enfranchise villaines sondrie other things whiche bycause they be to long to be rehearsed at large and lye not fitly in the way of my purpose I will omit and descend to the Wardeins of the Portes reciting in a short Catalogue the names of so many of them as I haue found to gouern sithence the arriuall of King William the Conquerour And although it be no doubt but that the Portes were vnder the gouernement of some before the tyme of the conquest also yet bycause King William was the first so farre as I haue read that made the office perpetuall and gaue it the title whiche it now beareth the name Wardein I meane whiche came from Normandie and was not at all knowen to the Saxons I thinke best to begin at his time Againe for asmuche as the Constableship of the Castle of Douer and this office haue ben alwayes inseperably matched together and for that I shal haue fitte place to speake of that hereafter when I shall come to Douer I will respit the rehersall of bothe their originalles til then and here in the meane season set down the race of the Wardeins by name only Iohn Fynes created by William the Conquerour Wardein of the Portes and Constable of Douer by gifte of inheritance Iames Fines his Sonne whiche dyed ot Folkston Iohn Fynes his Sonne Walkelm who deliuered it to King Stephan and immediatly after his death abandoned the charge and fled into Normandie Allen Fynes restored by King Henrie the second Iames Fynes his Eldest Sonne Mathew Clere as it should séeme by Mat. Par. Williā Petite who imprisoned Godfrey the Archbyshop of Yorke in Douer castle as vnder that title shal appeare William of Wrotham Hubert of Burgh the Earle of Kent who being deposed Bartram of Cryol succéeded Richard Gray appointed by the Barons that warred against King Henrie the third who was depriued of his office by Hugh Bigot bicause he let in the Popes legate by the Kings licence and against the minde of the Nobles Henrie Braybrooke Edward the first in the lyfe of his father who made Henrie Cobham his deputie whose Sonne Heire called Iohn founded Cobham College Roger Leyborne in the tyme of King Edward the first Stephan Penchester in the tyme of Edward the first Syr Robert Asheton Hugh Spenser the younger in the tyme of Edward the second Edmund of Woodstock the Earle of Kent Reginald Cobham in the time of Edward the third Bartholmew Burwhasse or Burgehersh one of the first companions of the ordre of the Garter Iohn Beauchampe the Earle of Warwike Syr Robert Herle in the latter ende of King Edward the third Edmund the Earle of Cambridge Syr Simon Barley whome Thomas of Woodstocke beheaded Lord Henrie Cobham the Sonne of Reginald Cobhā Syr Iohn Enros Syr Thomas Beaumont Edward the Duke of Aumarle and Yorke whom King Henrie the fourth remoued and substituted in place Syr Thomas Erpingham for a season but afterward he gaue the office to Prince Edward his Sonne who when he was King in possession bestowed it vpon Humfrey the Duke of Gloucester Iames Fines Lord Saye whom Iacke Cade beheaded Edmond the Duke of Somerset Humfrey the Duke of Buckingham Simon Mountford vnder King Henrie the sixt Richard Neuel the Earle of Warwike William the Earle of Arundel Richard the Duke of Gloucester called afterward King Richard the third Sir William Scotte Henrie the Duke of Yorke Iames Fines the Lord Saye Henrie in his Fathers lyfe afterward the eight King of that name Arthur Plantagenet Vicount Lisle Bastard Sonne to King Edward the fourth Sir Edward Poynings Henrie the younge Earle of Richemond Sir Edward Guldeford George Boleyn Vicount Rocheford Sir Thomas Cheynie Treasurour of the houshold Sir Wiliam Cobham Lord Cobham Thus much of the v. Portes in general Now of Sandwiche the first of them in the order of my iourney and then orderly of so many of the residue as lye within the Shyre that I haue presently in hand Sandwiche is called in Latine Sabulouicum or Portus Rutupinus in Saxon Sondƿic that is to say the Sandie Towne because the coast therabout aboundeth withe Sande THis Towne as it appeareth by the report of Leland and as it may séeme also by the name it selfe being méere Saxon began by the Saxons after the fall of poore Richeborowe which was in price while the honour of the Britons stood vpright and was eyther abated dy the furie of the Saxons when they wonne that coast from them or els came to ruine by the alteration and vicissitude of the Sea whiche peraduenture choked the hauen thereof with light sande as it hathe since that time done this at Sandwiche also King Canutus gaue as some write to Christes church in Canterbury Sainct Bartholmews arme if happely it were not a chaungeling for Kings great men were oftentymes after that sort deluded though they in the meane time bought such reliques dearely and thought that kinde of gifte moste princely he gaue also a riche Pall a Crowne of Golde and this hauen of Sandwiche together with the royaltie of the water on eache side so farre as a shippe being on flote at the full Sea a man might caste a shorte