any greater number In euery of the said Shires where the said Commission of the Peace is established There is also a Clarke of the Peace for the entring and ingrossing of all proceedings before the said Iustices and this Officer is appointed by the Custos Rotulorum Euery of the said Shires hath his Sheriffe which word being of the Saxon English is as much to say as a Sbire Reeue or minister or Bayliffe of the Countie his Function or Office is two fold Ministeriall or Iudiciall As touching his Ministeriall office he is the Minister and executioner of all the proces and precepts of the Courts of Law and thereof ought to make return or certificate And as touching his Iudiciall office he hath authority to hold two seuerall Courts of distinct natures the one called the Tourne because he keepeth a Tourne or Circuit about his shire holding the same in seuerall places wherein he doth inquire of all offences perpetrated against the Common Law and not forbidden by any Statute or Act of Parliament And the Iurisdiction of this Court is deriued from Iustice distributiue and is for criminall offences The other is called the County Court where he doth determine all petty and small causes Ciuill vnder the value of forty shillings arising within the said County and thereof it is called the Countie Court And the iutisdiction of this Court is drawne from Iustice Commutatiue and is held euery moneth The office of the Sheriffe is Annuall and by the Statute of 34. h. 8. it is ordained that the Lord President Councell and Iustices of Wales or three of them at the least where of the President to be one shall yeerely nominate three fit persons for that office of whom the Kings Maiestie may elect and chose one who thereupon shall haue his Patent and be Sheriffe of the said shire Euery of the said Shires hath an Officer called an Escheator which is an officer to attend the Kings reuenue and to seaze into his Maiesties hands all lands either escheated goods or lands for seited and therefore he is called Escheator and he is to enquire by good enquest of the death of the Kings Tenants and to whom their lands are descended and to seaze their bodies and lands for ward if they be within age and is accountable for the same And this Officer in Wales is named by the Lord Treasurer of England by the aduice of the Lord President Councell and Iustices or three of them at the least whereof the Lord President to be one There are also in euery of the said shires two Officers called Coroners they are to enquire by inquest in what manner and by whom euery person dying of a violent death came to his death and to enter the same of Record which is matter criminall and a plea of the Crowne and thereof they are called Coroners or Crowners as one hath written because their enquiries ought to be publique in corona populi These Officers are chosen by the Free-holders of the Shire by vertue of a Writ out of the Chauncery de Coronatore eligendo and of them I need not to speake more because these Officers are elsewhere Forasmuch as euery shire is diuided into hundreds there are also by the said Statute of 34. h. 8. cap. 26. ordained that two sufficient Gentlemen or Yeomen shall be appointed Constables of euery hundred Also there is in euery Shire one Goale or Prison appointed for the restraint of liberty of such persons as for their offences are therunto committed vntill they shall be deliuered by course of law Finally in euery hundred of euery of the said shires the Sheriffes thereof shall nominate sufficient persons to be Bayliffes of that hundred and Vnderministers of the Sheriffe and they are to attend vpon the Iustices in euery of their Courts and Sessions The Gouernment of the Marches of VVales after the Statutes of an 27. 34. H. 8. BY the said Statute of 34. H. 8. ca. 26. it is further ordayned that the President and Councell in the said Dominion and Principality of Wales and the Marches of the same with all Officers Clarks and incidents thereunto should continue and remaine in manner and forme as was then formerly vsed and accustomed And therefore the said Rowland Lee spoken of before being Lord President of the Councell of the Marches of Wales at the time of the making of the said Statute so continued after the making thereof vntill his death being in the foure and thirtieth yeere of the said King Henry the eight After whom succeeded in the office of the said President Richard Samson Bishop first of Chester and after remoued to Couentry and Litchfield who continued Lord President vntill the second yeere of King Edward the sixt at what time Iohn Dâ—dley then Earle of Warwick and after Duke of Northumberland was President of the said Councell who so continued vntill the fourth yeere of the said King And after him succeeded Sir William Herbert Knight of the noble Order of the Garter and after Earle of Pembrooke who continued President vntill the first yeere of Queene Mary Next succeeded Nicholas Heath then Bishop of Worcester and after Archbishop of Yorke and Lord Chancellor of England And vpon the remouing of the said Archbishop the said Sir William Herbert againe succeded as President of the said Councell vntill the sixt yeere of the said Queene Mary at what time followed him Gilbert Browne Bishop of Bath and VVels who so continued vntill the death of the same Queene In the beginning of the reigne of the late Queene Elizabeth Sir Iohn VVilliams Lord VVilliams of Tame of whom the Lord Norris is descended was appointed President of the said Councell and died the same yeere And after him succeeded Sir Henry Sidney Knight of the noble Order of the Garter whose loue to learning fauour to learned men need not here to be spoken he continued Lord President of Wales about foure and twenty yeeres and six moneths he serued in Ireland eight yeeres and six months being there three seuerall times Lord Deputy generall in that Country During some part of the time of the aboade in Ireland of the said Sir Henry Sidney there serued in Ireland as President or Vice-President Iohn Bishop of VVorcester and now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury After this succeeded Henry Earle of Pembrooke sonne in law to the said Sir Henry Sidney and father to the right honorable the Earle of Pembrooke that now is And after him Edward Lord Zouch now present Lord President of that Councell The President and Councell of the Marches of Wales haue power and authority to heare and determine by their wisdomes and discretions such causes and matters as bee or shall bee assigned to them by the Kings Maiesty and in such manner as shall be so prescribed vnto them by instruction signed with his hand The Councell assisting the Lord Prince consisteth of these the chiefe Iustice of Chester together
