Civil Law must needs be very ancient for field nor fight cannot be continued without the Law therefore 't is to be presumed it began when Battels were first fought in the World and the bearing of Arms was come to some perfection at the Siege of Troy for Hector of Troy bore Sable two Lyons combattant Or. It is written by an ancient Author called Gesta Trojanor â— that a Knight was made before any Coat-Armour and how Asterial who came from the Line of Iapheth had a Son named Olibion who was a strong and mighty man and when the people multiplyed being without a Governour and were warred upon by the people of Cham they all cryed upon Olibion to be their Governour which accepting of and men being mustered under him his Father made to his Son a Garland of Nine divers precious Stones in token of Chivalry Then Olibion kneeled down and his Father took Iapheth's Faulchion that Tubal made before the Flood and smote him nine times on the right shoulder in token of the nine Vertues of Chivalry Also Asterial gave to his Son Olibion a Target made of an Olive Tree with three Corners two above his Face and one beneath to the ground-ward Principles of Honour and Vertue that every Gentleman ought to be endowed with TO love honour and fear God to walk after his Commandments and to his power defend and maintain the Christian Religion To be loyal and serviceable to his Prince and Country To use Military Exercises To frequent the War and to prefer Honour before worldly wealth to be charitable to the distresâ—ed and to support Widows and Orphans To reverence Magistrates and those placed in Authority To cherish and encourage Truth Vertue and Honesty and to eschew Riot Intemperance Sloth and all dishonest Recreations and Company To be of a courteous gentle and affable deportment to all men and to detest pride and haughtiness To be of an open and liberal heart delighting in Hospitalityâ— according to the Talent that God hath blest him with To be true and just in his word and dealing and in all respects give no cause of Offence Of Precedency THe Degrees of Honour which are in this Kingdom observed and according to which they have precedency may be comprehended under two Heads viz. Nobiles Majores and Nobiles Minores Those comprehended under Majores are Dukes of the Royal Blood Archbishops Marquiâ—â—es Earls Viscounts Bishops and Barons And those under Minores are Knights of the Garter â—f no otherwise dignified Knights Bannerets Baronets Knights of the Bath Knights Batchelors Esquires and Gentlemen And all or most of these Degrees of Honour are speculatively distinguished the one from the other in their Ensigns or Shields of Honour as shall be shewed in the Chapter of each particular Degree Touching place of Precedency amonst the Peers or those under the Name of Nobiles Majores it is to be observed That all Nobles of each Degree take place according to their Seniority of Creation and not of years unless they are descended of the Blood Royal and then they take place of all others of the same Degree That after the King the Princes of the Blood viz. the Sons Grandsons Brothers and Nephews of the King take place Then these great Officers of the Church and Crown are to precede all other of the Nobility viz. the Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal the Archbishop of York the Lord Treasurer of England the Lord President of the Privy Council and the Lord Privy Seal Next Dukes Marquisses Dukes eldest Sons Earls Marquisses eldest Sons Dukes younger Sons Viscounts Earls eldest Sons Marquisses younger Sons Bishops Barons Viscounts eldest Sons Earls youngest Sons Barons eldest Sons Privy Councellors Judges and Masters of the Chancery Viscounts younger sons Barons younger sons Knights of the Garter if no otherwise dignified which is seldom sound Knights Bannerets Baronets Knights of the Bath Knights Batchelors Colonels Serjeants at Law Doctors and Esquires which may be comprehended under â—ive Heads 1. Esquires unto the King's Body 2. The Descendants by the Male Line from a Peer of the Realm 3. The eldest sons of Baronets and Knights 4. The two Esquires attending upon Knights of the Bath at their making And 5. Officiary Esquires as Justices of the Peace Barresters at Law Lieutenant Colonels Majors and Captains and lastly Gentlemen Note That these great Officers of Court of what Degree soever they are of take place above all others of the said Degree viz. the Master of the Horse Lord Chamberlain of England Lord High Consâ—able of England Lord Marshal of England Lord Admiral of England Lord Steward and Lord Chamberlain of his Majesties Houshold So the Secretaries of State if Peers take place of all of that Degree except these great Officers aforesaid Note That the Ladies take place or precedency according to the Degree or Quality of their Husbands ☞ Note That in a Volume lately published by me entituled Britannia being a Description of his Majesties Dominions in page 33. the precedency of the Nobility and Gentry is treated of wherein the Masters of the Chancery are placed next after Serjeants at Law which Error happened through wrong Information their right place being next after Iudges as is here set down Note That it was decreed by King Iames That the younger sons of Viscounts and Barons should yield place to all Knights of the Garter to all Bannerets made under the Standard Royal his Majesty being present to all Privy Councellors Master of the Wards Chancellor and under Treasurer of the Exchequer Chancellor of the Dutchy Chief Justice of the King's Bench Master of the Rolls Chief Justice of the Common Pleas Chief Baron of the Exchequer and to all other Judges and Barons of the degree of the Coif by reason of their Honourable imploy in his Majesties Courts of Justice Note That as there are some great Officers as aâ—oresaid that take place above the Nobility of a higher Degree so are there some persons who for their Dignities Ecclesiastick Degrees in the Universities and Ofâ—icers in an Army although neither Knights nor Gentlemen born take place amongsâ— them Thus all Deans Chancellors Prebends Doctors of Divinity Law and Physick are usually placed before most sorts of Esquires All Colonels are Honourable and by the Law of Arms ought to precede simple Knights so are all Field Officers Master of the Artillery Quarter-Master General c. All Batchelors of Divinity Law and Physick all Masters of Arts Barrestors in the Inns of Court Captains and other Commissionate Officers in the Army or those by Patent-places in his Majesties Houshold may equal and some of them precede any Gentleman that hath none of these qualifications But how unjustly these Priviledges are possessed by some of these pretenders and how contrary this usage is to the Laws of Honour see the Chapter of Gentlemen I think it here convenient to give you an Account of the Cavalcade of his Mâ—â—â—â—ties passing through
the City of London â—â—â—â—â—e his Coronation which was on Monday tâ—e 22 th of April 1661. First the Duke of York's Horse Guard Messengers of the Chambers in their Coats with the King's Arms before and behind Esquires to the Knights of the Bath in number 140. Knight Harbinger and Serjeant Porter Sewers of the Chamber Gentlemen Ushers Quarter Waiters in Cloaks Clerks of the Chancery 6. Clerks of the Signet 4. Clerks of the Privy Seal in Gowns Clerks of the Council 4. in Cloaks Clerks of the Parliament 2. Clerks of the Crown 2. in Gowns Chaplains having Dignities 10. in Gowns and square Caps The King's Advocate The King's Remembrancer Masters of the Chancery The King's Counsel at Law 2. in Gowns The King's puisne Serjeants 2. The King's Attorney The King's Solicitor The King's eldest Serjeants 2. in Gowns Two Secretaries of the French and Latin Tongue in Gowns Gentlemen Ushers Daily Waiters in Cloaks Sewers in Ordinary in Cloaks Carvers in Ordinary in Cloaks Cup-bearers in Ordinary in Cloaks Esquires of the Body 4. The Effigies of the Right honble Heneage Lord Finch Baron of Daventry Lord High Chancellor of England one of the Lords of the most honble Privy Councell to King Charles ye. second Anno DnÌ„i 1676. The Effigies of the Right honble Anthony Earle of Shaftsbury Baron Ashley of Wimbourne St Giles Ld. Cooper of Pawlet Ld. High Chancellor of England Ld. Leiutenant of the County of Dorset and â—one of the Lords of ye. most honble Privy Councellâ— to King Charles yâ— 2d. Anno Domini â—673 Masters of standing Offices Tents 1. in Cloaks Masters of standing Offices Revels 1. in Cloaks Masters of standing Offices Ceremonies 1. in Cloaks Masters of standing Offices Armory 1. in Cloaks Masters of standing Offices Wardrobe 1. in Cloaks Masters of standing Offices Ordnance 1. in Cloaks Masters of the Requests 4. Chamberlains of the Exchequer 2. in Gowns Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber in Cloaks Knights of the Bath 68. in long Mantles with Hats and Feathers The Knight Marshal in a rich Coat Treasurer of the Chamber Master of the Jewel House in Cloaks Barons younger Sons Viscounts younger Sons Barons of the Exchequer 3. in Robes and Caps Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas 6. in Robes Caps and Collars Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Robes Caps and Collars Master of the Rolls in a Gown Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in his Robe Cap and Collar Knights of the Privy Council in Cloaks Barons eldest Sons Earls younger Sons Viscounts eldest Sons Kettle Drums The King's Trumpeters in rich Coats The Serjeant Trumpeter with his Mace Two Pursuevants at Arms in their Coats of Arms. Barons 51. in Cloaks Marquisses younger sons Earls eldest Sons Two Pursuevants at Arms in their Coats of Arms. Viscounts 7. Dukes younger Sons Marquisses eldest Sons Two Heralds in their Coats with Collars of SS Earls 32. in Cloaks Lord Chamberlain of the King's Houshold with his white Staff Dukes eldest Sons Two Heralds in Coats with Collars of SS Two Marquisses in Cloaks Two Heralds in Coats with Collars of SS The Duke of Buckingham Clarencieux King at Arms in Coats with Collars of SS Norroy King at Arms in Coats with Collars of SS The Lord Treasurer with his white Staff The Lord Chancellor with the Purse The Lord High Steward with his white Staff Two Persons one representing the Duke of Aquitain and the other the Duke of Normandy in broad Caps and Robes of Ermyn The Gentleman Usher with the black Rod on the right hand bareheaded in a rich Cloak Garter King of Arms bareheaded in his Coat and Collar of SS The Lord Mayor of London carrying the City Scepter on the left hand bareheaded The Duke of York Serjeants at Arms with their Maces 8 on a side from the Sword forwards in rich Cloaks The Lord Great Chamberlain on the right hand The Sword born by the Earl of Suffolk Marshal pro tempore The Earl of Northumberland Lord Constable of England pro tempore on the left hand Gentlemen Pensioners with Pole-Axes The King Gentlemen Pensioners with their Pole-Axes Esquires Footmen The Master of the Horse leading a spare Horse The Vice Chamberlain Captain of the Pensioners Captain of the Guard The Lieutenant of the Pensioners the King's Horse Guard The Lord General 's Horse Guard As in Man's Body for the preservation of the whole divers Functions and Offices of Members are required even so in all well governed Common-wealths a distinction of persons is necessary and the policy of this Realm of England for the Government and Maintainance of the Common-wealth hath made a threefold Division of persons that is to say First the King our Soveraign Monarch under which Name also a Soveraign Queen is comprised as it is declared by the Statute made in the first of Queen Mary cap. 1. Parliam 2. Secondly the Nobles which comprehend the Prince Dukes Marquisses Earls Viscounts and Lords Spiritual and Temporal Thirdly the Commons by which general word is understood Baronets Knights Esquires Gentlemen Yeomen Artificers and Labourers It is observed that our Law calleth none Noble under the Degree of a Baron and not as men of Forreign Countries do use to speak with whom every man of Gentle Birth is counted Noble For we daily see that both Gentlemen and Knights do serve in Parliament as Members of the Commonalty Neither do these words the Nobles the high and great men in the Realm imply the Person and Majesty of the King but with the Civilians the King is reckoned among the Nobility The Nobility are known by the general Name of Peers of the Realm or Barons of England for Dukes Marquisses Earls and Viscounts did anciently sit together in the King 's great Council of Parliament as Barons and in right only of their Baronies And therefore by the general Name of Barons of the Realm and for the Baronage thereof we underâ—â—and the whole Body of the Nobility the Parliament Robes of the Dukes differing nothing from the Barons but that they wear the Guards upon their Shoulders three or four folds For though Dukes Marquisses Earls and Viscounts in their Creations are attired with Ornaments of Silk and Velvet yet in Parliament they use the same that Barons do made of Scarlet with divers differences of white Fur set as Fringes or Edgings on their Shoulders and although they sit in right of their Baronies yet they take their places according to their degrees of Dignity And hence it is that those bloody Civil Wars concerning the Liberties granted in the Great Charter both in the time of King Iohn and Henry the Third his Son prosecuted by all the Nobility some few excepted are called in our Histories the Barons Wars Neither have the Spiritual Lords any other Title to that preheminence but by their ancient Baronies For although originally all the possessions of Bishops Abbots and Priors were given and holden in Frank Almoign most of
Forty years in which time he created eight Barons and had Iura Regalia within the County Of Earls not Palatine which is as ancient as the Conquest there have been principally two kinds but either of them subdivided into several Branches for they either take name of a place or hold their Title without any place Those that take their Name of a place are of two kinds for either the place is the County as the Earl of Devonshire Kent Middlesex or the like or else some Town Castle or Honour as the Earldom of Richmond in Yorkshire Clarence in Suffolk Arundel in Suffex Bathe and Bridgwater in Somersetshire and so forth And those Earldoms which have their Titles without any place are likewise of two kinds either in respect of Office or by Birth By Office as the Earl-Marshal of England called in Latin Comes Marascallus Angliae and is an Office not only of great power being in the Vacancy of the Lord High Constable of England the King's Lieutenant General in all Marshal Affairs but of as great Honour taking place of all Earls except the Lord Great Chamberlain of England and is likewise endowed with many honourable priviledges This Title of Earl-Marshal was by K. Richard the Second first given to Thomas Mowbray Earl of Nottingham whereas before they were simply styled Marshals and after the Banishment of Mowbray he granted it to Thomas Holland Duke of Surrey and that he should carry a Rod or Verge of Gold enammeled black at both ends whereas before they used one of Wood This Office is now by his present Majesty restored to the ancient Family of the Howards Hereditary for ever and is enjoyed by the Right Honourable Henry Howard Earl of Norwich Baron Howard of Castle-Rising in Norfolk and Heir apparent to his Grace the Duke of Norfolk The other sort of Earls are by Birth and so are all the Sons of the Kings of England if they have no other Dignity bestowed upon them And therefore it was said that Iohn afterwards King of England in the life time of his Father Henry the Second was Comites sans terre Earls as other Degrees of Nobility are Offices of great Trust being created by Patent for two principal purposes one ad consulendum Regi in tempore pacis the other ad defendendum Regem Patriam in tempore belli And therefore Antiquity hath given them two Ensigns to resemble both the said Duties For first the Head is adorned with a Cap of Honour and a Coronet of Gold which for distinction is pyramidal pointed and pearled between each pyramid a Flower much shorter thâ—n the pyramid And the Body is adorned with Robes viz. a Hood Surcoat and Mantle of State with three guards of Fur upon the Shoulders which Robe is an emblem of Counsel and they are begirt with a Sword in resemblance of that they must be faithful and true to defend their Prince and Country An Earl had formerly the Title of Prince but now it is Most Potent and Noble Lord as also The Right Honourable and truly Noble Out of his Superiors presence he may have a Cloth of Estate fringed without pendants and his Countess may have her Train born up by an Esquire's Wife But to the King 's high Council of Parliament no man ought to presume to come before he hath received the King 's Writ of Summons This Constitution was first made by King Henry the Third after the Barons War was appeas'd and by King Edward the Third and his Successors it hath been carefully observed The form of a Writ of Summons to an Earl is as followeth REX c. Vnto his welbeloved Cosin John Earl of Greeting Because by the advice and assent of our Council for certain weighty and urgent businesses concerning us the state and defence of our Kingdom and Church we have ordained to be holden a certain Parliament at our City of Westminster the day of next coming and there together with you and with the Prelates and Great and Noble Men of our said Kingdom to have confidence and treaty commanding and firmly injoyning you upon your Faith and Allegiance whereby you are holden unto us that the dangers and perils imminent of that business considered and all Excuses set apart you be present at the said day in the same place with us and with the Prelates and Noblemen aforesaid to treat and give counsel upon the aforesaid business and hereof fail not as you tender our honour and the safegard and defence of our Kingdom and Church aforesaid Witness our self at Westminster the day of in the year of our Reign In this Writ an Earl is saluted by the Kâ—ng by the Name of Cosin although no Kin and the Writ of Summons to him or any other Peer is particularly directed to himself and not unto the Sheriff of the Country as the general Summons are to Knights and Burgesses of Parliament After a man is created an Earl Viscount or any other Title of Honour above his Title it is become parcel of his Name and not an addition only but in all legal Proceedings he ought to be styled by that his Dignity In the first of King Edward the Third fol. 151. a Writ of Formedon was brought against Richard Son of Alleyn late Earl of Arundel and did demand the Mannor of C. with the Appurtenances c. The Tenant by his Learned Counsel did plead that he was Earl of Arundel and was at the day of the Writ purchased and demanded Judgment of the Writ because he was not named in the Writ according to his Dignity and Title of Honour To which the Demandant saith That at that time when he did purchase the Writ the Tenant was not known nor taken to be an Earl and it is severe Justice if the Writ shall abate without any default in the Plaintiff nevertheless because the truth of the matter was so that the Earldom did descend unto him before the Plaintiff had commenced his Action and purchased his Writ against him therefore by Judgment his Writ was abated although the Tenant was not at that time known to be an Earl But if a Baron be Plaintiff or Defendant it is not of necessity to name him Baron 8 Hen. 6. 10. yet see a distinction of Barons concerning this matter here following And so Reginald Gray was reputed Esquire after the Earldom descended unto him till at last it was published and declared by the Queen and the Heralds that he was Earl of Kent in Right and by Descent although he was not reputed or named Earl before that time But an addition may be used or omitted at pleasure except in special Cases where Processes of style of Supremum Caput Ecclesiae Anglicanae which by Act of Parliament in the 26 th of Hen. 8. cap. 1. and in the 35 th of Hen. 8. cap. 3. was annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm It is no part of the King's style so that it may be omitted in the Summons of Parliament
