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
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
Polydor that wrote in king Henry the 8. his tyme and others that haue followed him since do take al right from the house of Lancaster and giue the same to the house of Yorke wherfore the best waye I suppose wil be not so much to consider vvhat historiographers do say according to their affections or interests as vvhat reasons and profes be alleged of euery side for that by this we shal more easely come to iudge where the right or wrong doth lye First therfore the defendors of the house of Yorke do alleage that their title is playne and euident for that as in the former chapter hath bin declared Richard duke of Yorke first pretender of this house vvhose father vvas sonne to Edmond Langley duke of Yorke fourth sonne of king Edward the third and his mother Anne Mortimer that vvas neece once remoued and sole heyre to Leonel duke of Clarence second sonne of the said king Edward this Richard I say duke of York pretended that for so much as he had tvvo titles ioyned together in himselfe and vvas lawful heyre as vvel to duke Leonel the second brother as to duke Edmond the fourth that he vvas to be preferred in succession of the crowne after the death of king Richard the second heyre of the first sonne of king Edward before the issue of Iohn of Gaunt that vvas but third sonne to the said king Edward and consequently that Hēry Bolenbrook Iohn of Gaunts sonne duke of Lancaster called afterward king Henry the fourth entred the crowne by tyrāny violēce first for deposing the true and lawful king Richard and secondly for taking the kingdome vppon himselfe vvhich kingdome after the death of the foresaid king Richard which happened in the yeare 1399 belonged to Edmond mortimer Earle of march then liuing and after his death to Anne Mortimer his sister marryed to Richard earle of Cābridge father to this Richard pretendent duke of Yorke as hath bin said for that this Edmond and Anne Mortimer were children to Roger Mortimer sonne of Phillip that vvas daughter to duke Leonel vvhich Leonel vvas elder vncle to king Richard and before Iohn of Gaunt the yonger brother vvhose sonne tooke the crovvne vppon him For the better vnderstanding of which pretence and allegation of the house of Yorke against Lancaster we must note the story following to wit that king Edward the third seing in his old age that prince Edward his eldest sonne whom of al his children he loued most dearly was deade though their vvanted not much doubt in some mēs heads as after shal be shewed vvho ought to succede yet the old man for the exceeding affection he bare to the dead prince vvould heare nothing in that behalfe but appointed Richard the said prince Edwards only sonne and heyre to succed him in the kingdome and made the same to be confirmed by act of parlament and inforced al his children then a liue to svveare to the same which were Iohn of Gaunt duke of Lancaster his third and eldest sonne that then liued for Leonel his second sonne duke of Clarence vvas dead before and Edmond Langley and Thomas Woodstock earles at that tyme but after dukes of Yorke Glocester so king Richard reigned with good obedience of his vncles and their children for 20. yeares together but in the end when he grew insolent had put to death his vncle the duke of Glocester together vvith the earle of Arundel and banished many others of the nobility and among them the Archbishop of Canterbury as also his owne cosin germaine Henry duke of Hereford after of Lancaster sonne and heyre of Iohn of Gaunt and had made many wicked statutes aswel against the church and state Ecclesiastical as also to intangle the realme and nobility with fayned crymes of treason against his regaltie as then he termed them the principal men of the realme seing a fit occasion offred by the kings absence in Ireland called home out of France the foresaid Henry duke of Lancaster vvith the Archbishop of Canterbury earles of Arundel and Warwick and others which vvere in banishment and by common consent gathered vppon the suddaine such an army to assist them in Ingland as they took the king brought him to London and there in a parlament laying together the intollerable faults of his gouerment they depriued him of al regal dignity as before they had done to his great grandfather king Edward the second then by vniuersal consent of the parlament and people their present they chose admitted the said Henry duke of Lancaster to be their king vvho continewed so al the daies of his life and left the crowne vnto his sonne and sonnes sonne after him by the space of threescore yeares vntill this Richard before named duke of Yorke made chalenge of the same in manner and forme as