incarnation of Christ two thousand three hundred and seventeene yeares Noe then seeing himselfe thus left the sole King Monarch Emperour Patriarke Lord and Maister of the whole universall land remained wonderously astonied at this so straunge and sence amazing accident and passing along the land he found on a plaine a faire pillar of marble whereon he carefully engraved and set downe the deluge and generall inundation of the world in the form of an hystoricall discourse this stone as it is reported is called at this day by the inhabitants thereabouts Myri-Adam which interpreted signifies the issue of Noe and it standeth in the countrey of Armenia beeing a great province in Asia the great which affronteth towards the East the Hyrcanian sea towards the South lies Mesopotamia towards the North Colchos and Albania and towards the West Cappadocia and through the midst of it runne the two famous rivers Tigris and Euphrates of all which countries hereafter in this hystorie more at large shall be spoken It is written That Noe begat of his wife Tytea after the floud thirtie children viZ. Tuyscon the Giant Prometheus Iupetus Macrus and the sixteen Titans which were all Giants also Cranus Granaus Oceanus and Tipheus and of daughters Araxa surnamed the Great Regina Pandora Crana and Thetis some authours doe alleadge more but for brevities sake wee will not further contend with others opinions Noe thus living in Armenia instructed these his children in the knowledge of sacred Theologie and in rites belonging to religion and holy sacrifices as also in the understanding of human maners and secresies of Nature of which hee himselfe had composed many bookes which afterward the priests and churchmen of Scythia and Armenia preserved and kept a great regard and reverence For this cause he was called among the Scythians Ogyges Saga which interpreted from the Scythian language signifies as much as Great Patriarke soveraigne Priest and mightie Sacrificer And this Berosus affirmeth saying Primum itaque dixerunt Ogygam Sagam Berosus id est Illustrem sacrorum Pontificem Noam he also taught and instructed them the knowledge of the course of the planets and devided the yeare into twelve months according to the course and circumference of the Moone he also by his studie of Astronomie and observance of the coelestiall motions could prognosticat of the alterations of weather in the yeare succeeding for which causes the Scythians and Armenians very highly honoured him thinking him to pertake of the divine nature and supernall knowledge and therefore called him Olybama Arsa which is as much as to say the Heaven and the Sunne and they afterward also built and named many great citties in his name and of his wife Titea so much were they honoured for their vertues and godly conversation He further taught those people the use of agriculture and tillage of the ground and also the finding out of the use of the grape and the manner to plant vines and other necessaries for their more easie living wherupon hee was entearmed also Ianus which in the Scythian tongue signifies the giver of wine But as he was the first that found out the use thereof so was hee the first that felt the power and vertue of it who not being able to endure the fume and mightie strength of the operation thereof in a great feast wherto he had envited many of his friends fell extreamely drunke and so overcome therewith as he lay sencelesly sleeping in unseemely manner amid these his guests and friends so envited such was the furie of that new-found drinke Among all the sonnes of Noe Cham was the least in his fathers favor who also by reason of his Magicke art wherin he had great knowledge was called Zoroast who wholly gave himselfe over unto all incivilitie and rude behaviors following the abhominations and vices of those horrible giants before the floud he as hating his owne father for that he saw himselfe least beloved of him as he saw him thus lying drunke using some charmes of enchantment tooke now the time of revenge and by his Magick so bewitched his father in those places of generation that hee disabled him ever after to have the use of women or to get more children for these and other such his detestable impieties hee incurred the wrath and displeasure of God in most greevous manner and was afterward banished from his father who afflicted him with no more punishment therein for such his unnaturall deed so committed Humane kind through the succession of time so much encreased and multiplied that they were now enforced to seeke out some new habitations and places of abode whereupon the good Patriarke Noe surnamed Ianus began to exhort the princes and cheefe of his familie to put themselves in search for other countries and places of residence and there to build and erect villages and citties for the societie of humane conversation and he thus allotted unto them their regions and quarters where to populat and inhabit To Sem surnamed Melchisedech he appointed Asia the great which in it selfe containes the halfe of the world and hee had with him in his companie xxv Rulers of his familie Hee afterwards built the cittie of Salem now called Ierusalem and hee lived even untill the time of Abraham Vnto Iaphet his brother was allotted Europe and he had with him foureteene rulers of his generation and unto these two Noe bequeathd his blessing most amply according as the scripture maketh mention As for Cham although he was out of grace with his father yet had hee his inheritage also allowed unto him which was the other third part of the world as hereafter shall be farther spoken of Frier Iohn Annius of Viterbe the expositor of our author Berosus doth recite that Philo the Iew another very ancient author doth write That in the hundred year after the deluge Noe to shew and instruct his children in Cosmographie went upon the mountaines which overlooke the Ponticke sea part of which is now called Mare Mediterraneum and there shewed unto his sonne Sem all the Asiaticke seas from the floud Tanais in Tartaria unto the river Nilus in Aegypt unto Cham he shewed all the rivers issuing from the seas of Affrica and from thence through Aegypt to the streights of Gybraltar and to Iaphet all the rivers and flouds of Europe passing from those streights through Spaine Fraunce and Italie and those countries round about into which countrey of Italie Noe also afterward arrived and left behind him certaine of his people in that part of the country where Rome was long after built which was eight hundred yeares after the floud from thence he passed unto the coasts of Greece and entred into the straights leading to Constantinople by the sea called Mare Major and so againe to the flouds of Tanais in Tartaria from whence he first set forth And it is to bee noted That as hee passed through all those countries he alwaies left people behind him to inhabit and encrease
