concentered in her was now lodged on him which Bernard King Henry the second the more by some solemn Obligations to endear and fasten to himself adorned with the Title of Earl of Medinâ— Câ—li and his Son Gastoâ— the better to enforce and propagate the memory of the Noblenesse of his Antiquity and Extraction discarded the Name of Foix to embrace that of De la Cerda which hath ever since been transmitted with the Title bestowed on Lewis Grandchild to this Gaston and to his Posterity though there hath not wanted a successive regret and murmur in this Family to be thus excluded from the Spanish Diadem It is customary for this House at the Coronation of the Kings of Spain to put up a Petition to the Prince wherein they exhibit their Claim to the Spanish Scepter that at the least upon the Defailance of this Family now Reigning the stream of Soveraignty might flow back into this House to which demand the King subscribes this Answer Despois Nos Voâ— After Us You And sometimes No est lover There is no place for him Thus have I in a compendious Prospect represented the Fate which attended on the Stock and Lineage of Ferdinand de la Cerda I shall now trace out what Vicissitudes waited on Sancho the third from whom the Scepter of Castile and Leon by the unbroken Thread of Succession came to be swayed by the Hand of his Grandchild Pedro the Cruel who was expulsed out of the possession of his kingdoms by the procurement and influence of his natural Brother Henry Earl of Transtamare because of that havock and ravage his savage Executions had acted both on the Nobility and Populacy who after the discarding and Renunciation of him was by the Favour of the People advanced to the Crown of Castile and Leon but his Son John the first finding that his Title was established but upon a crazie Foundation unlesse there were some more powerful Buttresses to sustain more to fortifie his claim matcht his Son and Heir Prince Henry to Catharine Daughter to John of Gaunt by Constance one of the Daughters of Pedro the Cruel and so twisted the two differing Titles into one and from him did the Diadem devolve to his Great Grandchild Henry the fourth who going out without Issue Male Isabell his Sister and sole Inheritrix being Wedded to Ferdinand Son to John King of Aragon incorporated it with the Patrimony of his Crown and Scepter but both these Princes dying without Issue Male Joâ—n their onely surviving Princesse of Castile Leon Granadâ— c. and of Aragon Navarre Sicily Naples c. by espousing Phillip Arch-Duke of Austria and Lord of Belgium fastned these vast Territories into one Body the Ciment which knits them together hath been in subsequent Ages so closely united by the combination of many reciprocal Leagues and Marriages that they are still the Demeasne of the Austrian Family and particularly the Scepter of this Kingdome is lodg'd in the Hands of Phillip the fourth now Monarch of Spain PORTUGALL PORTUGALL is bounded on the North with the Rivers Minio and Avia which seperate it from Gallicia on the South with Algarue on the West with the Atlantick Ocean on the East with the two Castiles and Estremadura The ancient Inhabitants were the Lusitani and from them the Name of Lusitania was imposed upon it but though these were the principal yet the Celtici and Turditani who dwelt on the South-side of Tagus and the Gallaici Braccarii so styled from the Gallaici Lucenses who were Proprietaries of Gallicia and who inhabited on the North of Duero were entitled to a considerable part of the possession of it It was at first by the successful Sword of the Romans made Subject to their Empire but when their Power began to sink under the Impressions of those barbarous Nations who had so fatally assaulted them this was extorted from their Jurisdiction by the Alani but continued not long twisted into their Acquists for the Suevians breaking in upon them supplanted the Contexture of their newly obtained Conquests and forc'd them to dislodge and tamely to surrender their Interest here to them but a usurped Right can have no solid Foundation to establish itself upon for not long after these new Invaders were cast out from their new encroachments by the prosperous Attempts of the Goths but they again sunk in ths Ruins of Spain particular Lamentations are not distinguishable in universal Groans when the Moorish Invaders by a publique Conquest made the Liberty of Spain stoop to their Commands and Successe and after it had for some Ages groaned under those Fetters they imposed upon it it was rescued from its servitude by the noble Conduct of Henny of Lorrain to whom as a just Recompense of his Vertue and exemplary Services Alsonso the sixth King of Leon espoused his base Daughter Teresa and with her to improve her Fortune transmitted that part of Portugall which he and his Ancestors had by some auspicious Conquests rent from the Moors and and to make his Bounty more conspicuous he Invested him with the Title of Earl from whom it came by Descent to his Son Alfonso who by the Soveraigns of Leon was as Guerdon to poize both his Valour and his Virtue and that testimony of an excellent Courage he exhibited at the Battle of