Successes Before I part with France at present t is very fit the main subject of this Work being of Precedence to speak something of the Black Prince while he was Governor of Aquitane where he performd such notable Exploits and among other of that fa mous Charter of Precedence which was given to the Crown of England by Don Pedro King of Castile who being detruded out of the Throne by Henry his younger Brother fled for succour to the Black Prince in Gascognie who had at that time two other Kings in his Court viz. Ricaredo King of Navarre and Don Iayme King of Mallorca Which Charter being yet upon Authentique Record and not specified in the story of either Nations may very well deserve to be inserted here and it runs thus Petrus Dei gratia Rex Castellae Legionis omnibus praesentibus pariter futuris praesentes literas inspecturis lecturis aut audituris salutem fidem plenariam iisdem adhibere Cum in largitione donatione concessione privilegiorum libertatum franquesiarum ac honorum Praerogativa illis nos liberales gratiosiores reddere debeamus à quibus multiplicia beneficia honores nos recognoscimus recepisse Cumque Illustrissimus Rex Angliae Edoardus ejus primogenitus Princeps Aquitantae Walliae consanguinei nostri nos praedecessores nostros Reges Castellae retroactis temporibus fuerint favorabiliter prosecuti specialiter cùm nuper per Henricum quondam Comitem de Trestamare qui factâ cum quibusdam suis Complicibus coadunatione Regna nostra invasit usurpavit etiam occupavit more praedonico hostili ea indebitè detinet occupata de Regno in regnum de Dominio in Dominium loco ad locum ad mortem nos esset insecutus à qua persecutione per receptationem dicti Dom. Principiâ—… in Terra sua de nobis factam fuerimus liberati per ipsum gentes suas comfortati ac honorabiliter recepti tractati Nos memores dicti accepti beneficii in aliqualem praemissorum Recompensationem alias de nostra certa scientia speciali dono regia donatione potestate damus concedimus pro nobis haeredibus successoribus nostris Regibus Castellae per praesentes dicto Illustrissimo Regi Angliae Edoardo ejus Primogenito Principi Aquitaniae Walliae Quòd quandocunque idem Rex ejus Primogenitus qui nunc sunt aut eorum Haeredes successores Reges Angliae eorum Primogeniti qui pro tempore fuerint voluerint venire in propria persona ad Guerram quam nos habebimus aut Haeredes nostri Reges Castellae habebunt contra Regem Granatae aut alios Fidei inimicos quod iidem Reges eorum Primogeniti habeant primum bellum sive la Delantera ante omnes Mundi Christianos omni tempore Ita tamen quod Nos possimus Haeredes nostri Reges Castellae si voluerimus ponere vexilla nostra in dicto bello pariter cum vexillis Regis Angliae vel Ipsius Primogeniti Item quod si contigerit dictos Reges aut eorum Primogenitos ad Guerram quam Nos Haeredes nostri habebimus contra Regem Granatae aut Alios Fidei inimicos non venire aut nolle vel non posse venire volumus concedimus quòd unum vexillum de Armis Regis Angliae sit omni tempore in dicta guerra in primo bello sive in la Delantera honorificè prout decet nostris successorum nostrorum Castellae regum propriis sumptibus expensis Item quia Patria ejusdem nostri Consanguinei plurima damna expensa innumerabilia sustinuit tempore quo ipse pro nostro succursu exercitus suos congregabat prout oculis propriis conspeximus licet flebiliter gereremus in recompensationem praemissorum privilegiamus volumus concedimus quòd omnes homines incolae nobiles peregrini cujuscunque status sexus aut conditionis existant Regni Patriae dominii Angliae principatus Aquitaniae sint immunes ab omni pedagio leuda costuma maletota ceu aliis quibuscunque Impositionibus Exactionibus in Regnis nostris impositis seu in posterùm imponendis Ita quòd dicti homines dictorum Regni Patriae Dominii Angliae Principatus Aquitantae transeundo morando redeundo per Regna nostra per mare velper terram Costumam Pedagium Leudam Maletotam seu quamcunque aliam Impositionem vel Exactionem minimè solvere teneantur nisi dicti homines causâ Mercimonii vel pro emercimiando aliquid emerent Super quo an causa Mercimoniandi empta existant nec ne per officiarios nostros receptorum dictorum pedagiorum stare volumus dictorum hominum juramenta de quibus rebus causa Mercimoniandi emptis non compellantur solvere nec aliquid ultra ab iis exigatur quà m caeteri Mercatores solvere consueverunt Et juramus ad Sancta Dei Evangelia à nobis corporaliter manu tacta in verbo promittimus Regio concessiones donationes privilegia praedicta omnia singula in praesentibus Litteris contenta tenere complere inviolabiliter observare In quorum singulorum Praemissorum testimonium ad ipsorum Majorem firmitatem his praesentibus Nos manu propria Subscripsimus iisdem sigillum nostrum in pendenti duximus apponendum Volentes concedentes ac etiam requirentes vos Magistrum Iohannem de London publicum Autoritate Apostolicâ Notarium quatenus ad perpetuam omnium singulorum praemissorum