be amisse to note that notwithstanding all the opposition made against him both heere among our selves and abroad with others St. George doth still retaine his place in our common Calendars Not in those onely made for the state of every yeare where commonly he shines in Festivall red letters as doe no other of the Saints but those whose Feasts are by the Church observed as Holy but also in the Calendar prefixed before the publike Liturgie of our most blessed Church of England where he is specially honoured with the name of Saint as is not any of the rest excepting those which saw our Saviour in the flesh Excellent evidence that as the state of England is much devoted to Saint GEORGE'S honour so he doth still preserve his place and reputation in the opinion of the Church An argument to me so powerfull and prevailing that in Morbonium the meere word or bare conjecture of every one of what especiall fame soever which guided by his private spirit shall resolve the contrary 8 I said the state of England is much devoted to Saint GEORGE'S honour and if we looke upon the Institution of the most noble Order of the Garter wee shall see cause inough to say it An Order of that excellencie that the mightiest Princes of Christendome have reputed it among their greatest honours to bee chosen and admitted to it the names and dignities of whom we shall see presently in our Catalogue of this Order A founder it had of a most accomplish'd vertue the Thunderbolt of Warre as some call Antiochus and in the times of Peace nothing inferiour to any of the Law-makers of the best ages so much celebrated Briefly wee may affirme of him as the Historian of Augustus the fittest paralell that I can finde for him amongst famous Princes Homo omnibus omnium gentium viris magnitudine sua inducturus caliginem This most excellent Prince the glorie of his times and a chiefe ornament of Europe having exceedingly prevail'd both against the French and Scottish Kings discomfited their Armies and taken one of them in person ordained this most noble Order and societie of Knights so to adorne their valour manifested in the Warres with honour the reward of vertue Their number 26. no more Vt pretium faciat raritas lest being else communicated unto many it might at last become despicable nor ever have our Kings exceeded in the number but still confined themselves unto the first intention of the Founder COVVELL in his Interpreter printed at Cambridge Anno 1607. relates the Institution of it thus EDVVARD the third after he had obtain'd many great victories King IOHN of France King IAMES of Scotland being both Prisoners in the Tower of London at one time and King HENRY of Castile the Bastard being expulsed and DON PEDRO restored by the Prince of Wales did on no weighty occasion first erect this Order Anno 1350. Of the occasion afterwards obâ—erving for the present how ill his Historie agrees with his Chronologie For true it is that this most noble Order was instituted on the 23. of this King which falls out rightly with the yeare 350. But then King IOHN of France was but newly entred on his Kingdome and the expulsion of King HENRY was the last act almost of that tryumphant Prince of Wales Don Pedro not comming into England till the thirty ninth of King Edward As much is he mistaken also in the name of the King of Scotland who was then Prisoner in the Tower which was not Iames but David there being no Iames King of that Country in more than fiftie yeares after For the occasion of it it is received generally that it tooke beginning from a Garter of the Queene or rather of Ioane Countesse of Salisburie a Ladie of incomparable beauty which fell from her as she danced and the King tooke up from the ground For when a number of Nobles and Gentlemen standing by laughed thereat he made answere againe that shortly it should come to passe that Garter should be in high honour and estimation adding withall these words in French Hony Soit qui maly pense Id est Shame bee to him that evill thinks which after was the Motto or Impresse of the Garter Which were it so saith Master Camden it need not seeme to be a base originall thereof considering as one saith nobilitas sub amore iacet He addes withall that some report how from his owne Garter given forth as a signall of a battaile which sped so fortunately hee call'd them Knights of the Garter But whatsoever the occasion of it was likely it is that it tooke this name from the blew Garter which the Fellowes of it weare on their left Leg carrying the foresaid impresse wrought with golden Letters and enchased with precious Stones and fastned with a buckle of Gold as with the Bond of most inward societie in token of unitie and Concord that so there might be a Communion as it were of vertues and good will amongst them Doctor Cowell reports in his Interpreter that he hath seene an ancient monument wherein it doth appeare that this most noble Order is a Colledge or Corporation having a Common seale consisting of the Kings of England as Soveraignes thereof or chiefe Guardians of it 25. Knights fellowes as they call them or Companions of the Garter 14. Canons resident beeing secular Preists 13. Vicars or Chorall Preists and 26. of the inferiour sort of gentrie militarie men call'd commonly Poore Knights of Windsore whereof indeed there are but twelve There belongs also unto this Heroicke Order the Prelate of the Garter which is the Lord Byshop of Winton for the time being a Chancellour a Register thereof which alwayes is the Deane of Windsore an Vsher which is one of the Vshers of the Kings Chamber called Black-rod and last of all a chiefe Herald even the most principall of all GARTER first King of Armes instituted by that victorious Prince King Henry the fifth to attend chiefly on this Order and doe them service at their Funerals 9 The Kings of England are as I said before the Soveraignes of this noble Order and either doe in person or by their lawfull Deputie by them nominated and appointed elect the fellowes of the Order and solemnize the Festivals and hold the Chapters To them it also appertaines to have the declaration reformation and disposition of the Lawes and Statutes of the said most noble Order Which Lawes and Statutes were first instituted and devised by the victorious Prince King Edward of that name the third after revised and ratified by many the succeeding Kings And on the Reformation of Religion much altered by King Edward of that name the sixt About this time saith Sir Iohn Hayward in his Historie of that Prince the Order was almost wholly altered as by the Statutes thereof then made it doth appeare A thing not to bee wondred at For even the Lawes of the most setled States and Kingdomes have beene
Master de Bellay hath recorded that IOANE of Orleans so much commemorated in our common Chronicles was not what shee appeared but onely so disguised and prepared before hand Pour faire revenir le courage aux Francoys for to revive the drooping spirits of the French so falne and broken that they were not to bee raised but by a miracle Somewhat to this purpose is related by PLUTARCH of AGESILAUS Who to embolden his Soldiers to the fight wrote with a certaine juyce the word Victorie in the palme of his hand and after being at the Sacrifice hee layed his hand cunningly upon the heart of it so leaving the word Victorie imprinted on it which presently he shewed unto those about him as if it had beene there written by the Gods I cannot say for certaine that this apparition to King Richard was by him set on foot for the same purpose and that it was no other than a Kingly fraud to quicken and revive the spirits of his Soldiers but I perswade my selfe if I did say so having no other testimony than an opinatum est against me I might be pardoned for my boldnesse 6 This notwithstanding the fame of such his apparition to that King did as before I said exceedingly promote the reputation of that Saint among the English so farre that the most excellent Prince King EDVVARD the third made choyce of him for his Patron So Master CAMDEN witnesseth in his Remaines that GEORGE hath beene a name of speciall respect in England since the victorious King EDVVARD the third chose Saint GEORGE for his Patron and the English in all Encounters and Battailes have used the name of Saint George in their cries as the French did Montioy Saint Denis The more immediate occasion was that this Edward at the battaile of Callice Anno 1349. being much troubled with griefe and