reprove him for it and coming into his presence the King in Courtesie rose from his Royal Throne to take him by the Hand and seat him by him But Dunstan refusing the King's Hand with a stern Countenance and contracted Brow spake thus to him You that have not been afraid to corrupt a Virgin dedicated to Christ how can you presume to touch the Consecrated Hands of a Bishop You have defiled the Spouse of your Maker and do you now think by your flattering service to pacifie the Friend of the Bridegroom No Sir do not mistake your self for I will be no friend to him who hath Christ for his Enemy The King thunder-struck with these dreadful Words and touch'd with remorse of Conscience fell down at the Feet of Dunstan who raising him up began to aggravate his Crime and finding the King pliable to his Instruction he enjoyned him the following Penance for satisfaction That he should wear no Crown for the space of feven years That he should fast twice a week That he should distribute his Treasure left him by his Ancestors liberally to the poor That he should build a Monastery for Nuns at Shaftsbury that since he had robbed God of one Virgin by his Transgression so he should restore to him many again for the time to come Likewise That he should expel Clerks or Priests of evil life meaning those who were married out of the Churches and place Monks in their room All this Edgar performed and the seven years being past Dunstan saith the Historian calling the Nobility with the Bishops Abbots and Clergy together he before all the People set the Crown upon the King's Head at Bath in the thirteenth year of his Reign Dunstan who it seems rul'd all having hitherto hindred it The Nun here mentioned was Wilfrid a Duke's Daâ—ghter by whom he had a Daughter called Editha He had a Son likewise by Elfrida the Earl of Devonshire's Daughter which Dunstan being now grown goood natured Christned The words of the Historian are these The Child also which was gotten of the Harlot he Baptized in the Holy Fountain of Regeneration and giving him the name of Edward adopted him to be the King's Son There are abundance of ridiculous miracles related of this Dunstan One among many others was That a Vision appearing to him required him to take up the Body of Editha the Bastard and Canonize her for a Saint her Tomb being accordingly opened in the Church of Wilâ—on where she was buried her whole Body saith the Monkish Historian was consumed to Dust save only her Thumb her Belly c. whereof she her self shewed the meaning declaring That her Thumb remained entire because she so often used to cross her self therewith and the other Parts did signifie the extraordinary Abstinence and Chastity With such stuff were the People then abused and persuaded to worship for Saints the dead Carcases of those that were many times of very profligate Lives while on Earth In King Edgar's Reign there was a great Famine wherein Ethel wald Bishop of Winchester sold away all the Church-Plate and Vessels of Gold and Silver to relieve the Poor saying There was no reason that the senseless Temples of God should abound in Riches and the lively Temples of the Holy Ghost to be in want of them After the Death of Edgar there was great Diviston many of the Nobility being for Etheldred the true and only legitimate Heir of Edgar but the other Nobles and the Clergy especially Dunstan fearing the Married Clergy should again prevail he with several other Bishops meeting together and carrying the Cross before Edward brought him to the Lords and by many Persuasions prevailed with them to accept him for their King He was accounted a just meek Prince and very charitable to the Poor Yet enjoyed he the Crown but a short space for in the fourth Year of his Reign as he was Hunting near Corf-Castle where his Brother Etheldred and Queen Elfrida his Mother resided while he was discoursing and drinking on Horseback as the Cup was at his Mouth a Servant of the Queens by her contrivance struck him into the Back with a Knife or Dagger at which setting Spurs to his Horse to get away and fainting with loss of Blood he fell from his Horse with one Foot in the Stirrop and was dragged up and down the Woods till at last his Body was left dead at the Gate of Corf-Castle When this Fact was committed the Queen was so struck with remorse that to expiate her Guilt she built two Monasteries Almsbury and Wormwell For as Mr. Fox observes most of these Religious Houses were founded either upon the account of some Publick or Private Murther Edward the Martyr as he was called being thus slain Etheldred his younger Brother the Son of Edgar and Queen Elfrida succeeded He reigned thirty eight years but was very unfortunate and full of Troubles all his time It is related That when Archbishop Dunston Christened Etheldred as he held him over the Font the Child was not very cleanly whereupon the Bishop swore By the Mother of God this Boy will prove an unhappy and slothful Prince which happened accordingly At his Coronation a Cloud appeared half like Blood and the other half like Fire In his third Year the Danes Invaded the Kingdom in several places and the King paid them forty thousand pound yearly for his Quiet which much disobliged his Subjects yea the English were so low that the Danes commanded their Houses Wives Daughters and all they had Whereupon Etheldred contrived that all the Danes were massacred in one day But this did more enrage them so that first Swain and then Canutus came with two hundred Sail of Ships and landed in Cornwal burning and destroying all before him and killing Nine hundred Monks and Nuns at one time the King's Counsels being all betrayed by the Traytor Edrick Whereupon he fled with his Queen Emma and her two Sons into Normandy to Richard Duke thereof who was her Brother But Swain being soon after killed by his own men they made his Son Canutus King After which Etheldred returns again to England and perceiving the several Treasons against him and being unable to withstand their Fury he soon after died Edmund the eldest Son alive of Etheldred succeeded sirnamed Ironside from his great Strength and Courage He was Crowned at Kingston But the Danes were then so powerful in England that Canutus was accepted King at Southampton many of the Clergy and Laity swearing Allegiance to him but the City of London stood firm for Edmund who fought several Battles against the Danes and routed Canutus four times in the plain Field and would in likelihood have freed the Nation from the Danes had not the ever-false Edrick and other perfidious persons of the Clergy and Laity prevented it At length to avoid further Bloodshed they made an Agreement to divide the Kingdom betwixt them but Edmund enjoyed the benefit of this Accord a very short time being soon
his men and made good the Bridge till a Soldier in a Boat rowing under the Bridge thrust his Spear through a crevice and so slew this valiant Champion After which the King fell upon the Danes and got an intire Victory over them killing King Harfager and Tosto his own Brother Olave the Son of Harfager and Paul Earl of Orkney were taken Prisoners with abundance more who begging their Lives the King ordered 20 of their 300 Ships to carry them to Denmark with the sad news of the loss of their King and his whole Army No sooner was this Storm over but a worse began for Duke William having prepared a great Army and Navy resolved for England having the free consent of his Nobility for his Voyage many of them assisting him therein But first he sent to Pope Alexander to confirm his Title to the Crown who did it readily and withal sent him a Consecrated banner an Agnus Dei and a Hair of St. Peter with a curse to all opposers to carry in the Ship wherein he himself failed Being thorowly furnished he and his Men embarqued at St. Vallery where they staid a long time for a Wind at length setting Sail Sep. 28. 1066. he arrived with his Fleet at Pevensey in Sussex where as soon as he landed it hapned one of his Feet stuck so fast in the Sand that he fell to the ground whereupon one of his Attendants catching him by the Arm and helping him up said Stand up my Lord and be of good Courage for now you have taken fast footing in England and observing that he had taken up Sand and Earth in his Hand he added You have now taken Livery and Seisin of the Country it being the custom that when Possession is taken of Land a piece of Earth is given to the Possessor A Wizard or Necromancer had told Duke William That he should safely arrive in England with his whole Army without any hindrance from Harold which after it came to pass King William sent for this Conjurer to confer further with him but it was told him That he was drowned in that Ship which alone of the whole Navy miscarried whereupon the Conqueror said He would never put confidence in that Science which was of more benefit to the Ignorant than the Skilful therein for it seems he could foresee my good fortune but not his own misfortune After his Landing the Duke set all his Ships a fire to assure his men that they must either conquer or die He then marched towards Hastings declaring the cause of his coming to be to inherit the Kingdom which was given him by King Edward and strictly charging his Soldiers not to wrong any of the People in the least since they were so soon to become his Natural Subjects He then sent Messengers to Harold either to deliver him up the Country and be subject to him or to fight it out in the sight of both Armies in single combat or lastly to stand to the Pope's Determination But he returned answer That unless he did suddenly depart he would give him cause to repent this his rash Invasion and that the next day it should he tryed by more Swords than One. Accordingly Harold marcheth couragiously against Duke Widiam who put himself into a posture to receive him It happned that the Morning before the Battel William's Armourer by mistake put on his Back-piece before and his Breast-plate behind which being observed by some of his Attendants was judged an ill Omen and therefore they advised him not to fight that day To whom the Duke replied I value not such Fooleries but if I have any skill in Soothsaying as in truth I have none I am of the opinion if doth foretel that I shall change my Condition and of a D. shall this day become a K. The Armies being Marshalled Harold placing the Kentish-men with their heavy Axes or Halberts in the Van the Battel began both Parties fighting bravely one for the Liberty of their Country and the other for a Kingdom The Normans perceiving they could not break the united strength of the English pretended to fly which the English believing pursued them in disorder whereupon the Normans taking the advantage rallied and charging them furiously in that disjoynted Posture made a very great slaughter among the English and among the rest King Harold his Brother and most of the English Nobility fell that day and of the Common Souldiers Sixty seven thousand nine hundred seventy four Others report an hundred thousand were slain Duke William had three Horses killed under him yet received not the least wound his Loss being only as is said Six thousand Men. Thus died King Harold after only nine Months Reign and was buried at Waltham Abby in Essex And it is very remarkable That whereas Harold with his Father Godwin had cruelly murdered Alfred the true Heir to the Crown and his Normans he was now by a Norman Wounded in the left Eye with an Arrow whereof he immediately died This great Battel was fought at Hastings in Sussex on Saturday October 14. 1066. The English after this vast loss had designed to make Edgar Atheling King but it was prevented by their private Animosities And thus ended the Saxon Monarchy in England which from Hengist in 475 to this Year had continued save only some short interruptions by the Danes Five hundred ninety one years During these stupendious Revolutions in the State and Government of England we do not read of much action between the Welsh and the Saxons Danes and Normans It is recorded they had still a Succession of Kings and Princes and among them Leoline ap Sytsill who lived about the year 900 in the Reign of Edward Sirnamed the Elder a Valiant Saxon King and yet free from Pride or Ambition saith the Historian as appears by the intercourse betwixt him and this Leoline who after several Skirmishes thought fit to Treat of Peace The King lay at a place called Austeline and the Prince at Bethesly not far distant Leoline thought it below him to cross the Severn to wait upon Edward whereupon the King went into a Boat to come over to him Leoline observing it and surprized at this great condiscention upon the King's approach to the opposite shoar threw off this rich Robe he had on prepared on purpose for that Royal Assembly and entred the Water Breast high where imbracing the Boat he submissively said Most Prudent and Worthy King your Humility hath overcome my Insolence and your Wisdom hath Triumphed over my Folly Come tread upon my Neck which I have foolishly lifted up against you and enter into my Country this Day with all freedom since your generosity hath made it all your own Having said this he took the King upon his Shoulders and carrying him ashoar caused him to sit down upon his Royal Robe and so putting his hands jointly into his acknowledged Homage and Allegiance to him Ethelstane his Successor had Wars with the Welsh whose Princes and
oftentimes when the King charged them with affronting his Lord Lieutenants they unanimously answered That they were very willing to be subject to any Prince he should nominate provided he were a Welshman born The King perceiving their inflexible temper resolved to gratifie them by a Politick Stratagem He thereupon sends secretly to the Queen who was then big with Child that she should come to him with all speed to Carnarvan and when she was nigh her time of Delivery He ordered all the Welsh Nobility and Gentry to appear before him at Ruthland Castle to consult about the Publick welfare of their Country When they were come he detained them till he had notice that the Queen was delivered of a Son at Carnarvan and then calling them together he told them That they having often Petitioned him to have a Prince to rule them he being now going out of their Countrey would nominate one to them provided they would promise to accept and obey him The Welshmen answered they would be willingly obedient to him provided he were their own Countryman Ay says the King I will assure you that he was born in Wales That he can speak never a word of English and that he never did any wrong to man Woman or Child The Welshmen were very joyful of their good fortune promising true subjection to him Whereupon he named his own new born Son Edward firnamed Carnarvan from the place of his Birth and from that time the Eldest Sons of the Kings of England have been Intituled Princes of Wales This Prince succeeded his Father by the name of King Edward II. He was a comely Person and of great strength but much given to Drink which made him often disclose his Secrets For his other conditions his greatest fault was his inordinate love to Garestone and the Spencers who being Persons of lewd Lives endeavoured to debauch him with Wine and Women and occasioned many mischiefs and grievances in the Kingdom of which the Nobility and People were so sensible that when they found him irreclaimable they resolved to depose him and set his young Son Edward on the Throne his Queen likewise joining with the Lords therein who going over to France she there Contracted a Marriage between her Son Edward and Philippa Daughter to the Earl of Heynault by whom being aided with Forces she landed at Orwell near Harwich in Suffolk The Lords immediately resorted to her and the Londoners inclining to take her part the King found his evil Counsellors the Spencers and others could do him little service Therefore Shiping themselves for the Isle of Lundy they were by Tempest cast upon the Coast of Wales and the King secured himself in a Monastery in Glamorganshire But soon after both he and his Favourites were taken from thence They were Hanged and Quartered and he himself was deposed by Parliament having been first persuaded to make a formal resignation of the Crown And at length he was committed a Prisoner to Berkley Castle near Bristol where he was miserably murdered by having a red hot Iron or Spit thrust up into his Body II. Edward of Windsor so called from the place of his Birth the Son of this unfortunate King was the second Prince of Wales of the English Royal Blood Upon the Deposing of his Father by the Parliament it was resolved that he should be advanced to the Throne which this young Prince refused unless his Father resigned the Government which he was obliged to do and so his Son was Proclaimed King by the name of Edward III. who afterward proved a Glorious and Renowned Prince His Minority being but four years old when he was Crowned though it may Palliate cannot so take off the scandal of not preventing his Death who gave him Life but that there remains a great blemish upon his memory For being a Master of so much reason as to pause upon it as he did upon the first motion of putting his Father to Death it may be thought he had power enough to have prevented the execution it being a violation of the Law of Nature and likewise of ill example since the People might use him in the same manner if he outlived their affections or his own discretion But his revenge upon Mortimer seems to declare him really innocent or that he abhor'd the World should think otherwise Whereby he so far reconciled himself to the opinion of the Vulgar that he seldom wanted Friends during his long Reign as he never wanted an occasion to make use of them He was a Prince of that admirable composure of Body and Mind that Fortune seemed to have fallen in love with him elevating him so far above the reach of Envy or Treachery that all the Neighbour Princes dazled with the splendor of his Glory gave place to him who from the very first Ascent to the Throne had a prospect of two Crowns more than he was born to The one placed within his reach which was Scotland The other that of France which was more remote To the attaining the first there was a fair opportunity offered by the irreconcileable contest of two Rival Kings David Bruce and Edward Baliol whose Right and Interest were so evenly poized that King Edward's power could easily turn the Scale To the recovery of France there was yet a fairer opportunity given him by the revolt of Philip of Artois a Prince of the Blood Royal and Brother in Law to Philip of Valois the present French King who upon discontent came over and discovered all the Secrets of the French Counsels to King Edward assuring him of the Affections of several of the French Nobility And now the two Kings set up their Titles to the Kingdom of France Edward was nearest by Blood but drew his Pedigree from a Female Philip was farther off but descended of all Males and because the Law Salique which excludes Women from Reigning in France was conceived as well to exclude all Descendants from Females therefore was Philip's Title accepted the French obstinately declaring That they would never tye the Succession of that Crown to a Distaff To which King Edward replied That he would then tye it to his Sword With the English took part the Emperor and the chief Princes of Germany With the French the King of Bohemia the two Dukes of Austria the Earl of Flanders the Duke of Savoy and divers Princes of Italy together with his inraged Neighbour David Bruce King of Scots a weak but restless Enemy against whom King Edward had set up Edward Baliol as Competitor and to whose assistance he sends an Army toward Scotland and at Hallydown Hill near Berwick the Scots are utterly defeated about Thirty Two Thousand Souldiers being slain with a great number of Nobility and Gentry After this King Edward gained a Glorious Victory over the French at the Battel of Cressy and another at Poictiers wherein John King of France was taken Prisoner And David King of Scots with an Army of Threescore Thousand men a second time
Invading England his Army is routed and himself taken Prisoner King Edward III. was of Stature indifferent tall with sparkling Eyes and of a comely and manly countenance no man was more mild when there was submission nor none more fierce if opposed He had a command over his Passions as well as People being never so loving as to be fond nor so angry as to be irreconcileable But this must be understood of him when he was a man for in his old age he became a Child again and was Master of neither He was Fortunate and Valiant both which were heightened in the estimation of the World as reigning between two unfortunate Princes his Father to whom he was Successor and his Grandson Richard II. to whom he was Predecessor His disposition was so martial that his very Recreations were Warllke for he delighted in none more than in Justs and Turnaments and among the rest in the fourth year of his Reign a solemn Turnament was held in Cheapside between the great Cross and the great Conduit which lasted three days where his Queen Philippa with many Ladies fell from a Stage erected for them to behold the Justing and though they were not hurt at all yet the King threatned to punish the Carpenters for their negligence till the Queen intreated pardon for them upon her Knees as she was always ready to do all good Offices of mercy to all People To discover his Devotion one example may be sufficient for when neither Cardinals nor Counsellors could move him to make Peace with France a Tempest from Heaven did it To which may be added That he never won a great Battel but he presently gave the Glory of it to God by publick Thanksgiving He outlived the best Wife and the best Son that ever King had and to say the truth he out-lived the best of himself leaving all Action and bidding adieu to the World Ten Years before he went out of it declining so fast from the Fortieth year of his Government that it may rather be said his Son the Prince Reigned than he and happy 't was for him that when his own Understanding failed him he had so good a supporter And the grief for the loss of him besides the Fatigues of War was thought to hasten his Death together with the trouble for the loss of the benefit of his Conquests in France of all which he had at last little left but the Town of Callice Being oppressed thus in Body and Mind he was drawing his last breath when his Concubine Alice Pierce who was so confident sometime before as to sit in Courts of Justice and overawe the Judges packing away what she could catch even to the Rings of his Fingers left him and by her example others of his Attendants seize on what they could meet with and march away yea all his Counsellors and Courtiers forsook him when he had most occasion for them leaving his Bed-Chamber quite empty Which a poor Priest in his Palace observing approached to his Bed-side and finding him yet Breathing called upon him to remember his Saviour and to beg Mercy for his Offences which none about him before would do But now moved by the Voice of this Priest he shews all signs of Contrition and at his last Breath he pronounceth the Name of Jesus Thus died this Victorious King at his Manour of Sheen now Richmond June 21. 1377. in the 64 year of his Age having reigned above 50 years His Body was conveyed from Sheene by his four Sons having had seven in all and five Daughters and the Nobility and solemnly interred in Westminster Abbey where his Monument is to be seen and likewise his Sword which it is said he used in Battel being eight pound in weight and seven foot in length III. The Third Prince of Wales of the Blood Royal of England was Edward commonly called the Black Prince but why so named is uncertain for to think it was because of his dreadful actions as Speed saith has little probability neither do the Historians of that Age ever give him that name nor mention that he was so called He was eldest Son to King Edward III. by the fair Philippa Daughter to William Earl of Henault and Holland and born at Woodstock July 15. 1329. in the third year of his Father's Reign He was afterwards created Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain and Cornwall and Earl of Chester He was likewise Earl of Kent in the right of his Wife Joan Daughter of the Earl of that Name and Brother by the Father's side to King Edward II. the most admired beauty of that Age. King Edward was very careful of his Education providing him the most able Tutors to educate him both in Arts and Arms. When he was but fifteen years old his Father passing over into France with a gallant Army took his Son along with him making him a Souldier before he was a Man being willing to try his Metal and loth to omit any thing that might give reputation to that Battel wherein two Kingdoms were laid at Stake In 1345. King Edward with a Fleet of about a Thousand Sail landed an Army of Two Thousand Five Hundred Horse and Thirty Thousand Foot most of them Archers in Normandy making devastation of all before him even to the very Walls of Paris In the mean time Philip the French King was not idle having raised as brave an Army as France had ever seen consisting in near an Hundred and Twenty Thousand Fighting Men K. Edward's Army being loaden with the rich Spoils of the ruined Countrey he was unwilling to retreat neither indeed was he able being got into the Heart of the Enemies Countrey between the two fine Rivers of Scin and Soan so that he began to inquire how he might find a passage out of these straits which the French having notice of looked upon as an intended flight and King Edward was willing they should nourish that opinton The River Soan between Abbeville and the Sea was fordable when the Tyde was out of which the French were aware and therefore guarded the passage with a Thousand Horse and Six Thousand Foot commanded by Gundamar de Foy a Valiant Norman Lord. King Edward coming to this place plunges into the River crying out He that loves me will follow me as resolving either to pass or dye This so animated his Souldiers that the Passage was won and Du Foy defeated by the undaunted courage of the English almost before he was fought with carrying back to King Philip. Two Thousand less than he brought beside the terror of the English Arms the Souldiers resolving to live and dye with such a gallant Soveraign King Edward was now near Crescy in the Province of Pontheiu between the Rivers Soam and Anthy a place unquestionably belonging to him in right of his Mother where he provided all necessaries for a Battel King Philip inraged at the late defeat and by his numerous Forces growing confident of success marches furiously to fall upon
