at this time was found to amount to One Hundred and Ten besides those in Ireland Aquitain and Normandy King Edward now thought fitting because of his Wars intended against France to confiscate unto his own Use all the Goods of the said Priories with all the Lands Tenements Fees and Advowsons of the same Letting out their Houses to Farm as his Grandfather before him had done in the 23 Year of his Reign upon the like occasion And this was Customary not only before this but also afterwards r id Clem. Reyner in Append Par. 3. p. 146. when ever the Wars brake out between England and France for the Kings of England to seise all the Possessions of the Cluniacks and other Aliens into their Hands and to put them out to Farm to the Religieux themselves on consideration of an annual Pension But when the War ended there was full Restoration made of all again as particularly we shall find four and twenty Years hence or in the 35 of this King. VI. While King Edward was thus busied at home and his Ambassadors equally concern'd in his service abroad there Å¿ Junii 9. obiit Vt apparet ex illius Historiâ in l. dicto Time's Storeh p. 720. Alii 6 Junii ponunt died at his Palace in Valenciennes William the Third Earl of Heinalt Holland Zealand and Friseland Father to Philippa King Edward's beloved Queen who for his Great Mercy temper'd with Justice and other Princely Vertues was sirnamed the Good. One Example of his Exact Justice I shall shew whereby we may guess at his other Perfections The Deed was done not long before his Death upon a Bayliff of South-Holland t Vid. Time's Storeh p. 720. l. 7. c. 30. Engl. Atlas 4 Vol. p. 153. who had unjustly taken a goodly fair Cow from a poor Peasant which had been the sole support of himself his Wife and Children As there are some Kine in that Country which can give twenty u To enforce the truth of this Relation a little Conradus Gesner hath these Words The Oxen of the Belgian Provinces especially in Friesland and Holland are of very great stature For it hath been found by experience that one of them hath weigh'd Sixteen Hundred pounds Trey Weight And when the Earl of Hâ—ochstadt was at Machlin in Friesland there was presented unto him a Fair Large Ox which being killed weigh'd above Two Thousand Five Hundred Twenty Eight Pounds which I reckon to amount to 180 Stone and 8 Pounds Wherefore that succeeding Ages might not mistrust the Truth of so strange a Matter the said Earl caused the Picture of the said Ox to be set up in his Palace at his full Proportion with an Inscription signifying his Weight and the Day and Year when this Ox was deliver'd and killed Conrad Gesner Hist of Foursccted Beasts p. 70. Engl. folio Pottles of Milk and more in a Day The Earl lay then sick on his Death-Bed as it proved but it was his Custom never to Debar the meanest Suitors whether he was sick or well So that upon this poor Countrymans Complaint and Examination duly had the Bayliff was adjudg'd to give unto the Peasant an 100 Crowns of Gold for the great Wrong he had done him which was accordingly performed But then for his Affront to Publique Justice since he was an Officer and had thus abused the Authority entrusted to him the Earl sent for an Executioner and caused him to strike his Head off by his own Bed-side I shall only crave leave to add one more small digression of a matter happening in his Days which thô not pertinent to the History is yet well worthy Memory for its great Rarity In the Eleventh Year of this Earls Government which was the Tenth Year of the Reign of King Edward the Second of England and the Year of our Lord 1316 there happen'd even in England a great Scarcity of Corn as appears by x Walsing hist p. 83. our Historians but in this y Time's Store-house p. 720. Earls Country there was so terrible a Dearth and Famine that poor people fell down dead in the Streets for Hunger Many also were found Dead in the Highways and in Woods and Fields whither they went to seek for Herbs and Roots to stop the Importunities of craving Nature Little Children would die as they indeavour'd to suck at their starving Mothers Breasts and some Women could not refrain eating their Children In this time of Famine a certain Poor Woman of Leyden being extreamly opprest with Hunger came to a Sister of her own who was far better to pass begging of her for Godsake to lend her some Bread which she promised with Thanks to repay when it should please God to enable her The hard-hearted Sister deny'd her oftentimes notwithstanding the other was so importunate and withall told her that she was assured by her Countenance how she must needs have sufficient for her self if not to spare Hereupon the unmercifull Wretch lying both to God and her poor Sister said If I have any Bread to help my self withall I wish to God it may all instantly be turned into Stone It seems the heavy Displeasure of Almighty God laid hold on those rash Words of hers for going soon after to the Cupboard to relieve her self she found all her Loaves of Bread most plainly converted into solid stones so that she her self died for want of that which she had so wickedly deny'd her own Sister It is most credibly told us z Time's Stâ—â—ehouse ibid. that one or two of those Stone-Loaves are yet to be seen in St. Peters Church at Leyden in Memory of this most just and extraordinary Judgement However this Good Earl William King Edward's Father-in-Law having been all along a most Vertuous Prince Victorious in War Wise and Judicious Well-spoken and Learned a great Friend to Peace affable to all Men and universally Beloved after he had Governed his Provinces of Heinalt Holland Zealand and Friesland for the space of 32 Years died as before we said and with a Frois c. 29. great Pomp was buried at the Fryers in Valenciennes The Bishop of Cambray himself sang the Mass and besides the English Lords there were present many Dukes Earls and Barons of sundry Countries as well for the manifold Alliances he had abroad as for that his Fame was Singular and his Memory Dear to all Men. He was succeeded by William the Fourth his Son and Heir who had Married the Lady Joan Daughter to John Duke of Brabant giving her for her b Vid. l. 1. c. 24. §. 7. Joynture the Land of Binche upon the Haysne a fair and goodly Inheritance As for the Lady Johanna Countess Dowager of Heinalt the young Earls Mother and Sister to King Philip of France she resolved to spend the rest of her Days in a Nunnery at Fontaine on the River Scheld where being soon admitted she gave her self wholly to Devotion Almsdeeds and other Pious Offices VII And now
c. 236. Caxton c. that not long before the King had sent the Ambassadors aforesaid to Avignon to require of Pope Gregory that as to the Reservation of Benefices of England made in his Court he would supersede Medling for the future that Clergymen might freely enjoy their Elections to Episcopal Dignities and that it might be sufficient for them to be confirmed by their Metropolitans as was the Antient Custom Upon these and the like Abuses they required Remedy of the Pope concerning all which Articles the said Ambassadors had certain Answers from his Holiness touching which the Pope enjoyned them upon their Return into England to certifie him by their Letters of the King's Will and of his Realm and also that they would press the King to let him first know what he and his Council design'd to do before they proceeded to determine any thing as to the Premises The Result whereof we shall refer to the next Year However in this Parliament it was Enacted That Cathedral Churches should enjoy their own Elections and that for the future the King should not write against the Persons so Elected but rather by his Letters endeavour their Confirmation if need were But this Statute availed not much afterward The o M.S. Ret. Par. ut ante Sr. Rob. Cotton ibid. Burgesses of Bristow in this Parliament require that the said Town with the Suburbs thereof may be a County of it self and that the Perambulation of the same with the Bounds thereof returned into the Chancery with all the Liberties and Charters thereto granted may be confirmed by Act of Parliament The King is content to grant that the Charters Liberties and Perambulation aforesaid may be confirmed under the Great Seal That no French Prior Alien be permitted to dwell within twenty Miles of the Sea-Coast for several Reasons there specified The King by his Council will provide therefore That Remedy may be had that Men be not called into the Exchequer upon Suggestion without Process contrary to the Statute made in the 42 Year of the King. Let any particular Man complain and he shall find Remedy After this the Lord Chancellor in the Kings Name gave great Thanks to the Lords and Commons and so this Session ended It is to be observed that the Printed Statute touching the Assize of Broad Cloath Cap. 1. agreeth with the Record As also that Cap. 2. touching Scottish Silver Coin. XVIII This Year it is reported p Mezeray ad hunc ann p. 92. Odor Rainal ad an 1374. §. 