fountain of the laws By these Governours and Deputies agreeeing together Tributes are exacted and Taxes levied According to an order of the Senate held at Lyncopen 1599 they were to keep Courts of Justice twice in every year all of them meeting in the Winter time about February at Vpsal at the publick Fair called Disting and in Summer at Lyncopen States or Orders of men in this Kingdom there are says Bureus six 1. Princes of the Blood Royal Nobility Clergy Souldiery Merchantry and Commonalty 1. Princes of the Blood The Princes of the Blood-Royal are disposed of by the King according to their age and capacity The eldest as was said is Heir apparent to the Crown The younger are commonly created Dukes and made Governours of Provinces of Vpsal first and the rest in order of dignity These after the death of their elder brother if he dye without issue have right to succeed in the Throne 2. Nobility The Nobility which is said to have descended from King Ingon or Harold of Norway and spred through Germany Suitzerland Spain c. when the Goths invaded the Roman Empire It is divided into three ranks or orders 1. Consists of Earls and Barons or Franck-Barons The Earls Jerl anciently were created only upon extraordinary accounts as were also their Dukes called Hertog neither of their titles being then hereditary A war happening between them and some of their Kings their Honour and Titles were for some ages quite laid aside till King Ericus XIV about the year 1560 first of all renewed these lost Titles and restored them to their owners which gracious favour of his was follow'd by his successors they not only conferring like honour during life but at present making it hereditary The second consists of those whose ancestors have been advanc't to the honour of Senators of the Kingdom The third sort is made up of those who are neither Counts nor Barons and whose ancestors have not been of the Senatorian Order of these Orders may be either their Knights for their valour created by the King whose Titles are not transmitted to their Heirs tho frequently upon equal desert confer'd on them or Gentlemen who are the lowest degree of the Nobility anciently called Affwappen either because they were expert in war or bore a Coat of Arms. All these Noblemen enjoy great priviledges and immunities All their estates are free from taxes and impositions so much only out of the Lands of Earls and Barons excepted as they at their creation receive of the King for which they pay some acknowledgment to the Crown only in time of war and all exigences whatever they are obliged to fit out horses and men for the Kings service proportionable to their estates Out of these are commonly elected the Senators Judges and chief Officers of the Kingdom men of low birth tho of considerable parts seldom advancing themselves into places of great trust and employment in Civil affairs in Ecclesiastical more frequently The estates of these Noblemen are inherited as well by their daughters as their sons the son if one having half and a daughter three parts of them which custom King Bergerus Jerl is said to have made and brought in about four ages ago 3. The Clergy Clergy concerning whom what we find is set down under Vpsal 4. The Souldiery 〈◊〉 which enjoys very great priviledges from the King as soon as any is listed Souldier he has over and above his ordinary pay all his Lands Tax-free if in time of war a Souldiers horse be killed under him the King provides him with another and if any be taken Captive by the Enemy the King redeems him at his own charges and such like which we shall mention when we speak of the Forces of the Kingdom 5. The Merchantry Merchantry in whose possession the most considerable part of the riches of the Kingdom is kept and by whose procurement forreign Commodities are imported For the good government and benefit of these every Maritime City and Mart-Town had anciently their particular Municipal Laws derived from Berca the ancient seat of their Kings and about 600 year ago a Town of the greatest trade in the Kingdom by these it was ordered how and in what manner the Maritime Cities might exercise Trade as well with Inland Towns as Forreigners what Commodities they might traffick with not hindring one anothers commerce c. These laws were by the Civil wars in the Kingdom quite neglected and for a long time out of use but by the care of some of the late Kings they or some equivalent to them begin to be restored and put in Execution 6 The last and lowest state Commonalty and as it were the Basis of the rest is the Commonalty called Bond or Beond of which there are two sorts 1. Named Scatbonder who have Hereditary Lands priviledges of fishing and fowling c. belonging to them these in time of war are bound to fit out one Horse and Man for the Kings service The second sort are those that labour in the Mines called Bergs-men no less profitable to the publick then the former and enjoy no less priviledges and immunities both possessing Estates and Fishery of their own and like the Commons of England having their Representatives in the publick Council of the Kingdom Of these some by reason of their freedom and advantage of Education which is denyed the Pesantry of other Countrys sometimes arrive at great honours in Church and State the famous King Ericus furnamed the Saint is said to have been a Country-mans son The Swedes as all other Nations were for a long time governed only by the laws of nature the confus'd edicts of their Kings Decrees of the States and Responses of the wise till about the year 1251 Bergerus Jerl compiled a body of Laws and Constitutions for the Kingdom collected out of the former These before the invention of Paper were engraven upon large wooden Posts thereby after the manner of the Romans and Athenians to be promulgated to the people They were commonly very short and general as designing the decision of particular cases to the publick Magistrates Besides these they had upon any emergent difficulties other ancient Laws which they called Recessus Regni and other ancient Statutes of the Kingdom by which only great controversies were decided At present the Courts of Justice are more regular and for the speedier execution of it there are in the whole Kingdom five supream Courts of Judicature 1. The Kings Chamber which is divided into three ranks or degrees 1. Supream in which all Cases twixt Senator and Senator brought thither by Appeal are decided 2. The Middle in which are determined actions of Treason and all others betwixt Noblemen Lagmen and publick Officers 3. The lowest where ordinary Trials are decided whether Civil or Criminal where it is judged whether the procedure in Inferiour Courts in actions brought thence by Appeal has been Legal or not From this Court there lies no
