wealth others further of admitted in their places euen in those kingdomes where succession preuaileth with many examples of the kingdomes of Israel and Spayne Cap. 7. fol. 140. Of diuers other examples out of the states of France Ingland for proofe that the next in blood are sometymes put back from succession and how god hath approued the same with good successe Cap. 8. fol. 164. VVhat are the principall points which à cōmō wealth ought to respect in admitting or excluding any Prince wherin is handled largly also of the diuersitie of religions and other such Causes Cap. 9. fol. 197. THE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND BOOKE THe preface with the intention protestation of the Lawyer to treat this matter without the hurt or preiudice of any Of diuers bookes treatises that haue bin written heretofore about the titles of such as pretende the crowne of Ingland and what they do conteyne in fauour or disfauour of diuers pretendors Cap. 1. fol. 1. Of the succession of the crowne of Ingland from the conquest vnto the tyme of king Edward the third with the beginning of three principal linages of the Inglish blood royal dispersed into the houses of Britanie Lancaster and Yorke Cap. 2. fol. 12. Of the successiō of Inglish kings frō king Edward the third vnto our dayes with the particuler causes of dissention betweene the families of Yorke and Lancaster more largly declared Cap. 3. fol. 37. Of the great and general controuersie and contention betweene the said two houses royal of Lancaster and Yorke and which of them may seeme to haue had the beteer right to the crowne by way of succession Cap. 4. fol. 56. Of fiue principal and particuler houses or linages that do or may pretend the crowne of Ingland at this day which are the houses of Scotland of Suffolck of Clarence of Britanie and of Portugal and first of al the house of Scorland which conteyneth the pretentions of the king of Scotts of the Lady Arbella Cap. 5. fol. 107. Of the house of Suffolke conteyning the clayme 's aswel of the countesse of Darby and of her children as also of the children of the earle of Hartfort Cap. 6. fol. 130. Of the houses of Clarence and Britany which conteyneth the claymes of the carle of Huntington and of the Lady Infanta of Spayne and others of these two families Cap. 7. fol. 141. Of the house of Portugall which conteyneth the clayme 's as well of the king and Prince of Spayne to the succession of Ingland as also of the dukes of Parma and Bragansa by the house of Lancaster Cap. 8. fol. 160. VVhether it be better to be vnder a forraine or hom-borne Prince and whether vnder a great and mightic monarch or vnder a little Prince or king Cap. 9. fol. 193. Of certayne other secondary or collateral lines and how extreme doubtfull at the pretences be and which of all thease pretenders are most like by probability to preuaile in the end to get the crowne of Ingland Cap. 10. fol. 233. THE PREFACE CONTEYNING THE OCCASION OF THIS TREATIS with the subiect purpose and partes therof THER chaunced not long ago I meane in the monethes of Aprill and May of this last yeare 93. to mete in Amsterdam in Holland certayne Gentlemen of diuers nations qualities and affections as wel in religion as otherwise yet the most part Inglish and Irish and they had bine in diuers countries studied different artes and followed vnlike professions some of souldiars some of lawyers both temporal ciuil others of meere trauelors to learne experience and pollicy And for that the aduises which dayly came from Ingland at that tyme the parlament being then in hand gaue occasion to discourse of Inglish affaires they fell into diuers poyntes concerning the same but yet none was treated so largly or so seriously as was the matter of succession and competitors to the crowne for that it was presumed a great while that some thing would be determined thereof in that parlament though one or two of the wisest of that company held euer the contrary opinion But when at lenght newes was brought that nothing at al had bin done therin but rather that one or two as was reported had bin checked or committed for speaking in the same then came it in question among thes Gentlemen what should be the causes of such proceding in a matter so waighty and so necessary for al Inglish men to know But two Gentlemen Lawyers of the company one of the common law and the other a Ciuilian alleaged so many reasons for iustifying the Queenes Maiesties doings in this behalfe as al did seeme satisfied for that it was made playne that it could not stande with the safety eyther of her Maiesty or of the realme or of the party himselfe who should be preferred that any declaration of heyre apparent should be made during the life of her Maiesty that now is how dangerons soeuer the delay therof may be estemed for the tyme to come And so the end of this speach brought in presently the begining of an other to wit what weare like to be thes dangers and who might be likest of the pretendors to preuaile after her Maiestie about which matter ther was much discoursed by diuers parties but the conclusion of al was that both thes poyntes remayned very doubtful but much more the second who should preuaile of the competitors which they said did make the former poynt lesse doubtful of the multitude of dangers that therby did hang ouer the common wealth of Ingland though it wanted not doubt also in particuler what and where they should fal for said they whersoeuer many pretenders of the blood royall are knowne to be competitors to a crowne ther cannot chuse but many perilles also must be imminent to the realme To this one of the company said that he did not see how ther could be eyther so many pretenders to the crowne as the day before had bin spoken of in that place for the commō lawyer before named newly come out of Ingland had tould them that he had hard of some 9. or 10. or more plotts that were debated within the realme for so many pretenders or yf ther were any such great number descended of the blood royall yet their titles could not be so doubtfull seing it was an easy matter to discerne who was next in discent of blood and who not Not so easy quoth this Gentleman lawyer for that although it cannot be denyed but that ther is among al such as may pretend at this day a certayne knowne order and degree of neernes in blood to some king or Queene that hath possessed the crowne before them and in this discent it is knowne also commonly who descendeth of the elder house and who of the yonger and other such like vulgar circumstances yet notwithstanding for that ther be many other poyntes considerable in this affaire as the right of the first
stock wherof ech part doth spring the disabling of the same stock afterwards by attainders or otherwise the bastardies or other particuler impedimēts that may haue fallen vppon ech discent or branch therof al thes thinges said he may alter the course of common supposed right in him or her that is taken to be next in blood as prouing them not to be truly and lawfully the nerest though they be the next in degree As for example said he the whole multitude of competitors or pretenders which I conceaue may come in consideration or haue action or clayme to the crowne after her Maiesty that now is may be reduced to three or fower first heads or principal stocks to wit to the house of Lancaster a part as descendcd of Iohn of Gant Duke of Lancaster by his first wife Blanche sole heyre of the Duchie of Lancaster And of this branch or stock the most knowne of-spring in thes our dayes are thos Princes that are lineally discended of Don Iuan the first surnamed de boa memoria tenth king of Portugal who marryed with Philip the eldest daughter of the saide Iohn of Gant by his first wife Blanche and thes Princes are king Phillip of Spayne now king also of Portugal the Dukes of Parma and Braganza who descended of the same race as also the Duke of Sauoy one degree after them The second stock is of the house of yorke a part descending of George the Duke of Clarence second brother to king Edward the fourth who being put to death by the kings order in Cales left a daughter by whom are descended the Earle of Huntington with his brothers which also haue children and the ofspring of Geffrey Pole and Sir Thomas Barrington who marryed the other sister of her that was marryed to the Hastings The third stock was in king Henry the seuenthe who being himselfe of the house of lancaster and warying the eldest daughter of Edward the fourth of the house of yorke is presumed to haue ioyned thes two houses together and from this man by his two daughters for of his sonne who was king Henry the eight ther remayneth only the Queeue that now is ther hath proceeded the house of Scotland deuided into the famylies of the king of Scots and Arbella as also the progeny of the two Earles yet liuing of Hartford and Darby Vnto thes three heads which are commonlie knowen to al men some of ourdayes do add also a fourth which may seeme more ancient then ether of al thes three to wit by the Dukes of Brytaine who are discended dyuers wayes of the blood royal of Ingland as maye easely be declared whose heire at this day by lineal discent is the Enfanta of Spaine named Dona Ysabella Clara Eugenia daughter to king Philipp So that heerby wee come to discouer no lesse then ten or eleuen famylies that may pretend and haue al of them frends in Ingland and els wher as yesterday I told you who do not fayle in secret to negotiat and lay plotts for them for that ther are none of thes so far of but to their frends it seemeth the tymes standing as they do that reasons may be giuen for their preferment and good hope conceaued of preualying You do wel to adde said a Captayne ther present the tymes standing as they do or at least wise as they are like to stand when this matter must come to trial at what tyme I beleue not you lawyers but we souldiars must determyne this title and then no doubt if ther were not only thes tenn by you named but twenty moore also of the blood royal that would pretend and had frends and money to stand by them we should admit their causes to examination and perhapps giue sentence for him that by your lawes would sonest be excluded for whe matters come to snatching it is hard to say who shal haue the bet ter part I do not ad this circumstance of the tyme said the lawyer as though it were the only or principal poynt which maketh doubtful the matter of successiō though I confesse that it helpeth ther-vnto greatly in respect of the great variety of mens affections at this day in religion which do incline them commonly to iudge for him whom they best loue but besids this I do say that were the tymes neuer so quiet and religion neuer so vniforme yet are ther great doubtes in many mens heades about the lawfulnes of diuers pretentions of the famylies before named but if you adde vnto this the said wonderfull diuersity in matters of religiō also which this tyme yealdeth you shal finde the euent much more doubtfull and consequently it is no maruaile though many may remaine in hope to preuaile seing that wher many are admitted to stand for a preferment ther diuers may haue probality also of speeding An example you may take said the Ciuiliā lawyer in the Roman Conclaue at the popes election wher among three or sower score Cardinales that enter in for electors few ther are that haue not hope also to be elected not for that they see themselues all as well qualified as others but because oftentymes when diuers that are more forward by likely hode cannot be agreed vppon it falleth to the lott of hun that is fardest of and so it may among your pretender's quoth he in Ingland Your example said the temporal lawyer confirmeth somewhat of that I meane though it be not al togeather in like matter or maner for that the pope is made by electiō here we talke of a king by succession Your succession said the Ciuilian includeth also an election or approbation of the common wealth and so doth the succession of al kings in Christendome besides as wel appeareth by the manner of their new admission at their coronations wher the people are demaunded agayne if they be content to accept such a man for their King thoughe his title of neernes by blood be neuer so cleere And therfore much more it is like to be in this case of Inglish pretenders now wher their lawful neernes in blood is so doubtful as you haue signified so I do come to confirme your former proposition of the doubtfulnes of the next successor in Ingland with an other reason besids that which you haue alleaged of the ambiguity of their true propoinquity in blood for I say further that albeit the neernes of each mans succession in blood were euidently knowne yet were it very vncertayne as things now stand in Ingland and in the rest of Christendome rownd about who should preuaile for that it is not enough for a man to be next only in blood therby to pretend a crowne but that other circumstances also must concurre which if they want the bare propinquity or ancetrie of blood may iustly be reiected and he that is second third fourth fifth or last may lawfully be preferred before the first and this by al law both diuine and
in Magistrats and for that the former is of nature the other also is of nature Al which is confitmed also by the consent vse of al nations through-out the world which general consent Cicero calleth ipsius vocem naturae the voice of nature herselfe for ther was neuer yet nation found ether of ancient tyme or now in our dayes by the discouery of the Indies or els where among vvhom men liuing together had not some kind of Magestrate or superior to gouerne them which euidently declareth that this poynt of Magestrates is also of nature and from god that created nature which poynt our ciuil law doth proue in like manner in the very begining of our digestes vvher the secōd title of the first booke is de origineiuris ciuilis omnium magestratuum of the begining of the ciuil law and of al magestrates which begining is referred to this first principle of natural instinct and Gods institution And last of al that God did concurr also expresly vvith this instinct of nature our diuines do proue by cleare testimony of holy scripture as vvhen God saith to Salomon by me kings do raigne and S. Paule to the Romans auoucheth that autbority is not but of God and therfore he which resisteth authority resisteth God Which is to be vnderstood of authority power or iutisdiction in it selfe according to the first institution as also vvhen it is lawfully laid vppō any person for otherwise when it is ether vvrongfully taken or vniustly vsed it may be resisted in diuers cases as afterwards more in particuler shal be declared for then it is not law ful authority Thes two poynts then are of nature to wit the common wealth and gouerment of the same by magistrates but vvhat kind of gouermēt ech common vvealth vvil haue whether Democratia vvhich is popular gouerment by the people it selfe as Athens Thebes and many other cyties of Greece had in old tyme as the Cantons of Swizers at this day haue or els Aristocratia vvhich is the gouerment of some certayne chosen number of the best as the Romans many yeares vvere gouerned by Consuls and senators and at this day the states of this countrey of Holland do imitate the same or els Monarchia vvhich is the regiment of one and this agayne eyther of an Emperor King Duke Earle or the like thes particuler formes of gouerment I say are not determyned by God or nature as the other two poyntes before for thē they should be al one in al nations as the other are seing God and nature are one to al as often hath bin said but thes particuler formes are left vnto euery nation and countrey to chuse that forme of gouerment which they shal like best and think most fit for the natures and conditions of their people vvhich Aristotle proueth through out al the second and fourth bookes of his politiques very largly laying dovvne diuers kinds of gouerments in his dayes as namely in Greece that of the Milesians Lacedemonians Candians and others and shevving the causes of their differences which he attributeth to the diuersity of mens natures customes educations and other such causes that made them make choise of such or such forme of gouerment And this might be proued also by infinit other examples both of tymes past and present and in al nations and countryes both christian and otherwise which haue not had only differēt fassions of gouermēts the one frō the other but euen among themselues at one tyme one forme of gouerment and an other at other tymes for the Romans first had Kings and after reiecting them for their euil gouerment they chose 〈◊〉 vvhich vvere two gouernours for euervycare vvhose authority yet they limited by a multitude of senators which vvere of their counsel and thes mens power vvas restrayned also by adding tribunes of the people and some tyme dictators and finally they came to be gouerned last of al by Emperors The like might be said of Carthage in Africa and many cityes and common wealthes of Greece which in diuers seasons and vppon diuers causes haue taken different formes of gouerment to themselues The like vve see in Europe at this day for in only Italye what different formes of gouerment haue you Naples hath a kinge for their soueraine Rome the pope and vnder him one senator in place of so many as vvere wont to be in that common vvealth Venice and Genua haue senators Dukes but litle authority haue ther Dukes Florence Farara Mantua Parma Vrbin and Sauoy haue their Dukes only without senators and there power is absolut Milan vvas once a kingdom but now a Dukedom the like is of Burgundy Lorayne Bauire Gascony and Britayne the lesser al which once had their distinct kings and now haue Dukes for their supreme gouernours The like may be said of al Germany that many yeares together had one king ouer al which now is deuided into so many Dukedomes Earldomes other like titles of supreme Princes But the contrary is of Castile Aragon Portugal Barcelona and orher kingdomes this day in Spayne which vvere first earldomes only and after Dukedomes and then kingdomes and now a gayne are al vnder one Monarchy The like is of Boeme and Polonia which vvere but Dukedomes in old tyme and now are kingdomes The like may be said of France also after the expulsion of the Romans vvhich was first a monarchy vnder Pharamond their first king and so continued for many yeares vnder Clodion Merouys Childrik and Clodouaeus ther first christened kings but after they deuided it into fower kingdomes to vvit one of Paris an other of Suessons the third of Orleans and the fourth of Metts and so it continued for diuers yeares but yet aftervvards they made it one monarchy agayne England also vvas first a monarchy vnder the Britaynes and then a prouince vnder the Romans and after that deuided into seauen kingdomes at once vnder the Saxons and novv a monarchy agayne vnder the Inglish and al this by Gods permission and approbation vvho in token therof suffred his owne peculier people also of Israel to be vnder diuers manners of gouerments in diuers tymes as first vnder Patriarques Abraham Isaac and Iacob then vnder Captaynes as Moses Iosua and the like then vnder iudges as Othoniel Aiod and Gedion then vnder high Priestes as Hely and Samuel then vnder kings as Saul Dauid and the rest then vnder captaines highe priests agayne as Zorobabelludas Machabeus his brethren vntil the gouerment vvas lastely taken from them and they brought vnder the povver of the Romans and forraine kinges appoynted by them So as of al this ther can be no doubt but that the common vvealth hath power to chuse their owne fassion of gouerment as also to change the same vppon resonable causes as we see they haue done in al tymes and countryes and God no
king Charles the simple vvhich Luys was coÌ„monly called now in France by the name of d'Outremer that is be-yond the sea for that he had bin brought vp in Ingland the said states being also greatly and continually sollicited heerunto by the Embassadors of king Adelstan of Ingland and by William Duke of Normandie surnamed long speer great grand father to William the conqueror who by the king of Ingland vvas gayned also to be of the yong princes part for these considerations I say they resolued to cal him into France out of Ingland as his father had bin before him and to admitt and crowne him king and so they did and he reigned 27. yeares and vvas a good Prince died peaceablie in his bedd the yeare of Christ 945. This king Luys d'Outremer left tvvo sonnes behind him the eldest vvas called Lothaire the first who succeded him in the crowne of FraÌ„ce and the second vvas named Charles vvhom he made Duke of Lorayne Lothaire dying left one only sonne named Luys as his grand father vvas vvho was king of France by the name of Luys the 5. and dying vvithout issue after tvvo yeares that he had reygned the crowne vvas to haue gone by lyneal succession vnto his vncle Charles the duke of Lorayne secoÌ„nd sonne to Luys d'Outremer as is euident but the states of France did put him by it for mislike they had of his person and did chose Hugo Capetus Earle of Paris and so ended the second lyne of Pepin and of Charles the great and entred the race of Hugo Capetus vvhich endurcth vntil this day and the French stories do say that this surname Capet vvas giuen to him vvhen he vvas a boy for that he vvas wont to snatch avvay his fellovves cappes from their heades vvherof he vvas termed Snatch cappe vvhich some do interprete to be an abodement that he should snatch also a crowne from the true owners head in tyme as aftervvard vve see it fel out though yet he had it by election and approbation of the common vvealth as I haue said And in this respect al the french chroniclers who otherwise are most earnest defenders of ther law of succession do iustifie tâ—is title of Hugo Capetus against Charles for vvhich cause Frances Belforest doth alleadge the saying of William Nangis an ancient and diligent chronicler of the Abby of S. Denys in France vvho defendeth king Capetus in these vvords VVe may not graunt in any case that Hugh Capet may be estemed an inuador or vsurper of the crowne of France seing the Lordes Prelates princes and gouernors of the realme did cal him to this dignitie and chose him for their king and Soueraine Lord thus much Nangis vppon vvhich wordes Belforest saieth as followeth I haue layd before you the vvordes and censure of this good religious man for that they seeme to me to touch the quick for in very truth we cannot by any other meanes defend the title of Hugh Capet from Vsurpation and fellonie then to iustifie his comming to the crowne by the consent and wil of the common wealth and in this I may wel excuse me from inconstancie and contradiction to my selfe that haue so earnestly defended succession before for he that wil consider how and vvith vvhat conditions I defended that shal easely see also that I am not heere contrary to the same thus much Belforest I Thinke it not a misse also to put downe heer some part of the oration or speech vvhich the Embassador that vvas sent at that tyme from the state of France vnto Charles of Loraine after their election of Hugh Capet and Charles exclusion did vse vnto him in ther names which spech Girard doth recount in these wordes Euery man knoweth Lord Charles that the succession of the crowne and realme of France according to the ordinary Lawes and rights of the same belongeth vnto you and not vnto Hugh Capet now our king but yet the very same lawes vvhich do giue vnto you this right of succession do iudge you also vnworthy of the same for that you haue not endeuored hitherto to frame your life and manners according to the prescript of those lawes nor according to the vse custome of your coumtrey of France but rather haue allyed your selfe vvith the German nation our old enimies and haue acquainted your selfe vvith their vile and base manners Wherfore seing you haue forsaken abandoned the ancient vertue sweetnes and amitie of the french vve haue also abandoned and left you and haue chosen Hugh Capet for our king and haue put you back and this without any scruple or preiudice of our consciences at al esteeming it far better and more iust to liue vnder Hugh Capet the present posessor of the crowne with enioying the ancient vse of our lawes customes priuileges and liberties then vnder you the inheritor by neernes of bloode in oppression strange customes and cruelty For euen as those which are to make a voyage in a ship vppon a dangerous sea do not so much respect vvhether the pilot which is to guyd the sterne be owner of the ship or no but rather whether he be skilful valiant and like to bring them in safety to ther wayes end or to drowne them among the waues euen so our principal care is that we haue a good Prince to leade and guyd vs happely in this way of ciuil and politique life vvhich is the end why princes were appointed for that this man is fitter to be our king This message did the states of France send to Charles of Lorayne in defence of their doings and with this he lost his succession for euer and afterwards his life also in prison and the French men thought themselues secure in conscience as you see for doing the same which God hath also since seemed to confirme with the succession and happy successe of so many noble and most christian kings as haue issued out of this line of Hugo Capetus vnto this day And this spoken now of the second lyne of France I take to be sufficient for proofe of our purpose without going any further for that if we do but number these kings alredy named that haue reigned in this second race from king Pepin downwards vnto Hugh Capet vvhich are about 17. or 18. kings in 238. yeares vve shal finde that not some few but the most part of them did both enter and enioy ther crownes and dignities contrary to the law of lyneal discent and of next succession by blood Wherof also ther would not vvant diuers examples in the third and last discent since Hugo Capetus tyme if we would passe further to examine the stories ther-of For not to go further downe then to the very next discent after Hugh which vvas king Robert his sonne Girard affirmeth in his story that of his two sonnes which he had named Robert and Henry Robert the elder vvas put back and his yonger brother Henry