He replied The Fortune of France By his Voice he was Known and thereupon received into the Town with the Tears and lamentations of his People The rest of his Army strove to save themselves by flight whom the English did not pursue but stood still upon their Guard according to the true Rules of Martial Discipline being unwilling to hazard so glorious a Victory by following them in the Night knowing there were so many of the Enemy escaped as might yet overwhelm their tired Army with multitude King Edward seeing the Field clear of the French came down from the Hill with his Troops entire toward his Victorious Son whom most affectionately imbracing and kissing he said Fair Son God send you good perseverance to such prosperous beginnings you have acquitted your self right Nobly and are well worthy to have a Kingdom intrusted to your Government for your Valour To which the most Noble and Magnanimous Prince replied with silence humbly falling on his Knees at the Feet of his Triumphant Father After this Victory King Edward marched with his Army through France and Besieged Calice In 1355. King Edward was informed that Philip of France being dead King John his Son and Successor had given the Dutchy of Aquitain to Charles the Dauphin his Eldest Son whereupon the King being much incensed conferr'd the same upon his own Son the Prince of Wales commanding him to defend his Right therein with his Sword against his Adversaries He was likewise appointed by Parliament to go into Gascoin with a thousand men at Arms Two Thousand Archers and a great number of Welshmen who accompanied their Prince and soon after with Three Hundred Sail of Ships attended by many of the English Nobility he landed in France and with his Victorious Arms Marched into Aquitain recovering a great number of Cities and Towns and releasing a multitude of Prisoners He then entred Guienne passing over Languedock to Tholouse Narbone and Bruges without opposition and loaden with Plunder return'd to Bourdeux Afterward he made a second Course through Perigort and Limosin into the Bowels of France even to the very Gates of Bruges in Berry the terror of his name preparing his way and then wheeled about designing to return by Remorantine in Blasois which Town he took and so through the Countrey of Tourain Poictou and Xantoign to his Chief City of Bourdeux But King John having raised a very Potent Army followed him in the Rear and about the City of Poictiers he overtook our Invincible Prince where the Armies approached each other the French exceeding the English six to one Two Cardinals sent from Pope Clement as before the former Battel mediated to take up the Quarrel but the French King supposing he had his Enemy now at his mercy would hear of no conditions but that the Prince should deliver him four Hostages and as Vanquished render up himself and his Army to his discretion The Prince was content to restore to him all the places he had taken but without prejudice to his Honour wherein he said he stood accountable to his Father and his Country But King John would not abate any thing of his first demands as judging himself secure of Victory and thereupon was ready to attack the Prince who in this exigency politickly got the advantage of the ground by obtaining the benefit of certain Vines Shrubs and Bushes upon that part where he was like to be assaulted whereby to imbarass and disturb the French Horse whom he saw ready to fall furiously upon him The success answered his expectation for the Enemies Cavalry in their full Career were so intangled and incumbered among their Vines that the Prince's Archers galled and annoyed them at pleasure For the French King to give the Honour of the day to his Horse made use of them only without the aid of his Infantry And they being thus disordered the whole Army was thereby utterly defeated Here if ever the Prince of Wales and his Englishmen gave full proof of their undaunted Courage and Valour never giving over till they had wholly routed all the three French Battalions the least of which exceeded the number of the Prince's Forces King John himself Fighting valiantly and Philip his youngest Son who by his undaunted Prowess so defended his distressed Father that he gained the Sirname of Hardy were both taken Prisoners The most remarkable of the Prince's Commanders for Courage and Conduct were the Earls of Warwick Suffolk Salisbury Oxford and Stafford The Lords Chandois Cobham Spencer Berkley Basset c. and particularly James Lord Audley signaliz'd himself receiving many wounds and was rewarded by the Noble Prince of Wales with the gift of Five Hundred Marks Land a year in England which he instantly divided among his four Esquires who had stood by him in all the fury and brunt of this bloody Battel Whereupon the Prince asked him if he did not accept of his gift He answered That these men had deserved it as well as himself and needed it more With which reply the Prince was so well pleased that he gave him Five Hundred Marks a Year more A rare example where desert in the Subject and reward in the Prince strove to exceed each other He vowed to be foremost in the Fight and made good his word It was the misfortune or rather glory of the French Nobility in these disastrous times that the loss commonly fell very heavy upon them for in this fatal overthrow the French confess that Fifty Two Lords and about One Thousand Seven Hundred Knights Esquires and Gentlemen were slain The chief were the Duke of Athens the High Constable Great Marshal and High Chamberlain of France the Bishop of Chalons thâ— Lords of Landas Pons and Chambly Sir Reginald Charney who that day carried the Consecrated Standard Auriflamb was slain also and of the Common Souldiers about Six Thousand So wonderfully did the great God of Battels fight for the English in those days There escaped from this bloody fight Three of the French King's Sons for he brought them all into the Field Charles the Dauphin Lewis Duke of Anjou and John Duke of Barry The French Prisoners taken were John King of France and Philip his Son the Archbishop of Sens the Earls of Ponthieu Eu Longuevil Vendosme Tankervile Salbruch Nassaw Dampmartin La Roch Vaudemont Estampes c. With many other Lords and Two Thousand Knights Esquires and Gentlemen that bore Coats of Arms. After the Battel a Contention arose who was the Man that took King John Prisoner At length the King himself decided the Controversie by declaring that one Sir Dennis Morbeck of St. Omers had made him Prisoner For which service the Prince of Wales rewarded him with a Thousand Marks This great Battel was fought Sept. 19. 1357. and is thus described by Mr. Thomas May in his Poem on the Life of King Edward III. The first hot charge The valiant Lord renowned Audley gave Who to perform a noble Vow in Deeds Almost the Prowess of a Man
Edward rejoyced in the excellent Vertues and Actions of his Son and People Charles the French King warned by so many calamities as his Dominions had sustained by the English War and earnestly coveting to recover the Honour of his Nation betook himself to secret practices Never adventuring his own Person in the Field but executing all by his Deputies and Lieutenants especially by the valour and service of Bertram de Glequin Constable of France who from a low estate was raised to this height for his prudent and magnanimous Conduct in War And our truly Noble King without suspicion of craft reposing himself upon the Rules of Vertue and Magnanimity did not reap the stable effects of so great and important victories nor of the Peace so Ceremoniously made that in the World's opinion it could not be broken without the manifest violation upon one side of all Bonds both divine and humane The Prince of Wales by Letters advised his Father not to trust to any fair words or overtures of further Amity made by the French because as he said they entertained Practices underhand in every place against him But his counsel was not hearkned to because he was judged to write out of a restless humour delighting in War though the event shewed that his words were true For now King Charles having by quick payments and other means got home all the Hostages which had been delivered for performance of the Articles of Peace set all his wits on work to abuse the King of England's credulity He courted him with loving Letters and Presents and in the mean time surprized the County of Ponthieu our King 's undeniable inheritance before King Edward heard thereof Who hereupon calls a Parliament declares the breach craves aid and hath it granted And then again claims the Crown of France and sent over his Son John Duke of Lancaster and Humfrey de Bohun Earl of Hereford with a great Army to Calice to invade France Among the States and Towns made over to the English at the Treaty of Bretigni which had revolted to the French was the City of Limosin Thither did the Prince march and sat down with his Army before it And not long after came unto him out of England his two Brethren the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge with a fresh supply of Valiant Captains and Souldiers The City held out to the utmost and was at last taken by storm where no mercy was shewed by the inraged Soldiers but Sword and Fire laid all desolate After this Service the Prince's health failing him more and more he left his Brethren in Aquitain to prosecute the Wars and himself taking Ship came over to his Father in England his eldest Son Edward being dead a little before at Bourdeaux and brought over with him his Wife and his other Son Richard The Prince having left France his Dominions were either taken or fell away faster than they were gotten Gueschlin entred Poictou took Montmorillon Chauvigny Lussack and Moncontour Soon after followed the Country of Aulnis of Xantoyn and the rest of Poictou Then St. Maxent Neel Aulnay Benaon Marant Surgers Fontency and at last they came to Thouras where the most part of the Lords of Poictou that held with the Prince were assembled At this time the King Prince Edward the Duke of Lancaster and all the Great Lords of England set forward for their relief But being driven back by a Tempest and succour not coming Thouras was yielded upon composition In fine all Poictou was lost and then Aquitain all but only Burdeaux and Bayon And not long after Prince Edward died and with him the Fortune of England He was a Prince so full of Virtues as were scarce to be matcht by others He died at Canterbury upon Trinity Sunday June 8. in the forty sixth year of his Age and the forty ninth of his Father's Reign and was buried in Christ's-Church there 1376. Among all the Gallant men of that Age this our Prince was so worthily the first He had a sumptuous Monument erected for him upon which this Epitaph was engraven in Brass in French thus Englished Here lyeth the Noble Prince Monsieur Edward the Eldest Son of the thrice Noble King Edward the third in former time Prince of Aquitain and of Wales Duke of Cornwal and Earl of Chester who died on the Feast of the Trinity which was the eighth of June in the year of Grace 1376. To the Soul of whom God grant mercy Amen After which were added these verses in French thus Translated according to the homely Poetry of those times Who so thou art that passest by Where these Corps entombed lye Understand what I shall say As at this time speak I may Such as thou art sometime was I Such as I am such shalt thou be I little thought on the hour of Death So long as I enjoyed Breath Great Riches here I did possess Whereof I made great Nobleness I had Gold Silver Wardrobes and Great Treasures Horses Houses Land But now a Caitiff Poor am I Deep in the Ground lo here Ilye My beauty great is all quite gone My Flesh is wasted to the Bone My House is narrow now and throng Nothing but Truth comes from my Tongue And if you should see me this Day I do not think but ye would say That I had never been a Man So much altered now I am For God's sake pray to th' Heavenly King That he my Soul to Heaven would bring All they that Pray and make Accord For me unto my God and Lord God place them in his Paradise Wherein no wretched Caitiff lies The Death of this Prince saith an ingenious Historian was a heavy loss to the State being a Prince of whom we never heard ill never received any other note but of goodness and the Noblest performance that Magnanimity and Wisdom could ever shew insomuch as what Praise could be given to Virtue is due to him I shall only add this short Remark That the Captivity of two Kings at the same time namely John King of France and David Bruce King of Scotland demonstrated at once the Glory and Power of King Edward and his magnanimous Son The French King continued Prisoner in England five years enough to have determined the fortune of that great Kingdom and dissolved their Cantoned Government into Parts had it not been a body consisting of so many strong Limbs and so abounding with Spirits that it never fainted notwithstanding all its loss of blood but scorned to yield though King Edward came very near the Heart having wounded them in their most mortal part the Head At length he recovered his liberty by paying three millions of Crowns of Gold whereof six hundred thousand were laid down presently four hundred thousand more the year after and the remainder the next two years following The Scots King could not gain his Freedom in twice the time being the less able to redeem himself for that he was upon the matter half a King the
eight and lived fifty nine years and was murthered in the Tower of London in 1472. VII Edward the only Son of King Henry VI. by Queen Margaret Daughter to the King of Sicily was the seventh Prince of Wales of the Royal Blood of England He Married Anne the Daughter of Richard Nevil called the Great Earl of Warwick After his Father's Army was defeated by King Edward IV. at Tauton Field in Yorkshire he with his Mother were sent into France to pray aid from that King This Battel was the bloodiest that ever England saw King Henry's Army consisting in threescore thousand and King Edward's in about forty thousand men of which there fell that day thirty seven thousand seven hundred seventy six Persons no Prisoners being taken but the Earl of Devonshire Afterward the Queen returns from France with some Forces but before her coming King Edward had defeated the Earl of Warwick who with some other Lords had raised a Party for her assistance at Barnet wherein near ten thousand were slain So that when it was too late she landed at Weymouth and from thence went to Bewly Abbey in Hampshire where the Duke of Somerset the Earl of Devonshire and divers other Lords came to her resolving once more to try their Fortune in the Field The Queen was very desirous that her Son Edward Prince of Wales should have returned to France there to have been secure till the success of the next Battel had been tried but the Lords especially the Duke of Somerset would not consent to it so that she was obliged to comply with them though she quickly repented it From Bewly she with the Prince and the Duke of Somerset goes to Bristol designing to mise what men they could in Glocestershire and to march into Wales and join Jasper Earl of Pembroke who was there assembling more Forces K. Edward having intelligence of their Proceedings resolves to prevent their conjunction and follows Queen Margaret so diligently with a great Army that near Tewksbury in Glocestershire he overtakes her Forces who resolutely turn to ingage him The Duke of Somerset led the Van and performed the part of a Valiant Commander but finding his Soldiers through weariness begin to faint and that the Lord Wenlock who commanded the main Battel moved not he rode up to him and upbraiding his treachery with his Pole-ax instantly knockt out his Brains but before he could bring this Party to relieve the Van they were wholly defeated the Earl of Devonshire with above three thousand of the Queens Men being slain the Queen her self John Beufort the Duke of Somerset's Brother the Prior of St. John's Sir Jervas Clifton and divers others were taken Prisoners All whom except the Queen were the next day Beheaded At which time Sir Rich. Crofts presented to King Edward King Henry's Son Edward Prince of Wales To whom King Edward at first seemed indifferent kind but demanding of him how he durst so presumptuously enter into his Realm with Arms The Prince replied though truly yet unseasonably To recover my Father's Kingdom and my Inheritance Thereupon King Edward with his hand thrust him from him or as some say struck him on the Face with his Gauntlet and then presently George Duke of Clarence Thomas Grey Marquess Dorset and the Lord Hastings standing by fell upon him in the place and murthered him Others write that Crook-back'd Richard ran him into the Heart with his Dagger His Body was Buried with other ordinary Corps that were slain in the Church of the Monastery of the Black Friars in Tewksberry VIII Edward eldest Son of King Edward IV. was the eighth Prince of Wales of the English Royal Blood Of whose short Reign and miserable Death there is an account in a Book called England's Monarchs IX Richard only Son of King Richard III. was the ninth Prince of Wales His Mother was Ann the second Daughter of Richard Nevil the Great Earl of Warwick and Widow of Prince Edward Son of King Henry VI. aforementioned who was Married to King Richard though she could not but be sensible that he had been the Author both of her Husband's and Father's Death but womens Affections are Diametrically opposite to common apprehensions and generally governed by Passion and Inconstancy This Prince was born of her at Midleham near Richmond in the County of York At four years old he was created Earl of Salisbury by his Uncle King Edward IV. At ten years old he was created Prince of Wales by his Father King Richard III. but died soon after X. Arthur eldest Son to King Henry VII was the tenth Prince of Wales of the Royal English Families He was born at Winchester in the second year of his Father's Reign When he was about fifteen years old his Father proposed a Marriage for him with the Princess Katherine Daughter to Ferdinando King of Spain which being concluded the Lady was sent by her Father with a gallant Fleet of Ships to England and arrived at Plymouth Soon after the Princess was openly espoused to Prince Arthur they were both clad in white he being fifteen and she eighteen years of age At night they were put together in one Bed where they lay as Man and Wife all that Night When morning appeared the Prince as his Servants about him reported called for Drink which was not usual with him Whereof one of his Bed-Chamber asking him the cause he merrily replied I have been this Night in the midst of Spain which is a hot Country and that makes me so dry Though some write that a grave Matron was laid in Bed between them to hinder actual Consummation The Ladie 's Dowry was two hundred thousand Duckets and her Jointure the third part of the Principality of Wales Cornwal and Chester At this Marriage was great Solemnity and Roval Justings Prince Arthur after his Marriage was sent into Wales to keep his Country in good Order having several prudent and able Counsellors to advise with but within five Months after he died at his Castle at Ludlow and with great solemnity was Buried in the Cathedral of Worcester He was a very ingenious and learned Prince for though he lived not to be sixteen years old yet he was said to have read over all or most of the Latin Fathers besides many others Some attribute the shortness of his Life to his Nativity being born in the eighth month after Conception XI Henry the second Son to King Henry VII was the eleventh Prince of Wales of the Royal English Line He was born at Greenwich in Kent After the Death of his eldest Brother Prince Arthur the Title of Prince of Wales was by his Father's Order not given to him but his own only of Duke of York till the Women could certainly discover whether the Lady Katherine were with Child or not But after six months when nothing appeared he had his Title bestowed upon him and King Henry being loth to part with her great Portion prevailed with his Son Henry though not without some
Edward called the Confessor succeeded next in 1042. who was an absolute Englishman and the youngest Son of Etheldred and Queen Emma being invited from Normandy by all the English Nobility who disdained the Danish Subjection and was entertained with great Joy He first remitted that heavy Danish Tax of Forty thousand pound a year called Dane gilt imposed by his Father and paid forty years by all but the Clergy who are exempted Because the Kings reposed more confidence in the Prayers of the Holy Church than in the Power of Armies It is reported Edward forgave that Tax upon this occasion A great Sum of that Treasure being brought into his Chamber and laid in a heap he being called to see it was at first sight much affrighted protesting he saw the Devil dancing with great Joy upon the same and therefore commanded it should be again restored to his Subjects and released them from it for ever after He married Editha Earl Godwin's Daughter but never had any Conjugal Society with her though she was a Lady accomplished with all excellent Endowments both of Mind and Body so that this old Veâ—â—â—â—â— written on her Sicut Spina Rosam Genuit Goduinus Editham From prickled Stalk as sweetest Rose So Editha fair from Godwin grows Edward himself confessed upon his Death-bed That openly she was his Wife but in secret Embracings as his own Sister But whether it were Infirmity or Chastity it seems he was willing to have her accused of Incontinency whereof if she were guilty he could not be innocent it being a great injury to put his Wives vertue to so Tyrannical a trial After this some differences arose between him and Earl Godwin and Forces were raised on both sides but by the Intercession of the Nobility an Agreement was made Yet Godwin escaped not Divine Vengeance for being charged by the King for the Munder of Alfred he wished if he were guilty he might never swallow down a bit of Bread again which happened accordingly for the first bit of Bread he put into his Mouth choaked him as he sate with the King at Table A dreadful Instance of God's Severity against Perjury This King is blamed for his Cruelty to his Mother in forcing her to pass over nine burning Plow shares bare-foot and blind-fold for a Trial of her Continency which yet she performed without the least damage He is said to be the first King that cured the Disease called the King's-Evil It is related that this King lying on his Bed one Afternoon with the Curtains drawn a pilfering Courtier coming into his Chamber and finding the King's Casket open which Hugoline his Chamberlain had forgot to shut he took out as 〈◊〉 Money as he could well carry and went away But finding success he came a second and a third time still carrying off more At which the King who had observed all called to him to be gone with all speed since he had enough if he could be contented For said he if Hugoline should come and catch thee thou wilt go nigh to lose all thou hast got and may'st get a Halter into the Bargain The Fellow was no sooner gone but Hugoline came in and finding the Casket open and a great deal of Money taken out he was much incensed But the King bid him not be moved For said he he that hath it hath more need of it than we When this King Edward was hastning out of Normandy with a great Army to recover England from the Danes being ready to give Battel his Captains assured him of Victory and that they would not leave one Dane alive God forbid said Edward that the Kingdom should be recovered for me who am but one Man by the death of so many thousands better it is that I should live a private and unbloody Life than to be a King by such a Slaughter and Butchery This King having no lisue of his own sent for Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside out of Hungary who for his long absence was called the Outlaw but he dying soon after he declared Edgar the Outlaw's Son to be Heir and sirnamed him Atheling or Adeling a Term appropriated to the presumptive Heirs of the Crown He had also a Daughter named Matilda who was married to the King of Scots and was Mother to David King of Scotland and Maud Queen of England When King Edward was on his Death-bed he observed all present weeping and lamenting for him to whom he said If you loved me you would forbear weeping and rejoyce because I go to my Father with whom I shall receive the Joys promised to the Faithful not through my Merits but by the free mercy of my Saviour who sheweth mercy on who he pleaseth After the Death of Earl Godwin Harold his Son grew into great Favour with King Edward and was by him made Lieutenant of his Army against the Welch who with his Brother Tosto or Toston utterly subdued that Rebellion After which Harold still increasing more in favour with the King there grew such hatred between the two Brethren that Tosto coming to Hereford slew all his Brother's Servants and cutting them in pieces salted them and put them into powdering-tubs It hapned afterward that Harold going beyond Sea was by Tempest â—â—â—ven into Normandy and being seised and carrâ—â—d before Duke Wiliam he made him promise That after the death of King Edward he would secure the Kingdom for him according to King Edward's Will Which Oath having taken Harold came back and told King Edward what he had done who seemed well content therewith saith the Historian which if it were true he had surely forgot his former Declaration concerning Edgar Atheling However after the death of King Edward Harold neither regarding his Oath to Duke William nor Edgar's Right whom he dispised for his tender Age caused himself to be Proclaimed King without any great Ceremony or Celebration none much approving or disapproving thereof and to ingratiate himself with the People he eased them of several severe Taxes laid upon them by his Predecessor and was affable and kind to all But this was a short calm before a great storm for soon after Duke William sent his Ambassadors to him to mind him of his Oath but he returned answer That it was extorted from him in his Imprisonment and therefore was no way obliging At this Answerthe Duke was much inraged and prepared Forces for gaining the Kingdom by force Neither was Harold idle but made provision to withstand him At which time a dreadful Comet appeared in the Heavens which was then judged and after proved to be a fatal Omen During these Preparations Tosto Brother to Harold and Harfager King of Denmark with three hundred Ships invaded the Country landing in Yorkshire Harfager claiming the Crown as Son of Canutus but the Nobility of those parts opposing them were routed which Harold hearing march'd against them and at Stamford-Bridge he encountred them where his whole Army was withstood by one single Dane who slew forty of
Rulers he brought to be his Tributaries who at Hereford entred into Covenants to pay him yearly twenty pound weight in Gold three hundred weight of Silver and two thousand five hundred Head of Cattel with a certain number of Hawks and Hounds Toward the payment of which by the Statutes of Howel Dha the King of Aberfraw was charged at sixty six pounds the Prince of Dynever and the Prince of Powys the like Sums This Ethelstane confined the Britains who hitherto had enjoyed the City of Exeter with the same right as the Saxons into the furthest Promontory of Cornwall enlarging his Dominions beyond any Saxon King before him In the time of King Edward the Confessor 1053 the Irish with 36 Ships entred the River Severne and with the assistance of Griffith King or Prince of North-Wales burnt and destroyed all they met with Against whom Alfred Bishop of Worcester marching with considerable force was defeated many of his Souldiers being slain and the rest put to flight which much elevated the Welsh so that Rice the Brother of Griffith made many Incursions into the English Territories and carried away great Booties till at length he was routed and slain at Bulenden and his Head presented to King Edward at Glocester Two years after the King having banished Algar the Son of Leofrike Earl of Chester without cause he with the assistance of the Welsh and Irish under Grissith who had Married his Daughter much indamaged the English defeating Rodulf Earl of Hereford with the slaughter of five hundred men defacing that City and burning the Minster with many other mischiefs Against whom Harold Son to Earl Godwin afterward King and slain by William the Conqueror was sent who prosecuted the War with much courage and conduct pursuing his flying Enemies and passing through North-Wales Incamped upon Snowdon Hills but the Earl and Griffith not daring to come to an Engagement fled from thence to South-Wales and again took possession of Hereford of which Harold having notice marched thither with all diligence and soon recovering the City fortified it with a deep Trench and an high Rampire and for preventing of Bloodshed and ingratitude to Algar who had freely resigned his Earldom to Harold upon his return from Exile a peace was concluded and at Harold's request King Edward pardoned both him and Griffith But Algar raising fresh disturbances and again assisted by his old friend Griffith recovered his Earldom of Chester by Arms at which the King was highly offended especially with Griffith who was always ready to appear against him and Harold was a second time made General and with a great Army entred North-Wales without sight of an Enemy whereupon he burnt down the stately Palace of Prince Griffith and so returned to the King But the Welsh were not long quiet and Griffith inflamed with revenge with the greatest strength he could raise made Inroads into ihe English Borders Upon which Harold is sent a third time against them who burst into Wales with such mighty Forces that Prince Griffith doubting the Success withdrew secretly from his Camp leaving his Souldiers to fight for themselves if they pleased who finding their Prince had deserted them the whole Army yielded themselves to Harold's mercy and having seized upon Gaiffith they cut off his Head and sent it to Harold giving him Hostages for their future obedience and for payment of the ancient Tribute which for some time had been denied After which King Edward kept a severe Eye over the Welsh making a Law that if any of that Nation should pass armed over Offa's Ditch his Right Hand should be cut off In the Reign of William the Conqueror Roger Earl of Hereford raising a Rebellion against him in that Country was assisted by the Welsh but it being soon supprest and the Earl taken and banisht into Normandy the King used great severity against the Welsh putting out the Eyes of some Hanging others upon Gibbets and they that escaped best were forever banisht their Country and afterwards entring Wales with a great Army he obliged the Princes thereof who were unable to resist to do him Homage at St. Davids and taking Hostages for their peaceable demeanour he returned as a Victorious Conqueror In 1095. William Rufus finding the Welsh often attempting mischief against the English resolved to make a full Conquest of them and redoubling his usual Forces drew into the Marshes of Wales and their Incamped calling a Council of War to consult how to prosecute his design against them who finding their own weakness to oppose they according to their usual manner secured themselves in their Woods and Mountains and other inaccessible places Upon which the King sent Hugh Montgomery Earl of Shrewsbury and Hugh Lupus Earl of Chester into the Isle of Anglesey who there executed great cruelty on the People cutting off the Hands Noses and Arms of the Resisters sparing neither Age Sex nor place Sacred or Prophane from Destruction At which very time Mâ—gous King of Norway landed there in hope to Conquer the Island whom the English Earls opposed with all their might armed at all points yet Montgomery through the sight of his Beaver was shot with an Arrow into the right Eye whereof he died In 1107. those Flemings which his Brother Rufus had setled in Cumberland whose Lands the Seas had overwhelmed some years before were by King Henry I. removed into Ross in Wales both to free the Inland Country from such a burden and to keep the Welsh in obedience which project answered his expectation For saith Giraldus they were a Colony of stout men enured to the Wars and likewise Clothiers and Husbandmen as time and place required and most loyally devoted to the Crown of England whereby they kept the Country in subjection for some time Yet 1114. Griffith ap Conan Prince of North-Wales and Owen ap Cadogan Prince of South-Wales made Inroads upon the Lands of Gilbert Strangbow Hugh Earl of Chester and other English Gentlemen and so incensed the King by these Outrages that in a rage he vowed he would not leave one alive in North or South Wales and going thither in Person divided his Army into three parts to catch if possible these nimble Combatants who at his approach were got again to their old Recesses however with much difficulty he pursued and kill'd many of them in their Hills and Woods and the rest yielded to King Henry who returned home with much satisfaction In 1121. King Henry was again disquieted by the Welsh under Meredith ap Beldin Prince of Powis-Land and the three Sons of Cadogan who broke into the Marshes of Cheshire and burnt two Castles against whom the King marched with strong Forces sending the main of his Army and Carriages the Common Road but himself with a select company took a nearer way through the Streights and Mountains which the Welshmen having notice of they laid an Ambush who couragiously set upon them and rained down Showers of Arrows on them from the higher grounds
