doubt that it matter'd not much what became of Her or her Daughters the King might live without them but not well without his brother whose company was absolutely necessary for His Majesty That the people upon so unexpected a resolution could make no other conjecture but that she was doubtlesly in danger and her Enemies possest of all manner of power since her owne quality and her childrens were not sufficient to secure her unlesse she should flie to Sanctuary a refuge usually for guilty people and if at any time for such as were innocent onely for such as wanted other meanes of protection That she seemed by Enemies to meane none but the Privy Counsell since they were highest in Authority That to believe their intentions were to oppresse the Queene the Duke of Yorke and the Ladies of the blood Royall so as they were inforced to take Sanctuary was an injury not to be tolerated That whosoever should approve of such scandalous proceedings did not love the King neither did he believe that they did disapprove thereof who would not helpe to remedy it since the King himselfe being a Child could not do it That it behooved them to looke to it who were chosen to looke to the preservation of the Kingdome and the Kings health nor were they disengaged from the many duties they were bound to by the payment of One debt That the consideration of health was the chiefe thing they ought to have in regard and rather the health of the mind then the health of the Body for the former being lost the latter could not long continue for that sadnesse of mind did dry up the Bones especially in a young Prince who if he should not be streightned in honest recreations muchlesse from Honest Company And though it fits not Kings to have companions yet no conversation being to be had without some sort of Equality to whom did it more properly belong then to an onely Brother And if this alone argument might not be of force as it ought hee propounded this consideration unto their wisdomes that the Coronation could not be proceeded in without scandall whilst the Duke of Yorke who was to have the first place next to the King in that great solemnity should not be there but in a Sanctuary a shelter for Delinquents affording matter to the common people to judge according to their Ignorance and to Forreigne Princes according to the appearance of false supposalls which must needs redound to the shame and prejudice of them all to their shame for that it was not to be credited that the onely brother of a King should for his safeties sake be necessitated to make use of the priviledge of Sanctuary without just occasion To their prejudice for that give this necessity for granted great troubles were likely to arise thereout it not being likely that there would want those who would willingly lay hold on any occasion to disturbe the State That in his opinion some one should be sent to the Queene whom shee did not mistrust yet such a one as would be zealous of the honour of the King and Counsell who might rectify her and let her know what wrong she did unto them all To the King by bereaving him of his Brother To the counsell by her thus tacitely accusing them of an evill that never fell into their thoughts To the Kingdome by kindling a fire which was not sodainely to be quenched And that if this should not prevaile the Duke of Yorke should by Regall power be taken from Prison and brought to the King his brother where being more made of then with Her he might reproach unto her her mistrust and how she had beene the occasion of making others do the like her malignant and sottish suspicions tending to the Counsells shame the Kingdomes Harme and her Owne Confusion He propounded the Cardinall Archbishop of Yorke for this enterprise remitting himselfe to their pleasure if they should not approve of him from the which hee profest hee would not dissent They all commended his opinion and agreed with him that if he could not be had from thence inconveniences might ensue But the Cardinall having first taken the imployment upon him was together with as many Ecclesiasticall persons as were there present of a contrary opinion for as much as concern'd his being taken from the Sanctuary by force alleadging the Sanctity of the place was inviolable as well by the many reiterated grants of Popes and Kings as for five hundred Yeares before as is testifyed by tradition it was by St. Peter assisted therein by Angels miraculously consecrated He hoped however it would be needlesse the Queene in reason being to deliver him up willingly the which if shee should not doe the fault was neither to be attributed to Her nor Him Not to Him for he would not be failing in his duty Not to Her shee being therein to be excus'd in respect of her Motherly affection and the weakenesse of her Sex But Buckingham not approving these circumspections swore The Queene knew well enough she had no occasion of feare that her feares were meerely fictitious and of malice and if she would be believed because her kinred were hated as they well deserved to be shee should distinguish betweene those who were of kin to Her and who were the like to the Bloud Royall That her kindred had afforded reason wherefore to be hated as shee her selfe had likewise done through her malignity but in her extending it to the Duke of Yorke the distribution was too large and odious That he likewise had the honour to be a kin unto him neither would hee in his zeale to his service give way to any one no not unto his Mother since she desired to keepe him not without danger and scandall in the Sanctuary to please her malicious humour whereas hee counselled he should be taine from thence to the end that all scandalls being removed the danger of his health might be prevented and other mens troubles He discourst upon the use and abuse of Sanctuaries all the Counsell joyning with him in opinion whereupon it was resolved that if the Cardinall could not prevaile with his Perswasions hee should be taken from her by Force The which being agreed upon they went to the Starre-Chamber to expect there as in the neerest place what would be the issue The Cardinall accompained by a great many Lords either for that the Protectour would not trust a businesse of such weight to One onely man or that the comming of so many might make the Queene perceive it was not He alone that desired the delivery of her Sonne and that if shee should refuse they might Force him from Her as was resolved The Cardinalls words were these He was sent by the Protectour and the Privy Counsell to let her know how much her detaining of the Duke of Yorke in that place was of scandall to the publque and of Dislike to the King his Brother it being an action which must
rather then to live in the miseries they hitherto had done They cal'd upon Alinighty God the King of Kings to inspire him with his light and to continue unto him in his Regall dignity those praise-worthy parts by meanes whereof he deserved to be King though he were not And that though his right needed not any publique Acts of Parliament he being King and heire unto the Crowne without them yet in regard the people might be ignorant of the cause of the deposing the one and assuming the other for this cause and to remove all doubts that might arise the Lords Spirituall and Temporall and Commons assembled in Parliament had in full Parliament pronounced decreed and declared that Richard the third their Soveraigne Lord was whilest hee should live the undoubted King of England and of all that within or without belonged thereunto and after him his heires That the high and mighty Prince Edward his sonne was his heire apparant and after him those who should discend from him This decree being registred among the Acts of Parliament and approved of by King Richard with order to be held authenticall in all the parts thereof made it be understood that the Kings of England have power to doe what they will when they are either loved for their vertues or feared for their force For what concernes love there is no proof in this present case but of feare sufficient feare being the prinium mobile of this businesse Richard having by the assistance of the Duke of Buckingham and their adherent raised a powerfull faction the lawfull King being a Child and prisoner the Tyrant a man of braines wel-spoken and of reputation in armes not likely to undertake such a businesse unlesse certaine to effect it all men doubting themselves since their forces being cut off and those put to death which might have re-united them they were exposed to the violence of so cruell a man as Richard who had given proofe of his cruelty by his detaining the King by his taking the Duke of York from the Sanctuary by his impudence in declaring them to be Bustards and by his shamelesnesse in publishing his mother to be a whore to boote with the death of so many Peeres This feare was that which gave a maske to the flatteries of Parliament and which furnisht it with some colour of pretence drawne from Doctor Shaw's Sermon and the speeches made by the Duke of 〈◊〉 in the City-Hall Richard being thus confirmed and believing to settle his tyranny by resting it upon un-accustomed circumstances hee went into Westminster-hall sate him downe in the Kings Bench where in doubtfull cases the Kings of England had wont antiently to sit and where hee avowed his accepting of the Crowne the which hee exprest in a formall Oration and in a manner so well composed as those who had not knowne him would have thought England had never beene blest with so good a King and to colour with the shew of clemency his innate cruelty hee caused one Fogge who had taken Sancturary and whom he had alwayes mortally hated to be brought before him hee tooke him by the hand in fight of all the people and made professions of loving him now as much as he had formerly hated Him by which act he made a great impression in the simpler sort but those who were better advised knew that this was but a Bait wherewith to catch better fish In his returne to his Palace Hee courteously saluted such as Hee knew loved Him not thinking by this servile flattery to infatuate their mindes and to establish his government Yet for all this he durst not rely upon his present fortune He ascertained His Coronation by unaccustomed forces causing five thousand men to come from the Northerne parts of the Kingdome in whom hee trusted aswell for that they tooke part with the House of Yorke as likewise that living in remote parts they were not acquainted with his actions as were the Londoners who having him alwayes in their eye abhorred Him These Northern men appeared ill clad and worse arm'd which made them be but laught at for t was thought that if He should have occasion to make use of them they would not serve His turne and that t was neither these forces not yet greater but a meere Fatality which had precipitated England into so dire and miserable a subjection The last act of His possessing the Crowne was His Coronation all things thereunto belonging being ready as prepared for His Nephews Coronation Hee went with his Wife and His Sonne to the Tower where the next day Hee created the Lord Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolke Thomas Howard Sonne to the same man Hee created Earle of Surrey Hee made William Barckley Earle of Nottingham and the Lord Francis Lovell Viscount and Lord Chamberlaine and Hee made seventeene Knights of the Bath The Archbishop of Yorke the Lord Stanley and the Bishop of Ely had beene prisoners in the Tower ever since the Chamberlaine lost his Head Hee set the first at liberty finding himselfe peaceably possest of the Kingdome otherwise Hee would not have done it for being an honest man hee would never have given his consent to the deposing of the true King Hee freed the second out of feare for His Sonne the Lord Strange was raysing great forces in Lancashire a place wherein Hee had great Power and was mightily followed it behooved him to appease Him but Hee did not set the Bishop of Ely at liberty who was a faithfull servant to King Edward for Hee was certaine Hee would never condescend to his Childrens deprivation nor to the unjust wayes whereby Hee usurped the Kingdome whereof Hee had made tryall in the Councells held in the Tower whilest by oblique meanes He set the businesse on foot The Bishop was of no great birth but having lived a long time in good repute in Oxford hee was taken from thence being but bare Doctor by Henry the sixt and made a Privy-Counsellour Edward knowing his integrity kept him still in that condition and chose Him at His death to be one of his Executors Richard therefore fearing Him would have kept Him still in Prison though Hee set the others at liberty had not the Vniversity of Oxford which Hee did alwayes very much favour interceded for Him so that desirous in part to satisfy the Vniversity Hee was content to take him from the Tower as being too publick a place but that Hee might not have His free liberty Hee committed him to the custody of the Duke of Buckingham who sent Him to a Castle of His in Brecknockshire where they joyntly laid the first ground-worke of Richards ruine Hee together with his Wife was Crowned in great pompe the sixteenth of Iuly his Wife was daughter to the great Earle of Warwicke who had made and unmade the two preceding Kings and Widow to Edward Sonne to Henry the Sixt Prince of Wales to whom she was give in marriage when Edward the Fourths ruine was agreed upon in
by them inclosed That when hee was come to Flint the Duke with all his Army came thither likewise That the Archbishop Arundel was the first with whom hee treated and that having gathered by what had befallen him that Lancaster was not so simple as hereafter to affie in him whom he had so highly offended That punishments pardons and reformations were but the songs of Syrens and that his aime was at the Kingdome hee offered to surrender it up unto him But however it was he was from Chester sent into the Tower of London And if in his taking water at Westminster had he not been waited upon by the Maior and his associates he was likely to have been slain before he could have got unto the Tower Lancaster on the contrary was received by the Citie and all the Companies thereof as King with processions applause and all expressions of joy A Parliament was called in Richards name The Duke took serious advice concerning this affair with his best friends particularly with his Uncle of Yorke who were all of one opinion That the resignation should be so done as that it might appeare voluntary nor that being sufficient since his imprisonment would argue an inforcement that his deposing might bee strengthened by act and authority of Parliament To effect the first of these divers were suborned who having formerly been his friends shewed unto him the danger wherein hee was if he did not purchase his life at the rate of the free resignation of his Kingdome The which being obtained they fell to the effecting it The chiefe Lords as well Ecclesiasticall as Temporall together with the prime Judges and Lawyers came all to the Tower to all which Richard with his Robes on his Crowne on head and Scepter in his hand presented himselfe and taking his Chaire after some few acknowledgements and excuses of his own misgovernment he himselfe read his Surrender affirming it to be freely done and without compulsion Hee moreover freed his subjects of whatsoever bonds oathes fidelity or homage renouncing all further claime authority dignity or title to the Crowne leaving it free for the time to come with all the appurtenances belonging thereunto This being done he subscribed it And then falling upon the praise of his cousin the Duke of Lancaster hee desired them to chuse him for his successor And made the Archbishop Arundell and Bishop of Hereford his substitutes to acquaint the Parliament with this his request and resignation And the more to witnesse his good inclination towards the Duke he tooke from off his owne finger a Ring wherein his Armes were ingraven and put it upon the Dukes finger giving him therewithall his Ensignes of Regality whereof he had disrobed himselfe All this he did as seeming desirous to lead a private life though in his disrobing he could not hide his inward griefe at the which there was no so hard heart as was not mollified The Trustees discharged their trust unto the Parliament which accepted the resignation And that there might remaine no scruple for such as should come after many Articles were framed wherein he was accused of extortion prodigality tyranny of having preferred men of base condition to the highest places of being cause of the imprisonment and death of the Duke of Gloster and Earle of Arundell against the rules of Law and Justice of having kept about him people to destroy him permitting unto them all insolences without correction They omitted not his lasciviousnesse perjuries falshood losse of reputation rapine Maximes of State able to ruine a State Principals contrary to the rights of a Crowne his cancelling of publicke writings his injurious proceeding against the Archbishop of Canterbury nor any thing else that might be objected to an apparant tyrant And as such a one he was by all the Judges deputed for this purpose declared incable and unworthy and by the votes of them all deposed from the dignity and title of a King Insomuch as not contented to bereave him of his kingdome they would likewise have him therewithall to lose his reputation Commissioners were deputed to acquaint him with the Act of Parliament and to renounce unto him all former tyes homage fidelity subjection or oath To the which he made no other answer save That not regarding these titulary circumstances he hoped his cousin would be his good friend and Lord. I have heard by some that the lower House did not give its consent to his deposition the which may very well be true but Writers doe not mention it In the interim of this inter-regnum the Duke of Lancaster made known his Titles by which hee laid claime unto the Crowne and was by generall applause cried up King and installed in his Throne by the Archbishops of Canterbury and Yorke Thus ended the reigne though not the life of Richard the second a Prince in many respects worthy to have reigned if he had not reigned The end of the first Booke THE CIVILL VVARRES OF ENGLAND IN THE LIFE OF HENRY the fourth The second Booke HENRY the 4th a Prince naturally well given when he knew himself to be King began to differ in many things from what he formerly was for the usurpation of Kingdomes a vice in all times blamed yet pursued if it do not totally destroy vertue doth at least infeeble it or keep it in suspence It is impossible to contract Matrimony between the Regall Throne and Injustice unlesse it bee by unjust meanes and that the Dowry consist of any thing save cruelty and rapine All things here below have mediums conformable to themselves and in the order of Nature subordinate to their Genus the good to good the bad to bad So he while hee was in his prime innocency did nothing which was not praise worthy neither did his praise exceed his merit but being arrived to that where ambition doth its uttermost hee did more shamefully then miraculously metamorphose himselfe his nature though not changed but some wayes altered did by fits reduce him to what hee naturally was in the vehemencie of his forces revenge or command he did not out-goe his owne preservation or security so as though hee might deserve the name of an Usurper yet did he not deserve to bee tearmed a tyrant for were it otherwise since among the Roman Emperours there were few found who were not usurpers and yet of the number many good men the good could not have shunned the being reputed Tyrants Henry did not subvert the fundamentall Lawes he was sent for before he did insinuate himself the Kingdom was offered unto him before he did usurpe it He did better make good the office of a Prince to his subjects then did his subjects their duties unto him their Prince neither of them forgetting their peculiar natures he his innate goodnesse nor they their naturall wavering and inconstancie This may bee witnessed to us by what befell him while he was a private man hee did with temperance and modesty receive the praises due unto him
held out for Talbot being come with 4000. Souldiers with full purpose to give the Constable battle who having fortified himselfe in the City did not stirre from thence though much provoked tooke a Fort placed in the Island neare unto the Market-place wherein hee slew 120. men tooke all the rest prisoners and forced Monsieur de Croy to abandon his quarter and got many barkes loaded with victualls so as having secured the besieged and furnished them with fresh Souldiers they did not withstanding forbeare to surrender themselves A few dayes after Sr. William Chamberlaine was their chiefe as saith Monstrelee and Sr. Thomas Abringant according to Chartier but whether of either it was where hee came to Roan hee was clapt up prisoner in the Castle and accused for having surrendred not necessitated thereunto since hee had men victualls and munition but how ever hee so pleaded for himselfe as he was set at liberty The Constable not content with this atchievement marched into Normandy besieged Auranches and at the comming of the Duke of Alansonne was by him reinforced with new troopes a part whereof tooke the City and Castle of Saint Susanna in Mayne through the treachery of an English Knight as saith Giles whom hee nameth not As for Auranches after three weekes siege hee was forced to rise from before it for Talbot came and countersieged him entring the towne in his very sight the Constable not being able to hinder him The Dolphins insurrection which hapned at this time did a little retard his fathers good fortune for thereby the English repossessed themselves of such places as they had lately lost hee was then just sixteene yeares old he lived at Loches under the tuition of Count de Marsh a gentleman of noble conditions but his authoritie grew lesse after his marriage and after that with the waight of the Corrazza hee liked well of millitary applause and the flatteries of such who hoped for advancement by reason of this rent the causes hereof were two the first for that Charles was alwayes governed by people of no great account the second the ambition of the Princes which hath at all times been prejudiciall to France for they pretend to that out of right which is onely due unto them by favour Charles gave occasion hereof by his ill conceived suspitions and the Princes laid hold thereof contrary to the lawes of nature by making the sonne disobedient to the father and to civill wisedome by putting dissention in the kingdome in a time when they should all have conspired to have set it free by expelling the enemy But suspitions were in Charles become inseparable and become naturall unto him by reason of his being become accustomed to his mothers persecutions and the enmity of Burgony and England so as affying onely in the meaner sort of people as those that were lesse apt to hurt him he made them insolent as mistrusting the great ones he gave them cause of offence by excluding them from his familiarity and affaires his sonnes discontents sprung from the same fountaine his father grew jealous of him seeing him grow in authority as in yeares and in the subjects expectation so as to keepe him under he treated him more frugally and held a stricter hand over him then his yeares his being married and his ambition could permit those who misled him were the Dukes of Burbone and of Alansonne the Counts of Vandome Chabanes the Dunnesse Charmount Tremugtie Boveant and Prie by the Bastard of Burbones meanes these bad him weigh the duty he ought his father and the welfare of the state that the former was to be preserved by the preservation of the latter but not contrarywise They shewed unto him the evill effects caused by his fathers bad government they ript up all from the murthering of the Duke of Burgundy even to the present time they enformed him that those who were of the greatest authoritie about him perswaded him to peace which could not be done without dismembring the kingdome which was to deprive him the Dolphine of his inheritance and patrimony for that their power being weakned by warre wherein Captaines and governours of provinces were onely to be used they could not tyrannize over the King Kingdome Princes and Dolphin unlesse they should exclude men of merit They told him how his being confined in so solitary a place might serve for an Argument to prove this since he was kept there of set purpose that being far from the Court and ignorant of affaires he might depend upon them that by taking upon him so generous a resolution hee could not displease his father since the effects would shew that such disobedience would redound more to his profit then any obedience could doe since thereon depended the preservation of the state father sonne and subjects I know not whether it were these reasons that prevailed with the Dolphin or else his owne contumatious inclinationâ—… his answer was hee was ready to doe whatsoever his quality obliged him unto That all the power lay in the Princes that hee would neither be wanting to himselfe nor them In briefe leaving Loches and the Count his governour he went to Monlius where the Duke of Burbone waited for him and whether the Duke d'Alansonne and Count de Dammartin came unto him and after them all the rest with a resolution not to part with him till such time as according to the common pretence of all seditious people disorders were reformed the authority of the Princes established and men of worth called into favour They used their best meanes to draw Philip to their faction but hee whose eyes were not dazled did not onely deny them but advised them to more wholesome resolutions since their enterprise was unjust full of danger and for which they had no ground hee protested hee would never seperate himselfe from Charles and said hee should bee able to doe the Dolphin better service by not siding with him then if hee should take his part this answer did displease the confederated finding themselves thereby deceived in their chiefest hope but they were much more displeased when all the Provinces did with horrour and detestation heare of this insurrection They all loved the Dolphin and offered to serve him but not against his Father who having admonished him of his duty and not prevailing went armed to Poictiers from whence hee sent to the Duke of Burbone commanding him to deliver up unto his Sonne and to the Duke of Alanson commanding him to surrender up Niorte and Saint Massence willing them both to come before him and give a reason for their insurrection but they obeyed not On the contrary Alanson sent word to Massence to defend it selfe upon notice whereof the City revolted and the Castle was besieged and taken by the Kings forces which suddenly flockt thither and the Commanders hanged Finally a totall agreement was made by an assembly held at Clarimont where the King being perswaded to pardon the Offendors if together with the
enemy he was with all appearing respect carried from thence and comforted and made beleeve that the Duke of Somersets death had established the Crowne upon his head being come together with them to London A Parliament was called wherein all things were decreed directly opposite to what had beene enacted in former Parliaments to testifie that the late government had beene unjust and the King abused by the malice of those that councelled him Humphery Duke of Glocester was declared to have beene Loyall unto the King and faithfull unto his Country all Donnatives howsoever made whether by patent from the King or by Parliament were revoked beginning from the very first day of his raigne to the present time as things which impoverishing the Crowne bereaved the royall dignity of lustre and that the now spoken of insurrection though condemned by all lawes might bee thought meritorious declaration was made that the Duke of Somerset Thomas Thorp Lord chiefe Justice and William Ioseph the third that governed the Kings will were the occasioners thereof by detaining a letter which if it had beene delivered unto the King his Majesty would have heard the complaints and so taken away the occasion of the aforesaid disorders that therefore the Duke of Yorke the Earle of Salisbury Warwick and their associates should not for the future be blamed for it since the action was necessary to free the King from captivity and bring health to the common weale These pretences thus past over they came roundly to their worke by framing a Triumveâ—…at the ground worke of the designed monarchy Yorke caused himselfe to be created protectour of the Kingdome Salisbury Lord Chancellor and Warwick Governour of Callais so as the politique authority remained in the first the civill in the second and the military in the third whilest Henry King onely in name was bereft of all authority and safety all that had dependency upon the King and Queene were put from the Councell bereft of whatsoever charge they bore in the City or Kingdome and Iohn Holland Duke of Exeter was by force taken from Westminster whither he was fled for sanctuary and sent prisoner to Pompheret a sacriledge not formerly ventered on that I know of by any King They now thought no more needed to the establishing of their power whilest tyrannies are not established without meanes much more abominable the Duke of Yorke should have done that wickednes then which once was to be done and which not long after was done by his sonne Edward A Kingdome cannot brooke two Kings and if experience had made knowne unto him his errour in preserving Henries life his carelessenes was very great to stumble the second time upon the same stone and thereby loose his owne life as hee did Moderate evills in such like cases have alwayes beene their authours overthrowe The respect due to Henry was not yet so much diminished nor his Majesty so much darkened but that Henry the now Duke of Somerset Humphery Duke of Buckingham and other Lords that sided with him resolved no longer to endure the injury that was done unto him and together with them to quit themselves of the eminent danger that hung over them for every man saw Yorkes end to be the usurpation of the Crowne and that his delay proceeded from the feare of danger for the King being by reason of his sanctifie reverenced by the â—…est hee thought hee could not on a sudden compasse his ends without scandall and the being oppugned by the greatest part of the Kingdome the â—…ch if it should happen he should for the present ruine and for the future totally loose all his hopes So as consultation being had with the Queene who being highly spirited did with impatiency endure the present subjection a great Councell was called at Greenwitch wherein it was resolved that since he was now no child and consequently needed not a Protectour nor was so void of wit as that he was to be governed by other mens discretions that therefore the Duke of Yorke should be understood to be freed from his protectorship and the Earle of Salisbury from his being Chancellour and that he should surrender the great seale to whom the King should please Yorke could not fence himselfe from this blow being taken unprovided and it selfe strengthened with reasons not to be gainsaid without a note of rebellion so as he was enforced to endure it but not without the dislike of such as sided with him who were not wanting in adding fuell to the fury of the people by making them rise up in tumult occasioned by a dissention betweene a Marchant and an Italian which though they did yet did not things succeed as they would have them for after having pilledged many houses of the Venetians Florentines and Lutchesses thetumult was appeased and the chiefe authours thereof punished but the present remedy had nothing to doe with the threatning mischiefe and both sides failed therein The Duke of Yorke since that he did not quit himselfe of his enemy when he might have done it in expectation of an opportunity to doe it with lesse danger to so horrid a cruelty and those of the Kings side in that they durst not venter upon the Duke of Yorks life for feare of some insurrection since the City was for him and the greatest part of the greatest adhered more to the hopes of a profitable tumultuous change then to the preservation of a quiet condition whereby they could not be advantaged for the King did no more distinguish of deserts then doth a distasted pallate of tastes and the Queene so jealous as that shee durst onely trust those who being injured were to run the like fortune with her Husband But where last extreames are in question extremities are to be chosen for chance may doe that which councell cannot Yorke left the Court confirmed in his former designes by this new affront whilest the Scotts entered England in one part and the French in two the Scotts having endamaged the confines retired themselves with their booty into Scotland the French pilledged some houses surprised Sandwich tooke some ships and returned to Normandy the surprise of Sandwich did but little availe them for they went away and quitted it it not being to be made good by small forces against many enemies England was like a body oppressed by a general distellation humours disperst themselves every where abroad the vitall faculties which are the lawes had not force enough to repulse them Thomas Percy Baron of Egremont one who was an enemy to the Earle of Salisbury sonnes fought with them in open field and slew many of their followers he thought to have escaped but could not for the King who would not have the fault to goe unpunished had used meanes to have his body seised upon and the offended parties being of the contrary party he as not willing to be thought partiall in justice caused him to be roundly fined and imprisoned from whence hee escaped to the much trouble
Richard Buried The onely Memoriall that remaines thereof is the Stone Coffin his Body vvas buried in which now serves for a Trough for Horses to drinke in in a Neighbouring Village They say the Body being taken from thence was with much derision buried againe at the foote of Bow-Bridge in Leicester and many other things are said of it which I rather believe to bee the Peoples Invention then that there is any thing of Truth in them In Richard the Line masculine of the House of Yorke ceased some except Edward Plantagenet Earle of Warwicke Sonne to the Duke of Clarence whom I do not account upon since fifteene Yeares after Hee likewise died without any Heires Male As vvee shall see The End of the Eighth Booke The Ninth BOOK OF THE CIVIL WARS OF ENGLAND In the LIFE of Henry the Seventh OUr Discourse leading us to treat of the Occurrences of a Kingdom the Government whereof passed now from one Family to another it will be necessary to know what pretences the present King had to lay claim to the kingdom to the end there may remain no scruple touching the Justice or Injustice of the Alteration Henry the Seventh was by his Genealogie so remote from laying any claim to the Crown by right of Blood as the common opinion is he had no right at all thereunto His father Edmund Earl of Richmond was son to Owen Teuder and Queen Katherine the widow of Henry the fifth whose Houses had no affinity nor relation of Kinred to the House of Lancaster By his mothers side somewhat may be said for him since Margaret Countesse of Richmond onely daughter to the first Duke of Sommerset and grand-childe to Iohn Duke of Lancaster the father of Henry the fourth the first King of that House pretended that in case the then-present Succession should fail she and her son were to succeed as rightly descended from the said Iohn the father as well of the house of Sommerset as of that of Lancaster But this meets with two oppositions The one That the House of Lancaster had no right at all to the Crown The other That say it had the House of Sommerset did not partake therein though sprung from the same Head The reasons why the House of Lancaster had no pretence are these Henry the fourth usurped the Crown from Edmund Mortimer descended from Philippa daughter and heir to Lionel Duke of Lancaster elder brother to the Duke of Lancaster upon whom King Richard the second dying without sons as he did the Succession fell So as the usurpation having continued from father to son in Henry the fourth the fifth and sixth 't was impossible for them to transmit that right to Others which they Themselves had not That the House of Sommerset though the Other had had right did not partake therein is thus proved The Duke of Lancaster having had three wives Blanche Constance and Katharine the due claims of his children had by them were not the same forasmuch as concern'd Inheritance in respect of the several Dowries and different Qualities of the three mothers Blanche brought with her the Dutchy of Lancaster Constance the pretences to the Kingdoms of Castile and Leon and Katharine nothing at all being but a meer Waiting-woman to the above-said Blanche So as if Henry the fourth and the daughters born of Blanche could not pretend to the kingdoms of Castile and Leon in prejudice to Katharine daughter to Constance nor Katharine to the Dukedom of Lancaster in prejudice of Henry the fourth and his sisters much lesse could the children of Katherine have any pretence at all in prejudice of the children by the former two wives unlesse what you will allow them meerly in respect of their Fathers Inheritance wherein must be considered their disadvantage of being the last born therefore not to enjoy the prerogative which the Laws give to the first-born To this may be added that they were born whilst Constance yet lived so as they were not onely Bastards but in such a degree as doth aggravate the condition they being on the Fathers side born in Adultery And though after the death of Constance he married Katharine which subsequent Marriage was made legitimate by the double legitimation both of Pope and Parliament yet they not being of the whole Blood the House of Sommerset had nothing to do with the House of Lancaster in what belonged to the Inheritance of the Crown their legitimation making them only capable of their Inheritance by the Father So as Henry the fourth being established in the kingdom by the Authority of Parliament and by the same Authority his sons such as should descend of them being declared his lawful Successors therein he in case his succession should fail made no mention at all of his Half-brothers or such as should descend from them So as let it be granted that his Usurpation was no longer an Usurpation it being allowed of by a Publike Act of Election yet had not the House of the Sommerset though descended from the same father the same pretence since not being able to pretend to the Dukedom of Lancaster much lesse could it pretend to the Crown the father having no pretence at all thereunto And if Henry his eldest son obtained the Crown it was by Purchase and so as none should enjoy after him but such descending from him as he should specifically name So as the Crown according to the Laws of England belonging to the House of York by the Marriage with Anne sister and heir to the aforesaid Edmund Mortimer there remains somewhat of doubt whether the Parliament could invest the House of Lancaster to the right of the Crown in prejudice to the first Mortimer and consequently to the House of York If it could not Then justly do it neither could it justly do it after Henry the Seventh's pretence unto the Crown and if it could do it in the same manner and by the same right as it did operate to the prejudice of Mortimer the House of York by making Henry the fourth King it might do the like to the prejudice of the House of Lancaster by making Edward the 4 King So as Henry the Seventh be it either by Election or by natural Descent is totally excluded from any right unto the Crown which exclusion notwithstanding rests onely in his Own Person not in those who have descended from him For having married Elizabeth the true Heir of the House of York his sons begotten upon her were true Heirs to the Crown And if in this particular we desire to be any thing favourable to him let us say that if the House of Lancaster had any such pretence it had it by the Mother who was Heir to the House of Sommerset and if the House of Sommerset be different from that of Lancaster so as he Thereby have no colour of Claim yet may he have it Another way being chosen King by the same power of Parliament as Henry the Fourth and Edward the 4 were
desirous of Peace knowing that Ursewick's pains would be to no purpose for the Duke of Britanny was not in case to rely upon his Own Judgement having indeed None at all and the Duke of Orleans would not hear of it for being injured by him it was not likely he should trust him He on the other side should by this means justifie himself to Henry since the making of peace stuck not at Him so as he should not have any occasion to enterprise ought against Him the fault in all appearance not being His. Ursewick being come to Britanny found the Duke so very ill as it was impossible for him to treat with him who had lost almost all the faculties of judgement it behoved him to treat with the Duke of Orleans whom he acquainted with the King his Master's desire and with the good inclination he found in the King of France thereunto so as there remained nothing to establish a good Agreement but to conclude upon the means to every one's satisfaction The Duke being far from any such thought knowing that Charles his intention was other then he made shew for and he himself thirsting to make war with Another man's purse and with the hopes of getting the Dutchy of Britanny answer'd He wonder'd that so Wise a King as Henry would suffer himself to be over-reached by so very Young a King as Charles and that those reasons to which he was bound by Honour and Gratitude bore no sway with him that he should do well to remember the Duke of Britanny had been in lieu of a Father tâ—… him from his Childhood till his promotion to the Crown to the which though Nature Birth and the Kingdom had play'd their parts he had Never attained had he not used that charity towards him which obliged Henry to do the like for Him that the present Mediation did not correspond with the businesse that it was Destructive but Useful for Charles who thereby would gain time to do that which otherwise he could not that Aid was expected from Henry worthy of the Greatnesse of his Minde of his Tye of Friendship and of the imminent Danger the fair Appearances of France were nothing but Fraud and Cozenage 't would be too Late Dangerous and Dishonourable to know it by the Event that if Henry would believe Charles to be of as Candid a minde as was He himself he might do well to believe it with his Sword in Hand so that if it should prove Otherwise he might be ready to Chastise him that had abused him by doing this he should acquit himself on All hands nor could any one have just cause to complain of him And if the reasons of Gratitude which were the same with those of Honour were not of force enough to perswade him he ought to do it out of reason of State and take upon him that defence in Time without Offending Any One which should he undertake Unseasonably would be offensive to All Three to France by opposing it in Open War to Britanny by giving it too Late succour and to England by permitting a Great King to Increase in Power State and Situation hurtful to that Kingdom who was set upon on all sides subject to the discretion of England upon whose pleasure he depended having Seas Ports Commerce and all that could accommodate or incommodate secure or endanger England Ursewick was ready to answer That Princes could not chuse but in some sort believe one another especially where an Obliged friendship plays the part of a Surety not that Wisedom may not have her Exceptions but that she should too largely dispose of her self if where there is Parity of Friendship and Obligation she should believe a friend to be what he ought not to be that Henry's obligations to France arose from Britanny's failing him which if it were not through any fault of the Duke 't was through the fault of Landois Fortune and Chance 'T was Chance that when fleeing from England he would have gone to France brought him into Britanny Fortune when he would have stay'd in Britanny brought him into France whither he would not have gone nor have had any obligation to the King thereof had it not been for danger of being sold to Richard by Landois He did not accuse the Duke of this but neither ought the Duke to accuse him if Fortune bore him to Divide between Two that obligation which was formerly due to Him alone He could not but confesse this without the mark of Ingratitude neither could he take One of them into his consideration and leave the Other neglected More time was requir'd to arm by Sea and Land then to send an Embassie the One did not hinder the Other That an Ambassadour served for a Soul to such businesses as were to be brought to Life no resolutions of importance being taken between Prince and Prince but by Mediation But Ursewick not being suffer'd to say This nor what more he would have said for the Duke arose from him and would not hear him he returned to Charles who told him He had rightly foretold that the Duke of Orleans would not un-enforced yeeld to any Pacification that he would endeavour to force him to it as his obstinacy required in the mean time he desired Henry not to desist from doing good offices for by continuation thereof that Peace would be effected which He desired to which he for his part would Never be Averse and that under such conditions as Henry should prescribe him Lewis the father of this Prince would never suffer this his son to be taught more Latine then Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare wherein he so well profited as not having his brains troubled with any Other lesson and being thought by reason of his rough nature to have but a blunt judgement he deceived all men especially Ursewick whereby the King his Master was likewise deceived Some think that Henry's credulity was but feigned that he might have an Excuse not to intricate himself in a War he Hated and which would be of great Trouble to him But if he were not Deceived he deceived Himself for hoping it would be hard for Charles to make any Progresse in this businesse being unable at the same time to beat the Forces of Britanny and Orleans his party it proved clean Otherwise The French Army being entred Britanny and brought in by the confederate Barons made them soon repent it The Articles greed upon between them were instantly broken Cities besieged taken and Sacked no difference being put between the grounds and territories of the Confederate and Not confederate whilst the Duke abandon'd by his Subjects and not assisted by his friends escaped narrowly being taken at Vannes from whence with much ado he got to Nantes where being besieged and destitute of hope he sent the Count of Dunois and Viscount Coteman to get aid from England who having ridden by night thorow Forests and desert places in great danger the Countrey being wholly possest
entertainment in Ireland which he expected for Poynings had an eye to the actions of the Rebels there he met with it in Scotland whither he went grounding his hopes upon the natural enmity of those Two Kingdoms and upon the recommendation of the Three above-written Princes he had solemn audience given him by the King in the presence of all the Lords that were then at Court His Lordlike looks which together with his being thought the true Duke of York were augmented by Art and by the gifts of Nature captivated the good-will of the standers by Having in a grave manner done his Obeisance to the King he told him That he was the unhappie Richard Plantagenet son to Edward the Fourth who drawn by fraudulent promises from his mother's bosom she having taken Sanctuary at Westminster was brought to the Tower of London there to be smother'd with his brother Edward but that charity arising in the brest of those who executed that cruel office they were contented with the death of his Elder brother and saved Him giving him life liberty and means how to scape away he desired to be pardoned if he did not tell the Manner how for that the interests of those that had saved him who were yet alive would not suffer him so to do that Fortune had posted him into divers places and God had given him the grace to conceal his condition lest being known the evil might have befaln him which the vigilancy of a wicked Uncle threatned who having usurped his Kingdom from him knew he could not enjoy it but by his death which he thought had already happened but that his Uncle being by divine justice rewarded according to his deserts and he grown in yeers after many circumvolutions he had withdrawn himself from France to his Aunt the Dutchesse of Burgundy who being a widow and on the Other side of the Sea could not give him such assistance as was requisite for the recovery of his Kingdom which being faln from One Tyrant to Another from an unnatural Uncle to a Kinsman who was naturally his Enemy he stood in need of some to assist him Arms being the onely Tribunal whereat pretences to Kingdoms are disputed that England knew very well his claim and his being which some of the chiefest there had witnessed with their bloods betrayed by their false corrupt friends that Corruption was easily effected where Jealousie and Suspition made men who were naturally covetous and sparing as was Henry liberall and profuse that Ireland was not ignorant of this but that being grievously opprest her weaknesse was such as she could not shew her fidelity and obedience to the House of Yorke and to Him the true heir thereof as shee formerly had done and would again doe neither was it to be doubted but that if he could find a place to take footing in and any one that would protect him he should both from the one Kingdom and the other receive such assistance as might make the regainment of his owne an easie busines that the Dutchesse Emperour Arch-duke King of France and Himselfe finding there was no other wheron for him to take footing then Scotland nor other Protector for him then the magnanimous King thereof they had advised him to present himselfe before his Majestie they being afterwards ready to joyne with him in so just a cause in defence of an Orphan and to the assistance of a Prince betraid usurp'd upon and driven out of this Countrey as was Hee Here enlarging himselfe upon Henrye's illegall pretences upon his base ignoble descent vilifying his Grand-father Tewder as descended from the Scum of the poorest sort in Wales he said that his title was in no sort good unto the Crowne nor yet his Wifes title as long as He the Duke of Yorke and of right King lived that Henry had endeavour'd to have him given up into his hands by Charles when he was in France but that being by Charles denied hee had not spared for Treachery Arms nor poyson to bereave him of his life by the means of divers of his Ministers more particularly by Robert Clifford the wickedst of them all so as when all his diabolicall designes failed him his last refuge was to slanders and to new inventions drawn from hell thereby to obscure the splendour of his Birth to the end that being believed to be what he would have him to be his tyrannie and usurpation might not be withstood that if he were such a one King Charles nor his aunt the Dutchesse would not have counsell'd him to have had recourse to the powerfull tuition of the King of Scotland with hopes that he would succour him as his generous Predecessours had formerly done the afflicted Kings of England whose name worth and Kingdome since he inherited he hope hee should inherit the like benefits as they had done that hee might shew himselfe having recovered his Kingdome to be the most usefull and truest friend that ever did or shall deserve to be celebrated for gratitude Perkins expressions the compassion of his case the recommendation of so many Princes and their promises or rather the Occasion to wage war with Henry whereunto he had a great desire moved the King to promise him his assistance the which hee readily effected though many who knew the Imposture disswaded him from him moreover he did not only appoint unto him an Attendance and Entertainment every way befitting a Duke of Yorke but that it might be beleeved he tooke him to be so he gave unto him for wife his neerest kinswoman Katherin Gordon daughter to the Earl of Huntley a Lady of excellent beauty Such provisions being made as the enterprise required he with a good Army entred Northumberland where Perkin under the name of Richard Duke of Yorke the true and lawfull heir to the Crown of England published a Declaration the Contents whereof were That being by the Grace of God and Favour of Iames the fourth King of Scotland entred into his Kingdom of England he declared his coming was not to make war upon his subjects but to free them from the tyrannie wherewith they were oppressed that it was known the Crown belonged to the Regall house of Yorke of which since after the death of Edward the fourth there remained no other pretender then Himself his Son He and no other was the lawfull heir thereof that Henry Teudor had usurped the Crown from him and by in humane ways sought to betray him and bereave him of his life that he had vaunted himself to have eased the subject of a Tyrant but by excluding the Duke of Yorke their rightfull King he had made himself their Tyrant that Richords tyranny was so much the more excusable in that his Nephews being supposed to be dead he had some Pretences to colour it with the difference between them two was that Richard a true Plantagenet had for his aim the Honour of the Nation and the Subjects Tranquillity Henry meanly born not regarding the Honour of
into Cornewall as he had appointed for hearing that they were not totally appeased he thought it was not good to incite them any further To all the rest he gave a Generall Pardon so as in so scandalous a rebellion there were but Three that suffer'd those not being cast into the number which were slain in the Battell who perished rather by Fortune then by way of Punishment The King of Scotland hearing of this rebellion made use of it he went to besiege Norham Castle plundering the countrey This Castle belonged to Fox the Bishop of Durham who fore-seeing it would be besieged had doubly furnished it with all sorts of Munition causing the herds of Cattle what else might be helpful to the Enemy to be withdrawn into the greatest strengths The Earl of Surrey who was ready upon all occasions in Yorke-shire not far from thence hasted thither accompanied with good store of Souldiers the which when King Iames understood he with-drew himself and was pursued by the Earl who not able to over-take him sate down before Hayton Castle one of the strongest Castles between Barwick and Edenborough the which he quickly took and not meeting with any opposition he returned to Yorke-shire not doing any more these two actions having produced no matter of Note but the Preservation of One Castle and the winning of Another At this time came Pedro d' Aiala a man of praise-worthy conditions to Henry being sent Embassadour from Ferdinand and Isabel King and Queen of Castile The pretence of his Embassie was to compound the differences between Henry and the King of Scotland but the true cause was to negotiate a marriage between Katharine their second daughter and Prince Arthur My opinion is that these two wise Princes were cautious of entring into a busines of this nature till by this peace they might see Henries state setled for considering him to be a New King they did not a little weigh the machinations of an Impostour which being grounded upon the appearances though but of a False name were upheld by the King of Scotland who if he should forsake him they would soon vanish Henry willingly embraced the Offer being no way inclined to the unprofitable wars with Scotland by the cessation whereof two great advantages were to redound to him the one he would unkennell Perkin from out the Kingdom with hopes to get him into his power or else that wanting that leaning stock he might easily end the busines Himself the other his desire to reign in Peace being weary of so many molestations which rising one in the neck of another had always troubled him So as agreeing to whatsoever d' Aiala should treate of his Honour and all wherein it might be concern'd always preserved he suffer'd him to go into Scotland where having rough-cast the busines and perswaded the King to listen to Peace for his endeavours were seconded by the Counsel who favoured England he writ to Henry to send some discreat man who together with Him might end the busines with the Commissioners of Scotland The King gave his Commission to Fox Bishop of Durham who was then at Norham and sent him When they met together in Iedworth they could not agree by reason of many difficulties that arose Henry demanded to have Perkin delivered up unto him and Iames could not doe it without a great aspersition to his Honour for though he knew he was but a Iuggler yet having called him the Duke of Yorke made war in his name and married him to a neer kinswoman of his own the doing of it would injure his own Faith and Reputation On Henries behalfe was likewise demanded satisfaction for the Losse he had suffer'd and the Restitution of such Booty as had been taken from England which was impossible to be had the booty was disperst amongst the Souldiers and the King had not of his Own wherwith to give satisfaction for the Losses suffer'd it was more possible for the one to suffer the Losse then for the other to Repay it But all of them being met together with a Desire of Peace 't was easie to find a way to accommodation wherefore leaving off the Treaty til another time they agreed on a Truce upon condition that Perkin should be dismist Scotland The Kings were here withall contented Truce working the same effect King Iames calling Perkin to him shewed him that according to his promise he had done what lay in His power for him which He had not correspondently done in any thing he promised for having made him beleeve hee had a Party in England not so much as one man had appeared to side with him after Two attempts made that he the King had together with his person hazarded his Kingdom to a perpetual war The Scots would none of it neither would his Occasions permit it that he had reason to complain of none but of Himself who in a busines of so great importance had not cast up his accounts aright that the Emperour Arch-duke Dutchesse of Burgundy and the King of France had been faulty both to Himself and Him that he could not doe all of Himself whilest they far from Danger looked on from safe places without either dammage or expence though this were a sufficient cause yet should it not have been of force enough to have made him change his former resolution had there been any one that would have acknowledged him for the Duke of Yorke as there was none that would acknowledge him for so much as an English man Hee would no farther examine his Genealogy nor make himselfe Judge of anothers pretences whilest there is not any one that dreams much lesse beleeves him to be Sonne to Edward the fourth that hee had given him for wife a Noble Lady his neer kinswoman to the end the Scocs might be moved to favour him and the English might take courage to own him and if the second designe which depended on Him Perkin did not succeed well the first which depended on Him the King failed not that his Kingdom would have Peace which they could not have so long as He stayed in it that therefore it behooved him to be gone for having denied to Deliver him up to the King of England as was by the said King Demanded he could not deny to send him out of Scotland which should he not doe it would be contrary to the interests of One of them and repugnant to the affairs of the Other Hee told him Times did alter so as if hee were the man hee gave himself out to be it was impossible but the Time would bring the Truth to light that though Fortune were Powerfull yet was she not able to prevaile against a certain Truth if therefore his Pretence were such he could not want Friends and Furtherers if otherwise it behooved him to look to himself and to put on apparell fitting his condition Perkin though convinced seemed not to be so casting all his bad successe upon the Aversenesse of Fortune And
But since we are taught to know no more then is behoovefull and that with sobriety and according to the gift we are endowed with all I see not that we are necessitated to busie our selves therin unlesse there be a lawfull vocation whilst we ought to content our selves with the knowledge of God by the generall way of the worlds harmony and order and by the particular way of faith The true cause then Sir which hath moved me to this undertaking is the having considered that the end of civil life being to live well and happily and that there is no happinesse without knowledge nor knowledge without science since those of contemplation doe not it must be the morall sciences which doe produce it the which appeareth manifest unto me for that nature hath imprinted in us the principalls thereof to make it the more easie unto us to the end that without contemplation or learning the learned and unlearned may be equally capable therof agevolated by their object the which is either familiar in us as are affections or hath dependency upon us as have actions As soone as we are borne by the traditions of our parents and such as have the care of our bringing us up we learne to love vertue and hate vice being become men to governe our family growne more mature to rule the weale publique and if we meet not with so much of facility in the last as in the other two it happeneth for that morall and Oeconomicall vertues are but the Columnes whereas the practice of States the knowledge of Princes and how to manage people are the true structure of this edifice upon the modell though of past events For as wits though never so excellent expresse no other conceits then what have formerly been expressed sine they cannot exceed the bounds wherewith knowledge in generall is limited so adventures though casuall happen not but by way of Analogy to what hath already happened depending upon the constant causes of former orders the which though diverse in time are notwithstanding at all times like unto themselves if not equall So as since we are wanting in the practice of present affaires the knowledge of what is past is necessary the which not being to be had but by history it followeth that history be the safest way to this happinesse worthy to be with all diligence frequented not by me alone but by the very best This Sir is the occasion of my present labours which I consecrate unto your Majesty not so much for that they appertaine unto you containing the Acts of your most glorious predecessours as that your Majesty possessing all such discipline as does become a great King will together with the worke accept the devoted good will of the workeman who boasts himselfe of nothing more then of the honour he hath to be Your Majesties most hmble and faithfull servant Giovanni Francisco Biondi THE GENEALOGY OF EDWARD THE THIRD Who had Five Daughters and seven Sons 1. IZabella who married Ingheran Lord of Cousi by whom shee had two daughters 1. Mary married to Henry of Bar. 2. Philippa married to Robert Vere Duke of Ireland afterwards repudiated 2. Ioane married to Alfonso 11. King of Castile and Leon. 3. Blanch who dyed young 4. Mary married to Iohn Montford Duke of Britany 5. Margaret married to Iohn Hastings Earle of Pembroke who dyed without issue 1. Edward Prince of Wales who married Ioane daughter of Edmund Earle of Kent brother by the fathers side to Edward the second by whom he had Richard the second who succeeded his Grandfather in the Kingdome and dyed a violent death without issue 2. William of Staifield 3. Lionel Duke of Clarence 4. Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster 5. Edmund of Langley Duke of Yorke 6. William of Windsor 7. Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester The two Williams both dyed young without issue The Genealogies of the foure other are hereafter set downe The Genealogy of Lionel Duke of Clarence third Sonne of Edward the third Lionel duke of Clarence married Elizab daughter of Will. Burgh earle of Vister by whoÌ„ he had Philippa who married Edmund Mortimer Earle of March and had by him Roger Earle of March. declared by Richard the second successour to the Kingdome the yeare 1387 who married Elizabeth sister to Thomas Holland Duke of Surrey and had issues Edmund Earle of March who died in Ireland without issue the third yeare of Henry 6. Roger who died young Anne who married Richard Earle of Cambridge sonne to Edward Duke of Yorke she afterwards laid pretence unto the crown Eleanor who dyed without issue Edmund Iohn beheaded in the third yeare of Henry the sixt Elizabeth married to the Lord Pearcy surnamed Hotspurre Henry the second Earle of Northumberland who was staine in the first battell at St Albans who by Eleanor daughter of Ralph Nevil first Duke of Westmerland had Henry the third Earle of Northumberland who was slain siding with Henry the sixt against Edward the fourth Philippa who had three husbands but no issue The Genealogy of Iohn Duke of Lancaster fourth son of Edward the third from whom came 4. Kings viz. Henry the 4. 5. 6. 7. Of 3. wives he had 8. children what Sonnes what Daughters By Blanch daughter to Henry Duke of Lancaster grandchild to Henry Earle of Lancaster great grandchild to Edmund second sonne to Henry the 3. Henry the 4. married to Mary daughter to Humfrey of Bohun Earle of Hertfora Essex and Nottingham Constable of England by whom he had Henry the 5. marriea to Catherine of France by whom he had Henry the 6. who married Margerit daughter to Regnald Duke of Aâ—…ou King of Siâ—…ily from whom came Edward Prince of Wales slaine by Edward the 4. who all died without issue Thomas duke of Clarence Iohn â—uke of Bedford Humfrey duke of Gloster Blanch married to the Elector Palatine Philippa married to the King of Denmarke Philippa married to Iohn King of Portugal from whom came the successors of that Crowne Elizabeth married to Iohn Holland Duke of Exeter beheaded at Chester Richard Holland who dyed young Iohn Duke of Exeter who had two wives viz. Anne daughter of the Earle of Stafford by whom Henry Holland Duke of Exeter dis-inheâ—…ited by Act of Parliament the first yeare of Edward the fourth and found â—…ad the thirteenth yeare betweene Dover and Caleis Anne daughter to Ioh. Montacute earl of Salisbury by whom Anne married to Thomas Nevil brother to the second Earle of Westmerland Ralph Nevil 3. Earle of Westmerland Edward who died without issue By Constance daughter to Peter King of Castile Catherine married to Henry son and heyre to Iohn King of Castile and Leon from whom descended the heires of those Kingdomes By Catherine Roët daughter to a King of Armes by whom hee had before he married her and who were after made legitimate by the Popes authority and Act of Parliament Iohn Beaufort Marquis of Sommerset and Dorset who married Margerit daughter to
gallant Commanders then were the latter two they brought home renowned victories the blacke Prince not yet fully sixteene yeares old was victorious in the battell of Cresses his Father being present who denyed him succour onely looking on whilest he with bare two thirds of 8500. men fought with little lesse then 90000. to the end that that worth which before its accustomed time did bud forth in him might produce early fruits watered by the Rivolets of glory and honour and not many yeares after being fewer by three fourths then were his enemies hee in the battell of Poictiers tooke King Iohn of France prisoner invironed by all the Princes and Nobility of that Kingdome but dying not long after in the full growth of his glorious atchievements he left behinde him this Richard which did succeed his grandfather the yeare 1377. Edward the third had seven sonnes foure whereof dyed during his life time the first as hath already beene said the second and sixth without issue and the third which was Lonel Duke of Clarence left no other issue save Philip married to Edmond Mortimer Earle of Marsh of whom came Roger and of Roger Anne the innocent cause of mischiefe to that kingdome for being married to Richard Plantaginet Earle of Cambridge second sonne to Edmund Duke of Yorke she inriched that Family by her just pretences to the Crowne much more then by her portion whereof her successors to the prejudice of the whole kingdome did afterwards make use For though the laying private claims to Estates be alwaies lawfull to the pretender yet is it not alwaies expedient for the publique nor are they easily obtained but by unjust and cruell waies Iohn Duke of Lancaster Edmond and Thomas the fourth fifth and seventh were onely those who did outlive him The latter two whereof were afterwards by their Nephew created Dukes the one of Yorke the other of Gloster I will not here set downe their posterity the reader may betake himself to the Genealogicall tables prefixed by means whereof any whosoever be he not brutishly ignorant both of the law of nature and kingdoms may give his judgement of the right or wrong of those who raigned and if therein you shall not meet with the to be commiserated number of those of the blood Royal who either through the obstinacie of hatred or incivility of civill warres came immaturely to their end the occasion will be for that being descended of women by former marriages expatiated into other families cruelty would triumph in the diversity of spoiles and begird her temples with a Crowne partly composed of the blood of many who by their deaths reduced the blood Royall of England to a small number the which whether it were expedient or not and whether the multiplicity of pretenders be of use or the contrary to Kingdomes let it be a dispute referred to the argumentation of good wits though extreames being in all things bad that seemes lesse harmefull which consists in the weaker breath of a few then what in the violent whirlewindes of many their authority and designes being able to dissolve their oppositions and jealousies able to raze whatsoever well founded Monarchy Richard was by nature endowed with amiable conditions for being of a comely personage and of a liberall and generous minde he was likely to have proved like unto himselfe had he had the fortune to have arrived at the maturity of his judgement under the guidance of his Grandfather or father but being freed from the authority of such as might have sweetned the asperity of his yeares the fruits of such hopes as were conceived were before their maturity corrupted for infatuated by the soothing of his flatterers and enforced by his servants affections to which Princes through a maligne influence are usually subject he hated all such counsells as did oppugne his minde he rewarded such as did not contradict him and being growneolder he through wofull experience found that his undoing was occasioned by his having equally offended kindred Clergy Nobility and people Of the three Dukes he of Yorke was of a sweet condition given to pastime void of ambition a hater of businesse nor did he trouble himself with any but for formalities sake being thereunto constrained by his quality The other two Lancaster and Gloster both of them ambitious and turbulent did notwithstanding differ in this that whereas the former endeavoured the encrease of his authority by making himselfe to be feared the other aspired to the like end but by contrary meanes Lancaster declaring himselfe from the beginning to be an enemy to the people Gloster if not by inclinations by cunning profestly popular First Richard did much apprehend Lancaster those who for their own particular interests did sooth him in his youthly desires endeavoured to perswade him that Lancaster who was an obstacle by them reputed too difficult for their designes would have plots upon his person but being gone into Spaine his thoughts being fixt upon the Kingdomes of Castile and Lyons to both which in the right of his second wife Constance he did pretend he left Gloster to inherit these suspitions who opposing himselfe in all actions against his Nephew after having provoked him by injuries and by detractions vexed him for his reward lost his life It is not my purpose to write all the acts of this King a great part whereof I passe over as the rebellion of the pesants with intention to extirpate together with the Nobility himselfe his expeditions in France in the pursuit of his Grandfathers and Fathers designes in Flanders in the favour of Vrban the sixth against Clement who called himselfe Pope in Avignon in Ireland to tame the savagenesse of that people in Scotland to represse inroades and his marrying the sister of Wincesâ—…us the Emperour I will onely treat of such things as caused his ruine after having reigned 22. yeares Certaine men were at the first deputed unto him as well for the government of his person as estate whose plurall authority ensuing to bee more of burthen then benefit it was reduced to the person of Thomas Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke chosen to this charge by the unanimous consent of Parliament but the King herewithall not contented being by reason of his yeares unfit to governe and by reason of his bad Councell not apt to be governed began to alter this ordination in the person of Richard Scrope formerly by the Parliament chosen Chancellor of England a man so void of blame in all his actions as he was very worthy of the charge imposed upon him The King amongst the most considerable jewells of his Crowne hath one thereunto inchased by the Lawes that those whose fathers dye in the nonage of their sonnes fall under his tuition till the one and twentieth yeare of their age all their revenew redounding from the aforesaid time to the King save the third part which is reserved for their education it now so fell out that by vertue of this prerogative Richard enjoyed the income
at liberty they contented themselves with such sufficient security as he gave them Thirteen men were afterwards chosen who under the King should take upon them the government of the Kingdome of the which number were the two Uncles of Yorke and Gloster and the Earle of Arundell An Oligarchy at all times dangerous in a Monarchicall government and which first instituted in the reigne of Richard was afterwards as harmfull repealed But examples are not sufficient to ground Lawes upon when the injustice of the Prince is such as it receiveth Lawes from the subject when their injustice springs from their weaknesse and when their weaknesse proves the nerves of strength and veines of justice to the people whether being arrived commanding they are blind in doing of offence whilst being commanded they were Arguseyd in receiving offences every man cries out Liberty a pleasing thing and according to nature but to bring others into servitude is a vice in nature more in reason The tyranny of the Decemviri in Rome was more insupportable then that of Tarquin and the short government of these thirteen more inexorable then all Richards reigne so as if wee consider things aright we shall finde that evils have almost alwayes had just beginnings but contrary proceedings and ends hatred envie and revenge unmasking those vices which covered by the deceitfull cloake of Common-good were beleeved to be vertues The last businesse and the onely one which gave satisfaction to the King was the assigning over to the Duke of Ireland the thirty thousand markes paid in by the Admirall Clisson for the ransome of Iohn of Brettony Count of Pointivers his sonne-in-law This Iohn together with his brother Guy was taken prisoner by Iohn Shandois in the battell of Antroy the yeare 1364. The French seconding Charles of Bloys father to the two young brethren who died in that battell and the English Iohn Montford both of them pretenders to the Dukedome of Bretanny they gave unto him this money in colour that he should goe into Ireland to take possession of such lands as the King had there given him but in effect to separate him from him barring him of all delay they prefixt unto him Easter for his departure from England This was the price at which they thought to have purchased his absence but neither did he see Ireland nor was the King likely to lose his company if Fortune did not deprive him of it This Parliament ended with the giving of one Subsidy which was alotted to Richard Earle of Arundell to be spent at sea where having done considerable actions accompanied with the Earle of Nottingham he gave to the Duke and others further occasion of hatred whereby to suppresse those vertues which in well-governed Common-wealths use to be rewarded so to incite others to the service of their Countrey by the bait of emulation and honour a dismall signe of corruption the bringer in of vice and forerunner of ruine The Parliament was no sooner ended but the King returned to London retooke the Earle of Suffolke to his former favour who as one condemned ought not to have been permitted to have seene the King nor have come where he was he anuld all that was decreed against him conniving onely at this that the office of Chancellor should remaine in the Bishop of Ely upon whom it was conferred And to the end that matters of scandall might never be wanting to the favorites and that their insolencies might witnesse to the world the supreame power they had over him he suffered the Duke of Ireland to do one act of scandall the which distasted all men The Duke amongst the chiefest of his honours married Phillep the daughter of Ingram Guisnes Lord of Consi and Isabel daughter of Edward the third cosen to the King a great and noble Lady by her owne deserts as well as birth not moved thereunto by any inciting cause but his owne pleasure he resolved to repudiate her that hee might marry one Ancerona a Bohemian a Carpenters daughter who came into England in the Queens service It is to be beleeved that he had not taken her had not Richard adhered to him and the dispensation of Vrban the sixth had not been obtained without the Regall countenance there being no lawfull cause for the putting her away although it was the easilier gotten for that the Dutches Phillep being a Frenchwoman adhered to the schisme of Clement of Avignion So that it is no wonder if the King were not generally beloved of his people since that to second the Dukes unlawfull humours hee put no valuation upon himselfe The Duke of Gloster was herewithall soundly netled neither did he cloake his anger though to declare himselfe therein was not agreeable to the rules of wisedome for an open enemy puts himselfe to too much disadvantage Easter the prefixed time for the journey into Ireland was come and gone the world was to be satisfied He delayed the time under the colour of making preparations but not able to put it off any longer he departed and together with him the King who went as hee gave out to accompany him to the Sea side Being come to Bristow they did not put to Sea but leaving it on the left hand passed forward into Wales as if the people had forgotten the journey to Ireland Trickes and devices the more scandalous and unseasonable for that they argued some strange alteration The authoritie of the governours troubled his quiet and the advantage that they had got upon Regall authority threatned his ruine they coveted to secure themselves from them for neither did the Duke intend to goe into Ireland nor the King to part with him nor the Archbishop of York to stand the shock of universall hatred nor the Earle of Suffolk to return to the censure of the Parliament nor Trisillian nor Bambre to give an account of their past actions Whereupon finding themselves in great danger they agreed that it was impossible for them to subsist without ridding them out of the way who were onely able to undoe them A wicked resolution but now necessary since they were come to that passe as nothing but extreams could worke their safety The difficulty of the businesse lay in the making away of Gloster Arundell Warwicke Nottingham and Darby eldest sonne to the Duke of Lancaster who hitherto hath not been named though the first subject of our Story They had likewise proscribed many others with whom they might not have done amisse to have temporized but all delayes were to them dangerous and treacheries framed formerly against Gloster made it impossible for them to compasse their ends by the same meanes The law was thought the safest way and the more masked the safer Many there were who had followed the King not so much out of respect and to claw the favourite as for that the aire of London under the blast of the thirteene not tempered by the propitious breath of Regality was thought pestilentiall They all seemed to make
up but one body yet they were diversly inclined Yorke Ireland Suffolke Trisillian and Bambre were all ruled by like interest the rest not so The former being in a desperate case in their owne respects the rest not so unlesse in respect of them Trisillian framed ten Articles whereof the first nine contained onely two queres The first whether the King being inforced to give his assent to the Acts of the last Parliament to the prejudice of his Prerogative might not lawfully revoke them The second that if hee might doe it what punishment did they deserve who had forced his assent The tenth was whether or no the judgement given against Suffolk was erroneous and consequently revocable To this purpose the chiefe Judges of England were summoned to the Castle of Nottingham that they might give their opinions in these points and having given them subscribe them Their answers were according as were desired but they did not all incline to subscribe them by threats and examples they were drawne unto it Robert Belenap chiefe Justice of the Common Pleas threatned by the Duke and Suffolke was the first that underwrit them which when he had done he said now I lacke nothing but a rope if I should not have obeyed you I know I could not have escaped your hands now that I have obeyed I shall not scape being punished by the Barons of the Land nor can I complaine if they so doe The answers of the learned in the Law were that the King might revoke all as done against his will that those who were the cause of it deserved death as traytors and that the judgement given against Suffolk was erroneous and consequently revocable This being done they thought the worst was past the goods of the condemned were already shared nor remained there any thing save the owners death to the taking of possession the which was diligently indeavoured besides the Judges of the Kingdome the Sheriffes of every Shire were summoned thither for two purposes the one to know how many men might be found who would fight against the Barons the other that if another Parliament should be called the Knights and Burgesses might be chosen by the kings recommendation To the first they answered that the people stood so well affected to the Barons that they would not take armes against them to the second that to chuse the Burgesses contrary to the usuall forme of Law and liberty of the Kingdome was not onely impossible but dangerous The few that with an implicite obedience soothed their designes were commanded to be ready at need The Duke of Gloster was advised of all these affaires and fearing lest greater inconveniences might ensue he went unto the Bishop of London to whom he swore that he nere had other designe then the service and honour of the King and Kingdome that his onely errour was that he had hated and still did hate the Duke of Ireland so singularly beloved of the King but that hee was so farre from repenting himselfe of it that he desired the King and all the world might know that his hatred should never cease till crown'd with a just revenge that he was sory that no revenge was to be found answerable to his offence to wit the divorce of a Lady cosen to the King and neece to him he desired the Bishop to go to Court to acquaint the king with his good intentions to intreat his better opinion of him and to perswade him to lesse dangerous designes The Bishop went did what was desired and was graciously heard and had received as gracious an answer had not the Earle of Suffolke who apprehended all reconciliation mard the matter These men were like to those who falling down headlong lay hold upon some craggy stone which if pull'd out falls downe with them They kept themselves close to the King indangering his safety to save themselves The Earle shewed unto Richard how that the Dukes minde was full of deceit dangerous ambition seditious practices charging him with whatsoever he might doe to the prejudice of his Majesty as if he had already done it in such sort as the Bishop not able any longer to endure so much provoking petulancy commanded him to hold his peace he not accustomed to such commands asked him why because replied the Bishop you being a condemned man and one who lives onely by the Kings meere grace should not meddle in these affaires These words did strangely offend the King who after many and terrible threats went his way commanding him to goe unto his place of residence and not to stirre from thence without his expresse permission The which hee forthwith did for afterward having made relation to the Duke of what had past he retired himselfe to his owne Church Arundel Warwicke and Darby were those who were most exposed to danger To these Gloster joyned himselfe shewing that it was not now time to temporize that force was the onely meanes whereby to worke their safetie with the King and to keep the plotters of mischiefe within their bounds since that an open warre would be more advantagious to them then a deceitfull peace subject to deceit danger and suspition These reasons being approved they all withdrew themselves to their own homes using all the meanes they could to raise great troops of armed men the King advertised of their preparations thought the best course hee could take would be to prevent them and take from them the meanes uniting themselves Whereupon the Earle of Arundell being farthest distant from the rest and more exposed to danger hee commanded the Earle of Northumberland to surprize him who taking along with him store of company came to Rigate in Surrey where finding him rather in a condition of offending then being offended he thought he should doe better to returne without doing of any thing then by making a rash attempt discover the reasons of his comming But the King did not for all this quit his designe hee gave the like order to divers others commanning that if hee could not be had alive hee should be brought dead The Earle was ignorant of these plots but being advertised of them by Gloster who had better spies in Court hee travelled with all his followers all night long and in the morning came weary to Aringey where hee found the Duke and Warwick with a great number of Souldier a rumor was at the same time spread that the King under pretence of going to Canterbury to performe a vow would passe over into Fraoce to surrender unto that King Callis the castle of Guines whasoever else was in that country possessed by the Crown of England which whether or no it were invented to increase the peoples hatred is more then I can say but he made no such journey not to free them of suspition but for the fear he had of their combination For their forces were not to bee despised their ends being as they gave forth to reduce him to a better and more frugall government
so as apprehending danger he demanded counsell not without some signes of feare Some were of opinion that he should do well to temporize entertaining them with hopes of satisfaction Others thought that this knot was too fast tyed not to be undone but by the sword The Archbishop of Yorke was the author of this opinion but it met with many oppositions The King could reap nothing thereby but losse the gates were opened to a civill warre and if amongst bloud and dead carcasses the key should perchance be lost hee was not like to meet with them in time to shut the gate at his pleasure that if he should overcome it would bee a mournfull victory both friends and enemies being the chiefe of the Kingdome and equally his subjects That if hee should be beaten hee had no place to retire unto his ruine was inevitable his kingdome life and liberty being at the stake Ralph Basset a Gentleman of quality said freely that he would not have his head broken for the Duke of Irelands sake But the Earle of Northumberland propounded the giving them a hearing as the best rosolution in this case could be taken This advice pleased the most of them The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely Chancellour were sent to perswade them to present themselves the next Sunday in Westminster where they might themselves lay open their grievances before the King assuring them that they should finde his Majesty ready to give them a gracious hearing But they found the adverse party hard to resolve being by past examples reduced to small beliefe and lesse trust for where there is neither shame of infamy nor feare of punishment breach of promise craft and treachery are taken to bee tearmes of wisedome and things handsomely carried the which being well knowne unto the Chancellor who dealt uprightly in this businesse he desired them not to sticke at this since the good and peace of the Common-wealth depended upon this resolution passing his word unto them that if there were any thing of fraud intended he would give them timely advertisement Upon this security they promised a meeting but as their suspitions were not vain so did the Chancellor faithfully keep promise with them for understanding that 1000 men were laid in ambush to cease upon them at unawares he advertised them thereof to the end that either they might not come or if they came come so accompanied as they need not fear danger Sunday being come the King wondred that they came not and understanding the reason swore he was no wayes conscious of it and commanded the Sheriffes to goe to the place of ambush and to cut in peeces as many as they should there meet But the ambushers having retired themselves upon the advertisement of Thomas Trivet and Nicholas Bambre their leaders that care was needlesse 'T is hard to say whether the King had any hand therein or no unlesse they ground their opinions on this that a Prince who onely intends his owne desires values no plighted faith neither religious nor civill so as the breach thereof may tend to his own interest and to him his ends being considered the miscarrying of these Lords had been much availeable and the not making inquiry after the authors of it must needs bee subject to a bad construction Notwithstanding al this the Chancellor forbare not to doe all good offices he mitigated the resentment of this fresh wound with reiterated lenitives and procuring them to boot with the Kings word a safe conduct in writing he secured them a second time and drew them to Westminster whither they came well accompanied relying much upon the fidelitie of the people a securitie upon such occasions efficatious though wavering The King understanding their arrivall came thither in his Robes with his Scepter in hand and Crowne upon his head invironed by Prelates and Lords His favourites and confidents upon good advice staid at home Gloster as soone as he was come into the Hall kneeled downe before him together with his associates The Bishop whose office it was as being Chancellor to declare unto them the Kings intentions did in a grave manner say That the King their Soveraigne Lord being informed of their assemblies made at Haringie forbare to use the way of violence which easily he might have done to reduce them to their obedience that hee had put a greater valuation upon the bloud of his subjects and their own particular safeties then upon the injuries done unto himself That he was rather pleased to make use of his owne grace and favour the naturall Panacea of good Princes then to apply violent remedies to so grievous a malady That his resolution was not onely to pardon past offences but patiently to listen unto their grievances and to remedy them if need should require They tendring all humble thankfullnesse answered That their assemblies had been made not with intention of taking Armes against his Majesty their Soveraigne Lord but driven thereunto out of the necessity of his Majesties good and the weale publicke That they had taken this resolution to withstand the treacheries plotted against them and the State by certaine traytors who under pretence of serving his Majesty intended the subversion of King and Kingdome Passing by the rest they instanced in the Duke of Ireland Archbishop of Yorke Earle of Suffolk Trifillian and Bambre They offered to make good their assertions by the sword throwing downe their gloves as gages a thing then in use and which in case of difficultie is as yet sometimes used in England The King having patiently given them hearing answered That he was not well pleased that from the appeasing of one quarrell many others should arise hee willed them to be present at the Parliament which was to commence the next day after the purification of our Lady where all differences should according to the Lawes be ended The which being said he immediatly added these words And you my Lords what reason did permit you to take up Armes against me in this my Land thought you thereby to frighten me could not I have raised greater forces to your destruction I would have you all to know that upon this account I no more value you then the least Scullion in my Kitchin These last words being said not allowing time for a reply he tooke the Duke by the arme and raised him from the ground and returning to his Palace welcomed them all with such appearing signes of friendship as in token of his good will hee called for wine and did in a familiar friendly manner drinke with them That which was agreed upon in this businesse was That the differences should be decided by Parliamentory justice That the King should take the parties interessed into his protection That the one side should not wrong the other That in the intrim neither side should raise forces and to the end that no marke of infamy might remaine upon the fore-named Lords Richard caused a proclamation to be made that