13. ex Chron. Belg. Job Leyd c. that there happen'd in Italy France and England especially in the Lower Countries a certain Maniack Passion or Frenzy unknown to former Ages for those who were tormented therewith which for the most part were the Scum of the People stript themselves stark naked put Garlands of Flowers on their Heads and taking one another by the Hands went about in the streets and into the Churches dancing singing and turning round with such vehemence that they would fall down to the ground quite out of Breath This Agitation made them swell so prodigiously that within an Hours time they would burst unless some-body took care to bind their Bellies about with strong Swathing-bands Those who looked on them too earnestly were often tainted with the same Malady It was thought to have come by some Diabolical Operation and that Exorcisms did much prevail against it The Vulgar called it St. John's Dance XIX There died q Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 70. b. about this time a valiant Baron of England named the Lord Miles Stapleton one * Vid. Lib. 1. c. 22. §. 7. p. 298. of the Founders of the most Noble Order of the Garter leaving behind Thomas his Son and Heir then of full Age who yet died also this same Year without Issue leaving his Sister Elizabeth his next Heir she being then married to Sr. Thomas Metham Which Sr. Thomas having at that time Issue by her and doing his Homage had Livery of the Lands of her Inheritance There died r Walsing hist p. 183. Vid. Godwins Catal. Bish c. also this Year Dr. John Thoresby Archbishop of York and Dr. John Barnet Bishop of Ely besides the Bishop of Worcester of whose Death we spake at the beginning of the last Parliament Alexander Nevile succeeded in the See of York Thomas Fitz-Alan younger Son to the Earl of Arundel in that of Ely and Henry Wakefield in that of Worcester CHAPTER the ELEVENTH AN. DOM. 1374. An. Regni Angliae XLVIII Franciae XXXV The CONTENTS I. King Edward inquires into the Livings then in the Hands of Aliens with his Letters to the Bishop of Winchester for that purpose II. He sends Commissioners to treat with the Popes Legates about the Premisses with the Copy of their Commission and the Effect of their Treaty III. The Duke of Anjou's Expedition into Gascogne IV. A Truce between the Dukes of Lancaster and Anjou V. The Lords of High Gascosgne yield to the Duke of Anjou who takes in all 40 Towns and Castles from the English VI. Becherel for want of succour yields VII Sr. Hugh Chastillon Master of the Crossbows of France is redeem'd with an Adventure between him and the Lord of Gomegines Captain of Ardres for King Edward VIII A Treaty at Bruges concerning a Peace between the two Crowns wherein Care is had of the Earl of Pembroke and others taken formerly by the Spaniards with the Death of the said Earl of Pembroke and some Observations thereon IX The Death of Francis Petrarch Laureat Poet of Italy and some other Considerable Persons of England X. An Account of Madam Alice Perrers who was falsly said to be King Edward's Concubine I. KING Edward being perpetually alarum'd as well in Parliament as otherwise by his Subjects who complain'd of the many great Abuses done unto Him and his Authority by the See of Rome as of their Reservations and other Arts whereby they entrenched upon his Prerogative Royal and the Liberties of the Church of England exhausting his Kingdom to enrich Strangers and such as were his Enemies the King I say being now throughly awaken'd at these Cries of his People among other notable Ways whereby he encountred these Usurpations began a Fox Acts Monum p. 560. at this time to require an exact Survey of all Benefices and Dignities Ecclesiastical throughout his Dominions which were then in the Hands of Italians Frenchmen or other Aliens with a true Valuation of the same and sent unto all his Bishops his Royal Commission to make such Enquiry the Tenor whereof followeth EDWARD by the Grace of God King of England and France and Lord of Ireland to the Right Reverend Father in God William by the same Grace Bishop of Winchester Greeting Being willing for certain Reasons Us thereunto moving to be certified what and how many Benefices as well Archdeaconries and other Dignities as Vicarages Parsonages Prebends and Chapters within your Dioecese there be
the Scots having gotten together a considerable Army resolv'd to raise the Siege from before Barwick but when they saw too much difficulty in the undertaking they proceeded over the Tweed into Northumberland where being informed that the young Queen of England was in the Castle of Bamburgh near the River Warne they immediately laid their Siege thereto if by any means for her sake at least they might so oblige King Edward to rise from before Barwick But this Prince was not so Uxorious and besides he well knew the Great strength of that Place and that his Queen had sufficient Provision both of Men and Victuals so that for all this he stirred not thô he heard likewise how the Scots during this their Siege before Bamburgh f Walsingh hist p. 114. n. 30. overran the whole Country with their Detachments Ravaging and Destroying whatever they could find for six days together During this Siege of Barwick there arose g Powel's Hist of Wales p. 147. ex Joh. Bâ—sweâ—'s Concords of Armery fol. 80. a great Controversie between two English Knights the one Sr. William Fackenham Appellant and the other Sr. John Sitsylt alias Cecil Defendant The Quarrel was concerning an Ensign of Arms which were h Ashmole p. 715. 716. in Kts. 355. 391. 400 417. Sandford p. 378 In Margin A Field Barry of Ten pieces Argent and Azure on six Escutcheons three two and one Sable as many Lions Rampant of the First Which Arms each of these Knights challenged as his Right and proffer'd to maintain the same by Combat in their proper Persons But it pleased the King that the Heralds should decide this matter by Law and Justice without shedding of Blood and so the Right of bearing those Arms was solemnly adjudged to Sr. John Cecill as Heir of Blood lineally descended from the Body of James Cecill Baron of Beauport slain at the Siege of Wallingford Castle in the Fourth of King Stephen Which Lord James Cecill was Son of Sr. Robert Sitsylt for that is the right Ancient Name who in the Days of King William Rufus went with Robert Fitz-Haimo to the Conquest of the County of Glamorgan after which he Married a Lady by whom he had Alterennes and other Lands in Hereford and Glocestershire From these Cecills in a direct Line is the Right Honourable i Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 408. Vid. Powel's Hist of Wales ubi tâ—ta hujus Familâ—ae Genealogia à p. 142. ad p. 147 James the Present Earl of Salisbury Vicount Cranburne descended Who when at St. Johns College in Cambridge was pleas'd to allow me the Honour of his Acquaintance whereby I am able upon Knowledge to declare that he is a Gentleman who for Loyalty Generosity and affability is most likely to Advance the Ancient and Honourable Name of the Cecills to the utmost Period of Glory But to proceed to our History all this while the Scots within Barwick had not been idle but always defended themselves gallantly and sometimes by brisk and vigorous Sallies offended their Enemies not a little For the Town was well furnished with Men of War and Provision of all sorts as having had a timely warning of what they