Scotland and Wales be al within one Territorie and not diuided by any sea And al old Recordes of the law concerning seruice to be done in those two Countries haue these words Infra quatuor Maria within the fower seas which must nedes be vnderstaÌ„d in ScotlaÌ„d and Wales aswel as in EnglaÌ„d bâ—cause they be al within one continent coÌ„passed with fower seas And likewise be many auncient statutes of this Realm writreÌ„ in the NormaÌ„ FreÌ„ch which haue these wordes deins les quatre mers that is within the fower seas Now coÌ„cerning the statute the title of the same is of those that are born beyond the sea the doubt moued in the corps of the said statut is also of childreÌ„ born beyond the sea out of the allegeance with diuers other braÌ„ches of the statute teÌ„ding that way Wherby it seemeth that no part of the statute toucheth these that are born in Wales or Scot laÌ„d And albe it at this time and before in tho reigne of Edward the first Wales was fully reduced annexed and vnited to the propâ—â— Dothinion of England yet was it before subrected to the Croune and King of England as to the Lorde and Sâ—igniour aswel as Scotland Wherefore if this statute had 〈◊〉 made before the time of the said Edwarde the 〈◊〉 it seemeth that it could not haue bene stretched to Wales no more then it can now to Scotland I doe not therefore a litle meruaile that euer this man for pure shame could finde in his harte so childishly to wrangle vpon this word Infantes and so openly to detorte depraue and corrupt the common lawe and the Actes of Parlament And thus may you see gentle Reader that nothing can be gathered either out of the said supposed general rule or Maxime or of any other rule or Principle of the lawe that by any good and reasonable construction can seeme to impugne the title of the said Ladie Marie now Queene of Scotland of and to the Croune of this Realme of England as is aforesaid We are therefore now last of al to consider whether there be any statute or Acte of Parlament that doth seeme either to take away or preiudâ—ce the title of the said Lady Marie And bycause touching the foresaid mentioned statute of the 25. yeare of King Edward the thirde being only a declaration of the common law we haue already sufficiently answered we wil passe it ouer and consider vppon the statute of 28. and 36. of King Henry the eight being the only shoteanker of al the Aduersaries whether there be any matter therein conteined or depending vpon the same that can by any meanes destroie or hurt the title of the said Ladie Marie Queene of Scotland to the successioÌ„ of the Croune of England It doth appeare by the said statute of 28. of King Henry the eight that there was authoritie geuen him by the same to declare limite appoint and assigne the succession of the Croune by his Letters Patentes or by his last Wil signed with his owne hande It appeareth also by the foresaid statute made 35. of the said King that it was by the same enacted that the Croune of this Realme should go and be to the said King and to the heires of his body lawfully begotten that is to say vnto his Highnes first son of his body betwene him and the Ladie Iane then his wife begotten and for default of such issue then vnto the Lady Marie his daughter and to the heires of her body lawfully begotten and for default of such issue then vnto the Ladie Elizabeth his daughter and to the heires of her body laufully begotten and for default of such issue vnto suche person or persons in remainder or reuersion as should please the said King Henry the eight and according to such estate and after such maÌ„ner order and conditioÌ„ as should be expressed declared named and limited in his Letters Patentes or by his last Wil in writing signed with his owne hande By vertue of whiche said Acte of Parlament the Aduersaries doo alleage that the said late King Henry the eight afterward by his last Wil in writing signed with his owne hand did ordeine and appoint that if it happen the said Prince Edward Ladie Marie and Lady Elizabeth to dye without issue of their bodies lawfully begotten then the Croune of this Realme of Englande should goe and remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the Ladie Francis his Neece and th' eldest daughter of the Fâ—eÌ„ch Quene And for the defaulte of suche issue to the heires of the body of the Ladie Elenour his Neece seconde daughter to the Frenche Queene lawfully begotten And if it happened the said Ladie Elenor to dye without issue of her body lawfully begotten to remaine and come to the nexte rightfull heires Wherevpon the Aduersaries do inferre that the successioÌ„ of the Croune ought to go to the childreÌ„ of the said Ladie FraÌ„cis and to their heyres according to the said supposed Wil of our late Souereigne Lorde King Henry the eight and not vnto the Ladie Marie Queene of Scotlande that nowe is To this it is on the befalf of the said Lady Marie Queene of Scotland among other things answered that King Henry the eight neuer signed the preteÌ„sed Wil with his own hand and that therfore the said Wil can not be any whit preiudicial to the said Queene Against which answere for the defence and vpholding of the saide Will it is replied by the Aduersaries first that there were diuers copies of his Wil found signed with his owne hande or at the leastwise enterlined and some for the most part writen with his owne hande out of the whiche it is likely that the original Wil commonly called King Henry the eightes Will was taken and fayer drawen out Then that there be great and vehement presumptions that for the fatherly loue that he bare to the coÌ„mon wealth and for the auoiding of the vncerteintie of the successioÌ„ he welliked vpoÌ„ and accepted the authoritie geuen him by Parlament and signed with his owne hande the said original Wil whiche had the said limitation and assignation of the Croune And these presumptions are the more enforced for that he had no cause why he should beare any affection either to the said Queene of Scotland or to the Lady Leneux and hauing withal no cause to be greaued or offended with his sisters the Frenche Queenes children but to put the matter quite out of al ambiguitie and doubte it appeareth they say that there were eleuen witnesses purposely called by the king who were presente at the signing of the said Wil and subscribed their names to the same Yea the chief Lordes of the CouÌ„saile were made and appointed executours of the said Wil and they and other had great Legacies geuen them in the said Wil which were paid and other thinges comprised in the Wil accomplished accordingly There passed also purchases and Letters Patentes betwene King Edwarde and the executors of
