Subjection owning of and Submission to their Princes acknowledge both Proximity of Blood and Nomination of their Princes often both sometimes only one of them but never followed any other Rule Aethelwolph the Father of Elfred notwithstanding by Proximity of Blood his Sons were his Heirs yet bequeathed his Kingdom successively to Ethelbald his Eldest Ethelredg his Third and Aelfred his Fourth having before given Kent Surrey and Sussex c. to his Second Son Ethelbert yet he succeeded Ethelbald in all his Dominions and Ethelred and Aelfred both succeeded him according to their Father's Will notwithstanding it is said Ethelbert had two Sons Athelm and Aethelwald This Testament of Ethelwolph Florence of Worcester calls Epistola Haereditaria Edgar filium faum Edwardum Regni morum hoeredem reliquit Left his Son Edward Heir of his Kingdom and Endowments Archipresules Dunstanus Oswaldus cum Coepis Abbatibus Ducibus quamplurimis una convenerant Edwardum ut pater ejus praeceperat eligerunt electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt The Arch-Bishops Dunstan and Oswald with their Fellow-Bishop Abbats and very many Dukes or prime Men chose Edward as his Father had commanded and consecrated and anointed him King Eligerunt here signifies no more than Recognoverunt They acknowledged owned submitted unto him as their King as his Father had commanded and by Will appointed This King's Command was stricter than a Conge D'estire where the King nominated the Person to be chosen Bishop and he is always accepted and owned by the Chapter and yet they are said to chuse though limited by the King's Nomination So in many Corporations and Bodies Politick in this and other Nations they have a Person nominated to them and yet they are said to chuse him though they can chuse no other Rex Edwardus senior ex hac vita transiens filio Aethelstano Regni Gubernacula reliquit King Edward the Elder dying left the Government of the Kingdom to his Son Aethelstan Aethelstanus jussu patris in Test amento in regem acclamatus est After him his Brother Edmund swayed the Scepter Cui Edredus proximus heres fratri succedens Regnum suscepit To whom Edred the next Heir succceded his Brother Edmund and undertook the Government What next Heir could Edred be his Brother Edmund but a Testamentary Heir when at that time he left two Sons Edwy and Edgar both small Children and both were Kings successively after their Uncle Concerning this Testamentary Heir it is said Viventis non est haeres for the Testator might alter his Will when he pleased These Testamentary Heirs were either Scripti as when the Testament was written by the Testator or Nuncupati as when it was written by another and dedicated by the Testator or they were declared Heirs only before many Witnesses without writing and without doubt often it happened that our Saxon Kings did only call together the Bishops and Nobility or such of them as they pleased and declared their minds concerning their Successor Cnutoni virorum dignissimo d pater Swanus Sceptrum commiit Regale Swanus Danorum Rex Angliam vi suo subjugandat imperio moriens ejusdem Regni Cnutonem Successorem constituit Swane King of Denmark having subdued England by force dying appointed Cnute his Successor in that Kingdom By Emme Widow to King Ethelred whom he had married and made his Queen he had Harde-Cnute his Son e To him his half-Brother Cnute gave all that had been any ways under his Government But Harde-Cnute being in Denmark when his Father died whereof he had made him King Harold possessed himself of England Who was Cnute's Son by a Concubine or a Bastard Son of a Maid-Servant brought into his Concubine's Chamber and imposed on him by her And for this reason Elnoth Arch-Bishop of Canterbury refused to consecrate him King and to deliver him the Crown and Scepter Harold being dead Harde-Cnute so soon as he was consirmed and setled in this Kingdom called his half-Brother Edward by his Mother Emme afterward called the Conseffor out of Normandy and caused him to live with him who dying within two Years Edwardum totus Regni reliquit baredem Left Edwardum Heir of the whole Kingdom He could be no other than a Testamentary Heir there being Heirs of the right Line both of Saxon and Danish Blood before him Rex Edwardus Robertum Archiepiscopum Cantuariae Legatun ad Gulielmum Comitem Normaniae a latere suo direxit illumque designatum sui Regni Successorem tam debito cognationis quam merito virtutis sui Archipresules relatu insinuavit King Edward sent Robert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Envoy to William Earl of Normandy to let him know he was appointed his Successor in his Kingdom as well for that he was of his Kindred as for his great Vertue With