Emperour of Greece Whose Death I have lamented when I was in my Youth When first the unhappy News arrived his Son Henry a Valiant Prince succeeded him in the Empire and his Eldest Daughter Jane in his Earldom of Flanders Their Country holds of me and is a Feudatory of my Crown as the Earl is a Peer of my Kingdom I wish I could alter the Course of Nature and that what has happened had not been that my dear Vncle the Father of my Cousin-German whose Name and Memory is of admirable Veneration in Greece could return to Life But I cannot lightly be perswaded from the belief I have of his death and the report which hath been confirmed through the course of so many Years Most humane things especially Empires subsist by the Testimony of men Tell me then for whom you would be received If for my Vncle shew it us by some authentick proof and because the thing is unexpected it will be so much the more agreeable and give me transports of joy and satisfaction when I am convinced I have wept for my Vncle without cause and for a false Opinion whilst he that I should Reverence like a Father is restor'd to me I am glad that a few short questions will make your self judge and witness in your own Cause which the World must needs know is of the greatest Importance I ask you then If my Father King Philip treated you as his Homager and whether he gave you the Investiture of the Earldom of Flanders In what place at what time in what manner and before what Witnesses did he gird on your Sword and made you a Knight And of what Order was it Who was the Wife you Married in France Who treated the Match In what place and with what Ceremonies did you Marry her for the true Baldwyn cannot be ignorant of these matters I have exactly made a Recital of all the Questions from Paulus Aemilius that admirable Historian It is very strange that he who had so well studied the Genealogies of the Flemish Lords could not tell what Wife he Married which was Margaret Daughter to the Earl of Champagne The Annals of Flanders say it was the Bishop of Beauvais President of the Kings Counsel that askt him all these questions which may be reduced to three 1. In what place he did Homage for his Earldom of Flanders 2. By whom and in what Place he was made a Knight 3. In what Place and on what Day he Married Margaret of Champagne But this Impostor as surprized with all these Questions askt three days to answer them Perhaps one might excuse a Man for not remembring several Circumstances of the principal Actions of his Life Besides such an August Assembly before so Great a King and Magnificent a Court a Subject of such consequence before an Audience no ways favourable with the Apprehension of the Danger might distract him and hinder his answering pertinently Guaguin says That speaking Haughtily to the Points in question without sufficient Proofs of what he pretended to be the King commanded him to go out of his Realm in three days but doing him no hurt because he had given him his safe Conduct This Impostor being thus shamefully Driven away retir'd to Valenciennes in Haynault where being abandon'd by those whose hopes of advantage by this Novelty had made them promise him great assistance he disguis'd himself like a Trades-man intending to have past into Burgundy hoping to find countenance and support there but he was watcht and taken on his way by a Burgundian Gentleman Erard Castenac who sold him to the Countess Jane for four hundred Marks She put him to the torture and forc'd him by his torments to Confess his Imposture He said he was Born in Champagne and his name was Bertrand de Rayns he was led through all the Cities of Flanders and Haynault where after having been shew'd to the People he was publickly hang'd at Lisle in Flanders Famâ ancipiti jurene an injuriâ The greatest part of Europe was in doubt whether the Countess justly put this Impostor to Death The example of Peter Courtney Successor of the true Baldwyn and Henry in right of his Wife Yolante persuaded the possibility of so straight a Prison as might not give him Opportunity to inform his Subjects and Friends what misfortune had befallen him The Catastrophe of this false Baldwyn happen'd in the year of Christ 1225. and of the World 5186. CHAP. VIII Perkin Warbeck OR THE COUNTERFEIT Duke of York Son of Edward the Fourth King of England THis Impostor continued longer than any of the rest and had more Chances and happy Hours The Cruelty of Richard Duke of Glocester Son of Richard Duke of York and Brother of Edward the Fourth King of England gave Henry Earl of Richmond Grand-son of Owen Tudor and Catharine of France a Pretension to Arm against him for the Recovery of the Kingdom of England which Edward the Fourth before Duke of York and Head of the Red-Rose had usurp't from Henry the Sixth Richard Duke of Glocester had also usurp't the Crown from Edward the Fifth a young Prince of Twelve years old Eldest Son and Successor to King Edward the Fourth as likewise from his Brother Richard Duke of York his two Nephews whom he unnaturally and cruelly murthered in the Tower of London in the year 1483. It was the Person of this last