King who gives it him that is created Then he returning thanks for his great honor withdraws in the same manner he came in the Trumpers sounding and so he goes to dinner Where after the second service is gone up the Garter with the rest of the Heralds cometh neer the Table where first pronouncing Largesse with a loud voyce he declareth the King's style in Latin French and English and then standing somewhat further off pronounceth Largesse again with the style of him that is newly created In which form was William Cecill created Lord Burghley 15. of Febr. 13. Elizab. Of the Viscount THis word in Latin is Vice-comes which is interpreted from the office of the person who was one cui Dominus hoc est Comes committit vices suas sive gubernationem castri saith Sir John Ferne. The Title is derived from the same Order in France which there were only first substitutes to Earls till getting themselves first in power got also to have the title honorary and hereditary between the Earl and Baron it being the same word which signifieth our Sheriffe and began not with us till about the 18. year of Henry the sixth who then created John Lord Beaumont Viscount Beaumont by Letters patent Though Sir John Fern tells us of it in the time of Henry the first and King Stephen and though the Elder sons of Dukes are styled Earls during their fathers life time so the Eldest sons of Marquesses are styled by their Fathers Vicounties and Baronies and called Lords and the younger sons saluted with Lord yet it is by 〈◊〉 only To this degree is allowed a Surcoat Mantle Hood and a Circulet without either flowers or points as in the discourse of Armory shall be seen and is created with the same ceremony those above him are Of the Count or Earl THe next precedency is an Earl called in Latin Comes and thence is an English word Count which word Comes we have from the example of the Romans amongst whom they used it for the title of sundry offices Coke defines them thus Dicuntur Comites quia à Comitatu five à societate nomen sumpserunt qui etiam dici possunt Consules a Consulendo c. But John of Salisbury who writ in the time of Henry the second says thus Comites dici à 〈◊〉 participatione And the word Earl we had from the Saxons from whence till we borrowed the word Honor we used the word Earl for gentle or noble and Ethel which was sometimes abridged to el so that of Ear-ethel it was Ear-el and by abbreviation Earl which the Dutch called Eorle Amongst the Germans they have the word Grave for it as Palsgrave Landgrave Reingrave c. from the word Gerefa by abbreviation Gereve and Grave as also Reve from whence our Shierreve or Shirriffe as some do abbreviate it Which word in the Teutonick signifies a Disposer or Director Others have That the word with the Saxons was Erlig and Ethling and used for the same office of Ealderman was before and the word Ealderman which now is writ Alderman was transferred to a lower degree who used the word also Thegon or Thaine for Baron as I said before But the word Ealderman and Ethling it seems did only signifie them according to Civill power and the word Heretoga from whence Hertshog for their Military power the former word being no more then Senior or Senator This title of Ealdermen continued for Duces Principes Comites untill Canutus reign when the word Earl was brought in and the other lost as to that Honor. What the Jurisdiction of the Ealderman in those times was and how absolute or large is to me yet uncertain though large it was doubtlesse because of the severall Offices that were under them but as it hath remained since the Conquest we find more reasonable satisfaction Their possessions were sometimes the whole Territories they derived their Title from and sometimes not but some particular 〈◊〉 or place in it We find also that both it and Thane were honorary and feudall Titles Upon the coming in of the Normans this word was turned into Comes or Count since when it hath remained And this word in the Empire was given to Quotquot è Comitatu Principis erant to all that were admitted to society of the Prince So the 〈◊〉 styled them in Warre Commilitones in the Court Comites The dignity is of divers kinds for an Earl acknowledging no Superior is equall to a Prince This Title as it continues since the Conquest is either locall or personall Locall as from the denomination of some County or other Territory and Personall that hath its being in some great Office as Earl-Marshal and the like Those locall are also simplices and Palatine which last retain the same constitution the Saxons time allowed them which is Juraeregalia or merum mixtum Imperium and could make Barons under them as those of Chester Lancaster the Bishopricks of Durham and Ely Hugh Lupus had the County Palatine of Chester given him by the Conquerour Ita liberè ad Gladium 〈◊〉 ipse Rex tenebat Angliam ad Coronam Who governed the County forty years he created eight Barons and built the Abbey of Chester Lancaster was made a Palatinate by Edward the third as says Sir William Segar and had Barons Chancery and Seal and so had the Bishopricks of Durham and Ely The office of those Barons being to sit in Councell and Judgment with the Earl To the County Palatine of Chester 〈◊〉 been Chamberlains who supplied the place of Chancellor Justices before whom the causes that should else belong to the King's Bench and Common Pleas are triable a Baron of the Exchequer a Sheriffe and other offices proportionably to those of the Crown at Westminster which being since reserved in the Crown is given to the Prince of Wales when he is created This County had this honor I conceive out of regard to the great trust was reposed in the first Earl which was to subdue and keep in order the British or Welch after the Conquest Of those that are not Palatine we find their Creation also as ancient as the Conquest William theConqueror made Alan Fergent thenDuke of Brittaign Earl of Richmond by a Patent The Creation Robe of a Marquesse Of the Marquesse THis word Marquesse at the first was used to all Earls and Barons that were Lords Marchers or Lords of Frontires and came afterward into a Title of speciall dignity between that of Duke and Earl beginning in the time of Richard the second who created Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford Marquesse of Dublin Per gladii cincturam circuli aurei suo capiti positionem The form of the Patent was then and many ages since very various but it is now regulated to one method which is the same in a manner with that of Earl only the word Marchio is put in the
place of Comes the ceremony of Creation much at one and the title hereditary the annuity money in their Patent is forty marks And here by the way I cannot but observe one note of Mr. Seldens that John Beaufort Earl of Somerset modestly refused to be made Marquesse of Dorset by Henry the fourth because the title was then so strange and new in the Kingdome The Marquesse is honored with a Coronet of gold flurred the points and flowers of equall height whereas of the Earls the pearled points are much longer then the flowers His Mantle also doubled Ermine as is the Earls also but the Earls is but of four and the Marquesses is of five the doubling of the Viscount is to be understood to be but of Miniver or plain white Fur so is the Barons the Barons of two the Vice-counts of three doublings Of the Duke The Creation Robe of a Duke Where by the way one note is proper to be understood that as he was here created without any Ceremony except the girding with a Sword so in all other degrees of honor where a lesser degree is conferred on a person of a greater there needs nothing but meer Patent without any ceremony of creation But John son to Edward the third being created Duke of Lancaster had a Cap of furre added to the ceremony and succeeding times have had the Sword Crownet and Verge of Gold a Surcoat Mantle and Hood and a Ducal cap doubled Ermin but not indented and is honored with the style of Gratious and Excellent These if they be of Royall line are reputed as Arch-dukes It is also allowed that a Duke tantum shall take place before any Lord that is both Marquesse and Earl but a Duke that is Marquesse or Earl besides shall precede him The Duke