Pembrooke IOHN STAFFORD Earle of Wiltes HEN. PERCY Earle of Northumberland IOHN TIPTOFT Earle of Worcester GALLIARD Lord Duras IOHN Lord Scrope of Bolton WALT. D'EVREVX Lord Ferrers WALT. BLOVNT Lord Montjoy WILL. Lord Hastings Sir IOHN ASTLEY Sir WILL. CHAMBERLAINE Sir WILL. PARRE Sir ROB. HARICOVRT Sir THOMAS MONTGOMERY RICHARD OF GLOVCESTER of that Name the third c. and Soveraigne of the Garter admitted these viz. THO. HOVVARD Duke of Norfolke THO. Lord Stanley afterwards Earle of Darby FRANCIS Viscount Lovell Sir IGHN COGNIERS Sir RICH. RADCLIFFE Sir THOM. BVRGH Sir RICH. TVNSTALL HENRY the VII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter admitted to this honour MAXIMILIAN Archduke of Austria and after Emperour IOHN King of Portugall IOHN King of Danemarke PHILIP of Austria King of Castile ALPHONSO Duke of Calabria and after King of Naples ARTHVR Prince of Wales HENRY Duke of Yorke and Prince of Wales after his Brother VEALDO Duke of Vrbine EDVV. STAFFORD Duke of Buckingham THOM. GREY Marquise Dorset IOAN VERE Earle of Oxon. HEN. PERCY Earle of Northumberland GEO. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury HEN. BOVRCHIER Earle of Essex RICH. GREY Earle of Kent EDVVARD COVRTNEY Earle of Devon HEN. Lord Stafford Earle of Wiltes EDM. DE LA POLE Earle of Suffolke CH. SOMERSET Earle of Worcester GERALD Earle of Kildare IOHN Viscount Welles GEO. STANLEY Lord Strange WILL. STANLEY the Lord Chamberlaine IOHN Lord Dynham ROB. WILLOVGHBY Lord Brooke Sir GILES D'AVBENY Sir EDVV. POYNINGS Sir EDVV. WIDDEVILE Sir GILBERT TALBOT Sir IOHN CHEYNIE Sir RICHARD GVILFORD Sir THOM. LOVELL Sir THOM. BRANDON Sir REGINALD BRAY. Sir RHESE AP THOMAS Sir IOHN SAVAGE Sir RICH. POOLE HENRY the VIII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter Chose in his Reigne CHARLES the fifth Emperour of Germany and King of Spaine FERDINAND Archduke of Austria and King of the Romanes FRANCIS the first King of France EMANVEIL King of Portugall IAMES the fifth King of Scotland HENRY FITZ-ROY Duke of Richmond and Somerset IVLIAN DE MEDICES EDVVARD SEYMOVR Earle of Hartford and after Duke of Somerset THOM. HOVVARD Duke of Norfolke CH. BRANDON Duke of Suffolke IOHN DVDLEY Viscount L'isle afterwards Duke of Norhumberland ANNAS Duke of Montmorancie HENRY COVRTNEY Marquise of Exeter WILL. PARRE Marquise of Northampton WILLIAM PAVVLET Lord St. Iohn of Basing after Marquise of Winchester HENRY HOVVARD Earle of Surrey THO. BVLLEN Earle of Wiltes WIL. FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell IOHN VERE Earle of Oxon. HENRY PERCY Earle of Northumberland RAPH NEVILL Earle of Westmerland FR. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury PHIL. DE CHABOT Earle of Newblanch Admirall of France THOM. MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland ROB. RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex HENRY CLIFFORD Earle of Cumberland WILL. FITZ-WILLIAMS Earle of South-hampton THOM. Lord Cromwell Earle of Essex IOH. Lord Russell Earle of Bedford THOMAS Lord Wriothesley after Earle of Southampton ARTHVR PLANTAGENET base sonne of Edw. 4. Viscount L'isle WALT. D'EVREVX Viscount Hereford EDVV. HOVVARD Lord Admirall GEO. NEVILL Lord Abergevenny THOM. Wâ—st Lord de la Ware THOM. Lord Dacres of Gillesland THOM. Lord Darcy of the North. EDVVARD SVTTON Lord Dudley WIL. BLOVNT Lord Montjoy EDVV. STANLEY Lord Monteagle WIL. Lord Sands HENRY Lord Marney THO. Lord Audley of Walden Chancellour of England Sir IOHN GAGE Sir HENRY GVILFORD Sir NICH. CAREVV Sir ANTHONY BROVVNE Sir THOM. CHEYNIE Sir RICHARD WINGFEILD Sir ANTH. WINGFEILD Sir ANTH. St. LEGER Lord Deputie of Ireland Sir IOH. WALLOP EVVARD the VI. of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter ascribed into the Order HENRY the second King of France HENRY GREY Duke of Suffolke HENRY NEVILL Earle of Westm. FR. HASTINGS Earle of Huntingdon WILL. HERBERT Earle of Pembrooke EDVV. STANLEY Earle of Darby THO. WEST Lord de la Ware GEO. BROOKE Lord Cobbam EDVVARD Lord Clinton Admirall THOMAS Lord Seymor of Sudeley WILL. Lord Paget of Beaudesert THOM. Lord Darcy of Chiche Sir ANDREVV SVTTON alias Dudley MARY QVEENE OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter assumed into the voide places PHILIP of Austria King of Spaine the Queenes Husband EMANVEL Duke of Sâ—voy HENRY RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex ANTH. BROVVNE Viscount Montacute WILL. Lord HOVVARD of Effingham WILL. Lord Grey of Wilton EDVV. Lord Hastings of Loughborow ELIZABETH QVEENE OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter supplied the Vacant places of the Order with 1559. FREDERICK Duke of Wittenberge THOM. HOVVARD Duke of Norfolke 1559. ROB. DVDLEY Lord Denbigh and Earle of Leicester HENRY MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland WIL. PARRE Earle of Essex and Marq. of Northampton 1560. ADOLPHVS Duke of Holsatia 1561. GEORGE TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury HENRY CARIE Lord Hunsdon 1563. AMEROSE DVDLEY Lord L'isle and Earle of Warwicke THOM. PERCY Earle of Northumberland 1564. CHARIES the Ninth King of France FRANCIS Lord Russell Earle of Bedford 1568. MAXIMILIAN King of Hungary and Bohemia Emperour 1570. FRANCIS HASTINGS Earle of Huntingdon WIL. SOMERSET Earle of Worcester 1572. FRANCIS Duke of Montmorency WALTER Viscount Hereford and Earle of Essex ARTHVR Lord Grey of Wilton EDM. BRVGES Lord Chandos FREDERICK King of Denmarke 1574. HENRY STANLEY Earle of Darby HENRY HERBERT Earle of Pembrooke 1575. CHARLES Lord Howard of Effingham and Admirall of England afterwards Earle of Nottingham 1579. IOHN CASIMIRE Count Palatine of the Rhene and Duke of Bavaria 1584. HENRY the Third King of France EDVV. MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland WIL. CECILL Lord Burghley WIL. BROOKE Lord Cobham HENRY Lord Scrope of Bolton 1486. HENRY RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex 1588. ROBERT DEVREVX Earle of Essex Sir HENEY SIDNEY Lord President of the Marches Sir CHRISTOPHER HATTON Lord Chancellour 1592. GILBERT TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury GEORGE CLIFFORD Earle of Cumberland 1593. HENRY PERCY Earle of Northumberland EDVVARD SOMERSET Earle of Worcester THOMAS Lord Burgh EDMOND Lord Sheffeild Sir FRANCIS KNOLLES Treasurer of the Houshold 1596. HENRY the fourth King of France and Navarre 1597. FREDERICKE Duke of Wittemberge THGM SACKVILL Lord Buckhurst afterwards Earle of Dorset THOM. Lord Howard of Walden afterwards Earle of Suffolke GEORGE CARY Lord Hunsdon CH. BIOVNT Lord Montjoy after Earle of Devon Sir HENRY LEA Keeper of the Armorie 1599. ROB. RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex HENRY BROOKE Lord Cobham 1601. WILL. STANLEY Earle of Darby THOM. CECILL Lord Burghley after Earle of Exeter IAMES the first KING OF GREAT BRITAINE and Soveraigne of the Garter adorned that Noble Order with these Worthies viz. 1603. CHHRISTIERNE the fourth King of Denmarke HENRY Prince of Wales LEVVLS Duke of Lennox and afterwards of Richmond HEN. WRIOTHESLEY Earle of South-hampton IOHN ERESKIN Earle of Marre WILL. HERBERT Earle of Pembrooke 1605. VLRICK Duke of Holst HEN. HOVVARD Earle of Northampton 1606. ROB. CECILL Earle of Salisbury THOM. HOVVARD Viscount Bindon 1608. GEORGE HVME Earle of Dunbarre PHILIP HERBERT Earle of Montgomery 1611. CHARLES the Kings second Sonne after the death of his Brother Henry Prince of Wales THOM. HOVVARD
beleâ—ue If so then as it is no injurie unto them that we joyne with them in an enquiry after Truth which with such diligence they sought so neither if wee take another and a nearer way unto it when wee perceive them eyther through errour or infirmitie to have gone aside Their Names as oft as I haue cause to use them I shall not mention without honour their words I shall lay downe ingenuously and as I find them without censure Their reasons I shall examine modestly and with due regard such as their persons doe deserve Those Authors with whose weapons I haue made choyce to fight this battaile I shall use also in the same manner assigning every man his time giving to every one his due not sparing those which make most for mee if I find them faultie 6 My method shall be this I know the Church of Rome too full of libertie in framing of the Legends by mixing Truths with Fictions and suffering the corrupt and dangerous tales of Heretickes to be wrought in with both hath given the cheife occasion that this our Saint with others have in these latter dayes beene brought unto their tryall First therefore I shall make a short relation of such unwarrantable tales as are found of him in the Legend or set abroad by some late Fablers of our owne or obtruded on the Church by heretickes That done I shall report in their owne words the severall concâ—its of them who have endeavoured to perswade us that there was never such a man as our St. George and next of them who have beene diligent to prove our Saint to bee an Arian Bishop a bloudy Butcher as one calls him of the true Christians Not that I shall produce them all but some onely of the cheifest some fiue or sixe perhaps of each of the opinions Et magna partium momenta the founders and abettours Their arguments which are not many I shall quickly answere proceeding so to such records as yeild most testimonie to our Saint the time and manner of his Death the honour done unto his Relickes to his memory not onely by the Church but by the greatest Kings and Princes of the Christian world In which I shall adhere especially to the plaine words and meanings of those Authors whose authorities I urge not wresting them aside or stopping of their mouthes when they speake not to my purpose My study is for truth not faction And if at any time which is but seldome I shall take liberty to use conjectures in the explaining of some passage which else might give occasion of exception I hope it will be said that I am only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ingenuously bold not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 audaciously presumptuous 7 The whole worke as it is