Christian Whereupon he was baptized in the year 826 and immediately restored to his dominions But soon after he renounced Christianity and continued Heathen till reclaim'd by St. Anschar who for his good offices in the Northern Kingdoms was made Archbishop of Hamburgh in the year 835. 2. Eric succeeded his brother Harald with whom he had been baptized in Germany in his Kingdom and cruelty against the the Christians In his days about the year 853 the Danes first enter'd France under the command of their Captain Rollo though others more probably relate him not to have been the first of those Northern Rovers that invaded France but to have succeeded to Gotfrid and to have entred France about the year 876 and not to have been peaceably settled in Normandy till 889 or 890 see the History of the life of King Aelfred and seated themselves in that part which has ever since kept the name of Normandy 3. Eric Barn or the Child being the only male left alive of the Royal Family after the bloody wars between his predecessor and Guthorm King of Norway He begun his reign happily having married the daughter of King Guthorm but within awhile he grew more cruel then any of his Ancestors had been slaying more Bishops and destroying more Churches and Religious Houses both in Germany and England then all the rest of the Danish Kings put together In his German wars he slew Brunno Duke of Saxony and twelve Counts He dyed about the year 902. 4. Canutus the Hairy or Lodneknudt succeeded his father Eric In his days saith King Eric in his Chronicon every third man in Denmark went by lot to seek his fortune so that those who marched off over-run all Prussia Semgal Curland and several other Countries whence they never return'd but there they and their posterity have continued to this day He dyed a Heathen about the year 912. 5. After the death of Canutus the Danish Scepter was given to Frotho his son so say the most credible Historians tho Lindenbruch reports that his brother Sueno reigned nine years He was twenty years King of England and Denmark in the former of which he was baptized and dyed a good Christian 6. Gormo Gormund or Guthrum surnam'd Hartesnute and Engelender because born in England succeeded his father He together with his followers was baptized at Aalre in Sommersetshire and had our Learned and Pious King Aelfred to his Godfather who at the Font gave him the name of Athelstane and afterwards bestowed on him the Kingdom of the East-Angles From this Gormo a Village near Huntingdon call'd at this day by the inhabitants corruptly Godman-Chester had its name Gormon-Chester As Cambden proves from that old Verse Gormonis a Castri nomine nomen habet I am very unwilling I must confess to confound this Gormo with King Aelfred's God-son who as far as we can learn from English writers never sat in the Throne of Denmark neither do the times agree But the Danish Historians will have it so and 't is in vain to seek for satisfaction in the midst of such confusion as we meet with in their writings 7. Harald surnam'd Blaatand succeeded his father Gormo In his days the Danes threw up that famous Trench between Gottorp and Sleswic call'd Dannewirck of which we shall have occasion to speak more hereafter 8. Sueno or Svenotho surnamed Tuiskeg i. e. fork'd-beard succeeded Harald At first he was an Heathen and a severe persecutor of the Christians but afterwards he turned Christian himself and founded three Bishopricks at Sleswic Ripe and Arhuse Some say he dyed in the year 1012 and was buried at York others make him live till the year 1014 and bring him to his grave in Denmark 9. Canutus the Great son to Sueno He was at once King of England Denmark Sweden Norway Slavonia and Sambland some make him King or Duke at least of Normandy And this seems to be the meaning of that old Distich which not reckoning either Slavonia or Sambland a Kingdom brings him in thus speaking of himself Facta mihi Magni pepererunt inclyta nomen Quinque sub imperio regna fuere meo He was buried at Winchester in the year 1036 after he had been twenty-seven years King of Denmark twenty-four of England and seven of Norway leaving the Kingdom of Denmark to his son 10. Hardi-Cnute who within four years obtain'd the Kingdom of England upon the death of hs brother Harald Here he dyed in the year 1041 and was buried by his father in the Cathedral at Winchester 11. Magnus King of Norway seized on the Kingdom of Denmark upon the death of Hardi-Cnute pretending a title to it by contract But he enjoy'd it not long He dyed in the year 1048 and left the Kingdom to 12. Sveno Esthret son on one Vlf an English Earl He dyed in the year 1074 and left behind him five sons who all of them sate successively in their fathers Throne 13. Harald Sveno's eldest son held the Scepter only two years He was a soft easie and timorous Prince afraid to punish offenders or to look an enemy in the face So that the English making use of the opportunity shook off the Danish yoke without any considerable molestation 14. St. Canutus King Swain's second son was barbarously murder'd in St. Alban's Church in Odensee a City in the Isle of Funen whither he fled for sanctuary from the rage of his own Subjects in the year 1088 Pontanus says 1077 The occasion was this The pious King commanded that all his Subjects should pay Tythes according to the custom of other Nations This Edict was represented to the people by his brother Olaf who long'd for the Crown as an encroachment upon the priviledges and liberty of the Subject Whereupon they quickly rose in open rebellion against their Soveraign who to appease the rage of the rabble was martyr'd 15. Olaf Swain's third son upon the slaughter of his brother Cnute which he traiterously had procured was by his followers unanimously declared King But his brothers blood went not long unrevenged For in this Kings days the famine was so great in Denmark that even the Kings Houshold wanted bread Olaf at last sensible that this judgment was inflicted on the Kingdom for his sins pray'd that God would turn the current of his vengeance from the people upon his head that had offended His prayers were heard and the same night in the year 1096 he dyed hungry and miserable and the famine immediately abated 16. Eric Swain's fourth son surnam'd the Good for his religious zeal and piety who dyed in his pilgrimage towards Jerusalem and was buryed in the Isle of Cyprus in the year 1106. In his days Lunden was made an Archbishops See before which time all the Danish Bishops were under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Bremen 17. Nicolas Sveno's youngest son He was slain by the Jutes in revenge of Cnute Duke of Flanders whom he had caused to be killed in the Church in the year
