aire waters and great varietie of wines and fruites likened now by some to Paradise or the garden of God In this Italy which was heretofore one intire gouernement in the florishing estate of the Romanes are now many absolute States and princedomes by the great policie of the Bishop of Rome who thought it the best way to make himselfe great to weaken the Empire So he hath not onely driuen the Emperour out of all Italie into Germanie but hath diminished his Maiestie in both by making so many petie gouernments which hold themselues soueraigne rulers without relation to any other As there are many States in Italie so one of the chiefest are the Venicians called Resp Venetorum or the State of Venice because they are not gouerned by any one but by their Senate gentlemen although they haue a duke with whose stampe their money is coyned and in whose name all their executions of iustice are done But this duke is euery way limited by the State This Citie of Venice standeth in an Aestuarium or shallow of earth in the North-part of the Adriatike sea so safely that it is held inuincible There is in it but one streete of firme land into the other the sea doth flow at euerie tide They haue beene a great and rich State not onely possessing much in Italie as Padua their Vniuersitie and other things which nowe they doe but a great part of Illyricum and many rich Ilands in the Med. as Candie called commonly Creta Cyprus Zacynthus and other The impouerishing of their state hath partly beene by the encroching of the Turke but especially By the decaying of that trafique which they had to Alexandria in Aegypt for their spices and other riches of Persia Arabia and the East Indies Since the course of the Portugals to those Easterne countries hath beene by sea by the backeside of Africa Here standeth the Citle of Florence a renowmed Citie of Lombardie which is gouerned by a Duke an absolute Prince This Dukedome is in the familie of the Medices from whom came Katherine de Medices the wife of Henrie the 2. King of France lately so well knowne by the name of Queene mother In this Lombardie standeth also the Dukedome of Millaine a most rich and pleasant thing which sometime had beene gouerned by a Duke of their owne but of late hath beene possessed by the Spaniard and sometime by the French and is now in the gouernment and possession of the king of Spaine A good part of Italie is vnder the Bishop of Rome which commoÌ„ly is called the land of the Church where the Pope is a Prince absolute not onely spirituall as else-where hee claimeth but also temporall making lawes requiring tribute raising souldiers and executing iustice as a Monarche In the South part of Italie lieth the kingdome of Naples which is a countrie very rich and full of all kind of pleasure aboundant in Nobilitie whereof commeth to bee said that prouerbe Naples for Nobilitie Rome for religion Millaine for beautie Florence for policie and Venice for riches This was heretofore ruled by a king 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—r owne till the time of Ioane Queene of Naples who â—y deede of gift did first graunt that kingdome to the Kings of Aragon in Spaine and afterward by will with a reuocation of the former grauÌ„t did bequeath it to the house of Anioy in France Since which time the kingdome of Naples hath sometimes beene in the hand of the Spaniard sometimes possessed by the French and is now vnder the King of Spaine vnto this is annexed also the Dukedome of Calabria There be moreouer in Italie many other Prince-domes and States as the Dukedome of Ferrara the Dukedome of Mantua the Dukedome of Vrbine the Dukedome of Parma Placentia the State of Luca the State of Genua commonly called the Genowaies which are gouerned by their Senate but haue a Duke as they haue at Venice There bee also some other by which meanes the glory and strength of Italy is decayed De Dania Suecia Noruegia AS Italie lieth on the Southside of Germanie so Denmarke lieth on the North into the middle of which land the sea breaketh in by a place called the Sound The Imposte of which passage bringeth great riches as an ordinarie tribute to the King of Denmarke this is a kingdome and ruled by an absolute gouernour On the North and East side of Denmarke lieth Suecia commonly called Sweden or Swethen which is also a kingdome of it selfe Where the King professeth himselfe to bee Rex Suecorum Gothorum Vandalorum Wherby we may know that the Gothes and Vandales which in times past did waste Italie and other Nations of Christendome did come out of this country On the Northside and West of Sweden lieth Noruegia or Norway which is at this day vnder the gouernement of the King of Denmarke although heretofore it hath beene a free kingdome of it selfe Within the Sounde on the East part of the sea lieth Dantzicke where are three townes of Hanse-men confederates and allies vnto the King of Denmarke There is no great thing to be noted in these countries but that from Denmarke commeth much come to the supply of other parts of Christendome and that from all these countries is brought great furniture for warre or for shipping As masts cables steele fadles armour gunpowder the like And that in the seas adioyning to these parts there are fishes of much more monstrous shape then else-where are to be found The people of these countries are by their profession Lutherans for religion De Russia siue Moscouia ON the East side of Sweden beginneth the dominion of the Emperour of Russia although Russia or Moscouia it self doth lie some what more into the East which is a great and mightie Monarchie extending it selfe euen from Lapland and Finmarke many a thousand mile in length vnto the Caspian sea so that it containeth in it a great part of Europe and much of Asia also The gouernour there calleth himselfe Emperour of Russia great Duke of Mosconia with many other titles of Princedomes and Cities whose dominion was very much enlarged by the Emperour not long since dead whome in Russie they call Iâ—an VasilIwich in the Latine Iohannes Basilides who raigning long and being fortunate in warre did very much enlarge this mightie dominion The people of this countrie are rude and vnlearned very superstitious a kinde of Christians but rather following the Greeke Church Their buildings is most of wood euen in their chiefe Citie of Mosco insomuch that the Tartars wholy in the North-east of them breaking oft into their countries euen vnto the very Citie of Mosco doe set fire on their Cities which by reason of their woodden buildings are quickly destroyed The passage by sea into this countrie which was wont to be through the Sound and so afterward by land was first discouered by the English who with great danger of the frozen seas did first aduenture to saile so far North as to compasse Lapland Finmarke