in those countries destributing unto every number certaine quarters to remaine in and after this time in short space many countries were againe reinhabited and peopled afresh which since the floud were desolat and lay naked and depopulat About the one and twentieth yeare of this his returne from the above written voyage Noe began to divide kingdomes also to erect monarchies in the world of which the first was the monarchie of Babylon over the which Nembroth the Giant the sonne of his nephew Cus who was the sonne of Cham was first of all established in the hundred and one and thirtieth year after the inundation and hee was called the first Saturne or king over the Babylonians and Assyrians who afterward in a faire Campania called Sennaar laid the foundation and erected the great tower and citie of Babell which he had caused to be built even to the height of the highest mountaines but after by the confusion of languages it was given over and left unfinished Nembroth after this lived in peace and tranquilitie 56 yeares Not many years after the setting up of the monarchie of Babylon Noe divided foure particular kingdomes in Europe viz. the kingdome of Italie Spain Fraunce and of Almaigne for in Italie raigned Comerus Gallus the eldest sonne of Iaphet in Spaine ruled Tuball called also Iuball the fifteenth sonne of Iaphet in Fraunce Samothes surnamed Dis Iaphets fourth sonne and over Almaign now called Germanie governed the Giant Tuyscon one of the sonnes of Noe. And so likewise in many other places of the world were severall governements and kingdomes then erected which now to recite were tedious and impertinent to our purpose every one of them a long time kept and were contented with their quarters so allotted unto them and imposed lawes and edicts unto their people and they called the countrey after their own name as also many mountaines rivers and townes were so entearmed to the end that all succeeding posteritie might know by what meanes and by whome such citties and other monuments receaved their first ground and foundation After these kingdomes and governements erected and the earth now againe well peopled Noe now undertaketh his second voiage into Europe leaving Sabatius Saga his nephew and brother to Nembroth king of Babylon to governe and commaund over the countrey of Armenia from whence hee now departeth with purpose to visit his children and to know of their estates And this Sabatius Saga called also Saturne had all the countrey even unto the land of Bactria lying towards India at this day called Tartaria under his rule and authoritie These things at home thus established Noe surnamed Ianus with his wife Titea and many multitudes of people besides began his voyage which was eight score and nine yeares after the floud and in the eight and thirtieth yeare of the raigne of Nembroth towards Hyrcania which he then peopled and called them after his owne name Ianij From thence he came to Mesopotamia where also he left behind him many people to inhabit and from thence he attained the countrey called Arabia Foelix where he erected two citties the one called Noa the other Ianinea furnishing them with inhabitants after hee passed from thence and came into Affrica which part of the world hee first assigned unto the governement and soveraignetie of his second sonne Cham but at that time there ruled Triton the sonne of Saba which was the son of Cus the eldest sonne of the same Cham. This Triton receaved Noe and his companie with great joy and gladnesse of hart and he staied there some halfe a year in which time Triton died and left his sonne Hammon inheritour to the kingdome of Affrica otherwise called Lybia After this Noe passed forward and at the length arrived in Spaine which was two hundred fiftie nine yeares after the floud and in the tenth yeare of the raigne of Ninus the third king of Babylon Iuball or Tuball the fift son of Iaphet and the first king of Spaine as all hystories do affirme received his grandfather Noe Ianus and his grandmother Tytea with honorable entertainement and all gladsome willingnesse who also were exceeding joyfull to see the prosperous estate of their nephew Iuball for so much as they found that hee governed his people with great justice policie and good lawes as Berosus in a certaine place alleadgeth saying Anno Nini quarto Tuyscon gigas Sarmatas legibus format apud Rhenum Idipsum agit Iubal apud Celtiberos hoc est Hispanos Samothes apud Celtas Noe therefore to helpe his nephew for the better peopling of his countrey founded there two great citties calling the one Noela and the other Noegla in remembrance and honour of those his two faire daughters so called beeing the wives of Iaphet and Cham after this departed for Italie to his nephew or grand child Comerus Gallus the first sonne of Iaphet whom before he had appointed to bee king of that countrey In this voyage and in his remaine in Spaine were spent nine yeares Now it is not written whether he went this journey into Italie by land or sea notwithstanding it is very likely and agreeth with good probabilitie that in this his voyage he would not passe by without visiting the wise prince his nephew Samothes the brother of Iuball king of Spaine who was by his appointment created the first king of Fraunce as is before touched and hee had raigned about this time sixe score yeares and lived after this in peace and tranquillitie five and thirtie yeares and upward The second time of the comming of Ianus thus into Italie was in the time of his age eight hundred and threescore yeares and now eight score since his last departure from thence where thinking to find Comerus Gallus hee now understood that he was dead and that his son Cham contrarie to the appointment of Noe not contented with the soveraigne domination of Affrica had there wrongfully usurped the siegnorie of Italie and had now commaunded over that countrey five and twentie yeares or therabouts and which was worse as all the other kings in Europe had instructed and governed their people in civilitie manners and education hee contrarie to such their good examples had most abhominably corrupted the youth of Italie with all manner of impieties vices and odious sinnes which he with the helpe of those people called Aborigines which he brought along with him to people the countrey made them to embrace entertain and live in Noe upon the knowledge of this waxt marvellous heavie and discontent as sorrowing for the ungodlinesse of his owne sonne and suffered him thus for the space of three years to continue therin hoping dayly to see some amendment or other in him but finding him to persever therin and rather to encrease in it than otherwise hee banisht him with a certaine number of people with him from out the confines of Italie from whence departed hee arrived in the Island of Sicilia where hee with his companie long after
of with that mettall which those silver mines so produced and afterwards enriched their countrey therewith in most abundant and plentifull manner and by the reason of these fires those hils were afterwards entearmed and called Montes Pyrenaei for Pyr in Greeke signifies Feu in French and fire in English But to returne from whence we digressed This royall king Iupiter Celtes which before wee remembered had one onely daughter which hee prized and endeared as his cheefest good who exceeded all other ladies in the world in proportion and stature and in the graces of naturall beautie and for that she was of so extraordinarie and large talnesse shee was in those daies held among those people a Gyantesse This ladie whether proud of her own goodly features or chast in her cogitations could not by any meanes bee brought to affect any man whatsoever living neither would her father consent to any match or mariage that might be occasion to take her from his sight and the fruition of her so desired presence untill the comming of this so far-famoused and renowned Hercules of Lybia of whose great worthinesse and straunge performances they had largely heard they of themselves intertained a new thought and were easily induced upon the first sight of his personage which was majesticke and of wondrous grace to unite their house with one of so noble demerit and of so generall fame Hercules likewise became so far ensnared with the gallant beautie big proportion and equisit perfections of Galathea for so was the ladie called that he instantly discovered the motions of his affections and love towards her which were reciprocally embraced and kindly entertained so that there rested onely the consummation of the nuptials which were presently after performed with all maner of solemnization and rites of