Marquesse and Earl at their creation have a sword put over their shoulders which the Vice-count and Baron have not Of the Arch-Duke THis title is of neer relation to the other but not found in any place save in the house of Austria the addition of which word Arch is from the Greek word Archos which is as much as Princeps in Latin So he taketh place of all other Dukes and he is allowed a Surcoat a Mantle and a Hood of Crimson Velvet at his Creation He hath also a Chapeau or Ducal Cap doubled Ermin indented with a Coronet about the same and an arch of Gold with an Orbe and Verge of Gold Of these titles the Duke Marquesse and Earl are esteemed Princely especially the two last These also are allowed to bear their Crests with Helmets the Beaver directly forward whereas a Gentleman Knight and Baron bare them with half the Beaver seen The Creation Robe of the Prince of Wales The Prince THe next and first immediately subordinate to the Crown amongst these radiant Stars is The Prince who in England onely is the Prince of Wales the first-born of the King These in the Saxons time were called Clitons and clitunculi from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Illustrious But since it hath been a title of creation for honor to the rising sun there were none created in the Nation but the King 's eldest son who are in all Nations honored above all other subjects and amongst some as in Spain have been called King 's during the life of their Fathers because of his so neer a relation to the Crown that if the Father dye he is ipso 〈◊〉 Rex there being no interregnum though he be not crowned In a Statute of the second of Henry the fourth it is provided that the Prince may give his honorable Liveries of signes to the Lords or to his meniall Gentry and that the said Lords may wear the same as they wear the Kings Livery and that the Menials of the Prince may wear the same as the King's menials but this hath been since abridged So likewise by a Statute of the 25. of Edward the third chap. 2. it is declared that to compasse or imagine the death of the Kings eldest son and heir is Crimen laesae Majestatis high Treason as also to violate the wife of the King 's eldest son And again see Coke 8. part 28. The Prince shineth with the beams of his Father and is holden to be one person with him Yet doth he acknowledge a reverence not only as to a Father but Soveraign and to that purpose continues that Motto which the Black Prince took up Ick dien I serve He is called Princeps quia principalis in strenuitate post regem saith Sir William Segar The first that we read of in England was Edward eldest son of Henry the third and after him the eldest son of the King hath been ever by Patent and Ceremonies of Instalment created Prince of Wales Earl of Chester and Flint being born Duke of Cornwall The Prince or first born of the King in France is called the Dauphin in Spain l' Infanta There are in other Countries Princes by Creation as the Prince of Piemont the Prince of Orange and many others but these are also now become hereditary and in some Countries all the Royall line are styled Princes When he is created he is presented before the King in Princely Robes who putteth about his neck a Sword bend-wise a Cap and Coronet over his head a Ring on his middle finger a Verge of gold in his hand and his Letters Patents after they are read His Mantle is once more doubled then the Dukes and his Coronet of Crosses and Flowers de Luce and his Cap of State doubled indented The King THe King is the next and in our Nations the highest being subordinate to no sublunary power as those of Spain Portugall and other Kingdoms of Europe and other parts of the world are He is the true Fountain from whence all these Rivulets and swelling Streams of Honor spring He is called Rex from whence the word Rego came and King amongst us from the Saxon word Koning and Kuning To say any thing of the Originall of the Government here were in vain for it is unknown onely I may say that none can produce any thing to assure any Government before it and what I spake in the beginning concerning the first institution of it universally is sufficient Besides these times have said enough to that purpose He hath ever bin of great reverence amongst these Kingdoms of Europe the very Title carrying Divinity in it being of Heavenly institution ordained by God himself the Bond of Peace and the Sword of Justice He is God's Vicegerent and to be obeyed accordingly both in Church and State If good he is a blessing if bad a judgment He is styled Pater Patriae Caput Reipub and for that the protection of his Subjects lies in his breast the Militia is annexed to his Crown and the Sword as well as Scepter put into his hand He hath power of pardoning where the Law
aged Gentlemen established to be maintained with stipends by the name of Knights of Windsor who had appointed to them robes of cloath according to the manner of the Order which were to pray for the Order Of the Knights of the Round Table in England IT is said by many writers that the Order of the 〈◊〉 was inftituted in imitation 〈◊〉 the Round Table but I can give no great assurance of it only I believe it probable enough the beginning of them both agreeing also in some kind of Analogy This of the Round Table for so much as is remaining in History appears to me to have been the most noble in the world either before or since for ought yet I can understand And pity it were the memory of it should perish as it is almost being buried in the metamorphosis of ridiculous fables and by that means only 〈◊〉 with the shadowie reputation of a Romance in the minds of many and indeed most men It was erected by King Arthur who reigned in the year of our Redemption 490. and conquered Norway Scotland and so much of France that he was crowned King of Paris as both ours and the French annals testifie Of this King many fabulous things have been writ but we may collect so much from the more serious as may assute us that without doubt many noble and beyond ordinary heroick acts were performed by this generous Prince Which caused the society of this Order to shine with so much the more splendor than the ordinary stars of this sublunary world insomuch that it is recorded in some Chronologies that at one time summoning them to a meeting at a place in Wales called Carlion or Carlignion there resorted to him ten Kings thirteen Earls and many Barons and other persons of great quality that were of the Fraternity This I have also in Sir William Segar and in a very antient Chronicle which I have seen my selfe in Manuscript in that Country which was much the same with the relations I have since met with of this Order And that these Kings were not petty Kings must be understood since there was at that time no Heptarchy or Provincial Kings but all Monarchies much in the same nature as they have been in our ages This King is generally reported by Chronologers and some of them solid too to be taken alive from the earth or at least miraculously disposed of invisibly but this is a riddle too great for me to unfold Many of them 〈◊〉 this fable I conjecture from an Epitaph that Merlin writ on him Hic jacet Arturus Rex quondam Rexque futurus Which very thing to my Judgement must make clear that he was buryed which is their argument that he was not The Order or Fraternity however was certainly in very great repute in the world and being only a banquet of Honor could not but whet the emulations of all generous spirits for none were admitted to it but such as had shewed their merit by some eminent exploit Their place of convention was Winchester where they had their Round Table and at the Feast of Pentecost they alwayes met and feasted So saith Sir William Segar in whose Orders of Knighthood the articles of this Order are set down but others are of another opinion and tell us that Windsor Castle was the most peculiar place where a Round Table was erected for their meeting being a Castle built by the same King and the Records of the place shew us as much though Winchester may sometimes have been the place according as the time of the Kings being in progresse or keeping his Court accidentally there as sometimes it was at Carleon and