fountain of the laws By these Governours and Deputies agreeeing together Tributes are exacted and Taxes levied According to an order of the Senate held at Lyncopen 1599 they were to keep Courts of Justice twice in every year all of them meeting in the Winter time about February at Vpsal at the publick Fair called Disting and in Summer at Lyncopen States or Orders of men in this Kingdom there are says Bureus six 1. Princes of the Blood Royal Nobility Clergy Souldiery Merchantry and Commonalty 1. Princes of the Blood The Princes of the Blood-Royal are disposed of by the King according to their age and capacity The eldest as was said is Heir apparent to the Crown The younger are commonly created Dukes and made Governours of Provinces of Vpsal first and the rest in order of dignity These after the death of their elder brother if he dye without issue have right to succeed in the Throne 2. Nobility The Nobility which is said to have descended from King Ingon or Harold of Norway and spred through Germany Suitzerland Spain c. when the Goths invaded the Roman Empire It is divided into three ranks or orders 1. Consists of Earls and Barons or Franck-Barons The Earls Jerl anciently were created only upon extraordinary accounts as were also their Dukes called Hertog neither of their titles being then hereditary A war happening between them and some of their Kings their Honour and Titles were for some ages quite laid aside till King Ericus XIV about the year 1560 first of all renewed these lost Titles and restored them to their owners which gracious favour of his was follow'd by his successors they not only conferring like honour during life but at present making it hereditary The second consists of those whose ancestors have been advanc't to the honour of Senators of the Kingdom The third sort is made up of those who are neither Counts nor Barons and whose ancestors have not been of the Senatorian Order of these Orders may be either their Knights for their valour created by the King whose Titles are not transmitted to their Heirs tho frequently upon equal desert confer'd on them or Gentlemen who are the lowest degree of the Nobility anciently called Affwappen either because they were expert in war or bore a Coat of Arms. All these Noblemen enjoy great priviledges and immunities All their estates are free from taxes and impositions so much only out of the Lands of Earls and Barons excepted as they at their creation receive of the King for which they pay some acknowledgment to the Crown only in time of war and all exigences whatever they are obliged to fit out horses and men for the Kings service proportionable to their estates Out of these are commonly elected the Senators Judges and chief Officers of the Kingdom men of low birth tho of considerable parts seldom advancing themselves into places of great trust and employment in Civil affairs in Ecclesiastical more frequently The estates of these Noblemen are inherited as well by their daughters as their sons the son if one having half and a daughter three parts of them which custom King Bergerus Jerl is said to have made and brought in about four ages ago 3. The Clergy Clergy concerning whom what we find is set down under Vpsal 4. The Souldiery 〈◊〉 which enjoys very great priviledges from the King as soon as any is listed Souldier he has over and above his ordinary pay all his Lands Tax-free if in time of war a Souldiers horse be killed under him the King provides him with another and if any be taken Captive by the Enemy the King redeems him at his own charges and such like which we shall mention when we speak of the Forces of the Kingdom 5. The Merchantry Merchantry in whose possession the most considerable part of the riches of the Kingdom is kept and by whose procurement forreign Commodities are imported For the good government and benefit of these every Maritime City and Mart-Town had anciently their particular Municipal Laws derived from Berca the ancient seat of their Kings and about 600 year ago a Town of the greatest trade in the Kingdom by these it was ordered how and in what manner the Maritime Cities might exercise Trade as well with Inland Towns as Forreigners what Commodities they might traffick with not hindring one anothers commerce c. These laws were by the Civil wars in the Kingdom quite neglected and for a long time out of use but by the care of some of the late Kings they or some equivalent to them begin to be restored and put in Execution 6 The last and lowest state Commonalty and as it were the Basis of the rest is the Commonalty called Bond or Beond of which there are two sorts 1. Named Scatbonder who have Hereditary Lands priviledges of fishing and fowling c. belonging to them these in time of war are bound to fit out one Horse and Man for the Kings service The second sort are those that labour in the Mines called Bergs-men no less profitable to the publick then the former and enjoy no less priviledges and immunities both possessing Estates and Fishery of their own and like the Commons of England having their Representatives in the publick Council of the Kingdom Of these some by reason of their freedom and advantage of Education which is denyed the Pesantry of other Countrys sometimes arrive at great honours in Church and State the famous King Ericus furnamed the Saint is said to have been a Country-mans son The Swedes as all other Nations were for a long time governed only by the laws of