where he sate which being stayed miraculously so long as he was sitting as soon as he was up immediately fell upon the place where he sate able to have crushed him in pieces Fox Martyrolog Having prepared a great Fleet of Ships for a journey into Flanders and being at Winchelsey where the Ships were to meet it happened that riding about the Harbour his Horse frighted with the noise of a Wind-mill which the wind drove violently about scrambled up and leapt over the mud-wall of the Town so as neither the King nor Horse was to be seen but every one judged the King could not choose but be thrown and killed yet such was the divine providence over him that the Horse lighted upon his feet and the King keeping the Saddle returned safe He was crowned at Westminster together with his wife Queen Elenor by Robert Kilwarthy Archbishop of Canterbury He ingeniously surprized the Welch into subjection proffering them such a Prince as should be 1. The son of a King 2. Born in their own Countrey 3. Whom none could taxe for any fault The Welch accepted the conditions and the King tendered them his son Edward an Infant newly born in the Castle of Carnarvaâ— Wales was united to the Crown of England in the eleventh year of his Raign who thereupon established the Government thereof according to the Lawes of England A wise a just and fortunate Prince who in regard of his Princely vertues deserveth to be ranged among the principall and best Kings that ever were A right noble and worthy Prince to whom God proportioned a most princely presence and personage a right worthy seat to entertain so heroicall a mind For he not only in regard of fortitude and wisdome but also for a beautifull and personall presence was in all points answerable to the height of royall Majesty whom fortune also in the very prime and flower of his age inured to many a Warre and exercised in most dangerous troubles of the State whilest she framed and fitted him for the Empire of Brittain which he being once crowned King managed and governed in such wise that having subdued the Welch and vanquished the Scots he may justly be counted the second ornament of Great Brittain No Realm but did resound first Edwards praise No praise was ever won with more deserts And no deserts though great could counterpoise Much less out-balance his heroick parts Mars taught him Arms the Muses taught him Arts Whereby so great he grew that might there be A love on earth that earthly love was he Sir Francis Huberts History of Edward the second In the long Warres he had with Robert King of Scotland having by triall found how greatly his presence advantaged the success of his affairs and how he was ever victorious in any enterprise he undertook in his own person when he died he bound his son by solemn oath that being dead he should cause his body to be boiled untill the flesh fell from the bones which he should cause to be interred and carefully keeping the bones ever carry them about him whensoever he should happen to have Warres with the Scots as if destiny had fatally annexed the victory unto his limmes Mountaigne his Essayes l. 1. c. 3. Baliol King of Scotland came to Newcastle upon Tine where King Edward then lay and there with many of his Nobles swears fealty and doth homage to him as his Soveraign Lord. Afterward there grew a great dissention between him and the King and the two Nations which consumed much Christian bloud and continued almost three hundred years King Edward entered Scotland with a great Army King Baliol was taken prisoner The marble Chair in which the Kings of Scotland used to be crowned was also brought thence to Westminster and placed there amongst the Monuments where it still continues Ni fallat fatum Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem Except old sawes do fain And Wizards wits be blind The Scots in place shall raign Where they this stone shall find Of his Warres with the Scotch and his victories over them see Ayscâ— his History of the Warres Treaties Marriages and other occurrents between England and Scotland from King William the Conquerour untill the union of them both in King Iames. In his twelfth year the Justices Itinerants began In his time Iohn Baliol King of Scots builded Baliol-Colledge in Oxford Walter Merton Lord Chancellour of England and after Bishop of Rochester founded Merton-Colledge in Oxford One made this Epitaph of him Dum viguit Rex valuit tua magna potestas Frauâ— latuit pax magna fuit regnavit honestas He raigned thirty four yeares seven moneths one and twenty dayes and lived sixty eight years and twenty dayes EDWARD the second He degenerated wholly from his fathers vertues and esteemed not the good advertisements and precepts which he gave him before his death He granted the Charter to London to elect yearly one of the City at their own pleasure to be their Maior He was the first of the King of Englands children which bore the title and quality of the Prince of Wales Since whose time the eldest sons of the Kings of England were called Princes of Wales as the eldest sons of the Kings of Franâ—e are called Dolphins and of Spain Infants He was called Edward of Carnarvan for the Welch men after Leolines death were earnest with the King for a Prince of their own Countrymen the King told them they should have a Prince there born that could speak no English which they being contented with he named his Infant son who was born there the Queen being brought to Carnarvan He divided Wales incorporated into England into Shires and Hundreds His great affection to Pierce Gaveston and Spenser his Favourites was a means of stirring up the Barons against him It is thy sad disaster which I sing Carnarvan Edward second of that name Thy Minions pride thy States ill managing Thy Peers revolt the sequell of the same Thy life thy death I sing thy sin thy shame And how thou wert deprived of thy Crown In highest fortunes cast by fortune down Sir Francis Huberts History of Edward the second Nine Kings had raigned since the conquest here Whom I succeeded in a rightfull line My father all domestick tumults clear Did warre and win in fruitfull Palestine This Northern Sun even to the East did shine The French were fearfull hearing but his name French Scots and Turks aeternized his fame He married Isabel daughter to King Philip sirnamed le Bean the fair and heir to France all her brothers being dead without issue Gourney most barbarously caused the miserable King to sit on a Mole-hill whilest the Barber shaved him and to take cold water out of a ditch to wash him withall which the patient King seeing told them That in despight of them he would have warm water at his Barbing and there withall shed abundance of tears Being deposed from his Kingdome
quotidie multiplicentur pareutum verò mors irremediabilis est quia nequeunt restaurari Chronicaâ— Thomae Walsingham Mr. Fullers good thoughts in worst times Occasion Meditat. 9. See Dr. Powâ—is Preface to the History of Wales and his Notes on â—hoyds History of Wales p. 376 377 and Judge Dederidges Principality of Wales p. 4 5 6. Cambdens Britannia in Yorkeshire â—aletudine usus est satis prespâ—ra animo magno cui cunque enim rei operam dabat eam facilâ— imbiâ—â—bat prudentia summa religionis studiosissimus insolentiae sacerdotum inimicus acerrimus quam ex opibus cum primis prosicisci putabatâ— quam obâ—rem legem ad manumortuam perpetuasse fertur at ita corum luxurieâ— coercâ—retur Polyd. Vâ—rg Ang hist l. 18. Cambdens Britannia in Cumberland Fuit prudens in gerendis negotiis ab adolescentia armorum dedâ—us exercitio quo in diversts regionibus eam famam militiae acquifierat quà totius orbis Christiani sui temporis principes singulariter transcendebat Elegantis erat formae staturae procerâ—e qua humero supra communi populo praeâ—minebat Chronica Thomâ—â— Walsingham He was called Edward Long-shankâ— Ne vestigium majestatis regiaâ— desidâ—rii ullum apud populum remaneret sedem lapâ—deam in qua insidentes Reges coronari salebant ex Scotia deferendam Londinum curavit quae etiâ—am nunc ad Westmonast â—rium servatur Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 1â— Initio sui principatus cisi ad lenitatem suaptò natura prâ—pensus â—rat quorundam tamen suorum consiltariorum coâ—rcitus monitis ut bonam indolem ostentaret gravitatem probitatem â—nodestiam praesâ—â—crre caepit veriâ—n baud omnino potuit ita coerceri quin brevi tempore petulantiam ac vanitatem sensim quidem primò occultè velut juvenili errore complexus suerit c. Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 18. Sir Thomas More Cuâ— Isabella Râ—gina Oxoniâ— esset una cum 〈◊〉 magno exercitu stipaâ—â— Episcopas concionem habuit in qua themate assumpto Dolet mihi caput oâ—â—endere conatus est caput insanum nec adhibitis opportunis remediis convalesceâ—s corpori dominari non debere Godw. de praesul Aâ—g Vide plura ibid. Speed Queen Isabel being to repass from Zeland into England with an Army in favour of her son against her husband had utterly been cast away had she come unto the Port intended being there expected by her enemies but fortune against her will brought her to another place where she safely landed Montaigne his Essayes l. 1. c. 33. Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 19. p. 382. commends her Speed Hollinsh Quo genere moriis Edwardus interierit non facile constat fama exit in vulgus illum dum ventrem purgaret fuisse veru transfixum per cluâ—es Polyd Virg. Ang hist l. 18. Fuerat nempè Rex iste inter â—mnes Reges orbis Principes gloriosus benignus clemens magnificus Belliger suit insignis fortunatus qui de cunctis congressibus in terrâ— in mari semper triumphali gloria victoriam reportavit Walsingh Hist. Ang. Edwardus tertius regnum saelicissimum rebus maximis à se gestis gloriofissimum ad annum secundum supra quinquagesimum produâ—it Godw. de praesul Ang. comment p. 119. Huic regi absque caeteris naturae ornamentis cum primis formae dignitas suffragabatur ingenium providum perspicax ac mite nihilporrâ— non sapienter non conâ—ideratè agebat homo permodestus frugi illos summè diligebat honoribusque ornabat ac amplificabat qui probitate modestia atque vitae innocentia allos antecederent Militaris disciplinae apprimè scâ—ens fuit ut res ab co gestae testimonio sunt Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 19. Il gaigna deux memorables batailles en France prist la ville de Calais deux grands Roys prisonniers rendit son nom redoutable à tous ses Voisins Histoire d'Angleterre Par du Chesne Floruere faelicia arma Edovardi tertii Regis qui de Iohanne Gallorum Rege capto speciocissimè triumphavit Ab hoc Edovardo Garcitenii equestris ordinis ceremoniam institutam ferunt Pauli Iovii Britanniae descriptio Hic est ille Edovardus qui Caletum urbem in continenti Galliae plures menses obsessum atque expugnatum Philippâ— Galliae Regi abhinc ducentis ser nè annis ademit Id. ib. Speed Id. ib. It was confirmed by thirty Parliaments in the succession of eight Kings This was the first Parliament we read of Sir Edward Cooks 4th part of Institutes Stow. He quartered the Arms of France with England Speed Gersey and Gernsey parcels of Normandy belong to the King of England Proâ—ssards Chron. c. 130. Daâ— hist. Speed Iohn de Serres The King of Bohemia was there slain whose plume of Ostridge feathers won then by the black Prince hath ever since been the cognizance of the â—rinces of Wales His eldest son sirnamed the Black Prince the mirrour of Chivalry not for his colour but dreaded in Battels He at the Battell of Câ—essy which bare two thirds of 8500 men fought with little less then 90000 and not many years after being fewer by three fourths The Welch his enemies in the Battell of Poicticrs he took King Iohn of France prisoner invironed by all the Princes Nobility of that Kingdome A young Prince twice a Conquerour having vanquished his enemy both by valour and courtesie 〈◊〉 Serres French Hist oâ— Iohn King of France Lhoâ—d in his History of â—â—ales calls him the 〈◊〉 of Chivalry of all Europe a Prince saith he of such excellent demeanour so valiant wise and politick in his doings that a perfect representation of Knighthood appeared most liveâ—â— in his person Seâ— more there p. 384 385. In the year 1â—49 〈◊〉 instituit Garterium ordinem cui â—auius deinde accessit honor 〈◊〉 maximos quosque Reges non penâ—tucâ—rit in id ventre Collegium â—olyd Vng. hist. l. 19. Vide plura ibi◠〈◊〉 hist. Belg. 〈◊〉 24. p. 285 286. In Richardo fuit forme gratia animus non vilis quem consociorum perversitas improbitas insulsitas extiuxitâ— fuit item summa infelicitas qui in talent calâ—â—itatem inâ— cidit ut in maximi beneficii pertenâ— accepeâ—it abdicare se imperio pro quo â—ortaies soleant 〈◊〉 omnia proâ—icere Polyd Virg. Ang. hist. l 21. He may be compared to Lewis the tenth of France called Huâ—â— which signifies mutiny because of his â—arbulent disposition this Montford gave the King 〈◊〉 Dan. hist. fâ—l 172. Cambd. Brit 〈◊〉 Worcestershire Mr. Bacons Uniform Government of England part 2. c. 1. Sir Iohn Arundel had two and fifty new suits of Apparel of cloath â— gold or tissue Hollinsh Chron. in Rich. the second Daniels third Book of Civil Wars â—ambd Briâ—annia in Surâ—ey Bellum Baroniâ—um Haywards life and Raign of Henry the fourth Haywards life and Raign of K. Henry the fourth Inter flores regia dignitas penes Rosam est Apud Anglos regia Rosa
and speech encouraged both Commanders and souldiers saying to them as I have heard If her brother Philip came she would give fire to the first Piece against him I might alledge the testimony of your greatest enemy in confirmation of your Majesties valour at Worcester-battle Kings bear a double image of God as they are men and as they are Magistrates The Scripture saith Those which rule over men should be just ruling in the fear of God One saith They should labour to be more religious and pious toward God than ordinary persons because of the great need they have of his illumination in their counsels of his conduct in their enterprises of his force in their executions and of his provident care in their various occurrents dangers difficulties The Kings seat was so set in the Temple that all might see him there Ezek. 46. 10. 2 Chron. 6. 12 13. 2 King 11. 14. 23. 3. that by his example the devotion of his people might be stirred up God having done such great things both abroad and at home for your Majesty expecteth great things from you I shall humbly implore the Almighty that he would so guide you in all your wayes that you may make his Interest your great interest by reforming what is amiss in Court and Kingdom by promoting his pure worship encouraging the power of godliness and all such as walk according to Scripture-rule are peaceable and hold the Fundamentals by discountenancing Atheisme errour and profaneness the fruits of abused peace and prosperity altering the old speech for the better Exeat aula Qui vult esse pius into impius So shall White-Hall answer its name and your Majesty approve your self to be what your Father desired Charles the Good which is the earnest prayer of Your Majesties most humbly devoted and Loyall subject Edward Leigh TO THE CURTEOUS AND CANDID READER Reader I Here present thee with Choice Observations of all the Kings of England I suppose the Subject will not be unpleasing to an Englishman if the work be answerable to the Title I have excerped my Materials out of the best Latine Writers the Monks to whom we are especially beholding for the History of our Kings of England and chiefest English Chroniclers and Annalists and such as have written of a few or any one of our English Princes Bedes Historia Gentis Anglorum set out by Wheelock of whom Petavius in his History of the world lib. 8. cap. 4. saith thus Bede made his Brittain famous with no lesse Godlinesse and Learning than History who even unto the year 735 hath concluded the Christian beginnings of that Nation Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam praecipui in Latine in folio set out by Sr Henry Savill containing the History of Gulielmus Malmesburiensis Henry Huntington Roger Hoveden and others Anglica Normannica Hibernica Cambrica a veteribus Scripta in Latine also in Folio put out by Camden Matthew Paris his Works set out by Dr Watts who is a faithfull Historian and hath written the Reigns of the first seven Kings after the Conquest Of the English Chroniclers Speed Martin and Baker seem to be the best Voluminous Hollingshead Stow and How are not much esteemed by the Learned Sr John Hayward hath written well of the three Norman Kings and Edward the sixth he hath written briefly also of Henry the eourth Godwin of Henry the eighth Edward the sixth and Queen Mary and also of the Bishops of England in Latine and English Sr Robert Cotton of Henry the third Habington of Edward the fourth Sr Thomas More of Richard the third both in Latine and English and Buck my Lord Bacon excellently of Henry the seventh my Lord Herbert of Henry the eighth Camden Annals of Queen Elizabeth and Dr Heylin as is said of King Charles the first History is both pleasing and profitable especially the memorable things of all our own Kings and Governours who have for so many years Raigned amongst us Examples of Superiours especially are very prevalent which of the Rulers believed in him One saith if King Edward the sixth had lived a little longer his only example had bred such a Race of worthy learned Gentlemen as this Realm never yet did afford Here are examples of all sorts good and bad to be followed and eschewed Some loose vain and licentious others learned wise valiant minding the publick welfare of the Nation The Pope could but little prevaile here in England during the Raign of King Edward the third and Richard the second Henry the eighth cast him out then when he had too great power and command over other Princes As he cast out the Pope so did his children Edward the sixth and Queen Elizabeth cast out Popery out of England and so freed us from his spirituall bondage as the other did from his Temporall May their memory be therefore still precious amongst us as the Reformation we enjoy chiefly by their means is a singular blessing Let Him be accounted our English Josias and Her our English Deborah on whom those Verses were made Spains Rod Romes Ruine Netherlands Relief