Obriquâ— Anno 1139. he Governed as Earl and King seventy two years and managed his Scepter with that Art and Prudence that at his Decease he made his Exit with the Fear and Reverence of his Enemies and the Adoration of his Friends And from him did the Diadem of this Kingdom descend to Alfonso the Wise who by a successful Conquest inlarged the Dominions of Portugall and wrung the Kingdome of Algarue from the Moors of Morocco who had before supplanted the Moors of Sevill and so broke the Power of Aben Mefad one of the most Puissant Princes of this Track that most of the Towns and petty Governours became by a subordinate Vassalage subject to the Scepter of Portugall and having thus entwined the Right of these two Provinces he transmitted them to his Grandchild Pedro who left Issue Ferdinand the first in whom the Male Line of Hen. of Lorrain determined so that the Right both of Portugall and Algarue was concentered in Beatrix his Daughter who was disseised of her Title to the Crown by her Uncle John Natural Son to Pedro above mentioned who having thus dislodged her from the Throne by ill Arts and dark Stratagems disdaining to be tir'd down by any bordering Title by an unlawfull Disherision diâ—carded and cast out the remaining Lawful Issue of his Father Pedro and having thus by these crooked Designs grasped the Scepter and empaâ—'d his Temples with the Diadem of Portugall and Algarue he to fortifie and support his unjust pretensions Match'd with Phillippa Daughter to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster with whom so many noble English Families enter'd Portugall that most of the Eminent Houses of this Nation spin out their
Extraction from them at this Day And this John the first had by this Alliance Alfonso the fifth and John the second successively Kings who both Deceasing without any Issue surviving Emanuel Son to Ferdinand Duke of Visâ—o third Brother to these two Monarchs ascended the Throne of Portugall and from him it descended to his Grandchild John the fourth who upon his Decease left it to be enjoyed by his Son and Heir Don Sebastian who being unhappily slain in the Fatal Battail of Alcasar which stained the Feilds of Africk wiâ—h so much Blood Henry third Brother to King John above mentioned and Unclâ— to this Sebastian put off his Cardinals Hat to adorne his Head with the Diadem of Portugall but he being Aged and Impotent his Hand was too weâ—k to Manage or sustain a Burden of that importance as the Royal Scepter long so that being assaulted with Cares and over-laid with Years after some short Time of his assuming the Crown shrunk into Ashes and paid that Debt we all owe upon his Decease several pretended a Title to this Diadem Lewis second Brother to King John above mentioned died without any Lawful Issue but left Antonio Christopher and others begot in unlawful imbraces Antonio fixt his Claim upon a pretended Act of Legitimation from the Estates of Portugall but there were Titles which appeared more specious and plausible which stav'd his off for Edward the fourth Brother to King John though he concluded without Issue Male yet he left two Daughters and Co-heirs Mary wedded to Alexander Duke of Parma and Catharine Matched to John Duke of Braganza and the two Aunts of the Deceased Sebastian namely Mary was espoused to Charles the fifth and Beatrix was married to Charles Duke of Savoy from both which Alliances there proceeded Issue so that now the Controversie was whether after the Decease of Cardinal Henry a Brothers Daughter or a Sisters Son had the more fixed and established Pretence to the Crown and Scepter of Portugall and when this Question was begun to be winnowed by the Civill Lawyers the Duke of Alva to endear himself to his Prince who was Phillip the second King of Spain and Son to Charles the fifth and Mary above mentioned and to assoile himself from that Stain his stupendous Massacres in the Netherlands had contracted perswaded his Master to cast his Claim upon no other Debate but the Umpirage of the Sword and this counsell had so great an Operation upon him that he employed this Duke and a puissant Army under his Conduct to assert his Title to the Diadem of Portugall the Effects of which Invasion were so visible that after some Trivial Opposition made by the Portuguees who were broken and split into Division and Faction the whole Kingdome stoop'd and resigned it self up with a Restriction to havs its original Franchises preserved and supported to the Dominion and Scepter of Phillip the Second and under the command of his Successors it continued untill the year 1640. and then by the Arts and dark Engines of Cardinal Richâ—lieu the Negligence and Supine inadvertency of Conde d'Olivarez and the ill managery of Affairs in Portugall it self by the King of Spain's Ministers that Kingdome was torn off by a total Defection from the Crown of Spain and the Scepter placed in the Hand of John Duke of Braganza who was with the publique Applause of the people acknowledged for King by the Name of John the Fifth and upon his late Decease this Kingdome is come to confesse Alfonso his Son just Heir to his Dominion and Scepter Leon and Oviedo THe Kingdome