memoriam vos cum praesentibus testibus subscribatis praesentesque Literas signo vestro solito consignetis Datum apud Liborniam Diocesi Burdegalensis die 23 Mensis 7 bris Anno Dom. 1366. Praesentibus praecharissimo Consanguineo nostro Domino Iohanne Duce Lancastriae Regis Angliae filio ac fratre dicti principis Reverendis in Christo Patribus Dom. Helia Archiepiscopo Burdegalensi Dom. Barnardo Episcopo Xancton Iohanne Electo Bathoniensi Wellensi Cancellario Aquitaniae Iohanne Shandos Constabulario Thoma de Felton senescallo Aquitaniae Nigello de Loereyn Camerario dicti Principis Balboyno de Frevilla senescallo Xancton aliis testibus ad praemissa Yo el Rey. I the King Et Ego Iohannes de London Cler. Winton Diocesis publicus Authoritate Apostolica Notarius undecima die mensis Februarii anno Domsupradicto Indictione quinta Pontisicatus sanctissimi in Christro Patris Domini nostri Dom. Urbani divina providentia Papae quinti anno quinto infra castrum Civitatis Baionae in capella ejusdem castri unà cum testibus infrascriptis fui praesens quando dictus Dom. Rex Petrus promissa omnia singula innovavit confirmavit juramento suo vallavit tangendo propriis manibus suis sancta Dei Evangelia quando ipse Rex manu sua propria se subscripsit me requisivit mandavit ut praesentibus Literis me subscriberem signum
quam in serenissimi Archiducis Commissione omissam esse superiùs demonstravimus quà m primùm commodumque videbitur quod polltcitae sunt vestrae illustres magnificae personae petimus inserendum Quod verò illustres magnificae vestrae personae asserunt insolitum novum videri quod proposuimus de Praerogativa Praecedentiae dignitate serenissimae Reginae Dominae nostrae semper debita non possumus dissimulare nos valde mirari illud viris vestrae conditionis eruditionis judicii novum esse insolitum quod universo orbi terrarum notum est celebratissimum Res enim est exploratissima quod Regio Hispanica cum distributa fuerit in diversa Regna devoluta in manus Regis Ferdinandi Reginae Isabellae Regumque Granatae insuper ei adjunctum unà cum caeteris partibus Indiarum Occidentalium orta est contentio speciosè magis quà m solidè recteque fundata de Praecedendi dignitate cum Regno Anglorum tempore quo Papatum occupavit Alexander ejus nomini sextus natione Hispanus quae perducta ad tempora Iulii secundi Volatarranus Author imprimis bonus Historiographus Italus nullo privato beneficio Angliae obstrictus quique eodem tempore Romae vixit ea de causa quemadmodum Res actae gestaeque fuerunt probè potuit intelligere de hac Re ita refert Inter Oratores Henrici septimi Regis Angliae Hispaniae Regis inter sacra sedendo orta est contentio quae etiam sub Alexandrio caeperat Iulius Locum honoratissimum Anglis pro tempore adjudicavit quod quidem Ius praerogativam Regis Angliae possidentes tenuerunt usque ad tempora Caroli quinti Imperatoris qui licet ratione Caesareae Majestatis supremam sedem dignitatis inter Principes 〈◊〉 Illud tamen privilegium ad posteros suos in praejudicium aliorum Principum transmittere non potuit Ideóque post obitum ejus quaestio illa Praecedentiae ad eosdem terminos unde ante digresserat reversa est Cum igitur Reges Angliae semper tenuerunt priorem augustiorem sedem prae singulis illis Regibus priusquà m Regna eorum in unum reducta fuerint reductisque in unum indeque ea de requaestione motâ jus suum ex sententia Papae retinuerint de quo nullo unquam tempore aut occasione cesserunt Extra controversiam igitur putamus illud de Iure pertinere ad Coronam Angliae utcunque propagata amplifica sunt Territoria Dominia Regni Hispaniae quod recta rerum aestimatione nihil valet aut valere debet inter Christianos Principes ad hanc Praecedentiae quaestionem Alioqui plurimi Reges Principes assumerent sibi Praecedentiam in multos alios Principes quibus jam liberè libenter concedunt Amplius de haec praesenti controversia de Praecedentiae dignitate hoc ipso tempore aliud est quod se non indignè offert judici is vestris examinandum nempe quodunus è nobis quem serenissima Regina Domina nostra ad hunc tractatum pacis concludendum elegit Legatus ejus est qui quotidie residet apud Christianissimum quam dignitatem unà cum omnibus Praerogativis quae eam comitantur retinet quoad in Regno Galliae commoratur Primus vero è vobis licet sit Legatus Catholici Regis apud serenissimum Archiducem cùm jam sit extra territorium Archiducis qualitatem eam dignitatemque exui censemus quoque nostrum in quo multiplicata ista dignitas elucet dominatur Iure praeferendum unicuique qui singulari nudo titulo deputati scilicet ad tractatum pacis inductus prodit Vobis igitur si placeat quaestio ista alto silentio praetermittatur haecque praerogativa de qua agitur maneat habitetque in serenissima Regina Domina nostra ad quam Iure spectat pertinetque Ita alacrioribus animis ad conventum colloquiumque cujus causà huc accessimus feremur Ista omnia pro prudentia moderatione vestrarum illustrium magnificarum