excceding cruelty and commaunded his armes and memories to be pulled downe euery vvhere and chose for his successor one 〈◊〉 Nerua an Italian a man of excellent vertue by whom they enjoyed not only the most prosperous tyme of his gouerment but of al thos other fower before named that ensued him no lessc worthy then him selfe Not long after the succession of thes excellent good Emperors ther came to the crowne by lawful discent of blood a youth named Antoninus Heliogabolus sonne of the Emperor Antoninus Caracalla and nephew to the most famous and noble Emperor Septimius Seuerus that dyed in Ingland Which youth as he vvas greatly loued and honored a great while for so worthy a grand father so aftervvards for his owne most beaftly life and foule actions he was depriued and put to death by the souldiars of Rome at the request common desire both of the people and senate vvhen he had reigned six yeares and yet vvas but twenty yeares of age when he vvas put downe and his death depriuation was approued by publique acte of the senate who ordeyned also in his detestatiō that neuer Emperor after him shonld be called more Antoninus so it was obserued though no other name had euer bin more gratful before to the vvorld for the remembrance of the good Emperors that had bin so called This man being chastized as is said ther was preferred to the Empire in his roome a goodly yong man of his next kynred named Alexander Seuerus sonne to Mamonea which was sister to Heliogabolus his mother and being admitted by common consent both of the senate people and army he proued one of the most rarest Ptinces for his valor and vertue that euer the roman Empire hath had so as the worthines of Seuerus semed to recōpencefully the wickednes of Heliogabolus Imight name diuers other such examples among the rest that of Maxentius who being lawfully possessed of the Empire in Rome as it seemed for that he was sonne to Maximinianus the Emperor that reigned vvith Diocletian yet for his tyrannous gouerment that was intolerable it is supposed that the senate not being able to match him in open strenght sent prinily into Ingland France to inuite Constantin to come and do iustice vppon him and so he did and he being drowned in the riuer of Tiber Cōstantin sutnamed afterward the great succeded in the Empire and was the man that al men know and the first Emperor that publiquely professed him selfe a Christian and planted our faith ouer al the world this of the romane Empyre And yf vve wil come lower downe neerer home vve haue yet an other example more markable perhaps then al the rest which vvas the change of the Empire from the East to the vvest for the euel gouerment of Constantin the sixth vvho was deposed first and his eyes put out by his owne mother Irene and the Empire vsurped by her but being not able to rule it in such order as was needful for so great a monarchy though otherwise she were one of the rarest women for valor and vvisdome that euer the world had she vvas depriued therof by the sentence of Leo the third pope of Rome and by consent of al the people and senat of that citye and Charles king of France and of Germany surnamed aftrrward the great vvas crowned Emperor of the vvest and so hath that succession remayned vnto this day and many worthy men haue succeded therin infinite actes of iurisdiction haue bin excersised by this authority which were al vniust and tyrannical if this change of the Empire and deposition of Irene and her sonne for ther euel gouerment had not bin lawful It vvere to long to runne ouer al other kingdomes yet some I shal touch in such poynts as are most notorious The two famous chāges that haue bin made of the royal lyne in France the first from the race of Pharamond and Clodoueus to the lyne of pepin and the second from the race of Pepin agayne to the lyne of Hugo Capetus that endureth vnto this day vvher on are they founded but vppon the iudicial chastisment and deposition of two euel Princes the first of Childeric the third lawful king of France who after tenn yeares that he had reigned vvas deposed by Zaccharie the pope at the request of the vvhole nobility and cleargie of France or rather his depriuation vvas by them and confirmed by the pope to whom they alleaged this reason for their doing in that behalfe as Girard putteth it downe in both his French Cronicles I meane the large and the abbreuiation to vvit that their oth to Childeric was to honor serue obey maynteyne and defend him agaynst al men as long as he vvas iust religious valiant clement and vvould resist the enemies of the crowne punish the wicked and conserue the good and defend the Christian fayth And for as much as thes promises said they vvere condicional they ought not to hold or binde longer then that they were reciprocally obserued on both partes which seing they were not on the part of Childric they would not be any longer his subiects and so desired Zacharias to absolue them from their othes which he did and by this meanes Childric vvas deposed and put into a monastery wher he dyed and in his place Pepin vvas chosen and crowned king vvhos posteritie reygned for many years after hym and were such noble kings as al the world can testifie And so continued this race of Pepin in the royal throne for almost two hundreth yeares together vntil Hugo Capetus vvho was put into the same throne by the same authority of the common vvealth and Charles of Lorayne last of the race of Pepin for the euel satisfaction which the French nation had of him was put by it and kept prisoner during his life in the castle of Orelance And thus much do affirme al the French Historyes and do attribute to thes changes the prosperity and greatnes of their present kingdome and monarchy thus much for France wher many other examples might be alleaged as of king Lewis the third surnamed Faineant For that he was vnprofitable and of Charles surnamed Le gros that succeded him both of them deposed by the states of France and other the lyke of vvhom I shall haue occasion to speake afterwards to an other purpose But now if you please let vs stepp ouer the pirenie mountaines and looke into Spayne vvher ther wil not faile vs also diuers examples both before the opression of that realme by the moores as also after For that before to wit about the yeare of Christ 630. we reade of a lawful king named Flaueo Suintila put downe and depriued bothe he and his posterity in the fourth councel national of Toledo and one Sissinando confirmed in his place notvvithstanding that Suintila vvere at the beginning of his raigne a very
