King who gives it him that is created Then he returning thanks for his great honor withdraws in the same manner he came in the Trumpers sounding and so he goes to dinner Where after the second service is gone up the Garter with the rest of the Heralds cometh neer the Table where first pronouncing Largesse with a loud voyce he declareth the King's style in Latin French and English and then standing somewhat further off pronounceth Largesse again with the style of him that is newly created In which form was William Cecill created Lord Burghley 15. of Febr. 13. Elizab. Of the Viscount THis word in Latin is Vice-comes which is interpreted from the office of the person who was one cui Dominus hoc est Comes committit vices suas sive gubernationem castri saith Sir John Ferne. The Title is derived from the same Order in France which there were only first substitutes to Earls till getting themselves first in power got also to have the title honorary and hereditary between the Earl and Baron it being the same word which signifieth our Sheriffe and began not with us till about the 18. year of Henry the sixth who then created John Lord Beaumont Viscount Beaumont by Letters patent Though Sir John Fern tells us of it in the time of Henry the first and King Stephen and though the Elder sons of Dukes are styled Earls during their fathers life time so the Eldest sons of Marquesses are styled by their Fathers Vicounties and Baronies and called Lords and the younger sons saluted with Lord yet it is by 〈◊〉 only To this degree is allowed a Surcoat Mantle Hood and a Circulet without either flowers or points as in the discourse of Armory shall be seen and is created with the same ceremony those above him are Of the Count or Earl THe next precedency is an Earl called in Latin Comes and thence is an English word Count which word Comes we have from the example of the Romans amongst whom they used it for the title of sundry offices Coke defines them thus Dicuntur Comites quia à Comitatu five à societate nomen sumpserunt qui etiam dici possunt Consules a Consulendo c. But John of Salisbury who writ in the time of Henry the second says thus Comites dici à 〈◊〉 participatione And the word Earl we had from the Saxons from whence till we borrowed the word Honor we used the word Earl for gentle or noble and Ethel which was sometimes abridged to el so that of Ear-ethel it was Ear-el and by abbreviation Earl which the Dutch called Eorle Amongst the Germans they have the word Grave for it as Palsgrave Landgrave Reingrave c. from the word Gerefa by abbreviation Gereve and Grave as also Reve from whence our Shierreve or Shirriffe as some do abbreviate it Which word in the Teutonick signifies a Disposer or Director Others have That the word with the Saxons was Erlig and Ethling and used for the same office of Ealderman was before and the word Ealderman which now is writ Alderman was transferred to a lower degree who used the word also Thegon or Thaine for Baron as I said before But the word Ealderman and Ethling it seems did only signifie them according to Civill power and the word Heretoga from whence Hertshog for their Military power the former word being no more then Senior or Senator This title of Ealdermen continued for Duces Principes Comites untill Canutus reign when the word Earl was brought in and the other lost as to that Honor. What the Jurisdiction of the Ealderman in those times was and how absolute or large is to me yet uncertain though large it was doubtlesse because of the severall Offices that were under them but as it hath remained since the Conquest we find more reasonable satisfaction Their possessions were sometimes the whole Territories they derived their Title from and sometimes not but some particular 〈◊〉 or place in it We find also that both it and Thane were honorary and feudall Titles Upon the coming in of the Normans this word was turned into Comes or Count since when it hath remained And this word in the Empire was given to Quotquot è Comitatu Principis erant to all that were admitted to society of the Prince So the 〈◊〉 styled them in Warre Commilitones in the Court Comites The dignity is of divers kinds for an Earl acknowledging no Superior is equall to a Prince This Title as it continues since the Conquest is either locall or personall Locall as from the denomination of some County or other Territory and Personall that hath its being in some great Office as Earl-Marshal and the like Those locall are also simplices and Palatine which last retain the same constitution the Saxons time allowed them which is Juraeregalia or merum mixtum Imperium and could make Barons under them as those of Chester Lancaster the Bishopricks of Durham and Ely Hugh Lupus had the County Palatine of Chester given him by the Conquerour Ita liberè ad Gladium 〈◊〉 ipse Rex tenebat Angliam ad Coronam Who governed the County forty years he created eight Barons and built the Abbey of Chester Lancaster was made a Palatinate