nature the confus'd edicts of their Kings Decrees of the States and Responses of the wise till about the year 1251 Bergerus Jerl compiled a body of Laws and Constitutions for the Kingdom collected out of the former These before the invention of Paper were engraven upon large wooden Posts thereby after the manner of the Romans and Athenians to be promulgated to the people They were commonly very short and general as designing the decision of particular cases to the publick Magistrates Besides these they had upon any emergent difficulties other ancient Laws which they called Recessus Regni and other ancient Statutes of the Kingdom by which only great controversies were decided At present the Courts of Justice are more regular and for the speedier execution of it there are in the whole Kingdom five supream Courts of Judicature 1. The Kings Chamber which is divided into three ranks or degrees 1. Supream in which all Cases twixt Senator and Senator brought thither by Appeal are decided 2. The Middle in which are determined actions of Treason and all others betwixt Noblemen Lagmen and publick Officers 3. The lowest where ordinary Trials are decided whether Civil or Criminal where it is judged whether the procedure in Inferiour Courts in actions brought thence by Appeal has been Legal or not From this Court there lies no
expresly forbid to undertake any offensive war as an affair wholly belonging to the General Assembly Again his power of making peace and entring into new leagues is so far limited that neither shall be valid unless approved and confirm'd by the General Estates Only ancient Alliances may be renewed by the King with the consent of the Senators resident at Court What his power is in raising Tribute and Taxes may be easily gather'd from the words of Konarscius in Fredo p. 98. The Estates of the Kingdom saith he have exempted thee speaking to the King from all charges and expences It is their business to pay the Soldiery and to furnish the Magazines thine with their joint and mutual consent to proclaim war overcome and triumph The coinage of money is a Royal prerogative and as soon as Poland knew money was in the sole power of the Kings but Vladislaus Jagello in the year 1422 made a promise not to coin any money without the consent of his Counsellors which law was renewed by Sigismund the third in the year 1632 and inserted into the Pacta Conventa sworn to by the present King Nor was it without the consent of the Senate that Casimir Jagello granted to the Cities of Dantzick Elbing and Thorn the priviledg of coining money which they keep to this day The prerogative of conferring employments and honours still remains in the sole power of the King He is supreme judg and arbiter of merit and reward and disposes of all as well Ecclesiastical as Civil dignities Yet this illustrious prerogative suffers some eclipses too for first the King can advance no foreigner nor any person who has no lands in the Province where the preferment lies Next he can neither diminish nor increase the number of the Offices either of the Court or Kingdom Thirdly he is obliged to supply such as are vacant by a time limited Fourthly he engages himself not to bestow the Office of Bishop nor the Commands of Palatine Castellane or Captain upon any of his Sons Grandchildren or other relations of the Royal Blood Fifthly he is restrained from conferring a plurality of high dignities upon one person Lastly he is bound not to seek any private advantage by the advancement of any man and 't is provided that all promises of preferment made in order to his advancement to the Crown shall be invalid But granting his power to be considerable in conferring of Honours yet he is not able to deprive the same persons tho ill deserving of the honours once conferred upon them without the consent of the Estates and with their approbation he may remove from their employments not only Seculars but Ecclesiasticks By the same permission he has also power to create Dukes Earls and Barons but the reason why he makes so few is because the Polish Nobility will not admit of any other superiority one amongst another then what comes by birthright And because they are very cautious of admitting strangers he is not permitted to advance any foreigner into the number of the Nobility by way of Naturalization without the consent of the Estates first obtained and the particular recommendation of the General of the Army It is in the Kings power to give Audience to the Ambassadors of foreign Princes and to elect his own but he cannot send them abroad upon the concerns of Peace War or entring into new Leagues without the consent of the resident Senators Formerly the priviledg of hunting belonged solely to the King but now every one of the Nobility hath power to use that sport in his own grounds The King cannot contract a marriage for himself without the consent of the Senate He is not permitted to enjoy or possess any lands of inheritance in his own Kingdom nor is he suffer'd to stir beyond its confines except the Senate agree thereto He may not have any foreigners employed about him at Court for all the Court-Officers are sworn to be true and faithful not only to the King but also to the Senate and are under the jurisdiction of the Marshal of the Kingdom He is also obliged by the Pacta Conventa to take care that the Queen do not meddle with State affairs To all these Articles the Kings of Poland most religiously swear