consecrated next under GOD unto the service of his most excellent Majesty and of this flourishing Church whereof wee are both which are principally interessed in this cause by reason of the Honours which they have conferr'd upon our Martyr so from them cheifly I expect my censure yet so that I submit it also to the censure of all honest learned and religious men whom I beseech with all respective reverence to pardon such mistakes if any bee which their more able knowledge shall discover to them and though they thinke not fit to approve the worke to commend my purpose Those selfe-conceited ones which are so stiffe as King Harry used to say in their new Sumpsimus and whose opinions hang upon anothers sleeve not to bee taken off with reason I leave unto the jolly humour of their singularities Against such men I am resolv'd to entertaine the resolution of Mimnermus as hee hath thus expressed it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reioyce my Soule though some offended bee And speake thee foule others will cherish thee 6 I cannot but be conscious to my selfe that there are many things omitted in this following Discourse which might adde further lustre to the cause and vindicate St. George's honour with the more applause and satisfaction Yet I must say withall that nothing is omitted in it which eyther my memory could prompt unto mee or which by diligent enquirie into all kind of Authors which I thought likely to afford me any helpes might possibly be met with If any one who shall vouch safe to cast his eye upon it will please to let mee know wherein I am defectiue and give mee such directions as may be serviceable to the perfection of this worke I shall with joy and thankfulnesse accept them and willingly make knowne by whom I profit Which if they doe and that they would be pleased so farre to grace mee is in the chiefe of my desires I doubt not but St. George will bee againe as high in our opinion as in the Times before us most affected to his memorie This as I then should happily presume of so I despaire not of it now submitting as before I sayd my selfe and my performance unto all honest learned and religious men and to them onely As for the rest O di profanum vulgus arceo CHAP. I. 1 Three kindes of Imposture 2 The first Author of Scholasticall or fabulous Historie 3 The three ages of the Church in these later times 4 Iacobus de Voragine the Author of the Golden Legend his time and qualitie 5 His fiction of St. George's killing of the Dragon 6 The remainder of the Legend continued out of Ovid. 7 The fable of St. George's Birth in England 8 Poetically countenanced by Edm. Spencer 9 The Legend of the Dragon reiected by the learned Romanists 10 Defended by Geo. Wicelius 11 The Scene thereof removed from Africke into Asia 1 THat excellent though unfortunate Sir FRANCIS BACON created afterwards Lord Verulam and Vicount St. Albons in his religious Essayes thus informes us There are saith hee three formes of speaking which are as it were the style and phrase of imposture By the first kind of which the capacitie and wit of man is ferter'd and intangled by the second it is trained on and inveigled and by the third astonish'd and inchanted The first of these he attributes unto the Schoole-men the last to those which trade in mysteries and parables The second is of them who out of the vanity of their wit as Church-Poets doe make and devise all varietie of Tales Stories and examples whereby mens minds may be led into beleefe from whence grow the Legends and the infinite and fabulous inventions and dreames of the ancient Hereticks So that wee see two severall diseases or corruptions of Storie rather to proceed from one and the same Fountaine Vanitie of Wit though after they have diverse ends and different purposes the purpose of the Legend being to advance the reputation of the Saint the project of the Hereticke to make the Saint a countenance and Patron to his Cause With each of these diseases the Storie of our Saint and many others also of that glorious Company are deepely
proofe of which and that we may behold what excellent Peeres and Princes of our owne and other Nations have in all times successively beene chosen into this most noble Order wee have adjoyn'd a Catalogue of all Saint GEORGE'S Knights from the first institution of it till the present Which Catalogue I have here layed downe according as I finde it in the Catalogue of Honour published by Milles of Canterbury adding unto him such as have beene admitted since that publication Hereafter if this worke may ever have a second birth and that I have ability to nde or meanes to search into the publike Registers of this Order I shall annex to every of them the time of their Creation as wee have done in all of them since the first of Queene ELIZABETH THE FIRST FOVNDERS as they call them of the Garter EDVVARD the III. Of ENGLAND and FRANCE c. being the Chiefe or Soveraigne of it EDVVARD the III. King of England HENRY Duke of Lancaster PETER Capit. de la Bouche WILLIAN MONTACVTE Earle of Salisburie IOHN Lord Lisle IOHN BEAVCHMP Knight HVGH COVRTNEY Knight IOHN GREY of Codnor Knight MILES STAPLETON Knight HVGH WORTHESLEY Knight IOHN CHANDOS Knight Banneret OTHO HOLLAND Knight SANCHIO DAMPREDICOVRT Knight EDVVARD Prince of Wales THOMAS BEAVCHAMP Earle of Warwicke RAPH Earle of Stafford ROGER MORTIMER Earle of March BARTHOLM de Burgherst Knight IOHN Lord Mohun of Dunstere THOMAS HOLLAND Knight RICHARD FITZ-SIMON Knight THOMAS WALE Knight NEELE LORENGE Knight IAMES AVDLEY Knight HENRY ESME Knight WALTER PAVELY Knight Which Founders being dead these following were in the time of the said Edward the third elected in their places according as their stalls became vacant by the death of any of the others viz. RICHARD of Burdeaux Prince of Wales and after King of England of that name the second LIONELL Duke of Clarence IOHN of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster EDMOND of Langley Duke of Yorke IOHN Duke of Brittaine and Earle of Richmond HVMFREY de Bohun Earle of Hereford WIâ—LIAM de Bohun Earle of Northampton IOHN HASTINGS Earle of Pembrooke THOMAS BEAVCHAMP Earle of Warwicke RICHARD FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell ROBERT VFFORD Earle of Suffolke HVGH Earle of Stafford GVISCARD of Engolesine Earle of Huntingdon INGELRAM of Coucy Earle of Bedford EDVVARD Lord Despencer WILLIAM Lord Latimer REYNOLD Lord Cobham of Sterborough IOHN Lord Nevill of Raby RAPH Lord Basset of Drayton Sir WALâ— MANNY Banneret Sir THOMAS VFFORD Sir THOMAS FELTON Sir FRANCIS VAN HALL Sir ALAN BOXHVLL Sir RICH. PEMBRVGE Sir THOMAS VTREIGHT Sir THOM. BANISTER Sir RICH. LA VACHE Sir GVY of Brienne RICHARD the II. KING OF ENGLAND and Soveraigne of the Garter Elected in his Time into the Order these that follow THOMAS of Woodstocke Earle of Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester HENRY of Lancaster Earle of Darbie and Duke of Hereford WIL. Duke of Gelderland WIL. Earle of Holland Hainault c. THO. HOLLAND Duke of Surrey IOHN HOLLAND Duke of Exeter THO. MOVVERAY Duke of Norfolke EDVVARD Duke of Aumerle MICHAEL DE LA POLE Earle of Suffolke WIL. SCROPE Earle of Wiltes WILLIAM BEAVCHAMP Lord Aburgevenny IOHN Lord Beaumont WIL. Lord Willoughby RICHARD Lord Grey Sir NICHOLAS SARNESFEILD Sir PHILIP DE LA VACHE Sir ROBERT KNOLLES Sir GVY of Brienne Sir SIMON BVRLEY Sir IOHN D'EVREVX Sir BRIAN STAPLETON Sir RIGH BVRLEY Sir IOHN COVRTNEY Sir IOHN BVRLEY Sir IOHN BOVRCHIER Sir THO. GRANDISON Sir LEVVIS CLIFFORD Sir ROBERT DVMSTAVILL Sir ROBERT of Namurs HENRY the IIII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter made Choice of HENRY Prince of Wales THOMAS of Lancaster Duke of Clarence IOHN Duke of Bedford HVMFREY Duke of Gloucester ROBERT Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria THO. BEAVFORT Duke of Exeter IOHN BEAVFORT Earle of Somerset THO. FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell EDM. Earle of Stafford EM HOLLAND Earle of Kent RAPH NEVILL Earle of Westmerland GILBERT Lord Talbot GILBERT Lord Roos THO. Lord Morley EDVVARD Lord Powys IOH. Lord Lovell Edvv. Lord Burnell IOH. CORNVVALL Lord Fanhope Sir WIL. ARVNDELL Sir IOH. STANLEY Sir ROE VMFREVILL Sir THOM. RAMPSTON Sir THOM. ERPINGHAM Sir IOH. SVLBIE Sir SANCHIO of Trane HENRY the V. of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter graced with the Order SIGISMVND King of Hungarie and Bohemia Emperour Elect. IOHN King of Portugall CHRISTIERNE King of Danemarke PHILIP Duke of Burgundie IOHN HOLLAND Duke of Exeter WILL. DE LA POLE Duke of Suffolke IOH. MOVVERAY Duke of Norfolke THOM. MONTACVTE Earle of Salisbury RICH. VERE Earle of Oxon. RICH. BEAVCHAMP Earle of Warwicke THOM. Lord Camoys IOHN Lord Clifford ROBERT Lord Willoughby WILLIAM Lord Bardolfe HENRY Lord Fitz-Hugh LEVVIS ROBSART Lord Bourchier HVGH STAFFORD Lord Bourchier WALTER Lord Hungerford Sir SYMON FELBRIDGE Sir IOH. GREY of Eyton Sir IOH. DABRIDGECOVRT Sir IOH. ROBSART Sir TRANK VAN CLVX of Germany Sir WILLIAM HARRINGTON Sir IOHN BLOVNT HENRY the VI. of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter assumed into it ALBERT of Austria King of Bohemia Hungarie and Emperour of Germanie FREDERICK Duke of Austria and Emperour EDVVARD King of Poland ALPHONSO King of Arragon and Naples CASIMIRE King of Portugall EDVVARD Prince of Wales PET. Duke of Conimbria and HENRY Duke of Visontium both Sonnes to the King of Portugall The Duke of Brunswicke RICH. Duke of Yorke IOH. BEAVFORT Duke of Somerset EDM. BRAVFORT Duke of Somerset IASPER of Hatfeild Duke of Bedford IOHN MOVVBRAY Duke of Norfolke HVMPH STAFFORD Duke of Buckingham GASTON DE FOIX Earle of Longueville IOHN DE FOIX Earle of Kendall ALVARES D'ALMADA Earle of Averence IOHN FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell RICH. NEVILL Earle of Salisbury RICH. NEVILL Earle of Warwicke IOH. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury IOH. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury Sonne to the former IAMES BVTLER Earle of Wiltes WILL. NEVILL Earle of Kent RICHARD WIDDEVILL Earle Ryvers HEN. Viscount Bourchier Earle of Essex IOHN Viscount Beaumont IOHN Lord Dudley THO. Lord Scales IOHN Lord Grey of Ruthin RAPH Lord Butler of Sudeley LIONELL Lord Welles IOH. Lord Bourchier of Berners THOMAS Lord Stanley WILL. Lord Bonvill IOH. Lord Wenlocke IOH. Lord Beauchamp of Powys THOMAS Lord Hoo. Sir IOHN RATCLIFFE Sir IOHN FASTOLFE Sir THOMAS KYRIELL Sir EDVVARD HALL EDVVARD the IIII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter made Knights thereof FERDINAND King of Naples IOHN King of Portugall EDVVARD Prince of Wales CHARLES Duke of Burgundie FR. SFORZA Duke of Millaine FREDERICKE Duke of Vrbine HERCVLES Duke of Ferrara RICH. Duke of Yorke the Kings Sonne RICH. Duke of Gloucester IOHN MOVVBRAY Duke of Norfolke IOHN Lord Howard made afterwards Duke of Norfolke IOHN DE LA POLE Duke of Suffolke HENRY STAFFORD Duke of Buckingham IOHN NEVILL Marquise Montacute THOMAS GREY Marquise Dorset IAMES Earle of Douglas in Scotland WILL. FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell THOM. Lord Maltravers ANTH. WOODVILL Earle Ryvers WILL. Lord Herbert Earle of