before hath bin shewed Now then the storie being this the question is first whether Richard the second were iustly deposed or no and secondly whether after his deposition the house of Yorke or house of Lācaster should haue entred and thirdly if the house of Lancaster did commit any wronge or iniustice at their first entrance to the crowne yet whether the continuance of so many yeares in possession vvith so many approbations and confirmations therof by the common vvealth vvere not sufficient to legitimate their right Concerning vvhich points many things are alleaged by the fauourers of both families and in the first pointe touching the lawfulnes or vnlawfulnes of king Richards deposition three articles especially do seeme most considerable to wit about the thing in it selfe whether a lawful king may be deposed vppon iust causes secōdly about these causes in king Richards deposition to vvit vvhether they vvere iust or sufficient for deposition of the said king and lastly about the manner of doing it vvhether the same were good and orderly or not And touching the first of these three pointes vvhich is that a king vppon iust causes may be deposed I thinke both parties though neuer so contrary betweene themselues vvil easely agree and the Ciuil lawyer seemeth to me to haue proued it so euidently before throughout his vvhole discourse as I thinke very litle may be said against the same For he hath declared if you remember both by reason authority examples of al nations Christian that this may and hath and ought to be done vvhen vrgent occasions are offred And first by reason he sheweth it for that al kingly authority is giuen them only by the common wealth that with this expresse condition that they shal gouerne according to law and equity that this is the cause of their exaltation aboue other men that this is the end of their gouerment the butt of their authority the starr and pole by vvhich they ought to direct their sterne to witt the good of the people by the vveale of their subiects by the benefite of the realme
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
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
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
this second tyme in the warr of Ierusalem and so lost therby his kingdome as before Henry hauing no other title in the world vnto it but by election and admission of the people which yet he so defended afterwards against his said brother Robert that came to clayme it by the sword and god did so prosper him ther-in as he tooke his said elder brother prisoner and so kept him for many yeares vntil he dyed in prison most pitifully But this king Henry dying left a daughter behind him named Mawde or Mathilde which being married first to the Emperor Henry the fift he dyed without issue and then vvas she married agayne the secōd tyme to Geffry Plantagenet Earle of Anjow in France to whom she bare a sonne named Henry vvhich this king Henry his grand father caused to be declared for heyre apparent to the crowne in his dayes but yet after his disceasse for that Stephē Earle of Bollogne borne of Adela daughter to William the Conqueror was thought by the state of Ingland to be more fitt to gouerne and to defend the land for that he was at mans age then vvas prince Henry a child or Maude his mother he vvas admitted and Henry put back and this chiefly at the perswasion of Henry bishop of winchester brother to the said Stephen as also by the solicitation of the Abbot of Glastenbury and others vvho thought be like they might do the same with good conscience for the good of the realme though the euent proued not so wel for that it drew al Ingland into factions and diuisions for auoyding and ending wherof the states some years after in a parlament at Wallingford made an agrement that Stephen should be lavvful king during his life only and that Henry and his ofspring should succede him and that prince William king Stephens sonne should be dcpriued of his succession to the crowne and made only Earle of Norfolcke thus dyd the state dispose of the crowne at that tyme vvhich vvas in the yeare of Christ 1153. To this Henry succeded by order his eldest sonne then liuing named Richard and surnamed Cordelyon for his Valor but after him agayne the succession vvas broken For that Iohn king Henries yongest sonne to vvit yōger brother to Richard vvhom his father the king had left so vnprouided as in iest he vvas called by the french Iean sens terre as if you vvould saye Sir Iohn lacke-land this man I say vvas after the death of his brother admitted and crowned by the states of Ingland and Arthur Duke of Britaine sonne and heyre to Geffery that vvas elder brother to Iohn vvas against the ordinarie course of succession excluded