enfranchise villaines sondrie other things whiche bycause they be to long to be rehearsed at large and lye not fitly in the way of my purpose I will omit and descend to the Wardeins of the Portes reciting in a short Catalogue the names of so many of them as I haue found to gouern sithence the arriuall of King William the Conquerour And although it be no doubt but that the Portes were vnder the gouernement of some before the tyme of the conquest also yet bycause King William was the first so farre as I haue read that made the office perpetuall and gaue it the title whiche it now beareth the name Wardein I meane whiche came from Normandie and was not at all knowen to the Saxons I thinke best to begin at his time Againe for asmuche as the Constableship of the Castle of Douer and this office haue ben alwayes inseperably matched together and for that I shal haue fitte place to speake of that hereafter when I shall come to Douer I will respit the rehersall of bothe their originalles til then and here in the meane season set down the race of the Wardeins by name only Iohn Fynes created by William the Conquerour Wardein of the Portes and Constable of Douer by gifte of inheritance Iames Fines his Sonne whiche dyed ot Folkston Iohn Fynes his Sonne Walkelm who deliuered it to King Stephan and immediatly after his death abandoned the charge and fled into Normandie Allen Fynes restored by King Henrie the second Iames Fynes his Eldest Sonne Mathew Clere as it should séeme by Mat. Par. Williā Petite who imprisoned Godfrey the Archbyshop of Yorke in Douer castle as vnder that title shal appeare William of Wrotham Hubert of Burgh the Earle of Kent who being deposed Bartram of Cryol succéeded Richard Gray appointed by the Barons that warred against King Henrie the third who was depriued of his office by Hugh Bigot bicause he let in the Popes legate by the Kings licence and against the minde of the Nobles Henrie Braybrooke Edward the first in the lyfe of his father who made Henrie Cobham his deputie whose Sonne Heire called Iohn founded Cobham College Roger Leyborne in the tyme of King Edward the first Stephan Penchester in the tyme of Edward the first Syr Robert Asheton Hugh Spenser the younger in the tyme of Edward the second Edmund of Woodstock the Earle of Kent Reginald Cobham in the time of Edward the third Bartholmew Burwhasse or Burgehersh one of the first companions of the ordre of the Garter Iohn Beauchampe the Earle of Warwike Syr Robert Herle in the latter ende of King Edward the third Edmund the Earle of Cambridge Syr Simon Barley whome Thomas of Woodstocke beheaded Lord Henrie Cobham the Sonne of Reginald Cobhā Syr Iohn Enros Syr Thomas Beaumont Edward the Duke of Aumarle and Yorke whom King Henrie the fourth remoued and substituted in place Syr Thomas Erpingham for a season but afterward he gaue the office to Prince Edward his Sonne who when he was King in possession bestowed it vpon Humfrey the Duke of Gloucester Iames Fines Lord Saye whom Iacke Cade beheaded Edmond the Duke of Somerset Humfrey the Duke of Buckingham Simon Mountford vnder King Henrie the sixt Richard Neuel the Earle of Warwike William the Earle of Arundel Richard the Duke of Gloucester called afterward King Richard the third Sir William Scotte Henrie the Duke of Yorke Iames Fines the Lord Saye Henrie in his Fathers lyfe afterward the eight King of that name Arthur Plantagenet Vicount Lisle Bastard Sonne to King Edward the fourth Sir Edward Poynings Henrie the younge Earle of Richemond Sir Edward Guldeford George Boleyn Vicount Rocheford Sir Thomas Cheynie Treasurour of the houshold Sir Wiliam Cobham Lord Cobham Thus much of the v. Portes in general Now of Sandwiche the first of them in the order of my iourney and then orderly of so many of the residue as lye within the Shyre that I haue presently in hand Sandwiche is called in Latine Sabulouicum or Portus Rutupinus in Saxon Sondƿic that is to say the Sandie Towne because the coast therabout aboundeth withe Sande THis Towne as it appeareth by the report of Leland and as it may séeme also by the name it selfe being méere Saxon began by the Saxons after the fall of poore Richeborowe which was in price while the honour of the Britons stood vpright and was eyther abated dy the furie of the Saxons when they wonne that coast from them or els came to ruine by the alteration and vicissitude of the Sea whiche peraduenture choked the hauen thereof with light sande as it hathe since that time done this at Sandwiche also King Canutus gaue as some write to Christes church in Canterbury Sainct Bartholmews arme if happely it were not a chaungeling for Kings great men were oftentymes after that sort deluded though they in the meane time bought such reliques dearely and thought that kinde of gifte moste princely he gaue also a riche Pall a Crowne of Golde and this hauen of Sandwiche together with the royaltie of the water on eache side so farre as a shippe being on flote at the full Sea a man might caste a shorte hatchet out of the vessell vnto the Banke The place it selfe grewe in tyme to be wel peopled and of worthynesse to be one of those Portes that foūd fauour of priuilege in consideration of their seruice at the Sea for it appeareth by the booke of Domesday that this was the estate of Sandwiche It laye in a hundreth belonginge to it selfe it did to the King suche like seruice by tenure as Douer did It was of the possessiōs of Christes Churche as I haue shewed and was appointed for the apparell of the Monkes of that house to the whiche it yealded fourtie thousand herrings besides certaine money and had in it thrée hundreth and seuen houses inhabited And I finde not but that the Towne continued in the like plight long after the Conquest being somewhat amended also by the Staple whiche King Edward the first for a season remoued thither euen vntil the time of King Henrie the sixt in whose dayes Peter Brice the Steward of Normandie landed at Sandwiche and with fire and sworde wasted the Towne in manner to ashes and slewe the inhabitants almoste to the last man Since whiche time partly by the smarte of that wounde but chiefly by the aboundaunce of the light Sande wherewith the Sea hath glutted the hauen it is declined to great decay and were like to fall to extreme ruine were it not that nowe presently it is somewhat relieued by the repaire of suche as haue abandoned their Countrie for the fréedome of their consciences whose aboade howe long it will bée the Lorde onely knoweth for whose cause they suffer banishment There was in this Towne before the generall suppression a house of Carmelites whereof I read none other good thing saue that it brought foorthe one learned man called
imprisoned not the Bishop of Borieux but the Earle of Kent The King liked well the conceit and causing Odo to be apprehended caste him into prison whence he was not deliuered during al the time of his reigne That done he made diligent inquisitioÌ„ for the hourdes of golde and by feare of torture caused the Bishops seruants to bewray the whole treasure Then also tooke he new order for the gouernement of this Shyre and bycause he was persuaded that nothing within the same was of more importance then Douer Castell he seised it into his handes foorthwith fortified it and chose out a noble maÌ„ called Iohn Fynes of whose prowesse and fidelitie he had made good tryal and committing vnto him not only the custodie thereof but the gouernment of the rest of the Portes also by gift of inheritaunce he named him Constable of Douer and Wardein of the Cinque Portes And to the end that he shoulde be of sufficient abilitie to beare the charge of the defence thereof he gaue him to the number of sixe and fiftie Knightes fees of lande and possession willing him to communicate some partes of that gift to suche other valiaunt and trustie persons as he should best like of for the more sure conseruation of that his most noble and precious péece He accordingly called vnto him eight other worthie Knightes and imparting liberally vnto them of that whiche he had receiued of the King bounde them by tenure of their lande receiued of the King to mainteine one hundreth and twelue souldiours amongest them whiche number he so diuided by monethes of the yeare that fiue and twentie were continually to watche and warde within the Castell for their seuerall stintes of time and all the rest ready at commaundement vpon whatsoeuer necessitie The names of these eight were WilliaÌ„ of Albrance Fulbert of Douer William Arsicke Galfride Peuerell William Maynemouth Robert Porthe Robert Creuequer called in the Latine Records De crepito corde that is Crackt harte And Adam Fitz Williams Eche of al whiche had their seuerall charges in sundry towres turrets bulworks of the castel and were contented of their owne dispence to mainteine and repaire the same in token wherof diuers of them beare the names and titles of these newe chosen Captaines euen till this oure present time And thus Douer being dispatched of a busie Bishop fenced by the Kings appointment furnished fraught and planted with a moste faithfull Constable vigilant Captaines and diligent warders gayned and reteined the opinion and name of a most important commodious and necessarie péece not only with the natiue Princes and Nobilitie of our owne Realme But also with suche foreigne Potentates as had warre and contention with vs in so muche as in sundry troubles ensuing at sundry times afterwarde within this Realme it did plainely appeare that this Castell was the chiefe marke whereat eche man directed his shot For King Stephan in the contention that arose betwéene him and Maude the Empresse for the title of the Crowne thought that no one thing stoode him more in hande then to get the possession of Douer Castell and therfore he neuer ceassed to sollicite Walkelm that theÌ„ had the custodie thereof till he had obteyned it Lewes also the French Dolphine which by the instigatioÌ„ of the Pope inuitating of the Nobilitie inuaded King Iohn vpon such cause as shall hereafter appeare hauing gained partly by tenure partly by surrender of the Barons that were of his faction almost al the Castels and Holdes lying on the Southe parte of the Realme coulde not yet thinke him selfe assured onlesse he had Douer also For his Father Philipe hearing that he had the possession of sundry other strong places and that he wanted Douer Sware by Sainct Iames arme whiche was his accustomed othe that he had not gayned one foote in Englande and therefore he made thither with all his power and besieged it streightly But that noble Captaine Hubert of Borroughe of whome I lately spake whiche was in his time Constable of the Castell Wardein of the Portes Earle of Kent and chiefe Iustice of all Englande defended it with suche couragious coâ—stancie that it was bothe a comforte to the Englishe subiecte and a wonder to the Frenche enemie to beholde it in so muche as I can not worthely impute the deliuerie of this Realme from the perill of forreigne seruitude wherein it then stoode to any one thing so muche as to the magnanimitie of this man Of whome also by the waye I thinke good to tell you this that in his time of Constableship at Douer and by his meanes the seruice of Castlegarde there whiche had contayned as I shewed before from the time of William the Conqueroure was with the assent of King Henrie the thyrde conuerted into a payment of money the lande béeing charged with tenne shillings for euerie Warder that it was bounde to finde and the owners thereby discharged of their personall seruice and attendaunce for euer At whiche time also he caused the same King to release by his frée Chartre the custome of Forrage due to this Castell and that done him selfe instituted newe lawes amongst the watchemen and increased the number of the Warders But nowe to my purpose againe Simon the Earle of Leycester and leader of the Barons warre againste King Henrie the thirde euen at the first wrested the Castell of Douer out of the Kings possession and kéeping the same during all his life vsed to sende thyther as vnto a place of most assuraunce all suche as he had taken prysoners After his ouerthrowe Edwarde then Prince and afterwarde the first King of that name assayled it with all speede and by the ayde of the prisoners within whiche had taken the great towre to his vse obteined it There lefte he prisoned Guy the sonne of this Simon but he escaped sone after by corruption of his kéepers To make an ende the Nobilitie of that time were fully persuaded that bothe the safetie and daunger of the whole Realme consisted in this one Castell And therefore saythe Mathewe Parise at suche time as King Henrie the thirde called ouer from beyonde the Seas his owne brother Richarde then King of the Romanes the Noble men who had him in some Iealouzie would not agrée that he or any of his should once enter within this Castell Not without good cause therfore hath Douer by greate préeminence béene reported the chiefe of the Fiue Portes assigned by lawes of Parleament as a speciall place for passage and eschaunge and by auncient tenure acknowledged for Lady and Maistresse of many Manors To it alwayes some man of great apparaunce is appoynted as Captaine and gouernour To it sundry Gentlmen of the Shyre paye yet money for the auncient duetie of their attendance and seruice And to it sinally the countrey men in all times of trouble haue an especiall eye and regarde As concerning the mayntenaunce of this Castell in fortification and building I finde not
this shoare Folkstone in Saxon folcestane Id est Populi Lapis or else flostane whiche signifieth a rocke or a flawe of stone AMongest the places lying on this shoare worthy of note nexte after Douer followeth Folkstone where Eanfled or rather Eanswide the daughter of Eadbalde the sonne of Ethelbert and in order of succession the sixte King of Kent long since erected a religious Pryorie of women not in the place where S. Peters Churche at Folkstone nowe standeth but Southe from thence where the Sea many yeares agoe hath swalowed and eaten it And yet least you shoulde thinke S. Peters Parishe churche to be voyde of reuerence I must let you knowe of Noua Legenda Angliae that before the Sea had deuoured all S. Eanswides reliques were translated thither The author of that worke reporteth many wonders of this woman as that she lengthened a beame of that building thrée foote when the Carpenters missing in their measure had made it so muche too shorte That she haled and drew water ouer the hilles against nature That she forbad certain rauenous birdes the countrey which before did muche harme there abouts That she restored the blynde caste out the Diuel and healed innumerable folkes of their infirmities And therefore after her deathe she was by the policie of the Popishe priestes and follie of the common people honoured for a Sainct And no maruail at all for it was vsuall in Papistrie not onely to magnifie their Benefactours of all sortes but to edifie also so many of them at the leaste as were of noble Parentage knowing that thereby triple commoditie ensued the first for as muche as by that meane they assured many great personages vnto them secondly they drewe by the awe of their example infinite numbers of the common people after them And lastly they aduentured the more bouldly vnder those honourable and glorious names and titles to publishe their pouishe and pelting miracles And this surely was the cause that Sexburge in Shepie Mildred in Tanet Etheldred at Elye Edith at Wilton and sundrie other simple women of Royall blood in eache quarter were canonized Saincts for generally the Religious of those tymes were as thankfull to their Benefactors as euer were the heathen nations to their first Kings and founders The one sort Sanctifying suche as did either builde them houses or deuise them orders And the other Deifying suche as had made them Cities or prescribed them Lawes and gouernement This was it that made Saturne Hercules Romulus and others moe to haue place in common opinion with the Gods aboue the starres and this caused Dunstane Edgar Ethel would and others first to be shryued here in earth and then to sit amongest the Saincts in Heauen But let me now leaue their policie and returne to the Hystorie The Towne of Folkestone was sore spoyled by Earle Godwine and his Sonnes what time they harried that whole coast of Kent for reuenge of their banishment as we haue often before remembred The Hundred of Folkstone conteined in the time of King Edward the Confessour a hundrethe and twentie ploughe landes it had in it fiue Parishe Churches it was valued at a hundrethe and ten poundes belonged to the Earle Godwine before named The Manor was giuen to William Albranc of whome I made mention in Douer with condition to finde one and twentie warders toward the defence of that Castle and it grewe in time to be the head of an honour or Baronie as in the Records of the Exchequer remaineth as yet to bée séene Saltwood THat Saltwood was long sithence an Honor also it may appeare by an auÌ„cient writ directed by King Henrie the second from beyond the Seas to King Henrie his Sonne for the restitution of Thomas Becket the Archebishop to all suche goodes landes and fées as were taken from him during the displeasure betwéene them whiche writ bothe for shewe of the auncient forme and bycause it conteineth the matter of hystorie I wil not stick to exemplifie word for woord as Mathewe Parise hathe recorded it Sciatis quod Thomas Cant. Episcopus paceÌ„ mecum fecit ad voluntatem meam ideo praecipio tibi vt ipse omnes sui pacem habeant faciatis ei habere suis omnes res suas bene in pace honorifice sicut habuerunt tribus meÌ„sibus antequaÌ„ exirent Angliae faciatisque venire coraÌ„ vobis de melioribus antiquioribus militibus de honore de Saltwood eoruÌ„ iurameÌ„to faciatis inquiri quid ibi habetur de feodo Archiepiscopatê° Cant. quod recognituÌ„ fuerit esse de feodo ipsius ipsi faciatis habere valete But if this Recorde of the Kings suffise not to proue the honour of this place then here I pray you a woorde of the honourable or rather the Pontificall dealing of William Courtney the Archbishop who taking offence that certaine poore men his Tenants of the Manor of Wingham had brought him rent hay and littar to Canterbury not openly in cartes for his glorie as they were accustomed but closely in sackes vpon their horses as their abilitie would suffer cited them to this his castle of Saltwood and there after that he had shewed himself Adria iracundiorem as hote as a toste with the matter he first bound them by othe to obey his owne ordinauÌ„ce then inioyned them for penance that they should each one marche leisurely after the procession bareheaded barefooted with a sacke of hey or strawe on his shoulder open at the mouthe so as the stuffe might appeare hanging out of the bag to all the beholders Nowe I beséeche you what was it els for this proude Prelate thus to insult ouer simple men for so small a fault or rather for no fault at all but Laureolam in Mustaceis querere and no better Thus muche at this present of the Place for as touching the first matter concerning Thomas that shall appeare at large in Canterbury following And therefore leauing on our right hand the stately partes of Syr Edward Poynings vnperfect buylding at Ostenhangar let vs sée what is to be said of Hyde Hyde is written in Saxon Hyþe that is the Hauen and called of Leland in Latine Portus Hithinus in some Recordes Hethe THe name of this place importing as it should séeme by the generalitie therof some note of worthinesse and the long continued priuileges therevnto belonging it self being long since one of the fiue principal Portes at the first led me and happely may hereafter moue others also to thinke that it had béene of more estimation in tyme past then by any other thing nowe apparant may well be coniectured Howbeit after that I had somewhat diligently searched the Saxon antiquities from whence if from any at all the beginning of the same is to be deriued had perused the booke of Domesday wherein almoste nothing especially that might bée profitable was pretermitted and yet found litle or in manner nothing concerning