hatchet out of the vessell vnto the Banke The place it selfe grewe in tyme to be wel peopled and of worthynesse to be one of those Portes that foūd fauour of priuilege in consideration of their seruice at the Sea for it appeareth by the booke of Domesday that this was the estate of Sandwiche It laye in a hundreth belonginge to it selfe it did to the King suche like seruice by tenure as Douer did It was of the possessiōs of Christes Churche as I haue shewed and was appointed for the apparell of the Monkes of that house to the whiche it yealded fourtie thousand herrings besides certaine money and had in it thrée hundreth and seuen houses inhabited And I finde not but that the Towne continued in the like plight long after the Conquest being somewhat amended also by the Staple whiche King Edward the first for a season remoued thither euen vntil the time of King Henrie the sixt in whose dayes Peter Brice the Steward of Normandie landed at Sandwiche and with fire and sworde wasted the Towne in manner to ashes and slewe the inhabitants almoste to the last man Since whiche time partly by the smarte of that wounde but chiefly by the aboundaunce of the light Sande wherewith the Sea hath glutted the hauen it is declined to great decay and were like to fall to extreme ruine were it not that nowe presently it is somewhat relieued by the repaire of suche as haue abandoned their Countrie for the fréedome of their consciences whose aboade howe long it will bée the Lorde onely knoweth for whose cause they suffer banishment There was in this Towne before the generall suppression a house of Carmelites whereof I read none other good thing saue that it brought foorthe one learned man called
construed doth signifie a seruaunt or slaue whome they in those daies called ðeoÆ¿e but my minde is that hee was a seruitour of frée condition either aduaunced by his owne vertue and merite or els descended of suche Auncestours as were neuer degraded And that name the Prince of Wales or eldest Sonne of our King of this Realme doth not in the life of his Father disdaine to beare For out of the very same olde-woord Ãenian to serue is framed his Poesie or word vpoÌ„ his armes ic Dien I serue And thus I suppose that it is manifest that Byrthryc our Testator was by condition a Noble man or whiche in common acceptance abroade is all one with it a Gentleman Howbeit to the ende that bothe this thing may haue the more authoritie and credit and that it may withall appeare what degrees of Nobilitie and Gentrie there were in this Realme before the comming in of the Normanes and by what merites men might ascend and be promoted to the same I will reache a litle higher and shewe you another Englishe or Saxon antiquitie whiche I haue séene placed in diuers olde copies of the Saxon lawes after the end of all as a note or aduertisement Hit Æ¿es HÆ¿ilum on Englalagum ê§ leod and lagum It was sometime in the Englishe lawes that the people and for begeþincðum And þa Æ¿aeron leod Æ¿itan Æ¿eorðscipes the lawes were in reputation And then were the wisest of the Æ¿yrða aelc be Hismaeðe Eorl and ceorl people woorship woorshipfull woorthie euery one after his degree Earle and Ceorl Ãegn Ãeoden And gif Ceorl geþeaH ê§ churle Thein and vnder Thein and if a churle thriued so that He Hefde he had fullice fully fif Hida agenes lande Cirican fiue hides of his owne land a Churche cycenan belHus and burHgeat setl sundernote a kitchin a belhouse and a gate a seate a seueral office on Cynges in the kings Healle halle þonne then Æ¿aes was He he þanonforð ÃegenrigHtes thencefoorth the Theins Æ¿eorðe And gif Ãegn geþeaH ê§ He þenode right worthe worthie And if a Thein did so thriue that he serued the Cynge king and His radstefne and on his message iourney progresse rad on His Hirede ryd in his houshold gif se If he þonne Hefde Ãaegen ðe Him filigde ðe to then had a Thein that folowed him serued him the which to the toward Cynges kings utfare iourney expedition fif Hida Hafde fiue hydes had plowlandes and on Cynges and in the kings setl His Hlaford seate his palaice ðenode Lorde serued and and ðriÆ¿a thrice mid with His aerend his errand message gefo ra had gone to to Cynge Se most siððan mid His foraðe His Hlaford the king He might Suche an one afterwarde with his foreothe his Lordes aspelian aet mislican neodan part playe at any great neede And gif Ãegn geðeaH And if a Thein did thâ—ue so ê§ He Æ¿earde to Eorle that he became an Earle þonne Æ¿aes He siðð an EorlriHtes then was he afterward an Earles woorthy Æ¿eorðe right woorthy the rightes of an Earle And gif Massere geþeaH ê§ he ferde And if a Merchant so thriued that he passed þrige ofer Æ¿id Sae be His thrice ouer the wide broad Seas of his agenum owne craefte crafte science cunning se Æ¿aes he was þonne syððan thencefoorth Ãegn riHtes a Theins right Æ¿eorðe woorthy And And gif if leornere geþeaH þurH lare ê§ He Had Haefde and a Scholer so prospered thriued thorowe learning that he degree had þenode serued xpe se Æ¿aes þonne siððan