Edward the Fourth hauing thus gained the Crowne which had beene thus shaken from his head did by his Charter dated the 26. of â—une in the eleuenth yeere of his raigne create Edward of VVestminster his sonne heire apparant Prince of VVales and Earle of Chester And by another like Charter of the same yeere gaue vnto him the Lands and reuenues of the said Principality and Earledome To haue and to hold to him and his heires Kings of England This Edward the Prince being of tender yeeres was borne in the Sanctuary of VVestminster whither the Queene his Mother was fled for her security and during the time that the King her husband had auoided the Realme Afterwards the said King by his letters Patents bearing date the eight day of Iuly in the said eleuenth yeere of his raigne ordained his Queene the then Lord Archbishop of Canterbury George Duke of Clarence Richard Duke of Gloucester brothers to the said king The then Bishops of Bath and VVels and Durham Anthony Earle Riuers the then Abbot of VVestminster Chancellor to the Prince VVilliam Hastings knight Lord Chamberlaine to the king Richard Fynes Lord Dacres Steward of the said Prince Iohn Fogge Iohn Scot knights Thomas Vaughan Chamberlaine to the Prince Iohn Alcocke and Richard Fowler to be of Councell vnto the said Prince giuing vnto them and euery foure of them thereby with the aduice and expresse consent of the Queene large power to aduise and counsaile the said Prince and to order and dispose the Lands reuenues and possessions of the said Prince and the nomination of Officers belonging to the said Prince when they should happen to become void or that the parties were insufficient The said authority thus giuen vnto the said Councellors to continue vntill the said Prince should accomplish the age of fourteene yeeres which was performed by them accordingly in all Leases Dispositions and Grants of the reuenues of the said Prince The said king Edward the Fourth by one other Charter composed in English and bearing date the tenth of Nouember in the thirteenth yeere of his raigne appointed the said Earle Riuers being brother vnto the Queene to be the Gouernour of the person of the said Prince and to haue the education and the institution of him in all vertues worthy his birth and to haue the gouernement and direction of his seruants King Edward the Fourth hauing raigned full two and twenty yeeres in the foure and twentieth yeere of his raigne left this mortall life ended his dayes at VVestminster was enterred at VVindsor Edward the Prince his sonne and heire then being at Ludlow necre the Marches of Wales for the better ordering of the Welsh vnder the gouernment of the said Lord Riuers his vncle on the Mothers side and vpon the death of his father drawing towards London to prepare for his Coronation fell into the hands of his vncle by the father Richard Duke of Glocester and the said Lord Riuers being vpon the way towards London was intercepted and lost his head at Pomfret for what cause I know not other then this that hee was thought to be too great an obstacle betweene a thirsty tyrannous desire and the thing that was so thirstily and tyrannously desired Edward King of England the fist of that name for so he was although he enioyed it not long being thus surprized vnder the power of his naturall vncle and yet his mortall enemy was brought to London with great solemnity and pompe and with the great applause of the people flocking about to behold his person as the manner of the English Nation is to doe whose new ioyes cannot endure to be â—ettred with any bonds His said vncle calling himselfe Lord Protector of the King and his Realme but indeed was the woolfe to whom the Lambe was committed for hauing thus surprized the Kings person hee laboured by all meanes to get into his possession also the yonger brother being Duke of Yorke knowing that they both being sundred the safety of the yonger would be a meanes to preserue the elder and therefore by all sinister perswasions and faire pretences hauing obtained the yonger Duke from his mother the King and the Duke both for a time remained in the Tower of London and there shortly after both in one bed were in the night smothered to death and buried in an obscure and secret place vnknowne how and where vntill one of the executioners thereof after many yeeres being condemned to die for other his manifold crimes confessed also his guilty fact in this pitifully tragedy and the circumstance thereof of which by reason of the secrecy and incertainty diuers had before that diuersly coniectured And by this meanes all the prouision for the coronation of innocent Edward serued the turne to set the Crowne vpon the head of tyrannous Richard Out of which by the way I cannot but obserue how hatefull a bloody hand is to almighty God the King of Kings who reuenged the bloodshed of those ciuill broiles whereof Edward the father had beene the occasion and the breach of his oath vpon those his two innocent infants This tyrant and staine of the English Story Richard Duke of Glocester vsurped the Kingdome by the name of Richard the third and became King yet as our records of Law witnesse de facto sed non de iure And in the first yeere of his reigne created Edward his sonne being a child of ten yeeres of age Prince of Wales Lieutenant of the Realme of Ireland But for that the prosperity of the wicked is but as the florishing of a greene tree which whiles a man passes by is blasted dead at the roots and his place knoweth it no more So shortly afterwards God raised vp Henry Earle of Richmond the next heire of the house of Lancaster to exteute iustice vpon that vnnaturall and bloody vsurper and to cast him that had beene the rod of Gods iudgements vpon others into the fire also For in the third yeere of the reigne of the said Richard at the battell of Bosworth whereinto the said Richard entred in the morning crowned in all Kingly pompe he was slaine and his naked carkasse with as much despight as could be deuised was carried out thereof at night and the said Henry Earle of Richmond the Solomon of England father to Margaret your Maiesties great Grandmother reigned in his stead by the name of King Henry the seuenth This King Henry the seuenth tooke to wife Elizabeth the eldest daughter and after the death of her brothers the relict heire of King Edward the fourth by which mariage all occasions of further contention-betweene those noble families of Yorke and Lancaster were taken away and vtterly quenched and the red rose conioyned with the white The said King Henry the seuenth by his letters patents dated the first day of December in the fift yeere of his reigne created Arthur his eldest sonne and heire apparant being then about the age of three yeeres Prince of Wales
