That it was never done to any Prince before Henry the Fifth All which Points do demonstrate that it 's the Coronation and Admission that makes a true and perfect King let the Title by Succession be what it will and that the Consent of the Realm is of much greater consequence than nearness of Blood. This may be prov'd by many Examples in England where Admission has prevail'd against Right of Succession as in William Rufus who succeeded the Conquerour and King Henry the First his Brother in King Stephen King John and others who only by Admission of the Realm were Kings against the order of Succession To these we may add Henry and Edward both Sirnamed the Fourth whose Entrances to the Crown if we well consider we shall find that both of them founded the best and surest part of their Titles upon the Election and Consent of the People And both of them having Remorse of Conscience at their dying days being they put so many Men to death for maintenance of their Rights and Titles had no better way to appease their own Minds but by thinking they were plac'd on the Throne by the Voice of the Realm and consequently might lawfully defend the same and punish such as intended to deprive them Moreover if we look into the Actions of Princes in all Ages we shall find that such Kings as were most politick and had the least doubt or suspicion of Troubles about the Title after their Deaths have caused their Sons to be Crown'd in their own days as trusting more to that than to their Title by Succession thô they were never so lawfully and lineally descended And of this I could alledge many Examples out of divers Countreys but specially in France since the last Line of Capetus came to that Crown for Hugh Capetus himself procured Robert his eldest Son to be Crown'd in his own days and Robert did the same for his youngest Son Henry Henry also did entreat the States of France to Admit and Crown Philip the First his eldest Son in his own time and this Kings Son Lewis did the same to both his Sons first to Philip and after his death to Lewis the younger And for the same cause the Prince of Spain is Swore and admitted by the Realm during his Fachers Reign The same Consideration also moved King David to Crown his Son Solomon in his own days And finally our King Henry the Second of England considering the alteration the Realm had made in admitting King Stephen before him against the order of Lineal Succession and fearing the like might happen after him caused his eldest Son Henry to be Crowned in his life time But this Device had but ill success for King Henry the younger made War upon King Henry the elder and got both the Kings of France and Scotland and many Nobles both of England and Normandy to take his part for which cause 't is probable that this thing has never since that time been us'd in England But yet hereby its evident what the Opinion of the World was in those days of the force of Coronation and Admission of the Commonwealth and how little the propinquity of Blood prevailed without it I might bring insinite Examples from the Grecians and Romans to this purpose but that it may be ojbected that they are too old and far fetch'd Examples and ought not to be Presidents to us in these Ages Wherefore I shall only give some few Examples of the Jews being they were Gods Elect People and so fit Presidents for us to follow and then hasten to those of kiter Times First then Thô God made Saul a true and lawful King and consequently gave him all the Kingly Priviledges Benefits and Prerogatives belonging to that degree and state whereof one was That his Children should succeed after him in the Crown yet after his death God suffered not any of his Generation to succeed him tho' he left behind a numerous Issue and among others Ishbosheth a Prince of 40 yeras old whom Abner the General Captain of that Nation follow'd for a time as their lawful Lord and Master by Succession until God check'd them for it and induc'd them to reject him and to receive David newly elected King who was a Stranger by Birth and no Kin to the King deceased Now if any one shall say that it was for the Sin of Saul whom God had rejected I do confes it and yet it makes nothing against our purpose being we do not pretend that a Prince who is next in Blood can justly be put back unless for his own defects or those of his Ancestors And it 's to be noted That Jonathan who was a good Man and much praised in Holy Writ being slain in the Battle and leaving a Son named Mephibosheth who was also put back tho'b y nearess of Blood he had great interest in the Succession and much before David and that only for ought appears upon the account of Saul his Grandfather After David succeeded