nearest distance betwixt the two places measured by the arc of a great Circle is the other side But this case hath so many varieties and intricacies that it will be too tedious to set down the whole operation especially because it is in effect the same problem with that in Navigation Having the difference of Longitude and Latitude betwixt two places to find out the degrees of the Rumb leading to them which may be more properly demonstrated in another Volume to be set forth concerning such matters An easie method and sufficiently accurate for ordinary use is to extend your Compasses from one place to the other and then to apply them to the Equator and mark how many degrees they set off there which being multiplied by 60 gives their distance in miles But indeed the most accurate observers find that about 66 miles and a quarter answer to a degree in the Equator so that 60 is used only for the roundness of the number and readiness of computation every mile according to this rate answering to a minute which would be a very strange and happy chance if it were exactly so This may be discovered by several ways but the most practicable and certain is by taking the height of the Pole at two places distant Northward one from the other about an hundred miles or as much more as may be and then taking the true distance and situation of one place from the other by a large surveying Instrument and Scale made by an accurate workman not going always along the High-ways but from bystations observing Churches and such remarkable places The miles and other measures are so much different in one Nation from what they are in another yea in one part of the same Nation from what they are in another that they cannot without a great deal of difficulty and uncertainty be reduced to one common standard hence it is that often in the same Map we have a triple scale of miles the longest shortest and mean ones The Italian mile is commonly reckon'd equal to the English Two of these make a French League somewhat more then three of them a Spanish League four of them a German mile five and somewhat more a Swedish or Danish mile What hath been farther attempted for the reduction of shorter foreign measures to our English foot may be seen in the following table  English Feet Inch. 10th part English Foot 00 12 00 Rynland or Lynden which was the old Roman Foot 01 00 04 Leyden Ell 02 03 01 Paris Foot 01 00 08 Lyon Ell 03 11 07 Bologna Ell 02 00 08 Amsterdam Foot 00 11 03 Ell 02 03 02 Brill Foot 01 01 02 Dort Foot 01 02 02 Antwerp Foot 00 11 03 Ell 02 03 03 Lorain Foot 00 11 04 Mechlin Foot 00 11 00 Middleburg Foot 00 11 09 Strasburg Foot 00 11 00 Bremen Foot 00 11 06 Cologn Foot 00 11 04 Frankford and Menain Foot 00 11 04 Ell 01 09 09 Hamburg Ell 01 10 08 Leipsig Ell 02 03 01 Lubic Ell 01 09 08 Noremburgh Foot 01 00 01 Ell 02 03 03 Bavaria Foot 00 11 04 Vienna Foot 01 00 06 Spanish or Castile Palm 00 09 00 Spanish Vare or Rod 03 00 00 Foot 01 00 00 Lisbon Vare 02 09 00 Gibralter Vare 02 09 01 Toledo Foot 00 10 07 Vare 02 08 02 Roman Larger Foot 00 11 01 Roman Lesser Foot 00 11 06 Roman Palm ten making a Canna 00 08 08 Bononia Foot 01 02 04 Ell 02 01 07 Perch 12 00 05 Florence Ell or Brace 01 11 00 Naples Palm 00 09 06 Brace 02 01 02 Canna 06 10 05 Genoa Palm 00 09 06 Mantoua Foot 01 06 08 Milan Calamus 06 06 05 Parma Cubit 01 10 04 Venice Foot 01 01 09 Dantzick Foot 00 11 03 Ell 01 10 08 Copenhagen Foot 00 11 06 Prague in Bohemia Foot 01 00 03 Riga Foot 01 09 09 China Cubit 01 00 02 Turin Foot 01 00 07 Cairo Cubit 01 09 09 Persian Arash 03 02 03 Constantinople greater Pike 02 02 04 Greek Foot 01 00 01 PAge 7. col 2. l. 29. in the Transactions of the Royal Society ann 1674 n. 101 it is mentioned that the Grand Tzaar sent to discover Nova Zembla and found it a Peninsula join'd to Tartary as in the Map which if true we cannot well imagine how Barents should winter upon it nor how divers other relations agree to it as concerning Waygatz and the like tho the French Surgeon seems to make it also continued to the main land In sum it is most probable that very little of those parts is discovered they who sail thither not tracing from Port to Port but because of the ill weather harbouring where they first approach and departing as soon as they can In the year 1676 the industrious and ingenious Seaman Capt. Wood was again sent out by his Majesty King Charles II. to make a more perfect discovery of that North-East passage perswaded unto it by divers relations of our own and Dutch Mariners who reported many things concerning it which Capt. Wood upon his own experience conceives to be false as that they were either under or near the Pole that it was there all thaw'd water and the weather as warm as at Amsterdam c. He saith further that himself could pass no further then 76 deg where he found the Sea as far as he could discern entirely frozen without intermission That it is most likely that Nova Zembla and Greenland are the same Continent at least that there is no passage between them for that he found scarce any current and that little which was ran E. S. E. along the ice and seemed only to be a small tide rising not above eight foot That whilst he was in that degree there was nothing but Fogs Frost Snow and all imaginable ill weather tho at the same time the heat seemed to be as great as at any time in England That the land where not cover'd with Snow was so boggy that they could not walk upon it being grown over with a deep moss under which they dug in less then two foot to a firm body of ice so that it was impossible to make any Cave for their winter-lodging had they been forced to it There were great store of rills of very good waters and some veins of black Marble The point he landed at he call'd Speedill point in 76 deg 30 min. the Sea-water was extraordinary salt and so clear that he could see the shells at 80 fathoms deep The like opinion also Capt. James hath deliver'd concerning the North-West passage which is That there is no passing that way to China Japan c. because there is a constant tide ebb and flood setting into Hudsons Straits the flood still coming from the Eastward which as it procedes correspondent to the distance it alters its time of full Sea which also entring into Bays and broken ground becomes distracted and reverseth with half tides 2. Because he found
