THEATRVM ORBIS TERRARVM GEOGRAPHI REGII THE THEATRE OF THE WHOLE WORLD SET FORTH BY THAT Excellent Geographer Abraham Ortelius LONDON Printed by IOHN NORTON Printer to the Kings most excellent Maiestie in Hebrew Greeke and Latine 1606. HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE The sway by Sea Land great IAMES doth beare His Birth His Bloud These Kingdomes figure here But were his seuerall vertues to be crown'd A World past thine Ortelius must be fownd TO THE MOST HIGH MOST MIGHTY AND MOST HAPPY PRINCE IAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING OF GREAT BRITAINE FRANCE AND IRELAND DEFENDER OF THE FAITH c. IOHN NORTON HIS MAIESTIES MOST HVMBLE AND FAITHFVLL SERVANT CONSECRATETH THESE IMMORTALL LABOVRS OF ABRAHAM OR TELIVS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH ABRAHAMI ORTELII QVEM VRBS VRBIVM ANTVERPIA EDIDIT REX REGVM PHILIPPVS GEOGRAPHVM HABVIT MONVMENTVM HIC VIDES BREVIS TERRA EVM CAPIT QVI IPSE ORBEM TERRARVM CEPIT STILO ET TABVLIS ILLVSTRAVIT SED MENTE CONTEMPSIT QVA CAELVM ET ALTA SVSPEXIT CONSTANS ADVERSVM SPES AVT METVS AMICITIAE CVITOR CANDORE FIDE OFFICIIS QVIETIS CVLTOR SINE LITE VXORE PROLE VITAM HABVIT QVALE ALIVS VOTVM VT NVNC QVOQVE AETERNA EI QVIES SIT VOTIS FAVE LECTOR OBIIT IIII. KAL IVLII ANNO MD. XCIIX VIXIT ANN. LXXI MENSS II. DIES IIXX COLII EX SORORE NEPOTES B.M. POSS CONTEMNO ET ORNOMENTE MANV Α Χ Ρ Ω THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM ORTELL COSMOGRAPHER TO PHILIP THE SECOND LATE KING OF SPAINE written first in Latine by Francis Sweert of Antwerpe his familiar and louing friend and now translated into English by W. B as great a louer of his learning and vertues THe stocke of the ORTELS flourished not long since and liued in good state and credit at Auspurg in Bayern Augustam vindelicorum the Latines called it From that family came WILLIAM ORTELL who about the yere of our Lord 1460 left his natiue country and seated himselfe in Antwerpe at that time one of the famousest Mart-townes of the world where he did many notable things worthily deseruing great commendation among which that is most memorable that of his owne proper cost and charges he caused a goodly crosse of free stone to be set vp without the Emperours gate in that place where the malefactours are vsually woont to be executed and put to death Beneath this crosse at the base or foot of the same stood Mary and Iohn and beside them a little farther off hung the two theeues the one vpon the right hand and the other vpon the left vpon their seuerall gibbets This William died vpon the seuenth day of Ianuary in the yeere of our Lord God 1511 and was buried in the cloisters of the Franciscane Friers in Antwerpe leauing his sonne LEONARD ORTELL sole Executor and heire not only of his goods and substance but also of his vertues and good qualities For they report that he was a man so deuout and religious that it was an hard matter to finde him from his booke serious meditation on heauenly matters This Leonard maried ANNA HERVVAYERS and by her had issue two daughters and one some named ABRAHAM whose life we heere purpose to describe borne vpon the second day of Aprill in the yeere of our Lord God 1527. Hee was euen in his child-hood of singular towardnesse great capacity and passing quicke conceit and that which is very strange in youth hee was neuer giuen to the reading of any trifles or idle vanities Wherefore his father purposing to make him a scholar began first himselfe to instruct him priuatly at home in his owne house in the Latine and Greeke tongues For the old man was very learned in both these languages But see how these good purposes were soon crossed by the vntimely death of his most louing and kinde father who departing this life in the yeere of Christ 1535 left this his sonne to be further informed and taught abroade by strange schoolemasters whose care and diligence to profit him whatsoeuer their learning were was nothing so great and painfull notwithstanding euen vnder these he made such profit in the Artes and liberall Sciences that he was not much inferiour to the best of his degree and time For as I said before no vaine pleasure or trifles pastimes which commonly are the ouerthrow of many yongue men could euer with-draw him from his setled purpose or alienate his minde from his booke Yet his greatest delight and commendation consisted in the knowledge of the Mathematicall sciences which for the most part he studied and practised without an instructor or teacher atteining only by his owne paines and industrie to the great admiration of others euen to the vnderstanding of the greatest and deepest mysteries of the same In the thirtieth yeare of his age hauing many great matters in his head and loathing to liue idly at home in his owne natiue country he began to entertaine a conceipt of trauelling into diuers and sundry forreine parts and countries of the world To Frankford vpon the Main by reason of the great Marts or Faires there held at two seuerall times euery yere he went very often In the yeere of our Lord 1575 he went with Iohn Viuian of Valence a Marchant but a great louer of learning and Hierome Scoliers of Antwerp to Leige Trier Tungren and Mentz of which iourney and peregrination of theirs there is at this day a booke of his exstant in print wherein he hath learnedly described the particulars obserued by them In the yeere of Christ 1577 with Immanuël Demetrius of Antwerpe hee trauelled beyond the Seas into England and Ireland Italy that nource of great wits that worker of strange woonders that mother of reuerend antiquities and ancient monuments hee visited thrise The third time that he went thither which was in the yeere 1578 he went in company of George Houfnayle of Antwerp who was so excellent a painter that he was greatly esteemed and beloued of the illustrious princes Albert and VVilliam Dukes of Bayern of Ferdinand Duke of Austrich yea and of Rudolphus himselfe at that time Emperour of the Germanes But this his consort to the great greefe of his friends and such as loued his singular qualities left his life at Prage in Bohemia vpon the thirteenth of Ianuary in the yeere of our Lord 1600. This man was woorthy of longer life if the Fates would respect men for their great parts and excellent vertues But so it is that Death like as the sythe in Haruest cutteth downe without distinction aswell the yongue as old There was nothing either in Germanie or in France that was woorth the seeing that this our authour had not seene and viewed with a censorious and iudicious eie At length hauing ouercome so many tedious and toilsome trauels he returned againe to Antwerpe his natiue soile There and then he began to apply himselfe to benefit succedent ages to write of those countries by him viewed and seene to set out in Charts
for that he was in managing all maner of businesses a most prudent faithfull and fortunate man by Lewis the Fourth the next successour in the Empire much set by and greatly esteemed In his time this whole prouince as it is heere set out in this our Chorographicall Chart was subiect to him and to other Princes and Earles of Hennenberg then liuing But HENRY his sonne dying without issue male the greatest part of this countrey by the marriage of his three daughters KATHARINE SOPHIA and ELIZABETH fell vnto the Marquesses of Misnia Burggraues of Noriberg and Princes of Wurtenburg which two last selling their portions the bishop of Wurtenburg did much enlarge his diocesse IOHN the second sonne of Berthold the first by his wife Adelheida of the house of Hessen had by Elizabeth of the family of Luchtenburg a sonne named HENRY the Fourth who by Mechtilda or Mawd daughter to the Marquesse of Bath WILLIAM the First who by his wife Anna of Brunswicke had WILLIAM the Second which by Katharine Countesse of Hanaw had issue WILLIAM the Fourth begotten of his wife Margaret daughter to the Duke of Brunswicke This William had by his wife Anastasia daughter of Albert Prince Electour of Brandenburg seuen sonnes and six daughters namely WILLIAM and CASPAR which died in their infancy IOHN Abbot of Fulden WOLFGANG and CHRISTOPHER which two died bachelours GEORGE ERNEST and BOPPO the Sixt This Boppo after the death of his first wife Elizabeth daughter to the Marquesse of Brandenburg maried Sophia daughter to the Prince of Luneburg he died vpon the fourth of March in the yeere of our Lord 1574. leauing no issue behind him He was a very