anger drawing his Sword call'd earnestly upon Saint Edward and Saint George whereupon many of his Soldiers flocking presently unto him they fell upon the enemie and put many of them at that instant to the sword Rex Edwardus providè frendens more apri ab ira dolore turbatus evaginato gladio S. Edwardum S. Georgium invocavit dicens Ha Saint Edward Ha Saint George Quibus auditis visis milites confestim Anglici confluebant ad Regem suum Es facto impetu contra hostes tam animose institerunt quòd ducenti ex illis ceciderunt interfecti c. The next yeare after followed the Institution of that noble Order of the Garter dedicated unto Saint George also by which he came possessed alone of that speciall patronage as the more military Saint which in the former Invocation might seeme to be divided betweene St. Edward and himselfe Nor did the King stay here but having chose St. George to bee the tutelarie Saint and Patron of his Soldierie hee caused him to be painted as upon a lusty Courser holding a white Sheild with a red Crosse on it in his hand and gave unto his Soldiers to every one a white Coat or Cassock with two red Crosses on each side of them one to weare upon their armour Edwardus item saith Pol. Virgil. cum D. Georgium militia praesidem optasset postea ei armato equo insidenti dedit scutum album rubra a cruce perinsigne dedit militibus suis saga alba utrimque binis crucibus item rubris munita quae illi super armaturam induerent So that saith he it is a seemely and magnificent thing to see the Armies of the English to sparkle like the rising Sunne the Soldierie of other Countries having no habit eyther to distinguish or adorne them From henceforth therefore we must not looke upon St. GEORGE as a Saint in generall but as conceived such was the superstition of those times the speciall Patron of the English of which the Pilgrim in the Poet thus prophecieth unto his Red-crosse Knight as hee there calls him Then seeke this path which I to thee presage Which after all to Heaven shall thee send Then peaceably thy painefull Pilgrimage To yonder same Hierusalem doe bend Where is for thee ordain'd a blessed end For thou amongst those Saints which thou dost see Shalt be a saint and thine owne Nations friend And Patron thou St. George shalt called bee St. George of merry England the signe of victorie And hereunto alludes Mich. Draiton in his Poly-Olbion in a great controversie questionlesse which was then hot among some Nymphes of his in that Poem And humbly to St. George their Countries Patrō pray To prosper their designes now in that mighty day 7 Of other honours done by the English to St. GEORGE more than they call'd upon him as their Advocate of victory it may perhaps seeme litle necessary to dilate But since our Invocation of God and St. GEORGE is by some men conceived to bee rather Turkish than truely Christian wee will produce such evidence as may be lesse liable unto offence Of which kinde I perswade my selfe was that honour done unto him in a peece of gold currant in those times in this Kingdome called The George-noble which on the one side had the picture of Saint GEORGE upon it with this Impresse Tali dicata signo mens fluctuare nescit Nor can it be offence that many noble families in this Realme had the name of Saint GEORGE an ancient family of Saint George out of which flourished many Knights since the time of King Henry the first at Hatley which is of them call'd Hatley Saint George as I have found in learned Camden another of them as I conceive it at Hinton Saint GEORGE in Com. Sommerset the Baronie at this present of the right honourable the Lord Pawlet But this I leave unto Clarentieux one of the Kings of Armes as most interessed in it I will not heere observe that CHARLES of Burgundie one of the fellowes of the Gareer beeing in discontent with EDVVARD the fourth for his Peace with France brake out into this Passion Oh LORD Oh Saint GEORGE have you done thus indeed c or that the English used his name as an ordinary oath among them Par St. George dirent les Angloys vous dites vray c. as Froissart notes it These things I say I will not speake of lest they may give offence to our nicer eares nor of more honours of this lesser ranke or qualitie afforded him in England and therefore though the Sea bee very troublesome and unruly we will passe over Saint GEORGE'S Chanell into Ireland And here I shall observe that onely which I finde in Master Seldens notes on the Poly-Olbion as viz. that under Henry 8. it was enacted that the Irish should leave their Cramaboo and Butleraboo words of unlawfull Patronage and name themselves as under St. George and the Kings of England Which noted since I must returne againe for England there to behold the solemne institution of the Garter it will not
proofe of which and that we may behold what excellent Peeres and Princes of our owne and other Nations have in all times successively beene chosen into this most noble Order wee have adjoyn'd a Catalogue of all Saint GEORGE'S Knights from the first institution of it till the present Which Catalogue I have here layed downe according as I finde it in the Catalogue of Honour published by Milles of Canterbury adding unto him such as have beene admitted since that publication Hereafter if this worke may ever have a second birth and that I have ability to nde or meanes to search into the publike Registers of this Order I shall annex to every of them the time of their Creation as wee have done in all of them since the first of Queene ELIZABETH THE FIRST FOVNDERS as they call them of the Garter EDVVARD the III. Of ENGLAND and FRANCE c. being the Chiefe or Soveraigne of it EDVVARD the III. King of England HENRY Duke of Lancaster PETER Capit. de la Bouche WILLIAN MONTACVTE Earle of Salisburie IOHN Lord Lisle IOHN BEAVCHMP Knight HVGH COVRTNEY Knight IOHN GREY of Codnor Knight MILES STAPLETON Knight HVGH WORTHESLEY Knight IOHN CHANDOS Knight Banneret OTHO HOLLAND Knight SANCHIO DAMPREDICOVRT Knight EDVVARD Prince of Wales THOMAS BEAVCHAMP Earle of Warwicke RAPH Earle of Stafford ROGER MORTIMER Earle of March BARTHOLM de Burgherst Knight IOHN Lord Mohun of Dunstere THOMAS HOLLAND Knight RICHARD FITZ-SIMON Knight THOMAS WALE Knight NEELE LORENGE Knight IAMES AVDLEY Knight HENRY ESME Knight WALTER PAVELY Knight Which Founders being dead these following were in the time of the said Edward the third elected in their places according as their stalls became vacant by the death of any of the others viz. RICHARD of Burdeaux Prince of Wales and after King of England of that name the second LIONELL Duke of Clarence IOHN of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster EDMOND of Langley Duke of Yorke IOHN Duke of Brittaine and Earle of Richmond HVMFREY de Bohun Earle of Hereford WIâ—LIAM de Bohun Earle of Northampton IOHN HASTINGS Earle of Pembrooke THOMAS BEAVCHAMP Earle of Warwicke RICHARD FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell ROBERT VFFORD Earle of Suffolke HVGH Earle of Stafford GVISCARD of Engolesine Earle of Huntingdon INGELRAM of Coucy Earle of Bedford EDVVARD Lord Despencer WILLIAM Lord Latimer REYNOLD Lord Cobham of Sterborough IOHN Lord Nevill of Raby RAPH Lord Basset of Drayton Sir WALâ— MANNY Banneret Sir THOMAS VFFORD Sir THOMAS FELTON Sir FRANCIS VAN HALL Sir ALAN BOXHVLL Sir RICH. PEMBRVGE Sir THOMAS VTREIGHT Sir THOM. BANISTER Sir RICH. LA VACHE Sir GVY of Brienne RICHARD the II. KING OF ENGLAND and Soveraigne of the Garter Elected in his Time into the Order these that follow THOMAS of Woodstocke Earle of Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester HENRY of Lancaster Earle of Darbie and Duke of Hereford WIL. Duke of Gelderland WIL. Earle of Holland Hainault c. THO. HOLLAND Duke of Surrey IOHN HOLLAND Duke of Exeter THO. MOVVERAY Duke of Norfolke EDVVARD Duke of Aumerle MICHAEL DE LA POLE Earle of Suffolke WIL. SCROPE Earle of Wiltes WILLIAM BEAVCHAMP Lord Aburgevenny IOHN Lord Beaumont WIL. Lord Willoughby RICHARD Lord Grey Sir NICHOLAS SARNESFEILD Sir PHILIP DE LA VACHE Sir ROBERT KNOLLES Sir GVY of Brienne Sir SIMON BVRLEY Sir IOHN D'EVREVX Sir BRIAN STAPLETON Sir RIGH BVRLEY Sir IOHN COVRTNEY Sir IOHN BVRLEY Sir IOHN BOVRCHIER Sir THO. GRANDISON Sir LEVVIS CLIFFORD Sir ROBERT DVMSTAVILL Sir ROBERT of Namurs HENRY the IIII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter made Choice of HENRY Prince of Wales THOMAS of Lancaster Duke of Clarence IOHN Duke of Bedford HVMFREY Duke of Gloucester