but the Island grew quickly too hot for him Plymouth also was plundered and divers Houses burnt whereupon the Western men were permitted to set out Ships of War whereby they sufficiently revenged themselves of the French and at one time took 40 Sail. The French take footing again in the Isle of Wight with 1000 Men but they were repelled with the slaughter of many hundreds afterwards the Admiral of Britany with the Lord of Castile and 30 sail attempt Dartmouth where at a fierce assault du Castile was slain with his two Brothers The English during this Reign had occasion also to signalize themselves by Land in France upon two several occasions for a great Feud happening between the Duke of Burgundy whom the French King and his eldest Son favouredâ— and the Duke of Orleans whose Father had been put to death by the procurement of the former it came at last to open Wars between them but Burgundy finding his adversary had powerful assistance from the Kings of Navarre and Arragon the Dukes of Bituria Bretaign and others makes his application to King Henry for aid who aâ—â— first gave him good Counsel and afterwards seâ—â— him good force under the command of Thomas Earl of Arundel the famous Sir John Old-castâ—â— Lord Cobham and others with which reinforcement he prevailed powerfully against his Enemy insomuch that about a year after Orleans also becomes a Suiter to the same King Henry for assistance against Burgundy which the King also granted and dispatched away under the command of Thomas Duke of Clarence Edward Duke of York c. many valiant Men who landed in Normandy where Orleans was to meet them but did not at the time appointed however they prosecuted their design and took many strong places and at length Orleans and Clarence meâ— and having settled their Affairs the English departed to their Winter Quarters in Aquitain Henry like a wise Prince designed to make use oâ— these Dissentions in France and exprest as much to the Archbishop of Canterbury saying Behold now is the acceptable time let us go into France and win with small adâ— that which is our right but being then labouring under a great Sickness he was by his Lords with much difficulty perswaded to the contrary and thus ended his Wars in France he himself dying soon after this last expedition under Clarence to wit on the 20th of March Anno 1412. Aged 46. when he had Reigned 13 Years and about 6 Months and was buried at Canterbury by his first Wife the Lady Mary Daughter to Bohun Earl of Essex he had issue four Sons Henry that succeded him Thomas Duke of Clarence John Duke of Bedford and Humphry Duke of Glocester of whom it was said they could not be distinguished for their excellency save that Henry was the Eldest He had also 2 Daughters Blanch Dutchess of Bavaria and Phillipa Queen of Denmark The causes of this War was first self-preservation and that the French assisted the Scots against England and had also sent 12000 Men to Owen Glendower a Brittish Prince who was up in Arms against the King but a few daies after they landed at Milford Haven they ran again back to their Ships HENRY V. COmmonly called Henry of Monmouth the eldest Son of Henry IV. proved a great Prince was a mirror of Magnanimity and stands to this day one of the greatest Ornaments of our English Chronicles he no sooner mounted the Throne but he had his Eye presently upon France for recovering his Royal Right to that Crown in order whereunto he alter'd in his Arms the bearing of Semy Deluces and quarter'd the 3 full Flower Deluces as France her self did bear them thereupon he sent the Duke of Exeter in a magnificent Embassy attended with 500 Horse to Paris to demand the Crown and receiving no satisfactory answer but rather a jeer the Dauphine sending King Henry a sackful of Racket Court-balls to employ his time he replied that for every one of those Balls he had so many fiery Bullets to bandy at the proudest Towers of France as he should quickly find and so he presently got over and encounter'd the French Army at Agen-Court the French King himself being at the head of it which he utterly overthrew and took more Prisoners then he had common Soldiers the battel was fought upon a Sunday Morning about the time of high Mass for having sent notice to England before that extraordinary prayers should be made in all Churches about ten a Clock in the Morning he stood upon the defensive part all the while till then but then making a moving oration to his whole Army and among other strains telling them how all England was praying for them at that very hour he obtained a most glorious and compleat Victory Besides that great Act of Piety another of Policy was us'd for the King to prevent the fury of the French Cavalry appointed divers stakes studded with Iron at both ends of about 6 foot long to be pitch'd behind the Archers and ordered that Pioners should attend to remove them as they should be directed which invention conduc'd much to the good success of the Action The King himself charged the Duke of Alanzon