to Stephen countie Palatine of Bloys Champagne and Chartres in France and the other two Polidor saith dyed before they were marryed and so their names vvere not recorded These are the children of king William the Conqueror among whom after his death ther vvas much strife about the succession For first his eldest sonne duke Robert vvho by order of ancestrie by birthe should haue succeded him in al his estares was put back first from the kingdome of Ingland by his third brother William Rufus vppon a pretence of the Conquerors vvil and testament for perticuler affection that he had to this his said third sonne William though as Stow writeth almost al the nobility of Inglande vvere against Williās entrance But in the end agreement vvas made between the two brothers vvithe condition that if William should dye vvithout issue then that Robert should succed him and to this accord both the princes themselues and twelue principal peeres of ech side vvere sworne but yet after when VVilliam dyed vvithout issue this vvas not obserued but Henry the fourth sonne entred and depriued Robert not only of this his succession to Ingland but also of his dukedome of Normandie that he had enioyed peaceably before al the tyme of his brother Rufus and moreouer he toke him prisoner so caryed him into Ingland and ther kept him vntil his death which happened in the castle of Cardif in the yeare 1134. And vvhereas this Duke Robert had a goodly prince to this sonne named VVilliam who vvas duke of Normandy by his father earle of Flanders in the right of his grand mother that was the Cōquerors wife daughter of Baldwin Earle of Flanders as hath bin said and vvas established in both these states by the help of Lewys the 6. surnamed le gros king of France and admitted to do homage to hym for the saide states his vncle king Henry of Englād was so violent against him as first he draue him out of the state of Normandy and secondly he set vp and maynteyned a competitor or two against him in Flanders by whome finally he was slaine in the yeare of Christ 1128. before the towne of Alost by an arrow after he had gotten the vppet hand in the feild and so ended the race of the first sonne of king William the Conqueror to wit of duke Robert vvhich Robert liued after the death of his saide sonne and heyre duke VVilliam six yeares in prison in the castel of Cardife and pyned avvay vvith sorrow and miserie as both the Frenche and Inglishe histories do agree The second sonne of the Conqueror named Richard dyed as before hath bin sayde in his fathers tyme and left no issue at al as did neither the third sōne Williā Rufus though he reigned 13. yeares after his father the Conqueror in which tyme he established the successiō of the crowne by consent of the stares of Ingland to his elder brother duke Roberts issue as hath bin saide though afterward it was not obserued This Kinge Rufus came to the crowne principally by the help and fauour of Lanfrancus Archbishop of Canterbury who greatly repēted himselfe afterward of the error vvhich in that point he had committed vppō hope of his good gouerment which proued extreeme euel But this king William Rufus being slayne afterward by the error of a crosbow in newforest as is vvel knowne and this at such tyme as the foresaid duke Robert his elder brother to vvhom the crowne by succession apparteyned was absent in the vvarr of the holy land vvher according as most authors do vvrit he vvas chosen king of Hierusalem but refused it vppon hope of the kingdome of Ingland But he returning home foūde that his fowerth brother Henry partly by fayre promises and partly by force had inuaded the crowne in the yeare 1100. and so he reygned 35. yeares and had issue diuers sonnes and daughters but al vvere either drowned in the seas comming out of Normandie or els dyed otherwise before their father except only Mathildis vvho vvas first marryed to Henry the Emperor fift of that name and after his death without issue to Geffrey Platagenet duke of Anjow Tourayne and Mayne in France by whom she had Henry which reigned after king Stephen by the name of Henry the second and thus much of the sonnes of William the Conqueror Of his two daughters that lyued to be maryed and had issue the elder named Constance vvas maryed to Alayn fergat duke of Britanie vvho vvas sonne to Hoel earle of Nantes and vvas made duke of Britanie by VVilliam Cōquerors meanes in manner following Duke Robert of Normandy father to the Conqueror vvhen he went in pilgrimage vnto the holy land in which voyage he dyed left for gouernour of Normandy vnder the protection of king Henry the first of france duke Alayne the first of Britanie vvhich Allayn had issue Conan the first vvho being a stirringe prince of about 24. yeares old when duke VVilliam began to treat of passing ouer into Ingland he shewed himselfe not to fauour much that enterprise which duke VVilliam fearing caused him to be poysoned vvith a payre of perfumed gloues as the French stories do report and caused to be set vp in his place and made duke one Hoel earle of Nantes who to gratifie VVilliam sent his sonne Alaine surnamed Fergant with 5000. souldiars to passe ouer into Ingland vvith him and so he did VVilliam afterward in recompēce heer-of gaue him his eldest daughter Constantia in mariage vvith the earldome of Richmond by vvhom he had issue Conan the second surnamed le gros who had issue a sonne and a daughter The sonne vvas called Hoel as his grand father was and the daughters name was Bertha marryed to Eudo Earle of 〈◊〉 in Normandy for that this duke Conan liked better his daughter and his sonne in law her husband then he did Hoel his owne sonne he disauowed him in his death bedde and made his said daughter his heyre who had by the said Eudo a sonne named Conan surnamed the yonger which vvas the third duke of that name and this man had one only daughter and heyre named Lady Constance who whas marryed to the third sonne of king Henry the second named Geffrey elder brother to king Ihon that after came to rayne by this Lord Geffrey she had issue Arthur the second duke of Britanie whom king Iohn his vncle put back from the crowne of Ingland and caused to be put to death as after shal be shewed and he dying without issue his mother Constance duchesse heyre of Britanie marryed agayne vvith a prince of her owne house vvhom after vve shall name in the prosecution of this lyne and by him she had issue that hath indured vntil this day the last vvherof hitherto is the lady Isabella infanta of Spaine that other of Sauoy her sister whom by this meanes we se to haue
affliction also ensewed in France though not for succession but vppon other occasions betwene the great and royal houses of Burgundy and Orleans vvherby al three common wealthes I meane Ingland Britanie and France vvere like to haue come to distruction and vtter desolation And for that it may serue much to our purpose hereafter to vnderstand vvel this contiousie of Britanie I thinke it not amisse in few vvordes to declare the same in this place thus then it happened The foresaid Arthur the secōd of that name duke of Britanie and sonne of Lady Beatrix that was daughter as hath bin said to king Henry the third of Ingland had two vviues the first named Beatrix as his mother vvas and by this he had two sonnes Iohn that succeded him in the state by the name of duke Iohn the third and Guye that dying before his elder brother left a daughter and heyre named Ioan and surnamed the lame for that she halted who vvas marryed to the earle of Bloys that vvas nephew to Phillip of Valois king of France for that he vvas borne of his sister But besides these two children the said duke Arthur had by his second wife named Ioland countesse and heyre of the earldome of Monford an other sonne called Iohn Breno vvho in the right of his mother vvas earle of Monford And afterward vvhen duke Iohn the third came to die vvithout issue the question vvas who should succede him in his dukedome the vncle or the neece that is to saye his third brother Iohn Breno by half bloode or els his Neece Ioan the lame that vvas daughter and heyre to his second brother Guye of whole bloode that is by father and mother which lady Ioan was marryed to the earle of Bloys as hath byn said And first this matter vvas handled in the parlament of Paris the king himselfe sitting in iudgment vvith al his peeres the 30. day of Septemb. 1341. and adiuged it to the earle of Bloys both for that his wife vvas heyre to the elder brother as also for that duke Iohn by his testament and consent of the states had appointed her to be his heyre but yet king Edward the third and states of Ingland did iudge it otherwise and preferred Iohn Monford not knowing that the very like case vvas to fal out very soone after in Ingland I meane they iudged the state to Iohn Breno earle of monford yonger brother to Guye they did assist him and his sonne after him vvith al their forces for the gayning and holding of that state And albeit at the beginning it seemed that matters went against Monford for that himselfe vvas taken prisoner in Nantes and carryed captiue to Paris vvhere he dyed in prison yet his sonne Iohn by the assistance of the Inglish armies gat the dukedome afterward and slew the earle of Bloys and vvas peaceably duke of Britanie by the name of Iohn the fourth and his posterity hath indured vntil this day as briefly heere I wil declare This duke Iohn the fourth of the house of Monford had issue Iohn the fift he Francis the first vvho dying without issue left the dukedome to Peter his brother and Peter hauing no children neither he left it to his vncle Arthur the third brother to his father Iohn the fift and this Arthur vvas earle of Richmond in Ingland as some of his ancestors had bin before him by gyftes of the kings of Ingland This Arthur dying without issue left the dukdome vnto his nephew to vvit his brothers sonne Francis the second who vvas the last male child of that race and was he that had once determyned to haue deliuered Henry earle of Richmond vnto his enimye king Edward the fourth and after him to king Richard the 3. but that Henries good fortune reserued him to come to be king of Ingland This duke Francis had a daughter and heyre named Anna marryed first to Charles the eight king of France and after his death without issue to his successor Lewis the 12. by whome she had a daughter named Claudia that was heyre to Britanie though not to the crowne of France by reason of the law Salique that holdeth against vvomen in the kingdome of Frace but not in Britanie and to the end this dukdome should not be disvnited agayne from the said crowne of France this daughter Claudia vvas marryed to Francis duke of Angoleme heyre apparent to the crowne of France by vvhom she had issue Henry that was afterward king of France and vvas father to the last king of that country and to Ysabel mother of the Infanta of Spayne and of her sister the duchesse of Sauoye that now is by which also some do affirme that the said princesse or Infanta of spayne albeit she be barred from the successiō of France by their pretended law Salique yet is her title manifest to the dukdome of Britanie that came by a woman as we haue shewed and thus much of the house of Britanie and of the princesse of Spaine how she is of the blood royal of Ingland from the tyme of VVilliam Conqueror himselfe by his eldest daughter as also by other kings after him and now we shall returne to prosecute the issue of these two sonnes of king Henry the third to wit of Edward and Edmond which before we left I shewed yon before how king Henry the third had two sonnes Edward the prince that vvas king after his father by the name of Edward the first and Edmond surnamed crokback by some writers who vvhas the first earle and county Palatine of Lancaster and beginner of that house And albeit some writers of our tyme haue affirmed or at least wise much inclined to fauour a certayne old report that Edmōd should be the elder brother to Edward and put back only for his deformity of his body wherof Polidor doth speak in the begining of the reigne of king Henry the fourth and as vvel the Bishop of Rosse as also George Lylly do seeme to beleeue it yet euident it semeth that is was but a fable as before I haue noted and now againe I shall briefly proue it by these reasōs following for that it importeth very muche for deciding the cōtrouersie between the howses of Lancaster and yorke The first reason then is for that al ancient historiographers of Ingland and among them Matheus Westmonasteriensis that liued at the same tyme do affirme the cōtrary and do make Edward to be elder then Edmond by six yeares and two dayes for that they appointe the birth of Prince Edward to haue bin vppon the 16. day of Iune in the yeare of Christ 1239 the 24. of the reigne of his father king Henry and the birth of Lord Edmond to haue followed vppon the 18. day of the same moneth 6. yeares after to wit in the yeare of our lord 1245. and they do name the godfathers and godmothers of them both together with the peculier
ancient lyne of Lancaster ther vvant not noble houses vvith in the realme at this day issued thence before the cōttouersie fell out betweene yorke this family of vvhich controuersie how it rose and how it vvas continued I shall now begyn to make more particuler declaration taking my begining from the children of king Edward the third who vvere the causers of this fatal dissention OE THE SVCCESSION OF INGLISH KINGES FROM KING EDVARD THE THIRD VNTO OVR dayes with the particuler causes of dissention betweene the families of yorke and Lancaster more largly declared CAP. III. KING Edward the third surnamed by the English the victorious though he had many children wherof some dyed vvithout issue vvhich appertaine not to vs to treat of yet had he fiue sonnes that lest issue behinde them to wit Edward the eldest that was prince of Wales surnamed the black Prince Leonel duke of Clarence vvhich vvas the 2. sonne Iohn of Gant so called for that he vvas borne in that citye that vvas the third sonne and by his wife was duke of Lancaster and fourthly Edmond surnamed of Langley for that he was also borne ther and vvas duke of Yorke last of al Thomas the fift sonne surnamed of Woodstocke for the same reason of his birth and vvas duke of Glocester Al these fiue dukes being great princes and sonnes of one king left issue behinde them as shal be declared and for that the discendents of the third and fourth of these sonnes to wit of the dukes of Lancaster and Yorke came afterward to striue who had best title to reigne therof it came that the controuersie had his name of these two familes vvhich for more distinctiō sake the better to be knowne tooke vppon them for their ensignes a rose of two different colures to wit the white rose and the redd as al the vvorld knoweth wherof the vvhite serued for Yorke and the redd for Lancaster To begyn then to shew the issue of al these fiue princes it is to be noted that the two elder of them to wit prince Edward and his second brother Leonel Duke of Clarence dyed both of them before king Edward their father and left each of them an heyre for that Prince Edward left a sonne named Richard vvho succeded in the crowne immediatly after his grādfather by the name of king Richard the secōd but aftervvard for his euel gouerment vvas deposed and dyed in prison vvithout issue and so vvas ended in him the succession of the first sonne of king Edward The second sonne Leonel dying also before his father left behind him one only daughter and heyre named Phillip who was marryed to one Edmond mortimer Earle of march and he had by her a sonne and heyre named Roger mortimer vvhich Roger had issue two sonnes named Edmond and Roger which dyed both without children and one daughter named Ann mortimer vvhich was marryed vnto Richard Plantaginet earle of Cambrige second sonne vnto Edmond Langly duke of Yorke vvhich duke Edmond vvas fourth sonne as hath bin said vnto king Edward the third and for that this Richard Plantaginet marryed the said Anne as hath bin saide hereby it came to passe that the house of Yorke ioyned two titles in one to wit that of Leonel duke of Clarence vvhich was the secōd sonne of K. Edward the third that of Edmond langly duke of yorke which vvas the fourth sonne and albeit this Richard Plantaginet him selfe neuer came to be duke of Yorke for that he was put to death whiles his elder brother lyued by king Henry the fift for a conspiracy discouered in South hampton against the said king vvhen he vvas going ouer into france vvith his army yet he left a sonne behind him named also Richard vvho afterward came to be duke of Yorke by the death of his vncle vvhich vncle vvas 〈◊〉 soone after in the battel of Egēcourt in France this Richard began first of al to prosecute openly his quarrel for the title of the crowne against the house of Lancaster as a litle afterward more in particuler shal be declared as also shal be shewed how that this 2. Richard duke of Yorke being slame also in the same quariel left a sonne named Edward earle of march who after much trooble gat to be king by the name of king Edward the 4. by the oppression and putting downe of king Henry the 6. of the house of Lancaster and was the first king of the house of Yorke vvhose geuealogie vve shal lay downe more largly aftervvards in place conuenient And nowe it followeth in order that vve should speak of Iohn of Gaūt the third sonne but for that his discent is great I shal first shew the discent of the fifth and last sonne of king Edward who vvas Thomas of Woodstock duke of Glocester and earle of Buckingham that vvas put to death afterward or rather murthered wrongfully by order of his nephew king Richard the second and he left only one daughter and heyre named Anna vvho vvas marryed to the L. Stafford vvhose familie aftervvard in regard of this marriage came to be dukes of Bucking ha vvere put downe by king Richard the third and king Henry the eight albeit some of the blood and name do remayne yet stil in Ingland And thus hauing brought to an end the issue of three sonnes of king Edward to wit of the first second fift touched also some what of the fourth ther resteth to prosecute more fully the issues discēts of the third fourth sonnes to vvit of Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lācaster and of Edmond Langly duke of Yorke which are the heades of these two noble families which thing I shal do in this place vvith al breuity and perspecuity possible begining first vvith the house of Lancaster Iohn of Gaunt third sonne of king Edward being duke of Lancaster by his wife as hath bin said had three wiues in al and by euery one of them had issue though the bishop of Rosse in his great Latin arbor of the genealogies of the kings of Ingland printed in Parris in the yeare 1580. assigneth but one wife only to this Iohn of Gaunt and consequently that al his childen were borne of her which is a great and manifest error and causeth great confusion in al the rest which in his booke of the Queene of Scots title he buyldeth hereon for that it being euident that only the first wife vvas daughter and heyre of the house of Lancaster and Iohn of Gant duke therof by her it followeth that the children only that vvere borne of her can pretend properly to the inheritance of that house and not others borne of Iohn of Gaunt by other wiues as al the vvorld vvil confesse First then as I haue said this Iohn of Gaunt marryed Blanch daughter and heyre of Henry duke of Lancaster and had by her one sonne only and two daughters The sonne was called Henry earle first of Darby
and after made duke of Hereford by king Richard the second and after that came to be duke also of Lancaster by the death of his father and lastely vvas made king by the deposition of his cosen germaine the said king Richard and reigned 13. yeares by the name of king Henry the fourth and vvas the first king of the house of Lācaster of the right of vvhose title examination shal be made afterwards The first of the two daughters vvhich Iohn of Gaunt had by Blanch vvas named Phillip vvho was marryed to Iohn the first of that name king of Portugal by whom she had issue Edward king of Portugal and he Alfonsus the fift he Iohn the second so one after another euen vnto our dayes The second daughter of Iohn of Gaunt by lady Blanch vvas named Elizabeth vvho was marryed to Iohn Holland duke of Excester she had issue by him an other Iohn duke of Excester and he had issue Henry duke of Excester that dyed without issue male leauing only one daughter named Anne vvho vvas marryed to Sir Thomas Neuill knight and by him had issue Raffe Neuill third earle of Westmerland whose lineal heyre is at this day Lord Charles Neuill earle oft Westmerland that liueth banished in Flanders And this is al the issue that Iohn of Gaunt had by lady Blanch his first vvife sauing only that I had forgotten to prosecute the issue of Henry his first sonne surnamed of Bolenbrok that vvas afterward called king Henry the fourth which king had 4. sonnes and tvvo daughters his daughters vvere Blanch and Phillip the first marryed to William duke of Bauaria and the second to Erick king of Denmarke and both of them dyed without children The four sonnes vvere first Henry that reygned after him by the name of Henry the fift and the second vvas Thomas duke of Clarence the third vvas Iohn duke of Bedford and the fourth vvas Humfrey duke of Glocester al vvhich three dukes dyed vvithout issue or vvere slaine in vvarres of the realme so as only king Henry the fift their elder brother had issue one sonne named Henry also that vvas king and reigned 40. yeares by the name of Henry the sixt who had issue prince Edward both of them I meane both father sonne were murthered by order or permissiō of Edward duke of Yorke vvho afterward tooke the crowne vppon him by the name of king Edward the fourth as before hath bin said so as in this king Henry the 6. and his sonne prince Edward ended all the blood royal male of the house of Lancaster by Blanch the first wife of Iohn of Gaunt and the inheritance of the said lady Blanch returned by right of succession as the fauorers of the howse of Portugal affirme though others deny it vnto the heyres of lady Phillip her eldest daughter marryed into Portugal vvhose nephew named Alfonsus the fift kinge of Portugal liued at that day when king Henry the 6. and his heyre were made away and this much of Iohn of Gaunts first marriage But after the death of the L. Blanch Iohn of Gaunt marryed the Lady Constance daughter and heyre of Peter the first surnamed the cruel king of Castile who being driuen out of his kingdome by Henry his bastard brother assisted therunto by the french he fledd to Burdeaux vvith his wife tvvo daughters where he founde prince Edward eldest sonne to king Edward the third by vvhom he was restored and for pledge of his fidelity and performance of other conditions that the said king Peter had promised to the Prince he left his two daughters withe hym which daughters being sent afterwards into Inglād the eldest of them named Constance was marryed to Iohn of Gaunt and by her title he named himselfe for diuers yeares afterward king of Castile and went to gayne the same by armes when Peter her father vvas stayne by his foresaid bastard brother but yet some yeares after that againe their vvas an agrement made betweene the said Iohn of Gaunt and Iohn the first of that name king of Castile sonne and heyre of the foresaid Henry the bastard vvith condition that Catherine the only daughter of Iohn of 〈◊〉 by lady Cōstance should marry vvith Henry the third prince of Castile sonne and heyre of the said king Iohn and nephew to the bastard Henry the 2. and by this meanes vvas ended that controusie betweene Ingland and Castile and the said L. Catherine had issue by king Henry Iohn the 2. king of Castile he Isabell that marryed with Ferdinando the Catholique king of Aragon and ioyned by that marriage both those kingdomes together and by him she had a daughter named Ioan that marryed Phillip duke of Austria and Burgundy and by him had Charles the fifth that vvas Emperor and father to king Phillip that now reigneth in Spaine vvho as we see is descēded tvvo waies from Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster to vvit by two daughters begotten of two wiues Blanch and Constance nether had Iohn of Gaunt any more childrē by Constance but only this daughter Catherine of vvhom vve haue spoken vvherfore now vve shal speake of his third vvife that vvas Lady Catherine Swinford This lady Catherin as Inglish histories do note vvas borne in Henalt in Flanders was daughter to a knight of that country called Sir Payne de Ruet and she vvas brought vp in her youth in the duke of Lancasters house and attended vppon his first wife lady Blanch and being fayre of personage grew in such fauour vvith the duke as in the tyme of his second wife Constance he kept this Catherin for his concubin and begat vppon her fower children to vvit three sonnes and a daughter vvhich daughter vvhose name vvas Iane was marryed to Raph earle of Westmerland called commonly in those dayes Daw Raby of whom descended the Earles of VVestmerland that insued His three sonnes were Iohn Thomas and Henry and Iohn vvas first earle and then duke of Sommerset Thomas vvas first marques Dorset and then duke of Excester Henry vvas Bishop of VVinchester and after Cardinal And after Iohn of Gaunt had begotten al thes 4. children vppon Catherin he marryed her to a knight in Ingland named Swinford vvhich knight lyued not many yeares after Iohn of Gaunt comming home to Ingland from Aquitaine vvher he had bin for diuers yeares and seing this old concubine of his Catherine to be now a widow and himselfe also without a wife for that the lady Cōstance vvas dead a litle before for the loue that he bore to the children which he had begotten of her he determyned to marry her and therby the rather to legitimate her childrē though himselfe vvere old now and al his kyndred vtterly against the marriage and so not ful two yeares before his death to wit in the yeare of Christ 1396. he married her and the next yeare after in a parlament begun at Westminster the 22. of Ianuary