ROBERT Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria THO. BEAVFORT Duke of Exeter IOHN BEAVFORT Earle of Somerset THO. FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell EDM. Earle of Stafford EM HOLLAND Earle of Kent RAPH NEVILL Earle of Westmerland GILBERT Lord Talbot GILBERT Lord Roos THO. Lord Morley EDVVARD Lord Powys IOH. Lord Lovell Edvv. Lord Burnell IOH. CORNVVALL Lord Fanhope Sir WIL. ARVNDELL Sir IOH. STANLEY Sir ROE VMFREVILL Sir THOM. RAMPSTON Sir THOM. ERPINGHAM Sir IOH. SVLBIE Sir SANCHIO of Trane HENRY the V. of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter graced with the Order SIGISMVND King of Hungarie and Bohemia Emperour Elect. IOHN King of Portugall CHRISTIERNE King of Danemarke PHILIP Duke of Burgundie IOHN HOLLAND Duke of Exeter WILL. DE LA POLE Duke of Suffolke IOH. MOVVERAY Duke of Norfolke THOM. MONTACVTE Earle of Salisbury RICH. VERE Earle of Oxon. RICH. BEAVCHAMP Earle of Warwicke THOM. Lord Camoys IOHN Lord Clifford ROBERT Lord Willoughby WILLIAM Lord Bardolfe HENRY Lord Fitz-Hugh LEVVIS ROBSART Lord Bourchier HVGH STAFFORD Lord Bourchier WALTER Lord Hungerford Sir SYMON FELBRIDGE Sir IOH. GREY of Eyton Sir IOH. DABRIDGECOVRT Sir IOH. ROBSART Sir TRANK VAN CLVX of Germany Sir WILLIAM HARRINGTON Sir IOHN BLOVNT HENRY the VI. of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter assumed into it ALBERT of Austria King of Bohemia Hungarie and Emperour of Germanie FREDERICK Duke of Austria and Emperour EDVVARD King of Poland ALPHONSO King of Arragon and Naples CASIMIRE King of Portugall EDVVARD Prince of Wales PET. Duke of Conimbria and HENRY Duke of Visontium both Sonnes to the King of Portugall The Duke of Brunswicke RICH. Duke of Yorke IOH. BEAVFORT Duke of Somerset EDM. BRAVFORT Duke of Somerset IASPER of Hatfeild Duke of Bedford IOHN MOVVBRAY Duke of Norfolke HVMPH STAFFORD Duke of Buckingham GASTON DE FOIX Earle of Longueville IOHN DE FOIX Earle of Kendall ALVARES D'ALMADA Earle of Averence IOHN FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell RICH. NEVILL Earle of Salisbury RICH. NEVILL Earle of Warwicke IOH. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury IOH. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury Sonne to the former IAMES BVTLER Earle of Wiltes WILL. NEVILL Earle of Kent RICHARD WIDDEVILL Earle Ryvers HEN. Viscount Bourchier Earle of Essex IOHN Viscount Beaumont IOHN Lord Dudley THO. Lord Scales IOHN Lord Grey of Ruthin RAPH Lord Butler of Sudeley LIONELL Lord Welles IOH. Lord Bourchier of Berners THOMAS Lord Stanley WILL. Lord Bonvill IOH. Lord Wenlocke IOH. Lord Beauchamp of Powys THOMAS Lord Hoo. Sir IOHN RATCLIFFE Sir IOHN FASTOLFE Sir THOMAS KYRIELL Sir EDVVARD HALL EDVVARD the IIII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter made Knights thereof FERDINAND King of Naples IOHN King of Portugall EDVVARD Prince of Wales CHARLES Duke of Burgundie FR. SFORZA Duke of Millaine FREDERICKE Duke of Vrbine HERCVLES Duke of Ferrara RICH. Duke of Yorke the Kings Sonne RICH. Duke of Gloucester IOHN MOVVBRAY Duke of Norfolke IOHN Lord Howard made afterwards Duke of Norfolke IOHN DE LA POLE Duke of Suffolke HENRY STAFFORD Duke of Buckingham IOHN NEVILL Marquise Montacute THOMAS GREY Marquise Dorset IAMES Earle of Douglas in Scotland WILL. FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell THOM. Lord Maltravers ANTH. WOODVILL Earle Ryvers WILL. Lord Herbert Earle of
Pembrooke IOHN STAFFORD Earle of Wiltes HEN. PERCY Earle of Northumberland IOHN TIPTOFT Earle of Worcester GALLIARD Lord Duras IOHN Lord Scrope of Bolton WALT. D'EVREVX Lord Ferrers WALT. BLOVNT Lord Montjoy WILL. Lord Hastings Sir IOHN ASTLEY Sir WILL. CHAMBERLAINE Sir WILL. PARRE Sir ROB. HARICOVRT Sir THOMAS MONTGOMERY RICHARD OF GLOVCESTER of that Name the third c. and Soveraigne of the Garter admitted these viz. THO. HOVVARD Duke of Norfolke THO. Lord Stanley afterwards Earle of Darby FRANCIS Viscount Lovell Sir IGHN COGNIERS Sir RICH. RADCLIFFE Sir THOM. BVRGH Sir RICH. TVNSTALL HENRY the VII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter admitted to this honour MAXIMILIAN Archduke of Austria and after Emperour IOHN King of Portugall IOHN King of Danemarke PHILIP of Austria King of Castile ALPHONSO Duke of Calabria and after King of Naples ARTHVR Prince of Wales HENRY Duke of Yorke and Prince of Wales after his Brother VEALDO Duke of Vrbine EDVV. STAFFORD Duke of Buckingham THOM. GREY Marquise Dorset IOAN VERE Earle of Oxon. HEN. PERCY Earle of Northumberland GEO. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury HEN. BOVRCHIER Earle of Essex RICH. GREY Earle of Kent EDVVARD COVRTNEY Earle of Devon HEN. Lord Stafford Earle of Wiltes EDM. DE LA POLE Earle of Suffolke CH. SOMERSET Earle of Worcester GERALD Earle of Kildare IOHN Viscount Welles GEO. STANLEY Lord Strange WILL. STANLEY the Lord Chamberlaine IOHN Lord Dynham ROB. WILLOVGHBY Lord Brooke Sir GILES D'AVBENY Sir EDVV. POYNINGS Sir EDVV. WIDDEVILE Sir GILBERT TALBOT Sir IOHN CHEYNIE Sir RICHARD GVILFORD Sir THOM. LOVELL Sir THOM. BRANDON Sir REGINALD BRAY. Sir RHESE AP THOMAS Sir IOHN SAVAGE Sir RICH. POOLE HENRY the VIII of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter Chose in his Reigne CHARLES the fifth Emperour of Germany and King of Spaine FERDINAND Archduke of Austria and King of the Romanes FRANCIS the first King of France EMANVEIL King of Portugall IAMES the fifth King of Scotland HENRY FITZ-ROY Duke of Richmond and Somerset IVLIAN DE MEDICES EDVVARD SEYMOVR Earle of Hartford and after Duke of Somerset THOM. HOVVARD Duke of Norfolke CH. BRANDON Duke of Suffolke IOHN DVDLEY Viscount L'isle afterwards Duke of Norhumberland ANNAS Duke of Montmorancie HENRY COVRTNEY Marquise of Exeter WILL. PARRE Marquise of Northampton WILLIAM PAVVLET Lord St. Iohn of Basing after Marquise of Winchester HENRY HOVVARD Earle of Surrey THO. BVLLEN Earle of Wiltes WIL. FITZ-ALAN Earle of Arundell IOHN VERE Earle of Oxon. HENRY PERCY Earle of Northumberland RAPH NEVILL Earle of Westmerland FR. TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury PHIL. DE CHABOT Earle of Newblanch Admirall of France THOM. MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland ROB. RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex HENRY CLIFFORD Earle of Cumberland WILL. FITZ-WILLIAMS Earle of South-hampton THOM. Lord Cromwell Earle of Essex IOH. Lord Russell Earle of Bedford THOMAS Lord Wriothesley after Earle of Southampton ARTHVR PLANTAGENET base sonne of Edw. 4. Viscount L'isle WALT. D'EVREVX Viscount Hereford EDVV. HOVVARD Lord Admirall GEO. NEVILL Lord Abergevenny THOM. Wâ—st Lord de la Ware THOM. Lord Dacres of Gillesland THOM. Lord Darcy of the North. EDVVARD SVTTON Lord Dudley WIL. BLOVNT Lord Montjoy EDVV. STANLEY Lord Monteagle WIL. Lord Sands HENRY Lord Marney THO. Lord Audley of Walden Chancellour of England Sir IOHN GAGE Sir HENRY GVILFORD Sir NICH. CAREVV Sir ANTHONY BROVVNE Sir THOM. CHEYNIE Sir RICHARD WINGFEILD Sir ANTH. WINGFEILD Sir ANTH. St. LEGER Lord Deputie of Ireland Sir IOH. WALLOP EVVARD the VI. of that Name KING OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter ascribed into the Order HENRY the second King of France HENRY GREY Duke of Suffolke HENRY NEVILL Earle of Westm. FR. HASTINGS Earle of Huntingdon WILL. HERBERT Earle of Pembrooke EDVV. STANLEY Earle of Darby THO. WEST Lord de la Ware GEO. BROOKE Lord Cobbam EDVVARD Lord Clinton Admirall THOMAS Lord Seymor of Sudeley WILL. Lord Paget of Beaudesert THOM. Lord Darcy of Chiche Sir ANDREVV SVTTON alias Dudley MARY QVEENE OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter assumed into the voide places PHILIP of Austria King of Spaine the Queenes Husband EMANVEL Duke of Sâ—voy HENRY RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex ANTH. BROVVNE Viscount Montacute WILL. Lord HOVVARD of Effingham WILL. Lord Grey of Wilton EDVV. Lord Hastings of Loughborow ELIZABETH QVEENE OF ENGLAND c. and Soveraigne of the Garter supplied the Vacant places of the Order with 1559. FREDERICK Duke of Wittenberge THOM. HOVVARD Duke of Norfolke 1559. ROB. DVDLEY Lord Denbigh and Earle of Leicester HENRY MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland WIL. PARRE Earle of Essex and Marq. of Northampton 1560. ADOLPHVS Duke of Holsatia 1561. GEORGE TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury HENRY CARIE Lord Hunsdon 1563. AMEROSE DVDLEY Lord L'isle and Earle of Warwicke THOM. PERCY Earle