of Leon and Oviedo is bounded on the East with Biscay on the North with the Main Cantabrian Ocean on the South with Castile on the North with Galicia The ancient Inhabitants were the Astures from whence the name of Asturia was imposed upon it and were divided into the two general names of the Augustani and Transmoâ—tani in which the particular Tribes of the Pesici Gigari Zoelae and Lanciâ—â—sâ—s were involved and circumscribed It is divided into two parts Asturia de Oviedo confining on Galicia towards the West and Asturia Santillana approaching Biscay towards the East From which Divisions thus approportioned the eldest Son of the Monarch of Spain is styled Prince of the Asturias which Denomination some probably conjecture was derived from this Foundation that this Countrey was the first that like a Dam stopt the Current of the Moorish Fury which before like an impetuous Inundation carried down all before it though other Spanish Writers of Authentick credit refer the rise and original of this Appellation to that time which was cotemporary to the Match of Catharine Daughter to John of Gâ—â—nt and in Right of her Mother Constance the indisputable Heir of Castile unto Henry Son of John the first then planted in the possession of the Kingdome of Castile it being then assented to more to improve the Honour of this married pair that as the Heir apparent of England is styled the Prince of Wales so the eldest Son of Castile should be named Prince of the Asturias It was first conquered by the Romans and by Augustus Caesar made parcel of the Province Tarracoâ—ensis and part afterwards of the Province of Gallicia by the Emperor Constantine torn it was from the Roman dominion by the conquest of the Goths and from them again it was extorted by the invading Moors though they were not long after supplanted For as the Lust of Roderick excited the injured Count Julian to call in the Moors so the intempered and disordered Lust of Magnutza a Moorish Viceroy engaged him to ravish the Sister of Prince Pelagius whilest he had embarqu'd the said Prince in an Embassy to Musa the Moorish Generall who being a person of noble pretensions and daring Hopes at his return to expiate this Dishonour and Infamy with which his Family was bespattered to assoil this Stain he gave up the life of this Viceroy as an Oblation offered up to the Justice of his Sword and the Price of so great an Insolence and Lust Despairing of pardon for this Act he flew to defensive Arms as his noblest Sanctuary and fortified himself in the most inaccessable Retreats of this Country to which many of the old inhabitants resorted and having prospered under his Command elected him for King by the Name of King of the Asturias though after he had reduced the City of Leon he assumed the Title of King oâ— Leon and left it to his Son Fasila who dying without Issue it devolved to Alfonso for his piety sirnamed the Catholick who had wedded Ormisind his Sister and he had Issue Froilla the Repairer of Oviedo Aurâ—lius and Odesin matched to Sillo who after the Decease of the two others was King of Leon after whose Exit the Crown of Leon was unjustly usurped by Mauregate natural Son to Alfonso in which violent detention he was supported by Aderamen King of the Moors who was obliged to this supply by an infamous stipulation transacted and
ingrateful and unworthy Tuition they had been entrusted by their confident but unwaâ—y Father were forced to seek shelter in the most desencible places of the great Forrest of Ardenne where they established the great Earldomes of Ardenne and Mosell Divided in succeeding Generations into many parcels of which this was one Who the first Earls were because Ancient Records are dim in that particular is incertain Albert who was Co-temporary to Hugh Capet and Matched with Irmingrade Daughter of Charles of France and first Duke of Lorraine is represent in very old Registers to have been Earl of this Province and he was Grandfather and as some Authors assert Father to â—eter Earl of Namur in whom the Male Line determined so that his Daughter and Heir by Espousang Henry the second Son of Baldwin the eighth Earl of Flanders and Hainault which Henry was Emperour of Constantinople likewise after the death of his elder Brother Baldwin the ninth Earl of Flanders and Hainault brought this Earldom into that Family and from him it descended to Yoland his Daughter who Wedded Peter Earl of Auxerre who also succeeded his Father in Law Henry in the Empire of Constantinople and he supported by a Right derived from Her was entitled to this Earldome and upon his Decease Philip his younger Son as being then in the Netherlands entered upon it as Earl but he dying without Issue John his elder Brother who at his Fathers Decease was at Constantinople and there made his Claim was entitled to it but he likewise making his Exit without Issue it devolved to Philip the second Brother to Henry the Emperour above mentioned and the likewise determining without Children it was transmitted to Margaret one of the two Daughters and Co-heirs of Baldwin the ninth as Heir General to this Philip and she setled it on her third Son John sirnamed of