so well stored with inhabitants especially in Suecia and Gothia places so far removed from the Mount Ararat which is generally supposed to be Caucasus upon which as many Authors are of opinion Noah's Ark rested as to be forced by reason of the multitude of them to send out Colonies into other Countries yet as to the evincing an emigration into these western and southern parts very anciently to have been it is by Jornandes Crantzius and all Swedish writers unanimously approv'd to whom we refer the Reader for further satisfaction in so difficult and obscure a controversie This people tho at present united under the same Government and Laws with the Swedes The 〈…〉 and commonly passing under the same name with them was anciently different from them as well in their manners as their policy whereupon it may not be amiss to set down in this place what occurs amongst Authors as proper to this Nation in relation to their manners and customs which may probably seem to have been the same not only in Scandia but also in all the other parts of Europe and Asia which they subdued and whither they extended their dominion they always ruling by their own Laws and Constitutions which they suffer'd not to be translated into any other language but always published in their own not only making those they overcame their subjects but by instilling their customs and manners into them as much as possible the same Nation This piece of policy was practised by William the Conquerer here in England who caused all our Laws to be turned into the French language that thereby this Nation might in time forget its own tongue and be better disposed to endure his yoke That the Goths were always a warlike people their several swarmings into other neighbouring Countries and the great victories they obtain'd over them do fully manifest Mela does not only commend them for their courage but their honesty and plain-dealing who says Of all the Thracians it seems they had in his time advanc'd into and been considerable in the more Southern parts of the world the Goths or Getes are the most valiant and the most just And this their courage in war was from the belief they had of the immortality of their souls a doctrine they receiv'd from Zamolxes their great King and Prophet according to Lucan lib. 2. De bello Pharsal where speaking of the Goths he says certe populi quos despicit Arctos Faelices errore suo quos ille timorum Maximus haud urget Lethi metus inde ruendi In ferrum mens prona viris animaeque capaces Mortis ignavum rediturae parcere vitae Their education and usage whilst young was such as best fitted them for warlike enterprizes and couragious exploits for their children as soon as born were dipp'd over head and ears first in cold then in hot water and as the Spartan children used to be whipp'd at the Altars of their Gods these were constantly lash'd with scourges till the blood gushed out thereby to inure them to hardship nor when they were grown up were their exercises or employments any other then such as agreed best with men of a military constitution They practis'd Tilts and Turnaments as did also the Swedes riding the great Horse vaulting c. and for recreation Chess-play As any one exceeded another in rank and quality so more and more noble performances were expected from them their Kings sons being never admitted to sit at table with or scarce come into the presence of their fathers before they had received some signal testimony of their courage from the very chief of their enemies as is reported of the Longabards a people says Wolf Lazius anciently inhabiting Scandia who under the conduct of Alvinus son to their King Odvinus obtaining a great victory over the Gepidae requested that their General who with his own hand had slain the King of the Gepidae's son might be admitted to sit with him at the publick or triumphal Banquet but the King refused their address and told them that it was against the custom of theirs and the Gothick Nation in general that their Kings son should be permitted to eat with his father before he had commendations of his valour from another Prince This the son hearing took with him forty soldiers went to Jurismundus's Camp so was the King of the Gepidae named and telling him he was the man who slew his son in battel desired of him a testimonial of his courage the King admiring his boldness courteously received him placed him by him in his dead sons room and giving him the armour which he used to bear peaceably dismissed him Lovers they were tho no great practisers of Learning and according to the character Johannes Magnus gives of them easier drawn by perswasion then command as always hating and thinking it unworthy themselves to be inferior to any in knowledg or courage Towards their friends courteous towards their enemies if obstinate cruel and revengeful if submissive none more merciful and kind and no Nation readier then the Goths to accept a parley or any overture of peace Their wives of which they as also the Scythians were allow'd plurality were not less valorous considering their sex then their husbands they accompany'd them in all dangers and frequently taking up arms made a great and considerable part of their army as they are said to have done in Thracia and Maesia when they were set upon by Claudius the Roman Commander Yet did not the women always and upon every Colony and Detachment of Goths sent out of Scandia several of which are mentioned by Wolf Lazius follow their husbands for the Laws commanding the men to return into their own Country or to forfeit their Estates every one that presum'd to be absent after such a time being thereby adjudged dead in Law and his next heir to enter upon his inheritance were chiefly procured by the women whom the Goths at their departure had left in Suecia and Gothia The Virgins were taken in marriage without any other dowry then their own perfections to commend them to their husbands choice never having any portions given them Adultery amongst them was punished by death with many such-like customs which may be gather'd out of their Laws publish'd by Isidore Bishop of Sevil in Spain Their manner of Government was the best Their Government and according to Aristotle's opinion the most natural of any the Monarchical their King when distinct from the Swedish not being bound in any Covenant with his people nor holding his Estate at the Will of the Subject whereupon perhaps their Kingdom was more considerable in it self and more terrible to its enemies as being more expeditious in its determinations and united in its designs then a Democratical State is frequently found to be Their Kings did not only bear rule over the Goths their own Nation but after their uniting with the Swedes sometimes commanded that people also tho at present the King