more really performe then did he his threats which with feare-infusing forces are of no validity They did as it were beleager him in the tower for the Thames being well guarded and they themselves making good the Citie he had no possible meanes of making an escape whereby perceiving the vanity of his owne opinion he yeelded to the advice of others necessity being the chiefe motive But it was impossible to bring them together for neither would hee come out of the Tower nor they enter for fear of the like treacheries as in a lesse proper place they had not long before had experience of at last feare found the meanes he propounded unto them to send men who might search the Tower with the which contented they sent two hundred armed men who having searched every corner received the keyes of the gates and so secured their entry Their complements were short and coole as was to be expected in a businesse of such nature They first shewed him the Letters written under his owne hand to the Duke of Ireland upbraiding him with the breach of his private promise and publique faith publiquely proclaimed but at the sight of his safe conduct for France which in the second place they shewed him he grew pale and not knowing what to say in his defence burst forth into teares That which was then resolved upon was that he would the next day cometo Westminster to take order for his past misgovernment He would have had them lodge in the Tower with him but they excused themselves upon the necessity of their being present with their men For his satisfaction Darby and Nottingham tarried there At night when hee retired to his rest those who were nearest about him wished him to consider that to goe to Westminster would be both shamefull and dangerous whilst they considered not that where honour is in question shame consists not in the eyes but in the minde which could penetrate the thickest walls and that he could not meet with greater danger by comming forth since he had already put himselfe into the hands of his most hated enemies But according to his custome imbracing the worst counsell he refused to goe to Westminster at which the Barons thinking themselves deluded they sent him word that if he would not come they would chuse a new King in his stead A more considerable shame and danger then was the quitting of the Tower and the doing of what of himselfe as King he ought unintreated to have done Yet all these errours considered there is no law which permits subjects to make so insolent a protestation Hitherto their actions had been in some sort justifiable the States necessity excused what of violence they had formerly used but to use such tearmes to a young King as ought onely to be used to an old incorrigible Tyrant they had neither law for their justification nor reason for their excuse since they were chosen Governours for the conservation not extirpation of the King and Regall Majesty but though God was pleased that his inconstancie should be punished by this affront and that like a childe he should be frighted with the noise of the rod hee was not notwithstanding pleased that they should hate that in him which they loved in themselves that they should fall from justice to severity and from a juridicall government to tyranny so as both sides having offended it is no wonder if all of them in their due times did receive alike punishment The King being by threats brought to Westminster this proposition was made unto him that in consideration of many disorders which had happened to the prejudice of his honour and the good government of the Kingdome by the infidelity of certaine traytors that were too familiarly about him to the end that more the like might not ensue hee would bee pleased that they might bee banished the Court and his presence To the which he bereaved of all acts of will especially such as tended to contradiction did much against his will give consent grieving that hee was to lose their company who hee intirely loved and esteemed his onely faithfull advisers the chiefe of these were three Prelates The Archbishop of Yorke the Bishop of Durham his Treasurer and the Bishop of Chichester his Confessor Three Barons Zouch Burnel and Beamont five Knights many Ladies and Gentlewomen To boot with their banishment they were to give in bond for their appearing at the next Parliament to answer to such things as should be alledged against them Of the three Bishops Yorke and Chichester were freed from this ingagement for they were formerly fled Many others of all conditions were imprisoned Priests Gentlemen and Lawyers of the which the most considerable were Simon Burle and Nicholas Bambre The day appointed for Parliament being come and the Judges having tane their seats they were all one onely excepted committed to prison for that in the preceding Parliament they had given their votes for the legitimacy of the election of the governours and in the Castle at Nottingham had subscribed to the Articles of Trisilian to the contradiction of what they had formerly done Those who had absented themselves were cited to appeare The Duke of Ireland the Archbishop of Yorke Earle of Suffolke and Trisilian were summoded to answer to such Articles of Treason as should bee objected unto them by Gloster Darby Arundel and Nottingham and that in case they did not appeare during the sitting of that Parliament which continued from the Purification to Pentecost they should be for ever banished and their goods confiscated Trisilian relying more upon his warinesse then a wary man ought to doe was betrayed by one of his servants and taken in a house neare the Parliament whither with confidence he had retired himselfe that he might the better discover the daily passages He had the face to deny himselfe having so transformed himselfe as he was almost not to be knowne After much mockery he was hanged Bambre who was his companion in actions was the like in fortune hee had his head strucken off with a hatchet which hee himselfe had caused be made to behead a number of people whose names were found in a list about him Many others went the same way But the death of Simon Burle was thought lesse justifiable then all the rest This Simon was nobly borne Iohn his father was Knight of the Garter and his Uncle Walter Burle was one of the first to whose charge Edward the third trusted the education of his sonne Edward with whom this Simon being brought up under his Uncle he proved so full of worth as the Prince thought hee could not commit the government of his sonne Richard to a more deserving man A choice not to be sleighted being made by such a Prince In this his charge he knew so well how to comply with Richards inclination as that when he came to the Crowne he raised him to great honour making him Knight of the Garter Chamberlaine Warden of
them and conferred them upon some others breaking the ice by the change of Chancellour The Archbishop of Yorke formerly Bishop of Ely for when Nevil was banished he removed to that See kneeling downe did readily deliver up unto him the great Seale Hee likewise changed the Lord Treasurer the Clarke of the Signet and the Judges hee removed the Earle of Arundel from being Admirall and conferred that place upon the Earle of Huntington brother by the mothers side to his Majesty He put the Duke of Gloster Earle of Warwicke and others from the Councell Table naming new Councellors in their places And not yet fully resolved whom to chuse for Chancellor hee carried the great Seale along with him to his Chamber where pitching upon a choice he returned backe and gave it to William Wickham Bishop of Winchester a favour which he unwillingly received All this passed quietly on no words proceeding from any one although the kingdome a body then ill affected passed but from one ague fit to another At the end of this yeare the Duke of Lancaster returned to England having spent three yeares abroad The mortality which fell amongst his people caused by the excessive heats in Spaine forced him to retire into Gascony where having begun a treaty with the Duke of Berry to give unto him for wife his daughter Catherine she upon whom the pretence to the Kingdome of Castile fell after her mothers death he thereby raised such jealousies in Iohn the first who then reigned as that the said Iohn demanded her for wife unto his eldest sonne Henry who was afterwards the third King of that name a youth of but ten yeares of age though Catherine were nineteen years old Upon these conditions that hee should pay unto him for the present 200000 Nobles and 10000 markes yearly during the life of the Duke and his wife Constance mother to Catherine That he should assigne over unto Constansâ—… Guadalajara Medina del Campo and Olmedo that shee might enjoy the fruits thereof during her life and that the espoused Princesse should be stiled by the name of Princesse of Austria the sonnes of those Kings though their eldest till then being only stiled Infanti The two on the other side renounced all their pretensions to those Kingdomes The Duke had before this married his daughter Phillep borne unto him by his former wife to Iohn the first King of Portugall having the good fortune to place them both in a like countrey and dignity His comming into England happened in an opportune time for the King having summoned the Nobility to Redding where he then was some strange alteration was doubted the ill will he bore to many being considered the Duke did so behave himselfe as sweetning the King they were all well received and contentedly dismissed But the Kings jealousies of him not ceasing being likewise displeased with his returne hee by the assistance of the first Parliament to the end that hee might againe bee gone gave him the Dutchy of Aquitany together with all the honours incomes and prerogatives which of old did belong unto that Dukedome and which for the present were enjoyed by that Crowne investing him with the accustomed badges of golden rod and Ducall Cap upon the meere tye of simple homage Richard was not strait handed of what he possessed but mainly addicted to his owne will with the which rather then to have parted he would well nigh have parted with his kingdome Insomuch as fearing lest if Lancaster should joyne with Gloster hee mought give him enough to doe To free himselfe from an imaginary obstacle hee weighed not the essentiall impoverishing of the Crowne of its richest Jewell And if the effects did not follow it was not for lacke of his good will but the good will of the people of that Dutchy who being obstinate would not contrary to their priviledges be dismembred from the Crowne of England neither did Glosters siding with him though extravagant any thing at all availe which did not proceed from brotherly affection as he would have it conceived but for that Lancaster being present his authority was the lesse who did pretend to be the onely director in the government of affaires Hee was not troubled at the eldership of his other brother the Duke of Yorke since that he chiefly intended his private pleasures But Richard was deceived in Lancasters intentions for it is not alwayes good to judge of things present by what is past For as in his departing from Spain he merited to be esteemed one of the most valiant and wisest Princes that did then live so at his returne to England he deserved to be held a peace-maker experience and the incommodities of warre having made him desirous of repose and changed or moderated his disposition the which was plainly seen in him the short time that he lived since that he did not onely tolerate the being denied by the Gascones but did patiently endure his sonnes distastes and exile not being moved at whatsoever accident save his brothers death the which hee notwithstanding suffered whilst if he had had like ambition as formerly hee mought not have been destitute of hopes the King being mightily hated he as much beloved And though the putting of his brother to death mought bee justifiable the manner thereof was such as could not be denied to be unjust cruell and tyrannicall The King was no sooner come to age but hee was informed that the Duke of Gloster had raised forces against him the which being found false he would not suffer him to justifie himselfe but injoyned him silence were it either that hee might keepe this plea on foote against him or to free his accusers from punishment the three next yeares past peaceably on the peace of France being on both sides earnestly endeavoured but the reciprocall pretentions and stoutnesse of both parties made it impossible to bee concluded Richard did desire it and the difficulties which the French met with for matter of warre made them likewise desire it as much if not more Charles his indisposition continued as likewise the Uncles discords each intent to their owne private designes and interest so as not able to conclude a peace they continued the league one yeare longer the which the state being in quiet afforded Richard leasure to live according to his owne inclination which was such as had he not erred in the extreme could not have beene better but the splendor of prodigality is like that of lightning which consumes and beares downe whatsoever it meets withall hee kept the greatest and noblest Court of any King in Europe His subjects led by his example dreamt not of frugality a verâ—…ue not much knowne in England but gave themselves over to luxuriousnesse great was his excesse of diet the pompe and bravery of his Court in apparell unimitated the number of his servants exceeding all beliefe 10000. men fed daily of his bread the Queene had 300. women which belonged to her service 300. was the
appointed and had already begun their carreere with lance in rest when they were commanded to hold their hands The King having a long while disputed the businesse upon the Scaffold which was sumptuously built for his Majesty to see the Duell caused proclamation be made that for good respects his Majesty would not have the combat further proceeded in and that his pleasure was that the Duke of Hereford should bee banished the kingdome for ten yeares upon perill of his life and the Duke of Norfolke for ever upon the like penalty It was observed that this sentence was given the same day twelve-month that Norfolke had caused Gloster to bee strangled at Callais He forthwith left England and in little more then one yeare after died for griefe at Venice 'T was thought that the Kngs rigour towards him proceeded from a desire he had to be rid of him for hee having been formerly of the Barons faction and having of late wrought himself into the Kings favour by the ruine of others he thought that upon occasion he might serve him as he had done his friend the Duke of Gloster and the Earle of Arundell his sonne-in-law Princes though they doe not punish themselves for the evill they commit punish the instruments of evill to the end that they may not be thought altogether unjust The Duke of Hereford who when he took his leave in token of the Kings good will was remitted foure yeares of his banishment parted from England being generally bewailed and was well received in France where the Duke of Berry would have given him his daughter for wife had he not been hindred by Richard fearing least the favour of that Duke in France and the peoples love in England might prove dangerous Richard by reason of superfluous expences was in continuall want and money past through his hands as water through a sieve Continuall necessity was the continuall feaver which caused this thirst in him the which not able to bee quenched by the ordinary revenues of the Crowne nor yet by the extraordinary helpes of Parliament hee was inforced to digge new Welles Hee borrowed money of all the Lords as well Ecclesiasticall as Temporall by way of privy Seale obliging himselfe to pay them but never did The which though it bee somewhat hard yet not sufficient to make subjects take their last resolutions For particular men doe sometimes borrow and never pay But the violating of justice under the pretence of doing justice was that which turned patience to despaire Seventeene whole Shires had almost sided with the Duke of Gloster at least they were so said to have done They were all held notwithstanding the last generall pardon guilty of high treason wherewithall being threatned they were compelled to compound for a great summe of money to take againe the oath of allegeance and the richest amongst them to signe and seale unto a blanke into which the officers appointed for this businesse might insert what summe they pleased a thing able to undoe whole families and Shires The like was done in London to the great distate of the Citizens Iohn Duke of Lancaster this meane while died and the King tooke possession of his goods without any pretence of title hee bereft his exiled sonne of his inheritance The which when the Duke of York observed hee thought it was no longer safe for him to stay in Court whereupon he retired to his owne home But the King being resolved to goe himselfe in person into Ireland to revenge the death of Roger Mortimer Earle of Marsh slaine there by the rebels he who in case succession should want was the presumed heire to the Crowne sent for the Duke backe assigning over unto him the government of the Kingdome in his absence This was the last expedition he made for having left his subjects ill affected and augmented their distates by his taking along with him great store of provisions without paying for them hee departed with thirty thousand men and had such good successe as had hee not been compelled to returne he would have brought that Island to totall obedience This meane while the Towne of London the Prelates Nobles and People those especially of the abovesaid seventeen shires who thought themselves worst dealt withall resolved to call in the new Duke of Lancaster not onely to the recovery of his owne inheritance but of the Crowne and Kingdome They sent expresse messengers to Cullen to the end that Thomas Arundel late Archbishop of Canterbury who in his banishment made his abode there might goe into France and perswade the young Duke thereunto who though he found it a businesse of difficulty the dangers considered as likewise the peoples changeablenesse yet being brought to live by borrowing deprived of his estate and out of hope of ever recovering it by any other meanes hee entertained the motion hee pretended to King Charles who otherwise would not have suffered him to depart that he went to see his cousin the Duke of Brittanny and so with his approbation imbarked himselfe with some few followers amongst which number Thomas sonne to the late Earle of Arundel beheaded who not many daies before was fled from England was one When hee was come upon the English coast hee would not land but coasting along the Country to discover the peoples inclinations hee cast anchor at Revenspur in Yorkshire where he needed no invitation for the Lords and Prelates flockt all thither as soone as they heard of his arrivall So as having assembled an Army of sixty thousand fighting men and all places by which he passed yeelding unto him hee was with great acclamation and expressions of joy received into London The Duke of Yorke governour of the Kingdome who at his Nephewes first appearance had called the Councell together was thereby advised to leave London and goe to S. Albans where they might gather forces to give him battell An advice assuredly dangerous for the head ought first and chiefly to be defended The forces on the Councels side were no sooner gathered together but that they made a protestation they would not fight against the Duke of Lancaster for having from the beginning declared that he pretended to nothing but to what in right did descend unto him from his Father and Mother every man was of opinion that since his inheritance was unjustly taken from him he did justly in taking up of Armes to repossesse himselfe thereof Hereupon those of the Kings more intimate Councell as William Earle of Wilshire Lord Treasurer Sir Iohn Bushy and Sir Henry Greene leaving the Duke of Yorke the Bishop of Exceter Lord Chancellour and the rest fled to Bristoll in the castle whereof they thought they might be safe Sir William Bagot one of the same fraternity went more advisedly over to Ireland The Duke of Yorke seeing that it was dangerous for him and to no purpose to tarry where hee was went towards Wales where he thought he should meet the King at his returne from Ireland Hee stayed at
by the victory he had over the Duke of Ireland no vaine-glory was therein found in him his discourse thereof did not exceed the bounds of modesty and the relation hee made thereof unto his associats was void of amplification or boasting Aid from Genua being demanded and granted against the Pirates which roved up and downe the Mediterranean Sea and coasts of Italy hee was made Commander of them France joyning in this expedition with England Being come into Africa and by meanes of his Archers landed he returned home his modesty added to his reputation while the one and the other equally contending strove for precedence in his renowne Those who write that in stead of making this journey hee went against the infidels in Prusia did not perhaps equivocate but the different relation of Writers makes the undertaking indifferent since they all agree in his praise In the combat with the Duke of Norfolk he proved himself to be both wise and valiant for though strucken as if with lightning at his unexpected accusation he fell into no disorder his wisedome was inflamed but not by anger consumed to ashes as it is oft-times seen in such as are unexpectedly offended he patiently endured his exile and with dry eyes left his Countrey whilst those who saw him goe moistened theirs He would have gone into Holland if the Duke his father would have permitted him but the warre made by Albertus of Bavaria Lord of those Countries against the Frisons at the instigation of his son the Count of Ostervent being very dangerous and but little honour there to be won for that people did more by desperatenesse then skil in war defend their liberties he advised him to goe for France He was there graciously received by the King Princes and Court But the King of France would needs of his owne free will allow him five hundred Crownes a weeke for his petty occasions as it was termed he thought not to receive it would argue incivility and that the receiving of it would fasten upon him too great an obligation so as he resolved to leave France and go into Hungary to warre against the Turkes He wrote hereof unto his father who approving of the cause but not of his resolution propounded to him a voyage into Spaine where having two sisters the one Queene of Castile the other Queen of Portugall hee might with lesse danger and discommodity make the warre which he desired against the Infidels but being by his friends advertised that the Physitions had given his father over as not likely to live many monthes he went not The Duke of Berry who had a daughter of three and twenty yeares of age a widow to two husbands Henry being likewise a widower a rich heire and after his fathers decease the prime man in England next unto the King thought to give her to him for wife King Charles being therewithall well contented a match which would have been serviceable to the Queene his daughter and of publick good for thus united yea peace between the two Kingdomes might the easilier bee maintained But Richard thinking this match might prove disadvantagious to his designes and that Henry being offended was likely alwayes to be his enemy sent the Earle of Salisbury to breake it nor would Charles his wives father displease him therein seeing he tooke it so to heart When the Archbishop of Canterbury propounded his return to England offering the Crown unto him he could not at the first prevaile with him nor had he prevailed with him at all had not the King by depriving him of his inheritance caused him despaire a bad resolution but excusable and which cannot be blamed by the law of Nature save as it is interdicted by the law of Christianity so as innocent in the one and faulty in the other hee erred in both such resolutions being prejudiciall to a Kingdome which ought alwayes to detest all alterations Let businesses fall out well or ill to malecontents who are egged on by ambition and revenge two spurres slightly guilded over with the leafe-gold of publicke good the people cannot but bee alwayes losers by civill brawles nay if the two Registers of humane actions Profit and Uprightnesse in proceeding meet not together as they seldome doe and that profit have the precedencie it ought to be when the conservation of the Common-wealth is in question and not to satisfie the ambition and private interests of particular men If love unto his Countrey or the desolation of the State had moved Henry Richard being deposed there wanted not lawfull succeeders But howsoever the malady had been better for the Kingdome then the remedy for the one was not of long continuance the King being mortall and of such yeares as hee might have amended where as the other for the space of sixe Kings reignes produced nothing but one ill upon the necke of another and had it not been for the matrimoniall conjunction of the two Roses in the seventh the mischiefe had perhaps yet continued But as it is the losse of what they did possesse in France their losse of reputation abroad their desolation at home the death of hundreds of thousands and of fourescore or more of the bloud Royall approve the remedy to have been more pestilentiall then the disease and that to have continued Richard in his authority would have been reputed lesse harmfull then to have substituted another King how good soever who in a capacity of growing worse was cause of those wofull consequences which such substitutions use to draw after them Wise Phifitions apply only approved medicines to the â—…icke party where the case is not desperate and in case it be the more discreet sort doe rather suffer them to dye peaceably then tormented with the violence of medicines The malady here was not mortall save as made so by the remedies So we may conclude that the good conditions of such as do pretend are more harmfull then the bad of of such as doe possesse Vertue not being what she appeares to us to be in her abstract but what she is in the concrete of her corruptions Henry had though silent yet conspicuous competitours by law questionlesse before him as the sons of Roger Mortimer the eldest son to Philippa the only daughter heire to Lionell Duke of Clarence not onely by nature but in the eight yeare of King Richard by Parliament declared Heire to the Crowne she being dead her right remained in these so as by vertue of the Lawes he could not justly pretend to that which contrary to the lawes the prejudice of others he did violently usurp But because his succession was not truly justifiable it behoved to seek out some colour for it his friends propounded divers titles unto him all of them counterfeit and disguis'd whilst right rich and substantiall of it selfe needes no false props Henry did by his Mother descend from Edmond Crook-backe Earle of Lancaster they would have this Edmond to be eldest sonne to Henry the third
the Earle of Warwicke restoring them to their dignities and goods which had been taken from them The Dukes of Aumerle Surrey and Exceter the Marquis Dorset his owne brother by the father and the Earle of Glocester as being those who had chalenged Arundell and Warwicke were deprived of such titles as had after that act been conferred upon them and of all the goods which from that time they enjoyed given them by Richard by confiscation or otherwise the Titles and incomes which they formerly enjoyed remaining onely unto them so as Aumerle from Duke was reduced to be Earle of Rutland Surrey of Kent and Exceter of Huntington the Marquis Dorset his brother to be Earle of Somerset and the Earle of Gloster to be Lord Spencer I call those chalengers who accuse others and offer to prove their accusations by single combat as these had accused the above-named to gratifie King Richard and as in this Parliament in hopes of pleasing King Henry Aumerle Salisbury and divers others were accused as traytors to the King and offered to bee proved so by Duell But the King considering the time and humours knowing that Clemencie and Grace would more redound to his glory then by giving eare to accusations to make himselfe bee beleeved their on-fetter appeased them pardoning all of them and prohibiting any further discourse concerning that matter Hee thought to doe the same another way and to winne the friendship of his most profest enemies those whom he found to be so in the behalfe of the deposed King The three degraded Dukes were the chiefe of these Aumerle Richards cousin-german and he who was most intimate with him while hee reigned hee hoped to win the good will of the other two though Exceter were King Richards brother and Surrey his nephew sonne to his other brother who died two yeares before hee feared not Exceter having some interest in him as who had married his sister Elizabeth but beleeved to make good use of him concerning Surrey if need should bee so as if hee would not suffer the combates to proceed nor that the people should triumph in their deaths as they seemed desirous all three of them being the causers of infinite grievances and extortions it was out of these respects which were not in likelihood to deceive him the present good turne which hee did them being likely to oblige them very much for though with justice he might have satisfied the people and secured himselfe hee chose by pardoning them to displease his subjects and prejudice himselfe whilst he might so justly have rid his hands of them An excuseable fault for a Prince who stands upon such ticklish tearmes An enemy resembles glasse which never can be peeced And though Christian Religion have the secret of peecing an enemy which is for the love of God yet Christians though they should do seldome arrive at so great perfection and though Nature may pretend to have the same secret yet ought shee not therein to be beleeved unlesse it proceed from two great extravagancies either from a dead and senslesse pusillanimity or from a generositie onely by imagination to be comprehended The first is not to bee trusted for basenesse and cruelty are tearmes convertible And of the second they onely are capable who like Iulius-Caesar and King Henry beleeve that benefits are able to blot out injuries but others who judge their enemies good conditions by their owne bad ones beleeve that good turnes are baits to revenge and abhorring him so much the more for that they are made the Looking-glasse wherein his noblenesse and glory may be seen they are Diamonds to all other impressions wax to the impression of hatred as in the three above-named and divers others we shall shortly see The first newes which France heard of these alterations in England was by the Merchants and those so uncertaine as they knew not what to thinke thereof Madame de Cousi had the charge of the young Queene who being commanded to be gone without demanding any question or further troubling of her mistresse obeyed and was waited upon to the Sea side where a ship stayed for her and conveyed her over to Bullen she was the first that brought any true relation The which when Charles understood he was thereat so much grieved as that while hee was thinking upon revenge he relapsed into one of his wonted frenzies the Councell not knowing what to resolve upon they perceived by the generall hatred against Richard and the universall consent in Henry's election that in a businesse of this nature 't was bootlesse to use force for England is not to bee undone but by division The Duke of Burgondy who had been no lesse averse to this match in France then was the Duke of Gloster in England upbraided them with the small account they made of his counsell and was of opinion that the businesse was not to bee remedied by a sudden warre but that they should doe well to wait for such occasions as are by discontented subjects offered unto their neighbours such as were those of Gascoigne who were the more displeased at Richards being deposed for that hee was borne among them and was alwayes called Richard of Burdeaux A wise consideration if this ill bloud had growne to a rebellion or if Sir Robert Knolles Lievetenant of Aquitaine a wise and valiant Gentleman had not hindred them by remonstrances and reasons who likewise advertised England of the danger This meane while the French were not wanting to themselves The Constable de Sanserres was the first who presented himselfe upon their confines endevouring to blow the already glowing Coal The Duke of Burbon had recourse thither likewise provoking the Nobility and people offering all they could desire adding withall such promises as upon such like occasions are usuall with as much readinesse of speech as they proved afterwards difficult in performance Bayon Burdeaux and other townes being required sent him their Deputies who having no further directions then onely to heare returned laden with offers But these first passions being calmed the comparative condition of France and England the latter free from Burdens the other subject to perpetuall taxes pointed out unto them the wholesomest resolve For the common people love nothing more then to cultivate their owne grounds to their owne proper use and to enjoy the fruits of their owne industry not being forced thereout to feed officers or souldiers While things were thus carried Thomas Percy Earle of Worster came thither with a fresh supply of souldiers upon whose arrivall all practises ceased while Richards friends endeavouring his liberty did thereby hasten his death which was the onely meanes to free him of the miseries wherein he now lived The Dukes of Aumerle Exeter and Surrey as hath beene before said were friendly embraced by the King who hoped by his good usage to win their love but the latter two not being able to withstand the power of blood nor the first the like of friendship the which was
that cold being added to the rest of his sufferings he died within the space of fifteen dayes The third that Henry sitting at the table and complaining of his present condition he should say hee saw he had no friends since his life and Richards being incompatible there was none that would free him of this anxiety Whereupon one Sir Peter Eston accompanied by eight others went straight wayes to Pomfret where meeting with Richards Sewer he said unto him That it was in vaine any longer to take assay of his meat for he was not long to taste any and that the Sewer taking this in another sense waited at the Table but did not his usuall service at the which Richard being offended when he understood that hee was willed so to doe by Eston who was newly come from Court hee grew so incensed as that he cut him over the face with a knife saying The Divel take Henry of Lancaster thee too at the which Peter with the other eight entring the roome with Halberts in their hands he threw the Table from him beleeving that they came to kill him and that flying fiercely upon one of them hee wrested his weapon from him with the which he slew foure of them but being over-borne by the rest hee went backwards toward the place where Eston was set in Richards chaire almost ready to swound through the remorse of conscience that there Eston with a great blow fell him to the ground which when hee had done he instantly cried out that he had killed a Prince who had been his King two and twenty yeares that he should live hereafter abhorred and pointed at by all men as a traytor and murtherer of a King One Historian allowes Richard so much life after the receiving of this blow as to suffer him say that Edward the second his great-grand-father was in like manner as he deposed and killed that his grand-father Edward the third having by such meanes obtained and enjoyed the Crowne hee being his successor did beare the punishment that the like would happen to such as should succeed Henry and though his death his owne demerits considered was just yet was it not such as would justifie his murtherers But I cannot see how the blow hee received from Eston and the desire that Eston had to see him dead could allow him so much time for discourse That he voluntarily starved himselfe to death is not likely hee loved his life too well and rather then lose it he chose to lose both liberty and kingdome nor would knives have been wanting had hee had any such resolution And certainly Henry is much injured in the report that he should act that which is but fained of Tantalus for of his owne nature he was no wayes wicked and though it was a great fault to bereave his lawfull King both of Kingdome and life yet seeing he had put on a resolution of reigning Pandora's box from which all mischiefe issued he must or not be King or make himselfe secure of his kingdome the one was the sinne of ambition which many are subject to but the other not to alledge other examples would have been the Idea of the most unheard of cruelties that ever were committed Respect unto himselfe inforced a riddance of him but not in so cruell a manner such an act had been able to alienate all other people from him his vaine-glory in affecting the first seat among the damned would have been more then diabolicall neither is it likely that Eston slew him for Henry needed not in so blameable an action publickly at the Table to begge the helpes of others It may suffice that Richard did dye and after what manner best pleased Henry but no man knew how otherwise in this case there would have been but one relation and not able to free himselfe from the suspition of having caused him to bee put to death hee could not finde any meanes whereby to bee the lesse hated for the doing of it then the uncertainty thereof which occasioned this diversity of opinions Hee caused his corps to bee brought up to London bare-faced and gave order that it should stop for some convenient time in divers publicke places particularly in Pauls to the end that it might be taken notice of Hee caused his funerall to bee celebrated at which hee himselfe together with all his Court and Magistracie of the Citie was present This being done hee sent the body to Langley lest the sight of his Tombe in London might recall into mens memories an action which howsoever it was done was unjust and inhumane He was there privatly buried none of any quality being present save one Bishop and two Abbots Henry the fifth sonne to this man when he came to be King caused his body to be brought to Westminster and placed it theâ—…e by the side of Anne his wife amongst the other Kings Some Scotch writers are of a fourth opinion That as soone as Henry was crowned an Hermit of reverend aspect presented himselfe before him who admonished him to restore the Kingdome to whom of right it did belong threatning the ruine of the house of Lancaster if he would not doe it and that Henry fearing if this novelty should be scattered abroad amongst the people it might cause some revolt made the Hermit privately be put to death That Richard having escaped prison by the connivency of those who were his Keepers got into Ireland and from thence to Scotland where he placed himselfe in service with a Lord of the family of Machdougell and that after a while being knowne he was brought to the Court where he was with much civility received by Robert the third and entertained as a King but that weary of the world he retired himselfe to the service of God and being dead was buried in the Dominicans Church as the inscription upon his Sepulchre did witnesse But if this had beene true the English writers would have had some little light thereof some whispering or tradition of it would have beene among the common people Scotland would have made some advantage thereby France would not have beene quiet Henry would not have demanded Richards widow for his Sonne nor would Charles have married her into the house of Orleans Richard would either have retired himselfe to France to his wife and father in law or having a minde to become one of the Religious in Scotland he would have procured by dispensation from Rome a nullifying of his contracted though not consummated marriage George Buchanan writes that the old Earle of Northumberland being fled into Scotland as we shall hereafter see that he there found an English man who had falsly taken upon him the name of Richard the second that he endevoured to get a sight of him but that the other could by no meanes be perswaded thereunto that if he had not been an Impostor he would not have shunned the sight of one that knew him and that the same man afterwards dying was buried at
for mastery was the cause of all the mischiefe which was by either of them given or received rather then hatred or avarice Percy was famous for what hee had already done and now more then ever desirous of glory Douglasse was big with fame and that he might bring it to light was desirous to adde thereunto the fame of his enemy these two respects were the whetstone whereon the valour of both parties was sharpned Exhortations and warlike noises were needlesse every man was by himselfe encouraged and ready for what he had to doe each side equally thirsting for the others bloud The conflict endured a long time with like affect as is seene in a sheete of corne which when driven with violent windes bends now on the one side and then on the other alternately till at last Fortune taking stand under Saint George his Crosse thought it not sacriledge to beare to ground that of Saint Andrew Dowglasse who in the battell had lost an eye was taken prisoner with him Fife Murrey Angus Atholl and five hundred more the greatest part of the Gentry of Scotland dyed manfully fighting of which number were twenty seven Knights and of common souldiers as the English writers say for the others say nothing herein 10000. Percie as soone as he had made the prisoners safe in sundry forts passed forward in Loughdeane and the Marches of Scotland making use of the present occasion as having slaine and tane prisoners all that were to defend those parts which when hee had sacked and utterly ruinated hee besieged Coclaven a place neither to bee long kept nor soone lost it was agreed upon that it should be surrendred if not succoured within three months The Governour was advised not to succour it for that the losse of it would be of lesse moment then the hazarding of a second battell The defeat at Hamilton had so allayed the courage of the Gentry as that not being confident of any good intention in the Governour they could not bee perswaded to a new conflict but hee his mischievous designes not being now the thing in question but the honour of the Kingdome on the preservation whereof much of his hidden hopes depended swore hee would succour it though not seconded by any but the first two months being past and nothing done the castle was freed the third for which no thanks was due to him for Percy was forced to raise the siege that hee might follow the King in his warres in Wales Whilst England was thus beset on both sides new troubles arose unto her out of France which though at first sight of no consideration were yet the occasion of incensing mens mindes and of the more easie breach of truce The Duke of Orleans brother to King Charles a Prince of an unquiet spirit borne to be the ruine of himselfe and Kingdome tooke a fancie out of a meere capriciousnesse to send a letter to King Henry by a Herald the contents whereof were to this purpose That having considered how the rust of idlenesse in youth had been the losse of many Princes sprung from Royall bloud he was resolved to shake it off and to win renowne and honour by the way of Armes to effect the which he could think of no readier means then that they two should meet at a certain place to be by them agreed upon where each of them accompanied by a hundred Gentlemen of name valour and void of blemish they might make triall of themselves till the one of them should yeeld and that such prisoners as should be taken should be liable to ransome and their ransomes to be paid to such as tooke them That to this purpose he went with his hundred to Angolesme and that if hee would come with his hundred to Burdeaux they might chuse some neighbouring place for the combat The Duke had been the Kings great friend whilest he was in France insomuch as in signe of their more reall friendship they sealed a writing between them wherein they bound themselves to the defence of one another against all the world except some whom the Duke excepted but this chalenge being directly opposite thereunto and Henry having not been long in his kingdome and by reason of his affaires free from that idlenesse which the other desired to shun he answered that he would never have beleeved that the letter which was delivered him by his Herald had been directed to him had not the circumstances assured him that it was That the publick truce between the two Kingdomes and the private confederacie between them two ought to have disswaded him from making such a request but that since he was pleased so to resolve hee for for his part was likewise resolved to breake their former confederacie That Kings ought to bee chalenged by Kings not by inferiours That Kings ought not to use their weapons for vain-glory but for the glory of God and good of Christianity and when by their state necessitated thereunto That hee would come to Burdeaux with as many men as hee pleased when it might ought availe him And that in such a case occasions would not bee wanting to the Duke to finde him out nor should will be wanting in him to be found out by him To this answer the Duke by new letters replyed that he avouched the writing of the former letters to be to him to him onely and that if he did not therein give him the title which now he assumed 't was because he did not approve thereof that hee would have had due respect to their confederacy if it had not first been violated by him that he would never have made any confederacy with him if he had thought he would have so behaved himselfe towards King Richard God knowes how and by whom slaine for what concerned his present dignity that God never gave it him but did onely permit it in him and that God did oftentimes suffer Princes to reigne for their greater confusion so as the comparison he made between them two was to no purpose since his reputation was void of blemish as was not the Kings that for the duty and office of a King hee could not say better and doe worse that Queen Isabel his Neece might serve to prove this who was sent backe into France her husband being slaine her jonyture denied the goods shee brought with her into England deteined That hee would maintaine all this to bee true in single combat hand to hand to the end that as hee had said the deaths of so many might bee spared that hee thanked him for having more charity to the blood of France then hee had to his owne Lord and King This reply was too sharpe not to bee answered The King wrote backe That having communicated his designes to him when hee parted from France which he the Duke did then approve of and promised his assistance hee wondred why he should now blame them as if they were new unto him that if by his words of God knowes
how and by whom King Richard was slaine hee did believe that his death was occasioned by any command or approbation of his he did believe falsly and that he would make this good unto him body to body Hee did not deny but that in the confederacie made between them the King of France and Isabel Queen of England were on his side excepted but that he the Duke could not likewise deny that though the Duke of Burgondy was by name excepted yet that in private he told him he held him as not excepted for the confederacie was onely grounded upon the hatred he bare unto him so as the objection which hee made against him the King was the same which the Duke from the very beginning was maliciously guilty of For that part of his reply where he said that He would never have mâ—…de any confederacie with him if he had thought hee would have behaved himselfe so to King Richard why then did he after Richards death send a Gentleman to him to assure him of the continuation of his friendship and to tell him that next the King his brother he desired to serve no Prince alive more then him That God had permitted him but not promoted him to reigne hee did not beleeve it yet he confessed that Gods abounding favours to him proceeded onely from grace and mercie the which was able to effect more then all the art and malice of the Divell by these words hee alluded to what was commonly beleeved that the Duke and Valentia his wife had bewitched King Charles and plotced the death of his children to the end that they might come to the Crown that if he had read the Articles of agreement hee would there have found that England was not obliged to make any joynture that he had not onely restored unto her what ever she brought with her but presented her to boot that the Acquittance sealed in Councell he himselfe being present might convince him of his falshood so as what he said in this point was not for that he did not know the contrary but that being of himselfe false and wicked to speake truth was contrary to his nature that hee did not deny his desire of sparing to shed the bloud of France as it well became a King to bee sparing of his subjects bloud for such his just claime considered were the French to him that where he said He had more respect to the bloud of France then the life of Richard hee lied and that it were to bee wisht hee had not done worse to the King his brother for what remained that hee would passe the sea when it might conduce to the honour of God his owne good and the good of his kindome to answer him in what manner hee should chuse This defiance was accompanied by another from Valerian of Luxenburgh Count Saint Paul who not calling him King but Duke of Lancaster denounced to him That his friendship and affinity to King Richard for he had married Magdâ—…len Holland sister by the mothers side to Richard and Henry's being notoriously guilty of his death obliged him to doe him all the evill and mischiefe which by the forces of himselfe and subjects he was able But the King made him no answer as one he made no account of In the Duke of Orleans his businesse nothing passed further then the defiances by writing but the Count St. Paul began to take his revenge to little purpose making triviall attempts most harmfull to himselfe for beleeving that the new Duke of Yorke was causer of Richards death the conspiracie at Oxford being by his heedlesnesse discovered hee caused his Statue to bee made and giving it in charge unto some of his men of warre he made it to be hung up by the heeles upon a gallowes which for that purpose was carried by night neere to Callais walles the which at the opening of the gates being seen did so exasperate the Garrison of the Towne that the Count and his territories fared not the better for it all his other attempts after this had ill successe as wee shall hereafter see more at large This mean while the King of France being advertised of King Henry's preparations against Wales he set himself to succour Glendor judging that it might redound to his advantage to annoy England under anothers pretext and to make it pine away by nourishing the feaver of an intestine war To this effect he caused many Ships to be put in good equipage in Brest a haven in Bretaigne and put therein two thousand fighting men under the command of Iames of Burbon Count of March who putting to Sea with his two brothers Lewis and Iohn found the winds so contrary to his passage into Wales as that he was forced to anchor at Plimmouth in Devonshire where landing his people by night hee burnt and sacked all the neighbouring villages not sparing the Abodes nor Boats of poore Fisher-men But herein Fortune smiled upon him but a while for the confining people gathering together at the firing of the Beacons and newes being brought him that the violence of Winde and Sea had split twelve of the best Ships of his Fleet indangering all the rest Hee with difficulty did re-imbarke himselfe and with much adoe got to Saint Maloes having runne divers times danger of being swallowed up by Sea This ill successe did no waies asswage the French mens heat for assembling together a fleet of eighty ships under the command of Marshall Moemerancy and the Generall of the Crosse-bow-men wherein they imbarked 12000. fighting men they came to Milford haven in Pembrokeshire where finding Pembroke Castle strong and well defended they sat downe before Erfordnuest which being likewise secured by the Earle of Arundell they passed forward to Denbigh doing all those out-rages as they went by fire and sword as are usually done in an enemies Countrey there they found Glendor who staied expecting them with ten thousand of his owne men thus met together they travailed toward Worster but not having time to try the towne by reason of the Kings approach they fired the suburbs and retyred into Wales fortifying themselves upon the hanging of a hill betwixt the which and the opposite hill where the King had pitched himselfe there was a Valley disadvantagious for those who should first passe over it they tarried eight daies in sight of one another both sides resolute not to assaile and though daily divers skirmishes were made yet were they not of much importance some of both sides being slaine amongst which the bastard of Burbone the Marshalls brother was one The King this meane while had stopped the passage of their victualls thereby inforcing them either to passe the Valley and fight or else to retire the latter being thought the better course they raised their campe at midnight marching through Woods and over Mountaines still pursued by the King but this pursute lasted but a while for the King having lost certaine provision of victualls which the enemy well
Kings of France of Iohn in England and Francis the first in Spaine The ransome of the two brothers sonnes to Charles of Blois were reserved for Richard the second and though it were afterwards by act of Parliament granted to Vere Duke of Ireland it was not done to prejudicate the right we speake of but to the end that by his being absent from the court the King might the better governe himselfe And for what concernes prisoners of lesser condition yet re-donable the example of the victory at Lepanto which happened in our fathers times may suffice in the which the confederates divided the Turkish prisoners and made them tug at one Oare in their fleet The King persisting in his resolution of having them they thought to make him desist therein by demanding of him things of greater consequence The Earle of Worster a wicked and turbulent man was hee who did forward this resolution an advice worst to the adviser and mortall to those who did embrace it The King was then at Windsor whither the Earle of Worster being come hee represented unto him the miserable imprisonment of Edmund Earle of Marsh their kinsman kept in fetters by Glendor and fallen into this misfortune for doing service unto his Majesty and the State He desired him to be the means of his freedome either by ransome or otherwise the King finding whither this request tended after having a-while bethought himselfe made answer that the Earle of Marsh was not taken prisoner in his service but by his owne consent as not willing to bee inforced to professe himselfe an enemy to Glendor and this answer he willed to be published to the terror of all such as had any inclination to him-ward Worster being returned and having acquainted his brother nephew with what had past the Nephew would not endure it who being a violent young man did wrongfully exaggerate the injustice saying That Henry not contented to bereave Edmund of the Kingdome did now deny him that succour which his service done unto him did chalenge That if he should have ransomed him it should not be done by his owne moneyes but by the inheritance which he usurped from Edmund and that in stead of praise through too much ingratitude he loaded him with undeserved calumnies wherein hee said truth for Edmunds wit was not proper for such inventions and if it had been true Glendor would not have treated him as he did But the King who had by evill meanes usurped the State from him could not by good meanes maintaine it not onely the losse of his liberty but the losse of his life would have re Lord Percy who came with intention to win the City failing in his intentions and the aids hee expected not appearing resolved to give battell of himselfe incouraged in that his souldiers were resolved to dye for their liberty and for the good of the Kingdome governed as he gave out by a Tyrant He sent the forenamed writing to the King by two Squires the which acquainted him with the reasons of his revolt and did likewise denounce the battell The King was there only named Duke of Lancaster it was written subcrib'd and seal'd by the names hands and seales of Henry Percy Earle of Northumberland Lord high Constable of England Lord Warden of the West Marches of Henry Percy Warden of the East Marches and of Thomas Percy Earle of Woster The contents thereof was that having sworne at his returne from France that he did pretend to nothing but the inheritance due unto him by his father and wife and that he would suffer the King peacefully to enjoy his Crowne he had done otherwise for after having through famine thirst and could caused King Richards death hee had usurped the Kingdome which did of right belong to Edmond Mortimer the lawfull heire causing the Burgesses of Parliament to bee chosen contrary to the forme of Law and priviledge of the subject so to suborn votes for his own advantage that he had denied to ransome Mortimer who being by them set at liberty hee had proclaimed them traytors that therefore they did defie him as a perjured and false man as an usurper of the crowne which did properly appertaine to the true heire and together with him they defied all his complices and such as sided with him as traytors acd destroyers of the State If true faults objected but in jest doe sting much more did these doe so accompanied with such upbraidings and threats But the King not woonted to discompose himselfe when hee had read the letter said merrily to the messengers that his sword should answer that scandalous writing and that he was confident God would assist his just quarrell against such forsworne disloyall traytors as were the Percies But his moderation in these occurrances is worthy a particular observation for lacking neither generosity nor courage if his usurpation and injustice did not bereave him thernof which did not appeare hee received all these injuries not onely untransported but with a setled judgement weighed that as to hazard his estate life and honour upon the fortune of one day would be an act of rashnesse if he could avoid it so to preferre his safetie before their offences would bee a point of wisedome For that injuries were passions of the minde which might breathe away in a standing fortune but the ruinous effects of a lost battell were irrepairable in a falling fortune so as cashiering all punctualities not caring what others would say of him he resolved to see whether he could in some sort fairly accommodate this businesse rather then trust to the inconstancy of fortune which was not to be tried till the last push And that in such a case he would shew that manlihood which men hasty and void of judgement might now tax in him He appeared the next day and ordering his troopes as the others did he sent the Abbot of Shrewesbury unto them accompanied with one of the officers of his privie Seale with an offer of pardon if they would yeeld to reasonable conditions The Lord Percie though naturally violent examining the businesse in the same sort as the King had done accepted the proposition Hee sent unto him his Uncle the Earle of Worster to require of him an effectuall reformation of those things which had caused them take Armes But the Earle though fully satisfied by the King in all his demands and in a more submisse sort then did become his degree made a cleane contrary relation to his Nephew envie and confidence for he judged the Kings humility to be cowardize and feare leading him by meanes of this deadly lye to his fatall end The young Percie thinking himselfe under-valued caused the signe of battell immediately to be given by sound of Trumpet the two Armies were about fourty thousand fighting men the rebels Vantguard was led by the Scots who after a great showre of Darts which slew many of both sides advanced themselves against the Vantguard Royall which rigorously withstood the first
to bee sought into the reasons of his former life conclude not for him The King having by fines punished the City went towards Northumberland at Durham he caused the two Barons together with the two Knights of the confederacy to be executed The Earle understanding his associates misfortune withdrew himselfe to Barwicke where not thinking himselfe strong enough hee fled to Scotland together with the Lord Bardolf and was friendly received by the Lord Fleming The King finding Barwick resolute not to yeeld levelled a peece of Canon against the Castle thereof an instrument in those dayes new and not knowne with the which at the very first shot he battered it almost downe to the ground whereat the defendants being amazed without capitulation yeelded themselves to the Kings pleasure who hanging some and imprisoning the rest made himselfe master of all the Earle of Northumberlands seats where taking order for all things requisite he passed into Wales leaving the Prince his sonne and the Duke of Yorke with a great army in those parts but he found such deluges of water amongst those mountaines as he was forced toquit the enterprise he had carried along with him many carts and wagons loaded with the most pretious things he had which were all born away by the violence of the torrents no one peece of them remaining Some believe that this was done by the Divell Owen Glendor being held to be a great Negromancer but I am of opinion that if he had had any such power he would have made use thereof against the King himselfe for the losse of the Kings person did more availe him then the losse of his carriages The Scotch men on the other side should have come into England to aide the conspirators but hearing what had happened they budged not but endeavoured to defend themselves by land from the Prince and by sea from Sir Robert Vmfrevill Vice Admirall of the Navy but nothing happened of much importance The one had only time to spoile the Country and the other to sacke the coasts of Fife and Lugdiana all mischiefes ceasing in a truce agreed upon for one yeare which made them returne to their owne homes The plague did now grow hot in London and thereabouts so as the King not being safe in Kent the infection much spred in all places was glad to take shipping to goe to Plessis in Essex the Lord Camois was his guide they were already well advanced in the sea when certaine French Pirates who lay in the Thames mouth for pilladge understanding of this passage pursued them and intended to take the ship wherein the King was tooke 4 ships that were next unto him one of the which was loaded with furniture of his chamber and things belonging to his owne person The Baron who together with the other vessels were a good way from the King came not in time enough to assist his Majesty nor yet to recover what was lost so as if the Kings ship had not been a swift sayler and so made voide the Pirates hopes hee had run danger of going for France in stead of Essex Camois was strictly questioned and in danger of losing his life as thought to have held intelligence with these Pirates but better defending his own innocency then hee succoured the King he was by the Judges acquitted The plague being ceased the King returned to London He made the match between Philleppa the younger of his two daughters and Henry King of Denmarke and this was the third marriage that was celebrated in his family after his comming to the Crowne for before this hee had married Blanch to William Duke of Bavaria Prince Elector and hee himselfe had tane to wife Ione the daughter of Charles the second King of Navarre the widdow of Iohn Montfort Duke of Brittany which I have not mentioned as not belonging to the thred of my discourse But what befell Prince Iames the only sonne and heire of Scotland who did at this time fall into the power of England is not to be passed by as worthy of ample relation Robert the third who now reigned in Scotland and who in his baptisme was named Iohn changed the name of Iohn for Robert either for that the Roberts of Scotland had beene fortunate or for that the Iohns of England and of France had been unfortunate as if the name were of force enough to make those effects good which fortune God permitting had preordained bad T is true that amongst the Kings named Iohn few are found who either have not been very bad or very unfortunate Castile Portugall and Arragon afford us examples hereof of three hereditary Queene Ioanes the two of Naples were unfortunate and unchast the third of Castile was chast but most unfortunate This notwithstanding Iohn of Scotland did not by change of name change the maligne aspect of his destiny for those evills befell him having tane upon him the name of Robert which would have befalne him had he kept the name of Iohn the divine providence not being to bee changed by such alterations This King was by divers pensils painted forth in the same colours Hector Boëtius describes him affable mercifull an enemy to extortions charitable and pious Buchanan a severe writer doth in one place give him to us rather as voide of vice then famous for vertue and another speaking of his innocency inriches him with all the worth that is to bee desired in a private man but judges him rather to be an honest man then a good King T is very true he had nothing of King in him save the name the whole authority remaining in Robert Duke of Aubeney his younger brother in his fathers time created governour of the Kingdome a manifest proofe of his incapacity to governe it alone But this Duke did not content himselfe with the bare government he aspired to the Crowne which though he attained not yet left he no wickednesse unattempted to effect it and the life of the Prince David being a great rub in his way the death of the Queene his mother and of Earle Douglas his father in law afforded him meanes of bereaving him of it as hee desired This Prince was very lewdly inclined and so given to his unbridled lust as that he was not to be endured Whilst his mother lived who kept him in some awe he lived in some order but shee being dead letting the reines loose to his naturall inclination no maidenhood was undeflowred nor marriage bed unviolated When trickes and flatteries could not prevaile hee made use of force Daily complaints were made unto the King of injuries done by his sonne The father by reason of his weaknesse contemned not able to amend him determined to transferre the care thereof to his brother thinking that onely hee was able to tame him an error ordinary enough in persons of his condition For the good man suspects not what he doth not imagine and what he himselfe would not doe were he to gaine the world thereby
through all the City and first in Orleans house his friends and servants runne to the place where they found his body lying in a sea of bloud horribly massacred they carried the body into the next Church whither the King of Cicily and the chiefest of the Court came sorily lamenting the next morning his hand and brains being found lying in the street all durty they were put together with the body into a leaden coffin and buried in a Chappell which he himself had caused to be built At his funerall three corners of the cloth which covered the Bieare were held up by the Princes of Sicily Berry and Burbony Burgundy held up the fourth this fained charity not corresponding with his unfained cruelty for what ever inquisition could be made no newes could be heard of the assassinates The Provost being called to the Councell table said it was impossible for him to finde out any thing touching this affaire unlesse hee might be permitted to search the houses of the greatest Lords and especially the Pallaces of the Princes The King of Sicily Duke of Berry and Duke Burbon were content but not Burgundy who not knowing what to say tooke the three Princes aside and confessed that he had bin the author of that homicide whereupon filled with horror and amazement Berry exclaming that in one day he had lost two nephewes they left him keeping the secret to themselves not knowing without mature deliberation how to publish it The next day after Burgundy being come to goe to the Councell table Berry in whose house the meeting was met him at the chamber doore and told him this was no place for him wherewithall he shut the doore upon him leaving him much confused a usage he had not beene accustomed unto and what he beleeved would not now have beene used without resolutions of further consequence so as fearing to be clapt up in prison hee forthwith returned to his owne house and getting on horseback being waited on only by five men he rid to Bapomus upon the confines of Artois the place of his command and went 42. leagues not taking any rest but what was necessary either to bate or change his horses from thence having slept a while he went to Lillo in Flanders this his unexpected departure was no sooner divulged but the occasion thereof was knowne the dead Duke had 600. what Gentlemen what Knights defraied by him in Paris all which were of no use to him who trusted more in his quality then he ought to have done he imagined the Duke of Burgundy would have exercised his ill will in publicke against his power not by treachery against his person a hundred of these well horst and led by Clegnet of Brabant Admirall of France would have followed Burgundy but the King of Sicily fearing greater inconveniences hindred their designe not suffering them to goe He who formerly was thought the chiefe author of this murther was Albertus of Canni injured by the Duke who had taken from him his wife and had by her a sonne who proved afterwards one of the bravest Cavalliers in all France but the knowne truth freed him of suspition all men except the Parisians detested this fact but their rejoycing lasted but a while for the evills they received through the oppressions and misgovernment of Orleans were not the hundreth part so bad as those they suffered after by the oppression and misgovernment of the Duke of Burgundy The Assassinates having changed their apparrell left Paris likewise and went to Artois according to the order they had formerly received from their Master When Valentina Duches of Orleans heard this sad newes she hasted to Paris and kneeled downe before the King demanding justice which was likely to bee granted for he did tenderly love his brother but his weaknesse was such as suffered him to give her no other comfort save hopes and promises The Duke of Burgundy having represented the businesse to the common people after his manner he published a manifestation thereof wherein having made knowne the reasons which had inforced him to this resolution he pretended to merit thankes and praise rather then blame or punishment The two Uncles Sicily and Berry fearing lest he might joyne with the English invited him to give them a meeting at Amiens he came thither and caused two launces to be set a crosse upon his lodging doore in this manner X which fashioned forth the Burgundy crosse the one of them had a bur used in war the other such a one as is used at tilting as if he would by this Hyroglifique say it should be in their choice to chuse peace or war Their meeting was to no purpose for contrary to the Kings expresse inhibition he went with 4000. men to Paris where he was with great expressions of joy received by the Parisians where to justifie his horrid fault hee by the mouth of one Iohn Petit accused the Duke of Orleans for having aspired unto the Kingdome bewitched the King ploâ—…ed treachery against his children and for having made confederacy with the King of England to make himselfe master of the Crowne of France by the death of his brother as the other had got the Crowne of England by his Cosens death for having sowed discord betwixt the King and Queene â—…o the end that having lost her matrimoniall love her person might bee the more at his command that he had made himselfe Master of the most considerable places of the Kingdome putting out the former governours and placing others of his owne depending in their roomes that he might make use of them against his brother that he had procured Pope Benedict to declare the King incapable of the Crowne as Childericus formerly was that he himselfe might obtaine it his conclusion was that being for so many faults guilty of treason both divine and humane he was to be declared lawfully slaine and the King out of meere feare declared him as was urged justly put to death The Duke having obtained what he desired returned to Flanders from thence he went in assistance of the Bishop and Prince of Leidge against the Leigois who had rebelled against him he overcame them and gave them what Lawes he pleased whereby he wonne such renowne as France had reason to fear him now more then before for though in his absence the King had permitted the Dowager Duches to answer unto his accusations and revoked his pardon with an intention to punish him yet understanding of this victory and that his brothers and cosens had declared themselves for him he disabandoned the people who were gathered together to have forced him and those who had appeared his enemies repented themselves for having been so forward Together with this examining the continuancy of the Parisians strangely passionate for the Duke the King resolved to retire himselfe to Towres not so much to free himselfe from their danger as to revenge himselfe of them for the absence of the Court redounds much to their losse
That though it were an easie matter to convince them since they could never prove what he never dreampt of yet he was not come for that purpose That he did present himselfe as guilty since he was declared to be such not by his owne conscience but by his Majesties deluded opinion that therefore since it was impossible for him to live without insufferable anguish of mind being subject to such suspitions hee beseeched his Majesty to free him from further vexation with this weapon Then presenting unto him a dagger by the point hee added That he would willingly suffer death if it might cause such quiet unto his Majesty as his Majesty did beleeve That hee should not hold his hand out of any consideration of his soule for he had begged mercy of God and taken his Christian viaticum much lesse out of fear that this might be imputed as a sinne unto his Majesty for being already satisfied of the humane justice in punishing a guilty person worthy of whatsoever chastisement for what concerned divine justice he did promise him in the presence of those Lords who were by to be his advocate before the Tribunall of the supreame Judge in that fearefull and terrible day when the secrets of all hearts being knowne his Majesty and himselfe in the chariot of his innocency should triumph over the calumnies of other men The speech being ended the King threw away the dagger and with teares of joy imbraced and kissed him and confessed he had done amisse in beleeving otherwise of him then he ought to have done Hee assured him that for the time to come hee would be deafe to all such as should dare to speake against him But the Prince not herewithall contented humbly beseeched his Majesty to bring his accusers to the test that either they or he might receive condigne punishment The King satisfied in the innocency of his sonne and unwilling that those who were zealously his should be punished appeased his sonne saying that since this businesse was to be judged by the Peers of the Land nothing could be done therein till the next Parliament and that then he should receive such satisfaction as he justly did demand Then sweetning him with intreaties and faire speeches he made him quit his request and kept him in his good opinion as long as hee lived These and the like actions generally held dissolute afforded reason of bad presages as hath beene formerly said But assoone as he put on the Crowne he turned another leafe and became excellent in all such vertues as make a Prince famous in peace and redoubted in warre A change by how much the more rare the more admired since thereby the worst of men doe prove the best and types of vertue He first of all like a good husband purged his house of all uncleannesse and not content to have swept from thence all his deboisht companions he did not onely forbid them his sight and further company but banished them from comming within tenne miles of the Court He put in their places persons of exemplary lives Hee placed in his seates of Justice and in his Councell men worthy of such trust and joyning piety to his policy he founded Monasteries and brought the body of Richard the second from an obscure sepulchre in Langley to Westminster where he caused him with regall pompe to bee put in a tombe built at his owne charge and Lady Anne of Bohemia his first wife by him He sent Embassadours and Bishops to Constantia to endeavour in that Councell an end of the Schisme which had then a long time lasted and where not long after in stead of three Popes who reigned altogether Martin the fifth was chosen Pope to the great joy of all Christendome He referred the Lord Cobham who was accused of herefie to the Ecclesiasticall Courts having given him friendly admonitions for he had formerly loved him by reason of his valour from whence being committed over to secular Jurisdiction he was to have received his last punishment had hee not by some of his friends beene secretly conveyed out of the Tower But that which for the present befell not him happened to divers others for many of his opinion having seditiously assembled themselves and accused of conspiracy so many of them were taken as the prisons were not able to containe them and nine and twenty of the chiefest of them where one was a Priest were put to death the like befalling himselfe foure yeares after who was taken about the borders of Wales and hang'd and burnt He restored Henry Percy sonne to Henry hot spurre to his Lands Honour having sent for him back from Scotland whither he was for safety sent in the downfall of his family hee thought it not fit that so noble bloud should suffer punishment in the person of a child who being of so innocent yeares ought not to partake of his fore-fathers faults It was easie for him to restore unto him his lands which the King his father had given to Iohn his third sonne whom hee recompenced with an equivalent revenue Thus he ended the first yeare of his reigne in the beginning whereof the Duke of Clarence who was then in Aquitany hearing of his fathers death returned home to England and brought along with him Iohn Count of Angolesme together with the other hostages assigned over for the Duke of Orleans debt and was by the King received with a brotherly affection The Clergy had been practised upon in King Henry the fourths time by reason of their great revenues as being superfluously larger then was requisite for them In the eleventh year of his reigne mention was made in Parliament that they would have been cause of much scandall if the civill warres had not been The warres being at this present at an end and mens mindes more eager of this then formerly it was thought good not to lose the opportunity of time For since the King was addicted to war it behoved him to raise unto himselfe a permanent revenue to the satisfaction of the whole Kingdome A calculation was made that leaving to the Clergy what was sufficient for them the over-plus of their revenues was sufficient to maintaine fifteene Earles fifteene hundred Knights six thousand two hundred Gentlemen and an hundred Hospitalls besides twenty thousand pound a yeare reserved for the Kings Exchequer which twenty thousand pound was more then then an hundred thousand pound would now be A calculation which whether true or false proved a true danger to the Clergy The remedy was easie the combination being generall the advantage common to all for the King Nobility and Commonalty were to share in what was to bee taken from them A Parliament was called at Leicester wherein they were threatned They thought to eschew the blow by making some great offer but if it should not be accepted of for bee it what they pleased it must bee much inferior to what was expected from them they ran a hazard of defamation as corrupters
of the Prince and so to lose together with their wealth their reputation which in so great a losse ought to bee kept unspotted for the dignity of their profession and not to give a colour of reason to the wrong they were to receive Every one thought the Kings warlike inclination would bee the Canon which should batter them to pieces but hee not having as yet made choyce of an enemy warre with France would be of a vaste expence Scotland was neerer hand and easier to bee invaded Iames the first their King being prisoner in England they thought that his pretentions to the Crowne of France as most proportionate to the greatnesse of his minde would serve for an argument and that by perswading him to that enterprise they should stay the proposition which was to be made against them The Parliament being met the Archbishop of Canterbury a Chertosin Monke failed not in a well ordered speech opportunely to propound it his principall heads were the equity of his Majesties pretentions the honour of the King the reputation of the State and the occasions now offered of making it feasable by reason of the troubles that Kingdome was in In the first he shewed how the King was the naturall ancient heire of Normandy Angier Poictou Umena and Gascony of all which he now possessed onely a little part of Gascony That being heire to Edward the third hee was likewise heire to France otherwise the title which he thereof assumed would be unjust He declamed against the Salique Law as invented in those dayes onely to exclude England no mention being made thereof in Chronicles or other memorialls but since I cannot give you the very words the story necessary requires me to shew you the Law in a rough draught to the end that you may examine the late undertakings of Edward the third or the present ones of this Henry against that Kingdome be justifiable or no. Edward the second King of England married Isabell daughter to Philip the faire King of France Philip besides this his daughter Isabell left three sonnes Lewis Hutin Philip the long and Charles the faire all which reigned Kings one after another and though Lewis left a daughter named Iane and his wife with child of a sonne which soone after dyed and that Odone Duke of Burgony Uncle by the mother side to Iane did what in him lay to make her succeede unto her father yet Philip the long her Uncle who was crowned in Rheims whilst armed and the gates shut having then foure daughters did by marriage appease those Princes who did oppose him giving his eldest daughter to this Duke of Burgony together with the County of Burgony the which by her mother did belong to the said Iane and to Lewis Count of Eureux the most poteâ—… Prince of all the adversaries hee gave the same Iane and for her portion the Kingdome of Navarre the County of Brye and Shampania so as the businesse thus layed asleepe and he afterwards dying Charles succeeded him not interrupted by Iane since her giving way to her other Uncle passed as a ruled case Charles dyed leaving his wife with child Edward the third King of England who was neerest of bloud as borne of Isabell sister to these three Kings pretended to the regency in case the child the Queen went withall should live if otherwise to the Crown On the other side Philip Count of Vallois sonne to Châ—…rles who was brother to Philip the faire made the like pretence as neerest heire male alledging that the Law Salique which did exclude the women did likewise exclude such sonnes as were by them borne Whereupon the three States gathered together Philip got the regencie and the Queen Dowager bringing but a daughter the Kingdome Edward alledged in his behalfe that this law was never knowne till then and then invented to defraude him of succession no mention being made thereof in the memory of man nor by any whatsoever ancient Authentique writer That to give it a being when it had none and cause it to rise up in one night like a mushrome was likely not onely not to give it a subsistence but also to make it not to be credited That hee did not deny the succession of the male in all times past but that the succession of the female sex had not hapned to the Crowne till these present times That the relinquishment made by Iane to her owne prejudice and pursued without his consent or knowledge ought not to prejudice him nor ought it be concluded that shee having laide aside her claime to the prejudice of a third the third should likewise quit his claime to the prejudice of succession That she had yeelded by force being doubly betrayed by her Uncle that he migâ—…t usurpe the Country of Burgony and by her husband that he might make himselfe King of Navarre both of them being contented with the certainty of this gaine the hopes which they might promise unto themselves by warre being uncertaine and of lesse account That if the Law were fundamentall as they would have it beleeved to be it would not have beene violated in the two first races That in the first race the French writers made a doubt whether Morevius were the sonne of Claudian or not and that if he were not his son it is to be beleeved say they that hee was his next a kin which is as much as to conjecture the one and doubt of the other They affirme him to have succeeded not so much by vertue of the Lawes as by the free election of the States not being aware that the terme free election doth contradict the Law Salique it being impossible that there should bee any sort of election much lesse free where the Lawes doe determine an undoubted successour otherwise one of two inconveniencies would necessarily ensue either that the election should annull the Law or the Law make the election superfluous the next in bloud all others excluded being by the Law without election appointed to the Crowne That it cannot be denyed that when Childericus was driven out of the Kingdome Aegidius a Citizen of Rome was chosen King and that his sonne Siagrius after the death of Childericus who was received as King again did pretend unto the Crowne by vertue of his fathers election which he never would have done had there beene such a Law to oppugne him Clodoveus left foure sonnes of which one was a bastard they were all called Kings not onely of such proportions as was left unto them by their father but of all France whilst the Law Salique supposeth but one King and doth not admit of bastards Dagobert left the Crowne of France to Clodoveus the second his younger son and to Sigisbert his eldest sonne the Kingdome of Austracia without any manner of dispute whilest that the Law Salique aimes not so much at the exclusion of women as to the advantage the first borne sonne should have over the younger The same Sigisbert