Dampierre upon whose Decease his elder Brother Guy of Dampierre entered upon the Earldome and left it to his Son by his second Wife by the Name of John the third upon whose Exit his Brother who was one of the Sons of Guy de Dampierre above mentioned by his first Wife was invested in the Earldome by the Style of John the fourth but he expiâ—ing without Issue his Brother by the whole Blood entered upon the Possession by the Name of Guy the second and from him it Descended to his Grandchild John the sixth who in the Year 1429. passed away his Estate here in Reversion to Philip the Good to be enjoyed by him on the Decease of his next Heir Theodore who being Infirm and going out without Issue it accordingly augmented the Revenue of Philip the Good and from him hath the steps of several Descents carried down the Title and Propriety to Philip the fourth now King of Spain Luxenbourg LUXNBOURG is environed on the East with the Moselle and the Land of Triers on the West with the Maes and the Forrest of Ardenne on the North with Luick-land Namur and a part of Hainault and on the South with the Dutchy of Lorraine It hath borrowed this Name from the Castle near the Town of Luxenbourg selected by Sigifride the first Earl hereof for his Seat and Residence The whole Dutchy is resolved into two parts that on the East having borrowed the Name of Famenne that on the West having the Appellation of Ardenne imposed upon it This Province was at first a Limb of the great Earldome of Ardenne rent from it in the Raign of Otho the first by Sigifride the Son of Ricâ—inus Prince thereof who in the breaking the Estate by Division into paâ—cels had this consigned for his Portion with the Title of Earl Of his Successors Gilbert Godfrey and Conrade there is little represented to us by ancient Record in a constant order of Succession until the Time of Henry the first who being slain in the Cause and Quarrel of Renald Earl of Gueldres contending with John Duke of Brabant for the Dutchy of Limbourg this Province descended to his Son and Heir Henry the second who by the Influence and procurement of his Brother Baldwin Elector of Triers Emperour of Germany and he had Issue John who Matched with Elizabeth Daughter of Wenceslaus the Elder King of Bohemia the Respect had to that Alliance was so operative upon that Nation that he was in the Life Time of his Father by their Election advanced to the Scepter of that Nation And he had Issue Charles who was Emperour of Germany the fourth of that Name and likewise King of Bohemia and Wenceslaus the first who was created Duke of Luxenbourg by his Brother Charles the Emperour to inlarge and multiply the Grandeur of their Family but he Deceasing without a Successor this Dutchy again was united to the Patrimony of Wenceslaus who was eldest Son to Charles the fourth and was Emperour and King of Bohemia also and to him Succeeded his Brother Sigismund who was invested in all his Estates and adorned with all hâ—s Titles as namely Emperour King of Bohemia and Duke of Luxenbourg but grew more considerable when he Matched with Mary Heir of Lâ—wis the first King of Hungary by which Alliance that Diadem likewise encircled his Temples and he the better to fortifie his own Family with external Butteresses by a munificient Donation enstated this Dutchy on Elizabeth Daughter to his younger Brother John Duke of Gortlitz which endowment of his fitted her for the Bed of Anthony of Burgogn Duke of Brabant after whose Decease she was remarried to John the third Earl of Hainault and Holland but having Issue by neither of them she by Sale conveyed her Concernment in this Dutchy to Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy 〈◊〉 whom several Descents hath conducted the 〈◊〉 down to Philip the fourth now King of 〈◊〉 Brabant BRABANT is bounded on the East with Luickland on the West with the River Scheld and a part of Flanders on the North with the Maes which separates it from Holland and Guelderland and on the South with Hainault Namur and a branch of Guelderland The ancient Inhabitants of this Province were the Aduatici and some part of the Tungri by the Romans reputed a Limb of that Province called Germania Secunda and by the French a Province of the Kingdome of East-France or Austrasia the Southern parts thereof Confining on Hainault were subservient to the Command of the Earls of Ardenne the Northern parts extending towards the Sea were miserably harrassed with the Depredations of the Danes and Normans and therefore for their future Indempnity were committed to the Custody and Protection of one who had the Title of Lord Warden of the Marches But long these Robbers had not laid this Province Desolate with their wilde Depopulations when their Rapine met with a just Expiation for Theodebert Son of Theodorick first King of Austrasia accompanied with Utilo a Boiarian Prince so check'd their Insolencies and retrenched their Eruptions by seve al Defeats that Theodorick at the request of his Son Theodebert to ballance