to teach him and his Subjects in that Religion Ethelred accordingly order'd Sigfridus Arch-bishop of York and with him two Priests Eschillas and Davidus to go into Sweden where the King kindly receiv'd them was by them baptiz'd and at their intreaty built Christian Churches in most Provinces of his Dominions and as some say by reason of his great constancy and zeal in his Religion had the name of Christianissimus given him He among several good Laws and Constitutions order'd that the chief power of electing the Kings of Sweden should not belong to the Goths in any case but principally to the Swedes and that they before call'd Kings of Vpsal should be thenceforth stil'd Kings of Swedland and Gothland This King suppress'd Duelling and the Runick Characters introduc'd the trial by Fire Ordeal and dyed in a happy old age 98. Anundus nick-named Carbonarius because he order'd that whosoever offended against the Laws which he had promulgated should in proportion to the crime either have all his house or part of it burnt down He was educated in the Christian Religion by the care of his father Olaus which in his reign he defended and dyed peaceably 99. Enundus base-son to Olaus and brother to Anundus surnam'd Gammel i. e. base from his contempt of Religion or as some are of opinion because he yeilded up to the Crown of Denmark Schonen Blekingia and Hallandia which belong'd to him as being part of the Kingdom of Gothia 100. Haquinus III. surnam'd Rufus 101. Stenchillus II. bred up in the Christian Religion which he very much encouraged amongst his subjects making his Palace a sanctuary for any that were persecuted in any parts of his dominions for that profession 102. Ingo III. Not descended from the Blood-Royal but for his singular virtues elected King by the voices of the people He is said to have been so exact an observer of his own Laws that he never offended against any of them 103. Halstanus a just and peaceable Prince 104. Philippus 105. Ingo IV. in his progress through his dominions by some of his Courtiers poison'd at a small Village in Ostro-Gothia 106. Ragvaldus surnam'd Knaphofde i. e. cock-brain'd elected by the Swedes without the consent of the Goths which they not enduring as thinking it a breach of their priviledges rebell'd against him and in battel slew him For one to succeed him both Nations pitch'd upon 107. Suercherus II who as he was going to Church on Christmas day was by a Ruffian employ'd by one Scatelerus who hop'd to obtain the Crown after his death miserably assassinated Gothick Kings out of their own Country who reign'd over the Goths while they inhabited about the River Vistula or Weissel and also in Dacia and Thracia near that time when according to some Authors they divided themselves into Ostro and Westro-Goths 1. Anthinus 2. Antheas 3. Gothilas a Famous Queen whose Daughter Medumpa was married to Philip King of Macedonia 4. Sitalcus elected King An. ante Christum 300. He with an army of 150000 men lay'd wast all the Country of Greece 5. Dromgethes 6. Tanobonta 7. Boroista cotemporary with Sylla the Roman Dictator who lived An. ante nat Christ 76. 8. Commositus both King and Priest 9. Corillus under whose conduct the Goths says Lazius first of all invaded Dacia 10. Dorpaneus co-temporary with Domitian the Roman Emperor An. Christ 83. 11. Decebalus 12. Ostrogotha 13. Cinna or Omba 14. Cannabas or Canabandes 15. Hildericus surnam'd Ovida who liv'd in the time of Constantine the Great 16. Gebeticus 17. Armanaricus who was says Damasc suppl Eutrop. overcome by the Hunns and made Tributary to them 18. Vinnitarius 19. Hunimundus 20. Totismundus 21. Alaricus and Fridigernus who as Lazius mentions reign'd at the same time in Thracia they defeated the Roman Forces sent against them commanded by Valens the Emperor whom they put to flight and apprehending him in a small Cottage whither he had fled to hide himself burnt him to death 23. Theomarus who conquer'd Maesia 24. Radagaisus who to Maesia added a great part of Pannonia An. Christ 390. 25. Alvaricus a Potent King 26. Alaricus II. who subdued all Illyricum and extended his Arms as far as Italy Arcadius and Honorius sons to Theodosius the Emperor either for some private ends wishing the success or not being able to withstand the power of his Forces and thereupon not timely preventing his designs he sack'd Rome subdued Naples and overran the greatest part of that Country But at last the Goths were by Stilico General of the Roman Army driven out of Italy and after their departure thence they are said to have sate down in France The Ostro-Gothish Kings who ruled in Italy according to Wolf Lazius 1. Alaricus I. 2. Theodericus whom Leo or as Scalig. Zeno the Emperor made his adopted son he expell'd the Heruli out of Italy and wholly subjected it to the power of the Goths he had one daughter nam'd Amalasuentha 3. Theodatus or as Jornandes has it Eutharicus call'd out of France by the Italick Goths to be their King 4. Alaricus II though he was the first of that name who setled in Italy 5. Alaricus III. 6. Athalaricus who had one only Daughter whom he married to Vittigis who maintain'd a war against Justinian the Emperor for about fourteen years and defended himself bravely against the Roman Power 7. Illovadus he was kill'd in battel by Narses the Roman General 8. Alaricus IV. who reigned only five months 9. Totylas or Odilo 10. Teias the last Gothish King in Italy who himself was kill'd by the Romans and his people almost all rooted out and destroyed by them some few only remaining who mixing and incorporating with the Italians at present pass for the same Nation with them Westro or Wiso-Gothick Kings who reign'd in Gallia Lugdunensis and Aquitanica 1. Alaricus I. who as was said conducted the Gothick people into those parts An. Salut 411. 2. Austulphus son to Alaricus 3. Theodericus kill'd by Attyla King of the Hunns 4. Turismundus son to Theodericus who to revenge his fathers death waged war with the Hunns and overcame them 5. Dietmarus in whose time a great part of the Goths under the conduct of one Vallia went into Spain 6. Gundoccarus in the time of Theodosius junior After his reign the Goths in these parts grew inconsiderable as intermixing themselves with other people and not having a distinct King of their own but being subjected to many other Princes Besides these Gothish Kings which we have mentioned there were many other who ruled over the Wiso-Goths in Spain and the adjacent parts a Catalogue of whom we leave to be set down in Spain and Arragon and the Kingdoms where they reigned for the Goths in those parts blending with the Romani Alani Suevi Mauri Saraceni c. did not so much continue a distinct Nation of themselves as become a people incorporated with those of other Nations or these with the Goths so that they were ruled by