sometimes in the North. Knights of St. Andrew in Scotland THe Scots ever since the reign of Hungus the Pict have received St. Andrew for their Tutelar-Saint Who as it is reported in their Histories making war on the English saw in the skie a bright Crosse of St. Andrew which is in the Shape of the Saltire and in that battail after gained a very great victory From which time ever since they flye that Crosse in their Banners And from thence erected the Order of St. Andrew But I find nothing in Favin Aubertus Mereus or the Scotch Writer 〈◊〉 that can satisfie me in what time it began Only it was refined by James the fifth Who being honored with the Garter from England the Toyzon d'or from the Emperor and St Michael from France celebrated the Festivals of them all and setting up their several arms with their orders about them over the gate of 〈◊〉 erected his own also with the order of Saint Andrew in the midst which Order is ensigned with a Collar of Rue and Thistles with a Medal of St. Andrew hanging at it and this Motto Nemo me impune 〈◊〉 Of the Golden Fleece in the Empire THis Order of the Toyzon d'Or was instituted by Philip Duke of Burgundy an 1429. upon his expedition to the Holy Land in memory of Gideon who with three hundred men fought against and overthrew a mighty Army of the Midianites as Favin is of opinion Which perchance may be true he marching upon a great enterprise with a smal Army might do it to raise courage and emulation in his Commanders The Patron is St. Andrew the Soveraign the Dukes of Burgundy the number twenty four besides the Soveraign all of Noble blood Their habit is a Cassock of Crimson Velvet and over it a Mantle of the same lined with white which openeth on the right fide and is turned upon the left over the shoulder embroydered round about with a bordure of flames fusils and fleeces and a Hood of Crimson Velvet on their heads The Collar of the Order is of gold wrought with flames fusils and fleeces which they are bound to wear alwayes upon a penalty The power of making new is in the Soveraign only And who ever enters into it renounces all other orders of Knighthood unlesse the Soveraigns be Emperors Kings or free Princes To the order belongs a Chancellor a Treasurer Register and a King of Armes called Toyzon Dor. At the Collar hangs a golden Fleece And formerly there was an Impresse peculiar to it which was an instrument to strike fire with his Motto Ante ferit quà m flamma micet The Emperor Charles the fifth being afterwards Soveraign as Duke of Burgundy did much increase the Order The severall Orders of Knighthood in France Knights of the Star THis order I find of very great eminence in France called the Star of the Sea and sometimes also of the Virgin Mary It was instituted by King Robert an 〈◊〉 And himself and succeding Kings were of the Fraternity Their Ensigne was a Star which they wore was their Hoods or Caps But this Order in time grew so common and distributed so immeritorioufly that Charles the seventh as 〈◊〉 at it commanded every Yeoman of his Guard to wear a Star in like manner which the Knights seeing
Besides admit the great benefit and necessity of Laws in a Common-weal for the preserving of peace yet we must acknowledge that the peace which produced those Laws was the effect of the Sword and neither is Peace able to protect those Daws nor those Laws Peace without the assistance of Military Authority And so necessary is the profession of Arms that no Common-wealth no City no publick Society can subsist without it Aristotle when he speaketh of the constitution of a well-govern'd City in the first place calleth Soldiers the true Citizens And at the same time faith Ea Respublica tyrannidem 〈◊〉 quae fortes saptentes minimè honorat Plato in the institution of his Common-wealth appoints one sort of men far more excellent then the rest whose office should be the taking up of Arms for the defence of the other Citizens to which he allowed many privileges and that they should be more honorable than any other state of people Sir John Fern determines thus In artibus militaribus vel in actu indiffer enti data paritate Militum Doctorum c. semper praefertur 〈◊〉 Miles Doctori sic de singulis de gradu in gradum And the same Author understands this rule to extend also to the Serjeant at Law as to the Doctor at Law Neither can I any way derogate in other respects from the honor due to a Doctor at Law for they are to be preferred in the second place below a Knight that is next the Doctor of Divinity out of the respect due to the Law it self And what respect hath always bin given to it you may see by these of the Fathers Quid enim sunt regna nisi latrocinia remotâ 〈◊〉 quae est legum effectus And again Justitia regentis est utilior 〈◊〉 fertilitas 〈◊〉 solatium pauperum haereditas filiorum sibimetipsi spes futurae beatitudinis This Doctor as well as the Doctor of Divinity hath for his honor many Ceremonies and Tokens of Honor appropriated to his Creation or Commencement As first a Book in token of his Learning Secondly a Habit which is called Biretrum 〈◊〉 bis rectum Thirdly a Ring to shew how he is espoused to Philosophy and Science Fourthly in token he is a Doctor he must sit in a Chair which hath been thus described It ought to be four-square in the forepart should be painted a Young-man of great strength noting labor and love to work and to finish on the hinder part two Virgins called Care and Vigilancy on the right side a Young-man well girded carrying in his arms things of small value to signifie the mean estate of wealth and on the left a man running away to shew that the study of Science requires a volunary exile from all relations The fifth Ensigne is a Girdle about his loyns with these words Take this Girdle and gird thy loyns with a bond of Faith so that thy body may be adorned with all vertues that thou mayst seem before God and man perfect in thy degree Lastly a Kiss with these words Take the Kiss of Peace in token thou shalt ever seek to preserve the bonds of Concord in thy Faculty The next place amongst these honors is due to the Doctor of Physick which being the very perfection of naturall Philosophy and from the necessity of it in a Common-wealth is allowed the name of Liberall and not Mechanicall Science To this Profession also is admitted the bearing of Arms but in that case the Herauld ought always to be carefull to have regard in the designment to the 〈◊〉 Which bearing of Arms is the 〈◊〉 badge of all Honor as in its due place shall be set forth Neither are the rest of the Liberall Sciences debarred from the like priviledges according to the excellency of the Professors To which is adjoyned Poetry which among Antients hath been honored with the style of Sacred and Poets called Prophets by the title of Vates St. Austine give them this character Poetae Theologi dicti fuerunt cùm de diis immortalibus multa scriberent quales Orpheus Musaeus Linus How they have been honoured of Princes is evident in every Chronologie amongst which that of Alexander is most 〈◊〉 With Homer will I sleep with Honor will I wake Homer is a fit companion for Alexander The Ensigne usually given to a Poet Laureat is the Swan signifying pureness of style the Bird of Venus and consecrated to the Muses and sometimes a Pegasus as to Michael Drayton See his tombe in Westminster To this I must joyn and indeed should give the precedency to that sister-Art of Painting than which none hath received more honour in the World though too Mechanically slighted amongst us which hath been the reason we have not arrived to that excellency that some other Kingdoms have done in it For 〈◊〉 is the true spurre to perfection This hath been for its sublimity reckoned with much honour among the liberall Sciences by many Princes nay Pliny calls it plainly a liberall art whose reasons not his own onely but modern times have approved much reason there is to give it that honour since its performance is by the exact engagement of Geometry Arithmetick Perspective and indeed all points and species of natural Philosophy besides the remembrance of the great estimation it was in amongst the Grecians whose Kings many of them were proud in professing the Art And then the law amongst the Romans