by Edward the third as says Sir William Segar and had Barons Chancery and Seal and so had the Bishopricks of Durham and Ely The office of those Barons being to sit in Councell and Judgment with the Earl To the County Palatine of Chester 〈◊〉 been Chamberlains who supplied the place of Chancellor Justices before whom the causes that should else belong to the King's Bench and Common Pleas are triable a Baron of the Exchequer a Sheriffe and other offices proportionably to those of the Crown at Westminster which being since reserved in the Crown is given to the Prince of Wales when he is created This County had this honor I conceive out of regard to the great trust was reposed in the first Earl which was to subdue and keep in order the British or Welch after the Conquest Of those that are not Palatine we find their Creation also as ancient as the Conquest William theConqueror made Alan Fergent thenDuke of Brittaign Earl of Richmond by a Patent The Creation Robe of a Marquesse Of the Marquesse THis word Marquesse at the first was used to all Earls and Barons that were Lords Marchers or Lords of Frontires and came afterward into a Title of speciall dignity between that of Duke and Earl beginning in the time of Richard the second who created Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford Marquesse of Dublin Per gladii cincturam circuli aurei suo capiti positionem The form of the Patent was then and many ages since very various but it is now regulated to one method which is the same in a manner with that of Earl only the word Marchio is put in the
place of Comes the ceremony of Creation much at one and the title hereditary the annuity money in their Patent is forty marks And here by the way I cannot but observe one note of Mr. Seldens that John Beaufort Earl of Somerset modestly refused to be made Marquesse of Dorset by Henry the fourth because the title was then so strange and new in the Kingdome The Marquesse is honored with a Coronet of gold flurred the points and flowers of equall height whereas of the Earls the pearled points are much longer then the flowers His Mantle also doubled Ermine as is the Earls also but the Earls is but of four and the Marquesses is of five the doubling of the Viscount is to be understood to be but of Miniver or plain white Fur so is the Barons the Barons of two the Vice-counts of three doublings Of the Duke The Creation Robe of a Duke Where by the way one note is proper to be understood that as he was here created without any Ceremony except the girding with a Sword so in all other degrees of honor where a lesser degree is conferred on a person of a greater there needs nothing but meer Patent without any ceremony of creation But John son to Edward the third being created Duke of Lancaster had a Cap of furre added to the ceremony and succeeding times have had the Sword Crownet and Verge of Gold a Surcoat Mantle and Hood and a Ducal cap doubled Ermin but not indented and is honored with the style of Gratious and Excellent These if they be of Royall line are reputed as Arch-dukes It is also allowed that a Duke tantum shall take place before any Lord that is both Marquesse and Earl but a Duke that is Marquesse or Earl besides shall precede him The Duke Marquesse and Earl at their creation have a sword put over their shoulders which the Vice-count and Baron have not Of the Arch-Duke THis title is of neer relation to the other but not found in any place save in the house of Austria the addition of which word Arch is from the Greek word Archos which is as much as Princeps in Latin So he taketh place of all other Dukes and he is allowed a Surcoat a Mantle and a Hood of Crimson Velvet at his Creation He hath also a Chapeau or Ducal Cap doubled Ermin indented with a Coronet about the same and an arch of Gold with an Orbe and Verge of Gold Of these titles the Duke Marquesse and Earl are esteemed Princely especially the two last These also are allowed to bear their Crests with Helmets the Beaver directly forward whereas a Gentleman Knight and Baron bare them with half the Beaver seen The Creation Robe of the Prince of Wales The Prince THe next and first immediately subordinate to the Crown amongst these radiant Stars is The Prince who in England onely is the Prince of Wales the first-born of the King These in the Saxons time were called Clitons and clitunculi from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Illustrious But since it hath been a title of creation for honor to the rising sun there were none created in the Nation but the King 's eldest son who are in all Nations honored above all other subjects and amongst some as in Spain have been called King 's during the life of their Fathers because of his so neer a relation to the Crown that if the Father dye he is ipso 〈◊〉 Rex there being no interregnum though he be not crowned In a Statute of the second of Henry the fourth it is provided that the Prince may give his honorable Liveries of