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lord_n	die_v	earl_n	marry_v	15,839	5	9.7541	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35219	England's monarchs, or, A compendious relation of the most remarkable transactions, and observable passages, ecclesiastical, civil, and military, which have hapned [sic] during the reigns of the kings and queens of England, from the invasion of the Romans to this present adorned with poems, and the pictures of every monarch, from William the Conquerour, to His present Majesty, our gracious sovereign, King Charles the Second : together with the names of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council, the nobility, bishops, deans, and principal officers, civil and military, in England, in the year 1684 by R.B., author of the Admirable curiosities in England, The historical remarks in London and Westminster, The late wars in England, Scotland, and Ireland, &c.	R. B., 1632?-1725?	1685 (1685)	Wing C7314; ESTC R21089	148,791	242

THIRD King of England c. IN Peace and War I still Triumphant stood Fortune for me seemed to fix her Wheel I did revenge my Fathers Death and Blood And forced France my valiant Arm to feel I warr'd on Scotland with victorious Steel The slaughtring Sword and Fire did all devour A Kingdom so divided needs must reel Betwixt the Bruces and the Baliols Power Thus every day my Grandeur mounted higher With Black Prince Edward my victorious Son Vnto the top of Honour we aspire By glorious Victories and great Actions done But all my Triumphs Fortunes Force and Strength Old Age and Death to Nothing brought at length AT the Age of Fifteen years Edward the Third was Crowned King his deposed Father being then alive He was chiefly counselled in his younger years by Queen Isabel his Mother Edmond Earl of Kent and Sir Roger Mortimer which Knight to ingratiate himself with the Queen was a chief Instrument in the Murder of the late King In his second year the Scots proclaimed War against England whereupon King Edward with an Army of fifty four thousand Men and attended with Sir John Heynault the L. Beamont and five hundred Lords and Gentlemen marched into Scotland where he pursued his lurking Enemies who fled into Woods Mountains and Hills and thereby tired the English Army so that he returned without any memorable Action and then married Philip the Daughter of William Earl of Heynault and calling a Parliament at Northampton the two Spencers and Walter Stapleton were attainted of High Treason at which time by the advice of the Queen and Mortimer a dishonourable Peace was made with the Scots whereby that King was discharged from doing homage to Edward and the great Charter called Ragman whereby the late King of Scotland and all his Nobility under their Hands and Scals did acknowledge their Subjection to the Kings of England was delivered up and the Kings Sister Jane was married to David Son and Heir to K. R. Bruce Roger Mortimer was now made Earl of March which did much discontent the Nobility especially after they saw that by his power with the King and Familiarity with the Queen he had trecherously procured the Earl of Kent the Kings Uncle to be beheaded but by Divine Vengeance Mortimer himself was charged by the State with these Trayterous Articles 1 That he had wickedly procured the murther of the late King 2. That by false and malicious accusations he had caused the King to cut off the Head of his Vncle who was Noble Religious Valiant and a main Pillar of the Commonwealth 3. That he had too familiarly conversed with the Queen Mother to her just reproach and the Kings dishonour 4. That for a Bribe of twenty thousand pound he had procured the release of the Scots Homage Lastly That he had cheated the King of his Jewels and Treasure converting them to his own use For these horrid Treasons he was condemned and Executed in the same manner as young Spencer and Q. Isabel was committed to a strong Castle where she continued above thirty years after and then died In his fifth year Philip the French King sent to require King Edward to do Homage for the Dutchy of Guyen which he unwillingly performed his Lords being therewith offended alledging That in the Right of Queen Isabel his Mother the Crown of France belonged to him and that he therefore ought not to have acknowledged any Fealty at all The King then sent to David King of Scotland to restore the Castle of Berwick and do him Homage for the Kingdom but David stoutly answered That his Father won that Castle by Conquest and he would hold it by the Sword and That his Father never acknowledged any Subjection and if any had been due yet King Edward had released him from it The King being of a great Spirit was resolved to revenge these Affronts by conquering both Scotland and France and to that end he presently sent an Army against the Scots and over-run the better part of that Country without resistance taking Berwick and Crowning Edward Baliol King of Scotland to whom he committed the Government of Berwick Castle and two years after he again marched into Scotland and setled this new King on his Throne receiving his Homage and restored several English Lords to their Estates which by the Peace with King Bruce they were deprived of David the deposed King fled into France and after two years by the assistance of the French King landed some Forces in Scotland but King Edward soon encountred and routed them and then returned victoriously into England In his tenth year Philip the French King gave the Earldom of Artois away by Sentence from Robert Artois to Maud Countess of Burgundy and Aunt to this Robert which so incensed him that he said By me Philip was made King and by me he shall be again deposed For these Words he was proclaimed a Traytor to the Crown throughout all France so that to save his Life he fled into England where for his former Service to Queen Isabel and her Son when in France he was honourably received and entertained by King Edward who knew him to be a wise and valiant Man and therefore made him Earl of Richmond and loved him so entirely that he never undertook any Matter of Consequence without his Advice This Noble Knight continually informed the King of his Right to the Crown of France by his Mother Queen Isabel and that with such convincing Reasons and Persuasions that Edward began now in earnest to contrive the attaining thereof negotiating privately with the Earl of Heynault his Wives Father and Brother-in-Law to the French King and with Sir John of Heynault Lord Beaumont his Brother and several other Princes and States of Germany who encouraged and assisted him therein creating him Vicar-General of the Empire by which he had Power to command the Nobility and Commons of those Countries to aid him in his Enterprise Whilst these things were secretly consulting in England Philip of France little suspected he was to fight for his Crown with the English and therefore at the Importunity of Pope Benedict the Eleventh he had prepared a greater Army for the Holy Land than ever any Christian Prince did before him which were provided with all Necessaries for three years and the Government of his Kingdom he committed to his eldest Son John Duke of Normandy Being just ready to depart he had News of the Pretensions and Preparations of the English and therefore thought it more necessary to defend his Kingdom at home than to go upon such a frivolous Errand abroad In the mean time King Edward having by many Politick Devices drained his Subjects Purses insomuch that for want of Money a fat Ox was sold for a Noble a fat Sheep for Six pence six Pigeons for a Penny and a Quarter of Wheat for Two shillings he with his Queen sailed to Antwerp where he concluded the Methods of the War with the Princes of Germany and