were to expect beforehand Once they undertook to fire the English Navy thô without effect at which time Sr. William k Buchan l. 9. p. 287. Seton the Bastard of Sr. Alexander Seton a Man of great valour being about to leap on board an English Ship his own Vessel was suddenly wrought so far by the violence and motion of the Waves that falling short between the two Vessels he was unfortunately lost in the great hurry of the Engagement to the infinite regret of all that knew him Once there happen'd a sudden fire in the Town when the Captains fearing the English might make use of that advantage to their Ruine begg'd a Truce and Respit only while they might quench the Fire promising thereupon to yield the Town afterward if they had no Succour by that time But the danger of the Conflagration being once overcome they persisted in their Obstinacy Thus for three Months the Siege continued with much trouble to the Besieged as well otherwise as because of their frequent Sallies wherein for the most part they always had the worse in one of them One of Sr. Alexander Setons legitimate Sons being also taken Prisoner So that at last Sr. Alexander was so much opprest that he gave his Eldest son Sr. Thomas Seton an Hostage to King Edward that he would now without fail yield up the Town if he were not succoured by such a Day The King of England l Frois c. 26. fol. 16. would have had all yielded up simply on Discretion whereas the Besieged required their Lives and Goods to be saved till he was obliged to comply with their Request by the Advice of his Council especially of the Lord Robert of Artois who being with him in all this Expedition and observing the Barrenness of Scotland and the unprofitableness of these Wars still egg'd him on with all the earnestness imaginable to make an end here and to enterprise the Conquest of France which was his by Right of Inheritance and was rich enough to fill his Armies with Plunder Upon this account the Truce being granted and the Hostage deliver'd m Walsing Hist p. 114. Vid. M.S. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C. C. C. c. 223. the Lord Patrick of Dumbar and Sr. Alexander Seton sent away Sr. William Keth to the Siege of Bamburgh to require the Scotch Lords speedily to come back to their Assistance assuring them That if they would Couragiously dispose themselves to fight with the two Kings they would undoubtedly prevail great Numbers of the English Army being bestow'd about in Garrison and as for the Rest they must either divide themselves when they were to fight or the Town and Castle would be at liberty to fall on their Backs while the Army engaged them in the Front. Now when Sr. William Keth had brought this Message to the Scotch Lords before Bamburgh they because also by this time the Castle seem'd impregnable as we may partly guess by those Ruins of the Walls which are yet or were very lately to be seen resolve to Rise from before the Place and to advance against the Enemy Wherefore the seventh Day from their coming thither they began their March toward Barwick and so repassing the Tweed fetch'd a compass and at last encamped in a place called Bothul near Halliden vulgarly Halidoune Hill on the North side of Barwick But before I come to the Battle I must not omit a Story which the Scotch Writers call thô nothing at all credible lest thereby I may seem partially to rob that Nation of what is esteem'd so honourable by those indiscreet Authors Both the Besiegers and the Besieged saw this Approach of the Lord Archimbald Douglas with an Army of above Sixty thousand Men At which time as they n Buchan l. 9. p. 288. Hector l.
like unto Cherries but without any Stones let who can tell the Meaning of the Prodigy says Walsingham CHAPTER the TENTH The CONTENTS I. King Edward sends a fresh Embassy to the Earl of Heinalt with an account of 500 Gentlemen Voluntiers whose Captains were the Lord Walter Manny and the Lord James Audley with the success of the Ambassadors II. King Edward endeavors also to bring over the Flemings the Earl of Flanders puts to death the Lord Sigar of Courtray whereby he looses the Affections of his People who vanquish him in battle and put him to flight III. The Rise of Jacob van Arteveld in Gaunt his Popularity Power and Interest IV. The English Ambassadors make use of him to bring over the Flemings to the King their Master with their Success V. The King in Parliament creates his Son the Prince Duke of Cornwall and makes seven Earls the Prince at the same time dubbs twenty new Knights with other things relating to that Parliament and the Affairs of Ireland All the Lands of the Priors Aliens throughout England seised into the Kings Hands and by him let to farm VI. William the Good Earl of Heinalt dies an instance of his Justice and an account of a Divine Judgment upon an unnatural Sister William Son to the Good Earl succeeds the Countess Dowager goes into a Nunnery VII King Edward sends to demand the Crown of France and makes many Potent Friends in High-Germany and elsewhere King Philip seeks to draw off the Flemings to himself but in vain VIII King Philip sets a Garrison in Catsand to intercept the English Commissioners King Edward beats them out IX King Edward holds a Treaty of Peace with Philip and with his Allies for further enabling him in the War. X. The Pope intercedes The King calls a Parliament I. KING Edward the mean while not to slack his Business a 16 Decemb. Pat. 10. Ed. 3. p. 2. m. 6. Ashmole p. 646. sends a Commission to the Earl of Heinalt wherein he is stiled William Earl of Heinalt Holland and Zealand and Lord of Friseland our Father-in-Law and thereby constitutes him his Proctor to treat and agree with such Noblemen Persons of Note as he should think best touching both Alliances and Retainers He also sent Commissions with the like Power and under the same Date to William Marquis of Juliers the Kings Brother-in-Law he b Rittershusius in Tab. Com. Hollandiae Selandiae c. having married Joan Sister to Queen Philippa to Sr. John Montgomery Knight and to Doctor John Waweyn Canon of Darlington his Liegers in those Parts In April following a like Commission bearing Date the 19 of the said Month AN. DOM. 1337. An. Regni XI was issued to Henry Bishop of Lincoln William Lord Montagu and William Lord Clinton then newly made Earls and they immediately dispatch'd to the Earl of Heinalt on another Embassy far more honourable than before For it consisted of ten Great Batons and fourty other Knights c Frois c. 28. fol. 17. b. who were all fully instructed to treat further with the Earl and to article and conclude with such Lords of the Empire as by the said Earl had been nominated When they were come to Valenciennes each of them kept a great State and Port sparing for no Expence no more than if the King of England had been there in Person whereby they were highly extolled and respected by the People of those Parts In the Company of these English Knights there was a gallant Troop of young English Batchelors who had all their left Eyes hoodwink'd and clos'd up with a piece of Silk It was talk'd as if they had made a Vow to their Mistresses in England That they would never take off those Patches till they had passed into France and there performed some notable Exploit of Arms upon that Nation Some say d Lord Montaigne in his Essays l. 2. c. 25. that for all this they could never hear of any great Matter performed by any of them If not certainly 't is for want of Reading or Understanding For of this Resolute Company were no less than 500 Captains whereof were reported the young Lord Walter Manny that afterwards did Wonders in France and was the first that begun the War as we shall shew presently the young Lord Thomas Holland and also the noble Lord James Audely e Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 748. b. then not three and twenty Years of Age of whose valiant Acts and Heroick Exploits in the French Wars the Histories of both Nations make very honourable Mention In his Minority being under the Guardianship of Roger Lord Mortimer first Earl of March he was by him cheated into a Recognisance of ten thousand Marks which Debt as a Chattel became due to the King upon the Attaindure