godly prudent magnanimous and curtuous Prince That other George Ernest after the death of his wife Elizabeth daughter to the Duke of Brunswicke maried Elizabeth daughter to the Prince of Wurtenburg and at length vpon the seuen and twentieth day of December in the yeare of our Lord God 1583. yeelded to Nature and died in the seuentie and third yeare of his age being the last Prince of that stocke or family The description of this prouince of Hennenberg as heere it is set downe at this day is subiect vnto diuers Princes the greatest part of it belongeth to the Duke of Saxony the rest to the bishop of Wurtenburg and the Landtgraues of Hessen A more large and exact description of this Stocke and Family if any man be desirous to haue may be learned out of the Genealogy or Pedigree of M. Sebastian Glaser sometime Chancellour of this Principality of Hennenberg HASSIA or The LANDTGRAVY of HESSEN THe countrie of HESSEN which sometime was an EARLDOME and now graced with the title of a LANDTGRAVY ' was in old time possessed by the CATTI as almost all writers generally of our time do verily beleeue only Albertus Crantzius to my knowledge is of another mind for he laboureth to make the world beleeue that these Catti were those people which now are called Saxones This prouince hath vpon the East Turingen vpon the South Frankenland vpon the West Westphalen vpon the North the Duke of Brunswicke the bishop of Minden with other princes are neere neighbours It is a countrey very fertile of all maner of things necessary for the maintenance of mans life It beareth no vines but vpon that side only that lieth vpon the Rhein MARPVRG and CASSELL are the chiefe and principall cities of this country Whereof this latter is adorned with the Princes court and concourse of Nobles Gentlemen and other braue gallants following and attendant vpon the same the other is graced with a goodly Vniuersity well frequented with students from all places neere adioining round about In this Landtgrauy there are also diuers other Counties or Earledomes as CATZENELEBOG ZEIGENHEIM NIDA and WALDECK of all which now this Landtgraue writeth himselfe Lord. But listen what Eobanus Hessus that worthy poet in a certaine congratulatory poeme of his written and dedicated vnto Philip the Landgraue of this country vpon occasion of the victory atchieued by him at Wirtemburg wherin he doth by the way thus speake of the nature and situation of this prouince and withall something also of the maners of the people Qualis Hyperboreum prospectans Thraca Booten Gradiui domus ad Rodopen Hemumque niualem Circumfusa iacet gelidis assueta pruinis Gignit in arma viros duratos frigore quique Aut Hebrum Nessumque bibunt aut Strimonis vndas Talis ipsa situ talis regione locorum Et fluuijs siluisque frequens montibus altis Hassia naturae similes creat alma locorum Ceu natos in bella viros quibus omnis in armis Vita placet non vlla iuuat sine Marte nec vllam Esse putant vitam quae non assueuerit armis Quod si tranquillae vertantur ad otia pacis Otia nulla terunt sine magno vana labore Aut duro patrios exercent vomere colles Aequatosque solo campos rimantur aratris Namque planicies segetum foecunda patentes Explicat innumeras plenamesse colonos Ditat ipsa sibi satis est aut ardua syluae Lustra petunt canibusque feras sectantur odoris Venatu genus assuetum genus acre virorum Aut leges iura ferunt aut oppida condunt Fortia non solum bello munimina verùm Quae deceant in pace etiam oblectentque quietos Quid sacros memorem fontes quid amoena vireta Quid valles ipsis certantes frugiferacis Vallibus Aemoniae dulces quid vbique recessus Musarum loca confessu loca digna Dearum O patriae gelidi fontes ô flumina nota O valles ô antra meis notissima Musis c. Thus much in English prose briefly Hessen in situation nature of the soile and temperature of the aire is a country of all the world most like vnto Thrace Which by reason that it is much ouerhanged with many tall and stately woods beset and enclosed betweene the snow-top'd mountaines Hemus Rhodope Pangaeus and Cercina watered and serued with the chill and frozen-streamed riuers Hebrus Nessus and Strimon doth breed an hard kind of people fit for all maner of seruice and toilesome trauell So heere as if they were descended from mighty Mars their chiefe delight is in the wars no other kind of life doth please them halfe so well nay they hold it otherwise no life at all or at least that that man is not worthy to liue that doth not especially delight himselfe in martiall feats and deeds of armes Yet if all be still and warlike Mars do sleep they cannot abide to liue idlely and to spend their time at home For then they either do giue themselues to husbandrie and to follow the plow For heere the large and open champion ground do with great aduantage repay the husbandmans hire and paines or else in hawking and hunting they do through thiâ—ke and thin darkest woods and most bushy forests ouer hedge and ditch highest hils and lowly vales follow
followes Ruremonde situate where the riuer Roer falles into the Maese It hath in my remembrance beene a Bishopricke Zutphen at the mouth of the riuer Berkel where it dischargeth it selfe into Yssel It beares the title of an Earledome It hath a rich College of Canons and is vnder the iurisdiction of the Bishop of Munster Arnhen stands vpon the banke of Rhijne This is the seat of the high Court of iustice and of the Chancery The Clergie of this towne are subiect to the Bishop of Vtrecht HATTEM a towne well fortified vpon the riuer Yssel ELBVRG on the shore of the Zuyder sea HARDERVVIIK vpon the same shore Heere likewise you haue WAGENING TIEL BOMMEL BRONCHORST DOESBVRG DOTECHEM SHEERENBERG gouerned by a peculiar prince vnder the name of an Earledome LOCHEN GROLL BREDEVORD GELRE which perhaps gaue name to the whole region STRAELEN VENLO a towne vpon the banke of Maese fortified both by arte and nature WACHTENDVNCK of ancient times the city of Hercules in the Dukedome of Iuliers Besides these there are other small townes of note which though now either by furie of warre or iniurie of time they are vnwalled yet they doe enioy the freedomes and priuileges of cities Their names be Keppel Burg Genderen Bateburg Monteford Echt Culeburg and Buren both which haue a peculiar Lord as Bateburg also Vnder Earle Ottho the third this region was mightily inlarged for he compassed with walles and endowed with priuileges the townes of Ruremond Arnhem Harderwijk Bemel Goch and VVagening which till that time had remained villages In the Chronicle of Iohn Reigersbeg written in Dutch I finde this region in the time of Carolus Caluus to haue beene called by the name of Ponthis and that it was by him in the yeere 878. erected to a Signiorie Then in the yeere 1079. this Signiorie of Ponthis was by Henrie the third adorned with the title of an Earledome and called the Earledome of Guelders and the first Earle thereof was Otto à Nassau It went vnder the name of an Earledome till Reinhold the second But whenas this Reinhold not only for his valour and mightinesse grew terrible to his neighbours but renowmed in regard of his iustice his piety and fidelity towards the Roman empire he was at Frankford in a solemne and royal assembly by Lewes the Emperour consecrated Duke in presence of the King of England the French King and the Princes Electours in the yeere of our Lord 1339. Some say that in the time of the Emperour Carolus Caluus towards that place where the towne of Gelre now standeth there was a strange and venimous beast of huge bignesse and monstrous crueltie feared all the countrey ouer which lay for the most part vnder an Oake This monster wasted the fields deuoured cattell great and small and abstained not from men The inhabitants affrighted with the noueltie and vncouthnesse of the matter abandoned their habitations and hid themselues in desert and solitarie places A certaine Lord of Ponth had two sonnes who partly tendring their owne estate and partly also the distresse of their neighbours assailed the beast with singular policie and courage and after a long combat slew him The said Lord therefore not farre from the Maese vpon the banke of Nierson for the perpetuall memorie of his sonnes exploit built a castle which he called Gelre because when the beast was slaine he often yelled with a dreadfull roaring noise Gelre Gelre from whence they say began the name of the Guelders Thus much out of the Chronicle of Henry