of Northumberland 1564. CHARIES the Ninth King of France FRANCIS Lord Russell Earle of Bedford 1568. MAXIMILIAN King of Hungary and Bohemia Emperour 1570. FRANCIS HASTINGS Earle of Huntingdon WIL. SOMERSET Earle of Worcester 1572. FRANCIS Duke of Montmorency WALTER Viscount Hereford and Earle of Essex ARTHVR Lord Grey of Wilton EDM. BRVGES Lord Chandos FREDERICK King of Denmarke 1574. HENRY STANLEY Earle of Darby HENRY HERBERT Earle of Pembrooke 1575. CHARLES Lord Howard of Effingham and Admirall of England afterwards Earle of Nottingham 1579. IOHN CASIMIRE Count Palatine of the Rhene and Duke of Bavaria 1584. HENRY the Third King of France EDVV. MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland WIL. CECILL Lord Burghley WIL. BROOKE Lord Cobham HENRY Lord Scrope of Bolton 1486. HENRY RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex 1588. ROBERT DEVREVX Earle of Essex Sir HENEY SIDNEY Lord President of the Marches Sir CHRISTOPHER HATTON Lord Chancellour 1592. GILBERT TALBOT Earle of Shrewsbury GEORGE CLIFFORD Earle of Cumberland 1593. HENRY PERCY Earle of Northumberland EDVVARD SOMERSET Earle of Worcester THOMAS Lord Burgh EDMOND Lord Sheffeild Sir FRANCIS KNOLLES Treasurer of the Houshold 1596. HENRY the fourth King of France and Navarre 1597. FREDERICKE Duke of Wittemberge THGM SACKVILL Lord Buckhurst afterwards Earle of Dorset THOM. Lord Howard of Walden afterwards Earle of Suffolke GEORGE CARY Lord Hunsdon CH. BIOVNT Lord Montjoy after Earle of Devon Sir HENRY LEA Keeper of the Armorie 1599. ROB. RATCLIFFE Earle of Sussex HENRY BROOKE Lord Cobham 1601. WILL. STANLEY Earle of Darby THOM. CECILL Lord Burghley after Earle of Exeter IAMES the first KING OF GREAT BRITAINE and Soveraigne of the Garter adorned that Noble Order with these Worthies viz. 1603. CHHRISTIERNE the fourth King of Denmarke HENRY Prince of Wales LEVVLS Duke of Lennox and afterwards of Richmond HEN. WRIOTHESLEY Earle of South-hampton IOHN ERESKIN Earle of Marre WILL. HERBERT Earle of Pembrooke 1605. VLRICK Duke of Holst HEN. HOVVARD Earle of Northampton 1606. ROB. CECILL Earle of Salisbury THOM. HOVVARD Viscount Bindon 1608. GEORGE HVME Earle of Dunbarre PHILIP HERBERT Earle of Montgomery 1611. CHARLES the Kings second Sonne after the death of his Brother Henry Prince of Wales THOM. HOVVARD
where dissembled adventur'd boldly to cōfesse the name of GOD to whom it pleas'd the Lord to give so much of Heavenly grace that he not onely scorn'd the tyrants but contemned their torments This I find cyted by Hermanus Schedel in his Chronica Chronicorum and out of him by Bergomensis since by Molanus jn his Annotations upon Vsuards Martyrologie Iacobus de Voragine relyeth also in one passage on the authority of Ambrose so doth Vincentius and Antoninus Florentinus The treatise out of which his testimonie is avouch'd is by them call'd Liber praefationum not now extant Wicelius who doth also build on the authoritie of this Reverend Father saith that the booke is long since perish'd so perish'd as it seems that there is nothing left of it but the name and some scattered remnants Whether St. Ambrose were or not the Author of that treatise I cannot easily determine because in Possevin I find no mention of this tract who yet hath tooke upon him to marshall all the Workes of that excellent man even those also which are lost Yet on the other side his testimony vouch'd by Authors of that antiquity as those before recyted assure mee at the least so farre that such a worke was in their times receiv'd as his Adde unto this that Vossius reckoneth him with the Latine Historians in his late booke of that argument as having writ the lives of many of the Saints of Theodora namely of St. Celsus and Nazarius of St. Gervase and Protasius and as the Papists say of Agnes Which being so I must crave longer time before I shall reject these words ascribed unto him or not esteeme them true and worthy to be credited though not so fully as to build upon them altogether 8 But of our next witnesse there is lesse doubt and a larger testimonie though in his words we meet with somewhat which requires a Commentarie A witnesse which hath beene examined on the adverse part already where he was able to say nothing I meane Gelasius Pope of Rome and his so memorated Canon This Pope began his Papacie Anno 492. and dyed in 96. some foure yeares after About his time and long before it the Heretickes had busily employed themselves to falsifie the publike Acts and writings of the Church w ch thing they had effected so according to their wish that now it was high time to have a carefull eye upon them or else it may be they might have growne too potent to be easily suppress'd For this cause Pope GELASIUS having assembled 72. of his neighbour Prelates unto Rome did then and there with their advise and by their diligent assistance contrive a Catalogue of all such dangerous writings as were thought fit to be rejected giving to those which they accounted true orthodoxe the place and honour due unto them Which Canon since it is alleaged against us thereby to overthrow the History of our St. GEORGE we will in this place bring into the open view as much of it as concernes the businesse now in hand that so we may encounter them with their owne weapons The Canon is as followeth Gesta S. Martyrum qui multiplicibus tormentorum cruciatibus mirabilibus confessionum triumphis irradiant quis ita esse Catholicorum dubitet maiora eos in agonibus esse perpessos nec suis viribus sed dei gratia adiutorio universa tolerasse Sed ideo secundùm consuetudinem antiquam singulari cautela in Sancta Rom. Ecclesia non leguntur quia eorum qui scripsere nomina penitus ignorantur ab infidelibus idiotis superfluè vel minus aptè quam rei ordo fuerit scripta esse putantur Sicut cuiusdam Quiriaci Iulittae matris eius sicut Georgij aliorumque passiones huiusmodi quae ab haereticis perhibentur conscriptae propter quod ut dictum est ne vel levius subsannandi occasio oriretur in S. Romana Ecclesiâ non leguntur No◠tamen cum praedicta Ecclesia omnes Martyres atque eorum gloriosos agones qui Deo magis quam hominibus noti sunt cum omni devotione veneramur So farre the very words and letters of the Canon 9 By this it doth appeare that as the Saints in generall so also particularly St. GEORGE had beene abused and counterfeited in his Story in the close of the same Canon therefore it is reckon'd as Apochryphall as were a great many others of the same temper The reason why it was so reckon'd is by our latter writers diversly related Raphael Volaterran makes it to bee rejected onely so much of it as concernes St. Georges combat with the Dragon which also is assign'd by Antoninus amongst other causes but by neither rightly For in those times and many hundred yeares behind them the fable of the Dragon was not so much as thought of in the Church Christian. Iacobus de Voragine more nearely to the truth Ex eo quòd Martyrium eius certam relationem non habet because the storie of his death is told us in most perplext and uncertaine manner In Calendario n. Bedae c. For in the Calendar of Bede we find saith he that he was martyred in Diospolis a Towne of Persia in others that he lyeth buried in Diospolis not farre from Ioppe In some that he did suffer under Diocletian and Maximinian Emperours in others under Diocletian King of the Persians no lesse than 70. tributarie Kings being in presence Somewhat I say of this was rightly aym'd at by this blind archer but Bede is brought in by him somewhat too early as beeing a Post-natus scarce borne within two centuries of yeares succeeding But what need more conjectures or what use indeed is there of any since the same Canon which hath decreed the History of George then extant to be Apocryphall hath also told us that it was generally beleev'd to have beene writ by Hereticks This is inough to make the History of any S. suspected Apocryphall and that it was so written may easily appeare by that which was related in it touching Athanasius and the Empresse Alexandra not to omit that terrible massacre which by a cheating tricke he made of many of the people branded by ANTONINUS as before we noted 10 Hitherto have we spoken of GELASIUS Canon and nothing all this while which may redound from thence to St. GEORGES credit Nothing indeed in that which hath beene spoken hitherto because we were to lay our ground before we rais'd our building But that now done and the full meaning of the Canon duely pondered it will appeare for certaine that though Gelasius taxed the storie of St. GEORGE as dangerous and Apocryphall yet he hath done the Saint himselfe all due respects and confirm'd him to us This I did note before ou◠of the words of Bellarmine in a reply to Dr. Boys who needs would have both Bellarmine and Pope Gelasius speake for him in making our St. GEORGE to be a meere Chimaera or thing of nothing