Richard Duke of York and only Brother of King Edward the Fifth that this Impostor Peter Warbeck commonly called Perkin Warbeck so artfully imitated for Five or Six Years time from 1494 untill 1499 putting all England into combustion and perplexity on that Subject and giving much trouble to the new Conqueror Henry the Seventh who was before Earl of Richmond Margaret Sister to King Edward the Fourth Widow of Charles the Hardy Duke of Burgundy and Soveraign of the Seventeen Provinces of the Lower Germany produced and instructed this Counterfeit to take the Crown of England if she could have effected what she had often endeavoured from Henry the Seventh Chief of the House of Lancaster or the White-Rose whom she mortally hated This is the Truth of the Story as Polydore Virgil Historiographer to Henry the Eighth relates it in the Twenty-sixth Book of his History of England This Princess a Woman of an Ambitious and Intriguing humour had conceived a great Aversion to Henry the Seventh Exterminator of the Usurper Richard Duke of Glocester The principal cause of her Hatred proceeded from the long Enmity between his Family of Lancaster and her 's of the House of York which made her continually endeavour by all means imaginable his extirpation with the satisfaction of her own Revenge in the removal of the Crown to One of her own Party But finding all her endeavours miscarried and those of John Earl of Lincoln were come to nothing her old Inveterate temper prompted her with new Expedients more difficult for Henry to prevent She met a young man at Tourney who was handsom
of a subtle with and quick Apprehension his name was Peter Warbeck but the English in Derision after called him Perkin He understood English and some other Languages was very little known being of the meanest Birth and in extream Poverty He had Travel'd through divers Countrys like a Beggar and a Vagabond Him the Dutchess Margaret thought a sit Instrument to Counterfeit the Duke of York second Son of Edward the Fourth She hid him in her House and instructed him in the affairs of England and the particular Interests of the House of York till he perfectly understood his business Imprinting her Maxims in his memory and talking properly of them persuading all that he was the Real Prince of that Illustrious Family Persons of that Quality and Birth have an Instinct not to be described to follow the steps of their Glorious Ancestors that they may deserve the same admiration and even in this she had informed him And now she understanding that King Henry was raising Men for France to assist Francis Duke of Brittain his old Benefactor believing this a favourable occasion to set her Engins at work and cause a disturbance in England she sent Perkin privately into Ireland that so this young and well-instructed Adventurer might sow the Seeds of Rebellion amongst those unciviliz'd People who were always inclin'd to Mutiny When he Landed in Ireland he so well imploy'd his time and favour there that many of the principal Irish believed his deceit and gave him the same Honour as if he had really been what he pretended promising to Arm and follow him with all Necessaries for the War This News being spread abroad Francis the Eighth King of France invited him to his Court that he might oppose him to Henry his declared Enemy who was then ready to Land in France Perkin overjoy'd at this News believing himself Blest to enter into the Familiarity of Kings repassed the Sea and came to the French Court where he was Magnificently received and had a Train of Guards appointed him But suddenly after a Peace was concluded between France and England and the King finding him no longer useful for his Purpose dismist him the Court. Being thus disappointed of his hopes he went to the Dutchess Dowager into Flanders This Princess longed to know how he had been Received and Entertained but the disappointment sensibly afflicted her yet she Treated him as if she had never seen him before which she cunningly endeavoured to persuade being overjoy'd to see him publickly Congratulating his happy return and taking a singular pleasure to hear him tell how nearly he escaped in several Countrys which he Travell'd This she did the better to persuade the World he was the true Son of Edward the Fourth her Brother and shew'd him extraordinary Respect as likewise did the Flemish Lords on her account The Deceit being hid under so much appearance of Truth as persuaded them that he escap'd death by the particular Providence of Heaven and when he was in the Power of his Uncle Richard a faithful Servant of his Fathers had convey'd him privately beyond Sea so Rescuing him out of his cruel hands and that now he would attempt to regain the Kingdom of his Ancestors The Story of so strange an Adventure was soon spread over all the Country flying into England where it past for Truth not only among the common People but even with several of the Nobility When the News came that Richard Duke of York was alive the number of the Seditious increas'd abundantly They whose Crimes or Debts made them abscond or whose Poverty hoped advantage fled