Lord he hath at this day the Title of Prince of Maltae and Goza and had that of Illustrious first given him by Ferdinand the Second Emperor of Germany Among sundry great priviledges wherewith he is invested he hath power to Seal in Lead as doth the Pope and Duke of Venice He acknowledges the Pope for his Head and the King of Spain for his Patron Under this Great Master there are many of the Knights in several Kingdoms and Provinces called Priors some of whom have also the addition of Great With us in England he was stiled Prior Hospitalis Sancti Iohannis Ierusalem in Anglia and by that Title was he summoned to the Parliament as a Baron of this Kingdom At length he became ranked the first Baron and had place and precedency accordingly above all the Barons of Parliament There is a Memorandum of making his Oath of Fealty to the King which I find thus recorded Memorandum quod Frater Johannes de Radyngton Prior Hospitalis Sancti Iohannis Ierusalem in Anglia vicesimo tertio die Septembris anno praesenti apud Mansum Fratrum Praedicatorum London fecit fidelitatem suam Domino Regi debitam coram Consilio dicti Domini Regis ibidem tunc existente sub hac forma Jeo sera foial foie loialtie portera a nostre Seigneur le Roi Richard a ses heirs Rois D'engleterre de vie de membre de terrien honour a vivre morir contre toutz gentz diligiament seray entendant as busoignes nostre Seigneur le Roy solonc mon sen poair le conseil nostre Seigneur le Roy celera a lui a ses maundementz en quantque a moy attient sera obeisant si Dieu moi eide ses Seintz Protestando quod hoc non cederet in praejudicium Hospitalis praedicti temporibus futuris This Order grew in time to such greatness in Possessions and Lands that in the Reign of King Henry the Third they had in Christendom no fewer than nineteen thousand Mannors When Saladine had taken Ierusalem after it had been possest eighty nine years by the Christians these Knights retreated to the City of Acres called Ptolomais and that being also taken they seised upon the Island of Rhodes and gained the chief City there 18. Calend. Sept. in the year of our Lord 1308. which Pope n Clement the Fifth confirmed to them and thereupon they began to be called Knights of Rhodes At Rhodes they remained 214. years even until anno 1522. when Solyman the Great took the Island by force and made his publick entry thereinto on Christmas-day after which they betook themselves to the Island of Malta which with Tripoli and Goza were granted to them in Fee by the Emperor Charles the Fifth the 23. of March anno 1530. under the tender of one Falcon to the Viceroy of Sicily upon the 25. day of April yearly and on condition to acknowledge the King of Spain and Sicily for their Protectors This Donation was confirmed by Pope Clement the Seventh on the 9. of May in the same year In which Isle they yet continue the Bulwark and Fortress of Europe chiefly to shelter Sicily and guard the Coasts of Italy and from this settlement of theirs in this place they have been ever since called Knights of Malta The Order of Knights Templars 3. About the years 1117. 1118. 1119. or 1120. this Order took beginning Baldwin the Second then reigning in Ierusalem and Gelasius the Second possessing the Roman Chair when nine Gentlemen urged by zealous devotion passed the Seas to the Holy Land the chief of which though the rest are forgotten were Hugo de Paganes and Godfrey de Saint Omer two Knights of Noble Extraction The King because these Knights at first had no habitation assigned to them part of his own Palace neer the South-gate adjoining to the Temple of Solomon in Ierusalem and gave them leave to build a small House of residence within the inclosure thereof and hereupon they became called Brothers of the Militia of the Temple or more ordinarily in one word Knights Templars And as they began to increase in number which they did not till after nine years from their Institution so their first undertaking and profession to which they were enjoined by the Patriarch of Ierusalem was chiefly to guard the most dangerous High-ways about Ierusalem whereupon they became safe conductors to Pilgrims and Travellers who came to visit the holy places in that City both in coming thither and returning thence against the violence and robberies of the Saracens which charitable service made them acceptable to all and for which they obtained of the Patriarch and Bishops remission of their sins But they were yet so poor that for the first nine years they liv'd upon the Alms of others and wore such Clothes as good men for Charities sake bestowed on them They also rode two on one Horse in memory of which primitive poverty there was engraved on the Seal of their Order the Figure of two of their Knights riding upon one Horse which is exactly represented in Math. Paris At the Council held at Troyes in Champaigne anno 1127. they had certain Rules assigned to them drawn up by St. Bernard Abbot of Clairuaux a French Gentleman Lord of Fontaines a Village and Castle distant about half a mile from Dion by the appointment of Pope Honorius the Second and Stephen Patriarch of Ierusalem in the presence of which Patriarch they made their Vows of Obedience Poverty and Chastity and to live under the rule of Canons Regular of St. Augustine They were also enjoined to wear a White Habit to which but not till the time of Eugenius the Third they assumed the Red Cross and of the same form that the Knights Hospitallers of St. Iohn of Ierusalem wore though Favin saith it was a Patriarchal Cross and sewed it â—n the left shoulder of their Mantles to distinguish them from the Knights of other Orders in the Holy Land And thus as by their â—hite Habit their innocency was notified so by the Red Cross their resolution to spend their blood in defence of the Christian Faith These Knights with those other of the Holy Sepulâ—hre Hospitallers and Teuâ—onicks were the principal Columns which supported the Kingdom of Ierusalem for a long time and therefore their valiant encounters with the Infidels and forwardness to sacrifice their lives for the honor of God and defence of the Holy Land ought to be had in everlasting remembrance But when Riches increast and their Revenues were augmented they grew proud and withdrew themselves from the obedience of the Patriarch of Ierusalem to join with the Pope So that at last upon Friday after the Feast-day of St. Denys in the year of our Lord 1307. all the
de bonà Requie and another annual Pension of 20 l. paid by the Abbot of Rousford for the mediety of the Church of Rotheram The 29. of Ianuary anno regni sui 13. he gave the Mannor or Priorate of Munclane in the County of Hereford parcel of the possessions belonging to the Priories Alien with all and singular its appurtenances The following year viz. 27. of February he granted to them by the name of Custos or Dean and Chapter of this Colledge the Custody Patronage and free disposition of the Hospital or Free-Chappel of St. Anthonies London a Preceptory of the Monastery of St. Anthony at Vienna with all the Liberties Priviledges Lands Rents Services and Emoluments whatsoever thereunto belonging upon the first vacancy whether it should happen by death resignation or otherwise He also gave them the 17. of May ensuing the Priorate of Brimsfield in the County of Gloucester the Mannor of Blakenham in the County of Suffolk parcel of the Priory of Okeburne the Priorate of St. Elene in the Isle of Wight in Hampshire the Priorate of Mannor of Charleton in Wiltshire and all the Lands Tenements Rents and Services in Northumudon Compton and Welegh in the Counties of Sussex and Southampton which sometime belonged to the Abbey of Lucerne in Normandy the Mannor of Ponyngton and Wedon in the County of Dorset parcel of the possessions of Okeburne Priory one annual Pension of twelve Marks payable by the Prior of the Priory of Monte-Acuto together with all and singular the Lands Tenements Rents Advowsons Liberties c. annexed to the said Priorates and Mannors or in any manner appertaining with license to appropriate the same to them and their Successors About two Moneths after this King gave also to the Colledge the Mannor of Membury in Devonshire and Lordships of Preston and Monkesilver in the County of Somerset the Advowsons of the Churches of Puryton and Wollavington in the said County being parcel of the Priory of Golalys in Wales and one of the Priors Aliens together with the Knights Fees Advowsons Profits Rights c. thereunto belonging In the 18. year of his Reign the Queen Thomas Archbishop of York and several Bishops Noblemen and others being seised to the use of the King his Heirs and Successors of the Mannor of Wykecombe called Bassetsbury the Fee Farm of the Town of great Wykecombe the Mannor of Crendon in the County of Buckingham and of the Mannors of Haseley and Pyrton in the County of Oxford parcel of the Lands of the Dutchy of Lancaster they at the special command of the King demised and granted the premises with all their appurtenances to the Custos or Dean and Canons and their Successors until such time as the King his Heirs or Successors should grant to them other Lands of the like yearly value The 17. of February following this King gave them the Advowson of the Church of Cheshunt being of his own Patronage with license to appropriate the same provided the Vicarage were sufficiently endowed and a competent sum of money annually distributed among the poor Parishioners according to the Diocesan's Ordinance and form of the Statute in such case provided This King the 21. of February following united the Custody or Deanry of the Free Chappel of Wolverhampton in the County of Stafford to the Custos or Dean of this Colledge and his Successors for ever This Church cum membris is exempt not only from the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry but by a Papal Bull from all his Legates and Delegates nor is it subject to any terrene power but the Majesty of England and under it to the perpetual visitation of the Keepers of the Great Seal pro tempore He likewise gave them the Advowson or Patronage of the Prebend of Ewern in the County of Dorset the 27. of Sept. in the 20. year of his Reign with all its rights and appurtenances and also a license of appropriation And lastly the 21. of November in the ensuing year he granted to them two parts of the Mannors of Old-Swynford and Gannow in the County of Worcester and the Reversion of the third part of them after the death of Mâ—rgaret Wife of Fulk Stafford Esquire with the Advowson of the Church of Old-Swynford These were the effects of this most noble and munificent Princes piety and liberality towards this Colledge Nor was he alone bountiful but excited others to be so likewise and to that purpose in the first year of his Reign hâ—â—nsed all his Subjects in general to give what Lands Rents or Advowâ—ons they pleaâ—ed to the Dean and Canons within the value of 300 Marks per annum as well such as they held of the King in Capite or in Burgage or otherwise as any other Land the same to be united and appropriated to the Colledge and its uses pâ—rpâ—tually notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmaiâ—e and afterwards increased this license to Lands of the value of 500 l. a year but King Henry the Eighth extended the like license to the value of 1000 l. per annum Hereupon shortly after to wit Iune 29. anno Regni sui 20. he granted license to Iohn Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth his Wife the Kings Sister to give and assign unto them the Mannor or Lordship of Grovebury otherwise called Leighton-Busard with its appurtenances in the County of Bedford the Church of Tintagell in Cornwall with all its emoluments as also 19 Messuages 7 Tofts 140 Acres of Land 14 Acres of Medow 140 Acres of Pasture 1â—â— Acres of Wood and 4 l. Rent with their appurtenances in Newford and Blanford in the County of Dorset And 70 Messuages 12 Tofts 500 Acres of Land 100 Acres of Medow 300 Acres of Pasture 100 Acres of Wood and 100 shillings Rent with the appurtenances in Stokeley Northall Edelesburgh and Rodenach in Buckinghamshire And 20 Messuages 8 Tosts 300 Acres of Land 60 Acres of Medow 200 Acres of Pasture 40 Acres of Wood and 20 shillings Rent with the appurtenances in Compton-St John in the County of Sussex And 10 Messuages 9 Tofts 200 Acres of Land 20 Acres of Medow 100 Acres of Pasture 10 Acres of Wood and 20 shillings Rent with the appurtenances in Portsmouth and Burgbegge in Hampshire And one Messuage 3 Tofts 60 Acres of Land 6 Acres of Medow 40 Acres of Pasture and 20 shillings Rent with the appurtenances in Stodeham in the County of Hertford held of the King in Capite notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmaine or any other restriction or proviso whatsoever We shall here note that the 24. of Iuly anno 18. E. 4. this Duke of Suffolk infeoffed Richard Duke of York Thomas Bishop of Lincoln and others of the Mannor of Leighton-Busard who the 25. of Iune anno 19. E. 4. at his special instance Demised and Granted the said Mannor to the Dean and Canons forever And in the Octaves of St. Iohn Baptist anno 20. E. 4.