the house of Yorke their was yet no question as appereth also by Stow in his chronicle vvho setteth downe how that after the said deposition of Richard the Archbishop of Canterbuty asked the people three tymes whom they would haue to be their king vvhether the duke of Yorke their standing present or not and they answered no and then he asked the seronde tyme if they vvould haue his eldest sonne the duke of Aumaile and they said no he asked the third tyme yf they would haue his yongest-sonne Richard earle of cambridge and they said no. Thus writeth Stow vvher-by it is euident that albeit this earle of Cabridge had married now the sister of Edmōd Mortimer by whom his posterity claymed afterward yet could he not pretend at this tyme her brother being yet aliue who after dying vvithout issue left al his right to her by her to the house of Yorke for albeit this earle Richard neuer came to be duke of Yorke for that he vvas beheaded bv king Henry the fift at Southampton as before hath 〈◊〉 said vvhile his elder brother vvas a lyue yet left he a sonne named Richard that after hym came to be duke of Yorke by the death of his vncle Edmund duke of Yorke that dyed vvithout issue as on the other side also by his mother Anne Mortimer he vvas earle of March and was the first of the house of Yorke that made title to the crowne So that the question now is whether after the deposition of king Richard Edmond Mortimer nephew remoued of Leonel which Leonel vvas the second sonne to king Edward or els Henry duke of Lancaster sonne to Iohn of Gaunt which Iohn vvas third sonne to king Edward should by right haue succeded to king Richard and for Edmond is alleaged that he was heyre of the elder brother and for Hēry is said that he vvas neerer by two degrees to the stemme or last king that is to say to king Richard deposed then Edmond was for that Henry vvas sonne to king Richards vncle of Lancaster and Edmond was but nephew remoued that is to say daughters sonnes sonne to the said king Richards other vncle of Yorke And that in such a case the next in degree of consanguinitie to the last king is to be preferred though he be not of the elder lyne the fauourers of Lancaster alleage many proofes wher of some shal be touched a litle after we haue seene the same practized in our dayes in France where the Cardinal of Burbone by the iudgement of the most part of that realme was preferred to the crowne for his propinquity in blood to the dead king before the king of Nauarre though he were of the elder lyne Moreouer it is alleaged for Henry that his title came by a man and the others by a vvoman vvhich is not so much fauoured either by nature law or reason and so they saye that the pretenders of this title of lady Phillippe that vvas daughter of duke Leonel neuer opened their mouthes in those dayes to clayme vntil some 50. yeares after the deposition death of king Richard Nay more ouer they of Lancaster say that sixteene yeares after the deposition of king Richard vvhen king Henry the fift vvas now in possession of the crowne cerrayne noble mē especially Richard earle of Cambridge that had marryed this Edmond Mortimers sister offred to haue slayne king Henry and to haue made the said Edmōd Mortymer kinge for that he was discended of duke Leonel but he refused the matter thinking it not to be according to equitie and so vvent and discouered the whole treason to the king wheruppō they vvere al put to death in Southampton within fowre or fiue dayes after as before hath bin noted and this hapened in the yeare 1415. and from hence foreward vntil the yeare 1451. and thirreth of the reigne of king Henry the sixt vvhich vvas 36 yeares after the execution done vppon these conspirators no more mention or pretēce was made of this matter at vvhat tyme Richard duke of Yorke began to moue troobles about it againe Thus say those of the house of Lancaster but now these of Yorke haue a great argument for themselues as to them it seemeth vvhich is that in the yeare of Christ 1385. and 9 yeare of the reigne of king Richard the second it vvas declared by act of parlament as Polidor writeth that Edmond Mortimer vvho had marryed Phillip daughter heyre of Leonel duke of Clarence and was grandfather to the last Edmond by me named should be heyre apparent to the crowne if the king should chance to dye without issue To which obiection those of Lancaster do answere first that Polidor doth err in the person when he sayeth that Edmond husband of lady Philippe was declared for heyre apparent for that his Edmond Mortimer that married lady Philippe dyed peacably in Ireland three yeares before this parlament vvas holden to witt in the yeare of Christ 1382. as both Hollings head Stow and other chroniclets do testifie and therfore Polidor doth erre not only in this place about this man but also in that in an other place he sayeth that this Edmond so declared heyre apparent by king Richard vvas slayne by the Irish in Ireland 12. yeares after this declaration made of the succession to vvit in the yeare 1394. vvhich vvas in deede not this man but his sonne Roger Mortimer heyre to him and to the Lady Phillip his wife vvho vvas declared heyre apparent in the parlament afore said at the instance of king Richard and that for especial hatred malice as these men say vhich he did beate against his said vncle the duke of Lancaster and his sonne Henry vvhom he desired to exclude from the succession The cause of this hatred is said to be for that presently vppon the death of prince Edvvard father to this Richard which prince dyed in the yeare of Christ 1376. and but 10. monethes before his father king Edward the third their vvanted not diuers learned and vvise men in Ingland that were of opinion that Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster eldest sonne then liuing of the said king Edward should haue succeded his father iure propinquitatis before Richard that vvas but nephew and one degree further of then he but the old king vvas so extremly affectionate vnto his eldest sonne the blacke prince Edward newly dead that he vvould not heare of any to succede him as Frosard saith but only Richard the said princes sonne Wherfore he called presently a parlament vvhich vvas the last that euer he hold and therin caused his said nephew Richard to be declared heyre apparent and made his three sonnes then liuing that were vncles to the youth to vvitt Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster and Edmond Langhly duke afterward of Yorke and Thomas woodstock duke of Glocester to sweare fealtie vnto Richard as they did And albeit Iohn of Gaunt al his life
after for keping of his oth that he had made vnto his father neuer pretended any right to the crowne yet king Richard knowing vvel the pretence that he and his might haue vvas stil afraid of him and sought infinite meanes to be rydd of him first by perswading him to goe and make vvarr in Spaine vvher he thought he might miscarry in so dangerous an attempt and then offering to giue him al Aquitaine if he vvould leaue Ingland to goe liue there as he did for three yeares vvith extreme peril for that the people of Aquitaine would not receaue him but rose against him and refused his gouerment and vvould not admitt him for their Lord but appealed to the king vvho also allowed therof and so vvhen Iohn of Gaunt came home into Ingland againe kinge Richard thought no better way to vveaken him then to banish his sonne Henry duke of Herford and so he did And besides this the said king Richard practised also by diuers secret drifts the death of his said vncle the duke of Lancaster as Walsingham witnesseth and vvhen the said duke came at lenghte to dye which vvas in the 22. yeare of king Richards raigne he vvrote such ioyous letters therof as frossard saith to his father in law the sixt Charles king of France as though he had bin deliuered of his chiefest enemy not immagining that his owne distructioÌ„ was so neere at hand and much accelerated by the death of the said duke as it was And these vvere the causes say the fauorers of the house of Lancaster why king Richard caused this acte of parlament to passe in fauour of Roger Mortimer in preiudice of the house of Lancaster and not for that the right of earle Mortimer vvas better then that of the duke of Lancaster And this they say is no new thing for princes often tymes to procure partial lawes to passe in parlament for matter of succession according to their owne affections for the like say they did Edward the third procure in the fauour of this Richard as before I haue shevved in the last parlament before his death and afterward againe king Richard the third vvith much more open 〈◊〉 caused an act of parlament to passe in his dayes vvherby his nephew Iohn de la pole earle of Lincolne sonne to his sister Elizabeth duchesse of Suffolke vvas declared heyre apparent to the crowne excluding therby the children of his two elder brothers to vvit the daughters of king Edward the fourth and the sonne and daughter of Georg duke of Clarence vvhich yet by al order should haue gone before their sisters children And like facilitie founde king Henry the 8. to get the consent of two parlaments to giue him authority to appointe what successor he would of his owne kynred by which authority afterward he apointed by his testament as in an other place shal be shewed that the issue of his yonger sister mary should be preferred before the issue of his eldest sister Margaret of Scotland A like declaration was that also of king Edward the sixt of late memory vvho appointed the lady Iane Gray his cosen germane remoued to be his heyre and successor in the crowne of Ingland and excluded his owne tvvo sisters the lady Mary and the lady Elizabeth from the same but these declaratioÌ„s make litle to the purpose vvhen right and equity do repugne as these men say that it did in the fore said declaratioÌ„ of Roger Mortimer to be heyre apparent for that they hold and auow the house of Lancaster to haue had the true right to enter not only after the death of king Richard the second as it did but also before him that is to say immediatly vppon the death of king Edward the third for that Iohn of Gaunt vvas then the eldest sonne which king Edward had lyuing and neerer to his father by a degree then vvas Richard the nephew About vvhich pointe to wit vvhether the vncle or the nephew should be preferred in succession of kingdomes it seemeth that in this age of K. Edward the third there vvas great trouble and controuersy in the world abroad for so testifieth Girard du Haillan Counceler and secretary of France in his story of the yeare of Christ 1346. vvhich vvas about the middest of king Edwards reigne and therfore no maruaile though king Edward tooke such care of the sure establishing of his nephew Richard in succession as is before related And much lesse maruail is it if king Richard had stil great ielosy of his vncle the duke of Lancaster and of his ofspring considering how doubtful the question vvas among the wise and learned of those dayes For more declaration vvher-of I thinke it not amisse to alleage the very vvordes of the foresaid chronicler with the examples by him recited thus then he vvriteth About this tyme sayeth he their did arise a great and doubtful question in the world whether vncles or nephewes that is to say the yonger brother or els the children of the elder should succed vnto realmes and kingdomes vvhich coÌ„trouersy put al christianity into great broyles and troobles For first Charles the secoÌ„d king of Naples begar of Mary his wife Queene and heyre of Hungary diuers children but namely three sonnes Marrel Robert and Phillip 〈◊〉 dying before his father left a sonne named Charles vvhich in his grandmothers right vvas king also of Hungary but about the kingdome of Naples the question vvas vvhen king Charles was dead who should succeed him either Charles his nephew king of Hungary or Robert his second sonne but Robert vvas preferred and reygned in Naples and enioyed the earldome of Prouince in France also for the space of 33. yeares vvith great renowne of valor wisdome And this is one example that 〈◊〉 recounteth vvhich example is reported by the famoê° lawyer 〈◊〉 in his commentaries touching the succession of the kingdome of Sicilia and he saith that this succession of the vncle before the nephew vvas auerred also for rightful by the learend of that tyme and confirmed for inst by the iudicial 〈◊〉 of Pope Boniface and that for the reasons which afterward shal be shewed vvhen vve shal treat of this question more in particuler An other example also reporteth Girard vvhich 〈◊〉 immediatly after in the same place for that the forsaid king Robert hauing a sonne named Charles which dyed before 〈◊〉 he left a daughter and heyre named Ioan neece vnto king Robert which Ioan was married to Andrew the yonger sonne of the foresaid Charles king of Hungary but king Robert being dead ther stept vp one Lewis prince of Tarranto a place of the same kingdome of Naples who vvas sonne to Phillip before mentioned vonger brother to king Robert vvhich Lewis pretending his right to be better then that of Ioan for that he vvas a man and one degree neerer to king Charles his grand father then Ioan was for that he was nephew
and she neece once remoued he preuailed in like manner and thus farr Gerrard historiographes of France And no doubt but if we consider examples that fell out euen in this very age only concerning this controuersie betweene the vncle and nephew we shal finde store of them for in Spaine not long before this tyme to wit in the yeare of Christ 1276. vvas that great and famous determination made by Don Alonso the wise eleuenth king of that name and of al his realme and nobility in their couites or parlament of Segouia mentioned before by the Ciuilian wherin they disinherited the children of the prince Don Alonso de la Cerda that dyed as our prince Edward did before his father and made heyre apparent Don Sancho brauo yonger brother to the said Don Alonso and vncle to his children the two yong Cerdas Which sentēce standeth euen vnto this day and king Phillip enioyeth the crowne of Spaine therby and the dukes of Medina Celi and their race that are discendentes of the said two Cerdas vvhich vvere put backe are subiects by that sentence and not soueraines as al the world knoweth The like controuersie fel out but very litle after to vvit in the tyme of king Edward the third in frāce though not about the kingdome but about the earldome of Artoys but yet it was decided by a solemne sentence of two kings of France and of the whole parlament of Paris in fauour of the aunte against her nephew which albeit it cost great troubles yet vvas it defended and king Phillip of Spaine holdeth the county of Artoys by it at this day Polidor reporteth the story in this manner Robert earle of Artoys a man famous for his chiualry had two children Phillip a sonne and Maude a daughter this maude vvas marryed to Otho earle of Burgundy and Phillip dying before his father left a sonne named Robert the second vvhose father Robert the first being dead the question was vvho should succede ether maude the daughter or Robert the nephew and the matter being remitted vnto Phillip le Bel king of France as chiefe Lord at that tyme of that state he adiuged it to Maude as to the next in blood but vvhen Robert repyned at this sentence the matter vvas referred to the parlament of Paris vvhich confirmed the sentence of king Phillip wher vppon Robert making his way with Phillip de Valoys that soone after came to be king of France he assisted the said Phillip earnestly to bring him to the crowne against king Edward of Ingland that opposed himselfe therunto and by this hoped that king Phillip would haue reuoked the same sentence but he being once established in the crowne answered that a sentence of such importance and so maturely giuen could not be reuoked Wheruppon the said Robert fled to the king of Inglands part against france thus far Polidor The very like sentence recounteth the same author to haue bin giuē in Ingland at the same tyme and in the same controuersie of the vncle against the nephew for the succession to the dukedome of Britany as before I haue related wherin Iohn Breno earle of Montford vvas preferred before the daughter and heyre of his elder brother Guy though he vvere but of the halfe blood to the last duke and she of the whole For that Iohn the third duke of Britanny had two brothers first Guy of the vvhole blood by father and mother and then Iohn Breno his yonger brother by the fathers side only Guy dying left a daughter and heyre named Iane married to the earle of Bloys nephew to the king of France vvho after the death of duke Iohn pretended in the right of his wife as daughter and heyre to Guye the elder brother but king Edward the third with the state of Ingland gaue sentence for Iohn Breno earle of Montford her vncle as for him that vvas next in consanguinity to the dead duke and with their armes the state of Ingland did put him in possession vvho flew the earle of Bloys as before hath bin declared and ther-by gat possession of that realme and held it euer after and so do his heyres at this day And not long before this againe the like resolution preuayled in Scotland betweene the house of Balliol and Bruse who were competitors to that crowne by this occasion that now I wil declare VVilliam king of Scots had issue tvvo sonnes Alexander that succeded in the crowne and Dauid earle of Huntington Alexander had issue an other Alexander and a daughter marryed to the king of Norway al which issue and lyne ended about the yeare 1290. Dauid yonger brother to king William had issue two daughters Margaret and Isabel Margaret vvas married to Alaine earle of Galloway and had issue by him a daughter that married Iohn Balliol Lord of Harcourt in Normādie vvho had issue by her this Iohn Balliol founder of Balliol College in Oxford that now pretended the crowne as discended from the eldest daughter of Dauid in the third discent Isabel the second daughter of Dauid vvas married to Robert Bruse Earle of Cleueland in Ingland vvho had issue by her this Robert Bruse earle of Carick the other competitor Now then the question betweene these two cōpetitors was vvhich of them should succeede ether Iohn Balliol that was nephew to the elder daughter or Robert Bruse that vvas sonne to the yonger daughter so one degree more neere to the stock or stemme then the other And albeit king Edward the first of Ingland whose power vvas dreadful at that day in Scotland hauing the matter referred to his arbitrement gaue sentence for Iohn Bailliol and Robert Bruse obeyed for the tyme in respect partly of feare and partly of his oth that he had made to stand to that iudgment yet vvas that sentence held to be vniust in Scotland and so vvas the crowne restored afterward to Robert Bruse his sonne and his posterity doth hold it vnto this day In Ingland also it selfe they alleage the examples of king Henry the first preferred before his nephew William sonne and heyre to his elder brother Robert as also the example of king Iohn preferred before his nephew Arthur duke of Britany for that king Henry the second had fower sonnes Henry Richard Geffrey and Iohn Henry dyed before his father vvithout issue Richard reygned after him and dyed also vvithout issue Geffrey also dyed before his father but left a sonne named Arthur duke of Britanie by right of his mother But after the death of king Richard the question vvas vvho should succeede to vvit either Arthur the nephew or Iohn the vncle but the matter in Ingland vvas soone decided for that Iohn the vncle was preferred before the nephew Arthur by reason he vvas more neere to his brother dead by a degree then vvas Arthur And albeit the king of Frāce and some other princes abroad opposed themselues for stomack against this succession of king Iohn yet say these
of three bretheren the elder dye without issue and the second leaue a sonne yet in the inheritance and succession of the crowne it goeth otherwise as by al the former eight examples haue bin shewed and this is the first they saye about the common law The second pointe which they affirme is that the ground of our common lawes consisteth principally and almost only about this pointe of the crowne in custome for so say they we see by experience that nothing in effect is written therof in the common law and al old lawyers do affirme this pointe as vvere Ranulfus de Granuilla in his booke of the lawes and customes of Ingland vvhich he vvrote in the tyme of king Henry the second and Iudge Fortescue in his booke of the prayse of Inglish lawes vvhich he compiled in the tyme of king Henry the sixt and others Wherof these men do inferr that seing there are so many presidēts and examples alleaged before of the vncles case preferred before the nephew not only in forayne countryes but also in Ingland for this cause I saye they do affirme that our cōmon lawes cannot but fauour also this title and cōsequently must needs like vvel of the interest of Lancaster as they auouch that al the best old lawyers did in those tymes for example they do record two by name of the most famous learned men vvhich those ages had who not only defended the said title of Lancaster in those dayes but also suffred much for the same The one vvas the forenamed iudge Fortescue Chancelor of Ingland and named father of the common lawes in that age vvho fled out os Ingland vvhith the Queene vvife of king Henry the sixt vvith the prince her sonne and liued in banishment in france vvhere it seemeth also that he vvrote his learned booke intituled de laudibus legum Angliae And the other vvas Sir Thomas Thorope chiefe Baron of the excheker in the same reigne of the same king Henry the sixt vvho being aftervvard put into the tower by the Princes of the house of Yorke for his eger defence of the title of Lancaster remayned ther a long tyme and after being deliuered was beheaded at hygate in a tumulte in the dayes of king Edward the fourth These then are the allegations which the fauourers of the house of Lācaster do lay downe for the iustyfying of that title affirming first that Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster ought to haue succeded his father K. Edward the third immediately before king Richard and that iniury vvas done vnto him in that king Richard vvas preferred And secondly that king Richard vvere his right neuer so good vvas iustly orderly deposed for his euil gouerment by lawful authority of the common wealth And thirdly that after his deposition Henry duke of Lancaster sonne heyre of Iohn of Gaunt vvas next in succession euery vvay both in respect of the right of his father as also for that he vvas two degrees neerer to the king deposed then vvas Edmond Mortimer descended of Leonel duke of Clarence and these are the principal and substancial proofes of their right and title But yet besides these they do add also these other arguments and cōsiderations following first that vvhat soeuer right or pretence the house of Yorke had the princes therof did forfeit and leese the same many tymes by their cōspiraces rehellions attainders as namely Richard earle of Cambrige that married the lady Anne Mortimer and by her tooke his pretence to the crowne vvas conuicted of a conspiracy against king Henry the fift in Southampton as before I haue said and there vvas put to death for the same by iudgment of the king and of al his peeres in the yeare 1415. the duke of Yorke his elder brother being one of the iury that condēned him This earle Richards sonne also named Richard comming afterward by the death of his vncle to be duke of York first of al made open clay me to the crowne by the title of Yorke But yet after many othes sworne and broken to king Henry the sixt he was attaynted of treason I meane bothe he and Edward his sonne then earle of march which aftervvard vvas king vvith the rest of his ofspringe euen to the nynth degree as Stow affirmeth in a parlament holden at Couentry in the yeare 1459. and in the 38. yeare of the reigne of the said king Henry and the very next yeare after the said Richard was slayne in the same quarrel but the honse of Lācaster say these mē was neuer attainted of any such crime Secondly they saye that the house of Yorke did enter only by violence by infinite blood-shedd and by wilful murthering not only of diuers of the nobilitie both spiritual and temporal but also of both king Hēry the sixt hym self and of prince Edward his sonne and by a certaine populer and mutinous election of a certaine few souldiers in Smithfield of Lōdon and this vvas the entrance of the howse of Yorke to the crowne vvheras king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster entred vvithout bloodshedd as hath bin shewed beinge called home by the requestes and letters of the people and nobility and his election admission to the crowne vvas orderly and authorized by general consent of parlament in the doing therof Thirdly they alleage that king Hēry the sixt put downe by the house of Yorke was a good and holy king and had reigned peaceably 40 yeares and neuer committed any act vvorthy deposition vvheras king Richard the second had many waies deserued the same as him selfe came to acknowledge and ther vppon made a personal solemne and publique resignation of the said crowne vnto his cosen Henry of Lancaster the which iustified much the said Henries entrance Fourthly they alleage that the housa of Lancaster had bin in possession of the crowne vppon the pointe of 60. yeares before the house of Yorke did raise trouble vnto them for the same in vvhich tyme their title was confirmed by many parlaments othes approbations and publique acts of the common vvealth and by the nobles peeres and people therof and by the states both spiritual and temporal and vvith the cōsent of al foraine nations so that if there had bin any fault in their first entrance yet vvas this sufficient to authorize the same as we see it vvas in the title of king William the Conqueror and of his two sonnes king William Rufus and king Henry the first that entred before their elder brother and of king Iohn that entred before his nephew of his sonne king Henry the third that entred after his fathers depriuation and after the election of prince Lewis of france as also of Edward the third that entred by deposition of his owne father of al which titles yet might there haue bin doubt made at the begining but by tyme and durance of possession and