and heire of Charles Duke of Loreine for being conscious to himself that the Dukes exclusion from the Crowne was unjust he thought himselfe not rightly possessed of the Kingdome save in the right of his grandmother upon whom the rights of Charles fell and consequently upon him as heire to her At last hee made his intended offer in generall termes promising that if the King would resolve upon this enterprise the Clergy would give him such contributions as greater were never given by them to any of his predecessors This enterprise the reasons thereof and the offer made by the Archbishop did so farre prevaile with the King as that Ralphe Nevill Earle of Westmerland Lord Warden of the Marches confining upon Scotland fearing lest the King would be perswaded thereunto and that by taking along with him the flower of all the souldiers small forces would remaine with him to oppose the endeavours of that Kingdome did thus oppose himselfe to what the Archbishop had said He confessed the enterprise to be just and honourable but dangerous and full of hindrances He shewed that preposterous proceedings were the overthrow of all undertakings and that to fight with France before that Scotland was subdued was the most preposterous course that could bee taken That to make triall of fortune in a forreine Estate whilst the State at home was subject to alterations was a resolution no waies agreeing with wisedome That it was to bee beleeved that Scotland that had never let slip any advantagious occasion would much lesse passe by this so faire a one presented unto them by the Kings absence and the absence of the chiefe of the Chivalry of England That though it were granted that Scotland being without a King and in some sort divided within it selfe might in likelyhood be carelesse in other affaires yet would it not neglect this as not permitted so to doe by their ancient confederacy and when they were not by obligation tyed to this yet monies assistance and chiefly their owne safeties would force them unto it since it was not to be doubted that the diversion of Scotland being one of Frances chiefest defences the French would not abandon her for if she should be lost or weakend they themselves would suffer a great losse and diminution of strength Since then her safety obligation and so many other severall obligations were in question upon the which her good or bad did depend shee would not stand idle The which being granted it would necessarily follow that the one warre would produce the other with this difference that France could assist Scotland but in part whereas Scotland could totally assist her France could not so fully assist Scotland by reason of her distance and that her aides would be weakened by pawses and interruptions they might meet with by the way and that by reason of her infirmities shee was unfit to make a diversion by open warre that Scotland on the other side was not onely free from these inconveniences but sure to make an open diversion notwithstanding whatsoever opposition so as making warre with Scotland though she might be strengthened by auxiliary forces which are alwaies hatefull and full of jealousies yet one onely war was made and in France two for since his Majesty could not passe over the sea without weakning England it would so fall out as being infested he must be forced to quit the warre with France and undertake the other which at first ought to have beene undertaken the which could not bee done without the losse not onely of reputation but of much treasure which would there bee fruitlesly spent That the events of warre being doubtfull the least difficult was to be chosen so as rather then to thinke of conquering France whilst Scotland might divert them they should hope to conquer Scotland if England being free from forreine diversions should bring all her strength against those parts onely otherwise she were likely to finde to her cost that to buckle with an united body separated from the sea of insufferable expence with a thousand hazards of fortune sicknesse windes deaths want of victualls and munition would prove infinitely dangerous the rather for that she should leave behinde her an indefatigable warlike enemy which was not likely to meete with any incommodity supplies being to be had in every house not subject to winds nor tempests in a time when that Kingdome being without a King and ill satisfied with the government she was to be presumed not able to withstand so valorous an undertaking And if Edward the thirds past victories in France and those of the blacke Prince his sonne did render mens mindes confident let them remember that fortune was fickle and that those who dreampt that the world was eternall did not fancy to themselves that all things should returne to their former condition till after the slow revolution of 36000. yeares he concluded that if England would make a successive warre in France shee must first conquer Scotland These two opinions might have beene ballanced had it not been for the third Marquis Dorset the Kings Uncle which overthrew the latter of the two This Gentleman was a good Schollar for the Duke of Lancaster his father who thought to have destined him to the Church had caused him to be brought up to his booke the which being added to his travells in divers Countries especially in Italy had setled his understanding which guided by the two great Masters speculation and practice could not chuse but render him perfectly wise he repeating what had bin alleadged by the Earle and arguing against the reasons he had brought shewed that Scotland had the same relation to France as boughes to the tree the Nobility of Scotland being maintained by pensions from her and the yong men thereof bettered by her military discipline so as to take away the bud you must cut downe the tree that give the conquest of Scotland for granted more difficulties would bee met withall in the keeping of it then in the defending the borders of England whilst warre was made elswhere for Scotland being in some parts inaccessable in other parts savage and wholly an enemy would continually produce some new motions being incouraged by assistance and monies from beyond the seas That she had never endangered England in former times upon the like occasions but had bin sufficiently endamaged That Malkin was slaine whilst he would make use of William the seconds absence who went to wage warre in Normandy and David Bruce was taken prisoner whilst Edward the third was at the siege of Caleis that it is true the like doth not alwaies happen but that therefore worse successe should not be feared whilst the enemies forces are not augmented nor our own diminished the which was now so farre from being so as that they were without a King and in a molested government whilst France was in no better estate for to boote with the warre which would distract her shee was molested by the infirmity of her
of reason they had required of him Assoone as they were gone the first thing he did was to secure the consines upon Scotland by adding to the Earle of Westmerland the Lord Scroope Lord Greystock and Sir Robert Vmfrevill The last of which desirous to trie his fortune set upon the enemy of Godering where hee slew 600. of them and tooke 300. prisoners whilst the King sent a Herald into France with new letters of defiance who having accesse unto the Councell but not unto the King departed with this replie That answer should be made in time and place convenient The King was a ship-board in Antona when he was informed that the Earle of Cambridge the Lord Henry Scroope and Sir Thomas Grey had conspired his death This was the onely mischiefe undertaking against him though in vaine by the raging bloud of Civill ware More certainly would have beene indeavoured had it not beene for the warres with France which hindred such attempts whilst it served for a cauter to the bad humours of England This Princes misfortunes were put over to those that followed him for the cautery being closed up after his death produced such sicknesse as slew his sonne and grandchild as wee shall see in the second Volume The three Conspirators were apprehended The first was grandsonne to Edward the third cousen german to Richard the second and Henry the fourth and brother to the Duke of Yorke a Prince of great expectation one of whom England and the King himselfe did promise unto themselves deeds worthy of his birth in these present occasions he easily confessed I will not say the truth but that which being likely to be true redounded to his advantage that it should be beleeved He confessed that he and the other two had beene bribed by great summes of money received by the way of anticipation which caused them resolve since it was impossible for them to deliver him alive into the French mens hands to kill him before he should set footing in Normandy This did very much afflict the King he thought it improbale that men of so great fortunes should be capable of so base corruption for in his person they betrayed their Country exposed the very flower of England to the slaughter and cut the very nerves of the fortune of the land He bewailed the fault but did not perceive the true occasion of the treason which if he had done he had perhaps by rooting out the house of Yorke prevented the ruine wich was a framing against his house of Lancaster But humanity attains not to the secrets of above and if it did it is not wise enough to divert the wisdome of heaven God is as well the reward of good in thousands as he is the punisher of evill in the third fourth generation In Richard the 2. he punished the death of Edward the second In Henry the sixt and his sonne the death of Richard the second In Edward the fifth and his brother the death of Henry the sixt and his sonne And in Richard the third the death of Edward the fifth and his brother and yet hee was pleased to suffer those to dye in peace which were the authors thereof I would not place Edward the third in this number if his mothers fault did not in some sort lay upon him the aspersion of parricide Henry the fourth who murthered Richard the second and Edward the 4. who murthered Henry the sixt remained all unpunished But to Richard the second he denyed life perhaps repentance his inhumanity not deserving successor nor pardon And though he died a violent death yet not so ill as he deserved for who doth live through cruelty should through cruelty die It was not credited that the Earle of Cambridge was corrupted by France as he himself said but of his own accord for being married to Anne great grandchild to Lionell Duke of Clarence and sister to Edmond Earle of March to whom the Crowne did of right belong his designe was to kill the King and his brethren that so he might make his brother in law King who having no children nor in a capacity of having any he and his sonne were to succeed in the right of Anne so as fearing lest to confesse the truth might endanger his heires life he framed this fable He and his complices were beheaded And though he was pittied by all yet his resolving upon so wicked a deed in the nicke of so important a businesse to the common losse and danger did much abate their commiseration for his death was thought expedient for the life and safety of King and and subjects Walsingham writes that the Lord Scroop Lord Treasurer whose hypocrisie had wonne so much of credit with the King that nothing was done without his approvall was he who was corrupted by the Embassadors of France and that the other two received their infection from him That the Embassadors being returned home reported that they had so ordered the businesse that King Henry was as then either diverted from the enterprise of France or slaine A manuscript cited by Iohn Speed saith that the King of France gave them a million of Crownes that they might either kill him or deliver him up prisoner into his hands and that the Earle of Cambridge desirous to draw the Earle of March unto his party revealed the designe unto him forcing him by threats to sweare secrecy and that having obtained one onely hour for resolution the Earle of Marsh accused him unto the King The sentence of death which in history is recorded saith That it was so wrought as that the Earle of Marsh should take upon him the government of the Kingdome in case Richard the 2. were dead there remained still an opinion that he was yet living in Scotland and that he should be proclaimed heire to the Crown in opposition to Henry of Lancaster usurper The which doth partly correspond with the manuscript as likewise that the Earle of Marsh was the accuser it being probable that having no children and voide of ambition and of a peacefull condition he would not hazard his life to satisfie his brother in lawes ambition But it is not possible that the King of France should have payed this mony for if so it would have beene found after the delinquents death and some mention would have been made thereof Moreover the revenues of France in those daies not amounting by much to so great a sum it must of necessity either be taken out of an already gathered treasure or from the common peoples purse not from the treasury for Princes lay up treasure onely in peace and by good government both which were a long time unknowne to that Kingdome Not from the purse of the common people for it was impossible in such an instant and with so much secrecy to have drawne it from them So as for what appeares to me the reasons alledged in their sentence ought most to be beleeved the rather for that King Henry did never upbraid
King Charles nor the Crowne of France with so ignominious an act The truce betweene these two Kingdomes ended the second of August whereupon such English as were in the garrison of Calleis and other frontiers of Picardy were the first who began the warre sallying forth the very next day sacking the frontiers of Bolonia and places next adjacent Five thousand souldiers under the command of Monsieur de Rambures generall of the crossebow-men were sent to defend the Country But King Henry did not weigh anchor till some daies after and came to Normandy the Eve of the Annunciation His fleet consisted of 1500. ships his army of 6000. men of armes and 24000. Bowmen furnished with all such artillery and provisions as humane diligence and the power of so great a King could assemble for such a designe He cast anchor at Cape Caux and landed without resistance having by publique proclamation commanded that neither Church Monastery women children nor any other person whosoever that had no armes should be molested upon paine of life The next day hee went to sit downe before Harfleur a Towne situated upon the mouth of the River Sens. The chiefe Lords of his army were the Dukes of Clarence Gloster Exceter and Yorke the Earle Marshall Arundell Oxford Suffolke Warwicke and others The Town was commanded by Monsieur de Etouteville afsisted by Messieurs de Blanville Bacheville Ermanville Gallart Bos Clere Bestu Adsanches Briote Gocurt Illeadam and many other Knights and Gentlemen to boote with which were 400. men of armes besides the inhabitants who all made what resistance possibly might be The King of France dispatcht away the Constable Albret the Marshall Boniquot Henaut Ligni and others to fortifie the sea Townes with men and artillery The garrison of Harfleur assoone as they understood of the enemy comming dug up the way which leades from Monteviller to the Town so to make the enemies march more difficult and sallying forth to skirmish with them they had much adoe to get backe into the City so many were their opposers and in such number the arrowes which shoured downe upon them But notwithstanding all impediments the English pitched their campe and planted their artillery upon the most advantagious places The place was well fortified with walls and turrets together with a broad and deep diâ—…ch the defendants resolve to maintaine it whilst there was any the least hope Those who were sent to secure the maritime places did what in them lay to hinder the booties which notwithstanding all their diligence the besiegers did every where take All the good they did was to preserve the neighbouring Townes from being taken The victualls in the English army being almost wholly corrupted by the sea they must have suffered much scarcity had they not made great booties of men and cattell The King of France was come to Vernone between Paris and Roen levying men from all parts to succour Harfleur The which being furiously assailed the gates walls and turrets almost all beaten down their mines ready to play and the powder which the King had sent unto the town surprised by the enemy they of the town brought to such a passe as they were not able to withstand a generall assault a great many of them being slaine or sicke they agreed to yeeld themselves their lives saved leaving all other things to the discretion of the besiegers if they were not succoured within five daies Bacheville brought these newes to Charles who finding himselfe weake permitted them to doe what they were by necessity inforced unto so as the five daies being past they threw open the gates after a siege of 37. daies wherein they suffered very much Harfleur was the chiefest Port Towne of all Normandy The Towne was sackt quarter was given to the souldiers and Citizens who demeaned themselves well The women children and religious persons were all put out of the Town the poorest sort of them having six pence a peece given them The great and rich spoile was sent into England as a witnesse of good successe Whereupon people of all conditions flockt from England thither who besides other priviledges had a house of inheritance allotted to every family so as the City was in an instant peopled by the English The King made his entry without any solemnity walking a foote to Saint Martins Church to thanke God for that victory He made the Duke of Exeter governour thereof who chose for his Lievtenant Iohn Falstofe and for his Councellors the Lord Carew and Sir Hughe Luterell and put therein a garrison of 1500. souldiers besides horsemen A great many sicke people were sent backe to England amongst which the Duke of Clarence the Earle Marshall and Earle Arundell the Earle of Stafford the Bishop of Norwich Lord Molins and Lord Brunell died of a fluxe in the siege That which imported more then all the rest remained yet to be resolved on The King undertooke this businesse about the end of summer who came not to Normandy till the 14. of August so as to continue the warre as was requisite was impossible and so much the more for that winter came early and more egerly in then it had done some yeares before To passe the sea againe if it were not a kinde of running away would at least be proclaimed such by the enemy To keepe in Normandy within the small precincts of Harfleur was impossible the incommodity of victualls being considered That which was resolved upon was to march to Calleis through the heart of the Country and through the enemies forces a resolution no waies necessary as for lacke of other meanes but most necessary for what concerned the honour and reputation of armes of 30000. fighting men who had past the seas from England there remained but 15000. 2000. men at armes and 13000. bowmen The rest were either dead of fevers or fluxe or sent backe into England or left in garrison at Harfleur so soone then as the ruines of the Towne were repaired that things necessary were provided for and that such prisoners as had not paid their ransomes had sworne to come unto the King to Calleis on Saint Martins day he commanded that those who were to follow him should carry along victualls for eight daies And crossing the Country of Caux and En he marched apace that he might get to the bridges of Soane which he necessarily was to passe before they should be broken A bold resolution and which not seconded by good fortune might have beene esteemed a rash one for the Dolphin tooke from the Country all manner of provisions and placed great troopes of armed men in all parts to annoy him and caused the bridges to be broken hoping that wanting wherwithall to live he would be forced either to yeeld himselfe or fight whereas according to the common maxime in case they had beene wanting hee should have built him bridges of silver to passe over King Henry finding the bridges broken turned towards Beauquene to the same Foord betweene
to the doore discoursing with some of his domestiques the Duke was somewhat late in saluting him and did it in a more familiar manner then did become the quality of so great a Prince whereat he made no signe of distaste though he resented it his fathers occasions infusing dissimulation into him The Duke of Burgony was driven upon this by an accident from whence nothing but dangerous consequences was to be expected Those who governed France after the Emperours departure for England had laid a generall taxe upon all things vendible the which having distasted the people the Parisians more seditious then the rest plotted the most detestable conspiracy that till then had beene heard of in that Kingdome and having had recourse unto him as on whom they chiefly did rely he sent some of his friends unto them to confirme them in their resolution promising to assist them hoping by this meanes to compasse the so much coveted government and to suppresse his enemies his two ancient unalterable designes The appointment was to take the King the Queene the Duke of Berry the King and Queene of Sicily the Chancellour the Councell and those that sided with Orleans all prisoners on good Friday and to kill them all But many going that day out of the City to obtaine pardons by their devotions and fearing lest some of those might likewise have gone forth whom they would not have had to gone and so might save themselves they deferred executing their plot till Easter day which was the safety of those that were proscribed For the Chancellor hearing of the treason by meanes of a woman made the King and Princes suddenly retire themselves into the Louvre whilst the Provost arming such as upon so suddaine an occasion he could assemble together made himselfe master of the Market place and taking some of the conspirators prisoners infused feare into the rest freeing the lives of many from eminent danger by the death of a few Afterwards securing himselfe of the City by such men of armes as flockt unto him from all the neighbouring parts and taking away the chaines from the streets heads which made them insolent he disarmed the people whilst the Dukes officers had time to escape This businesse produced such jealousies and rancor as all parties drawing into the field they omitted nothing whereby they might injure one another And the Duke who masked presented the principall person in this tragedy the argument whereof was not changed though the Scene were thought that to compasse his ends it was requisite for him to secure Flanders from the danger of England that whilst he endeavoured to endamage others he might not bee indamaged at home To this purpose he came to Caleis where he did so worke upon these two great Princes as that the Emperour who at his passage into England was by the Duke of Bavariaes meanes brother to the Queene who was an utter enemy to the Duke become an Orleanist did upon this meeting become a Burgonian being wholly changed through cunning and the homage made unto him of the County of Burgony and Allost and King Henry prorogued the truce formerly made betweene Flanders and Artois for two yeares longer to the Dukes advantage and scandall of all well minded men for to preferre private respects before the publicke with the enemies of the State without the knowledge of the Soveraigne is as blameable and worthy of punishment as it is contrary to conscience and Law But he that propounds evill for his object loseth all shame which thereupon depends and his naturall confidence by reason whereof his Dutchmen called him Undaunted becomming the fatall chariot of his precipice made him to be undaunted at the encounter of his ruine His affaires being thus acommodated every man betooke himselfe to his owne home hee to Flanders the Ostages to Calleis the Emperour to Germany and the King to England Partly before and partly after this time were the funeralls of three great Princes celebrated in France That of the Duke of Berry of Iohn the Dolphin who succeeded to his brother Lewis and of the King of Sicily All of them unfortunate deaths for all the respects which concerned that Kingdome Berry and Sicily did serve to counterpose the ambition of Burgony and the Dolphin served for a removall of those evills if he had lived which in the succession of his brother Charles through the Dukes death did afterwards happen The Duke alive or dead was borne for the destruction of France so as that which authors write hereof if it be not true it is truth like That a Turkish Mathematician saved his life when he was prisoner to Bajazet the first by assuring Bajazet that more Christians would in short time bee destroied for his cause then the Othomans sword would cut off in a whole age Iohn the Dolphin during his brother Lewis his life had married Giacalina the only heire to William Count of Hannault and whilst he kept with him ready to goe for France he died not being yet fully twenty yeares old Not long before this a strait confederacy was made in Valentiniana betweene him and the Duke of Burgony the reputed cause of his death for it caused his being poysoned by those of the Orleans faction for he being dead the hopes of the Kingdome falling upon Charles Count de Poictou sonne in law to the King of Sicily and the last of King Charles his five sonnes they fell upon a Prince that was their friend bred up in the hatred and passions wherewith his father in law then living was indued But he dying likewise shortly after left it in doubt whether his death caused more of pleasure or displeasure unto the Duke for though he were freed of a mortall enemy yet his hopes of revenge being in his death lost did sowre the sweet thereof so as it may be said that the sweets of ill disposed men have no taste which is not seasoned with somewhat of sowre The articles of this confederacy and which caused the Orleanist to rid him out of the world if it be true that they did so were That the Duke of Burgony should serve the King and the Dolphin against whosoever particularly against the King of England That he should keep peace with all men in France except the King of Scicily The Dolphin on the contrary part obliging himselfe to assist the Duke not onely against his owne subjects if so it should fall out but against whosoever else should molest him But his enemies encouraged by this death became so insolent as they forced him to essay the strongest Cities to exclude the present government whereupon the civill warre grew hotter then ever it was And Count Armignacke upon whom through the death of these Princes the Kings incapacity and the Dolphins tender yeares all authority of government fell seconded by those of the Councell who together with him were afraid that the Queene weary of their presumptions might endeavour their ruine made her to bee carried to
Fleet to cast Anchor under Roan He made a bridge over the uppermost part of the River towards France and displaied three chaines a Canon shot off from the walls the one a fooot and a halfe under the water the second equall with the superficies of the water and the third two foot above the water bereaving them thereby of all manner of succour And because their many salleyes were the cause of the losse of many of his men to no purpose hee endeavoured to take it in by famine being sure that their obstinacy could not continue long Those of Saint Katherins who had not beene diligent in making their provisions yeelded themselves at the first months end their lives saved but not their goods The field this mean while was full of Burgonian Daulphinist and English Colours all of them to each other enemies so as if the former two did backe together the third made booty the two carrying away what the third left At this same time sixteen hundred Irish arrived at the Camp conducted by the Lord Kilmayne ill armed and but badly cloathed but of such agility and valour as they were commended beyond all the rest whereupon a newes being given out that the French were comming to succour the towne they were placed where it was thought the French would come they received this charge with unexpressible joy and though the succour came not they ceased not to do much mischiefe going and returning with more speed and to better purpose then the horses themselves either could or would have done The Citie had suffered much ever since October their victuals were spent happy were they that could get either Horses Dogges Cats Mice or such like uncleannesse to eate The poorer sort of people if in the streets they met any one with any thing of livelihood they would flye upon him blowes nor wounds not availing to make them to desist In three months space no meat had been publickly sold and those who had meanes to purchase any payed excessive prices above 50000. persons died of hunger during this siege They sent Eustace Paville a Doctor to acquaint the King and Duke of Burgony with their misery who when he had shewed how great evills they had suffered onely that they might preserve their faith and loyalty protested that if they should be inforced to yeeld themselves the King and Kingdome of France should have no greater enemies then they The answer was gracious that the King would preserve his good City of Roan that within a few daies hee would so succour it as that the enemy should rather bethinke themselves how to escape away then any longer to continue the siege Words which proved to no effect yet necessary to hinder the proceedings of the English to the cost of the miserable besieged but not able to succour them by force hee bethought himselfe how to give them comfort by a treaty of peace Cardinall Vrsino was about this time come from Avignon sent by Pope Martin the fifth to finde out some meanes how to agree these two great Princes The first thing he treated of was that they should send their Embassadours to Pont d'Arcke as they did but the time being spent in disputes and no conclusion made he resolved to goe himselfe to the walls of Roan Hee spoke with King Henry he presented him with the Picture of the Lady Catherine of France the best meanes as he thought whereby to perswade him The King after he had well considered her beauty and praised it seemed to be desirous of the match if shee should come endowed with a million of gold with the Province of Normandy by him almost wholly conquered the Province of Acquitany by him likewise in a great part possessed the County of Poictou and all the other Signiories which did formerly belong and were hereditary to the Crowne of England adding that he would have them free from having any dependancy upon France The which seeming very hard to the French Deputies the conference was dissolved For besides the abovesaid pretensions the English Deputies explained themselves that Charles by reason of his sicknesse was not fit to make treaties nor the Dolphin as not being King nor the Duke of Burgony as not having power to dispose of the inheritance and dependances of the Crowne That therefore it did necessarily follow there was no accord to be made but by the sword which was onely able to satisfie the one and inforce the other The breach of this Treaty did almost quite dead the hopes of the besieged yet did they a while languishin agony by reason of the great preparations which were made throughout all Picardy but as soone as they perceived that the King and Duke of Burgony distracted through their jealousies of the Dolphin could not succour them they resolved to hazzard their lives lesse valued then their pretended liberty and to goe themselves to procure and bring in succour the which they could not doe but by breaking through the Campe 10000. of them well armed the rest remaining to defend the City rushed furiously out of a gate from whence they were not gone two miles when the rafters of the bridge breaking as many as were upon it fel into the water those who remained in the town issued out at another gate to save their companions the which they could not so soon doe before the English had already fought with them and driven them back Those who fell shared all of severall misfortunes few of them escaping being either drowned broken or wounded The bridges rafters were cut in two by Guy Buttler after the place was surrendred he was thought to have caused them to bee cut onely because he had sworne loyalty to King Henry and was become his subject The Duke of Burgony did not cease though in this desperate case to flatter them with hopes of succour and that they might beleeve him he said he would doe that which he was farre from being able to effect He brought the King and Queene to Beauvais and caused great troopes of armed men to come thither which served to no other use then to bee an oppression to the Countreyes through which they passed Hither for their last Embassy came new soliciters from Roan the midst of December who laid open what miserable famine they suffered the misery that those endured who being shut out of the city died in ditches that they were forced to take up such children as were there borne in baskets over the walles to baptize them and being baptized to convey them downe againe to their mothers who rather expected death then life That many died unbaptized evils which had happened and did happen for their service done unto the King and Duke of Burgony whilest they on their sides had done nothing that they ought to have done and had promised that they could expect no longer that if succour were not immediately sent they would render themselves to the King of England And with this protestation they
with his hand would have put it in its right place Robert said will you lift your hand against the Dolphin and at the same instant Tannigues having said to his companions now is the time he struck at him with a hatchet thinking to have cleft his head but did onely take his chin away at which blow he fell with one knee upon the ground and laying hand on his sword wounded as he was with many blowes borne to the ground whilst Oliver Laiet thurst his sword into his belly up to the hilts Monsieur de Novaille brother to the Count de Fois as he was about to defend him was hindred by the Vicount of Narbone who opposed him with a dagger and whilst he flew furiously upon him to have taken his dagger away he was by others slaine Friburg doing his duty likewise was taken prisoner St. George was wounded in the flanke and d'Ancre in the hand Montaigne leaping over the bars got into the Castle the Secretary and all the rest were taken prisoners those of the Castle perceiving the bickering and not knowing of the Dukes death came forth to the palisado but driven backe by the bowmen fled to Bray beaten slaine taken and losing all they had Monsieur de Jouvelle and Montaigne with some souldiers and about some thirty of the Dukes servants and pages fortified themselves within the Castle but wanting victualls they yeelded it up their lives and goods saved All the Dukes furniture and jewells which were many and of great worth were reserved for the Dolphin such prisoners as would not take the oath had ransomes set on their heads and those who would were set at liberty Charles de Lens Admirall of France and who was constant in his friendship to the Duke till his last gaspe was slaine upon cold bloud Iohn Lovet President of Provence the Vicount Narbone William Butler Tanniques de Chasteau Francis de Grimaux Robert Loire Peter Frotiere Oliver Laiet and â—…onchore de Namae Marshall Seneshall of Auvergnia were the authors of this parricide Madam de Giac was thought a confederate in this businesse for that the deed being done she withdrew herselfe unto the Dolphin Monsieur de Barbasan not guilty of the treachery but present when it was done said unto the rest that they had ruinated their Masters reputation and wished rather to have beene dead then present at so wicked an action the Dukes body was laid upon a table and carried at midnight into a mill from whence it was taken away the next day and buried in his calsons with his hat upon his face his dublet on the which they had not taken off because it was bloudy and full of holes with his bootes and spurs without any Christian decency save a dosen masses which were likewise the oblations of bleeding hands and teares of woe This was the end of Iohn Duke of Burgony surnamed the Undaunted by him deserved by reason of the murther committed twelve years before upon the Duke of Orleans person by his command but his fault did not wash away theirs that slew him and though in the former ambition was the onely cause so as he could not be more wicked and in the second hatred and reason of State yet the so often plighted faith and swearing by the name of God in witnesse thereof makes the latter more wicked and inexcusable The Dolphin who had promised himselfe great advantage thereby found he was deceived for effects are not alwaies taken away by the cutting off their causes unlesse they be wholly rooted out the sonne remained a branch from which did bud forth more ruines then either could or would have done from the stocke if the advisers to this businesse had had respect to the subjects relation to the good and honour of the Prince more then to the jealousie of his authority the which whilst the Undaunted lived was fading they would have seen that dying he left clients subjects and servants ready to revenge him that so detestable an action was sufficient even to alienate the Dolphins owne friends that the King his father was subject to those that governed him that his rulers were the defuncts creatures his mother more then ever irreconcilable the King of England fastned in France The new Duke of Burgony as well heire to his fathers injuries as to his estate and authority that being descended from a turbulent family he was not likely to be quieted without bitter revenge though the worlds welfare should therein consist so as the interest of servants which for the most part doth ruine such Princes who are either very yong or ill advised did undoe the Dolphin who not able in sincerity of truth to excuse so scandalous an act indeavoured to cloak it by a falshood giving out that the Duke came with an intention to kill him the Dolphin but Montaigne published the truth of the businesse whereat the King was troubled the Queene offended who as was thought did love the Duke more then became her reputation after hee had delivered her from Towers and the people which had alwaies sided with him were herein confirmed the Court remained as before governed by such as did depend upon him not staggered by his fall He had a sonne by surname and actions good who afterwards was called Philip the good not violent as was his father but more wise so as of the whole of so great a Kingdome a little cantle did onely side with the Dolphin his more southerne Provinces which disjoyned from the low Countries had no occasion to be annoyed by the Undaunted were those alone which did sustaine him and which after a tempestuous voiage brought him safe into the haven thanks to the disorder of others which are the chiefest and most frequent occasions of taking away of Kingdomes from some and conferring them on others for the death of King Henry the underage and weaknesse of his succeeding sonne and the bad intelligence betweene the Uncles and Duke of Burgony the reason of their reconciliation did after many yeares contrary to all likelihood set him on foote againe Philip Count Carelois whom henceforth we will call the Duke of Burgony understanding his fathers death after his sorrow and obfequies consulted upon what was to be done he had two advices given him the one hee should treat well the Dutches his wife sister to the Dolphin since she did not share in the injury done unto him by her brother the other that being to revenge his fathers death he should seeke out the most effectuall meanes how to doe it that friendship with the King of England being of all others the likely best hee should offer him peace and his assistance in his pretences to the Kingdome and his marriage for the Dolphin could by no other means be debarred of the Kingdome he who had cooled in his affection to his wife his passion overswaying his reason and who knew her vertue did deserve this advice honoured her and made much of
her as long as she lived which was but a small time for what concerned friendship with England his father having chalked out the way unto him from whence had he not swerved he had not died he thought he could not chuse a better way of revenge wherefore he answered the Parisians who after their condoling with him desired his assistance against the English by Embassadors which they of purpose sent that they should not need to trouble themselves therein for he hoped with the Kings good liking to make a peace which should secure them and their friends the which he forthwith did he sent the Bishop of Arras and two more with such officers to King Henry as were very well approved and the Bishop being returned with satisfaction he sent soone after him the Earle of Warwick and Bishop of Rochester with whom the Duke concluded a truce to indure till such time as a peace might finally be concluded by meanes whereof the way was opened for commerce betweene them as if the peace had been already concluded so as the English souldiers as friends and confederates did joyne with those of France and the Duke against the Dolphin assoon as he had accommodated his home businesse having obtained of his subjects all he could desire he came to Trois where he plotted the peace and marriage for King Charles did what hee was perswaded unto and those who did perswade him were the Dukes dependants and such as were upheld by the Duke King Henry being advertised hereof and nothing now remaining to conclude the businesse but the formality of his Embassadours hee sent the Duke of Exceter the Earle of Salsbury the Bishop of Ely the Lord Fitshug Sir Iohn Robsert and Sir Philip Hall with whom the peace and marriage was agreed upon the latter to be celebrated in that very place as soone as the King should come thither As soone as the Embassadours were returned Robsert only tarrying with the bridge the King went from Roan waited on by his brother Clarence and Gloster the Earles of Warwicke Salsbury Huntington Eu Tancherville Longaville and fifteene thousand fighting men making his journey by Pontoise Saint Dennis and Sciarantone where having left some troopes to secure the passage he came to Trois by the way of Provence and was met 2 leagues off by the Duke of Burgony and the Nobility which upon the like occasion were in great number come unto the Court his first meeting with the King and Queen was in Saint Peters Church where he took his Bride by the hand and the marriage was solemnized on Trinity Sunday with the greatest pompe that ever was seen in that Kingdome Hee corrected and altered the Articles as he pleased the which being sworne unto by the King Duke of Burgony Princes and Lords were sent to bee published in both Kingdomes they were thirty three in number the chiefest whereof were That King Charles should enjoy his dignity title and Kingdome as long as he lived That King Henry should bee Regent thereof and afterward Heire That neither he nor the Duke of Burgony should make peace with Charles who tearmed himselfe Dolphin without the consent of the three Estates of both Kingdomes That the peace between France and England should bee perpetuall That these two Kingdomes should never be dismembred one from another but should bee governed by one and the same King but under their severall Lawes Sens and Montreville were the two most important places which the Dolphin did hold in those parts so as the marriage solemnities being over they besieged Sens. This Citie would have held out longer had it had any hopes of succour but having none it surrendered it selfe the twelfe day Such Souldiers as would stay in the Kings service were suffered to depart their lives and goods saved except those who had had a hand in the Dukes death And though many of them did for the present accept of the English Crosse they did afterwards at severall times for sake it betaking themselves to the Dolphins service of the inhabitants the oath of fidelity obedience was onely demanded Montreule held out longer the Castle was fortified provided for a longer siege but though they did valiantly defend themselves the towne was taken within a few dayes thanks to the assailants successfull rashnesse who charged it on sundry sides without directions from the King or Duke When they had taken it pursuing their good fortune and closely following those who fled into the Castle they were the cause why many of them were drowned they tooke twenty prisoners almost all Gentlemen whereupon the King having lodged his people in the towne over-against the Castle-gate did yet more narrowly inclose it bereaving it of all hopes save a rationall capitulation But Monsieur de Guitres resolute in the defence was cause why twelve of the twenty prisoners whom the King had protested he would hang if the Castle did not yeeld were immediately hanged before his face after they had in vaine requested him and had their request seconded by their wives teares and friends intercession His inexorablenesse was the more to be blamed for that after so deplorable an execution he made good the Castle onely eight dayes Hee came forth his life and goods saved as likewise all such as would not remaine in the Kings service those onely excepted as formerly who had had a hand in the death of the Duke Guitres who was accused to bee one of them did defie his accuser a Gentleman of the Dukes but no apparant proofes being found hee was let goe The Duke had sent divers Gentlemen to cause his fathers body to be taken up who finding it buried in so miserable a manner tooke it up and wrapped it in lead and it was sent to Chertosa in Dijoune where he was buried neere unto his father At the same time his people tooke Villenense situate upon the same river putting all the garrisons to the sword The Dolphin on the other side made his progresse for being resolved to out the Prince of Orrenge who fought on Burgonies behalfe from such places as he held in Languedocke hee besieged Saint Esprite and assisted by Avignon and Provence tooke it and drove all the Princes people out of that Countrey The which being done hee returned to Burges his usuall abode that hee might raise what force possibly hee might intending rather the enemies proceeding then to give him battle The Duke of Bedford was come from England before the taking in of Montreule with two thousand Archers and eight hundred horses and was by the King and his brothers received with much joy Thus reinforced he went to besiege Melune The King of France came together with his Queen from Bray where they had tarried during the siege of Montreule to Corbeile Melune was begirt by two Camps with artillery and such engines as were then in use for the taking in of places Messieurs de Barbasan and de Preux commanded seven hundred fightingmen who were within the
sacraments which by the Church of Rome were prescribed to dying men he dyed the last of August of a plurisie a disease not wel known in those daies which caused amongst the common people two severall opinions of his death the one that he dyed of a disease called Saint Anthonies fire the other of that called Saint Fiacree which is convultions or extention of the nerves hee raigned nine yeares five months and twenty three daies not having fully compleated his eight and thirtieth year his temperature according to the observations of physicke promised a longer life he was of a leane and sinnowie body of a black haire his limbs well proportioned and active of stature higher then usuall his face well shaped though somewhat long endowed him with a manlike beauty England hath had before and since his time many worthy Kings but of perfections exceeding his none he was just wiâ—… magnanimous valiant I would say fortunate if fortune had any abiding place with vertue he undertooke a difficult warre in a time when his enemies intestine dissention did facilitate it unto him he thereby appeased his Kingdome purging it of all its ill humours he healed it and made it greater by reducing slothfull and vagabond people the ordinary plagues of common wealths from idlenesse and vice to warfare and honour hee was served by inclination and affection the greatnesse of his spirit and his heroique actions were the loadstones which drew unto him his subjects love and reverence he was of an unblameable life and an enemy to all vice which may serve for a sufficient testimony for whatsoever else of good may be said of him at home he spilt no bloud save that of the Earle of Cambridge and his fellow conspirators under whose ashes as long as he lived and some while after all civill wars was buried and if he used severity abroad armes his enemies obstinacy and the lawes of war must suffer the blame The end of the first Volume THE FOVRTH BOOKE OF THE CIVILL VVARRES OF ENGLAND IN THE LIFE OF HENRY THE SIXTH BY the lives of the preceeding Kings wee have seene that the Civill Warrs had their beginning from the bad Government of Richard the second that Henry the fourth did first commence them and Henry the fifth suspend them but that after 40. yeares Peace they should againe breake forth under Henry the sixth when the Government was established Mens minds quieted and appeased is a matter worthy of consideration which ought not to bee passed over to the end wee may examine whether this hapned by default of the Subjects or Prince and which of them it was that after the cure of the first malady were causers of the second Wee shall find Arguments probable enough if wee consider the different natures of the two last Kings Henry the fifth found a Kingdome usurped by his Father so exasperated by the deaths and confiscations of many as he would never have beene able to have setled and maintained a Peace had not his valour caus'd him to be fear'd and his vertue belov'd by his Subjects in all the time of his life he met with no other Conspiracie then that of Richard Earle of Cambridge which was suppress'd as soone as undertaken not for that Richards Heires were Children since that Edmund Mortimer lawfull Heire to the Crowne outliving him pretences were not like to be wanting to any one who durst have molested him but for that Edmunds fearefull or were it peacefull nature the tender yeares of such as were to succeed him the ambition of great ones allured by honours and inriched by forraigne Warrs and that another King could not better their private conditions nor rayse the publike honour to a higher pitch were the true causes which did suppresse alterations being dead the fortune which did accompany him during his life did not for a long time forsake him in the person of his Sonne insomuch as in his infancy and two succeeding ages he was by his Subjects served without contradiction out of hopes that together with the Kingdome he had Inherited his Fathers vertues his tender yeares priviledged by his owne comlines and the love of others had not afforded them time to dis-deceave themselves in what concerned vallour and wisdome vertues in him of much expectation whil'st the bright sunshine of other vertues dasled the Eyes of the wisest for malice it selfe cannot but confesse that Henry the sixth was one of the best and holiest Kings that ever England had if goodnes alone without the helpe of other vertues were only required to the office of a King but there is difference betweene the vertues of private Men and of Princes what is sometime to be praysed in the one is to be blamed in the other not for that the faculties of operation bee not from the highest to the lowest uniforme in all but that being diversified by the differing condition betweene Princes and Subjects they produce contrary actions according as the condition of those who operate is contrary and as the wayes and imaginations of God are not such as are those of Men so all due and reverent proportion being given if any proportion at all be to be given the conceptions and proceedings of Princes ought not to bee such as are those of private Men. Very morall vertues though the same in all Men are not in them considerable but with a particular difference for that becomes them and they may do that which becomes not us nor may wee doe Henry was a good Man but no good King Hee was borne with good intentions but of himselfe simple Conditions plausible in a private Man misbecomming him that Raignes and in all cases harmefull for as wisdome without goodnes is a meere infirmity so goodnesse without wisdome is a meere defect Were it not the part of wisdome to put us upon those actions which in reason wee ought to doe but only to make us simply or meerly good he would have had no need thereof nor yet they who are naturally given to be good Those who imagin'd all vertues though differing in name not to differ in Office but that they all were so many wisdomes did not perhaps beleeve amisse experience shewes us that without wisdome fortitude is rashnes justice severity and temperance disorder other vertues are common or indifferent to all Men this of wisdome in Princes is singuler The goodnes of Henry the sixth was a Cloyster life goodnes but as the affections of a King doe not befit a Clergie-man so doe not the affections of a Clergie-man besit a King Wee are borne under two Lawes the one of God the other of Nature the which though distinct are not incompetable if wee do embrace the former which hath no other end but the spirituall health the choice is good and much the better if it be accompanied with contempt of the World and mortification of the Spirit If the second in which Princes are comprehended and which joyned to faith doth not exclude saving
health to command and to Raigne requires active Spirits as farre differing from this contempt and mortification as ought a Clergie-man differ from the lively and ready resentments which are requisit in him that commands The foure Beasts which are described to have Eyes before and behind ought to serve for a type to Henry for if the inward eyes of conscience were sufficient to him as a Christian the outward eyes of wisdome were requisite to him as a Prince A Prince cannot be said to be good and innocent though of harmlesse intention and customes when his simplicity proves hurtfull to his wellfare honour and Subjects Goodnes ought not to be borne a Sister with us but be begotten by us wee our selves ought to be the Fathers thereof our will the Mother and Election the Soule for though naturall simplicity or sincerity brings with it many advantages hee is notwithstanding more to be commended who hath not transgressed when he might have done so for well doing is not defined by Ignorance of evill or an impotency thereunto but when a Man is able and knowes how to do amisse and doth it not A bound which does not exclude the faculties of civill actions as did Henryes goodnes which was borne a Sister with him but makes them so much the better by how much after the primary cause its objects are the second without which there is no corporeall nor civill life I know not whether his education did concurre with his nature to the making him what he was but doubtlesse faults enough are committed in the education of Princes in their Childhood they are observed with too much respect whilst their discreet Governours knowing that some Witts require the spurr some the bridle ought to make use thereof alternatly and with respect but not excesse for by thus doing they will not only make them be reverenced and beloved by their Subjects but respected and feared by all Nations However it bee 't is evident that Henry's ruine did derive it selfe from this simple inanimate goodnes which lame in its owne judgment rested it selfe upon that of others so as loosing reputation the Soule of Government he therwithall lost Authority Kingdome Liberty and Life The Conditions of affaires in both Kingdomes at Henry the fifths Death was such as by reason of the good directions he left could not be amended His Subjects were ready to obey drawne by the glory of so many famous Victories and by the profit which accrewd unto them by so many considerable acquisitions In France the home discentions of that Kingdome the wisdome and vallour of the Duke of Bedford and the good Commanders and Souldiers which waged Warre under him nourished hopes of more happy proceedings And the two Brothers Unckles to the Infant King free from jealousy and evill intelligence the Duke of Bedford remaining chiefe in France with the Title of Regent and the Duke of Glocester commanding in England under the Title of Protectour did conspire not only to preserve what they had gotten but to acquire more but the cause being tane away the effects cannot continue Charles the fifth King of France dyed within lesse then 3. Moneths after King Henry the fifth who being incapable of Government and govern'd by his Wife a revengefull Woman and bad Mother had by her meanes alienated his Kingdome deprived his Sonne thereof and set dissention among his Subjects to the increase of Englands greatnes Philip Duke of Burgony who according to the Councell of deceased Henry was to be insnared by allurements was by Glocester distasted driven thereunto either by ambition or love or both Whereby Men may learne not to build too much upon their owne knowledge but to watch over their selves every little intrest being sufficient to change us to the worse Since Glocester a good and wise Prince ceased to be so when he suffer'd himselfe to be transported by his passions and private intrests seldome meeting with publique respects those who looke after the one abandon the other or else do ruine both the one and the other together with the State and themselves as did he These were the true causes of the English retrogadations in France civill discentions in France had establish'd the English and the reconciliation betweene the Duke of Burgony and Charles the seaventh was their ruine So as though the recomencement of the Civill Warres be chiefely ascribed to the losses in France yet since they began not till the King was growne a Man and that the Affaires of France were little better then quite lost there would have beene no liklyhood of any disorders in England if things had succeeded well and the Sonne had beene like the Father for in the same manner as the one supprest the Conspiracie of the Earle of Cambridge and thereby wonne reputation the other might have quell'd the Duke of Yorkes audacity and have preserved his Kingdome but the Sword wherwith Scanderberg cut off arm'd limbs was not of the same temper when manag'd by another Hand and therfore the reall difference is that wheras the Earle did Justle with a strong and fierce Lyon his successors encountred with a weake milde lowly Lambe King Henry was proclaymed King when he was about 8 Moneths old the Duke of Exceter and his Brother the Bishop of Winchester were deputed for the Government of his person and the Queene his Mother for his Diet whilst the Duke of Glocester Protectour of the Kingdome took care for all things which might make for Peace at home or Warres abroad the Infant King was brought from Windsor to London to be showne in full Parliament his Mothers bosome was his Throne and generall acclamations serv'd as the earnest penny of obedience Ayds were willingly contributed for the perservation of what his Fathers worth had won The Duke of Bedford on the other side surprised by the disadvantageous Death of Charles the sixth which hapned in October the same yeare and by his being forsaken by many who had formerly followed his Standard to follow the Dolphin who was proclaymed King by the Name of Charles the seaventh knowing how contrary to their naturall affections that obedience was which those who remained with him had sworne to the King his Brother did in a solemne Assembly cause new Oaths to be taken in the behalfe of the now Heyre a thing readily obtained but very irreligeously observed and had it not beene for the power and authority of the Duke of Burgony a Prince of great Possessions and attendance the affaires of England would not have lasted so long as they did but they grew worse and worse according as he slackned his vigilancy therein by reason of Glocester and the City of Orleans wherewith he was not trusted by reason of the death of his Sister who was Wife to Bedford and by his totall alienation when having appeased his anger against Charles the lives of those first Warriers who were his friends did cease Henry in Paris was likewise proclaymed and sworne King of
taken care to assemble together such as were escaped hee had beene wholly destitute of Souldiers Steven de Vignolus called la Hire did the like for considering in what condition his King was without Souldiers Commanders and Princes of the bloud all of them being all most Prisoners to the English Hee quitted Vitres and other places in Champagnia to joyne his troopes with the others Charles had not any time before beene in a worse condition Monsieur de Rombarres deputed to the custody of Vernuille with 3000. men as hath beene said yeelded it up two dayes after comming all of them out of the Towne their Lives Armes Baggadge and Horses saved Hee likewise was of some comfort to the common apparent ruine The Duke of Bedford who after so happy successe had withdrawne himselfe to Roan and from thence to Paris sent the Lord Scales with 2000. men accompanied by Sr. Iohn Montgomery and Sr. Iohn Falstaffe to annoy Aniou and Mayne where though a number of Castles yeelded unto them yet this seeming but a small affaire the neighbourhood of these two Provinces being dangerous for the safety of Normandy and requiring greater effects the Earle of Salisbury with 10000. fighting men went to besiedge Mans the Metropolitane of Maine battering it in such a sort as throwing to the ground the Houses Walls and Toures thereof Hee wonne it to his obedience and giving the command thereof to the Earle of Suffolke and the Lieutenancy to Falstaffe hee passed forward to S. Susanna defended by Ambrogius de Lore assaying it on that side which hee thought fittest for assault but having got no good thereby the Walls being manifully defended Hee bethought himselfe how to have it without so much bloud Hee played upon it with his Ordnance two whole dayes together so as having layd flat its defences and reduc'd it to such a point as that it was not able to endure any other assault they were inforced to surrender paying some certaine monies and the Garrison comming forth onely in their Doublets their lives saved From hence he went too before Forte Barnardo where being advertis'd by the Gascons of Alansons Garrison how they had made agreement with Iohn de Villiers to sell unto him that place for 400. Crownes hee sent thither the Lord Willoughby and Falstaffe with 2000. Souldiers who surprised the purchaser whilst he thought to have made his entry with 200. Horse and 400. Foote which hee had brought to guard the place they slew him none of the rest escaping save 25. thankes to their Horses heeles The place which hee besieged being then yeelded up unto him together with a many more hee frighted France which thought fortune too partially favourable unto him At this time Edmund Mortimer Earle of March formerly deprived of his liberty died at Trimmes in Ireland whereupon his just and lawfull pretences fell upon Richard Plantaginet sonne to that Richard Earle of Cambridge who by the commandement of Henry the fift was beheaded at Antona wee shall shortly heare newes of his claime unfortunate to him the King and kingdom for though he turned England topsey turvy he did not notwithstanding compasse the government thereof the which was reserved with better fortune for his sonne This his death was accompanied by the death of Iohn Mortimer his Cousin who accused of treason to the scandall of all men suffered the punishment of the Law his faults being beleeved to bee calumnies and himselfe brought to so ignominious an end for that alone which by vulgar Politicians is called Reason of State The same resolution which as wee have said made the Duke of Glocester marry Iacoline of Baviers contrary to the Law made him likewise resolve to take up Armes against him who of all others was most requisite for the friendship of England neither could hee after the first errour forbeare committing of others for he was inforced to recover for her her possions injoy'd by the Duke of Brabant her legitimate husband the which hee now pretending himselfe to be the like must account his Neither thought he that he should neede any great forces since Hannault which was to be the seat of the warre was thought to favour him for the people of the Country had alwayes sided with their true and naturall Princes so as both of them imbarking themselves at Dover with 5000. fighting men conducted by the Earle Marshall they went to Calis Duke Philip according to appointment formerly made with the Duke of Bedford was come for this cause to Paris and after having friendly disputed it amongst themselves they framed an agreement to be accepted of by both parties the Duke of Brabant did not refuse to accept thereof but Iacolina and Glocester did who said they might goe to take possession of what was their owne without the interposition of others A resolution which did inwardly wound the brother who foresaw the evills that were to ensue thereupon and did touch Philip to the quicke being interessed in these states and Princes by neighbourhood and pretensions besides he thought Glocester did too little value him whilst the English ought rather to set an esteeme on him then on any other Neither did hee forbeare to say to Bedford that since his brother would not condescend to the agreement made between them two he was not to be blamed if he should imploy all the forces he had in the behalfe of Brabant against Glocester to the which Bedford knew not what to reply no reason being to be given for his actions who not respecting friendship equity nor publik interest is resolv'd to pursue his owne Caprichies Glocester passed through Artois into Hannault where he and his wise Iacolina were received with all expressions of obedience all the Lords and Gentry of the Country comming into their service except the Counts Conversan Angebert and Anguiere and Iohn de Iumont who were the onely men that with their Townes and Fortresses observed the oath they had formerly taken to the Duke of Brabant who growing more powerfull by reason of the concourse of men from Artois and Flanders for Philip had made it be proclaimed that such as were obliged to weare Armes should goe to his service he began the warre to the great incommoditie of the Country the which growing cooler towards their Princes would have shewed some effects had not not their places of chiefest importance beene in the power of the English Glocester did not beleeve that Philip would have opposed him but hearing of the Proclamations and seeing the effects hee made his grievance knowne unto him by letters which though in some sort modest yet were they not void of injury for he had let fall from his pen that in his Proclamations there were many untruthes whereupon Philip replyed that hee had taken upon him the defence of his Cousin the Duke of Brabant as by reason hee was obliged by accepting the Articles of that agreement which Glocester refused to doe whilst both law and conscience required that the deciding
affaire in France could not prosper if those of England did amisse this newes made a great impression in the Duke so as deputing the Earle of Warwicke who was but a little before come thither with 6000. men His Lieutenant in the Regency of France hee went together with his Wife to England and came to Lancaster where the Parliament was at that time called The first action hee did was to blame such Lords as had sided in this difference not naming his Brother or Uncle to whom his discourse tended who drawne by their venome had stir'd up the People to the danger of the King and Kingdome and utter subversion of the affaires in France hee exhorted them to lay aside their passions and take to them more moderate and civill thoughts Gloster did not forbeare for all this to present in full Parliament his complaints against the Bishop First that Richard Woodville Lieutenant of the Tower had by the Bishops instigation denyed him entrance Secondly that hee was resolv'd to lay hands upon the King and carry him from Eltham to Windsor without the Kings consent or consent of the Councell Thirdly that when as hee had resolv'd to hinder him herein Hee had caused the Bridge to bee shut up upon him caused the chaines to bee drawne and placed men armed with bowes arrowes and all other manner of weapons in the chambers windowes and corners neare about to hinder his passage and to kill him and as many as were with him Fourthly that hee had beene told by Henry the fifth as hee lay asleepe in the great chamber at Westminster in his Fathers time by the barking of a Dog a certaine man was discover'd behind the hangings who being question'd by the Earle of Arundel said that hee was placed there by directions from the Bishop of Winchester to kill the Prince in his bed and that being removed from thence hee was immediatly drowned in the Thames Fifthly that he had told him likewise that his Father in his latter times being troubled with grievous indispositions the Bishop should say unto him that since hee was no longer fit for governmrnt hee should doe well to transferre both the government and Crowne upon him The Parliament was not easily brought to beleeve the circumstances of this accusation especially when the Bishop gave in his answere To the first hee said that before the Duke of Gloster went to Hannault hee and the councell good reasons moving them thereunto had ordered that the Towre of London for the time to come should bee victualled and munition'd as other forts use to be That after his being gone to Hannault the Citie being in apparent danger threatned by libels and seditious speeches particularly against strangers the greatest part whereof were for this cause fled the councell fearing a rebellion had appointed Richard Woodville to be Lieutenant of the Towre who to boote with the great affiance the deceased King had in him was Chamberlaine and Councellor to the Duke of Bedford with directions that during this his charge hee should not suffer any one whosoever to enter therein that was stronger then himselfe without particular commandement from the King or order to bee given by the Councell that the Duke at his returne disliking this order would breake it Hee pretended to enter and inhabite there being offended that Woodville denied him entrance and that the Bishop had advis'd him so to doe the which hee did not deny his reason being that the Duke desiring Richard Scot Lieutenant of the Tower to deliver up into his custody one Randall a Frier convict of treason against the late King and who had bin some yeares Prisoner Richard not able to deliver him without order from the Councell nor to refuse his delivery without offending the Duke desired him to send him such a command as might serve for his discharge the which the Duke denied to doe saying his commandement might serve for a sufficient discharge so as the Bishop seeing him so farre exceed the limits of his authority and not knowing where it would end could not chuse but give Richard this advice so much the more for that after his returne from Hannault hee had not forborne to allure some of the People saying that if they had beene ill dealt withall in his absence as hee understood they had they should bee so no more now that hee was present and that as for the Tower which was reinforced to keepe them in awe as who should say they were not loyall Hee would find a remedy for that if they so pleased To the second that hee never had any intention to lay hands upon the King much lesse to take him from where hee was to governe him otherwise then till then hee had beene unlesse it were by the resolution of the Councell that such a thought could no wayes availe him but rather prove harmefull and dangerous to him the which hee offered to make good in time and place convenient To the third that hee denied not to have done as much as was alleadged but not to the end as was objected that hee had beene certainely inform'd ever since the last Parliament at Winchester of the great ill will the Duke bore him which made him resolve not to bee there to shunne the evils wherewithall hee was threatned that evident signes were seene of this that certaine people of base condition being assembled together on the Thames side where boates use to land were heard to say that if they should meete with the Bishop in that place they would throw him into the River and that the Sunday before All-Saints day the Duke being demanded by the Councell concerning his ill will to the Bishop hee said it is true and that it might bee his reasons should bee seene one day in writing that the next Munday by the Dukes commandement no reason being given for it the Citizens were all night in Armes saying injurious things against the Bishop that commandement was likewise given to the Courtiers to bee with the Duke by 8. in the morning armed that on Tuesday hee gave directions to the Major and Aldermen to send unto him 300. Horse-men to waite upon him whither hee was to goe which was as it was said to remove away the King without the Councels knowledge all which being manifest signes of this the Bishops danger hee resolved to prevent him as it is lawfull for every one to defend himselfe so as if he had fortified the Bridge to the end it might not bee forc't it was not done with any intention of damnifying the Duke or any others but to keepe himselfe from being damnified since hee was not the assaylant but the defendant To the fourth and fifth that hee had bin true and loyall to all Kings which if hee had not beene Henry the fifth a wise King would not have trusted him so much as hee did Hee offered to prove this the proofe to bee such as is wonted to bee granted to persons of his state and
condition that herein hee humbly intreated the Duke of Bedford and all the lords spirituall and temporall of that Parliament since they were the lawfull Judges for the administration of justice especially in this case and because the aforesaid letter written to the Duke of Bedford suffered a sinister interpretation hee interpreted it according to its naturall sence the end for which it was written not admitting of any other If this busines had hapened betweene private men or that it had beene judgeable where Lextalionis is practised it would not have beene so easily ended but being betweene two great Lords almost equall in authority bloud and followers and where hee who layes treason to anothers charge though calumniously undergoes no punishment but the hazard of single Duell the remedy was easy the condition of the times the necessity of peace at home and the evils which by doing otherwise were likely to ensue being considered for the cure of a Fistula differs from the cure of a wound the one as soone as cut must bee suddenly closed the other being newly made must bee kept open to the end it may purge But there was no probability in this accusation the 3. first articles though they had some shew yet was there no proofe of them and that appearance wiped away by a more solid recremination the fourth and fifth not to bee spoken of since the dead are not call'd to witnesse nor cited before Earthly Tribunals they were alleadged onely to make the party accused ill thought of not that there was any reason to condemne him for them Moreover it is not likely that in England where the accusation witnesses defence and judgement are all made in publique and in face of the Court an accessary should bee privately drowned by night the King not being advertis'd thereof the party not delivered up into the hands of justice nor confronted with his accuser whilest the Prince who could not love the Bishop seing the ill will hee bore him had so large a field to revenge himselfe in by Iustice not being withstood either by any interest of feare or want of proofe the case being cleare the guilty convinc't the fault inexcusable treason in the highest degree The order which was taken in this busines was to sweare all the Lords as well Ecclesiasticall as Temporall to proceed therein without passion and with secresy it was by them put over to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Dukes of Exceter and Norfolke the Bishops of Durham Worcester and Bath the Earle of Stafford the Lo. Privy Seale and the Lo. Cromwell who after having made them promise to stand to their judgements as well themselves as their adherents Glocester in the word of a Prince and sonne of a King and the Bishop in the bare word of a Priest they framed certaine words which they were to speake one to another causing them the King being present to come to the Parliament The Bishop seeming much grieved at the scandalous speeches layd to his charge pressed much either to bee declared innocent of what hee stood accused concerning the two last Kings since hee was not nor could not bee convinst thereof or else that he might be permitted to justifie himself and being gone out of the house to allow them time to consider hee was shortly after cald in againe and Bedford in name of the whole house sayd unto him that upon the examination of his request the King and all the Lords declared him to be an honest man and faithfull to both the Kings which declaration was ordered to bee regestred amongst the Acts of Parliament then saying the conceived words one to another and having shaken hands the businesse was ended and they pacified The King was willing to witnesse his gladnesse of this accord by solemne mirths and Court solemnities he created Richard Plantagenet sonne to the Earle of Cambridge beheaded at Antona Duke of Yorke This title ceased in this family through the death of Edward Plantaginet slaine in the battle of Aiencourt elder brother to the forenamed Earle of Cambride and not to bee ransomed by this Richard his nephew and next heire without his being restored in blood as now hee was this was hee who afterwards deposed the King and who was the first cause of exturpating the house of Lancaster having boldnesse enough to contest for the kingdome with him and to lay claime thereunto in full Parliament as wee shall hereafter see in its due place neither was hee likely to have arrived at so immense a bouldnesse had he not beene promoted to this honour and honord by those high places of trust which by the King he afterwards was But God governes things here below by meanes contrary to wordly reason for whilst men foolishly beleeve that good turnes make past offences be forgotten examples shew us that the correspondencies due to vertue and reason ought not to be expected from men but such as the interest of profit dayly produceth profit is that alone which surpassing vertue or reason spurnes at any other gratitude the which though it ought not alwayes to be supposed 't is notwithstanding a want in judgement to thinke otherwise in great offences especially such as were these of this Richard on whom no benefit being to be conferred which was not inferior to the kingdome usurped from him it was the chiefest of all others to chalke out vnto him the wayes to the conquest thereof and by conferring upon him honors riches and power to indow him with an ability of doing what he did An errour whereunto the best of men are onely subject who expect not that from others which they themselves would not doe this creation was accompanied with another of Iohn Moubray who being Earle Marshall was made Duke of Norfolke which title was unluckily enjoyed not above three yeares by his Father who died in Venice being banished for England the first yeare of Henry the fourth this solemnitie was concluded by the order of knighthood which the Duke of Bedford gave into the King accompanied by 35 great Lords or some of great Families and the liberall contribution which by way of subsidie was given in Parliament in consideration of the warre with France no one City being exempt from the payments of monies or raysing of souldiers At this time the Duke of Exceter died a man of great wisedome who having no sonnes made the King his heire though besides the Bishop his brother and the Countesse of Westmerland his Sister hee had by her a great many Nephewes Richard Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke whom the Duke of Bedford had left his Lievtenant in France was not this meane while faultie in what belonged unto his charge for entring the County of Maine hee tooke there many townes and being returned to Paris met with this newes of his being chosen to the government of the King in place of the deceased Duke of Exceter though he went not into England till a good while after advancing in the meane while by
his service in France his Kings his kingdomes and his owne reputation Alansonnes liberty who was taken prisoner at the battell of Vernuille was by the Duke of Burgundies meanes Bedford being at London procured his ransome came to 200000. Crownes Faire offers were made unto him if hee he would forsake France and cleave unto England in particular much of what hee was to pay was proffer'd to bee remitted him but no offer promis'd nor benefit could sever him from his affections unto this King and Country Hee sould unto the Duke of Britanny not being otherwise able to pay so great a summe the Barony of Fugures for 80000. peeces of gould called saluti and 38000. which he was moreover to give him for the which hee pawned unto him the two Rubies of la quaglia and Estampes and the two brothers famous Iewels in the house of Britanny the which being repawn'd by him and the rest made good out of his owne monies hee return'd into France The Duke of Bedford went thither likewise with a great many Souldiers having taken requisite order for the affaires in England Hee was waited upon to Calis by the Bishop of Winchester I know not whether in respect or to receive the Cardinalls Cap which was sent to him from Rome the new discensions councelling him perhaps to doe so This Prelate had coveted the being a Cardinall ever since Henry the fifths time but that King much misliking his ambition forbid him to endeavour it that rub being now out of the way the present King a Child and though Glocester his enemy yet Bedford his friend there was none that withstood him therein Hee receiv'd therewithall the faculty and title of Legat which added to his incombes so as loosing his former name he was through all the kingdome stiled the Ritch Cardinall The Count de Richmond this meane while endeavoured by his valour to repaire the ill fortune hee met withall at his entrance into the Constableship In Anior he tooke La Methe upon conditions and the Castle of Gollerande by assault In Maine Ramfort by composition and Malicort by force where hee slew the English and hung up the French that defended it On the other side Sir Iohn Hothall an English knight passing betweene Mans and Alansonne with 20. Horse was set upon by a Captaine call'd Monceau who had with him a troope of 120. fighting men the English lighted from off their Horses in the midst of the highway where they were set upon and where there was no helpe but a resolution either to overcome or die they so behaving themselves as that killing many of them and putting the rest to flight they tooke Iohn Sorret prisoner a Brittish Gentleman and returned safe to their Garrison but the daily inrodes that the Norman Garrison made into Brittanny made the Duke thereof resolve to shut them up within their owne limits by fortifying Pontersonne To this worke together with the Constable came Messieurs de Castelbriand Beaumaneir Lohac Castelghironne Montalbon Belforte Charte Rostrenan Balliere and others of Brittanny the Constable of Scotland Iohn Onscart Walter Brusacke and other French Commanders these comming by night to descry the English fortifications they were pursued by such as were within with danger of being but ill treated but as soone as the Constable had fortefied Pontersonne hee went from thence leaving Mounsieur de Rostrenan Captaine thereof and under him Mounsieur de Belfort Iohn Veyer and Ouscourt who doing as they had beene done by did by incursions passe on to Auranches doing all the mischiefe they could but those of the Garrison not induring to bee braved underneath their walls sallied forth and had likely to have retired with losse had not 400. English led by Mounsieur de Novestres come unexpectedly to their ayd who charging Rostrenon tooke him prisoner and together with him 140. others not above two being left dead upon the field This chance made the Duke of Britanny send Mussieurs de Castelbriand and Beaumaneir to command Pontersonne in Rostrenans place I have described this action according to Argentres Hall and the other English Historians ascribe the glory onely to the Garrison of Auranches not mentioning Novestres nor any others that came into their succour So as being almost alwayes likely to meete with the like discordance likelihood ought to open unto us the way to truth which by writers is with passion shut up for no Iudge can injoyne us to beleeve one rather then another unlesse the one relation be held Canonicall the other Apocriphall Pontersonne was a thorne in the Duke of Bedfords side for it was a place whereby the enemy was much commodiated for the annoyance of Nor mandy and his men hindred for doing the like to Britanny so as resolving to quit himselfe thereof hee sent thither the Earle of Warwicke accompanied by the Lord Scales and many others who layd siege unto it with 7000. men the first day of Lent Belleforest and Argentres writes that the Duke of Britanny knowing it was not able to hold out would have it abandoned that so together with the towne he might not loose the people that were in it that the French and Scots withdrew themselves from thence leaving onely the Britans there who contrary to their Princes command would defend it but it is hard to be beleeved that the Duke having purposely sent his brother to fortefie it assisted by so many Lords and the worke of three nations France Scotland and Britanny should afterwards repent it as if no places were to bee defended save such as are inexpugnable and that to busie the enemie in a long siege as was this subject to so many contingences especially of being succour'd either from Britanny which was Contiguus with it or from France were a matter of no advantage besides it is not probable but that he should have foreseene the enemy would assay it it being a place so contrary to his designes and much lesse that the Brittish Garris on abandoned by the Scotch and French should dare to defend it contrary to their Princes command but howsoever it was the Earle of Warwicke besieging it and those within valiantly behaving themselves as well by defending it as making often sallies the siege was brought to that passe as that the assailant wanting both meat and munition and not having wonne one foote of ground the Lord Scales was inforced to goe his wayes with 3000. men Monstrelet sayes but 500. to provide for necessities for the Campe accompanied by Sir Iohn Harplay Bayliffe of Constantine Sir William Breerton Bayliffe of Caen Sir Ralfe Tassonne and Sir Iohn Carbonall The Duke of Britanny who had made a generall Muster of all his Horse and Foote and chosen out a part thereof under the command of Mounsieur de Castelgironne Hanandaye and the Viscount of Belliers leaving the rest entertained a proposition made by the Baron of Coulonnis a Norman to surprise the Lord Scales at his returne in a place which he
knew fit for the purpose Hee gave the charge thereof to the above named who guided by Coulonnis made an Ambuscado of 6000. men Monstrelet saith but 1500. in a place called la Bassecourt neare unto a Bridge betweene Pontersonne and the plaine over against Monte Saint Michael where the Lord Scales and his men were furiously set upon this place as it was the more advantageous for the assailants so was it the lesse proper for the assailed who were beset on the one side by the enemy on the other side by the sea so as inanimated by necessity and danger and despairing of all other hopes then what they should by their Swords receive they did in close files and on foote so well defend themselves as that the Britons could never open them but this their first heate being abated and being withstood by an unexpected and stout incounter they began to give backe and then to runne away being followed at full speed by their enemies who were gotten againe on Horsebacke the number of those who were slaine and taken prisoners was about 1100. amongst the dead were the Baron Coulonnis theinciter to this enterprise Messieurs de Castelgironne and de Hananday and amongst the prisoners the Viscount de Belliere and many other Gentlemen So as the Lord Scales loaded with victualls munition and prisoners came with much honour and praise to the Campe. The Constable went afterwards to perswade the Duke his brother to succour the towne but could by no meanes worke him thereunto for his experience upon this occasion had proved unto that to hazard a battell might be his ruine for by loosing it he should loose Dukedome whereas the enemy was to loose nothing but men so as Pontersonne being for three moneths space well defended and not succoured surrendred it selfe in May the Garrison marching forth with their Armes and baggage Which as soone as the Duke of Bedford understood he went from Roan to enter Britanny with a powerfull Army and likely he was to have done good had he not beene perswaded to accept of the Duke of Britannies offers who being too weake to incounter with him Pontersonne his chiefe hold being lost his hopes but small of being succoured by Charles hee himselfe not knowing what to doe his Peeres and People affrighted having nor provisions nor forces no courage but full of apprehension and danger hee was compell'd to send unto him that pardoning what was past hee would bee pleas'd to grant him peace Bedford yeelded thereunto unwillingly and as some will have it by bad advice but in my opinion very discreetly if wee consider the uncertainety of events For the garrisons of Britanny give the conquest granted would require a great many people not to bee made use of elswhere Countries subdued are subject to infidelity and chiefely Britanny which naturally ill inclined was to bee thought subject to the least puffe of alteration so as joyning it by this meanes unto himselfe or if not so cutting it off from the enemy Hee might upon all occasions like Poliphemus keepe it for his last bit Moreover hee could not have desired more honourable nor more advantageous conditions For the Duke oblig'd himselfe to renounce all former confederacies made with the Kings of France to observe the treaty of peace betweene the two Kingdomes and to doe homage to King Henry as soone as hee should have crost the Seas in the selfe same manner as the Dukes his predecessors had done to the Kings of France requiring but 3. monthes space after requiry The Bishops and Barons of Britanny bound themselves to the observance of this treaty together with the Dukes two Sonnes Francis and Richard the Chapters Cathedrall Churches Citizens and all those who amongst the meaner sort of gentry were of any name so great was the feare wherewith the one was inforced the others surprised foretold as Argentres will have it by a terrible earthquake which shooke the whole Country of Nantes some few Monthes before Small things and but of small importance were done during the seige of Pontersonne Nicholas Hansonne one of the garrison of S. Susan plundered the Country of Aniou Hee tooke Ramfort before the Captaine thereof knew of his comming hee slew and tooke as many as hee found there A number of the French on the other side assembled to succour Pontersonne went to regaine Ramfort they besieged it the space of 10. dayes and Articles being made that the defendants should come forth with their Armes Horses and other provisions they returned abandoning their first designes Messieures de Raise and Beumanoir tooke Malicorne and the Castle of Iude in the Country of Maine by assault treating them according to the Lawes of places taken by force they saved the lives of none save such by whom they might reape advantage being gone from thence and Pontersonne surrendred the above named Hanson surprised S. Lorance de Mortiers the Captaine thereof being gone to heare Masse in a neighboring Church and returning home not knowing that the Towne was taken hee was tane prisoner but those who followed him sav'd themselves Falstaffe the Governour of Aniou and Maine having almost at the same time taken the Castle of S. Oven by composition went to lay siege to Grieville a place not to bee taken by force but wanting victuals they treated on a surrender if they should not bee succoured by such a day Falstaffe himselfe went to advertise the Regent thereof who suddenly came into the field hoping to fight if the French should come but they appeared not though not farre off being taught to bee circumspect by the battle of Vernuille Grieville which this meane time was victuall'd deny'd to make good their treaty and the English not likely to reape any good by tarrying long there raysed the siedge hanging first in sight of the Castle their hostages their friends and fellow souldiers The Regent at his returne from England had given the charge of those men which he then brought along with him to the Lord Iohn Talbot who afterwards proved one of the most famous Captaines in all the French warres His name lives there yet amongst them who never read his story before that by his worth hee atchieved greater titles of honour hee was of most noble bloud Sonne to Richard Talbot Lord of Goderick Castle who in his time had fought valiantly under Henry the fifth Camden speaking of him cals him Englands Achilles His warlike humour cannot bee better described then by the Latin inscription on his sword on the one side of which was read Sum Talbotty on the other side Per vincere inimicos meos The Regent thought fit to conferre upon him the Government of Aniou and Maine fitting Falstaffe with some other charge The first thing hee did after having receaved his command was the taking in of Lavat wherein Monsieur de Loac and other People of account being casually at that time they bargained for the liberty of their Persons and goods paying therefore 100000.