Solomon who was his younger and tenth Son and the fourth only by Bathsheba tho' Adonijah the Heir apparent seeing his Father old and ready to dye had call'd many of the great Men of that State both Spiritual and Temporal intending to have proclaimed himself Heir apparent to the Crown but Bathsheba and Nathan the Prophet coming to the old King as he lay on his Bed put him in mind of his Promise to Bathsheba made for preferring of her Son telling him which pleased him well Quod occuli totius Israel in eum respicerent ut indicaret eis quis sederet in solio suo post ipsum Which was as much as to say That the whole Commonewealth referr'd it to his choice which of his Sons should Reign after him Upon these Reasons and Perswasions the old King was content they should take Solomon out of hand and put him on the Kings own Mule and carry him about the Streets of Jerusalem accompanied with his Guards and crying with found of Trumpets Long live King Solomon Hereby we may learn That these and the like determinations of the People about admitting or refusing of Princes to Reign or not to Reign over them when their Designs are to good Ends and for just Respects and Causes are allowed also by God and many times are his own special Drifts and Dispositions thô they seem to come from Man. Whereof there can be no more evident Proof than that which ensued afterwards to Prince Rehoboam the lawful Son and Heir to King Solomon who refusing to take away some hard and heavy Impositions laid on the People by Solomon his Father lost ten of the twelve Tribes who refused to admit him for their King but chose rather one Jeroboam that was a meer Stranger and God allowed thereof 1 King. 12.21 as the Scripture in express words testifies For when Rehoboam took himself to be openly injur'd would by Arms have pursu'd his Title and had gathered an Hundred and fourscore Thousand
he could get no more But yet his Posterity by virtue of this Election ever after pretended a Title to the Crown of France and never desisted until by Hugo Capetus they got it for Hugh was descended of this King and Duke Odo This Charles the Simple was decoy'd into the Castle of Perene in Picardy where he was made Prisoner and fore'd to resign his Kingdom unto Ralph King of Burgundy and soon after he died in the Castle and his Queen Odin and English Woman fled into England with her little Son Lewis unto her Uncle King Adelstan as Queen Adeltrude had done before But this new King Ralph lived but three years aster and then the States of France considering the Title of Lewis the Lawful Son of Charles the Simple which Lewis was commonly called by the name of d'Outremere that is beyond Sea being he was brought up in England the said States being continually solicited by the Ambassadors of King Adelstan and by William Duke of Normandy in behalf of the young Prince they resolved to call him home as they had done his Father and to admit and Crown him King and so they did and he Reigned Twenty seven years and was a good Prince and died peaceably in his Bed in the year of Christ 945. This Lewis d'Outremere left two Sons behind him the eldest succeeded him by the name of Lothair the First and the youngest he made Duke of Lorrain Lothair dying left one Son named Lewis who succeeded him by the name of Lewis the Fifth but dying without Issue the Crown was to have gone by Lineal Succession to his Uncle Charles Duke of Lorrain second Son of Lewis d'Outremere but the States of France put him byfor mislike of his Person chose Hugo Capetus Earl of Paris and so ended the second Line of Pepin and of Charles the Great and entred the Race of Capetus Now thô all the French Chronicles are carnest defenders of their Law of Succession yet they justifie the Title of Capetus against Charles of Lorrain as may appear by the Words of an ancient and diligent Chronicler of the Abby of S. Denis who defends King Capetus in these Words We may not grant by any means that Hugh Capet should be esteemed an Invader or Vsurper of the Crown of France seeing the Lords Prelates and Princes of the Realm did call him to this Dignity and chose him for their King and Sovereign Lord. Upon which Words Belforest saith as follows Bel. lib 3. cap 1. I have laid besore you the Words and Censure of this good and religious Man for they seem to me to touch the quick for in truth we cannot defend the Title of Capetus by any means from Vsurpation and Felony but by justifying his coming to the Crown by the consent and good will of the Commonwealth And these Instances out of the second Line of France I take to be sufficient proof of our Assertion without going any further for if we do but number these Kings already named of this second Race