stoppe is alleaged diuersly by competitors of diuers religions for that such as are followers and fauoures of the forme of religion receaued and defended by publique authoritie of Ingland at this daye vvhom for distinction sake men are vvont to call by the name of moderate protestants these I saye do vrge this exclusion against the earle of Huntington not vppō any certaine law or statute extant against the same but ab aeqno bono as men are vvont to say and by reason of state shewing infinite inconueniences hurts damages and dangers that must needes ensew not only to the state present of religion in Inglād but also to the whole realme and body politike if such a man should be admitted to gouerne And this consideration of state in their opinion is a more forceable argument for excluding such a man then any statute or particuler law against him could be for that this comprehendeth the very intention meaning and drift of al lawes and lawmakers of our realme vvhose intēsions must needes be presumed to haue bin in al tymes to haue excluded so great and manifest incoueniences thus say they But now those that are of the Roman religion and contrary both to puritan and protetestant do vrge a great deale further this argument against the earle and do alleage many lawes ordinances decrees and statutes both of the Canon and imperial lawes as also out of the old lawes of Ingland vvhich in their opinion do debarr al that are not of their religion and consequently they would hereby exclude both the one and the other of these pretendēts And in fine they do conclude that seing their vvanteth not also some of their owne religion called by them the Catholique in the house of Clarence they haue so much the lesse difficultie to exclude the earle of Huntingtons person for his religion if one of that house were to be admitted of necessitie And this is so much as seemeth needful to be spoken at this tyme and in this place of this house of Clarēce and of the pretenders therof It resteth then that I treate something also of the house of Britanie and France which tvvo houses are ioyned al in one for so much as may apperteyne to any inheritance or pretence to Ingland or vnto any parcel or particuler state therof at home or abroade that may follow the succession or right of women vvhich the kingdome of Frāce in it selfdoth not as is knowne and consequently a vvoman may be heire to the one vvithout the other that is to say she maye be heyre to some particuler states of France inheritable by women though not to the crowne it selfe and so do pretende to be the tvvo daughters of Frāce that were sisters to the late king Hēry the third which daughters were married the one to the king of Spaine that now is by whom he had issue the Infanta of spayne yet vnmarried and her yonger sister married to the duke of Sauoy and the other to vvit the yonger daughter of the king of France vvas married to the duke of Loraine yet liuing by whom she had the prince of Lorayne other children that liue at this day This then being so cleere as it is first that according to the common course of succession in Ingland and other countries and according to the course of all common law the Infanta of Spaine should inherite the whole kingdome of France and al other states therunto belonging she being the daughter and heyre of the eldest daughter of king Henry the second king of France whose issue male of the direct line is vvholy now ended but yet for that the French do pretend their law Salik to exclude vvomen which we Inglish haue euer denied to be good vntil now hereby commeth it to passe that the king of Nauarr pretendeth to enter to be preferred before the said Infanta or her sisters children though male by a collateral line But yet her fauourers say I meane those of the Infanta that from the dukedomes of Britanie Aquitaine and the like that came to the crowne of France by women and are inheritable by womē she cannot be in right debarred as neyther from any succession or pretence in Ingland if either by the blood royal of France Britanie Aquitaine or of Ingland it selfe it may be proued that she hath any interest therunto as her said fauourers do affirme that she hath by these reasons following First for that she is of the ancient blood royal of Ingland euen from the conquest by the elder daughter of William the conqueror married to Allayne Fergant duke of Britanie as hath bin shewed before in the second chapter and other places of this conference and of this pointe they inferr two or three consequences First that vvhen the sonnes of the Conqueror vvere dead without issue or made vncapable of the crowne as it vvas presumed at least wife of king Henry the first last sonne of the Conqueror that he lost his right for the violence vsed to his elder brother Robert and vnto William the said Roberts sonne heyte then say these men ought the said duchesse of Britanie to haue entred as eldest sister And secondly they saye that when duke Robert that both by right of birth and by expresse agrement with William Rufus and with the Realme of Ingland should haue succeded next after the said Rufus came to dye in prison the said lady Constance should haue succeded him for that his brother Henry being culpable of his death could not in right be his heyre And thirdly they say that at least vvise after the death of the said king Henry the first she and her sonne I meane lady Constance and Conan duke of Britanie should haue entred before king Stephen vvho was borne of Adela the yonger daughter of William Conqueror Secondly they do alleage that the Infanta of Spayne descēdeth also lineally from lady Eleanor eldest daughter of king Henry the second married to king Alonso the nynthe of that name king of Castile vvhose eldest daughter leesing by this forfeit al right he had in the kingdome of Ingland it followeth that the same should haue gone to his said sister by her to this lady Blanch her heyre and eldest daughter married into france as hath bin saide which forfeit also of king Iohn these men do confirme by his depriuation by the Pope that soone after ensewed as also by an other depriuation made by the Barrons of his realme as after shal be touched Further more they saye that when Arthur duke of Britanie whom to this effect they do hold to haue bin the only true heyre at that tyme to the kingdome of Ingland vvas in prison in the castle of Roan suspecting that he should be murthred by his said vncle K. Iohn he nominated this lady Blanch his cosen germanie to be his heyre persuading himselfe that she by the helpe of her husband prince Lewis of
To the last pointe of religion they answer that this impediment is not vniuersal not admitted in the iudgment of al men but only of those Inglish that be of different religion from her But to some others and those many as these men do vveene her religion vvil rather be a motiue to fauour her title then to hinder the same so that on this ground no certaintie can be buylded and this is as much as I haue to say at this tyme of these two families of Clatence and Britanie OF THE HOVSE OF PORTVGAL VVHICH CONTEYNETH THE CLAYMES AS VVEL OF the king and prince of Spayne to the succession of Ingland as also of the dukes of Parma and Bragansa by the house of Lancaster CAP. VIII IT hath bin oftentymes spoken before vppon occasions offred that the princes of the house of Portugal at this day do persuade thēselues that the only remaynder of the house of Lancaster resteth among them as the only true heyres of the lady Blanch duchesse and heyre of Lancaster first wife of Iohn of Gaunt which pointe of these princes descents from the said duchesse of Lancaster though it be declared sufficiently before in the third and fourth chapters yet wil I briefly here also set downe and repeat agayne the reasons therof vvhich are these that follow Iohn of Gaunt vvas duke of Lancaster by the right of his first vvife lady Blanch and had by her only one sonne as also one daughter of vvhom vve neede heere to speake for that the other hath left no issue now liuing The sonne vvas king Henry the fourth vvho had issue king Henry the fift and he agayne Henry the sixt in vvhom vvas extinguished al the succession of this sonne Henry The daughter of Iohn of Gaunt by lady Blanch vvas called Phillip vvho vvas married to Iohn the first king of that name of Portugal vvho had issue by him king Edward and he agayne had issue king Alfonsus the fift king of Portugal and he and his ofspringe had issue agayne the one after the other vntil our tymes and so by this marriage of lady Phillip to their first king Iohn these princes of the house of Portugal that liue at this day do pretende that the inheritance of Lancaster is only in them by this lady Phillip for that the succession of her elder brother king Henry the fourth is expired long ago This is effect is their pretence but now vve vvil passe on to see vvhat others say that do pretend also to be of the house of Lancaster by a latter marriage Iohn of Gaunt after the death of his first vvife lady Blanch dyd marrye againe the lady Constance daughter of king Peter surnamed the cruel of Castile and had by her one daughter only named Catherin vvhom he married afterward back to Castile againe giuing her to vvife to king Henry the third of that name by vvhom she had issue king Iohn and he others so as lineally king Philippe king of Spayne is descēded from her vvhich king Phillip being at this day king also of Portugal and the cheife titler of that house vnto Ingland he ioyneth the inheritance of both the two daughters of Iohn of Gaunt in one so we shal not neede to talk of these two daughters hearafter distinctly but only as of one seing that both their discents do end in this one man The only difficultie and dissention is then about the issue of the third marriage vvhich vvas of Iohn of Gaunt vvith lady Catherin Swinford whom he first kept as a Concubine in the tyme of his second wife lady Constance as before hath bin shewed in the third chapter and begat of her fower children and after that his wife lady Constance vvas dead he tooke her to vvife for the loue he bare to his children a litle before his death and caused the said children to be legitimated by authority of parlament and for that none of these fower children of his haue left issue but only one that vvas Iohn earle of Somerset we shal speake only of him ommitting al the rest This Iohn then earle of Somerset had issue an other Iohn which was made duke of Somerset by king Henry the sixt who vvith his three sonnes vvere slayne by the princes of the house of Yorke in the quarrel of Lancaster so left only one daughter named Margaret who by her husbād Edmond Tydder earle of Richmond vvas Countesse of Richmond had by him a sonne named Henry earle of Richmond that was after king by the name of king Henry the senenth and from him al his discendents both of the house of Scotland and Suffolke do pretend also to be of the house of Lancaster which yet can be no otherwise then now hath bin declared to wit not from Blanch first wife heyre of the duchy of Lancastee but frō Catherin Swinford his third wife vvherin riseth the question vvhether those men I meane king Henry the seuēth his discendents may properlie be said to be of the true house of Lancaster or no wherunto some do answere vvith a distinctiō to wit that to the duchy of Lācaster wherof the first wife lady Blāch was heire these of the third marriage cannot be heyres but only the remaynder of the issue of the said lady Blanch that resteth in the princes of the house of Portugal But yet to the title of the crowne of Inglande which came by Iohn of Gaūt himselfe in that he vvas third sonne of K. Edward the third and eldest of al his children that liued vvhen the said king Edward dyed by vvhich is pretended also that he should haue succeded immediatly after him before king Richard the secōd as before in the fourth chapter hath bin declared to this right I saie to this interest of the crowne which came by Iohn of Gaunt himselfe not by lady Blāch or by any other of his wiues the discendents of king Henry the seuenth do say that they may and ought to succede for that Iohn earle of Somerset eldest sonne of Iohn of Gaunt by lady Catherin Swinford though he vvere begotten out of matrimony yet being afterward made legitimate he vvas to inherite this right of Iohn of Gaunt his father before the lady Phillip his sister for that so vve see that king Edvvard the sixt though yonger and but halfe brother vnto the lady Mary and Elizabeth his sisters yet he inherited the crowne before them and in like manner is lord Phillippe prince of Spaine at this daye to inherite al the states of that crowne before his two sisters that be elder then he so likewise saye these men ought Iohn of Somerset to haue donne before Phillippe his eldest sister if he had bin aliue at that tyme vvhen king Henry the sixt vvas put downe and dyed and consequently his posterity vvhich are the discendents of king Henry the seuenth ought to enioye the same before the princes
of Portugal that are the discēdents of Lady Phillippe his sister thus say the issue of king Henry the seuenth But to this the princes of the house of Portugal do reply and say first that by this it is euident at least that the dukedome of Lancaster vvherof the lady Blanch vvas the only heyre must needs apperteyne to them alone and this vvithout al doubt or controuersie for that they only remaine of her issue after extinguishing of the posterity of her elder brother K. Henry the fourth which vvas extinguished by the death of king Henry the sixt and of his only sonne prince Edward and for this they make no question or controuersie assuring themselues that al law right and equity is on their side Secondly touching the succession and right to the kingdome they saye that Iohn earle of Somerset being borne out of Wedlock and in adultery for that his father had an other vvife aliue vvhen he begatt him and he continuing a bastard so many yeares could not be made legitimate afterward by parlament to that effect of succession to the crowne and to depriue Queene Phillip of Portugal and her children borne before the others legitimation frō their right and succession vvithout their consents for that Iohn king of Portugal did marry the said lady Phillip vvith condition to enjoy al prerogatiues that at that day vvere due vnto her and that at the tyme vvhen Iohn of Gaunt did marry the said lady Catherine Svvinford made her children legitimate by act of parlament vvhich vvas in the yeare of Christ 1396. and 1397. the said lady Phillip Queene of Portugal had now tvvo sonnes liuing named don Alon so and don Edwardo vvhich vvere borne in the yeares 1390. and 1391. that is six yeares before the legitimation of Iohn earle of Somerset and his brethren and therby had ius acquisitum as the law saith vvhich right once acquired and gotten could not be taken away by any posterior act of parlament afrervvard vvithout consent of the parties interressed for vvhich they do alleage diuers places of the canon law vvhich for that they hold not in Ingland I do not cite but one example they put to shew the inconuenience of the thing if it should be otherwise determined then they affirme vvhich is that if king Henry the eight that had a bastard sonne by the lady Elizabeth Blunt vvhom he named Henry fitzroy made him both earle of Notingham and duke of Richmond and Somerset in the 18. yeare of his reigne at vvhat tyme the said king had a lawful daughter a liue named the princesse Mary by Queene Catherin of Spayne if I say the king should haue offred to make this sonne legitimate by parlament with intent to haue him succeede after him in the crowne to the preiudice and open iniury of the said lawful daughter these men do say that he could not haue done it and if he should haue done it by violence it would not haue held and much lesse could Iohn of Gaunt do the like being no king Nor was the act of parlament sufficiēt for this pointe it being a matter that depended especially say these men of the spiritual court and of the Canon law which law alloweth this legitimation no further but only as a dispensation and this so farforth only as it doth not preiudice the right of any other Nether helpeth it any thing in this matter the matriage of Iohn of Gaunt with lady Catherin for to make better this legitimation for that as hath bin said their children vvere not only naturales but Spurij that is to saye begotten in playne aduoutrie and not in simple fornication only for that the one partie had a wife a liue and consequently the priuelege that the law giueth to the subsequent marriage of the parties for legitimating such children as are borne in simple fornication that is to say betweene parties that vvere single and none of them married can not take place here so as these men conclude that albeit this legitimation of parlament might serue them to other purposes yet not to depriue the princes of Portugal of their prerogatiue to succede in their mothers right which she had vvhen she vvas married to their father And this they affirme to haue bin law and right at that tyme if the said Queene Phillip earle Iohn had bin aliue together vvhen Henry the sixt and his sonne vvas put to death that this questiō had bin then moued at the deathe of king Henry the sixt whether of the two to vvit either the said Queene Phillip or her yonger brother Iohn earle of Somerset by the fathers side only should haue succeded in the inheritance of king Henry the sixt in vvhich case these men presume for certaine that the said Queene Phillippe legitimatly borne and not Iohn made legitimate by parlamēt should haue succeded for that by common course of law the children legitimated by fauour albeit their legitimation vvere good and lawful as this of these children is denyed to be yet can they neuer be made equal and much lesse be preferred before the lawful and legitimate by byrthe But now say these men the case standeth at this present somewhat otherwise and more for the aduantage of Queene Phillippe and her ofspring for vvhen king Henry the sixt his sonne were extinguished and Edward duke of Yorke thrust hym selfe in to the crowne which vvas about the yeare of Christ 1471 the foresaid two princes lady Phillip and earle Iohn vvere both dead as also their children and only their nephewes vvere aliue that is to saye their liued in Portugal king Alfonsus the fift of that name sonne to king Edward vvhich Edward vvas child to Queene Phillip and the death of king Henry the sixt of Ingland happened in the 38. yeare of the reigne of the said king Alfonsus and in Inglād liued at the same tyme lady Margaret Countesse of Richmond mother of king Henry the seuenthe and neece of the foresaid Iohn earle of Somerset to vvit the daughter of his sonne duke Iohn of Somerset so as these tvvo competitors of the house of Lancaster that is to say king Alfonsus and lady Margaret were in equal degree from Iohn of Gaunt as also from king Henry the sixt sauing that king Alfonsus vvas of the vvhole blood as hath bin said and by Queene Phillip that vvas legitimate and the countesse of Richmond vvas but of the halfe blood as by Iohn earle of Somerset that vvas a bastard legitimated The question then is which of these tvvo should haue succeded by right of the house of Lancaster immediatly after the death of king Henry the sixt and the lady Margaret alleageth that she vvas descended from Iohn earle of Somerset that vvas a man and therfore to be preferred and king Alfonsus alleaged that he being in equal degree of neernes of blood with the same countesse for that both vvere nephewes he vvas to be preferred
before her for that he was a man and of the vvhole blood to the last kings of the house of Lancaster and that she was a vvoman and but of the halfe blood so that three prerogatiues he pretended before her First that he vvas a man and she a vvoman and secondly that he descended of the lawful and elder daughter and she of the yonger brother legitimated and thirdly that he vvas of vvhole blood and she but of halfe and for better fortifying of this proofe of his title these men do alleage a certayne case determyned by the learned of our dayes as they say vvherin for the first of these three causes only the succession to a crowne vvas adiudged vnto king Phillip of Spayne to vvit the succession to the kingdome of Portugal vvhich case was in al respects correspondent to this of ours for that Emanuel king of Portugal had three children for so much as apperteyneth to this affaire for afterward I shal treat more particulerly of his issue that is to say two sonnes and one daughter in this order Iohn Elizabeth and Edward euen as Iohn of Gaunt had Hēry lady Philippe and Iohn Prince Iohn of Portugal first child of king Emanuel had issue an other Iohn and he had Sebastian in whom the line of Iohn the first child vvas extinguished but Iohns sister Elizabeth vvas married to Charles the Emperor had issue K. Phillip of Spayne that now liueth Edward also yōger brother to Elizabeth or Isabel had issue two daughters the one married to the duke of Parma the other to the duke of Bragansa so as king Phillip vvas in equal degree vvith these ladies in respect of king Emanuel for that he vvas sonne to his eldest daughter and the two duchesses vvere daughters to his yonger sonne vppon this rested the question vvhich of these should succeede and it vvas decided that it apperteyneth vnto king Phillip for that he vvas a man and his mother vvas the elder sister though if king Phillips mother and the two duchesses father I meane lord Edward of Portugal had bin aliue together no doubt but that he beinge a mā should haue borne it away vvhich these men say holdeth not in our case but is much more to our aduantage for that it hath bin shewed before that if Queene Phillippe had bin aliue vvith earle Iohn of Somerset at the death of king Henry the sixt she should haue bin preferred as legitimate by birth and therfore much more ought her nephew king Alfonsus to haue bin preferred afterward in that he vvas a man before the neece of the said earle Iohn of Somerset that vvas but a vvoman thus farr they And besides all this they do adde as often before I haue mentioned that king Alfonsus vvas of the vvhole blood vnto al the three king Henries of the house of Lancaster the countesse of Richmond vvas but of the halfe blood and for more strengthening of this argument they do say further that besides that interest or right to the crowne vvhich king Henry the fourth that vvas the first king of the house of Lancaster had by his father Iohn of Gaunt in that the said Iohn vvas third sonne of king Edward the third the said king Henry had diuers other interestes also which came of himselfe only and not from his said father as vvere for example his being called into the realme by general voyce of al the people his right gotten by armes vppon the euil gouerment of the former king the personal resignation and deliuery of the kingdome by solemne instrument made vnto him by king Richard his election also by parlament coronation by the realme and finally the quiet possession of him and his posteritie for almost threescore yeares vvith many confirmations of the whole realme by diuers acts of parlament othes and other assurāces as the world knoweth so many I meane and so autētical as could possibly be deuised or giuen and besides al this that vvhen king Richard vvas dead he vvas next in degree of propinquitie vnto him of any man liuing for that the sonnes of Roger Mortimer vvere two degrees further of then he as hath bin shewed before Al vvhich particuler rightes and interestes vvere peculier to Henry the fourth his person and vvere not in his father Iohn of Gaunt and therfore cannot possibly discend from him left by the last duke of Parma lord Ranutius that is now duke of Parma and lord Edward that is Cardinal and the lady Catherine duchesse of Bragansa that yet liueth hath issue diuers goodly princes as the lord Theodosius that is now duke of Bragansa and three yonger brothers to vvit Edward Alexander and Phillip al yong princes of great expectation and these are the children of king Emanuel vvhose particuler successions and issues I shall declare somwhat more yet in particuler Prince Iohn of Portugall afterward king by name of king Iohn the third had issue an other Iohn that vvas prince of Portugal but dyed before his father and left a sonne named Sebastian vvho vvas king and slayne afterward by the Moores in Barbary and so ended this first lyne The second sonne and fourth childe of king Emanuel vvas named lord Lewis and dyed also vvithout issue legitimate as is supposed for that don Antonio his sonne that afterward vvas proclaymed king by the people of Lisbone and now liueth in Ingland vvas taken by al men to be vnlawful as presently more at large shal be shewed so as after the death of king Sebastian their entred the Cardinal lord Henry vvhich vvas third sonne to king Emanuel and great vncle to king Sebastian lately disceased for that he was brother to king Iohn the third that vvas grand father to king Sebastian and albeit their vvanted not some accordinge as the authors wryte vvhich afterward I shal name vvho affirmed and held that king Phillip of Spayne should haue succeded king Sebastian before the Cardinal for that he vvas neerer in consanguinitie to him then vvas the Cardinal for that besides that king Phillip was sonne of king Emanuels eldest daughter he vvas brother also to king Sebastians mother yet the said Cardinal entred peceably and by consent of al parties but for that he vvas old and vnmarried and not like to leaue any child of his owne there began presently the contention in his dayes vvho should be his successor To vvhich succession did pretende fiue princes of the blood royal of Portugal besides the lady Catherine Queene mother of France who pretended by her mothers side to be discended of one lord Raphe earle of Bulayne in Picardy vvhich Raphe vvas eldest sonne of Alfonsus the third king of Portugal which Alfonsus before he vvas king to wit in the tyme of his elder brother king Sanches of Portugal was married to the countesse and heyre of Bullayn named Mathildis and had by her this Raphe but afterward this Alfonsus comming to be king of Portugal he married agayne