to wit that the French state in a publique assembly did chose two Princes to be their kings with expresse condition to deuide the realme equally as Francis Belforest citeth his wordes which two French authors I meane Girard and Belforest I shal vse principally hereafter in the rest of my citations After three yeares that these two bretherē had reigned together king Carlomon the yonger died and left many sonnes the elder wherof vvas named Adalgise but Belforest sayeth that the Lords ecclesiastical temporal of France swore fidelitie and obedience to Charles without any respect or regard at al of the children of Carlomon who yet by right of succession should haue bin preferred Paulus Emilius a latine writer saith proceres regni ad Carolum vltro venientes regem eum totius Galliae salutarunt that is the nobility of the realme comming of ther owne accord vnto charles saluted him king of al France wherby is shewed that this exclusion of the children of Carlomon was not by force or tiranny but by free deliberation of the realme After Charles the great reigned by successiō his only sonue Luys the first surnamed de bonnaire of his curtesye vvho entring to reigne in the yeare 817. vvith great applause of al men for the excedinge grateful memory of his father vvas yet afterward at the poursuite principally of his owne three sonnes by his first wife which were Lothair pepin and Luys deposed first in a councel at Lions and then agayne at Compeigne and put into a monastery though afterward he came to reigne agayne and his fourth sonne by his secōd vvife vvhich sonne vvas named Gharles le chauue for that he vvas bald succeded him in the states of France though after many battels against his eldest brother Lothaire to whom by succession the same appertayned After Charles the balde succeded Luys the second surnamed le begue for his stuttering who was not eldest but third sonne vnto his father for the second dyed before his father the eldest vvas put by his succession for his euel demeanure this Luys also vvas like to haue bin depriued by the states at his first entrāce for the hatred conceaued against his father Charles the bald but that he calling a solemne parlament at Compeigne as Girard saith he made the people cleargie and nobilitie many faire promises to haue their good vvilles This Luys the stuttering left two bastard sonnes by a cōcubine vvho vvere called Luys and Carlomō as also he left a litle infant newly borne of his lawful vvife Adeltrude daughter to king Alfred of Ingland vvhich infant vvas king of France aftervvard by the name of Charles the simple albeit not immediatly after the death of his father for that the nobles of Frāce said that they had need of a man to be king not a childe as Girard reporteth therfore the vvhole state of France chose for their kinges the tvvo foresaid bastards Luys the third and Carlomon the first of that name ioyntly and they vvere crowned most solemnly deuided the vvhole realme betwene them in the yeare of Christ 881. and Queen Adeltrude vvith her childe true heyre of France fled into Ingland to her father and ther brought him vp for diuers yeares in which tyme she saw foure or fiue kinges reigne in his place in France one after the other for breflv thus it passed Of thes tvvo bastard kings the elder named Luys reigned but foure yeares died without issue the second that is Carlomon liued but one yeare after him and left a sonne called also Luys vvhich succeded in the kingdome by the name of Luys the fift and surnamed Faineant for his idle and slouth ful life For which as also for his vitious behaueour and in particuler for taking out and marying a Nōne of the Abbey of S. Baudour at Chells by Partis he vvas depriued and made a monke in the Abbey of S. Denys vvher he died and in his place vvas chosen king of France and crowned vvith great solemnitie Gharles the 4. Emperor of Rome surnamed le gros for that he vvas fat and corpulēt he vvas nephew to Charles the bald before mentioned and therfore the French stories say that he came to the crowne of France partly by succession and partly by election but for succession vve see that it vvas nothing worth for so muche as Charles the simple the right heyre was a liue in Ingland vvhom it semeth that the french men had quite forgotten seing that now they had not only excluded him three tymes already as you haue hard but afterwards also againe when this grosse Charles was for his euel gouermēt by them deposed and depriued not only of the kingdome of France but also of his Empire vvhich he had before he was kinge was brought into such miserable penurie as diuers write that he perished for wāt At this tyme I saye the states of France vvould not yet admitt Charles the simple though hither to his simplicity did not appeare but he seemed a goodly Prince but rather they chose for king one Odo Earle of Paris and Duke of Angiers and caused him to be crowned But yet after a few yeares being vveary of this mans gouerment and moued also some what with compassion towards the youth that vvas in Ingland they resolued to depose Odo and so they did vvhiles he vvas absent in Gascony and called Charles the simple out of Ingland to Paris and restored him to the kingdome of France leauing only to Odo for recompence the state of Aquitaine with title of a Duke wherwith in fine he contented himselfe seing that he could get no more But yet his posterity by vertue of this election pretended euer after a title to the crowne of France and neuer left it of vntil at length by Hugo Capetus they gat it for Hugh descended of this king and Duke Odo This king Charles then surnamed the simple an Inglish vvomans sonne as you haue hard being thus admitted to the crowne of France he toke to vvife an Inglish vvoman named Elgina or Ogin daughter of king Edward the elder by whom he had a sonne named Lewys and himselfe being a simple man as hath bin saide vvas allured to go to the castle of peronne in Picardie vvher he vvas made ptisoner and forced to resigne his kingdome vnto Rafe king of Burgundye and soone after he dyed through misery in the same castle and his Queene Ogin fled into Ingland vvith her litle sonne Luys vnto her vncle kinge Adelstan as Queene Adeltrude had done before vvith her sonne vnto king Alfred and one of the chiefe in this action for putting downe of the simple vvas Counte Hugh surnamed the great Earle of Paris father vnto Hugo Capetus vvhich after vvas king But this new king Rafe liued but three yeares after and then the states of France considering the right title of Luys the lawful child of