those ancient Fees in the time of Henry the Third and Edward the Fourth at this day do amount unto most men are not unskilful in Coke's seventh part 33. And in Cases of Decay of Ability and Estate as Senatores Romani amoti Senatu so sometimes they are not admitted to the Upper House of Parliament though they still keep their Title and Dignity Sir Thomas Smith de Republica Aâ—glorum 22. and by the Statute made 31 Hen. 8. cap. 10. the Lords have their places prescribed after this manner as followeth viz. These four the Lord Chancellor the Lord Treasurer the Lord President of the Council and the Lord Privy Seal being Persons of the Degree of a Baron or above are in the same Act appointed to sit in Parliament and in all Assemblies and Councils above all Dukes not being of the Blood Royal viz. the King's Uncle Brother and Nephew And these six viz. the Lord Great Chamberlain of England the Lord High Constable of England the Lord Marshal of England the Lord Admiral of England the Lord High Steward of his Majesties Houshold and the Lord Chamberlain also of his Mâ—jesties Houshold by that Act are to be placed in all Assemblies of Council after the Lord Privy Seal according to their Degrees So that if he be a Baron than he is to sit above all Barons or if an Earl above all Earls And so likewise the King's Secretaries being Barons or Earls have place above all Barons or Earls PRIVILEDGES Incident to the NOBILITY According to the Laws of England CHAP. XIII WHEN a Peer of the Realm and Lord of the Parliament is to be Arraigned upon any Trespass or Felony whereof he is indicted and whereupon he hath pleaded Not Guilty the King by his Letters Patens shall assign some great and sage Lord of the Parliament to be High Steward of England for the day of his Arraignment who before the said day shall make a Precept to his Serjeant at Arms that is appointed to serve him during the time of his Commission to warn to appear before him Eighteen or Twenty Lords of the Parliament or Twelve at the least upon the same day And then at the time appointed when the High Steward shall be set under the Cloth of Estate upon the Arraignment of the Prisoner and having caused the Commission to be read the same Serjeant shall return his Precept and thereupon the Lords shall be called and when they have appeared and are set in their places the Conâ—â—able of the Tower shall be called to bring his Prisoner to the Barr and the High Steward shall declare to the Prisoner the cause why the King hath assembled thither those Lords and himself and perswade him to answer without fear and then he shall call the Clerk of the Crown to read his Indictment unto him and to ask him if he be Guilty or not whereunto when he hath answered Not Guilty the Clerk of the Crown shall ask him How he will be tryed and then he will say By God and his Peers Then the King's Serjeant and Attorney will give Evidence against him whereunto when the Prisoner hath made answer the Constable shall be commanded to receive the Prisoner from the Barr to some other place whilst the Lords do secretly confer together in the Court and then the Lords shall rise out of their places and consult amongst themselves and what they affirm shall be done upon their Honour without any Oath to be ministred upon them And when all or the greatest part of them shall be agreed they shall retire to their places and sit down Then the High Steward shall ask of the youngest Lord by himself if he that is Arraigned be Guilty or not of the Offence whereof he is Arraigned and then the youngest next him and so of the residue one by one until he hath asked them all and every Lord shall answer by himself And then the Steward shall send for the Prisoner again who shall be led to the Barr to whom the High Steward shall rehearse the Verdict of the Peers and give Judgment accordingly The Antiquity and Original of this kind of Tryal by the opinion of several Authors is grounded from the Statute of Magna Charta so called not in respect of the quantity but of the weight of it Coke to the Reader before his eight part fol. 2. cap. 29. beginning thus Millus liber homo c. nec super eum ibimus nec super eum mittemus nisi per legale judicium parium suorum But I take it to be more ancient than the time of Henry the Third as brought into the Realm with the Conqueror being answerable to the Norman and French Laws and agreeable with the Custom Feudale where almost all Controversies arising between the Sovereign and the Vassal are tryed per Iudicium parium suorum And if a Peer of the Realm upon his Arraignment of Treason do stand mute or will not answer directly Judgment shall be given against him as a Traytor Convict and he shall not be prest to death and thereby save the forfeiture of his Lands for Treason is out of the Statute of Westminster 1. chap. 12. 15. Ed. 4. 33. Dyer 205. But if he be Arraigned upon Indictment of Felony he may be mute This priviledge hath some restraint as well in regard of the person as in the manner of proceeding As touching the person first the Archbishops and Bishops of this Realm although they be Lords of the Parliament if they be impeached of such offence they shall not be tryed by the Peers of the Realm but by a Jury of Knights and other substantial Persons upon their Oaths the reason thereof alledged is so much as Archbishops and Bishops cannot pass in the like cases upon Peers for that they are prohibited by the Common and Ecclesiastical Laws to be judged of Life and Blood Reason would that the other Peers should not try them for this Tryal should be mutual forasmuch as it is performed upon their Honours without any Oath taken And so by the way you may see the great respect the Law hath to a Peer of the Realm when he speaketh upon his Honour even in a case concerning the life of a man and that of a Peer and therefore ought they much more to keep their Words and Promises in smaller matters when they engage their Honour for any just cause or consideration Secondly as touching these persons no Temporal Lords but they that are Lords of the Parliament shall have this kind of Tryal and therefore out of this are excluded the eldest Son and Heir apparent of a Duke in the life of his Father though he be called an Earl And it was the case of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey Son and Heir apparent to Thomas Duke of Norfolk in 38 Hen. 8. which is in Brook's Abridgment Treason 2. Likewise the Son and Heir apparent of an Earl though he be called a Lord. And all the younger Sons of Kings are Earls
their Tenures were altered viz. Baronia as appeareth in Matthew Paris A. 1070. fol. 66. and of that Tenure have continued ever since as you may read by the Constitutions of Clarendon in the Reign of Henry the Second and in Glanvile and Bracton But the Tenures of all Abbots and Priors were extinguished by the uniting and coming of them to the Crown by the Statute of Dissolution of Monasteries For though the Nobility of England differ in Titles and certain Ceremonies yet a Baron enjoyeth the same priviledges And by experience it is found That Dukes and all other degrees of Nobility in Cases Criminal are tryed by Barons together with Marquisses Earls and Viscounts as their Peers and Peers of the Realm Nobilitas generally is of the word Nosco signifying in common phrases of speech Men of Generosity of Blood and Degree and therefore it is said Vir nobilis idem est quod notus per omnia or a vulgatus But especially it is applyed and used to express the reward of Vertue in honourable measure Ageneris claritate which being in part of distributive Justice remaineth with the highest Soveraign annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm For as Vertue is the gift of none but of God so the reward thereof with Honour cannot be the gift of any but the Supreme Governour being God's Vicegerent on Earth But when Honour and Arms be bestowed upon any if there shall arise contention between Competitors for the same the ancient policy of this Realm hath ordained a Special Court the Judges whereof in all times having been Right Honourable Personages viz. the Lord High Constable and the Earl Marshal and in latter times the Judge thereof only the Earl Marshal The Jurisdiction of the Court consisâ—eth in the Execution of that part of distributive Justice which concerneth the advancement and support of Vertue Nevertheless some men there are not duly considering of what principle and parts the Laws of this Realm do consist have laboured to prove that the Questions and Controversies of Nobility and Arms should not be determined by the Laws of the Realm but by the Civil Law framing to themselves many Arguments to prove the same but being of small value I pass them over The Common Laws as also the Laws of Charity used in the Marshals Court do prohibit any Subject of this Realm to receive Titles of Honour and Dignity by gift or donation from a Forreign Prince King or Emperor for it is a thing greatly touching the Majesty of the King and State of his Kingdom Est vis Majestatis inter insignia summae potestatis And if a man shall bring an Action and in the Writ is styled by such a Forreign Title the Defendant may plead in Abatement of his Writ That he is no Duke Marquis Earl or Baron whereupon if the Plaintiff as demanded take Issue the Issue shall not be tryed by the Jury but by the Records of Parliament wherein he faileth And if any English man be created Earl of the Empire or of any other Forreign Nation and the King also do create him into any Title of Honour in England he shall be named in all Judicial proceedings only by such Name and Title as he hath received from the King of this Realm whose Subject he is And if by the King of England he be not advanced to Title of Honour then he shall bear the name only of his Baptism and Surname unless he be a Knight For experience teacheth that Kings joyned in League together by certain mutual and as it were natural power of Monarchies according to the Laws of Nations have dismissed one anothers Subjects and Ambassadors graced with the Dignity of Knighthood A Duke of Spain or of another Forreign Nation cometh into England by the King 's safe Conduct in which also the King doth style him Duke according to his Creation nevertheless in all proceedings in the King's Courts he shall not be so stiled by his Title of Dignity And although the said Noble person be also by the King's Letters Patents and by his Forreign Name and Title of Dignity made Denizon for that is the right Name so called because his Legitimation is given to him Or if he be naturalized by Authority of Parliament wherein he seemeth to be in all things made as a Subject born yet shall he not be styled by his Foreign Titles of Dignity And so it is if a Nobleman of France or elsewhere come into England as Ambassador and by lawful Marriage hath a Son and the Father dieth the Son is by Birth a Natural Englishman yet he shall not bear the Title of Honour of his Father and the reason thereof is because that Title of Nobility had its Original by a French King and not by any natural Operation which thing is well proved both by Authority of Law and Experience in these days If a Postnaâ—us of Scotland or Ireland who in these days is a Natural Subject to the King of England or if any of his Posterity be the Heirs of a Nobleman of Scotland or Ireland yet he is none of the Nobility of England But if that Alien or Stranger born a Scot be summoned by the King 's Writ to Parliament and therein is styled by his Foreign or other Title whereunto he is invested within England by the King 's Grant then and from thenceforth he is a Peer of this Realm and in all Judicial and Legal Proceedings he ought to be so styled and by no other Name And it was the Case of Gilbert Humfrevile Earl of Angus in Scotland of it appertaineth to the Royal Prerogative of the King to call and admit an Alien born to have place and voice in his Parliament at his pleasure although it is put in practice very rarely and that for great and weighty Considerations of State And if after such Parliamentary Summons of such a Stranger born question do arise and the Issue be whether he is of that Title or no it may well be tryed by the Record which is the only lawful tryal in that Case But there is a Diversity worthy of Observation for the highest and lowest Degrees are universal and therefore a Knight Engglish or Stranger born is a Knight in all Nations in what place soever he received his Title and Dignity and so ought of right and by Law to be named in the King's Courts as aforesaid Also if the Emperor the King of Denmark or other Foreign King come into this Realm by safe conduct as he ought for a Monarch or absolute Prince though he be in League cannot come without the King's Licence and safe Conduct but any Subject to such a Foreign King in League may come without Licence In this Case he shall sue and be sued by the Name of Emperor or King or else the Writ shall abate There is a notable President cited out of Fleta where treating of the Jurisdiction of the King's Court of Marshalsea it is said And these things he might
Realm to do Justice shew Mercy keep Peace and Unity c. The King is enabled to perform this great and weighty Office by certain extraordinary powers and priviledges which he holds by the Law of Nations by the Common Law of England or by Statutes The Regalia were anciently called Sacra Sacrorum as his Lands are called in Law Patrimoniâ—â— Sâ—câ—â—â— now commonly Royal Prerogaâ—ives The King being Principium Capâ—â— â—inis Parliâ—menti may of his meer will and pleasure Convoke Adjourn Remove and Dissolve Parliaments He may to any Bill that is passed by both Houses of Parliament refuse to give his Royal Assent without rendring a Reason and without his Assent a Bill is as a â—ody without a Soul He may at his pleasure encrease the number of the Members of both Houses by creating more Peers of the Realm and besâ—owing priviledges upon any other Towns to send Burgelles by Writ to Parliament and he may refuse to send his Writ to some others that have sate in former Parliaments He hath alone the choice and nomination of all Commanders and Officers for Land and Sea-service the choice and election of all Magistrates Counsellors and Officers of State of all Bishops and other Ecclesiastick Dignities also the bestowing and conferring of Honours and the power of determining Rewards and Punishments By Letters Patent his Majesty may erect new Counties Universities Bishopricks Cities Boroughs Colledges Hospitals Schools Fairs Markets Courts of Judicature Forests Chases Free Warrens c. The King by his Prerogative hath power to enfranchise an Alien and make him a Denison whereby he is enabled to purchase Lands and Houses and to bear Offices He hath the power to grant Letters of Mart or Reprisal to grant safe Conducts c. He hath at all times had the right of Purveyance or Preemption of all sorts of Victuals within the Verge viz. Twelve miles round of the Court and to take Horses Carts Ships or Boats for the Carriage of his Goods at reasonable rates Also by Proclamation to set reasonable rates and prices upon Flesh Fish Fowl Oats Hay c. sold within the limits of the Verge of the Court in the time of his Progress Debts due to the King are in the first place to be satisfied in case of Executorship and Administratorship and until the King's Debts be satisfied he may protect the Debtor from the Arrest of other Creditors He may disâ—rein for the whole Rent upon one Tenant that holdeth not the whole Land He may require the Ancestors Debt of the Heir though not especially bound He is not obliged to demand his Rent according to the Custome of Landlords He may distrein where he pleaseth and sue in any of his Courts No Proclamation can be made but by the King No protection for a Defendant to obstruct the course of the Law against him if he be not one of his Majesties Menial Servants In case of loss by Fire or otherwise his Majesty granteth Patents to receive the Charitable Benevolences of the people No Forest Chase or Park to be made nor Castle Fort or Tower to be built without his Majesties especial Licence Where the King hath granted a Fair with Toll to be paid yet his Goods shall be there exempted from the said Duties of Toll His Servants in Ordinary are priviledged from serving in any Offices that require their Attendance as Sheriff Constable Church-warden or the like All Receivers of Money for the King or Accomptants to him for any of his Revenues their Persons Lands Goods Heirs Executors and Administrators are at all times chargeable for the same for Nullum tempus occurrit Regi His Debtor hath a kind of Prerogative Remedy by a Quo minus in the Exchequer against all other Debtors or against whom they have any cause of personal Action supposing that he is thereby disabled to pay the King and in this Suit the King's Debtor being Plaintiff hath some priviledges above others In doubtful Cases semper praesumitur pro Rege no Statute restraineth the King except he be especially named therein The quality of his Person alters the descent of Gavelkind the Rules of joynt Tenancy No Estoppel can bind him nor Judgment final in a Writ of Right Judgments entred against the King's Title are entred with Salvo Iure Domini Regis That if at any time the King's Counsel at Law can make out his Title better that Jugment shall not prejudice him which is not permitted the Subject The King by his Prerogative may demand reasonable Ayd-money of his Subjects for the Knighting his Eldest Son at the Age of Fifteen years and to marry his eldest Daughter at the Age of Seven years which Ayd is 20 s. for every Knights Fee and as much for every 20 l. per annum in Soccage Moreover if the King be taken prisoner Ayd-money is to be paid by the Subjects for his Redemption The King upon reasonable Causes him thereunto moving may protect any of his Subjects from Suits of Law c. In all Cases where the King is party his Officers with an Arrest by force of a Process at Law may enter and if any entrance be denied may break open the House of any man by force A Benefice or Spiritual Living is not full against the King by Institution only without Induction although it be so against a Subject None but the King can hold Plea of false Judgments in the Courts of his Tenants The King by his Prerogative is Summus Regui Custos and hath the Custody of the Persons and Estates of such as for want of understanding cannot govern themselves or serve the King that of Ideots to his own use and that of Lunaticks to the use of the next Heir So the Custody or Wardships of all such Infants whose Ancestors held their Lands by Tenure in Capite or Knights Service were ever since the Conquest in the King to the great honour and benefit of the King and Kingdom But abuses which too often happened made the people complain thereof which was the cause of its laying aside His Majesty is Vlâ—imus Haeres Regni and is as the great Ocean is of small Rivers the Receptacle of all Estates for want of Heirs or by Forfeiture Revert or Escheat to the King All Spiritual Benefices for want of presentation in due time by the Bishop are elapsed to the King All Treasure Trove that is Money or Gold and Silver plate or Bullion found and the owners unknown belongs to the King So doth all Waifs Strays Wrecks not granted away by him or any former Kings All waste Ground or Land recovered from the Sea All Lands of Aliens dying before Naturalization or Denization and all other things whereof the property is not known All Gold and Silver Mines in whose Ground soever they are found Royal Fish as Whales Sturgeons Dolphins c. Royal Fowl as Swans not mark't and swimming at Liberty on the River belong to the King In the Church the King's prerogative and power is