signes to the Lords or to his meniall Gentry and that the said Lords may wear the same as they wear the Kings Livery and that the Menials of the Prince may wear the same as the King's menials but this hath been since abridged So likewise by a Statute of the 25. of Edward the third chap. 2. it is declared that to compasse or imagine the death of the Kings eldest son and heir is Crimen laesae Majestatis high Treason as also to violate the wife of the King 's eldest son And again see Coke 8. part 28. The Prince shineth with the beams of his Father and is holden to be one person with him Yet doth he acknowledge a reverence not only as to a Father but Soveraign and to that purpose continues that Motto which the Black Prince took up Ick dien I serve He is called Princeps quia principalis in strenuitate post regem saith Sir William Segar The first that we read of in England was Edward eldest son of Henry the third and after him the eldest son of the King hath been ever by Patent and Ceremonies of Instalment created Prince of Wales Earl of Chester and Flint being born Duke of Cornwall The Prince or first born of the King in France is called the Dauphin in Spain l' Infanta There are in other Countries Princes by Creation as the Prince of Piemont the Prince of Orange and many others but these are also now become hereditary and in some Countries all the Royall line are styled Princes When he is created he is presented before the King in Princely Robes who putteth about his neck a Sword bend-wise a Cap and Coronet over his head a Ring on his middle finger a Verge of gold in his hand and his Letters Patents after they are read His Mantle is once more doubled then the Dukes and his Coronet of Crosses and Flowers de Luce and his Cap of State doubled indented The King THe King is the next and in our Nations the highest being subordinate to no sublunary power as those of Spain Portugall and other Kingdoms of Europe and other parts of the world are He is the true Fountain from whence all these Rivulets and swelling Streams of Honor spring He is called Rex from whence the word Rego came and King amongst us from the Saxon word Koning and Kuning To say any thing of the Originall of the Government here were in vain for it is unknown onely I may say that none can produce any thing to assure any Government before it and what I spake in the beginning concerning the first institution of it universally is sufficient Besides these times have said enough to that purpose He hath ever bin of great reverence amongst these Kingdoms of Europe the very Title carrying Divinity in it being of Heavenly institution ordained by God himself the Bond of Peace and the Sword of Justice He is God's Vicegerent and to be obeyed accordingly both in Church and State If good he is a blessing if bad a judgment He is styled Pater Patriae Caput Reipub and for that the protection of his Subjects lies in his breast the Militia is annexed to his Crown and the Sword as well as Scepter put into his hand He hath power of pardoning where the Law
Baron of the Parliament hath place above all Barons and if he be of a higher degree according to the former rule The Spirituall Nobility are thus placed The Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of York Bishop of London Bishop of Durham Bishop of Winchester The two first are placed according to ancient dignity and the three last by act of Parliament and the rest of the Bishops to take their places according to the seniority of Consecration Segar lib. 4. cap. 24. By an Act of Parliament An. 31. Hen. 8. See the Act in Mr. Selden's Titles of Honor. So all men serving near unto the Prince's Person either Civil or Military are allowed a precedency in pari dignitate and themselves according to his seniority of place As to their precedency otherwise Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons are to take their places according to the antiquity of their Title and their Ancestor's creation and their Wives accordingly A Duke's eldest son takes place as a Marquesle but beneath him and his Wife beneath a Marchionesse and if she be the daughter and heir of a Duke she shall go before all Duke's eldest sons wives and however are equall to a Marchionesse but to go beneath them and the younger sons of Dukes are in equall degree with an Earl but to go beneath him and Marquesles eldest sons and their Ladies to take place accordingly So the eldest son of a Marquesse as an Earl and the younger as Viscounts and their Ladies and sisters to take place accordingly as before An Earl's eldest son takes place as a youngest Viscount and the younger as Barons their wives and sisters accordingly Viscounts eldest sons as Barons and their youngest sons to take place with Barons eldest sons above Knights Baronets by an Act of King James and above all Bannerets but those made by the King himself under the Stander and all Knights Batchelers Of Women NOw lest I should be thought malitious to a Sex I owe much