affliction also ensewed in France though not for succession but vppon other occasions betwene the great and royal houses of Burgundy and Orleans vvherby al three common wealthes I meane Ingland Britanie and France vvere like to haue come to distruction and vtter desolation And for that it may serue much to our purpose hereafter to vnderstand vvel this contiousie of Britanie I thinke it not amisse in few vvordes to declare the same in this place thus then it happened The foresaid Arthur the secōd of that name duke of Britanie and sonne of Lady Beatrix that was daughter as hath bin said to king Henry the third of Ingland had two vviues the first named Beatrix as his mother vvas and by this he had two sonnes Iohn that succeded him in the state by the name of duke Iohn the third and Guye that dying before his elder brother left a daughter and heyre named Ioan and surnamed the lame for that she halted who vvas marryed to the earle of Bloys that vvas nephew to Phillip of Valois king of France for that he vvas borne of his sister But besides these two children the said duke Arthur had by his second wife named Ioland countesse and heyre of the earldome of Monford an other sonne called Iohn Breno vvho in the right of his mother vvas earle of Monford And afterward vvhen duke Iohn the third came to die vvithout issue the question vvas who should succede him in his dukedome the vncle or the neece that is to saye his third brother Iohn Breno by half bloode or els his Neece Ioan the lame that vvas daughter and heyre to his second brother Guye of whole bloode that is by father and mother which lady Ioan was marryed to the earle of Bloys as hath byn said And first this matter vvas handled in the parlament of Paris the king himselfe sitting in iudgment vvith al his peeres the 30. day of Septemb. 1341. and adiuged it to the earle of Bloys both for that his wife vvas heyre to the elder brother as also for that duke Iohn by his testament and consent of the states had appointed her to be his heyre but yet king Edward the third and states of Ingland did iudge it otherwise and preferred Iohn Monford not knowing that the very like case vvas to fal out very soone after in Ingland I meane they iudged the state to Iohn Breno earle of monford yonger brother to Guye they did assist him and his sonne after him vvith al their forces for the gayning and holding of that state And albeit at the beginning it seemed that matters went against Monford for that himselfe vvas taken prisoner in Nantes and carryed captiue to Paris vvhere he dyed in prison yet his sonne Iohn by the assistance of the Inglish armies gat the dukedome afterward and slew the earle of Bloys and vvas peaceably duke of Britanie by the name of Iohn the fourth and his posterity hath indured vntil this day as briefly heere I wil declare This duke Iohn the fourth of the house of Monford had issue Iohn the fift he Francis the first vvho dying without issue left the dukedome to Peter his brother and Peter hauing no children neither he left it to his vncle Arthur the third brother to his father Iohn the fift and this Arthur vvas earle of Richmond in Ingland as some of his ancestors had bin before him by gyftes of the kings of Ingland This Arthur dying without issue left the dukdome vnto his nephew to vvit his brothers sonne Francis the second who vvas the last male child of that race and was he that had once determyned to haue deliuered Henry earle of Richmond vnto his enimye king Edward the fourth and after him to king Richard the 3. but that Henries good fortune reserued him to come to be king of Ingland This duke Francis had a daughter and heyre named Anna marryed first to Charles the eight king of France and after his death without issue to his successor Lewis the 12. by whome she had a daughter named Claudia that was heyre to Britanie though not to the crowne of France by reason of the law Salique that holdeth against vvomen in the kingdome of Frace but not in Britanie and to the end this dukdome should not be disvnited agayne from the said crowne of France this daughter Claudia vvas marryed to Francis duke of Angoleme heyre apparent to the crowne of France by vvhom she had issue Henry that was afterward king of France and vvas father to the last king of that country and to Ysabel mother of the Infanta of Spayne and of her sister the duchesse of Sauoye that now is by which also some do affirme that the said princesse or Infanta of spayne albeit she be barred from the successiō of France by their pretended law Salique yet is her title manifest to the dukdome of Britanie that came by a woman as we haue shewed and thus much of the house of Britanie and of the princesse of Spaine how she is of the blood royal of Ingland from the tyme of VVilliam Conqueror himselfe by his eldest daughter as also by other kings after him and now we shall returne to prosecute the issue of these two sonnes of king Henry the third to wit of Edward and Edmond which before we left I shewed yon before how king Henry the third had two sonnes Edward the prince that vvas king after his father by the name of Edward the first and Edmond surnamed crokback by some writers who vvhas the first earle and county Palatine of Lancaster and beginner of that house And albeit some writers of our tyme haue affirmed or at least wise much inclined to fauour a certayne old report that Edmōd should be the elder brother to Edward and put back only for his deformity of his body wherof Polidor doth speak in the begining of the reigne of king Henry the fourth and as vvel the Bishop of Rosse as also George Lylly do seeme to beleeue it yet euident it semeth that is was but a fable as before I haue noted and now againe I shall briefly proue it by these reasōs following for that it importeth very muche for deciding the cōtrouersie between the howses of Lancaster and yorke The first reason then is for that al ancient historiographers of Ingland and among them Matheus Westmonasteriensis that liued at the same tyme do affirme the cōtrary and do make Edward to be elder then Edmond by six yeares and two dayes for that they appointe the birth of Prince Edward to haue bin vppon the 16. day of Iune in the yeare of Christ 1239 the 24. of the reigne of his father king Henry and the birth of Lord Edmond to haue followed vppon the 18. day of the same moneth 6. yeares after to wit in the yeare of our lord 1245. and they do name the godfathers and godmothers of them both together with the peculier
