news came he was got into Holland where being no welcome Guest he wandred up and down two or three years like a Fugitive and at Lorain in Brabant ended his life By this time the Lords had got matter enough against the King at least to justifie their Arms and thereupon with an Army of Forty thousand men they came to London where after some debate they were received and some of them went to the Tower to the King to whom after humble Salutations they shewed the Letter which he had written to the Duke of Ireland to levy an Army for their destruction likewise the Letters which the French King had written to him containing a safe Conduct for him to come into France there to do Acts to his own dishonour and the Kingdoms After which upon the Kings Promise that he would come the next day to Westminster to treat further of these matters the Lords departed only at the Kings desire the Earls of Nottingham and Derby stayed all Night but before the King went to bed his Mind was quite altered as to keeping promise with the Lords which they understanding sent peremptorily to him That if be came not according to his Word they would chuse another King who should hearken to the faithful Counsel of his Lords This touched the King to the quick so that the next morning he went met them they declared to him how much it concerned the good of the Kingdom that those Traitors so often spoken of should be removed from the Court To which the King though much against his Will at last condescended and thereupon the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Chichester fled no man knew whether the Bishop of Durham Lord Treasurer Lord Zouch Lord Burrel Lord Beumont and others were expelled the Court and constrained to put in Bail to appear the next Parliament Also cerâ—ain Ladies were expelled the Court as the Lady Poynings the Lady Mouling and others Several other Knights with three of the Kings Chaplains and the Dean of his Chappel were likewise committed to Prison Shortly after the Parliament began called afterward the Parliament that wrought wonders On the first day whereof all the Judges but one were arrested as they sate upon the Bench and sent to the Tower and several Lords and Bishops were impeached But the Lord Chief Justice Tresillian having made his escape was afterward taken and hanged at Tyburn Sir Nicholas Brember was Beheaded with an Axe which he had prepared for the beheading of others after this divers Lords and Knights and among the rest the Steward of the Kings Household were Beheaded on Tower-hill Also all the Judges were condemned to dye but by the Queens Intercession they were only banished the Realm and all their Lands and Estates Confiscated only a small Sallery was allowed them for their support Finally in this Parliament an Oath was required and obtained of the King that he would perform such things as the Lords should Order and this Oath was likewise required of all the People of the Kingdom After this the Duke of Glocester and some other Lords upon discontent conspire to seize upon the King the Dukes of Lancaster 〈◊〉 York and commit them to Prison and all the other Lords of the Kings Council they determined should be drawn and hanged but the King having notice thereof by a Wile he seizeth upon the Duke of Glocester and sends him presently to Callice where he soon after lost his life being smothered with Pillows as some write and divers other Lords are committed to the Tower and soon after the Earl of Arundel is beheaded on Tower-hill and a Parliament being called the King brought it so about that he obtained the whole Power of the Parliament to be conferred upon certain Persons or to any seven or eight of them and these by virtue of this Grant proceeded to conclude upon many things which concerned the whole Parliament to the great prejudice of the State and a dangerous Example in time to come A General Pardon was also granted for all the Kings Subjects but only to Fifty whose names he would not Express but reserved them to himself that when any of the Nobility offended him he might at his Pleasure name him to be one of the number excepted and so keep them still within his danger Also in this Parliament the Judges gave their Opinious That when Articles are propounded by the King to be handled in Parliament if other Articles be handled before those be first determined that it is Treason in them that do it And for the more strengthning the Acts of this Parliament the King purchased the Popes Bulls containing grievous Censures and Curses to those that should break them And now the Heads of the Opposite Faction having lost their Heads and all things as well setled as could be desired the King was secure as thinking himself safe and he had been indeed safe if Time and Fortune were not Actors in Revenge as well as men or rather if a Superiour Power did not interpose whose ways are as secret as himself is invincible About this time it happened that Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk and Henry Duke of Hereford accused each other for speaking words sounding highly to the Kings dishonour whereupon a Combate is agreed upon between them which being ready to be begun the King interposeth and banisheth the Duke of Norfolk for ever and the D of Hereford for six years But soon after several discontented Lords sollicite the D. of Hereford to return into England take the Government upon him they would be ready to assist him who thereupon without much deliberation prepares to come over and landing at Ravenspur in Yorkshire where many Lords Gentlemen and Common people repaired to him to whom he solemnly protests That though some of them had invited him to come to take the Government yet he came only to take possession of the Inheritance descended to him from his Father which King Richard unjustly and contrary to his promise had seized into his hands Hereupon many more Lords join with him and all the Kings Castles are surrendred to him and the Lord Scroop Treasurer of England Sir Henry Bushy and Sir Henry Green being seized were condemned and beheaded for Misgoverning the King and the Realm King Richard was at that time in Ireland busie in suppressing the Rebels and had no notice of the Dukes Arrival in England till six weeks after but hearing of it he sends the Earl of Salisbury before to raise an Army and promiseth to come himself within six days the Earl provides an Army of Forty Thousand men but when the King came not at his time they all disbanded and went away The King coming over and finding how it was fell into despair and secretly the next night gets into Conway Castle The Duke of Hereford now Duke of Lancaster by his Fathers Death sends the Earl of Northumberland to the King that if his Grace would undertake there should be a