that no man should undertake it but such as were Gentlemen because the brain of a clown must be too durty and muddy to arrive at excellency in it They were also to be of estate that the labouring for a lively-hood might not take them off from industrious study for perfection Other examples that Princes have given of their delight in it is declared in the Ingenuity of Francis and Emanuel Kings of France and many Germane Princes since Under which genus I wish the Ingenuity of our Nations like as others would also comprize that species of Graving an art too noble to be so much slighted as it is amongst ingenuous men History also being esteemed a witnesse of time a light of truth a mistris of life and a messenger of antiquity deserves from its Country the gratefull return and reward of its merits In generall if any person be advanced by lawfull commission of his Prince to any office dignity or publique administration be it either ecclesiasticall military or civill so that the said Office comprehends in it dignitatem vel dignitatis titulum he ought to be matriculated into the rank of Gentility In the State Ecclesiasticall are Patriarchs Primates Archbishops and Bishops all which by custom of the Realme and Royall grants of 〈◊〉 Princes are invested Barons and admitted to the high Court of Parliament But more of that in its due place Also are admitted to the state of Gentility Vicars Generals Guardians of Spiritualties Deans of Cathedralls
before all other Bannerets as the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons as also before all Baronets but not otherwise And this Order was of so great estimation that divers Knights Bachelers and Esquires served under them which Title it seems in many antient Writs hath been mis-writ Barronets as in a Patent to Sir Ralph Fane a Knight Banneret under Edward the sixt he is called Barronettus for Bannerettus which Title of Baronet was not amongst us till King James Of Baronet THe Title of Baronet was erected by King James in the ninth year of his Reign He made diverse on the 22 day of May whose Patents were all of one form without any difference at all the 〈◊〉 or Argument being for the propagating a Plantation in Ulster in Ireland to which the aid of these Knights was ordained the words run thus 〈◊〉 ex certa scientia mero 〈◊〉 nostris Ordinavimus ereximus constituimus creavimus quendam statum gradum dignitatem nomen titulum Baronetti Anglice of a Baronet infra hoc Regnum nostrum Angliae perpetuis temporibus duraturum Their aid was the maintenance of thirty Soldiers in that Province for three years Their Titles were to descend to the heirs male of their body and to take place before all Knights Bachelers Knights of the Bath and Knights Bannerets the other Degree before specified being afterward made and that the name of Baronet in all Writs Commissions and Style should be added to his Surname and that the addition of Sir should precede in all mentionings of his name as the Title of Lady and Madam to the Wives of them and their Successors and that they should take place according to the priority of the date of their Patents inter se and so to their successors In which Patents also the King did engage for himself and successors that there should be but two hundred of them made and that there should be never any degree of Honor established that should take place between the Baronet and Baron and if for want of heirs male the Title in any should fall there should never be any created in their room but that the Title should diminish to the honour of them remaining and be by that means reduced to a 〈◊〉 number And afterward a Commission was ordained under the great Seal for filling up the number who had instructions also enacted among which they that desired to be admitted into the dignity of Baronets must maintain the number of thirty Foot-Soldiers in Ireland for three years after the rate of eight-pence sterling a day and a years pay to be paid in at the passing of the Patent to the Exchequer And again That they must be of good reputation and descended of a Grand-father at least by the father's side that bare Arms and have also a certain yearly revenue of one thousand pounds de claro They were to take bond also for the true payment of that maintenance and to appoint one particular Treasurer for it that it might not come into the King's Exchequer After this many being made it was also ordained by the King That they and their descendents being of full age should be Knighted and that they should in a Canton or Inescutcheon as they pleased bear the Arms of Ulster which is Argent a sinister hand and Gules There are many other Orders of Knighthood almost in every Nation some appropriated to the Country and some of more excellency as is that of the Garter whereof in another place I shall speak with the rest but these Titles have an estimated honor due to them greater or lesse according to the quality of the creator for the Knight made by the King shall be preferred before a Knight made by a Prince of meaner title So all Emperors Kings and Princes acknowledging no lawfull Superior may make Knights as also some Common-wealths as the State of Venice and Genoa The Popes also sometimes do make Knights calling them after their own names as Chevaleri de San Pedro San Paulo 〈◊〉 c. And so much for Knights may serve in this place Of Barons THis word Baron is very variously interpreted as first that it comes from the word Baria in Greek which signifies Authoritas gravis Bracton interprets it Robur belli Again saith Sir Henry Spelman the word Baro is the same in Latine with Vir whose derivation is from Vi Force and from thence Sunt alii potentes sub rege qui dicuntur Barones id est robur belli And taking of it in that sense we now understand it Sir Henry Spelman calls him Cliens feodalis and Vassallus capitalis Hujusmodi sunt saith he qui Pagos Urbes Castra vel eximiam ruris portionem cum jurisdictione acceperunt à Rege The Creation Robe of a Baron This word is a generall notion in England to all Lords of the Great Council of Parliament as it is in Naples and Lumbardy where all those Lords that are called Titulati are in generall styled Barons thus dignitas Baronalis stat ut genus This word was used by the Danes in the stead of Thane which was among the Saxons a Title of Honor and being next the King he was called the King's Thane And in the Laws of William the first instead of the Earl King's Thane and middle Thane of the Saxons times the title of Count or Earl of Baron and of Valvasor are used By which we understand it to have been though not in the same name yet notion a Feodall honor of great antiquity Sir Henry Spelman says they were such as had not onely Castles Towns or great parts of Countries in their jurisdiction but they had their Valvasores Minores I conceive for there were then Valvasores Majores Minores Milites libere tenentes Which should signifie an honor of command in the Common-wealth In France Germany and Italy Baronem vocant qui merum mistumque Imperium habet in aliquo Castro ex concessione 〈◊〉 And it hath been a common opinion that every Earldom in times past had under it ten Barons and every Barony ten Knights Fees holden of him But those Knights Fees say other Authors were uncertain for number However we find many Barons created in the times after the comming in of the Normans that held both of Knights service and of the Crown in chief which were either Spiritual or Temporall and it is certain that all honorary Barons from the Conquest till the latter time of King John were onely Barons by tenure These Spirituall Barons were distinguished from the Temporall Thane in the time of the Saxons by holding their lands free from all secular service excepting trinoda necessitas as it was called which was assistance in War in building of Bridges and Castles Which continued till the fourth year of William the first who then made the Bishopricks and Abbies subject to Knights service in chief by creation of new tenures and so