Earths Joy Englands Gem Worlds Wonder Natures chief Prince Henry likewise eldest Son to King James was a virtuous and hopefull Prince had he not been taken away in the flower of his youth he would its thought have much opposed the Pope and Spaniard I have read somewhere of him that he would not swear no not at his Sports and Recreation and being demanded the reason tâ—ereof he said they were not of that weight as to draw an oath from him I hope therefore this Nation having had such worthy Princes and not being ignorant of the slavery they formerly indured when the Pope called England his Ass will never be so foolish as to turn back again into Egypt As long as Mr Foxe his Martyrology is so common to be read eighty eight and the fifth of November are so fresh in our remembrance let us valew the losse of Rome here amongst us no more than that Emperour Honorius did of whom Zonaras writes that he had a Hen called Roma and it being told him Rome was last he was troubled and said She was here even now yea said the other the Hen is here but the City is lost he was then well pleased Our Countriman Beda hath prophetically expounded that Roman S. P. Q. R. of our Englishmen travelling to Rome Stulâ—us Populus Quaerit Roman Though perhaps in some cases one may go too far from Rome yet since some of our Bishops formerly have written well against Antichrist and others have made the Pope to be Antichrist and since also the Iesuites are still busie amongst us I wish there may be no unwarrantable compliance either with the Romish Doctrine or Rites Thomas Lever who Preached before King Edward the sixth and escaped the fury of Queen Maries dayes is commended by Bullinger in his Epistle to Hooper He was the first
his Father At a time upon the repulse of a certain suit the Archbishop brake forth into discontentment expostulated sharply against the King and in a humorous heat offered to depart But the King stayed him fell down at his feet desired pardon and promised satisfaction in the best manner that he could The Nobility which were present put the Archbishop in minde that he should cause the King to arise nay answered the Archbishop let him alone let him still abide at St. Peters feet So with much ado he was appeased and entreated to accept his suit By reason of sickness he kept his chamber a long time whereat the French King scoffing said The King of England lyeth long in Childbed Which when it was reported unto King William he answered When I am Churched there shall be a thousand lights in France alluding to the lights that Women used to bear when they were Churched and that he performed within few dayes after wasting the French Frontiers with fire and sword Malmesb. de Wilielmo primo l. 4. Some of the Earls conspiring against him he perceiving his estate to be now brought into no small danger and loath to put all upon the hazard and fortune of a Battell against men so well provided and with desperation armed as a man perplexed entred into consultation with Lâ—nfrancke then Archbishop of Canterbury what course were now best for him to take for the appeasing of these so great and dangerous troubles By whose advice he came to a parl with the English Nobility where after much reasoning and debating of the matter a peace was at length concluded and agreed upon so that the English men laying down their Arms the Conquerour in the presence of the Archbishop Lanfrancke and others took a solemn Oath upon the holy Evangelists and all the reliques of the Churches of St. Albans from thence forth to observe and keep the good and ancient Laws of the Realm which the noble Kings of England his Predecessors had before made and ordained but especially those of St. Edwarâ— of all others supposed to be most equall and indifferent for the geneâ—all good of the people He courteously received and honourably maintained Edgar Etheling in his Court allowing him a pound weight of silver every day to spend a rare example of a victorious Conqueror shewed upon a man so unconstant who twice had broken his Oath of fidelity and dangerous to be so near unto his person being as he was a competitor of his Crown During all his Raign either the sword was not put up into the scabbard or if it were the hand was alwayes upon the hilt ready to draw it So unwilling on the one part were the English men to bear the yoke and so haughty on the other part were the Norman Conquerors that to be called an English man was in their eyes a great concumely insomuch as it made some of the more light-conceited of the English to seek to better their esteem by imitating the Normans both in apparrell and language which among the graver sort bred the Proverb that Jack would be a Gentleman if he could speak French He favoured learned men and drew out of Italy Lanfrancke Anselme Durand Trahern and divers others famous at that time for learning and piety 'T is better with William Hunter than with William the Conqueror 'T is better to have a name in the Book of Martyrs than in the Book of Chronicles Mr. Nortons life of Mr. Iohn Cotton Perceiving his own defects in some points for want of learning he did exhort his children oftentimes to learning with this saying An unlearned Prince is a crowned Ass which speech took great impression in his son Henry This is one speciall honour attributed unto him that from him we begin the Computation of our Kings of England From the Normans bearing of Armes began amongst us Ab eo posteriores series Regum inchoavere perinde acsi de integro ille regnum ipsum instituâ—isset Regesque qui seâ—uti sunt usi similiter sunt ut nunc utuntur insignibus Regiis quae dedisset Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 9. Nostrates priusquam in Angliam penetrasset Wilielmus primus hunc armorum cultum à Normannis videntur accepisse Spelmanni Aspilegia p. 40. Vide etiam p. 44. He ended his life upon the ninth day of September full both of honour and of age when he had raigned twenty years eight moneths and sixteen dayes in the threescore and fourth year of his age His dead body was not only abandoned but left almost naked upon the ground Being conveyed from Roan where he died to Cane one Fitz Arthur denied the King buriall in the Abbey-Church as ground which was wrongfully taken by the King from his Father till he had a hundred pounds paid him for it Mr. Ienkyn in his Exposition of the Epistle of Iude vers 4. p. 351. saith Of our twenty five Monarchs since the Conquest thirteen taking in three who are thought to be poysoned are said to have had violent and untimely deaths CHAP. XII K. William the second sirnamed Rufus or the Red. KIng William the first took to wife Matilde daughter to Baldwin Earl of Flanders a man for his wisdome and power both reverenced and feared even of Kings but because she was his Cousin-germane he was for his marriage excommunicate by his own Uncle Mauger Archbishop of Roan Hereupon he sued to Pope Victor and obtained of him a dispensation and afterwards so wrought that by a provinciall Counsell his Uncle Mauger was deprived of his dignity This King had by his Wife four sons Robert Richard William and Henry Robert his eldest son sirnamed Courtcuise by reason of the shortness of his thighs succeeded him in the Duchy of Normandy He was a man of exceeding honourable courage and spirit for which cause he was so esteemed by the Christian Princes in the great Warre against the Saracens that when they had subdued the City and Territory of Hierusalem they offered the Kingdome thereof first unto him The King of England to whom the Schola Salernitana was dedicated was this Robert eldest son of the Duke of Normandy which begins thus Anglorum Regi scribit Schola tota Salerni and it seems to be written when this Robert returned out of Palestina into Apulia and by reason of a Fistula from his poysoned wound he had consulted with the School of Salerne concerning it and preserving his health Neither doth that hinder that this Book is written to the King of England but Robert never raigned here for the Kingdome of right belonged to him which his younger Brother William Rufus possessed in his absence and for recovering of that he warred with his Brother but was overcome by him Richard had raised the good expectation of many as well by his comely countenance and behaviour as by his lively and generous spirit But he died young by misadventure