from Pepin to Capet which are about Seventeen in Two hundred thirty eight years we shall sind that not few but the most part of them did both enter and enjoy their Crown and Dignity contrary to the Law of Lineal Descent and of next Succession by Blood. We shall therefore instance some Examples for our purpose out of the English History and so conclude this Point First then it 's to be noted That the Realm of England hath had as great variety changes and diversity in the Races of their Kings as any Nation in the World For after the Britains it had Romans for their Governours for many years and then of them and their Roman Blood they had Kings of their own as appears by that Valiant King Aurelius Ambrosius who resisted so manfully the Saxons for a time after his they had Kings of the Saxon and English Blood and after them of the Danes and then of the Normans and after them again of the French and last of all of the Scotch of whom King james the Sixth was descended which continues to this day Now I mean to pass over the first and ancient Races of Kings as well of the British and Roman as also of the Saxon Races until King Egbert the First of that Name King of the West Saxons and almost of all the rest of England besides who therefore is said to be properly the first Monarch of the Saxon Blood as he that first commanded the Realm to be called England which ever since has been observ'd Thsi Egbert was banish'd the Realm by King Britricus for the suspected that he might be chosen King by reason of his great Prowess and Valour He lived many years in France under the Famous King Pepin afterwards hearing Britrious was dead he came into England Polydor. lib. 4. and was chosen King by universal Consent of the People and he prov'd one of the best Kings that ever the Saxons had before or perhaps after and he and King Pepin of France began their Reigns as it were together and came both to their Crown by no other Title but the Election of the People This King Egbert left a lawful son behind him named Ethelwolf who succeeded him in the Kingdom and was a Famous a Man as his Fahter This Ethelwolf had four lawful sons who all in their turns succeeded by just and lawful Order in the Crown viz. Ethelbald Ethelbert Ethelred and Alfred and all the latter Three were most excellent Princes especially Alfred who drow Rollo that Famous Captain of the Danes from the Borders of England with all his Company into France where he got the Country then name Neustria and now Normandy and was the first Duke of that Nation from whom our William the Conquerour came afterwards in the 6th Descent This Alfred left one Son behind him named Edward who dying left two Sons lawfully begotten of his Wife Edigna one called Edmond the other Eldred Polydor. lib. 5. â—tow pag. 130. and a third Illegitimate nam'd Adelstan whom he had by a Concubine This last was preferr'd to the Crown before the other two legitimate princes only for his Valour and Conduct This Man dying without Issue his lawful Brother Edmond put back before was admitted to the Crown who Reigned six years and left two lawful Sons but they bing young were both put back and their Uncle Eldred preferr'd before them who after Nine years Reign died without Issue and so his elder Nephew Edwin was admitted to the Crown who after four years was Depos'd for his lew'd and vitious Life and his younger Brother Edgar admitted in his place This King Edgar who entred by Depositio of his Brother was one of the rarest Princes that the World had in his time both for peace and War Justice Piety and Valour He lest two Sons by different Wives Edmond and Etheldred the first was Murther'd after which many good Men of the Realm were of Opinion not to
Kings Now as fro France their ancient Ceremonies of Crowning their old Kings was much after the manner which I noted before out of the Law of Don Pelayo first King of Spain after the Moors But as concerning the principal Point of that Action which is the substance of admitting the King unto his Royal Authority and of Oath by him made of governing well and justly and of the reciprocal Oath of Obedience made to him by his Subjects it was not much different from what is now used The Archbishop of Rhemes being vested in Pontifical Attire and come to the Altar to say Mast 9where the King is also upon a high Seat placed he turns to him and says these sords Sir that which we require at your hands this day is that you promise unto us that you 'l keep all Canonical priviledges Law and Justice due to be kept and defended as a good King is bound to do in his realm To which the King answers I do promise to every one of you that I will keep and maintain all Canonical priviledges Law and