Ensign of Regall Authority was the Scepter which is every where spoken of both in the Scriptures and profane Stories There is another Ensign of their Authority which is a Globe with a Cross in use amongst us ever since Edward the Confessor which is placed in the left hand as is seen in most of their Coyns the Cross denoting his Faith and the Globe his Empire both by Sea and Land as it is said of Justinian who was the first Emperor that ever had it At the Coronation of the Emperor it is carried by the Count Palatine of the Rhine where they call it Pomum Imperiale This power dignity and state hath been enjoyed by the Female sex as heirs descending by the common right of Inheritance and not onely in our parts but many others as at this day in Swethen when there is not the least punctilio of a diminution in respect of the Sex Besides for an addition to the honor of a King there is the same state allowed to a Queen during the life of her husband as to a Queen absolute almost and is allowed a Crown She is called Queen from the Saxon word Cuningine as King from Cuning onely by variation of the gender as it was their manner in such cases She is permitted to sit in State at the King 's right hand and to keep a Court distinct from the King although she be but the daughter of an Earl But this was in the time of King Edgbert prohibited and so for a long time continued by reason of Eadburgh who poysoned her husband King Brithick of the West-Saxons And if she be the daughter of a King Superior to her husband she may retain the dignity of her father's daughter and in this case the daughter hath preceded the mother And although in these latter times our Monarchy hath been reduced under the circumference of one Crown Imperiall no others having any other substitute Governors crowned Yet formerly both Scotland and Ireland had King's distinct whilst they acknowledged homage to the Crown of England as also the isles of Man and Wight The Kings of Man were first subject to the Kings of Norway then to the Crown of England and after to the Kings of Scotland and since again to the Kings of England Dominus hujus Insulae Rex vocatur cui fas est Corona aurea coronari The Lord of the Isle is called King and it is lawfull for him to be crowned with a Crown of gold Henry the second allowed with the same honor Roderig of Conaght to be King paying a homagery Tribute The Lord Beauchamp Earl of Warwick under Henry the sixth was in the like manner crowned King of the Isle of Wight Which is enough in this place as to the Dignity of a King Of the Emperor THe originall of this Title as it was long amongst the Romans denoted onely a Generall of an Army and not till the time of Julius Caesar translated to an honorary Title who being made perpetuall Dictator took also that of Imperator into his Title which hath continued in his Successors untill this day and became Superior to the Title of King that before was but substitute under it being yearly created in January and ended in September Which great change hapned upon the Victory of Caesar against Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalia This Title was onely taken up to supply that of King which had not long before been thrown out by Brutus and was supposed by the Usurper to be yet fresh in their memories and odious amongst them and it was long after before they used the Title of King though their power were as much and the Ceremonies and Ensignes of Regality the same and the Emperor's Throne at Rome was called Sedile regni But at last it grew to be as one and then the Emperor of Rome having subjected under his Jurisdiction many Kingdoms thought it however a title of more eminence and so retained it And though the title has not been so generally appropriated to our Crown yet our Kings have been styled Emperors and this Realm of England called an Empire So have the Kings of Spain and France But it is more peculiarly allowed or assumed by the Emperors of Germany who suppose that they have a right to the government of the whole world This Empire after it was divided to Constantinople and Rome and then again that Constantinople had lost it to the Turks it was removed to Germany and in the reign of Otho the third the Election granted to seven Princes of Germany the Archbishops of Mentz Trevers Cullen the Count Palatine of Rhine the Duke of Saxony the Marquesse Brandenburgh and the King of Bohemia then called Duke of Bohemia He hath had also the Superiority allowed him by all Secular Princes and whereas other Princes of Regall Authority are crowned with but one Crown he is with three the first of Iron which he receives of the Bishop of Cullen at Aquisgrane the second of Silver which he receives at Modena from the Bishop of Millan the third is of Gold wherewith he is crowned at Rome by the Pope And in latter Ages the title of King of the Romans is given to the Heir or him that is made or chosen Heir of the Empire and he is crowned and Jura Regalia given him though not so absolute as not to have a dependence on the Empire See Mr. Selden part 2. chap 1. The Ensignes of his Imperiall Dignity are a Crosse a Launce and a Sword a Scepter a Mond and a Crown and he is styled 〈◊〉 The Emperor of Russia is not Crowned but is adorned with a rich Cap of Purple neither is the Greek Sultan but vested with a mighty rich Tulipant But there though the Emperor have no Diadem yet the Sultanesse is adorned with a Rich Crown or Diadem Thus have I run through all the degrees of Honor and with as much brevity as so copious a Theam would allow of and for matter of precedency I think the method I have taken will save me the labour and I am unwilling to trouble the brains of the Ingenuous Reader with an unnecessary prolixity onely as to Offices of State because I have omitted them altogether I shall set down their places as in Princely Solemnities they are to be disposed In which those of the Crown are to precede all other of the Nobility that are not except the Blood Royall As the Lord Chancellor Lord Treasurer Lord President of the Privy Councel Lord Privy Seal These six also are placed next the Lord Privy Seal thus according to their state of dignity that is If he be a Baron to sit above all Barons if an Earl above all Earls Lord Great Chamberlain of England Lord High Constable of England Lord Marshall of England Lord Admirall of England Lord Great Master or Steward of the King's House Lord Chamberlain of the King's House So the King 's principall Secretary being a
a condition above him For example whereof a case is cited of one Ralph Hayward Esquire and the Lady Anne Powes widow of the Lord Powes But I am of opinion that being onely an acception in Court by the Adversary of the Party this is not to be understood but in case the person such a Noble woman shall marry be no Gentleman and that she hath received the Honor she enjoyed before from the right of a former husband and not by descent of Ancestors for the words of Judge Coke run thus Si mulier nobilis nupserit ignobili desinit esse nobilis eodem modo quo quidem constituitur dissolvitur That is If a Noble-woman shall marry an ignoble husband she ceases to be Noble and in the same manner her honor was constituted it is dissolved So as by the Laws of the Nation an Adulteresse forfeiteth her Dower so also her honor of Nobility if she commit adultery either as a wife or widow or else having received honor from her deceased husband and shall so put him out of her mind as to subject her self to another by which act she wipeth both the name and memory of the former from her she hath the sentence of forfeiture against her So Sir John Fern in his Glory of Generosity fol. 62. Yet the Law is thus curious in preserving the memory of Vertue in the honor of its reward that if a woman of noble blood do marry a Churl or Clown and have issue by him she being an heir that issue shall have liberty of bearing her Coat-Armor But Sir John Fern says onely for life and that on a Lozenge Shield which is the feminine bearing with the difference of a Cinque-foile One note more I think proper in this place which is If a French Spanish or German woman be married to any Peer of this Realm or other Gentleman and be not denizoned by the Laws of the Nation she cannot claim the priviledges or titles of her husband nor have Dower or Joynter from him And thus much I think sufficient in this place as to the honor of Women and if I have said too little I