therefore proclaimed War against France upon which occasion and for writing against Martin Luther the Pope stiled him Defender of the Faith Henry sending a Fleet and an Army thither took the Towns of Tyrwin and Tournay At the same time James the Fourth King of Scots though he had married Margaret King Henry's eldest Sister contrary to his Oath and Articles invaded England with an Army of 100000 Fighting Men but the Earl of Surrey with 26000 Men marching against them utterly routed the whole Scotch Army at Flodden field King James himself being slain valiantly fighting After this succeeded a Peace and the French King married King Henry's second Sister Mary And now Cardinal Wolsey of mean Parentage grew extreme Great by the Kings extraordinary Affection toward him and among other extravagant Actions he procured a License from the Pope to pluck down several small Abbies and Priories and to settle the Lands upon two Colleges which he had built one in Ipswich and another in Oxford which President occasioned King Henry some years after to pull down all the rest In his eighth year a Riot hapned in London against Merchant-Strangers and Artificers for which many were condemned of High Treason but were all pardoned by the King The Truce with France was soon broken by the French King whereupon King Henry sent an Army thither who won and burnt Morlaix and several other Towns returning home with great Booty In his twentieth year the Kings Marriage with Queen Katherine of Spain is questioned which was thought to be cunningly contrived by Cardinal Wolsey whereupon the King refrained her Bed and it was judged unlawful by six Foreign Universities so that notwithstanding the Popes Opposition who would have had it referred to him it was made null and void by the next Parliament upon which the Pope caused his Curse to be set up at Dunkirk against the King pronouncing the Marriage lawful But Henry little regarded those Paper Pellets for hereby the Pope lost his Supremacy in England and Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More were beheaded for defending it The King soon after married Ann Bullein Daughter to the Lord Rochford who was judged a Favourer of Protestants and therefore disliked by Cardinal Wolsey who for abundance of Misdemeanours was found guilty of a Praemunire and all his Estate and Honours were taken from him for grief whereof he soon after died In his twenty sixth year the King was by Parliament declared Supreme Head of the Church within all his own Dominions in all Ecclesiastical Causes and all Popish Bulls and Indulgences were made void and several Religious Houses of Nuns and Monks whose Revenue exceeded not 200 l. a year were suppressed The next year Queen Ann the Kings dearly-beloved Wife was beheaded though she protested her Innocency at her death being accused for prostituting her Body to her own Brother the Lord Rochford who with some others were put to death for the same This Tragedy being over the King within twenty days married Jane the Daughter of Sir John Seymour by whom he had the Virtuous Prince Edward who succeeded him but within few days after the good Queen died James King of Scotland being slain as aforementioned his Queen Margaret eldest Sister to King Henry was afterward married to Archibald Dowglas Earl of Angus who had a Daughter by her called Margaret this young Lady the Lord Howard married without the Kings leave for which she being of the Blood Royal he was beheaded as a Traytor The Kings Proceedings against the Pope caused a Rebellion in Lincolnshire but they were soon dispersed and Captain Cobler their Leader with others executed This was no sooner supprest but an Insurrection begun in the North of above 40000 who called themselves The Holy Pilgrims but upon the Kings Pardon they all quietly departed ●ome A third Rebellion succeeded in Westmorland upon the same account but was likewise defeated and seventy of the principal Conspirators executed In his twenty eighth year several Persons were executed for denying the Kings Supremacy and the Lord Cromwel is made Vicegerent in all Spiritual Matters by whom all Images and Shrines in Churches were taken down and destroyed and the Houses and Lands of Abbots Priors Monks and Nuns for their many Misdemeanours were all taken away and their yearly Revenues amounting to above 200000 l. setled on the King who freely exchanged them for other Lands with divers of his Nobles and Gentry thereby preventing as much as possible the restoring them to their former Uses After the Lord Cromwel had performed this great Business he persuaded the King to marry Ann of Cleve whom he never liked so that though he was married to her four Months he never conversed with her as a Wife the Clergy soon after dissolving the Marriage and the King married Katherine Howard Daughter to the Lord Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk The King then began to frown upon Cromwel which his Enemies who were many observing procured his Downfal for he was attainted in Parliament and without being suffered to defend himself was condemned and executed for High Treason and about this time the Lord Hungerford and the Lord Leonard Gray were put to death King Henry was very unfortunate in his Wives for soon after his last Marriage he was informed that his Queen Katherine had before Marriage lived very lasciviously with one Francis Derham and Thomas Culpeper whereupon the Queen and the Lady Rochfort who was privy thereto were soon after attainted of Treason by Parliament and beheaded and the other two hanged at Tyburn About this time an Act of Parliament was made declaring it High Treason to deny the Oath of Supremacy or to acknowledge the Authority of the Pope Yet though the Discipline of the Church was altered the Doctrine remained almost the same for there were six bloody Articles likewise enacted and it was made Heresie and thereupon burning to deny any of them They were these 1. That after speaking the Words of Consecration by the Priest the real and natural Body and Blood of Christ as he was conceived and crucified was in the Sacrament and no other Substance 2. That the Communion in both Kinds is not necessary to Salvation 3. That Priests may not marry 4. That Vows of Chastity ought to be observed by the Law of God 5. That Private Masses ought to be continued 6. That Auricular Confession is necessary and expedient to be retained in the Church of God The refusal of these Articles caused the Death of very many Protestants as the denying the Kings Supremacy cut off several Papists so that at the same time Protestants were burnt on one side of Smithfield and Papists hanged on the other which made Foreigners admire not understanding what Religion King Henry was of In his thirty third year the King married Katherine Parr Sister to the Marquess of Northampton and Widow to the Lord Latimer who was likely to have lost her Head if her Virtue and the Kings sudden Death had not

