for saying He would kill the King then Edw. Coleman the Duke of York's Secretary then Ireland Pickering Grove Whitebread â—enwick Gawen Langhurn and others as Concerned in the Plot and Green Berry and Hill being accused by Prance and Bedlow for the Murther of Sir Edmund-bury Godfrey were Tryed at the King 's Bench-bar Condemned and Executed And then the Commons called the Lord Treasurer to an Account who had been accused by Mr. Mountague sometimes the King's Embassador at the French Court for holding a private Correspondence with France but he relying on the King's Pardon the Business â—nded in a long Imprisonment in the Tower after much stir had been made about it And the King in Hopes the better to please the Commons and satisfie the Nation in General new modell'd his Council making it to consist of 30 Persons Fifteen of them to be Certain and the rest to be Elective at pleasure ten out of the Nobility and five Commoners besides a Lord-President a Secretary of Scotland and such of the Princes of the Blood-Royal as should be at Court with which the next Day he acquainted the Parliament and of this Council the Earl of Shaftsbury was made President But notwirhâ—â—anding this Alteration in the Council it had not the desired effect which the King intended for the Parliament were still solicitous in searching to the bottom of the Popish Plot and the more effectually to do it voted That the Duke of York's being a Papist and the hopes of his coming as such to the Crown have given the greatest countenance and encouragement to the designs of the Papists c. And therefore ordered a Bill of Exclusion of the Duke of York from the Sucession of the Crown to be brought in But the King and the Dukes party were for offering Expedients for securing the Protestant Religion tho' the Duke should come a Papist to the Crown But this would not content the Commons And there arising some heats between the Lords and Commons about the Bishops Voting in Capital Cases the King thinking he could expect but little from them Prorogued them to a more convenient season but in a little time after dissolved them and called another which he hoped to find more to his purpose But during the interval of the Parliament Sir George Wakeman was tryed for the Popish Plot and acquitted before the Lord Chief Justice Scroges whose carriage was so different in this Tryal from what it had been in those before that he was shrewdly suspected to have some very feeling Reasons for it For after this Tryal Scrogs was more violent against Oats and the Whigs than he had been before against the Papists And now there was set on foot a new Popish Plot to sham the old one and put a Plot upon the Presbyterians which was called The Meal-Tub Plot the Papers relating to it being found under Madam Celiers Meal-tub the design whereof was To leave Papers and Libels of dangerous things against the Government in the Houses of the most Eminent persons active in the Discovery of the Popish Plot by them called Presbyterians and then to inform the Government that such persons where these papers were left were dangerous persons to the King and Goverment upon which their Houses being search'd and these papers found there it should have been sufficient evidence to condemn them The Tryal how this would do was first made upon Colonel Mansfel a worthy Gentelman who was Prosecuted for it but the examination of it being left to Sir William Jones the Attorney-General his Report was That Mansfel was innocent and Dangerfield at that time the Papists Tool and who had left the Papers in Mansfels Lodgings was guilty Upon which Dangerfield was committed to Prison where he mad ae thorow discovery of this cursed intreague and Sir Wil. Jones was turn'd out of his place for his honest Report And indeed from this time forward the Duke of York and his Creatures ruled all things under the King so that now the whole Design of the Government seem'd to be to sham
in the Year 1682. The chief Witness against him was Rumsey who Swore That the Declaration for a Rising being read Alderman Cornish being present and being ask'd how he lik'd it he answer'd Very well and what poor Interest he had he would join in it And yet this Fellow at the Lord Russel's Tryal Swore Cornish was not there when the Declaration was read nor knew nothing of it However the Alderman's Death was resolved on and both Judge and Jury being agreed he was found Guilty Condemn'd and on the 23th of the same Month executed in Cheapside over against the Guild-Hall of the City Declaring his Innocency as to what he was Condemn'd for to the very last And indeed Heaven it self attested it for him for his Execution was follow'd with such a dreadful Storm of Wind attended with Thunder Lightning and Rain as the like has scarce happened at that time of the Year in the Memory of Man His true Crime was That he was a Zealous Protestant that had serv'd the City Faithfully in his Shrievalty and had Examined Fitz-Harris in Newgate and had like to have discovered the Depth of that cursed Design against the Protestants The same Day also one Mrs. Gaunt a Woman of great Goodness and Charity was burn'd at Tyburn for relieving a Lieutenant under Monmouth in the West himself being the Witness against her for which he had his Pardon And now the Parliament met again and the King tells them how he had Defeated Monmouth and that several Popish Officers had been very useful to him therein that he could not be without their Service and that the Militia was not sufficient without keeping up a standing Army and hopes they will help him to Defray the Charge but the Parliament address to him to Disband his Popish Officers and offers to pass an Act to Indempnify them from the Penalties they had already incurr'd in serving without having taken the Test appointed by Law This Address of the Commons was very surprising to the King who expected from them absolute Obedience without Reserve But the King was much more Surpriz'd when he understood that the Bishop of London had made a motion in the House of Lords to take the King's Speech into Consideration as fearing the Lords would concur with the Commons in their Address But the King was resolved to prevent it and therefore first Prorogued and soon after Dissolved the Parliament who had been so large in their Supplies the first Session that now too late they saw he was able to live without them The Parliament's questioning of the Popish Officers