Crownes none of the least usefull things in those times The Regent this meane while being advertis'd that Montargis was not well provided for sent thither the Earle of Suffolke This place was not onely oportune but necessary for him in respect of the neernesse thereof to Paris and for correspondency with Philip which though it were some what lessened by mistrust yet did it remaine entire their reciprocall interest making them appeare outwardly friends though their private distasts made them bee inwardly otherwise then because it opened unto him the way to the taking of Orleans the winning whereof would bee the totall ruine of whatsoever Charles possest The Earle obeyed accompanied by his Brother Sr. Iohn Poole and Sr. Henry Basset together with 6000. Souldiers but finding the place well defended by good Souldiers and sufficiently victuall'd though not for a long siedge hee thought it rashnes to undertake the taking of it at first by force so as pitching his campe hee divided it into three parts as the River Loinge upon which it stands breaking out into certaine branches and marishes inforced him to doe and to the end that his quarters might have meanes of communication and succouring one another hee built bridges in the fittest places hoping for want of victuals to make it yeeld whilest the Earle of Warwicke tarrying at S. Matelin d' Archamp to withstand the succouring of the Towne trusted too much to himselfe not beleeving succour could bee brought by any other way then that where hee was whereas if hee had made use of spies necessary officers for a commander he had not beene deceau'd I will alleadge two examples to this purpose the which though in latter times and not appertaining to our history may notwithstanding alwayes bee of use The great Captaine Consalvo being by his owne King brought backe into Spaine and pursued by such as envied him was requir'd to give an account of his disbursments in the conquest of the Kingdome of Naples the first Item of his accounts was in Spies one Million which when Ferdinand read hee tore the leafe and would read no more A great Prince who I forbeare to name though I could not name him but with much honour who was wont to defray his house with not above 20000. crownes spent 400000. crownes in Ambassadors and spies beleeving that ones owne state cannot bee secured without a perfect knowledge of that of others the generals Judgement on which depends both good and bad resolutions is best inlightned by such instructions as hee by this meanes receaves and therefore prodigality which is alwayes harmefull in a Prince is commendable if thus imployd Had Warwicke beene of this opinion succour had not come unmet withall and Montargis had not beene saved This siege lasted two Monthes before that Charles could thinke how to raise it the Court contending with the Kingdome in disorders and as Monsieur de Giac had succeeded in the authority of president of Provence so did hee likewise in greedinesse and pride Pride and avarice bereave men of their understanding so as not profiting by the example of other men they are not aware that a singuler favour without worth or merit hath beene and ever will bee with Princes slippery and precipitius and that to aspire without reason and to grow rich whilest other men grow poore besides that it is hatefull is of so perverse and obstinate a quality that it brings men rather to death then moderation The Constable after the unfortunate siege of Beveronne was come to the King and complaining that the detaining of the Souldiers pay was the cause of his losse requir'd that Monsieur de Giac might give an account of those moneyes which for this purpose was raysed from the people But Charles not minding this busines giving signes that hee made more account of the Giac then of him the Count was so highly incenst as setting aside all respect hee caus'd de Giac to bee taken by night from his Wives side to bee carried elswhere put into a Sacke and drown'd Camus de Beaulier who succeeded in affaires with the like arrogance was not long after slaine in the Kings owne house by a Souldier of the Marishall Bossac who thrust him through the throat with a dagger The Constable could not brooke neglect especially from such people but hee was not therein to bee praised though hee had sufficient cause to doe so Princes ought to bee wrought upon by perswasion not violence and who in any other manner seekes to pervert order or government doe rather aggravate then take away offences since errours ought rather to bee tollerated in Princes then such violent remedies in subjects as are rather to bee termed revenge then Iustice. The King was highly netled at these outragious insolencies so as being much displeased with him hee was the more confirmed in his ill will towards him by the bad offices of Monsieur de Tremulle a former favorit of the Constables and by him brought into favour with the King The Court being thus turmoyld Montargis ready to bee lost the forces which were to bee sent thither but weake some will have it that the Constable framed excuses to shunne the employment being possest with feare by reason of his late bad successe and much more by the ill will that Charles bore him But Argentres sayes hee was at that time gone into Britanny and it is to bee beleev'd could not well brooke his sight The charge of this succour was then generously undertaken by the Bastard of Orleans who had along with him the best captaines of all France amongst which Iohn Stuart a Scot William D'Albret Goucourt Guitri Greville Villiers la Hire Santreglie Giles de S. Simon and Walter Brossard together with 1600. Souldiers carriages and victuals the first thing hee did was to advertise the besieged of his comming The English say hee went thither by night the French by day the which if it were so they should doe well to shew how hee past their Palisadoes and Trenches for the English by what wee read of them are not wont to suffer themselves bee slaine and to runne away at so cheape tearmes especially when they were more in number then the enemy as likewise that the feare of being stopped by the Earle of Warwicke and loosing of their provisions might have detained the French For first hee was lodged not farre from them and then it is not likely that hee wanted Sentinels by day and that the Horsemen did not their duties in fit places who were there of purpose to withstand whosoever should venture to succour or victuall the Fort If it were by night nothing was impossible The besieged had so blockt up the Waters as that they overflood the Bridges and made them impassible they charged the two neerest quarters which were Pooles and Basset's nor had they much trouble to enter them for the enemies were all asleepe great was the slaughter they there made Poole saved himselfe by swimming over the River on
then perhaps bee of another opinion 't is true that one onely reason and that a great one contradicts what hath beene formerly said Bedfords wisedome ought to have beene regulated according to that of the deceased King his brother who by his last will having left the Regency of France to Philip if he would accept thereof he was unjustly dealt withall to be now denied a Towne not coveted by him but offered unto him as a surety when hee mought have had the whole and would not and this so much the more for that his trusting of him in this had been able to have sweetnedall past dislikes and to have made him as formerly an intire friend Thus all return'd to their owne former affaires the Embassadours to Orleans the English to the continuation of their siege wherein but very little was done the Souldiers on both sides spared themselves those within that they might not lessen themselves being but few and those without hoping that time and hunger might effect that which till then by all their machinations and assaults they could not doe but they were both deceived though in a different manner luckily the besieged for the evill they expected and apprehended turn'd to good unluckily the besiegers for the confidence of that purchase was turned to the not looked for losse of that place others Charles was advised to retire himselfe for the losse of Berry and Tourraine being granted if Orleans were lost he might by tarrying undergoe many dangers especially the being besieged in some place or other the which if it should happen hee should hazard together with his liberty the losse of that title which he yet was possessed of the preservation whereof depended upon the preservation of his person They counsel'd him to goe into Daulphine for from Grenoble a safe place he might by the succours of the Count of Province King of Sicily his cousen the Counts de Fois Armigniac and Cominges defend Lionois Auvergnia and Languedoc but such as were of a contrary opinion sayd that to passe over the River Rhone and abandon the Provinces situated on the other side was the way to undoe him for if in the midst of so many dangers hee should abandon his subjects what could they doe but abandon him that to trust Fortune was to be his last resolution Being thus in doubt what to doe hee was succoured by one Iane d' Arc a meanes unexpected by him nor foreseene by such as looked for new events this womans story is full of extravagancies and controverted not onely betweene the two contrary parties but betweene the French themselves Of these two former the one affirmes her to be a virgin a Saint sent by God to deliver that kingdome the other gives her out to be unchast an heretique a sorceresse a witch and for such a one condemned the third dissenting from the latter in the last Articles doe the like from the others in the former for they beleeved her to bee unchast and raised up by the craft of some great ones who not able to cheere up mens cast-downe hearts by any arguments of worth thought to raise them up by superstition which prevailes much in calamitous times With these I side finding no reason to make me beleeve the former nor sufficient proofe to make me admit of the second 's opinion all of them ful of uncertainty and passion I know it is not lawfull for us to examine the works of God but it will bee granted me that it is not onely lawfull but necessary to search out whether any humane action reputed the handyworke of God bee so or no. Shee was borne in Lorraine in the Parish of S. Rhemes her Parents peasants her exercise was to feed sheepe Pasquiere sayes to spinne and sowe her age some say 18. some 20. some 22. Pasquiere sayes 29. her inclination according to Du Pleix pious confirmed by the Hermitage of Maddona de Beaumont neare the place where shee dwelt devoted next to God Almighty to the Virgin Mary to the Angels Michael and Gabriell and to S. Catherine and S. Margaret who having oftentimes appeared to her did reveale unto her that S. Charlemaine and S. Lewis had prayed to God in the behalfe of her King Charles the seventh for the delivery of the Citie of Orleans after the which the English should bee overcome and beaten out of France that the Duke of Orleans should shortly recover his liberty that the Dolphin Charles should bee crowned in Rheims wayted upon by her that here upon putting on mans apparell shee should goe to find out Charles procuring a commande of Men Horses and Armes to fight in his service that in the execution of these commissions shee presented herselfe before Robert de Baudicourt Governour of Vaucolore who though hee did not at the first beleeve her yet convinc't by her constant asseverations he made her clad like a man bee conducted to Chinon where the King then was to whom the busines seemed the lesse strange for that hee had beene formerly foretold by another Virgin called Mary of Avignon who was likewise vers't in revelations that hee and his Kingdome after much calamity and affliction should by the means of a Virgin bee freed from the tyranny of strangers that hee caused her be brought into his chamber where but meanly apparell'd himselfe he was conversing with Princes great Lords richly attired which shee not esteeming add rest herselfe immediatly to Charles representing unto him with much confidence for what causes God had sent unto him that being examined by certaine divines touching her faith revelations life and causes of her journey shee did satisfie them with such simplicity modesty and resolution as that they esteemed her sent from God for actions of great importance that being searched by divers Midwives in the presence of the Queene the Queene of Sicily and other Ladies they found her to bee a Virgin whereupon shee was afterwards called the Virgin or Maid of Orleans that shee much desired to have a sword which was found in the Church of S. Catherin de Forbois in Touraine buried with the ashes of a Knight behind the Altar the which being marked with three Crosses and rusty the rust fell all forthwith off no meanes or art being used that a Horseman meeting with her and understanding that shee was the Maid of Orleans accompanied his lewd thoughts with some fowle words and blasphemous speeches whereupon shee said O miserable man that thou art who art at deathes doore and dost blaspheme God that within one houre after hee being in a River fell off his Horse and was drowned so as by so many signes of the grace of God as shin'd in her resolution was taken to give her men and victuall's to releeve Orleans under the conduct of Mussieurs de Rieux Marishall de Cullant Admirall of France the King having given her Horse and Armes for her owne Person and deputing for her guard one Dolon an antient Knight one of his
Councellors and Sheriffe of Beaucaire This relation is made by Du Pleix a moderne Writer who complaines of his not being therein beleeved as if it were as much to bee beleeved as an Article of faith Hee agrees in many things with them that are of his opinion in some things hee sayes more then they as the miracle of the Horsman and the cleansing the sword without art to the which hee ascribes the marke of three Crosses but they three flower de-luces on both sides likewise they say not that it was buried with a Knight but hung up with other rusty swords and prison Irons which by devotion or vow were found in that Church Giles and Belleforest write that Baudicourt was not well satisfied for what concern'd her till the hearing day at which very time shee told him that France had receiv'd a great defeat and that it would receive many more if hee would not take order for the convaying of her unto the King so as hearing that that losse had hapned the very day shee had foretold it him hee thought hee should offend God and doe dis-service to the King should hee not send her and therefore dispatch'd her away suddenly that shee said some things to the King which were never by him retold to any but that laying aside all melancholy hee seemed ever after to bee exceeding joyfull that when shee demanded the aforesaid sword of him hee asked her how shee came to the knowledge thereof and whether shee had ever beene in that Church or no to the which shee answered No but that shee knew it by divine revelation and that there withall shee was to drive out all his enemies and to lead him into Rheims to bee annoynted and consecrated and to strengthen their testimony they produce Mieres a Flemish Authour who though he bee accused of falsehood and partiality against the French they will yet have him in this to bee on their side and to say the truth but t is a strange thing that the English differ not in this and the French doe Vasseburg Paradine and Hallian write diversly of her to whom Argentres may bee joyned for a fourth I will relate what Hallian sayes of this in his history and in his booke intituled Touching the estate and successe of affaires in France His words are these The miracle of this Woman were it true or false did much incourage the depressed hearts both of King Lords and People of so great power is religion and sometimes superstition for some thought her to bee a Wench belonging to Iohn Bastard of Orleans others to Monsieur de Baudicourt and others to Lentruille who being wary and knowing the King to bee so moap't as that hee neither knew what to doe nor say the people to bee so dejected as that they were not to bee cheered by any humane hopes they bee-thought themselves how to make use of a false miracle as a meanes which infuseth courage and strength into men and which makes men especially such as are simple more then is true the people being subject to beleeve such superstitions so as they are not to bee condemn'd who beleeve her to bee a Virgin sent by God nor yet they which beleeve otherwise These noble men spent some dayes in instructing her in all such things as shee was to answer to the demands the King might likely make her and such as in his presence they would aske of her for they themselves were to interrogate her and to the end shee might know the King from among the rest shee never having seene him they oftentimes made her contemplate his picture and failed not to bee present the day that shee was to come being themselves to bee Actors in this busines The first that askt her what her busines was was the Bastard of Orleans and Baudicourt she answear'd shee would speake with the King then they there presenting some of the Lords that were there present for the King shee said that was not hee for hee was hidden behind his bed whither shee went to find him and a little while after hee adds This invention of counterfeit and fained religion was of such advantage to this Kingdome as that it infused hope into men that were before deprest by despaire Hitherto Hallian Now that this was rather to bee beleeved then the other report Argentres seemes to denote where sometime after hee makes her incounter with the Constable Monsieur de Tremuille was by the Constables meanes brought into favour with Charles and hee like an ingrate person had wrought the Constable out of favour with him made him bee forbidden the Court diminished his pensions given order to the Citie to shut their Gates upon him and to the Captaines to fight with him the which the wisest sort thinking to bee somewhat hard the Maid willed it should bee put in execution but the contrary opinion prevailing shee went along with others to meet him who did him this honour not onely as being a Prince but as being Constable and their superiour so as being informed of her bad offices as hee came to salute her said Jane I understand you would have fought with mee I know not what you are nor by whom sent whether by God or the Divell if by God I feare you not for hee knowes my intentions as well as yours if by the Divell I value you much lesse therefore doe the worst you can I defie you Whereby is plainely seene what opinion was held of her and that having failed upon this occasion as in many others shee had no Spirit of revelation for then shee would not have beene subject to ambiguity in the undertaking of things nor to inconstancy in the putting of them in execution For what concernes Messierus his testimony every man who speakes of other mens actions doth say and beleeve what is said and beleeved by a concurrence of Writers not having heard those who affirme the contrary Moreover though hee were a Fleming by Nation yet was hee not separated from the interest of France For if in some things hee writ in favour of Philip against the French hee writ many things wherein Philip was not concern'd as namely this infavour of them but the evidence that hee brings of this Woman for what concernes Philip ought not make that bee beleeved which hee had formerly written in the favour thereof Hee brings her forth as sent by God but not against Philip Hee affirmes that shee had not like successe against the Burgonians as shee had against the English that some said though shee were of power against these yet was shee not so against those as if grace had beene conferr'd upon her conditionally lesse towards them and in abundance towards the English To witnesse the which hee alleadges two cases the one that being gone to the siedge of Senlis in the defence whereof besides the English there were many Burgonians under the command of Lilliadam and Croy shee advised sometimes to fight and sometimes not having lost in
it would bee a greater shame to France to shew her selfe cruell to his bones who whilest hee was alive none durst oppose that hee was sorry that the memoriall was no more stately and that none was to bee found answerable to so great a worth none of the Sonnes of Henry the fourth did degenerate a thing not usuall in so large a family Henry the fifth dyed gloriously in the pursuite of his conquests the Duke of Clarence valiantly fighting and though Bedford of a naturall death and Gloster of a violent yet dyed they not with lesse fame then did the others so as nature having done her utmost in them if shee failed in the present Henry it is not to bee wondered at for having clade him with a rich shirt of goodnes shee was scant unto him in an upper roabe of reall vertues and of fortune Bedford being dead a new choise was made of who should succeed him of two that pretended thereunto the Duke of Yorke bore away the bell whereat the Duke of Somerset was scandalized who being the Kings cousen thought to have beene preferred before him but the councell was of an other opinion Yorkes true pretences unto the Crowne though at that time not spoken of was perhaps the cause why they would not discontent him Somerset finding no other remedy endeavoured the hindring of his dispatch to the common losses for Paris and the chiefest places which the English held in France were in this interm lost which would not have hapned if hee had had his dispatch time enough Disadvantages which infant Kings are usually subject unto who governed by many and shared by the emulation of great ones cannot favour private interests without disfavouring the publique to the ruine of King and Kingdome Yorke seemed not to take notice of these practises a dissimulation which caused an inward impostumation in him wherewith Somerset being afterwards infected it in a few yeares after brought them both to immature end In the same month of September Queene Isabell mother to Charles King of France and Katharine Queene of England dyed in Paris shee was buried by the side of her husband in Saint Denis without any funerall pompe the times not suting with such like solemnities shee lived not much esteemed of by any no not by the English which made them undergoe the imputation of ingratitude though without reason since nature hath endued us with a secret not well understood light which cleer's unto us all ambiguities so as the imagined good which is not is will wee nill wee not taken by us for good No man denies but that ingratitude is of all vices the most abominable but neither is it to bee denyed that benefits sprung from charity or any other species of courtesie and love not from ostentation or interest are those alone which denominate an ungratefull person Isabels good turn's had their rise from selfe interest if shee sided with the English 't was to side against her sonne shee favored them not as friends but as instruments of her revenge her daughters marriage was from the like cause shee loved her as having beene her companion in her misfortunes but t is not likely shee would ever have sought her advantage to the injury of Charles had shee not hated him shee confounded the World ruinated her Kingdome disinherited her owne bloud and out of dispight not any inclination favored the enemy so as if the English seemed not to bee over gratefull to her it was because her benefits were none of those which conduce to gratitude The rebellion of Normandy was one of the first evill effects caused by the death of the Duke of Bedford for seeing herselfe freed from that chaine which held her in obedience to England shee gave her selfe up unto the French Charles de Marest accompanied by the Marishall de Rieux Messieurs de Bousack and Longaville two houres before day scalled the Walles of Diepe neere to the Gate and met with no opposition by reason of the intelligence they held within the Towne hee had the like successe in forcing open the Gate which leads to Roan through which the Marishall and all his People being entered hee made a stand in the market place crying out according to the military custome of France the City is taken these acclamations awakened those who slept who with stones and dartes made some short defence but they were forced to give way to the last commers there were but few that were slaine The Lieutenant Mortimer with some few others saved himselfe the rest remained prisoners together with such Citizens as had almost affectionately favored the English their goods were ransackt but not theirs who were willing to receivè the oath upon the newes of this acquisition Anthoni de Chabanus Sentraglie Estouteville and many other Lords with betweene three and foure thousand horse came thither to whom one Kernier a leader of the common People followed by 6000. of the Country-people joyned himselfe and all of them did willingly take the oath being marched forth into the field with these and many other Gentlemen of the Country which daily flockt unto him Fescan yeelded it selfe up unto him on Christmas eve and on Saint Stephens-day Monsieur Villiers the Gnascoigne Captain who commanded there having revolted hee assaulted Harfluer but being beaten back and forty of his men slaine whilest hee put himselfe in order for a second assault the Inhabitants capitulated to surrender up the Towne upon condition that the English garrison which consisted of 400. men should be suffered to depart peaceably with all their goods Beccrespin Tancharville Gomesseule Loges Vallemont Graville Longerville Neneville Lambraville and other Townes did the like Upon this flood of fortune the constable Richmont arrived to whom Carles Mesull Aumerle and many other Townes yeelded themselves all which having Garrisons put into them he with-drew himselfe for want of victualls the rest doing the like So as in a short time Normandy was dismembred of the greatest part of the Country of Caux the English were not now to defend themselves against one onely enemy The treaty at Arras as pointed out unto them a second viz. Philip and though warre was not yet declared betweene them they forbare not to bethinke themselves how they might prejudice each other the Garrisons of Callais and the adjacent parts had a designe upon Ardres and those Burgonians which were in the Country of Ponitean upon Crotoi designes wherein they both failed The low Countries were not well pleased with this Breach for the losse they thereby received by want of commerce having acquainted Philip with the importancy hereof they prevailed so farre with him as to permit them endeavour the continuation of peace Iohn of Luxenburg Count de Ligni who had not yet revolted from the English was thought fittest for this imployment hee writ hereof to his Brother the Archbishop of Roan one of Henries chiefest Counsellors in France who writ over into England where the proposition being
father Iohn was in the like manner abandoned before Mondediere And as for the Flemmish Authors Meierus Henterus and Petit if I understand them aright they say no such thing and Speede an English Authour sayes that Philip was excused by many out of reasons suffiently probable Glocester came to Callis as some say with 300. as others with 500. vessells loaded with 25000. Souldiers finding the enemy gone entered Flanders meeting none that did oppose him he tarried not to besiege any place but burning and destroying where e're hee went put all to ruine great was the prey hee made especially of beasts He burned Popernence Bailleul Chasteauneufe Rimesture and Vallor-Chappule he dismantled many Castles forsaken by their Garrisons till weary of going about and wanting bread hee retired to Guienes and from thence to Callais Many women at the price of a peece of bread recovered the ruines of their houses the scarcity of bread was the cause of much sicknesse in the Army But Glocester having onely selfe interest for his occasion hee returned to England where he found new troubles appeased first by danger and then by the death of the King of Scotland King Iames had married his daughter Margaret to Lewis the Dolphin whereat England was distasted since this affinity could but not be prejudiciall to her so as the two nations being netled began to endamage each other the Scots pretended a double injury that England had endeavoured to hinder the Brides passage into France since not able to breake the marriage they would have interrupted it by taking taking her prisoner and that the Earle of Northumberland unprovoked had assailed the confines of Scotland Vpon these dislikes Iames commenc't the warre and went with 30000. men to besiege Rosburg This place was commanded by Sir Ralph Gray who though hee did valiantly defend it yet was not hee the occasion of the Kings raising the siege nor yet the succour which the Earle of Northumberland was to bring him 't is likely some more urgent occasions was the cause thereof the true reason then was his wives hasty comming unto the Campe who being a woman and a Princesse would not have hazarded herselfe at such a time without some urgent occasion which since it doth belong unto the story I will take leave shortly to relate it shee came to advertise him of a conspiracy that was plotting against his life which caused him raise the siege to prevent it though his intentions did not succeede for blowes from heaven are not to be evaded Walter Earle of Atholl his unckle was chiefe of this conspiracy wrought thereunto by wicked ambition which lay lurking in him many yeares before 'T was he that had incited Robert Duke of Awebeny to kill Prince David that hee might serve this Iames with the same sawce had not his father sent him away had he beene saved by being prisoner in England his designe was when these two Princes should be murthered himselfe to kill Robert and his sonne that hee might without any competitor remaine the sole heire unto the kingdome and 't was not unlikely to have fallen out according to his wish for Robert after so many detestable wickednesses grew to be hated by all men But Iames his preservation having broken both their designes it tooke life againe in him alone When Robert being dead Mordecay his sonne and the sonnes of Mordecay executed after Iames his returne to Scotland none stood betweene him and the accomplishment of his tyranny but the very King neither did hee beleeve that the people would be thereat displeased for Iames had mightily distasted the people by putting a great taxation upon them for the Fleete which did conduct his daughter to her husband which was by many of them denyed and but unwillingly paid by the rest In so much as though Iames had given order to the Collectors to gather no more monyes and to restore what already had beene collected to those that gave it yet did hee not sufficiently sweeten them for such favours as are caused by necessitie doe not content the people but that which did the most of all offend them was his unexpected rising from before Roseburg for having beene at great expence for this enterprise and no man guessing at the reason of his quitting it it could allow of no good construction Atholl was the chiefe actor in this Tragedy but would not bee seene therein till he appeared as King not as guilty His chiefest instruments were two bold Roberts the one his owne Grandsonne the other of the Family of the Griâ—…es the former drawne by his Grandfathers authoritie and his hopes after him as being his heire the other out of an eager desire of being revenged upon the King by whom he reputed himselfe doubly injured for having long before for some misdemeanors beene imprisoned and banished the King had lately taken from him the guardianship of a nephew of his which was falne unto him by his brothers death The Queene had discovered the conspiracy but not the conspirators so as the King using all possible dilligence to find them out made them hasten the effecting of their businesse for feare of being discovered he had withdrawne himselfe together with his wife and some familiar friends without any guard to the covent of preaching Friers neare to the walls of Pearth amongst which was one of the conspirators named Iohn whose Sir-name I find not written The Traitors entred into the Friery rewarding the Porter and being come into the Kings Ante-chamber and met not with any body they stood expecting that the said Iohn should open the doore that they might enter without noise when one Walter Stretton came forth for some businesse concerning the King who seeing so many armed men and not able to get backe cryed Treason treason but him they instantly slew and ran unto the doore and found it shut by one Katherine Douglas a Lady worthy remembrance This Lady missing the great Barre wherewith the doore was wont to be shut and which was purposely hid away by Iohn supplied the place thereof with her owne Arme but they forced open the doore and brake her Arme they slew all that withstood them the King was slaine with 28. wounds the Queen who when her Husband fell fell upon him to serve him for a Buckler so as she could not easily be dragg'd from him received two wounds and Patrick Dunbarre brother to the Earle of the March who defended the King as long as he was able was left for dead sorely wounded and his fingers struck off This cruell treason was forthwith divulged every where filling all mens mindes with horrour and pitty those who formerly hated the King did now celebrate him they called to minde how he had passed all his life in afflictions his childhood practised upon his unckle his youth bittered by imprisonment his Kingdome annoyed with perpetuall seditions and now slaine in a Court of government the most moderate and most just that ever Scotland enjoyed there
was not any Lord though never so farre off who did not hasten to revenge this death all the actors whereof were it out of their overdaring confidence or did it onely proceed from the will of God were taken brought to Edenburgh and severally punished The three principalls Atholl his Grand-sonne and Graines were the last reserved for punishment and all of them suffered death I know not whether more examplary or cruell Atholls punishment was divided into three dayes suffering the first day he was led through the Citie in a Cart wherein was framed the forme of a Crosse in wood with a pully at the top of it with a rope fastned to it wherewith his hands being fastned behind him and hee all naked having his privy parts onely covered hee was at certaine appointed places drawne up to the toppe of the pully having leaden waights at his heeles within two foote of the ground and after having had many of these draughts hee was set in a Scaffold and had a crowne of red hot Iron set upon his head a punishment invented as they say for that he was once foretold by a Sorceresse that hee should one day be crowned King in the concourse of a great many of people the which whether it be true or no or whether beleefe ought to be given to such predictions I leave it to be decided by the learned the knowledge of things to come belong properly to God alone and if it should bee granted that the divell have some share herein by his observation of the Starres and their Aspects wherein he may be a great master being Coetanean with the Plannets and immortall yet should I thinke him altogether ignorant herein were it not contrary to the schoole of Theologists who say that by sinning hee lost what hee had received by favour not what was naturall in him I should resemble him to a cancelled writing for perfection of knowledge which was naturall in him being a Species of beatitude there doth no beatitude belong unto the damned but allow the opinion of the Schooles wee may affirme that his knowledge of things to come being uncertaine and conjecturall as are all such things as depend upon the like principals hee doth not communicate them but by uncertainties and equivocation Athols prediction proved this unto us since pronounced in a sense of exaltation and glory it proved to bee base and infamous but formy part I beleeve these predictions are invented when things have succeeded one part of the World delighting in being deceived the other in deceiving and seeming wise by affirming what is not The second day hee was laid upon a hurdle and drawne at a horse taile through the chiefe streetes of Edenbourough The third day hee was laid upon a table his Belly ript up his Bowels throwne into the fire his Heart torne out and burn't his Head cut off his Body quartered and his Quarters sent to the foure chiefe Cities of Scotland his Grand-sonne faired the better for his being young and set on by his Grand-father hee was onely hanged and quartered Robert Grames was put naked into a Carte had his hand wherewith hee slew the King fastned to a ladder erected therein was pincht with hot yrons in all the parts of his Body his vitall parts excepted and then quartered England was grieved at the death of this vertuous King though her enemy but not thereby incommodiated for Iames the second not being past seven yeares old was not of age enough to annoy any one hee himselfe being sufficiently annoyed by the ambition of such who strove to bee his Governour I observe one thing remarkeable in the story of Scotland that of one hundred and eight Kings that have raigned there our gratious King Charles that now raignes not comprehended in the number 54. have dyed naturall deaths 49. have come to violent ends by misfortune conspiracy and battells and for the other five which remaine to make up the number one renounced the Kingdome and foure fled from thence and were banished so as if you will account them happy who come to naturall ends and number the five who did not dye Kings amongst the unhappy the number of happy and unhappy is equall each of them making 54. the like will not bee met withall as neither the succession of so many Kings in any one Kingdome or any Kingdome of Europe After the havock Gloster had made in Philips territores both parties drawne either by the perswasion of friends or commodity of trading were drawne to treat of truce at Gravelein whither for Henry went the Cardinall of Winehester the Duke of Norfolke the Earle of Stafford with others verst in law and busines and for Philip the Dutchesse his wife the Bishop of Arras Monsieur de Croy and others a truce was concluded in the name of the Dutchesse Philip not being so much as named therein which caused two opinions either that Henry would not treat with him as being a perjured man and a breaker of former agreements and therefore not better to bee now expected from him or els that it was a peece of cunning in Philip not to cause jealously in Charles and that it might bee lawfull for him to undoe what was there done when it might turne to his advantage since wives promises doe not oblige their husbands which of these was the true cause it is hard to say neither doth it much import the onely certainty is that it lasted but a while The death of Queen Katharine mother to King Henry hapned at the same time who being left a widdow in her time of youth and without hope of marrying her selfe otherwise did secreetly marry Owen Tewdor a young Gentleman of Wales whose laudable parts added to the Noblenes of his birth for hee was descended from Cadwallader the last King of the Britons moved her to take him for husband by him shee had three sonnes and one daughter the sonnes names were Edmond and Iasper the third sonnes name who became a Benedictine Frier is not exprest as neither the Daughters name who became likewise a Nun the two first being brothers by the mothers side to King Henry were by him created Earles Edmond of Richmond Iasper of Pembrooke Edmond who did marry Iane the onely daughter and heire of Iohn Duke of Somerset was Father to Henry the seaventh but Katharine being dead Owen was questioned for marrying a woman that had such relation unto the King without his consent whereupon Gloster having caused him two severall times to bee imprisoned and hee having twise made an escape the third time hee was caught and lost his life But this is not the common opinion of Authours as wee shall see George Lille layes hee was descended from a base originall and toucheth no other particulers Meirus makes him the Bastard of an Alehouse keeper in Walles Katharnes Taylor and very lately married by her to the end that the children shee had by him might by her marriage bee made legitimate Belleforest affirmes
months and halfe a siege Reolle a City seated upon the River of Garrone seaven leagues distant from Burdeaux was taken by force but when Charles returned into France the English repossessed themselves of Ayes and Saint Leverine and kept Ayes but lost Saint Leverine which was retaken by the Count de Fois their great enemy in an other part the Towne of Galerdonne did much molest Shartres as being neare unto it in so much as the Bastard of Orleans did besiege it but raised the siege when Talbot having taken Conches came to confront him and Talbot being assured that it would againe bee set upon as soone as the Bastard was gone did demolish it to the very ground whilest businesses went thus in France the ground works of Glocesters ruine were laid in England who relying upon his quality was not aware that his brothers death had lessened that authority which was due to him as Uncle to the King and Protector of the Kingdome whereupon provoked by his antient hatred of the Cardinall of Winchesters pride hee laid many faults unto his charge wherein though there might bee some likelyhood yet were not his proofes sufficient to convince him hee objected unto him 24. Articles some of which touched likewise upon the Archbishop of Yorke that hee had dared to doe many things without the authority of the King or him the Protector to the offence of Majesty and of the lawes to the end that in honour and dignity hee might proceed wheresoever els of greater degree that to enrich himselfe hee had defrauded the Exchequer and practised things prejudiciall to the affaires of France and that hee had beene the cause of the King of Scots liberty contrary to the interests of England there were the contents of his most waighty objections which were by the King referred to the Councell and the Councell consisting much of Ecclesiasticall persons the Duke was deluded not with oppositions or difficulties but with hopes promises till such time as the controversie falling into oblivion there was no more speech thereof hee had plunged himselfe into this busines upon extraordinary disadvantage his nature and the Cardinalls were too much differing for being more violent then revengefull and satisfied in that hee had vented his choller hee did not sollicite expedition whilest so harmefull carelesnes made him subject to bee despised and encouraged the Cardinall to revenge This great Prelates ambition was growne so high as that hee did pretend that King and Kingdome depended upon his directions wherein hee did so artificially behave himselfe that though his actions were blameable and unjust yet did they to all men seeme praise worthy and just dissimulation and cunning are the characters of a wary Courtier but not of a good Christian as simplicity and candour are of no use but of more danger to Princes then private men Henry and Gloster lost themselves for not having taken the other Councell the Cardinall did with the Duke as doth a well experienced Captaine with a Fort who not battering the Wall undermines the foundations being sure that the Battlements and Walles withall fall at once without any hazard to himselfe the foundations were the Dukes reputation which falling it behooved him to fall hee caused Elianor Cobham Dutchesse of Glocester to bee accused of treason witchcraft and enchantment for having made the Kings image in wax purposing that the King should consume away and perish as that image should doe to the end that the Duke her Husband might come unto the Crowne her complices were Thomas Southwell one of Saint Stephens Canons in Westminster Iohn Hum a Priest likewise Roger Bullenbrook reputed a great Negromancer Margery Iordan surnamed the Witch of Eie they were examined and convinced in Saint Stephens Chappell before the Archbishop of Canterbury the Dutchesse was sentenced to do publike pennance in three severall parts of the citie and to perpetuall imprisonment in the Isle of Man Iohn Humme was pardoned the other Priest they say did die the night which did immediatly preceede his punishment according to what he had prognosticated of himself that he should die in his bed The Witch was burnt in Smithfield and Bullingbrooke being drawne at a Horses tayle to Tyburne was hanged and quartered whether this imputation were true or no may be disputed by reason of Iohn Hummes being pardoned and Bullingbrookes constant affirmation at his death that no such wickednesse was ever imagined by them how ever it was this businesse was in it selfe so shamefull and scandalous as the Duke did not any wise meddle therein but patiently endured the affront and the being parted from his wife The losses which this meane while were suffered in Guienne made Henry resolve to send thither some little succour till such time as hee could provide greater Sir William Woodvile was dispatcht away with 800. men and Proclamation made that whosoever would transport any victuals thither should be exempted from all taxations which caused so much provision be sent thither as did supply the necessitie of that Province which being environed enemies could not make any use of the adjacent countries Talbot was likewise dispatcht away with 3000. Souldiers into Normandy and that he might goe with honour answerable to his deserts he was by the King created Earle of Shrewsbury a title which had not beene made use of for 340. yeares from such time as William the Conquerour having bestowed it on Robert Montgomery who came together with him from Normandy and who had but two that did succeed him It fell upon the person and family of Talbot who have injoyed it the space of a 190. yeares with a successive descent of ten Earles Whilest these provisions were made in England Count Armignac proffered his daughter for wife to Henry together with all the places which hee or his predecessors either by their owne acquirement or by gift and investment from the Kings of France had possessed in Gascony together with monies and assistance in the recovery of such places as were detained from him by Charles by Monsieur d'Albret and others of that Province till such time as hee should be intirely Duke thereof as anciently he was of Aquitane the councell did well approve of these offers and Embassadours were sent unto him but this businesse was not nor indeede could not be handled with so much see resieas to be kept from Charles his eare who caused notice to be given unto him for his personall appearing at the Parliament to be holden within 15. dayes at Tholouse and from thence at Paris That which mooved the Count to this offer to boote with his ambition of having his daughter a Queene and his dislike for not having a share in Court answerable to his greatnesse and his fathers great deserving was his desire to appropriate to himselfe the county of Comminges whereunto he layd pretence Iane Countesse of Comminges daughter to the Count of Bullen and Comminges and widdow to Iohn Duke of Berny who married her when
she was but 13. yeares old and he himselfe above 50. was married a second time to Matthias Count de Castelbuono of the house of Fois who had by her one daughter but being hardly handled by her husband she made a will whereby she made King Charles her heire in case her daughter should die without lawfull heires for the which her husband shut her up in prison when she was fourescore yeares old upon this her daughter dyed and Charles having his hands full else where Matthias maintained by the Count de Fois and by agreement with Count Armignac both his cousen smade himselfe master of many places of that County Amignac doing the like who laid pretences thereunto the King who was obliged to assist Iane and desires to enjoy in his due time the inheritance that was given him commanded her husband to present her at Tholouse where asperation between her him being declared halfe the county was assigned over to her the other half reserved for the kings use but she dying some three moneths after and Count Armignack having usurped many places Charles sent the Dolphin against him so as being abandoned by Count Perdriak his brother by Count de March and by Salatzar a Captaine of Arragon who did all sustaine him hee shut himselfe up in a Castle where thinking to couzen the Dolphins young yeares by simulation and treaties he was by the same arts cozened by the Dolphin who was a great master therein for when he suffered him to enter into the Castle hee tooke him prisoner and sent him his wife his second sonne and two daughters to Carcassonne from whence he was delivered at the intercession of Count de Fois his desire then to revenge this affront and to regaine this County from Charles made him offer this marriage which tooke no effect as wee shall see The Pope and all the other Princes of Christendome continued in the desire of making a peace betweene these two Kings to the which they thought the expences they had beene at and the reciprocall evills they had suffered would make them more inclinable to this purpose an Assembly was appointed at Tours whither came most of the Princes of the blood and those who came not sent their substitute amongst which the Duke of Burgony sent his for Henry came William Poole Earle of Suffolke Doctor Adam Mollins Lord Keeper the Lord Robert Rosse and others for Charles the Duke of Orleans Lodovick of Burbone Count de Vandosme and Monsieur de Pesigni but meeting with the wonted difficulties not likely to be ended in a short time A truce for 18. moneths was concluded by which meanes they hoped they might meet with the necessary expedients for the desired peace some report that upon this occasiō Henry demanded Margaret of Aniou daughter to Renatus King of Scicily for wife which was not so for his marriage with the daughter of Count Armignack was at that time thought as good as concluded her fathers performance of his promises being only expected for the consummating thereof the onely moover in the other was the Earle of Suffolke who did it of his owne head not acquainting any of his Colleagues therewithall and wherein hee did too boldly exceede his instructions if hee did it out of beleefe that this new allyance by blood was requisite to the joyning of their mindes he was much too blame for if consanguinitie be of no moment amongst Princes when particuler interest is in question much lesse affinitie if not Henry being the sonne of Charles his sister no tie save that of father could more strictly have united them so as it did not much import that the Queene of France should bee Aunt by the Fathers side to her whom he should marry since Charles was Vncle to himselfe by the mothers side what was credited was that the Earle did this to advance himselfe by meanes of this Lady intended by him for wife to Henry without any further respect The conclusion was that the King of Scicily should have all restored unto him which did patrimonially belong unto him in Aniou and Maine and which were now enjoyed by the King of England so as it was not sufficient that this unlucky marriage should neither bring profit with it nor any hopes thereof but that to make it on all sides disadvantagious hee should endow his father in law with these countries which had beene wonne at expence of blood and which for safety and reputation ought to be unallienable from the Crowne of England but the fate if any such thing there be which led him unto ruine was in-evitable for the Eà rle of Suffolke being returned to England figured forth this match as a meanes to end the warres to procure peace and make the Kingdome happy whereby he blinded the Councell and painted forth the Lady in the most lovely colours that beauty could bee set forth in and in conditions the most sublime that might become a Princesse whereby hee allured Henry so as though no man did approve of it as thinking it good some seemed to approve of it not to displease Suffolke and all to please the King who was perswaded to it for it is dangerous for such as councell Princes to have more regard to the Prince his profit then to the humoring of him in his affections Which were it otherwise Princes would be too happy and peradventure not acknowledged God the author thereof who doth therefore counterpoise the power of their might with the impotency of their passions The Duke of Glocester was hee alone who to his cost opposed it thinking the former intended match not fit to be broken as well for that it was amisse to faile the Count Armignac as likewise that his alliance was more advantagious and of more pregnant hopes of honorable atchievements whereas the other brought nothing with it but losse the Citie of Mens Mayne and that part of the Dutchy of Aniou which Henry possessed serving as a Bulwarke to Normandy did to the first losse of their surrendring adde a second of weakning the affaires in France which ought to be maintained in their full force to the end that the treatie of peace might bee made upon the better termes but all these reasons were to no end since the heavens had decreed that the Duke should for this cause loose his life the King his life and state the Crowne all that it possest abroad and the kingdome that peace at home which till then it had injoyed When Charles understood that Henry was herewithall contented he sent unto him the Count de Vandosme a Prince of the blood and the Archbishop of Rheins who concluded the match the more to honour this unfortunate marriage Henry created three Dukes and one Marquesse he made Iohn Holland Earle of Huntington Duke of Excester Humphrey Earle of Stafford Duke of Buckingham Henry Earle of Warwicke Duke of Warwicke and the Earle of Suffolke who was the authour thereof Marquesse of Suffolke and for his further
honour made him his deputy to celebrate the formality of espousall and to bring his bride over into England He went then and had with him his wife and a great many of Ladies and Gentlemen carriages and letters for her father who was rich in titles of imaginary kingdomes as of Scicily and Ierusalem had not meanes to send her to her husband so as all the charge which was very vast fell to Henries share being come to Tours hee married her in the name of his master in the presence of the King of France The Queene and a great number of Princes and Lords amongst which were the Dukes of Orleans Calabria Alanson and Brittany the marriage was solemnized with feasts and tilting after which with the like or better shee was married by Henry in England and crowned Queene Normandy lay openly exposed by the surrendring of the two Provinces Count Armignac was scandalized and shortly likely to revenge himselfe the kingdome was fallen into an Abisse from whence it was not to be raised but by the death of the King the ruine of the Queene the desolation of the house of Lancaster the destruction of the Nobility the rebellion of the people and the alteration of the State This seperation of Armes caused the Duke of Yorke and many other Commanders returne to England that they might consult of what provisions were to be made before the expiration of the truce to the end that Normandy being well fortified Charles might be brought to a well conditioned peace and if not that they might be able to make a powerfull warre But England did in this an evill mannager who having a house covered with Lead sells the Lead and then covers it againe with straw to the end that a sparke of Fire by reason of this new covering may be sufficient to set it on fire the given Provinces were the Lead sould and prodigally squandred the provisions for Normandy the thatching over with straw the two Provinces might have entertained the warre and being lost have advanced time which is the father of the changes of fortune for losse in warre doth seldom happen in one action and at one instant To this purpose a Parliament was called subsidies paid Souldiers raised and the Duke of Sommerset made a Regent of France in stead of the Duke of Yorke the Marquesse of Suffolke were it either to boast of his favours or that hee foresaw the future danger made a long speech in the upper house relating his ownemerits in the making of this truce and this match and advertising the Lords that since the truce expired the next Aprill and peace did not ensue they should doe well to take such order as that Normandy might not be endamaged for it was to be beleeved that the French finding it ill provided would make use of their advantage that having advertised the King thereof he did now the like to them to the end that if any evill did happen it should not be said to have beene for want of any good admonition he desired them in discharge of his innocency to thinke on this the same thing was done the next day in the lower house the Messengers whereof entreated the Lords of the upper house that by joynt consent of both houses this present action might be registred amongst the acts of Parliament hee obtained what he desired the favours of favorites being like to little Rivolets which easily glide into the current waters even of the greatest rivers they sent their Speaker to the upper house where the Lords who did likewise waver with the wind did on their knees beseech the King that in respect of great services done by the Marquesse he would vouchsafe him this and whatsoever other favour for that he could not bestow his graces upon a more worthy subject and the King who of himselfe was wonderfull prodigall of his favours to him and loved to be entreated thereunto as not willing to seeme to doe it of his owne inclination answered them in such a manner as every one might see he made him the haven of his favours and the object of other mens respects the action was registred but not with that successe as was hoped for to witnesse that the peoples and Princes favours are of short duration and oftentimes unfortunate hee shortly after created him Duke he gave him two rich wardships that of the countesse of Warwick and of Margaret the daughter of Iohn Duke of Summerset who was afterwards the mother of Henry the seventh hee likewise at his request created Iohn de Fois Count de Longaville and Captaine de Bus Count de Candale both of them Guascons all these favours served onely to make his downe-fall the more sudden which usually doth not faile being caused either by the hatred of private men or of the Prince for such mens insolencies encreasing with their authorities and their authorities growing greater by their favour they become insupportable and having once offended cannot support themselves but by new offences whereby begetting hatred and envie amongst private men and societie in Princes they must needs fall and be overthrowne either by the one or the other According to Articles of marriage all places belonging to Aniou and Mayne were already surrendred except Manns the which being of more importance then the rest Charles did beleeve they had no intention to deliver it up so as having raised a convenient Army he prepared to have it by force which when Henry understood he gave order that it should be forthwith surrendered unto him not so much for that he should not have just cause to breake the truce as that by justice he was to doe it But Chartier and Monstrellet say that the English held it till the yeare 1449. at which time Charles besieged it and that the Lord Privy Seale being chosen Bishop of Winchester caused it to be yeelded up unto him but how ever it were this cessation from Armes wrought the like effects in England as in a healthfull body the forbearing of moderate exercises doth which by filling it with bad humours bringeth infirmities upon it The natures of the late married couple were if not opposite sufficiently differing the husband was of a womanish inclination the wife of a manlike spirit the King was humbled evout spiritually given caring onely for his soules health the Queene was proud ambitious worldly given and not to be quieted till having brought the kingdome to be governed as shee pleased shee might see her selfe free from Rivals in the government The Duke of Glocester was no wayes pleasing to her as well for that he had opposed her marriage an injury not to be forgotten as likewise that her husband being long since out of his minority was still governed by him as formerly when he was under age the which being observed by such as did not love the Duke they let slip no occasion whereby they might worke his ruine The Marquesse of Suffolke for that he could not rise to
the height hee aymed at during his life Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham for that being sonne of Anne Plantaginet who was descended from Thomas Duke of Glocester the seventh sonne of Edward the third if the Duke were out of the way he should be the first Duke of England wherefore hee thought that this prerogative and his being couzen to the King would cause his advancement the Cardinall of Winchester by reason of his emulation which their reciprocall hatred had kindled not to be quenched but by the last of revenges The Archbishop of Yorke for that Glocester having declared himselfe his enemy in his last accusations he was desirous though not according to the Gospell to render him evill for evill but his eminency and universall love had rendred all their designes vaine had they not come assisted by the Lawes They accused him at the Councell Table of many faults of all which he did with such sinceritie acquit himselfe as that hee freed the Councells minde from any the least scruple and used such arguments as did adde to his reputation They objected unto him that he had caused many to be put to death contrary to the Lawes of the Kingdome inferring thereby that hatred and cruelty had beene the directors of his justice whilst that whereby they were most scandalized was that hee could not indure wicked men These forenamed men together with them the Queene perceiving that nothing was done caused a Parliament to be called at Berry in Suffolke whither hee came together with the rest of the Peers not dreaming of any evill relying more upon his owne integrity then by reason of the others malice he ought to have done The first day of Parliament passed over quietly spent in the accustomed ceremonies the second day he was made prisoner by the Lord high Constable of England accompanied by the Duke of Buckingham and many others a guard was set upon him his servants were all taken from him whereof 32. were imprisoned and hee not long after Hale saith the very next night was found dead in his bed some affirming that he dyed of an Apoplexie some of an Imposthume in his Head but although there was no doubt but that his death was violent yet did no man know of what sort some thought hee was strangled some stiffeled betweene two pillowes and many that hee had a red hot spit thrust in at his fundament five of the prisoners were examined and condemned but as they were carrying to execution they were set at liberty by the Marquesse of Suffolke who brought their pardon signed by the King which did not satisfie the people for the saving of these mens innocency did not salve the treason used to the Duke By a pardon given to one of his servants may bee seene the pretence they tooke to commit this Murther where it is said that hee was one of the many Traitors who came in the traine of Humphery Duke of Glocester to destroy the King and set his Wife Elianor at liberty The death of this Prince was lamented by the whole Kingdome from whom hee deserved the surname of good for so in effect hee was a lover his Countrey a Friend to good men a Protector of the learned whereof hee himselfe was one as well verst in the lawes of the Kingdome as whatsoever Lawyer and if hee erred in his enmity with the Duke of Burgony and the Cardinall of Winchester 't was through the greatnes of his Spirit the which if it bereave not of fault doth at least deminish the blame for all humanity is subject to errour After him the title of Glocester was reputed ominous for the foure last Glocesters came to violent ends Thomas Duke of Glocester sonne to Edward the third was strangled at Callais Thomas Spencer Earle of Glocester beheaded at Berry Humphery Duke of Glocester dead as you have heard and Richard Duke of Glocester slaine in a Battell of civill Warre after hee was King by the name of Richard the third as wee shall see I doe not withstanding beleeve that if occasion bee offered no man will refuse the honour since before these unfortunate foure there were cleaven of that title nine of which dyed naturall deaths the other two Ieffery Mandeville and Gilbert Clare slaine in turnament the first in warre the other before Sterline so as they are not to bee rancked with the last foure since their deaths hapned through malice or civill warre The Cardinall of Winchester enjoyed not the content of this his death above 14. or 16. dayes for hee dyed to see the ruine of his house of the which hee was the chieefest raiser for doubtlesse if Glocester had lived the Duke of Yorke had not risen and the Queene who by his death thought to have established her authority lost thereby all shee could loose her life excepted her Husband sonne and Kingdome for her ignorance in things to come threw her headlong upon those evils which at the price of her owne bloud shee would willingly have redeemed together with the life of Glocester but too late foresight brings repentance remedies not Having by so cruell a way obtained her desire shee employ'd all her endeavours how to establish an authority which under her Husbands name might make her absolute in the Kingdome she raised Suffolke from Marquesse to Duke which title he but a shorte time enjoyed for fortune of her owne nature inconstant is much the more so when her favours are conferr'd without merit The Duke of Yorke who saw that all these things redounded to the advancement of his designes slipt not his occasions for laying open to his friends and the male contents in how bad a condition the Kingdome was the King weake and governed by a Woman under the haughty direction of the Duke of Suffolke it was easie for him to perswade them to establish him in his owne right since the house of Lancaster did usurpe the Crowne and held it contrary to the lawes of the Kingdome the lawes of bloud and nature this hee did with so much vehemency insinuate so opportunely and to people who desired nothing more then change as it was easie for him to draw unto him subjects of the most eminent condition who that they might have followers and preferments were apt to uphold him To this was added the greatnes of his family and the family of his wife Cicelli Nevill by both which hee was allied to the greatest men and chiefest families of the Kingdome his reputation wonne in France but chiefely his right unto the Crowne in a time when if hee had no right they might have imagined some in him so to withdrawe themselves from the Government of an imperious Woman and a proud favorite who ruling all as they listed and excluding all others made use of the authority of a weake King who had nothing of Prince in him but name This was the first stone which Richard Plantagenet Duke of Yorke laid in the ground-worke of the generall ruine
those of the Garrison were furnished with shipping to transport them and had safe conduct by land together with their weapons and goods the Souldiers without suffered much in this short siege for the season was very violent in raine and inundations so as the waters entered into all the Huts throughout the whole Campe this notwithstanding they willingly underwent all incommodities seeing the King expose himselfe to all dangers his example made them willing to suffer with him the onely way to infuse patience into the French for being led on by their King they out did themselves doing that under his command which under anothers had beene impossible for them to doe and because wee have diciphered this King else where with affections much differing from these present actions wee must cite Hallian for our discharge who will free us from reproach telling what happened in the yeare 1445. he falls upon these words In the concourse of so many affaires the King suffering himselfe to be transported by pleasures fell in love with a Gentlewoman belonging to the Queene his wife called Agneta Sorrell borne in Onvergne a Lady so faire as shee acquired the name of Agneta the faire and to the end that shee might have the title the King gave her during her life le Chasteau de Beante neare to the Boys de Saint Vincent and caused there to be erected that great Pavillion which at this day is there to be seene all covered When shee was called the Lady of Beauty the King had by her foure daughters all married into good houses of this Kingdome though some say hee had but one married to Monsieur de Bresse Of Normandy and others That she lived not long and that the King did not avow her for his but though the affection the King bore her lessened his due respects unto his wife and tooke from her much of of the rights of marriage yet was she faine to swallow this bitter pill and patiently permit the faire Agneta enjoy the best of her husbands affections 't is said that when she saw the King carelesse effeminate not minding the affaires of his kingdome nor the victories which the English wonne she one day said unto him that when she was a very young girle she was told by an Astrologer that she should be beloved by one of the most couragious and most valiant Kings of Christendome and that when she had the honour to be beloved by him shee thought hee had beene that valiant and couragious King foretold by the Astrologer but seeing him so soft natured not minding his affaires normaking head against the English and Henry their King who before his face had taken so many Cities of his shee very well perceived she was deceived and that this valiant couragious King could be none other but the King of England and therefore said shee I will goe finde him out for he is that King foretold me by the Astrologer and not you who neither have courage nor valour since you suffer your kingdome to be lost and doe not resent it These words pronounced by her whom he loved better then hee should have done did so touch him to the quicke as that hee fell a weeping and awakening himselfe tooke courage upon him gave not himselfe so much to hunting and dalliance as hee was wont so as by his good fortune and the valour of his good Commanders who faithfully served him he drove the English out of all France Callis excepted I was desirous to place here the words of this Historian not so much to shew that I did not lie in my other contrary descriptions as that it being my dutie to praise vertue and blame vice I have done it in their due places as every writer ought to doe particularly where they speake of Princes to the end that those who are alive may thereby be admonished that when they are dead the same rules will be observed in the writing of their story The affaires in Guienne Though they did not precipitate so fast of as those off Normandy Guichus a strong Castle foure leagues distant from Bayone was besieged with a formall army by Monsieur de Lantree brother to the Count and Bastard de Fois 4000. English went to succour it and that their comming might be the more unlooked for they embarked themselves in the River that passeth by Bayone and landed not farre from Guisches Lantree who by spies was enformed of their designe left the siege and treated them as they thought to have treated him for they not dreaming of being discovered were taken at such unawares as not having time to put themselves in order they fled towards their Barques were followed by the enemy and 1200. of them slaine George Stapleton one of their Commanders mistrusting to escape by flight passed through the middest of the enemy and was followed by 600. Launces who valiantly fighting saved themselves within Gueschin but it did but little availe him for the towne being blockt up and no body to succour it he departed at unawares with his men hoping to get into Bayone but being followed by the Bastard de Fois hee and many of his men were taken prisoners the Castle was yeelded up the next day and therewithall all the country which lies betweene Auxe and Bayone wherein was contained 15. or 16. strong holds which afterwards caused to the French the more easie winning of whole Guascony Charles did not forbeare to prosecute his designes in Normandy for all the frost and cold in Ianuary hee sent the Dunnesse to besiege Honnefleur whither hee afterwards came in person and was lodged in an Abbey not farre from thence valiant was the defence and furious the onset wherein neither wit nor labour was wanting The towne articled to surrender if they should not bee succoured by the eighteenth of February but the Duke of Sommerset not daring to trust the Citizens with Caan which if he had done wanting men to resist the French Forces Honnefleur was enforced to runne the same fortune the other townes did Iearnsy yeelded and paid downe 10000. peeces of gold not so much that the Garrison might be suffered free with their goods as for the ransome of Momfort their Captaine not long before taken at Ponte de Meere This meane while the English though at variance at home sent Sir Thomas Terrill into France a renouned Captaine and who had beene trayned up in these warres from his youth but being landed at Cherreburgh with 1500. men he could doe no good with so small a number and though in a short time hee tooke in Liseux and Valonges the matter was not so much since the enemy being severally busied else where had not leasure to divert them hee added to his number certaine troopes drawne out of the few townes which yet remained to the English conducted by Sir Henry Mowbery Sir Robert Vere and Sir Robert Gough which in all made us 5000. with these he judged it best onely to march towards Caen
of Yorke had domesticated a savage people reduced them to discipline and to obedience that England stood in neede of such a King who were to bee sought out if there were not such a one and were to be chosen were it not by nature and by the Lawes due unto him so as if he were not priviledged by his lawfull pretentions his onely vertues were sufficient to purchase him the Kingdome That Henry was illegitimate yet a King to be borne withall did hee resemble his grandfather or his father but that degenerating in worth usurping the lawes and being by nature incapable hee was unworthy and not to bee tollerated since that as France had beene lost by him England would likewise runne danger of being lost if his preservation should bee endeavoured That necessity the times and chiefely the danger the common wealth was in required other resolutions that advantage and the common weales good being joyned to justice it would bee injustice injury and ruine not to provide for it They did not preach this Doctrine in private but disperst it abroad to the end that like seed sowne in due time they might there out reape to harvest which they expected Every man had the vanitie to publish these things to shew their wisedomes and their affection to the publique necessitie and to the end that these seditious practises might bee followed by effects Yorke before the death of the forenamed Duke had wrought the end of Adam Molleins Bishop of Chichester and Lord privy Seale beleeving that hee being a man of integritie might oppose his designes hee caused him to bee assassenated by Fishermen at Ports-mouth to the end that hee might bee thought to bee slaine by the outragious commotion of that baser sort of people but all these things tending more to undoing then to the doing of any thing hee thought to beginne his worke by some popular sedition which precipitating the Rebells into a fault unpardonable and their feare of punishment making them obstinate in their errours hee might make use of them either joyned together or separated as occasion should serve hee perswaded one Iacke Cade an Irishman a bold man and who had a spirit which did not correspond with his low condition to faigne himselfe to bee a Cosen of his of the house of Mortimer to the end that winning beleefe by reason of his blood hee might bee favoured by the true Mortimers who did not know him and might seduce the rest which hee was to worke upon hee chose Kent for his scene beleeving it to bee fickle and fitter for his designe than any other place as being neare to London There did Cade exagerate the wickednesse of the Counsellours and of the government the grievances and such other like things till such time as having sufficiently enflamed the Inhabitants of those parts hee made offer of himselfe to bee their Leader promising them that when hee should have possessed himselfe of the Kings person the which hee faigned hee would doe and driven away those who governed him amisse hee would put them in a way of so just a government that the grievances introduced under spetious pretences and which framed the chaine of their servitude should totally bee taken away and the chaine broken Thus perswaded hee assembled a great number of people with whom hee encamped himselfe not farre from London and calling himselfe the Captaine of Kent hee sent for one Thomas Cocke a Woollen Draper under a safe conduct commanding him to bring him certaine numbers of Armes and Horse and a thousand Markes of ready money at the charge of the strangers that did inhabit the Citie by the name the Genowayes Venetians and Florentines threatning that if these things were not sent unto him hee would kill as many of them as hee could come by and 't is to be beleeved hee was herein obeyed For when afterwards hee entered the Citie hee did no harme at all to any forreigner the Citizens were not displeased at his commotion who did not consider their owne danger and the little beleefe which ought to bee given to such people But the King and Councell who foresaw the consequences sent to understand from him the reasons which had mooved him to take up Armes and make the people rise hee answered to amend the evills under which the kingdome suffered to chastise those who were the ruine of the Common-wealth and to correct the errours of the chiefe Counsellours which being said hee gave unto those that were sent unto him two writings the one was intituled The Commons of Kents complaints the other their demands from the King The Articles of the former were that it was reported that Kent should bee destroyed and reduced into a Forrest to revenge the Duke of Suffolkes death whereof the Countie was no wayes gurltie that the King had taken a resolution for the time to come to live upon the peoples contributions and to give his owne revenue to particular men that those of the blood royall were excluded from the government of the state and people of meane condition introduced so as businesses were not dispatch't according to the Lawes but by corruption that provisions for the Kings household were had and not payd for that by the Kings giving of confiscations unto his servants the innocent were falsely convinced and by being kept in prison lost the benefit of the Law so as they could not defend themselves that the like was practised against them who being justly possessed of their goods were denied to shew their title that they might bee thereof deprived That France being lost through the faults of certaine Traitors they should bee enquired after and condemned without pardon the writing which contained their demands was to this purpose that the King that hee might live conformable to his royall dignitie should retaine unto himselfe the patrimony of the Crowne and not participate it unto others That he should banish all Suffolkes kindred should punish according unto the Lawes such of them as had deserved punishment and should take neare unto him the Lords of the blood Royall viz. the Dukes of Yorke Excester Buckingham and Norfolke and all the Earles and Barons for that so doing hee would bee the richest King of Christendome that those who were guiltie of the Duke of Glocesters death who was injustly declared to bee a Traytor should bee punished the Commons declaring that they would live and die in this quarrell and maintaine the imputation to bee false that the Duke of Excester the Cardinall of Winchester the Duke of Warwicke France Normandy Gascony Guien Aniou and Mayne many Lords Gentlemen and others were lost through the fault of these Traitors to the Kings great prejudice Finally they demanded the Abollition of divers things which they termed extortions the Councell was much vext at the Arrogancy of these men and since there was none there who did not condemne them Henry with fifteene thousand men marched towards them himselfe in person to give them battle but Cade
twelve miles from London and secured himselfe with trenches and artillery The King brought his campe thither likewise and sent unto him the Bishops of Winchester and Ely to know of him what had caused him to take up armes hee answered nothing against the King nor yet against any honest man but against some evill Counsellors who were enemies to the common-wealth and the peoples leeches and naming the Duke of Somerset hee said hee was the cause that brought him thither and offered if Somerset might bee put into safe custody till such time as in Parliament hee should make defence to such things as there should bee objected against him to dismisse his troopes and present himselfe before the King and serve him as all good and faithfull subjects ought to doe The Dukes end in this enterprise was to justifie his owne actions in the beginning for to fight with the King at very first would proove scandalous and diametrically opposite to the publique good With this his answer hee would possesse the World of a good opinion of him shun the dangers hee might light upon if hee should hazard a battell and have the worst and by making Somerset safe so as hee should bee enforced to answer to what should bee objected against him hee was sure the Parliaments severity considered and the hatred which the people bore him hee could not escape with his life the which hapning hee might with ease deprive Henry of this Kingdome rather by meanes of law then by violence for having lost Somerset hee lost all councell commanders and followers The King on the other side who thought that to reduce him to obedience by violence would be a hazardous affaire seemed to gratifie his desire and gave order for Somersets being forth comming whereupon dismissing his people according to his promise Yorke came unto the King but whilest hee had published his complaints accusing the pretended guilty person of treason and oppression The Duke of Somerset who was not farre of and heard all that was said hearing himselfe wounded in his honour and could not containe himselfe but comming from where hee was concealed and not contented to answer to what was objected against him hee accused his accusor of high treason for having with many others conspired against the Kings life and consulted how with least danger they might bereave him of his crowne and scepter an accusation which was not slightly to bee passed over The King returned to London whither hee was brought as a prisoner and presented before a great counsell assembled for this purpose aâ—… Westminster where the two Dukes accusing one another reciprocally nothing could bee resolved of for Yorke denyed all nor were there any witnesses to convince him but Somerset perceiving the euils that were likely to ensue if hee should escape did all that in him lay to have him put to the rack which in this case onely is permitted by the lawes of England He shewed how that if Yorke and all his generation were not bereaved of their lives a â—…vill warre must needs ensue which would bee the destruction of England for that hee had long agoe resolved the ruine of the King and of the house of Lancaster that hee might make himselfe King and transplant the Crowne and Kingdome into his owne family or house But these advertisements were of no force his supposed innocence withstood them since when hee was armed with considerable forces hee had presented himselfe unarmed before the King which it was not likely hee would have done had hee beene guilty of any such thing An opinion which easily prevailed for that at the same there came two important nuses the one that the Earle of Marsh was marching with an army towards London the other that the Count de Cardale and Monsieur Desperres were sent from Burdeaux to make a new offer of their obedience and to desire an army to recover what was lost and which was easiliest to bee recovered for that the French were weake and the Country weary of them so as the eminent danger threatned by the comming of the Earle of Marsh and the Gnascons request the first not to bee excited and the latter not to bee promised without peace and quiet were the causes why the Duke of Yorke was released and why hee retired himselfe to Wales to expect a more opportune occasion whilest the Duke of Somerset had wherewithall to appease his griefe remaining without rivall the moderator of the whole government The alterations of Gascony sprung from impositions laid by the French caused fresh hopes in England the which though it be denied by Dupleix who doth therefore taxe Hallian who followes the opinion of Pollidore yet are the proofes of the contrary very weake hee saith it is not likely that Charles would have imposed grievances upon them contrary to his oath especially the first yeare wherein he was to establish his government amongst them and that the Souldiers were so well disciplined as that the open fields were free from rapine as if Princes did alwayes that which they ought to doe and that military discipline not subject to corruption should observe the reformation in Gascony The King being absent which when he was in person present he caused to be observed in Normandy France hath had good Kings and good Officers yet not sufficient to suppresse or change the inclinations of such as serve them It is impossible for Princes to doe any thing of excellency if their subjects appeare not in their interests Particular avarice hath at all times beene cause of remarkeable mischiefes If Francis the first had had as many men fighting as hee paid paye unto hee had not lost his liberty before Pavia King Henry entertaines the offer of Burdeaux and suddenly sent Talbot Earle of Shrewsbery thither who though ever exceeding diligent in all expeditions yet in this hee did out doe himselfe hee embarqued himselfe and tooke with him 3000. souldiers leaving order for such as were to follow him hee landed upon the coast of Meddock and the more to terrifie the enemy hee made great spoiles in their Townes but being sent for in by those all of Burdeaux hee filled the adjacent parts with horrour the City was of different opinions touching the French garrison some would have them bee suffered to goe away free others not and these threw open the Gates to the English who entering at unawares imprisoned the garrison but spilt no bloud nor did no outrage neither to them nor the Townes-men Fronsack did for a few dayes stop Talbot in his advancement but when it yeelded all the neighbouring Townes did alike and did freely of themselves returne to their former obedience Castillian sent for him and the French garrison being put forth his men entered when Charles heard hereof hee sent thither Count Cleremont his sonne in law and his Lieutenant in Guienne with 600. Horse and 1200. Crosbowmen under the Conduct of Messieurs de Lorhac and Orvall to make matters good till such time as
Yorke to insnare the King and Kingdome his pretensions were just according to the lawes of England but according to the chiefest of all lawes which is the peoples welfare directly unjust for it is more convenient that a private man suffer and smart alone then the weale publique be ruinated and every one smart for if the meanes to claime be unjust there cannot any thing be thereunto framed but an injurious and blamefull justice he doubted that Henries knowne goodnes would render this his busines difficult and that the people borne by their love to a Prince who bore the Crowne not by his owne usurpation but by two successive discents from Father and Grandfather both worthy Princes the house of Yorke never having beene in possession thereof his pretensions would appeare a dreame and if not such yet not such as were likely to be applauded The evill consequences considered which were to ensue such controversies not being to bee decided but by the bloudy law of the sword and the losse of many an innocent life that therefore they were not likely to forsake Henry long in possession for him a new pretender these considerations prevailed so far with him as to keepe him within the bounds of simulation for doubting that the danger might consist in making knowne his designes he thought it best to make that be beleeved to be done for the weale publique which was indeed done for his owne ends and that by taking his former pretences touching the Duke of Somerset he might take revenge of a mortall enemy free himselfe of his greatest obstacle deprive the King of his chiefest leaning stocke and afterwards purchase the love of all men the love of the people by the ruinating a man detested for the losse of Normandy the love of the Nobility by reducing him who by reason of his too powerfull authority and greatnes was by the most of them infinitely envied Not herewithall contented hee forbare to villifie Henries reputation giving him out to bee poorely spirited and affirming that the condition of the now present times required a King who would not bee governed by his wife nor any third person but by his owne judgement a wiseman and endued with such vertues as not being to bee found in him were requisite in a Prince who was to governe so as having by these meanes prepared the peoples inclinations he made firme unto him such as sided with him especially two the Father and the Sonne the one Earle of Salisbury the other Earle of Warwick the first excellent for matter of councell the second endued with such qualities as vertue doth not impart but to those who are ordained for heroicall actions he wonne the good will of all men by approving his wisedome and valour with his innate liberality and magnificence Vertues by how much more solide then others and proper to make him be esteemed so much the lesse to be commended in this occasion altogether unworthy of any manner of praise he ordered things in this manner by the assistance of those forenamed he caused the Duke of Somerset to be arrested in the Queens lodgings and sent unto the Tower the which he was emboldned to doe by reason of the Kings being at that time sicke whose double weakenes both of minde and body had encourag'd him assisted as he was to worke himselfe into the government But as soone as Henry recovered his health he did not only restore him to his liberty but made him chiefe commander of Callis the then the most important charge the Kingdome had which caused great alterations for he was thought unfit for the custody of the only place which remained beyond the Sea who had lost all Normandy but Yorke perceiving that he had twise failed in his endeavours of ruinating him went into Wales where having got together a good army he marched towards London being accompanied by the forenamed Lords and many others the King so much distrusted that City as that he would not expect his comming there but went to encampe himselfe at Saint Albans where the adversary presented himselfe to give him battell the King had in his campe the Dukes of Somerset and Buckingham the Earles of Pembrook Stafford Northumberland Devonshire Dorset Wiltshire and many Barons amongst which Clifford Ludley Berneis and Rosse and proceeding according to the peacefull instinct of his nature he sent some unto him to know why hee came in that hostile manner and what hee did pretend unto but the messengers were hardly arriued when the Earle of Warwick at unawards set upon the Vantguard Royall and disordered it before the Duke of Somerset could remedy it so as all forces on both sides giving together a bitter battell was begun each side made good its station no man recoiled so many were slaine as it was thought there would not be a man in all the field left alive The Duke of Yorke stood observing all occurrences and sent fresh men to supply the place of such as were wounded whereby he made good the fight which Somerset could not doe as not having so many men and being more busy in fighting then in making provision The Royallest were almost all slaine The chiefe that dyed there were the Duke of Somerset the Earle of Stafford sonne to the Duke of Buckingham the Earle of Northumberland and the Lord Clifford the Duke of Buckingham the Earle of Wiltshire and Thomas Thorp Lord chiefe Baron together with some few that escaped fled away wounded This victory which hapned the 23. of May was a good Omen to those that ensued and to the putting an end to this difference for the prevailing party though not without shedding their owne teares and bloud did some few yeares after effect what they desired the Duke of Somerset left three sonnes behind him Henry Edmond and Iohn who adding their Fathers revenge to the hatred of the faction came all of them to miserable ends as wee shall see in middest of this good successe The Duke of Yorke would confirme the people in the beliefe that he had taken up armes onely for the good of the commonweale For the Duke of Somerset being dead who was the pretended reason of his commotion nothing remained for him to doe but to assume the Crowne so as having the King in his hands and under colour of his name power to frame the golden age which all seditious people promise in their rebellions he resolved to arrive at his end by degrees not thinking to meete with any more oppositions but he was deceived as are all those who not able to effect their desires but by wicked meanes dare not withstanding bee so wicked as it were requisite for them to be Some report that the King in this occasion was but ill served by the three Lords that fled and by his domestique servants their flight caused him to forsake the field and mightily dishartned the few that remained the King had withdrawne himselfe to a poore mans house where being found by the
of his keepers the Queene this meane while not being able to secure herselfe The King and Kingdome but by the ruine of the Duke and the two Earles of Salisbury and Warwick nor yet able to worke their ruine but by cosenage and deceipt made the King to goe to Coventry under pretence of passing away his time in hunting and hawking and of changing the ayre she thought London enclined too much to them and faining some great affaire sent for them by expresse letters from the King the which they beleeved and had beene caught had they not beene advertised by their friend which caused them to eschew the danger The King was displeased at these proceedings of the Queene as contrary to his good inclination and being returned to London he called a councell wherein having stated the condition the Kingdome was in he shewed how that the rent and division had encouraged both the Scots and the French to assault him at home and that therefore a reconciliation was necessary the which if particular mens offences and the offences of his owne family were likely to impeach he for his part would forget the injuries done unto himselfe and would endeavour his kindreds agreement with them who in the late uproares had spilt their bloud promising that the Duke of Yorke and his followers should in this busines have nothing to doe but barely to desire When he had ingeniously said this every man beleeved him for of himselfe he was not accustomed to cousenage Choise was made of some personages of quality to be sent to the Duke of Yorke and to those of the house of Lancaster many of which had forborne comming to the Court since the battell of Saint Albans they told how they were sent to treate of things necessary and expedient for the publique and private peace the Duke of Yorke and the Earles of Salisbury and Warwick came accompanied with 1500. men the Duke of Somerset the Earle of Northumberland and the Lord Clifford waited upon by as many these were sonnes to the three Fathers slaine in that battell the Dukes of Excester and of Buckingham the Lord Egremont and almost all the nobility of the Kingdome appeared in like manner lodgings were severally appointed for them in different places to shun their encountering the City was assigned to Yorks faction The Suburbs to that of Lancaster the King and Queene lay in the Bishops house serving as a barre betwixt the two the Major and Magistracy together with 5000. armed men supplied the place of guard walking the streets day and night to prevent tumults those of Yorke assembled themselves together at Black-Friers and those of Lancaster at Westminster much a doe there was to compound the busines wherein the Archbishop of Canterbury laboured much At last a reconciliation was signed wherein the offendors being fined in certaine payments to the offended they all indifferently obliged themselves to the obedience of the King and to esteeme those as friends or enemies who the King should esteeme such the which being done a solemne procession was made wherein all the Nobility of both factions intermingled did walke before the King in his roabes and diademe and the Duke of Yorke followed after him leading the Queene by the arme but the more discreet might read in their countenances that their ill wills were not changed according as they endeavoured to make them appeare to be and as almost immediately did appeare The Duke of Yorke and Earle of Salisbury went to Yorke Warwick stayed at London his charge of Callais detaining him longer in Court It hapned that as he was one day sitting in Councell one of his men fell into contestation with one of the Kings servants by whom hee was provoked wounded him and withdrew himselfe to a place of safety The guard and others of the Court who were hot upon the revenge of their fellow servant not able to get him who had offended them reflected upon the person of the Earle his Master and set upon him as he was comming from councell to take boate and had beene slaine had he not beene assisted by some he had leasure to leape into his boate and recover the City The Queene were it that shee was misformed of the busines or that out of malice shee tooke his pretence to bereave the Earle of his life commanded his being detained the which if it had hapned he had bin for ever lost But being by his friends advertised he hastned to Yorke and brought the first newes himselfe to the Duke and his Father He concluded that the violation of oaths and of the peace brooked no more dissimulation that the last of fortune was to be attempted either to live or dye and taking leave of them hee went to Callais to sease himselfe of the Towne as it well behooved him to doe where hee was received according to the authority of his charge which had not beene had the King given order to the contrary at his departure from London without this fort the Tryumverat had beene ill besieged for from thence they tooke their first advantage Yorke and Salisbury were of opinion that this disorder proceeded from the Queenes malice to the end that Warwick being slaine they might the easilier be supprest and although they resolved to make use of force yet they thought best that the Earle of Salisbury should goe to London with such troopes as were most in readines should complaine of the violated faith and demand justice to the end that if it should be denied their actions might appeare more justifiable That the Duke assembling this meane-while a good army should come to joyne with him that they might joyntly advise what resolutions to take according as time and occasion should serve the Earle marched towards London with neere upon 5000. men whilest the Queene advertised of his comming gave order to the Lord Audely through whose territories hee was to passe to give him battell out of pretence that justice ought not be demanded at a Princes hands with troopes of men contrary to the tenure of the lawes since such proceedings were fit for him that would enforce not entreate the Baron having this commission meet him neere Drayton in Shropshire with 10000. fighting men The Earle seeing himselfe twharted resolved to fight so as encamping himselfe neere unto him the two armies being onely devided by a small water he tarried there all night and commanded his bowmen to shoot upon breake of day into the enemies campe so to provoke him and at the same time they should retreat Audely egg'd on by the arrowes but more by the Queenes expresse command to take the Earle alive or dead seeing him retire commanded his vanguard to passe over the water and stay him he himselfe passing over at the same time whilest the rest which were on the other side were of no use Unto him which was the very thing the Earle aimed at in his retreat so as turning about he furiously assaulted him The welfare of