Aquilius a Guelder borne More concerning this Prouince you may reade in Francis Irenicus but a most large description hereof you shall finde in Guicciardin GELRIAE CLIVIAE FINITIMORVMQVE LOCORVM VERISSIMA DESCRIPTIO Christiano Schrot Auctore The Bishopricke of LIEGE IT is a common and constant opinion that those which we now call Leodienses or Ligeois are a German people named of old Eburones A relique or monument of which ancient name remaineth as yet in the village Ebure a German mile distant from the city of Liege And this very place as I suppose is described by Dion lib. 40. vnder the name Eburonia Howbeit certaine it is that the iurisdiction of Liege stretcheth much farther than that of the Eburones did of olde Of the Eburones mention is made by Strabo Caesar and Florus Dion calles them Eburos and late Writers barbarously terme them Eburonates Themselues in their mother tongue which is a kinde of broken French they call Ligeois but in high Dutch Lutticher and Luyckenaren The deriuation of Eburones Leodienses whoso desires to know I refer him to the antiquities of Goropius Becanus and to a small pamphlet of Hubert Leodius This region taketh vp a great part of ancient Lorraigne for it containes vnder the name of the diocesse of Liege the dukedome of Bouillon the marquesat of Franckmont the countie of Haspengow and Loots and many Baronies In this region besides Maestright halfe wherof is subiect to the Duke of Brabant there are foure and twentie walled cities a thousand seuen hundred Villages with Churches and many Abbeys and Signiories The names of the cities are these following Liege vpon Maese the seat of a Bishop after which all the whole countrey is named Bouillon Franchemont Loots Borchworm Tungeren Huy Hasselt Dinant Masac Stoch Bilsen S. Truden Viset Tuin Varem Bering Herck Bree Pera Hamont Chiney Fosse and Couin as Guicciardin doth both name and number them Moreouer Placentius writeth that part of Maestright was added to this diocesse by the donation of Pori Earle of Louaine The territorie of this citie is called the countie of Maesland in the ancient records of Seruatius abbey built here by King Arnulphus in the yeere 889. Now this countie is vsually called Haspengow It is a region exceeding pleasant and fertile of all things especially on the North part where it ioyneth to Brabant for there it aboundeth with corne and all kinde of fruits and in some places it yeeldeth wine But on the South frontiers towards Lutzenburg and France it is somewhat more barren mountainous and ouerspred with woods here yet being some remainder of Arduenna the greatest forest in all France as Caesar writeth This is the outward hiew of the country but in the entrals and bowels thereof it is enriched with mettals and sundry kinds of marbles as also with sea-coales which they burne in stead of fewell and all these so surpassing good as in a common prouerbe they vsually say that they haue bread better than bread fire hotter than fire and iron harder than iron By their iron than which all the prouinces around vse neither better nor indeed any other they raise a great reuenue Nor with any other more forcible fire do the Smithes and Bearebrewers in all this part of the Low countries heat their furnaces than with these minerall coales of Liege which are of so strange a nature as water increaseth their flame but oile puts it out The smell of this fire or smoke
any man that shall thinke and obiect that this storie of the Round Table is too fabulous to confirme this our assertion yet this is certaine and cannot be doubted of that in England almost in the middest of the kingdome there is a towne called Mansfield situate betweeene the riuers of Trent and Rotheram not farre from the city of Nottingham This county containeth also foure other counties namely ARNSTEDT WIPRA WETHIN and QVERNFVRT all which in former times had their proper and peculiar Earles but now at this day beside the counte Mansfield they haue not any one In this county also there is the county Palatine of Saxony Moreouer there are beside these certaine other Lordships and Principalities as thou maist see in the Mappe The chiefe and principall cities are MANSFIELD EYSLEBEN WIPRA and LEIMBACH This country is very full of Mettall-mines Heere out of the earth are digged those sleitstones which they call Scheyffersteyn such as scarcely are to be found as Sebastian Munster writeth in any other place of the world beside It hath also certaine stones laden with Copper which being burnt in the fire and then steeped and washed in water do yeeld the mettall and together with it some good store of Siluer But this is a wonderfull strange pranke that Nature heere in sporting maner vsually plaieth which the same authour there speaketh of well worth the obseruation namely of a great Lake in this country well stored with diuers and sundry sorts of fish all which kinds of fish together with the paddockes frogs newts and such other things liuing in this lake are found so curiously expressed shaped out in stones as we haue to our great admiration beheld as it is a very hard matter at the first sight vpon the sudden to discern them from the naturall liuing creatures of that kind and that so liuelily that thou shalt be able presently to distinguish one from another and to call them by their seuerall and proper names Some of these I haue giuen me by Peter Ernest the most renowmed and illustrious Earle of this country and worthy Gouernour of the prouince of Lutzenburg There is a Lake in this country which by reason of the saltnesse of the water they call Gesaltzen into which if the fishermen shall cast in their nets ouer deepe they will presently be sienged schorched euen as if they had beene burnt or drawne through the fire as Seuerinus Gobelinus in his history of Amber reporteth The same authour writeth that neere vnto Eisleben there was not long since a piece of Amber found as bigge as a mans head Syriacus Spangeberg did promise to set out the history of this countrey wherin all the cities castles villages mountaines woods riuers lakes mines c. should seuerally be described together with the Antiquities Records Petigrees and such other historicall matters of the same MANSFELDIAE COMITATVS DESCRIPTIO auctore Tilemanno Stella Sig. The Principality of HENNENBERG THe terrirory and precinct of the Princes of HENNENBERG a part of East France how large and wide it was you may see by this our Chorographicall Mappe the buts and bounds of it are thus Vpon the West and North it hath Thuringen and the great forest which of this countrie is called Durynger Waldt whose head on these parts doth diuide Thuringen from Frankenland on the South it is confined with the riuer of Meyn and the bishoprickes of Bamberg and Wuitzburg Moreouer the East part is enclosed with that great mountaine which the country people do call Die Rhon or Rosn vpon the same side also it hath the Diocesse of Fulden and the prouince of Hessen This country is wonderfully stored with deere wild fowle fish and such other things necessary for the maintenance of mans life It hath also some Mines of mettals especially of iron whereof great store is yearely from hence to the great gaine and commodity of the inhabitants transported into forren countries It is watered heere and there with many and diuers fountaines heads or springs of the riuer Visurgis which in these parts they call Die Werra but moâ—e properly it is of some in other places called Die Wesser which indeed the name of the Abbey Vesser doth seeme to approoue for truth which Francis Irenicus and Wolfgangus Lazius do verily beleeue to haue beene so denominated of Wasser which in the Germane is as much to say as water in the English Of the first beginning and originall of this house or family of Hennenberg by reason of the negligence of the writers and Historians of those times we can determine nothing for certainty beside this that in the time of Attila and Charles the Great some authours do make mention of the Princes of Hennenberg which also were Earles of Frankland and Burggraues of Wurtzeburg So againe in the time of Henry the first Emperour of Germany Gottwald and Otto of this house of Hennenberg serued valiantly in defence of the Empire against the assaults and inrodes of the Vgri Item the Boppones two learned men of this family in the yeares of Christ 941. and 961. were bishops of Wurtzeburg and gouerned that sea with the great applause and praise of