this second tyme in the warr of Ierusalem and so lost therby his kingdome as before Henry hauing no other title in the world vnto it but by election and admission of the people which yet he so defended afterwards against his said brother Robert that came to clayme it by the sword and god did so prosper him ther-in as he tooke his said elder brother prisoner and so kept him for many yeares vntil he dyed in prison most pitifully But this king Henry dying left a daughter behind him named Mawde or Mathilde which being married first to the Emperor Henry the fift he dyed without issue and then vvas she married agayne the secōd tyme to Geffry Plantagenet Earle of Anjow in France to whom she bare a sonne named Henry vvhich this king Henry his grand father caused to be declared for heyre apparent to the crowne in his dayes but yet after his disceasse for that Stephē Earle of Bollogne borne of Adela daughter to William the Conqueror was thought by the state of Ingland to be more fitt to gouerne and to defend the land for that he was at mans age then vvas prince Henry a child or Maude his mother he vvas admitted and Henry put back and this chiefly at the perswasion of Henry bishop of winchester brother to the said Stephen as also by the solicitation of the Abbot of Glastenbury and others vvho thought be like they might do the same with good conscience for the good of the realme though the euent proued not so wel for that it drew al Ingland into factions and diuisions for auoyding and ending wherof the states some years after in a parlament at Wallingford made an agrement that Stephen should be lavvful king during his life only and that Henry and his ofspring should succede him and that prince William king Stephens sonne should be dcpriued of his succession to the crowne and made only Earle of Norfolcke thus dyd the state dispose of the crowne at that tyme vvhich vvas in the yeare of Christ 1153. To this Henry succeded by order his eldest sonne then liuing named Richard and surnamed Cordelyon for his Valor but after him agayne the succession vvas broken For that Iohn king Henries yongest sonne to vvit yōger brother to Richard vvhom his father the king had left so vnprouided as in iest he vvas called by the french Iean sens terre as if you vvould saye Sir Iohn lacke-lacke-land this man I say vvas after the death of his brother admitted and crowned by the states of Ingland and Arthur Duke of Britaine sonne and heyre to Geffery that vvas elder brother to Iohn vvas against the ordinarie course of succession excluded And albeit this Arthur did seeke to remedy the matter by warr yet it semed that god did more defend this election of the common wealth then the right title of Arthur by succession for that Arthur vvas ouer-come and taken by king Iohn though he had the king of Fraunce on his side and he dyed pitifully in prison or rather as most authors do hold he was put to death by king Iohn his vncles own handes in the castle of Roan therby to make his title of succession more cleare which yet could not be for that as wel Stow in his Chronicle as also Mathew of westminster and others before him do write that Geffrey besides this sonne left two daughters also by the lady Cōstance his wife Countesse heyre of Britaine which by the law of Ingland should haue succeded before Iohn but of this smal accōpt seemed to be made at that day Some yeares after when the Barons and states of Ingland misliked vtterly the gouerment and proceeding of this king Iohn they reiected him agayne chose Luys the prince of France to be ther king and dyd sweare fealtie to him in London as before hath bin saide and they depriued also the yong prince Hēry his sonne that was at that tyme but of 8. yeares ould but vppon the death of his father king Iohn that shortly after insued they recalled agayne that sentence admitted this Henry to the crowne by the name of king Henry the third and disanulled the oth and allegeance made vnto Luys Prince of France and so king Henry reigned for the space of 53. yeares afterwards the lōgest reygne as I thinke that any before or after him hath had in Ingland Moreouer you know that from this king Henry the third do take their first beginning the two branches of York and Lācaster which after fell to so great contention about the crowne Into which if we vvould enter vve should see playnly as before hath bin noted that the best of al their titles after the depositiō of king Richard the second depended of this authority of the common wealth for that as the people were affected and the greater parte preuailed so were their titles ether allowed cōfirmed altered or disa nulled by parlaments and yet may not we wel affirme but that ether part vvhen they vvere in possession and confirmed therin by thes parlaments were lawful kings and that God concurred vvith them as vvith true princes for gouermēt of their people for if vve should deny this pointe as before hath bin