Justice due to every Man to the utmost of my power and by Gods help will defend you as a good King is bound to do This being done the king Swears and makes his oath laying his hands upon the gospel in these Words following I do swear and promise to all Christian People subject unto me these Points ensuing First To procure that all my Subjects be kept in union of the Church and I will defend them from all Excess Rapin Extortion and Iniquity Secondly I will take care that in all Judgments Justice shall be kept with Equity and Mercy Thirdly I 'le endeavour as much as possible to chase and drive out of my Realm all such as the Curch hath or shall declare Hereticks as God shall help me and his holy Gospel Thus Sweareth the King and then kisses the Book and immediately is sung Te Deum and then the King 's vested and the Ring Scepter Crown and the other Kingly Ornaments are put on him with Declaration first what they signifie and then particular Prayers are made to God that their signisication may be by the King fulfilled Now England hath particularly taken her Ceremonies from France Belfor in vita Phil. 2. being many of our English Kings have come from thence as William the Conqueror born in Normandy Stephen Earl of Blois and Bullen a French-man and Henry the Second born likewise in France and Son to the Earl of Anjou Now the Arcbishop of Canterbury doth ordinarily perform the Ceremonies at the Coronation in England as the Archbishop of Rhemes doth in France and we may collect the substance of what the Kings of England formerly swore from the Bishops Letter to Henry the Seocnd as also from the Speech of Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury to Henry the Fourth In the former are these Words Do you remember the Confession which you made and laid upon the Altar at Westminster for keeping and defending the liberty of the Church when you were Consecrated and Anointed King by Theobaldus our predecessor By which it appears that he not only Swears but gave up his oath also in Writing and for more solemnity and obligation laid it down with his own hands upon the Altar That to Henry the Fourth was occasioned by his attempting to take the temporalties from the Clergy wherefore the Archbishop desired him to remember the Oath which he made that he would delend the Church and Ministers thereof and therefore pray'd him to permit and suffer the Church to enjoy the Priviledges and Liberties which it did in the time of his Predecessors and he also desired him to consider his Promise made to the Realm which was That he would preferve unto every Man their Right and Title so far as in him lay At which the King was so moved as he would hear no more of that Bill of Laity but said He would leave the Church in as good or better condition than he feaund it The other conditions of good Government are expresly set down in the king of Englands oath recorded by ancient Writers in these Words Holing p. 47 1005. That he will during his Life bear due reverence unto Almighty God and to his Church and that he will administer Law and Justice equally to them all and take away all unjust Laws Which after he had sworn then did the Archbishop 9turning to the people declare whatthe King has promised and by an Herald at Arms asked their Consents Whether they were content to submit themselves unto this Man as unto their King or no under the Conditions proposed And when they have yielded the Archbishop beings to put on the Regal Ornaments as the Sword Ring Scepter and Crown as in the French Coronation and bids him hold his Place and keep his Oath And this is the sum of the English Coronation which may be read in Stow Stow in the Life of Ric. 2. but especially the Admissions as well of the said henry the Fourth last mentioned as also of King Edward the Fourth at their first Entrances to the Crown for in the Admission of KIng Henry Stow shews how the People were demanded thrice Whether they would be content to take him for their King And then the Archbishop read to them what this new King was bound by oath unto At the Admission also of King Edward the Fourth Staw shews how the Peoples Consent was solemnly demanded in S. Johns Fields by London notwithstanding King Edward had prov'd his title by Succession in the parliament at Weslminster And now the Consent of the people being had or He being thus Elected as Stow's Words are he was with great Royalty convey'd to Westminster Stow in the Lâ—â—â— of Hen. 6. p. 7 and in the Hall set in the Kings Seat with S. Edwards Scepter in his hand and then the people were askt if they would have him King and they cried Yea yea Thus far Stow. Now if any except against these Instances because they entred and began