into Foreign Countries The French Monarchy strove many Ages before it came to that high Point of Grandeur to which it has attained of late The Weakness of Charlemaign's Successors and the Incursions of the Normans had reduced it to so narrow Limits that the French King was hardly Sovereign in Paris The Governors of the several Counties and Provinces taking hold of the occasion made their Charges Hereditary and soon after render'd themselves Lords of the Countries they Govern'd So that France at that time was rather an Aristocracy or a Confederacy of several Petty-Princes under the French King their Head as Germany now is under the Emperor then a Monarchy properly so call'd But the Victories which Charles VII got over the English in the Fifteenth Age during the Wars of the Houses of York and Lancaster gave him means to Unite to his Crown the large Provinces of Guyenne and Normandy together with Poictou le Maine and Tourain Lewis XI his Son and Successor after the Death of Charles the Râ—sh last Duke of Burgundy in 1477 usurp'd upon his Sole Heiress Mary Spouse of Maximilian of Austria the Dutchy of Burgundy and some part of Picardy Charles VIII and Lewis XII by their Marriage with Ann Daughter to Francis II. late Duke of Britany United that Dutchy to their Crown Anno 1514 Then it was that France began to look as a mighty Kingdom So that Francis I. King of France was a sit Match even for Charles V. Emperor and King of Spain Naples and Sicily Duke of Milan and Lord of all the Low Countries The extent of the French Kings Jurisdiction was yet increas'd by the Accession of Bearn or Lower Navarre of which Henry IV. was in Possession when he came to that Crown And by his Acquisition of the Province of Bresse with the Lands of Bugey Valromey and the Bailwick of Gex which he Exchanged with Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy for some Pretensions on the Marquisate of Salusses in 1601. Lewis XIII his Son Divested the Duke of Lorrain of his Dutchy the Emperor and the King of Spain of a good part of Elzas and the Netherlands and this present King has not only Conquer'd the County of Burgundy and the rest of Elzas but push'd so far his Conquests in the Low Countries that what now remains in the Hands of the King of Spain is not able to withstand him any long time The Authority of the French Monarchs grew stronger and more absolute within their Kingdom as the Bounds of it were extended without at least in this latter Age. For in former times even that mighty Emperor Charlemaign would do nothing without the Advice of his Barons no not so much as establish and endow a Bishoprick and by their means it was that his Son Lewis the Pious was re-inthron'd The Power of the French Lords lasted not only under the Second Race but three or four Ages too under the Third And as these petty Princes were extinguished their Authority was transferr'd to the States of the several Provinces under whose hands it remained till the Civil Wars under the pretence of Religion gave a mighty check to it and the shrewd Policy of the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarine made it altogether arbitrary Now the French Kings pretend that they are Emperors in France as Bodin and du Tillet have endeavoured to prove That their Authority is Absolute and Sovereign and that as to the Temporal they have no other Superior than God alone upon whom their Crown immediately depends it not being in the Power of the Prelates of their Kingdom either to excommunicate them or to publish them to be such By reason of their Consecration they are look'd upon to be of the Body of several Cathedral Churches in France where they hold the Prebends The nominating to Bishopricks Abbeys c. belongs to them even by the Pope's Consent and the Concordat made betwixt Francis I. and Leo X. They alone can make Laws in their Kingdom grant Favors and Pardons naturalize Strangers and legitimate Bastards They build Colleges Universities Courts and Companies of Justice create Offices and provide for the same The Males only by Salique Law which the French call the Fundamental of the State have Right to Succession and the Crown always is devolved to the next Heir that is to the eldest Son of the King and to the Issues of the eldest Infinitely This First-born during his Father's Life is commonly called the Dauphin by the Donative of Humbert last Dauphin of Viennois of his Lands of Dauphiné to Philip of Valois King of France upon condition that his eldest Son should be call'd Dauphin and bear quarterly the Arms of France with those of Viennois It was in the year 1343. Philip at the intreaty of John his Son who reigned after him gave the Land to his Grandson who reigned under the Name of Charles called the Wise and was the first Son of France who bore the Title of Dauphin The Arms of France are Three Flowers de Luce Or in a Field Azure King Charles VI. reduced them to Three his Predecessors having had them without number contrary to the Custom even of the first Kings The Consecration of the Kings is solemnly performed at Rheims where they are anointed with Oyl of the Holy Ampoule kept religiously in the Abbey-Church of St. Remigius whence it is carried under a Canopy by four Knights of the Holy Ampoule created by Clovis IV. The Royal Ornaments are kept at St. Denis from King St. Lewis's time The twelve Peers of France assist at the Consecration six whereof are Ecclesiastical to wit the Archbishop and Duke of Rheims who consecrates the King the Bishop and Duke of Laon the Bishop and Duke of Langres the Bishop and Earl of Bonâ—vais the Bishop and Earl of Chaalons the Bishop and Earl of Noyon The Six Lay Peers were formerly the Duke of Burgundy the Duke of Normandy the Duke of Guyonne the Earl of Tolouse the Earl of Flanders and the Earl of Champagne but these Peers subsisting no more they are represented by as many French Princes or Lords The King's Guards are composed of two strange Nations viz. Scots and Switzers and of his French Subjects The Scotch Guard is the first Company of the King's Guard du Corps However it ought to be observed that this Name is but a remainder of the ancient Alliance between the Scotch and the French for since the Reformation and the Union of England and Scotland there has hardly been a Scotch Man among these preâ—ended Scotch Guards However as this Company is the ancientest so it enjoys the greatest Privileges for their Captain precedes the three others and begins always to serâ—e the first Quarter of the Year and when the Guard du Corps are quartered they chuse the first Lodging This Company was at first composed of 100 Gentlemen or chosen Soldiers 24 of whom have yet a good Stipend are Privileged and have at their Head the first Man at Arms of France
that Court where their Power is very considerable since the Suppression of the Charge of Lord Constable upon whom they were formerly depending However this Power is somewhat counterballanced by their great Increase in Number of late years The Lord Chancellor is the Head of all the Courts of Justice and presides in all the King's Councils in his Absence Besides he cannot be destituted but by Death or Trespass And therefore the Kings to keep this great Minister in awe have a Lord Keeper of the Seals whom they cause to discharge the Chancellor's Functions by giving him the Seals in which Occasion the Chancellor retains no more but the bare Name of his Office He has under him the Masters of the Requests who serve quarterly judge the Differences between the Officers of the Crown and prepare such Matters as are to come before the King 's Great Council This Council is now a Soveraign Court of Justice whose Sentences are executed throughout the whole Kingdom it 's composed of the Chancellor and eight Masters of Requests From this Court issue all the Placates Ordinances and Proclamations There are also a Council of State a Council of the Exchequer a Privy-Council to determine Appeals and Contests about the Jurisdiction of Judges and the Cabinet Council who manages all the Affairs and is as the Soul of the Realm Besides the twelve ancient Peers of France there are near a hundred more created since two or three Centuries but though they have the Priviledge to sit in the Parliament at Paris and not to be judged by any other Court yet they fall short of the Lustre and Power of the first Peers The Knights of the Order of St. Michael instituted by Lewis XI in 1469 are in no extraordinary Repute and this Order is now only considered as a step to that of the Holy Ghost instituted by Henry III. in 1570 whose Knights are fewer in number and more respected it being given as a token of special Favour and to such as are already of St. Michael's Order and considered by their Birth or Merits I supersede to speak of the Lord Admiral the Vice-Admirals and Rear-Admirals Of the Generals Lieutenant Generals Masters de Camp Collonels c. Of the Masters of the Ordnance of the Lord Treasurers Counsellors and Secretaries of State of the Ambassadors Lord Almoner Under Almoners Chaplains in Ordinary and other Officers either Civil Military or Ecclesiastical who are little or nothing different from the like in England But I must not forget to speak a word of the King's Confessor who though he has originally no more Power than the Clerk of the Closet here yet through the superstitious Condescension of the late Kings and the shrewd Management of those cunning Politicians Cotton Annat and La Chaize are become so powerful as to get into their Hands the Direction of the most important Affairs of the Kingdom under pretence of Conscience When the Jesuits were recalled into France King Henry IV. was advised to take one of these Fathers for his Confessor who should be as an Hostage for the Fidelity of the whole Club. But this very Caution proved his Ruine for Father Cotton whom he pitched upon having first seduced his Queen laid his Plot so well with Spain and his Fellow-Jesuits that the King was murthered by Ravaillac And that Henry's Ghostly Father and Queen had a Hand in this horrid Business can hardly be doubted after the Insinuations the sincere Mezeray gives of it There are two Charges in France the like I don't know that we have in England or at least they are not here in such a Consideration as in that Kingdom The Officers who discharge them are always Counts or Dukes or Princes of the Blood and are called the Great Huntsman and the Great Falconer of France They have large Appointments Gifts and Profits and several Officers under them whose Places are at their Disposal The Captain General of the Hunting-Nets and the Great Wolf-Hunter keep likewise an honourable Rank and all four are sworn by the King himself I shall finish this Chapter with mentioning the Way of administring Justice in France Suits are for the most part commenced before the ordinary Judges of the Place which are called Royal or Seigneurial according as the Town or Village depends â—mmediately upon the King or a private Lord except in some particular Cases or when one of the Parties concerned is exempted from their Jurisdiction Thence â—hey are brought before the Baylives or Seâ—eschals who are Chief Justices of a certain Precinct called Baylwick Vriguory Provostship or Seneshalship These Baylives are Noble Men who bear a Sword instead of a Gown and seldom discharge their Office themselves but have two Lieutenants under them one for Civil and the other for Criminal Causes The last and Supream Jurisdiction is â—he High Court of Parliament each of which is composed of ten twelve or fifteen Presidents and well near eighty or an hundred Counsellors The Power of this Court â—s yet very great because of the many Noble and Priviledged Men whose Causes immediately resort to it But it was much greater in times past especially that of the Parliament of Paris which was in some manner a standing Assembly of the General States For no Edict or Proclamation of the King had the Force of a Law before â—t was â—enteriné or ratify'd by them and they might reject such as were not in their Judgments fit for the Publick Good A Boldness of which History furnisheth us with several Examples even under the most powerful and respected Princes as Lewis XI Francis I. and Henry IV. But the late Ministers Richelieu Mazarin Colbert and Louvois have so far undermined the Authority of these Courts that they not only dare not reject any of the King's Edicts but dare not so much as make use of the Word Enteriné their Style being now Lû verifié en Parlement That is Read and acknowledged for a true Writing or Order of the King The Intendants are the Men whom the Promoters of Arbitrary Power have made a special use of to bring down the Power of Parliaments They are a kind of Overseers whom the French Kings began to send into the several Provinces of their Dominions fifty or sixty years ago and who under pretence of setling the King's Revenues reconciling Differences about it or seeing Justice well done have considerably encroached upon the Jurisdiction of Parliaments without that the Complaints of the last were ever regarded at Court The preposterous Zeal of these Magistrates against the Reformed was none of the least Causes of their Decay for as often as any Suit wherein both Churches seemed to be concerned came before them we were sure to get an Arrêt de Partage or that the Protestant President and Counsellors would give their Voice in favour of the Defenders whereas the Roman Catholicks would decide for the Plaintiffs how ill grounded soever their Actions might be This of course brought the Decision of the