all men But the true pedigree of these Princes is deriued from BOPPO who in the yeare of our Lord 1078. following Henry the fourth the Emperours side in the battell fought betweene him and Rudolph the Switzer neere to the city Melrichstadt valiantly fighting was honourablie slaine in the field After him succeeded his sonne GOTTEBALD first founder of the Abbey of Vesser for the Monkes of the order of the brotherhood of the Praemonstratenses After him followed his sonne BERTHOLD then BOPPO the Second next him BOPPO the Third all which succeeded one after another in a right line This Boppo the Third had by his second wife Iutta of Thuringen HERMAN whose sonne BOPPO the Fourth died leauing no issue behind him But by his first wife Elizabeth of the familie of the Princes of Saxony he had HENRY who had issue HENRY the Second HERMAN the Second and BERTHOLD the Second Henry had issue BOPPO the Fift whose sonne BERTHOLD the Third died without issue But after Herman these Princes HENRY the Second HERMAN the Third FREDERICK the First GEORGE the First and lastly FREDERICK the Second lineally descended one from another successiuely gouerned this prouince This Fredericke had issue HERMAN who by his wife Margaret of the family of Brandenburg had two sonnes BERTHOLD the Fourth and ALBERT both which died in the yeare of our Lord God 1549. and left no issue behind them Then of the line of Berthold the Second third sonne of Henry the First succeeded BERTHOLD the Fift who for his singular virtues wisedome experience and excellent gifts other waies was in the yeare after Christs incarnation 1310. by Henry of Lutzelburg the Emperour with the generall consent of the whole company of the Electours installed one of the Princes of the Empire And after that for the same his virtues and
must euery day if opportunity be offered heare a masse or diuine seruice Secondly when need requireth viz. when there is any generall warre against the Pagans or Infidels he must aduenture both body and goods in the quarrell of the Church that is he is bound either to go in his owne person or to send thither of his charges some one sufficient man or other Thirdly he is bound by that oath to defend and free in as much as in him shall lie the holy Church of God and all the members of the same from their persecutors and from the enemies of Christianity Fourthly he must altogether shunne vniust warres filthy lucre and hire fencing iusts torneaments combats and such like but only for exercise and making of himselfe more fit for the sacred warre Fifthly he must procure peace and concord between faithfull Christian people do his best to grace and enlarge the bounds of his country defend orphanes and widdowes he must carefully take heed of cursed oathes periuries blasphemies rapes vsurie sacriledge murther drunkennesse suspected places infamous persons and to shunne and keep himselfe as from the deadly plague from all those vices of the flesh that mortall man by nature is so much subiect vnto and that he do so cary himselfe that in the iudgement of men he shall not be blame worthy but shall shew himselfe worthy of that honour that he is called vnto by frequenting the Church procuring the honour and glory of God in what he can It is therefore demanded of him whether he be ready with hart voice to protest sweare performe all these things Answear IN. do protest and promise before our Lord Iesus Christ and the blessed Virgin Mary his mother that I will to the vttermost of my power obserue all these things These being done the Sword is blessed or consecrated by the Gardian according to the blessing beneath prescribed if it be not otherwise consecrated before but if it be blessed then after that blessing or consecration calling one of those that are to be made Knights and causing him to kneell downe before the holy sepulchre the Gardian putteth his hand vpon his head and saith Thou N. be thou a faithfull true stout good and braue souldiour of our Lord Iesus Christ and of his holy sepulchre whom we pray to vouchsafe thee his heauenly glory with his chosen Saints Amen Then the father Gardian giueth him a paire of gilded spurres which he must put vpon his heeles standing vpon the ground Afterward he giueth the naked sword to the Knight saying Take thou N. the holy Sword In the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Amen making withall 3 crosses vpon the same Vse it for thine owne defence for the defence of the holy Church of God to the offence and confusion of the enemies of the crosse of Christ and Christian faith and to thy vttermost power thou shalt hurt no man wrongfully with it which he vouchsafe to grant who with the Father and the holy Ghost raigneth one God both now and for euer Amen Then the Sword is put vp into the scabberd the Gardian girdeth the Sword about the Knight saying Be thou N. most valiant girded with thy Sword vpon thy thigh in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ and obserue that the Saints haue conquered kingdomes not by their swordes but by faith The Knight thus girded with the Sword ariseth and resting vpon his knees and leaning his head vpon the holy Sepulchre he is dub'd by the Gardian 3 times smiting the Sword vpon the shoulders of the Knight and saying thrise these words I ordain make thee N. a Knight of the holy Sepulchre of our Lord Iesus Christ in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Amen making as afore 3. crosses Then he kisseth him and putteth vpon his necke according to the old maner a chaine of Gold with a crosse hanging vpon it Lastly the Knight kissing the Sepulcher restoreth all these ornaments goeth aside and another is called which is to be dubbed with the like ceremonies In the meane time the Knight first made must stay in the hall of the holy Sepulchre vntill such time as all the rest that are to be preferred to this dignity haue obtained the same When they are all made then Te Deum is song by the Friars and from thence they go to the chappell of the Minorites or else there they stay still as the Gardian shall please or appoint Then these words following are spoken in the singular number if there be but one if there be many in the plurall In the singular it is said Thou more beautifull than the sonnes of men thou N. gird c. with thy sword vpon thy thigh o thou most mighty If there be many it is spoken in the plurall number The Versicle Lord heare c. Answear And let my crie come vnto thee The Lord be with you And with thy spirit Let vs pray Grant vnto thy Church most mercifull God that being gathered together in the Holy Ghost it may no manner of way be disturbed by the assault of the enimy Almighty and euerlasting God powre the grace of thy blessing vpon this thy seruant or these thy seruants which at this instant desireth to be girded with the glorious sword cause him being defended by the power of thy right hand to be continually garded with a garrison of heauenly souldiers against all aduersaries whereby he may not be molested in this world with any tempestuous stormes of bitter wars by Christ our Lord c. Lastly the Gardian and others if they please do embrace him The blessing of the sword Hee that blesseth it must hold the sword naked before him and say Our help is in the name of the Lord c. Let vs pray Listen we pray thee o Lord vnto our praiers and vouchsafe with the right hand of thy Maiesty to blesse this sword wherewith this thy seruant desireth to be armed to the end that he may be a defendour of the Church of widdowes orphanes and of all such as serue God against the fury of the Paganes and Infidels and a terrour and dread to such as shall assault or go about to hurt him assuring him of the certain effect of iust lawfull defence and offence by Christ our Lord Amen Let vs pray Blessed Lord holy Father almighty and eternall God by the inuocation of thy blessed name by the comming of thy sonne Iesus Christ our Lord and by the gift of the holy Ghost blesse this sword that this thy seruant which this same day by thy bounteous fauour is to be girded vnto him may ouerthrow and beat downe all thy enemies both visible and inuisible and he getting the vpper hand may continually abide void of all danger by Christ our Lord Amen The blessed Lord my rocke which teacheth my hands to fight and my fingers to warre my largesse and my castle my