are generally appeased with flattery they offered their Swords against any such Claims and took themselves the Oath of Allegiance to Canutus who being a very wise and Politick Prince had never the better opinion of them for their fawning rightfully judging that those who were false to their natural Prince would never be true to him nor his posterity who were Foreigners Canutus being thus freed from all his Opposites was Crowned King of England at London in 1017. by Elstane Archbishop of Canterbury being the second King of Denmark of that name and the first of England and the 34. Monarch of this Land King Canutus dying left the Kingdom of Norway to his eldest Son Swain and England to his youngest called Hardyknute who being at that time in Denmark Harold his elder Brother by a former wife taking advantage of his absence laid claim to the Crown and enjoyed it four years having neither wife nor child After his death the English as well as Danes who had been for Harold thought best to send for Hardyknute and offer him the Crown who soon after came to London in great state and was there proclaimed King of England and crowned He spent his Reign in doing nothing but doing ill For no sooner had he power to command but he ordered the body of his Brother the deceased King Harold to be taken out of his Grave and disgracefully thrown into the River Thames where it remained till a Fisherman found it and buried it in the Churchyard of S. Clement commonly called St. Clement Danes because say some it was the burying-place for that Nation This Hardyknute altogether neglected his Government delighting in nothing but eating and drinking to excess having his Tables spread with fresh Victuals four times every day which caused all manner of Debauchery to reign among his Subjects by his evil example since it is natural for people to imitate the Vices of their Sovereign He died suddenly at the celebration of a Marriage at Lambeth near London for while he was revelling and carousing in the midst of his Cups he suddenly fell down without speech or breath whose loss was little lamented by reason of his Riot and Excess and the severe Taxes he laid upon the People for maintaining his extravagancies yea so far were any from bewailing him that in remembrance of their Freedom from the Danish yoke he being the last King of the Danes the common people for a long time after celebrated the day of his death which was the eighth of June with open Pastimes in the Streets as the Romans formerly kept their Fugalia for chasing out their Kings which time is called Hocktide or Heuxtide signifying a time of Scorning and Contempt which fell upon the Danes by his death Edward the third of that name before the Conquest half-brother to the deceased Hardy-Canute and Son to King Ethelred by Queen Emma his wife succeeded him and was called Edward the Confessor between whom and Godwin Earl of Kent there happened such differences that they raised Forces against each other and fitted out divers Ships King Edward appointed sixty Ships for a Guard to the Thames mouth but Godwin being a man of very great Authority sollicited the People of Kent Sussex and Surrey to his aid and entering the Thames with his Ships invited the Londoners to join with him which they accordingly did though King Edward were in the City so that without resistance his Navy came up with the Tide to the South end of London-bridge and a very great Army attended to aid him on Southwark side The Nobility observing the People to be divided into Parties and one English man ready to destroy another they so prevailed with King Edward and Godwin that they made a Reconciliation between them and Pledges were delivered for the true performance of the Agreement About this time that is in 1047. there fell a very great Snow in January which covered the ground to the middle of March so that most of the Cattle and Fowl perished and the Year following a strange and terrible Earthquake happened which seemed to rend the earth asunder and such Lightnings withall as burnt up the Corn â—rowing in the Fields whereby an extraordinary Dearth and Faâ—ine followed In the Year 1066. William the Conquerour landed at Pemsey in Sussex and immediately sent a Messenger to King Harold at London whereby he claimed no less than the Crown of England upon pretence of a Donation from King Edward deceased and required that Harold should be a Vassal to him The Messenger urged the same with so much confidence that Harold in his fury could hardly forbear though against the Law of Arms to lay violent hands on the Ambassadour And thereupon he returns a threatning Message to William to depart immediately back into Normandy at his utmost peril He then proceeds to muster his Forces which were not so many as he expected though divers Noblemen Gentlemen and others who were inflamed with the love of the Rights and Liberties of their Native Country joined with him to keep out this dangerous Foreigner However King Harold with an undaunted courage led his men into Sussex against the earnest intreaty of his Mother who endeavoured to hinder him and pitching his Tents in a large fair Plain not above seven miles from the Enemy he sent forth his Spies for discovery who being taken by Duke William he ordered that they should view all his Tents and then sent them safely back to Harold They commended Williams clemency and his great strength but told Harold that they thought all his Army were Priests for their Beards were all shaved whereas the use of the English was then to reserve the hair of the upper lip without cutting King Harold replied they were no Priests but men of great courage and valour to his knowledgeâ— he having been formerly in that Country Harold was thereupon persuaded not to venture himself in the Battle but to go on to levy more Souldiers And his Brother told him that William charged him that he had taken an Oath to settle him in the Throne and said he Thou knowest what Oath thine own mouth hath made unto William if it were lawful and thou tookest it willingly withdraw thy self out of the Field lest for thy great sin the whole Army be destroyed for there is no power that can resist God But Harold reproved his Brother for his freedom and disdainfully undervalued the strength of the Normans and seemed to conceive that nothing which he did being a private man could now bind him when he was a Prince Duke William being now come into the Field and both Armies facing each other as ready for Battle to spare the effusion of Christian bloud he sent a Monk as a Mediator for Peace offering Harold either to resign the Kingdom to himself and acknowledge him his Sovereign or to trie the quarrel in single Battle in the sight of both Armies or lastly to stand to the Arbitrement of the Pope who should
his brother Murdered Q. Elizabeth Prisoner in the Tower The Lords having thus got the Government into their hands obliege the King to free them from all Obedience and Allegiance whensoever he infringed their Charter Yet soon after the King sends to Râ—me to be freed from his Oath which he obtained Whereupon the Lords put themselves into arms and Moniford Earl of Leicester their General takes many Castles The King likewise raises Forces The Barons march toward London under a Banner richly and beautifully flourished with the Kings Arms. And as they passed by the Houses or Possessions of those that favoured the Popes Bulls whereby the King himself and all others who had formerly sworn to observe and maintain those new Ordinances and Laws and to support the Authority of the twenty four Peers were fully absolved from their Oaths they robbed and wasted them as Enemies to the King and kingdom They then approached the City of London and by their Letters desired the Lord Mayor and Citizens to send them word whether they resolved to support the Authority of the Peers or not protesting before God themselves intended nothing else and that if any thing were defective in those Laws they should be reformed The Lord Mayor sends these Letters with all speed to the King who desired likewise to know whether they would support the Laws of the twenty four Peers or not they stoutly answered that they would since by the Kings command they had all sworn so to do The King was extreamly enraged at this answer but he could get no other and the same answer they sent to the Lords who thereupon proceeded in their march and were with much joy and kindness