had put them all into a Fright but the Parliament being Dissolved they were all at ease again and nothing but Popish Officers and Priests and Jesuites are seen about the Court who were grown to an unparallell'd degree of Impudence And yet to find Fault with them was a Crime next to High-Treason But the King finding the Penal Laws and Tests stand as a mighty Obstacle in his way was resolv'd to remove them In order to which the Lord-Keeper North dying while Jefferies was keeping the Bloody Assizes in the West at his return back he had the Seals given him with the Title of Lord-Chancellor as a Reward for his good Service in destroying the Western Hereticks and as an encouragement to him to destroy the Penal Laws and Tests the great Bulwark against Popery And therefore dispensing Power in the King is that which must next be set up in order to effect it And the Judges must be dealt with to give their Opinions for it And I have been certainly told That the King Closetting Sir Thomas Jones about it Sir Thomas was not enough thorow paced but boggled at it and told the King He could not do it to which the King answering He would have twelve Judges of his Opinion Sir Thomas Replyed He might have twelve Judges of his Opinion but he would scarce find twelve Lawyers of his Opinion But the King was as good as his Word and made such Judges as gave their Opinions That the King might dispense with the Penal Laws and Tests out of Parliament The Papists having always look'd upon the Church of England with an evil Eye did so now more than ever they having writ several Elaborate and Learned Books in opposition to the principal Errors of Popery which they were never able to answer But they were resolv'd if they could not deal with them one way they would another and therefore the King granted a Commission for Ecclesiastical Affairs expresly contrary to Law thereby to Curb them This Commission was Granted to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor Jefferies the Earl of Rochester the Earl of Sunderland the Bishop of Durham the Bishop of Rochester and the Lord-Chief-Justice of England But the Arch-bishop of Canterbury refusing to act in it the Bishop of Chester was added Before these Commissioners the Bishop of London was Cited and Suspended for not Suspending Dr. Sharp for Preaching a Sermon against the Corruptions and Frauds of the Church of Rome In Ireland the King having recalled the Duke of Ormond from his Lieutenancy made the Earl of Clarendon Lieutenant and Sir Charles Porter Lord-Chancellor who after their arrival there declared according to their Instructions that the King would preserve the Acts of Settlement and Explanation inviolable as the Magna-Charta of Ireland But at the same time the King having given to Collonel Richard Talbot a Man not at all belov'd by the Protestants an Independent Commission to reform the Army and he turns out those Officers that were firm to the Protestant Religion and the English Interest and puts Notorious Irish Papists in their Room and serves not only the Officers but even the private Troopers and Soldiers that were Protestants in the same manner So that one of the best principled Armies in the World both with respect to Loyalty and a firm adherence to the Protestant Religion was turn'd out and Disbanded and a parcel of Irish Popish Cut-Throats entertain'd in their places which seemed strange to the English Protestants there and not at all agreeable to what my Lord Clarendon and Sir Charles Porter had told them who were not themselves pleased with it but knew not how to help it But in England the King having established his Dispensing Power puts forth a Declaration for Liberty of Conscience pursuant to which the Goals all over England that were fill'd with Protestant Dissenters were clear'd and the Dissenters set at Liberty Who having been long oppress'd and almost ruin'd by severe Prosecutions for several Years together were now glad of a little Ease tho' the most Judicious among them saw clearly enough it was not for their Sakes but to introduce Popery that this Indulgence was principally Granted and therefore were always afraid of the Snake hid in the Grass The Episcopal Clergy who in the late Reign and the beginning of this also had been very severe to Dissenters began now to see they had
been only Tools in so doing to the Papists and had carried on their Wâ—â—k for them and now that their Eyes began to be 〈◊〉 and tâ—â—â— they would be so no more they would fain have made Tâ—â—s of the Dissenters to pull down the Church of England by aggravating the ill Usage they had receiv'd from them so many Years And that now was their time to call them to an Account and be even with them for it and several of the Dissenters who were very Honest tho' mistaken Men were by these specious Pretences drawn in to joyn with them The King was so fond or his Declaration for Liberty of Conscience that he Publishes it a second time with an Injunction to have it read in all Parish-Churches and the Bishops of the respective Diocesses were to see it done But the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and several of the Bishops looking upon this as a thing contrary to Law not only refused to do it but humbly Petitioned the King to hear the Reasons why they could not comply with that Order But this was looked upon by Jefferies then Lord-Chancellor Father Peters then made one of the Privy-Council and others of the Popish Faction as a Crime next to High-Treason and therefore for their Contempt they were Committed to the Tower It was now more than a Year that had passed since the King's Declaration for Indulgence came forth and the Prince and Princeâ— of Orange having been privately sounded how they stood affected to the Test and Penal Laws they being the next Heirs to the Crown their Opinion seemed to be That the Papists should by Law have Liberty for the private Exercise of their Religion without Disturbance but that by no means the Tests should be taken off to let them in to have a share in the Government This it was that touch'd the Papists to the quick for they saw that the King was well stricken in Years and upon his Death which they knew not how soon might happen a Protestant Princess was the next Heir who would soon pull down all that Babel which they had been Building and therefore some other Provision must be made for another Popish Successor And nothing could do this so well as a young