observance Nay to keep their Kings the more in awe the Nobility of Poland published the following Declaration in the year 1609 If any Nobleman or Senator observe that the King has acted contrary to the Laws and Priviledges of the Kingdom he is to give notice thereof to the Primate and the Senators who are to admonish the King thereof If he slight the admonition it shall be lawful publickly to declare the Kings neglect to the Senate to the end that the Deputies may be enjoin'd in the name of the whole Nobility to advise him to desist from acting so contrary to the established Laws of the Land If the King take no notice of this second admonition they are then to acquaint the General Assembly of Estates If the third admonition prevail not then all the Orders are to proceed according to the Article of withdrawing their Allegiance The Revenues of the Kings Houshold arising out of his Lands and Salt-pits are computed to above three millions of Florens yearly Of which Piasecius gives this account That the allowance of the Kings of Poland is such as is not only sufficient to maintain the splendor of a Court equal to any Prince in Christendom but also large enough for all occasions of Royal munificence The truth of which many of the Nobility experience by the large possessions which the King often grants them during his or their lives The publick Revenues of the Kingdom are either ordinary or extraordinary The ordinary Revenues are the fourth part of the Rents of the Kings Lands granted by him towards the payment of the Soldiery Impost upon Wines Custom upon goods exported and imported the fourth Gross out of Great and Little Poland c. The extraordinary Revenues are 1. The Agraria or a certain sum of money tax'd upon Lands and Farms 2. Excise upon Beer from which the Tenants of Noblemen that keep publick-houses are not free 3. Capitatio Judaica or the Jews Pole-money which in the year 1671 was tax'd at 150000 Florens The Jews in Lithvania upon extremity are tax'd at 40000 Florens Sometimes they pay two Florens a head for themselves their wives and children 4. The Merchants Donatives which in the year 1650 was raised to 40000 Florens 5. The Chimney-money which is doubled and trebled as necessity requires Sometimes a general Pole is laid upon the whole Kingdom where every man the Archbishop not excepted pays according to his estate and the Offices he holds Nothing of all this belongs to the King but 't is all reserv'd for public uses of which the Treasurers give an account to the General Estates who have the only power to levy these new assessments and extraordinary impositions as the necessity of affairs requires The Kings
Treasurer the Key and the King on horseback follows them to the Church where the Arch-Bishop receiving him demands of him an account of his faith then reverently approaching the high Altar he tenders to him an Oath to this effect That he will fear God and defend his Church promote love justice and truth amongst his Subjects that he will govern his Kingdom by Natives and not admit any Strangers into Council or places of great trust that he will not alienate any Forts Lands or Territories within his Dominions but preserve them whole and entire to his Successours that he will provide himself and his Court out of his constant Crown Revenues and never burthen his Subjects with Taxes but upon these accounts viz. Either upon an Invasion whether by Christians or Infidels a Domestick Insurrection upon the marriage of his Sons or Daughters for the building of some new Forts or upon diminution of the Exchequer and that he will introduce no laws or Constitutions without or against the consent of the people To Sigismund the third King of Poland who claim'd this Kingdom they propos'd that he would not alter any thing in the establish'd Religion which was the Lutheran which Oath he either refusing or presently breaking lost the favour of his people and the Kingdom it self before he was well setled in it This done the Arch-bishop puts on him his Crown and other Kingly Ornaments and one of the Heralds proclaims such one is crown'd King of Swedland and Gothland and none but he then all the people answer Let the King live After this the King calls before him the Governors or Legifers of every Province and chief Cities within his Dominions who for themselves and their respective Governments take an oath of Allegiance to the King this done the King gives to every one of them to the Legifer of Vpsal first and the rest in order an Escutcheon with the Arms of that Province or that City where they are to preside as Badges of their Offices and returning to his Pallace his Nobility are by him splendidly entertain'd and the Ceremony ends Henceforward he hath power in Ecclesiastical and civil matters and rules his people as an absolute Monarch The next heir to the Crown is the Kings eldest Son if he have any who sometimes is by publick declaration acknowledg'd to be so before his Fathers death as Charles eldest Son to Gustavus the first is said to have been and though in that Kings time the right of succession was by the States granted only to his Issue Male yet in the year 1627 Gustavus Adolphus procur'd that the Kings Daughters also might be admitted to the Throne by which procurement his Daughter Christina was made capable to succeed him Upon default of Issue Royal it is by the Vnio Haereditaria provided that the nearest in blood to the Kings Family shall suceed and