Genes 13. signifieth an heap It stood ouer against Bethel Saint Hierome labouring to expresse the Hebrew letter Ain writeth it Hagai and saith that in his time 〈◊〉 parua 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a small heap of rubbish HEBRON Whâ—n Abraham returned out of Aegypt after his long Peregrination seeking a new resting place leaueth Bethel and trauelleth vnto Hebron Hebron oft mentioned in diuers places of Holy Scripture had many more ancient names Of which one was Cariath-arbe that is Tetrapolis Foure cities For antiquity diuided the principall and Metropolitane cities into foure parts wardes we would call them The first was the court of the Prince where also the Counsell the Nobility and Princes did keep The second was for the souldiers and military men The third was reserued for the husbandmen In the Fourth the artificers and tradesmen dwelt There also was the vale of Mamre so called of an Ammonite who possessed it Gen. 14. and made a league with Abraham Heere three guests who went to destroy Sodom and Gomorrhe were interteined of Abraham There Abraham buried Sara his wife Gen. 23. And therefore some thinke it was called Ciriath-arbe that is tetrapolis the city of 4 great men for that heere were buried 4. Patriarkes Adam Abraham Isaac and Iacob Gen. 25.35.49 IABOC the riuer Iaboc that is of emptinesse or scattering or wrestling The things done heere and the histories recorded are agreeable to the etymologie and reason of the name for heere Iacob wrestled with the Angell and therefore he was after that named Israel that is a Prince of God or preuailing with God But the place where he wrestled Iacob called Penuel that is seeing God or the face of God IERICHO Some do expound it his moone others his mon'ths or his smell We do approue the later exposition of smelling rather than either of the two former and that for the pleasant and fragrant smell which partly issued from the gardens and orchyeards of the rare and soueraigne Balsam a plant only growing in this place and partly from the Palmetrees which heere do grow in greater abundance than any where else in the world beside And therefore in the 34. of Deut. it is called the City of Palme trees IERVSALEM that is The vision of peace It enclosed two mountaines vpon the which it stood the name of the one was Sion vpon the which stood the castle or palace of Dauid Now Sion signifieth a watch tower a beacon The name of the other was Moria vpon which the temple of Salomon was built For the very name also doth shew that the fathers in old time did sacrifice in that place And Abraham lead his sonne Isaac to sacrifice him to the Lord to this mountaine As concerning the etymologie of mor-iah we are contented with that deriuation of Abraham who nameth it God shall see Therefore let this be receiued that mor-iah signifieth the beholding or the demonstration of God Yet other etymologies and deriuations are not altogether from the purpose and to be reiected as these the illumination of God or the feare of God IORDANIS A famous riuer running through the middest of the country arising out of the foot of the mount Libanus It hath two fountaines or heads like vnto our riuer of Thames one called by the name of Ior which name in the Hebrew tongue signifieth a brooke the other by the name of Dan. These meeting and running together in one channell they are called by one name Iordan compound of the names of the seuerall heads MACHANAIM that is two camps Gen. 23. These are the campes of God as Iacob himselfe nameth this place For as he returned out of Mesopotamia by Gilead the Angels of God met him Whereupon he called this place Mahanaim the tents or camp of God that is the presence and gard or garrison of the Lord. NAIM a city so called of the pleasant situation of it as seemeth by the etymologie of the word for Nahim signifieth pleasant delightsome Our Sauiour Christ going from Capernaum entreth into Naim and in the very gate and entrance of the city he raiseth the only sonne of a widdow from death to life and so turneth the heauinesse and mourning of the mother into ioy and gladnesse SALEM was the dwelling place of Melchisedecke Iosephus saith that it was that towne which afterward was named Ierusalem Neither will I oppose my selfe against this opinion receiued by so many great and learned men But there was another Salem which afterward was called Sichem as is left recorded in the 33. chapter of Gen. as we haue touched before Thou seest therefore how Abraham Loth Melchisedecke who was the same with Sem the sonne of Noe dwelt not farre one from another SAMARIA the keeper of God Obserue heere that our Authour mistooke the name of a man for the name of a place For Samariah 1. Chronic. 12.5 was one of Dauids friends that went with him when he fled from the presence of Saul or else one of the sonnes of Harim of the number of those that had maried strange wiues as is manifest out of 1. Esdr 10.32 when as the city was named in the Hebrew tongue not Samaria but Shomrom This city was the seat of the Kings of Israel the Metropolitane of the tenne tribes where their princes vsually kept their court It was battered and laid leuell with the ground by Hyrcanus the high Priest of the Iewes This afterward being reedified againe by Herod the sonne of Antipater was called for the honour of Augustus Caesar by a Greeke name Sebaste that is AVGVSTA Heere Philip whose consorts and fellow helpers were Peter and Iohn first preached the Gospell Actor 8.5 Samaria is spoken of 3. king 18.19 and 4. king 6.7.10.17 SAREPTA a melting house a refining or clensing house For the Sidonians which first inuented the maner of making of glasse heere first erected and built their furnaces or glasse houses In the time of that great famine which raged and was spread all ouer Iudaea Elias by the prouidence and commandement of God was sent vnto a widdow of Sarepta whom he together with her sonne preserued from famine and death 3. King 18. Moreouer in the 15. chapter of S. Matth. there is mention made of the Chanaanite woman that besought Christ to heale her daughter SICHEM or Sechem Gen. 12. Thither Abraham went presently after he came from Charram in Mesopotamia Sichem stood in that part of the country which afterward was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim neere the famous mount Garizim and not farre from whence not many yeares after the city Samaria was built The word Shecem signifieth a shoulder and the city peraduenture was so named of the situation neere the mount Garizim But the name also of the sonne of Hemor was Shecem of whom some thinke this place was so called This towne is oft spoken of in the holy Scriptures In the last chapter of Iosua it is expresly written that the bones of Ioseph were buried in this place
from whom should come an ofspring or issue as great in number as the starres of Heauen v. 5. or the sand of the sea Hebr. 11.12 And this he not considering now that his body was withered and dead as being almost an hundred yeares old neither the deadnesse of Saraes wombe but being not weake in faith nor doubting any whit of the promises of God knowing certainly that he which had promised was able to performe what he had promised against all hope beleeued in hope and therefore it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse Rom. 4.18.19 and for a confirmation and further testimony of the truth of the same he diuided a calfe a goat a ramme a turtle and a doue in the middest only the birds he diuided not and that by the expresse commandement of God v. 9.10 The birds that lighted on the carkeises Abram draue away v. 11. Heere God foretelleth him that his seed should be in bondage to the Egyptians 400. yeares v. 13. and then to returne into this country againe v. 16. And after the sun was down there arose a great darkenes and behold a smoaking furnace burning fire brand passed between those pieces v. 17. and the Lord made a couenant with Abram and gaue to his seed and posterity all that whole country that lieth between Nilus the riuer of Aegypt and Euphrates that great riuer which seuereth Palaestina from the kingdome of the Chaldees or Persians v. 18. Sarai his wife hauing hitherto been barren and hauing an Egyptian maid named Hagar moueth Abram to company with her chap. 16.1.2 Abram consenting vnto his wife goeth in vnto Hagar v. 3. who conceiuing bare him a sonne whom by the commandement of the Angel she called Ismaël v. 4.11 After this Abram being 99. yeares old the Lord appeared to him chap. 17.1 maketh a couenant with him with promise greatly to multiply him