his Heirs and if he should die without Issue Vt reciperent Comitem Johannem fratrem Richardi Regis in Regem Dominum That they would receive Earl John the Brother of King Richard for their King and Lord and swore Fealty to him against all Men saving their Fealty to his Brother King Richard Two Years afterward confederating with the King of France against his Brother and being assisted by him he returned into England and brought many Strangers with him and coming to London demanded the Kingdom of the Arch-Bishop of Roven who was then Justiciary and the other Justiciaries of England Fidelitates Hominum Angliae affirming the King of England his Brother was dead But not believing him they and the other great Men of the Kingdom rejected him Then swelling with Fury he fortified his Castles and places of Strength and seized the Crown-Lands Many came in unto him but being deceived they were punished according to their deserts And for these and other Treasons committed the Year following as combining with the King of France and offering great Sums of Money to the Emperor to keep King Richard in Prison and making new Disturbances in the Nation Per Commune Consilium Regni Definitum est quod Comes Johannes dissaifiretur de omnibus Tenementis suis in Anglia By the Common Council of the Kingdom it was decreed he should be disseized of all he held of the King in England And presently all his Castles were besieged and taken from him Yet for all this the next Year King Richard pardoned his Brother John and restored to him the Earldom of Moreton or Mortaigne the Honour of Eye and Earldom of Glocester except the Castles and for his other Earldoms and Lands allowed him Yearly eight thousand Pounds of Anjou-Money And in the last Year of his Reign Cum Rex de vita desperaret divisit Johanni fratri suo Regnum Angliae omnes alias terras suas fecit fieri praedicto Johanni fidelitates ab illis qui aderant praecepit ut traderentur ei Castella sua tres partes Thesauris sui When the King despaired of Life he devised to his Brother John the Kingdom of England and all other his Lands and made all present swear Fealty to him and commanded that his Castles and three parts of his Treasure should be delivered to him Richard being dead John stayed in Normandy where by Walter Arch-Bishop of Roven he was girt with the Sword of that Dutchy April 25. on St. Mark 's Day and sent Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Pope's Legat and William Marshal Earl of Strigvil into England to keep the Peace together with Jeffrey Fitz-Peter Justitiary of England and other Barons of the Kingdom Qui fecerunt homines regni tam de Civitatibus quem de Burgis Comites Barones libere tenentes jurare fidelitatem pacem Johanni Normannorum Duci filii Henrici Regis filii Matildis Imperatricis contra omnes homines Who made the Homagers of England as well of Cities as Burroughs and Earls Barons and free Tenants to swear Fealty and Peace to John Duke of Normandy the Son of King Henry the Son of Maud the Empress against all Men. Notwithstanding this all the Bishops Earls and Barons which had Castles Manned Victualled and stored them with Arms. But Hubert the Arch-Bishops William Marshal and Jeffrey Fitz-Peter Justiciary of England met at Northampton and called before them those which they most doubted David Brother to the King of Scots Richard Earl of Clare Ranulph Earl of Chester William Earl of Tutesbury and Walran Earl of Warwick Roger Constable of Chester William de Mowbray and many other Earls and Barons to whom they promised and engaged that John Duke of Normandy should restore to every Man his Right if they would keep Faith and Peace with him Súb hac igitur Conventione supradicti Comites c. According to this Agreement the said Earls and Barons swore Fealty and faithful Service to John Duke of Normandy against all Men. This was done while he was in Normandy On the 25th of May following Duke John crossed the Seas from Normandy into England and the next day came to London and there were convened in Expectation of him Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury John Arch-Bishop of Dublin William Bishop of London Gilbert of Rochester John of Norwich Hugh of Lincoln Eustace of Ely Godfrid of Winchester Henry of Exeter Sefrid of Chichester Jeffrey of Coventry Savaric of Bath Herbert of Salisbury Philip of Durham Roger of St. Andrews in Scotland Henry of Landaff Bishops Robert Earl of Leicester Richard Earl of Glare William of Tutesbury Hamelin de Warenn William of Salisbury William de Strigvil Walran of Warwick Roger Bigot William de Arundell Ranulph de Cestre Earls and many Barons And then Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Consecrated and Crowned the said John Duke of Normandy King of England in the Church of St. Peter at Westminster on the 27th of May being Ascension Day Not one word here of any Election by but only a Submission from the Barons Spiritual and Temporal to King John and a Recognition that he was their King And all this related by Hoveden in all probability an Eye-witness of this Translation Indeed Matthew Paris who died Anno Dom. 1259. was then either unborn or so young as not with Judgment to take sufficient notice of this Affair relates it thus Congregatis in adventu ejus Archiepiscopis Episcopis Comitibus Baronibus atque aliis omnibus qui ejus Coronationi interesse debuerant Archiepiscopus stans in medio omnium dixit audite universi noverit discretio vestra quod nullus proevia ratione alii succedere habet Regnum nisi ab universitate Regni unanimiter invocata Spiritus Gratia electus secundum morum suorum eminentiam praeelectus ad exemplum fimilitudinis Saul primi Regis inuncti quem praeposuit Dominus populo suo non Regis filium nec de Regali stirpe procreatum similiter post eum David Jesse silium Hunc quia strenuum aptum Dignitati Regiae illum quia sanctum humilem ut sic qui cunctos in regno supereminet strenuitate omnibus praefit potestate regimine verum si quis ex stirpe Regis defuncti aliis prepolleret pronius promptius in electionem ejus est consentiendum Haec idcirco diximus pro inclyto Comite Johanne qui praesens est frater illustrissimi nameri Richardi jam defuncti qui haerede caruit ab eo egrediente qui providus strenuus manifeste nobilis quem nos invocata Spiritus Sancti Gratia ratione tam meritorum quom Sanguinis Regii unanimiter elegimus universi nec ausi erant alii super his adhuc ambigere scientes quod Archiepiscopus sine causa hoc non sic diffiniverat verum Comes Johannes omnes hoc