ceremonies observed in those dayes Not long after the mariage of the Giantesse Galathea unto Hercules her father Iupiter Celtes died who for his vertuous life and good governement was held in that reputation esteeme reverence among those people that ever since that day the third part of all that countrey of France is called after his own name Celtica After him succeeded his sonne in law Hercules and tooke upon him the commaund and governement of the countrey of Fraunce living peaceably and prosperously with his wife Galathea many yeares and taught also the people new courses how to live better customes and fashions of behavior controlling them for their rude and uncivile manners and wholly depressing a most inhumane and impious order they had of sacrificing poore strangers unto their gods this hee abolished and wholly extinguished enjoyning streight lawes punishments for the violaters and infringers of such his commaundement herein Not long after he built and erected a most gallant and mightie citie which hee caused to bee seated on a high mountaine of that countrey which now is called by the name of the Dutchie of Burgundie betweene Authun Langres which citie he called Alexia which interpreted signifies conjunctive or uniting to shew that there were two noble houses of straunge countries conjoined and made one This citie afterwards flourished in great glorie and puissance and especially in the times of Iulius Caesar before which hee himselfe with a most strong armie lay begirting the same with a most strict hard siege at which time the giving of the flowers de Luces in Fraunce tooke his originall as Iulius Caesar himselfe in his seventh booke of his Commentaries affirmeth But at this present that once gallant and glorious citie of Alexia is but a mean village and of small account in the countrey of Lauxois not far from Flauigny The great citie of Alexia thus in those daies peopled inhabited and fortified by the great Hercules the king of Gaule after some orders and institutions appointed for the good governance and managing of all things whatsoever at home hee proceedeth in his entended voyage for Italie and for that expedition raised a mightie and powerfull armie with which after hee had taken his leave of his wife Galathea and of his young sonne Galatheus now aged about foure yeares or thereabouts he progresseth to the effectuating of his first entendment and presently enters into the territories of the Allobroges which countrey is now called Savoy and there with main force of many hands and laborious souldiours hee maketh his passage through those wondrous high rockie mountains in all ordinarie sence and opinion then inaccessible and not to be passed but as the extreame industrie and painfulnesse of worke bringeth all difficult things in the end to obedience and commaund of art so these undisgested heapes of stubborne stones and rockes were forced at the last to give way unto his armie so far that all their horses and baggage whatsoever found a very plaine and easie passage From thence he descended and came into Italy where he fully revenged himselfe of those inhumane and lawlesse Gyants which were the death of his owne father Iupiter Iustus and after all tumults quieted and the resistants subdued hee fell to prescribe lawes to the people and to instruct them very carefully in matters of civile association orderly living where we will for a while leave him and once againe betake our selves more particularly to entreat of the first originall inhabitation of France to begin with which it must of necessitie be drawn by the lineall succession and discent of father to son even unto that Iupiter Celtes and this Hercules of Lybia wee so lately remembred It hath beene in the beginning of this booke related how in the hundred yeare after the universall inundation and deluge of al things whatsoever which were contained in the wide embracement of the world the good father and Patriarke Noe made his first voyage and put foorth from Armenia with all those his children nephewes and kinsfolkes to discover unto them the situation of many other countries then unknowne and that hee first passed over the Ponticke sea and so to the arme of the sea Mediterraneum coasting along the continent about all those quarters of purpose to shew unto his children the devision of the world and Cosmographically to instruct them in the situation of each severall countrey as they stood and were inhabited before the floud and after that to proportionize unto his three first begotten sonnes every one his share and allowance for his rule commaund and domination as hath been before alreadie spoken of And in these his travels hee brought also along with him many sorts of beasts cattell hearbes and other such things that were availeable for the encrease and maintenance of humane life and with every one of his children or kinsfolke left a certaine allowance of such things there to multiply and engender In this his first perigrination he came into Gaule and so into Italie where after hee had spent some time hee returned backe into Armenia about the tenth yeare he had set forth from thence by which it may bee gathered that Gaule was
first inhabited and peopled in the hundred and eight yeare after the generall floud After this his returne into Armenia having there rested himselfe some one and twentie yeares hee began to invent the foundations of great citties and to establish kingdomes and siegnories throughout the world so that in the hundred and two and thirtieth year after the deluge he first erected and appointed the monarchie of the Babylonians of which the first king was called Nembroth Noes cousin and about the thirteenth yeare of the raigne of this Nembroth hee instituted and established for the king of the Gaules one other of his kinsmen called Samothes surnamed Dis the fourth sonne of Iaphet a man very wise and well governed Samothes therefore accordingly tooke his leave of the Patriarke Noe his grandmother Titea of his father Iaphet and of his mother Noegla and the rest of his kindred and set forward toward his kingdome and governement with all expedition possible carying along with him diverse sorts of cattell poultrey and other things necessarie for the maintaining and conservation of mankind which kind of things were all the riches treasures that men desired to possesse in those daies and thus with all his traine familie and followers hee taketh shipping in the sea called Marc major and in the end by the favorable assistance of prosperous winds he arrived within the confines of Gaule which was some seven thirtie yeares after his first being there with his grandfather Noe and about eightscore and foure yeares after the deluge by which it may bee understood That this Samothes the fourth sonne of Iaphet was little lesse than seven score yeares of age when he now last visited the countrey Samothes therfore now entred into his own kingdome with his wife children and followers and also his horses kine and other things necessarie began to settle himselfe therein and to give out edicts and breefe commaunds what he would have done and performed in this his countrey which was done in the yeare after the floud above written and about two thousand fourescore and thirteene yeares before the incarnation of our Lord Iesus Christ The countrey was very much peopled by this time and great encreases of all other things there were found upon his now comming for it was now seven and thirty yeares past since Noe left people there first to inhabit and multiplie which in such a time grew to great abundance of all things whatsoever His welcome and entertainement was wonderous gladly accepted of those people and men of the countrey who acknowledged him as their Lord their Patriarke their cheefe and