into Flanders to Perkin and soon after many of the most considerable Lords entred into the Conspiracy and believed the Impostor swayed by their own rashness or by a false persuasion that this young Man was Prince Richard Son of King Edward and having a blind affection for the House of York Others through Disgust believing themselves ill rewarded by Henry the Seventh whom they had ventured their Lives for to set him upon the Throne Many through Avarice and a desire of change were driven into this Conspiracy Thus the News of Richard Duke of Yorks being alive divided England Hopes and Fears filled the minds of all men none were exempted from Trouble each measuring his Danger or Advantage according to his Interest Fancy and particular Opinion It was an extraordinary astonishment to the King and his Friends that there should be any Man in the World who had the Impudence to invent and discourse so Pernicious an Imposture which was not only improbable but lookt impossible and under the colour of Truth concealed a most Subtle and Implacable piece of Malice which he already knew many great Men in the Kingdom had a mind to give Credit to though he dissembled his Information And he foresaw this Fable might indanger the Ruin of the State if it were not early discovered to the Nation for no other than a fictitious most wicked and dangerous Counterfeit Those who delighted in War and Trouble embrac'd these Novelties persuading themselves there was no deceit in them and that the News was all true believing they should reap both Honour and Profit by Fomenting the Hopes of their Party And this being a Point of so much Importance the Conspirators sent into Flanders to the Dutchess Dowager to know of her when she thought fit that Richard Duke of York should pass over into England that they might the sooner Advertise their Friends and have them ready to give him all necessary Assistance Sir Robert Clifford and William Barklay were deputed for this by the general Consent of the rest They gave the Dutchess Margaret an account what the Creatures and Favourers of this New Duke had agreed to do which gave her an extream pleasure She assured them all that had been advantagiously discoursed of Richard Duke of York was really so shewing them the Impostor who Counterfeited the Person of Richard to a wonder Then she extoll'd his Vertues to the Skies and made admirable Report of his Princely Inclinations which were to imitate the Actions of his glorious Ancestors When Clifford had seen the Youth he really believed him of the Blood Royal and so writ to his Correspondents in England And the better to make himself be believed he assured them he perfectly remembred his Face After the delivery of these Letters they contrived a new Motive to excite the People to favour their Party They assured them nothing could be more True than the News of Richard Duke of York and this they so cunningly spread that no Author could be produced for the Report The King perceiving these Deceits not to diminish in the Peoples minds thought himsâ—lf absolutely obliged to provide for the Public Safety in which his own Interest was so deeply ingaged He knew where this design was laid and understood Cliffords Secret Departure sending Officers with some chosen Men and approved Souldiers to the Sea-Coasts for the preventing any Mens Landing in or
Occasion of so many Rebellions The King of Scotland could not in Honour yeild to deliver up a Man to Death whom he had raised and made his Kinsman So at last it was agreed that he should quit his Interest and command him out of his Dominions These Articles were agreed on and a Peace was made between them in the Year 1498. Henry King of England sent home this Spanish Ambassador Loaden with Presents and with great Thanks to his King and Queen Then was the Marriage projected of Prince Arthur the Kings Eldest Son and Katharine the Infanta afterwards Marryed to Henry the VIII his Second Son whose Famous Divorce caused so many Revolutions in the Kingdom About the same time King Henry Received two other Embassies One from the King of France the Other from Prince Philip Earl of Flanders Son to the Emperour Maximilan who renewed his Alliance with Him The King of Scotland exactly observed the Articles of Peace touching Perkin Warbeck being wholly disabused concerning him He sent for him and told him in short what he had done in his Favour but he found himself obliged to conclude a Peace with England and now was no longer in Circumstances to give him assistance or allow him his Court for a Retreat Therefore advised him to retire and hope a better Fortune Though this was a Fatal Blow to Warbeck it came not unforeseen by him who wanted not Understanding but extreamly thanked the King assuring him he could never acknowledge his Favours as he ought and desired acquiescing in his Orders After this with his Wife he went for Ireland with Intention either to go for Flanders to his Aunt or head the Cornish Malecontents But resolving on the latter he found the Minds of those People irritated by their Losses and easily engaged them to Mutiny He then gave out his Commissions