is an Officer under both the before mentioned Stewards He keeps the Courts by himself or Deputy he is a Barraster at Law and the standing Council for the Colledge his yearly Pension is twenty Nobles but the Council in Spiritualibus is usually a Graduate in the Civil Law The Chapter-Clerks Office or Registership is to enter or register all Acts agreed upon in the Chapter-house he also draws ingrosseth and registreth all Indentures Patents Grants Leases and other Writings which pass under the common Seal of the Dean and Canons His Pension is 3 l. 6 s. 8 d. per annum The Vnder Stewardship and Chapter-Clarkeship went sometimes heretofore together but of late they are divided and now this Officer is also a Barraster at Law Of the Vergers Institution the Statutes of the Colledge take notice and appoint that in the Chappel at Processions and other Solemnities he shall go before the Dean and Canons bearing his Rod for which service there was then allowed him annually one Robe and six pence per diem And besides these Officers there are two Sextons two Bell-ringers a Clock-keeper and a Porter who attends the shutting and opening of the Gates SECT VII Of the Endowment of the Colledge OUR brief account relating to the Dean Canons and other Members of the Colledge being now dispatch'd it follows that we treat of the Endowment thereof and shew what Lands were given towards the maintenance and support of this Foundation But because we intend no other account here than in that of the Castle Chappel and Colledge which was but short we will only set down what Lands c. the Founder endowed the Colledge with and then touch upon those other considerable additions made by some of his Successors Soveraigns of the most noble Order of the Garter and of the Knights-Companions referring the rest after a bare mention of some other that were taken into the first Foundation to the larger discourse which we intend hereafter to make publick The Endowments wherewith King Edward the Third invested this Colledge by his Letters Patent of Foundation before mentioned were first the Advowsons of the Churches of Wyrardesbury vulgarly called Rasbury in the Diocess of Lincoln of Southtanton in the Diocess of Exeter and of Uttoxater in the Diocess of Coventry and Lichfield These he gave to the Custos Canons Alms-Knights and Ministers of the Colledge to hold in free pure and perpetual Alms throughly and perpetually free from all secular exactions with license to appropriate the same to the Colledge notwithstanding the Statute of Mortmain He thereby also appointed so much of his Treasure as should be for their decent support until he had setled an immoveable estate of 1000 l. per annum upon them in Lands Benefices or Rents But as for two of these Advowsons namely Vttoxater and Southtanton 't is to be doubted there was afterwards discovered some defect in the Kings Title to them and that the right of Patronage lay rather in Henry Earl of Lancaster and Thomas Earl of Warwick for the 18. of Iune anno 23. E. 3. the King granted special Licence to Henry Earl of Lancaster that he should give and assign to the Custos and Chaplains of the Chappel of St. George in Windesor and their Successors for ever the Advowson of the Church of Vttokeshatre it being there said to be of the Earls proper Patronage And the like license to Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick for assigning to them the Advowson of the Church of Southtanton that being of his Patronage also The King gave special license likewise to receive these Advowsons from these Earls and to appropriate them to the use of the Colledge Another like license pass'd 26. Ian. anno 24. E. 3. to William de Bohun Earl of Northampton that enabled him to assign to the said Custos and Chaplâ—ins and their Successors the Advowson of the Church of Dadyngton in the County of Oxford which he held of the King in Caepite with license for them to receive and appropriate the same The 28. of Ianuary following this royal Founder gave unto the Custos and Colledge by the name of Custos and Chaplains of his Free Chappel of Windesor one Messuage seventeen Acres of Land one Acre of Pasture and three shillings Rent with the appurtenances lying in Wyrardesbury in the County of Buckingham which had been conveyed to him by Rich. de Gloucester Heir to Isabell de Ditton And on the 22. of May ensuing he also granted unto them the Advowson of the Church of Dachet neer Windesor with license to appropriate it to them and their Successors In the following year primo Martii the King gave them the Advowsons of the Churches of Eure in Buckinghamshire of Riston in the County of Norfolk and of Whaddon and Caxton in the County of Cambridge to appropriate these also to them and their Successors And the 9. of May after he likewise granted and assigned to them the Advowson of the Churches of Symondesbourn which the Colledge in the Reign of King Edward the Fourth surrendred to Richard Duke of Gloucester and of St. Stephens of Saltash with like license of Appropriation But the first of these was the gift of Queen Philippa she having purchased it of Sir Iohn Darcy Knight and the other of Edward the black Prince and both granted by them first to the King that by his Grant afterwards to the Colledge its Title might be better strengthened The 26. of October in the same year the King granted to the said Custos and Colledge and their Successors one hundred Marks per annum to be received out of the Farm of the Town of Northampton and paid them by the hands of the Bailiff of that Town for the time being at Easter and Michaelmas by equal portions towards their sustentation and maintenance and the supportation of the burthen of the Chappel It was at the instance of the Founder and therefore we mention it here That the Bailiffs and Communality of Yarmouth granted to the Colledge the first of April anno 26. E. 3. under their Common-Seal a Last of Red Herrings yearly well dried and cleansed to the end they might take this Corporation into their Prayers But some say it was enjoin'd them as a Penance for murdering a Magistrate among them Moreover the Founder granted to them and their Successors 18. Iuly anno 26. E. 3. the Mannor of Eure neer Weybrigg with its appurtenances in Buckinghamshire the Mannor of Craswell with its appurtenances in the Parish of Bray in the County of Berks and a certain Weare called Braybrok placed in the River of Thames with all the Lands and Tenements in the said Parish conveyed unto him by Sir Iohn Philibert together with the Knights Fees and Advowsons of Churches Chappels Chanteries and other things whatsoever to the said Mannors Lands and Tenements belonging or appertaining And the 23. of
February following a Writ issued to Henry de Greystock Clerk Steward of the Lands set apart for the use of the Kings Chamber and to Robert de Haddon Escaetor of the same Lands to give full seisin to the Custos and Colledge of these Mannors of Eure and Bray St. Philebert as also of a Wood called Temple-Wood in Stoke-pugeys conveyed to the King by Iohn de Molyns Afterwards the King considering that all the Lands he had assigned for support of this Colledge were yet too little for that end and being desirous to have it better provided for he further granted to the Custos and Colledge and their Successors by like Letters Patent a Pension of one hundred pounds yearly out of his Exchequer These Letters Patent were afterwards vacated for that by other like Letters dated the 12. of May anno 34. E. 3. he gave them Lands to the yearly value of 101 l. 11 s. 11 d. of the possessions of Religious Aliens which fell into his hands by occasion of the French Wars One hundred pounds per annum part of this was in recompence of the said 100 l. yearly Pension issuing out of the Exchequer and the 1 l. 11 s. 11 d. in part of satisfaction of the Lands which the King intended to provide for the further maintenance of the Colledge nevertheless he thereby also granted that in case these Possessions should by Treaty of Peace or otherwise be restored they should then receive the said yearly sum of 101 l. 11 s. 11 d. out of his Exchequer as before until there was provided for them Lands of the like annual value And whereas in the Patent of Foundation it is said that the King designed to setle upon the Colledge Lands of the value of 1000 l. per annum now in another Letters Patent bearing Teste the said 12. of May there is notice taken only of Lands of the annual value of 655 l. 15 s. 0 d. as if his intended Donation had extended to Lands of no greater value and that the King in pursuance of such his purpose had already provided Lands and other Possessions rated at 604 l. 5 s. 3 d. per annum the residue to make up the intended sum here exprest being but 51 l. 9 s. 9 d. He thereupon appointed the Colledge to receive that sum yearly out of 126 l. 0 s. 0 d. which the Prior of Takkele paid to him for the Farm of that Priory it being then in the Kings hands by reason of the War with France Howbeit in case Peace was so concluded that the same should be restored to the Prior the King then further granted that the Custos and Colledge should thenceforward receive the said sum of 51 l. 9 s. 9 d. out of his Exchequer at Michaelmas and Easter by even Portions But it seems the Lands fell short of the value rated at in this Account and reached not to the total of the Kings intended Endowment by 90 l. per annum For the first of Iune in the following year by other Letters Patent he granted to the Custos and Colledge so much money to be annually paid them out of his Exchequer to make up what yet fell short until he should cause to be provided Lands or Rents of that value to be setled on them and their Successors Lastly the 2. of April anno 39. E. 3. the Founder bestowed on them a piece of ground in New-Windesor upon which had stood a House sometime of Iohn de London in lieu of the great Garden lying on the South part of the Castle formerly given them by him for the use of the Custos and Canons And also a Garden opposite thereunto on the other side of the way with its appurtenances for the use of the Alms-Knights Vicars Clerks Choristers and other the Officers of the Colledge and herewith he closed his Endowments But besides all these Donations made by the Founder to the Custos Colledge and their Successors there were other Lands Parsonages Pensions and Portions given to them by pious and devout persons in free pure and perpetual Alms for ever towards their sustentation which are said to be taken into the first Foundation and made up that Revenue which William Bishop of Winchester accounted and declared sufficient for the maintenance of the Custos and those other of the Colledge according to the number by him limited in the Colledge Statutes as also for the due defraying of all charges imposed upon them and these we shall let pass with the bare mention only The Mannor of Dodyngton Castle two Pastures called Frith and Ashcroft the Chappel of Langeley the Parsonages of Esâ—riton Langeley-Maries Wantynge Shaldeborne Wedonbeek Glynde and Ryslepe the Pensions of the Vicarages of Wantynge Clyffe Tyltehey and Gottesford and the Portions of Bassyngborne Preâ—â—ewyke in Haseley magna Chalgrave Adewelle Aston Rowband Sebyngdon Kyngeston and Henton in Stoke-Basset and Clopecote in Gatehampton Whytechyrche Maplederham Retherfeld Esthenrith Stretham of Thernecroft in Letherhed of Totynbeek in Wodesdon Ebyngton Woodmershtborne of Fordham Ethorpe â—ewenham and in Tollesworth In following times there were many other considerable Donations bestowed on the Colledge by the succeeding Soveraigns and Knights-Companions of the Order for as to what was given by others we shall not need to take further notice of now either out of devotion or desire to be more especially taken into their Prayers or in honor to the Military Order some of which as they fall into our way we will here set down King Richard the Second Grandchild and Successor to the Founder 13. Feb. anno Regni sui 13. gave to the Custos and Canons one Croft in the Town of Northmolton together with the Advowson of that Church it being in the Diocess of Exeter and license to appropriate the same Iohn Duke of Bedford third Son to King Henry the Fourth bestowed on this Colledge by his Deed dated the 3. of December anno 9. H. 5. the Priory of Okeborne in the County of Wilts a Cell to the Abbey of Bee in Normandy together with all and singular the Possessions thereunto belonging or appertaining This Grant King Henry the Fifth confirmed and that it might be more valid was likewise confirmed by King Edward the Fourth King Edward the Fourth had a singular respect and favour for this Colledge to which the 18. of Iuly in the seventh year of his Reign towards augmentation of its maintenance and ease of the great burthens of the Dean and Canons he gave the Mannors of Atherston in the County of Warwick a member of the Priory of Okeborne the Mannors and Advowsons of the Churches of Chesingbury in Wiltshire and of Quarle in Hantshire the Church and Priorate of Uphaven and the Deanry or Chappel of St. Burien in Cornwall with all rights and appurtenances thereunto appertaining as also an annual Pension which the Abbot of Sautre paid for the Church of Fulburne to the Abby