and intent of the said law Now in case these two causes and cōsiderations wil not satisfie th Aduersarie we wil adioine therevnto a third which he shal neuer by any good and honest shift auoid And that is the vse and practise of the Realme as wel in the time foregoing the said statute as afterward We stand vpon the interpretation of the cōmon law recited and declared by the said statute And how shal we better vnderstand what the law is therein then by the vse and practise of the said lawe For the best interpretation of the lawe is custome But the Realme before the statute admitted to the Croune not only kings children and others of the first degre but also of a farther degre and such as were plainely borne out of the Kings allegeance The soresaid vse and practise appeareth as wel before as sithens the time of the Conquest Among other King Edward the Confessour being destitute of a lawful Heire within the Realme sent into Hūgary for Edward his Nephew surnamed Outlaw son to King Edmūd called Irōside after many yeres of his exile to returne into Englād to th' intent the said Outlaw should inherite this Realme whiche neuerthelesse came not to effect by reason the said outlaw died before the said king Edward his Vncle. After whose death the said king apointed Eadgar Etheling sonne of the said Outlaw being his next cosen and heire as he was of right to the Croune of Englād And for that the said Eadgar was but of yong and tender yeares and not able to take vpō him so great a gouernement the said king cōmitted the protection as wel of the yong Prince as also of the Realm to Harold Earle of Kent vntil suche time as the said Eadgar had obteined perfit age to be hable to weld the state of a King Which Harold neuerthelesse cōtrary to the trust supplanted the said yong Prince of the Kingdome and put the Croune vpon his own head By this it is apparent that foraine birth was not accōpted of before the time of the Cōquest a iust cause to repel and reiect any man being of the next proximitie in blood frō the Title of the Croune And though the said king Edward the Cōfessors wil and purpose toke no such force and effect as he desired and the law craued yet the like succession toke place effectuously in king Stephen and king Hēry the secōd as we haue already declared Neither wil th' Aduersaries shift of foramers borne of father and mother which be not of the kings alegeāce help him forasmuch as this clause of the said statut is not to be applied to the kings childrē but to others as appeareth in the same statute And these two kings Stephē and Henrie the 2. as they were borne in a forain place so their fathers and mothers wer not of the kings allegeāce but mere Aliens and strāgers And how notorious a vaine thing is it that th' Aduersarie would perswade vs that the said K. Henrie the secōd rather came in by force of a cōposition then by the proximitie and nearenes of blood I leaue it to euery man to cōsider that hath any maner of feling in the discours of the stories of this realm The cōpositiō did procure him quietnes and rest for the time with a good and sure hope of quiet and peaceable entrance also after the death of King Stephen and so it followed in deede but ther grew to him nomore right therby then was due to him before For he was the true heir to the Croune as appeareth by Stephen his Aduersaries owne confession Henry the firste maried his daughter Mathildis to Henry the Emperour by whome he had no childrē And no dout in case she had had any children by th'Emperour they should haue ben heires by succession to the Croune of England After whose death she retourned to her father yet did King Henry cause all the Nobilitie by an expresse othe to embrace her after his death as Queene and after her her children Not long after she was maried to Ieffrey Plantagenet a Frenchman borne Earle of Aniowe who begat of her this Henry the second being in France Whervpon the said King did reuiue and renue the like othe of allegeāce aswel to her as to her sonne after her With the like false persuasiō the Adueruersarie abuseth him selfe and his Reader touching Arthur Duke of Britanie Nephew to King Richard the first As though forsooth he were iustly excluded by Kinge Iohn his vncle by cause he was a forainer borne If he had said that he was excluded by reason the vncle ought to be preferred before the Nephewe though it should haue ben a false allegation and plaine against the rules of the lawes of this Realme as may wel appeare among other thinges by King Richard the second who succeded his grādfather king Edward the third which Richard had diuerse worthie and noble vncles who neither for lacke of knowledge coulde be ignorant of the right neither for lacke of frendes courage and power be enforced to forbeare to chalenge their title and interest yet should he haue had some countenance of reason and probabilitie bicause many arguments and the authoritie of many learned and notable Ciuilians doo concurre for the vncles right before the Nephewe But to make the place of the natiuitie of an inheritour to a kingdom a sufficiēt barre against the right of his blood it seemeth to haue but a weake and slender holde and grounde And in our case it is a most vnsure and false ground seeing it is moste true that King Richard the first as we haue said declared the said Arthur borne in Britanie and not son of a King but his brother Geffreys sonne Duke of Britanie heire apparent his vncle Iohn yet liuing And for such a one is he taken in al our stories And for such a one did all the worlde take him after the said King Richard his death neither was King Iohn taken for other then for an vsurper by excluding him and afterward for a murtherer for imprisoning him and priuily making him away For the which facte the French King seased vpon al the goodly Coūtries in France belonging to the King of England as forfeited to him being the chiefe Lorde By this outragious deede of King Iohn we lost Normandie withall and our possibilitie to the inheritance of all Britanie the right and Title to the said Britanie being dewe to the said Arthur and his heires by the right of his mother Constance And though the said king Iohn by the practise and ambition of Quene Elenour his mother and by the special procurement of Huberte then Archebishop of Caunterburie and of some other factious persons in Englād preuēted the said Arthur his nephew as it was easy for him to do hauing gotten into his handes al his brother Richardes treasure by sides many other rentes then in England and the said Arthur being an infante