Prince of Wales during whose Minority if the Kiâ—â— should Die they might Govern themselves 〈…〉 Popery as in the days of Old This being resolv'd on the old Dâ—tchess of Modena makes hee Offering to the Lady of Loretto of whom she Implores That the Queen of England may have a Son for a Daughter would signify nothing to be Heir of the Crown of England By Vertue of these Prayers and the Queen's going down to the Bath and drinking the Waters there she was said to be Impregnated and nothing was now to be heard among the Popish Faction but drinking the Young Prince's Health even before he was Born for that it would be a Son there was no body question'd as taking it for Granted that was the Design And all things were carried on by the Faction in order to it's Birth The Princess Ann of Denmark being not very well was advis'd by her Physicians to go down to the Bath for the Recovery of her Health And the Arch bishop of Canterbury and several others of the Bishops being in the Tower and the Bishop of London suspended from his Office and other concurring Circumstances being ready it was now look'd upon to be a good time for the Queen to cry out which was accordingly so well manag'd that on Sunday the 11th of June 1688 a young Prince of Wales was said to be born Which was publish'd with so much Joy both throughout England Scotland and Ireland and by their Embassadors in all Foreign Courts that they abundantly over-acted it The great Point of a Popish Heir being thus secur'd the Popish Faction begun to go on with a high Hand turning out Dr. Hough whom the Fellows of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford had chosen for their President and all the Fellows too because they would not accept of a Papist whom the King would have impos'd upon 'em by a Mandamus in Sidney Colledge in Cambridge Father Francis was put in and in Vniversity-Colledge in Oxford Obadiah Walker the Principal declar'd himself a Papist The Head of Christ-Church put in by the King waâ— also of â—â—e same Profession Nor was any Preferment to 〈…〉 unless he were a Roman-Catholick In Scotland the â—ing had issued out a Proclamation for Tolleration in Religion recommending his Roman-Catholick Subjects particularly to the Protection of the Government there and tells them he expects his Will should be Obey'd absolutely and without Reserve But in Ireland the King would allow no Liberty of Conscience to the Protestants for they were turn'd out of all Offices and Places whatsoever And the Earl of Clarendon recalled from his Lieutenancy and Talbot who had already reformed the Army there and made it perfectly Popish was for that good Service made Earl of Tyrconnel and Deputy of Ireland Sir Charles Porter also the Lord Chancellor was turned out and one Alexander Fitton a Papist who had been fetch'd out of Goal in England and made a Knight is now made Lord-Chancellor in his place I have before told you of the Committing of the Seven Bishops to the Tower which were the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Bishop of Bath and Wells the Bishop of Bristol the Bishop of Peterborough the Bishop of Chichester the Bishop of St. Asaph â—nd the Bishop of Ely and of the Birth of the pretended Prince of Wales while they were there the Bishops having by their Habeas Corpus been set at Liberty were Tryed for a high Misdemeanour in Trinity-Term following and notwithstanding the new Modelling of the Judges and that one of then Judge All'bone was a known Papist yet Mr. Justice Powel to his lasting Honour did both Learnedly and Zealously defend their Cause so that the Jury acquitted them The publick Rejoycing that was made for the acquittal of the Bishops was not Confined to the Cities of London and Westminster but upon the News thereof being brought to Hounsloe-Heath where the Army lay the King being at that time treated by the Earl of Feversham in his Tent it was received with a general Shout throughout the whole Army the King not knowing the Reason of that Shout was very much Startled at it and sent the Earl of Feversham out to enquire the Cause who upon his Return told the King ' Tâ—â—â— nothing 〈◊〉 the Soldiers Joy for the acquittal of the Bishops To whom the King reply'd with some Discomposure And call you that Nothing This being indeed enough to let him see how vain a Design he had undertaken to set up Popery by a Protestant Army The King was now busie in modelling all the Corporations in England that send Burgesses to Parliament to get a Parliament fitted to his own Turn in order to take off the Penal Laws and Tests no other obstacle now lying in his way when on a sudden he
places of England that had risen on this Revolution But Ireland was in a dangerous Condition for the Earl of Tyrconnel had stopped almost all the Ports and was raising numerous Forces of Irish for the Service of King James so that those who would have fled into England or Scotland were for the most part restrained and obliged to continue under the dreadful Apprehensions of another Massacre being every where in the Countrey Robbed and Spoiled of their Substance and a great many Imprisoned The State of which Kingdom the King earnestly recommended to his Parliament desiring them to hasten the raising such Supplies as was requisite in order to reduâ—d it to Obedience The Lord bishop of London with about one Hundred of the City Clergy waiting on the King to tender their humble Duty he gave them an assurance of his Affection to the Church of England and of all Encouragement to them concluding that they might depend upon his Word And an Act passed about Removing and Preventing all Questions and Disputes about the Assembling and sitting of the Parliament and the King issued out his Proclamation to leave the Irish without Excuse That if they would lay down their Arms and Live quietly they should have their Pardon for all things past and enjoy their Estates but if they continued still in Arms declaring them Rebels and Traytors and their Lands and Possessions Forfeited c. But this Proclamation being not Publish'd in Ireland had little effect tho' in the North the Protestants secured London-Derry Sligo and other places in expectation of being Aided from England And now the King to ease his Subjects consented that the Duty of Hearth-Money that had long been a Burden to the Nation might be taken off which was very pleasing to the People Thomas Pilkington Esq who in the late Reign was Fined 100000 l. upon