French King Charles the Sixth who in the Kings Name required the peaceable Surrender of the Kingdom of France with the entire Dutchies of Aquitain Normandy Anjou Poictou and Mayn proposing That if without effusion of Blood the French King would yield to his Demands he would then vouchsafe to take his Daughter Katherine in Marriage and would endow her with all the afore-mentioned Provinces and allow the French King all Honour and Respect But if he refused to deliver his Patrimony without Blows he would then endeavour to gain it by the Sword wherein he must expect his People would suffer all the Calamities of a War The French King and Nobility were much surprised at this unexpected Message and therefore desired time to deliberate on so weighty an Affair but the Dolphin the Kings eldest Son despising the Youth and unlikely Attempt of King Henry sent him as a Present a Tun of Tennis-balls as more agreeable to his Years which Henry receiving said That he would shortly send him such London Balls as should shake Paris Walls and thereupon soon levied a strong Army Which the Dolphin being informed of who by reason of the Sickness of the King managed all Affairs he sent Ambassadors to Henry That if he would desist from all Hostility and live in Peace and take his Sister Katherine to Wife he should have with her a considerable sum of money and some small Territories in France but the King returned answer that Unless Aquitain Normandy Anjou and all the other small Seigniories were delivered to him as justly appertaining to his Crown he would neither disband his Army nor wave his Title to the Crown of France but would attempt to gain it by fire and Sword As soon as the French Ambassadors were gone the King having left considerable forces upon the Borders of Scotland and provided all things necessary sent his Letters of defiance to the French King and was just imbarking for his voyage when at that very instant a dangerous conspiracy was discovered either to deliver him up to the French or murder him in his Tent contrived by Richard Earl of Cambridge Brother to the Duke of York Henry Lord Scroop and Sir Thomas Gray three of the most valiant Commanders in his whole Army who being apprehended and brought into his presence freely confessed the whole contrivance and that they were corrupted by rewards from the Dauphin upon which they were the next day executed as Traytors The Wind serving the King transported his Army into Normandy in an hundred and forty ships and the Town of Harflew being delivered to him after a seige of thirty seven days was ransomed from plunder by the Citizens with great sums of Gold and Silver the King then resolved to march to Callice through the very Borders of France though the Dauphin had an Army of thirty thousand and the English were only two thousand Horse and thirteen thousand Archers many of them wanting health victuals and sleep and having plenty of nothing but silver and Gold which in that place would not give them the least supply of what was truly necessary for preserving their Lives It much disturbed the French King who lay at Roan that the English should march on thus without control and therefore he sent K. Henry a defiance and that he would be with him in a few days and accordingly bringing an Army of threescore thousand Horse into the Field incamped near a Town called Agen-Court making great jollity the night before the battel as assuring themselves of the victory being so very numerous and the English so inconsiderable and sickly on the contrary K. Henry and his little Army spent the night in Prayers and Devotions as knowing that they must either conquer valiantly or dye basely upon Fryday Oct. 20. 1414. The battel began wherein both sides fought with great courage but at length K. Henry obtained a glorious victory there being slain the High Constable and High Admiral of France the Dukes of Alanson Brabant and Bane thirty four Earls and Lords eight thousand Knights Esquires and Gentlemen and about sixteen hundred Common Souldiers besides ten principal Dukes and Lords taken Prisoners on King Henry's side were not slain above six hundred Souldiers and two Commanders After this K. Henry marched safely to Callice where having refreshed themselves they took shipping for England being inriched with Gold Silver and costly armour in abundance and the King was received with all manner of Joy and Triumph into London The French King was extreamly troubled at this great overthrow but the Dauphin especially insomuch that he died as was thought for meer vexation soon after The Earl of Arminiach being made High Constable the Duke of Exeter the Kings Uncle Governour of Harflew understanding he was going that way with some forces suddenly issued out upon him and defeated his whole party which so inraged the new Constable that with all speed he besieged Harflew on every side with five hundred ships at the mouth of the River Seyn which K. Henry having notice of he presently sent a stout Army imbarked in two hundred Ships who falling upon the French Fleet in sight of the Town utterly destroyed them with a vast slaughter of men and thereby forced the Constable immediately to raise the siege and King Henry then calling a Parliament and declaring to them his right to France they freely gave him great sums of money wherewith sailing into Normandy he won the strong Town of Caen in the mean time such private quarrels arose between the French Nobility as much advantaged K. Henry who daily won the chiefest Towns in Normandy and then laid a formal siege to the great City of Roan which was strongly fortified and well provided so that K. Henry gave many terrible assaults in vain upon which being informed that there were above two hundred Thousand Men Women and Children within the Walls he resolved to gain it by famine without blows and to that end casting a deep ditch about the City pitched full of sharp stakes and guarded with Archers the Inhabitants could neither pass in nor out so that in two months time the Famine increased so grievously that the Citizens drunk nothing but Vinegar and Water and were forced to eat Rats Mice Cats Dogs and Horses and the poorer sort being turned out perished miserably between the Gates and the English Trenches the Famine still growing more outragious they sent four Knights four Scholars and four of their chief Burgesses clothed all in black as Commissioners to the King who spake to this purpose Great and renowned Prince In all ages Kings and valiant Captains have gained the greatest glory and reputation by subduing their proud and haughty enemies with their Swords and valour and it hath been always reckoned a note of baseness and Cowardice in a Prince to overcome by Famine and want of food wherein there is neither wise conduct nor true courage That your highness may therefore equal the greatest Conquerors in generosity we