Ingulph agrees William of Poictou and adds the Succession was given to him by Edward Cum optimatum suorum assensu Harold going to William Duke of Normandy to release his Brother and Nephew that were Hostages with him for his Father Earl Godwin's Good Behaviour towards King Edward he told Harold that King Edward had faithfully promised him that if ever should be King Jus Regni in illium iure bareditario post se transferret That he would after himself transfer the Hereditary Right of the Kingdom to him Yet Eadmer says Juxta quod Edvardus ante mortem statuerat in Regnum ei successit Haraldus according as Edward had appointed before his death Harold succeeded him in the Kingdom Florence of Worcester says Haraldus quem Rex ante suam Decessionem regni Successorem elegerat a totius Angliae primatibus ad regale culmen electhus est Simeon of Durham hath the same words Harold whom the King had chosen his Successor before his Decease was elected to the Royal Dignity by the chief Men of England Here we see how the Election was bound and limited by the Nomination of the Successor by the Predecessor These are the words of Florence of Worcester and such as follow him Which notwithstanding he certainly was a plain Usurper according to Ingulph of Croyland and Aifred Abbas Rieval and Henry of Huntington before noted the Donation of Edward being a meer pretence From Egbert the first Saxon Monarch to Ethelred the last Saxon King by Right of Blood for the space of two hundred and sixteen Years we read not of many Elections and where we do meet them they are bound and limited by Proximity of Blood or Nomination of the Successor by the Predecessor And where the word Election or any thing in that Sense is used it signifies only a Recognition and Submission The Saxon Expression concerning Succession and the Successor is always the same FENG to RICE variously turned by Translators Regnum capessit in the Saxon Chronology which renders it verbatim by others Successit electus est c.
commanded that King Edward's Laws should be observed with such Amendments as his Father had amended them And further says that very many great Men sent for Duke Robert over and promised him the Crown and Kingdom and coming they did some of them adhere to him and others dissembling their Kindness and Affection stayed with King William until they had an opportunity of shewing it But the Bishops the Common Soldiers and English stuck close to King Henry by whose means he raised a very great Army and were ready to fight for him when they came to an Agreement by the Mediation of the wise Men of both Parties Eadmer tells us that most of the great Men either did or were ready to revolt from King Henry but Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who had given him great Assistance in raising his Army upon great Promises made that all the Church-Affairs should be left to his direction and disposing and that he would for ever after obey the Decrees and Commands of the Pope procured the great Men to assemble and then so wheedled and cajoled them and their Army that he altered theit Intentions And it was from his Fidelity and Industry that Henry lost not the Kingdom This King Henry was a plain right down Usurper he had no pretence of Donation no Testamentary Right from his Father and therefore as Malmsbury shews us more particularly he was advanced by a Faction there being only five great Men Robert Fitz-Haymon Richard de Redvers Roger Bigot Henry Earl of Warwick and Robert Earl of Mellent his Brother all Normans that favoured him and by the contrivance of Henry Earl of Warwick he was elected King All others sent privately to Duke Robert to come and be their King or openly reproached Henry This was an excellent Election made by a Faction and an Army and perhaps with a bawling multitude after them and indeed there could be no other Election than such an one as this for Rufus was slain in New Forest on the 2d of August being Thursday and Henry was Crowned on the 5th of August being Sunday So that it was impossible for all that were or ought to be concerned in such an Election all the Kingdom over to have notice meet and dispatch that Business in two days time These Historians lived at the very time these things were done It is true he says in his own Charter That he was Crowned King by the Common Council of the Barons of England Sciatis me misericordia Dei Communi Concilio Baronum Regni Angliae ejusdem Regni Regem Coronatum esse And he must say this or nothing for no other Pretence or Title he could have and there never was any other Usurper in his Circumstances but must say so or some other thing to make out a Title King Stephen in his Charter of Liberties says He was elected A Clero Populo King John in