England the Art of Printing The King furnish'd him with seven hundred Marks and Thomas Boucher Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of Oxford who put the King upon this business contributed three hundred more to carry on the design For some time Tourner did nothing but travel up and down with Caxton who traded at Amsterdam and Leyden and could never come at Harlem because the Citizens were cautious of admitting any stranger that might cheat them of the Monopoly of this new Art At last after the King had sent him a new supply of five hundred Marks he agreed with Frideric Corsellis one that wrought at the Press to steal away from his Trade and come over with him into England Which according to contract he did and set up a public Print-house at Oxford Where a strong Guard continually attended him till others had learned his Art for fear he should make an escape before he had perform'd his promise Not long after this there was a Print-house set up at Westminster another at St. Albans a third at Worcester and many others in several Monasteries The oldest Book we find printed at Westminster is Caxton's Chronicle of the Kings of England which was published in the year 1480. Boterus who is follow'd by some late Authors that rely too much upon his authority affirms that the Chinois had the use of Printing amongst them above a thousand years before 't was known in Europe and that the Europeans are not beholden to their own ingenuity for the discovery but the good nature of these strangers who imparted the secret to them But if this be true why then did not Marcus Venetus bring over the Art with him to Venice Rome or Naples that so the Italians might have had the credit of being the first Teachers or Restorers at least for Boter hardly allows the Germans any better title of the Art of Printing in Europe When this question is press'd home to Boter he is forc'd to confess tho unwillingly I Tedeschi sono stati Inventori della stampa dell'artigliaria et dell ' horologio a mota cose Nobilissime i. e. The Germans have been Authors of three noble Inventions Printing Guns and Clocks I do not find any great reason to believe the Germans to have been the first Inventors of Clock-work Clock-work tho they are as likely men if Histories would allow us to fix our conjectures upon them as any in the world But I am afraid Boter injures his own Country in ascribing this to the High Dutch The first man whom the Latin Historians mention as the contriver of an Engine in this kind is Severinus Boetius a famous Philosopher and Nobleman of Rome We meet with a Letter from Theodoric King of the Goths to this Boetius to beg a Clock of him to present to his Brother-in-law Gundibald King of Burgundy in which Letter he calls this Engine Machinam mundo gravidam coelum gestabile rerum compendium i. e. A Machine that encircled the world a portable Heaven an abstract of the Universe But however none have more improved the Art of making Clocks and Watches then the Germans The Emperor Charles the Fifth had a Watch in the Jewel of his Ring and our King James had the like both which were made in Germany In the Town-hall of Prague there is a Clock that shews the annual and periodical motions of the Sun and Moon the names and numbers of the Months Days and Festivals of the whole Year the time of the Sun 's rising and setting the rising of the Twelve Signs in the Zodiac and lastly the Age of the Moon with its several Aspects In the Elector of Saxony's Stable at Dresden there is a Saddle which in the pommel hath a gilded head with eyes continually moving and in the hinder part of it a Clock which shews exactly the hour of the day These and the like knacks are ordinary in every part of Germany but the most famous in its kind is the great Clock at Strasburg of which a full account shall be given when we come to treat of that City Tycho Brahe tells us that William Lantgrave of Hassia had spent much study in contriving a way to regulate Clocks and Watches that the former should not gain nor the latter lose any thing in their motion but what success he met with that great Astronomer does not inform us This in great measure is now perform'd by the regulation which is given to motion by the Pendulum and farther emprovements are projected by some ingenious members of our Royal Society at London and 't is hoped they will be shortly able to give the world a good and satisfactory account how they have sped in the enterprize The High Dutch have far outgone the rest of the European Artificers at the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or ingenious knacks and extravagances of Art then which nothing more demonstrates the excellency and curious skill of a workman One of these not many years presented the Landtgrave of Hassia with a Bear and Lion of pure Gold which were hollow within and each of them about the length of a man's middle finger Every part and lineament in them was proportionable to their length and both together weighed no more then a French Crown The most curious man in this kind which ever the German Nation bred was Johannes Regiomontanus who as Keckerman tells the story when the Emperor Maximilian came to the City of Noremberg made a wooden Eagle which flew an English mile out of Town to meet him and return'd back with him to his Lodgings Peter Ramus reports of the same man that having invited some friends to a Feast to divert them he threw an iron Fly from his hand which flew round the Room and return'd to him again Engraving Painting Cutting of Seals c. are Arts which the High Dutch are almost generally well skill'd in Of the Religion of the Modern GERMANS WE have before given the Reader a view of the Idolatrous practices Ceremonies and Sacrifices of the Pagan Germans and shew'n how zealous they were in defending the Rites and Customs of their false Religion and how much honour and respect they paid their Priests and indeed all others who attended upon their Altars Nor shall we find them less zealous in maintaining the true Religion after their Conversion to Christianity A sufficient testimony of which we may have from the multitude of Monasteries Nunneries Bishoprics and Collegiate Churches which are every-where to be met with in Germany This great Country cannot be suppos'd to have been all converted at once but piecemeal and hardly one Province in it but had its different Apostle Theodoret mentions Germany as well as Britain amongst the Nations converted by the Apostles And the Historian who under the name of Dorotheus Bishop of Tyre publish'd a Synopsis of the Twelve Apostles and Seventy Disciples reports that St. Thomas the Apostle preach'd in Germany But these and the like stories have little of certainty