Peerdom erected by the French King Henry II. in 1547. in behalf of Claudius of Lorrain Youngest Son to the Duke of Guise Aumale had its particular Counts in the twelfth Century afterwards it fell to the share of the House of Ponthieu and then of the House of Lorrain This Town is Noted for its Woollen Cloth and an Ancient Abby of St. Bennets Order Eleven miles South-west of Aumale near the source of the Epte is the Village of Forges renown'd for its Medicinal Waters Longueville Longa villa or Longus vicus a Burrough upon the River Sie eight leagues North of Rouen and four South of Dieppe was formerly a County and has been enjoyed under that Title by the famous Bertrand du Guesclin High Constable of France In 1443. Charles VII gave it to another great Warrior John Count of Dunois Bastard of the House of Orleans whence are descended the Dukes of Orleans Longueville who enjoy still that Lordship erected into a Dutchy and Peerdom in 1505 bâ— Lewis XII Five leagues West of Longueâ—â—â— and ten North-west of Rouen lyes the Bâ—â—rough of Estouteville Stota villa with the Title of a Dutchy erected by Francis I. in 153â— It has given its Name to an Illustrious Familâ— ever since the 11th Century However Na Sanson the Father has forgotten it in his Map Eight leagues Northwest of Rouen and 5 mile North of Caudebec lyes the small Village of Yvetot with the Title of a Principality and formerly with that of a Kingdom as many French Authors pretend It was erected by the Frencâ— King Clotaire I. to make amends for the Death of Walter Lord of Yvetot whom he had murdered in a Church at Soissons In consequence of the Law of the mannors that frees the Tenant of any subjection to his Liege Lord if the said Lord breaks any of his Bones or cuts any of his Members In an Ancient Record of the Court of Exchequer in Normandy and Patentees of the French Kings in the Years 1392 1401 1450 1464 the Lords of Yvetot are entituled Kings and their Soveraignty and Independency is asserted At the Coronation of Mary of Medicis Henry IV. Queen This Prince observing that the Master of the Ceremonies had assigned no place to Martin du Bellay Lord of Yvetot I will saith he that an Honourable Place be given to my little King of Yvetot Four leagues North-east of Rouen is another Village call'd Cailly which seems to be some remains of an Ancient Town ruined by the Romans that bore the Name of Casletum if we believe Duchesne Bray BRAY is an ancient Gaulish word that marks a Marshy and Dirty place and 't is the beginning or end of several Towns in France As to this Countrey it is included between the Bailiwicks of Gisors Rouen and Caux and so very small that several Geographers forget to mention it The most considerable places are La Ferté Fleury and Gournay of which I find nothing in my Authors unless that near Gournay was given a Battle between the English and the French in 1112 where the last were routed Roumois BEtwixt the Seyne and the Bishopricks of Lizieux and Evreux is included the small Countrey of Roumois Rotmensis pagus which by the Original of its Name seems to have made part of the Territory of Rouen It has not above eight leagues in length and as many in breadth from Brienne upon the Rille to Quevilly two leagues off of Rouen where the French Protestants of that City had their Temple The other Burroughs are Quillebeus upon the Seyne which might be extraordinarily fortified Montfort Mauny c. These four Countries last describ'd make up the Archbishopprick of Rouen The Bishoprick of Evreux THis Diocess is included between the Rivers Seyne and Carenton the Countrey of Roumois and the Bishopricks of Seez and Chartres It is above 17 or 18 leagues North and South and 15 or 16 East and West It was the habitation of the Aulerci Eburovices The Capital Evreux Mediolanum Aluercorum is seated upon the River Iton in a fruitful Plain and has several good Buildings Churches Abbies and Monasteries a Bishoprick Bailiwick and Presidial 'T is said that it was converted to Christianity by St. Taurin who was the first Bishop of it The most renowned of his Successors was Cardinal Du Perron that subtle Controversist who was a Protestant Apostate In Caesar's time the Senonois the Parisians and their Neighbours had a General of Evreux call'd Camalogenus Aulercus whom they oppos'd to Liabienus Evreux has had its Particular Counts issued from the Dukes of Normandy It was erected into a County and Peerdom by Lewis X in 1316 thence it came into the hands of the Kings of Navarr from whom it was redeemed by the French King Charles VI. in 1404. erected into a Dutchy in 1569 by Charles IX and given to his Brother the Duke of Alencon after whose Death it was reunited to the Crown of France in 1584 and exchang'd with the Duke of Bouillion for the Principality of Sedan in 1652. Five leagues West of Evreux near a place where the Rille hides it self under the Ground lyes Beaumont le Roger Bellus mons Rogerii with the Title of a County It was built by a Count call'd Roger whose Name it bears and strongly fortified Raoul of Meulant sold it to the French King Lewis IX in 1255 and Charles III. King of Navarr to whom it did belong â—s being Count of Evreux exchanged both Counties with the French King Charles VI. for the Dutchy and Peerdom of Nemours in 1404. Two leagues North of Beaumont le Roger lyes the Castle of Harcourt Harecortis formerly a good Burrough which has given its Name and the title of Counts to a Noble Family that has been renowned since the beginning of the twelfth Century to the end of the last Age that it fell to the share of the House of Lorrain by the Marriage of Renatus of Lorrain Marquess of Elbeuf with Louise of Rieux Heiress of Harcourt in 1574. Vernon upon the Seyne lyes 7 leagues East of Evreux and ten South-east of Rouen Some think that it had formerly a Royal Palace or Castle call'd Verno or Vernum where two Councils were kept in 755 and 844. but De Valois proves that Verno was the Name of this place and that the Royal House of Vernum was either Ver near Crespi en Valois between Paris and Compiegne or Verneuil upon the Oyse Seven leagues South of Evreux upon the River Aure lyes the Burrough of Nonancourt which has given its Name to Cardinal Nicholas of Nonancourt who was famous about the end of the thirteenth Age and descended from an Ancient House Five miles higher to the West upon the same River is the Town of Tilleres or Tuillieres Tegulariae so call'd from the Stichel-stones that were prepared there It was built by Richard Duke of Normandy but is now almost ruined Remounting the said River one meets with the Town of Vernueil Vernolium erected into a Dutchy and Peerdom by Lewis
by this great General In the Division of Augustus Berry was made a part of Aquitain and continu'd so under the French During the weakness of Charlemaigne's Successors the Governors of this Province made themselves Sovereigns and had the Title of Counts of Bourges till Harpin undertaking a Journey into the Holy Land sold his Estate to the French King Philip I. for sixty thousand golden Pence This Lord turning a Monk at his return this County was united to the Crown till the year 1360 that the French King John erected it into a Dutchy and Peerdom for his youngest Son John who dying without Male Issue Berry return'd to the Crown King Charles VI. gave it in portion to his fifth Son Charles since the VII of that name King of France and because during the Wars with the English this Province stood firm to his Int'rest his Enemies call'd him contemptuously King of Bourges Since that time Berry has often been the portion of youngest Sons Daughters and Queen Dowagers of France This Province is about 28 Leagues North and South and as many East and West being divided into two Parts almost equal by the Cher and water'd by a vast number of other Rivers which make this Country very pleasant and fertile in all the necessary Conveniencies of Life It especially abounds in Corn and the Pasture-Ground is so excellent that the Wooll and Cloth of Berry out-do all the others in France The Name of Berry is derived from a Latin word us'd in the decay of that Tongue Biturium More antient Authors call the Berruyers Bituriges Cubi to distinguish them from the Inhabitants of Bourdeaux Bituriges Vivisci who seem to be a Colony of the former Bourges Avaricum Biturigum and in latter Ages Biturigae Bituricae Betoricae lies 19 Leagues South South-East of Orleans upon the River Eure or Yeure Avara or Avera whence the Latin Name of this City Avaricum seems to come It 's seated in a Soil fertile in Fruits and Wine that is not so delicate but more healthful than that of Orleans The River Eure divides it self into three Branches one of which serves to cleanse the Town and withal to Dyers Tanners and the like the other refreshes the Ditches that surround the Walls and the third runs along the Suburb of St. Peter These three Branches being joined and the Eure encreased with the Waters of the Oron Vtrio the Aurette Avara Minor and the Moulon Molo near the Monastery of St. Sulpice this River begins to be Navigable The Situation of Bourges is not only convenient but also very strong for besides these Rivers and Ditches it is defended by broad and deep Marshes surrounded with good Walls fortified with eighty Towers so that three Camps would needs be required to besiege it on all sides as one at Bourbon's Gate the other at Oron's Gate and the other at the Gate of St. Privatus Cesaer observes that he could not shut it up with Trenches and laid siege to it only on that side that was between the River and the Marsh Nevertheless he took it partly by Storm and partly by Stratagem having raised two high Towers whence his Soldiers leaped on the Wall which so frighted the Garison and Inhabitants that they retir'd to the great Market and thence endeavoured to make their escape thorough the Gates but the Romans having master'd them spar'd neither Sex nor Age they were so incens'd at the Murther of their Fellow Soldiers in Gien This was the Cause that of 40000 People that were in this City 800 hardly could save their Lives by retiring into the Army of Vercingentorix General of the Gauls In the V. Century Bourges was taken from the Romans by the Visigots and from them by Clovis and made part of the Kingdom of Orleans under Clodomir and of that of Burgundy under Gontran his Nephews Desiderius or Didier General of Chilperic the first King of Paris or France took it from the last in 583 and burnt it almost intirely Charlemaign repair'd it and Phillip August fortified and adorn'd it with a Castle call'd the Great Tower which was almost quite ruined in 1651. It was cut Diamond wise on the outside and rais'd so high that from the top the Country might be viewed four Leagues round about There has been seen a long time a Wood or Iron-Cage where the jealous King Charles the VIII kept Lewis of Orleans Prisoner who nevertheless succeeded him In 1412 the Duke of Burgundy brought the French King Charles the VI. before Bourges whither the Duke of Orleans and his Confederates had retir'd and laid siege to it with an Army of 100000 Men but in vain for at last both Parties were glad to accept of the Mediation of the Duke of Guyenn then Dauphin of France In 1562 The Count of Montgommery Commander of the Protestants under the Prince of Conde seiz'd on this Town May 27 but left Governour therein one Yvoy a Man of no great Courage and Trust who surrendered it the same Year to the Duke of Guise and therefore it remained in the Power of the Leaguers till 1594 that it was reduced by the French King Henry the IV. Notwithstanding these various Changes Bourges is still a considerable City being of an Oval Figure with seven Gates and as many Suburbs Its Walls seem to be a Roman Work being still almost intire and so strongly built that it requires a great deal of Labour to pluck some few Stones out of them It has seventeen Parochial and seven Collegiate Churches three Abbies a College of Jesuites and a vast number of Monasteries besides the Cathedral of St. Stephen said to be buiâ—t in 254 and the St. Chappel founded by John Duke of Berry Brother to the French King Charles the V. and therefore depending immediately on the See of Rome That Duke was buried there in 1417 and there is still his Crown with several Vessels of Gold and Silver curiously wrought There are likewise shewn the pretended Bones of a certain Giant call'd Briat said to have been 15 Cubits high The Romans had here a Pallace which K. Pepin repair'd and called there an Assembly of his Barons in 767 but I know not whether it be the same which the Dukes of Berry made afterward use of and is now the Seat of the Presidial Besides the Bailiwick Bourges has a Generality to which the Elections of Chateau-Roux and la Chastre in Berry and St. Amand in Bourbonnois are resorting as also a Chamber of Acompts for all the lands depending on this Dutchy erected by the said Duke in 1379. It s University is famous for the Civil and Canon Law the best Lawyers in France having taught here in the last Age and the beginning of this such as Alciat Baroâ— Duarenus Baldwin Conti Hortomun Cujus c. It was founded by the French King Lewis the IX re-establisht by Charles Duke of Berry Brother to Lewis the XI and endow'd with many Priviledges by Pope Paul II. in 1464. But now I am