acceptabant ipsumque Comitem in Regem eligentes assumentes exclamant dicentes vivat Rex Interrogatus autem postea Archiepiscopus Hubertus quare haec dixisset respondet ve praesagia mente conjecturare quibusdam Oraculis Edoctum Certificatum fuisse quod ipse Johannes Regnum Coronam Angliae foret aliquando corrupturus in magnam confusionem praecipitaturus ne haberet liberas habenas hoc faciendi ipsum electione non successione haereditaria Elegi debere affirmabat That is The Arch-Bishops Bishops Earls and Barons and all others Officers probably required to be there which ought to be present at his Coronation meeting at London The Arch Bishop standing in the middle of them said Hear all of you your Discretion shall know that no Man hath Right to succeed in the Kingdom unless after seeking God he be unanimously chosen by the University of the Kingdom that is those that are here said to meet at London And according to the Eminency of his Endowments pre-elected according the Example and Similitude of Saul the first anointed King whom God set over his People not the Son of a King or of the Royal Line likewise after him David the Son of Jesse This because stout and fit for Royal Dignity the other because holy and humble That so he which exceeded all Men of the Kingdom in Strength or Prowess should be set over all in Power and Government but if an of the Progeny of the dead King did excell others they ought more readily to consent to the Election of him These things we have therefore said in the behalf of the famous Earl John who is here present the Brother of our most illustrious dead King Richard that died without Issue of his Body who is Provident Stout and manifestly Noble whom we having invoked the Grace of the Holy Spirit have all of us unanimously chosen Nor dare any others so much as doubt of these things knowing the Arch-Bishop had not thus decreed this Matter without Cause But Earl John and all there acquiesced in what he had said and chusing or acknowledging and receiving him for their King shouted saying Let the King live But Arch-Bishop Hubert being asked afterward why he said these things answered that he guessed and was taught and ascertained by certain Oracles that John would bring the Kingdom and Crown into great Confusion And therefore lest he might have too much Liberty in doing it he affirmed he ought to come in by Election and not by Hereditary Succession and so was Crowned as before rehearsed This Learned Doctrine and Preachment of the Arch-Bishop asserts not any Right of Election in the Convention of Bishops Earls Barons and others required to be at the Coronation but by his own Answer when he was asked why he said these things it clearly discovers a Design only and Artifice in the Arch-Bishop to cause them to set up and make John King In which also he denies any such Right of Election Hoveden hath none of nor doth mention this Harangue and therefore it seems rather to be an invention of Matthew Paris than a Sermon of the Arch-Bishop Historians commonly make Speeches for other Men they write of Brompton takes no notice of it all he says is that Johannes Lundoniam veniens in Festo ascensionis Domini VI. Kalend Junii Anno Dom. 1199. ab Huberto Contuariensi Archiepiscopo in Ecclesia B. Petri Westmonasterii inungitur in Regem Angliae coronatur assistente Prelatorum Comitum Baronum aliorum Nobilium multitudine infinita John coming to London on Ascension-Day the 27th of June 1199. was Anointed and Crowned king of England By Hubert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in St. Peter's Church in Westminster an infinite multitude of Bishops Earls Barons and other Noble men assisting him Not one word here or in Hovedon or Paris of the ordinary People And this Doctrine of the Arch-Bishop concerning the Election of Kings if meant according to the Modern Understanding of it was then new for Gervase a Monk of Canterbury in the Year 1122. speaking of the Coronation of Henry the First says It was manifest and known almost to all Men than the Kings of England were only obliged and bound to God for the Possession of the Kingdom and to the Church of Canterbury for their Coronation Manifestum est autem omnibus sere notur Reges Angliae soli Deo obligari teneri exipsius regni adeptione ECclesiae Canturiensi ex Coronatione King John doth say in a Charter dated the first Year of his Reign that he came to the Crown Jure haereditario mediante tam Cleriquam populi unanimi consensu favore By Right of Inheritance and by unanimous Consent and Favour as well of the Clergy as Laity This unanimous Consent of the Clergy and Laity was rather their Acknowledgment and Submission than any thing else for according to Hoveden's Relation of his coming to the Crown which is the most exact extant They submitted and swore Fealty to him against all Men before he came into England some time before his Coronation Nor could it be true that he had an Hereditary Right for Arthur Duke of Britain Son and Heir to his elder Brother Jeffrey and his Sister Eleanor was then living unless ho had regard to the Donation of his brother Richard and so esteemed himself a Testamentary Heir After the death of King John Henry the Third his eldest Son and Heir by the Assistance of the Loyal Barons was Crowned King notwithstanding the Barons which had made War against King John when they were reduced to great Streights called out of France Lewes the King's Son to whom they with the Londoners sware Fealty and advanced him to the Throne and adhered to him against their own Prince until by Force they were reduced and he driven out of the Kingdom This Treasonable calling in of Lewes some that are pertinacious in the fancy of Election will have it to be one Indeed King Henry the Third at this time had no good Hereditary Title and therefore Johannes ex hac vita transmigravit Henricum primogenitum suum regni constituens haeredem And this Donation of his Father or his making him his Heir was his best Title for until that Eleanor the Daughter of his Uncle Jeffrey died in the twenty fifth Year of his Reign he was not true Heir by Right of Blood Obiit Eleanora saith Matthew Paris filia Galfridi Comitis Britanniae in clausura diuturna carceris sub arcta custodia reservata fol. 574. n. 40. 25 H. 3. Anno Dom. 1241. To Henry the Third succeeded his eldest Son Edward the First though the Lancastrians said his second Son Edmund commonly called Crouch-Back was the eldest and laid aside for his deformity on whose Person was originally founded the great Contention between the two Royal Houses of York and Lancaster But that he was really the eldest there can be no pretence