The HISTORY of That most famous Saynt and Souldier of CHRIST IESUS S t. GEORGE of Cappadocia Asserted from the Fictions of the middle ages of the CHVRCH and opposition of the present By Peter Heylyn Psalm 116 v 15 Right precious in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Sayntes London Printed for Henry Seyle and are to be sould at his shope the Tygers head in Saynt Paules Churchyard 1631 Will. Marshall Sculpsit THE HISTORIE OF That most famous Saint and Souldier of CHRIST IESUS S t. GEORGE OF CAPPADOCIA Asserted from the Fictions of the middle Ages of the CHURCH and opposition of the present The Institution of the most Noble ORDER of St. GEORGE named the GARTER A Catalogue of all the Knights thereof untill this present By PET. HEYLYN PSAL. 116.15 Right precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints LONDON Printed for HENRY SEYLE and are to be sold at his Shop the signe of the Tygers-head in St. Pauls Church-yard 1631. TO THE MOST HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE CHARLES By the Grace of GOD King of GREAT BRITTAINE FRANCE and IRELAND Defender of the Faith c. Sovereigne of the most Noble Order of S t. GEORGE called the Garter MOST DREAD SOVEREIGNE YOur Sacred Majestie being a KING then onely in the hopes and expectation of your people vouchsafed to Grace me in the Infancie and cradle as it were of mine endeavours Your Majestie was then my choise and I was prompted to devote my selfe unto You onely upon the true renowne of your Princely vertues But now I am no longer left at my former liberty For since your Maiestie hath pleased so graciously to admit of mee to your Service it might be iustâ—ly accounted an Apostasie from Dutie should I not consecrate my selfe and all that I am able unto your Maiesties acceptance Yet were I as a Subject bound onely in alleigeance to your Majestie yea were I borne an Alien to your Maiesties Dominions this present Worke which heere in all humilitie I prostrate at your Gracious feet could not so fitly bee addressed to any other It is so please your Majestie a Iustification or Assertion of the Historie of St. GEORGE the Martyr whom some have so farre quarrelled as eyther not to grant him heretofore a being on the Earth or now an habitation only with the Feinds in Hell St. GEORGE thus tainted in his Honour and in a word dethroned from all his former glories to whom should hee referre the hearing of his cause but to your Maiestie the Sovereigne of that most Noble and Heroicke Order which in the first Foundation of it was entituled by his Name and as the times then were committed to his Patronage Which favour if your Maiestie vouchsafe him this great and weighty cause unfortunate in such an Advocate will yet be happie in the Iudge The onely Ruler of Princes which hath set a Crowne of pure gold upon your Head prevent You with the blessings of his Goodnesse and grant unto your Maiestie a long and prosperous Life here and length of dayes for ever and ever These the continuall prayers of Your Majesties Most humble Subject and faithfull Servant PET. HEYLYN TO ALL THOSE MOST ILLVSTRIOVS KINGS PRINCES and PEERES Knights of the Famous and most Noble ORDER of S t. GEORGE named the Garter Most Excellent KINGS PRINCES and PEERES IT is accounted an especiall Honour in the GARTER that it makes them which for theyr vertue and deserts are admitted of it Companions even unto KINGS and PRINCES Those therefore which are ioyned together in so strict a bond of Vnitie and made the same in a communion of all Noble qualities farre bee it from my thoughts to take asunder or to select Particulars out of a Generall bodie so united The rather because I now addresse my selfe unto You in commendation of a Cause wherein your whole Fraternitie is ingaged ioyntly It is almost Three hundred yeares since that most excellent Order never before adorned at once with such and so many Noble spirits was by the Founder of it Dedicated to St. GEORGE of CAPPADOCIA A Saint more than a Thousand yeares before that Institution crowned with Martyrdome And ever since continually famous in the Church of GOD. Onely some few of late on what authoritie I know not have tooke upon them to discharge him both of his place in Heaven and reputation in the Church In which though their opinions are so contrary that possibly there can bee no agreement made betweene them yet they agree together to disgrace that holy Martyr For by the first ranke of them it is undoubtedly affirmed that GEORGE the Martyr so much honoured in the Christian world is but a Counterfeit a Larva onely some strange Chimaera the issue of an idle braine one that had never any being on the Earth The others as unquestionably have made him in his life a dangerous and bloudy Hereticke and since his death a wretched Soule amongst the damned On both sides Satis pro imperio For this cause it hath often beene one of my chiefest wishes that some of those whose names are great for learning and eminent in point of knowledge would undertake the vindicating of this iniured Saint But finding none that have as yet adventured in it I rather chose to put my selfe upon the taske than that Saint GEORGE should longer suffer in his honour and this Realme in him The worke such as it is next under his most sacred Maiestie I consecrate to you most excellent Kings Princes and Peeres and to the honour of that most noble Order whereof you are and in defence of which you were all ingaged at your severall Installations You celebrate St. GEORGE'S Feast with many stately and magnificent Ceremonies you weare his image and representation as your chiefest Ornament you count it an especiall honour to be called his Knights I doubt not therefore but St. GEORGE thus vindicated from the pennes and stomacke of his Enemies will finde a gracious welcome to you and that you will be pleased for St. GEORGE'S sake to entertaine a favourable opinion both of the Worke and of the Author In a full hope whereof I doe with all Humilitie and Reverence subscribe my selfe The most unfainedly devoted unto your Noble and Heroicke Order PET. HEYLYN Errata PAge 18. line 19. for all read almost all Twice in the booke for See Vsum Sarum r. Sec. Vsum Sarum Pag. 213. In the beginning of the Chapter blot out Of the bodies of the Dead Pag. 240. l. ult for 30000. r. 300000. And lastly whereas it is reckoned p. 314. l. 4. as an ordinarie habit of the most noble Order of the Garter to weare a Cloke with the Sunne on the left shoulder of it in his full glory Let the mistake be thus amended A Cloke with a device upon the left shoulder of it compassing round the Garter and St. GEORGE'S Crosse. Such other litterall Errors as occurre in it the Reader may correct and pardon these
in the evening farre off unto their Stables This tumult not yet quieted another noyse of the same kinde but greater than the former was heard unto the Emperours Chamber who presently dispatch'd a Servant to inquire into the matter The servant did as was commanded Sed nihil audivit aliud nisi ab equo in quodam palatij pariete ante victricis deiparae sacellum quem Paulus olimpictor praestantissimus effinxisset D. Georgium pulcherrime sustinentem esse editum c. The servant did as was commanded but heard no other noyse than what did seeme to him to issue from the picture of a certaine horse bearing St. George upon his backe which Paul the famous painter had long since painted on that part of the pallace-wall which is close by our Ladies Chappell This is saith hee the message which I am commanded to deliver and to acquaint you also that his Majesty desires your present counsell Ad haec Logotheta iocatus Gratulor tibi inquit Imperator futuros triumphos c. quibus auditis At tu quidem inquit Imp. isto responso exhilarandi mei gratia usus rem ignorare visus es Ego autem dicam tibi Nam ut patres nostri nobis tradiderunt equus iste alias ad eundem modum hinnijt cum Baldwinus Latinorum Princeps a patre nostro pulsus urbem amissurus esset The Chancellour repairing upon these summons to the Emperor found him exceedingly disquieted and therefore sportively accoasting him I doe my Leige said he congratulate those noble tryumphs which the lusty neighing of St. George's horse portend unto you To whom the Emperour replyed It seemes my Lord that you of purpose to compose my thoughts and make me merry will not take notice of the matter but I am able to instruct you in it For I have heard uppon good credit that this same picture of an Horse neigh'd formerly as now it did just when that Baldwin Emp. of the Latines in Constantinople was beleagured by my Father and the City taken So farre the storie All we will note from hence is this that Baldwin mention'd in the Historie began his Raigne anno 1227. and that St. George both in his time and long before was painted mounted on his Horse which is as much as I desire for my present purpose 9 Saint George thus pictured eyther by way of Hieroglyphicke as some conceive it or of Historicall representation as I rather should conjecture it was not long before the