their Reigns upon the deprivation of other Kings then living let them look into the Coronations of Edward the 6th Queen mary and Elizabeth and they will find That the Consent of the People and their Acceptation of those Princes is not only demanded by the publick Cry of a Herald at Arms which stands on the side of the Scaffold whereon the Prince is Crowned and the peoples Answer expected till they cry Yes yes but also that the said Princes gave their Corporal Oath unto the Bishiop who Crowned them to uphold and manintain the true Faith with the Liberties and Priviledges of the Church as also to govern by Justice and Law Which Oath no doubt hath been most solemnly sworn by all the Kings and Queens of England from the days of Edward the Confessor at the least and whosoever would see more Points of these Oaths set down in particular let him read Magna Charta and he 'l
and a Prince Ruling by his Will is less than a Man or a man Brutified In another place the same Philosopher saith Aristot lib. 1. cap. 2. That a Prince who leaveth Law and Ruleth himself and others by his Appetite is of all Creatures the worst and of all Beasts the most furious and dangerous For that nothing is so outragious as Injustice Arm'd and no Armour is so strong as Wit and Authority the first he hath as Man the other as a Prince For this cause all Commonwealths have prescribed Laws unto their Princes whereby to govern as by a most excellent certain and immutable Rule to which sense Cicero said Leges sunt inventoe Lib. 2. Offic. ut omnibus semper una eadem vâ—ce loquerentur For which reason they have been called by Philosophers a Rule or Square inflexible But the Prophet David who was also a King seemeth to call them by the Name of Discipline for that as Discipline keeps all the parts of a Man or of a particular House in order so Law duly administred keeps all the Members of a Commonwealth in Peace and Plenty And to shew how severely God exacteth this at all Princes hands Psal 2. he uses these Words And not learn ye Kings and be instructed ye Princes of the Earth Serve God in fear and rejoyce in him with trembling Embrace the Discipline lest he enter into wrath and so ye perish from the way of Righteousness Which Words being spoken by a Prophet and a King contain many Points worthy of Consideration As first That Kings are pound to learn Law and Discipline Secondly To observe the same with great humility and fear of Gods Wrath And Thirdly That if they do not they shall perish from the way of Righteousness As if the greatest Plague imaginable to a Prince were to lose the Way of Righteousness Law and Justice in his Government and to give himself over to Passion and his own Will whereby he is sure to come to Shipwreck From like Authority and for like Consideration have come the Limitation of all Kings and Kingly Power in all Times and in all Countries both touching themselves their Posterity and Successors Which is apparent in the two most Renowned States of the World that of the Romans and Grecians who both began with Kings but yet with far different Laws and Restraints about their Authorities For in Rome the Kings that succeeded Romulus had great Authority but yet their Children or next in Blood succeeded them not unless chosen by the Senate and People so as of the Three most excellent Kings that ensued immediately after Romulus viz. Numa Pompilius Tullius Hostilius and Tarquinus Priscus Tit. Liv. lib. 1. doe 1. none of them were of the Blood Royal nor of Kin to one another nor yet Romans born but chosen rather from amongst Strangers for their Vertue and Valour In Greece among the Lacedemonians which was the most eminent Kingdom at that time the Succession of Children was most certain but yet their Power was so restrain'd by the Ephori as they were not only checked and chastned by them if occasion served but also Deprived and sometimes put to Death For this Cause Aristotle did justly mislike this eminent Jurisdiction of the Ephori over their Kings but yet we see hereby what Authority the Commonwealth had in this case and what their meaning was in making Laws and restraining their Kings Power viz. thereby the more to bind them to do Justice We may repeat a multitude of such Examples in Heathen Kingdoms but being they may be rejected as being no President for us we shall haste to shew How Christian Kingdoms have limited their Princes Now if we consider the Roman Empire as it is at this day annexed to the German Electors thô it be the first in Dignity amongst Christian Princes yet we shall see it so restrained by particular Laws as the Emperour cannot do so much as other Kings for he can neither make War nor exact any Mony but by the free leave