them without any stop till they came within view of the English Colours King Edward having implored the aid of the Almighty full of hopes of obtaining Victory without the least disturbance of mind divided his Army into three Bodies The Front was commanded by the young Lion of Wales our brave Prince Edward assisted with several of the most experienced Generals consisting of Eight Hundred Men at Arms Two Thousand Archers and a Thousand Welshmen The second Battalian was commanded by the Earls of Northampton and Arundel with other Lords being Eight Hundred Men at Arms and One Thousand Two Hundred Archers The third and last being about Seven Hundred men at Arms and Three Thousand Archers with the rest of the Nobility the King led himself and being mounted upon a white Hobby he Rid through the several Ranks reviving and incouraging his Souldiers with cheerful words to fight like Men for his Right and their Honour He then ordered the Rear of the Army to be Barricado'd with Trees and Carriages and likewise commanded the Troopers to dismount and leave their Horses behind them so that all means of flight being taken away they must now resolve either to Conquer or Die. In King Philip's Army were the King of Bohemia the King of Majorca the Duke of Lorrain the Duke of Savoy the Earls of Flanders Nevers Sancerre with many other Dukes Earls Barons and Gentlemen Volunteers both French Dutch and Germans and just the Night before the Battel Ann of Savoy joined him with a Thousand Men at Arms So that all things seemed to conspire to elate the French Pride and assure them of Victory They divided their Army likewise into three Battalia's The Van was led by the Duke of Alonson the King's Brother and the King of Bohemia The Reer by the Duke of Savoy And the main Battel the King Commanded himself He was so impatient of delays that He would scarce stay to call a Council of War to consider how to manage the Fight He likewise caused the Banner of Auriflamb to be erected which was of red Silk and Hallowed by the Pope of which the French had as high an opinion as if it had fallen from Heaven The King of Bohemia hearing of the posture of the English Army contrary to the proud conceit of the French said Here will the English end their Days or Conquer A little before the Fight happened a very terrible Tempest of Thunder and Rain and a bright Rain-bow appeared in the Heavens And soon after the Sun broke forth shining full in the Faces of the French and on the Back of the English and at the same time great numbers of Ravens and other Birds of Prey flew over the French Army All which accidents were judged ominous and presaging mischief to the Enemy The signal of Battel being given by King Philip it was entertained by a shout from his Army the Drums beat the Trumpets sounded Banners flew in the Air Glittering Swords were seen threatning Death and Destruction and all the horrors of War appeared in their most dismal Colours The ruine of the French began at the Genoeses who being all Cross-Bow Men were ordered to open a way for the French Horse but it happened that their Bow-strings being Wet by the late great Shower and their Bodies weary with a long March after the English had received the first Volley of their Arrows with their Targets their Ranks were opened in many places by the fall of their slain Fellows who were kill'd by the English Bowmen and at length most outragiously scattered and trampled under foot by the Duke of Alanson by Command of the King himself who bringing up the Horse in a full Career cried out On on let us make our way upon the Bellies of these Genoeses who do but hinder us And instantly Rides through the midst of them followed by the Dukes of Lorrain and Savoy never staying till they came to that Body of the English commanded by the Gallant Prince of Wales These French Gallants half out of breath with their Post haste and terribly disordered by the perpetual Storms of our Whistling Arrows came now to handy strokes with the Princes Squadron with Battle Axes Swords and Lances The Fight was very bloody while each earnestly contended for Victory The old King of Bohemia resolving to dye honourably thrust himself into the first Ranks of his own Horsemen and furiously charging the English he was slain with Sword in hand the Troop of his faithful Followers with their slaughtered Bodies covering him even in Death and his fate was soon perceived by the fall of the Bohemian Standard King Philip in Person with a strong Party hastened to the relief of his Brother and Friends who were also much distrest by the English Valour and great numbers slain though the Prince of Wales was in danger in the encounter had not his Souldiers rusht in couragiously among their Enemies for the preservation of their worthy Prince King Edward stood all this while upon Windmill-Hill with his Helmet on which he never pull'd off till the Fight was ended judiciously surveying the whole Field of Battel to observe the success being ready to bring down his Party which lay hovering like a Black Cloud where necessity should require In the mean time the brave Prince of Wales was contending with the whole power of France whereupon some of his Generals seeing the great inequality and doubting the worst they sent to the King requesting his assistance The King asked the Messenger whether his Son were slain or hurt who replied No he was safe but like to be over powered by the multitude of his Enemies Well then said the King go back to them that sent you and tell them that so long as my Son is alive they send no more to me whatever happen for I design that the honour of this day shall be his if God permit him to survive and am resolved that he shall either win the Spurs or lose his life This resolution of the King 's though it brought no assistance yet seemed to inspire new Life and Spirits into the English so that they fought like Lions On the otherside King Philip whose Kingdom lay at Stake performed the Duty of a good General and a gallant Souldier fighting so long in his own Person till his Horse was killed under him himself twice dismounted and wounded both in the Neck and Thigh and in danger of being trodden to death had not the Earl of Beaumont rescued and remounted him and the French out of their Loyalty to save him almost against his Will conveyed him out of the Field who seemed rather desirous to end his days in such noble Company His departure was quickly known to both Armies and as suddenly put an end to this bloody Carnage wherein hitherto none had quarter but were all put to the Sword The French King himself with a small Company fled to Bray in the Night and approaching the Walls the Guard demanded who was there
together The Prince having refreshed his Men the May following set sail for England with his Prisoners and safely arrived at Plimouth and was with great joy and acclamations received every where At his coming to London where at that time a magnificent Citizen Henry Picard he who afterwards at one time so Nobly Feasted the four King 's of England France Scotland and Cyprus was Lord Major he received him with all imaginable Honour And the multitude of People that came to see the Victorious Prince with the King of France his Son Philip and the other Prisoners was so great that they could hardly get to Westminster between three a Clock in the Morning and twelve at Noon Great Edward saving that he forgat not the Majesty of a Conqueror and â—f a King of England omitted no kind of civility towards the Prisoners King John and his Son were lodged under a Guard at the Savoy which was then a goodly Palace belonging to Henry Duke of Lancaster and the other Prisoners in other places Some time after Prince Edward by dispensation married the Countess of Kent Daughter to Edmund Brother to King Edward the second and his Father invested him with the Dutchy of Aquitain So that he was now Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain Duke of Cornwal and Earl of Chester and Kent And not long after he with his Beloved Wife passed over into France and kept his Court at Bourdeaux The Prince of Wales was now grown famous over all the Christian World and the man to whom all wronged Princes seemed to Appeal and to fly for relief For which end there came at this time to his Court James King of Majorca and Richard King of Navarr just when his Lady brought him a Son for whom these two Kings undertook at his Baptism giving him the Name of Richard The Soldiers most of whose Captains were English either by Birth or Obedience wanting employment because the Wars of Britain were quieted for the Present ranged tumultuously up and down France But about this time Sir Bertram de Glequin having paid his Ransom found employment for them drawing the greatest part of that Military Pestilence into another Coast For by the assistance of Peter King of Arragon and the Power of Glequin with his floating Bands called The Companions or Adventurers Peter King of Castile and Leon a cruel Tyrant was driven out of his Kingdom his Bastard Brother Henry being chosen in his room and Crowned King of Spain at Burgos This Peter was Son to Alphonsus the eleventh King of Castile and had to Wife a French Lady called Blanch Daughter to Peter Duke of Bourbon who was Father also of Joan the French King's Wife His Tyrannical cruelties were so many and so foul that the Spanish Stories scarce allow Nero or Caligula to go beyond him For which by his Subjects he was deposed Peter thus driven out of his Kingdom by the aid of the French applied himself to Prince Edward craving his assistance for his restoration making many and large Promises to him upon the accomplishment thereof The Prince out of Charity to succour a distressed Prince and out of Policy to imploy his Souldiers having got leave of his Father marched with a gallant Army of thirty thousand men upon confidence of good pay for his men and other benefits when Peter should be re-established in his Throne He made his way through the famous straits of Rouncevallux in Navarre by permission of that King who yet suffered himself to be carried Prisoner into Castile that he might not seem to cross the French King's designs who favoured Henry the Usurper Our Prince had â—n his Company besides most of all the principal Captain of the English two King 's Peter of Castile whos 's the quarrel was and the King of Majorca As also John Duke of Lancaster who after Don Pedro's death having married his eldest daughter wrote himself King of Castile and Leon. On the other side King Henry for the defence of his new Kingdom had raised a very great Army consisting partly of French under Glequin their famous Captains and of Castilians and others both Christians and Saracens to the number of about an hundred thousand And upon the Borders of Castile it came to a bloody battel wherein the valaint Prince of Wales obtained a very great victory having slain many thousands of his enemies Henry himself fighting valiantly was wounded in the Groin but yet escaped There were taken Prisoners the Earl of Dene Bertram de Glequin who yet shortly after by paying a great Ransom was set at liberty The Marshal Dandrehen and many others Neither was this Victory less worth to Peter than a Kingdom For our most Noble Prince left him not till at Burgos he had set him upon his Throne again But this unworthy King's falshood and ingratitude were odious and monstrous For the Prince notwithstanding this great success was enforced to return to Burdeaux without money to pay his Army which caused great mischiefs to himself and the English Dominions beyond the Seas as if God had been displeased with his succouring such a Tyrant The Prince himself though he returned with Victory yet he brought back with him such a craziness and indisposition of Body that he was never throughly well after And no marvel considering the Country the Season and the action it self and it may be more wondred at that his Souldiers came home so well then that he returned so ill Being come home discontent of Mind was added to his indisposition of Body For not having Money to pay his Soldiers he was forced to wink at their preying upon the Country for which the Country to stop whose murmuring his Chancellor the Bishop of Rhodes devised a new Imposition of levying a Frank for every Chimney to continue for five years to pay the Prince's debts But this Imposition though granted in Parliament made their murmurs encrease For though some part of his Dominions as the Poictorians the Xantoigns and the Limosins seemed to consent to it yet the Counts of Armigniac and Cominges the Vicount of Carmain and divers others so much distasted it that they complained thereof to the King of France as unto their Supreme Lord Pretending that the Prince was to answer before King Charles as before his Superior Lord of whom they said he held by homage and fealty whereas King Edward and his Heirs by the Treaty at Bretagny were absolutely freed from all manner of Service for any of their Dominions in France King Charles openly entertained this Complaint and hoping to regain by surprize and policy what the English had won by dint of Sword and true Manhood he summoned the Prince of Wales to Paris to answer such Complaints as his subjects made against him Our valiant Prince returned answer That if he must needs appear he would bring threescore thousand men in Arms to appear with him And now began the Peace between England and France to be unsetled and wavering For while King
other half being in the possession of Edward Baliol but at length he was ransomed for ten thousand Marks and restored to his Kingdom IV. The forth Prince of Wales of the English Royal Line was Richard of Bourdeaux so called from the place of his Birth The Black Prince his renowned Father whose Wisdom doubtless was no way short of his Courage knowing how apt they who stand near the Throne are to step into it was so intent to prevent any disorder of that kind that might be feared from the well known ambition of his aspiring Brothers the Eldest of whom Henry Duke of Lancaster afterward King Henry IV. having the Title of King of Castile in the Right of his Wife but without any Kingdom might reasonably be suspected to affect one so much the more his own Right and to take advantage of his Nephew Richard's weakness He therefore made it his dying request to his declining Father to inaugurate his Son whilst he was yet alive that by being committed to the Parliaments care he might have publick security against all private supplantations and without further dispute enjoy all those Prerogatives which either his own Right or his Father's Merit intituled him to Whereupon he was set upon the Throne at Eleven years of Age and in the life time of his Grandfather Edward III. began to Reign by the name of Richard II. with this happiness that at the same time he took upon him to Govern them the Parliament entred into Consultation about the Persons fittest to Govern him And because the safety of the King as well as of the Kingdom consisted in the multitude of Counsellors they designed to add to his Uncle the Duke of Lancaster who was ambitious of being Protector the two other Brothers Edmund Earl of Cambridge and Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester with whom they conjoined several Spiritual and Temporal Lords of known Wisdom and Integrity This so offended the Duke as seeming a reflection on his Ambition not to be trusted solely that he refused the charge and retiring into the Country so play'd the King at his own House that a poor well meaning Fryar thought himself obliged in point of Allegiance to accuse him of an Intention to Usurp the Crown and consequently to destroy the King Neither wanted he matter enough 't is thought to make out that charge but his Innocence being overmatcht by Power and having none to second his accusation the Crime wâ—â— cast upon the Accuser who being friendless wa◠〈◊〉 into Prison and inhumanely murdered by his Keepers who tying one end of a Cord about his Neck and the other to his Privy Members hung him up on a Pin and with the weight of a Stone laid upon his Belly burst his back and so all further proof deceased with him This being known among the People and no punishment inflicted upon the Murtherers derogated very much from the young King's Justice and Honour among his Subjects who not being able to distinguish betwixt the want of Skill and want of Power to punish began thenceforth to Worship the Duke of Lancaster as the Indians do the Devil for fear And as the King's Father Prince Edward never recovered the health which he lost in the last expedition into Spain so his Son never recovered this and other disadvantages put upon him by his ambitious Uncle and particularly that the very first day he took his Grandfather's Seat in Parliament as Heir Apparent to the Crown he taught him to demand a Subsidy purposely to alienate the Peoples Affections from him who were before sufficiently disgusted with the heavy Taxes they had already paid And likewise his ommitting no occasion of propagating Tumults and Factions whereby he at length deprived his Nephew first of his Crown and then of his Life Richard II. was the comeliest Person of all the Kings since the Conquest being Tall well Limb'd and Strong and of so amiable a Countenance that he might well be the Son of such a beautiful Mother As to his Temper of Mind it proceeded more from his Education than his natural Humour for he seemed to have many good Inclinations which might have grown into Habits had they not been perverted by corrupted Flatterers in his Youth He was of a credulous disposition apt to believe and therefore easie to be abused and it was his great weakness that he could not distinguish between a Parasite and and a Friend He seemed to partake both of a French and English Nature being violent at the first apprehension of a thing and calm upon deliberation He never shewed himself so worthy of the Government as when he was Deposed as unworthy to Govern For it appeared that the Royal Dignity was not so pleasing to him as a quiet retired Life which if he might have enjoyed he would never have complained that Fortune had done him wrong He lived thirty three years and reigned twenty and two months and was Murdered at Pomfreh Castle in the place of his Birth V. Henry of Monmouth the Son and Successor of King Henry IV. was the Fifth Prince of Wales of the Royal Blood of England He was bred a Student in Queens College in Oxford and from thence being called to Court the Lord Piercy Earl of Worcester was made his Governour But coming afterward to be at his own disposing whether being by nature valorous and yet not well staid by time and experience or whether incited by ill Companions and imboldened by the opinion of his own Greatness he ran into many Courses so unworthy of a Prince that it was much doubted what he might prove if he should come to be King For it is recorded that he with some other young Lords and Gentlemen lay in wait in disguise for the Receivers of his Father's Revenue whom they robbed of their Money to maintain their riotous Living though sometimes they missed their Prize and were soundly beaten in prosecuting such attempts and when upon his return to Court he had heard the Receivers complain of their great losses he would give them Money to make them part of amends but rewarded those best that had made the stoutest defence and from whom he had received the most blows It happened that one of his Companions was arraigned at the King's Bench Bar in Westminster Hall for Felony of which the Prince being informed he by the advice of the rest came in a great rage to the Bar and attempted to take away the Prisoner by force commanding that his Fetters should be taken off and he set at Liberty All present were much amazed but Sir William Gascoign then Lord Chief Justice mildly desired him to forbear and suffer the Felon to be Tryed by the Laws of the Land and that he might afterward get his Pardon of his Father if there were occasion The Prince grew more inflamed at these words and endeavoured to take him away himself But the Judge charging him upon his Allegiance to withdraw out of the Court the Prince furiously stept up
very great plenty The antient Inhabitants were the Ordovices as the Romans named them who being armed with want and cold were made bold against the force of their Enemies and continued longest free both from the Roman and English Dominion This Shire is 31 Miles long and 17 broad and in circuit 114. The Mountains abound with Oxen Sheep and Goats The middle of it hath a Valley 17 miles long and five broad lying open to the Sea incompassed on all other sides by Hills among which the hiâ—hest is Moilleally Hill on the top whereof is a Fort â—â—d Warlike Trench and a spring of clear Water From these Mountains the River Cluyd riseth runs into the Valley in the Parish of Llan-sanan in the side of a stony Hill there are 24 seats cut out of the main Rock some bigger than others where youth come to tend their Cattel make their sports which to this day is called Arthur's round Table After the beheading of David brother to Luellin the last P. of Wales for High Treason K. Ed. I. bestowed the Town of Denbigh upon Hugh Lacy E. of Lincoln who fortified it with a strong Wall a fair Castle and several high Towers but had not fully finished the Work before his only Son was drowned in a Well therein which caused the sorrowful Father to leave it off and proceed no farther This Town is reckoned the most beautiful in all North-Wales and this is remarkable that in 1575. a great Earthquake which much terrified the People and damaged the Cities of York Worcester Glocester Bristol Hereford and the parts adjacent and caused the Bell in the Shire Hall of Denbigh to Toll twice with shaking of the Earth yet no farther mischief happened This Town is Governed by two Aldermen two Bayliffs 25 Burgesses a Recorder a Town-Clerk and two Sergeants at Mace Wrexham in this County is much admired for the Church which is a fair and spacious structure having a stately Tower or Steeple without and a fine Organ within it being built according to the most exact Rules of Architecture Holt Castle in this County was formerly in the possession of William Lord Stanley whose ready Money and Plate therein besides Jewels and Rich Housholdstuff amounted to four thousand Marks got by the plunder of Bosworth Field where King Richard III. was slain but this Lord upon discontent afterward conspiring against King Henry VII was beheaded for High Treason and it was all confiscated to the King's Exchequer Leoline ap Lleuellin was born in this Shire and made Bishop of St. Asaph by King Edward I. At his death he left a great Estate besides Plate rich Vests and Books to the Canons of that Church and his Chaplains dying in 1313. Godfrey Goodman was born of wealthy Parents in this County and afterward Bishop of Glocester yet was no friend to the Reformation constantly complaining of the first Reformers amongst whom he noted Bishop Ridley as a very odd man One present My Lord says he Ridley was a very odd manindeed for all the Popish Party in England could not match him with his equal in Learning and Religion He died a Roman Catholick and left most of his Estate to pious uses His Uncle Gabriel Goodman was Dean of Westminster for 40 years and the Bible was translated into Welsh at his cost He founded a School and an Almshouse for 12 poor People at Ruthen with a competent Salary He purchased a fair house at Cheswick in Middlesex wherewith his own hands he planted a fair row of Elmes for a retiring place to the Masters and Scholars of Westminster School He imployed Mr. Camden to make an actual Survey of all England at his expence He died 1601. and was buried in Westminster Abbey Sir Hugh Middleton was born at Denbigh and bred in London This is that worthy Knight who fetcht into London the New River Water at his own cost more than 24 Miles encountring all the way with an Army of oppositions grapling with Hills strugling with Rocks and fighting with Forests till in defiance of difficulties he had brought his Project to perfection Robert Earl of Leicester in the reign of Q. Elizabeth by his bounty advanced the building of a new Church in Denbigh Denbigh In 1660. a very great Well in Chick-Town was dried up Richard Clough born at Denbigh was a Chorister at Chester whence he removed to London where he was Apprentice to and after Partner with Sir Tho. Gresham Having lived some time at Antwerp he travelled to Jerusalem where he was made Knight of the Holy Sepulchre Some affirm that he disbursed several thousands of pounds in building the Royal Exchange and that it was agreed betwixt them the Survivor should be Heir to the other on which account they say Sir Tho. Gresham carried away the main of the Estate He gave 100 pound a year to the Free-School in Denbigh besides his Benefaction to the New Church there This County is divided into twelve Hundreds had formerly 5 Castles hath 3 Market-Towns Denbigh Ruthen and Wrexham and 57 Parish-Churches It gives the Title of Earl to L. Feilding FLINTSHIRE hath Cheshire on the East the Sea on the North Shropshire on the South and Denbighshire on the West It is the least Country of Wales not so mountainous as other parts but lies pleasantly along by the River Dee The Air is healthful and the Soil plentiful of Corn and Cattel the Rivers abound with Fish There are not many Woods or Trees in this as well as other parts of Wales the frequent Rebellions of the Inhabitants having occafioned the English to make great devastations of them to prevent their being the retreats of these unquiet people Fruits are not very common but of Milk Butter Cheese and Honey there is plenty Of the last of which they make great quantities of a Drink like Muscadine called Metheglin There were formerly several strong Castles in this Shire as Flint Hawarden or Harden Treer Rudland Mold Yowley and Hope the first was the most famous being founded by K. Henry 2. and finished by K. Edward the first Afterward K. Richard 2. going over to Ireland to suppress the Rebels there his Uncle Henry Duke of Lancaster returning from his Banishment into England at the same time and being joyned by several of the Barons who were much displeased at K. Richard's Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government raised an Army of 60000 Men against him The King returned in hope to suppress this Insurrection and coming to Flint-Castle the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Northumberland were sent to him from the D. of Lancaster to whom K. Richard made a Proposition That if himself and eight more whom he would name might have an honourable allowance with the assurance of enjoying peaceably a quiet life he would resign his Crown This the Earl of Northumberland assured him should be performed whereupon the King surrendred himself into the Duke's hands When K. Richard came first to this Castle they let loose one of his