afforde great aide to the Christians that went to conquer the Holy land but it is now vnder the Turke The chiefe Citie thereof is Famagusta which is an Archbishoppes sea for Christians for their tribute doe yet liue there In this countrey in olde time was Venus much honoured and thereof it was called Cypria as also Paphia because shee had a Temple in a Citie there called Paphos Neare vnto Siria stood the Iland Tirus against the pride whereof the Prophets doe so much speake This was a rich citie for merchandise and nauigation in olde time and is the place from whence Dido and the builders of Carthage did come The destruction of it is most famous by Alexander the greate Of the rest of the small Ilandes wee doe say nothing De insulis in Mare Indico THe Ilandes are very many that doe lie in the seas adioyning to the East Indies but the most famous among them shall be touched Among the olde writers as especially appeareth by Solinis was well knowne that which was then called Taprobana which lieth vnder the Equinoctiall line It was in that time a Maonarchy where the Kings raigned not by succession but by election and if any of them did grow intollerable he was deposed and inforced to die with withdrawing from him all things necessary This is nowe called Sumatra and hath in it diuers Kings Not far frō thence lye Eastward the two Ilandes called Iaua maior and Iaua minor which were also known to the olde writers they haue also in them diuers Kings as in generall may be noted that all the East part either in the continent or in the Iland haue very many small Kinges and kingdomes From thence yet more East lieth a great number of Iles which are now called the Moluccoes which are places as rich for their quantity as anie in the world From these it is that the Spaniards haue yearely so greate quantitie of all kindes of spice neither is there any place of all the East Indies that do more richly furnish home their caractes then do these Moluccoes Some of these Ilandes the Spaniards haue gotte into their owne possession with the Kings of some other they haue league and a third sorte vtterly detest them More North-ward ouer against China lieth a greate Iland called Iapona or Iapan the people whereof are much of the same nature with the men of China This countrey was first discouered by the Iesuites who in a blinde zeale haue trauailed vnto the farthest partes of the worlde to winne men to their religion this Ilande is thought to bee very rich The rest that bee either neare vnto Asia or vnto Africa because there is little written of them we passe ouer De Insulis in Mari Atlantico THere bee many Ilands which lie West-ward from Africa and from Europe as those which are called the Gorgades that lie in the same climate with Guinea which are foure in number but not inhabited by men but they are full of Goates North-ward from thence in the same clymate with the South-parte of Marocco lie those which are called Canariae or the fortunate Ilandes which are seuen in nomber being most fruitfull and very pleasant and therefore called by that name This is famous in them that it hath pleased all Cosmographers to make their Meridiane to be the first poynte where they doe beginne to reckon the computation of their longitude and vnto them after three hundred and threescore degrees to returne againe From these Ilandes it is that those strong and pleasant sackes which are called Canari wines are brought and from thence are fetched those which they call Canarie Birdes these Ilandes are vnder the Crowne of Spaine More Northward from thence lye these Ilandes which are called Azotes insulae being sixe or seuen in number of which Tercera is one of the chiefe of whome the rest by some are called the Terceraes which are farre inferiour in fruitfulnesse vnto the Canaries these were first vnder the Crowne of Portugale and one of them was the last which was kept out from the King of Spaine by the Prior don Antonio who now calleth himselfe King of Portugale but the Spaniard at the last tooke this Tercera from him and doeth possesse all these Ilandes tagether with the rest of the dominion which did belong to the Portingale De America siue Orbe nouo ALthough some dispute out of Plato and the olde writers that there was not onely a gesse but a kinde of knowledge in auntient time that besides Europia Asia and Africa there was another large countrey lying to the West yet he that shall aduisedly vse the coniectures made therevpon may see that there is nothing of sufficiencie to enforce any such knowledge but that all antiquitie was vtterly ignorant of the newe founde countries towarde the West whereunto this one argument most forcible may giue credite that at the first ariuing of the Spaniards there they founde in those partes nothing shewing trafique or knowledge of any other Nation but the people naked vnciuill some of them deuourers of mans flesh ignorant of shipping without all kinde of learning hauing no remembrance of historie or writing among them neuer hauing heard of any such religion as in other places of the world is knowne but being vtterly ignorant of