nature in himself who delights to make all his iourneis in such sullē solitary sort therfore belike an ill companion to liue withall in any felovvship Then yt shewes his extreeme want of abilitie to defray the expence of woeng in a bountiful shew sitting such a prince as cōmeth to obtein out Queen This his secrete comming departing discouers a mistrustfulnes in him towards our people and therefore no loue which must needs come frō his own ill consci ence of fearing french measure in England for on our part the Lord be thanked we haue not committed such villenies all men deeme him vnworthy to speed who comes in a net as though he were loath to auow his errand Some men may think he is ashamed to shevv his face but I think verely that he meanes not sincerely who loues not light wil not com abroade The last noble princely gentlemā that went out of Englād to vvin a Queen in france gaue trial shew of vvisdome manhod behauiour and personage by open cōuersatiō performing al maner of knightly excercises which makes vs in England to find very strange this vnmanlike vnprincelike secrete fearful suspitious disdainful needy french kind of woeng in Monsieur we can not chuse but by the same stil as by all the other former demonstratife remonstrāces conclude that thys french mariage is the streightest line that can be dravvne frō Rome to the vtter ruine of our church the very rightest perpendicular downfal that can be imagined frō the point france to our English state fetching in vvithin one circle of lamentable fall the royal estate of our noble Queen of hir person nobility and commons vvhose Christian honorable healthful ioyful peaceful and long souereigne raigne without all superior ouerruling commander especially french namely Monsieur the king of kings hold on to his glory and hyr assurance of true glory in that other kingdom of heauen Amen Amen Amen A TREATISE TOVCHING THE RIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST OF the mightie and noble Princesse Marie Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of England Made by Morgan Philippes Bachelar of Diuinitie assisted vvith the aduise of Antonie Broune Knight one of the Iustices of the Common Place An. 1567. LEODII Apud Gualterum Morberium 1571. A TREATISE TOVCHING THE RIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST OF the mightie and noble Princesse Marie Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of England The Second Booke THE great prouidence good Reader of the eternal God who of nothing created all thinges did not only create the same by his ineffable power but by the same power gaue a special gifte and grace also to euery liuing thing to continue to renewe and to preserue eche his owne kinde But in this consideration the condition of man among and aboue al earthly thinges hath his pearelesse prerogatiue of wit and reason wherewith he only is of God gratiously endewed and adorned by the which he doth prouide not only for his presente necessitie and sauegard as do also naturally after their sorte al beastes and al other liuing thinges voide of reason but also by the pregnancie of wit and reasonable discourse doth long afore forsee the dangerous perils that many yeres after may happen either to himself or to his Countrey and then by diligence and careful prouision doth inuent apte and mete remedies for the eschewing of suche mischieffes as might outragiously afterwarde occurre And the greater the feare is of greater mischief the greater the deper and the speedier care is wont to be taken to preuent and cut of the the same It is also most certaine by the confession of al the world that this care is principally dew by eche man that hath opportunitie to do good therin to his Prince his Countrey and to the common Weale and good quiet of the Countrey for the continuance and happie preseruation of the same To the preseruation whereof as there are many partes and branches belonging so one principal part is for Subiectes louingly and reuerently to honour dreade and obediently to serue their Souereigne that chaunceth presently to rule and gouerne The next to foreknow to whome they should beare their allegeance after the deceasse of their foresaid Prince and Gouernour Which being once certaine and assuredly knowen as it procureth when the time requireth readie and seruiceable obedience with the great comfort and vniuersal reast and quietnes of the Subiectes so where for the said Successour there is among them discord and diuersitie of iudgementes the matter groweth to faction and from faction to plaine hostilitie and from hostilitie to the daunger of many mens liues and many times to the vtter subuersion of the whole state For the better auoiding of suche and the like inconueniences albeit at the beginninge Princes reigned not by descente of blood and succession but by choyce and election of the worthieste the worlde was for the moste parte constrained to repudiate election and so often times for the better and the worthier to take a certain issue and ofspringe of some one onely persone though otherwise perchaunce not so mete Which defecte is so supplied partely by the great benefit of the vniuersal rest and quietnes that the people enioy thereby and partly by the graue and sage Counsaylours to Princes that the whole worlde in a manner these many thousand yeares hath embraced succession by blood rather then election And politike Princes whiche haue had no children of their owne to succede them haue had euer a special care and foresight thereof for auoiding of ciuil discention So that the people might alwaies knowe the true and certaine Heire apparent chiefly where there appeared any likelyhod of varietie of opinions or faction to ensewe about the true and lawful succession in gouernement This care and foresight doth manifestly appeare to haue bene not onely in many Princes of foraine Countreies but also of this Realme as wel before the tyme of the Conqueste as also after namely in Kinge Edwarde the Confessour in declaring and appointing Eadgare Atheling his nephewes sonne his heire as also in King Richard the first who before he interprised his Iourney to Hierusalem where for his chiualrie he atchiued high honour declared by consent of his Nobilitie and Cōmous Arthur sonne of his brother Duke of Britaine his next heire in succession of the Crowne Of the whiche Arthur as also of the said Eadgare Atheling we wil speake more hereafter This care also had King Richard the second what time by authoritie of Parlament he declared the Lorde Edmond Mortymer that maried Philippe dawghter and heire to his Vncle Leonel Duke of Clarence heire apparente And to descende to later times our late Noble Souereigne King Henry the eyght shewed as it is knowen his prudente and zealous care in this behalf before his last noble voiage into Fraunce And now if God should as we be al as wel Princes as others subiect to mortall chaunces once