an Action of Scandalum Magnatum brought against him by the then Duke of York was now chosen Lord-Mayor of London in which Honourable station he continued near three Years And now the Coronation being appointed on the 11th of April it was performed with great Splendor and Magnificence occasioning great Demonstrations of Joy in the People and soon after the Crown of Scotland was by the Commissioners of the Estates presented to the King and Queen which was accepted and the usual Coronation Oath of that Kingdom taken And now Admiral Herbert standing with a considerable Squadron to the Coast of Ireland fought with about 40 French Men of War in Bantrey-Bay in this Engagement Capt. George Aylmer of the Portland a Lieutenant and 64 Seamen were Killed and about 240 Wounded the Enemy losing a greater Number And then at the humble Request of the Parliament the King declared War with France In Scotland Duke Hamilton was made High-Commissioner where the Duke of Gourdon held the Castle of Edenborough for King James and the Viscount Dundee had a considerable Force in the Field to second him and many hot Skirmishes were Fought till at last in an Obstinate Fight Dundee was killed upon which the Duke of Gourdon not finding himself longer able to hold the Castle delivered it up to Sir John Lanier upon Articles â—nd tho' Collonel Cannon Buchanon and others kept up the Party in the Field for a while at length they were dispersed and Scotland entirely Quieted On the 24th of July the Princess of Denmark was brought to Bed of a Son and on the 28th he was Christened William by the Bishop of London the King and the Earl of Dorset standing God-Fathers and the Marchioness of Hallifax God-Mother and then the King declared the Young Prince Duke of Gloucester King James being Landed in Ireland with some French Forces and a considerable number of Officers Arms and Ammunition had with a numerous Army besieged London-Derry which was Defended by the Inhabitants and others till it was reduced to the last Extremity by Famine but then Providence so ordered it that Major-General Kirk sending in Shipping with Provision the Siege was raised The Besiegers in lying before it and by the Besieged's falling on the Rear in drawing off having lost 2000 men and Dr. Walker a principal Man in Defending that place coming over the King Ordered him 5000 l. as a mark of his Bounty with an Assurance of greater Advantages And on the 13th of August the Duke of Schomberg Landed with the English Army at Carickfergus in Ireland and soon Reduced divers Places compelling the advanced Parties of the Irish to retreat before him and held a Winter-Camp on the Plains of Dundalk which being Moorish and Foggy many Gallant Men dyed of the Flux and other Sicknesses But the Iniskilling-men who frequently went abroad in Parties did considerable Service by cutting off the Irish Rapparees Whilst these things passed the King for weighty Reasons dissolved his first Parliament and called another to sit at Westminster the 20th of March 1690 and the Commons chusing Sir John Trevor their Speaker the King told both Houses among other things That his Resolution was to go for Ireland his Presence being necessary there for Reducing that Kingdom Signifying it was his Pleasure to leave the Government in the Queen's Hands during his Absence and accordingly before his Departure an Act was passed to that Purpose And the King of Denmark at this time assisted the King with 6000 Danish Soldiers under the Leading of the Duke of Wirtemburg who did notable Service Charlemont having been straightly Blocked up Capitulated and other places were Reduced by Force And now the King having settled Affairs in England left White-Hall on the 4th June and on the 14th Landed at Carickfergus in Ireland and hastened to order the Army and Marching to the Newry had News that the Enemy having set Fire to their Straw had Decamped and quitted that strong Post This at first scarce gained Credit but Scouts being sent out and the Report confirmed the King changed his March and sent Orders to the Forces at Armagh and Fevergee to march by the great Roads towards Dundalk in which some of our Men fell into an Ambush of the Enemy but behaved themselves with that Courage and Bravery that most of them got off having slain the Commander and brought away his Horse and the King marched towards Drogheda where he found the Enemy Encamped along the River Boyn above the Town and as he was viewing them a Six-pounder grazed on his Shoulder which only rased the Skin but as soon as it was Dressed he took Horse and Commanded Count Solmes to find out a Ford above the Enemy and pass the River which he Successfully did and obliged those that Guarded it after a hot Dispute to retire And upon notice of this the whole Army passed at other Fords the Foot wading some to the Arm-pits sustaining all the Enemies Fire and not returning it till they came close up with them and falling furiously on soon gave them a general Rout but in this Encounter Duke Schomberg and Dr. Walker late of London-Derry
were Kill'd and about 300 of lesser Note on our Part The Enemy lost 3000 and were pursued 4 Miles and upon this Defeat Drogheda Surrendred and K. James with part of his broken Army hasted to Dublin and from thence he went to Waterford where soon after he took Ship and Sailed for France and the King of England coming to Dublin was received with all imaginable Demonstrations of Joy and a great many Protestants who had been Imprisoned were set at Liberty the Papists disarmed and the Affairs in those Parts settled and many places that stood out Surrendred The Brass and Copper Money K. James had Coined as passable in that Kingdom was called in or set at the Value of the Metal only Sheriffs appointed and the Face of Justice restored Whilst these things were doing beyond the Seas an Engagement happened between the English and French off Beachy viz. on June 30. in which the Dutch Squadron being forward to gain the Weather-Gage of the Enemy received great Loss many of them being Burnt or so shattered that after the Fight they fell into the Hands of the Enemy the English red Squadron not coming up as was expected for which Miscarriage our Admiral the Earl of Torrington was Tryed but acquitted and after the Fight the French insulted our Coasts burning Tingmouth a Viâ—â—age of Fishers Cots and doing some other Damage after which they retired to their own Coast and one Godfrey Cross