dominationum petimus amicè candidè accipi ut quae profecta sunt ab observantiis religione officii nostri non à studio tempus consumendi aut contentionis excitandae Datum Boloniae 26 Maii stylo veteri 1600. Renderd thus in English Illustrious and Magnificent Lords We have read through the Writing which your illustrious and magnificent Persons sent us yesterday and touching those heads which appertain to the power of your substitutition and the vigor of the Seal we have resolvd not to prosecut further confiding in the sincerity of the most serene the Lord Archduke and acquiescing in the integrity of your illustrious and magnificent Persons which doth promise us a good faith in the business we are to agitat with the greatest candor and humanity that may be And touching the Clause we demonstrated before we desire it may be inserted as soon and as conveniently it may be as your illustrious and magnificent Persons have promised And wheras your illustrious and magnificent Persons assert that it is unusuall and new what we proposd concerning the Prerogative and dignity of Precedence due always to the most serene Queen our Mistress we cannot dissemble but we much wonder that that shold seem new and unusal to men of your condition learning and judgment which is so well known and most celebrous to all the world For it is a most explored truth That the Region of Spain distributed to divers Kingdoms when it was devolvd to the hands of King Ferdinand and Isabella wherunto the Kingdome of Granada was adjoyned and the West-Indies a Contention did arise more speciously then solidly and rightly grounded touching the dignity of Precedence with the King of England at that time when Alexander the sixth who was a Spaniard born held the Papacy which continued to the time of Iulius the second and Volaterranus a special good Author and an Italian Historiographer being not engagd to England for any privat benefit and one that was well capable to know how matters passd and were transacted doth relate that betwixt the Ambassadors of Henry the seventh King of England and the Ambassador of Spain a contention did arise about Precedence of session in the Church and Iulius adjudgd the most honourable place to the English which Right and Prerogative the Kings of England possessd until the time of the Emperour Charles the fifth who in regard of Caesarean Majesty had the supreme place among all Princes But he could not transmit that privilege to his posterity to the prejudice of other Princes Therfore after his decease that question of Precedence returnd to those terms whence it had formerly digressd Since therfore the Kings of England always held priority of place and session of those several Kings before their Kingdomes were reducd to one a question being movd therabouts they have retaind their Right by the Popes sentence and never yeilded it upon occasion Therfore without controversie
the Spanish Court defended the Decree of the Senat very vigorously and in some mesure appeasd the spirit of King Philip who notwithstanding advancd this question upon all occasions The greatest endevours he usd was four years after in the Council of Trent which was the greatest Theatre of Religion and Honor that had been seen above a hundred years before wherof we shall give an exact Relation as followeth Of the Council of Trent A General Council after the Revolt of Luther Anno 1517. was desird by all Christians and often proposd by Charles the fifth and Francis the first of France to Pope Leo the Tenth Clement the seventh and Paul the third who at last convokd an Oecumenical Free Council to be held at Trent which was also kept at Bolonia some part of the time and ther were ten Sessions made in eighteen months Then it ceasd until the death of Paul the third 1549. The Cardinal Iohn Maria de Monte who had bin first President of the Council under Paul 3. succeeded by the the name of Iulius 3. who presently made an Indiction of the Council again which recommencd at Trent Anno 1550. and lasted also under this Pope above 18 months during which time ther were six Sessions but being summond again by the same Iulius it ceasd under Marcellus 2. who held the Pontificat but 22 days Then it continued under Paul 4. Anno 1559. Pius 4. succeeding him made a new Indiction of the Council again which began 1561. under whom it lasted two years during which time the nine last Sessions were made Insomuch that the whole Council by intermissions lasted about eighteen yeers from the year 1545. to 1563. but the Council sate together in deliberation but five years take all the Adjournments together Now to understand the Right of the Precedences of Ambassadors we must know that in the said Council three kinds of Assemblies were made viz. Congregations General Particular Congregations and Sessions In the particular Congregations the Doctors assisted by some Bishops examined Questions of Faith and Reformation according to the