after for keping of his oth that he had made vnto his father neuer pretended any right to the crowne yet king Richard knowing vvel the pretence that he and his might haue vvas stil afraid of him and sought infinite meanes to be rydd of him first by perswading him to goe and make vvarr in Spaine vvher he thought he might miscarry in so dangerous an attempt and then offering to giue him al Aquitaine if he vvould leaue Ingland to goe liue there as he did for three yeares vvith extreme peril for that the people of Aquitaine would not receaue him but rose against him and refused his gouerment and vvould not admitt him for their Lord but appealed to the king vvho also allowed therof and so vvhen Iohn of Gaunt came home into Ingland againe kinge Richard thought no better way to vveaken him then to banish his sonne Henry duke of Herford and so he did And besides this the said king Richard practised also by diuers secret drifts the death of his said vncle the duke of Lancaster as Walsingham witnesseth and vvhen the said duke came at lenghte to dye which vvas in the 22. yeare of king Richards raigne he vvrote such ioyous letters therof as frossard saith to his father in law the sixt Charles king of France as though he had bin deliuered of his chiefest enemy not immagining that his owne distructioÌ„ was so neere at hand and much accelerated by the death of the said duke as it was And these vvere the causes say the fauorers of the house of Lancaster why king Richard caused this acte of parlament to passe in fauour of Roger Mortimer in preiudice of the house of Lancaster and not for that the right of earle Mortimer vvas better then that of the duke of Lancaster And this they say is no new thing for princes often tymes to procure partial lawes to passe in parlament for matter of succession according to their owne affections for the like say they did Edward the third procure in the fauour of this Richard as before I haue shevved in the last parlament before his death and afterward againe king Richard the third vvith much more open 〈◊〉 caused an act of parlament to passe in his dayes vvherby his nephew Iohn de la pole earle of Lincolne sonne to his sister Elizabeth duchesse of Suffolke vvas declared heyre apparent to the crowne excluding therby the children of his two elder brothers to vvit the daughters of king Edward the fourth and the sonne and daughter of Georg duke of Clarence vvhich yet by al order should haue gone before their sisters children And like facilitie founde king Henry the 8. to get the consent of two parlaments to giue him authority to appointe what successor he would of his owne kynred by which authority afterward he apointed by his testament as in an other place shal be shewed that the issue of his yonger sister mary should be preferred before the issue of his eldest sister Margaret of Scotland A like declaration was that also of king Edward the sixt of late memory vvho appointed the lady Iane Gray his cosen germane remoued to be his heyre and successor in the crowne of Ingland and excluded his owne tvvo sisters the lady Mary and the lady Elizabeth from the same but these declaratioÌ„s make litle to the purpose vvhen right and equity do repugne as these men say that it did in the fore said declaratioÌ„ of Roger Mortimer to be heyre apparent for that they hold and auow the house of Lancaster to haue had the true right to enter not only after the death of king Richard the second as it did but also before him that is to say immediatly vppon the death of king Edward the third for that Iohn of Gaunt vvas then the eldest sonne which king Edward had lyuing and neerer to his father by a degree then vvas Richard the nephew About vvhich pointe to wit vvhether the vncle or the nephew should be preferred in succession of kingdomes it seemeth that in this age of K. Edward the third there vvas great trouble and controuersy in the world abroad for so testifieth Girard du Haillan Counceler and secretary of France in his story of the yeare of Christ 1346. vvhich vvas about the middest of king Edwards reigne and therfore no maruaile though king Edward tooke such care of the sure establishing of his nephew Richard in succession as is before related And much lesse maruail is it if king Richard had stil great ielosy of his vncle the duke of Lancaster and of his ofspring considering how doubtful the question vvas among the wise and learned of those dayes For more declaration vvher-of I thinke it not amisse to alleage the very vvordes of the foresaid chronicler with the examples by him recited thus then he vvriteth About this tyme sayeth he their did arise a great and doubtful question in the world whether vncles or nephewes that is to say the yonger brother or els the children of the elder should succed vnto realmes and kingdomes vvhich coÌ„trouersy put al christianity into great broyles and troobles For first Charles the secoÌ„d king of Naples begar of Mary his wife Queene and heyre of Hungary diuers children but namely three sonnes Marrel Robert and Phillip 〈◊〉 dying before his father left a sonne named Charles vvhich in his grandmothers right vvas king also of Hungary but about the kingdome of Naples the question vvas vvhen king Charles was dead who should succeed him either Charles his nephew king of Hungary or Robert his second sonne but Robert vvas preferred and reygned in Naples and enioyed the earldome of Prouince in France also for the space of 33. yeares vvith great renowne of valor wisdome And this is one example that 〈◊〉 recounteth vvhich example is reported by the famoê° lawyer 〈◊〉 in his commentaries touching the succession of the kingdome of Sicilia and he saith that this succession of the vncle before the nephew vvas auerred also for rightful by the learend of that tyme and confirmed for inst by the iudicial 〈◊〉 of Pope Boniface and that for the reasons which afterward shal be shewed vvhen vve shal treat of this question more in particuler An other example also reporteth Girard vvhich 〈◊〉 immediatly after in the same place for that the forsaid king Robert hauing a sonne named Charles which dyed before 〈◊〉 he left a daughter and heyre named Ioan neece vnto king Robert which Ioan was married to Andrew the yonger sonne of the foresaid Charles king of Hungary but king Robert being dead ther stept vp one Lewis prince of Tarranto a place of the same kingdome of Naples who vvas sonne to Phillip before mentioned vonger brother to king Robert vvhich Lewis pretending his right to be better then that of Ioan for that he vvas a man and one degree neerer to king Charles his grand father then Ioan was for that he was nephew