received into London and soon after routed the Prince who came against them with a considerable Army But some of the meaner sort of the City intending under the pretence of these disturbances to do mischief elected two ambitious Fellows whom they called the two Constables of London and agreed that at the tolling of a great Bell in St. Pauls Church as many as would join with them should be ready to act whatever the two Constables commanded them and though all endeavours were used to prevent them yet their desire of plunder so furiously transported them that upon the tolling that Bell a great number met together and marching about eight miles Westward from London they ruined and destroyed the House and Possessions of the Kings Brother Richard King of the Romans carrying away all his Goods with them Which insolent outrage much furthered the succeeding Wars for whereas before Richard being of a mild and virtuous disposition had used all his endeavours to make peace upon all occasions he now became a professed Enemy both to the Barons and the City of London After this the Lords sent a Letter to the King and protested with all humility and submission that they intended nothing but the performance of their Oaths by defending those Laws and Ordinances which had been established in Parliament for the benefit of the King and the Realm But the King his Brother Richard and Edward the young Prince thinking nothing more disdainful than that Subjects should rule and command their Sovereign resolved to revenge it and bid utter defiance to the Lords and both Armies met near a Town called Lewis in Sussex where a cruel Battel was fought and the King his Brother and the Prince were all taken prisoners with many other great Commanders and twenty thousand men slain Yet a while after upon some Conditions they were all three set at Liberty and the former Laws and Ordinances were confirmed in Parliament and the King took an Oath for confirming the power of the twelve Peers After which the Earls of Leicester and Glocester the two Generals of the Lords Party fell into a great difference which Prince Edward taking advantage of raiseth an Army and persuading the Earl of Glocester to join with him they fell upon the Earl of Leicesters Army and utterly routed them himself his eldest Son and many others being slain Which overthrow utterly defeated the Barons and revived the Melancholy King who calling a Parliament all the former Decrees were made void together with the power of the twelve Peers and the King regained his former Liberty and Authority When this Parliament was ended the King perhaps by the instigation of his Brother Richard who was so horridly abused without cause by the baser sort of the Inhabitants of the City resolved utterly to destroy and consume the City of London by Fire because he said the Magistrates and Inhabitants had always hated him and taken part with the Lords against him Whereupon those of the Nobility who were most in favour with the King humbly besought him By no means to do such an execrable deed which would not onely weaken his own Kingdom and Government but would likewise make him infamous throughout the World to all Generations They were very earnest in their suit and their Reasons were unanswerable yet the King prorested That he was resolved to do it and his determination should be unchangeable and his Justice upon such Rebellious Villains should be a President to deter all perverse and obstinate Rebels and Traitors in time to come This severe Resolution made the Citizens tremble at the indignation of their angry King so that perceiving his rage and fury not to be mitigated they caused an instrument to be drawn in writing which was confirmed with their Common Seal wherein they confessed their Rebellion and humbly craved pardon for the same and without any exception or reservation they wholly submitted their Lands Goods and Lives together with the whole City to the Kings Grace and Mercy This Instrument they sent to Windsor to the King by some of the chiefest of the Citizens who were ordered to present it on their knees but so furious was the Kings wrath against them and so implacable was his anger that he reputed none to be his Friends who interposed as Mediators on their behalf neither would he admit any of them into his presence but commanded them immediately to be thrown into prison and five of the principal of them he gave to the Prince together with all their Lands and Goods and all the rest he bestowed among his Attendants who made them Slaves and suffered them to enjoy the least part of their own But when the King had thus a little revenged himself and time had cooled his mighty passion he began to hearken to the importunate intercession of Prince Edward his Son and soon after received the City and all its Inhabitants into favour again and laying onely a Fine upon them of a thousand Marks he restored to them all their Charters Liberties and Customs which for their transgressions he had seized into his hands And now though these Intestine Troubles and Civil Wars which like an outragious Fire dispersed into the midst of a well compacted City had end angered the whole State of the kingdom were thus appeased
haughty mind would no be so pacified for he demanded his Sword also 〈◊〉 which Sir John Newton answered It is the Kings Sword and thou art not worthy to have it neither durst thou 〈◊〉 it of me if there were no more here but thou and I. 〈◊〉 my Faith said Wat Tyler I will never eat till I haâ— thy Head and would thereupon have fallen upoâ— him But at that very Instant William Walworth Loâ—â— Mayor of London a stout Couragious Person accoâ—â— panied with divers Knights and Esquires came 〈◊〉 assist the King to whom he said My Leige it were great shame and such as had never before been heard 〈◊〉 if in such a presence they should permit a Noble Knight 〈◊〉 be shamefully Murdered and that before the face of thâ—â— Severaign therefore he ought to be rescued and Tyler tâ— Rebel to be Arrested The Lord Mayor had no sooner spoke thus but thâ— King though he were very young yet began to takâ— Courage and commanded him to lay hands upon him Walworth being a man of an incomparable Spirit anâ— Courage immediately arrested Tyler with his Mac upon his Head and that in such a manner as he seâ— down at the feet of his Horse and those who attended the King presently encompassed him round thâ— his Companions could not see him and John Caveâ— dish an Esquire of the Kings alighting from his Horse rust his Sword into Tylers Belly Although some â—ite that the Lord Mayor did it with his Dagger many â—hers followed and wounded him in divers places to â—ath and then they drew his body from among the â—ople into St. Bartholomews Hospital The Commons perceiving their Captain to be slain â—yed out Their Captain was Traiterously murdered â—d incouraged one another to fight and revenge his â—eath and bent their Bows Upon which the King 〈◊〉 to them and said What work is this my Men what 〈◊〉 you mean to do Will you shoot at your King Be not â—â—tinous nor concerned for the death of a Traytor and Riâ—ld I am your King I will be your Captain and Leaâ—r follow me into the Field and there you shall have â—hatsoever you desire This the King said for fear in â—eir fury they should fire the Houses in Smithfield â—here there Captain was slain They thereupon followed him intothe open Feild though the Souldiers â—â—at were with him were uncertain whether they â—ould kill the King or whether they would be â—iet and depart peaceably home with the Kings â—harter In the mean time William Walworth