of the said Mortimer But his Majesty being soon convinced of his high Merit for thô so young he accompanied the King in all his Wars at his own Expences freely discharged him of that Summ. He bore for his Arms Gules a Fret Or and was afterwards one of that most honourable Company whom King Edward chose for his First Companions of the most Noble Order of the Garter and particularly in the Field of Poictiers he behav'd himself so eminently well that he obtain'd this Testimony of John then King of France to have best approved himself of any Knight whether French or English in Battle that day But I must not forestall the Reader by too long a Digression only this I thought necessary in order to refute the Lord Montaigne and to shew what kind of Gentlemen these were and that at least some of their Actions were not inferior to their Promises However this f Frois c. 28. f. 17. b. Vow of theirs was rumor'd as the occasion of those honourable Patches while they were at the Court of Earl William at Valenciennes thô they themselves would by no means acknowledge any such thing because the War was not yet declared These English Lords with their Company having thus for a while kept together in great splendor did notwithstanding all the while ply their Masters Business so well that by the g Ashmole p. 647. ex Rot. Aleman 11 Ed. 3. m. 9 10 11. 24 of May ensuing they had fully engaged divers of the Nobility and Others in Heinalt Gueldre and the Marquisate of Juliers to appear in the Kings Assistance against the French and withall settled the Proportion of Men and Arms wherewith each of them were to furnish the King in that Service together with the Stipends and Wages to be paid them in lieu thereof The mean time the h Frois ibid. Bishop of Lincoln taking some of the Chiefs with him rode to John Duke of Brabant who entertained them with much Honour and lighty accorded to their Motion Promising to sustain the King of Englands Quarrel to the best of his Power as well by Council as by Force of Arms That his Country should be open to his
of Clequin takes St. Benoist by Assault and puts all within to the Sword He takes Marans by Composition and Surgeres he finds void He takes Fontenay le Comté and sits down before Thoüars which obtains a Truce on promise to yield if not rescued by such a Day by the King of England or one of his Sons in Person The Captal of Busche brought Prisoner to Paris his Loyalty to the English for which he is confin'd for Life his Praise and Nobility and that he was Ancestor to Lewis XIV the present King of France XIX King Edward upon News from Thoüars resolves to go in Person to the Rescue and the mean while calls his Parliament and declares Richard of Bourdeaux the Black-Prince's only Son to have the Right of Succession after the Death of his Father and Grandfather and so leaving the said Prince Richard his Lieutenant during his Absence he sets Sail for Rochelle with a mighty Army XX. The French King prepares to oppose and the Loyal Lords of Gascogne to joyn him with all their Strength XXI But the Wind continuing adverse for a Month he is disappointed and forced to return into England XXII The English and Gascogne Lords offer themselves to save Thoüars but are not accepted because the Conditions required the King or one of his Sons to be there in Person XXIII Thoüars yielded to the French Mortagne besieged by the Lord. Clisson who leaves the Siege upon the Approach of the English Succours XXIV The Duke of Bretagne enters Alliance with King Edward and is made Earl of Richmond John of Gaunt resigning that Earldom upon an Equivalent XXV Prince Edward surrenders into his Fathers Hands the Principality of Aquitain The Death of the Earl of Stafford of Sr. William Molineux and of Sr. John Mandeville the Famous Traveller I. THIS being the first Inauspitious Year of our Great Edwards Reign was begun with the Death of two Famous Peers of this Realm For first a Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 186. Mill's Catal. Honor. p. 1075. on the 16 of January there died the Valiant Lord Humphry Bohun Earl of Northampton Hereford and Essex and Constable of England the Tenth of that Name and the last Male of that Noble Family For by the Lady Joan his Wife Daughter to Richard Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel he left Issue only two Daughters his Heirs the Lady Eleanor who became the Wife of Thomas Plantagenet sirnamed of Woodstock the Youngest Son of King Edward and the Lady Mary who was Wife to the Eldest Son of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster called Henry of Bolingbroke Earl of Darby and afterwards by Usurpation King of England by the Name of Henry the IV. This Earl is also said in a certain b M.S. Penes D. Ed. D. Mil. de Sharsted in Cantio private Genealogy which I have seen to have left behind him another Daughter named Beatrix which is there pretended to have been married to an Ancestor of that Family But this is a gross Error and Mistake and a Vanity worthy to be corrected thô here I spare the Gentlemans Name since it contradicts c Dugd. ibid. Mills ibid. Sandford Gen. Hist p. 227. c. all the Publique and Authentick Accounts that are any where to be met with About the same time viz. on the 15 of January d Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 150. Frois c. 296. Lit. Dom. DC being a Thursday and the Day after the Feast of St. Hilary the Bishop and Confessor there died in the City of London that most Generous and Couragious Gentleman the Lord Walter Manny Banneret and Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter leaving behind him the Lady Anne his only Daughter and Heir then married to the Lord John Hastings Earl of Pembroke she being at that time but Seventeen Years of Age. At this Mans Death King Edward and all the Lords of England were mightily concerned because of the extraordinary Judgment Loyalty and Courage that had always been found in him He was therefore e â—anford Gen. Hist p. 207. 208. Stow's Survey p. 478. Dugd. c. buried with great Solemnity in his own Chappel of the Carthusians now called the Charter-House in London King Edward and all his Children the Great Prelates of the Church and the Brethren of the Order of the Garter with many of the Chief Barons of the Realm honouring his Funeral Rites with their Prefence He died f Dugd. 2 Vol. p. 150. siezed of the Mannor of Dunstaple in Kent of Dovercourt Chesterford Magna and Rumford in Essex of Weston and Knebworth in Hertfordshire of the Castle of Strigoile and Mannor of Tudenham in the Marches of Wales of the Mannors of North Pidele in Worcestershire of Bretteby in Darbyshire of Oneston and Barton-Hanrede in Northamtonshire of Scottesdon in Shropshire of Aspele Alspathe Thurlaston and Fleckenho in Warwickshire of Cold-Overton Dalby Segrave Sileby Montsorrel Groby Witherdale and the Hundred of Goscote in Leicestershire of Watton and Stoneham in Suffolk of Framlingham Southfield Lodden the Moiety of the Mannor of Dikelburgh and Half-Hundred of Ersham in Norfolk and of a certain Mannor in Penne near Beaconfield in Buckinghamshire All which Possessions except the Mannor of Dunstaple first mentioned came to him in Right of the Lady Margaret his Wife Daughter and Heir of Thomas Plantagenet sirnamed of Brotherton Earl of Norfolk and Uncle to King Edward the Third Of her Body he gat besides a Son unhappily drown'd in his Childhood only one Daughter namely the Lady Anne married as we said before to the Earl of Pembroke Whereupon all these Lands and others as well in England as beyond the Seas in Hainalt his Native Country besides what King Edward g Vid. hujus Hist l. 2. c. 6. §. 20. p. 411. had given unto him in Calais and other Parts of France fell now unto the said Earl of Pembroke in Right of his Wife the Lady Anne Manny aforesaid Wherefore soon after the said Earl sent two of his Knights to make Seisin of the said Lands belonging unto him in Hainalt and they did their Devoir so well with Duke Albret of Bavaria who then Governed for his Distracted Brother William that they attained their Purpose II. Now thô King h Ashmâ—le's Garter p. 666. Edward design'd to enter France with two Fresh Armies this Year yet upon the Pope's earnest request both by Letters and Messages he first endeavour'd to lay hold of an Honourable Peace To which end i 19 Febr. Rot. Franc. 46 Ed. 3. m. 47. Power of treating thereon was given to Simon Sudbury alià s Tibald Bishop of London to the Lord Guy Brian and the Lord Roger Beauchamp Bannerets to Sr. Arnold Savage Knight Dr. John Appleby Dean of London and John de Branketre Treasurer of York And the k 20 Febr. ibid. m. 48. next day the King granted his Letters of safe Conduct for the Ambassadors of France to treat about that Affair But because nothing as to