extraordinary great He only hath the patronage of all Bishopricks none can be chosen but by his Conge d'Esâ—ire whom he hath first nominated none can be consecrated Bishop or take possession of the Revenues of the Bishoprick without the King 's special Writ or Assent He is Guardian or Nursing Father of the Church which our Kings of England did so reckon amongst their principal Cares as in the Three and twentieth year of King Edward the First it was alledged in a pleading and allowed The King hath power to call a National or Provincial Synod and with the advice and consent thereof to make Canons Orders Ordinances and Consâ—itutions to introduce into the Church what Ceremonies he shall think sit to reâ—orm and correct all Heresies Schisms and pâ—nish Contempts c The King hath power not only to unite consolidate separate inlarge or contract the limits of any old Bishoprick or other Ecclesiastical Benefice But also by his Letters Patents may erect new Bishopricks as Henry the Eighth did Six at one time and the late King Charles the Martyr intended to do at St. Albans for the Honour of the first Martyr of England and for the contracting the too large extent of the Bishoprick of Lincoln In the 28. of Eliz. when the House of Commons would have passed Bills touching Bishops granting Faculties conferring Holy Orders Ecclesiastical Censures the Oath Ex Officio Non-Residency c. The Queen being much incensed forbade them to meddle in any Ecclesiastical Affairs for that it belonged to her prerogative His Majesty hath also power of Coynage of Money of pardoning all Criminals of dispensing with all Statutes made by him or his Predecessors which are Malum prohibitum and not Malum in se. The diversity between these terms is set down in the Statute made Term. Mich. Anno 11 H. 7. 11. Thus where the Statute doth prohibit a man to coyn Money if he do he shall be hanged this is Malum prohibitum for before the said Statute it was lawful but not after and for this Evil the King may dispense But Malum in se neither the King nor any other can dispense with As if the King would give leave to rob on the High-ways c. this is void yet after the Fact done the King may pardon it So it is in Ecclesiastical Laws for conformity to the Liturgy c. which are Malum prohibitum and the King may by his Prerogative Royal as well dispense with all those penal Statutes as with Merchants to transport Silver Wooll and other prohibited Commodities by Act of Parliament The King cannot devest himself or his Successors of any part of his Royal Power Prerogative and Authority inherent and annext to the Crown nor bar his Heir of the Succession no not by Act of Parliament for such an Act is void by Law These Prerogatives do of right belong to the Crown of England which I have collected out of the most Authentick Modern Authors And to compleat this Chapter I shall proceed to his Superiority and Precedency The King of England acknowledgeth no Superior but God alone not the Emperor Omnem potestatem Rex Angliae in Regno suo quam Imperator vendicat in Imperio yet he giveth Precedency to the Emperor Eo quod antiquitate Imperium omnia regna superare creditur Touching our King's Supremacy before any other these Reasons are offered First Lucius King of this Land was the first Christian King in the World as also Constantine our Country-man the first Emperor that publickly planted Christianity Secondly The King of England is anoynted as no other King is but France Sicily and Ierusalem Thirdly He is crowned which honour the Kings of Spain Portugal Navarr and divers other Princes have not The honour of Precedency amongst Christian Kings is often disputed by their Ambassadors and Commissioners representative at General Councils Diets publick Treaties and other Honourable Assemblies at Coronations Congratulations in Foreign Countries c. which by the best Information I can get is thus stated As to England next to the Imperial Ministers the French take place as being the largest Realm in Christendom and most Noble since Charles le mayne their King obtained the Imperial Diadem the second place in the Western Empire was undisputably the right of our English Kings so enjoyed for hundreds of years 'till Spain grown rich and proud by the addition of the Indies claimed the priority yet could not gain it till their Charles the Fifth was Elected Emperor but after his Resignation the Controversie renewed upon the Treaty of Peace between Queen Elizabeth and Philip the Third King of Spain at â—oloign in France Anno 1600. Our Ambassadors were Sir Henry Nevil Iohn Harbert and Thomas Edmonds Esquires and for Spain Balthazer de Coniga Ferdinando Carillo Io. Ricardett and Lewis Varreyken The English challenged precedency as due to them before the Emperor Charles his time as doth appear by Volatteram in the time of our Henry the Seventh when the like difference being in question 't was joyntly referred to the Pope who adjudged to England the most Honourable place But the Spaniards refusing to stand to that old Award or to admit of an equality the Treaty of Peace broke up neither hath any certain Resolution been hitherto taken in the matter as ever I heard of OF THE PRINCE CHAP. III. THE King 's Eldest Son and Heir apparent from the Day of his Birth is entituled Prince of the Latin word quasi Principalis post Regem The first that we read of in England was Edward eldest Son to King Henry the Third since which time the eldest Son of the King hath been by Patent and other Ceremonies created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester and Flint By Patent also Edward the Third in the Eleventh year of his Reign added the Dukedom of Cornwal to the Principality of Wales and Anno Regni 36. he makes his eldest Son Edward the Black Prince Prince of Aquitain for which he did Fealty and Homage at Westminster Sed tamen Principatum Walliae Ducatum Cornubiae Comitatum Cestriae Cantii non reliquit Walsing fol. 172. Since the Union of England and Scotland his Title hath been Magnae Britanniae Princeps but ordinarily Prince of Wales As eldest Son to the King of Scotland he is Duke of Rothsay and Seneschal of Scotland from his Birth And so long as Normandy remained in the possession of the English he had always the style of Duke of Normandy At his Creation he is presented before the King in Princely Robes who putteth a Coronet upon his Head a Ring on his middle Finger a Verge of Gold in his Hand and his Letters Patents after they are reaâ— His Mantle which he wears in â—arliament is once more doubled upon the shoâ—â—â—â—rs than a Dukes his Cap of State indenteâ—â—nd his Coronet formerly of Crosses and Flower de lis mixed But since the happy Restauration of his Majesty it was solemnly ordered that the Son and Heir apparent
of the most noble order of the Garter c â— The Right Reverend Father in God Henry Compton by Divine permission Lord Bishop of London Deane of his matys Chappel and one of the Lords of his most honble privy Councell brother to the Rt. honble Iames Earle of Northampton The Right Reverend Father in God Nathaniel Crew by divine permission Lord Bishop of Durham Clerk of the Closetâ— to his Maty and one of the Lords of his most honble privy Councell son to the Rt. honble Iohn Ld. Crew Baron of Steane The Right Reverend Father in God Iohn Pearson by Divine permission Lord Bishop of Chester The Right Reverend Father in God Peter Gunning by Divine permission Lord Bishop of Ely OF THE Lords Spiritual CHAP. VIII ACCORDING to the Laws and Customes of this Realm many are the Ecclesiastical Dignities and Priviledges belonging to the Bishops and Clergymen who in all succeeding Ages have been reverenced with the greatest observance imaginable as being acknowleded by all good Christians to be those Messengers sent and particularly appointed by God to take care of our Souls The Subjects of England are either Clergy or Laymen both which are subdivided into Nobility and Commons Thus we find in our Parliament the Lords Spiritual and Temporal make the Upper House the Commons Spiritual viz. the Clergy elected to sit in Convocation who once had place and suffrage in the Lower House of Parliament and the Commons Temporal viz. the Knights and Burgesses make the Commons Most evident it is by the Consent of all the Councils Fathers Histories and Universal Tradition That for the first Fifteen hundred years continuance of Christianity there is no Example to be found of any Church governed by any Authority Ecclesiastick but that of Episcopacy they were ordained by the Apostles themselves to be their Successors in Christ's Church to have a vigilant eye over the Pastors and Teachers under them as to their Lives and Doctrine for the preservation of Truth and Peace the prevention of Scandal suppression of Heresie and Schism and to have a care of their Flock to bring them to Salvation 'T is not therefore without reason that in all times they have been the first of the two Divisions of the people the Clergy and Laity and as Spiritual Barons take place of Temporal they take their name from the Saxon word Biscoep a Super-intendent or Overseer They are three ways Barons of the Realm viz. by Writ Patent and Consecration They precede all under the Degree of Viscounts and are always placed upon the King 's right hand in the Parliament House They have the Title of Lords and Right Reverend Fathers in God And their Sees by the piety of former times are endowed with fair Revenues for the due administration of what belongs to their places And to keep them from corrupt and sinister affections the King 's most Noble Progenitors and the Ancestors of the Nobility and Gentry have sufficiently endowed the Church with Honour and Possessions Many Priviledges and Immunities were likewise granted to them and the Clergy by the Saxon and Danish Kings as coyning of Money conferring the Order of Knighthood c. which hath been long since appropriate to the Crown Thus Laufranck Archbishop of Canterbury made William the Second Knight in the life time of his Father Of Priviledges remaining some belong to to the Archbishops some to the Bishops as they are so and some to them and all other of the Clergy We read of three Archbishopricks in England before the Saxons came amongst us viz. that of London York and Carleon upon Vske But Christianity being thence expelled by the Pagans the succession of those Sees ceased till it pleased God to restore the Light of his Gospel to the blind Saxons which in this Kingdom had planted themselves by the Ministration of St. Augustin who first preached Salvation to them at Canterbury and was there buried for whose sake they removed the Episcopal See from London unto Canterbury and in process of time placed another Archbishop at â—ork which two Provinces included England and Wales and have Five and twenty Bishops under them Six and twenty Deans of Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches Sixty Arch-Deacons Five hundred forty four Prebendaries many rural Deans and about Ten thousand Rectors and Vicars of Parishes The Archbishop of Canterbury was anciently the Metropolitan of England Scotland Ireland and the Isles adjacent and was therefore sometime styled a Patriarch and had several Archbishops under him His style was Alterius orbis Papa orbis Britannici Pontifex The Date of Records in Ecclesiastical Affairs ran thus Anno Pontificatus nostri primo c. He was Legatus Natus which power was annexed to that See near One thousand years ago whereby no other Legat or Nuntio from Rome could exercise any Legantive power without the King 's special Licence In General Councils he had place before all other Archbishops at the Pope's right Foot Nor was he respected less at home than abroad being according to the practise of most other Christian States reputed the second person in the Kingdom and named and ranked before the Princes of the Blood By the favour of our present King he still enjoys divers considerable preheminences as Primate and Metropolitan of all England hath power to summon the Arch-bishop of York and the Bishops of his Province to a National Synod is primus par Regni preceding not only Dukes but all the Great Officers of the Crown next to the Royal Family He is styled by the King Dei Gratia Archiopiscopus Cantuarii Writes himself Divina Providentia as doth the Archbishop of York other Bishops write Divina permissione and hath the Title of Grace given him as it is to Dukes and Most Reverend Father in God His Office is to Crown the King and wheresoever the Court shall happen to be 't is said the King and Queen are Speciales Domestici Parochiani Domini Archiepisc. Cant. The Bishop of London is accounted his Provincial Dean the Bishop of Winchester his Chancellor and the Bishop of Rochester his Chaplain He hath the power of all the probate of Wills and granting Letters of Administration where the party hath bona notabilia that is Five pounds worth or above out of the Diocess wherein he dieth or Ten pounds worth within the Diocess of London By Statute of Hen. 8. 25. he hath power to grant Licences Dispensations c. and holds divers Courts of Judicature viz. his Courts of Arches of Audience his Prerogative Court and his Court of Peculiars And he may retain and qualifie eight Chaplains which is more by two than a Duke can do The Arch-bishop of York was also Legatus Natus and had that Authority annexed to his See He had all the Bishopricks of Scotland under his Province till the year 1470. He hath the place and precedency of all Dukes not of the Royal Blood and of all great Officers except only the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper
and is equal in power to a King as before noted She is her Husband 's Sovereign and he her Subject in England although he were an Emperor So was King Philip of Spain to Queen Mary and her Authority is included in the foregoing Chapter of Monarchy and therefore need not to be here repeated The second in Honour is the Queen Consort and the third the Queen Dowager or Queen Mother As from the benign influence of the glorious Planet the Sun all Creatures by God's decree in the order of Nature receive life and motion so from the King God's Vicegerent on earth all degrees of Nobility take their advance and dignity 'T is therefore requisite the King should as far excel his Subjects in Majesty and Splendor as doth the Sun the other Planets And as the Moon is the mirror of the Sun representing his Glory by Night so the Queen Consort the Counterpart of the Royal Majesty shines amongst us for whom and for whose Posterity the Nation is bound to send up their Prayers to God The Queen of England during the life of the King hath as high prerogatives and priviledges and liveth in as great state as any Queen in Europe She is reputed the second person in the Kingdom and the Law setteth so high a value upon her as to make it High Treason to conspire her death or to violate her Chastity She is allowed Regal Robes Ornaments and a Crown of the same form as an absolute Queen weareth and may be as formerly they were crowned with Royal Solemnity the performance of which Office properly belongeth to the Archbishop of York And although their Coronations of late have been disused yet they have as much honour and enjoy the same priviledges as if that Ceremony had been done And the manner and solemnity at the Coronation of a Queen is at large set down in most of our Chronicles and in particular in Holinshead and Stow upon the splendid Coronation of Anna Bulloign in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth to which I refer the Reader The Queen is permitted to sit in state by the King and to keep a distinct Court from the King 's although she be the Daughter of a Nobless and hath her Courtiers in every Office as hath the King though not altogether so many and hath her Yeomen of her Guard to attend her on foot and within doors and her Lifeguard of Horse for her state and security when she goeth abroad She hath her Attorney Solicitor and Counsel for the management of her Law concerns who have great respect shewed them being placed within the Barr with the King's Counsel in all Courts of Judicature Although she be an Alien and a Feme covert during the King's Life yet without any Act of Parliament for Naturalization or Letters Patents for her Denization she may purchase Lands in Feesimple make Leases in her own Name without the King hath power to give to sue and to contract Debts which by the Law is denied any other Feme Covert she may not be impleaded till first petitioned nor is the formality of fifteen days Summons to the Defendant needful if she be Plaintiff nor can she be amerced if she be Nonsuited in any Action she may present by her self to a Spiritual Benefice Anciently the Queens had a Revenue called Aurum Reginae that is the Queen's Gold which was the tenth part of what came to the King by the name of Oblata upon Pardons Gifts c. but of late they keep to their Dowry viz. Forty thousand pounds per Annum besides fines upon the renewing of Leases which said Dowry is as large as any Queens in Christendome The like honour and respect that is due to the King is exhibited to the Queen as well by Foreigners as by the King's Subjects as is also to the Queen Dowager who looseth not her Dignity or Reverence although she should marry a private Gentleman as did Queen Kathâ—rine Widow to King Henry the Fifth who after she was married to Owen Teudor Esquire maintained her Action at Law as Queen of England The present Queen Consort is the thrice Illustrious Donna Katherina Infanta Portuguesa whose vertue and true piety ought to be taken notice of in all Histories â—or succeeding Queens to trace her Noble footsteps whom God preserve The Queen Dowager takes place next to the Queen Consort and in the absence of the King her Son or in his minority is sometimes made Queen Regent or Protectress but this trust is usually by the King 's own command or at the request of the three States assembled in Parliament to prevent the danger of an usurpation of the Crown the like trust is sometimes imposed upon the Queen Consort in her Husband's absence as by King Henry the Eighth twice during his Wars in France Note That during the minority of the King of England whatsoever Laws are enacted in Parliament under a Queen Regent or a Protectress are no longer binding than till the King attains to full age after which he may revoke and make void by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal The Daughters of the Kings of England are all styled Princeâ—â—es The eldest is called the Princess Royal and hath an aid or certain rate of money paid by every Tenant in Capite Knights Service and Soccage towards her marriage Portion as was levied by K. Iames when he married the Princess Elizabeth and to violate her Chaâ—â—ity is by the Law adjudged High Treason Of Noble VVomen WOmen in England according to their Husbands Qualities are either Honourable and Noble or Ignoble Their Honourable Dignities are Princesses Dutchesses Marchionesses Countesses Viscountesses and Baronesses The Nobless as the French call them are all Knights Ladies who in all writings are styled Dames all Esquires and Gentlemens wives only Gentlewomen The third sort comprehends the Plebeans and are commonly called Goodwives Noble women are so by Creation Descent or Marriage Of women honourable by Creation are divers Examples of which the first as I remember that we read of was Margaret Countess of Norfolk created by Richard the Second Dutchess of Norfolk And many of them had their Honours granted by Patents to themselves and the Heirs Males of their Bodies to be begotten with special Clauses that their Heirs Male shall have voices in Parliament Creation money their Mothers Titles as if a Dutchess he a Duke and if a Countess he an Earl with the Ceremony of Mantle Surcoat Coronet c. The like Grant was to Anna Bulloign when she was created Marchioness of Pembroke by Henry the Eighth Of a later date was the Lady Finch made Countess of Winchelsey who had all the said priviledges granted to her and her Heirs Male The Dutchess of Buckingham also in the time of King Iames. And in our Age we have divers Noble Ladies advanced to degrees of Honour viz. the Countess of Guilford Groom of the Stool to the Queen Mother and a faithful Servant to her in her banishment being