how we can denye him his right to the said dukedome at least of Lancaster wherof if vve would giue him but the possession with al the appurtenances as they lye it were no euel interteynmēt for him in our country vntil he could gett the possession of the crowne in his owne After the exclusions of these two pretenders to vvit of the duke of Sauoy and of Don Antonio the whole controuersie for Portugal remayned betweene the other three vvhich were the king of Spayne sonne of lady Isabel eldest daughter of king Emanuel and the tvvo duchesses of Parma and Bragansa daughters of the yonger sonne of the said king Emanuel to vvit of the lord Edward infant of Portugal And first of al for that the eldest of these two Ladyes to vvit Mary duchesse of Parma vvas now dead her eldest sonne lord Ranutio now duke of Parma entred in her place and alleaged that he represented his mother and she her father lord Edward which Lord if he had bin aliue he should no doubt haue bin preferred before his elder sister lady Elizabeth mother of king Phillip and consequently that the said lord Edwards issue ought to be preferred before her issue and this he alleaged against king Phillip And against the duchesse of Bragansa he alleaged that his said mother vvas the elder sister and for that cause he vvhich now possessed her right and represented her person vvas to be preferred before the said lady Catherine duchesse of Bragansa so that the foundation of this pretence of the duke of Parma vvas that he vvas nephew to the lord Edward by his eldest daughter and that to king Emanuel he was nephew once remoued by his sonne vvheras king Phillip vvas nephew but by his daughter only and that the lady Catherine of he was of the right discendant lyne of K. Iohn and the Cardinal vvas but of the collateral or transuersal lyne and that al law alloweth that the right lyne shal first be serued and preferred before the collateral shal be admitted so that heerby representation is nothing furthered This exclusion of representation did greatly further and aduance the pretence of king Phillip for the excluding of both these ladyes and their issues for that supposing as this answere auoucheth that their is no representation of father or mother or predecessors to be admitted but that euery pretender is to be considered only in his owne person then it followeth said these men which plead for the king that king Phillip being in equal degree of propinquitie of blood with the two ladyes in respect as wel of K. Hēry yet liuing for that they were al three children of brother and sister it followeth that he was to be preferred before them both as well in respect that he was a man and they both Women as also for that he was elder in age and borne before them both And albeit the duke of Parma alleaged that he was also a man yet was it answered that he was one degree further of from the foresaid kings then was king Phillip so as not respecting representation of their parentes that is to say not considering at all that king Phillip discended of a Woman the two duchesses of a man but only respecting their owne persons as hath bin declared these men auouched that king Phillipps person was euidently to be preferred for that he was a degree neerer in blood then the duke of Parma and superior in sex age to the lady Catherine of Bragansa Moreouer the lawyers of king Phillipps side affirmed that he was neerer also in propinquitie of blood to king Sebastian the last king then vvas the very king Cardinal himselfe much more than any of the other two pretenders for that he was brother to the said king Sebastians mother and the Cardinal was but brother to his grādfather And besides this they alleaged that Portugal did belong to the crowne of Castil by diuers other meanes of old as for that it could not be giuen away by kings of Castil in marriage of their daughters as the principal partes therof had byn as also for that whēking Iohn the first that was a bastard was made king of Portugal by election of the people the inheritance therof did euidently apperteyne to king Iohn of Castil that had to wife the lady Beatrix daughter and heyre of Ferdinand king of Portugal from which inheritance of that crowne by open iniurye both she and her posteritie vvhose right is in king Phillip at this day vvere debarred by the intrusiō of the said Iohn master of Auis bastard brother of the foresaid king Ferdinand These reasons alleaged diuers lawyers in the behalfe of king Phillip and those not only Spaniards but also of diuers other countryes nations as my authors before named do anow and many bookes were written of this matter and when the contention vvas at the hotest then died the king Cardinal before he could decide the same controuersie vppon which occasion the king of Spaine being persuaded that his right vvas best that he being a Monarch and vnder no temporal iudge vvas not bound to expect any other iudgment in this affayre not to subiect himselfe to any other tribunal but that he might by force put himselfe in possession of that which he tooke to be his owne if otherwise he could not haue it deliuered vnto him for so write these authors by me named seing also don Antonio to pretend the said kingdome by only fauour of some populer partie that he had In Lisbone the said king Phillip entred vppon Portugal by force of armes as al the world knoweth and holdeth the same peaceably vnto the day And I haue byn the longer in setting downe this contention about the succession to the crowne of Portugal for that it includeth also the very same pretence and contention for the crowne of Inglād For that al these three princes before named may in like manner pretend the succession of that interest to the house of Lancaster and by that to the crowne of Ingland which doth discend from Queene Phillippe eldest daughter of Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster and sister of king Henry the fourth as hath largely bin declared And albeit that some men Wil saye that this matter is now decided which of these princes of the house of Portugal hath the interest to Ingland for that king Phillip being now preferred in the succession of Portugal entreth also therby to the other right of succession of Ingland yet others vvill say no for that the lawes of succession in Portugal and Ingland be different For that in Ingland representation taketh place so as the children of the sonne though they be women shal euer be preferred before the children of the daughter though they be men vvherof these men do inferr that seing the lady Phillipps right before mentioned to the dukedome of Lancaster and therby also to the crowne of Ingland is to be preferred according to
in his description of those countryes the whole wealth and riches of the world seemed to slow thither and I my selfe can remember to haue seene such exceding abundance in very ordinairy men of this country both for their dyet apparrel furniture of house and the like as was wonder ful besides that for their nobilitie they were al great Princes for that euery one had his prouince or great towne in gouerment which they ruled whith that pompe and honor as if they had bin absolute lordes themselues by reason of the farr distance of their supreme Prince and so they were receaued whith publique honor of al citties and townes their charges borne wheresoeuer they passed as such high estates are wont to be And albeit they had euer commonly a strainger for supreme gouernor among them vnder their kinge which bare the name to be aboue them yet did he in deed nothing but as they would haue him and this partly for that his time of gouerment being but short he alwaies attended principally to gett the good willes of the people and to hold them contented and therby to be grat-ful to his king at his returne home and partly also for that if he should attempt to do any thing against their myndes and liking they made reply by their president and Chancelor and other of their owne Councelers residing for the Flemish nation in the court of Spayne for this nation hath alwaies a particuler councel ther about the king as al other forayne nations also haue that are vnder him and by this meanes they obteyned lightly what they would and brought the gouernor to what they pleased so as in effect they were absolute kings in themselues wrought their willes in euery thing this in that tyme while the country was quiet But now since their reuolt which hath indured almose these foure or fiue and twenty yeares what hath succeded surely their hath not a quarter so many bin punished or put to death in al these yeares by order of Iustice of their king absent as before I haue shewed that there were in one day by their owne earles and dukes when they were present that vppon far lesse occasion and cause giuen then are these for if we take away the two noble men Egmond and Horne put to death at the beginning of these Flemish troobles by the duke of Alua for which some men say also that he had no thanke afterward by the king no man of importance hath bin since executed and the cheefest townes that haue bin and are agaynst the king in Holland and Zeland are suffred vntil this day to traffique freely into Spayne and yet we know that for a little beginning of a certayne tumult this last yeare past in Spayne it selfe to wit in the kingdome of Aragon many heades haue bin stroken of and much iustice done where of then riseth this differēce no doubt for that the Flemmings are straingers far of and the other neere at home natural borne so as this circumstance of being a stranger and dwelling far of doth them great pleasure and giueth them priuilege aboue the homborne subiects The like I might shew for this matter of punishment in the fore said states of Italie where if a mā do compare the number of them that were put to death pulled downe or afflicted by order of Iustice and other wise at the commandement of the Prince in tyme of their owne home-borne kings with that which hath bin since especially of the nobility you shal not finde one for twenty and the reason of this is for that their owne kings were absolute and had to giue accompt to no man of their doings and for that they were men and had their passions and emulations with the nobilitie and might put the same in execution without accompt or controlment they pulled downe set vp at their pleasure and made oftentymes but a iest of noblemens liues and deathes but now these that are gouernours viceroyes for a forraine prince first they haue not so great authority or comission as to touch any such principal persons liues whithout giuing relation therof first vnto their king councel and receaue againe particuler order for the same and then they knowing that after their three yeares gouermēt is ended they must be priuate men againe and stay their 40. dayes as subiects vnder the next new gouernour to giue a reconning of their doings against al that shal accuse them which in these countryes they call to make their residence they take heede what they doe and whom they offend so as the condition of nobility is far different vnder such a strainge gouerment as this is termed then vnder a natural Prince of their owne country which oppresseth them at his pleasure But now to draw neer homward if we wil examine and considerer what hath passed in Ingland in this point of massacring our nobility by our domestical Princes it is a matter lamentable for it may seeme that they haue serued oftentymes for our Princes to make disport to play whith their heades And to let passe al those which in tyme of warres rebellions comotions haue bin cut of which occasions may seeme more iustifiable I do read also in our chronicles that 2 Sangue freddo as the Italian sayth that is to say in tyme of peace and by execution of iustice at the Princes appoyntment these noblemen following and knyghts by name were put to death with in the space of one fiue yeares in king Henry the fourth his dayes The duke of Excester the duke of Surrey the Archbis hop of Yorke the earles of Salisbury of Glocester of Worcester and of Huntington The earle mowbray earle marshal The Baron of Kinderton S. Roger Clarington bastard sonne of Edward the black Prince S. Thomas Blunr S. Barnard Rocas S. Richard Vernon And agayne soone aftervnder king Edward the fourth in almost whith in as litle space The dukes of Somerset and of Excester The earles of Deuonshire of Oxford and of Keyns The Lord Rosse the Lord Molyns S. Thomas Tudingham S. Phillip Wentworth S. Thomas fyndam and many others afterward for this was but at the beginning of his reigne which number of nobility if a man should haue seene them aliue together with their traynes before they had bin put downe he would haue said they had bin a very goodly company pitiful that so many of our owne nobilitie should be brought by our own Princes to such confusion But yet this matter may seeme perhapps the lesse maruelous and more excusable vnder those two kings for that troobles and contentions had passed a little before in the realme about the succession and heervppon so many of the nobility might be cut of but let vs see then what ensued afterwards when thinges were established and al doubt of contention about the succession taken away as in king Henry the eight his dayes it was and yet do
no more preferment then that common vvealth and state can giue and if their should be many vvorthy men borne their at one tyme then were this his condition vvoorse for then must he part also vvith other men though their were not sufficient for himselfe and the most he could aspire vnto if he vvere an ecclesiastical man were the greatest benefice within that state and on the other side if he vvere a temporal man he could not hope for much for that the state hath it not to bestow but an other that is borne vnder a great monarch as is the king of France or Spayne in these our dayes that hath so many great bishoprickes for example sake and other spiritual lyuings to 〈◊〉 vppon the cleargie and so many high gouerments and employments both of vvarr and peace to giue vnto temporal men that can deserue the same this man I say hath a great aduantage of the other in respect of preferment at this day but much more was it in old tyme to be borne vnder the Romā Empire when it had the preferments of al the vvorld to bestow for that euery subiect therof vvas capable of al the said preferments so far fourth as he could make himself vvorthy and deserue the same For better explicatiō of vvhich point yet I haue thought good to cite in this place the woordes of a certaine learned kinght that in our dayes hath written the liues of al the Roman Emperors and in the life of one of them that vvas an excellent gouernour named Antoninus Pius the said kinght hath this discourse ensuinge Their vvas in this mans gouerment said he great contentment and ioye on al hands great peace and quietnes and very great iustice and truly it is a thing vvoorthy in this place to be considered what vvas the humane power and how infinite the forces of the Roman Empire at this day and how great vvas the libertie quietnes securitie welth and contentment of the subiects that liued vnder that gouerment when good Princes had the menagingetherof as vvas this Antoninus and his sonne Aurelius that followed him and as vvere Adrian Traian and diuers others What a thing was it to see their courtes frequented freely by al the noble valiant and lerned men of the vvorld to see the vnion and frendly dealing of different nations together when al serued one Prince so as a man might haue gone ouer the vvhole vvorld or most and beste partes therof vvith al security and without al feare al nations and countreyes being their frends neyghbours or subiects nether vvas their neede at that tyme of any pasports or safeconductes not ofso often change of coyne to trauaile as nowe their is nether yet were their new lawes euery foote as now be founde in different countryes neither vvas their danger of enimies or to be taken prisoners and captiues nor could any malefactor do a mischief in one country and flie into an other ther-by to be free from punishment and he that was borne in the very Orcades or furthest parte of Europe was at home thoughe he vvere in Africa or Asia as free denizen as if he had bin borne their marchants also might passe at that daye from country to country vvith their marchandize vvithout particuler licences or feare of forfeits and finally the temporal state of a subject vvas vvonderful happy at that tyme. Thus far discourseth that learned knight no doubt but that his discourse and consideration is founded in great reason and he that vvil leaue at this day the many commodities of being vnder a great and potent Prince if it lye in his owne hands to chuse for this only circumstance rhat he is not borne in the same country vvith him is a man of smale judgment and capacitye in these mens opinion and measureth matters of publique vtility vvith a false vvaight of fond affection And thus much may be sayd of the first waye of being vnder strangers and forayne gouerment which is that which vulgar men do most abhorre and inueigh against to vvit to be vnder a forraine Prince that liueth absent and ruleth by his gouernours But besides this their is an other manner of being vnder a forraine Prince as vvhen an allien Prince cometh to dwel among vs and this by either of two vvayes to vvit that either this Prince cometh without forces as did king Stephen and king Henry the second that were frenchmen as hath bin saide and came to liue and gouerne in Ingland but vvithout external forces and as king Phillip of Spayne came afterwards when by marriage of Queene Mary he became king of Ingland and as the last king Henry the third of France vvent into Polonia by the free election and inuitation of that nation and as his brother Monsieur Francis duke of Alenson should haue entred aftervvard to haue bin king of Ingland if the marriage pretended betweene her maiestie and him had gone forvvard and taken effect as many thought once that it should This I say is one way and an other is that this Prince do bring forces vvith him for his owne assurance and these either present as the Danish kings Sweno Canutus Haraldus and Hardicanutus did and as after them the Norman Princes also vsed I meane not only William Conqueror himselfe but also his two sonnes Williā Rufus and Henry the first who either by help of the Normans al ready in Ingland or by others brought in by them afterward vvrought their vvil or els that this Prince so entring haue foraine forces so at hand as he may call and vse them vvhen he vvil for that they haue no sea to passe vvhich is the case of the king of Scotts of both these waies these men do giue their sentence distinctly For as concerning the former vvay vvhen a forraine Prince entereth vvithout any forces atal and with intention to liue among vs they hold that their is no danger nor yet any incōuenience can iustly be feared for that in this case he subiecteth himselfe rather to the realme and nation then they to him and if he liue and marry in Ingland both himselfe and his children wil become Inglish in a little space And for his owne assurance he must be inforced to fauour and cherish and make much of the Inglish nation and be liberal gentle and frendly to al for gaining their good willes and frendship And in one very great and important pointe his condicion is different and better for the Inglish then any Inglish kings can be which is that he entreth vvith indifferent mynde towards al men hath no kynred or alliance within the land to whom he is bounde nor enimye against whom he maye be inticed to vse cruelty so as only merit or demerit of each mā must moue him to fauour or disfauour which is a great foundatiō say these men of good and equal gouerment Agayne they say that in respect of the state present of Ingland and as
their owne and Ireland and Scotland is not far of vvhere frendship perhapps in such a case might be offred and finally in this poynte of abillity great oddes is their seene betweene these Lordes As for their religion I cannot determyne what difference their is or may be betweene them The Lord Beacham by education is presumed to be a protestant albeit some hold that his father and father in law be more inclined towards the Puritans The earle of Darbyes religion is held to be more doubtful so as some do thinke him to be of al three religions and others of none and these agayne are deuided in iudgments about the euent heerof for that some do imagin that this opinion of him may do him goode for that al sides heerby may perhapps conceaue hope of him but others do persuade themselues that it vvil do him hurt for that no side in deede will esteeme or trust him so as al these matters with their euents and consequences do remayne vncertaine But now will I passe to speake of the house of Clarence the cheefe persons wherof and most emynent at this day are the earle of Huntington and his bretheren the Hastings for that the Pooles and Barringtons are of far meaner condition and authoritie albeit the other also I meane the house of Hastings doth not seme to be of any great allyance for that albeit the old earle of Huntington this earles father had two brethren the one S. Thomas Hastings that married one of the Lord Henry Pooles daughters named Lord montague that was put to death which daughter was sister to this earles mother and the other named S. Edward Hastings vvas made Lord of Lowghborow by Queene Mary to whom he was first master of the horse and afterward Lord Chamberland neither of them hauing left issue and this is al I remember by his fathers side except it be his owne brethren as hath bin said of which S. George Hastings is the cheefest By his mothers side he hath only the Pooles whose power as it is not great so what it is is rather lyke to be agaynst him then with him partly for their difference from him in religion and partly for preferment of their owne title vppon the reasons before alleaged By his owne marriage with the daughter of the late duke of Northumberland and sister to the late earles of Lecester and Warwicke he was lyke to haue drawne a very great strong alliance if the said two earles had liued and especially S. Phillip Sidney who was borne of the other sister of the present Countesse of Huntington and his owne sister was married to the earle of Penbroke that now is himselfe to the daughter of S. Francis Walsingham cheefe secretary of the state by al which meanes and by al the affection and power of the party puritan and much of the protestant this earle was thought to be in very great forwardnes But now these great pillers being fayled and no issue yet remayning by the said Countesse his wife no man can assure himselfe what the successe wil be especially seing that of the three bodyes of different religions before described it is thought that this earle hath incurred deeply the hatred of the one and perhapps some ielousy and suspition of the other but yet others do say and no doubt but that it is a matter of singular importance if it be so that he is lyke to haue the whole power of London for him which citty did preuaile so much in aduancing the title of Yorke in king Edward the fourth his tyme as it made him king twise to wit once at the beginning when he first apprehended and put downe king Henry the sixt and the second tyme vvhen he being driuen out of the kingdome by his brother the duke of Clarence and Richard earle of Warwicke he returned from Flanders vppon hope of the fauour of the Londoners and was in deede receaued fauoured and set vp agayne by them especially and by the helps of kent and other places adioyning and depending of London and so it may be that the fauourers of this earle do hope the like successe to him in tyme by this potent cittie For the houses of Britanny and Portugal I shal ioyne them both together for that they are straingers and the persons therof so nigh linked in kynred affinitie frendship as both their tittles forces and fauours may easely be ioyned together and imparted the one with the other as to themselues shal best appeare conuenient The lady Infanta of Spayne pretendent of the house of Britanie is eldest daughter of king Phillip as al the world knoweth and dearly beloued of him and that worthely as al men report that come from thence for that she is a princesse of rare partes both for bewty wisdome and pietie The two yong Princes of Parma I meane both the duke and his brother the Cardinal are ympes in like manner of great expectation and diuers wayes neere of kynn to the said king for that by their fathers side they are his nephewes that is the childeren of his sister and by their mothers side almoost as neere for that they are the nephewes of his vncle Prince Edward Infant of Portugal In lyke neernes of blood are the Duchesse of Bragansa and her children vnto the said king which children are many as hath bin shewed and al of that rare vertue and valor and of that singuler affection vnto the English natiō as it is wonderful to heare what men write from those partes and what others do reporte that haue trauayled Portugal and seene those Princes and tasted of their magnificente liberality so as I haue hard diuers reioyse that are affected that way to vnderstand that their do remayne such noble ofsping yet in forrayne countryes of the true and ancient blood royal of Ingland What the powers and possibilities of al these Princes of the house of Portugal be or may be heerafter for pursuyng their right shal not neede to be declared in this place for that al the world doth know and see the same yet al seemeth to depend of the heade roote which is the king of Spayne himselfe and the yonge Prince his sonne whose states and forces how and where they lye what allyance frendes subiects or followers they haue or may haue it is easy to consider but what part or affection of men they haue or may haue heerafter in Ingland it selfe when tyme shal come for the determyning of this matter no man can tell at this present and what plotts agreements compartitions or other conclusions may be made at that day tyme only must teach vs so as now I know not well what to say further in this affaire but only commend it to Gods highe prouidence and therefore I pray you quoth the Lawyer let me ende with this only that alredy I haue saide and pardon me of my former promisse to put my