Chastillon Sur Indre-Igorandis Aigurande Montfaucon Monsfalconis towards Nivernois has one of the finest Ponds in the Country Nancey Pelluau Charrox Corrocium have the Title of Counties Ligneres Lineriae and St. Severe are Buronies Valansay Vatan Vastinum Culant Cullencum are considerable Lâ—rdships La Cheze-al-Benoit is an Abby the chief of St. Benet's Order Of Poictou THis Province is the biggest of those that are comprehended in the Government Orleanois for it reaches 48 Leagues East and West from Port de Piles in Tourain to the Isle of Nermoutier and 20 North and South from Loudun to Aunay or 26 from Champigni on the Vienne to Marsillai on the Charante and the Borders of Angoumois It 's included betwixt Britany Anjou and Tourain on the North. Berri and La Marche on the East Angoumois Saintonge and Aunis on the South and the Sea on the West It 's divided into upper and lower the latter extending along the Ocean from Fontenay le Comte to Mortaigne and the former taking up the rest of the Province The whole Country is fruitful in Corn Wine and Pasture-Grounds and feeds great numbers of Sheep and Herds of Cattle besides that there is good Fishing on the Sea-Coast and a vast quantity of Game in the Forrests and Warrens The Inhabitants of POICTOV are mentioned by Cesar Strabo Ptol my and other antient Geographers under the Name of Poictones But there is little appearance they should have gotten that Name from a Scythian Nation call'd properly Agathyrses and sirnam'd Picti because they used to Paint their Hair and Faces to make themselves the more terrible to their Enemies That these Pictes having possest themselves of the Northern Parts of great Britain should have Shipp'd over a Colony that made a Descent on the Coasts of POICTOV Conquered the Country and gave their Sirname to it All this is grounded upon a bare Resemblance of Words without any Foundation on History for theses Pictes began to appear in the Year 87. of our Lord under the Empire a Domitian and we have quoted Cesar who call'd the Inhabitants of POICTOV Pictones an hundred Years before So that this must needs be a Gaulish Name whose original is unknown that Tongue being almost altogether lost The swiftness of Cesars Conquests in the Gauls will not surprise those who shall consider the Constitution of that Country separated into a vast number of petty States independing from one another That Great Captain us'd the methods that have ever prov'd so successful to Conquerors to sow dissension among their Enemies make Alliances with some profer Neutrality to others and use the Forces of the vanquished to subdue the unconquered Thus Cesar having submitted the Inhabitants of the Country of POICTOV and Saintonge imbark'd his Troops in their Vessels to Land Men into the Country of Vennes and by those means subdued the most potent Nation that liv'd on the Sea-Coast of Gaul Neither could the League which Vercingentorix a young Gentleman of Auvergne endeavoured to make among several Nations of the Celtick Gaul restore their broken Power The Quota of the Pictones came then to 8000 Men which shews how considerable they were in those days Notwithstanding Alesia whose relief was intended by this League was taken and destroyed by the Romans the Pictones with all their Confederates being likewise subdu'd Ever since the Pictones remained under the Romans and not long after the Emperour Claudius going over into England was accompanied with the Flower of their Nobility whom at his Return he allow'd to rebuild their Capital City in Recompence of their good Services But in 410 the Vandals plundered and destroyed it in part and two Years after it fell with all POICTOV Guienn and Languedoc in the Power of the Wisigoths who maintained themselves in the Possesion of all those Provinces 84 Years under six Kings that is till 509 that Clovis King of the French won the Battel of Civaux near Poictiers kill'd Alaric King of the Wisigoths and drove them out of POICTOV and a great part of Guienn and Languedoc Under the French King and Emperour Charles the Bald this Province began to have Counts of its own who in process of Time beeame Dukes of Guienn William the X. the last of them Married Alienor his only Daughter and Heires to the French King Lewis the VII but the crafty Policy of the Popes procuring a Divorce betwixt them this rich Princess spous'd Henri Plantagenet afterwards King of England which was the Source of continual Wars betwixt the two Kingdoms during two or three Centuries Pictones is the true Latin Name of the Inhabitants that has been since corrupted into Pictavi Pictavenses and Pictavini whence comes the French Poitevins and likewise the Name of Petaux given to some part of the French Foot by Froissard and Thibaud de Maroiles as most probably the Name of Bidaux in the same Historians signifies the Foot-Soldiers levied in the Province of Berry Bituriges As there are great Numbers of Gentry in this Province and the Inhabitants of Towns are well bred and live at Ease the Reformation made great progresses in POICTOV and was oft therefore the Seat of War in the last Age. But nothing can be compar'd to the Cruelties which the Intendant of Marillac and his Officers exercised upon the Protestants of this Province in the Years 1680. and 1681 by Lewis the XIV's Order The waste of their Goods and the plunder of their Houses were tolerable Vexations in comparison of the Racks and Tortures which they put those poor Men upon without any other Cause than that they were pretended Hereticks The Reader may consult two Books Erat des Reformez en France Par. 1. Chap. 8 to 14. but especially Pag. 141 142. and Les derniers efforts de l'innocence affligee Pag. 82 -123 Besides the general Division of POICTOV into Upper and Lower 't is subdivided into ten smaller Countries as le Chastelleraudois le Loudunois le Miâ—aâ—elois le Toâ—â—rcois la Gastine Arbauge le Lussonois 〈◊〉 â—â—oâ—â—ois les Mauges and le Pais de Tifaâ—â—◠〈…〉 I shall describe under the Towns whom they hâ—ve their name Poictiers Capital of the whole Province lies forty Leagues from Orleans and sixty five from Paris to the South East It s antient Name is Augustoritum according to Ptolomy who also mentions another City under the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Limonum which Sanson takes for Poictiers but that antient Geographer distinguishes them so plainly that I had rather to confess I know not what place Limonum is than to contradict him In process of Time Augustoritum was call'd Pictavi by the Name of the People of which it was the Head as Parisii Remi and many other Cities in the Gauls and afterwards Pictava Pictavorum Vrbs and Pictavium It seems to have formerly stood lower to the North at a place call'd le Vieux Poictiers not far from Chastelleraud because of the name of old Poictiers and of some Ruins of old Walls that are yet to be
Matter before the King's Council so that our Reformed seeing that no Justice was to be hoped from the Parliament made an Interest to remove the Cause before the King's Council that they might avoid expences which many other imitated not without the secret Support of the Court. CHAP. VI. Of the Religion of the French THE Reader must not here expect an Account of the Bardes and Druides or of the Idolatrous Worship of the ancient Gauls neither am I minded to assert or confute what has been said concerning St. Denis the Areopagite being Bishop of Paris or St. Martial Bishop of Limoges and both Apostles of the Gauls about the Year 70. By whomsoever the Christian Religion has been first preached in France sure it is that it was early enough since in the middle of the second Century there were two conspicuous Churches at Lyons and Vienne who endured a long and bloody Persecution under the Empire of Marc. Aurele An. 176. By what Means and Degrees Popery corrupted Christianity is not a Mystery in this Protestant Kingdom but I have some Observations to make upon the Progress and present State of that Superstitious Worship in France It 's well known that Superstition began to creep into the Church by the over-great Honour the Faithful rendered to those Christian Heroes the Martyrs who contrary to the Heathen that got a Name by their being troublesome to others signalized themselves by their own Sufferings And with great reason were they so much reverenced since the Pagan Antiquity which mentions so many Hercules can hardly supply us with an Anaxarchus While these couragious Athletes lay in Prison Sinners were released of their Penances upon their Intercession after their Death their Tombs were the Gathering-place of the Faithful and when God had given Peace to his Church Temples were built upon or near their Graves and called after their Names And as the Vulgar doth not know how to keep the golden middle Path hates or loves despises or praises to excess So this due and lawful Remembrance soon degenerated into an Idolatrous Worship Perhaps at the beginning it had been easie to Clergy-Men to put a Stop to that Superstition but the Generality found it seems their Reckoning by it and pious Men durst not oppose the Current However the Gauls had the Honour to produce one Jovinian a Monk of Milan who endured a long Persecution for openly disproving the creeping Practices of Coelibacy Vows and the Veneration of Reliques in the time of St. Ambrose But a greater Man than Jovinian whom neither Italians nor Spaniards can challenge is Vigilantius for he was born at Calaguri a small Borough near Cominges in Gascony True it is that St. Jerom disputed against him with much Violence but the Learned know that the Conduct of this Father is not so much commended as his Science and notwithstanding his Out-crys Vigilantius quietly died in the Communion of the Church and left a great many Disciples who seem to have been the Fore-fathers of the Albigenses as those of Jovinian maintained the Truth in the Churches of Italy till Claudius Archbishop of Turin arose and was succeeded by the Vaudois The second Step of Superstition was the Worship of Images which when the Emperors of the East could no longer oppose God raised Charlemaign in the West who caus'd it to be condemned together with the second Council of Nice in another held at Francfort Ann. 794. At the same time Agobard Archbishop of Lyons and Claudius of Turin preach'd and wrote againâ—â— these Idolatrous Practices which prevail'â— at last during the Weakness and Division of Charlemaign's House and Successors Transubstantiation was a casual Off-spring of Image-Worship for when thâ— Orthodox told the Iconolatre's that God'â— Son had left us but an Image of himself namely the Holy Sacrament which notwithstanding he never commanded to adore the last after many Subterfuges finally bethought themselves of this Answer 〈◊〉 That the consecrated Bread and Wine were not a simple Image of our Lord but his true Body and Blood Against this strange Doctrine Bertram or Ratramn Priest and Monk of Corby in Picardy composed a Book about the Year 850. and a little after John Scot Erigeene Professor of Divinity in the University of Paris wrote of the same Matter both by Order of Charles the Bald Emperor By the Opposition of these great Men this monstrous Tenet was somewhat suppressed but as it lifted up its Head again after their Death Berengarius Arch-Deacon of Anger 's arose for the Truth in 1035 was a long time maintained by several French Bishops against the Power and Persecution of the Popes and dy'd in the Communion of the Church Ann. 1088 not without solemnly recalling the nonsensical Confession which the Popes Nicolas II. and Gregory VII had forced upon him After Berengarius the Assertors of the Truth had more dreadful Storms to go through however France was never wanting such Christian Heroes Some rejected all the Popish Errors as Peter de Bruys and Henry of Tolose the Waldenses and Albigenses Some confuted Transubstantiation as John Dr. of Paris known under the Name of Joannes de Parisiis others bewailed the Corruption of the Church as Nicolas of Clemangis others inveighed against the Monks their Luxury and Covetousness especially William of St. Amour As to those that opposed the Tyranny and Usurpations of the Popes it would be too tedious to enumerate them and I refer my Reader to the Learned Richer and Du Pin. De potest Eccles L. 1. c. 3. De Antiq. Eccles Discipl Diss 7. The French Soyl being so well prepared to receive the Seed of the Gospel 't is not to be wondered at if the Disciples of Luther and the Writings of Calvin caused such a Harvest in that Kingdom one ought rather to be surpriz'd that it was not fruitful every where and that against all Appearance in less than 200 Years the Roman Tare has outwardly covered the whole Realm again I say against all appearance for it seems somewhat strange that some Northern Countries have generally iâ—brac'd and hitherto preserved the Refoâ—mation and that the quick-sighted Frenâ—â— have suffered themselves to be imposed uâ—on so far as to let Popery and Tyranâ— prevail after they had spilt so much Blooâ— to obtain at least a Liberty of Consciencâ— I will not presume to enter the Secrets 〈◊〉 God but as the ways of his Providenâ—â— may sometimes be discovered after the â—vent and the Faults of our Fore-fathers 〈◊〉 the Frauds of our Enemies may make 〈◊〉 wiser for the future so it will not mâ—thinks be amiss to observe the Causes thaâ— have put a stop to the Reformation iâ— France 1. In most of the Countries that reformeâ— themselves the Church-Revenues were noâ— all disposed of according to the pious Intent of the Givers but a good part waâ— appropriated to Secular Uses which alienated the Hearts of the Clergy in otheâ— Countries and gave them occasion to insinuate to the People that Covetousness anâ— not
but the New is greater and better fortified The French destroy'd its Fortifications in 1664 and afterwards repaired them There is a Chamber of Accounts and a Seneshalship This Province has also Bar le Duc Capital of the Dutchy of that Name It was built by Frederick Duke of the Mozellane Lorrain in 951 and fortified with a strong Castle to prevent the Incursions of the Champenois There were several other strong Places amongst the rest Marsal and Moyenvic whose Fortifications the French have destroyed as well as the Castle of Bar le Duc. Near Moyenvic are commodious Salt-Pits I must not forget the three Bishopricks taken from Charles V. in 1552. viz. Toul Mets and Verdun because they are included in this Province and are nearly ty'd to it especially in what concerns Spiritual Jurisdiction though as to the Civil they make a separate Government Toul Tullum Leucorum is a Town well built situated upon the Mosell twelve Miles from Nancy It 's pretty big and boasts of St. Bernard's Tomb over which is a Crown extraordinary well worked its Diocess is pretty large Verdun Verodunum a very pleasant City situated in a fruitful and good Soil on the River Meuse Twenty six Miles from Mets Its Bishops take the Title of Counts of Verdun and Princes of the Holy Empire It has a strong Citadel and Baylwick and is renowned for its Aniseed Mets is also a very pleasant Town both for its Houses its Cathedral of St. Stephen a true Master-piece of Architecture and the River Moselle and Seille that wash it It is a very ancient City since Cesar Plinius Tacite and Ptolomy mention it under the Name of Divodurum Mediomatricum and speak of it as the chief Town of that Country and of the People called Mediomatrices now Les habitans du pais Messin In process of time it became still more and more Famous and under the French Kings of the first Race was Capital of the Kingdom of Austrasia called also the Kingdom of Mets since Theodoric Son to Clovis the Great had chosen it for the Seat of his Empire In the Decay of Charlemaign's House Mets erected it self into a free Imperial Town under the Government of its own Magistrates who had Power of Life and Death and of Coining of Money And so jealous they were of their Liberty that Charles VII King of France besieging them â—n 1444 on the behalf of Renatus Duke of Lorrain they rather chose to see their Country wasted