of God almighty onely But yet for arguments sake I would faine knowe where you finde your differēce and what authoritie you can shew for the prouf thereof Ye haue made no marginal note of any authoritie and therefore vnlesse ye also saye that ye are Pythagoras I will not beleue your difference Wel I am assured that I can shew you good authoritie to the contrarie and that there is no difference in your cases Pervse I praie you 22. H. 6. And there may you see the opinion of Iustice Newton that there is no difference in your cases but that in both your cases the lande shall eschete vnto the Lorde And Prisote being then of Coūsayle with the party that claimed the lands by a descent wher the eldest sonne was borne beyond the seas durst not abide in law vpon the title This authoritie is against your difference and this authoritie I am wel assured is better then any that you haue shewed to proue your difference But if we shal admitte your difference to be according to the law yet your cases wherevnto you applie your difference are nothing like as I haue said before But to procede on in the proufe of our purpose as it doth appeare that neither the King nor his Croune is bound by these general rules which before I haue shewed so do I likewise say of al the residue of the general rules and Maximes of the lawe being in a manner infinite But to retourne againe vnto your onely supposed Maxime whiche you make so general concerning the dishabilitie of persons borne beyond the seas it is very plaine that it was neuer taken to extende vnto the Croune of this Realme of Englande as it may appeare by King Stephen and by King Henry the seconde who were both straungers and Frenchemen and borne out of the Kinges allegeance and neither were they Kinges children immediate nor their parentes of the allegeance and yet they haue bene alwaies accompted lawfull Kinges of England nor their title was by any man at any time defaced or comptrolled for any such consideration or exception of foraine birth And it is a worlde to see how you would shifte your handes from the said King Henry Ye say he came not to the Croune by order of the lawe but by capitulation for asmuch as his mother by whome he conueied his Title was then liuing Well admitte that he came to the Croune by capitulation during his mothers life yet this doth not proue that he was dishabled to receaue the Croune but rather proueth his abilitie And although I did also admit that he had not the Croune by order of the law during his mothers life yet after his mothers death no man hath hitherto doubted but that he was King by lawful succession and not against the lawes and Customes of this Realme For so might you put a doubt in al the Kinges of this Realme that euer gouerned sithens and driue vs to seake heires in Scotland or els where Whiche thing we suppose you are ouer wise to goe about Bysides this I haue hard some of the aduersaries for farther helpe of their intention in this matter saye that King Henry the second was à Queenes childe and so King by the rule of the commō law Truely I know he was an Emperesse childe but no Queene of Englandes childe For although Maude the Emperesse his mother had a right and a good title to the Croune and to be Queene of England yet was she neuer in possession but kepte from the possession by King Stephen And therefore King Henry the second can not iustly be saied to be a Queene of Englandes childe nor yet any Kinges childe vnlesse ye would intend the Kinges children by the wordes of Infantes de Roy c. to be children of farther degree and descended from the right line of the King so ye might say truely that he was the child of King Henry the first being in deede the sonne and heire of Maude the Emperesse daughter and heire of Kinge Henrie the first Whereby your saide rule is here fowly foiled And therefore ye would faine for the maintenance of your pretensed Maxime catche some holde vppon Arthur the sonne of Ieffrey one of the sonnes of the saide Henry the seconde Ye say then like a good and ioly Antyquarie that he was reiected from the Croune bycause he was borne out of the Realme That he was borne out of the Realme it is very true but that he was reiected frō the Croune for that cause it is very false Neither haue you any autoritie to proue your vaine opinion in this pointe For it is to be proued by the Cronicles of this Realme that King Richarde the first vncle vnto the sayd Arthur taking his iourney towarde Hierusalem declared the said Arthur as we haue declared before to be heire apparent vnto the Croune whiche would not haue ben if he had bene taken to be vnhable to receaue the Croune by reason of foraine birth And although King Iohn did vsurpe aswel vpon the saide King Richard the firste his eldest brother as also vpon the sayd Arthur thur his nephewe yet that is no prouf that he was reiected bycause he was borne out of the Realme Yf ye could proue that then had you shewed some reason and president to proue your intent whereas hytherto you haue shewed none at al nor I am wel assured shal neuer be able to shewe Thus may ye see gentle Reader that neither this pretensed Maxime of the lawe set forth by th' Aduersaries nor a great nomber more as general as this is whiche before I haue shewed can by any reasonable meanes be stretched to bind the Croune of Englād These reasons and authorities may for this time suffice to proue that the Croune of this Realme is not subiecte to the rules and the Principles of the common lawe neither can be ruled and tried by the same Whiche thing being true al the obiectiōs of the Aduersaries made against the title of Marie the Queene of Scotland to the succession of the Croune of this Realme are fully answered and thereby clearly wiped away Yet for farther arguments sake and to the ende we might haue al matters sifted to the vttermost and therby al things made plaine let vs for this tyme somewhat yeelde vnto the Aduersaries admitting that the Title of the Croune of this Realme were to be examined and tried by the rules and principles of the cōmon law and then let vs consider and examin farther whether ther be any rule of the cōmon law or els any statute that by good and iust construction can seeme to inpugne the said title of Marie the Queene of Scotland or no. For touching her lineal descente frō King Henry the seuēth and by his eldest daughter as we haue shewed there is no man so impudent to denie What is there then to be obiected among al the rules Maximes and iudgements of the cōmon law of this Realm Only
