Emperour of Greece Whose Death I have lamented when I was in my Youth When first the unhappy News arrived his Son Henry a Valiant Prince succeeded him in the Empire and his Eldest Daughter Jane in his Earldom of Flanders Their Country holds of me and is a Feudatory of my Crown as the Earl is a Peer of my Kingdom I wish I could alter the Course of Nature and that what has happened had not been that my dear Vncle the Father of my Cousin-German whose Name and Memory is of admirable Veneration in Greece could return to Life But I cannot lightly be perswaded from the belief I have of his death and the report which hath been confirmed through the course of so many Years Most humane things especially Empires subsist by the Testimony of men Tell me then for whom you would be received If for my Vncle shew it us by some authentick proof and because the thing is unexpected it will be so much the more agreeable and give me transports of joy and satisfaction when I am convinced I have wept for my Vncle without cause and for a false Opinion whilst he that I should Reverence like a Father is restor'd to me I am glad that a few short questions will make your self judge and witness in your own Cause which the World must needs know is of the greatest Importance I ask you then If my Father King Philip treated you as his Homager and whether he gave you the Investiture of the Earldom of Flanders In what place at what time in what manner and before what Witnesses did he gird on your Sword and made you a Knight And of what Order was it Who was the Wife you Married in France Who treated the Match In what place and with what Ceremonies did you Marry her for the true Baldwyn cannot be ignorant of these matters I have exactly made a Recital of all the Questions from Paulus Aemilius that admirable Historian It is very strange that he who had so well studied the Genealogies of the Flemish Lords could not tell what Wife he Married which was Margaret Daughter to the Earl of Champagne The Annals of Flanders say it was the Bishop of Beauvais President of the Kings Counsel that askt him all these questions which may be reduced to three 1. In what place he did Homage for his Earldom of Flanders 2. By whom and in what Place he was made a Knight 3. In what Place and on what Day he Married Margaret of Champagne But this Impostor as surprized with all these Questions askt three days to answer them Perhaps one might excuse a Man for not remembring several Circumstances of the principal Actions of his Life Besides such an August Assembly before so Great a King and Magnificent a Court a Subject of such consequence before an Audience no ways favourable with the Apprehension of the Danger might distract him and hinder his answering pertinently Guaguin says That speaking Haughtily to the Points in question without sufficient Proofs of what he pretended to be the King commanded him to go out of his Realm in three days but doing him no hurt because he had given him his safe Conduct This Impostor being thus shamefully Driven away retir'd to Valenciennes in Haynault where being abandon'd by those whose hopes of advantage by this Novelty had made them promise him great assistance he disguis'd himself like a Trades-man intending to have past into Burgundy hoping to find countenance and support there but he was watcht and taken on his way by a Burgundian Gentleman Erard Castenac who sold him to the Countess Jane for four hundred Marks She put him to the torture and forc'd him by his torments to Confess his Imposture He said he was Born in Champagne and his name was Bertrand de Rayns he was led through all the Cities of Flanders and Haynault where after having been shew'd to the People he was publickly hang'd at Lisle in Flanders Famâ ancipiti jurene an injuriâ The greatest part of Europe was in doubt whether the Countess justly put this Impostor to Death The example of Peter Courtney Successor of the true Baldwyn and Henry in right of his Wife Yolante persuaded the possibility of so straight a Prison as might not give him Opportunity to inform his Subjects and Friends what misfortune had befallen him The Catastrophe of this false Baldwyn happen'd in the year of Christ 1225. and of the World 5186. CHAP. VIII Perkin Warbeck OR THE COUNTERFEIT Duke of York Son of Edward the Fourth King of England THis Impostor continued longer than any of the rest and had more Chances and happy Hours The Cruelty of Richard Duke of Glocester Son of Richard Duke of York and Brother of Edward the Fourth King of England gave Henry Earl of Richmond Grand-son of Owen Tudor and Catharine of France a Pretension to Arm against him for the Recovery of the Kingdom of England which Edward the Fourth before Duke of York and Head of the Red-Rose had usurp't from Henry the Sixth Richard Duke of Glocester had also usurp't the Crown from Edward the Fifth a young Prince of Twelve years old Eldest Son and Successor to King Edward the Fourth as likewise from his Brother Richard Duke of York his two Nephews whom he unnaturally and cruelly murthered in the Tower of London in the year 1483. It was the Person of this last Richard Duke of York and only Brother of King Edward the Fifth that this Impostor Peter Warbeck commonly called Perkin Warbeck so artfully imitated for Five or Six Years time from 1494 untill 1499 putting all England into combustion and perplexity on that Subject and giving much trouble to the new Conqueror Henry the Seventh who was before Earl of Richmond Margaret Sister to King Edward the Fourth Widow of Charles the Hardy Duke of Burgundy and Soveraign of the Seventeen Provinces of the Lower Germany produced and instructed this Counterfeit to take the Crown of England if she could have effected what she had often endeavoured from Henry the Seventh Chief of the House of Lancaster or the White-Rose whom she mortally hated This is the Truth of the Story as Polydore Virgil Historiographer to Henry the Eighth relates it in the Twenty-sixth Book of his History of England This Princess a Woman of an Ambitious and Intriguing humour had conceived a great Aversion to Henry the Seventh Exterminator of the Usurper Richard Duke of Glocester The principal cause of her Hatred proceeded from the long Enmity between his Family of Lancaster and her 's of the House of York which made her continually endeavour by all means imaginable his extirpation with the satisfaction of her own Revenge in the removal of the Crown to One of her own Party But finding all her endeavours miscarried and those of John Earl of Lincoln were come to nothing her old Inveterate temper prompted her with new Expedients more difficult for Henry to prevent She met a young man at Tourney who was handsom
going out of the Kingdom except with good Passes and to hinder all great Assemblies For the better disabusing the English from their false opinions he sent his subtlest Spies through all the Towns of Flanders to understand the Birth and Original of this Counterfeit promising large Recompence to those that could discover it Writing to his Friends on the same Subject These Emissaries exactly obeyed their Orders some of them coming to Tournay found the false Richard was Born there of the Meanest of the People his name being Peter Warbeck of which they brought very authentick Attestations Upon this the King sent a solemn Embassy to young Earl Philip in Flanders of which Sir Edward Poinings and William Warham Dr. of Laws were chief The latter of these was also a Church-man of extraordinary Parts and Modesty He made a Speech to the Lords of the Young Princes Counsel who was not of Age yet to take the Government upon himself He laid the impiousness of the Impostor before them putting them in mind of the like happening in their Country about 250 years before in the time of their Countess Jane Likewise telling them that the Effects of the King his Masters Friendship to Maximilian Father of the Prince in the War of France should not be so quickly blotted out of their memory sharply reflecting on the Conduct of the Dutchess Margaret who brought forth in her elder Years not a Child at nine Months but a Prodigy of nine score Months old The Councel after a long Debate reply'd That to gratifie the King their Earl would give no assistance to Perkin But for the Dutchess Dowager She was Mistress of her Joynture and her Actions and they would neither prescribe nor forbid her any thing The Ambassadors being return'd Henry sent divers Emissaries some to discover the Names of the Conspirators by feigning to enter into the design others to endeavour the persuading Sir Robert Clifford and William Barklay to return with the assurance of their Pardon Clifford was prevailed on but Barklay continued obstinate not returning till two Years after and till he was certain of the Kings Mercy Some of the Kings Messengers came back after having discovered many of the Conspirators Others staid longer to accompany Clifford whose coming home so much discountenanced the Plotters that they knew not whom to trust The King being informed who several of the Conspirators were caused them to be Seized and Committed to Prison in London the Chief were John Ratclif Lord Fitz-Walter Sir Simon Montfort and Sir Thomas Thwaites Knights William Dawbeney Robert Ratclif Richard Lacy with divers others Some Priests William Richeford and Thomas Ponys Dominican