England usurped upon the said Crown and Lordship and that he and also Henry late called King Henry the Fifth his Son and Henry late called King Henry the Sixth his Son occupied the Realm of England and Lordship of Ireland and exercised the Governance thereof by unryghtwyse intrusion usurpation and no otherwise That the Amotion of Henry late called King Henry the Sixth from the Exercise Occupation Usurpation Intrusion Reign and Governance of the same Realm and Lordship done by our Soveraigne Lord King Edward the Fourth was and is rightwyse lawfull and according to the Lawes and Customes of the said Realme and soe ought to be taken holden reputed and accepted Further Some if not all the Grants made by Henry Earl of Derby called Henry the Fourth the said Henry his Son or the said Henry called Henry the Sixth or by Authority of any pretenced Parliament in any of their days were reputed null and void That the unrightwyse and unlawful Usurpation and Intrusion of the same Henry upon the Crown of England and Lordship of Ireland was to the great and intolerable hurt prejudice and derogation of Edmund Mortimer Earle of Maroh next Heir of Blood of the said King Richard at the time of his Death and to the Heirs of the said Edmomd and to the great and excessive Damage unto the Realm of England and to the politick and peaceable Governance thereof by inward Wars moved and grounded by occasion thereof In the First of Richard the Third the Three Estates after having much faulted the Government Marriage and Person of Edward the Fourth and affirmed That the Right and Title of the Issue of George Duke of Clarence was barred by his Attainder and extolling the Parts Wisdom and Justice of Richard his Brother declared him undoubted Heir of Richard Duke of York Father to Edward the Fourth very Inhaeritor of the Crown of England and Dignity Royal and as in Right King of England by way of Inheritance and therefore having in his great prudent Justice Princely Courage and excellent Vertue singular Confidence did by Writing in all that in them lay chuse him their King and Sovereign Lord to whom they knew of certain it apperteined to be so chosen c. And do further declare That the Right Title and Estate which King Richard the Third had to and in the Crown and Royal Dignity of the Realm of England with all things thereunto within the said Realm and without it annexed and apperteining was just and lawful as grounded upon the Laws of God and Nature and also upon the antient Lawes and laudable Customes of this said Realm as also taken and reputed by all such Persons as were learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customs And then they proceed and say Yet nevertheless forasmuch as it is considered that the most part of the People is not sufficiently learned in the aforesaid Laws and Customs whereby the Truth and Right in this behalf of likelyhood may be hid and not clearly known to all the People and thereupon put in doubt and question And over this how that the Court of Parliament is of such Authority and the People of this Land of such a nature and disposition as Experience teacheth that Manifestation or Declaration of any Truth made by the Three Estates of this Realm assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same maketh before all other things most faithful and certain quieting of Mens minds and removeth the occasion of Doubts and seditious Language Therefore at the Request and by the Assent of the Three Estates of this Realm THAT IS TO SAY The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of this Land assembled in this present Parliament and by the Authority of the same be it pronounced decreed and declared That our said Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very undoubted King of this Realm of England with all things thereunto belonging within the said Realm and without it united annexed and apperteining as well by Right of Consanguinity and Inhaeritance as by lawful Election Consecration and Coronation Haereditary Right and Right of Blood was the Ground of this Establishment Henry the Seventh having no Haereditary Title of his own and being always averse to take upon him the only true and undoubted Title of his Queen eldest Daughter and Heir to Edward the Fourth procured an Act of Parliament That the Inhaeritance of the Crown of the Realms of England and France with all the Preheminencies and Dignities Royal to the same apperteining and the Ligeances to the King belonging beyond the Seas c. shall be rest remain and abide in the most Royal Person of our most Sovereign Lord Henry the Seventh and in the Heirs of his Body lawfully coming perpetually and so to endure and no otherwise It may be noted from these words That the inheritance of the Crown should rest remain and abide in the King c. That he designed not a Declaration or Recognition of his Right but rather an Establishment of that Possession he had gotten by the Sword for not thinking this Act a Sufficient Security for him nor depending on this Parliamentary Title he extended his pretences beyond this Establishment in at much as he procured it to be confirmed the year following by the Bull of Pope Innocent the Eighth in which this Statute with his Titles of Couquest and Descent are mentioned and confirmed The Bull says That the Kingdom of England belonged to him by undubitable right Non modo jure Belli ac notorio indubitato proximo successions Titulo verum etiam omnium prelatorum procerum Magnatum Nobilium totiusque ejusdem Regni Angliae plebis Electione et noto ac decreto statuto et ordinatione ipsius Angliae Regni trium Statuum in ipsorum conventu Parliamento nuncupato That is Not only by the right of War and the notorious and indubitable next Title of Succession but also by the election of all the Prelates and great Men and of the whole Commonalty of the Kingdom of England and by a known and decreed Statute and Ordinance of the Three Estates of the same Kingdom of England their meeting called a Parliament And afterward in the Thirteenth of his Reign he got his Bull renewed and the Act confirmed again by Pope Alexander the Sixth under pain of Excommunication and Curse to such as should upon any pretence whatsoever disturb the peace of the Nation and create trouble against this Title of Henry the Seventh So that notwithstanding this Act of Parliament which was cunningly penned to Establish his possession he had obtained by the sword He thought that and the Popes Bulls of Confirmation his best Title yet not omitting his own pretended indubitable next Right of Succession Henry the Eighth next heir to the Crown by Proximity of Blood as right Heir to his Mother Elizabeth Daughter and right Heir to Edward the Fourth succeeded his Father in