the Sea hee should march up to London as to a certaine victory this advise was approved of by the three Earles so as having caused Monfords head to bee struck of and the heads of other twelve leauing good order for what belonged to Callais they came to Kent where they were met by the Lord Cobham and so vast a number of others as were esteemed to amount to 4000. fighting men The Lord Scales both a favorite of King and Queene hearing of their comming gathered some forces together and having in his company the Count de Candale Aguascon and the Lord Lovell hee hasted to secure London but being told by the Lord Major that hee stood not in need of that succour nor would permit that other men should meddle with what was his charge he much incensed entered the Tower understanding by that deniall that the City was not for the King as the effects made manifest for when the three Earles came thither they were received with generall applause and the Earles of March and Warwick going from thence with 20000. fighting men the Earle of Salisbury the Lord Cobham and Sir Iohn Vanlock tarried behind to keepe so important a City true unto them The Queene for the King had no thought but of his soules health had assembled a good army and Coventry which conducted the King to Northampton amongst other Lords there was in that army the Duke of Somerset who was newly returned from Guienes and the Duke of Buckingham they were no sooner come thither but they heard of the enemies approach so as passing the River they went to encampe themselves in the neighbouring fields the Earle of March egg'd on by his youth early in the morning began the battell their arrowes plaid on both sides whilest any were left then they came to handy blowes for 5. houres together without any indifferency At last the King was the looser with the death of 10000. men a great losse but not of so great a consequence as it was had hee not lost himselfe for being bereft of his defendors who were slaine round about his person hee fell into the power of the enemy There dyed of Lords the Duke of Buckingham Iohn Talbot Earle of Shrewsbery who fighting valiantly did not degenerate from his Father the Lord Egremont the Viscount Beamont besides many other Knights and Gentlemen great was the number of prisoners especially of Knights and Gentlemen for being lighted from horse to fight on foote they had no meanes to save themselves The Queene Prince Edward her sonne and the Duke of Somerset fled to the Bishoprike of Durham the victor being returned to London inflicted such punishments as are accustomed in the injustice of civill Warres upon such his adversaries as hee found in the City those who could escape fared better Thomas Thorp second Baron of the Exchequer endeavouring to escape was taken with his head shaven like a Frier and in a Friers habit hee lodged a long time in the Tower those of the Tower had yeelded upon certaine conditions which not being cleere enough for the Lord Scales his safety hee thought to escape unknowne but being discovered by certaine Watermen hee was taken slaine his body wallowing in his bloud and stript of all of his apparell left to the publique view of all men post after post was sent into Ireland to acquaint the Duke of Yorke with this victory so as perswading himselfe that nothing now remained to hinder him from possessing the Crowne hee tooke shipping and came to London at the same time that the Parliament was assembled hee made his entry with great troopes of men and trumpets sounded before him hee made the sword bee carried before as Kings use to doe onely with this difference that where as it is carried sheathed before them before him it was carried naked hee lighted from horse at the Kings pallace of Westminster and entring into the upper house of Parliament where the Kings throne was hee laid his hand a good while upon it as if by that act hee had taken possession of it when hee tooke of his hand hee turned to those that were by as desirous to reade in their countenances what successe hee should have and as it is usuall for us to flatter ourselves in what wee passionately desire hee thought they approved of what hee had done But the Archbishop of Canterbury standing up and asking him if hee would bee pleased to goe and see the King hee changed countenance and angerly answered him hee knewe not any in the Kingdome to whom hee ought that duty but that on the contrary all men ought it to him so as the Archbishop going forth to acquaint the King with this answer who lay in the Queens lodgings not in his owne hee likewise went forth and entered into the Kings lodgings where finding many doores sshut hee caused the doores to bee broke open to the much disdaine of those who could not brooke so great a pride since that the King living and in possession of the Crowne for 38. yeares not numbring those of his Grandfather and Father at his first arrivall hee by his owne proper authority pretended to bee King But they were more scandalized when comming againe into the Parliament house hee sate himselfe downe in the Kings Chaire under the cloath of State where after having set a while hee told them a long rabble of reasons why hee had sate downe in that place that by the law it was due unto him and that contrary to the law it had beene usurped by the three last Kings from the house of Mortimer the lawfull heire to the Duke of Clarence and lastly from his house of Yorke the others lawfull heire He exagerated the evill means Henry the fourth used in usurpingthe Crowne his cruelty in deposing and murthering Richard the second the injustice of Henry the fifth in causing his Father to be beheaded at Southampton that he might establish himselfe and that he being now of yeares without hope of ever enjoying what was his right by faire mean's was enforced to betake himselfe to force not for any respect of himselfe but to restore peace unto the kingdome which was not to be had by any other meâ—…n's that he ought rather to be praised then blamed for this since thereby the evills should be redressed which were sprung up and were to spring up especially under a weake King who to the so much shame of the English nation had lost France Normandy Maine Anjou and in one onely yeare Aquitany after the Crowne had beene hereditarily possessed thereof little lesse then 300. yeares that for these reasons hee had taken the Chaire wherein he sate as belonging to him and that his minde gave him that with their assistance he should restore it to its ancient glory and that it behooved them as peeres to concurre with him in equall actions affections and ends When he had done speaking the Lords wereall so astonished as looking for an answer no man opened
his mouth but all stoode like dumbe immoveable statues whereat not much contented hee wished them to think upon what he had said and being againe desired to goe visite the King he said God excepted he knew no superiour two prodigies are said to have hapned at the same time that the Duke of Yorke alleadged his reasons of laying claime unto the Crowne in the upper house from the top of the lower house there hung a Crowne with certaine branches serving for Candlesticks affixed to it and on the top of Dover Castle was an other antiently placed for the adornement of that place At this instant time they both of themselves fell downe no cause at all being to be given for it whereupon judgement was made that in like manner the Crowne of the Kingdome was to fall The Duke of Yorke at his very first commotions against King Henry had sent unto Iames the second King of Scotland to desire his aide and to acquaint him with his pretensions but Iames not willing to meddle in other mens affaires answered that the English had taken many of his Townes whilest having enough to doe with rebells at home he had not meanes to defend them that if he would promise to restore them he would assist him the Duke promised him so to doe upon these hopes Iames assembled a great army and at the same time the Earle of Marsh tooke the King prisoner besieged Roxborough Yorke who had now no more need of him seeing in what danger the Towne was sent unto him to let him know that now he had ended the Warre that he thanked him for the promise of his assistance but that the siege of Roxborough being a thing which did dislike the people and himselfe thought the occasion thereof he desired him to rise from before it without endamaging England and that he had much a doe to detaine the English from taking up armes to succour it the King rejoycing at the Dukes prosperous successe enquired of the Messengers whether they had any commission or no to restore unto him such places as were taken from him and as was promised by the Duke to which they answering no neither will I said he quit a siege which I hope suddenly to put an end unto uninterrupted by these threats be they his or the peoples then playing with his cannon upon the Towne with more fury then formerly such was his misfortune as a peece of Ordnance bursting in two a spilter thereof slew him and hurt the Earle of Angus not hurtihg any other body this accident did notwithstanding breake off the siege for the besieged wanting all things requisite and they themselves reduced to a small number by reason of the often assaults they yeelded themselves to the new King Iames the third their lives and goods saved The death of this King was accompanied by the death of Charles King of France which though it were not violent yet was the strangest that ever was heard of being sicke some of his flatterers to make their zeale appeare the more put a conceipt into his head that surely somebody meant to poison him He forbare from taking any manner of food seaven dayes and when his Phisitians tould him that his weakenes proceeded from his forbearing meat and not from any sicknes he would have eaten but could not for the channells through which his meat should passe were closed up whereupon he dyed and left the Kingdome to his sonne Lewes the eleaventh The difference betweene the King and the Duke of Yorke was by the Parliament after many disputations thus ended that though the Crowne had beene usurped by Henry the fourth from Edmond Mortimer Earle of Marsh then living and did lawfully descend upon him the Duke of Yorke as borne of Anna the heire of Philips rights the onely Daughter to Lionell the Duke of Clarrence yet to withstand the evills which might arise from Henries deposing who had beene King above the space of 38. yeares the Duke of Yorke should bee contented that Henry should raigne as long as he should live and that after his death he the Duke of Yorke or his next heire should succeed him in his Kingdome The next day being all Saints-day the King with his roabes on and Crowne upon his head went in Procession to Saint Pauls waited upon by the Duke who after being proclaimed next heire and protectour of the Kingdome desired that to annull all jealousies the King would send for the Queene and her sonne Prince Edward the which he did but shee denying to come and having taken up armes to set her Husband at liberty and to nullifie whatsoever had beene done in prejudice of her sonne the Duke resolved to prevent her hee recommended the Custody of the King to the Duke of Norfolke and Earle of Warwick Hee commanded the Earle of Marsh to follow him with the greatest forces he could get as speedily as he could and he himselfe accompanied by the Earle of Salisbury went to Sandalls a Castle of his owne neere Wakefield where of friends and dependants he assembled 5000. men the which when the Queene heard of shee hasted to meete with him before he about should joyne with his sonne Shee had with her above 18000. fighting men and was followed almost be all the Lords of the Northern parts of England Together with Prince Edward her sonne the Dukes of Excester and Somerset the Earles of Devonshire and Wiltshire and the Lord Clifford with these shee presented herselfe before the Walles of Sandall's the Earle of Salisbury and Sir David Hall who councelled the Duke were of opinion that hee should keepe within the Walles till the comming of the Earle of Marsh since shee had no artillery to batter the Castle But hee more apt to generous then discreet resolutions thinking it a shame that a Woman should keepe him shut up within a Walle when so many valiant French Commanders in his so many yeares warfare in that Kingdome could not boast of so much sallied forth the last of December and descended into the fields beneath to confront her this Castle is seated upon a pleasant Hill and the Queene having divided her people into 3. parts shee laid two of them in Ambush under the Earle of Wiltshire and the Lord Clifford on two sides of the Hill and with the third wherein were the Dukes of Somerset and Excester shee met him in the plaine as soone as the Battell was begun hee was environed on all sides defeated in lesse then halfe an houre and himselfe valiantly fighting slaine together with 2800. of his men the Earle of Salisbury was wounded and taken prisoner Robert Aspell Chaplain to the Duke and Tutor to the Earle of Rutland a child of 12. yeares old seeing the ill successe of businesses led his charge forth to save him but by the Lord Cliffords troopes and by Clifford himselfe observed who saw him nobly attired hee was by him with his dagger in hand demanded who hee was the unfortunate Youth struck dumbe
the Duke of Yorke was to bee acknowledged King The people joyfully received this declaration and the next day which was the fourth of March hee went to Saint Pauls where Te Deum being sung hee made the offering which Kings use to doe and was in Westminster proclaimed King by the name of Edward the fourth FINIS THE SECOND PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE CIVILL WARRES OF ENGLAND Between the two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke WHEREIN IS CONTAINED The Prosecution thereof in the lives of EDWARD the fourth EDWARD the fifth RICHARD the third and HENRY the seventh Written originally in Italian By Sir Francis Biondi Knight late Gentleman of the Privy-Chamber to His Majesty of Great Brittaine Englished by the Right Honourable HENRY Earle of Monmouth The second Volume LONDON Printed by E. G. for Richard Whitaker and are to be sold at his shop at the Kings Armes in Pauls Church-yard 1646. To the Readers his beloved COUNTREY-MEN I Know it is not usuall to say any thing before Second parts of the Same continued Story nor truely am I so inamour'd of my own Pen as to write more then according to some acception may be thought Needfull The reasons then that drew me to this otherwise Unnecessary Epistle are First to let my Readers know lest I may seem to derogate from my Authour by tacitely arrogating to My Selfe that the three Last lives of this Volume are not yet as I can heare of printed in Italian and the Authour being dead out of whose written Papers whilst he was here in England I translated them I know not whether they may ever undergoe the Presse in the Language wherein they were by him penn'd or no. My next inducing reason is That the subject of both parts of this Treatise being Civill Warres and this Second comming forth in a Time of Civill Warres in the Same Countrey I hope I may be excused for doing what in me lies to perswade to a Happy Peace whereunto I know no more powerfull Argument then by shewing the Miseries of Warre which is a Tragedie that alwaies destroyes the Stage whereon it is acted and which when it once seizeth upon a Land rich in the plenty of a Long Peace and full with the Surfeit of Continued Ease seldome leaves Purging those Superfluities till All not onely Superfluous but meere Necessaries be wasted and consumed as is sufficiently made to appeare throughent this whole History I know no Nation in Christendome that could till of some late yeeres more truely have boasted of the blessings of Peace Plenty and Ease then this nâ—…w Miserable Kingdome of Ours insomuch as it may be truely said of Us Quae alia res civiles furores peperit quà m nimia faelicitas Ariosto sayes Non cognosce la pace è non la stima Chi provata non ha la guerra prima We have now sufficiently try'd both Peace and Warre let us wisely betake our selves to the Best choice and say with Livy Melior tutiorque certa pax quà m sperata victoria illa in tuâ haec deorum in manu est And what though the ballance of Victory may leane some times much more to the one side then to the other many Checks may be taken but the Game is never wonne till the Mate be given and if you will believe Guicchiardine who was a Solid and Experienced Statesman be will tell you that Nelle guerre fatte communemente da molti Potentati contra un solo suole essere major le spavento che gli effetti perche prestamente si rafreddano gli impeti primi cemminciando a nascere varietà de pareri onde s'indebolisce tra loro la fede e le forze e cosi spesso auviene che le imprese comminciate con grandissima riputatione caggieno in melte difficultà e finalmente diventano vane If all be true that is of late reported ouâ—… two great neighbouring Kings are concluding a Peace if so we may invert the Proverbe of Tunc tua res agitur c. I believe we are most concerned when Their walls are Least on fire and unlesse it please Almighty God so to inspire the hearts both of our King and Parliament to the speedy piecing up of these unfortunate Rents and mischieveous Misunderstandings as that we may have a happy and speedy Peace cordially agreed on by all sides I am afraid we may finde my beliefe to be too true for Civill Warres give faire Advantage to Forraigne Powers Remember then that an honourable Peace is the Center of Warre wherein it should rest and that when Warre hath any other end then Peace it turnes into Publique Murther and consider that if injustissima pâ—…x justissimo bello sit anteferenda as it is held by some how Blessed will the Peace-makers be in setting an end to that warre which is by all sides acknowledged to be Unnaturall having our Saviours word for their attestate that they shall be Own'd for the Children of God Ita bellum suscipiatur saith Cicero ut nihil aliud quà m pax quesita videatur That this may be the endeavour of all parties interressed is the Sincere Counsell and Humble Advise of him who is a Faithfull and Loyall Subject unto his King an earnest Interceder to God Almighty for a Blessing upon the Parliament a Hearty Well-wisher to his Countrey and who wilâ—… conclude all with the words of the man according to Gods owne heartâ—… Seeke Peace and pursue it Imprimatur May 18. 1645 Na. Breut THE SIXTH BOOKE OF THE CIVILL WARRES OF ENGLAND In the Life of Edward the Fourth WIth what ease Edward came unto the Kingdome is worthy of observation but hard it is to give a just reason thereof whether power Justice or the peoples inclination It was not power since he was admitted of by election not Justice for to decide the right of the Crowne without an Assembly of Parliament is not a duty belonging to the people especially the tumultuous people of a City though Metropolitan without the joynt approbation of all the Shires and say it did by right belong unto him a businesse of such importance against a King that was no usurper who succeeded to two who for the space of more then threescore yeares his owne reigne comprehended were acknowledged and received for Kings was not to be decided in so short a time he being Sonne to the last one of the best deserving and most glorious Princes that England ever had and being King himselfe ever from his cradle for the space of eight and thirty-yeares so as he had his goodnesse been as usefull as it was innocent the Duke of Yorke durst not have contested with him for the Kingdome nor Edward bereft him of it The peoples inclination was then the onely thing which tooke the Kingdome from the one and gave it to the other whereby Princes may learne that long possession without the practice of Princely actions and the foregoing such affeâ—…tions as are hurtfull and hatefull to the people is
not sufficient for their conservation especially when they are not naturally indued with such vertues as are pleasing which Henry was not for the first advantages which Edward had over him were the endowments of his minde and the comlinesse of his person which though it may decay is notwithstanding essentiall to captivate mens affections when accompanied as his was with clemency liberality and valour the most essentiall vertues requisite in a worthy Prince and most efficacious to make him be desired and though all these were not wanting in Henry yet wanted he the most substantiall and if he had any of them they were so poorely clad as they wanted those characters of Majesty which become a King and though they were sufficient to content himselfe yet were not they answerable to his quality nor such as gave content unto the world Vertues in Princes are lights not to be put under a bushell but on a candlesticke to the end that they may give light to all men Their actions should resemble the Sunne which generates nourishes and propagates Edward notwithstanding his vertues and good fortune was descended from an unfortunate house he being the only one except Edward sonne to Richard the third who died a child who of all his house died a naturall death after it layed pretence unto the Crowne The Earle of Cambridge his Grandfather was beheaded at Southampton the Duke of Yorke his Father slaine before Sandall of his three brothers the Earle of Rutland was slaine at the same time the Duke of Clarence drowned in a Butt of Malmsey and the Duke of Gloucester after having strangled his nephewes was by Henry the seventh bereft both of life and Kingdome You will meet with no Tragedy be it or true or fabulous where you shall finde so many various and cruell deaths as in this family To dye by the hands of the enemy or by the hangman though miserable is yet ordinary but by a prodigious brother and unkle unheard of As there is nothing more uncertaine nor more wrapt up in fancy than to affirme that destiny was the cause of this so is it to be believed that it proceeded only from ambition which disturbing his counsell and advice made it endeavour to get the Kingdome at the cost of his owne and others lives Not any one of them save this Edward having enjoyed the Crowne unto their end and that which they did enjoy they enjoyed with such losses and so much trouble as that whatsoever fortune so it be within the bounds of honour may seem rather to be desired than a Kingdome at such a rate For to live happy being the end of humane nature it is no happinesse to possesse by violence what is superfluous but being free from perturbations peacefully to enjoy what is sufficient according to a mans proper state and fortune which might be enjoyed were it not that ambition the enemy to true felicitie did perswade us that no such happinesse had any thing of generous in it We doe not here exclude all ambition but rather commend such as doth awake in us good actions He cannot be said to be good who is not ambitious of a good report nor can that ambition be had without an endeavour by our workes to deserve it Yet when she lives solitarily sequestred from the multitude in silence and philosophicall habite no man followes her nor makes mention of her A sound body affords not so much matter of discourse as doth an infirme nor a State well compos'd as one mis-govern'd The one for all her deserts shall be notwithstanding alwaies neglected and the other notwithstanding all her vices pursued so much is our vanity delighted with her lustre Moreover deeds of violence being those which doe enrich story and which make vertue or vice indifferent we covet them alwaies provided that our name doe in some sort live in our posteritie But the house of Yorke stood not in need of this It had reason to hope for remembrance in perpetuity and to be contented with its owne estate her Nobility was reall She was for Riches and Title to be envied This notwithstanding she aspired to the Crowne she disturbed her owne quiet and the quiet of the weale publique for one that reigned hundred thousands died and all of the same house came to evill ends excep this Edward who for his part would not have murdered his brother had he not made him selfe King nor had his sonnes been slaine had they not beene to inherit the Kingdome And Richard the third though naturally wicked never had attained to the height of all cruelty and wickednesse had it not been for the thirst of government so as it had beene better for them to have enjoyed their naturall greatnesse under a moderate ambition than by an immoderate one to make themselves the subject of Tragedie and to be praised but for a few things in future ages Edward being received for King and for such proclaimed immediately left London The condition of affaires were not such as would suffer him idly to enjoy that dignity the duration whereof could not be hoped for but by the ruine of his adversary He easily gathered together great forces advantaged therein by his predecessors wretchlesnesse Each man made offer unto him of all he had he mustered in the field 49000 men with the which he staied at Pumâ—…ret and sent the Lord Fitzwater to guard the bridge over the River Ayre called Ferrybrigs that he himselfe might make use thereof and inhibit the enemy Henry on the other side who by having put to death the Duke of Yorke thought he had now done all that was requisite gave the charge of his men to the Duke of Sommerset the Earle of Northumberland and the Lord Clifford not so much for that their qualities did deserve it as for that being inflamed with revenge for their fathers deaths at the battell of St. Albanes he could not make choice of any more passionately his And tarrying himselfe together with his wife and sonne at Yorke they marched on towards the enemy As soon as they understood that they had made themselves masters of Ferrybrigs they made a sâ—…and The Lord Clifford onely advanced with the Light-horse and setting upon the bridge by breake of day he easily wonne it the guards being all asleepe and not dreaming of the enemy The Lord Fitzwater awakened with the outcries of those that were slaine and that did slay believing it to arise from some tumult amongst his own men threw himselfe out of his bed and unarmed with onely a staffe in his hand went to appease them But too late aware of his mistake he was there slaine and together with him the bastard of Salisbury brother to the Earle of Warwicke They who could saved themselves the Lancastrians remaining masters of the place The Bastards death did so much grieve his brother Warwicke added to the unhappie successe of the enterprize which as being the first he thought might dismay the Army as hasting to the
opposite unto him before and hee afterwards found the good thereof when losing his Kingdome as hee did he never had recovered it had he not thus wonne upon the peoples affections which is the Prince his chiefest safeguard Publique affaires being thus accommodated he descended to what more particularly concerned himselfe which are not notwithstanding to be separated from what concernes the State Marriage from whence proceeds lawfull successours is the strength as well of Kingdomes as of private families Three marriages were propounded to him The first Marguerit sister to Iames the third King of Scotland whose advantages were the breach of the marriage with Edward sonne to Henry and thereby the undoing the chiefest hopes of the house of Lancaster That upon any new occasion of civill broyles he should either have Scotland side with him or remaine neuter He should thereby free himselfe from the daily troubles nourished by the obstinate enmity of so hardy and warlike a neighbour But understanding that she was of a sickly body and consequently not likely to beare children he would none of her The second was Isabell sister to Henry the fourth King of Castile his hopes by her were the succession of that Kingdome and by the assistance thereof the recovery of Gascony in like manner as by the assistance of Gascony given by Edward the blacke Prince King Peter father to the great grand-mother of this King Edward recovered Castile The English writers say that her being too yong as not being then above six or seven yeeres old was the cause why that match was no further proceeded in But I finde that she being married to Ferdinand and dying Queen of Castile not when she was three and fifty yeeres old and in the yeere 1506. as Edward Hall doth calculate it but in the fiftieth yeere of her age and in the yeere 1504. she must be in the yeere 1464. which was the time when this marriage was treated of thirteen yeeres old so but ten yeeres younger than Edward so as their yeeres were not unproportionate Halls calculation is grounded upon the stories of Spaine which he does not particularize in and upon an Epitaph ingraven upon this Queenes tombe in Granado which he never saw Mine upon the Spanish storie written by Lewis Myerne Turquet my father in law a most exact writer and by the Jesuit Iohn Mariana who saith she was borne the 24. of May in the yeere 1451. So as some other cause made him not choose her The third was Bona daughter to Lodowicke Duke of Savoy and sister to Charlotte Queene of France with whom she at the present was This was imbrac'd the Earle of Warwicke was sent to Lewis the eleventh to demand her of him neither could Edward put on a better resolution For his affaires in England being setled by Henry's imprisonment no feare was to be had of Scotland without aide and provocation from France which was not better to be eschewed by any meanes than this for though Charlotte bore not such sway with her husband as to governe him as shee listed yet held shee very good correspondency with him And Lewis whose onely ends were to lessen the power of the Princes and great Lords of France particularly that of his brother Charles and the two Dukes of Brittany and Burgundy laid willingly hold upon this occasion to acquit himselfe of the impornity of Margarite Queene of England who endeavoured to perswade him to a dangerous and fruitlesse warre and which was averse to his genius and designes by withdrawing him from the other to the which reason and his owne inclination bore him Moreover the Duke of Savoy having been an ancient confederate and neere allie to the Duke of Burgundy this would be a meanes to marre their intelligence for though he were his father in Law such ties amongst Princes unlesse they be knitted with new knots are subject to be loosed and broken by every daies occasioned interest For these reasons this match was agreed upon between King Lewis and the Earle of Warwicke and Monsieur de Dammartin was sent into England to strike it up with Edward But whilst Warwicke thought he had succesfully executed his Masters commands he unexpectedly heard that hee was married Edward was gone a hunting progresse towards Grafton a house belonging to Iacoline of Luxenburg sister to the Count St. Paul wife to the Lord Rivers and widdow to the Duke of Bedford who died Regent in France With her was a daughter of hers named Elizabeth widdow to Sir Iohn Gray who was slaine in the second battell at St. Albans siding with Henry so as having lost a part of her Jointure by the confiscation of her husbands goods shee desired him to conferre it againe upon her She was a woman of no extraordinary beauty but of such conditions as surpassing what was in her of beauty made her to be valued and beloved by all men The King did not onely grant her what she desired but growing in love with her became her petitioner for wanton dalliance which she resolutely denied to yeeld unto His appetite increasing by meeting with an obstacle he resolved to marry her taking therein advice of those who never counsell Princes contrary to their inclinations Yorkes Widow the Kings mother foreseeing the evils that were to ensue admonished him She bid him beware of the injury hee did his cousin the Earle of Warwicke the Dutchesse was sister to Warwickes Father whose spirit would not endure such an affront since the King of France would not believe that he was come to treat of a match but to cousen him laugh at him and pry into his state nor was it likely hee could thinke otherwise since that hee having got the Crowne by the Earles valour and the pursuit of his friends it was not likely that beeing so neere a kinne unto him and a man of so great an esteem he should offend him by doing so mis-becomming a thing without his knowledge She shewed him how that the marriage of Princes had for their ends the good of their State the alliance of such as could or doe them good or harme and portion proportionable to the charge of a wife and their own reputations That none of all these were met withall in this which was now treated of rather in laying a foundation for a peace hee should offend a great King and expose himselfe to so unjust a warre the cause whereof being blame-worthy as he should not therein finde any friends or confederates That yet if she were a maid it might admit of some excuse but being a mother of children a subject and without portion these were conditions likely to produce instead of benefit hatred and enmity abroad hatred and enmity at home danger and blame every where Edwards answer was that he doubted not but that his cousin would conforme his will to his that he was sure enough of his love that the King of France was not in a condition to hurt him having other thoughts which did
hate the other But since he could make no alliance of more jealousie to France nor of more commodity to the Low-Countreys he sent Anthony the eldest of his naturall sonnes commonly called the Bastard of Burgundy with some others Ambassadour into England to this effect He came with a retinue of 400. horse with rich Liveries and richer furniture He was graciously received by the King The businesse being propounded in Councell none with stood it but the Earle of Warwicke For framing the Rebellion which hee had formerly plotted with himselfe hee conceived this match would be harmfull to Lewis on whom he intended to relie and good for Edward whom he intended to destroy But he having but one vote the Ambassadours request was granted and Edward promised friendship to the friends of Burgundy and enmity to his enemies He presented his sister to the Bastard and other Ambassadors who kissed her hand as their Princesse and presented her with very rich Jewels which she accepted of with termes of gratitude both to her father in law and husband Great were the entertainments that were made Challenges at Tilt passed between the Bastard and the Lord Scales the Queenes brother and between his followers and the English Gentry the which I passe by as not requisite to our story In midst of these revellings came the newes of Philippes death which much grieved the Bastard so as taking leave of the King and of the new Dutchesse of Burgundy and being richly presented he passed over into Brabant and made such a relation to the Duke his brother of his Bride as did very well satisfie him Who as soon as he had appeased the Legeois wherein he spent some time he desired Edward to send her over unto him according to the Articles of the Contract which he forthwith did She tooke shipping at Dover being attended on by 500. horse and accompanied by the two sisters Anne Dutchesse of Exceter and Elizabeth Dutchesse of Suffolke She landed at Slewes and went from thence to Bourges where the marriage was celebrated The Earle of Warwicke could not at length so well dissemble his distasts as that the King did not perceive them But Princes are not wont to give satisfaction to their inferiours especially to their subjects lest they might tacitely confesse those faults into which as being exempt they pretend they cannot fall or else shew some sort of humiliation repugnant to their greatnesse This increased the Earles indignation for surposed ignorance admits of excuse which confest knowledge doth not so as thinking himselfe injured before contrary to all reason and his injury being now doubled by the no account that was made of it he resolved forthwith to doe what he along time before had thought upon And so dangerous resolutions not being to be undertaken without assistance he judged the assistance of his owne brothers fittest the Archbishop of Yorke and the Marquesse When he had begun his discourse and laid open the reasons which moved him thereunto hee made an odious Parallell between Henry and Edward magnifying the gratitude and goodnesse of the former the ingratitude and wickednesse of the other He shewed how that their house had been the forwardest to spend their lives and livelihoods in the service of the Duke of Yorke the father and of Edward himselfe to make him King who had not recompenced them according to their high deserts and yet durst upbraid them with having been the raiser of their house whilst next under God they ought their chiefest honour to Henry that not contented thus to vilifie them he had endeavoured to dishonour their family and render it infamous by attempting to vitiate a daughter thereof He exaggerated the affront about the match with the Lady Bona which would not have been offered to the most contemptible man in the world Moreover that he had no waies excused it unto him but passed it over in silence not weighing that a mans honour ought to be more deare unto him than the apple of his eye or life it selfe Yet that he did not wonder at all this for that Edward judging other men by himselfe he thought other men should make as small account of their honour as he had alwaies done of his promises That his resolution was to doe what possibly hee could to take from him that Crowne which he had placed on his head and place it againe upon Henry a good and lawfull King That since they did partake with him in the injuries they ought likewise share with him in the revenge which would easily be effected if they would chearefully and heartily betake themselves unto it as they ought and as the chiefest of the Kingdome would doe And that he did assure himselfe they should not want assistance from Princes beyond the Seas necessity requiring it This proposition as it was unexpected so was it not at the first accepted of by the brothers But the Archbishop after long disputes giving way thereunto the Marquesse though with much difficulty suffered himselfe at last to be perswaded likewise moved by the tie of blood not any inclination of his owne for he loved Edward and was beloved by him This ambiguity was the ruine of them all for hee not able to deny his brothers nor yet to betray his Prince did amisse on both sides He assisted Edward by not cordially assisting his brother and he betrayed his brother by not heartily betaking himselfe to betray Edward Warwicke having laid this first groud-worke of his ruinous building he pursued the fabricke thereof with the Duke of Clarence for seeing him no waies pleased hee resolved to trie him Hee seemed to be sensible of the coolnesse used by the King of late to the Duke and expected what he would reply But he like a Cornet which with the first breath sends the sound abroad answered It was in vaine to complaine of things ancient and desperate That the King was in his owne nature disobliging and ungratefull and most to such as he was most obliged unto That since he made no account of his owne brothers much lesse would he doe it of other friends That he more valued his wives blood than his owne That he had disposed of three rich heires by marrying them to her sonne her brother and the Lord Hastings Mushroms sprung up in one night not having any consideration of his owne brethren Continuing in such like angry and threatning discourse hee gave the Earle occasion to lay himselfe open unto him who offered unto him his daugher with equivalent portion to those that he had named with numberlesse other promises and hopes The Duke was so blinded with his anger as hee minded not the injury he did unto himselfe that favouring the house of Lancaster the thing now in question hee destroyed his owne When it was more available to him to have his brother King than all the good could derive to him from this his ill taken advice The Earle more blinde than he did not consider the interest of
of Yorke were left alive That by endeavouring to ruine his brother he wrought his owne overthrow by quitting the right unto the Crown to the which he was so nigh himselfe For Edward though he were young had yet no sonne and but one daughter who might very well miscarry and such were his disorders as there was little likelihood he should have any more That being therefore to be presumed heire he much injured himselfe by giving the Crown away from himselfe to his enemies who could never thinke themselves safe as long as he lived These reasons and others which the discreet woman knew how to make use of prevailed so farre with Clarence as that he gave her his word to joyne with his brother as soone as hee should be come into England Which sheweth of what little efficacy oathes and alliance are when a powerfull interest comes in place Clarence for some sleight domestique distasts failed his brother even to the endangering the losse of his Kingdome You shall see him faile his father in Law even to the making him lose his life Whence wee are taught that in great affaires wee ought onely to trust such to whom profit and danger are univocall together with us Many of the King of France his ships were making ready in Harfleur for the Earle of Warwickes service and some of his owne likewise where he received sundry dispatches from many Lords of England They desired him not to delay his returne though hee were to come all alone for being looked for by so many that were desirous to spend their lives in his service hee needed no foraine forces and that his delay might endanger his friends and overthrow the enterprize He acquainted the Queene and his companions herewithall whose opinions were that hee should forth with be gone with such ships as hee should finde in readinesse and that as soon as the Queenes ships should be in due equipage her father the King of Sicily had sent her as many as hee could to this effect she and her sonne would imbarque themselves upon the first newes of any hopes of good successe in England so as having taken leave of the King and thanked him for so many and so great favours hee went into the Fleet whither by command from the King the Admirall of France and divers other ships were come to guard him from Charles his Fleet which lay expecting him in the mouth of the River Seine and which was much greater than the Kings Warwicks and the Admirals all joyned together Doubtlesse had not fortune plaied one of her wonted trickes the English had not returned to England for the Burgonians were many strong and resolute to doe all that was possible to take the Earle But the night before the Earles departure the Dukes ships were by a great tempest scattered many of them were sunke the rest driven into sundry places not any two of them being found together So as the Earle putting to Sea the next day with a faire wind as if the tempest had risen and were allayed to doe him service came to Anchor in Dartsmouth haven in Devonshire the same place where six moneths before he tooke shipping for Calleis Edward was at this time busied in sports and revellings not thinking on foraine affaires relying upon Charles his mighty Fleet which lay in wait to fight with him and hinder his passage into England When he heard he was landed he past from his first confidence to a second and worser thinking hee had him now in a noose Hee advertised Charles and desired him to take order hee should not returne againe to France and then hee needed trouble himselfe no further for that he was sufficient of himselfe to hinder all his designes within his Kingdome and to chastise him But Charls who was a wise and vigilant Prince was not of this opinion he would have had him to have hindred his landing without the adventuring of his Person and Kingdome upon the uncertainty of battell and the inconstancy of his people and fortune The first thing Warwicke did was to make Proclamations be made every where in Henries name that all men from sixteene to threescore yeere old upon grievous punishment should come and present themselves armed before him to serve Henry the lawfull King against Edward Duke of Yorke the unlawfull usurper of the Kingdome He was forthwith obeyed great numbers of people flockt unto him even those who the yeere before were wholly devoted to Edwards service A change though strange yet not to be wondred at Old things cause satiety new businesses provoke fresh appetite Edward being in this straight resolved to doe the same which the Earle had done Hee summoned all the Peeres of the Land was obeyed but by a few and by those more out of feare than out of any good will Hee went to Nottingham accompanied by his brother the Duke of Gloucester the Lord Scales the Queenes brother and the Lord Hastings his Chamberlaine presuming there to raise an Army answerable to his need The Rebels this meane while increased and the Ministers in their Pulpits did approve of Henries right The bastard Faulconbridge and the Earle of Pembrooke the one in the West the other in Wales did proclaime him King That which most troubled Edward was that Marquesse Montaigne having gathered together 6000. fighting men and brought them almost unto Nottingham hee returned backe either for that he thought Edwards affaires were now desperate and that the ayreevery where resounding Long live Henry Long live Warwicke he thought it foolishnesse not to share of his brothers good fortune or else for that hee had now a just occasion to revenge himselfe of Edwards ingratitude as hee tearmed it who for his service done unto him and his blood shed for him in so many battels and dangers had onely requited him with the bare Title of Marquesse He declared himselfe against him and brought those 6000 along with him proclaiming Henry King as the others had done I know not whether he had reason to accuse Edward of ingratitude or no. Voluptuous people who like him are given to their pleasures are naturally prodigall in their owne dissolutenesse and backward enough in paying what they owe. I am very certain his other brothers could not complaine thereof though Warwicke injuriously did The Archbishop of Yorke wore the second Mitre of England and the Earle of Warwicke if wee may believe Comines to boote with his owne Revenues which were very great had 80000 Crowns a yeer comming in in Lordships Confiscations and Places meerely conferred upon him by the Kings grace which was much more in those daies than 300000 would be now But it is hatefull and dangerous to Princes when pretensions grow to that height as there is no meanes of recompence and that the onely pretence of the pretenders seeming to upbraid doth tacitely demand and seeme to plead the participation of their Princes dignity and estate Edward knew not what to say to these alterations which hourely
increased and finding no place safe for him since hee wanted forces hee went not without great danger to Linne where he found two Holland ships and one English hee imbarkt himselfe and was waited upon by the three said ships and seven hundred men without any manner of baggage or one penny of money A great and unexpected misfortune but that which immediately after presented it selfe was farre worse had hee not luckily eschewed it For had hee been taken hee had none to ransome him so would have lost both liberty and Kingdome Eight of the Easterlings ships the Easterlings were then great enemies to the English and did them all the mischiefe they could discovering these three Ships and believing them to be English gave them chase but could not come up unto them till they had cast Anchor before Alchemar in Holland the ebbe being so low as they could not winne the Haven The Easterlings cast Anchor likewise but a good way from them the burden of their Ships not permitting them to doe otherwise so as they were inforced to expect the returne of the tide to board them But Monsieur de Gretures Governour under the Duke of Burgundy in Holland being luckily at that time in Alchemar and understanding of Edwards being there by some whom hee had sent of purpose unto him in flat bottom'd Boats forbade the Easterlings to use any manner of hostility and went himselfe to bring him and all his men into the City Edward was at this time so bare of money as not having wherewithall to pay for his wastage hee gave the Captaine a rich vestment lined with Sables promising not to forget the curtesy and to satisfie him better afterwards A strange change of Fortune happened in a few houres to such a Prince meerly out of negligence and carelesnesse Hee lost a Kingdome without one blow striking and was forced to have recourse unto a Prince whose onely presence did upbraid unto him his carelesnesse lust and bad government Charles hearing of this was very much displeased finding himselfe charged with so needfull a King and so great a retinue whom hee could not bee wanting unto in assistance not out of any humanity or alliance but for that Warwicke enjoying the Kingdome it behooved him to maintaine the contrary party and drive him out or else to suffer the incommodities of a long War Queene Elizabeth the originall of these alterations seeing her selfe abandoned without succour and the enemy upon her back tooke Sanctuary at Westminster where with small attendance she was brought to bed of a Sonne named Edward hee who for some few weekes after his Fathers death was the V. King of that name and who symbolized in birth name and death with his cousin the Sonne of the Dutchesse of Clarence borne a Shipboard before Calleis The pompe of Baptisme had nothing in it of royall save the Mothers teares accompanyed by many mens commiseration which is then greatest when most concealed Many of her best friends betooke themselves likewise to sundry other Sanctuaries who proved afterwards serviceable to her at Edwards returne The Kentish-men prone to insurrections seeing there was now no King of two the one being fled the other a prisoner came to London and sack't the Suburbs and it may be would have sack't the City it selfe had not the Earle of Warwicke diverted them whose comming thither was noysed and who punished the Complices of the insurrection This piece of Justice added to his reputation and the peoples love Upon the 6 of Octob. he entered the Tower accompanied by many Lords in particular his brother the Archbishop of Yorke the Prior of St. Iohns the Duke of Clarence and the Earle of Shrewsbury some of them drawne by affection some by feareâ—… he set King Henry at liberty after nine yeares captivity he brought him to the Bishop of Londons house where hee tarried till the thirteenth day and then brought him in person and in royall attire to Pauls carrying his traine himselfe and the Earle of Oxford the sword accompanied with the peoples acclamations who cried out God save the King forgetting that a little before they had prayed for Edward against him A Parliament was summoned wherein Edward was declared a Taytour to his Countrey and an usurper of the Crown his goods confiscate all Statutes made in his name and by his authority annull'd the Crownes of England and France confirmed upon Henry and the heires male of his body and for want of such upon the Duke of Clarence and his posterity who hereafter was to be acknowledged the next heire to his Father Richard Duke of Yorke and Edward for his faults committed deprived of his birth-right and the prerogatives thereof The Earles of Pembrooke and Oxford were restored in bloud and to their dignities and goods The Earle of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence declared Governours of the Kingdome Marquesse Mountague was received into grace and his fault pardoned since revolting against Edward hee was the chiefe cause of his quitting the Kingdome those who sided with him were deprived of their Honours Titles and Faculties and such punished as in this quarrell had taken up Armes against Henry Whereupon Iohn Tiptoft Earle of Worcester Lord Deputy of Ireland for Edward was found in a hollow Tree brought to London and beheaded in the Tower The Parliament being ended the Earle of Pembrooke went into Wales to take Order for such Lands as hee possest before his confiscation and finding there Henry the Sonne of Edmond Earle of Richmond with the Widow of William Earle of Pembrooke his brother that was beheaded at Banbury who though held as a prisoner by this Lady was alwayes nobly entreated hee tooke him from her when hee was not yet full ten yeares old and brought him to London where hee presented him to King Henry who after hee had ey'd him a while said to the standers by that this child should succeed him and put a period to all the quarrells which afterwards happening confirmed the opinion that was held of his sanctity since by the spirit of prophecy hee foresaw the succession of Henry the seventh Queene Margaret who was then in France being advertised by Letters from Henry of the regainment of the Kingdome did together with her Sonne forthwith put to Sea but the windes being contrary drove her on Land and kept her there a long time and had they forever kept her there they had beene the more favourable for then shee had not met with the mischiefe shee did in the losse of her Sonne When Warwicks returne to England and King Henries re-establishment was knowne at Callis every one tooke unto him the Earles Impressa Vauclere was the first that did so His Impressa was a ragged staffe made of Gold Silver Silk or Cloath according to his condition that wore it As this unexpected inclination made the Duke of Burgondy more sollicitous so did it inwardly displease the Duke of Clarence who had already alter'd his opinion Neither did nature and
and thinke him worthy of that favour which the rigour of Law had debarred him of forgetting how much hee had made Henry suffer With this pretence hee went to Yorke proclaiming Henry to be King in all parts and stiling himselfe onely Duke of York The Earle of Warwicke hearing of his arrivall and of this his dissimulation wrote to his brother the Marquesse Montague who stay'd all that Winter with a great garrison of Souldiers at Pomfret to fight with him before hee should gather new forces or at least that hee should entertaine him till such time as hee himselfe should come thither and that by no meanes hee should suffer him to come into Yorke for by advancing his affaires there hee would endanger theirs Hee in conformity to this commanded all the Cities and Townes in those parts not to receive him but to shut their gates upon him and do him all the mischiefe which according to the Lawes of the Land ought to be done to a publike enemy But whilest the Earle was raising Souldiers and his Brother did not move Edward put forward and was met by two Aldermen neere to Yorke who advised him to steere his course some other way for that the City could not but oppose him and do him all possible mischiefe Hee having courteously heard them answered that hee came not to fight against the King nor any wayes to molest him acknowledging him to be his Soveraigne Lord but that hee might be permitted to enter into the Dutchy of Yorke his ancient patrimony hoping that as there was none that could justly oppose him therein so they least of any being the naturall subjects of his house from whence they had at all times received all manner of grace and favour The Aldermen returning with this answer and hee after softly following them in an instant the Citizens minds were changed those who were gotten upon the Walles to defend them against him as against an enemy came downe to be his guides and to keepe him from being by any one injur'd being come before the City and met by many of the chiefest Citizens he made such use of his affability calling the Aldermen your worships as by the fairenesse of his language and his large promises he got them to yeild to what ever he would 'T was agreed that hee should be received into the City if hee would sweare to two things that hee would treat them according to his proffered conditions and be obedient and faithfull to all Henries commands Upon these tearmes all parties retired themselves the Citizens to Yorke and Edward with his people to the fields expecting the nextday These good people thought hereby to do good service to God the King and Kingdome but the unwary do alwayes harme when they thinke to help To receive banisht men to restore goods and to dispose of estates belongs not unto Subjects The nextday Masse was said at the gate whereat hee was to enter He swore to the two Articles with such intention as the effects of his not observing them did afterwards declare Wherein is to be observed Gods Long-suffering and Justice the one by his not immediately punishing him the other extending it selfe not long after to his Family which being deprived of the Kingdome and that confer'd upon his enemy was utterly destroyed to manifest unto us that the delay of punishment is not the abolishment thereof These sacred ceremonies being ended with divine attestation he entred the City and as soone as he had from thence received monies notwithstanding all his Articles he made himselfe master of it by placing therein a good garrison and they too late perceived his breach of Faith but it behooved them patiently to endure the yoake which with their own hands they had put about their necks He stayd there but a while for having taken certaine forces into pay hee resolved to go to London A rash resolution had hee had any thing to lose but being he possest nothing and was either to regaine his Kingdome or lose his life which was not to be valued since hee had nothing to maintaine it with 't was a noble resolution and altogether worthy of the greatnesse of his spirit His neerest way lay by Pomfret where Marquesse Montague lay he shun'd him keeping on the other hand foure miles above him and the Marquesse came not forth otherwise Edward and his few men had bin but in bad condition He suffer'd him to passe as if he had had no knowledge thereof This was his second error the first being that he suffer'd him to get into Yorke Some notwithstanding were of opinion that he met him not because he did not much trust his people who hating Henry as the onely Picture of a King unfit for government and the cause of so many scandalls inclined to Edward a King fit to defend himselfe and them Hee thought not to meet with so good fortune but meeting with it and making use of it he put himselfe againe into the roade-way and marcht on to Nottingham where many Gentlemen with great troopes of men came to meet him here he was proclaimed King contrary to the tenure of his first pretences and his Oath taken at Yorke People flocked to him every houre he feared not to passe on to Leicester that hee might draw nigh to the enemy who was then at Warwicke under the command of the Earle thereof accompanied by the Earle of Oxford hee resolved either to give him battell or else to finde out some meanes to joyne with his Brother the Duke of Clarence Warwicke was not well satisfied with the Marquesse who by not opposing him had advantaged the Enemy he levyed Souldiers apace that he might come to the battell and advertised the Duke of Clarence to the end that hee might hasten unto him but growing fearfull of his temporizing he resolved to fight himselfe alone with those troops he had and with this designe he went to Coventry Edward who soone after his departure from Warwicke was come thither followed him the same way the Earle was much perplexed hee was certaine of nothing but battell his safety depended upon the will of Fortune His sonne in Law and his brother were corrupted the first for certaine the second not unlikely but rather to be doubted then built upon So as having intrencht himselfe he expected the Dukes comming who he understood was not far off Edward who was not farre off raysed his campe as if he meant to give his Brother Clarence battell apart and presented himselfe in battell aray before him But as soone as they were within sight one of the other the Duke of Gloucester ran into Clarence his Camp not demanding safe-conduct as upon like occasions is usuall they seemed to treat of what they had long before concluded betweene themselves peace was published and Edward proclaimed King and the two Brothers embraced each other as if there never had beene any thing of difference betweene them Never was man more directly murdered then was Warwicke
Warwioke whose death was the establishment of his Kingdome So that as hee could not sufficiently expresse his joy thereof so could hee not enough lament the Marquesses death whom hee loved and who so loved him as for Henry the type of all misfortune he was againe put into the Tower All this while Queen Margaret met not with a good wind for her passage which was her misfortune for t is to be believed had she been come before the battell matters would not have gone so ill on her side as they did at last she landed in Dorsetshire where hearing of Warwickes discomfiture and death and Henries re-imprisonment her wonted courage failing her she swounded having now no further hope of comfort the safest course she could take was to take sanctuary she and her sonne in a Monastery at Beaulieu in Hampshire whither all the chiefest of her faction came to finde her out namely the Duke of Somerset his brother Iohn Earle of Devenshire who having been one of Edwards chiefe attendants had to his misfortune I know not out of what capriccio forsaken him Iasper Earle of Pembroke the Lord Wenlocke who likewise had formerly been on Edwards side and the Prior of St. Iohns one of the Knights of Bhodes They had much adoe to infuse new hopes into her shee was now no more troubled at her husbands imprisonment nor at the losse of his Kingdome misfortunes by her esteemed irrevocable her sonnes safety as her onely comfort and the last of all her miseries was that which onely troubled her Her opinion was not to tempt fortune any more for feare of endangering him but Somerset perswaded her that if she would undertake the leading of her people as formerly she had done she should finde so many partakers amongst which an infinite number whom feare had made conceale themselves that Edward would not be able to defend himselfe against them that King Henries goodnesse and the expectation of his sonne were deepely engraven in the hearts of all the Kingdome This being by the rest confirmed she suffered her selfe to be peswaded she desired to provide for her sonnes safety by sending him into France but could not effect it for Somerset alleaged his presence was requisite whereupon she condescended This being resolved upon every one went to make their necessary provisions and the Queen with the French that were come along with her went to the Bath whither they came afterwards all unto her Edward had hardly had time to breath after his victory at Barnet when he heard Queen Margaret was landed and what concourse of people flocked unto her out of Devonshire and Cornwall and other Southerne parts hee knew not what to doe as not knowing in what part shee would set upon him hee sent forth some light-horse to make discovery and hearing where shee was hee commanded that the Trained-bands should come to Abbington whither hee himselfe came with those of London and thereabouts As soone as they were come thither hee marched to hinder the enemy from joyning with the Earle of Pembrooke and the other forces thinking that hee might facilitate his victory by fighting with them in their present condition The Queene understanding his designe went to Bristoll so to goe to Wales but the difficulty of passing over Severne and the Duke of Somersets obstinacy caused her last ruine her right way lay by Gloucester but the City being under the government of the Duke of Gloucester the Kings brother she was not suffered to passe by there neither could she force her way having Edward at her heeles she went to Tewkesbury with intent to passe as speedily as she might into Wales but the Duke of Somerset not enduring this flight tooke a fancy to make an hault and fight presently and not waite for the comming of the Earle of Pembrooke who could not be farre off his reason was the danger of being defeated in this their retreat the Captaines approved his motion of making a stand but not of fighting their opinion was that they should intrench themselves so as they might not be forced without apparent danger to the enemy The Duke seemed not to be displeased at this for which purpose he chose the Parke neere to the City where he so well fortified himselfe as that he would have made it good had not his impatient rashnesse undone him for believing he could never quit his Trenches without battell he thought better to give it then to receive it with this fatall capriccio he marshalled his men He and his brother Iohn tooke the Van-guard he gave the Reare-ward to the Earle of Devonshire and the maine battell to Prince Edward under the directions of the Lord Saint Iohns and Lord Venlocke the last being promoted to that honour by King Edward and therefore noted of treachery The Duke of Gloucester who had the charge of his brothers Van making use both of craft and courage set upon the trenches and finding them not to be forced retreated whereupon ensued the very thing hee imagined to wit that Somerset growing hereupon bold would pursue him out of his trenches the which hee did believing to be seconded by the Lord Venlocke with Prince Edwards Squadron but hee not moving the Duke after a long conflict was defeated and driven backe into his trenches pursued even into them by Gloucester where finding Venlocke yet not moved hee called him traytor and with his Sword clove his head in two The King this meane while having followed Gloucester into the trenches cut the rest in pieces some few escaping into the thickets of the Parke into Monasteries and whether else they could flie The Queene was found in a Chariot halfe dead with sorrow and taken prisoner Speed saies shee fled to a Covent of Nuns that shee was taken thence by force and brought to the King at Worcester The Duke of Somerset and the Prior of Saint Iohns valiantly fighting were taken alive Iohn the Dukes brother the Earle of Devonshire with some Knights and 3000 more were slaine Prince Edward fell into the hands of Sir Richard Crofts who intended to have concealed him but the King having promised a pension during life of an hundred pounds a yeere to whosoever should bring him to him alive or dead and life to the young Prince if hee were yet alive Crofts not believing he would falsifie his faith presented him unto him Edward looked upon him and admiring the sweetnesse of his youth and disposition asked him how he durst come with flying Colours into his Kingdome and raise his people against him to the which he couragiously answered that he came to recover his fathers Kingdome his proper and naturall inheritance which could not be denied since it fell unto him by legitimate descent from Father Grand-father and Great-grand-father The King offended at these words strucke him in the face with a Switch which he had in his hand whilst Clarence Gloucester the Marquesse Dorset and Lord Hastings suddenly slew him with their Daggers who were all repaid
in due time with equall cruelty The Duke of Somerset the Prior of Saint Iohns and fourteene others were beheaded on a munday This battell was the last of the Civill warres during Edwards time The Queene was brought to London and some yeeres after ransomed as some say by her father Renatus King of Sicilie for fifty thousand Crownes which were lent him by Lewis the eleventh and not having wherewithall to re-pay them hee sold unto him his pretence unto the Kingdome of Naples by which title Charles afterwards went and laid claime to it Tillet is alledged for one of those who writ this I confesse I never found any such thing in his Collection I remember I have therein read that Charles the Count of Provence who tooke upon him the Title of King of Sicily after Renatus his death made Lewis the eleventh his heire by vertue whereof Charles the eighth pretended to that Kingdome The two brothers of Sancta Martha in their Genealogicall History of the house of France affirme the same and speaking of this Queene they say she was set at liberty in the yeere 1475. having renounced all she could lay clame unto in England by the way of Joynture they mention the opinion of the fifty thousand Crownes but they believe it not to be true However it was she was sent backe to France to spend the rest of her life in perpetuall sorrow not for the losse of her husband or Kingdome but of her sonne whose sad memory accompanied her to her grave After this Edward visited the neighbouring Countries chastising in sundry manners such as had appeared against him from thence he went to London to remedy an inconvenience which if it had hapned at the Queenes arrivall his affaires had not succeeded so prosperously Authors observe him to have good fortune in such accidents as might have hurt him since they hapned at such times as they could not doe so Had the Queene come before Warwickes defeat he might peradventure have been enforced to a second forsaking of England if the Duke of Somerset had stayed for the Earle of Pembrooke at Tewkesbury or that the like accident we are to speake of had then hapned he had met with much of danger and difficulty The Earle of Warwicke after Edwards flight into Flaunders had given the charge of the Narrow-seas betweene England and France to Thomas Nevill a base borne sonne to the Lord Faulconbridge Earle of Kent a man well knowne for the greatnesse of his courage and Spirit The Earle of Warwicke being dead and he having lost the profits of his place which was Vice-admirall being declared an enemy to the King and consequently an exile void of meanes he betooke himselfe to live by piracy robbing all ships that past by whether friends or foes But thinking that by doing little harme he could doe himselfe but little good he bethought himselfe that Edward being now with his forces in the Westerne parts of the Kingdome a faire occasion was offered of handsomely handling his affaires With this designe he landed in Kent he had many ships full fraught with desperate people and such as abhorred poverty and parcimony not knowing how to live but by rapine and wickednesse flocked unto him to these were joyned seventeene thousand men more if not better yet upon better pretences They gave out that they would set Henry at liberty re-invest him in his estate and drive out the usurper the pretence bare with it a specious shew but their ends were to sacke London they assaulted it on three parts upon the Bridge upon Algate and upon Bishopsgate but not able to force the City they were by the inhabitants thereof beaten backe and many of them slaine Thomas Nevill their chiefe Commander hearing that Edward hasted towards him retired with his first followers to Sandwich leaving the rest to returne upon their perill to their owne homes but not long after having mis-governed himselfe in his charge or given some signes of infidelity or were it that the King thought it not safe to trust his Fleet with one of the Lancastrian faction especially in a time when the Earle of Richmond was in Brittany he was arrested in the Haven of Southampton and executed paying for his former defaults which to the hurt of all men hee had committed by Sea and Land The Earle of Pembrooke was yet in Wales after all the rest of his faction were either slaine or fled which much troubled Edward he commanded Roger Vaughan a man much followed in that Countrey to kill him in any whatsoever manner but the Earle being informed thereof prevented him using Vaughan as Vaughan would have used him he then retired himselfe to Pembrooke a strong place where hee thought himselfe safe but he was there besieged by Morgan ap Thomas who so blocked up the Castle with ditches and trenches that it was impossible for him to get out had it not been by the meanes of David ap Thomas brother to Morgan This man brought him forth and embarked him and his nephew Henry Earle of Richmond who were both by fortune driven into a Haven in Brittany his intention was to have landed in Normandy and to have put himselfe into the protection of King Lewis who was likely to runne advantage thereby for after the warre made under the title of the Common good Lewis was very jealous of his brother and of the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany and feared that England now free from home dissentions might assist them He apprehended nothing more then that the English should once more set footing in Normandy so as the Earle of Richmond next heire to the Crowne after Henry and his sonne was likely to serve him as a powerfull meanes to keepe Edward so busied at home by such as sided with the house of Lancaster as that hee should not dreame of forraine enterprizes but being falne upon Brittany the Duke thereof which was Francis the second knew very well how to make use of this accident to his advantage for hee was now sure he had a pledge which would upon all occasions enforce Edward to comply with his desires Hee graciously received them and promised them all security hee sent them to Uannes in appearance free and at liberty but in effect hee set a good guard upon them This Princes escape was the deadly blow to the house of Yorke for though Edward left no meane unassayed to have him in his hands hee could never get him When Edward had setled the businesse in Kent he himselfe being gone thither to punish the faulty hee thought not himselfe sufficiently established as long as Henry lived and till hee had extirpated the roote from whence did budde forth all the rebellions Some have thought that Gloucester put this into his head That even from that time hee began to have thoughts of the Kingdome and that to have hereby one lesse opposition thereunto he advised his brother to it the which I believe but not upon that designe there was
small appearance of it hee having another brother alive though hee himselfe was so wholly composed of wickednesse as I shall joyne with him that shall thinke worst of him Howsoever it was he went to the Tower was Counsellour Judge and Hangman and with one stroke of a Dagger slew the unfortunate Henry It doth not notwithstanding clearely appeare that hee slew him with his owne hands but t is certaine this so cruell and unjust a deede was done whilst Hee was present This was the end of this good King thus ended He his troubles and began his rest Divine grace having chalked out the way unto Him by indowing Him with such conditions and peculiar vertues as are requisite to the finding out of that permanent abode which wee all seeke after Hee was beloved but 't was but a nominall love caused by His Religious vertues naturally vennerable but wanting wisdome and valour Hee was in effect neither loved nor feared by any Hee was a King from his Cradle and to boote with his patrimoniall Kingdome was crowned King of France in Paris an honour shared in by none before nor after and though Hee appeared not in Battells Armed and Souldier like as did his Father yet did not the progresse of Victories for many yeares cease in that Kingdome under his Name till such time as nature manifesting her selfe in him civill Warres arose by which Hee lost France England and Himselfe Amongst his Christianlike vertues three are remarked of exemplary edification the one of Chastity the other two of Patience Certaine Ladies before Hee was married daunced a maske before Him who having their Bosomes bare and their Heads fantastically attired they no sooner appear'd before Him but he retired into his Chamber saying He wondered they did not blush so much to shame themselves From this and the like cases hee not having in all the time of his youth nor at any time after given any the least signe of inconstancy some of his detractours would argue that hee was impotent and that Prince Edward was not his Sonne as if God could not be the Author of continency without the meanes of frigidity and naturall deficience When hee was a prisoner hee was with a Sword wounded in the side by owne who was come thither to kill him and who did not redouble his trust being belike strucke with horrour in the very act of cruelty who this man was or how or by whom sent is not mentioned by Authours when Henry was restored to his Kingdome hee who had wounded him was taken and brought before him to bee punished but hee caused him to be untied and pardoned him the so doing for that it was done to one whose sinnes deserved greater punishment To another who in the same Prison gave him a cuffe on the Eare hee onely replyed hee was too blame for having struck an anointed King Henry the Seventh had once a thought to have him Canonized upon the relation of his miracles but he forbare the prosecution of it some think because he thought much of the accustomed expences in such solemnities which being done for a King and by a King would in all reason have beene expected magnificent which was contrary to his frugality Others as I have beene told would have it that being informed that distinction was made in Rome between such as were blamelesly innocent and such as were Saints he gave over the pursuit of it Henry was a lover of learning and of the learned he founded Eaton-Colledge and endowed it with great Revenewes and provision for Tutors to teach Children their first rudiments Hee founded Kings Colledge in Cambridge whither the Schollers of Eaton are transplanted there to perfect their Studies in Sciences and Languages His intention was to make it perfectly magnificent but his misfortunes did not permit him to finish it the vastnesse of the Chappell a marke of his intention and zeale witnesseth this unto us Hee indowed it with a revenew of 3400 pound sterling yearely which since that time is increased He raigned 38 yeares and some few dayes before Hee was deposed and but bare six moneths after Hee was restored He had no issue but Edward Prince of Wales slaine as hath beene said Hee lived fifty two Yeares His body was carried from the Tower to Pauls Church invironed with a great many Armed men where one whole day hee was exposed to the view of all men with his face bare to the end the people might bee assured of his Death and there did issue forth great quantity of Blood from out his wound a sight which moved compassion in those that looked on being taken from thence and carried to Black-Friers Church his Body bled againe at last Hee was put into a Coffin carried to Chersey and there privately buried without any manner of pompe or Christian-like solemnity Henry the Seventh made his body afterwards be brought from thence and buryed in Westminster where Hee caused a Princely Monument to be built for him But in these times t is said not to be there nor that it is known where it is Edward thus freed of his chiefest troubles was not notwithstanding in quiet for many more arose which though lesse ceased not to trouble him amongst which some strange events which I forbeare to name which though naturall were by some superstitiously minded thought to be prodigies of future mischiefe The Earle of Oxford who after the battell at Barnet had got into Wales and from thence to France having put to Sea with seventy five men passed into Cornewall where Hee made himselfe master of Saint Michaels mount and did there fortify himselfe with meat and ammunition but living there like a banisht man full of feares He capitulated to surrender it His life saved the which though it were made good unto him yet was in such a manner as He had beene better have fled againe then in hope of life and lively-hood live miserably imprisoned for Hee was sent to Hammes where He was kept twelue yeares till the last of Richard the Third all succour denyed Him even the company of His Wife both of them being equally hated by the King the Earle for that Hee his Father and Brother had mightily favoured the house of Lancaster and his Wife as sister to the Earle of Warwicke the first disturber of his quiet so as having taken from her all shee had shee lived upon the charity of other people and by what shee daily wonne by her needle The King forgot not the Archbishop of Yorke though a Clergy man and though when he was his prisoner hee entreated him with all humanity and respect and by affording him the liberty of hunting afforded him the like to escape he sent him to the Castle of Guisnes causing him there to be strictly looked unto and though some while after at the request of his friends hee gave him his liberty 't was too late for him for overdone with griefe and melancholly he but for a small while injoyed his begg'd
seeing he was used but as an instrument to work the designes of others began better to bethink himself His men had taken a servant of Iames de Gratsi a Gentleman who then served the King prisoner Edward would have him set at liberty without ransome and the Lord Howard and Lord Stanley having furnished him with Moneys for his expences loaded him with the presentment of their services to the King in case he should come to speak with him which at his first coming he did This News seeming strange to Lewis who did not reflect upon the names of those that sent him his naturall jealousie wrought so far upon him as that he made Irons to be clapt upon him taking him to be but a Spie the which he the rather did for that his Masters brother was in great favour with the Duke of Bretagne But after he had made him be privately examined by some and had spoke with him himself he remembred the English Heraulds words That if he did resolve to treat with Edward he should send a Herauld to demand safe-Conduct for his Ambassadours prescribing unto him that he should make his addresse to the Lord Howard and Lord Stanley Having well bethought himself herein some time past before he could resolve whether to do it or no At last he resolved and pitcht upon a person to send wherein his choice seemed very strange Monsieur de Hales had a servant with whom Lewis had never spoken but once he thought this man fit for the employment he was a man poor in aspect but rich in understanding who could at the same time expresse himself boldly enough and yet with modestie whereupon it may be said that in this his choice he shewed his wisedom He caused a Heraulds Coat be made for him whereof there was none at that time in the Camp for Lewis was an enemy to Apparences no great friend to Decency and no ways curious in the accustomed Formalities of Princes This man received his Instructions and presented himself before the English Camp He made known to the Lords Howard and Stanley that he desired to speak with the King and chancing to come when the King was at Dinner he was led into a Tent to dine When he was brought unto the King he told him in Lewis his name He was come from the King of France his Master who was desirous of Peace with his Majestie and his Kingdom as that which was to be sought for by both of them by reason of the commodity of Commerce and which was necessary for the Subjects both of the one and the other That the King his Master wondred to see him come into France since he had never given him occasion to wage War That if he had favoured Warwick it was not out of any ill will to him or his House but in respect of the Duke of Burgundy his inexorable enemy who had made his Majestie of England take Arms against him not for that he intended any advantage or honour to him thereby but that the Forces of England might better his own condition and that of his Colleagues That the Dukes affairs needed Accommodation not War the which might be witnessed by the state his Master found him in since being undone by a long and unfortunate Siege he was reduced to such a passe as that he could not sustain himself but at the charge of others He wished Edward to consider that he had Winter at his back That he was in the Field and unprovided of Towns not being come out of his own election but called in to please his Subjects who if they desired War with France 't was out of passion since reason shewed them there was no appearance of their reaping any profit thereby but rather the contrary for building upon the Duke of Burgundy and the Constable they were certainly to be deceived their Coyn being of a false alloy That he knew the King of England had been at great expence to come into France but that if he would give way unto a Treaty his Master would give him such satisfaction as that he his Nobility and Countrey should have reason to rest satisfied That if it would please him to send Lewis a safe-Conduct for a hundred Horse he would send Ambassadours to wait upon him where he pleased either in any Village or between the two Camps and that Lewis would not fail to send the like to wait upon his Ambassadours Edward and the major part of his Counsel were well pleased with this Proposition The Herauld was suddenly dispatched away being presented with a hundred Angels in a gilt-Cup and had along with him the Safe-Conduct he desired and was accompanied by an English Herauld who might bring back the like with the which assoon as he returned the Ambassadours met in a Village neer Amiens the two Armies being four Leagues distant from thence And though the Demands of the English were exorbitant standing still upon their old Pretences of demanding the Crown and in the second place the Dutchies of Normandy and Guienne yet the one being desirous to return home the others to send them away assoon as possibly they could this Treaty ended upon two chief Conditions besides such as concerned Commerce The one That Lewis should pay to Edward Seventy five thousand Crowns Seventy two thousand says Commines before he went from France the other That the Dolphin who was afterwards Charles the Eighth should marry ELIZABETH eldest Daughter to Edward who was afterwards Wife to Henry the Seventh allowing her for her Maintenance Fifty thousand Crowns a yeer which were for Nine succeeding yeers to be paid her in the City of LONDON at the end whereof the Marriage being to be consummated the married Couple were joyntly to enjoy all the Revenue of the Dutchy of Guienne the annual payment of the abovesaid Fifty thousand Crowns ceasing And that the Peace between the two Kingdoms should be understood to continue during these Nine yeers their friends therein comprehended namely the Dukes of Burgundy and Britanny Many blamed Lewis for these Agreements and not looking into the reasons thereof imputed pusillanimity and cowardise unto him but they did not well understand the businesse Commines says that besides his declared enemies who were the Dukes of Britanny and Burgundy and the Constable he had so many private concealed ones in the body of his Kingdom as without this Agreement he might have suffered losse He meaneth as I believe such Princes and Lords who not approving of the Person of the King would have caused the good o France which Charles said once he wisht her to wit That in stead of One King she might have Six But suppose there were no such dangers there yet remains one reason not spoken of by him which of it self ought to have perswaded him to do what he did The end of War is Victory but all Victories are not equally profitable there is difference between overcoming to preserve our own and overcoming to get
pretence lest they might have been gainsay'd he told him he had given up the Lamb unto the Wolf and that he might be sure assoon as he was out of Bretaigne he should be miserably put to death since the King of England could not bear him any such affection contrary to his own pretended end That the King was not so simple as to marry his daughter to an enemy who laid claim unto the Kingdom nor was it likely he could believe that Affinity would root out Jealousies but rather encrease so as it would not make for him to nurse up this Adder in his bosom The Duke listned to these reasons and finding them to be true commanded Peter Landois his Treasurer who by chance was then present to post after the Ambassadours and come what come will to bring back the Earl He found them ready to imbark themselves at S. Malo and the Earl sick of a violent Feaver occasioned by the apprehension of his approaching death He told them the Duke was surprised by their request that every honest man would blame him for it that he could not deliver unto them this Gentleman without a great stain to his reputation that therefore the Duke desired them they would be pleased he might put such Guards upon him the which he promised to do as that he might not go out of that Sanctuary whither by reason of their unadvisednesse he had had recourse the Earl had taken this Sanctuary by the secret means of Peters servants or that if he did he would put him in so safe a place as Edward should have no occasion to fear him The Ambassadours were not well pleased after having found him out and paid for it to lose both cost and labour But they durst not complain thereof the Earls promised imprisonment being of more worth then their charges And though the King was thereat displeased yet the belief he gave to the Kings promise freed him of that suspition which likewise freed him of all other trouble so as according to his humour he gave himself up to all familiarity yea sometimes with such as were far unfitting company for him He invited the Maior and Aldermen of London a hunting he ate and drank with them and at the same time presented their Wives with Venison and Wine to the end that they might likewise recreate themselves the which though it relisht too much of familiarity yet was it not prejudicial since used to such as might be serviceable to him As there is no better means to win upon mens affections then affability so when it falls into excesse it causeth such a loathing as quantity of meat causeth to weak-stomacked people He was not sparing of himself to any whatsoever woman he had three Concubines besides such by whom he had had children 't was usually said when men would be bold with him that the one of them was delightful the other wilde or phantastical the third holy who was so termed because she could not be drawn from forth the Church but when sent for by him But natures too much given to the pleasures of Sense are if they be offended bitter in resentment For example as he was hunting in Warwick shire in the Park of one Thomas Burdet who was servant to his Brother the Duke of Clarence amongst many other Deer he slew a white Buck which Burdet made much account of insomuch as not knowing how otherwise to be revenged he wisht the horns in the Kings belly This wish was adjudged Treason and he together with his white Buck lost his head and all that he had I must spend the yeer 1476 in the misfortunes of Charles Duke of Burgundy since England was then unemployed and his affairs altered the face of businesse amongst Princes Charles answerable to the Agreement made with King Lewis had received S. Quintines Han Bohaine and all the Constables moveable goods together with the shame of having under trust betrayed him his brain full of vast designes bore him to difficult undertakings which chewed by imaginary confidence caused in him such evil digestion as we shall see His first wrath and the first expressions thereof were against Renatus Duke of Lorrein wherein succeeding luckily as in the taking of Nanci and the rest of that Dutchy he was blown up to fresh undertakings Because the Switzers had assaulted Burgundy and had taken many places under Iames Count de Romont Brother to the Duke of Savoy whilst he was at the siege of Nuz he resolved at one and the same time to revenge his own and the others injuries nor could they pacifie him though they offered to renounce all other Confederacies namely that of France for the heavens having ordained him to ruine did obdurate him in the wilfulnesse of his obstinate humours making him deaf to all honourable and advantageous offers He entred their Countrey with Five thousand fighting men he took Iverdon besieged Granson where Four hundred Switzers of the Canton of Berne not able to defend it retired themselves into the Castle they yeelded it up their lives saved but not observing the Agreement Eighty of them were hanged Two hundred drowned and the rest put to ransom whilst Eighteen thousand of the same Nation were come in unto their succour The Duke taking it in disdain that they durst raise their Colours against him set upon them forthwith he lost the Battel his Artillery and Baggage the particulars whereof were by him esteemed at three Millions of Gold in Tapistry Silver vessels and Jewels which for ostentation and pomps sake he had taken along with him This was the first of his three mortal misfortunate blowes which not being accustomed thereto made him fall sick this sicknesse changed his constitution and nature insomuch as where before he drank nothing but water boyled and used Conserve of Rosâ—… to qualifie his natural heat his melancholy had now so much cooled him that his Physitians made him drink lusty Wines with out water and applied Cupping-glasses to his heart to heat hiâ—… and excite blood but what is most remarkable his Senses were hereat so weakned as that his Judgement was disquieted so as the blowe which would have infused understanding into any one not totally void thereof did not so to him who was become in capable of it Gathering therefore greater Forces he went with Eighty thousand fighting men to besiege Morat a Town not very great some two leagues distant from Berne belonging to Couâ—… Romont but usurped by the Switzers The Switzers came to the succour thereof with Thirty thousand Foot and Four thousand Horse accompanied by the Duke of Lorrein they gave Battel and though the Dukes Artillery made very great breaches upon their Battalions yet did they not break not stop thereupon but making good the empty places they passed on cutting in piece very many of his men and making the rest either run away oâ—… drown themselves in the Lake the Duke with much ado saving himself In my Travels thorow those
Countreys I have seeâ—… the relicks of that Victory If my memory deceive me not there is upon the brink of the Lake a Chappel neer unto which lies a great heap of dead mens bones but there having perished in the Battel Eighteen thousand and as some will have it Two and twenty thousand methought those bones though very many were not answerable to so great a number Here I was like wise told and the place was shewed me where Charles on horseback swam over the Lake and where one of his Footmen fastning himself to his Masters horses tail assoon as he came â—…n shore was by Charles slain for having endangered his drowning since 't was sufficient for a horse to swim so far with an armed man upon his back without the dragging another at his tail But I meet not with this relation in any History He retired himself to Rivieres upon the confines of Burgundy where he lived secretly six weeks in which time the Duke of Lorrein being come to the Siege of Nanci the Town was surrendered to him two days before Charles came thither from whom they had demanded succour and expected his coming till the last minute The Duke of Lorrein who found himself weak would not contest with him but leaving him to besiege the Town again retired himself for aid to the Switzers from whom he had forthwith what he desired for King Lewis paid to him Fourty thousand Franks for this end and many French came Voluntiers to him with this Army he came to S. Nicholas Two Leagues distant from Nanci in the coldest Winter-season that had been known many yeers before Charles his Army was in a very bad condition and became yet worse when the Count de Campo Basso a Neopolitan and of the Aniovin-Faction and therefore banished that Kingdom had relinquished him having had intelligence long before with the Duke of Lorrein but when he would with his men have come over the Switzers abhorring the assotiation of a Traytor would not admit of him Charles seeing his affairs brought to so bad an exigent contrary to his custom listned after the opinion of others he was advised not to fight since his men were few and no ways valiant he not having upon a true Muster Twelve hundred good men they advised him to retire to Pont-Mousson since the Duke of Lorrein being onely able to victual the Town for a small time and the Switzers being likely to depart for want of pay he might with a better choice of men return thither the next Spring A most excellent counsel had he embraced it but he would fight The Conflict was short a handful of men wearied with a Siege disheartned by former Defeats and by the present unadvisednesse the readier now again to be defeated many of them were cut in pieces many fled away and but few of them were saved the Duke endeavoured to save himself but was slain in his flight wounded twice by the Pike and once by the Halberd he was rifled and left naked not known by any one save some-while after by a Page of his by certain private marks for it was impossible to know him by his face The circumstances of this Defeat are at large set down by Commines and the French Writers to whom I refer my self I may perchance touch upon something again in its proper place whilst returning for the present to our Story we shall meet with a Tragicall adventure no lesse strange nor compassionate then what we have but now heard The Duke of Clarence second brother to King Edward a Prince of greater spirit then did become a brother and a subject ended his days in the Tower leaving it to dispute whether his death were occasioned through his own default or through the Malice of his enemies for though he were condemned by ordinary course of Justice yet was there not any one full fault found in him so as it was thought there was nothing of Justice in it more then the name and that Malice was indeed that which took away his life Three things were of most consideration in this affair The Kings Suspition The Queens Hatred and Suspition and His own Fault which was not sufficient to have condemned him had it not been for the former Two His having rebelled made Confederacie with the Earl of Warwick and contracted Alliance with him to bereave his brother of the Kingdom were faults which though they were old and freely forgotten 't was feared that his old inclinations laid aside more in respect of his own concernment then out of reason or love to his brother might be reassumed by him and he thereunto provoked by pretence of the Agreement made at Paris that he should succeed unto the Crown if Henry the sixth his Heirs should fail as already they had done This consideration wounded the Queen to the very soul she thought that if her husband should die before her her children should not succeed to their father she was confirmed in this opinion by a Prophecie I know not how divulged That G should be the first letter of his name that should succeed Edward and the Duke of Clarence his name being George 't was thought he should be the Butcherer of Edwards sons which Gloucester afterwards proved to be With such like equivocations doth the devil delude our simplicity if it be granted that he knows any thing of what is to come To these were other reasons added which made the former the more suspected his having pretended to marry Mary the onely daughter to the late Duke of Burgundy and indeed he had written to that effect to the Dowager Dutchesse who was mother-in-law to the said Mary but the Queen crossed him therein and did what in her lay to have her married to her brother the Earl Rivers so as their distastes and the Kings jealousies were augmented But the imputations which gave some colour to the justification of this his death were That he caused a rumour to be raised among the people that Thomas Burdet was unjustly put to death That the King used Necromancy and Poyson to bring such as he hated to their ends That Edward was a Bastard and not begotten by the Duke of York That he had procured many to swear obedience to him and his Heirs not reserving the due obedience he ought unto his Brother and That he had pretended to the Crown by vertue of the Contract made with Henry the sixth These Accusations being brought into the Parliament and by the Parliament judged guilty thereof he was condemned to die and chose as the easiest death to be drowned in a Butt of Malmsey But howsoever 't was generally thought that the malice of his enemies the Queens and her kinreds fears and the Kings jealousie were the causes of his so miserable end of the which Edward did afterwards repent insomuch as when he pardoned the life of any at the importunacie of some one or other he was wont to say O my unfortunate brother that