an Inn-keeper in Kent for going on Board the Enemy and giving Intelligence was afterward Try'd Condemned and Executed near St. Thomas's Waterings in the Kentish-road from London And this Year the King besieged Lymerick in Ireland but by reason of the Strength of the Place advancing of the Season and great Rains that over-flowed the River Shannon on which it is seated having in vain summoned it he drew off and returned to England But our Fleet standing to that Coast and the Earl of Marlborough on board it with considerable Land-Forces and joyned upon Landing by part of the Army already there they took Cork and Kinsale with little Loss at the Siege of the first the Noble Duke of Grafton amongst others pressing too forwards on the Works was Slain by a small Shot A Plot was soon after Discovered to have set the City of Dublin on Fire and in that Hurry to have fallen on the King ' Forces in Garison there and by a miserable Slaughter to have Surprized it but some Letters intimating the Intention being found by the Care of the Lord Sidney and Conningsby whom the King had appointed Lords-Justices the Mischief was prevented by securing Suspected Persons And now the Parliament of England waited on the King with their humble Addresses of Thanks for the great Things he had done for these Kingdoms and to Congratulate his happy Return and Success and the King was not slow by Marks of Honour and Promotion to Gratify those that had well-behaved themselves in the Service and among others Coll. Cuts was Created Baron of Gowran in the Kingdom of Ireland he also appointed his Privy Council there and all other Officers of State Judges and Magistrates restored such as had been outed and appointed some new Bishops causing a Regulation of the Clergy in General The Winter thus passing on the King prepared to pass the Seas to be at the Congress of Princes and Embassadors appointed at the Hague to Concert the Measures for carrying on the War against France and after he had passed several Acts and Prorogu'd the Parliament he Embarq'd with a splendid Train of Nobility and with great Difficulty by reason of the Ice it being January Landed near Maesland-sluys and being Complemented by the Deputies of the States passed to the Hague where the States General and Council of State with other Colledges made their Complements to him as also the Foreign Ministers and to make his Reception the more Magnificent three Triumphal Arches were Erected one by the States-General and two by the Magistrates with sundry Motto's and Devices Expressing the great things he had done and what more Glorious were Promised from his Heroick Virtues too many here to Enumerate and in the Evening the Cannon Illuminations Fire-works and shouts of the People spoke more loudly the Welcome of a Prince that has so well deserved of that Nation And at his first appearing in the Assembly of the States-General taking his Place at the upper-end of the Table he with many Obliging Expressions declared his Affections and good Inclinations to them in a most Elegant Speech which being deliberated on the Heer Van Wickers President of the Assembly in the name of the rest made a suitable Answer and the Duke of Brandenburg and other Princes being met a League and strict Amity was agreed on for restoring the Peace and Tranquility of Europe in reducing by Arms the Grand Disturber of it to Reason and a Restitution of what he had wrongfully either by Surprize or Vioolence taken from the Confederates for which War had been Proclaimed by them Whilst the King was thus busy beyond the Seas some ill-affected Persons were Designing at home to betray our Strengths into the Hands of the Common Enemy by giving account of the Ports Shipping and what else might facilitate an Invasion and on this account the Lord Preston John Ashton and Edmund Elâ—ot were seized in a Smack as they were passing out of the River of Thames by Captain Billop and Papers of Dangerous Consequence found with which they were designed for France for which the two first being Tryed and found Guilty of High-Treason Ashton was Executed The King having appointed the Baron D' Ginkle chief Commander of his Forces in Ireland having received Supplies and Stores from England he besieged Ballymore which surrendred upon Discretion And having Garisoned it the Army marched and set down before Athlone where they had put up French Colours to make him believe the Garison mostly consisted of that Nation However a Breach being made and succeeded by a vigorous Attack the Base Town was soon won and the other followed the same Fate in a short time tho' their whole Army lay behind it and the Soldiers furiously entring a great many were put to the Sword This was no sooner Repaired and Garisoned but the Army pursued the Retreating Enemy and in a long-Contested Battel at Aghrim gave them a total Rout so that they never considerably appeared in the Field after it St. Ruth the French General was slain with a Cannon-shot at the beginning of the Fight and all their Cannon Baggage Ammunition and Plunder of the Camp fell to the share of our Men. And being Refreshed they marched to Galloway which place after a considerable Battery was Surrendred on Articles and the Garison marched to Lymerick which was the next place besieged but holding out Obstinately and having in it a numerous Garison it was thought fit after a considerable Siege to grant advantagious Articles and as many as would had leave to depart the Kingdom And
Primate of England so that he and his Successors became subordinate to the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury Philip King of France taking advantage of the Kings Absence from Normandy encouraged Robert to make himself Absolute Duke assisting him with Men and Money whereupon the King was again constrained to pass the Seas with a puissant Army being over-eager in laying waste the Country and harassing himself in War being over-heated he fell Sick and hearing that the French King should say in a Scoffing manner He lay a long time in Child-Bed he Replied in a rage That at his Vprising or Churching he would Light so many Candles in France as should Inflame the whole Country And indeed he made his words good for upon his recovery inraged that his Enemies had in his Sickness taken the advantage to waste his Territories he spoiled all the West parts of France Firing the City of Nantz Meux and a great number of Towns and Villages Inriching