honor to before I conclude I shall take some short observations more then already I have And first that although they are not allowed to sit in Parliament yet do they enjoy almost all priviledges due to the other Sex The honorable Feminine Dignities are Princesse Dutchesse Marchionesse Countesse Vicountesse and Baronesse Which are either by Creation by Descent or by Marriage This honor by Creation as it is rare amongst us so it is more rarely taken notice of though many examples have been as Richard the second created Margaret Countesse of Norfolk into the title of Dutchess of Norfolk See the Charter in Mr. Selden Anne Bullen was created Marchionesse of Pembrook by Hen. 8. limited to her and the heirs males of her body to be begotten with creation-mony of twenty five pounds per annum and the ceremony of Mantle and Coronet The Lady Finch was by King James created Vicountesse of Maidston to her and her heirs of her body with speciall clause that her heirs male should have a voice in Parliament and afterward she was likewise made Countesse of Winchester c. Of these Titles thus conferred Sir John Fern takes no notice though else he discourses largely enough By Descent we have continuall examples When any daughter of an Earl or Vicount shall continue a Virgin or marry an Esquire she shall retain that honor that springs from her father's blood take place according and be saluted by the Title of Lady Which word Lady came from Hleafdian or Leafdian by contraction in the Teutonick and so Lafdy and thence Lady as from Laford Lord. The word Laf signifying bread and Dian serve It seems from that they called those persons that for their quality could entertain others and distribute corn and bread to their neighbours by that Title And of old though in the Empire and here the word Dominus was used in generall for salutation amongst men of all sorts yet Domina onely to persons of honor amongst women as the widows of all Tenants in chief and daughters and heirs of all Knights c. The heirs females of any Count or Baron shall enjoy both the Estate divided and Titles too if they be to be divided and they shall be enjoyed by their husbands if they marry in the right of their wives So that if there be two or three or more sisters to share the estate and the honors and dignities inherent be enough they shall enjoy every one one as in the case of the Earldom of Pembrooke in the time of Edward the third and now the Lord Darcy of the North by the same right enjoys the title of the Lord Conyers But this holds not when the title is held by Jus gladii or Knight's service or if the Honor be in any Castle or place onely it cannot be divided but falls and dissolves in the Crown or left to the disposing of the King And again if the estate of honor and dignity be not descending to the heirs generall but entail'd to the heirs male it cannot be the inheritance of a daughter as many times it is But we may understand this the better by that more eminent demonstration of high Offices of the Kingdom which descending by inheritance on the heirs generall have been challenged by the husbands of heirs female in right of their wives the Descent-male failing as in the case of the Duke of Buckingham in the time of Henry the eighth challenging the Office of High-Constableship of England The Office of Lord Steward descended to Blaunch daughter of Hen. Earl of Lancaster in whose right Joh. of Gaunt her husband enjoy'd it So the Office of Earl Marshall descended to the house of Norfolk by an heir female afterward being forfeited by treason was conferred to the Lords Howards of Arundell And in this and all such Descents where there are not dignities enough to allow a partition to all the Sisters but the Honor shall be undividable it shall descend to the eldest or be disposed by the King to which he please And for ennobling by birth these rules are observed That if a Gentleman Knight or Baron do marry a wife of ignoble parents she shall enjoy the title name and dignity of her husband For saith Sir John Fern let the wife be shining and glorious with the dignities of her husband Whereas on the contrary if a Gentlewoman of blood and Coat-Armor shall marry a Francklin Yeoman or the like that is ignoble having no Coat-Armor his condition is no whit advanced by marriage in point of honor Although let him be inferior to her whom she shall marry yet she shall retain the honor state and dignity she was born to But there is this Law for them to walk by too that is Si mulier nobilis nupserit ignobili desinit esse nobilis that is If a Noble-woman marry with an ignoble her nobility is extinguished for she is under the power of her husband and ought not to be in