maeðe and munde Christ he was then afterward of dignitie and peace priuilege sÆ¿a so micelre muche Æ¿yrðe sÆ¿a þaerto gebyrede woorthy as therevnto belonged buton vnlesse He he forÆ¿orHte forfaited so trespassed ê§ He þaes Had note notian ne moste that he the vse of his degree vse ne might might not vse By this you sée first that in those dayes there were but thrée estales of frée men for bondseruants whiche we now sence call by a strained worde Villaines ar not here talked of that is to say an Earle or Noble man the highest a Theyn or Gentleman the midlemost And a Churle or Yeoman the lowest for as touchinge that which is héere spoken of the seruant of the Theyn or Gentleman I déeme it rather ment for a prerogatiue belonging to the maister then mencioned as a seuerall degree in the man Neither doth it make against me in this diuision that you shall many times reade of Ealdorman ScyrmaÌ„ Heretoga SeðcundmaÌ„ tÆ¿elfHyndman tÆ¿yHindeman for these be not names of difference in degrées but doo either denote the offices and dignities or els the estimation and values of those to whom they be attributed as Alderman and Shyreman doo signifie that Earle or Noble man to whom the gouernment and charge of a Shyre or other Precinct was committed Hertoga that Earle or great man that was Imperator Belli the Lieutenant of the field Syðcundman that Gentleman that had the manred as some yet call it or the office to leade the men of a Towne or Parish And as for tÆ¿elfHindman it was geuen to the Theyn or Gentleman because his lyfe was valued at Twelue hundreth shillinges as in those dayes the liues of all sortes of men were rated at certen summes of mony And tÆ¿yHindman to the Churle or Yeoman because the price of his head was taxed at two hundreth shillings whiche thinge if it were not expresly set forth in sundrie old lawes yet extant might well inough be found in the Etymologie of the wordes themselues the one called a Twelfhynd as it were a Twelfe hundred man and the other a Twyhind for a man of Two hundreth Furthermore you may héere behold with what discretion and equitie our elders procéeded in bestowing these promotions for where as all Nobilitie and Gentrie commeth either by Discent or by Purchase wherof the first if it be not accompanied with vertue is but an emptie signe and none other thing then as one well sayed Nobilitatem in Astragulis gestare But the latter being both the maker and maintener of the first as it ought by all reason to be rewarded with due enseignes of honour to the ende that vertue may be the more desirously embraced So haue they heere appointed thrée seuerall pathe waies to leade men streight vnto it that is to say Seruice Riches Learning or to speake more shortly Vertue and Riches in which two as Aristotle confesseth al the olde Nobilitie consisted which two as the Ecclesiast or Preacher teacheth make a good accomplement for saith he Vtilior est sapientia cum diuitijs coniuncta And in this parte you may lastly perceiue also that out of all those trades of life which be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say conuersant in gaine they admitted to the estate of Gentrie such only as increased by honest Husbandrie and plentiful Merchandize Of the first of which Cicero affirmeth that there is nothing meeter for a Freeborne
King for many pointes of great enormitie and especially for the treason whiche he had imagined with certaine Earles and Noble men to the end that they should displace the King from the seate of his Kingdome and place his sonne Edward in his throne and cast the Father into perpetuall prison and when he could not deny the things obiected against him being stroken with an incredible feare and falling downe prostrate vpon the earth at the Kings feete that he might deserue to obtaine his fauour with weeping and wayling he submitted himselfe wholly to the Kings pleasure thus was that proude most hateful man to God brought lowe and humbled the whiche defiled throughout all England with the breath of his mouthe like an harlot the state of the Priesthode and Clergie and exercised intollerable tyrannie ouer the people and he whiche before writing vnto the King refused in his letters for pride to call him his Lord nowe being humbled both acknowledgethe and calleth him his Lord and King being made obedient and to serue him with great deuotion but yet against his will. Againe when as in the same yeare he was cited to appeare at Rome vpon complaint that he had wastfully spoyled the goods of his Churche and came to the Court to sue for licence to passe ouer the Seas the King as soone as he came to his presence and had moued his suite caused the presence chamber dore to be set wide open willed the standers by to giue eare and spake a loude to the Bishop in this manner as the same author reporteth Licentiam transfretandi quam a nobis postulare venisti libenter tibi concedimus reuertendi autem licentiam nullam damus memores doli ac proditionis quas in Parlemento Lincolniae cum Baronibus