Ceremony ended Of Degrading of Knights DEgrading of Knights is not very customary Examples being seldom found it being used only for great and notable Facts and Offences against Loyalty and Honour as absenting themselves dishonourably from their King's Service for leaving their Colours and flying to the Enemy for betraying Castles Forts and the like hainous Crimes The manner of Degrading a Knight hath been as followeth When a Knight had been found thus disloyal or corrupt he was to be apprehended and armed Cap-a-pe as if he was going to the Wars was to be placed upon a high Scaffold made for that purpose in the Church and after the Priest had sung some Funeral Psalms as are used at Burials as though he had been dead first they take of his Helmet to shew his face and so by Degrees his whole Armour then the Heralds proclaiming him a disloyal Miscreant with many other Ceremonies to declare him Ignoble he was thrown down the Stage with a Rope and this was done about the time of King Arthur as is affirmed by Mills fol. 84. Also about the Degrading of Knights these things have also been used as the reversing their Coat of Arms by seizing of their Equipage except one Horse ne qui dignitate fâ—ctus est eques cogatur pedes incedere bâ— cutting of the Spurs from their Heels and by taking away their Sword and breaking it But of late the Martial Law is usually put in Execution both in our Civil Wars as in France and elsewhere that is to dispatch such trayterous persons by a File of Musquetiers KNIGHTS OF THE Round Table CHAP. XXII THE Founder of this ancient Order of Knighthood was Arthur King of the Britains who reigned about the year of Christ 516. whose Valour was so great and admirable that many now living do believe the same rather fabulous than real This Noble King having as Sir William Segar noteth driven out of England the Saxons conquered Norway Scotland and the greatest part of France where at Paris he was crowned and returning home lived in such great Renown that many Princes and worthy Knights came from all Parts to his Court to give Evidence of their Valour in the Exercise of Arms. Upon this he erected a Fraternity of Knights which consisted as some say of Four and twenty others a greater Number amongst whom he himself was Chief And for the avoiding of Controversies for taking place when they met together he caused a Round Table to be made from whence they took their Name which said Table if you will believe the Inhabitants of Winchester hangs up in their Castle where they used to meet and the time of their meeting was at Whitsontide Into this Society none were admitted whether Britains or Strangers but such as did make sufficient proof of their Prowess and Dexterity in Arms and such as were Renowned for their Vertue and Valour The Articles which they vowed to keep were To be always well armed both for Horse or Foot Service either by Land or Sea and to be always ready to assail Tyrants and Oppressors To protect and defend Widows Maidens and Children and to relieve all that are in necessity To maintain the Christian Faith contribute their Aid to Holy Church and to protect Pilgrims To advance Honour and suppress Vice To bury Souldiers that wanted Sepulchres To ransom Captives deliver Prisoners and administer to the cure of wounded Souldiers hurt in the Service of their Country To Record all Noble Enterprizes to the end that the Fame thereof may ever live to their Honour and the Renown of the Noble Order That upon any complaint made to the King of Injury or Oppression one of these Knights whom the King should appoint was to Revenge the same If any Foreign Knight came to Court with desire to shew his Prowess these Knights ought to be ready in Arms to answer him If any Lady Gentlewoman or other oppressed or injured person did present a Petition declaring the same whether the Injury was done here or beyond Sea he or she should be graciously heard and without delay one or more Knights should be sent to make Revenge And that every Knight for the advancement of Chivalry should be ready to inform young Lords and Gentlemen in the Orders and Exercises of Arms. For what I can find there was no Robe or Habit prescribed unto these Knights nor can I find with what Ceremony they were made neither what Officers did belong unto the said Order except a Register to record all their Noble Enterprizes Not to pass over this Noble Arthur give me leave to repeat what I find mentioned of him by Sir William Segar in the said Chapter This valiant Prince not confining himself to the narrow limits of his own Kingdom left the Government thereof to the management of his Cosin Mordred and began his Journey or rather Conquest for in all places he found Fortune to favour him And after his many Victories gained of the Saxons Scots Norwegians Romans Saracens and French in the end being laden with Honour he returned into England but found Mordred a Traitor as usurping the Government and obstructing his Landing But all that he could do was in vain for being landed he fled to London but the Citizens refusing to give him Entrance he went into Cornwall where King Arthur gave him Battel which proved unfortunate to them both for Mordred was slain by King Arthur who was also desperately wounded and after this wound as some say he was never found alive or dead which made the Poets to feign that he was taken up into the Firmament and there remaineth a Star amongst the Nine Worthies Which phansie is founded upon the Prophesie of old Merlin which was his Counsel and esteemed as a Prophet who for many years before affirmed That King Arthur after a certain time should resuscitate and come unto Carlion to restore the Round Table He wrote this Epitaph Hic jacet Arturus Rex quondam rexque futurus According to Andrew Favin there was an Order of Knighthood called Knights of St. Thomas which was instituted by King Richard the First after the surprisal of the City of Acon and consisted of all English men Their Patron was St. Thomas Becket their Garment was white and their Ensign was a red Cross charged in the midst with a white Escallop But A. Mendo believeth that these Knights were rather some of those which joyned themselves with the Knights Hospitallers for that they wore the same Habit followed the same Rule and observed the same Customes as did the Knights of St. Iohn of Acon KNIGHTS OF THE THISTLE OR OF St. Andrew in Scotland CHAP. XXIII HVNGVS King of the Picts the Night before the Battel that was fought betwixt him and Athelstan King of England saw in the Skie a bright Cross in fashion of that whereon St. Andrew suffered Martyrdom and the day proving successful unto Hungus in memorial of the said Apparition which did presage so happy an Omen the Picts and
merely for their livelyhoods may not be taken against their Wills or the consent of their Parents and Friends And so it was resolved by the two Chief Justices and all the Court of Star-Chamber Anno 43 Eliz. in the Case of one Evans who had by colour of such Letters Patents taken the Son of one Clifton a Gentlemen of quality in Norfolk who was taught to sing for his Recreation which Evans for the same offence was grievously punished And to the end it may withal appear what Degrees of Nobility and Gentry were in the Realm before the coming of the Normans and by what merits men might ascend and be promoted to the same I will here set down the Copy of an English or Saxon Antiquity which you may read in Lambert's Perambulation of Kent fol. 364. and Englished thus It was sometimes in the English Laws That the People and Laws were in Reputation and then were the wisest of the People worship-worthy each in his degree Earl and Churle Theyne and Undertheyne And if a Churle so thrived that he had fully five Hides of Land of his own a Church and a Kitchin a Bell-house and a Gate a Seat and a several Office in the King's Hall then was he thenceforth the Theynes right-worthy And if a Theyne so thrived that he served the King on his Journey rode in his Houshold if he then had a Theyne which him followed who to the King's Expectation five Hides had and in the King's Palace his Lord served and thrice with his Errand had gone to the King he might afterwards with his fore-oath his Lord's part play at any need and of a Theyne that he became an Earl then was thenceforth an Earl rightworthy And if a Merchant-man so thrived that he passed over the wide Sea thrice of his own Craft he was thenceforth the Theynes right-worthy And if a Scholar so thrived through Learning that he had degree and served Christ he was thenceforth of Dignity and Peace so much worthy as thereunto belonged unless he forfeit so that he the use of his Degree remit It is observed That the Saxons out of all those Trades of life which be conversant in gain admit to the Estate of Gentry such only as encreased by honest Husbandry or plentiful Merchandize Of the first of which Cicero affirmeth that there is nothing meeter for a freeborn man nor no man fitter to make braver Souldier And of the other that 't is prize-worthy also if at the length being satisfied with gain as it hath often come from the Sea to the Haven so it changeth from the Haven into Lands and Possessions And therefore whereas Gervasius Tilburiensis in his Observations of the Exchequer accounted it an abusing of a Gentleman to occupy publicum mercimonium common buying and selling it ought to be referred to the other two parts of Merchandize that is to a Negotiation which is retailing and keeping of an open shop and to a Function which is to exercise Mercery or as some call it to play the Chapman and not to Navigation which as you see is the only laudable part of all buying and selling And again whereas by the Statute of Magna Charta chap. 6. and Merton chap. 7. it was a discouragement for a Ward in Chivalry which in old time was as much as to say a Gentleman to be married to the Daughter of a Burgess I think that it ought to be restrained to such only as professed Handycrafts or those baser Arts of buying and selling to get their living by But to shew how much the case is now altered for the honour of Tradesmen it may be remembred that Henry the Eighth thought it no disparagement to him when he quitted his Queen to take Anne the Daughter of Thomas Bullen sometime Mayor of London to his Wife The Statute of Westminster 2. chap. 1. which was made in the Thirteenth of King Edward the First was procured especially at the desire of Gentlemen for the preservation of their Lands and Hereditaments together with their Surnames and Families and therefore one calleth this Statute Gentilitium municipale and the Lawyers call it Ius Taliatum Taliabile The Children only of Gentlemen were wont to be admitted into the Inns of Court and thereby it came to pass that there was scant any man found in former ages within the Realm skilful and cunning in the Law except he were a Gentleman born and came of a good House for they more than any other have a special care of their Nobility and to the preservation of their Honour and Fame For in these Inns of Court are or at leastwise should be Vertues studied and Vices exiled so that for the endowment of Vertue and abandoning of Vice Knights and Barons with other States and Noblemen of the Realm place their Children in those Inns though they desire not to have them learned in the Laws nor to have them live by the practise thereof but only upon their Parents allowance You have heard how cheap Gentility is purchased by the Common Law but if you look more strictly unto the perfection thereof you will find it more honourable for Gentlemen well descended and qualified have always been of such repute in England that none of the higher Nobility no nor the King himself have thought it any disparagement to make them their Companions Therefore I shall set down the priviledges due unto them according to the Laws of Honour as I find them collected out of Sir Iohn Ferne Sir William Segar Mr. Carter in his Analysis of Honour and other good Authors It is thus found The Priviledges of the Gentry 1. PRo honore sustinendo If a Churle or Peasant do detract from the honour of Gentleman he hath a remedy in Law actione injuriarum but if by one Gentleman to another the Combat was anciently allowed 2. In equal Crimes a Gentleman shall be punishable with more favour than the Churle provided the Crime be not Heresie Treason or excessive Contumacy 3. The many Observances and Ceremonial Respects that a Gentleman is and ought to be honoured with by the Churle or Ungentle 4. In giving Evidence the Testimony of a Gentleman is more authentick than a Clowns 5. In Election of Magistrates and Officers by Vote the Suffrage of a Gentleman should take place of an Ignoble Person 6. A Gentleman should be excused from base Services Impositions and Duties both Real and Personal 7. A â—â—ntleman condemned to death ought not to be â—anged but beheaded and his Examination taken without Torture 8. To take down the Coat-Armour of any Gentleman to deface his Monument or offer Violence to any Ensign of the deâ—eased Noble is as to lay buffets on the face of him if alive and punishment is due accordingly 9. A Clown may not Challenge a Gentleman to Combat quia conditiones â—mpares Many other are the Priviledges due to Gentlemen which I forbear to repeat referring the Reader to the Books before cited For the protection and defence of
disinherited imprisoned and murthered by their cruel Uncle the Duke of Glocester who being both a Tyrant and Usurper was justly encountred by King Henry the Seventh in the Field So infallible is the Law of Justice in revenging Cruelties and Injuries not always observing the present time wherein they are done but often calling them into reckoning when the Offenders retain least memory of them But as the saying is Ex malis moribus bonae leges oriuntur so their Tragical and Miserable Combustions have occasioned that the Law hath established more certain Resolutions in all these cases and pretences against the right Heir to the Crown than before For first though a common Opinion was conceived that a Conqueror might freely dispose of the Succession of that Estate which he had obtained by the purchase of his Sword which was the Title pretended for William Rufus yet now in our Books this difference is taken for Law viz. between the Conquest of a Kingdom from a Christian King and the Conquest of a Kingdom from an Infidel For if a King come to a Christian Kingdom by Conquest seeing he hath Vitae necis potestatem he may at his pleasure alter and change the Laws of that Kingdom but until he doth make an alteration thereof the ancient Laws do stand and therefore the case of Rufus the ancient Law of this Realm being That the eldest Son should inherit and that a King in possession cannot devise the same by his last Will or by other Act therefore the said William Rufus was no other than a Usurper But if a Christian King should Conquer a Kingdom from an Infidel and being then under his subjection there ipso facto the Laws of the Infidels are abrogated for that they be not only against Christianity but against the Law of God and Nature mentioned in the Decalogue and in that case until certain Laws be established amongst them the King by himself and such Judges as he shall appoint shall judge them and their causes according to natural Equity in such sort as Kings in ancient times did within their Kingdoms before any certain municipal Laws were given And if a King have a Kingdom by Title of Descent there seeing by the Laws of that Kingdom he doth inherit the Kingdom he cannot change those Laws of himself without consent of Parliament Also if a King have a Christian Kingdom by Conquest as King Henry the Second had Ireland after that King Iohn had given unto them being under his Obedience and Subjection the Laws of England for the Government of that Country no succeeding King could alter the same without Parliament In Succession of Kings a question hath been Whether the King who hath had Sons both before and after he came to the Crown which of them should succeed he that was born before as having the prerogative of his Birthright or he that was born after And for each Reasons and Examples have not been wanting For Xerxes the Son of Darius King of Persia being the eldest Son after the enthroning his Father carried away the Empire from his Brother Arthemones or Artobazanes who was born before his Father came to the Royal Possession thereof So Arceses the Son of another Darius born in the time of his Fathers Empire carried away the Garland from his Brother Cyrus born before his Father came to the Empire So Lewis Duke of Millain born after his Father was Duke was preferred to the Dukedom before his Brother Galiasius born before the Dukedom But notwithstanding these Examples and the Opinion of sundry Doctors to the contrary common use of Succession in these latter days hath been to the contrary and that not without good reason for that it is not meet that any that hath right to any Succession by the prerogative of their Birthright such as all elder Brothers have should be put by the same And this was the pretence of Henry the First against Robert his eldest Brother Also sundry Contentions have risen in Kingdoms between the Issue of the eldest Son of the King dying before his Father and the second Brother surviving who should Reign after the death of the Father the Nephew challenging the same unto him by the Title of his Fathers Birthright and by way of Representation Cok. part 3. cap. 4. the other claiming as eldest Son to his Father at the time of his death Upon which Title in old time there grew a Controversie between Arcus the Son of Arrotatus eldest Son of Cleomenes King of Lacedemonia and Cleomenes second Son of Cleomenes Uncle to the said Arcus But upon debate of the matter the Senate gave their Sentence for Arcus against Cleomenes Besides Enominus King of Lacedemon having two Sons Polydectes and Licurgius Poyldectes dying without Children Licurgius succeeded in the Kingdom but after he had understood that Polydectes Widow had a Child he yielded the Crown to him wherein he dealt far more religiously than either did King Iohn or King Richard the Third For King Iohn upon the like pretence not only put by Arthur Plantaginet his eldest Brother's Son from the Succession of the Kingdom but also most unnaturally took away his life And King Richard the Third to come to the Crown did most barbarously not only slay his two innocent Nephews but also defamed his Mother in publishing to the World that the late King his Brother was a Bastard Our Stories do obscurely note that Controversie of like matter had like to have grown between King Richard the Second and Iohn of Gaunt his Uncle and that he had procured the Counsel fo sundry great Learned Men to this purpose but that he found the hearts of divers Noblemen of this Kingdom and especially the Citizens of London to be against him whereupon he desisted from his intended purpose and acknowledged his Nephews Right And the reason of the Common Law of England is notable in this point and may be collected out of the ancient Authors of the same Glanvile lib. 7. cap. 1. Bracton lib. 7. c. 30. and by Brittan fol. 119. For they say Whosoever is Heir to another aut est haeres jure proprietatis as the eldest Son shall inherit only before his Brothers aut jure representationis as where the eldest Son dieth in the life of his Father his Issue shall inherit before the youngest Son for though the youngest sit magis propinquus yet jure representationis the Issue of the eldest Son shall inherit for that he doth represent the person of his Father And as Bracton saith jus proprietatis which his Father had by his Birthright doth descend unto him aut jure propinquitatis ut propinqui jus excludit remotum remotus remotiorem aut jure sanguinis And yet Glanvile Lord Chief Justice under King Henry the Second seemeth to make this questionable here in England Who should be preferred the Uncle or the Nephew Also it hath been resolved for Law That the possession of the Crown purgeth all defects