apparent of Spayne and they put back in ther grand fathers tyme and by his and the realmes consent ther father as I haue said being dead and this was done in a general parlament holden at Segouia in the yeare 1276. and after this Don Sancho was made king in the yeare 1284. and the two Princes put into prisō but afterward at the sure of there vncle king Phillip the third of France they were let out agayne and endued with certayne landes and so they remaine vnto this day and of thes do come the Dukes of Medina Celi and al the rest of the house of Cerda which are of much nobility in Spayne at this tyme and king Phillip that reyneth cometh of Don Sancho the yonger brother Not long after this agayne when Don Pedro surnamed the cruel king of Castile was driuen out and his bastard brother Henry the second set vp in his place as before hath bin mētioned the Duke of Lancaster Iohn of Gant hauing maried Dona Constantia the said king peters daughter heyre pretended by succession the said crowne of Castile as in deed it appertayned vnto him but yet the state of spaine denied it flatly and defended it by atmes and they preuailed against Iohn of Gant as dyd also the race of Henry the bastard against his lawful brother the race of Don Sancho the vncle against his lawful nephewes as hath byn shewed and that of Dona Berenguela against her elder sister al which races do reigne vnto this day thes three changes of the trew lyue happened with in two ages and in the third and principal discent of the Spanish kings when this matter of succession was most assuredly and perfectly established and yet who wil deny but that the kings of Spayne who hold by the later titles at this day be true and lawful kings Well one example wil I giue you more out of the kyngdom of Portugal and so wil I make an ende with thes countreyes This kinge Henry the bastard last named king of Spayne had a sonne that succeded him in the crowne of Spayne named Iohn the first who married the daughter and heyre named Dona Beatrix of king Fernando the first of Portugal but yet after the death of the said King Fernando the states of Portugal would neuer agree to admit him for ther king for not subiecting themselues by that meanes to the Castilians and for that cause they rather tooke for ther king a bastard brother of the said late king Don Fernando whos name was Don Iuan a youth of 20. yeares old who had bin master of a militare order in Portugal named de Auis and so they excluded Dona Beatrix Queene of Castile that was their lawful heyre aud chose this yong man and maried him afterwards to the lady Phillippe daughter of Iohn of Gant Duke of Lancaster by his first wife blanch Duchesse and heyre of Lācaster in whose right the kings of Portugal and ther discendents do pretend vnto this day a cerrayne interest to the house of Lancaster which I leaue to our tēporal lawyer to discusse but heereby we see what an ordinary matter it hath bin in Spayne and Portugal to alter the lyne of next succession vppon any reasonable consideration which they imagined to be for ther weal publique and the like we shal finde in France Ingland which euen now I wil begin to treat of DIVERS OTHER EXAM'PLES OVT OF THE STATES OF FRANCE AND INGLAND FOR proofe that the next in blood are some tymes put backe from succession and how God had approued the same with good successe CAP. VIII AS concerning the state of France I haue noted before that albeit since the entrāce of ther first king Pharamond with his Frankes out of Germanie which vvas about the yeare of Christ 419. they haue neuer had any strāger come to were there crowne which they attribute to the benefit of there law Salike that for biddeth women to reigne yet among themselues haue they changed twyse there whole race and linage of kings once in the entrance of king Pepin that put out the lyne of Pharamond about the yeare 751. and agayne in the promotion of kinge Hugo Capetus that put out the lyne of Pepin in the yeare 988 so as they haue had three discents and races of kings as wel as the spaniards the first of Pharamond the 2. of Pepin and the 3. of Capetus which indureth vnto this present if it be not altered now by the exclusion that diuers pretend to make of the king of Nauarr and other Princes of the blood royal of the howse of Burbon Wherfore as I did before in the spaniards so I wil heere let passe the first ranke of al of the french kings for that some men may say perhaps that the common wealth and law of succession was not so wel setled in those dayes as it hath bin afterward in tyme of kinge Pepin Charles the great and ther discendantes as also for that it were in very deede ouer tedious to examine and pervse al three rankes of kings in France as you wil say when you shal see what store I haue to alleage out of the second ranck only which began vvith the exclusion and deposition of their lawful King Childerike the third and election of king Pepin as before you haue heard at large declared in the third chapter of this discourse it shal not be need ful to repeate the same agayne in this place Pepin then surnamed le brefe or the litle for his smale stature though he vvere a gyant in deeds being made king of France by mere election in the yeare of Christ 751. after 22. kings that had reigned of the first lyne of Pharamond for the space of more then three hundreth yeares and being so famous and worthy a king as al the world knoweth reigned 18. yeares then left his states and kingdomes by succession vnto his eldest sonne Charles surnamed afterward the great for his famous and heroical acts And albeit the vvhole kingdome of France appertayned vnto him alone by the law of succession as hath bin said his father being king and he his eldest sonne yet would the realme of France shew ther authority in his admission which Girard setteth downe in thes vvords Estant Pepin decedé les Francois esleurent Rois Charles Carlomon ses fils ala charge qu'ils partageroient entre eux egalement le royaume Which is king Pipin being deade the french men chose for ther kings his two sonnes Charles and Carlomon with condition that they should part equally betwene them the realme Wherin is to be noted not only the election of the common wealth besides succession but also the heauie condition laid vppon the heyre to part halfe of his kingdome vvith his yonger brother and the very same woords hath Eginard an ancient French writer in the life of this Charles the great