And albeit this Arthur did seeke to remedy the matter by warr yet it semed that god did more defend this election of the common wealth then the right title of Arthur by succession for that Arthur vvas ouer-come and taken by king Iohn though he had the king of Fraunce on his side and he dyed pitifully in prison or rather as most authors do hold he was put to death by king Iohn his vncles own handes in the castle of Roan therby to make his title of succession more cleare which yet could not be for that as wel Stow in his Chronicle as also Mathew of westminster and others before him do write that Geffrey besides this sonne left two daughters also by the lady Cōstance his wife Countesse heyre of Britaine which by the law of Ingland should haue succeded before Iohn but of this smal accōpt seemed to be made at that day Some yeares after when the Barons and states of Ingland misliked vtterly the gouerment and proceeding of this king Iohn they reiected him agayne chose Luys the prince of France to be ther king and dyd sweare fealtie to him in London as before hath bin saide and they depriued also the yong prince Hēry his sonne that was at that tyme but of 8. yeares ould but vppon the death of his father king Iohn that shortly after insued they recalled agayne that sentence admitted this Henry to the crowne by the name of king Henry the third and disanulled the oth and allegeance made vnto Luys Prince of France and so king Henry reigned for the space of 53. yeares afterwards the lōgest reygne as I thinke that any before or after him hath had in Ingland Moreouer you know that from this king Henry the third do take their first beginning the two branches of York and Lācaster which after fell to so great contention about the crowne Into which if we vvould enter vve should see playnly as before hath bin noted that the best of al their titles after the depositiō of king Richard the second depended of this authority of the common wealth for that as the people were affected and the greater parte preuailed so were their titles ether allowed cōfirmed altered or disa nulled by parlaments and yet may not we wel affirme but that ether part vvhen they vvere in possession and confirmed therin by thes parlaments were lawful kings and that God concurred vvith them as vvith true princes for gouermēt of their people for if vve should deny this pointe as before hath bin noted great inconueniences vvould follow vve should shake the states of most princes in the world at this day as by examples which alredy I haue alleaged in part may appeare And vvith this also I meane to conclude and end this discourse in like manner affirming that as on the one side propinquity of bloode is a great preheminence towards the atteyning of any crowne so yet doth is not euer bynde the commō wealth to yeald ther-vnto if waightier reasons should vrge them to the contrary nether is the common wealth bound alwayes to shutt her eyes and to admit at hap-hazard or of necessity euery one that is next by succession of bloode as Belloy falsely fondly affirmeth but rather she is bound to consider vvel and maturely the person that is to enter vvhether he be like to performe his duety and charge committed vnto him or no for that otherwise to admitt him that is an enimye or vnfitt is but to destroy the common wealth and him together This is my opinion and this seemeth to me to be conforme to al reason law religion piety vvisdome and pollicy and to the vse and custome of al vvel gouerned common wealthes in the vvorld nether do I meane heereby to preiudice any princes pretence or succession to any crowne or dignitie in the vvorld but rather do hold that he ought to enioy his preheminence but yet so that he be not preiudical therby to the whole body which is euer to be respected more then any one person vvhatsoeuer Belloy or other of his opinion do say to the contrary Thus said the Ciuilian and being called vppon and drawne to a new matter by the question that ensueth he made his last discourse conclusion
so as this is al that is needful to be spoken of the house of York in which vve see that the first and principal competitor is the king of Scots and after him Arbella and the children of the earles of Hartford and Darby are also competitors of the same house as discended by the daughter of the first brother Edward duke of Yorke and king of England and then the Earle of Huntington and his generation as also the Pooles Barringtons and others before named are or may be titlers of York as descended of George duke of Clarence second sonne of Richard duke of Yorke all vvhich issue yet seme to remayne only within the compasse of the house of Yorke for that by the former pedegre of the house of Lancaster it seemeth to the fauorets of