Fryers William Sutton Robert Laybourn and William Worsley Dean of St. Pauls The rest finding their practises were discovered fled to several places of Refuge They were all Condemned as Traytors but only these Principal were Beheaded Robert Ratclif William Dawbeney and Simon Montfort John Ratclif Lord Fitzwalter was carried to Calais where for endeavouring to make his Escape he lost his Head likewise The rest the King Pardoned Not long after Sir Robert Clifford Arrived and the King chose to speak with him in the Tower that in case he accused any Great Men about his Person he might secure them there Much discourse there was touching Cliffords Conduct some thought him all along to have been imploy'd by the King to discover the rest This was occasioned by the ready obtaining his Pardon and his Return made him equally decry'd by both Parties his Friends believing him a Cheat but the small consideration the King had of him generally convinced People he acted as he thought through his Inclination to the House of York being deceived into the persuasion it was the true Prince He threw himself at the Kings Feet giving an account what passed in Flanders and naming amongst his Accomplices Sir William Stanley It much astonished the King he being his Lord Chamberlain to whom he trusted his most Important Affairs and who had gain'd him the Crown which was wore by his assistance in the Battel against Rich. the Third the Usurper Clifford pretending to know his ill will to the King from the beginning he having declared He would never bear Arms against that Young Man if he were convinced he was the Son of King Edward Polydore Virgil says his Resentment proceeded from his not being rewarded as he thought he had deserved to be Benesicium post hominum memoriam Maximum per quod Henricus a periculo vitaeliberatus conservatusque Regnum sibi quaesivit For when the King was over-power'd at the Battel of Bosworth and like to be torn in pieces by that Squadron where his Enemy Richard was Sir William Stanly by order of his Brother Thomas who Commanded the Reserve effectually helping where he found most need charging Richard he disingaged the King and gave him the Victory These Considerations made him in some suspence but the consequence of the Example prevail'd and he was Beheaded as the rest were The King was under a necessity to use that Rigour for hindring the Insolent discourses of the common People who talkt Maliciously and Cursed him at their little Meetings saying aloud They expected every day the Duke of York and to see him on the Throne But these Executions and the Method he used in his Affairs extinguished great part of those Heats and restored many People to their Duty Giles Lord Dawbeney whose Prudence and Fidelity the King was well assured of possest the Place of Lord Chamberlain Vacant by the Death of Sir William Stanley The Irish more than ever persisting in their rash unadvisedness it was resolved to endeavour to crush those Seeds of Sedition Perkin had sown amongst them the precedent Years For which Intent the King sent Henry Denny Abbot of Langton a Wise and Contriving Man whom he designed to make Chancellor of that Kingdom making Sir Edward Poynings his Colleague who was to command the Army These two Persons representing the two Arms of Justice one holding the Scales the other the Sword shewing above the Cheats of an Impostor the Majesty of a Lawful King Non solum Armis decoratam sed Legibus armatam They had order to go where he had been and take an exact account who they were that resolved to assist him and to Arm all they could to pursue the Accomplices Ireland was divided into two sorts of Inhabitants the one Civilized through the converse with other Nations but especially the English The others Wild and Savage as any upon Earth living by Theft enclin'd to Rebellion and Novely destroying one another according to the Inclinations and Avarice of those they follow Perkin knowing the Genius and Turbulent Spirits of the latter addressed himself to them These Sir Edward Poynings attackt chiefly knowing them most Guilty but they would never stand the shock always flying to their Boggs and Mountains The other Irish did not obey his Orders nor send him Succours as they promised which made him give over
the Pursuit believing the old Governour Gerald Earl of Kildare favoured them underhand wherefore he cunningly seized his Person and brought him to the King before whom this Earl so pleaded his Cause that he was sent back and restored to his Government being thought the most prudent way in that Conjuncture because of his great Interest and Authority with the Irish While these things were transacting in England Warbeck was extreamly grieved his Conspiracy was discovered and many of his chiefest Friends Executed Yet he notwithstanding resolved to cross the Sea accompanied by a great number of Vagabonds such Fugitives as would follow him 'T is true he had some Lords and good Captains in his Train to strengthen his hopes of the Crown His Fleet came upon the Coast of Kent where the weather being calm he Landed some of his Men for the better securing or persuading the Country People to his Party But the Impostor was already known every where and they had suffered much Misery and Desolation in the late Wars They knew the Soldiers of this false Richard were all Strangers who would make no distinction of Friends or Enemies where they were strong enough to Plunder and Pillage nor have respect to Churches or Places Sacred believing God had left them since several of their Party had been put to shameful deaths as a punishment of their Guilt Wherefore these Inhabitants endeavoured to destroy this Counterfeit by persuading him to Land all his Men promising to give notice to their Neighbours and make a considerable body while he prepared for his March Perkin distrusted their Intentions knowing the common People use no Ceremony in their Emotions but run on without Reason or Deliberation Therefore he resolved not to Land himself but to venture part of his Men who were no sooner out of sight when the Country People Charged them driving them back to the Sea so that only the most Nimble and most Cowardly escaped the Stoutest and Robust were killed or wounded The latter were not treated as Prisoners of War but like Pirats and Thieves 150 being Hanged along the Shore The King himself was on his March from London against these Vagabonds till meeting the news of their Defeat he returned sending only Sir Richard Guilford to thank the Kentishmen for their Loyalty and assure them of his Grace and Favour incouraging them to persist in the same Fidelity and Zeal for his Interest Though this ill success troubled Warbeck and his Friends who returned to Flanders they gave not over for it taking new Resolutions of Landing in Ireland and Levying Men there for the Invading the Western parts of England And if that failed to go for Scotland which Nation had never Peace long with the English His Aunt giving him Money for the equipping a Fleet and making some Levies He Sayled with good Weather to the Irish Coasts where he soon found the inequality between those unarmed unexperienced People and the English Forces yet not daring to expose his Men to the Slaughter he rather chose the other Project of passing into Scotland where James the Fourth was not displeased at the Arrival of a Person so much discours'd of through all Europe out of the Aversion his People had for the English giving him Access to his Royal Person where Polydore Virgil says he made this Speech I know Great Prince you cannot be Ignorant what Calamities have late befallen the Family of Edward the Fourth King of England whose Son I assure your Majesty I am having by a Miracle escaped Death My Father e're he dyed made Richard Duke of Glocester my Uncle Guardian to Edward my Elder Brother and my self hoping the great kindness he always favoured him with would oblige him to more tenderness of us But alas how was he deceived for our Guardian became our Murderer Transported by his Ambition of Reigning he gave his positive Commands for our Destruction The Person he instructed with his Orders frighted with the horror of the Crime obey'd but half his Instructions For after he had taken away my Brother's sparing my life he suffered a faithful Servant to convey me out of the Kingdom who left me not till I was past all danger By these Methods my Vncle Richard seized the Crown as if it had been the Reward of his Crimes whilst I after this Deliverance wandring about the World almost forgot who I was At last coming to my Aunt Margaret Widow of that most excellent Prince Charles late Duke of Burgundy she received me with unspeakable joy as risen from the dead But that Princess having only her Joynture in Flanders and not able to assist me with Force enough for the recovery of my Kingdom I have been constrained to have Recourse to other Princes And by her advice I am come to Your Majesty though slenderly accompanyed Yet knowing your Princely Generosity which has filled the World with your Glory particularly for your Inclination to protect the Vnhappy Dispossessed of their Rights who becoming Objects of the Cruelty of wicked Men are so much the greater of Your Royal Clemency This encourages me to implore Your Majesty's Assistance for this Vnhappy Prince here before You for the Recovery of his