the ever reâ—owned Lord Mayor to prosecute his first worthy â—ct which had succeeded so happily went only with â—â—e man with all speed into the City and there beâ—â—n to cry out You good Citizens come to help your â—ing who is in danger to be murdered and succour me â—ur Mayor who am in the same danger or if you will not â—â—lp me yet leave not the King destitute The Citizens who had a great Esteem and Affection or the King no sooner heard this but with a Noble â—nd Loyal forwardness they immediately raised a thouâ—nd Men who being compleatly armed stayed in â—â—e streets for some Commander who with the Lord â—ayor might lead them to the Assistance of the King 〈◊〉 this his great distress when by good chance Sir Robert Knowls a Freeman of the City came at that instant whom they all desired to be their Leader which he willingly accepted and so with the Lord Mayor and some other Knights they were led to the King who with all his Company rejoyced very much at this unexpected Assistance from these brave armed Citizens who all on a sudden incompassed the whole Body of the Commons And here in an instant was a very strange and Remarkable Alteration for the Commons presently threw down their Arms and falling on their knees begg'd Pardon and they who just before boasted that they had the Kings Life in their power were now glad to hide themselves in Caves Ditches and Corn-fields The Knights being desirous of revenge intreated the King that they might be permitted to take off the heads of an hundred or two of them but the King would not grant it but commanded the Charter which they demanded written and sealed to be delivered to them at that time for preventing further mischief as doubting if they were not satisfied the Commons of Essex and Kent might rise again Having got their Charter they departed home The Commons being thus dispersed and gone the King called for the worthy Lord Mayor and with great Honour deservedly Knighted him in the Field and gave him a hundred pound a year in Fee he also Knighted five Aldermen his Brethren girding them about the waste with the Girdle of Knighthood as the manner was in those days but Stow saith it was thus To cause the Person to put a Basenet on his Head and then the King with a Sword in both his Hands to strike him strongly on the Neck And for an Eternal Remembrance of this happy day the King for the Honour of the City granted that a Dagger should be added to the Arms of the City in the right Quarter of the Shield they before this time bearing only a Cross without the Dagger After this the King marched into the City with great Joy and went to His Mother who lodged in the Tower Royal called then the Queens Wardrobe where she had continued two days and nights in great fear and trouble But when she saw the King she was extreamly comforted saying Ah fair Son what great sorrow have I suffered for you this day To whom the King answered Certainly Madam I know it well but now rejoyce and thank God for I have this day recovered mine Inheritance and the Realm of England which I had almost lost Then the Arch-Bishops Head was taken off London Bridge and Wat Tylers set up in the Place Now since some Writers have reported that the Rebel so Valiantly struck down by Sir William Walworth was named Jack Straw and not Wat Tyler it may be necessary to give an Account of the Principal Leaders and Captains of the Commons of whom Wat Tyler was the Cheif as being the first man who judged himself offended there were likewise Jack Straw John Kirkby Allen Thredder Thomas Scot and Ralph Rugg these and divers others were Commanders of the Kentish and Essex men And at the same time there were gathered together to the number of fifty thousand in Suffolk by the incitement of John Wraw a lewd Priest who made one Robert Westbrome take upon him the name of King these fell to destroying Houses but especially those of Lawyers and seizing Sir John Cavendish Lord Cheif Justice of England they beheaded him and set his Head upon the Pillory in St. Edmundsbury The like Commotion of the Commons was at the same time also in Cambridgshire the Isle of Ely and Norfolk conducted by John Litester a Dyer and to countenance their proceedings the more they designed to have brought William Ufford Earl
the Lords as believing them to be Loyal and true to the King that it was not in their power to raise any great force against them They were then commanded to take care That no Knights nor Burgesses should afterward he chosen to any Parliament but those whom the King and his Council should name They replyed It was a hard matter in those times of Jealousy and suspition to deprive the People of their Ancient Liberties in choosing their Representatives after which they were dismissed And some of the Judges of the Realm being called that is Robert Tresillian Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Benâ—â— Robert Belknap Chief Justice of the Common-pleas John Holt Roger Fulthorpe and William Borough Knights and Judges men learned chiefly in one point that is without considering Truth or Falshood to please those in high Place These were charged upon their Allegiance to give True and full Answers to the following Questions I. Whether the Statute and Commission in the last Parliament that is against Michael de la Pool were against the Kings Prerogative or not To which they all answered It was II. How they were to be punished who procured that Statute c. or who moved or compelled the King to consent thereunto They Unanimously answered They ought to be put to death as Traytors unless the King would please to pardon them III. When a Parliament is Assembled and the Cause of their Meeting declared and common Articles limited by the King upon which the Lords and Commons in that Parliament should proceed if the Lords and Commons will go upon other Articles and not these appointed by the King till the King hath first answered their desires though injoyned by the King to the contrary whether the King in this Case ought not to command the Parliament and oblige them to do his pleasure before they proceed further They answered That in this Case the King should over-rule and if any presumed to do contrary he was to be punished as a Traytor IV. Whether the King may at his pleasure dissolve the Parliament and Command the Lords and Commons to depart They answered That the King at his Pleasure may dissolve the Parliament and whoever shall after proceed against the Kings Mind as in a Parliament he is worthy to be punished as a Traytor V. Since the King may at his pleasure remove any of his Officers and Justices and punish them for their Offences whether may the Lords and Commons without the Kings Will accuse them in Parliament They replied They cannot and whosoever doth the contrary deserveth to be punished as a Traytor VI. What punishment they deserve who moved in Parliament that the Statute whereby K. Edward of Carnarvan was deposed in Parliament should be produced whereby a new Statute should be made It was answered That as well he that moved it as he that brought the Statute into the House were to be punished as Traytors Lastly Whether the Judgment given in Parliament against Michael de la Pool were erroneous and revocable They answered It was Erroneous and Revocable and that if the Judgment were now to be given the Justices would not give the same At this time the Londoners incurred much obloquy for having before been pardoned by the King of some Crimes lay'd to their Charge they were now ready to comply with his desires and a Jury of them being Impanneled they indicted some Lords of many