imperfect but thus to be conceiv'd Brittaine to thee divinest Bede we owe Who did alone all parts of learning knowe 3 The witnesse being such his testimony will be taken with lesse scruple the rather because there is not any thing of his which hath beene justly question'd but his English Historie as having in it more of the myracles so common in the peoples mouthes than may be well allowed of But even that peece also modestè circumspecto iudicio is censured sparingly and with great temper His testimonies of St GEORGE are two the one of them in his Martyrologie the other in his Ephimerides First in his Martyrologie on the 23. of Aprill or in the Latine Computation on the 9. of the Calends of May we reade it thus Natale S. Georgij Martyris qui sub Daciano Rege Persarum potentissimo qui dominabatur super 70. reges multis miraculis claruit plurimosque convertit ad fidem Christi simul Alexandram uxorem ipsius Daciani usque ad Martyrium confortavit Ipse verò novissime decollatus martyrium complevit quamvis gesta passionis eius inter Apocryphas connumerentur Scripturas Id est The Passion of St. GEORGE the Martyr who under DACIANUS the most mighty King of Persia Lord of no lesse than seaventy tributarie Princes was famous for his miracles and for converting many to the faith of CHRIST of which the Empresse Alexandra the wife of Dacianus continued constant in it even unto the death This GEORGE at last beheaded received the Crowne of Martyrdome although the Storie of his Passion be reckoned as Apocryphall And in his Ephimerides on the same ninth of the May-Calends thus Nona docet Fortunatúmque Achillea iunctos Hac etiam invicto mundum qui sanguine temnis Infinit a refers Georgi sancta Trophaea This ninth day doth of Fortunatus tell And of Achilles joyn'd together well And of thee George who didst the world neglect And holy trophees in thy bloud erect 4 The first of these two testimonies as it affirmes the Death and sufferings of St. GEORGE so are there in it some things which require a favourable Reader and others which deserve to bee rejected altogether Of the last ranke there is the fable of the Empresse ALEXANDRA of which wee have already spoken in the first part and second Chapter an old remnant doubtlesse of the Arian Legend exploded by Gelasius That of her Husband Dacianus if it encounter with a favourable reader without offence may bee admitted although perhaps derived out of the same originall Derived I say out of the same originall perhaps because I finde it in Baronius Annotations on the Roman Martyrologie that the Arian Legends made their George to suffer under Dacianus King of Persia onely the difference is and that not much that there the tributary Kings are five in number more than heere in venerable Bede This Doctor Reynolds useth as a closing argument to proove our Saint to bee the Arian GEORGE of Alexandria and this our selves alledg'd in the behalfe of Calvin to shew what cause hee had to make St. GEORGE a Counterfeit or Larva The processe was that there was never at or about that time a King of Persia of that name and greatnesse of Command and that this Dacianus is in other of our Authors made to bee President or Proconsul under DIOCLETIAN therefore in likelihood our Authors not agreeing and no such King as hee in nature the whole Story of St. George is false and forged This is the maine of all that may be sayd against us touching Dacianus and this I say a favourable Reader may admit without offence For proofe of which wee must looke backe a little on the condition of the Roman Empire at the time of Saint Georges sufferings The East parts of it govern'd as before I said by Diocletian and the West by Maximinian These two the better to direct and manage the affaires of State had tooke unto themselves two Caesars whereof the one was named Galerius Maximinianus assumed by Diocletian and under him Lieutenant Generall or Lord President of the Easterne Countries Now this Galerius Caesar was by birth a Dacian and afterwards Successour unto Diocletian in all those parts that hee commanded That hee was borne in Dacia is affirm'd by St. Hieromes Latine copie of Eusebâ—us Chronicon where thus wee reade it Galerius in Dacia haud longe à Sardica natus that hee was borne in Dacia not farre from Sardica That he succeeded Diocletian in the greatnesse and extent of his Command after that he and Maximinian had surrendred up the Empire is a thing so plaine in Story that no man conversant in the Historians of those times but exactly knowes it Hereupon we inferre that probably this Dacianus mention'd in the Story was that Galerius Maximinianus who afterwards was Emperour and had the Easterne parts all of them of that Empire under his subjection And this we doe the rather fancy to be probable because denominations taken from the birth-place of their Princes were not accounted novelties among the Romans For Adrianus wâ—e well know assumed that name from Adria a Towne of Italie where he was borne And not to seeke for more examples we finde that Diocletian borne in a Towne of Dalmatia called Dioclea added this termination to the place of his Nativitie that so his name might bee more plausible among the Romans whose governance he had then undertaken Adde hereunto that this Galerius was alwayes a most bitter enemy of the Church of CHRIST which he had persecuted fromâ— his youth and then perhaps he may more easily be beleeved to be this DACIANUS 5 But heere it may be question'd how Dacianus admitting that he were the same with Galerius the Dacian can be supposed to be a King of Persia considering that the Persians had at that time a Prince of their owne royall stocke known by the name of Narses who dyed about the yeere 307. To this we answere that Venerable Beda spake according to the manner of the times in which he liv'd wherein the Persians having subdued the Roman forces were and had so beene long before the absolute maisters of almost all those Countries which Galerius once commanded Which being so the East parts of the Roman Empire vnder the command of the Kings of Persia and in particular the Holy-Land where Lydda is being in their Dominions those Countries did in common speech passe by the name of Persia. Iust as at this day we call those severall parts of the Turkish Empire once members of the Assyrian Greeke and Roman Monarchies by the common name of Turkie or as we call all Easterne Churches the Greeke-Church because they have communion at this time with the Patriarch of Constantinople So Bellarmine doth call the Cardinall Bessarion a Grecian borne at Trabezond Bessarion natione Graecus patria Trapezuntius c. as hee there hath it whereas the Towne of Trabezond is farre inough from Greece
also into the same conceit and superstitious folly Hereupon were the monuments and dormitories of the Saints againe opened their bodies translated some of them entire into new Sepulchres and others dismembred peece by peece and carried into farre Countries that Church or Nation being conceived most happy which had procured any the least bone into their possession of such especially of the Saints which were in greatest credit and opinion with the people So that now the cruelty of the barbarous tyrants in the height of persecution might seeme to be revived in the dawning of Superstition Which notwithstanding there might perchance bee somewhat said in their excuse as viz. that the Reliques then by them so zealously affected were most of them true and reall not counterfeited by any cheating Mountebanke and therefore worthy of all due respect and reverence For who so cold in his affection to the Saints that would not gladly give them honor even in their dust So much respect no question may be due unto the Reliques of the Saints if truely such as by Pope Leo was afforded to a parcell of the crosse sent to him by the Byshop of Hierusalem of which he tells that Prelate in an answere to him Particulam dominica crucis cum eulogijs dilectionis tuae veneranter accepi That he received it with great reverence and thankes 3 Not to descend more downeward we will looke backe