Elizabeth Countess of Huntington his wife eldest daughter Coeheire of Sr. Iohn Lewis late of Ledston in Yorkshire K â— Bart. deceased The Right honble William Russell Earle of Bedford Baron Russell of Tavestock Thornhaugh Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter ct. The Right Honb le Philip Herbert Earle of Pembrook â— Montgomery Baron Herbert of Shurland Cardiffe Ross of Kendale Parr Marmion and St. Quintin Ld. of the Lordships of Vske Carleon Nemport Treleg and Lord Leiutenant of Wiltshire ct. The Right honble Edward Fines Earle of Lincoln Baron of Clinton ct. The Right honble Charles Howard Earle of Nottingham Baron Howard of Effington ct. The Right honble Iames Howard Earle of Suffolâ— Baron Howard of Walden Lord Leiuetenant of the Countys of Cambridge Suffolk one of the Gentlemen of his matys bedchamber Deputy Earle Marshall of Englandâ— The Right honble Charles 〈◊〉 â— Earle of Dorset Middsex Baron 〈◊〉 Cranfâ—ild one of the Gentlemâ—◠〈◊〉 his Matyâ— Bedchamber Lord Leiutâ—â—â—nt of Sussex The Right Honourable Iames Coecill Earle of Salisbury Viscount Cranborne and Baron Coecill of Essenden The Right Honourable Iohn Coecill Earle of Exeter Baron Coecill of Burleigh c a. The 〈◊〉 Iohn Egerton Earle of Bridg 〈…〉 Brackley Baron of Elâ—mere Ld. 〈◊〉 of the County of Bucks one the 〈◊〉 his matysâ— most Hon. privy Councell c. The Right honble Robert Sidney Earle of Leicester Viscount Lisle Baron Sidney of â—enâ—urst and one of the Lords of his Ma. â—â—s most honble privy Councell c. The Right Honourable Iames Earle of Northampton Baron Compton of Compton Lord Leivtenant of Warwick shire and one of the Lords of his matys most honble privy Councell â— Constable of his matys Tower of London and Leivtenant of the Hamlets thereto belonging The Right Honourable Robert Earle of Warwick and Hollandâ— and Baron Rich of Leeze and Kensington c a The Right Honourable William Earle of Devonshireâ— Baron Cavendish of Hardwick Knight of the Bath and Lord Leivtenant of Derby shire c a The Right Honourable William Feildin◠〈◊〉 de Hapsburgh Earle of Denbigâ— Viscount Feilding Baron Feilding of Newenham Padâ—x and St. Lis. and Earle of Desmond c a. in Ireland The Right Hononrable George Digby Earle of Bristoll Baron Digby of Sherborne ct The Right Honourable Gilbert Holles Earle of Clare and Baron Holles of Haughton in Nottinghamshire The Right Honourable Oliver St. Iohn Earle of Bullingbrook Baron S. t Iohn of Bletshoe ct The Right Honoâ—rable Charles Fane Earle of Westmorland and Baron de la Spencer and Burghwash ct The Right Honourable Robert Montague Earle of Manchester Viscount Mandevill Baron Kimbolton Lord Leivtenant of Huntingtonshire and one of the Gentlemen of his matys Bedchamber ct The Right Honourable Charles Howard Earle of Berkshire Viscount Andover and Baron Howard of Charlton ct The Right Honourable Iohn Sheffeild Earle of Mograue Baron Sheffeild of Butterwick Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter and one of the Gentlemâ—â— of his matys Bedchamber The Right Honourable William Ley Earle of Marlborough Baron Ley of Ley ct The Right Honourable Charles Knowles Earle of Banbury Viscount Wallingford and Baron Knowles of Greys The Right Honourable Thomas Savage Earle of Rivers Viscount Colchester and Rock savage and Baron Darcy of Chich. The Right Honourable Robert Bertue Earle of Lindsey Baron Villoughby of Eresby Lord Great Chamberlaine of England Lord Leivtenant of Lincolnshire one of the Gentlemen of the Bâ—dchamber and Lords of the most honble privy Councell to his Ma â—y K Charles yeâ— The Right Honourable Iohn Cary Earle of Dover Viscount Rochford and Baron Hunsden The Right Honourable Henry Mordaunt Earle of Peterborow Lord Baron of Turvey Lord Leiutenant of the County of Northampton Andâ— one of the Lords of his Majesties Most Honourable Privy Councell c t The Right Honourable Thomas Grey Earle of Stamford Ld. Ferrers of Grooby Banevill and Harrinâ—â—â—escended from the family of the Greus who were Marqueses oâ— Dorset the last of wch was Hen. who before his Attainâ—ure and Execution in Anno 1553 was Created Duke of Suffolk The Right Honourable Heneage Finch Earle of Winchelsey Viscount Maidston Baron Fiz Herberâ— of Eastwell Lord of the Royall Manner of Wye and Lord Leiutenant of the Countys of Kent â— Somerset The Right Honourable Charles Dormer Earle of Carnarvan Viscount Ascotâ— and Baron of wing Master Marshall and Surveyour of his Majetyes Hawks The Right Honourable Montjoy Blunt Earle of Newâ—port Baron Montjoy of Thurveston in Devonshâ—â—â— and Lord Montjoy of Montjoy Fort in Ireland c a. The Right Honourable Phillip Stanhopeâ— Earle of Chesâ—erfield and Baron Stanhope of Shelford c a. The Right Honourable Nicholas Tuftonâ— Earle of Thanet and Baron Tufton of Tufton c a. The Right Honourable Thomas Weston Earlâ— of Portland Baron Weston of Neyland c â— The Right Honourable William Wentworth Earlâ— of Strafford Viscount Wentworth and Baron Wentâ—â—â—â—â—â—d house Newmarâ—h Oversley and Raby Knight of thâ— Garler and one of the Lords of his Ma â—ys most honble privy Councell c a. The Right Honourable Robert Spencer Earle of Sunderland Baron Spencer of Wormleâ—ton one of thâ—â—â—ntlemen of the Bedchamber and Lords of the privy Councell to his Maty K Ch yâ— 2 The Right Honourable Nicholas Leake Earle oâ— Scarsdale and Baron Dayncourt c a. The Right Honourable Iohn Wilmot Earle of Rochester Baron Wilmot of Alderbury in England and Discount Wilâ—mot of Athlone in Ireland and one of the Gentlemen of his matys Bedchamber The Right Honourable Henry Iermine Earle of St. Albonâ— Baron of St. Edmondsâ—bury Knight of the most noble order of the Garter and one of the Lords of his matys most honble privy Councell c. The Right Honourable Edward Montague Earle of Sandwichâ— Viscount Montague of Hinchingbrooke and Baron Montague of St. Neots The Rt. Noble Iames Duke Marquest Earle of Ormond Earle of ossery Brâ—cknock Viscount Thurles Baron of Arklow Lanthonyâ— Ld. Leiutenan◠〈◊〉 Ireland Ld. High â—teward of his matys House hold Chancellor of the â—niversity of Oxford â—t. of the Garter â— oâ—â— of the Lds of his Ma â—â—s most Hon privy Councell â—câ— The Right Honourable Henry Hide Earlâ— of Clarendon Viscount Cornbuâ—â—â— Baron Hide of Hendon The Right honble Arthur Capell Earle of Essex Viscount Malden Baron Capell of Hadham one of the Lords of his matys most Honourable privy Councell Lord Leivtenant Custos Rotollorum of Hartfordshire laâ—â— Ld. Leivtenant Generall and Generall Governor of his Ma â—â—s Kingdome of Ireland The Right Honourable Robert Brudenell Earle of Cardigan and Baron Brudenell of Staughton ct. The Right Honourable Arthur Annesley Earle of Anglesey Baron Annesley of Newport Pagnell in England Viscount Valentia Baron Mount Norris of Mount-Noris in Ireland Ld. privy Seale one of the Lds of
He hath the Title of Grace and Most Reverend Father in God He hath the Honour to Crown the Queen and to be her perpetual Chaplain He is also styled Primate of England and Metropolitan of his Province He hath the Rights of a County Palatine over Hexamshire in Northumberland He may qualifie Chaplains and hath divers other Prerogatives which the Archbishop of Canterbury hath within his own Province but Durham being one hath in many things a peculiar Jurisdiction exempted from the Archbishop Priviledges belonging to the Bishops are as followeth IN their own Court they have power to judge and pass Sentence alone without any Colleague which is not done in any other Court And therefore the Bishops send sorth their Citations in their own Names not in the King 's as the Writs in other Courts run They may depute their Authority to another as doth the King either to their Suffragan-Bishops their Chancellors Commissaries or other Officers which none of the King's Judges can do In whatever Prince's Dominions they come their Episcopal Dignity and Degree is owned they may confer Orders c. whereas no Lay-lord is acknowledged but in the King's Dominions who gave him the Title None of them can be Indicted of any Crime before a Temporal Judge without especial Licence from the King A severe penalty to be inflicted on them that raise any Scandal or false Report In a Tryal where a Bishop is Plaintiff or Defendant the Bishop may as well as any Lay-lord challenge the Array if one Knight at least be not returned upon the Jury In Criminal Tryals for life all Bishops are to be tryed by their Peers who are Barons and none under that Degree to be impanelled but anciently they were exempted from any Tryal by Temporal Judges In Parliament they may Vote in any thing but in sentence for Life or loss of Member they being by Common Law to absent themselves and by Common Law to make Proxies to Vote for them They are freed from all Arrests Outlawries Distresses c. They have liberty to hunt in any of the King's Forests or Parks to take one or two Deer coming or going from the King's Presence and to have Wine free from Impost c. Their Persons may not be seized for Contempt but their Temporalities only and their word only is to be taken and their Certificate allowed in the Tryal of Bastardy Heresie c. And such respect has been shewed their Persons that an Offence by a Clergyman to his Bishop is called Episcopicide and punished as Paracide equal to petty Treason Every Bishop may qualifie as many Chaplains as a Duke They are all Barons and Peers of the Realm and have place in the upper House of Parliament as afore noted and take place according to Seniority of their Consecration except London Durham and Winchester who precede by Statute made in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth It will not be amiss to speak somewhat of the Immunities common to all Ecclesiasticks as well Commons as Lords Spiritual as followeth All Suffragan Bishops Deans Archdeacons Prebends Rectors and Vicars have priviledge some by themselves others by proxy to sit and vote in the lower House of Convocation No Subsidy or other Tax can be imposed upon them without their own consent No Clergyman may be compelled to undergo any personal Service in the Commonwealth nor to serve in the Wars or to bear any servile Office They are free from the King's Purveyors Carriers Posts c. for which they may demand a protection from the King cum clausula nolumus They are not obliged to appear at the Sheriffs Turns or Views of Frank pledge nor are impanelled to serve upon Inquests at Assizes or elsewhere If a Clergyman acknowledge a Statute his Body shall not be taken thereupon for the Writ runs Si Laicus sit c. Their Goods are discharged from Tolls and Customs si non exerceant Merchandizas de eisdem but they must have the King 's Writ to discharge them As the Clergymen are exempted from the Wars being by reason of their Function they are prohibited the wearing a Sword so every man in the order of Priesthood is debarred the Order of Knighthood of the Sword cum eorum militia sit contra mundum carnem diabolum saith Sir Iohn Fern yet laying aside their Cures and also lying themselves to a secular life they have been admitted Dei natalin saith Matth. Paris Iohannem de Gatesden clericum multis ditâ—atum beneficiis sed omnibus resignatis quia sic oportuit Baltheo cinxit militari These and many other Rights Liberties and Priviledges belong to the Clergy of England all which the King at his Coronation solemnly swears to preserve to them And they have been confirmed by above Thirty Parliaments and if any Act be made to the contrary it is said to be Null by the Statute of the 4 th of Edward the Third OF BARONS CHAP. IX AMONGST the Nobles and Honourable Persons Barons have the next place And first of the Dignity and Degrees of a Baron in general Secondly of the Etymology of the Name Thirdly of the Antiquity thereof and of the divers uses in former Ages Fourthly of the Division and the consideration of the several kinds of Barons And lastly a Declaration of the divers and sundry Priviledges allowed them and the rest of the Nobles by the Laws of this Realm The Definition or Description of a Baron IT is a certain Rule in Law Definitiones in jure sunt periculosissimae earum est enim 〈◊〉 non subverti possunt and therefore I do not often find any Definition or Description of a Baron delivered by Writers nevertheless in this our Kingdom it is my Opinion that a Baron may be described in a generality answerable unto every special kind thereof in this manner A Baron is a Dignity of Nobility and Honour next unto the Viscount And the Books of Law do make a difference between Dukes Marquisses Earls and Viscounts which are allowed Names of Dignity and the Baron for they affirm That such a Baron need not to be named Lord or Baron by his Writ but the Duke Marquiss Earl or Viscount ought to be named by their Names of Dignity Cambden fol. 1692. saith That our Common Laws do not allow a Baron one of the Degrees of Nobility But I take it to be understood of Barons by Tenure or Barons by Writ only For the Title of a Baron by Patent is in his Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England adorned by the name of Status Gradus Dignitas and therefore is requisite to be named And such Dignities are a parcel of the Name of the Pohenor as well as the Title and Style of a Duke Marquiss Earl or Viscount And although there may be conceived this Difference last mentioned between the Baron by Tenure or Writ and the Baron by Patent yet they being all Members of the higher House of Parliament they are thereby equally made Noble
but afterwards the Lord upon such dislike or other cause do discharge any of them from their attendance or service the Lord in this case cannot retain other thereby to give them priviledge during the life of them so retained and discharged And the reason thereof is because the first Chaplains were lawfully retained and by virtue thereof during their lives might purchase Dispensations to have advantage according to the Statute and therefore if the discharge of their service and attendance might give liberty to the Lord to retain others by such means he might advance Chaplains without number by which the Statute might be defrauded And the said Statute must be strictly construed Non-residents Pluralities as a thing prejudicial to the service of God and the ordinary instruction of the people of God By the Statute 3 Hen. 7. cap. 4. it is enactect as followeth Forasmuch as by quarrels made to such as have been in great Authority Office and of Council with the King 's of this Realm hath ensued the destruction of the Kings and therefore the undoing of this Realm so as it hath evidently appeared when the compassing of the death of such as were of the King 's true Subjects was had the destruction of the Prince was imagined thereby and for the most part it hath grown and been occasioned by malice of the King 's own Houshold Servants and for that by the Laws of this Land if actual deeds were not there was no remedy for such false compassing imaginations and confederacies had against any Lord or any of the King's Council or great Officers in his Houshold and so great inconveniences did ensue because such ungodly demeanours were not strictly punished before that any actual deed was done for remedy whereof it was by the said Statute ordained That the Steward Treasurer or Comptroller of the King's Houshold for the time being or one of them shall have full authority to enquire by twelve discreet persons of the Check Roll of the King 's honourable Houshold if any person admitted and sworn the King's Servant and his name put in the Check Roll in any quality or degree whatsoever under the state of a Lord do make any Confederacies or Conspiracies with any person or persons to destroy or murther the King or any Lord of this Realm or any other person sworn to the King's Council Steward Treasurer or Comptroller of the King's Houshold that if it be found before the said Steward for the time being by the said twelve men that any such of the King's Servants as aforesaid hath confederated or conspired as abovesaid that he so found by the enquiry be put thereupon to answer and the Steward Treasurer or Comptroller or two of them have power to determine the said matter according to Law And if he put in trial that then he be tried by Oath of twelve discreet men of the same Houshold and that such Misdoers have no challenge but for maliace And if such Misdoers be found Guilty by confession or otherwise that the said Offence is adjudged Felony and they to have Judgment and Execution as Felons attainted ought to have by the Common Law By the Statute made in the second of King Henry the First cap. 8. Authority is given to the Sheriffs and other the King's Justices for the better suppressing of Riots to raise posse Comitatus and the same liberty doth in Common Law guide in many other cases Nevertheless the Sheriff may not by such Authority command the person of any Nobleman to attend the Service But if the Sheriff upon a Supplicavit against a Nobleman in that case do return that he is so puissant that he cannot nor dare not arrest him the Sheriff shall be grievously amerced for such his return For by the Writ under the Great Seal of England the King's Command is to all Archbishops Bishops Earls Counts and Barons and to all Leigemen of the County to be aiding unto him in that which to his Office appertaineth and therefore no person whatsoever can respit the execution of the said Writ of the King 's Also the Sheriff at his discretion may levy three hundred men if need be to aid him in that behalf The words of the great Charter of the Forest in the eleventh Chapter are as followeth To every Archbishop Bishop Earl or Baron coming to us and passing by our Forest it shall be lawful for him to take one Beast or two by the view of the Forest if he be present or else he shall cause one to blow a Horn for him that he seem not to steal our Deer Although the Statute doth speak but of Bishops Earls and Barons yet if a Duke Marquiss or Viscount which are Lords of the Parliament be coming towards the King by his command they also shall have the benefit of this Article So if the King send to any of the Lords aforesaid to come to his Parliament or send for him by Writ of Subpoena to appear in the Chancery or by Privy Seal to appear before his Council or send for him by Letters Missive or by Messenger or Serjeant at Arms in all these cases he shall have the benefit of this Statute because that they come at the King's command The same Law is if a Scire Facias go out of the Chancery or Kings Bench to a Lord of Parliament But if such Process go forth against a Lord to appear before the Justices of the Common Pleas or the Barons of the Exchequer and he cometh upon the same he shall not have the benefit of the Statute for he doth not come unto the King and the words of the Statute are Veniens ad nos And all the Process which are made out of the Chancery and King's Bench are Quod sit coram nobis and so are the Process out of the Star-Chamber Also Lords which come to visit the new King after the death of his Father though not sent for shall have the same priviledge And so that this Statute is a Warrant dormant to such Lords which also is to be understood as well of their returning homeward as of their coming to the King And note that this Statute doth extend to give Licence to kill or hunt in the King's Parks though the Letter of the Statute be Transiens per Forestam nostram The Oath of Supremacy is not imposed on the Peers of the Realm A Peer shall for his first Offence of Felony though he cannot read have the benefit of his Clergy and without burning If any person shall divulge false and scandalous Reports of any Lord of Parliament the Offender is to be imprisoned until he bring forth the Author In personal Actions the Plaintiff may pray a day of Grace but against a Lord of Parliament it shall not be allowed him It is Actionable for any to deface the Coat Armour c. of any Nobleman or Gentleman that is placed in a Church or Window Certain Cases wherein a Lord of the Parliament hath no