at his pleasure without law as Titus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for which cause the senators at length 〈◊〉 him and cut him in smal peces And aftervards they were greatly greeued at the entring of Seruius Tullius their sixt king for that he gaue the crowne by fraude and not by election of the senate and special approbation of the people as he should haue done but most of al they were exasperated by the proceeding of their seuenth kinge named Lucius Tarquinas surnamed the proud who for that as Liuius faith he neglected the lawes of gouerment prescribed no him by the common wealth as namely in that he consulted not with the senate in matters of great importance for that he made war peace of his owne head for that he appoynted to himselfe a gard as though he had mistrusted the people and for that he did vse ininstice to diuers particuler men and suffred his children to be insolent he was expelled with al his posterity and the gouerment of Rome changed from a kingdome vnto the regiment of consuls after two hundreth yeares that the other had endured And thus much for those kingdomes of Italy and Greece And if likewise we wil looke vppon other kingdomes of Europe we shal see the very same to wit that euery kingdome countrey hath his particuler lawes prescribed to their kings by the common vvealth both for their gouerment authority and succession in the same for if we behold the Romā Empire it selfe as it is at this day annexed to the Germaine electors though it be the first in dignity among christian Princes yet shal we see it so restrayned by particuler lawes as the Emperor can do much lesse in his state then other kings in theirs for he can nether make vvarr nor exact any contribution of men or money therunto but by the free leaue and consent of al the states of the Germayne diet or parlament and for his children or next in kynn they haue no action interest or pretence at al to succed in their fathers dignity but only by free electiō if they shal be thought vvorthy Nay one of the chiefest poynts that the Emperor must sweare at his entrance as Sleydan writeth is this that he shal neuer go about to make the dignity of the Emperor peculiar or hereditary to his family but leaue it vnto the seuen electors free in their power to chuse his successor according to the law made by the pope Gregory the fyfth and the Emperor Charles the fourth in this behalfe The kingdomes of Polonia Boemia do go much after the same fashion both for there restrainte of power and succession to their kings For first touching their authority they haue great limitation nether can they do any thing of great moment without the consent of certayne principal men called Palatines or Castellans nether may their children or next of blood succede except they be chosen as in the Empire In Spayne France and Ingland the priuileges of kings are far more eminent in both thes points for that both their authority is much more absolute and their next in blood do ordinarily succede but yet in different manner for as touching authority it semeth that the kings of Spayne and France haue greater then the king of England for that euery ordination of thes two kings is law in it selfe without further approbatiō of the common wealth which holdeth not in England where no general law can be made without consent of parlament but in the other pointe of succession it appeareth that the restraint is far greater in thos other two countries then in Ingland for that in Spayne the next in blood cannot succede be he neuer so lawfully descended but by a new approbation of the nobility and bishops and states of the Realme as it is expresly set downe in the two ancient councelles of Tolledo the fourth and fifth In confirmation wherof we see at this day that the king of Spaynes owne sonne cannot succede not be called Prince except he be first sworne by the said nobility and states in token of their new consent and so we haue seene it practized in our dayes towards three or fower of King Philips children which haue succeded the one after the other in the title of Princes of Spaine and at euery chainge a new oth required at the subiects handes for their admission to the said dignity which is not vsed in the kings children of France or Ingland In France the world knoweth how women are not admitted to succed in the crowne be they neuer so neare in blood nether any of their issue though it be male For which cause I doubt not but you remēber how king Edward the third of Ingland though he were sonne heyre vnto a daughter of France whose three brethren were kings and left hir sole heyre to hir father king Phillip the fourth surnamed the fayre yet vvas he put by the crowne as also was the king of Nauar at the same tyme who was sonne and heyre vnto this womans eldest brothers daughter named Lewis Huttin king of Ftance which king of Nauar therby seemed also to be before king Edward of Ingland but yet were they both put by it and Philip de Vallois a brothers sonne of Phillip the faire was preferred to it by general decree of the states of France and by vardit of the whole parlament of Paris gathered about the same affayre Nether did it auayle that the two kings a fore said alleaged that it was agaynst reason conscience and custome of al nations to exclud vvomen from the succession of the crowne which appartayned vnto them by propinquity of blood seing both nature God hath made them capable of such succession euery where as it appereth by example of al other nations and in the old testament among the people of god it selfe wher we see women haue bin admitted vnto kingdomes by succession but al this I say preuayled not vvith the French as it doth not also at this day for the admission of Dona Isabella Eugenia Clara infanta of Spayne vnto the said crowne of France though by dissent of blood ther be no question of her next propinquity for that she is the eldest child of the last kings eldest sister The like exclusion is made agaynst the Prince of Lorayne that now liueth though he be a man and nephew to the last king for that his title is by a woman to wit his mother that vvas yonger sister vnto the last king Henry of France And albeit the law called Salica by the Frenchmen by vertue vvherof they pretend to exclude the succession of vvomen be no very ancient law as the French themselues do confesse and much lesse made by Pharamond ther first king or in thos ancient tymes as others without ground do affirme yet do vve se that it is sufficient to bynd al Princes and subiects of