such to those who were Vassals to another the bestowing thereof was accounted illegal and they that took upon them to give it were liable to censure because by this action they took anothers Villain or Bondman from him which was a manifest wrong and ought not to be done As in the case of the two Sons of Philip de Bourbon one whereof was Knighted by the Earl of Flanders the other by the Earl of Nevers Whereupon by an Order dated on All-Saints day Anno Domini 1279. and another at Whitsontide following both the said Earls were fined and the two Brethren condemned to pay one thousand pounds apiece though by the Kings grace and favour they kept their Knighthoods And to shew that this Law was elsewhere observed more strictly and the breach thereof liable to more severe sentences those among the Aragonians that descended from Knights in a direct line by the Fathers side which were called Infançones and accounted Gentlemen whether legitimate or illegitimate were capable of being Knights and no other So that if one not an Infançon were promoted to Knighthood by a Rico Hombre which seems to be a higher Degree of Nobility both the Rico Hombre was to lose the Honor he had and the person whom he pretended to promote remained still a Villain or Plebeian But it was otherwise where a Nobleman Knighted his own Vassal as in the case reported by Philip de Beau-manoir in his Customary of the Year 1283. where the Son of a Gentleman and a Woman-Servant was Knighted by him whose Servant the Woman was and his condition being afterwards discovered the Nobleman would have challenged him for his Slave but in regard his Knightly Dignity had vindicated him from servitude and vassallage though his Lord was deceived in conferring the Honor he was adjudged to remain free and a Knight which he could not have done if any other but his Lord had Knighted him for which this reason is there given because no other person had sufficient power to infranchise him The third and last of those Qualifications which we have thought fit to take notice of here is that of Estate or Wealth which serves to support the Dignity of Knighthood for we find that in all Times and Countries when men were grown wealthy they thereby as by Merit or Birth became capable of Honors Thus Wealth was so much regarded among the Chalcedonians as Herodotus tells us that those who were rich bore the name of Knights It was Estate that intitled a man to this Honor among the Romans for the Censor as hath been before observed out of Livy might compel any Citizen who had an Estate equal to the Equestrian Cense to enter into the Equestrian Order and this old Roman Cense consisted of 400000 Sesterces which according to our learned Seldens computation amounts to 3025. l. of our Money And as anciently in old Rome so not long after the Conquest here in England as Cambden observes were Knights dignified for their wealth and state of living For they who had a Knights Fee to wit saith he six hundred and fourscore Acres of Land might claim as their right the Ornaments and Badges of Knighthood But by the way it appears from Mr. Selden that not any certain number or extent of Acres made a Knights Fee and by several Writs directed to the Shâ—riffs of all Counties in England to make Proclamation for receiving the Honor of Knighthood in the Reigns of Hen. 3. Ed. 1. as also by the Act de Militibus anno 1. Ed. 2. it appears that the Census Militis or valuation of the Estate of a Knight was measured by Twenty Pounds Land by the year and sometimes more and this was counted the most reasonable way of Estimation because one Acre might be more or less in value thâ—n another And the Parallel yet held as to the matter of enforcement and compulsion to take this Honor for by an ancient Prerogative several of our Kings have at their pleasures compell'd such persons who held a whole Knights Fee or so much Land whose annual value as aforesaid answered thereto to take this Dignity upon them and to that purpose sent forth their Mandates in Writs directed to the Sheriffs of each County to make Proclamation That all those within their several Bailiwicks who were of full age and had one whole Knights Fee and were not Knighted should appear before the King on a certain day in the Writ set down ready fitted and prepared to receive the Honor of Knighthood Sometimes these Writs included both such as were possest of Lands worth Twenty pounds per annum and such as held a whole Knights Fee valued at that annual sum but the yearly value set by the King was not always certain for sometimes we find it to be fifteen pounds then twenty pounds at other times thirty pounds then forty pounds and sometimes fifty pounds Anno 40. Hen. 3. The Sheriffs in England were amerced because they had not distrained all those who had such Estates in Land as the Law limited to take the Order of Knighthood or otherwise to pay their Fines and we observe the Command in the Kings Writ to be now and then accompanied with much severity in case the Sheriff should be negligent in the discharge of his duty or connive with any for lucre of a Bribe as appears in that directed to the Sheriff of Northamptonshire the words whereof are Rex Vicecom Northt salutem Praecipimus tibi quod sicut teipsum omnia tua diligis omnes illos in Rallivatua qui habeant viginti libratas terrae distringas quod se Milites faciendos citra Nativitatem Sancti Iohannis Baptistae proximè futur Sciturus pro certo quod si pro munere vel aliqua occasione aliquam relaxationem eis feceris vel aliquem respectum dederis Nos ita graviter ad te capiemus quod omnibus diebus vitae tuae te senties esse gravatum T. R. apud Wyndesor decimo quarto die Aprilis Where upon appearance after such Proclamation a reasonable or lawful excuse hath been alledged as old age irrecoverable weakness loss of Limbs being in holy Orders or the like whereby the Body was wholly disabled to perform personal service there the allegations have been admitted by the King the persons acquitted and by Letters Patents exempted from taking this Military Order during life But there were many other causes and reasons which usually obtained a suspension for some certain time besides those set down in the Act of Parliament Anno 1. E. 2. as where a man was at present greatly indebted or bound to attend some necessary employment as a Serjeant at Law in the Common Pleas Court for which nevertheless the party suing for such favour paid a Fine and therefore in some Writs we have seen a clause added to give
intimation that where any reasonable cause could be made appear at the time of Knighthood to impede the receiving of the Order the person might be admitted to make Fine for the respite thereof Yet was not this Fine constant or certain but estimated and set according to the nature of the excuse or length of time given for instance Robert de Menevil of Northumberland having obtained respite for two years was set at five Marks and Peter Founden at forty eight Shillings and eight Pence for three years respite but Iohn de Drokensford paid ten Pounds for a suspension of his Knighthood only for the same time And in these cases the Kings Writ usually issued to the Sheriff with command to permit the person to have that respite and to forbear taking any distress till the time compounded for should be expired and if nevertheless the person happened to be impleaded for not having received Knighthood the Kings Letters Patents granting him the time of respite being produced have been allowed If any person had been distrained by the Sheriff and a retorn thereof made to the King and did not appear at the time and place in the Writ nominated to receive the Honor of Knighthood in such case we sometimes find that a Writ hath issued giving command to the Sheriff forthwith to seize all his Lands and Tenements into the Kings hands and answer the profits thereof into the Exchequer The Fines and Amerciaments set upon such contempt seem to have been arbitrary and the Court swayed according as the nature of the default appeared William the Son of Gilbert de Alton paid twenty shillings for not appearing and receiving Knighthood according to the command of the Kings Proclamation Thomas Pauncefoot paid four Nobles Iohn de Lodbroke forty shillings the like Fine was set upon Simon de Bradeney and Thomas Trivet both of Somersetshire and Iohn de Neirvote in the County of Bucks and lastly William Lassels paid four pounds for that he had not received Knighthood before Michaelmas Anno 30. E. 3. and for obtaining respite for three years from thence But albeit in the promiscuous course of bestowing of Knighthood where the men of Wealth and Estate whether otherwise worthy or not became dignified yet was not the gate of Honor then shut against those who wanting Riches sought her out by the paths of Virtue and Merit For where men of low Fortunes deserved well of their Country and that for their good services the King had judged them worthy of Honor He was accordingly pleas'd to bestow such annual Pension or Lands upon them as He esteemed sufficient to maintain that degree of Dignity whatsoever it was so conferr'd And this is agreeable to the judgment of the Author of the Division du Monde who saith That the Honor of Knighthood is not to be given to any person who hath not a considerable Estate unless sufficient means to support the Honor of that Order be also given with it Hence it is that the Kings of England have allowed Pensions and frequent mention of them is made in the Rolls sometimes during pleasure and then again during the lives of those on whom they have thought fit to confer the Honor for their better support as for instance King Edward the Third granted by Letters Patents forty Pounds per annum out of his Exchequer to Iohn atte Lee Queen Isabel's Steward in auxilium status sui manutenendi first during pleasure and afterwards for his life But the case is more remarkable of Sir Nele Loring who afterwards attained the Honor to be one of the first Founders of the most noble Order of the Garter for whose valiant performances in the Naval Fight against the French at Sluce the King conferr'd the Dignity of Knighthood upon him and immediately after granted to him and his Heirs Males twenty Pounds per annum that he might better maintain that Honor until he could settle on him and them so much in value of Lands or yearly Rents in Fee And here the following Grant made by King Richard the Second to Sir Iohn Walssh of forty Marks per annum for life to support that Dignity of Knighthood he had given him may very well be inserted Rex omnibus ad quos c. salutem Sciatis quod cum nos pro eo quod dilectus fidelis noster Johannes Walssh nuper in praesentia nostra pro defensione suâ— multum strenue fecit prout satis est notorium ipsum Ordinem Militarem suscipere facerimus Ordinem illum ei de manibus nostris dederimus eum penes nos ipsos retinuerimus Et quia ipse sufficienter non habet unde Onus