and his seed and to make him a father of many Nations v. 2.4 Therefore he changeth his name from Abram that is High-father Altiparens vnto Abraham that is Many-father Multiparens v. 5. and his wiues name from Sarai that is My princesse vnto Sarah The princesse v. 15. and promiseth to giue him a son by her whom he was by the counsaile of the Lord to call by the name of Izahak and with him maketh the couenant of circumcision v. 16.19 Abraham therefore tooke Ismaël and all the males of his whole family and cut off the fore skinne of their flesh that selfe same day as the Lord had commanded him v. 23. And Abraham was 99. yeares old Ismaël was 13. yeares old when they were circumcised v. 24.25 Again the Lord appeared vnto him in the plaine of MAMBRF as he sate in the tent dore about the heat of the day chap. 18.1 and lifting vp his eies he saw 3 men in the 2. v. of the 12 chap. of the Ep. to the Hebr. they are called Angels which he entertained into his house chap. 18.1.2.3 and after they had dined refreshed themselues goeth along with them toward Sodom v. 16. In the way as they went the Lord fore-sheweth vnto him the destruction of Sodom Gomorrha v. 17.20.21 Wherefore Abraham earnestly intreateth the Lord to be mercifull vnto them and to pardon the multitude for a few righteous mens sakes amongst them but in vaine for that that great and infinite number which dwelt in these 5. cities and the territories round about them could not affoord 10. that truly feared God v. 32. And being returned home againe v. 33. early in the morning looking toward Sodome and Gomorrha he saw the smoke of the land ascending vp as it had been the smoke of a furnace chap. 19.28 For the Lord had caused it to raine downe from heauen vpon those cities fire and brimstone v. 24. Afterward Abraham went from thence Southward and dwelled between Cades and Sur in the land of GERAR chap. 20.1 Now Abimelek king of that country sent for Sarah whom Abraham as before chap. 12. 13. called by the name of his sister v. 2. but being warned by God in a dreame that she was his wife v. 3. before such time as he had come neere her v. 4. he restored her to Abraham her husband vntouched richly endowed and with great treasure v. 14.15.16 In this country Sarah trauelled and bare Abraham a son in his old age chap. 21.2 according as the Lord before had promised she should chap. 17.19 and Abraham called his name Izaac v. 3. and circumcised him when he was 8. daies old v. 4. Now when he was to be weaned Abraham made a great feast v. 8. At which feast Ismaël whom Abraham had begotten of Hagar the bondwoman mocked Isaac the sonne of the free woman v. 9. wherefore by the counsell of Sara his wife both Hagar and her bastard sonne are turned out of doores v. 14. After this Abraham and Abimelech contended about a well of water which Abimelechs seruants had by force taken from the seruants of Abraham v. 25. yet the truth being sifted out they agree and do make a couenant and league of perpetuall amity v. 27. at a place which of this euent was afterward called B'ER-SHEBAA that is the well of the league or oth v. 31. Heere Abraham planted a GROVE where he called vpon the name of the Lord the mighty God euerlasting v. 33. and he dwelt as a stranger and soiourner in these quarters namely in the land of the Philistines a long season v. 34. These things being thus performed God tempted Abraham chap. 22.1 commanding him to take Izaac his only sonne who was now as Iosephus writeth 25. yeares old by whom he had promised to giue him an innumerable issue and to offer him vp for a sacrifice vpon one of the mountaines in the land of MORIAH v. 2. this mountaine was since called Zion vpon which Dauid afterward appointed a temple to be built 2. Chr. 3.1 Heere therefore he nothing distrusting of the goodnesse and power of God but perswading himselfe certainly that God could without Izaac raise him a posterity out of the dead he buildeth an altar and hauing laid on wood bindeth his sonne v. 9. taketh the knife purposing to slay him as he was commanded v. 10. but behold an Angel sent from God with a countermand charged him not to lay hand vpon Izaac v. 11.12 He therefore looking about him and spying a ramme behind him entangled by the hornes in a bush he catcheth him and offereth him in steed of his sonne v. 13. Wherefore Abraham called the name of that place IEHOVAH-YIREH v. 14. After this Sarah his wife being 120. yeares old chap. 23. 1. dieth in KIRIATH-ARBAA a place that was otherwise called HEBRON v. 2. but Abraham buried her in the caue of the field MACHPELAH oueragainst Mambre the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan which he had bought of Ephron the Hittite v. 19. Then he maried a 2. wife named Keturah cap. 25.1 who bare him many children v. 2. Lastly Abraham being
well deserueth the title of the Royal or princely castle For it resembleth rather a city then a Castle filling vp so great a roome with the wals and buildings Of publique edifices the Church built by King Charles before mentioned and the Castle erected by K. Vladislaus late deceased are the most memorable And as Prage of all their Cities hath the preeminence so hath Elbe called by Tacitus renowmed and famous of all their riuers Howbeit concerning the fountaine of this riuer Tacitus writeth skarce soundly namely that it springeth in the region of the Hermonduri For it ariseth not among the Hermonduri but rather out of certaine Bohemian mountaines lying open to the North vpon the frontiers of Morauia which the ancient Bohemians call Cerconessi From which mountaines this riuer refresheth and watereth the greater and better part of Bohemia and then hauing augmented his streames by the influence of Vultawa Egra Satzawa Gitzera and Misa his neighbour-riuers continueth his course and name through Misnia and Saxonie to the maine Ocean being all that way enriched with abundance of Salmons But the smaller riuers and freshets of Bohemia yeeld in some places graines of gold and in others shell-fishes containing pearle Heere also you haue certaine hot bathes both pleasant and medicinable And all the whole countrie so aboundeth with graine as it affoordeth plenty to the neighbour-regions Wines there are no great store and those of the countrey so weake as they last but a very small time Howbeit they haue saffron of the best excelling both in colour smell and moisture three principall properties to chuse that commoditie by There are siluer-mines so exceeding rich that were it not for some small quantitie of flint that insinuates it selfe into the veine you should haue nothing but perfect siluer whereas in other countries those mines are esteemed of high price that hold a quarter or a fift part or at the vtmost one halfe of good siluer They find also plenty of gold-ore in certaine mines which take their name of a place called Giloua It is reported that the Kings of Bohemia haue had graines of pure gold brought from thence weighing tenne pound a piece Neither are they destitute of baser metall namely tinne lead copper and yron And sometimes they finde in those mineral rockes the carbuncle the Saphyre and the Amethist Next vnto their mines there is nothing of greater account to the Bohemians then their waters replenished with carps which I haue declared more at large in a peculiar booke treating of fish-pondes Now let vs decypher the disposition of the inhabitants In briefe therefore both in maners habit and stature of body the Bohemians resemble the Lion king of beasts vnder whose constillation they are subiect that is to say if you consider either the largenesse of their limbs their broad and mightie breastes their yellow shag-haire hanging ouer their shoulders the harshnesse of their voice their sparkling eies or their exceeding strength and courage The Lion carries a kind of contempt and disdainefull pride ouer other beastes and hardly shall you vanquish him if you assaile him by force Neither doth the Bohemian in this respect degenerate but soone shewes his contempt towards other nations both in word and deed and discouers his arrogancie both in his gate gesture and pompe Being set light by he growes impatient in any enterprize he is as bold as a Lion and most firme and constant till he hath brought it to execution but not without a touch of ambition and vaine glory Moreouer like a lion he is greedie of his meat and very curious in the dressing and seasoning thereof And their neighbours the Saxons