with the course of that Lord hitherto and do thinke that they should do much better with his brother if so be he shal be thought more fitt yet are thease things vncertaine as we see but not withstanding such is the nature and fashon of man to hope euer great matters of youthes especially Princes God send al iust desires to take place and with this I wil ende and passe no further hoping that I haue performed the effect of my promisse made vnto you at the beginninge FINIS A â—â—rfect and exact Arbor and geneaâ—â—gie of al the Kynges Queenes and Prinâ—â—â— of the blood royal of EnglaÌ„d from the tâ—me of William the conqueror vnto our tâ—â—e wherby are to be seene the groundes oâ—â— the pretenders to the same crowne at thiâ—â—aye accordinge to the booke of M. R. Dâ—â—man set foorthe of the sayde pretenders and their seueral claymes this present yeare 1594. The ancient howses of the blood royal of England are the howse of Lancaster that beareth the redd rose and the howse of Yorke that beareth the vvhyte and then the howse of Britanie and France ioyned in one And out of these are made fiue particular howses which are the howse of ScotlaÌ„d of Suffolke of Clarence of Britanie of Portugal and in these are twelue different persons that by waye of succission do pretende eche one of theÌ„ to be next after her Maiestie that now is as by the booke appeareth Polyd in vita H. s. OccasioÌ„s of meeting The matter of succession discussed M. Bromely M. V VeÌ„rvvorth Tvvo lavvers Many pre tendors to the crovvne of InglaÌ„d SuccessioÌ„ doubtful vvhy Three or fovver principal heades of praetendors 1. Lancaster 2. Yorke 3. The tvvo houses ioyned Circumstances of the tyme present The Roman conclaue SuccessioÌ„ includeth also some kinde of election Of this more aftervvards Cap 4. 5. Neernes only in blood not sufficient More to be considered besides succession in the pretendors Tvvo principal pointes handled in this booke Tvvo partes of this conference Bellay apollog pro reg cap. 20. Not only successioÌ„ sufficient That no perticuler forme of gouermeÌ„t is of natu re To liue in company is natural to man the grouÌ„d of al com moÌ„ vvealthes Plato de repub Cicero de repub Aristotle polit Diuers praefes 1. InclinatioÌ„ vniuersal Pompon Mesa lib. 3. cap. 3. 4 Tacit. l. 8. 2. Aristot. l. 1. pol. c. 1. 2. 3. 4. Imbecilility of man Theoph. lib. de Plaut Plu tarch coÌ„de fortuna lib. de pietatem in parent Note this saying of Aristotle 4. The vse of iustice and FreÌ„ship Cicero lib. de amicitia The vse of charity helping one an other August lib. de amicitia Gen. 2. v. 18. That gouermeÌ„t iurisdiction of Magestrats is also of nature Necessity Iob 10. v. 12. 2. Consent of natioÌ„s Cicero li. 1. de natu ra DeoruÌ„ 3. The ciuil lavv Lib. 1. digest tit 2. 1. Scripture Prou. 2. Rom. 13. Particuler forme of gouermeÌ„t is free Arist. li. 2. polit Diuersitie of gouerment in diuers coÌ„tryes and tymes Rome Africa Greece Italie Dukes for kings and kings for dukes Spayne Boeme Polonia England The Ievves lib. Genes Lib. Exo. Lib. Iob. Lib. Iud. Lib. 1. Reg. Lib. Machab The realme chuseth her forme of gouermeÌ„t The common vvealth limiteth the gouernors authority A Natural Prince A monarchy the best gouerment A rist li. 4. pol. a. c. 9. Seneca Plutarch The antiquity of Monarchy 1 Reg. 8. Dionys. Haly l. 5. Cornel. Tacit. l. 3. Cicero l. 1. Offic. Hierom. l. 2. epist. 12 Chrisost. ho. 23. 1. Pet. 2. Tvvo poyntes to be noted Hovv S. Peter calleth a king most excellent Vtilites of a kingdome and in conueniences of other gouermentes Cicerol x offic Democratia Miseries of populer gouerment in Italy Aristocratia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 30. Eutrop. l. 3. Oros. l. 5. 6. The cause vvhy lavves be added to Kings Arist. l. 3. pol. c. vlt. A notable saying Arist. l. 3. Pol. c. 12. Arist. l. 1. Pol. c. 2. Diuers names propeties of lavves Cie lib. 2. offic Lavv is the discipline of a vveale pu blique Psal. 2. The CouÌ„cels of Princes a great healp Arist. l. 4. Pol. c. 10. The monarchie of Inglad reÌ„pered The restraints of kingly po vver in al estates Roman Kings Liu. lib. 1. dec 1. Grecian kings Arist. li. 2. c. 8. polit Plutarch in Lycurg Cic. lib. 2. 〈◊〉 Ciclib 3. de 〈◊〉 Restraints of kingdomes in Europe Sleydan lib. 8. An. 1532. Blond Di cad 2. li. 3 Crant li. cap. 25. Kingdomes of polonia and Boemia Herbert li. 9. hist. Polon Cromerus lib. 3. Hist. Polon Kinges of Spayne Fraunce and Ingland Concil blet 4. c. 74. coÌ„cil s. c. 3. Peculiar manner of succession An. 1340. Paul Anil hist. Franc. l. 2. Gerard. du Hayllan lib. 14 hist. FraÌ„c Fran. Belfor llb. 5. cap. 1. An. 1327. Reasons for succession of vvomen The infanta of Spayne Prince of Lorayne Gerard du Haillan Lib. 13. Hist. FraÌ„c Anno 1317. lib. 14. An. 1328. lib. 3. de l'Estat defrunaee Kings lavvfully possessed may be depriued A markable circuÌ„stance Agaynst rebellious people and contemnors of Princes 〈◊〉 flateries 〈◊〉 by Bellay others Belloy in apolog cath apolog pro rege The purpose of the next Chapter Tvvo pointes to be proued Nothing hear spokeÌ„ against devv respect to Princes Depriuations of kings recounted in scriptu re 1. Reg. 31. 4. Reg. 21. 44. King Iosias 2. Paralip 34. 〈◊〉 2. Paralip 35. King Dauid XenophoÌ„ in Cyropaed Nich. Machal l. 2. c. 2. in Tit. Liuius August l. de Gran. The vvisdome and piety of King Dauid 1. Paralip 15. 1. Psal. 24. 25. Thearmes of King Dauid His valor in chiualry King Dauides victoires 2. Reg. 8. Paral. 18 〈◊〉 2. Reg. 23 Ioseph l. 7 antiq c. 10 2. Reg. 7. His humi lity charity and dc uotion Kings pur doune among the romaÌ„s vvhat successors they had Halicar l. 1. Tertul. li. de praescrip contta haeres Iustin. martyr apolog Tit. liu li. 1. dec 〈◊〉 Eutrop. l. 1. Caesar Au gustus Dion in Caesa. Sueton in Caesa. Nero Vespatian Cornel. Tacit. lib. 20. 21. Egesip l. 5 Eutrop. in vita Caesa. Heliogabolus An. DnÌ„i 124. Alius laÌ„p in vita Heliog AlexaÌ„der Seuerus Herod in vit seuen MaxeÌ„tiua Constantin The chan ge of the east empy re Charles the greate An. 800. Tvvo changs in France Belfor l. 1 Girard l. 3 AEmil l. 2 Clem. Baudin en la chro mique des Roys de France Reasons of depriuation Hugo 〈◊〉 anno 988. Examples of Spayne Concil Tolet. 4. cap. 4. Ambros moral 1. II cap. 17. Isidor in 〈◊〉 hispan Esteuan de Garibay 1. 13 de la hist. de Espa. c. 15. Tabulae Astron. Alfonsinae King Don Alonso deposed Don Pedro cruel deposed Garibay l. 14. c. 40. 41. In Portugal King DoÌ„ Sancho 2. deposed Garibay lib. 4 de hist. Portug c. 19. Lib
primogenitura Genes 15 49 Deut. 21. 15. 2. Patalip 21. 3. Exod. 3. 2. Rom. 9. 13. Genes 28 27. Tvvo points to be noted Genes 29 49. Exod. 1. 2. Reg. 5. 1. Paral. 3. Tvvo cases resolued The remede of inconueniences by succession Election succession do helpe the 〈◊〉 thothen Ansvver to the 〈◊〉 principal questions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 VVhat an heyre apparent is before 〈◊〉 coronatiō Examples of tnatiage VVhat respect is devv to an heyre apparent VVhy Princes do cōpt ther yeares from the death of ther predecessors Girard de Haillan l. 3. de l'estate pag. 241. No heyre apparent K. before his coronation An euident Argument A rare example of King Henry V. Polydor. virg lib. 22. hittor Angliae in vita Henrici V. Stovv in the beginning of the life of king Henry V. Notes of this act 2. 3. 4. Admissiō of more importan ce then successiō See ther lastvvords to ther frendes in Sir Tho Moore Stovv VVhy diuer kings caused ther sonnes to be crovvned in ther ovvne dayes Hirrd du Haillan lib. 6. hist. an 1001. An. 1032. An. 1061. An. 1131. An. 1180. 3. Reg. 1. Polyd. Stovv in vita Henrici 11. The occasion of the next chapter The Ciuilian cloyed vvith copy Obiectiēs The example of the Ievves 3. Reg. 8. King Saule 2. Reg. 2. 21. An obiection ansevered 2. Reg. 9. King Dauid made by electiō 2. Reg. 2. 5. Psal. 131. 2. Paral. 6. Adonias the elder sonne relected 3. Reg. 1. The motiues of Adonias 〈◊〉 to King Dauid to make Salomō his successor 3. Reg. 1. The coronation of Salomon 〈◊〉 Reg. 1. A poynt to be noted The manner of admission of the prince Roboam 3. Reg. 12. 3. Reg. 11. 5. Reg. 12. 21. Foure races of Spanish Kings Ambros. moral Lib. 11. 〈◊〉 c. 12. 2. Race Ambros. moral lib. 13. c. 3 Moral lib. 37. e. 42. 43. 44. 3. Race Garibay lib 20. c. 〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 Examples of the first race Concil Tol. 3. c. 3. Conc. tol 4. cap. 74. Examples of the 2. race Episcop Tuyens l. 1. histoin Ludou de Molin li. de hared King Don Pelayo Ambros Mor 1. 13. cap. 6. 9. 10. Sebast. Epise Salam in hift Hisp. K. Don Alonso y Dö fruela Moral li 13. cap. 17 An. 768. Many breaches of succession Moral e. 21. King Don Aurelio King Don Sile. King Don Alonso the chast Mor I 15. cap. 25. A strange deliberation Great authoritie of comon vvealth K. Alonso the chast reyneth the secōd tyme. Moral e. 28. 29. An. 791. Moral li. 13. cap. 45 46. Anno 842. A horible tribute King Dō Ramiro 1 by election Moral e. 51. The kingdom of Spayne a Maiorasgo K. Don Ordonio An. 924. Moral 1. 16. cap. 1. An. 924. Don Alonso 4. Don Ramiro Moral lib. 19 cap. 20. An. 930. Don Ordonio 3. An. 950. Don Sancho 1. Moral l. 16. cap. 29 An. 950. Mor. l. 17. c. 1. 2. 3. 4. The end of the race of Don Pelayo Of the disceues follovving Spanish examples in the second discent 〈◊〉 1201 Carib li. 11. cap. 12 37. Lady Elenor an Inglish vvoman Q. of Spayne Garib l. 13. cap. 10 An 1207. An Inglish Qgrād mother to tvvo king saints at once An other brech of successiō The Cerdas put bark from the crovvne 1276. Garabay l. 15. c. 1. an 1363. Many alterations of lineal discent Dō Iohn the first a bastard made king of Portugal Garib l. 15 cap 22. li. 34. c. 39. Of the state of france An. 419. An. 751. An. 988. Examples of the 2. rancke of French Kings King Pepin by election An. 751. K. Charles by election Girard du Haillan l. 3. an 768. Eginard Belfor li 2. cap. 5. The vncle preferred before the nephevv Paul mili hist. Franc. King Luys de bonnaire An. 814. Girard l. 5 An. 834. An. 840 An. 878. Baudin en la Chroni que pag. 119. Girard l. 1 An. 879. Tvvo bastards pre ferred An. 881. Luys faineant K. of France An. 886. Charles 4 le Gros. King of France Girard li. 5. An. 888 Odo a king and after Duke of vvhom came Hugo Capetus Rafe 1. King of France An. 927. An. 929 Luys 4. d'Outremer The true geyre of France excluded Hugh Capet othervvise Snatch cappe 988 Belfor li. 3. cap 1. An. 988. Defence of Hugh Capetus title The embassage of the states of France vnto Char les of Loraine Girard 1. 6 an 988. Note this comparison Examples out of the third tyme of France Girard li. 6. an 1032 K. Henry 〈◊〉 preferred before his elder brother VVilliam conqueror hovv he came to be duke of Normandie Girard 1. 6. Anno 1032. 1037. Sonnes excluded for the fathers offences Girard lib. 7. An. 1110. Belfor l. 4 c. 1. l. 5 Cōmzus in comen tar l. 1. in vita Ludouic 11. Examples of the realme of Ingland Diuers races of Inglish Kinges Thename of Ingland and Inglish King Egbert the first monarch of Inglād Polidor hist. aug li. 4. in fine An. soz King Pepin of France king Adel vvolfe An. 829. King Alfred 872. King Edvvard elder An. 900. King Aleston the Bastard 〈◊〉 An. 924. Polid. 1. 5. hist. Angl. Stovv pag. 130. An. 924. King Edmond r. An. 940. The vncle preferred before the nephevvs 946. Polid. 1. 6. Stovv in his chronicles Edgar a famous king King Edvvard Martirized K. Etheldred 978. Polid. 1. 7. hist. Ang. K. Edmēd 〈◊〉 Quere Emma mother to King Edward the 〈◊〉 Many breches of lineal succestiō Sonnes of King Edmond Ironside King Canutus the first 〈◊〉 King Edvvard the confessor made K. against right of successiō Prince Edvvard the out lavv and his children put back Polyd l 8. Harald second K. by election 1066. Polid. vbi sup VVilliam Duke of Normādy King of Ingland An. 1066. by election Girard li. 6. an 1065 Chron. Cassin l. 3. cap. 34. Antoninus part z. chron tit 16. cap. 5. 9. 1. Examples after the conquest Polyd. in vita Gul. Conq. VVilliam Rufus King An. 1087. Henry 1. An. 1100 Mathild the empresse King Stephen entred against successiē 1135. An act of parlamēt about successiē 1153. King Richard and king Iohn 1190. Prince Ar tur put back Tvvo sisters of prince Artur Duke of Britaine K. Iohn and his sonne reiected 1216. The titles of york Lācaster The con clusion of this-chapter Causes of excluding Princes VVhe must iudge of the lavvful causes of exclusiōs Open iniustice to be resisted VVhat are the cheete pointes to be regarded in a princes ad mission VVhence the reasons of admitting or re iecting a prince are to be taken Girard li. 3. de l'Estar pag. 242. Three principal points to be considered VVhy he resolueth to treat of religion principally The cheef end of a common vvealth supernatural Philosophers and lavv makers vvhat end they had of ther doings The com mon vvealth of beastes The natu ral end of mans cōmon vvealth Sacrifices and oblations by
doubt approueth vvhat the realme determineth in this poynt for otherwise nothing could be certaine for that of thes changes doth depend al that hath succeeded sythens In like manner is it euident that as the common wealth hath this authority to chuse and change her gouerment so hath she also to limite the same vvith vvhat lavves and conditions she pleaseth wherof ensueth the great diuersity of authority and power vvhich ech one of the former gouerments hath as for example the Consuls of Rome vvere but for one yeare other officers and Magestrates vvere for more or lesse tyme as their commō wealth did alott them The Dukes of Venice at this day are for their liues except in certayne cases wherin they may be deposed thos of Genua only for two years and their power as I haue said is very smal and much limited and their heyres haue no clayme or pretence at al after them to that dignity as the children and next of kinne of other Dukes of Italy haue though in different sort also for that the Dukedomes of Ferara Vrbin and Parma are limited only to heyres male and for defect therof to returne to the pope or Sea of Rome Florence and Mantua for like defects are to returne to the empire and do not passe to the heyrs femal or to the next of kynne as Sauoy and some others do Aud now if we respect God and nature as wel might al thes gouerments follow one law as so different for that neyther God not nature prescribeth any of thes particuler formes but concurreth with any that the cōmon wealth it selfe appoynteth and so it is to be beleued that God and nature concurred as vvel with Italy when it had but one Prince as now when it hath so many and the like with Germany and the like also with Swizerlād which once was one common vvealth only vnder the dukes and Marqueses of Austria and now are deuided into thirtene Cantons or common wealthes vnder populer Magestrates of their owne as hath bin said so as when men talke of a natural Prince or natural successor as many tymes I haue hard the vvord vsed if it be vnderstood of one that is borne within the same Realme or countrey and so of our owne natural blood it hath some sense though he may be both good or badd and none hath bin worse or more cruel many tymes then home borne Princes but if it be ment as though any Prince had his particuler gouerment or interest to succeed by institutiō of nature it is rediculous for that nature giueth it not as hath bin declared but the particuler constitution of euery cōmon wealth with-in it selfe and so much for this first poynt which must be the ground to al the rest that I haue to say OF THE FORME OF MONARCHIES AND KINGDOMES IN PARTICVLER AND THE DIF ferent lawes wherby they are to be obteyned holden and gouerned in dyuers countries accordinge as eche common wealth hath chosen established CAP. II. AL that hitherto hath bin spoken hath appertayned to al princely and supreme gouerment in general but now for that our matter in question is concerning the succession to a kingdome good reason that we should reduce our speech vnto this forme of gouerment in particuler First of al then is to be considered that of al other formes of gouerment the monarchy of a king in it selfe appeareth to be the most excellent and perfect and so do hold not only Aristotle in his fornamed bookes of pollitiques namely in his third with this only condicion that he gouerne by lawes but Seneca also and Plutarch in his morales namely in that special treatise wher-in he discusseth an seni sit Respub tractanda whether an old man ought to take vppon him the gouerment of a common wealth or no wher he saith that regnum inter omnes respub consumatissima prima est a kingdome is the most perfect common wealth among al other the very first that is to say the most perfect for that it hath most commodities and least inconueniences in it selft of any other gouerment and it is the fitst of al other for that al people commonly made their choise at the begining of this kind of gouerment so as of al other it is most ancient for so we read that among the Sytians Medes and Persians their first gouernours were kings and when the children of Israel did aske a kynge at the hands of Samuel which vvas a thousand yeares before the comming of Christ they alleaged for one reason that al nations round about them had kings for their gouernours and at the very same tyme the chiefest cyties and common vvealths of Greece as the lacedemonians Athenians Corinthians and others wherof diuers afterwards tooke other gouerments vnto themselues for the abuses in kingly gouermet committed at that tyme vvere gouerned by kings as at large proueth Dyonisius Halicarnasseus Cornelius Tacitus Cicero others The Romans also began vvith kings as before I haue noted and the reason of this is for that as our Christian doctors do gather especially S. Hierome and S. Chrisostome this kind of gouerment resembleth most of al the gouerment of God that is but one it representeth the excellency of one sonne that lightneth al the plannets of one soule in the body that gouerneth al the powers and members therof and finally they shew it also to be most conforme vnto nature by example of the bees which do choose vnto themselues a kinge and do liue vnder a monarchy as the most excellentest of al other gouerments to which purpose also I haue hard alleaged somtymes by diuers those wordes of S. Peter Subiecti estote omni humanae creaturae propter Deum siue regi quasi precellenti siue ducibus ab eo missis c. Be you subiect of euery humane creature for Gods cause whether it be to a king as the most excellent or to Dukes sent by God for the punishment of euil men and praise of the good Out of which wordes some do note two points first that as one the one side the Apostle doth plainely teach that the magistrates authority is from God by his first institutiō in that he sayeth vve must be subiect to them for Gods cause so on the other side he calleth it a humane creature or a thing created by man for that by mans free choise this particuler forme of gouerment as al other also is appoynted in euery common wealth as before hath bin declared and that by mans election and consent the same is layd vppon some particuler man or vvoman according to the lawes of euery countrey al which maketh it rightly to be called both a humane creature and yet from God The second poynt which diuers do note out of thes wordes is that S. Peter calleth a king most excellent which thoughe it may be vnderstood in rcspect of the Dukes authority wherof
by al the states of that counttey but also a broad as namely of Maximilian the Emperor and approued also by the king of Denmarke and by al the Princes of Germany neere about that realme who saw the resonable causes which that common wealth had to proceed as it did And a litle before that the like was practised also in Denmarke agaynst Cisternus ther lawful king if we respect his discent in blood for he vvas sonne to king Iohn that reigned a fore him and crowned in his fathers life but yet afterwards for his intolerable cruelty he vvas depriued and driuen into banishment together with his vvife and three children al vvhich were disinherited his vncle Frederik Prince of Holsatia vvas chosen king whose progeni yet remayneth in the crowne the other though he were marryed to the sister of Charles the fifth last Emperor of that name and vvere of kyn also to king Henry the eight of Ingland yet could he neuer get to be restored but passed his tyme miserably partly in banishment and partly in prison vntil he dyed But it shal be best perhapps to ende this narration with an example or two out of Ingland it selfe for that no where els haue I read more markable accidents touching this poynt then in Ingland and for breuity sake I shal touch only two or three happened since the cōquest for that I wil go no higher though I might as appeareth by the exāple of K. Edwin others nether vvil I beginne to stand much vppon the example of king Iohn though wel also I might for that by his euel gouerment he made himselfe both so odious at home contemptible abroade hauing lost Normandy Gascony Guyenne and al the rest in effect which the crowne of Ingland had in France as first of al he vvas both excommunicated and deposed by sentence of the pope at the sute of his owne people and vvas inforced to make his peace by resigning his crowne into the handes of Pandulfe the popes legate as Polidor recounteth and afterwards faling back agayne to his old defects and naughtie gouerment albeit by his promise to the pope to go and make warr against the Turkes if he might be quiet at home and that his kyngdome should be perpetually tributary to the sea of Rome he procured him to be of his side for a tyme and against the Barōs yet that stayed not them to proceed to his depriuation which they did effectuate first at Canterbury and after at London in the eighteenth last yeare of king Iohns reigne and meant also to haue disinherited his sonne Henry which vvas afterward named king Henry the third and at that tyme a childe of eight yeares old only and al this in punishement of the father yf he had liued and for that cause they called into Ingland Lodouick the Prince of France sonne to king Philip the second and father to Saynt Lewis the nynth and chose him for their king and did sweare him fealtye with general consent in London the yeare of our Lord 1216. And but that the death of king Iohn that presently ensued altered the vvhole course of that designment and moued them to turne their purposes and accept of his sonne Henry before matters were fully established for king Lodowick it vvas most likely that France and Ingland would haue bin ioyned by thes meanes vnder one crowne But in the end as I haue said king Henry the third vvas admitted and he proued a very wor thi king after so euel as had gon before him and had bin deposed which is a circumstance that you must alwayes note in this narration and he reigned more yeares then euer king in Ingland did before or after him for he reigned ful 53. yeares left his sonne heyre Edward the first not inferior to himselfe in manhode vertue vvho reigned 34. yeares and left a sonne named Edward the second vvho falling into the same defects of gouerment or vvorse then king Iohn his great grandfather had donne was after 19. yeares reigne deposed also by act of parlament holden at London the yeare 1326. his body adiudged to perpetual prison in which he was at that present in the castle of vvallingford vvherher diuers both bishops Lordes knights of the Parlament vvere sent vnto him to denounce the sentence of the realme agaynst him to wit how they had deptiued him and chosen Edward his sonne in his place for vvhich act of choosing his sonne he thanked them hartely and vvith many teares acknowledged his owne vnwoorthines wheruppon he was digraded his name of king first taken from him and he appoynted to be called Edward of Carnaruan from that howre forward and then his crowne and ring were taken away and the steward of his house brake the stafe of his office in his presence and discharged his seruants of their seruice and al other people of ther obedience or allegeance toward him and towardes his mayntenance he had only a hundreth markes a yeare allowed for his expences and then was he delyuered also into the hands of certayne particuler keepers vvho led him prisoner from thence by diuers other places vsing him with extreme indignity in the way vntil at last they tooke his life from him in the castle of Barkley and his sonne Edward the third reigned in his place who if we respect eyther valor provvesse length of reigne acts of cheualry or the multitude of famous Princes his children left behinde him vvas one of the noblest kinges that euer Inglād had though he were chosen in the place of a very euel one as you haue séen But vvhat shal we say is this worthines vvhich God giueth commōly to the successors at thes changes perpetual or certayne by discēt no truly nor the example of one Princes punishment maketh an other to beware for the next successor after this noble Edward vvhich vvas king Richard the second though he were not his sonne but his sonnes sonne to wit sonne and heyre to the excellent and renounced black Prince of vvales this Richard I say forgetting the miserable end of his great grand father for euel gouerment as also the felicity and vertue of his father and grand father for the contrary suffered himselfe to be abused and misled by euel councellors to the great hurte disquietnes of the realme For vvhich cause after he had raigned 22. yeares he was also deposed by act of parlamāt holden in London the yeare of our Lord 1399. and condemned to perpetual prison in the castel of Pomfret vvher he was soone after put to death also and vsed as the other before had bin and in this mānes place by free electiō was chosen for king the noble knight Henry Duke of Lācaster who proued afterwards so notable a king as the world knoweth and vvas father to king Henry the fifth surnamed commonly the Alexander of Ingland for that