in them and therefore we shall not insist much upon the credit and authority of the Relators However the testimonies we have from Irenaeus and Tertullian are unquestionable and both of them mention the German Church So that we are sure that so much at least of Germany as was made subject to the Romans was a part of the true Church within the compass of the second Century since Irenaeus commends the orthodox opinions of the German Nation The Fable of St. Vrsula and her 11000 companions is ridiculous and was first contriv'd in the twelfth Century The Roman Martyrologers begin now to be asham'd of the story and therefore in their red letter'd Calendar instead of Vndecem mille Virgines they write Vrsula cum Sociis being loath to defraud the Church of an Holiday yet unwilling to impose such a palpable and incredible lye upon the Commonalty 'T is certain there were two German Bishops present at a Council held by Constantine the Great in the year 314. But all this proves no more then that Germania Prima and Secunda which were in those days two Roman Provinces were converted to Christianity In the eighth Century many of our English Divines were sent over into Germany by Egbert Archbishop of York to convert the Infidels in that Country among whom the chief were Willibrod Bishop of Vtrecht Willibald Bishop of Aichstat Swibert of Verdin Willibald of Bremen and Winifrid who for his good deeds got the surname of Boniface Archbishop of Mentz The last of these prov'd most fortunate in the undertaking and converted the greatest part of the Country between the Rhine and Weser The German writers acknowledg this man for the great Apostle of their Nation His Epistles published by Serrarius shew him to have been a very zealous man in his enterprize After him Charles the Great brought over the Saxons tho not without much bloodshed to Christianity and utterly extirpated Idolatry in most parts of his Empire The Bohemians and Moravians were not brought into the Church till some years after But of the Religion of these Countries with the Doctrines of John Huss and Jerom of Prague we shall speak elsewhere But the first beginning of the Reformation is that which will for ever magnifie the German Church Reformation M. Maier reckons this great work amongst the vera inventa Germaniae as if the Religion cried up by Luther had been a new thing and not a restoring of the ancient Doctrines of the Church This alteration in Religion was thus occasion'd In the year 1517 the Archbishop of Mentz being to pay to the Court of Rome a greater sum of money then he could conveniently raise in his own Territories got leave of the Pope to stock all the Markets in Germany with Indulgences and Pardons for all manner of sins past present and future Whereupon he dispatches one Frier Tekel his Agent with orders to cry these commodities in all the Mart-Towns in the Empire and to expose them to sale if Customers came in The Frier had serv'd an Apprenticeship to this trade and therefore knew how to make a good market if Luther had not appear'd against him But he upon the first noise of this business first protested against these proceedings and afterwards publicly oppos'd them This was a strange surprize to the Popish Agent who warn'd him under the penalty of being otherwise for ever excommunicated and condemn'd for an Heretic to reclaim his errors and suffer his Holiness's work to go on But Martin was too stout to be discouraged with threats or great words nay they serv'd only to provoke him the more In Wittemberg and Leipsic he immediately proclaimed war against all that should pretend to assert the Pope's power of granting Pardons and Indulgences Several disputes were held by him and his Converts in the University at Leipsic against the Popish party who when their arguments would not reclaim him branded him with the name of Heretic and forbad any to hear him under the pain of Excommunication But the Elector of Saxony's protection counterpois'd these rants and how successful Luther prov'd upon this encouragement is well enough known to the world This Elector was quickly follow'd by the Dukes of Brunswic and Lunenberg Wirtenberg Mecklenberg and Pomeren with the Marquess of Brandenburg Landtgrave of Hassia and most of the Imperial Cities These all jointly gave in a Protestation containing certain points in which they had dissented from the ordinary tenents of the Church of Rome to the Imperial Chamber at Spire in the year 1529 from which time they had the name of Protestants The year following they deliver'd in a Confession subscribed by them all unanimously at Augsburg thence call'd Augustana Confessio After this upon their refusal to recede from the opinions they had profess'd the Emperor Charles the Fifth thought to force a recantation with his Sword But after a long war and great slaughter on both sides the Emperor was glad to grant them at last a Toleration and authorize their Confession which was done at Passaw in the year 1552 and afterwards confirm'd to them at Augsburg in the year 1555. In the first beginning of the Reformation Luther took care to have the Bible translated into High Dutch and published all over Germany He compiled also new Catechisms to teach the children About the year 1519 Zuinglius a Canon of the Church at Zurich in Switzerland began first in those parts to dissent from the Church of Rome and declare against the fopperies of the Mass Images c. The good success which M. Luther had met with in the Western parts of Germany encouraged him in the undertaking and it was not long after that his Tenents spread themselves as wide as Luther's had done before For in the year 1526 the Mass was put down by an Order of the Senate in Zurich and within two years after Images were destroy'd at Bern. The clashing between him and Luther about the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the later asserting Consubstantiation and the former denying the Elements to be any more then bare Signs of Christs Body and Blood did not a little hinder the progress of Zuinglius's Doctrines and the Popish party were well pleased to see the Reformers jar among themselves They met at Marpurg in Hessen to try if they could possibly determine the controversies betwixt them but broke of without any agreement Upon this open war was proclaimed between them by the names of Sacramentarians and Vbiquitarians However Luther's credit still encreased in Saxony and the Territories of the Dukes before mention'd and Zuinglius was in as great request in Switzerland John Calvin succeeded Zuinglius in his place at Zurich adding several new opinions touching Predestination Free-will final Perseverance c. of his own to the Doctrines preach'd by his predecessor This enlarged the breach between the Lutherans and Calvinists for so the Zuinglians were now call'd and made them irreconcilable enemies But notwithstanding the bad language which Calvin's followers