distribution that was made them and in this ther was no consideration had of Precedence or Ceremony They were Actions intra privatos parietes within privat Walls In the General Congregation all the Prelats assembled and the Legats presided who proposed what ought to be treated in the particular Congregations There the Theologians were heard and Ambassadors of Princes had audience after their Commissions had been examined In brief all things were concluded there which were to be promulgated in the following Session and Ambassadors had their places there according to their Rank At last the Session was the solemn day at which after the Mass of the Holy Spirit and a Sermon preachd by some Prelat or great Theologian the Prelat Officiating pronounced aloud the Decrees already resolvd upon which had been approvd by the Fathers by this Canonical word Placet Now all Ambassadors had their seats of honor in those Sessions and at Mass and this Honor appeerd by the places where they sate as also by the Censer and Pax which were given them to kiss during the celebration of the Mass. In the Council held by Paul 3. and Iulius 3. Charles the Fifth was Emperour and without any the least contradiction his Ambassadors preceded all others though the French scarce appeerd there and in the 16 first Sessions ther was hardly any Prelat of France so there was no dispute of any precedence at all the Emperour having the first rank and ther was no occasion at all for any Ambassador from the King of Spain because it was involvd then in the Empire yet ther intervend some things which declard the Prerogatives of the King of France First in the Bull of indicting the Council by Paul 3. the King of France is namd expresly after the Emperour and all other Princes spoken of in general terms without any name in these terms Charissimos in Christa Filios nostros Carolum Romanorum Imperatorem semper Augustum Et Christianissimum Regem Franciscum duo praecipua Christiani Nominis firmamenta atque fulchra or are atque obsecrare instituimus Then a little after Supra autem dictos Imperatorem Regemque Christianissimum nec non caeteros Reges Duces Principes quorum praesentia si alias usquam hoc quidem tempore maxime Sanctissimae Christi Fidei Christianorum omnium futura est salutaris rogantes atque obsecrantes per viscera misericordiae Dei c. We have appointed to desire and pray our most dear Sons in Christ Charles Emperour of the Romans always August and Francis the most Christian King the two chiefest Supporters and Props of Christianity c. So that ther is no other Prince particularly namd in the Bull but the Emperour and the King of France the other Kings and Princes go under one general notion which is a great advantage of Honour to the Kings of France Secondly From the entry of the Council 1545. Francis the first of France had appointed for his Ambassadors Claude d' Urfé Seneshal of the Forests Iacques de Ligneres President of the third Chamber of Enquests and Dean Peter Danes afterwards Bishop of Vaur but being advertisd by some Bishops which were at Trent how ther were but little hopes that the said Council was like to have good success he revokd the said Ambassadors who appeerd not at all in the Council But Anthony Filiolo Archbishop of Aix being there and demanding that in the publik Prayers which were made for all Christian Princes the King of France shold be expresly nominated as he was in the Bull of Indiction the Legats eluded this demand insomuch that the Pope and the Emperour were only namd in the Prayers and all other Princes conceavd in General terms In the yeer 1546. King Francis 1. sent Peter Danes Bishop of Vaur for his Ambassador to the Council where making an eloquent Oration he represented the sad state of Christendome and the disorders which were crept into the Church yea into the Roman Court wherupon one Bishop laughd saying Gallus cantat The Cock crows Danes replied suddenly Utinam illo Gallocinio Petrus ad resipiscentiam fletum excitetur I wold to God that by this crowing of the Cock Peter wold be raisd up to repentance and tears And this saying was afterwards in evry ones mouth In the yeer 1547. Paul 3. in regard of the Plague and Wars then in Germany transferrd the Council from Trent to Bolonia but this he did Communicato etiam Consilio cum Imperatore Christianissimo Rege aliis Regibus ac Principibus Christianis where the King of France is particularly namd In the yeer 1551. when Iulius 3. had re-established the Council again at Trent although Hen. 2. the King of France had entred into a hot War against Pope Iulius for the Affairs of Parma yet he employd Iaques Amyot Abbot of Belosana and afterwards Bishop of Auxerre with a Letter bearing this