upon failure of these the power of electing is to devolve upon the States The Kings younger sons he commonly makes Governours over some particular Provinces giving them Titles fitted to their Commands His Daughters are provided for at the expence of the whole Kingdom their Portions being not taken out of the Kings Exchequer but levied by publick Tax In the Interregnum absence sickness or minority of the King the Kingdom is govern'd by the Drotset or Vice-Roy the Marshal Admiral Chancellour and Treasurer of the Kingdom who at their admission to the publick management of affairs take an Oath not to diminish any thing of the Kings Rights but preserve them whole and entire and if it happen that any part of them be by these Trustees during the Kings Minority sold or alienated the King when he comes to full age may by law recover it Anciently the Kings of Sweden shortly after they were elected used to make a publick Progress through their Dominions the Legifer or Lievtenant of every Province being bound to provide for his Reception what the King did was to assure the people of the great care he had of them and that charge wherewith they had entrusted him and to receive of the people Oaths of Allegiance and Fidelity This custom being found somewhat expensive and the civil troubles of the Kingdom oftentimes not permitting it is now quite left of and the people rest content in the confidence they have of their Prince without thus seeing his Person The Court of the King of Sweden The Court of Sweden like that of England consists of Ecclesiastical Civil and Military persons and government 1. For the Ecclesiastical there is the Arch-bishop with as many Suffragans as are by the King thought convenient who attend the King both at Church and Council upon these several of the inferiour Clergy continually wait 2. For the Civil officers the Drotset or Vice-Roy is chief whose office was anciently to admonish and direct the King to inform him upon any default whatsoever and upon non-amendment to declare the same to the Governours of the Kingdom in whose power it was when they thought fit to dethrone their Prince 2. Next is the Chamberlain or Commissary General who presides over the chief Court of Judicature the Kings Chamber commonly held at Stockholme and discharges all expences and orders all the disbursements of the Kingdom He has under him one Questor who takes care of what money is brought into the Exchequer and gives account to him Under these are twelve Masters of accounts who keep Registers of the Kings Revenues take care lest any detriment happen to the Crown and once a year make up their accounts to the Commissary General in the presence of some of the Privy Counsellours Every one of these has one particular Province of the Kingdom given him in charge in which he employs divers Tax-Masters who collect the Tributes Tenths and other Crown Revenues and bring them to his hands 3. In the third place succeeds the Chancellour of the Kingdom whose Office is much-what the same as in other Kingdoms 4. The Treasurer of the whole Kingdom who has under him several Secretaries and other Officers his office is to keep the Crown Globe Scepter and Sword he is Master of the Royal Mint and Pay-master general of the whole Kingdom accountable to none but the King only 3. For the Military Officers the principal is the Grand Marshal or Generalissimo of the Kings Forces Next is the High Admiral of the Kingdom with the several other officers not different from those in other States Besides these chief Officers of State each Province of the Kingdom has its peculiar Governour called Landshere or Stathallar whose power is very great and office considerable under him there are in every Province as many Lands-men and Nemdaries or Nempmen as there are Districts or Praefectures in it all which have distinct and subordinate offices appeals lying from the lower to the next immediately above it and so to the supream Court of Judicature the Kings Chamber all actions acquiescing in the King as the source and
34. Christian I. son of Theodoric Count of Oldenburgh was elected King of Denmark upon the death of King Christopher He was a generous pious and valiant Prince but wholly ignorant of all manner of learning He reduc'd the Swedes to their Allegiance who in the beginning of his reign had revolted from the Crown of Denmark annex'd Holstein to his Dominions made himself Duke of Dithmars and Stormar and having ruled three and thirty years dyed in peace in the year 1481 and was buryed in a Chappel which he himself had built at Roschild leaving his Crown to his son 35. John who was a Prince endued with all the Royal qualities of his father He was devout in exercises of Religion temperate in diet grave in apparel and valiant in exploits of war which excepting only the overthrow he receiv'd from the Dithmarsians in the year 1500 proved exceeding successful He dyed of the plague at Olburgh in the year 1513. 35. Christian II. King John's son who was the bloodiest cruellest and most dissolute Prince that Denmark or perhaps any other Kingdom ever saw Lindenbruch gives this character of him That Nero Phalaris and Sylla put in the scales against him would signifie no more then half an ounce to a pound weight Meursius reports that he was born with one hand grasp'd which when the Midwife opened she found full of blood This was look'd upon by his father as a certain prognostic of a bloody mind of which his subjects had afterwards a lamentable experience The only good he ever did his Country was the founding a Fair and establishing a more then ordinary trade at Copenhagen At last after he had by his wickedness thrown himself out of three Kingdoms and for six and thirty years undergone the miseries of banishment or imprisonment he dyed in the Castle of Kallenborg in Zeeland in the year 1559. 