and Formed his Army with Design to surprize some considerable Towns which might serve for a Refuge in case of ill Success With this intent he Besieged Exeter using all Endeavours to carry it by Assault and trying to seize the Gates for Petards nor Rams were not then in Use he brought Great Stones and Axes instead of those Engins which not taking effect he employ'd Fire and heaping Wood against the Gates indeavoured to burn them The Besieged used the same Expedient Fireing great quantity of Wood within their Gates by Flames preventing their Danger by Fire He then raised his Scaling Ladders and commanded the Attack to be made which was better repulsed many of his Men being left dead under the Walls the very Women throwing Stones and Scalding Water on the Besiegers King Henry being Informed what Danger the Besieged were in advanced with great Marches to their Assistance sending Detached Partys to declare His Coming In the mean time several Men of Quality got into the City with supplyes Amongst whom was Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire and several of his Family Peter Edgcomb and William St. Maure and other Men of Noto This extreamly perplexed Perkin he could not cover his Men in any strong Place who for the most part of them were ill provided of Armes as well Offensive as Defensive and considering he was not able to resist so Powerful Enemies as were advancing towards him he raised the Siege and Marched to Taunton where he Muster'd his Men and drew them up in Battalia of which the King hearing directed his March that way many Lords Joyning Him and giving Demonstrations of their Zeal to express and Signalize their Loyalty on that Occasion The King Commanded my Lord Brook my Lord Dawbeney and Sir Richard Thomas with a Party of chosen detached Men to begin the Charge but both his Orders and their Resolutions were needless For Warbeck through his own Natural Cowardize or believing himself betray'd ran away and left his Army flying into the Monastery of Beaulieu His Officers seeing themselves abandonned lost their Resolution and tryed to save themselves by Flight The wretched Multitude being left without a Head knew not what to do whether to resolve to dye Fighting or to Implore the Kings Mercy But choosing the latter they threw down their Armes and on their Knees begged Pardon which the King granted them For certainly if their Officers had not left them it would have cost him very dear they being resolved to overcome or dye Partyes of Light-Horse were sent every way for the Apprehension of Warbeck and the Chief of his Gang But though they missed him they took most of the others his Accomplices Some of the Searchers found Katharine Huntley Wife of Perkin with her Women Her they brought to the King who was much furprized to see so Beautiful a Lady extreamly pittying her Misfortune And considering such a Noble Prize was not fit to be the Souldiers Prey but worthy an Emperor He sent her to London where he presented to the Queen this unfortunate Lady so unhappily Sacrificed to the Humour or Interests of the King her Uncle Match't to a Villain and Impostor instead of a Legitimate Prince whom she justly Merited and not the extream Grief of seeing this Counterfeit her Husband suffer the deserved Reproaches and Calumny of the Basest Profligates The King Encompast the Monastery of Beaulieu with his Army for the better securing Perkin Not being willing to Violate the Sanctuary he himself having been protected the same manner in Bretagn when Richard the Usurper demanded him Besides such was the Custome of those days Wherefore he sent him word by the Religious Men of the Monastery that he would spare his Life assuring him of his Clemency yet nevertheless at Exeter he beheaded several of the Principal Rebels punishing many of the rest which were taken in their Flight thanking that City for their Zeal and Fidelity With Warbeck in his Power he return'd for London where the People in Multitudes Flock't to see Perkin with astonishment admiring that a Forreigner of so mean Birth should undertake by his Impostures the Overthrow of so great a Kingdome and perswade so many Princes Lords and People to the Destruction of many of the Truth of those Falsehoods he till then spread abroad both of his Person and Birth There is no doubt but that the King kept him close Prisoner and justly punish't those remarkable Rebels of Cornwall Devon and Sommersetshire for which Service he sent Thomas Lord Darcy Sir Anyas Pawlet and Robert Sherburn Dean of St. Pauls with his Commission into the West where they soundly Fined Amerced every one that had Assisted or Favoured the Rebels before or after their Defeat at Black-heath But yet with consideration of such Persons who either through Fear or by Force were compell'd to do it There happened about this time a Quarrel between the English and Scotch that had like to have renewed the War Some Scotch were observed to walk under the Walls of Norham which a little before they had Besieged and the next day doing it again the English Garrison fearing they had some Design sent