haue taught them to carouse both day and night And by reason of their neighbourhood the Bohemians differ not much from the Germans in other qualities Hitherto Dubrauius by whom also the originall and ancient dwelling place of this nation is described They brew excellent ale in this countrey calling it Whiteale They speake the Sclauon tongue calling themselues Czecks and the Germans Niemecks Vnder the stile of this kingdome are also comprized the regions of Morauia Silesia and Lusatia Likewise in the yeare 1315. the city Egra became the warehouse or principall mart towne of the Bohemians Concerning the region it selfe you may read more largely in Aeneas Siluius and of the people in the first booke of Martinus Cromerus his Polonian story Vnto these you may adde Munster Rithaimer Crantzius in his description of Wandalia and Sabellicus En. 10. lib. 2. Panthaleon Candidus wrote of late seuen books entitled Bohemaidos Prage the head citie of this Kindome is peculiarly described by Georgius Handschius The Map it selfe we borowed out of the Table of Ioannes Crigingerus published at Prage 1568. The diuers appellations of certaine cities in this Kingdome we thought good here to put downe out of Munster For the names of all their cities are by the Bohemian pronounced after one maner and by the German after another Bohemian names German names These cities are immediatly subiect to the King Praha Prag Plzen Pilsen Budiciowize Budwis Kolim Coeln Cheb Eger Strzibre Misz Hora Kuttenberg Tabor Taber Zatetz Satz Litemierzitze Leitmiritz Launij Laun. Rockowinck Rakowinck Klattowy Glataw Beraim Bern. Most Bruck Hradetz Gretz Auscij Aust Myto Maut Dwuor Hoff. Laromiertz Iaromir Bohemian names German names These cities are subiect to the peers of the kingdome Dub Ath. Piela Wiswasser Gilowy Gilaw Krupka Graupen Loket Elbogen Hanzburg Hasenburg The riuer Albis is called by the Germans Elbe and by the Bohemians Labe. The Bohemians call the riuer Molta by the name of Vltawa REGNI BOHEMIAE DESCRIPTIO Bohemiae longitudo latitudoque peuè par nam retundam faciem ex circumiacientibus montibus accipit cuius diametrū trium dierum itinere expedito absoluitur quorū montium quae ad Septentrionalem plagā vergunt Sudetae appellantur ardui sane ac praecipites vbi Gabrita silua ingens extenditur qui montes cum alijs Danubio proximis vnde Albis fi se proripit in coronam cocunt quos vndique profundissima nemora latissimè occupant Hercinia enim silua vniuersā Bohemian compraehēit SILESIA JOhn Crato one of the Emperours counsellers and his principall Physician hath for the benefit of the studious in Geography out of his relations of Silesia imparted thus much vnto vs. That we may not be scrupulous about the name of the Silesians nor as some haue done deriue it from the Elysian fields we are out of ancient writers to vnderstand that the same region which they now possesse was formerly inhabited by the Quadi For Quad in the Saxon or old German tongue hath the same signification that Siletz hath in the Polonian or Sclauon For they were a people that resorted hither out of sundry places more addicted to warre than peace destroyers rather than builders and impatient of all superioritie The first King that bare rule ouer them was Boleslaus a Polacke He was borne in the yeere of our Lord 967. his
mother a Bohemian neece to Duke Wenceslaus by the brothers side A sonne of his called Mieslaus in the yeere 1001. was married to Rixa daughter of Erenfrid County Palantine neece to the Emperour Otho the third by his sister Melchitis and this man was the first that receiued the kingly diademe from Otho the third But after his decease the Polonians hauing by sedition expelled out of their kingdome the Emperours niece and his sonne Casimire Conradus the Emperour reseruing to himselfe a certaine tribute annexed Silesia to the crowne of Bohemia This Emperour was an Vratislauian borne and perhaps gaue the name of Vratislauia to his natiue citie which is now commonly called Breslaw But hereof I cannot certainly affirme ought This one thing is not to be doubted that the Silesians had no affection towards the Polonians whenas by the practise and industry of Iohn the first king of Bohemia father to the Emperour Charles the fourth they vnited themselues to the Bohemians Some there are by what authority or opinion I know not which affirme that in the same place where Breslaw now stands was built in times past by a Prince called Liguis the city of Budurgis mentioned in Ptolemey For it is apparent out of histories that Mieslaus Duke of Poland who was first created King by the Emperour Otho the third and in the yeere 965. embraced Christianitie did anno 1048. erect a woodden church or chapel to the honour of S. Iohn Baptist Whereby you may gather that in those dayes there was no great matter of building at Breslaw Moreouer Gotefridus the first Prelate of that church being an Italian preferred the village of Smogra before the citie of Breslaw hauing there his Schole and College Likewise about this time it is thought that the foundations of other the principall cities of Silesia namely of Lignitz Glogaw Luben c. were layd for out of monuments and Annales no certainty can be gathered whenas the ancientest writings in all Silesia are the letters of the Emperour Frederick the second which were written in the yeere 1200. all the residue being consumed and lost either by fires or inuasions which haue beene very terrible in these parts But by the good indeuour of Frederick Barbarossa Silesia was both pacified and so distributed among the sonnes of Vladislaus king of Poland that it seemed not altogether to be dismembred from that crowne But when the Polonians perceiued that Silesia grew full of Germans and that the Princes began to fauour them reiecting the lawfull heires they aduanced to the kingdome of Silesia one Vladislaus Locticus a cruell enemy to the Germans This was the occasion that they betooke themselues to the protection of Iohn king of Bohemia who being sonne to the Emperour Henry the seuenth married the daughter of Wenceslaus king of Bohemia and was inuested into the kingdome 1302. Wherefore after the decease of this Iohn of Lucelberg Silesia was subiect to twelue Bohemian kings one after another six whereof were Emperours one a Bohemian another an Hungarian fiue of the house of Austria two Polacks but descended from Austria by the mothers side Of the Polonian race remained as yet in Silesia the Princes of Lignitz and Teschnitz for those of Munsterberg deriue their pedegree from George king of Bohemia Vratislauia the head-city of Silesia being burnt to ashes in the yere 1341 began then so stately to be built of stone as at this present both for order and beauty of houses and largenesse of streets it is little inferiour to any of the cities in Germanie Concerning other more true ornaments of a Common-wealth I shall not need to speake seeing it is manifest to all Germanie that scarse in any other region there are to be found so many Schooles such numbers of learned Professours and of excellent wits It beseemes me not to speake too gloriously of my countreymen yet thus much I may boldly say that there is almost no Princes court nor any famous common-wealth where the vertue and learning of the Silesians findes not entertainment The gentlemen likewise albeit addicted to tillage and good husbandry yet are they so warlike withall that no indifferent Iudges can deny but that by their valour the remainder of Hungarie is defended It is a region very fruitfull of corne especially in one place aboue the rest which is most carefully manured by our people It aboundeth with fish-pooles The famous riuer Odera confineth it East and North and South it is diuided from Bohemia by Sudetes But the situation best appeareth in the Map Of Silesia you haue somewhat written by Aeneas Syluius and by others which are ignorant of the countrey But Laurentius Coruinus could haue brought more certainties to light had not the age wherein he liued been fatally ouerwhelmed in ignorance Thus much Iohn Crato concerning his natiue countrey Silesia It containeth twelue Dukedomes one Bishoprick the Bishop whereof hath his residence at Neisse and sometimes at Breslaw for there is a Cathedrall church and a College of Canons Heere are foure Baronies also In this region about Striga and Lignitz is found a kinde of medicinable earth commonly called Terra sigillata like that of Lemnus and of equall