with part of the Spoil the Church of St. Stephen's in Normandy which was of his own Founding moreover bequeathing in his last Will his Crown and Regal Ornaments to it appointing his Body when he Dyed to be Buryed therein And for the Service done in this War he requited many of his Commanders who had signalized their Vallour with possessions in England to hold them of the Crown one of which Grants for the Antiquity and plain manner of Conveyance exempted from the tediousness now in use I think not amiss to recite viz. I William give to thee Norman Hunter here Who art to me both Leef and Dear The Hop and the Hoptown And all the Bounds up and down Vnder the Earth to Hell and even Above the Earth to Heaven From me and mine To thee and thine As good and faire As ever they were To Witness that this is Sooth I bite the White Wax with my Tooth Before Jug Maud and Margery And my Young Son Henry For a Bow and a broad Arrow When I come to Hunt upon Yarrow In the last Year of this Kings Reign there was found in the Province called Rose in Wales a Sepulcher of 14 Foot Long in which was Buried with much Treasure as the Custom of the Times then were Gawen one of King Arthurs Knights of his Round Table and Bones therein of an exceeding bigness And now as all Kings must come at last to the Grave the Life of this Restless Conquerer grew to a Period for going over to Quiet new Troubles in Normandy he had scarcely Accomplished it before he fell Sick of a Malignant Feaver at Caen in Normandy and after some Languishings Dyed and being a corpulent Man his Belly in a little time Burst and the Stench being great none but a few poor Monks would come near him nor was this all one Ascalinus Fitz Arthur a Norman Gentleman denyed him Burial in St. Stephen's Church saying He had Founded it on his Inheritance violently taken away that it stood upon the Floor of his Fathers House and the Body of no Despoiler should be covered in his Earth however Henry his Fourth Son giving a Hundred Pound Weight in Silver as a recompence he was there Interred but with little or no Ceremony so that he who in his Life time made Nations Tremble being Dead was little or nothing regarded This William the First was Son to Robert the Sixth Duke of Normandy begotten as is said on a Beautiful Damsel named Arlet the Daughter of a Tanner in Honour of whom a Town is called by her Name He began his Reign over England Anno Dom. 1066 on Saturday the Fourteenth of October and Reigned Twenty Years Ten Months and Twenty Six Days being the 21 Sole Monarch of England Remarks on Lincolnshire c. LIncolnshire by reason of its Fens and other Advantagious Pastures produces great numbers of small and large Cattle a good sprinkling of Corn abundance of Fish and Wild-Fowl much Wooll and Leather It is commodiously on the East Bounded with the German Ocean and part of Norfolk so that by reason of its Havens it has a great Trade and very much helped on the North by being Bounded with the River Humber and part of Yorkshire on the West with Yorkshire Notinghamshire and Leicestershire on the South with Northamptonshire and Cambridgshire It is divided into 30 Hundreds containing one City a Bishops See 630 Parishes 33 Market Towns and 9 Rivers It sends Members to Parliament 12 viz. Boston 2 Grantham 2 Grimesby 2 Lincoln City 2 Stamford 2 and 2 Knights of the Shire Lincoln was Antiently held to be one of the finest Cities of England being of great Antiquity and made by King Edward the Third the chief Mart for Lead Wooll and Leather here was also a great Battel Fought between Randolph Earl of Chester Robert Earl of Gloucester and King Stephen the latter being Overthrown and taken Prisoner It was Besieged by King Henry the Third and taken from the Barrons Wainfleet was the Birth Place of William Sirnamed thence Wainfleet who Flourished in the Reign of Henry the Sixth being Bishop of Winchester He Founded here a Free-School and Magdalen Colledge in Oxford LINCOLNE SHIRE In the Fens are found the Ategen or Godwitt also a foolish Bird called a Dottrell which Cambden says being Hunted thrusts its Head into a Bush and then thinks all is secure tho' the whole Body is seen and so in Moulting time he is easily taken The Reign of WILLIAM the Second Sirnamed Rufus WHen William the First Dyed his Eldest Son Robert was in Germany Negotiating his Fathers Affairs to draw in those Princes to assist him in making a Vigorous War on the French who were now become somewhat Formidable to their Neighbours so that by the favour of his Absence the Conquerers Last Will the furtherance of Lanfrank and Wolstane two Learned Prelates who had great Influence over the Commons and divers of the Nobles William Sirnamed Rufus from the Redness of his Hair or Face was after many hot debates among the Nobles Crowned King at Westminster by Lanfrank Arch Bishop of Canterbury on Sunday the 26th of September Anno Dom. 1087. This William was Younger Brother to Robert but being of a milder Temper and better affected to the English by reason he had in a manner been bred up amongst them and approved by them Robert found himself greatly Agreived that he had been put beside his Right in England tho' the Dutchy of Normandy was left entirely to him but the Title of Duke not agreeing with his great Spirit when he perceived he might have been a King had not loss of opportunity barr'd it he resolved nevertheless to tempt Fortune in a tryal for the regaining what was overslipt whereupon he raised a gallant Army composed of his own Subjects and Strangers Landing them in England with little or no Resistance not doing any damage to the English but being Encamped Commissioners were sent by King William to treat with him about an Accommodation for the preventing the effusion of