out to know their Reasons and whether they came not as Spies From Words they soon came to Blows which put the Scotch who were fewer in Number to Flight leaving several Dead on the Place At this the King of Scotland was incensed demanding the Violaters of the Peace in his Letters where he highly complain'd of them The King of England tryed to appease Him promising exemplary Punishment on the Aggressors Richard Fox Bishop of Durham being extreamly displeased that the Garrison he had placed there should give Occasion of Variance between those two Monarchs who with so great Difficulty were brought to an Accord sent his Letters to King James assuring him he might expect all possible Satisfaction This Prince who very much esteemed him honoured him with an Answer and an Invitation to come and discourse of Matters The Bishop immediately informed the King his Master who permitted him to go It was in this Visit that King James told him If He did not fear a Denyal he would ask the Princess Margaret his Master's Eldest Daughter in Marriage The Bishop encouraged his Hopes undertaking to sound the Affair without ingaging His Honour in it King Henry rejoyced at the Overture and accepted it with all His Heart It was from this Marriage of the Princess Margaret to James the Fourth King of Scotland that James the Sixth of Scotland and since King of England as next Heir Inherited the Crown of England after the Death of Queen Elizabeth in the Year 1603. Now we will declare the Catastrophe and Death of the Impostor Perkin together with that of the Unfortunate Prince Edward Earl of Warwick Warbeck's Turbulent Spirit ill brooking so strait an Imprisonment endeavoured to make his Escape and finding his Guards to abate something of their first strictness got out of Prison directing his Flight towards the Sea-side for Shipping off privately which in England after Proclamation to the contrary is very difficult He was quickly miss'd and every way pursued He carefully watching hid himself in Ditches and behind the Hedges till the Horsemen that sought him were past When despairing to get out of the Island and finding himself reduced to the utmost Distress he waited the Obscurity of the Night and got to a Monastery where asking for the Prior and throwing his Arms about his Neck he declared his Misfortune The Father touched with his Misery promised to speak to the King which accordingly he did whose Piety granted his Life without other present Punishment provided he no more attempted to escape The Counterfeit was then led in Chains to London where before Westminster-Hall he was in a pair of Stocks exposed a whole Day to the Scorn and Mockery of the People The next day enduring the same in the City where he declared his Parentage the Place of his Birth and all the Passages of his Life and by what Means he was induced to make this Attempt and from thence he was conveyed into the Tower As for Young Edward Earl of Warwick he had been a Prisoner from his Cradle bred up out of the Sight of Men or Beasts So that he could not distinguish a Goose from a Hen and incapable of doing any thing worthy of death He was nevertheless brought to it by the Crimes of Others That Age being Fruitful in Impostors an Augustine Monk called Patrick suborned a Youth whose Name we find not with Promises of Raising him to the Crown and to better Fortune than Perkin Warbeck's provided he would pass for the Earl of Warwick and but leave him alone to Act the rest Ambition had such Charms with the Young Man that he undertook it and hazarded all was desired of him So they came to Canterbury where they told their forged Adventure The Fryar declaring how dextrously he had got the Earl of Warwick out of Prison and some credulous People believing the Story But before they had time to cheat the World the King sent and apprehended the Two Sparks Hanged the Youth and Immured the Monk according to the Custom of those Times Perkin continued still the same contriving and endeavouring to break loose once more and having corrupted some of his Guards design'd to Murther the Lieutenant of the Tower and carrying the Earl of Warwick with him to get out by Force which being discovered he was by the Judges condemned for this last Action only and a few days after hanged accordingly As for the Earl of Warwick he lost his Head for listening to him and intending to Escape with him This Unhappy Prince bearing the Iniquity of his Father George Duke of Clarence who was the Barbarous Murtherer of Prince Edward only Son and design'd Successor of Henry the Sixth You may imagine the Astonishment and Affliction the Dutchess Margaret was in for the Unfortunate End of her Pretended Nephew whom she had taken such Pains to set on the English Throne by so many Impostures CHAP. IX THE COUNTERFEIT Don Sebastian KING of PORTVGAL THe first Prince that gave Beginning to the Royal Family of Portugal was Henry who Married Teresa or Taresia Alphonso King of Castile's natural Daughter in the Year 1090 having the Earldom of Portugal for her Portion The King hoping he would make as Vigorous a War against the Moors as his Brother Hugh Duke of Burgundy had done giving him