who being beaten off his Horse was slain there was also a great slaughter of all kind of French Prisoners because the number was so great that nothing could give assurance of safety but by making them away At length after many wonderful Feats and Successes performed especially by himself and noble Brothers the Dukes of Clarence Bedford and Glocester he was upon Articles agreed between him and Charles VI. then King of France made Regent of that Kingdom and proclaimed both there and in England Heir Apparent to the French Crown and did thereupon take Katherine the said Kings Daughter to Wife but the Dauphin afterwards Charles VII who judged himself much aggrieved hereby made a strong Party in the Kingdom and with a great Army laid Siege to the Town of Cosney which King Henry was so concerned at that he resolved to go in person to the raising of it but he was so eager and over-hasty in his March that he could reach no further then Senlis trusting to his Brother the Duke of Bedford's care in the prosecuting of that design who relieved the Town and obliged the Dauphine to retreat and there his Fever so increased upon him that he made his last Will and appointed his Jewels to be sold for the payment of his Debts and ordained his Brother the Duke of Bedford to be Regent of France and Normandy and so died at Vincennes leaving no issue but a young Son whose Education he left to the Cardinal of Winchester and the Government of England during his Minority to Humphrey Duke of Glocester being the year of our Lord 1422. Aged 38 and having Reigned 9 Years and odd Months he had the mortification to have his Brother Clarence slain with many fine Soldiers at the Siege of Bauge in Anjou before he died but
had landed on the Coast of Normandy and burnt to the number of 21 Towns and Villages together with many Ships in the Haven of Trapart Staples and other places The French King by the means of Pope Leo with whom he was now accorded sues for a Peace which was at length concluded the Lady Mary the King's Sister for the tying of the knot being given to the French King in Marriage whom however she did not long enjoy Lewis XII dying 82 days after The remainder of this King's Reign was in a manner spent in Domestick Affairs which is not our Province to treat off till about the 35th Year when in conjunction with the Emperor he again makes war upon France the Emperor took the Field in Person and the English joining him under the command of Sir John Wallop laid siege to Landarsey the French King hasted with a great Army to succour the Town which was brought to great extremity upon whose approach the Emperor expecting to give Battle raised his Siege the Town being by this means relieved that was all the French cared for declining to hazard a Battle and so upon the approach of Winter both Camps broke up The Year following the King raised a mighty Army the Front led by the Duke of Norfolk the main Battle by the Duke of Suffolk where the King intended to be present himself also and the Rear by the Lord Russel attended with many other Nobles as the Earls of Surrey Oxford c. which about Whitsuntide landed at Calais and from thence leaving Bolloign to the right directed their march towards Muterell and were as they passed joined by the Emperors Forces under the Count of Buren but finding the foresaid place extraordinarily well fortified and provided for its defence the Duke of Suffolk with the King's Army wheels off towards Bolloign where he arrives July 19th and pitched his Camp to the East of the Town upon the Hill but thence removing into a Valley after many sharp skirmishes entred the lower Town deserted by the Inhabitants who under the covert of the Smoak got into the high Town undiscovered soon after the Tower called the Old Man was yielded up by sixteen Soldiers that kept it which notwithstanding discouraged not the Garrison who continued to make a vigorous Defence on the 26th of July the King arrives in Person orders a Mount to be raised upon the East-side planted with diverse pieces of Cannon and Mortars which incommoded the Town very much so that few Houses were left whole within it in this distress 200 French and Italians under the conduct of Joncurtio attempted to get into the Town in the Night and succeeded so well by the means of a Priest that spoke English that most of them were got over the Trenches before discovered and a matter of 120 got in the rest being either slain or taken at length a peice of the Castle being blown up the King stormed the place but did not carry it however the Cannon continuing playing and the Garrison having lost the best of their Commanders and men in this Action and fearing as well as concluding that such another assault must carry the Town thought it time to Capitulate before things came to the last extremity and so Articles were agreed upon and the Garrison marched our with Bag and Baggage to the number of 67 Horse 1563 Foot 87 wounded and 1927 Women and Children On the 25th of September the King with the Sword