Scripture or Christ or Moyses or any God neither hauing among them any token of crosse Church Temple or deuotion agreeing with other Nations God therefore remembring the prophecie of his sonne that the Gospell of the kingdome should before the day of iudgement be preached in all coastes and quarters of the worlde and in his mercie intending to free the people or at the least some fewe of them from the bondage of Sathan who did detaine them in blockish ignoraunce and from their Idolatrous seruice vnto certaine vile spirites whome they called their Zemes and most obsequiously did adore them and raised vp the spirit of a man worthie of perpetuall memorie one Christophorus Columbus borne at Genua in Italie to set his minde to the discouery of a new worlde Who finding by that compasse of the olde knowne worlde that there must needes bee a much more mightie space which the sun by his dayly motiō did compasse aboute then that which was alreadie knowne and discouered and conceiuing that this huge quantitie might as well by land as sea could neuer satisfie himselfe till that hee might attempt to make proofe of the veritie thereof Being therefore himselfe a priuate man and of more vertue then abilitie After his reasons and demonstrations layd downe whereby hee might enduce men that it was no vaine thing which he went about Hee went vnto many of the Princes of Christendome and among other vnto Henrie the seuenth then King of England desiring to bee furnished with shipping and men fitte for such a nauigation But these men refusing him parly because they gaue no credite vnto his newe narration and partly least they should be derided by their neighbour Princes
A BRIEFE DESCRIPTION OF THE whole worlde WHEREIN ARE PARticularly described all the Monarchies Empires and kingdomes of the same with their seuerall titles and situations thereunto adioyning AT LONDON Printed by T. Iudson for Iohn Browne and are to be sould at the signe of the Bible in Fleete-streete 1599. A BRIEFE DESCRIPTION OF THE WHOLE WORLD THe globe of the earth doth eyther shewe the sea or land The sea generall is called by the name of the OCEAN which coasteth all the world and taketh his name in speciall eyther of the place neere which it commeth as Oceanus Britannicus Mare Germanicus Sinus Persicus Mare Atlanticum of the hill Atlas in the West-part of Africke or of the finder out as Fretum Magelanicum or of some other accident as the Red sea because the sand is red Mare Mediterraneum because it runneth betweene the landes of Europe and Afrike Mare Icarium because Icarus was drowned there or the like There be some few seas which haue no entercourse with the OCEAN as Mare mortuum neare Palestina Mare Caspium siue Hircanum not farre from Armenia and such a one is said to be in the North part of America The Straites or narrow seas are noted in the Latine by the name of Fretum as Fretum Britanicum the English narrowe seas Fretum Herculeum the straightes betweene Barbarie and Spaine Fretum Magellanicum c. The earth is either Ilands which are those that are wholy compassed by the sea as Britannia Sicilia Corsica or the continent which is called in the English the firme lande in the Latine Continent The olde knowne firme land was conteined onely in Asia Europe and Africa Europe is deuided from Africa by the Mediterran sea and from Asia by the riuer Tanais whereby appeareth that the North-partes of Asia and of Europe in olde time were but little knowne and discouered Africa is deuided from Europe by the Mediterran sea from Asia by the riuer Nilus and so Asia by Tanais and Nilus is seuered from Europe and Afrike De Hispania TO say nothing of England and Ireland the most westerne countrie of Europe is Spaine which is boūded on the South wth the Mediterran sea on the West with the Atlantike on the North with the Oceanus Cantabricus or the Spanish seas on the East with France from which it is seuered with certaine mountaines called Montes Pyrenei or the Pyrenei hills In this countrie heretofore there were many kingdoms as the kingdome of Portingale toward the West the kingdome of Granada toward the South the kingdome of Nauarre and Aragon towarde the East and the kingdome of Castile in the middle of the land but the whole dominion is now vnder the king of Spaine De Gallia THe next countrie is France which is bounded on the West with the Pyrenei hills on the North with the English seas on the East with Germanie on the South-east with the Alpe-hilles on the South-west with the Mediterran sea This was in auncient time deuided into three partes Aquitania which is toward the West Celtica toward the North and West and Belgica which is toward the North. Belgica is some times called Gallia inferior and sometime Germania inferior but we call it commonly by the name of the Lowe countries the gouernement where of at this day is not at all vnder France but Gallia Celtica and Aquitania are vnder the French king France hath many petie gouernements that doe border vpon it as the Duke of Sauoie the State of the Switzers the Dukedome of Loraine the Burgundians or Wallons against all which the King is forted to keepe his frontier townes There is nothing more famous in this kingdome then the Salike lawe whereby it is prouided that no woman nor the heire of her as in her right shall enioy the crowne of France a but it goeth alwayes to the heire male The Switzers are a people called in olde time Heluetij who haue no Noblemen or Gentlemen among them but onely the citizens of their townes the yearely officers whereof and their councill doe gouerne their State De Germania THe next countrie vnto France on the East-side is Germanie which is bounded on the West with France and the Lowe countries on the North with Denmarke and the Danish seas on the East with Prussia Polonia and Hungarie on the South-east with Istris and Illyricum on the South with the Alpe-hilles with Italy The gouernour generall of this countrie is balled the Emperour