all the benefits he could yea and given his own sister iâ— marriage he raised a most dangerous War and spoiled shamefully a great part of England under pretence of restoring the Commonwealth and maintaining liberty neither left he any thing undone to bring the King under to change the State of a Mâ—â—â—rchy to bring in an Oligarchy But in the 〈◊〉 after that fortune had for a good while favourably smiled upon him he was slain at Eveshâ—m in Worcestershire with many other of the Barons his Complices by the prowess of Prince Edward 〈…〉 〈…〉 Although the Kingdome endured great Crosses in the affairs of State under this King yet some have thought that it found as great a blessing in matters of Religion which in those dayes took so deep root in this our Land by the preaching of Iohn Wickliffe that the branches thereof did spread themselves even over the Seas Speeds Chronicle He was the onely Son of that famous Cheiftain the black Prince of Wales a renowned son of a renowned father but as a plant transplanted into a savage soyl in degree and disposition wholly degenerate retained a tincture of the light inconstancy of his Mother and the luxuriousness of his great Grandfather Edward the second and running his course came to his end He had in his Court a thousand persons in ordinary allowance of diet three hundred servitors in his Kitchin above three hundred Ladies Chamberers and Landerers His Apparel was sumptuous and so was it generally in his time he had one Coat of gold and stone valued at thirty thousand Marks One interview with the French King at Ards when his Wife Isabel was delivered unto him cost three hundred thousand Markâ— Queen Anne his Wife Daughter to the Emperour Charles the fourth first taught English women the manner of sitting on horseback which now is used whereas before-time they rode very unseemly astride like as men do The Civil Wars in England had their beginning from his bad Government Henry the fourth did first commence them and Henry the fifth suspended them but they again brake forth under Henry the sixth Wat Tyler the Master of the Kentish Rebels was slain with a Dagger by William Walworth Mayor of London close by the Kings side in the Kings defence who was therefore Knighted and the City since giveth for Arms the Dagger He was first deposed then slain Men are easily emboldened saith Guicciardine c. 3. of his History of Italy against a Prince that is fallen into contempt The most current report at that time went that he was Princely served every day at the Table with abundance of costly meats according to the order prescribed by Parliament but was not suffered to taste or touch any one of them and so perished of famine Mr. Fox saith he was at Pamfret Castle famished to death Sir Pierce of Extone at last killed him though he with an Axe wrested out of one of their hands first killed four of those which came with him to murther him At the point of his death he groaned forth these words My great Grandfather King Edward the second was in this manner deposed imprisoned and murthered by which means my Grandfather King Edward the third obtained possession of the Crown and now is the punishment of that injury powred upon his next successor Well this is right for me to suffer but not for you to do your King for a time may joy at my death and enjoy his desire but let him qualifie his pleasures with the expectation of the like justice for God who measureth all our actions by the malice of our minds will not suffer this violence unrevenged He lived three and thirty years raigned two and twenty and three moneths Thus far the Plantagenets have continued in an unquestionable right line now follows the division of the houses of Lancaster York three of each succeeding in their order Of Lancaster Henry the fourth sirnamed Bulling brook Henry the fifth of Monmouth Henry the sixth of Windsor Of Yorke three others succeeded upon a better title 1. Edward the fourth 2. Edward the fifth 3. Richard the third HENRY the fourth He was son to Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster from the loynâ— of whom the greatest number of the Kings of England Spain Portugall since his time as also several other persons of eminent dignity are descended Mr. Dugdalâ—s History of St. Pauls Cathedrall He was annointed with an oyl which a certain religious man gave unto Henry the first Duke of Lancaster Grandfather to the King by the mothers side when he served in the Wars of King Edward the third beyond the seas together with this Prophesie that the Kings which should be annointed therewith should be the Champions of the Church There was a great contest then between the white and red Rose the houses of Yorke and Lancaster The red Rose prevailed now he being the first renowned King of the house of Lancaster He first studied a popular party as needing all to support his titles There was in his Raign a Parliament held at Coventry called Parliamentum indoctorum the lack-learning Parliament either for the unlearnedness of the persons or for their malice to learned men During the time of this Kings Raign execution by fire was first put in practice within this Realm for controversies in points of Religion He shed the bloud of Gods Saints and raigned neither long nor hâ—pâ—ily Mr. Foxâ—aith â—aith his time was full of trouble bloud and misery He was the first of the Kings of England saith he that put out his hand to the shedding of the bloud of the Saints since the conquest Humphrey his son was by his brother King Henry the fifth created Duke of Glocester he was Protector of the Kingdome of England for twenty five years in the time of King Henry the sixth He was a man who nobly deserved of the Commonwealth and of learning as being himself very learned and a magnificent Patron and benefactor of the University of Oxford where he had been educated and was generally called the good Duke Speed This Duke Humphrey purchased a wonderfull number of Books in all Sciences whereof he freely gave to a Library in Oxford a hundred and twenty nine fair Volumes Bales Conclusion to Leylands New years gift to King Henry the eight One saith all the Henries of the house of Lancaster even to Henry the seventh were most eminent for great vertues Henry the fourth for his behaviour and courtesie Henry the fifth for his valour and magnanimity Henry the sixth for his justice and piety The renowned Prince King Henry the fifth during the life of his father was noted to be fierce and of wanton courage One of his servants whom he favoured was for felony by him committed arraigned at the Kings Bench whereof the Prince being advertised and incensed by light persons about him in furious rage came hastily to the Barre
where his servant stood as prisoner and commanded him to be ungived and set at liberty William Gascoigne the chief Justice of the Kings Bench exhorted the Prince to be ordered according to the ancient Laws of the Realm or if he would have him saved from the rigour of the Laws that he should obtain if he might of the King his father his gracious pardon whereby no Law or justice should be impeached With which answer the Prince being more inflamed endeavoured himself to take away his servant The Judge considering the perillous example and inconvenience that might thereby ensue with a valiant courage and spirit commanded the Prince upon his allegiance to leave the prisoner and to depart his way with which commandement the Prince being set all in a fury in a terrible manner came up to the place of judgement some thinking that he would have slain the Judge or have done him some hurt but the Judge sitting still without moving declaring the majesty of the Kings place of judgement and with an assured bold countenance spake thus to the Prince Sir remember your self I keep here the place of the King your soveraign Lord and Father to whom you owe double obeysance wherefore in his name I charge you desist from your wilfulness and unlawfull enterprise and from henceforth give good example to those which after shall be your proper Subjects 〈◊〉 and now for your contempt and disobedience go you to the prison of the Kings Bench whereto I commit you and remaine you there prisoner untill the pleasure of the King your Father be further known With which wordes being abashed and also wondering at the marvellous gravity of that worshipfull Justice the Prince laying his weapon apart doing reverence departed and went to the Kings Bench as he was commanded whereat his servants disdaining came and shewed to the King all the whole affair He a while studying after as a man all ravished with gladness holding his hands and eyes towards heaven cried out with a loud voice O mercifull God how much am I bound to thy infinite goodness â—ffâ—ecially for that thou hast given me a Iudge who feareth not to minister justice and also a sin who can suffer semblably and obey justice Sir Thomas Eliot in his Governour saith here a man may behold three persons worthy memory First a Judge who being a Subject feared not to execute justice on the eldest son of his soveraign Lord and by order of nature his successor Also a Prince son and heir of the King in the midst of his folly more considered his evil example and the Judges conscience in justice then his own estate and wilfull appetito Thirdly a noble King and wise father who contrary to the custome of parents rejoyced to see his son and the heir of his Crown to be for his disobedience by his Subject corrected The Oath ex officio it should rather be called in officiosum was brought into the Church under him The Prelates requiring it to discover those which that age esteemed Hereticks and especially those which they called Lollards which Master Fox in his Acts and Monuments calls a bloudy Law In his admonition to his son at his death he said Of English men so long as they have wealth and riches so long shalt thou have obeysance but when they be poor they are alwayes ready to make insurrection