had not any to intercede for him He left behinde him two children born unto him by the Earl of Warwick daughter Edward Earl of Warwicks and Margaret Countesse of Salisbury both of them born under the like unfortunate Constellation for He lost his head in Henry the sevenths time She hers in Henry the eights King Lewis when Charles was dead thought to make himself master of those States believing he could not meet with any obstacle since all the men of War were almost slain in the three Battels of Granson Morat and Nanci neither had he been deceived if he had persisted in his resolution of marrying that Princesse to the Dolphine his son of working upon her Counsellors by gifts promises and additions of Honours and of winning the peoples good-will by feeding them with hopes of being well treated but his thirsting after this Conquest which to him appeared easie diverted him from the means of coming by it lawfully and was the ruine if not of all yet of his most principal designes Abbeville was the first City which fell into his hands but as of right belonging unto him being one of those which were to be surrendered to him after Charles his death Han Bohin S. Quintines and Peron out of the same reason did the like Arras was by agreement delivered up unto him Heâ—…ine Bullein and Doway yeelded themselves All this progresse of affairs appertained to Picardy In Burgundy he employed the Prince of Orange a man of great power in those parts and Monsieur de Cran with a distinct Army who in a few days brought the County and Dutchy to his obedience Neither did he pretend usurpation in this the Dutchy was the Patrimony of the Crown given in Fee-farm to Philip the bold by his father Iohn the second King of France upon condition it should revert again unto the Crown in default of Issue male such Grants not falling according to the French phrase unto the Distaff And he had some pretences to the County though not from the Crown The Infant Princesse seeing her self thus hardly dealt withal all her Embassies Supplications and Submissions nothing availing her she sent a Dispatch into England to shew to Edward what prejudice he suffered by having the King of France so neer him possest of Abbeville Bullein Hedine Arras and other places upon the Sea neer Callice and in the face of England But though in all reason he ought to have assisted her his private interest made him notwithstanding be a Spectator of all those ruines without budging his Counsellors being almost all of them Pensioners to Lewis preferred private interest before all reason of State Edward though sent Ambassadours to mediate that no more harm might be done a very good means certainly before a Prince hath put on a resolution of War but as ridiculous as unprofitable without a mans sword in his hand The hopes of marrying his daughter the Fifty thousand Crowns which were ready to be paid and his chief men being won by Pensions were the obstacles which withstood all good Resolves Lewis received the Ambassadours courteously and was bountiful to them at their going away so sent them away without any answer the which he said he would send by Ambassadours of his own who a good while after were sent with directions to spin out the businesse upon pretences of having no Instructions working by this means his own desired ends and hindering Edward from doing had he been so disposed what he ought to have done and though many free from corruption advised him to the contrary shewing the damage he thereby received without any hopes of advantage for if Lewis had any minde to make the Marriage he would have sent for the Princesse away after the first yeer according to the Treaty sworn at Picquigny divers yeers being now past and she not sent for yet were they not listned unto Any the least obstacle to boot with the defence made by the Infant Princesse would have been sufficient to have made Lewis keep within his own Precincts and if nothing else his unwillingnesse to see the English in France would have slackned his proceedings and though he invited Edward to passe over into Flanders whilst he busied himself elsewhere and seemed to be content that the English might win Flanders and Brahant for themselves he did it for that he was sure by reason of the many strong places that were there they would make but a slowe and costly progresse and when Edward seemed to accept of this invitation if in stead of such places as he should win in Flanders Lewis would deliver unto him those he had won in Picardy namely Bullein no more was heard of the businesse Edward would willingly have assisted the Princesse if she would have married the Earl Rivers brother to his wife and she needing assistance would have married him but the disparity of their conditions would not permit her Counsellors to suffer her so to do so as Lewis found none that crost his Fortunes nor she any that would assist her in her misery which made her conclude the Match with the Archduke Maximilian son to the Emperour Frederick the third not listning to any other that was propounded to her not to that of the Dolphine for that he was but nine yeers old and she twenty or one and twenty and for that she hated his father not to that of Charles Count d'Angoulesme who was afterward father to Francis the first because Lewis would not consent thereunto being jealous of the Princes of the bloods power not to that of the Prince of Cleve because she liked him not Edward had this mean while prodigiously alter'd his nature from being affable and liberal he became austere and a varitious to the great wonder and worse satisfaction of his people The Laws of England grant many things in favour of their Kings as their penal Laws which the Kings themselves make no use of as being too full of rigour He by vertue of those Laws took such penalties as those that were rich fell into by their not punctual observance of them and making no difference neither in respect of Blood Quality or Title he put the Kingdom into a great fright making them believe he would become formidable for having abated the courage of other men by his Brothers death there was not any one that durst contradict him But the greedy heaping up of Money which he used was so much the more monstrous in him by how much it was contrary to the constitution of his nature so as such a change shewed his death to be at hand Ambassadours were frequently sent from England to France and from France to England the former that according to their Obligation the French might send for the betrothed Princesse the others to excuse their delay laying it upon the Wars of Burgundy and the Low-Countreys in the which all the principal men of the Kingdom being employed she could not be sent for in manner becoming the
dignity and greatnesse of both the Crowns so as he who earnestly desires a thing is by nothing more easily deceived then by the confirmation of new promises Edward did easily believe and Lewis made advantage of his falshood and brought about his ends without contradiction which had he carried the businesse otherwise he could not have done But he who says the English have won more honour by Fighting then by their Treaties says not amisse for they are more aptly disposed to the former At this time did Iames the third reign in Scotland who coming to the Crown at seven yeers of age met with lewd education and most villanous corrupters so as not being wicked of himself but made so by them as he grew in yeers he encreased in his lusts cruelties and rapine and rewarding the authors of his Disorders by the sale of Goods belonging to the Church he purchased the hatred of his Nobility and of his whole Kingdom From these his excesses he did not exempt his own Family he dealt badly with his brother and incestuously violated his youngest sister he let slip the opportunity he had to trouble England it being divided within it self and was himself vexed by his subjects the worm of conscience not working upon him in the cessation of his Rebellions not yet the fear of such pains as Heaven inflicts for punishment upon incorrigible sinners Tthese things for what concern'd him And for what concerned Edward his jealousies of the Lancastrian Faction caused their peaceful living together even from the very beginning of their Reigns thorow a Truce of Fifteen yeers but the Truce being now well-nigh expired and Iames having put one of his brothers to death and imprisoned the other which was the Duke of Aubeny thinking he could not defend himself against his domestick enemies without fastning himself to strangers he was desirous to interest Edward in the conservation of his Dignity and Person To this purpose he demanded Cicely Edwards second daughter for wife to his son Iames Prince of Scotland and he obtained it with this Condition That though the Marriage could not yet be consummated both of them being children Edward should pay down part of the portion for the repayment of which in case the Marriage should not go on he had the chiefest Merchants of Edenborough bound The King of Scotland thought himself now to be safe by this shadowie Alliance but the Duke of Aubeny having escaped out of prison by means of a Cord made of linen and made his Addresses to Lewis who would not receive him for he held some secret Intelligence with Iames against Edward he passed over into England where having represented the King his brothers general injustice to make him appear wicked and his particular injustice to his brothers to make his wickednesse appear unnatural and cruel he prayed aid of Edward and his intreaties were made the more efficacious being accompanied by those of Iames Douglas who was likewise a banisht man which moved the King to wage War with him whereunto he could not have been perswaded had not King Iames himself given him the occasion Lewis who having covenanted another Match for the Dolphin thought Edward could not chuse but be revenged endeavoured to divert him by making the King of Scotland engage him in a War and the King of Scotland perswaded thereunto either by hopes or Moneys or both violated his late-made Affinity and Peace not regarding the injustice and dishonour of the action nor yet the danger he put himself into he being so detested both by God and man and not able to raise Forces without the assistance of his Countrey yet affying more in France then he had reason to do he did what of himself he was able to please Lewis He sent some Troops to make Inrodes upon the Confines of England which did rather provoke then harm the enemy so as Edward finding himself enforced and offended on the one side and humbly intreated on the other side he raised a powerful Army and sent it into Scotland under the command of his brother the Duke of Gloucester King Iames had not the like ability to resist as he had to irritate for being abused by the flatteries of three wicked personages who had drawn upon him the general hatred of all men he durst not gather the whole Nobility into a Body lest being united they might take some strange resolution against him Necessity notwithstanding constrained him to summon them and raise an Army not altering though the form of his Government for mistrusting all the rest he made use onely of the Counsels of his forenamed flatterers not calling his Nobility to any Counsel or Deliberation an indignity which they not able to endure they met together a little after midnight in a Church where being perswaded by Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus they would have the first War made against these men as those that were their Countreys most dangerous enemies and had not the wiser sort moderated the more hastie the King might have run hazard in his own person The chiefest of them went towards the Court not making any noise followed onely by as many as might serve to do the businesse The King was advertised of this Meeting at the same time 't was made so as rising up hastily to see what was to be done he sent Robert Cockeran one of the Triumviri to make discovery but being met by them they detained him set a Guard upon him and passed on to the Court and to the Kings Chamber seizing without any manner of resistance upon all such as were about the King except Iohn Ramsey for whom the King interceded and who being very young was not polluted with their enormities The rest were led into the Camp where the Army crying out that they might be put to death they were all hanged without any legal proceeding and not having any Ropes in readinesse for so sudden an execution each man strove to make offer of his horses halter or reins and those whose offers were entertained thought themselves much honoured thereby This businesse bred such a difference between the King and his subjects as each of them retired themselves to their own homes not thinking any longer to defend the Kingdom and the King with some few others did to little purpose shut themselves up in the Castle of Edenborough for had they been evilly minded towards him they would have taken him in the Lander the place where this businesse happened The Summer was well advanced before the Duke of Gloucester entred Scotland he laid siege to the Castle of Berwick defended by the Earl Bodwel the Town having yeelded to him without resistance he would not lose the season by staying there himself but environing it with Four thousand fighting men he passed forwards to Edenborough not permitting through the Duke of Aubeney's desires any harm to be done there a contrary course to what had been formerly taken and because it was impossible to treat
with King Iames who did not suffer any one to come into the Castle he made a publike Proclamation to be made in the chief Market place by Garter King at Arms that if he would not make good to Edward what under his hand he was by agreement obliged unto if he did not before September next make satisfaction for the damages and injuries done to England and did not put the Duke of Aubeny in his former condition without the diminishing of his Possessions Authority or Offices he would put his whole Kingdom to fire and sword But the King returning no Answer neither by message nor writing being equally unfit either to give satisfaction or make resistance the Nobles who had encamped themselves at Haddington with a great number of men being abandoned by the King and not willing to abandon themselves and Countrey sent Ambassadours to the Duke of Gloucester offering for what belonged to them to effect the Marriage and requiring the like of him promising that it should not fail on their sides if all the Articles agreed upon were not put in execution and an inviolable Peace for the time to come were not made between the two Kingdoms To the which Gloucester answered that the Match was broken by means contrary to the end for which it was made That he did not know the King his brothers intentions and whether he was not resolved as he had good cause not to think any more of it That his Instructions were To demand restitution of the Moneys the which he did requiring speedy payment for what concerned the Peace That it was not to be had unlesse they would promise to deliver up unto him the Castle of Berwick or unlesse in case they could not do it they would oblige themselves not to assist the besieged nor molest the besiegers till such time as it were either taken or surrendred These Demands seemed very hard to the Scots They answered The cause why the Marriage was not effected was by reason of the young couples yeers not through any default of theirs That the Moneys could not justly be demanded the time of repayment being not yet come That if the security given in for the repayment of them did not suffice they would give in other That Berwick was situated upon the very Bound of Scotland built by the Scots and by just Title always possessed by them nor was their claim thereunto the weaker because the English had made themselves Masters of it since violence doth not prejudice the right of a just ancient natural and primary possession But the Duke of Aubeny put an end to all these differences for Gloucester permitting him to go into the Scotish Camp and the Lords there promising him that if he would submit himself to the King they would procure his pardon and the restitution of all his goods he was declared under the King Lord Lieutenant of the Kingdom and it was resolved though not without much opposition that the Castle of Berwick should be surrendred and a Truce for certain moneths was agreed upon to the end that the Peace might be treated on without disturbance oâ—… hostility so as the Duke of Gloucester having recovered Berwick One and twenty yeers after Henry the sixth had given it to the Scots he retired himself to Newcastle where he expected directions from his brother who having weighed the concernment of this Match the Kings decaying condition the danger he was in of being deposed he being hated and the Duke of Aubeny beloved he demanded his Moneys which were forthwith payed him leaving Scotland to its turmoils the which though the Duke of Aubeny did sincerely endeavour to quiet by remitting the King his brother to the plenary possession of his Kingdom yet could he not reconcile the King unto him For if the remembrance of injuries be never to be forgotten by men of perverse natures good turns are the more easily forgotten ingratitude being an enemy to all Christian and Moral vertues King Iames his minde was so contaminated and depraved as it would not suffer him to think well of his brother though the effects demonstrated the contrary nay he was likely to have made him follow his other brother had he not by his friends been advertised thereof which made him flee into England from whence having delivered up to Edward the Castle of Dunbarre he went to France where running at Tilt with the Duke of Orleans who was afterwards Lewis the twelfth he was unfortunately slain by the splinter of a Lance which wounded him thorow the sight-hole of his Helmet Edward had long suffered Lewis to take his advantage not onely in such parts of the Heir of Burgundy's Countrey as were far distant from him but even in those which were neare to Callice permitting him contrary to all reason of State to make himself master of Bullein and other Forts upon the Sea onely out of the hopes of his Daughters marriage but growing too late suspicious of it he sent the Lord Howard to France to sift out the truth who though he saw the solemne receiving of Margaret Daughter to the late heire of Burgondy and Maximilian of Austria and saw her married to the Dolphin in Amboyse yet when he tooke his leave Lewis according to his wonted dissimulation confirmed unto him his former promises as if a new match contracted with all the Church-Ceremonies and the Bride in the house did not prejudice the former so as being returned to England hee truly related the difference of what his Eyes saw and Lewis told him Lewis had handled this match according to his wonted craft not seeming to be therein obliged to those of Gaunt who had concluded it maugre their Prince the Brides Father and they did it willingly for taking from him the Counties of Artois Burgondy and Carolois the Counties of Macon and Auxorres which they gave in portion to the Dolphin they made him the lesse able to offend them they would likewise if they could have given him Hainault and Namours not considering that these Provinces in the hands of so great a King were like to forme the chaine of their servitude But Fortune favoured them beyond all expectation for this marriage so advantageous for that Kingdome was together with the Bride yet a Virgin not many Yeares after renounced by Charles the eight that he might take to Wife Anne the Daughter and Heire of Francis Duke of Britaigne and thereby to possesse himselfe of that Dukedome and the aforenamed Margaret borne under an unhappy constellation for matter of Husbands was in a very short time Widow to three To Charles who did yet live and to two others who died Iohn Prince of Aragon who lived not many moneths and Philibert the 8th Duke of Savoy who within a few Yeares dyed so as she had no issue by any of them Edward was so sensible of this his great abuse as that he resolved on revenge every one with cheerfulnesse provided for War the Clergy supply'd in monies
what they could not do in person but whilst hee was taking order for so important an expedition he fell sick being sodainely struck with a great melancholy others say of a Surfeit and knowing he could not live he caused all the Lords to be sent for to him who by reason of the intended War were then in great number at Court He recommended to them the young Princes his Sonnes and together with them Peace shewing them that being young they would neede good Counsellors which in the distraction of private contentions would hardly be found that they having all a relation unto him some by blood some by affinity all by good will and duty they were to joyne in a reciprocall love one towards another to the end that the conformity of their mindes might beget the like in their actions and in their ends necessarily conducing to the service of an infant King to the good of the Kingdome and to the peace and quietnesse which he did chiefly desire amongst them hee put them in minde of the evills caused through civill dissensions he desired God of his goodnesse that no such might be hereafter but that this favour was not to be hoped for without the forgiving of past injuries which made him in the name of the same God and as the last comfort he should receive desire of them all forgivenesse of any injuries done by him All that were present wept and those who bare more rancour one to an other then did the rest shooke hands in token of their last obedience due unto him even to the last minute of his Life so as satisfyed with this their outward expression their inward minds unknowne he died the ninth of April 1483 in the 41 Yeare of his Life having Reigned 22 Yeares one month and five dayes and was buried in a Chappell built by him at Windsor He was a Prince who could not have had his like had he not been vitiated with the contagion of civill factions the gifts of minde and nature strove for priority in him He was of all men the handsomest and of all fortunate men the most valiant having in as many Battells as he fought alwayes had the Victory He had by his Wife three Sonnes and eight Daughters his third Son dyed an Infant we shall shortly heare of the compassionable end of the other two Of his Daughters Elizabeth was married to Henry the Seventh Cecily to Viscount Wells and after to another but had issue by neither Anne to Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolke whose children dyed all young Bridget was a Nun in Dartford Mary promised to the King of Denmarke dyed before the Marriage Margaret dyed young Catharine was married to William Courtney Earle of Devonshire to whom she bare Henry Marquesse of Exeter and he had Edward E. of Devonshire who died without issue in Padua the Yeare 1556 and Elizabeth dyed young Besides these his legitimate children he left behind two Bastards Arthur Plantagenet Viscount Lisle and Elizabeth Arthur had three Daughters and of Elizabeth is come the L. Lomley The end of Edward the Fourths Life THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE CIVILL WARRES OF ENGLAND In the Life of Edward the Fift I Now should write the Life of Edward the Fift Son to the last deceased King as I have done the Lives of the rest but he being taken from this World in lesse then three Moneths by such cruelty as greater hath not been heard off I have not whereout to frame a History in lieu thereof I will write the Duke of Gloucester his wickednesses which are such as may raise a doubt whether cruelty be an habit of Nature in man or rather a raging fury since Nature in her operations doth nothing in vaine and such Beasts as live not by Rapine kill not other beasts for Preyes sake as hee to devoure the Kingdome slew his Nephewes But considering that there is not any Creature which is not in some sort addicted to this vice I believe it proceeds from two causes the one usefull and necessary which is Selfe-defence and wherein habit consists the other vaine and harmefull which is the coveting of superiority a passion more prevalent in men then in other creatures and this is fury whence if the World were void of ambition or other differing qualities it is not thereout to be averred that the strongest would not insult upon the weaker as alwayes they have done the which being manifest bruit beasts declaring it by their examples it is much more proved so to be when we take into consideration the inaequality of Fortune and Honour Many were the causes of the cruelty whereof we are to treate since practised in sundry manners War not cast into the account To kill Beasts to punish Malefactors are permitted and commanded by the rules of Government but what ariseth from private hatred is by the Lawes condemned though through the corruption of affection or frailty of humour executed by men Butchers and Hunters kill cattell and wild beasts which should they not do the beasts would devoure us and through the great increase of beasts and their destroying of the ground wee might be famished did not the Executioner put a period to the lives of such as are condemn'd our lives and livelyhoods would lie at the mercy of evill livers But the enemy which kills his enemy though in it selfe considered the fact be inexcusable rests yet excused Sodaine chances puntillioes of honour and injuries for which satisfaction is not to be given do so far incense men as humane nature may seeme somewhat to Analogize with cruelty since though it be absolutely to be abhor'd it is not absolutely condemned Now that Richard Duke of Gloucester a Prince by birth an unkle by nature and by the Lawes a protectour should become the Butcher the hangman the enemy of Edward the Fifth and of his Brother being his Nephewes is yet somewhat more which not falling under the capacity of humane fury befell him having disrobed himselfe of humanity and nature Of all execrable examples he is the onely one without parallel All cruelties mention'd of the Antients are in comparison of his meere inventions not true events Nature in the framing of such subjects doth usually transgresse her ordinary rules to put a difference betweene them and others to the end that having set a marke upon them wee may the better know how to be aware of them shee allots them aukward and disproportioned shapes thereby intimating unto us that being crooked and falsely shaped their workes are false and their inclinations crooked This Richard came into the World with his feet forward his Mother was cut up yet out-lived him shee brought him forth deformed insomuch as his brethren being the handsomest and most comely men of that age he was the most mis-shapen that those times produced Hee had a cloudy and a despitfull countenance he was of a low Stature one of his shoulders was greater then the other he was malitious envious injurious neither had hee
reasons seemed good unto the Queene who discovered not the venome thereof Whereupon shee wrote to her Brother exhorting him to cashire all the armed extraordinary attendants and that he should come along onely with her sonnes Houshold servants thereby to shunne the raising of suspition in such who having had reason formerly to hate him would now have cause to accuse him as one Seditious and of small Trust. These admonitions wrought the effect which Glocester desired and so much the rather for that hee having written with all manner of Submission to the King and in most affectionate termes of Friendship to Rivers it wrought so as they tooke their journey without Armes or extraordinary Retinew directing their course towards Northampton where they were met by Himselfe Buckingham and a great many Lords and pretending they should be incommodated for scarcity of Lodgings if they should keepe all together there they made the King go twelve miles farther towards London to Stony-Stratford but the two Dukes stayâ—…d behinde and under pretence of Honour kept with them Earle Rivers and Feasted him with such demonstrations of Joy as not being usuall hee might easily have discovered the deceipt had hee not beene betrayed by the blind folded good opinion hee had of Himselfe When he was gone to his Lodging to rest all night the two Dukes caused the Keyes of the City to be brought to them to the end that no man might get out They slept little spending the greatest part of the Night in counsell and advise they rose early and sent to all the Villages thereabouts where their servants were billeted willing them to be ready on Horseback and sending some to keepe on the way betwixt that and Stony-Stratford with order to send backe all passengers that should goe that way A strange diligence which yet wrought no impression in such as observed it for they believed it to be done that none might come to the King before Themselves But Rivers was of an other opinion for if there had beene any reason for it they should have communicated it to him after many severall conjectures hee resolved to go Himselfe and finde out the bottome of the businesse but no sooner did hee appeare before them then that picking a quarrell that hee had an intention to keepe them from the King and ruine them the which hee should not be able to effect not suffering him to reply but tumultuously interrupting him when hee was about to speake they committed him to the custody of some of their owne Servants and hasted to Stony-Stratford and got thither just as the King was putting foote in stirrup kneeling downe before him who cheerefully received them not knowing their designes they addressed themselves to Richard Gray Brother to the Marquesse Dorset objecting to him that hee together with his Brother and his Unkle had aspired to the Government of the King and Kingdome by raising of Divisions and by bringing under some of the Nobility that they might destroy the Rest that the Marquesse to make his insolencies the more feasible had taken out of the Tower of London all the Royall Treasure and had sent men to Sea to the end that none might oppose him Both which were true but in a contrary sense it being so ordered by the Counsell for the Kingdomes service not his owne The King having heard the Accusation shewed how judicious a Prince hee would have beene had it beene his fortune to have lived for not knowing how to excuse the Marquesse being ignorant by reason of his long absence of what hee had done hee thought hee might excuse the rest since they had beene continually about him So as not giving Richard leave to reply hee sayd for what concern'd the Marquesse hee knew not what to say since hee might be deceived but as for his Unckle Rivers and his Brother Richard he was very certaine they could have no hand in any such businesse for that they had alwayes beene in His company To the which Buckingham replyed His Majesty was deceived that their designes were not knowne to His Majesty and that they did not deserve to be excused by so good a Prince Immediately in his presence was the said Richard seiz'd upon as likewise Sir Thomas Vaughan and Sir Richard Hawte and the King in stead of going forwards was brought back to Northampton such of his attendance as Glocester durst not assy in were removed and others put in their place whereat the yong King did complaine and was much greived having onely the Name of a King and not being of age to defend Himselfe much lesse his Kinred and Servants And that Dissimulation might not be wanting though now 't was needlesse the Duke of Gloucester the next day sent a made dish from his Owne Table to the Earle Rivers with a message that hee should not be troubled at his restraint willing him to be of good courage for very sodainely all things would be to his good liking How much of this Rivers believed may easily be imagined but baulking the injury and apprehending worse he returned thankes for the honour done unto him desiring the Messenger that hee would carry it to his Nephew Richard for that being young and not accustomed to such accidents as these he needed the more this favour This feigned courtesy was like the lightening which fore-runnes Thunder for after many change of Prisons they were brought to Pomfrect and there beheaded as in its proper place shall bee told The next night with great diligence this newes came to the Queene who presently guessed at the Dukes designe shee too late repented the counsell given to her brother to disband his forces shee apparantly saw her owne danger but much more the danger of the Duke of Yorke and her Daughters Shee at the very same houre fled from her Pallace and tooke Sanctuary in Westminster and lodged in the Abbey to the great compassion of such who at that time of the night saw Trunkes Beds and other things carried up and downe in the streetes in such haste and feare as the servants hindered one another in their service not knowing what would become either of their Master or Themselves The Lord Hastings had received the like advertisement but with a contrary resentment he rejoyced at the Queenes sufferings all which were answerable to his wish but imagined not that Glocester would proceed any farther for hee having loved King Edward loved his Children nor would he for all the World that any harme should have befalne them Being thus satisfied in his Owne beliefe he at the same instant it being past midnight dispatcht away a Gentleman to the Archbishop of Yorke Lord Chancellour of England who found him in his first sleepe hee would not suffer him to be awaked but the servants not obeying him he was brought in and acquainted him with what had been done to the King Rivers Gray and the Kings house-hold he concealed not the Queenes betaking her selfe to Sanctuary adding that hee should not
faile to advertise him of any thing of moment should be done in That councell especially of any thing that might be prejudiciall to Him But gratitude disdaining to associate with one who together with his Conscience had renounced his Loyalty and all other duties forsooke him and in place thereof stept in Ingratitude which acquitted him from discharging the debt hee ought to his Benefactour which was the originall of all the ensuing evils For Stanley doubting this Cabinet Counsell had endeavoured to crosse it by the favour and assistance of many who likewise began to feare it had not the Chamberlaine upon conference had with him therein secured him relying upon Catesbyes fidelity The Protectour did naturally love the Chamberlaine hee having alwaies beene his friend and one from whom hee had received friendship in the King his Brothers time nor had hee resolved to ruine him had hee not feared that if hee should discover his secrets unto him hee would have withstood them Hee therefore will'd Catesby to use his utmost endeavour to draw him over to their side But Catesby either did it not at all being likely to reape advantage by his downfall or if hee did it gave the Protectour so sinister an account as changing his Love into Hatred hee resolved to have his life yet treating him with his wonted confidence he thereout got two advantages Hee made him Slower in putting on such resolutions as hee might have done against him and Hee the better brought about his Owne ends to the Others ruine whilst hee least thought of it Insomuch as the Chamberlaine having acquainted Catesby with the jealousies which this Counsell had raised in many thinking to worke out of him some assurance hee did not onely give him no satisfaction but hee perswaded the Protectour to dispatch him out of the way as soone as might be as if his life were pernicious to his designes An advice well taken by Richard though not given out of any zeale to His service as it seemed to be but that by his death hee might enter into the plenary authority which the Chamberlaine solely had in his Countrey The Protectour not needing any instigation to doe mischiefe that hee might be rid of him came on the thirteenth of Iune three houres before Noone into the Counsell where they loytered away the time in discourse about the Coronation the day whereof drew neere Hee at his first entrance civilly saluted all the Lords that were there excusing himselfe for his comming so late and passing from one discourse to another hee desired the Bishop of Ely to send for a dish of Strawberries from his Garden at Holborne saying hee had never eaten better The Bishop taking it for a great favour sent presently for them whilst hee soone after rising up desired them to dispence with his absence for a while and within lesse then an houre returned so full of anger and bitternesse as made them all amazed Being set downe with angry eyes and frowning looke and biting his lippes hee for a good while said nothing at last hee asked them what punishment they deserved who had plotted His death notwithstanding that hee was next in Blood to the King and by Office His and the Kingdomes Protectour This question startled the Counsell not knowing by whom it was intended though each ones Conscience told him it was not by Him The Chamberlaine seeing them all hold their peace and thinking it behooved him by reason of his familiarity to breake the Ice said They deserved to be punished as Traitors no man or condition whatsoever excepted The which the rest agreeing unto the Protectour said It was his brothers wife disdaining to call her Queen and others with her whereat those who favoured her were troubled But the Chamberlaine who feared some friends of his might have been concerned was overjoy'd when hee heard the Queene named hee was not though well pleased that the Protectour had not acquainted him with it since their imprisonment and death which was that very day to ensue and whereat hee was glad was not resolved on without his consent little thought he to be himselfe that very houre beheaded The Protectour continuing his complaint unbutton'd his left sleeve and stripping it up to the elbow shewed a fleshlesse dry arme appearing to be nothing but skinne and bone saying that the cruelty of the Queene and of Shores wife who was her counsellour and coadjudresse in that wickednesse had thus spoiled and bewitched him The Lords who knew his arme had never been other then what it was imagined presently this calumny was invented to some wicked end they knew the Queene to be too wise to thinke upon so foolish an action and if shee should have any such thought it was not likely shee should make use of Shores wife the woman of all the world she hated most as being by the King her husband doated on even to his death The Chamberlaine had been long in love with this woman but his Respect unto the King as his Master and his Truth unto him as his Friend had mortified his passion but when the King was dead hee tooke her home unto him so as the Protectour not knowing any other invention wherewithall to lay him low pitcht upon this and the Chamberlaine thinking it behooved him to speake since hee had made the first answer said If it were true they were both worthy to be severely punished believing that if this imputation should be tried according to Law and the course of Justice it would vanish of it selfe and not need his assistance But the Protectour who in the present affaires had no regard either to Justice or Law answered with an angry countenance that hee stood upon Ifs and And 's but that he told him it was true and that hee would make it good upon his body Traytor that he was then giving a great blow with his hand upon the Table which was the appointed signe for those that waited without Treason Treason was heard from without the doore was forced open and the chamber was instantly full of armed men one of which making a great blow at the Lord Stanleys head had cleft him to the teeth had not hee perceiving it comming falne underneath the Table yet fell hee not so soone but that hee was therewithall wounded and the blood ranne downe about his eares 'T was thought the Protectour not finding any objection whereby to put him to death had taken this order to the end hee might be thought to be casually slaine in that confusion The meere shadow of Shores wife was sufficient to move the many for what concerned the Chamberlaine whom he arrested by the name of Traytor and being by him in all humblenesse demanded whether hee spoke to Him or no Yes to Thee traytor replied he With what face the Authour of this treachery could give this title to the party betrayed would not be a discourse much out of purpose since the world abounds in so many of the like Being in
inforced them to make use of what came first to hand Being come he told them that the Chamberlaine with some others had that very day indevour'd to kill them both as they were in Counsell whereof they could not guesse the Cause nor Designe that he came to know of this Treason a little before Dinner so as they had no time to Arme themselves otherwise then as they saw that God had protected them by turning upon the Authors of this evill the mischiefe they intended to Them that hee had sent for them to the end that being informed of the Truth of the businesse they might informe others There was none so simple but knew how the businesse went but being circumspect through Feare they went their wayes not making any Reply or further Inquiry The Protectour having put off his Armour sent a Herauld into the City to publish a Proclamation the contents whereof were That Baron Hastings Lord Chamberlaine accompanied with some other Conspiratours had an intention to kill him the Protectour and the Duke of Buckingham that very day as they sate at Counsell that so hee might usurpe the Government of the King and Kingdome hoping that when these two Princes should be dead there would be none that would oppose him But because this bare Narration without Witnesse or other circumstances was not likely to worke any great effect hee aggravated it with complaints no wayes relating to the matter in hand That hee had beene an evill Counsellour to the late King that hee had perswaded him to many things contrary to his Honour and the good of the Kingdome that by his example hee had given him occasion to debauch himselfe particularly with Shores Wife who as shee was partaker of all his secret Counsells so was shee a complice in this abominable Treason that the last night which was his last hee lay with her so that it was no wonder if having lived ill hee dyed ill that the sodaine Justice done upon him was by Order from the King and his faithfull Counsell hee having deserved it and to the end that His complices might bee prevented from daring to raise a dangerous insurrection to set him at liberty the which being wisely foreseene was the onely meanes by Gods Providence to restore the Kingdome to its former tranquillitie It is to be observed that there was not much above two houres space betweene his Execution and the Publishing of the Proclamation so as the contents thereof being Long well dictated and fairely written out in Parchment every one knew it must needes be written before hee was put to Death the interim of time betweene the Execution and Publication not being sufficient to write it out much lesse so Handsomely to digest the matter though to the Swiftnesse of hand had beene added the Readiest witte The which occasioned diversity of discourse whereof some said it was written by the Spirit of Prophecy But the Protectour having accused Shores Wife as an Accessary and an Adviser sent to her House and made her be plundered of all shee had not out of Avarice but Malice and that such a demonstration might make the falsehood seeme the more likely and the imputation the more probable shee was committed to Prison and examined by the Counsell where shee answered so well for her selfe as not the least likelyhood appearing whereby to make her guilty of what shee was accused they fell upon her dishonest and scandalous course of living the onely thing indeed wherein shee was faulty the which would have beene winked at in any other by the Protectour and imputed to the frailty of Nature but to exercise his cruelty upon Her hee was contented to bee held an Enemy to Incontinency Shee was delivered over to the Bishop to doe Publique Pennance in the Cathedrall Church the which shee did the next Sunday morning being led by way of Procession with a white Sheet about her with a Wax Taper in her hand and the Crosse borne before her In which action though shee were destitute of all manner of Ornament yet shee appeared so lovely and handsomely behaved as her blushes adding to her Beauty all the lookers on did not onely blame the severity but were taken with her comelinesse which was the cause as well of Their Compassion as of her Ignominy and if any one hateing her past Life was contented to see her punisht yet did they not praise it as not proceeding from the Justice of an upright Judge but from the Malice and Cruelty of a Passionate and Unjust Tyrant Shee was well borne and civilly brought up her ruine was her being unequally Married not that her Husband was not of good esteeme amongst the Citizens and according to his quality well to live but for that shee being of riper Yeares then hee the love which useth to be betweene equalls was not betweene them so as it was not hard for the King to winne Her Hee being Handsome Lovely and from whom Preferment and Respect things much coveted by young Woemen was to be hoped for The King being Dead the Chamberlaine got possession of her shee was yet alive when Sir Thomas More wrote this History but so much altered as it could not be said shee had beene handsome though in her youth shee wanted nothing of Beauty but a little more Stature Her outward gifts though very excellent were out donne by the inward gifts of her Minde which are much more esteemed when accompanied with a handsome Body Shee had a Quick wit was of a cheerefull Humour Prompt Facetious and Eloquent borne to doe Good not Harme to any one Shee obliged many who being falne from the Kings good Opinion were for her sake received againe into favour Shee caused confiscated Goods to be restored to many without any manner of Avarice shee was more desirous to oblige others then to enrich her selfe more to Do good turnes then to Receive them Her Ambition was to be esteemed and well thought of Shee was alwayes affable never insolent All of them conditions abundantly to be praised but by which her fortune received no reliefe for being first reduc'd to Poverty and then to Old Age her beauty lost and her good turnes Forgotten she begg'd of those who if they had not formerly begg'd of Her would have been more beggers then shee The Protectour had given Order that on the same day whereon the Chamberlaine was beheaded at London the Earle of Rivers and Lord Gray the one brother the other sonne to the Queene and brother by the Mothers side to the King should lose their heads at Pontefract the two Knights that were seised on together with them at Northampton bare them company in their punishment The execution was done in presence of Sir Richard Ratcliffe a favourite of the Protectours and one that partooke of his designes who being naturally wicked and knowne by him to be so hee thought he could not trust the managing of this businesse to one more wicked and consequently more faithfull then he Hee
great a concourse of People no one Voyce or Gesture of applause was heard or seene either for Protectour or Preacher their conceived hopes were rendered vaine so as both of them being utterly out of Countenance the one returned much confused to his Palace the other very Resolute to his House where understanding by his friends how exceedingly Hee was blamed Hee a few dayes after Died for meere shame The Protectour for all this ceased not to pursue his intent being resolved come what would come to effect His desire Audacity Importunacy and Violence might effect that which Fraud Calumny and Perswasion could not so as having put the Chamberlaine to death on the Thirteenth of Iuly and indeavored three or foure dayes after by Doctor Shaw's Preaching to seduce the People on the one and Twentieth of the same Moneth hee sent the Duke of Buckingham accompained by many Lords and Gentlemen to the Major and Aldermen of London with whom were likewise the Common Counsell of the City commanded purposely to attend Where being a very well spoken man hee made a long Narration of the last Kings Actions thereby to make his memory odious and his Children incapable of succession Hee said Hee was come to propound unto them a weighty businesse and of inestimable advantage to the whole Kingdome and every Member thereof the which conteined in it the security of their Lives their Wives Honesty and the safety of their Goods which till that time had beene subject to so many Robberies Taxes and Impositions which being imposed without necessity there was no hope of ever seeing an end of them the ablest men amongst them were most subject to these miseries as better endowed by Fortune then were the rest and because these grievances were not sufficient to satisfy Avarice great summes of Money were raised under Title of Benevolence the Title taking from both the Name and Nature that not being given with Good Will which being not in the power of the Giver to withstand was given by violence the Good Will remaining onely in the King in His Desiring it Receiving it and thereby inriching his Coffers things which though they were all insufferable yet might they bee indured were they not come to that height as that Impositions past on to Punishments Punishments to Ransomes deniall of the Benevolence to Contempt of the Lawes such contempt to Treason which was the Trap-hole whereinto did fall the Lives and Livelyhoods of the impoverished and evilly treated Subject so as so long and exemplary a Patience was not longer to bee indured Hee instanced in the Names of sundry that had come by Sinister ends that their Goods might bee seised on hee called the Auditors to witnesse not any one of them being there who had not had some feeling of these proceedings either in themselves or their friends That plots had not been wanting to endanger their Lives and Goods little things had beene made great meere Chimeras and imaginations though in themselves vaine were made capable of Pretence none was so poorely spirited or void of sence but might invent some any superficiall colour being sufficient to ruine the People Then falling upon discourse of the late Warres he shewed how his accesse unto the Crowne was through much blood That hee came to it before his time for during Henry the Sixt his Life Hee had no pretence thereunto The very imputation of being of the contrary faction was enough to make a rich Man a begger Great were the number of those that were impoverished the one halfe of the Kingdome at least being then Lancastrians Hee bad them consider how long the Warre indured which if it were deplorable betweene two severall Nations and in a forreigne Countrey how much more miserable was it at Home where the Sonne should be found to be against the Father one Brother against Another friends becomming Enemies Hee forgot not to urge his flight into Flanders when hee had lost the Kingdome and how many Mens lives his retorne cost as well of those who adhered to Him as of His opposers Hee called to minde the many fought Battells the cruelty used in Victories the desolations of Cities and Provinces the Slaughters of so many of the Nobility which were not for number and Valour to give way to whatsoever Empire and which was not to be regained but in a long revolution of time more blood being spent in a short time to lose themselves then was lost in so many Yeares for the winning of France That they had beene but little bettered by Peace rich Men not being secure of their Lives and Goods an avaritious Tyrant neither trusting nor loving one that had Power and Meanes not trusting nor loving His Brother he put him to a miserable Death For what concerned Woemens reputation it never had a more insnaring Enemy or Persecutor since not contented to have deceived the Lady Lucy with promise of Marriage and to have taken away the Wife of Shore a Man of such esteeme and here though from the purpose Hee fell to praise Shore to captivate the good will of his fellow Citizens hee never cast his Eye upon Woman in his Life that hee desired not to enjoy not regarding either the feare of God nor his Owne nor other mens Honour trampling the Laws under foote and those of Friendship and Blood whilst a Prince who is the Father of his Subjects should abstaine from so doing as from Incest his Women Subjects being his Daughters Hence proceeded the Earle of Warwickes distastes the illegitimate Marriage if Marriage it might be called with a Widdow full of Children and the renewing of a Civill Warre the cause of so many evills and if reputation which is for its owne sake to be desired were not the chiefe Ornament of Woemen the establishing of Families and of more worth then all Worldly Treasure hee ought to reverence it if not as the generall duty of All Princes to whom it is not permitted to usurpe what is another Mans much lesse his Honour the chiefest of all possessions yet as his owne Peculiar duty being Obliged to the noble City of London the Metropolitan of so great a Kingdome for that shee had taken part with the House of Yorke assisted it in so many Warres with Expence Blood and Danger and not to repay it with Ingratitude rendring evill for good shame for Honour and charging himselfe with an ignominy neither to be cancelled in this World nor forgotten in the World to come without the extraordinary mercy of God but was to be punished with like punishment as Tyranny Lust and Ingratitude But it was not to be wondred if Hee were such a Man Hee was like to little Rivulets which deriving themselves from Ditches and Marsh-grounds are thicke and muddy since not being of the House of Yorke Hee could not partake of the worth thereof his actions shewing Hee discended from some low and stinking originall That therefore they were to praise God who drying up the Puddle had given them a
Spring which issuing from its undefiled Fountaine would not onely water with his favours such as had deserved well of His House but would make them bud forth by the opulency of his rewards That Hee was sorry Hee could not fully expresse Himselfe upon this occasion since the Dutchesse of Yorkes reputation was therein concerned as well Mother to the Protectour whom hee feared to offend as to King Edward but necessity had enforced him to say more then willingly Hee would have done He referr'd himselfe therein to what the Preacher had said the preceding Sabbath day at Pauls Crosse whose integrity was not to be contradicted hee being a Messenger of the Word of God so wise intelligent and indowed with so much worth as it would not suffer him to say any thing especially upon such an occasion and in such a place which was not certaine truth that great was the efficacy of truth which had opened his Mouth formerly shut up by the way of circumspection that Hee had fully layd open the claime which the Protectour Duke of Gloucester had to the Crowne since Edwards Children being illegitimate as the issue of an unlawfull Marriage the Kingdome fell to him the which being maturely considered and therewithall the Valour and Worth of so gallant a Prince the Nobility and Commons especially them of the Northerne parts being resolved not to be governed by Bastards they had resolved humbly to Petition Him that He would vouchsafe to take upon Him the Government of the Kingdome which by Nature and by the Lawes belonged unto Him For his part he knew not whether he would Accept of it or no for being free from all manner of Ambition and sufficiently acquainted with the troubles of Government he was affraid he would refuse it Howsoever the necessity of the Kingdome being great King Edwards Children not onely excluded by the Lawes but very Young hee hoped that the threats of the holy Scripture Woe be to the Kingdome whose King is a Child would move him to condescend to the generall supplication of the State which needing a Prince of mature age who might be Wise and of Experience would never cease to call upon him till they were heard in what they desired That he had taken upon him the charge of delivering the Petition but considering it might be the more graciously accepted if the Citizens of London would joyne with him therein hee was come to intreat them that weighing the Publique good and their owne particular advantage they would be the first that might doe it and that their forwardnesse herein would make him more favour the City then all the preceding Princes had done His Speech being ended and expecting when the people applauding his discourse should cry up Richard King he was amazed to finde the contrary he found he was abused in his hopes of the Lord Majors having prepared them for it so as drawing neere unto the Major he asked him what might be the reason of the peoples so great Reservednesse and silence who not knowing what to say answered hee thought his Grace was not well understood whereupon believing that that might be the cause of their silence and that his eloquence might yet prevaile with them he in a lowder tone and in other words repeated all he had said before whereat all that heard him marvelled for he could not have spoken better though he had penned it and gotten it without Booke But for all this the people altered not their silence He then would have had the Recorder of London to repeat once more what he had said wherein he desired to be excused as being but lately entered upon the Office and not having as yet had any occasion to speake unto the people but the truth was he did not like the businesse thinking it to be unjust Yet notwithstanding the Major urging him and alleaging that the Dukes too eloquent and Court-like Speech was not well understood he unwillingly obeyed interposing ever and anon this Parenthesis He saies to the end they might not believe his Vote went with it But the people still more deafe then formerly the Duke said unto the Major He never met with so obstinate a silence and preparing to speake a third time he said He was come hither to perswade them to concurre in a businesse wherein peradventure their assistance would not be requisite for the Nobility and Commons of the other Provinces would doe it without them but that he bearing a particular affection to that Noble City did not desire it should be done without them but rather would have them have the first part therein Hee desired them to say whether in conformity with the rest of the Kingdome they would name the most Noble Prince Richard Duke of Gloucester at the present Protectour of the Kingdome for their King To the which though no man answered yet was not the silence so great as before for one whispering in anothers eare a noise was heard much like the noise of a Hive of Bees but in the lower end of the Hall where were many servants and shop-boyes who in the crowde were gotten in they began to cry aloud the Dukes servants being the Ring-leaders Long live King Richard throwing their Hats up but the Citizens turning about to see what the matter might be continued their former silence The Duke wisely making use of this disorder and being seconded by the Major said Hee was much overjoyed to heare that with so much conformity and without one Negative voice they had desired this Noble Prince for their King hee would acquaint him with it so as it should redound to their advantage He wished them to be ready for the next morning he would present him with their supplication to the end that the Pròtectour might be perswaded to accept of the Kingdome so much desired by Them and by the Kingdome Which being said he went away few or none appearing well pleased The next morning the Major assembled all the Aldermen and chiefe of the Common-Counsell of the City into Pauls Church from whence they went to Baynards Castle the place where the Kings of England had formerly kept their Courts where the Protectour now lay and where according to appoinment made came the Duke of Buckingham accompanied with a great number of Lords Knights and Gentlemen who sent word to the Protectour that a great many men of great account were ready there to waite upon his Grace in a businesse of great importance The Protectour seemed unwilling to come downe the staires and give them admittance as if the businesse had been New unto him feyning as though their unexpected comming the cause not knowne why had made him somewhat jealous Buckingham by this His refusall strongly argued the Protectours integrity as being farre from imagining what the businesse now in hand was Hee sent him word againe that the businesse was not to be imparted to any save Himselfe securing him in so humble and submissive a way as was sufficient to have
wrought beliefe in one who had really doubted He at the last appeared having two Bishops by his sides in a bay-window which lookes out upon the Hall The Duke of Buckingham making a low reverence begg'd two things of him the one that he would suffer them to make an humble supplication to him the other that he would pardon them in case it should not prove acceptable to him for though it aimed at nothing but his Honour and the good of the Kingdome yet hee was afraid his Modesty hee being a Prince endued with so much worth might take it in a contrary sence to their intention The Protectour answered He was so confident of their integrity as Hee hoped they would say nothing that might displease Him Hee therefore granted the Leave and pardon they demanded Buckingham after having made a long digression of the Kingdomes grievances which were not to be cured but by a Prince of his vertue and endowments said That they were expressely come humbly to desire him that the unlawfull birth of his brother King Edwards children considered not daring to touch upon the birth of Edwards selfe he would vouchsafe for his owne innate Goodnesse for the Zeale he had ever borne to the Weale of the People and for the Compassion which upon this present occasion more then upon any other whatsoever was to shine forth in him together with the Government of the Kingdome to accept of the Crowne to the glory of God and Countries safety being he might rest assured that never did any Prince reigne whose people did thinke themselves so happy as would His people thinke themselves most happy under Him The Protectour as if offended at this request with angry looke answered That though much of what hee had said was true yet the love hee bare to his brother King Edward his affection to his Children and his regard unto his owne Honour would not permit him to accept of such a burden for it was to be believed that should hee depose his Nephewes and make himselfe King the ignorant and malignant would accuse him to all the Princes of the World as if hee had done it not out of the right pretence hee had thereunto or being enforced to it by the Peoples importunacy and necessity of the Kingdome which to say truth could not be in worse condition then it was but through his owne Ambition Yet knowing their good intentions hee did not onely pardon them but returned them thankes since hee conceived it proceeded from the love they bare him the which hee desired might be turned to the King under whose government they now lived whom he with his person and best advice would serve hoping to put the affaires of the Kingdome into so good order as they should not have any thing to wish for as he praised God he had given some testimony since his being Protectour notwithstanding the malignity of some which had rather been supprest by Divine Providence then by Humane Wisdome This answer being given the Duke of Buckingham stept aside as if to consult with the Noble-men the Lord Major and the Recorder of the City the which being done he desired pardon againe and having obtained it he said with a Loud voice as if he were somewhat moved or heated That the Kingdome was absolutely resolved not to permit Edwards Children to reigne not so much for that they had proceeded so farre in their requests they were not to hope for Pardon as for that the Publique good required it That therefore hee beseeched him to accept of the Crowne which if he would not doe they should be enforced to offer it to one that would not refuse it The Protectour seemed to be affraid of these threats hee seemed sorrowfull that they should have so ill a conceipt of his brothers issue Hee confest hee could not governe or reigne without their good wills therefore their resolution being such and there being none to whom the Crowne did of right belong but to Him being legitimately descended from the Duke of Yorke and that to his Naturall and Lawfull Titles there was added his now Election the chiefest of all the rest Hee yeilded to their intreaties and requests by accepting the Crown and taking upon him from this time forward the State and Regall preheminence of the two Kingdomes of England and France the former whereof should be Commanded Governed and Defended by Him and his Heires the other by Gods assistance and theirs Regained that so it might be in perpetuity established under the obedience of England whose greatnesse and reputation he so much coveted as he desired God he might live no longer then his life might be serviceable to this end The which being said they cried aloud King Richard King Richard the Artillery playing their part The Lords went up to him where he was to kisse his hand whilst the People departing spake as leudly of him as they might being displeased at nothing more then at the counterfeit carriage of the businesse which being plotted and resolved upon long before there had notwithstanding been so many stage-like actions used therein as if it had never been thought of till then and as if choice had been made of the Spectatours as of so many of the most senselesse and stupid people of the Land The End of the Seventh Booke THE EIGHTH BOOK OF THE CIVILL WARRES OF ENGLAND In the Life of Richard the Third KIngdomes which belong to others are not usurped without violent meanes of all which Warre is the least blameable though the most harmfull A valiant usurper is like your High-way robber who bids the traveller stand and if he take away his purse does it with his Sword in hand Richard tooke not this way in his usurping the Crown not that he wanted courage for of the good qualities he was endued withall Valour was the onely one which was not counterfeit but because hee found none that did withstand him Deceipt fraud cruelty and treachery were the meanes he used one or two of which being sufficient to other men they did not all serve his turne for he invented one beyond imitation or example the defaming of his mother Had he who wrote the booke De Principe met with this subject he would have quit Duke Ualentine and taken this man for the patterne of his tyrant Not that the difference between them was great but for that that was was in the most essentiall points Valentines vices if they were not more execrable yet were they more dishonest Richards were more execrable but more secure And though both were bad beyond belief yet Richard by the death of a few infused terrour into the rest and made himselfe a King where Valentine by the death of very many could keepe his owne Principality And if it be said that Richard weakned the Kingdome and its forces by taking off the heads of such as might have made themselves heads of the people and so have withstood him that being of the Blood-royall he had many
France So as being destin'd to be a Queene it was her ill fortune to be one by his meanes who had slaine her former husband and married her only for that shee together with her Sister Wife to the Duke of Clarence were great Heires I will not treate of this Coronation it tends not to our purpose The solemnity being ended hee dismist all the Lords that they might returne to their own homes recommending to such as were in Office the due Administration of Justice without extortion or injury the execution of the Laws and Libertie of the Subjects as not willing to have any thing ill done but by himselfe He dismist not the Lord Stanley till such time as his Sonne Strange had disbanded the forces hee had raised Hee also dismisâ—… the five thousand which he had caused to come for his Guard from the North having spoken them faire and rewarded them whereupon they went away so well pleas'd as becomming thereupon insolent they forced him to go in person into those parts to appease the tumults they had there raised the which could not be done but by the death of many of them He forthwith sent to Lewis the Eleventh King of France touching the continuance of the League made with his brother Edward but his Embassadour arriving after his Nephews death Lewis would not afford him audience esteeming his friendship unworthy of any humane correspondency In what concerned their death he demeaned himselfe in this sort He first withdrew himselfe to Gloucester the place of his Patrimony and Title his conscience not permitting him to be in the place where his cruelty was to surpasse the cruelty of all other tyrants He might have kept them prisoners without any manner of danger since they had no friends and so he might not have arrived to the height of hatred he did after their death But he not esteeming himselfe King whilst they were alive sent his trusty servant Iohn Greene with Letter to Sir Robert Brakenbury Constable of the Tower wherein he commanded the to put them to death who abhorring the act returned answer He would rather die himselfe then obey him therein Richard hereby perceived he was not arrived at that power he thought he had beene since any one durst disobey him in any how unjust soever a Command so as not able to quiet himselfe nor to take any rest in his bed his page who usually lay in his Chamber desired His Majesty he would be pleased to acquaint him with the reason of his disquiet To whom he replyed he was miserable not having any one on whom to trust that he was repay'd with ingratitude and his service denied by those who having beene befriended by him should thinke themselves happy when blest with an occasion of doing him service The page not knowing the cause of his complaint but well acquainted with his nature thought the command must be horrid which any one durst disobey and calling a Gentleman to minde who lay on a pallet bed in the Ante-chamber hee named him to Richard and told him there was not that thing of danger nor difficulty which he would not undertake His name was Iames Tirrell He might have past for a well-conditioned man had hee not beene corrupted by dishonest ambition he had left nor did leave no stone unturn'd whereby to get preferment in Court which was his element but was discontented being held back by Richard Ratcliffe and William Catesby who govern'd the King and werenot desirous of a third companion that surpassing them in audacity might surpasse them in fortune and put them from the favour they possessed This Page was a friend of his and knew his discontents so as thinking to do him a good turne whilest he could not have done a worse he propounded him to King Richard who knowing his quality rose out of his bed to make tryall of him and throwing a night-Gowne about him hee went where Tirrell lay and Thomas Tirrell his brother by Bloud but not in conditions Hee awaked him and acquainted him with what hee desired craving his aide therein Iames was not at all amazed but undertooke the businesse and was the next day dispatcht with Letters to Brakenbury wherein hee was commanded to deliver up the Keyes of the Tower for one night to this Tirrell to the end he might do what he had in command The Constable obeyed and delivered the Keyes The two innocent children had beene more strictly kept after their unckle had quitted the title of Protector and assumed that of the King they were not only debarred visits but had their servants taken from them and had each of them two assigned to waite on them whom they knew not and that rather in place of Guardians then servants The Prince knew what was done to his prejudice hee knew hee was no longer King that his Unckle was crowned Nature pointed forth unto him his danger the apprehension and feare whereof was augmented by his tender age subject to weakenesse hee thought no longer of the losse of his Kingdome neither did hee much value it he though only on his Life which being by the instinct of nature desired and to be hoped for though as a prisoner it might in all reason have beene granted him He sighing said to him that brought him the first tidings that his Unkle had bereft him of his Crowne He did not greatly care so as together with it he would not take his Life away After this time hee never put off his cloathes nor ever went out of his Chamber but being together with his brother full of sad thoughts he kept his Chamber till the comming of this miserable night Of the foure that waited upon them Tirrell chose Miles Forest a man from his youth brought up in bloud to whom hee gave for his companion Iohn Dighton the groome of his stable a lusty strong rascall He made them goe at mid-night into the Chamber where they slept and where wrapt up in their Bed-clothes they stopt their mouthes with the Bolster and Pillowes and so stifled them The businesse was soone dispatcht Tirrell forthwith buried them under a great heape of Rubbish at the staire-foot in a deepe hole which being done he hasted to horse to acquaint the King with what had past who together with other favours did at the instant Knight him as some relate being well pleased with all that had beene done save their Buriall He had no scruple of minde to usurpe their Crowne they being the true Heires nor to murther them being innocent but He was troubled that being the Sonnes of a King and of His bloud they should be buried in so contemptible a place whereupon the Chaplaine of the Tower tooke them from thence and buried them elsewhere but hee dying soone after himselfe 't was never knowne where he layd them Some will have it that hee put their bodies in a Coffin of Lead and sunke it in the Thames mouth 'T is certaine that Tirrell being imprisoned in the Tower for
in which he govern'd himselfe so well as the more averse he shewed himselfe to what indeed he did desire the more provoked he an eagernesse in the Duke to discover what he sought to hide so as exagerating Englands happinesse falne into the government of so wise a Prince whilst under the government of a Child guided by persons interessed and hated it must have been ruinated The Bishop answered He must confesse the truth being sure that by doing otherwise he should not be believed that if things lately passed had been to be decided by Votes he should have voted that after Henry the sixths death the Crowne should have gone to his sonne Prince Edward and not to King Edward but that both of them being dead it had been great folly in him not to comply with the new King since the dead doe not revive That hee had behaved himselfe to Edward in all things as a faithfull Subject and Servant ought to doe to his King and Master That he would have done the like to his Children had they succeeded Him in His Kingdome but God having otherwise dispos'd of them his pretences were not to raise up that which God would keepe downe And for what concern'd the now King formerly Protector Here he held his peace as if he had unadvisedly falne upon that discourse but after a whiles silence he pursued to say That hee had already too much troubled himselfe with Worldly affaires 't was now time to retire himselfe and consider nothing but his Bookes and his owne quiet The silence that unexpectedly interrupted the discourse which the Duke desired to have heard finished made his desire thereof the greater so as thinking he had held his peace as not being confident of him he desired him to speake his minde Boldly assuring him he should be so farre from receiving Dammage thereby as that it might redound more to his Advantage then hee imagined That he had begg'd his Guardianship of the King for no other end but that he might better himselfe by his wise Counsels and that if He had been in any other mans custody He could not have met with one that would have set such a value upon his worth as did he The Bishop thanked him replying That it was not his desire to speake of Princes since they made the world to be not what it was but what it seem'd best to them Then when the Lyon banisht all Horn'd-beasts out of the Woods one that had a little Wen in his forehead fled away with the rest and being demanded by the Foxe why he fled he answered because of the proclamed banishment Yea but thou hast no Hornes said the Fox T is true I have none said the other animal but if the Lyon should say this Wenne were a Horne who durst say the contrary In what case should I be The Duke was well pleased with a Fable yet could hee not perswade him there was no Lyon should doe him any harme The Bishop said It was not his intention to dispute the Protectours title who was now King but since their treaty concerned the Common-wealth whereof he was a member he wisht it an addition of perfections to the many it already was endow'd withall and amongst these some of those with which God had adorned Him the Duke This being said hee held his peace much to the others displeasure who was grieved that whilst the Bishops discourse promised Much hee had said just Nothing whilst the comparison betweene the King and Him required not so darke but more intelligible explication He told him these many clouds of Diffidence injured their friendly communication assuring him that whatsoever he should say since it proceeded from a personage he so much honour'd it should be as if it had not been said at all Upon these words the Bishop resolved freely to unbosome himselfe encouraged by the Dukes vanity who loved to heare himselfe praised and by the Hatred he had now discovered he bore unto the King Whereupon he said He had read that man was not borne for Himselfe alone for his Friends or Parents but Chiefly for his Countrey that this consideration had moved him to take into his thoughts the present condition of this Kingdome his native soyle the which in comparison of former times 't was a wonder if it were not utterly ruin'd That there had been Kings under whose government it had happily flourished the love betweene them and their Subjects being reciprocall their interests being the same At home Peace Justice and Security Abroad Victory Honour and Trophees But now the world was much altered there was but onely one hope left which was in Him the Duke for considering his Publique Zeale his Learning his Wisdome Wit and so many other endowments the Kingdome in the midst of so great misery could have recourse to none but Him and that it had no Haven wherein to save it selfe during this tempest in which it was agitated but the safe Rode of His government out of which it was certaine to suffer Shipwrack That it could not be denied but that the Protector who now stiled himselfe King was endowed with Vertues which made him worthy of the Kingdome did he not reigne but that these his vertues were corrupted by so many Old and New vices that they had lost both their Quality and Name a wicked Prince converting Vertue into Vice as Vipers and Toads doe Nourishment into Poyson That there was no example in the usurping a Crown comparable with his for Wickednesse He had procured it without any pretence of Law contrary to the lawes of Humanity making his way thereunto by the Death of so many Worthy and Innocent persons contrary to the law of Nature by calumniating his Mother whom hee would have to be honest onely when shee conceived him contrary to the Laws of the Church by declaring his Nephews to be borne in Unlawfull Matrimony contrary to them All together by being their Executioner so as their Blood crying to Heaven for Revenge warn'd every man to beware of his life for if to possesse Himselfe of a Kingdome hee had not spared Their lives who were Neerest in Blood unto Him he would muchlesse spare the lives of Others that were Nothing at all unto Him so to usurpe what belonged to them To shunne therefore the Rockes they were likely to runne upon he humbly desired him That as he loved God his owne House and his native Countrey he would accept the Crowne free it from the captivity whereinto it was falne and if he would not doe this he conjured him by the obligations he ought to God that hee would doe his uttermost to change the Government since upon whomsoever it should fall it must needs redownd to the publique service but if He would assume it God would be therewithall well pleased He and his House secured the Kingdome obliged and all the World would thanke him When he had ceased speaking the Duke stood a good while pensive with his eyes fixt whereat
the bishop was much astonished insomuch as his colour changed In such like matters men are not satisfied with silence nor mentall replies which argue perill and prejudice But supper time broke off their discourse which the Duke adjourned till the morrow morning and perceiving the bishop to be much troubled he intreated him not to be disquieted at this delay assuring him hee would keepe promise with him which did not notwithstanding satisfie the Bishop who was as desirous to know the Dukes intention now as the Duke was earnest to know his the day before But he failed him not in what he had promised him for having handsomely and methodically gone over all that the other had said he laid his Hat upon the Table and calling devoutly upon God he thanked him for that they being amidst so many tempests and dangers in a good but ill-governed ship he had been pleased to enlighten them by affording them a meanes how to provide themselves of a Steersman who being one that would give satisfaction would bring safety and welfare to the Kingdome Then taking up his Hat and putting it on his head he thanked the Bishop for the affection he had ever found in him especially at this time in this their weighty and trusty communication his fidelity and zeale unto his Country together with so many other unfained circumstances and voyd of selfe-interest rendering him worthy to be esteemed the honest man that all men thought him He was sorry his deserts had not met with a fortune worthy of him but he assured him that if God should at any time blesse him with meanes to shew his gratitude he would not faile therein but give it the precedency of all other duties That now he came to his answer wherein he would conceale nothing being so taught and obliged to doe by his example He wish him then to know that the reason of his alienation from King Edwards children was their fathers discountenancing of him upon all occasions without any cause given whilst they two having married two sisters he might have expected to have been more friendly treated he therefore thought himselfe free from all bands of humanity since the King used none to him having not onely excluded him from all Offices and Honours but treated him after a manner not worthy of his quality The first thing then that after his death came into his thoughts was the miserable condition of the Kingdome under the government of a woman and of a child not so much in respect of the ones sex and the others age as that her brother the Earle Rivers and the Marquesse Dorset her sonne were to exclude from all authority and preeminence not onely the Dukes and great men of the Kingdome but even the brother to the deceased King He thought it therefore requisite for him as well for the publique as his owne private good to joyne with the Duke of Gloucester whom hee then thought as free from all dissembling injury and cruelty as hee now knew him to be most dissembling injurious and cruell man that ever was borne Upon this false opinion at the first Councell held in London hee was by his meanes created Protector of the King and Kingdome and after having by fraudulent pretences gotten the Duke of Yorke out of the Sanctuary he had the boldnesse not without sprinkling some threats to demand the Crown of him and the other Lords that were then in Councell till such time as the King being full foure and twenty yeeres old should be of age to governe it but that meeting with some difficulties the like thing not having been formerly heard of and that it was unlikely any man would be found so moderate as to lay downe the Crowne become a Subject and submit himselfe to Anothers government after He had governed of Himselfe so long hee presented them with certaine Writings authenticated by Doctors Notaries and Witnesses by which it appeared Edwards sonnes were Bastards which was then believed to be as True as it is Now knowne to be notoriously False the false witnesses being by recompences and promises drawne to so great a treachery This writing being read he said unto the Counsellors My Lords I am assured that being Wise and Faithfull you will not suffer my Nephew to receive any injury but I am likewise confident that being Just you wil see no wrong done to Me. That which you have heard is either true or false if you believe it not cleare your selves in the point and if you believe it which of you will deny Mee to be the undoubted Heire to Richard Plantagenet Duke of Yorke declared by the Authority of Parliament to be heire unto the Crowne since the Duke of Clarence's Sonne is by his Fathers Delinquency made incapable thereof and his Father more then He being reputed a Bastard and upon good presumptions held for such a one in the house of Yorke Not any one answering him much lesse opposing him he was chiefly by the assistance of Him the Duke of Buckingham of Protector made King hee having first received his plighted faith there which afterwards was confirmed to him by giving of him his hand in Baynards-castle that he would provide for the Lives of the two Princes in so good a manner that He and All the world should be therewith satisfied Now where is that Prince that after such a Service would not of his owne free will have sought out some meanes how to have gratified him unlesse it were Richard who being demanded a thing which was not His and which was not in Justice to be denied denied it him out of meere ingratitude The things hee required of him were the Office of High-Constable of England which having been enjoyed by his Fore-fathers it was a shame for Him to goe without it and the Lands belonging to the Earle of Hereford which had beene wrongfully detained from him by his brother King Edward the which hee did not sodainely deny unto him but held him a while in Hope till being constantly solicited therein hee absolutely denied him objecting that such a demand pretended to set on foote againe the pretences of the house of Lancaster since Henry the fourth who was heire thereunto having wrongfully usurped the Crowne and by his usurpation united them to the same they were not againe to be taken from the Crowne unlesse that together with them pretence were had unto the Kingdome the which it should seem was by him intended since that being falne by the death of Henry the sixth upon him Buckingham according to the Common-law in what concernes private men but not the State he did againe revive the tacit pretence thereunto Of the which in good faith Hee never had the least thought Whereupon suppressing within himselfe the base injustice of so ungratefull a man hee had much a doe to keepe himselfe within the bounds of Patience till he heard of the Death of the two dispossessed and innocent Princes of the which he tooke God to witnesse
He was so innocent as it never entered into his imagination and that when he heard of it he was so heartily grieved as it was impossible for him any more to looke upon the King abhorring his sight and being resolved never to returne to Court till he had wrought Publique Revenge but that finding it hard to get from him for Tyrants have no more faithfull nor vigilant guardians then their owne Suspitions he at last so farre prevailed as dissembling the True cause and finding excuses to make his journey seeme necessary hee had got leave Richard believing that hee went away very well satisfied whilst in truth he was much discontented That wherewith he entertained his thoughts in this voyage was to finde out a meanes how to depose Richard but a Successour being to be found out he could not light upon any one more lawfull then Himselfe for having made a mentall scrutiny and finding that his Grandfather Edmund Duke of Sommerset was Twice removed from Iohn Duke of Lancaster the Founder of that house and Henry the sixth Thrice it followed that His mother daughter to Edmund being removed as Henry the sixth He her heire should after Henry the sixth be the undoubted Successour the line of Sommerset descending from the said Iohn Duke of Lancaster in like sort the other having onely precedency by Birth-right in Henry the fourth the fifth and sixth so as feeding himselfe with this imagination assisted by Vanity and Ambition he though he might have grounded Richards ruin upon the foundation of his Owne pretence not finding any opposition therein But meeting with the Countesse of Richmond wife to the now Lord Stanley betweene Worcester and Bridgnorth his ill-grounded Fabrick was soon overthrowne For calling to mind that shee was the onely daughter and Heire to Iohn Duke of Sommerset elder brother to his Grandfather Edmund it followed that Her sonne the Earle of Richmond was the true heire and pretender which he had formerly thought Himselfe to be And that believing himselfe to be so he had proceeded even to the point of weighing the Dangers and amusing himselfe about what meanes he were best to make use of whether of his naturall Right or of Election and though the Lawes both of the Kingdome and of Nature appeared sufficient to him for what concerned his Naturall Right yet the Succession having been Interrupted and the house of Yorke in possession he had thought it requisite for him to have the Votes of the Lords and Commons for that the generall lawfull Election would corroborate his particular Right and exclude the Tyrant Touching Dangers he found they would be great in a litigious Kingdome in which let the title be never so apparent some will not be wanting who will oppose it particularly upon the present occasion the house of Yorke reigning Edwards daughters being well Beloved and by reason of their Unkles evill intreatment Pittied by all men so as though they might have a great desire to free themselves of a perverse King yet was it not such as to make them favour Another to their prejudice who were held the true Heires But the seeing of the Countesse having made him aware of the Injustice of his pretences and that if he should continue Obstinate therein dangers were likely to increase if Edwards daughters joyning with the Earle of Richmond He were by their partakers to be set upon on both sides hee had changed his mind Not that the Countesse had spoken to him of it who had no such Thought but that he had observed Here a Neerer Propinquity The discourse she held with him was To conjure him by the Neerenesse of his Blood and by the memory of Humphrey Duke of Buckingham his Grandfather and sworne brother to Iohn Duke of Sommerset her father that he would entreat the King to reassume her sonne the Earle of Richmond into his favour and suffer him to returne to England and that for her part shee would oblige her selfe to make him marry which of Edwards daughters the King would please without Portion or any other thing save onely his re-patriation The which hee promised to doe whereupon they parted she with New Hopes and he with New Thoughts For calling to mind the Earles claime with the same apprehensions which were by Him the Bishop propounded the night before he fell upon a resolution to assist him with all Might and Meanes as true Heire of the house of Lancaster in the defence whereof his Father and Grandfather had beene slaine upon this condition notwithstanding that hee should marry Elizabeth eldest daughter to King Edward for that this marriage joyning together the two houses of Lancaster and Yorke in the two persons who could onely pretend unto the Crowne the Kingdome would be established and all occasion of Warre or Civill Dissension would be taken away for the time to come The which marriage if the Mother and the Sonne of the House of Lancaster would accept of on the one side and the Mother and Daughter of the House of Yorke on the other none would be to be feared but the Boare that wounded all men with his Tuskes and who would doubtlesly be soone destroyed since all men were to joyne in a worke from whence were to issue both Publique and Private ease and quiet It cannot be conceived how overjoy'd the Bishop was to heare this his Conclusion being the same he desired so as praising the Dukes Goodnesse and Wisdome and now longing to see the businesse on foot he asked him with which of the two he intended to treat first who answered with the Countesse of Richmond for that it was necessary first to know the Earle her Sonnes mind Which the Bishop approving of he offered to bring unto him Reynold Bray a Houshold-servant to the Countesse a wise discreet man and who being verst in the negotiation of great businesses would be fittest to be imployed in this The which the Duke approving of hee wrote unto him and sent the Letter by an Expresse wherein he desired him to come to Brecknock for a businesse which concerned the Countesse his Mistresse He forthwith obeyed who 't was sent for him The instructions he received were that considering the Kingdome could not be brought to quiet but by advancing the Earle of Richmond to the Crown by meanes of uniting the two houses of Lancaster and York by marriage that the Countesse of Richmond should treat thereof with Queen Elizabeth and having obtained Her good will and Her eldest Daughters shee should send into Brittany to treat thereof with her Sonne who if He woud promise to marry Her after He should have obtained the Crowne they engaged themselves by joyning the Forces of the Factions to make him King Bray being dispatched away with this Embassie the Bishop took leave likewise of the Duke the Duke was loth to part with him needing his Advice but he resolved howsoever to be gone and whilst the Duke fed him with hopes under pretence of raising men who might secure
him in his journey he stole away disguised and getting luckily to Ely he provided himselfe of moneys and past over into Flanders where being Absent but in a safe place he furthered the businesse more then he could have done had he not without danger stay'd in England Yet did his departure prove unfortunate to the Duke for wanting His advice and some too early notice being gotten of the Designe it proved his finall ruine Bray acquainted his Lady with the businesse who approved of it encouraged thereunto by the great quality and condition they were of who were the promoters of it but the Queen being in Sanctuary and it not befitting the Countesse to goe to her in person she sent to her her Physitian Lewis who being a learned man by birth a Welchman and one of the greatest esteeme of as many as were of his profession was fitter to be imploy'd in this businesse then any one of another condition for the Queen stood in need of such men being continually troubled with new indispositions of health caused either for want of bodily exercise or by the superaboundant exercise of her mind so as willing him to visit her as of Himselfe she wished him to acquaint her with the businesse not as it was Digested and Concluded but as a conceit of his Owne not hard to be effected if She would approve of it The Physician consented and going to London upon some Other pretence he went to visit her being well known unto her and having occasion to speake of her Afflictions he desired leave to acquaint her with a Thought which since it proceeded from a good Heart he hoped that though it might appeare to Her to be Vaine and not Feasible yet she would not be the worse for knowing it The Queene permitting him to say his pleasure he told her That since the Death of King Edward of glorious memory and of the two innocent Children her Sonnes and since the Usurpation made of the Kingdome by Richard the most detestable of as many Tyrants as ever had been heard of he could never be at quiet within himselfe till he had found out a meanes whereby to put the Kingdome in Quiet the just Heires in their Possession and to bring the unjust Usurper to ruine But that having considered many he bethought himselfe that so much blood having been spent betweene the two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke the best way was to unite them both by Marriage giving the Lady Elizabeth heire to the house of Yorke for wife to the Earle of Richmond heire to the house of Lancaster A match wherewith all the Kingdome was to be satisfied for that Peace being thereby likely to ensue the two Houses were to be accorded to the Destruction of the Tyrant and the restoring of Her selfe Family and Children to their former greatnesse If things naturally good of themselves are apt to content such as are endued with Reason and especially those who are thereby to receive Ease and Comfort great reason had the Queene to be herewithall pleased who being laden with so many miseries saw in this her desperate condition an evident meanes of restoring her Selfe and Family She thanked God acknowledging that if there remained any hopes of consolation to her there was none in humane appearance more likely then this After she had thankfully acknowledged her Obligation to the Physitian for his so wise and discreet advise she prayed him that since he had beene the first inventor he would likewise put it in execution that she knew of what esteeme he was with the Countesse of Richmond to whom she bad him say in Her behalfe That if the Earle her Sonne would binde himselfe by Oath to marry Elizabeth her Eldest Daughter and in case she should Die her Second daughter she promised to assist him by all friends and adhaerents in getting the Crowne The Physician having told the Countesse thus much she presently went to worke Reynald Bray dealt with such as he knew faithfull and fit for a businesse of such importance whilst the Queen negotiated with all those who hated the King and wisht for nothing more then an opportunity of doing her service Those imployed by the Countesse besides Bray and the Physitian were Sir Giles Aubeny Sir Iohn Cheinie Sir Richard Gilford Thomas Ramney and Hugh Conway The Physitian had preferred one Christopher Urswick to be her Chaplaine a wise man and who having served on the behalfe of Henry the sixth as long as he lived might safely be relied upon as well for his Fidelity as for his Wisdome She had purposed to have sent him into Brittanny to her sonne but being the Duke of Buckingham was the promoter of the businesse she thought it was fitter to imploy some one of a better quality she therefore sent unto him Hugh Conway who with a good summe of Money tooke his way by Plymouth through Cornwall whilst Sir Richard Gilford sent Thomas Ramney for the same end through Kent to the effect that if the one should miscarry the other might doe the worke but Fortune was so favourable to them as they differed not many houres in their meeting in Britanny Their Embassie was That he was sent for as King Named thereunto by the Great ones and desired by All The marriage agreed upon by the Queene and the Duke of Buckingham That he should come away with all possible haste and land in Wales where he should finde Ayd and Friends sufficient to render himselfe powerfull in an Instant both factions being for him The Earle fashioned out by nature to be King communicated the businesse to the Duke of Britanny who after King Edwards death had given him his liberty desiring his assistance in so necessary an expedition he being called in by a free-borne people profest enemies to the Tyrant whose cruelty was so detestable to all the world promising him that if God should so farre favour his cause as he well hoped he would he would be answerable unto him with such Services as befitted an obligation never to be forgotten Richard had by meanes of his Embassadour Thomas Hutton yea by the proffer of certaine summes of Money dealt with the Duke not long before to keepe him in safe custody but the Duke detesting Richards wickednesse did not onely doe nothing therein but made good all his promises of Favour to the Earle upon this occasion So as confident of good successe he sent Conway and Ramney backe to his mother with answer that he did accept of the invitation that as soon as he should have provided things necessary he would come for England that in the meane time order might be taken for the affaires there to the end that he might finde the lesse impediments Upon the hearing of this they who sided with him tooke courage and began to prepare for the businesse They sent into requisite places people fit to make them good and disposed of other Commanders in other places that they might be ready upon occasion Others under-hand