this Towne committed to memorie I became of this minde that either the place was at the first of litle price and for the increase thereof indowed with Priuileges or if it had beene at any time estimable that it continued not long in the plight And truly whosoeuer shall consider eyther the Vniuersall vicissitude of the Sea in all places or the particular alteration and chaunge that in tymes passed and now presently it worketh on the coasts of this Realme he will easely assent that Townes bordering vpon the Sea and vpholded by the commoditie thereof may in short time decline to great decay and become in manner worthe nothing at all For as the water either floweth or forsaketh thē so must they of necessitie either flourish or fall flowing as it were ebbing with the Sea it selfe The necessitie of whiche thing is euery where so ineuitable that all the Popish ceremonies of espousing the Sea whiche the Venetians yearely vse on Saint Markes day by casting a Golden ring into the water cannot let but that the Sea continually by litle and litle withdraweth it selfe from their Citie and threatneth in time vtterly to forsake them Nowe therefore as I cannot fully shew what Hide hath béene in times passed must referre to each mans owne eye to beholde what it presently is So yet will I not pretermitte to declare out of other men such notes as I finde concerning the same From this Towne saith Henrie Huntingdon Earle Godwine and his Sonnes in the time of their exile fetched away diuers vessels lying at roade euen as they had at Rumney also whereof we shall haue place to speake more hereafter Before this Towne in the reigne of King Edward the first a great fléete of French men shewed themselues vpon the Sea of whiche one being furnished with two hundrethe Souldiours set her men on land in the Hauen where they had no sooner pitched their foote but the Townesmen came vpon thē to the last man wherewith the residue were so afraide that foorthwith they hoysed vp saile and made no further attempt This Towne also was grieuously afflicted in the beginning of the Reigne of King Henrie the fourth in so muche as besides the furie of the pestilence whiche raged all ouer there were in one day two hundreth of the houses consumed by flame fiue of their ships with one hundreth men drowned at the Sea By whiche hurte the inhabitaunts were so wounded that they began to deuise howe they might abandone the place and builde them a Towne else where Wherevpon they had resolued also had not the King by his liberal Chartre which I haue séene vnder his scale released vnto them for fiue turnes next following onlesse the greater necessitie should in the meane time compell him to require it their seruice of fiue ships of one hundreth men and of v. garsons whiche they ought of duetie and at their owne charge without the helpe of any other member to finde him by the space of fiftéene dayes together Finally from this Towne to Boloigne which is taken to be the same that Caesar calleth Gessoriacum is the shortest cutte ouer the Sea betwéene England and Fraunce as some holde opinion Others thinke that to be the shortest passage which is from Douer to Calaice But if there be any man that preferreth not hast before his good spéede let him by mine aduise proue a third way I meane from Douer to Withsand for if Edmund Badhenham the penner of the Chronicles of Rochester lye not shamefully whiche thing you knowe how farre it is from a Monke then at suche time as King Henrie the second and Lewes the French King were after long warre reconciled to amitie Lewes came ouer to visite King Henrie and in his return homeward saluted saint Thomas of Canterbury made a princely offer at his tumbe and bicause he was very fearefull of the water asked of saint Thomas and obteined that neither he in that passage nor any other from thenceforth that crossed the Seas betwéen Douer and Withsand should suffer any manner of losse or shipwracke But of this Saint sauing your reuerence we shall haue fitte place to speake more largely hereafter and therefore let vs nowe leaue the Sea and looke toward Shipwey Shipwey or Shipweyham in the Recordes commonly Shipwey Crosse BEtwéene Hyde and Westhanger lieth Shipwey the place that was of auncient time honested with the Plées and assemblies of the Fiue Ports although at this day neither by good building extant it be much glorious nor by any common méeting greatly frequented I remember that I haue read in a book of Priuileges of the Fiue Portes that certeine principall pointes concerning the Port townes be determinable at Shipwey only And likely it is that the withdrawing of the triall of causes from thence to Douer Castle hathe brought decay and obscuritie vpon the place Of this place the whole Last of Shipwey conteining twelue Hundrethes at the first tooke and yet continueth the name At this place Prince Edward the Sonne to King Henrie the third exacted of the Barons of the v. Portes their othe of fidelitie to his Father against the mainteiners of the Barons warre And at this place only our Limenarcha or Lord Wardein of the Ports receaueth his oathe at his first entrie into the office Whether this were at any time a Harborow for ships as the Etymologie of the name giueth likelihoode of coniecture or no I dare neither affirme nor denie hauing neither read nor séen that may lead me to the one or the other only I remember that Robert Talbot a man of our time and which made a Commentarie vpon the Itinerarie of Antoninus Augustus is of the opinion that is was called Shipwey because it lay in the way to the Hauen where the ships were wont to ride And that hauen taketh he to be the same whiche of Ptolome is caled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nouus Portus of Antoninus Limanis of our Chroniclers Limene Mouthe and interpreted by Leland to betoken the mouthe of the riuer of Rother whiche nowe in our time openeth into the Sea at Rye but before at Winchelsey His coniecture is grounded partly as you sée vpon the Etymologie of the name partly vpon the consideration of some antiquities that be neare to the place and partly also vpon the report of the countrie people who holde fast the same opinion which they haue by tradition receaued from their Elders In déede the name bothe in Greeke and olde Englishe whiche followethe the Gréeke that is to say Limen and Limene Mouthe doth signifie a Hauen wherof the Town of Lymne adioyning and the whole Deanrie or limit of the Ecclesiastical iurisdiction in whiche it standeth for that also is called Lymne by likelyhoode tooke the name This Hauen saithe he stoode at the firste vnder a highe Rocke in the Parishe of Lymne vnder the whiche there was situate a strong Castle for the defence of the Porte the ruines of
petition exhibited by Richarde then Earle of Arundale and Surrey in whiche the same Earle claimed the office of chiefe Butler and recognised him self ready to perfourme the same Wherevpon foorthwith one Edmund Staplegate exhibited another petition and likewise made his claime to this effect That whereas he the sayde Edmund helde of the King in chiefe the Manor of Bylsington in Kent by the seruice to be his Butler at the Coronation as plainely appeared in the booke of Fées and Sericancies in the Exchequer And whereas also by reason of that tenure the late King Edwarde the thirde had both seised the landes of that petitioner for so much as he was in his minoritie at the time of the death of Edmund Staplegate his father and had also committed the custodie of his body to one Iefferay Chawsier to whō he payde 104. l. for the same he nowe proffered to doe that seruice and praied to be admitted to the office therof with alowance of the fées that belonged therevnto These claimes and the replies also bothe of the Earle and of Staplegate being hearde and considered It was then order partly for the shortnesse of the time whiche would not permit a full examination of the matter and partly bycause that on the Earles side it was proued that his auncestors had béene in possession of that office after the alienation of the Manor of Bylsington whereas on the other part it appeared not that the auncestors of Staplegate had euer executed the same that for the present Coronation the Earle shoulde be receiued and the right of Staplegate and all others shoulde be neuerthelesse to them saued Thus muche of the Manor of Bylsington whiche lyeth here on the right hande I thought méete to impart with you to occupy vs withall in our way to Rumney for as touching the Pryorie that there was althoughe I suppose it to haue begon by the liberalitie of some of the Earles of Arundale yet can I assure you of nothing touching it saue onely of the yearely value whiche you shall finde in the Particular of this shyre amongst the rest of the suppressed houses Rumney called in Saxon Rumen ea that is to say The large watrie place or Marishe It is written in the Records corruptly Rumenal and Romual THE participation of like Priuilege might wel haue moued me to haue placed the Portes together but the purpose of myne order already taken calleth me another way and byndeth me to prosecute them as they lye in order of my iourney There be in Kent therfore two townes of this name the Olde and the New Rumney as touching the latter whereof I minde not to speake hauing not hitherto founde eyther in Recorde or Hystorie any thing pertaining therevnto but that little whiche I haue to say must be of olde Rumney whiche was long since a principal Port and giueth cause of name to the new towne as it selfe first tooke it of the large leuell and territorie of Marishe grounde that is adioyning This Towne sayth the Recorde of Domesday was of the possession of one Robert Rumney and holden of Odo then Bishop of Borieux Earle of Kent and brother to King William the Conquerour in the which the same Robert had thirteene Burgesses who for their seruice at the Sea were acquitted of all exactions and custome◠of charge excepte fellonie breache of the peace and forstalling It was sometyme a good sure and commodious Hauen where many vessels vsed to lye at Roade For Henrie the Archedeacon of Huntingdon maketh report that at suche time as Godwine Earle of Kent and his Sonnes were exiled the Realme vpon suche cause of displeasure as hathe alreadie appeared in Douer they armed vessels to the Sea and sought by disturbing the quiet of the people to compell the King to their reuocation And therfore among sundry other harmes that they did on the Coast of this Shyre they entred the hauen at Rumney and lead away all suche shippes as they found in the Harborow Thomas Becket the Archebishop hauing by froward disobedience and stuborne pertinacitie prouoked King Henrie the second to indignation against him and fearing to abide the triall of ordinarie Iustice at home determined to appeale to the Popes fauour at Rome for whiche purpose he secretly tooke boate at Rumney minding to haue escaped ouer but he was driuen backe by a contrary wynde and so compelled to land againste his will. The vnderstanding of whiche matter so exasperated the King against him that foorthwith he seased his goods and gaue commaundement by his writte to the Sheriffes of all coastes to make arrest of al such as for any cause prouoked to the Pope He caused also his subiectes from twentie yeares of age vpward through out the whole Realme to renounce by othe all wonted obedience to the Sée of Rome and sollicited earnestly the Emperour Frederic and Lewes the Frenche King to haue ioyned with him in deposing Pope Alexander for that he so commonly receaued runnegates and suche as rebelled against their lawfull Princes But suche was eyther the enimitie of Lewes the Frenche King againste King Henrie the second or his dull sight in discerning the profit of the whole Christian common weale that he refused to assist the other twain by meanes whereof both Frederic the Emperour was afterward compelled to yéelde him to the Pope King Henrie the second glad withall submission to reconcile himselfe to the Archebishops fauour Rumney Marshe is famous throughout the Realme as wel for the fertilitie quantitie of the soile leuell as also for the auncient and holesome ordinances there vsed for the preseruation and maintenance of the bankes and walles against the rage of the Sea. It conteineth as by due computation it may appeare 24000. Acres For the taxation of Rumney Marshe onely not accompting Walland Marshe Guilford Marshe c. amounteth to 50. pounds after the rate of one halfe peny the Acre and it is at this day gouerned by certaine lawes made by one Henrie Bathe a Iustice and Commissioner for that purpose in the time of King Henrie the third Of whiche his statutes experience in time hath begotten suche allowance and liking that it was afterward not onely ordered that all the lowe groundes betwéene Tanet in Kent and Pemsey in Sussex should be guided by the same But they are also nowe become a paterne and exemplar to all the like places of the whole Realme to be gouerned by The place is not muche inhabited bycause it is Hyeme malus Aestate molestus Nunquam bonus Euil in Winter grieuous in Sommer and neuer good As Hesiodus the olde Poet somtime saied of the Countrie where his Father dwelt And therefore very reasonable is their conceite whiche doe imagine that Kent hathe thrée steps or degrées of whiche the first say they offereth Wealth without healthe the second giueth bothe Wealth and healthe and the third afoordeth healthe onely and no Wealthe For if a man minding to passe through
abiured should not be molested while they be in the highe wayes may euidently appeare I finde in Hystorie that this Watlingstreete hath heretofore not onely serued for the frée passage of the people but that it hath béen at times also a marke and bounder betwéene some Kings for the limits of their iurisdictions and authoritie For so it was betwéene Edmund and Anlaf Alfred and Guthrum and others But bycause these matters reache further then this Shyre extendeth I will reserue them to fit place and shew you in the meane while what I count note worthy on both sides of this way till I come to the Diocesse of Rochester Lyminge ON the South side of Watlingstreete and vnder the Downes Lyminge is the first that offereth it selfe concerning the which I haue found a note or twaine that make more for the antiquitie then for the estimation of the place for I reade in the Annales of S. Augustines of Canterbury that Eadbald the sonne of King Ethelbert the firste Christened King of Kent gaue it to Edburge his sister who foorthwith clocked together a sorte of simple women whiche vnder her wing there tooke vpon them the Popishe veile of widowhood But that order in time waxed colde and therefore Lanfranc the Archebishop at suche time as he builded Sainct Gregories in Canterbury as we haue touched in Tanet before reckoning it no small ornamēt of his dotation to bestowe some renouned Relique that might procure estimation to his worke translated the olde bones of Edburge from Lyminge to Sainct Gregories and verefied in Papistrie the olde Maxime of Philosophie Corruptio vnius generatio alterius Baramdowne in the Saxon BarHamdune That is to say the hill where the Bores do abide AS this place is of it selfe very fit by reason of the flat leuel and playnesse therof to array an heast of men vpon So haue we testimonie of thrée great armies that haue mustred at it The one vnder the conduict of Iulius Caesar who landing at Dele as we haue before shewed surueyed his hoast at Baramdowne and marching from thence against the Britons so daunted their forces that he compelled them to become tributarie No lesse infortunate but muche more infamous to this countrie was the time of the seconde muster whiche happened in the reigne of King Iohn who hearing that Philip the king of Fraunce had by incitation of the Pope as hath already appeared in Douer prepared a great army to inuade him and that he was ready at Calaice to take shipping determined to incounter him vpon the Sea and if that assay succéeded not then to giue him a battaile on the lande also For whiche seruice he rigged vp his shippes of warre and sent to the Sea the Earle of Salisburie whome he ordeined Admirall and calling together fit men from al the parts of the Realme he found by view taken at this place an armie of sixtie thousande men to incounter his enemies besides a sufficient number of able and armed souldiours to defende the lande withal Now whilest he thus awaited at Baramdown to heare further of his aduersaries comming Pandulph the Popes Legate sent vnto him two Knightes of the order of the Temple by whose mouthe he earnestly desired the King to graunt him audience The King assented and the Legate came vnto him and sayde in summe as followeth Beholde O Prince the King of Fraunce is in armes against thée not as against a priuate enemie to him self alone but as an open and common aduersarie bothe to the Catholike Church to the Popes holynesse to whole Christendome and to God him self Neyther commeth he vpon opinion of his owne power and strength but is armed with great confidence of Gods fauourable ayde accompanied with the consent of many great Princes furnished with the presence of suche as thou haste banished out of thy Realme and assured by the faythful promises of sundry of thyne owne Nobilitie whiche nowe are present in person with thée Consider therefore in what daunger thou standest and spare not to submit thée while space is leaste if thou persist there be no place left of further fauour The King hearing this and being vpon causes knowne to him selfe more distrustfull of Traitours at home then fearefull of enemies abroade agréed to serue the time and taking the Legate to Douer with him sealed the Golden Bull of submission whereby Englande was once againe made a tributarie Prouince to the Citie of Rome and that in so muche the more vile condition then it was before as an vsurped Ierarchie is inferiour to a noble lawfull and renoumed Monarchie For it is truely sayd Dignitate domini minus turpis est conditio serui Now when the Frenche King on the other side of the Seas had worde hereof he retired with his armie in a great choler partely for that he was thus deluded but chiefly bycause he had lost his Nauie whiche the Earle of Salisbury had set on fire in the hauen at Calaice Simon Mountfort the Earle of Leycester that was elected by the Barons of this Realme general of that armie which they raysed against King Henrie the thirde arrayed thirdly a very great hoast of men here at suche time as he feared the arriuall of Eleonar the Quéene who being daughter to the Earle of Prouince and then lefte in Fraunce behinde the King and the Earle whiche also had béen bothe there a litle before to receiue the Frenche Kings rewarde touching their controuersie ceassed not by all possible meanes to sollicite the King of Fraunce and to incite other her friendes and allies to ayde King Henrie against the Nobilitie But whether it were that presently they could not for their owne affaires or that at al they durst not knowing that their comming was awayted they serued not her desire by meanes whereof the Lordes waxed strong and soone after gaue the King a battayle in Sussex wherein they bothe tooke him and his brother Richard and his eldest sonne prisoners But as touching the originall procéeding and euent of these warres I willingly spare to speake muche in this place knowing that I shall haue opportunitie often hereafter to discourse them Nowe therefore let vs consider a few other places and then haste vs to Canterbury Charteham AFter suche time as King Iohn had made him selfe the Popes tenant of the Crown and Realme of England as euen now I tolde you the Clergie of this countrie was so oppressed with Romishe exactions that they were become not onely vnable but thereby vnwilling also to relieue the necessitie of the Prince with any prest of money as in times paste they had accustomed to do Wherat the King on the one side taking offence pressed them many times very hard not ceasing till he had wroong somewhat from them And on the other side appealing to their holy fathers ayde procured by their great coste many sharp prohibitions and proud menacies against him So that sundry times in the reigne of King Henrie the thirde this Balle