wish I could have said more if too much I beg their pardons but refer my self to the Law In the next place I should proceed to the display of Armory by which the infinite number of persons are distinguisht by an innumerable variety of different Ensignes that do illustrate and appropriate their dignity and honor But by the way I have stumbled on another Theam which though it be not so much concerned in honor yet the Kingdom is much concerned in it as a Power and though I need not say much yet I cannot passe by it and say nothing Of a Parliament SOme not altogether knowing of that true constitution of a Parliament may be apt to think that its Authority is onely Supream in this Nation But let such understand that from this Argument if there were none other it is disproved That nothing can be made greater or more excellent than the thing that makes it Propter quod unumquodque tale est illud majus tale And such creatures as shall aim at a Superiority to their Creator are to be esteemed like those Angels that by the same spirit attempting the same pride precipitated themselves from everlasting liberty to eternall chains This great Council did arise from the antient custom of not onely the Saxons but all Nations in the world almost who have had examples of their King 's summoning the chief Peers and Nobles to consult in weighty affairs Which Councel among the Saxons was called 〈◊〉 which was a meeting of the chief Prelates and Peers to deliberate about and to consent to what laws the King should enact and advising in matters of State giving Judgement upon suits or Complaints in the same Court as is understood of the time of King Ine of West sexe about 711. years after Christ. And again of King Ethelbert his ordaining Decreta Judiciorum juxta exempla Romanorum cum consilio sapientum And when Edwin King of Northumberland was perswaded to be a Christian he consulted cum Principibus Consulariis suis. He called to Councell his Princes or Ealdermen and Counsellors And again King Eldred An. 948. In festo Nativitatis Beatae Mariae all the Nobility of the Kingdome were summoned by an Edict from the King as well Arch-bishops Bishops and Abbots as all of the rest of the Lords and Chief Counsellors Thanes and Ealdormen to come to London to a 〈◊〉 or great Councel to consult about affairs of the whole Kingdome As Ingulphus his words are And again in the time of Edward the Confessor the Parliament sate at London Rex omnes 〈◊〉 Magnates In which Parliament the King attaches Earl Godwin for that he had kil'd his Brother Alfred and upon his pleading and submission the King refers him to the Judgement of the Court who a long while debating it to no purpose at last Leofricus Consul Cestriae probus homo quoad Deum Seculum saith the Author spake thus Earl Godwin is a gallant Person and a man next the King of the best birth in the Land and it cannot be denied but by his Counsell or Design Alfred was slain therefore my opinion is that he with his son and all we twelve Earls that are his friends and kindred do present our selves humbly before the King loaden with as much Gold and Silver as every man can carry betwixt his arms to offer it up with supplication for an expiation of the crime Which being consented unto and done the King considering the reference he had made to the Court ratified their act and his pardon By which we see their meetings was at the Kings summons their power only deliberative in giving legall force by consenting to what he should think fit to make a Law and to advise de arduis Reipub not that this force given by them is to be understood otherwise than that because it was enacted by their consent it was the more binding over them their consent otherwise being no whit binding over the Soveraign's will in the enaction for it was his Volumus that made it and let their Consultations rise to never so powerfull votes and results be the thing what it would his Nolumus buried it in oblivion which custom 〈◊〉 ever continued as a true Prerogative of the Crown Nay avisera le Roy which is but The King will consider of it was enough to throw a Bill out of the House Nothing enacted by them though by a generall consent of both Houses of Lords Commons being of any force and that not only before but after the Commons were brought in which I find to be about the time of Edw. 1. his third year of Inauguration an Dom. 1273. Who in the 23. year of his reign confirmed the Magna Charta made by Henry the third though Mr. Selden is of opinion The first
of eight pieces Gules and Or by the name of Holland The sixth is paly-bendy Or and Sables The seventh is paly of six Argent and Gules on a chief as the field as many crescents all counter-changed The eighth is barry of six Argent and Sables indented one in the other The ninth is barry bendy Arg. and Sables Thus I have run through all the bearings of the Ordinaries both plain and in their variety together with the partitions and counter-changes I shall now as concisely lay down all the Ordinary bearings as well of Natural and Celestial things as all Sublunaries of Beasts Birds Fishes Vegetables and Artificials in the best method I can according to the Blazon of Leigh 〈◊〉 Guillim and others the best I could consult in this study Of Celestialls As for Celestialls I shall skip over some of them as Angells Cherubims and the like because they are obvious enough to every man's judgment when ever they are met with as some of these examples are also The first of these quarterings shews the example of Gules an Increscent Or by the name of Descus The second Azure the Sun in its full glory by the name of St. Cleere The third is Azure the Moon decrescent proper where the difference from the first is from the contrary position of them which is the same in the Firmament And by this rule any man at the first sight may know in what state the Moon is though he never saw an Almanack The fourth is Azure a Moon in her complement proper The fifth Or the Sun eclipsed Sables The sixth is Argent the Moon in her Eclipse Sables The seventh Azure a Ray of the Sun issuing out of the dexter corner of the Escutcheon bend-wayes proper by the name of Aldham The eighth is Gules a chief Argent at the lower part thereof the Rayes of the Sun issuing out of a Clowd proper by the name of Lesone of Northamptonshire The ninth is Azure a Comet Or streaming proper And unto these I have added one more Escutcheon of the like bearings because of the rareness of them The first is Azure Jupiters Thunderbolt in Pale Or enflamed at both ends proper shafted Saltyre-wayes and winged Fesse-wayes Argent The second Argent a Rain-bowe proper issuing out of two peteet clowds in fesse Azure The third Gules a chief Argent over all an Escarbuncle of eight staves-pommette and Florette Or which saith Guillim was the Coat-Armor of the Earls of Anjou of whom was Geoffry Plantagenet The fourth is Or six fire-brands enflamed proper The fifth Sables a bend Or between six Fountains proper by the Lord Sturton The sixth Argent a Cheveron Sables between three flames of fire proper The seventh is Sables a Star of eight points Or between two Flanches Ermin and a Canton of Ulster by Sir John Hubbart of Norfolk The eighth party per bend Crenelle pointed the one in the other Argent Azure four Crescents by couples enterlaced counterchanged The ninth Ermin on a chief Sab. three Crescents arg Of Beasts NExt of Beafts as in my opinion the most proper to order as the more noble creatures though I confesse it is contrary to Mr. Guillims Method And of those in the first place Lions as the principall of them which are diversly born and from their severall postures receive a severall character of blazoning which is cautiously to be observed as well as in other things and it is not difficult for any indifferent genius without much discourse which would but make up a tedious prolixity to little or no purpose when Verbum sapienti sat est is a Proverb in every man's mouth The first example is of Azure a Lion Rampant Argent being the Coat-Armor of Roger de Montealto who was a Benefactor to Westminster-Abbey The second is Or a Lion Sayliant Gules The third is Gules a Lion passant Guardant Or which being the Coat-Armor of the Dukes of