debasing of Your Royal State and Dignity And althô those who make themselves more than agrees with their Condition Rulers of the Land and Your Counsellors endeavour to perswade You that Your present Proceedings will be acceptable to Your People yet we most constantly averr that after this manner which You have begun there will happen nothing less and that Your Majesty will find at last And We doubt not a little that if You proceed as You have begun You will both lose the Hearts of Your own People and of Your Allies and also Your Just and Lawfull Right and will Raise up such Evil-will against Your Person here at home that Your will not be able to Maintain Your War whereby You will give occasion to Your Enemies of Rising against You to destroy You so that You will be in Danger to lose which God forbid both Your Good Name and Kingdom Wherefore Sovereign Lord I beseech You that for the Safeguard of Your Honour and Realm and the Maintenance of Your Quarrel You would Summon together Your Lords and the Wise Men of the Land and that Your Affairs may succeed more Prosperously take their Advice without whose Counsel and Aid You can neither Conquer abroad nor Rule happily at Home And because such as are near Your Majesty are not afraid to lay Treason and Falshood to Our Charge we hereby denounce that they shall be forthwith Excommunicate and as Your Spiritual Father We beseech You so to Esteem of them And whereas it is laid to Us that by Our Evil Administration of Affairs You both lost the Town of Tournay and much Honour also may it please Your Majesty to call together Your Prelates Peers and Nobles of the Realm in some convenient place where We may securely confer with the Prelates and make strict Enquiry into whose Hands from the beginning of Your Wars the Woolls Moneys and what else was granted to this Day came and how they were used and by whose Default the City of Tournay was not Won but left in that Dishonourable Manner and that so like a Good and Just Lord You will after their Demerits punish the Culpable according to Your own Laws And as for Us We shall ever be ready to submit Our Selves to the judgement of Our Peers the State of Holy Church of Us and of Our Order as We elsewhere have frequently Written still maintained And for Gods Sake Sir believe not either of Us or of any other Your Liege Subjects any thing but Good till the Truth be explored nor be too forward to lend Your Ear to any Man For if Men should be punished without answer given or the Truth known the Judgement would still be the same both to the Guilty and to the Innocent And Sir may it please You to Consider both maturely and seriously the Great Force of Your Foreign Enemies both of France and Scotland For if the Prelates Lords and Wise Men of the Realm should all without any difference with one consent both Night and Day joyn and combine wisely together to Menage Your Weighty and Arduous Affairs to Maintain the War You have begun and to preserve Your Honour and Kingdom 't would all be little enough Nor let it displease Your Majesty most Redoubted Lord that so rudely and grosly We declare the Truth unto You For the Great Love and Affection which We bear unto Your Person and Interest and ever by the Grace of God shall bear especially because We are tho◠Unworthy the Primate of all England and thereby Your Spiritual Father doth move Us to say Command and Provide for what may turn to the Benefit of Your Soul and the Advantage of Your People The Holy Spirit save and keep You my Lord both in Soul and Body and grant You the Grace both to hear and receive Good and wholsome Advice and moreover vouchsafe to give You Victory over all Your Enemies Dated at Canterbury January the First in the seventh Year of Our Consecration by Your Majesties Chaplain John Canterbury IV. Besides this the Archbishop for the further Declaration of his Innocence and Maintenance of his Authority wrote to Sr. Robert Bourchier then Lord Chancellor of England in these Words JOHN by Divine Permission Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Legate of the Apostolick See Wisheth a Will to Conserve the Liberties of Holy Church and the Law of the Land entire For the Wise Man saith that the Truth being foreknown and foreseen doth cause Us to avoid great Dangers that else would happen Therefore We would have You understand that the Tenths of Holy Church last granted unto Our Lord the King for One Year by the Clergy of Our Province of Canterbury to be paid together with other Tythes then behind were granted on certain Conditions and certain Articles granted by Our Lord the King unto the said Clergy and confirmed by his Charter And moreover that the said Clergy for that time should not be burthen'd with any other Portion or Contribution to be made or granted unto our Lord the King. After this also in the Parliament Conven'd at Westminster on the Wednesday next after Midlent there were granted unto the King the Ninth Fleece the Ninth Lamb the Ninth Sheaf but on certain Cautions and Conditions namely that no Prelates or any of the said Clergy should be any way Obliged to the Contribution of this Ninth Part but only those who held by Barony and were bound to come to the Parliament And that the Prelates and Others of the Clergy paying the said Ninth should by no means be obliged to the Payment of the Tenth granted as aforesaid But yet certain Collectors of the Ninth of our said Province do endeavour by several Distresses to levy and raise the said Ninth of Prelates and Others of the Clergy who pay the said Tenth and hold nothing of the King by Barony nor are bound to come to the Parliament And on the other hand they exact the said Tenth of those who are obliged to the Payment of the Ninth by burthening Men of the Church contrary to God and Justice and the Grant aforesaid Wherefore we exhort and require you in the Lord that by no means You permit Religious Persons and Ecclesiasticks to be burthen'd and vexed unless according to the Form and Grant aforesaid Nor by any means yield either Counsel or Assent in prejudice of the said Charter or subversion of the Privileges and Liberties of the Church But that if any Brief Commission or Precept contrary to the Form of Magna Charta or the Privileges and Liberties aforesaid have already been issued out of the Chancery You cause them within ten days after the Receipt of these Letters as You are bound to be revoked and disanulled It is really the Will of our Lord the King to cherish and maintain the said Charter and the Privileges and Liberties of the Church as we are assured And it is not his Will nor ought to be that the Clergy should by any means be