antient Kingdom And I assure you I and my Successors will so acknowledge Your Majesty's Grace and Favour that this Crown will not repent the Kindness though to say truly it is above all we can do to express our Gratitude as we ought King James answer'd his Speech very civilly exhorting him to take Courage and assure himself he should not repent his coming thither He Assembled his Council who were much divided in their Opinions some taking him for an Impostor others whose Advice prevailed affirming that if he were the true Duke of York both He and all his Posterity must acknowledge this Favour and for it be obliged to Scotland Or although he should prove a Counterfeit this Pretence of War would make the English treat with more inclination to grant what they desired for the dis-engaging the Scots from his Interest This last Advice was followed by the King who shewed Perkin extraordinary Respects stiling him Highness and Duke of York And to advance his Credit he married him to his Kinswoman Katharine Daughter of Alexander Earl of Huntley a Lady of incomparable Beauty and Vertue whose Obedience to the King rather than the Ambition of having her Head Crowned one day with a Royal Diadem o're-came the Repugnance she had in her Heart to marry a Man so unknown whom many called an Impostor The Motives which perswaded the King to this Match were for a specious Pretext of War and breaking the Truce with the English He being by this obliged to protect his new Kinsman and Ally without being accounted rash in his Assistance if the Deceit should be discovered for this Marriage must needs perswade the World he thought him the true Duke of York King James raised Men and formed an Army which you will suppose gave the Impostor great
out to know their Reasons and whether they came not as Spies From Words they soon came to Blows which put the Scotch who were fewer in Number to Flight leaving several Dead on the Place At this the King of Scotland was incensed demanding the Violaters of the Peace in his Letters where he highly complain'd of them The King of England tryed to appease Him promising exemplary Punishment on the Aggressors Richard Fox Bishop of Durham being extreamly displeased that the Garrison he had placed there should give Occasion of Variance between those two Monarchs who with so great Difficulty were brought to an Accord sent his Letters to King James assuring him he might expect all possible Satisfaction This Prince who very much esteemed him honoured him with an Answer and an Invitation to come and discourse of Matters The Bishop immediately informed the King his Master who permitted him to go It was in this Visit that King James told him If He did not fear a Denyal he would ask the Princess Margaret his Master's Eldest Daughter in Marriage The Bishop encouraged his Hopes undertaking to sound the Affair without ingaging His Honour in it King Henry rejoyced at the Overture and accepted it with all His Heart It was from this Marriage of the Princess Margaret to James the Fourth King of Scotland that James the Sixth of Scotland and since King of England as next Heir Inherited the Crown of England after the Death of Queen Elizabeth in the Year 1603. Now we will declare the Catastrophe and Death of the Impostor Perkin together with that of the Unfortunate Prince Edward Earl of Warwick Warbeck's Turbulent Spirit ill brooking so strait an Imprisonment endeavoured to make his Escape and finding his Guards to abate something of their first strictness got out of Prison directing his Flight towards the Sea-side for Shipping off privately which in England after Proclamation to the contrary is very difficult He was quickly miss'd and every way pursued He carefully watching hid himself in Ditches and behind the Hedges till the Horsemen that sought him were past When despairing to get out of the Island and finding himself reduced to the utmost Distress he waited the Obscurity of the Night and got to a Monastery where asking for the Prior and throwing his Arms about his Neck he declared his Misfortune The Father touched with his Misery promised to speak to the King which accordingly he did whose Piety granted his Life without other present Punishment provided he no more attempted to escape The Counterfeit was then led in Chains to London where before Westminster-Hall he was in a pair of Stocks exposed a whole Day to the Scorn and Mockery of the People The next day enduring the same in the City where he declared his Parentage the Place of his Birth and all the Passages of his Life and by what Means he was induced to make this Attempt and from thence he was conveyed into the Tower As for Young Edward Earl of Warwick he had been a Prisoner from his Cradle bred up out of the Sight of Men or Beasts So that he could not distinguish a Goose from a Hen and incapable of doing any thing worthy of death He was nevertheless brought to it by the Crimes of Others That Age being Fruitful in Impostors an Augustine Monk called Patrick suborned a Youth whose Name we find not with Promises of Raising him to the Crown and to better Fortune than Perkin Warbeck's provided he would pass for the Earl of Warwick and but leave him alone to Act the rest Ambition had such Charms with the Young Man that he undertook it and hazarded all was desired of him So they came to Canterbury where they told their forged Adventure The Fryar declaring how dextrously he had got the Earl of Warwick out of Prison and some credulous People believing the Story But before they had time to cheat the World the King sent and apprehended the Two Sparks Hanged the Youth and Immured the Monk according to the Custom of those Times Perkin continued still the same contriving and endeavouring to break loose once more and having corrupted some of his Guards design'd to Murther the Lieutenant of the Tower and carrying the Earl of Warwick with him to get out by Force which being discovered he was by the Judges condemned for this last Action only and a few days after hanged accordingly As for the Earl of Warwick he lost his Head for listening to him and intending to Escape with him This Unhappy Prince bearing the Iniquity of his Father George Duke of Clarence who was the Barbarous Murtherer of Prince Edward only Son and design'd Successor of Henry the Sixth You may imagine the Astonishment and Affliction the Dutchess Margaret was in for the Unfortunate End of her Pretended Nephew whom she had taken such Pains to set on the English Throne by so many Impostures CHAP. IX THE COUNTERFEIT Don Sebastian KING of PORTVGAL THe first Prince that gave Beginning to the Royal Family of Portugal was Henry who Married Teresa or Taresia Alphonso King of Castile's natural Daughter in the Year 1090 having the Earldom of Portugal for her Portion The King hoping he would make as Vigorous a War against the Moors as his Brother Hugh Duke of Burgundy had done giving him that Country for a Bulwark to defend his own from those Infidels towards whom it was the Frontiers He was the Son of another Henry Duke of Burgundy Grand-son of Robert Duke of the same who was Grand-son to Robert King of France Successor to Hugh Capet I do not mind the Opinions of several Historians who are much perplext to find out of what Family and Country this Henry was Theod. Godefroy one of the most Learned and most Curious Persons of his Time first discovered this Original of the Kings of Portugal and those Famous Twins Scevola and Lewis de St. Martha have Authorized it in their Genealogical History of the House of France The Princes of this Race have held the Royal Dignity and Signaliz'd their Conduct by many Victories over the Unbelievers even beyond our Hemisphere But to give an Account of their Actions is no part of my Subject therefore I will only say They have generally held the Scepter with Great Glory and without any Interruption in the Royal Family to this very Don Pedro who now Reigns with the Title of Prince Regent no Objection being to be made except two or three suspicions of Illegitimacy so that it has always been supported by the same Blood Royal. Don Sebastian whose misfortune we treat of which gave an opportunity for an Impostor to aspire and pretend to his Diadem perswading the World he Escaped from the Unhappy Battle of Alcazer at three Years Old which was in the Year 1557. Succeeded Don John the Third his Paternal Grand-Father He was Grand-son to the Emperor Charles the Fifth by his Mother Jane In his Youth he had been under the Tutulage of Donna Catharina of Austria his