nostris in Regiam machinatus es Maiestatem cuius rei litera signo tuo sigillata testis est testimonium perhibet contra te euidenter Sed propter amorē beati Thomae Martyris Ecclesiae cui praees reuerentiam vindictam hucusque distulimus reseruantes eam Papae qui nostras iniurias vlciscetur vtpote speramus A protectione vero nostra te prorsus excludimus omnem gratiam negantes miserecordiam quia re vera semper immisericors fuisti Cumque Wintoniensis Episcopus pro eo intercederet Archiepiscopum Dominum suum esse diceret Rex affirmauit se omnium Praelatorum regni Regem Dominum esse principalem Wee willingly graunt you licence to passe ouer the Seas according as you are come to desire but to retourne again we giue you no licence at al being mindfull of the deceit and treason whiche you did practise with our Barons against our Kingly Maiestie in the Parleament at Lincolne of the whiche thing your letter signed with your owne seale is a witnes and euidētly giueth testimonie against you Howbeit for the loue of Saint Thomas the Martyr and for the reuerence of the Church ouer the which you are set we haue hither to differred the reuēge reseruing it to the Pope which as we hope wil make reuenge of our iniuries But we vtterly exclude you frō our protectiō denying you all grace mercy because in dede you haue alwais ben an vnmerciful mā And whē as the Bishop of Winchester made intercession for him said that the Archbishop was his Lord the King affirmed that he himself was the King and cheif Lord of al the Prelats of the Realm This I haue exemplified the more at large bothe to the end that you may sée how great a traitour to his Prince howe vnmercifull a tyrant to the Common people and howe foule a blemishe to the Ecclesiasticall order this Bishop was quite contrary to that which M. Polydore affirmeth of him and also that you may vnderstand what authoritie King Edward the first in plaine termes chalenged ouer his Cleargie not such as Anselme offered King William Rufus when he tooke Canterbury of his gifte saying Summo pontifici debeo obedientiam tibi consilium I owe my obedience to the highe Bishop and my counsel to you But suche as a true subiect oweth to his Liege King and lawful souereigne and suche as differeth no more from that which we at this day attribute to our Prince then Principalis Dominus and supremus Gubernator do varie in sunder And yet beholde the madnes of the time after the deathe of this Bishop the common people forsoothe resorted to his tumbe and would néedes haue made a Sainct of him had not the Sepulchre béen defaced and their follie staied by publique ordinance Chilham Castle in Saxon Cyleham that is the colde dwelling IN the allotment of Landes for the defence of Douer Castle whereof we haue before spoken Chilham fell to Fulbert of Douer who in consideration thereof vndertooke to finde at his owne charge fiftéene able Souldiours whereof thrée should warde in the Castle euery moneth by the space of 20. wéeks in the yeare I suspect that it came afterwardes to the possession of the Archebishop For I remember that I once read that King Iohn came thither to treate with Stephan Langton the Archebishop for reconciliation to be had betweene them Wye the word in Brittish signifieth an Egge WHat time king William the Conquerour endowed his Abbay of Battel in Sussex he gaue thervnto amongst other his Manour of Wye conteining at that time seuen hydes or ploughe landes and being before that time of the Demeasnes of the Crowne The Chronicles of Battell Abbay affirme that there were sometimes two and twentie Hundrethes subiect to the iurisdiction of this Towne whiche if it be true then as farre as I can reache by coniecture the territorie of Wye was the very same in compasse that nowe the Last of Screy or Sherwinhope describeth that is to say the fift part of this whole Shyre consisting of two and twentie Hundrethes in number The same King graunted to his Monks of Battel wrek of the Sea falling vpon Dengemarishe a portion of Wye and willed further by his Chart of donation that if any fish called a Craspeis that is Crasse pisse a great or royall fishe as whales or suche other which by the Lawe of Prerogatiue perteined to the King himselfe should happen to be taken there that the Monkes should haue it wholly And if it fortuned to arriue in any other mans land lying betwene Horsmede and Withburn that yet the Monkes should enioy the whole tongue and two third partes of the rest of the body Nowe in the Reigne of King Henrie his Sonne it fortuned that a shippe laden with the Kings owne goods was wrecked within the precinct of this libertie which his Officers would haue taken and saued to his vse but Geffray then Abbat of Battell withstoode them that so stoutly that the matter by complaint came to the Kings owne hearing who to make knowen how muche he valued his fathers graunt yéelded the matter wholy into the Abbats owne courtesie The same Storie