of Germanie who is chosen by three spirituall princes the Archbishop of Colen called Coloniensis the Archbishop of Ments called Moguntinus and the Archbishop of Triers called Treuereusis and three temporal princes the Duke of Saxonie the Marques of Brandeburg and the Countie Palantine of Rhine which if they cannot agree as to make a Maior parte in their election then the king of Boheme hath also a voyce whereof it commeth to to be saide that there bee seuen Princes electors of the Empire There is not that free libertie of choosing the Emperour out of any countrie as was heretofore But the election is tyed within one hundred yeares vnto the house of Austria and at this day of of them the king of Bohemia is Emperour who is called Rodulphus 2. Bohemia is a kingdome in the middle of Germanie which is compassed rounde with a mightie wood called Silua Hirciniae The chiefe citie thereof is called Prage In Germanie all are at a kinde of commaundement of the Emperour but most of the Princes otherwise take on them as absolute gouernours in their dominion So that they haue libertie of religion they make lawes they raise souldiers they stampe money with their owne coyne as absolute princes So doth the Duke of Saxonie the Archbishop and the rest There are also free States and cities which haue the same authoritie as Argentine Frankford and other De Italia ON the South-side of the Alpes and Germanie lyeth Italie stretching it selfe out in length towarde the South and East It hath on the South-side the Iland Sicilia on the East that part of the Med. which is called Mare Adriaticum or Mare superum which seuereth Italie from Graecia on the West side that part of the Med. which is called Mare Tyrrhenum or Mare inferum and by some Mare Ligusticum This countrie for the figure thereof is by some likened vnto a long leafe of a tree it hath in the middle of it which goeth all in length a mightie mountaine named Mons Aperminus which is likened to the Spina or ridge-bone of the backe out of this hill spring diuers Riuers which runne on both sides of it into the Adriatike and Tyrrhene or Tuscane seas The North parte of this Italie is that which in auncient time was called Gallia Comata or Gallia Cisalpina Gallia inhabited then by the French-men It is now called Longobardia or Lombardie wherein stand many rich gouernements as the Dukedome of Millaine of Mantua of Florence and others It is for the pleasantnesse thereof in respect of the soile
beene reputed alwayes a verie commodious and pleasurefull countrie It is wholie at this day vnder the Turke The mountaine Taurus goeth along from the West vnto the East part of it The greatnesse of it is such that it hath comprehended many kingdomes and great prouinces beside cities of great fame On the South-east part thereof neare Palaestina lyeth Cilicia the chiefe citie thereof is Tarsus the countrie of Saint Paul the place whither Salomon sent for great store of his golde and prouision for the Temple whither Ionas also fled when he should haue gone to Niniue In the straites of this Cilicia neere to the mountaine Taurus did Alexander giue the great ouerthrowe in person to Darius in the ioyning of their first battaile Westward from Cilicia lyeth the prouince called Pamphilia wherein standeth the citie Saeleucia built by Seleucus one of the foure great successors of Alexander the great On the West of this Pamphilia extending it selfe euen to the sea is Lydia where reigned sometime Croesus who was so renowmed for his aboundant riches Herein standeth as a sea-towne Halicarnassus the countrie of Herodotus and of Dionysius who wrote the Romane Historie which cittie was sometimes a kingdome as in the time of Xerxes to whose aide against the Graecians did goe Artimisia the Queene of Halicarnasse and here raigned Ada another Queene in the time of Alexander the great Vpon the sea-coast Northward from Lydia standeth diuers of those cities vnto the which Iohn in his Reuellation did write his seuen Epistles as Smyrna Pergamus Sardis and Ephesus but other of them as Laodicia Philadelphia Thiatira doe stand more in the inland Sardis was a citie of great pleasure and profite which is that place the winning whereof by the Greekes did so displease one of the kings of Persia that he caused it euerie day at dinner to be remembred vnto him that the Graecians had taken Sardis and that he must not cease till he had recouered it againe Ephesus was one of the most famous cities of the worlde the greatest glorie whereof did arise by reason of the most magnificent Temple of Diana which was at Ephesus to the building whereof all Asia the lesse did verie bountifully contribute It is reported to haue beene two hundred yeeres in building and at seuen seuerall times as otherwise so especiallie by lightning to haue bin set on fire but the final destruction of it was by a base person named Herostratus who of purpose set it on fire to make himselfe famous More Northward toward the Sea-coast lyeth Phrygia which was the countrie from whence the Goddesse called Bona Dea or Pessinuntia and Cybile was brought to Rome In this countrie liued Gordius who knit that knot that Alexander cut hoping thereby to obtaine as an oracle had foretolde the whole kingdome of Asia In this countrie stoode Troy the siege whereof by the Graecians is made so famous by the Poetrie of Homer and of Virgil. Yet Northwarde from Phrygia lyeth the Countrie of Bithynia which was sometimes a kingdome where Prusias raigned that had so much to doe with the Romanes In this countrie standeth the citie Nicea where the first generall Councel was held against Arrius the Heretike by Constantine the great thereof called the Nicene Councell Here standeth also Chalcedon where the fourth general Councell was held by the Emperour Martianus against the heretike Nestorius From Bithynia East-ward on the North-side of Asia the lesse standeth the countrie of Paphlagonia where was the citie built by Pompey the great called