into those former times and therefore least corrupted wherein we find first mention of the Reliques of St. GEORGE And in the first place we meet with Gregory of Tours who flourished in the next age after Pope LEO above-named and dyed about the yeare 596. A man of speciall quality a Byshop by his calling and as he testifieth himselfe Author of many severall books and treatises Quos libros licet rusticiori stilo scripserim c. Which though he wrote in a more plaine and homely stile yet he doth earnestly conjure all those which should succeed him in that charge per adventum Domini nostri c. Even by the comming of our Saviour CHRIST and by the dreadfull day of judgment that neither they suppresse them or cause them to be unperfectly transcribed Sed ut omnia vobiscum integra inlibataque permaneant sicut à nobis relicta sunt but that they be preserved as uncorrupted and entire as they were left by him Of these bookes seaven of them did especially concerne the myracles of the Holy Martyrs and in the first thereof he tells us in the generall Multa de Georgio martyre miracula gesta cognâ—vimus that he had knowne of many myracles done by Saint GEORGE And in particular habentur eius reliquiae in vico quodam Cennomannensi ubi multa plerunque miracula visuntur Some of his Reliques also are in the Village of Le Maine where oftentimes there were seene many myracles There is a further passage in that Booke and Chapter which though I shall relate yet I will hardly take upon me to defend it it is briefly thus Huius reliquiae cum reliquorum Sanctorum à quibusdam ferebantur c. Some certaine men that carried with them some of St. GEORGE'S Reliques and of others also of the Saints came once unto a place in the frontires of Lymosin where a few Priests having a litle Chanterie or Oratorie made of boards did daily powre out their Devotions to the Lord. There for that night they begg'd for lodging and were accordingly made welcome The morning came and they prepar'd to goe forward in their jorney they were not able to remove their Knap-sacks capsulas out of the place wherein they laid them Loth to depart without their Reliques it came at last into their minds that sure it was the will of GOD they should bestow some of them on their Hosts which being done the difficulty was removed and they proceeded in their journey This storie as before I said I will not take upon me to defend Onely I note from hence that in this Gregories time or before it rather the Reliques of St. George were in especiall credit and so by necessary consequence the Saint himselfe exceeding famous 4 Not to say any thing here of St. George's head and of the Temple built of purpose by Pope Zacharie in honour of it which we shall speake of presently in a place more proper wee finde the Reliques of our Martyr mention'd with great honour in Aymonius An Author of the middle times anno 837. not long before the shutting in of the first day of learning in the Christian Church one of the Monks of St. GERMANS monasterie in the Suburbs of Paris and publike Notarie thereof for the time being Before we come unto his testimonie we must first take notice that Childebert Sonne of Clovis the first Christian King of France who began his reigne about the yeare 515 did in the later of his time anno 542. erect a Monasterie neere Paris unto the honour of St. Vincent This monasterie thus founded as he endowed it with many Lands and large immunities so he enriched it with the Reliques of St. Vincent and St. GEORGE and part also of the Holy Crosse all which he brought with him out of Spaine whither he had before made two famous journeyes Witnesse whereof the Charter of the Foundation copied out by Aymonius and is as much of it as concernes our purpose this which followeth Childebertus Rex Francorum c. In honorem S. Vincentij Martyris this Vincent was converted by St. GEORGE as before is said cuius reliquias de Spania apportavimus ceu sanctae crusis beatissimi Georgij c. quorum reliquiae ibi sunt consecratae c. In the same Author also we have another story of St. Georges arme given by Iustinian the Emperour unto St GERMAN then Byshop of Paris as he return'd from his Pilgrimage to Hierusalem by the way of Constantinople Vnáque brachium D. Georgij Martyris pro magno munere contulit as mine Author hath it Which Relique was afterwards by Saint GERRMAN bestowed upon the Abbey of Saint Vincent wherein he was interred and which since then hath beene call'd St. GERMANS Thus much I finde recorded of the Reliques of our Martyr not to say any thing of his colours or his banner preserv'd as Schedell tells us in Bamberge â— City of Germany magna cum solennitate with great Solemnitie and this enough to shew that even from the beginning his Reliques and himselfe were alwayes had in speciall honour 5 And now at last we come unto the last of those foure wayes or courses whereby the Church endeavored to preserve alive the memory of the Saints and Martyrs viz. the calling of such Temples by the names of those blessed Spirits which she had solemnly erected to GODS speciall service and consecrated to his honour A custome which she long had practised even in the very times and heate of Persecution when as it was more dangerous unto the
dictum Clypei Georgiane societatis in quo foedere potentissimi quique Principes non modò civitates Imperij fuerunt So hee 8 We must now crosse the Alpes and make over into Italie where we shall finde St. GEORGE to be conceived as great a Patron of the Common-wealth of Genoa as of the peace of Germanie For as the Germans were secured from Warres without and civill broyles within by the Confederacie and Order of Saint George's Sheilds so are the Geneose protected and the ancient dignitie of that State preserved by St. George's Banke or Treasurie The first beginnings of which Banke or Treasurie and the administration thereof together with that benefit which redounds thereby unto the publike take heere according as it is related by that great Statesman Machiavell in his Historie of Florence Post diuturnum illud bellum quod Genuenses multis ab hinc annis cum Venetis gessere cum pace iam inter eas respub constituta Genuenses civibus suis ob aes in bello concreditum satisfacere non possent c. After that tedious Warre betweene the Genoese and the Venetians was now ended anno 1381. and the Genoese perceived themselves unable to repay those moneys which they had taken up of their private Citizens for the mainteining of the Warre they thought it best to assigne over to them their ordinarie taxes that so in tract of time the whole debt might be satisfied and for that purpose allotted them a common Hall there to deliberate and determine of their affaires These men thus made the masters of the publike Taxes and Revenew elect amongst themselves a common Councell of an hundred and over them eight Officers of especiall power to order and direct the rest and to dispose of the Intrado Vniversam verò administrationem titulo S. Georgij insignivere which Corporation so established they entitused St. George's Banke It hapned afterwards that the Republicke wanting more moneys was glad to have recourse unto St. George who now growne wealthy by the just and orderly administration of his stocke was best able to releive them and as before they released their taxes so now ditionem suam oppignorare coepit they morgaged their domaine So that at last St. George continually growing richer and the State poorer this Corporation became possess'd of almost all the Townes and Territories belonging to that Signeurie all which they governe by their owne Magistrates chosen by common suffrage from among themselves It followed hereupon that the common people respected lesse the publike and chiefly bent their favours to the Corporation of St. George this being alwayes prudently and moderately governed that many times inclining unto tyranny this never changing either their Officers or forme of government that subject to the ambitious lusts of every proud Vsurper both Forreiner and Citizen Insomuch that when the potent families of the Fregosi and the Adorni contended for the Principalitie of that State most of the people stood idle looking upon them as spectators of a quarrell which did not any way concerne them St. George not medling more in it than to take oath of the prevailing faction to preserve his liberties Rarissimo sanè exemplo neque à tot Philosophis imaginarijs istis in rebuspub suis unquam reperto c. A most excellent and