Norton Wilmus de Sutton For such as we call nowe Iohn Norton and William Sutton and amongst the Gentlemen of Chesshyre euen to this day one is called after their maner Thomas a Bruerton another Iohn a Holcrost and suche like for Thomas Bruerton Iohn Holcrost c. as we here vse it Thus muche shortly of mine owne fantasie I thought not vnmeete to impart by occasion of the name of Norwood and now forward to my purpose againe Leedes in Latine of some Lodanum of others Ledanum Castrum RObert Creuequer was one of the eight that Iohn Fynes elected for his assistance in the defence of Douer Castle as we haue already shewed who taking for that cause the Manor of Leedes and vndertaking to finde fiue Warders therefore builded this Castle or at the least an other that stoode in the place For I haue read that Edward thē Prince of Wales and afterward the first King of that name being Wardein of the Fiue Portes and Constable of Douer in the life of Henrie the third his Father caused Henrie Cobham whose ministerie he vsed as substitute in bothe those offices to race the Castle that Robert Creuequer had erected bicause Creuequer that was then owner of it Heire to Robert was of the number of the Nobles that moued and mainteined warre against him Whiche whether it be true or no I will not affirme but yet I thinke it very likely bothe bicause Badlesmere a man of another name became Lord of Leedes shortly after as you shall anone sée and also for that the present woorke at Leedes pretendeth not the antiquitie of so many yeares as are passed since the age of the conquest But let vs leaue the building and goe in hand with the storie King Henrie the first hauing none other issue of his bodie then Maude first married to Henrie the Emperour whereof she was called the Empresse and after coupled to Geffray Plantaginet the Earle of Angeow fearing as it happened in déed that after his death trouble might arise in the Realme about the inheritance of the Crowne bycause she was by habitation a straunger and farre of so that she might want bothe force and friends to atchieue her right And for that also Stephan the Earle of Boloine his sisters sonne was then of greate estimation amongst the noble men and abiding within the Realme so that with great aduauntage he might offer her wrong he procured in full Parleament the assent of his Lordes and Commons that Maude and her heires shoulde succéede in the kingdome after him And to the ende that this limitation of his might be the more surely established he tooke the fidelitie and promise by othe bothe of his Clergie and Laytie and of the Earle of Boloine him selfe Howbeit immediatly after his decease Stephan being of the opinion that Si ius violandum est certe regnandi causa violandum est If breache of lawes a man shall vndertake He must them boldly break for kingdomes sake Inuaded the Crowne and by the aduice of William the Archebishop of Canterbury who had first of al giuen his fayth to Maude by the fauour of the common people whiche adheared vnto him and by the consent of the holy father of Rome whose will neuer wanteth to the furtheraunce of mischiefe he obtained it whiche neuerthelesse as William of Newborowe well noteth being gotten by patterne he held not past two yeres in peace but spent the residue of his whole reigne in dissention warre and bloudshed to the great offence of God the manifest iniurie of his owne cousine and the grieuous vexation of this countrie and people For soone after the beginning of his reigne sundry of the Noble men partely vpon remorse of their former promise made and partly for displeasure conceiued bycause he kepte not the othe taken at his Coronation made defection to Maude so soone as euer she made her challenge to the Crowne So that in the end after many calamities what by her owne power and their assistaunce she compelled him to fall to composition with her as in the storie at large it may be séene Nowe during those his troubles amongst other things that muche annoyed him and furthered the part of Maude his aduersarie it was vpon a time sounded by his euil willers in the eares of the cōmon sort that he was dead And therewithall soudenly diuers great men of her deuotion betooke them to their strong holdes and some others seised some of the Kings owne Castles to the behalfe of the Empresse Of whiche number was Robert the Earle of Gloucester and bastarde brother to Maude who entred this Castle of Leedes mynding to haue kept it But King Stephan vsed against him suche force and celeritie that he soone wrested it out of his fingers King Edwarde the seconde that for the loue of the two Spensers incurred the hatred of his wife and Nobilitie gaue this Castle in exchaunge for other landes to Bartilmew Badelesmere then Lorde Stewarde of his housholde and to his heires for euer who shortly after entering into that troublesome action in whiche Thomas the Duke of Lancaster with his complices maugre the King exiled the Spensers bothe loste the Kings fauour this Castle and his life also For whilste he was abroade in ayde of the Barons and had committed