North to the Mountains of Sierra Morena and Castile and on the South with the Ocean the Straits of Gibralter and the Midland-Seas It extracts this Denomination from Corduba the Principal City and did anciently enwrap with its Limits Andalusia Gades Estremandura and Granada of which last I shall speak more hereafter The ancient Inhabitants of these Provinces were the Turduli the Bastu'i the Yurditani of Andalusia and Granada the Celtici and some part of the Lusitani all which were reduced to the Roman Obedience and contributed to the making up those Triumphal wreaths which adorned the Temples of Scipio African about the Commencement of the second Punick Warre From the Romans the Seignory of these Provinces was ravished away by the Vandalls who passing over into Africk there to multiply their Conquests to a larger Extent transmitted it to them but they were scarce planted in their new Patrimony but they were disseised by Theodorick the Fourth King of the Goths who by these Victorious Atcheivements made all Boetica augment the Grandeur of his Diadem under the Scepter of whose Successors it continued constant untill the Fatal Eruptions of the Moors who having by perpetual Conflicts and Inroads enslaved almost the whole Continent of Spain were first subservient to the Commands of the great Caliphs who spread their Rule over the Saracenical Empire commanding here from Ulidor Ulit by whose Influence and reiterated Supply they perfected their Triumphs over the Goths Anno 714. to Abdalla Anno 757. at what time Abderamen of the Line of Mahomet the Impostor declining by flight the Fury of Abdalla by whom the ancient Line of the Caliphs of the Race of Humeia from which Stem this Abderamen was extracted had been devested of the Empire sought for shelter in Spain and was with many Symtomes of Joy and other unusual carresses received by the Spanish Moors entirely devoted to his House whose Government upon his shaking off all dependance or subordination to the Caliphs or Mahumetan Emperours he wholly assumed to himself In his Line the Title flowed with an even and undisturbed Current untill it streamed down to Hizen the Second after whose Decease the Scepter of Corduba seemed to be broken to pieces by the surprizal or encroachment of subsequent Usurpers and Pretenders the last of which was Mahomet the Son of 〈◊〉 after whose Exit the Body of the Carduban Monarchy having evaporated its most vigorous and most active Spirits at those wounds the successeful Swords of the Kings of Castile and Leon had inflicted on it languished into decay and fell to peices the Fragments of which dissolved Monarchy were gathered up by several Royolets and erected into new Principalities as namely one started up at Sevill another at Toledo a third at Valentia and a fourth at Corduba After this great onset made on the Monarchy of Corduba which so broke the Scepter and disordered the Diadem made now contemptible and cheap by the tearing off so many Provinces from its Seignory and Jurisdiction the Series of those Princes who were Successors to Mahomet above mentioned is so ravel'd and discomposed that there is no Track in the Registers of History made visible to us by which we may persue their Remembrance only several petty and inconsiderable Tyrants by an unjust Usurpation endevoured to grasp the Scepter but their Arrogance and insolent comportment so disgusted and disobliged the people that to rescue themselves from that Load of Oppression which with so Calamitous a pressure sat heavy upon their Lives and Fortunes they called in the Miramomolins or Kings of Morocco who so nobly asserted the Peoples Liberties that all those Roytelets were totally by them subdued Under seven Princes of Morocco did the Government of these Spanish Moors continue unbroken that is to say from the Entrance of Joseph Telephin in the Year 1091. unto the going out of Mahomet the Green in the Year 1214. During which Interval of Time which made up an Account of an Hundred and twenty years their Affairs and Designs were so well managed by the Conduct and Inspection of these active Chieftains that they lost nothing but Estremadura which was snatched from them by Alfonso the Second King of Castile and Leon and the City of Lisbon torn from them by Alfonso the First King of Portugall But Mahomet the Green being discomfited at Serra Morena by the Forces of the Christians concentered and knit together in in a joynt Confederacie or Combination about the Year 1214. was so dispirited with this disastrous Successe that he made an obscure Retreat abandoning all that Care which might have oblig'd him to a farther defence of this Monarchy after whose Recesse this Kingdome was once more split and dissolved into divers Principalities and small Royalties almost equal to the number of great Towns which after various Contests were incorporated into that Regall Patrimony which bowed under the several Scepters of the Kings of Castile Aragon and Portugall but the Kingdome of Corduba having too crazy and infirm a Foundation to support a Fabrick so ruinous and tottering sunk into its own Ruines being pluck'd asunder by the victorious Hand of Ferdinand the second King of Castile in the year 1236. who afterwards fastned to that Revenue which owned the Jurisdiction of that Crown and Scepter where the Title hath remained ever since so