his Charter of Fees of the Seal affirmed himself right Heir to the Crown when Arthur Duke of Britain and his Sister Eleanor Son and Daughter to his Elder Brother Jeffrey were then living and they were both vain Affirmations as will appear in their several stories Some later Historians than these as Matthew Paris who wrote above an hundred Years after them Mat. Westminster and Hen. de Knighton and Brompton who wrote at least two hundred and fifty Years after them all say he was elected But only Knighton amongst them all tells us the most considerable reason why Robert his elder Brother was rejected Robertus says he semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario consensu consilio totius Communitatis Regni IMPOSUERUNT EI ILLEGITIMITATEM QUOD NON FUERAT PROCREATUS DE LEGITIMO THORO WILLIELMI CONQUESTORIS UNDE UNANIMI assensu suo ipsum refutaverunt pro rege omnino recusaverunt Hen. frem in Regem erexerunt Robert was always averse and so harsh to the Barons of England that they by full Consent and Advice voted him Illegitimate because he was not begotten lawfully by William the Conqueror and for that reason by unanimous Assent they refused him and set up Henry his Brother to be their King From this Passage of Knighton we see the Community or Baronage of all England fixed the Right of Succession in the Legitimate Right of Blood and therefore this King his two elder Brothers being dead without Issue desired to secure the Succession unto his Lawful Issue by Right of Blood To that end all Freemen of England and Normandy of what Order and Dignity soever and of whatsoever Lord they held or were Fendataries to were forced to do Homage and swear Fealty to his Son William then but twelve Years old And in the twenty seventh of his Reign he caused all the great Men of England after the death of his Sons William and Richard to recognize Maud the Empress his Daughter Queen to whom the only Lawful Succession was due from her Grandfather Uncle and Father that were Kings and from her Mother many Generations In the thirty first of King Henry he and his Daughter coming into England at a great Meeting of the Nobility or Parliament at Northampton those which before had sworn Fealty renewed their Oaths to her and those which had not done it before then did it Paris tells us that the Clergy and Great or Noble Men made Conditions with Henry who promised them what is before related and in that gave them satisfaction But as all Usurpers ever did so he changed his Mind and his Canting Speech had no other effects than to enslave them for with a seared and cahterized Conscience he had obtained the Kingdom and usurped upon his Brother Robert who had manifest Right impudently violating the Laws and Promises by which he had drawn in all Men to serve him and afterward taking him Prisoner caused his Eyes to be pulled out and kept him in Prison twenty four Years until he died King Henry having thus provided for the Security of his Daughter Maud being asked in his Sickness by Robert Duke of Gloucester and the Noble Men that then were with him about a Successor Filiae omnem terram suam citra ultra mate Legitima perenni successione adjucavit Adjudged his Daughter his Lawful Successor in all his Territories Radulphus de Diceto Dean of Saint Paul's who died Anno Dom. 1210. says that Hath Bigot Steward of the King's Houshold made speed out of Normandy where the King died into England and made Oath before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that King Henry upon his Death-bed upon some differences which happened between him and his Daughter the Empress did dis-inherit her and made Stephen Earl of Boloign his Heir Whereupon William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury giving too much credit to the words of the Steward consecratcd Stephen Earl of Mortaigne King at Westminster If this story
be true he was Testamentary Heir and had a Testamentary Right and in that Right he was made King But be this story true or false his Advancement to the Throne was as followeth Notwithstanding all the Nobility and amongst them King Stephen himself had sworn Fealty to Maud the Empress yet by the Interest of his Brother Henry Bishop of Winchester and the Pope's Legat without which he could have done nothing he was made King he brought off Roger Bishop of Salisbury a great and powerful Prelate also William de Pout-Arch Keeper of King Henry's Treasure which was 100000 l. in Money And by his own Dexterity the Artifice of his Brother and Roger Bishop of Salisbury and the advantage of this Money he inclined the minds of the Noble Men much towards him and to secure himself raised an Army mostly of Flemings and Britains At his Coronation were only three Bishops