at every motion All the time of his sickness his will was to have his Crown set upon his Bolster by him and one of his fits being so strong upon him that all men thought him directly dead the Prince coming in took away the Crown when suddenly the King recovering his senses missed his Crown and asking for it was told the Prince had taken it whereupon the Prince being called came back with the Crown and kneeling down said Sir to all our judgements and to all our griefs you seemed directly dead and therefore I took the Crown as being my right but seeing to all our comforts you live I here deliver it much more joyfully then I took it and pray God you may long live to wear it your self In his time were the two famous Poets Chaucer and Gower None of the sons of Henry the fourth did degenerate a thing not usuall in so large a family Henry the fifth died gloriously in the pursuit of his conquests the Duke of Clarence valiantly fighting and though of a naturall death and Glocester of a violent yet died they not with less fame then did the others Biondi his History of the Civil Warres of England l. 5. in Henry the sixth The Duke of Bedfords death is to be numbred among the chiefest causes of the loss of France He was a prudent Prince of long experience in Arms and Government obeyed by his own feared by his enemies Id. ibid. Fourth Henry was by some blind Bard foretold That he should never die till he had seen Ierusalem fourth Henry will be old Ierusalem for him shall be unseen No he shall see it when he least doth ween He swouns at prayers and by religious men Is straight convey'd unto Ierusalem Sir Francis Huberts History of Edward the second The like Prophesie we read of Pope Sylvester the second to whom being inquisitive for the time and place where he should die it was answered that he should die in Ierusalem who then saying Mass in a Chappell called likewise Ierusalem perceived his end there to be near and died In this Kings time Guild-Hall in London was built Gower being very gracious with him carried the name of the only Poet in his time He and Chaucer were Knights The King died in Ierusalem-Chamber in minster in the year of his age forty six He raigned thirteen years and a half wanting five dayes Fourteen years say others CHAP. XIX HENRY the fifth HE was just wise magnanimous valiant To this noble Prince by an assent of the Parliament all the Estates of the Realm after three dayes offered to do fealty before he was crowned or had solemnized his Oath well and justly to govern the Commonweal which offer before was never found to be made to any Prince of England Stowes Chron. His young years were spent in literature in the Academy of Oxford where in Queens-Colledge he was a Student under the tuition of his Uncle Henry Beauford Chancellour of that University When he came to be King he made Thomas Rodban a famous Astronomer in those dayes Bishop of St. Davids and Iohn Carpenter a learned Divine Bishop of Worcester having known them both whilest he lived in the University The Civil Wars of England by Sir Francis Biondi Presently after his Coronation he called before him all his old companions who had been disorderly with him strictly charging them not to presume to come within ten miles of his Court untill such time as they had given good proof of their amendment in manners and left any of them should pretend want of maintenance
thereby to win the hearts of the people as being conscious to himself that the true obligations of Soveraignty in him failed He put to death Hastings A greater judgement of God then this upon Hastings I have never observed in any Story For the self same day that the Earl Riners Grey and others were without triall of Law or ostence given by Hastings advice executed at Ponfret I say Hastings himself in the same day and as I take it in the same hour in the same Lawless manner had his head stricken off in the Tower of London He had little quiet after the murther of his two Nephews in the Tower of London Sir Iohn Beaumont hath well described Bosworth-field in Verse The night before he was slain he dreamed that he saw divers images of Devils which pulled and haled him not suffering him to take any rest the which vision stroke him into such a troubled mind that he began to doubt what after came to pass Charles the ninth King of France after the massacre in Paris and divers other Cities wherein were slaughtered about thirty thousand never saw good day but his eyes rolled often uncertainly in the day with fear and suspition and his sleep was usually interrupted in the night with dismall dreams and apparitions He being near his end vomited out bloud pittifully by all the conduits of his body as a just judgement for him that barbarously shed it throughout all the Provinces of the Realm He raigned two yeares two moneths and one day CHAP. XIX HENRY the seventh THe fourteen Plantagenets thus expiring with Richard the third five Tudors take their turns in this manner Henry the seventh Henry the eighth Edward the sixth Queen Mary Queen Elizabeth They are called Tudors because Henry the fifth his widow being a French woman married Owen Tudor from whom Henry the seventh did lineally descend In this Nation how hath the Crown walked even since Christs birth from Britains to Saxons Danes Normans Plantagenets Tudors Stuarts Mrs Shawes Tomb-stone This King pretended a six-fold title to the Crown By Conquest Military election of Souldiers in the fields near Bosworth by Parliament by Birth by Donation and Marriage He did never stand upon his marriage with the right heir as the foundation of his right unto the Crown for he knew well enough that if that had been his best and only title though it might make the power good unto his children yet while she was living he must hold the Crown in her right not in his own and if she died before him it was lost Because he was crowned in the field with King Richards Crown found in an Hawthorn-Bush he bare the Hawthorn-Bush with the Crown in it He was crowned the thirtieth day of October in the year of our Lord 1485 by Thomas Bourehier Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinall At which day he did institute for the better security of his person a Band of fifty Archers under a Captain to attend him by the name of Yeomen of his Guard and yet that it might be thought to be rather a matter of dignity after the imitation of that he had known abroad then any matter of diffidence appropriate to his own case he made it to be understood for an Ordinance not temporary but to hold in succession for ever after Through whose care vigilancy policy and forecasting wisdome for times to come the State and Commonwealth of England hath to this day stood established and invincible Camdens Britannia in Surrey A politick Prince he was if ever there were any who by the engine of his wisdome beat down and overturned as many strong oppositions both before and after he wore the Crown as ever King of England did Whose worthy renown like the Sun in the midst of his sphere shineth and ever shall shine in mens remembrance What incomparable circumspection was in him alwayes found that notwithstanding his long absence out of this Realm the disturbance of the same by sundry seditions among the Nobility Civil Warres and Battels wherein infinite people were slain yet by his most excellent wit he in few years not only brought this Realm in good order and under due obedience revived the Laws advanced justice refurnished his dominions and repaired his mannours but also with such circumspection treated with other Princes and Realms of leagues of alliance and amities that during the most part of his Raign he was little or nothing disquieted with War hostile or martiall business And yet all other Princes either feared him or had him in fatherly reverence He could never endure any mediation in rewarding his servants and therein exceeding wise for whatsoever himself gave he himself received back the thanks and the love on the contrary in whatsoever he grieved his Subjects he wisely put it off on those that he found fit ministers for such actions By his happy marriage being next heir to the house of Lancaster with Elizabeth daughter and heir to Edward the fourth of the house of Yorke the white and red Roses were conjoyned Sir Francis Bacon saith of Iohn Morton Archbishop of Canterbury Chancellor of England and Cardinal He deserveth a most happy memory in that he was the principall means of joyning the two Roses From the twenty eighth year of Henry the sixth unto the fifteenth of Henry the seventh the Civil War between Lancaster and Yâ—â—ke continued wherein as they reckoned there were thirteen fields fought three Kings of England one Prince of Wales twelve Dukes one Mâ—rquesse eighteen Earles with one Vicount and twenty three Barons besides Knights and Gentlemen lost their lives Cambd. Brit. in Warwickeshire The King in honour of the Brittish race of which himself was named his first son Arthur according to the name of that ancient worthy King of the Brittains in whose acts there is truth enough to make him famous besides that which is fabulous King Arthur fought twelve Battels with the Saxons and overthrew them Hollinsh Arthurus belliger illis temporibus dux militum Regum Brittanniae contra Saxones invictissimè pugnabat duodecies dux belli fuit duodecies victor bellatorum Hunting hist. l. 2. That Arthur was one of the nine Worthies There were three Jewes Ioshua David Iudas Maccabaeus three Gentiles Hector of Troy Alexander the Great and Iulius Caesar three Christians Arthur of Britain Charlemain of France and Godfrey of Bullen Arthur ursum significat quasi ursinum diceres Burhillus in MS. The Prince Arthur died before his father and lieth buried in the Quire of the Cathedrall Church at Worcester After was born to the King at Greenwich the Lord Henry his second son which was created Duke of Yorke and after Prince of Wales who succeeded his father in governance of this Realm by the name of Henry the eighth His time did excell for good Common-wealths Laws so as he may justly be celebrated for the best Law-giver to this Nation after