forth having sent their Scouts before them who brought back word of Sr. Godfrey's being in the Field with his Navarrois as also Sr. Godfrey's Scouts brought him word of the French whom they had seen and of their Number for they had view'd them well Then said Sr. Godfrey aloud since our Enemies are coming to meet Us We will by no means flinch from them But that they may find Us ready to receive them let Us now order our selves to the best Advantage and therewithall he set his Archers in the Front and order'd his Battails at Leisure When the Lord Robert Clermont came up with his Forces and saw their Behaviour he commanded his Men to alight on Foot and being close cover'd with their broad Bucklers against the Archers to stand still and not to move forward till the Word of Command Then the Archers began to approach and shot fiercely but the Frenchmen stood the shock lying close under their Shields So that they suffer'd little or no harm When therefore the Archers had spent all their Arrows thus in vain they cast away their Bows and retired back to their Men of Arms who stood ready ranged along by an Hedge and in their Front Sr. Godfry with his Banner before him y True use of Armory in the Life of the Lord Chandes p. 57. in Bibl. Cotton being Gules two Bars Or. Then the French Archers began to shoot and having spent all their own Arrows to much more purpose than Sr. Godfry's Men had done theirs they gather'd up the Arrows which before had been shot against them and returned them now with a good will. And now the French Men of Arms began to approach and at the First meeting there was a severe and cruel Battle But Sr. Godfrey's Infantry were soon put out of order and discomfited When the Lord Godfrey saw this Misfortune he prudently drew himself into a wing of Armed Men closed about with Hedges resolving there to Dispute the point with his Enemies This being observed by the French Men of Arms who after they had baffled the Archers were Mounted again they all alighted on foot once more and encompassed the Place round searching which way they might best enter the Hedge and come at their Enemies Whereever the chief Brunt was thither came Sr. Godfrey bringing along with him Terrour to his Foes and to his Friends Assurance For he was of great strength and Courage and very Expert in Arms so that many Hundreds of the French were hurt or slain before they could win an entrance upon him But at last by obstinate Valour the Disadvantage of the place was overcome and then a most Bloody Fight ensued Nor yet would the French have had much reason to boast if Sr. Godfrey's Men had been mindfull of their Promise which was at all adventures to live and die with him But now after a short and faint Resistance the Major part of them began to flee and left him to his Destiny Sr. Godfrey being sensible of his Condition and knowing he was too far engaged to retire handsomly resolved in his Mind rather to die upon the spot than suffer himself to be taken Prisoner and reserved to some publique shame Wherefore being on foot he took a ponderous great Ax in his Hand and set fast his left leg before the other to stand more sure for one of his legs was a little crooked but he was exceeding strong in the Arms. And in this posture he fought Valiantly a good while cleaving Heads and Helmets or whatever he could reach so that none dar'd to abide his stroaks Till at last two Frenchmen Mounted their Horses and so both together ran upon him with their Spears and therewith bore him forceably to the Earth At which time those who were on foot near him thrust him into the Body under his Armour and so slew him And with him there were slain or taken every Man of his Company that remain'd about him to the Number says z Fabian p. 284. one of 800 thô others reckon as we said before that his whole Forces consisted but of 700 in all However those who fled away in the beginning escaped all safe to St. Saviour le Vicount for the Frenchmen had not leisure to pursue them for tending to Sr. Godfrey This Battle was fought on the a Lit. Dom. C. B. Tenth of November being a Thursday An o Domini MCCCLVI Some say b Fabian ibid. that Prince Philip of Navarre was present in the Field at this time and that He went not into England as we said before However he was of no moment as to the Success of the Battle but made shift it seems to escape away to the further embroiling of the Realm of France The Lord Godfrey of Harcourt being thus slain c Frois c. 173. the Frenchmen returned Conquerours to Coutances together with their Prisoners and the Spoil of the Field and soon after having quieted those Parts pretty well they returned into France to the Duke of Normandy who by that time was publiquely Proclaimed Regent of France On the d Fabtan p. 285. 4th of December following the Castle of Pont de l'Arche near unto Roüen which had long been in the Hands of Prince Philip of Navarre was after a Siege of five Months yielded up on Conditions to the Regents Captains the Navarrois not only to depart with Bag and Baggage but to receive by way of Gratuity 6000 Franks for yielding up the said Castle which Summ amounts to 600 l. Sterling every Frank being valued at two Shillings However e Frois c. 173. the Lands of Sr. Godfrey of Harcourt upon his Death fell to the King of England for he had on certain Conditions engaged them unto Him and his Heirs for ever having utterly disinherited his Nephew the Lord Lewis of Harcourt because he so tamely resented the Murder of his Uncle the late Earl of Harcourt as not to seek any Satisfaction but still continued a Friend to King John who had so unjustly murther'd him When King Edward heard News of this valiant Lords Death he was very much concern'd at the Loss but however he sent forth immediately by Sea more than 300 Men of Arms Knights and Esquires besides Archers to go and take Possession for him of St. Saviour le Vicount which alone was well worth f Frois c. 271. fol. 166. legit 400000 Franks i.e. 40000 l. sed corruptum hìc puto nam alibi astimat ad 30000 Franks tantùm cmisiâ unà Decimâ 40000 Franks or 4000 l. Sterling per annum and made the Lord. Robert Lisle his Captain over those Lands who was succeeded three Years after by the Lord Thomas Holland who dying about a Year after the King gave unto the Lord g Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 503. ex Claus 34. Ed. 3. p. 1. m. 35. John Chandos in Consideration of his manifold and notable Services a Grant for Him and his Heirs for ever of the Baronies of St. Saviour le
after married the Lady Eleanora Daughter to the said Earl of Hereford Essex and Northampton and in time became Constable of England Earl of Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester The Admiral of the Fleet was the Lord Guy Brian a most expert Commander both by Sea and Land and one of the Honourable Order of the Garter With him was joyned Sr. Richard Sturry and many other Valiant Captains with a choice Number of Archers for their Defence upon Occasion Nor was all this Precaution needless thô they were neither encountred by the Fleet of France nor of Spain for since the Heiress of Flanders had been given away to Philip of Burgundy there was no good Correspondence between England and Flanders The Flemish Fleet had been at Rochell where they were laden with Wine and now in their Return homewards they called at la Baye in Bretagne where they took in vast Quantities of the best Salt the Heer van John Peterson being their Admiral The English making up to the same Port knew not at first who they were but when they saw them prepare to entertain them as Enemies they made hast to receive them couragiously So there began a fierce and terrible Medley which lasted long For b Frois ibid the Flemings were more in Number and better provided for a Battle as those who waited for such a Business thô they found here but an indifferent Mercat neither This Naval Fight endured for three Hours together in which time many Gallant Actions were performed by the valiant Men on both sides and many wounded hurt or slain For they were fastned to one another with Grâ—pling-Irons so that there was no other way but to conquer or die At last the Victory fell to the English the Heer van John Peterson the Flemish Admiral being taken Prisoner together with all that were left alive the rest being either drown'd or slain not c Jacob. Meyer ibid. a Man of them escaped one of these three Evils For the English were more than usually severe when they had the full Mastery because they had been so bold as d Walsing hist p. 182. to begin the Assault After the Fight the Earl of Hereford advised Sr. Guy Brian the Admiral to make for England as then and not expect his Return till he had reinforced the Fleet So he took land with the rest of the Commissioners at la Baye and went straight to Brest where he found the Duke of Bretagne But the Lord Guy Brian set sail for England returning with his Conquest and Prisoners above 4000 of the Enemy being slain and as many taken with 25 Ships laden with Salt and all the Wine they had taken in at Rochell XI The King of England was wonderfully pleased as this unexpected Success of his Fleet and so much the more when he heard