and consent of the German Dyer or Parliament and as for his Children or next of Kin they have no Interest or Pretence to succeed in their Fathers Dignity but only by free Election if they shall be thought worthy Nay one of the chiefest Points that the Emperour must Swear at his Entrance is Sleyden lib. 8. That he will never go about to make the Dignity of the Empire Peculiar or Hereditary to his Family but leave it to the Electors free in their power to chuse his Successor according to the Law made by Pope Gregory the Fifth and the Emperour Charles the Fourth The Kingdom of Polonia is much of the same manner with the Empire both for its restraint of Power Cromenias lib. 3. hist Polo and successions of its King for they have great Limitations being they can do nothing of great moment without the consent of certain Principal Officers called Palatines or Castellans neither may their Children succeed them unless they are Chosen as in the Empire in Spain France and England the Priviledges of Kings is much different from the former The Kings of Spain and France have greater Power than the Kings of England for that every Ordination of these two Kings is Law it self without the Approbation of the Commonwealth But in the Point of Succession it appeareth that the restraint is far greater in those two Countreys than in England for in Spain the next of Blood cannot succeed but by a new Approbation of the Nobility and Bishops of the Realm as it is expresly set down in the two Ancient Councils of Toledo the 4th and 5th In France the World knows that Women are not admitted to succeed in the Crown be they never so near in Blood neither any of their Issue thô it be Male. For which cause Edward the Third of England thô he were Son and Heir to the Daughter of France whose three Brothers were Kings and left her sole Heir to her Father Philip the Fourth yet was he put by the Crown and Philip de Valois a Brothers Son of Philip the 4th preferr'd to it by general Consent of the whole Parliament of Paris And thô the Salic Law is not very ancient as the French themselves do confess and much less made by Pharamond their first King or in those ancient Times as some without ground do affirm yet we see its sufficient to bind all Princes and Subjects of that Realm to observe the same and alter the course of Natural Descent and Nearness of Blood as we have seen but such things are not suffered in England for that our Laws are otherwise which were made by the Commonwealth By all which it is manifest that most Kingdoms have different Laws and Customs both as to their Authority and Succession and it is not enough for a man to alledge bare propinquity of Blood for that he may be excluded for several other Reasons which we shall hereafter discuss I
And this was done in a General Parliament which was held at Segovia in the year 1276. and the two Princes his Nephews were put in Prison but afterwards by the intercession of their Uncle King Philip of France they were releas'd and had certain Lands given them and of them came the Dukes of Medina Coeli and all the rest of the House of Cerda which are of great Nobility in Spain Not long after this Garab lib. 15. 〈◊〉 1. An. 1363. when Don Pedro Sirnamed The Cruel King of Castile was driven out and his Bastard-Brother Henry the Second set up in his place John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster having Married Dono Constantia the said King Peters Daughter and Heir pretended by Succession to the said Crown of Castile which was really his Right but yet the State of Spain denyed it flatly and defended it by Arms and prevailed against John of Gaunt as did also the Race of Henry the Bastard against his lawful Brother and the Race of Don Sancho the Uncle against his lawful Nephews and this hapned in the third and principal Descent of the Spanish Kings when this Matter of Succession was most assuredly and perfectly establisht and yet who will deny the Kings of Spain who held under the latter Titles To be true and lawful Kings By which it appears how frequently the Line of Succession has been altered in Spain upon any reasonable Consideration which they imagined to be for the Publick good And the like we shall find in France and England which we shall begin to treat of Now concerning the State of France thô since the Entrance of King Pharamond with his Franks out of Germany which was about the year of Christ 419. they have never had any Stranger come to wear the Crown which they attribute to their Salick Law that forbids Womens Reign yet they have twice chang'd their whole Race and Linage of Kings once by the Entrance of King Pepin who put out the Line of Pharamond about the year 751. and again in