builde a Bridge vpon That olde worke being of timber Building was fyered by Simon the Earle of Leycester in the time of King Henrie the third as hath already appeared and not fully twentie yeares after it was borne away with the Ise in the reigne of King Edward his Sonne Wherefore least that as the Frost and flame hath alredy consumed the thing it selfe So the canker of time should also deuoure all memorie thereof I haue thought méete to impart such antiquities as I haue found concerning that bridge wherof the one was taken out of a booke somtime belonging to the late worthie and wise Counselour Doctor Nicholas Wotton and whiche he had exemplified out of an auncient monument of Christes Church in Canterbury bearing this Title Memorandum de Ponte Roffensi c. Episcopus Roffensis debet facere primam peram de ponte Roffensi debet inuenire tres sulliues debet plantare tres virgatas super pontem Et hoc debent facere Borstal Cukelstan Frendsburie Stoke Secunda pera debet habere tres sull debet plantare vnam virgatam Et hoc debent homines de Gillingham de Chetham Episcopus Roffensis debet facere tertiam peram debet sull plantare duas virgatas dimid Et hoc debetur de Halling Trockescliue Malling Southflete Stane Pinendene Falcham Quarta pera debet tres sull plantare tres virgatas Et hoc debent homines de Borgham de sex sull de Woldham cum Roberto Bisset socijs suis cum Roberto Neue de trib sull de Althe vna sull de Henherst dimid sull de Honden quartam partem vnius sull de Cusington dimid sull de Boneheld dimid sull De Farleg vnam sull De Ethles viginti quinque acres de Theiston vnam sull De Lose vnam sull De Lillinton duas sull De Stokebury duas sul De Gliselardland de Sinelond de Dalelond De Lechebundlond De Horsted De Chelk Quinta pera pertinet ad Archiepiscopum Et debet tres sull plantare quatuor virgat Et hoc debetur de Wroteham Nedestane Woteringbery Netherlestede Pecham altera Pecham Heselholt Mereworth Leyborne Swaneton OffehaÌ„ Diâ—tone Westerham Sexta pera pertinet ad Hundredum de Heyburne debet sull plantare .4 virgatas hoc debent homines de Boxele scilicet de .7 sull dimid sed contradicunt Dimid sull de Dethling vnam sull Dimid quartam partem vnius Thornham .2 sull tertiam quam contradicunt De Aldington vnam sull aliam quam contradicunt De Stokebery .2 sull de Eilnothington .2 sull de Bicknore .i sull de Widneselle .i. sull de Holingeburne 6. sull de quibus Godinton debet 2. sull Bocton Archiepiscopi dimid sull de Heberton cum Frensted .i. sull de Lhed s 3. sull de Herietesham cum Litlewrotha 2 sull de Wrenstede dimid sull de Wytheling cuÌ„ Eastelne .i. sull de Lenham 4. sull dimid de Longele cum Otringdene 2. sull dimid de Eastlenham 2. sull de Boctone Bauelingham .i. sull de Hulecumb 2. sull dimid quam contradicunt de Farburn dimid sull dimid quam contradicunt de Suthone 7. sull dimid de Otteham 1. sull de Witherinton dimid sull Notandum quod ad 6. sull de Holingehorne debet Boctone dimid sull Godinton 2. sull Buccherst dimid Iug. Wibendene Hokâ—bery dimid Iug. Wythyherst 1. Iuger Herindene dimid Iuger Hallebroc Herebertest dimid Iuger Bresing 3. Iug. Beauerepair dimid Iuger Stanburne Thrumsted dimid Iug. Riple dimid Iuger Bradestrete dimid Iuger Brechedene quartam partem vnius Iuger Simon de porta 5. acras Gilebertus de Thrumstede 15. acras Terra Ospeck 5. acras Thomas supra montem 10. acras Sara de Dene Robertus de Swandene cum socijs 45. acras Bradherst 4. Iuger Huking dimid Iug. Wodaeton i. Iug. Herst i. Iuger Heyhorne dimid Iug. Lareye dimid Iug. Grenewey i. Iug. Southgrenewey i. Iug. Gerin cum socijs dimid Iug. Terra Iacobi de Hannye dimid Iuger Cotenetun dimid Iug. Nutemannestowe terra Bellardi dimid Iug. Sheldesbourn dimid Iug. Snade quartam partem Worham 3. acras Bode 5. acras Simon Cockel 25. acras Haeredes Thomae de la Dane 5. acras Walterus Larsone 5. acras Wilhelmus Cliue 10. acras Sepâ—ima octaua pera pertinent ad homines de Hoo. Et debent sex sull plantare 4. virgat dimid Nona pera pertinet ad Archiepiscopum debet 3. sull plantare 4. virgat Et hoc debetur de Cliue Heigham Deninton Melton Hlidesdon Mepeham Snodeslond Bearlinges Peadelesworthe de omnibus hominibus in eadem valle The other antiquitie I founde in an olde volume of Rochester Librarie collected by Ernulsus the Bishop and entituled Textus de Ecclesia Roffensi in whiche that whiche concerneth this purpose is to be read bothe in the Saxon or auncient Englishe tong and in the Latine also as hereafter followeth Ãis This is is þaers the bricaegeÆ¿eorc Bridgewoorke on at Hrofecaestre Rochester Her Here syndon be genamod named þa the land landes þE for man the Hi which of scael men shall Æ¿eorcan woorke Aerest First the þaerâ— burgebiscop faeHð on Bishop of the Citie taketh on beginneth þone that earm end to to Æ¿ercene woorke þa the land land peran peere and þreo three gyrda yardes to to þillianne plancke and iij. sylla to 3. plates to lyccanne laye ê§ that is is of from of borcstealle Borstall and of Cucclestane from Cuckstane of and from frinondesbyrig Frendsbyry of Stoce and Stoke Ãanne Then seo the oþres second per peere gebyrað belongeth to to gyllingeHam Gyllingham to CaetHam and to Chetham an gyrde to and one yarde to þillianne plancke iij. and 3. sylla plates to to leccanne laye Ãonne Then seo the þridde thirde peere per gebyrað eft þam biscope belongeth againe to the same Bishop þridde Heâ—lf gyrd and two yardes and a half and three yardes lacking a halfe to to þillianne planke .iii. sylla and 3. plates to to leccenne laye of of from Healingan halling of trotescliue and of Trosclif of meallingan and of malling of fliote and of Fleete of Stane and of Stone and of pundene of pyndene of and of falcHenHam falkenham Fakham Ãonne Then is is seo the feorðe fourth paer þaes cinges peere the Kinges and fiorðe 3. Half gyrd to þillanne yardes and a halfe to planke .iii. sylla to leccanne and 3. plates to laye of of aeglesforda Atlesford and of of eallan all þam that laeþe þe þerto that Lathe Hundreth that therevnto liþ lyeth of ufanHylle and of the vphille men vpon the hill of Aclea and of Acley Okeley of þam and of Smalanland Smalland and of of Cusintune Cosyngton of dudeslande and of Dudslande of Gysleardeslande and of Gisleardsland of Æ¿uldeHam and of Woldham of
not to pursue ouer fiercely thine enemie that hath already tourned his back towardes thée least thou compell him to make vertue of that necessitie and he turning his face againe put thee in d unger to be ouercome thy selfe which before haddest in thine owne hande assuraunce to ouerthrowe him In which behalfe it was well sayde of one Hosti fugienti pons aureus faciendus If thine enemie will flye make him a bridge of Golde Neuerthelesse for as much as this aduice procéeded not from Eadric of any care that he had to preserue King Edmonds power out of perill but rather of feare least the whole army of Canutus should be ouerrunne and destroyed he is iustly taxed for this and other his treasons by our auncient historians who also make report of the worthy rewarde that in the ende he receiued for all his trecherie For this was hee as William Malmsb writeth though some others ascribe it to his sonne that afterwardes when these two Kings had by composition diuided the Realme betwene them most villanously murthered King Edmonde at Oxford and was therfore done to death by King Canutus who in that one act shewed singular argumeÌ„ts both of rare iustice and of a right noble harte Of iustice for that he would not winke at the faulte of him by whose meanes hee obteyned the Monarchie of the whole Realme of great Nobilitie of minde in that he plainly declared himselfe to estéeme more of his owne honour then of another mans Crowne and Scepter to haue digested quietly that impatiencie of a partener in kingdome which great Alexander thought as intollerable as two sunnes in the world at once and which Romulus could in no wise brooke since he woulde not suffer one kingdome to content him and Remus whom one belly had conteyned before There was sometime at Eilefford a house of Carmelite Friers of the time of the foundation or name of the founder whereof I haue not yet learned any thing Mallinge in Saxon Mealing of Mealuing that is the Lowe place flourishing with meale or Corne for so it is euery where accoÌ„pted THis Towne the name whereof hauing his termination in ing betokeneth plainely that it is situate along the water euen as Yalding Berming Halling and others thereby was first giuen to Burhricus the Bishop of Rochester by King Edmund the Brother of Athelstane vnder the name of thrée Plough landes in Mealinges About one hundreth and fiftie yeares after whiche time Gundulphus a successour in that See as you haue read before hauing amplified the buildings and multiplied that number of the Monkes in his owne Citie raised an Abbay of women here also which being dedicate to the name of the Blessed Virgin during all his life he gouerned himself and lying at the point of death he commended to the charge of one Auice a chosen woman to whome notwithstanding he would not deliuer the Pastorall staffe before she had promised Canonicall Obedience fidelitie and subiection to the Sée of Rochester and protested by othe that there should neither Abbasse nor Nonne be from thenceforthe receaued into the house without the consent and priuitie of him and his successours Now whether this Rus propinquum and politique prouision were made of a blinde zeale that the man had to aduaunce superstition or of a vain glorie to increase authoritie in his succession or els of a foresight that the Monkes whiche were for the moste part called Monachi of Sole liuing by the same rule that Montes haue their name of remouing might haue a conuenient place to resort vnto and where they might Caute at the least quenche the heates kindled of their good cheare and idlenesse God knoweth and I wil not iudge But well I wote that this was a very common practise in Papistrie for as Saint Augustines had Sepulchres Saint Albans Sopewell Shene Sion the Knightes of the Rodes the Nonnes of Clerkenwel all adioyning or subiect to suche obedience so Sempringham and some other of that sort had both Male and Female within one house and wall togeather the world being in the meane while borne in hand that they were no men but Images as Phryne said sometime of Xenocrates This house was valued in the Recordes at two hundreth and eightéene pounds of yerely reuenewe Tunbridge called of Mat. Par. Thâ—â—ebrugge corruptly for tonebrycge that is the Bridge ouer Tone but if it be truly written tunbrycge theÌ„ it signifieth the towne of Bridges as in deed it hath many ALthough I find no mention of Tunbridge in that copie of Domesdaye booke whiche I haue séene concerning the description of this Shyre yet read I in history that there was a castle at Tunbridge sone after the conqueste if not euen at the same time when that booke was compiled For omitting that which Hector Boetius writeth concerning a battell at Tunbridge wherin the Conquerour as he saith should preuaile against Harold bicause it is euidently false and vntrue vnlesse he mean it of the continuance of the chase after the fight euen to Tunbridge I haue read that at suche time as Odo ioyning with others of the Nobilitie made defection from William Rufus to Robert his elder brother the King besieged at Tunbridge one Gilbert then kéeper of the Castle and compelled him to yéelde it Happely this Odo being the Kings Vncle and of great authoritie within the Shyre as we haue before shewed had erected this Castle giuen the charge to Gilbert but howsoeuer that were certaine it is that the Castle was long time holdeÌ„ of the Archbishops of Canterbury and continued many yeares togeather in the possession of the Earles of Clare afterwards called of Gloucester For in the dayes of King Henrie the second Thomas the Archbishop required homage of Roger then Earle of Gloucester for his Castle of Tunbridge who knowing the King to be halfe angrie with the Archebishop and wholly on his owne side shaped him a short answere affirming stoutly that it was none of his but the Kings owne as a Lay Fée Falcasius a hyred Souldiour that was enterteined by King Iohn during the warres with his Nobilitie toke by force this Castle from the Earle of Gloucester and kept it for a season to the Kings behoofe King Henrie the third also after the death of Gilbert the Earle of Gloucester scised the Wardship of his Heire and committed the custody of this Castle to Hubert of Burghe But Richard the Archebishop surnamed the great being offended therat came to the King in great haste and made his claime by reason that the Earle Gilbert died in his homage the King gaue answer that the whole Earledome was holden of him that hee might lawfully committe the custodie of the Landes to whome soeuer it liked himselfe Hereat the Bishop waxed warme and tolde the King plainly that since he could not haue right within the Realme he would not spare to séeke it abrode forthwith hasted him to the holy Father at Rome where he
so vsed the matter that he obteined iudgemēt for his part but he for all that neuer had execution by reasō that he died in his returne toward home yet you may here sée by the way that in those dayes there was no Lawe in England to rule the proude Prelacie withall no not so muche as in things méere Lay and temporall To be short the same King Hērie not long before the battel at Lewes in Sussex burned the Citie of Rochester and tooke this Castle by a soudaine surprise wherein he found amongst other the Countesse of Gloucester But it was not long before he stored the Castle with men of warre and restored the Ladie to her former libertie There was somtime neare to this Castle a Pryorie whereof the Earles of Gloucester and their Heires were reputed the first Authors and Patrones And in our memorie there was erected a faire Frée Schoole by the honest liberalitie of Syr Androw Iudde a Citizen and Maior of London whiche submitted the same to the order and ouersight of the company of Skinners there whereof himselfe had béene a member Round about the Towne of Tunbridge lyeth a territorie or compasse of ground commonly called the Lowy but written in the auncient Recordes and Hystories Pencata or Lenga and being in déede a French League of ground whiche as I finde in the Chronicles of Normandie was allotted at the first vpon this occasion following There was in Normandie a Towne and land therevnto adioyning called Bryonnie whiche was of the auncient possession of the Dukedome and had continually remained in the handes of the Dukes there till suche time as Richard the second Duke of that name gaue it amongst other Landes to Godfrey his natural brother for his aduauncement in liuing This Godfrey enioyed it all his lyfe and left it to one Gislebert his Sonne whiche happely was Gilbert the Capitain of Tunbridge Castle of whom we had mention before who also held it so long as he liued But after the death of Gislebert Robert the Duke of Normandie and Eldest Sonne to King William the Conquerour beeing earnestly laboured to bestowe it vpon on Robert Earle Mellent whose ofspring were sometimes Earles of Leycester within this Realme seazed it into his owne hands pretending to vnite it to the Dukedome againe But when Richard the Sonne of Gislebert vnderstoode of this he put to his claime and making his title by a long continued possession euen from Godfrey his graundfather so encountred the suite of Earle Mellent that to stoppe Richards mouthe withall it was by the deuice of the Earle and by the mediation of Duke Robert which he made to his Brother William Rufus brought to passe that Richard should receaue in recompence the Town of Tunbridge in England and so much land about it as Bryonnie it selfe conteined in circuit And to the end that the indifferencie of the dealing might appeare and his full satisfaction be wrought they caused Bryonnie and the land about it to be measured with a line whiche they afterward brought ouer with them into England and applying the same to Tunbridge and the land adioyning laide him out the very like in quantitie in so much that long time after it was a common and receaued opinion in Normandie that the Leagues of Bryonnie and Tunbridge were all one in measure and compasse This together with the Towne and Castle came at the length as you haue séene to the handes of the Earles of Gloucester betwéene whome and the Archebishops of Canterbury there arose oftentimes contention bothe for the limits of this league and for the preeminence of their priuileges At the last Boniface the Archebishop next but one in succession after Richard of whome we spake before and Richard the Earle and Heire to Gilbert agréed in the reigne of King Henrie the third vpon a perambulatiō to be made betwéene them and so the strife for their boundes was brought to an end But as touching their priuileges and iurisdiction in the place it fell out by inquisition in the time of King Edward following that the Archebishop had nothing to do within the league that the Earle had returne of writtes creation of certain Officers an especiall sessions in Eire c most of whiche things the Towne hath not these many yeares enioyed But yet it was agréed after the perambulation so made betwéene Boniface and the Earle Richard that the Earle and his heires should holde the Manors of Tunbridge Vielston Horsmund Melyton and Pettys of the Archebishop and his successours by the seruice of 4. Knightes fées and to be highe Stewardes and highe Butlers to the Archebishops at the great feast of their inthronizations taking for their seruice in the Stewardship seuē competent Robes of Scarlet thirtie gallons of wyne thirtie pound of waxe for his light liuery of Hay and Oates for fourescore Horse by two nights the dishes and salt which should stand before the Archebishops in that Feast and at their departure the dyet of thrée days at the costes of the Archbishops at foure of their next Manors by the foure quarters of Kent wheresoeuer they would Ad minuendum sanguinem So that they repaired thither but with fiftie Horses only And taking also for the Office of Butlership other seuen like Robes 20 Gallons of wyne fiftie pound of waxe like liuery for thréescore Horses by two nights the cuppe wherewith the Archebishops should be serued all the emptie hogsheads of drinke and for sixe tunne of wyne so many as should be dronke vnder the barre also The Articles of whiche their composition were afterward accordingly perfourmed firste betwéene Gilbert Earle of Gloucester and Robert Winchelsey the Archebishop next betwéene the same Earle and the Archebishop Reignoldes Then betwéene Hughe Audley the Earle of Gloucester and the Archebishop Iohn Stratford After that betwéene the Earle of Stafford to whome the Lordship of Tunbridge at the length came and Simon Sudbury Archebishop in that Sée and lastly betwéene William Warham the Archebishop and Edward the late Duke of Buckingham who also executed the Stewardship in his owne person and the Butlership by his deputie Syr Thomas Burgher Knight the whole pompe and Ceremonie whereof I haue séen at greater length set forth and described then is méete for this time place to be recounted Asherst in Saxon Acsehyrst that is the Wood consisting of Ashes IN the Southwest corner of this Shyre towarde the confines of Sussex and Surrey lyeth Asherst a place now a daies so obscure for it is but a Towne of two houses that it is not worthy the visiting but yet in olde time so glorious for a Roode that it had of rare propertie that many vouchsafed to bestowe bothe their labour and money vpon it It was beaten forsooth into the heades of the common people as what thing was so absurde which the Clergie coulde not then make the world to beleeue that the Roode or Crucifix of this church did by certaine incrementes continually