only Of the like weight is his other coÌ„sideration imaginiÌ„g and surmising this statute to be made bicause the King had so many occasioÌ„s to be so oft ouer the sea with his spouse the Queene As though diuers Kings before him vsed not often to passe ouer the seas As though this were a personal statute made of special purpose and not to be takeÌ„ as a declaratioÌ„ of the coÌ„mon law Which to say is most directly repugnant and contrary to the letter of the said statute Or as though his children also did not very often repaire to outward Countries as Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster that maried Peters the King of Castiles eldest daughter by whose right he claimed the Croune of Castile as his brother EdmuÌ„d Erle of Cambridge that maried the yongest daughter as Lionell Duke of Claraunce that maried at Milaine ViolaÌ„t daughter and heir to Galeatius Duke of Milan But especially Prince Edwarde whiche moste victoriously toke in battaile Iohn the French King and brought him into England his prisoner to the great triumphe and reioysing of the Realme whose eldest sonne Edward that died in short time after was borne beyond the seas in Gascome and his other sonne Richard that succeded his grandfather was borne at Burdeaux as these noble King Edwardes sonnes maried with forainers so did they geue out their daughters in mariage to foraine Princes as the Duke of Lancaster his daughter Philippe to the king of Portingale and his daughter Catherin to the King of Spaine and his Neece Iohan daughter to his sonne Earle of Somerset was ioyned in mariage to the King of Scottes Iohan daughter to his brother Thomas of Wodstocke Duke of Gloucester was Queene of Spaine and his other daughter Marie Duchesse of Britannie Now by this mans interpretation none of the issue of al these noble Women could haue enioyed the Croune of England when it had fallen to them though they had bene of the neerest roial blood after the death of their Auncestours Which surely had bene against the auncient presidentes and examples that we haue declared and against the common Lawe the whiche muste not be thought by this Statute any thing taken away but only declared and against al good reason also For as we would haue thought this Realme greatly iniured if it had ben defrauded of Spaine or any of the foresaid couÌ„treies being deuolued to the same by the foresaid Mariages as we thincke our self at this day iniured for the withholding of France so the issue of the foresaide noble womeÌ„ might and would haue thought them hardly and iniuriously handled yf any such case had happened Neither suche friuolous interpretation and gloses as this man nowe frameth and maketh vppon the statute woulde then haue serued nor nowe wil serue But of all other his friuolous and folish ghessing vpon the clause of the statute for Infantes de Roy there is one most fond of al. For he would make vs beleue such is the mans skil that this statute touching Infantes de Roy was made for the great doubte more in them then in other personnes touching their inheritance to their Auncestours For being then a Maxime saieth he in the lawe that none could inherite to his Auncestours being not of father and mother vnder the obedience of the King seing the King him selfe could not be vnder obedience it plainely seemed that the Kinges children were of farre worse condition then others and quite excluded And therefore he saith that this statute was not to geue them any other priuilege but to make them equall with other And that therefore this statute touching the Kinges children is rather in the superficial parte of the worde then in effecte Nowe among other thinges he saieth as we haue shewed before that this word Infantes de Roy in this statute mentioned must be taken for the children of the first degree whiche he seemeth to proue by a note taken out of M. Rastal But to this we answer that this maÌ„ swetely dreamed when he imagined this fonde and fantasticall exposition And that he shewed him selfe a very infante in law and reason For this was no Maxime or at lest not so certaine before the making of this statute whiche geueth no new right to the Kinges children nor answereth any doubt touching them and their inheritance but saith that the law of the Croune of England is and alwaies hath bene which lawe saith the King say the Lordes say the Commons we allowe and affirme for euer that the Kinges children shal be hable to inherite the Landes of their Auncesters whereâ—oeuer they be borne Al the doubt was for other persons as appeareth euideÌ„tly by the tenour of the statute whether by the coÌ„mon law they being borne out of the allegeance were heritable to their Auncestours And it appeareth that th' Aduersary is driueÌ„ to the hard wal when he is faine to catch hold vpon a selie poore marginal note of M. Rastal of the Kinges childreÌ„ and not of the Kings childrens children Which yet nothing at al serueth his purpose touching this statute But he or the Printer or who so euer he be as he draweth out of the text many other notes of the matter therin coÌ„prised so vpoÌ„ these FreÌ„ch wordes Les enfants de Roy he noteth in the MargeÌ„t The Kings childreÌ„ but how far that word reacheth he saieth neither more nor lesse Neither it is any thing preiudicial to the said Queenes right or Title whether the said wordes Infants ought to be takeÌ„ strictly for the first degree or farther enlarged For if this statute toucheth only the succession of the Kings children to their Auncestours for other inheritaÌ„ce and not for the Cround as most men take it and as it may be as we haue said very wel takeÌ„ and allowed then doth this supposed Maxime of forain borne that seemeth to be gathered out of this statute nothing anoy or hinder the Queene of Scotlandes Title to the Croune as not therto apperteining On the other side if by the inheritance of the kings childreÌ„ the Croune also is meant yet neither may we enforce the rule of foraine borne vpoÌ„ the kings children which are by theâ—presse wordes of the statute excepted neither enforce the word Inâ—â—â—s to the first degree only for such reasons presidents and examples and other prouffes largely by vs before set forth to the coÌ„trarie seing that the right of the Croune falling vpoÌ„ them they may wel be called the kings ChildreÌ„ or at the lest the childreÌ„ of the Croune Ther is also one other cause why though this statute reach to the Croune and may and ought to be expouÌ„ded of the same the said Queene is out of the reach and coÌ„passe of the said statute For the said statute can not be vnderstanded of any persons borne in Scotlande or Wales but onely of persons borne beyond the sea out of the allegeance of the King of England that is to wrtte France Flandres and such like For England