rare thing saith he never found out by any of the Philosophers in their imaginarie Common-wealthes that in the same State and the same people we may see at once tyrannie and libertie justice and wrong-dealing civilitie and rudenesse this onely Corporation preserving in the State the ancient beautie and orders of it Nay he perswades himselfe that if St. GEORGE should in the end become possess'd of the remainders of the publike demeanes quod omnino eventurum mihi persuasissimum est of which he makes not any question that certainly that State might not be onely equalled with the State of Venice but preferred before it 9 From St. George's Banke or Treasurie let us proceed unto St. George's Band or Regiment both instituted neere about the same time and much unto the same purpose St. George's Banke preserving the ancient dignitie of that Citty his Regiment or Band reviving the decayed repute and credit of the Italian Soldierie The Author of it one Ludovicus Conius the occasion this After the Norman and Dutch lines in the Realme of Naples the French and Arragonians became competitours for that Kingdome the Popes of Rome having at that time sundry quarrels with the Emperours and many of the Townes of Italie taking thereby occasion to recover liberty By meanes of which the whole Country was in a manner over-runne with forreine Soldiers the States thereof all jealous of each other and so not willing to employ theyr owne people So that all Italie did swarme with French and Dutch and Spanish Soldiers the English also flocking thither under the conduct of Sir Iohn Hawkwood after the Peace made betweene our Edward the third and the French King At last this Lodovicus Conius rightly considering how ignominious and dishonourable a thing it was that Italie should not bee able with her owne hands to maintaine her owne quarrels collected a choyce band of Italian Soldiers which he called St. Georg's Regiment which shortly grew to such esteeme that they eclipsed the glorie of the forreine Companies and restored the ancient lustre to their native forces Is enim postea saith the same MACHIAVELL ex Italo milite exercitum conscripsit sub titulo S. Georgij cujus tanta fnit virtus disciplina militaris ut exiguo temporis intervallo omnem gloriam militibus externis adimeret suam Italis restitueret eoque solo usi sunt deinceps Italiae Principes si quod inter eos bellum gerebatur So he and we will onely adde thus much that out of this so famous Seminarie of St. GEORGE'S Regiment came afterwards that Braccio and Picennini which had so much to doe in the affaires of Italie as also that Francisco Sforza which made himselfe Duke of Millaine and left it to his Children 10 Our next journey must bee for Asia where in the midland of it wee finde a Countrey betweene Colchis and Albania called anciently Iberia but now Georgia the reason of which new name is reported diversly Michael ab Ysselt is confident that they tooke their appellation from Saint GEORGE Georgiani verò vocantur à D. Georgio c. Others with better reason at the least in mine opinion that they are called so from the Georgi the ancient inhabitants of these tracts which ancient Georgians Sir Walter Raleigh makes to bee denominated quasi Gordians from the Gordiaei a Mountaine people of the Hill-Countries and Stephanus in his Thesaurus quasi Georgici Husbandmen Georgij Asiae populi ab agricultura nomen sortiti as he there hath it Betweene these two we have one indifferent Master Samuel Purcha◠who saith that it is called Georgia eyther from the honour of their Patron Saint GEORGE or
6 St. George when he began to bee entituled particularly to the English 7 The honours done him here and among the Irish. 8 The institution of the noble Order of the Carter 9 A briefe view of the chiefe Statutes of the Order 10 St. George the Patron of it 11 Sir Walter Raleighs opinion touching the killing of the Dragon 12 And of them also which desire to have the George Symbolicall 13 A Catalogue of all St. George's Knights of that most noble Order untill this present 14 The Conclusion of the whole 1 OVr course is now for England divisos orbe Britannos as the Poet hath it divided from the other parts of the World as in her situation so in her felicities Of which and of the testimonies which she is able to afford unto Saint GEORGE wee shall speake in severall it being as the Panegyrick and Solinus call it another world the rather because in the latter dayes hee hath beene reckoned as the especiall Patron of this Nation and as particular to us as is Saint ANTONIE to Italie Saint DENIS unto France or any of the other to their proper places I say in the later dayes onely for anciently we were not thought to have more right to him than any other of our Neighbours however it bee said by some that hee hath alwayes beene the tutelarie Saint and Guardian of our Nation For if wee will beleeve our English Fugitives wee may behold the picture of Saint GEORGE in their Church at Rome with this inscription Georgium Cappadocem Anglia sibi protectorem elegit maximis beneficijs tùm pace tùm bello receptis semper religiosissimè coluit Id est This GEORGE of Cappadocia the English chose to be their Patron and for the many benefits received from him both in Peace and Warre have alwayes very religiously worshipped him Or if we will beleeve that the victorious Prince King ARTHUR bare him in one of his royall banners which was a signe of speciall dependance on him and relation to him we finde in Master Selden that so by some it is repâ—rted and HARDING whom I have not seene is cyted in the Margin And first to make reply to that which was first alleaged if so our Fugitives of Rome doe by their Semper understand that ever since his Martyrdome Saint GEGRGE hath beene esteemed and worshipped as the Patron of the English wee must needes tell them that howsoever this may bee beleeved at Rome it is not likely to bee entertained with us here in England If by their Semper they meane onely that alwayes since the English chose him for their Patron hee hath beene specially esteemed and worshipped by them wee grant indeed that since that time Saint GEORGE hath alwayes beene especially honoured though not religiously worshipped As for King ARTHUR wee reade in MALMESBURIE that at the Seige of Bannesdowne mons Badonicus not farre from Bathe to which the Saxons had retyred and thereon fortified that in his royall Armes hee bare the portraiture of the blessed Virgin Postremò in obsidione Badonici montis fretus imagine dominicae matris quam armis suis insuerat c. as he there hath it Of any Image of Saint George wee have ne gry quidem eyther in him or any other of our Historians Nor is it easie to bee credited that in so small a tract of time Saint George was growne so eminent in the opinion of the Brittaines as to be deem'd the Patron of their Armies their tutelarie Saint against their enemies 2 If from the Brittaines we proceed unto the Saxons I have not found as yet that eyther in their Heptarchie or after they became one entire state a Monarchie they had St. GEORGE in more than ordinary honour Vnlesse perhaps we may beleeve that Theobald one of the Saxon Kings might take a speciall liking to him upon the commendation of Cunibert King of the Lombards by whom hee was magnificently feasted in his journey towards Rome His diebus Theobald rex Anglorum Saxonum qui multa in sua patria bella gesserat ad Christum conversus Romam properavit qui ad Cunibertum regem veniens this Cunibert as before we noted had built St. George a Monasterie ab eo mirificè susceptus est saith Paul the Deacon But in the Empire of the Normans we have variety and store inough some of it even in their first entrance before their state and affaires here were well setled For in the yeare 1074 which was some eight yeares after the death of Harald Robert D'Oyley a Nobleman of Normandie when he had received at the hands of William the Conquerour in reward of his service in the Warres large possessions in the County of Oxon built a spacious Castle on the West side of the City of Oxford with deepe Ditches Ramparts an high raised Mount and therein a Parish-Church unto St. George unto which when the Parishioners could not have accesse by reason that King Stephen most streightly besiedged Maud the Empresse within this Castle St. Thomas Chappell in the street hard by was built Afterwards King Edward the 3. that famous and puissant Prince being borne at Windsore erected there out of the ground a most