to prejudice him touching his Mothers Inheritance who also did not offend or contrariwise especially in case where the Mother was seized of an Estate in Feesimple either in Lands or Tenements or Title of Honour And this was the case if I be not mistaken of Philip late Earl of Arundel notwithstanding the Attainder of Thomas Duke of Norfolk his Father for he had that Earldom in right of his Mother But they do agree That if the Lands or Tenements or a Title of Honour be given to a man and to his wife in tayl who hath Issue The Father is attainted of Treason and executed though this forfeiture of the Husband shall be no barr to the Wife concerning her interest by Survivorship yet their Issue is barred by the Statute 26 Hen. 8. cap. 13. and his Blood corrupted For in that case the Heir must necessarily make himself Heir as well of the Body of the one as of the other And yet the words of the Statute 32 Hen. 8. cap. 28. are That no Fine Feofâ—ment or other Act or Acts hereafter to be made or suffered by the Husband only of any Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments being the Inheritance or Freehold of his Wife during the Coverture between them shall in any wise be or make any discontinuance or be prejudicial to the said Wife or to her Heirs or to such as shall have right title or interest to the same by the death of such Wife or Wives but the same Wife or her Heirs and such other to whom such right shall appertain after her decease shall or may then lawfully enter into all such Mannors Lands Tenements and Hereditaments according to their Rights and Titles therein For there is Adversity taken and agreed for Law between a discontinuance which doth imply a wrong and a lawful Baron which doth imply a right And therefore if Land be given to the Husband and the Wife and to the Heirs of their Bodies begotten and the Husband levies a Fine with Proclamation or do commit High Treason and dieth and the Wife before or after Entry dieth the Issue is barred and the Comisee for the King hath right unto the Lands because the Issue cannot claim as Heir unto both And with this doth agree Dyer 351. b. adjudged vide 5 Hen. 7. 32. Cott's Assize Coke's eighth part 27. where it is resolved That the Statute 32 Hen. 8. doth extend only unto Discontinuances although the Act hath general words or be prejudicial to the Wife or her Heirs c. but the conclusion if she shall lawfully enter c. according to their right and title therein which they cannot do when they be barred and have no right title and interest And this Statute doth give advantage unto the Wife c. so long as she hath right but it doth not extend to take away a future barr Although the Statute doth give Entry without limitation of any time nevertheless the Entry must attend upon the right and therefore if the Wife be seized in Feesimple and her Husband levy a Fine with Proclamation unto another and dieth now the Wife may enter by force of the Statute for as yet that Fine is not any barr unto her but her right doth remain which she may continue by Entry but if she do surcease her time and the five years do pass without Entry c. now by force of the Fine with Proclamation and five years past after the death of her Husband she is barred of her right and by consequence she cannot enter And the Statute doth speak of Fine only and not of Fine with Proclamation If there be Father and Son and the Father be seized of Lands holden in Capite or otherwise by Knight's Service the King doth create the Son Duke Earl or other Degree of Nobility and afterwards the Father dieth his Son being within the Age of One and twenty years he shall be no Ward but if the King had made him Knight in the life of his Father he should not have been in Ward after the death of his Father neither for the Lands descended nor for his Marriage though he be within Age. NOBILITY AND LORDS IN REPUTATION ONLY CHAP. XIV THERE are also other Lords in Reputation and Appellation who nevertheless are not de jure neither can they enjoy the priviledges of those of the Nobility that are Lords of the Parliament The Son and Heir of a Duke during his Father's life is only in courtesie of Speech and Honour called an Earl and the eldest Son of a Marquiss or an Earl a Lord but not so in legal proceedings or in the King's Courts of Judicature But the King may at his pleasure create them in the life of their Ancestors into any Degree of Lords of the Parliament And according to the German Custom all the younger Sons of Dukes and Marquisses are called Lords but by courtesie only which Title descends not to their Heirs A Duke or other of the Nobility of a Foreign Nation doth come into this Land by the King 's safe Conduct in which said Letters of safe Conduct he is named a Duke according to his Creation yet that Appellation maketh him not a Duke c. to sue or be sued by that name within this Realm but is only so by Reputation But if the King of Denmark or other Sovereign King come into England under safe Conduct he during his abode here ought to be styled by the name of King and to retain his Honour although not his Regal Command and Power And in this case may be observed by the way That no Sovereign King may enter into this Realm without licence though he be in League All the younger Sons of the Kings of England are of the Nobility of England and Earls by their Birth without any other Creation And if an Englishman be created Earl of the Empire or some other Title of Honour by the Emperor or other Monarch he shall not bear that Dignity in England but is only an Earl in Reputation A Lord or Peer of Scotland or Ireland is not of the Nobility or Peerage of England in all Courts of Justice although he is commonly reputed a Lord and hath priviledge as a Peer OF THE QUEEN CONSORT AND OF NOBLE WOMEN CHAP. XV. A QUEEN so called from the Sâ—xon word Cuningine as the King from Cuning by variation of Gender only as was their manner signifieth Power and Knowledge and thereby denotes the Sovereignty due unto them which they enjoyed in those days and do now in most Nations being capable of the Royal Diadem by the common right of Inheritance for want of Heirs Male But in France by the Salique Law the Sex is excluded from their Inheritance by which they debarred the English Title to their Crown There are three kinds of persons capable of the Title and Dignity of Queen amongst us and each of them different in Power and Priviledge The first is a Queen Sovereign to whom the Crown descends by Birth-right
King Edward And thirdly for the many Emperors Kings and Princes that have been admitted into the said Fraternity First I find it agreable to all Histories that 't was instituted by King Edward the Third Anno 1350. which was fifty years before the Instituting the French Order of St. Michael by Lewis the Eleventh Two hundred twenty nine years before Henry the Third devised the new Order of the Holy Ghost full Eighty years before the Order of the Golden Fleece was instituted by Philip the Good of Burgundy One hundred and ninety years before King Iames the Fifth refined the Order of St. Andrew in Scotland and about Two hundred and nine years before the Kings of Denmark begun the Order of the Elephant which gives it clearly the pre-eminency before other Orders in point of Antiquity For the occasion of the pristine Institution you must know King Edward the Third having engaged himself in a War with France for the obtaining of that Crown which descended on him in right of his Mother thought fit to allure to his party all such Gallant Spirits as were Friends to Bellona and to that end erected a Round Table in the Castle of Windsor in imitation of King Arthur's at Winchester where they were exercised at Tilts and Tournaments and Royally entertained with magnificent Feasts and other Princely Favours to engage them unto him But Philip of Vallois who was in actual possession of the Crown of France countermined him by erecting a like Table in his own Court whereby he drew away many from King Edward so that being disappointed in that Project and yet proving victorious in his Arms against France and Scotland at his Return he rewarded the most eminent of those Heroick Knights that had born the brunt of the Day and persevered in their Loyalty with this Noble Order which consisted of Six and twenty of which himself was one being all persons of choice Endowments of great renown in Chivalry and such as should be bound by Oath and Honour to adhere unto him And upon the death of any one of them the place was to be supplied by another elected by the King and his Successors who are Sovereigns of the said Order with the consent of the Fraternity but now the Election is at the entire pleasure of the King Therâ— are many Articles confirmed unto them to which all that are enstalled Subscribe besides the forementioned Oath viz. that whilst they shall be Fellows of the Order they will defend the Honour Quarrels Rights and Lordships of the Sovereign that they will endeavour to preserve the Honour of the said Order and all the Statutes made for the same without fraud or covin Quinam perjurati It is also esteemed most Honourable there having been more Emperors Kings and Foreign Princes of this one Order than of all others in a manner in the World which Honour is obtained by keeping precisely to the primitive Number never exceeding Six and twenty whereas all others of this kind have been so frankly communicated unto all pretenders that at last they lost their lustre and esteem in the World Of this Order there hath been no less than eight Emperors seven Kings of Portugal two Kings of Scots before the Union five Kings of Denmark three of Naples one of Poland and two of Sueden besides many Foreign Sovereign Princes of Italy Germany c. The Order and Institution being Honourable and by many Learned Pens sufficiently cleared from the envy of Froysart and other French men as also from the folly of Polydore Virgil who favours the Romantick Story of the fair Countess of Salisbury who being a dancing with the said King Edward let fall her Garter which the King took up and tied about his Leg at which the Queen being jealous he gave this Motto Honi sort qui mal y pense that is Evil be to him that evil thinks The Patron of this Order is St. George a Man of great Renown for Chivalry he suffered Martyrdom at Lydda under Dioclesian saith Mr. Selden supposed by Dr. Helyn to have been martyrred at Nicomedia the principal Seat then of the Eastern Empire and by others at Diosprilia or Lyddea in Palestine where he is said to be interred whose Fame was so great in the World that many Temples and Monasteries were dedicated to him in the Eastern Countries from whence his esteem came into England who celebrated to his memory the Three and twentieth of April with the rest of the Universal Church But how long he has been honoured as Patron and Protector of England is disputable Mr. Selden concludes before the Conquest And 't is no marvel saith he that so warlike a people should make choice of such a Souldier-Saint known by the particular name of Tropheophorus of greater eminency in both the Eastern and Western Churches than any other Souldier-Saint To this Tutelary Saint or Patron of Martial men King Edward commends himself and his Companions called The Knights of St. George And having both beautified and enlarged his Castle at Windsor to be the Royal Seat of this Order he caused a solemn Proclamation to be made in France Spain c. to invite all Military Spirits to attend those Tilts and Tournaments which were intended to be kept not only on St. George's day then next ensuing which was designed for the day of Institution but for fifteen days before and as many after and that the memory of St. George might be still continued he gave them for a part of their daily Habit the Image of St. George encountring with the Dragon or Devil inchased with Pearls and precious Stones appendant to a blue Ribon continually to be worn about their necks As for the Habit of this Order besides the George and Ribon before mentioned and a Garter enamelled with Gold Pearl and precious Stones with the Motto Honi soit qui mal y pense embroydered upon it which is fastned about the left Leg with a buckle of Gold from whence they were called Knights of the Garter and without these two Ornaments none of these Knights are to appear in publique There also properly belongs to this Order a Cassock of crimson Velvet and a Mantle and Hood of purple Velvet lined with white Sarsnet on the left shoulder whereof is an Escocheon of St. George embroidered with a Garter within the Motto The Escocheon is Argent a Cross Gules But these to be worn only upon St. George's day and when it shall please the Sovereign to celebrate the Ceremonies of the Installations To each Knight belongs a Collar of the Order made of pure Gold weighing thirty Ounces of Troy weight composed of Garters and Roses enamelled with Roses red and white and since the coming of King Iames there hath been an intermixture of Thistles the Image of St. George enriched with precious Stones appendant to it to be worn over all the Robes at St. George's Feast and over their ordinary Cloaks upon all such days on which the Sovereign is bound
Tho WilbraÌ„ham of Woodhâ—â— in Cheshire Bart. now to Charlott Daughter of ye. R t honble Orlando Bridgman Kt and Bart. deceased Late Ld. Keeper of the great Seale of Enâ—land the 514 Bart. by Creation 〈◊〉 â—â—hn Bridgâ—man of Castle Bromwicâ— in Warwickshire Bar t Eldest son of ye. Rt. honble Sr. Orlando Bridgâ—â—an of great Leaâ—er in Lancashir Kt. Bart. deceâ—â—â—â— Laâ—e â—â— Keeper of ye. great seale of England wth 〈◊〉 S â— â—ohn is now maried to Mary Daughter Coheyrâ— of â—â—â—â—gâ—â—radock of Carswall Castle in Stafordshire Esq deceased Thâ— 496 Bart. by Creation â—r. Samuell Barnadiston of Brightwell Hall in Suffolâ— Bart. Third son to Sr. Nath Barnadiston of Kettoâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 the Sd. County who was ye. 23d. Kt. Lineally descended of ye. family wth still Enjoyes ye. Paternall Estate they had before ye. Conquest ye. Bart. by Creation Sr. Thomas Darâ—ey of St. Clerehall in St. oseth in ye. County of Essex Bart. The 486 Bart. by Creation Sr. Humfrey Forster of Aldermaston in Barkshire Bart. descended of a family of great antiquity Whose Ancestors haue been there seated for Aboue 300 yeares the 129 Bart. by Creation Sr. Iohn Robinson of ye. Citty of London Alderman Kt. Bart. Leiutenant of his matys Tower of London The 494 Bart. by Creation Sr. Ralph Verney of Middle Claydon in ye. County of Bucks Kt. Bart. son to Sr. Edmund Verney Kt. Marshall to K. Charles ye. first and Standard bearer at ye. Battle of Edghill The 619 Bart. by Creation S â— Iohn Hobart of Blicklinâ— in Norfolk Barot. heire male to Sr. Henry Hobart K â— Barot. Cheife Iustice of ye. Common please who descended from the 2d son of Sr. Iames Hobart of Halâ—s in â—â—d. County Attorney Generall to King Hâ—nry ye. 〈…〉 Iohn is now maried to Mary daughter of Iohn Hampden of Hampden in Buckingham shire Esq. 〈◊〉 yeâ— â—tâ— Bart. by Creation Sr. Iohn Corbett of Stoke upon Tean and Adderley in Shropshire Bart. first maried to Theophila daughter and Coheire of Iames Cambell in Essex Esq and now to â—rances daughter of Randolph Egerton of Betley in Staffordshire Esq â— yâ— 217 Bart. by Creation Sr. Vincent Corbett of Moarton Corbett in Shropshire Bart. now maried to Elizabeth daughter of Francis Thornes of Shelvock in ye. sd. County ye. 37â— Bart. by Creation Sr. Thomas Williams of Elham Court in Coâ—â— Kent Kt. and Baronet first and principall Chymical Phâ—sitian to his maty King Châ— the 2d. the Bart. by Creation Sr. Phillip Perciâ—â—le of Burton in the County of Corke in Ireland Baronet descendâ—d from the Perciuals of North Weston near Bristoll in Somersetshire the family caâ—â— in with William the Conquerer and were â—hefore of Vile near CaeneÌ„ in Normandy Sr. Iohn Lowther of Lowther hall in the County of Westmoreland Bart. Srâ— Charlâ—s Wheâ—er of Burbury in the County of Warwick Baronetâ— anciently of Martin Husâ—ingtre in the County of Worcester the 544 by Creacion â—râ— Meâ—calfe Robinson of Newby in the North rideing of Yorkshire Bart. maried Margaret daughter of Sr. William Darcâ—â— of Witton Castle in the Bishoprick of Durham Kt. the 536 Bart. by Creation Sr. Kingmill Lucy of Nâ—tley in Huntshire Barâ—â— Second Branch of the Ancient Family of the Lucyâ— of Charleâ—oâ— in Warwickshire now Maried to Theophila 2d. daughter to the R â— honble Gâ—â—â—ge Ld. Barkley of 〈…〉 Castle the 99th Bart. by Creatiâ—◠〈◊〉 Thomas Hanmer of Hanmer Bettes fiâ—lâ— in the County of Flint Bart. descended by many Knights from Sr. Iohn de Hanmer who lived in the tyme of King Edw the first the 139 Bart. by Creation 〈◊〉 Henry Hunlock of Wingerworth in Derbyshire Bar â— in the Escocheon of pretence is the Armes of Katherine his Lady who was sole daughter heâ—râ— of â—rancis Turwhit of Kettleby of Lincolnshire Esq â— last â—f yâ— Eldest branch of that great antient family the 424 Bart. by Creation Srâ— William Glynne of Bissâ—â—â—er alias Byrcester in Oxfordshire of Hawarden in flintshire Baronet â—â—iter maried wth Penelopeâ— daughter of Stephen Anderson of Evworth in Bedfordshire Esq the 64â— Bart. by Creation â—râ— Richard Graham of Nether by in Cumberland Bart. 〈…〉 in the second son of the Earle of Monteith in the Kingdome of â—cotland who about the tyme of Kâ— Henâ— yâ— 4th of England maried yâ— Lady Anne Vere Daughter to the Earle of Oxford wch Sd. Sr. Ricâ—â—â—â— now maried to the Lady Anne 2d. daughtâ—r to Charles â—arle of 〈◊〉 the 284 Bart. by Creation Sr. IOHN â—ANKS of the Fryers in Aylesford â—â— the County of Kent Bart. now maried Elizabethâ— eldest daughter of Sr. Iohn Dethick of the Citty of London Kt. and Alderman deceasâ—d ye. 671 Bart. by Creation 〈◊〉 Iohn Shaw of Eltham in the County of Kent◠〈◊〉 Bart. now maried to Bridget Viscount 〈◊〉 Kilmurrey daughter to Sr. William Druâ—y of Bestroorp in Norfolk Bart. the 755 Bart. by Creationâ— Sr. RICHARD HEAD of the Citty of Rochester in the County of Kent Baronet the by Creation 〈◊〉 Edwâ— More of Morehall Bank hall in Lancashiâ—â—â—aâ—t. Whos 's late wife was Dorothy one of the Daughâ—â—â— Coeheirâ—s to Sr. â—ittâ— Fenwick of Meldon in Northumberland Kt. and Bartâ— by â—eabell Daughâ—â—â—â— sole heire of Sr. Arthur Grey Kt. Uncâ—â— to â—â—esent Will Ld. Grey of Warkeâ— the 689 Bart. by Creation Sâ—â— Iohn Holland of Quidenham in ye. County of Norâ—â—â—â—â—ar t dâ—scendâ—d from the Hollands of ye. Antient 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Lancashir Maried to Alathea daughter and Câ—heyce of Iohn Panton of Bruâ—â—shop in Denbighshiâ—â—â—â—que Reâ—ict of ye. Rt. Honerblâ— Wittâ— Ld. 〈◊〉 of the Vine in Hantshire the 188 Bart. by Creation â—râ— Anthony Aucher of Byshopsbourn in 〈◊〉 â—t. Bart. maried to one of ye. daughter oâ— Robert Hatton Kt. deceased one of the Chamberlyns of his matys Exchequâ—râ— the Bart. by Creationâ— Sr. Iohn Reresby of Thriberge in the West Rideing of Yorkshire Bart. Gouernor of Burlington in the said County the 387 Bart. by creation OF BARONETS CHAP. XIX THE lowest degree of Honour that is Hereditary is this of Baronets which was instituted by King Iames in the ninth year of his Reign Anno 1611. They are created by Patent under the Great Seal a form of which I shall here set down which are generally all of one form viz. to a Man and the Heirs Males of his Body lawfully begotten yet sometimes the Honour is otherwise entailed for want of Issue Male. And the Proeme or Argument of the said Patent being for the propagating a Plantation in the Province of Vlster in Ireland to which the aid of these Knights was ordained or for the maintenance of Thirty Souldiers each of them in Ireland for three years after the rate of eight pence sterling per diem which at first was payed into the Exchequer at a lump upon the passing their Patents which with the Fees of Honour due to Officers amounted to above One thousand pounds a Man Their Titles are to descend as aforesaid and they