Northampton Rutland Lincoln Leicester Derby and Nottingham continuing two hundred and two years 7. The last Kingdom was that of the East Angles containing the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk which lasted three hundred fifty three years Yet during the time of this Heptarchy many of the British Princes valiantly defended their lawful Inheritances and with great Courage endeavoured to prevent the Saxon Yoke from being imposed upon their Necks Among whom was Vortimer the Son of Vortigern afore-mentioned for Vortigern being after sixteen years Reign deposed from the Government for his Kindness to the Saxons his Son Vortimer was chosen King of the Britans and presently engaged against the Saxons gaining so much in four famous Victories over them that they were almost extirpated He erected a Monument in the Isle of Thanet in the Place where the Saxons were overthrown which to this day is called the Stowers wherein he commanded his Body to be buried that the Saxons might be terrified with the sight thereof He restored the Christian Religion then much decayed and rebuilt the Churches destroyed by the Pagan Saxons Rowena procured his Death by Poyson after which his Father Vortigern was re-established in the Government But being oppressed by the Saxons and pursued by Aurelius he fled into Wales where in a Castle which he built by Merlin's Directions in the Mountains he with his Daughter whom he had taken to Wife were burnt to Ashes Aurelius Ambrosius was likewise very successful against the Saxons He is said to have built Stonehenge near Salisbury in remembrance of the Massacre of three hundred of the British Nobility who were there slain by the Treachery of the Saxons Vter Pendragon who succeeded him was no less fortunate He was named Pendragon either because at his Birth there appeared a fiery Comet like a Dragons Head or from his Royal Banner wherein was the Picture of a Dragon with a Golden Head He died of Poyson put into a Well wherein he used to drink Arthur his Son and Successor won twelve Battels against the Saxons and chased Colgern their Captain from his Camp in Northumberland to York from whence he escaped into Germany The Relicks of Arthur's Round Table are to this time shewn at Winchester with the Twenty four Seats After him reigned Constantine Aurelius Conanus Vortiporus Malgo Canonus and Careticus This last King raised a Civil War among his own Subjects the Britans which made them forsake him and leave him to the Mercy of the Saxons who pursuing him he fled to Cirencester in Berkshire for safety but his Enemies taking several Sparrows fastned Fire to their Feet and let them fly into the City who lighting upon Straw and thatcht Houses burnt the City to the Ground but Careticus escaped and fled for security to the Mountains of Wales where he died After twenty four years Civil Dissention Cadwan was made King During these Troubles Austin the Monk who was sent hither by Pope Gregory to convert the Britans carrying himself very insolently at a Meeting with the British Bishops at a Place thence named Austins Oak in Worcestershire they could come to no Agreement whereupon it is thought Austin contrived this cruel Revenge There was a Monastery at Bangor in North Wales situated in a fruitful Valley now called The English Mailor containing in compass about a Mile and an half of Ground This Monastery saith my Author was the Mother of all others in the World the Monks whereof divided themselves into several Companies every one consisting in about three hundred Souls and all maintaining themselves by the Labour of their Hands Many of these Monks met at Caer Legion now Chester to assist their Brethren the Britans with their Prayers against Ethelfrid the wicked King of Northumberland who with his Pagan Soldiers by the Procurement of Austin as was judged slew two thousand of these Christian Monks and discomfited the British Host Cadwallo his Son reigned after him and was victorious over the Saxons slaying Edwin King of Northumberland and his Son Osfride in a bloody Battel He died in peace say the British Writers and was buried at St. Martins Church in London his Statue on Horseback in Brass being set upon Ludgate for a Terrour to the Saxons Cadwalloder the Son of Cadwallo fought manfully against the Saxons but the Distractions amongst his Nobility much hindred his Proceedings There was likewise a dreadful Famine in his Reign so that the Common People reckoned Roots and Herbs to be dainty Food This was followed by a woful Mortality which was so raging and sudden that great numbers of People were surpriz'd by Death while they were eating drinking walking and speaking These Calamities lasted near eleven years so that the Country was almost depopulated the King and his British Peers being forced to leave the Land who went to his Cousin Allan King of Little Britain in France The Saxons taking advantage of these severe Miseries lamentably oppressed the wretched Britans to whose Aid Cadwallader with the Assistance of his Cousin Allan did once design to return but being diverted by a Dream which he had he went on Pilgrimage to Rome and according to the Superstition of that Age he there turned Monk where he soon after died and was buried with whom died all the Hopes of the Britans he being the last King of the British Blood whereby the Saxons became Sovereign Lords and Masters of this Island And thus was this unhappy Country a second time conquered by Strangers which hapned about the Year of our Lord 689. Yet the Saxons according to the common Fate of Conquerours after they had subdued their Enemies disagreed among themselves and several of their Princes incroached upon the Territories of each other and so became petty Monarchs of some part of Britain These were reckoned to be fourteen in number till at last Egbert the eighteenth King of the West Saxons got command over all the seven Kingdoms of the Saxons and so became sole Monarch of England which none of his Predecessors before ever obtained He had War fourteen Years with the Cornish and Welch and took Westchester their chief Hold from them making a strict Law against any Welchman that should pass over Offa's Dike or set one Foot within his English Dominions He slew Bernulf King of Mercia in Battel and drove the King of Kent out of his Kingdom The East Angles and East Saxons submitted to him and likewise the South Saxons whereupon he caused himself to be crowned absolute Monarch at Winchester And this Monarchy continued in the Saxons till the Danes first got and then lost it again and the Saxons Issue failing upon their next entrance it then fell to the Normans as by the Sequel will appear In the fourteenth year of Egbert the Danes with thirty three Ships landed in England to whom he gave Battel but had the worst of the Day losing two of his chief Captains and two Bishops but the Danes returning two years after into Wales and joyning with the Welch