that Country for a Bulwark to defend his own from those Infidels towards whom it was the Frontiers He was the Son of another Henry Duke of Burgundy Grand-son of Robert Duke of the same who was Grand-son to Robert King of France Successor to Hugh Capet I do not mind the Opinions of several Historians who are much perplext to find out of what Family and Country this Henry was Theod. Godefroy one of the most Learned and most Curious Persons of his Time first discovered this Original of the Kings of Portugal and those Famous Twins Scevola and Lewis de St. Martha have Authorized it in their Genealogical History of the House of France The Princes of this Race have held the Royal Dignity and Signaliz'd their Conduct by many Victories over the Unbelievers even beyond our Hemisphere But to give an Account of their Actions is no part of my Subject therefore I will only say They have generally held the Scepter with Great Glory and without any Interruption in the Royal Family to this very Don Pedro who now Reigns with the Title of Prince Regent no Objection being to be made except two or three suspicions of Illegitimacy so that it has always been supported by the same Blood Royal. Don Sebastian whose misfortune we treat of which gave an opportunity for an Impostor to aspire and pretend to his Diadem perswading the World he Escaped from the Unhappy Battle of Alcazer at three Years Old which was in the Year 1557. Succeeded Don John the Third his Paternal Grand-Father He was Grand-son to the Emperor Charles the Fifth by his Mother Jane In his Youth he had been under the Tutulage of Donna Catharina of Austria his
so many Pens for a Counterfeit and placed in the number of Notorious Impostors whose Lives we treat of But this is the true History Voldemar the Second Marquis and Elector of Brandenburg was the Thirteenth descended in a Right Line from Albert de L'Ours of the Family of the Earls of Ascagne who bore that Dignity From which Albert are also descended the Dukes of Saxon Lavemburg and the Princes of Anhalt Voldemar was the Son of Henry stiled Without Land who dyed in 1313. and of Agnes or as others say Matilda de Sangerhuse the two Electors John the Third and Voldemar the First who preceded him were his great Uncles whom he Succeeded He had scarcely been three years Elector when a Fit of Devotion according to the Custom of those Times perswaded him to go a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land He left his Brother John the Fourth in Possession of his Country and discharged all his Servants except two whom he reserved for his Voyage not giving his Brother his Relations nor Subjects any Account which way he travelled nor what adventures befell him in his Journey For indeed there were then no Posts in use it being difficult sending from Forreign Countrys unless by express Messengers Voldemar believed he had taken sufficient Care of the Succession his Brother being only left alive of the Eldest Branch though in a short time there had been Nineteen Persons of the same who by Wars and Inveterate contentions for Avarice and Ambition drew God's displeasure on the Family and were suddenly scattered like the Dust of the Earth He obliged his Subjects not to receive the Princes of Anhalt who were of their House of the Counts of Ascagne for this Sovereigns in Case his Brother and He should dye without Heirs This their Subjects had Sworn justly to obey and execute But it not being Authorized by the Electors nor approved in the Empire the Emperor Lewis thought he had Power to dispose of it when he should receive News of Voldemar's Death He left his Country in the Year 1322 and appeared not till Three and Twenty Years after being in 1345. His Brother who govern'd in his Absence dyed Four and Twenty Days after he departed I know not whether by Sickness or Poison However Lewis of Bavaria then possessing the Empire disposed of the Electorate investing in it his Eldest Son Lewis by his First Wife Beatrix of Poland as a vacant Fief of the Empire Most of the German Histories tell this much in Favour of the House of Bavaria as follows Rodolph Duke and Elector of Saxony design'd to take the Electorate of Brandenbourg from Lewis of Bavaria Son to the Emperor Lewis the Fourth who had Invested him in it after the Death of John the Fourth State-holder and Governor of Brandenburg in the Absence of Voldemar his Elder Brother Rodolph pretended that being of the House of Ascagne of which Voldemar was the Head He ought to possess it before any Other or at least some Prince of his Family since Two Electorates could not possibly be in one and the same Person The better to compass his Design he reported his Cousin the Elector Voldemar was alive who had not appeared in Twenty Three Years Till understanding how matters went after many Pilgrimages to Holy Places like an ordinary Man and having escap't from the Captivity and Imprisonment of the Infidels he was now returned to his Country and to personate this Prince he brought on the Stage for a Principal Actor in this Tragedy a Miller of Landrestaw or as others say of Beltztize called James Rebok a Cunning