the custodie thereof to Thomas Colpeper and left not onely his chiefe treasure in money but also his wife and children within it for their securitie It chaunced that Isabell the Kings wife mynding a Pilgrimage towards Cāterbury and being ouertakē with might sent her Marshal to prepare for her lodging ther. But her officer was proudly denyed by the Captaine who sticked not to tell him that neyther the Quéene ne any other shoulde be lodged there without the commandement of his Lord the owner The Queene not thus aunswered came to the gate in person and required to be let in But the Captain most malepertly repulsed her also in so much that shee complained greauously to the king of the misdemenour and he forthwith leuied a power and personally sumoned and besieged the peice so straightly that in the end through want of rescue and victuall it was deliuered him Then tooke he Capitaine Colpeper and houng him vp The wife and children of the Lord Badelesmere he sent to the Towre of London The treasure and munition he seised to his owne vse and the Castle he committed to such as liked him But as the last acte of a Tragedie is alwayes more heauie sorowful thē the rest so calamitie woe increasing vpō him Badelesmere him self was the yere folowing in the company of the Duke of Lancaster and others discomfited at Borowbrig by the Kings armie and shortly after sent to Canterbury and beheaded I might here iustly take occasion to rip vp the causes of those great and tragicall troubles that grewe betwene this King his Nobilitie for Peter Gaueston these two Spensers the rather for that the common sort of
is said that Faeminae non participabunt cum Masculis The Females shall not diuide with the Males whiche is to be vnderstoode of such as be in equall degrée of kinred as Brother and Sisters c. For if a man haue issue thrée Sonnes the Eldest haue issue a daughter dye in the lyfe of his Father and the Father dyeth In this case it is holden that the daughter shall ioyne with the two other Brethren her Vncles for that she is not in equall degrée with them as her Father was whose heire she neuerthelesse must be of necessitie And nowe thus muche being spoken touching the name tenure nature generalitie necessitie reason and order of Gauelkinde it is woorthie the labour to shew of what qualitie the Rents Remainders Conditions Vouchers Actions and such other things of the which some be issuing out of these landes some be annexed vnto them and some be raised by reason of them shal be In whiche behalfe it may generally be said that some of them shal ensue the nature of the Land and some shal kéepe the same course that common Lawe hathe appointed But in particular it is to be vnderstoode that if a Rent be graunted in Fée out of Gauelkinde land it shal descend to all the Males as the land it self shall do And Ald. and Chart. in 7. E. 3. were of opinion that albeit a tenancie be of Gauelkinde nature yet the rent seruice by whiche that tenancie is holden might well be descendable at the common Lawe The like shal be of a Remainder of Gauelkinde land for if it be tayled to the Heires Males they altogether shall inherite it as Fitzherb Norwiche two Iustices thought 26. H. 8. 8. But that is to be vnderstoode of a discent only for if landes of Gauelkind nature be leassed for life the Remainder to the righte Heires of I. at Stile Which hath issue foure Sonnes dieth after the Leassée for life dieth nowe the Eldest Sonne onely of I. at Stile shall haue this land for he is right Heire and that is a good name of purchase 37. H. 8. Done. 42. en Maister Brook But if the lands had béen giuen to I. at Stile for life the remainder to his next Heire Male this had béen an estate taile in I. S. himselfe and then the Land as I take it should haue discended to all his Sonnes in so muche as in that case the wordes next Heire Male be not a name of purchase Howbeit it was greatly doubted 3. 4. Phil. Mariae as Iustice Dalison reporteth if a remainder be deuised by Testament Proximo haeredi masculo whether in that case the Eldest Brother only shall haue it in so muche as in the vnderstanding of the Lawe whiche is a Iudge ouer all Customes he is the next Heire Male and therefore inquire of it As touching Vouchers it appeareth 11. E. 3. that all the Heires in Gauelkind shal be vouched for the warrantie of their auncestour and not the eldest only But the opinion of Maister Litleton and of the Iustices 22. E. 4. is clearely that the Eldest Sonne only shal be rebutted or barred by the warrantie of the auncestour To be short the Eldest Sonne only shall entrée for the breach of a condition but the rest of the Brethren shal be ioyned with him in suing a writte of Attaint to refourme a false verdit or errour to reuerse an erronious iudgement And they all shal be charged for the debte of their auncestour if so be that they all haue Assetz in their handes But if the eldest only haue Assetz remaining and the residue haue aliened their partes then he only shal be charged after the