waxe grow as well in the bush of haire that it had on the head as also in the length and stature of the members and bodie it selfe By meanes whereof it came to passe that whereas the fruites of the Benefice weare hardly able to susteine the Incumbent nowe by the benefite of this inuention which was in papistrie Nouum genus aucupij the Parson there was not onely furnished by the offering to liue plentifully but also well ayded towarde the makinge of a Hoorde or increase of Wealthe and Riches But as Ephialtes and Octus the Sonnes of Neptune who as the Poets feigne waxed nine inches euerie moneth being heaued vp with opinion and conceits ceipt of their owne length and hantines assaulted heauen intending to haue pulled the Gods out of their places and were therefore shot through slayne with the arrowes of the Gods Euen so when Popish Idolatrie was growne to the full height and measure so that it spared not to rob God of his due honour and most violently to pull him as it were out of his seate then this growing Idole and all his fellowes were so deadly wounded with the heauenly arrowes of the woorde of God Qui non dabit gloriam suam sculptilibus that soone after they gaue vp the ghost and least vs. Betwéene this Towne and Depeforde which is the whole bredthe of the Shyre on the west ende I finde nothing committed to hystorie and therefore let vs hast and take our next way thither ¶ Depeforde in Latine Vadum profundum and in auncient Euidences West Greenewiche THis towne being a frontier betwene Kent and Surrey was of none estimation at all vntil that King Henrie the eight aduised for the better preseruation of the Royall Fléete to erect a Storehouse and to create certaine officers there these he incorporated by the name of the Maister and Wardeines of the Holie Trinitie for the building kéeping and conducting of the Nauie Royall There was lately reedefied a fayre Bridge also ouer the Brooke called Rauensbourne whiche ryseth not farre of in the Heath aboue Bromley ¶ Greenewiche in Latine Viridis finus in Saxon grenapic that is to say the Greene Towne In auncient euidences Eastgreenewiche for difference sake from Depforde which in olde Instruments is called westgreenewiche IN the time of the turmoyled Kinge Ethelred the whole fléete of the Danish army lay at roade two or thrée yeares together before Greenewich And the Souldiours for the moste parte were incamped vpon the hill aboue the towne now called Black-health Duringe this time they pearced this whole Countrie sacked and spoyled the Citie of Canterburie and brought frō thence to their ships Aelphey the Archbishop And here a Dane called Thrum whom the Archebishop had confirmed in Christianitie the daie before strake him on the head behinde and slewe him because he woulde not condiscend to redéeme his lyfe with thrée thousande poundes which the people of the Citie Diocesse were contented to haue geuen for his raunsome Neither would the rest of the Souldiours suffer his bodie to be committed to the earth after the maner of Christian decencie till such time saieth William of Malmsb as they perceiued that a dead stick being annointed with his bloud waxed gréene againe and began the next day to blossom But referring the credite of that and suche other vnfruitfull miracles wherwith our auncient monkish stoaries doe swarme to the iudgement of the godly and discréete Readers most assured it is that aboute the same time such was the storme and furie of the Danish insatiable rauine waste spoyle and oppression with in this Realme besides that of two and thirtie Shyres into which number the whole was then diuided they herried and ransacked sixtéene so that the people being miserably vexed the Kinge himselfe to auoyde the rage first sent ouer the Seas his wyfe and children afterward compounded and gaue them a yerely tribute and lastly for verie feare forsooke the Realme and fled into Normandie himselfe also They receiued besides daylie victuall fourtie eight thousande poundes in ready coyne of the subiectes of this Realme whilest their King Swein lyued twentie one thousand after his death vnder his sonne Canutus vpon the payment whereof they made a corporall oth to serue the King as his feodaries against al strangers and to liue as fréendes and allies without endamaging his subiectes But how litle they perfourmed promise the harms that daily folowed in sundry parts and the exalting of Canutus their owne countrieman to the honour of the Crowne were sufficient witnesses In memorie of this Campe certeine places within this parishe are at this day called Combes namely Estcombe Westcombe and Midlecombe almoste forgotten For Comb and Compe in Saxon being somewhat declined from Campus in Latine signifieth a field or Campe for an Armie to soiourne in And in memorie of this Archebishop Aelpheg the parish Church at Greenewiche being at the first dedicated to his honour remaineth knowne by his name euen till this present day Thus much of the antiquitie of the place concerning the latter hystorie I reade that it was soone after the conquest parcel of the possessions of the Bishop of Lysieux in Fraunce and that it bare seruice to Odo then Bishop of Baieux and Earle of Kent After that the Manor belonged to the Abbat of Gaunt in Flaunders till such time as Kinge Henrie the fift seising into his handes by occasion of warre the landes of the Priors Aliens bestowed it togeather with the manor of Lewsham and many other lands also vpon the Priorie of the Chartrehouse Monks of Shene whiche he had then newly erected to this it remayned vntill the time of the reigne of Kinge Henrie the eight who annexed it to the Crowne whervnto it now presently belongeth The Obseruant Friers that sometime lyued at Greenewiche as Iohn Rosse writeth came thither about the latter end of the reign of king Edward the fourth at whose handes they obteined a Chauntrie with a litle Chapel of the holy crosse a place yet extant in the towne And as Lilley saith Kinge Henrie the seuenth buylded for them that house adioyning to the Palaice which is there yet to be séene But now least I may séeme to haue saide much of small matters and to haue forgotten the principall ornament of the towne I must before I end with Greenewiche say somewhat of the Princes Palaice there Humfrey therefore the Duke of Gloucester Protectour of the Realme a man no lesse renowmed for approued vertue and wisdome then honoured for his high estate and parentage was the first that layde the foundations of the faire building in the towne and towre in the Parke and called it his Manor of pleasance After him Kinge Edward the fourthe bestowed some cost to enlarge the woorke Henrie the seuenthe folowed and beautified the house with the addition of the brick front toward the water side but King Henrie the eight as he excéeded all his progenitours
toward Sennocke Holmes Dale that is to say the Dale betweene the wooddie hilles THere are as yet to be séene at Reigate in Surrey the ruines of an auncient Castle somtime belonging to the Earles of Surrey whiche Alfrede of Beuerley calleth Holme and whiche the Countrie people do yet terme the Castle of Holmesdale This tooke the name of the Dale wherin it standeth whiche is large in quantitie extending it selfe a great length into Surrey and Kent also and was as I coniecture at the first called Holmesdale by reason that it is for the moste part Conuallis a plaine valley running betwéene two hilles that be replenished with stoare of woode for so muche the very woord Holmesdale it selfe importeth In this Dale a part of whiche we nowe crosse in our way to Sennocke the people of Kent being encouraged by the prosperous successe of Edward their King the Sonne of Alfrede and commonly surnamed Edward the Elder assembled thēselues and gaue to the Danes that had many yeares before afflicted them a moste sharpe and fierce encountre in the which after long fight they preuailed and the Danes were ouerthrowne and vanquished This victorie the like euent in an other battaile giuen to the Danes at Oxford which stādeth in this same valley also begate as I gesse the cōmon by word vsed amongst the inhabitants of this vale euen till this present day in whiche they vaunt after this manner The vale of Holmesdale Neuer wonne nor neuer shal Sennocke or as some call it Seauen oke of a number of trees as it is coniectured ABoute the latter end of the reigne of King Edward the third there was foūd lying in the stréetes at Sennocke poore childe whose Parents were vnknowne and he for the same cause named after the place where he was taken vp William Sennocke This Orphan was by the helpe of some charitable persons brought vp and nourtured in such wise that being made an Apprentice to a Grocer in London he arose by degrées in course of time to be Maior and chiefe Magistrate of that Citie At whiche time calling to his minde the goodnes of Almightie God and the fauour of the Townesmen extended towardes him he determined to make an euerlasting monument of his thankfull minde for the same And therefore of his owne charge builded bothe an Hospitall for reliefe of the poore and a Frée Schoole for the education of youthe within this Towne endowing the one and the other with competent yearely liuing as the dayes then suffered towards their sustentation maintenance But since his time the Schoole was much amended by the liberalitie of one Iohn Potkyn whiche liued vnder the reigne of King Henrie the eight now lately also in the reigne of our souereigne Ladie through the honest trauaile of diuers the inhabitants there not only the yearely stipend is much increased and the former litigious possessions quietly established but the corporation also chaunged into the name of two Wardeins and foure assistants of the frée Schoole of Quéene Elizabeth in Sennocke The present estate of the Towne it selfe is good and it séemeth to haue béene for these many yeares together in no worse plight And yet finde I not in all hystorie any memorable thing concerning it saue onely that in the time of King Henrie the sixt Iack Cade and his mischeuous meiny discomfited there Syr Humfrey Stafford and his Brother two Noble Gentlemen whome the King had sent to encounter them Eltham ANthonie Becke that Bishop of Durham whiche in the reignes of King Henrie the third of King Edward his Sonne builded Aucland Castle in the Bishopricke of Durham Somerton Castle in Lincolneshyre and Durham place at London was by the report of Iohn Leland either the very Author or the first beautifier of this the Princes house here at Eltham also It is noted of that man that he was in all his life and Port so gay glorious that the Nobility of the Realme disdained him greatly therefore But they did not consider belike that he was in possession Bishop of Durham which had Iura Regalia the Prerogatiues of a petie Kingdome and that he was by election Patriarche of Ierusalem whiche is néere Cousin to a Popedome in whiche respectes he might well inoughe be allowed to haue Domus splendidas luxu Regali his houses not only as gay as the Noble mens but also as gorgeous as the Kinges To say the trueth this was not to builde vp the spirituall house with liuely stones resting on the chiefe corner to Heauen and to Godward but with Mammon and Material stuffe to erect warrelyke Castles for the nourishment of contention and stately Palaces for the maintenaunce of worldly pride and pleasure towardes Hell and the Deuill Howbeit this was the whole studie of Bishops in the Popishe Kingdome and therefore letting that passe let vs sée what became of this piece of his building King Henrie the third saith Mat. Parise toward the latter end of his reigne kept a Royall Christmas as the manner then was at Eltham being accompanied with his Quéene and Nobilitie and this belike was the first warming of the house as I may call it after that the Bishop had finished his worke For I doe not hereby gather that hitherto the King had any property in it forasmuch as the Princes in those days vsed commonly both to soiourne for their pleasures and to passe their set solemnities also in Abbaies and Bishops houses But yet I beléeue verely that soone after the deathe of that Bishop the house came to the possession of the Crowne for proofe wherof I pray you heare and marke what followeth The wyfe of King Edward the second bare vnto him a Sonne at this house who was therof surnamed Iohn of Eltham What time King Iohn of Fraunce whiche had béen prisoner in England came ouer to visite King Edward the third who had moste honourably intreated him the King and his Quéene lay at Eltham to entertaine him King Henrie the fourth also kept his last Christmas at Eltham And King Henrie his Sonne and successour lay there at a Christmas likewise when he was faine to depart soudainly for feare of some that had conspired to murder him Furthermore Iohn Rosse writeth plainely that King Edward the fourthe to his greate cost repaired his house at Eltham at whiche time also as I suppose he inclosed Horne parke one of the thrée that be here and enlarged the other twaine And it is not yet fully out of memorie that king Henrie the seauenth set vp the faire front ouer the mote there since whose reigne this house by reason of the néerenesse to Greenewiche whiche also was muche amended by him and is through the benefite of the Riuer a seate of more commoditie hath not béen so greatly estéemed the rather also for that the pleasures of the emparked grounds here may be in manner as well enioyed the Courte lying at Greenewiche as if it were at this house it selfe These be
the Kings fauour their owne power pollicie and possession contemned all other and forgate them selues abusing the simplicitie of the King by euill counsel treading vnder foote the nobilitie by great disdaine and oppressing the common people by insatiable rauine extortion and tirannie So that immediatly and at once they pulled vpon their heades the heauie displeasure of the Prince the immortall hatred of the noble men and the bitter execration and curse of the common sort Whereupon the king for a season banished them the nobles neuer after liked them and the poore people not onely railed vpon them while they liued but also by deuised tales as the manner is laboured to make them hatefull to all posteritie after their death And amongst other things touching Godwyne him selfe they feygned that he was choked at Winchester or Windsore as others say for liers can not lightly agrée with a morsel of bread and that this his land in Kent sonke sodainly into the Sea. Neyther were these things continued in memory by the mouths of the vnlearned people only but committed to writing also by the hands and pens of Monkes Frears and others of the learned sort So that in course of time the matter was past all peraduenture and the things belieued for vndoubted veritie But whatsoeuer hath bene heretofore thought of these matters hauing now iust occasion offered mee to treate of the thing I wil not spare to speake that which I haue red in some credible writers and whiche I doe thinke méete to be beléeued of all indifferent readers Siluester Giraldus in his Itinerarie of Wales and many others doe write that about the end of the reigne of King William Rufus or the beginning of Henrie the first there was a sodaine and mightie inundation of the Sea by the which a great part of Flaunders and of the lowe countries thereabout was drenched and lost so that many of the inhabitants being thereby expulsed from their seates came ouer into England and made suite to the same King Henrie for some place of dwelling within his dominion The King pitying their calamitie and séeing that they might bee profitable to his Realme by instructing his people in the art of clothing wherein at that time they chiefly excelled first placed them about Carlile in the North countrie and afterwarde vpon cause remoued them to Rosse and Hauerford in Wales Now at the same tyme that this happened in Flaunders the like harme was done in sundry places bothe of England and Scotland also as Hector Boethius the Scottishe hystoriographer moste plainly writeth affirming that amongst other this place being sometyme of the possession of the Earle Godwine was then first violently ouerwhelmed with a light sande wherewith it not onely remayneth couered euer since but is become withall Nauium gurges vorago a most dreadfull gulfe and shippe swalower This thing as I cannot but marueil how it hath escaped the penns of our own countrie writers the rather for that some of them liuing about that time haue mention of that harme in the lowe countrie so I sticke not to accept it for assured trueth considering either the auctority of the writer