vulgar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristotle calls them had improoved it into a Fable And now St. George must be ennobled for the killing of a Dragon which he never saw and ransoming of King Nemo's Daughter for in the Legends there is nothing told us of his name Iust as upon the post-fact the Normans fram'd that doughty tale of St. Romanus and the Dragon or those of Orleans the no lesse memorable storie of Saint Aignans Stone Which beeing so the people thus affected by reason of those pictures which did then commonly expresse Saint George and the composers of the Legends willing to countenance those fictions which were already of good credit with the people it came to passe that not these onely of the vulgar but even the best and wisest as the times then were ranne headlong on the same Errour The rather because the Author of the Legend then in most esteeme was not of ordinary ranke a man of speciall eminence for his Workes and Learning Archbyshop of a chiefe Citie in Italie and of good credit for a long time together in the Court of Rome I meane Iacobus de Voragine whom in this case the Cardinall Baronius justly blames for making that an Historie or a Fable rather which was in all Antiquitie intended onely for an embleme In nullis enim quae recensuimus S. Georgij actis antiquis quicquam legitur eiusmodi viz. the killing of the Dragon c. sed a Iacobo de Voragine absque ulla maiorum autoritate ea ad historiam referuntur quae potius in imagine illa typum exprimunt c. All I shall add is this which may perchance bee else objected that De Voragine did frame his Legend according to the common fame and the expression of St. George in common Pictures and not the pictures made according to the fancie and tradition of the Legend For it appeares out of Nicephorus above-mentioned that this our Martyr had beene pourtraied in this fashion some space of time before the Latines were expuls'd Constantinople which hapned in the yeare 1260. Whereas Iacobus de Voragine began to bee of credit at the soonest Anno 1278 and as it is conceived by others not till the yeare 1290. which before we noted 10 But to proceed the Legend thus composed and by such a man and so agreeable unto the humour of the people no marvaile if it found a willing entertainment in the publicke service of the Church so that in tract of time the Legend or historia Lombardica for so the Author calls it became a principall part in the Roman Breviarie Bona Breviariorumpars quod quidem ad lectiones matutinas attinet ex Lâ—mbardica desumpta est licet verbis paululum immutatis So saith Wicelius and wee well know how justly hee might say it as in the generall so also in the particular of St. George For in an old Booke which I have long had in my custodie entituled Horae B. Mariae Secundùm vsum Sarum Wee have this History of St. George and of his Dragon thus framed into an Antheme and as it there appeareth appointed to be sung on his publicke Festivall the Antheme this O Georgi Martyr inclyte Te decet laus gloria Praedotatum militia Per quem puella regia Existens in tristitia Coram Dracone pessimo Salvata est Ex animo Terogamus corde intimo Vt cunctis cum fidelibus Coeli iungamur civibus Nostris ablutis sordibus Et simul cum laetitia Tecum simus in gloria Nostraque reddant labia Laudes Christo cuÌ„ gratia Cui sit honos in secula George holy Martyr praise and fame Attend upon thy glorious name Advanc'd to Knightly dignitie The Daughter of a King by thee As she was making grievous moane By a feirce Dragon all alone Was freed from death Thee we intreat That wee in Heaven may have a seat And being wash'd from every staine May there with all the Faithfull raigne That wee with thee together may Sing gladly many a sacred Lay The gracious throne of Christ before To whom be praise for evermore 11 So was it in our Ladies Horarie or horarium according to the use of Sarum and so no question in other of their publike Service-Bookes untill the reformation of Religion began in Germany by Luther made those of Rome bethinke themselves and make some necessary reformation also in such particulars as were most scandalous and offensive A reformation not onely of their manners which since the difference began have
imperfect but thus to be conceiv'd Brittaine to thee divinest Bede we owe Who did alone all parts of learning knowe 3 The witnesse being such his testimony will be taken with lesse scruple the rather because there is not any thing of his which hath beene justly question'd but his English Historie as having in it more of the myracles so common in the peoples mouthes than may be well allowed of But even that peece also modestè circumspecto iudicio is censured sparingly and with great temper His testimonies of St GEORGE are two the one of them in his Martyrologie the other in his Ephimerides First in his Martyrologie on the 23. of Aprill or in the Latine Computation on the 9. of the Calends of May we reade it thus Natale S. Georgij Martyris qui sub Daciano Rege Persarum potentissimo qui dominabatur super 70. reges multis miraculis claruit plurimosque convertit ad fidem Christi simul Alexandram uxorem ipsius Daciani usque ad Martyrium confortavit Ipse verò novissime decollatus martyrium complevit quamvis gesta passionis eius inter Apocryphas connumerentur Scripturas Id est The Passion of St. GEORGE the Martyr who under DACIANUS the most mighty King of Persia Lord of no lesse than seaventy tributarie Princes was famous for his miracles and for converting many to the faith of CHRIST of which the Empresse Alexandra the wife of Dacianus continued constant in it even unto the death This GEORGE at last beheaded received the Crowne of Martyrdome although the Storie of his Passion be reckoned as Apocryphall And in his Ephimerides on the same ninth of the May-Calends thus Nona docet Fortunatúmque Achillea iunctos Hac etiam invicto mundum qui sanguine temnis Infinit a refers Georgi sancta Trophaea This ninth day doth of Fortunatus tell And of Achilles joyn'd together well And of thee George who didst the world neglect And holy trophees in thy bloud erect 4 The first of these two testimonies as it affirmes the Death and sufferings of St. GEORGE so are there in it some things which require a favourable Reader and others which deserve to bee rejected altogether Of the last ranke there is the fable of the Empresse ALEXANDRA of which wee have already spoken in the first part and second Chapter an old remnant doubtlesse of the Arian Legend exploded by Gelasius That of her Husband Dacianus if it encounter with a favourable reader without offence may bee admitted although perhaps derived out of the same originall Derived I say out of the same originall perhaps because I finde it in Baronius Annotations on the Roman Martyrologie that the Arian Legends made their George to suffer under Dacianus King of Persia onely the difference is and that not much that there the tributary Kings are five in number more than heere in venerable Bede This Doctor Reynolds useth as a closing argument to proove our Saint to bee the Arian GEORGE of Alexandria and this our selves alledg'd in the behalfe of Calvin to shew what cause hee had to make St. GEORGE a Counterfeit or Larva The processe was that there was never at or about that time a King of Persia of that name and greatnesse of Command and that this Dacianus is in other of our Authors made to bee President or Proconsul under DIOCLETIAN therefore in likelihood our Authors not agreeing and no such King as hee in nature the whole Story of St. George is false and forged This is the maine of all that may be sayd against us touching Dacianus and this I say a favourable Reader may admit without offence For proofe of which wee must looke backe a little on the condition of the Roman Empire at the time of Saint Georges sufferings The East parts of it govern'd as before I said by Diocletian and the West by Maximinian These two the better to direct and manage the affaires of State had tooke unto themselves two Caesars whereof the one was named Galerius Maximinianus assumed by Diocletian and under him Lieutenant Generall or Lord President of the Easterne Countries Now this Galerius Caesar was by birth a Dacian and afterwards Successour unto Diocletian in all those parts that hee commanded That hee was borne in Dacia is affirm'd by St. Hieromes Latine copie of Eusebâ—us Chronicon where thus wee reade it Galerius in Dacia haud longe à Sardica natus that hee was borne in Dacia not farre from Sardica That he succeeded Diocletian in the greatnesse and extent of his Command after that he and Maximinian had surrendred up the Empire is a thing so plaine in Story that no man conversant in the Historians of those times but exactly knowes it Hereupon we inferre that probably this Dacianus mention'd in the Story was that Galerius Maximinianus who afterwards was Emperour and had the Easterne parts all of them of that Empire under his subjection And this we doe the rather fancy to be probable because denominations taken from the birth-place of their Princes were not accounted novelties among the Romans For Adrianus wâ—e well know assumed that name from Adria a Towne of Italie where he was borne And not to seeke for more examples we finde that Diocletian borne in a Towne of Dalmatia called Dioclea added this termination to the place of his Nativitie that so his name might bee more plausible among the Romans whose governance he had then undertaken Adde hereunto that this Galerius was alwayes a most bitter enemy of the Church of CHRIST which he had persecuted fromâ— his youth and then perhaps he may more easily be beleeved to be this DACIANUS 5 But heere it may be question'd how Dacianus admitting that he were the same with Galerius the Dacian can be supposed to be a King of Persia considering that the Persians had at that time a Prince of their owne royall stocke known by the name of Narses who dyed about the yeere 307. To this we answere that Venerable Beda spake according to the manner of the times in which he liv'd wherein the Persians having subdued the Roman forces were and had so beene long before the absolute maisters of almost all those Countries which Galerius once commanded Which being so the East parts of the Roman Empire vnder the command of the Kings of Persia and in particular the Holy-Land where Lydda is being in their Dominions those Countries did in common speech passe by the name of Persia. Iust as at this day we call those severall parts of the Turkish Empire once members of the Assyrian Greeke and Roman Monarchies by the common name of Turkie or as we call all Easterne Churches the Greeke-Church because they have communion at this time with the Patriarch of Constantinople So Bellarmine doth call the Cardinall Bessarion a Grecian borne at Trabezond Bessarion natione Graecus patria Trapezuntius c. as hee there hath it whereas the Towne of Trabezond is farre inough from Greece