several by distance of place yet held to be but one entire Society or Confraternity by the name of Brethren The Arms of these two Innes of Judges and Serjeants First Gules two Garbs in Saltyre Or bands Azure The Second Or an Ibis proper which is a bird neer the colour of a Jay Next to the two Serjeants Innes in order are the four Innes of Court that is to say Inner Temple Middle Temple Lyncolns Inne Grayes Innne And first of the two houses or Societies which are called by the name of Temples or the Templars Inne The Middle Temple beareth for distinction Argent on a plain crosse Gules the holy Lamb 〈◊〉 The said two Temples or the Templars Inne are of any other of the Innes of Court the the most renowned and famous for antiquity They were at the prime and in their original but one entire foundationand body But in processe of time became divided at first founded by a religious and devout Order of Souldiers called Templarii that is to say Templars Which Knights within the Kingdome of England purchased to themselves certain Lands in Fleetstreet bordering upon the shore of the River Thames and thereon wit hin a short time built a large Edifice and withall a round Synagogue like unto a Chappel or Temple as it is now standing and was by Heraclius Patriarch of Jerusalem Anno Dom. 1185. dedicated to the service of God In which place these Templars by the space of one hundred years lived in great honor and opulency enjoying large possessions and those situate in the best places of the Realm the like they had in other places the Prelate of which Order was ever a Baron of England Now after the suppression of these Knights Templars their Colledge or Hostel came to the hands of Thomas Plantagenet Earl of Lancaster who being attainted for Disloyalty and Treason the same became invested to the Crown And afterwards the Earls Hugo le Dispencer Earl of Chester obtained the possession of the same house who for the like transgression was justly attained also and then it came to Damare de Valence Earl of Pembrook the Lusignian family in France who lodged therein but for a small season so that in the reign of Edward the third the Sages and worthy professors of the Common Laws of this Realm obtained a long lease of this house for 10. l. per annum A third part whereof called the outward Temple one Doctor Stapleton Bishop of Exeter in the dayes of King Edward the second procured for a residing Mansion to him and his successors Bishops of that See and it was called Exeter Inne And so continued untill the dayes of Queen Mary when the Lord Paget her principal Secretary of State and obtained the said third part called Exeter house to him and his heirs and did re-edifie the same After whom the said house or the third part of the said Templars house came to Thomas late Duke of Norfolk and was by him conveyed to Sir Robert Dudley Knight al. Sutton Earl of Lieoester who bequeathed the same to Sir Robert Dudley Knight his Son and lately came by purchase to Robert Devoreux late Earl of Essex that dyed in the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth and it is called to this day Essex house And not to omit what is written touching the antiquity of the Coat of Arms belonging to this house it is warranted by the same was and yet is to be seen purtraicted in an old Manuscript written many years since concerning the foundation of that Order and which Manuscript now is or of late was in the custody of the Right Honorable Lord William Howard a lover of Nobility and honorable Arms. It is to be understood that before the Order of Knight Templars assumed to themselves the said Coat Armour they now wear that they did embrace as to them appropriate this Ensign A Horse galloping with two Men on his back The which Ensign was usually engraven on their Signet or Common Seal It hath been conjectured that the significancy thereof was that the Originall of this Order began in poverty and want So that when they were to undertake any expedition of Christian service they were enforced for want of ability to ride two of them upon one horse But it is more truly conceited that the same was rather an 〈◊〉 of Love and Charity and was a true Hieroglyphick of an ingenious disposition and of a 〈◊〉 kindnesse used amongst noble and free-hearted Souldiers whereof none were of greater note then this Order Who being professed 〈◊〉 and honorable spirits when they should come to the rescue of a Christian Souldier who might happen to be wounded or sick and comfortlesse in the field they would relieve him and set him behinde one of them upon his own horse and by that means conveigh him to some place of safety where they should likewise take some speedy course for his relief Neither was this work of Chariy only practised by the Christian Knights in those ages but it was used by the very Infidels and Pagans who also usually were exercised in the same works of Charity as may be observed and read out of the famous and renowned Poet Ariosto who relates that Reginaldo and Fernand two Knights Charlemaine did fight together and each of them was mortally wounded and therefore they agreed to adjourne the Combate till another day And that during the space of the Parly Reginaldo's Palfrey strayed away and could not be found whereupon