made him swallow Poyson without effect strangled him with his own hands reporting he had destroy'd himself when he had Reign'd Six Months and Eight Days The French and Venetian Army by Land and Sea continued in the Neighbourhood expecting the effect of young Alexis Promises which he not being able to perform in the time agreed on too earnestly endeavouring to raise the Money fell into the hatred of the People and was thus deprived of his Diadem and Life So bloody a Regicide deserved the Chastisement our Warriours intended him who drawing their Army down Besieged Constantinople for 72 Days Geofry de Vilhardouin writ the Story of this Siege and the particular Actions of the Heroes Murzuphle fled with his Treasures abandoning the City which was taken the 12th of April 1204. The Princes and other Lords resolved to choose an Emperor amongst them The Earl of Flanders with the Count of St. Paul named Five to give their Suffrages The Marquis of Montferrat and the Earl of Savoy other five The Venetians choosing the like Number In all 15 Voyces The Plurality were for Baldwyn This Prince was very powerful and a Great Souldier of which he had given many Proofs in the Siege He was Uncle by the Mothers Side to Lewis design'd Successor to Philip the August King of France He was Crown'd by Thomaso Morosini newly created Patriarch of Constantinople Boniface Marquis of Montferrat had from young Alexis for a Recompence the Island of Candia which he sold the Venetians for a great Sum of Money and was nevertheless made King of Thessaly Godfry Lord of Champagn was made Duke of Athens and Prince of Achaia John Earl of Brienne was sometime after made King of Jerusalem Baldwin had scarcely possest this new Dignity a Year before he went to Besiege Adrianople three Days Journey from him and possest by his Enemies who very much annoyed him That Success he had in the beginning did not accompany him in this Affair since by the profound Secrets of the Divine Pleasure being attackt with great Numbers of his Adversaries Greek Fugitives Bulgarians and Tartars he was defeated and supposed to be kill'd in the Plaines of Orestes A nostris pro Mortuo deploratus est says Paulus Aemilius His Brother Henry Succeeding him in the Empire This Disaster happened in the Year 1205 though some Chronologists antidate it two or three Years Twenty Years after This Famous Impostor calling himself by the Name of this Emperour appeared in Flanders Jane eldest Daughter of this Baldwin by Mary the Daughter of Henry Earl of Champagne was at that time Countess of Flanders and Married to Fernando Infant of Portugal She had great Wars her Husband having been taken Prisoner at the Famous Battle of Bovines which King Philip the August gained over the Emperour Otho the 4th in year 1214. And was long a Prisoner in the Louvre at Paris Although this had been some Years past she still felt her losses and that great Consternation Robert Son of Peter de Courtenay Earl of Auxerre and Prince of the Blood of France and Yolente only Daughter and Inheritrix of the Emperour Henry Earl of Flanders then possest that Throne to which this Impostor pertended One would have thought he should first have gone to the place where he was taken Prisoner but he could hope no assistance from the Greeks On the contrary Theodore Lascaris who resided at Nice and always took upon himself the Title of Emperour of Constantinople would have used him worse than the Bulgarians if he had fallen into his hands As for Robert de Courtnay whose Mother Yolente was his pretended Niece he was no ways inclin'd to yield him the Empire he had too much difficulty in obtaining it His Father the Emperour Peter falling into the Hands of Theodore was cruelly put to Death by him So that this Impostor thought his Affairs would advance better and he be more kindly received in his Native Country The Earldome of Haynault was his first Inheritance for this Baldwin was Son to an Earl of Haynault of the same Name Sirnamed The Magnanimous and of Margaret of Alsace Heiress of Flanders For this Reason he was Joyfully received there and with more satisfaction to those Martial People who hated the Dominion of a Woman Besides it was Independant on the Kings of France The Flemings received him very coldly seeing but a small Train with him nor would they own him for their Earl or Emperour of Greece This Impostor affected an extraordinary Gravity in his Meine the better to draw Veneration and acquire the Majesty of an Emperour The Countess Jane refused to see him but was advised to interrogate him for the better discovery of his Practises The President of her Councel of State summon'd him to appear ask'd him many troublesome Questions Gravibus fatigare percontationibus ausus est and spoke to him in this manner If it be true that you are the Earl Baldwin and assume not a False Title to the Empire of Greece I demand of you Why you have abandon'd your Subjects in that Country Even those poor People laden with Miseries whom the Divine Providence by the Suffrages of so many brave Men had committed to your Protection Why forsake you them in their greatest need of your Conduct and Care having so many Generous and Experienc'd Captains to whom you owed the last and greatest Obligations for chusing you among the most principal Men in the World to be their Chief and set the Imperial Diadem upon your Head Why have you thus neglected them exposed to the rage of Barbarous Nations For this reason although you were the true Baldwin we have sufficient Cause to dissemble our knowledge of you sure then we shall not own you who are but a false and a counterfeit Badlwin Why when the Affairs of all the East were laid on your shoulders to be supported and sustained by you when they were in disorder and lost by your misfortune have you feign'd to be dead and conceal'd your being alive What could you expect from so strange a Deceit Or what could be the reason of such a supposition and imposture If you would so long dwell among the Dead why should we now believe you are alive not having appear'd in any place these twenty years And had you been what you pretend now why did you not come in the time of Philip the August your Brother in Law who Married Alix one of your Sisters and in the life time of so many persons of Honour who might either have proved your Imposture or authorized your Title Why came you not sooner out of the Grave In what darkness have you hid that Glorious Face known to the whole World And with what new one do you pretend to Enchant the eyes of Men after so many years I ask if you believe your self that we ought to give faith to a Man who after so vast an Interval shall say I am the Emperor Baldwyn Have we never seen nor heard that there
of a subtle with and quick Apprehension his name was Peter Warbeck but the English in Derision after called him Perkin He understood English and some other Languages was very little known being of the meanest Birth and in extream Poverty He had Travel'd through divers Countrys like a Beggar and a Vagabond Him the Dutchess Margaret thought a sit Instrument to Counterfeit the Duke of York second Son of Edward the Fourth She hid him in her House and instructed him in the affairs of England and the particular Interests of the House of York till he perfectly understood his business Imprinting her Maxims in his memory and talking properly of them persuading all that he was the Real Prince of that Illustrious Family Persons of that Quality and Birth have an Instinct not to be described to follow the steps of their Glorious Ancestors that they may deserve the same admiration and even in this she had informed him And now she understanding that King Henry was raising Men for France to assist Francis Duke of Brittain his old Benefactor believing this a favourable occasion to set her Engins at work and cause a disturbance in England she sent Perkin privately into Ireland that so this young and well-instructed Adventurer might sow the Seeds of Rebellion amongst those unciviliz'd People who were always inclin'd to Mutiny When he Landed in Ireland he so well imploy'd his time and favour there that many of the principal Irish believed his deceit and gave him the same Honour as if he had really been what he pretended promising to Arm and follow him with all Necessaries for the War This News being spread abroad Francis the Eighth King of France invited him to his Court that he might oppose him to Henry his declared Enemy who was then ready to Land in France Perkin overjoy'd at this News believing himself Blest to enter into the Familiarity of Kings repassed the Sea and came to the French Court where he was Magnificently received and had a Train of Guards appointed him But suddenly after a Peace was concluded between France and England and the King finding him no longer useful for his Purpose dismist him the Court. Being thus disappointed of his hopes he went to the Dutchess Dowager into Flanders This Princess longed to know how he had been Received and Entertained but the disappointment sensibly afflicted her yet she Treated him as if she had never seen him before which she cunningly endeavoured to persuade being overjoy'd to see him publickly Congratulating his happy return and taking a singular pleasure to hear him tell how nearly he escaped in several Countrys which he Travell'd This she did the better to persuade the World he was the true Son of Edward the Fourth her Brother and shew'd him extraordinary Respect as likewise did the Flemish Lords on her account The Deceit being hid under so much appearance of Truth as persuaded them that he escap'd death by the particular Providence of Heaven and when he was in the Power of his Uncle Richard a faithful Servant of his Fathers had convey'd him privately beyond Sea so Rescuing him out of his cruel hands and that now he would attempt to regain the Kingdom of his Ancestors The Story of so strange an Adventure was soon spread over all the Country flying into England where it past for Truth not only among the common People but even with several of the Nobility When the News came that Richard Duke of York was alive the number of the Seditious increas'd abundantly They whose Crimes or