noted great inconueniences vvould follow vve should shake the states of most princes in the world at this day as by examples which alredy I haue alleaged in part may appeare And vvith this also I meane to conclude and end this discourse in like manner affirming that as on the one side propinquity of bloode is a great preheminence towards the atteyning of any crowne so yet doth is not euer bynde the commō wealth to yeald ther-vnto if waightier reasons should vrge them to the contrary nether is the common wealth bound alwayes to shutt her eyes and to admit at hap-hazard or of necessity euery one that is next by succession of bloode as Belloy falsely fondly affirmeth but rather she is bound to consider vvel and maturely the person that is to enter vvhether he be like to performe his duety and charge committed vnto him or no for that otherwise to admitt him that is an enimye or vnfitt is but to destroy the common wealth and him together This is my opinion and this seemeth to me to be conforme to al reason law religion piety vvisdome and pollicy and to the vse and custome of al vvel gouerned common wealthes in the vvorld nether do I meane heereby to preiudice any princes pretence or succession to any crowne or dignitie in the vvorld but rather do hold that he ought to enioy his preheminence but yet so that he be not preiudical therby to the whole body which is euer to be respected more then any one person vvhatsoeuer Belloy or other of his opinion do say to the contrary Thus said the Ciuilian and being called vppon and drawne to a new matter by the question that ensueth he made his last discourse conclusion
fauourers of the house of Lancaster that the Inglish inclined stil to acknowlege and admitt his right before his nephew and so they proclaymed this kinge Iohn for king of Ingland vvhiles he vvas yet in Normandie I meane Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury Elenor the Queene this mother Geffrey Fitzpeter chiefe iudge of Ingland vvho knew also vvhat law meant therin and others the nobles and Barons of the realme vvithout making any doubt or scruple of his title to the succession And vvheras those of the house of Yorke do alleage that king Richard in his life tyme vvhen he was to goe to the holy land caused his nephew Arthur to be declared heyre apparent to the crowne and therby did shew that his title vvas the better they of Lancaster do answere first that this declaration of king Richard vvas not made by act of parlament of England for that king Richard vvas in Normandy vvhen he made this declaration as playnly appeareth both by Polidor and Hollingshead Secondly that this declaration was made the sooner by king Richard at that tyme therby to represse and kepe downe the ambitious humor of his brother Iohn vvhom he feared least in his absence if he had bin declared for heyre apparēt might inuade the crowne as in dede vvithout that he was like to haue done as may appeare by that which happened in his saide brothers absence Thirdly they shew that this declaration of king Richard vvas neuer admitted in Ingland neither duke Iohn would suffer it to be admitted but rather caused the bishop of Ely that vvas left gouernour by king Richard vvith cōsent of the nobility to renownce the said declaration of king Richard in fauour of Arthur and to take a contrary oth to admitt the said Iohn if king Richard his brother should dye vvithout issue and the like oth did the said Bishop of Ely together withe the Archbishop of Roan that was left in equal authority with him exact and take of the citizens of London vvhen they gaue them their priuileges and liberties of cōmunaltie as Hollingshed recordeth And lastly the said Hollingshed vvriteth how that king Richard being now come home againe from the warr of Hierusalem and void of that ielosy of his brother vvhich before I haue mentioned he made his last wil and testament and ordeyned in the same that his brother Iohn should be his successor caused al the nobles there present to sweare fealtie vnto him as to his next in blood for which cause Thomas Walsingham in his story vvriteth these wordes Ioannis Filius iunior Henrici 2. Anglorum regis Alienorae Ducissae Aquitaniae non modo iure propinquitatis sed etiam testamento fratris sui Richardi designatus est successo post mortem ipsius Which is Iohn yonger sonne of Henry the second king of Ingland and of Eleanor duchesse of Aquitaine vvas declared successor of the crowne not only by law and right of neernes of blood but also by the wil and testament of Richard his brother Thus much this ancient chronicler speaketh in the testifying of King Iohns title By al which examples that fell out almost vvithin one age in diuers natiōs ouet the world letting passe many others which the Ciuilian touched in his discourse before for that they are of more ancient tymes these fauourers of the house of Lancaster do inferr that the right of the vncle before the nephew vvas