during seven Months and to redeem themselves with 300000 Livres than to loose their Liberty Thus they kept it till the Year 1552 that their City was taken by the Lord of Montmorency High Constable of France In the Month of October of the same Year Charles V. besieged it in vain and as it was the last Undertaking of this Emperour it gave occasion to this Verse alluding to the modern Name of this Town in Latin Metae Siste viam Metis haec tibi meta datur There is seen in St. Stephen's Church a Vessel of Red Porphyry ten Foot long and all of a piece which serves to keep their Holy Water in This great Town has no Subâ—urbs and is all surrounded with a strong Rampier and deep and wide Ditches that can be filled at pleasure only opening a Sluce to let in the Moselle Yet for its greater Strength a Cittadel with four Bastions have been built there of late The People are well bred Civil and Numerous and drive a great Trade into Germany The Circumference of the Town is pretty big its Bishop entitles himself Prince of the Empire and has four Arch-Deacons under him with 623 Parishes In 1633 Lewis XIII established there a Parliament which the Commissioners of the Emperour opposed saying That the French King was only Protector of the three Bishopricks and not absolute Sovereign thereof and consequently that he might not deprive the Inhabitants of their ancient Laws and the Right they had to bring their Appeals before the Imperial Chamber at Spire These Complaints lasted to the Peace of Munster in which the three Bishopricks and Moyenvic were yielded unconditionally and for ever to the Crown of France save only the Right of Metropolitan to the Archbishop of Triers This Parliament as it was the last so it was at first the least considerable next to that of Pau the three Bishopricks only resorting to it But since the Conquest of Lorrain Luxemburg and adjacent Countries its Jurisdiction is mightily inlarged It made a great Noise some time after the Peace of Nimeguen about the Year 1680 when the French King erected there a Chamber of Dependencies whose Judges summoned the Spanish Subjects to come and swear Allegiance to the French King under pretence that they were depending upon some of his new Conquests By this Shrewdness he got more Lands during the Peace than he had done in the War The Dukedom of Luxemburg is under the Governour of Lorrain but I supersede to make a particular Description of it because the Low-Countries deserve a Treatise by it self I shall only observe that there is a Soveraign Council in the Capital whereunto the whole Province resorts At a League 's distance from the Town is a Village called Jovy where are still to be seen some Remains of an Aqueduct built by the Romans with Arches of a fine white Stone cut in Form of Bricks and above Sixty Foot high Besides this there is another considerable Place near Nancy called St. Nicolas that should deserve rather to be called one of the greatest Towns of Lorrain for the Number of its Inhabitants and considerable Traffick than a simple Borough if it were walled in The other most considerable Places near the Capital are Fruart which is but a League off it Ormes Bayon Pont a Mousson famous for its University founded by Charles Cardinal of Lorrain on behalf of the Jesuits An. 1573 and very pleasant by reason of its fruitful Soil and of the Mosell which runs through the middle of the Town and is passed with 〈◊〉 Bridge whence and from a neighbouring Mountain called Mousson is derived thâ— Name of Pont à Mousson Then Vezelize Roziere Blancmont Gerbevillier Charmes Chastenoy Moranges Vaucouleur the Birth-place of Jane d' Arc called the Virgin or Maiden of Orleans Mexan-sous-Bresse Dompaire Deneure Hoden Chasteau-Rambervillier Raon Bellemont Neuf-chastel Magstat Marchainville Espinal Bruyeres Darney Ormont Valderfing Beauzains Vaigni Estraye Estival Luneville Fauquemont Sare-Louïs a new Fortress with a Presidial Vandervange the Seat of a Baylwick c. Its Counties are Vaudemont Chaligni Amence formerly the Chancery of Lorrain Mirecourt Remiremont and La Mothe At Remiremont upon the Mosell is a famous Monastery of Canonnesses where Noble Mens Daughters are only received The Abbess is not suffered to leave the Habit but all the Nuns can go out and marry if they please La Mothe was a small Town on the Frontiers of Champaign but being built on a steep Rock washed by a Brook it was accounted impregnable before
in St. Antony's Street Sorbonne is but the first House or Colledge of Divinity at Paris though this Name be sometimes given to the whole University founded by Charlemaign about the Year 791 but since increased and made more commendable by Lewis VII and Philip August It is divided into four Faculties Divinity Law Physick and Arts. This last is the most ancient and composed of four Nations French Picards Normans and Germans Out of their Body is taken the Head of the University called Rector who in publick Solemnities immediately follows the Princes of the Blood and at the King's Burial walks by the Archbishop's Side His Robe of Ceremony is a Purple Gown tyed up with a Girdle that has goâ—den Hangings and an old fashioned Purseâ— which denotes his Priority and Power oveâ— all the Pursers of the University He alsâ— wears a short Purple Mantle lined with aâ— Ermine-Skin and has a Tribunal composeâ— of the three Deans in Divinity Law and Physick and of the four Attorneys of the four Nations A new Rectâ—â— may be elected every three Months but hâ— that is in Office is often continued and haâ— such an Authority upon all the Faculties that he may cause all publick Acts to ceaseâ— and four times in the year at his Processioâ— Day actually forbids all Preachers to ascend the Pulpit As to the House of Sorbonne it 's very ancient being founded by Robert Sorbonn St. Lewis's Almoner in 1252 or 1253. This Colledge is one of the most rigorous of Europe none being admitted to the Degree of Batchelor unless he studies three years in Divinity in it after he has been received Master of Arts and sustains nine or ten publick Theses Neither is the Degree of Doctor given to any without going through the Sorbonique Act that holds from Sun-rise to Sun-set the Candidate answering all that time to such as come to dispute against him The Dean of the Faculty is committed to oversee these Theses and each Doctor that Disputes is to have a Crown from the Answerer who must satisfie all their Arguments without any body's Help so that he ought to be an able Scholar and have a strong Purse too Those that are admitted that way take the Title of Doctors of the House and Society of Sorbonne but the others that only of Divinity 's Doctor in the Faculty of Paris As for the Building it 's enough to observe that Cardinal Richelieu has taken care to make it one of the most sumptuous of Paris in enriched it with vast Revenues and a good Library The second House after Sorbonne is that of Navarre founded by Jane Queen of Navarre Soveraign Countess of Champaign and Wife to Philip the Fair King of France Humane Learning Philosophy and Divinity are taught in this House which has the Priviledge of making Doctors as well as Sorbonne There are a great many other considerable Colledges founded by Kings Princes Popes c. which I pass by to speak of that called of The Four Nations founded by Cardinal Mazarin and built over against the Louvre His Design in this sumptuous Building is said to have been to encourage Strangers to come to this Capital of the Kingdom to make them have an Esteem and Love for France use themselves to its Ways and learn its Fashions Of these four Nations are kept Sixty Gentlemen Fifteen from Pignerol for Italy Fifteen froâ— Elzas for Germany Twenty Flemings anâ— Ten Spaniards from Roussillon The Hotel-dieu or Hospital destined foâ— the Poor is also very ancient being builâ— since the Year 660 and well worth thâ— seeing It 's very spacious and kept very clean considering the vast number of Sicâ— always attended there by religious Women that make their Vows in the Hands of the Dean of our Lady-Church Behind the House of these Ladies is a Statue of Stone which most People believe to be that of Esculapius The Hospital of the Quinze Vints or Twenty Score founded by St. Lewis in Memory of the Three hundred Christians that had their Eyes put out by the Saracens ought not to be forgotten That of St. Lewis founded by Henry IV. for those that should be sick of the Plague is renowned for its Building Courts Offices and Fountains That of La Charité kept and served by Fryars of that Name is very neat and the People well attended Besides these there is the Incurable and 25 other Houses for the Sick and Poor The great and little Chastelets are the two ancientest Buildings in that City said to be built by Caesar or at least by Julian the Apostate who called Paris his Delight and well beloved Town now they are Prisons of the Civil Lieutenant and Presidial that keep their Courts there The Palace of Cluni in the Maturins Street where the Pope's Nuncio's generally Lodge deserves to be seen It was formerly Julian the Apostate's Baths and the Water was convey'd thither by Aquaeducts from the little Village of Arcueuil near Paris as may still be seen by some Remains of the Ruines The Bastille is a very strong Castle built above the Gate of St. Anthony It s Form is square with four great Towers that defend it of every side its Ditch very deep and other Fortifications as regular Here Persons of Quality suspected of Crimes against the State are imprisoned and there is a Governour to take care of it The Arsenal built just by the River is a great Building with store of Arms fine Gardens and curious Sets of Elm-Trees the Great Master of the Ordnance has his Apartment and keeps his ordinary Residence there The Town-House built by Francis I. was new built by Henry the Great the Front is extraordinary well worked the Chambers spacious the Pavilions uniform and the Pillars and Clock-Tower magnificent Its Revenues are so great that the King very often orders Payments of vast Sums â—hence They must be able Men that are received Sheriffs here and sometimes the whole Court move to have the Man they like chosen Lord Mayor or Provost of Merchants because the Place is of such consequence and he that has it has so much Authority over the People that he may raise them against whom he pleases The Government of the Town is in his and the four Sheriffs Hands who stand but two years in their Office Besides these there are twenty six Councellors and ten Sergeants that serve the Provost and his Sheriffs with sixteen Quaterniers and their Commissaries and other under Officers to hinder any Disorder or Tumult an hundred and twenty Archers or Watch-men who with sixty Arbalestiers or Cross-bow-men an hundred Arquebusiers or Small-shot-men the Foot and Horse Watch go the Rounds every Night commanded by the Captain of the Watch called the Knight of the Watch Le Chevalier du guet The Town 's Attorney takes the Title of King's Attorney The Company of Wine-Cryers to the Number of twenty four are imploy'd in Funerals and twenty four Salt-Porters that carry the King's Bodies are a sort of other Officers of this
the Water â—ut those on the other will sink down and â—herefore the Vulgar calls it the Treasonâ—ood adding further that it was in this â—lace upon a great Table which is still to â—e seen that Ganelon brewed his horrid â—erfidies whereby he betray'd the House â—f Ardennes a great many of the French â—eers and Captains of Charlemaign and causâ—d the Loss of the Battel of Roncevaux near â—he Pyrenean Mountains in 780. About two Leagues from St. Germain and â—hree from Paris is the Borough of Ruel â—hich is considerable for a costly House â—ormerly belonging to the Cardinal of Richeâ—eu This House has four great separate â—partments surrounded with good Ditches â—nd a fine Court in the middle where are â—wo great Dogs of Brass that spout Water â—hrough their Genitals and empty the Court â—o fill the Ditch A little farther is a â—ountain in form of a Rose in which â—tands Hercules with his Club with Cerbeâ—us at his Feet that Vomits up Water as â—ear as any Crystal There are also fine â—lleys Gardens Labyrinths Aquaducts â—nd the like A Mile higher to the North at the samâ— distance off Paris is another considerablâ— Borough called Nanterre where 't is saâ— that St. Genevieve was born and fed her Fâ—ther's Cattle in a Park now walled in 〈◊〉 which the Country People tell you that 〈◊〉 is never covered with Water though all thâ— neighbouring Fields be overflown Chateaufort is a good Borough too fiâ— Leagues South-West of Paris and two 〈◊〉 Versailles It 's the Head of a Chastelny 〈◊〉 which is the fine Town of Limours eighâ— Leagues South-West of Paris and threâ— West of Montlehery At the North end of the Forest Liveliâ— nineteen Miles West of Paris and eleveâ— North-West of Montlehery lies upon a Hiâ— the Town of Montfort-l'Amaury with thâ— Title of a County and an Election Whether the Castle of Montfort has been builâ— and the Town walled in by King Roberâ— Who gave them to its natural Son Amaulrâ— is controverted among the French Histoâ—ans some of whom deny that King Roberâ— ever had any Bastards but sure it is thaâ— one Amaulry Lord of Montfort lived between the Years 1053 and 1073 and waâ— Father to Simon Count of Montfort-l'Amaurâ— whence is descended the illustrious Familâ— of these Counts which has produced several great Captains a High-Constable 〈◊〉 France and nine Soveraign Dukes of Littlâ— Britain from John IV. in 1345 to Claude â—f France last Dutchess of Britain who â—arryed Francis I. and was Mother to Henry II. Kings of France by which means â—his Dutchy was for ever united to that Crown At the South-end of this Forest is the Marquizat of Rambouillet and Three or â—our Leagues Eastward upon the Yvette â—he Burrough of Dompierre and the Dutchy â—f Chevreuse Four Leagues upon the same River is the pleasant Town of Long-junieau French Vexin Pont-Oyse Oesiae Pons Briva-Isarae vel Briâ—isara Capital of this Countrey included betwixt the Rivers Oyse Seine Epte and â—rosne is a strong place which had formerâ—y its particular Counts It 's scituated Fifâ—een Miles North-west of Paris and Four off â—he fall of the Oyse into the Seine The English signalized themselves in defending â—his place six Weeks against the French