the said statutes And therefore in that respect the said Wil is insufficient in lawe And to aggrauate the matter farther ye shal vnderstand of great inconueniences and imminent dangers which as yet are likely to ensue if that supposed Wil should take place It is not vnknowen but that at the time of the making of the said Wil the said Ladie Francis had no issue male but onely three daughters betwene her and Henrie Duke of Suffolke Afterward in the time of our late soueraigne Ladie Queene Marie the said Duke of Suffolke was attainted and suffered accordingly After whose death the said Ladie Francis to her great dishonour and abasing of her selfe toke to husbande one Adrian Stokes who was before her seruant a man of very meane estate and vocation and had issue by him Which issue if it were a son and be also yet liuing by the wordes of the said supposed Wil is to inherite the Croune of this Realme before the daughters betwene her and the said late Duke of Suffolke begotteÌ„ which thing was neither intended nor meant by the makers of the said Actes Who can with any reason or common sense thinke that al the states of the Realme assembled together at the said Parlament did meane to geue authoritie to King Henry the eight by his Letters PateÌ„ts or last Wil to disherit the Queene of Scotland lineally descended of the blood roial of this Realme and to appoint the sonne of Adrian Stokes then a meane seruing man of the Duke of Suffolks to be King and Gouernour ouer this noble Realme of EnglaÌ„d The inconueniences whereof as also of the like that might haue followed of the preteÌ„sed Mariage of M. Keies the late Sergeante Porter I referre to the graue consideratioÌ„s and iudgementes of the honorable and worshipful of this Realme Some peraduenture wil say that King Henry the eight meant by his Wil to dispose the Croune vnto the Heires of the body of the said Ladie Francis by the said Duke lawfully begotten and not vnto the heires by any other person to be begotteÌ„ Which meaning although it might very hardly be gathered vpon the said supposed Wil yet can not the same be without as great inconueniences as the other For if the Croune should nowe remaine vnto the heires of the bodie of the said Ladie Francis by the said Duke begotten then should it remaine vnto two daughters ioyntly they both being termed and certainly accompted in law but one heire And by that meanes the state and gouernment of this Realme should be changed from the auncient Monarchie into the gouernement of many For the Title of the Ladie Francis being by way of remainder whiche is compted in law a ioynt purchase doth make all the issue female inheritable a like and cannot go according to the ancient law of a desceÌ„t to the Croune which is that the Croune by descent must go to the eldest daughter only as is aforesaid For great differeÌ„ces be in law where one cometh to any Title by descent and where as a purchaser And also if th' one of those issues female dye then were her heire in the Title as a seueral tenant in tayle And so there should follow that so many daughters so many general Gouernors and so might their issue being heirs females make the gouernmeÌ„t grow infinite Which thing was most farre from the meaning of the makers of that Acte of ParlameÌ„t What if the said King had by his last Wil disposed this realme into two or three parts diuiding the gouernement thereof to three persons to rule as seueral Kinges as for example Wales vnto one the Northe partes vnto an other the South partes vnto the third and by that meanes had miserably rent this Realme into partes Had this ben according to the entent and meaning of the said Acte of Parlament Or had it bene a good and sufficient limitation in law No verily I thinke no man of any reasonable vnderstanding wil so say And no more can he either say or thinke of the remainder limited vnto heires of the body of the said Lady Francis by the said supposed Wil. Now to coÌ„plete and finish this our Treatise touching the Queene of ScotlaÌ„ds Title to the fuccession of the Croune as we haue done so let vs freely and liberally graunt the Aduersaries that whiche is not true that is that the said supposed Wil was signed with the Kings owne hand Let the heires of the Lady Francis come forth in Gods name and lay forth to the world their demauÌ„d and supposed right against the said Q. of Scotlandes interest The Quene on th' other side to fortifie and streÌ„gthen her claime laieth forth to the open sight of al the worlde her â—ust title and interest signed and alwaies afore this time allowed not onely as with the Seales but with the othes also of al the Kings that euer wer in EnglaÌ„d takeÌ„ at the time of their Coronation for the coÌ„tinuance of the lawes of this noble Realme of England signed and allowed I say almost of al the world by sides yea signed with God and natures owne fingers Her right is as open and as clere as the bright Sonne Now to darken and shadow this glorious light what doe the heires of the said Ladie Francis or others bring forth to grouÌ„d their iust claime and demauÌ„d vpoÌ„ When al is done they are faine to ruÌ„ne and catche holde vpon King Henry the eightes written Wil signed with his owne hande Wel let them take as good handfast thereon as they can but yet lette them shewe the said Queene the said original Wil. It is wel knowen that they themselues haue said that that to doe they can not Yet let them at least lay forth some autheÌ„tical Record of the same It is also notorious that they can not If then the foundation of their claime being the Wil of such a Prince and of so late and fresh memorie made neither the original nor yet any good and worthy Recorde sufficiently authorised remaine of the same by what colour wil they exclude the saide Queene They must claime either by proximitie of blood or by Charter For the first nature hath excluded them Charter they haue none to shew They wil perchance crie out and complain of the losse and imbeaseling of the same and say that such a casualtie should not destroye and extinguish their right This were some thing perchance if it were in a priuate maÌ„s case It were somewhat if their demauÌ„d did not destroy the coÌ„mon law and the law of nature also It were somewhat if their supposed Charter were perished or by any frau duleÌ„t meanes intercepted by the said Quene Vpon whom in this point it is not possible to fasten any the very least sinister suspicioÌ„ It were somewhat if they did not aspire to take gaine and lucre or if the Queene sought not to auoide daÌ„mage For daÌ„mage it is when any person is spoiled of any right due to him by law and reason And there is