crimes laid to their Charge And now the King and the Duke of Ireland sent into all parts of the Realm to raise men in this Quarrel against the Lords And required the Mayor of London to give an Account how many able men he could raise in the City who answered That he thought they could make fifty Thousand men at an hours warning Well said the King go and try what may be done But when the Mayor went about it the Citizens answered That they would never fight against the Kings Friends and the Defenders of the Realm About this time the King intended to have apprehended the Duke of Glocester but he made his escape and with other Lords had got together a great power of men at Harringey Park Upon which the King commanded that no Citizen of London should sell to the D. of Glocester the E. of Arundel or any of the Lords any Armour or Furniture of War under a great penalty After this the King is perswaded to send to the Lords to come to him to Westminster upon Oath given by the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and the Chancellor that no fraud nor evil practice should be used against them which the Lords were content to do but when they were ready to come they understood there was an Ambush laid to intrap them of a Thousand men in the Mews which the King absolutely denied he had any knowledge of yet the Lords after this receiving a safe Conduct from the King came to Westminster of whose coming when the King heard he apparelled himself in his Royal Robes and with his Scepter in his hand came into the Great Hall before whom the Lords upon their Knees presented themselves the King bidding them welcome and taking each of them by the hand Then the Lord Chancellor made a Speech wherein he blamed them for raising Arms desiring to know the Cause who answered They had done it for the good of the Kingdom and to remove the Traytors about the King Upon which the King himself spoke and asked them whether they thought to compel him by strong hand Have not I saith he sufficient power to beat you down truly in this behalf I make no more account of you than of the basest Skullion in my Kitchen Yet after these great words he lift up the Duke of Glocester who all this while was kneeling and commanded the rest also to rise and then led them Courteously to his Chamber where they sate and drank together and at last it was concluded they should all meet again as well these Lords as those they accused at the next Parliament which the King promised he would speedily call and each party to receive there according to Justice and in the mean while all Parties should be under the Kings Protection But when the Favourite Lords heard this they told the King plainly they neither durst nor would put themselves to the hazard of such a Meeting and therefore the Duke of Ireland and the rest of that Faction left the Court to be out of the way but the King not enduring their absence appointed Thomas Molineux Constable of the Castle of Chester to raise an Army and to safe conduct the Duke of Ireland to his presence But they being come as far as Radcoat Bridge were encountred by the Earl of Derby and the Duke of Ireland not daring to joyn battel with him fled and being to pass a River cast away his Gauntlets and sword to be more nimble and spurring his Horse lept into the River and so escaped though it was reported he was drowned till
parts of the known world now for the preservation of the River Thames there is a Court of conservacy kept by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London under whom is a VVater Bayliff and other Officers they commonly fish eight times every year in the four Counties of Middlesx Surrey Kent and Essex where they have power to Impanel Juries and to make Inquisition into and punish all Offences committed upon the River within their Jurisdiction and Extent which begins at a place called Colny Ditch a little above Stanes-bridge Westward and from thence all along through London Bridge to a place called Yendal alias Yenleet and the waters of Medway near Chatham in Kent Eastward This River as we have say'd is full of all sorts of Excellent Fish as sweet Salmons after the time of the Smelt is past wherein no River in Europe exceeds it It hath likewise store of Barbels Trouts Chevins Pearches Smelts Breams Roches Daces Gudgeons Flounders Shrimps Eels c. only it seems not to be so stored with Carps except that by Land-Flonds they are sometimes brought out of Gentlemens Ponds There are great numbers of Swans dayly seen upon this River and above Two Thousand Wherries and small Boats whereby Three Thousand poor Watermen are maintained by carrying Goods and Passengers thereon besides those large Tilt-boats Tyde-boats and Barges which either carry People or bring Provision from all parts of the Counties of Oxford Berks Buchingham Bedford Hertford Middlesex Essex Surry and Kent to the City of London To conclude this famous River of Thames taking all her advantages together surpasseth all others that pay Tribute to the Ocean if we consider the streightness of its course the stilness of its streams considering its bredth as also its length running above Ninescore Miles before it comes into the Sea and the conveniency of its situation being toward the middle of England It hath likewise one peculiar property more that the entrance into this River is safe and easy to Englishmen and Natives but difficult and hazardous to Strangers either to go in and out without a Pilot insomuch that in the whole the Thames may be said to be Londons best Friend as may appear by a passage in the Reign of King James who being displeased with the City because they would not lend him a sum of money which he required and the Lord Mayor and Aldermen attending him one day being somewhat transported with Anger the King said He would remove his own Court with all the Records of the Tower and the Courts of Westminster Hall to another place with further expressions of his Indignation The Lord Mayor calmly heard all and at last Answered Your Majesty hath power to do what you please and your City of London will obey accordingly but she humbly desires that when your Majesty shall remove your Courts you would please to leave the River of Thames behind you having been thus long upon the Water 't is now time to Land and take a view of the great and stupendious Bridge which if the scituation and structure thereof be well considered may be said to be one of the Wonders of the World of which an Ingenious Gentleman deceased made this Poem When Neptune from his Billows London spy'd Brought proud'y thither by a High Spring Tyde As through a floating Wood he steer'd along And dancâ—â—g Castles clustered in a Throng When he beheld a mighty Bridge give Law Unto his Surges and their Fury awe When such a Shelf of Cataracts did roar As if the Thames with Nyle had chang'd her Shore When he such Massy Walls such Towers did eye Such Posts such Irons on his back to lye When such vast Arches he observ'd that might Nineteen Rialto's make for depth and height When the Cerulean God these things surveyed He shook his Trident and astonisht said Let the whole world now all her wonders count This Bridge of wonders is the Paramount At first there was only a Ferry kept where the Bridge now is and the Ferry-man and his Wife dying left it to their only Daughter a Maiden named Mary who with the profits thereof and money left her by her Parents built a House for Nuns in the place where the East part of St. Mary Overies Church now stands above the Quire where she was buried and unto those Nuns she bequeathed the benefit and oversight