he was discoursing and drinking on Horseback as the Cup was at his Mouth a Servant of the Queens by her Contrivance struck him into the Back with a Knife or Dagger at which setting Spurs to his Horse to get away and fainting with loss of Blood he fell from his Horse with one Foot in the Stirrup and was dragged up and down the Woods till at last his Body was left dead at the Gate of Corf Castle When this Fact was committed the Queen was so struck with remorse that to expiate her Guilt she built two Monasteries Almsbury and Wormwell For as Mr. Fox observes most of these Religious Houses were founded either upon the account of some Publick or Private Murther Edward the Martyr as he was called being thus slain Etheldred his younger Brother the Son of Edgar and Queen Elfrida succeeded He reigned thirty eight Years but was very unfortunate and full of Troubles all his time It is related That when Archbishop Dunstan Christned Etheldred as he held him over the Font the Child was not very cleanly whereupon the Bishop swore By the Mother of God this Boy will prove an unhappy and slothful Prince which hapned accordingly At his Coronation a Cloud appeared half like Blood and the other half like Fire In his third Year the Danes invaded the Kingdom in several Places and the King paid them Forty thousand Pound yearly for his Quiet which much disobliged his Subjects yea the English were so low that the Danes commanded their Houses Wives Daughters and all they had Whereupon Etheldred contrived that all the Danes were massacred in one Day But this did more enrage them so that first Swain and then Canutus came with two hundred Sail of Ships and landed in Cornwal burning and destroying all before him and killing Nine hundred Monks and Nuns at one time the Kings Counsels being all betrayed by the Traytor Edrick Whereupon he fled with his Queen Emma and her two Sons into Normandy to Richard Duke thereof who was her Brother But Swain being soon after killed by his own Men they made his Son Canutus King After which Etheldred returns again to England and perceiving the several Treasons against him and being unable to withstand their Fury he soon after died Edmund the eldest Son alive of Etheldred succeeded sirnamed Ironside from his great Strength and Courage He was Crowned at Kingston But the Danes were then so powerful in England that Canutus was accepted King at Southampton many of the Clergy and Laity swearing Allegiance to him but the City of London stood firm for Edmund who fought several Battels against the Danes and routed Canutus four times in the plain Field and would in likelihood have freed the Nation from the Danes had not the ever-false Edrick and other perfidious Persons of the Clergy and Laity prevented it At length to avoid further Bloodshed they made an Agreement to divide the Kingdom betwixt them but Edmund enjoyed the Benefit of this Accord a very short time being soon after murdered as he was easing Nature by Edrick and his Head presented to Canutus who though he loved the Treason yet commanded the Traytor to be beheaded THE GOVERNMENT of the DANES BY the Death of Edmund the Saxon Monarchy came to a Period for Canutus after his Death seised upon the other half of England none being able to withstand whereby the Danes made themselves sole Masters of this Island after it had been in possession of the Saxons about 566 Years The English Nobles owning Canutus for their Lawful King and swearing Fealty to him at his Coronation at London in the Year of Christ 1017. Though Canutus had never the better Opinion of them considering that most of them had sworn Allegiance to Edmund their Natural Sovereign and likewise that they were English Natives He therefore judged them treacherous Persons and used them accordingly for some he banished others he beheaded and many by the just Judgment of Heaven died sudden Deaths Canutus to establish his Government called a Parliament of Bishops Lords and Barons in London wherein many Laws were ordained and among others this following VVe admonish diligently all Christian Men that they do always love God with an inward heart and be diligently obedient to Divine Teachers and do subtilly search Gods Learning and Laws often and daily to the profit of themselves And we warn that all Christian Men do learn to know at leastwise the right Belief and aright to understand the Lords Prayer and the Creed for that with the one every Christian Man should pray unto God and with the other shew forth right Belief He also ordained in another Parliament at Oxford That both English and Danes should observe the Laws made by King Edgar as judging them to be above all others most just and reasonable He married Emma the Widow of King Etheldred and Sister to Richard Duke of Normandy with this Condition That the Issue of her Body by him should inherit the Kingdom of England He went to Rome to complain of the excessive Extortions of the Pope from the English Archbishops upon receiving their Palls And having reigned twenty Years over England he died Notwithstanding the former Agreement yet Harold the Son of Canutus by Elgina his first Wife in the absence of Hardiknute the Son of Queen Emma succeeded his Father and the better to secure himself he by the assistance of the treacherous Earl Godwin who had married Canutus's D●ughter endeavours to get into his Power Edward and Alfred the two Sons of Queen Emma by King Etheldred whom he knew had more Right than himself and to that purpose they counterfeit a Letter in Emma's Name whom Harold had abused and robbed of her Jewels the Contents whereof were to this purpose EMma in Name onely Queen to Edward and Alfred her Sons sends Motherly Gree ings Whilst we severally bewail the Death of our Sovereign my Lord and your Father and your selves Dear Sons are still more and more disposs ssed from the Kingdoms of your Lawful Inheritance I much wonder what you intend to do since you know that Delays in Attempts give the Usurper more leisure to lay his Foundation and more safely to fix thereon his intended Building never ceasing to post from Town to City to make the Lords and Rulers thereof his Friends by Threats Prayers or Rewards But notwithstanding his Policy yet they privately signifie that they had rather have one of you their Native Country-men to reign over them than this Danish Usurper Therefore my Advice is That either of you do with all speed repair to me that we may advise together what is to be done in this so great an Enterprise Fail not therefore but send me word by this Messenger what you intend to do herein And so fare ye well Your Affectionate Mother Emma Messengers being sent to Normandy with this Letter they met onely with Alfred Edward being gone into Hungaria to whom delivering their Message he was very joyful and made