36. Frideric I. King John's brother succeeded his Nephew Christian As soon as he was Crown'd in the year 1524 he begun to bring the Augspur Confession into all the Churches of Denmark He ruled almost ten year in quietness and dyed at Sleswig in the year 1533. 37. Christian III. Frideric's son He perfected the reformation which his father had begun in the Church He lived and dyed in the year 1559 a Prince of singular piety wisdom temperance justice and all Royal virtues And left behind a fair pattern of a happy King and good Christian to his son 37. Frederic II. Who having exactly imitated his fathers example after a happy reign of twenty-nine years dyed in his Palace of Anderscow in the year 1587. Immediately after his Coronation he was engag'd in a war against the rebels of Dithmars whom he quell'd with small trouble Afterwards he waged war with Eric XIV King of Sweden which lasted seven years The rest of his days were spent in peace and quietness 39. Christian IV. before his fathers burial was elected and soon after crown'd King of Denmark In his reign the Emperor of Germany Ferdinand II. overrun the greatest part of the Cimbrian Chersonese and had once well nigh brought the whole Kingdom of Denmark under his subjection But King Christian contracting as it were all the exspiring Spirits of his Realm made the Imperialists at last give ground and brought them to a Treaty upon honourable terms He dyed in the year 1648 and was succeeded by his son 40. Frederic III. Who receiv'd as great a blow from the Swedes as his father had done from the Germans Charles Gustave the victorious King of Sweden had brought him to that extremity as to lay close siege to Copenhagen which City and consequently the whole Kingdom of Denmark would doubtless have faln into the hands of the Swedes had not the Emperor of Germany the King of Poland and most of the Northern Princes jealous of the growing power of the Swedish King concern'd themselves in the defence of it He that desires a further account of the beginning continuance and end of these Northern wars may have recourse to the accurate history of them written by R. Manley and printed in the year 1670. King Frideric got his Nobles perswaded to consent that the Kingdom of Denmark as well as that of Norway should be Hereditary and was himself proclaim'd hereditary King the twenty-third day of October in the year 1660. He dyed of a Fever the twenty-fifth day of February 16 69 70. and that night as is before said the Nobility swore Allegiance to the new King 41. Christian V. now reigning A valiant and active Prince The Royal Family of Denmark consists of the Children of the King 〈…〉 and his near Relations together with the Princes of Sunderburg Norburg Gluckburg Arnsbeck Gottorp and Ottingen or Oytin who are all descended from King Christian the third excepting the Houses of Oytin and Gottorp who are the issue of his brother Adolph Duke of Sleswic The Nobles who never pretend to nor accept of the Titles of Dukes Earls or Barons are such as have for many ages had a single Coat of Arms belonging to their Family which they never alter nor quarter with any other There are to this day some Families of the Nobility in Denmark as Wren and others who are said to have been at the signing of a Treaty of Peace between Charles the Great and King Hemming on the Eidor Upon the death of any Nobleman all his goods moveable and immoveable are divided amongst his Children so as a son has two moieties and a daughter only one By the Laws of Denmark the King is prohibited to purchase any part of a Nobleman's Estate nor can any of the Nobility buy any of the Crown Lands A Catalogue of the names of the chief Noblemen at this day in Denmark is given us by the Author of L'Estat des Royaumes de l'Europe in the following Alphabetical order Achsel Appelgard Alefeld Andersem Bielke Banner Brache Bilig Below Bild Brokenhusem Biorn Beck Blick Bassi Bax Baselich Bockowlt Budde Baggen Bammelberg Brune Blom Blocktorp Breiden Daac Dresselberch Dune Duram Dam Freze Fassi Falster Falcke Guldenstern Grubbe Goce Green Gelschut Galle Gram Gris Goss Gadendorp Grabow Hardenberg Holke Hoken Hiderstorper Hube Hesten Hager Holer Hoeken Hoier Hacken Harberger Jul Juensen Juenan Jensen Johensen Korwitz Krabbe Kaas Krusen Kragge Krumpen Krumdick Kercberg Karssenbrock Koelet Knutzen Lange Lindeman Lunge Lutkem Laxman Lancken Leven Lindow Munck Matiessen Marizer Must Matre Meinstorf Moeten Magnussen Negel Narbu Norman Ofren Otten Pasberg Podessen Podebussen Papenheimb Podwisch Plessen Pensen Paisen Petersen Qualem Quittow Ranzaw Rosenkrantz Rastorp Ruthede Reuter Ruten Rosenspart Rosengard Ronnow Reventlow Ratlow Ritzerow Schram Schefeldt Schelen Seestedt Stuege Swron Stantbeke Split Solle Swaben Santbarch Spar Spegel Sturen Suinem Staken Stove Siversen Trolle Totten Vhrup Vonsflet Vantinnen Vken Voien Vlstandt Vren Wlefeld Walkendorp Wipfert Witfelt Wogersen Wenfsterman Wolde Worm Walstorp Wenfin Wittorp Though none of these are ever made Dukes Knights Marquises Earls or Barons yet 't is usual