Councell established in the Marches of VVales it is conceiued by the best and most probable opinions amongst Antiquaries that the same began in or about the seauenteenth yeere of king Edward the Fourth when as Prince Edward his sonne was sent vnto the Marches of VVales vnder the tuition of the Lord Riâ—ers his Vncle by the Mothers side as aâ—ore hath appeared and at what time also â—ohn Bishop of VVorcester was appointed Lord President of VVales Prince Arthure the sonne of King Henry the Seauenth in the seauenteenth yeere of the raigne of the said King went into VVales at what time Doctor VVilliam Smith was then President of the Councell of the Marches of VVales who was after Bishop of Lincolne and founder of the Colledge of Brâ—sen nose in the Vniuersity of Oxford This man was also President in the time of king Henry the eight vntill the fourth yeere of the raigne of the same king at what time â—effry Blyth Bishop of Couentry and Lichfield succeeded in the office of President of the said Councell The Lady Mary eldest Daughter of king Henry the Eight and afterwards Queene did carry the title of Princes of VVales for a while although the parent of her creation bee not now to be found vnder whom â—ohn Voysey Doctor of the lawes and afterwards Bishop of Exceter was President of that Councell There succeeded him in the office of President of the Councell of the Marches of Wales Rowland Lee Bishop of Couentry and Lichfield And this was the state and gouernement of the Principality and Marches of Wales in the seauen and twentieth yeere of king Henry the Eight The said king by a Statute made in the seauen and twentieth yeere of his raigne vnited and annexed the Principality and Dominion of Wales vnto the Realme of England altering in many parts the former iurisdiction and gouernement thereof bringing the same to the like administration of Iustice as was and yet is vsuall in England appointing that the lawes of England should take place there and that all Welsh Lawes sinister Customes and Tenures not agreeable to the Lawes of England should be thenceforth for euer abrogated and abolished Of which vnion and annexation first for that there of hath ensued great peace tranquility ciuility and infinite good to the Inhabitants of that Country of Wales Secondly because in some respect it may serue as a proiect and president of some other vnion and annexation by your Maiesty of as much or of more consequence and importance And thirdly because the same vnion doth containe an expresse image of the politique gouernement of the Realme of England I haue presumed with conuenient breuity vpon this good occasion here in this place to expresse the same Therefore whereas in former time there had beene in Wales anciently eight seuerall Shires or Counties besides the County of Munmouth which was the ninth and that some other Territories in Wales were then no shire grounds by reason where of the lawes of England could haue no currant passage therein For all the ordinary Ministers and executioners of the processe of the Lawes of England or which haue Vicountiell iurisdiction are the Officers of particular Shires as the Sheriffes the Coroners the Escheators and such like Therefore by the said Act of Parliament there are erected in Wales foure other new ordayned Shires of the Lands not formerly so diuided namely the seuerall Shires of Radnor Brecknock Montgomery and Denbyh and those also together with the former ancient shires are by that Act of Parliament and by the Statute of 38. h. 8. subdiuided into Cantreds and all the Marche grounds being then neither any part of Wales although formerly conquered out of Wales neither any part of the Shires of England The said king by his said Act of Parliament did annexe and vnite partly vnto the said Shires of England and partly vnto the Shires of VVales next adioyning as was thought then by reason of vicinity of place and other correspondency most conuenient as by the said Acts of Parliament appeareth which the said king was the rather occasioned to doe for most of the said Baronies Marchers were then in his owne hands And for that also diuers murthers rapes robberies and enormities had beene there committed and by reason of the flight of the offenders from one Barony as is vsuall vpon the borders they had escaped due and condigne punishment for their such enormities and odious offences He ordained also that the Countie of Mounmouth formerly being a Shire of Wales should be gouerned from thenceforth in like manner and by the same Iudges as other the Shires of England And for the other twelue Shires he ordained a speciall Iurisdiction and Officers but yet in substance agreable and after the manner of the English Lawes although for the circumstance of time and place and persons in some few things discordant He ordained that out of euery of the said Shires of Wales there should be one Knight and out of euery of the shire Townes of Wales named in the said Act of Parliament there should be one Burgesse elected after the English manner which Knights and Burgesses so selected and duly vpon summons of euery Parliament in England returned should haue place and voice in the Parliament of England as other the Knights and Burgesses of England vsed to haue And for the administration of iustice in the said twelue Shires of Wales there was by the Act of Parliament of 34. H. 8. ordained soure seuerall Circuits Precyncts or Conuentus Iuridicus allotting to euery of them three of those Shires so that the chiefe Iustice of Chester hath vnder his iurisdiction the three seuerall Shires of Denbigh Flint and Montgomery his fee is yeerely 100. l. The Shires of Carnarnon Merioneth and Anglesey are vnder the Iustice of North-Wales whose fee is 50. l. The Counties of Carmardin Pembrooke and Cardigan haue also their Iustice whose yeerely fee is 50. l. The Counties of Radnor Brecknocke and Glamorgan haue also their Iustice whose fee is yeerely 50. l. After by an Act of Parliament made 18. Eliz. cap. 8. one other Iustice assistant was ordained to the former Iustices so that now euery of the said foure Circuits haue two Iustices viz. one chiefe Iustice and a second Iustice assistant Their Jurisdiction THese Iustices in euery of their Circuits haue almost the same iurisdiction that the ancient Iustices in Eyre or Iustices Itinerant had First they had power to heare and determine all criminall causes which are called in the lawes of England The pleas of the Crowne and herein they haue the same absolute iurisdiction that the Iustices haue of your Maiesties Bench commonly called the Kings Bench. They haue also iurisdiction to heare and determine all ciuill Causes which are called in the Lawes of England Common pleas and to take the acknowledgement of all Fines leuied of lands or hereditaments without suing any dedimus potestatem and