their Saturne which names in those daies were given as titles only of honor excellence and dignitie as Zenophon in his Aequivocals also sayth Saturni dicuntur familiarium nobilium regum qui urbes condiderunt Primogeniti eorum vocantur Ioves Iunones vero Nepotes eorum Hercules fortissimi cetera It may now very well bee imagined that those people having so long time lived without a governour king or particular commaunder must of necessitie bee very rude uncivile obstinat and barbarous living onely according to the lawes of Nature and following their owne wils desires and concupiscence Yet notwithstanding Samothes by faire and gentle demeanures mild cariages so woon their hearts unto him that they became easily reclaimed and brought to be docible and obedient to what precepts or commaunds were imposed upon them and upon this hee devised lawes and ordinances for domesticke conversation which he caused to bee made plaine unto the people who at the first something wondered at so straunge alterations having so many yeares together lived without any cheefe or any lawes to curbe or bridle their naturall fantasies and disordinat affections And these lawes were made in the fourth yeare of the raigne of Ninus the third king of Babylon at what time also Tuyscon the Gyant his uncle king of Almaigne and Tuball king of Spaine did the like instructing their people very industriously in the rules of Philosophie Physicke and Astronomie which they themselves had learned of their grandfather Noe and their father Iaphet And if it bee here demaunded what kind of writings they then used Berosas doth answere that they were certaine Phoenician characters letters which also were used in Armenia which were very like unto those which Cadmus long time after brought from Phoenicia into Greece and therefore Iulius Caesar in his sixt booke of Commentaries sayth That the Gaules did use in those times Greeke letters for their manner of writing but undoubtedly those characters were found long time before they were ever knowne in Greece as Zenophon and many other authors confidently doe affirme Samothes surnamed Dis living thus in all tranquilitie and peaceable securitie among his people ceased not dayly to possesse their hearts with strong opinions of the worth and value of learning for it is written that hee was the wisest and most learned prince in the world in those times as Berosus also alloweth when he thus sayth Samothes qui Dis vocatur Celtas colonias fundavit nec erat quis etate illa isto sapientior ac propterea Samothes dictus est Among other his rules of Philosophie and learning one was beeing the cheefest hee taught the people That the soules of men were immortall which before they hardly beleeved as men dwelling in the shade of ignorance and invelloped with darke mists of errour After he had thus established lawes and ordinances for the good governement of his country and all his people enjoying peaceably the fruits of quietnesse after the end of seven and fortie yeares he rendered up unto Nature that debt which could not be any longer kept backe and detained and left his eldest sonne called Magus inherit or unto his kingdome and governement which was in the one and fiftieth yeare of the raigne of Nynus the third king of Babylon and when his father Samothes had commaunded that countrey sevenscore five yeares being at his death about three hundred yeares of age or much thereabout This Samothes was of that esteeme in those dayes and so generally reverenced and loved for his vertues through all that countrey that the Gaulois or Frenchmen even unto the time of Iulius Caesar boasted and gloried of nothing so much as that they were descended and issued from him so highly was he possest of the peoples hearts in the greatest opinion of truest love the which thing also Iulius Caesar in the sixt booke of his Commentaries more copiously remembreth In his time also the sects of Philosophie first tooke their beginning and originall in Europe and were called Samothees which were men studied and expert in all letters humane and divine contrarie to the opinion of many who write that Greece was the first mother and bringer forth of arts and sciences But Diogenes Laertius in the beginning of his booke entituled The lives of the Philosophers contradicteth those suppositions saying Philosophiam à Barbaris initia sumpsisse complures
Manethon Iohannes Annius and Iacques de Bergame have written and very plainely approved the same Laomedon beeing slaine Titonus succeeded next after him but he being of another disposition resigned his interrest therein and betooke himselfe to travell into straunge countries even unto the Indies where according to Diodorus Siculus hee maried a ladie called Ida and as the Poets write Aurora of whome hee afterwards had a sonne called Memnon who long after came unto the succour of Priamus in his cheefest warres and was there slaine by the hands of Achilles In the absence therfore of his brother Tython Priamus took upon him the government and charge of that kingdome being the second son unto Laomedon their father who in short time came to bee one of the greatest and most famous princes of the world for it is written that he was wondrous wise discreet and valiant and matcht his children with persons of great sort worth and dignitie And for to make him at the first the stronger and that he might have time to reedifie his late spoyled and fire perished cittie hee entered into alliance and fast kindred with a very mightie and powerfull prince neare adjoyning upon his country who was called by the name of Cypseus or as some hold Dymas king and sole commaunder of Thrace which is a province in Greece on this side of the sea Hellespont whereof the cheefe cittie is at this day Constantinople and with this Cypseus or Dymas his daughter called Hecuba hee maried a ladie accomplisht with all exteriour graces and inward vertuous dispositions at which espousals of Priamus and Hecuba great ceremonies and signes of joyfulnesse were showne foorth and observed and of this ladie it is writ that he begot nineteen children male and female and of other women and concubines which he dayly kept and maintained in his pallace according to the fashions and usances in those daies hee had one and thiâ—tie more so that onely nineteene of his fiftie sonnes and daughters were legitimate and lawfully begotten the rest bastards and illegitimate That Priamus in all had so many children which indeed hee publickely maintained and shamed not to acknowledge Virgil also in the second booke of his Aeneidos thus sayth Quinquaginta illi thalami spes tanta nepotum And Homer likewise in the last booke of his Iliads most plainely seemeth to confirm the same Troy now thus most gallantly flourishing newly fortified repaired enlarged enriched enpeopled throughly provided and stored of all manner of things which might bee necessarie either for the use of fatall warres and open hostillities or for the conservation of peace domesticke tranquillitie began to assume unto her selfe a mighty and glorious selfe-conceit and strong opinion of her owne power height and magnificence assuring her selfe of all victorious prevailements over her enemies whatsoever and of a never failing prosperitie glorie and felicitie and yet it is not writ that Priamus himselfe was puft up with any more extraordinarie pride or insolencie than became the greatnesse of so puissant a prince It is writ also that in the times of this his greatest power he was forewarned by certaine Oracles and false gods which they used to worship in those daies that so long as hee did preserve and safegard three things belonging unto the cittie the towne should bee inexpugnable and never to bee lost as Servius and Boccace have written of the same the things