King Charles VII in 1442. Henry III. took â—t from the Leaguers in July 1589 but the Duke of Mayenn retook it January next Pontoyse is seated upon a Hill near the Oyse and the Town is commanded by a strong Castle There are several Churches and Monasteries with a Bailiwick Provostship and Castelny L'Isle-Adam is an Important Passage upâ— the same River Two Leagues above Pontoâ— It has given its Name to a Noble Familâ— whence Two great Masters of St. John Order John and Philip de Villers L'Isle-Adâ—â— were originary The Isle of Rhodes was taken under the Government of the last 〈◊〉 1522 by Soliman II. Emperor of the Turâ— at the head of an Army of Four Hundreâ— Sails an near Three Hundred Thousand Mâ— after a Siege of 6 Months The Great Mastâ— would perhaps have defended it longer bâ— that the Divisions of the Christian Princeâ— gave him no hope of relief besides that â— Jewish Physician and Amarat a Spaniard Chancellor of the Order betray'd his Couâ—sels to the Infidels Beaumont a Town and a County Theâ— Miles higher is another important Key 〈◊〉 the Oyse scituated upon the steepness of Hill The Counts of Beaumont upon Oâ— have been in credit from the beginning 〈◊〉 the Eleventh Century till Lewis IX bougâ— it of them This County was erected into 〈◊〉 Peerdom by Philip of Valois on behalf 〈◊〉 Robert of Artois in 1328. Charles Duke 〈◊〉 Orleance was Master of it in 1416 when 〈◊〉 was brought Prisoner into England and durâ— his absence the Burgundians his sworn Eâ—mies took and plundred it Since that time tâ— Dukes of Vendosine have possessed Beaumont under the Title of a Dutchy which was born by Henry IV. while King Anthony his Father was alive It has a Royal Seat of Justice Chaumont scituated upon a Hill near the River Trosne Thirteen Miles North-East of Beaumont has the Title of a County Election and a Provostship Magny Seven Miles South of Chaumont has likewise an Election and Provostship The Castle of Rocheguyon near the Seine Three Leages South-West of Magny has the Title of Dutchy and Peerdom Beauvaisis Beauvaisis upon the Terrain or Therin Capital of this County Sixteen Leagues North-West of Paris and almost Eight from Beaumont is a very Ancient Town For Duchesne pretends that it was built by one Belgius XIV King of the Gauls long before Troy it self and Servius calls it Belgae Whatsoever it be sure it is that in Caesar's time it was very considerable that its Inhabitants were the most powerful of the Belgae and those who withstood him the longest their Jurisdiction was bigger than the Beauvaisis â—s now for it extended as far as Vermandois and Soissons on the East the Norman Vexin and the Countrey of Caux on the West the Parisis on the South and the Territory oâ— Amiens on the North. Besides Beauvais Casaromagus and Bellovaci there was another great and strong City which Caesar callâ— Brantuspantium but no body can certainly tell where it was seated Oysel Sanson and Adrian de Valois pretend that it was Beaâ—vais it self After this first Emperour 〈◊〉 subdued Beauvais it remained under thâ— Romans till the French became Masters oâ— the Gauls to whom it was so faithful thaâ— we do not read that it was ever taken bâ— their Enemies for which reason it is calleâ— by some Authors the Virgin City The â—â—glish endeavour'd in vain to surprize it iâ— 1433 and Charles the Rash last Duke oâ— Burgundy was not happier in 1472 for after Six Weeks he was forced to Raise thâ— Siege It 's said that this Prince's Ordinanâ—â— was Extraordinary good and that upon thâ— account he boasted to carry with him thâ— Keys of all the Towns of France Hencâ— his Jester not long after the Raising of thâ—â—
Siege took occasion curiously to pry inâ—â— the Mouth of all the Cannons and whâ—â— the Duke asked him what he did I looâ— sais he for the Key of Beauvais but I cannot find it For this Warlike Resistance the Inhabitants got several priviledges as tâ— be free from the Duty of Arrear-ban witâ— the liberty of enjoying Noble Mannon without paying any Money to the Crown But the Women as they shewed a Courage much above their Sex so they were honoured above the rest For they were allowed to adorn themselves at their Wedding-Day as sumptuously as they would a Liberty very unusual in those Days Likewise to precede the Men at a Procession to be made every Year at the Festival of S. Agadresme and to bring their Offerings to the Altar before them Beauvais is a very fine City both for its Buildings as the Episcopal Palace the Cathedral Church of St. Peter which has Eight Dignitaries and Forty Canons Six Collegiate Churches and Three Abbyes and likewise for its Territory which is pleasantly interrupted with Plains Vallyes and Hills that are Fertil in Wine Corn Hay and all sorts of Fruits nay the Meadows are so good that Muttons are here bigger and fatter than in other parts of France This Town besides is well fortified the Walls being thick and strengthned with Bulwarks and Rampiers the Ditches deep and broad with Sluces to let the Water in or out S. Lucian is thought to have been the first Bishop of Beauvais in the Primitive Ages of Christianity but either of him or his Successors is little certainty till the VIII or IX Century Odet of Coligni Cardinal of Chastillâ—â— was Bishop of this Town in the last Age and being perswaded of the Truth of the Reformation refused to say Mass in the Cathedral on Easter-day 1561 and madâ— bold to Celebrate the Lords Supper in hâ—â— Private Chappel The French Kings and the Counts of Blois and Champaign have endowed this Bishoprick with great Revenueâ— and Priviledges so that its Prelate is Spiritual and Temporal Lord of this Town and County and the first among the Ecclesâ—astical Counts and Peers of France Hâ— Power howsoever is not so great as it wâ—â— before the Year 1539 that there was 〈◊〉 Royal Officer but a Judge of Priviledgâ—â— Men Since that time a Bailiwick Presidâ—â—â— Election and Mayoralship have been founded there In 1609 that Duchesne wrote hâ— Antiquities all the Judges depended yeâ— upon the Bishop He has Nine Arch-Deacons and Three Hundred and Seventy Parishes under him The Chief Trade of Beauvais consists in Serges Cloaths and the like Stuffs is Earthen Vessels which are made of an excellent Potters-Clay that abounds in this Countrey in lines which are transported into Holland and Flanders There are a great many Villages round about the Town and several Noble Families whence are issued Four great Masters of St. Johns Order John and Philip de Villiers L' Isle-Adam Claudius de la Sengle and Vignacourt But the most Illustrious of all is John of Bechencourt the first King and Discoverer of the Canaries in 1402. Among the Titles of the Bishop of Beauvais is that of Vidame or Vicedominus of Gerberoy because he is Lord Temporal of that Borough scituated on the Frontiers of Picardy upon a Mountain which has the Terrain at its foot Five Leagues North-West of Beauvais It is famous for a Battle between the English and the French fought in 1435 where the Count of Arundel lost his Life Bulles a Borough Four Leagues East of Beauvais is renown'd for its Lines and known since the Year 1075 Clermont Eleven Miles South-East of Beauvais and Six of Bulles is a pretty good Town seated upon a small Hill It has the Title of a County and has given its Name to a Noble Family known since the Eleventh Century It was extinguished within Two Ages and King Lewis the IX gave it to Robert of France his Son about the Year 1291 but in 1327 Charles the fair exchanged it with Lewis Roberts Son for some other Lands and erected the Barony of Bourbon into a Dutchy and Peerdom which made this House change their Sirname and rake that of Bourbon It 's from this Robert that the present Kings of France are descended Clermont was restored to these Lorâ— by Philip of Valois who would not keep tâ—â— Match of his Predecessor but confiscated bâ— Francis I. upon Charles of Bourbon Higâ— Constable of France because he had revoltâ— from him to the Emperour Charles V. Tâ—â— other Towns or considerable Burroughs oâ— Beauvaisis are Merlou Bury Ansac Angâ— Mony Monchy Tillart c. Valois Going over the Oyse you enter into thâ— Country of Valois call'd Pagus Vadensis in thâ— Statute-Books of the Emperour Charles the Bald. Mention is made of it since Philip I Afterwards this County was often given 〈◊〉 the Children of the French King for theâ— Portion whence it came that the Frencâ— King Philip VI. Son to Charles Count oâ— Valois Alencon c. and Grandson to Philip the Bold was surnamed de Valois and communicated this Appellation to Thirteen Kings descended from him until Henry IV. in whom began the branch of Bourbon Charles VI. Erected this County into 〈◊〉 Dutchy and Peerdom in 1402 and it makes yet part of the Portion of Philip of France Lewis XIV his Brother Creil upon the Oyse with a Fine Bridge â—nd a Provostship resorting to the Bailiwick of Senlis is the first Town you meet with coming out of Beauvaisis Charles V. built there a strong Castle which fell in the hands of the English under Charles VI. and was retaken by Charles VII in 1442. Creil is Two Leagues North of Senlis and Eleven of Paris Chantilly upon the Nonnette Three Miles South of Creil is a Royal House with fine Gardens and Water-Spouts belonging now to the Prince of Conde Verneuil upon the Oyse a League East of Creil has been Erected first into a Marquizate and lately into a Dutchy and Peerdom by Lewis XIV Anno 1652. Sonlis Augustomagus Silvanectum is scituated on a Hill betwixt Two small Rivers which mix their Waters near it and bear the Name of Nonnette with the Forest Halatre on the North and that off Senlis on the South Nine or Ten Leagues of Paris It 's the most considerable Town of this Dutchy having a Bishoprick Bayliwick and Presidial Seven Parochial and Two Collegiate Churches St. Proculus was his first Bishop The whole Diocess is interwoven with woods which has given it its Latin Name In 873 Charles the Bald assembled there the Bishops of Sens and Rheims to try his Son Carloman who was a Deacon and had revolted against him The Young Prince waâ— condemn'd and his Eyes pull'd out and waâ— put close Prisoner in the Abby of Corby 〈◊〉 Thence he made his escape to Lewis thâ— Germanick his Unkle who gave him thâ— Abby of Epternack where he died sometiâ—â— after In 1589 the Leaguers besieged thâ—â— Town but were forced to raize the Siegâ— by the Duke of Longueville
left but one Sister call'd Helie that sold this Countrey to the French King Philip August Lewis IX gave it to Peter his fourth Son and since it has often been the Portion of the Children of the French Kings In 1572. the Lord of Matignon hinder'd there the bloody effects of St. Bartholomew's Murder however as he kept the Protestants low the Leaguers took it 3 years after Four leagues North of Seez is the Burrough of Hiesmes which gives its Name to the Countrey thereabouts the Hiesmois Pagus Oximiensis or Oxmensis that was formerly much larger comprehending the Alenconois and Seois Hiesmes Oximus or Oximi seems also to have been a considerable Town and sometimes the Seat of the Bishops of Seez who are call'd Oximensis Ecclesiae Episcopi Argentan called by the Latin Geographers Argentomum or Argentomagus lyes upon the River Orne 3 leagues West of Hiesmes and 5 South-west of Seez Falaise upon the River Ante eleven miles North-west of Argentan is an Ancient Town built in a Valley between two Hills in the form of a Boat of which a strong Castle digged upon a Rock seems to be the Stern It is a high big and round Tower that was the Palace of the Ancient Dukes of Normandy in time of Peace and their place of Arms in time of War It has gotten its Name from the Rocks upon which it is built or wherewith it s encompass'd which in the Franco-German Language are call'd Fales or Fels and the Normans give still the Name of Falaise to great heaps of Snow Thô this place was so very strong yet it was surrendred upon the first Summons to Philip August in 1203 but having been retaken by the English it was kept by them one of the longest of all and defended by the Warlike Talbot till the Year 1450. There is yet a Fort environ'd with Ditches and said to be built as well as the Castle by Julius Caesar to be a Bulwoâ—k against the Galli if they chanced to rebell during his Voyage into Great Brittain Next to this Town is the Burrough of La Guibray anciently Wibray renown'd for its free Fair in the Month of August said to be instituted by our William the Conqueror A league West of this Town is the Mountain of Airiennes where Hawks Faulcons and other Birds of Game are caught About the Year 1570. some Peasants digging near this Mountain found several Medals and pieces of Brass money with the stamp of Julius Caesar In the Territory of this Town is the Village of Arnes scituated in a Plain destituted of Brooks and Rivers and the Sea however which is ten leagues distant from it sometimes conveys thither by subterraneal Channels such abundance of Waters that they form a Lake or Pond furnished with several sorts of Fishes and when the water retires the place drys up again The Bishoprick of Bayeux THE Inhabitants Name their own Countrey Pays Bessin Ausone calls them Biocasses and Gregory of Tours Baiocassini they are esteem'd by Adrian de Valois the Viducasses of Pliny and the Biducasses of Ptolomy The chief Town Bayeux is seated upon the River Aure which loses it self into a kind of Abyss or great Ditch a small league Southwards This Town has the title of Viscounty Bailiwick Prefidial and Bishoprick Its first Prelate is accounted to be St. Exupere whom the Vulgar calls St. Spire In this Diocess are reckon'd above 200 Parishes under 4 Archdeaconships and 16 Deanships The Cathedral Church has 50 Canons of whom 17 are Dignitaries Its Towers Clock Gates Columns and the whole Building is sumptuous and it â—ear the Name of our Lady It s Bishop is the â—â—st Suffragan to Rouen has Jurisdiction over â—â—en Fâ—laise Vire and above 200 Parishes â—nder 4 Archdeaconships and 16 Deanships It â—as likewise a Bailiwick resorting to the Presiâ—ial of Caen. During the Civil Wars of Religion a Protestant Captain call'd Francis of Bricqueville Lord of Colombiers took it from the Roman Catholicks whose Worship was abolished there for a short while William Bonnet call'd there a Synod about the Year â—200 he is the same who founded a Colledge