l. 13. s. 4. d. The fee of the Steward and keeper of the Courts of the Mannors in the County of Cornewall which sometimes were the Marquesse of Exceter and now parcell of the lands annexed vnto the said Dutchy 46. s. 8. d. The fee of the Bailiffe Itinerant of the said Dutchie of Cornewall 3. l. 10. d. The fee of the Woodward of the said Dutchie of Cornewall yeerely 5. l. The summe totall of the fees of the Officers of the said Dutchie of Cornewall 138. l. 3. s. 4. d. Money paid vnto the Captaine of the Castle of Saint Mawes 118. l. 12. s. 6. d. Money paid to the Captaine of the Castle of Pendynas both which Castles are for the defence of the Hauen of Falmouth 118. l. 12. s. 6. d. Summe totall 237. l. 5. s. Paid yeerely to the Bishop of Exceter for the tenth of the coynage of Tynne in Deuon and Cornewall 16. l. 13. s. 4. d. Paid yeerely vnto the Barons of the Exchequer forth examination of the accounts belonging to the said Dutchie 5. l. The summe totall of all the charges and reprizes taken out thereof amounted vnto 615. l. 9. s. 6. d. Which being deducted out of the generall summe of the reuenues of the said Dutchie being by estimation 4569. l. 12. s. 2. d. q. there may remaine of cleere reuenue the summe of 3954. l. 2s 8 d. q. which cannot be cast into a certaine yeerely value by reason of the casuall profits and casuall expences which may happen yeerely And thus much of the Dutchie of Cornewall THE EARLEDOME OF CHESTER The third reuenue is the Earledome of Chester whereunto is annexed the Countie of Flint belonging to the Prince as Earle of Chester THe Earledome of Chester is the third reuenue before spoken of this Earledome bordering vpon North-Wales for the better defence of that Country and that the Inhabitants should not be thence withdrawne in sutes of law was made Palatyne and conferred by the Conquerour vpon his kinsman Hugh sirnamed Loupe or Lupus sonne to the Earle of Awrenches in Normandy to whom hee gaue this Earledome To haue and to hold to him and his heires as the words of the first donation import It a libere adgladium sicut ipse Rex tenebat Angliam Coronam This Earledome for the more honour thereof and for the better accomplishment of the Palatyne iurisdiction therin hath certaine substitute Baronyes vnder it who doe acknowledge the Earle Palatyne to be their superiour Lord as 1 The Baron of Halton 2 The Baron of Mountalt 3 The Baron of Maâ—banâ—k 4 The Baron of Shibrooke 5 The Baron of Malpas 6 The Baron of Mascey 7 The Baron of Kinderton 8 The Baron of Stockport This Earledome from the said Hugh Lupus discended in his bloud and kâ—ndred by sundry descents vnto Iohn sirnamed Scot Earle of Chester Anguise Galway and Huntingdon who in the time of King Henry the Third dying without issue the said King Henry the Third seized the same into his hands giuing the Aunts and next coheires of the said Iohn other Lands by exchange which thing the said King was induced to doe as the Record saith netanta haereditas inter colos diduceretur not willing that so great a patrimony should beâ— parted amongst disttaffs Afterward King Edward the first was by his father the said King Henry the third created Earle of Chester But the same Earldome being afterwards conferred vpon Simon de Monford by his attainder it came the Crowne After that Edward the third in the life-time of his father and before he tooke vpon him the Kingdome had the said Earledome but afterwards hee being King gaue the same to his eldest sonne Edward surnamed the Black Prince by his Charter bearing date at Pomfret the eighteenth day of March in the seuenth yeere of his reigne and inrolled of record in the Exchequer anno 33. of the same King By which Charter the said King did grant vnto the said Earle of Chester the Castles of Chester Beston Rothlan and Flint and all his lands there And also the cantred and lands of Englefield together with the Knights fees aduousons liberties franchises forrests chaces parks woods warrens and other the appurtenances thereunto belonging to haue and to hold to him and to his heires Kings of England And the same King by another Charter bearing date the ninteenth of March in the seuenth yeere of his reigne granted vnto the said Earle of Chester all his goods chattels stock of cattell then being in or vpon the said lands of the said Earldome formerly granted Moreouer all the Kings of England succeeding when they created their sonnes and heires apparant Princes of Wales did also create them Earles of Chester to haue and to hold the same vnto him so created and his heires Kings of England in such manner as the Principality of Wales was giuen vnto him And did by their seuerall Charters giue vnto the said Earle the said Earledome and lands as namely the said Castles of Chester Beston Rothlan and Flint and the Castle also of Hope and the Mannors of Hope and Hopedall and of Foreshaâ— and the said Cantred and lands of Englefield and other their lands in the said Counties of Chester Flint and elsewhere belonging vnto the said Earledome And the Aduouson of the Cathedrall Church of Saint Asaph in Wales and the auoydance issues and profits of the temporalities of the Bishopricks of Chester and Saint Asaph aforesaid together with all aduousons pentions portions corrodies offices prizes customes liberties franchises lordships comots hundreds escheats forfeitures and hereditaments vnto the said Earldome belonging And to the intent that it may the better appeare both what the ancient reuenewes were of the said Earledome and also what it is at this present I shall according to the order before pursued set downe the ancient reuenew thereof as it was in the latter time of King Edward the third and also how it now standeth in charge to your Maiestie The ancient reuenews of the Earldome of Chester as it was taken vpon the suruey thereof made in the fiftieth of Edward the third The County of Chester The fee farme of the City of Chester 100. l. For other profits out of the said Citie 4 l The farme of the towne of Medwick 64. l The Farme of the Milles vpon the Riuer of Dee 240 l The Manner of Dracklow in yeerly rent 49. l. 22. d. The farme of the Mannor of Dummarsh 15. l The Forrest of Mara the issues and profits thereof 51. l. 7. s. The rents and profits of Norwich are 66 l The Mannor of Shotwick the rents are 30. l. 14. s. 1. d. The Mannor of Eordsham in yeerly rent 56. l. 13. s. 4. d. The profits of the office of the Sheriffe of the said County 124. l. 7. s. 4. d. The perquisits of Courts holden by the Iustice of Chester 180. l. The profits of the office of the Escheator 100 l The summe totall of the reuenew of the said Earldome
THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT and moderne Estate of The Principality of Wales Dutchy of Cornewall and Earldome of Chester Collected out of the Records of the Tower of LONDON and diuers ancient Authors By Sir IOHN DODRIDGE Knight late one of his Maiesties ludges in the Kings Bench. And by himselfe Dedicated to King IAMES of euer blessed memory LONDON ¶ Printed by Tho. Harper for Godfrey Emâ—ndson and Thomas Alchorne M. DC XXX TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY JAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD King of England Scotland France and Ireland defender of the faith c. My most dread Soueraigne and Liegelord AMong temporall blessings giuen from God and powred vpon men this is not the least for a man to behold the fruit of his owne body surculum exradice an impe or graffe the Oliue branches about his table the hope of his posterity the image of himselfe and the staffe of his old age The consideration of the want whereof caused that good Patriake out of the bitternesse of his soule to cry and make his complaint vnto his God in these words Behold I goe childlesse and the Steward of my house is Eleazer of Damascus loe to me thou hast giuen no seed wherefore a servant of mine house must bee mine heire But to be furnished with masculine issue and to haue his first borne of that sex to whom the Birthright is due as to the sanctfiied of God and the preseruer of his name and patrimony is a double blessing vnto all men much more vnto Kings the Lords anointed whereby his horne is established his subiects in the middest of the day present do behold the Sunne that shall arise vpon them the day suceeding and haue their hearts setled to say vnto their Soueraine wee and our seed will serue thee and thy seed for euer This made the Propheticall King in the day of his departure to blesse God and say Blessed be the Lord my God who hath caused mine eyes to see this day that one of mine own loynes shall fit vpon my Throne But contrariwise was Achah accursed of whom God said he would not leaue him one mingentem ad parietem threatning as it were by that circumlocution to root out all issue male of Achab that might succeed him And hence it is that all Potentates of the world haue highly respected and aduanced in the eyes of their subiects their heire apparant and giuen and conferred vpon him very high and eminent titles of honor Of the Romans he was called Caesar and Princeps juventutis as the principall of all their hopes in their posterity Of the French he is honored by the name of the Dolphin of that part of the Country being his patrimony And in like manner in this our Country of England the Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall and Earle of Chester He is next his father the chiefe in the Realme and by course of the ciuill Law is to sit at his right hand in all solemne assemblies of state and honor So that not without reason did King Edward the third King of England place Richard his grandchild and next heire apparant in his solemne feast at Christmas at his table next vnto himselfe aboue all his Vncles being the sonnes of that King and men manifoldly renowned for their prowes and virtue And yet hath not the Prince any Kingly prerogatiues allowed vnto him by the Lawes of this Realme in the life of his progenitors other then such as are due vnto other Noble men that hee might acknowledge himselfe to bee but a subiect and whereof he is put in remembrance euen by the Poesy that he vseth in the old English or Saxon tongues in this forme conceiued Ie dien I am a seruant The due consideration whereof hath caused me by the encouragement of an honorable learned and worthy Councellor my Lord of Buckhurst your Maiesties Lord high Treasurer of England and my very good Lord and being eased therein by the carefull paines and industry of a Gentleman Mr. Richard Connock his seruant in some conuenient method after my rude and vnlearned manner to set downe what the ancient and true estate of his excellency the Lord Prince hath beene what it now is and how impaired and to what estate and dignity by your Maiesties high and Princely wisdome it may againe be reduced Beseeching your highnesse of your accustomed clemency to pardon this my bold attempt and to accept my poore trauels therein with that gratious aspect as you do the manifold gratulations of other your Maiesties louing subiects Your Maiesties loyall and obedient subiect I. D. ABSTRACTS AND ADVERTISEMENTS concerning the Contents of this HISTORIE THe originall and antient estate of Wales before and vntill the Conquest thereof by King Edward the First in the eleuenth yeere of his Raigne Edward of Carnaruon so called because he was born at Carnaruon Castle in VVales and sonne to King Edward the First constituted Prince of VVales and the policy vsed therein by King Edward the First The creation of Edward sirnamed the blacke Prince to be Prince of VVales and the antient manner of the inuesture of the Princes of VVales The strange limitation of the estate of the Lands of the said Principality and the reasons thereof and the difference betweene the Principality of VVales and the Dutchy of Cornewall for the eldest sonne and heire apparant of the King of England is Duke of Cornewall as soone as be is borne or as soone as his father is King of England But he is created Prince of VVales by a speciall creation inuesture and donation of the lands thereunto belonging and not by birth The yeerely value of the reuenues of the Principality of VVales as the same were in the bands of the Prince commonly called the blacke Prince Richard sirnamed of Burdeaux sonne of the said blacke Prince was after the death of his father created Prince of VVales at Hauering at the Bower in the Countie of Essex by E 3. his Grandfather Henry of Munmouth sonne to King Henry the Fourth created Prince of VVales he was afterwards King by the name of King Henry the Fift Edward the sonne of King Henry the Sixt created Prince of VVales and Earle of Chester and for that hee was then very yong there was ordained by an Act of Parliament what allowance should bee made vnto the said Prince for his Wardrobe seruants wages and other necessary expences vntill the said Prince should be of fourteene yeers of age There was also a Counsaile of diuers honourable personages as Bishops Earles and others for the gouernement and direction of the reuenues of the said Prince which dispose the same accordingly with the assent and aduice of the Queene who was also especially appointed in that behalfe Edward the sonne and heire apparant of King Edward the Fourth created Prince of VVales and a Councell of honourable personages allowed to him also for the gouernement of his reuenues and the Lord Riuers Vncle by the mothers side of the