Aquitane was joyned with the Coat of the Kings of England by the 〈◊〉 of Henry the second being before two Lions the posture and colours one then indeed called Leopards as they are most properly so called where they are not of Royall bearing if they be more then one in a field and Guardant as 〈◊〉 would have it This same single Lion passant guardant onely the colours contrary as Or a Lion passant guardant Gules says the Welch petegree was the Coat-Armor of Roderick the great Prince of Wales in the year 843. By which account Coat-Armor hath gained a great Antiquity The fourth example is of Lions passant and not guardant which is Gules two barres Ermin in chief a Lion passant party per pal Or Argent by the name of Hill of Norfolk The fifth is Gules a Lion Seiant Argent The sixth is Or a Lion Couchant Gul. The seventh is Azure a Lion Dormant Or. The eighth is Or a Lion Rampant regarding Coward Sables The last is Gules a tri-corporated Lion issuing out of three corners of the field and meeting under one head in fesse Or which was the Coat-Armor of Edward Crouchback Earl of Lancaster Lions are sometimes with the tail elevated over the head sometimes with the tail forked and sometimes you shall meet with Demy-Lions which is half Lions passant and Rampant and sometimes heads erased or couped but if Cabossed then they are ever 〈◊〉 Leopards heads as in these examples The first Azure on a chief Or a Demy-Lion Rampant issuant out Gules languid and armed of the first by the name of Markham The second is Azure three Demy-Lions passant guardant Or languid and armed Gules by the name of Hammon of Acris in Kent Now the French are so severe that they will not allow the tearms of Lion to any either Whole or Demy that are guardant but I think without reason The third is Or out of the midst of a Fesse Sable a Demy-Lion Rampant Naissant Gules languid and armed Azure Where it is proper to take notice that if it be armed or languid by any other colour than the body unlesse Gules it is a blemish to it but Gules signifying blood addes to it So it is an abatement if it be without tongue teeth or claws The fourth is Verry Argent Azure on a pale Gules three Leopards heads Or by the name of Ockould The fifth is Azure three Leopards heads cooped Or. This Coat is in the Walk under Lincolns Inne Chappel and I think is very rare The sixth is Azure a Cheveron betwixt three Lions he ids erased Ermin crowned Or the Coat-Armor of 〈◊〉 worthy Benefactor of Pauls Sir Paul Pindar The seventh is Sables three Lions tails erased Argent by the name of Cork The eighth is Gules a Cheveron betwixt three Lions paws erected and erased within a bordure Argent in a chief of the second an Eagle displayed Sables by the name of Brown The ninth is Sables two Lions paws one issuing out of the Dexter the other out of the Sinister point of the Escutcheon in
very great and plain for in some places they say it was the Queen's Garter and if so what needed then the Motto But most commonly they say it was the Countesse of Salisburies ' whom they name sometimes Alice and sometimes Joan when her name was Katherine and Mistris and after wife to the Black Prince Son of the said King as is well observed in Heylyn's History of St. George By which Froysart's error must appear very perspicuous who was the first and most eminent Author of this mighty fable Mounsier Favin in his Theater of Honor quotes Froysart and Polydore Virgil for the like account But I am apt to collect another reason from Mr. Selden's discourse an authority that I think needs no Apology and to think Edward the third being to engage a field gave St. George for the word long time before the Patron-Saint of England in which battail he gained a great victory which was about the year 1349. and at his return in the year one thousand three hundred and fifty established thisOrder to the honor of St George which agrees with the black Book of Windsor that Chronologizes it on the three and twentyeth day of April in the year one thousand three hundred and fifty being the three and twentyeth of that King's Reign And I understand not but that the addition of the Gartet might be after added to the Ensignes of the Order for the firstEnsign together with the Robes was the Crosse of Saint George yet in use amongst them And some do adde that the Garter was from a Martiall rise also as that a leather-garter upon the left leg was a mark given to some of the eminent Commanders with promise of enriching it on those that performed honorably in the charge For the account of the time according to other Authors it is left disputable Mr. Selden takes notice of some of the French Authors that affirm it to be erected in Anno 1344. yet after his victories as in the relations of the same Froysart and Thomas of Walsingam And Polydore Virgil to whom Favin subscribes will have it in An. 1347. Yet in another place he sets it down in the year one thousand three hundred and forty four Oportet mendacem memorem esse And one other observation I collect from some of these Authors that the Order was established before either of these passages only as a Seminary to draw other Knights of the world into these parts which caused the French King to do the like the same year of another Order by way of prevention this is averred by some Which is I conceive by other circumstances a mistake upon a Just or Turnment proclaimed by the said King Edward about the year one thousand three hundred forty and four in all places beyond the Seas to be held at Windsor about which time he caused to be built a very large round table for the entertaining of such Princes and Persons of great quality as should repair thither when the Earl of Salisbury was so bruised at the Justing that he dyed At the news of which meeting the French King sodainly after did the like to obstruct the concourse of great soldiers and honorable Personages that this would have produced The patron of this order is St. George who suffered Martyrdome at Nicomedia and was buryed at Lydda in Capadocia according to Dr. Heylin but Mr. Selden sayes he suffered at Lydda under Diocletian about the 〈◊〉 of Christ one hundred and ninty Whose fame was so great in the world that many Temples were built to his name as that of Justinian in Armenia and in Venice the chief Church for the Grecians Jo. Eucaitensis built a Monastery to the honor of St. George in the time of Constantine Into which the Emperors after were wont to make a solemn procession every Saint Georges day In Carinthia there is an Order of Knighthood of St. George in very much esteem And Eusebius speaks also of another Order of St. George among the Greeks whose Ensign is a red Crosse with this Motto Sub hec signo vinces begun by Constantiue the Great When first it came into this Nation is by the best Antiquaries left disputed but that he hath been long honored as Patron-Protector of England is proved by all and by Mr. Selden before the Conquest The three and twentyeth day of April being constantly celebrated to his memory And it is no marvail saith the same Author that so warlike a Nation should chuse to themselves the name of such a souldier Saint known by the particular name of Tropheophorus and of greater eminence in both the Eastern and Western Churches then any other Souldier-Saint The Soveraign of this order is the King of England the number of the Fellowship is twenty six besides the Soveraign of which when any of them dye the place is to be supplyed by another elected by the Soveraign with the consent of the Fraternity as it was antiently chosen and estalled at Windsor but since it is referred to the entire disposing of the King They have many Articles confirmed to which all that are enstalled subscribe and have an oath to which they swear that to their power during the time they shall be fellows of the Order they will defend the honor quarels rights and Lordships of the Soveraign and that they will endeavour to preserve the honor of the said Order and all the Statutes of it without fraud or covin Quinam perjurati The Officers of the Order are a Prelate which is alwayes the Bishop of Winchester a Chancellor Register a King of Arms called Garter and an Usher called the Black Rod added by Henry the eighth Their habit is a Cassock of Crimson Velvet and a Mantle of Purple Velvet lined with white Sarcenet on the left shoulder whereof is an Escutcheon of S. George embroydered within a Garter with the Motto the Escutcheon is Argent a plain Crosse Gules Above all about the neck they wear a collar of the Order weighing thirty ounces of Gold Troy weight composed of Garters and Knots enamel'd and with Roses red and white and since the coming in of King James there hath been an intermixture of Thistles At this collar hangeth the Image of St. George on horseback enriched with precious stones And about the left leg they wear a Garter enamelled and enriched with gold pearl and stones of great value with the same Motto of Hony soit qui mal y pens For their ordinary Ensign they wear a blew ribbon over their left shoulder and another on their left leg and a Star of silver embroy dery on the same side of their cloak with the Scutcheon of St. George in the Center of it And sometimes at their Ribbon a George also and then they wear it about their necks Their feast is yearly at Windsor Castle on St. Georges day In which place upon the foundation of it was a Church erected with Dean and Prebends as also thirteen poor