Fellow and a Subtle Lyer being near the Age of Voldemar with something of his Meen Shape as much as so many years absence the changing of his Hair the Misery and Trouble he had suffered with the Weakness of Age could allow or perswade He had Lived many Years in Saxony where he was throughly instructed in the Life and Family of Voldemar His Application and Address made his Deceit very Successful for to all Persons he seemingly gave eminent Proofs that he was no Counterfeit but the true Marquis Voldemar The noise of his Return from Palestine and Turky where he had so many Years been detained spread through the Country and all Germany over he being assisted by the Emperor Charles the Fourth who was also King of Bohemia Grand-son of the Emperor Henry the Seventh who brought that Dignity into his Family of Luthzelburg This Prince recommended him to the Cyrcles of the Empire and severely treating many of his Enemies The Occasion of his Enmity to Lewis the Elector was because he got from his Brother Henry Margaret Countess of Tyrol with her vast Fortune His other Friends were the Dukes of Brunswick Pomerania and Mekelbourg the Arch-Bishop of Magdebourg Primate of Germany besides Fifteen others The most Zealous for his Interest being those of his own Family the Duke of Saxony and the Princes of Anhalt so that he wanted very little of expelling the Elector Lewis of Bavaria Voldemar presently Summoned an Assembly in the Year 1348. The Circle and near all the Nobility of the Marquisate acknowledging him for their Prince reiterated their Loyalty and Homage being transported with Joy to see their Antient Master His Old Subjects either touched with the Misfortunes and Calamities which he had suffred or pleased with Novelty being weary of the Bavarian Dominion after having Experimented the Glory and Justice of Voldemars Family the space of One Hundred and Eighty Years They lent him Mony to acquire his Right and drive out Lewis All the Citys in the Marquisate declaring for him except Francfort on the Oder Spandaw and Brizack Lutinger observes in the Two and Twentieth Book of his Commentarys of Brandenburg that the Family of Lockhow one of the Greatest in the Marquisate continued on Lewis's Side having the Principal Commands in his Army during the War which lasted Nine Years with various Success according to the Chance of Fortune Voldemar King of Denmark whose Name seemed a good Augury to Voldemar the Elector was nevertheless quite contrary for Carion in the Fifth Book of his Chronicle says He was the First that stop'd the Course of his Victorys and prevented his absolute Repossessing his Country Cassimir King of Poland Lewis called the Roman for his being Born at Rome Brother by a Second Venter to the Elector Lewis the Duke of Stetin that Dutchy being then separate from Pomerania with many Lords of Poland and Silesia then assisted Lewis Notwithstanding which Voldemar the Assailant gain'd a very Signal Battle absolutely defeating the Army of Lewis his Rival commanded by Lewis the Roman his Brother who very hardly himself escaped The Duke Rodolph Palatin of the Rhyne with Seventy nine Gentlemen bearing Shields of Arms of which number were Forty of Poland Fourteen being of the Family of Lettizia he maâ—e Prisoners of War and Trophies of his Victory This Blow extreamly lessened Lewis's Courage and reduced his Affairs to such a Point that many
Paternal Grand-mother Sister to the same Emperor and of the Cardinal Henry his Great Uncle A Desire to Augment his Glory by setting a Moorish Prince on the Throne of Fez in Africa imitating Alexander the Great who at his Age passed the Hellespont for the Conquest of Asia Perswaded him to do the same over the Straights of Gibraltar for the Subjugating Africk his Ancestors having shewed the way especially King Don Emanuel whose Heroick Vertues frequent Prosperities and Signal Victorys had vanquish't and made Tributary several Kings in those Extream Parts of the World Chiefly by the Conduct of the Famous Don Alphonso Albuquerque and also through his Care to plant the Christian Faith which Justly made him esteemed one of the Greatest and most Happy Princes in the World The same Motives of Religion and Glory with the Hopes that Muley Mahomet or Muley Hamet King of Fez whom he undertook to re-establish in the Throne would according to his Promise embrace the Christian Religion perswaded him to this most Unhappy Enterprize and as the Marquis of Pisani then Ambassador for the Crown of France in the Spanish Court declares That he was also push't on to this Engagement by the Vnsound and Pernicious Counsels of the Jesuites I have Read in their Catechism That this Prince being a Jesuite in his Heart would not Marry they having often sollicited him to make a Law That for the future none should be King of Portugal but a Jesuite and Elected by their Order as the Pope is by the Cardinals And because this young Prince could not or to say truely durst not condescend to it though Superstitious enough they assured him that God had so ordained it as he should understand by a Voice from Heaven when he came to the Sea-side so that