this howse that none of these other cōpetitors are properly of the line of Lancaster for that king Henry the 7. comming only of Iohn of Gaunt by Catherin Swinford his third wife could haue no part in Lady Blanch that vvas only inheritour of that house as to these men seemeth euident Only then it remaineth for the ending of this chapter to explane some-what more clearly the discent of king Henry the 7. and of his issue for better vnderstanding vvhereof you must consider that king Henry the 7. being of the house of Lancaster in the manner that you haue heard and marrying Elizabeth the eldest daughter of the contrary house of Yorke did seeme to ioyne both houses together make an end of that bloody controuersie though others now wil say no but how soeuer that vvas vvhich after shal be examined cleere it is that he had by that mariage one only sonne that left issue and two daughters his sonne vvas king Henry the 8. vvho by three seueral wiues had three children that haue reigned after him to vvit king Edward the 6. by Queene Iane Seymer Queene Mary by Queene Catherine of Spaine and Queene Elizabeth by Queene Anne Bullen of al which three children no issue hath remayned so as now vve must returne to consider the issue of his daughters The eldest daughter of king Henry the 7. named Margaret vvas married by her first mariage to Iames the fourth king of Scots vvho had issue Iames the 5. he againe Lady mary late Queene of Scots and dowager of France put to death not long ago in Ingland vvho left issue Iames the 6. now king of Scots And by her second mariage the said Lady Margeret after the death of king Iames the 4. tooke for husband Archebald Duglas earle of Anguys in Scotland by whom she had one only daughter named Margeret which vvas married to Mathew Steward earle of Lenox and by him she had two sonnes to vvit Hēry Lord Darly and Charles Steward Henry marryed the foresaid Lady Mary Queene of Scotland vvas murthered in Edinbrough in the yeare 1566. as the world knoweth and Charles his brother marryed Elizabeth the daughter of Sir William Candish in Ingland by whom he had one only daughter yet liuing named Arbella an other competitor of the crowne of Ingland by the house of Yorke and this much of the first daughter of kinge Henry the 7. Mary the secōd daughter of king Henry the 7. yonger sister to king Henry the 8. vvas maried first to Lewis the 12. king of Frāce by whom she had no issue and afterward to Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk by whō she had two daughters to witt Frances and Elenor the lady Francis vvas marryed first to Henry Gray marques of Dorset after duke of Suffolk behedded by Queene mary and by him she had three daughters to vvit lane Catherine and Mary the lady Iane eldest of the three was married to L. Guylford Dudly sonne to Iohn Dudly late duke of Northumberland vvith whom I meane with her husband father in law she was beheaded soone after for being proclaymed Queene vppon the death of king Edward the fixt the lady Catherine second daughter maryed first the lord Henry Herbert earle of Penbroke and left by hym again she dyed afterward in the tower wher she vvas prisoner for hauing had two childrē by Edward Seymer earle of Hartford vvithout sufficient proofe that she vvas married vnto him and the tvvo children are yet liuing to vvit Henry Seymer commonly called lord Beacham and Edward Seymer his brother The lady mary the third sister though she was betrothed to Arthur lord Gray of vvilton and maryed after to Martin keyes gentleman porter yet hath she left no issue as far as I vnderstand This then is the end of the issue of Lady Francis first of the two daughters of Queene Mary of France by Charles Brandon duke of Suffolk for albeit the said lady Francis after the beheading of the said Henry Lord Gray duke of Suffolk her first husband married againe one Adrian Stokes her seruant had a sonne by him yet it liued not but dyed very soone after Now then to speak of the yonger daughter of the said Frenche Queene and duke named Elinor she vvas married to Henry Clifford Earle of Comberlād who had by her a daughter named Margaret that vvas married to Lord Henry Stanley earle of Darby by whom she hath a plentiful issue as Ferdinand now earle of Darby William Stanley Francis Stanley and others and this is al that needeth to be spoken of these discents of our Inglish kings princes peeres or competitors to the crowne for this place and therfore now it resteth only that vve begin to examine what different pretentions are framed by diuers parties vppon these dissents and genealogies vvhich is the principal point of this our discourse OF THE GREAT AND GENERALL CONTROVERSIE AND CONTENTION BETVVEENE the two houses royal of Lancaster and York and which