cum honore valeat supportare Dedimus Concessimus ei Quadraginta Marcas per annum ad terminum vitae suae percipiend per manus Vicecomitis nostri Lincolniensis qui pro tempore fuerit de exitibus balivae suae ad terminos Paschae Sancti Michaelis per aequales portiones In cujus c. Teste R. apud Westminst quinto die Decembris The Kings of England upon the same account did usually bestow like annual rewards on such whose merit raised them to the Degree of Baneret and in the Letters Patents whereby such Pensions are granted we observe it usually exprest ad manutenendum statum Baneretti or words to the like effect Hereupon King Edward the Third gave to Sir Reginald Cobbâ—m four hundred Marks per annum during his life to be paid him out of the Exchequer afterwards the Mannor of Tippenham in Buckinghamshire for life and a Mill under Oxford Castle with a Meadow there called Kings Meade We find moreover that Thomas de Rokeley who in the service of this King had received the Degree of Baneret had two hundred Marks per annum granted unto him pro sustentatione sua during life To Sir Iohn Lysle one other of the Founders of the said most noble Order ut ipse statum Baneretti which the King had before conferr'd on him melius manutenere possit he gave two hundred pounds a year during life and upon Roger de Swynerton Baneret He bestowed for life pro statu suo manutenendo all the Mannors Lands c. which lying in the Counties of Stafford and Chester came to the Kings hands by the forfeiture of Hugh le Despenser as likewise the Mannor of Barew in the County Palatine of Chester to him and his Heirs And it is worthy of note that some times such like Grants have been made by the consent of Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for so were the two hundred Marks per annum given to Geoffry le Scroop Baneret in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth Thus far we have spoken of the Qualifications which capacitate him who receives the Degree of Knighthood it will not now be amiss to touch upon one particular relating to the Person
after when this Order was fallen into great decay it was given unto Don Gonçalionez Master of the Order of Calatrava by King Ferdinand the Saint in the year of our Lord 1221. by whose consent they were afterwards incorporated into the Order of Calatrava Moreover in the Instrument by which Alphonso the Ninth King of Castile gave the Lands to this Order which the Knights took from the Moors the Donation saith thus To you Don Rodrigo Gonçalez Master of Monfrac of the Order of Mount-Ioy They were also called saith Favin Equites de Truxillo or de Trugillo from a City of that name where they sometime resided but this will appear by and by to be a distinct Order united afterward to the Knights of Alcantara Knights of St. John of Acon or Acres 7. Under the Patronage of this Saint was this Order erected but the Original as to time uncertain The Knights thereof exercised all Duties of Charity towards those who went on Pilgrimage to visit the Holy Land and assumed the exercise of Arms in imitation of the Knights Hospitalars whence they became ranked amongst the Religious or Sacred Orders They followed the Rule of St. Augustine and according to Favin had a black Habit assigned them upon which they wore a White Cross Pattee After the City of Acon was taken they removed into Spain and flourished in that Kingdom in the Reign of Alfonsus the Astrologer King of Castile about which time Pope Alexander the Fourth approved the Order under the conjoined Title of St. Thomas and St. Iohn of Acon This King gave unto them by his Will all the Furniture of his House and very much Money but afterward they by little and little decayed until at length they were united with the Knights Hospitalars The Ensign of their Order saith Ios. Micheli Marquez was a Red Cross like to that of the Order of Montesa in the middle whereof stood the Figures of St. Iohn and St. Thomas which differs from what Favin hath before assigned but perhaps the colour of the Cross was changed to Red after their coming into Spain Knights of St. Thomas 8. There was another Order which as may be collected from Mennenius and Ios. Micheli was distinct from the former bearing the Title of St. Thomas but A. Mendo supposeth they were rather some of those which joined themselves to the Knights Hospitalars and the rather because they wore the same Habit with the Knights of St. Iohn of Acon they also made the same Professions followed the same Rule observed the same Constitutions and were approved and confirmed by Pope Alexander the Fourth and Fifth and Iohn the 22. Their Badge was a Saltire gules yet Micheli makes it the same with that of St. Iohn of Acon wanting the Figures in the middle But Andr. Favin reports though we meet with nothing in our English Histories to back him that this Order was Instituted by our King Richard the First after the surprisal of Acon and that these Knights were of the English Nation who wore a White Habit and a Red Cross charged in the middle with a White Escallop and lastly that they had for their Patron St. Thomas Becket This gives us occasion to remember here that we have some more Honor of this kind done our Nation by Strangers if it can be called an Honor to report those things of us which want ground and authority from our own Histories and Chronicles to support them viz. That Henry of England which by the note of time afterwards mentioned must be understood of our King Henry the Second visiting the Holy places in Ierusalem but we find not that he was ever there being moved with a pious zeal by the example of the Knights of the Sepulchre Instituted the Order of Iesus Christ of the holy Sepulchre in England in the year of our Lord 1174. giving to the Knights thereof the same Rules as had those of the Holy Sepulchre in Ierusalem which Order saith the same Author was confirm'd by Pope Alexander the Third under the Rule of St. Basil. Howbeit after the Christians were driven out of the Holy Land the Knights of this Order were joined to the Knights Hospitalars But we give the less credit to this formal account because we find no mention made thereof in any of our English Writers or Records Perhaps the Relator mistook them for the Canons regular but not Knights of the Holy Sepulchre who about that time lived amongst us and of whom the Antiquities of Warwick-shire give some account Knights of St. Blase 9. These were called also Knights de Sancta Maria and founded under the Rule of St. Basil. They were Officers and Servants to the Kings of Armenia and had assigned them for their Habit Skie-colour with a Cross gold worn before their breasts Others say a Red Cross and in the middle thereof the Picture of St. Blase their Patron This Order was at the height when the Armenian Kings of the House of Luzignam kept their Court in the City of Acon Knights of the Martyrs in Palestine 10. By the pious affection of some Noblemen there was erected in the Holy Land an Hospital dedicated to the holy Martyrs St. Cosmas and St. Damianus where all acts of charity were exercised towards sick strangers Their profession also obliged them to other works of mercy towards the poor to redeem Captives taken by the Saracens and to bury the dead These Knights followed the Rule of St. Basil which was confirmed to them by Pope Iohn the 22. They wore for the Badge of their Order a Red Cross and in the middle thereof within a Circle the Figures of the Saints Cosmas and Damianus were described Mennenius informs us that Hieron Romanus had seen some of these Knights wearing for their chief Ensign a Red Cross and professing the Rule of St. Augustine which perhaps was so changed when they retired into Europe Knights of St. Katharine at Mount Sinai 11. This Order received its Institution saith Ios. Micheli in the Year of our Lord 1063. under the Title and Patronage of St. Katharine whose body is reported to be deposited in Mount Sinai and the high Altar in the Church of the Monastery there dedicated to her name erected neer to the place where she was interred The end for which these Knights were at first Instituted and the sum of their profession was to guard and keep safe the Sepulchre of St. Katharine to secure the ways for Travellers to defend and protect the Graecian Pilgrims who came thither for devotions sake and to relieve and entertain them with convenient Hospitality Their Habit was White and they lived under the Rule of St. Basil the Great making their Vows of conjugal chastity and obedience to the Abbot of this Monastery who was their Superiour or Master But when those
the Duke of Suffolk and his Dutchess levied a Fine to the Dean and Canons who thereupon agreed that for this their so large Donation they should be had in their perpetual Orisons The 10. of Ianuary next after Sir Walter Devoreux de Ferrers Knight following this pious Example together with Sir Iohn Devoreux and others his Feoffees of the Mannor of Sutton-Courtney in the County of Berks and of the Church of Sutton-Courtney having withal obtained the Kings license to that end did give and grant unto the Dean Canons and their Successors for ever the Advowson or Patronage thereof with all rights appertaining thereunto All the before mentioned Endowments are called the Lands of the Old Dotation to distinguish them from those setled on the Colledge by King Edward the Sixth which bear the title of Lands of the New Dotation concerning which we shall speak in the next place But several of them so given by King Edward the Fourth the Colledge never enjoyed namely the Mannor of Atherston the Mannor and Advowson of Quarle Vphaven St. Burien Fulburne Pension Brimfeld St. Elen Charleton Blakenham Ponyngton Wedon Old Swinford and Gannow And of some others they were seised but a short time to wit Chesingbury Mannor and Advowson the Lands in Newford Blanford and Portsmouth Besides these the Colledge was dispossest of Gottesford in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth of Cheshunt Advowson in Henry the Seventh's Reign and in the time of King Henry the Eighth or some time before of Wodemershthorne Tyltehey Retherfeld Levyngdon Stoke-Basset Stretham Totingbeek Fordham Ethorp Newenham and Tollesworth afterwards they surrendred into the hands of King Henry the Eighth the Mannors and Advowsons of Eure Clyff Ashton Rowhand Kingston Est-Henrith Northumunden Compton Weleg Compton-St Iohn's and Shobingdon Portion And lastly the Colledge lost at least 1000 Marks per annum upon the Reformation of Religion in the profit made by St. Anthonies Piggs which the appropriation of the Hospital of St. Anthonies London had brought to it and no less than 500 l. per annum the Offrings of Sir Iohn Shornes Shrine at Northmarston in Buckinghamshire a very devout man of great veneration with the people and sometime Rector there The Advowson of this Church was appropriate to the Dean and Canons by the Prior and Convent of Dunstaple the license of King Edward the Fourth being obtained for that purpose the 15. of November anno regni sui 19. in exchange for the Advowson of the Church of Wedenbeck in Bedfordshire The Dean and Canons having by their Deed under their Chapter Seal conveyed unto King Henry the Eighth the Mannor and Rectory of Ivor in Buckinghamshire the Mannor of Dammery Court in Dorsetshire and divers other Lands Rents Portions and Pensions in the Counties of Somerset Hants Middlesex Oxford and Sussex for which they had no recompence in his life nevertheless by his last Will and Testament he appointed them satisfaction and thereby charged and required his Son and all his Executors and likewise all his Heirs and Successors Kings of England as they would answer the neglect before Almighty God at the dreadful day of Judgment that they should see assurance made to the Dean and Canons for setling Lands on them and their Successors in performance of his Will and the uses therein appointed And it being manifest to the Lord Protector and his Co-Executors after this Kings death that the Dean and Canons upon the commutation and agreement of an exchange performed on their part