left nothing unattempted which might advance the glorious Gospel of Christ. He built St. Augustines a goodly Church in Canterbury He built also St. Pauls Church in London and St. Andrews in Rochester He died in the three and twentieth year of his Monarchy and the fifty sixth of his Kingdome of Kent Redwald The third King of the East-Angles and seventh Monarch of the English men Of this Redwald Cambden reporteth out of Bede that he was baptized and that to make sure as he thought of the right way of worship he had in the same Temple one Altar for Christian Religion and another for sacrifice to Devils He raigned eight yeares and was King of the East-Angles thirty one Edwine The Great King of Northumberland and the eighth sole Monarch of the English men He was slain in Battell by Penda and Cadwallo the seventh year of his Monarchy the seventeenth of his Kingdome He lived fourty eight yeares Oswald King of Northumberland and the ninth Monarch of the English men He was a religiouâ— King and took such care for the coâ—version and salvation of his Subjectâ— that he sent into Scotland for aid and a Christian Bishop to instruct his Northumbrians in the Gospel of truth Mira fuit in homine sanctitas mirum pietatis studium nulli unquam malum pro malo reddidit sed Christi regis summi exemplum imitatus ijs etiam bene precabatur beneque volebaâ— Ã quibâ—â—s accepisset injurias Polyd. Virg. Ang. Hist. l. 4. p. 82. He left the name to Oswalster in Shropshire Of this Oswald as also of Stephan King of Hungary it is storied that their right hands though dead never putrified because they had been much exercised in almes-deeds Bed hist. Angl. l. 3. c. 6. Bonsinius Quis suit Alcides quis Caesar Julius aut quit Magnus Alexander Alcides se superasse Fertur Alexander mundum sed Julius hostem Se simul Osuualdus mundum vicit hostem He died in the 23. year of his Monarchy and the 56. of his Kingdome of Kent Oswy King of Northumberland and the tenth Monarch of the English men He was Brother to Edwin and Oswald He founded the Cathedrall Church in Litchfield for a Bishops See Upon an occasion Oswin humble â— himself before the holyman Adrian who upon sight thereof wept and gave this reason of his weeping I know this King will not live long and this reason of his reason for I never before this saw an humble King He lived fifty seven yeares and raigned the space of twenty eiâ—ht yeares Wulphere The sixth King of the Mercians and the eleventh Monarch of the Englâ—â—â— men He becoming a â—hristian destroyed all those Temâ—les wherein his Heathen Gods had been worshipped converting them all into Christian Churches and religious Monasteries He raigned King over the Mercians seventeen yeares and Monarch of the English fuily four Ethelred The seventh King of Mercia and twelfth Monarch of the English A modest Prince which loved better to preserve then to encrease his power by Arms. He raigned above thirty yeares Kenred The eighth King of Mercia and the thirteenth Monarch of the English men He raigned in peace four yeares then weary of Government and desirous of contemplation be sought a more private and religious life and thereupon appointing â—helred his Cosen-germane to rule in his place in the fifth year of his Raign abandoned his Kingdome and Country and departed to Rome and in a Monastery in that City was made Monk Chelred The ninth King of the Mercians and the fourteenth Monarch of the English He had got as great reputation of military valour as any Prince of his time if he had not died so soon He raigned only seven yeares Ethelbald The tenth King of the Mercians and the fifteentth Monarch of the English A peaceable Prince but was over amorous Boniface the Archbishop of Mentz an Englishman by Nation sent an Epistle to him This is one passage in it Quapropter â—â—li charissime paeniteat te memora quam turpe sit ut tu qui multis gentihus dono Dâ—â— dominaris al injuriam ejus sis libidinis servus The Epistle is full of good counsell to be seen in Malmesbury He ruled forty two yeares Offa. The eleventh King of the Mercians and the sixteenth Monarch of the English men He was a warlike Prince and for the most part fortunate He built a Church in Warwickeshire where the adjoyning Town from it and him beareth the name Off-Church and caused a great Ditch to be made large and deep from Sea to Sea betwixt his Kingdome and Wales whereby he might the better defend his Country from the incursions of the Welsh men And this Ditch is to be seen in many places as yet and is called Offas Ditch at this day Lords History of Wales The Ditch began at the River Dee by Bassing-werke between Cheâ—ter and Ruthlan and ran along the hils sides to the South-Sea a little from Bristow reaching above a hundreth miles in length Id. the description of Wales He first gave the Peter-pence to Rome and was himself at the length shorne a Monk He raigned thirty nine yeares Egfrid The twelfth King of the Mercians and the seventeenth Monarch of the English He re-establisht the priviledges and liberties of all the Churches which his Father had supprest He raigned only four moneths he was taken away by sudden death in the hundreth fourty first day after his Fathers decease Kenwolfe The thirteenth King of the Mercians and the eighteenth Monarch of the English men At home he was an example of piety peace justice and Religion abroad temperate humble and courteous without vain ostentation or ambitious conceits In Warres he was stout and victorious in peace studious to enrich his Subjects he carried himself so at all times that envy could not touch him with her tongue Bede dedicateth his Ecclesiasticall History to him He raigned twenty two yeares CHAP. IV. OF the Saxons that reigned sole Kings of this Island 1. Egbert raigned thirty seven years 2. Ethelwulf the son of Egbert twenty years 3. Ethelbald the eldest son of Ethelwulf five years 4. Ethelbert the second son of Ethelwulf five years 5. Ethelred the third son of Ethelwulf five years 6. Alfred the youngest son of Ethelwulf five years 7. Edward sirnamed the elder twenty three years 8. Aethelstane the eldest son of Edward sixteen years 9. Edmund the second son of Edward six years 10. Edred the youngest son of Edward nine years 11. Edwin the elder son of Edmund four years 12. Edgar the younger son of Edmund sixteen years 13. Edward the elder son of Edgar forty years 14. Ethelred the younger son of Edgar thirty seven years 15. Edmund the son of Ethelred in whose time the Danes possessed the greatest part of England Egbert The eighteenth King of the West-Saxons the nineteenth but first sole and absolute Monarch of the English men Upon
the eighth reckons him amongst other learned men of the Kings Progenitors The chiefest of his works for the service of God and good of his Subjects was the translation of the Bible into the Saxon tongue which was then the mother-tongue of the Land out of the Hebrew Of this work Leyland also speaks in the work before-mentioned His Laws are mentioned by Lambard in his Saxon Laws He raigned in great honour the space of fifteen years and odd moneths Edmund The twenty sixth King of the West Saxons and twenty seventh Monarch of the English men The good Laws he made are extant in Saxon and Latine by the industry of Mr William Lambard He had by his Queen Elgina two sons Edwin and Edgarus sirnamed Pacificus which both raigned after him By him were expelled the Danes Scots Normans and all forraign enemies out of the Land He raigned six years and a half At his Mannor of Puclekerkes in the County of Glocester whilest he interposed himself between his Sewer and one Leof to part a fray he was with a thrust through the body wounded to death when he had prosperously raigned the space of five years and seven moneths Rogerus de Hoveden annal part 1. Malmesbury l. 2. c. 7. and others say this Leof was a thief which the King espying at a festivall he pulled him by the hair and cast him to the ground but he drawing out his weapon stabbed the King Vide Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 6. Edred The twenty seventh King of the West Saxons and twenty eighth Monarch of the English men He suffered his body to be chastised