him selfe being a diligent and learned man or the circumstances of the thing that he hathe left written beeing in it selfe both reasonable likely And thus I might wel make an end but because I haue alredy takē occasiō to accuse thē of forgerie which affirme Godwine to haue bene choked at the bourde I trust it shal be no great offence though beside purpose yet for declaration of the trueth to rehearse shortly what some credible storiers haue reported of that matter also And to the end that the trueth may appeare by collation of the diuers reportes I will first shewe what the common opinion and tale of his death is and then afterward what these other men write concerning the same Ealred the Abbat of Ryuauxe who tooke paynes to pen the hystorie of the same King Edwardes whole life and of whom all others as I thinke learned this tale saith that while the King and Godwyne sate at the table accompanied with others of the Nobilitie it chaunced the Cupbearer as he brought wyne to the bourd to slip with the one foote and yet by good strength of his other legge to recouer him self without falling whiche thing the Earle earnestly marking sayde pleasantly that There one brother had wel helped another mary quoth the King so might me mine ne haddest thou bene Earle Godwine casting in his dishe the murder of his brother Alfred which was done to death at Elie by the counsell of Godwine as hereafter in fitte place for it shall appeare Hereat the Earle was sore moued and thinking it more then time to make his purgation tooke a morsell of bread into his hand and praying with great and vehement obtestation that it might choke him if he by any meanes caused the slaughter or consēted thereto he put the bread into his mouth and was immediatly strangled therewithall Some write that this bread was before accursed by Wulstane the holy Bishop of Worcester after a certain manner then vsed called Corsned as in the table to the Saxons lawes is to be séene But this Ealred affirmeth that after the woords spoken by the Earle the King him selfe blessed the bread with the signe of the crosse And therfore these men agrée aswel together as blessing and cursing be one like to another But letting that and them passe heare I beséech you what Alfred of Beuerley a learned man that liued in the time of King Henry the first somewhat before this Abbat Ealred saith touching this matter Godwinus graui morbo ex improuiso percussus ac Regi ad mensam Wyntoniae assidens mutus in ipsa sede declinauit ac postea in camerā Regis a filijs deportatus moritur Quidam autem dicunt c. Godwine being sodainly strickē with a grieuous disease as he sate at the table with the King at Winchester fel down from his stoole and was carried by his sonnes into the Kings chamber where he dyed but some say that he was choked c. And to the same effect writeth Marianus the Scot. Simeon also the Chaunter of Durham whiche liued about the time of this Alfred or rather before him treating of this matter hath these wordes Godwinus graui morbo percussus in ipsa sede declinauit post horas quinque moritur Godwyne being taken with a grieuous disease dropped down from the place where he sate and dyed within fiue houres after Thus these men reporte another manner of his death the one vsing no mention at all of any accursed breade and the other reciting it but as a tale And for the more plaine detection of the deceipt of this Abbat he that wil read the second booke of William Malmes De Regibus shall finde that the occasion and introduction of this matter I meane the slipping of the Kings Cupbearer and the speache that procéeded
had them in great admiration and reuerence hee desired the King that either he would send them out of the Realme or be contented to winke at the matter if any his friends for the loue of him and suertie of his estate should procure to dispatche them The King somewhat prouoked by feare of his owne peril though nothing desirous of their destruction eueÌ„ as a litle water throwen into the fire increaseth the flame so by a colde denial gaue courage to the attempt therfore Thunner espying fitte time slewe the children and buried their bodies in the Kings Halle vnder the clothe of his estate But it was not long but there appâ—ared in the house a bright shining piller replenishing eache corner with suche terrible and fearefull light that the seruauntes shriked at the sight thereof and by their noyse awaked the King who as soone as hee sawe it was touched with the conscience of the murther wherevnto he had a litle before in hart consented calling in great haste for Thunner examined him straightly what was become of the children and when he had learned the trueth he became moste sorowfull and penitent therfore charging himselfe with the whole crime of their deathes for that it lay wholly in him to haue saued their liues Then sent he for Deodat the Archebishop and desired to vnderstand by him what was best to be done for expiatioÌ„ of the fault this good father thinking to haue procured some gaine to his Church by veneration of the dead bodies if happely he might haue gotteÌ„ them thither persuaded the King to incoffen them to commit them to honourable buriall in Christeschurche at Canterbury but saith mine Author when the hearse was readie it would not be moued by any force toward that Church as truly I thinke as the crosse of Waltham with twelue Oxen and so many Kyne could not be stirred any other way but toward the place appointed or as the Image of Berecinthia which the Romanes had brought out of Asia could not be remoued till the Vestal virgin Claudia had set to her hand Hereupon the companie assayed to conuey it to Sainct Augustines but that all in vaine also at the last they agreed to leade it to the Monasterie of Watrine and then forsoothe it passed as lightly saith he as if nothing at al had béene within it The obsequies there honourably perfourmed the King gaue the place where this vision appeared to his sister Ermenburga who hauing a longing desire to become a veiled Nonne had a litle before abandoned her housbands bed and chusing out seuentie other women for her companie erected there a Monasterie to the name and honour of these two murthered Brethren William of Malmesbury addeth moreouer that the King gaue the whole Isle of Thanet also to his Mother to appease the wrathe that she had conceaued for the losse of her Children Dele Dela in Latine after Leland I coniecture that it tooke the name of the Saxon woord þille whiche is a plaine flooer or leuel by reason that it lyeth flat and leuel to the Sea. THe Chronicles of Douer as Leland reporteth for I neuer sawe them haue mencion that Iulius Caesar being repulsed from Douer arriued at this place and arraied his armie at Baramdowne whiche thing how wel it may stand with Caesars owne reporte in his coÌ„mentaries I had rather leaue to others to decide then take vpon me to dispute being wel contented where certentie is not euident to allowe of coniectures not altogether vehement Only of this I am well assured that King Henrie the eight hauing shaken of the intollerable yoke of the Popishe tyrannie and espying that the Emperour was offended for the diuorce of Queene Katherine his wife and that the Frenche King had coupled the Dolphine his Sonne to the Popes Niece and maried his daughter to the King of Scots so that he might more iustly suspect them all then safely trust any one determined by the aide of God to stand vpon his owne gardes and defence and therefore with all spéede and without sparing any cost he builded Castles platfourmes and blocke-houses in all néedefull places of the Realme And amongest other fearing least the ease and aduauntage of descending on land at this part should giue occasion and hardinesse to the enemies to inuade him he erected neare together thrée fortifications whiche might at all tymes kéepe and beate the landing place that is to say Sandowne Dele and Wamere This whole matter of Dele Iohn Leland in Cygnea cantione comprehendeth feately in these two verses Iactat Delanouas celebris arces Notus Caesareis locus Trophaeis Renowmed Dele doth vaunt it selfe with Turrets newly raisd For monuments of Caesars hoste A place in stoarie praisd But what make I so long at Dele since Douer the impreignable Porte and place so muche renouned for antiquitie is not many myles of I will haste me thither therefore and in the sight thereof vnfolde the singularities of the place Douer called in Latine Dorus Durus Doueria Dubris and Dorubernia In Saxon Sofra All whiche names be deriued either of the Brittishe word Dufir whiche signifieth water or of the word Dufirha whiche betokeneth highe or steepe for the situation of the place beeing a highe rocke hanging ouer the water might iustly giue occasion to name it after either THe treatise of this place shall consist of thrée speciall members that is to say the Towne the Castle and the Religious buildings The Towne was long since somewhat estimable howebeit that whiche it had as I thinke was both at the first deriued from the other two and euer since also continually conserued by them But whether I hitte or misse in that coÌ„iecture certaine it is by the testimonie of the recorde in the Exchequer commonly called Domesday booke that the Towne of Douer was of abilitie in the time of King Edward the Confessour to arme yerely 20. vessels to the Sea by the space of 15. dayes together eache vessell hauing therein 21. able men For in consideration thereof the same King graunted to the inhabitants of Douer not onely fréedome from payment of Tholl and other priuileges throughout the Realme but also pardoned them all manner of suite and seruice to any his Courts whatsoeuer The Towne it selfe was neuerthelesse at those dayes vnder the protection and gouernauÌ„ce of Godwine the Earle of Kent for I read that it chauÌ„ced Eustace the Earle of Bolloine who had maried Goda the Kings sister to come ouer the seas into EnglaÌ„d of a desire that he had to visite the King his Brother and that whiles his herbenger demeaned him selfe vnwisely in taking vp his lodgings at Douer he fel at variance with the Townesmen and slewe one of them But Nocuit temeraria virtus For that thing so offended the rest of the inhabitants that immediatly they ranne to weapon and killing eightéene of the Earles seruauntes they compelled him and all his meiney to take their feete and to séeke redresse
Kent toward London should arriue and make his first step on land in Rumney Marshe he shall rather finde good grasse vnder foote then holesome Aire aboue the head againe if he step ouer the Hylles and come into the Weald he shall haue at once the commodities bothe Caeli Soli of the Aire and the Earth But if he leaue that and climbe the next step of hilles that are betwéene him and London he shall haue woode and corne for his wealthe and toward the increase of his healthe if he séeke he shal finde Famem in agro lapidoso a good stomake in the stonie field No marueile it is therefore if Rumney Marshe be not thicke peopled séeing most men be yet still of Porcius Cato his minde who helde them starke madde that would dwell in an vnholsome Aire were the soyle neuer so good and fertile And this thing being well vnderstood to the estates of the Realme they vsed in Parleamentes to allure men hither by exemption from paiment of Subsidies and suche like charges wherewith the inhabitants of other places be burdened Neshe called in Saxon Nesse vvhiche signifieth a Nebbe or nose of the land extended into the Sea. THis Cape lyeth in Walland Marshe Southe from Rumney and is of the number of those places that Earle Godwine aflicted in the time of his banishment from hence he passed toward Londō and there by the help of his confederates shewed suche an assemblie that the Bishops and Noble men for verie feare became suters to the King for his peace and in the ende procured it Before this Neshe lyeth a flatte into the Sea threatning great daunger to vnaduised Saylers And nowe hauing thus viewed suche places a long the Sea shoare as auncient Hystories haue put me in remembraunce of I might readely take occasion bothe to recommend vnto you the vigilant studie of our Auncestors in prouiding for the defence of the Sea Coastes and withall shewe you a President or two of theirs conteining the assesse of suche particular Watche and Warde as they vsed there in the Reigne of King Edward the third in whose time also it was first ordered that Beacons in this Countrie should haue their pitche pots and that they should be no longer made of wood-stackes or piles as they be yet in Wilshire and elsewhere But because those assesses were not permanent and alwaies alike as not growing by reason of any tenure but arbitrable from time to time at the discretion of suche as it liked the Prince to set ouer the Countrie in time of warres And for that also we at this day God be thanked therfore haue besides the like watchefull indeuour of our present gouernours sundrie standing platformes as you haue séene erected to the very end mainteined at the continual charge of the Prince I will not here stand vpō that matter but forsaking the shore betake me Northward to passe along the Riuer Rother whiche diuideth this Shyre from Sussex where after that I shall haue shewed you Apledore Stone Newenden I wil pearce through the Weald to Medwey and so laboure to perfourme the rest of my purpose Apledore in Saxon Apultre in Latine Malus that is an Apletree IN the time of King Alfred that great swarme of the Danes whiche annoyed this Realme and found not here wherwith to satisfie the hungrie gut of their rauenous appetite brake their companie into twaine whereof the one passed into Fraunce vnder the conducte of Hasten and the other remained here vnder the charge of Guthrune This Hasten with his company landed in Pontein ranged ouer al Picardie Normandie Angeon Poieton and passed ouer Loire euen to Orleance killing burning and spoiling whatsoeuer was in his way in so muche that besides the pitifull butcherie committed vpon the people and the inestimable bootie of their goods taken away he consumed to ashes aboue nine hundreth religious houses and Monasteries This done he sent away .250 of his ships laden with riche spoile whiche came hither againe entring into the Riuer of Rother thē called as Leland wéeneth Lymen at the mouth wherof olde Winchelsey sometime stoode and by soudaine surprise tooke a small Castle that was foure or fiue miles within the land at Apultre as some thinke whiche bycause it was not of sufficient strength for their defence and conuerture they abated to the ground and raised a newe either in the same place or els not farre from it Shortly after commethe Hasten himselfe also with eightie saile more and sailing vp the Riuer of Thamise he fortifieth at Middleton nowe Mylton ouer against the I le of Shepey Whiche thing when King Alfred vnderstoode he gathered his power with all haste and marchinge into Kent encamped betwéene the two hostes of his enemies and did so beare him selfe that in the end he constrained Hasten to desire peace to giue his owne othe and two of his Sonnes in hostage for obseruation of the same But howe soone after Hasten forgot his distresse and how litle he estéemed either his owne trouth plighted or the liues of his children so pledged it shall appeare when we come to fitte place for it In the meane while I let you know that the booke of Domesday speaking of Apuldore laieth it in the hundreth of Blackburne and describeth it to conteine eight Carnes or Ploughlandes Stone in the I le of Oxney called in Saxon Stana that is a stone or as the Northren men yet speake A Steane IN the dayes of King Etheldred whē almost al parts of the Realme felt the Danishe furie this place also was by them pitieousely spoyled and brent whiche done they departed to Sandwiche and did there as hathe alreadie appeared Newendene in Saxon Niƿeldene that is The lowe or deepe valley Leland calleth it Nouiodunum whiche worde is framed out of the Saxon Niƿandune soundeth as much as the Newe Hill. THE situation of Newendene is such as it maye likely enoughe take the name eyther of the déepe and bottome as I haue coniectured or of the Hill and highe grounde as Leland supposed For it standeth in the valley and yet clymeth the hill So that the termination of the name may be Dene or Dune of the valley or of the hill indifferently Howbeit I would easily yealde to Leland in this matter the rather bicause the common people of that quarter speak muche of a fayre Towne that sometime stoode vpon the hill Sauing that bothe many places there aboutes are vpon like reason termed Denes and that Iohn Bale who had seene an auncient hystorie of the house it selfe calleth it plainly Newendene It is a frontier and Marche Towne of this Shyre by reason that it lyeth vpon the Ryuer that diuideth Kent and Sussex in sunder whiche water Leland affirmeth to be the same that our auncient Chronicles call Lymene though nowe of the common sorte it is knowen by the name of Rother only It riseth sayth he at Argas hil in Sussex neare to Waterdowne Forrest and falleth