Francis Lord Lovel and others were Slain with 4000 Common Soldiers and Symnel taken Prisoner June 16 Anno Dom. 1487. At Mansfield was Born the first Earl Mansfield in Germany now a famous Family in the Empire said to be one of King Arthurs Round Table Knights Blythe is a pleasant Town situate on the River Idle Besides these of Note and Antiquity are Hoverham Retford Worksop and Southwell In this County is the much noted Forrest of Shirwood where Robin Hood held his chief Residence and in it are bred a great many of those Hares called the Laner In this County they digg a soft Stone which Burnt makes a Plaister for Flooring their upper-Rooms which dry'd is harder than Plaister of Paris About Worksop grows store of Liquorice The County contains many Parks full of Deer The Rivers Meers and Ponds are stored with Fish and at the Season there is plenty of Wild-Fowl The Seats of the Nobility are Worksop belonging to the Duke of Norfolk Welbeck Abby and Notingham Castle to the late Earl of Newcastle Holm Pierepont to the Duke of Northumberland Rufford to the Marques of Hallifax Houghton and Chare-House to the Earl of Clare Shelford to the Earl of Chesterfield Bestwood to the Earl of Burford Newsted Abby Bulvel Park and Linby to the Lord Rochdale Averham and Killham to the Lord Lexington besides divers pleasant Seats of the Gentry c. The Reign of King RICHARD the First RICHARD the Eldest Son living of Henry the Second was in Normanay at the time his Father Dyed there and could not come over so soon as was expected by reason that Country remained unsettled by Intestine Wars and some Factions the French had made at a great Expence to keep it so which required necessarily his presence However he sent over speedy orders for the Releasment of Queen Elianor his Mother who had endured a long and hard Imprisonment by the strict command of King Henry who would not forgive her at his Death because she had Poisoned Rosamond his fair and much beloved Concubine and after her Releasment she was by King Richard appointed Regent of England till his Return And then by reason her own Experience had informed her what hardships those endured who Languished under Confinement she caused to be set at Liberty all such as were in Prison for ordinary Offences or small Debts The latter she Paid that the Subjects should be no Loosers by her commiseration and Administred the Government Prudently with much Moderation Integrity and Justice The King at length coming over with a splendid Train of Nobility was received with great Joy of the People and puting an end to the Queen Dowager's Regency was Crowned by Baldwin Arch Bishop of Canterbury and Swore to keep several Articles administered to him by the Nobles to the Ease and great Advantage of his Subjects freeing all that were in Prison for Offences against the Crown and such others as without injustice done to his Subjects he could acquit and in the whole course of his Government so provided that Mercy with Justice might extend to all and finding his Brother John of a Turbulent Spirit he heaped many Honours and Promotions on him thereby to satisfie him and alay his thirst of aspiring viz. He Created him Earl of Lancaster and gave him the Counties of Notingham Devon and Cornwal Married him to the sole Daughter and Heiress of the Earl of Glocester by which means he obtained the Lordship of that County But these great Favours and Donations answered not the Kings expectations for when he had showered on him such Bounties he found him by his practices reaching at the Crown as much relying on a Faction at home and the promises of the French to assist him when need required it It being a Policy of theirs to divert King Richard whom all Historians allow to be a Valiant and Warlike Prince from Warring on France in Reparation of the many Injuries his Subjects in Normandy had Sustained by the Inroads they had frequently made However the King mildly reproving his Brother and shewing him his Ingratitude to nurture such Designs also the Guilt and Danger he would incur he made many Excuses and Protestations he had no such Designs as had been suggested of him and they were both his and the Kings Enemies who had spread those reports to set them at variance These and his renewed Protestations of Loyalty and Obedience resolving to live quiet and contribute all he could to the Advantage of the Commonweal prevailed with the King to accept of his Submission and have a good opinion of his Fidelity and the King as an Expiation for the Offences himself had committed against Henry his Father making a Vow to accompany the other Christian Princes for the Recovery of the Holy Land from the Turks and other Infidels who grievously Oppressed the Asian Christians he the more easily winked at what he had plainly seen so that a Reconcilement being made the Kings thoughts were wholly taken up with his intended Expedition but having Lavished away the vast Treasure his Father left in large Donations he found Money was wanting to furnish him out with such an Army and Equipage as might stand with his Honour He had been Solicited besides his own Inclinations by the Pope to this Undertaking with many promised Blessings as others had been if by their Arms they Regained the Holy City Jerusalem from the Infidels yet to raise Money he refused to Levy any Taxes on his Subjects but Sold his Castles of Barwick and Roxborough to the King of Scots for 10000 Pounds the Lordship and Earldom of Durham to Hugh then Bishop of the See for 16000 Pounds as also Honours Lordships Mannors Priviledges Royalties and Crown-Lands upon other Grants and Tenures to divers of his Subjects for much Money so that having as he supposed a sufficient Treasure he prepared things in a readiness but contrary to his expectation it falling short he borrowed Sums of such as he had formerly Liberally bestowed his Bounties on protesting that for the performing so great and Honourable a service he was not unwilling to Sell his City of London if he could find any body of Ability to Purchase it rather than by Taxes he would Oppress his Subjects In this Undertaking at the Instance and earnest Incitement of the Pope were also Engaged Frederick the Emperer Philip the Second Sirnamed Augustus King of France Leopold Arch Duke of Austria and many other Princes so that a gallant Army was prepared and great store of Treasure With these King Richard entered into an Agreement that their General Rendezvous should be in the Island of Sicily the following Spring and That such Wealth and Booty as God and good Fortune should put into their Possession should be equally divided between them and their Forces and thus every thing being in a readiness King Richard appointed William Langchamp Bishop of Ely Regent in his Absence and soon after the better to Establish the Bishops Authority among the