of his name Pompeiopolis From thence Eastward ioining to Armenia is the kingdome of Capadocia which bordereth on Armenia Northward from thence near to the sea called Pontus Euxinus lieth the kingdome of Mithridates which was called Pontus This Mithridates had long warres with the Romanes whose subiects he caused to be slaine all in one night throughout Asia the lesse He was afterward ouerthrowne by Pempey the great Romane By him was inuented that preseruatiue against poison which of his name is called Mithridate There were also in Asia the lesse some other small countries as Galatia Lycia Caria and some other De Syria Palaestina SOuthward from Cilicia and Asia the lesse lieth Syria called Palaestina hauing on the East Mesopotamia on the South Arabia on the West Tire and Sidon and the end of the Mediterran sea The people of this Syria were in times past called the Aramites In their language is the translation of the new Testament called the Syriacke In this countrie standeth Antioch which was sometimes one of the famous Patriarks seas and is a citie of reckoning vnto this day Here also standeth now the Citie of Aleppo which is a famous Mart towne for the Marchandizing of the Persians and other of the East and for the Turkes and such countries as bee adioyning Here standeth also Tripolis The South part of Syria lying downe toward Aegypt and Arabia was the place where the children of Israel did dwel beeing a countrie but of small quantitie not in length two hundren Italian miles yet was so fruitfull flowing with milk and honie as the scripture calleth it that both it did maintaine aboue thirtie kings and their people before the comming of the children of Israel out of Egypt and also was sufficient afterwarde to relieue the incredible number of the twelue tribes of Israel It was noted of this countrie that whereas by the goodnesse of the Climate wherein it stoode and the fertilitie of the soile but especially by the blessing of God it was the most fruitfull land that was in the world nowe our trauailers by experience doe finde the countrie in respect of the fruitfulnesse to bee changed God cursing the land together with the Iewes the inhabitants of it It is obserued also for all the Easterne parts that they are not so fertile as they haue beene in former ages The earth as it were growing olde which is an argument of the dissolution to come by the day of iudgement Through this countrie doth runne the riuer Iordan which hath heretofore beene famous for the fruitfulnesse of the trees standing thereupon and for the mildnesse of the aire so that as Iosephus writeth when snow hath layen in other places of the land about the riuer it hath bin so calme that men did goe in single thinne linnen garments In this countrie standeth the Lake called Lacus Asphaltites because of a kinde of slime or Bytumen which dayly it doth cast vp being of force to ioyne stones exceeding fast in building This Lake is it which is called Mare mortuum a Sea because it is salt and dead for that no liuing thing is therein the water whereof is so thicke that fewe thinges will sinke therein insomuch that Iosephus saith that an Oxe hauing all his legges bound will not sinke in that water The nature of this lake was turned into this qualitie when God did destroy Sodome and Gomorra and the citties adioyning with fire and brimstone from heauen for Sodom and
which almost in all olde hystories were called by the name of Mauri Those of the other Mauritania being rather termed Namidae Into the Northwest part hereof did Hercules come and there did set vp one of his pillars which aunswereth to the other in Spaine at the straights of Gibraltar in times past called Fretum Herculeum On the South part hereof lay the kingdome of Bocchus which in the time of Marius had so much to doe with the Romanes In the Westpart of this Mauritania standeth the hill called Atlas minor and on the South part is the great hill called Atlas maior whereof the maine Ocean which lieth betweene Mauritania and America is called Mare Atlanticum This hill is so high that vnto those who stoode on the bottome of it it seemed to touch heauen with his top whereupon grew that fable of the Poets that Atlas was a giant who helde vp heauen with his shoulders This countrie hath beene long inhabited by the Sarazens who from thence finding it to be but a short passage into Spain did go ouer now seuen hundred yeers agone and possessed there the kingdome of Granado on the South-side of Spaine till they were thence expelled by Ferdinandus and Elizabeth or Isabell King and Queene of Castile In this countrie since that time haue the Spaniards taken some cities and holdes and so also haue the Portingales which by the diuers euent of victorie haue often beene lost and wonne by them Here it was that the Emperou Charles the fift had diuerse of his great warres agaynst the Moores as well as in the kingdome of Timis For the assistance of one who claimed to bee King of a part of this Countrie did Sebastian the king of Portingale goe with all his power into Africa in the yeare 1578. where vnaduisedly bearing himselfe hee was slaine togither with two other dying that day who claymed to bee Kings so that there it was that the battaile was sought whereof it is said that three kings dyed in one day which battaile was the ruine of the kingdome of Portingale and the cause of the vniting of a to the Crowne of Spaine Astrolegers did suppose that the blaging Starre which appeared the yeare before did signifie that ill euent This whole countrie doth containe in it besides some imperiall gouernment two absolute kingdomes the one the kingdome of Eezza or Fes which lieth on the North-part toward the Mediter and Spaine the other is the kingdome of Marocco which lieth from about the hill Atlas minor to the South and West part of Mauritania These are both Sarazens as be also their people holding true league with the Turke and with some other Christian Princes a