King of the Stuarts was a British Lady And as ther is a Register of 139 British and English Kings so there is an exact Catalog of 110 Scots Kings wheras all the three Races of the French Kings make but 64 Kings in all Nor did any of those three Royal Races continue much above 300 yeers in a Bloud but were quite extinguishd both Merovingiens Carlevingiens and Capevingiens The House of Valois extinguished in the late Queen Margaret first wife to Hen. 4. And this present King is but the Third of the House of Bourbon Spain cannot say so much for the furthest Line that Her Kings can draw is not much above 500 yeers ago from the Counts of Castile nor was ther ever any King of Castile till the yeer 1017. And touching the House of Austria it became Royal but about 300 yeers since To conclude this Paragraph his present Majestie of Great Britain in point of Royal Extraction and Linage is the Greatest born Prince that any Age can produce For wheras his Granfather and Father were allied only if you regard Forren Consanguinity to the House of Holstein and that of Lorain Charles the second of England bears in his Veins not only That Bloud but also the Blouds of all the Great Princes of Christendom being neerly linkd to the Houses of France and Bourbon To the House of Austria and consequently to the Emperour and Spain by the Maternal side as also to the Dukes of Savoy and Florence Moreover He is neerly allied to the King of Denmark and to all the prime Princes of Germany as the Saxe Brandenburg Bavaria the Palsgrave c. The seventh Paragraph Touching the Hospitality and plentiful Kingly Court with number of Officers and Stately Attendants of the King of Great Britain T Is ordinary for Latin Authors old and new to break out into the praises of Great Britain and their Elogiums are many but le ts hear what a great Greek Poet speaks of Her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No Ile did ever dare With Britain yet compare Among other Encomiums of England she is much cried up for her wonderful fecundity and fulness of all things relating to the nourishment of mankinde all things that Earth Water or Air can afford which with the Divine benediction must be imputed to the temper of the Clime And besides ther be gentle breezes that are conveyd from the circumfluent Seas which refresh all kinde of animals both Brute and Rational The clouds there may be truly said to drop fatness dissolving into silver wholsom showers to soften and fertilize her Glebes In December and Ianuary there is commonly Frost enough to knit and corroborate the joynts of the earth In February ther is usually Snow enough to fill the Dikes and like a gentle white rugg to cover her plowd fields and keep the bed of the earth warm from the inclemency of the circumambient cold air It is observd that ther is not such a multitude of Volatils any where And touching her Seas ther are not any wher so great variety of Fish swimming in such huge shoals like mountains and taking their turns and seasons about the Iland once every yeer Her fresh rivers are also full of them Her Forests and Woods have not such ravenous beasts as other Countries use to have yet ther are store of savage beasts for Recreation as the Stagg the Hind the Hart the Hare the Otter the Fox and Badger c. The bowels of the earth are no where so pregnant of Metals Stone and Fuel c. The Sun which scorcheth other Countries may be said but to warm the English soyl with his gentle rays The Air is nothing so foggie and dull as in many other Regions but cleerd and attenuated ever and anon with refreshing blasts Nor is the body of the earth so subject to shaking Agues and Earth quakes to trepidation and quakings as other places are which are full of sulphurous bituminous concavities Touching store and superfluity of Corn with all sorts of Grain Britain in the times of the Romans was calld as Tacitus says the Barn and Granary of the Western world Take all these particulars together the Poet doth not much complement with England when he breaks thus into a Character of her Anglia Terra ferax Tibi pax secura quietem Multiplicem luxum merx Opulenta dedit Tu nimio nec stricta gelu nec sydere fervens Clementi Coelo temperiéque places Cùm pareret Natura parens variásq favore Divideret dotes omnibus una locis Sepofuit potiora Tibi Matremque professa Insula sis foelix plenaque pacis ait Quicquid amat luxus quicquid desiderat usus Ex Te proveniet vel aliunde Tibi This is the cause of that infinit Commerce she hath to all parts of the habitable earth as far as the Antipodes and the incredible benefit which other Nations make of her Commodities Insomuch that Guicciardine an Author well to pass relates that after the Articles of the Intercursus magnus were made with Flanders or the Netherlands the Annual Trade amounted unto above twelve Millions Sterling whereof the one half was in Woollen Manufactures wherby the 17 Provinces did wonderfully improve in Negotiation and Wealth Insomuch that the ground of the Order of the Golden Fleece established by the Duke of Burgundy related to the English Wool which proved so infinitely beneficial unto them From this marvelous exuberance and