finde in a Recorde that Thomas Arundell an other Bishop of the same Sée foūded a Chaunterie at Maidston which whether it be the same that was sometime called the house of the Brothers and but lately conuerted by the Townesmen into a Frée schoole or no I will not boldely affirme but I thinke it rather so then otherwise Of the Bridge I finde no beginning but I suspect that it rose by the Archebishops whiche were not onely owners of the Palaice hard by as you sée but Lords and Patrones of the whole Towne and Church also And thus muche onely of the Town as touching the Riuer of Medwey it séemeth to haue beene so named either because it stood in the midle of the Kentish Kingdome or els for that it ranne midde betwéene the two Bishopricks For the woord Midƿeg signifieth nothing els but the Midway as Middeg dothe noone or Midday onlesse happely some man would rather haue it called Medpoeg bicause of the meddowe that it maketh all along the course of the same This Riuer is increased by the foure principall Brookes that runne into it whereof to beginne at the West the first springeth about Crowherst in Surrey not farre from the head of Darent it falleth to Eton-bridge and taking in the way Heuer Penshreste and Tunbridge ioyneth with the second at Yealding The second ariseth at Blackbrooks in Waterdown forest not fully a mile from Eredge the Lord Aburgennies house and commeth to Beyham to Lamberhirst streete and to a place in Scotney ground called litle Sussex where it méeteth with a small brooke called Beaul that springeth at Tishirst thrée miles of and giueth the name to Beauldbridge from whence they ioyne in iourney to Horsmondon and Merden and there mingling with the third they runne altogether to Yalding The third Brooke taketh beginning aboute Greate Charte and descendeth to Hedcorne Stilebridge and Merden The fourthe and last breaketh out of the ground at Lineham washeth the Castle of Ledes a litle from whence it receaueth the small water of Holingburne in a companie of the same passeth toward Maidstone At whiche place as I thinke the name of Medwey first beginneth the rather bycause it hathe there receaued all his helpes and crossing the Shyre as it were in the midst laboureth from thence in one entier Chanel to finde out the Sea. For otherwise the Riuer it selfe is properly called Egle or Eyle of whiche bothe the Towne of Ailesford and the Castle of Alington or rather Eylington doe take their names If I faile in this deriuation the fault for the firste part is his that made the Chart of this Shyre then the follie is mine that followe him but the trueth notwithstanding is easily to be found out by any man that wil make inuestigation and examine it and our trespasse also herein more veniall for that we go not about to shadowe it Piccendene Hothe commonly but aunciently written Pinenden of Pinian to punishe and so it soundeth the place of Execution or punishment RObert the Duke of Normandie had issue by a Concubine whose name as the Annales of S. Augustine reporte was Harlothe and after whom as I coniecture suche incontinent women haue euer since béen called Harlots thrée Sonnes that is to say William that afterward subdued this Realm Robert that was created Earle of Moretone and Odo that was first consecrated Bishop of Baieux then Earle of Kent and lastly Lieutenaunt or Vicegerent of this whole Realme vnder William his Brother Robert was reputed a man of small courage wisedome and learning and therefore passed his time in gloriously But Odo was found to be of nature so busie gréedie and ambitious that he moued many Tragedies within this Realme and was in the end throwen from the Stage and driuen into Normandie as hereafter in fitte place shal be more amply declared In the meane while for this present place and purpose I finde that during his aboade in Kent he had so incroched vpon the landes and Priuileges of the Archebishopricke of Canterbury and Bishopricke of Rochester that Lanfranc being promoted to that Sée of dignitie and finding the want complained to the King and obteined that with his good pleasure they might make triall of their right with him To the which end also the same King gaue commission to Goisfrid then Bishop of Constance in Normandie to represent his owne person for hearing of the controuersie caused Egelric the Bishop of Chichester an aged man singularly commended for skill in the Lawes and Customes of the Realme to be brought thether in a Wagon for his assistance in Counsell commaunded Haymo the Sheriffe of Kent to summon the whole Countie to giue in euidence and charged Odo his brother to be present at suche time and place as should be notified vnto him Pinnendene Heathe lying almost in the midst of the Shyre and therefore very indifferent for the assembly of the whole Countie was the appointed place and therevnto not onely the whole number of the moste expert men of this Shyre but of sundrie other Countries also came in great frequencie and spent thrée whole dayes in debate of these Bishops controuersies concluding in the end that Lanfranc and the Bishop of Rochester should be restored to the possession of Detling Stoce Preston Danitune and sundry other landes that Odo had withholden And that neyther the Earle of Kent nor the King him selfe had right to claime any thing in any the lands of the Archebishop sauing only these thrée customes whiche concerne the Kings highe waies that leade from one citie to an other that is to say That if any of the Archebishops tenaunts should digge in suche a highe way or fell a trée crosse the same to the hinderaunce of common passage and be taken with the manner or conuinced thereof by Lawe hee should make amendes to the King therefore And likewise when hee did committe bloudsheade manslaughter or any other criminall offence in suche were deprehended doing the fault that the amēds therof belonged to the King also but in this latter case if he were not taken with the manner but departed without pledge taken of him that then the trial and the amends perteined to the Archebishop him self and that the King had not to medle therewith On the otherside also they agréed that the Archebishop had many Priuileges throughout all the Landes of the King and of the Earle as namely the amerciament of bloudshed from suche time as they ceasse to say Alleluia in the Churche seruice till the Octaues of Easter the whiche howe long it is let them sée whiche can turne the Pie and the Portuse and at the least the one half of euerie amerciamēt due for the vnlawfull begetting of children commonly called CySƿite whiche last thing I do the rather note to the end that it may appeare that in those dayes the Bishops had not wholy gotten into their hands the correction of adulterie and fornication whiche of latter times
the condition and she not long after waxed great with chylde and as vpon a time they were ryding towarde their Father Kyng Penda she fell into trauayle of chylde byrthe and was deliuered by the waye in a faire medowe at Sutton of a man childe whiche so soone as he was come out of his mothers belly cried with a loude voice thrée seueral times Christianus sum Christianus sum Christianus sum I am a Christian I am a Christian I am a Christian And not ceassing thus made foorthwith plaine profession of his faith desired to be baptised chose his Godfathers named himselfe Rumwald and with his finger directed the standers by to fetche him a great hollowe stone that he would haue to be vsed for the Fonte herevpon sondrie of the Kings seruaunts assayed to haue brought the stone but it was so farre aboue al their strengthes that they could not once moue it when the Childe perceaued that he commaūded the two Priestes his appointed Godfathers to goe and bring it whiche they did foorthwith moste easily This done he was Baptised and within thrée dayes after hauing in the meane while discoursed cunningly sundrie misteries of Popishe religion and bequeathing his bodie to remaine at Sutton one yeare at Brackley two and at Buckingham for euer after his Spirit departed out of his bodie was by the hands of the Aungels conueied into heauen Mylton in Saxon Midetun so called of the situation for it lyeth in the midst betweene two places the termination of whose names be in tun also that is to say Newentun and Marstun EVen at suche time as King Alfred diuided this Shyre into Lathes and hundrethes the Towne of Midleton or Milton as we now call it by our common manner of contraction was in his owne hands therefore set foorth in our auncient Hystories by the name and title of Regia Villa de Midleton In whiche respect of like he gaue to the hundreth the name of the same Towne as of a place more eminent then any other within that precincte Kemsley Towne in the Parishe of this Midleton is the verie place wherein the time and reigne of the same King Alfred Hasten the Dane that so muche annoyed Fraunce arriued and fortified as we haue at ful disclosed in Apledore before This Towne continued of good estimation vntill the Reigne of King Edward the Confessour in whose dayes and during the displeasure betwéene him and Earle Godwine suche as were of the deuotion of the Earle at home burned the Kinges house at Midleton while he and his Sonnes abroad ransacked herried and spoiled the skirts and out sides of the whole shyre besides after whiche time I haue not read neither is it likely that the place was of any price or estimation Sedingbourne in Saxon Saetungburna that is the Hamlet along the Bourne or small Riuer One interpreteth it as if it were Seethingbourne Riuus Feruiens aut Bulliens but howe likely let others see FOr want of pertinent matter touching either the beginning increase or present estate of this place I am driuen to furnishe the roome with an impertinent Sermon that a Mytred Father of Rochester long since bestowed vpon his auditorie there In the time of King Henrie the third and after the death of Richard the Archebishop of Canterbury surnamed the great The Monkes of Christes Churche were determined to haue chosen for their Archebishop Ralfe Nouille the Bishop of Chichester and Chancellour to the King but Gregorie the Pope fearing that Ralfe would haue trauailed earnestly for release of the tribute whiche his innocent predecessour had gained by King Iohns submission for the storie sayeth that Nouille was a good man and true harted in his Countrie bare the Monkes in hand that he was rashe in woorde and presumptious in acte and therefore muche vnworthie of suche a dignitie Neuerthelesse bicause he would not séeme vtterly to infringe the libertie of their election he gaue them frée licence to take any other man besides him Wherevpon the Monkes agréed and chose one Iohn the Pryor of their owne house Now when this man should go to Rome as the manner was for to buie his confirmation Henrie then Bishop of Rochester addressed himselfe to accompanie him to his Ship and when they were come to this Towne the Bishop of Rochester stept into the Pulpit like a pretie man and gaue the Auditorie a clerkly collation and Preachement after many other thinges he braste foorth into great ioye as a man that had béene rapt into the third Heuen and said Reioice in the Lord my brethren all and knowe ye assuredly that now of late in one day there departed out of purgatorie Richard sometime King of England Stephan Langton the Archebishop of Canterbury and a Chaplein of his to goe to to the diuine Maiestie And in that day thereissued no moe but these three out of the place of paines and feare not to giue full and assured faith to these my woordes for this thing hathe beene now the third time reuealed vnto me and to another man that so plainly as from mine owne minde all suspicion of doubt is farre remoued These fewe words I haue in manner translated out of Thomas Rudburne and Mathewe of Westminster to the end that you might sée with what wholesome and comfortable bread the preaching Prelates of that time fedde their Auditories and that you might hereby consider that Si lux sit tenebrae If the Bishops the great torches of that time were thus dimme Ipsae tenebrae quantae What light was to be looked for at the litle candels the soule Priestes and séely Syr Iohns Beléeue me if his Fatherhood had not plainly confessed that he came to the knowledge of this matter by reuelatiō I would easily haue beléeued that he had béene with Anchises in Hell as Aeneas sometime was where he learned what soules should come next to life and where he hard the liuelyest description of Poetical or Popish Purgatorie for all is one that is any where to be found Whiche to the end that you may sée what agréement there is betwéene the olde and the newe Romanes touching this article of religion I will shewe it you in a fewe of Virgils owne verses Quin supremo cum lumine vita reliquit Non tamen omne malum miseris nec funditus omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes penitusque necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris Ergo exercentur paenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos alijs sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni Quisque suos patimur manes Exinde per amplum Mittimur Elysium pauci laeta arua tenemus Donec longa dies perfecto temporis orbe Concretam exemit labem purumque reliquit Aetherium sensum atque aurai simplicis ignem Whiche Thomas Phaer translated after this manner Moreouer when their end of life and light doth them forsake Yet
King for many pointes of great enormitie and especially for the treason whiche he had imagined with certaine Earles and Noble men to the end that they should displace the King from the seate of his Kingdome and place his sonne Edward in his throne and cast the Father into perpetuall prison and when he could not deny the things obiected against him being stroken with an incredible feare and falling downe prostrate vpon the earth at the Kings feete that he might deserue to obtaine his fauour with weeping and wayling he submitted himselfe wholly to the Kings pleasure thus was that proude most hateful man to God brought lowe and humbled the whiche defiled throughout all England with the breath of his mouthe like an harlot the state of the Priesthode and Clergie and exercised intollerable tyrannie ouer the people and he whiche before writing vnto the King refused in his letters for pride to call him his Lord nowe being humbled both acknowledgethe and calleth him his Lord and King being made obedient and to serue him with great deuotion but yet against his will. Againe when as in the same yeare he was cited to appeare at Rome vpon complaint that he had wastfully spoyled the goods of his Churche and came to the Court to sue for licence to passe ouer the Seas the King as soone as he came to his presence and had moued his suite caused the presence chamber dore to be set wide open willed the standers by to giue eare and spake a loude to the Bishop in this manner as the same author reporteth Licentiam transfretandi quam a nobis postulare venisti libenter tibi concedimus reuertendi autem licentiam nullam damus memores doli ac proditionis quas in Parlemento Lincolniae cum Baronibus nostris in Regiam machinatus es Maiestatem cuius rei litera signo tuo sigillata testis est testimonium perhibet contra te euidenter Sed propter amorē beati Thomae Martyris Ecclesiae cui praees reuerentiam vindictam hucusque distulimus reseruantes eam Papae qui nostras iniurias vlciscetur vtpote speramus A protectione vero nostra te prorsus excludimus omnem gratiam negantes miserecordiam quia re vera semper immisericors fuisti Cumque Wintoniensis Episcopus pro eo intercederet Archiepiscopum Dominum suum esse diceret Rex affirmauit se omnium Praelatorum regni Regem Dominum esse principalem Wee willingly graunt you licence to passe ouer the Seas according as you are come to desire but to retourne again we giue you no licence at al being mindfull of the deceit and treason whiche you did practise with our Barons against our Kingly Maiestie in the Parleament at Lincolne of the whiche thing your letter signed with your owne seale is a witnes and euidētly giueth testimonie against you Howbeit for the loue of Saint Thomas the Martyr and for the reuerence of the Church ouer the which you are set we haue hither to differred the reuēge reseruing it to the Pope which as we hope wil make reuenge of our iniuries But we vtterly exclude you frō our protectiō denying you all grace mercy because in dede you haue alwais ben an vnmerciful mā And whē as the Bishop of Winchester made intercession for him said that the Archbishop was his Lord the King affirmed that he himself was the King and cheif Lord of al the Prelats of the Realm This I haue exemplified the more at large bothe to the end that you may sée how great a traitour to his Prince howe vnmercifull a tyrant to the Common people and howe foule a blemishe to the Ecclesiasticall order this Bishop was quite contrary to that which M. Polydore affirmeth of him and also that you may vnderstand what authoritie King Edward the first in plaine termes chalenged ouer his Cleargie not such as Anselme offered King William Rufus when he tooke Canterbury of his gifte saying Summo pontifici debeo obedientiam tibi consilium I owe my obedience to the highe Bishop and my counsel to you But suche as a true subiect oweth to his Liege King and lawful souereigne and suche as differeth no more from that which we at this day attribute to our Prince then Principalis Dominus and supremus Gubernator do varie in sunder And yet beholde the madnes of the time after the deathe of this Bishop the common people forsoothe resorted to his tumbe and would néedes haue made a Sainct of him had not the Sepulchre béen defaced and their follie staied by publique ordinance Chilham Castle in Saxon Cyleham that is the colde dwelling IN the allotment of Landes for the defence of Douer Castle whereof we haue before spoken Chilham fell to Fulbert of Douer who in consideration thereof vndertooke to finde at his owne charge fiftéene able Souldiours whereof thrée should warde in the Castle euery moneth by the space of 20. wéeks in the yeare I suspect that it came afterwardes to the possession of the Archebishop For I remember that I once read that King Iohn came thither to treate with Stephan Langton the Archebishop for reconciliation to be had betweene them Wye the word in Brittish signifieth an Egge WHat time king William the Conquerour endowed his Abbay of Battel in Sussex he gaue thervnto amongst other his Manour of Wye conteining at that time seuen hydes or ploughe landes and being before that time of the Demeasnes of the Crowne The Chronicles of Battell Abbay affirme that there were sometimes two and twentie Hundrethes subiect to the iurisdiction of this Towne whiche if it be true then as farre as I can reache by coniecture the territorie of Wye was the very same in compasse that nowe the Last of Screy or Sherwinhope describeth that is to say the fift part of this whole Shyre consisting of two and twentie Hundrethes in number The same King graunted to his Monks of Battel wrek of the Sea falling vpon Dengemarishe a portion of Wye and willed further by his Chart of donation that if any fish called a Craspeis that is Crasse pisse a great or royall fishe as whales or suche other which by the Lawe of Prerogatiue perteined to the King himselfe should happen to be taken there that the Monkes should haue it wholly And if it fortuned to arriue in any other mans land lying betwene Horsmede and Withburn that yet the Monkes should enioy the whole tongue and two third partes of the rest of the body Nowe in the Reigne of King Henrie his Sonne it fortuned that a shippe laden with the Kings owne goods was wrecked within the precinct of this libertie which his Officers would haue taken and saued to his vse but Geffray then Abbat of Battell withstoode them that so stoutly that the matter by complaint came to the Kings owne hearing who to make knowen how muche he valued his fathers graunt yéelded the matter wholy into the Abbats owne courtesie The same Storie