were these The image of Pallas called Paladium preserved undefaced The sepulchre or tombe of Laomedon which was under the great gate Scea kept undespoiled whole and so long as the life of Troylus lasted and did endure Priamus therefore very carefull to keep these three things with all diligentnesse and heed lived in the greatest pompe delicacie and state that ever any prince in the world in those times did or could so that he seemed not onely to bee king of Phrygia but also cheefe dominator and emperour of all Asia now called Natalia or Turkie and hee was called also in those times The king of kings as Strabo in the thirteenth booke of his Geographie to the same purpose thus sayth Priamus magno ex parvo Rex Regum effectus And these his powers and authorities not onely extended and stretcht themselves abroad throughout the maine continent and firme lands of all those countries thereabout round but in the end shewed themselves also and possessed their maister of many famous and great Islands lying farre in within the bosome and embracement of the uncivile and rude behaviored sea as the Island of Tenedos and the Island of Metelyn were subject and vassalized unto the governement of his imperious principallitie paying him yearely tributes taxes and impositions and many others also of great same adjoyning neare thereabout so that the infinite greatnesse and large commaund of this thrice mightie emperour Priamus possessed all the princes and rulers of countries neare that way with astonied admiration and wonderous maze of his so suddaine and unexpected puissancie And thereupon sent and dispatched messengers from all quarters to crave his amitie friendship and to be in league with him as also to bee nearer allied unto him in some matches and marriages of their children on both sides by reason whereof Priamus matched his children with great houses and of great power and possessions First hee married one of his legitimate and lawfully begotten daughters called Creusa unto a prince of great meanes named Aeneas the sonne of old Anchises his daughter Astyoche hee matched with one Telephus a mightie king of Mysia and his sonne Hector joyned in matrimonie with Andromacha the faire daughter of Ection the powerfull and famous king of Thebes and Silicia and Polydamas one of the sonnes of Anthenor married with one of Priamus daughters beeing a bastard and begotten of one of his concubines beeing of an excellent and singular beautie called Lycasta So also manie others of his children were linked and joyned in marriages with men of great rule power and commaund in those dayes the posteritie of which and of their deedes and mightinesse hereafter in some other place and oportunitie occasion may bee presented further to speake of And for this time beeing indeed forced by an extraordinarie occasion I must thus on the suddaine abruptly breake of desiring and wishing very earnestly that if this small peece of paines of mine shall fortune ever to bee publickely impressed which leaving behind mee it will not bee in my power to prevent it may indifferently passe uncensured till the returne of his fortune beaten father may aunswere for the innocencie of the child and bee able a little better to protect him in his afflictions And thus it hath beene with great care and diligence laboured to find out the truest Hystorians for the deriving of Dardanus and consequently this king Priamus from the race and line of the first prince and Patriarke Noe with the particular successions of kings and emperours of Europe as hath beene warranted by the authorities and writings of very learned and authenticke authours Tempo è figliuola di verita FINIS
lived Ianus then taking upon himselfe the kingdome of Italy which was now two hundred threescore and twelve yeares after the floud he began like a carefull governour to root out and seperate the infectious sheepe out of the whole flocke least with their impurities all should be corrupted and so hee chose out a certaine number of people which were tainted with the vices of their commaunder that last ruled and which people were called Aborigenes commanded them to depart out of the country over the river Tybre first called Ianiculum which thing they performed and demaunded for their queene and governesse Crana Noes daughter which hee also graunted them and he appointed a kingdome and government for them and they were as is alreadie said called Aborigines those which were left in Italie were called Ianigines after his owne name He had not long rained here but he caused to bee built on this side of the river Tybre towards Tuscania a marvellous great cittie on the top of a high mountaine which he then called Ianiculum after that Vaticanum and since the towne of S. Peter of Rome and it was seated on the same place which at this day S. Peters church standeth upon as also the Popes pallace called at this day in Italian Belvedere which is as much as The faire sight Round about those countries to the river Arnus which passeth through Florence to the bounds of Sardinia did Noe cause to bee inhabited and made populous in those daies wherein also he built and erected many most beautifull cities which he called Aryn Ianas id est ex Iano exaltatas and hee began then also to write and set downe lawes and institutions for the civile administration of justice and government of Commonweales which he first prescribed in the citie of Vetulonia called since Viterbe and instructed the people also in the sciences of Physicke Astronomie and Divinitie and in the ceremonious rites and customes belonging to holy sacrifices and of these also he made many and severall bookes It hath beene mentioned before how that upon Noes last departure out of Armenia hee constituted and established his nephew Sabatius Saga surnamed Saturne to rule as King and Patriarke over that countrey wherein he afterward raigned peaceably even untill the time of the raigne of Iupiter Belus the sonne of Nembroth the second king of Babilon who yeelding unto his disordinat desires and coveting to command as sole Monarch of the whole world was the first violater infringer of the ordinances appointed in those daies and by whose means the golden age afterward lost such her title and never since was called so for before such his over haughtie humors all things were peaceable common free This Iupiter endevored by all devises possible to overturne the greatnesse of Sabatius Saga surnamed Saturne and commanded also his sonne Ninus to undertake all meanes how to bring him and his family to death and destruction which thing they jointly effectuated so far as hardly escaped hee the snares and subtilties laid to entrap him Saturne therefore seeing himselfe in those daungers and casualties to be deprived of all dignitie and commaund for succour and refuge fled unto his grandfather Noe there hoping to bee protected safe guarded and defended which thing also Virgil thus remembreth Primus ab ethereo venit Saturnus Olimpo Virgil. Whereupon Poets feign that Saturne was banisht heaven by Iupiter arma Iovis fugiens regnis exul ademptis Noe according to the expectation of Saturn friendly entertained him gave him many gracious signes of his welcome wished arrivall and for to honour him the more and to shew the effects of his friendship and good will towards him created him the Commaunder King and Patriarke of the Aborigenes whom lately wee specified and there caused him also to build a citie which hee called after his owne name Saturnia hard by that of Ianus called Ianiculum in which very place at this day one part of Rome which lieth on the other side of the river Tybre standeth and is erected as Virgil also in his Eneidos mentioneth Virgil. where he bringeth in Aeneas speaking to Evander saying Haec duo preterea disiectis