superfluity of substantial Staple-commodities proceed the luxe the plenty and profuseness of the Inhabitants for ther is no wher such frequent Invitations and Feasts in Town and Country which made one say That among others England hath an Inchanting kind of quality to make Forreners forget their own Countries when they have once tasted of the sweetness therof The Franklins Yeomen or Freeholders live like Gentlemen The Gentlemen and Esquires live like Noble-men The Noble-men like Princes The Lord Maior and Sheriffs of London have Tables most days of the week fit to entertain Kings Now touching the Royal Court which may be calld the Epitome of the whole Country Ther is no King whatsoever lives in that height of magnificence and plenty Ther was communibus annis servd in kind in provisions for his Majesties house by way of composition 3790 quarters of Wheat 1493 Oxen fat and lean 7000 Muttons 1231 Veals 310 Porks 410 Sturks 26 Boars 320 Flitches of Bacon 6820 Lambs 40 Barrels of Butter 145 dozen of Geese Capons cours 252 dozen Hens 470 dozen Pullets cours 750 dozen Chickins cours 1470 dozen Wax 3100 weight sweet Butter 46640 pounds Charcoals 1250 loads Talwood Billets Faggots 3950 loads Herrings 60 barrels Wine-cask from the Vintners 600 Tun c. Beer 1700 Tun c. This was for the first cours Now for the second cours innumerable sorts of Fowl and Fish according to the season which was exactly observd This made Bodin the great Critique to confess that considering all things ther was not a more magnificent and
great many by the Kings favor are daily ennobled Such a gallant Goverment France hath for the common Incolumity and publik defence of the Country and for the employment of the Gentry who are more numerous there then in any Kingdome els wherby the tru Rules of Policy are observd that shold be in a Monarchy which are For the King to command The Nobles to execut and The Peeple to obey and indeed the Peeple shold know nothing els but how to obey Now one of the prime Principles in France is to keep the common Peeple under a perfect subjection so that they may not be able to do any hurt And if they are kept poor hereby let them thank themselfs for if they were pamperd with wealth They wold be ever and anon kicking at Goverment for we know ther is not a more instable hair-braind Monster in the world then the Common Peeple as England of late yeers hath had such woful experience Touching the Civil Goverment of France and administration of Justice it is of that high esteem that divers Forren Princes have referrd their Causes to be determind to the Court of Parlement in Paris as a Consistory of high Reason and Integrity It stands upon record how the Emperour Frederik the second referrd the controversies betwixt him and Pope Innocent the fourth touching the Kingdome of Naples to the decision of this Court En dernier ressort to pass a Definitif unappealable Judgement The Count Namurs in a Difference twixt him and Charles de Valois did cast himself upon the verdict of this Court Philip Prince of Tarentum overcame the Duke of Burgundy in this Court touching the Expences he was at in recovering the Greek Empire The Dukes of Lorain have in divers things stood to the Arbitrament and Justice of this Court They of Cambray when they were a Free Peeple have been willing to be tryed by this Court The Confederacy also of the Kingdome of Castile and Portugal was confirmd by this Court. Now the reason why this Court gains such a high Repute is That none are admitted to sit in that Tribunal but persons of known Integrity Erudition and Gallantry which made Henry the second as Lansius hath it when by the importunity of a great Princess he had recommended one to sit there and being a person but of shallow parts and so rejected the King said merrily Ie pensois que parmy tant de Ginets un Asâ—…e pourroit bien passer I thought that among so many Ginets one Ass might have passd well enough Besides this of Paris ther are divers other Courts of Parlement and Praesidial Seats dispersd up and down the Country in such a convenient distance that the Client may not be put to make long Journies for Justice and that the Poor be not oppressd by the Rich for want of means to make such long Journies wherby they suffer the suit to fall as many use to do in England in the remotest places from London for want of such Courts I will conclude also this third Argument with some choice Verses of Ludovicus Bologninus a celebrated Civilian Francorum Reges sacro sub nomine nati Consilio semper valuerunt semper Armis Sanctaque fautores Bonitatis Iura tenentes Appellat Romana suos Ecclesia gnatos Et Primogenitos tali sunt nomine digni His Deus Imperium dedit sua Iura tuetur Unguntur sancti fiunt quicunque creantur The fourth Argument A Religione Nobilitate Ecclesiae from Religion and Nobleness of the Church SOme Authors affirm that when our Saviour sufferd upon the Cross He lookd towards France whence they infer