Debts made them abscond or whose Poverty hoped advantage fled into Flanders to Perkin and soon after many of the most considerable Lords entred into the Conspiracy and believed the Impostor swayed by their own rashness or by a false persuasion that this young Man was Prince Richard Son of King Edward and having a blind affection for the House of York Others through Disgust believing themselves ill rewarded by Henry the Seventh whom they had ventured their Lives for to set him upon the Throne Many through Avarice and a desire of change were driven into this Conspiracy Thus the News of Richard Duke of Yorks being alive divided England Hopes and Fears filled the minds of all men none were exempted from Trouble each measuring his Danger or Advantage according to his Interest Fancy and particular Opinion It was an extraordinary astonishment to the King and his Friends that there should be any Man in the World who had the Impudence to invent and discourse so Pernicious an Imposture which was not only improbable but lookt impossible and under the colour of Truth concealed a most Subtle and Implacable piece of Malice which he already knew many great Men in the Kingdom had a mind to give Credit to though he dissembled his Information And he foresaw this Fable might indanger the Ruin of the State if it were not early discovered to the Nation for no other than a fictitious most wicked and dangerous Counterfeit Those who delighted in War and Trouble embrac'd these Novelties persuading themselves there was no deceit in them and that the News was all true believing they should reap both Honour and Profit by Fomenting the Hopes of their Party And this being a Point of so much Importance the Conspirators sent into Flanders to the Dutchess Dowager to know of her when she thought fit that Richard Duke of York should pass over into England that they might the sooner Advertise their Friends and have them ready to give him all necessary Assistance Sir Robert Clifford and William Barklay were deputed for this by the general Consent of the rest They gave the Dutchess Margaret an account what the Creatures and Favourers of this New Duke had agreed to do which gave her an extream pleasure She assured them all that had been advantagiously discoursed of Richard Duke of York was really so shewing them the Impostor who Counterfeited the Person of Richard to a wonder Then she extoll'd his Vertues to the Skies and made admirable Report of his Princely Inclinations which were to imitate the Actions of his glorious Ancestors When Clifford had seen the Youth he really believed him of the Blood Royal and so writ to his Correspondents in England And the better to make himself be believed he assured them he perfectly remembred his Face After the delivery of these Letters they contrived a new Motive to excite the People to favour their Party They assured them nothing could be more True than the News of Richard Duke of York and this they so cunningly spread that no Author could be produced for the Report The King perceiving these Deceits not to diminish in the Peoples minds thought himsâ—lf absolutely obliged to provide for the Public Safety in which his own Interest was so deeply ingaged He knew where this design was laid and understood Cliffords Secret Departure sending Officers with some chosen Men and approved Souldiers to the Sea-Coasts for the preventing any Mens Landing in or
Occasion of so many Rebellions The King of Scotland could not in Honour yeild to deliver up a Man to Death whom he had raised and made his Kinsman So at last it was agreed that he should quit his Interest and command him out of his Dominions These Articles were agreed on and a Peace was made between them in the Year 1498. Henry King of England sent home this Spanish Ambassador Loaden with Presents and with great Thanks to his King and Queen Then was the Marriage projected of Prince Arthur the Kings Eldest Son and Katharine the Infanta afterwards Marryed to Henry the VIII his Second Son whose Famous Divorce caused so many Revolutions in the Kingdom About the same time King Henry Received two other Embassies One from the King of France the Other from Prince Philip Earl of Flanders Son to the Emperour Maximilan who renewed his Alliance with Him The King of Scotland exactly observed the Articles of Peace touching Perkin Warbeck being wholly disabused concerning him He sent for him and told him in short what he had done in his Favour but he found himself obliged to conclude a Peace with England and now was no longer in Circumstances to give him assistance or allow him his Court for a Retreat Therefore advised him to retire and hope a better Fortune Though this was a Fatal Blow to Warbeck it came not unforeseen by him who wanted not Understanding but extreamly thanked the King assuring him he could never acknowledge his Favours as he ought and desired acquiescing in his Orders After this with his Wife he went for Ireland with Intention either to go for Flanders to his Aunt or head the Cornish Malecontents But resolving on the latter he found the Minds of those People irritated by their Losses and easily engaged them to Mutiny He then gave out his Commissions and Formed his Army with Design to surprize some considerable Towns which might serve for a Refuge in case of ill Success With this intent he Besieged Exeter using all Endeavours to carry it by Assault and trying to seize the Gates for Petards nor Rams were not then in Use he brought Great Stones and Axes instead of those Engins which not taking effect he employ'd Fire and heaping Wood against the Gates indeavoured to burn them The Besieged used the same Expedient Fireing great quantity of Wood within their Gates by Flames preventing their Danger by Fire He then raised his Scaling Ladders and commanded the Attack to be made which was better repulsed many of his Men being left dead under the Walls the very Women throwing Stones and Scalding Water on the Besiegers King Henry being Informed what Danger the Besieged were in advanced with great Marches to their Assistance sending Detached Partys to declare His Coming In the mean time several Men of Quality got into the City with supplyes Amongst whom was Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire and several of his Family Peter Edgcomb and William St. Maure and other Men of Noto This extreamly perplexed Perkin he could not cover his Men in any strong Place who for the most part of them were ill provided of Armes as well Offensive as Defensive and considering he was not able to resist so Powerful Enemies as were advancing towards him he raised the Siege and Marched to Taunton where he Muster'd his Men and drew them up in Battalia of which the King hearing directed his March that way many Lords Joyning Him and giving Demonstrations of their Zeal to express and Signalize their Loyalty on that Occasion The King Commanded my Lord Brook my Lord Dawbeney and Sir Richard Thomas with a Party of chosen detached Men to begin the Charge but both his Orders and their Resolutions were needless For Warbeck through his own Natural Cowardize or believing himself betray'd ran away and left his Army flying into the Monastery of Beaulieu His Officers seeing themselves abandonned lost their Resolution and tryed to save themselves by Flight The wretched Multitude being left without a Head knew not what to do whether to resolve to dye Fighting or to Implore the Kings Mercy But choosing the latter they threw down their Armes and on their Knees begged Pardon which the King granted them For certainly if their Officers had not left them it would have cost him very dear they being resolved to overcome or dye Partyes of Light-Horse were sent every way for the Apprehension of Warbeck and the Chief of his Gang But though they missed him they took most of the others his Accomplices Some of the Searchers found Katharine Huntley Wife of Perkin with her Women Her they brought to the King who was much furprized to see so Beautiful a Lady extreamly pittying her Misfortune And considering such a Noble Prize was not fit to be the Souldiers Prey but worthy an Emperor He sent her to London where he presented to the Queen this unfortunate Lady so unhappily Sacrificed to the Humour or Interests of the King her Uncle Match't to a Villain and Impostor instead of a Legitimate Prince whom she justly Merited and not the extream Grief of seeing this Counterfeit her Husband suffer the deserved Reproaches and Calumny of the Basest Profligates The King Encompast the Monastery of Beaulieu with his Army for the better securing Perkin Not being willing to Violate the Sanctuary he himself having been protected the same manner in Bretagn when Richard the Usurper demanded him Besides such was the Custome of those days Wherefore he sent him word by the Religious Men of the Monastery that he would spare his Life assuring him of his Clemency yet nevertheless at Exeter he beheaded several of the Principal Rebels punishing many of the rest which were taken in their Flight thanking that City for their Zeal and Fidelity With Warbeck in his Power he return'd for London where the People in Multitudes Flock't to see Perkin with astonishment admiring that a Forreigner of so mean Birth should undertake by his Impostures the Overthrow of so great a Kingdome and perswade so many Princes Lords and People to the Destruction of many of the Truth of those Falsehoods he till then spread abroad both of his Person and Birth There is no doubt but that the King kept him close Prisoner and justly punish't those remarkable Rebels of Cornwall Devon and Sommersetshire for which Service he sent Thomas Lord Darcy Sir Anyas Pawlet and Robert Sherburn Dean of St. Pauls with his Commission into the West where they soundly Fined Amerced every one that had Assisted or Favoured the Rebels before or after their Defeat at Black-heath But yet with consideration of such Persons who either through Fear or by Force were compell'd to do it There happened about this time a Quarrel between the English and Scotch that had like to have renewed the War Some Scotch were observed to walk under the Walls of Norham which a little before they had Besieged and the next day doing it again the English Garrison fearing they had some Design sent