State and Subjects of the Realm which thing all dutiful faithful and loving Subjects ought and will with all careful Study and Zeal consider foresee and provide for By the neglecting and passing over whereof with winking Eyes there might happen to grow the Subversion and Ruine of the Quiet and most happy State and present Government of this Realm which God defend Therefore it was Enacted Declared and Established That if any Person or Persons whatsoever within the Realm or without should compass imagine invent devise or intend the Death or Destruction or any Bodily harm tending to Death Destruction Maym or Wounding of the Person of Queen Elizabeth or to Deprive or Depose her of or from the Stile Honour or Kingly Name c. or to levy War against her Majestie within the Realm or without or to move or stir any Forreigners or Strangers with Force to Invade this Realm or if any Person of Persons whatsoever shall maliciously and advisedly declare and publish That Queen Elizabeth during her Life is not or ought not to be Queen of England c. or That any other Person or Persons ought of Right to be King or Queen of the said Realm or That shall maliciously and advisedly set forth and affirm That Queen Elizabeth is an Heretick Schismatick Tyrant Infidel or Vsurper That then all and every such said Offence and Offences shall be taken deemed and declared by the Authority of this Act and Parliament to be High Treason And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and every Person and Persons of what Degree Condition Place Nation or Estate whatsoever they be which shall at any time in the Life of Queen Elizabeth in any wiâ—e claim pretendi utter declare affirm or publish themselves or any of them or any other than Queen Elizabeth to have Right or Title to have and enjoy the Crown of England during or in her Life-time or shall usurp the same Crown or Royal Style Title and Dignity during or in her Life-time or shall hold and affirm That she had not Right to hold and enjoy the said Crown or shall not after demand effectually acknowledge her to be in Right true and lawful Queen They and every of them so offending shall be utterly disabled during their Natural Lives onely to have or enjoy the Crown or Realm of England or the Style Title or Dignity thereof at any time in Succession Inheritance or otherwise after the Decease of the Queen as if such Person were naturally dead Any Law Custom Pretence or Matter whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding And be it further Enacted That if any Person shall during the Queens Majesties Life maintain hold and affirm any Right in Succession Inheritance or Possibility in or to the Crown or Realm of England or the Rights thereof to be in any such Claimer Pretender Vtterer Declarer Affirmer Vsurper Publisher or Not-acknowledger shall be a High Traytor and suffer and forfeit as in Cases of High Treason And for the Confirmation and making good what had in this Law been hitherto Enacted as much as might be it was further Enacted That if any Person should in any wise hold and affirm or maintain That the Common Laws of this Realm not altered by Parliament ought not to direct the Right of the Crown of England or That our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth with and by Authority of the Parliament of England is not able to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof or That this present Statute or any part thereof or any other Statute to be made by the Authority of the Parliament of England with the Royal Assent of the Queen for Limitting of the Crown or any Statute for Recognizing the Right of the said Crown and Realm to be justly and lawfully in the most Royal Person of the Queen is not are not or shall not or ought not to be for ever of good and sufficient force and validity to bind limit restrain and govern all Persons their Rights and Titles that in any wise may or might claim any Interest or Possibility in or to the Crown of England in Possession Remainder Inheritance Succession or otherwise howsoever Every such Person so holding affirming or mainteining during the Life of the Queens Majesty shall be judged a High Traytor c. And every Person so holding affirming and mainteining after the Decease of the Queen shall forfeit all his Goods and Chattels This Statute was a peculiar Law made for the Preservation of Queen Elizabeths Person and Title and this last Enacting Clause and Paragraph was made to strengthen and confirm the former part of the Statute which was a Provision and Security against such Pretences and Practices as were ennumerated in the preceding Historical Account And if we consider how much if not altogether her Title to the Crown depended upon Statute-Law and how Questionable her Birth-right was generally reputed to be no man can much wonder if for her own advantage and safety she attributed more to an Act of Parliament than otherwise she would have done She was necessitated to take this course to establish her self against the Pretences of the Queen of Scots when her Birth-right could not do it it being very doubtful whether she was Legitimate considering the Proceedings in the Divorce of Queen Katherine Marriage of her Mother and her Mothers Confession to Archbishop Cranmer when the Statute was made for the declaring the Marriage null and void between Henry the Eighth and Anne Bolein by which Statute she was also solemnly Bastardized And although Queen Elizabeth at the entrance upon her Government was acknowledged to be rightly lineally and lawfully Descended from the Blood Royal of this Realm which if true had been a sufficient Title She being then the only remaining Issue of Henry the Eighth yet her right was recognized as depending upon the Lawes and Statutes of the Realm and by express mention of and reference to the Thirty fifth of Henry the eighth by which Statute the Crown was settled upon her and the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten in several places whereof she is by the King her Father implicitly reputed and declared illegitimate and the settlement in that Act is made to her as not being lawfully begotten or having right to inherit In the first of her Reign before cited when the Crown was declared to be vested in her and that Declaration and Recognition as also the Limitation and Declaration of the Succession of the Imperial Crown of this Realm mentioned and conteined in the Act of 35 Hen. 8. were to stand remain and be the Law of this Land for ever Which notwithstanding when Mary Queen of Scots had claimed the Crown by right of Inheritance and had spread abroad that Title unto it and also the Title of the House of Suffolk and other