by assigning to the said King the Mannors and Lands above specified being of the yearly value of 160 l. 2. s. 4 d. for which they were as then unrecompenced King Edward the Sixth minding the accomplishing and performance of his Fathers last Will as well for the assurance of Lands to the yearly value of 600 l. to the Dean Canons and their Successors for ever to the uses in the Will and for maintenance and performance of such other Ordinances and things as he and the said Executors should limit and prescribe to them as also for the assurance of other Lands of the annual value of 160 l. 2 s. 4 d. to be made to the Dean and Canons in recompence of the Lands they had released and assigned to King Henry the Eighth was pleased by his Letters Patent bearing Teste at Hampton Court the 7. day of October in the first year of his Reign to give and grant to the said Dean and Canons the Rectories Impropriations Parsonages Chappels Portions and Tithes here named viz. The Rectories and Churches of Bradnynche Northam Iplepen Ilsington and Southmolton in Devonshire and the Tithe of Corn of Dtery in that County part of the Duke of Somersets Possessions as also Blosoms-Inn in St. Lawrence-Lane London sometime parcel of the Possessions of the late Colledge of Otery The Tithes of Grain c. of the Rectory of Ambrosbury in Wiltshire and all the Tithes of Bedwyn Stoke Wilton Harden Harden-Tunrige Knoll Pathall Chisbury East-Grafton West-Grafton Grafton-Darten and Wexcombe parcel of the Prebend of Bedwyn in that County as also the Prebend of Alcannyngs and Urchefounte the Rectories of Urchefounte Stapleford Tytcombe and Froxfield in the said County and all the annual Pension of 8 l. issuing out of the Mannor of Icombe in the County of Gloucester The Rectory and Vicarage of Ikelington in Cambridgeshire The Rectory of East-Bethworth in the County of Surrey The Reversion of the Portion of Tithes of Trequite in Cornwall and the Rent of 13 s. 4 d. reserved upon the same All the Portion of Tithes of Trequite aforesaid belonging to the Priory of St. Germans in Cornwall The Rectory and Church of Plymton the Chappels of Plymstoke Wembury Shagh Sanford-Spone Plymton St. Maurise and Bryxton in Devonshire belonging to the late Priory of Plymton the Rectory of Istleworth and Twickenham in the County of Middlesex parcel of the possessions of the Colledge of St. Maries of Winchester and the Rectory of Shiplake in Oxfordshire lately belonging to the Monastery of Missenden in Buckinghamshire As also all the Reversion of the Rectory of Aberguille and of the Chappels of Llanlawett alias dict Llanbadock and Llanpenysaunt part of the Monastery of Karmarden in South-Wales with the Rent of 30 l. per ann reserved thereon the Reversion of the Rectory of Talgarth part of the Priory of Brecknock in South-Wales with the reserved Rent of 11 l. 6 s. 8 d. The Reversion of the Rectory of Mara in the County of Brecknock belonging to the Priory of Brecknock and 6 l. Rent The Reversion of the Rectory of St. Germans in Cornwall appertaining to the Monastery or Priory of St. Germans with 61 l. 13 s. 4 d. Rent To have and to hold all the premises unto the Dean and Canons and their Successors for ever except the Tithes in Woolpall and Fitz-Waren in Wiltshire belonging to the Priory of Bedwyn The Vicarage-house of Ikelington the Monies called Marriage-Money Dirge-Money and
a Tenth or other Imposition out of their Spiritualities or the Commons of England should give a Tenth or Fifteenth or any other Tax out of their Temporalities or moveable Goods or that the King and his Heirs should cause his own Demain to be taxed or that the Pope should impose any Tax or Imposition upon the Clergy of this Realm and give the same to the King and his Heirs this Colledge with all its Lands and Possessions should be wholly freed thereof That they should be free from any charge of Arraying Soldiers for the service of the King and his Heirs and from sending them for the Custody of the Sea-Coasts and from every Fine or Composition for the same That their Houses as well those within the Castle of Windesor as else-where should be free from any Livery of the Kings Stewards Marshalls Purveyors Officers and Servants and from the like Officers of the Queens or any of their Children or of the Peers or Nobles And that the said Officers should not intermeddle there without the leave of the Custos and Canons and their Successors That no Duke Earl Baron or Nobleman nor any Stewards Marshals Escheators Sheriffs Coroners Bailiffs or Officers nor any other person of what condition soever should upon any colour lodge or stay in the Houses of the Custos or Canons without their consent That they the said Custos and Canons and their Tenants should for ever be free from payment of Toll Paviage Picage Barbicanage Terrage Pontage Murage Passage Paiage Lestage Stallage Tallage Cariage Pesage and from Scot and Geld Hidage Scutage working about Castles Parks Bridges Walls for the Kings Houses And from suits to the County or Hundred Court and Wapentakes Court Leets Murder and Common Amerciaments whether they should happen before the King or any of the Justices of the Bench or Justices Itinerant or other Justices whatsoever and from every other like Custom That they should have within their Lands and Fees the Chattels of all Felons and Fugitives and seize them to their own use That they should have all Fines for Trespasses and all other Contempts and Misdemeanors Fines pro licentia concordandi and for all other causes That they should have all Amerciaments Redemptions Issues and Forfeitures whatsoever Annum Diem Vastum Streppum and all things which might belong to the King and his Heirs thereupon That they should have Wrecks Waiss and Strays within all their Lands and Fees That no Purveyance of Corn Hay Horses Carts Carriages Victuals or any Goods Chattels or any thing whatsoever should be taken by any of the Kings Officers or Ministers in or upon any of their Lands or the Lands of any of their Tenants That they should be free from the payment of any Pension Corrody or other Sustentation to be granted by the King his Heirs or Successors That they should have Free-Warren in all their Demain Lands wheresoever And that although they lay within the bounds of the Kings Forest. That they should have a weekly Market to be held on Wednesdays at their Mannor of Eure in Buckinghamshire and two Fairs to endure for eight days viz. on the Eve and Feast-day of the Apostles Peter and Paul and for two days next following and upon the Eve and Feast-day of St. Peter ad vincula and two days following with all Liberties and Customs to the said Market and Fairs belonging That they should enjoy all their Lands with the Liberties of Soc and Sac Insangthes Vtsangthes and View of Frankepledge with Thewe Pillory and Tumbrel for punishment of Malefactors and power to erect Gallows upon their own soil for Execution of such Malefactors as should fortune to be apprehended within their Jurisdiction That they should be freed and discharged from all Suits and Pleas of the Forest and of all Charges or Fees which the Justices or other Officers of the Forest might demand And from Expeditation of their Doggs and Suits of Court there That they should be free from Gelds Dane-gelds Knights-Fees Payments for Murther and Robbery Building or Repairing of Bridges Castles Parks Pools Walls Sea-banks Causeways and Inclosures and of all Assises Summons Sheriff-aids their Bailiffs or Officers carrying of Treasure and all other Aids as also from the common Assessments and Amerciaments of the County and Hundred and all Actions relating to them That they should be freed from the payment of Ward-penny Aver-penny Tithing-penny and Hundred-penny and discharged from Grithbrech Forstall Homesoken Blod-wite Ward-wite Heng-wite Fight-wite Leyr-wite Lastage Pannage Assart and Waste of the Forest so that such Waste and Offences be not committed in the Forests Woods or Parks of the King his Heirs and Successors and if it should happen so to be that then reasonable satisfaction without imprisonment or grievous recompence should be accepted That they should have return of all Writs and Attachments as well relating to the Pleas of the Crown as other throughout all their Lands or Fees and that no sheriff Bailiff or other Officer should make any Execution of such Writs there unless in default of the Custos and Canons and their Successors That they should have and hold Leets and Law-days for all within their Lands and Fees That they should have cognisance of all Pleas betwixt their Tenants as well of Trespasses and Contracts as others in their own Courts And lastly that they should have and hold Wards Reliefs Escheats Forfeitures and other Profits Issues and Emoluments whatsoever within their own Fees from all their Tenants which might belong to the King or his Heirs and which the King might receive by reason of those Fees in case they were in his own hands as if the Tenants did hold of him or others in Capite of the Crown CHAP. V. THE Institution OF THE MOST NOBLE Order Of the Garter SECT I. The several Opinions touching the occasion of its Institution EDward King of England and of France of that name after the Norman Conquest the Third was the first Founder of this most renowned Order of the Garter And this is not only unanimously attested by our own and other Historians but also by good Authorities and Records of the Order it self The Historians generally agree in the person of the Founder but as to the original occasion that gave beginning to the Order and the time when it was erected there is not small difference among them by reason whereof the truth of both is left so perplext that if we had not clearer light from some other means the world might yet live in ignorance of the verity of either But that we may set down these two particulars more exactly than hitherto hath been done and give a more perfect account of a Military Order whose same hath spread all over the World and been conferr'd on the greatest Princes thereof is our design in this present Work First then as to the occasion of its Institution the opinions of Writers as we said are various The vulgar and more general is That the
Garter of Ioane Countess of Salisbury falling casually off as she danced in a solemn Ball King Edward hastily stooping took it up from the ground whereupon some of his Nobles and Courtiers smiling as at an amorous action and he observing their sportive humour turn'd it off with this reply in French Honi soit Qui mal y Pense but withal added in disdain of their laughter That in a short time they should see that Garter advanced to so high honor and estimation as to account themselves happy to wear it But taking leave to examine this Tradition we shall only make two or three Remarques and then refer it to the judgment of others what credit ought to be given thereto First Sir Iohn Froissart who only among the Writers of that Age speaks of this Institution assigns it no such original as that of the falling of a Ladies Garter Nor is there found any thing to that purpose in our other Historians for the space of two hundred years till Polydor Virgil took occasion to say something of it whose grounds we shall examine immediately Besides it might be expected that some Historian among the French who were so forward to jeer at our King Henry the Fifth's design of invading them with a return of Tennis Balls would not have forborn to register some where or other a scoff at the Ladies Garter especially in a time when the fury of War had dissolv'd all obligations of friendship and civility and opened the mouth of slander Whereto we must add that there is not the least appearance in the original Statutes of this most noble Order to countenance the conceit of such a Feminine Institution no not so much as obliging the Knights-Companions to defend the quarrels of Ladies as the Rules of some Orders then in being enjoin'd nor doth the Author of that piece intituled Institutio clarissimi Ordinis Militaris à prenobili Subligaculo nuncupati written by way of Preface to the