how the Flemings had been the Aggressors and gave the first Occasion and yet were so entirely defeated The Heer van John Peterson their Admiral was sent to the Tower of London and the other Flemings bestow'd about in other places And because the King resolved by any means to pull down the Pride of those People who had thus presumed to begin a War against him e Frois Jac. Meyer ibid. he forthwith sent out a Royal Fleet against the Flemings giving strict Command to his Admiral and Viceadmiral to make sharp War upon all the Merchants of Flanders and to block up their Ports and constantly ply about the Sea called la Manche or Pas de Calais between Dover and Calais so to intercept all their Commerce with France When this was known to the Men of Gaunt Bruges and Ipres they had a Council together wherein all things consider'd they concluded it most for their Interest to remain at Peace with England and not any longer to have the Displeasure of King Edward for the sake of their Lord the Earl of Flanders who was now again wholly for the French. Wherefore all the Good Towns of Flanders having agreed in this Resolution sent Deputies sufficiently instructed into England to treat for a Peace with the King and his Council And these Deputies had such Success that they return'd with a Consummation of Peace with Flanders on certain Conditions sealed and agreed to on both Parts Thus lightly can Vulgar Minds be moved to begin a War and when they are beaten as readily sue for Peace XII It may be remembred that upon the Black-Prince's Return out of Spain we observ'd how James the Young King of Majorica by reason of sickness was forced to tarry behind and how shortly after he was taken Prisoner in his Chamber by the Bastard Henry upon his return to make new War against King Don Pedro. Now I suppose it will not be amiss to inform the Curious Reader what further became of this Unfortunate Prince And first Pope Vrban being moved with his Calamity f Dat. vâ— Kal. Januar. Ann. 6. Vid. Tom. 6. Fp. Secr. p. 32. Odor Rainald ad an 1367. §. 18. wrote in his Behalf to Don Henry that he would restore to liberty the unhappy young King who had so long languished in the King of Aragon's Prison before And the Queen of Naples his Lady and the Marchioness his Sister when they were informed of his Mischance took it very heavily and within a while g Frois c. 294. Gallicè fol. 242 sent certain discreet and sage Gentlemen to treat with Don Henry who was then King of Spain about his Ransom So at last he was deliver'd for the Summ of an 100000 Franks which the Ladies paid very punctually to King Henry's satisfaction When the King of Majorica had thus got his Liberty he returned into Naples where yet he lay not long idle but having amassed together considerable Sums of Money and gather'd many Valiant Captains and hired Souldiers about him he began his March towards Navarre with design to make War upon the King of Aragon his Adversaâ—y to whom he could by no means be reconciled for he had Murther'd the King his Father and had long kept him himself in Prison and unjustly and violently withheld from him his Crown and Heritage Upon which account he had furnish'd himself with Men of War from all Parts as English Gascogners Italians Almaines Bretons and some Troops of the Companions Who in all amounted to 1200 Men of Arms besides Archers and Footmen The Captains of the Companions were Sr. Gracian du Chastel Sr. John de Malestroit Silvester Budes and James Braye besides sundry Lords and Gentlemen of Divers Countries to all whom he gave great Wages and promised to satisfie them in each point King James order'd his Affairs so well that he had leave to bring this Army into the Realm of Navarre and also to tarry there some few days to refresh himself From thence he entred into Aragon and began to make heavy War against Don Pedro King of that Realm and ravaged the Country and took little Fortresses and Ransom'd and slew Men
Town shall be rendred to King Philip to do with them after his Pleasure and as for the rest they may go come and tarry freely and have their Victuals for a days Journey but they may not supply Sainctes any otherwise than it is at this time This Treaty was followed with another made at Bois de Vincennes the Thirtieth day of May following and thereby it was further agreed that the Profits of the Land of Guyenne which for default of Homage were siesed by the late King Charles and converted to his Use after the Law shall be sequestred in the Hands of two Commissioners deputed on the behalf of either of the Kings Edward and Philip till both their Differences and Proceedings done since the Truce in the Year 1324 shall be amicably decided Finally King Edward having given that Declaration of his Homages which we have set down z P. 37. already went again in Person into France to appease the War at Sainctes At which time he requested of King Philip that he would remit unto him the Demolishing of the Castle of St. Croix and others which he then promised very Frankly to do and moreover granted unto him by a new Treaty made the 4th of July 1331 That the Town and Castle of Sainctes should be restor'd unto him in the same condition wherein they were and thirty Thousand pounds Tournois for his Interests and Damages notwithstanding the former Accord of the Ninth of March approved by his Majesty the Thirtieth day of April A Concession says Du Chesne which one would think ought to appease all disgusts whatsoever for a long time But the Murmurs which afterward began to run among the English that their King was nearer to the Crown of France than King Philip were so deeply rooted in their hearts that at last they occasion'd most Tragical and deadly Effects as we shall shew in due place V. On the a Knighton p. 2558. n. 60. seventeenth of the Calends of July being after our Account the Fifteenth of June and a Friday at b Sandford's Geneal Hist p. 181. Ashmole p. 670. ten of the Clock in the Morning the Queen Philippa of England was at Woodstock near Oxford deliver'd of her First-born Son a very Fair Lusty and well-form'd Infant who was Christened by the Name of his Father Edward Walsingham and Speed from him say indeed that he was Born on the 15 of June and on a Fryday but they place it a Year more forward both which notwithstanding are easily refuted if we consider that in the Year 1329 the 15 of June happen'd on a Thursday but this Year c Labbé Chron. Tecbn ad an 1330. G being the Dominical Letter it then indeed fell on a Fryday To which agrees that Ancient Writer d Jâ—h Tinemouth ec Aed Lambeth p. 229. John Tinemouth in his Golden History saying that this year on the Fryday before e St. Botolphi Ab. dies Junii 17. St. Botolph there was Born to King Edward his Son Edward the Fourth which Name Giovanni Villani the Florentine Historian calls him also by presuming that he would have lived to Succeed his Father So Welcome to the King was the News of his Birth that he gave to the Messenger thereof Thomas Prior a most Royal Reward and f Ashmole p. 670. Sandford Geneal Hist p. 181. ex Pat. 5. Ed. 3. p. 1 m. 33.4 Febr. 40 Marks per annum out of his Exchequer till he should settle Lands upon him to that Value And afterwards he gave very considerable Pensions to those who were concern'd in his Education as 10 pounds per annum to Joan of Oxford this Young Princes Nurse and 10 Marks annually to Mathilda Plumpton Bersatrix or Rocker to this Princely Infant Great hopes were immediately conceived of the Royal Babe by all that beheld the Beauty of his Shape the Largeness of his Size and the firm Contexture of his Body The Good Lady his Mother took such great Care of this first Dear Pledge of her Marriage Bed that she resolv'd to give him her own Breasts as indeed she did to all her Children after Yet for all that her Beauty and Flower of Youth was nothing impair'd thereby And truly it was not only the Manner of this Queen who exceeded most Ladies in the World for Sweetness of Nature and Vertuous Disposition thus to bring up her own Offspring her self But we find it Customary for the Queens of England and other Princesses to do so as well before as some time after However the Delicate Madams of our Time think it below