of the Ferry but that being afterwards turned to a House of Priests they built a Bridge of Timber which they kept in good repair till at length considering the vast charge thereof by the contribution of the Citizens and others a Bridge was built of Stone Several Accidents have happened concerning this Bridge of which we shall mention some hereafter in the Reign of the several Kings In the first year of King Stephen a Fire began near London-stone and burnt stands in the Quire wher of she was buried to those Nuns she bequeathed the benefit and oversight of the Ferry but that being afterwards turned to a House of Priests they built a bridge of Timber which they kept in good repair till at length considering the vast charge thereof by the contribution of the Citizens and others a Bridge was built of Stone Several Accidents have happened to this Bridge In the first year of King Stephen a Fire began near London Stone and burnt East to Algate and West to St. Paul's Church the Bridge of Timber upon the Thames was also burnt but afterward repaired In 1163 it was rebuilt all of new Timber by Peter of Cole-Church a Priest which shews that there was a Timber Bridge 215 years before the Bridge of Stone was erected which was maintained partly by Gifts and partly by Taxes in every Shire In 1176 the Foundation of the Stone-Bridge was laid by the aforesaid Peter near the place of the Timber-Bridge but somewhat more to the West for we read that Buttolph's Wharf was at the end of London-Bridge the King assisted in the work to perform which the course of the River Thames was turned another way about by a Trench cast up for that purpose beginning in the East about Rotherhith and ending in the West at Battersea This Bridge with the Arches Chappel c. was 33 years in building and finished in 1209 by the worthy Citizens W. Serle Mercer W. Alman Senedict Botecorite who were Overseers of it for Peter of Cole-Church died four years before and as he principal Benefactor being buried in the Chappel on London-Bridge a Mason who was Master-workman of the Bridge built this large Chappel from the Foundation at his own Charge was which endowed for two Priests and four Clerks after the finishing the Chapel which was the first building on those Arches divers Mansion Houses were erected and many Lands Tenements and sums of Money were given toward the maintenance of the Bridge all which were â—ormerly registred in a Table for Posterity and bung up in the Chappel till it was turned into a dwelling House and was then
Salters and Gerrards Hall This Ward hath an Alderman his Deputy and 11 Common Council Men 10 Constables 8 Scavengers Wardmote Inquest 13 and a Beadle 23. Queen Hythe VVard comprehends Tainity lane Breadstreet hill Fyfoot lane Disbourn lane Little Trinity lane Old Fishstreet Lambeth hill Pye lane Townsend lane Queen Hythe Salt VVharf Stew lane Broof VVharf Broken wharf Trig lane and Bull wharf The whole Ward was consumed in 1666 with these Churches Trinity Church St. Nicholas Cole Abby St. Nicholas Olaves St. Maudlins Old Fishstreet Saint Mary Mounthaw St. Mary Somerset St. Michael Quean Hythe and St. Peters Pauls wharf It hath an Alderman his Deputy and 6 Common Council Men 9 Constables 8. Scavengers Wardmote Inquest 13 and a Beadle In it is Painter Stainers Hall 24. Castle Baynard Ward contains part of Creed lane the Last part of Avemary lane part of Pater noster Row the East side of Warwick lane Peters hill lane Pauls Wharf Addle hill Carter lane Dolittle lane Sermon lane St. Pauls Chain and part of the South Church-yard St. Peters Pauls Wharf and Baynards Castle It was wholly burnt down by the Fire and therein Baynards Castle St. Bennets Church near Pauls Wharf St. Andrew Wardrobe St. Mary Magdalen and St. Gregories by St. Pauls It hath an Alderman his Deputy and 6 Common Council Men 10 Constables 7 Scavengers VVardmote Inquest 14 and a Beadle 25. Farringdon Ward without is very large and contains Giltspur street Pye Corner Cock lane Holbourn Conduit St. Bartholomews Hospital Duck lane Saint Bartholomews Close part of Long lane part of Chick-lane Smithfield Cow lane Snow hill to the Bishop of Elies House Furnivals Inn Staples Inn Bernards Inn Fetter-lane Thavies Inn Shoe lane the Churches of St. Sepulchres and St. Andrews Holborn the Old Baity where the Sessions is kept for London and Middlesex Fleet Ditch Holborn Bridge the Streets on each side the Fleet Prison Fleet lane St. Dunstaus Church in the west Cliffords Inn the south end of Chancery lane Sergeants Inn even to the Rolls Liberty Jackanapes lane part of Sheer lane the two Temples White Fryers Water lane Salisbury Court St. Brides Church Bridewel lane and Bridewel There is now a new Street out of Chancery lane to Little Lincolns-Inn Some part of this VVard was burnt and also Newgate It hath an Alderman Deputy and 16 Common Council Men 14 Constables 15 Scavengers VVardmote Inquest 44 and 3 Beadles 26. Bridge Ward without contains long Southwark St. Georges Church St. Olaves Church Barnaby street Kent street Blackman street St. Mary Overies formerly a Priory of Canon Regulars St. Thomas Church and Hospital for the Sick and Lame and the Lock a Lazer House in Kent street in which were five Prisons the Clink the Compter the Marshalsea the Kings Bench the White Lyon also Winchester house Battle bridge the Bridge house and Bermondsey Abby It hath an Alderman 3 Deputies a Bailiff no Common Council Men 16 Constables 6 Scavengers and VVardmote Inquest 20. Every VVard hath a peculiar Alderman as an Overseer or Guardian who hath greater Power than any ordinary Justice of Peace CHAP. VIII The Inns of Court and Chancery Colleges Schools and Hospitals in and about the City of London THE famous City of London may not unfitly be stiled an University for therein are taught all Liberal Arts and Sciences for not only Divinity Civil Law and Physick which are usual in Universities are read hear but also the Municipal or Common Law of the Nation is here taught and Degrees taken therein which can be said of no other City moreover all sorts of Sciences as Geography Hydrography the Arts of Navigation and Fortification Anatomy Chyrurgery Chymistry Calligraphy Brachygraphy or Short-hand the Arts of Riding Fencing Dancing Art Military Fireworks Limning Painting Enamelling Sculpture Architecture Heraldry all sorts of Musick Arithmetick Geometry Astronomy Grammar Rhetorick Poetry and any other Science that may contribute to the accomplishment of an Ingenuous Noble Man or Gentleman The Colleges of Municipal or Common Law for Professors and Students are Fourteen and are still called Inns the old English word for the Houses of Noble Men or Bishops There are 2 Inns of Sergeants 4 Inns of Court and 8 Inns of Chancery the Inns of Chancery were probably so named because there dwelt such Clerks as did chiefly study the forming of Writs their Names are Thavies Inn begun in the Reign of Edward III. Furnivals Inn Bernards Inn New Inn Clements Inn Cliffords Inn anciently the House of the Lord Clifford Staple Inn belonging to the Merchants of the Staple and Lyons-Inn anciently a common Inn with the sign of the Lyon These were preparatory Colleges for younger Students many being entred here before admitted into the Inns of Court now they are generally taken by Attorneys Sollicitors and Clerks who have Chambers apart and their Diet in an Hall together where they are obliged to appear in long Robes and black round knit Caps these Colleges belong all to some Inns of Court who send yearly some of their Barristers to read to these In each of these Inns of Chancery may