burge who therby inioyed the Countie Pâ—latine The like may be said of diuers othâ— partes of the Germanical Empire yea a wâ— maÌ„ hath ruled and gouerned the said who Empire as it is euident in Agnes the wiâ— of the Emperour Henry the third duriâ— the time of the minoritie of her sonne Hâ—rie the fourth And yet the same Empire ye wote wel passeth by choise and election and not by lineal succession of bloode yeâ— many hundereth yeares ere she was borne and in the florishing time of the olde Roâ—maine Empire Mesa Varia grandmother to the Emperour Heliogabalus and Alexander Seuerus sate with the Senate at Rome heard and examined the weighty causes oâ— the Empire and set her hand also to suche thiÌ„gs as passed touchiÌ„g the publike affaires I do now adioyne the kingdom of Sicile and Naples in Italie of the whiche Italie Noah whom the prophane Writers cal Ianus made Crana his daughter ruler and Quene wher also Lauinia reigned after the death of Aeneas And as for Naples this presideÌ„t of womanly Gouernment is not there only of later yeares in both the Queenes called Iohanne but euen from very auncient time which thing the stories do recorde in Amalasintha that gouerned after the death of her father King Theodoricus with her sonne Athalaricus The said Amalasintha was mother to Almaricus King of Spaine and after his death ruled her self the said Realme Let vs nowe adde farther the Dukedoms of Loraine and Mantua the kingdome of Swetia and Dania and of Noruegia whereof Margaret the daughter of Waldemarus was gouernesse and Quene the kingdom of Beame and of HuÌ„garie And to draw nere home the Realm also of ScotlaÌ„d which realm hath denomination of a woman as their stories report as hath likewise Flaunders The like some of our stories report of EnglaÌ„d wherin I wil make no fast footing Now touching the feminine Successâ— to the right of the Croune of England itâ— no new found Succession and much leâ— vnnatural We reade in our Chronicles Queene Cordel the thirde heire and daugâ—ter of King Leyre the teÌ„th King of Eritanâ— that restored her father to the kingdomâ— being deposed by her two other sisters Wâ— reade that about three hundered fifty anâ— fiue yeares before the Natiuitie of Christâ— Martia Proba during the nonage of heâ— sonne did gouerne this Realme ful politikâ—ly and wisely and established certaine laweâ— called Leges Martianae There be aswel of our owne as of exterternal historiographers that for a most certeinty affirme that Helena the noble Constantine his mother was a Britaine and the only daughter and heire of Coelus King of Britanie and that the said Constantine was borne in Britanie Surely that his father CoÌ„stantinus died in Britanie at Yorke and that the said Constantinus began his noble Victorious race of his most worthy Empire in Britany it is reported by auncient Writers and of great faith and credit And that likewise long before the said Helens time women bare the greatest sway both in warre â—nd peace and that the Britaine 's had womeÌ„ or their Capteines in warfare AmoÌ„g other Cornelius Tacitus writeth thus His atâ—e allis inuicem instructi Voadica generis regij â—mina Duce neque enim sexum in Impertis â—scernunt sumpsêre vniuersi bellum We haue now already shewed of Henry he seconde who obteined the Croune by â—he mothers right Which said King by the Title of his wife and after him his Succesâ—ours Kings of England did inioy the Dukeâ—omes of Aquitania and the Dukedome of Poiters as the said Kings Successour should â—aue done also as we haue shewed before the Dukedome of Britanie if Arthur King Richardes Neuew had not by the vsurping of King Iohn and his vnnatural crueltie died without issue And by what other right then by the womans inheritance dew to King Edward the third by his mother the Frenche Kings daughter doe the Kinges of this Realme beare the Armes and Title of the Kings of FraÌ„ce And though the FreÌ„ch men thinke their parte the better against vs it is not but vpoÌ„ an old politike law of their owne as they say and not vpon any suche fonde ground as ye pretende that women Regiment is vnnatural Which RegimeÌ„t ye stoutly affirme to bâ— farre a sunder from any natural RegimeÌ„t yeâ— truely as farre as was the boies head froÌ„ the shoulders the last Bartholmew Faire at LoÌ„don which many a poore foole did beleeue to be true For as the boies head remained stil vpon his necke and shoulders though iâ— seemed by a light liuely legerdemaine to be a great way from the bodie so would you now cast a mist before our eies and make vs beleue that womans gouernmeÌ„t and nature be so diuided and sundred that they may iâ— no wise be lincked and coupled together But surely the French nation was neuer so vnwise to thinke this kind of GouermeÌ„t repugnant to Nature or to Gods holy Word For then they would neuer haue suffered their Realme to haue ben so often gouerned and ruled by women in the time of the nonage or absence of their Kings As by Adela the mother of King Philip and by Blanche the mother of S. Lewis and by the wife of the late King Frauncis taken prisoner at Paura and by diuers others Neither should the said Adela and Blanche haue ben so coÌ„mended of their said noble and worthy rule and â—uernmeÌ„t The said FrenchmeÌ„ though by â—oliâ—ie they haue prouided to exclude foâ—iners from the inheritance of the Croune 〈◊〉 they themselues holde at this day by â—e womaÌ„s title and interest the Dukedom â—f Britanie with diuers other goodly posâ—ssions And we haue shewed before how â—ewis the Dolphin of France made a Title 〈◊〉 the Croune of this Realme in the right â—f his wife Thus I haue as I suppose sufficiently proued that this kinde of RegimeÌ„t 〈◊〉 not against Nature by the auncient and â—ontinual practise of Asia Aphrica and Euâ—â—pa For the perfecting of the whiche laste â—â—rte of Europa and of the whole three â—artes I ende with the notable Poet Virgils verses Filius huic fato Diuûm prolesque virilis Nulla fuit primaque oriens erepta iuuenta est Sola domum tantas seruabat filia sedes We knit vp therfore our conclusion against you after this sort That law and vsage caÌ„not be compted against the law of nature or ius GeÌ„tiuÌ„ which the most part of al couÌ„tries and one great or notable part of the whol world doth and hath vsed but this lawe or vsage is such Ergo it is not against the law of Nature The Maior nedeth no proufe and foâ— the proufe of the Minor we neede to imploy no farder labour then we haue already done Whervpon the consequeÌ„t must nedeâ— be inferred that this law or vsage doth weâ— agree and stand with the law of nature The reason thereof is that it