the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Winchester and Salisbury no Abbots and few Noble-men I think this looks not like an Election yet he in his Charter of Liberties which he chiefly granted to the Church says he was elected by the Assent of the Clergy and Laity and confirmed by the Pope Afterwards Stephen using the Bishops roughly lost his Brother Henry's favour who by his Legantine Power called a Council of the Clergy at Winchester to consult of the Peace of the Kingdom Where they conclude that the Right of chusing and ordaining Kings chiefly belonged to them And therefore having first called upon God they chose Maud the Empress Queen Ad Cleri ius potissimum spectat principem eligere ordinare invocata itaque in auxilium Divinitate filiam Regis in Angliae Normanni aeque Dominam eligimus c. But not long after being displeased with Maud he entred into a Confederacy against her and as Legat called another Council at Westminister in which was read the Pope's Bull in favour of Stephen who was then advanced to the Throne again And the Kingdom being wasted and destroyed with continual Wars the Arch-Bishop this Legat and the Bishops mediate a Peace between Stephen and Henry Duke of Anjou Son to the Empress by which it was agreed that Stephen should adopt Henry his Son who after his death should enjoy the Crown and Stephen quietly to wear it during his Life c. Which Agreement is most fully and clearly related by Matthew of Westminister Rex Stephanus omni horede viduatus praeter solummodo Ducem Henricum recognovit in Conventu Episcoporum aliorum de Regno optimatum quod Dux Henricus jus haereditarium in Regnum Angliae habebat Dux benigne concessit ut Rex Stephanus tota vita sua suum Regnum pacifice possideret Ita tamen confirmatum est quod ipse Rex Episcopi tunc praesentes cum caeteris Regni optimatibus jurarent quod Dux Henricus post mortem Regis si illum superviverct Regnum sine aliqua contradictione obtineret that is King Stephen not having an Heir except only Duke Henry did acknowledge in an Assembly of the Bishops and other Chief Men of the Kingdom That Duke Henry had the Hereditary Right to the Kingdom of England and the Duke kindly granted that King Stephen should during his life peaceably enjoy his Kingdom The Agreement was so confirmed that the King himself and the Bishops then present with the rest of the best Men of the Kingdom sware that Duke Henry after the death of the King if he should out-live him should enjoy the Kingdom without all contradiction This Accord afforded Quiet and Tranquillity both to Henry and the Nation with certain Confidence of enjoying the Kingdom after the death of Stephen which he did But as to his Right and Title it added nothing to that it being Hereditary for he was acknowledged the true Heir by his Adversary Stephen in the presence of the Bishops and the best Men of the Kingdom who all likewise acknowledged it by owning the Accord and swearing to observe it On the 24th of October the Year following King Stephen died and on the 19th of December following Henry was Crowned at Westminster by Theobald Arch-Bishop of Canterbury And Maud the Empress being satisfied with the Enthroning of her Son quitted her Pretensions King Henry the Second dying in France July 7. 1189 his eldest Son and Heir Richard was by Walter Arch-Bishop of Roven girt with the Sword of the Dukedom of Normandy on the 20th of the same Month in the presence of the Bishops Earls and Barons of Normandy And before his coming into England every Free-man of the whole Kingdom by the Command of his Mother Alienor sware Fealty to Richard King of England Son of King Henry as to their Liege Lord against all Men. Afterwards coming to London Congregatis ibi Archiepiscopis Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus copiosa Militum multitudine in occursum ejus quorum Consilio assensu ipse Dux 3. Nonas Septembris Consecratus Coronatus est apud Westmonasterium in Regem Angliae a Baldwino Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo c. The Arch-Bishops Bishops Earls Barons and a copious multitude of Knights met him by whose Advice and Assent the Duke was Crowned King of England by Baldwin Arch-Bishop of Canterbury many other Bishops there named assisting Et omnibus fere Abbatibus Prioribus Comitibus Baronibus Angliae astantibus Almost all the Abbots Priors Earls and Barons of England being Spectators Ralph de Diceto then Dean of St. Paul's London who in the Vacancy of that Church and Bishoprick supplied the Office of the Bishop at King Richard's Coronation hath this passage Comes itaque Pictavorum Richardus HAEREDITARIO JURE PRAEMOVENDUS in Ragem post tam Cleri quam Populi solemnem debitam Electionem involutus est triplici Sacramento