the Reader for the Terra Sigillata found here in great quantities Reichenbach Polckenhahn Landeshut Freyberg Friedberg Fridland Zobten Waldberg and Gottesberg 3. Brieg BRIEG or Brig has its name from the Polish word Berega which signifies an exceeding high bank of a River such as this City is seated on The streets here are uniform enough and the houses generally built of stone St. Nicholas's Church is an high and stately old Fabrick beautified with two Towers and built after the ancient Franckish mode This whole City excepting only some few publick buildings was laid in ashes by the Hussites who overran a great part of Bohemia and Silesia in the year 1428. In the Dukedom of Brieg are reckon'd the Towns of Strelen Olau Nimptsch Pitschen Creutzburg Loben Michelau and little Oelsse The two Mine-Towns of Reichenstein and Silberberg are jointly subject to the Dukes of Brieg and Lignitz who are both of the same Family and descended from the ancient Hereditary Kings of Poland 4. Monsterberg MONSTERBERG or Munsterberg so called from the Monastery built in this place by the Emperor Henry the first the Founder of this City is seated not far from the head of the River Ola in a pleasant and fruitful plain The Town is neither large nor strong and has nothing in it of note but the School an old Castle and a fair Town-Hall In this Dukedom are the Towns of Franckenstein and Warta to which some Historians and Geographers are pleased to add Hainrichau Tepliwoda and Kamentz 5. OPPELEN is seated in a sandy and dry Oppelen but fruitful Country 'T is subject to the King of Poland who prevail'd with the Emperor to withdraw all his Forces and Subjects hence in the year 1647. Since which time the Citizens of Oppelen and all the Rusticks in the Villages near it speak the Polish language If strong Gates and thick Walls were proof against modern sieges this Town were sufficiently provided against the assaults of an Enemy but otherwise its fortifications are very mean and inconsiderable Among the many Towns and Villages in this Dukedom the most remarkable are little Glogaw Neustat Kosel Beudten Gleibitz Tost Strehlitz Falckenberg Zultz Rosenberg Lublinitz and Schurgast IX The Cities and Dukedoms of GROTKAW JEGERNDORF TROPPAU RATIBOR and TESCHEN CROTKAW is a City of no great 〈◊〉 bulk as its name seems to intimate but so well seated that 't is a proverb in this Country 'T is as impossible as for a Grotkawer to starve or freeze The reason of which expression is grounded upon each Burger's having a plentiful share in the adjacent Corn-fields and neighbouring Woods Most of the Houses in the Town are Wood-buildings only the Church Bishop's Palace and the Town-Hall are of stone The Dukedom of Grotkaw is subject to the King of Bohemia tho sometimes its Lieutenant is a Polander and contains in it the Cities of Neisse a place of great traffick Otmachau Wansen Ziegenhals Freywald Hozenplotz Jawernick Kaltenstein Patschkau Oyest Weidau and Zackmantel The great trade of this Country especially the Citizens of Neisse is in making and selling to the Merchants of Bohemia and Poland a sort of strong and durable Linnen-Cloth for Beds and Bolsters 2. JAGERNDORF Jagerndorf Which signifies in the German language a Village inhabited by Huntsmen and had its name probably from the abundance of all manner of Game in the neighbouring Woods The Moravians call this Town Carnowf whence the Dukedom is ordinarily by Latin Authors nam'd Ducatus Carnoviensis and a Citizen of this place Carnowfsky from the ancient Arms of the City which are a pair of Horns between two great Stones This City with the small Dukedom which bears its name was given by Ludowic King of Hungary and Bohemia to George Marquise of Brandenburg who was at the charges of building the Castle and erecting the other little fortifications that defend the Town DUCATUS SILESIAE GROTGANUS cum Districtu Episcopali NISSENSI To John Nicholls Esq of Trewane in Cornwall this Mapp is Humbly Dedicated by Moses Pitt Notularum Explicatio Vrbs Arx Pagus cum Templo Pagus nobilis Pagus Episcopalis Commenda COMITATUS GLATZ Notae Vrbs Oppidum Pagus cum templo Vicus Arx Auri et argenti fordinae Mons Notabilis Kohloruben Holtz fluesse The inhabitants of these and all other Towns and Villages in the Dukedom observe the same Laws with the Moravians For which reason the greatest part of them have often endeavour'd to associate themselves to the Marquisate of Moravia and renounce all dependance upon the great Dukedom of Silesia but have always been opposed by the Citizens of Troppau who have still been zealous to continue members of their ancient Body 4. RATIBOR is seated in a pleasant plain about six German miles from Oppelen We have no account of it before the year of Christ 1164 so that most Geographers venture to say that 't was built about that time The private dwelling Houses of the Citizens are as in most parts of Silesia generally wooden buildings but the Duke's Palace Cathedral and some other publick buildings are of stone There is still in the City one Popish Monastery and formerly the Jesuits had a great footing in it but since the Reformation that sort of Cattel were driven out of their Harbors The Dukedom of Ratibor which contains the Towns of Oderberg Sora Ribenick Pilzowitz and Mieslowitz was formerly governed by a Duke of its own but upon the death of Duke Valentinus its last Prince who died without issue in the year 1516 it became more immediately subject to the King of Bohemia 5. 〈◊〉 TESCHEN or Tessin is one of the oldest Cities in Silesia said to have been built by Cessimir or Gessimir Son of Lescus III. Duke of Poland A. D. 810 and from him to have had its first name which has since been corrupted into Tessin It is seated on the confines of Silesia Moravia Poland and Hungary whence it comes to pass that its Citizens speak a medly of languages hardly intelligible to any but themselves They have here great store of all sorts of Venison and wild Fowl the Vistula and Elsa afford them plenty of Fish and the Hungarian Merchants bring them in daily vast quantities of Wine Fruit and other Commodities of that Country At one of their Churches they have weekly Divine Service and a Sermon in the Bohemian language and at another the like in High Dutch for of these two Nations the Burgers chiefly consist Here is brew'd Beer of two sorts the one with Wheat and the other with ordinary Barly Malt the latter of these they call Matznotz a sort of drink pleasant enough but mighty strong and heady which too often on their Market-days makes the poor Rusticks commit several outrages and disorders in the height of their jollity In this Dukedom there are several high mountains whereof two Rows are more especially remarkable and taken notice of by Geographers and Historians The first of these are those on the