in his Place the absent Voldemar whom they believed was dead They knew that Lewis bore a mighty Hatred to the House of Ascagne the two Electors of that Family Rodolph Duke of Saxony and Voldemar the First having opposed his Election declaring for Frederick of Austria his Rival in the Empire in the year 1313 at the Diet of Franckfort Voldemar the First starving Nicholaas Booch his Envoy in Prison for falsifying his Letters of Procuration razing out the Name of Frederick to insert that of Lewis contrary to his Master's Intention and Pleasure All these Considerations make me reasonably conclude they either thought him Living and had some News of him or were perswaded the Emperour Lewis only gave his Son the Administration of the Marquisate and Electorate of Brandenbourg till he returned or his Death was better confirmed It is almost impossible he should die in a strange Country and tell no Body who he was as likewise that the Emperour Lewis of Bavaria should send no Messengers to be assured of the Place and Circumstances of his Death when it would have saved him so much Trouble and secured so rich a Prize How many Examples are there of Princes who have quitted their Country thro' the same Motives that Voldemar did William Duke of Guienne and Earl of Portou whose eldest Daughter and Heiress Elenor was repudiated by Lewis the Seventh King of France called the Young and Married to Hen y the S cond King of England in the year 1152 also of the Old Blood of the Earls of Anjou which Lady became the occasion of most cruel Wars between those Martial Nations while her Father went on Pilgrimage to St. James of Galicia feigning himself Dead he in the mean time travelling like a miserable unknown Wretch about the World that he might exercise those rude Pennances for his Crimes after his Death being made a Saint to eternize his Memory Fiacre Son of Eugenius the Fourth King of Scotland lived a Hermite unknown to all near Meaux in France chusing a Spade before a Scepter Him also they made a Saint Julius Sabinus an Illustrious Gaul near Langres who boasted that he was descended from Julius Caesar and in the time of the Civil War between Vitellius Otho and Vespasian caused himself to be proclaimed Emperour by several Legions but having the worst in Fight lived Nine Years in a â—ave with his dearly beloved Wife Eponina where in the greatest Extremity to Poverty he had several Children by her but could not so conceal himself to avoyd Death by the Cruelty of the Emperour Vespasian who destroyed him with his Wife and Children The Proverb says Ill gotten Goods are soon lost Which was verisied in the Posterity of Lewis of Bavaria Marquis of Brandenbourg for neither He nor his two Brothers Lewis the Roman nor Otho ever possest it quietly but were constrain'd to abandon it to the Emperour Charles the 4th Thus as Carion concludes in the Fifth Book of his Chronicle the Bavarians were deprived of this Electorate and Marquisate of Brandenbourg by the same Deceits which they had used to frustrate the Princes of Anhalt after the Absence and Death of Voldemar who were justly the next Heirs CHAP. XI THE False Mustapha SON of BAJAZET The First of that Name Emperor of the Turks THere 's none can be so ignorant in History as not to have heard of Tamberlain Emperour of the Tartars and of the Victory he gain'd over Bajazet the First of that Name Emperor of the Turks In the Turkish Annals these two Monarchs are called the one Temir Can and the other Gilderum Can. The Title Can which signifies King or Lord being commonly used to any other Tartar Prince or Turkish Lord. But the Name of Tamberlain or Tamerland was given him because he was Lame which Land expresses in the Persian Tongue Some called him Temir Cuthlus signifying in the Tartarian Language a Fortunate Sword His Sirnames were The Terrour and Desolation of the East Terror Clades Orientis He also stiled himself the Wrath of God or the Instrument of his Indignation As for Bajazet he was Named Gilderum or as others say Hildrim which in the Language of the Tartars signifies the Terrour of Thunder and Lightning The Greeks called him Lelapa that is a Violent Torrent The Imposture of this False Mustapha who called himself the true Son of Bajazet certainly believed to have been killed in this great Battle where his Father was defeated and made a Prisoner obliges me to look backward and tell you of Bajazet with the Subject and Circumstances of the War Bajazet was a most Cruel and Bloody Parricide being the First who taught the Princes of his Family to Imbrew their Hands in the Blood of their nearest Relations he causing his Brother Jacup or Jacob to be strangled whom Paulus Jovius calls Solyman His Ambition was so great that without having any right but the sharper Scymitar he drove many Soveraign Princes out of their Countrys As Techrin Prince of Erzingue or Erzrum in the Greater Armenia whom some call Scander and make him King also of Armenia together with the Prince of Germian the Duzinon or Lord of Adem and others sadly experimented He had also much Afflicted Constantinople and made great Devastations in the Countrys of Emanuel Emperour of the East These expelled Princes being thus cruelly used went in Person to implore the Protection of Tamberlain against the Tyranny and Injustice of Bajazet The same Greek Emperour groaning under the severe Yoak of this Tyrant paying him Three Hundred Thousand Crowns Tribute every Year Tres myriadas Auriorum as Carion has it in his Chronicle was constrained to surrender up the City of Philadelphia to him which the Tyrant had so often Besieged in vain giving him also Hostages and being Obliged to furnish such number of Souldiers for his Wars this made him also send Ambassadours to represent his miserable condition Axalla the bravest of Tamberlain's Generals was a Christian of Genoese Extraction born at Copha in Taurica Chersonesus which was then a City and Collony under the Dominion of that State of Genoa This generous Man endeavoured also by his entreaties to perswade his Master to re-establish these Persecuted Princes and beat down the Pride and Insolencâ— of Bajazet Tamberlain was pleased to hear him express what Glory it would be to his Reputation if he should deliver the Emperour of Constantinople and the other Princes from so unjust a Tyranny The Tartar was so sensibly touched with their Misfortunes that he dispatched away a Herald to require Justice on their behalf from Bajazet at the same time sending a very Rich Vest which is always by them presented from a Superior to an Inferior This so enraged the Turk that a War was soon declared Bajazet bringing an Army of Eight Hundred Thousand Men into the Field Paulus Jovius says a Million where in a bloody Fight he was absolutely defeated and taken Prisoner The Turkish Annals mention not the numbers of either Army only
Paternal Grand-mother Sister to the same Emperor and of the Cardinal Henry his Great Uncle A Desire to Augment his Glory by setting a Moorish Prince on the Throne of Fez in Africa imitating Alexander the Great who at his Age passed the Hellespont for the Conquest of Asia Perswaded him to do the same over the Straights of Gibraltar for the Subjugating Africk his Ancestors having shewed the way especially King Don Emanuel whose Heroick Vertues frequent Prosperities and Signal Victorys had vanquish't and made Tributary several Kings in those Extream Parts of the World Chiefly by the Conduct of the Famous Don Alphonso Albuquerque and also through his Care to plant the Christian Faith which Justly made him esteemed one of the Greatest and most Happy Princes in the World The same Motives of Religion and Glory with the Hopes that Muley Mahomet or Muley Hamet King of Fez whom he undertook to re-establish in the Throne would according to his Promise embrace the Christian Religion perswaded him to this most Unhappy Enterprize and as the Marquis of Pisani then Ambassador for the Crown of France in the Spanish Court declares That he was also push't on to this Engagement by the Vnsound and Pernicious Counsels of the Jesuites I have Read in their Catechism That this Prince being a Jesuite in his Heart would not Marry they having often sollicited him to make a Law That for the future none should be King of Portugal but a Jesuite and Elected by their Order as the Pope is by the Cardinals And because this young Prince could not or to say truely durst not condescend to it though Superstitious