fix'd and permanent that by the Steps of several Descents it hath been conducted down to confesse the Power and Authority of Philip the fourth now King of Spain GRANADA GRANADA is circumscribed on the West with Andalusia on the East with Murcia and the Mediteranean on the North with New Castile on the South only with the Midland Sea This Kingdome was a Limb of the Kingdome of Corduba being still wrapp'd up in the Fate of that having still the same Inhabitants cultivating its earth and the same Conquests retrenching its Liberty so that it was sacrific'd as an oblation to the Sword of the invading Moors and Sarazens But when the Castilians by many signal Encounters had so dissipated and rent asunder the great Kingdom of Corduba that it appear'd to be split into Parcels this was seised on by Mahomet ben Alhamar or Alcamir who so vigorously asserted the Interest of the Moors even in their declining Fortune that he made this Province part of his own Endowment and Patrimony and vvas by those persons vvhom he had so gallantly shadovved vvith his protection advanced to be the first King of Granada though he vvas the last of Corduba of all the Kings subsequent to him the Spanish Records affords us so dim a Beam that we wander in the dark when we endevour to trace out a just and successive Series of them for Civil Contentions and intestine Animosities like a private Moth did so fret into the Title that it was no longer stable than the power of the Sword did support it nor indeed could it be but expected that the Foundation of a Monarchy fixed on so great a Ruine and whose Fabrick
Conquerour so disgusted his Allies and Relations that to decline the Tempest which menaced him he retired into this Kingdome for shelter and after many Conflicts commenced with the Sarazens by a Fortunate Managery of the Christian Quarrel he contracted their Power into narrower limits but being supplied with new Recruits the Sarazens not onely reinforced their Animosities but Hopes also until Tancred and his twelve Sons arriving out of Normandy with fresh Supplies after many signal encounters wholly supplanted the Interest that these Infidels had in Naples but though these Invaders were thus dissipated yet the Greeks remained dis-satisfied and gave new occasion of War and Trouble to these Norman Conquerours under the Command of Melorco Vicegerent of this Province under the Grecian Emperours but the Affairs of the Normans were so well swayed and ordered by the Care and Prudence of William Son to Tancred above mentioned that this new Emotion was extinguished by the Defeat of Melorco and the Troops marshall'd under his Conduct but this Discomfiture did not so totally dispel the Tempest but that there were new Clouds collected together to disorder and ecclipse the Glory of the Norman Conquests which in fine were so wholly dissipated by the active Courage of Robert Guiscard another of the Sons of Tancred that the Greeks being absolutely crush'd and subdu'd the Reliques of the Sarazens extirpated thrown out he justly merited in the Annals of succeeding Times the Title of the Conquerour of the Kingdome of Naples and he bequeathed this Province with all its Perquisits and Appendages to be enjoyed by his second Son Robert Guiscard Earl of Sicily who in the Year 1125. by the Favour and Influence of Anacletus then Pope had the Title of King of Naples conferred upon him and his Son William received the Crown with this Restriction that he should hold this Diadem as a Donative from the Pope and in Homage of the See of Rome and in the Hands of his Successors did the Neapolitan Scepter remain fixed until it came to be weilded by William the second who upon his Decease left Constance his Daughter his onely Lawful Issue and Tancred his Natural Son the Issue of unlawful Embraces and he by the concurrence and support of his Faction so managed his Designs that he invested his Head with the Crown of Naples to the prejudice and Disherision of Constance the Lawful Heir but disdaining to acknowledge the Pope for Soveraign of the Fee the Pope to retaliate this Affront Matches Constance to Henry the sixth Emperour of Germany and by opposing the Right of his Empresse to the distorted and Usurped Title of Tancred so crippled his Authority and Power that finally after many Contests and Bloody Decisions the Scepter of Naples came to be swayed by Henry the sixth abovesaid but his Successor Frederick the second embarquing in the former Contrast with the succeeding Popes in Relation to the Soveraignty of Naples disclaimed and renounced any Homage to the See of Rome which so inflamed that Bishop that he collected all supply that the Engins borrowed either from Strength or Art could contribute to vindicate his pretended Right to the Soveraignty of Naples yet was he thwarted in his endevours with such vigorous Opposition during the Government of Frederick the second abovesaid Conrade his Son Manfred his Natural Son and Conradine Grandchild to Frederick nothing was effected of Importance which might afford any support to the accomplishment of the Designs of the Popes for the time being so that Pope Innocent the fourth to Fortifie his Attempts