he several times expected it but these good Apostles for so they called them in Portugal could not so well carry on their Mummery to procure the Voice However they so followed these Impressions as carryed him into this unhappy War in the Flower of his Age being about Twenty Two Years Old This Disaster one of the most terrible that ever the Sun beheld was presaged the Year before it happened that is in 1577. by the Appearance of a Prodigious Comet seen in the Ayr when all Portugal was in Armes Nunquam visus Terris impune Cometes if you believe the Poet. I will not leave my Subject to seek further any Reasons of the War That having been at large declared by Giovanni Botero Benese Abbot of St. Michael de la Chiusa in his first Volume of his General Description of the World which was augmented by Pierre Daviti of Tournay and continued by Me in the Year 1660. Cherif Xeque King of Fâ—z and Morocco gave his Kingdoms to his Sons Successively excluding his Grand-sons Abdalla Successor of Xeque to Frustrate his Fathers Will put all his Brothers to Death who were very Numerous being born of many Wives after the Mahumetan Fashion Only Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck and Hamet sled to Constantinople for the saving their Lives and for a better Expectation of the Crown to exclude their Nephews the Sons of Abdalla according to their Father's Establishment Muley Mahomet the Son of Abdalla tryed to secure his Fathers Scepter to the Prejudice of the Substitution made in his Uncles Favour And in truth Justice was on his side it being the Natural Order of Succession However his Uncle Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck assisted by the Turks beat him three several times This made him Cross the Sea to Implore the Assistance of King Don Sebastian who moved with hopes of converting the Moores through more Zeal than Prudence and heightned by his Desire of Glory heard the Affrican Kings Protestations from whom he promised himself great Advantages for the Christian Religion for the Reputation of his Name and the Utility and Profit of his Subjects With these Notions he passed the Seas at the Head of a very Powerful Army and joyning with Muley Mahomet he gave Battle to Muley Abdelmeleck near the City Alcazer on the Plains of Tamista in the Year 1578. where to his great Unhappiness his Army was defeated with an extream Slaughter and he doing the Office of a Valiant Captain was there kill'd Though the Portuguezes have always believed and yet affirm his Escape from the Fight into Italy where many saw him as we shall after declare Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck in the Beginning of this Action was taken with an Appoplexy and carryed to his Tent where he dyed just when his Enemies were upon the Point of Flying Hamet his Brother Reaping the Sole Fruit of this Victory Mahomets Body was carefully sought for by his Order and being found his Skin was slayed off and stufft with Straw to be carryed before him at his triumphant Entry into the City of Fez. This Mahomet left a Son called Chirissi whom his Uncle Albequerin brought into Spain where turning Christian by the Munificence of Philip the Second he was made Commendator of the Order of S. James though commonly called the Prince of Morocco Some years after this King Don Sebastian came back out of Affrica But whether he were the True or an Impostor the World seems yet divided in their Opinions Daniel Hawley an Irish Man of the Order of St. Dominick called Arch-bishop of Goa when he was Ambassador in France from Alphonso the Sixth King of Portugal told me in Paris That he was fain to refuse the Licensing a Book which said This King Don Sebastian had lost his Life in that Battle of Alcazer till he had Obliged the Author to change his Language and Opinion And at this present to say That he was an Impostor and not the true Don Sebastian that returned from Affrica is forbidden and Criminal in Portugal Peter Mathâ—â—a in his History of Henry the Great in the Third Book and Mademoiselle des Jâ—â—â—â—as in the Seventh Part of her Aâ—nales Gallantes in the Eighth History tells by what good Fortune this young Prince got from among the Dead and how he wandred from the Field of Battle I will not determâ—ne any thing on the likelyhood or real Truth of the Action She says That this King though he were promised and engaged to Many the Princess Mary his near Kinswoman Daughter of Edw. Duke of Braganza and Isabel one of the Daughters of King Don Emanâ—eb fell so much in Love with Xerine Daughter of Muley Moluc who being born of a Greek was much whiter than Affricans commonly are that he promised to Marry her and underhand bring what Obstacles he could against the Dispensation to Marry his Cousin German This Moorish Princess understanding Don Sebastians Defeat whom she dearly Loved despiseing the Crowns of Fez and Morocco for the Hopes of that of Portugal and Transported with a Grief even to Despair Rann ere the Day-brake to the Plains of Tamista only accompanyed with Laura a Christian Slave her Confident resolving to Sacrifice her self with her own Hand on the Body of