enough they assured him that God had so ordained it as he should understand by a Voice from Heaven when he came to the Sea-side so that he several times expected it but these good Apostles for so they called them in Portugal could not so well carry on their Mummery to procure the Voice However they so followed these Impressions as carryed him into this unhappy War in the Flower of his Age being about Twenty Two Years Old This Disaster one of the most terrible that ever the Sun beheld was presaged the Year before it happened that is in 1577. by the Appearance of a Prodigious Comet seen in the Ayr when all Portugal was in Armes Nunquam visus Terris impune Cometes if you believe the Poet. I will not leave my Subject to seek further any Reasons of the War That having been at large declared by Giovanni Botero Benese Abbot of St. Michael de la Chiusa in his first Volume of his General Description of the World which was augmented by Pierre Daviti of Tournay and continued by Me in the Year 1660. Cherif Xeque King of Fâ—z and Morocco gave his Kingdoms to his Sons Successively excluding his Grand-sons Abdalla Successor of Xeque to Frustrate his Fathers Will put all his Brothers to Death who were very Numerous being born of many Wives after the Mahumetan Fashion Only Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck and Hamet sled to Constantinople for the saving their Lives and for a better Expectation of the Crown to exclude their Nephews the Sons of Abdalla according to their Father's Establishment Muley Mahomet the Son of Abdalla tryed to secure his Fathers Scepter to the Prejudice of the Substitution made in his Uncles Favour And in truth Justice was on his side it being the Natural Order of Succession However his Uncle Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck assisted by the Turks beat him three several times This made him Cross the Sea to Implore the Assistance of King Don Sebastian who moved with hopes of converting the Moores through more Zeal than Prudence and heightned by his Desire of Glory heard the Affrican Kings Protestations from whom he promised himself great Advantages for the Christian Religion for the Reputation of his Name and the Utility and Profit of his Subjects With these Notions he passed the Seas at the Head of a very Powerful Army and joyning with Muley Mahomet he gave Battle to Muley Abdelmeleck near the City Alcazer on the Plains of Tamista in the Year 1578. where to his great Unhappiness his Army was defeated with an extream Slaughter and he doing the Office of a Valiant Captain was there kill'd Though the Portuguezes have always believed and yet affirm his Escape from the Fight into Italy where many saw him as we shall after declare Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck in the Beginning of this Action was taken with an Appoplexy and carryed to his Tent where he dyed just when his Enemies were upon the Point of Flying Hamet his Brother Reaping the Sole Fruit of this Victory Mahomets Body was carefully sought for by his Order and being found his Skin was slayed off and stufft with Straw to be carryed before him at his triumphant Entry into the City of Fez. This Mahomet left a Son called Chirissi whom his Uncle Albequerin brought into Spain where turning Christian by the Munificence of Philip the Second he was made Commendator of the Order of S. James though commonly called the Prince of Morocco Some years after this King Don Sebastian came back out of Affrica But whether he were the True or an Impostor the World seems yet divided in their Opinions Daniel Hawley an Irish Man of the Order of St. Dominick called Arch-bishop of Goa when he was Ambassador in France from Alphonso the Sixth King of Portugal told me in Paris That he was fain to refuse the Licensing a Book which said This King Don Sebastian had lost his Life in that Battle of Alcazer till he had Obliged the Author to change his Language and Opinion And at this present to say That he was an Impostor and not the true Don Sebastian that returned from Affrica is forbidden and Criminal in Portugal Peter Mathâ—â—a in his History of Henry the Great in the Third Book and Mademoiselle des Jâ—â—â—â—as in the Seventh Part of her Aâ—nales Gallantes in the Eighth History tells by what good Fortune this young Prince got from among the Dead and how he wandred from the Field of Battle I will not determâ—ne any thing on the likelyhood or real Truth of the Action She says That this King though he were promised and engaged to Many the Princess Mary his near Kinswoman Daughter of Edw. Duke of Braganza and Isabel one of the Daughters of King Don Emanâ—eb fell so much in Love with Xerine Daughter of Muley Moluc who being born of a Greek was much whiter than Affricans commonly are that he promised to Marry her and underhand bring what Obstacles he could against the Dispensation to Marry his Cousin German This Moorish Princess understanding Don Sebastians Defeat whom she dearly Loved despiseing the Crowns of Fez and Morocco for the Hopes of that of Portugal and Transported with a Grief even to Despair Rann ere the Day-brake to the Plains of Tamista only accompanyed with Laura a Christian Slave her Confident resolving to Sacrifice her self with her own Hand on the Body of
her Loved Sebastian whom she sought amidst the Horrid Numbers of the Dead and Dying with which the Plain was covered Some of the Wounded Men who had yet a Glimmering of understanding left them told the Place where Don Sebastian Fought and carefully observing those Bodys she espyed one extreamly resembling her Lover and with great Crys she embraced and moved him resolving to Dye there when the supposed Dead Man came to himself a little opening his Eyes and spake a few words imperfectly Xerine being Transported with Joy by the help of her Slave carryed him to the Bank of the River Mucazen which runs through those Plaines where she wash't and bound up his Wounds sending Laura to a little house hard by for some body to remove him from thence A Mariner did that good Office carrying him with his Boat into a small Island but Inhabited at the Mouth of the River for which she well rewarded him The Allyance which Don Sebastian had with Muley Mahomet made his Death necessary to the Peace of the new King Hamet so the Xerine fear'd equally the Life Liberty of her Lover if he fell into his hands she tended and drest him till his Recovery One Day saying to him Heaven will not deprive Portugal of it's King But has made your Xerine happy in saving her Dear Don Sebastian 's Life The Wounded Man soon found the Princesses Error without intending to undeceive her but using his Endeavour to confirm her mistake from which he foresaw such happy Consequences Therefore gave her Infinite Thanks desiring she would inform him how she distinguish't him among the Dead of which she told him the Particulars This shewed him Xerine's Birth and Engagement with Don Sebastian whom he studyed to personate which he might with Impunity for he resembled him much a Prodigious and incredible thing even to several Moles and Natural Marks on his Body Xerine understood by those whom she had sent to enquire for News that King Sebastian was drowned in his endeavouring to save himself but none could find his Body This Truth she thought an Error as she believed her own Error true promising her self no less than to be Queen of Portugal and thinking her Care kind Words and obliging Promises well bestowed on that Subject The Portugueze having spirit enough to support this Caprice of Fortune soon perceived by the Princesses Discourse that Muley Boabdelin a Prince of the Blood Royal of Morocco had always been a Friend to Don Sebastian He sent him word that the King of Portugal was not dead and if he would come to the Island of Mucazen he should hear of him Maley Boabdelin came in great haste with the Envoy Xerine sent leaving the farthest Part of the Province Hoscore whither he was sled to avoid the Tyranny of Muley Moluc generally called Abdelmeleck When he Arrived he was deceived by the resemblance as the Princess had been There was great Embracing caressing and mutual kindness betwixt them By him the False Sebastian was informed That his Uncle the Cardinal Don Henry Reigned in his stead by the consent of the People This News much disturbed him believing it very difficult to dispossess him Muley Boabdelin was of his Opinion they both concluded it proper to sound the Inclinations of the Portuguezes and try to Oblige the Principal Ministers of State to Assert and Maintain their Monarch's Right before he should expose himself to the Policies of the New King This Moorish Prince at the same time offering Xerine and her Lover a retreat in Hoscore where he was so well fortified that he had no occasion to fear any thing They all agreed not to Publish any report of Don Sebastian's being alive till he were in a Condition of Possessing his Crown But to Authorize what the Princess had done in his Favour Muley Advised him to marry Xerine which she also wish't believing by that tye her hopes secured This Effect of his likeness to Don Sebastian made him desirous to taste the Fruit of it he was charmed with the Beauty and Passion of the Princess and had Reason to be so Therefore fulfilled her desire with as much Joy as Speed By this becoming Victorious and the most happy of Mankind But when he had