of them may seeme to haue had the better right to the crowne by way of succession CAP. IIII. AND first of al before I do descend to treat in particuler of the different pretences of seueral persons and families that haue issued out of these two royal linages of Lancaster and Yorke it shal perhaps not be amisse to discusse with some attention what is or hath or may be said on both sides for the general controuersie that lyeth betweene them yet vndescided in many mens opinions notwithstanding their hath bin so much sturr about the same not only writing and disputing but also fighting and murthering for many yeares And truly if we looke into diuers histories recordes and authors vvhich haue written of this matter vve shal find that euery one of them speaketh commonly according to the tyme wherin they liued for that al such as wrote in the tyme of the three Henries fourth fift and sixt kings of the house of Lancaster they make the title of Lancaster very cleare and vndoubted but such others as wrote since that tyme 〈◊〉 the house of Yorke hath held the scepter they haue spoken in far different manner as namely
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
vvife the lady Gertrude taking from her al her goodes landes and inheritance and committed to perpetual prison their only sonne and heyre lord Edward Courtney being then but a childe of seuen yeares old vvhich remayned so there vntil many yeares after he vvas set at libertie and restored to his liuing by Queene Mary Moreouer he put to death the lady 〈◊〉 Plantagenet Countesse of Salisbury daughter of George duke of Clarence that vvas brother of his grandfather king Edward the fourth vvith her he put to death also her eldest sonne and heyre Thomas Poole lord Montague and committed to perpetual prison where soone after also he ended his life a little infant named Henry Poole his sonne and heyre condemned to death by act of parlament although absent Renald Pole brother to the said lord Montague Cardinal in Rome wherby he ouerthrew also the noble house of Salisbury and vvarwick nether need I to go further in this relation though these men do note also how Edward the sixt put to death two of his owne vncles the Seymers or at least it vvas done by his authority and how that vnder her Maiestie that now is the Queene of Scotland that vvas next in 〈◊〉 of any other liuing the chiefe titler of the honse of Yorke hath also bin put to death Lastly they do note and I may not omit it that their is no noble house standing at this day in Ingland in the ancient state of calling that it had and in that dignity and degree that it vvas in vvhen the house of Yorke entred to the crowne if it be aboue the state of a barony but only such as defended the right and interest of the houses of Lancaster and that al other great houses that toke parte vvith the house of Yorke and did helpe to ruine the house of Lancaster be either ceased since or extyrpated and ouer throwne by the same house of Yorke it selfe which they assisted to gett the crowne so at this present they be either vnited to the crowne by confiscatiō or transferred to other Images that are strangers to them who possessed thē before As for example the ancient houses of Inglād that remaine at this day were stāding whē the house of Yorke begā ther title are the houses of Arōdel Oxford Northūberland Westmerland Shrewsbery for al other that are in Ingland at this day aboue the dignity of Barons haue bin aduanced since that tyme and al these fiue houses vvere these that principally did stick vnto the house of Lancaster as is euident by al Inglish chronicles For that the earle of Arondel brought in king Henry the fourth first king of the house of Lancaster and did helpe to place him in the dignity royal comming out of France vvith him The earle of Oxford and his sonne the lord Vere were so earnest in the defence of king Hēry the sixt as they were both slayne by king Edward the fourth and Iohn earle of Oxford vvas one of the principal assistāts of Hēry the seuēth to take the crowne frō Richard the third The house of Northumberland also was a principal ayder to Henry the fourth in getting the crowne and two earles of that name to wit Henry the second and third were slayne in the quarrel of king Henry the sixt one in the battel of S. Albons and the other of Saxton and a third earle named Henry the fourth fled into Scotlād vvith the said king Henry the sixt The house of Westmerland also vvas chiefe aduācer of Hēry the fourth to the crowne the secōd earle of that house vvas slayne in the party of Henry the sixt in the said bartaile of Saxton and Iohn earle of Shrewsbury vvas likevvise slayne in defence of the title of Lancaster in the bartaile of Northamptō and I omit many other great