be about threescore Persons The Inns of Court were so named as some think because the Students therein are to serve the Courts of Judicature of these there are 4. First the 〈◊〉 Temples heretofore the dwelling of the Knights Templars and purchased by some Professors of the Common Law above 300 years ago they are called the Inner middle Temple in elation to Essex house which was a part of the Knights Templars Lodgings call'd utter or outer Temple because it is seated without Temple-Bar the 2 other Inns of Court are Lincolns-Inn and Greys-Inn belonging to the Noble Family of the Greys In the Reign of K. Henry VI. there were in each of these above 200 Students These Societies are no Corporations nor have any Iudicial Power over their Members only certain Orders among themselves which have by consent the force of Laws for lighter Offences they are only excommoned or put out of Commons not to eat with the rest for greater they lose their Chambers There are no Lands or Revenues belong to these Societies nor have they any thing for defraying the Charges of the House but what is paid at Admittance and quit Rents for their Chambers the whole Company in each Society may be divided into 4 parts Benchers Vtter Barristers Inner Barristers and Students In the 4 Inns of Court there now are reckoned 800 Students There are 2 more Colleges called Sergeants Inn where the Common Law Student when he hath arrived to the highest Degree hath his Lodging and Diet and are as Doctors in the Civil Law out of these are chosen all the Judges of the Kings Bench and Common-Pleas There is likewise the College of Civilians called Doctors-Commons near St. Pauls for the Professors of the Civil Law where commonly the Judges of the Arches Admiralty and Prerogative Court reside whose Office is not far off They judgeth of Estates
him for their Sovereign and so upon St. Stephens day 1135. he was crowned King at Westminster and to ingratiate himself be eased the People of divers Taxes and Impositions Yet Stephen was no sooner set in his Chair of State but David King of Scots enters England with an Army to defend the right of Maud but he was soon compounded with and so was Geoffrey Duke of Anjou Mauds husband Soon after Maud her self comes into England and was received by some Persons for Queen and Stephen hearing that some of her Forces had besieged Lincoln goes thither where his Army was overthrown and himself taken Prisoner and carried to Maud who committed him to Bristol Castle And being flusht with this success she takes her journey toward London and was there received joyfully as well as in other places where Matilda wife of King Stephen made humble suit to her for the Liberty of her Husband and that he might be suffered onely to live a private life The Londoners likewise having received her into the City as their Queen thought now as Subjects usually do with new Princes they might have what they would reasonably ask and therefore humbly besought her that the severe Laws imposed upon them by her Father might be remitted and those of King Edward might wholly be in force But she rejected both these Petitions some say out of Pride others out of mistaken Policy as thinking it most safe to act matters of importance not upon intreaty but freely and to govern the Subject with severity rather than mildness But those harsh and insulting Answers she gave them were at that time very unseasonable and though they might have been more proper in a setled Government yet in this her green and unstable estate they gave a stop to the Current of all her Fortunes For Matilda finding by this how high the Empresses pulses beat sent to her son Eustace to raise Forces in Kent since their suits must be onely obtained by the Sword The Nobles likewise who set up King Stephen finding themselves slighted and the Londoners being as much discontented as they join with them and contrive how to seize upon the Empress in the City and so redeem King Stephen to whom their affections were firm Of which Maud having notice fled secretly out of London and went to Oxford and from thence sent strict command that King Stephen should be laid in Irons and narrowly watched and fed with very mean Commons and sending to David King of Scots for assistance they laid fiege to Winchester Matilda King Stephens wife hearing of this she with her Son Eustace and the assistance of the Londoners came presently to the relief of the place where a fierce Battle was fought and Matilda's Party prevailed and the Empress Maud to make her escape was fain to be laid upon a Horse back like a dead Corps and so conveyed to Glocester But Earl Robert her Brother disdaining to flie was taken Prisoner and used more hardly by Queen Matilda for her Husband King Stephens sake but a while after whether by agreement or connivance both Stephen and Robert also made their escape out of Prison King Stephen being at liberty seeks out the Empress to requite the kindness she had she wed him in Prison and hearing her to be at Oxford he follows her thither and lays siege to the Town and brought the Empress to such distress that she had now no way to save her self but by flight But being a Woman whose Sex hath often deceived wise men she resolved once more to over-reach her Enemy by Craft since she could not do it by Force For it being a very cold Winter the River Thames that runs by the Walls of Oxford was very hard frozen and at the same time a deep Snow covered the ground Maud takes the advantage thereof and clothing her self and four of her company in white linen garments to deceive the eyes of the Centinel she goes secretly in the night out of a Postern Gate and passing the frozen River ran on foot through Ice and Snow Ditches and Vallies for five miles together till she came to Abington the falling Snow beating in their faces all the way and there taking Horse the same night got into Wallingford Castle But though Maud escaped this present danger vet it left such an Impression of fear upon her that she never after had a mind to appear upon the Stage of War but left the prosecution of it to her son Henry who was now about sixteen years of Age. And not long after Eustace King Stephens only son died and being left destitute of Issue to succeed him he was the more easily drawn to conditions of Peace and so it was at last concluded that Stephen should hold the kingdom of England and adopt Henry as his Heir to succeed him This Agreement thus made and confirmed by Parliament Henry accounted King Stephen ever after as his Father and Stephen Henry as his son and well he might if it be true which some write that Maud his Mother when a Battle was to be fought between King Stephen and her son went privately to him asking him How he could find in his heart to fight against him that was his own Son Could he forget the familiarity he had with her in her Widowhood But however it was King Stephen and Henry continued in mutual love and concord as long as they lived together In the eighth year of King Stephen a Synod was held in London by Henry Bishop of Winchester where it was decreed that whosoever should lay violent hands upon any Clergy-man should not be forgiven but by the Pope himself and from this time forward Clergy-men were exempt from the power of the Civil Magistrate In this Kings time there appeared two Children a Boy and a Girl clad in Green in a Stuff unknown of a strange Language and of a strange Diet the Boy being baptized died shortly after but the Girl lived to be an old Woman and being asked from whence they were she answered They were of the Land of St. Martin where there are Christian Churches erected but that no Sun did ever rise unto them but where that Land is or how she came hither she her self knew not This Story is related by many very credible Historians and if true we may thereby learn that there are other parts of the World than those which to us are known In the fifteenth year of this King the River of Thames was so frozen at London that Horse and Cart passed over upon the Ice In his time likewise lived Johannes 〈◊〉 Temporibus of whom it is recorded that he lived Three hundred Sixty one years he was one of Charlemain the Emperours Guard and died in the Reign of Conradus the Third 1139. After the death of King Stephen Henry Duke of Anfou succeeded according to Agreement by the Title of King Henry the Second and was crowned at Westminster in the Year 1155. This King had very much vexation from