c. Therefore Richard Earl of Poictou being by Hereditary Right to be made King after the solemn and due Election as well of the Clergy as the Laity sware to three things Scilicet Quod opem impendet pro viribus ut Ecclesia Dei populusque Christianus veram pacem obtinent quod interdicet omnibus Rapacitatem quod in judiciis equitatem praecipiet misericordiam That is to say That he would use his utmost power that the Church of God and Christian People might enjoy true Peace That he would interdict Rapine to all Men That he would command Mercy and Equity to be done in Judgments What can this solemn and due Election signifie here what can it mean further than that Richard being King by Hereditary Right was so owned and recognized by the Clergy and Laity John in his Brother Richard's Life-time had a mind to be King and taking advantage or his Absence in the Holy Land and his Imprisonment in Germany practised with the Nobility and Londoners to that purpose The last sware faithful Service to their Lord King Richard and to
of King Aelfred by Pact and Bargain between him and Guthrum enjoyed East-Saxony or Essex and the Country of the East-Angles and a far greater part of this Nation as many think And in this King Ethelred's Reign Swane King of Denmark with a great Army invaded and made himself Master of the whole Nation forcing Ethelred and his Wife Emmy Sister to Richard second Duke of Normandy with their two Sons Edward and Alfred into that Country But Ethelred had a former Wife Elgive Daughter of Duke Thored By her he had many Sons of whom Edmond called Ironside being the third Aethelstan and Egbert dying without Issue by the Election of the Londoners and West-Saxons succeeded his Father in the Kingdom Florence of Worcester says again after the death of Ethelred the Bishops Abbots Duces quicque Nobiles Angliae met and chose Cnute the Son of Swane but the Londoners and that part of the Nobility which was with them by one consent made Edmund King After several Battels fought for the Sovereignty of the Kingdom between these two Pretenders and their Adherents being weary on both sides they were persuaded to part the Kingdom between them which was done But not long after Edmund died at London The Arch-Traytor Edric after he had caused Edmund's Brother Edwy to be murdered advised Cnute to kill his two Sons also Edward and Edmund But he thinking it a great scandal and disgrace to him that they should be killed in England sent them to his Friend and Confederate the King of Sweves to be slain who not complying with his desire sent them to Solomon King of Hungary to be preserved where Edmund died and Edward married Agatha Daughter to Henry the Roman Emperor by whom he had Edgar Aetheling Edmund Christiana who all died without Issue and Margaret Queen of Scotland whose Daughter Maud was married to Henry the First After the death of Cnute the Londoners as Ingulph of Croyland and William of Malmsbury do report chose Harold but the English had a mind to chuse Edward the Son of Ethelred or at least Hardecnute the Son of Cnute by Emme his Wife the Widow of King Ethelred who was then in Denmark and that he coming over the Kingdom was divided between them and taking Possession of his Share returned into Denmark and that Harold in his absence made himself Master of the whole Kingdom who living only four Years after his death both English add Danes sent for Hardecnute into Denmark to succeed him The Author of the Encomium of Emme says Cnute gave both this and his other Kingdoms to his Son Harde-Cnute by Emme Edward by the Policy Power and Industry chiefly of Earl Goodwin and Livingus Bishop of Worcester was made King at London and was anointed King at Winchester by the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York and almost all the Bishops in England He being in England at the time of the death of his half-Brother Harde-Cnute was in a great streight not knowing what to do and thinking to retire into Normandy as he was advised by the Normans applied himself unto Earl Godwin who minded him whose Son he was and of his Right to the Kingdom aud agreeing to marry his Daughter Edgith and to other Conditions propounded to him being forced by necessity to consent thereto Godwin a Council being immediately called by his Reasons and Rhetorick made him King Gul. Gemeticensis saith Hardecnutus reliquit Edwardum fratrem totius regni Haeredem Harde-Cunte left Edward his Brother Heir of the whole Kingdom Ailred Abbot of Rievalle tells an idle Tale in the Life and Miracles of Edward the Confessor that his Father King Ethelred being solicitous about a Successor though he had at that time two Sons Edmund Irorside and Alfred yet in a great Convention of Bishops and Noble Men before him