no new or straunge matter in those dayes of king Edward the third and that if we vvil deny the same now vve must cal in question the succession and right of al the kingdomes and states before mentioned of Naples Sicilie Spayne Britanie Flanders Scotland Ingland whose kings and princes do euidently hold their crownes at this day by that very title as hath bin shewed Moreouer they saye that touching law in this pointe albeit the most famous Ciuil lavvyers of the world be some vvhat deuided in the same matter some of them fauouring the vncle and some other the nephew and that for different reasons As Baldus Oldratus Panormitanus and diuers others alleaged by Guillelmus Benedictus in his repetitions in fauour of the nephew against the vncle and on the other side for the vncle before the nephew Bartolus Alexander Decius Altiatus Cuiatius and many other their follovvers are recompted in the same place by the same man yet in the end Baldus that is held for head of the contrary side for the nephew after al reasons weighed to and fro he commeth to conclude that seing rigour of law runneth only with the vncle for that in deed he is properly neerest in blood by one degree and that only indulgence and custome serueth for the nephew permitting him to represent the place of his father vvhich is dead they resolue I say that vvhensoeuer the vncle is borne before the nephew and the said vncles elder brother dyed before his father as it happened in the case of Iohn of Gaunt and of king Richard their the vncle by right may be preferred for that the said elder brother could not giue or transmitt that thing to his sonne vvhich vvas not 〈◊〉 himselfe before his father dyed and consequently his sonne could not represent that vvhich his father neuer had and this for the Ciuil law Touching our common lawes the fauourers of lancaster do say two or three things first that the right of the crowne and interest therunto is not decided expresly in our lavv not it is a plea subiect to the common rules therof but is superiour and more eminent and therfore that men may not iudge of this as of other pleas of particuler persons nor is the tryal like nor the common maximes or rules alwaies of force in this thing as in others which they proue by diuers particuler cases as for example the vvidow of a priuate man shal haue her thirdes of al his landes for her dowry but not the Queene of the crowne Againe if a priuate man haue many daughters and dye seazed of any landes in fee simple vvithout heyre male his said daughters by law shal haue the said landes as coparteners equally deuided betweene them but not the daughters of a king for that the eldest must carry away al as though she vvere heyre male The lyke also is seene if a baron matche vvith a femme that is an inheretrix and haue issue by her though she dye yet shal he enioye her landes during his lyfe as tenant by curtesie but it is not so in the crowne if a man mary with a Queene as king Phillip dyd with Queene Marye and so finally they saye also that albeit in priuate mens possessions the common course of our law is that if the father dye seazed of landes in fee simple leauing a yonger sonne and a nephew that is to say a child of his elder sonne the nephew shal succede his grandfather as also he shal do his vncle if
vvife the lady Gertrude taking from her al her goodes landes and inheritance and committed to perpetual prison their only sonne and heyre lord Edward Courtney being then but a childe of seuen yeares old vvhich remayned so there vntil many yeares after he vvas set at libertie and restored to his liuing by Queene Mary Moreouer he put to death the lady 〈◊〉 Plantagenet Countesse of Salisbury daughter of George duke of Clarence that vvas brother of his grandfather king Edward the fourth vvith her he put to death also her eldest sonne and heyre Thomas Poole lord Montague and committed to perpetual prison where soone after also he ended his life a little infant named Henry Poole his sonne and heyre condemned to death by act of parlament although absent Renald Pole brother to the said lord Montague Cardinal in Rome wherby he ouerthrew also the noble house of Salisbury and vvarwick nether need I to go further in this relation though these men do note also how Edward the sixt put to death two of his owne vncles the Seymers or at least it vvas done by his authority and how that vnder her Maiestie that now is the Queene of Scotland that vvas next in 〈◊〉 of any other liuing the chiefe titler of the honse of Yorke hath also bin put to death Lastly they do note and I may not omit it that their is no noble house standing at this day in Ingland in the ancient state of calling that it had and in that dignity and degree that it vvas in vvhen the house of Yorke entred to the crowne if it be aboue the state of a barony but only such as defended the right and interest of the houses of Lancaster and that al other great houses that toke