seruices and faithful endeuours vvhich many Princes of these fiue noble anciēt houses did in the defence of the Lancastrian kings vvhich these men say that God hath revvarded vvith continuance of their howses vnto this day But on the contrary side these men do note that al the old houses that principally assisted The title of Yorke are now extinguished and that chiefly by the kings themselues of that house as for example the principal peeres that assisted the family of Yorke vvere Moubray duke of Norfolke de la Poole duke of Suffolk the earle of Salisbury and the earle of Warwick of al which the euent was this Iohn Moubray duke of Norfolke the first confederat of the house of Yorke dyed soone after the exaltation of Edward the fourth vvithout ifsue and so that name of Moubray ceased and the title of the dukedome of Norfolke vvas transferred afterward by king Richard the third vnto the house of Howards Iohn de la Poole duke of Suffolke that married the sister of king Edward the fourth was his great assistant though he left three sonnes yet al were extinguished vvithout issue by helpe of the house of Yorke for that Edmond the eldest sonne duke of Suffolke vvas beheaded by king Henry the eight his brother Richard driuen out of the realme to his destruction as before hath bin shewed Iohn their brother earle of Lincolue was stayne at Stockfild in seruice of king Richard the third and so ended the line of de la Pooles Richard Neuel earle of Salisbury a chiefe enemy to the house of Lancaster and exalter of York vvas taken at the battaile of VVakefild and there beheaded leauing three sonnes Richard Iohn and George Richard vvas earle both of Salisbuty and Warwick surnamed the great earle of Warwick vvas he that placed king Edward the fourth in the royal seate by whome yet he vvas slayne afterward at Barnet and the landes of these two great earldomes of Salisbury and Warwick were vnited to the crowne by his attainder Iohn his yonger brother vvas Marques of montague and after al assistance giuen to the said king Edward the fourth of the howse of Yorke vvas slayne also by him at Barnet and his lands in like māner confiscate to the crowne vvhich yet vvere neuer restored againe George Neuel their yonger brother vvas Archbishop of Yorke vvas taken sent prisoner by the said king Edward vnto Guynes vvho shortly after pined avvay and dyed and this vvas the ende of al the principal frendes helpers aduancers of the house of Yorke as these men do alleage Wherfore they do conclude that for al these reasons many more that might be alleaged the title of Lancaster must needes seeme the better title which they do confirme by the general consent of al the realme at king Henry the seuenth his comming in to recouer the crowne from the house of Yorke as from vsurpers for hauing had the victory against king Richard they crowned him presētly in the field in the right of Lācaster before he married with the house of Yorke
noble houses before mētioned in our country of the dela Pooles Staffords Plantagenets and others destroyed by king Henry the eight vvhat auayled them that the said king was not only their country man but also their neare kinsman vvhat profit or commodity vvas it vnto Thomas of woodstock duke of Glocester that he liued vnder a king that was his nephew to wit king Richard the second or to George duke of Clarence in king Edward the fourthes tyme that the said king vvas his owne brother when both of them vvere pursued disgraced and put to death by them and lost their liues landes dignities goodly possessions stately manners gorgeous houses vvith their wiues children al other felicities of this world vvhich perhaps vnder a strainge prince they might haue enioyed many a fayre day and yeare This is that then vvhich these men do first require to vvitt that al fansie and fonde opiniō of the vulgar people be aparted in this matter from truth and substance as also say they vve ought to desire and determine vvho are properly straingers or forrainers seing that some do take for straingers and forayners al those that are not of the same dominion and gouermente though otherwise they be of the same nation and language according as those other men that are enimyes to straingers saide a litle before if you remember that the princes of the house of Guyse and their kynred are taken for straingers in france by them that by that meanes would make them odious to the people for that their ancestors in tymes past came out of Lorayne vvhich is a prouince ioyning hard vppon france of the same nation lāguage and manners but only vnder an other prince And so I my selfe noted in my traueling throughe Italie that the Florātines are hated called straingers in Siena vvhere they gouerne albeit the one state