and a great Concourse of ordinary People by the Prescience and Direction of God Almighty this Edward was chosen King while he was in his Mother 's Womb. Praebet electioni Rex consensu laeti praebent proceres Sacramentum inasitato Miraculo in ejus fidelitate jurarunt qui utrum nasceretur ignorarunt The King consents to the Election and the Noble-Men joyfully and by reason of an unusual Miracle swear Fealty to him before they knew whether ever he would be born He is the only Author of this Legend that I know of and do think it a little too gross to be believed Edward the Confessor designed his Nephow Prince Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside for Ins Successor and in the thirteenth Year of his Reign nine Years before he died sent for him out of Hungary where he then was in Banishment but in a short time after he died at London Anno Dom. 1057. Clito Edwardus Regis Eadmundi ferret lateris filius ut ei mandarat suus Patruus Rex Edwardus de Hungaria quo multo anno in exilium missus fuerat Angliam venit decreverat enim Rex illum post se Regni haeredem constituere sed ex quo venit parvo post tempore vita decessit Londoniae After the death of Edward the Confessor Harold Throno Regio se intrusit And as Ailredus before cited hath it Quidam Edgarum Adeling cui Regnum Jure haereditario debebatur Regem constituere moliuntur sed quia puer tanto honore minus idoneus videbatur Haraldus Comes de genere perditorum cujus erat mens astutior crumena faecundior miles copiosior sinistro omine Regnum obtinuit Some endeavoured to make Edward Atheling King to whom the Kingdom belonged by Hereditary Right But because he was a Child and seemed not fit for so great Honour Earl Hurold a crafty Traytor being better furnished with Money and Soldiers by sinister Fater obtained the Kingdom To the same purpose Henry of Huntington says Quidam Anglorum Eadgar Adeling permovere volebant in Regem Haraldus vero viribus genere fretus Regni Diadema invasit That is Some of the English would have had Edgar Atheling King but Harold being well furnished with Forces and assisted by his Kindred invaded the Crown f. 210. b. n. 10. From the various Expressions of the antient Writers of the Saxon Story concerning the Succession an unwary Reader would think the Saxons agreed not in one Rule of Succession or that they had no Rule at all But whoever considers with understanding what here is said will find they had and pursued a sure Rule of Succession which was either Right of Blood or the Nomination and Appointment of the preceding King as we hinted before which Nomination by the Saxon Kings mostly happened in the Minority or Nonage of their Children and that only was thought and allowed Cause sufficient for the Father to prefer his Brother's Son before his own or a Bastard before his lawful Issue For by the subsequent Instances it will plainly appear that the Saxons did in their
and that her Majesty minded not by any Implication or drawing of Words to have the Scotish Queen either inabled or disinabled to or from any manner of Title to the Crown of England and willed That the Bill be drawn and penned by her Learned Counsel before the same be treated of in the House and that in the mean time of bringing in of that Bill the House enter not into any Speeches or Arguments of that Matter With the Journal agrees a Passage in the Lord Burleigh's Letter to Sir Francis Walsingham the Queens Embassador in France July 2. 1572. two days after the Parliament was Prorogued Now for our Parliament I cannot write patiently All that we laboured for and had with full Consent brought to fashion I mean a Law to make the Scotish Queen unable and unworthy of Succession of the Crown was by her Majesty neither assented to nor rejected but deferred until the Feast of All Saints But what all other good and wise Men may think thereof you may guess Some here have it seemeth abused their Favour about her Majesty to make her self her most Enemy God amend them I will not write to you who were suspected I am sorry for them and so would you also if you thought the suspicion to be true Your assured Loving Friend Will. Burleigh This Parliament did not meet again until the Eighth of February in the Eighteenth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth unless there be any better Authority than Mr. Pulton's in his Statutes to make it appear that it did And although there never was greater fear and danger of the Introduction of Popery and Arbitrary Power by reason of the Queen of Scots Religion her Pretences and Practices and the expectation of great Assistance from abroad and at home than at this time yet we find not those that were suspected to have advised the Queen this great Affair to have been branded