my Glory in the Dust And compass'd me with cruel Wars and Woes They poyson'd my sweet beauteous tainted Rose By the Contrivance of my furious Queen My Children their own Father did oppose Such Fruit hath Lust such Malice jealous Spleen Crosses and Troubles made me curse my Birth In them I liv'd reign'd and was turn'd to Earth PRince Henry was in Normandy besieging a Castle injuriously seised by the French King when the News of the Death of King Stephen arrived whereupon his Friends and Followers earnestly persuaded him to raise the Siege and expedite his Voyage into England to prevent any Usurpation which might be designed To which Henry discreetly and courageously replied The Kingdom of England shall henceforth be at my command in despite of all that dare oppose me and so I will make these intruding Frenchmen understand before I go from hence This Resolution gained him Honour among his Friends and Terrour to his Enemies who understanding his Determination and fearing the worst quietly surrendred the Castle and submitted to Mercy which he graciously granted and then setling his Affairs there attended with many Lords and Gentlemen of Quality he arrived in England where he was soon after Crowned King and then employed himself in setling the Kingdom by making good Laws banishing Strangers who in Multitudes resorted hither and by their sparing Diet and extraordinary Industry enriched themselves and beggar'd the Natives He likewise exiled many of the Nobility who contrary to their Oaths adhered strongly to King Stephen judging them faithless and unuseful to him He caused all the Forts and Castles built by the order or permission of his Predecessor to be demolished as giving occasion of Insurrections upon the least Discontent He resumed into his Hands all Lands belonging to the Crown as also the Counties of Cumberland Northumberland and Huntington which had been given to David King of Scots by Stephen to hinder them from disturbing him in his Usurpation He chose himself a Council out of the gravest and wisest Nobility and restrained the Insolencies of some Grandees which raised Discontents among them and Hugh Lord Mortimer raised Forces at Bridgenorth in Wales against whom the King went in Person where he had been shot with an Arrow had not Hubert de Clare interposed and received it into his own Body In his thirteenth year he married Jeffry his younger Son to Constance the Daughter and Heir Apparent of the Duke of Britain his Son Richard to Adela Daughter of Lewis King of France and his Daughter Maud to Henry Duke of Saxony about which time his Mother Maud the Empress died Having quieted the Rebels at home he went into Normandy where he did Homage to Lewis for his French Provinces Normandy Anjou Aquitain Main and Lorrain some of them his own by Inheritance and others by his Wife Queen Eleanor and then made an Agreement between himself and his Brother Jeffry In his nineteenth year he sailed into Ireland with a mighty Army and fought victoriously against five Kings who at that time reigned there and at last conquered them all and became sole Lord of that Country which he annexed to the Crown of England After his return both out of fondness and for securing the Succession he caused his eldest Son Henry and his Wife Margaret Daughter of the French King to be solemnly Crowned in his presence at two several times in the last of which he for that day degraded himself from being King by waiting as a Servant upon his Son while he sate at Table which young Henry did little regard boasting That his Father did not hereby dishonour himself since he was onely the Son of an Empress whereas himself was Son both of a King and Queen Which proud Speech the unfortunate Father hearing said privately to the Archbishop then present I repent I repent me of nothing more than untimely Advancements In his latter days many Quarrels hapned between him and Lewis of France in all which Henry Jeffry and John his own Sons Robert Earl of Leicester Hugh Earl of Chester most unnaturally joyned with the French against him and likewise William King of Scots notwithstanding which the Courage of King Henry prevailed against them all and upon submission he pardoned his Sons and all the rest Yet were they justly punished by Heaven Henry dying before his Father in the flower of his Age and John after King was poysoned by a Monk The History of this Kings Reign declares him to be Learned Wise Just and Valiant and though he were concerned in many great Affairs and Wars both in France Normandy Anjou Ireland and other Places and never received any extraordinary Tax or Subsidy from his Subjects yet he left to his Successor above Nine hundred thousand Pound in Money besides Jewels rich Housholdstuff and all manner of Warlike Provisions And though in most Transactions he was prosperous and successful yet in three things he was very unhappy First In the unnatural Disobedience and Rebellions of his own Sons Secondly In his inordinate Love to Rosamond his endeared Concubine who was admirably fair but exceeding wanton and thereby wholly alienated his Affections from Eleanor his renowned Queen and enslaved himself to her Will and Pleasure so that while she lived she was seldom from his Right-hand and after her Death which Eleanor procured by Poyson he caused her with great Pomp to be solemnly buried at Godstow near Oxford fixing this Epitaph on her Tomb Hic jacet in Tumba Rosa Mundi non Rosa Munda Non redolet sed olet quae redolere solet Within this Tomb lies the Worlds fairest Rose Though once most sweet she 'll now offend your Nose The third Infelicity of his Reign was the great Dissention between him and Thomas Becket the proud and insolent Archbishop of Canterbury which continued full seven years with all manner of asperity and fierceness For Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury had so great a favour for Thomas Becket a Londoner of mean Parentage that he made him Archdeacon of his own Church and still advancing him at last by the Power he had with the King made him Lord Chancellor of England which so pufft up Becket that he grew extreme haughty yet still shewed great Respect to the King who thereupon constantly encreased his Lands and Revenues which daily heightned him more Theobald dying the King preferred Becket to be Archbishop after which he began to discover his ungrateful Humour For going privately to Rome he was there invested in his Bishoprick by the Pope of whom he received the Pall and was made Legate and then returning into England he was much discountenanced by the King but Becket slighting it on a sudden surrendred his Chancellorship and Great Seal of which the King desiring a Reason he obstinately refused to give any These Quarrels encouraged the debauched part of the Clergy to commit many Insolencies and Villanies for which they received small Punishment though their Crimes were Murder Theft and Robbery for not being