much honor of all men and maintained out of the Publique Treasury In Rome and most other places they carryed as Ensignes of their Office 〈◊〉 Rods in imitation of the Poeticall fiction of Mercury who is styled the Herald of the Gods those of Rome wreathed with two Serpents and the ancient Druides of wreaths of Vervine imitating the same In France where a long time this office hath been in much honor not only 〈◊〉 St. Dennis the principal King of Arms but the other Heralds and Pursevants are to be of noble 〈◊〉 and Mountjoy to be of three descents as well of his Fathers as of his Mothers side of Noble linage and Coat-Armor Their Office or Colledge is in the Church of St. Anthony the lesse in Paris And they are allowed the priviledge of entrance into any Prince's Court and an injury offered to them is a publique injury in all parts of the world But I do not finde they were in this 〈◊〉 and establishment till the time of Philip de Valloys The revenues of them in France was very great as to Mountjoy in particular 2000. l. Lands in free tenure and 1000 pound per annum stipend as Favin relates And the others 1000 pound per annum stipend besides other profits and they are many besides their priviledges are very great which in the same Author are at large set down in which Author I cannot but observe the ridiculousnesse of their humor in the christening of their Pursevants for they call it christening and the Ceremony is performed with the powring a pot of Wine on their heads they name them at their own pleasure and some they call Plain-way Jolly-heart No-lyar Tell-troth Chearfulnesse Fair-seeming Loftyfoot and the like But to come neerer to our own concernment I think to proceed with the same Office in our own Nation where they are now in lesse esteem I confesse then they have been in former ages yet have ever been honored with messages between Potentates for matter of Honor and Arms. Ceremoniarum Ministri as in the Coronation of Kings and Queens enstalment of Princes and creation of Noble dignities of honor in Triumphs Justs Combats Marriages Christenings Interments and to attend all solemn Assemblies of State and honor and by some of them ought the proclamations of all great matters of State to be promulged causes of Chivalry and Gentility are referred to their care as in the right of bearing of Arms in Shields Scutcheons Targets Banners Penons Coats and such like correcting of Arms in visitations and observing descents and pedigrees of Noblemen and Gentlemen They are the Protonotaries Griffiers and Registers of all acts and proceedings in the Court of the High 〈◊〉 and Lord Marshall of Engiand or of such as have their authority and in their books and Records they are to preserve to perpetuall memory all facts and memorable designments of honor and Arms. They have been long establisht in England but I find not that they were incorporated into a Collegiate Society till Richard the third's time when they were incorporated by Charter and placed at Coleharbor from whence they often removed untill they became setled where now at this time they are placed by the honorable endeavour of that Illustrious family of the Howards formerly Dukes of Norfolk and Earls Marshals of England the house being before called Darby house Which was established to them in the time of King Philip and Queen Mary and in these tearms incorporated by the names of Garter King of Arms of England Clarenceux King of Arms of the South parts and the Heralds and Pursevants for ever and to have and use a common Seal to purchase Lands to sue and be sued by Edward the sixth in his third year granted them many priviledges viz. In these words Forasmuch as sundry records and testimonies of great antiquity and of no lesse credit have now lately reduced to our perfect knowledge the Kings of Armes Heralds and 〈◊〉 of Arms elected as persons vertuous and for their good qualites knowledge and experience to serve in the affairs of the Common-wealth have been alwayes heretofore by Emperors Kings and Princes of Christian Realms upon most worthy and just considerations not only maintained and supported as well with yearly stipends and pensions as daily profits advantages and commodities sufficient to the necessity of the decent and convenient living of them and theirs in honest state Which daily profits advantages and commodities are now lately much decayed to their hindrance especially in this our Realm but also have been by the said Emperors Kings and Princes enriched and adorned time out of mans memory with divers kinds of priviledges liberties and franchises as among others that they and every of them be free exempt quite and discharged not only from subsidies dismes fifths tenths reliefs contributions taxes profits grants benevolences and generally from all other manner of charges as well in time of War as Peace in all such Realms and Dominions wherein they made their demour but also in all Market Towns and all other places from Tolls Fines Customes Impositions and Demands and aswell from Watch and Ward in all Cities Towns and Castles Borroughs and Villages and from the election or appointment to any Office of Mayor Sheriff Bayliffe Constable Scavenger Church-warden or any other publick Office in Citties Towns Castles 〈◊〉 and Villages whatsoever And forasmuch also as we understand all Kings of Arms Heralds c. have alwayes heretofore from the beginning of the Office of Arms enjoyed and do presently enjoy all and singular the priviledges liberties and franchises aforesaid with many other in all Christian Realms without any disturbance 〈◊〉 or molestation We therefore considering the same and earnestly minding as well the advancement of the said Office of Arms as the quiet and honest supportance of our Servants and Ministers thereof do of our speciall Grace certain knowledge and meer motion by the advice and consent of our most dearly beloved Uncle Edward Duke of Somerset and our Protector of our Realms and Dominions and Subjects and of the rest of our Councel by these 〈◊〉 not only confesse and generally approve give grant and confirm to the said Kings Heralds c. and to every of them and their successors for ever for us and our Successors all and singular the premises before recited although here not recited as have been of honorable antiquity upon just 〈◊〉 to them granted by Emperors Kings and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 right famous memory heretofore But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 especially by these presents pardon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 utterly for us and our heires release the said Kings of Arms Heralds c. aswell all 〈◊〉 sums of money and demands whatsoever 〈◊〉 assessed c. The Officers are thus distinguished Kings of Arms Garter General indefinite Of the south p. of Eng. Beyond Trent northw 〈◊〉 Norroy Heralds York sometimes styled Dukes of Arms. 〈◊〉 Windsor Lancaste Richmond Chester Pursevants Portcullis  Blewmantle  Raugh dragon  〈◊〉 croixe Â