opida muris Reliquias veterum vides monumenta virorum Ianiculum huic fuerat illi Saturnia nomen Ianus then and Saturne thus raigning together Titea the great Noes wife began in those times first to set up the order of Nuns and ceremonies of Vestall virgins inventing then the setting up of lights and lampes in the churches and temples dedicated to the profession of virginitie and chastitie which custome was in those daies very reverently regarded and endured in great honor and reputation even unto the time of the Romanes Saturne likewise very painefully instructed the people in tillage and in the nature of soiles wherein he had great skill and knowledge as also in the ceremonies of religion and not long after having instituted his sonne Sabus to bee the successor to the kingdome of the Sabines and Aborigenes he died in the three hundred and fortie fourth yeare after the inundation of the world In the very same yeare also Noe Ianus finding perceiving his end to approch and that now his lustinesse and vigour of spirits began to shrinke and decrease created one of his sonnes called Cranus the King and Patriarke over the Ianigenes which are now called Tuscanes and the sixt yeare after departed this life and gave up to his maker his noble and heroicke spirit which was after he had raigned in Italie fourescore and two yeares and after the floud three hundred fortie six yeares before the foundation of Troy foure hundred and fourescore and before the incarnation of Christ one thousand nine hundred threescore and seven yeares and in the age of the same Noe nine hundred and fiftie The death of this good King and Patriarke possessed almost all the people in the world with great sorrow and lamentation and especially the Armenians and Italians who in most honorable manner celebrated his obsequies with such their then used rites and ceremonies and afterward dedicated and attributed unto him divine honours and godlike adoration building and consecrating temples and holy aultars unto him calling him by divers and severall names and titles as the Sun the Heaven the Seed of the world the Father of the gods the Soul of the world the God of peace the giver of justice and holinesse the expulser of things hurtfull also their children and successours called him Ianus Geminus Quadrisons Enoirius Ogyges Vertumnus Vadymon Protheus Multisors Diespiter and Iupiter and they invented all manner of honours and straunge worships to reverence and adore him they also shaped foorth his picture into diverse formes and fashions sometimes setting him foorth with two faces to signifie thereby his wisdome upon every matter and every occasion sometimes also with foure faces to denotate therby that he was the god of the yeare for that he had so devided it into four
several parts being the Spring Summer Autumn and Winter Macrobius as Macrobius in his Saturnals also remembreth saying Ianus apud nos in quatuor partes spectat ut demonstrateius simulachrum èphaleris advectū Afterwards the Phenicians pourtraied him foorth in the forme of a Dragon biting her taile to shew thereby the roundnesse and the beginning and ending of the yeare In honour of him also at this day the first moneth of the yeare is called after his owne name Ianuarius Servius as Servius in his Aeneidos affirmeth The ancients likewise have shaped him forth with two keyes in his hand to shew thereby that he was the invent or of gates and dores as also of the locking of them and making them fast to the end that the holy temples and sacred places should not bee polluted with the impious abuse of theeves and uncivile persons and to avoid adulteries and other such like sinnes then raigning and of his name since have all dores and gates been called Ianuae In many other sorts and formes have the auncients defigured the image of this Noe Ianus as Propertius and many others have written who in the fourth booke of his Elegies thus speaketh Quid mirare meas tot in uno corpore formas Accipe Vertumni signa paterna dei Tuscus ego Tuscis orior c. And undoubtedly there hath not beene read of any that lived so uprightly and justly as this Patriarke Noe neither that ever any had such honours reverence and godlike adoration done unto him both in his life time and after his death who also was among those people in those daies called God neither is it to bee wondered that in those elder times there were so many gods held worshipped among the auncients for so much as it is to bee understood That in those daies all those princes rulers and governors that had lived vertuously justly and godly and had commaunded their people with mildnesse equitie and uprightnesse were entearmed gods and that also without performing any idolatrous adoration or reverence unto them as Metasthenes an auncient author and hystorian of Persia affirmeth where hee thus saith Ante Nynum ducentis quadragintà novem annis regnatum fuit sub tribus dijs regibus quorum qui primus universo imperavit orbi fuit Ogyges qui prefuit inundationi terrarū c. Cathon also another very auncient writer thus speaketh Italia complura a dijs ducibus sortita fuit nomina à Iano Ianicula quem quidem Enotrium dictum existimant quia invenit uvum far And for these and such like reasons Moyses and other godly Patriarkes were called gods not that they were so in essence but onely in participation as in the seventh chapter of Exodus it is written Ego te dedi deum Pharaoni and in the the three and twenty chapter Dijs non detrahes principem populi tui ne maledicas Further also the Prophet David thus sayth Principes populorum congregati sunt cum deo Abraham quoniam dij fortes terrae vehementer elevati sunt These things are thus so amply and at large exposed to the end that the reader of this Treatise should not so much marvell or wonder when mention is made in this booke of gods and goddesses which in those daies were so much observed and reverenced Ovid. Ovid rehearsing the words of this Noe Ianus and shewing that in his death the golden age ceased thus sayth Tunc ego regnabam patiens cum terra deorum Esset humanis numina mixta locis Nondum iustitiam facinus mortale fugarat Vltima de superis illa reliquit humum Proque meta populum sive vt pudor ille regebat Nullus erat iustis reddere iura labor Nil mihi cum bello postes pacem que tuebar c. And as Noe was among these auncients thus honored and adored and temples and altars consecrated unto him so also was Titea his wife held in great reverence worship and holy esteeme who was called also Vesta Aretia Terra Regina sacrorum magna Cybeles Materque deorum atque Vestalium Princeps sive Abbatissa as Berosus and other writers affirme Having thus touched the death of this good Patriarke Noe it shall not bee now impertinent something to remember and speake of the wicked and abhominable life of his degenerate sonne Cham which although of it selfe it be worthlesse of any recapitulation or recitall yet to descend to the lineall genealogie of the Lybian Hercules the Great it cannot bee well omitted from which Hercules Dardanus the first founder and erecter of Troy descended and came It hath been alreadie specified how Noe deviding the universall earth unto his children and how Cham abounding in all vices and detestable courses notwithstanding was not deprived of his portion but had his right of inheritance justly allotted unto him which was the third part of the world and particularly Affrica to the hether part of Aegypt for which countries he was commaunded by his father to depart with his wife Noegla and five and thirtie rulers which is as much to say as the cheefes of familie of his bloud and house as also with all their children and issue which was accordingly performed and presently he established himselfe as king and Saturne of Aegypt where he erected and