St. GEORGE thy blessed Martyr dost rejoyce our Soules grant we beseech thee that those benefits which by him we crave may by the favour of thy grace bee given unto us through IESVS CHRIST our Lord. The Epistle taken out in part out of the second unto Timothy and the 3. Chapt. Where the Apostle telleth him that he had knowne his doctrine manner of life purpose faith long suffering charitie patience Persecutions and afflictions which came unto him at Antioch at Iconium at Lystra out of all which the LORD delivered him c. The Gospell taken out of the 15. Chapt. of St. IOHN Ego sum vitis vera I am the true Vine c. The close of all is this after the whole Masse ended which they call the Postcommunion Supplices te rogamus omnipotens Deus ut quos tuis reficis sacramentis c. Almighty GOD we humbly beseech thee that we which are refresh'd by thy holy Sacraments may by the intercession of thy blessed Martyr George serve thee heereafter in all godly motions c. To which the Liturgie of the Church of Rome I will here adde a Collect of the old Missall See Vsum Sarum which piously interpreted hath nothing in it savouring of Superstition and is withall more proper to St. Georges storie Viz. Offerimus tibi Domine solenne sacrificium pro veneranda S. Georgij mart tui passione deprecantes clementiam tuam ut per haec S. S. mysteria antiqui hostis tentatamen te triumphante vincamus et aeternae remunerationis praemium te largiente sequamur We offer unto thee O LORD the solemne Sacrifice of praise and Thankesgiving for the death and passion of St. George thy Martyr beseeching thy divine clemencie that by these holy mysteries we may in thee subdue the manifold temptations of our old enemie the Divell and be rewarded by thy grace with life eternall The first of these two Prayers taken out of the Roman Missall I finde also in the Breviarie the Diurnum and the Officium B. Mariae Virginis so copious is that Church in the memoriall of our Martyr 10 I doubt not but it will be here objected that we are driven to hard shifts when wee are faine to repaire to Rome from thence to prove St. GEORGE'S Saint-ship This wee expect to heare of and are ready to reply that this is hardly worth objecting For here we draw no argument to prove how lawfully St. GEORGE may be invoked or that his intercession may be used for the more quicke dispatch of our affaires in the Court of Heaven Onely wee note from hence that anciently and in the purer times of the Roman Church St. GEORGE was constantly commemorated and in his proper course as a noble Martyr Vpon which ground which in it selfe is good and commendable if they have built out of their owne Wood and Hay and Stubble a dangerous and erronious practise not warrantable in the Church I hope without offence it may be lawfull for me or any else to make the profitablest use out of their errours and to verifie the truth and goodnesse of the ancient practise in this case out of the faultie and erroneous corruption of the present For I perswade my selfe that in points onely of Historicall faith wee may relie in part upon their publike Liturgies and that we may conclude that surely such a Saint there was as GEORGE or MAURICE or SEBASTIAN or the rest there honoured because I finde them in the Missall and the Breviarie no man of this or any age having as yet inform'd mee that they have lately beene inserted into the bookes of Common-Service Nay as in nature there must be first an habit before we can admit of any privation and that in things corrupted wee must suppose a true and reall being of that thing thus fallen into corruption so we may well inferre upon a view of the corruptions in their Liturgies that certainely there was some excellent use at first of such a ceremonie or such an institution how ever that the foule corruptions of the present have polluted and defiled it I would not wish me thinks an argument of more validitie to prove the act of kneeling at the Lords Supper to be of good Antiquitie in the Church of Christ than from the adoration of it or of the Hoste rather as they call it exacted in their Rituals which is no doubt a superstitious if not idolatrous corruption of that ancient and reverend use of Kneeling Nor would I choose a fairer way of disputation to justifie the honourable estate of the married Clergie against the clamours of the Papists than to returne upon them that in the publike service of the Church of Rome it is reputed commonly though falsly for a Sacrament which false conceit of theirs is a corruption onely of the just and pious meaning of the Fathers who therefore did extoll it in the highest measure the better to beate downe those Hereticks which had disgraced it More might be said in affirmation of this manner of proceeding had I now either place or leisure At this time only this that I should more relie in matters meerely Historicall of being upon the Liturgie of Rome which certainly is not contrived upon no other ground than lies and Fables than upon any mans bare word which saith the contrary or such weake arguments as are not able to conclude the matter controverted And so farre I dare goe with Canus conceive me still in matters of this qualitie Nullas huiusmodi rationes ab antiqua patrum traditione quam communis ecclesiae consuetudo in divin◠officio hymnis antiphonisque confirmavit potuisse me movere 11 Which being so and that St. GEORGE had anciently his proper time and place of Commemoration how ever now that laudable and pious custome bee degenerated we may affirme more confidently that he hath beene continually in especiall credit with the Church In the Greeke Church we find him on record in their publike Calendar where they have honoured him with the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the great Martyr Baronius tells us that this Saint is very famous in the Countries of Galatia In Galatia celebris fuit eiusdem Sancti memoria more generally Wicelius Celebritas D. Georgij apud Graecos prae caeteris perquam eximia est that he is honored more than any of the rest among the Grecians Ioh. Euchaites a Greeke Byshop hath given an honourable testimony of him and Cyrus Theodorus of whose time and qualitie I am yet to seeke hath plaid the Epigrammatist upon his portraiture cut in white stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the title hath it Adde hereunto Hierax one of great power in the Greeke Empire upon his reconciliation with Contacuzenus gave him in token of his future faith and loyaltie St. GEORGE his picture Imaginem praeclari Mart. Christi Georgij fidei suae sinceraeque erga Imperatorem voluntatis pignus quoddam dedit The thing related by the Emperour Contacuzenus
also into the same conceit and superstitious folly Hereupon were the monuments and dormitories of the Saints againe opened their bodies translated some of them entire into new Sepulchres and others dismembred peece by peece and carried into farre Countries that Church or Nation being conceived most happy which had procured any the least bone into their possession of such especially of the Saints which were in greatest credit and opinion with the people So that now the cruelty of the barbarous tyrants in the height of persecution might seeme to be revived in the dawning of Superstition Which notwithstanding there might perchance bee somewhat said in their excuse as viz. that the Reliques then by them so zealously affected were most of them true and reall not counterfeited by any cheating Mountebanke and therefore worthy of all due respect and reverence For who so cold in his affection to the Saints that would not gladly give them honor even in their dust So much respect no question may be due unto the Reliques of the Saints if truely such as by Pope Leo was afforded to a parcell of the crosse sent to him by the Byshop of Hierusalem of which he tells that Prelate in an answere to him Particulam dominica crucis cum eulogijs dilectionis tuae veneranter accepi That he received it with great reverence and thankes 3 Not to descend more downeward we will looke backe into those former times and therefore least corrupted wherein we find first mention of the Reliques of St. GEORGE And in the first place we meet with Gregory of Tours who flourished in the next age after Pope LEO above-named and dyed about the yeare 596. A man of speciall quality a Byshop by his calling and as he testifieth himselfe Author of many severall books and treatises Quos libros licet rusticiori stilo scripserim c. Which though he wrote in a more plaine and homely stile yet he doth earnestly conjure all those which should succeed him in that charge per adventum Domini nostri c. Even by the comming of our Saviour CHRIST and by the dreadfull day of judgment that neither they suppresse them or cause them to be unperfectly transcribed Sed ut omnia vobiscum integra inlibataque permaneant sicut à nobis relicta sunt but that they be preserved as uncorrupted and entire as they were left by him Of these bookes seaven of them did especially concerne the myracles of the Holy Martyrs and in the first thereof he tells us in the generall Multa de Georgio martyre miracula gesta cognâ—vimus that he had knowne of many myracles done by Saint GEORGE And in particular habentur eius reliquiae in vico quodam Cennomannensi ubi multa plerunque