so deeply wounded the Kings Mind that he resolved immediately to make use of the Popes Bulls and thereupon caused them to be solemnly proclaimed in England Wales and Ireland adding That all who did any way support those Laws or the Twelve Peers should be committed to Prison He likewise took an Oath of all above twelve years old in and about London to be true to him and his Heirs But the Lords were not to be frighted declaring That they were resolved rather to die than recede from the Acts of that Honourable Assembly And judging that the King was designing something against them they went into the Marches of Wales where they raised a strong Army and then humbly addressed themselves to the King by Letters protesting their Fidelity to him and beseeching his Majesty That for the Honour of God the Good of his Soul and the Welfare of his People he would renounce and forsake those Counsels which were given him to suppress the Ordinances of Oxford and the Twelve Peers The King was much displeased with these Letters but returned no Answer Whereupon the Barons marched with a strong Army toward London carrying a Banner wherein the Kings Arms were curiously wrought As they passed they destroyed and burnt the Houses and Estates of those that favoured the Popes Bulls as undoubted Enemies to the King and Kingdom and then approaching to London they were joyfully received by the Citizens The King des●●ing to divide the Lords caused it to be published That himself and the greatest part of the Barons were agreed and therefore required that all Arms might be laid aside and Peace restored But the Barons marched to Windsor where finding many Strangers in the Kings Palace they rifled and removed them but at length upon the Kings Motion all Differences were referred to Lewis the French King who upon hearing of both Parties declared That all the new Laws and Ordinances should be made void and the Power of the Twelve-Peers dissolved This Sentence the Lords judged Partiality and therefore fly again to Arms on th Marches destroying all that belonged to Sir Roger Mortimer who counselled the King to withstand them Prince Edward likewise raises an Army and marches against them but is overthrown After this they marched to London in Triumph hut King Henry hearing that Peter and Simon Montfort had raised Forces at Northampton he levied a strong Army and took the Town by Assault making the two Commanders and many others Prisoners The Barons being powerful were herewith nothing discouraged yet still sent Letters to the King with humble Protestations of their Fidelity if the new Laws were observed But Henry his Brother Richard King of the Romans and Prince Edward sent the Barons an absolute Defiance and wi h their Armies they met at Lewes in Sussex where after a bloody Fight the two Kings Prince Edward and several other Persons of Quality were taken Prisoners above 20000 being slain After which both Sides inclined to hea●●en to Peace and at length it was agreed That the King by new Articles and Oaths should confirm the Power of the Twelve Peers and the other new Laws yet that two Spiritual and two Temporal Lords should review them and alter what they thought fit and if they could not agree the Duke of Britain was to be U●pire This being concluded the two Kings eldest Sons were delivered as Hostages to the Barons where they continued above nine Months The King then called another Parliament wherein the Oxford Ordinances were again confirmed and the King again swore to maintain the Authority of the Twelve Peers and those Laws till any thing were found amiss in them and all who had defended them in the late Wars were pardoned by the King whereupon the two Princes were enlarg'd Yet soon after the two great Earls of Glocester and Leicester differed about these Laws and Prince Edward joyning with Glocester a cruel Battel was sought at Evesham in Worcestershire wherein Simon Montford Earl of Leicester and his Son Sir Hugh Spencer were slain and the Power of the Barons was utterly defeated And a Parliament being called no Man durst then contradict the Kings Will so that all the Laws made at Oxford the Authority of the Twelve Peers all Patents Commissions and Instruments whatsoever relating to what was Enacted in that called The Mad Parliament were brought forth and publickly damned cancelled and made void And thus King Henry regained his former Power and Authority to do as he pleased After which he humbled the City of London but upon their Submission received them again into Favour When Pope Innocent the Fourth offered the Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples to Richard King of the Romans aforementioned with many impossible Conditions You might as well said the Kings Agent at Rome say to my Lord and Master I sell or give you the Moon climb up catch and take it Pope Alexander his Successor desired to borrow a great Sum of Money of Richard to whom he replied I will lend no Money to my Superiors whom I cannot oblige to repay me again This Richard is said to be so very rich that he was able to spend 100 Marks a day for ten years together which was a great Sum in that Age. Wicked rather than witty was that of a Dean and High Treasurer of England about this time who it seems had carried himself so well in his Office that when he died he made this wicked Will I bequeath all my Goods and Possessions to my Sovereign Lord the King my Body to the Earth and my Soul to the Devil Prince Edward full of Heat and Courage now resolves to make himself famous and transporting an Army into the Holy Land he there wrought Wonders the Turks not daring to engage in that Quarter wherein he was and raising the Siege of Acon which they had long lain before with above 100000 Men But since Force would not they resolved to dispatch him by Treachery a villainous Saracen wounding him unawares with a venomous Knife though after much Pain and Danger and the extreme Love of his Queen Eleanor who suckt out the Poyson with her Mouth he recovered thereof But in his absence King Henry died when he had reigned above Fifty six years in the Year 1272. EDWARD the FIRST King of England c. MY Glorious Victories and Valour try'd My Mighty Actions And ne'er dying Fame Were all proclaim'd throughout the World so wide By gallant Deeds I won Immortal Fame Rebelliouis Wales I utterly subdu'd And made them Vassals to my Princely Son I Scotland entered with Fire and Blood And almost all that Kingdom over-run Still where I fought triumphantly I won Through Wounds and Death my Glory I obtain'd Yet when I these renowned Deeds bad done A costly Sepulchre was all I gain'd For though Grandees contend for Earthly Sway Death binds them to the Peace and parts the Fray EDward sirnamed Longshanks from the Properness of his Person being informed of his Father's Death by great Journeys arrived