Fer nand proffered Reginaldo a part of his horse to ride upon and willed him to mount up behind him with assurance he would convey him safe to the place he desired which Reginaldo accepted and Fernand performed This History is writ by Ariosto in the Italian language and not unworthy observation to this intent The Knights Templars took their originall about the year of Grace 〈◊〉 and upon this occasion many Noble men who were religiously bent obliged themselves by speciall vows to serve Christ as regular Cannons in Chastity and Obedience and to renounce their own proper will for ever The first of that Order was Hugo Paganus and Godfrido de Sancto Hadomaro Their habit was prescribed by Pope Honorius to be a white habit and after by order from Pope Eugenio these Knights had their first habitation appointed them by Baldwin King of Jerusalem neer unto the holy Temple there they were ever after saluted by the names of Knights Templars This Order in processe of time did grow so universally great that many great 〈◊〉 and Townes of Christendome received their Order of the Knights Templars as well in this our Nation as in other parts where they enjoyed fair revenewes and large possessions for in England this University called the Temple was the feat and habitation of divers Knights of that Order But it hath of late by the Princely donation of King James our late Soveraign been confirmed to the professors of the Common Law under the great Seal of England The Society of
said the Inner Temple hath lately assumed to themselves a Pegasus whereof in particular I spare to relate any more for the same is vulgarly known to all To the Inner House was also appropriated divers learned Legists from time to time which in number continuance and gifts of Nature did exceed every other of the said Innes of Court And therefore was anciently tearmed Inner Temple Boun Pleader Which continueth to this very day and it is withall much esteemed of beautified and graced with a special Garden plot famous for its situation neatnesse and nearnesse of the River The Ensign is Azure a Pegasus Argent Lincolns Inne This House owning a right to the Arms as well as name of the Lacyes Earls of Lincolne have set up over the Gate the Lyon Rampant purpure committing a great mistake in that if Sir John Fern's account of that Familie of the Lacyes be true which hath passed for authentick for he tels us that Or a Lyon Rampant purpure was his right but it was only a quartering and not the paternall Coat for his first and principall bearing was party per Crosse Gules 〈◊〉 a bend Sables over all a file or three Labels Arg. and this was the proper Coat of those Lacyes the other was the Coat of the Lord Nigeld or Neal Baron of Halton This Society of Lincolnes Inne the next for antiquity and ancient Ally to the Middle Tenple is situate in a Street or Lane known formerly by the name of New-street and now Chancery lane being once the Mansion-house of a Gentleman called William de Havershall Treasurer to King Henry the third who for disloyalty to his Soveraign was by the said King attainted of Treason so that thereby his house and lands became annext to the Crown And thereupon the King gave this house to Ralph de Nova villa vulgo Nevill Chancellor of England as appeareth by an ancient Record Who also was Bishop of Chichester and kept his habitation or place of abode in that place This House came afterwards to the hands of Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln by reason whereof it was called Lincolns Inne and keepeth the style to this day This Earl Henry deceased in that house about the year of our Lord 1310. Neverthelesse this house did afterwards continue to the Bishops of Chichester untill the 〈◊〉 of King Henry the eighth and the interest thereof came by conveyance to Justice Gullyard and other Feoffees who during his life and after him his posterity held it untill the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth and then Sir Edw. Gullyard Knight to whom the same did successively descend by Inheritance sold the same with the Inheritance thereof to the Benchers and Society thereof There is no memory of any florishing Estates of the Students and professors of the Common Lawes resident in this Colledge until the reign of King Henry the sixth when it appeareth by the Rolls and remembrances of that house that the same became somewhat to be famous But now of late time this house hath been much enlarged and beautified with ranks of goodly Edifices and also with a fair and goodly Chappel The first of the chiefest buildings thereof was begun at the cost of Sir Thomas Lovell Knight then or before a fellow of that Society who erected that fair Gate-house into Chancery lane of brick and free stone whereupon is engraven the Arms of Lacy Earl of Lincoln together with his own The said Chancery lane is so called for that King Edward the third in the fifteenth year of his reign annexed the house of Covents by Patent to the Office