of Scripture whereof if there do yet remaine any scruple or doubt to any man for the auoiding and cleane extinguishing of the same we wil referre the Reader to the noble Ciuilian Paulus and to the rule before by vs touched Si de interpretationelegis quaeratur inprimis inspiciendum est quo iure Ciuitas retro in eiusmodi casibus vsa fuit Optima enim legum interpres consuetudo It is for vs then to consider whether in Iudea and Hierusalem women haue at any time ben the chief Rulers and gouernesses and whether the Iewes euer interpreted this place after the meaning and sense of this man Surely at such time as Christian men bare rule at Hierusalem we know wel there was no such interpretation For among other â—ulko the Countie of Aniow who leaft his said Countie to Geffrey his sonne Father 〈◊〉 Henry the secoÌ„d by th' Empresse Maude and went to HierusaleÌ„ to King Balduin the secoÌ„d and ther maried MelysaÌ„d his daughter â—nd heire was afterward by his wiues title King of Hierusalem Salome Herodes sister was made Gouernesse by Augustus Cesar of IamniaÌ„ Azorum Phasilides and Ascalonia Which thing is a good proufe that the Romaines thought it not vnnatural as ye think for a womaÌ„ to inioy ciuil gouernmeÌ„t I might hereto adde the wiues of IoaÌ„nes of Aristobulus and of AlexaÌ„der who gouerned and ruled the said Iewes after the death of their husbaÌ„ds with such other Whiche stories though they be not in Scripture yet are they Authentical and of good credit And yet are we not altogether vnfurnished of a scripturely exaÌ„ple but rather we are so furnished that God so long before forseeing that there should come such vnnatural cauilling quarellers against his creature and prouidence hath as it were al at once mett with them and answered to al such calume nious cauilling of yours and such others as you shal by and by vnderstand A woman pardy if we beleue you must not kepe the state and honour of a Prince and Quene And why I pray you Was not she created to the image of God as wel as man And doth not she represent the Maiestie of God Did not God blesse them both Did not God bid them rule ouer the fish of the sea and ouer the foule of heaueÌ„ and ouer euery beast that moueth vpoÌ„ the earth But what thing meane you by th' image of God Meane you as S. Paule seemeth to meane that man was created in righteousnes and true holines This is true also in the woman Some thinke that the Image of God representeth the blessed Trinitie which is as such an high thing may be somwhat resembled by memorie by wil and by vnderstanding which are in womeÌ„ as wel as in men What thing is ther that reason wit and vnderstanding may reach to that women haue not or may not atchieue and atteine For learning ther haue ben many women exactly learned in Musique A strononie Philosophie Oratorie Physique in Poetrie in Law and Diuinitie Atossa the Queene of the Persians of whom we haue spoken before was the first that inuented the manner of writing of epiâ—â—les Aspasia was Scholemaistresse to that â—oble Oratour and Captaine Pericles The â—oble Philosopher Socrates was not ashaned to be taught of Diotina Accursius his daughter professed the Ciuil law openly at Bononie The Sybilles be famous among Writers aswell Christians as other Paula and her daughter Eustochia were notably learned and diuers other women in S. Hieromes time as it appeareth in his workes bisides diuers other before his time of whom he maketh mention as also of the aforenamed Aspasia Sappho Cornelia and such like Hyptachia passed al the Philosophers of her time and succeded Plotinus in Plato his Schole openly professing at Alexandria diuers liberal sciences And what were the nine Muses but virgines most excellent in the same Who is called the Goddesse of learning but Minerua Which also found out the Arte of planting and setting What should I now speake of the noble learned womaÌ„ of our Britanie of CaÌ„bra the daughter of King Belin who promulged the lawes which of her name as some of our CouÌ„trey men write haue their denomination and are called Sycambricae of Martia Proba of Helena and such other like We nede noâ— runne vp to so high and farre yeares wâ— haue hereof at home date and also presenâ— and worthie examples Perchance you wilâ— obiect that women are vnable and insurfâ—â—cient to consult of great and weightie affaires as being but of weake and feeble wit and counsaile If this reason hold you must exclude from al princely Honour and Regiment al. Kings that be vnder age or otherwise that lacke discretion as wel as womeÌ„ And yet as weake as they are Numa King of the Romains the great Monarche Iustinian bysides others did consult to the great coÌ„moditie of themselues and their coÌ„monwealthes with their wiues for the better ordering of the publike affaires The life of the great Monarche Cyrus was preserued by the counsaile of the wife of an heardman Theodosius also th' Emperor toke great benefit by the good coÌ„saile of his wife Theodolinda was th' occasion that her husbaÌ„d Agilolphus K. of the LoÌ„bardes and Bertha that our King Ethelbertus Clotildis that Clodoueus the King of France receaued the ChristiaÌ„ faith The LacedemoniaÌ„s the wifest people amoÌ„gest the Grecians and the Atheâ—eÌ„ses also vsed in the old time to haue women present at the debating of publike affaires Which thing was practised amoÌ„g the old Germanes Neither Socrates nor Plato â—o altogether remoue womeÌ„ being apt and mete therto from publike administratioÌ„ Aâ—stotle coÌ„fesseth that in the commoÌ„wealth of the Lacedemonians many thinges were done by women The said Aristotle though he preserre the rule and gouernmeÌ„t of men yet doth he not reiect the other as vnnatural but graunteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That somtime women being great inheritours haue the priÌ„cipalitie Now that many coÌ„monwealths haue ben commendably and worthely gouerned by theÌ„ and that in their gouernmeÌ„t lacked neither witte policie dexterity prudeÌ„ce liberalitie iustice nor morcy neither any other thing mete for a PriÌ„ce I could easely declare but I do forbeare by reason of tediousnes and for that in the pervsing and discussing of the stories by me already rehersed it wil most easely most fully and most euidently fal out to al such as be desirours to trauaile therein In case al this wil not satisfie you and that you thinke it stil to be vnnatural and against Scripture for a woman that is ordeined to be subiected to her husbande to be Gouernesse and Head to a publike state and that you thinke also that for al other respectes a woman might be a Gouernesse yet considering that she must haue the managing of martial exploits which in deede may seeme in no wise agreable to a womaÌ„ and is surely the dificultest matter of all in our case and question and that you can not