bore before him by the Marquess of Dorset enters Bolloign in Triumph the Trumpets all the while sounding on the Walls and two days after viewing of the Place caused St. Maries Church to be pull'd down and a mount to be made in the Room of it for the strengthning the Town and at his departure made Sir John Dudley Governor and on the first of October lands in England next year September 9th Sir John Dudley then Admiral lands with 6000 Men at Trey Port in Normandy burns the Town and Abby and 30 Ships in the Haven with the loss of 14 Men only The French attempted the recovery of Bulloign again and again but to little purpose so that at length a Peace was concluded wherein it was agreed the French King should pay King Henry 800000 Crowns within the term of Eight Years and then to have Bulloign restored to him but whilst the Oath for Confirmation hereof was taken by both Kings Monsieur Chatillon began to make a new Bastillion at the very mouth of the Haven of Bulloign calling it Chatillon's Garden the Lord Grey of Wilton then Governor of Bulloign advertised the King hereof by Sir Thomas Palmour requiring to know his pleasure therein the King advises with his Councel who all agree the Conditions of Peace ought by no means to be infringed and therefore to let the Bastilion stand whereupon the King ordered his Secretary to write to the Lord Grey to that purpose but then called to Sir Thomas privily and told him that notwithstanding the Contents of that Letter he should from him command the Lord Grey to rase the Fortification to the ground with all speed Sir Thomas replyed That a message by Word of Mouth contrary to a Letter would never be believed well saies the King tell him as I bid you and leave the doing of it to him Sir Thomas upon his arrival at Bulloign delivered the Governor the Letter and withall the Message who hereupon calls a Council what to do wherein they all agreed the Letter should be obey'd to which the Lord Grey himself said nothing but caused the Message to be written down verbatim from Sir Thomas Mouth and those of the Council to set their hands to it and when this was done the very next Night he issues out and rases the Fort to the ground and then sent Sir Thomas back to the King with Letters to acquaint him with what he had done who as soon as he saw him asked aloud What will he do it or no Sir Thomas delivering the Letter said Your Majesty shall know by these but the King half angry said Nay Tell me has he done it or no and being told it was done he turn'd about to his Lords and said what say you my Lords to this Chatillon's Garden is rased down to the ground whereunto one presently answered that he that had done it deserved to lose his Head to which the King immediately replies That he would rather lose a dozen such heads as his was then one such servant that had done it and therewith commanded presently the Lord Grey's Pardon to be drawn which he sent to him with Letters full of thanks and promises of Reward The cause why the King took this course was this lest if he had given order in writing for the rasing of the Fort it might have come to the knowledge of the French before it was done and so have been prevented This may be taken as an instance of King Henry's great Capacity and was the concluding act of his
lives of the Inhabitants saved and all to depart where they pleased excepting the Governour and fifty more such as the Duke of Guise should appoint to remain Prisoners and be put to ransom thus the good Town of Calais after it had been in the hands of the English for the space of 200 and 10 Years for it was taken by Edward III. after a Siege of Eleven Months in 1347. was lost in less then a Fortnight till which time we had the Keys of France at our Girdles and so 't was believed Queen Mary resented the loss accordingly for she died soon after having said not long before that if she were opened they should find Calais at her heart some feints were made for the repairing of this loss for the Queen equipped out a Fleet with a design to surprise Brest they landed in Conquet Road and in a short time became Masters of the Town with the great Abbey which they sacked and burnt together with diverse adjacent Villages where they found good Plunder from hence having now allarmed the Country the Admiral judged it not convenient to pursue their enterprise and so returned King Phillip in the mean time went on with his Wars and could not conclude a Peace though both sides seemed to desire it because he insisted stifly upon the rendition of Calais to the English which the French would by no means yield to which together with the King's absence hastned the Queens death for she departed this life at St. James's November 17th 1558. when she had reigned five Years four Months and odd days The chief ground of this War with France was the conjugal tye whereby the Queen was bound to adhere to King Phillip her Husband ELIZABETH SEecond Daughter to Henry VIII by Queen Ann Bullen succeeded her Sister Mary to the Imperial Crown