Nobles who little approved him the Pope appointed him his Legate in England and so early in the Spring the King with about 30000 Men at Arms with divers Nobles and Gentlemen set Sail and safely arrived in the Port of Messina in Sicily whither the King of France and some other Princes whose Territories lay near were got before him and there they renewed their Resolves not to Return till they had won Jerusalem but this fair Sunshine held not long on the French Kings part for his Army being exceeded by the Gallantry of the English he feared they would win from him the Glory of the Undertaking which his Flatterers had told him would redound totally to his Honour and the lasting Fame of the French Nation so that clouds of discontent appeared on his Brows and in a little time he gave free Reins to the former Displeasure that had been hushed for that King Richard had rejected his Sister and Married the Daughter of the King of Navar yet as well as he could he dissembled his displeasure seeing the Eyes of all Christendom were fixed on this Undertaking and without the apparent loss of his Honour he could not presently draw back when he was so far Engaged and so weighing Anchor they set forward with a fair Gale but at length a Storm arising the English Fleet was separated from the rest and driven on the Coast of the pleasant Island of Cyprus where some of his Ships putting in to Repair the Dammage they had received at Sea divers of their Marriners upon Landing were Slain by the King of the Island 's command who professed himself a Christian and well-wisher to this Undertaking this so much transported King Richard with a desire of chastizing such Inhospitality and Outrage that he Tack'd with his whole Fleet Landed his Army on the Island and easily Overthrew the King and took him Prisoner carrying him along with him Manacled in Silver Chaines to Syria and having secured the Island to his Interest by leaving a Governour and Garisons in the strong Forts he Sailed to Ptolomais which place he had News the Christians had Besieged and there was Joyfully received by many of the Princes in Leagre and having a day or two refreshed and comforted his Forces it was agreed that a general Assault should be given at the places where the Battering Rams and other forcible Engins had made Breaches in the Walls which was so hotly carried on that all their Out-works were won in a few Hours whereupon the Garison not expecting present Relief and fearing to be put to the Sword if the Town was taken by Storm Surrendered upon Condition they might safely depart thence This was agreed to upon their leaving 5000 Hostages till a great Sum of Money should be Paid and that Saladine the Turkish Sultan should deliver up such Prisoners as he had taken being Christians and so about 50000 Marched out many of them almost Starved the Famine having been extream among them No sooner they had vacated the City but the Duke of Austria's Standard bearer hasted to plant his Masters Colours on the Battelment as if by the sole Valour of the Austrian Arms the Place had been Taken which indeed had the least share in the Danger This so highly displeased King Richard that not staying to Command any other to do it he stept on the Wall and plucking down those Proud Colours trampled them under his Feet This put the Duke into a great chafe which made him afterward Confederate with Lewis the Second to hinder the progress of Affairs in the Holy Land that King Richard might not carry from them the Glory Yet he little regarded their Anger but pursuing this success gave Saladine Battel not far from this City and Overthrew him with incredible Slaughter having the execution of the Enemy for many Miles so that the Fields and Lanes were covered with their dead Bodies and thereupon he Marched his Army towards Jerusalem being chosen General by the Knights Templars and most of the Princes But in the midest of these great Designs Mallice thrust in to hinder the progress of the Christian Arms as to what was intended to be done for the Discontents of Lewis and the Duke of Austria more and more growing on them they at length shewed it so openly as to withdraw a great part of their Forces from the Army and the former pretending want of Health and the Climates not agreeing with him Sailed back to France carrying with him the best of his Forces and tho' before he went he gave his Oath at the earnest Request of the Popes Legate that he would not injure King Richards Territories neither in Normandy nor England yet soon after recalling the rest of his Forces with them went the Duke of Austria whom he had constituted his Lieutenant General in Syria He did make War against Normandy and strove to raise distractions in England but in the former Attempt he was mostly worsted yet at last swept away some small Towns and Castles and in the latter the Threatnings of the Popes Curse against all that should Rebel in England prevented his Intrigues in a great measure though some Commotions happened as you will hear in the sequel Notwithstanding thse Disappointments King Richard Wintered his Army in those Towns the Sultan had Ruinated in his Retreat to prevent their falling into the hands of the Christians Rebuilding and Fortifying those that were most commodious resolving in the Spring to lay Siege to Jerusalem but when his Forces were drawn into the Field he found by Sickness and many that had Deserted his Army was so wasted that he was not able to undertake it The Sultan fearing some such design had strongly Garisoned it with 30000 Men However the King Marched forward and took by the way divers Castles and Fortresses and 5000 Camels Laden with Riches from Egypt and Arabia which much Encouraged his Soldiers as being mostly distributed amongst them When one day Marching a Knight climbing up a high Hill came hastily to the King and told him from thence he might have a Prospect of Jerusalem which instead of Joy drew Tears from his Eyes when lifting up his Hands he passionately said O Lord I beseech thee let me not See thy Holy City since by the Disappointments I have met with I am not able to Deliver it out of the hands of the Enemies of thy Name and so turning aside he returned to Ptolomais where he found some new Adventurers Arrived when Marching cross the Country and Subduing all before him he brought such a Terrour upon the People that his very Name was frightful to them and as some Historians have it a long while after used to Bugbare their Children with it when they cry'd and were untoward viz. If you hold not your peace King Richard is coming and will have you which had such effects on them that they became still as Lambs However finding no more Forces were in Europe preparing to enable him to take Jerusalem