minde of the Book 11. E. 3. Det. 7. And this also for this part at this time shal suffise Now a word or twain touching the trial of right in this Gauelkind land then forward to the rest of my purpose There be at the cōmō law two sorts of trial in a writ of Right by Battaile and by the Graund Assise of the which two this Custome excludeth the one altereth the other For Battail it admitteth not at al the Graund assise it receaueth not by the election of 4. Knights but of 4. Tenants in Gauelkind as it may be read in the auncient treatise of the Customes of this Countrie But whē I speake of the treatise of the Customes you must know I mean not the which was lately imprinted but an other with much more faith diligēce long since exemplified a Copie wherof you shal finde at the end of this Booke For not only in this part the wordes Ne soient prises per battail be cleane omitted in the imprinted Booke but in sundrie other places also the wordes be mangled the sentences be curtailed and the meaning is obscured as by conferrence of the variations it may to any skilfull reader moste easily appeare But all that I will referre to the sight and iudgement of suche as will searche and examine it and retourning to my purpose shewe you what belongeth to the Lorde of this Gauelkinde land by reason of this Custome And for bicause the Prince is chiefe Lorde of all the Realme as of whome all landes within the same be either mediatly or immediatly holden let vs first sée what right by reason of this custome belongeth vnto him If Tenant in Fée simple of Landes in Gauelkinde commit fellonie and suffer the iudgement of death therfore the Prince shall haue all his Chattels for a forfaiture But as touching the Land he shall neither haue the Eschete of it though it be immediatly holden of him self nor the Day Yeare and Wast if it be holden of any other For in that case the Heire notwithstanding the offence of his auncestour shall enter immediatly enioye the landes after the same Customes and seruices by whiche they were before holden in assurance whereof it is commonly saide The Father to the Boughe The Sonne to the Ploughe But this rule holdeth in case of Felonie and of murder only and in case not of treason at all And it holdeth also in case where the offendour is iustified by order of Law and not where he withdraweth himselfe after the faulte committed and will not abide his lawfull triall For if suche a one absent himselfe after proclamation made for him in the Countie and be outlawed or otherwise if he take Sanctuarie and doe abiure the Realme then shall his Heire reape no benefite by this Custome but the Prince or the Lorde shall take their forfaiture in suche degrée as if the Landes were at the common lawe Whiche thing is apparant both by the Booke 8. E. 2. abridged by Maister Fitzherbert in his title of prescription 50. And by 22. E. 3. fol. Where it is saide that this Custome shall not be construed by equitie but by a straight and literal interpretation And also by the plaine rehersal of the saide treatise of
at the Sea. The College The value of the Religious houses in this Shyre The Citie when it began The olde Schole at Canterbury The decay of Canterbury and other places Continuall contention betweene the two great houses in Canterbury Christes-Churche in Canterbury Thomas Becket the Archbishop his hystorie Saint Augustines The deade in old time were buried out of the Cities Popishe braules S. Maries in Canterbury The Saints and Reliques at CaÌ„terbury S. August Thomas Becket had two heads S. Gregories in Canterbury S. Laurenceâ— Hospitall S Iames Hospitall S. Sepulchers White friars S. Mildredâ— The Bishops Palaice S. Martines was a Bishops See. S. Sepulchres by CaÌ„terbury The Monkes coÌ„tend with the Archbishop and do preuaile The vanitie of Man and the subtilty of the Deuill be the cause of Idolatrie Saint Thomas Beckets Relique The olde manner of nameing men Maude the Empresse true Heire to the Crowne Bartholmew Badelesmere Thomas Colpeper The Pryory at Leeds By what meanes the Archebishops chair came to 〈…〉 The Deanrie of shorâ—ham A Popishe myracle Monkes contend for the electioÌ„ of the Bishop SaÌ„int Cuthbertes feast why holdeÌ„ double Bishops Sees are translated from Villages to Cities The Catalogue of Rochester Bishops The Harborowe of the Nauie Royall The benefites that God hathe giuen this Realme in the Reigne oâ— Queene Elizabeth A barbarous crueltie executed vpon Straungers Excessiue drinking and how it came into England Great troupes of seruing men came in with the Normanes The cause of the Conquest of Enlande Harold the King. The vncurtesie of the English natioÌ„ toward straungers Busyris was a tirant that sacrificed straungers and was therefore slaine by Hercules Our Lady the Rode of ChethaÌ„ Gillingham Horsted borne in Ailesford Hengist Horsa two famous Capitaines A religious Skirmish betwene the Monkes of Rochester and the Brethren of Stroude Friendsbury clubbes Eslingham Appropriations of benefices The Citie