their Care. And of the Empress g Gisb. Cuperi Apotheassis Homeri Inscripp p. 293. Theodora there is Extant a curious Medal wherein a Woman gives the Breast to an Infant with this Inscription PIETAS ROMANA whereby it is believed to be signified that Theodora gave suck to her Children her self according to the Duty of a Pious Mother which Plutarch and Favorinies do wonderfully commend This Laudable Custom was not quite laid aside in the Times of King Edward For of the Ladies of those Days in General it is observed in the Margin of h Mezeray Chr. Abbreg p. 78. vid. Bp. Taylor 's Life of the II. Jesus p. 18. ad p. 23. c. vid. lib. de Lib. Educ apud Gell. 12.1 Mezeray's History at the Year 1368 that even those of the Highest Rank were us'd to give the Breast to their Children And of the Lady Margaret Daughter of Philip the Bold Second Consort to King Edward the First this King's Grandfather this is Remarkably Observed that when i Walsingh Hist p. 46. ad An. 1301. Dugd. Bar. 2 Vol. p. 63. she gave her First-born Son Thomas of Brotherton the Milk of her own Breasts the Babe as if he had an antipathy against every thing that was French could by no means endure it but ever cast back again what he received yet when an English young Gentlewoman was brought to suckle him he took it eagerly and thriv'd kindly upon it And this because it had something of strange and unusual in it was often try'd with him but still it prov'd so that the English Lady's Breasts he freely took but his French Mother's he could never away with Whence it is reported the King his Father should say smiling God give thee Grace my Boy I see thou art right English in thy Nature and may'st one day shew thy self a notable Enemy to the French Nation Thô even this so probable Omen fail'd in part for Prince Thomas died just before the French Wars broke out as hereafter shall be declared But to return whence we have digressed The Birth of this young Prince Edward spread an universall Joy thrô the whole Land and was thought to make a good recompence for the late loss of one of the Kings Uncles Nay now as if all things conspired to make this Blessing more acceptable to the Nation a new Face of things began from this
time to appear and all publique Affairs happily succeeded henceforward both to the King and his People Doctor Walter k Holinst Eng. Chron. p. 1002. Burleigh or Burley who had been bred up in Merton College in the famous University of Oxford was at this time of such Fame for learning and piety that he was taken into Queen Philippa's Service at her first coming into England and became her Almoner still encreasing in great Estimation at Court Insomuch that when this Young Prince Edward was able to learn his Book this Doctor was appointed to be his Tutor whereupon Simon Burley who was son to Sr. John Burley a near Kinsman of the Doctors was admitted among other young Gentlemen to be School-fellow with this Hopefull Prince By which occasion he wan so much upon the Princes Favour that afterwards by his means he was advanced to great Honour being in time made Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter and also had the Government and Education of the Prince's Son Richard of Bourdeaux comitted to his Trust As for the Young Prince Edward the King his Father by l Ashmole p. 670. Sand-Geneal Hist p. 181. ex Cart. 7. Ed. 3. m. 4. ex Pat. 7. Ed. 3. p. 1. m 13. his Charters dated the Eighteenth of May in the Seventh Year of his Reign when he was but in the Third Year of his Age granted unto him by the Title of Edward his most Dear and Eldest Son the County of Chester the Castles of Chester Beston Rothelan and Flint and all his Lands there as also the Cantred and Land of Englefield with their Appurtenances to him and his Heirs Kings of England together with all Knights-Fees Advowsons Liberties Royalties and all other things belonging to the said County Castles Lands and Cantreds as well in England as in Wales and the Marches thereof as fully and under the same Conditions as himself had received them before he was King from which time he had the Title of Earl of Chester added to his Style But intending to enable him yet better to maintain this his Dignity the next day the King gave him all the Corn as well in Granges as growing on the Ground as also all the Arms Victuals Cattle Goods and Chattels in all the said Castles Lands and other Places to him before granted together with all Debts Arrearages of Accounts and other Services due to himself But in the m Cart. 11. Ed 3. n. 55. Eleventh Year of his Reign and the Seventh of this Princes Age upon the Death of John of Eltham Earl of Cornwall the King created him Duke of Cornwall as appears by his Charter of Creation bearing Date the 17 of March the same Year investing him by the Sword only which was the first Precedent for the Creation of the Title of Duke with us in England At the same time the King setled upon him divers Mannors and Franchises expresly set down in the said Charter for the better support of his Ducal State and Honour all which thô some lay in other Counties were thereby made part of the Dutchy of Cornwall And further by Letters Patents dated the same day he granted unto him the Stanneries in Cornwall together with the Coinage of Tynn and all the Issues and Profits thence arising as also the Profits and Perquisits of the Courts of the Stanneries except only a 1000 Marks granted to William Montagu then 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 Honours 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 After this in the Parliament held in the Seventeenth of this King his Father he n 12 Maii Car. 17. Ed. 3. m. 24. n. 27. 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 he gave him several Lands which are all particularly enumerated in a Writt directed to William Emeldon to deliver them unto this Prince or his Attourney He 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 and other Cattel Goods and Chattels in all the Castles and Lands which he held by the Kings Grant. After all which this Noble Prince was made Knight of the Garter at the First Institution of that Famous Order and lastly Prince of Aquitain in France and for his Courage and Conduct his Policy and Courtesie became in time the most Renowned Captain in the World being for his Dreadfull Deeds in War as most agree sirnamed by the French le Neoir or the Black-Prince VI. In these Days the Young King of England finding himself a Father began indeed to play the Man and thô he was then but 18 Years of Age takes a resolution to govern his Realm no more by Others but Himself in Person hearing and learning the Truth in weighty Affairs and distributing Justice and Mercy to such who should lay the best claim to either But while Mortimer held his present Station 't was not possible the King should be Master of his own Purposes Now therefore to him we hasten who seems already to have been too long free from that Vengeance which always pursues ambitious and bloody Traitors Of his Treachery and Cruelty we had no small Instances before But by a certain fatal Ordinance that wicked Men must of themselves advance and further their own Ruine his insupportable Arrogance and too opiniative Security thence proceeding was the chief Occasions of his suddain Downfall In the Quindenes of St. Michael the King holding a Parliament at Nottingham Mortimer appear'd in such splendour and so well attended that he became both the Envy and Terror of all the Kings Friends no man durst name him by any other Title than his new-acquired but much-envy'd one the Earl of March And his Interest and possessions bound those to him whom his Power could not move For in these days he bore such sway that he obtain'd whatever he had a mind to as appears by these following Grants from the Young King who by his o Dugd. 1 Vol. p. 146. Cart. 4. Ed. 3. n. 64. Charter dated this Year besides all he had got before granted unto him the Castle and Mannor of Hanley with the Chaces of Malverne and Cors in the Counties of Worcester and Glocester also the Town of Wiche in Worcestershire with the Castle of Clifford and Mannor of Glasebury part of the Possessions of Hugh Spencer the younger not yet free from