Prince was appointed Gouernour of the Person of the said Prince The creation of Arthure sonne and heire apparant to King Henry the Seuenth to bee Prince of VVales the Copie of the Charter of that creation obserued for the forme and manner of penning thereof and the names of the Councellors that were assigned vnto him After the death of Prince Arthure Henry his brother who was afterwards King Henry the Eight was created Prince of Wales after whose time there are no Charters found of the creation of any Prince of Wales although King Edward the Sixt in the life of his Father and Queene Mary carried the name of Prince generall and the reason why this discourse hitherunto is drawne after an historicall manner After the said historicall discourse Three things are further considered of viz. First in what manner and order the said Principalitie and Marches of Wales were gouerned and directed vnder the Princes of Wales as well before as after the English Conquests thereof wherein by the way are noted the Courts of Iustice of the said principality of Wales the originall of the Baronyes Marchers and when the first Councell was established in the Marches of Wales vnto England and in what manner the same was done and the commodities ensuing thereof which vnion or annexation may serue in some respect as a president in other cases of like consequence The second principall thing proposed is the consideration of the antient and moderne Officers of the said principality seruing the Lord Prince and none others and what fees and sallaries were allowed vnto them The third principall matter is the present reuenues of the principality of Wales as the same was in charge before the Auditors this last yeere past viz. the fortie foure yeere of the late Queene Elizabeth The Dukedome of Cornewall The Dukedome of Cornewall was the first erected Dutchie in England after the Norman conquest and made to be a Dutchie in the eleuenth yeere of King Edward the Third and giuen to his eldest sonne commonly called the blacke Prince who was the first Duke in Cornewall after the Conquest to him and to his first begotten sonnes and heires apparant of the Kings of England and the difference that is betweene the Principalitie of Wales and the said Dutchie At what age of the Duke of Cornewall Liuery may bee made vnto him of the said Dutchy Moreouer touching the said Dutchie of Cornewall three things are considered First what reuenues were bestowed vpon the said Dutchy for the erection thereof both annuall and casuall and the particulars thereof the seuerall natures and differences of them in the construction of the Law together with the Stanneryes and coynage of Tynne and the lawes vsages and customes of the said Stanueryes concerning the managing of Tynne The diuers kindes of Tynners and Tynne and the coynage of Tynne is and for what cause due and payable and the priuiledges that the King and Duke of Cornewall haue in their preemption of Tynne The reuenues of the Dutchie of Cornewall as it is rated by suruey taken in the fifth yeere of King Edward the Third The reuenues of the said Dutchie of Cornewall as it was in the fifteenth yeere of King Henry the Eight The reuenues of the said Dutchie as it was in account vnto the late Queene Elizabeth in the 44. yeere of her raigne which is the last account and the cleere yeerely value thereof as it may be drawne to an estimation annuall appeareth The Countie Palatine of Chester and Flint The third principall reuenue belonging to the Prince as Earle of Chester which Earledome is a Countie Palatine Edward sirnamed the blacke Prince created Earle of Chester by King Edward the Third his Father in the seauenth yeere of the said King Edward the Thirds raigne The totall reuenue of the said Countie Palatine of Chester and Flint as it was in the 44. yeere of the late Queene Elizabeth The antient reuenues of the said Earledome of Chester and Flint as the same were in the fifth yeere of King Edward the Third The reasons why in this History diuers an tiquities not vulgarly knowne are discouered concerning the Principality of VVales Dutchy of Cornewall and Earledome of Chester Inconueniens erit omissis initijs atque origine non repetita atqueillotis vt ita dixerim manibus protinus materiam tractare Ex lege prima DigestoruÌ„ Iuris Ciuilis titulo de origine Iuris THE ANCIENT REVENEWES OF the Lord PRINCE consist of these three kindes The Principality of Wales Dutchie of Cornewall And Earldome of Chester And therefore of euery of these in order as followeth The Principality of Wales THat part of this Island which is called Wales is thought by some learned to be the same which the Romanes hauing reduced this Island vnder their gouernment called Britannia Secunda of some others it is supposed to bee the same that was called by the Romanes Valentia but howsoeuer the truth thereof be it was anciently called by the Brittaines Cambria who diuided the whole Island of Albion into these three parts Loegria Albania and Cambria The Saxons conquering this Island called the said Territorie into the mountaines whereof the remnant of the Britaines that remayned were fled and not to be ouercome by them Wallia and the people Welshmen that is to say vnto them strangers And the other part those Britaines or Welshmen doe yet in their language call the English Saissons or Saxons It was also anciently diuided into three Prouinces or Principalities the first and principall called by them Guyneth or as they haue written in Latine Venedotia viz that which is called North-Wales The second they haue called in Latine Demetia and is that we call South-Wales And the third Powisia or Powisland and euery of these Prouinces were againe subdiuided into Cantreds and euery Cantred into Comots The Records do diuide the same into three parts also Westwales Northwales Southwales The whole Countrey is now allotted into Shires which are thirteen in number and namely these 1 Radnor shire 2 Brecknock shire 3 Munmouth shire 4 Glamorganshire 5 Carmarthenshire 6 Pembrookeshire 7 Cardiganshire 8 Montgomeryshire 9 Merionethshire 10 Caâ—rnaruoushire 11 Denbighshire 12 Flintshire 13 Anglesyshire This Parcell of the said Island called Wales thus possessed by the remnant of those Britaines was no parcell of the dominion of the Realme of England but distinguished from the same as the bookes of the Lawes of this Realme doe testifie and as it were a Realme of it selfe not gouerned by the Lawes of England and was by some of the Saxon Kings diuided from England by a ditch called of the name of the King which caused the same King Offa his Ditch Yet neuertheless was the same Dominion of Wales euer holden in Chiefe and in Fee of the Crowne of England And the Prince thereof being then of their owne Nation compellable vpon Summons to come and appeare in the Parliaments of England and vpon their