that it was a blessed Omen that Christian Religion shold florish most in that Kingdome Moreover it is a rare and indeed an unparallelld thing that ther was in France before the passion of our Saviour a Church viz. Ecclesia Carnotensis as it remains upon good record which was dedicated Virgini Pariturae to the Virgin that shold bear as we read ther was in Greece an Altar erected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To the unknown God This made the Emperour Iulius Caesar who had felt the pulse of that peeple more then any other to give this Encomium of them in his Commentaries Natura est omnium Gallorum admodum dedita Religioni T is the nature of all the Gauls to be much addicted to Religion As in the dark times of Paganism they were observd to be so devout so since the glorious Light of Christianity did shine upon the Flower de Luces the French Nation hath bin found to be transported with an extraordinary zeal to Religion And this Heavenly Light began to shine and shoot its Rays betimes for we read that Iraeneus one of the first Primitive Fathers was Bishop of Lions and he was Disciple to Polycarpus and Polycarpus was Disciple to St. Iohn the Evangelist by whom he was sent from Asia among the Gaules for the plantation and propagation of Christian Faith as St. Hierome relates St. Hilarius who was another Father of the Primitive Church was also Bishop of the Picts in France where he composd his excellent Works which are partly Expository partly Controversial though ther occur often some African barbarous Latin words in them as disfrocite for degenerate Zabulus for diabolus c. What a multitude of Hevenly Martyrs hath France had for in all the ten Persecutions ther were some of them signd still their Faith with their bloud In the Emperour Valerians time ther were famons French Martyrs as Florentius Bishop of Vienna Pontius Cassius Victorinus Liminius Anatolianus with others whom Gregory Turonensis mentions and whose names are enrolld in the Catalog of Saints to all posterity And this was a little before the unluckly Novatian Heresie crept into France and infected divers other Countries Nay to go higher up and to the very source of Christianity ther are some Authors who avouch that St. Paul was in France and that the chief Church in Vienna was built by him as this ancient Verse there engraven shews Paulus praeco Crucis tibi dat primordia Lucis Ther be other Authors who affirm that St. Peter also was in France And that ther landed at one time in Marseilles Lazarus Mary Magdalen Martha and Marcella as it is recorded in a Manuscript of the English History in the Vatican wherof Baronius makes mention And about that time Ioseph of Arimathea that Noble Decurion passd through France into Britain with the foresaid Marcella who was she that is mentiond in the Gospel who being divinely inspird cryed out with a loud voice when Christ was preaching Happy is the womb that brought Thee forth and the paps that gave Thee suck Spencaeus also makes mention that St. Luke was in France As also Savinianus one of the 72 Disciples and Martialis another of them who some do affirm to be He who sold the five Barly Loaves and the two Fishes wherwith our Saviour fed five thousand And if the Holy Reliques of
so universal good as suppressing of Wars by making Peace Frendship and Concord or for the advancement of Commerce and Frendship Now it adds much to the Honor of Ambassadors that none can send any under that Title unless he be a Souverain Prince Ther is no subject capable to send or receave any Ambassador be he never so great a Viceroy if he do it is no less then High Treson Therfore before the beginning of the last Civil Wars in England it was Treson in the highest degree for the Scots Inconsulto Principe to send Lowden and others in quality of privat Clancular Commissioners to treat with the French King in the name of the whole Nation for assistance And though the King himself made a semblance not to admit or hear them yet his fiery Cardinal huggd them whence it may be well said the first flames of the said VVars broke out It is recorded in the Life of Eliz. Queen of England that the Duke of Alva when he was Governor of Flanders sent Christopher Assonville in quality of a Minister of State but the Queen wold not admit him because he could produce neither Commission or Credential Letter from the King of Spain whose Vassal Alva was In the year 1604. the King of Spain motiond that the publik Minister who was here for the Hollanders shold not be stild Ambassador because they are subject to the Empire and have a Superior having bin incorporated in the Empire by Charles the fifth 1548. at the Diet of Auspurg as Meteranus relates and says besides that Rodolphus 2. writ Letters unto them 1607. as to Vassals of the Empire and consequently they had no power to make Peace or War without the consent of Caesar which they then acknowledgd by their Letters sent to Colen The