parte vvith the house of Yorke and did helpe to ruine the house of Lancaster be either ceased since or extyrpated and ouer throwne by the same house of Yorke it selfe which they assisted to gett the crowne so at this present they be either vnited to the crowne by confiscatiō or transferred to other Images that are strangers to them who possessed thē before As for example the ancient houses of Inglād that remaine at this day were stāding whē the house of Yorke begā ther title are the houses of Arōdel Oxford Northūberland Westmerland Shrewsbery for al other that are in Ingland at this day aboue the dignity of Barons haue bin aduanced since that tyme and al these fiue houses vvere these that principally did stick vnto the house of Lancaster as is euident by al Inglish chronicles For that the earle of Arondel brought in king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster and did helpe to place him in the dignity royal comming out of France vvith him The earle of Oxford and his sonne the lord Vere were so earnest in the defence of king Hēry the sixt as they were both slayne by king Edward the fourth and Iohn earle of Oxford vvas one of the principal assistāts of Hēry the seuēth to take the crowne frō Richard the third The house of Northumberland also was a principal ayder to Henry the fourth in getting the crowne and two earles of that name to wit Henry the second and third were slayne in the quarrel of king Henry the sixt one in the battel of S. Albons and the other of Saxton and a third earle named Henry the fourth fled into Scotlād vvith the said king Henry the sixt The house of Westmerland also vvas chiefe aduācer of Hēry the fourth to the crowne the secōd earle of that house vvas slayne in the party of Henry the sixt in the said bartaile of Saxton and Iohn earle of Shrewsbury vvas likevvise slayne in defence of the title of Lancaster in the bartaile of Northamptō and I omit many other great seruices and faithful endeuours vvhich many Princes of these fiue noble anciēt houses did in the defence of the Lancastrian kings vvhich these men say that God hath revvarded vvith continuance of their howses vnto this day But on the contrary side these men do note that al the old houses that principally assisted The title of Yorke are now extinguished and that chiefly by the kings themselues of that house as for example the principal peeres that assisted the family of Yorke vvere Moubray duke of Norfolke de la Poole duke of Suffolk the earle of Salisbury and the earle of Warwick of al which the euent was this Iohn Moubray duke of Norfolke the first confederat of the house of Yorke dyed soone after the exaltation of Edward the fourth vvithout ifsue and so that name of Moubray ceased and the title of the dukedome of Norfolke vvas transferred afterward by king Richard the third vnto the house of Howards Iohn de la Poole duke of Suffolke that married the sister of king Edward the fourth was his great assistant though he left three sonnes yet al were extinguished vvithout issue by helpe of the house of Yorke for that Edmond the eldest sonne duke of Suffolke vvas beheaded by king Henry the eight his brother Richard driuen out of the realme to his destruction as before hath bin shewed Iohn their brother earle of Lincolue was stayne at Stockfild in seruice of king Richard the third and so ended the line of de la Pooles Richard Neuel earle of Salisbury a chiefe enemy to the house of Lancaster and exalter of York vvas taken at the battaile of VVakefild and there beheaded leauing three sonnes Richard Iohn and George Richard vvas earle both of Salisbuty and Warwick surnamed the great earle of Warwick vvas he that placed king Edward the fourth in the royal seate by whome yet he vvas slayne afterward at Barnet and the landes of these two great earldomes of Salisbury and Warwick were vnited to the crowne by his attainder Iohn his yonger brother vvas Marques of montague and after al assistance giuen to the said king Edward the fourth of the howse of Yorke vvas slayne also by him at Barnet and his lands in like māner confiscate to the crowne vvhich yet vvere neuer restored againe George Neuel their yonger brother vvas Archbishop of Yorke vvas taken sent prisoner by the said king Edward vnto Guynes vvho shortly after pined avvay and dyed and this vvas the ende of al the principal frendes helpers aduancers of the house of Yorke as these men do alleage Wherfore they do conclude that for al these reasons many more that might be alleaged the title of Lancaster must needes seeme the better title which they do confirme by the general consent of al the realme at king Henry the seuenth his comming in to recouer the crowne from the house of Yorke as from vsurpers for hauing had the victory against king Richard they crowned him presētly in the field in the right of Lācaster before he married with the house of Yorke