you our Commissioners shall give Vs of whose integrity and circumspection We have so good experience and are so well perswaded as We assure Our self you will use all the best means you may to inform your own Iudgments in cases doubtful before you deliver Vs any such opinion as may lead Vs in a case of this Nature wherein our intention is by due consideration of all necessary circumstances to give every man that satisfaction which standeth with Honour and Reason Lastly having now directed you how and with what caution you are to entertain the Offers of such as shall present themselves for this Dignity We do also require you to observe these two things The one That every such person as shall be admitted do enter into sufficient Bond or Recognizance to Our use for the payment of that portion which shall be remaining after the first payment is made which you are to see paid upon delivery of the Letters Patents The other That seeing this Contribution for so publick an Action is the motive of this Dignity and that the greatest good which may be expected upon this Plantation will depend upon the certain payment of those Forces which shall be fit to be maintained in that Kingdom until the same be well established the charge whereof will be born with the greater difficulty if We be not eased by some such extraordinary means we require you Our Treasurer of England so to order this Receipt as no part thereof be mixed with Our other Treasure but kept apart by it self to be wholly converted to that use to which it is given and intended And in regard thereof that you assign it to be received and the Bonds to be kept by some such particular person as you shall think good to appoint who upon the payment of every several portion shall both deliver out the Bonds and give his Acquittance for the same For which this shall be yours and his the said Receiver's sufficient Warrant in that behalf THE PRECEDENT OF THE PATENT OF Creation of Baronets REX omnibus ad quos c. Salutem Cum inter alias Imperii nostri gerendi curas quibus animus noster assiduè exercetur illa non minima sit nec minimi momenti de Plantatione Regni nostri Hiberniae ac potissimum Vltoniae amplae percelebris ejusdem Regni Provinciae quam nostris jam auspiciis atque armis foeliciter sub obsequii jugum redactam ita constabilire elaboramus ut tanta Provincia non solum sincero Religionis cultu humanitate civili morumque probitate verum etiam opum affluentia atque omnium rerum copia quae statum Reipublicae ornare vel beare possit magis magisque efflorescat Opus sane quod nulli progenitorum nostrorum praestare perficere licuit quamvis id ipsum multa sanguinis opum profusione saepius tentaverint In quo opere sollicitudo nostra Regia non solum ad hoc excubare debet ut Plantatio ipsa strenuè promoveatur oppida condantur aedes castra extruantur agri colantur id genus alia Sed etiam prospiciendum imprimis ut iniversus hujusmodi rerum civilium apparatus manu armata praesidiis videlicet cohortibus protegatur communiatur ne qua aut vis hostilis aut defectio intestina rem disturbet aut impediat Cumque nobis intimatum sit ex parte quorundam ex fidelibus nostris subditis quod ipsi paratissimi sint ad hoc Regnum nostrum inceptum tam corporibus quam fortunis suis promovendum Nos commoti operis tam sancti ac salutaris intuitu atque gratos habentes hujusmodi generosos affectus aque propensas in obsequium nostrum bonum publicum voluntates Statuimus apud nos ipsos nulli rei deesse quae subditorum nostrorum studia praefata remunerare aut aliorum animos atque alacritatem ad operas suas praestandas aut impensas in hac parte faciendas excitare possit Itaque nobiscum perpendentes atque reputantes virtutem industriam nulla alia re magis quam honore ali atque acui omnemque honoris dignitatis splendorem amplitudinem à Rege tanquam à fonte originem incrementum ducere ad cujus culmen fastigium propriè spectat novos honorum dignitatum titulos erigere atque instituere utpote à quo antiqui illi fluxerint consentaneum duximus postulante usu Reipublicae atque temporum ratione nova merita novis dignitatum insignibus rependere Ac propterea ex certâ scientiâ mero motu nostris Ordinavimus ereximus constituimus creavimus quendam statum gradum dignitatem nomen titulum Baronetti Anglicè of a Baronet infra hoc Regnum nostrum Angliae perpetuis temporibus duraturum Sciatis modo quod nos de gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa scientia mero motu nostris ereximus praefecimus creavimus ac per praesentes pro nobis Haeredibus Successoribus nostris erigimus praeâ—icimus creamus dilectum nostrum de in comitatu virum familia patrimonio censu morum probitate spectatum qui nobis auxilium subsidium satis amplum generoso liberali animo dedit praestit ad manutenendum supportandum triginta viros in cohortibus nostris pedestribus in dicto Regno nostro Hiberniae per tres annos integros pro defensione dicti Regni nostri praecipue pro securitate plantationis dictae Provinciae Vltoniae ad in dignitatem statum gradum Baronetti Anglicè of a Baronet Ipsumque Baronettum pro nobis haeredibus successoribus nostris praeâ—icimus constituimus creamus per praesentes habendum sibi haeredibus masculis de corpore suo legitime procreatis imperpetuum Volumus etiam per praesentes de gratia nostra speciali ac ex certa scientia mero motu nostris pro nobis haeredibus successoribus nostris concedimus praefato haeredibus masculis de corpore suo legitime procreatis Quod ipse idem haeredes sui masculi praedicti habeant gaudeant teneant capiant locum atque Praecedentiam virtute dignitatis Baronetti praedicti vigore praesentium tam in omnibus Commissionibus brevibus literis patentibus scriptis appellationibus nominationibus directionibus quam in omnibus Sessionibus Conventibus Caetibus locis quibuscunque prae omnibus militibus tam de Balneo Anglicè of the Bathe quam militibus Baccalaureis Anglicè Batchelors ac etiam prae omnibus militibus Bannerettis Anglicè Bannerets jam creatis vel imposterum creandis Illis militibus Bannerettis tantummodo exceptis quos sub vexillis regiis in exercitu regali in aperto bello ipso Rege personaliter praesente explicatis non aliter creari contigerit Quodque uxores dicti Haeredum masculorum suorum praedictorum virtute dictae dignitatis maritorum suorum praedictorum habeant teneant gaudeant
of Requests to his Majesty 460 April 2. 1652. William Curtius Esq 461 Oct. 19. 1657. Sir Arthur Slingsby of 〈…〉 in Kent 462 〈◊〉 1658. Thomas Orby of 〈…〉 in Lincolnshire Esq 463 Thomas Bond of 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 Esq 464 Aug. Arthur Marigny Carpentier Esq 465 1660. Sir Anthony de Merces Extinct 466 May 29. Sir Iohn Evelyn of 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 Kt. 467 30. Sir Gualter de Read 468 Feb. 11. Iohn Osborn of Chicksands in Bedfordshire Esq 469 Iune 7. Sir Orlando Bridgman of Great Leaver in Lancashire Kt. late Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England 470 Sir Ieffrey Palmer of Carleton in Northamptonshire Kt. his Majesties Attorney General 471 Sir Heneage Finch of Raunston in Bucks Kt. now Lord Daventry and Lord Chancellor of the Great Seal of England 472 Sir Iohn Langham of Catsbrook in Northamptonshire Kt. 473 9. Humphrey Winch of Hanmes in Bedfordshire Esq 474 Sir Robert Abdy of Albins in Essex Kt. 475 Thomas Draper of Sunninghill-Park in Berkshire Esq 476 11. Henry Wright of Dagenham in Essex Esq 477 Iune 12. Ionathan Keate of the Hoo in Hartfordshire Esq 478 Sir Hugh Speake of Hasilbury in VViltshire Esq 479 13. Nicholas Gould of the City of London Esq 480 Sir Thomas Adams Kt. Alderman of London 481 Richard Atkins of Clapham in Surrey Esq 482 14. Thomas Allen of the City of London Esq 483 Henry North of Milden-hall in Suffolk Esq 484 15. Sir William Wiseman of Rivenham in Essex Kt. 485 18. Thomas Cullum of Hastede in Suffolk Esq 486 20. Thomas Darcy of St. Cleres-hall in St. Oliths in Essex Esq 487 George Grubham How of Cold-Barwick in Wiltshire Esq 488 21. Iohn Cutts of Childerley in Cambridgshire Esq Extinct 489 Solomon Swale of Swale-hall in Yorkshire Esq 490 VVilliam Humble of the City of London Esq 491 22. Henry Stapleton of Miton in Yorkshire Esq 492 Gervase Elwes of Stoke near Clare in Suffolk Esq 493 Robert Cordell of Melford in Suffolk Esq 494 Sir Iohn Robinson Kt. Lieutenant of the Tower of London 495 Sir Iohn Abdy of Moores in Essex Kt. 496 25. Sir Robert Hilliard of Patrington in Yorkshire Kt. 497 Iacob Astley of Hill-Morton in VVarwickshire Esq 498 Sir VVilliam Bowyer of Denham in Bucks Kt. 499 Thomas Stanley of Alderley in Cheshire Esq 500 26. Iohn Shuckborough of Shuckborough in Warwickshire Esq 501 27. VVilliam Wray of Ashby in Lincolnshire Esq 502 Nicholas Steward of Hartley Manduit in Hantshire Esq 503 Iune 27. 1660. George Warburton of Areley in Cheshire Esq 504 Sir Francis Holles of Winterburne St. Martin in Dorsetshire Kt. Son and Heir to Denzill Lord Holles 505 28. Oliver St. Iohn of Woodford in Northamptonshire Esq 506 29. Ralph De la Vall of Seyton De la Vall in Northumberland Esq 507 30. Andreas Henley of Henley in Somersetshire Esq 508 Thomas Ellis of Wyham in Lincolnshire Esq 509 Iuly 2. Iohn Covert of Slaugham in Sussex Esq 510 Peter Lear of London Gent. 511 Maurice Berkley of Bruton Esq 512 3. Henry Hudson of Melton-Mowbray in Leicestershire Esq 513 Thomas Herbert of Tinterne in Monmouthshire Esq 514 4. Thomas Middleton of Chirk in Denbighshire Esq 515 6. Verney Noell of Kirkby in Leicestershire Esq 516 7. George Buswell of Clipston in Northamptonshire Esq 517 10. Robert Auâ—ten of Bexley in Kent Esq 518 12. Robert Hales of Bekesburne in Kent Esq 519 13. Sir William Boothby of Bradley-Ash in Derbyshire Kt. 520 14. Wolstan Dixey of Market-Bosworth in Leicestershire Esq 521 16. Iohn Bright of Badsworth in Yorkshire Esq 522 Iohn Warner of Parham in Esq 523 17. Sir Iob Harby of Aldenham in Hartfordshire Kt. 524 18. Samuel Morland of Southamstede-Banester in Berkshire Esq 525 19. Sir Thomas Hewit of Pishobury in Hartfordshire Kt. 526 Edward Honywood of Evington in Kent Esq 527 Basil Dixwell of Bromehouse in Kent Esq 528 22. Richard Brown of London Ald. 529 23. Henry Vernon of Hodnet in Shropshire Esq 530 Sir Iohn Awbrey of Llantrilhed in Glamorganshere Kt. 531 William Thomas of Fowington in Essex Esq 532 25. Thomas Scâ—ater of Cambridge in Cambridgshire Esq 533 Henry Conway of Botritham in Flintshire Esq 534 26. Edward Green of Sonpford in Essex Esq 535 28. Iohn Stapeley of Patcham in Sussex Esq 536 30. Metcalf Robinson of Newby in Yorkshire Esq 537 31. Marmaduke Gresham of Limpsfield in Sussex Esq 538 Aug. 1. William Dudley of Clopton in Northamptonshire Esq 539 2. Hugh Smithson of Stanwick in Yorkshire Esq 540 3. Sir Roger Mostin of Mostiâ— in Flintshire Kt. 541 4. William Willoughby of Willoughby in Nottinghamshire Esq 542 6. Anthony Oldfield of Spalding in Lincolnshire Esq 543 10. Peter Leicester of Tabley in Cheshire Esq 544 11. Sir William Wheeler of the City of Westminster Kt. 545 16. Iohn Newton of Barscote in Glocestershire Esq 546 Thomas Lee of Hartwell in Bucks Esq 547 Thomas Smith of Hatherton in Cheshire Esq 548 17. Sir Ralph Ashton of Middleton in Lancashire Esq 549 Iohn Rous of Henham in Suffolk Esq 550 22. Henry Massingbeard of Bratostshall in Lincolnshire Esq 551 28. Iohn Hales of Coventry in Warwickshire Esq 552 30. Ralph Bovey of Hill-fields in Warwickshire Esq 553 Iohn Knightley of Offchurch in Warwickshire Esq 554 31. Sir Iohn Drake of Ash in Devonshire Kt. 555 Sept. 5. Oliver St. George of Carickermrick in the County of Trim in Ireland Esq 556 11. Sir Iohn Bowyer of Knipersley in Staffordshire Kt. 557 13. Sir William Wild Kt. Recorder of the City of London 558 19. Ioseph Ash of Twittenham in Middlesex Esq 559 22. Iohn How of Compton in Glocestershire Esq 560 26. Iohn Swimburne of Chap-Heton in Northumberland Esq 561 Oct. 12. Iohn Trott of Laverstoke in Hantshire Esq 562 13. Humphrey Miller of Oxenheath in Kent Esq 563 15. Sir Iohn Lewes of Ledston in Yorkshire Kt. 564 16. Iohn Beale of Mâ—idston in Kent Esq 565 Sir Richard Franklin of Moore-Park in Hartfordshire Kt. 566 Nov. 8. William Russel of Langhorne in Caermarthenshire Esq 567 9. Thomas Boothby of Friday-hill in the Parish of Chingford in Essex Esq 568 William Backhouse of London Esq Extinct 569 12. Sir Iohn Cutler of London Kt. 570 16. Giles Mottet of Leigh in Esq 571 21. Henry Gifford of Burstall in Leicestershire Esq 572 Sir Thomas Foot of London Kt. and Alderman 573 22. Thomas Manwaring of Overpever in Cheshire Esq 574 Thomas Benet of Baberham in Cambridgshire Esq 575 29. Iohn Wroth of Blenden-hall in Kent Esq 576 Dec. 3. George Wynne of Nostell in Yorkshire Esq 577 4. Heneage Featherstou of Blakesware in Hartfordshire Esq 578 Humphrey Monnox of Wotton in Bedfordshire Esq 579 10. Iohn Peyton of Dodington in the Isle of Ely in Cambridgshire Esq 580 11. Edmond Anderson of Broughton in Lincolnshire Esq 581 Iohn Fagg of Wiston in Sussex Esq 582 18. Matthew Herbert of Bromfield in Shropshire Esq 583 19. Edward Ward of Bexley in Norfolk Esq 584 22. Iohn Keyt of Ebrington in Glocestershire Esq 585 William Killegrew of Arwynick in Cornwal
the Desert after the Example of St. Anthony the Hermit and Patron of this Empire and bestowed upon these Knights great Revenues and many Priviledges And thus being instituted they received the Rule of St. Basil submitted to his Constitutions wore a black Garment and for their Ensign a blew Cross in form of the Letter T. Their chief Seat was in the Isle of Meroe where the Abbots both Spiritual and Temporal resided but in many other parts of AEthiopia they have or had great store of Monasteries and Convents with about two Millions of yearly Revenue These Knights vow to defend the Christian Religion to yield Obedience to their Superiors to observe Conjugal Chastity not to Marry or receive any other holy Orders without licence first obtained from the Abbot to guard the Confines of the Empire and to go to War when and where they are commanded Into this Order the eldest Sons of Noblemen or Gentlemen cannot be admitted but the second Sons may And if a man of any degree whatsoever except a Physician have three Sons he is bound to enter one of them into this Order Knights of the Burgundian Cross in Tunis MVlleasses King of Tunis who was driven out of his Kingdom by Barbarossa that noted Pirate was again in Anno 1535. restored thereunto by the assistance of Charles the Fifth Emperor of Germany and King of Spain And being desirous to gain the love of all those that had served in that War did as a reward confer this honour of Knighood upon all those Commanders that valiantly behaved themselves in his Service The Ensign that he assigned them was the Burgundian Cross to which was added a Steel striking Sparks of Fire out of Flint with this Inscription BARBARIA which third Badge hung to a Collar of Gold KNIGHTS OF THE West-Indies PErsons that performed valiant Acts in War were by the Mexicans advanced to Honour and had sundry Priviledges granted them insomuch that their chief Nobility sprang from the Camp And Montezuma was so high a Favourer of Knighthood that he ordained divers Orders which he distinguished by several Ensigns The principal Degree of these Knights were those that had the crown of their Hair tied with a small red Ribon with a rich Plume of Feathers from which hung so many Branches and Rolls of Feathers upon their Shoulders as they had performed worthy Exploits in War And these were termed Eagle Knights of which Order the King was the Supream The Order of the Knights of the Lions and Tigers were the most valiant in War and always bore with them their Badges and Armorial Ensigns and went to the War as did the Eagle Knights armed Cap-a-pe The Order of the Grey Knights had their Hair cut round about their Ears were not so much honoured as the former and when they went to Wars were armed but to the middle All these Degrees of Knights had their Apartments in the King's Palace which were distinguished by their several Ensigns And amongst the honourable Priviledges that they enjoyed they might carry Gold and Silver wear rich Cotton and Shoes after their fashion and use painted and guilt Vessels all which were prohibited the common people The Order of Knighthood of the Blood Royal in Peru were of great esteem for their approved Valour for before they could be admitted into the said Degree their Manhood was sufficiently tried as in managing the Dart Lance and other Military Exercises also in Leaping Wrestling Running Shooting c. in all which if they were not very expert they were thought unworthy to receive so great an Honour But being found worthy to be admitted divers Ceremonies were used at their Creation as putting on them fine Shoes and Breeches boreing of holes in their Ears giving them an Ax and adorning their Heads with Flowers c. all which was forbidden the common people And the Peruvian Lords at their solemn Feasts at Cusco used to dedicate their Children to Honour adorning them with Ensigns making holes in their Ears and anoynting their Faces with Blood in token that they should be true Knights to the Ingua The Knights of Cinaloa which is a Province near New Mexico were created by giving them a Bow and ordering them to encounter a Lion or some other savage Beast which if they slew they were received into favour and Honour The Rt. Honourble Henry Coventry Esq his matys principall Secretary of State c a. son tâ— the Rt. Honourble Thomas Lord Coventry Lord Keeper of ye. Great Seale of England The Honourble Iohn Hervey of Ickworth in Suffolke Esq. â— Treasurer to ye. Queens maty The honble William Ashburnham of Ashburnham in ye. County of Sussex Esq. Cofferer to his maty King Charles the 2d. William Wharton Esq. Fourth son to yâ—e Rt. honble Phillip Lord Wharton of Wharton in Westmoreland by Ann Daughter to 〈◊〉 â—am Carr of Fernihast in Scotland Esq. 〈◊〉 of ye. Groomes of ye. Bedchamber to King Iames. SAMVEL GRANT of Crundall in Hantshire Esq. one of the society of the Inner Temple London Esq. â—ender Molesworth of Spring Garden in the parish of St. Katherines in the Island of Jamaica Esq. one of his matys Councell 〈◊〉 the Sd. Isle second son of Hender Molesworth of Pencarrow in Cornwall Esâ—abque who was lineally descended from Sr. Walter de Molesworth of Northamptonshire who flourished in Marshall proess in the dayes of King Edw. the first went wth him to the holy warrs GEORGE LEGGE Esq. Governor of â—ortsmouth master of the Horse to his Royall Highness Iames Duke of Yorke Leiutenant of his matys Forest of Alce holt Woolmer in Hantshire one of the Deputy Leiutenant of the Sd. County Comander of his matys Shipp yeâ—â—yall Katherine one of the principall Officers of his matys Ordnance THOMAS FEJLD of Stanstead Bury in the County of Hertford Esq now maried to Mary eldest daughter of Sr. Thomas Byde of Ware park in the Said County Kt. Humfrey Wiâ—â—ley of the Jâ—â—ter Tâ—mplâ— Esq one of the Prothonotarâ—â—s of his maties Court of Common â—leaâ— at Westminster fift son of Humfrey Wâ—â—rley Esq of Hâ—msted hall in the County of Stafford by Knightley his Wife â—OGER TWâ—SDEN Esq eldest son of S â— Thomas Twisden of Bradborne in thâ— parish of East Malling in Kent Kt. Baâ—â—â— one of the Justices of his matys Court of Kings Bench EDWARD THVRLAND Esq only son of Sr. Edward Thurland of Râ—ygate in the County of Surrey Kt. one of the Barons of his matys Court of Exchequer EDWARD ROBERTS of the Citty of Dublin in the Kingdome of Ireland Esq now Maried to Alce daughter of Edw Chute of SurrendeÌ„ in the Weld of Kent Esq 〈◊〉 much Honoured Daniel Fleming of 〈…〉 in Cumberland of Rydal hall in 〈…〉 and Esq of which family Surname there 〈…〉 Lords of ye. maner of Bâ—ckermet of 〈…〉 bâ—en Kts all ye. rest that then weddâ—d 〈…〉 ye. Daughters of Baronetsâ— or Knighâ—â—â— â—â—â—â—ill Skelton eldest sonn of Sr. Iohn Skelton 〈◊〉 Leiutenant