with Forraign Succour presented the Kingdom to St. Lewis King of France for his Brother Charles Count of Anjou and Provence who had the Repute of an excellent Souldier and an experienced Commander and about the Year 1264. which was two years after Pope Urban the fourth invested him with it he to assert his Interest Commenced a War with Conradine King of Naples and having put his Title to the Umpirage of a Battel after a Bloody Debate took this Conradine Captive and made the forfeiture of his Head expiate its wearing that Diadem which the Popes Donation had before by a pretended Investiture entituled him to and having thus fixed the Scepter of Naples in his own Hand he left it to be swayed by his Son and Heir Charles the Lame who by Mary his Queen Inheritrix of Hungary had Issue Charles surnamed Martel who had his Mothers Kingdom assigned him for his Subsistence or Portion Lewis his second Son who assumed Holy Orders and Clowded all his earthly Glories in the Cowle of a Franeiscan Frier and afterwards was Bishop of Thoulouse Robert his third Son was by the Munificence of his Father entitled to the Inheritance of the Kingdome of Naples There were other Sons who had other Lands consigned them in Appennage for their future support and Alimony Robert abovesaid had Issue Charles who dying without Issue Male in his Fathers life time left onely a Daughter and Heir called Joane who after the Decease of her Grandfather Robert came to Manage the Neapolitan Scepter and this is that Joane so Famously Infamous in the Annals of Naples for the probable Assassination of her first Husband Andrew and other wilde Disorders which have cast so dark a Tincture upon her Fame that though some have endevoured to wrap up her Guilt in a modest Covering yet the Blacknesse of her Life is visible by an indelible stain through all those Veils the Industry of Flattery attempts to fold it up in But to proceed about the Expiration of the Raign of this Ioane which was about the Year 1378. the Church of Rome was Disordered by a remarkable Schisme for Urban the sixth being made Pope the Violence of a predominant Faction a considerable part of the Conclave of Cardinals Elected Robert Cardinal of Geneva by the Name of Clement the seventh Queen Joan being warped with Animosity against Urban who was born under her Dominion and Scepter made her self a Partisan in the Cause and Quarrel of his Adversary and Competitor Clement Her Crime contracted from the Slaughter of her Husband Andrew had been long entombed in a Pacification transacted in her Favour by Pope Clement the sixth with Lewis the Great King of Hungary Brother to Andrew abovesaid But Urban the sixth to recompense her for those Disservices with which she had disobliged him again raked into her Guilt and incensed Charles of Duras of the House of Hungary to expiate the former Murther by a just Revenge and this Prince inflamed by his Instigations came and Beseiged her in Castello del Ovo and having reduced her and that Fortresse to his Discretion strangled her in or near that place where she had acted her Barbarous Parricide on her first Husband Andrew Charles of Duras having thus destroyed this Infamous Princesse seised on the Neapolitan Diadem which did not sit so fast on his Temples but that it was shaken by a Concurrent Title for Joan not long before her Death to
instant confesses the Seignory and Title of the Descendants of Leopold Brother to Ferdinand the second Duke of Gratz and Emperour of Germany Bohemia BOHEMIA is encompassed on the East with Moravia on the West with the Upper Palatinate and Voitland on the North with Misnia Lusatia and some part of Silesia on the South with some parts of Bavaria and Austria The first Inhabitants were the Marcomanni and Quadi mingled with the Boiari Marsigni Burij and Gothini who upon the wane of that Power and Splendor which ennobled the Roman Empire were disseised of their ancient Patrimony in this Kingdome by the Sclavi a Nation Inhabiting the Banks of the River Ister a People very Obscure in their Original and in their Country until their Successes dispelled that Mist which hung about them and made them more conspicuous Under what Form of Government they modelled themselves after their Atchievement of this Kingdome is not obvious from any Ancient Record or if they did erect any Frame it was swept away by new Squadrons of Sclaves Croatians and other scattered Nations who under the Conduct of Zechius a Leader of great estimate like an Inundation broke in upon them which Zechius with his Brother Leches about the Year 640. were expulsed out of Croatia for some Offences of a dark Complexion there acted by them and being very acceptable to the Sclaves of Bohemia who viewed him as a Prince extracted out of the same Cradle and Seminary with themselves and one of the same Language concerned in the same Laws and conformable to the same Customes with their own they Adopted him into the Supreme Government of this Province But after his Decease the Estate crumbled into the Confusions of a disordered Anarchy until Crocus about the Year 670. recollected the broken pieces into shape and Order and from his Justice and