discended from king VVilliam the Cōqueror by his eldest daughter lady Cōstance as also by diuers other participations of the blood royal of Ingland as aftervvards vvil appeare Now then to come to the second daughter of king VVilliam the Conqueror or rather the third for that the first of al vvas a Nonne as before hath byn noted her name vvas Adela or Alis as hath bin saide and she vvas marryed in France to Stephen counte Palatin of Champagne Charters and Bloys by whom she had a sonne called also Stephen vvho by his grand mother was earle also of Bollayne in Picardie and after the death of his vncle king Henry of Ingland vvas by the fauour of the Inglish nobility and especially by the helpe of his owne brother the Lord Henry of Bloys that vvas Bishop of Winchester and iointly Abbot of Glastenbury made kinge of England and this both in respect that Mathilda daughter of king Henry the first was a woman and her sonne Henry duke of Anjou a very childe one degree farther of from the Conqueror and from kings Rufus then Stephen vvas as also for that this king Henry the first as hath bin signified before vvas iudged by many to haue entred vvrongfully vnto the crowne and therby to haue made both himselfe and his posterity incapable of succession by the violence vvhich he vsed against both his elder brother Robart and his nephew duke VVilliam that vvas sonne and heyte to Robert vvho by nature and law were bothe of them held for soueraintes to Iohn by those that fauored them and their pretentions But yet howsoeuer this were we see that the duke of Britany that liued at that day should euidently haue succeded before Stephen for that he was discended of the elder daughter of the Conqueror and Stephen of the yonger though Stephen by the commodity he had of the neernes of his porte and hauen of Bullayne vnto Ingland as the French stories do saye for Calys vvas of no importance at that tyme and by the frendship and familiarity he had gotten in Ingland during the raigne of his two vncles king Rufus and king Henry and especially by the help of his brother the Bishop and Abbot as hath bin said he gat the start of al the rest and the states of Ingland admitted him This man although he had two sonnes namely Eustachius duke of Normandy and William earle of Norfolk yet left they no issue And his daughter Marie was maried to mathew of Fladers of whom if any issue remaines it fell afterward vppon the house of Austria that succeded in those states To king Stephen who left no issue succeded by compositiō after much warre Henry duke of Aniou sonne and heyre to Mathilda before named daughter of Henry the first which Henry named afterward the second tooke to wife Elenor daughter and heyre of VVilliam duke of Aquitaine earle of Poytiers which Elenor had bin marryed before to the king of France Lewis the 7. and bare him two daughters but vppon dislike conceaued by the one against the other they were deuorced vnder pretēce of being within the fowerth degree of consanguinitye and so by second marriage Elenor vvas vvife to this said Henry who afterward was king of Ingland by name of K. Henry the fecōd that procured the deathe of Thomas Becket archebishope of Canterbury and vvas both before and after the greatest enimye that euer Lewis the king of France had in the vvorld and much the greater for his marriage by vvhich Henry vvas made far stronger for by this woman he came to be duke of al Aquitaine that is of Gascony and Guyene and earle of al the coūtrey of Poytiers wheras beforealso by his fathers inheritance he vvas duke both of Anjou Tourayne and Mayne by his mother Mathilda king Henries daughter of Ingland he came to be king of Ingland duke of Normandie and by his owne industry he gat also to be lord of Ireland as also to bring Scotland vnder his homage so as he enlarged the kingdome of Ingland most of any other king before or after him This king Henry the second as Stow reconteth had by Lady Elenor fyue sonnes and three daughters His eldest sonne vvas named VVilliam that dyed yonge his seconde vvas Henry vvhom he caused to be crowned in his owne life tyme vvherby he receaued much trouble but in the end this sonne died before his father without issue His third sonne vvas Richard surnamed for his valour Cor de leon who reigned after his father by the name of Richard the first and died vvithout issue in the yeare of Christ 1199. Hys fovverth sonne named Geffrey maried lady Constance daughter and heyre of Britanie as before hath bin said and dying left a sonne by her named Arthur which vvas duke of Britanie after him and pretended also to be king of Ingland but vvas put by it by his vncle Iohn that tooke him also prisoner and kept him so in the castel first of fallaise in Normandie and then in Roan vntil he caused him to be put to death or slew him vvith his owne hands as Frēch stories vvrite in the yeare 1204. This duke Arthur left behind him two sisters as Stow writeth in his chronicles but others write that it was but one and