THE HISTORY Of the Principality of WALES In Three Parts Containing I. A brief Account of the Antient Kings and Princes of Brittain and Wales till the final Extinguishing of the Royal Brittish Line II. Remarks upon the Lives of all the Princes of Wales of the Royal Families of England from K. Edward the First to this Time III. Remarkable Observations on the most Memorable Persons Places in Wales of many considerable Transactions Passages that have happen'd therein for many hundred years past Together with the Natural and Artificial Rarities and Wonders in the several Counties of that Principality By R. B. LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside 1695. Iohn the French King taken Prisoner by Edward the Black Prince of Wales at the Battel of Poictiers in France F.H. van Hove Sculp To the READER IN a small Tract formerly published Intituled Admirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in every County in England I added at the end some brief Observations upon the Counties in Wales but they being defective for want of room and finding that the Subject would afford sufficient matter for a Book of the same value I have now been more large and copious in giving an account of this Principality having omitted nothing material that I could meet with concerning it as well before the reducing and annexing thereof to the Crown of England as since I have likewise added some short Remarks upon the Princes of Wales of the Royal Families of England and several other Observables in the several Shires thereof which I doubt not will be Novelties to many Readers and diverting to all and thereby answer the design in the Collecting and Publishing of them from Historians of the best Authority which is the hearty wish of R. B. The History of the Antient Kings and Princes of Brittain and Wales PART I. IT is recorded in History that after the Universal Flood the Isles of the Gentiles were divided by the Posterity of Japhet the Son of Noah and it is probable that this Island among the rest was then peopled by his Progeny the History of whom may be easier wisht for than recovered And therefore it may seem unnecessary to relate what some Antient Authors have recorded with much uncertainty of the Successors of Japhet whom they have named Samothes Magus Sarron Druis and Bardus But rather to follow the Authority of Geoffery Arch-Deacon of Monmouth in his History written in the Brittish Tongue and translated into English about five hundred years since and begins his Chronology with Brute who after the Posterity of Japhet seems to be the first Discoverer Ruler and Namer of this Island Yet by the way we may observe That Pomponius Mela a Roman Historian writes that one Hercules killed Albion a Giant about the mouth of the River Râ—â—sâ—e in France from whence some have concluded that Albion Reigned King here the Greek Monuments likewise always calling this Isle Albion and that after his death Hercules came hither And Solinus another Roman Historian reports that by an Inscription upon an Altar found in the Northern part of Brittain about 1600 years since it plainly appeared that Vlysses in his ten years Travels after the Destruction of Troy arrived in Brittain before the coming of Brute We shall now give a brief Account of what is commonly received concerning Brute and the Race of the Kings of Brittain that proceeded from him though with my Author I shall not impose upon the belief of any in these Narrations Brute the Son of Sylvius the Son of Ascanius the Son of Aeneas after the Ruine of Troy and the Death of his Father being banisht into Greece he there by his Valour rescued and delivered the remainder of the Trojans his Countreymen from the Captivity which they had been for many years sufferers under the Grecians with whom he departed to seek some new habitation and associating to himself Corineus whom with another Band of exiled Trojans he found in the way after a long and tiresome Journey and many notable encounters and atchievements he arrived in this Island then called Albion and landed at Totnes in Devonshire in the year from the Creation of the World 2855. which was about the time that Jeptah and Samson Judged Israel and before the Birth of Christ 1116 years and being made King or Governour of the Land he called it by his own name Brittain according to the opinion of many antient Authors He also built the City of London which he named Troynovant or New Troy At his Death Brute divided the Country among his three Sons unto Locrine his Eldest he gave the middle part between Humber and Severn which from him was called Loegria To Camber his second he bequeathed all the Region beyond the River Severn which from him was called Cambria now Wales To Allanact the youngest he left all the Land beyond Humber Northward which was after called Albania now Scotland After which partition he deceased having reigned 24 years and was Buried at London Locrinus succeeded his Father and Humber King of the Hums or Scythians Invading his Brother Albanacts Countrey he and his Brother Camber assisted Albanact so successfully that they utterly defeated his Army himself and abundance of his Souldiers being Drowned in the River from thence called Humber Madan his Son reigned in his stead then Mempricus Ebrauh Brute Greensheeld Leil who is said to have built Carleil Bladud a great Necromancer who is reported to have made those hot Baths at Bath and to magnifie his skill undertook to fly in the Air but his Art failing he fall upon the Temple of Apollo in London and broke his Neck Lear his Son was King after him who was very unfortunate in two unnatural Daughters whose Husbands strove to deprive him of his Kingdom but their designs being defeated his youngest Daughter whom he had slighted was admitted Queen after him to whom succeeded her two Nephews Morgan and Cunegad between whom differences arising Morgan was slain and Cunegad reigned singly 30 years Many other Kings of Brittain are reckoned up after him as Dunwallo D. of Cornwal Belinus and Breanus who are said to have Conquered France Italy Germany and at last to have taken the City of Rome it self King Lud who much beautified Troynovant fortifying it with Walls and Gates particularly Ludgate called after his name and founded a Temple where it is thought St. Paul's now stands and changed the name of the City from Troynovant to Luds Town now London He left two Sons Androgeus and Theomantius under Age whereupen Cassibilane their Uncle was admitted Governour in whose Reign Julius Caesar first Invaded this Island in the year from the Worlds Creation 3913. and 54 years before the Birth of Christ the Land being then not under one sole Monarch or King but divided into 28 petty Kingdoms or Provinces Caesar being landed at Deal in Kent the news thereof was so welcome to the Senate of Rome that they Decreed a
Thanksgiving should be kept for 20 days together Cassibilane was only King of the Trinobantes who inhabited Middlesex Essex and Hartfordshire but in this common danger the other Princes mutually agreed that he should command in Chief to withstand the Roman Invasion which he did with very great courage beating them twice off from the Brittish shoar his chief City was Verulane near St. Albans Theomantius the Son of Lud succeeded Cassibilane who paid the three thousand pound a year Tribute to the Romans which his Uncle had agreed to when notwithstanding the utmost Efforts for their Liberty the Brittains were obliged to submit to the Conquering Romans Yet did not Caesar wholly subdue Brittain for he never came towards the North which several of his Successors afterwards endeavoured to bring under but subjected only those parts of the Island lying next to France which our Countreyman Roger Bacon relates that Caesar discovered by setting up Prospective Glasses on the Coast of France from whence he saw all the Havens and Creeks in England So that he may rather seem to have discovered than reduced to the Roman Power Kymbeline or Cunobeline the Son of Theomantius reigned next whose principal seat was at Carnolodunum now Malden in Essex He is said to have refused to pay the former Tribute upon which Augustus who fucceeded Julius Caesar designed thrice to make an Expedition hither to recover his Right but was as oft diverted by Insurrections in divers parts of his mighty Empire Guiderus was King after his Father and being very valiant refused Tribute to Caligula the Roman Emperor who therefore resolved as his Predecessors Augustus and Tiberius had done to reduce Brittain as being the utmost bounds of the Roman Monarchy making great provision for this Noble Enterprize being incouraged therein by Adminius the Son of Cunoboline who being banisht by his Father fled with some few followers to Caligula for protection Guiderus expected and provided for his Arrival who bringing down his Forces into Flanders put them in Battel Array upon the Sea shore planting his Engines of War as if ready for an Engagement after which the Emperor himself in a Galley lanched into the Sea about two Bow-shots from the Land and then presently returned and getting into a Pulpit provided for him he by found of Trumpet caused his Souldiers to prepare for Battel and then charged every Man to fill his Helmet with Cockle and Muscle Shells which he called The Spoils of the Conquered Ocean and gave as great Rewards to them for these trifles as if they had performed some notable Service in War and against the place he built a Tower as a Trophey of his Victory the Ruines whereof saith my Author remain to this day and is called The Brittains House He carried many of these Shells to Rome boasting of this honourable Voyage and requiring a Triumph which the Senate seeming unwilling to allow he threatned to murther them all Claudius succeeded him in the Empire and having leisure resolved to make War upon the Brittains who had long neglected to pay their Tribute being invited thereto by certain Brittish Fugitives ordering Aulus Plautius a Roman Senator to transport the Veterane Souldiers out of France thither to which they were very unwilling complaining That they must be forced to make War out of the World for so they accounted this Island to be but at length being Embarqued they Landed unexpectedly upon the Brittains who were incamped in the Isle of Sheppey in Kent and defeating them took the City of Camolodunum in Essex and subdued the East-part of the Island Jeffery of Monmouth writes That Claudius Landed at Rochester near Portsmouth which he Besieged and Guiderus coming to relieve it fought and prevailed against the Romans till one Hanno Armed like a Brittain pressing through the midst of the Troops till he came where Guiderus was he instantly slew him which Arviragus the King's Brother perceiving to prevent the Brittains from being discouraged putting on the Royal Robes fought so couragiously that the Romans were routed Claudius flying to his Ships and Hanno to an adjoyning Forrest whom Arviragus pursued and kill'd ere he could get to the Haven from whence it is said to have the name of Hanno's Haven then Hampton now Southampton After his Death the Land was many years under Roman Governours and Lieutenants but the Silures or Inhabitants of South-Wales would not endure the Romish Yoke relying much upon the Courage of their Prince Corvactacus who incamping his Army on the top of an Hill and stopping all the passages thereto with heaps of Stones he expected the approach of his Enemies striving in the mean time to animate his Souldiers with incouraging Speeches telling them That day and that Battel would either restore them to their former Liberties or else reduce them to perpetual slavery and that they should remember the valour of their Ancestors who formerly had driven Caesar the Dictator out of their Countrey and thereby delivered themselves from Roman Taxes and Axes and freed their Wives and Daughters from being debauched by their implacable Adversaries The Souldiers were much incouraged and eccho'd out their hopes of Victory with so great a shout as much disturbed the Romans who thought the Fortifications the Brittains had raised to be impregnable but Ostorius marching forward though opposed by a shower of Arrows he at length broke down that rude ill compacted Fence and coming to handy strokes with the Brittains who had more courage than Armor having neither Head-peice nor Coat of Mail they were so fore galled with the Javelins and two-handed Swords of the Romans that they soon fled This Victory was unexpected by the Romans and more considerable by the taking the Wife Daughter and Brethren of Cataractus Prisoners he himself flying to the Brigantes or those that Inhabited Lancashire Cheshire c. for succour but was by Cartismunda the Queen treacherously delivered into the hands of the Conquerors after nine years generous resistance and his fame having reached even to Rome it self Cataractus was carried thither and led in Triumph through the Roman Legions with his Brethren Wife and Daughter whose great Courage and strange Attire filled the People with admiration and delight His Body was almost naked Painted over with Figures of divers Beasts he wore a Chain of Iron about his Neck and another about his middle his Hair hanging down in Curls covered his Back and Shoulders and the Hair of his upper Lip or Whiskers parting in the middle reacht down to his Breast he neither hung down his head as daunted with fear nor asked mercy as the rest but with an undaunted Countenance coming before the Imperial Seat he made the following Speech to the Emperor on the Throne Great Caesar If my moderation in prosperity had been answerable to the greatness of my Birth and Estate or the success of my late attempts agreeable to the resolution of my mind I might have come to this City rather as a Friend to have been entertained
than as a Captive to be gazed upon Neither would you have disdained to have accepted the terms of Peace that I should have offered being a man of royal descent and a Commander of many Warlike Nations But though the Clouds have darkened my present Fortune yet have the Heavens and Nature bestowed that upon me in Birth and Mind which none can vanquish or deprive me of I plainly perceive that you make other mens miseries the subject and matter of your Triumphs and in this my Calamity as in a Mirror you now contemplate your own Glory Yet remember that I was a Prince furnisht with strength of men and habiliments of War and that it is no such wonder I am now deprived of them all since daily experience shews that the events of War are uncertain and the success of the best Policies are guided by uncertain Fates And thus it was with me who presumed that the deep Ocean like a Wall inclosing our Land which is so scituated by Divine Providence as if it were a World by it self might have been a sufficient security and defence to us against any Foreign Invasion but I now observe that the desire of Dominion admits of no Limitation neither hath the Roman Ambition any bounds for being desirous to Command all it seems all must obey them For my own part while I was able I made resistance being unwilling to submit my Neck to a servile Yoak since the Law of Nature allows every man to defend himself being assaulted and to withstand force by force Had I yielded at first neither your Glory nor my Ruine would have been so remarkable Fortune hath now done her worst we have nothing left us but our lives which if you take from us our miseries will have an end and if you spare us we shall live the objects of your Clemency Caesar admiring at the Courage and Resolution of so free a mind in a Captive condition he pardoned him and the rest who being unchained from the Triumphal Fetters they then did reverence to Agrippina the Empress who sate aloft on a Throne Royal And afterwards continued at Rome to their Deaths for any thing we read to the contrary After Ostorius was recalled Paulus Suetonius was sent hither by the bloody Nero during whose Government the Brittains made several attempts to regain their Countrey and free themselves from the insupportable slavery and misery wherein they lived for Arvivagus having made Nero the Emperor and his two Daughters his Heirs hoping thereby to secure the Kingdom to his Family it happened otherwise For the Land was ruined by the Roman Souldiers Voadicia his Queen beaten and abused her Daughters Ravished the Nobles deprived of their Estates and the People in a most deplorable servitude Voadicia made such sensible Remonstrances of these unsufferable wrongs to the People that she raised an Army of an hundred thousand men who willingly submitted to her Conduct and with whom being confident in her numbers she ingaged against the Romans at some disadvantage and was vanquished by them with the loss of fourscore thousand Brittains And after she had shewed all the courage of a gallant Commander and had made so notable an attempt for redeeming her Countrey from bondage doubting to fall one time or other into her Enemies hands she like another Lucretia fell upon her own Sword and Died. In the 73 year from our Saviours Birth If the Reader desire to know more of the former Kings of Brittain the Invasion of the Romans and the Life of this renowned Queen Voadicia I have published a Book called Female Excellency or the Ladies Glory wherein there is a full account of all these particulars being of the same value with this About this time Historians report that Christianity was first planted in this Island certain Disciples being sent by Philip the Apostle out of France into Brittain whereof Joseph of Arimathea that Buried the Body of Christ was chief who first laid the Foundation of the true Faith at a place called Avalon now Glastenbury in Somersetshire where with his twelve Assistants he Preached the Gospel of Salvation to the Islanders and left there Bodies Buried in that place Galgacus a valiant Commander of the Caledonians was the last Prince that resisted the Roman Dominion and was made General of the Brittains against the Invasions of Agricola in the Reign of the Emperor Domitian he with the chief of the Brittish Nobility made a very valiant defence for several years but the Romans seeming to be decreed by Heaven to reduce the World under their obedience vanquished all that opposed them and in a bloody Battel defeated him and his Forces and laid all in ruins before them whereby the whole Island was subjected to the Roman Emperors 136 years after the entrance of Julius Caesar Jeffery of Monmouth the Welsh Historian doth here bring in a succession of Brittish Kings and amongst them Marius who Conquered Roderic King of the Picts and Scots whose Monument crected near Carleile wherein his Victory was inscribed remained a long time After him Corlus his Son is said to succeed who being carried to Rome and Educated there in his Youth upon his return to his own Countrey he gratefully paid the Romans their Tribute without constraint but we must leave these relations as doubtful as we find them The Picts and Northern Inhabitants of Brittain continuing to Invade and Destroy the Brittains who were now become Tributary to the Romans the Emperor Adrian in 124. came hither in Person for their relief and drove the Picts out of the plain Countrey into the Woods and Mountains where the Roman Horsemen could not attack them but finding the Air too severe for his Souldiers and the Countrey barren instead of leaving the Brittains a Roman Garrison he built a strong Wall or Fortification of Earth for their defence against their Enemies It was composed of Stakes driven deep into the Ground and bound together like a hedge which being filled up with Turf and Earth became a strong Rampant against sudden Incursions It began at the River Eden in Cumberland near Carleile and ended at the River Tyne near Newcastle being eighty miles in length After which the Brittains continued for many years in peace without opposition time and castom causing them to bear the Yoak of subjection patiently especially considering they were obliged to the Romans for assistance against their own Barbarous Countreymen After the Romans had Conquered the greatest part of the World the succeeding Emperors politickly permitted Kingdoms and Provinces to be governed by Kings and Governours of their own Nation thereby the better to keep them in obedience to their Empire Among others Antoninus Pius constituted Lucius to be King of Brittain who disliking the Idolatry and Paganism of his People and being much affected with the holy lives of the Christians and with the Miracles wrought among them and incouraged by the Emperors Edicts in their favour he allowed the publick Profession thereof being the first
Constantine called the Great the Heir of his well-gotten Empire He Married Helena the Daughter of Coilus a Brittish Prince She is reported to have removed the Pagan Idols out of Jerusalem and to have built a Temple in the place where our Saviour suffered and to have found out the Cross so highly venerated by Antient Writers and the Crib or Manger where Christ was born And they say she was the chief instrument of her Husbands Conversion persuading him to renounce all Superstitious and Idolatrous Worship and to acknowledge one God and Jesus Christ his only Son and incouraging the Christians who had been hid in Caves and Dens from the fury of their Enemies to come forth and freely to exercise their Religion Constantius after two years Reign returning from an expedition against the Picts and Scots fell sick at York being his Imperial Residence About which time his Son Constantine escaping from Gallerius at Rome where he had been left Hostage he by Horses laid on purpose arrived in a short time at York with whose presence his Father was so comforted that sitting up in his Bed he spake thus to him in the presence of his Counsellors Death is not now terrible to me since I am well satisfied that those actions which I have left unaccomplished will be performed by you my Son in whom I doubt not but my name and memory will be preserved I advise thee to govern thy Empire with Impartial Justice protect the Innocent from Oppressors and wipe away all Tears from the Eyes of the Christians for therein I am sure thy happiness will consist To thee therefore I leave my Diadem and their Defence desiring that my faults may be buried with me in my Grave and leaving my virtues if I ever had any to revive and live in thee Having thus said he expired in 306. His Son Constantine the Great succeeded being joyfully proclaimed Emperor by the Brittains being as it is said was born of a Brittish Princess He prosecuted the War his Father had begun against the Caledonians Picts and Brittains in the remote Islands of Scotland He then made War with Maxentius a wicked Usurper Necromancer and Tyrant and being sensible that success depends much upon the blessing of Heaven yet doubting what God to Invocate to his assistance as not yet fully setled in the Christian Faith he devoutly cast up his Eyes to the East and saith Eusebius thereupon the Sign of the Cross or the first Greek Characters of the Name of Christ were visibly presented to his sight the Stars like Letters being so placed that this Sentence might be read in Greek In hoc Vince In this shalt thou overcome which Promise of Victory gave him such incouragement that ingaging the Tyrant Maxentius he utterly defeated his Forces himself being drown'd by the fall of a Bridge into the River Tyber After this Constantine obtained several other Victories and then to compleat his worthy actions he laid the Foundation of the Christians security by bringing them under the protection of Kings and Princes which could never since be shaken though often attempted by several Heathen Emperors his Successors At his Death he divided his large Empire among his three Sons Constantine the Eldest having France Spain part of Germany and Brittain for his Lot After him several other Emperors succeeded without making any great alteration in the Brittish affairs neither were there any considerable Transactions The last of them was Theodosius in the year of Christ 423. about which time the Goths who had faithfully served the Romans about 20 years being disobliged and slighted to revenge their wrongs they chose for their Leader a valiant Goth called Alaricus who proved the scourge of Rome for the Vandals Alans and Suecians joyning with him they began a fierce War in Austria and Hungary increasing their forces into such vast Multitudes that the World stood amazed and trembled at them For soon after two hundred thousand Goths more resorted to them who with these united Forces over-run Thracia Hungary Austria Sclavonia and Dalmatia ruining and destroying all things in so dreadful a manner that it seemed rather the Ravage of Devils than Men. The Roman Empire thus declining they drew their Forces out of Brittain But a while after the Brittains were extreamly distressed by the continual disturbers of their Peace the Scots and Picts therefore they sent their Ambassadors to Rome with their Garments rent and Dust upon their Heads bewailing their most miserable condition and begging Assistance whereupon the Emperour sent a Regiment of Soldiers into Brittain under Gallio who for a while defended them but was soon called back with his Legion into France to secure the Country about Paris At his departure he advised the Brittains to stand upon their Guard and for the future to provide for their own safety and not to depend upon any succours from the Romans who had their hands full of troubles nearer home Thus the Romans after they had commanded in Brittain above five hundred years took their last farewel thereof During their continuance here they have levied so many Companies of stout Brittains for their Wars in Armenia Egypt and other Frontier Countries that they had much dispeopled the Nation Some of these British Souldiers after they were worn out in the Wars had Armorica in France assigned them by Constantine the Great for their good Service in the Wars from whom it was called Little Brittain Unto this Country in the time of Gratian the Emperour was Vrsula the Daughter of Dinoth Regent of Cornwal sent with eleven thousand Virgins who were to have been married to their Countreymen the Brittains but they all perished e're they arrived some being drowned in the Sea by Tempest and the Remainder put to the Sword by the barbarous Huns and Picts because they would not yield to their filthy Lusts The Southern or more Citiliz'd Brittains being extreamly weakned by the Romans exporting so many of their valiant Soldiers and then forsaking them and likewise by Scarcity and Famine their inveterate Foes the Scots and Picts take this unhappy Opportunity to infest them with all manner of Cruelties and Barbarities So that being no longer able to defend and secure themselves they supplicate for Aid from Germany inviting the Jutes Angles and Saxons who then inhabited Jutland Holstein and the Coasts along the River Rhene to come to their Assistance Their proposal was readily embraced and nine thousand of them under the command of two Brethren Hengist and Horsa entred the Land at Ebsfleet in the Isle of Thanet in Kent where they were received with great Joy and entertained with Songs according to the custom of the Brittains who alloted them that Island to inhabit and a while after Vortigern then King of the Brittains allowed Hengist so much Land as he could encompass within a Bull-hide cut out into Thongs wherein he built a Castle which from thence had the Name of Thong-Castle when it was finished Hengist invited the King to see