The Year following the Bishops of Winchester and Norwich with John de Britannia Earl of Richmond were employed to that purpose and after much desceptation about it they received a Form of Peace from the King of France And at length the Queen by Advice given by the Bishops and Great Men to the King was sent to her Brother the King of France for making up and Confirmation of the Peace and it was accorded that King Edward should give the Prince his Son the Dutchy of Aquitain and County of Pontheu that he should go over into France and do Homage for them which he did accordingly But the Prince being in France with his Mother she had no mind to return The King sent divers Letters to his Son Edward and his Queen Isabel expostulating the Cause of their stay in France against his Will and the Confederation they made there with Roger Mortimer his Enemy and Rebel and others Walsingham says Some affirmed she stayed there against her Will Alii voro asserebant quod voluntarie propter nimiam familiaritatem tunc contractam inter Reginam Rogerum de Mortuo-mari siâ—â— quo aliis Nobilibus de Anglia profugatis nolluit dicta Regina redire maxime in odium dispensatorum But others affirmed she stayed voluntarily by reason of the too great Familiarity she had contracted with Earl Roger Mortimer without whose Advice she did nothing and without whom and the other Noble-men that had fled out of England she would not return and especially for the Hatred she bare towards the Spencers proud ambitious haughty and covetous Men by whom the King was too much swayed in the Management of his Affairs which might give a dissatisfaction to the Nobility though not warrant their Actions The next Year having married the Prince not then fourteen Years old to the Earl of Hanault's Daughter who furnished her with Shipping and two thousand seven hundred and fifty Men led by his Brother John she with Edmund Earl of Kent and Roger Mortimer Lord of Wigmore and many other Great Men who had sled out of England landed at Harwich to whom the Earl Marshal the Earl of Leicester and other Barons and Knights of those Parts and almost all the Bishops did adhere and proceeding her Army daily increased so as at last she took her Husband the King Prisoner and put to death both the Spencers the Younger without Hearing or Answering ' The imprisoned King was carried and removed from place to place but at last fixed at Berkeley-Castle in Glocester shire under the Guard of Thomas Berkeley and John Maltravers who had allowed an hundred Shillings a Day for his Expences arid Keeping The Queen never would see him during his Imprisonment Regina misit sibi Indumenta delicata Literas blandientes sed tamen ipsum videre nolebat fingens quod communitas regni non permisit The Queen sent him gay Cloaths and flattering Letters but would not see him feigning the Community of the Kingdom would not permit her He was made Prisoner November 16. and the Morrow after Twelfth-Day all the Nobility of the Kingdom being summoned to Parliament met at London and judged the King unit to rule and for several Reasons to be deposed and his Son Prince Edward to be chosen King Convenit Londoniis tota Nobilitas regni citata per prius ad Parliamentum tenendum ibidem in crastino Epiphaniae ubi cuncti censuerunt Regem indignum Diademate propter plures Articulos deponendum Edvardum filium ejus primogenitum in Regem unanimiter eligendum quod etiam consequenter factum est Of which Transaction when the Queen had notice she was full of Grief outwardly ut for is apparuit saith Walsingbam But the Prince affected with this outward Passion of his Mother as young as he was would not accept of this Title whether out of his own Apprehension of things or by grave and mature Advice which is most probable Et Juravit quod invito patre nunquam susciperet coronam Regni And swore that without his Father's Consent he would never take upon him the Crown of the Kingdom Whereupon several Messengers being dispatched to the King then Prisoner at Kenelworth-Castle who told him what had been done and concluded of and diligently required him to resign his Royal Dignity and Crown and permit his Son to reign in his stead He was much disturbed with the Message and said Since it could be no otherwise he thanked them for chusing his First-born Son making his Resignation and delivering up the Royal Ensigns or Tokens of Sovereignty This done Edward the Third directs his Writs to the Sheriffs of the several Counties for preserving and keeping the Peace with this Preamble Rex Vicecom Ebor. Salutem Quia Dominus Edwardus nuper Rex Angliae Pater Noster de Communi Consilio assensu Praelator Com. Baron alior Magnat necnon Communitat totius Regni praedict SPONTANEA VOLUNTATE se amovit a Regimine dicti Regni VOLENS CONCEDENS quod nos tanquam ipsius primogenitus HAERES ipsius regni qubernationem regimen assumemus nosque ipsius patris nostri beneplacito in hac parte de consilio avisamento Praelator Com. Baron Magnat Comitat. praedict annuentes Gubernacula suscepimus dicti regni side litates Homag ipsorum Praelator Magnat recepimus ut est moris Teste Rege apud Westmonasâ—erium 29 Jan. The King to the Sheriff of Tork-shre Greeting Because Edward late King of England our Father by Common Council and Assent of Prelates Earls Barons and other Great Men and also of the Communities of the said Kingdom of his own Free Will removed himself from the Government of the said Kingdom Willing and Granting that We as his First-born and Heir of his Kingdom should take upon us the Rule and Government And We yielding to the good Pleasure of our Father by the Counsel and Advisement of the Prelates Earls Barons Great Men and Communities aforesaid have taken upon Us the Government of the said Kingdom and received the Fealties and Homages of the said Prelates and Great Men according to Custom Witness the King at Westminster Jan. 29. Nine days after he was invested with Kingship and not long after that King Edward the Second was murdered in Berkeley-Castle Any Man though but of an indifferent Capacity that seriously considers the story of this unfortunate Prince will easily perceive he was deposed by notorious Rebellion raised by factious Bishops and Tumultuous Barons and not without great suspition of an intended Vsurpation by Thomas Earl of Lancaster and may easily see through the Contrivance of the Queen and Mortimer afterwards and from thence cannot but judge it to have been a Design of wicked popular Barons and not the Action much less the Choice of the People In the Fourth of Edward the Third Roger Mortimer Earl of March