league onely for trefique or Marchandise De reliquis Africae regionbius maritimis FRom beyond the hils Atlas maior vnto the South of Africa is nothing almost in antiquitie worthy the reading and those things which are written for the most part are fables In the new Writers there are some few things to be obferued As first that all the people in generall to the South lying within the Zona torrida are not onely blackish like the Moores but are exceedingly blacke And therefore as in olde time by an excellencie some of them were called Nigrita so that to this day they are named Negros as then whome no men are blacker Secondly that the inhabitants of all these parts which border or the sea coast euen vnto Caput bonae spei haue beene Gentiles adoring Images and foolish shapes for their gods neither hearing of Christ nor beleeuing on Mahomet till such time as Portingales cōming in among them haue professed Christ for themselues but haue wonne fewe of the people to imbrace their religion Thirdly that the Portingales passing along Africa vnto the East Indies haue fetled themselues in many places of those countries building Castles and townes for their owne safetie and to keepe the people in subiection to their great commoditie One of the first countries famous beyond Marocco is Guinea which we call Ginnie within the compasse whereof lieth the cape called Cape Verde and the other the Cape of the three points and the towne and Castle named Sierra Liona at which places commonly all trauailers doe touch that doe passe that way for fresh water and other shippe-prouision Our English men haue founde trafique into the partes of this countrie where their greatest commoditie as golde and Elephants teeth of both which there is very good store Beyond that toward the South not farre from the equinoctiall line lyeth the kingdome of Congo commonlie called Manicongo Where the Portingales at their first arriuall finding the people to bee heathens without God did induce them to a profession of Iesus Christ and to bee baptized in great aboundance allowing of the principles of religion vntill such time as the Priests did teach them to leade their liues according vnto their profession which the most part of them in no case enduring they returned backe againe vnto their Gentilisme Beyond Manicongo so farre to the South as almost ten degrees beyonde the tropicke of Capricorne lyeth the landes ende which is a promontorie now called by the name of Caput bone spei which Vascus Gama the Portingale did discouer and so called it because hee had there good hope that the land did turne to the North and that following the course thereof he might bee brought to Arabia and Persia but especially to Calicut in India Which course when himselfe and other of his countrimen after him did follow they founde on the coast vp towarde Arabia the kingdome of Mozambique Melinde Magadaxa and other whose people were all Gentiles and now are in league with the Portingales who haue built diuerse holdes for their safetie of which Countries and manners of the people he that listeth to reade may finde much in the hystories of Osorius and Petrus Maffeus But there is no matter of any great importance De Abissina imperio Presbyteri Iohannis IN the inland of Africa lyeth a verie large Countrie extending it selfe on the East to some part of the redde sea on the South to the kingdome of Melinde and a great way farther on the North vnto Egypt on the West vnto Manicorgo the people whereof are called Abissini and it selfe the dominion of him whom wee commonly call in English Prester Iohn but in Latine some tearme him Preciosus Iohannes because of his riches but in the most part Presbiter Iohannes writing of him that as he is a prince absolute so he hath also a Priestlike or Patriarchall function iurisdiction among them This is a very mightie prince and reputed to be one of the greatest Emperours of the worlde What was knowne of this countrie in former time was knowne vnder the name of Aethiopia but the voyages of the Portingales in these late dayes haue best described it The people therefore are Christians as is also their prince but differing in many thinges from the West Church and in no sorte acknowledging any supreme
prerogatiue of the Bishop of Rome It is thought that they haue retayned christianitie euen from the time of our Sauiour being supposed to bee conuerted by the Chamberlaine of Candace the Queene of Aethiopia who was instructed concerning Christ by Phillip the Euang. in the Actes of the Apostes Euseb in his Ecclesiasticall storie doth make mention of this But they doe to this day retaine Circumcision whereof the reason may be that the Eunuch their conuerter not hauing any further conference with the Apostle nor any else for him did receiue the ceremonies of the Church vnperfectly retaining Circumcision which among the Iewes was not abolished when he had conference with Phillip Within the dominion of Prester Iohn are the mountaines commonly called Lune montes where is the first well-spring and arising of the riuer Nylus which riuer running violently along this countrie and sometimes hastely increasing by the melting of much snow from the mountaines would ouer-run and drowne a great parte of Aegipt but that it is slaked by many ponds dams sluces which are within the dominion of Prester Iohn And in respect hereof for the maintenance of these the Princes of Aegipt haue paid vnto the gouernor of Abissines a great tribute time out of minde which of late the great Turke supposing to bee a custome needelesse did denye till the people of the Abissines by commaundement of their Prince did breake downe their dammes and drowning Aegipt did inforce the Turke to continue his paye and to giue much money for the newe making of them very earnestly to his great charge desiring a peace There be other Countries in Africa as Agisimbae Libiae interior Nubia and other of whome nothing is famous But this may be said of Africa