The Castle S. Andrews Church in Rochester Priests had wiues in England of olde time Saint William of Rochester Saint Bartholmewes Hospitall Rochester Bridge both the olde the newe Syr Robert Knolles a valiant Capitaine The Hospitall The beginning of this scoffing by word Kentishe tailes Angle Queene Many kinges at once in Kent The olde manner of Signing Sealing of deedes Fernham The Danes compelled to take the Thamise The Danes are chased from Otforde Earle Edrie an infamus traytour A noble example of Kinge Edmunde Ironside The names of Townes ending in ing The Abbay The Solaces of Solâ— life The Castle The Cleargie was law lesse The Pryorie at Tun-Bridge The Low the of Tunbridge 42. H. 3. The Archebishop hath an Earle to his Butler The Rooâ—â— of Asherst was a growing Idole The masters of the nauie Royal. Alphey the Archbishop was cruelly slaine A popish minde 32. Shyres in England Great suÌ„mâ— of money paied to the Danes The Priorie of Shene The frierie The Palaice The rebellion of Iack Straw The rebellion of Iack Cade The rebellion of the black smith Lord Richard Lucy The ancient manner of the triall of right to Landes Wager of Lawe Hengist Horsa The beginning of the Kentishe Kingdome Orpenton the course of Cray water Mesopotamia signifieth a couÌ„try encompassed with riuers Rochester castle beseiged Princes may wooe by picture and marye by proctor The Abbay The old maner of Tourneament The occasion of Iacke Strawes his rebellion The courâ—â— of the riuer of Derent The name of Portreue whereof it commeth The name of Sherife London had a Portreue The office of a Reue. A learned age in which priestes had more latine theÌ„ english and yet almost no latine at all The order of this description The Manour The church of S. Hildeferthe The auncient forme of a Testament The auncient estate of a Gentleman and by what meanes gentle was obteyned in the olde time The degres of Freemen Earl Thein and Churle Alderman ShiremaÌ„ c were names of offices Wisdom is more profitable when it is ioyned with riches Merchandize and Husbandrie 1. The worship of many Gods. Saint Edith and her offering The olde newe Romanes agre in many points of religion S. Thomas Beckets spiteful miracles S. Bartilmew of Otford and his offering The Palaice at Otford Cardinall Morton Erasmus doth misreporte the cause of the contention between the King and Thomas Becket The Manor of WinghaÌ„ Reigate Castle in Surrey The Schole and Almes house The Town The name Gauelkind wherof it arose To shift laÌ„d is an olde terme The antiquitie of Gauelkind custome The diuisioÌ„ of this discourse What lands be of Gauel kind nature Some Knight fee is Gauelkinde Auncient Knight fee is not of the nature of Gauelkynd The change of Gauelkind tenure is no chaÌ„ge of the nature of Gauelkind A contrarie vsage changeth not the nature of Gauelkinde HeaHbeorg in Saxon is a high defence and the customs of NormaÌ„die that cal fieâ—e or fee de Haubert whiche oweth to defend the laÌ„d by full armes that is by horse haubert target sword or helme and it consisteth of 300. acres of land which is the same as I suppose that we called a whole Knights fee * The custome of Gauelkind is vniuersall in Kent The reason of Gauelkinde Custome What thinges shal ensue the nature of the land Rent Remainder Voucher Condition Attaint and Error No battail nor graund Assise in gauelkinde Forfaiture in Felonie Cessauit in Gauelkind Tenant by the Courtesie Tenant in Dâ—wer The difference betweene coÌ„mon Lawe and Custome therin Dower of chattels Partition of chattels Partition of chattels London Partition of Gauelkinde lands Astrâ— what it meaneth Gardein after the cusâ—ome Sale is at 15. yearâ—â— Sale good at 15. yeares No villains in Kent Apparance Câ—men Chase and driue out Attaint Chaunging of wayes Goppies These wordes betweene the starres were taken out of an other olde copie Free men Esechator Giue and sell landes without licence Plede by writte or pleinte Appeare by Borsholder No eschete for felonie but of goods only Dower of the one half Flying for felony causeth forfeiture Partition amoÌ„gst the heirs males The Astre Curt in other copies One suite for all the parceners Partition of goods Custodie of the heire in Gauelkind Sale at xv yeres of age Dower of the one half Forfaiture of Dower Tenant by the courtesie of the one halfe The discent of Gauelkind changed Forfaiture by Ceslauit or Gâ—uelate No oathe but for fealtie Essoignes No battail nor graunâ— assise in Guelkinde landes A Table conteining the principall places and matters handeled in this Booke A Angles or Englishmen Page 2 Archebishopricke of Canterbury Page 62 Archebishops contend for the primacie Page 65 Archebishops all named Page 70 Armour Page 112. 211. Apledore Page 146. 162 Aile or Eile a Riuer Page 177. Correction of adulterie Page 180. Appropriations Page 292 Ailesforde Page 321. Asheherst Page 333. Adington Page 258. Aldington Page 149. B Brytones or Welshmen Page 1. 12. Borsholder what he is Page 22 Bridges of stone Page