slighted unless he be sufficiently qualified by Birth Parts or other generous Accomplishments or are Knights of the Field who are never abridged of their merited Honour being acquired according to the original Institution of that Degree amongst all Nations And we see our Parliament men our Sheriffs Justices of the Peace and the Honourable Commanders and Captains of Cavalry and Infantry for the most Esquires at their first Election By the Statute 23 Hen. 6. cap. 15. the Knights of the Shires shall be notable Knights or else notable Esquires or Gentlemen born in the same Counties for which they are chosen See the Statute for the preservation of the Game 22 and 23 Car. 2. by which and many other Statutes they are equally priviledged with Knights and other persons of higher Degree To represent therefore an Esquire as now defined is no easie task but according to the ancient Rule I take him for a Foot-Commander The Atchievement of an Esquire differs from the Knight Batchelors only in the Helmet as you may here observe I shall also give you other Examples of Esquires and amongst the rest the Atchievement of my Honoured Friend Robert Logan vulgarly written Login Son and Heir to Iohn Logan Lord of the Mannor of Idbury in Oxfordshire who was of the ancient House of Restalridge in Scotland unfortunately ruined for their Loyalty to Mary Queen of Scots He succeeded his Father at Idbury was High Sheriff of the County a man eminent for his Virtue and Learning amongst whose prayers this Manuscript was found exemplar in his life for Charity and Conversation THE DEFINITION OR DESCRIPTION OF THE GENTRY OR Civil Nobility OF ENGLAND CHAP. XXVI GEntleman Generosus seemeth to be made of two words the one French Gentil honestus vel honesta parente natus the other Saxon Man as if you would say a man well born And under this name are all comprized that are above Yeomen and Artificers so that Nobles are truly called Gentlemen By the Course and Custome of England Nobility is either Major or Minor Major contains all Titles and Degrees from Knighthood upwards Minor all from Barons downwards Mr. William Mainstone Alias Mayneston of ye. Citty of London Merchant Lineally descended from Thomas Mainston of Vrchinfield in Herefordshire Gent Temps Edw ye. 3d. now Maried to Penelope Daughteâ— To Sr Thomas Iones of Shrewsbury in yeâ— County of Salop Kt. one of ye. Iustices of his mat ys Court of K-Bench Iohn Bourne of More feilds in the parish of St. Leonards Shoreditch in Middz Dr. in Phisicksâ— non maried to Eleanor daughter of George Shyres of Wakefield in Yorkshir Batcheâ—â—â— in Divinity Iohn Rowe of ye. Citty of Bristoll Gent. Lineally descended from ye. antient family of ye. Rowes of Windley hill in Derbyshire Which Said Iohn is now maried to Lucy Sister Coheyre of Anâ—thony Hungerford Son heyre of Anthony HuÌ„gerford of ye. Lea in Wiltshire Esq Mr. Peter Vandeput of the Citty of London Merchant Iohn Btome of Sevenoke in Kent Gent. Ricâ—ard Btome of Chobham in the Parish of Westham in Essâ—â—â— Gent. Richard Whitworth of Adbaston in the County of Stafford Gentleman Mr. Iohn Vanheck of ye. Citty of London Merchant descended of a Dutchfamily of that name This Câ—atâ— Armourâ—â— borne by the Stanleys of Devonshire and is Engraven at the Charge of Mr. Edward Stanley of Bamstable in the Sdâ— County agreat Lover of Heraldry and Promoter of Publique Vndertakeings Nicholas Eyre of London Gent Descended from a Antient Family of that name Iohn Farrington of ye. Citty of London Merchant descended of ye. Farringtons of Verdon near Faringtonheath in Lancashire a Family of good Account and Antiquity Iohn Gregorie of St. Margarets Westminster in Middlesex Gentleman son of Leiutenant Collonell William Gregorie of East Stockwith in Lincolnshire Esq a great sufferer for his maty in ye. Late Vnhappy warrs Mr. Thomas Shaw of the Citty of London Merchant now Maried to Deborah daughter of Roger Reeva Late Cittizen of London Râ—lph Marshall GenÌ„t Secretary to thâ— R â— honble William Earle of Craven desâ—nâ—ded from ye. family of ye. Marshalls of yorkshire Franâ—is Lunde of Parsons Green in ye. Parish of FuÌ„tham in Middlesex GenÌ„t descended frâ—m the Family of Lunde in ye. County of Yorkeâ— â—â—chard Stratford of Hawling and nether Geâ—◠〈◊〉 Glocestershire Gen t descended from theâ— Ancient family of ye. Straâ—fords of Farmcâ—â—â—n the Said County Thomas Glover of Raine Hill in Lancashireâ— Gent. now Maried to Rebecca daughter of Ninian Buther Staplehurst in Kent Gent. But if a Gentleman be sued by addition of Husbandman he may say he is a Gentleman and demand Judgment of the Writ without saying and not Husbandman For a Gentleman may be a Husbandman but he shall be sued by his Addition most worthy For a Gentleman of what Estate soever he be although he go to plough and common labour for his maintenance yet he is a Gentleman and shall not be named in legal Proceedings Yeoman Husbandman or Labourer If a Gentleman be bound an Apprentice to a Merchant or other Trade he hath not thereby lost his Degree of Gentility But if a Recovery be had against a Gentleman by the name of a Yeoman in which case no Action is necessary then it is no Error So if any Deed or Obligation be made to him by the name of Yeoman If a Capias go against A. B. Yeoman and if the Sheriff take A. B. Gentleman an Action of false imprisonment lieth against the Sheriff But if A. B. Yeoman be Indicted and A. B. Gentleman be produced being the same man intended it is good If a man be a Gentleman by Office only and loseth the same then doth he also lose his Gentility By the Statute 5 Eliz. chap. 4. intituled An Act touching Orders for Artificers Labourers Servants of Husbandry and Apprentices amongst other things it is declared That a Gentleman born c. shall not be compelled to serve in Husbandry If any Falcon be lost and is found it shall be brought to the Sheriff who must make Proclamation and if the owner come not within four Months then if the â—inder be a simple man the Sheriff may keep the Hawk making agreement with him that took him But if he be a Gentleman and of Estate to have and keep a Falcon then the Sheriff ought to deliver to him the said Falcon taking of him reasonable costs for the time that he had him in Custody A Commission is made to take Children into Cathedral Churches c. one in anothers places where Children are instructed to sing for the furnishing of the King's Chappel These general words by construction of Law have a reasonable intendment viz. That such Children who be brought up and taught to sing to get their living by it those may be taken for the King's Service in his Chappel and it shall be a good preferment to them but the Sons of Gentlemen or any other that are taught to sing for their Ornament or Recreation and not
this Civil Dignity they have three Laws The first Ius agnitionis the right or law of descent for the kindred of the Father's side The second Ius Stirpis for the Family in general The third Ius Gentilitatis a law for the descent in Noble Families which Tully esteemed most excellent by which Law a Gentleman of Blood and Coat-Armour perfectly possessing Vertue was only priviledged To make that perfection in Blood a Lineal Descent from Atavus Proavus Avus and Pater on the Fathers side was required and as much on his Mothers line than he is not only a Gentleman of perfect Blood but of his Ancestors too The neglect of which Laws hath introduced other sorts of Gentleman viz. men that assume that Dignity but are neither so by Blood nor Coat-Armour which style only hurries them to an unruly pride which indeed is but rude and false honour termed by Sir Iohn Ferne Apocriphate and debarred of all priviledge of Gentility These Gentlemen nomine non re saith he are the Students of Law Grooms of his Majesties Palace Sons of Churls made Priests or Canons c. or such as have received Degrees in Schools or born Office in the City by which they are styled Gentlemen yet have they no right to Coat-Armour by reason thereof As to the Student of the Law Sir I. Ferne allows him the best aâ—â—urance of his title of Gentleman of all these irregular Gentlemen as he terms them because he is named in some Acts of Parliament yet he saith he is also debarred of all honour and priviledge by the Law of Arms. And anciently none were admitted into the Inns oâ— Court as before noted but such as were Gentlemâ—◠〈◊〉 Blood be their merits never so great â—or were the Church Dignities and Preferments bestowed indifferently amongst the Vulgar The Jews confined their Prieâ—â—hood to a Family but Ieroboam debased it in his Kingdom by preferring the basest of his people to the best of duties The Russians and some other Nations admit none to the study of the Law but Gentlemens younger Sons The decayed Families in France are supported and receive new life from the Court Camp Law and Ecclesiastical Preferments take the most solemn and serious who contemn the World if such are wanting to fill up their Vacancies the Ingeniouser sort of the Plebeans are admitted by which means their Church and State is in eâ—â—eem and reverence being filled most commonly with the best Blood and Noblest by Birth amongst them whereas with us every Clown that can spare but mony to bring up his Son â—or any of those Studies bereaves the Gentry of those Benefices and robs them of their support which grand abuse is the cause of the general Corruption in the State Civil and Ecclesiastick whereas were this preferment made peculiar to the Gentry they would stand more upon their Honour and live without being a Burthen to their Relations The Atchievement of a Gentleman hath no difference with that of an Esquire both their Helmets being close and sideways OF YEOMEN CHAP. XXVII THE Yeomen or Common People for so are they called of the Saxon word Zemen which signifies Common who have some Lands of their own to live upon For a Carn of Land or a Plough Land was in ancient time of the yearly value of five Nobles and this was the Living of a Stokeman or Yeoman And in our Law they are called Legalâ— homines a word familiar in Writs and Inquests And by divers Statutes it hath been enacted That none shall pass in any Inquest unless they had forty shillings Free-hold in yearly Revenue which maketh if the most value were taken to the proportion of moneys above Sixteen pounds of currant money at this present And by the Statute of 27 Eliz. ch 6. every Juror must have Forty pounds Lands In the end of the Statute made 23 Hen. 6. c. 15. concerning the Election of Knights for the Parliament it is ordered and expresly provided That no man shall be such Knight which standeth in the degree of a Yeoman It appeareth in Lambert's Perambulation of Kent 367. that this Saxon word Telphioneman was given to the Theyne or Gentleman because his life was valued at One thousand two hundred shillings and in those days the lives of all men were rated at certain sums of Money To the Churle or Yeoman because the price of his head was taxed at Two hundred shillings Which things if it were not expresly set forth in sundry old Laws yet extant might well enough be found in the Etymology of the words themselves the one called a Twelve hundred man and the other a Twyhind for a man of Two hundred And in this Estate they pleased themselves insomuch that a man might and also now may find sundry Yeomen though otherwise comparable for wealth with many of the Gentile sort that will not yet for that change their condition nor desire to be appareled with the title of Gentry By the Common Law it may appear in 1 Ed. 2. de Militibus and 7 Hen. 6. 15. a. men that had Lands to the value of Twenty pounds per annum were compellable at the King's pleasure to take upon them the Order of Knighthood and upon Summons there came a Yeoman who might expend a hundred Marks per annum and the Court was in doubt how they might put him off and at last he was waved because he came the second day By this sort of men the trial of Causes in the Country proceedeth ordinarily for of them there are greater number in England than in any other place and they also of a more plentiful livelyhood and therefore it cometh to pass that men of this Country are more apt and fit to discern in doubtful Cases and Causes of great examination and trial than are men wholly given to moil in the ground to whom that Rural exercise engendreth rudeness of wit and mind And many Franklins and Yeomen there are so near adjoyning as you may make a Jury without difficulty for there be many of them that are able to expend One or two hundred pounds per Annum As in the ancient time the Senators of Rome were elected a Censu and as with us in conferring of Nobility respect is had to their Revenues by which their Dignity and Nobility may be supported and maintained So the Wisdom of this Realm hath of ancient time provided that none shall pass upon Juries for the trial of any matter real or personal or upon any criminal cause but such as besides their Moveables have Lands for estate of life at the least to a competent value lest for need or poverty such Jurors might easily be corrupted or suborned And in all Cases and Causes the Law hath conceived a better Opinion of those that have Lands and Tenements or otherwise are of worth in moveable Goods that such will commit or omit nothing that may any way be prejudicial to their estimation or which may endanger their Estates than it hath of
and twenty Burgesses for Common-Councel a Recorder c. sâ—nds Burgesses to Parliament The Arms born by this Town is a Castle triple-towred having on the dexter side the Sun in its glory and on the sinister a Crescent on the top of the two fronting Towers stand two Watchmen with this Inscription upon the Ring of the Seal Sigillum Ballivi Burgensium Warwici And notwithstanding this fatal overthrow â—o much of the Town was continued till the Reign of Richard the Second who began in 1377 that it paid to the King in Fee-farm Rent twenty Marks per Annum at 2 d. a Burgage which amounts to two thousand two hundred Burgages besides other Houses But in 1388. as appears by Records die Martis in festo Sancti Stephani Martyris which was about the eleventh of Richard the Second it was so burn'd down and wasted by the Scots that of that Rent upon several Inquisitions found and returned there remained to the King only two Marks per Annum so that nine parts in ten were utterly destroy'd But notwithstanding this great devastation that was never repaired it doth still retain its ancient Priviledges which are in every respect the same with York as appears from the confirmation of Henry the Third in whose time here was an Exchequer called by the Name of Scaccarium de Appleby and King Iohn â—s Charter which I have seen wherein is expressed and firmly commanded That his Burgers of Appleby shall have and enjoy all the Liberties and free Customes which his Burgers of York have well and peaceably freely and quietly fully wholly and honourably with a Prohibition That none shall attempt to disturb them thereof And also That they shall be free from Toll Stallage Pontage and Lestage all England over praeterquam in Civitate London nisi forte Cives Eobor ' quietantias inde habent libertates suas in Civitate London which exception doth very much confirm and strengthen their Priviledges to them The Corporation consists at present of a Mayor with two Bailiffs a Court of Aldermen twelve in number a Recorder Common-Councel and Serjeants at Mace with their Attendants And if the Town were able to bear it might take the same Priviledges with York in every thing according to their Charter which has been confirmed by all the succeeding Kings of England and if any would know what those Priviledges are more particularly I referr him to York where he may possibly meet with satisfaction In the mean time take these which are now in practice at Appleby viz. They have power to Arrest for any Sum without limitation To elect and send two Burgesses to Parliament To acknowledge Statute-Merchant before the Mayor To take Toll both in Fairs and Markets To seize Felons goods Felones de se Waifes Strayes Forfeitures and Escheats all which do belong to the Mayor for the time being who takes place of the Judges of Assize as the Lord Mayor of York is wont to do Their Aldermen are some of them Gentlemen of the Country for the greater honour and credit of the Town who in time of their Majoralty have their Propraetors or Deputies there The present Mayor and Aldermen for the present year are Iohn Thwaites Esquire Mayor Lancelot Machell of Gackanthorp Esq who was first Mayor after the King's return and tore in pieces Oliver's Charter in open Court before he would accept of that Office which he had declined all Oliver's time Richard Brathwate of Warcop Esq and Justice of Peace who contested with the Judges and took place of them Virtute Chartae Robert Hilton of Morton Esquire Justice Jf Peace Edward Musgrave of Askeby Esq oustice of Peace Thomas Warcop of Colby Gentleman Iohn Routlidge of 〈…〉 Gent. Alderman Leonard Smyth Alderman William Smyth Alderman Robert Harrison Alderman Iohn Lawson Alderman Thomas Robinson Alderman Iohn Atkinson which six last are all of Appleby Appleby was very eminent for its Loyalty in the late Civil Warrs and most of the Aldermen except those whom Oliver Cromwell obtruded upon them suffered many imprisonments during his Tyranny and so likewise did most of the Gentry round about for it is the glory of the County of Westmerland that there was not one Person of quality in it who took up Arms against his King and but two or three in Cumberland A TABLE OF THE Contents or Heads Of the several CHAPTERS IN THE TREATISE OF Honour and Nobility FIRST PART HONOVR MILITARY OF Warr and the causes thereof fol. 3 Of Souldiers 4 Of Embassadors or Legats 5 Of Warr and the inclination of the English to it ibid. Of Captains Generals Marshals and other chief Commanders 7 SECOND PART HONOVR CIVIL CHap. I. Of Honour general and particular 11 Of Gentry and bearing of Arms 12 Principles of Honour and Vertue that every Gentleman ought to be endowed with 13 Of precedency ibid. Chap. II. Of the King or Monarch of Great Britain 19 Chap. III. Of the Prince 24 Chap. IV. Of Dukes 32 The form of a Patent of the Duke of York temp Jacobi 33 Ceremonies to be observed in the Creation of a Duke 36 Chap. V. Of Marquisses 37 Chap. VI. Of Earls 39 Chap. VII Of Viscounts 44 Chap. VIII Of Lords Spiritual 45 Chap. IX Of Barons 48 The definition of a Baron ibid. The Etymology of the name of a Baron ibid. The antiquity and dignity of Barons and the sundry uses of the Name 49 The tenor and proper signification of the word Baron ibid. Chap. X. Barons of Tenure 50 Chap. XI Barons by Writ 52 Chap. XII Barons by Patent 56 Chap. XIII Priviledges incident to the Nobility according to the Laws of England 59 Certain Cases wherein a Lord of the Parliament hath no priviledge 65 Chap. XIV Nobility and Lords in reputation only 68 Chap. XV. Of the Queen Consort and of Noble Women 69 70 Ladies in reputation 75 Chap. XVI Of Knighthood in general 77 Chap. XVII Knights of the Garter 79 Chap. XVIII Of Knights Bannerets 84 Chap. XIX Of Baronets 85 The president of the Patent of Creation of Baronets 88 The Catalogue of the Baronets of England according to their Creations 91 Chap. XX. Knights of the Bath 105 A Catalogue of the Knights of the Bath made at the Coronation of King Charles II. 107 Chap. XXI Of Knights Batchelors 108 Observations concerning Knights Batchelors 116 Of degrading of Knights 117 Chap. XXII Knights of the round Table 118 Chap. XXIII Knights of the Thistle or of St. Andrew 120 Chap. XXIV Orders of Knighthood in Palestine and other parts of Asia 121 Knights of the holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem ib. Knights Hospitalers of St. John Baptist in Jerusalem now called Knights of Malta 122 Knights Templars ibid. Knights of St. Lazarus 123 Knights of St. Bass ibid. Knights of St. Katherine at Mount Sinai ibid. Knights of the Martyrs in Palestine ibid. Orders of Knighthood in Spain Knights of the Oak in Navar 124 Knights of the Lily in Navar ibid. Knights of the Band 125 Knights of