â—n the University of Paris in 1308 that has the Name of the Colledge of Bayeux Caen upon the River Orne six leagues South-â—ast of Bayeux and four leagues North of Estreâ—an on the mouth of that River is accounted the Capital of Lower Normandy and has a Bailiwick Presidial Generality Election and Offices for receipt of the King's Money Some will have it to be a very Ancient Town and â—hat it be called Cadomus for Caji Domus But â—he Learned Bochart one of the greaâ—est Ornaments of France but especially of this Town wherein he was Minister of the Protestants thinks not Caen to be of so great Antiquity and derives its Name from a Saxon word made Laâ—in Kadomum which signifies a pleasant and Godly Habitation King William the Conqueâ—â—n and Maud of Flanders his Wife are Interâ—ed in two Abbies of S. Bennets Orders unâ—er the Name of St. Stephen and the Holy â—â—â—nity which they founded in this Town the â—irst of Monks the other of Nuns It is a very Trading place because great Boats can gâ— from the Sea to the Bridge of St. James's 〈◊〉 the help of the Title and of its three days after Easter instituted by our K. William 〈◊〉 Town-house is built upon another Bridge oâ— St. Peter This House is a remarkable 〈◊〉 with four Towers and a Clock which 〈◊〉 only shows the Hours but also the Iâ—aâ—â— and Decrease of the Moon Here the Gâ—â—â— â—ceives the Oudon after it has pass'd thro seâ—â— Mills At the upper end of the Town 〈◊〉 strong Castle built upon the Rock foâ—â— with a Platform having in the middle a 〈◊〉 square Tower flank'd at the four Corners 〈◊〉 four other Towers and encompass'd with a Ditches Besides the Courts already nâ—on'd there is a Vice-Admiralty an Ecclesiâ—cal Court depending upon the Bishop of â—eux an Overseer of Waters and For resâ—â— Salt Granary a Mint and a University â—â—ed in the Year 1431. It has three Colleâ— and is governed by a Rector a Chanceâ—â— the Bishop of Bayeux and two Conser vnâ—â— its Priviledges the Bishops of Lizieux and â—â—ance There is besides an Academy or 8â—â— of Learned Men erected some 30 years 〈◊〉 'T is said that this Town became consideâ—â— by the Residence of the English during 〈◊〉 Wars in France and by the many Privileâ— they allow'd it In 1562. the Protestants 〈◊〉 came Masters of the Town but the French 〈◊〉 Charles IX having gotten it from their 〈◊〉 by a sham Declaration of Liberty of Câ—ence the Garrison of the Castle ploâ—â— Quarrel with the Inhabitants who were 〈◊〉 stâ—ts for the most part the last besieged the â—t and expell'd them out of that Nest with 〈◊〉 help of the Admiral of Coligny The small Countrey of Auge Algia towards â—e South-east and the borders of the Bishopâ—â—â—k of Seez is depending on this Bailiwick 〈◊〉 the Temporal and for the Spiritual
them with abundance of Butter and Milk and their Sea-ports make them the best Fishers and Mariners in France The Inhabitants appear Clownish but are really shrewd and cunning Tho' Pliny asserts l. 4. c. 17 19. That the Galli call'd in their own Language Aremorica the Countrey included between the Garumne the Sea and the Pyrenean Mountains which the Romans nam'd afterwards Aquitain yet it appears that Caesar and other Ancient Geographers understood by Armorica and Armorici the Nations and Cities bordering upon the Ocean from the mouth of the Seyne to that of the Loire so that the Ancient Armorique comprehended all Brittany and a good part of Normandy that is all the third Lyonnoise and about one half of the second but this Name deriv'd from an old Gaulish word Armor Ad mare or near the Sea became in process of time proper to Britanny Beda relates l. 1. c. 1. That in old times some Armoricans came over into our Island and master'd the Southern parts of it however 't is not from them that our Ancestors got the Name of Brittains since these Gauls were only known by that of Armorici whereas it cannot be doubted but that our Brittains gave their Name to Brittanny Annal. Egin ad An. 786. For Eginhard testifies that about the Year 441. at the beginning of Valentinian's Empire the English and Saxons having invaded our Island a great part of the Inhabitants put to Sea and Landing on the borders of Vannes and Cornouaille made themselves Masters of the Countrey Accordingly we find one Mansuetus Bishop of these Brittains subscribing to the Council of Tours in 461. Our Refugees made not long since a great Figure in the World for about the end of the fifth Age their King â—â—othimas having made a League with the Emperor Anthemius against the Goths was defeated by them on the borders of Berry before he could joyn with his Confederates and lost in that Battle the best part of 12000 men So great a loss however was not able to run them altogether down for we find that even in the following Century they were a Terror to the French so that Clovis the Great 's Grand-Children Theodebert and Thierry were forc'd to keep Counts and Marquesses on the Frontiers to oppose the Incursions of the Brittains into the Territory of Nants They being so Warlike and their Castles and Forts being surrounded with Woods and Marshes the Captains of Charlemaign were not like to have subdued them as they did about the end of the eighth Century had they not divided themselves into several petty principalities notwithstanding they recover'd their liberty under Charles the Bald by the Valour of Nomenoius and Herispoius his Son to whom Charles yielded the Territories of Rennes Nantes and Retz when he saw that he could not recover them Others relate the Settlement and Adventures of our Brittains somewhat differently They say that about the Year 393. a Brittish Captain called Conan Meriadoc Lieutenant to Maximus who had been saluted Emperor in England in 382. obtained leave of his Master to erect a Kingdom in Little Brittain which his Successors enjoyed independently from any other till about the Year 570. that Chilpric I. King of France made them Tributary After the Death of Judicael about the Year 700 This Kingdom was rent into several petty Principalities so that Charlemaign had no great trouble to subdue them as he did in 787. Neomenes or Nomenoius descended from the Ancient Kings of Brittany was made Lieutenant to the Emperor Lewis the Meek but he revolted against him took the Title of King and dyed in 852. Heruspeus or Herispoius his Successor maintain'd the War against the French King till 866. that he was kill'd by his Cousin Solomon This last reigned 12 years and was murdered in 878. After his Death this Province was rent again by several Lords who made themselves Soveraigns in their respective Countries This lasted to the Year 930 or 935. that Alain I. subdued the whole Province and enjoyed it under the Title of County He was succeeded by twelve or thirteen more who possesesed it under the same Title but in all Soveraignty till a French Prince called Peter of Dreux Grandson to the French King Lewis the Burly having married Alix Heiress of this County in 1213. consented to acknowledge the French King Lewis IX for his Liege Lord who in recompense gave him the Title of a Duke And for having thus betray'd the Liberties of the Brittains he was surnamed by them the Duke Mauclerc that is The Ignorant or unskilful Duke Philip the fair King of France made John II. Grand-child to Peter Mauclerc Duke and Peer of France After the Death of John III. surnamed the Good in 1341. there hapned a long and bloody War between two pretenders to this Dutchy John IV. surnamed of Monfort and Charles of Blois John was Son to Arthur II. by a second Wife Charles had Spoused Jane Countess of Ponthievre Grand Daughter to the said Arthur The French King Philip of Valois maintained Charles and Edward III. King of England took the part of John This Quarrel lasted about 14 or 15 Years till John V. Son to the said John of Montfort totally routed and killed his Competitor Charles at the Battel of Aury in 1364. This Great Duke surnamed the Warlike and the Conqueror was succeeded by six others the last of whom Francis H. left but one Daughter Ann Dutchess and Heiress of Brittain Married to the French King Charles VIII and then to Lewis XII She had a Daughter by the last called Claudia Married to the French King Francis I. whose Son Henry II. was the first King of France that was Duke of Brittain by Succession and United that Dutchy inseparably to his Crown The chief Rivers of Bretagne besides the Loire of which we have spoken in the General Description are the Vilaine Vicenonia which comes from a Place in the Maine called la Croisille washes Vitrey receives the Pinelle mixes with the Lille at Rennes then encreased with the waters of Seiche Bonau and Sevonne St. Aubin Ouste Adon falls into the Sea near the Isle of Mai t six leagues South-west of Vennes and four North of the mouth of the Loire The Blavet comes from the Bishoprick of Quimpercorentin runs thrô the Bishoprick of Vennes washes Pontivy and Hennebont and having received the Elle at his mouth discharges it self into the Sea at the bay of Blavet The Laita separates the Bishopricks of Vennes and Quim percorentin and having received the Isotte at the Abby of St. Croix runs into the Sea at the Abby of St. Maurice three or four leagues West of the Bay of Blavet The Rivers of Oder and Benaudet meet at Quimpercorentin and run into the Ocean at a Village called Benaudeâ— The River Ausen or Auen washes the greatest part of this Bishoprick and falls into the Bay of Brest on the South-side which on the North-side receives the River Eloen The River of Morlaix washes the Town
a long time Here it was that Louis the XII imprisoned Ludovic Storce where that Duke died and was buried in the Church of Notre-Dame Here also is to be seen the Tomb of Agnes Surelle or Sorel Mistress of Charles the VII the fairest Woman of her time with her Statue of white Marble done to the Life Hard by is a fine Forrest where the Counts of Anjou and the French Kings used to Hunt Du Chesuc relates that in this Castle there was an Iron-Gate which through a long Lane cut in the Rock lead to a square Room where was found a Man 8 Foot long sitting on a great Stone and leaning his Head on his Hands as tho' he had slept but it went all to Dust as soon as it felt the Air excepting the biggest Bones and the Cranion which were long preserved in our Ladies Church On the South-side of the River lies the Abby of Beaulieu founded on behalf of the Benedictines by Fulk Nerra Count of Anjou There is a Pyramide 10 or 12 Fathoms long in the hollowness of which are some Characters that could never be Uncifer'd so that it is still doubted whether this is a Monument of the Goths or of the antient Gauls Loches has a Bailyff and a Royal Seat of Justice resorting to the Presidial of Tours The City Chinon or Caino almost 10 Leagues South West of Tours is situated upon the Vienne with a Castle having a Governour and Regal Seat of Justice Gregory of Tours relates that the Romans besieging this Town under the Conduct of Aegidius or Gillâ—n turn'd off the Course of the Vienne and stopt a Well whence the Besieg'd drew their Water so that they would have been forced to surrender had not a violent Rain fallen on a sudden which fill'd up their Ditches and terrified the Romans so as to make them raise the Siege Here Charles the VII made his Reâ—reat and here it was that Jeanne d' Arc since call'd the Maid of Orleans came to find him Anno 1426. Francis the first Duke of Bretagne did Homage to the same King in that place Anno 1443. Here are the Canons of the College of St. Mesme are immediately subject to the Pope This also was the Country of Fr. Rabelais famous for his Comical Tales Cande Condate lies on the Confluence of the Vienne and Loire 7 Miles North West of Chinon L' Isle-Bouchard lies in an Island of the River Vienne 9 Miles South East of Chinon with a Castle and fine Meadows La Haye â—aga Turonum 9 Leagues South of Tours and 6 South-East of L' Isle-Bouchard is seaâ—ed on the River Claise with the Title of a Barony and is now famous for being the Native Country of that great Philosopher Descartes Prully Prulliacum 6 Leagues higher to the East on the same River has been sometime the Residence of the Learned Joseph Scaliger who taught the Children of the Lord of Prully Paumy betwixt La Haye and Prully has an antient Castle and the Title of Viscounty Maizieres on the Claise near the Borders of Berry is the Capital of the small Country of Brenne abounding with Game and Fishes because of its many Ponds Chatillon on the River Indre has a Royal Seat of Justice resorting to the Presidial of Tours but its Election depends on the Generality of Bourges Langest near the Loire 11 Miles West of Tours produces excellent Melons Chenonceaux upon the Cher 8 Leagues South East of Tours is renowned for a Royal House and Castle belonging now to the Duke of Vendome It was built by Q. Katherine of Medicis and adorn'd with fine Marbles and Statues brought from Italy among which that of Scipio Africanus is much esteem'd Mont-Louis a Burrough near the Loire betwixt Amboise and Tours has all its Houses cut in the Rock nothing appearing on the ground but the top of some Chimneys amongst the green Turf The other places of note in Touraine are Montbazon and Maille or Luynes two Dutchies St. Maure a County La Roche-Pozay a considerable Lordship seated on the Creuse near the Borders of Berri St. Christopher Chateau-Renaud near the River Bransle and the Frontiers of Maine Montrichard on the Cher Montresor on the Indroise c. Of Blaisois BLaisois lieth between Berry Orleanois properly so called Vâ—nd mois and Touraine It câ—mprehends 3 small Countries Dunois Blaisois and Soulâ—gue which are as many Elections depending on the Gâ—â—erality of Orleans and reaching together to an extent of twenty five Leagues in length North and South but of a very inequal breadth as six or seven Leagues in Blaisois ten or twelve in Soulogue and even sixteen in Dunois The soil in Blaisois is very fertile agreeably interrupted with Mountains and Hillocks cover'd with Vineyards with Forests full of Game and with Plains abounding with Gardens Orchards Meadows and Cornfields besides that it is watered with many Rivers and Brooks It has had its particular Counts since the year 920 that Charles the simple King of of France to gain the Normans whom he could not subdue was forced to divide in a manner his Kingdom with them Thus he gave the Dutchy of Normandy to Raoul their General and the County of Blois to Gellon Raoul's Cousin and one of his chief Captains His Posterity were for a time the most powerful Lords in France having acquir'd the Counties of Chartres and Champaign And even after that Thibaud the IV. Câ—unt of Champaign had bestow'd the Counties of Blois and Chartres on one of his youngest Sons Thibaud or Theobald the good these Counts made yet a great figure in France till the year 1391 that Guy of Chatillon IId of that name having no hopes of an Issue sold his Estates to Lewis Duke of Orleance Grandfather to the French King Lewis XII since which time they were united to the Crown and the County of Blois became often an appanage or part of the portion of the youngest Brethren of the French Kings as it is now of Philip Duke of Orleance Dunois Dunensis Pagus is almost as fruitful as Blaisois tho' the Air be not so much esteem'd nor the Country so Trading Before the French Monarchy was fully settled they were oft at variance with their Neighbours the Blaisois and the Orleannois for Gregory of Tours relates that after the death of Chilperic the fiirst King of France the latter made an Irruption into the Country of the former Dunois had afterwards its own Viscounts since Rotrou I. Count of Mortague c. till it was sold to Lewis Duke of Orleans whose Son Charles gave or exchang'd it in 1430. for some other Lands with his Bastard Brother that famous Warriour John of Orleans to whom the present French Kings owe the best part of their Kingdom reconquer'd from the English The Issue of this great General bears now the name of Longueville and enjoys still the County of Dunois that was erected into a Dutchy and Peerdom in 1525 by Louis of Savoy Mother to K. Francis I. then Regent of the