thus made what Advantages he could the private Negotiation of Portugal seemed too slow so he resolved to go and manage his Affairs there in Person Upon which Xerine and he had many Discourses Europe said she one day to him Asia or Affrick are all equal to me provided I have you with me Do not then refuse me the Pleasure of following you 'T is a Debt to my Love Let me not be so unhappy to find any other thing more Powerful in your Soul since I have the Glory of Contributing to your Establishment when Pretentions had been Vain without me These tender Expressions seemed Reproaches to Sebastian they offended him which troubled Xerine at last they differ'd and that Difference gave him an opportunity which he lookt for He had Learned from her the most Particular Affairs of the true Sebastian and in these Transports of their Love he ask her What Part of his Conduct had most sensibly touch't her that as he said he might often repeat what he had Practised with Success The Princess ingenuously told him It was the slighting Mary of Portugal whom he refused to Marry for her sake Besides said she that Princess was very Beautiful and Loved you much as you did her before you knew me He well might Love her for she was a Princess of Infinite Wit whose Body and Mind were equally Admirable her Meen was modest and yet Majestick she was of a most accomplish't Beauty and indeed the most admirable of that Age. I cannot Read her Character in Fam. Strada's History of the Wars of Flanders without being charmed with the Merit and Vertue of this Princess whom in the absence of Don Sebastian the King of Spain Philip the Second gave to her Cousin-German in Marriage being Brother and Sister's Children This was that Great and most Renowed Souldier of his Time Alexander Farnese Duke of Parma the King's Nephew who did him those Eminent Services as Governour of the Low Countrys This Princess spake Latine Elegantly understood the Greek Tongue was perfectly Mistress of the Mathematicks a Great Judge of Philosophy and Familiar in the Holy Scriptures of both Testaments And with all this was of an admirable Innocence of Manners and a Holy Life Of all which the said Strada gives us the Relation The Pretended Sebastian being furnished with these Instructions and above all with those he had cunningly drawn from Xerine took an Opportunity to cross the Sea about Fourteen or Fifteen Years after the Battle of Alcazer Landing in Italy where the Princess was then a Widdow The Hero her Husband dying at Arras in the Six and Fortieth Year of his Age the Second Day of December 1591. People of this Sebastian's Character use not to be ignorant of any Circumstance or
thing which concerns their Relations He came to Parma where he sent the Dutchess word that a Gentleman of Portugal had something to tell her which he could declare to none but herself The Dutchess had lately received an account by a Courrier from Lisbone of the Death of the Cardinal Don Henry who last filled that Throne which she now demanded for her Son Rainuccio she being the Daughter of Edward one of the Sons of King Don Emanuel There were also other Pretenders to this Crown of Portugal such was Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy by his Mother Beatrix a Daughter of King Don Emanuel Katharine the Sister of Mary joyned her Right with that of the Duke of Braganza a Prince of the Blood Royal of Portugal for her Son Theodosio and who indeed by the Law of Lamega which as they affirm excludes a Forreigner from the Throne of Portugal had the most just Pretence to it Catharine de Medicis Queen of France claimed it though at greater distance And Pope Paul the Fourth came in with his Title saying That Crown was a Fief of the Holy-See and therefore at his Disposal Philip the Second King of Spain was Son of Isabel Daughter of the same King Don Emanuel and Mary his Wife was yet nearer being Daughter of Don John the Third Son and Successor to Don Emanuel He was the nearest in Blood the nighest Neighbour and the most Potent so got Possession of the Crown but not without fighting for it by Sea and Land The Naval-Fight which his Admiral the Marquis de Santa Cruz obtained of Peter Strozzi a Florentine and Marshal of France who undertook by Force to dispute the Title of Catharine de Medicis his Mistress and kinswoman was no small Part of Philip's good Fortune The Three Estates of the Kingdom of Portugal were Assembled to determine this great Controversy when Don Sebastian appeared in Italy The Dutchess of Parma had also her mind filled with these things but when she perceived Him she gave a shrieck and ran to the Other end of her Closet much astonished I bring you Madam said he approaching her Extraordinary news which will much surprize you the King Don Sebastian is alive and not far from hence not much distant from you for he now speaks to you What Madam continued he without hesitating does then Don Sebastian Fright you He hoped that a better Reception would have been the reward of those pains he has endured to find you At the tone of his Voice the Dutchesses trouble was so great she could neither speak nor move out of her place Recollect your self my dear Cozen said he with a Passionate Air I am no Phantasme but the same Don Sebastian you once honoured with your Favour and now returned as full of your Idea as I was before I went to Affrica With these Discourses the Dutchess came to her self and suffer'd the False Don Sebastian to approach nearer giving him her hand and when she was assured that this pretended Monarch was a Man and no Ghost Ah my Lord said she Whence are you come where have you been so long hid And by what Miracle are you among the Living When you are in a Condition to hear me replyed Don Sebastian I will answer you all this But first be not so disturbed and believe that I am really the King of Portugal and if neither my Stature nor my Face assure it let the Passion of my Eyes convince you I have now recovered my Spirits said the Princess sitting down by him and confess your Sight did affright me above my Power of commanding my Disturbance But Sir all is now dissipated Therefore pray tell me to what Wonder we owe your Life and return to Love Madam answered Sebastian a Passion that had once made me touch your Heart must needs defend me from all Accidents Then he told her how Xerine found him among the Dead his getting into the Isle of Mucazen and his Living at Hoscore but carefully concealed how Don Sebastian had Loved Xerine before that Action and more his Marriage to her in Affrica Though that Princess used her utmost Power with Muley Boabdelin her Cozen and a Prince of the Blood Royal to oblige him to it by assuring him the Princess Mary was Married to the Duke of Parma But said that sometime after being informed she was a Widow He escaped as he pretended with difficulty out of Prison and came to lay himself at her Feet so full of Love that he had Lived on the very Thoughts of being esteemed by her Why then said the Dutchess did you not Write to me That I did many times reply'd he and doubtless Xerine who hoped that from my Misfortunes which she could not expect from my Re-establishment gave such Orders as prevented their coming to your hand My Restraint was very severe I was treated like a Valued Lover and had no Opportunity or Liberty to deliver my self from that Title The Dutchess must needs be Transported at the Recital of a Constancy so well invented She Ordered an Apartment for him whom she thought the King her Cousin together with an Equipage in all respects sutable and sent for the most Intelligent Persons to depute to the Estates of Portugal on his behalf which Deputation extreamly surprized them They sent Six of the Chief in their Assembly of whom some had been Ministers to Don Sebastian to see their Monarch Their Eyes assured them he was the same they ask't him several Questions which they thought Don Sebastian only could Answer But he was so well instructed by Xerine as convinced the Ambassadors that none but He in the World could so reply Insomuch that they assured the Estates he was really their King Those who were interested against him accused him of being a Counterfeit and Practizer of Deceit requiring this Sebastian to go and be present in Person at the General-Assembly of Estates to be Interrogated there in Form concerning his Pretentions While those who were affectionate to the Memory and Person of Don Sebastian thought there was no Security in that Demand The Kingdom was hereupon divided Those were called Royalists who adhered to the King and Those who declared for the several Princes pretending to the Crown Leaguers During these Disorders he that caused them lived at Parma expecting an Army should take the Field for his Interest At the Head of which he intended to demand what he said was his Right This supposed Prince after some time fell into disgrace with the Dutchess of Parma I know not whither or no by the Accident which Mademoiselle des Jardins relates on this manner That one Day walking with her by the side of that Canal which is one of the most Beautiful Things belonging to the Palace of Farnese she observed the Ribbon of a Letter-Case hanging out of his Pocket which she softly pulled out wherein she found Letters and Verses that discovered his Love some of them having the Greatest Liberties of his Marriage with Xerine for