of Chancery now called the Rolls Grays Inne Beareth Sables a Griffin Rampant Or. This house was sometimes the abiding Mansion of the Noble Family of Gray from whence the name of the house is deduced It is situate within the Mannor Poorpoole a Prebendary antiently belonging to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul London In the reign of King Edward the third the Gentlemen Students of that Society as is confidently affirmed took a Grant of this house from the said Baron Gray who lived in those dayes And it is held probable that the Grayes Armes have been anciently by this fellowship maintained and are still taken up and kept as the proper and peculiar Ensigne of that Colledge or house and thus the same is found portraited Barry of six Arg. Azure a bordure quarterly Or and of the second But now of late yeares this honorable Society have assumed for their proper Coat Armor or Ensign of honor A Griffin Or in a field Sables Thavies Inne Beareth Azure two Garbes Or on a bend Gules On a Chief Sable a letter T. Arg. Hereafter ensue the inferior Hostels ordained for Students that professe the practice of the Common Law of this Realm to the end they may the better obtain unto themselves the understanding of the Principles grounds of the same Laws and be thereby the better prepared for to manage the causes of the Subjects in the severall Courts of Justice within the Dominions whether at Westminster or elsewhere and also by their labour and Industry to become graduates and be the better enabled to be entred into the Innes of Court These inferior Courts being Nurseries and are entituled Inns of Chancery And first for this Thavies Inne It is probable that the house by all conjecture is the most ancient of all others of that nature and it doth in that regard challenge the precedency in this rank This house was in the raigne of King Edward the third as is by 〈◊〉 to be found the dwelling and mansion house of one John Thavye Citizen and Armourer of London and was by the then Apprentices of the Law held of him at a certain Rent annual as by a Record yet to be seen in the Husting Courts of London doth appeare and may be verified for antiquity But since that time the House hath been purchased by the Benchers or the Antients of Lincolns Inne which about the raign of King Henry the seventh to the end that there might be entertained in that place a Society of Students practisers and Professors of the Common Laws of this Realm And this house still retaineth the name of the said Thavies who was the first owner of it as is before mentioned Furnivals Inne Beareth Arg. a bend betwixt six Martlets within a bordure Azure This house was sometime the Mansion of Sir William Furnivall in the raign of King Richard the second as by Record appeareth He was afterwards Lord Furnival his heir general married to Sir John Talbot created Earl of Shrewsbury by King Henry the sixth by reason whereof this Mansion house came to the family of the 〈◊〉 Earls of Salop and afterwards of later years in the raign of Queen Elizabeth the same house was by the Benchers or the Ancients of Lincolns Inne purchased for the serting into the same a Society of Students of the Common Lawes from George Lord Talbot Earl of Salop as by sundry
deeds in the possession of the late right honorable Gilbert Earl of Shrewbury doth appear Bernards Inne Beareth party per pale indented Ermin and Sab. a Cheveron Gul. fretty This house was in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Henry the sixth a messuage belonging to one John Mackworth then Dean of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln and in that time in the holding of one Lyonel Bernard who next before the conversion thereof into an Inne of Chancery dwelt there And it hath ever since retained the name of Bernards Inne or Bernards house Staple Inne Port de vert un pacquet de doyne Arg. This House was sometimes belonging to the English Merchants of the Staple as it hath been by ancient Tradition held It is of late adorned with a convenient large Garden-plot to walk in and is at this day rightly esteemed for the most ample and beautifull Inne of Chancery within this Academy Clifford's Inne Reareth Checky Or Azure of fesse Gul. within a bordure of the third charged with a Bezanet This House albeit it followeth in an after rank from the former yet it is worthy to be reputed amongst the formest as being in reputation with the best both for conveniency and quiet situation thereof as for worth and good government It was also sometime the dwelling house of Maccoln de Hersey and came to the King for debts and was after sometimes the house of the Lord Clifford as by Inquisition which was taken that year and remaining on Record doth appeare which hath these words Isabella quae fuit Roberti Clifford 〈◊〉 cum pertinent quod Robertus habuit in parochia Sancti Dunstani West ' in suburb Londini c. tenuit illud demisit post mortem dicti Roberti 〈◊〉 de Bancho pro 〈◊〉 l. per