stoppe is alleaged diuersly by competitors of diuers religions for that such as are followers and fauoures of the forme of religion receaued and defended by publique authoritie of Ingland at this daye vvhom for distinction sake men are vvont to call by the name of moderate protestants these I saye do vrge this exclusion against the earle of Huntington not vppō any certaine law or statute extant against the same but ab aeqno bono as men are vvont to say and by reason of state shewing infinite inconueniences hurts damages and dangers that must needes ensew not only to the state present of religion in Inglād but also to the whole realme and body politike if such a man should be admitted to gouerne And this consideration of state in their opinion is a more forceable argument for excluding such a man then any statute or particuler law against him could be for that this comprehendeth the very intention meaning and drift of al lawes and lawmakers of our realme vvhose intēsions must needes be presumed to haue bin in al tymes to haue excluded so great and manifest incoueniences thus say they But now those that are of the Roman religion and contrary both to puritan and protetestant do vrge a great deale further this argument against the earle and do alleage many lawes ordinances decrees and statutes both of the Canon and imperial lawes as also out of the old lawes of Ingland vvhich in their opinion do debarr al that are not of their religion and consequently they would hereby exclude both the one and the other of these pretendēts And in fine they do conclude that seing their vvanteth not also some of their owne religion called by them the Catholique in the house of Clarence they haue so much the lesse difficultie to exclude the earle of Huntingtons person for his religion if one of that house were to be admitted of necessitie And this is so much as seemeth needful to be spoken at this tyme and in this place of this house of Clarēce and of the pretenders therof It resteth then that I treate something also of the house of Britanie and France which tvvo houses are ioyned al in one for so much as may apperteyne to any inheritance or pretence to Ingland or vnto any parcel or particuler state therof at home or abroade that may follow the succession or right of women vvhich the kingdome of Frāce in it selfdoth not as is knowne and consequently a vvoman may be heire to the one vvithout the other that is to say she maye be heyre to some particuler states of France inheritable by women though not to the crowne it selfe and so do pretende to be the tvvo daughters of Frāce that were sisters to the late king Hēry the third which daughters were married the one to the king of Spaine that now is by whom he had issue the Infanta of spayne yet vnmarried and her yonger sister married to the duke of Sauoy and the other to vvit the yonger daughter of the king of France vvas married to the duke of Loraine yet liuing by whom she had the prince of Lorayne other children that liue at this day This then being so cleere as it is first that according to the common course of succession in Ingland and other countries and according to the course of all common law the Infanta of Spaine should inherite the whole kingdome of France and al other states therunto belonging she being the daughter and heyre of the eldest daughter of king Henry the second king of France whose issue male of the direct line is vvholy now ended but yet for that the French do pretend their law Salik to exclude vvomen which we Inglish haue euer denied to be good vntil now hereby commeth it to passe that the king of Nauarr pretendeth to enter to be preferred before the said Infanta or her sisters children though male by a collateral line But yet her fauourers say I meane those of the Infanta that from the dukedomes of Britanie Aquitaine and the like that came to the crowne of France by women and are inheritable by womē she cannot be in right debarred as neyther from any succession or pretence in Ingland if either by the blood royal of France Britanie Aquitaine or of Ingland it selfe it may be proued that she hath any interest therunto as her said fauourers do affirme that she hath by these reasons following First for that she is of the ancient blood royal of Ingland euen from the conquest by the elder daughter of William the conqueror married to Allayne Fergant duke of Britanie as hath bin shewed before in the second chapter and other places of this conference and of this pointe they inferr two or three consequences First that vvhen the sonnes of the Conqueror vvere dead without issue or made vncapable of the crowne as it vvas presumed at least wife of king Henry the first last sonne of the Conqueror that he lost his right for the violence vsed to his elder brother Robert and vnto William the said Roberts sonne heyte then say these men ought the said duchesse of Britanie to haue entred as eldest sister And secondly they saye that when duke Robert that both by right of birth and by expresse agrement with William Rufus and with the Realme of Ingland should haue succeded next after the said Rufus came to dye in prison the said lady Constance should haue succeded him for that his brother Henry being culpable of his death could not in right be his heyre And thirdly they say that at least vvise after the death of the said king Henry the first she and her sonne I meane lady Constance and Conan duke of Britanie should haue entred before king Stephen vvho was borne of Adela the yonger daughter of William Conqueror Secondly they do alleage that the Infanta of Spayne descēdeth also lineally from lady Eleanor eldest daughter of king Henry the second married to king Alonso the nynthe of that name king of Castile vvhose eldest daughter leesing by this forfeit al right he had in the kingdome of Ingland it followeth that the same should haue gone to his said sister by her to this lady Blanch her heyre and eldest daughter married into france as hath bin saide which forfeit also of king Iohn these men do confirme by his depriuation by the Pope that soone after ensewed as also by an other depriuation made by the Barrons of his realme as after shal be touched Further more they saye that when Arthur duke of Britanie whom to this effect they do hold to haue bin the only true heyre at that tyme to the kingdome of Ingland vvas in prison in the castle of Roan suspecting that he should be murthred by his said vncle K. Iohn he nominated this lady Blanch his cosen germanie to be his heyre persuading himselfe that she by the helpe of her husband prince Lewis of