lesse yeerly and not of one certaine value the Commissioners obserued this course they did make choice of three seuerall yeeres viz. 47. and 48. and 49 of E. 3. and did take out of the seuerall profits of those yeeres and did cast them all into one summe which they againe diuided into three equall parts esteeming only of the said three parts to be the iust yeerly value of the said reuenewes communibus anâ—iâ— that is one yeere with another And in this accompt we finde no other charges or reprizes allowed then the Iustices fees only This survey and accompt made aboue 200. yeeres past is here inserted to the end it might appeare what the reuenew of this Principallity alone was besides the Dutchy of Cornwall and Earledome of Chester neere the first certaine erection thereof in the hands of that worthy Prince commonly called the Black Prince The said Prince of Wales surnamed the Black Prince being also Duke of Aquitane Guies and Cornwall and Earle of Chester after many fortunate victories atchieued by him hauing subdued a great part of France and hauing taken Iohn the French King prisoner at Poyteers in France and after that also hauing vanquished Henry at Naue-roit in Spaine and restored Peter King of Arragon he died in Iune being then about the age of forty six yeeres and in the fiftieth yeere of the reigne of his father King Edward the Third leauing behinde him Richard his sonne and heire borne at Burdeaux and thereof surnamed Richard of Burdeaux This Richard surnamed of Burdeaux sonne and heire of the said Edward the Black Prince after the death of his father was created by his grandfather King Edward the Third to bee Prince of Wales at Havoring at the Bower in the County of Essex the twentieth day of Nouember in the fiftieth yeere of the reigne of the said King Edward the third the said Richard then being about the age of eleuen yeeres and vpon Christmas day then next following the said King Edward the third caused the said Prince being his Nephew to sit at his table in high estate aboue all his vncles being the Kings sonnes as representing the personage of the heire apparant to the Crowne and gaue to him the two parts of all the said Principalitie Counties Lordships Castles and the most of the said Lands which belonging to the said Blacke Prince and the reuersion of the third part thereof the possession of the third part thereof then being to the mother of the said Prince Richard for her dowry with a hundred thirteene pound sixe shillings eight pence yeerely rent payable by the Earle of March as a fee farme for the Lordship and Lands of Beult and eighty fiue markes for the fee Farme of the Castle Lordship and Land of Montgomery with the vacations of Bishoprickes excepting the fees of the Baron Marches of VVales which doe alwaies hold of the Crowne in Capite and excepting the auoydance of the Bishopricke of S. Dauids in VVales which anciently also belonged to the Crowne with the like limitation of estate viz. To the said Prince Richard his heires Kings of England It seemeth that these Lordships of Beult and Montgomery being formerly granted to Edward the blacke Prince were before this time giuen away in fee farme rendring the rents here spoken of After the death of the said King Edward the Third which was in the 51. yeere of his raigne the kingdome of England descended vnto the said Richard being his grandchilde and he was Crowned King thereof by the name of King Richard the Second and in the three and twentieth yeere of his raigne he resigned his kingdome or rather more truely was deposed against his will and after by a violent death departed this life without issue Henry of Bullinbrooke Duke of Lancaster and Hereford Earle of Darby Leicester and Lincolne sonne and heire to Iohn of Gaunt fourth sonne to King Edward the Third raigning in his stead Henry of Bullingbrooke by the name of King Henry the Fourth by his Charter dated at Westminster the fifteenth day of October in the first yeere of his raigne created Henry his eldest sonne surnamed of Munmouth Prince of Wales and inuested him with the said Princely ornaments viz. the Chaplet Gold-Ring and Rod or Verge of gold To haue and to hold vnto him and his heires Kings of England And by one other Charter of the same date gaue vnto him and to his heires Kings of England the said Principalitie with the Lordships Castles and Lands before mentioned in the Chartermade to the Blacke Prince together with foure Comots in the Countie of Carnaruon viz. the Comots of Isaph Vghaph Nanconeway and Grewthyn not named before and the reuersion of the Lordship of Hauerford with the prices of Wines there and of the Lordships Newyn and Pughby in North-wales which Thomas Percy Earle of Worcester then held for tearme of his life of the demise of King Richard the Second together also with the reuersion of the County and Lordship of Anglesey in North-Wales and the Castle of Bewmarris and the Comots Lands Tenements and Hereditaments belonging thereunto which Henry Percy sonne of the Earle of Northumberland then held for terme of his life of the demise of the said King Henry the Fourth and by an Act of Parliament made in the first yeere of King Henry the Fourth whereby the Dutchie of Lancaster is seuered from the Crowne of England The Stile of the said Prince is declared to be this Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitane of Lancaster and of Cornwall and Earle of Chester For the said King Henry the Fourth hauing beene himselfe Duke of Lancaster before his assumption of the Crowne and knowing that the name of Duke being an inferiour dignity would extinguish and bee surrounded in the Crowne as in the Superiour desired as by that Act of Parliament appeareth not onely to separate the said Dutchie of Lancaster and the lands thereof from the Crowne to the intent he might still hold the said Dutchie as his ancient Patrimony if he were put from the Crowne being but his new acquired dignity but also to preserue the said stile title and name of Duke of Lancaster in his posterity which as the said act affirmeth his Ancestors had so worthily borne and sustained Afterwards the said Henry the Fourth died in the fourteenth yeere of his raigne and the said Henry of Munmouth Prince of Wales succeeded him in the kingdome by the name of King Henry the Fift who also in the tenth yeere of his raigne died leauing Henry his sonne behinde him being an Infant of the age of tenne moneths who by reason of his tender age was not as by any record extant can be proued euer created Prince but was proclaimed King immediately after the death of his father by the name of King Henry the Sixt. King Henry the Sixt by the aduice and counsell of his Lords spirituall and temporall giuen to him in his Parliament holden in the thirtie one