by Publick Vote as Betrayers of the Queen the Protestant Religion and the Kingdom of England Promoters of the Scottish Interest and Pensioners to Scotland This is a faithful Relation of the Succession Whether I have fairly or partially cited the Records and Histories I have used any Man if he please may inform himself Whether it be expedient just or lawful to go about to interrupt the lawful Succession by Birth-right or to endeavour to break or vacate the Laws and Customs of the Nation by which it is Established and Governed without any Motion Sollicitation Procurement or Intention of the present true and lawful King by Birth-right for and upon the Suggestions in the Bill mentioned I leave to the Consideration of Wiser Men than my self In smaller Matters than this it was said Nolumus Leges Angliae mutare A Paralel or Comparison between some Citations in the Author of the Brief History of Succession c. And the Words of the Authors themselves Author of the Brief Hist fol. 1. in the Margin EDwardum Elegerunt Electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt Sim. Dunelm An. 975. f. 160. Fol. 3. in the Margin Hic Robertus semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario consensu Consilio totius Comunitatis Regni ipsum refutaverunt pre Rege omnino recusaverunt Henricum fratrem in Regem erexerunt Hen. de Knighton c. 8. 2374. Fol. 4. In the Notes in the middle of the Folio In Conventu Episcoporium aliorum de Regno optimatum Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. Fol. 4. In the Margin Convenerunt interim die Statuto ex Mandato Regis ad Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones Vice-Comites Praepositi Aldermanni cum Fidejussoribus Gervas Hen. 2 fol. 1412. And fol. 4. in the Body of his History says This was a Parliament in which Henry the Second procured his Son Henry to he declared King together with himself by their consent Brief History fol. 5. in the Margin Post tam Cleri quam Populi solennem debitam electionem Rad. de Diceto fol. 647. Ibid. f. 5. In the Body of the History King John applies himself to the People for a more sure Title d who being summoned together chose him King Ibid. in the Margin d Praelatorum Comitum aliorum Nobilium infinita a multitudine Brompt 1281. Fol. 10. in the Body of the History Please it your Grace to understand the Consideration Election and Petition of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons c. Cot. Rec. fol. 709. This is all considerable which he cites out of this Record Fol. 11. in the Body of the History In the 25th Year of Henry the Eighth an Act passed wherein the Parliament in the Preamble say They were BOUNDEN to provide for the perfect Surety of the Succession They did not certainly reckon themselves bound to do a thing that was not in their Power Stat. 25 H. 8. c. 22. Sim. Dunelm Anno 975. col 160. n. 40. EDwardum UT PATER SUUS PRAECEPERAT Elegerunt Electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt Hen. de Knighton col 2374. c. 8. n. 10. Iste Robertus semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario Consensu Consilio totius Comunitatis Regni IMPOSUERUNT EI ILLEGITIMITATEM QUOD NON FUERAT PROCREATUS DE LEGITIMO THORO WILLIELMI CONQUESTORIS UNDE UNANIMI ASSENSU SUO ipsum refutaverunt pro Rege omnino recusaverunt Henricum fratrem ejus in Regem erexerunt Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. n. 10. Rex Stephanus omni haerede viduatus praeter solumodo Henricum Ducem recognovit in Conventu Episcoporum aliorum de Regno optimatum Quod Dux Henricus jus haereditarium in Regnum Angliae habebat Dux benigne concessit ut Rex Stephanus tota vita sua suum Regnum pacifice possideret Chronica Gervasii col 1412. lin 4. Convenerunt interim die Statuto ex Mandato Regis ad Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones Vice-Comites praepositi Aldermani cum Fidejussoribus suis timentes valde omnes Quisque juxta conscientiam suam metuebat nesciebunt enim Quid Rex statuere decrevisset ipsa die Henricum filium suum qui eadem septimana de Normannia venerat militem fecit statimque eum stupentibus cunctis mirantibus in Regem ungi praecepit coronari Not one word here or in all this story of this Author of their declaring him King Rad. de Diceto Imagines historiarum col 647. n. 40. Comes Itaque Pictavorum Ricardus HAEREDITARIO JURE PRAEMOVENDUS IN REGEM post tam Cleri quam Populi solempnem debitam electionem c. Chron. Johan Brompt col 1281. n. 40 50. Johannes ab Huberto Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi in Ecclesia B. Petri Westmonasterii INUNGITUR ET IN REGEM ANGLIAE CORONATUR ASSISTENT Prelatorum Comitum BARONUM aliorum Nobilium infinita multitudine Exact Abridgment of Records in the Tower fol 709 710 711