Black Book of the Garter let fall the least touch to that purpose As to what Polydor says it is even thence to be noted that he himself is not so confident as to ascertain the person whose Garter it was but warily declining that says it was either the Queens or the Kings Mistress and if it were the later yet doth he with the same caution omit her name and title of dignity both which hath since been supplied but on what authority we find not by some of our modern Historians who call her Ioane Countess of Salisbury and there is as little reason why she should be supposed to be Ioane called also the Fair Maid of Kent whom Edward the black Prince afterwards married inasmuch as no Historian takes the least notice that King Edward the Third ever courted her as a Mistress We suppose our learned Selden points at her when he calls the Lady from whom the Garter slipt Countess of Kent and Salisbury but about the time of the Foundation of the Order of the Garter she in truth was neither for albeit she was Daughter to Edmund of Woodstock Earl of Kent and had been sometime the reputed Wife of William Mountagu second Earl of Salisbury of that Family yet then she could not properly be accounted Countess of Salisbury because she was actually Wife to Sir Thomas Holland one of the first Founders of that Order and so adjudged to be by Pope Clement the Sixth in a controversie depending before him between Sir Thomas and the Earl and for this reason not taken notice of either by Brooke or Vincent in the title of Salisbury to have been his Wife Nor was she yet though afterwards Countess of Kent because her Brother Iohn Earl of Kent at the Institution of this Order was alive and died not till anno 26. E. 3. But that there was a Countess of Salisbury of whom King Edward the Third became greatly enamoured is reported by Sir Iohn Froissart after this manner That this King having relieved a Castle belonging to the Earl of Salisbury in the North of England wherein his Countess had been besieged by the Scots the Earl himself being at that time Prisoner in France upon sight of her extraordinary beauty fell in love with her but she so virtuously demeaned her self towards the King during his short stay there that he declined further sollicitation Howbeit some time after the King out of desire to see her saith the same Author proclaimed a solemn Justs in London whither this Countess and many other Ladies being invited came Froissart names not the Castle wherein this Countess lay when the Scots besieged it but only gives this note upon it That the King gave the same Castle to her Husband for his good service past when he first married her being then but a Knight The name of the place being left thus by him in the dark those who hitherto sought after it have but roved at it with uncertain guesses But upon more diligent search we have hit the mark and find it was the Castle of Wark upon Tweed in the County of Northumberland upon the Borders of England towards Scotland which King Edward had so bestowed upon Sir William Mountague afterwards created Earl of Salisbury for his life together with the Mannor Lands and Tenements within the Liberty of the said Mannor This Castle being grown very ruinous and the said Sir William undertaking the charge of the repair which hapned to be very great the King thereupon granted the same anew to him for life by the service of one Knights Fee the remainder after his death to his Son Iohn and the Heirs of his body lawfully begotten to hold by the foresaid service and if he dyed without such issue then to the right Heirs of Sir William for ever Though then it should be admitted that this Countess of Salisbury was the Kings Mistress yet must it be noted that she was Wife to William Mountague created Earl of Salisbury anno 11. E. 3. Mother to William the before mentioned second Earl that her Christian name was Katherine not Alice as Froissart nor Ioane as others call her and Daughter to William Lord Granston a Nobleman of Burgundy and that she died anno 28. Ed. 3. and lies buried at Bysham Abbey in Berkeshire But that the whole story may appear no otherwise than indeed it is a Fable we shall here insert the opinion of a late learned Writer who hath taken no small pains to satisfie himself and the world in this particular This saith Doctor Heylin I take to be a vain and idle Romance derogatory both to the Founder and the Order first published by Polydor Virgil a Stranger to the Affairs of England and by him taken upon no better ground than Fama vulgi the tradition of the common people too trifling a foundation to so great a building common bruit being so infamous an Historian that wise men neither report after it
was born at 40 minutes after five in the morning of the said day the 6. Degree of the Sign Scorpio Ascending and the 18. Degree of Leo Culminating The places of the Planets as there posited followeth gr ♄ in 5 ♑ ♃ in 27 ♉ ♂ in 21 ♠☉ in 28 ♠♀ 18 ♠☿ in 8 ♠◠in 8 ♉ ♠in 26 ♉ The Thursday after his birth he was Christned in the Chappel then of St. Edward in Windesor Castle by A. Priest Cardinal by the Title of Sancta Prisca and his Godfathers were Richard Bishop of Poictiers Iohn Bishop of Bath and Wells William Bishop of Worcester Lewis Earl of Eureux the Queens Brother Iohn de Britannia Earl of Richmond Aymer de Valence Earl of Penbroke and Hugh le Despenser Within a few days after the King his Father granted him the County of Chester except the Mannors of Mekklesfield and Shotwyke to hold to him and his Heirs Kings of England for ever And likewise the County of Flint and Cantred of Englefield with the Castles of Flint and Rothelan to hold as before except the Mannor of Overton the Lands of Mailor Seysnoke and the Castle and Mannor of Holt after which he was thus stiled by the King Edwardus Comes Cestriae filius noster Charissimus So pleasing to his Father 〈◊〉 the birth of this Prince that the 16. of December following he gave to Iohn Launge Valet to the Queen and to Isabel his Wife and the longer liver of them for bringing to him so desirable News 24 l. per annum to be paid out of the Farm of London But leaving his Infancy we will now proceed to his youth and the occurrences that attended his riper years King Edward his Father having been often summoned to the Court of France to do homage for the Dukedom of Aquitaine and other his Lands held in that Kingdom and still delaying till the French King had seized thereon it was at length concluded that he should give to this Prince that Dukedom who then should do the Homage and enjoy the Lands Hereupon preparation was made for his passing into France and a little before at Langedon Abbey near Dover the King on the 2. of September in the 19. year of his Reign first gave to him his Heirs and Successors Kings of England jure haereditario imperpetuum the Counties of Ponthieu and Monstroile and on the 10. of the same month at Dover granted to him the Dukedom of Aquitaine and all the Lands he had or ought to hold in the Kingdom of France Habendum as before two days after this new Duke took shipping at Dover thence passed into France and made his Homage in which Journey it was likewise thought fit that the Queen should accompany him in regard her Lands in that Kingdom had also been seized on Shortly after his return into England he was unanimously chosen Custos of the Kingdom in his Fathers absence then fled into Wales with Hugh le Despencer the Son Robert-Baldock and others by divers of the Bishops Nobility Barons and Knights de assensu totius Comitatûs dicti Regni ibidem existentis and at Martley the Great Seal sent from the King was delivered to him Not long after his Father ressigned his Crown upon which great preparations were made for this young Prince's Coronation which was solemnly performed at Westminster by William Archbishop of Canterbury on Sunday after the Conversion of St. Paul being the 1. of Feb. an 1327. His first Martial Attempt but unsuccessful for more then what appertains to his Wars we shall not here discourse off was the raising an Army to march against the Scots For Robert Bruce King of Scotland having sent him a defiance about Easter next following his Coronation shortly after invaded England notwithstanding the Truce between the said King Robert and King Edward the Second was yet on foot and an agreement for further Treaty of Peace to be held in the Marches on Sunday next before Ascension day then next comming The Kings Army was appointed to Rendevouz at Newcastle upon Tyne on Munday next before the Ascension of our Lord though Sir Iohn Froissard saith it was at York upon Ascension day whence about three weeks after Trinity Sunday he marched towards the Enemy but the Scots having exceedingly wasted the Northern parts and declined to fight slipt from him at Stanhop Park in the Bishoprick of Durham and withdrew towards their own Country nor could the King engage them though he endeavoured it for 24. days together I confess the first Actions of Princes are looked upon by all Eyes and not seldom with many Observators taken as the Radix whence to calculate their future either Successes or Miscarriages If at these undertakings a full Age entitle them to the sole management of Affairs we are inclined to think a judicious Eye may partly discern the strength of their Fortune But while they reside within Tutorage and their designs are carried on under the conduct of others the Event of things will manifest a dependency upon the strength or weakness of the Genius of those persons who are the chief managers of their Concerns And this was fully made good in this Prince whose Martial undertakings were very unsuccessful specially while the Government of the Kingdom was committed to others and sometimes afterwards when he was tyed up and hampered by his Allies in Flanders but he no sooner arrived at full Age but his Affairs shewed themselves as if disposed by his own Genius and the first remarkable experiment was verified even upon the Scots themselves from whom before he had received some affronts and indignities For having sent Ambassadors to the Custos and chief Nobility of Scotland He demanded the Homage of David Brus their King and these were probably Ralph Lord Basset of Drayton and William de Denum for it appears they were employed thither the 14. of Decemb. an 6 E. 3. touching the Affairs of the King and Kingdom and the doing of Homage denyed He forthwith raised an Army in assistance of Iohn Balioll Son of Iohn Balioll sometime King of Scotland against David Brus the then King which being appointed to meet at Newcastle upon Tine on Trinity Sunday an 7 E. 3. King Edward entred Scotland and wasted the Country as far as Scone for six months together Insomuch that the Scots were forced to fly to their Fastnesses in the Forest of Gedworth where they abode for many years and as the King returned he encountred an Army of theirs at Hallidown Hill which he defeated and killed about 32000. common Souldiers 7. Earls 90. Knights and Bannerets and 400. Esquires In memory of this great Victory hapning on the Eve of St. Margaret the Virgin being the 13. of Iuly he repaired the Church and Convent of Nuns near the place where the Battel was fought upon that occasion destroyed and burnt and caused