fight with him or hinder his landing on the English shoare In other parts he left no place unprovided for people were not suffer'd to land without diligent search that so some news might be had of the Duke of Buckingham Banister into whose hands the Duke had trusted his safety hearing of the Proclamations and the Rewards therein promised were it either for Feare or Avarice discover'd where he was to the Sheriffe of Shropshire who going to Banisters house found the Duke in a Day-labourers apparrell digging in a Garden in which habit he sent him well guarded to Shrewsbery where Richard then was He denyed not the Conspiracy he hoped by his free confession to have gotten admittance into â—…he Kings Presence some think with an intention to beg his Pardon others to kill the King with a Dagger which he wore underneath his Cloths But Richard not suffering him to be brought unto him he was beheaded on All-soules day without any other manner of Processe in the Market place To Banister the chiefest of all ungratefull Traytors nothing that was promised was made good Richard who was unjust in all things else was just in This denying him the reward of his Disloyalty which amongst his many Faylings worthy of Blame was the only one worthy of Commendation Punished thus slightly by man he received much more greivous punishments from God his Eldest son died mad his second of Convulsion fits his Third son was Drown'd in a Standing poole and his Daughter a very Beautifull young Woman was crusted over with Leprosy he himselfe in his later Yeares was convict of Man-slaughter and condemned to be Hanged but was saved by his Booke The Duke was in his death accompained by many others amongst which by Sir George Browne Sir Roger Clifford and Sir Thomas Saintlieger who was the last husband to the Dutchesse of Exeter the Kings sister The Earle of Richmond assisted by the Duke of Britanny had got together five Thousand Britons and forty Ships furnished for all purposes wherein he imbarked himselfe and made for England But the next night he met with a terrible Tempest which disperst all his Vessells carrying them into severall places insomuch as there remained onely One with him with the which he found himselfe neer the Haven of Poole in Dorsetshire where he discoverd the shore all over pester'd with men whereat he was much afraid for they were placed there to hinder his landing in like manner as others were sent for the same purpose to other places He cast Anchor expecting the arrivall of his Other Ships he commanded that none should go on shore without His leave and sent forth a boate to see who those men were when the boat was come within Hearing those on shore said they were sent to conduct them to the Duke of Buckingham that was not far from thence with a great Army expecting the Earle of Richmond so to give chase to Richard who had but small forces with him being abandoned almost by All men But the Earle finding out the cosenage for had it beene so they wanted not Boates to have sent some known man abord him no newes being heard of the rest of his Fleet and the wind being reasonable faire for him to re turne he hoisted Saile and with a fore-winde landed in Normandy Charles the Eight Reigned then in France his Father Lewis being not long before dead the Earle was desirous to returne by Land to Britanny and being to go through France he durst not adventure without a safe conduct he therefore dispatcht away a Gentleman to the King for one he was graciously heard by the King who commiserated the Earles misfortunes and together with a safe conduct sent him a good sum of money by meanes whereof he past safely into Britanny whether likewise he sent his Ships But understanding there what ill successe his affaires had in England how the Duke of Buckingham was dead and that the Marquis of Dorset with the rest of his companions who having many dayes expected some news of him in that Court grew now to dispaire thereof believing some mischiefe had befalne him and therefore had withdrawne themselves to Vennes was come he was much grieved and tooke this frowne of Fortune at his first beginning for an ill Omen yet was he comforted at the arrivall of his Friends promising some good to himselfe through their safeties When he was come to Renes he sent for them and welcomed them with termes of Curtesy and Thankefulnesse The condition of affaires being well weigh'd they resolv'd to effect what formerly had beene but spoken of to wit The war against Richard and his deposing and the making of Richmond King upon Condition that he should promise to Marry the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to Edward the Fourth These Articles were agreed upon and sworne unto by all parties on Christmasse day in the Cathedrall Church of that City where likewise the Marquis with all the rest did Homage unto him as to their actuall King swearing to serve him Faithfully and to employ their Lives and Estates in endevouring Richards destruction The Earle failed not to acquaint the Duke with all these proceedings and to make knowne unto him the cause why he undertook this businesse and what he stood in need of to effect it the cause was his being sent for Called in and Expected Richards government being growne intolerable that he stood in Need of was Another Fleet and supplies of money he having in setting forth the Former spent all that his Mother had sent him and what he had gathered amongst his Friends he therefore desired the Duke to lend him some monies promising to boote with the never to be forgotten Obligation sodainly to repay him when God should have given a blessing to his just endevours The Duke was not backward either in Promises or Performance so as the Earle had conveniency of furnishing himselfe with Men and ships â—…hilst Richard did what he could in England to hinder his designe though to no purpose for if God keepe not the City the Watchman watcheth but in vaine He in sundry places put many who were guilty or suspected to death and having returned to London Hee called a Parliament wherein the Earle of Richmond and all that for his cause had forsaken the Land were declared enemies to the King and Kingdome and had their goods confiscated They being many and the richest men of the Kingdome their confiscations would have beene able to have discharged the Warre against them had not Richard beene formerly too liberall in his Donatives thereby endevouring to reconcile mens mindes unto him and to cancell the uncancellable memory of his cruelty to his Nephews so as though the Summes were great which hereby accrew'd yet were they not sufficient nor did they free him from laying insufferable Taxes upon his people 'T was a wonder the Lord Stanley was not in the number of the Proscribed his Wife Mother to the Earle of Richmond being chief of the Conspiracy
but he freed himselfe from any the least signe of guilt and Richard seemed not to valve his Wife least if He should embrue his Hands in the blood of a Lady of so great quality He might yet more incite the Peoples hatred He was contented shee should be committed to the custody of her Husband with order that she should be kept in some private place of her House and that none should be suffered to come to her who might conveigh Letters to her Son or Messages to any Other He also caused William Collingborne who had beene High Sheriffe of Wiltshire and Dorsetshire to be executed for having written by way of jeare That a Cot a Rat and Lovell the Dog did Governe England under a Hog alluding by Cat to Catesby by Rat to Ratcliffe and by the Dog to the Lord Lovell who gave the Dog for his Armes as did Richard the Boare for His and these three were His chiefest Favourites Some were of opinion Hee was put to death for having had Intelligence with the Earle of Richmond and with Marquis Dorset for hee was convict to have proffered Money to a certaine man to carry Letters into Britanny wherein Hee perswaded them to come Instantly and Land at Poole in Dorsetshire whilst Hee assisted by others would raise the People To keepe himselfe from troubles out of Forraine parts and that He might the betteâ—… minde his Home-broyles Richard thought necessary to hold good intelligence with the King of Scotland who often troubling Him with Inroades diverted him from his Home-affaires wherein consisted the preservation of his Life and Kingdome This businesse was treated by Commissioners who agreed upon a Truce for Three yeares each of them being to keepe what they were possest of except the Castle of Dunbarre which was given to King Edward by the Duke of Albany the last time that Hee fled from Scotland which the Scots would have restored And that he might have a double tie upon them he concluded a Marriage betweene the Duke of Rothsay Prince and Heâ—…e of Scotland and his Neece Anne of Poole Daughter to Iohn Duke of Suffolke and his Owne Sister Anne a Lady so affectionately beloved by him as his Onely Sonne the Prince of Wales being dead he made Her Sonne Iohn Earle of Lincolne be proclamed heire to the Crowne disinheriting of meere hatred his brothers Daughters and for that having declared them to be Bastards his Owne title was preserved by the continuaâ—…ce of their such repute All these precautions did noâ—… notwithstanding free his perturbed minde from those furies which leaving their naturall habitation had brought Hell into his Conscience so as though Buckingham were dead and so many others Dead and Banisht yet could not he have any Security his 〈◊〉 commited his deserved Hatred and the Earle of Richmond would not suffer him to enjoy any one houres rest And albeit in his contriving how to usurpe the Crowne hee made no account of Him whilst his brother livâ—…d his minde being then fixt upon Henry that had beene King and was then in Being yet Times and Persons being changed He likewise changed Opinion the one being Dead the other Alive and at Liberty and who was the onely man that with Right and Justice could do that to Him which he unjustly and against all Right had cruelly done to others Hee therefore indevour'd againe to have the Earle in his possession or at least that the Duke of Britanny by bereaving him of his Liberty as he had done in his brother King Edwards time would secure him from the Mischiefe that might ensue by his comming into England and not believing he was likely to obtaine a favour of this nature by way of Friendship much lesse for any Rights sake he grounded his demands upon the basis of Profit and Interest the onely meanes to obtaine ones desire from such as have no feeling of Justice He loaded his Embassadours with Monies and Presents to present unto the Duke together with Them he offered him Richmondshire and all the Revenues of the Earle as likewise all that belonged in England to all those that were fled over to him into Britanny the which being very much would have sufficed to have corrupted any other save Duke Francis the second one of the Noblest and most vertuous Princes that lived in those times as he was held by all men This is Argeâ—…es his relation who affirmes hee hath found among the Records of Britanny the grant of this County together with the Names of the Churches Monasteries and Priories therein but if the Duke should die without heires of his body the Reversion should fall to the King The Embassadours or Deputies as Hee 〈◊〉 them could not have accesse unto the Duke being come to a season that He was beside Himselfe an infirmity He was often subject unto whereupon they made their adresses to Peter Landais who had power to dispose of the Prince and State as He pleased The large sums of English money made him listen to what they propounded his base minde not valuing Honour made him accept of the Offer but not in such manner as it was propounded For He being the man that was to deliver up the Earle the Duke not being in condition either to yeild him or to detaine Him He would have Richmondshire to himselfe whereupon many Messengers were sundry times dispatcht for England which was the Earles safety for these practises being discovered in England and the Bishop of Ely being adveâ—…tised in 〈◊〉 He speedily gave the Earle notice thereof advising him immediately to depart from thence for that He was bought and sold betweene Richard and those who were of chiefe authority in that State so as if He did not sodainely save himselfe He would fall into his enemies hands The Earle received this advertisement when He was at Vennes from whence hee sent 〈◊〉 France 〈◊〉 a safe-conduct which was by the King thereof without delay sent him and it being impossible to save Himselfe and all his Partakers at the same time he feigned to send the Lords that were with him to visit the Duke at Rennes giving order to the Earle of Pembroke who conducted them that when they should be upon the Confines He should immediately quit the Countrey as he did whilst He himselfe feigning two dayes after to visit a friend of his not farre from Vannes got on horse-back waited on onely by Five servants and when He was entred the Wood He put on one of His servants Coates and got by By-wayes out of the State and arrived at Aniou whether the Earle of Pembroke with the rest were but long before come His escape was the easier in that it was not suspected having left above three Hundred English all of His Retinue behinde him in Vennes otherwise it would have gone ill with Him For Peter had already raised people and appointed Commanders over them who were within three dayes to have beene at Vennes to have detained Him hearing by what meanes I cannot
weary of the large promises made him by Charles to assist him with Powerfull succours was faine to content himselfe with very small ones in which he likewise found himselfe to be abused Whereupon thinking his men of warre upon the Narrow Seas and the troops of men he had disposed upon the Sea-coasts to be superfluous he recalled his ships and disbanded his men judging that the Nobility which inhabited the maritine parts particularly those of Wales were sufficient to take order that the enemy should not land unfought withalland unbeaten The information which was given to Richard though in effect it was false yet it bare with it so many likelyhoods of Truth as were sufficient to make him believe that the Earle of Richmond abandoned by Charles was not likely to trouble him with any forces he should receive from Him and this was the occasion Charles being in his Fourteenth yeere of age under the government of his Sister Anne wife to Peter of Bourbon Lord of Beau-ieu and according to the Ordinance of Charles the fifth his predecessour free from Guardian-ship the Princes of the Blood did notwithstanding aspire to the Regency under pretence of the weaknesse of his Constitution and of his being ill brought up he having till then been onely brought up in Childish sports not being taught so much as to Read The pretenders hereunto were the Duke of Orleans first Prince of the Blood and Peter of Bourbon in his wifes right she being thereunto named by the late Lewis and great troubles were likely hereupon to have ensued had not the State by committing the Kings person according to his fathers will to his sisters custody determined that the Kingdome should have no Regent but should be governed by the Counsell of State composed of Twelve personages to be chosen for their worth and Quality So as France being in this condition the Earle could not obtaine what was promised him since it was not the King Alone that could effect it and the Twelve though willing to assist him found many Difficulties therein but were especially hindred through feare of a Civill warre within themselves At the same time the Marquesse Dorset attempted to escape away his Mothers advertisements which filled him with high hopes and the rubbes he saw the Earle met withall made him tacke about and side with Richard He went out of Paris secretly by night taking his way for Flanders that from thence hee might passe into England but the Earle being informed thereof and having gotten leave from the King to stop him wheresoever he should be found sent into all parts after him and Humphrey Chenie had the fortune to light upon him who with Perswasions and faire Promises brought him backe otherwise he might have proved very prejudiciall to them for hee knew the very bottome of all their designes But this chance made the Earle very much apprehend that through delay he might either Lose or Ruine his friends he therefore judged it necessary to attempt that with a Few which he could not with Many He borrowed money of the King and many others to whom he left as in pawne Sir Iohn Bourchier and the Marquesse Dorset whom hee did not assie in to have him neere him Thus having assembled together certaine Souldiers hee went to Roan expecting there till the ships came to Harfleur which were to carry him over Here he understood of the death of King Richards wife how he had resolved to marry his neece who by her mother was promised unto Him and that Cecilie the Second daughter was married which was false to one of so base condition as his pedegree was not knowne hereat hee was much troubled as were likewise all the Lords that were with him since the hopes which they had built unto themselves upon the Yorkish faction were vanished by vertue of the aforesaid marriage Consultation was held what was to be done it was judged a rash resolution to undertake so dangerous a businesse with such a Handfull of people The resolutions which they pitcht upon were not to stirre till they should have new advertisements from beyond the Seas and to entice over to their party Sir Walter Herbert a Gentleman of a great family and of a great power in Wales promising that the Earle should marry His sister and to send a Gentleman to the Earle of Northumberland who had married the Other sister to the end that he might negotiate the businesse But nothing ensued hereon for finding the passage shut up the messenger returned not doing any thing But having much about the same time received Letters from Morgan Ridwell a Lawyer and a Confident of his with newes that Sir Rice ap Thomas and Captaine Savage two men of great retinue in Wales would declare themselves for him and that Reynald Bray had in his possession great summes of money to pay the Souldier so as he should doe well to make haste and land in Wales since delay might be prejudiciall to him hee tooke shipping on the fifteenth of August having but a few ships and two thousand Souldiers with him In seven daies space he landed at Milford-haven in Wales from whence passing on to Dale a place wherein all Winter long troopes of Souldiers had beene kept to hinder his landing he went to West-Hereford where he was entertained with all sort of content by the inhabitants Here he understood that Sir Rice ap Thomas and Captaine Savage had declared themselves for Richard which if it had beene true the businesse had beene ended Upon such like occasions diversity of Newes useth to be spread abroad good or bad according as people hope or suspect Those who were with him were much amated at this till they were comforted with a later advertisement Arnold Butler a very valiant Commander and one that in former times had been no great well-wisher to the Earle gave him to understand that those of Pembrokeshire were ready to obey Iasper Earle of Pembroke his unkle and their naturall Lord that therefore he might make use of this advantage the Earle being herewithall encouraged marched on to Cardigan his camp increasing every houre by people which flocked unto him But here he heard newes againe that Sir Walter Herbert he whose sister the Earle had thought to have married was in Caermarthen with intention to oppose him the which did much affright him for hee did thinke to finde him an enemy so as whilst they betake themselves to their Armes with an intention to fight with him the Scouts who were sent before to discover the Countrey returned with newes that there was no enemy to be seen the Countrey being open free and voyd of Opposition This contentment was augmented by the comming of Richard Griffith and Iohn Morgan with a great many fighting men and though Griffith was a confederate of Sir Walter Herberts and of Rice ap Thomas of whose inclinations he was doubtfull yet the Earle forbare not to march on fighting with and beating as many as opposed him
with their Militia were quartered in Aderston hee understood the falshood of his suspition and how that the Lord Stanley could not openly declare himselfe for Him till the very last Up-shot for feare lest his Sonne might suffer for it after divers consultations it was resolved to give Battell if Richard would accept it At his returne he found Sir Iohn Savage Sir Brian Stamford and Sir Simon Digby who having left the King were come with their forces to serve Him Both sides were equally inclined to fight moved thereunto out of their Severall feares Richard of being abandoned the Earle that his followers might grow weary either by the Incommodities they might suffer or by their Expences since hee had no Authority but what they of Free will gave him But Richards condition was by much the worse of the two for still Some or Other fled from him so as seeking out a fit place to fight in hee encamped himselfe neere a Village called Bosworth not farre from Leicester where having refreshed his people hee prepared to fight They say that the night preceding he in his sleepe had certaine strange fearefull Apparitions that he believed to be Divels which troubling him broke his sleepe leaving him so affrighted as every one wondred at it whereupon he who had alwaies wont to appeare Chearefull in fight thought that if now any Sadnesse should be discovered in him it would be accounted Cowardise and that therefore it was necessary for him to tell his Dreame Hollingshead layes this to his sting of Conscience the which as it is credible so is it incredible that when a man drawes neere his End hee is by some internall motions admonished thereof Day being come Richard drew forth his Troopes putting them into such a figure as for terrour sake might make the greatest shew Hee made the Rankes of the Vantguard very long which was commanded by the Duke of Norfolke and his Sonne the Earle of Surrey hee Himselfe led on the Second wherein were the choicest and best armed men and which was guarded on the Flankes by the Horse and on the Front by Bowmen For all his Boasts their whole number was but very Small not worthy to have decided the controversie for a private Castle muchlesse a Kingdome But it behoved him to hasten as well for that His Forces were by much greater then the Earles as likewise if hee should have Tarried expecting More hee might have runne hazzard of Losing those he had for Savage Stamford and Digby had carried along with them a great many fighting men The Lord Stanley stood as stickler betweene them who having taken his stand betweene the two Armies with three thousand Souldiers afforded Hopes and Feares to them Both for being desired by his Sonne in Law that hee would come to take the care of Ordering and Commanding his men his answer was Let him doe that office Himselfe hee would come when he should see convenient time and to Richard who swore by the passion of Jesus Christ that if hee came not over to him hee would cut off his Sonnes head before Dinner hee answered Let him use his pleasure howsoever I have More Sonnes This ambiguity was notwithstanding his Sonne Stranges safety for Richard having commanded that hee should be beheaded hee suspended the Order not so much in that hee was Advised thereunto it being time to Fight not to play the Executioner as that hee feared lest Stanleys Cloud which threatned a Tempest might shoure downe upon Him as it did in a season when hee could not with danger to the other avoyd it The young Strange did for all this account himselfe as a Dead man being assigned over a prisoner to those who kept the Tent Royall and certainely hee had suffered death had not God saved his Life by the Kings Death The Earle was not troubled at his Father in Law 's answer Hee ordered his Souldiers Hee placed the Bow-men in the Front under the Conduct of the Earle of Oxford hee gave Sir Gilbert Talbot charge over the Right-wing and Sir Iohn Savage command over the Left Hee kept for Himselfe and His Unkle the Earle of Pembroke a good proportion of Horse but few Foot with intention to joyne with the Troopes which were kept as a Reserve to come in and succour where need should require All his Forces exceeded not the number of five thousand and his Father in Law had not with him above three thousand Richard having Twice as many men as Both they put together The One and the Other of them made long Speeches to their Souldiers Richard had much adoe to colour over his Cruelties which not being to be Denied hee slubber'd them over not naming them hoping thereby to get Absolution For what remained hee said That hee had governed the Kingdome by meanes of their Advice and Valour Hee had punished such as were Seditious and Rebels according to their Merits hee hoped to doe the like upon the same occasion Hee held the Crowne of Them 't was They that ought to make it good unto him An unknowne Welshman contended with him for it begotten by a Father lesse knowne then Himselfe whose Forces consisted of Banished Delinquents and certaine Britons and beggerly French come to plunder their Goods ravish their Wives and kill their Children A better occasion then this could not be met withall wherein to exercise their Valour and to grow angry without Sinne or Offending God since thereby they were made ministers of his Justice and their Owne Revengers for which they should be praised of all Nations As concerning victory it was not to be Doubted since they were to fight against a Handfull of two sorts of people so often Overcome of which these were the very Scumme led on by Necessity appearance and Number a number notwithstanding so Small as would make up the third part of Them for Himselfe hee promised all that could be expected from a generous Prince and a Valiant Commander which the Effects should Witnesse for he resolved not to quit the field till either Conquerour or Dead The Earle on the Other side being got to the highest part of his Campe pleaded the Justice of his Cause shewing how necessary the Extirpation of so cruell and monstrous a Tyrant was for Publique and Private good That there was not a more praise-worthy action nor more conformable to whatsoever Law then to punish Him who having destroyed his Owne house by the Effusion of so Innocent Blood and Defamed it with so False defamations had Slaine impoverished and brought to an ill end so many of the Nobility onely out of a desire to Tyrannize For what concerned Himselfe hee would say nothing from whom the lawfull inheritance was usurped which had been so long possessed by the house of Lancaster all whose Kings had been men of Reputation in the World and of Glory to the Kingdome and if there were any thing amisse in the Last they were not his Faults but superabundant Goodnesse abused by wicked people
their wills but very few willingly hee thought it would be base in him and prejudiciall for him to runne away since thereby he should lose his reputation with the People whereon his welfare did depend He therefore resolved to do his uttermost for should hee Overcome all things were likely to succeed well unto him and should hee lose the day Death would be advantageous hee having no hope at all of safety Enemies on all sides Scotland his onely refuge was but a fading hope notwithstanding the new Peace and lately contracted Marriage well might he trust thereto if his fortune should prove Good but not if otherwise and say it should Favour Him He had but little hopes of getting thither untaken by the way being so generally hated and 't was impossible for him to passe unknowne for his features and shape of body were such by those that had never seene him There is to be discerned a confused mingle-mangle of vertues in this wisdome in knowing his Danger to be such as was unavoidable and Fortitude in resolving to die since he could not eschew danger so as Writers have great reason to affirme that he wan more Honour in these two houres by his Death then he had done all the time of his Life For what concernes his Soules health God is able of Stones to raise up children unto Abraham but this is but when he pleaseth and although there be no differences to be made in Him of Easy or Uneasy since Hee framed the whole World by his bare Word Hee spake and it was made He commanded and it was Created yet let it be permitted according to humane conjecture to say That it is I will not say more Easy but more usuall for him to save one who is naturally Good then one who is naturally Bad since naturall Goodnesse may be said to be the Materia Prima of Salvation containing in her that Disposition which that wee might be saved was of His meere mercy bestowed upon us gratis So as though the rule of Christianity teacheth us not to Judge any one to the Damned yet it forbids us not to Doubt of a mans Salvation as wee do of Richards for as in the good Tree that beareth good Fruit some may be Wormy and Rotten so in Man-kinde man created to the fruition of Heavenly Glory may notwithstanding be damned if he be wormeaten with wickednesses and rotten with the obstinacy of sin His Death afforded invitation to those who yet fought to save themselves and the rest that like Spectatours had not moved from their station came to give obedience to the Conquerour by whom they were gratiously received as likewise were those who laying downe their Armes submitted themselves unto him Of the number of the Slaine it is diversly written some speake of a Thousand some of foure Thousand Sir Gilbert Talbot in an account which hee giveth to his friends in writing sayes there died onely Tenne of the Earles side Hall saies a Hundred Of the Peeres on Richards side were slaine the Duke of Norfolke and the Lord Ferrers of Chartley of Knights Sir Richard Ratcliffe and Sir Robert Brakenbury Lieutenant of the Tower but few Gentlemen The Duke of Norfolke was perswaded by his friends to withdraw himselfe from the Battell the which hee denying to doe two Verses were fastned to his Chamber doore the night before the Fight wherein he was advised not to ingage himselfe in the behalfe of a King that was Bought and Sold but hee having beene true to him in his Life would be so likewise in his Death and was praised for it The Prisoners were many amongst which was Sir William Catesby hee who betrayed the Lord Hastings a man of great esteeme among the Professors of the Lawyers and the chiefe of the Kings Counsell He was with some Others beheaded two dayes after at Leicester Of those that fled away the most considerable were Viscount Lovell and the two brothers Humphrey and Thomas Stafford who got into the Sanctuary of St Iohns in Gloucester Of those who would not fight was the Earle of Northumberland who comming to acknowledge the Conquerour was therefore by him received to grace and afterwards made Privy Counsellour Thomas Howard Earle of Surrey Sonne to the deceased Duke of Norfolke was not received into favour though hee layd down his Armes but was put into the Tower where he stay'd a good while the inward friendship hee had had with Richard doing him no good but being afterwards received to grace he was created Treasurer of England The Earle after the Victory made Te Deum be Sung Hee praised his Souldiers valour and thanked them promising to reward them according to their Loyalties He gave order to bury the Dead and to cure such as were wounded He Knighted such as he thought did most deserve that honour the which being done out of his Owne meere motion did so inanimate his Souldiers as they cryed him up King whereupon Stanley tooke Richards Crowne which was found amongst the Booty and put it on his Head so as he was chosen King by the Souldier according to the ancient custome of diverse Kingdomes The Lord Strange who as wee have said was delivered over to the custody of those who guarded the Tents Royall that when the Battell should be ended he might be given in charge to the Hangman at his guardians entreaties interceded for them the King granted him their Pardon received him with much Honour and his Father with much Joy He went from thence to Leicester where he stayed two dayes to refresh his men and take order for his going to London The day before Richard went from that City in great Pride and Pompe waited on by so many Lords Knights and Souldiers as made the World to wonder he returned thither whether the next day like a slaine Buck layd acrosse upon the Croupe of a Horse his Head and Armes hanging on One side his Legges on the other Scorned and all Naked save his Privy Members which were covered with a course piece of Cloth besmeared with Blood and dawb'd with Dirt a Horrid sight to behold The Heralds name that carried him was White-Bore and the White-Bore was Richards Impresa the which was torne and cut in pieces in as many places of the Kingdome as it was found His Body lay naked two whole dayes upon the bare Earth in a Church of the Minorites in Leicester whither it was carried nor could the People be satisfyed with that sight which being Gastfull in any Other was in Him Pleasing and Delightfull so much had his actions exasperated them against him Hee was buried in the said Church without any manner of Solemnity or Funerall rites King Henry shortly after made a Monument bee made for him with his Statue of Alablaster which represented him to the Life the which at the suppression of that Monastery was broken in Pieces the place where Hee was buried is since overgrowne with Weedes and Nettles so as it cannot bee novv said Here was
as out of Faction or out of Envie could not endure that Henry should reign the one that the Duke of York son to Edward the 4 was Alive the other that the King was resolved to put the Earl of Warwick who was prisoner in the Tower secretly to death The First was divulged to nurse up Hopes in such as were ill affected the Second to encrease Hatred against the King as if equally cruel with Richard he were about to treat the Earl of Warwick as Richard had treated his Nephews Whereupon Simond meeting with so fit an occasion bethought himself to make Lambert personate the Duke of York but presently altering his Opinion he judged it fitter for his purpose to have him personate the prisoner the Earl of Warwick and that if his endeavours should succeed and that Lambert should be made King he himself should be recompensed with the Chief Miter of England and the Government of King and Kingdom Neither did he think to meet with any great Obstacle herein since that the love to the House of York remaining yet in the hearts of Most of the Kingdom they could not possibly endure that the King having married the Princesse Elizabeth he should not suffer her to be Crowned as she ought to be Resolving hereupon he began to give such instruction to Lambert as such a businesse required and met with an Aptnesse in him fit to receive whatsoever documents but considering afterwards that his pupil was to represent the person of one that was known to many and not known to him he thought it was unpossible to be done without the Assistance of some-body who was conversant in the Court who might be informed by those that had served the Earl of his childish conversation and of all things that had befallen since King Edward's death at which time he was but Ten yeers old None being fitter for such an Office then the Queen Dowager she was imagined to be the Instructresse for she was but little satisfied to see her daughter so little beloved and so coolly treated as a Wife and as a Queen wanting the usual Marks of that dignity for Henry had neglected her Coronation though he had lately born him a Son not that her intention was to make Lambert King but to make use of him to Depose her Son-in-law to substitute the infant-Prince the lawful Successor in his place and in case she should meet with too great oppositions Lincoln or Warwick which were Both of the House of York That which made people of this opinion was Her being shortly after confined to a Monastery upon no weighty pretence as we shall see The King thought it expedient to punish her under the colour of a Petty known fault for a heinous one which was not fitting to be known Howsoever it was Lambert took upon him the gestures and behaviour of a great Personage with so miraculous punctuality as that these being joyned to his Natural Sweetnesse a True Prince could not be formed out with more true Perfections then were these false ones which appeared to be true in Him The reasons which made Simond change his first designe and chuse rather to have his Comedian personate the son to the Duke of Clarence then King Edward's son though he that was Dead might easilier be counterfeited then he that was Alive was That when a speech went of his being escaped out of the Tower he observed so Great Joy in the People as he thought he should have more to further him in his designe and that it would be easier for him to insinuate a falshood in the Person of This man falsly supposed to have made an escape then in that Other whose escape would the hardlier be believed for in it Two Impossibilities were to be supposed Pity in the Varlets that were to murder him which could not without danger enter into such souls especially under such a King as was Richard and the Escape from the Tower which augmenting the danger took from the belief of any Compassion in Them or Life in Him But that which chiefly made him resolve upon This was that whilst he was doubtful what to do 't was said for a truth that Warwick was Dead in the Tower Now to act this Comedy well he did not think England a fit Scene a proportionable Distance being required in things which must be taken for what they are not unavoidable difficulties were to be met withal upon the place which might be avoided abroad where no Witnesses being to convince nor Acquaintance to confound boldnesse becomes impudence without which Cheats of this nature can hardly be effected He resolved to go over into Ireland a Kingdom affectionate to the House of York and wherein King Henry at his coming to the Crown had altered nothing neither Deputy Councellor nor Officer the same commanded there that were there placed by Richard a negligence to be blamed in so Prudent a Prince as He was who knew the inclination of that Kingdom and People wherein if alterations chance to happen remedies are hardly come by none being to be had from within it Self and all External helps the Sea interposed between them and home being Difficult Dangerous and Slowe All which made for Symond's purpose who coming before Thomas Fitz-Gerald Earl of Kildare who was Deputy a man ill-affected to Henry as he was well-affected to the House of York presented his pretended Prince unto him using such illusions as Lambert not having any one part in him which did not gainsay his mean Extraction the Deputy believed him to be what his Masters speeches and his Studied Nobility made him appear to be insomuch that acquainting some of his trustiest friends with this Secret under the Seal of Confession he found them and together with them the People prone to Rebellion They received this fancied Prince with great honour they gave the Castle of Dublin to him for his Lodging and few days after proclaimed him King by the name of Edward the Sixth There was not any one Province that denied him obedience and all of them joyned in declaring War against Henry whilst on the contrary side there was not any one that spake a word or drew a sword in his behalf But that Kingdom being but bare of Money and Arms and but meanly furnished with Souldiers they hoped that such in England as were friends to the House of York and Margaret Dutchesse of Burgundy would in a businesse of so great consequence assist them with their Supplies whom they advertise that Edward Plantagenet is escaped out of the Tower and come into Ireland where he was received and proclaimed King that they were purposed to bring him into England his hereditary Kingdom if they would be ready with their assistance to secure his Entry and that his Aunt of Burgundy would assist him with Money Souldiers and Commanders Margaret by reason of her vertue for she had nothing in her blameable but her inveterate hate to the House of Lancaster was in great
Sanctuary her husband not many months after returning home Victorious and Triumphing she likewise returned with him and during his life lived in her former Greatnesse and Felicity when he died she fell upon the like necessity as formerly of taking Sanctuary her Brother-in-law having usurped the Kingdom from her Sons declared them to be Bastards and cruelly put them to Death for her yet greater grief her Brother and one of her sons had by her Former husband died under the Hangmans hands in lesse then Three months space she was wounded with the death of Three Sons and a Brother her eldest Daughter being married to the new King moved by her womanish anger to practise uneffectible Chimaera's she lost her Honour Goods and Liberty and shortly after died unhappie not visited by any whilst she lived abandoned by her friends She was endued with Rare Qualities but her ruine proceeded from her abuse in the Choice of them Wisedom and Wylinesse being of the like Habit and Aspect are easily mistaken One for Another she took the Later for the Former which she would not have done had she well considered them for they are of Differing Liveries the one's is border'd about with Vertue the other 's with Deceipt Queens Colledge in Cambridge is her foundation and so call'd from her at this hour The Earl of Lincoln fled at this same time into Flanders he was son to Iohn de la Poole Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth Eldest sister to the Two Brothers Edward and Richard Richard had declared him to be his Successor in case he should die without Children for having published King Edward and the Duke of Clarence to be born in Adultery he could not if he would maintain the pretended justice of his Own cause to the Crown but reject their issue especially having injured them so heinously The Earl upon these hopes flew High in his conceipts he was a man so well conditioned as had his Title been just he deserved to have attain'd at what he aim'd His designes which were born to the ground by Henry who by his Uncles death had gotten the Crown began to renew again at this Irish news for knowing the pretended Plantagenet's falshood he thought the troubles that were thereupon like to arise would bring him to what he desired for Henry being once overcome it would be easie for Him to bear down the Impostor The King had oft-times had him in his thoughts for being a Bird fit for the Cage to let him fly loose Abroad might prove pernicious to Himself and to the State but the Earl of Warwick's imprisonment at which the People were offended was the cause why he imprisoned not Him which should he do they would take yet greater offence and he hoped though He were at Liberty he could not hurt him so long as the Other was in Prison Warwick's pretension was Just and according to the Laws Lincoln's was Illegal obtained from one who had no Power to give it and the more it was Questionable the lesse was it to be Feared for it was not likely that by the difference of Two disagreeing Pretendants any One of the parties might by Concord be established In which if he was deceived it was not to his Prejudice For Lincoln being fled not without the knowledge and appointment of Sir Thomas Broughton he went to his Aunt the Dutchesse who after divers consultations sent him into Ireland accompanied by the Lord Lovel and other Fugitives with a Regiment of Two thousand choice Dutchmen commanded by Martin Swart a Valiant Captain She thought this ready succour would produce many good effects as the Confirming of the Rebels in their Obstinacy the Securing the Counterfeit King in Possession and the Encouraging of his Party in England by making them Ready at their arrival to set upon Henry to fight with him and to put him to flight for the Feigned Edward the Sixth was to be Held up as long as need required and not Yet to be cashiered and the True Edward which was in the Tower put in his place She had no thought at all of Lincoln in this businesse knowing he had no Right of Pretence unlesse she would have Seconded her brother Richard in his Declarations to the Shame of her House which she was very far from The King when he understood of his flight was much perplext he saw that the Dutchesse having declared her self in the behalf of the Rebels he must defend his Crown with the Sword The first provisions he made was to make the Sea-coasts on that side be well guarded to the end that Others might not follow Lincoln's example He raised a Great Army and divided it under Two Generals the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Oxford believing to be set upon at one and the same time both from Ireland and Flanders And though he expected not this before the Spring yet forbore he not to make a journey almost in the midst of Winter into Suffolk and Norfolk to take order for necessary provisions And understanding by the way that Marquesse Dorset was coming to him to clear himself of some imputation which was falsly laid upon him he dispatched away the Earl of Oxford to meet him by the way with order to carry him to the Tower and to tell him That this was not done for that he had Deserved it or that the King had any Ill opinion of him but to Free him from the Danger of being Perswaded to undertake any thing which might redound to his Prejudice so as though he could not chuse but think such a provision very Hard he wished him to take it Patiently promising him he should have Honourable and Satisfactory reparation The King kept his Christmasse at Norwich and went from thence by way of Devotion to our Lady of Walsingham and from thence returned by Cambridge to London The Earl of Lincoln's arrival in Ireland with so many good men with him added to the Rebels hopes they were very proud to see themselves favoured by the Dutchesse by her sending of such ready Helps and Two so great Lords as were Lincoln and Lovel At their coming King Lambert was Crowned being formerly but Proclaimed King Being in Council they differ'd in Opinions whether the war were to be made in Ireland or England Those who would have it made in Ireland alleadged for their reasons That Henry being necessitated to passe over thither in Person lest he might lose that Kingdom he would meet with many disadvantages amongst which the most Considerable would be his giving way for the Faction of York to Spread it Self the which being already Great would Encrease and grow Greater in the Absence of the King and such Forces as he must carry along with him so as the Faction of Lancaster consequently growing Weaker it would run danger of being Destroy'd and divers would be encouraged to Abandon it who Already were prettily well Enclined so to do which if it should fall out he would be able to do but
Little good in Ireland since he would want Supplies being likely to have None from England which peradventure he might Lose They were but Few that were of this opinion for they wanted there all the chief Ground-works of War strong Holds Arms Money and Souldiers an Enemy could not be Stopped without strong Holds nor Themselves Secured without Money Souldiers were not to be had nor could they encamp themselves in Open field without Arms. Reason perswaded to passe the Seas and make the war in England Henry had done the same with Greater Lesser company and yet had had Good successe it was to be believed that not having any One that sided with him in Ireland he would have but Few in England where if the Greatest part were affectionate to the House of York whilst they had No Head to follow what would they when they should have a lawful King attended on by a whole Kingdom an agreement which would invite and encourage England to do the like But all these arguments though Sufficient were not efficacious enough to make this resolution be taken the onely reason which bare sway to have the war in England was the Want of Money wherewithal to pay the Dutchmen and their no hopes of Enriching themselves by fighting in Ireland The needier sort of people flockt to the beating of the Drum those who had nothing but their Lives to lose were contented to venture them upon hopes to better their fortunes in so Rich a Countrey They embarqued themselves better furnished with Hopes then with Weapons and landed with Lambert clad in kingly apparel at the Pile of Fowdray in Lancashire they were conducted by the Earls of Lincoln and Kildare and Viscount Lovel followed by the Dutchmen under Colonel Swart Broughton met them at their landing with but a few men they marched towards York and passed peaceably where they went to shew that Lawful Kings come to Ease not to Oppresse their Subjects but shortly after their hopes began to grow cool when they saw not any one come in to them in their Solitary March especially since they could not with more reason expect any to side with them in any Other Countrey then in that which was so much enclined to the House of York and to Richard But Viscount Lovel not having found any safety there the yeer before they might believe They were not now likely to fare better Some were of opinion that the Alienation of those people proceeded from a Distaste they took that Two Forreign Nations the Dutch and Irish should pretend to present them with a King made by them and though Henry the 4 and Edward the 4 and the now-Now-King had in the like manner been presented by Strangers yet the case differ'd They the first and last were call'd in by a Part of the Kingdom to free them from the two Richards the 2 and the 3 the One for divers reasons more hated then the Other and Edward came of himself building upon the People's Love neither had Henry the 7 given any occasion of Hatred whereby to be driven out rather the opinion of his Worth and his having Matcht with the House of York had established him moreover the Procession made to Paul's wherein the True Plantagenet was seen made them not minde the False one Lincoln being brought to that passe as he could not retire without ruine resolved to perish generously by hazarding a Battel He marched towards Newark minding to make himself master thereof but Henry who at the first news of their landing was advanced to Coventry sent some Troops of Light-horse abroad to take Prisoners that he might learn News a superfluous diligence for he had Spyes amongst them who advertis'd him of all their proceedings Being come to Nottingham a Counsel of War was held wherein it was discust where 't were better to protract time or to Fight the King was for giving Battel being encouraged by the accesse of 6000 fighting men most of them Voluntaries under 70 Colours the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Lord Strange were the chief Commanders and that the enemy might not take the advantage of Newark the King encamped himself between them and the Town Lincoln seeing himself so closely pursued went to Stoke planting himself upon the side of a little hill from whence he descended assoon as the King presented him Battel the which was valiantly fought on Both sides but of the Manner how there is but Small or very Obscure knowledge 'T is held that of the King 's Three Battallions the Vantguard onely fought the other Two moved not at all which seems the Stranger for that having fought even to the Last man the one Half of the said Vantguard being Slain the King would purchase the Victory at so Dear a rate which if he would have suffer'd All his men to have fought he might have had it better Cheap All the Chief of the Enemy were slain Lincoln Kildare Lovel Broughton and Colonel Swart great slaughter was made of the unarmed Irish who budged not one foot from the posture they put themselves in at the Beginning of the fight the Dutch who were well armed and understood their work died not unrevenged The Conflict endured Three hours not likely to have endured so Long had the Main-battel and the Rere-ward fought 'T is said the L. Lovel sought to save himself but finding the Banks of Trent too high for his horse they were both drowned as not able to clammer up Others will have it that he got over the River and that he lived a long time in a Cave The King was displeas'd at the Earl of Lincoln's death not that he Loved him or out of desire of further Revenge but that thereby he was bereaved of the means of working out of him what Correspondency the Dutchesse Margaret had in England There died Four thousand of the Enemy the One Half of the Kings Vant-guard and the Other half were work for the Chirurgions So roundly were they dealt withal Not any one of Quality was slain on the King's side They took many Prisoners amongst which king Lambert Symnel otherwise called Edward the Sixth and Simond his Tutor and Seducer 't was thought he should have been rigorously proceeded against but his yeers he not being full Sixteen yeers Old freed him from the Highest of faults He confest who he was and the Meannesse of his Birth that the fault proceeded from his Governour whom he was not wont to disobey His punishment was the Kitchin where he was put to the vilest employments his Scepter and Crown were turned to Spits and Fire-forks he continued in the office of a Scullion till by what means I know not he was preferred to be one of the King's Falconers in which condition he died not giving any further occasion of Story The King shewed herein his Wisedom for had he put him to Death being so Young and for a fault not of his Own Chusing Severity might have had the face of Cruelty and Justice of
Injustice and together with his Life his Memory would have been Lost whereas by Pardoning him he gave life to a testimony of his Own Clemency and Others Wickednesse and instructed the People upon other occasions The being a Priest saved Simond though worthy of whatsoever punishment the King was pleased to afford him Penitence and Pennance by giving him leave during his Life to bewail his sin in Prison There is a great difference between Virgil's calculation of this Battel and that of Other Writers he affirms it to have happened in the yeer 1489 the rest in the yeer 1487 on the Sixteenth of Iune on a Saturday the day which was observed to be happie and propitious to the King I follow the Later The King went not from the Camp till he had given humble thanks to God for the Victory the which he did likewise three days together at Lincoln with Processions and other religious duties and he sent his Standard to our Ladies Church in Walsingham whither he had vowed it He caused some of those that were taken to be put to death doing the like in York-shire where diligent search was made after the Rebels and since it would have been a kinde of Cruelty to have punished so Many for One fault he was contented to commute the Blood of their Veins for the Blood of their Purses imposing great Pecuniary punishments upon them wherewith both He and They were satisfi'd He went to Newcastle from whence he sent Ambassadours to the King of Scotland to invite him either to a Treaty of Peace or to a longer Truce His being but newly setled in his kingdom and the Inveteratenesse of the Faction counselled him to be at quiet with his Neighbours especially with Scotland for these two kingdoms being almost Naturally given to be Enemies they did much harm one to another by fomenting Rebels and nourishing of Seditions Yet was this peace more requisite for King Iames then for Him For being a friend to men of Mean condition and an enemy to the Nobility he never wanted cause of Fear so as it behoved him to have Peace with England that he might punish the Contumacious and revenge himself upon his enemies He therefore courteously received the Ambassadours letting them know there was nothing which he in his heart more desired then that which they came for but that there would be great difficulty to make the Parliament condescend thereunto for that there was an ancient Law which did inhibite Peace lest the people growing carelesse through Idlenesse and losing their natural vigour which was conservable by the Use of Arms might become Lazie to the prejudice of the State that therefore they must content themselves with a Truce for Six or Seven yeers which being obtained they might Renew from time to time without much difficulty for what concern'd Himself King Henry might assure himself he would Always be his friend he intreated them howsoever to keep secret his free Communication with them otherwise they would ruine the businesse for nothing would be granted which should be known they had desired of him Henry was contented with a Truce of Seven yeers which being obtained he returned to London where being taught by the last events that his hatred to the House of York had been the cause of all the disorders that had ensued he prepared for the Coronation of his Wife which was effected the Five and twentieth of November which was in the Third yeer of his Reign and almost Two yeers after he had married her 'T was generally believed this resolution proceeded from Any thing else rather then from Good-will the affections wherewith we are born being as hard to be concealed as to be laid aside Neither is it to be marvelled at if Henry born during the time of Hatred and Civil wars wherein he had lost his estate and been kept Prisoner till he was Ten yeers old carried Exile into Britanny demanded from thence by Edward and Richard granted and sold to the former to the Second sold but not granted and saved as it were by miracle from the hands of Both of them it is no marvel I say if the Remembrance of these things did confirm him in the above-said hatred and that that Hatred was converted to his very Nature and Blood against the Blood of those who had laid traps to Ensnare and to Destroy him But neither did his memory fail him in what concern'd Good Turns for the cloud of Dangers and Suspitions being blown over he set the Marquesse Dorset at liberty and that he might know his imprisonment had proceeded from the Jealousies of the Times and not from any Evil he had Done him he suffered not those Ceremonies to be used to Him which usually are to such as are imprison'd for any fault His affairs being thus quieted he dispatched away an Ambassadour to Pope Innocent the Eighth to give him advertisement thereof and to thank him for having honoured his Maariage with the assistance of his Nuntio offering Himself and his Kingdom to be upon all occasions at his Service for which the Pope by way of correspondency gratified him by Moderating the Priviledges of Sanctuaries and other Priviledg'd places and by sending him a Bull which was welcome and advantageous to him for thereby Traytors became lesse bold We have hitherto spoken of the affairs Within the kingdom we must now passe on to External businesses to the which the King could not Before attend being busied about Home-affairs which more concerned him The designes of Lewis the Eleventh King of France father to Charles the Eighth who at this time reigned were to establish himself within the limits of his own Kingdom and such bounds as confin'd upon his kingdom by readjoyning unto it whatsoever at sundry times had been dismembred from it either by Appennages or Otherwise and to beat down the Authority of Princes and great Lords that hindered him in his designe which was to become Absolute to bring this to effect it was necessary for him to collogue with England which was the onely place able to disturb him and prodigally to present it whereby having laid it asleep as he desired he reunited to the Crown the Dukedoms of Burgundy and Anjou the Counties of Bar and of Provence together with all the best places of Piccardy He intended to do the like to the Dukedom of Britanny but not effecting it he left the care thereof to his son Charles who though very Young did fully bring it to passe For Peter de Landois a proud and insolent Officer of the Duke of Britanny having incens'd the Nobility of the Dutchy and called in Lewis Duke of Orleans to his aid by making Anne the Eldest daughter and Heir to that State be promised to him in Marriage by her Father the Barons had recourse unto Charles who being entred with Four several Armies into Four several parts of their Countrey made them too late perceive that they had not call'd him in to Assist them but to
Destroy them The Duke of Britanny who knew his Forces too weak to withstand the King's had recourse to Henry to whom Charles had already sent Ambassadours to shew him That the chief Princes of the Blood and greatest Lords of his Kingdom being retired into Britanny under pretence of Refuge but in effect that being joyned to that Duke they might mischief Him the more he was forced to take up Arms and necessitated to war for his Own Defence and to Prevent him that sought His ruine that the war was Defensive on His side that he pursued Rebels in a Prince's Countrey who owing Homage to Him ought not to have received them and much lesse to have Conspired against him with them wishing him to remember that if the Duke of Britanny had done him any favour he had marr'd the merit of it since it failed on his part that he might have been utterly ruined by being deliver'd up to Richard that he did not pretend to remember him of the Assistance and Favours he had received from Him which were done out of meer Affection and contrary to what Reason should have perswaded him to for his Own good since it had been better for him that a Tyrant like Richard should have reigned in England then so vertuous a King as was he That if he would rightly weigh both their good turns he should finde His proceeded from true Friendship the Duke's from Self-interest That he did not desire a Requital of Assistance knowing that he was but Newly possest of the Kingdom which he had purchas'd with great Expence and Trouble but onely that he would stand Neuter That he would not by aiding the Duke hinder the just progresse of hiâ—… Arms justly to punish Rebels and to give due correction to him that had contrary to all Law received them He herewithaâ—… acquainted him with his having taken some certain Towns from the Archduke Philip in Flanders affirming he had not done it out of any Ill-will but for that it behoved him a little to Quell him the difference between them for any thing else being Little or Nothing they being Neighbours and he to marry his sister He said this to disswade Henry from believing that he made war in Britanny to Possesse himself thereof and to honest the Usurpation by Marrying the Heir as he intended and as he did and to make him believe this the rather he discover'd unto him as a businesse of great Trust his designes upon the Kingdom of Naples as if the attempt upon Naples which was but an imagination in Future were not compatible with his Present Real attempt upon Britanny Henry was displeased at this Embassie Two Princes being therein concern'd of which he knew not whether to prefer being obliged to them Both and equally favoured by them Both. He knew Charles did but Dissemble that the injury he did the Duke was unjust and hurtful for England that France might peradventure have reason enough to be Offended with Britanny but none to Subdue it The danger was great The Duke was Old Sickly and for the most part out of his Wits He had no issue Male Females the weaker they are and Marriageable the fitter are they to serve for an occasion of Oppressing the Countrey The Nobility was Mistrustful the People wavering He objected to himself that the Duke having preserved Him so many yeers against the Treacheries of so many Enemies he was in Honour obliged to do the like for him wherewithal it likewise became him to preserve the freedom of Commerce unto his Kingdom which would be Lost or much Lessen'd should it fall into the hands of such a King who if by reason of what he already possessed he were of so great might as he became formid able to his neighbours and those that lived further from him what would his greatnesse become when it should be Augmented by the Addition of a Dukedom equal to a Kingdom rich in Nobility People Seas and Ports But having been likewise Obliged to Charles he could not without the Badge of Ingratitude treat him like an Enemy To do then what he ought to do which was not to Declare himself Against the One nor Suffer the Other to be Undone it behoved him to have Evident Reasons should he do Otherwise whereby it might Appear that he was Perforce induced thereunto His Obligation being Equal his duty of gratitude could not be Dispensed withal to Either of them so as desirous to carry himself Indifferent where Circumstances were Equal as in his Obligations it behoved him to do Otherwise where Circumstances Differ'd as in Interest of State and Justice Two ponderous weights Both of which were put into the Duke's Scale Having then answer'd the Ambassadours in matters of Lesser importance as in the businesse of Flanders he told them He found himself bound in a Like bond of obligation to the King and to the Duke That the cause of his flight from Britanny into France was not from the Duke but through the wickednesse and malice of his Officer Landois He must confesse he Oft hath owed his Life unto him having had divers treacherous plots contrived against him by the corruption of his Servants that He never failed him neither in Will nor Deed So as finding himself in this condition with them Both he hoped that his Interposing himself as a Friend between them might produce that Peace which was to be desired and to which end he would forthwith dispatch away an Ambassadour to him They being dismiss'd with this answer he bent all his endeavours to work a Reconciliation between them that he might not be Enforced to take up Arms the which if against his will he Must do he was resolved to employ them to Preserve Britanny neither did he believe fortune would prove so favourable to Charles but that He might have time to Negotiate this businesse grounding his Confidence upon the great Oppositions he had on the one side Maximilian on the other the Forces of Britanny and the Orleanists in the Bowels of his Kingdom ready to raise a Civil war which he was not likely Quickly to quit his hands of together with the Inconstancy of his Young yeers able to make him Change his minde especially he being environ'd with men of Mean condition who rather make their fortunes in Court-changes then in Chances of War Upon these supposals which proved all false he sent his Chaplain Christopher Ursewick into France he gave him order that if he found Charles disposed to Peace he should instantly go to Britanny and conclude it in the best manner he could Ursewick came to France where Charles made him believe he did passionately desire Peace whilst he was far from it he therefore past on into Britanny thinking he had done Half of his work but he found he was deceived for the young King handled the businesse with so much Subtlety as he that had been longest Experienced and Verst in businesse could not have done it better He seemed to be very
Present they had not backs to bear any More This contempt proceeded from the Love they bore to the House of York and their Hatred to the present King The Commissioners for the Assessing and Gathering of the Subsidies wanting means whereby to enforce them knew not what to do for all and every one of these Two Counties agreed in a joyn'd Negative to the Parliament's Decree They went to advise about it with the Earl of Northumberland who wrote thereof unto the King and received answer That the Subsidies were given by Parliament and pay'd by all the rest of the Kingdom and that he would have them of Them without the Abatement of one Peny The Earl calling together the prime Gentlemen of the Countrey acquainted them with the King's answer who believing he had framed it of his Own head broke into his house and slew him together with many of his Servants This being done they chose Sir Iohn Egremond for their Head and appointed Iohn à Chamber to him for Counsellour both which were Seditious men Their conceit was to meet the King and give him Battel in defence of their Liberties the which the King understanding he commanded Thomas Earl of Surrey lately before taken out of the Tower to compel them which he did by Discomfiting them and taking à Chamber prisoner Egremont fled into Flanders to the Dutchesse Margaret à Chamber was hanged upon a high Gallows at York and some others of the Chiefest of them were hanged round about him but somewhat Lower This was the end of this Rebellion Iames the Third King of Scotland and friend to Henry died this yeer who was brought to a miserable Period rather by evil Counsel then evil Nature He had naturally good inclinations but they were poison'd by the practice of a kinde of people which hath always been Ominous and Pestilential to Princes an inconvenience which always hath been and will be whilst the World lasts His thirst after Absolute Sovereignty was as great as is the thirst of one sick of a Burning Fever not to be quenched by all the water of Nilus He valued not Legal authority but sought for that which was not permitted by the Constitutions nor Laws of the Kingdom His ruine arose from hating Liberty in such as gave him Good Counsel and in loving Flattery in those who advised him Ill the which they did not to incur the danger of his Disfavour and so made him fall upon his Own Ruine Amongst the chiefest of his injuries to his Nobility was his breach of Faith so as they not believing any more in him nor trusting him there ensued a Rebellion and wanting a Head for a businesse of so great Consequence they thought to make use of the Prince a Youth of about Fifteen yeers of Age and under the shadow of the Son to send the Father to eternal Darknesse but the Prince being endued with much Worth would not accept so detestable a Charge whereupon they made him believe they would give themselves up to England deprive him of his Birth-right and possibly of his Life so as thus threatned he gave way to their Will Iames this mean while having made means to Pope Innocent the Eighth and to his Two neighbour-Neighbour-Kings of England and France might have been succoured all in good time had he had patience to expect them in the Castle of Edenborough a safe place but he judging Strivelin to be a more convenient place to receive those in whom he enpected from the Northern parts of his Kingdom was in going thither fought withal and beaten whereupon retyring to a Water Mill with intention to save himself in certain Ships which were not far off he was miserably slain and Iames the Fourth his Son by way of Pennance girt himself with a Chain of Iron to which he added one Link every yeer as long as he lived Pope Innocent had dispatcht away Adrian de Corneto upon this occasion for Scotland a man of noble conditions who came to London Two days before the news of this unfortunate accident he thought presently to have returned but was detained by the King enamoured of his good parts which were by Morton Archbishop of Canterbury commended unto him Neither were they any whit deceived for being a man greatly Experienced in the affairs of the world to boot with his Learning Polydore gives him the attribute of the Restorer of the Latine tongue and the most Eloquent next Cicero he came to the highest degrees of Preferment The King gave him the Bishoprick of Hereford which he refusing he gave him that of Bath and Wells and made use of him in all his businesses depending at Rome which made him being promoted to be a Cardinal acknowledge his favours and give him continual Advertisements of the affairs of Italy This man afterwards through ambition of being Pope ruined his Honour his Fortune and Himself it being verified in Him that Learning is unprofitable if the End thereof be not how to lead a good life The reason of his ruine was that Cardinal Alphonso Petrucchio having together with certain other Cardinals his Confederates plotted the death of Pope Leo the Tenth there were Three that were not Of this Confederacy but Knew of it Riario Soderini and this Adrian who not medling in the businesse did notwithstanding Wish it might take Effect for each of them aspired to be Pope Paulus Iovius relating the causes which made Riario and Soderini hate the Pope when he comes to speak of Adrian says But Adrian not moved by Hatred but by a vain Desire of Rule wisht Leo's death because he had conceived a hope to be Pope by reason of the words of a Woman-Soothsayer who having long before this being asked by him told him many things touching his Own fortune and the Publike affairs of the World told him for a truth that if Pope Leo should die an unnatural death an old man call'd Adrian should succeed him famous for his Learning who building onely upon Vertue had without any Help from his Ancestors gotten the highest Ecclesiastical preferments and it seemed all this was found in Him For being born at Corneto a poor Village in Toscany of mean mechanical parentage he by his Learning had arrived at all the preferment of Holy Orders Neither did the Old woman foretel a Falsehood for one Adrian an old Dutch-man son to a poor Artificer famous for his Learning was by much good fortune made Pope after Leo. And a while after he says Soderini by voluntary Exile withdrew himself to the Territories of Fondi but Adrian being fearful and suspitious not trusting to Leo's clemency went from Rome in a Countrey-fellow's habit and not being pursued by any changed from place to place still seeking to hide himself till he died And Guicchiardine speaking more clearly of him says Adrian and Volterra were not any ways troubled save onely that they under-hand pay'd certain sums of money but neither of them daring to trust their Safeties in Rome as neither did
and not barely of her Person that Promises of Marriage yea Marriage it Self were to be dispens'd withal in cases of Necessity that the Pope would not be found difficult herein since Blood War and Desolation would otherwise ensue which by Peace might be prevented and Peace was to be had onely by this Marriage that Maximilian's daughter was no impediment since she was not of Yeers either to Consent or Dissent For her Marriage with Maximilian's Self though Promised yet was it not Consummated the Solemnities used therein were meer Ceremonies invented to dazzle the World they not being valid by whatsoever Law either Canon or Civil And if nothing else would prevail with her the Preservation of her State her 's and Charles his Proportionable Youth and Yeers and her being to be the Chief Queen of the World ought perswade her Weary at last with so many Onsets she gave way though not yet freed of the Scruple of her Promise-breach to Maximilian but he being accused of having failed in his Duty and of not having kept any one whosoever neer her which he would not have done to the meanest Princesse alive she was likewise quitted of That The Ambassadours which were sent to Charles being come to Callis met with the Bishop of Concordia sent from the Pope to reconcile the Two Kings for through the molestation of their Wars Christendom was in great danger of the Turks who made daily further progresse thereinto The Bishop having dispatcht his affairs with Charles who feigned a willingnesse to Peace came to England where he did nothing for the Marriage with Britanny being published the Treaty was broken off and each King sent for his Ambassadours home Henry not in honour able to suffer any longer dissimulation and being by Maximilian promised strong succours from the King of Spain called a Parliament and there propounded war with France not to be made any more by Deputies as was the war of Britanny but by Himself in Person to recover those Provinces lost under Henry the Sixth against a Prince who for his Pride and for his pretending over every one was unworthy of All men's Friendship since having possest himself of Britanny by Force and Fraud and maintained the Rebels in Flanders against their Prince he pretended now to bring Italy to his Subjection that he might aftewards trouble all the Princes of Christendom honesting his thirst after Rule and his conceived Usurpation of the Kingdom of Naples by saying he did it with an intent to carry his Arms against the Infidels on the other side of the Adriatick Sea he told them it would be dangerous to let him advance so much for that England being already girt about with Piccardy Normandy and this new purchase of Britanny it would be easie for him to molest her if suffering her self to be Flatter'd as hitherto she had done she should be abused as she had been that the French forces were not unknown to the English as had been witnessed by their Battels Victories and the Imprisonment of one of the French Kings and if the English had at last had unhappie successe 't was not be attributed to Their Valour but to Civil Dissention which like tempestous Hail had beaten down the Fruit upon the very point of Ripening that his claim to that Kingdom was manifest that Fortune did second Justice and Valour accompany her that Their generous resolution would serve for an Invitation and an Example unto Others to Flanders and Spain for their Own Interests and to Britanny for that being won more by Corruption then by Arms there wanted not such as were evilly affected the People were discontented and the greatest part of the Nobility not willing to subject themselves to a Prince whom they abhorr'd the Pope would joyn with them for detesting to have Italy molested Diversion was that which would free him from Danger All which were thus presented not as the Ground-work but as the Adherences of an Enterprise which was not to be resolv'd on upon hopes of Assistance from Others that England was of it Self sufficient neither did it stand in need of any other Forces then her Own it being to be supposed that by the Death of those Ancient warriers the natural courage of those which Descended from them was not extinct but that they would make it appear to the world they did not degenerate from their Predecessours and though Honour have no reward worthy of her self but Her Self yet it was to be consider'd that this was a War to be made in a Countrey full of whatsoever Nature did afford sufficient to maintain the Publike expence to adorn the Nobility with Lordships Vertue with Employments and to satisfie the Souldier with Booty and Riches Riches which were to be shared out by sundry ways as is the Blood from Vein to Vein to England in general and that those who for the present should contribute towards it were to enjoy in the future aboundant Increase for what they should Now part withal that the war was to be made not as at the First at the expence of the Kingdom but at the cost of such Cities and Provinces as they should Conquer it had been done so Formerly and should be so Now so as they that would contribute towards it he wisht they might do it Readily for he was resolved not to have any thing from the Poorer sort but from such as without any incommodity might expect the Re-imbursing of their Moneys The War with France was with much cheerfulnesse approved of in Parliament They thought the Honour of the King and Kingdom had suffer'd somewhat in the Losse of Britanny But the King's intentions were not such as he made shew of he knew Maximilian's Forces were not to be built upon nor yet those of Ferdinand for the Wars of Granada had exhausted his Coffers and the recouery of Rossillion without Cost which he aspired unto was not to be effected by fighting with Charles but with Seconding him He knew moreover the constitution of France was not Now as it had been Formerly when divided into Two Factions it made way for the advancing of the English Forces it was now United the Burgundian Faction was faln to the ground and the Orleanists depended upon the Regal authority that she hath now brought her self to a custom of encamping Leasurely and to fight no more with Violence but upon Advice so as he should Weary his people Weaken his Forces and Impoverish his Kingdom Feigning notwithstanding the contrary he seemed to Desire what he Detested he so wisely fitted himself for what might happen as satisfying his Honour with the Appearances and Beginning of War he was sure to make Peace when he listed for Charles would be Desirous of it that he might bring to passe his intended Designes and he Himself would Accept of it as not being deceived in his opinion of Maximilian's Impotency and the vain hopes from Spain Yet he was sure to make Charles buy peace Dear who had his minde
France assoon as the War was proclamed this man gave Charles the first advertisement of Perkin Charles sent Him together with another as Ambassadours to Perkin inviting him to come into France and offering to assist him in the regaining of England An Invitation which augmented the hair-brain'd vanity of this Impostor for being chosen by the Dutchesse of Burgundy a wise Princesse to a businesse of this weight received by the Irish undoubted enemies to the House of Lancaster and sent for by a King whose interests were concern'd in His he believed That Fortune never undertook any great businesse without finishing it not minding that Beginnings and Endings conform but Seldom and that Princes preserving themselves by their Own strengths 't is usual with Fortune to ruine such with the more certain praecipice whom she hath by unusual steps raised to the Highest point of her Wheel When he had acquainted those whom he most trusted in Ireland with this Invitation and thereby won more credit with them he went to France where he was by the King received with all honour due to the Duke of York he called him by that Title and according to that degree fitted him with House Servants and Expences and with a Guard of Souldiers under the Command of the Lord Congreshal to make him the more respected Sir George Nevil and Sir Iohn Taylor with above a Hundred other English-men waited continually upon him and the Court it self which follows the Prince's example shew'd him the like respect not but that the greatest part of the Courtiers and especially the King knew who he was but because it was expedient for them not to know him The Imposture was apparent not by his ill governing himself or through any default of his Person for he abounded in Decency and Majestie but by the true story of the true Duke of York by the Unlikelyhood and Impossibility that he should escape the hands of a Crafty Malicious Dreaded Uncle Yet did he not Long enjoy this glory for the differences being ended between the Two Kings it behoved him to be gone Henry would have had him delivered into His hands but Charles esteeming it an unworthy action would not do it He commanded him to depart his Kingdom which he forthwith did for he very much apprehended the being made the Offering in the Sacrifice of this Peace He withdrew himself into Flanders where the Dutchesse and he counterfeited their parts Strangely well he seemed as if he had never been in those parts before and she as if she had never before seen him He feigned to be fled thither as to a Sanctuary under the protection of an Aunt who for the Neernesse of Blood that was between them ought to professe her self his Mother She counterfeited Fears of being Deceived being made cautelous by the example of Lambert Symnel and this might be a counterfeit as well as He She sent oftentimes for him feigning to make an Exact scrutiny at first she seemed to be Doubtful afterwards not Clearly satisfied then more Inclining to Believe well at Last she broke forth into an Admiration and Thanksgiving praising the Divine Providence which had had commiseration on that innocent Blood and had vouchsafed to preserve him so miraculously shewing the wonderfulnesse of his blessings to him She then with much seeming Passion called him Nephew the Bud of the White-rose the Hope of the House of York and the Restorer of the Honour and Justice of England She assigned unto him a Guard of Thirty Halberdiers for his safety Now every one began to think him Really to be what he personated not imagining that a Woman could be capable of so much Cunning insomuch as if he were respected in France as a forreign Prince he was little lesse then Worshipped in Flanders as Nephew to the Dutchesse and almost as much as if he had been her Son This news being brought into England it was there greedily listened after for men do naturally love to believe things unlooked for and incredible Passions augmented this belief in such as were of that Faction in those who desired Novelties in the Discontented as also in those who loved Equity for the Crown had neither belonged to Henry nor yet to his Wife if her Brother had been alive Hereupon arose Whisperings liberty of Discourse and Complaints the present ill Government was in every man's mouth the endlesse Impositions the King 's insatiable Avarice which was the cause of a Shameful Peace after Britanny had More shamefully been suffered to be lost The Nobility were no lesse distasted they were grieved at the small account the King made of them so that All mens conceipts fell upon the same point That God being a just Judge had preserved the True Heir to seat him again in his Throne which had been Twice usurped from him for Henry had no right thereunto of Himself and had Waved his Wives right that he might reign Alone that therefore it was not to be wondred at if after so much injustice God had raised up his Brother-in-law to punish him Nor did this businesse end onely in Discourse for there were some personages of Great quality who would sound the Bottom of it amongst which were the Lord Chamberlain William Stanley brother to Henry's father-in-law he who had assisted him in the battel against Richards and may be said to have made him King the Lord Fitz-water Sir Simon Montefort and Sir Thomas Thwaites these made choice of some people of quality to send into Flanders that upon their relation they might ground their resolutions but of many there were onely Two that would hazard themselves to undertake the businesse which was shunn'd by all the rest for if the businesse should prove fictitious they were likely to lose their Goods and Countrey Robert Clifford and William Barley were the Two both of them of good Families especially the first When they came to Flanders the Dutchesse Margaret received them with much honour and having discoursed long with Clifford that she might the better inform her self of their intentions that sent them she brought him to the sight of Perkin with whom after he had discoursed many days he wrote back into England that he was the Duke of York and that he knew him as well as he knew Himself The King was troubled at these mens going since it could not but produce dangerous consequences but the greatnesse of his spirit being averse to fear he forbare to make any extraordinaty provision against it so not to augment the credit thereof which his seeming neglect might lessen Yet he forbare not to shut up the Ports and to place such guards there as he might know who came in and out endeavouring to discover what correspondency the fugitives had He feared not the Imposture being certainly informed how the Duke of York was together with his brother put to death but it behoved him that Others should likewise be certain thereof wherefore he put as prisoners into the Tower Sir Iames
Tirrel and his servant Iohn Dighton who were the onely Two that remained alive of the Four which were conscious of this cruelty for Miles Forrest the Second rogue that slew them and the Priest that buried them were dead they deposed That Tirrel saw them Dead after they were Smother'd that he made them be buried underneath a stair and cover'd them with a Stone from whence by order from Richard they were afterwards tane and reburied by the Minister of the Tower but in what place they knew not the Minister being Dead But the King not satisfied with these testimonies that he might divert the danger and satisfie the World he bethought himself of some other means whereby he might discover the Impostors condition and descent He made choice of some and scatter'd them thorowout all Flanders directing them what they were to do Those who were not to stay in any setled place were ordered diligently to enquire after his Birth and to give Him daily advertisement of what they should learn which makes men believe he had some glimpse of it before the other who were to make their abode where He was were by his direction to seem as if they were fled away so to shun the danger they should incur if they were discover'd to be well-wishers to his party and to professe they were come to run the like fortune with Him they were as the Other to make Discovery but more particularly to finde out the Designes and Correspondencies they were to grow familiar with those whom Perkin most confided in and to shew them the Vanity of the Undertaking they having to do with a wise King not easily to be beaten without extraordinary Forces that the Dutchesse's favours were not answerable to their need that they wanted assistance and were not certain of what they presumed to be Secure which was the assistance of the party and the peoples inclination both which were unuseful for that such accurate and diligent provision was made that all men would forbear to declare themselves unlesse they might be encouraged by the sight of a Great army which the Duke of York was not likely to shew them no not if all Flanders were to declare it Self for him But their chief care was to sound Clifford by tasting him with fair promises for if they could win Him over the deed was done he being the Cabinet of secret Correspondencies between Flanders and England neither were they much troubled to effect it for being come to the knowledge of this imposture he was wrought upon by them with promise of Forgivenesse and of Rewards proper baits for such a fish Henry this mean while had made all those whom he had sent to be excommunicated in Pauls and their Names to be registred in the Book of the King's enemies according to the custom of those times to the end that no man might suspect them neither did he forbear to sollicite the Confessors of the greatest men that he might learn how they were enclined not weighing the Profanation of Religion and holy things since his particular interest was concern'd though in all Other things he was reputed a Pious Prince At last they came to the perfect knowledge of Perkin's Birth Name Surname Countrey Employments and Voyages till coming to the Dutchesse he was metamorphis'd into the Duke of York they likewise won over Clifford who gave them such proofs of his repentance as the King was therewithal satisfied Perkin's Genealogie was published in the Court and thorowout the Kingdom and Henry not esteeming it fitting that a Mechanick should with such ostentation be protected in Flanders under a false name and which redounded to His injury he sent Ambassadours to the Archduke Philip Maximilian being gone into Germany who were Sir Edward Poynings and Sir William Warham Doctor of the Civil Law The Council gave them audience the Archduke being yet a Childe their Embassie was That Flanders being confederate and in friendship with England the King could not but resent that she should nourish an Impostour who durst call himself Duke of York and pretended unto his Kingdom that such a Belief must needs admit of some Malignity since the Duke of York's death was too manifest to the world which were it not so very Conjecture were sufficient to put it out of doubt the Nature and Craft of Richard the Third was not such as would encourage the Executors of his cruelty to save One brother and murder the Other Mercy was not to be suppos'd in such Rascals and if it were not without Reward and freedom from Punishment Reward was not to be expected from a Childe destitute of Hopes and who getting out of prison had not wherewithal to feed himself but say that meer Compassion had moved them to save him such compassion must be either in One or in All of them it was impossible it should be in One of them and the Rest not know of it and it was incredible it should be in All of them for that three such wicked ones could not so far trust one another as not to live in perpetual Jealousie And give this likewise granted how could a childe ignorant of the ways wanting direction and counsel passe undiscover'd that the Night-guards which are usual in all the streets of London should not stop him should not take him or that some other difficulty should not hinder him 't was impossible a tender childe of Nine yeers old alone in Lord-like looks and apparel could passe on unknown by any Certainly this could not have befallen the True Duke of York much lesse could it have happened unto the Counterfeit whose true name was Perkin that the King knew him well knew his Countrey and his Extraction that the Nurse or rather Mother of this the Dutchesse of Burgundy knew it well enough who emulating the ancient Fables had brought him forth as Iove did Mercury out of her Brain feigned him to be her Nephew given him instructions and taught him how to lye that she could not tolerate that her Neece should reign being joyned to the House of Lancaster her hatred being thereunto such as rather then to suffer her to be a Queen with such a Husband she would bereave Her and her Children of a Kingdom and give it to Perkin begotten by a Jew turned Christian They desired that after the example of the King of France they would chase him out of their Countrey and that if the useful friendship which was between the two Nations should perswade them as well it might to do More they should do like true friends indeed if they would deliver him up into Their Hands The Answer was That they desired to preserve friendship with the King that they would not assist the pretended Duke of York but that they could not hinder the Dutchesse who was absolute in her Countrey from doing what she listed Henry was not pleased with this answer knowing that Princesses Dowagers have not the like Prerogative over the Countreys where they govern
as had their Husbands for if they were endowed with Absolute Soveraignty and Dominion they might wage War put the State into Combustion and utterly lose it but having learn'd that she had great power in the Council and that the Archduke could do no otherwise whilst the world would believe that Perkin was protected in Despite of Him he recalled the English Merchants from Flanders and banisht the Flanders Merchants out of England and transported the Staple of Cloth and Wooll from Antwerp to Callis the which though it were to the great losse of the People and that Philip knew they would exclaim against it yet did not he forbear doing the like by driving the English out of his Dominions The King moreover upon advertisements from Clifford imprisoned the Lord Fitz-water Sir Simon Montfort and Sir Thomas Thwaites William d'Aubeny Robert Ratcliff Thomas Cressenor Thomas Astwood William Worseley Dean of Pauls and certain Friers amongst which two Dominicans he would have shut up More but the scandal would have been too great Montfort Ratcliff and d'Aubeny were convinc'd of High Treason and beheaded the Lord Fitz-water being sent prisoner to Callis not in despair of Life by his endeavouring to escape lost both his hopes and life the rest were pardoned The King had created his second son Henry Duke of York in Westminster where as is usual at such Solemnities divers Knights of the Bath were made but when he heard that Clifford was landed in England he withdrew himself to the Tower that he might hear him There to the end that if he should accuse any of extraordinary quality they might be imprisoned without any great noise Clifford being admitted to his presence threw himself at his feet and begg'd his pardon the which being formerly granted he again confirmed unto him and being commanded to speak if he had any more to say concerning the Conspiracy he named the Lord Chamberlain Sir William Stanley at whose name all the standers by were startled it not being likely that a man of his quality rich the Favorite neerest to the King and the chief instrument of his Assumption to the Crown should be a Traitour whereupon being advised to think Better what he said he without Haesitation or Altering his Colour accused him as Before Stanley was shut up in his Chamber and was the next day examined by the Council he denied some few Circumstances but confess'd the Fault affying his Former actions for which he presumed the King would pardon him but he was deceived Deserts and Mis-deserts weigh not alike when they are of a like Excesse though he had Put the Crown upon his head by negotiating how to take it Away again he nullified his Former deserts his Repenting for the Service done cancell'd the Obligation the which though it were very great was in some sort rewarded Recompence cannot be given for a Kingdom by conferring Another Kingdom to the Donour or by resigning over to him the Same the Inequality of the Persons equals the Disparity of the good turn the Riches and Honour he received from Henry were equivalent to the Crown which Henry received from Him if it may be Formally said that he did receive it from him the one was Born for It the other for Meaner things Yet was Henry in great doubt with himself whether he should put him to death or no the love and reverence which he bare to his Father-in-law pleaded for Clemency Example and the Condition of the Times put in for Severity but if it be true which some Authors write his Riches bore down the balance he being esteemed one of the greatest money'd men in England Neither were men deceived in this their opinion for in his Castle of Holt were found Fourty thousand Marks in ready money his Jewels and Moveables not therein comprehended and in Revenues and Pensions he had Three thousand pounds a yeer a considerable sum in those days Whereupon after having deferr'd this businesse some Six weeks to the end that his Brother and the People might have time to Examine it he was condemn'd to die and lost his head His execution afforded matter of diversity of discourse those that were not of the Court who were ignorant of the Secrets of Government and made their conjectures upon Circumstances and doubtful Relations esteemed the case if not wholly void of Fault at least not worthy of the Highest punishment a belief which was occasioned by reason of a Rumour that was spread abroad That in his discourse with Clifford concerning Perkin he should say unto him That if he should for certain know he were the Duke of York son to Edward the Fourth he would not take up Arms against him A manner of Speech which though it did not Openly declare any ill-will to the King's Person yet such was it as did not sound well in His mouth his Example being sufficient to alter the whole Kingdom and the words not admitting of any other interpretation then his Opinion of Henry's unjust title to the Crown which derogated from the Pretences of the House of Lancaster and from the Authority of Parliament The reason which alienated him from the King is said to be That he desiring the King to make him Earl of Chester a Title and County which the Kings of England do for the most part give to the Princes of Wales their first-born Sons the King did not onely Deny his request but was Offended with him for it thinking him now arrived to those pretences which did exceed the condition of a Subject after he had rewarded his services with equivalent rewards having made him Privy Counsellour Lord Chamberlain given him daily whatsoever he demanded assigned Pensions to him and in the day of Battel wherein Richard was slain seemed not to take notice that he appropriated unto Himself the Prey and Booty of the whole Camp of which He himself stood in Need being but a New King permitting all things to him to the end that when he was grown Rich he might satisfie his own thirst of having This man's death put all the Court in a Quandary one man durst not trust another each one feared lest all his friends might prove Cliffords Yet such was the spirit of Back-biting that they made use of pen and paper to utter what for fear of danger they durst not do with their tongues Libels were written against some of the Council and against the King himself the authors whereof could not so well conceal themselves but that Five of them miscarried paying for their Errour with the losse of life Perkin's party this mean while decreased no man durst so much as think any more of him and they were but very few that tarried with him in Flanders amongst which Clifford's companion was the chiefest who notwithstanding afterwards alter'd his opinion and together with his Pardon got leave to return home But the death of the Conspirators and the dissipation of the Complices were not sufficient to make Henry rest in quiet unlesse