and submit themselues their the said Romans vsed al fauour and moderatiō so as it is written of them in the first booke of Machabeis Et audiuit Iudas nomen Romanorum quia sunt potentes viribus acquiescunt ad omnia quae postulantur ab eis that is And Iudas Machabeus hard the name and fame of the Romans how they vvere potent in strenght and yet so gentle as they yeilded to al that was demaunded at their handes And finally their gouerment vvas so iust cōsiderat sweete and modest vppon al forrayne nations vvhich they had conquered as it alured diuers nations to desire to be vnder them and to be ridd of their owne natural kinges as of the subiectes of Antiochus and Methridates kings of Asia and of Pontus vve do reade and some other princes also therby to gratifie their subiects did nominate the Roman Empire for their successor as did king Attalus king of Pergamus and Ptolomie of AEgypt and others and it is the common opinion of lerned men that the world vvas neuer more happelie gouerned then vnder the Romans and yet vvere they strangers to most of their subiects ouer vvhich they gouerned and vnto whom they were most strangers that is to say vnto such as were furthest of from them to those dyd they vse alwayes most fauoures and gaue them most priuileges as bothe wisdome and reason of state did require for that those people had most abillity to rise against them and to rebell so as this circumstance of being strangers hurted them nothing but rather profited them much The like rule of pollicy and of state haue al great Monarchies vsed euer since that is to say to shew most fauour to such subiects as be most straingers and fardest from them and on the contrary side if any be to be pressed more then others to presse and burthen them most that be most natural and neerest home most vnder and in subiection and surest to obey and this is euidently seene felt and practised by al the great states this day of the world so as it cānot be denyed For if we looke but into france vve shal finde that the states of Gascony and Guyne which are furdest of from the court were once strāgers gotten by force from the Inglish do pay far lesse tributes at this daye to the French kinge then those that be of the I le of france it selfe and are properly french and in like manner the Britons which came to that crowne by marriage and vvere old enimies do pay much lesse yet then the Gascoyns and in a manner do paye nothing at al and the Normans do pay some what more then any of the two for that they do lye somwhat neerer to Parris and therby are more in snbiection to the prince though yet they pay lesse then the natural Frenchmen The Candians also which is an Iland a part and standeth vnder the Venetians do not pay the third part of the impositions as by my owne information I lerned when I trauiled Italie that do the natural subiects of the Venetian state in Italie What shal I say of the kingdomes and states of Naples Sicilie and Millan subiect to the king of Spaine and gotten by conquest as hath bin said and yet pay they no one penny of that ancient great imposition vsed in Spaine called the Alcaualla which is the tenth penny of al that is bought and sold nor are they subiect to the Inquisition of Spaine at least Naples and Millan nor to many other dutyes tributs and impositions vvhich the natural spaniard is subiect vnto nor is their any law or edict made in Spaine that holdeth in those countries except it be allowed ratified and confirmed by those states themselues nor may any of their old priuileges be infringed but by their owne consents and when the king requireth any extraordinary subsides in Spaine they beare no part therof Whervppon these men do aske vvhat it hurteth these states that they are strāgers or vnder straingers or vvhat priueledge is it to the spaniard at home that he is only vnder his hom borne king if he receaue lesse benifits by that then doth the strainger And is not the like also vsed by the state of Ingland towards Ireland are not the fauours and indulgences vsed towardes the ciuil Irish that liue in peace much more then to the Inglish themselues in Inglad For first their taxes and payments be much lesse the lawes of Ingland bynd them not excepte they be allowed and receaued by their owne parlament in Ireland For matters of religion they are pressed much lesse then home-borne subiects albeit their affections to the Roman religion be knowne to be much more vniuersal then it is in Ingland In al criminal affayres punishing of delictes the manner of proceeding against the Irish is much more remisse milde gētle then with the subiects of Ingland so as their being strangers semeth rather a priuilege then a hindrance vnto them But in no other country is this thing more euidently to be considered then in the states of Flanders low countryes which by in heritāce as hath bin said came to be vnder forayne gouermēt but so much to their good aduancement that in a very few yeares as scarse is credible except to him that vnderstādeth their former state vvhē they were vnder their hom-borne princes do cōpare it vvith that which after they came vnto vnder the house of Austria vnited vnto the crowne of Spaine For before for many hundreth yeares a man shal read nothing almost in their storyes but warr sedition and blood shed among themselues and this either one state whith an other before they were vnited together al vnder one prince or els with the kingdome of France of whom in those dayes they depended or els and this most of al agaynst their owne Princes of whom some haue bin so fearce and cruel vnto them as they haue shed infinite quantity of their blood and among others I read of their Counte Luys that in one day he put to death fiue hundred of them by sentence of iustice in Bruxelles and an other day within the same yeare he caused a bout a thousand to be burned to death in a churh of the towne of Neuel besides infinite others whom in diuers battailes and skirimshes he slew so as often tymes the country lay almost desolate through their domestical afflictions But now since the tyme that the states came to be vnder Phillip the first Archduke of Austria and after king of Spayne and so remayned vnder his sonne Charles the Emperor and his nephew Phillip the second that now liueth vntil the late troubles and rebellions which was about the space of fifty yeares that they so continued in peace before their rebelliō it is almost incredible how those states increased in wealth peace and dignitie so that as Guycciardin the Italian historiographer noteth