of England a Princess whose vertues its impossible for me to celebrate if it were my design having advanced the glory of the English Nation both at home and abroad beyond any of her predecessors and how far short her successors have been from improving or so much as maintaining of it is evident in History but no where so well as in that celebrated piece the Detection of the 4 last Reigns c. in War she was involved almost all her Reign and had not only to do with but triumphed over the proudest Monarchy then in Europe I might say in the World I mean that of Spain which however being forreign from the present design I shall not meddle with The first occasion of quarrel she had with France was in the second year of Her Reign when the French having upon the suit of the Queen Dowager of Scotland sent great numbers of Soldiers to aid and assist her against the reforming Lords Queen Elizabeth disliking such Neighbours and knowing the Queen of Scots was married and govern'd in France and began to assume the English Arms upon the humble suit of the said Lords sent them a strong reinforcement by land under the command of the Lord Grey of Wilton and at the same time dispatch'd Sir Will. Winter Vice Admiral with a Fleet of Ships for to block up Lieth the Army after some stay at Berwick pursued their March and after some usual pickering by the way and overtures of a cessation arrived before Leith which was chiefly garrisoned by French Soldiers the Place was bravely attack'd several times and wonders done by the English both by Sea and Land against it and the French omitted nothing that could be done for its defence and this continued from about the beginning of April till the latter end of June at what time the Place being very much streightned and must have yielded the Commissioners appointed for that purpose made a Peace at Edenburg which July 7th was proclaimed in the Town of Leith by vertue of which treaty the French were to depart out of Scotland except 120 and the Scottish Queen to put our oâ— her Title the Arms of England and Ireland c About two years after that horrid Massacre was perpetrated in France upon the poor Protestants that is so infamous in History the Popish party having leagued themselves against them which barbarity powerfully induced the Queen to assist the reformists in order to prevent their final destruction and to that purpose sent over a good band of Soldiers to New Haven in France which the Townsmen joyfully received over whom and other Forces that did arrive was constituted General the Earl of Warwick who landed here 29th of October Anno 1562. This place is remarkable in History for the long Siege it susteined through the valour of the English first came the Rhinegrave before it then the Constable of France and last of all the Prince of Conde whose united forces had in all probability been baffled had it not been for a violent Pestilence that raged within and swept away its defendants in great numbers but notwithstanding this and that the Enemies Cannon were within 26 Paces of the Town and many breaches made yet the noble Warwick with his respective Officers and Soldiers stood at the breaches to receive the Enemy if they offered to make an assault which the Constable perceiving caused a Trumpeter to sound a Parley which being accepted of the Town was surrendred upon honourable Articles after the Earl had held it Eleven Months the Perfidy of the Reformists giving also an helping hand to these misfortunes to which may be added another disadvantage in that the French had a pretence by this our aiding the Protestants to withold the surrendring of Calais after the term of 8 years whereof some were already expired About the 32th year of the Queens Reign Henry III. King of France was murdered whereupon the leaguers armed under the Duke of Main to keep Henry King of Navar then a Protestant from the Crown whom they pressed so hard upon that he was forced to flee into Diep designing from thence to get over into England but first sends to the Queen an account of his circumstances who commiserating his Condition forthwith sends him Sixty Thousand brave Soldiers under the command of the Lord Willoughby the report of whose arrivall coming to Main's Ears he suddenly raises the Siege which so animated the King that he marched out encountred and defeated his Enemy and so by degrees prevailed through the Queens good assistance from time to time both of Men and Money the Spaniards having also about this time by means of the leaguers got footing in Bretaign the Queen dispatches thither 3000 Men under the command of that thrice famous General Sir John Norris who beat them quite out of that Country about a year after my Lord Willoughby's succors arrives in France the renowned Earl of Essex with 4000 foot more some Horse and Pioneers as a further reinforcment to the King and did honourable service challenging Monsieur Villerse Governour of Roan to a single combat which he refuses and then return'd but had the mortification to have