annum c. ut pat per Inquisitionem cap. 18. Edwardi 3. post mortem dict Roberti Clifford This House at this day is the Inheritance of that antient and right honorable family of Cliffords Earls of Cumberland for which there is an annual Rent still rendered to the Earles of Cumberland for the time being Clements Inne Beareth Argent Anchor without a stock in pale proper entertaining a C. for Clement into the body thereof This House sometimes was a messuage belonging to the Parish Church of St. Clement Danes from whence it took its denomination neer to this house is that Fountain which is called Clements Well This Anchor is engraven in stone over the gate of the first entrance into the house and is an Hieroglyphick figuring thereby that Pope Clement as he was Pope was reputed Caput Ecclesiae Romanae for the Roman Priesthood or Anchorage of Christendome figured by the Anchor and by the text C. the Sacerdotal dignity Some hold that the device of the Anchor was rather invented upon this reason of the Martyrdome of Pope Clement as Jacobus de Voragia writeth that he received his Martyrdome being bound to a great Anchor and cast into the Sea by the command of the Emperor Trajane New Inne Beareth Vert a Flower-pot Arg. maintaining Jully flowers Gules This house is so called by reason of its then late or new Creation being in the reign of King Henry the seventh therefore the same is not of late a foundation as some imagine which is that the late dissolution of Strond Inne being by the Duke of Somerset Uncle to King Edward the sixth this house in lieu thereof was instituted for the dispersed Gentlemen Professors and Students of the Common Laws of this Realm It is certain that Sir Thomas Moor Knight Lord Chancellor of England in the reign of King Henry the seventh was a fellow student of this Society and in the reign of King Henry the eighth removed his study into that of Lincolns Inne This house was sometimes called by the name of our Ladies Inne for that the Picture of our Lady was pourtraicted at the doore thereof And in the reign of King Edward the fourth was 〈◊〉 by Sir John Fyncaullxe Knight Chief Justice of England or of the Kings Bench or 6. l. per annum wherein he placed Students and practisers of the Common Lawes who before that time had a house in the 〈◊〉 Bayly called St. Georges Inne the passage thereunto was over against St. Sepulchers Church and by some is reputed to be the first and most ancient of all other Innes of Chancery but the same house at this day is converted into severall Tenements and Garden plots Lyons Inne Beareth Checkie Or and Arg a Lyon Saliant Sab. langued and armed Gules This house received its foundation of modern time and lately before the acquiring thereof it was a dwelling house known by the name of the Black Lyon and in the reign of King Henry the seventh was purchased by divers Gentlemen Students and Professors of the common Lawes The first Treasurer of this Society was one John Bidwell The greatest number of this Society are the natives of the West parts viz Devonshire and Cornwall but for the most part Devonshire Gentlemen Chesters Inne or Strond Inne Beareth Azure within a bordure Gules three garbes Or in a bend of the second In the reign of King Henry the eighth this house for that Sir Bevis St. Marrour Knight Duke of Somerset kept there his Court was an Inne of Chancery called Strond Inne and before that time belonged to the Bishop of Chester after to the Bishop of Worcester and unto the Bishop of Landaffe with the Parochiall Church of St. Maries adjoyning thereunto All which were swallowed up in An Dom. 1549. for to build an ample and spacious Edifice to the use of the said Duke the maternall Uncle to King Edward the sixth The Six Clerkes Office otherwise called Riderminster's Inne Beareth Azure two Cheveronels Or between three Bezants Arg. charged with eight pellets This House though it be not saluted by the name of an Inne of Chancery as the others are which are of like name and nature yet is the same more properly to be called an Inne of Chancery then any of the rest for that the Chancery Officers do there reside namely Attourneys commonly called the Six Clerks of the Chancery and are to this day a society of Gentlemen well learned in the Laws These were at the first Sacerdotall and therefore called Clerks And in those days when the Institution of them was first established they were all of them Church-men This house was acquired and gotten for the society by one John Riderminster Esquire a member thereof who in his time was a very skilfull and well Learned man and both faithfull and just as well to his Client as to his friend It was antiently the Inne or the Mansion of the Abbot of Norton in Lincolnshire and since that time it hath been the dwelling-house of one Andrew Hersfleet and is most proper to be called an Inne of Chancery for the Officers of Chancery only reside there the House is situate in Chancery lane where the causes appertaining to