at least wise I fynde but one named by the french stories which vvas Elenor whom they saye king Iohn also caused to be muthered in Ingland a a litle before her brother the duke vvas put to death in Normandie and this was the end of the issue of Geffrey whose vvife Constance duchesse of Britanie marryed againe after this murther of her children vnto one Guy Vicond of Touars and had by him two daughters wherof the eldest named Alis was duchefse of Britanie by vvhome the race hath bin continued vnto our tyme. The fift sonne of king Henry the second was named Iohn who after the death of his brother Richard by help of his mother Elenor and of Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury drawen therunto by his said mother gat to be king and put back his nephew Arthur vvhom king Richard before his departure to the war of the holy land had caused to be declared heyre apparent but Iohn preuayled and made away both nephew and Neece as before hath bin saide for which fact he vvas detested of many in the world abroade and in France by acte of parlament depriued of al the states he had in those partes Soone after also the pope gaue sentence of depriuation against him and his owne barons tooke armes to execute the sentence and finally they deposed both him and his yong sonne Henry being then but a child of 8. yeares old and this in the 18. yeare of his reigne and in the yeare of Christ 1215. and Levvis the 8. of that name prince at that tyme but afterward king of France was chosen king of Ingland sworne in Londō and
also of the houses of Scotland Suffolke that hold likewise of the house of Yorke and that for the reasons and argumēts vvhich in the former two chapters I haue set downe in particuler against euery one of them and shal here-after also againe those that remaine vvhich arguments and obiections or any of them if they should not be founde sufficient to exclude the said other houses then is the clayme of this house of Huntington therby made voide for that it is as vve see by the yonger childe of the house of Yorke that is to saye by the second brother so as if either the pretence of Lancaster in general be better thē that of Yorke or if in the house of Yorke it selfe any of the fornamed pretenders descended frō K. Edward the fourth as of the elder brother may hold or take place then holdeth not this title of Clarence for that as I haue said it cōming from the yonger brother must needes be grounded only or principally vppō the barring and excluding of the rest that ioyntly do pretēd of which barres and exclusions laid by this house of Clarence against the rest for that I haue spoken sufficiētly in the last two chapters going tefore for so much as toucheth the two houses of Scotland and Suffolk and shal do afterwards about the other two of Britanie and Portugal I meane in this place to omit to say any more therin only to consider vvhat the other competitors do alleage against this house of Clarence and especially agaynst the pretence of the earle of Huntington as chiefe titler therof for to the excluding of him do concurr not only those other of opposite houses but also the Pooles of his owne house as now vve shall see First then the contrary houses do alleage generally against al this house of Clarence that seing their clayme is founded only vppon the right of the daughter of George duke of Clarence second brother to K. Edward the fourth euident it is that so long as any lawful issue remayneth of any elder daughter of the said king Edward the elder brother as they say much doth and cannot be denyed no clayme or pretence of the yonger brothers daughter can be admitted and so by standing vppon this and answering to the obiections alleaged before against the elder houses they hold this matter for very cleere and al pretence of this house of Clarence vtterly excluded Secondly the same opposite houses do alleage diuers attainders against the principal heades of the house of Clarence vvherby their vvhole interests vvere cut of as namely it is to be shewed in three discents the one after the other to vvit in duke George himselfe the first head beginner of this house that was attainted and executed and then in the lady Margaret his daughter and heyre countesse of Salisbury and in like manner attaynted and executed thirdly in her sonne and heyre Henry Poole lord Monrague put also to death from vvhose daughters both the earle of Huntington his brethren vvith the children of Syr Thomas Barrington do descende and albeit some may say that the said house of Clarence hath bin since those attainders restored in blood yet reply these men that except it can be shewed that particuler mention was made of reabiliting the same to this pretence of succession to the crowne it vvil not be sufficient as in like manner they affirme that the same restoring in blood if any such were hath not bin sufficiēt to recouer the ancient landes and titles of honor which this