it who there fell in love with Rowena the Daughter or Neice of Hengist upon which Match Hengist grew more bold contriving to make the Island his Inheritance and thereupon sent for fresh Forces who at their arrival caused several Quarrels among the Natives dispossessing the people of their estates every Commander reckoning that part of the Country his own where they could over-match the Brittains where they commanded as absolutely as Princes whereby the Country was burdened with seven Kings at once each of them having Soveraign Command within his own limits though still one seemed to be Supreme over all the rest This was usually called the Saxons Heptarchy or seven Kingdoms The first and chiefest was that of Kent only governed by Hengist and his Successors for three hundred seventy two years The next was the Kingdom of the South Saxons containing the Counties of Sussex or Surrey continuing a hundred and thirteen years 3. That of the West Saxons comprehending the Counties of Cornwal Devon Dorset Somerset Wilts Berks and Hampshire it lasted three hundred years 4. The East Saxons Kingdom which was Essex Middlesex and part of Hartfordshire 5. The Kingdom of Northumberland containing the Counties of Northumberland Westmorland Cumberland Durham York and Lancaster continuing three hundred seventy nine years 6. The Kingdom of Mercia which was compos'd of the Counties of Oxford Glocester Worcester Salop Cheshire Stafford Warwick Buckingham Bedford Huntington part of Hartfordshire Northampton Rutland Lincoln Leicester Derby and Nottingham continuing two hundred and two years 7. The last Kingdom was that of the East-Angles containing the Counties of Norfolk and Suffolk which lasted three hundred and fifty three years Yet during the time of this Heptarchy many of the British Princes valiantly defended their lawful Inheritances and with great courage endeavoured to prevent the Saxon Yoke from being imposed upon their Necks Among whom was Vortimer the Son of Vortigern aforementioned for Vortigern after sixteen years Reign deposed from the Government for his kindness to the Saxons his Son Vortimer was chosen King of the Brittains and presently engaged against the Saxons gaining so much in four famous victories over them that they were almost extirpated He erected a Monument in the Isle of Thenta in the place where the Saxons were overthrown which to this day is called the Stowers wherein he commanded his Body to be buried that the Saxons might be terrified with the sight thereof He restored the Christian Religion then much decayed and rebuilt the Churches destroyed by the Pagan Saxons Rowena procured his Death by Poyson after which his Father Vorfigern was re-established in the Government But being oppressed by the Saxons and pursued by Aurelius he fled into Wales where in a Castle which he built by Merlin's Directions in the Mountains he with his Daughter whom he had taken to Wife were burnt to ashes Aurelius Ambrotius was likewise very successful against the Saxons He is said to have built Stonehenge near Salisbury in remembrance of the Massacre of three hundred of the British Nobility who were there slain by the Treachery of the Saxons Vter Pendragon who succeeded him was no less fortunate He was named Pendragon either because at his Birth there appeared a fiery Comet like a Dragons Head or from his Royal Banner wherein was the Picture of a Dragon with a Golden Head He died of Poyson put into a Well wherein he used to drink Arthur his Son and Successor won twelve Battels against the Saxons and chased Colgern their Captain from his Camp in Northumberland to York from whence he escaped into Germany The Relicks of Arthur's Round Table are to this time shewn in Winchester with the Twenty four Seats After him reigned Constantine Aurelius Conantus Vortiporus Malgo Canonus and Careticus This last King raised a Civil War among his own Subjects the Britains which made them forsake him and leave him to the Mercy of the Saxons who pursuing him he fled to Cirencester in Berkshire for safety but his Enemies taking several Sparrows fastned fire to their feet and let them fly into the City who lighting upon straw and thatcht houses burnt the City to the Ground but Careticus escaped and fled for security to the Mountains of Wales where he died After twenty four years Civil Dissention Cadwan was made King During these Troubles Austin the Monk who was sent hither by Pope Gregory to convert the Britains carrying himself very insolently at a Meeting with the British Bishops at a place thence named Austin's Oak in Worcestershire they could come to no Agreement whereupon it is thought Austin contrived this cruel Revenge Cadwallo was victorious over the Saxons slaying Edwin King of Northumberland and his Son Osfride in a bloody Battel He died in peace say the British Writers and was buried at St. Martin's Church in London his Statue on Horseback in Brass being set upon Ludgate for a terrour to the Saxons CAdwalloder the Son of Cadwallo fought manfully against the Saxons but the distractions among his Nobility much hindered his proceedings There was likewise a dreadful Famine in his Reigh so that the common People reckoned Roots and Herbs to be dainty Food This was followed by a woful Mortality which was so raging and sudden that great numbers of People were surpriz'd by Death while they were eating drinking walking and speaking These calamities lasted near eleven years so that the Country was almost depopulated the King and his British Peers being forced to leave the Land who went to his Cousin Alan King of Little Britain in France The Saxons taking advantage of these severe miseries lamentably oppressed the wretched Britains to whose Aid Cadwallader with the Assistance of his Cousin Alan did once design to return but being diverted by a Dream which he had he went on Pilgrimage to Rome and according to the Superstition of that Age he there turned Monk where he soon after died and was buried with whom died all the hopes of the Britains he being the last King of the British Blood whereby the Saxons became Soveraign Lords and Masters of this Island And thus was this unhappy Country a second time conquered by Strangers which hapned about the Year of our Lord 689. The Britains being thus outed of their Country by the Conquering Saxons retired beyond the River Severn and therein fortified themselves which Country thereupon came to be called Wales and the People Walsh or Welchmen not that the word Walsh signified in the Saxon Language a Foreigner or Alien for how could they be called Aliens in their Native Countrey but Wales and Walish from Galles or Gallish by changing G into W according to the custom of the Saxons The Britains being descended of the Gaules kept their own name still though somewhat altered in the Letter as is said before and to this day the French call the Prince of Wales by the name of Le Prince le Galles At first their Chiefs were honoured with the Titles of Kings of Wales and
are these that follow 1. Idwallo in the year of Christ 688. called Iror the Son of Alan 2. Roderick 3. Conan 4. Mervyn 5. Roderick Sirnamed the Great who left Wales between his three Sons allotting unto each his part the Country being divided into North-Wales South-Wales and Powys-Land which had their several Lords and Princes North-Wales fell to the share of Amarawd the eldest Son of Roderick Mawr or the Great the last King thereof with a superiority of Power over both the rest who were but Homagers to this It containeth the County of Merioneth part of Denbigh Flint Carnarvan and the Isle of Anglesey which being the more Mountainous Parts and of difficult access consequently preserved their Liberty longest and do still keep their Language from the Incursions of the English Aberfraw in the Isle of Anglesey was the Princes Palace who were thence sometimer called Kings of Aberfraw South-Wales in the division of the Country fell to Cadel the second Son comprehending the Counties of Glamorgan Pembroke Carmarthen Cardigan and part of Brecknock which though the richâ—â— and most fruitful part of Wales yet Pembrokâ— and Brecknock having their several Kings there remained only Cardigan and Carmarthen under the immediate subjection of the Princes of South-Wales whose principal Seat was at Dynefar or Dynevor Castle not far from Carmarthen who thence were called by their Subjects the Kings of Dynevor Powys-land was bestowed by Roderick upon his youngest Son Mervyn containing the Counties of Montgomery and Radnor with part of Denbigh Brecknock Merioneth and Shropshire His chief Palace was Matraval in Montgomeryshire from whence the Princes thereof were so called This Countrey continued in the Line of Mervyn a long time together but much afflicted and dismembred by the Princes of North-Wales who cast a greedy eye upon it The last that held it entire was Meredith who left it to his two Sons Madoc and Griffith of which Madock died at Winchester in 1160. and Griffith was by King Henry I. created Lord Powys the residue of Powys-land which pertained to Madock depending still upon the fortune of North-Wales In these several Divisions were different Kings and Princes who long strugled with the Saxons for their Liberties But because we find very little mention of their Actions in our Chronicles I shall proceed with the History of the Saxons and Danes and afterward give an account of the actions of some of the Welsh Kings and Princes till that Principality was wholly subdued to the Crown of England The Saxons according to the common fate of Conquerours after they had subdued their Enemies disagreed among themselves and several of their Princes incroached upon the Territories of each other and so became petty Monarchs of some part of Britain These were reckoned to be â—ourteen in number till at last Egbert the eighteenth King of the West Saxons got command over all the seven Kingdoms of the Saxons and so became sole Monarch of England which none of his Predecessors before ever obtained He had War fourteen years with the Cornish and Welch and took West-chester their chief hold from them making a strict Law against any Welcoman that should pass over Offa's Dike or set one Foot within his English Dominions He slew Bernulf King of Mercis in Battel and drove the King of Kent out of his Kingdom The East Angles and East Saxons submitted to him and likewise the South Saxons whereupon he caused himself to be crowned absolute Monarch at Winchester And this Monarchy continued in the Saxons till the Danes first got and then lost it again and the Saxons Issue failing upon their next entrance it then fell to the Normans as by the Sequel will appear In the fourteenth year of Egbert the Danes with thirty three Ships landed in England to whom he gave Battle but had the worst of the day losing two of his chief Captains and two Bishops but the Danes returning two years after into Wales and joyning with the Welch Egbert overcame both Danes and Welch together Ethelwolph his Son succeeded after whom reign'd Ethelbald Ethelbert Ethelred and then Alfred in whose time the Danes under Roll a Nobleman came over with a great Army but by the Valour of Alfred were beaten This virtuous Prince divided the twenty four hours of the Day and Night into three equal parts which he observed by the burning of a Taper set in his Chapel Clocks and Watches being not then in use Eight hours he spent in Contemplation Reading and Prayer other eight for his Repose and the Necessaries of Life and the other eight in Affairs of State He divided the Kingdom into Shires Hundreds and Tythings for the better Administration of Justice and suppressing of Robbers and Felons which had so good effect that the People might Travel with all manner of security yea saith my Author if Bracelets of Gold had been hung in the High-ways none durst have presumed to have taken them away He commanded all his Subjects who possessed two Hides of Land to bring up their Sons in Learning till they were at least fifteen years old asserting That he accounted a man Free born and yet Illiterate to be no better than a Beast a Sot and a Brainless Creature Neither would he admit any into Office that were not so He translated the Holy Gospel into the Saxon Tongue was devout in the Service of God and a great Protector of Widows and Orphans Edward his eldest Son succeeded him against whom his Nephew Ethelwald rebelled His Sister Elfleda had very hard Travel of her first Child whereupon she ever after forbore the Nuptial Embraces alledging it to be an over-foolish Pleasure which occasioned such bitter Pains and listing her self a Souldier under her Brother she performed many valiant exploits against the Danes against whom Edward obtained a great Victory near Wolverhampton wherein two of their Kings were slain with many of the Nobility and a multitude of Common Souldiers which procured him both Fear and Love from the People After his death Ethelstane reigned who is said to be the first Anointed King of this Island He enlarged his Dominions farther than he received them He overthrew Godfrey the Danish King of Northumberland Howell King of Wales and Constantine King of Scotland forcing them to submit to his pleasure after which he again restored them to their Dignities glorying That it was more Honour to make a King than to be a King These actions procured him much renown from his Neighbour Princes who courted his Friendship and sent him curious Presents Othy the Emperor who married his Sister sent him a curiosity richly set with Precious Stones very artificially contrived wherein were Land-skips with Vines Corn and men seeming so naturally to move as if they had been real The King of Norway sent him a sumptuous Ship richly guilt with Purple Sails The King of France sent him a Sword which was said to have been Constantine's the Great the Hilt whereof was all of Gold and therein as they
said was one of the Nails which fastned Christ to the Cross He likewise sent the Spear of Charles the Great reported to be the same wherewith our Saviour's side was pierced also a part of the Cross a piece of the Crown of Thorns and the Banner of St. Maurice It is related That this King Ethelstane or Athelstane in the third year of his Reign was so harassed by the Danes that he was forced to shut himself up in Winchester City who propounded to him either to submit and hold the Realm of them or to determine the Quarrel between two Champions of each side The King was much perplexed at these Propositions because his three valiant Knights Guy Earl of Warwick who lived in his Reign or not at all one Herand another couragious Knight and Earl Rohand Guy's Father-in-Law were gone to the Holy Land In this strait after he had prayed for Deliverance it is said he had a Vision wherein he was directed to rise early the next morning and taking two Bishops with him to get up to the top of the North Gate of that City where he should see a likely Man clothed as a Pilgrim bare-foot and on his bare Head a Chaplet of White Roses and that this should be the man that should conquer Colebrand the Danish Gaint for so was his Name and free the English from the Danish Bondage The next day the King thus attended at the Gate sees Earl Guy so habited being newly arrived from Jerusalem whereupon Athelstane addressing himself to him desires him to accept the Combat as being ordained by Heaven to acquit this Realm from Tyranny Guy replied My Lord you may easily perceive that I am not in a Condition to take upon me this Fight being harassed and weakened by daily Travel lay this task therefore upon your stout and hardy Soldiers whom you were wont very much to esteem Ah said the King such indeed I had but they are gone some to the Holy Land as one valiant Knight called Guy who was Earl of Warwick I had also a couragious Servant named Sir Herand de Ardene Would to God they were now here for then would this Duel be soon undertaken and the War quickly finished In speaking which Words the Tears trickled down his Cheeks which made such impression upon the Pilgrim that he engaged to undertake the Combate Upon the day appointed Guy putting on the King's best Armour the Sword of Constantine the Great St. Maurice his Lance and one of the King 's best Coursers he rode through Winchester appearing like a most accomplish'd Knight and went to the place appointed which was in a Valley called Chiltecumb where Colebrand soon after came so loaded with Armour that his Horse could scarce bear him and a Cart driven before him filled with Danish Axes great Clubs with knobs of Iron squared Bars of Steel and Iron Hooks to pluck his Adversary to him Thus marching disdainfully along and seeing Sir Guy in the height of Pride he commanded him to come off his Horse and throw himself with submission at his Feet But the gallant Pilgrim disregarding his Words commending himself to Heaven put Spurs to his Horse and at the first Encounter pierced the Giant 's Shield with such force that his Lance broke into Shivers which so enraged the Giant that coming up furiously he killed Guy's Horse who being dismounted dangerously wounded Colebrand The Combat having lasted for some time the Giant fainted and fell with loss of Blood and Guy immediately cut off his Head threeby freeing England at present from the insulting Dane After all which he offered his Sword in the Cathedral of Winchester which was long after kept in the Vestry and called Colebrand's Axe The other Reliques of Guy Mr. Drayton thus describes Thy Statue Guy Cliff keeps the Gazers Eyes to please Warwick thy mighty Arms thou mighty Hercules Thy strong and massy Sword that never was controll'd Which as her antient Right her Castle still doth hold Thus much for Earl Guy who lived in the Year of Christ 929. This King Ethelstane by the insinuation of his Cup-bearer became incensed against his Brother as if he had contrived Treason against him who therefore ordered him to be put into a small Vessel without Tackle or Oars and so be exposed to the mercy of the Sea wherewith the young Prince was so overwhelm'd with sorrow that he threw himself headlong into the Sea whose Ghost the King endeavoured to appease by a voluntary Penance of seven years and building two Monasteries Neither did the treacherous Cup-bearer escape Vengeance for on a Festival day as he was busie in waiting one of his Feet slipping he recovered himself by the help of the other and thereupon pleasantly said You may see now how one Brother can help another This Speech suddenly recalled to the King's Mind the Death of his Innocent Brother whereupon he caused the Cup-bearer who was the Procurer thereof to be immediately executed Edmund the fifth Son of King Edward succeeded and after him Edred his sixth Son Then Edwy or Edwin the eldest Son of Edmund was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames who was of a lascivious temper for it is related That on the very Day of his Coronation he suddenly left his Nobility and went into a private Room to debauch a great Lady his near Kinswoman whose Husband he soon after slew St. Dunstan who was present and then Abbot of Glastenbury followed the King into his Chamber and leading him out by the Hand accused him before Odo Archbishop of Canterbury by whom he was severely reproved and forbid him the Company of that woman The King was hereat enraged against Dunstan and banished him out of the Land and became so great an Enemy to the Order of Monks that he expelled many of them out of their Monasteries and put married Priests in their Places The People having a great Opinion of the Holiness of Dunstan and being offended at the King's severity toward him and other Irregularities they turned their Affections to Edgar his Brother and removing Edwin from his Princely Dignity Edgar was made King in his stead for very grief whereof he soon wasted away and died in 959. Edgar was called the Peaceable He maintained the Kingdom in great Glory and Prosperity His Navy Royal is said to consist of three thousand six hundred Ships with which he every Summer sailed round his Land to secure the Sea from Pyrates He caused Ludwal Prince of Wales to pay him three hundred Wolves yearly instead of a former Tribute in Money whereby England and Wales which were formerly very much over-run were now so freed that there was scarce a Wolf to be found alive he was very severe upon his Judges if he found them guilty of Bribery and Partiality riding the Circuit himself every Year for that purpose Yet among all these Vertues he is said to be very Voluptuous especially toward Women not sparing the very Nuns which sounded so ill that Dunstan took the boldness to
after murdered as he was easing Nature by Edrick and his Head presented to Canutus who though he loved the Treason yet commanded the Traytor to be beheaded By the Death of Edmund the Saxon Monarchy came to a Period for Canutus after his Death seised upon the other half of England none being able to withstand whereby the Danes made themselves sole Masters of this Island after it had been in possession of the Saxons about 566 Years The English Nobles owning Canutus for their lawful King and swearing Fealty to him at his Coronation at London in the year of Christ 1017. Though Canutus had never the better Opinion of them considering that most of them had sworn Allegiance to Edmund their Natural Sovereign and likewise that they were English Natives He therefore judged them treacherous Persons and used them accordingly for some he banished others he beheaded and many by the Just Judgment of Heaven died sudden Deaths Canutus to establish his Government called a Parlaiment of Bishops Lords and Barons in London wherein many laws were ordained and among others this following We admonish diligently all Christian Men that they do always love God with an inward heart and be diligently obedient to Divine Teachers and do subtilly search God's Learning and Laws often and daily to the profit of themselves And we warn that all Christian men do learn to know at least-wise the right Belief and a right to understand the Lord's Prayer and the Creed for that with the one every Christian man should pray unto God and with the other shew forth right Belief He also ordained in another Parliament at Oxford That both English and Danes should observe the laws made by King Edgar as judging them to be above all others most just and reasonable He married Emma the Widow of King Etheldred and Sister to Richard Duke of Normandy with this Condition That the Issue of her Body by him should inherit the Kingdom of England He went to Rome to complain of the excessive Extortions of the Pope from the English Archbishops upon receiving their Palls And having reigned twenty Years over England he died Notwithstanding the former Agreement yet Harold the Son of Canutus by Elgina his first Wife in the absence of Hardiknute the Son of Queen Emma succeeded his Father and the better to secure himself he by the assistance of the treacherous Earl Goodwin who had married Canutus's Daughter endeavours to get into his Power Edward and Alfred the two Sons of Queen Emma by King Etheldred whom he knew had more Right than himself and to that purpose they counterfeit a Letter in Emma's name whom Harold had abused and robbed of her Jewels the Contents whereof were to this purpose EMMA in Name only Queen to Edward and Alfred her Sons sends Motherly Greetings Whilst we severally bewail the death of our Sovereign my Lord and your Father and your selves Dear Sons are still more and more dispossessed from the Kingdoms of your lawful Inheritance I much wonder what you intend to do since you know that delays in Attempts give the Usurper more leisure to lay his Foundation and more safely to fix thereon his intended Building never ceasing to post from Town to City to make the Lords and Rulers thereof his Friends by Threats Prayers or Rewards But notwithstanding his Policy yet they privately signifie that they had rather have one of you their Native Countrey-men to reign over them than this Danish Usurper Therefore my advice is That either of you do with all speed repair to me that we may advise together what is to be done in this so great an Enterprise Fail not therefore but send me word by this Messenger what you intend to do herein And so fare ye well Your Affectionate Mother Emma Messengers being sent to Normandy with this Letter they met only with Alfred Edward being gone into Hungaria to whom delivering their Message he was very joyful and made all possible hast to England accompanied with divers Norman Gentlemen and arriving at Southampton was received by the villanous Earl Goodwin with much pretended Kindness and Friendship who made as if he would bring him to London but being come to Gilford in Surrey Goodwin commanded his men to kill all Alfred's Company and then carrying him to the Isle of Ely ordered his Eyes to be put out Then opening his Body they took out his Bowels and fastning one end of his Guts to a Stake they drove him round it with Iron Darts and Needles till all his Bowels came clear away Thus died innocent Alured or Alfred the true Heir to the Crown by the Treachery of Godwin to the great disgust of the English Nobility who vowed Revenge This Harold called Harefoot for his great swiftness did not long enjoy his usurped Dominion for after four years he died After which Hardiknute the Son of Canutus and Queen Emma who was by his Father made King or Denmark is now by the States of the Land both Danes and English invited over hither to take upon him the Government He was a great Oppressor of the English by heavy Taxes which so enraged them that two of his Collectors were slain at Worcester for which their City was burnt and their Bishop Alfred expelled his Office till with Money he had purchased his peace Though this King was very vicious yet it is said he was more kind to Edward his Half-brother and made Earl Godwin purge himself for the death of Prince Alfred though it is thought his bountiful Gifts to the King prevailed much more for clearing him than his Innocence One present especially is very remarkable that is A Ship whose Stern was of Gold and fourscore Soldiers all richly habited within her on their Heads they all wore guilt Burgonets and on their Bodies a triple gilt Harbergeon about their Wasts Swords girt richly guilt a Danish Battle-ax on their left Shoulders a Target with gilt Bosses on their left Hand a Dart in their right and upon their Arms Bracelets of Gold of great Value After two years Reign Hardiknute died in the midst of his drunken Debaucheries and in him ended the Danish Race in England three Kings only of that Nation Reigning here This third Conquest was but of a short continuance yet were the Danes very insolent toward the English during that time for if an Englishman and a Dane met at a Bridge or at a Door the Englishman must stand still till the Dane past by and if he did not then bow down very low to the Dane he was certainly beaten and abused Yea it is related That while the English were drinking the Danes would stab them or cut their Throats to prevent which when the Englishman drank he desired his next Companion to be his Surety or Pledge from whence it is said the Custom of Pledging one another did first arise For these and abundant greater Insolencies after the Death of Hardiknute the Danes were utterly driven out of England and never again returned
taken in the Fight should continue Prisoner during Prince David's Pleasure Lastly That David should pay the King only three thousand Marks toward the charges of the War About a year after Prince David made another Insurrection in revenge of those Welshmens Heads whom Hubert de Burg had caused to be struck off in cold Blood and presented to the King for which David burnt several Churches and many Ladies in them whereupon he was solemnly Cursed and Excommunicated at Oxford in the presence of all the Nobility and Clergy and the King raising a great Army went to repress the Welsh but returned without effecting it So that they continued their ravages more than ever Complaints whereof coming daily to the King the Lords of his Council told him how pernicious it would be to him to suffer it who replied That he was not able to suppress them for want of money They being envious at his kindness to Hubert de Burg boldly replied He might well be poor who gave away his Estate to make others Rich and Great and thereupon they drew up many Articles against de Burg one whereof was That he had stoln out of the King's Jewel Office a precious Stone of wonderful value which had virtue to make him that wore it Invincible in Battel and that he had given this Stone to David Prince of Wales the King's Enemy Another was That he by his Letters had caused Prince David to hang the gallant William Bruce But he defeated all their designs against him and recovered the King's favour Afterward Prince David joined with the Earl Marshall in a Rebellion against the King and defeated his Forces But the King at length recovering his power there and giving himself up to Works of Charity and Hospitality caused Prince David to use this notable expression I more fear saith he the Almsdeeds which the King doth than all the men of War that he hath and the whole Clergy put together After this having taken Homage of all his Nobility Prince David voluntarily offered to hold his whole Principality of the Kings of England though with the dislike of his People that he might thereby strengthen himself against the attempts of his Son Griffith who used great endeavours to deprive him of his Royalty Griffith succeeded him and being taken Prisoner by King Henry was committed to the Tower of London from whence endeavouring to make his escape over the Walls by tying the Sheets and Blankets of his Bed together the weight of his heavy Body loosed them and falling down upon his Head he broke his Neck Afterward his Son David being provoked by the many injuries received from the Earl of Hereford made an Inroad into the English Marshes and designed to have freed himself from all Homage to the Kings of England exhibiting his complaint to the Pope and alledging That he was by force and violence unjustly compelled to hold his Principality and Estate of them But the King's Credit and Power prevailed against the weak Allegations of this poor Prince who thereupon continued his depredations Against whom King Henry sent three hundred men at Arms under the Command of Sir Hubert Fitz Matthew but through his own rashness and the valour of the Welsh he and his Party were totally defeated At which the King being much troubled resolved to go against them in Person and after he had fortified the Castle of Grennock in North-Wales and wasted the Isle of Anglesey he was forced by the rigour of the Weather to return home endeavouring to starve the Welsh by prohibiting the Irish and Cheshire men under severe penalties to furnish them with any provisions and if any of them ventured out of their Fastnesses on Snowdon Hills to satisfie their hunger the Garrison of Grennock were ready to surprize them Yea the two Welsh Lords Powys and Bromfield joined with the King against them insomuch that they were in miserable distress about which time Prince David died In 1255. The Welsh being opprest by Geffery Langley Governor of the Marshes fled to Arms whereupon Prince Edward afterward King Edward I. to whom his Father had given that Principality raises an Army to subdue them and wanting Money borrowed large sums of his Uncle Richard and then Marches against Prince Leoline whose Forces consisted in about Ten Thousand Country Horsemen and many more Foot who took a Solemn Oath That they would stand together for the recovery and defence of their Antient Laws Liberties and Countrey counting it better to lose their Lives with Honour than to live in Ignominy and Slavery And indeed they had already performed very notable enterprises under the conduct of their valiant Prince having recovered all the Inland Country of North-Wales and in one Battel kill'd above a thousand English putting the rest to flight and making Irruptions to the very Walls of Chester Neither had Prince Edward any better success for Leoline fell upon his Army with such Courage as obliged them to retire and not attempt any thing farther against him who complaining to his Father of the disgrace he had received What 's that to me says K. Henry I have given the Country to thee and thou must use thy courage to defend it and thereby gain such honour in thy Youth that afterward thine Enemies may stand in fear of thee As for me I have somewhat else to do In the absence of Prince Edward Leoline and his Welsh Forces continued their ravages on the Marshes He likewise Confederated with the English Barons then in Arms against King Henry whom they had defeated and taken Prisoner in a bloody Battel at Lewes in Sussex and carried into Wales with them destroying the Lands of the English in the Counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan under the command of Prince Leoline and Simon Montfort Earl of Leicester Prince Edward perceiving that he must use his utmost power for the recovery of his Father's Liberty and the Kingdom resolved with the assistance of the People of Cheshire Herefordshire Worcester and Shropshire who had been great sufferers in these publick calamities to give the Rebels Battel which he did accordingly in a large Plain near the Town of Eversham in Worcestershire where the Army of the Barons was utterly discomfited with a very great slaughter especially of the Welsh Simon Montfort called the Great Earl of Leicester was also slain at which very minute there was such terrible Thunder Lightning and Darkness as caused much amazement After the Death of Montfort Prince Leoline who had given him great assistance thought fit to make a reconciliation with King Henry and by paying thirty thousand pound Sterling four Welsh Counties taken from him in the Wars were restored to him In 1275. King Edward I. sent for Prince Leoline to attend at his Coronation and do him Homage which he excused or modestly refused He was afterward summoned to appear at the Parliament at Westminster which he likewise declined standing upon terms of safe Conduct doubting to be used as he pretended like his