Edmund Mortimer Erle of March had Issue and leefully bare Rogier Mortimer Erle of March her Son and Heir Which Rogier Erle of March had Issue and leefully gate Edmund Erle of Marche Rogier Mortymer Anne and Alianore which Edmund Rogier and Alianore dyed without Issue And the seyd Anne under the Sacrament of Matrymony copled unto Richard Erle of Cambridge the Son of the seyd Edmund Langley fifth-begoten Son of the seyd King Edward as it is afore specified had Issue and leefully bare Richard Plantagenet commonly called Duc of Yorke The seyd John of Gaunt the fourth-goten Son of the seyd King Edward and younger Brother of the seyd Leonell had Issue and leefully gate Hen. Erle of Derby which incontinent after the tyme that the seyd King Richard resigned the Corones of the seyd Reaumes and the seyd Lordship of Ireland unrightwysely entered upon the same then being on live Edmund Mortymer Erle of Marche Son to Rogier Mortymer Erle of March Son and Heir of the seyd Phelippa Daughter and Heir of the seyd Sir Leonell the third Son of the seyd King Edward the Third to the which Edmund the Ryght and Title of the seyd Corones and Lordship by Lawe and Custome belonged Before we pass over these three Usurpers we must take notice of a Passage in Polydore Virgil concerning Henry V. in these Words Princeps Hen. facto Patris funere Concilium Principum ad Westmonasterium convocandum curat in quo dum de Rege creando more mojorum agitabatur Ecce tibi de repente aliquot Principes ultro in EJVS VERBA jurare coeperunt Quod Benevolentiae Officium nulli antea priusquam Rex renantiatus esset praestitum constat adeo Hen. ab ineunte aetate spem omnibus optimae indolis fecit Creatur itaque Rex ad quintum Iduum Aprilis eo Anno quo Pater e vita excesserat Quintus ejus Nominis Henricus dictus est The Author of the Brief History of Succession thus renders this Sentence Immediately upon the death of Hen. IV. a Parliament MET at Westminster and there according to the Custom of the Realm it was debated who should be King But all men had entertained so good thoughts of Prince Henry that without staying till the whole Assembly had declared him King divers of them began to swear Allegiance to him a thing strange and without president as only occasioned by extraordinary Opinion which was generally conceived of him before and the certain Title vested in him by Act of Parliament In his Citation of the Latin he leaves out these Words which belong to this piece of Story and do declare the meaning of it Creatur itaque Rex ad quintum Iduum Aprilis eo Anno quo Pater e vita excesserat c. He was Crowned King on the fifth of the Ides of April the same year his Father died Tho. Walsingham who lived at this time says Hen. IV. died Mar. 20. 1413. And then eodem Anno coronatus Londoniis Henricus Primogenitus Regis Henrici nuper defuncti quinto Iduum Aprilis c. The same Year Henry the First-born of King Henry lately deceased was Crowned at London on the fifth of the Ides or tenth of April By which Words of Walsingham 't is evident he hath mistaken the meaning and falsly translated the Words of Polydore for they ought to be Englished in this manner Prince Henry having buried his Father caused a Council of the Chief Men of the Nation to be called at Westminster in which they treat or debate about Crowning the King according to the Custom of his Predecessors forthwith some of the Great Men began to swear as he dictated to them which officious Benevolence was performed to none before he was declared King such hope he had given from his Childhood of an excellent Disposition therefore he was Crowned King on the fifth of the Ides of April that Year his Father died and was called Henry the Fifth An intelligent Man would wonder how the Writer of the Brief History c. should SQVEEZE his Translation out of these Latin Words But Polydore who as I hinted before was very unfit to write the English History hath very oddly in Latin express'd this Relation as he likewise hath done many other Stories His Character take from Sir Hen. Savile in his Epistle to Queen Elizabeth before his Edition of the old English Writers after Bede Polydorus saith he ut homo Italus in rebus nostris hospes c. quod caput est neque in Republika versatus nec magni alioqui vel judicii vel ingenii pauca ex multis delibans falfit plerumque pro veris amplexus Historiam nobis reliquit cum caetera mendosam tum exiliter sane jejune conscriptam Polydor as he was an Italian and a Stranger in our Affairs and which was the chief matter not understanding our Government and Laws nor otherwise of great Wit or Judgment chusing a few things out of many and oft-times taking false things for true hath left us a very faulty History slightly and pitifully written After the Reign of these three Usurpers and Deposition of Henry the Sixth in the first of Edward the Fourth the Proceedings against Richard the Second are Repealed where 't is said That Henry Earl of Derby afterwards Henry the Fourth temerously ayenst ryghtwisnesse and Justice by Force and Arms ayenst his Faith and Ligeance rered Werre at Flynt in Wales ayenst King Richard the Second him tooke and imprisoned in the Tower of London in great violence and usurped and intruded upon the Royall Power Estate Dignity c. And not therewith satisfyed or content but more grievous thing attempting wickedly of unnatural unmanly and cruel Tyranny the same King Richard King Anointed Crowned and Consecrated and his Liege and most Soveraigne Lord in Earth against Gods Lawe Mans Ligeance and Oath of Fidelity with uttermost punicion attormenting murdered and destroyed with most vile hainous and lamentable Death c. The Commons being of this present Parliament having sufficient and evident knowledge of the said unryghtwyse Usurpation and Intrusion by the said Henry late Earl of Derby upon the said Crown of England knoweing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity the Right and Title of our said Soveraigne Lord thereunto true and that by Gods Lawe Mans Lawe and the Lawe of Nature he and none other is and ought to be their true ryghtwyse and natural Liege and Soveraigne Lord and that he was in right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the said Realm of England doe take accept and repute and will for ever take accept and repute the said Edward the Fourth their Soveraigne and Liege Lord and him and his Heirs to be Kings of England and none other according to his said Right and Title And that the same Henry unryghtwysely against Lawe Conscience and Custome of the said Realm of