miracula visuntur Some of his Reliques also are in the Village of Le Maine where oftentimes there were seene many myracles There is a further passage in that Booke and Chapter which though I shall relate yet I will hardly take upon me to defend it it is briefly thus Huius reliquiae cum reliquorum Sanctorum à quibusdam ferebantur c. Some certaine men that carried with them some of St. GEORGE'S Reliques and of others also of the Saints came once unto a place in the frontires of Lymosin where a few Priests having a litle Chanterie or Oratorie made of boards did daily powre out their Devotions to the Lord. There for that night they begg'd for lodging and were accordingly made welcome The morning came and they prepar'd to goe forward in their jorney they were not able to remove their Knap-sacks capsulas out of the place wherein they laid them Loth to depart without their Reliques it came at last into their minds that sure it was the will of GOD they should bestow some of them on their Hosts which being done the difficulty was removed and they proceeded in their journey This storie as before I said I will not take upon me to defend Onely I note from hence that in this Gregories time or before it rather the Reliques of St. George were in especiall credit and so by necessary consequence the Saint himselfe exceeding famous 4 Not to say any thing here of St. George's head and of the Temple built of purpose by Pope Zacharie in honour of it which we shall speake of presently in a place more proper wee finde the Reliques of our Martyr mention'd with great honour in Aymonius An Author of the middle times anno 837. not long before the shutting in of the first day of learning in the Christian Church one of the Monks of St. GERMANS monasterie in the Suburbs of Paris and publike Notarie thereof for the time being Before we come unto his testimonie we must first take notice that Childebert Sonne of Clovis the first Christian King of France who began his reigne about the yeare 515 did in the later of his time anno 542. erect a Monasterie neere Paris unto the honour of St. Vincent This monasterie thus founded as he endowed it with many Lands and large immunities so he enriched it with the Reliques of St. Vincent and St. GEORGE and part also of the Holy Crosse all which he brought with him out of Spaine whither he had before made two famous journeyes Witnesse whereof the Charter of the Foundation copied out by Aymonius and is as much of it as concernes our purpose this which followeth Childebertus Rex Francorum c. In honorem S. Vincentij Martyris this Vincent was converted by St. GEORGE as before is said cuius reliquias de Spania apportavimus ceu sanctae crusis beatissimi Georgij c. quorum reliquiae ibi sunt consecratae c. In the same Author also we have another story of St. Georges arme given by Iustinian the Emperour unto St GERMAN then Byshop of Paris as he return'd from his Pilgrimage to Hierusalem by the way of Constantinople Vnáque brachium D. Georgij Martyris pro magno munere contulit as mine Author hath it Which Relique was afterwards by Saint GERRMAN bestowed upon the Abbey of Saint Vincent wherein he was interred and which since then hath beene call'd St. GERMANS Thus much I finde recorded of the Reliques of our Martyr not to say any thing of his colours or his banner preserv'd as Schedell tells us in Bamberge â— City of Germany magna cum solennitate with great Solemnitie and this enough to shew that even from the beginning his Reliques and himselfe were alwayes had in speciall honour 5 And now at last we come unto the last of those foure wayes or courses whereby the Church endeavored to preserve alive the memory of the Saints and Martyrs viz. the calling of such Temples by the names of those blessed Spirits which she had solemnly erected to GODS speciall service and consecrated to his honour A custome which she long had practised even in the very times and heate of Persecution when as it was more dangerous unto the
numeratum eoque nomine ab Ecclesia Rhegiensi erecta nominis eius titulo insignita Basilicae et die festo Ian. 17. honoratum c. It may be hence objected that all which we have spoken hitherto is of little value those honors having beene communicated even to Heretickes such as St. George is said to be by Doctor Reynolds To this we answere first that this was onely a particular Act of the nationall Church of France their Faustus never being received generally as St. George was in the Church-Catholique And therefore it is said by my said Lord of Salisburie that these honours were accumulated on him spectante orbe Christiano tacente Rom. Ecclesia contradicente nemine not by the approbation of the Church in generall but onely a connivence at it in regard of those of France Secondly that Faustus though accounted for an Hereticke abroad might yet be otherwise an honest and religious man and so reputed in his owne Citie where afterwards hee had his Temple For I have seene it somewhere cyted out of Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that even an Hereticke may have a very faire and commendable conversation And last of all that Faustus was not such an Hereticke that his memoriall should be blasted for it in all generations Not such an Heretique as aimed at the foundation of the Faith as did the Arian nor such as overthrew the vertue of Gods grace as did Pelagius Onely he is accused that undertaking to confute the writings of Pelagius he did not runne a course quite contrary to the other but in some tollerable manner and in some points of lesse consequence did seeme to trench upon his tenets 12 As for the Pseudo-Martyr in Sulp. Severus he is by Dr. Boys brought in to prove against the Papists how much they have abused themselves all the Church in Canonizing those for Saints who could be no better thā divels And in the next words the Papists adore others who were neither Saints in Heaven nor men on earth as St. Christopher Saint George c. The cases here are Parallell but sure it were a taske too weighty either for him or any other to prove this Pseudo-Martyr to have beene Canonized a Saint or that hee was reputed one in the opinion of the Church All which Sulpitius doth report is this Not farre from Tours whereof St. Martin then was Byshop there was a litle Oratorie much frequented by some simple people upon opinion that some holy Martyr had beene there buried Saint Martin who suspected presently that there was some Imposture in it repaires unto the Chappell and calling upon GOD to manifest the truth a certaine shape passed by them who confessed that he was once a Theife but by the simple people reckoned as a Martyr there being nothing in his life or death to merit that opinion Ille antem nomen edidit de crimine confitetur latronem se fuisse ob scelera percussum vulgi errore celebratum sibi nihil cum Martyribus commune esse cumillos gloria se poena retineret This is the whole and then a few poore simple people must bee reputed for the Church in generall or else this inference is nothing to the purpose 13 There is a rule in Lerinensis that that is to be counted true in the Church Catholicke which hath beene so beleeved by all sorts of men in all times and in all places In Ecclesia Catholica illud magnopere curandum est ut teneamus id quod ab omnibus quod semper quod ubique creditum est Vnles we can apply this rule unto the businesse now in hand it is not our desire that any man should thinke St. GEORGE to be a Martyr And first if we consult the testimonies of all sorts of men we find St. George to bee thus reckoned both by Turkes and Christians by the West Churches the Easterne by the Papist the Protestant by Princes Prelates and their people by writers ancient and by moderne If we expect the generall consent herein of all the times and ages since his death and Martyrdome we have already made it plaine by way of a Chronologie that there hath beene no age no not that Seculum infelix as it is call'd by Bellarmine in which wee have not plentifull assurance of our cause And for the close of all looke into all parts of the world and tell me which of all the three hath not afforded honour to him as an holy Martyr His name commemorated in the Martyrologies of Rome and Greece his Reliques reverenced in Spaine Constantinople France and Germany Temples erected to his honour in Rome Constantinople Ramula Diospolis Alexandria Caire and Aethiopia and in other places by Prelates Popes and Emperours Temples in Asia Europe and in Africa And in the principall Cities also of the East and West and Southerne parts of the whole world Then certainly we may affirme of our St. George as the Historian did of Pompey Quot partes terrarum sunt tot fecit monumenta victoriae suae So then the storie of St. George and the opinion of his being Martyr having beene entertained by all sorts of men in all the ages of the Church and all the quarters of the world we may maintaine according to the rul of Lrinensis that therefore it is to be counted true without more disputing The one affirmed by Doctor Reynolds Georgius quem Orientalis Occidentalis ecclesia pro martyre colit and in another place universalem ecclesiam hoc est Orientalem Occidentalem Georgium pro Martyre coluisse out of which one so granted we will without demanding leave conclude the other CHAP. VI. 1 St. George how he became to bee accounted the chiefe Saint of Soldiers 2 St. George when first esteemed a chiefe Patron of Christianitie 3 The expedition of the Westerne Princes to the Holy Land 4 The storie of the succours brought unto their Armie by St. George 5 His second apparition to them as the Leaguer of Hierusalem 6 The Probabilitie of the former miracle disputed 7 An essay of the famous battaile of Antiochia by way of Poeme 1 HItherto have we spoken of Saint GEORGE according as hee is esteemed and honoured as a Saint in the generall opinion of the Christian world and of the publike honours done unto him in the Church of GOD the ground and pillar of truth as the Apostle calls it Our method now doth leade us on to marshall in those honours which have beene also done unto him by the Kings and Princes of the earth that so unto the testimony and suffrage of the Church we may adde also the full authority and power of the civill Magistrate But since the honours done by them unto Saint George consider him some of them as a Saint in generall some as a principall Patron of the affaires of Christendome and others as the tutelary Saint or Guardian of militarie men wee must in briefe declare the reason why he was