Grandfather Griffith whom he intimated was murdered in the Tower of London and not kill'd by accident yet he sent a message to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York That if the King pleased to appoint Commissioners to receive his Oath and Homage he was very ready to give it or if he would name some indifferent place and give Prince Edward the Earl of Glocester and the Lord Chancellor as Hostages for his safe return he would wait upon him in Person The King dissembled his anger at these arrogant demands but a while after coming to the Castle of Chester on the Border of Wales he again sent for him and Leoline again denied to come At which the King resolved for preventing all future disturbances on that side to make an absolute Conquest of the Countrey And on the contrary the Welsh having always a custom at every change of Princes in England to try conclusions expecting one time or other to change their Yoke of Bondage into Liberty were in great hopes of doing it at this time having now a valiant Prince to command them But an accident happened which somewhat took off their edge for the Lady Eleanor Daughter of Simon Earl of Montfort whom Prince Leoline extreamly loved Sailing out of France into Wales was by the way taken by some English Ships and brought to King Edward and for the Love of her Prince Leoline was willing to submit to any conditions so that besides his Promise of submission to the Government he agreed to pay down Fifty thousand pounds Sterling and a thousand pound a year during life Upon these Terms he Married his beloved Lady and the Wedding was solemniz'd in England the King and Queen being present thereat Three years Leoline continued faithful and obedient in which time David one of his Brothers staying in England and being found by the King to be of a stirring Spirit was much honoured by him Knighted and Match to a Rich Widow Daughter of the Earl of Derby to which the King added the gift of the Castle of Denbigh with a thousand pound a year though it was at length discovered that he lived here only as a Spy For Prince Leoline's Lady dying soon after and he contrary to his engagements taking up Arms his Brother David notwithstanding these favours from the King went and joined with him and they together enter into England seizing the Castles of Flint and Ruthland with the Person of the Lord Chief Justice Clifford who was sent thither as a Judge and in a great Battel the Welsh overthrew the Earls of Northumberland and Surrey with the Slaughter of many English King Edward was at the Vizes in Wiltshire when news coming of this revolt and overthrow he raises an Army to revenge it In his way he goes to visit his Mother Queen Eleanor who lay at the Nunnery of Almesbury with whom while he was discoursing a Person was brought into the Chamber who pretended that being formerly blind he had received his Sight at the Tomb of King Henry III. When the King saw him he knew him and that he was a most notorious lying Villain and intreated his Mother not to give the least credit to him but the Queen who was glad to hear of this Miracle for the glory of her Husband finding her Son unwilling that his Father should be a Saint fell suddenly into such a rage that she commanded him out of her sight which the King obeys and going forth meets with a Clergyman to whom he tells the story of this Impostor adding merrily That he knew the Justice of his Father to be such that he would rather pluck out the Eyes being whole of such a wicked wretch than restore him to his sight In the mean time the Archbishop of Canterbury went of himself to Prince Leoline and his Brother David endeavouring to persuade them to submission but in vain for Leoline was so animated with an old British Prophecy of Merlin's That he should shortly be Crowned with the Diadem of Brute that he had no Ear for Peace and shortly after no head for the Earl of Pembroke first took Bere Castle which was his usual residence from him he then gave him Battel and his Party being defeated his Head was cut off by a Common Souldier and sent to King Edward who caused it to be Crowned with Ivy thereby in some part unluckily fulfilling his Welsh Prediction And this was the end of Leoline the last of the Welsh Princes betrayed as some write by the men of Buelth Soon after his Brother David flying into Wales and being destitute of help or relief he was at length taken with two of his Sons and seven Daughters as some Authors write all which were brought before the King David was committed to Chester Castle and afterward in a Parliament at Shrewsbury was convicted of Treason and sentenced to an ignominious death namely to be first drawn at a Horse Tail about the City of Shrewsbury then to be beheaded and quartered his Heart and Bowels burnt His Head to accompany his Brothers was put upon the Tower of London and his four Quarters were set up in four Cities Bristol Northampton York and Winchester A manifold Execution and the first shewed in this kind in this Kingdom in the Person of the Son of a Prince or any other Nobleman that we read of in our History Some have observed that upon King Edward's thus totally subjecting Wales he lost his Eldest Son Alphonsus a Prince of great hopes about twelve years of Age and had only left to succeed him his Son Edward lately born at Carnarvan and the first of the English Royal Families that was Intituled Prince of Wales but no Prince worthy either of Wales or England After this the rest of the Welshmen as well Nobles as others submitted themselves to King Edward and all the Countrey and Castles therein were surrendred to him who then annexed that Country to the Crown of England and built two strong Castles at Aberconway and Carnarvan to secure their obedience He also gave several Lands and Castels to Englishmen as the Lordship of Denhigh to Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln Of Ruthen to Reginald Lord Grey and divided Wales into Counties and Hundreds establishing the Government thereof agreeable to the Laws of England This happened in the twelfth year of his Reign 1284. Remarks upon the Lives of the Princes of Wales of the Royal Families of England PART II. THough King Edward I. had subjected the Principality of Wales and afterward annexed it to the Crown of England yet he could never induce that People freely to own him as their King but upon condition that he would come and reside among them or at least appoint them a Prince of their own Nation to Govern them for the Welchmen having experienced the rigorous and severe Treatment of the English Governours and being sensible that the King would rule them by an English Deputy they could not with patience bear the thoughts of it so that
exceeds And like the strokes of Jove's resistless Thunder Shoots forth and breaks the strongest Ranks Here in the thickest throng of Enemies Like Thracian Mars himself Black Edward plies asunder Death's fatal task Here Noble Warwick gives A furious onset There brave Suffolk strives T' out 〈◊〉 the formost Emulations fire Is kindled now and blazes high Desire Of Honour drowns all other Passions there Not in the Chiefs alone Each Soldier In that small Army feels bright Honours flame And labours to maintain his proper Fame Ne're was a Battel through all parts so fought Nor such high wonders by an handful wrought White Victory that soar'd above beheld How every English hand throughout the Field Was stain'd with Blood Amaz'd to see the Day And that so few should carry her away The Fields no more their verdure can retain Enforced now to take their Purple stain And be obscur'd with slaughter while the wounds Of France manure her own unhappy Grounds Where mixed with Plebeian Funerals Her greatest Princes die There Bourbon falls And Marshal Clermont welters in his gore There Noble Charney's beaten down that bore The Standard Royal that sad Day Here dies Athens Great Duke There Valiant Eustace lyes Who as a badg of highest Honour wore A Chaplet of bright Pearls that had before Won by King Edward in a skirmish near To Calice he was taken Prisoner As testimony of his Prowess show'd Been by that Royal Enemy bestow'd Great are the French Battalia's and in room Of those that fall so oft fresh Souldiers come So oft the bloody Fight 's renewed that now The English weary with subduing grow And 'gin to faint oppress'd with odds so great When lo to make the Victory compleat Six hundred Bowmen whom to that intent Before the Battel the brave Prince had sent Abroad well mounted now come thundring o're The Field and charge the French behind so sore As with confusion did distract them quite And now an Execution not a Fight Ensues All routed that great Army flies A Prey to their pursuing Enemies With his disheartned battel Orleans Forsakes the Field with him the Heir of France Young Charles of Normandy and thousands moe Not overthrown but frighted by the foe Nor are the English tho' enow to gain The day enow in number to maintain So great a chase And not so well suffice To follow as subdue their enemies Nor yet which more declar'd the Conquest sent From Heaven alone to strike astonishment in over-weening Mortals and to show Without that help how little Man can do Are all the English Conquerors in the Field Enow to take so many French as yield Nor to receive the Prisoners that come Tho' some in fields are Ransom'd and sent home Yet more from thence are Captive born away Then are the Hands that won so great Day c. And now though King John had the misfortune to fall into the Hands of an Enemy yet he had the happiness to be made Captive to a Noble Enemy For Prince Edward having conquered his Person by the Fortune of War endeavoured now to overcome his Mind by his Courteous demeanor addressing him with such an humble Grace yet generous deportment as a Person of so gallant a Soul as this noble Prince was capable of which so alleviated the King's affliction that he could not find much difference between his Captivity and Liberty which the same Poet thus expresses THE chase together with the day was done And all return'd In his Pavilion Brave Edward feasts his Royal Prisoner At which as Noble did the Prince appear As erst in battel and by sweetness won As great a Conquest as his Sword had done No fair respect or Honour that might cheer That King 's afflicted breast was wanting there No Reverence nor humble courtesie That might preserve his state and dignity But Edward shew'd at full And at the Feast In Person waited on his captive Guest But what content what Object fit could Fate Present to comfort such a changed State For him Whose State the Morning Sun had seen so high This night beholds in sad captivity His restless passions rowling to and fro No calm admit when thus his noble Fo Prince Edward spake Great King for such you are In my thoughts still whate're the Chance of War Hath lately wrought against you here forgive Your humble Kinsman's service if I strive To ease your sorrow and presume to do What is too much for me to counsel you Do not deject your Princely thoughts or think The Martial Fame that you have gain'd can sink In one succesless Field Or too much fear your Nation 's Honour should be tainted here Mens Strength and Honour we most truly try Where Fields are fought with most equality But God was pleas'd to make this days success The more miraculous that we the less Might challenge to our selves and humbly know That in so great and strange an overthrow Some secret Judgment of our God was wrought And that the Sword of Heaven not England fought c. And for your self Great King all History That shall hereafter to the World make known Th' event of Poictiers Battel shall renown Your Personal Prowess which appear'd so high As justly seem'd to challenge Victory Had not Gods secret Providence oppos'd But though his Will Great Sir hath thus dispos'd Your State remains your Person and your Fame Shall in my humble thoughts be still the same And till my Father see your Face to show How he respects your Worth and State to you As to himself were he in Person here In all observance Edward shall appear The Noble King a while amaz'd to see Victorious Youth so full of Courtesie At last replies Brave Cousin you have shown Your self a Man built up for true Renown And as in Action of the Wars to be This Ages Phoenix in Humanity Why do you wrong me thus as to enthral Me doubly Not insulting o're my Fall You rob me Cousin of that sole Renown Which I though vanquish'd might have made mine own To bear Adversity I might have shew'd Had you been proud a Passive Fortitude And let the world though I am fallen see What sp'rit I had in scorning misery But you have robb'd me of that Honour now And I am bound in Honour to allow That Noble Theft content since such are you To be your Captive and your Debtor too And since my Stars ordain'd a King of France Arm'd with such odds so great a Puissance Must in a fatal Field be lost to raise So great a Trophie to anothers Praise I am best pleas'd it should advance thy Story And John's dishonour be Prince Edward's Glory After the Battel Prince Edward led King John and the Captive Nobles Prisoners to Bourdeaux the Archiepiscopal See and chief City of his Dominions in France where he retained them till the Spring following But sent present News of this Victory to his Father who thereupon ordered a Thanksgiving to be celebrated all over England for eight days
to him and struck him over the Face Whereat the Judge not at all disturbed rose up and told him That the affront he had offered was not done to him but to the King his Father whom he did there represent And therefore I charge you saith he to desist from proceeding any further in your Lawless designs and I commit you to the King's Bench there to remain during your Father's pleasure for the abuse you have committed and the ill example you have given to those that may hereafter be your own Subjects It was wonderful to see how calm the Prince was in his own cause who had been so violent in that of his Companion for laying aside his Dagger which he had in his hand and with which the People feared he would have killed the Judg he quietly submitted to his Order and went to the King's Bench. At which his Attendants being in a great fury ran instantly with mighty complaints to the King giving him an account of the whole matter King Henry appeared at first a little surprized but recollecting himself he seemed ravished with joy and holding up his hands to Heaven cry'd out O merciful God how much am I bound to thy Infinite goodness that thou hast given me a Judge who is of such Courage as not to be afraid to administer Justice and a Son of such humility that he will submit thereunto However for these and some other Pranks he removed him from being President of the Council and put his younger Brother Lord John in his place This made the Prince so sensible of his Father's anger which some of his Enemies endeavoured to heighten that he thought it necessary to use all means to recover his good opinion which he endeavoured to do by a way as strange as that by which he lost it Of which I shall give an account in the words of the Larl of Ormond who was an Eye and Ear witness of the same During the sickness of the King faith he some ill disposed people endeavoured to raise dissention between him and his Son reproaching the Prince both with the Frolicks of his Youth and for the great concourse of People that continually attended his Court far exceeding those of his Father whereby they insinuated that he designed to usurp the Crown during his Life which raised much jealousie in the King's Mind and greatly alienated his affections from him The Prince had notice thereof by some of his Friends in Court Whereupon he attired himself in a Garment of blew Sattin wrought all with Oylet holes of black Silk at every hole a Needle hanging by which it was sowed and about his Arm he wore a Hound's Collar studded with S S. of Gold Thus strangely apparrell'd with a large Retinue of Young Noblemen he came to his Father at Westminster and his Attendants staying in the Hall by his Order to prevent suspicion he himself with the King's Officers went to wait upon his Father Being admitted into the Presence after due obeysance the Prince desired that he might have Audience of his Majesty in the Privy Chamber Upon which the King caused himself to be carried thither in a Chair where in the Presence of only three or four of his Privy-Council he demanded of the Prince the Cause of his unwonted Habit and Coming The Prince kneeling replied Most honoured Lord and Father I am come to throw my self at your Majestie 's Feet as your most Loyal Subject and Obedient Son to whom nothing is more afflicting than that your Majesty should entertain the least jealousie of my designing any thing against your Royal Dignity or to imagine me so horridly undutiful and ingrateful to a Father who hath always shewed such tender love and affection to me as your Highness hath always done so that I should deserve a thousand deaths if I durst imagine the least harm or damage against your Sacred Person And if it be my bounden duty to hazard my life in your defence against any even the greatest Traytor whatsoever then much more ought I to Sacrifice my self to free your Grace from the fear of any peril or danger from me and upon that account I have this day by confessing my Sins and receiving the Sacrament prepared my self for another World Therefore most Honoured Father I beseech you for God's sake to put an end to my life now lying at your Feet with this Dagger delivering his Dagger to the K. for I had rather be out of the World than continue a day longer in it to give any disturbance to your mind And dear Father in the doing hereof I freely forgive you as I shall do the same before God at the Day of Judgment The King was so moved at these words thaâ— throwing the Dagger away he fell upon his Neck and imbracing him said My dear and truly be loved Son I must confess I had entertained some suspicions but I now find they were altogether causless on your part and since I am now sensible of your fidelity and obedience I do assure you upon my honour I will never hereafter harbour any ill opinion of you whatsoever may be suggested against you And hereupon he was fully restored to the King 's former Grace and Favour The King's weakness of Body increasing daily he oft-times took occasion to give some useful instructions to his Son for the future Governing of his Kingdom to this effect Dear Son I am much concerned for fear that after my decease some difference may arise betwixt you and your Brother Thomas Duke of Clarence whereby great mischiefs may happen to the Kingdom you being both of great Spirits and he of an Usurping Temper which I am sure you will never endure And as often as I think of it I heartily repent me that ever I charged my self with the troubles of a Crown The Prince replied Gracious Soveraign and Father I pray God continue long your Life and Reign to Govern us both but if it please the Almighty that I shall succeed you in the Kingdom I shall honour and love my Brethren above all others so long as they be true and faithful to me their Soveraign Lord. But if any of them shall conspire or rebel against me I do assure you I shall as soon execute justice on them as upon the meanest and most inconsiderable Person in the Nation The King was extreamly pleased with this answer and then proceeded My well beloved Son Thou hast much eased my troubled Mind and I charge thee to do as thou hast said To administer Justice impartially but to be always ready and speedy in relieving the Oppressed And let not Flatterers whose hands are full of Bribes withdraw thy Mind therefrom Delay not to do Justice to day if thou be able lest God should execute Justice upon thee and deprive thee of thine authority Remember that the happiness of thy Soul thy Body and thy Kingdom depends thereupon Yet in some Cases let Justice be tempered with Mercy lest thou be accounted
a Tyrant but be sure that thou take great care to redress the Grievances of thy Subjects and severely punish those that wrong them Hereby shalt thou gain the Englishmen's Hearts and reign prosperously for so long as they freely enjoy their Liberties and Estates thou may'st be sure of their Loyalty and Obedience but if thou strive to slave or impoverish them they will certainly rebel against thee for such is their nature that they will rather chuse to dye Freemen than to live Slaves and Beggars Therefore if thou Govern thein with a mixture of love and fear thou wilt be King over the most Pleasant and Fruitful Countrey and the most Loving Faithful and Valiant People in the World whereby thou wilt be a terror to all thine Enemies My Son when it shall please God to take me out of the World which is the Common Lot of all men I must leave my Crown and Kingdom to thee and I would earnestly advise thee that of all things thou wilt avoid Pride neither be thou bewitcht with worldly honour so as to be exalted in thine own imagination but always remember that the higher thy Dignity is so much greater is the burden that lyes upon thee for the security of thy Kingdom and of every particular Subject therein as being like the Head and Heart in the Body from whence all the Members receive Life and Nourishment Whereby thy People finding they receive so many benefits from thee will be always ready to assist and defend thee for their own preservation as the Members do the Head and Heart But above all things be careful to serve God sincerely and ascribe to him the Glory of all thy Successes against thine Enemies as coming from his goodness and not any merit of thine These and many other good Instructions the King gave to his Son And soon after being at his Prayers at St. Edward's Shrine in Westminster-Abbey he was suddenly taken with an Apoplexy and thereupon removed to the Abbot of Westminster's House where recovering himself and finding he was in a strange place he asked where he was and being told in the Abbot's House in a Chamber called Jerusalem where an Astrologer had formerly told him he should dye He said Nay then I am sure I shall dye though he before thought it would have been in Palestine and was therefore preparing to make a Voyage thither And here he died indeed March 20. 1413. It is observable that during his sickness he always required to have his Crown set upon his Bolster by him and one of his Fits being so strong upon him that all thought him absolutely dead the Prince coming in took away the Crown when suddenly the King recovering his senses and missing it was told the Prince had taken it who being called came back with the Crown and kneeling down said Sir to all our Judgments and to all our griefs you seemed directly dead and therefore I took the Crown as my Right but seeing to all our comforts you live I here deliver it more joyfully than I took it and pray God you may long live to wear it your self Well said the King sighing what Right I had to it God knows But says the Prince If you dye King my Sword shall maintain it to be my Right against all Opposers Well replied the King I leave all to God and then turning about said God bless thee and have mercy upon me And with these words he gave up the Ghost After his Father's Death the Prince was Proclaimed King by the name of Henry V. and proved a better Man of a King than a Subject for till then he was not in his right Orb and therefore no marvel he was exorbitant Those that have taken the height of him parallell'd him with Alexander for Magnanimity and Caesar for his being Invincible and Affectation of Glory but he had something of Caesar that Alexander the Great had not That he would not be Drunk nor Intemperate and something of Alexander that Caesar had not That he would not be flattered and both were short of him in this that Conquering others they could not Conquer themselves but even when they were Lords of the World became Slaves to their own Passions He advanced the former Title of the Right of the Kings of England to the Kingdom of France and sent Ambassadors to King Charles VI. to demand a peaceable surrender of that Crown to him offering to accept his fair Daughter Katherine with the Kingdom and to expect no other Pledge for his Possession till after Charles's Death But the French King being sick his Son the Dauphin who managed the Government instead of another answer scornfully sent the King a Present of Tennis Balls as an intimation that his Youth was better acquainted with the use of them than of Bullets The King whose Wit was as Keen as his Sword returned him this answer That in requital of his fine Present of Tennis Balls it should not be long e're he would toss such Iron Balls amongst them that the best Arm in France should not be able to hold a Racket against them Neither was he worse than his word though his Army seemed very disproportionate for so great a work being only as some Write nine thousand Horse and Foot with which small number he met with the French Army at a place called Agencourt where though the Enemy were above five to one he fought them with such resolution that he took more Prisoners than his own Forces consisted of and kill'd ten thousand of them the Dauphin himself dying soon after of grief with the loss only of six hundred English nay one Author says of not above twenty six in all which made the Victory almost miraculous And which the Religious young King was so sensible of that he caused the Clergy in his Army to sing that Psalm of David When Israel went out of Egypt c and the Souldiers in their Arms responded at every Verse Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be all the Glory And upon his return to England with his Prisoners he commanded that no Ballad or Song should be sung but those of Thank sgiving to God for his happy Victory and Safe return without any reflections upon the French or extolling the English Valour Soon after he returned back to France where many great Cities and Towns were Surrendred to him and the French being unable to make any resistance at length a Treaty of Peace is concluded and he married his beloved Lady Katherine Daughter to the French King Charles being Proclaimed Regent of France during that King's Life and Heir Apparent to that Crown after King Charles his Death He was tall of Stature lean of Body and his Bones small but strongly made somewhat long Neckt black Hair'd and of a very comely Countenance So swift in running that he with two of his Lords would run down a Wild Buck or Doe in a Park He delighted in Songs and Musical Instruments