Stile But intending to provide yet better for him the next day he gave him all the Corn as well in Granges as growing on the Ground as also the Arms Victuals Cattel Goods and Chattels in all the said Castles Lands and other places to him before granted together with the Debts Arrerages of Accounts and other Services due to himself In the Parliament held at Westminster an 11 E. 3. he was created Duke of Cornwall as appears by his Charter of Creation bearing date the 17. of March the same year and invested by the Sword only and this is the first Precedent for the Creation of the Title of Duke with us in England Herewith also the King setled on him divers Manors and Franchises expresly set down in the said Charter for the better support of the State and Honor of Duke all which though some lay in other Counties were thereby made part of the Dutchy of Cornwall And further by Letters Patent dated the same day he granted to him the Stannaries in Cornwall together with the Coinage of Tin and all the issues and profits thence arising as also the profits and perquisites of the Courts of the Stannaries except only 1000 Marks formerly granted to William Mountague Earl of Salisbury and his Heirs out of the Issues thereof till Lands were provided for the said Earl of that yearly value and afterwards granted That all the Castles Honors Mannors Lands and Tenements belonging to the Dukedom or Earldom of Cornwall which were held in Dower or for term of life or years whose Reversions belonged to the King should remain to this Prince as Duke still as they fell and to the eldest Sons of him and his Heirs as Dukes of the foresaid Dukedom In the Parliament held an 17. E. 3. the King created him Prince of Wales and invested him with a Coronet a Gold Ring and a Silver Rod and the better to support his State as Prince of Wales gave him several Lands which are all particularly enumerated in a Writ directed to William de Emeldon to deliver them unto this Prince or his Attorney with this Dignity The King also gave him all Debts and Arrears of Foreign Rents due to himself for what cause soever in North Wales and South Wales to the time of his being created Prince of Wales as also all Victuals Arms Horses Oxen Cows and other things in all the Castles and Lands which he held by the King's Grant He was constituted Custos Angliae divers times when the King had occasion to be absent out of the Kingdom to which the Title of Locum tenens Regis was sometimes added and in his younger years the King appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the chief of his Council to direct him in all Affairs the powers belonging to this Great Officer being recorded in Rot. Pat. de an 14. E. 3. pars 2. m. 28. The first time this Prince entred upon the Stage of War was at the beginning of his 16. year of age at which time he accompanied his Father into France where at his landing at Hoges in Normandy he received the honor of Knighthood from that martial Kings hands Thence he marched in the body of the Army with the King toward Cressy at which Battel fought an 20. E. 3. he led the Van and after a fierce encounter with the French was somewhat distrest from the Enemies breaking in among his Archers but the rest of his men timely advanced to their Assistance nevertheless notice of his condition being sent to the King who commanded the Reer he asked if the Prince were dead or wounded the Messenger said no but stood in need of his Assistance well said the King return and bid them send no more to me so long as my Son lives for I will have him this day win his Spurs since I design him the honor of this Expedition and it cannot be denyed but the compleatness of the Victory then gained fully conferred it on him so also did his Fathers acknowledgment for after the Battel was ended he embraced the Prince and kist him and said fair Son God give you resolution to pursue Honor you are my dear Son and have acquitted your self nobly you are worthy to govern a Kingdom The following year a Truce being agreed on at Calais was spun on by several Prorogations but without effecting any thing of Peace till an 29. E. 3. in which year both Kings provided for War Hereupon the King constituted this Prince his Lieutenant in the Dukedom of Aquitaine and other places in France whither he should happen to march both for Reformation of the State of that Dukedom and other places in France and the recovery of his Lands and Right possest by the Rebels And by another Commission of the same date he gave him power to make Alliances with all persons of what Nation Dignity or Condition soever to retain men and pay them Wages and Rewards A third Commission gave him Power in the King's stead and name to receive Homage and Fidelity from the Nobility and others within this Dukedom and the Kingdom of France Armed with their Powers and accompanied by the Earls of Warwick Oxford Salisbury and Suffolk and a good Army attending him he took Shiping and safely arrived in Gascoigne for whose passage thither the King had before assigned Richard de Corteâ—hale and Robert de Baildon Serjeants at Arms to arrest array and equip all the Ships of 20. Tun and Upwards in all Ports and Places from the River of Thames unto Lynn as well within Liberties as without to furnish them with men and other necessaries and to bring them to Southampton by St. Barniby's Day at the furthesâ— as also to Press Mariners for the Voyage at the Kings Wages and had given Commission to Thomas de Hoggeshaw Lieutenant to Iohn de Beauchamp Admiral of the Sea Westward to carry him over with power to hear and determine all Crimes and Transgressions committed on Shipboard and to punish them according to Maritine Law and to do all other things appertaining to the Office of Admiral Having entred the River Garronne he marcht into the South-part of Languedock and burnt the Great Town of Carcassone scituate near the Mediterranean Sea thence passed to Narbon burning and wasting the Country after which he returned to encounter the French Forces which marcht out of Tolouse under the Command of the Marshall Cleremont and Earl of Armaignac but upon his approach they retyred and so in November after 8. Weeks he returned to Bourdeaux with great store of Pillage and Prisoners A more particular account of which Voyage with the Towns and Castles taken and destroyed and several other actions done after the Prince's Return to Bourdeaux to the 21. of Ianuary following are reported in Sir Wingfield's Letters Printed in Hollinshead's Chronicle Intelligence of the Prince's taking the Field the following Summer being
William Mountacute first Earl of Salisbury and Sister to William Earl of Salisbury one of the first Founders of the Garter whose Will bears date the first day of November an Dom. 1378. in which she appoints her body to be buried in the Conventual Church of the Holy Trinity in the Priory of Bistleham vulgarly called Bysham Mountagu in Berkshire where an 1381. she was accordingly interred He dyed at Rovery in Burgundy the 26. of February an 34. E. 3. as the King was upon his march in those Countries and his body afterwards brought into England was buried at Wigmore with his Ancestors 9 Sir Iohn Lisle SIR Iohn Lisle was the Son of Robert Lord Lisle first summond to Parliament an 5. E. 2. by the Title of Robert de Lisle de Rubemont and of Margaret the Daughter of Peverell His Father Robert being disposed to give to him 400 Marks per annum of Land to serve the King with 6 men at Arms in his War the King to gratifie the said Robert and the better to support his Son granted that the said Robert might give him his Mannor of Harwood with its appurtenances in Yorkshire with other Lands to the annual value of 400 Marks during his life but afterwards to return to the said Robert and his Heirs and some years after his Brother Robert released to him and his Heirs all his right in the said Mannor and in the Advowson of the Church there Being thus provided for he attended the King in his first Voyage into France by the way of Flanders an 13. E. 3. and as Sir Iohn Froissard observes was in the Battel designed to be fought near Vironfosse Two years after he went into Aquitaine in the King's Service And the year ensuing he attended the King in Bretagne where he was one of the Commanders left at the Siege of Nants in Bretagne while the King foraged the Country and laid Siege to Dinant For his good services done the King he granted him a Pension of 200 l. per annum for his life to support his Degree of Banneret This Pension was first appointed to be paid him out of the Exchequer until a Provision of Lands or Rents to that yearly value were made for him but after there was assigned to him out of the Priory of St. Neats then of Stoke nigh Clare and of Fye to wit 120 l. per annum out of the Priory of Stoke and 80 l. per annum out of that of Eye Then 100 Marks was taken out of the Rent charge upon the Priory of Eye and laid upon the Issues of the Counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon And lastly it came to be thus setled viz. That he should receive out of the Issues of these two Counties 200 Marks per annum and out of the issues of the Counties of Bedford and Bucks the remaining sum of 100 Marks per annum And having given him besides for like services another Pension for life of 40 l. a year out of his Exchequer also he appointed the payment of it out of the Farm of the Priory of St. Neats during the War An. 25. E. 3. the King made him Sheriff of the Counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon and granted him the Custody of the Castle of Cambridge for life He had by Maud his Wife two Sons Sir Robert Lisle Lord of Rougemont and Wilbraham whose Heir male hath now his dwelling as I am informed at Wilbraham in Cambridgshire and Sir William Lisle Lord of Cameldon and Shefford who died without Issue In the Prince's Expedition into Gascoigne an 29. E. 3. he attended him and had Command given him in the main Body of the Army But in the three days march into the Enemies Country he was unfortunately hurt with a Quarrel or Bolt shot out of a Cross-bow of which he dyed the 14. of October in the same year his Son Robert being then about 22 years of age 10. Sir Bartholomew Burghersh SIR Bartholomew Burghersh was Son to Bartholomew Lord Burghersh frequently distinguished by the Title of Senior and Elizabeth one of the Daughters and Co-heirs of Theobald de Verdon His Father was first summoned to Parliament an 1. E. 3. a person of great Council and Valour which laid a strong foundation for his Sons Honor having been several times constituted Constable of Dover and the Cinque-Ports he was also made Seneschal and Custos of Ponthieu and Monstriell Admiral towards the West Chamberlain to the King Lieutenant of the Tower of London one of the Custos's of England and frequently emploid in Embassies and by some through mistake made one of the first Founders of the Garter But among these enumerated in the preamble to the Statutes both of Institution with their Exemplars and those of King Henry the Fifth he is called Bartholomeus de Burghersh filius and Bartholomew de Burghersh le filz and so in divers places of our publick Records though we have seen some transcripts of these Statutes wherein the point hath been at the end of the Surname and filius so also le filz joined to Dom. Iohannes de Beauchamp But this was a plain mistake of the Transcriber since this Iohn was never married His first martial Service was when the King went into Bretagne an 16. E. 3. Next he went with the Prince in the Kings Expedition into France an 20. E. 3. where he staid with him at the Siege of Calais And for recompence of his Expences in this Voyage the King granted him the Custody of all the Lands and Tenements which had belonged to Iohn de Loueyne deceased till his Heir should come of Age without rendring any thing therefore The 23. year of King Edward he went along with him into Gascoigne And again thither with the Prince of Wales an 29. E. 3. and had command in the main body of the Princes Army The following year as the Prince retired from forraging the Country of Berry and was got near Romerentyne this Knight whom Froissard in several places calls the Lord Bartholomew Breches Sir Bartholomew de Bounes de Brennes and de Brunes but such mistakes are too frequent in that Author in this and other mens names as also in the names of Places was set upon by a French Ambushment but he and his Troops so gallantly behaved themselves that they kept the French in play till the Prince drew near upon the sight of whom they fled to Romerentyne pursued by the English and got into the Castle which the Prince commanded Sir Iohn Chandos to Summon but they refusing to yield after two desperate but fruitless assaults the English set it on fire which caused them speedily to surrender He attended the King in his expedition into France an 33. E. 3. and towards the end of the year an 37. E. 3.