the promotion of Hugo Capetus who put out the Line of Pepin in the year 988. so as they have had three Descents and Races of Kings as well as the Spaniards Now I 'le pass over all the first Race of the Franch Kings as I also did the Spanish because some men may say That the Commonwealth and Law of Succession was not so well setled in those days as it was afterwards in the time of Pepin Charles the Great and their Descendents Therefore I shall only mention the second Rank which began with the Exclusion and Deposition of their lawful King Childerick the Third and Election of King Pepin in the year of Christ 781 after 22 Kings which had Reigned of the first Line of Pharamond for the space of Three hundred years This King Reigned 18 years being a famous King as all the World knows left his Kingdom by Succession to his eldest Son Charles Sirnamed aster The Great for his Famous and Heroical Acts. And thô the whole Kingdom belong'd to him by right of Succession yet did the Realm of France shew her Authority in his Admission â—â—rard du â—ilan lib 3. as the Historian relates in these Words King Pepin being dead the French chose for their King his two Sons Charles and Carlomon on condition that they should divide the Realm equally betwixt them which was a heavy Condition to the elder Brother to part with half his Kingdom After these Brothers had Reigned together three years King Carlomon died and left many Sons but the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of France Swore Allegiance to Charles without any respect to the Children of Carlomon who by right of Succession should have been preferred After Charles the Great Reigned his Son Lewis the First Sirnamed Debonnaire of his Courtesie who entred with great Applause of all Men for the exceeding grateful Memory of his Father but he was Deposed by the means of his Sons and was put in a Monastery thô after he came to Reign again â—erard lib. 5. â—n 834. and his fourth Son by his second Wife named Charles the Bold succeded him in the Crown after many Battels against his elder Brother Lothair to whom it belong'd by Succession After Charles the Beld succeeded Lewis the Second who was the third Son for the Second died before his Father and the Eldest was put by for his ill Demeanour This Lewis also had like to have been deprived by the States at his Entrance for the Hatred conceived against his Father Gerard. lib. 1. had he not call'd a Perliament at Campeigne and sweetned the People and Nobility with many fair Promises This Lewis left two Bastards by a Concubine who were call'd Lewis and Carlomon as also an Infant newly born of his lawful Wife Adeltrude Daughter to King Alfred of England which Infant was King of France after by the Name of Charles the Simple thô not immediately after the Death of his Fahter For the Nobles of France said They had need of a Man to be King and not a Child and so the whole State of France chose for their Kings the two aforesaid Bastards and they were Crowned most solemnly and divided the whole Realm between them An. 881. and Queen Adeltrude with her Child true Heir of France fled into England to her Fahter and there kept him many years in which time she saw four or five Kings Reign in his place successively Of these two Bastards the Elder named Lewis Reigned but Four years and died without Issue the second named Carlomon lived but one year after him and left a Son called Lewis which succeeded him in the Kingdom by the name of Lewis the Fisth and Sirnamed Faineant for his idle and slothful Life for which as also for his vicious Behaviour and in particular for taking out and Marrying a Nun of the Abby of S. Saveour he was depriv'd and made a Monk in the Abby of S. Denis where he died and in his place was chosen King of France and Crown'd with great Solemnity Charles the Fourth Emperour of Rome who was Nephew to Charles the Bold before mentioned and therefore the French. Historians say That he came to the Crown partly by Succession and partly by Election but for Succession we see it was of no account being Charles the Simple the right Heir was alive in England and as it were forgotten being they had thrice excluded him and would not receive him after they had deprived Charles for his evil Government and rather chose one Odo Earl of Baris and Duke of Angiers and caused him to be Crown'd But after a few years being weary of this Man's Government and moved with Compassion towards the Youth in England they Deposed him while he was absent in Gascony and call'd Charles the Simple out of England and restor'd him to the Kingdom of France leaving only to Odo the State of Aquitain with Title of a Duke wherewith in rine he contented himself seeing