St. Bartholomew's Hospital for poor maimed diseased People and Cripples c. 3. Bridewell for imploying and correcting Vagrants Harlots and Idle Persons He was a Comely Person and of a sweet Countenance especially in his Eyes which seemed to have a starry liveliness in them In the sixth year of his Reign which was the year before he died he fell sick of the Measels and being fully recovered he rode a Progress with greater magnificence than ever he had done before having in his Train no fewer than four thousand Horse The January following whether procured by sinister Practice or growing upon him by natural infirmity he fell into an indisposition which centred in a Cough of the Lungs Whereupon it was reported that a Poisoned Nosegay had been presented him for a New years Gift which brought him into this slow but mortal Consumption Others said it was done by a vene nous Clyster However it was he grew so ill that his Physicians dispaired of his Life After which a Gentlewoman though to be provided on purpose pretended to cure him but did him much hurt for with her applications his Legs swelled his Pulse failed his skin changed colour and many other symptonis of approaching death appeared An hour before he was overheard to pray thus by himself O Lord God deliver me out of this miserable and wretched Life O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee yet for thy Chosens sake if it be thy will send me life and health that I may truly serve thee O Lord God save thy chosen People of England and defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my People may praise thy name for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake Then turning his Face and seeing some by him he said I thought you had not been so nigh Yes said Dr. Owen we heard you speak to your self Then said the King I was Praying to God O I am faint Lord have mercy upon me and receive my Spirit and in so saying he gave up the Ghost July 6. 1553. in the sixteenth year of his age when he had reigned six years-five months and nine days and was solemnly buried at Westminster Abbey XIII Prince Henry eldest Son to King James I. was the thirteenth Prince of Wales of the Royal Family of England He was born at Sterling Castle in Scotland and in his Childhood gave promising signs of an Heroick and Noble Spirit no Musick being so pleasant to his Ears as the Trumpet and Drum and the roaring of Cannon and no sights so acceptable as that of Musquets Pistols and any kind of Armour and at nine years of age he learned to ride shoot at Archery leap and manage the Pike all which manly exercises he performed to admiration in such young years He was tall of stature about five foot eight inches high of an amiable yet Majestick countenance a piercing Eye a gracious smile and a terrible frown yet courteous and affable to all He was naturally modest and patient and when most offended he would by over-coming himself say nothing very merciful very just and very true to his promises very secret and reserved from his youth He was most zealous in his love to Religion and Piety and his Heart was bent if he had lived to have endeavoured to compound those differences that were among Religious men He shewed his love to good men and hatred of evil in incouraging good Preachers and slighting the vain-glorious in whom above all things he abhorr'd flattery loving and countenancing the good and never speaking of the slothful Preachers without anger and disdain He was very Consciencious of an Oath so that he was never heard to take God's name in vain or any other Oaths that may seem light much less such horrible Oaths as are now too common He never failed to sacrifice daily the first of his actions to God by Prayers and Devotions He was so resolved to continue immutable in the Protestant Religion that long before his death he solemnly protested That he would never join in Marriage with a Wife of a contrary Faith for he hated Popery with all the Adjuncts and Adherents thereof yet he would now and then use particular Papists kindly thereby shewing that he hated not their Persons but Opinions He was obedient to his Parents careful in the affairs of his Family and Revenue loving and kind to Strangers and in a word he had a certain extraordinary excellency that cannot be exprest in words In the nineteenth year of his age he was visited with a continual Head-ach and had two small Fits of an Ague which were afterward followed with very had symptoms which daily increasing Dr. Abbot then Archbishop of Canterbury went to visit him and finding the extream danger he was in discourst to him of the vanity of the World the certainty of Death and the Joys of Heaven asking his Highness whether he were well pleased to die now if it were the Will of God he replied Yes with all my Heart farther declaring That he hoped for the pardon of his sins only from the merits of Christ In his best moments he continued in a Christian frame of Spirit and Novemb. 6. 1612. quietly yielded up his Spirit to his blessed Saviour and Redeemer being attended with as many Prayers Tears and strong Cries as ever any Soul was XIV After his death Charles his Younger Brother succeeded being the fourteenth Prince of Wales and afterward King of England by the Title of King Charles I. XV. Charles the eldest Son of Charles I. was the fifteenth and last Prince of Wales of the Royal Family of England and after King of England by the Title of King Charles II. I have been very brief in relating the Actions of several of the Princes of Wales having already given an account of them in some other Books which I have formerly published As for instance In a Book called Admirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in every County in England in the Remarks upon the County of Glocester you may find all the particulars of the Murther of King Edward the second In another called Historical Remarks upon the Cities of London and Westminster there is a full Relation of the deposition and miserable death of King Richard II. In another intituled The young Man's Calling or the whole Duty of Youth the Lives of King Edward VI. and Prince Henry Son to King James I. are related at large In another called England's Monarchs is an account of the Lives and Actions of all the Kings of England from William the Conqueror to this time and among them of those Princes of Wales who were after Kings of England and are mentioned in the preceeding Remarks In another called The Wars of England c. There is a full account of the Life of King Charles I. with his Trial and Death In another called The History the two late Kings is a Relation of the Life and Death of King Charles II. To
were instantly defeated slain and put to flight and the Romans became Masters both of the Field of Battel and the whole Island also yet were they not wholly subdued till the Reign of Julius Agricola When the Roman Empire in Britain began to decline several Irish came secretly over and setled here and certain sinall Hills and Mounts are yet to be seen intrenched about which are called the Irish-men's Cottages and another place named of the Irish-men Hiercy Gwidil because it is said they here put the Britains to flight under the conduct of Sivigus Afterward the Normans ost infested this Isle but in the year 1000 King Etheldred set out a Fleet which scoured the Seas round about it and wasted the Countrey in a more hostile manner than either the Irish or Norwegians Then Hugh Earl of Chester and Hugh Earl of Shrewsbury both Normans did grievously afflict Anglesey at which very time Magnus the Norwegian arriving here shot Hugh Earl of Shrewsbury through with an Arrow and after he had plundred the Island departed Next the English continually vext the Inhabitants making several descents upon them even to the time of King Edward I. when they were totally subjected to that Crown The chief Town Beumaris formerly called Bonover built by this King Edward I. together with a strong Castle is governed by a Mayor two Bailiffs two Sergeants at Mace and a Town Clerk At Llanvais not far from hence was formerly a Monastery of Friars Minors richly endowed by the Kings of England where a Daughter of King John and the Son of a Danish King with several other persons of Dignity were Buried that were slain in the Wars between the English and Welsh Guido de Mona or of Anglesey was Bishop of St. David's and Lord Treasurer of England to King Henry IV. though the Parliament moved that no Welshman should be a State Officer in England He died 1407. Arthur Bulkley Bishop of Bangor though bred Doctor of the Laws either never read or else he had forgot the Chapter against Sacrilege for he spoiled the Bishoprick and sold the five Bells of the Cathedral being so over officious that he would go down to the Sea to see them shipt away He was suddenly deprived of his sight and died 1555. William Glyn D. D. bred in and Master of Queen's College was made Bishop of Bangor in the second year of Queen Mary an excellent Schollar being constant to his own and not cruel to the Professors of the Protestant Religion there being no Persecution in his Diocess He died the first year of Queen Elizabeth whose Brother Jeffery Dr. of Laws Built and Endowed a Free School at Bangor Madoc Son to Owen Gwineth Brother to David Prince of North-Wales was born probably at Aberfrow in this County then the principal Palace of their Royal Residence who upon the Civil Dissentions in his own Countrey in 1170 adventured to Sea and leaving Ireland on the North came to a Land unknown where he saw many wonderful things this by Dr. Howel and Mr. Humfry Lloyd is judged to be the main Continent of America being confirmed therein as well by the saying of Montezuma Emperor of Mexico who declared his Progenitors were strangers as well as the rest of the Mexicans as by the use of divers Welsh words among them as Cape de Breton Norwinberg Penguin a name they give to a bird with a White Head The story adds that Madock left several of his People there and coming home returned back with ten Sail full of Welshmen who continued there and Peopled the Country Which relation if true redounds much to the Glory of Madoc who discovered this vast Region near three hundred years before the renowned Columbus first Sailed thither This Isle had antiently three hundred sixty three Villages therein and is still well Peopled having two Market Towns seventy four Parish Churches and is divided into six Hundreds It gives the Title of Earl to James L. Annesly BRECKNOCK-SHIRE so called say the Welsh from Brechanius the Father of an Holy off-spring whose twenty four Daughters were Saints It hath Radnorshire on the North Caermarthen West Glamorgan South and Hereford and Monmouthshire East in breadth twenty eight and in length twenty Miles It is full of Hills and difficult in Travelling The Mountains of Talgar and Ewias on the East seem to defend it from the excessive heat of the Sun which makes an wholesome and temperate Air from whence likewise rise many curious Springs that render the Valleys fruitful both in Corn and Grass and thereby make amends for their own barrenness The Silures were the antient Inhabitants of this County who valiantly opposed the Roman servitude and were first subdued by Julius Frontinus who found it more difficult to encounter with the Hills Streights and Mountains than with the People whereof one Mountain in the South is of such an height and occult quality that faith Mr. Speed I should blush to relate it had I not the Aldermen and Bayliffs of the Town of Brecknock for my Vouchers who assured me that from this Hill called Mounch-denny they had oft-times cast down their Hats Cloaks and Staves which yet would never fall to the bottom but were with the Air and Wind still returned back and blown up again neither will any thing but a stone or hard Mettal fall from thence and the Clouds are oft seen lower than the top of it There is likewise Cadier Arthur or Arthur's Chair a Hill so called on the South side of this Country the top thereof somewhat resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the dimensions which the Welsh imagine that great and mighty Person to be of Upon the top thereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four square having no streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein They also told him that when the Meer Lynsavathan two Miles from Brecknock hath its frozen Ice first broken it yieldeth a dreadful Noise like Thunder And it is reported that where this Meer now spreadeth its Waters there formerly stood a fair City which was swallowed up by an Earthquake and it seems probable both because all the Highways of this County lead thither And likewise the Learned Camden judgeth it might be the City Loventrium which Ptolomy placeth in these parts and Mr. Camden could not discover and therefore likely to be Drowned in this Pool which the River Levenny running hard by farther confirms the Waters whereof run through this Meer without mixing with them as appears by the colour and breadth of the Stream which is the same through the whole length of the Pool This Shire had formerly two Towns called Hay and Bealt pleasantly scituated both which in the Rebellion of Owen Glendour were unwalled depopulated and burnt under whose ruins many Roman Coins are found and therefore thought to be two of their Garrisons Bealt was formerly possest by Aurelius Ambrosius and Vortigern and afterward Leoline the last Prince of the
Britains was therein betrayed and slain Brecknock still retains some beauty in its Building it had formerly three Gates for entrance and ten Towers for defence with a very since Castle The Town is seated on two Rivers and is governed by two Bayliffs fifteen Aldermen two Chamberlains two Constables a Town Clerk and two Sergeants This County boasts of Canock and Cadock Sons and Keyne Daughter to King Brechanius aforementioned who were all three Saints though he had twenty four Daughters and all Saints also who all died young so that Keyne only survived who flourished about 492. of whom St. Cadock is said to be a Martyr and his name highly venerated by the People of South-Wales St. Cliâ—tank was King of Brecknock it happened that a Noble Virgin declared That she would never Marry any Man but him who was a zealous Christian whereupon a Pagan Souldier resolving to disappoint her killed this King who left behind him the reputation of a Saint Giles de Bruse Bishop of Hereford was born in this County and in the Barons Wars sided with the Nobility against King John upon which he was banished but after restored to the King's Favour He was also Lord of Brecknock which honour with his paternal Inheritance he left to his Brother Reginald who Married the Daughter of Leoline Prince of Wases His Effigies on his Tomb in Hereford Church holdeth a Steeple in his hand whence it is judged that he built the Belfree of that Cathedral He died 1215. Nesta Daughter to Griffin Prince of Wales and Wife to Bernard of New-march a Noble Norman and Lord by Conquest of this County was debauched by a young Gentleman Mahel her Son having got this Gallant into his hands used him very severely at which Nesta being inraged came into open Court and on her Oath before King Henry II. publickly deposed that Mahel was none of the Lord New-marches Son but begotten on her in Adultery This if true declared her dishonesty if false her perjury but whether true or false her matchless impudence Hereby she disinherited Mahel and setled a vast Estate on Sybyl her only Daughter Married afterward to Milo Earl of Hereford The Welsh are reproached by the English with the By-word of Croggen Croggen the original whereof was in the Reign of King Henry II. the Welsh then obtaining a memorable advantage at Croggen-Castle under the Conduct of their Valiant Prince Owen in defence of North-Wales and their Countreys Liberty with extream danger to King Henry's own Person his Standard Royal being Cowardly abandonded and the King reported to be slain The Standard Bearer Henry de Essex for this ignominious action was afterward challenged by Robert Monford his near Kinsman to a combate and In single Battle within Lists at Reading was vanquished by him whereupon Essex was shorn a Monk and put into a Monastery according to the custom of those times where he ended his days The English afterward used this word Groggen as a Provocative to revenge when they had the Welsh at an advantage and it is still without cause uttered in disgrace of the Welsh though originally it was expressive of their honour The County of Brecknock was formerly fortified with nine Castles It is divided into six Hundreds hath three Market Towns Brecknock Bealt and Hay and fifty two Parish Churches And gives the Title of Earl to James Lord Butler who is also Duke of Ormond in Ireland CARDIGAN-SHIRE is parted on the North from Merioneth-shire by the River Dovi from Brecknock-shire by the River Tory on the South from Carmarthen and Pembroke-shire by the River Tiry from Montgomery-shire East by the Plinillimon Hills and on the West is wholly washt by the Irish Sea The antient Inhabitats were the Dinietae who likewise possest Carmarthen and Pembroke-shire and in their struglings much depended on the Valour of their Warlike Prince Cataractus beforementioned from whose name some will have this County called Cardigan but was after subdued and the Prince being taken and carried to Rome after he had throughly viewed the magnificence of that City I cannot but wonder said he that you Romans having such stately buildings of your own should covet our poor Cottages After the Norman Invasion William Rufus assailed this Country as well to gain so fair a Possession as to secure those Seas from any Invasion against him and therefore though it was the most remote from England yet being nearer to the Sea which afforded the English a more convenient passage who were potent in Shipping it was soonest reduced to the English Dominion Henry I. bestowed the whole County entirely upon William de Clareâ— The Air is open and sharp for besides the great and high Mountain of Plinillimon it hath a continued range of lesser Hills The Vallies are rich in Pasture and Corn and well Watered with Pools and Springs In the River Tivy Beavers were formerly found a Creature living both by Land and Water having the two fore feet like a Dog wherewith he runs on the Land and the two hinder like a Goose with which he Swims his broad Tail ferving for a Rudder but now none are found the Salmon seeming to succeed who coming out of the Sea into fresh Waters and meeting with some downright Water-falls in this River he bends himself backward and putting his Tail in his Mouth gives a Spring up those alcents which are called the Salmons leap many of which are caught in this River Cardigan is the Shire Town and was Fortified by Gilbert de Clare with a Wall and a strong Castle the ruins of which remain to this day Land Badern the Great was formerly an Episcopal Seat till the Citizens cruelly flew their Bishop after which both City and Bishoprick dwindled to nothing from whence rose that Welsh Proverb Ni difanco y Beriglaver that is Vilifie not thy Parish Priest Llandevibrevi was also famous being built by David Bishop of Mereria where in a Synod holden by him he resuted the Pelagian Heresie then sprung up in Britain both by the Holy Scriptures and by Miracle for it is reported that while he was Preaching the Earth suddenly rose up a great height under his Feet that the People might the more conveniently hear his Doctrine The Welsh use a word Talaeth Talaeth that is Fine Fine which was thus occasioned when Roderick divided Wales betwixt his three Sons he ordered that each of them should wear upon his Bonnet or Helmet a Coronet of Gold set with Jewels called in British Talaeth and they from thence were named Ytritrwysoc Talaelteioc The three Crowned Princes It is now applied to the uppermost part of the head attire in Children Yea the English call the top of she Cap or Hat the Crown They have a Proverb Bu Arthur ond tra fu that is Arthur was not but whilst he was It is honourable for old men if they can say we have been brave Fellows They have another Proverb Ne Thorres Arthur Nawd gwraig that is King Arthur did never violate the
As to his birth Humfry Lloyd a Welsh Writer affirms that his Mother before Marriage was a Noble Virgin and that his Father for his great knowledge in the Mathematicks and other abstruse Learning was in those ignorant times reputed by the Common People to be a Conjurer and his Son Merlin to be begotten by an Evil Spirit or Male Devil who in the likeness of Men are said to have the Carnal use of Women Many wonderful things are attributed to Merlin as that by his assistance Aurelius Ambrosius erected that stupendous Monument near Salisbury called Stonehenge those vast Stones being brought by Magick Art from Africk into Ireland and from thence to this Plain through the Air. That Vter Pendragon the Brother and Successor of Ambrosius falling in love with the Duke of Cornwall's Wife Merlin by his Necromantick skill made Vter appear to her in the exact form and shape of her Husband Duke Gorlois by which means he enjoyed this fair Lady on whom he begot the renowned King Arthur At the birth of this Vter it is reported a Comet appeared somewhat like the Head of a Dragon whereupon Merlin declared that it presignified the Birth of Vter then new born and from thence he was called Vter Pendragon Others to his honour relate that many of his Predictions were fulfilled as that which runs thus Since Virgin gifts to Maids he gave ' Mongst blessed Saints God will him save This is interpreted to be meant of King John who built several Monasteries for Nuns in divers parts of the Kingdom Another says The sixth shall overthrow the Walls of Ireland and reduce their Countrys into a Kingdom This was thought to be accomplished under King James VI. of Scotland and I. of England who dismantled their Fortresses and Castles which were the Irish Walls and Courts of Justice were set up through all the Land Though the Welsh Proverb contradicts this foreknowledge which says Namyn Dduw nid oes Dewin that is Besides God there is no Diviner Robert Ferrar Bishop of St. David's was made a Martyr in this County He was prefer'd by the Duke of Somerset Lord Protector in the Reign of King Edward VI. a man not unlearned but somewhat indiscreet or rather uncomplying so that he may be said with St. Lawrence to be broyled on both sides being persecuted both by Protestants and Papists Some conceived that his Patron 's fall was his greatest guilt and incouraged his Enemies against him In the Reign of Q. Mary he was sent for and examined about his Faith by Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who told him that the Queen and Parliament had altered Religion and therefore required him to imbrace the same To which he answered That he had taken an Oath never to consent or agree that the Bishop of Rome should have any Jurisdiction in this Realm At which the Bishop of Winchester called him Knave and Forward Fellow and so returned him to Prison again He was afterward examined before Henry Morgan pretended Bishop of St. David's who requiring him to subscribe to several Articles he absolutely refused it or to recent any thing whereupon the sentence of degradation was read against him and he was delivered to the Secular Power by whom he was carried to Carmarthen to be burnt A while before his Execution there came one to visit him who much lamented the painfulness of his death to whom Bishop Ferrar answered If you see me once stir or move in the pains of my burning then never give any credit to the truth of the doctrine which I have formerly taught And he was as good as his word standing so patiently in the midst of the Flames that he never moved holding up the stumps of his Arms till one with a Halbert dasht him on the head whereby he fell down and quietly resigned up his Spirit to God Sir Rice ap Thomas little less than a Prince and called the Flower of the Britains was born in this Shire When the Earl of Richmond afterward King Henry VII landed at Milford Haven with contemptible Forces this Sir Rice with a considerable accession of choice Souldiers joined and marched with him to Bosworth Field where he behaved himself with much Courage and in reward of his good service was made Knight of the Garter He rebuilt Emeline in this County and called it New-castle being one of his Principal Seats and one of the latest Castles in Wales In the fourth of King Henry VIII he conducted 500 Horse to the Siege of Theroene in France Walter Devereux created Earl of Essex by Q. Elizabeth was born in the Town of Carmarthen Being a Martial Man he Articled with the Q. to maintain such a number of Souldiers at his own cost in Ireland and to have the fair Territory of Clandebuy in the Province of Vlster for the Conquering thereof To maintain this Army he sold his fine Inheritance in Essex Over he goes into Ireland with a noble Company of Kindred Friends and Supernumerary Volunteers above the proportion of Souldiers agreed on Sir William Fitz William's Lord Deputy of Ireland doubting he should be Eclipsed by this great Earl solicites the Q. to maintain him in the full power of his Place Hereupon it was ordered that the Earl should have his Commission from this Lord Deputy which with much importunity and long attendance he hardly obtained and that with no higher Title than Governour of Vlster After many attempts not very successfully made in Vlster he was ordered to march to the South of Ireland where he spent much time to little purpose From Munster he was sent back to Vlster where he was forbidden to make use of the Victory he had gotten and soon after his Commission was Vacated and he reduced to be Governour of 300 men He received all these affronts with undaunted constancy Pay days in Ireland came very quick Money out of England very slow his noble Associates began to withdraw common men to mutiny and himself was soon after recalled home He was afterward sent back with the Title of Earl Marshal of Ireland where he fell into a strange Flux not without suspicion of Poyson and died 1576. of his Age 36. His Estate much impaired descended to his Son Robert his body was brought over and buried in Carmarthen His Father and Grandfather died about the same age to which his Son Robert never attained being beheaded by Q. Elizabeth on the Tower Green on Ashwednesday Feb. 25. 1600. Carmarthen-shire hath 28 Rivers and Rivulets is divided into six Hundreds hath six Market Towns 87 Parish Churches and had formerly nine Castles and gives the Title of Marquess to the Lord Osborn eldest Son to the D. of Leeds CARNARVAN-SHIRE hath Merioneth on the South Anglesey divided by the River Menai on the North Denbigh-shire on the East and the Irish Sea on the West from North to South 40 from East to West 20 and in compass 110 miles The Air is sharp and piercing by reason of the high Mountains which may be properly
Grey-hounds as was usual when-ever the King got on Horseback which Grey-hound used to leap upon the King's shoulder and fawn very much upon him but at this time he leaped upon the Duke of Lancaster and fawned upon him as on his Master the Duke asked the King what the Dog meant or intended It is an ill and unhappy Omen to me said the King but a fortunate one to you for he acknowledges you to be King and that you shall Reign in my stead This he said with a presaging mind upon a slight occasion which yet in short time came to pass for K. Richard was deposed and after murdered at Pomfret Castle and the D. of Lancaster advanvanced to the Throne by the name of Henry the 4th This County hath not any River of note within it but near Rudland-Castle is a famous Spring called Holy Well or St. Winifreds Well of which Antiquity gives this Account That St. Winifred a virtuoun Christian Virgin having by her exceeding Beauty inflamed the mind of Carodocus a lustful Prince of this Countrey he attempted to allure her to his pleasure both by large promises and rich gifts but finding he could by no means prevail upon her Chastity at length he resolved to obtain his desires by force and having surprized her in a place of advantage he ravished her weak body notwithstanding the utmost resistance she could make and afterward to prevent her complaints and exclamations he kill'd her and then cut off her head And in that very place saith my Author there suddenly arose a pleasant Spring which continueth to this day running with so strong a Current that the like is not to be found in Christendom Over the head of the Spring there is built a Chapel of Free-stone supported with curious wrought Pillars on the Chancel and Glass-window whereof is painted the Picture of this Virgin and the Story of her suffering and death To this Well Romish Pilgrims resort to this day and others Bathe therein supposing that there is much Virtue in the Water In the bottom of it are many Red Stones which the superstitious People believe are spots of this Lady's blood which all the Water in the Spring can never wash away and that the green Moss which grows on the sides of the Well is her Hair which though every Stranger almost carries away a part of yet they say it never wasts and the truth is the Moss smells exceeding sweet which confirms these weak Believers in their fond Opinion St. Beno the Instructor of St. Winifred in the Christian Faith is of special account is this Countrey who it seems was a Surgeon to a Miracle for after Winifred was beheaded by the lustful Carodocus he set her head on again she living 15 years after In the South part of this County divided from the rest is a place formerly called Bovium now Banchor or Bangor first a City and afterward a famous Monastery antiently very renowned for the pious Monks that resided there they being called by some Authors The College of Divine Philosophers and Bangor the Mother or first of all the Monasteries in the World the Foundation thereof being ascribed to King Luctus it was situated in the fruitful Valley now called The English Mailor upon the Bank of the River Dee being incompassed with a great Wall containing a Mile and a half of ground two of whose Gates Port Hogen to the North and Port Clais South are yet discernable the River Dee which hath since changed its course now running through the midst betwixt both Gates which stand 500 paces asunder This Monastery in memory of the 7 Churches of Asia was divided into 7 Classes or Wards every one consisting of about 300 Souls and all maintaining themselves by the labour of their hands They are said to have received their Christianity from the Eastern Church dissenting in their Rites and Doctrines from that in the West neither would they acknowledg that the Bishop of Rome had any authority over them in matters of Religion or the service of God They continued 438 years before Austin the Monk came to pervert them by introducing Roman Ceremonies Superstition and Servitude Many of these Monks assembled at Caer Legion now West-Chester to pray for the good success of their Friends the Britains against the Heathen Saxons and continuing three days in Fasting and Prayer Ethilfrid the Saxon King seeing them so fervent in their Devotions askt what kind of People they were and being told that they prayed against him and his Army Then said he though they carry no weapons yet they fight against us and with their Prayers and Preaching prosecute us and presently fell upon Brockmall a man at arms that was their Guard who to save his own life left their's to the Sword and the Souldiers assaulting the unarmed Monks murthered 2000 of them and likewise defeated the Army of the Britains only 50 escaping But God left not their deaths long unrevenged for this cruel King was soon after kill'd in the Field by the Christian King Edwyn who succeeded him in the Kingdom of Northumberland Many of these Monks were buried in their own Monastery whose bodies saith Leyland the Historian have been found in the memory of man among the rotten Weeds wherein they were slain This famous place hath been long since utterly ruinated so that scarce the remains of a City or Monastery are now to be discerned Another Monastery called Llan Elwy formerly stood in the Vale below Varis a little City built by the Romans between this and Denbigh-shire upon the Banks of Elwy and Cluyd The English named it Asaph of the Founder a Person of honourable birth who was educated by Kentigern Bishop of Glasco This Bishop in the year 560. flying from the Persecution in Scotland to this place erected it into a Bishop's See and built a Monastery near it wherein he placed 663 Monks whereof 300 that were more unlearned than the rest were imploy'd in Husbandry and other business about the Convent the rest devoted themselves to Prayer and Divine Meditation Among the rest who attended Divine Service Asaph was conspicuous for Piety and Learning insomuch that Kentigern being recalled to his own Country resigned both his Convent and Cathedral to him Here he demeaned himself with so much sanctity that Llan Elwy was after his death called from him St. Asaph He was an assiduous Preacher having oft this saying That such as are against the Preaching of God's Word envy man's Salvation He is thought to have died about 569. After which his See was vacant above 500 years until Jeffery of Monmouth was placed therein It is still a Bishoprick and contains in it no one whole County but part of Denbigh Flint Montgomery Merioneth and some Towns in Shropshire wherein are 121 Parishes It was not at first very rich but made much poorer in the Reign of King Edward VI. for whereas the Bishop had before five Episcopal Houses he hath now but one the rest with the