force some quantitie whereof Iacobus Manouius Citizen and Senatour of Breslaw hath often bestowed vpon me The Chronicles of Silesia were of late written by Ioachimus Curius wherein he hath so curiously described the situation and the antiquity of their townes and cities the gouernment of their state and their memorable acts that the studious may here finde an absolute history I am informed by Iacobus Monauius that Francis Faber hath described it in verse also SILESIAE TYPVS A Martino Helwigio Nissense descriptus et Nobili doctoque viro Domino Nicolao Rhedingero ded MORAVIA MORAVIA is thus described by Ioannes Dubrauius in his Bohemian story Morauia was called of olde Marcomania because it confined vpon Germany at that place where Dariubius entreth Hungary For Mark in high Dutch signifies a limit or confine and thereupon Marcomanni are such as inhabit the borders of a countrey Concerning these people Arrianus in his relation of Germany the farthest of these nations saith he are the Quadi and Marcomanni then the Iazyges a people of Sarmatia after the Getes and lastly a great part of the Sarmatians Howbeit at this present because it is bounded by the riuer Mora from the same riuer the inhabitants are called Moraui and the countrey Morauia On three sides as it now stands it is diuided by mountaines woods forests or riuers on the East from Hungary West from Bohemia and North from Silesia for on the South part towards Austria it is plaine being some where separated therefrom by the riuer Thaysa and in other places by another obscure riuer The principall riuer in Morauia is Mora which enuironeth the chiefe city called Olmuntz and from thence running into Hungary dischargeth himselfe with his tributary streames into the chanell of Danubius For Mora receiuing into his bosome the riuer
high tower and my deliuerer my protectour in whom I haue put my trust is he that subdueth my people that is vnder me Glory be to the Father and to the Sonne c. Saue thy seruant o Lord God which putteth his trust in thee Be thou o Lord vnto him a tower of strength from the face of his enemie Lord heare our praier The Lord be with you c. Let vs pray O holy Lord father almighty who only dost gouerne and rightly disposest all things who hast by thy gratious prouidence granted to man in this world the vse of the sword to represse the malice and audacious lewdnesse of the wicked and to maintaine right and equity and wouldest that the order of knighthood should be instituted for the safegard and protection of thy people who also causest it to be proclaimed by Saint Iohn Baptist to the soulders which came vnto him into the wildernesse that they should smite no man but be content with their owne wages we do humbly beseech thy gratious goodnesse that as thou gauest to thy seruant Dauid power to ouercome Goliath and madest Iudas Marcabeus to triumph ouer those fierce nations which called not vpon thy name so also to this thy seruant N. who lately hath submitted his necke to the yoke of knighthood grant for thy mercies sake power strength to defend faith and iustice giue vnto him the encrease of faith hope and charity and in him order all things aright that pertaine to thy feare and loue of thy holy name to true humility perseuerance obedience and patience that he may hurt no man wrongfully with this sword or any other that he may with it defend all things that are iust and right and like as he now is promoted from a low and mean degree vnto this new and honourable estate of knighthood so he putting off the old man with all his affections may put on the new man that he may feare and reuerence thee aright as he ought to do may shunne the company of the wicked miscreant Infidels and may extend his charity vnto his neighbour be truely obedient in all things to him to whom he is subiect and do his duty vprightly in all things that he shall be emploied in by Christ our Lord Amen The forme of the oth which they must take before they may be admitted to take this holy order of knighthood vpon them thou maist see in the Orientall iournall written by Leonard Rauwolph in the Dutch tongue TERRA SANCTA A Petro Laicstain perlus trata et ab eius ore et schedis à Christiano Schrot in tabulam redacta NATOLIA sometime called ASIA The Lesser PEtrus Bellonius in those learned obseruations which he made and set forth of his trauels saith that this part of Asia called of the ancients Asia minor Little Asia is at this day named of the Turkes NATOLIA or Anatolia of the Greeke word Anatale which signifieth the East vnder which name they comprehend all that part of Asia that is beyond Propontis Mar di Marmora it is now vulgarly called and Hellespontus or Stretto di Gall poli the streits of Gallipoli as at this day they terme it that is to witte all Phrygia Galatia Bithynia Pontus Lydia Caria Paphlagonia Lycia Magnesia Cappadocia and Comagena The miserable estate and condition of which countries the maner of life and customes which the people there do now at this day vse if any man be desirous to know let him repaire to the said authour who was himselfe an eie-witnesse of the same and he shal be I doubt not satisfied to the full Let him also looke ouer the description of the East countries Orientalem Cosmographiam done by Andrew Theuet the Orientall obseruations of Nicolas Nicolai and Peter Gill his Bosphorus or description of Constantinople and the places neere about that city Laonicus Chalcocondylas writeth that of all the prouinces of Asia Minor Paphlagonia doth yeeld a mine of Copper or Brasse and that the King of this country Ismaël he calleth him doth yearely raise a custome or reuenue of 10000. rose-nobles Stater the Greeks call this kind of gold coine Yet it seemeth that he meaneth not generally all Asia when as he addeth this afterward That this copper is thought to be the best in goodnesse next that of Iberia for Iberia is a prouince of Asia bordering vpon the Caspian sea But peraduenture this may be true of that Asia which is called Asia Minor of which Paphlagonia is a portion Theodoricus Adamaeus of Suallemberg hath described the Rhodes an iland which lieth not farre from the coast of Asia Minor AEGYPT VPon the West this country is enclosed with the deserts of Barca Lybia and Numidia vpon the East with the deserts which lie between Nilus and the Red-sea on the North it hath the midland-sea on the South it is confined with the territories of the city Bugia Thus it is bounded according to the iudgement of Iohannes Leo Africanus who doth diuide it into three prouinces Assahid or Alsahid which lieth between Bugia and Alcairo Errifia from Alcairo to Rossetto and Bechria between Pelusium and Tenessa In Haithon the Armenian we read that it was sometime diuided into fiue shires namely Sa yt Demesor Alexandrina Resnit and Damiata That which Haithon calleth Sa yt and Leo Assahid Tyrius nameth Serch except the copy be corrupt and faulty The same authour maketh mention of another shire of Egypt which the Egyptians do call in their language Phium Haithon doth make the country of Egypt to be fifteen daies iourney in length a manuscript copy which beareth the title of Antonius Curchinus not of Haithonus Armenus hath corruptly and falsly as I thinke fiue and twenty daies iourney for fifteen daies iourney and three daies iourney ouer To this computation Gulielmus Tyrius doth seeme to consent who saith that betweene Phacusa and Alexandria cities of the lower Egypt are somewhat more than an hundred Italian miles The vpper Egypt is scarsely seuen or eight miles broad in some places it is so straitely beset and enclosed with mountaines and hils that it is not aboue foure or fiue miles ouer Leo saith that from the Mediterran sea vnto Bugia it is 450. miles long the breadth of it especially in the vpper part is almost nothing to speake of That Nilus the riuer which runneth through the middest of it and watereth all the country doth empty it selfe into the Midland sea only by foure mouthes against the opinion of all ancient writers Gulielmus Tyrius doth teach vs who is a man worthy to be beleeued in this case for he was both an eie-witnesse and a most diligent searcher out of the truth of the same I haue a Mappe which I thinke was made by the pen in Egypt which mentions so many neither doth it point out more that are worth the speaking of Haithon writeth that in this whole country there is beside Alexandria and Cairo neuer a strong city or any that is fortified with