the Nation nor the Peoples Tranquillity had sold the Kingdoms best friends for ready money made dishonourable peace and not only oppressed the subject but unjustly put to death the Lord Chamberlain Stanley and divers others who were likely to have withstood his oppressions Ambition had moved Richard to tyrannie Henry Avarice Ambition had made use of cruell means Avarice not only of Cruell but Base extortive means his Cruelty was witnessed by the death of so many and by the imprisonment of the Earl of Warwick Son to the Duke of Clarence his Basenesse and Extortion by such extraordinary grievances Tenths Subsidies Taxes and Impositions under the name of Benevolences and by the wars and peace hee made only that he might heap up treasure and because his unjust possession of the Crowne made him live in perpetuall fear and suspicion not only of Men but even of Women hee had married Ladies of the blood Royall to people of mean condition amongst which a sister of Him the Duke of Yorke and a sister of his Cosin the above-mentioned Earl of Warwick that hee might have the lesse reason to fear so that as hee now came to free them from violence by such forces as God should assist him withall so by his plenary Regall authority hee did at that present free them from all Grievances by Revoking and abolishing in perpetuity All that had hetherto been imposed upon them contrary to all Law and Custom and to the end that the good will of his subjects might not be prejudiced by the Law for having illegally obeyed the Tyrant he granted to them a Generall Pardon for all their transgressions upon condition they would submit themselves to Him and acknowledge him for their King the which they that should be the Forwardest to do should be the First that should enjoy the Maidenhead of his Regall favours that he would maintain all that his Ancestors more particularly his Father Edward of glorious memory had sworn unto which was the Preservation of their Priviledges and Liberty the Franchise of the Clergy Nobility and People He promised a Thousand pound in ready money and Five Marks a yeare of Inheritance for ever whosoever should take or kill Henry he declared that the King of Scotlands assisting of him was not done out of any Bargain or Promise made Prejudiciall to the Kingdom of England but out of the near love to Justice a vertue wherein he excelled and that when he should have put him in a condition or posture that he might be able to defend himself by the forces of his own English subjects he would return to Scotland pretending to nothing else but the Honour of having Raised Him up This Declaration proved like seed sown on the sands whereupon King Iames after he had long in vain expected some Commotion be took himself to plunder and destroy with as little mercy as the Scots had wont to doe in former times and Perkin who till now had plaid his part extreamly well failed in This shewing too much Affection therein For having desired the King not to suffer his men contrary to the Laws of Arms to commit such out-rages for that no purchase whatsoever could be acceptable to him which was got with the Blood and Ruin of his own subjects the King who either had before informed himself of his being or else began to suspect it by this his so Affected and Impertinent request answered him smiling That he took too much care of what did not at all belong unto him and that to endeavour the preservation of an Enemies countrey was the most that could be done by a Perfect Christian. Having enriched his souldiers he returned back knowing that great forces were coming down upon him and that it would be dangerous for him to stay till they came finding himself encumbred by that great booty he took along with him Merchants were much troubled at the breach of Commerce between England and Flanders insomuch as meeting with a fit occasion they began to treate thereof with their severall Princes since that the reducing it to the former condition would make for the advantage of Both sides and therefore was to be desired by Both by the Arch-duke for being informed that Perkin the cause of the disorder was a Cheater he should have wronged his Reputation in favouring him any longer and have much injured his Subjects and Himself by the evill that might there hence have resulted by Henry for not valuing now Perkin any more the breach of correspondence with Burgundy was not only prejudiciall to Private men but even to Himselfe since that thereby his Customes a principall arrow in the quiver of Princes were diminished notwithstanding though he did desire it he would not seem to doe so but appeare to be drawn by the instance of others Commissioners were sent from both sides who renewed their friendship and reestablished the commerce in a better way then formerly and to the articles touching this busines and the Freedom of Fishing was added an Inhibition of either side to entertain the Rebels of one another in which article the Lands belonging to the Dutchesse Margaret were by Name inserted to the end that such as did adhere to Perkin might not be shelter'd there The affront offered by the King of Scotland stuck yet in Henrie's stomack which was not to be revenged but by war war was not to be made without money nor was money to be had without a Parliament wherefore he called a Parliament and therein acquainted them with the Losses he had suffer'd by the King of Scots in Northumberland who having no cause of enmity with Him had taken upon him for a Pretence to protect Perkin though he knew him to be an Impostour how the injury was aggravated by the Affront for finding that countrey unarmed and void of defence after having ruin'd and burnt up the countrey he had safely retired himselfe laden with booty into Scotland This busines was judged worthy of the Kings consideration such injuries not being without shame to be put up wherefore the Parliament decreed unto him good store of money to be raised according to the usuall wont which being paid in all parts else was only deny'd to be paid in Cornewall the Inhabitants thereof thought this an unjust exaction and that the Scotish Commotion was so farre from Them as they were not thereby to be obliged as were the countries thereby detrimented asif when the Head akes the Legs and Feet be not concern'd but may put over the execution of their duties to the Arms and Neck as neerer thereunto To make good this mutiny two mutinous heads appeared the one a Farrier by his trade the other an Atturney each of which had their ends Michael Ioseph the Black-smith was moved by Ambition beleeving such a seditious action would adde luster unto him and that his clownish loquacity would procure him the first place amongst the Countrey people Thomas Flammock the Atturney having gotten credit by his profession had so
what was most Essentiall as that his Father was a Jew that he himself was born in London held at the Font by King Edward and the Dutchesse of Burgundy her practises He confessed his going to Portugall but not that he was sent by Her In like manner he confest his journey to Ireland Whereupon the Confession being first written with his own hand and afterwards Printed did not satisfie the Peoples curiosity since they saw the name of the afore-said Dutchesse the chief Actor in this Comedy purposely concealed But the King would not irritate her any farther thinking it sufficient punishment for her to be so diversly spoken of as shee was together with her own vexation that her inventions not succeeding should be made evident to the world The Civill wars whereof I write ought to end with the death of Richard the 3. without any further progress but the fire therof though quenched having left hot ashes and caused the alterations of those two Impostours Symnell and Warbeck it was requisite for me to write This life likewise though with intention to end it according to the Object and Title propounded to my self with the Imprisonment of the Later of the two the last exhalation of all these Heats But it would have mis-become me to have left it abruptly off there remaining so Little of it without discovering the fountains head from whence the Kings of Scotland derive their lawfull succession to the Crown of England and without setting down the punishment of Warbeck and of the Earl of Warwick the last Male of Plantagenets race whose death freed the Kingdom from Pretenders I wil then proceed with the greatest Brevitie that may be The truce between England and Scotland was no sooner made but that an unexpected accident hapned which had wel nigh broke it and turn'd all things to their former troublesom condition The Castle of Norham is parted from the confines of Scotland by the river Tweed so as neighbour-hood having caused conversation and friendship between some young men of Scotland and of England the young men of Scotland had wont to passe over the River and come to drinke and sport with those of Norham the Souldiers of the Garrison growing mistrustful of this custom their grudges not being totally extinguished by the Truce did not thinke their coming proceeded from Friendship but out of a desire to pry into the Fortifications whereupon falling first to Words and then to Blows the Scotch-men by the disadvantage of place and ods in number were hardly treated and some of them were slain King Iames taking this as done purposely to injure Him dispatcht away an expresse Herauld to complain thereof and in case the King should not give good satisfaction to denounce War Henry who minded nothing but his quiet answer'd That he was sorry for the Accident which hee neither knew of nor did allow of that hee would inquire into the Actors of it and give them such punishment as there should be no occasion to breake the Truce But time passing on and nothing done Iames thinking this was but his Dissembling with intention that Delay working Forgetfulnesse might exempt the faulty from Punishment was more offended then formerly and certainly somewhat of mischiefe would have hapned had not the Bishop of Durham who was Lord of Norham wisely taken order in it For knowing that the injury was done by His men he wrote in so civill a manner to Iames about it as that he rested satisfied and desired the Bishop to come unto him that they might treate upon the present occasion and upon certaine other things that concern'd both the Kingdoms The Bishop acquainted Henry with this who gave him leave to goe hee therefore went to the Abbey of Melrosse where the King then was who at their first meeting complained of the injury done The Bishop answer'd that could not be call'd an injury where there was no intention of Offending He confest the too much Rashnesse of his men occasioned by misfortune not out of any intention to offend Him the offence if any there were must needs proceed either from the King or the Garrison not from the King for he was not of such a nature which if he were it was not likely he would make a Truce to Breake it immediatly without any Advantage or Occasion nor did it proceed from the Souldiers who were sure to be Punished for it a chance unthought of caused by suspition could not be termed an Injury not that hee did not confesse the Authors Guilty of it but with the Distinction allow'd of by the Lawes between Accidentall and Premeditated faults that as the Later were worthy of severe Punishment so were the Other of Clemency and Pardon obtainable upon request from so generous a Prince as was His Majestie The King being pacified said He pardon'd the offence in respect of the Friendship contracted the Continuance whereof he desired And then drawing him aside pursued to say His desire was to have a Long and Good peace the which if Henry likewise desired the true way to effect it would be by Henrie's giving him for wife his Eldest daughter Margaret for that thereby the friendship between the two nations would be perpetuall that this was the reason why he had desired him to come into Scotland hoping that by his wisdom he might bring the busines to a good end The Bishop after having modestly answer'd for what concern'd Himselfe promised him all the Furtherance his service could doe him in effecting his desire Being returned to England he acquainted Henry with the King of Scotlands desire wherewith King Henry was much pleased The busines being long debated in Counsell the match was agreed upon so as Peace might precede it which was done Peace being concluded during the lives of the two Kings and for one Year after and the Marriage was to be celebrated but not Yet the Bride who was born the 29. of November 1689. being too young Charles the eighth King of France died this yeare on the 7. of Aprill whose Funerals were with great pomp celebrated in London the King being very sorrowfull for his death as calling to mind the Favours he had received from him Perkin was this mean while in Prison but so carelesly looked unto as cosening his Keepers he made an Escape Not knowing whether to fly for safety being followed and diligently sought for he returned to London presented himself before the Prior of the Monastery of Bedlam a man of great esteem desiring hee might be received into that Sanctuary the Prior acquainted the King with it desiring him to pardon his life the Counsell were for the most part of a contrary opinion desirous that he should be taken from the Sanctuary and executed so to end their fears but the King at the Priors intercession pardoned him his life being contented that he should stand in the Pillory from whence hee was brought with Irons upon his feet to Westminster yard where hee again read his
former Confession the which he likewise did at Cheapside Hee was againe put into the Tower to be better looked unto but hee could not forbeare relapsing into his former errour For growing great with foure of his Keepers who were servants to Sir Iohn Digby Lieutenant of the Tower and making them beleeve he was the true Duke of Yorke he so far prevailed with them as that they perswaded the Earl of Warwick to escape away with Perkin which by their means hee easily might doe when they should have kill'd the Lieutenant and taken from him his Keyes Monies and best Moveables But the plot was discover'd and he againe put over to Commissioners At this time an other Earl of Warwick appeared in Kent in imitation of Lambert Symnell Lambert tooke upon him the person of the Earl of Warwick by the direction of a Priest and Ralph Wilford for so was this second supposititious Earl called by the direction of an Augustine Frier named Patrick but this was soon ended for the Frier puft up with a foolish confidence and beleeving that businesses of this nature ought to be fomented in the Pulpit he by inciting the People destroyed the building before the Ground-worke was lay'd so as they were both taken Wilford was executed and the Frier in respect of his Habit was condemn'd to perpetuall imprisonment This accident gave the King occasion to rid the true Earl of Warwick out of the world whereupon it was thought that Perkins first flight and this his second endeavour to doe the like were wrought by His cunning he giving way to the First that hee might put Perkin to death and stirring up means to plot the Second so to rid his hands of the Earl and Perkin both at once But howsoever it was Perkin being convinc'd of this second busines and judged to die was hanged at Tybourn where by word of mouth hee confest his Imposture The rest who were involved in the same fault suffered likewise with him And Warwick being accused before the Earl of Oxford who for this occasion was made High Constable of England to have conspired together with Perkin against the State and Person of the King being proved guilty by his owne Confession was beheaded upon Tower-hill And thus in him ended the Male Line of the Plantagenets This caused the King to be blamed and hardly thought of as having no reason to condemne him for having been Prisoner from the Ninth yeare of his age till the Twenty-fourth and always in fear of Death he was kept in so great Ignorance that hee did not know a Duck from a Capon and therefore so little capable of the fault that he was altogether incapable to Dream of it and his Confessing it was out of a beleefe he was perswaded to that by so doing he should be pardoned Henry endevoured to lay the cause of this death upon the King of Spaine shewing his Letters wherein he said He could not resolve to marry his Daughter to Prince Arthur since as long as the Earl of Warwick lived he was not certaine of the Kingdoms succession which might be a reason of State but not of Justice in so much as God would not give a Blessing to that match the which that vertuous Princesse Katharine Knew very well for Prince Arthur dying shortly after and shee being repudiated by King Henry the Eight after Twenty yeares marriage she said It was no wonder if God had made her Vnfortunate in her Marriages since they were sealed with Blood meaning thereby the Death of this Earle The King though hee were no longer subject to the Apparitions which the Dutchesse of Burgundy had raised up by her Inchantments in the Transformation of People yet was he not free from Influences common to other men the Plague raged so terribly in London that it forced him to quit the Town and afterwards by reason of its Vniversall dispersing of it selfe over the whole Land to goe over to Callice together with the Queene The Arch-duke Philip hearing of his being there sent Embassadours to him to congratulate his Arrivall and to know if hee would be pleased that he Himself should come to visit him upon condition notwithstanding that he might be received in some Open place not for that hee durst not Trust himself in Callice or in what ever other Towne but for that having refused to speake with the King of France within any Walled place hee would not by this Difference give him any occasion of Offence nor that the example might prove prejudiciall to him in the future for any thing that might happen either with the same King or with any other The Ambassadours were graciously received and the Condition fairly interpreted and St. Peters Church not far from Callice was appointed for the place Hee likewise sent Embassadours to the Arch-duke who appeared at Masse in the midst between them all of them kneeling upon the same cushion As he was comming towards Callis the King went out to meet him and he alighted suddenly from Horse-back as if hee would have held his stirrop the King likewise alighted and having imbraced him led him to the Church which was appointed for their parley The causes which brought this Prince thither were two his own Good nature for that he had offended him by Protecting an Impostour which fault though it was not His he being then a Child yet was it the fault of his Counsell depending upon the Dutchesse Margarets passion so as he omitted nothing whereby to give the King satisfaction the other the Advise of his Father and father in Law who counselled him to make firm friendship with Henry for the advantage of the Low-countries and for his own Safety against the Violences of France but most for that they both hating that King which was Lewis the Twelfth who succeeded Charles the Eighth they hoped for many Advantages by his Friendship The Arch-duke failed not to use all the art he could though by nature he was not given to Dissembling terming him his Father his Protector his Leaning-stock The things agreed on between them were the Confirmation of the former Treaties and two reciprocall Marriages the one of the Duke of Yorke the Kings Second Son with the Arch-dukes Daughter the other of Charles the Arch-dukes Eldest Son with Mary the Kings Second Daughter but all of them being either Children or Infants these marriages ensued not but did evaporate through Time and Interest The Archduke was hardly gone when the King of France sent the Governour of Picardy and the Baylife of Amiens to visit Henry acquain ting him with his Victories together with his getting of the Dutchy of Milaine and his imprisonment of Lodwick Sforza the Duke thereof The Plague being by this time ceased Henry return'd to London wel satisfied with the Testimony he had received of how good esteem he was held by the confining Princes At the same time Iasper Pons a Spaniard born a learned and well bred man came into England being sent by
Pope Alexander the Sixth upon the occasion of the year of Jubile for since they only received the benefit thereof who went to Rome he thought it fit that it should be commuted for by Remote countries the inhabitants whereof could not make so Long a journey in so much as they staying at Home might receive the same indulgences which those did that went on Pilgrimage to Rome if they would give a certain summe of money to be imployed in the wars against the Turks whose advancing Hungary Germany and Italy did much apprehend This man did so wisely negotiate this af fair as he thereby got a great summe of money without any manner of grudging or murmuring save against the Kings Person who being naturally given to Extort from his People it was thought hee would not have suffered these monies to have beene gathered had not he Himselfe had a share therein An opinion which was known to be false in the time of Iulius the Second who making it a difficult busines to grant Prince Henry a Dispensation to marry Katharine who had been wife to his brother Arthur Cardinall Adrian de Corneto who endeavoured the obtayning of it alleadged amongst the rest of the merits of King Henry his Father that he had not pretented to share in the monies raysed by Pons in that kingdom Neither was there any dissimulation used in this by Alexander at least there Appeared none for he propounded this war in the Publick Consistory in the presence of as many Emssadours as were then resident in that Court with designe to set upon the Turkish territories in Three severall places in Thracia by the Hungarians Bohemians and Polanders in Greece by the French and Spaniards and at Constantinople by him Himselfe accompanied by the King of England and the State of Venice and he sent Nuntioes to All Princes that they would joyne their Forces and Monies according to their Abilities in so pious a worke The Answer which the King gave to Pons was That he was ready to Accompany his Holinesse but that it was impossible for him to doe it in that manner the remote Distance of his countrey would put him to Double the charge of any of the rest that the Kings of France and Spaine were first to be made Friends which if it should not be effected all other designes would prove but vain that when they should be made friends 't was they that best might accompany him as being Neerest him which if they should Refuse to doe He would wait upon him Himselfe not considering either Expence or other incommodity upon Condition he might have some Cities upon the Sea-side in Italy delivered into his possession to make use of what ever chance might happen This answer and it may be the Like of other Princes made this undertaking vanish away to Nothing when the Proposition was such as might very well have beene effected Cardinall Morton who was likewise Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Chancellour of England died this year We have spoken of him formerly He was a man of great Integrity yet somewhat given to Gripplenesse which made him be ill thought of for it was beleev'd he had nourished in the King his humour of Impositions But time proved the Contrary and had he left no other laudable memory behind him his being the First agent in the uniting of the two Roses is a merit whereby to render him Glorious to all Posterity Iohn Earl of Lincolne he who was slain at the battle of Stoke left his brother Edmund Earl of Suffolke heir to his Humour and his Misfortune in so much as calling to mind that he was Son to Elizabeth who was sister both to Edward and Richard hee thought he might be as bold under This King as he had been under the Other two his Vncles He had slain a man in such a manner notwithstanding as the Circumstances did not Aggravate the fault Henry gave him his Pardon but so as he was to passe all the course of Law and Justice and to appear before the Iudges and receive Sentence of Condemnation This manner of proceeding against him did so touch him to the quick as reputing the Favour that was shew'd him Ignominy he sodainly left the Land and went into Flanders to his Ant Margaret at which though the King was offended yet was he resolved to apply Lenitive salves giving order to his Agents in those parts to offer him his Pardon at the very First so as he would return knowing that Despair in banisht men begets thoughts in them of Little service to Themselves and of much Trouble to Others It succeeded according to his imagination for accepting the Pardon he returned to England the Dutchesse not opposing him therein either for that she thought his Genius inferior to the Kings or else that she was satisfied that in Perkins publick Confession her name was conceal'd But arrogant and proud natures such as was that of this Earl leading men into Dangers brought this man at Last to his Ruin under Henry the Eighth The match between Prince Arthur and the Infanta Katherine of Spaine which had been treated on for the space of seven years received this year its maturity the King her Father sending her nobly attended into England The tediousnesse of this negotiation proceeded from Both parties for the two Kings being endued with equall wisedome before the establishing of the Affinity would see each others fortune established the Infanta had for her Portion 200000 Duckets without any covenant of Restitution either to Her selfe or her Family and in lieu thereof she had set out for Ioynture the third part of the Principality of Wales of the Dutchy of Cornewall and of the County of Chester and if she should come to be Queene she was to have as much as any other Queene before her had had The marriage was solemnized in Pauls the Bridegroome was Fifteene yeers of age the Bride Eighteene The Festivals being ended they returned to keepe their Court at Ludlow in Wales but their abode there was but for while for the young Prince died there on the second day of Aprill in the yeare 1502. five moneths after he was married having lived 15. Years 6. moneths and 13. Dayes Nothing more is to be said of him Authors write nothing of him since hee lived not long enough to be knowne All that is related of him is That being naturally given to study he was learned beyond his Age and the Condition of a Prince This his death did much molest the King the Infanta Katharine was left upon his hands and if Prince Henry were to marry Another wife he was to find out a second Joynture a thing repugnant to the merit of State and to his Frugall honour whereupon resolving to marry him to the same Katharine he wrote concerning it to Spaine and Rome Ferdinand was contented but he met with Difficulties in procuring a Dispensation from the Pope and in getting his Sonnes Good-will who though he was then but
answerable to his Covetousnesse in emptying the purse of one of the Noblest and Best deserving subjects he had We related a little before how the Earl of Suffolke returned to England where he tarried all this time the King treating him Well and he not having any occasion of Discontent but were it his own Mis-fortune which would be his Overthrow or the Expences he had been at at Prince Arthurs marriage which had dipt him deep in Debt or the Hatred he bare unto the King which could not suffer him to see him reign in Peace he fled away into Flanders with his brother Richard to the Peoples great Discontent who thought that certainly some great Disorder must ensue thereupon many of the Nobility being ill affected and which already began to propose New hopes unto themselves and to plot Insurrections The King being accustomed to such like passions and seeming as if he minded it not wrote to Sir Robert Curson Captain of Hammes Castle that feigning to Rebell he should passe over into Flanders to the Earl of Suffolke Hee forsaking his Command seemed to steale away he went unto the Earl who with much joy welcom'd him discovering unto him all his Designs and who they were that sided with him in England Curson advertised the King hereof who imprisoned them putting the Chiefest of them in the Tower amongst which William Courtney Eldest Sonne to the Earl of Devonshire who having married Katharine Daughter to Edward the fourth was become his Brother in Law William de la Poole brother to the Earl of Suffolke the Lord George Abergavenny Sir Iames Tirrell Sir Iohn Windham and Sir Thomas Green The issue was William Courtney was detained Prisoner during the Kings Life not for that he was Guilty but for that having Relation to the house of Yorke he might serve as an Instrument if there should be any designe of Troubling the State William de la Poole was likewise kept Prisoner though not so strictly Abergavenny and Greene were set at Liberty Tirrell and Windham were Beheaded the rest of inferior quality were Hang'd This was that Tirrell who had his hand in the Death of the two Princes that were smother'd in the Tower by commission from Richard the Third He came to too good an end Fire and Torture was not sufficient for him but he died not for That 't was for this Last fault that he suffer'd death The Earl was grieved at the punishments his Complices under went and at the Imprisonment of his Friends and Kindred who were faln into this captivity not for any Fault of His or of Themselves but meerly out of Suspition for otherwise they should have walked the Same way as did the Rest. The King that Cursen might be the better beleeved and that he might the better pursue His Directions made him together with the Earl and Others to be proclamed Traytor at Pauls Crosse but he having no more to doe in Flanders returned almost presently into England where he was well liked of by the King but not by the People Such offices though of Trust for what concerns the King are in respect of Others Detestable His departure much abated the Earles courage who now saw he was Betrayed he therefore endeavour'd to procure helpe from Forraign Princes he went into Germany from thence into France but his Labours proving Vain he return'd to Flanders under the protection of the Arch-duke Philip which was the Last of his Misfortunes Many Laws were made in the Parliament which was this yeer called and an Entire Subsidy was given unto the King who had no Need of it he being Rich Frugall without War having no cause to Demand it nor to have it Granted him Not herewithall contented he required a General Benevolence which brought in Much money unto him as did also the Alteration of the Mint for certain coyns the Citie payed him 5000. Marks for the Con firmation of their Liberties and Ferdinand paid him Last payment of the Portion so as all other Casualties too long to number up being comprehended his Extraordinaries did much surmount his Ordinary Revenue wherewithall his Coffers being fill'd he might have been contented whilest his subjects who wisht him of Another humour could not alter the Constitution of his Nature He was much troubled at the Death of Isabell Queen of Castile which hapned in the moneth of November the year Before by reason of the Resemblance that was in the Government of their kingdoms between Ferdinand and Him both of them reigning in the right of their Wives And though he never admitted of his Wives Right having obtain'd the kingdom under the title of the house of Lancaster having won it by the Sword and having it Confirm'd unto him by Act of Parliament yet he could not but feare that Ferdinands yeelding up the Crowne to his Daugh ter might by way of Example prejudice Him and make for his Sonne Prince Henry the case was the same and the formerly alleadged reasons were of no weight in comparison of Naturall Extraction which is to be preferred before all other claimes Isabell left the Administration of the Kingdom to Ferdinand during his life though Iane were the immediat Heire which distasted the Arch-duke Philip for being become King of Castile in right of his Wife he thought hee was injur'd as being reputed unfit to governe without his Father in Laws Assistance and Superintendencie hee pretended the Mother could not dispose thereof to the Prejudice of the Daughter that the Authority of Predeces sors ended with their Deaths else seldome or very Late would their Heirs come to Reigne that the Reverence and Respect to Parents did not amongst Private men bereave their Children of enjoying their Private Inheritances much lesse ought it to doe so with Kings for what concernes Kingdomes that the government of Wives and all that belonged unto Them belonged to their Husbands when they were of Yeers as Hee was the interest of Children that are Heirs belonging to their Fathers who are neerer in degree unto them then are their Grand-fathers He tooke offence at his being Forbidden to come into Spaine without his Wife as knowing the cause thereof for he kept her from the sight of All men the more to conceale her Infirmity which was a spice of Lunacy so as it was beleeved he would not Bring her along with him lest her weaknesse being made Knowne might not give force to the Will wherefore he resolved to carry her thither the sooner pretending to take Possession of what Nature and the Lawes had given him for having married upon hopes of that Kingdome it would be imputed to Rechlesnesse in him if it now being Falne to him he should not obtain it But Ferdinand having call'd together the States of Castile and caused the Will to be read Ioane was sworn Queen and Heire to her Mother Philip was sworne King as her Husband and Ferdinando as Administrator The Queens disabilities sufficiently appearing they intreated Ferdinand that Hee would
his comming desired him that he would rest himselfe in Sir Thomas Trenchards house till such time as they might advertise the King of his being there to which he gave way being certaine that otherwise they would not have suffered him to depart When Henry heard hereof hee sent the Earle of Arundell by way of complement unto him and to let him know that he Himselfe would presently come and visit him But Philip fearing lest if he should waite his comming his stay would be too long resolved to goe Himselfe to Henry making his Queene come at leisure after him He was met six miles from Windsor by Prince Henry and One mile from thence by the King who received him with all terms of Honour and Friendship He treated with him of the marriage of their Children and of his owne marrying with Margaret the Dowager of Savoy Philips sister he renewed all Confederacies made between them the preceding years which were Then made with him by the name of Arch-duke Philip Duke of Burgundy Now by the name of King of Spaine they had better successe for the English then had the former especially in the Fishing-busines at which the Flemmings were much offended he with much adoe obtained the person of the Earle of Suffolke who lived under the protection of Philip Henry knew so well how to perswade him by passing his Word he would not put him to Death that Philip sent for him into Flanders the one desiring to have him before the other departed and the other not to depart till he were arrived that it might be beleeved he had beene Enforced to deliver him up Assoone as the Earle was come and put in the Tower Philip departed England and was received in Spaine without any manner of Resistance Ferdinand totally quitting the Government to him but he enjoy'd it but for a while for he dyed soone after The Englishmen will have it that his death was Prognosticated by the Fall of a golden Eagle which standing upon the top of Pauls steeple was blowne downe by the same wind which drave him into Waymouth and brake downe a signe in the Church-yard wherein was a blacke Eagle Ferdinand being call'd for and entreated by the Kingdome returned to the Government thereof this Death of her Husband having so opprest the fancie of the Queen his daughter as she was never after good for any thing not without suspition that her Father did not greatly endeavour her Recovery that so he of Himselfe and without Trouble might manage the Scepter of Spaine The Earle of Suffolke being in the Tower Henry was now freed from all manner of Trouble and Molestation so as betaking himselfe to Domesticall affaires he sent Thomas Wolsey he who was Cardinall and of so great Power under Henry the eighth to Maxi milian to treat of the marriage with the fore-named Dowager of Savoy but it tooke no effect by reason of Henrye's indisposition of health which shortly ensued The marriage of Charles King of Spaine with Mary daughter to Henry stirr'd up some jealousies in Ferdinand for though He was the first that had mention'd iâ—… yet his Sonne in Law being Dead and Charles being come to the Crowne he feared he should meet with Two Competitours in the Government with Maximilian as Grand-father and Henry as Father in Law which though neither of them dreamt of yet did He feare it but This match had no better effect then had the Other the tender yeares of the young couple and the alteration of affaires in following times broke it quite off The expectation hereof neverthelesse made Henry live contented the little while he lived for having married One of his daughters to the King of Scotland and the Other to the King of Castile Duke of Burgundy he thought himselfe more safe then if his Kingdome had beene compassed about with a wall of Brasse He the mean while began to draw towards his End the Gout a disease more Troublesome then Mortall was the Fore-runner of a Distillation which falling upon his Lungs brought him into a kind of Consumption which perceiving he began to give himselfe totally to Pious Workes He set all Prisoners at Liberty who were in for Debt of not above Forty shillings hee himselfe paying the Creditours he gave Almes in greater measure then he had done formerly but though hee felt great Remorse at the daily complaints made against Empson and Dudley for their Oppressions yet did hee not seeke to Remedy them His Conscience and his Covetousnesse wrought contrary effects in him many for very slight causes were troubled in their Estates and in their Lives one died in Prison before his cause was heard another being imprisoned for denying to pay what Contrary to the Lawes he was adjudged at was not let out till Henry the eighths time and then Empson was put in his place To make good the usuall custome of promising obedience to New Popes he sent Sir Gilbert Talbot with two other Embassadours to Pope Iulius the second which he had not formerly done though he were created in November 1503. They prest much for the Canonization of Henry the sixth but could not obtaine it for the reason formerly given in the life of Edward the fourth Being dismist by the Pope they carried the Garter and Robes of that Order to Guido Vbaldo Duke of Vrbin whose Father Frederick had likewise had it This Prince sent into England to be installed for him according to the Institutions of that Order the Count Balthasar Castillion he to whom the noblest Courtiers owe so much The finishing of the Hospitall in the Savoy was one of the last of Henries actions he would not alter the name of it this fabrick having beene in former times the habitation of Peter of Savoy Unckle to Eleanor the Wife of Henry the third by whom Peter of Savoy was created Earle of Richmond but he resigned the Earledome when Savoy fell by inheritance to him The Lancastrians lived in this house and King Henry converted it into an Hospitall Besides this he built three Monasteries for the Conventuall Friers of Saint Francis order and three for the Observantines of the same order in divers places When he knew he hee must die he disposed himselfe thereunto Hee had lived almost all his time in Troubles but always with prosperous and happy successe he found the Kingdome involved in Civil wars he left it in a setled Peace his subjects who were impoverisht by the past disorders were notwitstanding his Taxations by reason of his good Government become Rich he did not only free the Crowne out of Debt but left it rich in Treasure his sonne found in Richmond house a Million and eight Hundred Thousand pound sterling so as he was thought the richest Prince in Europe He granted out a Generall Pardon and ordered by his Last Will and Testament that all such monies should bee Repay'd as had unjustly beene levied by his Officers He died at Richmond the twenty second day of Aprill in the year of our Lord 1509 and was buried by his wife in the sumptuous and stately Chapell built by Himselfe in the Abbey Church at Westminster He lived two and Fifty years and Reigned three and Twenty Years and Eight moneths The Children which he left behind him were Henry the Eighth his Heir and successor in the Crown Margaret Queen of Scotland from whom the Kings of Great Britaine doe descend and the Prince and Princesses of the Electorall house Palatine and Mary married to Lewis the twelfth King of France by whom having no issue she after his death married Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke by whom she had Henry Earle of Lincolne and two Daughters Frances and Eleanor The Earle dyed without issue in his Fathers life-time Frances was married to Henry Gray Duke of Suffolk and by him had the Lady Iane Gray who being married to Guilford Dudley sonne to the Duke of Northumberland and constrained to call her selfe Queene was beheaded in Queene Maries time she had by him moreover two Other daughters Katharine and Mary who dyed without issue Eleanor was married to Henry Clifford Earle of Cumberland by whom she had a daughter named Margaret who was married to Henry Stanley Earle of Darby and had by him two sons Ferdinando and William both of them in succession one of the other Earles of Darby Earle William dyed this present yeare 1642. leaving his sonne Iames behind him to inherit his Honours and his Estate The End of the Second and Last volume of the Civil Wars of England betweene the two Houses of Yorke and Lancaster FINIS Richard the 2. 1386. 1387. 1388. 1383. 1390. 1391. 1393. 1394. 1395 1396 1397. Henry the 4. A description of the Isle of Wight 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 Henry the 5. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. and 8. 9 10 11 12 13 1416 1417 1418 1420 1421 Henry the 6. Apoc Cap 4o. 1422 1424. 1425. 1426. 1428. 1429. 1432. 1435. Philippopolis Andrenopolis Serviae Bulgaria Vallatchia Di. Bittinia in Thracia Di. Brusia in Andrinopoli Alavenente 3. Mascone Impatronato La Castellania Parteggiati Il trombetta Sangate 1424. 1438. 1442. 1433. 1445. 1446 1447. 1448. 1450. 1452. 1453. 1454. 1455. 1456. 1458. 1459. 1460. 1466. 1470 1472. 1473. 1474. 1475. 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1485. 1485 1483 1486 1487 1488 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1496 1498. 1499 1501 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509
not paid they must of necessity live by force and rapine a disorder which if at other times it bee of great consequence was certainly of no small importance now For the key of military discipline which is ready pay if it be not well handled is soone broken and if men be defrauded and payments be not made there is none who doe obey none who doe command For remedy to this inconvenience order was given that the Souldiers should retire themselves to their owne homes with directions to be ready to returne when commanded whilst the enemy who lay at Sluce with hourely expectation to transport themselves needed with a faire winde but one nights sayle to effect their desires But it befell the French as it doth gamesters they lost for lacke of knowing when to set their rest One of the first things the Parliament did was the making the Earle of Oxford Duke of Ireland which caused whispering and dislike in all men Not many monthes before in the late Parliament of this same yeare hee was created Marquesse of Dublin and Michael Poole Earle of Suffolke the Kings Uncles Dukes the Earle of Cambridge of Yorke the Earle of Buckingham of Gloster and Roger Mortimer Earle of March in case the King should die without issue was declared heyre to the Crowne An observation which I chose to place here as requisite to the pretences of the house of Yorke the which in their due time will bee tryed by the sword none having at any time to the best of my knowledge taken possession of a controverted Crowne by the authority of Lawes or decree of Judges Moneyes being afterwards required for the present occasions they were denyed with an Hanâ—…bal ad portas they pretended no necessity thereof that the Earle of Suffolkes purse was alone sufficient to supply all wants they accused him of many misdemeanours they required that his accounts might be seene the upper house sided with this request chiefly the Duke of Gloster The King who imagined to finde none who would prescribe Lawes to him now that Lancaster was gone found he had judged amisse but being resolved not to suffer his servants bee rent from betweene his armes he determined if it be true which is said to put his Uncle to death that by freeing himselfe from so great an obstacle he might infuse reverence and respect into others Richard would be feared beleeving it to be the onely way to obedience but he was not aware that though Princes ought to cloath themselves with the habit of reverence and respect the same habiliament is woven with the thread of affection the other of feare being made of threads of hatred and composed of brittle and direfull materialls A supper was given order for in London to which Gloster together with those who had openly declared themselves enemies to Suffolke were invited that by the service of napery and wine they might bee slaine Nicholas Bambre was chiefly imployed in this affaire who the preceding yeare was Lord Maior of London but Richard Stone then Lord Maior infinitely abhorring so great a wickednesse hindred the effecting of it So as the Duke being acquainted with it and by him the rest they contented themselves with their owne private suppers finding them more savoury then the riotous other The discovery of this plot was the Colliquintida which distasted the palats of the Uncle and Nephew and which increased in the common people the hatred of the King and love of the Duke affections which though they hurt the former as concurring causes of not permitting him to live they did not helpe the other as not being able to fence him from a miserable death The King retired himselfe to Eltham that he might not bee present at the aversenesse of the Parliaments proceedings where being advertised that the members of Parliament were resolved not to treat of any other businesse unlesse the great Seale were taken from the Earle of Suffolke he commanded them to send unto him fortie of the ablest members of their house that he might treat with them and resolve upon what was most convenient But to send so great a number being not thought fit they resolved to send unto him the Duke of Gloster Thomas Arundel Bishop of Ely with the which he seemed to be content The Articles of their commission were in chiefe two the first that the King having disbursed great sums of money they humbly beseeched him to suffer them to take the accounts The second that the presence of his Majesty being requisite for the treating and conclusion of businesse hee would be pleased to remember that by an ancient law it was permitted to the Parliament men to returne home to their owne houses at any time when the King not hindred by sicknesse should absent himselfe for forty dayes together from the place of Parliament The Kings answer shewed how much he was displeased at such propositions for without further advice he replied that he apparantly saw the ends of the people and commons to tend to rebellion that he thought not to doe amisse if he should call in the King of France to his aide since it would redound lesse to his dishonour to submit himselfe to a King then to his owne subjects The two Commissioners indeavoured as much as in them lay to shew unto his Majesty that the house of Parliament had no such intention and that if by mis-information hee would needs beleeve the contrary that which he had said would neither prove honorable nor advantagious for him wishing him to consider that such a resolution was not likely to work such effects as his passion promised unto him the people of England being strong enough to defend themselves and a people which did so much abhorre the French as that they would never endure to be governed by them whilst on the contrary side he the King of England ought to pretend to rule the French that the evils which from them were to ensue were likely to fall onely upon himselfe to his present ruine and perpetuall infamy in after ages Richard had now the use of his naturall judgement free from wicked counsellers so as weighing their reasons he was perswaded to returne to London Suffolkes misdemeanors was the first thing which was handled they deputed the Duke of Glocester and Earle of Arundell his Committees the judgement which ensued as some will have it was degrading confiscation and death moderated with this caution If it should so please the King And according to some others the losse of his office a fine of 20000 markes and the losse of his pension of three thousand a yeare which was paid him out of the Exchequer Upon this judgement Richard againe absented himselfe not able patiently to endure that he abhorred he condoled with Suffolke that his faults had brought such infamy upon him as tooke from him all meanes of defending him The sentence notwithstanding was not executed a reservation being therein had to the Kings pleasure leaving him
growne to that height that Richard in case he should dye without issue desired to leave the Kingdome to him it was impossible for them so farre to alter their affections as that they did not preferre danger before security The severall opinions of this conspiracy are so various as that they may admit of doubt but for my part I rest assured that this variety proceeded from the not knowing of true particularities and that through the inveloping of secrets the common people have fashioned their story whereupon that hath happened which will alwayes happen that many true cases have no circumstances which are not or false or very uncertaine Having tyed up all in a bundle I will give you the opinion of Writers King Henry when he was young had let some words fall perhaps out of inconsiderate vivacity of spirit or else out of ambition to be thought a States-man tending to this purpose That Princes in consideration of their degree and expence had but small revenewes and that the Clergie in regard of their calling and occasion had too great incomes To which speech Richard afterwards alluding said That if the Earle of Darby came to the Crowne he would be no great favourer of the Clergy Having now obtained it and the memory remaining of what he had said and the other had judged the Clergy had some reason to suspect since such like words as these were not let fall by chance but at such time when as snares being laid for the Clergie because of their wealth there were divers who had given such particulars of their estates to the Parliament as that the two Archbishops were forced to protest against any Act which should be made against Ecclesiasticall liberty or immunity and though I beleeve that these suspitions were vaine mens mindes changing by yeeres and experience and he not having in all his reign shewed any such inclination yet he who shares in a beleeved danger doth not wait the comming of it but prevents it which was the onely cause that made the Abbot of Westminster doe what he did This man was religious by profession but by practice a Courtier his learning and experience had won him reputation especially with Richard who tooke him along with him in his last journey into Ireland being then firmely of opinion that the King who had profest himselfe no friend to the Clergie would for ever continue the like he thought the best way to prevent this danger would be by Henries death and because the grounds of this his imagination were either true or likely he suffered himselfe to be perswaded to a likelihood of effecting his desires wherein hee had not beene deceived if fortune had not failed him He considered that Henries preferment was occasioned rather out of hatred to Richard then any love to him that such effects change with the change of fortune that the one being deposed the other was no more so much desired who was onely coveted to exclude the other this being effected that his first love and applause was turned into envie and hatred that the people were fickle greedy of what they have not cloyed with what they have that his neerest kin were his enemies his brother brother in law and cousin being censured in Parliament that usurpation is hatefull both to God and man that a lawfull King was unlawfully deposed the lawfull heires contrary to reason disinherited that he was favoured by the Nobility as by the house of Percy for interest by that of Yorke for feare that the envy to him ward and compassion towards Richard were Rams able to beat downe whatsoever well built wall All of them considerations of much weight but counterpois'd by the Kings fortune light beyond comparison Hatred and treason are false ballances wisedome is the onely just scale which if the Abbot had used he had saved his owne life with the life of Richard and the lives of others who drawne by a rash confidence perished in the praecipice of a too bold and heady resolution for God doth seldome suffer never assist bad actions The first care in this businesse was to finde persons fitly appropriated to the businesse since of the welwillers thereunto these were only usefull when by birth or retinue were void of exception faithfull faith being then most to be relyed upon when most interessed and interest being the chiefest causer of our affections Not herewithall contented he would have them oppositely affected with love and hopes towards Richard with hatred and feares towards Henry so as without more adoe these considerations pointed out unto him what choice he was to make The Dukes of Exeter and Surrey were most neerely concerned in Richard and under him their greatnesse was safe which under Henry was doubtfull and supprest though Exeter had married his sister a thred too weakely spun to with-hold suspitions which in what concerned the Kingdome befell his brother in law meere shadowes indangering him and forcing upon him a necessity of impossible circumspection for the preservation of the State as it now was was the onely gaine which was to be aimed at In the Duke of Aumerle were more weighty considerations none at all for what concern'd his blood he was in the like relation cousin to both but it being an ordinary thing to repay unuseful kindred with disrespect and with hatred such as bereave us of our good fortune or are a crosse to us therein by Richard he had beene remunerated by Henry cut short of part of his honours and livelihood but that which of all other his distastes he was most sensible of was that he could not suffer the being cut off from the Crowne by his younger brother the Earle of Cambridge who had married Anne to whom when Edmund Earle of March should dye the right to the Crowne did belong Iohn Montaigne Earle of Salisbury who had beene an abusive medler in the breach of the match betweene Henry and the daughter of Berry had reason to presume him his irreconcileable enemy Hugh Spencer Earle of Glocester preferd by Richard supprest by Henry ally'd moreover to the house of Yorke by his match with Constance the daughter of Aumerle could not aspire to higher hopes Iohn Bishop of Carleil though with the height of clemencie freed from imprisonment at Saint Albons was notwithstanding by his persevering in a preposterous zeale fast linked to the love of the one and hatred of the other Magdalun Chaplaine to King Richard to boot with the common interests and obligations of the above-named did naturally so much resemble Richard as that there was no separating of him from his party These and divers others not named were by the Abbot invited to a great feast which being done they fell to private conference wherein having deplored the miseries of the time the imprisonment of a King to whom by nature oath and particular favours they were obliged as likewise their owne losse in his fall they resolved to re-establish Richard by the death of Henry presuming
France and England Monyes were there Coyned with his stampe and the Armes of both the Kingdomes whilst Charles of more yeares but lesser power and excluded from the Metropolitane Citty possessed nothing on the other side the Loire save the Countries of Berry Forest Bourbonne Lyons and Auvergne the greatest part of Poictou and St. Onges did submit to him in consideration that the Nobility of those parts depended on him or else that they Neighbourd upon him these parts were reduc'd to such a point that one part of their Territories being under him the other under the English they were necessitated either by complying with the one faction to offend the other or else to declare themselves partiall for the one of them conformable to the intrest of their possessions On the other side of the River hee held the Countries of Mayne and Anjou some few places in Champagnia and Picardie being forced to tollerate the insolencies of his owne Souldiers for not being by reason of his poverty able to pay them they paid themselves by rapine and extortion upon the poore people afflicted and impoverished by all sides The Count de Fois had recovered Languedoc for him from the Prince of Orange and as for Guienne the Count Cominges by inclination and Count Arnigniac for hate to Burgony by reason of the Constable Arnigniacs ignominous Death in Paris neare his Bulwarkes All which effects proceeded from the Subjects love for who shall consider his undisolvable difficulties will find he could not possibly have overcome them without the resolv'd patience of those who did obey him who were constrained to indure not only Hostile injuries but likewise the injuries and rapine of such Souldiers as were their friends who being uncorrected and undisciplind were more of damage to them then was the Enemy hereunto may be added that they had no Prince of the bloud to uphold them The Dukes of Orleans and Burbon were Prisoners in England the Duke of Anjou resolute upon the recovery of the Kingdome of Naples and Burgony their inexorable Enemy but to dispute the contrary 't is likely that was not so much the love to Charles as the hatred to the English which made them willing to suffer so much for being but a yong Man about 22. yeares of age he could not have obliged them by benefits nor in those yeares have given such proofe of himself as to cause him to be desired 't is rather to be beleev'd that being born their presum'd King their desire to exclude the English was that which did only foment their affections All Nations do naturally abhorre being subjected one to another the diversity of Language Customes and Humours causing the reciprocall aversion and hatred which wee find in them and if there were no other reason for that it is a kind of wretchlesnes though not alwayes to be overcome by Strangers was a prevalent cause of making him be belov'd he being the Naile by which the other of the English Empiremust be driven out When Charles had understood his Fathers Death and caused his Obsequies to bee celebrated in Espalles a small Castle in Overgnie where he then chanc'd to be after one Dayes Mourning he caused him selfe to be solemnly proclaymed King and going from thence to Poictiers he was with Title of solemnity Crowned Reens a placeantiently destinated for that Ceremony was by the Enemy forbidden him so as France had now a divided Crowne not easie to be peiced together since two did equally intitle themselves King Whilst it was easie for Charles to peece the divided minds of such who either were not incumbred or wavering in Burgony's faction whence it insued that to preserve what the English had wonne or to augment it depended now no more upon the hope of ayd from France but upon the proper strength and Councell of England upon Councell that they might keepe Philip firme unto them for friends by reason of their passions are changeable upon strength since the obstacles which dayly increased by the going over of so many to the adverse party were by no other meanes to be removed After the two Kings Death skirmishes were made in all parts wherin certaine petty places were taken and retaken not worthy to be mention'd in story The Pariseans had sent a solemne Embassy into England to require speedy succour against the injuries done by Charles The English Writers say this Embassy was sent to cloake under this pretended zeale the treason which they were a hatching how to yeild themselves up unto him which whether it were so or no cannot absolutely be sayd but Du Pleis perverting the times and mentioning the Conspiracy before the Embassy augments the suspition they were sent back loaded with promises the effect wherof the English did better make good then did the Parisians their Faith Charles was by this time come to Rochell being somwhat startled at some forces raysed by the Duke of Brittany beleeving it to be done to his prejudice and contrary to what was lately agreed on betweene them during his Fathers Life where sitting in Councell part of the Chamber fell downe which with certaine others indamag'd Iohn of Burbonne Seigneur de Preaux he himselfe being in evident danger had he not beene suddenly drawne from thence At this time hapned the surprizall of Ponte de Melone under the Conduct of Iohn de Greiville who slew as many English as he found there as likewise their punishment who trusting upon the Duke of Bedfords absence had appointed time and place for Charles his People to enter Paris a plot which very well might have succeeded had not the Duke by his making hast hindred them for comming upon them with good forces unexpectedly he put many of them to Death some few escaping by flight and now no longer trusting them he put strong Garrisons into the Citty and parts adjacent wherof some yeilded themselves and some he tooke in He sent for the recovery of Ponte de Melone Thomas Mountaigue Earle of Salisbury a man according to the witnes of such Writers as are not English to be compared to whosoever of the Antient Romans and together with him the Earle of Suffolke the Lord Scales the younger Lord Poinings and many others This place was beseiged all Ianuary and February those which were within the Towne defending themselves valiantly upon the hope of succour which to the number of 6000 was Musterd together upon the confines of the Dutchy of Berry under the conduct of the Count d'Omale Count de Buchane and the Vicount of Narbone but being come within 6 Leagues of the Enemy and ordered in Battell array there fell such disorder amongst them that they return'd disbanded the greatest part of them being defeated by the English which were at Chartres and thereabouts the which when those of the Towne understood they grew into such a fury as throwing downe in the sight of the Enemy Charles his Collours which were set upon the Gates they tore them in peeces as also
could not bee withstood but by a field battle came forth of Paris with 10000. English and some few Norman troopes When hee was come to Brie hee writ by a Herauld to Charles that his pretensions which had caused so great mortality and mischiefe to the people being contrary to all lawes especially to the agreement made betweene Henry the fifth and Charles the sixth and the Kingdome of France hee was came out of Paris to prove them unjust that therefore if hee would chuse the place hee was ready to give him battle where ever it were Charles accepted the invitation at least seemed so to doe the Armies presented themselves in sight one of the other neare to Senlis they stayed there the space of two dayes and two nights making onely some little skirmishes each indeavouring to get the advantage over the other but the English having secured themselves behind that they might not bee surprised for Charles was by much the greater number especially in horse and the French not willing to venture upon one battle what they had wonne and what they had to winne by the devotion of sueh as dayly came over to them and the Maide councelling sometimes to fight sometimes otherwise they retreated face to face and Bedford return'd to Paris doubting the Citizens loyaltie This retreat is diversly reported by Authours this which I haue said is according to Monstrelot The English affirme that Charles retreated by night as not willing to hazard a battle nor yet willing to tarry longer for feare of incurring the name of Coward Belleforest on the other side sayes that Bedford did not passe Melune where examining the turne of the wheele hee resolved like a wise Prince not to wrestle against fortune leaving Charles Master of the field Giles brings him to Brie neare to the Towne called Motta de Nangis where hearing that the King expected him hee durst goe no further but fled away with his Army to Paris Hallian encamps him so much to the advantage as that the King was advised not to fight with him and that therefore the next day hee returned to Paris Chesnes having registred the long letter of defiance sent by Bedford to Charles addes but as such letters were fuller of bravadoes and passion then of desire to fight so the Duke of Bedford being come neare to Charles not farre from Senlis durst not give him battle but shamefully sounded a retreat which afforded the King leasure to lead his Army towards Champagnia these foure Authours are of foure severall opinions in this history The first will not have Bedford passe Melune the second brings him to Brie the one making him wise the other a Coward the third making him wise by well intrenching himselfe whereupon he was advised to retire the fourth brings him neare to Charles but arming him with Thraso's Army makes him a braggard and runne-away Dupleix confronts the two Armies with an opinion of fighting though some skirmishes onely insued wherein about 300. of both sides were slaine Hee sayes that the English intrench't themselves to much to the advantage against the French-horse that the Councell and Iane her selfe advised not to set upon them whilest they the meane while were sure not to stirre forth for feare of being fought withall that the English say Charles retired by night for feare of being inforced to fight where on the contrary side it was likelier that it was not hee who formerly forbore to fight because he went with banners displayd directly towards Paris where the English might advantagiously have given him battle all the Country thereabouts being at their command to witnesse what he sayes hee in the Margent cites Monstrelet and Chartier Monstrelet sayes they did skirmish but not that the English durst not come forth of their trenches for they could not otherwise skirmish Hee adds that they were so well intrench't as that they could not bee set upon behinde the French exceeding by much the enemy in number A particular whereof Dupleix speaketh not then if Bedford merit blame for having secur'd himselfe backewards to the great disadvantage of those that should fight with him what doth Charles deserve who with so much a greater number durst not confront him whilest unintrench'd hee stood ready to receiue him so as it was not cowardise in the one not to permit all aduantages to the adversary so not to fight because all were not permitted him was no signe of much valour in the other Monstrelet doth not say that Iane advised not to set upon the enemy but that shee was various in her opinion advising sometimes to fight sometimes not a witnesse rather that shee was any thing els then what by his owne testimony shee was reputed But I wonder at nothing more then that Dupleix should quote Chartier who writes all things contrary to what hee sayes Chartier brings the two Armies face to face within the shoote of a Culverin for one whole day together without either hedge or thorne betweene them that is any thing whereby to fortifie them or to detaine them they not having according to his account sufficient time to fortifie themselves Hee sayes Charles was the first that left the field and then Bedford Charles that very night went to Crespus and the next night to Compaignes where hee sayes hee stayed 8. dayes if Charles went first away Bedford fled not that hee departed by night is more likely by the English Histories which affirme hee did so to shun fighting then the likelyhoods affirmed by Dupleix grounded upon his fained voyage to Paris which none other writes off Chesnes and Chartier say plainely that hee went to Compaignes where if hee tarryed 8. dayes Bedford could not with advantage give him battle in a Country which was at his command and disposall as hee would have it My opinion amongst the diversity of so many which if they could bee credited should bee conformable is that the Duke if Charles had not gone his wayes would have fought though upon whatsoever disaduantage For the English covet battle at all times and in all warres as well forraine as civill they are by nature firme to their resolves as are their cockes and dogs which suddenly fall to and give not over but by death or want of breath but say this was not the reason which eggd them on to battle since that the French forces increas'd by temporising and theirs decreased Charles on the other side had no reason to fight least by an irrationall hazard hee might breake the course of his victory one battle being able to ruinate him so as holding fortune in his fist by pursuing her hee had no reason to give her occasion to forsake him by tempting her too much The Duke of Bedford seeing that the state of affaires required briske resolutions writ to his Brother desiring to use all meanes possible to send him over some Souldiers for without speedy helpe his affaires in France were in great danger These Letters came unto the King just as
the Cardinall of Winchester was at Dover ready to passe over into Bohemia with 4000. men The Hussites had much troubled that Kingdome not without danger of infecting the Neighboring Countries with their opinions the which Martin the fifth being willing to withstand hee did together with other remedies nominate the Cardinall of Winchester his Legate in this Warre and that by comming arm'd hee might not bee despis'd hee gave him power to raise the tenth part of all the Ecclesiasticall livings in England to make thereby a leavy of souldiers The busines being propounded in Parliament and approved of by meanes of the said moneyes these 4000. men were raysed The Duke of Glocester who could not make so suddaine provision of men intreated the Cardinall to assist the busines of France by transporting those souldiers to the Regent and that when hee should see those affaires out of danger hee might goe on his journey The Cardinall obeyed him though unwillingly mov'd thereunto out of consideration that if any disaster should be fall the Kings businesse the fault might be laid on him The Regent re-inforced by these men came forth againe into the field continuing his resolution of fighting with the enemy who being incamped between Baron and Monpillier he incampt himselfe betweene Baron and Selins where many skirmishes were made but Charles not willing to set upon him in his owne Campe though he were by much the greater number nor the Regent to expose himselfe to all disadvantages they both retired the Cardinall taking his way towards Bohemia where having had ill fortune he returned home with little honour and Cardinall Guilian was sent in his place Henry was now entred into the eighth yeare of his raigne and the ninth of his age not having beene till then crowned so as on the sixt of November this solemnity was with much pompe celebrated at Westminster with all such demonstrations of joy as upon like occasions are usually made both publiquely and privately Charles this meane while being free from the incounter with Bedford received as hee passed by such Cities as surrendred themselves amongst which Campaigne and Senlis but thinking this successe not sufficient unlesse hee could totally sever Philip from the enemy hee resolved to send Embassadours to him who excusing the death of his Father might shew unto him how misbecomming a thing it was for a Prince of his qualitie so blamefully to joyne with those who did oppugne the house royall the Country and Kingdome to the which hee or such as should descend from him might sometimes aspire if Fortune should throw the succession upon him offering him what conditions hee pleased and such as were never to be effected But Philip keeping himselfe upon generalls neither giving hopes nor taking them quite away and demanding such things as were not to bee granted him reserved himselfe to his best advantage for being courted by both sides he was sure that without him neither of them could prevaile This meane while Beaunois and Omale being come over to Charles the Regent fearing yet worse went to Normandy the Province which though all the rest were lost was chiefly to be preserved as being the Patrimony of the Crowne of England and the most convenient for it of all the rest leaving Lovis of Luxemburg Bishop of Ierouanne who by Henries meanes enjoyed the office of Chancellorship of France in Paris with 2000 English under good Commanders Charles would not not lose the opportunity of this absence to try whether fortune would favour him in the atchieving of that City S. Denis yeelded it selfe up unto him without resistance so as his men began to scowre the country even to underneath the walls of Paris and the chiefest of his Army being lodged at La Chapelle they levell'd their Artillerie against the gate Saint Honore and tooke the Bulwarke thereof whereupon the Maid throwing her selfe into the ditch and resolute contrary to the advice of Alansonne and all the rest to give an assault he pretended revelation having not revealed unto her the depth of the ditch and the water therein she was wounded in her leg the which not abating her violence but she still persisting in causing where withall to be brought to fill it up she had there beene taken had not a servant of the Duke of Alansonnes withdrawne her from thence so as force proving vaine many brave souldiers being there slaine and the Bulwarke abandoned they wholly forsooke the enterprise Charles tooke his way from Touraine by Berry being not naturally inclin'd to businesses but rather to the trimming up of gardens as usually are the lovers of idlenesse an humour which though it be allowable in men who have not much to doe yet is it harmefull in Princes whose art it is to give lawes to peace to governe their people with honour to pardon the humble and punish the proud The Regent understanding the danger that Paris was in made hast thither he thanked the Citie for the loyaltie they had shewed upon this occasion promising whatsoever might be expected from a moderate government and from a King who loved nothing more then the preservation and content of his people Philip was not long in comming thither who after having treated with him of what was to be done after a short stay departed leaving him to the recovery of Saint Denis and the adjacent places whilst the Bastard of Orleans layd siege to the Castle of Turcis which being very strong both by scituation and art held out six moneths at the end whereof it yeeded the Souldiers lives being saved and the Castle wholly demolished At this very time Sir Thomas Tirill had with 400. Souldiers much damnified the county of Cleremont the Count thereof resolute to chastise his boldnesse drew out the Garrisons from thence and the neighbouring places and chasing him therewithall overtooke him about Beauvois in so narrow a passage as his Horsemen could not make use of their Horses they therefore quitted them and fiercely set upon him the bickering lasted a good while without knowledge which side had the better till such time as the English bowes decided it the Count saved himselfe for which he owes thankes to his Horses heeles of the rest 300. were slaine and 200. taken prisoners with whom Sir Thomas returned to Grovay the place of his Garrison Omale had a little before yeelded unto Charles as hath beene sayd Mounsieur de Ramburres remaining Governour thereof the Earle of Suffolke besieged it and after 25. assaults the Towne not being able to doe any more surrendred it selfe the Earle caused 30. of the chiefest of them to be hang'd on the Walls as falsifiers of their faith and perjur'd to Henry he fined the rest and sent Mounsieur de Rambourres into England who six yeares after recovered his lost liberty by exchange On the other side Laval which Talbot had taken the yeare before was retaken by the French who lay in ambush all night neare unto a Mill and following the Millers advice who
Dolphin they would humbly begge forgivenes they all came and threw themselves before his feet Charles blamed his Sonne for his fault committed and the danger he had therby put the Kingdome to exhorting him to better thoughts and hee desiring his Father to pardon Tremoulle Chamount and Prie who were excepted in the pardon protesting hee would not accept of his unlesse they had theirs His Father rebuked him againe and was contented that being free from punishment they should retire themselves to their owne houses wherewithall he was notwithstanding to be contented unlesse they would abandon those In the time of these disorders Richard Beauchampe Earle of Warwicke and Regent of France dyed and the Duke of Yorke was the second time chosen who passed into Normandy accompanied by the Earle of Oxford the Lord Bourchier intituled Earle of Eu and many other gentlemen he presently found wherein to imploy himselfe for the losse of Pontouse being very incommodious for the Parisians they disbursed a great summe of mony to Charles that he might endeavour the recovery of it wherefore hee went to besiege it with 1200. old Souldiers and was followed by the greatest part of the Princes and Nobles of France the Lord Iohn Clifford who together with Talbot had but a little before surprised it commanded there in chiefe The River Ouse did much incommodiate the besiegers for they could not approach the Citie on that side wherefore having built a bridge of Boates over against the Abby of Saint Martins and made themselves masters of the Abby they made thereof a Fort which did much endamage the besieged yet were they not so begirt on all sides but that they were succoured as some will have it foure or five times Talbot was the first who furnish't them with men and victuals and the Duke of Yorke came thither with 8000. men sent to present battell by his heraulds which Charles would not by any meanes accept of for since the river parted the two Armies hee beleeved that as long as the bridge of Beaumont was well guarded by which the Duke was to passe hee could not be enforc'd to fight but the Duke having brought along with him in Carts great store of Boates Cordage timber and plankes hee passed some few of his men over the River who so speedily wove a bridge of Ropes whilest Talbot seemed as if he would force his passage over the bridge of Beaumont as that they were almost all past over before the enemy was aware so as it was too late to withstand them in the endeavouring whereof many were slaine and many taken prisoners Charles was commended for his wisedome in not entertaining the battle but he was blamed for his negligence in suffering the enemy to passe the River being thereby reduced to a necessitie of fighting against his will but being resolved not to come to handblowes he raised his siege by night and having put his Ordnance into the Fort Saint Martin the which hee left in the custody of Charles d'Aniou and the Admirall Coetery with 3000. men he retired himselfe to Poiesy The Duke who upon break of day had put himselfe in order to give him Battle finding him gone entered the Citie and having caused fresh supply of victualls to bee brought in and left Sir Iarvis Clifton there with a 1000. men to defend it he marched forwards towards Poiesy but Charles eschewing him after some few skirmishes hee went to Lamote and from thence to Rhoan Charles this meane while suffered in his reputation especially amongst the Parisians and Courtiers which made him resolve to returne to Pontouse and either take it or dye in the enterprise he went thither with new Forces he assaulted it on three sides he himselfe in person in one part the Dolphin in another hee entred the towne though in his entrance he lost 3000. of his men of the thousand that were in the Garrison 500. died in the assault and many afterwards so as very few of the Commander Cliston remained prisoners This losse was the cause of many others particularly of Corbeile Mellune and Eureux but this accident hindered not the Negotiation of peace which was adjourned the last yeare till the now present time the assembly was to be at Callais for the English would not give way it should bee else where Those that were imployed from England brought along with them the Duke of Orleans still a prisoner to the end that by his endeavouring the businesse he might procure his liberty the chiefe of those who were imployed from France were the Archbishop of Rheims and Narbone and the Bastard of Orleans On Philips behalfe came Monsieur de Croevaceur many dayes were spent in finding out a meanes of accommodation but all in vaine for it was impossible to agree so disagreeing interests The English held resolute to three points to repossesse the Dutchesse of Normandy and Gascony to repossesse whatsoever they had lost for 30. yeares before and to hold all this free from any dependency upon the crowne of France In the first there was no great difficulty nay it was yeelded unto but the other two were impossible for Charles would not restore backe any thing and much lesse quit that soveraignty which had beene informer times enjoyed by his predecessors so as the businesse being adjourned to another time the assembly was dissolved the private businesses concerning the Duke of Orleans had no better successe for monyes were not found ready for his ransome and the English would not rely upon his promises but he had his liberty by a meanes which no man would have imagined Philip began to consider that if this Prince should be set at liberty by any other meanes then his their amity would be immortall to the ruine of the one or of the other of them or rather of them both and of the kingdome and that if he should undertake to free him not onely a peace betweene them was likely to ensue but a friendship for which every one and the King himselfe would thanke him Yet that he might not walke on hud winckt and perad venture be deceaved in his beleefe he would first know for certaine whether hee could forget and forgive his fathers murther committed by Philips father the which as it was altogether unknowne to King Phillip till 't was committed so was hee much displeased thereat when 't was committed as likewise whether or no he would marry the daughter of the Dutchesse of Cleaâ—…e his sister this Prince had beene prisoner 25. yeares which caused so great a desire of liberty in him as hee with much willingnesse imbraced these propositions he promised for ever to forget his fathers death in respect of this present favour and gave his word to marry her whom he proffered him Hereupon Philip paid 300000. Crownes and took him from England he sent the Dutchesse his wife to meete him at Gravalein and came thitherafterward himselfe he brought him to Saint Omers where having sworne to the peace at Arras
that sided with him whereas Valentine on the contrary had Provinces Princes and Republiques for his enemies the wary wickednesse of the one will be the more remarkable who knew his advantage and the unwary rashnesse of the other who assisted onely by Ecclesiasticall forces terminable with the Popes death undertooke what was not to be effected or at least not long to be made good The ambition of getting the Kingdome began in Richard during his brothers life and having formerly plotted the whole affaire he laid the first ground-worke thereof by the death of Henry the sixth and the Duke of Clarence and in processe of time he finished the Fabrick by putting those to death who were likely to oppose him and by terrifying the rest he made his election which was made by the baser sort of people be as available as if it had been legally resolved upon by the whole Kingdome and which is further observable he pretended not to accept of it till intreated and enforced Arguments of a head-piece which had it been imployed in good enterprises instead of proving the most lewd might have been the wisest then to be found For all things else there was no evill which he committed not He betrayed his Nephews and then slue them he cheated his brothers wife and together with her those whom he made use of as instruments to remove the little Duke of Yorke from the Sanctuary in the height of cruelty and irreligion he counterfeited the perfection of piety and tendernesse of blood All his actions were larded with fraud and lyes the Queen and her brother were by him perswaded to lay downe their armes the later whereof he imprisoned and beheaded in like manner he incensed and slue the Chamberlaine He sacrilegiously divulged his mother to be an Adultresse in a place appropriated for preaching the Word of God declared his nephews to be Bastards counterfeited the good he had not conceal'd the evill he had was like to none but to himselfe Encomiums worthy of such qualities and qualities unworthy of that Crowne which consisting of Honour was whilst he wore it dishonoured by his wickednesse He omitted not any shew of sorrow at his brothers death he solemnised his Funerals at Yorke with the rites of mourning But whilst aiming at usurpation he seemed to be fond of his nephews whom he intended to betray he minded not divine admonitions which manifesting themselves by sundry waies are wont by way of observation to advertise us of dangers to the end that reforming our selves we may change our lives and thoughts from bad to good for Christian vertues are able to frustrate that which the Ancients called Fate by withdrawing us from vice and procuring the divine Providence to protect us The observations here meant are that all the Kings Richards and all the Dukes of Gloucester came to violent ends an observation redoubled in him being by name Richard and by title Duke of Gloucester Such like observations though they be not superstitiously to be believed yet are they not slightly to be despised But the proud man considers no other interest no not the concernment of his life so his ambition may be satisfied upon which his spirits were wholy bent and upon the arriving whereunto he out did himselfe He made his vices vertues He became courteous liberall and affable especially to Lawyers he studied nothing but justice observance of the Lawes and the peoples indempnity by which arts he prevailed so farre as the Crown which was tumultuously conferred upon him was legally offered him by the Parliament which with base flattery intreated him to accept of it out of these reasons That the Kingdome of England had been very happy under the government of wise Kings assisted by understanding Counsellors but when their successors began to governe themselves according to their owne fancies she fell into all manner of misery The chiefest of which and from which all the mischiefes of the present time did derive was Edward the fourths unfortunate praetended marriage with Elizabeth widow to Sir Iohn Gray who did still assume to her selfe the title of Queen which had perverted all the orders not onely of God and the Church but of nature and the Kingdome there being now no more propriety nor any condition which was not subject to feares since the Lawes either abandoned or abused were rendered uselesse and of no protection Hence proceeded faults of all sorts murthers extortions and such oppressions as men had no security neither of their lives nor fortunes much lesse of their wives or daughters all women were subject to violence nor was any one though she should refuse safe in her Honour To this might be added the blood of so many of the Nobility of hundred thousands of the Communalty shed in the late warres to the universall prejudice of all men and to the greatest sufferance of the most innocent That the forenamed pretended marriage was Clandestine made without the knowledge or consent of the Nobility the Devill was the authour thereof witchcraft the meanes Elizabeth the chiefe agent and her mother the Dutchesse of Bedford her coadjutrix that so it was believed and when time and place should serve it would be proved But that which chiefly aggravated this businesse was That King Edward was long before married to another Lady when he tooke her to his wife so as in living with her contrary to the Lawes of God and of the Church in continuall adultery his sonnes by her were bastards and as such incapable of succession That by this so heinous sinne and to the prejudice of the true heire hee had provoked Gods anger who had therefore forsaken him and brought the Kingdome into all those miseries For these and other reasons they were inforced to elect a King who by nature and by the Law was undoubted heire unto the Crown And because the Duke of Clarence convict of high treason in the seventeenth yeere of the reigne of his brother Edward had by his Attainder rendred his issue incapable of succession therefore the Protector being the onely undoubted sonne and heire of Richard Duke of Yorke He and no other was undoubted successour not reckoning in his vertues which were such as of themselves made him worthy of the Crowne he being so richly indowed especially with justice wisedome and valour witnessed in so many actions and battels wherein he had personally beene shewing his naturall inclination to the common good Whereupon having no other respect but the peace and tranquillity of the Kingdome his prosperity and ancient reputation they had chosen him their King and Soveraigne Lord. Intreating him to accept the charge as well by Title of Inheritance as of Election they promising for their parts that they would be his good and faithfull Subjects ready upon this and any good occasion to live and die with him for the oppressions and extortions they had suffered contrary to the Lawes of God and the Kingdome had made them resolve to runne what ever danger
So as the legal Right being in Elizabeth according to Natural Descent and in Him according to Election and it being sufficient according to the laws of Nature and of the Kingdom that the right be in any one of them it matters not in which since either of them having it there is none that suffers wrong thereby 'T is a wonder notwithstanding that it could so much as fall into his imagination to pretend thereunto before this Marriage and that Edward and Richard should without any cause be afraid of him but the reason is because as Head of the Faction he might be troublesom to them For though Henry the Sixth and the Prince his son were extinguished they being the last of the House of Lancaster yet was not that Party or Faction extinguished which could not be revived again save under his conduct who had the neerest Relation thereunto For this it was that the last Duke of Buckingham not calling Henry to minde before his meeting with his mother thought he himself had reason to pretend thereunto In such a case the right lawful title of King imports not so much as the lawful Title to be Head of a Party the first is communicable by Fortune Force or favour of Parliament the other onely by Descent for upon such occasions Law is not sought after but a Pretence To Pretend is that which is desired and which sufficeth And this it was that moved the two Brothers to sollicite to get him into their Tuition from the Duke of Britanny for as for any thing else they had no reason to fear him The Lancastrian Faction had never been likely to have been revived had not Richard been a Tyrant for Edward through his Affability had grounded such an affection of the People towards the House of York as neither would Richard's wickednesse nor Henry's goodnesse have been able to have rooted it out nay Henry would have had none at all to have sided with him though against a man so much abhorred had it not been for his promise to marry Elizabeth the Heir of the House and Kingdom The troubles which afterwards befel him sprung from hence for he always shewed himself but luke-warm in his affections towards his wife and an irreconcileable enemy to her House insomuch as having gotten the Victory and slain his Enemy he grew obstinate in his will not to be King but by his Own Title he deferred his Marriage and Her Coronation till such time as being crowned Himself and established by Parliament he had onely accepted of the Title of Lancaster as the First and Chiefest Fundamental and of the other two Conquest and Marriage but as Accidental or as Adjuncts Nor ought this to be imputed to him as a Fault since it was not caused by any Hatred he bare to the House of York but out of the Love he bare unto Himself and through a cautelous Foresight For a noise being rumour'd that the Duke of York was alive preserved from death by those who had the charge to kill him his claim by his Wife would have failed him if her Brother had been alive who could not have been excluded but by the litigious Title of Lancaster And suppose this News were false there remained yet Other doubts for if she should die without children the bare Title of Marriage would not make good the Crown unto Him which was to fall upon her Sisters And if she should die leaving children by him behinde her the Crown would fall upon Them so as many inconveniences might have happened to him thereby For suppose that his Chrildren and the Parliament should both of them have been contented he should have continued in the Government there is a great Difference betwixt reigning by vertue of Birth and Law whereby he was not obliged to any and the doing of the like by vertue of Another's Consent which obliged him to Every one In the first he was Free and Independent in the second of Courtesie and Dependent To make use of his Title of Conquest was Dangerous and which might alienate even those that sided with him for thereby he had authority to take what he would from whom he would to make what Conditions he pleased to make Laws at his pleasure to disannul Laws already made when he liked and to dispose of men not as a King of Subjects but as a Lord of Slaves And though the Title of Lancaster were condemned by Parliament as Usurped and Unjust and that he himself was called unto the Crown not by vertue of his Own Title but that by marrying with the Princesse Elizabeth the true Queen and Heir to the House of York all those Disputes might be ended yet moved by the abovesaid Considerations and not valuing the inconveniences that might arise he declared himself King by vertue of his Birth not naming the Princesse Elizabeth in any thing as willing to run whatsoever danger rather then to be King by his Wives Courtesie while she should Live by the Good-will of his Children if she should Die and by the Permission of Parliament if he should have no Issue by her He began his Reign the Two and twentieth day of August 1485 at the same time that Richard ended his from whom he did very much differ in Conditions They were both Constant the one in Wickednesse the other in Worth insomuch as had he not had too great a desire to encrease his Treasure he would hardly be out-done by whatsoever praise-deserving Prince he was deservedly praised for his Wisedom and Valour The Lord Chancellor Bacon who hath written his Life calls him England's Solomon not so much in that he brought Peace thereunto as that being Wise like Solomon he was like Him very Grievous and Burdensome to his People never wanting some invention or other to draw Moneys from them The Princesse Elizabeth and Edward Plantaginet Earl of Warwick son to the Duke of Clarence were in Sherifhutton-Castle in York-shire where they were both kept by Richard's command King Henry commanded that the Princesse should be brought up to London to the Queen her Mother whither she went attended on by Lords and Ladies But the Earl of Warwick he gave order that the keeper of the Castle should deliver him unto the custodie of Sir Robert Willoughby to be by him brought prisoner to the Tower for though he were very Young yet was he not a person fit to enjoy his Liberty in such litigious times For if being a Prisoner there wanted not some who feigned themselves to be Him taking his Personage upon them what would have been done had he had his Liberty Henry's resolution therefore in this point did not proceed from a violence of Will or weaknesse of Judgement as is the opinion of some Writers but from exact Wisdom chusing of two evils the Lesser and least Dangerous He went from Leicester towards London without any ostentation of Victory or Conquest his Journey was peaceful all Military insolencies were forbidden and forborn he
Govern them as he had done Before in which respect All the Kingdom concurr'd except some of the Nobility who had greater hopes under a New Young King then under an Old and Ancient one who being sufficiently informed of their Humours knew they were given rather to Tyrannize then to be contented with Respect from their Inferiours These Disputes caused great jealousies on all sides specially in Ferdinand for Philip following the advise of his Father the Emperour hee feared lest if they should happen to corrupt Consalvo as they had endeavour'd it they might take from him the Kingdom of Naples wherefore he recalled 2000 Spaniards from that Garrison under pretence of sending them into Africa and making the Germans be dismist he weakned the forces thereof that he might have the lesse cause of feare Amongst divers rumours which were spread abroad to discredit him with the Castillians one was that he intended to marry Ioane who was thought to be Daughter to the last King Henry who had beene a Competitresse for the Crowne with his Wife Isabel that so he would undertake the Defence of Her claime which formerly he had oppugned and thereby make himself King of Castile which he never Dream't of T is true he pretended the claime of a Father to whom the Guardian-ship of children under Age belongs of which number though Ioane were none in respect of Years yet in respect of her weaknesse she was to bee accounted one The very selfe same thing was granted in the Kingdom of Navarre to Iohn King of Arragon this mans Father The rumour of his intention of marriage was not vaine for hee Himselfe had caused it to be spread abroad from the first Beginning of the distastes that he might thereby mortifie Philip for in case she should have any Sons he deprived him of all the Kingdomes wherein He had any Propriety especially of Naples Hee pretended likewise to the Kingdome of Granada or at least to Halfe of it having gotten it with his Wife These conceits proceeded from the Dislike hee had that during the Life of Isabel Maximilian and Philip should make Peace with the King of France without His knowledge that of the Articles These were some The Marriage of Claudia Daughter to Lewis with Charles Philips eldest Son the investing of Milaine upon Lewis and his heires male if he had any and in case hee should have none upon Claudia and Charles and if Charles should happen to Dye upon Philips second Son marrying with the same Claudia so as willing to pay them with the same coyne hee not making Them acquainted therewithall made his Peace with Lewis who gave unto him for wife Germana de Fois his sisters Daughter and by title of Dowry renouncing unto him that part of the Kingdome of Naples which belonged unto Him with this obligation on the other side that Ferdinand should pay unto Him 700000 Duckets within ten yeers for the expences he had beene at in that Kingdome and should give in Dowry to his Wife 300000. more A busines which incens't Philip and made him undertake his voyage into Spaine The first contentions begate both Feare and Hope in Henry Feare that the Emperour Arch duke and King of France joyning in League together against Ferdinand hee should not only fall from being Arbitrator between those Princes as till then hee had beene but also to boote with the Prejudice that might redound to Him by their Confederacie from the advantage of his friendship with Arragon which now being left Single might be to his disadvantage Hope for that intending to marry Ioane Queene of Naples Dowager to the last Ferdinand he beleeved that Kingdome would be assigned over to Him as a Feoffee in Trust whilst the other two were in contention There were at this time in Naples two Dowager Queens the Mother and the Daughter both of them but young The first who was sister to Ferdinand King of Arragon was second Wife to Ferdinand the first King of Naples by whom shee had this second Ioane who was both Wife and Ant to Ferdinand the Second for she was sister by the Fathers side to King Alphonso who was his Father Hereupon Henry built his Designe He sent Embassadours by way of Complement unto them Both and Katharine who was Widow to Prince Arthur being Neece to the One of them and Cozin to the Other he gave unto them Letters from Her giving them particular Instructions to examine the conditions well and see what by vertue of such a Match might be hoped for in that Kingdome from thence they were to passe into Spaine as they did But when they returned hee gave over that Designe having learnt that she lived meerly upon Pensions from Ferdinand without other Lands or Iurisdictions The advantage hee got by this Embassie was to know how hee might keepe the friendship both of Ferdinand and Philip and to free himselfe from feare of Philips joyning with France and of the Marriage of Charles the Sonne of Philip to the Daughter of Lewis as was formerly a greed upon for Ferdinands Secretary had secretly treated with the Embassadours that the Princesse of France being taken from Charles contrary to the First capitulation that she might be married to the Duke of Angonlesme heire apparent to the Crowne their king should give Mary his Second daughter for wife to Charles A busines which hee was much pleased with for Charles was the Greatest match of Christendome being to inherit all that his Father Mother and Grand-father possest and to this purpose he endeavour'd as much as in himlay that there should be no breach between them in the future Amongst so many of their relations he liked not to heare that Castile desired Philip and detested Ferdinand by reason of the great Taxes and Impositions which he put upon them it being his Own very case so as upon the like reason he thought his Son might be desired and He abhorr'd the grievances imposed by Him much surpassing those of Ferdinand Those who tooke part with Philip did much importune him to come into Spaine before Ferdinand should be setled in his pretended Administration but he desirous to come thither unexpected took shipping together with his Wife in Ianuary when 't was thought hee would not have tane his journey till the next Summer He had hardly quitted the coast of Flanders when taken by a sodaine tempest his Navy was disperst upon the coast of England he himselfe lighted upon Waymouth and was brought a shore in a little Frigat His Counsell would not have had him landed since by losse of Time hee would misse of his designe of comming unexpected unto Spaine but he being sea-sick would by all means come on shore The great number of his ships had given an Alarme to the Countrey so as many troops of armed men came to Waymouth not knowing what his Fleet was nor what he would doe Sir Thomas Trenchard and Sir Iohn Carew who were their Leaders understanding the reason of