Integrity in the Administration of the Publique Affairs acquired the Name of the Bohemian Law-giver after his Exit the Bohemians resigned themselves up to the Government of Libussa his youngest Daughter but her Hand being too narrow to graspe the Affairs of State her Subjects made choice of Primiâ—â—aus and by Matching of him to her devolved the Government on his shoulders and in his Posterity the Supreme Authority was resident who were adorned with no other Title but sometimes Governours and sometimes Dukes of Bohemia until the Rule of Ueratislaus Brother to Sbtignâ—us who about the Year 1086. was for his Worthy and generous Performances in several Undertakings by the Emperour Henry the fourth at Metz invested with the Title of King which Regal Dignity was to continue Elective either at the will and Arbitrament of the Emperour or at the Disposition of the Estates and People and this is evident from several Precedents this Uratislaus left three Sons who were devested of the Crown to give way to Conrade Brother to Uratislaus who by the suffrages of the People was Elected King and after his Decease Brecislaus Son to Uratislaus to the prejudice of hiâ— two Sons was advanced by Choice to the Bohemian Diadem and after his Exit Borivorius fourth Son to Brecislaus to the Disherison of his three elder Brothers was Elected to weild the Scepter and thus did the Crown continue in the persons of Sutopulcus Uladislaus the second Sobeslaus Brother to this Uladislaus Uladislaus the third Son to Uladislaus the second above mentioned who by the Peoples Election was advanced to the Diadem the Sons of Sobeslaus being excluded and all the Residue of their Successors until the Crown came to be placed on the Head of Ferdinand the first Emperour of Germany who notwithstanding his Latitude of Power acknowledged that the Bohemian Scepter devolved to him not by the Authority of any Intrinsique or Inherent Right or the Claim of Succession but only by the Election of the People and this his Confession was enrolled in the Records of the Kingdome and though it is certain that Maximilian his Son Rodolphus Matthias his two Grandchildren were Successively Kings after him yet not their Descent but the Peoples Election fortified their advancement to the Bohemian Diadem and though upon the Decease of Matthias Ferdinand surnamed of Gratz as Adopted Son to Matthias declar'd Successor to the Crown of Bohemia by his Testament intruded upon the Throne yet being not formally and legally Elected by the People he was by the Estates of the Kingdom rejected who fixed upon Frederick Elector Palatine of the Rhine as the object of their Choice but he being betrayed by his Confederates and over-laid with the united Armies of the Emperour Ferdinand and the Dukes of Saxony and Bavaria abandoned Bohemia which was re-possest by Ferdinand in whose Descendant Line it hath been since so permanent the Peoples Election having been by Menaces and Force extorted that it is now the Possession of his Grandchild Leopoldus Ignatius the instant Emperour of Germany Silesia SILESIA is bounded on the East with Poland on the West with Lusatia on the North with the Marck of Bradenburg on the South with Moravia The first Inhabitants hereof were the Marsigni Burij Gothini and some part of the Quadi In the great partage of the Eastern parts of Germany amongst the Sclaves who had supplanted the ancient Proprietaries it was incorporated with the Dukedome or Kingdom of Poland and remained annexed unto it until the Government of Uladislaus the second who being devested of his Crown and Scepter by the unnatural Combination of his Brethren was by the powerful Influence and Intercession of the Emperour Frederick Barbarossa Seated in this Country with this Restriction that it shoul be held in Homage to the Soveraignty of Poland After his Decease it became split into parcels and was distributed amongst his three Sons and again according to that ancient Custome of Germany called Land-Skiftan which with the Saxons was transplanted into England was subdivided into so many subordinate parts which were to support the Revenue and Livelyhood of their Posterity that it became resolved and broken into fourteen Dukedomes of all which onely Oswitz and Zator continue fastned to the Crown of Poland ten of the twelve remaining being by the Power and Prudence of Wenceslaus the second and John of Luxenbourg Son to the Emperour Henry the seventh both Kings of Bohemia knit to the Patrimony of that Diadem only Suâ—initz remained under the Regiment and Administration of its own Dukes until Bogâ—slaus the last Duke by Testamentary Donation passed away all his Interest in it to Charles the fourth Emperour and King of Bohemia also so that eleven of these petty Royalties by Conquest and voluntary Concession came to be linked to those Possessions which improved the Grandeur of the â—ohemian Scepter and have still so constantly waited on the Fate which hath attended the Diadem of that Kingdome that they are now subservient to the Interest and Dominion of the Austrian Family at this instant Seated in the Imperial Throne onely Lignitz the last in the Inventory of Fourteen Dukedomes