seen there Unless it were the Limonum whereof I just now spake For Poictiers it self has several other Monuments of Antiquity as an old demolish'd Castle thought to be the Palace of the Emperour Gullienas some remains of an Amphitheatre call'd les Arenes behind the Church of the Jesuits and without the Town the Ruins of divers Aquaeducts which the common People names les Arceaux de Parigne the Arches of Parigne I have mentioned the several Changes through which Poictiers passed speaking of POICTOV and likewise the Battel of Civaux but I must not so get that famous Victory obtained by our Black Prince that Martial Son of a Warlike Father Edward the III. over the French King John September 19. 1336. within two Leagues of Poictiers The King having an Army of above 30000 Men and the Prince hardly 12000 the latter profered to go back and to repay all the Damage he had done from Bourdeaux thitherto But the French meaning that a handful of Enemies ought to Surrender at discretion and could not avoid being cut into pieces would not hearken to any Proposals which so exasperated the English that they fought like Lions gave a total Overthrow to the French and took their King Prisoner The Church of Poictiers is said to have been founded by St. Martial a Kinsman to the first Christian Martyr St. Stephen and he from whom our Saviour took the five Loaves and the two Fishes which his Blessing so miraculously multiplied in the Wilderness St. Peter add the Roman Legendaries sent him into Aquitain where he converted a great many Heathens especially in POICTOV and even laid the Foundation of the Cathedral of St. Peter on that very Day that H. Apostle was Martyr'd What ever be of this for the Monks have so mixed with Fables the antient Accounts that it is a hard matter to distinguish Truth from Falshood This is more certain that about the Year 279 Nectarius or Victorius a learned Man mentioned by St. Jerome was Bishop of Poictiers He was succeeded by several other great Men amongst whom Hilarius that famous Defensor of the Orthodox Faith against the Arians was the tenth in Order under whose Name a Collegiate Church has been since built At the end of the 5th Century that See was fill'd with one of the best Poets of that Age. Venantius Fortunatus who had belong'd to the Houshold of Radegund Queen of France This Diocess has been bigger than it 's now and extended through the whole Province of POICTOV For Lusson and Maillezais have been separated from it and erected from Monasteries into Bishoppricks However it contains yet 22 Parishes 21 of which are included in the City besides 30 Abbies 25 Chapters of Canons and a vast number of Religious Houses the Parishes being under the Inspection of four Arch-Priests The Cathedral of St. Peter was begun by our King Henry the II. and finished 200 Years after It 's a sumptuous Building all of a hard Square-Stone In the Church of our Lady sirnam'd the Great the Mayor's Lady uses to offer every Year the day after Easter a Cloak of considerable value On the outside of the Wall that looks on the great Market is the Statue of the Emperour Constantine on Horse-back with a Sword in his Hand The Collegiate Church of St. Hilary immediately subject to the Pope lies on the upper end of the Town The French King is Abbot of it as Count of Poictiers There is shewn a Stone which consumes Dead Bodies within 24 Hours together with the Tomb of Godfrey the Great-Tooth pretended Son to the Famous Melusine of Luzignan and the hollow Stump of a Tree where Mad-men are put in in hopes that they shall recover their Senses whence comes a jearing Proverb amongst 'em to Send one to St. Hilary Cradle Poictiers is the biggest City in France next Paris as to the compass of its Walls though the not â—â—ear so thick Inhabited as Rouen Touâ—â—se or Lyons there being a great many Gardens and even Meadows Vines and Corn-fields withâ—n its inclosure for which reason Charles V. â—he Emperour call'd it a great Village It 's built partly in a Plain on the West-side and partly â—n a Hill shut up betwixt the River Clain and another that stagnates there into small Rivulets Marshes and Ponds so that it could hardly be taken were it not that the lower Town is commanded by high Rocks nam'd by the Inhabitants Dubes instea of Dunes or Downs The greatest inconveniency of Poictiers is its lack of Water for there are no Fountains and very few Cisterns and therefore the Citizens are forc'd to bâ—y Water that is carried into the Town from a Fountain springing near the Clain at a place call'd Platteforme All the inferior Seats of Justice in the Province of Poictou resort to the Presidial and Seâ—eschaship of Poictiers and in 1415 whil'st the English were Masters of Paris and Charles the VII Dauphin of France was disputing the Crown against 'em Poictiers had the Honour to be the Seat of a Parliament which when the English were expell'd that Kingdom was restored to Paris The Palace where the Judges â—â—eep their sitting was formerly a Castle that 〈◊〉 still a very fine Hall whose Wainscotted â—â—iking is not underpropt by Pillars Next to this Palace is the antient Tower of â—â—â—bergeron built by an Earl of POICTOV therein the seven Viscounties of this Province â—â—e represented Next to the Gate of St. Lazarus was another Castle built in a Triangular Form but therâ— are no Remains of it besides the place when it stood and some strong Towers against the Walls La Pierre Levée The Stone rais'd up is one of the Curiosities of Poictiers which Strangerâ— do not fail to see it being but a Mile from the City It 's a large Square-stone 25 Foot in length 17 in Breadth and 60 in Circuit having these two Verses ingraven upon it Hic Lapis ingentem superat gravitate Colossum Ponderis grandi sidera mole petit The University of Poictiers was founded by Charles the VII in 1431 and has been formerly more famous than it 's now especially foâ— the Civil Law The Auditory or the Haâ— wherein the Law is read is very large and sumptuous and was built in the French K. Henry the IV's Time by the Duke of Sully whil'sâ— he was Governour of POICTOV Poictiers has likewise a Mint where Mony iâ— Coyned at the Letter G. as also an Exchequeâ— and a Generality to which nine Elections arâ— resorting that is all those of POICTOV except Loudun and Mirebeau that depend oâ— the Generality of Tours As to the Government of the Town it is iâ— the Hands of a Mayor twelve Sheriffs or Eâ—chevins twelve sworn Counsellors besides seventy five Burgesses The Mayor is not 〈◊〉 Lord but even the first Baron of POICTOV and takes the Title of Captain and Governoâ— Poictiers during his Charge which is but â—eatly for a new one is elected every Year 〈◊〉 St. Cyprian's Day but afterwards both he â—â—d his
Limosins In Caesar's time the Limosins brought in 10000 Men for the Confederacy of the Gauls against the Romans This People is now adays ingenious prudent laborious and saving they have given 5 or 6 Popes to the Church Limosin is divided into Upper and Lower the chief City of the first is Limoges of the second Tulle The Principal Rivers are the Dordonne the Vienne the Vezere and the Upper Vezere c. The City of Limoges Ratiastum and Le Movicae is seated partly on the top of a little Hill and partly in a Valley upon the River Vienne surrounded with good strong Walls and deep ditches a Gaulish Prince as 't is pretended built it and gave it his name it has much suffer'd in divers times by the Goths French and English Under King Charles V. the Lord High Constable du Guesclin took it from the English in 1371 and the Prince of Wales retook it a little while after by storm where 4000 People fell a Sacrifice to his wrath but the French King got it again soon after The Cathedral is under the name of St. Stephen whose first Bishop St. Martial is accounted to be tho with little proofs There are three considerable Abbeys of St. Austin S. Martial and S. Martin and several other Monasteries with a Presidial and a Generality This Town has had its Hereditary Viscounts who were Sovereigns of the whole Province Many Councils have been held there Limoges lies near the borders of la Marche 34 Leagues North of Cahors and 19 North-East of Perigueux TVLLE Tutela Castrum is watered by two Rivers Courreze and Soulane 15 Leagues South-East Limeges the Abbey of St. Martin was erected here to a Bishoprick by Pope John XXII in 1318. of which Arnold of St. Astier was the last Abbot and the first Bishop Its Prelates are Viscounts and Lords of the Town There is a Presidial and an Election this is the Country of the ancient Family of Gardia There are also to be noted the Viscounty of Turenne Brive la Gaillarde Vserche a strong Town the Dukedom of Ventadour Roche-Abeille famous for a Fight in the year 1569. St. Hivier S. Junian Chalus considerable for its Markets of Horses Aix renowned in that Country for the excellent Bread that is bak'd there Preige-buffiere the first Barony of Limosin Of Perigord PERIGORD Pagus Petrocoricus Borders to the East on part of Quercy and Limosin to the North Angoumois to the West on part of Xaintonge and Guienne properly so called to the South on Agenois and part of Quercy it lies betwixt 44 Deg. 38 Min. and 45 Deg. 30 Min. of Latitude and betwixt 20 Deg. 30 Min. and 22 Deg. of Longitude which makes 24 Leagues North and South from the Source of the Droune to the Barony of Biron near the Source of the Drâ—t and 26 East and West from Sarlat to Roche-Chalais 'T is a rough stony and mountainous Country but for all that pretty fruitful There are many Medicinal Springs and some Mines of Iron and Steel it is divided into Upper and Lower Perigord the first called Blanc or White because of its Mountains 't is North-West betwixt the two Venzeres and the other that was South-East along the Rivers l'Iles and Dordonne is called Noii or Black because of its Woods There are abundance of Wall-nuts Chest-nuts several sorts of Simples and Wine in some places this Province since the declining of the Monarchy had particular Counts till Lewis XII who gave them other Lands in exchange and which the French King Henry IV. annexed to the Crown The City of Perigueux call'd at first Vesunnae Petrocoriorum and afterwards Petrocorii or Petrocori by the name of its ancient Inhabitants is the chief of the Upper Perigord and of the whole Province lies upon the River l'Isle with a Bishoprick Suffragan of Bourdeaux of which it's distant 28. Leagues to the North-East It is a very ancient City yet not so ancient as to have been founded by one of Noah's Sons as some would have it it has often been ruined by the incursions of Barbarians In 768. Pepin le Bref or the Short got near that Town a famous Victory over Gaifer Duke of Aquitain St. Front was its first Bishop its Cathedral under the Name of St. Stephen was much defaced during the Civil Wars The most considerable places are besides Perigueux and Sarlat Beaumont Bergerac Roche-chalais Brantosme Ville-Franche de Perigord Montignac on the Vezere in whose Castle the ancient Counts of Perigord used to reside Montpont the Head of a small Country call'd the Conquest betwixt the Rivers L'Isle and Double and the Village of Mucidan Castillon on the Dordonne 9 Miles East of Libourne and 25 North-East of Bourdeaux where our English General Talbot who had maintained the Wars many years with a handful of Men against all the Power of Charles VII was at length routed in 1451. At Miremont is to be seen a subterraneous Cavern or Den that reaches very far under the Ground At la Douzé a Burrough and Marquizate betwixt Montignae and Miremont is made the best Paper in the Country Hautefort Bourdeilles and Exidueil have also the Titles of Marquizates Riberac that of a County Mareuil Bainac and Biron are ancient Baronies and La Force which gives the name of Dukes to an illustrious Protestant family is the finest House in Perigord Of Saintonge SAINTONGE and corruptively Xaintonge Pagus Santonicus c. Sarlat Sarlatum and Sarlatium Capital of Lower Perigord and more especially of a small Country thereabouts call'd Pagus Sarlaticus Le Sariadois lies on the source of the Nea 2 Leagues North of the Dordonne and but one from the Borders of Quercy There was an ancient Abbey of Benedictins chang'd by Pope John XXII in 1317 into a Cathedral Church of which Raimond of Roquecor was the first Bishop This Town has a Seneschal's Court and is strong by its situation for it maintained two Sieges during the Civil Wars of the Princes in 1652. Santonicus Borders upon Angoumois and Perigord to the East on Poictou and the Country of Aunis to the North on the Ocean to the West and on proper Guienne to the South it lies between 19 Deg. 5 Min. and 20 Deg. 53 Min. of Longitude and between 45 Deg. 5 Min. and 46 Deg. 20 Min. of Latitude which makes about 34 Leagues East and West from Roche Beaucourt and les Fontaines to the Bay call'd Pertuis of Maumusson and 32 North and South from the Sevre Niortoise to very near the Save in proper Guienne This Country is very plentiful in Corn Wine Pastures Saffron good Fish and above all in Wormwood and Rosemary that have particular Virtues A great quantity of good Salt is made upon the Coast and it is a common saying that were France an Egg Xaintonge would be the Yolk of it its principal Rivers are the Garonne the Charante the Seudre c. which are very convenient for the Carriage and Transportation of Commodities The City of SAINTES or Xaintes Mediolanum Santonum