house of Clarence had before these attainders for that they were forfeited therby to the crowne and so say these men was their forfeited therby in like manner vnto the next in blood not attainted this prerogatiue of succeeding to the crowne and cannot be restored againe by any general restauration in blood except special mention be made therof euen as vve see that many houses attainted are restored daylie in blood without restoremēt of their titles and dignities and a present example we haue in the earle of Arundel restored in blood but not to the title of duke of Norfolke and this saye the opposite houses against this house of Clarence But now thirdly entreth in also against the earle of Huntington the opposition of some of his owne house vvhich is of the issue of Syr Geffrey Poole brother to his grād father vvho say that vvhen the lord Henry Montague vvas put to death vvith his mother the countesse of Salisbury and therby both their pretences and titles cut of in them then fel al such right as they had or might haue vppō the said Sir Geffry Poole and not vppon his neece the lady Catherin daughter of the lord Henry his elder brother and mother of the earle of Huntingtō and this for three causes First for that he was not attainted and so vvhether we respect his grand-father duke George of Clarence or his great grand father duke Richard of York the saide right in this respect discended to him and secondly for that he vvas a degree neerer to the said dukes his ancestors then vvas at that tyme his neece Catherine vvhich right of neerest propinquitie say these men is made good lawful by al the reasons examples presidēts and authorities alleaged before in the fourth chapter of this conference in fauour of vncles before their nephewes and it shal not neede that vve speake any thing more of that matter in this place but only to remit your remembrance to that vvhich herein hath bin said before Fourthly they proue the same in fauour of Syr Geffrey for that the lady Catherin vvas a vvoman and Syr Geffrey a man vvhose priuilege is so great in a matter of succession as also hath bin touched before that albeit they had bin in equal degree and that Syr Greffrey were not a degree before her as he vvas yet seing neither of thē nor their fathers vvere euer in possessiō of the thing pretended Sir Geffrey should be preferred as hath bin shewed before by some presidents and shal be seene afterward in the case of Portugal wherin the king of Spaine that now is vvas preferred to the crowne for that respect only that his competitors vvere vvomen and in equal degree of discent vvith him and he a man And the very like allegation of propinquitie I haue hard produced for the lady Wenefred vvife of Syr Thomas Barrington if she be yet a-liue to wit that she is before the earle of Huntington and his brethrē by this reason of propinquitie in bloode for that she is one degree neerer to the stock then they Fiftly and lastely both these and other cōpetitors do alleage against the earle of Hūntington as an important and sufficient barr against his pretence the qualitie of his religion vvhich is as they say that he hath bin euer knowne to fauour those which commonly in Ingland are called Puritanes and not fauoured by the state but yet this
of three bretheren the elder dye without issue and the second leaue a sonne yet in the inheritance and succession of the crowne it goeth otherwise as by al the former eight examples haue bin shewed and this is the first they saye about the common law The second pointe which they affirme is that the ground of our common lawes consisteth principally and almost only about this pointe of the crowne in custome for so say they we see by experience that nothing in effect is written therof in the common law and al old lawyers do affirme this pointe as vvere Ranulfus de Granuilla in his booke of the lawes and customes of Ingland vvhich he vvrote in the tyme of king Henry the second and Iudge Fortescue in his booke of the prayse of Inglish lawes vvhich he compiled in the tyme of king Henry the sixt and others Wherof these men do inferr that seing there are so many presidēts and examples alleaged before of the vncles case preferred before the nephew not only in forayne countryes but also in Ingland for this cause I saye they do affirme that our cōmon lawes cannot but fauour also this title and cōsequently must needs like vvel of the interest of Lancaster as they auouch that al the best old lawyers did in those tymes for example they do record two by name of the most famous learned men vvhich those ages had who not only defended the said title of Lancaster in those dayes but also suffred much for the same The one vvas the forenamed iudge Fortescue Chancelor of Ingland and named father of the common lawes in that age vvho fled out os Ingland vvhith the Queene vvife of king Henry the sixt vvith the prince her sonne and liued in banishment in france vvhere