and upon the Shoar as upon all the Sea coasts in this Country abundance of Herrings are caught and are therefore much frequented at the season of the year by People of several Nations St. Thelian educated by Dubritius Bishop of Landaff aforementioned was born in this Shire He was much envied for his Holy Life by one of the Pictish Princes who harassed this Country This Captain sent two lewd Strumpets to him supposing that by their Tempting Tricks this Devout man might have been inticed to folly These VVomen counterfeited madness that they might take the more liberty to themselves of filthy discourse but returned Distracted indeed not having sense nor understanding enough to relate the cause of their sad misfortune which had such effect on this Commander that he received the Christian Faith saith my Author and was Baptized retaining ever after a great veneration for this our Saint who asterward accompanied St. David Bishop of Menerin to Jerusalem and returning into his own Countrey by his fervent Prayers freed Scotland from the Plague wherewith it was then much infested He died about 563. Mr. Camden takes special notice of the beauty and comelinesâ— of the Inhabitants of this Shire During the differences betwixâ— the Houses of York and Lancaster David ap Jenkig ap Enion stout Gentleman on the Lancastrian side resolutely defended the Castle of Harlech against King Edward IV. until Sir William Herbert afterward Earl of Pembroke so furiously stormed it that he was obliged to surrender This County is divided into six Hundreds wherein are 37 Parish Churches MONMOVTH-SHIRE hath Hereford-shire on the North Glamorgan on the VVest Glocester-shire on the East and the Sovern Sea on the South It is 24 Miles in length 19 in bredth and 77 in compass The Air is temperate clear and healthful the Soil hilly woody and fruitful of Cattel Corn and all other accommodations of Life It was antiently inhabited by the Silures whose chief City is called by the Emperor Antoninus Venta Silurum by the Welsh Caerwent and now Caerleon and was by Tathai the British Saint made an Academy and a place of Divine VVorship where the second Roman Legion called Augusta resided as appears by their Coins Altars Tables and Inscriptions sound there daily in digging up old Foundations Giraldus saith That King Arthur kept his Court in this City whither the Roman Ambassadors resorted to him and that there was a School or Academy of 200 Philosophers skilful in Astronomy and other Sciences erected therein St. Aaron a wealthy Citizen of Caerleon was Martyred under Dioclesian the Roman Tyrant in 3031 Note that the three first British Martyrs namely Alban Amphibalus and Aaron have the first a Latin the second a Greek and the third an Hebrew name St. Julius of Caerleon suffered with Aaron aforesaid St. Amphilalus the Instructor of St. Alban in the Christian Faith was also a Citizen of Caerleon This Town though now but small was once a great City reaching a Mile in length and comprehending St. Julian's a house of late Sir William Herbert's now a Mile distant from the Town But as all humane Glory hath its period so this City formerly renowned for beauty circuit and magnificence is now deplorably decayed Monmouth is a Market Town in this County and had antiently a very strong Castle with many lofty Towers as the ruins do still demonstrate The Town is pleasantly situated between the Rivers Monnow and Wye and hath an handsome Church with three Isles And at the East end of the Town is another decayed one called the Monks Church Monmouth is in good repair and well frequented governed by a Mayor two Bayliffs 19 Common-Council men a Town-Clerk and two Sergeants Several Monasteries were erected and suppressed in this County the most memorable being at Caerleon Chepstow God-cliff Monmouth and Llantony which last stood so solitary among the high Hill that the Sun did shine upon it not above two or three hours in a day As for Manufactures the best Caps were formerly made at Monmouth where the Cappers Chapel doth still remain In Q. Blizabeth's Reign an Act of Parliament was made enacting that all Persons should wear Monmouth Caps but about twenty five years after it was repealed Geffery of Monmouth the Welsh Historian was born in this County and in the Monks Church aforenamed is said to have written his History of Britain having translated compiled and collected the various British Authors into one Volume He had many things from the British Bards or Poets which though improhable may not be untrue His Book was prohibited by the Pope whilst the lying Legend of Romish Saints is permitted to be read without controll If Geffery be guilty of mistakes they are such as make not for the Pope's advantage and therefore it seems a great mistake in those who avouch that the Pope made him a Cardinal He flourished 1160 under King Henry II. Walter Cantilupe Son to William Lord Cantilupe whose chief Residence was at Abergavenie in this County was made Bishop of Worcester by King Henry III. He would not yield to the Pope's Legate who complained of many Clergymen keeping their Livings against the Canons intending to make room for the Pope's Favourites or force such irregular Incumbents to a composition He was of a keen temper whose two edged Spirit did cut on both sides against the King and Pope Against the former he fided with the Barons to whom he promised Heaven for the reward of their Rebellion against their Prince though it cost him an Excommunication from the Pope who was the more forward in denouncing that fatal sentence against him because the Bishop had told Rusland his Legate That he would prefer him to be hanged on the Gallows rather than ever consent to such expilation of the Church as aforesaid He died in 1267. Thomas of Monmouth wrote an History of St. VVilliam the Child that was Crucified by the Jews at Norwich in hatred of our Saviour He flourished 1160 in the Reign of King Henry II. Richard de Clare alias Strongbow born probably at Stringule Castle was Earl of Stringule and Pembroke It happened that Maâ— Murrugh in 1167. being expelled his Territories for several Tyrannies by the Lords of Meath and Connaught repaired to King Henry II. and invited him into Ireland That politick King sent over this Rich. Strongbow with 1200 men who soon possest himself of the Ports of Leinster and Munster with large Lands thereunto belonging insomuch that the King growing jealous of his greatness recalled him home commanding him to surrender his Acquisitions into his hands which done he received them back by a Grant from the King who only reserved the City of Dublin for himself He was commonly called Domitor Hibernia The Tamer of Ireland Yet some of the Great Lords there did still retain the Power and Title of King Witness the Preface to the Commission whereby King Henry II. made William Fitz. Adelme his Lieutenant of Ireland which was directed To al Archbishops Bishops
the Title of Baron to Henry Lord Herbert PEMBROKE-SHIRE is bounded by Carnarthen on the East and Cardigan shire on the North-East On all sides else it is surrounded by the Sea In length 26. in breadth 20. and in circumference 93 Miles It was antiently Peopled by the Dimetree as well as Cardigan and Carmarthen-shires part of this County was after inhabited by the Flemmings sent thither by King Henry I. who lost their Country by the breaking in of the Sea whereby a great part of Flanders was drowned and whose Posterity continue there to this day and speak so good English that their Division is called Little England beyond Wales The Commodities of this shire are Corn Cattel Sea-fish and Fowl and in the days of Giraldus Cambrensis they had Wines for sale the Havens being so commodious for Traffick particularly Tenby and Milford the last of which is so large a Port that sixteen Creeks five Bays and thirteen Roads distinguisht by particular names are all contained within it Pembroke is the Shire Town which appears more antient than it is it was formerly Walled and had three Gates with a large Castle and a Causey leading over to the decayed Priory of Monton The Town consists principally of one long street on a long narrow Point of a Rock and hath within the Walls thereof two Churches St. David's is a Barren old City having neither Trees to defend it nor is it pleasant with Fields or Meadows but lyes exposed to Winds and Storms It is now the seat of a Bishop but was once an Archbishoprick in the British Church At the first planting of the Gospel in the reign of King Lucius there were three Archbishops Seats appointed London York and Caerleon The last in the Reign of Arthur King of the Britains was translated from thence to St David's as being farther off from the Saxon's fury Twenty seven of them retained the Title of Archbishops the last whereof was Samson who removed the Archi-episcopal Dignity to Dâ—le in Bretaign a Province in France Yet his Suceessors though they lost the name retained the power of the Archbishop the Welsh Bishops being consecrated by him till the Reign of King Henry I. when Bernard the 47th Bishop of this See was forced to submit himself to the Church of Canterbury The Cathedral here hath been often ruined by the Danes Norwegians and other Pirates as standing near the Sea in an extream Corner of this County that which we now see was built by Bishop Peter and by him dedicated to St. David In the middle of whose Quire Edmund Earl of Richmond Father to King Henry VII lies buried whose Monument secured the Church from being defaced in the Reign of King Henry VIII The roof of this Church is higher than any in England Calphurnius a British Priest who Married Concha Sister to St Martin and had St. Patrick the Apostle of Ireland to their Son was born at St. David's Likewise Justinian a Noble Britain with his own Inheritance built a Monastery in the Island of of Ramsey in this County where many Monks dwelt happily under his Jurisdiction until three of them Murdered him out of envy and emulation for his Plous Life His Body was brought to 〈◊〉 or St. David's and there interred and his Tomb afterward much famed for many supposed Miracles Giraldus Cambrensis whose Sirname was Barry some write Fitz Girald the Welsh Historian was born at Tenby in this County being Son to William Barry an Englishman by his Wife Angareth daughter of Nesta Daughter of Rhese or Rice Prince of South-Wales He was Nephew to David the second Bishop of St David's by whom he was made Arch-Deacon of Brecknock He was wont to complain That the English did not love him because his Mother was a Welshwoman and the Welsh hated him because his Father was an Englishman Though by his excellent Writings he deserved of England well of Wales better and of Ireland best of all making an exact description of all three and acting in the last as Secrety to King John with great industry and expence Having Travelled to Jerusalem he writ a Book of the Wonders of the Holy Land He had no great success at Court and therefore attained to no considerable Dignity till at length he was offered a very mean Bishoprick in Ireland and his highest Preferment was to this of St. David's of which he gives the true reason That he was looked upon with a Jealous Eye because being a Welshman by the Mother the furer side he was thought to have a natural antipathy against the English since it was believed no good Subject could come out of Walee Being now Bishop of St. David's he went to Rome and there was very importunate for an exemption of that Diocess from the Authority of Canterbury whereby he highly offended Hubert the Archbishop thereof Whereupon being rather overborn with bribes than overcome in his Cause he returned without effecting it and dying was buried in his own Cathedral about 1215. When King Henry II. was at St. David's in this County and from thence in a clear day discovered the Coast of Ireland in an huffing bravado he said I with my Ships am able to make a Bridge thither if it be no farther Which Speach of his being related to Murchard King of Lemster in Ireland he asked whether he did not say He would do it with the help of God and being told no he chearfully answered Then I fear him the less since he trusted more to himself than to the help of God The same King Henry coming back from Ireland arrived at St. David's where being told that there is an old Prophecy of Merlin's That the Conqueror of Ireland returning that way should dye upon a stone called Lechlaver near the Church-yard He thereupon before a multitude of People passed over it unhurt and reproving the Welshmen said Now who will hereafter credit that Lyar Merlin The County of Pembroke hath been fortified with sixteen Castles besides two Block-houses or Forts Commanding the Mouth of Milford Haven and hath five Market Towns is divided into seven Hundreds wherein are forty five Parish 〈◊〉 It gives the Title of Earl to Thomas Lord Herbert who is also Earl of Montgomery RADNOR-SHIRE hath Monmouth on the North Hereford and Shropshire on the East Brecknock on the South and Cardiganshire on the West In length twenty four in breadth twenty two and in circuit ninety miles The Air is sharp and cold as generally it is through all Wales whereby the Snow lies long unmelted under those vast Mountains Hills and Rocks that overshadow the Valleys yet the East and South parts are somewhat fruitful indifferently stored with Woods and watered with Rivers and Mears The riches of the North and West consist chiefly in the Cattel which they produce The antient Inhabitants were the Silures who by their own courage and the assistance of their inaccessible Mountains preserved their freedom very long against all the attempts of the Romans These Rocks
are so dreadful saith Mr. Speed that I feared to look down from them into those deep and dark Vallies through which I passed which seemed to be the entrance into the Kingdom of Darkness Among these dismal Vales Historians say that unhappy Prince Vertigern who invited in the Saxons to the ruin of his Country was with his incestuous Wife consumed with Fire from Heaven in his Castle called Guartiger Maur. Though others write it was near Beshkelleth in North Wales Fatal was this place also to Leoline the last Prince of the British Race who being betrayed by the men of Buelth fled into these vast Mountains of Radnor where by Adam Franston he was slain and his Head Crowned with Ivy set upon the Tower of London Radnor is the Chief Town in this County from whence it receives its name called antiently Magi where the Pacensian Legion of the Romans lay and thought to be Magnes mentioned by me Emperor Marcus Antoninus It had formerly a VVall with a large and strong Castle Prestayn is the best Town in this Shire for handsome Buildings and good Trading Knighton is also a Market Town under which is to be seen the Tract of Offa's Ditch along the Edge of the Mountain The fourth place remarkable is Raihader Gewy from which word Raihader the English It is thought named the County Radnor It is also called Meliueth from the yellowish Mountains thereof which stretch from Offa's Dyke to the River Wye which River cutteth overthwart the West corner of this Shire where meeting with some Rocks that impede its passage for want of ground to glide on it hath a violent downfall with a continual noise and is called The Fall of Wye At this Town the Market day was formerly kept on a Sunday but is since altered This Shire is divided into six Hundreds wherein are three Forests four Market Towns and fifty two Parish Churches and formerly six Castles It gives the Title of Earl to Charies Lord Roberts There are several other Proverbs in Wales besides those already mentioned as 1. Her Wash Blood is up and 't is no wonder that a very antient Gentleman being deprived of his Country should digest his losses with great difficulty 2. As long as a Welsh Pedigree and as high too seeing commonly a Welsh Gentleman can clime up to a Princely Extraction 3. Give your Horse a Welsh Bait. That is stop on the top of the Mountains where the poor Palfrey is forced to make shift with Cameleons Commons the clear Air. 4. Calen y Sais wrah Gimro That is the Heart of an Englishman toward a Welshman This was invented while England and Wales were at deadly feud and applied to such as are possessed with prejudice and only carry an outward compliance without cordial affection 5. Ni Cheâ—w Cymbro oni Golle That is The Welshman keeps nothing until he hath lost it When the Brittish recovered their loft Castles from the English they doubled their Diligence and Valour keeping them more tenaciously than before 6. A fo Pen bid Bout That is He that will be a Head let him be a Bridge This is of a ficticious Original for Benigridan a Welsh General is said to have carried his Army one by one we must imagine upon his Back over a River in Ireland where there was neither Bridge nor Ferry and therefore deservedly was made their Prince 7. There was an antient Play in Wales wherein the stronger put the weaker into a Sack from whence came the Proverb He is able to put him up in a bag The Princes of Wales are very ancient and numerous yet they never had any Coin of their own as Mr. Camden observes In the reign of King William the Conqueror upon the Sea shore in Wales was found the body of Gawen Sisters Son to Arthur the Great K. of Britain reported to be fourteen foot in Length In 1662. July 2. were seen above an hondred Porpusses together near Newport which seemed very strange and prodigious to the Inhabitants Walter Brute was born in Wales A Siuner Layman Husbandman and a Christian They are his own words in a certain Protestation which he made He was bred in Oxford and being accused to the Bishop of Hereford he by a solemn subscription submitted himself principally to the Evangely or Gospel of Jesus Christ to the determination of the General Councils of Holy Kirk to Austin Ambrose Jerem and Gregory And lastly to his Bishop as a Subject ought to his Bishop It seems this Walter was the first that was vext about the Doctrines of Wickliff To conclude the Principallity of Wales was modelled into Shires in the reigh of King Henry VIII In the thirteen Counties whereof aforementioned are reckoned one Chase thirteen Forests thirty three Parks two hundred thirty Rivers an hundred Bridges four Cities fifty five Market Townt forty one Castles of old erection four Bishopricks and a thousand and sixteen Parish Churches and elects thirty Parliamont Men. FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside History 1. ENgland's Monarchs Or A Compendious Relation of the most remarkable Transactions from Julius Caesar to this present adorned with Poems and the Picture of every Monarch from K. Will. the Conqueror to the Sixth year of the Reign of K. Will. and Q. M. With a List of the Nobility and the number of the Lords and Commons who have Votes in both Houses of Parliament and many other useful particulars Price one shilling 2. THE History of the House of Orange Or a Brief Relation of the Glorious and Magnanimous Archievements of his Majestie 's Renowned Predecessors and likewise of His own Heroick Actions till the Late Wonderful Revolution Together with the History of K William and Q. Mary c. Being an Impartial Account of the most Remarkable Passages from their Majesties Happy Accession to the Throne to this time By R. B. Price one shilling 3. THE History of the two late Kings Charles the II. and James the II. being an Impartial account of the most remarkable Transactions during their Reigns and the secret French and Popish Intrigues in those Times Together with a Relation of the happy Revolution and the Accession of Their Majesties K. William and Q. Mary to the Throne Feb. 13. 1689. Pr. 1 s. 4. THE History of Oliver Cromwel being an Impartial Account of all the Battles Sieges and other Military Atchievements wherein he was ingaged in England Scotland and Ireland and likewise of his Civil Administrations while he had the Supream Government till his Death Relating only matters of Fact without Reflection or Observation By R. B. pr. 1 s. 5. THE Wars in England Scotland and Ireland containing a particular and impartial Account of all the Battels Sieges and other remarkable Transactions Revolutions and Accidents which happened from the beginning of the Reign of K. Charles I. The Tryal of K. Charles I. at large with his last Speech and the most considerable matters till 1660. With
and used some English Psalms turn'd into verse in his private Chappel And indeed it may be said of him that he had scarce his equal both for Virtue and Valour For he seldom fought a Battel where he got not the Victory and never got Victory whereof he gave not the Glory to God with Publick Thanksgiving He was indeed a great Affector of Glory yet not of the Glory of the blast of Mens Mouths but of that which fills the Sails of Time He died of full years though not full of years If he had lived longer he might have gone over the same again but could not have gone further He fell sick in France and having given necessary instructions to the Nobility about him how to manage affairs he then returned thanks to the Almighty for his many favours and blessings and in the midst of saying a Psalm of David he gave up the Ghost who might have justly prayed God with David Lord take me not away in the midst of my days for he died about the age of thirty six which in David's account is but half the life of Man Being dead his body was imbalmed closed in Lead and laid in a Chariot Royal richly apparelled in Cloth of Gold and then conveyed from Boys de Vincennes where he died to Paris Roan Callice Dover and so through London to Westminster Abbey Upon whose Tomb Queen Katherine caused a Royal Picture to be laid covered all over with Silver Plate gilt but the Head all of Massy Silver which was afterward all stoln away He died Aug. 31. 1422. having reigned about nine and lived about thirty eight years VI. Henry of Windsor his Son and Successor was the sixth Prince of Wales of the English Royal Line but so unlike his Father that had not the virtues of his Mother been so well known as they were the Virtues of his Father would have rendred this Prince justly suspected not to have been his Son and that his Mother begat him all of her self by imagination His Father seemed to have some Prophetick Revelation of the future unhappiness of his Reign and it was thought the knowledg thereof was not the least cause of shortning his days For 't is credibly reported that at the news of the Birth of this Son born at Windsor he in a Prophetick rapture cried out Good Lord Henry of Monmouth shall small time Reign and get much and Henry of Windsor shall long time Reign and lose all But God's Will be done And yet no doubt Henry VI. was a Prince of excellent parts though not of kindly parts for a Prince being such as were neither fit for the Warlike Age he was born in nor agreeable to the Glory he was born to but such rather as better became a Priest than a Prince so that the Title which was sometimes given to his Father with relation to his Piety might better have been applied to the Son That he was Prince of Priests Herein only was the difference betwixt them that the Religion of the one made him bold as a Lion that of the other made him meek as a Lamb. Whereas if he had less of the Dove-like Innocence and more of the Serpentine subtilty 't is probable he had not only been happier whilst he lived but more respected after he was dead whereas now notwithstanding all his Indulgence to the Church and Churchmen there was none of them so grateful after he was Murthered by the Bloody Duke of Glocester to give him Christian Burial but being brought from the Tower to St. Paul's in an open Coffin bare-faced where he bled thence to Black-Friars where he also bled he was carried from thence by Boat to Chertsey Abbey without Priest or Clark Torch or Taper Mass or Mourner Indeed his Burial was so without regard to his Person or Dignity that if his Funerals were any whit better than that which the Holy Writ calls the Burial of an Ass vet they were such that his Competitor and Successor King Edward IV. who denied him the Rights of Majesty living thought him too much wronged being dead and to make him some kind of satisfaction he removed his Corps to Windsor Chapel and there erected a fine Monument over him In this King we may see the fulfilling of that Text Wo to that Nation whose King is a Child for he was not above eight months old when he succeeded his Father in the Kingdom though this Text may be meant as well of a Child in understanding as years The first defect may be supplied by good Governors or Protectors but the last is hardly to be repaired of which in this Prince we have a pregnant instance For so long as he continued a Child in years his Kingdoms were kept flourishing by the Providence of his careful Uncles but so soon as he left being a Child in years and yet continued a Child in Ability of Ruling having not the judgment to conceal his own weakness then presently Faction and Ambition broke in upon the Government so that all things went to wrack both in France and England and we were forced to surrender tamely all our Foreign Acquisitions which we had obtained with so much Reputation and Glory This King being Crowned King of France at Paris in 1431. He was tall of Stature spare and slender of Body of a comely Countenance and in all parts well proportioned For endowments of his mind he had Virtues enough to make a Saint but not a King He was sensible of that which the World calls Honour accounting the greatest honour to consist in humility He was not so stupid not to know Prosperity from Adversity but he was so devout as to think nothing adversity which was not an hindrance to Devotion He had one privilege peculiar to himself that no man could ever be revenged on him seeing he never offered any man injury He was so modest that when at Christmas a show of Women was presented to him with their naked Breasts he presently departed saying Fie Fie for shame forsooth you are to blame So pitiful that when he saw the Quarters of a Traytor over Cripplegate he caused them to be taken down saying I will not have any Christian so cruelly handled for my sake So free from swearing that he never used any other Oath but forsooth and verily So patient that to one who struck him when he was taken Prisoner he only said Forsooth you wrong your self more than me to strike the Lord 's anointed So Devout that on principal Holy-days he used to wear Sackcloth next his Skin In fine let his Confessor be heard who in ten years Confession never found that he had said or done any thing worthy of a Reprimand For all which Christian Virtues King Henry VII would have procured him to be Canonized for a Saint but that he was prevented by Death or perhaps because the charge would have been too great the Canonization of a King being much dearer than that of a private Person He reigned thirty