for the Helvii of Caesar who are rather those of Vivarais and Sanson for the Fleutheres or Heleutheres subject to the Auvergnats as well as those of Quercy Gevaudan and Velay adding withal that the Cambolectri whom Pliny places in Aquitania inhabited the Diocese of Alby and the Cambolectri Atlantici the Diocese of Castres But as he grounds his conjectures upon no certain foundation so they are rejected by De Valois We have already seen that the Tectosages fill'd up all the Western part of Languedoc to the very Cevennes and the Mediterranean Sea and consequently that the Albigeois might well be the ancient Tolistobogii or Trocmi Neighbours Allies or Subjects to the Tectosages I have observ'd in the first part of this Book how the Disciples of Vigilantius spread in Guyenne and Languedoc were for a long time as a Bank that stopp'd the overflowing superstition But when this Torrent grew so strong that this Barrier prov'd too weak God rais'd new Defensors to his Church At the beginning of the XII Century Peter of Bruys a Native of Dauphiné Preached and writ successfully against the prevailing Errors and was happily seconded by Henry a Monk of Toulouse The Papists had recourse to their usual Arms Fire and Sword by which means they both got the Crown of Martyrdom But their Blood prov'd as well as that of the first Christians the Seed of the true Church so that after the Dispersion of Valdo's Disciples about 1160 some ofâ—â—em retiring in those parts they were kindly receiv'd The vulgar had so good an Opinion of them that they commonly call'd them les Bons Hommes the Good Men and even Raymâ—â—d the old Count of Toulouse Peter King of Arragon the Counts of Foix Comminges and the Viscounts of Bearn spoused their Cause And as Error and Vice are always timorous so the Popes began to fear that their fatal day was come and publish'd a Croisade against those pretended Hereticks as though they had been Heathens or Mahometans The Albigeois under the Wings of their Lords and Protectors defended themselves almost an Age but at last they were over-pow'red by the number the French King 's catching hold of that opportunity to deprive those petty Soveraigns of their Principalities Then it was that such as had escap'd the Sword in the Field of Battel fell in the bloody hands of the Inquisitors who at long run made an end of them however not so as wholly to root the seeds of the truth out of their heart which sprouted out again when our first Reformers appear'd in the last Age for then the Provinces of Languedoc and Guienne the ancient Seat of the Albigeois produced more Converts than all the others of France taken together We have hardly any Account of the Albigeois then by such as were their sworn Enemies Accusers or rather Executioners so that upon the plain confession of Popish Authors that the Albigeois held almost all the same Doctrines with the Protestants and that they rejected the same Superstitions for which the last are still divided from the Church of Rome we might look as Calumnies some Manichean Tenets ascrib'd to them as to deny the Divinity of the Old Testament to admit a good and a bad Principle c. But to clear these Christian Hero's for ever we have but to observe that the Manicheans having been banish'd the East by the Greek Emperours they first spread themselves into Germany thence they passed into Italy and France where meeting with a People averse from Persecution they readily crept and skulk'd amongst them and the malicious Inquisitors catching some of these Hereticks took hold of this occasion to defame the true Albigeois The R. D. Allix has given such incontestable proofs of these Matters of Fact that I cannot imagine that a Roman Catholick of any sincerity will ever renew such notorious Calumnies ALBY Albia or Albiga Capital of this Country lies upon the River Taâ—n 17 Leagues North-East of Toulouse and 14 South-East of Montauban It s Foundation and Antiquity are unknown for no antient Geographer remembers it and the first mention of it that De Valois could find is in an old Notice of the Gaules which puts Civitus Albiensum in the fourth place among the 8 Cities of the first Aquitain though some of latter date name it but the seventh in Order Gregory of Tours testifies that one Salvius was Bishop of Alby under the Children of Clovis and another call'd Sabinus subscrib'd to the Council of Agde in 506. but whether S. Clair a Martyr planted there Christianity and was the first Bishop of that Town is uncertain Charlemaign having erected Aquiâ—â—â—â— into a Kingdom on behalf of Lewis the Meek his Son establish'd Counts in the Principal Cities who together with the Bishops were to be the young Prince's Counsellours and Aimoin was nam'd the first Count of Alby All these Counts having made themselves Soveraigns during the decay of the French Monarchy the Estate of the Counts of Alby pass'd by marriage into the House of Toulouse and then both returned to the French Kings by the 〈◊〉 I have hinted speaking of Languedoc Alby has been a long time a Suffragan to Bourâ—â—â— and one of the richest Bishopricks in France being about 50000 Crowns worth but 〈◊〉 it was made a Metropolitan by Pope â—â—cent XI in behalf of Hyacinthe Serroni a Roman Gentleman and the Dioceses of Rodez Castrer Cahors Vabres and Mende detached from Bourges to whose Prelate has been given a recompence of some additional Revenues The Archbishop of Alby is still Lord temporal of that City and the King has but there a Viguier for his Chief Justice The Cathedral under the name of S. Cecile has one of the finest Quires in that Kingdom The other Towns or considerable Burroughs of this Diocese are Pennes upon the Aveyrou Cordes Monestier and Caramous upon the Ceron Pampelone upon the Biaur Gaulene and Valence near the source of the Ceron Tais Maillat Ville-neuve Cajousac Castelnau de Montmirail and Peucelsy upon the Vere Rabasteins l'Isle Gaillac la Bastide de Lenis Lescure and Trebas upon the Tarn on the North side Grioussens Cadelens Denat Albain on the South of that River Lombers on the Assou Realmont on the Dadou c. Gaillac is famous for its white Wines whose Drunkenness is not felt but an hour after the Debauch At Rabasteins was fought a memorable Battel between the Duke of Berri and the Count of Foix in 1381. Castres the second Bishoprick contain'd in Albigeois is seated on the Agout nine Leagues South of Alby and 16 East of Toulouse Both the Town and the Bishoprick are new for we find no mention of the Town in ancient Geographers only the Historians of the Albigenses as Peter the Monk mention it as an illustrious Castle under the name of Castra and as the head of the Country of Albigeois As to the Bishoprick it was erected by Pope John XXII in 1317 instead of the Abby of S. Vincent whose body was secretly convey'd from
Abby of Benedictins under the name of S. Valerin founded and endowed by the Emperor Charles the Bald. It depends on the Bishoprick of Chalon Clugni Cluniacum chief of the Order of that Name It was founded according to the rule of S. Benoit by William I. Duke of Aquitain Count of Auvergne on behalf of Berno Abbot of Gigniac in 910. The Monks of this Abby having murthered William III. or IV. Count of Mascon whilst he was a hunting made the vulgar believe that he had been carried away by the Devil The other 3 Towns are S. Gengoux that has been once the Seat of the Baily Marsilly les-Nonains and le-Bois-S Marie Of BRESSE LA-BRESSE Brexia Brissia or Saltus Brixius hath the Dain on the East which separates it from Bugey on the South it hath the Rhone which divides it from Dauphiné On the West the River Saone parts it from Lyonnois and the Dutchy of Burgundy and Chalonnois lies on the North. It has about six Leagues extent from South to North and nine Leagues from E. to W. This little Province aboundeth with Corn Hemp Pastures and Fishes It 's unwholesome in some parts because of several Ponds which send up noisom Vapours and thereby corrupts the Mass of Air. As BRESSE depends for the most part on the Prelate of Lyons whose Diocese was inhabited by the Segusiani and that the rest of this Province is under the Bishops of Chalon and Mascon so it seems to have been subject to the Autunois It was conquered from the Romans by the Burgundians and from them by the French In latter Ages it made part of the second Kingdom of Burgundy then came to the Lords of Beauge who possest the greatest part of it during near 400 Years The Lords of Coligny Villars and Monluel had there also considerable Estates but they melted all successively into the House of Savoy from 1272 till 1402. At last Charles Emanuel Duke of Savoy was forc'd to exchange not only this Province but also the Countries of Bugey Valromey and the Bayliwick of Gex for the Marquisate of Salusses that is a rich and plentiful Country for a barren and mountainous The Capital Town of this Country Bourg is situated on the little River Reissousse 7 Leagues East of Mascon having the Title of a Bayliwick Presidial and Election It is seated in a Marshy but fertil Soil looking to the East on the Mountain S. Claude and little Hills covered with Vineyards and Westward it hath a great Plain which extendeth it self even to the Saâ—ne The City Government is in the hands of â— Syndics or Sheriffs Philibert Emanuel Duke of Savoy built there a Cittadel in 1569 but it was demolished ann 1611. There are Halls spacious and well built next to which is the Church of St. Brou where several Dukes of â—â—voy lie interr'd Pope Leo X. gave out a Bull to establish here a Bishoprick in 1515 and 1521 but Pope Paul III. suppressed it in 1534. The Presidial was instituted by the French K. Henry IV. in 1601. The Horses of this Country are esteemed Montluel is a little Village but an ancient Lordship belonging to Monsieur le Prince five Leagues North East of Lyons The other places are Romenay S. Trivier Pont de Vaux a Dutchy Bauger Montrevel a County S. Paul de Varas Perouges a Barony the Native Country of the Famous Mr. de Vaugeias Varambon Pont-de-Vesle Chastillon Goligni Bouligneux Villarâ— c. Of BUGEY BVGEY is situated between the Rhone which separates it from Dauphiné and Savoâ— the Dain which distinguisheth it from Bresse and has the County of Burgundy to the North. Its extent from Pont-Dain or the Bridge of Dain to Seissel is almost 10 Leagues and from Dortans to the Port of Loyeâ—te almost 20 Leagues Although this Country be full of Hills and Mountains yet it 's abundantly fertil for there are many Lakes and Rivers well stor'd with Fish and Forests with Game both great and small as Bears Wild-Swines Harts Hinds Hares gray and red Patridges Pheasants Wood-hens c.. This Country has ordinarily follow'd the Condition of Bresse and been subject to the same Lords as it was in the last Age to the Dukes of Savoy and is now to the French King Belley Belica a League from the Rhone and almost 17 East of Lyons has a Bayliwick an Election and a Bishoprick Suffragan of Besancon it 's generally esteem'd very ancient and was one of the Cities of the Sequani It 's not known who was the Apostle of BVGEY for the first Bishop of Belley mentioned in History is one Vincent who subscribed to the 2d Council of Paris under Childebert Clovis the Great 's Son and to the 2d Council of Lyons under Gontran in 567. This Town was burnt to Ashes ann 1385 but Amadaeus VIII Duke of Savoy rebuilt it and surrounded it with Walls and Towers S. John Baptist is the name of the Cathedral Church whose Chapter is composed of 19 Canons four Dignities the Dean the Archpriest the Primicier and the Sinâ—er They were at first regular following the Rule of S. Austin but they were made Secular in 1579. The other Towns of BVGEY are S. Rambert with an Abby of Benedictins Nantua that keeps still the name of the ancient Nanâ—uates mentioned by Caesar Seissel an important passage on the River Rhone Chateau-neuf Capital of Valromey Chatillon of Michaille Arban near the borders of Franche-County Arlon upon the Rhone Montreal Ambournay Lagnieu c. Of the Bayliwick of GEX I Am apt to believe that this Bayliwick and and part of Bugey were the Habitation of the ancient Nantuates since the Veragri were seated in the Câ—untry of Vaux and the Seduni in the Diocese of Sion However it be this Bayliwick is but a little Country having the County of Burgundy on the North the Country of Vaux in the Canton of Bern on the East on the South it is separated from Savoy by part of the Lake of Geneva and the River Rhone and on the West it has again part of the County of Burgundy and Bugey The chief Town is GEX which is the Seat of the Baily Of the Principality of Dombes THe Principality of DOMBES Dombensis-Pagus lies between Bresse and the Saone that separates it from Maconnois Beaujolois and Lyonnois It 's a Country very agreeable to live in This Country contains 11 Chastelnies whereof the chief is Trevoux that is also the Capital of the Country It has a Collegiate Church a Bayliwick and a Mint where Mony was coyn'd with the Stamp of late Ann Mary Louise of Orleans Soveraign Princess of Dombes Daughter to John Baptist of Orleans youngest Son of the French K. Henry IV. Lewis XIV has inherited this present year 1693 the Estate of that Lady whom he would never suffer to marry This Principaliâ—y has a little Parliament residing at Lyons and made up of 3 Presidents 3 Masters of the Requests a Knight of Honour that sits with the Sword on his side 12 Councellors or Judges an Attorney General