his Kingdom who in all Extravagant Acts concerning his Queens and the Succession ever founded it in pretended legal Proximity of Blood and Lawful next Heirs of Blood according to the due course of inheritance the pretended want of which was the only suggestion for passing these Acts. In the Twenty fifth of Henry the Eighth there was an Act for the Succession the preamble this In their most humble wyse shewen unto your Majesty your most humble and obedient Subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament c. That since it is the natural inclination of every man to provide for the suerty both of his Title and Succession although it touch his only private Cause we therefore reckon our selves much more bounden to beseech and instant your I lighness to forsee and provide for the perfect suerty of both you and your lawful Succession and Heirs upon which dependeth all our joy and wealth in whom also is united and knit the only meer TRUE INHERITANCE and TITLE of this Realm without any contradiction And then mentions that certain divisions arose upon ambiguities and doubts not perfectly declared from froward intents to expound them contrary to the right legalty of the Lawful Succession and posterity of the lawful Kings and Emperours of this Land After this confirming the Divorce of Queen Katherine as also the King's Marriage with Anne Boleyn the Parliament entayles the Crown upon him and his Heirs Male by her and for want of such Issue upon Elizabeth their eldest Daughter and their Heirs Females according to the due course of Inheritance From whence it appears that the Succession was founded upon inheritance and the design of the Act was that Henry the eighth might have Lawful Issue to inherit the Crown that so all Ambiguities and Doubts about the Succession might be taken off And all the Kings Subjects were bound under pain of misprision of Treason to swear to observe the Contents of this Act. The Act for Succession 28 Hen. 8. c. 7. affirms there were many Lawful impediments unknown at the making of the Act of Succession 25 Hen. 8. c. 22. which since that time were confessed by the Lady Anno before Themas Archbishop of Canterbury sitting Judicially for the same By reason of which impediments the Kings Marriage with her was never good nor consonant to the Lawes and therefore Q. Elizabeth was declared Illegitimate and it was declared Treason for any Man to judge or believe the Marriage between the King and the Lady Katherine or Anne to be good lawful or of any effect It was also in this Act declared Treason for any one to take accept name or call any of the Children born and procreate under those unlawful Marriages legitimate or lawful Children of the King And therefore the Crown was settled upon the King and his Heirs Males by his Lawful Queen Jane and for want of such Issue by her upon his Heirs Males by any other Lawsul Wife and for want of Heirs Males upon his Heirs Females by Queen Jane or any other Lawful wise And for lack of Lawful Heirs of his Body to be procreated and begotten as is limitted by this Act to such person and persons in Possession and Remainder as should please the King and according to such Estate and after such manner form fashion order and condition as shall be expressed declared named and limitted by his Letters Parents or by his last Will. And then follows And we your most humble and obedient Subjects do faithfully promise to your Majesty by one Common Assent That after your decease and for lack of Heirs of your Body lawfully begotten as is afore rehearsed We our Heirs and Successors shall accept and take love dread serve and alonely obey such Person and Persons Males or Females as your Majesty shall give your said Imperial Crown unto by authority of this Act and to none other and wholly to stick to them as true and faithful subjects ought to do to their Regal Rulers Governours and supream Heads To provide for Lawful Heirs was the pretended Ground of this Act of succession not to exclude them and to give the King a strange unheard of Power to dispose of the crown c. The Thirty fifth of Henry the Eighth cap. 1. recites how the Crown was entailed 28. Hen. 8. and what Power was given to him to dispose of the Crown To the intent therefore that His Majesty's disposition and mind therein might be openly declared and manifestly known His Majesty designing a Voyage beyond Sea it was enacted by his Highness with the Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled and by Authority of the same That in case it should happen the King's Majesty and Prince Edward Heir Apparent to die without Issue of their Bodies lawfully begotten so as there be no Heirs Male or Female of either of their Bodies to have and inherit the said Imperial Crown that then it should be to his Daughter Mary and her Heirs lawfully to be begotten under such Conditions as should be limited by the King's Letters Patents or his last Will And for default of Issue to his Daughter Elizabeth upon the same Conditions But if no Conditions were appointed then the Succession to each of them one after another abosolutely And for want of Heirs by his Queen Katherine his Lawful Wife and for want of Lawful Issue or Prince Edward his Daughters Mary and Elizabeth then the King to dispose of the Crown at his only pleasure from time to time All these Acts of Succession were made by the King's Sollicitation Authority Command or other Procurement and were not other wife moved contrived or offered to him In the First of Queen Mary there is an Act declaring the Queen's Highness to have been born in most just and faithful Matrimony and also repealing all Acts of Parliaments and Sentence of Divorce made or had to the contrary The intention of this Act was to declare the Succession to be in Inheritance by Right of Blood In the First of Elizabeth the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do declare and confess th t Queen Elizabeth and in very deed and of most meer Right ought to be by the Laws of God and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm their most rightful and lawful Sovereign Queen And that she was rightly and lineally and lawfully descended and come of the Blood-Royal of this Realm of England in and to whose Princely Person and the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten after her without all Doubt Ambiguity Scruple or Question The Imperial Crown and Dignity of this Realm was rally and entirely vested In this Law whether it were true or not in her the right lineal and lawful Descent of Queen Elizabeth was the Ground upon which she was declared to be by God's Laws and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm most rightful and lawful Queen And whatever she