Norton Wilmus de Sutton For such as we call nowe Iohn Norton and William Sutton and amongst the Gentlemen of Chesshyre euen to this day one is called after their maner Thomas a Bruerton another Iohn a Holcrost and suche like for Thomas Bruerton Iohn Holcrost c. as we here vse it Thus muche shortly of mine owne fantasie I thought not vnmeete to impart by occasion of the name of Norwood and now forward to my purpose againe Leedes in Latine of some Lodanum of others Ledanum Castrum RObert Creuequer was one of the eight that Iohn Fynes elected for his assistance in the defence of Douer Castle as we haue already shewed who taking for that cause the Manor of Leedes and vndertaking to finde fiue Warders therefore builded this Castle or at the least an other that stoode in the place For I haue read that Edward thē Prince of Wales and afterward the first King of that name being Wardein of the Fiue Portes and Constable of Douer in the life of Henrie the third his Father caused Henrie Cobham whose ministerie he vsed as substitute in bothe those offices to race the Castle that Robert Creuequer had erected bicause Creuequer that was then owner of it Heire to Robert was of the number of the Nobles that moued and mainteined warre against him Whiche whether it be true or no I will not affirme but yet I thinke it very likely bothe bicause Badlesmere a man of another name became Lord of Leedes shortly after as you shall anone sée and also for that the present woorke at Leedes pretendeth not the antiquitie of so many yeares as are passed since the age of the conquest But let vs leaue the building and goe in hand with the storie King Henrie the first hauing none other issue of his bodie then Maude first married to Henrie the Emperour whereof she was called the Empresse and after coupled to Geffray Plantaginet the Earle of Angeow fearing as it happened in déed that after his death trouble might arise in the Realme about the inheritance of the Crowne bycause she was by habitation a straunger and farre of so that she might want bothe force and friends to atchieue her right And for that also Stephan the Earle of Boloine his sisters sonne was then of greate estimation amongst the noble men and abiding within the Realme so that with great aduauntage he might offer her wrong he procured in full Parleament the assent of his Lordes and Commons that Maude and her heires shoulde succéede in the kingdome after him And to the ende that this limitation of his might be the more surely established he tooke the fidelitie and promise by othe bothe of his Clergie and Laytie and of the Earle of Boloine him selfe Howbeit immediatly after his decease Stephan being of the opinion that Si ius violandum est certe regnandi causa violandum est If breache of lawes a man shall vndertake He must them boldly break for kingdomes sake Inuaded the Crowne and by the aduice of William the Archebishop of Canterbury who had first of al giuen his fayth to Maude by the fauour of the common people whiche adheared vnto him and by the consent of the holy father of Rome whose will neuer wanteth to the furtheraunce of mischiefe he obtained it whiche neuerthelesse as William of Newborowe well noteth being gotten by patterne he held not past two yeres in peace but spent the residue of his whole reigne in dissention warre and bloudshed to the great offence of God the manifest iniurie of his owne cousine and the grieuous vexation of this countrie and people For soone after the beginning of his reigne sundry of the Noble men partely vpon remorse of their former promise made and partly for displeasure conceiued bycause he kepte not the othe taken at his Coronation made defection to Maude so soone as euer she made her challenge to the Crowne So that in the end after many calamities what by her owne power and their assistaunce she compelled him to fall to composition with her as in the storie at large it may be séene Nowe during those his troubles amongst other things that muche annoyed him and furthered the part of Maude his aduersarie it was vpon a time sounded by his euil willers in the eares of the cōmon sort that he was dead And therewithall soudenly diuers great men of her deuotion betooke them to their strong holdes and some others seised some of the Kings owne Castles to the behalfe of the Empresse Of whiche number was Robert the Earle of Gloucester and bastarde brother to Maude who entred this Castle of Leedes mynding to haue kept it But King Stephan vsed against him suche force and celeritie that he soone wrested it out of his fingers King Edwarde the seconde that for the loue of the two Spensers incurred the hatred of his wife and Nobilitie gaue this Castle in exchaunge for other landes to Bartilmew Badelesmere then Lorde Stewarde of his housholde and to his heires for euer who shortly after entering into that troublesome action in whiche Thomas the Duke of Lancaster with his complices maugre the King exiled the Spensers bothe loste the Kings fauour this Castle and his life also For whilste he was abroade in ayde of the Barons and had committed the custodie thereof to Thomas Colpeper and left not onely his chiefe treasure in money but also his wife and children within it for their securitie It chaunced that Isabell the Kings wife mynding a Pilgrimage towards Cāterbury and being ouertakē with might sent her Marshal to prepare for her lodging ther. But her officer was proudly denyed by the Captaine who sticked not to tell him that neyther the Quéene ne any other shoulde be lodged there without the commandement of his Lord the owner The Queene not thus aunswered came to the gate in person and required to be let in But the Captain most malepertly repulsed her also in so much that shee complained greauously to the king of the misdemenour and he forthwith leuied a power and personally sumoned and besieged the peice so straightly that in the end through want of rescue and victuall it was deliuered him Then tooke he Capitaine Colpeper and houng him vp The wife and children of the Lord Badelesmere he sent to the Towre of London The treasure and munition he seised to his owne vse and the Castle he committed to such as liked him But as the last acte of a Tragedie is alwayes more heauie sorowful thē the rest so calamitie woe increasing vpō him Badelesmere him self was the yere folowing in the company of the Duke of Lancaster and others discomfited at Borowbrig by the Kings armie and shortly after sent to Canterbury and beheaded I might here iustly take occasion to rip vp the causes of those great and tragicall troubles that grewe betwene this King his Nobilitie for Peter Gaueston these two Spensers the rather for that the common sort of
reigne of King Henrie the first the King him self and a great many of the Nobilitie and Bishops being there present and assembled for the consecration as they call it of the great Churche of Sainct Andrewes the whiche was euen then newly finished And it was againe in manner wholy consumed with flame about the latter ende of the reigne of King Henrie the seconde at whiche time that newely builded Churche was sore blasted also But after all these calamities this Citie was well repaired ditched about in the reigne of King Henrie the third As touchinge the castle at Rochester although I finde not in wryting any other foundation therof then that which I alledged before recon to be mere fabulous yet dare I affirme that ther was an old Castle aboue eight hundreth yeres agoe in so much as I read that Ecgbert a king of Kent gaue certeine landes within the walles of Rochester castle to Eardulfe then Bishop of that See And I coniecture that Odo the bastard brother to king William the Conqueror whiche was at the first Bishop of Borieux in Normandie and then afterwarde aduaunced to the office of the chiefe Iustice of Englande and to the honour of the Earledome of Kent was eyther the first authour or the best benefactour to that which now standeth in sight and herevnto I am drawne somewhat by the consideration of the time it selfe in whiche many Castles were raysed to kéepe the people in awe and somewhat by the regarde of his authoritie whiche had the charge of this whole Shyre but most of all for that I reade that about the time of the Conquest the Bishop of Rochester receiued lande at Ailesford in exchaunge for grounde to builde a Castle at Rochester vpon Not long after whiche time when as William Rufus our Englishe Pyrrhus or Readhead had stepped betwéene his elder brother Robert and the crowne of this realme and had giuen experiment of a fierce and vnbridled gouernment the Nobilitie desirous to make a chaunge arose in armes againste him and stirred his brother to make inuasion And to the ende that the King shoulde haue at once many yrons as the saying is in the fire to attende vpon some moued warre in one corner of the Realme and some in another But amongst the reste this Odo betooke him to his castle of Rochester accompanied with the best both of the English and the Norman nobilitie This whē the king vnderstood he sollicited his subiects specially the inhabitants of this country by al faire meanes and promises to assist him so gathering a great armie besieged the Castle and strengthened the Bishop and his complices the defendants in suche wise that in the ende he and his company were contented to abiure the Realme and to leade the rest of their life in Normandie And thus Odo that many yeres before had béene as it were a Viceroy and second person within this realme was now depriued of al his dignitie driuē to kéepe residence vpon his benefice till suche time as Earle Robert for whose cause he had incurred this daūger pitying the cause appointed him gouernour of Normandie his owne countrie After this the Castle was much amended by Gundulphus the Bishop who in consideration of a Manor giuen to his Sée by King Williā Rufus bestowed thrée score poundes in building that great Towre whiche yet standeth And from that time this Castle continued as I iudge in the possession of the Prince vntill King Henrie the first by the aduice of his Barons graunted to William the Archebishop of Canterburie and his successours the custodie and office of Constable ouer the same with frée libertie to builde a Towre for him selfe in any part therof at his pleasure By meanes of which cost done vpon it at that time the Castle at Rochester was muche in the eye of suche as were the authors of troubles folowing within the realme so that from time to time it had a parte almost in euery Tragedie For what time King Iohn had warre with his Barons they gotte the possession of this Castle and cōmitted the defence therof to a noble man called William Dalbinet whome the king immediatly besieged through the cowardise of Robert Fitz Walter that was sent to rescue it after thrée monethes labour compelled him to render the péece The next yere after Lewes the Frenche Dolphine by the ayde of the Englishe Nobilitie entered the same Castle and tooke it by force And lastly in the reigne of King Henrie the thirde Simon Mountford not long before the battaile at Lewes in Sussex girded the citie of Rochester about with a mightie siege and setting on fire the wooden bridge a Towre of timber that stoode thereon wanne the firste gate or warde of the Castle by assaulte and spoyled the Churche and Abbay But being manfully resisted seuen dayes together by the Earle Warren that was within and hearing soudainly of the Kings comming thitherwarde he prepared to méete him in person and lefte others to continue the siege all whiche were soone after put to flight by the kings armie This warre as I haue partly shewed before was specially moued against strangers whiche during that kings reigne bare suche a sway as some write that they not onely disdayned the naturall borne Nobilitie of the Realme But did also what in them lay to abolishe the auncient lawes and customes of the same In déede the fire of that displeasure was long in kindeling therfore so much the more furious when it brast foorth into flame But amongst other things that ministred nourishment therto this was not the least that vpon a time it chaunced a Torneament to be at Rochester in which the English men of a set purpose as it should séeme sorted them selues against the strangers and so ouermatched them that following the victory they made them with great shame to fly into the Towne for couert But I dwel to long I feare in these two parts I will therefore nowe visite the Religious building and so passe ouer the bridge to some other place The foundation of the Churche of S. Andrewes in Rochester was first layd by King Ethelbert as we haue touched before at suche time as he planted the Bishops chaire in the Citie and it was occupyed by Chanons till the dayes of Gundulphus the Bishop who bycause he was a Monke and had hearde that it was sometimes stored with Monkes made meanes to Lanfranc the Archebishop and by his ayde and authoritie both builded the Churche and Pryorie of newe threwe out the Chanons and once more brought Monkes into their place following therein the example that many other Cathedrall Churches of that time had shewed before And this is the very cause that William of Malmesburie ascribeth to Lanfranc the whole thanke of all that matter for in déede bothe he and Anselme his successour were wonderfully busied in placing Monks and in diuorcing Chanons and Secular Priests from their wiues the whiche in contempte
to his tenants any alteration of this olde custome and manner For as the pleading is Quod terrae praedictae sunt de tenura natura de Gauelkind euen so the trueth is that the present tenure onely guideth not the discent but that the tenure and the nature together do gouerne it And therefore as on the one side the custome can not attache or take holde of that which was not before in nature subiect to the custome that is to say accustomably departed So on the other side the practise of the custome long time cōtinued may not be interrupted by a bare alteration of the tenure And this is not my fantasie but the resolution of all the Iustices as Iudge Dalison him selfe hath left reported 4. 5. Philippi Mariae And also of the court 26. H. 8. 5. where it was affirmed that if a man being seised of Gauelkind lande holden in Socage make a gift in tayle create a tenure in Knights seruice that yet this land must descend after the custome as it did before the chaunge of the tenure Moreouer as the chaunge of the tenure can not preuaile against this custome So neither the continuance of a contrary vsage may alter this prescription For it is holden 16. E. 2. Praescription 52. in Fitzherbert that albeit the eldest sonne onely hath and that for manye discentes together entered into Gauelkynde lande and occupyed it without any contradiction of the younger brothers that yet the lande remayneth partible betwéene them when so euer they will put to theyr claime Againste whiche assertion that whiche is sayde 10. H. 3. in the title of Praescription 64. namely of the issue taken thus Si terra illa fuit partita nec ne is not greatly forceable For althoughe it be so that the lande were neuer departed in déede yet if it remayne partible in nature it may be departed when so euer occasion shall be ministred And therefore euen in the forme of pleading vsed at this day Quod terra illa a toto tempore c. partibilis fuit partita it is plainly taken that the worde partibilis onely is of substaunce and that the worde partita is but a word of forme and not materiall or trauersable at all Yea so inseparable is this custome from the lande in whiche it obteyneth that a contrarie discent continued in the case of the Crowne it selfe can not hinder but that after such time as the lande shall resorte agayne to a common person the former inueterate custome shall gouerne it As for the purpose Landes of Gauelkynde nature come to the Quéenes handes by purchase or by eschete as holden of her Manor of A. Nowe after her deathe all her sonnes shall inherite and diuide them But if they come to her by forfayture in Treason or by gifte in Parleament so that her grace is seised of them in Iure Coronae then her eldest sonne onely whiche shall be King after her shall inioye them In whiche case althoughe those landes whiche the eldest sonne being King did possesse doe come to his eldest sonne after him being King also and so from one to another by sundry discents Yet the opinion of Syr Anthonie Browne was 7. Elizab. that if at any time after the same landes be graunted to a common person they shall reuolte to their former nature of Gauelkynde and be partible amongst his heyres males notwithstanding that they haue runne a contrarie course in diuers the discentes of the Kings before But muche lesse maye the vnitie of possession in the Lorde frustrate the custome of Gauelkynde discent as it may appeare 14. H. 4. in the long Recordare Only therefore these two cases I doubt of concerning this point and therevpon iudge them méete to be inquired of That is to say first if a tenancie in Gauelkynd eschete to the Lord by reason of a Ceasser as hereafter it shall appeare that it may or if it be graunted vnto the Lord by the tenant without any reseruation which Lord holdeth ouer by fee of Haubert or by Serieancie both which I take to be Knights seruice whether now this tenancy be partible amongst the heires males of the Lord or no. For the auncient treatise of the Kentishe Customes so determineth but I wote not whether experience so alloweth The other dout is this if it be so that any whole towne or village in Kent hath not at any time that can be shewed bene acquainted with the exercise of Gauelkynde discent whether yet the custome of Gauelkinde shal haue place there or no. Towarde the resolution of which later ambiguitie it shal tende somwhat to shew how farre this custome extendeth it self within this our countrey It is commonly taken therefore that the custome of Gauelkind is generall and spreadeth it selfe throughout the whole Shyre into all landes subiect by auncient tenure vnto the same such places only excepted where it is altered by acte of Parleament And therfore 5. E. 4. 18. and. 14. H. 4. 8. it is sayd that the custome of Gauelkind is as it were a cōmon law in Kent And the booke 22. E. 4. 19. affirmeth that in demaunding Gauelkind lande a man shall not néede to prescribe in certeine and to shew That the Towne Borowe or Citie where the landes be is an auncient towne borowe or citie and that the custome hath bene there time out of mynd that the lands within the same towne borow or citie shuld descend to al the heires males c. But that is sufficient inoughe to shewe the custome at large and to say That the land lyeth in Kent and that all the landes there be of the nature of Gauelkynde For a writte of partition of Landes in Gauelkinde saithe Maister Litleton shal be as generall as if the landes were at the Common lawe although the declaration ought specially to conteine mention of the Custome of the Countrie This vniuersalitie therefore considered as also the straite bonde whereby the custome is so inseperably knit to the land as in manner nothing but an acte of Parleament can clearely disseuer them I sée not how any Citie Towne or Borowe can be exempted for the only default of putting the Custome in vre more then the Eldest Sonne in the case before may for the like reason prescribe against his yonger Brethren But here before I conclude this part I thinke good first to make Maister Litletons aunswere to suche as happely wil demaund what reason this custome of Gauelkinde discent hathe thus to diuide land amongst al the Males contrarie to the manner of the whole Realme besides The younger sonnes saith he be as good gentlemen as the Elder they being alike deare to theyr cōmon auncestor from whom they claim haue so much the more néede of their friendes helpe as through their minoritie they be lesse able then the elder Brother to help them selues secondly to put you in remembrance also of the statute of Praerogatina Regis Ca. 16. Where it