be not 30. myles from the other and both of one nation language manners and education And on the contrary side vve shal se that some of different language nation do hold themselues for country men as for example the Biscayns in Spaine do not hold the Castilians for straingers but are contented to be ruled by them as by their owne countreymen albeit they be a different nation and haue different language aud manners and the same I do note in the Britaynes and Normans towards the French in the welsh also towards the Inglish vvho are a different people and of different language and yet are they gouerned peaceably by the Inglish the Inglish againe do accompt them for their country mē as may appeare by that vvhen king Henry the seuenth came to be king of Ingland I do not finde any resistance made against him by the Inglish for that respecte that he vvas of that nation as euidently he vvas by his fathers side that vvas of the Tidders of vvales so as this pointe also vvho be straingers and vvho be not seemeth to be a thing that dependeth much of the opinion and affection of each people nation the one towards the other And this being so these men come to treate more particulerly of the purpose in hand and do saye that in two or three manners a nation may come to be vnder the gouerment of straingers or forrayners first as a prouince that is to saye as a peece or member of an other dominion as Ingland vvas in tymes past vnder the Romans and as Ireland is vnder Ingland at this day and as the Brittons are vnder France and as many states of Italie be vnder the crownes of Aragon and Castile And this may come to passe either by Conquest and force of armes as the Welsh came to be vnder the Inglish and the Inglish to be vnder the Normans and Danes and as Sicilia and Naples came to be vnder the Spaniards and as Normandye and Aquitaine came to be vnder the French as almost al the world in old tyme was brought to be vnder the Romans or otherwise the same may come to passe by inheritance as Aquitaine and Normandie in tymes past came to Ingland as Flanders vvith the states therof came to the house of Austria and as Britany to the crowne of France or els thirdly it may happen by mixt meanes that is to say partly by force and partly by other meanes of composition as Millā came to Spayne and Ireland to Ingland according as the Irish do hold and so Portugal hath in out dayes come to the king of Spaine for that besides his pretence and right of inheritance he vsed also force of armes for getting the same Of al these three vvayes then euident it is that Conquest is the hardest and most preiudicial to the subiects for that theare al standeth at the wil and clemency of the Conqueror vvhom either anger or feare or ielosie of his assurance may often driue to hold a hard hand ouer the conquered at least vvise for a tyme vntil his estate be better setled so that I maruaile not though no people or country commonly would willingly be conquered but yet pollicye also teacheth such a Cōqueror vvhatsoeuer he be that as on the one side it behoueth him to be watchful so to fortyfie himselfe as the vnquiet can do him no hurt so on the other side is it necessarie by the same rule of pollicie to vse al fauour and sweete meanes to content gayne those that be or may be made quiet for better establishing of his state euē as a Phisition after a vehement purgation doth minister lenitiues and sofre medicines to calme and appease the good humors left and to strenghten the vvhole body againe that it may hold out This we see to be true not only by reason of state and pollicy as hath bin said but also by experience of al countries that haue bin conquered in Europ or other where if the continual resisting and reuolting of those that are conquered do not cause a contrary course in the Conqueror as it did in the conquest of the Danes and Normands vppon the Inglish and in the conquest of the Inglish vppon the British or Welsh vvhere the often rysing of them that were ouercome enforced the vanquishers to be much more cruel and rigorouse thē other vvise they would haue bin for al our stories do testifie that king Sweno the Dane and much more his sonne king Canutus as also William conqueror had a great desire after their victories to haue appeased and made much of the Inglish nation but that they vvere neuer quiet vnder them and so in like manner the Inglish kings oftentymes gaue their daughters in marriage to the princes of Wales and many priuileges to that people therby to gayne them but that their continual reuolting caused much seuerity and bloodshed to be vsed and the like seuerity did it cause oftentimes in the very Romans towards the said Britaynes conquered But vvhere the people vanquished vvere content to be quiet