yeere of his raigne did after wards by his Charter bearing date at Westminster the fifteenth day of March in the thirty two yeere of his raigne created Edward his sonne borne at Westminster by one and the selfesame patent to be both Prince of Wales and Earle of Chester and inuested him therin with the vsuall ensignes of that dignitie as had beene in former time accustomed To haue and to hold the said dignities to him and his heires Kings of England which Charter is recited in the Act of Parliament made for the confirmation thereof by Parliament holden at Westminster the ninth day of Iuly in the three and thirtieth yeere of the raigne of the same King In which act of Parliament is also recited another Charter likewise confirmed by the said Parliament whereby the said King did giue vnto the said Prince the said Principalitie of VVales together with all his Lordships and Lands Castles and Tenements by speciall names aboue mentioned and in the former Charters granted and conuaied to the former Princes and the said fee Farmes and Rents of 113. l. 6. s. 8. d. out of the Lordship and towne of Buelt and the said 56. l. 13. s. 4. d. out of the Lordship Castle and Towne of Montgomery likewise mentioned in the Charters of the former Prince To haue and to hold the same to him and his heires Kings of England By the same act of Parliament also it was enacted because the said Prince was then of tender yeeres there was assigned vnto him a certaine number of seruants to attend on him according to his estate and dignity which should beat dyet in the Kings house vntill the said Prince should accomplish the age of fourteene yeeres and that the King should haue all such summes of money as should cleerely remaine vnto the Prince due of all manner issues and reuenues which the Prince then had in respect of his said Principalitie Dutchie and Earledome vntill the said age of fourteene yeeres the said Reuenues to be accounted for to the King in his Exchequer reseruing vnto the said Prince vntill he should come to be of the age of eight yeeres a thousand pound yeerely and from that age till he come to fourteene yeeres two thousand markes yeerely for his wardrobes wages of seruants and other necessarie expences But sauing alwaies vnto the King the Aduousons of Bishoprickes and spirituall liuings and the gifts of all offices wards releefes and escheats belonging to the said Prince vntill he should accomplish the said age of fourteen yeeres sauing such estate in certaine of the said lands as the Queene had to her before the said time assured vnto the said Prince should be of the said age of fourteene yeeres and sauing certaine particular summes of money in the said Act of Parliament mentioned as were formerly appointed out of the said Lands as well for expence of the Kings of England for their houshold as otherwise during such particular times as are therein declared prouided that all offices formerly granted by the King and needing actuall exercise and the fees due to the same should not be preiudiced by the said Act. Afterwards by another Charter the said King doth release vnto the said Prince all the said grant of the said yeerely summes of money issuing out of the reuenues aforesaid and all things by the said Act granted and appointed vnto the said King reseruing onely for the same vnto the said King yeerely fiue hundred twenty seauen markes foure shillings seauen pence halfepenny to be issuing out of the said Principality and Earledome and feauen hundred sixty seauen markes eleuen shillings seauen pence halfepenny yeerely out of the said Dutchy vntill the said Prince should be of eight yeeres of age then reseruing out of the said Principality and Earledome yeerely vnto the King two hundred seuenty seuen markes foure shillings seuen pence halfe penny and out of the said Dutchy yeerely fiue hundred and seuenteene markes eleuen shillings seauen pence halfe penny vntill the said age of fourteene yeeres of the Prince for the said Dutchy and to be imployed towards the charges of the Kings houshold and not otherwise And the said King by his Letters Patents dated the eighteenth of Ianuary in the fiue and thirtieth yeare of his raigne during the minority of the said Prince ordained the then Archbishop of Yorke the then Bishop of VVinchester Hereford Couentry and Lichfield and the Lord Keeper of the priuie Seale the Earles of Shrewesbury Stafford and VViltes the then Viscount Beamont and also Iohn Sutton and Thomas Stanley Knights to be of the priuie Councell vnto the said Prince enioyning all Officers and Ministers of the said Prince that they and euery of them should be obedient in the execution of all Commandements and Warrants of the said Councellors or at the least soure of them together with the assent and consent of the Queene in all causes and matters concerning the titles rights possessions and interests of the said Prince and that the said Commandements and Warrants should be as auaileable in that behalfe as if the same had beene made or done by the said Prince himselfe being of full age which Commandement in all Leases of the said Princes inheritance was pursued accordingly In the nine and thirtieth yeere of the said King Henry the Sixts raigne he being of the house of Lancaster such is the mutability and so vnstable are all humane things that the said King being a man as the times then were deuout and religious the founder of Schooles and Colledges vertuous and a louer of peace was by the violence of the heires of the house of Yorke put from his kingdome and committed to prison and Edward Earle of March sonne and heire to Richard Duke of Yorke raigned in his stead by the name of King Edward the Fourth But yet behold the hand of God for in the tenth yeere of the said King Edward the Fourth vpon discontentment conceiued against him by Richard Earle of VVarwicke a man more popular and potent then was fit for a Subiect the said Richard with a collected power so pressed the King that he was driuen to flye the Realme and to seeke forraigne aide seeing his homebred subiects proued so vnfaithfull Then King Henry the Sixt after tenne yeeres imprisonment readepted the kingdome and in the said tenth yeere of King Edward the Fourth wrote the fortie ninth yeere of his raigne hauing indured tenne yeeres intermission in the computation of his time as appeareth in the bookes of Law of that age But being thus seated he was yet vnsetled and after much effusion of bloud for in a ciuill warre there is no true victory in as much as he that preuaileth is also a looser King Henry the Sixt was compelled againe to giue place to his aduersary and after to make that part sure was depriued of life hauing lost also Edward his sonne Prince before spoken of the hope of all his posterity in the battell of Tewkesbury