his hands as far as the Borders of Scotland and then he divides his Army committing one part to his Brother William Earl of Salisbury who was ordered to fall upon London and with the other he himself goes into Yorkshire where most of the Lords had Estates which he miserably destroys with Fire and Sword The Lords being distressed on every side resolved upon a course neither honourable nor safe yet such as Necessity made appear to be both For they send to Philip K. of France requiring him 〈◊〉 send over his Son Lewis to their aid and promisâ— they would submit themselves to be governed 〈◊〉 him and to take him for their Sovereign 〈◊〉 this mention of the Lords King Philip was as forward as themselves which King John understanding sends again to the Pope requiring him to use 〈◊〉 Authority to stay the King of France from coming Who accordingly sent Cardinal Wallo his Legate who threatned the Great Curse in the Council on all who should join with those Excommunicate persons against King John or should enter upon St. Peters Patrimony But King Philip replied That England was no part of St. Peters Patrimony no King having power of himself to alienate his Kingdom and John especially who being never lawful King had no power to dispose thereof and that it was an Errour and a pernicious Example in the Pope and an itching lust and desire after a new and lawless Dominion His Peers likewise swore by Christs death That they would lose their lives rather than suffer a King of himself or with the consent of a few base Flatterers to give away his Crown and enslave his Nobles especially to the Pope who ought to follow St. Peters steps to win souls and not to meddle with Wars and murthering of mens bodies Now the reason of the Popes claiming England as St. Peters Patrimony was upon the account of the Resignation of King John And though the Pope seemed now so zealous for the Interest of King John yet not above five years before he was as much his Enemy For the King being incensed against the Clergy and endeavouring to rectifie some miscarriages about electing Bishops c. the Pope fearing he would intrench upon his Priviledges used his utmost power against him forbidding Mass to be said for some years Excomâ—â—unicating and Cursing him and giving his King 〈…〉 to the French King and stirring up his â—wn Nobility against him freeing them and all the People from their Allegiance to him So that King John being encompassed with Troubles on every side was compelled to submit to whatever the Pope would command him Nay he was forâ—ed to take off his Crown and kneeling on his knees in the midst of his Barons he surrendred it into the hands of Pandulphus the Legate for the Popes use saying Here I resign up the Crown of the Realm of England to the hands of Pope Innocent the Third and lay myself wholly at his mercy and appointment At whose feet he also laid his Scepter Robes Sword Ring and all the Ensigns of Royalty Pandulphus took the Crown from King John and kept it five days and the King giving then all his Kingdoms to the Pope to be held in Farm from him and his Heirs for evermore the Crown was restored King John engaging to pay 700 Marks a year for England and 300 for Ireland half of it at Easter and half at Whitsuntide as Rent for the said kingdoms But this being done out of force and necessity King Philip it seems no more than his own People did not think it of any value Yea Prince Lewis himself beseeched his Father not to hinder him from that which was none of his gift and for which he was now resolved to spend his bloud and would chuse rather to be excommunicated by the Pope than falsifie his promise to the English Barons For upon their sending their Letters of Allegiance confirmed with the Hands and Seals of all the Lords to implore King Philips favour and to send his Son and desiring his Son to accept of the Crown they received a present supply of French Souldiers upon their delivering up fifty English Gentlemen as Hostages for the true performance of the Contract King Philip therefore having received his Holiâ—â— Message with such scorn and contempt so aâ—â—righted the Legate with his stern countenance that he made all possible haste to be gone as fearing some mischief should be done him And Lewâ— as speedily set forth for England with his Fleeâ— of six hundred Ships and fourscore Boats whereâ— with arriving first in the Isle of Thanet and afterward going to Sandwich the Barons came thither to him and joined with him King Johns great Navy wherewith he intended to oppose him was driven Southward by a sudden Tempest and his Souldiers were generally Mercenaries and more inclined as it appeared afterward to Lewis a Foreign Prince than to him whereupon King John thought fit for the present to forbear Battle and went toward Winchester In the mean time Lewis had liberty to take all places thereabout except Dover Castle which John had committed to the valiant Hubert de Burg. Yet Lewis marcheth forward to London where entering with a solemn Procession and with the incredible applause of all he went into St. Pauls Church and there the Citizens of London took their Oaths of Allegiance to him From whence he passed to Westminister and there the Lords and Barons likewise swore to be true to him he himself likewise swearing to restore to all men their Rights and to recover to the Crown whatsoever had been lost by King John Then he chose Simon Langton who had been lately disgraced by the Pope for his Lord Chancello by whose preaching the Citizens of London and the Lords though they were excommunicated and under the Popes curse did yet celebrate Divine Service and drew on Prince Lewis to do the like Whereupon Wallo the Popes Legate who was now with King John denounced heavy and solemn Curses throughout the kingdome against the Londoners and especially against Lewis and his Chancellour by name But Lewis went from London and passeth over 〈◊〉 the Country without resistance but not withâ—ut infinite outrages committed by his Souldiers which was not in his power to hinder In the â—ean time King John finding his Enemies imployed in the Siege of Dover Castle and likewise â—t Odiam Castle wherein 13 English men onely braved Lewis and his whole Army for 15 days together nay sallied out upon them and taking every man a Prisoner to the great admiration of the French they returned safely back again and afterward delivered up the place upon honourable conditions King John thereupon gathers a Rabble of Rascally people about him with which he over-runs all the Country to the ruining of the Barons Castles and Estates in all places And then marching from Lyn in Norfolk on which place he bestowed his own Sword a gilt Bole and divers large Priviledges in testification of their Loyalty to him