in generall that it bringeth forth store of all sortes of wilde beastes as Elephants Lyons Panthers Tigers and the like yea according to the Prouerbe Africa sempor aliquid apportet noui Oftentimes newe and strange shapes of beastes are brought forth there The reason whereof is that the countrie being hot and full of wildernesses which haue in them little water the beastes of all sortes are inforced to meete at those fewe warring places that be where oftentimes contrarie kindes haue coniunction the one with the other so that there ariseth newe kindes or species which taketh parte of both Such a one is the Leopard begotten of the Lyon and the beast called Dardus somewhat resembling either of them And thus fat of Africa De Insulis septentrionalibus THe Ilands that doe lie in the North are in number almost infinite the chiefe of them onely shall be briefely touched Very farre to the North in the same clymate almost with Sweden that is vnder the very circle arctick lyeth Ireland called in olde time Thule which was then supposed to be the farthest parte of the worlde Northward and and therefore is called by Virgill Vltima Thule the countrie is colde the people barbarous and it yeeldeth little commoditie sauing Hankes in some parte of the yeare there is no night at all Southward from thence lyeth Frizeland called in Latine Frizelandia whereas the Frizeland ioyning to Germanie is in Latine called Frizia On the coast of Germanie one of the seuenteene prouinces is called Zeland which containeth in it diuers Ilandes in whome little is famous sauing that in one of them is Vlishing or Firshing a towne of warre and at Middleburg in an other a place of good marte The States of the Lowe-countries doe holde this prouince vnited against the King of Spaine These Ilands haue bene much troubled of late with inundation of waters The Iland that lyeth most West of any fanie is Ireland which had in it heretofore many kings of their owne but the whole land is now annexed vnto the crowne of England The people naturally rude and superstitious the countrie good and fruitefull but that for want of tillage in diuers pleces they suffer it to growe into bogges and desertes That is true of this countrie which Solmus writeth of some other that serpents and adders doe not breede here and in the Irish timber of certaine experience no spiders webbe is euer founde The most renowned Iland in the worlde is Albion or Britannia which hath heretofore contained in it many seuerall kingdomes but especially in the time of the Saxons It hath now in it the two kingdoms of England and Scotland wherein are forue seuerall languages that is the English which the ciuill Scots doe barbarously speake the Welsh tongue which is the language of the olde Britaines the Cornish which is the proper speech of Cornewall and the Irish which is spoken by those Scots which liue on the West parte of Scotland neare vnto Ireland The commodities of England and pleasures are well knowne vnto vs and many of them may be expressed in this verse Anglia Mons Pons Fons Ecclesia foemina lana This countrie which in olde time was inhabited by the Britaines was entered vpon by the Romaines first vnder Iulius Caesar and was long by them kept in subiection but it was an error in them when they wrote that England would breede nor keepe no Wolfe It was afterwarde ouerrunne and possessed by the Saxons of whome 7. kings at once did raigne here After that the Danes out of Denmarke did inuade it and much molest it And lastly vnder the leading of their Duke William the Normans did conquere it and established that gouernement which to this day doth continue And from whome as from the Conquerour our ordinarie computation is deriued The Scots were in times past a most barbarous people of whome Saint Ierome reporteth that he sawe some of them in his time in France to feede on mans flesh They were neuer wholy conquered by the Romaines There be very many little Ilandes adioyning vnto the great Iland Britanie As at the very North-point of Scotland the Orchades which are in number aboue 30. The chiefe whereof is named Orkney where the people are barbarous On the West-side of Scotland towardes Ireland lye the Ilandes called Hebreides where inhabite the people ordinarily tearmed the Redshankes Not farre from thence is the I le Mona commonly called The I le of Man The peculiar iurisdiction of the Earles of Darbie with homage notwithstanding reserued vnto the crowne of England On the North-part of Wales is the Iland of Anglesey which is reputed a distinct shiere towardes France side on the South part of England is the I le of Wight in Latine called Vectis which is a good holde in the narrowe seas against the French More neare Fraunce are the Iles of Garnesey and Iernesey where they speake French and are vnder the crowne of England There be also many other but of small accompt De Insulis in Mari Mediterraneum THere be many Ilandes in the Mediterran renowmed in the olde writers but the chiefe of them onely shall be touched From the pillers of Hercules going Eastwarde are two Ilands not farre from Spaine which in times