at the will and direction of Dunstan Abbot of Glassenbury unto whose custody he also committed the greatest part of his treasure and richest Jewels to be lockt in his chests and under the keys of this Monastery where it remained till the King fell sick of his last sickness at which time it was demanded but never restored for Dunstan being on his journey with the same to the King a voice from heaven spake unto him and said Behold King Edred is now departed in peace at the hearing of which words his horse immediately fell down and died Whereupon he returned again to his Monastery and though he lost his horse yet was he recompenced thereby with the gain of the Kings treasure and Jewels He raigned in great honour nine years and odd moneths Edwin or Edwy The twenty eighth King of the West Saxons and twenty ninth Monarch of the English men He was but thirteen years old when he began to raign He was Nephew to Edred He favoured not the Monkes which made them write so scandalously of him He thrust them out of Malmesbury and Glassenbury placing married Priests in their room and banished Dunstan their great Champion into Flanders The true causes of his banishing him ejecting the Monkes and seizing their lands and treasures was that Dunstan had so bewitched Edmund Edward Aethelstan and Aedred his predecessours with the love of Monkery as they not only took violently from married Priests their livings to erect Monasteries but also lavishly wasted much of their own royall treasures lands and revenues upon them which they should rather have imployed in resisting the common enemies of God and their Countrey the Danes Ioscelin the Author of Antiq. Brit. Bishop Godwin Speed and others conceive that the true cause why the Mercians and Northumbrians and those only not the rest of his Subjects and Kingdome rejected him and set up his Brother Edgar whose vices were more exorbitant in some degrees than Edwins was the malice of Dunstan and Odo the pillars and Oracles of the Monkish Clergy who stirred up the Mercians and seditious rebellious Northumbrians against him to set up Edgar in his stead who was totally devoted to them and Dunstan by whose counsels he was afterwards wholly guided and built no less than forty seven new Monasteries for the Monks besides all those he repaired intending to build three more had he lived to make them fifty compleat He raigned but four years CHAP. VII EDGAR THe thirtieth Monarch of the English men The Raign of this King is said to have been altogether in a calm tranquillity and therefore he was sirnamed Pacificus the Peaceable His vertues were many and vices not a few the one gloriously augmented and the other fairly excused by those Monkish writers unto whose professions he was most favourable Tunc ordo Monasticus jamjudum lapsus pâ—acipuè caput erexit Malmesb. l. 2. c. 8. He unravelling the web his Brother had weaved recalled Dunstan out of banishment and made him Archbishop of Canterbury His Summer progresses and yearly chief pastimes were the sayling round abouâ— this whole Isle of Albion guarded with his grand Navy of four thousand sail at the least parted into four equall parts of petty Navies each being of a thousand Ships Dee's Brittish Monarchy p. 56 57. he calls him there that Saxonicall Alexander See more there and p. 55 58 59 60. He appointed the Prince of North Wales to bring him yearly three hundred skins of Wolves for a tribute which continued for three years space but in the fourth was not a Wolf to be found and so the tribute ceased Upon the River Dee he had seven petty Kings to row his Barge to shew his greatness He was very lascivious Leges apprimè utiles tulit quas vetustas in oblivionem fermè adduxit Of his Laws vide Lambardum de prisâ—is Anglorum legibus It is sure enough there have not been more famous men than some of no great stature as the instance of King Pipin in the French History and this King in our own will make manifest In the time that the Saxons had this Realm in subjection he had subdued all the other Kings Saxons and made them his Tributaries On a time he had tâ—all all with him at dinner and after it was shewed him that Rynaud King of Scots had said that he wondered how it should happen that he and other Kings that were tall and great personages would suffer themselves to be subdued by so little a body as Edgar was Edgar dissembled and answered nothing but faining to go on hunting took with him the Scottish King in his company and purposely withdrew him from them that were with him causing by a secret servant two swords to be conveyed into a place in the forrest by him appointed As soon as he came thither he took the one sword and delivered the other to Rynaud bidding him to prove his strength and to essay whether his deeds would ratifie his words Turpe est enim Regi in convivio esse dicaculum nec esse in praelio promptulum Whereat the Scottish King being abashed beholding the noble conrage of Edgâ—r with an horrible fear confessed his errour desiring pardon which he with most humble submission at the last obtained For his excellent vertues and prosperouâ— Raign he was called
overlaid Well then said the King return and tell them who sent you That so long at my son is alive they send no more to me whatever happen for I will that the honour of the day be his And so at last the English obtained the greatest victory they ever yet had against the French There were there found the dead bodies of eleven great Princes and of Barons Knights and men of Arms above one thousand and five hundred of the Commons above thirty thousand Not one man of honour or note slain upon the English side King Edward after the Battell aftectionately embracing and kissing his victorious son said Fair son God send you good perseverance to so prosperous beg innings you have nobly acquit your self and are well worthy to have the governance of a Kingdome entrusted to you for your valour Sir Eustace Rihamant in the encounter at Calis-Gate between Sir Walter Manny and the Lord Charney met with King Edward who disguising himself in common armour served under the banner of Sir Walter Manny and fought so stoutly with him that he stroke the King twice down on his knees but in the end the King took him prisoner and then he yeelded his Sword to the King but knowing what he was said thus Sir Knight I yeeld me as your prisoner upon which cause the King came after supper to him and with a merry countenance said thus to the Knight Sir Eustace you are the Knight in the world that I have seen most valiant either in assault of enemies or defence of himself I never â—ound Knight that gave so much ado body to body as ye have done this day wheâ—efore I give you the prize above all the Knights of my Court by right sentence and herewithall the King being bare-headed having a Chaplet of fine pearls that he ware on his head took the same Chaplet from off his head being fair goodly and rich and said to the Knight I give you this Chaplet for the best doer in Arms in this journey past of either party and I desire you to bear it this year for the love of me I know well you be fresh and amorous and oftentimes are among doubty Knights and fair Ladies yet say wheresoever ye come that the King of England did give it you and I quite your prison and ransome depart to morrow if it please you whereupon the Knight did not only wear the same Chaplet in remembrance of so gracious a benevolence of so worthy a Prince but also did bear after in his Arms three Chaplets garnished of pearls Fern his Glory of Generosity p. 210 211. Mr. Wren in his Monarchy asserted p. 125. saith The successes of the English in France alwayes followed the person of the Prince with us Edward the third and Henry the fifth wise and valiant Princes gaining Richard the second and Henry the sixth weak Princes losing with them Iohn and Charles the sixth men of no ability losing Charles the fifth and Charles the seventh brave Princes recovering Edward the black Prince of Wales who so long governed our Countrey of Guienne a man whose conditions and fortune were accompanied with many notable parts of worth and magnanimity having been grievously offended by the Limosins though he by main force took and entered their City could by no means be appeased nor by the wailfull out-cries of all sorts of people as of men women and children be moved to any pitty they prostrating themselves to the common slaughter crying for mercy and humbly submitting themselves at his feet untill such time as in triumphant manner passing through their City he perceived three French Gentlemen who alone with an incredible and undaunted boldness gainstood the enraged violence and made head against the fury of his victorious Army The consideration and respect of so notable a vertue did first abate the dint of his wrath and from these three began he to relent and shew mercy to all the other inhabitants of the Town Michael Lord of Montaigne his Essayes l. 1. c. 1. Having had great victories against the French and other neighbouring Nations he instituted the Order of the Garter and consecrated it to St. George He appointed a Garter to be the Ensign of this