Electors and Princes of Germany have got a privilege to send and receave Ambassadors touching matters that concern their own Territories but not the state of the Empire The like the Hans Town may do But Rebels have no capacity to employ any in quality of Ministers of State no not so much as an Herald Therfore Charles the fifth was censurd for admitting a Herald with Letters denouncing a War from the Lutheran party in Germany and dismissing him unpunishd though he told him that if he came again in steed of a Gold Chain he shold have a Halter for his reward Touching the Electors or Princes of Germany and the Hans Towns or Cities of the Hansa it hath bin much controverted whether they had Ius Legationis whether they had a capacity to make a Mission of Ministers of State that might bear the quality and privilege of Ambassadors Concerning the first Kirknerus a great Civilian holds That the German Princes may have such a Prerogative but it is secundario tantum Iure Et qui Ius mittendorum Legatorum secundario tantùm Iure habent mittuntur Legati non de Rebus universum concernentibus Imperium sed tantùm sui Territorii ratione eo enim Ipsis intuitu tantùm datum ultra igitur terminos non est procedendum fieret enim altàs prejudicium Imperatori c. The German Princes may employ Ambassadors to Forren Princes by a secondary Right not to treat of Affairs concerning the Universal Empire but of things only appertaining to their own particular Territories and beyond those bounds they must not proceed And ther are some Princes in Italy also that are no less under the Majesty of the Empire in this kind but c. As for the Hans Towns and Corporations they claim the same privilege as the Princes do for they are free Imperial Cities and communicat of the same Regalias yet all by the indulgence of the Emperour wherunto his necessities from time to time enforcd him The Provinces of Belgia or the Netherlands under pretext of such a Right sent the Baron of Montigni as Ambassador to Spain at the beginning of the tumults but Philip the second choppd off his head saying That Vassals much less Rebels have no power to employ Ambassadors Yet this King his Grandchild admitted Ascham who came from as notorious Rebels though not in reference to him which he excusd in regard that Queen Elizabeth had receavd Ambassadors from Holland at their first revolt before they were acknowledgd a State and that she was the chiefest supportress of them VVe will conclude this Paragraph with this Ticklish Point VVhether a Protestant Prince may not send an Ambassador to the Pope and by way of civil correspondence receave another from Him though Iustice Ashton was of a contrary opinion yet Sir Edward Coke was for the Affirmatif and his reason is because that besides his Spiritual Jurisdiction the Pope is a Temporal Prince and ther may be Ambassadors sent to him as well as to the Turk or Mogor The fourth Paragraph Of the Privileges Security Reception and the honorable sacred esteem which hath bin always had of the Persons of Ambassadors AMong many other Privileges which Ambassadors enjoy and are endowd withal Iure Gentium by the Law of Nations not only their Persons have bin always esteemd sacred and inviolable but their Houses have bin held and allowd as Sanctuaries all their Servants from the Stuard to the Scullion-Boy are free from all kind of outrages violence or arrests And they have this security not only in Courts and Cities but in the midst of Armies in the Field twixt Swords Muskets and Guns for though Ambassadors come from an Enemy yet they are accounted none VVhensoever they take footing upon the shore or confines of any Prince to whom they are sent they use to be attended by Harbingers and other Officers all the way till they arrive at the Court. If they be robbd the King makes good their losses If an extraordinary Ambassador he is attended at his first entrance with a more splendid equippage he is Lodgd and Dieted at the Kings charge for so many days with his whole train At his Audience the King riseth to him pulls off his Hat and bows his Body c. Besoldus produceth the King of England anno 1527. for an example how he observd the French Ambassador as if he had bin the King himself His words are Angliae Rex Gallicum Legatum planè ut Regem observavit eique supremum locum concessit adeoque honoravit ut in Comoediis ipsius Regis filiae sustineret personam The King of England observd the French Ambassador plainly as the King and gave him the upper place and he so honord him that he held by the arm the Kings Daughter to a Comedy But the Princes Electors carry themselfs high in this particular for they take place of Ambassadors and the reason which Guetta and other Civilians give is In praesente Principe vera Majestas in Legato tantùm dignitas aliena In Principe reiveritas in Legato effigiata adumbrata est ut autem umbra Luci ita Principi Legatus quamvis enim Fictio tantùm operetur quantùm rei veritas