strong Castle equall in bignesse to a pretty Cittie and in the very entrance of it a most stately Church consecrated B. Virgini Mariae S. Georgio Cappadoci unto the blessed Virgin Marie and St. George of Cappadocia but brought unto that sumptuous magnificence which now we see it carry by King Edward the fourth and Sir Reginald Bray Of which both Church and Castle thus Draytons Muse in the 15. song of his Poly-Olbion Then hand in hand her Thames the Forrest softly brings To that supreamest place of the great English Kings The Garters royall seate from him who did advance That princely Order first our first that conqured France The Temple of St. George whereas his honour'd Knights Vpon his hallowed day observe their ancient rights Thus had we as we finde in Camden a Monasterie dedicated to St. GEORGE in the County of Derby built by the Greyslayes gentlemen of good ancientrie in that country Thus have wee also a faire Church consecrated to St. George's name in Doncaster a St. GEORGE'S Church in South-werke and in London and not to travaile further in this enquirie a St. GEORGE'S Church in Burford where it pleased GOD to give mee first my naturalll being and afterwards my education In which regard I hold my selfe bound in a manner to vindicate St. GEORGE'S honour having received such comforts in a place where his memorie was anciently precious and the onely Church in it dedicated by his name 3 St. George thus generally honoured by the English as a Saint it was not long before they fastned superstition being then in the very height a more particular respect upon him the first beginnings whereof wee must referre unto King Richard of that name the first according to the information which William
Earle of Arundell ROB. CARRE Earle of Somerset 1612. FREDERICK Prince Elector Palatine MAVRICE VAN NASSAVV Prince of Orange 1615. THOMAS ERESKIN Viscount Fenton and after Earle of Kellie WILLIAM Lord Knolles after Earle of Banburie 1616. FRANCIS MANNOVRS Earle of Rutland GEORGE VILLIERS Earle Marquise and after Duke of Buckingham ROBERT SIDNEY Viscount L'isle after Earle of Leicester 1623. IAMES Marquise Hamilton 1624. ESME STEVVARD Duke of Lennox and Earle of March CHRISTIAN Duke of Brunswicke CHARLES Of that Name the First KING OF GREAT BRITTAINE FRANCE and IRELAND Soveraigne of the most Noble Order of S t. GEORGE called commonly the Garter adorned therewith 1625. de Lorreine Duke of Chevereuze WILLIAM CECILL Earle of Salisbury IAMES HAY Earle of Carlile EDVVARD SACKVILL Earle of Dorset HENRY RICH Earle of Holland THOMAS HOVVARD Earle of Berkshire 1627. GVSTAVUS ADOLPHVS King of Swethland HENRY Van Nassaw Prince of Orange 1628. THEOPHILVS HOVVARD Earle of Suffolke 1629. WIL. COMPTON Earle of Northampton 1630. RICHARD Lord Weston Lord high Treasurer ROBERT BERTY Earle of Lindsey WILLIAM CECILL Earle of Exeter THE FELLOVVES of that most Noble Order of St. GEORGE call'd commonly the Garter according as they now are this present May Anno 1630. CHARLES King of England CHRISTIERNE King of Denmarke ADOLPHVS King of Swethland FREDERICK King of Bohemia HENRY Prince of Orange Duke of Cheureuze HENRY Earle of Northumberland EDMOND Earle of Moulgrave WILLIAM Earle of Darby IOHN Earle of Marre PHIL. Earle of Pembroke and Montgomery THOM. Earle of Arundell and Surrey ROBERT Earle of Somerset THOMAS Earle of Kelly WILLIAM Earle of Banbury FRANCIS Earle of Rutland WILLIAM Earle of Salisbury IAMES Earle of Carlile EDVVARD Earle of Dorset HENRY Earle of Holland THOMAS Earle of Berkshire THEOPHILVS Earle of Suffolke WILLIAM Earle of Northampton RICHARD Lord Weston of Neyland ROBERT Earle of Lindsey WILLIAM Earle of Exeter Iamque opus exegi Thus have I as I hope made good that which at first I undertooke so to assert the Historie of this most blessed Saint and Martyr that neither we become ashamed of Saint GEORGE nor he of us In which though sometimes upon just and necessary causes I have tooke liberty to digresse a litle yet in the generall I have conform'd my selfe to the rule of Plinie and kept my selfe unto my title In the first part wee have removed those imputations which were cast upon this Storie by the practises of Heretickes and follies of the Legendaries We have given also satisfaction to those doubts and arguments which in these latter ages have beene made against Saint George and that so throughly and point per point as the saâ—ing is that I perswade my selfe there is not anything unsatisfied which may give occasion to reply If any man too passionately affected to mens names and persons shall waiâ—e the cause in hand to take upon him the defence of those whose judgements herein are rejected such I must first enforme that I respect and reverence those famous Writers which have thought the contrary as much as any that I have those excellent copies of themselves which they have left behind them in as high esteeme as any hee that most adores them Onely I must conceive my selfe to bee a Free-man oblig'd to no mans judgement nor sworne to any mans opinion of what eminent ranke soever but left at liberty to search the way of truth and trace the foote-steps of antiquitie from which I would not gladly swerve Which protestation first premised I will bee bold to use Saint Hieromes words unto his Reader Quaeso Lector ut memor tribunalis Domini c. nec mihi nec Adversarijs meis faveas neve personas loquentium sed causam consideres The second Part of this discourse containes the formall justification of Saint GEORGE'S Historie considered in it selfe so farre forth as it hath beene commended to us in the best Authors In that we have confirmed it first by the testimony of such Writers of good qualitie which have unanimously concurr'd in it and those both of the Greeke Church and of the Latine both Protestants and Papists In the next place we had recourse unto the practice of the Church Catholicke which hath abundantly express'd her good opinion of him in giving him such speciall place in her publike Martyrologies and in her ordinarie Service in taking such a tender care of his precious Reliques and consecrating by his name so many goodly and magnificent Temples To this wee have adjoyn'd the publike honours done unto him by the greatest Princes and Republicks in the Christian world Not onely in erecting Monasteries to his name and memory and instituting Orders of Religious persons to his honour but as the times then were in making him the tutelarie Saint of their Men of Warre the speciall Patron of their estates and military Orders also and not so onely but the Guardian of the distressed affaires of Christianitie In the last place wee haue particularly related the honours done unto him heere in England as generally in calling Churches by his name in making him the Patron of this most noble Kingdome in leaving him his place in our publike Calendars and forcing the wilde Irish to call upon him in their battailes so more especially in dedicating to him that most Heroicke Order of Saint GEORGE called commonly the Garter Such honours and of such high esteeme as might have beene of force to make an English-man suspend his censure of him and to forbeare to second any quarrels raised against him had not Saint AVSTIN truely noted this to bee a quality of Errour that whatsoever likes not us wee would not gladly should bee pleasing unto any others Hoc est error is proprium saith hee ut quod cuique displicet id quoqne existimet oportere displicere alijs What hath beene done by mee in the contexture and composition of the whole I leave to bee determined by all learned and Religious men who shall happe to reade it to whose judicious censure next under his most sacred Majestie and this most excellent Church whereof I am I willingly submit my selfe and my performance For my part I resolve of it with the Author of the Macchabees with whose submission of himselfe I conclude this Treatise Ego quoque in his faciam finem sermonis Et si quidem benè ut Historiae competit hoc ipse velim sin autem minus dignè concedendum est mihi If I have done well and as is fitting the Storie it is that which I desired but if slenderly and meanely it is that which I could attaine unto And heere shall be an end FINIS LONDON Printed by B.A. and T. F. for Henry Seile at the Tygers-head in St. Pauls Church-yard 1631. Lib. 11. Cap 4. Epigr. l. 5.10 Ethicâ— l. 1. c. 4. â—th lib. 1. Cap. 6 Tat. de Mor. Germ. V. Chap. 3 §. 6. De Script Eccles. In Chronol L. 4. ad Pag. 131 Pag. 251. b. De Tradend discipl