as Alexander the great conquered the most parte of Asia in the space of 9. or 10. yeares so did this Henry conquere France in lesse then the like tyme. I might recon also in this number of Princes deposed for defect in gouermēt though otherwise he vvere no euel man in lyfe this king Henry the fourths nephew I meane king Henry the sixt vvho after almost forty yeares reigne vvas deposed and imprisoned and put to death also together vvith his sonne the Prince of wales by Edward the fourth of the howse of yorke the same was confirmed by the commons and especially by the people of London and afterwards also by publique act of parliament in respect not only of the title which king Edward pretended but also and especially for that king Henry did suffer himselfe to be ouerruled by the Queene his wife and had broken the articles of agrement made by the parlament betwene him and the Duke of Yorke and solemnly sworē on both sides the 8. of Octob. in the yeare 1459. In punishment vvherof and of his other negligent and euel gouermēt though for his owne particuler life he vvas a good man as hath bin said sentence was giuen agaynst him partly by force and partly by law and king Edward the fourth vvas put in his place who was no euel king as al Inglish men vvel know but one of the renoumedst for martial actes and iustice that hath worne the Inglish crowne But after this man agayne ther fel an other accident much more notorious vvhich was that Richard Duke of Glocester this king Edwards yonger brother did put to death his two nephewes this mans children to vvit king Edward the fifth and his litle brother made him selfe king and albeit he synned greuously by taking vppon him the crowne in this wicked manner yet when his nephewes were once dead he might in reason seeme to be lawful king both in respect that he was the next male in blood after his said brother as also for that by diuers acts of parlament both before and after the death of thos infantes his title vvas authorized and made good and yet no man vvil say I thinke but that he vvas lawfully also deposed agayne afterward by the cōmō wealth which called out of France Henry Earle of Richmond to chastise him and to put him downe and fo he did and tooke from him both life and kingdome in the fielde and vvas king himselfe after him by the name of king Henry the seuenth and no man I suppose vvil say but that he vvas lawfully king also vvhich yet cannot be except the other might lawfully be deposed moreouer as I sayd at the beginning I vvould haue you consider in al thes mutations what men commonly haue succeded in the places of such as haue bin deposed as namely in Ingland in the place of thos fiue kings before named that vvere depriued to vvit Iohn Edward the second Richard the second Henry the sixt and Richard the third ther haue succeded the three Henryes to wit the third fourth and seuenth two Edwards the third and fourth al most rare valiant Princes who haue donne infinit importanr acts in their cōmon vvealthes and among other haue raysed many houses to nobility put downe others changed states both abroad and at home distributed ecclesiastical dignityes altred the course of discent in the blood royal and the like al which was iniust and is voyd at this day if the chainges and depriuations of the former Princes could not be made and consequently none of thes that do pretende the crowne of Ingland at this day can haue any title at al for that from thos men they discende vvho were put vp in place of the depriued And this may be sufficient for proofe of the two principal poynts which you required to be discussed in the beginning of this spech to wit that lawful Princes haue oftentymes by their common wealthes bin lawfully deposed for misgouerment and that God hath allowed and assisted the same with good successe vnto the weal publique and if this be so or might be so in kings lawfully set in possession then much more hath the said common wealth power authority to alter the succession of such as do but yet pretend to that dignity if ther be dew reason and causes for the same which is the head poynt that first we began to treate of saide the Ciuilian and with this ended his speech vvithout saying any more VVHER IN CONSISTETH PRINCIPALLY THE LAVFVLNES OF PROCEEDING AGAYNST Princes which in the former chapter is mētioned what interest Princes haue in their subiect 's goods or liues how othes doth binde or may be broken by subiects towards Princes and finally the difference betwene a good king and a Tirant CHAP. IIII. VVHEN the Ciuilian had ended his speech the temporal lawyer looked vppon the stāders by to see whether any would reply or no and perceauing al to hold ther peace he began to say in this māner Truly Syr I cannot deny but the examples are many that you haue alleaged and they seme to proue sufficiently that which you affirmed at the beginning to wit that the Princes by you named were depriued and put downe by their common vvealthes for ther euel gouerment And good successors commonly raysed vp in their places and that the common wealth had authority also to do it I do not greatly doubt at least wise they did it de facto and now to cal thes factes in question were to embroyle and turne vp-side-downe al the states of Christen dom as you haue wel signified but yet for that you haue added this vvord lawfully so many tymes in the course of your narration I vvould you tooke the payne to tel vs also by vvhat law they did the same seing that Belloy whom you haue named before and some other of his opinion do affirme that albeit by nature the common vvealth haue authority ouer the Prince to chuse and appoynt him at the beginning as you haue vvel proued out of Aristotle and other vvayes yet hauing once made him and giuen vp al their authority vnto him he is now no more subiect to ther cortection or restraynt but remayneth absolute of himselfe without respect to any but only to god alone vvhich they proue by the example of euery particuler man that hath authority to make his Master or Prince of his inferior but not afterwards to put him downe agayne or to depriue him of the authority vvhich he gaue him though he should not beare himselfe vvel and gratefully but discourtious rather iniuriously towards him that gaue him first this authority To which also they do alleage the speech of the prophet Samuel in the first booke of the kings vvher the people of Israel demaunded to haue a king to gouerne ouer them as other nations round about them had and to leaue the gouerment of the high Prieste vnder
the bracelets the staf vvith the scepter and diademe euery one wherof the archbishop put vppon the Emperor telling him the signification of ech thing and vvhat it did bynd him vnto as for example vvhen he put the svvord about him he said accipe hunc gladium quo ijcias omnes Christi aduersarios malos christianos authoritate diuina per Episcopos tibi tradita Which is take vnto thee this svvord vvherby thow mayst cast out and driue away al the enimies of Christ whether they be barbarous infidels or euel christians and this by the authority of God deliuered vnto thee by vs that are bishops And thus he did vvith al other ornaments and ensignes telling the signification and obligation of euery one and taking the Emperors promise to performe al. And after al the historiographer concludeth thus Rex perfufus oleo sancto coronatur diademate aureo ab Episcopis ab eisdem ad solium regale ducitur in eo colocatur That is the king being annointed vvith holy oyle was crowned by the bishops and by the same vvas brought to the royal seat and therin placed This happened about the yeare of christ 940. and the ceremony is recounted more amply in this mans coronation then in any other both for that he was a very noble Prince and the very first of the Germain nation that vvas lawfully and orderly preferred to the imperial seat after that it passed from the children of Charles the great and ther be diuers points worthy the noting in this example and among other that albeit he were lawful king and Emperor by succession as also by appointment of his father yet was he chosen and admitted againe by the Princes and people that he swore to fulfil al those pointes and condicions which the signification of the Emperial ornaments did bynd him vnto After this about 60. yeares or more Pope Gregory the 5. in a synode holden in Rome did by the consent of Otho the third Emperor and nephew vnto this other Otho of vvhom we haue now treated appoint a certaine forme of electiō for the tyme to come of the German Emperor to wit that he should be chosen by six Princes of Germany three ecclesiastical which are the archbishopes of Moguntia Colen Treuires three temperal Lords to vvit the Duke of Saxony the Counte Palatyne of Rhene and the Marques of Brandeburge and vvhen thes six voices should happen to be equally deuided then that the Duke of Boemia for then it was no kingdom should haue place also to determyne the election Al which was determined in the yeare of Christ 996. in Rome and approued after ward by al the Princes of Germany and allowed by al other Christian Princes and states of the vvorld and so endureth vnto this day And among al other points this of his coronation and his oth to be taken for his wel gouerment vvas and is most exactly set downe recorded by many historiographers of that tyme and since But I shal alleage them only out of Iohn Sleydan as the most conuenient author for this our tyme and purpose First of al then he writeth that after any man is chosen Emperor he is to be called only Caesar and the king of the Romans and not Emperor vntil he be crowned and the conditions which he sweareth vnto presently after his election Are to defend the christian and catholique religion to defend the pope and church of Rome whose aduocat he is to minister iustice equally to al to follow peace to kepe and obserue al lawes rightes and priuileges of the Empyre not to alienate or engage the possessions of the empyre to cōdemne no man without hearing his cause but to suffer the course of law to haue his place in al and whatsoeuer he shal do otherwise that it be voyd and of no Validitie at al. Vnto al thes articles he sweareth first by his legates then he giueth a coppy of his othe in vvriting to euery one of the six electors and after this he goeth to the cytie of Aquis-gran to be crowned in the great church vvher about the midle of the masse the archbishop of Colen goeth vnto him in the presence of al the people and as keth whether he be redy to sweare and promise to obserue the catholick religiō defend the church minister iustice protect the widowes and fatherles and yeald dutiful honor and 〈◊〉 to the pope of Rome wherunto he answering that he is redy to do al this the Archbishop leadeth him to the high aulter wher he sweareth in expresse vvords al thes articles wwhich being done the said archbishop turning himselfe to the Princes of the empyre and people ther present doth aske them whether they be content to sweare obedience and fealtie vnto him who answering yea he is annoynted by the said archbishop before the aulter and then do come the other tvvo Archbishops of Moguntia and Treueris and do lead him into the vestery vvher certaine deacons are redy to apparrel him in his robes and do set him in a chayre vppon vvhom the Archbishop of Colen saith certaine prayers and then deliuereth him a sword drawne and putteth a ring vppon his finger and giueth him a scepter in his hand then al the three Archbishops together do put on the crowne vppon his head and leading him so crowned and apparreled vnto the high aulter againe he sweareth the second tyme that he wil do the part of a good christian and Catholick Emperor Which being ended he is brought back and placed in the emperial seat throne vvher al the Princes of the empyre do sweate obedience and fayth vnto him begining vvith the three Archbishops and continuing on vvith the three other electors and so al the rest in order vvhich is a notable and magestical manner of admitting and authorizing of a Prince as you see and it is to be marked among other things that the emperor sweareth three tymes once by his deputies and twise by himselfe before his subiects sweare once vnto him and yet wil Belloy as you haue hard needs haue subiects only bound to their Princes and the Prince nothing at al bound to them againe In Polonia which being first a Dukedome was made a kingdome aboute the same tyme that this forme of electing of the German Emperor vvas prescribed the manner of coronatiō of their kings is in substance the very same that we haue declared to be of the Emperor For first of al the Archibishop of Guesua metropolitā of al Polonia commeth to the king standing before the high aulter and sayeth vnto him thes wordes VVher as you are right noble Prince to receaue at our handes this day who are though vnworthily in place of Christ for execution of this function the sacred annoynting and other ceremonies ensignes and ornaments apperteyning to the kinges of this land it shaibe wel that we
placed in the Tower though soone after by the suddaine death of king Iohn that course vvas altered agayne Henry his sonne admitted for king And thus much of the sonnes of king Hēry the second but of his daughters by the same lady Elenor heyre of Gascony Belforest in his story of France hath these wordes following King Henry had foure daughters by Elenor of Aquiraine the eldest vvherof vvas marryed to Alonso the 9. of that name king of Castile of vvhich marryage issued Queene Blanch mother to S. Lewis king of France The second of these two daughters vvas espoused to Alexis Emperor of Constantinople The third vvas married to the duke of Saxony and the fourth vvas giuen to the earle of Tholosa thus being the french stories of these daughters Of the marriage of the eldest daughter of these foure whose name was Elenor also as her mothers vvas vvith king Alonso the 9. of Castile ther proceeded many children but only one sonne that liued whose name vvas Henry vvho vvas king of Castile after his father by the name of Henry the first and dyed quickly vvithout issue and besides this Henry tvvo daughters also vvere borne of the same mariage of which the eldest and heyre named Blanch vvas married by intercession of her vncle king Iohn of Ingland vvith the foresaid Prince Lewis of France with this expresse cōdition as both Polidor in his Inglish story Garibay the chronicler of Spayne do affirme that she should haue for her dowry al the states that king Iohn had lost in France vvhich were almost al that he had there and this to the end he might not seeme to haue lost them by force but to haue giuen them with the mariage of his Neece and so this mariage vvas made and her husband Lewis was afterward chosen also king of Ingland by the Barons and sworne in London as before hath bin saide hereby also the Infanta of Spaine before mentioned that is discended lineally from both these princes I meane as wel from Queene Blanch as from Lewys is proued to haue her pretence fortified to the interest of Ingland as afterward shal be declared more at large in dew place The second daughter of king Alonso the 9. by Queen Elenor vvas named Berenguela and vvas married to the prince of Leon in Spayne and had by him a sonne named Fernando vvho afterward vvhen king Henry her brother vvas dead vvas admitted by the Castilians for their king by the name of Fernando the fourth as before the Ciuilian hath noted and Blanch vvith her sonne S. Lewis though she vvere the elder vvas put by the crowne against al right of succession as Garibay the Spaniard Chronicler noteth and confesseth Heerby then some do gather that as the first interest which the crowne of Ingland had to the states of Gascony Guyne and Poyters came by a vvoman so also did it come to France by the right of this foresaid Blanch wherof the fauourers of the Infanta of Spaine do saye that she being now first and next in blood of that house ought to inherite al these and such like states as are inheritable by vvomen or came by womē as the former states of Gascony and Guvne did to king Henry the second by Queen Elenor his wife and Normandie by Mathilda his mother and both of them to France by this former interest of Blanch and more they saye that his lady Blanch mother to King S. Lewis vvhose heyre at this daye the infanta of spayne is should by right haue inherited the kingdome of Ingland also after the murther of Duke Arthur and his sister Elenor for that she was the next of kynne vnto them at that tyme vvhich could be capable to succede them for that king Iohn himselfe vvas vncapable of their succession whom he had murthered and his sonne Henry vvas not then borne nor in diuers yeares after and if he had bin yet could he receaue no interest therunto by his father vvho had none himselfe of al vvhich points ther vvilbe more particuler occasion to speak hereafter Now then I come to speak of king Henry the third vvho was sonne to this king Iohn and from whom al the three houses before mentioned of Britanie Lancaster and Yorke do seeme to issue as a triple branch out of one tree albeit the royal line of Britanie is more ancient and vvas deuided before euen from William Conquerors tyme as hath bin shewed yet do they knytt againe in this king Henry for that of king Henry the third his eldest sonne named prince Edward the first discended Edward the second and of him Edward the third from whom properly riseth the house of Yorke And of his secōd sonne Edmond surnamed crooke-backs county Palatine of Lancaster issued the dukes of Lancaster vntil in the third dissent vvhen the Lady Blanch heyre of that house matched vvith Iohn of Gaunt third sonne of king Edward the third from which mariage rose afterward the formal diuision of these two houses of Lancaster and Yorke also two distinct branches of Lancaster Besides these two sonnes king Henry the third had a daughter named lady Beatrix whom he marryed to Iohn the second of that name duke of Britanie vvho after vvas stayne at Lions in France by the fal of an old wall in the coronation of pope Clement the 5. of that name in the yeare of Christ 1298. and for that the frēdes of the Infanta of Spayne do seeke to strengthen her title by this her discent also of the royal blood of Ingland from Henry the third as afterward shal be declared I wil breifly in this place continew the pedegree of the house of Britanie from that I left before euen to our dayes I shewed before in this chapter that Geffrey the third sonne to king Henry the second and duke of Britanie by his wife being dead his two children Arthur and Elenor put to death by their vncle king Iohn in Ingland as before hath bin said it fel out that Constance duchesse and heyre of Britanie marryed agayne to Guy viscond of Touars and had by him two daughters wherof the eldest named Alis vvas duchesse of Britanie and marryed to Peter Brien earle of Drusse and by him had Iohn the first of that name duke of Britanie vvhich Iohn the first had issue Iohn the second vvho marryed lady Beatrix before mētioned daughter to king Henry the third and by her had the second Arthur duke of Britanie to vvhom succeded his eldest sonne by his first wife named Iohn the third who dying without issue left the very same trouble and garboyle in Britanie about the succession betweene the two noble houses of Bloys and Monford the one maynteyned by France and the other by Ingland as soone after vppon the very like occasion happened in Ingland betweene the houses of Lancaster York as after shal be shewed And not long after that againe the like
vvhich end being taken away or peruerted the king becommeth a tyrant a Tigar a fearse Lion a rauening wolfe a publique enimy and a bloody murtherer vvhich vvere against al reason both natural and moral that a common wealth could not deliuer it selfe from so eminent a distruction By authority also you haue heard it proued of al law-makers Philosophers Lawyers Diuines and Gouernours of common vvealthes vvho haue set downe in their statutes and ordonances that kings shal sweare and protest at their entrance to gouerment that they vvil obserue and performe the conditions their promised otherwise to haue no interest in that dignity soueraintie By examples in like manner of al realmes christian he declared how that often-tymes they haue deposed their princes for iust causes and that God hath concurred and assisted wonderfully the-same sending them commonly very good kings after those that vvere depriued and in no country more then in Ingland it selfe yea in the very lyne and familye of this king Richard vvhose noble grand-father king Edward the third vvas exalted to the crowne by a most solemne deposition of his predecessor king Edvvard the second vvherfore in this point their can be litle controuersie and therfore vve shal passe vnto the second vvhich is vvhether the causes vvere good and iust for which this king Richard vvas esteemed vvorthy to be deposed And in this second pointe much more difference their is betwixt Yorke and Lancaster and betwene the vvhite rose and the redd for that the house of Yorke seeking to make the other odious as though they had entred by tyrannie cruelty doth not stick to auouch that king Richard vvas vniustly deposed but against this the house of Lancaster alleageth first that the howse of Yorke cā not iustly saye this for that the chiefe prince assistant to the deposing of king Richard vvas lorde Edmond hymselfe duke of Yorke and head of that familie together with Edward earle of Rutland duke of Aumarle his eldest sonne and heyre yea and his yonger sonne also Richard earle of Cambrige father to this Richard that now pretēdeth for so do write both Stow Hollingshead and other chroniclers of Ingland that those princes of the howse of Yorke did principally assist Hēry duke of Lancaster in getting the crowne and deposing king Richard Polidor speaking of the wicked gouerment of king Richard and of the first cogitation about deposing him vvhen king Henry of Lancaster vvas yet in France banished and seemed not to thinke of any such matter he hath these words Sed Edmundo Eboracensium duei eares cum primis bilem commouit quod rex omnia iam iura peruerteret quòd antea parricidio postea rapinis se obstrinxisset c. That is this matter of the wicked gouerment of king Richard did principally offend his vncle Edmond duke of Yorke for that he saw the king novv to peruert al law and equity and that as before he had defiled himselfe vvith parricide that is with the murther of his owne Vncle the duke of Glocester brother to this Edmond so now he intangled himselfe also vvith rapine in that he tooke by violence the goods and inheritance of Iohn ofGaunt late deceased vvhich did belong to Henry duke of Lancaster his cosen germaine by which wordes of Polidor as also for that the duke of Lancaster cōming out of Britayne accompaned only with three score persons as some stories say chose first to goe into Yorke-shire and to enter at Rauenspurr at the mouthe of Humber as al the vvorld knoweth which he would neuer haue done if the princes of Yorke had not principally fauoured him in that action al this I say is an euident argumēt that these princes of the house of Yorke were then the chiefe doers in this deposition and consequently cannot alleage now with reason that the said Richard was deposed vniustly Secondly the house of Lancaster alleageth for the iustifying of this deposition the opinions of al historiographers that euer haue written of this matter vvhether they be Inglish French Duch Latine or of any other nation or language vvho al with one accord do affirme that king Richards gouerment vvas intolerable he worthy of deposition wherof he that wil se more let him reade Thomas of Walsingham and Iohn Frosard in the life of king Richard Thirdly they of Lancaster do alleage the particuler outrages and insolences of king Richards gouerment and first the suffring himselfe to be carryed away with euil counsel of his fauorites and thē the peruerting of al lawes generally vnder his gouerment as before you haue hard out of Polidor the ioyning vvith his my niōs for opressing the nobility of which Stow hath these vvordes The king being at Bristow with Robert de Vere duke of Ireland Michael de la Pole Earle of Suffolke deuised how to take away the duke of Glocester the earles of Arundel VVarwick Darby and Notingham and others whose deathes they conspired thus sayeth Stow. And soone after they executed the most par of their deuises for that Thomas of Woodstock duke of Glocester vvas made away vvithout law or processe the earle of Arundel also vvas put to death and VVarwick vvas banished and so was also Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury by like injustice and the like was done to Henry duke of Hereford and after of Lancaster and among other insolences he suffred Robert Vere to dishonour and put from him his vvife a noble and goodly yong Lady as Stow sayeth and borne of Lady Isabel king Richards aunt that vvas daughter to king Edward the third and suffred Vere to marry an other openly to her disgrace and dishonour of her kynred And finaly in the last parlament that euer he held which vvas in the 21. yeare of his reigne commonly called the euel parlament he would needs haue al authority absolute graunted to certaine fauourits of his which Thomas Walsingham saith were not aboue 6. or 7. to determine of all matters vvith al ful authority as if they only had bin the vvhole realme vvhich vvas nothing in deede but to take al authority to him selfe only and Stow in his chronicle hath these wordes following This parlameut began about the 15. of September in the yeare 1397. at the beginning wherof Edward Stafford Bishop of Exceter Lord Chancellor of Ingland made a proposition or sermon in which he affirmed that the power of the king was alone and perfit of it selfe and those that do impeatch it were worthy to suffer paine of the law c. thus saith Stow by al vvhich is euident how exorbitant and contrary to al law and equity this kinges gouerment vvas Fourthly and lastly those of Lancaster do alleage for iustifying of this depriuation that duke Henry vvas called home by expresse lettres of the more and better part of al the realme and that he came vvholy in a manner vn-armed considering his person for that