built a citie called Chem-Myn and among them also he himselfe was called Pan and Silvanus which people likewise so engendred and issued of that familie to honour and worship him the more and to shew their love unto him lived in all impious and ungracious manner perpetrating most odious and soule-damning villanies affirming publickly That men ought lawfully to have the companie of their owne mothers sisters and daughters in all lusts and concupiscence of the flesh and other many most inhumane and shamefull acts not to be recited And to shew that they gloried and bosted in the wickednesse of such their king and ruler they entearmed him by the name of Cham Esenuus which signifieth their infamous god Pan. And thus he ruled in Egipt long time even unto the six and fiftith yeare of the raigne of Iupiter Belus the second king of Babylon in the which yeare he began to travell and came into Italie which was then called Kytim to his brother Comerus Gallus the first king of that countrey after whose death C ham presently usurped and undertooke that mightie governement who in stead of vertuous instructions and godly laws in which all other princes round about him his kinsmen commaunding Germanie Spaine and France had instructed and taught their people cleane contrarie infected the youth of Italie with all manner of impieties incivilitie and corruptible vices persuading them beeing of themselves well addicted to usurie robberie murder poysonings and the studie of the Magicke art who by reason of his owne great skill therein was surnamed Zoroastes and was the first inventor and practiser of that vild and diabolicall learning of the use of which hee composed and
battell utterly subdue them which victorie was atchieved hard by the river Oris in Arabia and in the same place where Osyris himselfe slew the mightie Gyant and tyrant Antheus The world being thus delivered of the perverse generation of Cham Isis remained a peacefull and secure governesse and queene over Aegypt which shee compassed as well by her owne pollicies and devises as by the valour and hardie prowesse of her children of which the cheefest and most valiant was called Hercules of Lybia of whome now withdrawing my pen for a while to speake further of Isis I will more amply entreat Hercules therefore the most valourous and courageous young prince after hee had by this meanes revenged the death of his father Osyris upon his uncle Typhon and the rest of his associates began now to have a feeling of this owne power and vigour and undertaketh many most tedious voyages to scour all places of the world from the tyrannie and oppression of such inhumane and impious tyrants and first he passed through the province of Phoenicia where he slew the tyrant Busyris the sonne of him whom Osyris before had slaine From thence he went into Phrygia where Troy afterward was built and there overcame the young tyrant Tipheus and he gave the governement of that country to his own son Athus which he begat of a ladie called Omphale as hereafter shall bee declared Likewise he vanquisht the Gyant Mylinus the younger king of the Island of Candia and from thence hee came into Affrica since called Barbaria of which hee named most part of it Lybia after his owne name which before was called Phutea and there in memory of his conquests hee erected a columne and stately pinacle From hence passing through the streights of Gibraltar hee arrived in Spaine where upon his first landing hee fought bodie to bodie against the three Gerions which were brothers and joint commaunders and kings of Spaine those also hee overcame and slew and created his sonne Hispalus king and ruler of that countrey which was now the ninth king thereof and of whom the citie Hispalis now called Sivile in Spaine tooke her name and was so called After this Hercules determined to make a journey into Italie there also to purchase further fame and reputation by suppressing the tyrannie of those that there then lived according to their owne will power and mightinesse In this his jorney towards Italie by land he passeth through the kingdome called Regnum Celticum then called also Gaule and at this day is knowne and nominated by the name of Fraunce of the antiquitie of which countrey before wee come to speake of his arrivall in Italie having so fit occasion we will in this place something remember First therefore we must find out and know in what time and in what age this famous Hercules of Lybia passed through the countrey in this his journey for so much as it is not written of any certainetie or by any authenticke author That hee ever journeied through this kingdome before although some doe hold That hee went that way into Spaine with his father Iupiter surnamed Iustus in the reigne of Lucus the eight king of Gaule as hath been before somewhat commemorated and this matter may bee easily and evidently discovered by comparing the times wherein Hispalus was established and made king of Spain with those succeeding of which Johannes Annius Iohannes Annius of Viterbe a most excellent writer diligent Hystoriographer in his Chronicles of Spaine sayth That the same Hispalus was crowned and invested in the kingdome of Spaine by his father Hercules in the six and thirtieth yeare of Baleus the second of that name the eleventh king of Babylonia which was after the floud five hundred fourescore and ten years before the foundation of Troy two hundred threescore and one and before the incarnation of Christ a thousand seven hundred and seven and twenty for Hercules was born presently after the death of Ninus the third king of Babylon from whose death unto the six and thirtieth yeare of Baleus the eleventh king were just two hundred fourescore and ten yeares so that by this meanes it may clearely bee perceived in what time and in what age this Lybian Hercules so arrived in Gaule being presently after the coronation of his sonne Hispalus in Spaine At this very time therefore of his comming into Gaule which wee will now hereafter call Fraunce reigned and governed in that countrey as their king and commander one called by the name of Iupiter Celtes the sonne of king Lucus whom before we a little touched who exceeded all others in riches in those dayes and was marvellous wealthie in sheepe in cattell and in pasturage which were all the goods and possessions that princes in those times abounded in in that countrey for then silver or gold was not there known jewels and rare stones were disesteemed no tributes were paied no taxes or impositions laid upon the subjects all things without deceit art or any villanous invention of mans braine were peaceably enjoyed And to confirme this their ignorance of silver and such mettals Diodorus Siculus thus sayth That the sheepheards of this king Iupiter Celtes attending their flockes on the top of those mountaines which devide the kingdome of Fraunce from that of Spaine called Pyrenci espied on the suddain on the one side of the furthermost hils certaine liquid moisture to run downe in hastie streames into the vallies below and at the higher part of that mountaine certaine flames of fire in most furious manner to shew themselves in so much that very hard rockes and stonie substances on that mountaine were dissolved and were melted with the extremitie of the heat and riscaldation of those fires which also ceased not but continued in that strange maner many moneths together The silly and simple understanding of these sheepeheards by no meanes assumed any apprehension of this so straunge working of nature but entertained it as a matter exceeding their capacitie and reach of judgement and therefore passed it over with the lesser woonder in that they acknowledged in themselves so deepe an imperfection and want of knowledge But it so fortuned That certaine merchants of Phoenicia travelling along those coasts and perceiving that that mettal must needs be good which so distilled and tumbled downe from the tops of those mountains being as many old writers alleadge the mettall of silver began to feele the dispositions of those all ignorant sheepeheards and to come to some composition and friendly tearmes for exchaunge of some wares they had with that mettall which those hils in that plentie so affourded and yeelded forth The poore sheepeheards as I told you before not capable of the true value thereof for matters of very little worth which those merchants then had exchaunged the one for the other without any suspect of disadvantage or ill bargaine on their sides and therupon the Phoenicians laded and fraughted their ships then abiding in a port or haven not farre