infringe this Agreement that then the Duke of York should have present possession of the Crown the Duke having thus got the Government of the Kings Person and Dominions sent Letters to Scotland in the Kings name to the Queen and several of the Lords with her to appear with all speed before the King but they not only refused his Command but marched boldly toward London with an Army of eighteen thousand English and Scots but at Wakefeild the Duke of York met the Queen and perswaded her to submit which not prevailing another bloudy battel was fought wherein the Duke was worsted himself his younger Son Edward and three thousand of his men being slain and the rest fled The Queen having taken the Earl of Salisbury beheaded him and divers others whose heads she caused to be set upon the walls of York in despight of that party which was fully revenged in a short time upon the King Queen and Prince and a great number more of the Lancastrian faction The Earl of March now Duke of York hearing of this overthrow though his Army were only three thousand men fell upon Jasper Earl of Pembroke the Kings half brother Owen Tudor his Father and their Confederates which he soon routed killing four thousand of them and taking Owen Tudor Father in Law to King Henry and divers others Prisoners who were immediately beheaded But the Queens Army about the same time having encountred the Duke of Norfolk and his forces made them fly and leave K. Henry behind whereat the Queen was extream joyful and insolent but hearing of the success of the young Duke of York she retired into the North raising an Army of 60000 Men she met the Dukes Army of forty nine thousand at a place called Towton where after a cruel fight wherein thirty six thousand Englishmen were slain the Duke obtained an absolute Victory The King Queen and Prince Edward their only Son fled to Scotland and were kindly received by that King delivering to him the Town and Castle of Berwick but the Duke rid Triumphantly to York from whose walls he took the heads of his Father and Friends and set up those of the Earl of Devonshire and others in their stead King Henry hopeless of succour sufficient from Scotland sent his Queen and Son to Reyner her Father and the French King for aid he himself remaining in Scotland patiently expecting the event of his future state And here we may properly end his Reign as being after this only the Tennis-ball of Fortune for though he were sometimes put in hope of having his Kingdom established yet he was inthron'd and dethroned in so short a time that it seemed rather like the acting of a Tragedy than of matters really performed He reigned 38 and lived 49 years EDWARD the FOURTH King of England c. I York's Great Heir by the strange Chance of War Was Crown'd Vncrown'd and then again Inthron'd I wholly crush'd the House of Lancaster Whilst woful England under Misery groan'd Fathers and Mothers Childless made did grieve These bloody Bickerings lasting threescore Years E're they to Peace and Quiet did arrive Wherein were slain above an hundred Peers But Age and Time all Earthly things destroys Through Terrors Horrors Mischief and Debate By Truth by Treason by Hopes Fears and Joy I got I kept I left I lost the State Thus as the Powers Divine do smile or frown Glories or Troubles wait upon a Crown EDward Duke of York having thus overthrown King Henry and his Queen and executed many of his chief Opposers returned triumphantly to London where he was joyfully received and Crowned June 19. 1461. and a Parliament being called Aubrey Vere Earl of Oxford and his Son with some other Counsellors of King Henry being attainted of Treason were beheaded And to strengthen himself King Edward created his eldest Brother George Duke of Clarence and Richard he made Duke of Glocester and several others were advanced to Honour and the Duke of Somerset Sir Ralph Pierce with other inveterate Enemies of King Edward finding no hope of success submitted and received Pardon In the mean time Q. Margaret coming from France with her Son and going into Scotland many Scots joyned with her and marching with her Husband to Berwick Castle raised considerable Forces in Northumberland and Durham Somerset and Piercie treacherously going to her but being encountred by John Nevil Lord Montague they were soon routed and fled onely Sir Ralph Pierce died valiantly fighting and pursuing his Victory he utterly overthrew King Henry's Army the Duke of Somerset with seven other Lords being taken and Beheaded Henry fled back to Scotland Edwards Army went forward and recovered divers Castles and Forts in Northumberland and among others Bamborough commanded by Sir Ralph Grey who had formerly sworn Al●egiance to K. Edward whom they Beheaded after he had been degraded of his Knighthood by hewing off his Spurs tearing in pieces his Coat of Arms and breaking his Sword over his Head In his third year K. Henry travelling toward London in disguise was taken in the North and being brought to King Edward was committed close Prisoner to the Tower And now the King designing to marry sent his most intimate Favourite Richard Nevil the Valiant Earl of Warwick and Brother to the L. Montacute to propose a match with the Lady Bona the French Kings Daughter which was soon agreed to and concluded In which time K. Edward hunting in Wickwood Forrest and coming to the Mannor of Grafton set his Eyes on Elizabeth the Widdow of Sir John Gray who was slain as he fought for King Henry at St. Albans and counting her very warmly to satisfy his pleasures was modestly and constantly denied which inflamed him the more as having seldom met with refusals upon such an account what therefore he could not obtain unlawfully he resolved to gain by Marriage and accordingly without any further delay or advice made her his Wife she having assured him That as she accounted her self too mean to be his Wife so she thought he self too good to be his Harlot King Edwards Mother would fain have dissuaded him from it alledging among many other reasons that her Widdowhood was a sufficient cause why he should not dishonour himself with Bigamy in his first Marriage to which he merrily reply'd She is indeed a Widdow and hath Children and by Gods blessed Lady I am a Batchelor and have some too and each have good proof that neither of us are like to be barren and therefore pray Madam be contented for I hope I shall get a young Prince that shall please you very well and as for the Bigamy or Widdowhood let the Priest charge me with it when I come to take Orders for I have heard it is forbidden to a Priest but never yet thought in was so to a Prince But however pleasing this Marriage was to the King yet it proved very unsatisfactory to his Subjects and unfortunate to himself for the Earl of Warwick having News