past were called Insulae Baleares for that the people oft then did vse both for their delight and armour Slings which they continually almost carried aboute them And whereunto as Plinie writeth they did traine vp their children from their yoâ—â—â—â—st yeares Not giuing them any meate till they had from some Post or Beame cast it downe with a sling Of these were those Funditories or Sling-casters which the Carthaginians and Spaniards did vse in their warres against the Romanes The lesser of these which lieth most West was called in olde time Minorica and at this day Minorica The bigger which lieth more East was called Maiorica and now Maiorica They are both vnder the dominion of the King of Spaine More Eastward in the sea called Mare Inferum or Tyrrhenum lieth the Iland of Corsica ouer against Genua and direct Southward from thence lyeth the great Iland Sardinia Forthe quiet possessing of which two the warres were oftentimes reuiued betweene the olde Carthaginians and the Romanes For these two Ilands lie in the middle very fitly For both these are also at this day vnder the King of Spaine And were the same which latelie the Cardinall of Lourain would perswade the old king of Nauarre in France that if hee woulde leaue his religion and become a Papist the Spanish king should yeeld him either Sardinia or at the loast Corsica in recompence of Pampilona and the rest of the kingdome of Nauarre which the Spaniards by force did detaine from him Farther yet to the East at the verie poynt of the South-part of Italy lieth the great Iland of Sicilia which some haue supposed to haue beene heretofore a part of the continent but by an earth-quake and inundation of water to haue bin rent off and so made an Ileland The figure of this Country is Triquetra or triangle three-square There was also great contention for the Countrie betweene the Carthaginians and the Romanes but the Romanes obtayned it and had from thence exceeding store of corne yearelie whereupon Cicilie was called Horreum P. Romani Here stoode the goodly citie called Siracusa which was destroyed and sacked by Marcellus the Romane This was in times past a kingdom where the two tyrants the elder and the yonger Dionisius did reigne where Hiero also that great friend to the Romanes did remaine It was afterward made a prouince and gouerned by a Praetor or Deputie of the Romanes whereof Verres was one so inueighed against by Tullie It grew afterwards to be a kingdome againe insomuch that Tancredus was King of Cicilia who went to the taking of Ierusalem with Richard the second king of England Here was likewise Phalaris the tyrant so famous king of Agrigentum This Countrey is now also vnder the King of Spaine who among other titles calleth himselfe king of both the Cicilies reckoning this Iland for one and that part of Italie for another which is nowe called Calabria and was in the Romane hystories named Maegna Graecia There is nothing more renowmed in all Cicilia either with the newe or olde writers then the mountaine Aetna which beeing on the out-side ofteÌ„ couered with snow yet by a sulphurie or brimstonie water doth continuallie burne within yea so that whereas it was supposed in the ages last before vs that the matter beeing consumed the fire had ceased twise in our age it hath broke foorth againe to the intollerable losse of all the Countrie adioyning the ashes thereof destroying townes and fruites which were within the compasse of manie myles about This is that place whither Empedocles threwe himselfe that hee might bee reputed a God This is it whereof Virgill doth make his tract called Aenea which the Poets did report to be the shop of Vulcan where the Cyclops did frame the thunderbolts for Iupiter and to conclude this is it which some of our grosse Papists haue not feared to imagine to be the place of Purgatorie Not farre South from Cicilie lieth the little Iland called in old time Melite whence those dogs come which were so much desired vnder the name of Canes Melitenses This is the countrie where S. Paul was cast vp after his shipwracke in his iourney to Rome where the Viper hanged on his hand and did not hurt him This Countrie is now called Malta and is one of the places most renowmed in the worlde for the repelling of the Turkes when Soliman the Emperour of them did send agaynst it a most mightie armie It was then defended by those who are called the knights of Malta which by sea doe great spoile to the gallies of the Turke that passe that way Neare vnto Graecia and Peloponnesus on the West-side toward Italie is the I le Corcyra nowe tearmed Corfue and not far South from that is Cephalonia and from thence South is Zant called by Virgill Nemorisa Zazinthus all which Ilands haue beene heretofore vnder the Venetians but are now vnder the Turke In Zazinthus our English marchants haue an house of abode for their trafique Southeast from Morea lieth the great Iland Creta where Minos sometime did raigne so famous for his seueritie This countrie was then called Hecatompolis as hauing in it an hundred townes and cities The Turkes haue wonne this also long since from the Venetians it is now called Candie from whence commeth our ordinarie sugar of Candie Betweene Creta and Peloponnesus lieth Cythera where was the fine Temple of Venus who thereof by the Poets is called Cytherea The Ilandes are many which doe lie in the sea called Mare Aegeum from the bottome of Greece vnto the top of the Hellispont as all the Cyclades Euboea the great Iland Samos and Chios so Scyro where Achilles was borne and was king of that countrie There was also Lesbos Lemnos Metilene and Ithaca where Vlisses was king and Andros whether Themistocles was sent by the AtheniaÌ„s for tribute of which places something may be read in the olde historie of the Greekes Diuers of these did striue that Homer was borne in them but of certaintie many of those kinges which Homer saith came with Agamemnon to the siege of Troye were kings but of these small Ilands Eastward from thence not farre from some parte of Natolia or Asia the lesse is the Iland Rhodus the friendship of the inhabitants whereof was in auntient time very much desired by the Princes that had to doe that way So that Alexander first and the Romaines afterwardes did embrace their league Here was that huge and mightie image of the Sunne which was Cholossus Rhodius This countrie was long defended by those who were called the Knightes of the Rhodes against the power of the Turke and it was a great bulwarke to defend Christendome till that in the yeare one thousand fiue hundred twentie and two Solimon the great Turke did winne it from the Christians by force From thence Southward is the I le of Carpathus but in the farther end of the East parte of the Mediterraneum is Cyprus which about 300. yeares since was a kingdome did