Order wrought richly with gold and precious stones which should circle the leg beneath the knee and on it to have these words apparently discerned Honi Soit Qui Mal Y â—ense Shame to him which evil thinks The number of these Knights are twenty six whereof the King himself is the chief These Knights wear the Ensign of Saint George fighting with a Dragon fastened to a rich Chain or Collar which weighed and was worth eighty pounds of English money See Montaigne his Essayes l. 2. c. 7. of the words of honour About this time the famous Dr. Iohn Wicklef a man of sharp wit profound learning and of great judgement did in the University of Oxford publickly maintain sundry Propositions and dogmaticall points against the Church of Rome His followers were in the phrase of those dark dayes called Lollards whereas in truth they endeavoured to extirpate all pernicious weeds which through time sloath and fraud had crept into the field of Gods Church Such was this Kings courtesie friendly behaviour toward the two captive Kings of France and Scotland while they remained together in England as that hereby he won their love and favour for ever after as appeared by their repair hither to visit the King and Queen and to recreate and solace themselves in their company Thus it came to pass that their captivity here turned more to their own advantage and the peaceable enjoying of their estates after the same then if it had never hapned unto them Mr. Thomas May wrote his victorious Raign in Verse in seven Books He raigned almost one and fifty yeares and lived about sixty five who of all the Kings of the Realm saith Mr. Fâ—x unto Henry the eight was the greatest bridler of the Popes usurped power whereby Iohn Wicklef was maintained with aid sufficient CHAP. XVIII RICHARD the second HE descended from four Edwards of which the first three were succeeding Kings the fourth Prince of Wales sirnamed the black Prince who dying before his father Edward the third did not attain the Crown The Civil Warres of England by Sir Francis Bâ—ondi an Italian He was crowned in the eleventh year of his age and sufficiently shewed the miserable condition of such States as are governed by an Infant King He was the goodliest personage of all the Kings that had been since the conquest The beautifull picture of a King sighing crowned in a Chair of Estate at the upper end of the Quire in St. Peters at Westminster is said to be of him which witnesseth how goodly a creature he was ilâ— outward lineaments Speed He had nothing worthy his great fortunes but his great birth When he had with full hand bestowed upon Simâ—â—â— Montford Earl of Leicester
whole should have been of had their sounder raigned to have finished them himself At Towton about four miles from Yorke the Armies of Edward the fourth and King Henry the sixth met where was fought the greatest Battell our Stories mention in all these Civil Wars where both the Armies consisted of above a hundred thousand men and all of our own Nation One day when he was washing his hands at a great Feast and cast his eye upon his son Henry then a young youth he said This is the Lad that shall possess quietly that we now strive for This shewed a very propheticall spirit to have been in King Henry that could so long before foretell a thing so unlikely to happen For this was he that was afterward King Henry the seventh before whom at that time there were many lives in being of both the houses of Yorke and Lancaster so some but my Lord Howard in his Defensative against the poyson of supposed Prophesies c. 4. seems not wholly to ascribe it to that King Henry the seventh after laboured his Canonization with the Pope but that succeeded not for however the world was assured of his piety there was much question of his Government So Habington a Papist in his History of King Edward the fourth Polyd. Virg. Ang. hist. l. 24. p. 532. saith thus Sed morte post statim obita id officium praestare nequivit Cambden in his Britannia in Surrey saith it was Pope Iulius and that the reason why this took no effect was the Popes covetousness who demanded too great a summe of money for a Kings Canonization as they term it so that he might seem ready to grant those kind of honours not for the Princes holiness sake but for gold Sir Francis Bacon in his History of Henry the seventh relates it thus About this time the King became suitor to Pope Iulius the second to canonize King Henry the sixth for a Saint the rather in respect of that his famous prediction of the Kings own assumption to the Crown The Pope referred the matter as the manner is to certain Cardinals to take the verification of his holy acts and miracles but it died under the reference The generall opinion was that Pope Iulius was too dear and that the King would not come to his rates But it is more probable that the Pope who was extreamly jealous of the dignity of the See of Rome and of the Acts thereof knowing that King Henry the sixth was reputed in the world abroad but for a simple man was afraid it would but diminish the estimation of that kind of honour if there were not a distance kept between Innocents and Saints William Alnwicke Bishop of Lincoln was his Confessor Dr. Litchfield in his Raign preached 3083 Sermons Never any came to be King so soon after his birth nor left to be King so long before his death for he came to be King at eight moneths old and he left to be King twelve years before his death Holy King Henry as they call him was crowned in Paris yet he lost all on that side before he was a man as I remember or soon after and before his unhappy death he lost this land also which loss of both came by striving for both Richard Duke of Glocester killed him that thereby Edward the fourth his brother might be freed from all hostile fear So Polyd. Virg. and others He successively ruled this Land the space of thirty eight years six moneths and four dayes EDWARD the fourth He came unto the Kingdome not by power or justice but by the peoples inclination Biondi He raigned thirty eight yeares six moneths and odde dayes and after his redemption of the Crown six moneths He lived two and fifty years having by his wife one only soâ— called Edward Prince of Wales He was the goodliest Gentleman saith Commines l. 4. c. 10. that ever I set mine eye on and l. 3. c. 5. the beautifullest Prince that lived in his time but after he grew gross and corpulent giving himself wholly to pleasures He was a fortunate Prince in the field for he wan at least nine great Battels fighting himself on foot in every one of them Phil. de Com. in his Hist. Book l. 3. c. 4. and 6. p. 188. saith that King Edward himself told me that in all Battels that he wan so soon as he had obtained victory he used to mount on Horseback and cry to save the people and kill the Nobles for of them few or none escaped Id. l. 3. c. 5. In his fourth Book c. 10. he speaks of an interview between King Edward and Lewis the eleventh King of France the French King after some discourse said pleasantly That he should come to Paris to solace himself there with the Ladies and that he would give him the Cardinall of Bourbon for his Confessor who would easily assoil him of sin if any were committed The King of England took great pleasure in this talk and answered with a merry countenance for he knew the Cardinall to be a good fellow Never lived Prince whom adversity did more harden to action and prosperity more soften to voluptuousness So improvident was his memory that he forgat the greatest injuries and resumed the Archbishop of Yorke into favour not bearing so much as a watchfull eye over a reconciled enemy The so fatall division between the house of Yorke and Lancaster with him in a manner had both their birth and growth I sing the Civil Wars tumultuous broils And bloudy factions of a mighty Land Whose people haughty proud with forraign spoils Upon themselves turn back their conquering hand Whilest kin their kin brother the brother foils Like Ensigns all against like Ensigns band Bowes against Bowes the Crown against the Crown Whilest all pretending right all right 's thrown down Our English Luean Daniel of the Civil Wars The first fortnight of his Raign was died I will not say stained with the bloud of Walter Walker a Grocer who keeping Shop at the Sign of the Crown in Cheapside said He would make his son heir to the Crown a bold jest broke in an evil time yet do I not side with them who taxe the King of severity in this execution unless I could clear this man from being particularly factious for the house of Lancaster or know that those words were uttered in innocent mirth without any scorn to King Edwards title And however perhaps the extraordinary punishment of such saucy language was not then unnecessary to beget authority and make men cautious to dispute the descent of Princes when the question was so nice and arguments not improbable on either side Habingtons History of Edward the fourth Speed saith his words intended no treason the Grocer not once dreaming to touch King Edwards title yet the time being when the Crown lay at stake the Law made them his death He hearing of a certain prophesie that G.