Master de Bellay hath recorded that IOANE of Orleans so much commemorated in our common Chronicles was not what shee appeared but onely so disguised and prepared before hand Pour faire revenir le courage aux Francoys for to revive the drooping spirits of the French so falne and broken that they were not to bee raised but by a miracle Somewhat to this purpose is related by PLUTARCH of AGESILAUS Who to embolden his Soldiers to the fight wrote with a certaine juyce the word Victorie in the palme of his hand and after being at the Sacrifice hee layed his hand cunningly upon the heart of it so leaving the word Victorie imprinted on it which presently he shewed unto those about him as if it had beene there written by the Gods I cannot say for certaine that this apparition to King Richard was by him set on foot for the same purpose and that it was no other than a Kingly fraud to quicken and revive the spirits of his Soldiers but I perswade my selfe if I did say so having no other testimony than an opinatum est against me I might be pardoned for my boldnesse 6 This notwithstanding the fame of such his apparition to that King did as before I said exceedingly promote the reputation of that Saint among the English so farre that the most excellent Prince King EDVVARD the third made choyce of him for his Patron So Master CAMDEN witnesseth in his Remaines that GEORGE hath beene a name of speciall respect in England since the victorious King EDVVARD the third chose Saint GEORGE for his Patron and the English in all Encounters and Battailes have used the name of Saint George in their cries as the French did Montioy Saint Denis The more immediate occasion was that this Edward at the battaile of Callice Anno 1349. being much troubled with griefe and anger drawing his Sword call'd earnestly upon Saint Edward and Saint George whereupon many of his Soldiers flocking presently unto him they fell upon the enemie and put many of them at that instant to the sword Rex Edwardus providè frendens more apri ab ira dolore turbatus evaginato gladio S. Edwardum S. Georgium invocavit dicens Ha Saint Edward Ha Saint George Quibus auditis visis milites confestim Anglici confluebant ad Regem suum Es facto impetu contra hostes tam animose institerunt quòd ducenti ex illis ceciderunt interfecti c. The next yeare after followed the Institution of that noble Order of the Garter dedicated unto Saint George also by which he came possessed alone of that speciall patronage as the more military Saint which in the former Invocation might seeme to be divided betweene St. Edward and himselfe Nor did the King stay here but having chose St. George to bee the tutelarie Saint and Patron of his Soldierie hee caused him to be painted as upon a lusty Courser holding a white Sheild with a red Crosse on it in his hand and gave unto his Soldiers to every one a white Coat or Cassock with two red Crosses on each side of them one to weare upon their armour Edwardus item saith Pol. Virgil. cum D. Georgium militia praesidem optasset postea ei armato equo insidenti dedit scutum album rubra a cruce perinsigne dedit militibus suis saga alba utrimque binis crucibus item rubris munita quae illi super armaturam induerent So that saith he it is a seemely and magnificent thing to see the Armies of the English to sparkle like the rising Sunne the Soldierie of other Countries having no habit eyther to distinguish or adorne them From henceforth therefore we must not looke upon St. GEORGE as a Saint in generall but as conceived such was the superstition of those times the speciall Patron of the English of which the Pilgrim in the Poet thus prophecieth unto his Red-crosse Knight as hee there calls him Then seeke this path which I to thee presage Which after all to Heaven shall thee send Then peaceably thy painefull Pilgrimage To yonder same Hierusalem doe bend Where is for thee ordain'd a blessed end For thou amongst those Saints which thou dost see Shalt be a saint and thine owne Nations friend And Patron thou St. George shalt called bee St. George of merry England the signe of victorie And hereunto alludes Mich. Draiton in his Poly-Olbion in a great controversie questionlesse which was then hot among some Nymphes of his in that Poem And humbly to St. George their Countries Patrō pray To prosper their designes now in that mighty day 7 Of other honours done by the English to St. GEORGE more than they call'd upon him as their Advocate of victory it may perhaps seeme litle necessary to dilate But since our Invocation of God and St. GEORGE is by some men conceived to bee rather Turkish than truely Christian wee will produce such evidence as may be lesse liable unto offence Of which kinde I perswade my selfe was that honour done unto him in a peece of gold currant in those times in this Kingdome called The George-noble which on the one side had the picture of Saint GEORGE upon it with this Impresse Tali dicata signo mens fluctuare nescit Nor can it be offence that many noble families in this Realme had the name of Saint GEORGE an ancient family of Saint George out of which flourished many Knights since the time of King Henry the first at Hatley which is of them call'd Hatley Saint George as I have found in learned Camden another of them as I conceive it at Hinton Saint GEORGE in Com. Sommerset the Baronie at this present of the right honourable the Lord Pawlet But this I leave unto Clarentieux one of the Kings of Armes as most interessed in it I will not heere observe that CHARLES of Burgundie one of the fellowes of the Gareer beeing in discontent with EDVVARD the fourth for his Peace with France brake out into this Passion Oh LORD Oh Saint GEORGE have you done thus indeed c or that the English used his name as an ordinary oath among them Par St. George dirent les Angloys vous dites vray c. as Froissart notes it These things I say I will not speake of lest they may give offence to our nicer eares nor of more honours of this lesser ranke or qualitie afforded him in England and therefore though the Sea bee very troublesome and unruly we will passe over Saint GEORGE'S Chanell into Ireland And here I shall observe that onely which I finde in Master Seldens notes on the Poly-Olbion as viz. that under Henry 8. it was enacted that the Irish should leave their Cramaboo and Butleraboo words of unlawfull Patronage and name themselves as under St. George and the Kings of England Which noted since I must returne againe for England there to behold the solemne institution of the Garter it will not
Both circumstances that of his buriall and this other mention'd last together in old Fryer Anselme quarto miliario à Modyn est Lydda civitas quâ— Diospolis dicitur in qua corpus B. Georgij testantur fuisse S. Georgius vulgo dicitur Shall we have more Roger de Hovenden in his Annals recyting there the names of such great personages as dyed in the Christian Campe at the seige of Ptolemais gives us among the rest three Byshops viz. Nâ—vus Episcopus de Acon Episcopus de Baruâ—h Episcopus de S. Georgio For at that time the Christians had made this Towne a Byshops Seate as we shall see heereafter 4 Onely in such a generall consent of Authors Will the Monke of Malmesbury doth seeme to differ from the rest who seemeth to make the Scene hereof to be Rama or Ramula a litle City not farre distant Ibi a dextra dimittentes maritima pervenerunt Ramulam civitatulam muro indigam B. Georgij si famae credimus martyrij consciam We came saith he leaving the Sea-shore on the right hand to a little Citty unwall'd knowne by the name of Ramula guilty if we may trust report of St. GEORGES Martyrdome And hereupon perhaps it is that Fryer Anselme who as before we noted hath made St. GEORGE to end his dayes in a burning fire hath chosen Rama for the place of ExecutioÌ„ his ashes being afterwards transferr'd sd he to Lydda there buried To reconcile w ch difference we must conceive that these two Cities were not very farre asunder and their Feilds or Territories close together so that an action done in one without great errour might be reported of the other St. MATHEVV in his holy Gospell tells us of a myracle done by our Saviour in the Country of the Gergezens whereas St. LVKE and MARKE affirme that it was the Country of the Gadarens Yet may it not be therefore thought that the Holy Spirit is at difference with it selfe God forbid nor that we should conceive the Gadarens and Gergezens to be the same which is not so But rather we must reconcile the places thus according to the truth of storie and the scituation of the Country that the two people mention'd in the Gospell were conterminous their Townes at no great distance and their fields bordering one upon another Therefore that miracle done in the fields betweene them both might without any wrong or errour bee made good of eyther 5 To make the reconciliation more exact and the case more parallell wee must also note that with the ancients there was nothing more unlawfull than to put any man to death within their Cities Thus in the state of Rome the Vestall Virgin having committed fornication was buried quicke within the Campus Sceleratus and other malefactors throwne headlong from the Tarpeian Rocke both situate without the Towne So also had the Thessalians a place of Execution from the praecipice of an Hill which they called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Corvi from whence arose the Proverbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Away with him to the Gallowes Thus the Iewes also when they crucified our Saviour led him out of their Citie to Mount Calvarie and thus St. LVKE reports it in the Execution of St. STEPHEN that they cast him out of the Citie and