France and her father the king of spaine should be better able to defend and recouer his or her right to the crowne of Ingland then Eleanor his owne sister should be who vvas also in the handes of his said vncle for that he supposed that she also should be made away by him shortly after as in deede the french chronicle affirmeth that she vvas and howsoeuer this matter of duke Arthurs testament were yet certaine it is that vvhen he and his sister vvere put to death the next in kynne that could succeede them in their right to Ingland vvas this lady Blanch and her mother Queene Elenor that was sister to Arthurs father Geffrey duke of Britanie For that king Iohn their vncle was presumed by al men to be vncapable of their inheritance by his putting of them to death and child yet he had none and this is the second pointe that these men do deduce for the lady Infanta of Spayne by the title of Queence Eleanor and her daughter Blanch to whom the Infanta is next heyre A third interest also the same men do deriue to the Infanta by the actual deposition of king Iohn by the Barons and states of his Realme in the 16. yeare of his reigne and by the election and actual admission of Lewis prince of Frāce husband of the foresaid lady Blanch whom they chose with one consent and admitted and swore him fealtic and obedience in London for him and for his heyres and posteritie in the yeare 1217. and gaue him possession of the said citie and Tower of London and of many other cheefe places of the realme albeit afterwatd the most parte of the realme chainged their myndes agayne vppon the suddaine death of the said king Iohn and chose and admitted his yong sonne Henry the third a child of nync yeares old yet do the fauourers of the Infanta say that their remayneth to her as heyre vnto the said Lewis vntil this day that interest which by this election oth and admission of the realme remained vnto this prince Lewis which these men affirme to be the very like case as was that of Hugo Capetus in France who came to be king especially vppon a certayne title that one of his ancestors named Odo earle of Parris had by being once elected king of France and admitted and sworne though afterward he were deposed agayne and yong Charles surnamed the simple was admitted in his place as Henry the third was in England after the election of this Lewis But yet as the other continued euer his right and clayme vntil it was restored to Hugo Capetus one of his race so say these men may this Infanta cōtinew and renew now the demaund of this right of king Lewis her ancester for that titles and interestes to kingdomes once rightly gotten do neuer dye but remaine euer for the posterity to effectuate when they can thus much of this matter But after this againe these men do shew how that the said Infanta of Spayne doth discende also from Henry the third sonne of king Iohn by the dukes of Britanie as before in the secōd chapter hath bin declared and in the arbor and genealogie following in the end of this conference shal be seene for that king Henry besides his two sonnes Edward and Edmond which were the beginners of the two houses of Yorke and Lancaster had also a daughter named Lady Beatrix married to Iohn the second of that name duke of Britanie and by him she had Arthur the second and so lineally from him haue descended the princes of that house vntil theire vnion with the crowne of France and from thence vnto this lady Infanta of Spayne that now is who taketh herselfe for proper heyre of the said house of Britanie and heyre general of France as hath bin said By this third coniunction then of the house of Britanie with the blood royal of Ingland the frendes of the Infanta do argue in this manner that seing she discendeth of the sister of these two brothers which were the heades of the two opposite houses of Lancaster and Yorke and considering that each of these houses hath oftentymes bin attainted excluded from the succession by sondry actes of parlament and at this present are opposite and at contention among themselues why may not this right of both houses say these men by way of composition peace and comprimise at least be passed ouer to the issue of their sister vvhich resteth in the Infanta Agayne they saye that al these three branches of the lines of Inglish kings to wit by the lady Constance daughter of king William Conqueror by the lady Elenor daughter of king Henry the second and by the lady Beatrix daughter of king Henry the third it is euidēt that this lady the infanta of Spaine is of the true and ancient blood royal of Ingland and that diuers wayes she may haue clayme to the same vvhich being graunted they inferr that seing matters are so doubtful at this day about the next lawful succession and that diuers of the pretendores are excluded some for bastardie some other for religion some for vnaptnes to gouerne and some for other causes seing the common wealth hath such authoritie to dispose in this affaire as before the Ciuil lawyer hath declared why may there not consideration be had among other pretenders of this noble princesse also saie these men especially seing she is vnmarried and may therby cōmodate many matters and salue many breaches satisfie many hopes and giue contentment to many desires as the vvorld knoweth And this is in effect as much as I haue hard alleaged hitherto in fauour of the Infanta of Spayne but against this pretence others do produce diuers arguments and obiections as first of al that these her clayme 's be very old and vvorne out and are but collateral by sisters Secondly that she is a stranger and allien borne Thirdly that her religion is cōtrary to the state vnto al which obiections the fauourers aforesaid do make their answeres and to the first they say that antiquity hutteth not the goodnes of a title vvhen occasion is offred to aduāce the same especially in titles apperteyning to kingdomes which commonly are neuer presumed to dye as hath bin said and nullum tempus occurrit Regi saith our law And as for collateral lines they say that they may lawfully be admitted to enter when the direct lynes do eyther fayle or are to be excluded for other iust respects as in our case they hold that it happeneth And as for the second pointe of forraine birth they saye there hath bin sufficient answered before in treating of the house of Scotland that in rigor it is no barr by intention of any Inglish law yet whether in reasō of state politique gouerment it may be a iust impedimēt or no it shal after be handled more al large vvhen we come to treat of the house of Portugal
vvith the king of Castiles daughter and had by her a sonne called Denyse vvho reigned after him and his successors vnto this day al which succession of kinge Denyse his posteritie the said Queene mother would haue improued and shevved that it apperteyned to her by the said Raphe for this cause sent she to Portugal one lord Vrban bishop of Comince in Gasgonie to plead her cause vvhich cause of hers vvas quicklie reiected and only the forsaide fiue princes discended of king Emanuels children were admitted to tryal for the same which vvere Don Antonio sonne of lord Lewis the king Cardinals elder brother and king Phillip of Spayne sonne of lady Elizabeth the eldest sisteof t he said Cardinal and Philibert duke of Sauoy sonne of the lady Beatrix the same Cardinals yonger sister and the two duchesses of Parma and Bragansa named Mary and Catherine daughters of lord Edward yonger brother of the said Cardinal and yongest child of king Emanuel And for that the lady Mary duchesse of Parma vvhich vvas the elder of the tvvo daughters vvas dead before this controuersie fel out her eldest sonne lord Ranutio now duke of Parma pretended by her right to the said crowne And for that this matter vvas of so great importance euery parte procured to lay downe their reasons and declared their rightes in the best manner they could and such as could not be present themselues in Portugal sent thither their agentes Embassadors and Atturneys to plead their causes for them Don Antonio and the duchesse of Bragansa as inhabitants of that kingdome were present and declared their pretences namely Don Antonio by himselfe and for himselfe and the lady Mary of Bragansa by her husband the duke and his learned councel The prince of Parma sent thither for his parte one Ferdinande Farnese bishop of Parma The duke of Sauoy sent Charles of Rouere aftervvard made Cardinal The king of Spaine as the greatest pretender sent the lord Peter Gyrō duke of Osuna afterward Viceroy of Naples Syr Christopher de Mora knight of his chamber at that tyme but since of his priuye councel and lately made earle of Castel Rodrigo in Portugal of vvhich country he is natiue and besides these two a great lawyer named Roderigo Vasques made since as I heare saye lord President of Castil vvhich is as much almost as lord Chancelor vvith vs. Al these did lay forth before the king Cardinall their seueral reasons and pretensions to the succession of the crowne of Portugal for the fiue persons before mentioned whereof two vvere quickly excluded to wit the duke of Sauoy for that his mother was yonger sister to king Phillips mother and himselfe also of lesse age then the said king And secondly Don Antonio was also excluded by publike and iudicial sentence of the king Cardinal his vncle as illegitimate and borne out of lawful wedloke and albeit Dō Antonio denyed the same and went about to proue hym selfe legitimat affirming that his father the lord Lewis before his death had married with his mother in secret and for this brought forth some witnesses as namely his mothers sister with her husband and two others yet the king Cardinal affirmed that vppon examinatiō he had found them to be suborned vvhich he said vvas euident to him partly for that they agreed not in their speeches and partly for that some of them had confessed the same to wit that they were suborned vvhom he cast into prison and caused them to be punished and so sitting in iudgement accompained with fower bishopes and fower lawyers vvhō he had called to assist him in this cause he pronounced the same Don Antonio to be a bastard for vvhich the Authors that I haue read about this matter which are principally two the first named Hierom Franke a gentleman of Genua who wrote ten bookes in Italian of the vnion of the crowne of Portugal to the crowne of Castilia and the second is named Ioanes Antonius Viperanus a Sicilian as I take him who wrote one booke only in latine de obtenta Portugallia à rege Catholico Phillippo of Portugal gotte by king Phillip the Catholike both these bookes I say out of vvhom principally I haue taken the pointes which heere I wil touch do seuerally set downe the causes following vvhy the king Cardinal did reiect the pretence of Don Antonio before al other pretenders and pronounced him a bastard First for that he had byn euer so taken al the tyme of his fathers life and no man euer dowted therof or called the matter in question vntil now that himselfe denyed the same Secondly for that in the tyme of Iulius Tertius the Pope when certayne decres came out from Rome against the promotion of bastardes the same Dō Antonio sued to the said Pope to be dispensed with al in that case vvhich argueth that then he knew himselfe not legitimate Thirdly that his father the lord Lewis had often tymes both by word and writing testified the same that this Antonye vvas his bastard and had signified also so much in his last vvil testament Fourthly the said Cardinal as of himselfe also affirmed that if his brother the lord Lewis had euer dōne any such thinge as to marry this Woman who was but base in birth and of the Iewish race as these stories do affirme that it is like that he would haue made some of his owne frendes kynred acquainted therwith as a matter so much important for them to know but he neuer did though the said Cardinal auowed that himselfe was present vvith him at his death Fiftly he said that if Don Antonio had bin legitimate how happened that he did not pretend the succession before the Cardinal himselfe next after the death of king Sebastian seing that he vvas to haue gone before the said Cardinal by as good right as his other nephew Sebastian did if he had bin legitimate for that he vvas sonne also to the Cardinales elder brother as hath bin saide Sixtly lastly the said king Cardinal auowched against Don Antonio partly the disagreeing and partly the open confessing of the vvitnesses that they were suborned by him vppon al vvhich causes and considerations he proceeded to the iudicial sentence before alleaged Thus passed the matter in the case of Don Antonio vvho if he had bin legitimate no doubt but by al right he should haue bin preferred before al the other pretenders to the crowne of Portugal and must be at this day towards the crowne of Ingland before al those that pretend of the house of Portugal if vve graunt him to be legitimate and much more clearly may he pretend to the dukedome of Lancaster as before hath bin declared for that it must discend to the lawful heyre of lady Phillip Queene of Portugall wherof enseweth also one consideration not impertinent to vs in Ingland that seing we hold him there for true king of Portugal I see not
I finde registred in our chronicles these persons following either made away cutt of or put downe by the said king to wit two Queenes Anne and Catherin Three Cardinales put downe and disgraced Wolsy Poole and fysher vvherof the last vvas behedded soone after his dignity giuen him in Rome and the first vvas arrested the second attaynted of imagined treasons Three dukes put downe to vvit the noble dukes of Buckingham Suffolk and Norfolke wherof the last lost his lands dignities and libertie only the former two both Landes liues A marques with two earles beheaded Deuonshire kyldare and Surray tvvo Countesses condemned to dye Deuonshire and Salisbury and the latter executed Lordes many as the Lorde Darcy the Lorde Hussy the Lorde Montagne the Lorde Leonard Gray the Lord Dacres of the south the Lord Cromwel and six or seuen Abbots Kinghtes also in great number as fiue in one day vvith the Lords Hussy and Darcy and fiue in an other day with the earle os kildare whose vncles they vvere and besides them S. Thomas Moore S. Rice Griffith S. Edward Neuel S. Iohn Neuel S. Nicholas Carew S. Adrian fortescue and diuers other kinghts of great accompt then gentlemen almost vvithout end And al these within the space of 20 yeares of his reigne and in the tyme of peace and yf we looke vppon but fower or fiue yeares together of the reigne of this mans children we shal see the like course continued for we shal see put to death within the space of foure yeares al these following by name The duke of Somerset the duke of Suffolk the duke of Northumberland and the L. Admiral of Ingland S. Miles Partrige S. Raphe Vane S. Michel Stanhope S. Thomas Arondel S. Iohn Gates S. Thomas Palmer kinghtes with diuers othet gentlemen of there retinew and al these by natural domestical and homborne Princes whereas I dare to aduenture the greateft wager that I can make that you shal not finde so many put to death of the nobility by any strainge Prince state or common wealth christian in any forrayne dominion that they possesse in many ages together and the reason therof is euident by that I said before neither were it pollicy or wisdome nor could the causes be so often nor ordinarily giuen by the nobility to a Prince that were absent from them to vse suche seueritie so as by this it may also appeare that to be vnder a forraine gouerment euen in the woorst kinde therof that can be deuised which is to be as a prouince or peece of an other kingdome and to come vnder it by very conquest it selfe is not so dangerous a matter as at the first shew it may seeme and much lesse to be vnder forraine gouerment by other sweeter meanes of succession or composition as the present case of Ingland seemeth to import in respect of those foraine Princes which do pretende to the succession therof And this is not only shewed and declared by the state and condition of Flanders before their tumultes but in like manner it is seene by the present state of Britanie Normandie Aquitaine Prouence and other dukedomes and countries in France that were wont to haue their owne particuler Princes and novv are much more commodiously vnder the crowne of France The like is seene by the states of Naples Millan Sicilie Sardinia other parts and countryes of Italie which were wont to be vnder kings and Princes of their owne and now are vnder the crownes of Aragon and Castile with infinite oddes of peace rest security and welth then they were before when they had domestical Princes and so themselues do confesse I meane the wise dis-passionate among them for of the vulgar in this case no accompt is to be made and if they should deny it yet the thing speaketh it selfe and the publique stories of their countryes would conuince them wherin it is to be read what Phalaris what Dionisius other homeborne tyrants Sicilie for example hath had and suffred and what infinite crueltie they and diuers others of their owne gouernours haue exercised vppon them as also what continuall turmoyles there were in the cittie of Naples in all that kingdome for many yeares together after it fel from the gouerment first of the Roman Empire and then of the Grecian vntil it came to the crowne of Aragon I meane betweene their owne domestical kings now of the bloode of Italians now of the Normans now of the Hungarians now of the french for of al these lines their haue reigned among them and the realme was a perpetual pray to souldiars and the very like may be said of Millan after their fal from the Roman Empire vnder which they liued quiet prosperously vntil they came againe to be vnder the crowne of Spayne they passed infinite tribulations first by the contention of their common people against their nobility and then by the bloody falling out of their chiefe families the one against the other to wit the Furiani Visconti Marcelli Mirabelli Castilioni and Sforzi which familie last of al preuayled he I say that shal remember this and then behold the present state with the quiet peace saftie and riches wherin they now liue wil easely confesse that they haue changed for the better though they be vnder forraine gouerment and thus much of this pointe Their remayneth to speake a woord or two about the second part of the question before proposed and included partly in this which alredy hath bin treated to wit whether it be better to be vnder a little or great king which question though it may be decided in parte by that which before hath bin alleaged about being vnder a forraine Prince yet more particulerly to make the same playne these men do saye that the reasons be many and euident to proue that the subiection to a great mightie monarch is far better first for that he is best able to defend and protect his subiects and secondly for that he hath least need ordinarily to pill and pole them for that a little king be he neuer so meane yet must he kepe the state of a king and his subiects must maynteyne the same and if they be but few the greater vvil the burthen be of euery one in particuler and thirdly for that a great and potent Prince hath more to bestow vppon his subiects for reward of vertue and valour then hath a poore Prince and seing that euery particuler subiect borne within his Princes dominions is capable of al the preferments vvhich his Princes state or kingdome do yeeld if he be worthy of the same it is a great prerogatiue say these men to be borne vnder a potent Prince that hath much to giue vvhich they declare by this example follovving A man that is borne in the citie of Genua or Geneua for both are cityes and states within themselues let him be of vvhat ability or worthines soeuer yet can he hope for
discended from king VVilliam the Cōqueror by his eldest daughter lady Cōstance as also by diuers other participations of the blood royal of Ingland as aftervvards vvil appeare Now then to come to the second daughter of king VVilliam the Conqueror or rather the third for that the first of al vvas a Nonne as before hath byn noted her name vvas Adela or Alis as hath bin saide and she vvas marryed in France to Stephen counte Palatin of Champagne Charters and Bloys by whom she had a sonne called also Stephen vvho by his grand mother was earle also of Bollayne in Picardie and after the death of his vncle king Henry of Ingland vvas by the fauour of the Inglish nobility and especially by the helpe of his owne brother the Lord Henry of Bloys that vvas Bishop of Winchester and iointly Abbot of Glastenbury made kinge of England and this both in respect that Mathilda daughter of king Henry the first was a woman and her sonne Henry duke of Anjou a very childe one degree farther of from the Conqueror and from kings Rufus then Stephen vvas as also for that this king Henry the first as hath bin signified before vvas iudged by many to haue entred vvrongfully vnto the crowne and therby to haue made both himselfe and his posterity incapable of succession by the violence vvhich he vsed against both his elder brother Robart and his nephew duke VVilliam that vvas sonne and heyte to Robert vvho by nature and law were bothe of them held for soueraintes to Iohn by those that fauored them and their pretentions But yet howsoeuer this were we see that the duke of Britany that liued at that day should euidently haue succeded before Stephen for that he was discended of the elder daughter of the Conqueror and Stephen of the yonger though Stephen by the commodity he had of the neernes of his porte and hauen of Bullayne vnto Ingland as the French stories do saye for Calys vvas of no importance at that tyme and by the frendship and familiarity he had gotten in Ingland during the raigne of his two vncles king Rufus and king Henry and especially by the help of his brother the Bishop and Abbot as hath bin said he gat the start of al the rest and the states of Ingland admitted him This man although he had two sonnes namely Eustachius duke of Normandy and William earle of Norfolk yet left they no issue And his daughter Marie was maried to mathew of Fladers of whom if any issue remaines it fell afterward vppon the house of Austria that succeded in those states To king Stephen who left no issue succeded by compositiō after much warre Henry duke of Aniou sonne and heyre to Mathilda before named daughter of Henry the first which Henry named afterward the second tooke to wife Elenor daughter and heyre of VVilliam duke of Aquitaine earle of Poytiers which Elenor had bin marryed before to the king of France Lewis the 7. and bare him two daughters but vppon dislike conceaued by the one against the other they were deuorced vnder pretēce of being within the fowerth degree of consanguinitye and so by second marriage Elenor vvas vvife to this said Henry who afterward was king of Ingland by name of K. Henry the fecōd that procured the deathe of Thomas Becket archebishope of Canterbury and vvas both before and after the greatest enimye that euer Lewis the king of France had in the vvorld and much the greater for his marriage by vvhich Henry vvas made far stronger for by this woman he came to be duke of al Aquitaine that is of Gascony and Guyene and earle of al the coūtrey of Poytiers wheras beforealso by his fathers inheritance he vvas duke both of Anjou Tourayne and Mayne by his mother Mathilda king Henries daughter of Ingland he came to be king of Ingland duke of Normandie and by his owne industry he gat also to be lord of Ireland as also to bring Scotland vnder his homage so as he enlarged the kingdome of Ingland most of any other king before or after him This king Henry the second as Stow reconteth had by Lady Elenor fyue sonnes and three daughters His eldest sonne vvas named VVilliam that dyed yonge his seconde vvas Henry vvhom he caused to be crowned in his owne life tyme vvherby he receaued much trouble but in the end this sonne died before his father without issue His third sonne vvas Richard surnamed for his valour Cor de leon who reigned after his father by the name of Richard the first and died vvithout issue in the yeare of Christ 1199. Hys fovverth sonne named Geffrey maried lady Constance daughter and heyre of Britanie as before hath bin said and dying left a sonne by her named Arthur which vvas duke of Britanie after him and pretended also to be king of Ingland but vvas put by it by his vncle Iohn that tooke him also prisoner and kept him so in the castel first of fallaise in Normandie and then in Roan vntil he caused him to be put to death or slew him vvith his owne hands as Frēch stories vvrite in the yeare 1204. This duke Arthur left behind him two sisters as Stow writeth in his chronicles but others write that it was but one and at least wise I fynde but one named by the french stories which vvas Elenor whom they saye king Iohn also caused to be muthered in Ingland a a litle before her brother the duke vvas put to death in Normandie and this was the end of the issue of Geffrey whose vvife Constance duchesse of Britanie marryed againe after this murther of her children vnto one Guy Vicond of Touars and had by him two daughters wherof the eldest named Alis was duchefse of Britanie by vvhome the race hath bin continued vnto our tyme. The fift sonne of king Henry the second was named Iohn who after the death of his brother Richard by help of his mother Elenor and of Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury drawen therunto by his said mother gat to be king and put back his nephew Arthur vvhom king Richard before his departure to the war of the holy land had caused to be declared heyre apparent but Iohn preuayled and made away both nephew and Neece as before hath bin saide for which fact he vvas detested of many in the world abroade and in France by acte of parlament depriued of al the states he had in those partes Soone after also the pope gaue sentence of depriuation against him and his owne barons tooke armes to execute the sentence and finally they deposed both him and his yong sonne Henry being then but a child of 8. yeares old and this in the 18. yeare of his reigne and in the yeare of Christ 1215. and Levvis the 8. of that name prince at that tyme but afterward king of France was chosen king of Ingland sworne in Londō and