it seemeth also that he vvrote his learned booke intituled de laudibus legum Angliae And the other vvas Sir Thomas Thorope chiefe Baron of the excheker in the same reigne of the same king Henry the sixt vvho being aftervvard put into the tower by the Princes of the house of Yorke for his eger defence of the title of Lancaster remayned ther a long tyme and after being deliuered was beheaded at hygate in a tumulte in the dayes of king Edward the fourth These then are the allegations which the fauourers of the house of Lācaster do lay downe for the iustyfying of that title affirming first that Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster ought to haue succeded his father K. Edward the third immediately before king Richard and that iniury vvas done vnto him in that king Richard vvas preferred And secondly that king Richard vvere his right neuer so good vvas iustly orderly deposed for his euil gouerment by lawful authority of the common wealth And thirdly that after his deposition Henry duke of Lancaster sonne heyre of Iohn of Gaunt vvas next in succession euery vvay both in respect of the right of his father as also for that he vvas two degrees neerer to the king deposed then vvas Edmond Mortimer descended of Leonel duke of Clarence and these are the principal and substancial proofes of their right and title But yet besides these they do add also these other arguments and cōsiderations following first that vvhat soeuer right or pretence the house of Yorke had the princes therof did forfeit and leese the same many tymes by their cōspiraces rehellions attainders as namely Richard earle of Cambrige that married the lady Anne Mortimer and by her tooke his pretence to the crowne vvas conuicted of a conspiracy against king Henry the fift in Southampton as before I haue said and there vvas put to death for the same by iudgment of the king and of al his peeres in the yeare 1415. the duke of Yorke his elder brother being one of the iury that condēned him This earle Richards sonne also named Richard comming afterward by the death of his vncle to be duke of York first of al made open clay me to the crowne by the title of Yorke But yet after many othes sworne and broken to king Henry the sixt he was attaynted of treason I meane bothe he and Edward his sonne then earle of march which aftervvard vvas king vvith the rest of his ofspringe euen to the nynth degree as Stow affirmeth in a parlament holden at Couentry in the yeare 1459. and in the 38. yeare of the reigne of the said king Henry and the very next yeare after the said Richard was slayne in the same quarrel but the honse of Lācaster say these mē was neuer attainted of any such crime Secondly they saye that the house of Yorke did enter only by violence by infinite blood-shedd and by wilful murthering not only of diuers of the nobilitie both spiritual and temporal but also of both king Hēry the sixt hym self and of prince Edward his sonne and by a certaine populer and mutinous election of a certaine few souldiers in Smithfield of Lōdon and this vvas the entrance of the howse of Yorke to the crowne vvheras king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster entred vvithout bloodshedd as hath bin shewed beinge called home by the requestes and letters of the people and nobility and his election admission to the crowne vvas orderly and authorized by general consent of parlament in the doing therof Thirdly they alleage that king Hēry the sixt put downe by the house of Yorke was a good and holy king and had reigned peaceably 40 yeares and neuer committed any act vvorthy deposition vvheras king Richard the second had many waies deserued the same as him selfe came to acknowledge and ther vppon made a personal solemne and publique resignation of the said crowne vnto his cosen Henry of Lancaster the which iustified much the said Henries entrance Fourthly they alleage that the housa of Lancaster had bin in possession of the crowne vppon the pointe of 60. yeares before the house of Yorke did raise trouble vnto them for the same in vvhich tyme their title was confirmed by many parlaments othes approbations and publique acts of the common vvealth and by the nobles peeres and people therof and by the states both spiritual and temporal and vvith the cōsent of al foraine nations so that if there had bin any fault in their first entrance yet vvas this sufficient to authorize the same as we see it vvas in the title of king William the Conqueror and of his two sonnes king William Rufus and king Henry the first that entred before their elder brother and of king Iohn that entred before his nephew of his sonne king Henry the third that entred after his fathers depriuation and after the election of prince Lewis of france as also of Edward the third that entred by deposition of his owne father of al which titles yet might there haue bin doubt made at the begining but by tyme and durance of possession and