and her Council secretly thought of her own Personal Title Yet upon the Treaty or Marriage with the Duke of Anjon in the Answer to the sixth Article delivered by the French Ambassador it is declared that the Succession in her Kingdoms was and ought to be Hereditary according to nearness in Blood The words are Liberi ex hoc matrimonio prognati in materna haereditate succedent in regnis secundum jura consuetudines regnorum viz. primogenitus filius in Coronam quam Regina mater habet si nulli extabunt filii Masculi filioe si extabunt viz prima sola maxima natu c. Atque idem ut fiat in hoereditate paterna loequum est quomodo consuetudines locorum id ferent intelligi parest That is The Children begotten of this Marriage shall succeed in the Mothers Inheritance in the Kingdoms according to the Laws and Customs of the Kingdoms that is to say The First born Son shall enjoy the Crown which the Queen Mother hath And if there be no Issue Male the Daughters if there be any shall succeed that is to say the Eldest first and alone c. And that it is just the Succession should obtain after the same manner in the Paternal Inheritance if the Custom of the places would allow it After the death of Queen Elizabeth the Act of Recognition made Upon King James his coming to the Crown doth not take notice of the Title raised by Act of Parliament to Henry the Seventh and the Heirs of his Body But declares that he was Lineally Rightfully and Lawfully descended of the Body of the most excellent Lady Margaret eldest Daughter of this most renowned King Henry the Seventh and the high and noble Prinress Queen Elizabeth his Wife eldest Daughter of King Edward the Fourth The said Lady Margaret being eldest Sister of King Henry the Eighth Father of the High and Mighty Princess of famous Memory Elizabeth late Queen of England In consideration whereof the Parliament doth acknowledge King James their only Lawful and Rightful Leige Lord and Sovereign And further say as being bound thereunto both by the Laws of God and Man they do recognize and acknowledge that Immediately upon the Dissolution and Deceasy of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England and all the Kingdoms Dominions and Rights belonging to the same did by inherent Birth-right and lawful and undoubted Succession descend and come to His most excellent Majesty as being lineally justly and lawfully next and SOLE HEIR of the Blood-Royal of this Realm as it is afore said And thereunto they do most humbly and faithfully submit and oblige themselves their Heirs and Posterities for ever until the last drop of their Bloods be spent What can be clearer than that the Succession to the Crown of England was always thought judged had taken and reputed to be from Nextness of Blood by the Opinion of all sober Men by Law and Custom by this and other Acts of Parliament and Statutes before cited This then being the true History and Case of Succession to the Crown of England and its being only founded upon Proximity of Blood the Author of the Brief History of Succession c. ought to have called it An History of Vsurpations Seditions and Rebellions It was written and intended for a purpose he will not own that is to shew that In the English Monarchy there is not Right of Succession but that Parliaments or Armies may set up whom they please This I confess hath been practised in this Nation and it was the main Cause of the War between the Families of Tork and Lancaster that proceeding from the Right of the one Patty and Possession of the other and the Contrarieties of Acts of Parliament was caused by the Alternate Victories of both But the doing of a thing makes it not lawful Repeated Wickedness or the frequent Repetition of Wiekedness gives no Authority to any one to commit that Wickedness as the frequency of Adulteries or Robberies doth not justifie either of them I think it 's no good Argument to say Edward the Second was deposed and murthered therefore Richard the Second might be deposed and murthered or That they were both deposed and murthered therefore Charles the First might be deposed and murthered or Because King Charles the First was deposed and murthered therefore King Charles the Second may be deposed and murthered Precedents are of force only in things lawful obscure or dubious but never in things unjust The Depositions and Murthers of Edward the Second and Richard the Second the Usurpations and unlawful Actions of Henry the Fourth and Richard the Third were in their own times condemned by all good Men even as the Actions of that Parliament began in 1641. in ours which I suppose is the reason why the Author of the Pamphlet brings not them in as a Precedent which would have served his turn better than all his other Instances But besides their impious Instances we ought to take notice of the Expressions of these Men of Jesuitical Principles They call Usurpation the Election of the People a Faction the Commonwealth the Actions of a few they impute to all They call Rebellion a just and judicial Proceeding often and open Perjury an orderly Revoking of a Sentence God's secret Judgment in permitting Injustice to prevail his owning and allowance thereof the Inconsistency and present Humour of the heedless Multitude who judge of things not by Reason or Justice but either by Opinion which commonly is partial or else by Report which is usually full of Incertainties and Errors the most part Doing because others Do all easie to be drawn in to serve any wicked and ambitious Men's Attempts they call the presumed Will and Consent of the People According to which say they the Succession of the Crown is to be directed And by these Arts they do very much impose upon their unwary Readers To this History of Succession belongs the Act of the Thirteenth of Elizabeth cap. 1. intituled An Act whereby certain Offences are made Treason which as many great and learned Persons think was upon the debate and making of it intended and designed to declare a Power in the Queen and her Successors for ever by Authority of Parliament to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of England and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof Sir Edward Coke says Many Acts of Parliament are hardly to be understood unless the History of that time be joyned thereunto This Parliament met April 2. 1571. 13 Eliz. and was dissolved May 29. following This Parliament we see was holden in the beginning of the Year 1571. Some Years before but most especially in the Year1570 immediately preceding there had been many Practices and Seditious and Treasonable Contrivances against Queen Elizabeth by Foreign as well as Domestick Enemies By the Pope and