the daughter of Atlas Italus king of Italie three children which are these Iasius Dardanus and Armonia Iasius being created Coritus and Patriarke of Italie his father being alive who also bestowed upon him the rule and kingdome of Fraunce as many hystoriographers affirm the next yeare after so that he became very mightie and powerfull in all those countries thereabouts And now we will proceed with the rest of the kings of Fraunce beginning where we last left of which was if it bee remembred at Galatheus the noble sonne of Hercules of Lybia and of his faire wife Galathea where it was then mentioned how this Galatheus at the hands of his loving brother Tuscus received the Island of Sicilia and accordingly caried with him people to inhabite and possesse the countrey which being performed he returned also back again into Fraunce as hath been likewise before somewhat touched after which time hee lived peaceably and quietly many yeares governing his people with great mildnesse and clemencie and yet mingled and accompanied with uprightnesse of justice and execution of his laws and edicts of whose deeds and performances more than are alreadie spoken of few or no writers have mentioned onely that of him and of his name the countrey generally was called Gaule and so continued and the people therof tearmed Gaulons which by corruption and overturning of many ages and times are now in some part of that countrey called Wallons and which before Galatheus were called Samothei or Celti And it is most likely by the conjecturall opinions of most writers that this king Galatheus remained and lived in those dayes for the most part in that part of Gaule which is now the province of Acquitaine which is so called of the abundance of waters and rivers wherein that countrey was wont to exceed and that this place was held to be the first and most auncient of all the other parts of Fraunce which indeed are onely two more for that the whole countrey of France is by most devided onely into three parts and they are called Gallia Acquinatica Celtica and Belgica which of themselves retaine and carie the very names of the first kings and rulers of them as before is something specified The cheefe citties and principall siegnories of Gallia Aquinatica The cheefe cities of Gallia Acquinatica are supposed and held to bee these as most auncient writers doe consent Narbon Thoulouse Caours Rodetz Lymoges Perigort Bourdeaulx Zainctes Augolesme Baione Clermont Bourges Tours Foix Lestore Allebreth Saint Pons Nantes Resnes Saint Malo and others The cheefest rivers and waters these Gironde Dordonne Garonne Loire Lalier Cher Charente many others now too long to recite After the death of the famous and most renowmed prince Galatheus his sonne Harbon tooke upon him the governement of the countrey and was established the twelfth king of Fraunce who presently erected and built a very gallant cittie for his seat and called it Harbonne after his owne name which is now called Narbonne as many authours doe affirme And of this king little or nothing is left written memorable or meriting a tedious commemoration or rehearsall onely hee left behind him a son called Lugdus which was now the thirteenth king of this countrey of Fraunce and who built the famous citie called Lugdunum called also Lyon which is now one of the cheefest and principallest cities of France and which hath long time flourished in great priviledges prerogatives and extraordinarie customes beeing a citie indeed tres-auncient and of long continuance and of her name all that province is called Lyonnoise which as some hold is contained within the bounds of Gallia Celtica and is the greatest and the cheefest part thereof The first foundation building of the cittie of Lyons in Fraunce And this citie of Lyons was first founded and erected by the same king Lugdus in the twelfth yeare of the raigne of Mancaleus the foureteenth king of Babylon which is as much to say as after the floud inundation of the whole world sixe hundred and fourescore yeares after the first inhabiting of Fraunce five hundred and sixteene yeares before the foundation of the cittie of Troy one hundred and fortie yeares and before the now famous citie of Paris was erected two hundred and twentie years before Rome was built five hundred threescore and eighteene yeares and before the incarnation and birth of our Saviour Christ a thousand sixe hundred seven and thirtie yeares or neare thereabouts And in the times of this king Lugdus arrived and came into Fraunce the queene Isis who was so famous and so renowmed throughout all the world After this Lugdus succeded his eldest sonne Belgius now the foureteenth king of that countrey whose name is yet even fresh in all mens memories for of his name that great and populous countrey called Gallia Belgica tooke her title and was so called of which as of the other we will now make some mention The cheefest rivers and waters thereof are these Lescault la Sambre le Lis le Rin Meuse and Moselle Saine Marne Somme le Daulx and others the cheefe woods and forrests these Mormault and Ardenne The highest hils and mountaines are the hill Saint Claude les Faucsilles and Vosegus The principall villages and greatest citties are these Cambray Vallenciennes Couloign Conflans Vtrecht Mayence Strasbourg Aix Constance Lyege Tournay Arras Amiens Beauvais Senlis Laon Noyon Soissons Meaulx Rouan Rains Metz Langres Besancon Salins Dole Losanne Geneve and Camberi The cheefe siegnories are these the Dukedomes of Iulliers Cleves Cheldes Brabant Lorraine Bar Lembourg and Luxembourg the counties Palatine Haynau Bourgoigne Ferretes Montbeliard Flaunders Artois Champaine Holland Zeland and Namur This king Belgius of whome all these gallant and most famous countries were thus called builded also the citie of Belges of which now only some ruines and reliques of memorie are left which are to be seene in the countrey of Haynau and which Iulius Caesar likewise in the sixteenth booke of his Commentaries doth mention remember where he calleth it Belgium This word Belgius as many old writers expound it signifieth in the Hebrew or Phenician language which toung the ancient Gauloys then used as much as An auncient god wrastling for in those times as I alreadie have spoken the people called their kings gods by which it may be gathered that this their king Belgius was a great wrastler unto which kind of exercise and unto the barriers the people inhabiting in Gallia Belgica did not long since wonderfully much addict themselves were very active and skilfull therein howsoever at this day those sports for the most part are now utterly left off and rejected S. Ierom sayth also That this word Belga signifieth in the Hebrew tongue An auncient commotion or an old strife and indeed heretofore those people of that country were much conversant in wars in troubles and dissentions and were held to bee the most valiant and strongest nation of this part of the world as Caesar also