stoned him A custome which continued long even till the times of Persecution were all past and of the which our publike Gallowes which we see every where without our Townes are some remainders Which being so no executioÌ„ in those times permitted in their Cities it must needs be that our St. GEORGE did suffer in the open fields Which granted it will then appeare that Malmesbury might not unjustly say of Rama or as he calls it Ramula that it was guilty of or rather had a hand in Saint Georges death though in the generall voyce of Writers it be affirm'd of Lydda because the fields were common or close adjoyning and the Townes but litle distant 6 These matters thus dispatch'd we now proceed to verifie the former Storie out of the words of such as have concurr'd with Metaphrastes in the maine and substance And first we will attempt to justifie the whole narration out of Eusebius whose countenance herein will I am sure be worth our seeking And I would gladly know what part or circumstance there is in all our History for the defence whereof we may not use his testimony Is it that any Cappadocian was adjudg'd to suffer for the Gospell He tells us there that one Seleucus Iulian and others of that Country receiv'd the Crowne of Martyrdome during the Persecution rais'd by Diocletian Or is it that the Persecution ever did extend to Palestine He hath a Chapter at the least of such as suffered in that Country It is not I am sure that any of the militarie men abandoned their advancements or yeilded up their lives to testifie how litle they esteem'd them in comparisen of CHRIST For this he hath expresly that many of them when the Persecution first began did willingly forsake their honourable Offices and some their lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor can it bee that that the Imperiall edict did not extend to such as were of his retinue and did belong immediately unto his person For in the same booke he mentions Dorotheus and Gorgonius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with many more of Caesars houshold Wee grant indeed that no such name as that of George occurres in all that Author but we affirme withall that he confesseth it an infinite and tedious businesse to recount the names of all that suffered or capitulate those severall torments they endur'd and therefore purposely omits them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as he there hath it So then Eusebius doth affirme that Cappadocia had its Martyrs that the Persecution raged in Palestine that it extended to the military men and to those also that attended in the Pallace and lastly that it is impossible to tell the names of all that suffered Put this together and it will amount to this that George one of those many Martyrs whom Eusebius could not name a Cappadocian by his Country a Soldier by profession and one that waited in the Court was put to death in Palestine by torments not to be express'd because he constantly continued in the Faith of CHRIST 7 In the next place we have the testimony of St. Ambrose if at the least the words be his a Reverend Father of the Church and a chiefe ornament thereof who dyed about the yeare 397. The words are these Georgius Christi miles fidelissimus dum Christianismi professio tegeretur solus inter Christicolas intrepidus Dei filium confessus est Cui tantam constantiam gratia divina concessit ut tyrannicae potestatis praecepta contemneret innumerabilium non formidaret tormenta poenarum Id est George the most faithfull Soldier of IESUS CHRIST when as Religion was else every
where dissembled adventur'd boldly to cōfesse the name of GOD to whom it pleas'd the Lord to give so much of Heavenly grace that he not onely scorn'd the tyrants but contemned their torments This I find cyted by Hermanus Schedel in his Chronica Chronicorum and out of him by Bergomensis since by Molanus jn his Annotations upon Vsuards Martyrologie Iacobus de Voragine relyeth also in one passage on the authority of Ambrose so doth Vincentius and Antoninus Florentinus The treatise out of which his testimonie is avouch'd is by them call'd Liber praefationum not now extant Wicelius who doth also build on the authoritie of this Reverend Father saith that the booke is long since perish'd so perish'd as it seems that there is nothing left of it but the name and some scattered remnants Whether St. Ambrose were or not the Author of that treatise I cannot easily determine because in Possevin I find no mention of this tract who yet hath tooke upon him to marshall all the Workes of that excellent man even those also which are lost Yet on the other side his testimony vouch'd by Authors of that antiquity as those before recyted assure mee at the least so farre that such a worke was in their times receiv'd as his Adde unto this that Vossius reckoneth him with the Latine Historians in his late booke of that argument as having writ the lives of many of the Saints of Theodora namely of St. Celsus and Nazarius of St. Gervase and Protasius and as the Papists say of Agnes Which being so I must crave longer time before I shall reject these words ascribed unto him or not esteeme them true and worthy to be credited though not so fully as to build upon them altogether 8 But of our next witnesse there is lesse doubt and a larger testimonie though in his words we meet with somewhat which requires a Commentarie A witnesse which hath beene examined on the adverse part already where he was able to say nothing I meane Gelasius Pope of Rome and his so memorated Canon This Pope began his Papacie Anno 492. and dyed in 96. some foure yeares after About his time and long before it the Heretickes had busily employed themselves to falsifie the publike Acts and writings of the Church w ch thing they had effected so according to their wish that now it was high time to have a carefull eye upon them or else it may be they might have growne too potent to be easily suppress'd For this cause Pope GELASIUS having assembled 72. of his neighbour Prelates unto Rome did then and there with their advise and by their diligent assistance contrive a Catalogue of all such dangerous writings as were thought fit to be rejected giving to those which they accounted true orthodoxe the place and honour due unto them Which Canon since it is alleaged against us thereby to overthrow the History of our St. GEORGE we will in this place bring into the open view as much of it as concernes the businesse now in hand that so we may encounter them with their owne weapons The Canon is as followeth Gesta S. Martyrum qui multiplicibus tormentorum cruciatibus mirabilibus confessionum triumphis irradiant quis ita esse Catholicorum dubitet maiora eos in agonibus esse perpessos nec suis viribus sed dei gratia adiutorio universa tolerasse Sed ideo secundùm consuetudinem antiquam singulari cautela in Sancta Rom. Ecclesia non leguntur quia eorum qui scripsere nomina penitus ignorantur ab infidelibus idiotis superfluè vel minus aptè quam rei ordo fuerit scripta esse putantur Sicut cuiusdam Quiriaci Iulittae matris eius sicut Georgij aliorumque passiones huiusmodi quae ab haereticis perhibentur conscriptae propter quod ut dictum est ne vel levius subsannandi occasio oriretur in S. Romana Ecclesiâ non leguntur No◠tamen cum praedicta Ecclesia omnes Martyres atque eorum gloriosos agones qui Deo magis quam hominibus noti sunt cum omni devotione veneramur So farre the very words and letters of the Canon 9 By this it doth appeare that as the Saints in generall so also particularly St. GEORGE had beene abused and counterfeited in his Story in the close of the same Canon therefore it is reckon'd as Apochryphall as were a great many others of the same temper The reason why it was so reckon'd is by our latter writers diversly related Raphael Volaterran makes it to bee rejected onely so much of it as concernes St. Georges combat with the Dragon which also is assign'd by Antoninus amongst other causes but by neither rightly For in those times and many hundred yeares behind them the fable of the Dragon was not so much as thought of in the Church Christian. Iacobus de Voragine more nearely to the truth Ex eo quòd Martyrium eius certam relationem non habet because the storie of his death is told us in most perplext and uncertaine manner In Calendario n. Bedae c. For in the Calendar of Bede we find saith he that he was martyred in Diospolis a Towne of Persia in others that he lyeth buried in Diospolis not farre from Ioppe In some that he did suffer under Diocletian and Maximinian Emperours in others under Diocletian King of the Persians no lesse than 70. tributarie Kings being in presence Somewhat I say of this was rightly aym'd at by this blind archer but Bede is brought in by him somewhat too early as beeing a Post-natus scarce borne within two centuries of yeares succeeding But what need more conjectures or what use indeed is there of any since the same Canon which hath decreed the History of George then extant to be Apocryphall hath also told us that it was generally beleev'd to have beene writ by Hereticks This is inough to make the History of any S. suspected Apocryphall and that it was so written may easily appeare by that which was related in it touching Athanasius and the Empresse Alexandra not to omit that terrible massacre which by a cheating tricke he made of many of the people branded by ANTONINUS as before we noted 10 Hitherto have we spoken of GELASIUS Canon and nothing all this while which may redound from thence to St. GEORGES credit Nothing indeed in that which hath beene spoken hitherto because we were to lay our ground before we rais'd our building But that now done and the full meaning of the Canon duely pondered it will appeare for certaine that though Gelasius taxed the storie of St. GEORGE as dangerous and Apocryphall yet he hath done the Saint himselfe all due respects and confirm'd him to us This I did note before ou◠of the words of Bellarmine in a reply to Dr. Boys who needs would have both Bellarmine and Pope Gelasius speake for him in making our St. GEORGE to be a meere Chimaera or thing of nothing