retent doth reteine no seruice deuers sey sauuet nequedent as autres Seigneurages fees fermes to himselfe but saueth neuerthelesse to the other Lords their fees e les rentes dont les auant diz tenemenz de Gauylekende fermes and the rentes wherewith the aforesaide tenementes of ensi rendus auaunt furent charges per ceux ou Gauelkind so rendred were before charged by him or theim per celuy que le charger poent ou poeyt which might charge them Eclament auxi que si And they claime also that if any nul tenant en Gauylekende reteine sa rent e son seruice del tenant in Gauelkind reteine withholde his rent and his seruices of the tenement tenement quil tient de son Seign querge le Seign per whiche he holdeth of his Lorde let the Lorde seeke by the agard de sa court de treys semeynes en treys semeynes truue award of his courte from .3 weekes to .3 weekes to find some distresse destreâ—se sur cel tenement tant que a la quart court a totefet vpon that tenement vntill the fourth court alwayes with per tesmoynage Et si dedens cel temps ne trusse destresse on ce witnesses And if within that time he can find no distresse in theÌ„ tenement per queux il puisse son tenant iustiser tenement whereby he may haue iustice of his tenant Donc a la Then at the quart court seit fourth court let it be agard awarded quil pregne cel tenement en that he shall take that tenement into sa mein en noum de destress his hand in the name of a distresse ausi come boef ou vache as if it were an oxe or a cow e le tiene vn an and let him keepe it a yeare e vn iour en sa mein sance meyn and a daye in his hande without manuring ouerir dens quel terme it within which terme si le tenant vent e rend ses if the tenaunt come and paye his arrerages arrerages e feit renables amendes de la detenue and make reasonable amendes for the withholding a donc eit e ioise son tenement sicom ses auncestors e Then let him haue and enioye his tenement as his auncetors and ly auant le tyndront Et sil ne vent deuant lan he before held it And if he do not come before the yeare e le tour and the day passe donc auge le Seign al prochein Counte suiant oue resmoynage paste then let the Lord goe to the next countie court with the witnesses de sa court e face la pronuncier cel proces pur of his owne courte pronounce there this processe to haue tesmoynage auer further witnesse Et per agard de sa court apres ceo Counte And by the award of his court after that couÌ„tie tenue entra e meynouera en celes terres e tenemenz courte holden he shal enter manure in those lands tenemeÌ„ts sicome en son demeyne Et si le tenant vent apres e voillâ— as in his demeanes owne And if the tenant come afterwarde and will ces tenemenz reauer e tener sicome il fist deuaunt face rehaue his tenements hold them as he did before let him make gree al Seigneur sicome il est auncyenement dist agreement with the Lord according as it is aunciently sayde NegHe syþe selde and neg He syþ gelde and fif pond for þe Æ¿ere er He bicome Healder Aussi il cleyment que nul home deit serment sur liure fere Also they claime that no maÌ„ ought to make an othe vpon a booke per destress ne per poer de Seigneur neither by distresse nor by the power of the Lord ne de Baylif nor his bailyfe encountre sa volunte saunz bref le Roy sinon pur feaute against his wil without the writ of the King vnlesse it be for fealtie fere a son Seigneur meske per deuaunt Coronner ou auter to be done to his Lord but only before the Coroner or suche other minister le Roy qui Real poer eyont de enquerer de minister of the King as hathe Royall power to enquire of trespas fet encountre la Coronne nostre Seigneur le Roy. trespasse committed against the crowne of our Lord the king Ecleyment And auxi que checun Kenteys put autre assonier en they clayme also that euerie Kentishe man may essoine an other la court le Roy en Counte en hundreth e en la either in the Kings court or in the countie or in the huÌ„dreth or in the court son Seigneur la ou assoigne gist aussi bien de commune Court of his Lord where essoine lieth the aswel in case of coÌ„muÌ„e sute come de play Estre ceo il cleyment per especial fet le Roy sute as of plea. Moreouer they claime by an especiall deed of king Henrie pere le Roy Edward que ore est que dieu Garde que Henry the 3 father of King E. which now is whoÌ„ god saue that of de tenementz que sont tenus en Gauylekende ne scit prise battaille the tenements which are holden in Gauelkind ther shal no battail ne graund assise per xij chiuallers sicome aillours be ioyned nor graund Assise taken by .xii. Knights as it is vsed in est prise en le reaume ceo est a sauoir la ou tenaÌ„t e le demauÌ„dant other places of the realme this is to weet where the tenant demauÌ„dant teneÌ„t per Gauylekende mes en lu de ces grandes assises holde by Gauelkinde But in place of these ground assises seieÌ„t prises Iurees per xii homes tenaÌ„tz en GauylekeÌ„d Issi let Iuries be taken by .xii. men being tenants in Gauelkind so the que quatre tenaÌ„tz de GauylekeÌ„d elisent .xij. tenaÌ„tz de Gauyle foure tenants of Gauelkinde choose .xii. tenants of Gauelkinde to kende iurours E la chartre le Roy de ceste especiaute est en la be Iurors And the chartre of the King of this especialtie is in the garde Sire Iohan de Norwode le tour S. Elphegh en CaÌ„terbyre custodie of Sir Ihon of Norwood the day of S. Alphey in Canterburie le an le Roy Edward le Fiz le Roy Henrie .xxi. the yere of King Edward the sonne of king Henrie the xxi Ces sont les vsages de Gauilekend e de Gauylekendeys en KeÌ„t These be the vsages of Gauelkind of Gauelkinde men in Kent que furent deuaunt le conquest e en le Conquest e totes houres whiche were before the conquest and at the Conquest and euer teskes en ca since till now The names of such persons as procured their possessions to be altered from the nature of Gauelkinde by acte of Parleament made .31 H. 8. Cap. 3. Thomas Lord Cromwell Thomas Lord Burghe George Lord Cobham Andrew Lord Windsore Syr Thomas Cheyne Syr Christopher Hales S. Thomas Willoughbie S. Anthonie Seintleger S. Edward Wootton S. Edward Bowton S. Roger Cholmley
at the Sea. The College The value of the Religious houses in this Shyre The Citie when it began The olde Schole at Canterbury The decay of Canterbury and other places Continuall contention betweene the two great houses in Canterbury Christes-Churche in Canterbury Thomas Becket the Archbishop his hystorie Saint Augustines The deade in old time were buried out of the Cities Popishe braules S. Maries in Canterbury The Saints and Reliques at CaÌ„terbury S. August Thomas Becket had two heads S. Gregories in Canterbury S. Laurenceâ— Hospitall S Iames Hospitall S. Sepulchers White friars S. Mildredâ— The Bishops Palaice S. Martines was a Bishops See. S. Sepulchres by CaÌ„terbury The Monkes coÌ„tend with the Archbishop and do preuaile The vanitie of Man and the subtilty of the Deuill be the cause of Idolatrie Saint Thomas Beckets Relique The olde manner of nameing men Maude the Empresse true Heire to the Crowne Bartholmew Badelesmere Thomas Colpeper The Pryory at Leeds By what meanes the Archebishops chair came to 〈…〉 The Deanrie of shorâ—ham A Popishe myracle Monkes contend for the electioÌ„ of the Bishop SaÌ„int Cuthbertes feast why holdeÌ„ double Bishops Sees are translated from Villages to Cities The Catalogue of Rochester Bishops The Harborowe of the Nauie Royall The benefites that God hathe giuen this Realme in the Reigne oâ— Queene Elizabeth A barbarous crueltie executed vpon Straungers Excessiue drinking and how it came into England Great troupes of seruing men came in with the Normanes The cause of the Conquest of Enlande Harold the King. The vncurtesie of the English natioÌ„ toward straungers Busyris was a tirant that sacrificed straungers and was therefore slaine by Hercules Our Lady the Rode of ChethaÌ„ Gillingham Horsted borne in Ailesford Hengist Horsa two famous Capitaines A religious Skirmish betwene the Monkes of Rochester and the Brethren of Stroude Friendsbury clubbes Eslingham Appropriations of benefices The Citie The Castle S. Andrews Church in Rochester Priests had wiues in England of olde time Saint William of Rochester Saint Bartholmewes Hospitall Rochester Bridge both the olde the newe Syr Robert Knolles a valiant Capitaine The Hospitall The beginning of this scoffing by word Kentishe tailes Angle Queene Many kinges at once in Kent The olde manner of Signing Sealing of deedes Fernham The Danes compelled to take the Thamise The Danes are chased from Otforde Earle Edrie an infamus traytour A noble example of Kinge Edmunde Ironside The names of Townes ending in ing The Abbay The Solaces of Solâ— life The Castle The Cleargie was law lesse The Pryorie at Tun-Bridge The Low the of Tunbridge 42. H. 3. The Archebishop hath an Earle to his Butler The Rooâ—â— of Asherst was a growing Idole The masters of the nauie Royal. Alphey the Archbishop was cruelly slaine A popish minde 32. Shyres in England Great suÌ„mâ— of money paied to the Danes The Priorie of Shene The frierie The Palaice The rebellion of Iack Straw The rebellion of Iack Cade The rebellion of the black smith Lord Richard Lucy The ancient manner of the triall of right to Landes Wager of Lawe Hengist Horsa The beginning of the Kentishe Kingdome Orpenton the course of Cray water Mesopotamia signifieth a couÌ„try encompassed with riuers Rochester castle beseiged Princes may wooe by picture and marye by proctor The Abbay The old maner of Tourneament The occasion of Iacke Strawes his rebellion The courâ—â— of the riuer of Derent The name of Portreue whereof it commeth The name of Sherife London had a Portreue The office of a Reue. A learned age in which priestes had more latine theÌ„ english and yet almost no latine at all The order of this description The Manour The church of S. Hildeferthe The auncient forme of a Testament The auncient estate of a Gentleman and by what meanes gentle was obteyned in the olde time The degres of Freemen Earl Thein and Churle Alderman ShiremaÌ„ c were names of offices Wisdom is more profitable when it is ioyned with riches Merchandize and Husbandrie 1. The worship of many Gods. Saint Edith and her offering The olde newe Romanes agre in many points of religion S. Thomas Beckets spiteful miracles S. Bartilmew of Otford and his offering The Palaice at Otford Cardinall Morton Erasmus doth misreporte the cause of the contention between the King and Thomas Becket The Manor of WinghaÌ„ Reigate Castle in Surrey The Schole and Almes house The Town The name Gauelkind wherof it arose To shift laÌ„d is an olde terme The antiquitie of Gauelkind custome The diuisioÌ„ of this discourse What lands be of Gauel kind nature Some Knight fee is Gauelkinde Auncient Knight fee is not of the nature of Gauelkynd The change of Gauelkind tenure is no chaÌ„ge of the nature of Gauelkind A contrarie vsage changeth not the nature of Gauelkinde HeaHbeorg in Saxon is a high defence and the customs of NormaÌ„die that cal fieâ—e or fee de Haubert whiche oweth to defend the laÌ„d by full armes that is by horse haubert target sword or helme and it consisteth of 300. acres of land which is the same as I suppose that we called a whole Knights fee * The custome of Gauelkind is vniuersall in Kent The reason of Gauelkinde Custome What thinges shal ensue the nature of the land Rent Remainder Voucher Condition Attaint and Error No battail nor graund Assise in gauelkinde Forfaiture in Felonie Cessauit in Gauelkind Tenant by the Courtesie Tenant in Dâ—wer The difference betweene coÌ„mon Lawe and Custome therin Dower of chattels Partition of chattels Partition of chattels London Partition of Gauelkinde lands Astrâ— what it meaneth Gardein after the cusâ—ome Sale is at 15. yearâ—â— Sale good at 15. yeares No villains in Kent Apparance Câ—men Chase and driue out Attaint Chaunging of wayes Goppies These wordes betweene the starres were taken out of an other olde copie Free men Esechator Giue and sell landes without licence Plede by writte or pleinte Appeare by Borsholder No eschete for felonie but of goods only Dower of the one half Flying for felony causeth forfeiture Partition amoÌ„gst the heirs males The Astre Curt in other copies One suite for all the parceners Partition of goods Custodie of the heire in Gauelkind Sale at xv yeres of age Dower of the one half Forfaiture of Dower Tenant by the courtesie of the one halfe The discent of Gauelkind changed Forfaiture by Ceslauit or Gâ—uelate No oathe but for fealtie Essoignes No battail nor graunâ— assise in Guelkinde landes A Table conteining the principall places and matters handeled in this Booke A Angles or Englishmen Page 2 Archebishopricke of Canterbury Page 62 Archebishops contend for the primacie Page 65 Archebishops all named Page 70 Armour Page 112. 211. Apledore Page 146. 162 Aile or Eile a Riuer Page 177. Correction of adulterie Page 180. Appropriations Page 292 Ailesforde Page 321. Asheherst Page 333. Adington Page 258. Aldington Page 149. B Brytones or Welshmen Page 1. 12. Borsholder what he is Page 22 Bridges of stone Page
at the Kings handes The King hearing the complaint ment to make correction of the fault but the Townesmen also had complained themselues to Godwine who determining vnaduisedly to defend his clients and seruauntes opposed himselfe violently against the King his Leige Lord and Maister To bee short the matter waxed within a while so hote betwéene them that either side for maintenance of their cause arraied and conducted a great armie into the field Godwine demaunded of the King that Eustace might be deliuered vnto him the King cōmaunded Godwine that armes laide aside hee would answere his disobedience by order of the Lawe and in the ende Godwine was banished the Realme by the sentence of the King and Nobilitie wherevpon hee and his Sonnes fled ouer the Sea and neuer ceassed to vnquiet the King and spoyle his subiects til they were reconciled to his fauour and restored to their auncient estate and dignitie This towne was so sore wasted with fire soone after the comming in of King William the Conquerour that it was wholly saue onely nine and twentie dwelling houses consumed and brought to ashes And in the time of King Edward the first also whiles two of the Popes Cardinales were here in the treatie of an attonement to be made betwéene England and Fraunce the Frenchemen landed at Douer in a right and burned a great part of the towne and some of the religious buildings So that in those times it was muche empayred by those misfortunes But nowe in our memorie what by decay of the hauen whiche King Henrie the eight to his great charge but that all in vayne sought to restore and what by the ouerthrowe of the religious houses and losse of Calaice it is brought in maner to miserable nakednesse and decaye whiche thing were the lesse to be pitied if it were not accompanyed with the ruine of the Castell it selfe the decay whereof is so much the more grieuous as the fame therof is with our ancient stories aboue al other most blasing glorious The Castell of Douer sayth Lidgate and Rosse was firste builded by Iulius Caesar the Romane Emperour in memorie of whome they of the Castell kept till this day certeine vessels of olde wine and salte whiche they affirme to be the remayne of suche prouision as he brought into it As touching the whiche if they be natural and not sophisticate I suppose them more likely to haue béene of that store whiche Hubert de Burghe layde in there of whome I shall haue cause to say more hereafter But as concerning the building bycause I finde not in Caesar his owne Commentaries mention of any fortification that he made within the Realme I thinke that the more credible reporte whiche ascribeth the foundation to Aruiragus a King of the Britons of whome Iuuenal the Poet hath mention saying to the Emperour Nero in this wise Regem aliquem capies aut de temone Britanno Excidet Aruiragus c. Some King thou shalt a captaine take or els from Bryttishe wayne Shall Aruiragus tumble downe And of whome others write that he founde suche fauour in the eye of Claudius the Emperour that he obtained his daughter to wife But whosoeuer were the authour of this Castell Mathewe Parise writeth that it was accounted in his time which was vnder the reigne of King Henry the third Clauis Repagulum totius Regni the very locke and key of the whole Realme of England And truly it séemeth to me by that which I haue read of King William the Conquerour that he also thought no lesse of it For at suche time as Harold being in Normandie with him whether of purpose or against his will I leaue as I finde it at large made a corporall othe to put him in possession of the Crowne after the death of King Edwarde It was one parcell of his othe that he should deliuer vnto him this castell and the Well within it The same King had no soner ouerthrowne Harolde in the fielde and reduced the Londoners to obedience but foorthwith he marched with his armie towarde Douer as to a place of greatest importaunce and spéede in that iourney as is already declared Not long after whiche time also when he had in his owne opinion peaceably established the gouernment of this Realme and was departed ouer into Normandie of purpose to commit the order of that countrie to Robert his sonne diuers of the shyre of Kent knowing right well howe muche it might annoy him to lose Douer conspired with Eustace the Earle of Boloine for the recouerie and surprise of the same And for the better atchieuing of their desire it was agréed that the Earle should crosse the seas in a night by them appointed at whiche time they woulde not faile with all their force to méete him and so ioyning handes soudainly assayle and enter it They met accordingly and marched by darke night toward the Castell well furnished with scaling ladders but by reason that the watch had discried them they not only fayled of that whiche they intended but also fell into that whiche they neuer feared for the Souldiours within the Castell to whome Odo the Bishop of Borieux and Hughe Mountfort which then were with the King in Normandie had committed the charge thereof kept them selues close and suffered the assaylants to approche the wall and then whiles they disorderly attempted to scale it they set wide open their gates and made a soudaine salie out of the péece and set vpon them with suche furie that they compelled Eustace with a fewe others to returne to his Shippe the reste of his companie béeing eyther slayne by the sworde destroyed by fall from the Clyffe or deuoured by the Sea. The same King also béeing worthely offended with the disobedience auarice and ambition of Odo his bastarde brother whome he had promoted to the Bishopricke of Borieux and to the Earldome of Kent for that he had not onely by rauine and extortion raked together greate masses of Golde and treasure whiche he caused to be grounde into fine pouder and filling therewith dyuers pottes and crockes had sounk them in the bottomes of Riuers intending therwithall to haue purchased the Papacie of Rome But also bycause he refused to render vnto him the Countie of Kent and was suspected for aspiring to the Crowne of this Realme consulted with Lanfranc the Archebishop of Canterburye and a professed enemie to Odo howe hée might safely and without offence to the Ecclesiasticall estate for that hée was a Bishoppe bothe conteyne that treasure within the Realme and also deteyne hys person from going into Italie whether warde he bothe addressed him selfe with all speede and gathered for his trayne great troupes of valiaunt and seruiceable men out of euerie quarter Lanfranc counseled the King to commit him to safe custodie and for his defence armed him with this pretie shift If it be layde to your charge quoth he that you haue layde violent handes vpon a sacred Bishop Say that you