He and divers other Knights of the Court were sent to Dover to wait upon Iohn King of France who coming over to Visit King Edward landed there the 4. of Ianuary and was conducted by them to Caenterbury where having offered a rich Jewel at the Shrine of Thomas Becket he after rode to Eltham to the King and thence to the Savoy where he was honorably entertained Half a year before this we find the King appointed the Treasurer of his Chamber to give him 200 l. upon the Debt due to him from the King for the Count de Vendedour his Prisoner He had two Wives the first was Cecily Daughter and Heir to Richard Weyland by whom he had divers Lands in the Counties of Norfolk Suffolk Cambridge Huntingdon Essex and Hertford by her he had Elizabeth his Daughter and Heir married to Edward le Despenser His second Wife was Margaret Sister to Sir Bartholomew Badlismere whom he lest a Widow but she afterwards married William de Burcester and dyed about the 18. year of King Richard the Second The 5. of April an 43. E. 3. he dyed leaving Elizabeth his Daughter and Heir then about 24 years of age 11. Sir Iohn Beauchamp HE was a younger Son to Guy Earl of Warwick by Alice his Wife and Brother to Thomas Earl of Warwick one of the Founders of this most Noble Order of the Garter He attended King Edward the Third into Flanders in the 12. year of his Reign and was in the Battel pitcht between Vyronfosse and Flamengery an 13. E. 3. So also the following year in the Naval fight at Sluce Aâ— 15. E. 3. I find him stiled Banneret towards the support of which Dignity he had a considerable Pension given him He attended the King in his Voyage into France an 20. E. 3. and at the Battel of Cressy carried the Kings Standard Royal. The following year he continued with the King at the Siege of Calais till it was taken And an 22. E. 3. he was constituted Captain of that Town The next year made Admiral of the Kings Fleet from the River of Thames Westward And having his Commission again renewed for the custody of Calais to commence the first of April an 25. E. 3. he marched out of the Town with a Party of 200 Archers and 300 Men at Arms and forraged the Country for 10 miles round where meeting with 2000 Men at Arms commanded by the Lord Bealren encountred them and slew the said Lord. But fresh Supplies coming in to the assistance of the French they overpowr'd the English and took this noble Knight Prisoner who was exchanged within a short time after This year the Constableship of the Tower of London being resigned to him by Iohn Darcy who had a former Grant of it for life the King confirmed the resignation to him and for the Custody thereof allowed him 100 l. per annum He was again constituted Captain of Calais an 29. E. 3. and of the Castle of Guynes the Forts of Merk Colne Eye and Sandgate as also Admiral from the River Thames Westward An. 31. E. 3. he had his Commission again renewed for Custody of Calais Guynes and those before mentioned Forts Two years after he attended the King in his Voyage Royal into France and upon the death of Roger Earl of March was constituted Constable of Dover-Castle and the Cinque-Ports the Kings Letters Patent bearing Teste primo Martii apud Goillioun in Burgundia This year he was made Constable of the Tower of London and also Admiral of the Seas for the South North and West Coast of England He was a man of eminent esteem with the King and by his services deserved so well that he confer'd on him both considerable Pensions and several gifts and from an 24. E. 3. so long as he lived received Summons to Parliament The first donation we have met with was an 10. E. 3. when the King bestowed on him the Marriage of Margaret the Relict of Iohn de Bohun Earl of Hereford An. 19. E. 3. the King granted him a Pension of 30 l. per annum out of his Exchequer towards his expences in his service over and above 20 l. per annum formerly given him till he should have Lands setled on him to that yearly value The following year the King gave him the Mannor of Oddingle which Thomas de Haukeston held for life after whose death it was to remain to this Sir Iohn and his Heirs for ever An. 22. E. 3. he had the custody of the Lands of Allan la Zouche granted him till his Heir came to â—ull age without rendring any thing theretofore The King had also given him out of the Exchequer a Pension of 180 l. per annum to support his Degree of Banneret beside 20 l. per annum out of the Customs until he should have 200 l. per annum in Lands or Rents provided of that yearly value for his life And upon his resignation of several Letters Paâ—ent of Pensions amounting to 280 l. per annum he had the same annual sum granted to him out of the Customs of London and St. Botolphsâ—or â—or his life also The next year the King granted to him the Bailyweek of Cors in Gloucestershire till the full age of the Heir of Edward le Dispenser Knight Cousin and Heir of Hugh le Dispenser then deceased And lastly there being an Arrear of 50 l. at Michaelmas before he dyed of the said 280 l. per annum formerly granted to him out of the Customâ— as aforesaid a Writ issued to the Collectors of the Customs of St. Botolphs to pay the same to Iohn the Son of Giles Beauchamp his Executor He lived a Batchellor and dyed the 2. of Dec. an 34. E. 3. and was buried on the South side of the Body of the Cathedral of St. Paul London a Sculp of whose Monument is yet preserved in the History of St. Pauls by William Dugdale Esq now Norroy King of Arms which vulgarly but falsely was called Duke Humfry's Tomb. 12 Sir Iohn Mohun HE was Son to Iohn Mohun and Sibyll the Daughter of Iohn de Segrave which Iohn his Father dyed before his Grandfather in Scotland an 4. E. 3. and lies buried at York Shortly after his Grandfather Iohn Lord Mohun died at which time he was about 10 years old the custody of all his said Grandfathers Lands he being by Inquisition found to be his Cousin and Heir as also of his Marriage was granted to Henry Burghersh Bishop of Lincolne till he came of full age the 28. of May an 18. E. 3. he did homage to the King whereupon he had Livery of the said Lands In the 16. year of King Edward the Third he went over in the Kings Service into Bretagne with Sir Bartholomew de Burghersh as
he did also with the said Sir Bartholomew an 19. E. 3. The following year he attended the Prince of Wales when King Edward entred France by Normandy and continued in service at the Siege of Calais and the following year was again sent into France The last Martial service we find him employed in was an 29. E. 3. when he attended the Prince of Wales into Gascoigne An. 16. E. 3. which was soon after he came of age he was summoned to Parliament from whence the summons were continued till an 47. E. 3. He married Ioane Daughter to Sir Bartholomew Burghersh the elder Sister to Sir Bartholomew Burghersh one of the Founders of this most Noble Order who died on Saturday next after the Feast of St. Michael an 6. H. 4. and had by her three Daughters and Co-heirs namely Elizabeth Wife to William Mountague Earl of Salisbury another of the Founders of the Order Philippa Wife to Edmond Duke of York and Albemarle and Maude Wife of Iohn Lord Strange of Knoching whose Son Richard came to inherit a large Estate after the death of his Aunts Elizabeth and Philippa they dying without Issue 13 Sir Hugh Courtney THis Hugh Courtney was elâ—est Son of Hugh Courtney second Son of Hugh Courtney first Earl of Devonshire of that name his eldest Son Iohn having taken on him a religious life was made Abbot of Tavestock and Margaret Daughter of Henry Bohun Earl of Hereford his Wife He was born 11. Cal. Apr. an 1. E. 3. and commonly called Hugh Courtney junior in regard his Father was living â—e attended the Kingin his Expedition into France an 20. E. 3. and in the following year being amoâ—g other brave Martialists in the Tornament at Eltham he had given him by thâ— King a Hood of White Cloth embroidered with men in the postures of dancing button'd with large Pearls He had a Son named Hugh who married Maud Daughter to Thomas Holland Earl of Kent one of the Founders of the Garter but had no Issue by her and she after his death became Wife to Waleran Earl of St. Paul He died an 40. E. 3. and his Son also died Hugh Courtney second Earl of Devonshire Father to the former and Grandfather to the later surviving both after whose death Edward Son to his Brother Edward Nephew and Heir to his Father succeeded him in the Earldom 14 Sir Thomas Holland HIS Father was Robert Lord Holland of Holland in Lancashire first summoned to Parliament an 8. E. 2. and he his second Son by Maud Daughter and Heir of Alan la Zouche An. 16. E. 3. he with Sir Iohn Dartuell were sent to Bayon with 200 men at Arms and 400 Archers to keep the Frontiers the following year he went again into France The King having granted to him 40 l. per annum for his good service till Lands of that yearly value were provided for him appointed it to be paid him out of the Farm Priory of Haylyng during the War with his Adversary of France The next year he gave his Mother Maud license to infeoffe him of the Mannors of Hals Brackeley and Kyng sutton to hold to him and his Heirs for ever And shortly after he attended the King into Normandy where he had a command under the Earl of Warwick At the taking of Caen in this Expedition the Earl of Eu and Guynes Constable of France and the Earl of Tankervile who defended it for the French seeing this Knight whom Froissard notes to have but one Eye as having formerly known him in Prusia Granada and other places called to him and yielded themselves and 25 Knights his Prisoners After he had secured them he again took Horse and rode into the Streets where he preserved the lives of many Ladies Maidens and Religious Women Afterwards the King bought of him the said Earl of Eu for 80000 Florens de Scuto six of which went to a Pound English money Not long after when the Army left Poysy he with Sir Reginald Cobham having command of the Rear upon the Townsmens revolt and killing some few of the English Souldiers that stayed behind returned and burnt the Town razed the two Castles and flew most of the Inhabitants At the Battel of Cressy he had command in the Van under the Prince of Wales and was at the Siege of Calais The 24. of August an 26. E. 3. the King granted to him and Ioane his Wife na annual Pension of 100 Marks out of his Exchequer towards her support during her life but in case her Brother Iohn Earl of Kent died without Issue and she enjoyed his Estate then the payment of the said Pension to cease An. 27. E. 3. he was summoned to Parliament and the next year constituted the Kings Lieutenant and Captain in the Dukedom of Bretagne and in the parts of Poictou adjoining to that Dukedom and of all other places belonging to Iohn Duke of Bretagne then a minor and under the Guardianship of the King and towards his expences and the maintenance of his Army while he stayed there he had allowed him all the profits and issues of the said Dukedom without rendring any account or profit to the King The 11. of November following this Commission was renewed and thereupon he continued in Bretagne all that Winter and the 8. of February following it was again renewed to him to hold from the 13. of April then next coming for one whole year but before half that time was expired Henry Duke of Lancaster was constituted the Kings Lieutenant there and the said Thomas command to surrender to him or to his Deputy all that was within his command It appears that his servants making provision at Totnes in Devonshire for his and his Ladies passage for Bretagne were robbed of as many of his Goods as were valued at 200 l. which accident retarding his passage the King upon his complaint sent forth his Writ to Iohn de Stonsord Iohn de Ferers Knights and Roger Pyperell to enquire into the matter Afterwards he had granted to him the custody of the Fort and Place of Cruyck in Normandy part of the Kings late Conquests with all the Revenues and Profits thereto belonging to hold during pleasure and a command was given to Donald Aselrig Lewis Clifford and Waelter Mewe to deliver them up to him or his Lieutenant An. 32. E. 3. he and his Lady went into Normandy and the ensuing year the custody of the Castle and Fort of St. Saviours le Viscount and of all the Castles c. that were Sir Geoffry de Harecourts was committed to him as also that of e Barflu in Normandy And shortly after Philip of Navarre Earl of Longueville Lord of Casell and this Noble Lord were constituted the Kings Lieutenants and Captains in Normandy conjunctim divisim